Pakistan calls for humanitarian assistance for IIOJK people

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has urged the international community to end “selective” application of international humanitarian law, as he made a case for humanitarian assistance for the suffering people in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

“The plight of people who are subjected to foreign occupation deserves special attention,” Ambassador Munir Akram, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, told UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC’s) Humanitarian Affairs Segment on Tuesday.

This segment is a unique platform that brings together UN member states, UN organizations, humanitarian and development partners, the private sector and affected communities to discuss on how to best tackle the most recent and pressing humanitarian concerns.

Earlier, Ambassador Akram delivered a separate statement on behalf of the group in which he also called for respecting the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence in all circumstances.

Delivering his national statement, the Pakistan envoy said: “Approximately 2.1 million Palestinians need humanitarian assistance and $510 million is required to address their plight. Similarly, an estimated 95 percent of Afghans are without sufficient food, as the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan intensifies.”

However, in the case of the persecuted people of Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Akram pointed out that the United Nations had no access to the Kashmiris and no ability to help them in their plight, where they were oppressed daily by 900,000 Indian troops.

“The oppressed people of Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir are also in dire need of humanitarian assistance,” the Pakistani envoy added. On its part, he said, Pakistan had borne the burden of hosting millions of Afghan refugees for over four decades.

Pakistan had also faced humanitarian emergencies arising from natural disasters and climate related events, and had been ranked as one of the top ten countries most affected by climate change in the past 20 years despite being one of the lowest emitters, he added.

Ambassador Akram said humanitarian assistance should be responsive to the needs of the country or community hosting refugees, displaced and destitute people. “We must work collectively to promote the vision of an equal and inclusive world where no one is left behind.”

In his statement on behalf of G77 and China, Ambassador Akram called for addressing root causes of humanitarian emergencies, and mobilizing resources for humanitarian assistance which were adequate to meet needs of the affected people without any form of discrimination.