World | Pakistan
People displaced by conflict in Balochistan appeal for help
Shah Mohammad Bugti says his nine-month-old son has died and his daughter may soon follow if humanitarian aid does not reach tens of thousands of desperate tribesmen fleeing a civil conflict in Pakistan's tense southwest.
- AP
- Published: 00:00 December 30, 2006
- Image Credit: AP
- Shah Mohammad Bugti (right) and his wife (left) with their daughter in a makeshift home in Murid Bugti, about 260km east of Balochistan's capital Quetta. Bugti says his nine-month-old son has died and his daughter may soon follow if humanitarian aid does not reach tens of thousands of desperate tribesmen fleeing a civil conflict in Pakistan's tense southwest.
Murid Bugti: Shah Mohammad Bugti says his nine-month-old son has died and his daughter may soon follow if humanitarian aid does not reach tens of thousands of desperate tribesmen fleeing a civil conflict in Pakistan's tense southwest.
The 22-year-old is one the neglected refugees uprooted by fighting this year between government forces and ethnic Baloch rebels in the vast desert of Baluchistan province, the scene of long-running unrest over political rights and royalties from rich natural gas fields.
Speaking in a fetid, sprawling camp of huts and flimsy tents in a roadside field where dozens of barefoot and thin children scurry about in dusty lanes, Bugti said, "It seems that we have been living in hell for the past one year."
Tribal leaders say at least 76 people, mostly children, have died in the settlements in the past three months.
Forgotten
The conflict in Balochistan, Pakistan's biggest and poorest province, is a largely forgotten one. Western nations are more concerned over Taliban militants believed to be launching attacks from border regions of Baluchistan into Afghanistan where Nato forces operate.
Pakistan's government wants to develop the resource-rich region but has alienated the local Baloch population by its use of military force, and there is growing evidence the fighting has had a grave impact on displaced civilians.
Bugti, who according to custom, takes the name of his tribe, said his baby boy died of cold earlier this month. Now, his one-year-old daughter is seriously ill for lack of food, medicine and proper shelter.
"It gets extremely cold at night," Bugti said at the camp he has shared with thousands of other refugees for the past year. "We will all die without aid."
A survey by Unicef, has counted 84,000 displaced people, including 26,000 women and 33,000 children, and recommended a US$1 million (Dh3.68 million) emergency relief package. The government gave the plan the green light last week, but only after months of stalling.
The survey, conducted in August, found that 28 per cent of the children were suffering acute malnutrition and about 6 per cent could die without immediate help. Ronald Van Dijk, a senior program officer with Unicef, said last week it was likely some of those children had since died. Unicef plans to set up 57 feeding stations with local health workers in three districts.
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