GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The International Red Cross (ICRC) statement 28 August was startling in its simplicity: “Most of our relief and protection activities in Pakistan, including visits to detainees, come to an end.” The organization says it is making the decision to dramatically scale down what was, in 2011, one of the largest ICRC operations in the world, after “a comprehensive assessment of the operational environment and of our assistance and protection programs in the country, three months after the murder of ICRC health programme manager Khalil Dale in Quetta.”
Before his death, the ICRC had 10 “structures” in the country, 1,300 staff members and it was working with “hundreds of thousands of people trying cope with violence and natural disasters.s”
The ICRC says that “In the future and if conditions permit, the Islamabad delegation and Peshawar sub-delegation intend to focus on healthcare for the wounded and the physically disabled, notably through the reopening of an ICRC field hospital in Peshawar.”
