Pakistan: UN calls for global support as number of displaced tops 360,000
The United Nations refugee chief today appealed for international solidarity to support the hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis fleeing the violent conflict in the north-west as the Government tries to defeat a militant insurgency.
With the help of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), local authorities have registered more than 360,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) pouring out of Buner, Dir, and Swat since 2 May with more still to come.
High Commissioner António Guterres noted that the speed and scale of the latest displacement required an immediate international humanitarian response in support of the growing number of Pakistanis affected by the conflict.
“These are the same people who for decades showed great generosity to millions of Afghan refugees,” Mr. Guterres said in a news release. “Now it is time for the international community to show them the same generosity by supporting humanitarian programmes for the Pakistani displaced.”
UNHCR has opened up its stockpiles in Pakistan to provide thousands of locally bought basic relief items such as tents, kitchen sets, jerry cans, sleeping mats and blankets delivered through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the authorities.
Mr. Guterres announced a UNHCR airlift on Tuesday to rush 120 tons of additional humanitarian supplies to the north-west of the country from its central emergency stockpiles in Dubai.
The chartered Boeing 747 cargo plane will deliver 14,000 plastic sheets, 1,500 large roles of plastic, 10,000 mosquito nets and two large, portable warehouses, bringing the cost of the airlift to $584,000.
“I call on the international community to support the overall humanitarian effort on behalf of displaced Pakistanis,” said Mr. Guterres. “This is a huge and rapidly unfolding emergency, which is going to require considerable resources beyond those that currently exist in the region.”
In a related development, more than 12,700 registered Afghan refugees have been assisted to return home in the last month with the help of UNHCR’s voluntary repatriation programme from Pakistan.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) noted that the numbers are notably lower than the figure for the same period last year.
“However, with ongoing developments in the North West Frontier Province, the return figures are expected to rise in the coming weeks,” the Mission said at a news conference in Kabul today, adding that some returnees have cited insecurity as a reason for leaving the province.
UNHCR-assisted returns from Pakistan resumed on 1 April following a halt during the winter months.