US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT73

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000073 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, EAID, KU 
SUBJECT: GOK INCREASES AID FOR TSUNAMI VICTIMS 
 
REF: STATE 959 
 
1.  Summary:  The GOK's initial pledge of $1 million in 
humanitarian assistance immediately after the tsunami was 
subsequently doubled, then increased to $10 million by the 
first week of January.  Private aid groups, companies and 
individual citizens have all stepped forward with donations 
of money and supplies.  Welfare societies representing the 
many third-country nationals working in Kuwait and hailing 
from countries affected by the tsunami have banded together 
to provide direct, targeted aid.  An editorial in one of 
Kuwait's Arabic dailies castigating the GOK for being stingy 
with aid has received regional and international attention 
and has led to public "soul-searching," as Kuwait grapples 
with its perceived obligation to provide aid to both its 
"Muslim brethren" in the tsunami-hit region and to the home 
countries of the majority of its expatriate workforce.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.  The GOK initially responded to the tsunami by pledging $1 
million in aid on December 26, then doubled it to $2 million 
on December 28.  On January 2 the GOK raised its pledge of 
aid to $10 million, matching the amounts initially pledged by 
Qatar and Saudi Arabia.  The GOK has not said if any 
additional aid is forthcoming. 
 
3. Aid to the tsunami victims has come from other sources in 
Kuwait, including individuals, companies, and welfare 
societies representing the many expatriate workers in Kuwait 
who come from the affected region.  Some examples include: 
Wataniya Telecom's pledge of 24 tons of aid to the Maldives, 
Kuwait Airways Corporation's assistance with transport of 
relief supplies, cash donations from Cargo Transport System 
Company and Al-Mullah Company, individual anonymous 
donations, and collections taken up by expatriate religious 
and community groups such as the Kuwait Malabar Pravasi 
Congress and others. 
 
4.  A January 3 Al-Qabas editorial took the GOK to task for 
being "cheap" with its aid, and other editorials and 
commentary reflected the view that the GOK was not properly 
responding to a disaster that had affected so many of the 
people who have "formed the workforce (in Kuwait) for the 
past 40 years."  While some individuals have been reportedly 
reluctant to donate to Muslim charities for fear of being 
"added to America's list of terror-supporting groups," the 
Kuwait Joint Relief Committee (part of the International 
Islamic Charitable Organization) had put together $100,000 in 
aid donations by January 5 and expects much more. 
 
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Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
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LEBARON