PRESS RELEASE: Hurricane Katrina Survivor Activists Visit Tsunami-affected Villages in Asia
A delegation of hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors from Mississippi and Louisiana is traveling to visit villages devastated by the 2004 tsunami in Thailand and Indonesia from October 26 – November 9, 2006. The group will also attend a regional conference on people-centered disaster recovery.
The trip is part of an on-going exchange between activists in Asia and the United States, who are promoting models for rebuilding based on human rights, community participation and recognition of government responsibility to hurricane survivors as Internally Displaced persons (IDPs). IDPs have special protections under international human rights standards and the post-disaster policy guidelines recommended by a number of countries, including the U.S.
“In the affected villages, it has been very important to have the full participation of the community in rebuilding. Community took the initiative to organize and build houses with their own hands, in order to make sure that the survivors were the driving force in tsunami recovery, and not only at the mercy of outside speculators,” says Somsook Boonyabancha of Community Organizations Development Institute and the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR). ACHR is based in Thailand and is helping to coordinate the visit.
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