Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite has described the Nepalese and Tibetan communities as desperate for news after holding two online forums yesterday.
“Obviously, we’re working with people who are in the region, the Australians that we know, the roads are cut off, about 10,000 homes have been destroyed,” he told the ABC’s News Breakfast program.
He said there were no telecommunications infrastructure to the region and power’s been cut off.
“I also attended a vigil last night, with the Nepalese community in Strathfield, and obviously, there was quite a bit of despair and anxiety, in that community, but we’re doing our best to support the Tibetan and Nepalese communities here in Australia.”
He confirmed that Nepalese authorities have requested support from Australia.
“And overnight we’ve sent eight officials, four crisis response team members and four consular members to the region.”
He said they were trained in management of rescue and recovery.