Sumario: 7 June 2007, Brussels - European Parliament hearings on the Asian Tsunami of 26 December 2004, when almost 200,000 people died in 12 countries and many more had their homes and livelihoods destroyed. Almost 3 years on, a public hearing in the European Parliament looked at how reconstruction was faring in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, whether the money donated was spent properly and what role NGOs have played in the reconstruction. A separate hearing debated human rights in Sri Lanka amid the conflict with Tamil rebels.
The hearing held by Parliament's Development Committee was opened by British Conservative MEP Nirj Deva who was in Sri Lanka that fateful day. He recalled the waves crashing against his hotel and described it as leaving "an indelible mark on my consciousness". MEPs were joined by NGOs and representatives of the Sri Lanka and Indonesian governments as well as human rights workers.
Sri Lanka: Tsunami early warning systems in place
Sri Lanka and its 20 million people suffered devastating losses in the Tsumani. The most iconic image was of the Colombo-Galle train lying scattered after being hit by the Tsunami. Over 800 passengers on board were killed. They were among the 35,000 people who died that day. The devastation was not just in terms of mortality. Over 100,000 homes and 400,000 livelihoods were also destroyed.
Mr Jayantha Samarasinghe of the Sri Lanka reconstruction agency told MEPs of how reconstruction efforts were proceeding. Among the figures he cited were that 134 of the 183 damaged schools were back in action, 80 railway bridges had been rebuilt and 75% of the fishing sector had been restored.
In terms of early warning he said that the Dutch government had donated 50 Tsunami early warning towers. He also said that villages in coastal regions in danger of flooding had all worked out "escape routes" to higher ground. He said that if enough time was given then villages could be evacuated in 2 minutes.
Margrete Auken for the Greens/European Free Alliance asked if there had been any caste discrimination in distributing aid. Mr Samarasinghe replied that "everybody helped everybody". Dutch PSE member Max Van den Berg - who saw the aftermath of the Tsunami in India - said he was "very impressed" by the way the authorities and civil society had pulled together.
Sir Robert Atkins of the European People's Party and European Democrats (EPP-ED) was critical of the structure of the reconstruction planning in Sri Lanka - describing it as a "recipe for a bureaucratic nightmare".
Indonesia: Tsunami creates peace process
The Island archipelago of Indonesia was the country worst affected by the Tsunami. The western tip of Sumatra was devastated with some villages losing 70% of their inhabitants. In total 130,000 people died, 37,000 are still missing and around 500,000 were made homeless. In total 5.18 billion euro on aid was pledged from 40 countries. Two thirds of EU aid went to Indonesia.
Nadjob Kesoema Riphat (Indonesian ambassador) outlined progress by end 2006. He said that of the 2000 schools damaged, 623 had been rebuilt, an early warning system installed and coastal protection had been boosted through measures such as salt water dykes installed.
Politically the Tsunami has had a beneficial effect according to the ambassador who said that the peace process in Aceh had been invigorated. Tsunami had helped bring together Indonesian government and Aceh rebels together and a peace process now in place. The ambassador thanked the international community for their help and spoke of the "outpouring of compassion in the hour of our greatest need".
NGOs: United Nations should have coordination role
The hearing was told that a staggering €8.8 billion Euros had been donated for all the countries affected. That works out to €5.000 per victim. The hearing was told that the average for a disaster was donations in the regions of €3-4 per person affected. The money came from EU, the UN, national Governments and the general public around the world who had watched the aftermath of the disaster on TV.
The question was whether the money had been spent correctly and how did NGOs perform in the short and medium term. In Indonesia for example 500 arrived in region after Tsunami with just 120 now remaining.
Speaking for the NGOs Hans van den Hoogen of Oxfam International Tsunami Management fund said that Oxfam had spent €117 million of the €158 million donated. He recommended that the UN should have a coordination role in disaster areas. He also said that local organisations were vital as was greater accountability by NGOs both to donors and people they were helping.
François Danel for the French NGO "Action Contre la Faim-ACF" said that a UN Coordination is vital and that people can become too dependent on aid. He said impartiality is the ACF watchword and EU humanitarian aid should be impartial of EU policy.
Anders Wijkman of the EPP-ED spoke of the need for strict standards for NGOs: "Bluntly, victims have the right to be protected from incompetence".
As the hearing drew to a close Nirj Deva asked "are we content with everything that happened?". "Perhaps not - but we can say that in general the money has been well spent".
Hearing II: Human Rights in Sri Lanka
In a separate hearing MEPs debated human rights abuses in Sri Lanka in the 25 year conflict which has claimed 60,000 lives. There have been allegations that both government forces and the Tamil Tigers (whose political wing is the LTTE) have committed grave human rights abuses. In Sri Lanka there was a delay in distributing aid due to Dispute between Govt in Colombo and Tamil Tigers (who control Northern Jaffna peninsula).
Geoffrey Van Orden (EPP-ED) said the "the prime target of the LTTE is the Tamils themselves". He called for the Sri Lanka government to prosecute those who killed 17 aid workers in August 2006 as well as a "credible devolution package" for the Tamil homeland.
Max Van den Berg noted that "the logic of destroying your enemy does not achieve anything" as illustrated by the situations in Northern Ireland and Spain."
Robert Evans (PES) agreed that "parallels can be drawn with the Northern Ireland, the Middle-East and Spain situations". "I don't believe a military solution is possible".
Nirj Deva (EPP-ED, UK) said "Sri Lanka was and is a functioning democracy. In 1956, it had the highest GDP per capita in Asia, besides Japan". "Why can't the LTTE come to the negotiating table and discuss peace? The government can't talk to itself"? he asked.
François Danel for ACF was deeply moved when he spoke about the aid workers who had been killed in August 2006. He asked for the Parliament to urgently consider the matter of human rights in Sri Lanka in a Plenary session. Mrs Aruni Wijewardane - Sri Lankan Ambassador to Austria - said in her presentation that the Tamils had refused to come to the negotiating table and that the government in Colombo was ready to offer a model of autonomy to the Tamil region. She confirmed her
government's will to find and prosecute the people responsible for the killing of the ACF aid workers.
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