IOM's relief operation for the growing numbers of people displaced
by military operations in Swat, Dir, Buner regions of Pakistan is
gathering pace with 92 trucks carrying non-food items being
dispatched to camps in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

According to NWFP authorities and the UN, at least 2.4 million
internally displaced persons (IDPs) have now been registered from
recent fighting in Swat, Buner and Dir areas. This is in addition
to another 553,000 people registered as displaced in the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), bringing the total number of
displaced to 2.9 million since August 2008.

The IOM relief assistance which includes 30,647 quilts, 47,000
sleeping mats, 13,120 jerry cans, 12,861 plastic buckets and 1,403
kitchen sets, will be distributed in 26 camps in Mardan, Charsadda,
Peshawar, Nowshera, Lower Dir and Malakand districts.

IOM has also dispatched two containers with 400 tents to
Peshawar, the capital of NWFP, for distribution among the
displaced.

"IOM is acting fast to procure and dispatch non-food items that
are vital for survival for life in camps for displaced families,
especially as numbers of people needing this assistance are rising
inexorably," says Hassan Abdel Moneim Mostafa, IOM Regional
Representative for West and Central Asia.

However, assistance is also urgently needed for the vast
majority of the displaced who are not living in the 26 camps.
According to authorities, 80 per cent of the displaced are living
with relatives, in spontaneous settlements or in centres.

IOM is appealing for USD 14.7 million to help 180,000 people
displaced by the conflict with shelter and other non-food
assistance as well as health care and psychosocial
support. 

For further information, please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

IOM Islamabad

Tel: +92 300 856 03 41

E-mail: "mailto:srehmat@iom.int">srehmat@iom.int