Help the Displaced in Swat

Due to the recent fighting between the Taliban and Pakistan army, a lot of the local people in Swat and surrounding areas have been forced to flee their homes. According to the UN Refugee Agency,

The number of people who have fled the fighting in northwest Pakistan this month and been registered or recorded by authorities reached 670,906 on Wednesday, up from just over half a million the day before.

[…] Together with more than 550,000 registered displaced people in the North West Frontier Province and some 21,000 in the capital Islamabad and urban areas of the Punjab, the continuing exodus brings to 1,248,715 the total number of people displaced in Pakistan since August, 2008.

[…] UN High Commissioner António Guterres has called urgently on countries around the world to come to the aid of the growing number of displaced. “This is a huge and rapidly unfolding emergency, which is going to require considerable resources beyond those that currently exist in the region,” he said earlier this week.

I’ll try to collect links to different organizations collecting donations for helping these internally displaced persons (not refugees, since refugees are defined as moving across an international border). Please try to help.

I talked to the Edhi Foundation people in New York and they are also accepting checks and money orders for their Swat Fund. They don’t have an online donation page but here is their contact info:

UK:
316 Edgware Road
London W2 1DY
Phone :+44 (207) 723-2050
Fax: +44 (207) 224-9774
Email: edhiuk@yahoo.com

US:
4511 National St
Corona, NY 11368-2741
Phone :+1 (718) 639-0633
Fax: +1 (718) 505-8001

Canada:
Bilquis Edhi Charitable Shop
1801-1805 Danforth Ave
Toronto M4C-1J2 Canada
Phone/Fax: +1 (416) 699-1388

Thanks!

UPDATE: After thinking a lot, we have contributed to Oxfam’s Pakistan Crisis Fund.

By Zack

Dad, gadget guy, bookworm, political animal, global nomad, cyclist, hiker, tennis player, photographer