ICRC activities in Pakistan to continue on reduced scale

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednsady that it has reiterated its commitment to carry on with its work in Pakistan but on a reduced scale, following a thorough review of its activities undertaken after the April 2012 murder in Quetta of Khalil Rasjed Dale, an ICRC health programme manager. "We are ready to continue helping people in need, such as the wounded and the physically disabled, provided working conditions for our staff are adequate," explained Paul Castella, head of the ICRC delegation in Islamabad in apress release. "In the coming weeks, we will coordinate with the Pakistani authorities the resumption of health services as conditions permit, in particular the re-opening of our surgical hospital in Peshawar, which closed down after the murder of our colleague," he added. The ICRC's partnership with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society and support for physical rehabilitation services, notably in Peshawar and Muzaffarabad, will continue, as will the assistance provided by the ICRC for families seeking to restore and maintain contact with Pakistanis detained abroad. The ICRC will also maintain logistics assets in the country to support its operations in Pakistan, Afghanistan and throughout the region. The ICRC has decided to terminate all other activities for people affected by the current situation in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. All visits to detainees in Pakistan will also stop. As a result, the organization's offices in Sindh province, where flood recovery work is now complete, and in Quetta are being closed. "Having worked in Pakistan for more than 60 years, we are aware that some of these decisions will affect vulnerable people in some areas," said Castella. "But we need to take into account the challenges faced by our staff and adjust our activities accordingly." The ICRC has been working in Pakistan since 1947, providing health care, physical rehabilitation and other assistance for people affected by violence and natural disasters.