Asia still
counting the tsunami death toll
BY JOAQUIN ORAMAS
FORTY days after the tsunami
devastation of seven southern Asian countries,
resulting in 280,000-plus deaths to date, there are
still no plans to clean up the rubble and disinfect
the affected areas. Dust, rarefied air and the smell
of corpses have become part of daily life.
Several ceremonies have been held
to honor the dead, but survivors are still waiting
for aid and accustoming themselves to coexist with
destruction and the daily discovery of corpses.
In spite of the prevalent
sentiments of sadness, many are looking toward the
future. Schools have reopened in the Indonesian
province of Aceh, the most affected by the natural
phenomenon, with 210,000 deaths to date, according
to the Ministry of Health.
On the eastern coast of this
territory, which faced the epicenter of the
earthquake, hundreds of thousands of people are
living in isolation, still waiting for humanitarian
aid.
There, the mortality rate could
reach 80%. Schools, government offices and even the
Aceh Museum have been turned into refugee centers
for those who are surviving on the food daily
supplied by the UN agencies.
The sea swept away cities and
changed their layout forever. Thousands of corpses,
buried under buildings, are daily coming up to the
surface.
On the island of Sri Lanka, where
30,000 people died and one million are homeless,
television and radio stations remembered the victims
with a one-minute silence, at 9:36
a.m. on January 26, exactly one month after a tidal
wall dashed against the coast.
To the south, on the island of
Phuket, foreign forensic doctors lit candles and
held a short ceremony at the “wall of memory,” built
by the new tsunami victims’ identification center.
In Indonesia, children resumed
classes in temporary tents or mud-covered
classrooms, sitting on water-damaged chairs, while
teachers discover how many of their students were
lost.
Education experts affirm that
resuming classes should be made a priority in order
to help children overcome their traumas. Meanwhile,
China and the Association of South East Asian
Nations
(ASEAN)
have agreed to create a regional earthquake
prevention network to which Beijing will contribute
funding and technology. According to estimates, the
project could cost between $50-80
million.
Interpol has requested European
Union help in identifying the victims of the
December 26 tsunami.
Ronald Noble, Interpol’s
secretary general, met with the European ministers
of the interior and justice in Luxembourg, the
institution informed in a communiqué.
The short- and long-term needs of
identifying the victims include a central storage of
pre- and post-mortem data, currently being compiled
by Interpol.
Estimates as to the total number
of victims stand at 290,000. With their families
broken and devastated communities, thousands of
orphans, highly vulnerable given their traumatic
experiences, are of great concern because of the
uncertainty of their future and fears of abuse.
UNICEF has received several
reports on the kidnapping of tsunami orphans,
although this has not as yet been verified.
Living in refugee camps, the
children are threatened by the risk of illnesses,
and also need support to overcome the effects of
their psychological shock.
“With so many families torn apart
and so many communities completely devastated, it is
necessary to create another type of support center
for the youth,” observed Carol Bellamy, UNICEF
executive director.
“Experience has shown that the
risks of child trafficking increase in a situation
of crisis, when there are populational movements and
the collapse of the children’s protective
environment on losing their parents, families,
schools and towns,” Marc Vergara, UNICEF
spokesperson in Geneva, stated.
UNICEF supports the measures
taken by the Indonesian government in the province
of Aceh
(south
of Sumatra),
the most affected by the natural phenomenon, with
35,000 orphans and homeless children.
Adoptions have been prohibited,
and child migration strictly regulated. UNICEF is
undertaking a program to identify all homeless
children in Aceh.
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