As I always said that for the IDPs of Swat we ought to help as much as we could but not at the cost of their self respect and pride. America has also announced aid as well as Donor’s conference is going on. It seems like Government is making most of it to let their burden be carried out by others. They are demanding funds to fight against Taliban and repeatedly saying that the militants could exploit a failure to help.
UN has flashed an appeal of $543 million as the number of internally displaced NWFP dwellers continues to increase day by day. Over 100,000 people have been registered daily in the 89 registration points established in Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Peshawar, Kohat and Charsadda districts of NWFP.With reports of thousands of new arrivals in Abbottabad , Manshera and Haripur districts, the agency is planning to help set up more registration centers to ensure the internally displaced persons (IDPs) can get the help they need as quickly as possible.
Of the nearly 2 million people that have fled so far, some 131,000 people are staying in camps, with more than 1.3 million staying in private accommodation, with host families or friends, and some in schools.There is an urgent need to identify new sites and establish new camps as in response to new influx the established camps are already full as reported by Dawn.
Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar said that donors had promised $224 million, including $110 million the United States promised . That sum would go toward a flash appeal that the United Nations will launch on 22nd May 22, 2009 in a bid to raise up to $600 million.
It is a huge amount to deal with enormous influx of people as the aid has to be used on a long term basis. The amount of aid should be disseminated and used transparently. Government must assure to provide better facilities for IDPs.
Mr. President is still missing from the scene. He should bring back all his whether black or white money from his foreign accounts to Pakistan instead of organizing these conferences, making Pakistan a beggar country on International scenario. He should urge all other ministers and parliamentarians to donate for IDPs and as a leader of a nation set example himself. When millions of people of this country are suffering the worst crisis in his democratically elected Government, he should call his children back from abroad to cut his domestic expenses and donate it to the Prime ministers relief fund.
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