ISLAMABAD: The UN refugee chief on Monday called for international aid for hundreds of thousands of displaced people fleeing fighting in northwestern Pakistan.
"This is a huge and rapidly unfolding emergency which is going to require considerable resources beyond those that currently exist in the region," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said.
"I call on the international community to support the overall humanitarian effort on behalf of displaced Pakistanis," he added in a statement.
The UNHCR said it would begin an airlift on Tuesday with a chartered Boeing 747 cargo plane ferrying in 120 tonnes of supplies including makeshift shelter equipment, mosquito nets and two large portable warehouses.
More than 360,000 displaced people have been registered by Pakistani authorities since May 2, the UNHCR said.
The numbers come on top of a UN estimate of more than half a million displaced in the northwest before the offensive against insurgents in the Swat Valley.
"Not everyone is registered and people continue to flee, many arriving only with what they can carry on their backs," Guterres said.
"These are the same people who for decades showed great generosity to millions of Afghan refugees."
"Now it is time for the international community to show them the same generosity by supporting humanitarian programmes for the Pakistani displaced," Guterres added.
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