- Evacuation Amid Cyclone Threat
- UK Scouts Depart Early Due to Harsh Conditions
- Organizational Failures Impact World Scout Jamboree
An incoming tropical cyclone is forcing thousands of scouts at an international competition in South Korea to evacuate a campsite.
Several countries, including the United Kingdom, had already departed the camp, citing the high temperatures and poor sanitation.
Matt Hyde, UK Scouts chief executive, said organisers let him down and put back UK operations by years.
He stated that the site had become a health hazard.
The World Scout Jamboree, attended by almost 40,000 youth from 155 nations, has had issues from the start.
Hundreds had become ill in the 35C (95F) humidity, with British scouts among those suffering from heat exhaustion.
The largest group, 4,500 Brits, arrived at the Saemangeum campground in Buan last week.
They relocated to Seoul hotels over the weekend and will stay there until the jamboree closes on August 12.
According to Mr. Hyde, the relocation will cost the UK Scout Association over £1 million from its reserves.
“We had commitments to those reserves, which means we cannot do the things we wanted to do in the next three to five years,” he explained.
The United States and Singapore have already withdrawn their teams from the camp.
The South Korean authorities warned World Scout Jamboree organisers on Monday that the event was unsafe.
The government stated that it had considered the requests of the World Organisation of Scout Movements and national delegations to close the site for several days.
South Korea’s vice minister for disaster and safety management, Kim Sung-ho, has announced that on Tuesday, at 10:00 local time (01:00GMT), approximately 36,000 persons remaining in Saemangeum will be transported by bus to safer areas.
The event “is still occurring,” he added, but “the location has changed due to the natural disaster.”
Officials are searching for alternative meeting locations and lodging in and around Seoul.
Thursday is when severe Tropical Storm Khanun, which has already forced evacuations and knocked out power to thousands in Japan, is expected to reach the southern Jeolla province of South Korea.
The typhoon has lessened but continues to bring severe gusts and torrential rain to the region.
As a result of human-induced climate change, heat waves have become more frequent, intense, and long-lasting. Increased sea surface temperatures are also associated with more intense cyclones and more extreme precipitation.
On Saturday, coaches carrying British adolescents began to arrive in Seoul, roughly 197 kilometers (120 miles) from the campsite.
Mr. Hyde stated that the British contingent was focused on implementing an “engaging program” for the capital’s youth.
According to him, the UK Scouts feel let down by the event’s administrators following repeated complaints about the site’s conditions. While some progress was made, it was “too little, too late”
Four red lines were violated: lack of shade, nutritional food, sanitation, and medical treatment.
“We were told that things would be implemented, but they were not,” he said.
“If you can imagine [toilets] being used by tens of thousands of people but not being cleaned as frequently as you would expect, you can imagine what people saw,” the author writes.
He stated that each British scout had spent approximately £3,500 on the excursion, with many relying on fundraising.
Mr. Hyde said an impartial inquiry was “crucial” since the Covid outbreak may have affected event planning.
Two weeks before the incident, when torrential rain flooded Saemangeum, a reclaimed tidal flat, a parent expressed concern.
Vincent Blood, whose daughter became ill at the event, remarked, “How in the world are you going to transform an inundated site into something adequate and will give the children the wonderful experience they’ve been anticipating?
Now, our concerns have been confirmed.
A 31 July email sent before the arrival of the scouts stated that an inspection indicated the site was not ready “as we would have expected.”
On 2 August, parents were informed that facilities were “continuously improving,” two days before a decision was made to vacate the site due to numerous issues.
Kim Gi-Hyeon, the leader of the country’s governing People’s Power Party, issued a public apology on Monday and proposed an investigation into whether taxpayer funds had been spent wisely on preparations.
Scouts from around the world attend the world’s largest youth camp, the jamboree, every four years in a different location.
