I am talking about the post-earthquake horror in Pakistan.
I can’t say which is worse: embarrassment and shame that I haven’t blogged this yet? Or embarrassment and shame that virtually nobody in the blogosphere has written a single thing about this.
But worse than embarrassment or shame is the horrible situation in Pakistan, where tens of thousands have died, and tens of thousands more, including children, still have not received any aid.
Let’s look at the facts:
50,000 dead, maybe more, many of whom were children, who were in school at the moment the quake hit.
10,000 more children are facing imminent death due to injury, infection, disease, starvation, dehydration, exposure to the sub-zero temperatures at night. 120,000 children are at risk.
These figures are conservative. And aid money has not been coming.
Almost two weeks after the quake, less than 14 per cent of the UN’s emergency appeal for £180 million has been received.
Unicef, the UN children’s organisation, yesterday estimated that 10,000 children will die in weeks. The figure was described as “conservative” by a UN field worker.
Although the official death count remains at 49,739, local authorities put it at almost 80,000.
UN relief coordinator Jan Egeland clarifies the urgency:
“The world is not doing enough,” Egeland said in Geneva. “We should be able to do this.”
He called for “a second Berlin air bridge” — nonstop flights reminiscent of the U.S. and British airlift of essential supplies into West Berlin in the late 1940s when Soviet troops blocked the city’s road links to the West for nearly 11 months.
“We thought that the tsunami was as bad as it could get. This is worse,” Egeland said. “The race against the clock is also like no other one. There is a terrible cutoff for us in the beginning of December, maybe even before, when there will be massive snowfalls in the Himalaya mountains.”
To help, you can give to Unicef or the Red Cross/Red Crescent. (Beware of scam artists. Stick with the established international organizations.)
Also, there’s a site with local Pakistani emergency info (in English).
Why does this get scant coverage in American media? Why is BBC World virtually they only coverage to be found on dish or cable?
…to get the MSM to pay attention.
The amount being asked for by the UN is less money than we spend in Iraq before morning prayers in one day.
But if nobody knows about it, nobody cares.
Most MSM outlets covered the quake extensively in the first few days, tapered off this week. NewsHour coverage was better, and more in depth. At this point they have gotten the message out, the world just doesn’t seem to be listening (also covered on the NewsHour).
Here in the U.S. we’re still recovering from the hurricanes, followed closely by the mud slides in Guatemala, then Afghanistan and Niger. Most of what I’ve read indicates “relief fatigue” among normally giving populations.
But wait, there’s more: ReliefWeb’s list of emergencies.
I think Guatemala is also getting a cold shoulder here. Try to contribute or write your congress people. Its a tough time for a lot of people right now.
Of course, the official has a point.
The people in the earthquake theatre are non-whites, and Muslims to boot. Also, the US is occupying Pakistan, conducting a variety of covert “military operations” in the area. A substantial reduction in population will not jeopardize US business interests. On the contrary, if you keep up with the Pak press, you may have noticed some distress, even “unrest” when the crusaders obliged the “loyal” faction of the Pakistani army to slaughter its own citizens in the NWFP. NATO is hardly alone in its reluctance to insert its own military forces into any situation where the actions could be interpreted as interference with, or occasion recruitment into, US colonialist activities.
The situation has been and continues to be discussed extensively in the “blogosphere” of the affected region and environs.
Your diary, and I even downloaded the photos to include in the message – with this intro from me:
I know, we’re exhausted. Too much outrage, too much sadness, too much anger. We’ve given and given. Tsunami. Katrina, Rita. Mudslides. Earthquakes. I’m so exhausted I couldn’t even bring myself to read or listen to any coverage about Pakistan. But this story finally got to me, and I donated a little to UNICEF. http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=iuI1LdP0G&b=1101213
Give if you can. Spread the word. The media are off pursuing the latest shiny object – we’ll have to get the word out ourselves. — J