Press Release (15 June, 2009)

SAP-PK urges the Government to abide by the 1973 constitution and UN Guiding Principles on IDPs.

Lahore. June 15: South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-Pk) expresses deep concern over the rapid increase in number of IDPs and dismally poor living conditions IDPs are going through. SAP-PK warns that upcoming monsoon pose a serious threat to the health of IDPs if timely preventive measures are not taken by the government. It also shows apprehension about the ongoing terrorism wave throughout the country which may sabotage the efforts of international relief agencies.

SAP-PK stressed the need to bring IDPs living with their relatives, which is a major chunk, into mainstream support structure as capacities of host families are being overstretched and also this process will help at arriving total size of IDPs. It urged the government to take preventive and safety measures on an urgent basis in order to avoid monsoon related complications. It also called upon the government to arrange on war footing for extra care of displaced person suffering trauma or other mental disorders. According to some sources about 30,000 of the IDPs are estimated to have severe mental disorders as a result of the stress and this number could double as the fighting goes on.

SAP-PK criticizes that government that it could not put in place an efficient registration process making it difficult to give an exact figure of IDPs. It demands the government to speed up the registration process and it must extend its focus from humanitarian relief to post –conflict- development. For this Government must come up with blueprint for reconstruction efforts for the war-shattered-areas and introduce a mechanism through which IDPs can held officials accountable in distribution of financial assistance.

SAP-PK demands the government to abide by the 1973 constitution of Pakistan and UN Guiding Principles on IDPs which states that IDPs are entitled to adequate living standards for which the government must provide protection and humanitarian assistance. It also emphasized the need to take extra measures to restore the confidence of international relief agencies whose services at the moment are indispensable for the people at IDPs camps.