Now the troops move in as world aid tops £1 billion
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Britain is preparing to commit military forces to the tsunami relief effort around the Indian Ocean after an emergency appeal for help from the United Nations. The UN’s special co-ordinator, Margareta Wahlstrom, issued the call for assistance after concluding that aid teams were finding it impossible to cope with the scale of the disaster in parts of the devastated region and were unable to operate in Aceh province on Sumatra, where 45,000 people have been killed. As the official death toll continued to rise, the UN estimated the figure was likely to exceed 150,000, although the full number will probably never be known. The UN’s plea came as one of the biggest relief efforts ever seen finally cranked into action, with supplies beginning to reach some of the worst-hit areas. It also came as pledges of aid from around the world passed the $2 billion (£1.04bn) mark, with Japan’s announcement that it was boosting its aid promise from $30 million to $500m. That made it the largest single donor, topping America’s pledge on Friday of $350m - 10 times its original commitment. However, serious problems remained in getting aid to some of the regions that have suffered most - in particular areas of Indonesia that were closest to the epicentre of last Sunday’s earthquake. Yesterday, driving rain was further hampering relief efforts, although Indonesian naval ships managed to reach the western coast of Sumatra to deliver supplies to areas that were initially out of reach of trucks and air-drops. The United States ambassador to Indonesia, B Lynn Pascoe, speaking in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, acknowledged that there had been ‘bottlenecks’ in distributing aid in Aceh, but said efforts were now progressing, despite reports from across the region of places that had yet to be visited by emergency assessment teams. The president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, admitted that assistance was slow in coming to the town of Meulaboh and other areas in tremendous need, and asked the world for help. ‘I appeal to the world community to contribute to the reconstruction of Indonesia ,which has been hit by disaster, and we welcome those contributions as a manifestation of global unity,’ he said. He acknowledged that his government had been slow in dealing with the situation - bloated bodies remain uncollected in the regional capital Banda Aceh and there is no sign of any ability to clear the massive amounts of debris and mud in the isolated town. The deployment of British forces was announced by the International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, writing in The Observer today. He confirmed that Downing Street had authorised the mobilisation of the British military to assist with the aid operation, which he described as the ‘largest humanitarian relief effort in history’. Two naval vessels, HMS Chatham and RFA Diligence, will arrive in the region on Tuesday, where they will be sent to the Maldives or Sri Lanka, depending on need. A British C-17 transport plane arrived in Jakarta yesterday carrying 10 mobile medical units requested by the World Health Organisation, which will serve 100,000 people for three months. Benn writes: ‘We are also looking at other ways in which UK armed forces might be of help.’ The Ministry of Defence confirmed last night that a meeting had been held on Friday to discuss British military involvement, but that all action would be taken under the auspices of the UN. At least nine Seahawk helicopters from a US aircraft carrier off Sumatra began flying supplies to coastal cities closest to the earthquake’s epicentre. In Banda Aceh, tons of rice, water, tarpaulins and medical supplies began arriving in trucks and aircraft. Australian troops are already on the ground. In his first interview since the tsunami hit on Boxing Day, Tony Blair told Channel 4 News of his horror at the ‘global catastrophe’ and restated his belief that the UN had to play the lead role in the relief effort. He also paid tribute to the British public, whose donations have now topped £60m, outstripping the government’s £50m aid package. |