COLOMBO, 15 January 2005 — A total of 4,200 children lost their parents in the Dec. 26 tsunami tragedy, the UNICEF Representative Office in Colombo announced here yesterday.
UNICEF representative Ted Chaiban said nearly 1,000 children have lost both parents, while 3,200 have lost one parent. “These are preliminary figures related to children in 457 refugee camps based on information gathered by the National Child Protection Authority in collaboration with UNICEF,” he added.
According to the latest figures released by the government, the death toll now stands at 30,899, while the number of missing is 6,034. The tidal waves hit three fourths of the coastal belt in 13 of the island’s 22 districts.
Chaiban said there was an urgent need to provide quality psychological service to children to help them cope with the trauma of this “truly terrible event.”
Touching on the aftermath of tsunami, he said no child had died of diseases such as measles or diarrhea usually associated with mass displacement. “Should such outbreaks occur, supplementary stocks of medicines have been brought into the country,” he said. The relief efforts in general have been successful in all areas to protect children and families from further suffering and despair, he added
Chaiban admitted that there were a few cases of child trafficking and child abuse. “UNICEF knows about six cases of child abuse and two more incidents of attempted trafficking of children. He also said there were reports of recruitment of child soldiers by the Tamil Tigers. “We have taken a strong stand against such recruitment and remedial measures have been taken,” he said. Chaiban said both the government and the LTTE had been cooperative in assisting the organization’s relief efforts.
UNICEF had committed $17 million to deal with the immediate aftermath of the disaster and this will likely increase to around $47 million, he hoped.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in a statement yesterday expressed its concerns for the welfare of the tsunami victims, particularly women and children.
The statement highlighted the growing fears of illegal trafficking of orphaned children and the sexual abuse of women and girls and it said it hoped the international community would follow through with its pledges.
“We also join the secretary-general in his call for setting the stage for the longer term, as we must move from saving lives to recovery and reconstruction and we therefore urge the international community to commit to the pledges made over the past ten days,” UNCHR said.
Meanwhile, the government said yesterday it was finalizing a scheme to give a cash donation for 2-3 weeks and waive off taxes and utility bills for all tsunami-affected families in the country on top of urgent housing arrangements as part of an overall relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction drive largely with donor funding.
