Posted on 02/18/2005 6:57:50 AM PST by nypokerface
ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek church charity sent boxes of "inappropriate" aid to victims of the December tsunami in Sri Lanka, including fur coats and carnival wigs, Doctors of the World, the organisation that helped unload the shipment has said.
The aid, more than 600 tonnes, was collected in Greece by the Orthodox Church's charity organisation Solidarity and shipped to Sri Lanka using a cruise ship. The operation was coordinated by the Greek Foreign Ministry.
"We had a staff of eight on the ship travelling to Sri Lanka. When they arrived and started opening boxes containing the aid they were shocked and angered," said Elli Xenou, Doctors of the World director of foreign missions.
"There were boxes containing fur coats, carnival wigs and underwear thongs which were completely inappropriate," she told Reuters.
The Foreign Ministry said it was investigating the issue, which caused outrage in Greek media. The ministry planned to issue a statement.
The Indian Ocean tidal wave triggered an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy and aid from Greece which ranked as the fourth biggest contributor of aid in the European Union.
It was not clear how much of the 600 tonnes could not be used but Xenou said it was a lot.
"There was a considerable amount of stuff that should definitely not have been there. Even if just one box could not be used it is unacceptable."
Solidarity Director Dimitris Fourlemadis said there could have been some boxes containing suspect clothing but said the figure was very small.
"We sent 26,919 packages. Even if there were two, 10 or 100 boxes with some other stuff inside, it is a very small number and not worth mentioning," he told Reuters.
Up to 300,000 people in several countries and island states died in the December 26 tsunami that followed an undersea quake off Aceh province on the northwestern tip of Indonesia -- the area worst hit in the disaster.
Beggars.
Choosers.
Mutually exclusive.
These were intended as a donation for the Sri Lankan gay pride parade.
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