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S.E.A. Meetings

The Politics of the Tsunami

Saturday 15th January

In the wake of the Tsunami disaster in South East Asia, the Socialist Environmental Alliance is hosting a public meeting on "The Politics of the Tsunami". The meeting, upstairs in Sandinos at 4pm this Sat 15th January, is to look at the long-term needs of the people of the devastated area and at how to ensure there is no repeat of such a catastrophe.

The main speaker at the meeting will be Eamonn McCann. Speaking ahead of the meeting, he said "The solidarity shown by the generosity of millions of people across the world has been inspiring. It is in stark contrast to the response of the super-rich.

"At their meeting on Wed. 12th January, the 19 member states of the Paris Club, an informal cabal of major lenders, pledged $3.64 billion in aid to the countries afflicted by the Tsunami. But these 19 countries had also been due to receive about $5 billion in debt repayments this year from these same disaster-hit nations.

"Indonesia, the country that suffered the most casualties in the disaster, also carries the bulk of the region's debt. It was due to pay $3.15 billion in principal and $1.36 billion in interest in 2005. At its meeting, the Paris Club refused to cancel the debt and instead decided to offer all tsunami-hit countries a freeze on debt repayments ­ only  until the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have completed an assessment of their needs.

"Ordinary people have dug deep in pockets already hard-hit by Christmas. They need to know that their hard-earned money will not eventually go into the coffers of the international banks.

"But, unless the debts of these countries are wiped out, not just frozen, there is every chance that that is what will happen. Six of the countries most affected by the disaster‹Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India and Somalia‹have combined foreign debts of about $270 billion. Of these, only Somalia is part of the longstanding debt-relief initiative for highly indebted poor countries.

Beside the issue of the debt and its impact on rebuilding the Tsunami-hit areas, the meeting will examine the role of climate change on such "natural disasters" and look at how people locally can impact on these global issues.

 "The Politics of the Tsunami" is open to all and there will be plenty of time for discussion. 





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