Shadow Home Office Minister Meets Muslim Aid Team in Pakistan

Labour frontbencher and Manchester Gorton MP Afzal Khan has joined Muslim Aid’s Pakistan team a week on from the deadly earthquake in Mirpur, Pakistan.

The quake killed at least 19 and injured more than 300, as well as damaging or destroying thousands of homes as well as roads and other infrastructure, leaving suffering communities cut off and isolated.
Muslim Aid launched an appeal immediately following the disaster, and its Pakistan team has been providing emergency food support, shelter, repairs and other essential aid over the past week. Earthquake victims have filled local hospitals, meaning considerable additional support has been required to deal with the strain.

Mr Khan arrived in the region last week to meet affected families who have lost their homes and been struggling to access clean drinking water and medicine in the villages of Jatlan and Khari Shareef. He also addressed a coordination meeting for civil society organisations and aid agencies. 

The epicentre of the quake was close to the city of Mirpur in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where the catastrophic 2005 earthquake profoundly affects communities to this day. News of the disaster has had particular impact in the UK, where a large proportion of the British Pakistani diaspora have Mirpuri heritage.