|
 
It
was one year ago that the December 26th tsunami appeared out of the
ocean and devastated coastal communities as far flung as Somalia and
Indonesia. India, Thailand, Somalia, Aceh Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the
Maldives, and the Andaman Islands were all hit hard, with hundreds
of thousands of homes and major infrastructure destroyed and some
200,000 people drowned. People in the affected countries rushed to
help with food, rescue teams, tents, and medical care. They were
soon joined by a massive international rescue and relief effort.
Television brought this disaster into our living rooms, and the
worldwide public reacted with an outpouring of generosity almost
unprecedented.
UUSC’s constituents
contributed more than $2 million, supporting the work of local
organizations in
Thailand,
India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. In the latter two countries,
decades of ongoing civil war further complicate the situation, as
many people affected by the war were doubly affected by the tsunami.
UUSC’s tsunami work
is focused on those whose marginalization by race, caste, class, or
gender makes them more vulnerable to such a disaster and those whose
race, class, or culture affects their ability to access relief. In
short, we are working for justice in disaster situations. A year
after the tsunami, while generosity and goodwill have been abundant,
justice seems thin on the ground.
At one level, much
has been accomplished, as thousands of temporary shelters have been
built. Schools are going up again, playgrounds have been rebuilt,
roads and bridges have been repaired. On a recent trip to Sri Lanka,
UUSC staff saw the fishermen going out again in their new boats all
along the coastal waters. Rice paddy lands have recovered from the
heavy salt of the floodwaters. This progress is all due to much
dedication, commitment, and resilience on the part of the survivors,
local organizations, and international aid efforts.
Closer study shows,
however, that for an overwhelming number of people, recovery from
the devastating effects of the tsunami is still a dream.
- Despite available
funds for permanent houses, the overwhelming majority of people
affected are still in temporary shelters, camps, or the homes of
friends and relatives.
- All countries
affected have decreed a buffer zone of from100 to 500 meters from
the ocean, in which people are not permitted to rebuild to ensure
their safety. This restriction does not, however, apply to coastal
development, such as tourism.
- Hotels are being
rebuilt up and down the coasts, within the buffer zones, while the
communities that lived on the beach are relocated further into the
countryside. To many people, it does not look like disaster
prevention; it looks like a land grab.
- In many places,
such as eastern Sri Lanka, there are no large tracts of land away
from the coast to give to relocated coastal communities. People are
being left in limbo in temporary camps, as aid organizations cannot
build permanent housing unless the land title is clear.
- In many
communities, people’s livelihoods were usually closely tied to where
they lived: fishermen near the ocean, farmers by their rice paddies,
tourism workers within tourist areas, coir workers near the lagoons
and groves where they worked; and so on. Even if they can negotiate
land for houses inland from the coast, there is still no land for
farming. And fishermen need to be close to the ocean to secure their
boats and engines.
- In India, the Dalits, formerly known
as the “untouchables,” were systematically and flagrantly prevented
from accessing aid by the power structures in the communities in
which they lived. A
continued, sustained effort is
necessary to ensure that they are able to access aid and move
toward recovery.
- While the fishermen
have received a great deal of assistance, workers in tourism, small
factory producers, trishaw drivers, tailors, and people in a myriad
of small businesses are linked into more complex livelihood chains
and have not been able to find employment again, often because their
employers themselves have not recovered economically.
- The governments in
question, particularly Indonesia and Sri Lanka, are demonstrating
little political will to solve the land problems. Even in areas of
Aceh where reconstruction is going forward, it is slow and mired in
bureaucracy.
- The governments of Sri Lanka
and Indonesia have been fighting insurgencies in the areas affected
by the tsunami. Although there are ceasefires in both countries,
relief aid and recovery policies are very influenced by the war. In
Sri Lanka, permanent housing construction has moved ahead in the
heavily Singhala southern area, which is a tourism engine. But
rebuilding is lagging far behind in the east coast, which is
affected by the conflict and is heavily Tamil and Muslim.
The land and
livelihood issues are key to people being able to build homes again,
not continue in camps, and to begin to reconstruct their lives, not
continue to depend on aid. This seems to be a question not so much
of money as of political will on the parts of the governments
involved, and of the capacity of people to defend their rights after
this terrible disaster. The tsunami touched us all with its
unimaginable devastation, and the outpouring of generosity was
crucial to saving lives then. It is crucial now that we continue to
support people’s rights to land, livelihood, and permanent housing
so they can move forward to recovery.
|
|
