Insight | Slow response to foreign humanitarian crises

Paulo Barbosa

Macau has a longstanding tradition of helping those in need. During the Second World War, when under the threat of a Japanese attack, the local authorities reportedly distributed bread and water to a population that rose from 200,000 to about 700,000 people within two or three years.
The journalist and researcher João Botas, who wrote a historical essay on this very topic, described how, “Macau became a haven for thousands of refugees, mostly from China” including the large Macanese community that resided in Shanghai.
During the post-war period, the region also assisted refugees, including those fleeing Communist China after 1949, and the Vietnamese “boat people” in the 1970s.
It therefore feels strange to see a certain slowness in response to international aid requests following the massive earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, killing almost 8,000 people and leaving massive destruction in its wake. One week after the earthquake, the president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association of Macau, Sudarshan Thapa Magar, was alleging that authorities were unresponsive to the Nepalese migrant community’s repeated pleas for help. When asked about the issue, a representative from the Spokesperson Office gave the Times a quite bureaucratic answer, saying that no “formal written request” for financial support from the Nepalese association had been received at that time. But, was a “formal request” needed? Shouldn’t the government be more proactive in a situation where every minute counts in saving lives?
To give some good examples, shortly after the natural disaster, China pledged two rounds of humanitarian aid worth 60 million yuan to Nepal in addition to over 350 Chinese engineers, doctors and rescue workers who were sent to work on the ground.
Three days after the earthquake, the Hong Kong government applied for a supplementary provision of HKD50 million from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council. On April 30, it was announced that the provision had been passed by circulation, without going through the normal procedure of an open meeting.
In Macau, the response to humanitarian crises in the region (excluding China) clearly takes more time. And it is not the first time this has happened. After the huge destruction to regions in the Philippines caused by typhoon Haiyan in early November 2013, a relief package and a message of sympathy was sent by the local government three weeks after the disaster and only following public outcry. Some wondered if this apparent indifference was related to the Spratly Islands territorial disputes that involved China and the Philippines. If so, it’s a shame, especially because there’s a large Filipino community in Macau.
I wonder if this sometimes slow response to disasters that generally occurs in the region can be attributed to the fact that the MSAR lacks the competence to deal with foreign affairs and thus it eventually needs to wait for China’s approval before sending help. The Times questioned the government about this and received no reply.
On Thursday, May 7, with the Nepal disaster hitting TV screens for days on end, the government finally did the right thing and announced that it would donate MOP20 million to Nepal after a meeting between the Chief Executive and Mahesh Prasad Dahal, the Nepalese consul to Hong Kong and Macau,. Better late than never.
To conclude on a good note, the local community displayed remarkable solidarity towards Nepal. Besides the help swiftly provided by the local Red Cross and other NGOs, several gaming operators organized fundraisers spurred on by their Nepalese workers in order to gather large amounts of money.
Now the question is how this aid will be used on the ground and if it will be able to reach those most in need. According to media reports, this is not always possible. The donors should establish mechanisms in order to ensure this can occur. But the first step is to provide help. Macau helped, continuing an old humanitarian tradition. It should always be like this, whenever and wherever the tragedy hits.