Survivors of last year’s tsunami in Asia are suffering human rights abuses including sex assaults and arbitrary arrests, as corrupt or incompetent officials mismanage relief, a US report said last week.
“The tsunami exposed groups already suffering from discrimination and other human rights abuses to greater harm,” the study by the University of California, Berkeley Human Rights Center and the East-West Center in Hawaii.
“Vulnerable groups, such as women, children and migrant workers, have suffered violations of human rights, including sexual violence and arbitrary arrest, during the relief phase and remain at risk as reconstruction begins.
“In addition, children living in conflict zones have been forced into armed groups. In some areas, government officials have refused to allow people access to aid in order to secure military goals,” it added
Human rights researchers visited five countries stricken by the December 26, 2004 killer wave - India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand - in March and April 2005 and interviewed hundreds of survivors and informants.
They discovered what they termed “widespread inequities” in aid distribution on the part of some government agencies as a result of favouritism, political influence, red tape, incompetence and caste affiliation.
The host of problems stem mostly from government incompetence or corruption, discrimination and a lack of public accountability, the report maintains.
Abuses against survivors of the tsunami that killed 217,000 people also included corruption, threatening of property right and violence against women, the report said.
“Government authorities rarely, if ever, investigated such abuses,” the report said, adding that government agencies and aid groups also often failed to consult survivors about aid distribution and reconstruction.
The report warned that US officials should heed the lessons of the Asian tsunami when offering shelter, relief and new communities to the more than one million people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, which hit the US Gulf Coast on August 29, laying the city of New Orleans to waste.
“Tsunami survivors, like many victims of Hurricane Katrina, are angry and frustrated,” said Laurel Fletcher, a co-author of the study and a clinical law professor at Berkeley’s School of Law.
She said that after many months, tsunami victims were still living in refugee camps, exposed to violence and threats and have virtually no say in how their towns and communities will be re-built.
“What the tsunami taught us is that we must be especially vigilant that the human rights of victims of natural disasters are respected,” said Harvey Weinstein, a professor at Berkeley’s School of Public Health.
“The tsunami exposed groups already suffering from discrimination and other human rights abuses to greater harm,” the study by the University of California, Berkeley Human Rights Center and the East-West Center in Hawaii.
“Vulnerable groups, such as women, children and migrant workers, have suffered violations of human rights, including sexual violence and arbitrary arrest, during the relief phase and remain at risk as reconstruction begins.
“In addition, children living in conflict zones have been forced into armed groups. In some areas, government officials have refused to allow people access to aid in order to secure military goals,” it added
Human rights researchers visited five countries stricken by the December 26, 2004 killer wave - India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand - in March and April 2005 and interviewed hundreds of survivors and informants.
They discovered what they termed “widespread inequities” in aid distribution on the part of some government agencies as a result of favouritism, political influence, red tape, incompetence and caste affiliation.
The host of problems stem mostly from government incompetence or corruption, discrimination and a lack of public accountability, the report maintains.
Abuses against survivors of the tsunami that killed 217,000 people also included corruption, threatening of property right and violence against women, the report said.
“Government authorities rarely, if ever, investigated such abuses,” the report said, adding that government agencies and aid groups also often failed to consult survivors about aid distribution and reconstruction.
The report warned that US officials should heed the lessons of the Asian tsunami when offering shelter, relief and new communities to the more than one million people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, which hit the US Gulf Coast on August 29, laying the city of New Orleans to waste.
“Tsunami survivors, like many victims of Hurricane Katrina, are angry and frustrated,” said Laurel Fletcher, a co-author of the study and a clinical law professor at Berkeley’s School of Law.
She said that after many months, tsunami victims were still living in refugee camps, exposed to violence and threats and have virtually no say in how their towns and communities will be re-built.
“What the tsunami taught us is that we must be especially vigilant that the human rights of victims of natural disasters are respected,” said Harvey Weinstein, a professor at Berkeley’s School of Public Health.
