TSUNAMI IMPACT: Beslan Reaches Out, Russia Does Not

By Kester Kenn Klomegah Reprint | | Print |

Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW, Jan 10 2005 (IPS) - Shock waves from the tsunami hit the little Russian town Beslan particularly hard.

Terrorists had stormed the school in Beslan Sep. 1 last year. More than 350 were killed, almost half of them children when the hostage crisis turned bloody. About 700 were injured. When the tsunami hit islands and the coastline in the distant Indian Ocean, the town felt their pain.

“Our council has decided to transfer one million roubles (36,000 dollars) to those who suffered from the disaster in South-East Asia,” council head Mairbek Tuayev declared. “Beslan residents will never forget how the world responded to our tragedy. Therefore we will always respond to tragedies of people suffering from both disasters and terrorist attacks worldwide.”

The official Russian response has hardly been in tune with the sentiments in Beslan. When pledges of aid were pouring in from around the world, the Russian response was slow, and it offered little.

“We were moved when we heard the news,” a Kremlin official told IPS. “But we also need time to take an appropriate government decision over it.”

The day following the disaster President Vladimir Putin instructed emergency situations minister Sergey Shoigu to provide urgent assistance to Russians caught in the disaster zone.

Russia sent two aircraft carrying relief supplies to Sri Lankan capital Colombo. The relief teams focused first on helping Russian tourists. Stung by comparison with help from other nations, Russia sent in more aircraft with relief supplies later.

But the government still stands out for what it is not doing. The G7 (the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan) agreed a moratorium on debt repayments from the affected countries. But it was a G7 and not a G8 decision – with Russia as the eighth member of the group that opted out of a moratorium.

Russia is unwilling to freeze debts. Spokesmen at ministries associated with debt matters declined to say anything about debt relief measures.

“Russia is equally concerned about how far cooperation could be strengthened, but we’ve really lagged far behind in showing financial support for our Asian brothers,” Vladimir A. Vasileyev, state Duma (parliament) deputy in charge of social politics told IPS.

“But it’s just inappropriate also to say that Russia stands on the sidelines,” he added. “As expected, final decisions are taken at the top levels of government. We’ve gone ahead with everything that we can for them.”

Not enough, say western diplomats. “Every country is working under tremendous strain, mobilising resources and moving even hell to help those affected,” a British official told IPS. “But I’m sure Asian states are disappointed by Russia’s slow response and contribution so far. It is obvious that nothing bigger in the form of a financial commitment will come from Russia.”

Putin called the leaders of several of the affected countries last week to offer his condolences. His offer to provide all possible assistance was not followed up with any concrete pledges.

What Russia has proposed is for the United Nations to manage the global response to natural disasters such as this.

“Russia has earlier called for setting up a world agency similar to Russia’s emergency situations ministry, but the discussion has gone off on a tangent,” deputy foreign minister Yury Fedotov said in a statement to the Interfax news agency.

“We believe that the lesson of what has happened in Southeast Asia suggests that proposals must be reconsidered that provided for coordinating the activities of the international community in response to such disasters under the UN aegis,” he said.