Special Issue July 2005 review Tsunami: learning from the humanitarian response Forced Migration Review: the world’s most widely read magazine on refugee and internal displacement issues Forced Migration Review provides a forum for the regular exchange of from the editors practical experience, information and ideas between researchers, refugees and internally displaced people, The tsunami which swept across the and those who work with them. It is published in English, Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004 Spanish, Arabic and French by the Refugee Studies Cen- tre/University of Oxford in association with the prompted a humanitarian response of Norwegian Refugee Council. The Spanish edition, unparalleled scale. The sheer scale of the Revista de Migraciones Forzadas, is produced by relief operation, the fact that the tsunami IDEI in Guatemala. primarily ravaged countries already coping with conflict-induced displacement and Editors Marion Couldrey & Dr Tim Morris the sad reality that the humanitarian community often leaps into action without Owen Corinne Subscriptions Assistant heeding lessons from the past motivated Sharon Ellis our decision to publish this additional issue of our magazine. Forced Migration Review Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, Although the final death toll, estimated to be over 300,000, is of staggering proportions, it is, 21 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LA, UK Email: [email protected] however, a fraction of the numbers who in recent years have died in Rwanda, the Democratic Tel: +44 (0)1865 280700 • Fax: +44 (0)1865 270721 Republic of Congo or Sudan. The tsunami captured the world’s attention and generated an unprecedented outpouring of compassion and global solidarity while the needs of less visible Website displaced people, many in even greater need, remain unaddressed. www.fmreview.org We are pleased to have gathered a unique collection of articles, bringing together the views of local NGOs in tsunami-affected states and the reflections of some of the key leaders in post- Funders of this special issue tsunami relief and recovery operations. We are grateful to the donors listed opposite who have made this publication possible, to our colleague Eva-Lotta Hedman for editorial advice and to AUSTCARE Simon Harris for coordinating production and distribution in Colombo. Concern This special issue of FMR is dedicated to the victims of the tsunami but looks to the future. Brookings-Bern Project on We hope that you find the articles which follow to be relevant to your work and that their Internal Displacement recommendations will assist the humanitarian community to respond more effectively to disaster-induced displacement. Christian Aid Consortium of Humanitarian This issue of Forced Migration Review (FMR) has been printed in and distributed from Agencies, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka and is being printed in English and, on this occasion, also in Bahasa Indonesia, Department for International Sinhala and Tamil. The full text of all the articles in the four language editions will be avail- Development (UK) able at: www.fmreview.org.tsunami.htm. For further information, and to be included on our mailing lists, please contact us (see details on left). UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Those of you reading FMR for the first time may be interested in receiving further issues in World Vision Australia one of our four regular languages – English, Arabic, Spanish and French. FMR is published World Vision Canada by the University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre, is distributed in 165 countries and is the world’s most widely read publication on refugee and internal displacement issues. World Vision USA UNICEF The theme of the following issue of FMR will be prospects for peace in Sudan. It will be UNHCR Sri Lanka distributed in November together with a supplement, published in collaboration with the Inter-Agency Internal Displacement Division of the UN Office for the Coordination of Hu- manitarian Affairs (OCHA), which will look at the capacity of the international community to protect and assist internally displaced people (IDPs). Designed by Colophon Media. With best wishes Printed by LDI Ltd on environmentally friendly paper. Marion Couldrey and Tim Morris ISSN 1460-9819 Copyright and disclaimer Opinions in FMR do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or the Refugee Studies Centre. Any material from this publication may be freely reproduced, provided that acknowledgement is given to the source. We welcome comments on the content and layout of FMR and suggestions on how it could be improved as an information tool. Front cover photo: Painting by Sri Lankan child from Batticaloa district (see back cover). contents Sri Lanka Ethnic conflict, the state and tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka by Jayadeva Uyangoda ............................................................ 30 Reflections on post-tsunami psychosocial work by Ananda Galappatti .............................................................. 32 Livelihoods in post-tsunami Sri Lanka by Simon Harris ........................................................................ 34 Six months on: facing fears by Lyndon Jeffels ..................................................................... 36 Logistical challenges by Steve Matthews .................................................................... 38 Introduction Small fish trampled in post-tsunami stampede by Eva-Lotta Hedman ..................................................................4 by Irene Fraser .......................................................................... 39 UN assesses tsunami response by Marion Couldrey and Tim Morris .......................................6 Natural disasters and IDPs’ rights Thailand by Walter Kälin .......................................................................... 10 Humanitarian response towards Burmese migrant The public health response to the tsunami workers by Manuel Carballo and Bryan Heal .................................... 12 by Pia Oberoi ............................................................................. 40 The great land theft by Scott Leckie .......................................................................... 15 India Has the tsunami affected funding for other crises? by Toby Lanzer ......................................................................... 17 Indian symposium reviews tsunami response report by Paula Banerjee and DFID evaluation of tsunami response Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury .......................................... 42 by David Horobin ..................................................................... 18 A voice for vulnerable groups in Tamil Nadu by Max Martin ........................................................................... 44 Indonesia Response effectiveness: views of the affected population Accessing IDPs in post-tsunami Aceh by Anisya Thomas and Vimala Ramalingam ...................... 46 by Claudia Hudspeth ............................................................... 19 IDPs confined to barracks in Aceh by Lukman Age ......................................................................... 22 Maldives Ensuring minimum standards in reproductive Lost innocence: the tsunami in the Maldives health care by Heidi Brown .......................................................................... 48 by Sandra Krause ...................................................................... 24 Humanitarian coordination in Indonesia: an NGO viewpoint Africa by Carsten Völz ....................................................................... 26 An African perspective on the tsunami Post-tsunami protection concerns in Aceh by Bahame Tom Nyanduga ..................................................... 50 by FMR Editors .......................................................................... 28 Vulnerable populations in Somalia Powerless victims or strong survivors? by OCHA Somalia office .......................................................... 51 by Ingvild Solvang .................................................................... 29 4 FMR Tsunami The politics of the tsunami response by Eva-Lotta Hedman he Asian tsunami of 26 loss of property, land titles and other In Thailand, with its punitive ap- December 2004 destroyed important documents; and damage proach to containing a large refugee Tlives and entire Indian Ocean to public infrastructure. A prolifera- and migrant worker population coastal communities. Within minutes tion of damage assessments, surveys from neighbouring Burma, there is of an earthquake measuring 9.0 and maps, drawing on an array of evidence of de facto discrimination on the Richter scale striking the expert knowledge, provided guide- by local government authorities and west coast of northern Sumatra in lines to shape donor and national Thai citizens against Burmese tsuna- Indonesia, the first large tsunami hit government’s rehabilitation and mi survivors in the affected southern these shores to devastating effect, reconstruction plans. provinces. As the Thai government especially between Banda Aceh and declared a position of self-reliance Meulaboh in Aceh. A massive upward Beyond issues of coordination and in the coordination and delivery of shift in the seabed also caused expertise in complex humanitarian post-tsunami emergency relief, thus tsunamis to hit coastal communi- emergencies, it is important to refo- affording an unrivalled opportunity ties in parts of western Thailand, cus attention on the nature, direction for Premier Thaksin Shinawatra