Lives shattered by series of climate disasters in Balochistan

For more than thirty years, the province has been home to a significant number of Afghan refugees, who have been actively participating in the region’s economic and social life. ‘[In Afghanistan] we grew almonds and grapes. We had a ten-room manor. But what’s the point in having a manor when you have nothing to eat? So we left the farm and the manor and came here’. The family spent several days on the streets relying on help from locals, who brought them food and water. After staying in various forms of temporary accommodation, Adil finally found a place to settle down: ‘The house we lived in collapsed. We tried to live somewhere else, but the walls were getting more and more fragile and the rooms were flooded. In the end, we came here’.

The night of the floods, Adil gathered his children, a suitcase and a blanket. The life they had taken years to build in Pakistan was washed away by the rain.

Action contre la Faim’s teams arrived in the district in October to give out warm clothes, mattresses, tarpaulins to protect homes from the rain and essential items for cooking, washing and ensuring access to clean drinking water.

Gul Bashra, a resident of Baragzo Surkhar in the Pishin district, heard the worst of the weather arrive hours before the rain took hold of her home. She took shelter in her brother-in-law’s house, along with her husband and eight children. In their haste, the family left all their personal belongings at home.

Gul’s anguish is constant, as she faces the loss of her only property and her children’s uncertain future. ‘It’s extremely hard to cover all my family’s needs on my own. I sew clothes for people day and night, but I never make more than 8,000–8,500 rupees [32 euros]. I wanted to raise my children right and to give them an education’.   

Needs vary from one family to another: some lack food, others, drinking water, while others still have been left homeless.  The psychological consequences – trauma, fear, insomnia and anxiety – are often invisible, but they are just as important to address for the survivors to get their lives back on track. Our teams respond to the most urgent needs through targeted operations in the fields of health and nutrition, food security, livelihoods, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), mental health and psychosocial support.

SOARING FOOD PRICES

In Quetta, the capital of the Balochistan province, life soon carried on despite the still-visible destruction caused by the flooding. The market square at Meezan Chowk is bustling and brings together both traders and local residents almost every day. Among the goods sold there are fruit, vegetables, meat and even clothes. Jannat Gul has been selling vegetables at Meezan Chowk Market for over twenty years and laments the state of local agricultural production, which, as well as being affected by the floods, had already been hindered for years by increased soil salinity due to climate change. A lack of local production means that basic goods need to be imported from abroad, leading to a price hike.

The removal of import taxes is a temporary measure designed to keep prices at affordable levels: ‘The tax has been removed and tomatoes cost 60 rupees [25 cents in euros] for 1 kilo. A month ago, when the tax was high, the price varied between 250 and 300 rupees [1 euro]’. The situation is worse for butchers, who have seen prices double since the floods. ‘We’re not making any sales; people are worried. People accuse me of fixing prices, but I buy at very high prices too. It’s not my fault’, explains Mushtaq, who sells poultry. ‘Consumers buy the most necessary products, like rice or flour. Before, we could buy a box of apples for 2,000 rupees [8 euros]. Now, a box costs 3,000 [12 euros], and tomorrow it will be 3,200 [13 euros]’, says Saifullah, a fruit seller.

As well as homes, the flooding destroyed vegetable gardens, orchards and livestock: a significant source of food for rural populations. Monetary support for affected households is therefore crucial, so that they can buy essential goods.

Since the devastating floods of June 2022, more than 1,700 people have died and 200,000 have been displaced in the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh. According to the IFPRI, the link between these calamitous floods and climate change is becoming increasingly clear. Calls for the most polluting countries to take accountability for climate change are getting louder and louder.