The UAE Urban Search and Rescue Team (UAE USAR) is part of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group, made up of more than 80 countries and organizations. The UAE joined the elite corps of 16 on 19 December 2009. The team was launched when emergency and public safety department workers were deployed after Pakistan's 2005 earthquake. In 2006 and 2007 they operated in Indonesia. In 2008 in Afghanistan and in 2009 Indonesia again. The UN advisory group was established in 1991 by teams responding to the 1988 Armenian earthquake. Given the high cost of search and rescue missions and the need to dispatch quickly, it was decided to build a group of teams that could be called upon around the world to be deployed in an emergency. The classification is based on globally accepted standards for international search and rescue operations and members have to be able to deploy their teams free of charge. On 25 August 2010, the team traveled to Pakistan to assist with the flood relief effort.