Progressive Change For Tsunami Victims

Shifting Focus of Progressive Change...

2006-12-31T17:42:00.000-08:00

Update: This post originally contained solely the mothballing statement below. However, in light of the events of Darfur, Sudan, one of our admins felt that it would be irresponsible to move on without bringing attention to the overwhelming number of horrific crimes occurring their right now, which many have called genocide. Here is the New York Times column by Nicholas Kristoff (warning: graphic photos) urging action as well as links to two websites he mentions: http://www.darfurgenocide.org/ and www.savedarfur.org. Please also check out the links in the addendum of the sidebar. If you worked on tsunami assistance, please remember that these are all connected struggles in that the agony of the victims is agony, regardless of whether the proximate cause was natural disaster or human malice. Thanks for your continued patience, support, and decency.

__________________________________________________

Well, folks, we've done what we could and now it's time for the admins of this site to move on. The web traffic on mainstream sites like SEA EAT is down to about 10-15,000 hits per day, and this site is, as you can imagine, much less frequently visited. However, the information here will stay up as long as Blogger leaves it up here.

If you're interested in taking over this site and transforming it (for example, into a Progressive Asian NGO clearinghouse), send your vision of what you think you want to make it into to sauravsarkar2000 AT yahoo DOT com. Thanks to everybody, and particularly contributors of information on NGOs, for your help. The site couldn't have happened without you.

Your Admins

Recommended Organizations for Charitable Contributions in South and Southeast Asia

2005-01-31T10:22:00.000-08:00

http://ektaonline.org/tsunami/ngos/

San Francisco Fundraiser, 2/3

2005-01-30T10:57:00.000-08:00

Thurs, Feb 3, 7PM
APA Artists 4 Tsunami Relief
Locus Arts @ Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco
All proceeds benefit tsunami relief in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
http://ektaonline.org/tsunami/

A Report on Tsunami Relief Efforts by Bhoomika Trust, Chennai

2005-01-30T01:28:00.000-08:00

January 30, 2005

In the wake of the December 2004 Tsunami that devastated vast swathes of coastal Asia, including Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, Bhoomika Trust has been coordinating relief efforts from Chennai, linking up with civil society and governmental efforts in the worst-affected districts of Nagapattinam (Nagai), Cuddalore, Kanyakumari, Karaikal (Pondicherry), and coastal villages near Chennai and Kalpakkam. Bhoomika has also been taking on the role of facilitating information exchange among diverse players in the field, including grass roots community organizations, NGOs, business houses, and the Tamil Nadu government, and has been coordinating with other organizations in providing input to policy-makers with regard to the shelter and rehabilitation needs of the affected communities...

For the full report, please log on to:
http://www.tsunami-india.org/what_we_doing.htm

First Person Account From Northeast Sri Lanka

2005-01-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at SEA EAT. The story below was generously shared by Harini, who was in Sri Lanka during and after. You can see her associated pictures here. Her comments on the pictures: "It's just a sample of the devastation caused...the pix of the boys in the orphanage are pre-tsunami on Christmas day we spent the day with them...everything else is aftermath of post-tsunami..."

The Tsunami disaster and the politics of international aid

Going back home, to the northeast of Sri Lanka, over the December holidays was an opportunity for me to learn about my homeland and discover my roots. I was born and raised in Canada, and the last time I had visited my homeland was as a small child in 1983.

When I stepped on the plane to begin my personal journey I never expected that it would end up being such a life-altering experience. I knew that this would be a profound experience for me, but never did I imagine the extent to which this trip would change my life. The tsunami that devastated 11 Asian countries hit the eastern coastline of Sri Lanka on the morning of December 26, 2004. The northeastern coastline of Sri Lanka was one of the hardest hit areas in the region. The group of almost 30 Canadian Tamil students that I was traveling with was only kilometers from the shorelines when the tsunami struck.

I remember hearing the sirens of numerous ambulances racing by the bus that was carrying us to our next location. I remember thinking, what in the world is going on? I looked over at the person sitting next to me and asked if the flooding was really that bad (recently there had been severe flooding in the area). We passed a small coastal town and saw the townspeople standing and sitting on the side of the road with somber expressions on their face. We asked what had happened, and they said that the waves from the ocean had claimed some lives. Neither they nor us knew the extent of this humanitarian tragedy. It would be one of the worst the world has ever seen.

We got off the bus to take some pictures of the landscape. After snapping some shots, I returned to the road to get back on the bus. To my unbelievable horror I saw a tractor carrying the bodies of several small children. At that point, I was standing, frozen, on the side of the road. Time stood still. I was in shock. I had never seen dead bodies in that state before. I felt as if I was in a dream. Someone helped me cross the road and get into the bus. I sat in the bus in silence. I kept seeing those tiny faces. To this day, when I close my eyes, I can still see those small faces.

As soon as we heard about the extent of the devastation we were dumbstruck. I could not believe this was happening. How could the ocean – such a beautiful and majestic force of nature – turn into a violent and destructive storm of death? I used to love the ocean. It was one of my favorite things in the world. The smell of the seawater, the feel of the wind, the sound of the crashing waves. Now, those sights, sounds, and smells terrify me.

I wondered what could we do to help the people who lost so much. We collected money and our own clothing to donate to people who were displaced and temporarily housed in schools. However, this didn’t seem like enough. That night a small group of students traveling with us went to the affected areas. They reported back with horrific stories. We saw video footage of grieving families, still in their wet clothes, wailing in horror. The bodies of their loved ones laying in rows; some were stacked one on top of each other. There was so much death.

The next day we went to the communities on the northeast coast that were hardest hit. We visited a village called Mullattivu, which has been devastated. We were completely overwhelmed by what we saw. The entire village had been washed away. The stench of death hung in the air. The waves had ripped children from their mothers’ arms. Fishing boats had tossed and turned on top of the waves and were thrown miles inland. Belongings and precious family mementos were scattered on the ground. I saw a photo album left on the ground. I flipped through the pictures and saw smiling happy faces. At that moment I prayed that the family was safe and would soon return to retrieve their belongings.

We went to visit the schools that housed the hundreds of people left homeless and displaced. There were no toilet facilities and supplies were limited. A few medical students cared for the injured, who formed long lines to get medical attention. Hundreds of children roamed around, some crying uncontrollably, others oblivious to the devastation and distress. In the background was the constant wailing of grief-stricken survivors. We had to choke back our own tears when we spoke with the survivors and heard their stories.

The relief efforts were coordinated by the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, an NGO that operates in the north and east of Sri Lanka. They were the only organization present in the Tamil Tiger-controlled areas. Other NGO’s such as Oxfam and UNICEF had only briefly drove by in their air-conditioned jeeps to drop of a few dozen mats (UNICEF had their mats embedded with their logo). We were saddened to see that there was no international aid coming into the Tiger-controlled areas. The Tamil areas in the north and east were some of the worst-affected areas, yet none of the international aid pledged was getting to these hardest hit areas. We were there continuously for three days, but we failed to see any international aid in these areas. It was truly unfortunate that politics had come before humanitarian need. The Sri Lankan government was refusing to allow relief aid to enter Tiger-controlled areas. As a result, some people – those who had lost everything and everyone they loved – were left in shelters with limited supplies and no help from outside sources. They only had each other to count on.

We spoke with survivors and heard incredible stories of how they saw this giant black cloud of water over 40-feet high coming towards them. They told us how they had no time to think or gather any belongings. They just ran for their lives. They did not know where they were running to. They only knew what they were running from. They told us how they saw their neighbors and members of their own family be carried away by the giant waves and the receding sea. Most of the lives lost were those of women and children. So many children have been lost.

Senthalir Illam, an orphanage for children who lost their parents due to the civil war in Sri Lanka, lost hundreds of children – only 30 survived. We visited the site, and as we walked to the grounds we saw school desks and chairs scattered on the ground. There was a mangled crib in front of the damaged building where the children used to sleep and dream about their futures. I can’t describe how powerful a moment it was to stand on the ground upon which laughing children had played, knowing that most had been carried away by the raging waves. Only days earlier a friend of mine who had visited that orphanage had shown me video clips of those very children. I kept imagining those laughing children playing in the field. At that moment I broke down. I cried uncontrollably, along with my fellow students, at the loss of such innocent and young lives.

Children have also been left orphaned by this tragedy. Many villages and families have only a few survivors. One of the stories I heard from a survivor I will never forget as long as I live. It was the story of an 84-year-old grandmother. This story was very powerful to me because I recently lost my own grandmother. At one of the schools I visited there were two elderly women sitting on the ground alone. I walked up to them to hear their stories. One of the grandmothers told me how she had heard from neighbors about the waves coming. They told her to run and so she ran. While she was running she was thinking about her other family members. They lived in nearby houses. She tried desperately to find out about her family. She found out that none had survived. All of her children and all of her grandchildren had been taken by the waves. I wiped away her tears as she told me that she was alone in the world. She then said to me, “Why did I survive? I am an old lady. Why hadn’t my children or grandchildren survived? They had a future.” These words would haunt me for the rest of my trip. So many children were lost. In some villages no children survived. A whole generation has been lost.

The trip has changed my life forever. I am no longer the person I was a month ago. Being home in Toronto feels surreal. It is hard to reconcile the person that I am today with the life that I used to have. I have learned so much from this experience. I have seen devastation and destruction, but I have also see generosity and hope for the future. This tsunami has brought together people from all over the world in an unprecedented way.

I made a promise to those grandmothers that evening. I told them that I would go back to Canada and share their stories. I promised them that the international community would hear their stories and help alleviate the suffering of the survivors, that we would help them to rebuild their communities and their lives. Most of the people we spoke to had only one request for us: not to forget them.

There is so much work to be done. The long-term needs of these communities are enormous. Fishermen need boats to regain their livelihood. Schools need books, desks and chairs. Orphanages need to be repaired. Houses need to be reconstructed. People need to deal with the emotional scars of loosing their entire family. Let us not forget them!

For information about tsunami relief in the North and East of Sri Lanka please visit:
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization: http://www.troonline.org/ (416) 751-8777
Tamil Children’s Endowment Fund: http://www.tcefund.org/ (416) 451-3125

Memphis Area Tsunami Benefit 1/22/05

2005-01-17T03:33:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at SEA EAT. From Arjun:

I’ve been coordinating a fundraising drive in Memphis, TN which is throwing a benefit party this upcoming Saturday, January 22nd – details below. The owner of India Palace has graciously let us use his venue at no cost for the event, and the DJ is also working the decks pro bono, so that the maximum amount generated from the benefit can go directly towards aid, not overhead. All proceeds are going to progressive, grass-roots NGOs with a longer-term, egalitarian view of relief and reconstruction in India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia – we’re identifying groups to support currently from a shortlist including:

In Indonesia:

Kontras (the lead group of the Indonesia Civil Society Coalition for Tsunami Victims); Solidaritas Perempuan (a grassroots group organizing relief efforts, focusing on poor women); IMC (International Medical Corps), which is not grass-roots, but is handling a large chunk of direct medical aid in the area and is requesting both monetary and material aid.

In Sri Lanka:

Sarvodaya (a Sri Lankan organization with the largest community network in the country, which is conducting relief efforts in all Sinhalese regions, and directing aid to Tamil groups in the northeast as well); Sewalanka (another Sri Lankan organization which has set up refugee camps and clinics and have infrastructure in place from relief work during the war); Diverse Communications (the US receiving point for donations towards the EQUAL GROUND Relief and Assistance Program); and SEED, an organization that has direct access to affected areas in rebel-dominated northeast areas.

In India:

AID (Association for India's Development) is a volunteer group which is registered as a 501 (c) (3) organization in the U.S. that regularly funds grassroots development and human rights groups in India. They have already starting sending emergency funds through their networks, and they send 100% of donated funds. At the moment they are matching donated funds dollar for dollar securely online through sulekha.com at http://www.sulekha.com/aidtsunami. AID is currently doing relief work in the Andamans via SEEDS as well as within the mainland; SEEDS India is one of the few other NGOs operating out of the Andamans and coordinating relief efforts in affected areas (www.seedsindia.org/tsunami). SEEDS has done earthquake relief, rehabilitation, and preparedness work in the past with the UN and the Gujarat government; Solidarity Network: Andaman Islands Relief. The Solidarity Network seems to have substantial leverage beyond typical NGO efforts, partly because it has some Bollywood industry players backing it. The Solidarity Network is working in coordination with military logistics to extend relief work beyond Port Blair to affected areas in both Andaman and Nicobar.

If this event goes well, we’re hoping to turn Dance Relief into an ongoing club night series with benefit parties supporting progressive development organizations. We are planning a large-scale one-year-anniversary event for next year on the weekend before Christmas to bring together as much of the city's talents and resources as possible to the goal of supporting long-term relief and progressive development in affected communities.

For more information, please contact Arjun directly at adirghan AT jhsph DOT edu

Report from AID Volunteer on Dalits

2005-01-15T15:44:00.000-08:00

Please take a look at this report on relief and dalits (also known as "untouchables") in India. Pulled off of SEA EAT:

Srinivas Mirle of AID-Cincinnati reports:

Dalits comprise about 17% of India's population and continue to struggle to be included in mainstream India. They have been marginalized in India for ages and, surprisingly, they are not faring better even in the aftermath of the tragic tsunami disaster. This was evident from field visits that I made today with Ms. Shabnam Hashmi of ANHAD to the tsunami-affected areas of Velankany, Nagapattinam and Kesavanpalem in Tamil Nadu. Ms. Shruti Parthasarathy, a volunteer from Bangalore who is working with AID on coordinating relief activities in the village of Kuttiyandyur, has also observed the Dalit denigration.

In the tsunami affected areas of Tamil Nadu, there are about 8000 Dalit families who live in about 95 hamlets. About 30 hamlets were severely affected and about 5000 huts have been washed away, according to Mr. Vincent Manohar of the NCDHR, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights.

Read the full report

UN calls for Gender-Specific Relief

2005-01-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

Pulled off of SEA EAT:

The Indian Ocean tsunami may have made no distinction between men and women in the grim death toll it reaped with its waves but it has produced some very gender-specific after-shocks, ranging from women’s traditional role in caring for the sick to increased cases of rape and abuse, a United Nations agency reported today.

“Understanding and measuring these differences is essential for an effective response,” the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a news release, stressing the need to raise awareness on gender issues among decision- and policy-makers to ensure that women’s and men’s different needs are reflected in policies, practices and resource through the phases of relief, rehabilitation and development.

Read the full article at UN News Centre

Sri Lanka Government Providing Medium-Term Housing, Land

2005-01-15T15:39:00.000-08:00

Pulled off of SEA EAT:

Sri Lanka has drawn up a plan to help tsunami victims that will include providing low income groups with land and houses free of charge, tax benefits and rations for at least six months, officials said Friday.

The preliminary report on government plans to help tsunami victims was Friday officially released. Some of the programmes have been put into effect by the authorities, but it is expected to fully come into effect only within the next week.

Read the full article at ReliefWeb.

Inmates at Canadian Prisons Donating to Tsunami Relief

2005-01-14T03:13:00.000-08:00

From Reuters via Yahoo!News:

TORONTO (Reuters) - The tsunami disaster in South Asia has sparked widespread generosity in Canada, even among the nation's most hardened criminals, federal prison officials said on Wednesday.

Fourteen prisons across the country have raised money from their inmate populations to support relief efforts by the Red Cross and other aid organizations.

Although the C$4,200 ($3,500) gathered to date is low compared with some multimillion-dollar donations, it is still an incredible effort for prisoners who have little in the way of income, said Diane Russon, a spokeswoman for Correctional Services of Canada.

"Regardless of the amount, the idea that they're actually caring about (someone) other than themselves, and making the effort and the donation, is pretty remarkable," she said.

At the Mission Institution in British Columbia, 103 inmates, serving two years or more, raised C$2,011, said assistant warden Diane Mousouliotis.

Inmates signed a pledge form for amounts ranging from C$5 to C$400 to be debited from their work program accounts.

"It was the initiative of one of the inmates," said Mousouliotis, "and seeing the tragedy that had happened, they wanted to contribute in some way. They rallied to it."

A member of the prison staff rushed the check to the local Red Cross office to make sure it arrived before Tuesday's deadline for the Canadian government's pledge to match private donations, dollar for dollar.

Russon said inmates can earn up to C$6.90 a day in work programs for jobs such as kitchen duties or furniture making.

AP: Malaria About To Hit Aceh

2005-01-14T01:33:00.000-08:00

Courtesy AP via Yahoo!News:

Health officials plan to go door to door and tent to tent with mosquito-killing spray guns beginning Friday to head off a looming threat that one expert says could kill 100,000 more people around the tsunami disaster zone: malaria.

The devastation and heavy rains are creating conditions for the largest area of mosquito breeding sites Indonesia has ever seen, said the head of the aid group anchoring the anti-malaria campaign on Sumatra island. The pools of salt water created by the Dec. 26 tsunami have been diluted by seasonal rains into a brackish water that mosquitos love.

While the threat of cholera and dysentery outbreaks is diminishing by the day because clean water is increasingly getting to tsunami survivors, the danger of malaria and dengue fever epidemics is increasing, said Richard Allan, director of the Mentor Initiative, a public health group that fights malaria epidemics.

The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami has topped 157,000 across 11 countries after Indonesia added nearly 4,000 more to its tally. Allan warned that an outbreak of malaria could take an additional 100,000 lives around the Indian Ocean if authorities don't act quickly.

"The combination of the tsunami and the rains are creating the largest single set of (mosquito) breeding sites that Indonesia has ever seen in its history," he said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press.

Asked about World Health Organization (news - web sites) warnings that disease could double the tsunami death toll across affected areas, Allan said: "If anything, I think they are being conservative. Three-quarters of those deaths could be from malaria."

The World Health Organization said Thursday that seven cases of malaria have been confirmed in Aceh province. They are popping up now both because malaria season is just beginning and because a reporting system has been put in place over the last few days.

Relief workers in Aceh province on Sumatra island, meanwhile, warned that new rules requiring them to travel with armed escorts could cause bottlenecks in delivering aid and compromise their arms-length status from Indonesia's military.

"We discourage such actions because it blurs the distinction between humanitarian and military efforts here," said Eileen Burke of Save the Children.

Burke said her group has so far had no escorts — or problems — with their work in Sigli, about 60 miles from the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

Rebels who have waged a low-level war for a separate homeland in northern Sumatra for 30 years reaffirmed their commitment to a cease-fire they declared hours after the tsunami.

Still, there have been unconfirmed reports of isolated skirmishes between Indonesian soldiers and rebels since the tsunami.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the government welcomed the rebels' declaration of a cease-fire. "Of course we welcome it. Indonesia will also make efforts toward it," Kalla said in Jakarta, the capital.

Indonesia's moves — which include an order that aid workers declare their travel plans or face expulsion — highlight its sensitivities over foreign involvement in the humanitarian effort, especially that of foreign troops.

Indonesia wants foreign troops out of the country by late March. The United States has the largest presence by far in south Asia with about 13,000 troops — almost all offshore.

However, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Indonesian authorities had informed the United States there is no departure deadline for U.S. troops.

"Nobody is asking us to go home," Boucher said. "The Indonesian statement about three months, they tell us, was intended as an estimate about how long the military part of the operation might be necessary."

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday protested the restrictions on aid workers, which also apply to reporters. "Unrestricted access to information is absolutely crucial during this relief effort," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "We call on Indonesian authorities to drop the restrictions immediately."

U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said the overall tsunami relief effort was progressing well except in Sumatra, where "huge problems" remain.

"It is still an uphill battle in the region," Egeland said in New York.

Survivors among the tens of thousands living in refugee camps in Banda Aceh have welcomed the foreign troops, who have been flying helicopter aid missions to otherwise inaccessible areas and running field hospitals.

"If they leave, we will starve," said Syarwan, 27, a tailor who is living with some 45 relatives under a tarp at a camp.

The cornerstone of the anti-malaria offensive is an insecticide spraying operation, where fumigators will walk from house to house in all neighborhoods of Banda Aceh.

They will spray the walls and put a small chalk mark on the outside of the front door as they leave so that no homes are left out and locations covered can be accurately mapped.

The tents in the refugee camps dotted around the city will also be sprayed, but those are home to only a tiny fraction of the population. Most people have been taken in by other families.

In communities along the west coast of Sumatra where almost all buildings were wiped out, the main defense will be pesticide-impregnated plastic sheeting, which villagers use for shelter.

"This will be the first situation where there is an incredible threatening epidemic and where if we get everything in place without obstruction ... we have a chance of stemming the starting point of an epidemic which otherwise will undoubtedly happen," Allan said.

Although malaria is endemic in the area, meaning it is widespread under normal circumstances and the local population is used to getting repeatedly infected, that does not provide protection from any outbreak that might emerge from the tsunami.

"They are even more likely to get sick. A lot of them have already got diarrhea, poor nutrition. They are stressed, they've got multiple infections already and their immune systems are weakened," Allan said. "Any immunity they had is gone."

PHP and Java developers wanted

2005-01-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

The Crisis Management Software project which is being run by a group of Sri Lankan open source developers could use some coding expertise. If you can hack in PHP or JAVA, why not give these guys a shout. The software is totally open source so you can take it, hack it and use it for your country as well.

Sanjiva Weerawarana, one of the developers, documents the process of coding on his blog. However, I've also written a little about the problems he faced during development in a blog entry of mine. Later on, another developer commented about how difficult it was to get the word out to the international community on this effort. I checked out their project page on SourceForge and found that their Activity Percentile was 94.64% last week. The Sri Lankan Open Source community seems to have really rallied around this project. The software was also officially adopted this week by the CNO as their Crisis Management Solution.
.
Personally I feel that this is one way the international programming community can really help with tsunami relief. I know that I'll be trying my best to help these guys out, even with the little php knowledge I have. So if you're a PHP or Java coder with a few hours to spare here and there, why not visit their project page and see how you can help out?

Progressive Sri Lanka Benefit in New York

2005-01-12T14:22:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at SEA EAT. From Trishala, Audre Lorde Project:

The Audre Lorde Project is a co-sponsor for this event. We encourage all community members to support this event through attendance, donation, and/or spreading the word. In this time of grief and healing, we hope that our response as a community can be part of an international shift towards peace, the strengthening of progressive grassroots infrastructures, and equitable resource distribution for all who need it.

__________________________

Saturday, January 15th @ 8pm

Tsunami Relief BENEFIT for Sri Lanka
EMBORA Movement and Wellness Studio
900 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY
btwn. Washington St. & Waverly Pl.
Take the C Train to Clinton-Washington

Support and raise awareness of innovative organizations helping communities rebuild in Sri Lanka. Instead of rebuilding the status quo, help to rebuild a country free of economic exploitation, bigotry and violence.

Benefit Performance begins at 8 PM

Performers include:
Singer/songwriter Gabby Callender
Mango Tribe's Varuni Tiruchelvam and Marian Yalini Thambynayagam
Songstress Chaney Sims
Dominican and Haitian rhythms by Pa 'Lo Monte

Dance Pary 'til 2 AM
dj:ayden -- soul, b-sides, rare international grooves
DJ Rekha -- bhangra, bollywood, hip hop

Door is Sliding Scale $10 - Whatever You Can Give
All proceeds go to progressive relief efforts in Sri Lanka

Proceeds Information

We have a list of 13 groups doing progressive and/or social justice relief work in Sri Lanka who we fully encourage folks donating to. Information for all of these groups will be available during the benefit. The following are groups we have prioritized: grassroots, community-based groups, and activists in sri lanka. Many of the groups are in severely affected areas where there is less infrastructure and relief is slow to reach.

Initiative Sunrise Lanka (ISL for Ampara, Eastern Province) -- a people-centered initiative in one of the worst hit and long impoverished villages in Sri Lanka made up of Tamil, Muslim, and Singhala communities, Panama(paaa-ner-mer).
The Women's Fund for Tsunami Relief and Reconstruction, Sri Lanka
Equal Ground -- an organization doing relief work that is also committed to equitable status for all sexual orientations and gender identities.
Jeeva Jothi in Batticaloa -- the only secular orphanage in Tamil speaking areas; older girls help run the orphanage.
The Suriya Women's Development Center in Batticaloa -- in addition to general relief, this organization also takes action on issues such as women's vulnerability to sexual abuse in refugee camps; works with Tamil, Muslim, and Singhala communitites.

If your organization is interested in co-sponsoring this benefit please contact Marian at yalini13 AT yahoo DOT com.

Wealthy Nations Failing to Come Through on Debt Relief

2005-01-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

Write those letters and e-mails (see sidebar)! This isn't ever over. Excerpts from the BBC News article:

The Paris Club of rich creditor nations has offered to freeze the debts owed to them by countries affected by the Asian tsunami disaster...The Paris Club would be owed about $5bn (£2.7bn) in debt repayments this year...

Some development lobby groups, including UK aid agencies Oxfam and Action Aid, had urged the Paris Club to write off the debt altogether and not just defer the payments.
Oxfam said the Paris Club had failed to "take the bold steps needed on debt"...

Indonesia, one of the world's most indebted countries and the worst hit by the tsunami, has called for greater help...

Economists have warned that any debt relief must be structured carefully to avoid creating a heavier burden in the long-term. Wednesday's deal falls a long way short of this, involving only a deferment...A write-off was not thought to be under consideration even though the $5bn owing for 2005 would be, in purely financial terms, insignificant for the rich creditor nations.

Read the rest...

Grassroots Rehabilitation Work

2005-01-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

From SEA EAT:

As the focus on South Asia transitions from relief to reconstruction, those wishing to support these efforts are looking for safe channels to send financial support. One organization, GlobalGiving has tapped into its existing network of grassroots level projects in South Asia to identify long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation projects.All of the projects are mission focused and specifc in their goals and expected outcomes. This seems like a great way to be a part of the rebuilding process, especially if you can't make the trip to South Asia yourself.

Visit the list of projects here.

NY Times: Indonesian military restricts movement in Aceh

2005-01-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

I suppose it was inevitable given the early signals and the recent history of conflict and abuses in Aceh, but this action by the Indonesian government still makes me angry. From the New York Times by way of SEA EAT.

The Indonesian military on Tuesday ordered restrictions on foreign aid workers, limiting their free operation to the two main cities hit by the tsunami in an effort to assert control over international relief operations here. Outside those cities, Banda Aceh and neighboring Meulaboh, aid workers will need special permission to go into more remote areas where hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted by the disaster.

...

The general asserted that the new measures were needed to protect foreign aid workers from the separatist rebels that Indonesia has been fighting for 30 years. But rebels from the Free Aceh Movement, known by its acronym GAM, released a statement on Tuesday guaranteeing "the safety and free access to all parts of Aceh for international aid workers."Many foreign aid agencies, including the World Food Program, are generally reluctant to work with military escorts because they fear that accepting the protection of soldiers from one side could drag them into the conflict. Only in "very rare circumstances" does the World Food Program accept military escorts, said Bettina Luescher, the spokeswoman for the program. She pointed to Darfur in Sudan, where a civil conflict rages but where the program's trucks are never accompanied by military personnel.

Read the rest...

Sri Lanka Benefits in Atlanta, LA, and New York area

2005-01-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at SEA EAT. Thanks to D'Lo for sending this:

Greetings, everyone.

As you may have already known, I had left Sri Lanka only hours before the Tsunami hit - only to return to the States to hear of the great devastation, including the death of a dear friend of mine and her mother.

I’m hella thankful that it wasn’t in God’s plan for me to be on the beach on the 26th of December (which is what normally is scheduled every year we go), but it made me hella sad not to be there to help. I am sure that the amount of hurt and feelings of helplessness was felt by all who identify on a national or ancestral level with the countries that got hit.

Immediately, a non-profit was formed by a friend and I to make sure that relief supplies and funds were going to the places in Sri Lanka that weren’t mentioned on the news or places that are hard to reach. Attached is a letter stating what it is that we are doing.

It’s funny, y’know. With so much corruption and everyday occurrences that reflect a lack of compassion from people, it is easy to lose faith in the human race. But what has happened to renew my faith has been the immense amount of love and support from close friends AND acquaintances as well as the community at large. It seems that everyone has donated something to the cause, whether it be money, supplies or food – and if they didn’t have much to give, the amount of volunteering has been heart warming. The aftermath of the tsunami has made many a people’s lives hectic with organizing aide to those countries affected and unfortunately there hasn’t been time for much else. I’m writing this letter to say thankyou to all of you who have shown their concern, empathized with and prayed for those of us who are going through this process of mourning- your love is not ignored and will not be forgotten.
If you didn’t know where Sri Lanka was, now you won’t forget. Unfortunately, on the negative side, the relief efforts have been at times overshadowed by the politics between the North and South. On a positive note, the organizing efforts have shown their faces through emergency non-profits and relief movements all over the world. Wanting to bring the larger Sri Lankan community together, I would like to share the different efforts that I am involved with so that you may find the time or money or supplies to donate to whatever you feel best fits your ability KNOWING that it will all go to a worthy and bridge-connecting cause.

Arts Events
Minneapolis – Jan 23
New York – Jan 15th (Brooklyn)
(shows being organized in both Los Angeles and New York) specifically for rebuilding/rehabilitation efforts for the months of March and April
Non- Profit – Aide to Sir Lankan Tsunami Victims

In solidarity and with love to all those who have lost people
and those who are dedicating their lives helping rebuild,
D’Lo

From Diasporaflow (arts org. in Minneapolis founded by 2 Sri Lankan Americans):

Over 47,000 Sri Lankans have died from the tsunamis and one million are homeless. Sri Lanka is in great need of financial support to aid the survivors and help in the rebuilding process. We are in a position of great power and privilege and with that privilege comes the responsibility to aid people who have been left injured and without shelter. Diaspora Flow, a Sri Lankan run 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization, has started an initiative called The Sri Lanka Relief Fund, a coalition of Tamil and Sinhala Sri Lankans committed to the long-term rebuilding of the lives of all Sri Lankans (Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim) affected by this destruction. A benefit show will be held on January 23rd, We firmly believe in the power of art to create social change, please click on Benefit Show for more info. All donations will go to provide basic needs as well as long-term rebuilding projects in the Eastern Province. ALL funds will go directly to aid survivors, absolutely no overhead costs on our end or the volunteers doing the work in Sri Lanka.This has been one of the most traumatic times in the history of our country. The crisis has nothing to do with politics or ethnic conflict. This is a natural disaster that has affected everyone on the island. What took lifetimes to create was destroyed within a few hours. It will take years to rebuild the lives of the coastal regions. We urge everyone to donate in this time of great need.
If you have questions about the fund, email us at:

srilanka-relief@diasporaflow.org please feel free to contact any of the people below:
Pradeepa 612-237-7670
Chamindika 651-489-8393
Vinothini (Vino) 763-443-1320
Amirthini (Amu) 763-639-6833

Website: www.diasporaflow.org

Diaspora Flow presents a Benefit Show forThe Sri Lanka Relief Fund Sunday, January 23rd 7 pmreception following showsliding scale : $10-to as much as you want to give!!!!!Coffman Memorial Union Theater at the University of Minnesota 300 Washington Ave. S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55455

We're deeply grateful for the donation of time from all artists, but especially those coming out of state/country, taking days out of their schedule:
D'Lo, Sri Lankan performance artist from L.A. will also MC the evening.
Rose of the music group Lal, from Toronto.
participating local artists:
DJ Don Cuco Sri Lankan
composer/musician Manjunan GnanaratnamSri Lankan
visual artists Chamindika and Sumitra Wanduragala, whose posters will also be raffled off for the fund
Sri Lankan dancer/choreographer Pradeepa Jeevamanoharan in collaboration with dancer Annelize Machado

---

Dear Friends and Family,

As you by now are aware, the tsumani that washed over much of South and South East Asia and parts of Africa has devastated humanity in many ways.
1) Almost 120,000 to date are dead.
2) Over nine major nations have been severely affected.
3) 5 million people are at risk without food, shelter, or water.

Sri Lanka's death toll stands at 45, 000 people. Over 15,000 people are missing. Over one million people are homeless.

In affirmation that we are indeed one world, our brothers and sisters from various nations have stepped up to the plate in organizing various relief efforts. In solidarity and fueled by the pain and suffering of our ancestral home, Aide to Sri Lankan Tsunami Victims was created.
Aide to Sri Lankan Tsunami Victims was organized in Los Angeles by Nisha Rodrigo and D'Lo, both Sri Lankan Americans from opposite sides of the tracks (Nisha being Singhalese and D'Lo being Tamil). Maintaining a friendship over years, the decision to create the organization for the sole purpose of relieving the suffering in their homeland, was immediate and without question.
As the stories have unfolded, we are realizing large relief organizations, while successful in obtaining funds and supplies, have been struggling to administer distribution on a local level. Consequently, victims are still without food, water, clothing, shelter, and comfort. ATSTVs' efforts are to ensure that supplies and funds will get to where they are needed most through ground-level grassroot teams.

Unable to stand by complacently and realizing aide is not reaching victims in time, teams have taken it upon themselves to travel to remote areas in need. These teams are comprised of people who have experienced the horror first-hand and were fortunate to escape with minimal physical loss.

Enclosed with this email, is a direct account of one grassroot team's efforts to save lives. More importantly, the account demonstrates the dire need to deliver aid to parts of the country you have not yet heard from. While there has been ample coverage of the Tsunami effects on the southern regions of Sri Lanka, there has been none on that of the north or northeast. It is crucial to mention due to the ongoing civil war, these provinces are far more challenging to travel to and therefore report from. In desperate need of our support, these teams are dedicated to saving people trapped in the wreckage, without food or clean water.
ATSTV vehemently asks the people of the world to donate money, clothing, food and water for this cause. This natural disaster has affected each of us differently. The common goal we now have is to heal so many nations in our global community. All of us have experienced adversity and struggle in our own right. We have endured it with the help of others. We cannot recover from this in a vacuum. It will take a united front to relieve this magnitude of suffering. Please help us bring hope back to a nation without any.
Financial donations should be made out to the order of: Aide to Sri Lankan Tsunami Victims (Tax Deductible)
Monetary or any other donations such as medicine, and blankets should be sent/dropped off:
Shakti's Elements
717 Broadway Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
tel: (310) 576-2008
cell: Nisha (310) 200-6353
D'Lo (310) 576 5696

Sincerely,
Nisha & D'Lo

Great Resource On Grassroots efforts In Asia

2005-01-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at SEA EAT. Jess passed along information for Asia Coalition for Housing Rights, which apparently has a well developed network across most of the affected countries and is providing information from a grassroots perspective. It's well worth looking into, particularly for the Thailand news, which, as you all know by now, has been heavily squashed in favor of coverage of how tourists were affected. A couple of excerpts:

For the international community, I think it is important to start combining the issues of RELIEF with JUST AND APPROPRIATE REHABILITAION and LAND issues. It will be great and extremely helpful if UN-Habitat or UN in general, can make cautious and constructive remarks to the affected governments on this point.
For INTERNATIONAL AID AGENCIES, it will be good if you can take up the LAND issues agenda and link it with the relief issues. For international MEDIA, we should start trying examine and raise this HIDDEN ISSUE.
If we take up this issue TOGETHER - it may well turn this unfortunate crisis into an opportunity for a just and proper community rebuilding, rehabilitation - if we now look beyond just relief and mere physical rehabilitation....

and

3. In Thailand , at this moment, we are also trying to mobilize planner/architects to develop with those affected - alternative plans for communities to reconstruct communities in the same locations. It is very important for sensitive planners/architects to provide and promote constructive new possible forms of change - to governments and society. The challenge is how this new - people sensitive planning - can be done in such a way to solve not only the affected community's serious emerging needs, but also produce a better local environment and meet the needs of the communities, towns and cities; how real human and social qualities - that existed before the tsunami - can continue - and be strengthened; how justice can prevail for land. This is the big task ahead of us now. If we look at Asian conventional systems and power structures, this will NOT be a small task at all.

...

Visit the ACHR website

or contact them:

Phone 662 538 0919 Fax 662 539 9950
Email achr@loxinfo.co.th
73 Soi Sonthiwattana 4, Ladprao 110, Ladprao Rd Bangkok 10310, THAILAND

Information and appeal from grassroots Indonesian organization

2005-01-10T10:28:00.000-08:00

A grassroots Indonesian organization (as far as I can tell), UPC, sends out an appeal and
news:

Jan 4

From UPC Jakarta

It is, indeed, the first time in the lives of most of us to witness such calamity. We are now mobilising all possible resources for relief activities. Social solidarity is very high, practically everybody is doing what they can to give assistance and support -- even the poorest communities in urban areas collecting their donation. Unfortunately, the government, who assumes coordination function, is very slow and not effective. Dead bodies are still scattered all over, and as of today the military can only handle those in major streets in Banda Aceh, the capital city of Aceh. Many dead bodies in the back allies, behind and under ruined buildings still stay as they are. Transport facilities to send food, water and other urgent needs are very limited.

At the moment, the Urban Poor Consortium/ Linkage, is mobilising aids and supports as well as volunteers. We concentrate on two focuses, relief actions and recovery programs. For relief action, with financial assistance from Misereor, we are sending tons of food, drinking water, medicines, blankets and others to Aceh and North Sumatra. Also, in coordination with the NGO networks, we set up aid centres both in the disaster areas and in major cities in Indonesia. Yesterday, we managed to send 2 tons of plastic sheets for corpses from Jakarta to Banda Aceh; today, we have to fight very hard to get our 6 tons of liquid milk be trasported, we finally got the space for 6.30 am tomorrow, 2 Jan. Today, we decided to send the rest of the stuff , around 30 tons of different things such as biscuits, drinking water, blankets, medicines, sanitary napkins for women, antiseptic soaps, etc. from Jakarta by sea -- a journey of three days. Donation such as used clothes and others from the urban poor networks all over the country are transported through the Aid Centre of NGO Coalition Network in Jakarta. In order to get the transport facilities, we have to rely on high level contacts in the government. It is not a matter of corruption but lack of coordination and verry slooow action from the government's part.

I agree that we have to think ahead, to start preparing ourselves for the recovery stage, especially when the business community is all ready to take all the reconstruction projects of the ruin cities and areas. I was informed that the younger brother of the Vice President has all ready with plans and proposal and funds for the recovery projects. We need all the possible and concrete ideas as to what to do in this stage. We would welcome not only concept and ideas, but also technical assistance and experts to come and sit and work with us to soon plan for it.

Wardah

URBAN POOR LINKAGE INFORMATION CENTER:
News on Aceh 8

Diseases Threaten People

Generally, the condition of Banda Aceh, the capital city of Aceh,is getting better. Economic Activitiy starts again. However, danger still threaten the population. The failure of the evacuation team to achieve of goal to bury 6000 corpses a day and problems on sanitation and hygiene make the population in danger of cholera epidemic as well as other disease.

Until 4 January, there are still many corpses piled up under ruins, especially in isolated areas.

It has detected many people who infected by lung disease, especially children. Many people who have been evacuated to other city (Medan and Jakarta), have reported dead because of the limit of oxygenic for medical operation as well as on airplane.

In isolated areas such as in west coast, small health problem can easily transform into big one. Scrape or contusion can become a dangerous infection spreading into entire body. Lack of nutritious food weakens body and make people easily attacked by fever. People with hurt fester or Pneumonia, a lung infection that can be caused by germs, is everywhere. Bone fracture which in normal condition is not dangerous can cause a death because it leads to decaying of body. In this case, amputation is become the solution to save the patient

Evacuation of wounded people were carried out by Indonesian as well as international volunteers using a USS Abraham Lincoln helicopter. In 4 January there are 43 people have been evacuated from west coast of Aceh. However, when volunteers bring them to Kapesdam Hospital, they have to face a very chaotic situation. There are many corpses left unmanaged. This situation makes the hospital looks very dirty, and it upsets the patients.

Only 60% of the evacuation process succeed because military often gives wrong coordinate points. It is worsened by the people themselves which often have doubts to be evacuated and need to be convinced first. Helicopter also can not stay long time in one point since many people always approach asking for food. In each points, there are two to ten persons wounded.

It also has been detected many people suffer from serious condition of scabies it which can not simply treated using anti-itch powder. Oral medicine is urgently needed. If this disease is not overcome quickly, it will spread among the people since those who live in the same camp-share toilets and water.

It is also worsened by the general situation of the camps which are surrounded by stagnated water which in the near future will cause spreading of malaria, cholera, dysentery, and diarrhea. Such diseases can spread rapidly since there is the limit of toilet facility, water, as well as cooking equipments.

Many children suffer from diarrhea because they have to drink water which is not cooked properly. The lack of stove make people have to cook water quickly to give others opportunity to do so. This make water never boiled properly.

Health logistics needed,
Oxygen 100 units
Anti-itch salves
Ambulances
Jerry-cans
Other health logistics, sanitary and hygiene equipment (disinfectants, etc) and medicines such as antibiotic, norit, oralit, etc, need to be supplied continuously.

Source: report of Tim Relawan Kita-Forum LSM Aceh,
January 3, 2005.

Jan 4
From Johan Silas
In Indonesia we are still concentrating on the rescue effort.

Meanwhile at ITS (Surabaya) we are preparing quick construction housing model as the need is great, but most areas are not accessible by ordinary means.

And we have a new ministry for housing. meaning that every thing has to start from scratch, including the budget. ITS have given him our full support.

Yours, Johan SILAS

Jan 4 from UPC - Received Jan 5

URBAN POOR LINKAGE INFORMATION CENTER no 7

BURY 6000 CORPSES A DAY

A team consists of volunteers, militaries, and government officers work hard and mobilize all available resources to achieve target to bury 6000 corpses a day. By 1 January, 12,383 corpses have been evacuated in Banda Aceh and 8,500 in areas outside of Banda Aceh.

This is far from death toll which has reach 94,081 by 3 Januari according to http://en.wikipedia.org .

The team must do their work quickly because rotten corpses which have not been buried will endanger population.

Diseases such as, diarrhea and fever, haunt refugees. Report of Aceh NGO Forum on 3 January said that in camp of Jembatan Lamnyong, Darusallam, where 300 people live, two refugees dead in four days because of diarrhea. In Cot ilie, three babies dead and one person wounded.

The condition of refugees is worsened by inadequate supply of water and sanitation. If this situation continues and accumulates with limited food, poor quality tents, and inadequate of medicine and doctors, health condition of refugees is in big danger.

Donation for Aceh can be sent to:

URBAN POOR LINKAGE INFORMATION CENTER
Urban Poor Consortium - Konsorsium Kemiskinan Kota
Billy Moon Blok H-I/7 Jakarta 13450,
Phone: 62 - 21 - 8642915,86902407
Fax: 62.21.86902408.

Bank Account
Konsorsium Kemiskinan Kota
account number: 230-3000097
BCA KCU Kalimalang
Jl. Tarum Barat Blok E no. 5
JAKARTA

Rape Account in Sri Lanka

2005-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

I'm posting this because the broader agenda of this blog continues to be to support progressive work of all kind, and without information like this, we can't. However, this recent spate of Western media stories about instances of violence against survivors of the tsunami by people from their own communities is really troubling me (see the last two posts as well). I don't understand what the dynamic is exactly that's prompting the writing of these stories, but I don't want to play a part in a game of blaming the victim societies if that's what's going on. On the other hand, ensuring that people know that child trafficking, violence against women, and similar issues are still happening seems central to the task of this blog. Thoughts are very welcome.

Courtesy AP via Yahoo!News:

Sri Lankan Teenager Raped by Rescuer

By SHIMALI SENANAYAKE, Associated Press Writer
GALLE, Sri Lanka - She survived the tsunami, only to suffer the brutality of her rescuer.

On a pilgrimage to a temple, the 18-year-old and her family stopped for a picnic by the beach. That's when the tsunami struck.

Flailing in the water, the teenager heard a voice. "He told me to grab his hand, that he will save me," she said.

She and the stranger were swept into a muddy river. When they reached a bank, he pushed her into a bed of brambles and raped her.

"I screamed and told him not to hurt me," the shy teenager told The Associated Press. "He put his hands around my neck and told me that even if he kills me right there, no one will know."

Since the Dec. 26 tsunami, authorities have received many reports of sexual abuse — including attacks on children — at refugee camps and elsewhere. But there was no one to help the 18-year-old — the waves killed her father, mother and seven other relatives.

Earlier that day, the family and neighbors had left for the Kataragama temple, venerated by Buddhists and Hindus, to celebrate her father's 65th birthday.

Their bus, which carried 32 passengers, stopped at a beach. The girl was wading at the shore with two nieces when the waves crashed around them. Fourteen of the travelers died.
At the teenager's home in a village near the southern town of Galle, her only surviving sister displayed photographs of their parents, brothers, sisters and their families at weddings and birthday celebrations.

She allowed the AP to interview her younger sister on condition the teenager and the family would not be named and no photographs would be taken. They fear being ostracized by the village because of the attack.

After the rape, the teenager said, "I felt lifeless." Soaked with mud, her body itched all over from the thorns.

Dazed, she saw two figures approaching.

"He told me not to breath a word," she said. "He spoke to the men and left me with them. I didn't say anything and was terrified because they, too, were men."

The teenager was loaded into a truck with corpses and the injured. She recognized her brother's body and fainted.

At Karapitiya hospital, doctors and nurses were kind, she said. Dr. D. Wasantha said the teenager didn't mention the rape until a day after being admitted, and was initially treated for respiratory problems from inhaling water.

"She was very reluctant to talk and we didn't want to probe too much as she was already very upset and kept saying not to tell anyone," Wasantha said.

After learning of the rape, the doctor gave the young woman pills to prevent pregnancy.

"I don't want to talk to the police. They ask a lot of questions I don't understand and don't know how to respond," the teenager said, toying with the corner of her brown T-shirt.

The teenager lived a sheltered life before the tsunami, but she did go to college for a time, studying the Sinhalese language, political science and economics. She dropped out a year ago to take care of the family household.

"I want to be a journalist," she said when asked about the future. Her eyes lit up and she smiled faintly, but that faded when her aunt said they hoped some man would marry the teenager.

Her sister soon dampened any idea of a quick marriage: She said gossip already was swirling around the village, where rape brings stigma and shame to the victim rather than the rapist.

Confirmed Child Trafficking in Indonesia

2005-01-07T10:20:00.000-08:00

Courtesy Reuters via Yahoo!News:

UNICEF Confirms Tsunami Child Trafficking Case

By George Nishiyama

JAKARTA (Reuters) - The United Nations Children's Fund confirmed a case in Indonesia of trafficking in children orphaned or separated from parents by the Indian Ocean tsunami as ravaged countries were warned to be on high alert for kidnappers.

Reports of children being taken away surfaced soon after the killer waves swamped 13 nations, killing more than 153,000 people and leaving more than a million people injured and homeless. But the UNICEF (news - web sites) report is the first confirmed case.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) also said Friday that an Indonesian aid agency had reported seven cases of child-trafficking since the Dec. 26 undersea earthquake that sent giant waves crashing ashore across Asia and East Africa.

Birgithe Lund-Henriksen, chief of the UNICEF Indonesia child protection unit, said UNICEF and Indonesian police had confirmed that a 4-year-old boy was taken out of Banda Aceh, the capital of devastated Aceh province, by a couple claiming to be his parents.

Local police were alerted after non-governmental organizations (NGOs) became suspicious when the couple took the child to a hospital in Medan, 450 km (280 miles) southeast of Banda Aceh, she said.

"NGOs grew suspicious when the couple were not consistent in their story," she said, adding they now say they are the boy's neighbors.

Lund-Henriksen said there were other reports of possible child-trafficking cases, including a sighting by an NGO worker of about 100 infants being carried in a speed boat in the middle of the night in Aceh province.

"We're absolutely concerned about trafficking. This is something that existed prior to the
earthquake tsunami. And with syndicates in place, it's clear they will take advantage of the chaos that's going on now," she said.

Lund-Henriksen said Medan had long been a departure point for smuggling children out of Indonesia for illegal adoption, forced labor, or work in the sex industry.

HIGH ALERT

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned affected countries to be on high alert against trafficking of orphans or other vulnerable people, adding that it already had child-trafficking experts working in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand as part of its emergency response to the tsunami.

"To date, actual confirmed cases of human trafficking remain minimal. But we are boosting our counter-trafficking operations and working with governments," IOM spokeswoman Niurka Pinheiro told a news briefing.

Some 250,000 people are trafficked in, out and through the South East Asia region each year, according to IOM estimates. Many victims are exploited sexually or used for domestic labor.

"An NGO has reported seven trafficking cases in Indonesia," Richard Danziger, head of IOM's counter-trafficking unit, told Reuters. He declined to name the agency.

"Something like (the tsunami) can worsen an ongoing problem. We have not actually identified any cases ourselves. But you can't say it hasn't happened just because you haven't seen it," he added.

UNICEF has set up a children's center in Aceh province, and plans to set up 20 places to accommodate unaccompanied children and to prevent them from being taken away.
Countries hit by the tsunami, including Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and some outside the region such as the United States, have banned adoption of children orphaned by the disaster in a bid to prevent smugglers from taking advantage of the situation.

Indonesian Social Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab told Reuters this week: "The government has decided that orphans should stay in Aceh to maintain their cultural heritage."

He said the process of counting orphans was under way.

Why Politics Matters: Dalits Forced Out Of Relief Camps

2005-01-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at SEA EAT. This is a great example of why you can't ignore political values just because there's a crisis. Article from AFP via Yahoo!News:

India's untouchables forced out of relief camps

KESHVANPALAYAM, India (AFP) - India's untouchables, reeling from the tsunami disaster, are being forced out of relief camps by higher caste survivors and being denied aid supplies, activists charged.

AFP Photo
AP Photo

Kuppuswamy Ramachandran, 32, a Dalit or untouchable in India's rigid caste hierarchy, said he and his family were told to leave a relief camp in worst-hit Nagapattinam district where 50 more families were housed.

"The higher caste fishing community did not allow us to sleep in a marriage hall where they are put up because we belong to the lowest caste," Ramachandran said.

"After three days we were moved out to a school but now the school is going to reopen within three days and the teachers drove us out," he said.

"Where will I take my family and children? The school had no lights, toilets or drinking water," available for the displaced.

More than 6,000 people died when tsunamis struck this southern Indian coastal district on December 26 and activists said that included 81 Dalits, who were daily wage earners working in agricultural lands.

The ferocious wall of sea water destroyed swathes of farm land and the Dalits no longer have any employment.

At Keshvanpalayam, the Dalits had only flattened homes to show while survivors elsewhere enjoyed relief supplies such as food, medicines, sleeping mats and kerosene.

No government official or aid has flowed into the village which houses 83 Dalit families more than 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Nagapattinam town.

Cranes and bulldozers cleared the debris of a neighbouring fishing community, but they are yet to reach the Dalit village.

Chandra Jayaram, 35, who lost her husband to the tsunamis, said her family has not received promised government compensation of 100,000 rupees (2,174 dollars).

"At the relief camps we are treated differently due to our social status. We are not given relief supplies. The fishing community told us not to stay with them. The government says we will not be given anything as we are not affected much," Jayaram said.

S. Karuppiah, field coordinator with the Human Rights Forum for Dalit Liberation, said in some of the villages the dead bodies of untouchables were removed with reluctance.

"The Dalit villages are in most places proving to be the preferred choice of the fishing community to bury the dead. If the Dalits ask for relief materials the government says they can only give the leftovers," Karuppiah said.

"The government is turning a blind eye," he said. "When Dalits bury the dead they are not given gloves or medicines but only alcohol to forget the rotten stench."

Another activist, Mahakrishnan Marimuthu, who heads the non-governmental Education and Handicraft Training Trust, said tsunamis dealt a double blow to the caste.

"They lost their jobs, houses and relatives. On the other hand the social discrimination is proving to be worse," he said.

The government denied the allegations and said it was providing relief to every tsunami-affected family.

"There is no intention of closing down any camps and we are providing relief to each and every family. We will provide temporary shelters as these relief camps are getting overcrowded," said

Veerashanmugha Moni, Nagapattinam's senior government administrator.
The United Nations (news - web sites) Children's Fund UNICEF (news - web sites) said government, relief agencies and aid workers did not discriminate against the Dalits but the caste issue always exists.

"All the aid going in is distributed the same way to all survivors. The social discrimination has been there during normal times," said Amudha, who heads a team of UNICEF volunteers in Nagapattinam.

"After the disaster happened it is still continuing. That is nothing new," she said.

Vijaya Lakshmi, spokeswoman for South India Federation of Fishermen Societies, agreed and said one could not wish away a centuries-old caste system when a disaster struck.

"If they (Dalits) are comfortable by staying separate they will," she said.

Update and Appeal from Indonesia Group

2005-01-06T23:06:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at SEA EAT. Please note that they have been funded by US AID, an agency of the U.S. government, in the past. Thanks Jess:

ACEH AID at IDEP
TSUNAMI DISASTER RELIEF UPDATE
Vol. 1, No. 8 - January 5, 2005

Aceh Aid at IDEP is a two-pronged initiative to bring appropriate aid directly to affected communities in Sumatra. IDEP, in cooperation with Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) / Orangutan Information Centre (OIC), is helping mobilize emergency supplies in Medan for delivery in Aceh Province. In cooperation with the Indonesian surfing community, IDEP is mobilizing and delivering aid to the hard-hit, remote islands south and west of Padang.

On January 4, a fully loaded 200 ton cargo vessel leased by AUSaid and supplied by AAAI departed Padang. It is offloading carefully selected supplies including specially packed buckets designed to help survivors build simple shelters and stay in their communities. The boat also carries equipment to make communities self sufficient in water supplies. These supplies are being offloaded to smaller craft and then handed directly to the survivors of small, isolated communities. As of January 5, AAAI has channelled about Rp 600,000,000 in donor funding into this initiative. Financial specialists on the ground in Medan and Bali are consolidating data to ensure full transparency. The Ferry is now at the island of Nias networking with smaller vessels to ferry aid and technical support back and forth to the areas in most need. In many coastal fishing towns, most of the men were killed while working on the beach or on their boats; only women and children survive. Needs on the ground change on a daily basis. Severe nutritional deficiency is already an issue after 10 days.

Very special thanks and Kudos to Chris & Christina who have opened up their home / hotel as the hub for relief aid activities in the area. Chris has been the chief scout and guide for the expedition to date. See : http://www.sumatransurfariis.com/quakeupdatesnew1230.html for details and photos.

Now we are responding to reports of serious nutritional deficiencies, and AAAI is focusing on buying fresh fruit and vegetables for rapid delivery to affected communities on the Sumatra coast and islands. Lee our Project Coordinator, is leaving Padang on the 7th and working together with IDEP’s community programs coordinator Samantha Sinclair who cut her Christmas vacation short and has arrived from Australia to take over his coordinative role on the ground in Padang. Robert Wilson from Rip Curl is arriving in Padang today to assist with coordinating the flow of support and activities as well.

Aid is being delivered as follows : Each family bucket contains essential food, health, sanitation, emergency shelter, and personal care items. These are branded goods which local people are familiar with, and can put to use immediately without any intermediation whatsoever. They were purchased in local shops by our volunteers and supporters in the community, locally, and are therefore labeled in the Indonesian language.

One in every five buckets is a “leader pack,” and its contents include a one-inch chisel, a hatchet/hammer, a shovel, a handsaw, a crowbar, nails, and other supplies.
One in every ten buckets is a “heavy leader pack,” which also includes a two-man saw and a sledge hammer.

The aid vessel is also carrying hundreds of 20 liter jerry cans.

The boat is also carrying two complete kits for drilling wells, and all the equipment need to pump-clear and restore existing wells which are tainted with sea water from the tsunami. These sets of equipment, which include powered and hand pumps, and piping, are are being used in local villages to repair and complete wells. Once the A.A.A.I. volunteers have demonstrated the process to members of stricken communities in this way, they will be able to make hundreds of wells themselves. Standard 350 liter water tanks for storage and treatment have been delivered, along with 50 kilos of chlorine. The team is still short of the certain types of water treatment chemicals, which we were not able to arrange to deliver from Singapore, due to depletion of funds and priority allocations as described above.

MORE NEWS IN BRIEF

Our most immediate priorities at this moment are delivery of urgently needed food, supplies, tools, and knowledge to affected areas of Sumatra, through reliable channels, to reliable people, and supporting the efforts of our volunteers and partner organizations in the field. Therefore, we are no longer able to publish these updates on a daily basis during this critical phase of the disaster relief process.

World Neighbors, an international NGO with a focus on sustainable development, has elected to channel its funding through IDEP for people in need in Sumatra.

AID DELIVERED FROM MEDAN IN COOPERATION WITH THE SUMATRAN ORANGUTAN SOCIETY/ORANGUTAN INFORMATION CENTRE The third convoy of trucks Christine and Ade, Logistics Consultants on the ground in Medan since January 4, report that all aid in government warehouses in Medan is bottlenecked. This highlights the importance of the role of NGOs in delivering aid. In spite of tremendous obstacles, SOS-OIC continues to deliver AAAI aid directly to survivors in Banda Aceh and towns en route. Two convoys of trucks have already arrived in Banda Aceh another AAAI truck is now en route and due to arrive tomorrow. Because of the rapidly changing situation on the ground, SOS-OIC is not currently working in association with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) as previously reported.

VOLUNTEERS TO SUMATRA TO DATE

Bali AAAI Headquarters is working hard to match a flood of international volunteer applications with stated needs from the field.

On our last update (no7) there was a typographical error in the names of one of the volunteers : Stefan Wodicka - Medic, Padang, should have read Stefan Zawada (apologies).

Christine and Ade our logistics and coordination team has now landed in Medan and has begun assisting with coordination and brought some new energy to the team on the ground, who are truly exhausted. More purchasing of much needed supplies is planned for tomorrow.

Our volunteers coordination desk in Ubud is accepting applications for skilled field volunteers -- doctors, triage specialists, SAR techs, engineers, sanitation experts, and others – for possible postings in the field in Sumatra. Contact volunteer@idepfoundation.org.

COMMUNITY-BASED CRISIS RESPONSE KIT

Following the Bali bombing, USAid funded IDEP to develop a fully integrated community-based crisis response response kit. This includes a workbook covering all stages of disaster management from an Indonesian grassroots perspective such as mitigation, response and short-term recovery.

Draft copies of this book have been sent to Medan and Padang where they have been immediately integrated into AAAI intiatives. In Padang, a program of training of trainers for public sanitation based on the manual is already underway. In Medan, components of the manual are being distributed.

How you can help Aceh Aid at IDEP

Online Donations by Credit Card
(Tax deductible in US, thanks to the cooperation ofTides Foundation)
Click on the donation link at www.idepfoundation.org
Or go directly to www.paypal.com
Special thanks to Keith Pleas in Seattle, Lauren at Tides Foundation Julie Lerman at Data Farm in Vermont, and others for their help with this.

1. Go to www.paypal.com
2. If you do not have a PayPal account set up, click "Sign Up" or "Join Now".
3. Follow all of the instructions for signing up with PayPal (they are rather complicated, so be patient).
4. When you are signed up, you are ready to send money.
5. Click "Send Money".
6. Follow instructions to send money, to acehaid@tides.org
7. Note: When you try to make your first payment, you will see beside the "amount" line, that you need to click there to "Verify Credit Limit" first, before you can make a payment.

Wire Transfers to Indonesian Bank Account:
Account Name : Yayasan IDEP
ACCOUNT NO : 034.001229576.003
Bank : BNI (Bank Negara Indonesia), Cabang Ubud, Bali
Bank Address : Jl. Raya Ubud, Bali - Indonesia
SWIFT Code : BNINIDJA DPS

Donations can also be made at the IDEP Foundation office, Jalan Hanoman No 44b, Ubud, and other locations in Bali.

The information provided here was accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing. Conditions change rapidly.
We will provide as much information as we can, as often as we can.

24 HOUR PRESS ENQUIRY LINE
(IN INDONESIA) 08133 8468073
OUTSIDE OF INDONESIA +62 8123 665 669

Debt Relief Information from Jubilee USA Network

2005-01-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

From Jubilee USA Network. Please see the related actions in the sidebar to promote debt relief. Thanks Jess.

Jubilee USA Network Calls For Debt Cancellation for Tsunami Affected Countries

WASHINGTON, DC -- As the death toll mounts in the countries in Asia affected by the Tsunami and as governments prepared for the International Tsunami Summit in Indonesia on Thursday, Jubilee USA Network joined with debt cancellation campaigns from Asia and around the world to call for immediate and unconditional debt cancellation for countries affected by the Tsunami.

The US debt cancellation advocacy group was encouraged by reports that rich governments were considering a moratorium on debt payments by countries affected by the tsunami, and called on the US government to support an expanded version of the moratorium while cautioning that a moratorium must be followed by actual cancellation of debts.

"A moratorium on all debt payments from tsunami-affected countries is needed immediately. This moratorium must go beyond what has been proposed by the UK and Germany which would only apply to Paris Club debt - it must also include stopping payments to the IMF, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank," said Neil Watkins, Co-Coordinator of Jubilee USA Network. "These countries simply cannot be required to pay debts - many of which are unjust, odious, or illegitimate - while facing a humanitarian disaster of such a magnitude.".

The Indonesia-based debt International NGO Forum on Indonesia Development (INFID) insisted in a statement that Indonesia must receive an immediate moratorium on its debt payment but ultimately it "needs more than a debt moratorium. A debt moratorium would allow Indonesia not to pay its debt for a certain period, but it will have to fulfill its obligation to the
creditors in the future. Thus a debt moratorium is simply the debt burden to the next generation."

Binny Buchori, Director of INFID said today: "Every delay in deciding on Indonesia's debt means more lives lost in Aceh and North Sumatra. The international community must tackle the issue this week".

INFID reports that Indonesia's total external debt is upwards of $130 billion, or more than 60% of that country's GDP, which cripples its ability to finance its emergency and recovery program.

Jubilee USA Network also announced today that it has signed onto a letter initiated by Jubilee South and the Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development which will be released just before the January 6 Tsunami summit in Indonesia. The letter expresses sympathy and solidarity with the peoples of the countries affected by the Tsunami and states, "In addition to
emergency relief operations and rehabilitation, what we need immediately is unconditional debt cancellation now! Governments should not continue to prioritize debt service and stop paying onerous and illegitimate debts."

Jubilee USA also highlighted the need for debt cancellation for global South countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, including dozens not affected by the tsunami. Jubilee USA renewed its call for G-7 Finance Ministers and the IMF and World Bank to support full, 100% multilateral debt cancellation for all impoverished nations, without harmful conditions, at the next
meeting of Finance Ministers scheduled for February 4-5 in London.

Figure 1. Debt Data for Tsunami-Affected Countries

COUNTRIES BADLY HIT BY TSUNAMI
1st number = MULTILATERAL CLAIMS (DEBTS) AS OF END OF 1ST QUARTER 2004
2nd number = BILATERAL CLAIMS (DEBTS) AS 0F END OF 4th QUARTER 2003

Figures do not include private/other types of debt.

in Millions US $

INDIA
29,226.46
17,147.29

INDONESIA
28,948.71
32,443.82

SRI LANKA
4,360.18
4,095.31

THAILAND
2,743.01
8,660.08

MALAYSIA
1,065.21
2,535.35

BURMA
1,087.47
3,534.50

SOMALIA
696.50
516.06

MALDIVES
106.19
6.62

PHILIPPINES
7,924.94
12,283.65

TOTAL
76,158.67
81,222.68

Data from Joint OECD-IMF-WB External Debt Statistics.

Neil Watkins
Interim Co-Coordinator
Jubilee USA Network
(202) 783-0129
http://www.jubileeusa.org

Write a Letter To Support Debt Relief for Indonesia!

2005-01-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

From Jess. Please see this related action alert also:

Action Alert!

Urgent Action, INFID:

Indonesia Needs Debt Relief after Tsunami Devastation

Please take action and circulate widely TODAY

Summary:

Following the earthquake and tsunami in Aceh, North Sumatra and Nias, INFID calls on the international community to mobilise global solidarity and pressure rich countries to grant debt relief to the countries destroyed by the catastrophe as a form of global solidarity for poverty eradication. There are already positive indications that some countries are considering such measures, but further backing and official confirmations of the details of the proposals are needed.

Supporters of this appeal should contact decision-makers in their countries by Thursday 6th January (the day of a donor conference on Indonesian reconstruction) demanding:

1) A moratorium on Indonesia's debt repayments for the next 15 months
2) An international conference to deal comprehensively with Indonesia's debt problems

Specimen letter text appears below.

BACKGROUND

Destruction in Aceh, North Sumatra and Nias. The horrifying earthquake and tsunami have crushed major parts of Aceh, North Sumatra and Nias. The death toll of this catastrophe has reached 96,000 (including 270 students, 600 policemen, 1000 soldiers, 20,000 children) and thousands of others who were killed by the huge wave. Around 500,000 people were forced to leave their homes and villages because they have nothing left. Almost all public facilities are not functioning. Schools, hospitals, the electricity network, telecommunication facilities, roads, and government buildings cannot be used anymore. The huge wave has also ruined thousands of homes.

The reconstruction needs are enormous and pressing. Preliminary official estimates for the reconstruction of basic infrastructure in Aceh and North Sumatra are Rp. 10 trillion (US$ 1 billion), however this figure is undoubtedly too small because it considers only physical infrastructure not social reconstruction needs. The Government of Indonesia will not be able to self-finance this and is reliant on aid and debt relief from the international community. Indonesia has very tight budget and social spending is in any case too low owing to debt repayments even when there is no emergency. In 2004, the government agreed to make full payment of its principal and interest of Indonesia's external debt, amounting to Rp. 68.8 trillion (US$ 6.8 billion). For 2005, Indonesia has allocated Rp. 71.98 trillion (US$ 7.1 billion) to pay the principle and interest on external sovereign debt. This represents a quarter of Indonesia's domestic revenue. Indonesia will reimburse over US$ 7 billion every year from now until 2009, according to the Indonesian Central Bank.

Indonesia's debt payments for 2004 are 10 times more than spending on health and 32.7 times more than spending on housing.

PROPOSALS

In this context, Indonesia clearly needs significant debt reduction if it is to meet its constitutional obligations to meet the essential human needs of its peoples. Resources released through a debt write-down would help to kick-start the social and economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of the devastated regions. This translates into improved infrastructure, more employment opportunities and poverty reduction.

Governments of developed nations have a moral obligation to assist those whose lives have been turned upside down by this horrific disaster, and many governments have indeed pledged their help and support, which we warmly welcome. As well as new aid pledges several proposals have emerged from Germany, UK, Italy, France and Canada for a temporary halt to debt repayments by some of the countries devastated by the disaster, including Indonesia. These proposals will be discussed at the 'Tsunami Summit' to be held in Indonesia on 6 January and at the next meeting of the 'Paris Club' in France on 12 January.

There is a precedent for such actions by creditor nations. In the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Honduras received significant debt relief including a Paris Club moratorium on bilateral debt service payments between November 1998 and December 2001.

INFID would like to stress however that while it welcomes the indication from some of Indonesia's principal creditor countries that they support proposals for a debt payment moratorium that these initiatives are insufficient. Indonesia's external debt burden will remain a serious drain on government resources this year and for many years to come.

INFID therefore proposes the following:

1. While we recognise that the Paris Club is deeply flawed, the overwhelming human need in Indonesia and other affected countries makes it an imperative for the club to grant an immediate and unconditional moratorium on the region's debt over the coming fifteen months;2. That during this time, an international conference on Indonesia's debt be convened with the objective of finding a lasting, just and comprehensive solution to Indonesia's debt burden. The guiding principle of this conference should be achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Assessments of debt sustainability should include calculations of Indonesia's financial needs to achieve the MDGs taking into account the prevailing conditions after the tsunami disaster.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Support INFID's proposals, by:

· Writing letters to the Head of States and the Ministers of Finance of rich countries, members of the Paris Club;· Writing letters to the President of the World Bank, Managing Director of IMF, President of the Asian Development Bank and the General Secretary of Paris Club.

Jakarta, January 5th, 2005
Ivan Hadar, Executive Secretary

Specimen letter text appears below. Please adapt, translate and send as soon as possible. Plus keep us informed of your actions and their outcome!

Wednesday 5th January

Dear [insert name of decision-maker here],

I am writing to urge you to take further action to support the hundreds of thousands of people affected in Indonesia and other countries by the devastating tsunami. I am concerned that the governments in the affected countries will not be able to take sufficient action to provide for the short-term welfare or long-term needs of affected people because of their budgetary situations. As well as new emergency aid I believe it is vital that a moratorium on debt repayments be instituted rapidly so that governments can spend money.

Indonesia last year spent one quarter of the government's domestic revenue on debt payments. This is clearly intolerable, especially in such circumstances, and we urge you to support a 15 month moratorium on Indonesia's debts and the convening of an international conference during this time to find a comprehensive solution to the debt problems of this and other affected countries. I look forward to your response setting out your government's detailed position on this very important issue.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert your name and address]

How's Your Country Doing on Tsunami Aid?

2005-01-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at SEA EAT:

Below is a list, current as of 1/5/05, of what different countries have pledged so far in aid for tsunami afflicted societies (amounts in $US). The sources are various news stories in the mainstream media (AP, AFP, etc.) that are easy to find through Google or Yahoo!News.

Australia: $810 million
Germany: $674 million
Japan: $500 million
USA: $350 million
Norway: $183 million
France: $103 million
UK: $94 million
Canada: $80 million+ (government matching private citizen contributions)
Sweden: $75.5 million
Denmark: $75 million
Spain: $68 million
China: $64 million
Taiwan: $50 million
South Korea: $50 million
Netherlands: $32 million
Switzerland: $23.5 million
United Arab Emirates: $20 million
Formula One racing champion Michael Schumacher: $10 million
New Zealand: $10 million
North Korea: $150,000

Bush Gives Tsunami Victims From 14.6% of His Heart

2005-01-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at Dark Days Ahead....

President Bush gave $10,000 of his own money today, according to the White House Press Secretary. Does this mean he's finally seeing the light on the significance of this disaster? Let's put this in perspective with some information from President and Laura Bush's tax returns:

2003 total income pdf: $822,126
2003 donations: $68,360 "to churches and charitable organizations, including Evergreen Chapel at Camp David, Tarrytown United Methodist Church, St. John's Church, the M.D. Anderson Clinic, and the Federal Government's Combined Federal Campaign."

2002 total income pdf: $856,058
2002 donations: $69,925 "to churches and charitable organizations, including Southern Methodist University, Evergreen Chapel at Camp David, Tarrytown United Methodist Church, and the Federal Government's Combined Federal Campaign."

2001 total income pdf: $811,100
2001 donations: $82,700 to churches and charitable organizations, including Tarrytown United Methodist Church, Evergreen Chapel (Camp David Church), Southern Methodist University, September 11th-related funds, and a variety of other charities.

Using the low figure for donations in the past three years, this $10,000 trumpeted by the White House Press Secretary represents 14.6% of what the Bushes usually give. Using the high figure for donations in the last three years, which is probably fairer given that the 9-11 disaster happened that year, this $10,000 represents 12.1% of what the Bushes gave.

Now, to be fair, I haven't given as much as 1.2% percent of my income from last year yet, so I'm open to charges of hypocrisy. Then again, I didn't make $401,803 in taxable interest last year. Maybe he could have found some other way to give a little more than 1.2% of his income from last year in order to help people deal with their entire families and towns being wiped out. Perhaps President Bush could have short shrifted Southern Methodist University or the Evergreen Chapel at Camp David this year in order to give a little bit more to thousands of orphaned children.

Or perhaps, God forbid, he could have given a little more from his 7 to 19 millions of dollars of personal wealth. The largest human catastrophe in recent memory, and a multimilionaire with hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in interest income alone can't come up with more than $10,000?

The next time they want to want to brag about the President's compassion to the press, maybe they ought to make sure it's not conservative compassion first.

More information on India NGOs from Campaign to Stop Funding Hate

2005-01-05T06:15:00.000-08:00

This is a great document from the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate about particular sectarian organizations that they've (and we've) recommended to be wary of.

Frequently Asked Questions

1.Why are you trying to prevent IDRF, HSS, VHPA and Sewa International from raising money for Tsunami relief?

We are not "trying to prevent" anyone from donating to any organization they wish to give their money to. We just want donors to know that by contributing to the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) or other organizations such as the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), Sewa International (SI, not to be confused with Seva Foundation) or the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), they are in effect providing funds to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (sometimes translated as National Volunteer Corps, but most commonly referred to as the RSS). Now the RSS is not just any sectarian organization, but one that actively spreads anti-minority hatred, has immense reach in India, and a long history of fomenting violence against religious and cultural minorities in India [[1]].

If donors are interested in ensuring that (a) all people affected by the tsunami receive relief and rehabilitation support, irrespective of their particular caste, religion or cultural affiliation, and that (b) relief and rehabilitation work is not used to create long-term divisions and animosity by manipulating communities already made vulnerable by this catastrophe, THEN giving money to sectarian organizations such as the RSS would indeed be a very bad idea. On the other hand, by giving to organizations that have a track record of being transparent and free of the politics of hate, donors would ensure that their money is used to help people and communities based on their needs rather than based on what their religious beliefs or caste affiliations happen to be. But of course, if you agree with the RSS' agenda of creating long term communal/caste divisions in the guise of providing relief, we are not the ones you eventually have to answer to.

2.But IDRF is raising money for many different organizations. Do you mean to say that all of these organizations are affiliated to the RSS?

No. Of the long list of Indian organizations that IDRF purports to support, only Sewa Bharati (TN and Kerala), Jana Sankshema Samiti and Vivekananda Kendra are clearly identified as RSS affiliates. In which case, you may well ask, why do we claim that IDRF raises money for the RSS? For that, let's take a look at IDRF's history.

a) CSFH has documented that from the years 1994 to 2000, IDRF raised over $4 million for more than 180 groups. These groups included a whole spectrum of organizations, including some that were secular. However, IDRF chose to disburse over 80% of the funds in its control to RSS groups [[2]]. A long list of non-RSS organizations by itself is meaningless if the bulk of the funds are
going to go to member organizations of the Sangh [[3]].

b) Orissa cyclone, 1999: Right after the Orissa cyclone, IDRF raised money for 18 different organizations of which only 3 were prominent RSS affiliated groups (Sookruti, Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti and Bhau Rao Deoras Rashtriya Seva Nyas). However, of the $410,700 that IDRF disbursed for relief and rehabilitation efforts following the cyclone, just these 3 RSS affiliates together received over 40% of the funds ($163,000) [[4]].

c) Gujarat Earthquake, 2001: At the time of this disaster, IDRF raised $1,352,940 for 17 different groups. However, in this case again, just one organization -- RSS's main service front, Sewa Bharati -- got over 56% ($760,000) of the total earthquake funds [[5]].

With this history, we can only surmise that this time too, a disproportionately large share of IDRF's funds will go to Sewa Bharati and other RSS-affiliates. From the very beginning, IDRF has focused almost exclusively on the Sangh groups, listing them in its first press release and then publishing Sewa Bharati reports on its website on a nearly daily basis, each extolling readers to donate to Sewa Bharati. All of this lends credibility to our claims that IDRF is seeking to line the coffers of the RSS with this disaster as well.

3. What is wrong with the Sewa Bharati?

Before we go into that, it is useful to note that the RSS, the apex organization of the Sangh Parivar, [[6] lacks the most rudimentary features of a legitimate public organization in India, such as being registered with the government, having a bank account, or filing tax returns. Although it is all over the public space in India, organizationally, the RSS prefers to remain secretive and shadowy and operates in large part through front organizations run by trained swayamsevaks. [[7]] As mentioned in the response to question 2 above, Sangh organizations such as the IDRF have a history of using tragedies to raise funds for RSS activities in India.

That Sewa Bharati is an RSS affiliate is undeniable. Besides the fact that Sewa Bharati Tamil Nadu is housed in the same office as the Southern Region branch of the RSS, [[8]] it is also the RSS' preferred vehicle for Sewa (service) activities. For instance, if you go to the RSS' homepage (www.rss.org ) and click the tab for its Sewa activity, the organization you land with is Sewa Bharati. Elsewhere, the RSS openly declares Sewa Bharati as its main service organization. [[9]] Given all this, IDRF's privileging of Sewa Bharati comes as no surprise.

While Sewa Bharati officially claims its "thrust areas" to be education, health and self help, a brief glance at some of the material published by the RSS [[10]] itself shows that Sewa Bharati's fundamental mission is that of Hinduization. We must be clear that Hinduization, Islamization or Christianization, has nothing to do with relief, rehabilitation or development and should not even be a side effect. Unfortunately, with the RSS, this is often the main effect.

In Madhya Pradesh, where Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (a Sangh organization implicated in the Gujarat pogroms [11]]) and Sewa Bharati Madhya Pradesh were the biggest beneficiaries of IDRF [[12]], the Madhya Pradesh government banned Sewa Bharati for its involvement in the violence against the Christian minority. [13]] Sewa Bharati has also been banned for planning to "stir racial hatred" in Ayodhya. [[14]]

Given its dubious past, it's clear that any donations to Sewa Bharati will, far from helping the victims of the current disaster, only sow the seeds for a future disaster.

4. Aren't the Tamil Nadu fisherfolk communities largely Christian? What influence can the Sangh have there?

That is exactly where the problem lies. It is true that there is a very significant dalit Christian population among the effected communities, but the Sangh, through its Tamil Nadu front - The Hindu Munnani - has been trying to divide that community along religious lines for the last decade. The Hindu Munnani is most active in Tamil Nadu amongst the fisherfolk communities.

With the funds coming to the Sangh in the name of disaster relief, the Munnani will be able to launch aggressive campaigns against the dalit Christians and the Sangh would have created a new potentially explosive situation just as it did so successfully in Orissa and Gujarat.

Do we want the situation in Kutch to be reproduced in coastal Tamil Nadu? (such as rebuilding temples and crematoriums and not rebuilding mosques and churches; such as discriminating against Dalits and Muslims in the rebuilding of houses). More importantly, the problem has never been of a single instance of discrimination. With such discriminatory use of resources, the RSS entered these villages in Kutch and established itself there with a consolidated power base. This meant that from then on, the RSS, could as part of the daily life of the village mount an aggressive campaign against the minorities, culminating sometimes in open threats and violence.

5.Why are you against Hindu organizations and not against Muslim/Christian groups? (After all, Catholic Relief Services has gotten the largest relief package going.)

We are not against Buddhist or Christian or Hindu or Muslim or Sikh or any other religious organizations. We are ONLY against organizations that use religious and caste ideology to foment hatred and violence, and the Sangh is the worst offender in this regard.

Various religious bodies, including temple, mosque and church-based groups, are doing tremendous work in the tsunami effected areas without differentiating between followers of different faiths. In fact we believe that when a catastrophe like the tsunami happens, groups centered around places of worship have more immediate access to the communities they are based in, and are sometimes able to deliver immediate relief faster than anybody else. In contrast, groups like the RSS use these crisis moments instrumentally to spread hate, anger and the fear of other communities.

While we agree that it is important to oppose all such organizations, not least the fundamentalist Christian and Muslim groups, who wait in the wings to pounce whenever tragedy strikes, it is far more important to confront and expose the RSS in India because it is exponentially more powerful than any other such exclusionist organization.

6. OK fine, the IDRF is part of the Sangh and the Sangh is violent at times. But they also do good work during crises such as this tsunami, so why should I not support them in their good work? Are you not obstructing the relief and rehabilitation of people who have been hurt by trying to prevent IDRF, HSS, VHPA and Sewa International from getting donations for the Tsunami relief?

We should not let ourselves get fooled by the false dichotomy of "good work" versus "bad work." The fact is, as explained above, the Sangh becomes particularly active when natural disasters strike, because it sees natural disasters as golden opportunities to gain a hold over communities undergoing tremendous human suffering by performing "good work." It then stays around and slowly destroys the soul of the community by continually injecting its poison of divisions and hatreds that eventually explode in violence.

Not giving money to the Sangh is in no way going to obstruct the relief and rehabilitation of any of the communities suffering from the destruction wrought by the tsunami. Please remember that the Sangh does not provide any particular access to any of these communities; there are a host of grass-roots groups who not only have transparent operations and secular values, but also have a long history of working with these communities and do not manipulate or use a crisis situation to advance sectarian agendas. Donors can find lists of agencies at many sites, including at CSFH's site (www.stopfundinghate.org), of US-based organizations connected to such grass-roots operations in India. The list provided by CSFH is just a small sample of such groups and includes organizations that have a wide range of people at their helm--from former US President Clinton to business executives to development activists--and are able to deliver relief without sowing the seeds of hatred. We do not recommend any particular agency or organization, donors must choose the ones they are most comfortable with, but we are certainly saying that the organizations we list, and we cannot stress this enough, will not create conditions of hatred and violence, unlike those affiliated to the RSS.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] See http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/indiachr; http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/india

[2] See http://stopfundinghate.org/sacw/appendixh.html

[3] The Sangh Parivar, usually just called the Sangh, is the 'family' of organizations either directly controlled by the RSS or owing allegiance to it and following its ideology.

[4] See the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 annual reports of the IDRF:

[5] http://www.letindiadevelop.org/thereport/appendixi.html

[6] See footnote 3.

[7] Swayamsevaks are the volunteers of the RSS.

[8] See this RSS website; and http://www.hindu.org/aid-relief/

[9] See H. V. Seshadri, former RSS General Secretary, as quoted in http://www.hindubooks.org/Vision/ch7.html

[10] Ibid.

Support Debt Relief for Tsunami Afflicted and Developing South

2005-01-05T05:12:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at DailyKos. Support debt relief for tsunami-stricken countries and other developing nations. E-mail the contact at Jubilee South to sign on. Thanks, Jess, for sending this:

From: Lidy Nacpil lidynacpil@jubileesouth.org
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 3:32 AM
To: Debt Campaigns
Subject: Debt and Disaster

Please see below a sign-on statement prepared by the Jubilee South secretariat. Please write to us if you want to sign on. Please circulate and ask others to sign. After five days -- we will circulate the statement again with all the signatories thus far so that we can all send it to Northern and Southern governments, and to the IMF, WB, ADB, UN and other international institutions via email.

In the face of Debt and Disaster: Long-lasting Relief for the Peoples of the South!

We express our deepest sympathy and solidarity for the peoples of Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and many other South countries who are currently suffering from the devastation unleashed by the tsunami last December 26. We cannot overemphasize how profoundly saddened we are by the climbing death toll, numbering over 25,000 as of this writing, and the many thousand others missing or injured, the destruction of property,
the loss of livelihoods and the widespread dislocation of communities.

The Philippines was also severely hit by super-typhoons in the last few weeks, leading to the death of more than 1,000 people, the destruction of over 10,000 hectares of farmlands, and rendering 53,000 families homeless and without access to clean water.

Now, more than ever, at their hour of greatest need, the peoples of the South must be heeded in their long-standing demand for debt cancellation. In the face of this massive destruction, northern and international creditors should not continue to hold South peoples in bondage for
debts that have in large part, only contributed to their impoverishment and deprivation.

If there is any measure of sincerity in the outpouring of compassion from North governments for the peoples of the South, let this be through concrete action. In addition to emergency relief operations and rehabilitation, what we need immediately is:

UNCONDITIONAL DEBT CANCELLATION NOW!

Southern governments should not continue to prioritize debt service, and squander much needed public funds:

STOP PAYING ONEROUS and ILLEGITIMATE DEBTS!

Prioritize relief and rehabilitation, basic social services, clean and safe water, and other human development programs!

December 28, 2004

Jubilee South
Jubilee South - APMDD (Asia/Pacific Movement for Debt and Development)
Freedom from Debt Coalition of the Philippines

(Please sign on)

International NGO Calls for Debt Relief for Tsunami Countries

2005-01-05T04:47:00.000-08:00

Below is a statement from the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development. There's no action item attached, unlike the Jubilee South item posted above and in the sidebar. Thanks, Jess.

INFID STATEMENT
Jakarta, December 31, 2004

Indonesia needs more than debt moratorium to recover from the biggest human tragedy:

Tsunami in Aceh and North Sumatra

The death toll in the tsunami tragedy that swept Indonesia, in Aceh and North Sumatra is feared to have killed nearly 40,000-80,000 people.

We grieve over the catastrophe and the death of the people in Aceh and North Sumatra. We express our deepest sympathy and solidarity for the people of Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and Malaysia who are currently suffering from the devastation unleashed by the tsunami.

Governments and international aid agencies have reacted promptly to the catastrophe that hit the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean and have already started comprehensive aid operations. To date, Japan has pledged 30 million US Dollar, the European Union 40.5 million, the United States 15 million, Australia 7.8 million, China 2.6 million and Singapore 1.2 million US Dollar. Aid agencies such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, UNICEF, Medicines sans Frontiers, Oxfam and others call for donations.

However, the magnitude of the disaster has literally left these countries paralysed that an extraordinary global effort is needed, especially in the area of financing recovery and reconstruction programs.

The financial condition of Indonesia, with very limited space for development spending in the
budget, a budget deficit of around US$ 3 billion, and the huge debt burden: a total of US$ 134,85 billion (domestic and external) or more than 60% of the GDP, cripples its ability to finance the
emergency and recovery program. The Government of Indonesia estimated that it needs 10 trillion Rupiah or US$ 10 billion or 1/3 of the annual loan and grant that it receives through the consortium of donors/creditors: the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) for recovery program in Aceh, North Sumatra and other affected areas.

We therefore welcome the call of the German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to give Indonesia a debt moratorium.

However, we are of the opinion that Indonesia needs more than a debt moratorium. A debt moratorium would allow Indonesia not to pay its debt for a certain period, but it will have to fulfil its obligation to the creditors in the future. Thus a debt moratorium is simply shifting the debt burden to the next generation.

We believe that Indonesia will need all the sources available to implement reconstruction and recovery programs as well as saving the future generations. Debt repayment in the future would seriously affect Indonesia's ability to do this.

We therefore call:

1. To the international creditors to give debt relief to Indonesia and other Southern Countries affected by the tsunami so that we would have enough rooms for prioritising reconstruction and recovery programs;

2. To international governments and organisation that all supports for Indonesia and
other Southern countries in response to the disaster should be in the form of grants and aid;

3. To the Government of Indonesia to use the initiative from Germany, to negotiate for a comprehensive debt relief;

4. To the Government Indonesia to ensure transparency and accountability in channelling aid to Aceh, North Sumatra and other affected areas.

Jakarta December 31, 2004

Binny Buchori

Executive Secretary

U.S. Sec. of State Rhetorically Links War on Terror, Tsunami Assistance

2005-01-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at DarkDaysAhead.... I understand that Powell's just doing his job, but I find this a really offensive public relations display, particularly in light of the fact that some of the people who died and are dying in Indonesia right now were deported from the US through mass profiling of people from Muslim-majority countries because of a different set of "American values in action." Here's some of the text of the article:

U.S. money and military assistance to countries where tens of thousands died in the tsunami may lessen anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world and help in the fight against terrorism, Secretary of State Colin Powell...said Tuesday.

"I hope that as a result of our efforts, as a result of our helicopter pilots being seen by the citizens of Indonesia helping them, that value system of ours will be reinforced," Powell said...

"It turns out that the majority of those nations affected were Muslim nations," Powell said. He said of the U.S. aid, "We'd be doing it regardless of religion, but I think it does give the Muslim world and the rest of the world ... an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action."

Courtesy AP, via Yahoo!News...

We ask for doctors and they send us soldiers

2005-01-04T10:53:00.000-08:00

42 US Marines landed in Sri Lanka yesterday and not a soul said a word. As they got out of the plane that brought them to Colombo they posed for the cameras, and smiled. Looks like they'd done the one week(!) crash course on how to smile in a miss world show.

They say 1500 are on their way.

read Sri Lanka tsunami aid becomes geopolitical game
on AlertNet
and
Foreign troops in Sri Lanka only for relief work: Lanka Govt
on newindpress.com

We ask for doctors and they send us soldiers. How many people here think they're really here to help Sri Lanka? Can I see a show of hands? No one? Only the bloody Sri Lankan Government thinks they're here to help. (Maybe they're here to help the Sri Lankan Government! They did ask for access to LTTE areas!)

Send them in boys! With their setup-in-less-than-a-minute tents and their fancy GPS-bleep-bleep-thingies. Frankly, I consider this an invasion. Nothing less. Diego Garcia just wasn't big enough (Maybe it doesn't exist anymore. Has anyone checked?) for all the operations they're planning in the South Asian region. And they really didn't like the Indians making a move on the Trincomalee harbour either. Well, neither did the Sri Lankans, but DAMMIT if we gotta give it to someone we'd rather give it to the Indians than to the Americans.

And brilliant timing for Dixit to kick it don't you think? The one guy who could've (whatever his shortcomings were) done wonders for India-Sri Lanka relations and defense ties has to call it quits just when he's most needed. And the Indo-Sri Lanka defense pact which was due to be signed is down the drain I guess. (Not that I backed it, but I do think there needs to be more cooperation of EVERY kind in the South Asian region. If it has to begin with defense, then so be it) Bloody hell it just couldn't get better for the Americans.

Bye bye rest of the world. I'm going to be a unwilling secondary American citizen soon. Like the Afghans and the Iraqis.

Where to Donate, from HRW Staffer

2005-01-04T07:25:00.001-08:00

From Nisha, works at Human Rights Watch New York office:

The following is a list of recommended local NGOs in SE and South Asia. It is not a comprehensive list, but provides contact information for some of the main local aid coalitions. My colleagues and I have worked with many of these organizations or otherwise know their work well. In addition to major international relief organizations, these local and national NGOs are mobilizing their grassroots networks to distribute aid and to begin the long process of reconstruction. These organizations often have longstanding networks and relationships with the affected communities, and excellent familiarity and experience in the region.

I urge people to give generously. If you usually give $20 to such efforts, think about a $100 donation. If you usually donate $100, think about $500. The need is great and the recovery process complicated and long. Some of these organizations accept credit card donations online, others need to have the money wired to them. I will be wiring funds to groups in Indonesia and Sri Lanka—so anyone interested can feel free to contact me at:

Nisha Varia
nisha DOT varia AT gmail DOT com

INDONESIA

A group of NGOs have created the Civil Society Coalition for Tsunami Victims. They are accepting money, food, medicine, and clothing. The members include Kontras, SHMI, Imparsial, Aceh Kita, JMP-KWI, Walhi, LBH Apik, Amos, Yappika, Kalyanamitra, TRuK, AWG, Ciliwung, SEGERA, and LPPI.

For logistical ease, funds can be sent to Kontras. They can also be sent by credit card through Greengrants.org which is matching up to $25,000 in donations (be sure to mark "Sumatra" or "Indonesia" in the online form if you want the funds going specifically to Indonesia). If anyone wants contact info for any of the other groups, let me know.

KONTRAS

Kontras Secretariat
JL. Borobudur No. 14
Menteng, Central Jakarta
Indonesia
62-21-3926983/62-21-3928564
Contact : Mus: 0815-9649542; Arie: 0815-6867741 Money can be wired to their bank account in Jakarta:
Bank Name: Bank BII Proklamasi Branch
Bank Address: Jalan Proklamasi, Jakarta, Indonesia Bank Account: Rupiah Account 2-072-267-196 Swift No: IBB KIDJAA

A second grassroots group organizing relief efforts is Solidaritas Perempuan.
They focus on poor women. Funds can be wired to the following account:
Solidaritas Perempuan
Account Number : 000.02.14.42.096 (USD)
Perserikatan Solidaritas Perempuan
Swift Code: ABN - AIDJA
Bank Name: ABN AMRO BANK N.V. Jakarta Main Branch Jl. Ir. H. Juanda 23 - 24 Jakarta 10029 Indonesia PO.BOX 2950 Phone : 62 - 21 - 2312777
Fax: 62 - 21 - 2313222

SRI LANKA

The Foundation for Co-Existence (FCE), Sewa Lanka Foundation (SLF) and the National Anti-War Front (NAWF) have jointly formed the Civil Society Initiative for Relief and Reconstruction to organize emergency relief and humanitarian aid. Each organization has a strong presence in these regions through their branch offices, Island wide networks of over 1000 civil society organizations in peace building and development activities, and a combined staff capacity of over 500.

Total accountability and transparency and non discriminatory services are ensured in this relief and reconstruction effort. All contributions will be acknowledged with a receipt.

The bank account details are as follows:

Bank: HSBC
Address: Colpetty Branch, 51A Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka
SWIFT CODE: HSBCLKLX
Account Name: Foundation for Co-Existence – Disaster Fund
Account Number: 003-078219-003

Please feel free to e-mail us for further information or clarification: FCE - tsunamiaid AT fcoex DOT com or foundation AT fcoex DOT com, NAWF -nawf AT eureka DOT lk, Sewa Lanka – sewahq AT sri DOT lanka DOT net.

Further details about the partner organizations are available via their individual websites:

FCE – http://www.fcoex.com, Sewa Lanka – http://www.sewalanka.org, NAWF – http://www.nawf.lk

Sarvodaya is a Sri Lankan organization with the largest community network in the country. To donate to Sarvodaya online by credit card you may donate directly through the Sarvodaya donation page:

http://www.sarvodaya.org/donate.html

or through the Nonviolent Peaceforce (100% of the money collected at this site will go to Sarvodaya):

AID,
P.O. Box F
College Park, MD-20741, USA.
(Please indicate "Relief and Rehabilitation Fund" in the check memo)

For additional information call: 1-888-TALK-2-AID or (301) 422-4441 or email: info AT aidindia DOT org

Web: http://survivors.aidindia.org, Email: info AT aidindia DOT org, Phone: 1-888- TALK-2-AID

Appeal From Indonesia-Based Group

2005-01-03T13:56:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at Tsunami Help, link to donate from U.S. on sidebar.

2nd Donation Appeal for Indonesian Tsunami Victims

Civil Society Coalition for Quake and Tsunami victims

Dear friends,

This is our second donations appeal to inform you that YOUR HELP IS STILL DESPERATELY NEEDED!

We have so far selected, equipped, and dispatched 59 volunteers to Banda Aceh and Medan crisis centers within 2 days (30-31 Dec 2004). They comprised of people with knowledge of medical, Search and Rescue, and survival techniques. Selection process was focused on choosing those with skills and the physical ability to reach remote areas. Some have reached subdistricts in Banda Aceh to distribute logistics and aid while teams of activists and volunteers from Medan, North Sumatera have finally reached Meulaboh, on the devastated western coast and Bakongan. The UN expected that the death toll will rise to 100,000 people with survivors not receiving aid and medical help in time.

WE NEED YOUR DONATIONS FOR MORE MEDICINES, TRANSPORTATION, AND TELECOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENTS !

We have organised for donations pools in Europe and US with the generous help of Friends of the Earth Europe and Global Greengrants Fund to reduce the large deductions from transfer fees to individual donations. If you are residents of either areas, and would like to send your financial support, please read below:

-- FOR DONATIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES --

Global Greengrants Fund is a U.S. 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, and will match the first $5,000 donated to this special relief effort. 100% of Tsunami Fund donations will be sent to these relief efforts. Greengrants' U.S. tax ID number is: 84-1612422

For information on how to donate by credit cards on-line, wire transfer, checks, stock and more, please go to : http://www.greengrants.org/pressreleases.php?news_id=29

*For Sumatera relief, please note that the donation is on behalf of "WALHI" on your on-line-format or wire transfer because GGF is organising for Tsunami relief in other areas.

For further information, please contact: Chet Tchozewski chet AT greengrants D-O-T org

-- FOR DONATIONS FROM EUROPEAN COUNTRIES --

Since bank-transfers to Indonesia are very expensive, FoE Europe is offering a cheap way for those who live in EURO-countries. You can transfer your money to the FoEE account and we will transfer the money on block to WALHI (FoE Indonesia). (Transfers within the Euro zone are for free.) FoEE guarantees that all donations are transferred to FoE Indonesia without reductions. Please mention TSUNAMI on your transfer.

Four you donations please use the following account:
Friends of the Earth Europe (Belgium)
BIC Code: KREDBEBB
IBAN: BE02 4279 1524 2140
Please mark the transfer with "TSUNAMI"!

Additional information (normally not needed for Euro-transfers):
KBC Bank, Place Stephanie 10, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Account number: 427-9152421-40

Please use this possibility only for transfers within the Euro Zone. If you want to receive confirmation that your donation has arrived, please send an e-mail to martin.rocholl AT foeeurope DOT org with your name and the amount donated. Please also note that FoE Europe cannot give receipts, which would allow you to deduct taxes (for this you have to find an aid-organisation in your country).

All the funds collected in the United States, Europe, and other international donations is transfered to our account below:

Name on Account : Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia
Account No. : 3-000026-173
Name of Bank : Citibank
Branch : Menara Citibank
Address : Jln. Metro Pondok Indah Kavling II/BA, No. 1, Jakarta, INDONESIA
Swift Code : CITI IDJX
Routing Code : DDA 10995291

For further information, please contact Ovi or Estee at:

The Indonesian Civil Society Coalition for the Victims of Earthquake and Tsunami
Crisis Center
Jl. Tegal Parang Utara No.14
Jakarta Selatan 12790
INDONESIA

HOTLINE : +62-21-794 1672

Daily updates available at: http://www.eng.walhi.or.id

Fax: +62-794 16 73

Ovi's mobile : +62-(0)815-976-7273 or e-mail: ovi AT walhi DOT or DOT id
Estee's mobile : +62-(0)811-89 53 29 or e-mail: estee AT walhi DOT or DOT id

For more information, please contact:

Helvi Lystiani
International Outreach (National Office)
Email Helvi Lystiani
Work phone: +62-(0)21-791 93 363
Mobile:
Fax: +62-(0)21-794 1673

Reuters: India Resists U.S. Assistance to Sri Lanka

2005-01-03T09:03:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at Dark Days Ahead, courtesy Reuters, via YahooNews:

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's tsunami devastation has drawn a huge international aid response, but a geopolitical game of influence between India and the United States is playing not too subtly in the background, analysts said on Monday.

"There is no innocence in the politics of humanitarian assistance," said Jayadeva Uyangoda, head of the department of political science at Colombo University.

Uyangoda said Washington's decision to send as many as 1,500 Marines and an amphibious assault ship to Sri Lanka was seen in New Delhi as not "merely humanitarian".

"It is a symbolic intrusion into India's sphere of influence," he said.

Nearly 30,000 Sri Lankans were killed by the Dec. 26 tsunami and nearly a million have been made homeless...

Read the rest here

Feminism and Personal Empowerment, Sri Lankan Tsunami Relief Style

2005-01-03T02:34:00.000-08:00

Courtesy and Crossposted at Morquendi via Chiens Sans Frontieres:

Subha's Story

I’m 16. Besides, I’m a girl, I’m just a girl. And in the wake of the Tsunami tragedy that has swept across Asia recently, killing thousands, displacing millions, and ruining many, I have been wishing, for the first time since I was about 10 running around in shorts with short hair, that I wasn’t a girl. That instead, I was a boy. Many times I’ve argued with my brothers, or my male friends, many times I have felt distressed and useless. Many, many times I’ve defended myself when people have said things like ‘If your going to volunteer in any of the affected areas machang, don’t take the girls. They’ll only become a pain’. Many times have I wondered in frustration what on earth they are talking about. Yet, after long hours of endless arguing and fighting, I am learning to keep quiet. Let them talk. They’ll see.

Since the 26th, the day on which the Tsunami occurred in all it’s hideous glory, the tiny country has been wrapped in chaos and utter pandemonium. The death toll rises daily, having started considerably small from about 2000, and is currently tipping the scale of credibility at about 30,000. The enormity of the disaster is simply that : unbelievable. Of course, I haven’t been directly affected. All week long, I’ve been hearing horror stories about those who survived, and those who didn’t survive. About those who survived, and those who didn’t. And in the middle of the gargantuan loss of lives, property, homes and land, millions are displaced, homeless, suffering from diseases, injuries and mental trauma that can’t be treated soon enough. Numbers that only make one’s mouth hang open in shock are mourning the loss of loved ones, the loss of home, a place to live, of everything they own, of a dignified lifestyle. They suffer in camps; women have their periods, children are dying from disease, thousands of corpses decompose in local morgues, and authorities struggle to feed and clothe everyone while trying to provide them with the needed medical facilities. Sri Lanka has changed geographically, the land having caved in from the South and the East. We’re no longer a pearl, or a pear, or a tear drop. We’re a drowning blob in the Indian Ocean, gasping for our share of air, and fighting to rise from the ashes. While all hell has broken lose in the Southern and Eastern coastal areas, I continue to live my pathetic, sheltered life in Colombo, with all my party clothes and my mobile phone. Or so one would think. I however would like to think, things have changed for me.

The only way to fight the depression was to dive into some work. Since I’m on school holidays, it means I’m at home, doing next to nothing, or out with my friends, doing next to nothing important. This happened, and threw me out to sea. Not literally, thankfully, but the feeling was quite the same. My whole life, my entire 16 years of existence started to feel superficial, shallow and insignificant. I wallowed in misery, watching the morbid footage on news, and reading ghastly stories on the papers. It’s all anyone could talk about. It’s all I could think about. The magnitude of the disaster was truly overwhelming. Maybe it’s in my blood, maybe it’s the Interactor in me, whatever it was, was screaming at me to do something. To get in there, get involved, and help. This was when I was told I couldn’t visit Galle with my brother and mother the very next day. That I couldn’t volunteer in Batticaloa, or go down to the South to help those stationed in camps. Although I understood the dire situation, and the barbaric living conditions that one would have to deal with were they to visit any of the areas affected right away, I was stunned that the lamest of all excuses seemed the most used. I am a girl.

Since last Sunday, I have been trying to make myself feel better. I have been on a mission to sacrifice whatever time I spend doing nothing, at the various places and organizations collecting donations in Colombo. I have packed, carried, lifted, sealed, sorted and loaded dry rations, clothes, books, shoes, medicine, soap and linen by the amazing tons. Their collected in ceiling scraping mountains. And that feeling is somewhat relieving. The feeling that there are thousands of people in the city alone that are willing to give so generously, but most of all, that somewhere, somehow, I am being useful. It has been my only source of consolation. I have bumped into, and worked with many people that I’ve never met, but also with many of my friends and other youngsters from in and around the city. Everyone is friendly, efficient, and enthusiastic. They never tire. It’s really refreshing.

Two days ago however, I took a larger step. One might say a small leap, after having hopped around for 5 days. Together with some of my friends, I got involved in a damage assessment project being carried out by the Ministry of Defense. The ministry’s claim was that the main issue was the lack of system and organization. Unknown to us Colombo people, a lot was going on in the wake of the disaster. Women were being gang raped, trucks carrying donations were being hijacked, conmen and thieves were stealing food stuff and clothes from the camps by the truck loads, and the donations were being misdirected heavily. Things would go from bad to worse, if nothing was done. What they need, they said, is a system that works around the entire country. We were to carry out the experiment. If successful, it would be the prototype for a planning system everywhere. The three key words were: order, organization, and control. 10 of us were sent with Special Task Force officials escorting us, making us feel rather important, into the Mattakkuliya and Modera areas in northern Colombo which were ruined by the tsunami. We were to assess the damage.

Five days after the calamity, the situation was slowly calming down. Three large churches, St. Mary’s, St. James and De Mazenod were the main providers of shelter and aid to these people in need. The local schools, community centers and church halls were housing the displaced people who had no homes to return to, providing a temporary refuge to those who needed time and resources to return to their ruined homes and start cleaning up. Because these people live mainly in poor slum communities between the sea and the Kelani river, they were caught by surprise when both bodies of water began rising to surround the pockets of habitation and crash in on their homes. The waters swept away many of the wooden structures and whatever was inside them; those fortunate enough to own cement structures suffered the loss of money and property. Everyone lost everything. Cupboards, beds, mattresses, cooking utensils, electrical appliances, and even livelihoods due to the loss of boats and implements. ‘Nothing is left’, they cried to us. They survived with only their clothes on their backs. Even in this small area, six bodies were found, and one remains missing.

We visited over seven camps, and saw over 3000 displaced people. The small St. Mary’s Community Center was the worst off. It had 76 people living in it. Many had rashes on their feet due to standing in contaminated water; conjunctivitis had spread like wild fire amongst everyone, both young and old alike. There had been no doctor to visit them since they were brought there, last Sunday. A small 4 year old boy, who had slipped and fallen during one of his 4 year old antics, had very neatly split his forehead open. The mother, young Dilani Priyangika is the randomly appointed ‘in–charge’ of the refugees there. Unable to give the wound the stitches it needed, she had dressed it with whatever medical aid they were given on the first day. When we visited, the wound had obviously been infected, and forced his left eye almost completely shut with swelling. Dilani, however, has bigger worries. As the person in charge, she sees it as her duty to make sure everyone is fed and kept alive. She says no aid comes their way, and whenever it does, conmen and robbers come and steal it for themselves, sometimes donning the guise of a refugee, when really, they are not. Although they have clean water for drinking, and have toilet facilities in the building, she says they are not attended to, due to there being much larger damage in other areas. Most importantly, they have no access to a doctor, nor do they have organized, educated personnel to run this place the way it should be run.

On the contrary, the church run camps are equipped and efficient. They have credible records of all their residents, and are fully prepared to feed and clothe anyone who does not have a home.

What was heartbreaking though, were the affected areas itself. Small patches of slums have been entirely damaged if not washed away. RFK Watta had witnessed the only deaths in the area. Kadirana, Pichchamal Watta, Summitpura, and Gemunupura had been underwater till as recently as Friday. I looked around at the angry yet sad people who returned to the sites of their homes during the daytime, and at what remained of their homes. Occasionally one could see a plank or two, or a ceiling sheet, all that was left toshow us that a home had once stood there. I thought to myself ‘how unbelievable the damage must be on the coast… in Galle, in Batticaloa. How simply colossal.’

The people complained of their loss, but also of neglect. They told us that we were the first people to visit their destroyed homes. There had been no government officials, not even from the Grama Sevaka’s office, or from the Municipality, looking into the damage and the disaster caused last Sunday. They felt they had been left to fend for themselves. Although the churches have been making sure that the communities get the required food and clothing, the municipality has broached only one of the above mentioned areas to help clean up the dense mud and filth that lay in places that were once homes to families. The unhygienic situation caused by the mud that has come in with the water from the river, as well as all the garbage that came in with the river water has made it impossible for most to bring their children back to their homes. One father says all he wants is for his family to be under the same roof again. One mother says all she wants is someone to help rebuild her humble home. Many children said all they want is a clean home to go back to. These areas have gotten no media coverage, nor have they gotten the attention of the local government authorities in whose hands their fates lie.

And now, right now, I feel I have helped. Those people needed someone to listen patiently to their lamenting, someone to yell at and take their anger out on, someone to visit their homes and tell them that they had every right to feel the way they did, to carry those children, and play their first game with them since the water engulfed their homes and dragged away their school books, someone to gather the information and hand it over to the Ministry with the promise that action will be taken soon, someone to instill some hope, hope that was thought lost a long time ago. At our briefing at the Ministry, when a STF officer handed out some gruesome and graphic photos of the bodies and the damage in Galle, he took them away the moment they touched my hands. He thought me too sensitive and unfit to see those pictures. ‘You’re a girl’ he told me, like I didn’t already know that all too well. Well this girl is helping. She is doing what she can.

Subha

Appeal, Limited Matching Grant from Greengrants Fund

2005-01-03T01:47:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at Tsunami Help. From Hugh: Just wanted to share this alternative to the large, mainstream NGOs in terms of support of communities hit by the tsunami.

- Greengrants to Match Donations to Tsunami Relief Effort -

In response to the devastation from the recent earthquake and tsunami in Asia, Global Greengrants Fund is offering a way for U.S. donors to get direct aid to NGOs on the ground in Sumatra, Sri Lanka and India. Impoverished coastal communities in these regions have been completely destroyed, and the resulting humanitarian crisis requires a generous international response. Greengrants, as a U.S. based 501(c)(3) organization, can provide U.S. donors with a tax-deduction and will send 100% of your donation directly to the two groups described below.
Greengrants will also match the first $5,000 donated. We have a pre-existing relationship with the two organizations listed below, which allows for quick and easy transfer of funds. And we are currently working to identify groups in India that can accept immediate funds for relief efforts as well.

- Sri Lankan Relief Effort

The Saviya Development Foundation in Galle, Sri Lanka will respond to the devastation caused by the Tsunami by providing relief resources tothe 25 refugee centers along the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Saviya will use donations to supply food and water to families in the area who have lost their homes and property, support medical efforts at the refugee centers, and to resolve local residential problems. In the past, Saviya has received Greengrants funds to restore and preserve the Madu Ganga wetlands, and to engage local school children in this process.

- Sumatra Relief Effort

WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia), has established the Indonesian Civil Society Coalition for the Victims of Earthquake and Tsunami to provide aid to the victims. The coalition has set up crisis centers in Jakarta and Medan, North Sumatra. All funds received will be allocated
for emergency response as well as the post-emergency phase of rebuilding and restoration of shattered livelihoods. WALHI has received funding from Greengrants to protect forests in Indonesia. Daily updates on the relief effort in Sumatra are available at: http://www.eng.walhi.or.id

- HOW TO DONATE -

Global Greengrants' Fund is a U.S. 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, and will match the first $5,000 donated to this special relief effort. 100% of Tsunami Fund donations will be sent to these relief efforts.
Greengrants' U.S. tax ID number is: 84-1612422

- Credit Card Donations. To contribute using a credit card, visit: www.greengrants.org/donate and click on the "donate now" button. Please note that the donation is on behalf of the Tsunami Fund.

- Check. Checks mailer and post-marked by December 31, 2004 are eligible for a tax deduction in 2004. Contributions after December 31, will be deductible for 2005.

Mail checks to: Global Greengrants Fund - Tsunami Fund, 2840 Wilderness Place, Suite E, Boulder, CO 80301

- Wire Transfers. To send funds via wire transfer: Account Name: Global
Greengrants Fund; account number: 558-611-8597; SWIFT code: WFBIUS6S;
and routing number: 121 000 248.

- Stock Donations. If you are interested in contributing stocks, call Kelly Purdy or Erika Carlson at 303.939.9866 to get our full banking information, or email kelly AT greengrants d-0-t org / erika AT greengrants d-o-t org.

For additional information on international donors providing relief assistance please visit the Grantmakers Without Border website at: www.internationaldonors.org/issues/tsunami_dec2004.htm, or the Tides Foundation at: www.tidesfoundation.org

Thank you for your help with this important effort.

Global Greengrants Fund (www.greengrants.org)

Information on How To Give Wisely

2005-01-02T01:15:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at Tsunami Help. Thanks Varsha for sending this.

GIVE WELL, GIVE WISELY!
Campaign to Stop Funding Hate Urges Responsible Giving in the Wake of Tsunami Tragedy

Friends,

It is time to give and give generously. As the death toll climbs past 150,000 and the world comes to grips with the devastation caused by the deadly Indian Ocean tsunamis, numerous organizations across Asia are stepping up to organize relief and rehabilitation. We at the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate (CSFH) urge all individuals in the U.S. and elsewhere to support them by donating generously.

However, our responsibility does not end with giving. It is also our combined responsibility to ensure that our funds do not end up in sectarian hands, and that this tragedy does not turn into another opportunity for communal groups to gain foothold in our plural society.

KEEPING ACCOUNTABILITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE ON THE AGENDA

The response to the tsunami tragedy in the US has been heartening, with hundreds of dedicated volunteers making enormous effort to raise resources for relief operations in India and elsewhere. Many of these groups have a long history of carrying out grass-roots, non-sectarian development work in India, and have been able to effectively mobilize their networks at this time to administer relief. They can be counted upon for working closely with affected communities in a transparent and accountable manner. The immense loss of life in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand, makes it incumbent on us to consider giving to our suffering Asian neighbors, either through transnational organizations or through informal networks of local community-based organizations. (See below for a partial list of such organizations).

Many of us are also members of a variety of linguistic, regional and cultural associations. Because of their social and cultural affinities, such organizations are well equipped to intervene in on the ground activities.

Precisely because of these reasons, sectarian groups try to use them as vehicles to advance their own agendas. We therefore urge you all to not only take an active part in the fund raising activities of these organizations but also be involved in discussions on how and where the funds are to be used.

Disasters of this kind are occasions when we should be on high alert to keep social justice at the top of the agenda.

STAY CLEAR OF SECTARIAN GROUPS SUCH AS IDRF, HSS, SEVA INTERNATIONAL
AND VHPA

Please remember the lessons of past natural calamities: Latur earthquake in 1993, Orissa cyclone in 1999 and the massive earthquake that shook Gujarat in 2001. Sectarian groups in the guise of non profits have swooped in on these areas engulfed in tragedy (funded in large part by unsuspecting donors in the US) and established their presence in the grief-stricken communities on the pretext of providing relief. Not only did this lead to unequal disbursement of relief among various communities, but it also caused further fracturing of these struggling communities along lines of caste and religion.

This time too, the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), Sewa International and Vishwa Hindu Parishad-America (VHPA) have all put out appeals for Tsunami relief. CSFH has done extensive research on these groups and traced their linkages to the parent organization in India: the violent and anti-minority Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (See http://www.stopfundinghate.org for details.) Affiliates of this
organization have been implicated by numerous national and international human rights groups as having engineered the anti-Muslim Gujarat pogroms in 2002 and the anti-Christian violence in 1998-2000. RSS itself is a secretive organization, openly sectarian in its operations, and is not legally permitted by the Government of India to accept funds from abroad; consequently, its US affiliates (IDRF, HSS etc.) are raising funds for organizations like Sewa Bharati, Jana Sankshema Samiti and Vivekananda Kendra in India, all of which are intrinsic parts of RSS operations in
India and follow its divisive ideology.

We urge everyone to make the responsible choice in favor of supporting secular groups with a long-standing commitment to the pluralistic ethos and democratic ideals of India. On our part, we are following up on our work of the past several years some of which is documented at
http://www.stopfundinghate.org. We will be happy to assist you with any information and would really appreciate it if you will alert us to the debates and discussions that you are involved in by emailing us at info AT stopfundinghate D-O-T org

We are building a FAQ to be posted on our site and it will be helpful to know the kinds of questions being raised. Meanwhile, please feel free to use the list below as a starting point to identify the kind of organizations that are worthy of support.

Thank you
CSFH (http://www.stopfundinghate.org)

------------------------------------------------------

A partial list of non-sectarian, grassroots groups involved in relief
operations:

1. AID - Association for India's Development
http://www.aidindia.org/CMS/

2. American India Foundation
http://www.aifoundation.org/

3. Asha For Education
http://www.ashanet.org/

4. India Literacy Project
http://www.ilpnet.org/news/Tsunami/index.html

5. India Relief and Education Fund
http://iref.homestead.com/

6. Indians for Collective Action
http://www.icaonline.org/

7. Pratham
http://www.prathamusa.org/

8. Singh Foundation
http://singhfoundation.org

9. Vibha
http://www.vibha.org/emergencyrelief/

These groups are partnering with various mass-based organizations and NGOs in India, such as the Tamil Nadu Science Forum, the National Fishworkers Forum, Vidyarambam, APVVU (agricultural workers union in AP), People's Watch, Bharathi Trust and Bhoomika Trust.

Among international organizations, Doctors Without Borders is reputed to be the most committed and experienced with meeting disasters with professional
expertise.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org

The International Red Cross has country specific operations which may be accessed and supported through the following links:

Sri Lanka: http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/sri_lanka

Indonesia: http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/indonesia

Thailand: http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/thailand

Additionally, we urge you to also spread the word about the Red Cross's 'Family Links' initiative which helps locate separated family members throughout the affected region. You can find out more about this from http://www.icrc.org/home.nsf/home/webfamilylinks

Political Christian Right Failing To Act

2005-01-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

Below is an excerpt from Bill Berkowitz's "The Christian Right's Compassion Deficit", brought to you by Dissident Voice on 12/30/04. Please note that he explicitly points out that some evangelical organizations are raising funds. The essay complements some of what I argue below. Thanks to Rahul for bringing this to my attention. Crossposted at Dark Days Ahead.

It took President Bush three days to ready himself to go before the television cameras and make a public statement about Sunday's devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck southern Asia. Even though he was late, and much more money will be needed, the president pledged at least $35 million in aid to the victims of the disaster. But, as of December 30, some of the president's major family-values constituents have yet to be heard from: It's business as usual at the web sites of the American Family Association, the Family Research Council, the Christian Coalition, Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America, and the Coral Ridge Ministries.

These powerful and well-funded political Christian fundamentalist organizations appear to be suffering from a compassion deficit. Organizations which are amazingly quick to organize to fight against same-sex marriage, a woman's right to choose, and embryonic stem cell research are missing in action when it comes to responding to the disaster in southern Asia. None of their web sites are actively soliciting aid for the victims of the earthquake/tsunami.
In fact, there is no mention of the giant earthquake and tsunami that devastated southern Asia. There are no headlines about the dead, injured or the tremendous damage; there are no urgent appeals for donations; there are no phone numbers to call; there are no links to organizations collecting money and providing aid for the victims

In fact, there is no mention of the giant earthquake and tsunami that devastated southern Asia. There are no headlines about the dead, injured or the tremendous damage; there are no urgent appeals for donations; there are no phone numbers to call; there are no links to organizations collecting money and providing aid for the victims...

At townhall.com, the mother of all conservative web sites and "the first truly interactive community on the Internet to bring Internet users, conservative public policy organizations, congressional staff, and political activists together under the broad umbrella of 'conservative' thoughts, ideas and actions," current headlines are totally absent earthquake/tsunami news. Here are the top five stories as of December 29: "Reggie White, defender of faith -- on and off the field"; "Focus should shift from testing to teaching"; "False friends"; "Cheap drugs or safe drugs?"; and "European court forces Microsoft to alter its products."
Over at falwell.com, the Rev. Jerry Falwell is explaining "The True Meaning of Christmas," recruiting for his new organization, The Moral Majority Coalition, and soliciting cruisers for a late July sojourn aboard the Queen Mary II.

Read the rest at Dissident Voice.

"We will do whatever is necessary"

2005-01-01T05:12:00.000-08:00

Continuing along the same vein as Alex Steffen's essay, don't you wish you had heard this at some point this week?

"This will take time and require sacrifice. Yet we will do whatever is necessary -- we will spend whatever is necessary -- to achieve this essential victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom, and to make our own nation more secure,"
-Bush, prior to asking for $87 billion for Iraq War

Source: CNN.com, 9/8/03

Are you an American Upset with U.S. Response?

2005-01-01T02:23:00.000-08:00

This is an excerpt from "The America I Wish We'd been This Week", an essay at WorldChanging by Alex Steffen. Crossposted at DarkDaysAhead...

The America I Wish We'd Been This Week

This is a personal essay, likely to make some people angry but perhaps to many others seem worth the read. It's about the kind of nation I wish the United States had shown itself to be this week.

The White House just announced that the US will contribute US$350 million to the relief efforts. First of all, let me say that I'm proud that my government is beginning to respond in a way more proportional to the magnitude of the crisis. Then, let me say something clear and unequivocal: it is nowhere near enough.

Rather than go into a whole thing about why I think that, let me instead draw a picture: I wish we were the America that would look at a tragedy like this and, without hesitation, live up to its highest ideals.

Imagine, if instead of offering a few million dollars and a press release, the president had flown to Indonesia, and, standing in solidarity with the victims, had announced that the United States government was going to, say, cover one third of the relief and reconstruction costs, a figure of five billion dollars. Imagine further, that the president took the opportunity to reaffirm the US commitment to compassion and global cooperation in pursuit of freedom and prosperity, as, in another context, another president once did...

Read the rest at WorldChanging

News agency reports Indonesian Army Still Attacking Rebels in Aceh

2004-12-31T13:02:00.000-08:00

I really hope this isn't fucking true. Source: AFP via The Australian

"We continue to launch raids into suspected GAM (Free Aceh Movement) areas and our vigilance remains high."
-Indonesian Lieutenant Colonel Nachrowi

U.S. Increases Tsunami Aid to 350 Million

2004-12-31T11:18:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at Dark Days Ahead...

Hmm. Shows you what a little embarrassment and pressure can do. I say people continue to write, e-mail, and call to ensure that the U.S. government knows how much Americans care about this issue.

Here's the news, courtesy Yahoo! News.

Appeal from Delhi Tsunami Relief Committee

2004-12-31T10:17:00.000-08:00

From Habitat International Coalition website, crossposted at TsunamiHelp:

Five days after the tsunami of 26 December, news continues to pour in of increasing number of deaths and destruction of homes and livelihoods in South and South East Asia. UN agencies, governments and civil society groups all over the world have launched several relief and rehabilitation initiatives. Unfortunately due to the massive scale of destruction, there is an urgent need to step up efforts.

While there is an immediate need to contribute towards relief operations which includes provision of drinking water, food, blankets and medical assistance, we also need to keep in mind that reconstruction and restoration of homes and livelihoods, particularly of fishing communities who have suffered the most, will be one of our biggest challenges over the next few months.
At the South Asia Regional Programme of Habitat International Coalition - Housing and Land Rights Network (HIC-HLRN), we are in touch with partner organisations in affected areas and trying to raise funds to meet relief and rehabilitation needs. In New Delhi, we are a part of a consortium of concerned organisations and individuals that has come together to form the Delhi Tsunami Relief Committee to coordinate assistance and support to local organisations involved in the relief efforts. The Committee has agreed to focus on the most severely affected areas of the Andaman and Nicobar islands and in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Committee has also agreed to focus primarily on rehabilitation of the displaced and restoration of livelihoods.

For those interested in contributing to this effort, listed below are a few options
1. Delhi Tsunami Relief Fund,
Indian Social Institute,
10, Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110 003, India
2. Association for India's Development (AID),
P.O. Box F, College Park,
MD-20741, USA.

Association for India's Development (AID) working among affected communities in Tamil Nadu in southern India. Contributions to AID can be made through secure on-line credit-card deductions from AID's website: http://survivors.aidindia.org/ where further details and updates will also be made available. Please indicate that your contribution is for the "Relief and Rehabilitation Fund". Contributions can also be sent by check made payable to "AID" mailed to: Please indicate "Relief and Rehabilitation Fund" in the check memo.

In India, cheques for AID can be mailed to AID-India, Old No 132, New No 242, Avvai Shanmugam Road, Gopalapuram, Chennai - 600 086, Tamil Nadu, India.

3. Our partners in Sri Lanka - Institute of Social Development is engaged in relief efforts in the eastern province of Sri Lanka and are in urgent need for funds. We request you to kindly support their efforts. For details contact K.Yogeswary at kandyisd AT sltnet D-O-T lk
For questions on relief efforts in India and Sri Lanka or on contributions to the Delhi Tsunami Relief Committee and Association for India's Development please contact Malavika Vartak at mvartak AT hic-sarp D-O-T org or Vishal Thakre at vthakre AT hic-sarp D-O-T org
We will continue to send you regular updates on relief and reconstruction efforts and on ways in which you can contribute.

HIC-HLRN will continue to work with affected communities beyond immediate relief, and into the second stage where will seek to ensure that the human rights approach is adopted in all rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.

We look forward to your support
In solidarity
Miloon Kothari, Priti Darooka, Malavika Vartak, Shivani Chaudhry, Vishal Thakre

South Asia Regional Programme (SARP)Habitat International Coalition Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN)B-28 Nizamuddin EastNew Delhi 110 013IndiaTel/Fax: 00 91 11 2435 8492
web: www.hic-sarp.org

Press Release urging Indonesian Government To Treat Acehnese Decently

2004-12-31T09:51:00.000-08:00

I know very little about the Aceh situation, but International Labor Rights Fund is a fairly moderate, reputable international labor solidarity group. Two groups below are raising funds to be distributed to "grassroots" groups in Indonesia.

Contacts::Michael Beer, NI, 202-244-0951 (w), 703-875-9482 (h)Karen Orenstein, ETAN, 202-544-6911 (w), 202-319-1711 (h), Bama Athreya, ILRF, 703-328-1964 (cell)

December 30 -- U.S.-based groups with a long record of experience in theregion today called on the Indonesian government to not let politicsoverride the needs of people in tsunami-stricken Aceh. The groups includethe East Timor Action Network (ETAN), International Labor Rights Fund(ILRF) and Nonviolence International (NI). Contact information for expertson the region available for interview is listed at the end of this advisory.

"Delays by the Indonesian government in allowing international access toAceh may have needlessly cost precious lives. The government's apparent opening of Aceh must continue. The government must cut through its bureaucratic red tape so aid can get through as quickly as possible. International and Indonesian organizations must have unrestricted access toAceh. International media must be free to report on conditions and reliefefforts. Strict limits on internationals' time in Aceh must be lifted,"said Michael Beer of NI.

"Politics must not be allowed to override the needs of the Acehnese peoplein this tragic time," he added. As many as 100,000 people may have been killed in the Indonesian provincesof Aceh and North Sumatra as a result of an earthquake and tsunami thatstruck the region on December 26. The government initially kept the international community at bay as it apparently debated whether to openAceh up to foreigners. The province had been almost entirely closed to anyinternational presence due to military operations there. The Indonesian government's response remains slow and uncoordinated. The groups urged aid organizations and agencies to work as closely as possible with local civil society groups and to resist Indonesian government and military attempts to close non-governmental local groups outof the process."

The high level of corruption in Indonesia, especially in Aceh, and thegreat distrust of Aceh's central government make it crucial that aid groupsbe allowed to distribute urgently needed food, medical supplies, and otherassistance outside of government channels, distributing aid directly andthrough local NGOs," said Karen Orenstein of ETAN. ETAN, ILRF, and NI further urged the government of Indonesia to allow Acehnese outside of Indonesia -- many of whom fled political repression --to return to Aceh, if they so choose, to seek their relatives and lovedones and assist the relief effort.

Their return should take place without burdensome visa restrictions and without repercussions. Finally, the groups pointed out that this tragedy caused by naturaldisaster comes on top of an already devastating human-created tragedy. Since May 2003, more than 2000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Aceh while the province was under marital law and then a civilemergency. During a previous period of martial law from 1989 to 1998 some10,000 Acehnese perished. Despite the humanitarian catastrophe, there arestill reports of ongoing military operations against Acehnese rebels."We are gravely concerned about reports of cease-fire violations by the Indonesian military, who are allegedly attacking Acehnese guerillas insteadof focusing on the humanitarian disaster," said Bama Athreya of ILRF.

"The world must not forget that the people of Aceh have suffered massivehuman rights violations due to years of Indonesian military repression andguerilla operations by the Free Aceh Movement. Until very recently, the Indonesian government and armed forces had virtually sealed Aceh from anyforeign presence. The ceasefires declared by the Acehnese guerrillas and the Indonesian government this week are a crucial first step. All sides tothe decades-long conflict in Aceh must redouble efforts to find a peacefulsolution that strongly involves civil society," continued Athreya.

Two U.S.-based grassroots relief funds have been established for theearthquake/tsunami disaster in Aceh: Nonviolence International-USA, www.nonviolenceinternational.net and East Timor Action Network, www.etan.org. Funds raised by these groups will be sent directly to grassroots Acehnese humanitarian agencies and groups to save lives and relieve suffering. Bothhave the full backing of the expatriate Acehnese community in the U.S.

For interviews and other inquiries, media are advised to contact thefollowing U.S.-based experts on Aceh:Riva Syamsuddin, Acehnese activist and graduate of Syah Kuala University.Contact: 703-503-5272Munawar Zainal, Acehnese student activist with the Acheh Center inPennsylvania. Contact: 717-343-1598, Allan Nairn, award-winning independent journalist who has spent much timein Aceh, Indonesia and East Timor in the last few years. Contact:917-345-8020, Michael Beer, director of Nonviolence International (NI). The NI office inBanda Aceh was destroyed and several staff members remain missing. Beer hasbeen a frequent visitor to Aceh over the last 5 years. Contact:202-244-0951, 703-875-9482, Patrick McInnis, former staff in Aceh for Peace Brigades International andOxfam. McInnis served with the Carter Center as an election observer inAceh in October and is proficient in the local Acehnese language. Contact: 831-484-1318

ETAN advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for East Timor and Indonesia.

The ILRF is a Washington, DC-based human rights advocacy organization whichhas long been active on behalf of labor rights in developing countries andwhich has brought suit against Exxon Mobil under the Alien Tort Claims Act for aiding and abetting torture and crimes against humanity in Aceh. NI-USA is located in Washington, DC. Our affiliate in Aceh is the PeaceEducation Program that teaches conflict resolution and nonviolence toIslamic clerics and youth.
NI serves as a resource center for nonviolentmovements around the world.

Lack of WORLD aid indefensible

2004-12-31T04:51:00.000-08:00

"The World Bank pledged $250 million for the victims, bringing the total amount of promised international relief money to close to half a billion dollars, U.N. officials said."
Source: AP courtesy Yahoo!News, 12/31/04

500 million dollars? 5 days into this and all the countries in the world can only come up with is 500 million dollars? This is unbelievable! There're a 120,000 people dead so far, millions of people jobless and homeless, and this is all they've come up with so far.

Some links to efforts to push the American government to pay more are here and here. If you're from another country, particularly a wealthy European country or Japan, please post any similar efforts.

Lack of U.S. Aid Indefensible

2004-12-31T03:44:00.000-08:00

Crossposted at Dark Days Ahead...
This is what the U.S. government's spending priorities are:

$15,000,000 allocated for tsunami victims initially (1)
$35,000,000 allocated after criticism that U.S. is stingy (2)
[Update 2]$350,000,000 allocated after further criticism that U.S. is stingy (3)
$1,000,000,000+ expected total aid for tsunami victims, according to Administration (4)
$5,000,000,000 aid requested by Bush FY 2005 for foreign militaries to receive U.S. weapons and equipment 2005 (5)
$19,000,000,000 expected total foreign aid approved by Congress FY 2005 (6)
$152,600,000,000 legislatively allocated so far for Iraq War (7)
$402,000,000,000 requested military budget by Bush administration FY 2005 (5)
$452,000,000,000 anticipated total military requests by Bush administration FY 2005 (5)

Sources:

(1) Times of India, 12/28/2004
(2) Xinhua, 12/29/2004
(3) Channel News Asia, 12/31/04
(4) CBS News, 12/29/2004
(5) Foreign Policy in Focus
(6) Catholic Relief Services
(7) This doesn't include the additional $50,000,000,000 per year beyond 2004 that the Iraq War will cost the U.S. if it maintains troops there. National Priorities Project [pdf]

Update 1:

"Several European countries far outdistanced the United States in pledges. They include Britain, $95 million; Sweden, $75.5 million; Spain, $68 million and France, $57 million"
Granted, they were more directly affected, but even so...

Another appeal for further U.S. Aid

2004-12-31T03:12:00.000-08:00

From a post by Seth Green at Tsunami Help:

The non-partisan Americans for Informed Democracy (www.aidemocracy.org) has launched a letter signing effort that seeks to ensure a principled U.S. response to the tsunami disaster: see www.principledleadership.org . Often, U.S. policymakers believe that taxpayers feel burdened by U.S. development and disaster aid. As American citizens who deeply care about the victims of the tsunami disaster, Americans for Informed Democracy wants to ensure that policymakers know that American taxpayers stand behind South and Southeast Asia. The group is encouraging all U.S. citizens to visit www.principledleadership.org, sign on to the letter, and share the site with their colleagues.

(For more on this effort, see a piece in the Nation magazine at http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow?bid=4&pid=2092)
Seth Green, seth.green AT yale d-o-t edu, (202) 270 6268, www.aidemocracy.org

Beware of RSS affiliated groups collecting funds!

2004-12-31T02:59:00.000-08:00

I am not an expert on this issue, but there have been many accounts of RSS and RSS affiliated groups collecting funds for disaster relief. I'm very conflicted about this because the need is obviously enormous and I'm a world away to be injecting my politics into this without having a full grasp of how many resources are available.

However, given that I have been led to believe that the RSS and its associated groups have been instrumental in promoting an ideology of Hindu supremacy in India, I feel the need to at least people make aware that these groups that have put out solicitations have ties (pulled off of TsunamiHelp):

SEVA BHARATHI TAMILNADU (EARTH QUAKE RELIEF A/C)(Income Tax exempted under section 80G)'Shakti' No.1, M.V.Naidu Street, Chetput, Chenai 600 031.Phone No. 044 - 2836 0243, 2836 1049e.mail: rsschennai AT eth DOT net & vskchennai AT vsnl DOT net.
Source: http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/2004/12/your-suggestions-and-links.html (search for RSS)

India Development Relief Fund (IDRF) [For more info on why you should not contribute to IDRF, visit http://stopfundinghate.org -Anonymous Poster on TsunamiHelp]

Jana Sankshema Samiti
Source: http://www.hinduismtoday.com/

Sewa International
Source: http://www.hinduismtoday.com/

Vishva Hindu Parishad
Source: Hindunet News

I know that there are others that have put out calls or are doing relief work, but I can't find them off hand. I'd appreciate if others would post them here or e-mail them to me.

Moveon.org pushes for pressure on U.S. Government to assist more

2004-12-31T02:27:00.000-08:00

Cross posted on TsunamiHelp
From Chitra

Hi folks,
In addition to us giving our individual contributions for tsunami relief, its also important to pressure Bush and Congress to increase their financial commitment to relief efforts. Remember that earlier this year, Congress pledged $13 billion for hurricane relief efforts in Florida. Surely we can do better than the $35 million that has been pledged for South and Southeast Asia. Death toll is currently at 114 [thousand]. It takes one minute to pressure Congress.

Go to website below and please pass it on http://www.moveon.org/tsunamirelief/