” We quarrel the most destitute to dispense with the complaint. Vauvenargues
Having faced the worst flooding rains of its existence, Pakistan’s people dying in silence in the general indifference. The importance of the flood of horror is eloquent: we counted 1700 dead and hundreds missing, more than 20 million homeless (12% of the population), more than 6 million people without clean water or food. 7 million children see their lives disrupted by a disaster without precedent that has devastated their schools and villages, according to estimates from UNICEF. Lost, orphaned or sick, they are the most vulnerable victims. Nearly 3.5 million Pakistani children are at high risk of diseases related to water. The muddy waters swept entire villages and destroyed many buildings, leaving more than 650,000 families homeless. Neither clothes nor food, nor cattle, life is a miracle …
Floods in Pakistan, “ a tsunami in slow motion , “said Ban Ki-moon. Indeed, we discover every day new horrors, it seems, are unique. Some see signs of major climatic disturbances. Since the same time, we think the exceptional heat wave and wildfires in Russia were evaporating impressive mass of water went pouring in Pakistan. Before the disaster, the international community remained largely silent, except the United States. It took the displacement of Ban Ki-moon declared himself ” shocked “by the plight of victims to the UN General Assembly meets in special session, Thursday, August 19, to accelerate the effort to international humanitarian aid to Pakistan, whose delivery has been criticized for its slowness.
The UN launched an appeal on August 11 funds for emergency aid of 460 million dollars. Wednesday, only 54.5% of these funds were actually released. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has announced its side it would more than quadruple its appeal for funds, now set at 57.2 million euros.
The indifference of the world
We’ll go around and donations pledged to try to explain both the very late announcement, the modest donations, to highlight the indifference of the international community and try to explain. We learn that the U.S. Secretary of State announced that Washington increased its aid to $ 150 million, Britain has announced a doubling of its aid, adding £ 33 million to 31 million already allocated to Pakistan. The U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, had called on China to join the effort. The Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Steven Vanackere, said that using ” 27 “, initially of 110 million, rose to 140 million. Denmark holds a special place: it is indeed the largest contributor per capita, with 10,738,152, or $ 1.959 per dollar. By comparison, U.S. aid is only $ 0.32 per head. France is pale, with only 917,432 dollars and paid 458,716 dollars in pledges. The UAE has contributed approximately $ 1.5 million, slightly less than China, with 1.8 million dollars. The total funds collected actually approach $ 301 million.
” Pakistan has finally accepted the $ 5 million offered by New Delhi. These are modest and are not up to the disaster, an indignant editorial in the newspaper The Hindu. “As the leading regional economic power, India should have been the first to offer assistance. His offer of five million dollars is ridiculous compared to what it has offered its other neighbors. At the time of the tsunami 2004, it has provided Sri Lanka with a 200 million dollars. “
For Gilles Carbonnier, professor of development economics at the Graduate Institute, the United States assistance is necessarily concerned: “There is a huge geopolitical interest, having regard to the affected areas. “Including those bordering Afghanistan where the Taliban facing the Pakistani army. (…) Historically, humanitarian action also responds to geopolitical considerations, Gilles Carbonnier is also a member of the Board of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF): (…) the two dimensions -account geopolitical and international solidarity still condition-type humanitarian action. In recent years, these two dimensions have sometimes completely merged. And with the rise of military humanitarian assistance, as stated Gilles Carbonnier: ” NATO and U.S. military believe is capable of conducting at the same time humanitarian and military action, as in Iraq or Afghanistan in their fight against terrorism. ” A mixture of genres denounced by NGOs. “
Exactly in the same order, we learn by a dispatch from AFP that 13 insurgents were killed by a U.S. drone in the tribal district of northwestern Pakistan. The camp is for members of local tribes and strikes occurred during the prayers recited during Ramadan. The war continues even in times of disaster. Meanwhile, August 20, NATO decided to provide maritime and air assets to assist in the delivery of humanitarian aid to flood victims in Pakistan ….
In the West, one of the engines of the refusal of the gift is proselytizing hated Taliban. ” In reality, it is reported in an editorial of The Nation, is the comprehensive approach of the international community that the scandal is not only because the help is slow in coming, but also because the Western media are trying undermine the tremendous work done by religious organizations [Muslim]. What they forget to say, of course, is that some U.S. NGOs are affiliated with religious and that they had benefited from the earthquake in Kashmir for proselytizing. In these difficult times, the West must not forget that these are local and religious organizations that are always the first to provide any assistance they can to the disaster. Far from the hype orchestrated by the Americans with their helicopters. “
In France, Suhail Siddiq rightly questioned the reluctance of donors and the media wall of silence coupled with a demonized image of Pakistan. Listen to it: Why can aid does not go faster? Why donors are they so timid? (…) The gifts sent to the French Red Cross, to name it, are more than thirty times lower than they were in Haiti for earthquake (or only a few hundreds of donors who paid 60,000 euros for three days in Pakistan, as Haiti has received two million euros in the same period. The arguments to justify some form of general indifference abound, ranging from the recession , the strong mobilization for Haiti earlier this year. (…) Unfortunately, there are other reasons, cultural and geopolitical, which rely on representations that are more irrational, but deeply rooted in the collective unconscious of pakistan. (…) When asked ” Are you sensitive to calls for solidarity for victims of Pakistan? an overwhelming majority of the citizens answered “no” (75.60%), with only a handful of “yes” (24.40%). Finally, and worst, Pakistan has long been associated, by these same media, a country of terrorists juxtaposed with a corrupt regime. “
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