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Red Cross ME aid?
Page 8
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AID for lorry drivers on the long haul to the Middle East is being sought by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) from the League of Red Cross Societies. The IRU has been concerned about the problems of drivers on the MidEast run for some time. Because of lack of facilities en route many have to live in their cabs for considerable periods, eating only tinned foods.
Proper medical assistance can be hard to find and the Red Cross is being consulted because it has local representatives in villages and towns along the road. The IRU estimates that as many as 3,500 trucks a month are making the run from Western Europe to Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Traffic has increased 100 times in three years.
Another problem with which the IRU hopes the Red Cross can offer assistance is that of drivers involved in road accidents. In many Middle East countries an accident involving injury to a person can mean a driver being imprisoned immediately with the question of liability being left until later. Bail is often both difficult and expensive to arrange. More than 24 drivers are now said to be imprisoned in Turkish, Iranian and Saudi Arabian prisons.