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Ethnicity, politics and inequality: post‐tsunami humanitarian aid delivery in Ampara District, Sri Lanka
Author(s) -
Amarasiri de Silva M.W.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7717.2008.01073.x
Subject(s) - sri lanka , ethnic group , inequality , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , humanitarian aid , politics , suicide prevention , socioeconomics , injury prevention , occupational safety and health , political science , medicine , economic growth , geography , environmental health , sociology , economics , law , mathematical analysis , mathematics , tanzania
The provision of humanitarian aid at times of disaster in multi‐ethnic community settings may lead to conflict, tension and even the widening of the distance between various ethnic groups. That aid agencies distribute humanitarian aid directly to affected communities, to speed up recovery, may often lead to chaos and the intensification of ethnic sentiments. The new distribution mechanisms introduced for the delivery of tsunami aid in Ampara District, Sri Lanka, did not recognise local networks and the culture of the ethnically mixed community setting. This paper analyses post‐tsunami aid distribution in Ampara and shows how such an extemporised effort in an ethnically cognisant context increased ethnic division, inequality and disorder, while marginalising the poor segments of the affected population. It recommends the inclusion of local networks in aid dissemination as a measure for improving ethnic neutrality and social harmony in disaster‐hit multi‐ethnic communities.