2.5 Million People At High Risk After Myanmar Cyclone
Posted on: Thursday, 15 May 2008, 09:10 CDT
The government of Myanmar reported Thursday that its cyclone relief efforts were proceeding rapidly, despite warnings by the international community that the region is facing disease and starvation of up to 2.5 million people left homeless by the devastating storm.Louis Michel, the European Union's top aid official, met with Myanmar’s government ministers in Yangon, urging them to allow foreign aid personnel and equipment into the country to avoid further deaths. However, the meeting was not successful in achieving a breakthrough.
"You know, relations between Myanmar and the international community are difficult," Michel told Reuters. "But that is not my problem."
"The time is not for political discussion. It's time to deliver aid to save lives."
The generals had previously indicated they would not budge on the issue.
"We have already finished our first phase of emergency relief. We are going onto the second phase, the rebuilding stage," said Prime Minister Thein Sein to his Thai counterpart, according to Myanmar’s state television.
Separately, the military-ruled government announced a decisive vote in support of an army-backed constitution during a referendum held after the cyclone, despite calls for a delay after the catastrophic storm hit the country.
Supplies of food, medicine, temporary shelter and other provisions are still only trickling in to those in need, nearly two weeks after the cyclone devastated the heavily populated Irrawaddy delta rice bowl, killing 128,000 people.
In the delta town of Bogalay, where around 10,000 people are believed dead, there were complaints of low supplies and forced labor at state-run refugee facilities.
"They have to break stones at the construction sites . They are paid K1,000 ($1) per day but are not provided any food," said Ko Hla Min, who lost nine family members in the storm, according to a Reuters report.
Along the river in Bogalay, rotting corpses remain tangled in the same river that villagers use for fishing, washing and bathing.
The United Nations, estimating that more than 500,000 people are sheltering in temporary settlements, has increased its estimates of the number of people who need urgent aid to 2.5 million. The agency is now calling for a high-level donors’ conference to raise funds for the relief effort.
During a press conference Thursday, U.N. spokeswoman Michel Montas announced that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's deputy, U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes, would visit the country within a week in hopes of persuading the junta to provide the agency’s workers greater access to the delta region.
"Inconsistent access to the flooded delta region, damage to infrastructure and communications, and heavy rainfall pose serious logistical challenges, so the level of assistance is still falling far short of what is required," she said.
"Concern is deepening over the growing risk of outbreaks of disease, especially with people migrating outwards from the affected area in search of basic necessities," said Montas.
Myanmar state television increased its official death toll on Thursday to 43,328. The estimated number of injured and missing remained unchanged at 1,403 injured and 27,838 respectively. However, independent experts estimate the figures are probably far greater.
Despite calls to postpone its constitutional referendum following the cyclone, the junta proceeded May 10 in areas not seriously affected by the storm, reporting Thursday that more than 92 percent of the ballots were cast in favor of the referendum.
The military views the constitution as a critical step in its path toward democracy. However, critics say the provision to provide the military with an automatic 25 percent of parliamentary seats and control of key ministries will only entrench their rule.
"This referendum was full of cheating and fraud across the country," Nyan Win, a spokesman for the opposition National League for Democracy, told Reuters.
A vote in the harder-hit areas is planned for May 24.
The junta has repeatedly resisted outside pleas for more rapid and transparent moves toward democracy, and dismissed calls for a full-blown international aid effort in the aftermath of the cyclone.
Despite unconfirmed reports of supplies being diverted by Myanmar’s army, the United States and other countries continued to fly aid into Yangon on Thursday. To date, the United States has completed 13 flights with food, water and other supplies, and has plans for more flights Friday once it obtains clearance from Myanmar’s government.
"To the best of our ability, to date, we have not seen any U.S. assistance that has been diverted," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.
Both France and Britain have pledged emergency supplies to aid victims of Cyclone Nargis.
In Bogalay, relief supplies were left stored and awaiting distribution while government officials sold tin-sheets for roofs at a cost $5 each, a price far in excess of the budget of most citizens.
Po Aung, who survived the tidal wave by clinging onto a tree, just wants to go home.
"Those dead are gone. But, we the remaining want to return to our own place," the 57-year old, one of only 80 survivors from a village of over 500, told Reuters. "We are very sad and disappointed too. We just don't know what to do."
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Image Courtesy Justin Blethrow
Source: redOrbit Staff and Wire Reports
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Posted by Mike on 05/15/2008, 19:19 Interesting! |
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