No ID can mean no food in Pakistan's aid camps
This lady has her ID card ready at an aid post in Pakistan. In times of an emergency, like the one being played out in Pakistan, proof of identity can mean the difference between eating and not.
AMONG the many things people have lost in the Pakistan floods are little bits of paper – birth certificates, ID cards and sometimes, passports.
In times of an emergency, like the one being played out in Pakistan right now, proof of identity can be very important – even the difference between eating and not.
Plan staff witnessed women and children being pushed out the way by the Army during food distributions in camps. Those who possessed ID and could register at the camp, received aid, those who didn’t -went hungry – a rope dividing the two groups.
Staff talked to a family living in a makeshift tent by the road. The grandma said they were really desperate for food and water. She said she’d gone to a camp but said: “They asked for my name. I couldn’t put my name there. No name. No card. We’re back here on the road.”
Similar scenes were witnessed by the BBC’s correspondent Jill McGivering in a relief camp in Sukkar, Sindh Province.
Those who lost ID now have to join other long queues to apply for new cards.
Lacking ID may not mean you always miss out on aid handouts but it could cause longer-term problems as Pakistan tries to recover from the floods.
Having a birth certificate and a legal identity means you can also prove who you are and what you own, in case anyone tries to lay claim to what remains of your property when you return home.
Although it also gives easier access to health and education services, birth registration has never been high on the agenda in Pakistan.
In the last few years, Plan has been raising awareness of the issue and begun the registration of children in certain parts of the country. To date, we have registered over 1.6 million people in the provinces of Balochistan, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, and Sindh.
A birth certificate will also help children who have been separated from their parents. If there was a central database that stores detailed family information, we would be able to trace parents and extended family members.
Plus, history has shown us that natural disasters invite unscrupulous people looking to traffick vulnerable or separated children. A birth certificate will make it clear to authorities who the child’s real parent/ guardian is.
The mass internal displacement in Pakistan has proved to be a logistical challenge for aid agencies.
Accurate figures on populations helps focus emergency aid efforts accordingly. So far Plan and other organisations have registered nearly 50,000 people in 156 camps.
But at the moment, the harsh reality is that the camps are simply overwhelmed by the number of people in need and conditions are tough – putting the women and children who make up most the numbers, at serious risk.
Among these are newly born babies. One unfortunate woman was even witnessed going into labour during an emergency evacuation.
And if they are not registered in the camps, when these babies return home eventually, they will add to the vast, invisible, populations.
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