Within the days following the earthquake and tsunami disaster of 26 December 2004, UNHCR swiftly mobilized its emergency resources to provide immediate assistance in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Although UNHCR is not traditionally involved in natural disasters, the sheer magnitude of the devastation, the fact that UNHCR had on-the-ground presence and emergency capacities to respond swiftly, and that many of the affected popula- tions are of concern to the Office, prompted a positive reply to the request by the UN Country Team for UNHCR’s involvement. UNHCR is therefore participating in an inter-agency re- sponse to this natural disaster on an exceptional basis.
