Pakistan's Refugee Problem "On A Comparable Scale To Rwanda"

By Steve Hynd

The British religious advocacy website Ekklesia reports today that the refugee crisis caused by fighting between the Pakistani military and Taliban is the "largest and fastest anywhere in the world in recent years, putting it on a comparable scale to Rwanda in 1994."

The suffering and need of millions of Pakistan�s displaced people has the potential to be protracted, lasting for many months, according to UK relief and development agency Tearfund.

According to local sources, as many as 3.4 million people are now reported to be vulnerable after being uprooted from their homes in the Swat Valley and neighbouring areas of northern Pakistan; the majority leaving since the Pakistan Army began its recent offensive last month.

Tearfund says that the scale of need should focus international attention and trigger a major humanitarian response to avoid prolonging the suffering.

"The needs are massively underserved and the world�s media attention is elsewhere," says David Bainbridge, Tearfund�s Disaster Management Director. "At present our response is a drop in the ocean. The delayed media attention to Sri Lanka hindered the humanitarian response there. We must avoid the same situation in Pakistan where limited access and media coverage make this another forgotten crisis where the humanitarian needs of the displaced are inadequately provided for."

According to World Health Organisation officials and local sources, some 2.9 million people are estimated to have fled from the region in recent weeks.

...The crisis comes at a key point in the region�s crop planting season and is likely to have a detrimental knock-on effect for food supplies this winter and into next year.

Concerns that this crisis could result in a protracted displacement are underlined by the uncertainty about the length of the Pakistan Army operations in the region. Further fighting in Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan to the south west of the Swat Valley, could lead to further population movements as people fear becoming trapped in subsequent military attacks.

That further fighting is already happening, as the Pakistani military practise what has always been the most effective of all COIN tactics - ethnic cleansing and scorched earth. Right now, Mingora, the main city of the Swat Valley looks like this:

 

The BBC reports:

The International Red Cross said it was "gravely concerned" by the humanitarian situation in Swat.

Water and electricity were not available, there was no fuel for generators, most medical facilities had stopped operating and food was scarce, it said.

"The people of Swat need greater humanitarian protection and assistance immediately," said Pascal Cuttat, head of the organisation's delegation in Pakistan.

Fawad Hussein, of the United Nations office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs, said:

"Since there is no electricity supply, the wells are not working. People are forced to use alternative water sources, which is causing water-borne diseases. There is no electricity in any of the health facilities."

All this to chase a minority among a minority, a few thousand rag-tag militants without tanks, aircraft or artillery that couldn't be a really existential threat to Pakistan in any possible world.

The Pakistani government and military initated their offensive at the Obama administration's urging. Obama should now step up with major humanitarian aid plans. His administration's pressure on Pakistan to act forcefully will be directly responsible for a humanitarian catastrophe that makes Iraq's displaced - something many of Obama's supporters have described as a war crime - pale by comparison. Making some amends is the least he can do.