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Issue 189, Friday 21 January 2005 - 10 Dhu al-Hijjah 1425

Tidal waves of compassion

Never before has the extent of the huge gap between so-called industrialized countries and the developing world been so exposed than the wanton trail of human destruction left in the wake of last month’s tsunami. The devastating earthquake off the coast of Indonesia in the early morning of December 26, created such a tidal wave that it literally obliterated not just the coastal area of Aceh, but land over 3,000 km from its epicentre. The magnitude of the tragedy that afflicted 11 countries from Malaysia to East Africa is unlikely to be ever known. After two weeks, it could only be estimated that over 150,000 people were killed, while those who had their livelihoods reduced to rubble ran into many millions. Even the figures of the British casualties varied daily from some 51 confirmed dead up to another 400 or more feared dead.
“I don’t think anybody, when the news first came through, had any idea of the total scale of the casualties,” Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, said when faced with relatives trying to obtain information about those caught in the tragedy. “As well as the devastating loss of life and immediate suffering, there are significant longer-term implications,” Prime Minister, Tony Blair, told Parliament following the Christmas recess.
The sheer scale of the catastrophe produced its own unprecedented tidal wave of compassion around the world, mobilizing an extraordinary spirit of generosity and solidarity. In Britain, this included pledged public donations of up to £100 million, double the initial amount offered by the Government. The Muslim community played its part, even though it was largely ignored by the British media, contributing over £2 million worth of aid, higher per person than the rest of the population. In the US, the outpouring of aid and humanitarian was seen as an opportunity to change the views of Muslim nations towards the Bush Administration. The effort “is giving the world an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action,” Secretary of State, Colin Powell, was quoted saying after meeting his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan Wirayuda.
The importance of aid by governments is that it is turned into more than mere pledges, and actually translated into payment, unlike previous commitments after disasters. This was underlined by Iranian President, Mohammed Khatami, who said on December 23, that an equivalent of £9.5 m of hard cash donations had actually been received for the Bam earthquake, exactly a year earlier than the tsunami disaster. This compared with apparent pledges totaling up to £550m. It is also imperative in the longer term that the extraordinary spirit that awaken people’s feelings over the tsunami tragedy is not only maintained but built up into a broader development agenda. This should certainly be more than the debt payment moratorium offered that simply adds to the capital future repayments at a later date.
In a speech on reform of international humanitarian system just before the tsunami disaster, International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, said that not enough is spent on prevention. “Disasters have a huge impact on development, and this challenge will increase as the impact of climate change becomes more widely felt,” he warned. The World Bank has estimated that losses from disasters in the 1990s could have been reduced by $280 billion if $40 billion had been invested in mitigation and preparedness. It is also estimated that every pound spent on risk reduction can save £7 in relief and repair costs. An earthquake of the same magnitude that killed tens of thousands in Gujarat or Bam only loosened a few tiles in San Francisco. What was stark about the intense publicity of the latest catastrophe was the gross inequality in the world that is divided into not only rich and poor, but in the access to resources, trade and basic standards of living. It is the biggest stain on humankind. When Blair talks about the significant longer-term implications, it is the basic injustices that need to be addressed as in his campaign to right some of the wrongs in Africa.
One other issue that needs to be tackled are the Christian missionaries who use the cover of relief agencies for converting Muslims to Christianity. They target the Muslims when they are vulnerable. For example, a Virginia based missionary group, WorldHelp, said last week, they have airlifted 300 Muslim children, all under 12, who have lost their parents in the tsunami disaster, from Banda Aceh, with the support of the Indonesian Government, they claimed, to adopt them to be Christians. “Normally, Banda Aceh is closed to foreigners and closed to the gospel. But, because of this catastrophe, our partners there are earning the right to be heard and providing entrance for the gospel,” the Christian group says on its website. “These children are homeless, destitute, traumatized, orphaned, with nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat. If we can place them in a Christian children’s home, their faith in Christ could become the foothold to reach the Aceh people,” it said. The Indonesian Government responded by saying it has not knowledge of this and that they would be taking “appropriate steps”.
As 9/11 ushered in an era that has made the world a much more dangerous place due to the so-called ‘war on terror’, the tsunami could prove to be another epoch-making landmark to reverse the trend and instead make the world compassionate and much more egalitarian. There can be no room for complacency, nor indeed any cynicism that the concern by western governments was prompted by so many of their nationals being among the casualties.