In a statement on Tuesday, Pakistan’s military said rescue missions were continuing and international aid had begun arriving in the country, including seven military aircraft from Turkey and three from the United Arab Emirates. Helicopters had evacuated more than 300 trapped people and distributed more than 23 metric tons of relief goods, while more than 50 medical camps have been set up with more than 33,000 patients being treated, the statement said. Also on Tuesday, China will send two aircraft carrying 3,000 tents and Japan will send tarps and shelters, the statement said, adding that the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Azerbaijan have announced financial aid. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided another bailout on Monday, releasing $1.17 billion in bailout funds to prevent the South Asian country from defaulting on its debt as it grapples with political and economic turmoil exacerbated by unprecedented flooding. Peter Ophoff, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Pakistan told CNN he had not seen anything of this magnitude in his nearly three decades working for the aid agency. “Pakistan is in dire need and the damage is here and we will be in it for a long time,” he said. “We are not talking about months but years.” About 33 million people — or 15 percent of the population — have been affected by the floods and heavy rains, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC). At least 1,136 people, including 386 children, have been killed and 1,634 injured since mid-June, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said on Monday, as incessant rain raised fears of more casualties. The floods have also destroyed key infrastructure, including more than 130 bridges and nearly half a million houses, according to the NDMA. “By the time this is over, we could very well have a quarter or a third of Pakistan under water,” Pakistan’s climate change minister Sherry Rehman told Turkish news agency TRT World last week.
“water got in”
Dramatic scenes of devastation unfolded in Pakistan as floods inundated the country. It was raining but not too much, Ali Jan told Reuters on Monday as he stood surrounded by water in Chadsadda in northern Pakistan. But that quickly changed. “Suddenly the outer wall of the compound collapsed and water gushed in,” Yan said. “We just managed to save ourselves. When the women left the house, the water was almost halfway up. We evacuated the women and cattle. The rest is there for you to see. Crops have also been destroyed. ” In videos shared by the Alkhidmat Foundation in Pakistan, its volunteers used a bed frame and makeshift pulley system to help a child and an elderly man cross the rushing flood waters, according to the NGO’s digital media director Ihtisham Khaliq Waseer . More than 3,000 volunteers from the NGO are distributing aid across the country, he said. “We are receiving aid, but it is not enough with what we need on the ground, because the damage is much greater than expected,” he said, adding that volunteer groups have been delivering supplies to hard-to-reach areas for weeks. . Waseer said he hopes that as the rains weaken and flood waters recede next week based on weather forecasts, his team will be able to deliver food rations and set up medical centers in remote areas.
Climate crisis
Even before the floods, Pakistan had suffered disproportionately from the climate crisis, according to researchers and aid groups. Last year, Pakistan was ranked the eighth most affected country by climate change from 2000 to 2019, in the Global Climate Risk Index by the non-profit group Germanwatch. “This is a climate crisis,” Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF’s Pakistan representative, told CNN on Tuesday. “A climate that has been largely driven by richer countries, contributing to the crisis, and I think it’s time the world responded to support Pakistan in this time of need.” In a statement on Monday, IRC Pakistan country director Shabnam Baloch said the country “suffers the consequences of the world’s inaction” on climate change “despite producing less than 1% of the world’s carbon footprint”. A lack of sanitation facilities and clean drinking water has exacerbated the risk of disease spreading in the flooded areas, with nearly 20,000 people in need of critical food and medical support, Baloch added. “Our needs assessment showed that we are already seeing a big increase in cases of diarrhea, skin infections, malaria and other diseases,” he said. “We are urgently asking donors to step up their support and help us save lives.”
IMF bailout
The funds earmarked for release by the IMF on Monday are part of a 2019 bailout deal to “put Pakistan’s economy on the path to sustainable and balanced growth,” according to the IMF. “Pakistan’s economy has been hit by adverse external conditions, due to spillovers from the war in Ukraine and domestic challenges,” Antoinette Sayer, the IMF’s deputy managing director and deputy president, said in a statement on Monday. The IMF has been criticized in the past for imposing severe austerity on recipient countries, forcing governments to cut social programs and privatize national industries. The conditions imposed by the IMF have forced Pakistan’s government to take unpopular decisions such as raising electricity tariffs and doubling the cost of fuel amid soaring inflation. Additional reporting by Reuters.
