2,000 displaced Christians living in tents in Islamabad

LAHORE: Nearly 2,000 Christian citizens of Islamabad have been living in tents for the past three months, according to a CNN report.

They say the government kicked them off their land without warning just because they are Christian. Government officials say they were given plenty of warning. They also say they will take care of the problem, a problem they are well aware of.

Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti says, “We are constitutionally bound to protect the life and property of the minorities and to look after the interests of the minorities in this country… they are equal citizens of the country. Yes, there is a problem, but we are trying to solve those problems.”

But regardless of any religious strife, people in the camp are dying of poverty. Two have died since the group settled here, and children are totally exposed to the sun. a doctor was brought in and he seemed stunned, both at its location and the conditions. “I think there’s a danger here, especially with some of the younger children, that they could just die from dehydration or from all kinds of infections,” said Dr Rizwan Taj. “I am very surprised, really because this is the centre of Islamabad, just right in the centre. And the facilities they need are not but 10 minutes from here.”

The water the camp is using to survive on comes from a broken pipe that runs underneath the road and out on one side. At the camp, the water used for drinking runs over a pile of trash and directly down into the makeshift toilets, which are two holes in the ground. Dr Taj says, “Typhoid will come to this camp – the conditions are ripe.”

Source: Daily Times