MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

11.1.2005

to wind up the debate on statements by the Council and Commission
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Nirj Deva, John Bowis, Jas Gawronski, Maria Martens, Mario Mantovani, Gay Mitchell, Hartmut Nassauer, Geoffrey Van Orden, José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Anders Wijkman, Antonio Tajani, Manolis Mavrommatis and Michael Gahler
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean

B6‑0062/2005

European Parliament resolution on the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Jakarta tsunami aid summit declaration of 6 January 2005, and to the International Donors’ Conference held in Geneva on 11 January 2005,

– having regard to the conclusions of the Extraordinary General Affairs and External Relations Council of 7 January 2005,

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

A. whereas, on 26 December 2004, the biggest earthquake in over 40 years occurred in the Indian Ocean, triggering a tsunami resulting in tremendous loss of human life, estimated as of 10 January to be more than 150 000, and catastrophic effects on the socio-economic infrastructure and development processes in many countries of Southeast Asia and East Africa,

B. whereas some five million people, including thousands of children who have been orphaned or separated from their families, have been made homeless in the stricken areas, and very large numbers are still in urgent need of food, clean water and medicines,

C. whereas many thousands of local citizens and foreign nationals are still missing after the disaster,

D. whereas polluted waters and heavy rains after the tsunami have increased the risk of diseases such as cholera, malaria and typhoid,

E. whereas the cost of relief and reconstruction is likely to be several billion euros,

1. Expresses its condolences and deepest sympathy to the peoples and governments of the afflicted countries, as well as to all the families of victims in Southeast Asia, East Africa, Europe and elsewhere;

2. Expresses its thanks the people of the countries affected for the way they responded to the human disaster, despite their own personal suffering and loss, giving so much succour to European nationals affected by the disaster;

3. Applauds the enormously generous and instantaneous response in so many European countries by citizens, as well as by governments, to the appeals by aid agencies for funding; expresses deep gratitude for the solidarity expressed by the citizens and governments in the affected countries to the citizens of the European Union;

4. Calls on its Members to voluntarily donate the equivalent of one or more daily allowances to the victims of the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean;

5. Regrets that the European Union was not more in evidence in the immediate aftermath of the disaster;

6. Insists on the need for speedy and unconditional humanitarian aid to address the immediate needs of affected populations, especially as regards housing, physical and mental health and communications;

7. Welcomes the convening of a regional Conference in Jakarta beginning on 6 January and an international donors’ conference in Geneva on 11 January; calls on the European Union and the international community to respond promptly, effectively and generously to aid appeals; welcomes efforts already undertaken but underlines the need for well-coordinated financial, material and human support for the long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction of the whole disaster region; expresses its concern about the situation in Burma where the government has only reluctantly accepted some assistance from the international community;

8. Asks the Commission to explore all possibilities in the scope of the 2005 budget, including the emergency aid reserve, to provide immediate and effective EU financial assistance to the countries and the people affected by the tsunami disaster and to provide for the necessary proposals in order to ensure the urgent humanitarian aid and a more long-term assistance for reconstruction; underlines that funds for EU tsunami aid should not be taken out of other development cooperation budget lines;

9. Calls on the European Union and the international community to consider a debt relief and/or cancellation initiative for the countries hardest-hit by the tsunami;

10. Calls on the European Union and the international community to deliver on pledges within a reasonable time span, given the experience from past catastrophes where early generous pledges have been made but only a fraction actually delivered upon;

11. Calls on the European Union and the international community to seek to ensure that long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation aid to Indonesia and Sri Lanka goes hand in hand with real progress in the ongoing peace processes;

12. Welcomes, in this context, reports from impoverished northern Sri Lanka of cooperation between the government and rebel forces in delivering much needed humanitarian aid; is deeply concerned, however, with Indonesian reports of renewed military raids against rebels in the tsunami-devastated Aceh province;

13. Urges the European Union and the international community to give priority to health concerns and calls, therefore, for clean water to be made available in adequate quantities to all affected populations in order to reduce the risk of outbreaks of different diarrhoeal diseases; asks that everything possible be done to ensure that survivors do not live in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions in order to reduce the risk of acute respiratory infections and the epidemic risk for individual and communities;

14. Welcomes the efforts of the European Commission’s Civil Protection Mechanism to coordinate support and assistance from EU Member States and neighbouring countries;

15. Welcomes the Commission Communication of 9 July 2003 (COM(2003) 399) on a new partnership with Southeast Asia, endorsed by the Council and Parliament; calls for a Commission proposal along the lines of the communication and taking into account the effects of the tsunami disaster;

16. Calls on the European Union and the international community to assist the establishment of a global and regional early warning system for natural disasters, and to contribute to the setting up of local and regional information, warning and disaster plans;

17. Calls, in this context, on the Commission, first and foremost to promote the setting-up of such a system for the tsunami-stricken Southeast Asian and East African countries in the Indian Ocean, but secondly also to promote the implementation of an appropriate system of alert for ACP and Mediterranean countries as well as for the EU coastline;

18. Calls for the creation of a European Union civil rapid-reaction 'crisis management corps' to improve the coordination, speed and efficiency of European disaster relief action;

19. Calls on the European Union to assist in all possible ways not just in the immediate relief but in the longer-term rehabilitation and reconstruction of devastated areas; calls on the EU and the international community to make and support all the necessary efforts to provide care for children that have survived the waves and assist in the reunion, if possible, with their families;

20. Calls on the European Union and the international community to pay special attention to the critical role of an improved management of natural resources and measures such as soil conservation, reforestation and sound water management schemes in the context of disaster prevention and preparedness;

21. Calls for greater account to be taken of the high human and socio-economic costs of disasters and the benefits of disaster prevention in the health and environmental assessments of European Union development policies, strategies, programmes and projects;at the same time, recalls the importance of long-term preventive action in the fields of education, urbanism, civil protection and technical measures;

22. Calls on the European Union and the international community to undertake all the necessary actions, in collaboration with their development partners, to ensure that development plans and programmes adequately respond to the special vulnerability of littoral and island developing areas;

23. Is appalled by media allegations that criminal gangs are befriending-kidnapping children lost in the disaster area, orphaned by the tsunami, and women and selling them to sex traffickers; calls, therefore, as matter of urgency on Interpol and local police, UN agencies operating in the disaster area (such as UNICEF) and NGOs to be very vigilant and to cooperate with local authorities in the protection of orphans and women, and in the search for missing persons in local hospital, shelters and border customs posts;

24. Is aware that the long-term consequences of the devastation of the marine environment and resources will have a dramatic impact on local fishing communities; calls on the Council and the Commission to examine ways in which tangible aid, in the form of vessels, gear, technical expertise and raw materials, can be directed towards the affected communities;

25. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments and parliaments of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, Burma, Maldives, Malaysia, Tanzania, Seychelles, Bangladesh and Kenya, as well as of the EU Member States, and the UN Secretary General.