At least 2.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have now been registered from recent fighting in Swat, Buner and Dir areas. This is in addition to another 553,000 people registered as displaced in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), bringing the total number of displaced to 2.9 million since August 2008.

As more displaced families flee towns and villages in the Swat Valley following the lifting of a curfew after the month-long military operation in Swat, Buner and Dir, International Organization for Migration (IOM) is ramping up its relief effort. But agencies including IOM are warning that without additional donor support, humanitarian assistance may have to end by early July.

While the local authorities and aid agencies hope that people in camps and living with host families will start returning to Mingora, the main town of Swat Valley, now that hostilities have ended, many may remain displaced until peace and basic facilities are restored in their home areas.

Please join us for a briefing with Hassan Abdel Moneim Mostafa, IOM Regional Representative for West and Central Asia, who is leading the organization's emergency assistance for the internally displaced. Mr. Abdel Moneim Mostafa will provide a fresh perspective from the ground on the current situation in Pakistan. A photo gallery of USIP's Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow Imtiaz Ali on his recent trip to Pakistan with Richard Holbrooke is also available for viewing.

Speakers

• Hassan Abdel Moneim Mostafa
  IOM Regional Representative for West and Central Asia
• Elizabeth Ferris
  Co-Director, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Brookings Institution
• Anne Richard
  Vice President for Government Relations and Advocacy, International Rescue Committee
• Rodney Jones, Moderator
  Program Officer for Pakistan and South Asia, U.S. Institute of Peace