Pakistan expats in UAE waiting for green light to help flood victims

The death toll rises to 84 with tens of thousands left homeless as flash floods sweep across the country, but the Pakistan government has yet to give the green light for expats in the Emirates to start fundraising.

DUBAI // Pakistani expatriates are closely monitoring the situation in their home country after heavy rain caused flash flooding last weekend.

More than 80 people died and tens of thousands were left homeless as torrents of fast-moving water swept away houses across many parts of the country, including the large port city of Karachi.

Many are waiting to see if the Pakistan government will announce an emergency, giving them the green light to start fundraising.

"At the moment, legally, we cannot do any fundraising or collections for the flood victims in the UAE until the Pakistan government announces it as an emergency," said Rizwan Fancy, chairman of the Pakistan Association Dubai's ad hoc committee.

"Once that is done we can then work with the Red Crescent and organise what kind of aid is required and begin fundraising."

Heavy rains and flooding are common during the monsoon season, which runs from July to August.

"Although there was some damage in the flooding last weekend it hasn't been as bad as it could have been," said Mobisher Rabbani, a diplomatic consultant and philanthropist who has been involved in aid work in Pakistan.

"There is more rain forecast in the coming weeks and I think the government will make a decision then about whether to call it an emergency.

"At the moment it's a case of the aid agencies monitoring the situation and making sure they are prepared if and when the government says they need help."

The situation will be analysed by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Pakistan, the lead agency for directing responses to disasters.

"Over the past few years they have built up a lot of experience in dealing with these disasters after the flooding and earthquake," Mr Rabbani said. "Because Pakistan is such a varied country in terms of the land there are often areas that are worse hit than others when a natural disaster happens.

"The NDMA is very decentralised so that officials in different areas can see what is going on in a particular region, town or village."

Pakistan media have reported that the death toll caused by the flooding has risen to 84.

NDMA officials were quoted in Pakistani newspapers as saying that 44 people had been injured in the floods and 81,341 affected. The rain also destroyed 2,533 houses.

Some of the deaths occurred in the semiautonomous tribal region in the north-west, neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and in the Pakistan-held part of the disputed Kashmir region, the Associated Press reported.

There were also deaths in central Punjab, south-west Baluchistan, and southern Sindh and at least 58 people were killed in Afghanistan.