LibertyVox
08-17-2010, 07:57 AM
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/strangers-step-in-where-government-fails-20100813-12355.html
The region hit the hardest is northern and northwestern Pakistan, the part of the country at war with the state. I admire their courage, humanity, civility and compassion. This is also a lesson of what's possible even for the poorest of the poor without any help.
Main excerpts:
--''There was no warning. When the water came we just had to run,'' said Inzar Gul, one of those camped in the middle of the road. ''It came so fast I was up to my neck. I was almost completely submerged.''
But there were stories of hope amid the gloom.
Mr Burhan says residents of Armour Colony, a Nowshera neighbourhood unaffected by the floods, have taken in about 3000 families who have been left homeless.
''Some households here have three families living with them,'' he says. ''Many people have opened their hearts.''
Mr Burhan, 25, hosts a mobile Red Crescent health clinic at his home and the local community has helped set up a registration centre to facilitate food distribution by the World Food Program.
Mr Burhan estimates about 40 per cent of Nowshera's flood victims have been taken in by host families. A similar proportion of the homeless are being hosted by locals at nearby Charsadda, aid workers have been told.
---It is reminiscent of the response to the refugee crisis in the region in May last year when about 2 million people fled the fighting between government troops and Taliban insurgents in the nearby Swat Valley. While many ended up in refugee camps, most are believed to have been hosted by households in surrounding districts.
---This generosity highlights an aspect of Islam overshadowed by the publicity gained by violent extremists and those promoting a hardline interpretation of Sharia law in Pakistan. An important teaching of Islam is to show hospitality to strangers and those in need. This kind of behaviour is deeply entrenched in the region's traditions.
The Pakistan government has been criticised for its ham-fisted reaction to the crisis, and the international response has been sluggish. But many locals have shown great generosity.
Even so, most of flood victims are living rough.
---'We just don't know yet how much this disaster will affect the social fabric of this country,'' says Patrick Fuller, a spokesman for the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies.
An Afghan refugee camp on the outskirts of Nowshera that housed thousands was completely flattened in the deluge. There is an estimated 1.8 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan and many have been affected by the floods. Having lost homes and livelihoods in Pakistan, and facing war and possible persecution at home, could the floods push more Afghans to make an asylum bid to a third country such as Australia?
--Few of the flood victims interviewed by the Herald in Nowshera expressed anger at the government's response. They had little expectation that politicians would do anything to help.
''The local people will give us food,'' said Bhaktia, a homeless man, when asked if he expected more from the government.
Another said he knew nothing about politics: ''We are flood victims, we are not sitting around watching the politics on TV.''
---But the deep shortcomings of the Pakistan state have been exposed by the floods. There are fears that faith in Pakistan's democracy, only restored in 2008, could be further damaged by the government's lacklustre response to the disaster.
The decision of the unpopular President, Asif Ali Zardari, to go ahead with a foreign tour despite the floods has fuelled discontent.
The region hit the hardest is northern and northwestern Pakistan, the part of the country at war with the state. I admire their courage, humanity, civility and compassion. This is also a lesson of what's possible even for the poorest of the poor without any help.
Main excerpts:
--''There was no warning. When the water came we just had to run,'' said Inzar Gul, one of those camped in the middle of the road. ''It came so fast I was up to my neck. I was almost completely submerged.''
But there were stories of hope amid the gloom.
Mr Burhan says residents of Armour Colony, a Nowshera neighbourhood unaffected by the floods, have taken in about 3000 families who have been left homeless.
''Some households here have three families living with them,'' he says. ''Many people have opened their hearts.''
Mr Burhan, 25, hosts a mobile Red Crescent health clinic at his home and the local community has helped set up a registration centre to facilitate food distribution by the World Food Program.
Mr Burhan estimates about 40 per cent of Nowshera's flood victims have been taken in by host families. A similar proportion of the homeless are being hosted by locals at nearby Charsadda, aid workers have been told.
---It is reminiscent of the response to the refugee crisis in the region in May last year when about 2 million people fled the fighting between government troops and Taliban insurgents in the nearby Swat Valley. While many ended up in refugee camps, most are believed to have been hosted by households in surrounding districts.
---This generosity highlights an aspect of Islam overshadowed by the publicity gained by violent extremists and those promoting a hardline interpretation of Sharia law in Pakistan. An important teaching of Islam is to show hospitality to strangers and those in need. This kind of behaviour is deeply entrenched in the region's traditions.
The Pakistan government has been criticised for its ham-fisted reaction to the crisis, and the international response has been sluggish. But many locals have shown great generosity.
Even so, most of flood victims are living rough.
---'We just don't know yet how much this disaster will affect the social fabric of this country,'' says Patrick Fuller, a spokesman for the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies.
An Afghan refugee camp on the outskirts of Nowshera that housed thousands was completely flattened in the deluge. There is an estimated 1.8 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan and many have been affected by the floods. Having lost homes and livelihoods in Pakistan, and facing war and possible persecution at home, could the floods push more Afghans to make an asylum bid to a third country such as Australia?
--Few of the flood victims interviewed by the Herald in Nowshera expressed anger at the government's response. They had little expectation that politicians would do anything to help.
''The local people will give us food,'' said Bhaktia, a homeless man, when asked if he expected more from the government.
Another said he knew nothing about politics: ''We are flood victims, we are not sitting around watching the politics on TV.''
---But the deep shortcomings of the Pakistan state have been exposed by the floods. There are fears that faith in Pakistan's democracy, only restored in 2008, could be further damaged by the government's lacklustre response to the disaster.
The decision of the unpopular President, Asif Ali Zardari, to go ahead with a foreign tour despite the floods has fuelled discontent.