Pakistan: UN refugee agency assessing operations after recent bomb attack

The United Nations refugee agency said today it is reviewing the way it operates in Pakistan and assessing what adjustments need to be made to ensure staff safety, following Tuesday’s bomb attack in Peshawar in which two UN staffers were killed, but added that there is no question of pulling out.

The agency has been grappling with the operational challenges posed by security risks in Pakistan for some time, William Spindler, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva.

“Despite the difficult security environment, we have continued our work in the region helping 1.7 million Afghan refugees and more recently some 2 million internally displaced Pakistanis,” he said.

“In the wake of this recent attack, however, we are reviewing the way we operate and assessing what adjustments need to be made to ensure the safety of our staff,” he added. “There is no question of pulling out. We are committed to helping the millions of displaced people in the region.”

Tuesday’s suicide bombing at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) killed at least 18 people, including two UN staff members. The UN held a special ceremony today in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to pay homage to its staff members and Pakistani co-workers who lost their lives in the attack.

Among the dead was Aleksandar Vorkapic, a Serb national who was on his first emergency mission with UNHCR, as well as another colleague from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and three from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

Mr. Vorkapic was deployed to Pakistan last month to help the hundreds of thousands uprooted by the recent surge in fighting in NWFP between Government forces and militants.

According to UNHCR, there are currently 1.9 million people registered internally displaced persons (IDPs) verified and confirmed by the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA).

Thousands of family forms from the fast-track registration process are yet to be cross checked, and a final figure is expected to be significantly higher, it added.

The World Food Programme (WFP) restarted food distribution yesterday, after a five-day break. The break followed the completion of May food rations, and allowed the Pakistani Government to verify and update the registration list of displaced persons.

Meanwhile, six new humanitarian hubs have been set up in Mardan district as of Wednesday to provide temporary storage and distribution facilities for food and non-food item to IDPs staying with host communities.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed to the international community, especially major donors, to respond quickly and generously to the urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs in Pakistan.

“We must alleviate distress and avoid putting the country at risk of a spiralling secondary crisis,” he told reporters in New York yesterday.

The UN and its partners have so far received about one quarter of the $543 million appeal launched in May to assist those affected. Because of the shortfall, food supplies are secure only for June while drugs supplies will be depleted by the end of the month.