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We are very concerned with the present situation in Swat Valley, as many innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire between the Pakistani Army and the militants found in this area. Suicide bombs are becoming a regular occurrence, and even when the women stay indoors this does not guarantee their safety, as women and children have been killed by missiles hitting their homes.

NORTHCOAST RESIDENTS HAVE COMPASSION FOR SWAT VALLEY REFUGEES

It has been said that the situation in Swat Valley today, May 2009, is the largest migration of people in Pakistan since India was divided into Pakistan in 1947.  To the Western world it is a fight between the Taliban and the Pakistani army, encouraged by the United States.  To the civilians who were and are living in Swat Valley it is more than that.  According to news reports in the west, Pakistan’s army says, “We want to clear out the civilians so that we can go after the Taliban with full force.”  But should “clearing out the civilians,” mean point blank shooting them?  In some places the army has infiltrated the Taliban so that it is not clear who is fighting whom, the only reports that are clear are that more civilians than Taliban are being killed.

“Mortar shell from the army hit the home next to mine, one man reported.  Two women’s bodies were torn apart, and another man in the home was seriously wounded.  We ran, and kept on until we were out of Swat Valley.”

 

“My son was killed in the shelling and some of my family members were wounded.  My son is no longer with me and I feel like everything I have is gone.  I want to ask the government, “For God’s sake please don’t kill our women and children, and please don’t destroy our houses because you cannot hit the exact targets you’re after.”

But the government said it would stop at nothing!  Unfortunately this often seems to mean, that anything, anyone who moves will be shot, just in case they might be Taliban, or might be in the army’s way.  It has become well known that when the Army reports having killed 100 militants, the truth is closer to; they have killed 95 civilians and 5 militants.

 

“I was fleeing Swat Valley with my nephews, when the army shot at us, and killed both of my nephews.”  The boys look like they are asleep, but this is a sleep that they will not awake from, at least not in this world.

 

Shaista is 10 years old, and reported, “We, my 3 sisters, my brother and my mother, were trying to flee the area.  We were hit by army mortar, and my mother, my brother and my 3 sisters were killed.”  Shaista lost her leg.  Her father was working in the outskirts of Swat Valley, and was informed later about the tragedy.  Other civilians fleeing helped little Shaista to safety.

Many people prefer to stay in their homes, and have said, if they are to die they prefer to die with the dignity of dying at home.  Civilians who speak out against the army will be shot; civilians who speak out against the Taliban may be beheaded.  Who speaks out for the civilians?

 

Those, who against all odds, manage to get out of Swat Valley alive, then face the grueling situation in the refugee camps.  There is not enough food, not enough water.  The heat is stifling, especially compared to the mountainous region of Swat Valley, the former being in summer sometimes as high as 120 degrees.  Most of the civilians who have reached safety have left their entire world belongings in Swat Valley, and must begin life anew with empty hands.  Many children have been separated from their mothers, families broken apart.  Children have lost limbs, have they also lost hope?

We know from the constant flow of civilian reports coming out of Swat Valley, that what the Pakistani army tells the west, simply isn’t true.  They have not contained the Taliban, the Taliban have simply moved on, no longer using Mingora, the major city in Swat Valley as a stronghold, but have moved to other villages and cities such as Shalpin, Bedara, Durshkhela, and Tauragey.

This cry for help has been answered, by north coast sponsors of The Roshni Centre for Women, located during peaceful times in Swat Valley.  A handful of residents on the north coast have donated funds (approximately $1,000) to help those who have so little in Pakistan.

 

In late May 2009, The Roshni Centre began, due to the help of friends in the States, and primarily here in Humboldt County a program called; “Water = Life”, to bring the much needed water into the camps.    Below is a sign, in Urdu, which reads, “The Roshni Centre for Women, in Swat” next to one of the 300-gallon containers of water that have been set up.  This project costs about $30 a day.

 

 

 

For more information on how you can help the refugees of Swat Valley, email Rabia O’Loren at info@roshnicentre.org many people will be returning to their villages, but chances are there will be little left of crops, and food sources.  They need our help.