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(FinalCall.com) - Racist, apathetic and outright neglected is how many have assessed the recovery efforts of the Bush Administration in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Institute for Southern Studies recently released a report to further expose America’s violations of human rights, disregard for UN relief standards, weak disaster laws and refusal to implement disaster policies at home that it imposes on foreign nations. “For many people the Katrina tragedy never ended. Clearly, Katrina doesn’t make the headlines like it used to, but that doesn’t mean that all is well,” said Chris Kromm, executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies. What sets this report apart from what has already been said? The study, titled “Hurricane Katrina and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement,” distinguishes itself by focusing more closely on exactly how U.S. officials did not abide by UN Guiding Principles that they demand nations abroad to uphold. Thirty principles were adopted by the United Nations in 1998 to protect the rights of people uprooted by conflict and calamity. The principles were unanimously recognized at the 2005 World Summit. “Leaders in Washington have embraced the UN Guiding Principles for helping disaster victims abroad,” said Mr. Kromm. “But there’s serious concern that the principles continue to be ignored at home in the Gulf Coast.” U.S. officials authored a policy document that matched UN principles, but it was never used, the report said. A critic of the government’s disaster response and legislation has been Walter Kalin, who represents the UN Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons. He joined human rights groups in New Orleans for the Jan. 14 press conference to support the report findings and encourage American officials to use the UN framework in future disasters. He also pointed out the despicable condition of Katrina survivors in the world’s superpower. “Whether you’re displaced in a rich country or a poor country, what remains the same is you need to get the help to be able to restart a normal life, and the people I have met are not there yet,” said Mr. Kalin, a law professor from Switzerland. After the press conference, he was scheduled to tour and meet with survivors and city leaders in New Orleans, Houston and Mississippi over two days to hear about their struggles and views on recovery efforts. Backed by 12-fact finding missions to the Gulf Coast and hundreds of interviews, failures documented in the report include the cutting of funds for fortifying New Orleans’ levee system by 44 percent from 2001 to 2005; inadequately protecting the human rights of Gulf Coast residents during displacement; and not upholding the rights of those displaced to return, resettle and reintegrate in the Gulf Coast. Before the afternoon press conference, Mr. Kromm and Mr. Kalin participated in a morning townhall discussion at the Brookings’ Institute headquarters in Washington, D.C. The discussion, “Fires, Floods, Earthquakes and Tsunamis: A Human Rights Perspective for Major Natural Disasters,” addressed questions about why the U.S. government has not utilized UN principles in disaster responses, and how these principles can be codified into law. “In your constitutional system, it’s not really possible to invoke the international human rights standards, which is the case in many countries,” explained Mr. Kalin. “So the only way to do it is really to implement these standards into national legislation, and that’s what I’m advocating all over the world.” In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, thousands remain displaced and struggles with the federal government for relief continue. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Jan. 7, upholding its decision to end housing subsidiaries for hurricane survivors. The ruling concluded applicants for rental assistance aren’t legally entitled to a “continuing stream of payments.” Approximately 29,000 former New Orleans residents have been shifted from FEMA assistance into a new program ran by HUD. No Gulf Coast family has received rental assistance from FEMA since the transition to HUD’s program in December, according to a FEMA spokesperson. The families have had to fend for themselves, advocates complain. Dr. Courtney Cowart, of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, notes that the federal government plans to move 33,000 people out of FEMA trailers by May 30. “We are going to see an unprecedented number of homeless people here and this housing issue is going to get real crazy,” she said to The Final Call. According to the Mississippi Development Authority, a final marketing campaign will be launched to urge any remaining owners of hurricane-damaged homes to apply for federal rebuilding grants, before they close out the $100 million program. An estimated 3,000 homeowners may still qualify for up to $150,000 in helpfrom federal block grants. No specific deadline has been set, but officials say the program will end “in the very near future.”
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