Press release | First published: here | October 31, 2024
- Thousands lacking support after severe flooding
- Older people and children at increased risk of death and disease
Severe flooding in Pakistan’s Sindh province has left thousands of people suffering from disease and food insecurity amid government inaction, Amnesty International said.
Following major flooding in August 2024, more than 140,000 people were displaced with many now living in tents. Months later, affected communities are still struggling with health risks and lost livelihoods compounded by little international or government support. With disease rampant due to stagnant floodwaters, older people, children and pregnant women are at increased risk of illness and death.
By failing to guarantee access to adequate healthcare, food and housing in the wake of the floods, the government of Sindh has failed to fulfil economic, social and cultural rights set out in key human rights instruments ratified by Pakistan. The biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, who bear most responsibility for climate change-related disasters, must also minimize the harmful effects of climate change on human rights by phasing out fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
“Tens of thousands of people have been abandoned by the Sindh government and the international community after being devastated again by major floods,” said Scott Edwards, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Programme Director.
“Many impacted communities were harmed by record-breaking floods in 2022, and have struggled to rebuild their lives. Inaction in the face of repeated disasters is evidence of waning resiliency and global lethargy.
“Climate change is not a tentative threat; lives are being lost today to global inaction and inadequate humanitarian response. The international community and Pakistani authorities must act urgently before more people suffer unnecessarily.”
In late September 2024, Amnesty International visited eight flood-affected villages in Badin and Dadu districts in Sindh province and interviewed 36 people, including older people, people with disabilities, children, pregnant women, and one doctor.
“The government provided us a tent, and nothing else”
In affected communities, most homes were damaged or destroyed, which forced people to set up tents on nearby roads elevated from floodwaters. Almost every person interviewed by Amnesty International said that they had at least one family member who was sick, typically with malaria, skin infections, or diarrhoea and vomiting. Older people and children, who generally have lower resistance to disease, are at elevated risk.
Shazia Chandio, 22, lost her 18-month-old son when her village in Dadu district was flooded. With their house surrounded by floodwaters, Shazia, her daughter and son were all hospitalized after suffering vomiting and diarrhoea.
Her son received an intravenous drip, but the family brought him home after one night because they could not afford further treatment. She told Amnesty International: “For one day and one night he was suffering diarrhoea, and then the next day he died.”
Khalid Hussain told Amnesty International his father Haji, a 61-year-old farmer, lost his hearing around five years ago. Haji was still able to work in the fields and was fully independent before their home was flooded. The family was displaced to a nearby roadside where they lived in a tent for about 25 days.
Khalid told Amnesty International: “Before the flood he was healthy and fit. Now he is unable to even eat unassisted. He has kidney issues [now] because he had diarrhoea for 20 days… We were drinking flood water. The government provided us a tent, and nothing else.”
The family took Haji to a hospital in Hyderabad, more than two hours away, where they said doctors would not admit him due to a lack of capacity. He was given medication and told to return later. However, as transport alone cost PKR 15,000 (US$54) and Khalid’s daily income was just PKR 700 ($2.50), they were unable to bring him for further treatment.
Sanitation conditions amid the floods were particularly difficult for women, who were often forced to seek sheltered places far away from encampments to relieve themselves.
Aalma, 43, said that younger girls could relieve themselves outside during the day if they were covered up, but that women “would wait all day and then go at night” out of fear of impropriety. She told Amnesty International: “My [16-year-old] daughter was having diarrhoea and was also vomiting. We could not allow her to go outside, so she was vomiting and having diarrhoea inside the tent.”
Most people said they had received no support to cope with the health consequences. Many said they would have moved to safer areas in order to protect themselves from the floodwater, but could not do so without financial support.
Shazia Chandio added: “Nobody has helped [my family]. Those who have money here moved to a safer place, but those who don’t have money stay.”
“Why should I build it again and again if the floods will come again in a year?”
To date, the recent floods have destroyed more than 500,000 acres of agricultural land in Sindh. Almost all families expressed concern about their financial situation without income from rice, wheat, cotton or mustard seed crops, which were their primary livelihoods.
Many were eating only one meal per day, and some described having been turned away from grocery stores after being refused further credit. Despite pledges by the Sindh government to coordinate aid deliveries across the region, most people have had no support except a one-time supply of rations from a local non-governmental organisation or volunteer.
Ali Hassan Sumejo, a 22-year-old father-of-two, lost most of his belongings when a canal burst its banks close to his village near Tarai. He lost 25kg of stored wheat, as well as three farm animals. With his crops destroyed and the land unlikely to be dry enough to sow wheat for the following year, he does not know how he will pay back PKR 150,000 (US$540) owed to his landlord for fertilizer, seeds and equipment.
He said: “We are denied any financial help. Even the landlord says, ‘I’m just like you now, I’ve lost my land and my investments. So go find labour work’… It’s a very difficult time, sometimes we get just one meal per day and sometimes we have no food at all.”
The current financial hardship is compounded by previous flooding in 2022 in Sindh province, which destroyed or damaged nearly two million houses. In response, the government, with backing from international donors, set up a fund to help rebuild many of those houses. So far, 100,000 houses have been built, and 500,000 under construction. Amnesty International interviewed some people who had received support to rebuild their houses, but many had not.
Jameelan Nour Mohammed, a 41-year-old mother-of-five currently living in her brother’s house, said: “My house fell down in 2022, and we rebuilt it for PKR 200,000 (US$720). There is no money left to rebuild again. Why should I build it again and again if the floods will come again in a year?”
Amnesty International interviewed several children who had not been able to attend school since floods began in August. According to a UNICEF report, the education of at least 230,000 children was disrupted due to flood damage.
Background
In recent years, Amnesty International has documented how repeated flooding and extreme heat in Pakistan has served as a reminder for urgent human rights-consistent climate action. In 2025, Amnesty International will publish a major report documenting the effects of climate change on marginalized communities in Pakistan.
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