Chut Ita is six months pregnant and getting more anxious
with every day that brings her closer to giving birth because she does not
have USD 100 to pay the hospital for obstetrical services. This 38 year old
Acehnese woman has survived, with her husband and three children, the
tsunami that took the lives of over 200,000 people and displaced, at least,
400,000 people in Aceh.
A group
photo after the tsunami meeting in Aceh. From Chiang Mai, members from the
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, Migrant Action Program and
the Women’s Studies Center, Chiang Mai University took part.
Chut Ita and her family have been living in a tent at the
TVRI camp in Banda Aceh for the last seven months, and like the other 500
families there she has no idea how long she will have to stay in the camp
and whether she will receive any assistance in terms of housing. They are
wary of leaving the camp as they have been surviving on food rations they
get from international aid agencies. Such is the plight of thousands of
women - survivors of the tsunami.
Over 60 women, activists advocating for women’s rights
in the tsunami aftermath from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and
Thailand convened for a meeting to develop strategies to address challenges
women face. From Chiang Mai the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and
Development, the Migrant Action Program and the Women’s Studies Center,
Chiang Mai University, took part in the lively three day discussions.
A group
photo after the tsunami meeting in Aceh. From Chiang Mai, members from the
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, Migrant Action Program and
the Women’s Studies Center, Chiang Mai University took part.
They shared information on women’s human rights
concerns, identified post-tsunami challenges, and developed strategies to
address the identified challenges. As a result, guidelines for gender
sensitive disaster management will be developed.
A statement given out at the meeting read as follows:
1. Gender discrimination and women’s human rights
violations. Thousands of women and children in the affected countries still
live in camps and other temporary facilities which lack adequate sanitation,
clean water, health services and security. Government compensation has not
reached them or is insufficient to restore their livelihoods. In Thailand,
women are discriminated even in death: funeral expenses paid for a man’s
death are twice as much as that for women.
2. Women’s right to food is violated. People are on the
verge of starvation getting one meal a day. The food rations provided are of
very low quality. This affects health of children and pregnant, breast
feeding and elderly women.
3. Women suffer from increased domestic violence in camps
and temporary shelters, especially in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, as a
result of increased alcoholism.
4. Children in camps and temporary shelters do not have
access to education.
5. Both temporary and permanent housing facilities are of
low standards in design and construction and climatic conditions have not
been taken into account; e.g. it is impossible to stay in tin shelters which
heat up in the tropical sun. Facilities do not meet women’s needs: there
are no kitchen and bathing facilities. In Thailand, some permanent housing
has ownership problems: houses are built by sponsors on rented land or on
the land owned by someone else, so sometime in the future resettled people
will face eviction.
6. The tsunami has highlighted poor access to land. In
Thailand, the tsunami has created new land conflicts with big businesses
claiming the land of entire communities, especially of minorities, who have
lived on that land for several generations but never had land titles.
7. Jobs and livelihoods: In all the affected countries,
women lost their jobs and livelihood sources. The governments have failed to
respond effectively and survivors have to rely on NGO support.
8. Caste and ethnic discrimination: In India, entire
communities of Dalit (so-called untouchables) and Irula (indigenous people)
have been left out of relief and rehabilitation efforts.
9. Plight of Burmese migrants in Thailand. Burmese
migrants in Thailand have been completely ignored by both Burmese and Thai
governments following the tsunami. In the immediate aftermath they could not
recover the bodies of their family members for fear of getting arrested as
aliens. Since they have lost their registration/ID cards they do not have
access to government assistance or health services. They do not have income
generating capacity of their own, as migrants have to rely on their
employers to give them jobs, but the employers also lost their businesses in
the tsunami.
10. Armed conflict situation in Aceh and Sri Lanka
exacerbates human rights situation.
In the light of the above, the women’s group expressed
great concerns about the lack of consultation with the people affected by
the tsunami in the relief and reconstruction process. They asked the
governments of the affected countries to actively involve affected people in
the process of reconstruction and rebuilding and international as well as
national NGOs to consult with the affected communities in planning, design
and implementation of projects. Even though they are aware of the
significant foreign assistance received, they demanded more transparency and
accountability in the spending of funds.
They also recommend that state and non-state agencies
working with the displaced must recognize and address gender specific and
special needs of women, the needs and rights of children, elderly, disabled,
women living with HIV/AIDS and affected women who need long-term medical and
psychological treatment and assistance. And that all governments should
recognize the rights of the fishing communities to the sea and the coastal
land and ensure that business interests in the rebuilding process do not
negatively impact livelihoods of the seashore people.
Cholpon Akmatova is the information and communications officer for APWLD
(Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development)
