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FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3013
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0391
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0506
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 4994
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI PRIORITY 1744
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR PRIORITY 6283
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE PRIORITY 7344
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 3985
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 9518

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ISLAMABAD 001194 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PREF PHUM EAID PGOV PTER PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN IDP SITUATION REPORT, JUNE 1, 2009 
 
REF: A. ISLAMABAD 1184 
     ¶B. ISLAMABAD 1180 
     ¶C. ISLAMABAD 1169 
     ¶D. ISLAMABAD 1151 
     ¶E. ISLAMABAD 1143 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The Pakistan government is moving to 
restore security and services to Swat, but the situation 
remains dangerous for humanitarian assistance provision. 
ICRC entered Swat on May 31 but cannot yet access Mingora. 
ICRC hopes to provide some health and food relief in the 
coming week, but other health service providers, including 
WHO, still await improved security and GOP permission to 
enter Swat. ICRC is also now considering doubling its program 
in Pakistan. A UN assessment of lower Buner District has 
found the areas assessed safe for return by IDPs and for 
further assessments by non-Western humanitarian personnel. 
On May 31, the NWFP Information Minister announced that all 
government officials in Buner district must return to their 
offices by June 1.  Local staff from Embassy Narcotics 
Affairs Section and USAID will undertake a damage and needs 
assessment in Lower Dir on June 2. FATA Transition 
Initiatives staff embedded in the NWFP Emergency Response 
Unit took eight print and television journalists to IDP sites 
in Mardan, Swabi and Thakht-i-Bhai to highlight GOP response 
to the IDP crisis.  An NWFP Senior Minister announced that 
the payment of 25,000 rupees (USD 312) to every displaced 
family from Swat, Dir and Buner would start in the next few 
days, and the amount would double for every family upon 
return home.  End Summary. 
 
Mingora, Swat:  Government Steps 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2.  (U)  On June 1 in Karachi President Asif Ali Zardari 
chaired a high-level meeting on Pakistan,s security 
situation to formulate a response to the Taliban,s 
intensified campaign.  Zardari met with federal ministers, 
all provincial chief ministers, NWFP Governor Owais Ghani, 
Azad Kashmir prime minister, the Northern Areas chief 
executive, the interior secretary, all chief secretaries, all 
inspectors general of police, the Inter-Services Intelligence 
director general, and the Intelligence Bureau director 
general. 
 
¶3.  (U) Director General of the Inter-Services Public 
Relations (ISPR) Major General Athar Abbas claimed that it 
will take at least two weeks to restore electricity to 
Mingora.  As doctors arrive to reopen the main hospital, gas 
was restored and mobile generators were brought in to help 
restore the water system.  As soldiers continued to patrol 
Mingora,s largely deserted streets and check homes for 
booby-traps, newspaper accounts described buildings in 
Mingora as damaged, &but not badly.8  Abbas and other 
military officials referred to the lessons-learned from the 
aftermath of the Bajaur operation and emphasized the critical 
need to bring police back to Swat to patrol the streets in 
order to &hold8 the district. 
 
ICRC Enters Swat; Considers Doubling Program 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
¶4.  (SBU) ICRC Head of Delegation Pascal Cuttat told Refcoord 
on June 1 that at the field level, ICRC has determined that 
it has no choice but to increase its operation in Pakistan. 
While this assessment will be considered at the Headquarters 
level on June 2, Cuttat is envisioning roughly doubling 
ICRC,s program.  ICRC returned to Swat on May 31 and now has 
teams assessing the situation and needs there.  The 
organization expects to be able to bring in food and 
medicines within the next week and to provide health 
services.  Access remains very difficult, however.  ICRC was 
not able to enter Mingora, and Cuttat reported that its 
vehicles on Sunday took six hours to travel 10 kilometers in 
Swat due to crossfire and ambushes (not directed at ICRC) 
along the way.  He said that while the area is under the 
general control of the armed forces, it is not yet safe 
enough for anybody who does not have contacts with &the 
other side8 as ICRC does.  ICRC will continue to try to push 
into Mingora.  Cuttat did not claim to know the real 
 
ISLAMABAD 00001194  002 OF 005 
 
 
situation in Mingora but noted the hardships created by lack 
of electricity and limited water. 
 
WHO Awaiting Permission to Enter Swat 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5.  (U)  According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), 
the organization is standing by with trauma kits, diarrheal 
treatment kits, basic medicines and supplies, additional 
staff, and logistical support in order to provide assistance 
in the city of Mingora and Swat valley when security permits. 
 WHO, which is partnering with the GOP Ministry of Health 
(MOH), is waiting for authorization and clearance from the 
GOP SSG for access.  As a UN agency, WHO also needs UN 
Department of Safety and Security clearance before staff can 
enter Swat valley. WHO,s intention is to support the Mingora 
city hospital, which is currently barely functional.  The 
previous health assessment, which WHO conducted with the MOH 
in April 2009, found that 23 out of 45 of the health 
facilities assessed in the Swat valley were either damaged or 
operating at less than full capacity. 
 
UN Assessment of Lower Buner; Residents and Non-western 
Humanitarians May Return 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶6.  (U)  The UN completed an initial assessment of lower 
Buner District on May 28, and noted that the U.N. considers 
the areas assessed safe for return by IDPs and for further 
assessments by non-western humanitarian personnel.  OCHA 
reported that crops, primarily wheat, had been harvested in 
lower Buner District but noted that government authorities 
were distributing flyers restricting people from planting 
maize, tobacco, and other crops that would normally be 
planted at this time. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The GOP has imposed a 7pm to 7am curfew for the 
areas assessed in Buner District.  The UN assessment team 
noted heavy damage to infrastructure in Buner, particularly 
hospitals and other health facilities.  The team also noted 
large amounts of unexploded ordnance.  The UN assessment team 
estimated that as much as 40 percent of the population stayed 
behind in areas assessed in Buner, while noting that the team 
observed 20 families leaving on May 28.  The UN team reported 
obvious signs of military activity, including patrols and 
checkpoints, and noted that the military is &frisking8 
civilians to check for weapons. 
 
¶8.  (U) On May 31, an NGO told the USAID Disaster Assistance 
Response Team (DART) that the organization has provided 
non-food items to 1,200 conflict-affected households in Buner 
District and plans to send a mobile health team.  The NGO 
noted that in areas assessed in southern Buner, health posts, 
police stations, and other government facilities were 
unstaffed, while only private schools remained open. 
 
¶9.  (U) On May 31, NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain 
announced that all government officials in Buner district 
must return and be present in their offices by June 1; 
otherwise, "strict disciplinary actions8 would be taken 
against them. 
 
NAS/USAID Assessment Trip to Buner Planned for June 2 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  Several Pakistani locally employed staff from the 
Embassy,s Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) and USAID will be 
making an assessment trip to Buner, June 2nd.  The NAS 
personnel will be focusing on police stations in and around 
Daggar, the district capital, for possible reconstruction; 
the USAID FSN will look at schools, medical facilities, etc. 
as part of USAID,s overall reconstruction plan.  The team 
will be accompanied by provincial police officials, and 
security will be provided by the Frontier Corps.  GOP 
authorities are only allowing non-Westerners in the area, 
including personnel from humanitarian organizations. 
 
Positive Media Coverage on Government IDP Response 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
ISLAMABAD 00001194  003 OF 005 
 
 
 
¶11.  (SBU) On June 1, the FATA Transition Initiatives (FTI) 
staff embedded in the NWFP Emergency Response Unit, took 
eight print and television journalists to IDP sites in 
Mardan, Swabi and Thakht-i-Bhai to highlight GOP response to 
the IDP crisis.  To date, FTI has issued 160 press releases 
and garnered 1599 positive stories on television, on radio, 
and in print about the GOP,s development activities in the 
FATA, including the GOP,s response to the IDP crisis.  Local 
media included Daily News International, Geo TV, Daily Jang, 
Daily Nation, Daily Jang Mardan, Daily Aaj, Daily Mashriq, 
and Dunya TV. 
 
Government Announcement on 25,000 Rupee Stipend/IDP Family 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶12.  (U) NWFP Senior Minister Rahim Dad Khan announced that 
the payment of 25,000 rupees (USD 312) to every displaced 
family from Swat, Dir and Buner would start in the next few 
days, and the amount would double for every family upon 
return home. 
 
IDP Numbers 
- - - - - - 
 
¶13.  (U) Total IDP numbers remain uncertain (but over 3 
million) pending completion of re-verification by the 
National Database and Registration Authority.  It continues 
to be expected that re-verification will reduce overall 
estimates by 20-30 percent.  Meanwhile, on May 30, however, 
roughly 30,000 people came out of upper Swat alone, and into 
Mansehra.  UNHCR is now describing host family capacity as 
exhausted. 
 
¶14.  (U) According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of 
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the government is interested in 
reducing the number of registration points from 86 to 32 in 
the six districts hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs) 
in Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP).  The GOP intends to 
have NADRA representatives present at all registration points 
to verify identity.  Meanwhile, the GOP has indicated that 
NADRA,s verification of registrations to date will be 
completed by June 3. 
 
¶15.  (U) The GOP has declared that all schools are now to be 
used as IDP accommodations. As of June 1, according to OCHA, 
1,819 schools now accommodate over 101,000 individuals in 
Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Nowshera, and Peshawar districts in 
NWFP. 
 
¶16.  (U) Multiple international non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs) have indicated that some IDPs remain 
unregistered to-date, due to a lack of clear understanding of 
the registration process, lack of documentation, or fear of 
the repercussions of registration on family members remaining 
in the Swat Valley.  NGOs are using additional information, 
including informal lists maintained by host community and IDP 
leaders, and NGO staff vulnerability assessments in 
conjunction with the official registration list in order to 
provide immediate assistance to IDPs. 
 
¶17.  (U) UNHCR and UNICEF report that there are now two new 
official camps.  The first, in Charsadda, is already full 
(10,000 IDPs) after only two days in existence, and the 
second, in Peshawar, will open shortly. 
 
Political Party Statements 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶18.  (U)  As the chiefs of two factions of Jamiat 
Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), Samiul Haq and Fazlur Rehman agreed the 
military operation in Malakand was no solution to the 
country,s problems, the Awami National Party (ANP) stepped 
up its political attacks on religious parties, following the 
lead of ANP member and NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed 
Bilour,s statements late last week.  NWFP Information 
Minister Iftikhar Hussain said that five years of Muttahida 
Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) rule had helped the Taliban flourish in 
FATA and NWFP.  Hussain said the religious parties, including 
 
ISLAMABAD 00001194  004 OF 005 
 
 
JUI-F, had enacted irresponsible and dual policies toward the 
Taliban. 
 
NGO Activity and Observations 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶19.  (U) On May 30 and 31, the USAID/DART program officer and 
information officer met with three international NGOs 
responding to the ongoing displacement in NWFP to discuss 
humanitarian programming.  All three NGOs are focusing 
assistance on IDPs outside of formal camps, including IDPs in 
schools and other government buildings, IDPs in spontaneous 
camps, and IDPs living in host communities. 
 
¶20.  (U) USAID,s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance 
(USAID/OFDA) is supporting an international NGO to provide 
immediate assistance through the provision of USD 45 vouchers 
to 20,000 households, including 15,000 IDP households in 
schools and host communities and 5,000 host families. 
 
¶21.  (U) The NGO noted that in initial assessments IDPs had 
identified needs including food, clothing, bedding and fans, 
while host families had indicated shortages in bedding and 
kitchen supplies.  NGO staff noted, however, that needs will 
vary depending on the IDP household,s location and what 
other assistance is being provided.  The NGO indicated that 
host families, communities, religious organizations, and 
local charities are all providing assistance to the IDPs 
without coordination, thus making vouchers the most flexible 
method of responding to various needs. 
 
¶22.  (U) NGO staff noted that if markets are working, as is 
the case in Mardan and Swabi districts, then it makes sense 
to give displaced people cash or vouchers.  Alliance Bank has 
agreed to redeem vouchers for cash, and the NGO is 
negotiating with Pakistan Post to provide money orders in 
exchange for vouchers. 
 
Food Assistance 
- - - - - - - - 
 
¶23.  (U) On May 30, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) 
notified the USAID/DART that no food distributions will take 
place from June 3 to June 8 in order to switch over to the 
verified IDP registration lists. 
 
¶24.  (U) WFP reported that distribution capacity had 
increased to 150,000 people per day as of May 30, due to an 
increase to 25 humanitarian hubs.  WFP reported distributing 
monthly dry food rations to 2.4 million registered IDPs as of 
May 30.  For the May distribution, the food ration for each 
IDP household included 80 kg of wheat, 8 kg of pulses, and 5 
liters of vegetable oil.  The June distribution will also 
include sugar, salt and tea. 
 
¶25.  (U) The ongoing military operation in Malakand Division 
has reportedly cut off NWFP,s northernmost district, 
Chitral, from the rest of Pakistan.  All roads to Chitral 
have been closed, work on the Lawari Rail Tunnel by a Korean 
company has stopped, and prices of essential items have 
risen.  Food Department officials reportedly said that wheat 
stocks in Chitral would exhaust in one week. 
 
Health 
- - - - 
 
¶26.  (U)  A USAID/OFDA NGO partner is currently providing 
health services in 12 IDP camps, while also supporting eight 
mobile clinics for IDPs outside of formal camps in Mardan 
District.  The NGO,s medical staff are providing 
approximately 2,400 consultations per day.  The diagnoses are 
provided to the WHO-managed Disease Early Warning System, 
also supported by USAID/OFDA, to permit tracking of overall 
trends and monitoring of any reported outbreaks.  To date, 
the NGO has noted an increase in diarrheal disease among 
IDPs.  Currently, the organization is reporting a stable 
health situation in NWFP, but staff noted that GOP surge 
medical staff provided by other provinces will eventually 
have to return to their posts and will leave additional gaps 
 
ISLAMABAD 00001194  005 OF 005 
 
 
in local health care if IDPs remain in host communities. 
 
¶27.  (U) The NGO noted that Mardan District experienced a 
cholera outbreak in August 2008.  WHO and NGOs participating 
in the UN Health cluster are preparing contingency plans for 
any recurrence of cholera, including procuring essential 
treatment supplies such as ringer,s lactate and oral 
rehydration salts. 
 
PATTERSON