The St. Stephens Day tidal wave / Tsunami which struck south-east Asia has already been described as the equivalent of a nuclear holocaust. I think that is an appropriate comparison, not just because of the biblical proportions of the loss of life, but because it is likely that tens of thousands more will die of malnutrition and disease, as parts of Sumatra, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand are so devastated, even the health services, police forces and communications infrastructure have been wiped out.
As if that is not bad enough, un-named western countries have added another problem. They have allegedly asked the governments of those four countries not to bury unidentified remains of people killed in the tragedy, as they want to confirm which of their western citizens are dead.
Now, I can accept the reasons why this request has been made. People want to grieve properly for their loved ones and give them a proper burial. But at what cost? It has now been five days since the disaster. As each day passes, tens of thousands of bodies are further de-composing in the tropical heat, and these deadly conditions have probably already started the spread of cholera and other killer diseases. Much as I agree with the importance of identifying bodies for grieving families in every country, is this worth the loss of even one life? I don't think so. I have nobody belonging to me out there, Thank God, and maybe I don't have the right to say this, but I think the people of those four countries have suffered enough without governments (maybe including our own) putting this extra burden on them, at a time when they rely so heavily on aid from us and other countries.
