Over 1.3 million people have been forced to flee their homes to escape the ferocious fighting between Government forces and militants in Swat, Pakistan. Facing the largest exodus of people since the partition of Pakistan from India, the area is heading towards a humanitarian crisis.
Muslim Hands has responded to this emerging crisis by providing food, safe drinking water, medical field clinics and temporary schools for the 50,000 displaced persons in three of the major camps in Swabi and Mardan, 100 km north of Islamabad.
MH began food aid programmes in April, for 1050 needy families in Kunji Camp, Dir. This week
• Six medical field clinics specialised in treating mothers and young children have been established. Thousands of tired, exhausted and sick people continue to arrive daily at the camps. The facilities at the camps are insufficient to handle this influx.
• In Swabi, three fully equipped MH ambulances with experienced paramedic teams are shuttling the ill and injured patients to hospitals in nearby cities.
• Nine temporary schools for primary school children have been established in the camps to help bring some sense of normality to the lives of traumatised children.
• MH has over 80 volunteers in the field, working relentlessly to cope with the surge in IDP's (internally displaced persons) entering the area.
Muslim Hands regional manager Mr. Rahimullah of NWFP province said in an emotional plea for support "Watching the sheer mass of people arriving here with nothing but the clothes on their backs is heartbreaking. Tired and confused, and fearful of the future, they need our help now"
Muslim Hands has launched an emergency appeal for £500,000. According to UN officials, the fighting is likely to be prolonged and displaced families are unlikely to return home any time soon.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Internally displaced girls, fleeing a military offensive in the Swat valley, gather before going to their classes at a school inside a UNHCR camp (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) in ...
