|
Press
release
November
17, 2006
ActionAid
condemns police brutality as tsunami survivors protest over housing
Anti-poverty
agency, ActionAid today joined local groups in condemning police violence in
Andaman and
Nicobar Islands
that has left dozens of tsunami survivors injured.
“I
saw people who were already injured being dragged and beaten,”
said a relative of one of the injured.
“This
is a sad day for human rights,”
says
Harjeet Singh
, head of ActionAid’s Andaman and Nicobar team. “Such violence
is inexcusable.”
Over
a thousand women and men took to the streets on the remote island of Little
Andaman, a 6-10 hour journey by boat from the administrative centre Port
Blair, on Thursday demanding that Government consult them regarding plans
for housing construction.
Police
responded violently after a bottle was reportedly thrown in what had been a
peaceful demonstration marked by people offering themselves for arrest, a
traditional form of protest in
India
.
The
government has suspended transport between Port Blair and Little Andaman.
Almost
two years after the tsunami disaster, over 10,000 families are still living
in temporary shelters in the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands
. The Government of India is planning to build the same number of new homes.
ActionAid
and partners, who have been working with tsunami affected communities in
five countries since the disaster struck, have been advocating that that new
homes should meet local needs.
“Of
course survivors will be concerned about design, materials and location of
their homes,”
Harjeet Singh
explains.
“You
can’t hope to build 10 thousand houses without addressing residents’
basic concerns such as whether it will accommodate their family unit or be
close enough to the sea to continue their fishing activities.”
“Best
practice in disaster response is for affected communities to be involved in
decisions that affect their lives. Sadly, in this case best practice has not
been followed and with tragic results.”
“I
only hope this acts as a wake up call for all those involved in disaster
response to place the rights of survivors at the centre in relief and
reconstruction efforts," he
adds.
ActionAid
has been consulting communities across the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands
to understand what the likely impact of government rehousing plans will be
on their traditional way of life.
ActionAid’s
three year tsunami response programme reaches over 420,000 people in five
countries –
India
,
Thailand
,
Sri Lanka
, The Maldives and
Somalia
.
In
a report released in February 2006 by ActionAid and the United Nations
Special Representative for Adequate Housing, Miloon Kothari, housing was one
of the chief concerns of over 50,000 tsunami survivors who were interviewed.
Note
to editors
Download
a copy of the report Tsunami
Response: A Human Rights Assessment
ENDS
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