UN Says 1.5 Million People "Severely Affected" By
Myanmar Cyclone
US: May 9, 2008
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations estimated 1.5 million people have been
"severely affected" by the cyclone that swept through Myanmar, with the
United States expressing outrage on Thursday at delays in allowing in aid.
In Myanmar, desperate survivors cried out for food, water and other supplies
nearly a week after 100,000 people were feared killed by Cyclone Nargis as
it swept across the farms and villages of the low-lying Irrawaddy delta
region.
"We're outraged by the slowness of the response of the government of Burma
(Myanmar) to welcome and accept assistance," US Ambassador to the United
Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters.
"It's clear that the government's ability to deal with the situation, which
is catastrophic, is limited."
The UN food agency and Red Cross/Red Crescent said they had finally started
flying in emergency relief supplies after foot-dragging by Myanmar's ruling
military junta. The United States was waiting for approval to start military
flights.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters that Washington was "fully
prepared to help and to help right away, and it would be a tragedy if these
assets" were not used.
The Navy said four ships, including the destroyer USS Mustin and the
three-vessel Essex Expeditionary Strike Force, were heading for Myanmar from
the Gulf of Thailand after the Essex deployed helicopters to Thailand for
aid operations.
Witnesses have seen little evidence of a relief effort in the delta that was
swamped in Saturday's storm. It was the worst cyclone in Asia since 1991,
when 143,000 people were killed in neighboring Bangladesh.
"We'll starve to death if nothing is sent to us," said Zaw Win, a
32-year-old fisherman who waded through floating corpses to find a boat for
the two-hour journey to Bogalay, a town where the government said 10,000
people were killed.
REMOVING OBSTACLES
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was seeking direct talks with the
junta's senior general, Than Shwe, to persuade him to remove obstacles. A UN
spokeswoman said Ban believed it might be "prudent" for the government to
postpone a constitutional referendum planned for Saturday.
Some critics accuse the junta of stalling because they do not want an influx
of foreigners into the countryside during the referendum on the army-drafted
constitution that looks set to cement the military's grip on power.
UN humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes was asked by reporters if he
suspected a link between the referendum and Myanmar's reluctance to grant
visas to aid workers.
"The referendum may or may not be a complicating factor but as I say my
focus is really on getting the aid to people as fast as possible," Holmes
said.
Ban said in an interview on CNN it was "already very late" for taking
immediate post-cyclone action but not too late for Myanmar's junta to accept
help.
"Now, before it is too late, I would again urge and appeal to Myanmar
authorities to be flexible in dealing with these humanitarian issues with a
strong sense of urgency," Ban said.
Washington was hoping to get approval to send in a plane with aid that is
ready to fly. Approval for such a flight would be significant, given the
huge distrust and acrimony between the former Burma's generals and
Washington, which has imposed tough sanctions to try to end 46 years of
military rule.
AID PLANES ARRIVE
The storm pulverized the Irrawaddy delta with 120 mph (190 kph) winds
followed by a 12-foot (3.7-metre) wave that levelled villages and caused
most of the casualties and damage.
While Holmes said the United Nations estimated at least 1.5 million people
were "severely affected," Britain's UN Ambassador John Sawers said it may be
in the millions.
Holmes also told reporters he was "disappointed" with the lack of progress
being made in getting UN aid in.
Myanmar state television did not give an update on Thursday night of the
death toll, which stood at 22,980 with 42,119 missing as of Tuesday.
Diplomats and disaster experts said the real figure is likely to be much
higher.
Shari Villarosa, charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Myanmar, said on
Wednesday the death toll may exceed 100,000.
About 1 million people were left homeless.
UN officials, who had earlier complained the generals were putting up
obstacles to an emergency airlift, said half a dozen cargo planes had been
allowed to land at Yangon airport.
The Red Cross/Red Crescent confirmed its first aid plane took off from Kuala
Lumpur, carrying six tonnes of shelter materials. The World Food Program
said it delivered 7 metric tons of high-energy biscuits to Yangon and two
more aid flights were en route with clearance to land.
World Food Program spokesman Paul Risley said aid agencies normally expect
to fly in experts and supplies within 48 hours of a disaster but, nearly a
week after this cyclone, few have been able to send reinforcements into
Myanmar.
France has suggested invoking a UN "responsibility to protect" to deliver
aid to Myanmar without government approval. But its bid to make the Security
Council take a stand has been rebuffed by China, Vietnam, South Africa and
Russia.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called his Myanmar
counterpart, Nyan Win, on Thursday and urged him to make it possible for
international aid workers and relief organizations to reach hard-hit areas.
The relief agency Medicins sans Frontieres, which has 1,238 people in
Myanmar, said it was ferrying aid into the delta via trucks and boats.
Jean-Michel Grand, executive director of Action contre la Faim in London,
said the logistical obstacles were formidable.
"The roads are very poor or destroyed, and in many cases there were no roads
before," he said. "Everybody's looking at boats."
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej failed to reach Myanmar's generals on
Thursday due to communications problems after US President George W. Bush
asked him to intervene over the aid delays, Thailand's government spokesman
said.
World Vision Australia's chief executive officer Tim Costello told reporters
in a conference call from Yangon that there was some movement in allowing in
relief supplies.
"Some (aid) is getting through," he said. "But it's a trickle when it needs
to be literally a flood."
(Additional reporting by Aung Hla tun in Yangon, Nopporn Wong-Anan, Grant
McCool and Darren Schuettler in Bangkok, Jalil Hamid in Kuala Lumpur,
Kerstin Gehmlich in Berlin, Matthew Bigg in Atlanta and Claudia Parsons at
the United Nations; Writing by Bill Tarrant; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
Story by Louis Charbonneau
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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