Save quake victims in Pakistan, India Two NGOs appeal to France, EU

In letters to the presidents of the European Parliament and France, the two non-government organisations said, "More than two weeks after the earthquake that struck Pakistan and India, we are still counting the tens of thousands dead and injured, while several million remain homeless, and thousands of villages and settlements cut off."

"Rain, snow and cold are threatening to decimate the survivors," said the letters signed by Jean Pierre Dardaud, president of the Frères des Hommes and Karamat Ali, director of the PILER.

They said faced with the grave situation, the mobilisation for rescue remains tragically and scandalously insufficient.

"Tents, blankets, helicopters, medicines and necessary logistics exist at the international level. Urgency demands that all these be rushed towards the devastated regions in cooperation with the Pakistani and Indian authorities," they added.

The letters said in this region that has been marked by decades of armed confrontation and militarisation, it is essential that the local NGO's and other actors of Pakistani and Indian civil society, who are known for their non-partisan character, and for their action in favour of development, democracy and peace, should be associated to guarantee the effectiveness of aid.

"Sincere efforts require the reallocation of all military aid, and of priority in economic assistance towards earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction," the joint letter added.

Copies of the letters were also sent to the prime minister and foreign minister of France, president of the foreign affairs commission of the French Parliament, president of the French Senate as well as to secretary-general of the Council of the European Union and the presidents of the parliamentary groups in the European Parliament.