Myanmar finally opens its doors after Cyclone Nargis
Surya B. Prasai
May 26, 2008
The Myanmar Government led by General Than Shwe has finally agreed to let all international aid and relief workers to operate in the country after their movements were restricted to the delta for more than two weeks. The Myanmar Government gave permission after the visit of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and top aides to Yangon. Ban took a helicopter tour of the disaster areas, where once rice plantations abounded but were washed away by 12 feet high waves. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting in Singapore also helped broker the Burmese government´s decision to allow in more aid access to the affected population. The Myanmar Government which has always been suspicious of foreigners and foreign aid, so far has rejected French, British and US ships laden with grain and other humanitarian supplies, although it has allowed civilian ships to operate in its ports.
When Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck the coast of Pagoda Point, Myanmar, three weeks back with sustained winds of 130 mph and gusts up to 160 mph, Burmese authorities did not believe it would have sustained impact in the capital and its outskirts. But the cyclone killed more than 130,000 and affected 2.5 million of Myanmar's 50 million impoverished population. The cyclone also closed down 70% of the schools and most of the population still does not have drinking water to survive on. As a result, nearly 30,000 children under the age of five are facing acute malnourishment.
Recently, USAID administrator Henrietta Fore and Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, had jointly delivered the first U.S. Government relief commodities to Myanmar onboard a U.S. C-130. The symbolic American aid effort consisted of 8,300 bottles of water, 1,350 blankets, and 10,800 insecticide-treated bed nets, which was for nearly 30,000 people. In the next two weeks, the US airlifted many sorties of similar assistance while the US Government was ready to provide an additional $13 million in support to the UN World Food Program that would help channel relief supplies such as food and other support to the logistics infrastructure. This would help the international community´s relief efforts as a whole, which puts the American cash assistance to victims of Myanmar up to $16.25 million.
Last week, a USAID DART team was in Bangkok preparing to move and provide much needed expert assistance. Nancy Youssef, who served as Pentagon correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers, Washington, D.C wrote last week, "The U.S. wants to help the people of Myanmar, but it doesn´t want to aggravate an isolationist government. At first, Myanmar said it would accept no aid. Now the U.S. is sending in multiple planes, with each one carrying about 30,000 pounds of water, mosquito nets, blankets, etc. The U.S. military considers itself the world´s largest humanitarian organization. Its emphasis is on finding a way to get supplies to the people who desperately need it."
The UN is delivering the supplies to different districts using civilian helicopters, despite US Navy helicopters and Navy Seals on standby and ready to help off the coast. The United States Government had earlier urged Burmese authorities to allow the international humanitarian community access to the impacted areas in order to provide further lifesaving assistance.
Recently, U.S. First Lady Laura Bush, who has been a long-standing critic of the Myanmar Government had asked of it to allow a US team into the country. She said Washington would provide "substantial" aid if it could conduct its own assessment of the situation on the ground. The United States still has sanctions in place against Myanmar, whose government is holding Nobel Peace Prize-winning democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. Her extended confinement might be renewed again despite international appeals.
Earlier this week, Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, Tom Casey, stated that sanctions might restrict what type of donations the United States can make, but will not prevent Washington from sending some type of assistance via the United Nations, which was also hinted by USAID´s Fore earlier. Despite perceived objection from American and European officials, the World Bank has also shown eagerness to provide technical expertise to help in humanitarian crisis mitigation and reconstruction efforts. Casey stated, "We are going to make sure whatever we can do to help relieve the immediate suffering of people there is done."
According to the UNICEF Spokesperson, Patrick McCormick, the country had "massive, massive" needs, terming it the biggest disaster to hit the country in recent memory. The Burmese Government is expected to appeal for nearly US11.7 billion in international aid for reconstruction of the delta in a Yangon conference of UN-ASEAN donors, which United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will also help campaign for. However, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said most countries would be unwilling to commit more until they were allowed access to the damaged areas and see the situation for themselves first. The UN which earlier expressed its alarm in hearing about the serious devastation had a $30 million central emergency fund for use in such situations.
The biggest challenge is getting water to the 2.5 million affected people. Myanmar has yet to set up a water purification system despite earning every year $ 2 billon from natural resources export and having $ 3.5 billion in reserve. The Myanmar Red Cross has begun distributing what it calls "family kits" and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it will release 2,000 family kits and 2,000 shelters as soon as transport routes are available. The British Red Cross had made $60,000 available. World Vision, a U.S.-based Christian humanitarian organization, had also appealed for $3 million in donations and plans to send a team into affected areas.
Since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, this has been the worst disaster so far to hit Myanmar. The Washington Post noted in its editorial of May 20, "Victims of the cyclone are left in the rain, without proper shelter, lying in mud, without bedding, hungry without even rice. Every day, the danger, and perhaps the reality of cholera, diarrheal diseases, measles and dehydration grows." Various aid agencies have been stating that aid is slowly trickling through, but in small numbers. In neighboring Thailand, the local media is of the view that international relief effort should have been advanced more aggressively earlier, despite the Myanmar Government rejecting Western aid initially. As a result, many Burmese lives are at risk now and many people have been cut off from food supplies. Many houses have also been destroyed and the Irrawaddy river is littered with corpses according to international relief workers already there. It seems Myanmar still has a whole lot of cleaning up to do after Cyclone Nargis.
When Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck the coast of Pagoda Point, Myanmar, three weeks back with sustained winds of 130 mph and gusts up to 160 mph, Burmese authorities did not believe it would have sustained impact in the capital and its outskirts. But the cyclone killed more than 130,000 and affected 2.5 million of Myanmar's 50 million impoverished population. The cyclone also closed down 70% of the schools and most of the population still does not have drinking water to survive on. As a result, nearly 30,000 children under the age of five are facing acute malnourishment.
Recently, USAID administrator Henrietta Fore and Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, had jointly delivered the first U.S. Government relief commodities to Myanmar onboard a U.S. C-130. The symbolic American aid effort consisted of 8,300 bottles of water, 1,350 blankets, and 10,800 insecticide-treated bed nets, which was for nearly 30,000 people. In the next two weeks, the US airlifted many sorties of similar assistance while the US Government was ready to provide an additional $13 million in support to the UN World Food Program that would help channel relief supplies such as food and other support to the logistics infrastructure. This would help the international community´s relief efforts as a whole, which puts the American cash assistance to victims of Myanmar up to $16.25 million.
Last week, a USAID DART team was in Bangkok preparing to move and provide much needed expert assistance. Nancy Youssef, who served as Pentagon correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers, Washington, D.C wrote last week, "The U.S. wants to help the people of Myanmar, but it doesn´t want to aggravate an isolationist government. At first, Myanmar said it would accept no aid. Now the U.S. is sending in multiple planes, with each one carrying about 30,000 pounds of water, mosquito nets, blankets, etc. The U.S. military considers itself the world´s largest humanitarian organization. Its emphasis is on finding a way to get supplies to the people who desperately need it."
The UN is delivering the supplies to different districts using civilian helicopters, despite US Navy helicopters and Navy Seals on standby and ready to help off the coast. The United States Government had earlier urged Burmese authorities to allow the international humanitarian community access to the impacted areas in order to provide further lifesaving assistance.
Recently, U.S. First Lady Laura Bush, who has been a long-standing critic of the Myanmar Government had asked of it to allow a US team into the country. She said Washington would provide "substantial" aid if it could conduct its own assessment of the situation on the ground. The United States still has sanctions in place against Myanmar, whose government is holding Nobel Peace Prize-winning democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. Her extended confinement might be renewed again despite international appeals.
Earlier this week, Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, Tom Casey, stated that sanctions might restrict what type of donations the United States can make, but will not prevent Washington from sending some type of assistance via the United Nations, which was also hinted by USAID´s Fore earlier. Despite perceived objection from American and European officials, the World Bank has also shown eagerness to provide technical expertise to help in humanitarian crisis mitigation and reconstruction efforts. Casey stated, "We are going to make sure whatever we can do to help relieve the immediate suffering of people there is done."
According to the UNICEF Spokesperson, Patrick McCormick, the country had "massive, massive" needs, terming it the biggest disaster to hit the country in recent memory. The Burmese Government is expected to appeal for nearly US11.7 billion in international aid for reconstruction of the delta in a Yangon conference of UN-ASEAN donors, which United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will also help campaign for. However, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said most countries would be unwilling to commit more until they were allowed access to the damaged areas and see the situation for themselves first. The UN which earlier expressed its alarm in hearing about the serious devastation had a $30 million central emergency fund for use in such situations.
The biggest challenge is getting water to the 2.5 million affected people. Myanmar has yet to set up a water purification system despite earning every year $ 2 billon from natural resources export and having $ 3.5 billion in reserve. The Myanmar Red Cross has begun distributing what it calls "family kits" and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it will release 2,000 family kits and 2,000 shelters as soon as transport routes are available. The British Red Cross had made $60,000 available. World Vision, a U.S.-based Christian humanitarian organization, had also appealed for $3 million in donations and plans to send a team into affected areas.
Since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, this has been the worst disaster so far to hit Myanmar. The Washington Post noted in its editorial of May 20, "Victims of the cyclone are left in the rain, without proper shelter, lying in mud, without bedding, hungry without even rice. Every day, the danger, and perhaps the reality of cholera, diarrheal diseases, measles and dehydration grows." Various aid agencies have been stating that aid is slowly trickling through, but in small numbers. In neighboring Thailand, the local media is of the view that international relief effort should have been advanced more aggressively earlier, despite the Myanmar Government rejecting Western aid initially. As a result, many Burmese lives are at risk now and many people have been cut off from food supplies. Many houses have also been destroyed and the Irrawaddy river is littered with corpses according to international relief workers already there. It seems Myanmar still has a whole lot of cleaning up to do after Cyclone Nargis.