Tsunami aid group offers to return donations

An international aid group is offering to return some of the money it has received to help victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami because it has more than enough cash to cover its immediate operations in the area.

Médécins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, said most of the donors contacted so far have agreed to have their money reassigned to relief work in connection with other emergencies.

“Some of our offices have started the process of contacting back the donors and returning the funds,” MSF Geneva spokesman Aymeric Peguillan said. “Everybody’s surprised at the amount of money given generally.”

Peguillan said that MSF has received about €59.3m in donations for its work in tsunami-hit countries.