Camp politics
There aren’t too many shelter options available with the IDPs as the camps are packed to capacity -- and the registration slow and not so easy a process
By Delawar Jan
After more than 20 days of intense military operation in Swat valley, and a month in its neighbouring Lower Dir and Buner districts, the locals continue to abandon their homes, in search of safe shelters in other parts of the country.

influx
Victim of the victims
The predicament of the IDPs arriving in Sindh is aggravated by the unwelcome attitude of the 'nationalists’
By Adeel Pathan
The nationalist parties of Sindh, especially those that demand a greater autonomy for the province, have not only opposed the temporary settlement of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Malakand division in the province, they have actually taken to streets to register their protest.

For little mercies
Their friends had separated from one another and a whole lot of them had no clue if there would be anyone to look after them at all. For the young boys of the war-hit Khapal Kor orphanage, it was the most terrifying experience of their life
By Aoun Sahi
Hamadullah, a 15 year old student at Khapal Kor orphanage in Mingora city, looks up to the Taliban as his heroes. He even chants a slogan in Pushto that goes, "You will have to accept them (Taliban) in Afghanistan and Iraq and in Swat!"

A certain percentage can always go astray…
Other than a few small, reported incidents, the relief work is generally being managed without any major complaints of corruption so far. But there has to be a way to minimise the possibility of it taking shape in the future
By Alefia T Hussain
Characteristically, news of corrupt practices adopted in the deliverance of relief goods has started to make rounds, arousing suspicion among people that millions of dollars pledged in aid may end up lining the pockets of dishonest officials and relief workers while the internally displaced persons struggle in conditions of despair.

We started off with a discussion on the ethnic dimension of the IDPs, as the Pushtoons forced to flee from their homes in Malakand, Swat and Buner are being described. Obviously we did so in the backdrop of the strike calls by the nationalists in Sindh and the MQM in Karachi, warning against an IDPs’ influx in the Sindh province.

We dropped the idea of a Special Report on the issue of ethnicity in Pakistan. These are troubled times and responsible journalism requires that such trends are not fomented.

As we close our pages, though, the issue is laid wide open, by analysts on the op-ed pages of newspapers. And why should it not; if the political forces feel no shame in articulating their ethnic demands, analysts must remind them of the implications. One of them rightly notices that if sixty years ago, the then sons of soil had refused the then homeless people shelter, where would they be today.

That the two million or so IDPs can go wherever they want, as per the country’s constitution, is an inanity. The Punjab government is promising generous grants but would not have an IDP camp within its provincial territory. The Sindhi nationalists have threatened to go to the province’s border to physically stop them. The MQM beats the Taliban-in-the-guise-of-IDPs drum once again.

2 million IDPs. A cold statistic with an equally cold jargon to describe helpless people who have been forced to leave their homes, livelihoods, crops, in some cases handicapped children, behind. A migration that is said to be the biggest in the country’s history after partition.

As the issue of millions of migrants takes an ugly ethnic turn, we are forced to put off important questions like: did anyone foresee this humanitarian crisis before launching the operation? When will the operation end and will these IDPs get a chance to go back home and how? What exactly is happening in the conflict areas?

We don’t have the answers. So we stick to only those questions that we can handle.

Gradually, the scale of the humanitarian crisis caused by Pakistan’s largest displacement of people as a result of the huge military operations against Taliban militants in parts of the NWFP is becoming evident. But the full level of the human tragedy has neither been quantified nor understood due to the inability of the government officials, non-governmental organizations, aid workers and the media to reach out to all those recently displaced from Swat and rest of Malakand division and earlier from Bajaur and Mohmand tribal regions.

In fact, a fresh wave of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from South Waziristan, Orakzai and Kurram tribal agencies is now heading for safer places in southern NWFP and beyond. Jet-fighters and gunship helicopters have been carrying out bombing raids in Orakzai Agency for some time now while long-range artillery guns were used recently to attack suspected militants’ hideouts of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) head Baitullah Mahsud in the Mahsud tribal territory of South Waziristan. The new military campaign in these tribal areas has driven a large number of people out of their homes and villages and rendered them shelterless. No figures of these newly displaced persons are presently available as they haven’t been registered, but it would surely add to the number of IDPs in the province.

An unguarded statement by President Asif Ali Zardari in which he talked about starting military action in Waziristan also prompted households in South Waziristan’s Mahsud-inhabited areas to start migrating to other places. Though the President’s office subsequently denied the statement that was part of an interview granted to a British newspaper, the damage was done as so many families were displaced.

As Pakistan Army troops headed for Kurram Agency on May 28 in what appeared to be the start of a new military operation, there were reports of displacement from villages near the Pak-Afghan border and in lower Kurram valley largely inhabited by Sunnis. The troops could try and push the militants out of this area and reopen the Thall-Parachinar road that has been blocked for months and has brought suffering to the blockaded people inhabiting the upper Kurram valley. It was also possible that the deployment of Pakistani soldiers on this side of the Durand Line was part of a new, coordinated effort in partnership with the US-led Nato forces operating in Afghanistan and preparing to launch fresh anti-Taliban operations following the planned summer-time surge of US troops.

Prior to the launch of the military operations in Malakand region, the province was already burdened by almost 600,000 IDPs from Bajaur and Mohmand tribal areas. If that figure is added to the almost 2.4 million newly uprooted persons from Swat, Buner, Lower Dir and rest of Malakand division, the total number of IDPs has already shot up to three million. And it is being predicted that the figure could go up to 3.5 million or even more.

The magnitude of the problem could be better understood by comparing the number of our IDPs with the Afghan refugees who came to Pakistan after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. The number of Afghan refugees at one time peaked to almost five million, which was an estimate as many people weren’t registered. However, the figure of Afghan refugees in Pakistan mostly averaged three million. And one must remember that the Afghans were displaced over a long period of war starting from 1978-79. The Afghan war saw different phases such as withdrawal of Soviet forces in February 1989, the Mujahideen takeover of Afghanistan in April 1992, the Taliban capture of power in September 1996 and the US invasion of the country in 2001. Apart from the endless fighting that has continued for three decades, Afghanistan was also confronted with natural calamities and man-made disasters that destroyed its economy and deeply affected the lives of its people.

In comparison, the Pakistani IDPs were uprooted in the course of a few weeks in the case of those from Malakand division and over a period of some months earlier from Bajaur and Mohmand agencies. Unlike the Afghan refugees who came from every where of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan, the displaced persons in Pakistan belong to one region only. The major reason for the record displacement in Pakistan is the use of heavy weapons by the Pakistani armed forces. Bombing by jet-fighters, including F-16s, and gunship helicopters in densely-populated areas in Swat, Buner, Lower Dir and Upper Dir was bound to frighten communities to abandon their homes to save their lives. Then there was the continuous use of heavy artillery that pounded long-range targets in far-off places. The military commanders must have figured out their best options while carrying out attacks against the militants in congested valleys of Swat, Buner and Dir, but questions must be asked whether such tactics are effective against a mobile force of Taliban guerillas familiar with the terrain. The fact that none of the top Taliban leaders and commanders has been killed until now could be cited as the shortcoming of these tactics and also the inadequacy of the intelligence agencies.

Certain mishaps in which civilians were hit by air strikes or by artillery shells also scared away villagers and forced them to migrate. One Swati family walking on foot that crossed the mountain pass to enter Dir, lost eight members in an attack by a military helicopter and then narrated its ordeal at a press conference in Pakistan.

The IDPs returning to Buner from Mardan and hoping to harvest their ripe wheat crop too got hit by a gunship helicopter and suffered casualties. This halted the repatriation of those IDPs who at any cost wanted to return to Buner, which has almost been cleared of militants by the military, to harvest their wheat crop. The government was keen for the Buner IDPs, and also those from Bajaur, to return home so that the relief camps could take in newly displaced persons in their place. Some IDPs from Bajaur belonging to its Mohmand area were sent back from camps in Peshawar and Nowshera but they could be uprooted again as the situation was still uncertain in their villages due to the recent threat by the government to restart military action there against the militants.

The government was certainly not prepared to receive so many IDPs. The ANP-PPP coalition government in the NWFP was expecting up to half a million IDPs and arrangements for even that small number of displaced people weren’t made when the first wave started reaching Mardan and Swabi, the two neighbouring districts that have accommodated most of the uprooted families. With more than 80 per cent of the IDPs staying outside the 10 new designated camps, the government was lucky that the burden of caring for the displaced people was being shared by generous host families who spared rooms, houses and hujras to accommodate the uprooted families. The 17 total camps, including seven old ones, took in only about 200,000 IDPs while the rest were accommodated by families mostly in Mardan and Swabi in keeping with the great Pakhtun tradition of hospitality. However, it is a moot point that for how long the local families would be able to host the IDPs.

The IDPs too are getting restless. Protests break out often at the relief distribution and registration points and the camps over delays and perceived injustices. Life in the camps lacking electricity due to the high summer temperatures is tough and many families left or are searching for houses where they could shift. Then there is the issue of the older IDPs from Bajaur and Mohmand agencies complaining about discrimination as they believe the displaced people from Malakand division were getting a better deal. The provincial government feels it is responsible for the Malakand region IDPs and not the ones from tribal areas such as Bajaur and Mohmand, which fall in FATA and are administered by the federal government through the Governor of NWFP. Allegations of corruption in distribution of relief goods are already being heard. The threatened ban on IDPs entering Sindh and the three province-wide strikes called by Sindhi nationalist parties and the MQM and Punjab’s reluctance to open camps for the displaced persons in the province have complicated matters, hurt the Pakhtuns and fuelled ethnic sentiment.

If the military operations are prolonged, the leadership of Taliban militants isn’t captured or eliminated and places like Swat aren’t stabilised, the IDPs’ issue will become even more complicated. The retaliatory suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism by the militants could also test the patience of the people and contribute to the concerns of the IDPs.

Most of the IDPs say they are angry with the Taliban for exposing them to sufferings, but they also blame the military and the government for causing their displacement. Still they would now want the army to deliver them peace and a quick return to their homes and villages. If that doesn’t happen, Pakistan would have to cope with a large number of discontented people and the Taliban would not find it difficult to recruit some of them for militant causes.

After more than 20 days of intense military operation in Swat valley, and a month in its neighbouring Lower Dir and Buner districts, the locals continue to abandon their homes, in search of safe shelters in other parts of the country.

While the number of the internally displaced persons, says the NWFP government spokesman Mian Iftikhar Hussain, can well exceed three million, hundreds of thousands are still trapped in the fighting zones due to fighting and curfew. Although a majority of the people wants to move out of their homes, they are stranded as the movement of vehicles, including coaches, buses, trucks and cars has been restricted by the curfew. Consequently, there’s a famine-like situation in Bahrain, Madyan, Kalam, Khwazakhela, Kabal, Mingora and other towns and villages.

Yet, some desperate families and individuals are fleeing on foot using unfrequented mountain paths, which exposes them to danger as they can easily be fired at by the security forces -- mistaking them for Taliban, who have their hideouts in the mountains.

To facilitate the IDPs, the NWFP government has set up 86 registration points in Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera, Charsadda, Kohat and Swabi districts. It has established 17 relief camps - eight recently set up - with the major camps in Jalozai (Nowshera), Sheikh Yasin, Sheikh Shahzad, Jalala, Mazdoorabad (Mardan), Shah Mansoor, Yar Hussain (Swabi) and Palosa in Charsadda district. Despite these facilities there are growing complaints regarding the registration process.

The IDPs accuse the authorities of delaying the registration process. They are forced to go from one camp to another to get them enlisted. Such is their desperation that in the precincts of the camps these persons are often seen running after any well-dress person, mistaking him for an official responsible for the registration. They are not told where to get them registered, and which camp to go to for speedy registration. Also, they cannot afford to go from camp to camp as the high transport fares are unaffordable.

The registration process for new IDPs in Mardan and Nowshera districts has stopped. Camps Sheikh Shahzad, Jalala, Jalozai, Sheikh Yasin are not taking in more IDPs. The affectees complain that they have not been guided by the authorities appropriately. "We stopped registering IDPs here about 12 days ago because we have more people than our capacity," says Mudassar Riaz Malik In-charge Sheikh Shahzad camp. Asked about the lacunas in the registration process, he says, "It’s transparent. UNHCR and Afghan Commissionerate, organisations that have rich experience in refugee registration, have been entrusted with the task."

Ali Anan Qamar, In-charge Jalala camp in Mardan, says that his camp is overflowing with people and is therefore not admitting fresh IDPs.

The largest camp for IDPs from Bajaur, Swat, Dir and Buner is located in Jalozai area of Nowshera district, where registration has also been stopped. There are already 94,678 persons (belonging to 15,840 registered families) from the troubled areas. However, an official tells The News on Sunday that the number of families at the camp is less that the number actually registered. "This is because some families have been registered twice. Roughly, the actual number of families at the camp must not be more than 1,800," he says. He further adds that the authorities were working to get the figures corrected. "Besides, about 6,868 persons from Bajaur have returned home."

Another official says that some IDPs have registered themselves at more than one camp so they can have access to additional relief items.

According to official estimates, about 198,601 persons are living in camps. However, close to 2,385,767 individuals (of 311,406 families) are residing outside the camps, with relatives or in rented accommodation in Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda and Nowshera.

Emergency Response Unit (ERU) has been setup to strengthen the function of the Provincial Relief Commissionerate (PRC) to provide shelter and relief to the IDPs. ERU says the assistance provided by donors is huge; however, it is impossible to provide similar standard of living to the IDPs they were enjoying in their homes.

The nationalist parties of Sindh, especially those that demand a greater autonomy for the province, have not only opposed the temporary settlement of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Malakand division in the province, they have actually taken to streets to register their protest.

These parties see the IDPs as a burden on the deteriorating economy of Sindh. On May 23 and 25, the two factions of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), observed a strike supported by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Violence broke out as a consequence of the strikes that not only paralysed life in the //city //Karachi// but also forced businesses to close down, causing them losses of billions of rupees besides leaving half a dozen persons dead in assorted incidents where the vehicles were set to fire.

Sher Zaman of Buner, a bookseller and a father of six, says he left his hometown "in extreme circumstances", landing in Hyderabad where he had to take up lodgings in the premises of a cement factory.

Jehanzeb Khan, a labourer from the affected Kohana area, arrived in Hyderabad with his wife and five children. He tells TNS that he was "forced to flee with just a few clothes because of firing and bombardment in our area".

Both Sher Zaman and Jehanzeb say they will return "as just as the situation becomes normal back home".

To add to their woes, these dislocated people have to face the regional forces that strongly oppose their existence in the province. The ruling coalition partners -- Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and MQM -- are all for resisting the arrival of IDPs in Sindh.

Dr Qadir Magsi, Chairman, Sindh Tarraqi Passand Party (STPP), opines that those who are carrying out the operation in the northern areas should have developed a strategy beforehand. Measures should have been taken to save people from being displaced, he tells TNS.

Interestingly, Dr Magsi sees a kind of a 'method’ in the mad rush of the IDPs (in Sindh). They couldn’t have travelled the long distance of 1200 to 1500 kilometres not to settle in Sindh, he quips.

"There’s a lobby that is helping these displaced people to settle in our motherland. …The situation poses a huge security threat to the natives who fear they might be forced to shift into camps."

He promises the "movement" will continue.

The parties who are a part of the Sindh government propose that the IDPs should be registered. Salahuddin, an MQM leader and the member of the National Assembly from Hyderabad, says the IDPs should be accommodated close to their own areas. Sindh is already dealing with the issue of an increasing population; more people would mean adding to its burden.

"We fear there might be some militants in the disguise of the IDPs," he declares. "Talibans are a threat not just to Karachi or Sindh, but to the entire world."

He urges the government to provide financial support to the IDPs and registration should be made compulsory. They should be kept in camps and returned to their areas as soon as possible.

Zulfiqar Halipoto, Secretary, Sindh Democratic Forum (SDF), tells TNS that the "reason why the peaceful, progressive and hospitable people of Dir, Swat, Buner, FATA and the northern areas of Pakhtoonkhwa have had to face the worst displacement in our history is the continuity of the wrong policies of the military dictators.

"My heart goes out to the unfortunate IDPs. But the Sindhis’ past experience with migrants is too bitter to be forgotten. We extended a generous welcome to the migrants of 1947 but we were later hunted down and killed in our own cities," he says firmly.

On the other hand, Asmatullah Khan Mehsud, Senior Vice President, Awami National Party’s Sindh chapter, says the displaced people are Swatis and their making a normal living depends on their returning to their native areas.

"But their businesses and homes have been destroyed and the conditions in the relief camps are also very bad, which is why they have had to move down to Lahore, Karachi and other cities where they have got some acquaintances."

Mehsud insists that the IDPs are "not migrants. According to the Constitution, they are free to go anywhere in the country."

He maintains that the nationalist parties have the right to express their reservations but this should be free of violence.

Mehsud also speaks of an ANP delegation meeting the nationalists in order to allay their unfounded fears.

Abdul Wahid Arisar, the chief of his own faction of JSQM, is not convinced. The success or failure of the strikes should be taken as a referendum, he declares.

Asked as to what they would do to stop the IDPs from entering into the province, he says the party "will go to any extent", even if that means going to Ubaro (a town on the border of Sindh) to physically stop them.

He insists that these people have got a "jihadi mentality" that would badly damage the image of Sindh, seen as the home of Sufism. He denies the involvement of his party and other nationalist groups in attacking the Pakhtoons living in Sindh, saying that these were occasional incidents that might have occurred because of the people’s own feuds. "We are a non-violent nation and followers of G M Syed."

Sassui Palejo, Minister for Culture, Sindh, says demonstrations and strikes are a democratic way but they should not inspire ethnic violence.

Reportedly, the police as well as revenue officials have started registering the IDPs on two different points in Karachi and Hyderabad. The number of the displaced people arriving in Sindh is being calculated.

The writer can be reached at journalistadeel@yahoo.com

Hamadullah, a 15 year old student at Khapal Kor orphanage in Mingora city, looks up to the Taliban as his heroes. He even chants a slogan in Pushto that goes, "You will have to accept them (Taliban) in Afghanistan and Iraq and in Swat!"

Sitting in the premises of the girls’ higher secondary school, university town, Peshawar, where he has taken refuge along with some of his friends, Hamadullah tells TNS, "I used to buy CDs of the Taliban songs when I was in Mingora. They want Islam and Shariah and they also help the poor to get justice."

He says he left the orphanage along with some 60 fellows of his, in the early hours of May 9 when the curfew was relaxed in Mingora where the fiercest battle was being fought between the security forces and the Taliban militants.

The location of the four-storey building (of the orphanage) -- it lay between the military headquarters and the hills captured by the Taliban -- was geographically unfit for use by the boys. As Haji Muhammad Ali, Director, Khapal Kor Foundation, puts it: "It housed over 100 rooms, a mosque and an auditorium. It provided a kind of a cover to the adjacent building of the Circuit House -- later converted into the military headquarters."

The orphanage had two wardens, six male teachers, four female teachers/assistants and 160 boys between ages 5 and 15. "As the war began, about 100 boys -- each of whom had a single parent -- quit the building and went off with their relatives to safer places, leaving behind the 60 orphans who had nobody to take care of them except their teachers.

This was a very traumatic time for the young boys. Their friends had separated from one another and a whole lot of them had no clue if there would be somebody to look after them at all.

Back in the orphanage, recalls Haji Muhammad, the situation was such that the boys had formed "two ideologically opposite groups. There were those who vehemently hated the Taliban because the latter had killed their family members, while others admired them as 'warriors of Islam’.

"This would occasionally lead to fights between them also," he says.

It is interesting to note that earlier the majority of people in Swat and Mingora supported the Taliban. "They would donate generously because they were promised quick justice," says an official at the orphanage, requesting anonymity.

Slowly, things began to change. The Taliban started imposing their rules with an iron hand, becoming highly oppressive. They would kill with impunity and punish people for singing, playing sports and watching TV.

According to the official, the Taliban now began to work in connivance with the criminals they had initially denounced. They would flog women in public for not covering their heads properly and hang the men on the poles for minor infractions and behead those found 'spying’.

"Most young orphans were a witness to the various acts of barbarism. Hence their hatred," he adds.

The teachers at Khapal Kor also speak to TNS about how, in early May, Taliban reinforcements started pouring into the city of Mingora. All of them were heavily armed and positioned themselves around the military compound and, subsequently, because of its proximity, the orphanage.

"The boys were trapped inside," says Amjad, a teacher. On the one hand, the Army fired heavily with howitzers and, on the other hand, the Taliban responded with mortars and rockets. "The windows of the school would remain shut. At night time, the boys would huddle together, shaken with fear, while the younger ones would cry no end."

Amjad recalls an incident of a suicide attack. "One day, a contingent of soldiers arrived at the orphanage. It was led by a young officer who asked for the head teacher’s permission to station a squad of riflemen on the building rooftop. He was refused. So the soldiers left, only to return the next day. This time they didn’t even ask for permission; they had got logs and ladders and quickly gained access to the rooftop.

"The boys were confined indoors. We tried our best to keep them busy in different activities and games such as tug-of-war, cricket, sketching and singing," he says.

"After a few days, some hundred boys had already left with their family members, while the remaining 60 daydreamed about fleeing."

For a 14-year-old, former boarder at the orphanage, "That entire week or so was a terrifying experience".

"I’ve never been so scared," he tells TNS. "I would watch other children, who had relatives, being taken away to safer places. But I had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. I feared for my teachers and friends also."

It was time to 'escape’. The teachers split the boys into two groups of 30. Each group was headed by one or two instructors. It was decided that the first group would leave early in the morning. The second was to follow half an hour later.

"There were thousands of refugees on the streets. We had to walk for hours before we hit the hilly pathway to Chakdara," says Mukhtaruddin, 14.

"On our way we ran into the Taliban several times. They looked scary but we found them to be surprisingly polite and helpful. They cautioned us about the minefields ahead.

"We also saw trucks burning, dead bodies and debris of buildings scattered all around."

The boys weren’t carrying any food or water. It was getting very hot in the day. Yet they walked on, helping each other wherever they could.

"There was 7-year-old Rasheed Ahmad who had a hunched back. It was hard for him to keep pace with the other boys. So we would take turns to carry him on our shoulders," Mukhtaruddin relates.

The boys were some six kilometres off Mingora, in the village Thana, when curfew was imposed yet again. "We had to stay overnight in a mosque in a small village. The people of the area were very nice to us and brought us food and water."

The next morning the boys were on the road again. Finally, they reached Chakdara from where they got the transport to go to Peshawar.

"All in all, it was one long, chaotic journey!" he says.

Though the boys made it, they ended up suffering from heatstroke and exhaustion, blisters and dehydration. Many of them who had left the orphanage with their fathers or uncles also arrived in Peshawar and had a happy reunion of sorts.

14 years old Ubaidullah was the last to join his friends in Peshawar. He had been separated from his group as he went searching for water and wandered off into a nearby town.

At one point, Ubaidullah lost hope that he’d find his lost group and started heading back to the war-hit orphanage.

On his way, he was stopped by a Taliban patrol. "I tried to explain what had happened to me, but they wouldn’t believe me. They accused me of spying and locked me in a small cell," he tells TNS.

It took him a lot of explaining to a Taliban commander before he was set free.

Outside, the curfew had been imposed. It was dangerous to travel. The army would shoot on sight as most suicide bombers were of his age and certainly a second Taliban patrol could turn out to be even nastier. But Ubaidullah says he moved forward anyway.

"I walked and ran and even crawled. I sneaked my way through the checkpoints, reaching the orphanage at nightfall. I jumped the rear fence and got inside."

Unfortunately, some army men got hold of him and started interrogating. It was after one of them was found to be a student of a certain instructor of his that Ubaidullah was allowed in.

Characteristically, news of corrupt practices adopted in the deliverance of relief goods has started to make rounds, arousing suspicion among people that millions of dollars pledged in aid may end up lining the pockets of dishonest officials and relief workers while the internally displaced persons struggle in conditions of despair.

Last week, six people including four officials were arrested by security personnel for stealing relief items from the Jalozai camp. Apparently they were after 36 steel plates, three tarpaulins, 60 packets of biscuits and 20 kilograms of sugar. Five of the six were arrested; one escaped.

In another incident, reportedly District Nazim Mardan Himayatullah Mayar accused Mardan division commissioner of taking way an electricity generator donated for the relief camps of IDPs.

One has also heard of incidents of multiple registrations and in some cases affectees availing more relief goods than they are entitled to.

Other than these small incidents of corruption reported both on the part of criminal elements and low level government operators in the camps, the relief work is generally being managed without any major complaints of corruption. An observer, who refuses to be named, says, "At most some people are getting 10 sacks of wheat instead of two. Not the sort of corruption that buys you a flat in Dubai."

However, he says, some bottlenecks exist such as in the issuance of permanent cards by UNHCR after vetting in Peshawar. While the person waits to be issued a permanent card, he is registered on a temporary IDP card to make him eligible to receive relief goods. "This process is very slow. Consequently, the supply of relief goods is often suspended for those with temporary cards because of fears of abuse. This bottleneck critically needs to be sped up and liberal policies need to be implemented concerning those with multiple registration. It is very likely that one should register at one place and then at another because he has heard rumours that some facility that he needs is available elsewhere."

Baffled by the gravity of the situation (which has displaced more than 2 million persons), Pakistan government appealed to the international community for aid to support the victims of the operation. On May 21, 2009, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani chaired a donor conference in Islamabad where international donors and agencies pledges of $224m. This includes the $110 million pledged by the United States earlier. Besides the US, countries that have pledged donation include: Japan ($43.5 million), UK ($18.54 million, France ($16.32 million), Germany ($17.67), Cananda ($ 4million), Denmark and China ($1 million each), Norway ($2.75 million), and European Commission ($9.52 million).

Alongside, the United Nations is appealing for $500 to $600 million to help persons displaced by fighting in the Swat Valley. The Pakistani government has committed to donate $100 million for relief efforts, and one-time grant of Rs 25,000 ($300) to each displaced family.

That’s a lot of money, and is likely to make many eyes roll with greed. This kind of cynicism may appall the soft-hearted among us. But the fact is that corruption and negligence can so easily be made the byproducts of disaster relief work. So easily a certain perce ntage of aid can go astray. Take the experience of the Sri Lankan tsumani, when millions of dollars were pocketed by corrupt and greedy contractors. The case of Darfur in Sudan is not much different.

How then a poor, developing country like Pakistan, where the government officials are more concerned about their personal wellbeing and less about the desperately needy, cannot be susceptible to such an ill? Even if the State Minister for Economic Affairs assures in a newspaper report that the pledged amount will be used for relief and rehabilitation through the UN agencies and the International Committee of Red Cross, and that the donors will be briefed about the transparent use of aid, the chances of going astray remain there.

"Unfortunately, corruption does take place in relief operations," confirms Zubair Murshed, Advisor, National Disaster Risk Reduction in UNDP.

He adds, "It can take place at various levels from top to bottom, depending on who is involved in the management of aid and operations; e.g. parliamentarians, political party leaders, bureaucrats, UN officials, NGOs workers, individual philanthropists and military. Other individuals and families, who are not affected by the situation, may also be involved in gathering goods by portraying themselves as affected."

He believes that corruption can occur in institutions and at all levels, less in some and more others, if the system does not guaranty transparency in the management of aid.

"It also depends on how one defines corruption," explains Murshed. "For example, in certain institutions, money making or stealing may not be prevalent as such. However, the costs of overheads can be exorbitant. This can also be considered a kind of corruption, because little aid reaches the survivors and more is taken away by the managers of aid."

For now, the money is swilling from national and international sources and from individual philanthropists -- because people who are migrating in droves, occupy a noble place in the situation. They must be cared for. Therefore, now is the time to deal with the likelihood of corruption -- before it gets out of hand.

But how can the risk of corruption be minimised in a situation that exists before us? Murshed suggests one way is to reduce the number of middle-men involved in distribution of aid/relief to the survivors. "In the case of ERRA, all affected families were asked to open their bank accounts and get registered (with ERRA). Funds for the construction of houses and for monetisation of the affected families were directly transferred by ERRA to the beneficiary accounts. In this way, a number of potential middle-men, e.g. parliamentarians, bureaucracy and NGOs were by-passed and there were very few complaints of money making in the shelter sector.

"Enhance transparency of the aid management, e.g. how much aid has been received, which organisation has received how much, how many survivors they are serving and where. All of this information needs to be made available on websites, at public places, to the media through periodical updates, and at the offices of organisations managing aid. Only this can help in minimising suspicions about aid efficiency," he states.