In Pakistan, An Exodus That Is Beyond Biblical

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Saima is one of 37 refugees now sharing the house of a stranger. Their host, Rizwan Ali, 59, says: 'It would be easier to die than to ask displaced people to leave for the camps'

In Pakistan, an exodus that is beyond biblical

Locals sell all they have to help millions displaced by battles with the Taliban

By Andrew Buncombe
Sunday, 31 May 2009

The language was already biblical; now the scale of what is happening matches it. The exodus of people forced from their homes in Pakistan's Swat Valley and elsewhere in the country's north-west may be as high as 2.4 million, aid officials say. Around the world, only a handful of war-spoiled countries – Sudan, Iraq, Colombia – have larger numbers of internal refugees. The speed of the displacement at its height – up to 85,000 people a day – was matched only during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. This is now one of the biggest sudden refugee crises the world has ever seen.

Until now, the worst of the problem has been kept largely out of sight. Of the total displaced by the military's operations against the Taliban – the army yesterday claimed a crucial breakthrough, taking control of the Swat Valley's main town, Mingora – just 200,000 people have been forced to live in the makeshift tent camps dotted around the southern fringe of the conflict zone. The vast majority were taken in by relatives, extended family members and local people wanting to help.

But this grassroots sense of charity is slowly starting to show real strain. In a week when the relentless danger of the militants was underlined by a massive car bomb in the city of Lahore that killed at least 30 people and injured hundreds more, aid groups have warned that the communities taking people in – already some of the planet's poorest people – could themselves be displaced as they desperately sell their few assets to help the homeless.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/in-pakistan-an-exodus-that-is-beyond-biblical-1693513.html

[msongs]

1. isn't religion wonderful? nt

[Orwellian_Ghost]

4. Much more to this than simply 'religion'

AfPak war depopulates and devastates north-west Pakistan
By James Cogan
1 June 2009

A little over a month ago, the Pakistani government acquiesced to the demands of the Obama administration to use brute force to eradicate radical Islamist influence in the north-west of the country, as part of the so-called AfPak war to secure American interests in Central Asia. The human cost and long-term political consequences are now becoming clear.

The Pakistani military claimed over the weekend that it had largely shattered the armed opposition in the Swat Valley, Lower Dir and Buner districts of North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

The pivotal victory has been the seizure of Mingora, the largest city in the Swat Valley. After a week or more of fighting, Pakistani troops reportedly control most of the central business district and the surrounding suburbs. Military spokesmen claim that after the insurgents lost 286 dead, the survivors escaped and have shaved off their trade-mark beards so as to melt into the civilian population.

Journalists and camera crews have been given controlled access to Mingora since Wednesday and been able to file both print and video reports on the state of the city. Al Jazeerah footage, for example, showed abandoned streets apart from Pakistani troops, and numerous damaged or destroyed buildings where the Islamist fighters had allegedly manned firing positions.

<snip>

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/paki-j01.shtml

[BolivarianHero]

2. That's beautiful...

Now if only Washington would man and take responsibility for fanning the fuels of Islamic terrorism in Pakistan in its quest to take out the ideologically and intellctually superior Soviet Union. Comparing communism to Islamism is like comparing Hagen Daz to dollar store popsicles.

[blindpig]

3. With a friend like the US, who needs enemies?

Afghanistan, the gift that keeps on giving.

k&r

[TBF]

5. History will judge us harshly for the carnage in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Not a legacy to be proud of, no matter what initial is after your name.