RUSTAM, PAKISTAN (June 1, 2009) – This lush, green village should be a bucolic place. But it is full to bursting with some 30,000 people who have fled their homes. One seldom finds a place in Rustam where the makeshift settlements of displaced people aren’t visible. The local population – which, at 40,000, barely outnumbers the newcomers – faces a huge challenge housing them.
The problem stems from Rustam’s close proximity to the conflict zone. The village, in the district of Mardan, North West Frontier Province, is the closest to the border with embattled Buner district. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) have arrived in droves after the Pakistani army launched operations against militants in Buner in late April.
CARE and its partners have been active in helping meet the needs of displaced people, 80 percent of whom are scattered among communities, outside the large IDP camps established by the government and UN agencies.
“CARE has turned out to be a trendsetter in this massive humanitarian crisis by giving shelter to out-of-camp IDPs,” said Idrees Khan, mayor of Rustam Union Council.
“The UN and government give tents only to those persons living in camps. But the vast majority of IDPs live outside camps.”
Speaking at the distribution ceremony of tents among the IDPs on Sunday, he said the local people had run out of buildings and structures to house IDPs from Buner. The only solution, he added, is to provide tents that families can pitch anywhere they want.
Said Hasan Mazumdar, CARE International in Pakistan country director, “Pakistanis are more than generous toward their neighbors in need, but they are already overwhelmed. That’s why CARE is focusing on meeting needs in host communities, many of which were very poor to begin with.”
Khan expressed fear that the continued military operation could snowball into a more dangerous crisis. “Displaced persons are still coming and our schools and other state-owned buildings are filled with IDPs,” he said, adding that the second consignment of 150 tents provided by CARE helps a great deal.
Ajab Gul of Swari, Buner, who now lives in Rustam, said that until today he had been staying in the crowded home of relatives, in despicable conditions. “Now, I will be able to live in a tent with my family of five. I am thankful to CARE for helping us,” he said, after receiving a tent from the mayor.
Shakil Akhtar, a farmer from Ambela, Buner, said that CARE had provided shelter to his four small children. “I will erect the tent right now and show you today,” he said. Later in the evening he shifted his family to the tent from the room in a home under construction where they had been living.
Khan said authorities are carrying out a full investigation before handing any relief goods to the affected population. Every effort is being made to prevent the materials from going to the wrong hands, he said.
The mayor said he appreciated CARE’s distribution of relief goods for 500 families, and urged other organizations to follow the example.
Contact:
Rick Perera (Islamabad) +92 51 285 5923 x140, +92 (0)307 507 7736 (mobile), [email protected]