Prime Minister's statement to MPs on tsunami

Prime Minister Tony Blair has made a statement to the House of Commons following the Indian Ocean disaster.

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[Check against delivery]

With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement following the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean on the morning of Sunday 26th December. 

In the early hours of 26th December, the earth moved along some 1200km of the seabed, creating first a sea in retreat, then a sea borne along by a wave of such force that it literally obliterated not just the area of the coast at Aceh nearest to it but land over 3000 km from its epicentre.  It was a force of nature, so unimaginable in its power and catastrophic in its impact, it quite simply washed the life out of villages, towns, tourist resorts and anything alive on the water in areas across the entirety of the Indian Ocean.  It affected Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Maldives, Thailand, Myanmar [Burma], Malaysia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, the Seychelles, Bangladesh The estimated number or people killed now stands at over 150 000, with millions of people forced away from their homes.  As well as the devastating loss of life and immediate suffering, there are significant longer-term implications. Many people have lost their means of earning a living: fishermen have lost their boats and nets; farmers' crops have been destroyed; roads, bridges and buildings are damaged or destroyed; as are coastal areas where lives are dependent on tourism. 

We should begin by expressing the total unity of this House in giving our deepest condolences for the loss of life in those countries directly affected by the tsunami and to all those in this country who have lost family members, friends and colleagues in this disaster.  Scarcely any of us here will not know someone whose life has been touched by this event.  None of us will have not been moved to tears as each night, we saw and with mounting horror, the human tragedy that followed the natural disaster.

I can announce today that there will be a Memorial Service later this year for the victims of the Tsunami which will be attended by Her Majesty The Queen.  We will give more details in due course and will obviously wish to take account of the views of relatives in planning the service.

I will divide my statement into three parts: first, in respect of the loss of British lives; secondly, the immediate humanitarian help to the countries concerned; and finally the longer-term issues of redevelopment and reconstruction.

Let me begin with our own citizens.  The number of confirmed dead is now 51.  The number of Category 1 of the missing - that is highly likely to be dead - is, including the 51, now 453 up from 443 last Friday.  371 of those are in respect of Thailand; 50 in respect of Sri Lanka.

Those numbers in Category 1 have stopped rising so rapidly.  Not all of them will end up as being actually dead, though the majority of them may.

The Category 2 figure - those unaccounted for in the region but not in the highly likely category - now stands at 871, down from over 2000 late last week.  Previous experience tell us that this figure may never fall to zero.

On 26 December, the Foreign Office established temporary offices working in all the affected areas. There is now, for example, a temporary office the size of a medium sized Embassy in Phuket. Staff have also been deployed at overseas airports to help with any problems of British nationals and issue emergency passports to those without travel documents.

75 police officers are also working in Thailand and Sri Lanka, both to assist in an international effort to recover and identify the dead and to give specialist advice to our FCO teams in those countries.  Their work is enormously difficult as well as distressing. 

Sadly, many victims were swept away by the force of the tsunami, and their remains may never be recovered. In other cases, and as time goes by, forensic identification of the remains becomesextremely hard.  DNA testing may be required and this will take time.I know that this will only add to the agony of families. But I am afraid no short cuts are possible. The pain and upset which can be caused by mistakes would be even worse.

The Foreign Office have funded the deployment of portable mortuary facilities to the disaster areas in Sri Lanka and Thailand and are working closely with international undertakers to facilitate the repatriation of bodies once they have been positively identified.

British officials and police officers are now working with the families of the victims to repatriate remains where appropriate and help the injured get home. The Foreign Office have assisted affected families with the cost of repatriating remains; immediate medical expenses for those seriously injured; medical evacuation; and return travel for two members of the victim's family.

The emergency call centre has taken over 40,000 calls at the peak, and have subsequently taken over 135,000 in total.

Over 200 Family Liaison Officers have been appointed to support every family of British nationals we think are highly likely to have been involved. This figure is lower than the number of likely deaths because many families have unfortunately lost a number of relatives in this terrible tragedy. We are also looking to provide Family Liaison Officers for families in the affected countries where appropriate and are supporting families in the UK who have lost family members who lived in those affected countries, particularly in Sri Lanka where over 30,000 people were killed.

The Foreign Office has also ensured that there are full reception arrangements at airports for people returning to the UK. This includes tailored medical attention where necessary, assistance with getting home and access to psychological and emotional support services. The British Red Cross have also established a Help Line for victims of the disaster and their families and a family support network for those affected.

I would like to say one word about the Foreign Office, police and other staff involved in this operation.  The complexity of it is obvious.  The grief of the families is manifest and absolutely understandable.  There couldn't be circumstances more taxing.  There will inevitably be mistakes made or unintended insensitivity in certain cases.  But I am clear that these staff have done a quite magnificent and exceptional job and I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to them.

Let me now turn to the action the Government has taken to alleviate the consequences of the tsunami in the countries affected.

Within hours of the disaster striking, DFID's crisis operations team was set up, it sent out its first assessment team and the next day DFID began airlifts of tents and plastic sheeting in response to an urgent request from the Government of Sri Lanka. A series of airlifts followed, including approximately 80 tonnes of water donated to the Maldives and enough basic emergency medical supplies to Indonesia to treat 100,000 people for 3 months.

We focussed our immediate effort on support to the United Nations Humanitarian Organisations, the Red Cross Movement, non-governmental organisations and a range of practical actions, such as delivery of urgently needed relief items including water, water containers, tents and blankets and plastic sheeting. 

As time has passed, it has become clear that the biggest challenges are in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

The UN is leading the international humanitarian response, and Britain is supporting the UN co-ordination and logistics effort to improve delivery of assistance.  In Indonesia, w e have provided equipment to help establish the UN Field Office in Banda Aceh, plus 5 helicopters and some vehicles to the UN for use in Aceh province. We have also provided two experts to its assessment team, two UK emergency teams and three military operations teams, which are working closely with local government and partners nations to assess needs. And we have a range of medium and heavy-lift cargo aircraft - including RAF Hercules and Tristar aircraft and a number of helicopters - involved in delivering aid in the region. We have sent 5 flights to Indonesia carrying 3750 family tents. We are putting together plans for further airlifts (from both Europe and other regions) of relief materials to the region.  We are also deploying two fully equipped and manned helicopters from the Ghurka Battalion stationed in Brunei.

One of the main challenges in both countries is distributing the massive amount of aid which has been provided. UK forces are playing an important role in this. We are  providing significant airlift capacity, including one RAF C-17 plane and five RAF C-130 planes. Two naval vessels - Chatham and Diligence - have been providing assistance off Sri Lanka together with their Lynx helicopters.

In respect of the money pledged, the first thing is to pay tribute to the remarkable but typical generosity of the British people.  Their willingness to contribute - and the funds now stand at just over £100 million - is the best illustration of the British character and shows a warmth of spirit and a depth of compassion that has been uplifting even as we contemplate the tragedy that gave rise to it.

I should set out the Government's contribution so far.  In doing so, I should mention that in my conversations with the Presidents of Sri Lanka and Indonesia and again this morning with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, they have all gone out of their way to express their gratitude but also their admiration for Britain's response, that of the British people in their own right and through their Government.

The international pledges total some £2 billion.  The EU as a whole has already collectively pledged or given 1.5 billion Euros.  A meeting of EU Foreign Ministers on Friday agreed to ask the European Investment Bank to consider an "Indian Ocean Tsunami facility" of up to 1 billion Euros.

The British Government's contribution is, so far, as follows.  I have agreed that the Government will increase its pledge to the immediate humanitarian response from £50 million to £75 million, with an additional £25 million from the Treasury's Central Reserve. None of this has been taken from our existing development programmes. Of this £75m, around £30m has already been disbursed to the UN and NGOs.

Our share of EU budget money allocated is a further £15 million.  Gift aid tax relief amounts to a further £15 million.

We will also make a special donation to offset the VAT on goods sold to raise money to the Tsunami appeal.  And DFID has offered to pay the cost of air freighting equipment and supplies paid for by donations from the public.  Six flights have already departed; another goes tomorrow.

The G7 is agreeing to an immediate moratorium on debt repayments by afflicted countries for those that request it until a full needs assessment is completed.  The suspension of debt servicing for 2005 for Indonesia alone will for Britain total over £70 million.

So all in all, already committed or spent is around £200 million of British Government money.  But as I indicated last week, we still have to await the full assessment of the World Bank on the long-term reconstruction needed.  In all likelihood, that will require further disbursements.  In addition, we will continue to meet any immediate requests for humanitarian assistance.  I might add the provision of so much military equipment has also a cost which the Government bears.

Long-term reconstruction in Sri Lanka and especially in Indonesia leads on to the lessons in respect of the international community's response to any future such natural events.  First, my Right Hon Friend the Development Secretary - whose department has performed in an outstanding way in the last two weeks - has set out in a paper to the UN how he believes the UN's administration can be improved in its response capability and will be going to New York next month to discuss it.  Presciently, he made these suggestions first in a speech shortly before Christmas.

Secondly, we need urgent work on early warning systems and not just in the region affected.

The Jakarta conference on Thursday agreed that a regional warning system was needed in that region. The World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Japan later this month will consider how this and other similar needs can be met.

I have asked the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King, to put together a small group of experts to advise me on the mechanisms that could and should be established for the detection and early warning of natural hazards.

Mr Speaker, the last two weeks have shown a world in shock but also in solidarity.  It is not just the money given.  It is the volunteering to help collect it; the doctors and nurses wanting to go out to help; the experts from every field imaginable clamouring for a chance to serve and to give of their time, energy and expertise.

Later this year, the world will turn its attention not just to a natural disaster but to one that is man-made: Africa.  In that continent, daily, thousands die preventably from conflict, famine and disease.

If the domination of this issue on our TV screens is less dramatic, the suffering of human beings is every bit as severe.

If we were, as a result of the strength of our sentiment towards the victims of the Tsunami, to turn that same sentiment into action on Africa, then perhaps those whose faith has been shaken by the monstrous consequences of the event we have witnessed, would have it renewed.  There could be no greater good to come out of it.