Bangkok - Myanmar's junta claims the relief phase of an
emergency programme for Cyclone Nargis is over, causing a discrepancy
in outlook on the crisis that promises to affect a donor conference
this weekend, ASEAN's secretary general said Thursday.
The junta's outlook on the disaster promises to affect the United
Nations and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) donor
pledging conference in Yangon on Sunday, intended to raise money for
the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which smashed into Myanmar's central
coast on May 2-3 leaving at estimated 133,000 dead and missing and
another 2.5 million in need of food, water, shelter and medicines.
Discrepancies between the Myanmar government's figures and
appraisal of the cyclone catastrophe and those of the international
aid community continue to be an issue days before the conference.
The emergency aid programme for Cyclone Nargis has been bogged
down by lack of access to the most affected areas, and the Myanmar
government's reluctance to acknowledged the extent of the calamity.
While international aid agencies claim to have only reached 25 per
cent of the affected population, Myanmar's junta is already claiming
that the 'rescue and relief' stage of the operation is completed,
said Surin.
Surin told a press conference that he and UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon, who is currently in Myanmar, were trying to get the Myanmar
authorities to verify their figures before the upcoming donor
pledging session on Sunday.
'By saying that the relief and rescue effort is over, the pledging
is going to be conditioned upon detailed plans, action plans,
distribution systems, disbursement systems, monitoring mechanism and
transparency,' said Surin.
'Because as you and I know when people are dying it is easy for
all of us to just dip into our pockets and give, but now if the
rescue and relief is over, you need a detailed plan of action,' he
added.
Myanmar's regime is preparing to ask for 11 billion dollars from
the international community for 'rehabilitation, reconstruction and
resettlement' in the affected areas, unless it changes its tune on
the 'rescue and relief' phase of the programme between now and Sunday.
While the international community is keen to provide humanitarian
aid to assist the victims of the cyclone, it may be less willing to
provide the government with what amounts to development aid.
Myanmar is currently under economic sanctions from most Western
governments.
The country has not received aid from multilateral lenders such
as the World Bank and IMF since 1988, when the regime cracked down on
a pro-democracy movement and left 3,000 people dead.
Most bilateral aid programmes were also cancelled in 1988, and
have never been resumed.
The junta's status as a pariah state in the international
community has no doubt affected its cautious response to offers of
international assistance for Cyclone Nargis, and the prospect of an
influx of foreign aid workers.
International aid workers, many of them frustrated by the slow
pace at which aid is reaching the cyclone victims, have pinned their
hopes on the upcoming UN-ASEAN conference as a door to facilitate the
relief process.
'We appeal to ASEAN to use the mandate given to them to lead this
task force to facilitate more aid coming into the country, not just
in terms of aid supply but also in terms of expertise,' said Jemiah
Mahmood, director of Mercy Malaysia, a non-governmental organization
suppling emergency aid to Myanmar.
Myanmar authorities have only reluctantly granted visas to foreign
relief experts, and many of those allowed in have been barred from
travelling to the Irrawaddy delta region where the majority of the
cyclone victims reside.
The junta's stance may be behind the lukewarm response to a
UN flash appeal for 200 million dollars in emergency aid for Cyclone
Nargis.
According to latest statistics, only 23 per cent of the appeal has
been met.
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