ESCAPE FROM TERROR

 

A report of the International Rescue Committee Emergency Mission to India for Pakistan Refugees, submitted on July 28, 1971, by its Chairman, Mr. Angier Biddle Duke, to Mr. F. L. Kellog, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Refugee Affairs, Government of U. S. A.

Introduction.

 

On March 25, 1971 began one of the largest mass movements in our time of people fleeing in terror to a neighbouring country. Six million Bengalis, Moslems, and Hindus, have streamed out of East Pakistan, their homeland, to West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya. Thousands on thousands of new refugees arrive every day, and the pressures on India generated by this West multitude of desti­tute refugees are mounting dangerously.

 

On July 5th, Chester Bowies, a former U.S. Ambassador to India, wrote in The New York Times

 

" Unless two rather unlikely developments occur, South Asia is in imminent danger of erupting into a tragic, needless war.

 

" These developments are First, that the ruling West Pakistan Government turns away from the path of terror against its own subjects in East Pakistan and agrees to a settlement that will stem the flow of frightened, homeless refugees into India and second, that the world community soon mounts a massive campaign to relieve India of the burden of supporting nearly six million refugees who have already crossed the border".

 

Political solutions for the return of the Bengali refugees must be found ; and it is imperative that India's shattering burden of caring for the refugees be shared by other nations and other peoples to create time for such a settlement. It is incumbent on American voluntary agencies to assume a reasonable share of this responsibility. Humanitarianism and enlightened self-interest are twin motivations for strong and immediate action toward alleviating one of the most tragic and potentially explosives refugee crises of our time.

 

The State of Pakistan consists of the East and West provinces, which are separated by a thousand miles of Indian territory. The population of the East is 75 million, outnumbering the West, the seat of the national government, by 25 million. Both areas are predominantly Moslem, though eight million Hindus live in the East.

 

In. elections held in December 1970 the Awami League of East Pakistan won a majority in the National Assembly for all Pakistan. Negotiations to form a new government resulted in a stalemate. On March 25th the Pakistani Army and police forces poured into the East and undertook a campaign of unparalleled fury against the Bengali people. It appears that some 200,000 people were killed.

 

As the extent and gravity of the refugee crisis emerged, the International Rescue Committee sent a mission of five volunteer leaders to India, headed by IRC's former President, Angier Biddle Duke. Its other members were L Morton Hamburg, an IRC Vice President, IRC Board members, Mrs. Lawrence Copley Thaw and Thomas W. Phipps, and Dr. Daniel L. Weiner of the Einstein Medical School. The mandate of the mission was to obtain a first-hand picture of the refugee situation, and to initiate an emergency programme for East Bengali refugees, the professionals in particular. The IRC Board of Directors felt that it should focus on a segment of the overall problem not exceeding the capabilities of a voluntary agency. Moreover, the survival of Bengali teachers, doctors, writers, artists, scien­tists, academicians and cultural leaders is essential for the survival of their nation.

 

The following pages describe the Mission's findings, recommendations and the outline of a programme the International Rescue Committee has undertaken to implement.

 

I. The scope of the problem.

 

The near-apathy with which the world has reacted to a refugee emergency, the magnitude of which beggers anything we have witnessed since World War II and its aftermath, can perhaps be explained-though not excused-by the helplessness with which most of us react to what appears as an elemental disaster of unmanage­able scope.

 

The mass terror unleashed by the West Pakistan Army and Police had a selec­tive thrust. As the New York Times put it :

 

" People have killed each other because of animosities of race, politics and religion ; no community is entirely free of guilt. But the principal agent of death and hatred has been the Pakistani Army. And its killings has been selective. According to reliable reports from inside East Pakistan, the Army's particular targets have been intellectuals and leaders of opinion­ doctors, professors, students, writers".*

 

IRC's Mission to India was able to verify through interviews with refugees that this was actually what happened. People were taken out of their houses and machine-gunned in the streets. Men, women and children were bayonetted to death. Women were raped. About 200,000 people were reported to have been killed. Millions of people began their escape into India. At that stage, they con­sisted mostly of Moslems identified with the Awami League and the political oppo­sition to the West Pakistan regime.

 

Later the terror of the Pakistani Army was turned against the Hindu minority who constituted about one-tenth of East Pakistan's population. The quote The New Fork Times report from Faridpur, East Pakistan :

" Although thousands of ` antistate ' Bengali Moslems have been killed by the army, the Hindus became particular scapegoats as the martial-law regime tried to blame Hindu India and her agents in East Pakistan for the autonomy movement ... The arm} also forced Moslems friendly to Hindus to loot and burn Hindu houses : the Moslems were told that if they did not attack Hindus, they themselves would be killed."**

 

The Indian authorities have ^established a quite reliable registration procedure. By June 3, the refugee population had reached 4.8 million, of whom close to two­thirds were housed in camps of all descriptions in Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya, east and northeast of East Pakistan, but mainly in West Bengal :

 

New York Times, July 4, 1971.

 

 

State or District***.                      In Reception          With friends

                                                         Centres.              or Relatives.

 

Assam              ..      ..       ..      ..        81,800            65,677

Tripura             ..      ..       ..      ..       381,373          363,464

Meghalaya ..            ..       ..      ..       186,052           49,332

 

                          West Bengal.

 

Nadia .. .. .. ..                                                214,788           170,951

24-Parganas ... .. ..                                        503,467           179,250

Maurshidabad .. .. ..                                      134,507            51,953

West Dinajpur ... .. ..                                    783,664           511,555

Jalpaiguri .. .. .. ..                                          140,402           165,000

Cooch-Behar .. .. ..                                       189,755          210,875

Malda              ..      ..       ..      ..                    92,139           254,513

                                                                  -------------    ------------

                                                                    2,707,947      2,022,570

 

By June 15, the number of refugees had gone up to 5.8 million, of whom 3.7 million were living in camps. With the outbreak of cholera in early June, news of which spread into East Pakistan, the border crossings did slow down. Yet once the cholera threat subsided, thousands again began to pour over every night, despite the desperate air of tension the Pakistani Army has tried to maintain along the border by mortar fire to which the Mission can bear personal witness. There is no indication that the exodus has been halted. If the present trend continues, the figure is likely to go to seven million before July is out. Seven million people is the total population of Cuba.

When will this situation explode? Who knows? The voluntary agencies are performing a humanitarian service. But the% are just as importantly trying to help India endure the severe internal pressures and thus buy time in the search for the solution that must come. In that sense they are making a contribution to world peace.

 

II. The Refugees

 

The refugees, many of whom have walked distances of up to 150 miles, appear to have travelled from cities and villages relatively near the Indian border. There are unquestionably large numbers of Pakistanis who are unable to escape because of their more central location within East Pakistan. They have come to India initially by way of the usual border crossings and along roads normally travelled. With the closure of the borders by the Pakistani military, large numbers are continuing to infiltrate through the 1,300 mile border with India through forests and swamps. These groups, with numbers sometimes up to 50,000 in a 24 hour period, have for the most part settled along the major routes in India. They are found wherever there is a combination of available ground and minimal water-supply. Many of them have avoided camp communities and have " melted " into the countryside. The refugee camps may vary in size from small groups to upwards of 50,000. There has been an extraordinary effort on the part of the West Bengal and Indian Government to organise these camps and supply them with at least minimal amounts of food and water. The camps are frequently located adjacent to existing Indian villages. Attempts have been made to set up camps on higher terrain but this is frequently impossible. It is obvious that much of the refugee areas will be under water during the monsoon season.

 

The shelter, when it does exist, is of three main types-small thatched huts made of locally available material, small low tent made from wood frames covered with tarpaulins supplied by the relief authorities, and, where available, cement casement and drainage pipes are used for shelter. At present, all tarpaulin material within India has been exhausted, and attempts are being made to use plastic material. Water is usually supplied by one or two pumps within the refugee area. These are hand-drilled wells which are equipped with standard single lever pump. Sanitry facilities are allmost non-existent. Initially small slit trench latrines were located within close proximity to the area of the refugee villages, but attempts are now being made by authorities to place larger, better designed facilities at least some distance from the camps. The inadequate drainage system, the shallow wells and inadequate sanitation make cross contamination an obvious sequence. There is a critical need in these camps for some type of adequate sanitary facilities-even more acutely a need for power-driven drills so as to facilitate the speed with which they can be constructed and improve the depth of the wells. Adequate facilities in both these areas with adequate separation are probably the single most important need for maintaining some type of minimal health conditions.

 

The refugee diet is dependent upon food supplied by the relief authorities and those small amounts which they can supplement by local purchase. This con­sists of rice boiled in open clay pots, some powdered milk which is occasionally available, and dall, which is a lentil type of bean used for a thin soup. in a few isolated cases some green vegetables had been distributed, but this is the exception rather than the rule. At this point the diet would be classified as barely adequate.

 

III. Health conditions

 

The physical appearance of most of the refugees shows the signs of hardship, low caloric intake and inadequate clothing. The children seem to be doing reason­ably well under the circumstances, but in both adults and children there are seen large numbers of skin infections, gastrointestinal disturbances with vomiting and diarrhoea, and chronic cough with upper respiratory infections. In the camp hospi­tals there are the ever present cases of cholera and other gastrointestinal diseases. The cholera problem seems now to be under control. However, with the combi­nation of increased rain from the monsoons, deficient health facilities plus the influx of new refugees, it is quite clear that there will be again an upswing in the inci­dence of cholera.

 

Health care among the refugee population is rudimentary. Mobile units for mass inoculation programs and the distribution of a few simple medications are active within some of the camps. Fixed facilities in the terms of field-type tent hospitals have been opened up in or near other camps, but here again these units carry only about 20 to 30 in-patient beds (stretchers). All that can be offered is some intravenous or oral fluid therapy for the gastrointestinal problems and cholera. Medical supplies are being received and distributed to these fixed facilities. However, due to the lack of co-ordination of the medical effort, many supplies are arriving which are not needed while others are in short supply.

At the present time in terms of the general refugee population, the acute need is for material for shelter, particularly with the advent of the monsoon season. There is a need for better water supply, particularly wells with a deeper water table and with less chance of contamination. Properly designed sanitary facilities are mandatory. The diet at present would appear to be just about able to sustain the adults and children, but food is going into short supply again.

 

A major problem is in the infant refugee population. There is no food or food supplement available to bottle-feed these children. Mother's milk is, of course, inadequate. A severe and critical shortage is therefore present in the powdered milk-glucose supplement powders used for infact formulas. Without this being placed in immediate supply, there will conceivably be many more-neo-natal deaths due to malnutrition.

 

The next few months will bring increased numbers of refugees and additional strain on the. meager existing supplies and facilities. Malnutrition and disease will become more prevalent. Relations between the refugees and the local villagers must deteriorate. The financial burden for the West Bengal and Central Indian govern­ment will be impossible to bear. Morale will sink to even lower levels as the situation becomes desperate.

Food and medical supplies must come from outside sources. Distribution of these materials is possible but there must be more medical and paramedical personnel made available and mobilized.

 

IV. The Refugee Physicians

 

The refugee physicians who left East Pakistan maintained some liasion with other professionals and physicians within India. Very few of them are in the refugee camps, most being in and around Calcutta, living with families, friends and relatives. The East Pakistani medical establishment is the product of seven medical schools offering two different degrees. The M.B.B.S. physicians are from five-year schools and the RFP are from four-year schools. There are also some paramedicals. The general faculty of the medical schools were for the most part senior physicians, and many of these were killed or are unaccounted for. Approxi­mately 1,500 East Pakistani physicians have left the country, the majority of these being younger men. Their medical degree does not accredit them to practise in West Bengal and so far only 150 of them have been employed by the West Bengal Government. Most of the refugee physicians have registered with the Bangla Desh Red Cross which is under the direction of Dr. A. Hoque. In this group are mostly what we would classify as general practitioners with relatively few specialists. They retain only their own clothes and a few personal belongings and virtually none of their medical equipment. They possess no medical supplies and are consequently unable to practise medicine. Nor have they any means of support or means of supporting their families. They exist by living with other families.

 

V. The Medical Program

 

The refugee physician population falls within that group of professionals and intellectuals who are the focal point of the International Rescue Committee's con­cern. The plan of the Committee is to support refugee physicians by the payment of a uniform stipend. This stipend would vary slightly on the basis of experience and seniority. In return for this stipend the professional physician would accept work as assigned in the refugee camps. This would primarily serve to help relieve the acute need for physicians among the refugees. Thus, the professional physician will be active and productive within his profession while helping to relieve a critical problem. The acute and continuing need for physicians in the refugee camps cannot be satisfied by the West Bengal medical community. Within the camps themselves the presence of physicians will be an important morale factor and will provide some leadership.

 

Conferences have been held with the Minister of Health of West Bengal who has accepted the plan, and who will help supervise and assign certain groups of the doctors, as needed, to the refugee camps under his jurisdiction. Some physicians have already been employed by the International Rescue Committee and assigned to refugee camps and newly formed base hospital units. In all cases the qualifi­cations of the individual physicians are being evaluated by the medical authorities. A^-salary" rate of two to three dollars a day has been established. This means that a large segment of the unemployed refugee doctors can be put to work for their fellow refugees.

 

Any medical program among the refugees must have ( 1) physicians, (2) equipment and supplies, (3) transportation. The physicians are to be hired and suplied by the IRC. Equipment and supplies will be provided by the West Bengal govern­ment and the Red Cross who will utilize the M.D. services. This need of supplies appears the easiest to meet because of the massive infusion of medical and relief material which is now coming into the country. The key to making the medical supplies available and to transform them into medical care is the physician. Physicians and paramedical personnel are available but no one has developed a system whereby monies are available to pay them for their services. Without this payment these men cannot work. The IRC's funds for payment of these services is the key which will make the whole system operational.

 

The question of transport is an acute one also. The solution to this has been arrived at through conferences with the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ghosh, who is making a special exception and permitting the hiring of unutilized vehicles that came out of East Pakistan. These vehicles normally could not be operated within West Bengal. The minister will allow them to be hired and used by the IRC, thereby eliminating the cost and time for purchase of vehicles.

 

We have in our possession a list of 50 physicians who are now available, qualified and ready to go to work within the refugee camps under the IRC pro gram. Others are being mobilized from areas around Calcutta and should be active in the program within one week. We also have in our possession a list of 80 vehicles which belong to refugees and which can be made available to us for transportation for the program. The doctors will be paid at a uniform rate on the basis of the level set by the West Bengal Central Government. There will be a need for special items of equipment, i.e., stethoscopes, to keep the physician group operational. There may also be occasional need to fund a specialist or consultant from within India itself when that type of talent is not available within the refugee group.

 

The IRC program is unique in that it supports the physicians as a viable group active and ready to return with the refugees to East Pakistan when the moment arrives.

 

The IRC is actually initiating the beginnings of a health system for six million people, in reality a small nation. If the political situation remains stagnant, these physicians will obviously need to move into more permanent institutions such as hospitals. Ancillary plans should eventually include paramedical personnel. Training for paramedicals must be utilised for the delivery of health care as there will never be enough doctors. The physicians working within the camp will provide a nucleus for teaching Public Health, Sanitation, child care., etc., besides providing medical care and support.

 

Thus the IRC medical program must face an ever increasing need both in the number of physicians it will attempt to support and the medical services it makes available to the refugees through this program.

 

VI. The Educational Program

 

Idleness in the camps, especially among the young, is a dangerously corrosive element. So is idleness among people with professional talents. By putting teachers to work in the camps, their immediate economic problem can be solved and masses of refugee children and young people can be enabled to continue their interrupted education in whatever space is available and with whatever materials are at hand or can be obtained. Even if it were just learning songs, or the alphabet, or read­ing from newspapers, instructors would be going back to work and occupying the attention and minds of their pupils.

 

The Calcutta University group has undertaken to register all teachers who have come out of East Pakistan. While the IRC Mission was there, the University registered 3,800 teachers, including 94 university professors, 839 undergraduate college teachers (with approximately 1,000 registrations still pending), and about 1,900 primary and secondary school teachers. The total number of East Bengali refugee teachers who are now in India is presumed to be approximately 10,000. With the assistance of the Refugee Teachers' Association and the Calcutta University Assistance Committee, a programme was initiated for the International Rescue Com­mittee to hire and pay teachers to go into the refugee camps and establish school centres there. The outline of the project as submitted by the Teachers' Association stresses the eagerness of the teachers to return to their educational activities. " Though at present they are jobless," the memorandum states, " they are in reality the educational trust of their nation. But unless immediate steps are taken to provide them with minimum subsistence allowances, it is feared they will face starvation and gradual extinction."

 

Suggesting a monthly " salary " level of $ 25•00 for primary and secondary school teachers and of $ 40•00 for readers, lecturers and college level teachers, the Teachers' Association, basing its estimates on a reservoir of 10,000 teachers, set up the following table :

 

 

                                                                         Proposed                    Total                          Total

Category of teachers.                                      Allowance                 strength                      monthly

                                                                        per month.              of category.              requirements­

                                                                             $                                                                     $

Primary and Secondary .. ..                ..               25•00                        7,700                        192,000

College Level Lecturers and Readers ..              40•00                       2,250                         90,000

 

 

To these figures must be added the salaries of non-teachers (there are about 1,500 administrative school personnel among the refugees), transportation for ins­pection and co-ordination and contingencies.

 

As an immediate project the Teachers' Association proposed starting camp schools in the evacuee camps in the districts of Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad, West Dinajpur, Cooch Behar and Agartala. These schools would not be full-fledged conventional schools, but rather improvised centres with minimal organizational structures-to collect youngsters by age groups and to give them instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic with some history and geography, and some practical training in public health, sanitation and co-operative social work. If required, the schools will be run in shifts. The average staff of each school centre would ideally consist of 13 teachers and 2 non-teaching employees.

 

Estimated Budget for each school

 

10 Teachers of the Primary and Secondary Section ..             $ 250•00  a month

3 Teachers of the Higher Level . .     . .     . .      . .                  $120-00

2 Non-teaching staff at $ 20 each a month. ..     ..                 $ 40•00   „

Teaching Materials  . .      . .      .      . .     . .                          $ 50•00   „

Contingency    ..       ..      ..       ..      ..       .                           $ 20•00

                                                                                            ----------

                                                                                            $ 48000  ,,

 

Preoccupied with the basic needs of refugees, i.e., food, shelter and first-aid, the governmental assistance program, though substantial, cannot cope with the multi - faceted organizational and financial needs described in the foregoing pages. Nor can it be expected to take care of relief payments to the substantial number of artists, writers, journalists, scientists and similar categories of refugees who have found asylum in India. They have depended thus far on the help of their Indian colleagues. Some of them face starvation.

 

The response of the people of the United States has fallen short by far of the traditional response our country has been capable of in similar emergencies-none of which in recent times has been of similar scope, in suffering and disruptive impact.

 

It is our firm conviction that this lack of response is largely due to a lack of information and specific indications as to how help can be channeled into a meaningful program. We believe that the projects contained in this report represent one such meaningful approach.

 

(This report was submitted on July 28, 1971, by Mr. Angier Biddle Duke, Chairman, International Rescue Committee, New York, to Mr. S. L. Kellogg, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Refugee Affairs, Government of U.S.A.)

 

                 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

 

*    ' Anthony Lewis, "Measuring the Tragedy ", The New York Times, June 7, 1971

**    The New York Times, July 4, 1971.

*** Figures prepared by the West Bengal Government