Telecoms Charity to Offer Phone Services for War Refugees in Pakistan

Two experts from the telecoms charity, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) deployed from Bangkok today to Islamabad for a mission in emergency telecommunications in and around North-West Pakistan. In contact with United Nations agencies on site, they are assessing the needs of the country's internally displaced population and the humanitarian staff.

TSF's international headquarters, in Pau, France, is also on standby and ready to send reinforcements as soon as possible to this war torn country. As the conflict between government troops and the Taliban insurgents escalates in the Swat valley of northern Pakistan, killing and injuring many civilians, the flood of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) continues to grow.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), over a million people are estimated to have fled fighting, and hundreds of thousands of civilians are still trapped in the conflict zone, used as human shields and not allowed to escape. According to testimonies, the Taliban may have dug trenches and mined the streets to slow the army forces and prevent the population to get away.

Facing this terrible humanitarian tragedy – the largest and the swiftest displacement of people to take place anywhere in the world in recent years – Pakistan's President has called, on May 12th, for urgent and massive international help for those left homeless by fighting.

Over the coming months, the humanitarian community is preparing to face new episodes of violence and new movements of civilians in this region where the telecommunication infrastructures are very limited.

In collaboration with United Nations agencies on site, TSF's team is evaluating the needs of the humanitarian community in the zones touched by the conflict. The objective is to establish a satellite connection via a mobile system to provide internet and telephones. The team will remain in the zone for one month in order to guarantee solutions that benefit the entire humanitarian community for the coming months, including the establishment of a durable fixed satellite system.

If security conditions permit and if access into the camps is possible, TSF specialists in emergency telecommunications will run humanitarian calling operations enabling the civilians to contact their relatives in Pakistan or abroad. Displaced civilians will be able to call their loved ones anywhere in the world to reconnect, give news, or asked for personalized assistance.

The mission is supported by the Vodafone Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, Vizada, AT&T, Cable and Wireless, PCCW Global, the Communauté d'Agglomération de Pau, and the Conseil Régional d'Aquitaine.

Posted to the site on 20th May 2009