John Gormley
Question:7 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the assistance, if any, that has been offered by this country to Afghanistan in helping to overcome the effects of the recent major earthquake in that country. [4326/98]
Ceisteanna — Questions. - Afghanistani Earthquake.
A violent earthquake hit northern Afghanistan and southern Tajikistan almost two weeks ago. Due to the remoteness and inaccessibility of the provinces which have been affected, there has been a good deal of difficulty in ascertaining the extent of the damage and the number of lives lost. However, preliminary reports suggest that between 3,000 and 4,000 people on the Afghani side of the border may have died in the disaster. In addition, several hundreds have been injured.
In spite of the difficulties with access, a number of relief agencies including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), have carried out preliminary assessments of the needs of the remaining population in these areas and have distributed limited supplies of food, blankets and emergency medical supplies. Preliminary estimates by the United Nations indicate that somewhere in the region of 15,000 people may be in urgent need of relief supplies. Travel to the area remains very difficult as the only reliable source of access to the area is by plane from Tajikistan and flights have been hampered by dense fog and heavy rain.
The Government has made an immediate allocation of £50,000 to provide relief supplies to the affected populations. This grant is being channelled through the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has extensive experience both of carrying out disaster relief operations and of working in Afghanistan. The ICRC has the necessary logistics and other expertise in the country and has sent seven specialists to the affected Rostaq region. The funds will be used to provide air drops of food and blankets, water and sanitation and medical supplies for the next two months. The European Community Humanitarian Office, ECHO, has also channelled a substantial proportion of its emergency grant of 2 million ECU through the ICRC.
Part of the grant will also be used to carry out continued airborne and ground assessments to determine the exact nature and extent of the need. These assessments will obviously inform the possibility of providing further funding for humanitarian and rehabilitation needs in the coming weeks and months. The Deputy may also be interested to know that Ireland has provided consistent support to a number of agencies who have been working to meet the humanitarian needs of the population in Afghanistan for some years, including the world food programme and the Irish NGO, SAFE. Total grants to support relief and rehabilitation efforts in Afghanistan since 1995 have amounted to just over £650,000.