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| Speeches and statements |
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The
tsunami tragedy – international solidarity: the protection of
human beings in disaster situations
Abstract
of intervention by Mr Johan Schaar, Special Representative of the
International Federation Secretary General for the Tsunami Operation,
at the International Conference on the Application of International
Humanitarian Law, Human Rights and Refugee Law, in San Remo
10
September 2005 |
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- Much is unique and unprecedented with
the tsunami disaster – the range of countries and
regions affected, its cinematographic visibility, the public
attention and the volumes of funding available, most of
it from the general public in many countries. The tremendous
international solidarity, however, brings benefits as well
as challenges.
I would like to briefly address some aspects encountered
by humanitarian organisations active in the emergency as
well as the recovery and reconstruction phases of the response.
I will then touch upon the Federation’s position and
actions with the regard to how international emergency assistance
can become better organised and more expeditiously delivered,
through the establishment of International Disaster Response
Laws, Rules and Principles.
- “It was nature at its worst but humanity at its
best” is how Jan Egeland has described the tsunami
disaster and the ensuing response. For once, we have sufficient
funds to address emergency and recovery needs after a disaster
and the necessary disaster risk reduction activities beyond
that.
As we all know, the problem is not too much money but that
we regularly have too little funding for many other situations,
where populations are in dire and desperate need. For those
of us representing humanitarian organisations, basing action
on the principles of impartiality and neutrality, the problem
becomes particularly painful.
Working indiscriminately, “solely on the basis of
need”, will not be possible if our donors, however
generous, whether governments or the public, point us in
the direction of only certain emergencies and disasters.
Working on the response to the tsunami, we face a dilemma
which we try to manage by including a call for solidarity
with all those in need as one of our messages.
- Many actors in the tsunami recovery effort are humanitarian
organisations. This means having to manoeuvre in a heavily
politicized context, facing a range of sensitive issues,
such as the ultimate fate of those displaced, the equitable
distribution of resources and the use and allocation of
land for housing and infrastructure.
In addition, and as we have often seen, a natural disaster
reveals political, social and economic divides in a society.
Is this a role that humanitarian organisations should accept?
Does it not risk jeopardizing the confidence in us as neutral
and impartial actors?
When we look at the experience of the International Federation
and its member Societies, we find that we have been involved
in recovery and reconstruction efforts after almost all
major natural disasters during the past decades.
We conclude that this is and will continue to be what we
do, and we should see it as an integral part of the disaster
management cycle, stemming from our presence in the midst
of the affected communities. We even realize that our way
of involving and empowering the local population in the
early stages of disaster relief will have a major impact
on their ability to recover.
What we need to do as a humanitarian organisation is to
accept our situation and clearly define our role and our
mandate in relation to national governments, the development
banks, international organisations and NGOs, ensuring that
we act in the best interest of the most vulnerable and that
we use the post-disaster opportunity to truly strengthen
community resilience and reduce the risk of disaster.
- But let us go back to the emergency phase and put the
early response in the context of international efforts to
facilitate, coordinate and regulate humanitarian assistance.
As a federation of national societies, we believe strongly
in the primacy of domestic actors. The principle of subsidiarity
is very much a cornerstone in how we view roles and responsibilities
in disaster response. This includes not only national governments,
who have the acknowledged primary role in international
law, and national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies,
who function as auxiliaries of their governments, but also
local communities, including Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers,
whose ability to respond is invariably the decisive factor
in saving lives.
International solidarity, particularly in the form of outside
humanitarian assistance, is nonetheless still needed in
many disaster situations when local actors become overwhelmed,
not least the devastating 2004 tsunami.
- In his opening speech to this conference, our President
Don Juan Manuel Suarez del Toro Rivera pointed out that
within the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, the most basic
questions of principles, rights and duties in situations
of natural or technological disaster have long been settled.
As affirmed by the International Conference of the Red Cross/Red
Crescent (Principles and Rules for Red Cross and Red Crescent
Disaster Relief, XXIst International Conference, as revised),
we believe that every human being has a right to receive
humanitarian assistance in strict accordance with his or
her needs and that we, as individual societies and as the
Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, have an obligation to try
to provide such assistance, in an impartial, neutral, efficient
and effective manner.
This is the humanitarian imperative.
The question before us, however, is how international humanitarian
assistance, when it is needed, should be facilitated, coordinated
and regulated.
- For example, should humanitarian actors benefit from liberal
entry visa, landing, overflight, mooring, and transit privileges
to ensure that aid arrives in the critical first hours and
days after a disaster? Should international humanitarian
assistance receive special dispensation from customs tolls,
charges and taxes so that aid goes directly to its intended
source? What guarantees exist as to the quality, transparency
and appropriateness of international aid? What assurances
are there that international efforts will complement rather
than undermine or replace the capacity of local communities,
domestic humanitarian actors and national governments?
From a purely practical point of view, these are not easy
questions. Although there is a need for quick access for
international aid to be effective, such access can and has
been abused. In our experience of the tsunami, there are
examples both of unnecessary legal barriers to access as
well as of unhelpful practices by some aid providers.
- Some answers to these questions can be found in existing
but dispersed areas of international law including:
- The international law of customs, aviation, health,
atomic energy, communications, environment and law of
the sea.
- Inter-governmental bodies, including the International
Conference of the Red Cross and the United Nations General
Assembly and Economic and Social Council, have adopted
numerous resolutions, decisions and recommendations
relevant to IDRL issues.
- A nascent accountability movement is growing among
international humanitarian actors, as exemplified in
the development of documents such as the Red Cross/Red
Crescent NGO Code of Conduct and the SPHERE standards.
- A substantial network of bilateral mutual assistance
treaties between states has grown up over the last century
and there are also a limited number of multi-lateral
treaties specially focused on these issues, the most
recent of which is the Agreement on Disaster Management
and Emergency Response adopted by ASEAN in July this
year.
However, this existing international normative framework
has, until recently, remained unnamed and unexplored and
it is therefore not surprising that many of those most
closely concerned are unaware of its full extent. Moreover,
the existing framework remains thin with substantial gaps,
both in the level of ratifications of key instruments
and the scope of the instruments.
- Since 2001, the International Federation has been attempting
to address this problem through its “International
Disaster Response Laws, Rules and Principles” or “IDRL”
Project.
The project has compiled over 400 international instruments
relevant to this area, commissioned over a dozen country
case studies, consulted with experts, practitioners and
national governments, and sought to raise awareness of both
the existing “IDRL” and existing gaps.
Still, much remains to be done, and the Federation hopes
that conferences like this one will stimulate more thinking
on this new but tremendously important topic.
In particular, the Federation is currently organizing a
network of interested individuals, agencies and governments
to discuss and debate solutions to the problems remaining
in the area of IDRL and hopes that many of you will be interested
to join in.
- To conclude, the international solidarity shown to the
survivors of the tsunami has translated into tremendous
confidence in us to help restore their livelihoods.
This, however, must be a collaborative effort, ultimately
ensuring that it is they who are the agents, given the resources
and the support to take action, now and in preparedness
for any future calamity that they may face.
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