Communiqué de presse Pakistan: MdM expresses concerns about the earthquake victims returning home
April 11, 2006
In Pakistan, six months after the earthquake, the disaster-stricken villages have not yet been rebuilt. Yet the displaced people have been forced to leave the camps to return to their land of origin. Médecins du Monde is expressing its concern about this return into the affected zones where neither the minimum basic vital services nor access to healthcare are guaranteed today.
The earthquake of 8 October 2005 killed at least 80,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of people without shelter. From November 2005, these people had been urged by the Pakistan authorities to seek refuge in temporary camps. All throughout the winter, Médecins du Monde has accompanied and cared for these displaced people in two official camps and 10 spontaneously formed camps in Islamabad and in the NWFP region.
The authorities unilaterally decided to close the camps - first on 31 March and then on 10 April 2006 - without prior consultation and against the will of the majority of displaced people who wished to wait until the end of winter.
Given that the current weather conditions are causing a number of landslides, and the conditions for a decent life in their village of origin will not be realised, it is reasonably difficult to envisage people returning as from today. The displaced people are still living in tents and a good number no longer have land nor the financial means to rebuild their house and resume a normal life. Furthermore, they are worried about the lack of food, access to drinkable water and the provision of education in their village where the infrastructures have not yet been rebuilt. Additionally, in the majority of the affected zones, no access to healthcare has been re-established. Finally, some families remain distressed by the prospect of returning to the land where they lost their loved ones.
In spite of all this, we take note each day of the constraints put on families to make them leave the camps more quickly: the lack of food distribution, contradictory information and promises without guarantees. Today, the camps where we work have already been largely emptied of their occupants. Sometimes, trucks in charge of transport deposit families and their belongings on the main roads with many days walking ahead of them to their village.
Today, we fear for an impoverishment of these vulnerable people that the system of financial compensation set in place by the government will not be able to prevent from happening.
Whilst we are continuing to guarantee medical aid in the camps and in the affected zones people are returning to, Médecins du Monde appeals for respect for the dignity of the displaced people. We ask for the Pakistan authorities to supply acceptable living conditions in the villages as quickly as possible, and to act immediately to re-establish access to healthcare.
MdM press office:
Florence Priolet - Annabelle Quénet
00 33 (0)1 44 92 14 31/14 32
infomdm@medecinsdumonde.net
www.medecinsdumonde.org