Pakistan: what is to be done?

A few days ago I suggested that the poor people of Haiti were not being much helped by the millions of dollars in disaster relief sent their way. I pointed to statistics from The Economist which show that large amounts of money and materiel have been either not used or, worse, wasted.

So, I said, perhaps the best thing to do is nothing. Let the people of ravaged and impoverished countries like Haiti pull themselves up by their bootstraps...or not. For that, I was predictably accused of being callous and insensitive, not to mention racist. "How can you just pass by on the other side of the road?", someone wrote.

OK, let's look at the latest disaster, the once-in-a-lifetime flooding in Pakistan, and reconsider.

Yes, there are hundreds of thousands who need shelter, food, water and medicine. The Globe and Mail quotes Mohammad Ali (not that one -- a bread maker) as saying, "The government...should provide clean water and clean food to the people.... Ramadan has arrived, but we see no sign of the government giving us any of these things."

What about the Red Cross then? Errrr...no. The Red Cross won't be allowed in because it's Christian, or at least not Islamic. The Muslim equivalent, the Red Crescent, is either unwilling or incapable of helping. (Muslims are notorious for being unable to unite in a common cause, whether military, political or humanitarian.)

Other charities and NGOs could help, but Pakistanis look to their repressive and authoritarian government, which says it doesn't have the resources. So we westerners say, we can send you tents, food, medicine, water purification systems -- all kinds of help. But nooooo... the Pakistani government is asking for money!

Ah yes, the elusive spondulix. Cold hard cash, the authorities say, is easier to get to Pakistan quickly. And we can use it, they say, to buy the things our poor people need so badly.

Walt says...wait a minute! If the tents, blankets and what-have-you are available locally, why does the government of Pakistan not just buy them? No money? Just requisition them, and pay later. Governments have the power and, arguably, the moral right to do that, for the relief of the afflicted.

But nooooo... the Pakistani government wants our dollars, and plenty of them. "Keep Pakistan green! Send American money!" There's a reason for that.

In 1984 Richard Reeves, an American journalist, wrote Passage to Peshawar, an investigation into the problems besetting Pakistan at that time.

One such was the vexed question of how to provide for the thousands of Afghan "refugees" flooding into Pakistan's Northwest province. Here is what he says about the humanitarian aid being given to Pakistan at that time.

"Corruption was pervasive in the refugee program.... It was basically a skimming operation. Army officers and officials were taking a cut of everything along the way. Food, clothing and drugs intended for refugees were in every bazaar, often being sold from the original WFP or UNHCR boxes.

"There was fatigued bitterness about that among foreign relief officials. But the Pakistanis were determined not to do things 'the Western way'. And the Westerners hadn't figured out a Pakistani way: a lot of them weren't sure there was a Pakistani way. Humanitarian work bred a certain cynicism."

Was it really a quarter of a century ago? Sounds just like yesterday...or today! The lesson is, send a blanket if you like, although even that may wind up on sale in the bazaar. Just don't send money!