On Tuesday, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PMDA) announced that 37,757 families, comprising of 466,287 individuals had been registered as internally displaced people (IDPs) at Saidgee, Bannu. Nearly 42% of these are children, and together the registered account for nearly 70% of the total population in the region. That is close to half a million people, only the ones that are registered. The actual toll is likely considerably higher. Some refugees have escaped to urban centers as far down as Karachi, while others have made their way to cooler parts of the country such as Swat.
“The government’s initial dismal relief package is the reason ours and other relief camps have been setup,” says Muhamamd Jibran Nasir, a community leader in the port city of Karachi, who runs Hum Qadam, a food relief camp for the IDPs. “There is almost no donor confidence in the government at least in the ones we have met. People are comfortable knowing that the army is handling the relief goods. Hence we are collecting and providing all goods to the army for distribution.”
[quote]People are comfortable knowing the army is handling the relief goods[/quote]
Mismanagement of the crisis is rampant, and allegations of mismanagement more so. As is the case in every tragedy in Pakistan, political parties are striving strenuously to spin it to their advantage. Political point scoring and mudslinging take precedence over human decency and a genuine, innate need to help fellow countrymen. There is a bigger debate on whether this is a federal responsibility or a provincial one, than a debate on how to best go about helping those affected. Imran Khan first chastised the government for not being prepared for the refugee crisis adequately, tooted his own horn for jumping into the fray and helping the IDPs, and then in a speech in Bahawalpur, urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to refrain from politicking.
The self-evident irony notwithstanding, there is truth to Khan’s accusations. A camp set up for thousands in Bakkakhel has electricity, water, distribution points for rations, and a mobile hospital. It also has next to no IDPs. Other camps in Bannu are overrun by droves of refugees that are manhandled on a daily basis with aerial firing, beatings, and long lines in temperatures exceeding 42 degrees Celsius. Some have not received their ration cards as their records cannot be verified by NADRA, others go hungry because the lines can last the entire day. There have been protests and sit-ins at the Bannu-Kohat Road.
It does not help that the month of Ramzan brings its own set of tribulations for the distressed families.
“There is enough food and sufficient facilities”, says Safiullah Gul, Bureau Chief Peshawar for Dunya News, and a two decade veteran of the field. They anticipated the influx this time, and adequate measures were taken, but these are not the issues that plague the IDPs.” Gul believes there are three major areas that need better and efficient management: registration, mobility and health facilities.
Registration seems to be the biggest concern. At 466,287 registered individuals, nearly 240,000 residents of the region are still unaccounted for. Gul believes they are the lost, stuck in bureaucratic limbo, unable to go home, and unable to receive relief because they cannot be registered for a wide variety of reasons. “Registration seems to be the biggest problem. Ample food is pointless if you cannot access it,” says Gul.
[quote]Simply throwing more money and supplies at the problem will not solve it[/quote]
Mobility is the second big predicament. People have travelled for dozens of kilometers, sometimes on foot, to get to relief camps and registration points. There are security checkpoints that, while necessary, result in massive delays for those travelling without resources, even without water. Vehicular travel is next to impossible, and local drivers have hiked up the prices of transportation. IDPs face the very real threat of being turned away, if they cannot provide sufficient identification to check post officials.
A health worker marks a finger of a displaced child after administering polio vaccine drops
The third issue is health concerns. Traveling by foot has resulted in respiratory problems, heat stroke and dehydration, and medical facilities are overwhelmed with the influx of hundreds of thousands of individuals. There is an army camp now set up at Khalifa Gul Nawaz in Bannu Township, offering free medical checkups. “Even then, there is a dearth of female doctors and medical volunteers,” says Gul. “These people have strict cultural and traditional values, and the health facilities bring provided, especially for the women, are woefully inadequate.”
The IDP crisis in 2009 is being managed a little better in 2014, but it is nowhere near what it needs to be. The government adequately responded to a select few challenges, but newer, more resilient issues have sprung up, and compounded the problems that were never addressed. The political leadership needs to come together and find solutions to complex issues, such as registration and mobility. Simply throwing more money, or cartons packed with rations, at the problem will not solve it.
The author is a journalist and a development professional, and holds a Master’s degree in strategic communications from Ithaca College, New York. Email: zeeshan[dot]salahuddin[at]gmail[dot]com Twitter: @zeesalahuddin
