Tsunami Relief Aid Provided by Countries of
the Middle East
By Lynn Neville
Initially, after
the December 26, 2004
tsunami in Southern Asia,
the oil-rich Gulf states
were
accused of having been indifferent to a tragedy that left more than
100,000
fellow Muslims dead in Indonesia
alone. In early January, Saudi
Arabia held a 12-hour telethon and
raised
$82 million for the victims of the tsunami disaster.
King Fahad donated $5.3 million and Crown
Prince Abd Allah donated $1.3 million, according to Saudi television.
Saudi
school children handed over their daily allowances after religious
clerics,
businessmen, and sports personalities appeared on television to
broadcast
appeals for generosity.
Kuwait
initially pledged $10 million, and then raised it during the first
weekend in
January to $100 million. Of Kuwait’s
$100 million pledge, 30 percent will be in cash and the rest will fund
reconstruction projects managed by the Kuwaiti Fund for Economic
Development. Other Gulf countries have
also stepped up their donations, partly in response to criticism and
also as
the magnitude of the disaster became clearer. Saudi
Arabia
raised its earlier contribution of $10 million to $30 million, with an
additional $101 million from public donations. The Saudi-based Islamic
Development Bank has allocated $10 million in emergency relief as part
of a
broader aid package.
The United
Arab Emirates
raised its donation from $2 million to $20 million during the first
week in
January, while Algeria, Bahrain,
and Libya
have
pledged $2 million each. Qatar
has pledged $25 million in government aid, and is also sending food,
medical
and logistical supplies to affected countries.
Other Arab
countries without the Gulf's oil wealth such as Syria
and Jordan
have
sent planeloads of food, medicine, drinking water, and blankets. Pakistan
has sent 500 military staff in medical and engineering teams in Indonesia
and Sri Lanka, while Afghanistan
has pledged to send around a dozen medics and a planeload of medicine
and
equipment to India and Sri
Lanka. Afghan citizens have also
donated
blood.
Egypt
has announced
that it would send two planeloads of medicine and other supplies
to the
quake victims in Indonesia, Sri
Lanka and the Maldives
loaded with 30 tons of food, medicine, blankets and
tents, the country's
foreign minister said in a statement. An
Egyptian medical team will also be sent to Indonesia.
A
group of Saudi
Arabian businessmen have appeared in the remote tsunami-ravaged town of
Meulaboh in Aceh province on what they said was a mercy
mission to personally distribute $2 million.
They arrived with briefcases full
of cash, and handed out 100,000 rupiah (roughly $10) to every adult
survivor
and 50,000 to children in a relief camp. "The
situation here is bad. We want to help our brothers
and
sisters," one of the businessmen, Abd Allah Hamid, said on Saturday.
"We have a lot of money with us. We have already spent $2 million."
Sources: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0112/p04s01-wome.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4145259.stm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AFED5553-1C18-47B4-9349-C4DB435E3304.htm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B7C70F32-E426-4CB4-A15E-45D4BF14664B.htm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D8C345D9-B521-49DA-8952-1E16420036B6.htm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B9DF3081-740E-4C7C-99CA-A1AC4D179196.htm