Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-17-Speech-4-179"
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"en.20051117.21.4-179"2
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".
Mr President, thank you for that very clear explanation. I was familiar with the Rules of Procedure and this procedure is, in fact, the one relating to urgent procedure, which has been dealt with in a rather special way. As for the order in which the groups take the floor, we are returning to the usual procedure, so everything is as it should be.
Mr President, I want to make three comments at the opening of this debate, which I and other speakers welcome. Firstly it is one of the biggest disasters in South-East Asia. Our resolution mentions the figures, which were recalled by the previous speakers. This earthquake has killed and seriously injured more than 200 000 people. Millions of people are still left homeless, facing extreme weather conditions and all kinds of serious illnesses. More than 1.8 million people are homeless, as are about 85% of the population of Muzaffarabad, which I have visited. This is a horrifying statistic and we in Western Europe must do as much as we can to remedy this.
Secondly, in terms of looking at the reaction so far, I applaud the swift action by the Commission and the Member States to give immediate aid. In this troubled part of the world, we must also welcome in particular the significant efforts by the Pakistani and Indian Governments to make sure that people can make contact across a line of control that has been impassable for more than 50 years. Hopefully this can be put into practice more.
More importantly, and most urgently, I should like to ask the Commission about recent UN figures that indicate that so far very little of the aid that has been promised has been received. We would like to know how much of the aid offered by the European Union and the Member States has reached its destination. But maybe we can make additional efforts in the conciliation of the 2006 budget next week so we can make sure that those who are homeless today will at least have some elementary cover as the winter approaches. This will supplement those really hard-earned funds raised my constituents among others to help these people who are in serious need today."@en1
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