ICRC to carry on with tsunami aid in Lanka, Indonesia

THE International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday it would continue to provide aid to victims of the recent tsunami and earthquakes in Indonesia and Sri Lanka until reconstruction efforts "produce results".

Although the ICRC will shift its focus back to humanitarian work related to the internal conflicts in Sri Lanka and the Indonesian province of Aceh, the Geneva-based agency said many quake victims still depended on emergency aid.

"Most tsunami survivors still live in difficult conditions," said Reto Meister, the organisation's delegate-general for Asia and the Pacific.

"Many of them have lost everything and they still depend on humanitarian aid to rebuild their lives," he added in a statement.

The international assistance operation in the areas around the Indian Ocean devastated by the earthquake and tsunami in December is moving away from emergency aid to recovery and reconstruction.

The ICRC said that "for the rest of 2005 it will go on endeavouring to bridge the gap until reconstruction begins producing results" in the two countries.

More than 220,000 people were killed in 12 countries and hundreds of thousands of others were left homeless by the deadly waves that were sparked by a huge undersea earthquake off the west coast of Indonesia.

Aceh and Sri Lanka suffered the most damage. - AFP