About 200,000 quake survivors can come down from mountains
The United Nations refugee agency has said it was standing by for an exodus of mountain-dwellers who survived the South Asian earthquake but are facing increasingly bitter winter weather.
Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that with more heavy snowfalls forecast by the end of this week, Pakistan's government estimates that between 100,000 and 200,000 people could head down to lower-lying areas in the country's North West Frontier Province and 30,000 in Azad Kashmir.
Aid efforts are now focusing on the 3.5 million people left homeless, many living in tents not designed for freezing conditions or stuck in isolated areas that are hard for aid agencies to reach.
Pagonis said the UNHCR's top priority is "winterising" tents in camps, providing survivors with three blankets each, plus extra mattresses and plastic sheeting, as well as stoves and fuel. She said the agency is tapping the knowledge of Afghan refugees, many of whom have lived in camps in Pakistan for two decades after fleeing conflict in their homeland and have learned to cope as winter bites.
The United Nations refugee agency has said it was standing by for an exodus of mountain-dwellers who survived the South Asian earthquake but are facing increasingly bitter winter weather.
Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that with more heavy snowfalls forecast by the end of this week, Pakistan's government estimates that between 100,000 and 200,000 people could head down to lower-lying areas in the country's North West Frontier Province and 30,000 in Azad Kashmir.
Aid efforts are now focusing on the 3.5 million people left homeless, many living in tents not designed for freezing conditions or stuck in isolated areas that are hard for aid agencies to reach.
Pagonis said the UNHCR's top priority is "winterising" tents in camps, providing survivors with three blankets each, plus extra mattresses and plastic sheeting, as well as stoves and fuel. She said the agency is tapping the knowledge of Afghan refugees, many of whom have lived in camps in Pakistan for two decades after fleeing conflict in their homeland and have learned to cope as winter bites.
