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UNITED NATIONS Over 40,000 more internally displaced persons moved from conflict areas in Swat to safe areas in Mardan, Charsadda and Peshawar districts of NWFP, a United Nations spokesperson said here on Friday.
Earlier the UN refugee agency reported that some 20,000 people had been moved into already crowded and under-funded camps, but then the figure was revised to 40,000.
The United Nations again warned that the camps were overcrowded and under-funded and stressed the need for more funding by the international community.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees is extending two camps in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) that it had set up earlier this week in a bid to accommodate the new wave of internally displaced persons (IDPs) escaping the fighting in Swat.
More than 260,000 of the 2.6 million IDPs are sheltered in 21 camps across the region, including over 5,000 who fled to the two new camps - Sugar Mill camp in Charsadda district and the Larama camp in Peshawar - in a break in the curfew over the weekend.
'In Larama more than 1,600 people have been registered since the camp opened on Tuesday,' UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond said.
'They have received relief items from UNHCR, including mats, jerry cans and kitchen sets,' added Mr Redmond. 'Our local partner, the Society for Social Development (SSD), is continuing to level new ground today so we can pitch more tents for possible additional arrivals.'
He said that camps in Mardan had reached full capacity, and the newly displaced are being directed to camps in Swabi, Charsadda and Peshawar, adding that the UNHCR was continuing work to expand existing camps in anticipation of new arrivals, and improve conditions while it looks for new sites.
'UNHCR still needs some $67 million out of a total appeal of $105 million for its operation helping displaced persons in Pakistan until the end of the year,' said Mr Redmond, stressing that this amount was calculated on the assumption there would be 1.5 million IDPs, a figure which is close to doubling.
