began distributing aid packages amid fresh reports Wednesday, November 16, of a possible new tsunami in Asia.
It came as an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale shook the seabed off the east coast of Japan, Wednesday, November 16, the second "strong" quake in the region in two days, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported. Its epicenter was off Honshu island, about 295 kilometers (184 miles) southeast of the capital Tokyo.
A quake measuring around 7.0 on the Richter scale shook northern Japan early on Tuesday, November 15, and small tsunami waves struck coastal towns about 320 kilometers (200 miles) from the epicenter causing thousands of people to flee their homes briefly, news reports said.
Another major tsunami in Asia would add to strain on Christian aid groups who are already struggling to provide aid on Indonesia’s predominantly Christian Nias island, "where residents are still recovering from the December 26 tsunami and a devastating March 28 earthquake," said Christian Freedom International (CFI).
CFI, a Christian aid and religious rights group, said it delivered about 10 tons of medicines, cooking utensils, tools, and clothing to Nias, donated by Christians and churches in the United States. The aid, which is distributed by local churches, is necessary as "Nias Christians feel they are treated unfairly by the Indonesian government because of their faith," CFI claimed in a statement to BosNewsLife.
"NO SUPPORT"
"We are getting no support when you compare [it with the region of] Banda Aceh," said 34-year old Pastor Octaviusta Bangun in remarks published by CFI. "The only help we get here is from foreign NGOs," he added. "I think we are discriminated against here because we are mostly Christians on Nias. We are not treated the same by our government," CFI quoted him as saying. Of the nearly half a million inhabitants of Nias, more than 90 percent are Christian, according to CFI.
The organization said it had learned from a college student, identified only as 24-year old Perlin, that Indonesia’s government discriminates Nias inhabitants because they are Christens. "It is religious discrimination. We get old, expired food and junky things," Perlin reportedly said of the Indonesian government’s response.
"There is no focus on Nias. If someone’s house is broken there is no help to rebuild, no loans of funding to rebuild. They just give us tents but many of them are not good. We are very much marginalized by the government in Jakarta. We feel it is religious discrimination, religious persecution," added Perlin.
ISLAMIC EXTREMISM
The Indonesian government has denied it allows religious discrimination and pledged to crackdown on Islamic extremism in Indonesia, Asia’s largest Muslim nation. At least 784 people reportedly died in the most recent March 28 earthquake on Nias, while another 781 were injured. Nearly 74-thousnad people became refugees and many now live with relatives or in tents on the troubled island, CFI said.
95 churches and over 9,000 homes were completely destroyed while over 1,600 churches and nearly 17,000 homes were damaged, according to a CFI investigation. "In the six months since the earthquake, few, if any, of the homes have been rebuilt. None of the churches have been rebuilt," the group claimed.
"The Christians here have little to no money to even rebuild their homes, let alone rebuild and support their churches. They need a lot of help," said CFI President Jim Jacobson, a former White House official.
