পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (চতুর্দশ খণ্ড).pdf/৬১২

580 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড return to their homes while the threat of terror persists and some measure of political autonomy is denied them. The responsibility for ensuring this rests squarely with President Yahya. There can be no solution to the present appalling suffering until the refugees are removed from their squalid camps and repatriated to their homes-or whatever is left of them. But the immediate need is to prevent the imminent deaths of five million or more human beings. Here, surely, is an inescapable challenge to the conscience and resourcefulness of the rest of the world. Australia has promised aid worth $500,000enough to keep the refugees alive for one day, assuming they can be fed and inoculated in time. This is not enough. We believed the Government should give its full and urgent support to the appeal planned by Austcare, the agency that has already done most to bring the scale of the disaster to the attention of Australians. But relief, if it is to have any real effect, must be planned and coordinated on a world scale. It must not be directed through the Pakistan Government, who may be tempted to use it to bolster their own army and prolong their campaign of repression. At one time, the obvious agency to administer relief would have been the United Nations. So far it has shown little sign of urgency. In the absence of prompt U. N. action there is much that Australia can do on its own: one pressing need is for vaccine, saline solution and mass-inoculation machines to check the spread of cholera; this is not a time to dose our minds or take comfort in isolation. Here is a chance for Australians to prove the reality of our pity and compassion. We must give all we can, knowing that every dollar we withhold, and every day we delay our response, will be paid for in human lives.