A new arrival of displaced children and adults arrives at the Chota Lahore refugee camp (Photo ©2009 Jeff Hall/World Vision)

SWAT VALLEY, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- World Vision is helping in the resettlement of displaced families who were victims of intense fighting between militant groups and Pakistani forces in and around the Swat Valley of Pakistan's North West Frontier province. So far the fighting has forced more than 1.3 million people to flee their homes and villages to find safety in already overcrowded camps in the area. This is contained in a report by Syed Haider Ali, World Vision Pakistan, and Rachael Boyer, World Vision United States adding that another key concern for displaced families is how long they'll be welcomed in host communities. "These villages were destitute before the arrival of the refugees. Now, basic services like health, education, and water and sanitation

that were stretched before are reaching their breaking point," the report said.

According to the report, World Vision's Director in Pakistan, Graham Strong, who led the rapid assessment team to Buner district, said that many displaced families have reached a point of desperation.

"One father told me, 'If we don't get back to our homes by the end of May, we'll lose our agriculture and our livelihood for the year." These families have lost their only source of income, along with livestock and homes destroyed by shelling. They don't know how they'll feed their children when they return," Strong said.

He noted that World Vision staff members are ready to help and distribute relief supplies, but currently, there just aren't enough supplies to go around.

He said that the Pakistani people are responding very generously to the needs of their neighbors who have fled the conflict adding that with such a strain on scarce resources, there is potential for conflict over time. "So it's critical for relief groups to meet the needs of not only the displaced, but also the communities hosting them."

In his own contribution, the Disaster Fundraising Specialist for World Vision in the United States, Randy Strash said that thousands and thousands of the people urgently need help, but World Vision is out of reserves and must rely entirely on the generosity of its supporters in order to expand its response during these tight economic times.

"Immediate funds raised in the United States could supply family survival kits with things like bedding, hygiene kits, pots and pans for cooking and mosquito nets," Strash said.

He observed that field staff members have seen cases of respiratory infections, scabies, and diarrhea in the displaced children and adults in the camps and that malaria is also a concern.

Children line up for a food distribution at Jalala refugee camp in Mardan, Pakistan (Photo ©2009 Jeff Hall/World Vision)

A 9-year-old Pakistani boy, Manzar Khan, whose family has taken refuge in Chota Lahore, one of five camps in the area, in recounting the untold ordeals they passed through said: "My ears have never heard such a banging noise, and with every air strike, the fear overcame all of my senses and all I did was to run in different directions where my feet could lead. "We have abandoned our cattle, goats, belongings, and crops, and in our case, our dear father as well. My two nephews were killed in last night's shelling; they were just 13 years old. One of our relatives told us that their corpses are still lying in the open

ground as heavy shelling has prevented us from burying them. I wish even my enemy won't face this grim reality as we are mourning with our every breath," Manzar Khan continued.

The report also had this to say of Swat Valley: "It was once a beautiful valley with lush green mountains. Now, the region is a deadly war zone. Reported indiscriminate shelling by forces and use of citizens as human shields by militant groups has directly threatened innocent lives. Authorities estimate that 85 percent of the province's population is now displaced by the violence."

It further noted that because the fighting escalated so quickly, families had to leave behind livestock and crops ready for harvest, which may have been destroyed in the fighting.

"This could nearly eliminate many families' livelihoods for the next year. Some families also had to make the heart-wrenching decision to leave elderly parents behind in the conflict area because they were not strong enough to make the difficult trip to the camps," the report said.

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