カリブ海島国での火山噴火、周辺諸国にも影響の恐れ　国連が警告

【国連本部ＡＦＰ＝時事】カリブ海の島国セントビンセント・グレナディーンで発生した火山の噴火について、国連の担当者は１４日、同国で人道・経済危機が今後数か月続き、周辺諸国にも影響が出る恐れがあると警戒感を示した。（写真はカリブ海のセントビンセント島にあるスフリエール火山の噴火を捉えた衛星写真。米航空宇宙局＜ＮＡＳＡ＞のウェブサイト「Ｅａｒｔｈ　Ｏｂｓｅｒｖａｔｏｒｙ」提供）
　バルバドス・東カリブ地域を担当するディディエ・トレブク調整官は、米ニューヨークの記者らに向けてバルバドスからビデオ通話で会見を行い、１９７９年から先週まで活動休止状態にあったスフリエール火山について、活動は依然活発で、噴火した９日以降、連日噴煙が上がっていると報告した。
　スフリエール火山があるセントビンセント島と、グレナディーン諸島には合わせて約１１万人が暮らしており、うち２万人が自宅からの避難を余儀なくされている。
　約４０００人が避難所に移送されたが、「その数は増え続けている」とトレブク氏は述べた。
　スフリエール火山の噴火はセントビンセント島のみならず、バルバドスやアンティグア・バーブーダなど周辺の島国にも中・長期的な影響を及ぼす見通し。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/04/16-12:30）

The humanitarian and economic crisis unleashed by the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent will last months and could extend to nearby islands, a UN official warned Wednesday.
It is a crisis that will require a humanitarian response but also a response in terms of rehabilitation which could last for several months, said Didier Trebucq, the United Nations coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
Trebucq, speaking to reporters in New York via videoconference from Barbados, said that the volcano -- which had not erupted since 1979 -- remains active and every day belches up clouds of ash and smoke after erupting on April 9.
The islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have around 110,000 inhabitants, 20,000 of whom had to be evacuated from their homes.
About 4,000 people have been moved to shelters but this number is growing, Trebucq said.
On Wednesday a French navy ship, Le Ventose, reached Saint Vincent with water and 75 tonnes of humanitarian aid.
Trebucq said that it was hard to know how long the crisis will last. Everything will depend on the duration of the volcanic eruptions, he said. It is possible that it will last a few weeks, it is also possible that it lasts several months.
The eruption will have a medium and long term impact on Saint Vincent as well as nearby islands including Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and others.
The French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe may also be impacted depending on the direction of the winds and where the volcanic ash is deposited, he said.
In calling for more robust international aid Trebucq noted that hurricane season in the Caribbean is set to begin in two months, and that tourism, the main source of income for the islands, has been severely curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.