DAGBLADET, NORWAY, SEPTEMBERS 8, 1971
Editorial
HELP THE EAST BENGALIS
The world has not yet grasped the extent of the catastrophe which has hit the East Pakistani people. By the end of the year. 10 million people are expected to have lied the country, and this is going to create enormous nutritional problems for the neighboring country, India, where the refugees have settled down.
Those who are working out there say that up till now 100,000 children are threatened by death due to starvation if aid is not given soonest possible. Only about 3 million refugees in West Bengal are accommodated in the camps established by the Indians. To this Indian state have arrived more than 5 million refugees. That means that more than 2 million people are living on the road out in the countryside, on pavements in the towns and in other places where there is a possibility for existence.
Apart from hunger, there is still cholera. The epidemic has been slowed down to a certain degree, but the disease is still paying havoc with the less resistant and undernourished among the refugees. The least resistant are often children and a part from the 100,000 directly threatened by deaths there exit over 300,000 who are seriously undernourished.
In these figures lies a tragedy which is inconceivable to outsiders. The tragedy is of such vastness that the Biafra events in all likelihood are small in comparison.
The relief work done so far has been considerable but far from sufficient. The fact that aid for close to half a billion Norwegian kroners has been given, indicates the extent of the tragedy. And this is far from sufficient. By the end of this month, the Refugee Commission of the U.N. needs another 700 million kroners to keep going.
It is on the basis of this sombre background that 5 Norwegian Relief Organizations have started their great collecting campaign in Norway and on September 20, on Election Day, 10,000 volunteers will be outside the election premises and approach 80 per cent of the electors who are going to the polls on that day.
We do hope that each and everyone has something to give.