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ASEAN Regional Forum Disaster Relief Exercises 2015 kicks off

Xinhua, May 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

The ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum (ARF) Disaster Relief Exercises (DiREx) 2015 co-chaired by China and Malaysia kicked off here on Monday which would involve over 3,000 participants from 21 ARF members and eight regional and international organizations.

The exercises are based on a hypothetical disaster scenario of a tropical typhoon that hit the Peninsular Malaysia on May 23, 2015. The tropical typhoon will hit several areas in Malaysian states of Kedah and Perlis on the following day, causing massive damage and destruction of property and infrastructure as well as loss of life. Thus, Malaysia has requested international assistance to enable disaster relief operations to be carried out immediately.

At the opening ceremony, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that the ARF DiREx is one of the most inclusive simulation exercises in the Asia Pacific region, adding that participating countries will verify and improve relevant international and regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) instruments through the exercise.

Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainudin said that Malaysia has been working closely with China as well as all ARF participating countries and international and regional organizations to deliver a comprehensive disaster relief exercises under the ambit of the ARF.

The exercise will be held from May 24 to 29 in the northern region of the Peninsular Malaysia, with the participation of countries inlcuding China, Malaysia, the United States, Japan, South Korea, India, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and so on, as well as multilateral organizations such as ASEAN Coordination Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Committee of the Red Cross, etc.. Endi