LONDON, Nov 1: British MPs on return from Pakistan have expressed horror at the earthquake aftermath and said that the international community has to do much more than it has done and committed for the relief efforts.
On return from a four-day visit to Pakistan, British MP Sadiq Khan said: “This is a global catastrophe that demands a global solution. The response from the international community is inadequate. People are dying unnecessarily — there is a crisis unfolding in Pakistan and I do not think the international community realises the scale of it. Winter is setting in and soon villages will become even more inaccessible, leaving thousands to die of hypothermia and starvation.”
British MPs Sadiq Khan, Shahid Malik and Mohammed Sarwar were part of a delegation which visited Pakistan from Oct 27 to 31, and during the stay they held meetings with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and representatives of relief agencies, volunteers and army personnel involved in the quake relief efforts.
The delegation also visited Bagh, Balakot, Mansehra, Chatara Plain and Abbottabad.
On return to the UK, MP Khan told the reporters: “The UN Flash Appeal is for $549 million over six months, and only 13 per cent of it has been committed. This is disgraceful. There are funding shortages on the ground and the relief agency’s presence is insufficient at the moment.”
He said the British Department for International Development had pledged £33 million towards the relief effort and the UN Flash Appeal stood at $117.2 million. The DFID had sent 14 flights with over 900 tons of relief supplies.
He said the aid which the British government had given was great but it would not be enough to meet the needs of the earthquake victims.
Describing the horrors he witnessed, Mr Khan said: “The camps and medical centres that I visited were like war zones. It is impossible to describe just how bad it is. There are people who have lost their entire families — three generations wiped out when the earthquake struck. There are people who have lost limbs or had them amputated. There is a problem with these operations being badly performed, because no one is monitoring patients or following them up with aftercare.”
He said an international conference would be held in Pakistan on Nov 19 to discuss strategies to cope with the appalling situation in the quake-affected areas. He said in addition to more relief aid, the world community should put its head together to bring in trade concessions for Pakistan as was done for the countries affected by the tsunami.
