Agencies Try to Persuade Myanmar to Allow Entry of More Aid
NEW YORK _ With Chinese authorities mobilizing a massive emergency response to Monday’s devastating earthquake, international aid agencies remained focused Tuesday on trying to persuade officials of the wary Myanmar government to allow entry of more relief workers and humanitarian supplies 10 days after a cyclone struck the country, killing at least 32,000 people.
A day after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon called the response by Myanmar’s military regime “unacceptably slow,” a trickle of emergency supplies arrived in the country, which is also called Burma.
The UN delivered 24 tons of plastic sheeting, blankets, kitchen equipment and other necessities in an airlift from Dubai, with another flight scheduled for Wednesday, according to UN spokeswoman Michele Montas.
In addition, the UN’s World Food Program has delivered about 426 tons of food, and Myanmar officials have given the World Health Organization a list of drugs and other medicines that they say are in short supply.
On Monday, a U.S. military cargo plane delivered bottled water, blankets, and mosquito nets.
“The delivery of aid is improving,” Montas said. “It’s not improving as fast as we would like, or as fast as the situation demands, but it is improving.”
According to wire service reports from Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, police barred some foreign aid workers from reaching hard-hit areas Tuesday, and food shipments were backing up at the main airport. Relief workers reported some storm survivors were being given spoiled or poor-quality food rather than nutrition-rich biscuits sent by international donors.
Myanmar officials approved visas for 34 UN aid officials _ far short of the number needed, according to Stephanie Bunker, spokeswoman for the UN’s emergency-relief office, which has issued an international appeal for $187 million to fund disaster relief.
“There are areas that have not been visited yet,” said Bunker, adding that contaminated drinking water is an increasing worry, with outbreaks of diarrhea being reported in the cyclone-affected areas. “We really need to get in there with supplies that will help prevent epidemics of diarrhea, which can be especially dangerous for young children.”
Non-profit aid groups also are waiting for a response on their visa requests. CARE International had 500 staffers in the country before the cyclone hit, but it needs disaster specialists to help with the distribution of food and to coordinate communications, according to emergency-assistance director Rigoberto Giron.
Concern over Myanmar stands in marked contrast to expressions of confidence that the Chinese government would be able to handle almost all of its own rescue and relief efforts.
“China has an excellent track record in responding to disasters,” Bunker said. “They’re practiced, they’re experienced. They know how to do this.”
Following the earthquake, Ban offered UN assistance to the Chinese government, but Montas said the Chinese have not asked for anything yet.
The U.S. pledged an initial $500,000 in aid Tuesday, in advance of an expected appeal for funds by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
A Chinese disaster-relief official said the government welcomed funds and supplies, but with tens of thousands of its own troops and other emergency-response personnel on the scene, it would not allow international aid workers to enter the area.
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