90% Tsunami Victims Live in Sub Standard Conditions

Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka

March 04, 2006

By Angela Evans

Mr. Miloon Kothari, the special rapporteur on Adequate Housing and a member of the UN Commission on Human Rights, has expressed his hopes on working with the ministries to improve the situation of housing for those affected by the tsunami in Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Maldives, Indonesia and India.

Already, over a year has passed since this tragedy but still, there are people who are living in inadequate conditions-without water or sanitation. After the disaster, the British charity ActionAid identified the need to work with the poorest and most vulnerable people affected by the tsunami, and so they made the decision to work closely with Mr. Kothari to help rebuild the homes of those who needed assistance the most.

The main aims of the commission of human rights were to investigate housing conditions and to communicate with Sri Lanka about any problems that may need to be faced.

In December 2005, Action Aid, along with the help of Mr. Kothari and Mr Walter Kalin, representative of the UN secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally placed people, produced a report that included information that had been collated from more than 50000 people living in 95 different villages from across the 5 affected countries.

The report found that 90% of the people living in the areas hit by the tsunami were dwelling in sub-standard conditions. People and communities were still living in makeshift, uninhabitable shelters, health and nutrition needs were being compromised and safety and security, particularly those of women and girls, were under threat.

The report looked at the way the government dealt with human rights through the distribution of aid, both emergency and longer term reconstruction; it states that “whilst much of what the governments have done has been good, this report highlights a culture of failure to deliver to some of the most needy”.

The intentions of the report were to point out what was happening and allow the opinions of those that had been affected to be expressed. Mr. Kothari’s main aim is to find solutions for those whose lives need to be rebuilt and ensure standards of living are met. He said “I feel that it would be beneficial to set up training programs with bureaucrats and work with the authorities to solve the problems of standards” and he also hopes that in the future, he and ActionAid will be able to work together with the Governments Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA) to rebuild people’s lives and restore their standards of living.

In January this year, Mr. Kothari, along with ActionAid, the Habitat International Coalition-Housing and Land Rights Network (HIC-HLRN) and the People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning (PDHRE) compiled the International Human Rights Standards on Post-disaster Resettlement and Rehabilitation.

This document included human rights and guidelines adopted by UN agencies that should ensure that each person affected receives all the help they need. It implies that a shift should take place and vulnerable people who do not know their rights will be able to seek help from this booklet.

According to ActionAid and Mr. Kothari, the worst affected areas of Sri Lanka were the East and the North of the island. In order to tackle the problems of living standards, help should be given to those who need it most, disregardless of race, sex, language, colour or nationality, Mr. Kothari said.