韓国開催の世界スカウト大会、台風で避難開始

【扶安（韓国）ＡＦＰ＝時事】韓国で行われているボーイスカウト・ガールスカウトの祭典「世界スカウトジャンボリー」で８日、台風の接近を受け、問題が続出していたキャンプ地から参加者数万人が避難を開始した。（写真は韓国・全羅北道で世界スカウトジャンボリーのキャンプ地から撤収する準備をする参加者）
　世界スカウト機構のアハマド・アルヘンダウィ事務局長は「１００年続く世界スカウトジャンボリーが、これほどの難題に直面せねばならないのは今回が初めてだ」と述べた。
　さらに、世界から約４万３０００人が集まった今大会は「前例のない熱波、そして今度は台風に見舞われ、非常に不運だった」と述べた。
　アルヘンダウィ氏は、悪天候が大会の「計画と運営に甚大な影響を与えた」とした上で、スカウトたちは「逆境の中で真の回復力、決意、リーダーシップ」を見せたとたたえた。
　世界スカウト機構によると、悪天候でキャンプ地からの避難が行われたのは、会期中に台風が襲来した１９７１年の日本大会以来となる。
　全羅北道扶安郡のキャンプ地では８日、スカウトたちがテントを片付け荷物をまとめ、ソウルと周辺地域の代替宿泊施設に向かうバスに乗るため列をつくっていた。
　ＡＦＰ記者によると、避難を支援するため、現地には韓国軍特殊部隊が待機していた。
　韓国政府は、主に１０代のスカウトらを移動させるため、バス１０００台を手配すると発表している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/08/08-17:28）

Tens of thousands of scouts were being evacuated Tuesday from their problem-plagued South Korean campsite to safer areas ahead of a looming typhoon, as Seoul scrambled to accommodate and entertain them.
The mass exodus is the latest blow to the jamboree, which has already seen hundreds of scouts fall ill during a sweltering heatwave, prompting the early withdrawal of American and British contingents as complaints over site conditions mounted.
More than 100 police cars and four helicopters were deployed to escort buses carrying the scouts out of the camp site, with President Yoon Suk Yeol cutting short his annual holiday to help manage the fallout from the jamboree, which has been a PR disaster for his administration.
This is the first time in more than 100 years of World Scout Jamborees that we have had to face such compounded challenges, Ahmad Alhendawi, secretary-general of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, said in a statement.
He said the massive event, which brought together about 43,000 scouts to a campsite in South Korea's North Jeolla province, had been very unlucky with the unprecedented heatwave and now the typhoon.
At the sprawling campsite in Buan on Tuesday, tens of thousands of scouts were packing up their tents and belongings and queuing to get onto buses, with Korea Special Forces on hand to help with the evacuation, AFP reporters saw.
The government sent more than 1,000 buses to ferry the mostly teenage scouts away from the site to areas mostly around Seoul, saying they would be accommodated in university dormitories and other public facilities.
Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said the government would ensure participants could be safe and comfortable at their new lodgings, vowing that the jamboree programme would continue.
He said he hoped the scouts could finish their schedules with a happy heart, with the government later announcing a K-pop concert in Seoul, as one lawmaker even called for a special reunion of megastars BTS to salvage the jamboree.
At the site, German volunteer Axel Scholl, 62, told AFP he was at his limits working to safely evacuate all the scouts in the heat.
The worst thing about all of this is... It was for the kids. I'm 62 years old but this was all for the kids. Now they all go home disappointed. It should have been such a nice experience, he told AFP, wiping away tears.
He said Poland -- which will host the next jamboree in 2027 -- will have learned a lot about what can go wrong from this year's experience.
I feel very, very sorry for the Korean nation and Korean people because I think they would have loved to present their country, their culture, their community in a more positive way, he added.
- 'A really great time' -
Korean media have called the jamboree a national disgrace, saying that authorities had six years to prepare but even so the site had poor drainage, rudimentary showers and toilets, and participants were afflicted by gruesome bug bites.
Following a deluge of online complaints from parents, government organisers admitted there had been shortcomings in the area of hygiene and the scout chief acknowledged in a post on LinkedIn that the event had a bumpy start with... services and facilities.
But scouts at the campsite told AFP they were sad to leave.
It was really hot, but we had a great time. It took some while to get used to the circumstances but the youth, they had a really great time, Nicola Raunig, 27, Austria scout unit leader, told AFP.
I'm sad it will end now, she said, adding that she had hoped participants could have enjoyed the whole experience.
But we will make the best out of it, Raunig said.
Typhoon Khanun, which has killed at least two people in Japan, is due to make landfall in South Korea on Thursday, forecast to bring heavy rain and strong winds of up to 160 kilometres (100 miles) per hour -- powerful enough to derail a moving train.
Organisers had insisted the event would continue despite the challenges, but on Monday they confirmed the scouts would be evacuated and the campsite closed due to the approaching typhoon.