Posted on 10/20/2005 6:36:23 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
The United Nations attacked international donors today for a shortfall in funding for victims of the South Asian earthquake that has left relief agencies struggling with a logistical nightmare worse than the Boxing Day tsunami.
As a 12-year-old boy was confirmed as the first British fatality from the quake, Jan Egeland, the UN's disaster relief chief, gave warning that the death toll in the earthquake could rise above 100,000 because of a lack of aid.
Mr Egeland told a news conference in Geneva: "We have never had this kind of logistical nightmare, ever. We thought the tsunami was bad - this is worse."
The Foreign Office said that the dead British boy was from Luton, in Bedfordshire, and that he had been with his family in the region when the earthquake struck. "He is the first and only British death. His family are still out there, as far as we are aware," said a spokeswoman. "We are in consular contact with them and we are assisting them."
Officials in the region say 79,000 people are known to have died in the earthquake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale.
Rescue efforts have been impeded by heavy rains, snow, mudslides and aftershocks, which have blocked roads to hundreds of thousands of survivors in the disaster zone - including an estimated 120,000 children - who have yet to receive any help.
Many of the survivors, including 3 million homeless, are injured, and aid agencies have warned that more people, including 10,000 children, are now at risk of dying from infected wounds, disease and hypothermia. Seventeen cases of tetanus have been reported.
Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, said yesterday that the relief effort needed "an immediate and exceptional escalation". Donor countries have so far pledged only $86 million to a UN appeal for $312 million. Yesterday, the figure stood at just $37 million pledged, until Britain announced a massive increase in aid.
"Unlike some natural disasters, in which victims die immediately, the death toll in Pakistan is not over yet. An estimated 3 million men, women and children are homeless. Many of them have no blankets or tents to protect them against the merciless Himalayan winter," said Mr Annan.
"That means a second, massive wave of death will happen if we do not step up our efforts now," said Mr Annan, who plans to attend an emergency conference for donors in Geneva next week.
"There are no excuses," he said. "If we are to show ourselves worthy of calling ourselves members of humankind, we must rise to this challenge. Our response will be no less than a measure of our humanity."
Me Egeland called on the the world to create a "second Berlin airbridge" to hundreds of thousands of people cut off in the mountains of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
Britain announced today that it would contribute an extra £20 million ($35 million) in relief to Pakistan, including three heavy-lift RAF Chinook helicopters that have been dispatched to the earthquake zone and are expected to arrive in Islamabad on Sunday.
The contribution, bringing the official UK donation to $58 million, more than half the total so far pledged to the UN, was made by Hilary Benn, the International Development Secretary, on a visit to Muzaffarabad, the devastated capital of Pakistani Kashmir.
Mr Benn said: "The situation in Pakistan is very serious. More people are at risk of dying. The British Government is doing all it can and today’s announcement of more money will help increase our support. The real challenge for all of us is to turn money into immediate assistance in the form of helicopters, medicine, food and tents."
bump
The Muslim countries are doing a very poor job in helping Pakistan. The countries that could afford it are just not caring for people in this terrible situation.
The Muslim countries are doing a very poor job in helping Pakistan. The countries that could afford it are just not caring for people in this terrible situation.
DEATH TO THE WEST!!! DEATH TO AMERICA!!! DEATH TO ISRAEL!!! Wait a minute, we have a problem here. Where are America and the west? No Jews need apply to render assistance.
It amazes me how they hate us, celebrate in the streets when our military men die and now are whining, let them all pray to Allah and OS Bin Laden to save them, PISS ON !!!!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.