ICRC News Release - Pakistan: ICRC enters Buner for first time since onset of hostilities

ICRC News Release No. 09/101

13 May 2009

Peshawar (ICRC) – As fighting in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) continues unabated, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today entered Buner, one of hardest-hit areas, for the first time since the onset of hostilities.

With the consent of the parties to the conflict, ICRC staff took stock of the humanitarian situation and delivered medicines and surgical materials to the main hospital in the district.

"We went into Buner as soon as we could," said Dr Bart Janssens, the ICRC's health coordinator in Pakistan, who led the operation. "You can see the scars of recent fighting. There is no more electricity or clean drinking water. Most shops are closed. Goods on the market are scarce. The streets feel empty. The district is rapidly being emptied of its inhabitants."

In the coming days the ICRC hopes to bring more aid to the civilian population left behind. Its ability to do so, however, will depend on security guarantees being provided by all the parties to the conflict.

Over 500,000 people have fled conflict areas in the NWFP in recent days. The ICRC is working closely with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society to provide shelter, food, water, sanitation and health care for displaced people (IDPs) in the Malakand and Swabi districts. The ICRC is also attending to the needs of people left behind in Buner, Swat and Lower Dir.

PAKISTAN: UN CALLS FOR GLOBAL SUPPORT AS NUMBER OF DISPLACED TOPS 360,000

PAKISTAN: UN CALLS FOR GLOBAL SUPPORT AS NUMBER OF DISPLACED TOPS 360,000
New York, May 11 2009 2:00PM
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 (<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">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 <"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/4a0847362.html">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."
________________