Aid response to Pakistan floods inadequate

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- New flooding alerts have forced tens of thousands of people in the northwest Pakistani province of Singh to flee their homes, while aid response to the flood-ravaged country is still considered inadequate.

The United Nations says 6 million people desperately need emergency aid, but most still have not yet received it.

"What is clear is that we need a lot more and we need it quickly," said John Holmes, the humanitarian coordinator for the United Nations, the New York Times reports.

The international response to recent disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti and the Asian tsunami in 2004 were propelled partly by the massive, sudden loss of life and gripping images of rescue efforts, he noted.

U.K. Development Minister Andrew Mitchell, touring devastated areas in northwest Pakistan, told the BBC Wednesday about the "awesome force of nature" that swept through the region, leaving water marks on the walls 12 feet high and wiping out everything in its path.

The affected area, he pointed out, covers a 1,200-mile front, an area the size of England.

"The challenge here now is to make sure people can rebuild their lives as fast as possible," Mitchell said.

While this catastrophe may not have been widely understood in the international community so far, he said, "there's no excuse for it not being understood now."

Akbar Ahmed, former Pakistani ambassador to the United Kingdom, told the BBC that compared with the outpouring of sympathy and aid after the 2006 tsunami in Asia and the earthquake in Haiti, the response to Pakistan's disaster has been "almost casual, lackadaisical."

Ahmed, who is now chair of Islamic Studies at the American University in Washington, said the way Pakistanis are portrayed in the media could explain in part the casual response their plight has elicited.

Because of "almost routine 'paki-bashing'" in the media, "Pakistan has become almost synonymous with extremism and violence and terrorism."

"People feel, 'why should we be aiding a country that is essentially supporting terrorism?' That is the consequence of a lot of irresponsible commentators, simply labeling an entire nation, a nation of terrorists."

He called for the United States to "show itself as a strong, visible friend of Pakistan."

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, for his part, in responding to a reporter's questions about a possible lack of trust from potential donors that the Pakistani government would not properly allocate funds to help victims, said, "I assure the entire international community who will be supplying aid in any form … we give them assurance we will be auditable," adding that the government is considering hiring international audit firms to monitor the funds.

"This (aid) belongs to the poor people, the flood victims," Malik said.