Asian Studies, STIA hold forum on tsunami impact

With 280,000 confirmed dead on two continents and in 11 countries, the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia on Dec. 26 has left the region with the possibility of unforetold socioeconomic, political and environmental ramifications. The Asian Studies Department and the School of Foreign Service’s Program on Science, Technology and International Affairs assembled a forum Tuesday to discuss the issues surrounding life in the region in the wake of the disaster.

School of Foreign Service Dean Robert Gallucci said that it is important to sponsor such educational events in order to increase understanding of the tsunami’s impacts.

“Events occur that mark our lives,” he said in his opening remarks. “In this country, it was 9/11. This is that kind of event for the world, and it is worth pausing to examine questions of humanitarianism, politics, the environment, health and security.”

Asian Studies Professor Asoka Bandarage, the event’s organizer, is a native of Sri Lanka, one of the hardest-hit nations. She focused on the increased number of issues plaguing Sri Lankan stability. According to Bandarage, widely disparate groups have capitalized on the opportunity to take advantage of newly orphaned children. Child sex traffickers have kidnapped numerous orphans, and Christian missionaries are offering them food in exchange for conversion.

She also noted, however, positive effects of the disaster.

“Local acts of charity have transcended ethnic, religious, and social boundaries,” she said. “All Sri Lankans really do want to live together. As analysts and policy-makers, we have to look beyond anger at God and Mother Nature to a vision of a better, more caring world.”

Panelist Dr. Tim Beach, Director of the Center for the Environment, spoke about the risks associated with recent migration to areas of high geological hazard, such as Southeast Asia.

He underscored the importance of disseminating general information about geological hazards, citing examples of people whose basic knowledge of tsunamis saved thousands of lives. He also detailed existing options for and the financial feasibility of natural disaster warning systems.

“The most important warning system is geographic and geoscience education,” Beach said. “We need people to know how to react.”

Other panelists discussed the region’s leaders’ difficulties in exercising national sovereignty, finding refuge for internally displaced peoples, ensuring that donor groups follow through with their pledged funds, avoiding discrimination of aid toward specific ethnic groups and preventing exploitation of female victims in refugee camps.

Katie Sheketoff (SFS ‘05) was impressed with the depth of the discussion but believed that the panel omitted discussion of other relative issues.

“I thought the political ramifications of the military presence in Aceh [in Indonesia] were interesting,” she said. “I wish they had talked more about the democratic interests. There are so many fledgling democracies in Southeast Asia, and I’m curious what the U.S. policy will be.”