Télécoms sans Frontières reaches Zeyzoun; places Inmarsat satcom capabilities at the disposal of the Syrian government, the Red Crescent and the homeless
Telecoms Sans Frontieres, a French non-governmental organization that provides rapid-response telecommunication facilities in relief operations following sudden disasters, recently stated that a four-person team from Telecoms sans Frontieres left for Syria to be at the disposal of the Syrian government along with the Syrian Red Crescent in the rescue operations taking place at Zeysoun region.
The team left to Syria immediately upon receiving the acceptance of the Syrian government. It is equipped with Inmarsat satellite phones, which allow rescuers to co-ordinate their activities in areas where the telecoms network has been destroyed, does not exist, or is overloaded. The satellite phones also enable local people to contact friends and family to assure them they are well.
More than 20 people were killed and several thousands made homeless when 71 million cubic meters of water that thundered out of a six-meter-wide split in the wall of the dam. Homes were destroyed in the northern area of Al-Ghab and several villages were submerged. Entire crops were lost in the flood and the streets were littered with the bodies of dead farm animals and possessions were swept out of homes by the force of the deluge. Telephone and power lines in the area were also swept away by the raging waters.
On the ground, the team has found a devastated area covering about 80 square kilometers. The telecommunication needs were immediately evaluated at the crisis center of the Red Crescent, in the town of Hama. TSF then set up in the temporary camp housing the Zeyzoun survivors, in front of the remains of the dam. They have installed an Internet hub to be used for coordinating help, and offer the stricken population the possibility to phone their families.
Disaster relief and humanitarian aid agencies began using Inmarsat communications in the early 1990s. Today, more than 150 international disaster relief organizations rely on the company’s services, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam, the Save The Children Fund (SCF), the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs (UNDHA), UNICEF and the United Nations World Food Program.
TSF organization receives financial support from Inmarsat, the international mobile satellite communications company. From May 2000, Inmarsat has been investing one million French francs ($144,000) per annum in TSF for up to three years. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
