Pakistani implores world to help after floods

Pakistani flood survivors look into a tent to get relief in a camp set up for displaced people in Hyderabad, Pakistan, on Tuesday. Floodwaters that have devastated Pakistan for five weeks headed to the Arabian Sea on Tuesday after swallowing two final towns, but the challenges of delivering emergency aid to 8 million people remained. (Associated Press)

Story Topics

• Environment
• Disaster_Accident
• Politics
• Husain Haqqani
• Pakistan

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Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States is warning that militants will exploit the aftermath of devastating floods unless the international community moves quickly to alleviate the massive humanitarian crisis of 20 million dislocated people.

Ambassador Husain Haqqani said the international community has been slow to recognize the scale of the devastation, attributing the tepid global response to the relatively low death toll of 1,500.

“The rest of the world has to move fast and make sure that the floods do not result in a situation that can be exploited by extremists and militants,” Mr. Haqqani told The Washington Times in an interview at his office.

He said international leaders must recognize that the flood is a “major disaster” that has affected tens of millions in Pakistan.

“People should not measure tragedies only in terms of fatalities. They should recognize the potential for illness, the potential for long-term damage to the people, and the potential for people who were not in poverty before the floods falling into poverty,” he added.

Charities linked to militant groups have been providing aid to flood victims in an effort to build inroads with the community.

Mr. Haqqani said the flood had strained Pakistan’s capacity to deal with militants. The government is trying to clamp down on the groups, which had an initial advantage because they were physically present in the areas affected by the floods.

“They do not have the capacity to move large quantities of goods needed by the people. So after an initial media display, many of these groups are no longer visible and will become less and less visible,” Mr. Haqqani said.

Last week in Pakistan, Raj Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, was forced to cut short a visit to a food-distribution center in Sukkur after his security detail noticed suspicious people in the vicinity.

The camp was run by Falah-e-Insaniyat, a charity linked to the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, according to some reports, but Mr. Shah said it was a World Food Program food distribution center.

“Anti-democratic forces have a greater potential to benefit from this crisis than anyone else,” said Ayesha Siddiqa, an Islamabad-based political analyst.

But Mr. Haqqani downplayed the significance of Islamist charities.

“There are more than 3,000 government-run camps in the four provinces that have been affected by the floods. However … having been a journalist … I also realize that the sexier story is the 15 camps run by Islamist groups or 20 camps run by Islamist groups,” he said.

The flooding has submerged one-fifth of Pakistan’s territory, about the size of Italy.

In a column in the Boston Globe, Sen. John Kerry, who recently visited flood-affected areas in Pakistan, took note of the weak international response.

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