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I visited the regions of Pakistan devastated by the huge earthquake there at the end of October 2005. I kept a diary during my visit, and have posted this in full below.

To read about the British government's response to the earthquake and the work we did to help those affected, please click HERE

I flew back on the Monday morning feeling distressed and upset at what I had seen. The images of the children in the camps were fresh in my mind and I have promised them that we will do more.

This is a global catastrophe that requires global solutions. Greater efforts need to be made to prevent any further unnecessary deaths.

Thursday 27th October

We began the day with a press conference in Westminster targeted at the Pakistani press explaining about the delegation going to the earthquake regions of Pakistan. Unfortunately due to problems in his constituency Khalid Mahmood, the MP for Birmingham Perry Bar, had to pull out of the trip at the last minute. However, in addition to Shahid Malik MP, Mohammed Sarwar MP and myself, the delegation included Mr Zafar Khan who is the Chairman of the Limbless Association UK. Zafar Khan is an inspirational man – the Limbless Association helps amputees and people with limb deficiencies of all ages and their families. He himself is an amputee and was responsible for Ali Abbas, the Iraqi boy injured during the war coming to the UK to receive treatment. Helping Hands, which is a UK based charity, were also part of the delegation. They are trying to also highlight the crisis developing in Pakistan.

Since the earthquake struck on 8th October, the Department for International Development has pledged £33 million towards the relief effort, and the UN Flash Appeal now stands at $117.2 million. DFID has sent 14 flights with over 900 tonnes of relief supplies but this will not be enough to meet the needs of the earthquake victims. The UN recently commented that the aftermath of the South Asian earthquake is a ‘logistical nightmare’, and that the situation is getting worse by the day.

Friday 28th October

After a couple of hours sleep, after the long flight, we met with the Chief Minister of Punjab - Mr Prevez Elahi and he debriefed us on the rescue operation so far. The relief operation has now ended, and they are now in rescue mode. Mr Elahi explained that there were literally thousands of people in the mountains who were unwilling to come down to the camps that were being made at ground level. Many of these people wanted to stay with their deceased loved ones, and they don’t want to leave their property and animals behind. Some of the able bodied people were coming down from the mountains to collect food and blankets and then going back up to the mountains. So part of the rescue operation was giving essential provisions to people in the mountains to take back with them. The problem is that with previous shelter and accommodation gone, the people still up in the mountains will find it impossible to survive the harsh winter conditions without winter tents.

We then had a 5 hours drive from Lahore to Islamabad where the 3 MPs had a private meeting with the Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr Shaukat Aziz. He explained to us the problems that were unfolding in the rescue operation. He talked about the large number of orphans and young children who have now lost their families, and the difficulties of getting help to them. He was particularity concerned about young girls being abducted and the huge number of people who have had limbs amputated – either because parts of buildings fell on them during the quake, or there was a risk of infection from their injuries.

Mr Aziz commented on the huge contribution that the UK had made and thanked both the Government and the people of the UK for their efforts. We asked him in particular how the people in the UK and the government could help and Mr Aziz explained that in addition to continuing with the rescue operation there was a need to give real attention to the rehabilitation and the reconstruction effort. There is a pressing need for specialist help with the treatment of patients with serious injuries and those requiring amputations. The Prime Minister explained that the most important thing that individuals in the UK and elsewhere could do was to give donations to enable the Government and relief agencies to spot purchase what was required as days went on. The current priority was for important items to be delivered to the areas where attention had been less focussed due to access difficulties. In addition to aid what was required was serious thought to trade assistance and a redoubling of efforts in this area.

Saturday 29th October

We met some of the British troops involved in the rescue operation. There are currently three Chinook helicopters assisting importing equipment and supplies to the affected areas. They can airlift supplies onto the ground with a pulley system in the mountainous areas where they can’t land. The Chinooks are currently making three sorties a day and are manned by 100 people helping with the operation. They are working all day flat out. I met the officer in charge of the British troops, and he explained the efforts his men and women have been making since they first arrived. They are committed to helping those in vulnerable areas, and taking off from Islamabad to the villages of Bagh, Balakot, Mensera and Mussafrabad. The three Chinooks were managing to do a great deal more than many other countries. The officers took great pride in explaining that they had managed to load and unload a Chinook 20 minutes faster than the US!

We flew by helicopter to Bagh. Watching the TV coverage of the earthquake disaster and reading about it in advance was insufficient preparation for the devastation we saw there. As we landed in the field which had been made into a helipad we could see the villages on the way which had been devastated, roads which were being cleared, and we saw tents scattering fields.

After a short meeting with officials and a debrief we went to one of the camps that Helping Hands had set up. The camp was full of women and young children. What was noticeable was the lack of fit men. We were told that the men were out in the mountainous areas helping the rescue operation. Some of the children were excited to see us but others looked to be still in shock, and their eyes were lifeless, almost as if they had given up hope. I can hardly begin to describe it – the women were pleading for assistance, as all they had was in the tents. They had bedding from Helping Hands and that was it – there was nothing else left from their possessions. They were asking us what they were supposed to do now. They had left their homes voluntarily, but they wanted to go back to villages. In many cases there is now nothing to go back to.

The relief agencies have been encouraging people to come to the camps, and giving people tents, but there is a real worry about whether these will be sufficient with the winter fast approaching. The villagers are proud and dignified people, and the vast majority want to stay by their homes, even if they are ruined. On the roadside we saw clothes that had appeared to be dumped. Speaking to local villagers, it was quite clear that the local community did not really need or want clothes being sent to them from well intentioned people from other countries. What they really need are blankets and tents.

We spent a few hours walking around the village meeting people and listening to their concerns. One of the biggest things that came through was a fear about what the future holds for these families.

One of the positive things to come out on the trip to Bagh was Helping Hands’ launch of a weather resistant pre fabricated metal structure that is earthquake proof and can resist snow and high winds. There are aftershocks taking place in the area and seismic experts from Turkey explained that there was still the possibility of further aftershocks. I experienced one in Islamabad on the first night I was here, and there is real concern that there will be more, and more buildings will collapse. The prefab houses are relatively cheap (ranging from £300 - £1000 per home) and come in different sizes, and the advantage is that they are solid and can be quickly built. They can sleep up to 8 people. They can also be easily transported and are safer – there has been a real problem with concrete roofs caving in on people. Several companies are making these, and Helping Hands are going to be involved in making these available to families. The cost of the homes will be funded by donations.

People can’t begin to rebuild their lives from a tent, so the metal homes will at least give them more stability and shelter in the short term. The priority has been the rescue effort, and the helicopters are being used for essential supplies. However, the prototype of these homes has been launched, and the villagers who saw them were excited and wanted to know if they would be able to have one. They said that if the homes could be brought to the plains, they would carry them to the villages. The units come in lots of small pieces. They can be built, taken apart and carried up mountains, and then rebuilt by non experts without any need for specialised tools.

Sunday 30th October

Today we flew by helicopter to Mensera. On the way we flew over the town of Balakot which has been completely destroyed. Every house, school and hospital was now rubble, and the streets were full of concrete boulders, old signs from buildings and some temporary tents that had been put up. We were told that very few had survived in Balakot.

We landed on the Chatara Plain where we visited a medical centre that had been set up. Doctors and paramedics were dispensing medicine to the victims of the earthquake. In addition to treating those injured, routine medical care was being provided, and a female doctor was there to care for the women giving birth. They were awaiting further field doctors and patients to be transferred from other sites.

A school had been set up in the camp. The manager of the camp explained that there are hundreds of children with nothing to do – and school is a good way of carrying on with normal life, and keeping them occupied. It is also providing a form of counselling and support. On the first day, 30 children had attended, and by the end of the week a thousand had turned up. The tents could hold up to 600 children, with the other 400 being taught outside. When the weather gets worse, they won’t be able to teach outside and will have to turn the children away. For the children who survived the earthquake, there is the trauma of remembering that day, and all those that died when they were in schools that were destroyed completely. We can often underestimate the psychological effect of the earthquake.

In Abbotabad we visited the hospital. The actual hospital is still standing, but there are so many cracks in the building, that patients are scared to use it. Helping Hands have set up a treatment centre on the forecourt, and Medicine Sans Frontieres, the International Red Cross and organisations from Korea and Cuba have set up field hospitals nearby. I had a long conversation with a British doctor – Dr Amjad Ghulzar - who was part of a team of British doctors who had been there since immediately after the earthquake. He said that he had taken part in or seen more than 700 amputations. He also explained that he had been treating other patients who had amputations badly performed, and now needed further surgery. There are no records of the total number of amputations that had taken place in the last 2 weeks. There were no forms for the doctors in the hospitals to compete before amputating. There were no records being kept, and therefore no way of monitoring the progress of patients. The doctors are well intentioned, but they do not have specialist knowledge of amputations, and there is no quality control in place. Zafar Khan explained the importance of aftercare for amputees, and this isn’t happening at the moment. If the operation is done properly, it is possible to live a full life, as Zafar Khan is living proof of. I saw a six year old whose arm had been cut off, and you could still see the blood on the bandages. There will be future generations of people who won’t be able to work, and the economic implications of this are profoundly worrying.

The Pakistani Government has agreed to set up special limbs units in hospitals and a high tech centre of excellence, as there will be thousands of people who will need this. They will need British expertise, which the Limbless Association have agreed to provide.

This day was probably one of the saddest of my life. The Helping Hands camp was like a war zone. There were sole surviving members of families. where three generations of family members had been wiped out. Many had no news of loved ones or relations. There were amputation patients everywhere. I spoke to one relief worker from Helping Hands who explained that he had stopped some men with guns trying to forcibly remove three girls from camp, who would no doubt have sold the girls on as child slaves for prostitution. The Army are now on hand to protect some camps, but relief workers are concerned that a lot of children have already been removed.

You don’t appreciate the scale of crisis until you see the devastation on the ground. What is being reported around the world is only the tip of iceberg. The relief agencies are doing their best, and I saw projects that made me immensely proud of Britain’s effort – for example, BT are setting up £2 million worth of satellite equipment to allow communication in remote areas. But so much more is needed. The winter is setting in and villages will soon become even more inaccessible, leaving thousands to perish from hypothermia and starvation. There is a village called Ally where rescue operations haven’t been able to reach yet. Unless the village is reached within the next fourteen days, 80,000 residents could perish.

On 19th November, there will be an international conference in Pakistan to discuss what the international community can do – unless more money and aid reaches the area, then many thousands more will die. The numbers who have died since the earthquake struck are rising.

The rescue operation should have finished by now – but we are still in the middle of this. In addition to aid, trade concessions (similar to those given to tsunami affected countries) are also urgently needed.

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