Chamber vice-president visits flood-hit areas of Pakistan
Nasir Awan said he was reduced to tears by flooding in Pakistan.
Last updated 26th May 2023
Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce vice-president Dr Nasir Awan was devastated when he returned to his homeland to see the impact of flooding that brought a living nightmare to Pakistan.
Dr Nasir Awan said: “When you go and see the devastation and you see people with no hope at all. You see young children and think what hope do they have? They have nothing but the clothes on their back.
“It is very difficult for people to rebuild. They have lost all their possessions.
“People in rural areas relying on organisations like Islamic relief to provide food. We need to support these people.”
As chair of Islamic Relief Pakistan – one of 40 overseas arms of the Birmingham-based aid charity distributing donations of half a billion dollars world wide - Dr Nasir made two emotionally-charged visits to view at first hand the terrible aftermath of monsoons which left a third of the country underwater, killing nearly 3,000, including more than 640 children.
He said: “We specialise in disaster response. We were ready to be on the ground to support victims with 70% of the country flooded and 33 million were people made homeless.
“Unfortunately, this situation has gone off the news agenda, but the devastation has left many families homeless and living in temporary shelter accommodation.”
“Our response initially was to supply food, medication and shelter. Our target was to build 5000 houses and we had successfully done this in February.”
The Pakistani born charity worker first visited the worst flood-hit regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the north of the country in November before returning to the Middle East state in February to view the flood-hit regions of Balochistan and Sindh in the south, paying on both occasions out of his own pocket.
“A lot of these rural areas relied on farming. The crops were ruined with fields still 8-10 foot underwater. These people are sitting there helplessly.”
The Birmingham businessman was able to see the attempts to help families left with little more than their clothes after torrential downpours last June turned daily existence into a living nightmare for around 33 million people.
He said: “Islamic relief was first on the ground in these areas where people did not have food, drinking water or shelter.”
13,000 kilometres of roads had also been washed away and 400 bridges damaged in the worst-hit areas.
Dr Awan, who was awarded an MBE for services to business and international trade in 2016, is planning to return to Pakistan in the autumn. He is calling for concerted action on climate change in the wake of the floods.
“We want to build stronger homes. This time it was much worse than when flooding happened in 2010. This is due to climate change and global warming.
“Pakistan is suffering from the impact of carbon emissions from industrial countries.”
The boss of wholesalers Awan Marketing has encouraged people to donate to help the cause: “A few pounds, a week a month can go a long way.”
You can donate towards rebuilding houses in Pakistan here.