Pakistan flood victims wait for aid
- 13 years ago
Flood victims in southern Pakistan camp in makeshift huts at the side of the road.
Since heavy monsoon rains triggered the deluge in late August, over 300 people have been killed, and more than a million houses damaged or destroyed.
(SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) FLOOD VICTIM MISRI:
"My house has been swept away. So, now I am collecting branches to make a shelter for my family. We will put plastic or paper over it and then sit inside. The government has given us nothing at all."
The cash-strapped Pakistani government has been slow to respond to the disaster, and flood victims are having to sell off the few possessions they still have in order to buy food.
(SOUNDBITE) (Sindhi) FLOOD VICTIM MOHAMMAD USMAN:
"Our houses are gone and we are surviving by selling our crockery, jewellery and cattle. The government is not doing anything for us, and we are not going to run after the government. We only get beaten and pushed around when we go there."
In its latest report on the flooding - issued on Monday - Oxfam called on the Pakistani government to respond quickly, and warned of more deaths "if funding remains slow."
Yet three weeks after the rains swept through Sindh Province - destroying livestock, crops, and infrastructure, and displacing over seven million people - these families are still struggling to rebuild their shattered lives, with little help from the state.
Nick Rowlands, Reuters.
Since heavy monsoon rains triggered the deluge in late August, over 300 people have been killed, and more than a million houses damaged or destroyed.
(SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) FLOOD VICTIM MISRI:
"My house has been swept away. So, now I am collecting branches to make a shelter for my family. We will put plastic or paper over it and then sit inside. The government has given us nothing at all."
The cash-strapped Pakistani government has been slow to respond to the disaster, and flood victims are having to sell off the few possessions they still have in order to buy food.
(SOUNDBITE) (Sindhi) FLOOD VICTIM MOHAMMAD USMAN:
"Our houses are gone and we are surviving by selling our crockery, jewellery and cattle. The government is not doing anything for us, and we are not going to run after the government. We only get beaten and pushed around when we go there."
In its latest report on the flooding - issued on Monday - Oxfam called on the Pakistani government to respond quickly, and warned of more deaths "if funding remains slow."
Yet three weeks after the rains swept through Sindh Province - destroying livestock, crops, and infrastructure, and displacing over seven million people - these families are still struggling to rebuild their shattered lives, with little help from the state.
Nick Rowlands, Reuters.