UN: 1 million more displaced by Pakistan floods
THATTA, Pakistan – Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis fled floodwaters Friday after the surging River Indus smashed through levees in two places, but many refused to leave the danger zone while others took shelter in an ancient graveyard for Muslim saints.
The new flooding came after the Taliban issued a veiled threat against foreign aid workers helping out in the crisis, a development likely to complicate the massive relief effort. More than 8 million people are in need of emergency assistance across the country.
I just saw this article today:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/06-pakistani-christians-face-aid-discrimination-vatican-rs-04
from the link above: “The Christian refugees are often ignored. They are purposely not identified and registered. Thus, they are automatically excluded from any health care or food, as they supposedly do not exist,” said a local NGO worker cited by Fides.
I wonder if situations like this are messing up the counting of the people affected by the flooding. There are reports of other religious minorities being denied entrance into refugee camps.
“The government and local clerics refused to shelter around 500 flood-affected families belonging to the Ahmadiya community in South Punjab’s relief camps.”:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/40435/the-politics-of-relief-aliens-in-their-own-land/
This news makes me wonder how accurate the count of the people affected can be if there are groups of people not being counted or helped because of their religion and the area’s politics.