Children of UN staff to leave Pakistani hotspots

The United Nations has declared the Pakistani capital Islamabad unsafe for the children of its international staff and ordered them out, putting the once tranquil city on a par with Kabul and Somalia.

It follows news this week that around 60 children of diplomats and staff at the British High Commission in Pakistan are to return to the UK.

Underlining Pakistan’s crumbling security situation, a suicide bomber failed in an attempt to assassinate a prominent anti-Taliban politician yesterday and troops reportedly killed 27 militants in the restive north west.

Pakistan is under intense US pressure to combat militants responsible for rising attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan. Its faltering efforts so far have been met with a blur of suicide attacks in Pakistani cities.

The UN, which employs more than 2,000 people in Pakistan including about 100 foreigners, has not been hit.

However, the truck bombing of Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel, which killed 54 people including three Americans and the Czech ambassador, prompted the world body as well as foreign missions to review security.

Farhan Haq, a spokesman for the UN in New York, said the decision to relocate children was temporary.

“All essential staff will remain on duty, and all UN work will proceed as normal,” Haq said. “The United Nations intends to return to regular staffing levels as soon as conditions allow.”

Under the decision, UN expatriate staff will no longer be allowed to live with their children in the capital, the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi or in Quetta, on the Afghan frontier.

Amena Kamaal, a UN spokeswoman in Islamabad, said only about 20 families were affected.

Much of the border region, including the city of Peshawar is already off-limits for UN families. Some of those affected can relocate to areas deemed safer, such as Lahore or Karachi.

But others are expected to leave Pakistan altogether, which could disrupt UN operations in the country as it faces severe economic difficulties and a crumbling of basic public services in militancy-torn areas.

Pakistan has suffered a surge in attacks by Taliban and al Qaida-linked militants on government, military and Western targets over the last two years that has fanned fears about the nuclear-armed nation’s stability.

Pakistani authorities have sought to reassure an expatriate community for whom the leafy, grid-plan city at the foot of the Himalayas makes a comfortable home.

However, the precautions have only made parts of the city resemble Kabul, which - like troublespots Somalia and southern Nigeria – is a non-family posting for UN international staff.

Baghdad and Khartoum are the only capitals where the UN is on a higher security level, Ms Kamaal said.