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Munda 6, Pakistan 1998- Munda 6 was a Pakistani show camp for refugees. We obtained government permission to visit the camp with a Pakistani "liaison officer" or "LO". As we drove to the camp, we passed through miles of lush farms and villages. As we approached the camp, it was clearly visible from a distance as the only patch in the valley that had no vegetation. The Pakistanis apparently did not allow refugees farm lest they become too comfortable on what is tenuously Pakistani territory. Our taxi drove right up to an administrative hut and our LO asked us to wait in the car while he went inside. As soon as he was inside, an old man shoved his way through a crowd of refugees who had closed in around our car and thrust his arm through the back window at me. His leathery hand laid upon me a piece of paper. I glanced at it quickly and stuffed it into my shirt pocket. What I saw appeared to be written in Pashto or Urdu. But I was too slow. The LO had come out and demanded that I give him the slip of paper. I never found out what was on it but no one looked too happy to be there. We went inside the Administration hut. They were fingerprinting the refugees inside. Some show camp! |
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