As part of the worldwide disaster relief effort, in the wake of yesterday’s disaster in East Asia, an emergency medical team was dispatched yesterday evening to Sri Lanka, with the purpose of administering first aid on behalf of the State of Israel.
Sri Lanka, as the country hardest hit by the disaster, will receive Israeli emergency medical aid, however Israel intends to send food as well as medical supplies to the other countries hit by the quake.
An earthquake in the magnitude of 8.9 on the Richter scale struck Southeast Asia early Sunday morning. The earthquake was followed by a series of tsunami tidal waves.
The situation center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Israeli missions in Bangkok, New Delhi, and Bombay have been functioning on an emergency basis. Concurrently, crisis centers have been established in Phuket, and Karabai Koh-Phiphi on Thailand.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that its situation center is available 24 hours a day at 972-2-530-3155.
The Ministry of the Interior's Population Authority today delivered 2,000 one-time laissez-passer documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to enable Israelis who have lost their documents to return home.
The Israeli Embassy in Bangkok has been instructed by the Ministry of the Interior not to charge for issuing laissez-passer documents.
Israelis who return home without their documents and who are able to prove that they were in the disaster area will be issued new passports free of charge.
The Population Authority will issue laissez-passer documents on the spot for family members seeking to leave for East Asia immediately in order to be with their relatives.
El Al Israel Airlines (TASE:ELAL) announced that it was operating its six weekly flights to Bangkok as usual, and that there was no undue pressure on its return flight schedule, and that inter-island flights within Southeast Asia were also continuing as scheduled. El Al's spokesman said that, at this stage, there was no reason to add more flights to the route.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on Monday, December 27, 2004