Photos by Isshaq Khoso & Mohummed Ali Khaskeli

Videos by Isshaq Khoso Taken over a period of Three days.

Our team travels along the flooded zone of Khairpur and adjacent areas. On average it covers about 10 groups of homeless affectees a day. These groups range in size from a few hundred to over a thousand. Many have occupied schools and government and private buildings while they wait for tents. Many still have nothing more than the shade of a tree. Bearing in mind that the temperatures in this region are extremely hot (54 centigrade/130 Farenhiet in the SHADE!) it is very difficult for the homeless to travel in the sun to reach camp sites aswell as medical camps. Unfortunately most medical camps are stationary and the city folk who have set them up expect severely sick bedridden affectees to walk several kilometers in the Sun to reach medical camps.

Prince Mehdi Raza, therefore, decided to launch a mobile relief team that can provide food and medicine to the homeless on the spot. Typically, the engagement with the affectees last from morning till midnight. The Prince is very alarmed to note that throughout this period the team has NOT come across any Pakistan government sponsored group providing aid. Even the military has not been encountered during our team’s travels in the affected areas. Where ever our team has visited, people have complained that no other party has come to their aid. At one point our team was mistaken for government representatives, and were attacked by vengeful people who had been suffering for days. Thankfully, they retreated after being told who we were. While the Military and the government have both been very visible on the media, our team has not come upon them as of date. This may be due to the fact that they are either completely overwhelmed or criminal negligence.

However, the government has provided significant aid in form of shelters (Tents) and the military has utilized the aid in some successful rescue efforts. Indeed, as famously corrupt the elected government is, the main cause of failure is the completely corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy. The government, realizing that the state machinery of Pakistan could not deliver, has belatedly contracted private parties to deliver food and aid. But still much less than what is needed or expected has been done. However, in Sindh it has been seen that camps for IDPs have practically no arrangement for hygiene and cleanliness, resulting in outbreak of disease in several camps as reported by KTN News 28-Aug.-2010.

Our Team came across several instances of government inefficiency. For instance, when we reached the Indus River Bank near Garhi Mori, we found the local people alarmed at the imminent breakage and inundation of the whole area. Repeated requests to the Irrigation department were completely ignored. The Prince then sent his own Staff with a heavy duty tractor that had an earth moving blade attached. Over the course of 4 days, 37 emerging cracks in the bank were sealed. The Prince repeatedly inquired if any assistance had come from the govt., and was shocked to learn that his staff and equipment were working alone throughout the period.

We were called to address the refuges camped at Sukker and Ghotki districts as well. Over a few hundred families were abandoned by the govt. in Panu Aqil. We were told the govt. had refused to register these families as IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) because they refused to stay in a government camp due to the miserable conditions there. As only registered IDPs were entitled to receive food and other form of aid, these families received no aid at all. They survived by begging from the already impoverished population of the area. While the needs of their food supply were met from local charity, there was no provision of much needed medical aid. Over six hundred people were seriously ill. We addressed the emergency effectively. We are also in the process of getting these refugees registered using the Prince's influence.

On our way to another camp we came across a protest on the main super-highway Pakistan in Sukker district. Several thousand refugees had blocked the road bringing the economic lifeline of the whole country to a standstill. All govt. and civilian vehicles were blocked. No govt. representative or politician dared to come to solve the situation. They were protesting the miserable conditions of the govt. camp in which they were stationed. They complained of starvation and disease and cried that their children were dying. Only our convoy was allowed to pass. On our return from the other camp we treated every sick individual amongst them whilst distributing food and clothing.