More deaths at Jalozai refugee camp

A total of 33 deaths caused by high temperatures and poor sanitation have been confirmed at Jalozai refugee camp in northwestern Pakistan since 1 May. They included 21 children, victims of heatstroke and diarrhoea, Dr Javed Pervez, the camp’s health director, told IRIN on Monday. So far this year, 81 refugees had died at Jalozai, Pervez confirmed, struck down by soaring temperatures, which have reached at least 40 degrees Celsius over recent weeks. The UN and NGOs working in the area have reported difficulties in accurately recording the number of deaths due to limited access to data. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has repeatedly asked Pakistani authorities for authorisation to continue with a screening programme to identify genuine refugees, in order to facilitate the effective delivery of aid. An attempt to screen the refugees in January was halted by the provincial government, which last week submitted its own screening proposal to the UNHCR in Geneva. Agreement on the matter is yet to be reached. Since last September, 70,000 Afghans have fled fighting in their homeland and settled at Jalozai. Last week, meanwhile, the UN in Pakistan made a breakthrough and announced temporary emergency assistance to the refugees, including 650 mt of food aid. The package included more water, latrines, rehydration facilities and an increase in doctors’ working hours. An additional 60 community health workers were brought in to educate the refugees on maintaining good health, and medical supplies were being distributed on a tent-to-tent basis. On Monday, however, Pervez said this would not suffice to halt the rising death toll. “These people need to be moved to a location with better sanitation and a cleaner environment or there will be an outbreak of diseases.” He added that living conditions were still “dire”, with more refugees arriving every day. The health director confirmed that 90 families had arrived over the past two weeks. “We have started a mass measles and polio vaccination for the new arrivals to stop such diseases from spreading,” he said. Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan last November to stop the huge influx of refugees, but Pervez explained that Afghans had been using other routes through the mountains to enter North-West Frontier Province without being caught, and that he “could not turn them away from medical help”.