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UN chief’s Myanmar visit – military regime agrees to accept aid workers |
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Myanmar’s junta leader has agreed to allow access to all foreign aid workers to help with relief operations after Cyclone Nargis. UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced this in the new Myanmar capital, Naypyidaw, on May 23, after more than two hours of talks with Senior General Than Shwe, the reclusive leader of the country’s military regime whose refusal to let them in has set off international outrage. There was no immediate confirmation from Myanmar. But, a senior UN official who attended the meeting said Than Shwe had accepted access to the delta. International aid groups reacted cautiously, stressing that they would need full access to the devastated Irrawaddy delta hit hardest in the disaster –something the UN said was believed to be the agreement. Before leaving New York, Ban said the junta has agreed to let nine UN helicopters to work in remote regions hit by the storm. The junta has said it would not take aid coming from US military ships and helicopters.
The decision could ease a three-week standoff since the cyclone
tore into Myanmar on May 2-3, leaving at least 133,000 people dead or missing and around 2.5 million more in need of immediate aid.
thousands of children who survived the cyclone will starve to death in two to three weeks unless food is rushed to them, an aid agency warned. Aid groups have estimated that the death toll could be substantially higher than the regime has indicated while hunger and disease are stalking survivors. Many people are without sufficient food and water nearly three weeks after the cyclone hit and international organisations have repeatedly said the regime does not have the capacity to supervise the relief work alone.
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