Low on Trust, Pakistan's Flood Victims Go Unaided

August 20, 2010

Over the last three weeks, Pakistan has experienced its worst natural disaster in history. Pakistani authorities say 20 million people — 6 million of them children — have been affected by recent monsoon rains that flooded an estimated one-fifth of the country's land. By the numbers, the disaster has impacted more people than the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haitian earthquake combined.

Despite the enormous need, international aid for Pakistan is slow in coming. Millions are stranded without food and safe drinking water in an affected area equal to the size of Austria, Switzerland and Belgium combined. The lack of aid has many wondering what the international community is waiting for as Pakistanis wade through the disaster alone.

Haiti Fundraising Eclipses Aid for Pakistan

The devastating earthquake in Haiti last year set the high-water mark for both contributions and teams who volunteered to assist. More than $1 billion in funds were raised by generous donors, leading many humanitarian aid groups to hope that similar revenues of support would come for Pakistan.  

Disaster relief experts maintain need and urgency often is determined by the human death toll. With fewer causalities from the flood compared to earthquakes and tsunamis, news organizations may equate fewer deaths with less demand for emergency relief.

There's a perception that "if you don't have huge numbers of dead, somehow the devastation isn't as massive as those instances where you do," said Donna Derr, director of development and humanitarian assistance for Church World Service.

The funding gap may be closing, but slowly. On Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the U.S. is boosting its pledged amount from $90 million to $150 million. That's still only half of the $459 million the UN says is required to meet the initial relief estimates.

According to the aid group CARE International, two weeks after flooding began in late July, the same international aid agencies and the United Nations had contributed $58 million. Haiti received $241 million during the same period after its disaster - more than four times as much. The number of Christian organizations helping Pakistan, however, is far below the number of those groups who came along side Haiti.

Low on Trust

Phillip Zodhiates, a fundraiser with the Virginia-based Response Unlimited, speculates funds could be slow in coming due to uncertainty how donations might be spent by the Pakistani government.

"With Haiti we saw what happened with some pretty trustworthy sources like the American Red Cross," Zodhiates said. "If Christians are being ostracized and not given assistance then donors need to be very careful where they send their money."

Five years after an earthquake rocked the northern regions of the Pakistan, there is little evidence that $6 billion of international aid went to rebuild destroyed infrastructures and the half million damaged homes as promised.

Contributors may also be leery because donated funds could end up in the hands of groups who sponsor terrorism. In recent days Pakistani leaders have sought to reassure international contributors that their funds will not be diverted to extremists. Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the BBC he was aware that some fear the Taliban could exploit the country's flood crisis in order to acquire more control.

The concern is not without precedent. Islamic charities with ties to terrorist groups have reportedly moved in to help victims marooned by flood waters, possibly attracting supporters. After the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, JuD and Falah-i-Insaniant Foundation mobilized its charitable arm, LeT. That same group is working now in various regions helping flood victims.

International relief organizations in Pakistan say they often see extremist groups exploit catastrophes like the current flood. In a conference call with reporters Anne Patterson, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan said, "There are always in situations like this NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] that are associated with what we would call extremist groups."

Patterson explained that funds from the U.S. are going to organizations like WHO, UNICEF, Save the Children, and the Pakistan Red Crescent Association. She also contends "the impact of LeT is wildly exaggerated."

But with supplies and aid scarce, affected Pakistanis may turn to whomever can reach them first. UK-based Barnabas Fund, a Christian aid and advocacy group, revealed funds and supplies coming through groups like Save the Children and World Vision aren't getting to the more than 200,000 stranded Christians.

"The Islamists are helping people in areas where even the government has failed to reach. In the time of need, the government's slow response has given them the opportunity to win the hearts of the affected people," said a Barnabas worker in Pakistan requesting to remain anonymous.

Lack of Media Coverage

So far 1,600 Pakistanis are reported dead from the massive Swat Valley flooding. While that number is sure to climb, those causalities represent only 0.003 percent of reported causalities of more recent disasters.

News agencies have given far less coverage to Pakistan's flood than it devoted to Haiti's earthquake. News crews descended upon that impoverished island with play-by-play reports which skyrocketed donations.

"Haiti was much closer to the U.S. in proximity than Pakistan," said Dan Gainor of the Media Research Center. "I also think people tend to make important what the media covers. If Americans knew more and saw more they would open their hearts and their wallets."

Where Is Muslim Support for Pakistan?

Critics question the lack of substantial support from oil-rich Muslim nations while Pakistan's flood victims struggle. Giving from countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait is woefully low.

In a blistering article in The Daily Times of Pakistan  the editorial staff wrote, "It is shocking the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has yet to voice strong support for Pakistan in its darkest hour and it is astonishing that Muslim countries Pakistanis defend with such passion (such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, etc.) have contributed so poorly."

Often it is western nations and organizations like Christian Fellowship Pakistan (CFP), which works in countries like Pakistan where 96 percent of the population is Muslim, that provide relief and financial assistance. With 23 churches in the province of Punjab and workers already on the ground, CFP serves its people and shares the love of Christ in a country that persecutes Christians.

"We are trying to help the people of Pakistan with humanitarian outreaches for medical help and food distribution," Pakistan-born Pastor Salik John Barkat told Crosswalk.com. "Our goal is to spread the love of Christ and let the Muslims and the people of Pakistan know that Christ loves them and so do Christians."

Barkat leaves for Pakistan in early September to join his brother who is already there.

Barkat, who just became a legal U.S. citizen and works with his father in Denver where Christian Fellowship Pakistan is based, says "We are called to love our neighbor and helping Christian organizations like ours to help both Christians and Muslims. We simply want to reach out to the people [in Pakistan] with the love of Christ."

It takes a convicted servants heart to mire in the mud where leaders not only shun your money, but condemn your Lord and persecute you while he's at it. 

Photo copyright 2010 Church World Service. Rahim Gul had walked for almost one day with his sick child on his back as he and his family moved down the mountains from their home. Rahim solemnly told CWS that he had no clear idea where he would go and what he would do.