MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

10.1.2005

to wind up the debate on statements by the Council and Commission
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Monica Frassoni and Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
on the tsunami

B6‑0060/2005

European Parliament resolution on the tsunami

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Asian leaders' Conference in Jakarta on 6 January, in which President Barroso, Commissioner Michel and Prime Minister Juncker took part, as well as the donors' conference in Geneva on 11 January 2005,

–  having regard to the extraordinary meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 7 January 2005, in which the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, the Ministers for Development Cooperation and the Ministers of Health of the European Union participated,

–   having regard to the conference to establish an early warning system, which is due to be held in Bangkok at the end of January,

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  having regard to the underwater earthquake on 26 December 2005 with its epicentre off the coast of Sumatra, which caused one of the biggest ever witnessed natural disasters, affecting many countries with coastal lines on the Indian Ocean, particularly Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives, Thailand, Malaysia and Somalia,

B.  whereas the number of dead, wounded and missing goes into the hundreds of thousands, with 165 000 confirmed dead in the tsunami so far, over 500 000 injured, close to five million displaced, 18 000 still missing, among them several thousand European tourists,

C.  whereas the disaster has hit disproportionately hard the poorest, such as fishing communities and those bound to live on less protected land, and whereas many children have been orphaned by the disaster,

D.  whereas the loss of livestock and the destruction of nature and infrastructure will take many years to rehabilitate,

E.  saddened by the fact that for most afflicted regions several precious hours passed between the earthquake, which caused the tsunami, and the tsunami itself and that, had there been a functioning international alarm system, many people and animals could have been saved,

F.   disappointed that the existing seismic measuring systems did not foresee any early warning system to automatically and effectively pass on information to possibly affected countries and governments, not to mention the concerned population,

G.  whereas most of the countries affected by the tsunami were already burdened with large debt repayments, and whereas money given to the relief effort would be rendered ineffective if the donor countries continued to receive interest payments on these debts,

H.  whereas experts warn that damage to marine life, including mangroves and coral reeves, could be vast and lasting, which would have serious consequences for local communities dependent on fishing for their food security and their livelihoods,

1.  Expresses its sorrow at the tragic loss of life and its deepest sympathy for the bereaved, both in the affected countries and across the world, including EU citizens that have lost family and friends;

2.  Stresses that the children orphaned by the disaster must be one of the key priorities for relief agencies, as they are at increasing risk of abduction as well as physical and sexual abuse;

3.  Considers that the disaster has triggered a wave of international solidarity, which shows that the world is coming closer together, and expresses its hope that the support shown for those in need will give new momentum to efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015;

4.  Welcomes Mr Barroso's announcement of up to € 100 m of emergency aid and up to € 350 m in reconstruction aid; considers that additional new EU funds will be needed in view of the extent of the disaster and that regular development aid funds earmarked for the countries in need of rehabilitation and reconstruction for 2005/06 should by no means be used for relief aid;

5.  Encourages the EU and its Member States to give their political support to initiatives such as the Tobin Tax, which could be used to raise extra funds for development;

6.  Insists that coordination of the global relief operation must be led by the UN and notably its Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and welcomes the EU's full support for the UN and its commitment to funding OCHA in the region;

7.  Calls on the UN Secretary-General to appoint UN humanitarian coordinators for each of the countries affected by the tsunami, with clear responsibility for directing all other UN agencies responding to the crisis;

8.  Regrets that, in some disaster hit areas, access for rescue teams has been denied or delayed owing to government interference; calls on the governments of the countries concerned to facilitate the work of humanitarian organisations in distributing aid by making all efforts to secure equal access to aid for all those in need, whatever the political beliefs, ethnicity or religion of the victims, and by minimising bureaucracy for aid agencies;

9.  Expresses its hope that the disaster might have a healing effect on the conflicts in Sri Lanka and Indonesia;

10.  Welcomes the fact that for the first time in 18 months the Indonesian Government opened up the Aceh province to international relief agencies and journalists and that the rebel movement declared a unilateral ceasefire; hopes that this move might be the beginning of a renewed effort for a negotiated peace settlement;

11.  Regrets the renewed tensions between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE after many impressive reports of solidarity between the Tamil and the Sinhalese population on the ground during the first days, and calls on both parties to consider the creation of a joint task force in order to guarantee a just distribution of aid in the country;

12.  Supports all efforts of the affected countries to set up a tsunami early warning system and calls on the EU to engage in negotiations in order to possibly set up such a system at international level; hopes in this context that traditional expertise, such as that of certain indigenous populations, who survived the catastrophe without major losses of life, is being fully taken into account;

13.  Calls on the Commission and all EU donors to transform their pledges into multiannual commitments that link relief, rehabilitation and development, including disaster prevention and disaster preparedness;

14.  Expects that the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts will put considerations of reduction of poverty and protection of the environment first, and avoid repeating the errors of the past; notes in this context that better coastal zone management policies, which leave the coastal environment in a more natural state, would lead to reduced vulnerability of these areas to further disasters in the future;

15.  Calls on the governments concerned to develop National Reconstruction Plans which include mechanisms for a brought spectrum of civil society to participate in their design and implementation, as well as a mechanism of accountability on social equity, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability on which to base the report on achievements and failures to all stakeholders;

16.  Calls for more women to be given international diplomatic assignments and senior positions with the UN and in regional, national and international bodies concerned with disaster recovery, in order to ensure a better awareness of the perspective and needs of women in the reconstruction process;

17.  Considering that the most urgent immediate needs of survivors are food, water and medication; believes that, for the future, efforts should be strengthened in order to guarantee that privatisation of services does not infringe on the capacities of local and regional authorities to provide basic services to populations in need;

18.  Welcomes the Commission's proposal for a rapid-reaction humanitarian unit and calls in this context for a clear distinction between civilian humanitarian capacities and political crisis management units;

19.  Welcomes also the Commission's proposal for a long-term EIB lending facility on favourable terms for the reconstruction effort, but demands that any funding respect sustainable social and environmental standards;

20.  Underlines the importance of the request by the affected governments to simplify the application procedures for aid, notably European Union aid, in order to make it directly accessible to the local people in need, and calls on the Commission to report back to Parliament on its efforts to meet this request;

21.  Supports calls for debt cancellation, debt relief, and debt swaps for the countries worst affected by the tsunami, strictly ring-fenced to reduce poverty and to rebuild affected communities; calls on the Council to support the setting-up of a Task Force, including the World Bank, the IMF, the Asian Development Bank and the Paris Club of creditors, in order to develop a debt cancellation plan and to convene an extraordinary Paris Club meeting by February;

22.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Governments of the EU Member States, the Heads of State and parliaments of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Maldives, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Burma, Kenya, Somalia and Seychelles, the UN Secretary-General and the Head of OCHA.