Belgian aid mission to Nepal triggers "mixed feelings"

"The decision to send a Belgian 'B-Fast' rescue team to Nepal was taken too late", says Tom Staes, one of the doctors working for the team. The B-Fast team arrived back in Belgium yesterday, after a mission that has been the subject of criticism. "We could have done more, if we had acted more quickly."

The emergency aid team spent just over a week in the Nepal area that was hit by a devastating earthquake. The mission started off with high expectations, but turned into a major disappointment. B-Fast only arrived at the site four days after the earthquake, also because there was no possibility to land on the busy local airport in Kathmandu.

But that was not the main problem: Tom Staes (photo) told the VRT that the decision to travel to Nepal came too late. Its main aim was to set up a search and rescue operation to save survivors trapped under the rubble, something that has to happen in the first days after the disaster. When the Belgians arrived, the Nepalese government had taken the formal decision to stop the focus on search and rescue and go for medical aid instead. "They preferred medical supplies when we arrived on the spot."

"Mixed feelings"

This does not mean the B-Fast members couldn't do anything. "We adapted to the situation. We fetched medicines and rented a truck - these are two things we didn't bring as a search and rescue team. We also visited two villages where nobody else had been after the earthquake to report on the situation and the most urgent needs." 

"Returning to Belgium, we had mixed feelings. Disappointment, because we could have done more if we had been there faster. On the other hand, we could at least do something to help out."

Luc Beaucourt, a Belgian doctor specialised in medical emergency aid, says he does not understand why the federal Health Department makes the decisions. He wants the armed forces to take the lead. 

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