Pakistani Flood Victims to Face Winter in Camps
  • 13 years ago
Flooding in southern Pakistan has made 100-thousand people homeless. With many living in makeshift camps, there's little hope they will be able to go home before the winter chill arrives.

This mother of six is one of tens of thousands of Pakistani flood victims who will spend winter in makeshift tents.

Fahmida Ghancha says she can't go home because there is still five feet of water in her village.

[Fahmida Ghancha, Pakistan Flood Victim]:
"We have no blankets. We are dying of cold. We have no house… only these coverlets on which my children sleep.”

More than 100,000 flood victims in Pakistan are likely to spend winter in camps because many villages in the country's south remain under stagnant water.

International aid agency Oxfam warns that funds for the U.N. flood appeal are drying up, threatening the aid and reconstruction effort.

[Neva Khan, Oxfam's Director in Pakistan]:
"The crisis is far from over at the moment. People are struggling to meet their basic needs of food, water, shelter and health care. The organization is also particularly worried with winter approaching.”

Large areas of land are still underwater and some communities remain surrounded by floodwaters.

Many farmers will not be able to plant winter crops.

[Mohammad Razi, Farmer]:
"The floods have destroyed everything one hundred percent. They took away everything.”

Failure to deliver aid and compensation to millions of Pakistanis made homeless by the floods could lead to social unrest, especially as cold temperatures arrive.