Bangkok--Dec 28--eTurbo news
As the recovery operations get under way in the areas hit by the Tsunami disaster, messages of condolence and support have poured in. Various governments and organizations have expressed their support to disaster victims.
The Red Cross and Red Crescent movement moved into joint action immediately. "The situation is fluid, with so many people affected in so many areas of Southeast Asia, and it is likely that relief teams there may need many different types of assistance in the coming days," said Matthew Parry of the International Disaster Response Unit at the American Red Cross.
The Red Cross is also playing an important role in tracing missing relatives. A spokesman said aid workers expected to deal with at least half a million cases.
"Already Red Cross teams in Sri Lanka and India have helped evacuate survivors, dispensed first aid and provided emergency relief materials, such as tents and blankets, as well as food," he said.
The International Red Cross Federation is sending medical supplies for 100,000 people to Sri Lanka, one of the countries hardest hit by the disaster. Medicines to treat up to 2000 possible cases of diarrhea disease will also be part of the shipment.
The Red Cross said a big challenge was the spread of diseases such as malaria, diarrhea, and respiratory tract infections.
UNICEF offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Maldives, India, and Sri Lanka are working with national and local governments and other UN agencies to assess the damage and mobilize immediate relief. "The power of this earthquake, and its huge geographical reach, are just staggering," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy.
"Hundreds of thousands of children in coastal communities in six countries may be in serious jeopardy," she said. "We're supporting governments in their damage assessments, and we're prepared to respond wherever help is needed."
THE United Nations is sending teams to Asia to help after the tsunami disaster, which the head of UNICEF said had wielded "staggering" power.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "UN disaster assessment and co-ordination teams are being dispatched throughout the region to work with governments of affected countries in providing rescue and relief assistance."
Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives are among most popular destinations for long-haul vacations at this time of year, and local coastal communities depend greatly on the tourism industry for their living.
The World Tourism Organization (WTO) pledged assistance in rebuilding the tourist economies on which the affected countries depend. "Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the relatives and friends of the victims of this terrible tragedy. And to the nations who are battling with the effects and aftermath of the earthquakes and tidal waves," said WTO Director General, Francesco Frangialli.
"It is particularly tragic that yet again the Asia Pacific region is the target of such pain and suffering. At a time when the region's tourism economies have been recovering so dynamically from past crises," he said. "WTO will actively collaborate and assist in the immediate response and bring our systems into play to help where it is needed."
Soon after the disaster struck, World Travel & Tourism Council President Jean-Claude Baumgarten contacted the governments of all the countries affected in the region, seeking up to date information and offering WTTC's assistance.
CARE Australia said that work was already underway in Sri Lanka, where at least 4,500 people were reported to have died when huge waves and tidal surges came ashore, wiping out villages on the country's southern and eastern coasts. "Our staff were actually working in the area worst affected so they were right on the ground at the time of the disaster," said senior emergencies officer Megan Chisholm. "They started responding immediately by helping evacuate people to higher ground."
Governments around the world have begun providing economic and practical support for the countries hit by the disaster. The US, UK, France, Australia, Russia and Japan were among the first to provide aid and assistance, dispatched aircraft, doctors and aid workers.
The United States pledged an initial US$15 million Monday to Asian countries struck by a massive earthquake and tsunamis. "This is indeed an international tragedy and we are going to do everything we can," Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
The Australian government has pledged A$10 million (?4m; US$7.7m) and sent two aircraft carrying drinking water and purification equipment to Indonesia. France will send humanitarian aid and doctors to Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Russia sent 25 tons of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka. Russia is also sending aid to the province of Aceh in Indonesia, closest to the center of the earthquake on Sunday, where at least 4,500 people are known to have died.
The UK has sent a plane to Sri Lanka with plastic sheeting and tenting. "For all the huge advances in the control of our lives through science and technology an earthquake on this scale is truly humbling as well as profoundly tragic for everyone involved," UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.
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