Scottish volunteers break aid blockade for Transdniester

Cut off from the normal channels of international aid, children in Transdniester will now receive help from Scottish volunteers

EDINBURGH (Tiraspol Times) - From Scotland a humanitarian mission is heading for Transdniester to deliver much-needed aid.

A group of Scottish members of the Communication Workers Union have teamed up with other Scots to organize the mission which will help 200 women and children with learning difficulties, who are currently exiled in a hospital ward.

One of the volunteers, Dorothy Wilson, from Skelmorlie in Scotland, explained that the unrecognized status of Transdniester means that the country has no access to conventional sources of aid.

" - Transdniester is not recognized and they do not receive international aid, but they desperately need our help. I hope it helps lift their spirits to know somewhere in the world someone is thinking of them," Dorothy Wilson told local newspaper Greenock Telegraph before setting out on her journey.

Aid volunteer Dorothy Wilson with Scottish kids and some of the donated charity supplies which are now on their way to women and children in Transdniester (Photo copyright: George Munro).

As a co-driver with the Communication Workers’ Union, she will drive thousands of miles from Scotland to the republic of Transdniester, which is landlocked between two hostile neighbors, Moldova and Ukraine.

" - This is just something that I have always wanted to do," said Dorothy Wilson.

Community fund-raising in Scotland

In parts of Scotland, local communities and church groups have collected aid for Transdniester in preparation for this humanitarian relief effort.

Apart from labor union activists, groups which chipped in with support for Transdniester included the parish of St Joseph’s and St Patrick’s, Riverview Centre, Inverclyde Council’s adult learning team and community support services, all in Scotland.

Another big help came from the Auchmountain Resource Centre in the local town of Greenock (population: 45,000) which served as one of the locations where charity volunteers came together to donate boxes of aid in order to fill up a truck for Transdniester.

" - It is good to let young people know what is happening outside of Inverclyde," said Auchmountain Resource Centre co-ordinator Jet Gallagher.

Nearly 200 boxes of essential goods were donated by youngsters at the Auchmountain Resource Centre.

The trip will take place over a three week period and will last until Transdniester's independence day on 2 September. To cover the costs, Scottish volunteers raised funds through events like a sponsored Ben Nevis climb and a coffee morning. Other expenses are donated by the members of the Communication Workers Union.

With more than 250,000 dues paying members, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) is the largest trade union in the United Kingdom for people working in the technology and communications sector. It was formed in 1995, by the merger of the Union of Communication Workers with the National Communications Union. Its members work in the Post Office, British Telecom, O2 and other communication companies, cable TV, Accenture HR Services, the Alliance and Leicester and Girobank.

Moldova implements aid blockade; refuses to share aid

Neighboring Moldova uses its status as a recognized country to hit up other countries and international organizations for large scale aid. This week alone the government of Moldova has requested aid to cover an alleged billion dollar shortfall in food products which it claims is caused by drought.

As reported by Chisinau news agency Infotag, the Moldovan Government prepared a list which it handed to donor counties and to international organizations. In its list, the government of Moldova claims that "losses in the agricultural sector are growing daily and they have already exceeded $1 billion."

None of the foreign assistance will be distributed to Transdniester. Although Moldova maintains a 17 year old territorial claim to the territory, it does not share aid or other humanitarian supplies with the residents of Transdniester. The 550,000 inhabitants of Transdniester are on their own and cut off from access to the international community due to their status as an unrecognized country. Until diplomatic recognition is achieved, Transdniester can not engage other countries in international relations and have no possibility of obtaining aid on the same basis as Moldova.

On a per-capita basis, Transdniester's share of Moldova's latest USD $1 billion figure would be approximately $150 million. Moldova follows a long-standing practice of not sharing any aid with residents of Transdniester, but at the same time of isolating them on the international stage and blocking their attempts at obtaining direct aid through bilateral country contacts of their own.

Since Transdniester is cut off from seeking aid through conventional diplomatic channels, the small state has instead turned to informal non-governmental channels where church groups, trade unions and private humanitarian organizations have shown willingness to help by breaking the aid blockade.

European NGOs like the medical charity East European Aid repeatedly helped Transdniester with shipments of life saving supplies and hospital equipment. Church groups from the United States have also sent aid to the new and emerging country, and the French organization Médecins Sans Frontières recently opened a program in the capital city Tiraspol. (With information from Greenock Telegraph)

See also:
» EU-origin aid arrives in Tiraspol at critical time
» European aid workers welcomed as heroes