Source: Malaysiakini.com
By Fauwaz Abdul
Aziz
![]() 12 January 2005 - Arab and Muslim groups seeking to
offer financial aid to victims of the Dec 26 tsunami disaster have been
hampered by the �War on Terror� than a lack of willingness to help, said a
Muslim-based group, which just returned from Aceh.
Muslim Youth
Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) president Ahmad Azam Abdul Rahman said the
freezing of funds belonging to Muslim and Arab relief non-governmental
organisations (NGO) have forced their leaders and other rich individuals
to go directly to the affected areas and hand the money to local and
regional NGOs.
�Some Muslim leaders traveled to Aceh themselves to
see that their money reaches the victims directly. They�re afraid that if
they donate to this or that group, they would be (accused of being) linked
somehow (to terrorism),� he added.
Azam was speaking at a press
conference at ABIM�s Kuala Lumpur headquarters jointly held with affiliate
Global Peace Mission (GPM) to brief reporters on the latest developments
in Aceh.
The Indonesian province was the worst hit area, with
104,000 killed and more than 361,000 people currently displaced.
Recounting how Muslims from different Arab countries arrived in
Aceh and handed money to ABIM, Azam faulted certain governments for
blocking channels that could otherwise convey badly needed funds.
�Of course the Islamic NGOs didn�t send much. Their funds have
been paralysed. They could not donate,� he said.
Cooperation vital
According to GPM vice-chairperson Sharifah Aminah Abdullah
Al-Kharid, a large number of group leaders and wealthy individuals from
the Middle East came to Aceh to hand over financial assistance personally.
�There were a lot of Islamic and Arab NGOs on the ground. They
came from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar and UAE.
�There was even an
old Syrian sheikh, an old man of maybe 90-years old, who arrived (to give
money). Others donated between RM4,000 and RM100,000,� said Sharifah, who
headed the one week mission to Aceh, the second organised by GPM.
�They were there. Some who had arrived couldn�t stand the smell
(in the air of decomposing bodies) and were vomiting upon landing at the
airport. They had to go back (on the next return flight). But they were
there,� she added.
However, she declined to comment on which
governments or groups were blocking relief efforts from these countries.
�We don�t want to focus on that issue. What is important now is
that we cooperate,� she said.
On the same note, she said many
groups managed to bypass the blockade and delays by working directly with
the local NGOs on the ground.
Earlier, Sharifah pleaded for the
public to continue donating money for the Acehnese to purchase food as
well as power generators, water supply processing and containment
equipment among other dire necessities.
She also spoke of the
large number of corpses that were still on the roads and grounds of remote
and interior areas, which were inaccessible to vehicles due the
infrastructure destroyed by the tsunami.
Another GPM volunteer,
retired major Azlan Sharif, spoke of the need to sustain the emergency
supplies and efforts to rehabilitate and reconstruct Aceh.
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