UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations and Pakistan Thursday called on donors to fund an appeal for over $500 million to help over 2 million displace people of Swat and other areas. The military operation has driven more than 1.9 million people from their homes, on top of some 500,000 forced to flee the fighting in the area last year. Only 10 per cent of the total of 2.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) are living in camps, with the rest seeking shelter with relatives or in rented accommodations and public buildings, such as schools. Speaking to a special gathering of some 90 ambassadors and top UN officials, Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon said Pakistan, already burdened by 1.7 million Afghan refugees, needs international communitys help to care for the uprooted civilians. He told them that every effort was made to resolve the issue without the use of force, but the militants had no interest in its peaceful resolution. Pakistan, the Ambassador said, is fully cognizant of the sufferings of the people who have had to abandon their homes in search of peace. Last Friday, the UN and its partners launched a $543 million Humanitarian Action Plan, but Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, told reporters that the appeal is only 21 per cent funded. Our view is that this is not remotely sufficient, he said, adding the world body and relief agencies will not be able to sustain their operations for more than another month unless they receive an influx of funds. The UN, he pointed out, has stepped up efforts to provide assistance in health, education, water and sanitation, and health, by delivering latrines, food and other supplies, as well as building one dozen new camps for the IDPs. Were already doing quite a lot, Holmes said, but we recognise that we need to scale up this effort very significantly in line with the scale and speed of displacement and if were going to do that, were going to need additional resources. He voiced concern over the people still in area of conflict, particularly the Swat Valley. He also warned that the numbers of displaced people could further swell if the Pakistani Government begins military operations in Waziristan. In his presentation, Ambassador Haroon also said that foreign nationals had infiltrated into Northern Pakistan and had adopted ruthless tactics such as beheadings, slitting throats, kidnapping young children in a bid to terrorise the peace-loving people. The Taliban,he said, did not want the locals to leave their homes as they wanted them as human shields. He said that people of Swat left their homes, abandoned their livestock and their ready-to-harvest crops in search of safety and protection, signalling that that they did not want to live under the Taliban. Pakistan was also concerned about the nearly 200,000 people trapped inside the region. The envoy thanked the UN for providing relief and assistance to the dislocated. He praised Rashid Khalilov, a senior OCHA official who had made a contribution in organising relief for the affected people. Antonio Gutterress, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said that nearly 120,000 to 150,000 people were being registered daily reflecting the magnitude and scale of the situation. Among the ambassador attending the meeting were those from Canada, Germany, Egypt, Finland, Norway and Afghanistan. A question-answer followed and most envoys said they now have a better idea of the situation.