Target: Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State
Goal: Stop tearing down and start building up humanitarian aid capabilities.
A devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake devastated Myanmar: a region already crippled by violent civil conflict. Over 10,000 buildings collapsed, and neighboring Thailand also saw its share of destruction, including the crumbling of a high-rise building that has resulted in an urgent search and rescue operation. The death toll is expected to surpass 3,000, and every minute that passes raises the risk for individuals who may be trapped. Unfortunately, after 72 hours the possibility of rescue drastically diminishes.
Harrowing and hopeful tales of rescue have provided bright spots in this tragedy, with search and rescue teams from countries like India, Russia, and China delivering urgent assistance. Notably absent from this list of helpers is the United States, which had still not yet sent any aid teams days after the disaster struck. A team substantially reduced in numbers (a three-member delegation, to be exact) is expected to arrive, but it will be well past the 72-hour window. American aid will also be devoid of the Disaster Assistance Response Teams (providing resources like air aid, fuel, and medical kits) and the search and rescue teams that have proven so prominent in other disasters. Most of the agencies and programs responsible for coordinating these life-saving responses were either defunded or outright shuttered by the administration and its Department of Government Efficiency.
Sign the petition below to demand leaders fully restore America’s ability to respond to the most urgent crises.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Secretary Rubio,
Following are a few numbers for your consideration: three; 227; 2 million; 13 million; 72; 96; 3,000. The first number represents the sum of American delegation members traveling to Myanmar following its devastating earthquake. The second number reflects the number of American aid workers who responded within hours to a major earthquake in Turkey. The two million and the 13 million embody the dollars in aid pledged by the United States and China, respectively. As for the 72, it represents the Golden Window: the number of hours before rescue operations typically move to recovery operations. 96 and counting is the number of hours it took for America to send its “delegation” to Myanmar. And that final number, it stands for the estimated number of lives that will be lost by the time the last rescue and aid crew has left Myanmar.
It was perhaps easy to talk loftily about cuts and about “waste” when these numbers were just abstract things. But now these numbers have faces, losses, lives, and livelihoods behind them. They are the reality and the consequence of the United States of America and its leaders very publicly divesting themselves from aid, from empathy, from cooperation, and from any hint of a humanitarian impulse.
You were happy to announce the State Department’s takeover of USAID. You should be equally happy to answer for the absence of DART teams, the absence of search and rescue teams, and the absence of America during the planet’s darkest hours. One day it may be your community that needs a lifeline. For once, tune out the political noise and listen to your conscience. Advocate and fight for an American agency and a United States of America that answers the call when it matters most.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Nicholas Howes
