Humanitarian Crisis

With the recent Taliban crisis in Pakistan, people living in the Swat Valley have been forced to flee from their homes after the curfew was lifted in the Swat Valley. Refugees have been fleeing by the thousands from their homes and has caused camps in the North West Frontier Province to become full and many refugees are being forced to travel long distances to find places to stay. Saturday night, May 9th, 250,000 refugees had been registered and more refugees fled today, May 10th. Officials believe that the number of refugees could be close to 700,000 before the crisis ends. Many people who fled the Swat Valley have hard feelings toward both the Taliban and the Pakistani Army because of the operation being deployed.
In the refugee camps families are supposed to receive a tent, food utensils, and other provisions but many families have not received them and have caused a mini-riot, with the refugees looting the UN stores. With the influx of refugees from the Swat Valley, people already living in the areas the refugees have invaded is causing financial problems and could cause numerous other problems among the people already living there and the refugees.
Because the Pakistani Army gave no warning to the people of the Swat Valley of their mission to try and reduce the invasion from the Taliban, many civilian casualties have been recorded at the hospitals in the area. Sher Mohammad stated "We're not the terrorists, we're ordinary people but we're the ones dying." With all of the refugees and casualties in Pakistan, the economy will take a hard fall because people will not have the money or opportunity to buy the things they need and stealing will be resorted to if needed by the refugees. It is unknown how long the Pakistani Army will be in the Swat Valley but the longer they are there the more refugees and casualties there will be and the less amount of money that will be spent in markets and stores.


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