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Cyclone survivors in Myanmar fighting against time
May 10, 2008
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I’m Melanie Yip and coming up in Perspective this week – an assessment of the post-cyclone relief situation in Myanmar.
More than 1 million people have been displaced, and an estimated 100,000 left dead after Tropical Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on May 3rd.
With no warning signs or disaster contingency plans by the military government, the Category 3 storm packing winds of 190 kilometers per hour swept through parts of Myanmar, including the Irrawady River Delta area and its former capital, Yangon – destroying buildings and villages.
It’s described as the worst cyclone disaster to hit Asia since 1991.
Scenes of entire villages that were wiped out, scores of dead bodies floating along the debris, and survivors frantically scavenging for food and water flash across the daily television news.
The international community was quick to offer relief assistance, and yet, the military government remains reluctant to allow foreign aid agencies into the country.
Debbie Stothard, co-founder of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma described the initial response of the military government following the disaster.
DS: Even now, as we talk, there are over 100,000 soldiers of the Burmese military continuing a military offensive against ethnic Karens in Eastern Burma. It is unacceptable that so many resources are being diverted in this way. Even Rangoon, the biggest city still is looking like a battleground. There is not enough work being done to clear up the devastation that hit Rangoon. When the cyclone hit Rangoon, there were already four battalions or riot control police stationed in Rangoon to stop people from protesting on the referendum. Unfortunately, these troops were not directed to clear away debris, they had to sit around for 24 hours before they were finally ordered to help.
The Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN was quick to appeal for aid to assist the people affected by the catastrophe.
Expressing his sympathy and condolences to the victims, ASEAN’s Secretary General, Dr Surin Pitsuwan said.
SP: We have initiated mobilization of assistance of resources through our own Asean coordinating centre for humanitarian assistance in every capital to also please come forward to extend help to our Myanmese friends, brothers and sisters who are now suffering as a consequence of the Nargis cyclone. Bilateral and regional efforts are now being coordinated with international agencies including the UN agencies in order to bring quick, effective and adequate assistance to Myanmar.
So far, several UN officials have been granted visas to enter Myanmar to assess the situation in the cyclone hit country and provide necessary aid.
The relief delivery process continues to be slow, caused by difficulties in the road conditions and visa applications.
Many aid agencies remain stranded outside Myanmar, waiting for permission from the military government – also known as the State Peace and Development Council or SPDC - to deliver supplies to survivors.
Human Rights Watch’s Myanmar consultant, David Mathieson explains why there is so much red tape surrounding the approval of visas for relief aid workers.
DM: Actually, getting a tourist visa into Burma is really quite simple. Even though people from certain countries like the United States and Britain do have to provide more information than people from Asian countries, and that is part of the tense relationship that the SPDC has with Western countries. But for aid workers, the bureaucracy that they need to get through to get visas has been harder in the past several months. Certainly, the crackdown last September, and also operating provisions for international organizations working in Burma have been made harder over the last few years. It is actually quite difficult for foreigners to travel to other parts of the country with official permission. Even though the local staff of the NGOs do have a lot more latitude and can travel. And we have seen that in the Irrawady division and Rangoon division at the moment, with the relief operations, some of the UN agencies are helping by sending Burmese staff down to the area to assess the situation. Now, that is certainly a very positive move.
The provision of food, clean drinking water and basic medical care are primary concerns.
There are also fears that any further delay in relief assistance and deteriorating sanitary conditions will spark a spread of diseases like diarrhea.
Currently, there is a team of volunteers from Doctors without Borders dispatched to the disaster hit regions in Myanmar’s South to help with food and medical needs.
The NGO’s Emergency Coordinator, Paul Hermans told me earlier about the challenges of traveling in the hard hit areas.
PH: Immediately after the disaster, our teams managed to access areas in and around Rangoon area where they confirmed that there were thousands of people who sought refuge in schools and tug boats, there were also people who lost their homes. In these places, we started with the distribution of plastic, food and initial medical care. Then as time went on, we had teams going further South and Southwest of the capital. There, they confirmed the picture that we have heard so far, extreme chaos, enormous amounts of people displaced and houses flattened. We tried our best to set up food distribution centers, tried to provide shelter to people who lost their houses by distributing plastic sheeting.
Facing the possibility of more delays in providing disaster relief, foreign countries including the US are deliberating over alternative ways to deliver the much-needed aid within Myanmar, including airlifting and dropping the food supplies.
There are others within the United Nations aid agencies who’re contemplating entering Myanmar without official permission. But what are the possible consequences? Is this likely to raise concerns over their safety, I asked Debbie Stothard.
DS: Well, in a situation like that, we are looking at the tsunami situation in Aceh where the US navy and the Singapore military and other disaster relief trained people went through those areas, a great deal of cynicism about whether the military will attack these people. There is a feeling in Burma that the military only attacks unarmed civilians, so the US navy, the Singapore military and the Thai military who are going in to render assistance, it is unlikely they are going to come under fire.
The situation is grave, with many cyclone survivors struggling to stay alive in an environment with no food and water.
Debbie Stothard is urging the military government to enlist the assistance of foreign troops to manage the situation.
She analyses why the government is not able to deal with the disaster relief efforts alone.
DS: Let’s not forget when the tsunami hit Burma in 2004, it took three weeks before UN officials were allowed to visit the affected areas. Now in this case, we are looking at a situation similar to Aceh when the tsunami hit. And in that situation, the government of Indonesian actually welcomed Singaporean troops to do disaster relief. The Irrawady delta, the victims residing there actually need this kind of massive, immediate mobilization. The UN cannot do that. Unfortunately, we have to rely on a multinational, military disaster relief effort that has to reach the coast of Burma and render assistance. To wait for something to come to Rangoon airport is just not going to be good enough.
Paul Risley, Asia Spokesperson for the World Food Program agrees.
He points out that many of these disaster relief experts are well-versed in handling catastrophes, and will render the appropriate assistance in coping with weather disasters of this magnitude.
PR: Much of the assistance, the equipment and the supplies that we can bring into Myanmar also requires experienced people who know how to set it up, who know how to manage the problems, who know how to get the food to the people in the quickest way. But we need the permission of the government, and the cooperation of the government to get aid to the people who need it. It is not necessarily high skills, but bringing in experienced humanitarian relief technicians and experts is essential to making sure that you can quickly scale up and ramp up the kind of relief operation that is needed here. The Myanmar military could certainly do its part but if you send all of these equipment and they did not know how to set it up, operate it and how to move it quickly, then you will lose valuable minutes, valuable hours and valuable days. And every minute, every hour and every day counts in saving the lives of the people who survived the cyclone. But the risk now is they will not survive the wait, while they wait for food, water and medical treatment.
The impoverished nation of some 48 million people has been under international sanctions since the military rejected the results of a poll in 1990 which democratically elected National League for Democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Despite the differences the international community has with the Myanmar government over its roadmap to democracy, many like the US have chosen to temporarily put aside their political differences and offer assistance.
Any delay in accepting disaster relief will not only prolong human misery, but make the country sink into deeper economic and social depression.
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