UN begins food distribution in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar

GENEVA: The UN’s World Food Programme on Tuesday said it has reached the first of an estimated 1 million people left homeless by the devastating cyclone that ravaged the coast of Myanmar.

It added, however, that many coastal areas remained cut off from food supplies because of flooding and road damage.

“WFP food assistance has now begun to reach persons who are without shelter or food resources in and around Yangon,” the country’s largest city, Chris Kaye, the agency’s director for Myanmar, said in a statement.

He added that additional truckloads of food would be dispatched on Wednesday to Labutta township, the area hardest hit by the cyclone that struck at the weekend.

The death toll in the country, which is also known as Burma, rose above 22,000 today, with more than 41,000 others missing, state radio reported.

Travel and visa obstacles hampered aid deliveries, officials said, but a green light from Myanmar to accept supplies started the global relief effort rolling three days after the storm.

“This assistance is on its way,” said United Nations relief spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs, but she said UN workers planning to assess needs are still awaiting their visas to enter the country.

The food agency said its assessment teams were reporting tremendous storm damage to homes and shelter in villages in the rice-growing areas on Myanmar’s coast. It said the death toll was still increasing.

U.S. navy ready to help cyclone-ravaged Myanmar

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-07 04:34:14

 WASHINGTON, May 6 (Xinhua) — U.S. Navy ships are standing by off Thailand awaiting permission to join relief efforts in cyclone-hit Myanmar, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

    ”But that’s all we can do at this point, is to plan, because we have not received a request from the Burmese (Myanmar’s) government,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

    The U.S. Navy ships that are ready to leave for Myanmar include the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship that carries 23 helicopters, three landing craft, and a contingent of 1,800 marines, the Pentagon said.

    The nearest U.S. navy ships to Myanmar were reportedly a four-and-a-half-day sail away taking part in an exercise in waters in the Gulf of Thailand.

    U.S. President George W. Bush made an appeal to Myanmar’s government on Tuesday to accept U.S. disaster teams, saying Washington was ready to help more after a devastating cyclone.

    ”The United States has made an initial aid contribution but we want to do a lot more,” Bush told reporters at the White House.

    Also on Tuesday, the Bush administration is offering three million U.S. dollars, up from an initial emergency contribution of250,000 dollars, in aide for cyclone-hit Myanmar.

    ”We urge the government of Burma to grant full access to the affected areas to international humanitarian relief teams and non-governmental organizations,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

    Tropical cyclone Nargis, which developed over the Bay of Bengal, ripped through Myanmar’s five divisions and states, leaving at least 22,500 people dead and more than 41,000 missing.

    The United States has long imposed a trade and investment ban on Myanmar, accusing the government of “poor human rights records.”

U.S. Eases Sanctions

to Permit Disaster Aid to Myanmar

The U.S. government is relaxing financial sanctions against cyclone-ravaged Myanmar, U.S. News learned Tuesday afternoon.

The sanctions, implemented to apply pressure on the military dictatorship that controls Myanmar, in part prevented U.S. humanitarian organizations and individuals from donating money directly to causes within that impoverished country. That created little stir until Cyclone Nargis struck this week, killing at least 22,500 in the low-lying southern delta of the country, formerly known as Burma.

U.S. aid organizations, such as the American Red Cross, found that they could provide only supplies to the relief effort—not personnel nor money—under the sanctions rules. Nor could they accept specific donations from private American citizens to provide aid in the aftermath of this natural disaster.

The U.S. Treasury Department posted on its website a ruling (.pdf) at 5 p.m. that softened the sanctions to allow donations by U.S. citizens and charity directly to the relief effort.

American relief workers are also now allowed access to Myanmar under American regulations (The repressive Myanmar regime, however, has been slow to grant entry visas to new western workers).

The sanctions still prevent any aid to the government, unless an exception is granted by the U.S. government. John Rankin, a Treasury Department spokesman, says talks about softening the Myanmar sanctions had been ongoing. “The disaster pushed it over the finish line,” he said.

For individuals now wanting to donate money specifically to the Nargis relief effort, the best option is to find an agency that is already on the ground in Myanmar, such as CARE, which had 500 full-time staffers in the impoverished country when the cyclone hit.

The military government that controls Myanmar is notoriously paranoid of outsiders, making it difficult for unfamiliar international organizations to enter the country after the storm. A list of NGOs and their work on the Myanmar relief effort can be found at interaction.org.

—Bret Schulte