Pakistan: The Worsening IDP Crisis
New analysis of the effects of monsoon flooding in Pakistan have revealed that some of the worst affected areas are those which were already home to intense violence and insurgent conflict.
The Pakistani people, who were already displaced by violence and instability, have again seen their livelihoods destroyed by the flooding. In areas such as Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and other Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the fighting already destroyed much of the infrastructure that would have been relied upon for disaster relief.
“The Pakistan government and international actors should ensure those in the flood-devastated conflict zones are urgently granted the assistance they need to survive and to rebuild lives and livelihoods,” reports The International Crisis Group in a recent article on displaced persons in Pakistan.
Crisis Group assessed the situation on the ground in Pakistan and offered a list of actionable items that should be undertaken by the Pakistani government and the international community. “Deprived of resources, fiscal and human, during more than nine years of military rule, Pakistan’s civilian administrative and humanitarian apparatus is now severely tested by the worst flooding in the country’s history. One fifth of the country and more than 20 million people have been affected,” the article reports. “As relief again becomes a top priority, all assistance, local and international, must be delinked from the military’s institutional interests and directives, even granting the importance of the military’s logistics capabilities during rescue and emergency relief operations.”
The International Crisis Group also recommended long-term thinking during the rebuilding process, saying: “The civilian government and donors should also seize this opportunity to ensure that rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts meet the needs of their intended beneficiaries, and bolster civilian institutional capacity and authority at the same time.”
The International Crisis Group is a Ploughshares Fund grantee.
