Help Burma Cyclone Victims

Mandalay puppeteers raise funds for cyclone victims

2008-09-01T23:11:00.000-04:00

Sep 1, 2008 (DVB)–A Mandalay marionette troupe is preparing to travel to cyclone-affected areas this week to donate aid materials worth 10 million kyat to survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

Aid donations to victims of the cyclone which swept the Irrawaddy delta area of Burma and killed more than 100,000 in early May have been gradually decreasing.

A member of the troupe said they planned to visit two villages in Kunchangone township to donate rice, blankets and mosquito nets to two hundred households over the coming week.

“We are not going there on a marionette show tour but as friends of the Mandalay marionette troupe,” the troupe member said.

“We donated 200,000 kyat from marionette shows at the onset of Nargis. This time, it is a donation from us and our friends,” she said.

“Yesterday, an abbot gave me some robes [for monks], and other people have given us clothes. We are taking them all.”

Mandalay is a popular destination for tourists and marionette shows are one of the city’s major attractions.

But the troupe member said that while the shows are performed daily in a playhouse that holds 60 people, not many young Burmese people are interested in attending.

“Foreigners are interested in our art. As for the Burmese, as you know, rock, rap and modern music are deeply ingrained among young people,” the troupe member said.

“We have to try very hard to keep the tradition going. I said in an interview that I am very disappointed by the fact that the applause of Burma is not as loud as that of the world,” she said.

“We are constantly performing around the world. It is an ancient art, it is very antique, so kids and young people age are not interested in it. It is such a pity,” she went on.

“There are puppets in every country, but Burmese puppetry is the best in the world and very well respected by people all over the world.”

Reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw

Authorities extort money from cyclone victims

2008-08-25T20:28:00.000-04:00

Aug 25, 2008 (DVB)–Villagers in Irrawaddy division have complained that local authorities have continued to extort money from cyclone victims under various pretexts, despite a letter of complaint they sent to SPDC leaders to report the practice.

U Than Zin, chairman of Mangay Kalay village Peace and Development Council in Dadaye township, PDC members and U Khin Kyaw (also known as U Htin Kyaw) of the township land survey department extorted money from villagers for receiving aid from donors.

U Ba Kyi, a farmer from Mangay Kalay, said locals had been forced to pay for diesel fuel that had been donated to them.

“There were 1383 gallons of diesel, and they collected 500 kyat a gallon from us – so 919,000 kyat,” U Ba Kyi said.

“But these were actually given to us as donations.”

U Ba Kyi said each household was also told to pay money to help cyclone victims.

“They collected 500 kyat each from 432 families on the pretext of helping the storm victims,” he said.

“We had to pay 216,000 each time and we had to pay four times, totaling around 864,000.”

The authorities reportedly told villagers they needed to collect money to fund the accommodation and hospitality for donors.

“Not satisfied with that, they collected 8000 kyat each from 212 farmers in order to buy fertiliser from the state agricultural organisation – 742 bags of fertilizers – amounting to exactly 1,696,000,” U Ba Kyi said.

“They have been misappropriating the money they have collected.”

The villagers sent their letter of complaint, which they had each signed and given their national identity card number, to junta leader senior general Than Shwe, prime minister general Thein Sein, the social and relocation minister and hotel and tourism minister, and the commander of Western Command, but no action has so far been taken by the authorities.

Similarly in Talokehtaw village in Rangoon division’s Twante township, the village authority chairman and members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association and the Women’s Affairs Federation have been profiting from aid, a villager told DVB.

“In Twante’s Talokehtaw village, when they’re distributing rice or medicine, there have been incidents when they have failed to give out the aid or extorted money,” the villager said.

The villager said that goods had mainly been distributed to people who supported the authorities, while others had to pay to receive materials.

“One day, they gave things out using a raffle ticket system, but each house had to pay 300 kyat to enter the raffle,” the villager said.

“Even if you won something you had to pay 1500 kyat [to receive it],” he said.

“U Maung Thaung, U Aye Thaung and Daw Cho are the main people involved in that.”

Reporting by Aye Nai

Cyclone Victims Turn to Towns for Handouts

2008-08-25T20:17:00.001-04:00

A woman walks amongst the debris of homes still being occupied in the Irrawaddy Delta. (Photo: AFP)

By AUNG THET WINE
The Irrawaddy News

RANGOON — Economic hardships have forced a growing number of survivors of Cyclone Nargis to leave their homes in rural parts of the Irrawaddy delta to seek assistance in Rangoon and other urban centers, according to local sources.

“I came to Rangoon to look for donors,” said a 50-year-old man from Kyone Chin, a village in Dedaye Township. “We don’t have enough food in our village, and our farming and fishing businesses have still not recovered. We need assistance badly.”

Kyone Chin village lost 50 of its 1,400 inhabitants and ninety percent of its structures in the deadly cyclone, according to the man. He added that food supplies and other assistance from UN agencies and the government have been dwindling over time.

“The whole village was terribly destroyed. The worst thing is that now we are facing hunger,” he said, explaining why he had come to Rangoon to find support for his village.

Private donors played an important role in the early stages of the relief effort, but nearly four months later, their numbers have fallen. Due in part to government efforts to control movements in the cyclone-stricken region, few trucks carrying privately donated relief supplies are now reaching remote villages, say local people.

Other cyclone-hit villages in Dedaye Township, including Leik Kyun, Hmae Bi, Lay Ywa, Mae Kanan, Taw Pone and Yae Pu Wa, are also facing severe shortages of foodstuffs and other basic supplies, according to local residents.

They are not alone in waiting for aid. A volunteer from Rangoon who has been involved in relief and rebuilding efforts in the delta said that many villages in Kungyangone Township, including Taw Kha Yan Gyi, Taw Kha Yan Kalay, Mayan, Maezali and Hti Pha, are also desperate for additional assistance.

“The situation is hard to say,” said the volunteer. “They do get a little assistance from the government and they have received some from UN agencies. But it’s not enough.

“There are still many people living under make-shift temporary shelters constructed with bamboo posts and tarpaulins sheets. Some can’t get rice to eat, so they are just surviving on what little food is available to them,” the volunteer added.

A local journalist who recently returned from Laputta Township said that farmers there were also struggling, as seeds planted late in the season have not been growing well. Fishermen are also worried about their future food security, as poor-quality nets and boats provided by the government have proven to be almost useless.

“In Laputta, there is no immediate concern about rice, since it is mainly provided by the UN,” said the journalist. “The problem is with rebuilding livelihoods. The farmers are not doing well because the tillers provided by the government are often broken, and seeds are not growing properly. Fishermen also have trouble because the boats they received after the cyclone often need fixing, and the nets are useless for fishing.”

The journalist added that much of the aid that does reach some of the more remote villages soon ends up in the hands of village officials, as little effort has been made to rein in widespread corruption.

Meanwhile, in Mawlamyainggyun Township, there are also reports of severe food shortages in the villages of Yae Twin Kone, Pet Pyae, Ta Zaung, Alae Yae Kyaw, Myit Kyi Toe and Pya Leik.

According to a resident of Alae Yae Kyaw, some local villages have sent small groups to Laputta to appeal for aid from local relief organizations based there. The results of their efforts have been disappointing, however.

“When we asked an NGO in Laputta for assistance, they provided just 3 pyi (about 750 ml) of rice per person for the whole month.”

Little aid ever reaches the villages of Mawlamyainggyun Township because of their inaccessibility. Villages located on the boundary of Mawlamyainggyun and Laputta townships, such as Yae Twin Kone, Pet Pyae, Ta Zaung, Alae Yae Kyaw, Myit Kyi Toe and Pya Leik, are especially deprived because they can only be reached by chartered boats and are reportedly not on the government’s list of villages eligible for support.

If villagers in these areas do not receive aid to rebuild their lives soon, the hunger and destitution they face now could result in more severe problems in the future, said a local volunteer who has witnessed the situation.

“Unless they receive some means of surviving, the hunger of these villagers could lead to killings and robbing. If we can’t heal a small sore now, we may face more serious harm in the long run,” said the volunteer.

Aiding Burma's Recovery

2008-08-25T20:10:00.001-04:00

VOA - 24 August 2008
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As Burma recovers from the devastation of the May 2nd, Cyclone Nargis, the United States and other international donors continue to provide needed help. The worst disaster in Burma's recorded history, Cyclone Nargis killed up to one-hundred-thousand people. Thousands more are still missing. Damage is estimated at over four-billion dollars.

Relief agency officials say that by now almost all of the more than two-million survivors of the storm and seawater surge have received some food aid. About half of the estimated four-hundred-eighty-eight-thousand households have received some building materials. But the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that despite the delivery of more than twenty-five-thousand tons of food assistance, people in remote areas, "are still living in dire conditions."

To help those most in need, the U.S. Agency for International Development is supporting nonprofit partners, such as Church World Service and the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, a non-governmental organization based in France, to resume agriculture and other kinds work in vulnerable areas.

Already, eight-hundred drinking ponds that were fouled with salt water have been filtered and cleared of debris, dead animals, and, most tragic, human bodies. Work is underway to repair nine-hundred schools and establish four-hundred temporary safe learning places for sixty-thousand children.

Relief workers are distributing fishing nets as well as seeds and other agricultural inputs in time for the monsoon-planting season, which will end this month. After a tardy response that put many Burmese at risk, the Burmese government has gradually opened the country to outside help.

The U.S. government has given fifty-million dollars in disaster aid to Burma. From May 12 to June 22, the U.S. flew one-hundred-eighty-five airlifts of U.S., Thai, United Nations and non-governmental organization relief supplies from Thailand to Burma. At an August 7 meeting with Burmese democracy activists during his visit to Bangkok, Thailand, President George W. Bush said he is "pleased that a lot of the aid that we paid for is actually getting to the people themselves."

Ghosts amid the wreckage in Myanmar

2008-08-25T19:44:00.000-04:00

By Seth Mydans
August 25, 2008

BANGKOK (IHT): Nearly four months after the cyclone, the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar is a flat, dark expanse of ruin populated by dazed survivors, unburied bodies and visions of wandering, moaning ghosts.

The region seems to have avoided mass starvation and epidemic, and people are rebuilding their precarious lives in this vast and often flooded marshland where the margin between survival and death has always been thin.

Within that thin margin, recent visitors say, many of the survivors seem to have lost their spark of life, and some of the dead seem not yet to have disappeared as they haunt the minds of those they left behind.

"There is a weariness in people's eyes here," said a photographer who has been chronicling the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which struck on May 3. He spoke on condition of anonymity because access to the region is forbidden to foreign journalists.

"There's a lost feeling that you get," he said. "People are physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. Some of them don't have the strength to start over."

After an international furor over the government's refusal to admit foreign relief workers, a tightly controlled system has been put in place, and aid is reaching much of the area, where the United Nations says 2.4 million people were affected.

The cyclone left 138,000 people dead or missing and 800,000 homeless, according to UN figures, after tremendous winds and a storm surge that resembled a tsunami.

It leveled most of the fragile thatch homes in its path, uprooted trees, swept away the livestock and fishing boats that provided a livelihood and polluted many rice fields with salt.

For those fields that survived, this year's planting season has now passed, and experts say it may be more than a year before many people see their next decent harvest.

Although some houses are being rebuilt and some fields are being worked, the delta remains a vista of ruin and debris, where human and animal bones and the last decomposing bodies still cluster at the edges of waterways.

Fantastical tales circulate among the survivors, the photographer said, weaving a tapestry of stories from this world and the next.

There is the tale of the boy who survived by clinging to the back of a crocodile, and the story of the boatload of people stranded at low tide who sat waiting on the silt for the water to rise, surrounded by stranded corpses.

There is the story of the mother who was reunited with her baby after it was swept away in a washtub, and the story of the woman who gave birth as the cyclone hit and pulled her baby from the water by its umbilical cord.

And there are the stories of wandering ghosts, whose cries for help can be heard at night in haunted places that no villager dares to enter.

Among these phantoms and traumas, international relief workers have become the survivors' lifeline, delivering aid to all but the most remote parts of the delta.

More than 1,800 visas have been issued to these workers, aid officials say, though access to the hard-hit delta is slowed by an ever-more-complicated process of permissions and paperwork.

By now, most survivors have received aid, said Andrew Kirkwood, country director for the aid group Save the Children. "But very few people have received enough assistance to get them through the next three months, and almost no one has received enough assistance to enable them to rebuild their lives."

He said the reconstruction of schools, clinics and other infrastructure, which should be well under way by now, still lagged because of delays in delivering basic emergency assistance.

The xenophobic military junta that holds Myanmar in its grip prevented large-scale foreign aid deliveries for the first three crucial weeks after the cyclone, then loosened its controls only gradually and partially. It never did allow U.S. and French naval vessels to bring in tons of aid and equipment.

But despite the early demands from around the world that the government permit open deliveries of aid, the United Nations says that nearly half the assistance pledged by foreign donors has yet to appear. Recently it said it had received $339 million in international donations, a shortfall of $300 million.

But life has always been bitter for the people of the Irrawaddy Delta, with 8 out of 10 families living in poverty even before the cyclone, according to Save the Children.

For many people, the harshness of life today may not be so very different from the harshness of the life they have always known.

"They live on a thin line, every day of every year of every decade," the photographer said. "And that is what they are doing now. They just keep going, day by day by day."

Conditions in Delta Far Starker Than Portrayed by Regime

2008-08-08T03:36:00.001-04:00

The Irrawaddy News-AP

RANGOON — A rare bird's-eye look at Burma's Irrawaddy delta shows the devastation still left from Cyclone Nargis—broken levies, flooded farm roads, the shattered remains of bamboo huts and trees strewn like matchsticks along the coast.

Conditions are far starker than reflected in the assessments from Burmese government and even in the recent optimism of some UN officials, The Associated Press has concluded from a review of data, a private flight over the delta and interviews with victims and aid workers.

Three months after a disaster that claimed nearly 140,000 lives, thousands of villagers are still getting little or nothing from their government or foreign aid groups.

"We lost everything—our house, our rice, our clothes. We were given just a little rice by a private aid group from Rangoon. I don't know where the government or foreign organizations are helping people, but not here," said Khin Maung Kyi, a 60-year-old farmer who lost six children to the killer storm.

Some areas have received help in the delta, Burma's rice bowl set amid a lacework of waterways. During a flyover, brand-new metal roofs atop reconstructed homes glittered in the tropical sunlight, farmers in cone-shaped hats worked in green rice paddies, and gangs of workers struggled to remove debris from canals and repair broken embankments.

But progress is slow and behind where it should be.

"The situation in Myanmar [Burma] remains dire," said Chris Kaye, who heads relief operations for the UN World Food Program. "The vast majority of families simply don't have enough to eat."

Some grim recent statistics from foreign aid agencies working in the delta:

_ A survey of families in 291 villages showed that 55 percent have less than one day of food left and no stocks to fall back on. Some 924,000 people will need food assistance until the November rice harvest, while around 300,000 will need relief until April 2009.

_ The fishing industry, the delta's second-most-important source of income and food, remains devastated. More than 40 percent of fishing boats and 70 percent of fishing gear were destroyed and very little has been replaced.

_ More than 360,000 children will not be able to go to elementary school in coming months because at least 2,000 schools were so badly damaged they cannot reopen anytime soon.

"The vast majority of people have received some assistance. But very few people have received enough assistance to get them through the next three months, and almost no one has received enough assistance to enable them to rebuild their lives," said Andrew Kirkwood, who heads the aid agency Save the Children in Burma.

Kirkwood said three months after such a disaster, aid agencies would normally be rebuilding schools, health clinics and other facilities. But in Burma, he said, the first phase of emergency distribution of food and basics is likely to continue for another three months.

More upbeat assessments have come from other quarters. Some have noted that a second wave of death from disease and starvation anticipated by some relief agencies never occurred.

"It has gone much better than anyone expected," said Ashley Clements, a spokesman for World Vision, an international Christian relief and development agency, citing the resilience of the victims and the speed of the aid response.

"The message I want the world to know is that the government, UN agencies and other organizations ... are making good progress," said Ramesh Shrestha, a UN representative in Rangoon.

However, almost at the same time the UN's humanitarian news service, IRIN, published a report about conditions in the delta titled "Life is totally bleak." Chronicling the plight of several families, it noted that many people lack food and shelter.

Some foreign aid workers caution that their agencies refrain from exposing problems for fear the government will curb or halt their access to victims.

"Our operations are contingent on having a positive relationship with the government," said Kaye, the UN World Food Program chief in Burma. "So we have to work out a fine balance, so that the difficult issues are dealt with, but in a spirit of cooperation.

What we have learned over the years is that direct confrontation with the government is not the way to solve problems."

The United Nations' humanitarian chief, John Holmes, recently noted that the process of getting to the delta is "still more bureaucratic and unpredictable than in the ideal world." The extent of the devastation also remains unseen because access is most difficult further south and away from the main townships, areas that can only be reached through narrow waterways with very small boats.

"I think that's where the needs still are quite considerable and that's where we'll focus the relief efforts over the next few months," he said.

The recovery has been slowed by the military government's xenophobia and poor performance, the difficulties of operating in the delta and in one of the world's poorest countries, and the sheer magnitude of the calamity.

The United Nations says the government's foreign exchange system has resulted in the loss of as much as 25 percent of relief aid. This is because Burma requires the conversion of foreign aid money into Foreign Exchange Certificates at a set price and then into the country's national currency, the kyat. The certificates have been worth as much as 25 percent less than the market value of an equivalent number of dollars.

"This is a big concern," said Dan Baker, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Burma. "The donors aren't going to give us money if they know they will (lose) a percentage of that."

To date, relief funds from foreign donors have come to US $339 million, according to the United Nations.

Victims complain about the dearth of official assistance. The real post-cyclone heroes have proved to be individual donors, small private groups and Buddhist monks—some of whom have been harassed, curbed and sometimes arrested by the junta for their efforts.

The scale of the disaster would put even the most advanced nations to a severe test. According to a recent assessment, total damage in the delta and parts of Rangoon is estimated at $4 billion.

Meanwhile, many villagers continue to suffer—and are far less diplomatic about the military regime than some aid workers.

"I don't expect any help from the government. I just know that if I ask them for help I would have to give them something in return. But I have nothing now," said Khin Maung Kyi, the farmer from the delta area of Kungyangone.

All the storm left him were six acres of rice fields. But he no longer has children to work in the fields, and he and his wife are weak from the lack of food, blistering sun and monsoon rains.

"We have no plan for the future," he said. "The only thing we have to think about now is how to find food for tomorrow. Having enough food to eat like we had before seems to be a dream now."

Conditions in Delta Far Starker Than Portrayed by Regime

2008-08-08T03:25:00.001-04:00

Myanmar Cyclone Survivors Living in `Dire Conditions,' UN Says

2008-08-06T00:59:00.000-04:00

``We have seen significant progress being made in the affected areas,'' Daniel Baker, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, said yesterday, according to the UN. ``Much more urgently needs to be done in remote areas where affected communities are still living in dire conditions.''

--Read More: here

Disaster Lessons

2008-08-06T00:34:00.002-04:00

By John Holmes

(WP)-Three months have passed since Cyclone Nargis and an accompanying tidal surge swept across Myanmar's fertile Irrawaddy Delta region, claiming nearly 140,000 lives and devastating the livelihoods of many more people. All told, some 2.4 million people were seriously affected by Nargis, ranking it among the worst cyclones in Asia in the past 15 years and the worst in Myanmar's history.

I recently completed my second trip to Myanmar, where I was again sobered by the immensity of the tragedy but was also cautiously hopeful about relief efforts. In May, government reluctance to allow international aid workers into the affected region sparked a storm of international criticism.

We have made a lot of progress since then. Touring the delta by helicopter, I could see that many houses had been repaired one way or another. There was agricultural activity in the fields and commercial activity on the waterways. Schools are in session, in tents if not permanent classrooms. And hundreds of international aid staffers are now working in the delta. The promises about access made to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon when he saw Myanmar's head of state, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, in late May have essentially been kept.

Without question, the international response has helped save lives and reduce suffering. While it is impossible to be sure all survivors have been reached, I am confident that the overwhelming majority have received help, even if many still need a good deal more.

Crucially, a much-feared second wave of deaths from starvation or disease has not happened -- no small achievement, given that 75 percent of hospitals and clinics in the affected areas were destroyed. The people's resilience has been remarkable, as was the degree of help and solidarity from individual citizens and organizations in Myanmar.

Challenges remain, of course, including over issues such as aid exchange rates, and it would be unwise to gloss over them. But the main priority now is to help remote communities further and to ensure that assistance is continued systematically until all concerned can feed themselves and rebuild their lives.

So, what can we learn from this crisis?

First, no nation, rich or poor, can go it alone when confronted by a natural disaster of the magnitude of a Cyclone Nargis. It would have been much better, not least for the survivors, if the government of Myanmar had recognized the value of an international presence from the start. I encourage Myanmar's leaders to continue down the path of cooperation, including in response to other humanitarian challenges, based on the universal principle of the impartial provision of aid.

Second, we must stay focused on the goal: assisting people in crisis. From the first, the aid operation in Myanmar -- as is true everywhere we work -- had to be about helping vulnerable people in need, not about politics. In this post-Iraq age, I am concerned that humanitarians are often pressured to choose between the hammer of forced intervention and the anvil of perceived inaction. Was there a realistic alternative to the approach of persistent negotiation and dialogue that we pursued? I do not believe so. Nor have I met anyone engaged in the operations who believes that a different approach would have brought more aid to more people more quickly.

This is not to say that there can never be a role for humanitarian intervention, even in natural disasters. But it must be the last resort, when all else has been tried and the only alternative is death and suffering on a mass scale.

Third, Nargis showed us a new model of humanitarian partnership, adding the special position and capabilities of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to those of the United Nations in working effectively with the government. This may prove the most important -- and, I hope, enduring -- lesson of the cyclone response, with implications for how we respond, anywhere, in the future.

ASEAN's leadership was vital in building trust with the government and saving lives. In recent years, ASEAN members have significantly stepped up participation in the humanitarian arena. Given that eight of the 10 worst natural disasters last year occurred in Asia, this represents a lifesaving investment, where the United Nations is helping to build local capacity.

Fourth, Nargis demonstrated once again the importance of disaster risk reduction and preparedness. Simple, low-cost measures -- local evacuation plans, shelters, community early-warning systems -- have saved tens of thousands of lives in neighboring Bangladesh when it has been faced with similarly devastating cyclones. We need to help the people of Myanmar strengthen their resilience and reduce their vulnerability. Building back better, to minimize future disaster risks, is a top priority.

In coming years we can expect to see more, and more intense, weather-related natural disasters as the effects of climate change become more pronounced. We must be better prepared and must cooperate as neighbors and an international community in meeting this challenge. The need for effective global humanitarian partnerships has never been more apparent -- or more necessary.

The writer is U.N. undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

Bogalay authorities demand construction tax

2008-08-04T21:52:00.001-04:00

Aug 4, 2008 (DVB)–Residents of Irrawaddy's cyclone-devastated Bogalay township have complained that local authorities have been pressuring them to pay a construction tax for repair work on their houses.

A Bogalay resident said municipal officials had told locals to apply for construction permits to repair damage caused by the cyclone and charged them between 100,000 and 200,000 kyat depending on the size of the house.

"Whenever they see a pile of bricks and sand in front of someone's house, they think they can make some money," she said.

"Our houses were damaged by the cyclone and they should not charge us for repairing them."

The resident said those who paid the tax were not given receipts by the officials.

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw

Cyclone Nargis response enters a new phase in relief and early recovery

2008-08-04T21:49:00.001-04:00

Fourth Press Release of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG)

Yangon Myanmar (Relief Web), 30 July 2008 - The Government of Myanmar organised a field trip involving more than 148 representatives of foreign missions, UN agencies, international non-governmental organisations, relief organisations and the media to the cyclone Nargis-affected areas in the Ayeyarwady Delta using six Myanmar Air Force helicopters on 29 July 2009.

‘This is to reassure that access to the disaster-affected areas continues to be unimpeded and is expanding. This is also to give first-hand information to encourage the international community to work with us to intensify the emergency relief and early recovery for the affected communities,’ explained U Kyaw Thu, Myanmar’s Deputy Foreign Minister and TCG Chairman. He also expects the field trip will bring forward and provide complementary support to the government’s 50-billion-kyat recovery programme. Other TCG members also joined the field visit.

The field trip follows the release of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) Report on the sidelines of the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Singapore on 21 July and concurrently in Yangon. US$303 million is urgently needed to intensify the relief and early recovery efforts as presented in the 10th July Revised Appeal by the UN, while recovery needs are estimated at US$1 billion over the next three years as assessed in the PONJA Report.

On the ground, the TCG reported that all of the disaster-affected communities have received relief assistance at least once. Bishow Parajuli, UN Resident Coordinator and also a member of the TCG said, ‘Now, we have double challenges, one, sustaining the relief and two, advancing the support for early recovery in terms of livelihood and subsequently local level recovery on the ground. There is progress in the ongoing farming recovery activities. However there is still a lot to do and we are concerned that many farmers may be unable to catch up with the fast-ending monsoon paddy crop planting season, with their subsequent future food security concern’.

The TCG has facilitated more than 2,000 visas for humanitarian workers involved in Nargis-related tasks. Humanitarian clusters continue to deliver aid together with the line ministries and local governments.

Along that line, the TCG recently launched a Community-Based Early Recovery Pilot Project at Seik Gyi in Kungyangon Township. This TCG special project will focus on early recovery efforts, such as community infrastructure repairs including monasteries and cleaning of community dug wells; and livelihood stimulation support such as planting of betel leaves, building fishing boats and providing fishing nets for the affected communities.

During the first TCG’s visit to the village on Saturday, 26 July 2008, H.E. Bansarn Bunnag, Thailand’s Ambassador to Myanmar and senior ASEAN member of the TCG explained, ‘This project will serve as the model for an integrated relief and early recovery that we could replicate quickly in other places in the affected areas’.

* Note: The TCG is an ASEAN-led mechanism to facilitate trust, confidence and cooperation between Myanmar and the international community in the urgent post-Cyclone Nargis humanitarian relief and recovery work. The TCG started its work on 31 May 2008 and has been meeting at least once a week in a spirit of mutual understanding, trust and cooperation. It has been working closely with the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee chaired by His Excellency Prime Minister General Thein Sein, Union of Myanmar.

The TCG comprises three members from the Myanmar Government: (Deputy Foreign Minister H.E. U Kyaw Thu who is the Chairman; Acting Director-General, Ministry of Social Welfare and Resettlement U Aung Tun Khaing; and, Deputy Director-General, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation U Than Aye); three members from ASEAN (Thailand’s Ambassador to Myanmar H.E. Bansarn Bunnag; Dr Puji Pujiono, a senior UNDP officer seconded to the ASEAN Secretariat; and, Dr. Anish Kumar Roy, Director of Bureau for Resources Development of the ASEAN Secretariat alternating with Ms. Adelina Kamal of the ASEAN Secretariat); and three from the UN (UN Humanitarian Coordinator Mr Daniel Baker; UN Resident Coordinator Mr Bishow Parajuli; and, a rotating UN agency representative).

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Adelina Kamal
Head, Coordinating Office for the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force
Phone No.: +951 544500 ext 417
E-mail: akamal.aseanhtf@gmail.com

Private donations for cyclone victims in Burma petering off

2008-08-01T03:46:00.001-04:00

Zarni
31 July 2008

Rangoon (Mizzima)- Three months after the killer cyclone lashed Burma's coastal regions, survivors said aid from private donors is slowly petering off, though a few international aid groups are still seen operating.

A university student in Rangoon, who has been actively involved in collecting donations and helping survivors, said collecting donations has become extremely difficult as donors are weary.

"Earlier, we had a lot of people coming up to donate, but now it seems that people have become tired as time passes," said the young man, who on last Sunday went to the delta and donated about 200,000 Kyat (US$ 170) worth of aid materials.

He added that unless they are able to generate more funds from donors he and his small group might have to stop their aid operations.

A boatman in Rangoon division's Kun Chan Kone township said he had noticed few private donors coming to help survivors, while only a few international non-government organizations are seen.

"As far as I have noticed, private donors have become fewer these days," said the boatman, who regularly transports aid workers from Kun Chan Kone to Dedaye Township in the Irrawaddy delta.

Another local aid group led by the famous Burmese actor Kyaw Thu is also reportedly ceasing its operation for the month of August due to severe shortage of funds.

Kyaw Thu in an interview over telephone told Mizzima, "We are halting our operations for the month of August because of shortage of funds."

The actor, who also heads the Free Funeral Service in Rangoon, said his group operated on their own donations as well as funds from other generous donors.

"Now that three months have passed, donors seem to be tired and are getting back to their usual business. So it is difficult to get funds," Kyaw Thu added.

Dr. Myint Oo, a medical doctor in Rangoon who is also actively involved in social work, said with aid groups focusing on reconstructing and rebuilding the lives of survivors, private donors think that their role in supplying emergency relief is over.

"They [private donors and volunteers] tend to leave the task of reconstruction to NGO and INGOs and seem to think that their role is over," Dr. Myint Oo told Mizzima in an earlier interview.

Impacts on Survivors

But the impact of the decline of private donations, volunteers and social workers are being borne by survivors, who after three months are still not in a position to stand on their own with out aid.

A village elder in Dedaye Township told Mizzima that they have enough stocks of rice until September, as they were given by an international aid group, Save the Children.

But he said, there is no other way of self-generation of food, as the rice that they have just completed planting will only yield by January next year.

"We don't know what to do after this stock of rice is finished," said the village elder.

The villagers in Dedaye Township are some of the lucky survivors of the cyclone as they have enough stocks of rice until September, but in other parts of the delta several villagers said they do not have enough to eat everyday, as it is difficult for aid groups to reach them.

A villager in the township of Bogale said, he and his fellow villagers have to go to Bogale town and look out for aid groups to help them as no aid groups could reach them.

"We have to come almost every week to ask for food," the villager told Mizzima over telephone.

An aid worker in Bogale town, who has been helping the villagers meet aid groups including World Vision, said, "I received many villagers from several different villages and helped them meet donors."

He said with the decline in private donations and volunteers several villages in Bogale Township remain out of reach.

Weather factor

With incessant rain since last week, a University student from Rangoon, who visited a village in Dadeye Township last Sunday, said their boat was flooded by the waves and nearly capsized.

"All relief materials that we brought got wet, but luckily we survived," she added.

The university student said the deteriorating weather conditions could also be a major factor for private donors to stop going to the delta to help survivors.

Additional reporting and writing by Mungpi

--Read More: here

Cyclone-hit Burma Struggling to Find Its Feet

2008-08-01T03:42:00.001-04:00

BANGKOK (Irrawaddy-Reuters)— Three months after Cyclone Nargis slammed into army-run Burma, people in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta are still in dire need of food and clean water, hampering efforts to rebuild their lives, aid agencies say.

According to a joint assessment by the United Nations, Burma and Southeast Asian governments, three quarters of households have inadequate access to clean drinking water, making water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery a constant threat.

In addition, more than 40 percent have little or nothing by way of food, having lost their stocks in the May 2 storm and the sea surge that smashed into the delta, leaving 138,000 people dead or missing.

Another 800,000 were displaced in a disaster that the UN says affected 2.4 million people in the former Burma, where most people rely on farming for a living.

"The window of opportunity for planning crops has now closed. Farmers will have to wait until November 2009 for their next decent harvest and will struggle to find enough food," leading charity Save The Children said.

While UN children's agency UNICEF said malnutrition was not yet a cause for concern, Save The Children said that if food and employment needs were not addressed, the number of malnourished youngsters could rise to emergency levels.

Fears of funding shortages have been compounded by recent revelations that aid agencies are losing money due to Myanmar's distorted official exchange rate. The United Nations admitted this week it had lost $10 million so far.

Worst Asian Cyclone Since 1991

The cyclone, the worst to hit Asia since 1991 when 143,000 people died in Bangladesh, has been compared to the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, in which 230,000 people were killed. Around 170,000 of these were in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

However, unlike the tsunami, the aid effort has been plagued from the start by a lack of access for aid workers and donors.

The military junta only admitted international relief workers grudgingly and three weeks after the cyclone hit following talks between UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and army supremo Senior General Than Shwe.

It rejected offers of help from French and US ships.

Access has improved slightly over time, although aid workers say travel permits for the delta still take four days to approve.

However, with the closure of a UN "air bridge" between Bangkok and Rangoon on August 10, aid agencies will have to rely on slower sea and land routes to transport supplies.

Funding remains a major problem, with the UN's World Food Program saying it is facing a shortfall of about 52 per cent, despite recent donations from the UK and Australia amounting to $16 million.

According to Save The Children, people affected by the tsunami received an equivalent of $1,249 in aid. By comparison, the victims of Nargis have so far received $213 so far.

Even before Nargus struck, life in the delta was tough, with a minimum healthy diet for an average family of five costing $1.15 a day compared to an average daily wage of $1.04.

--Read More: here

Soe Soe, Myanmar: "Life is totally bleak"

2008-07-30T00:10:00.000-04:00

"That night I went into labour in a small bamboo, thatched house on the banks of the Pyapon River to deliver my first child. But as the wind roared, my husband and I struggled outside only to see our home destroyed right before our very eyes.

--Read More: here

Myanmar’s storm survivors get new eco-friendly homes

2008-07-28T21:47:00.000-04:00

Dozens of construction firms have arrived in the cyclone-hit region to take on government-subsidised house building projects

NEARLY three months after a cyclone devastated Myanmar’s southern Irrawaddy delta, local firms are helping survivors replace their makeshift shelters with eco-friendly modern homes.

--Read More: here

Food top priority for Burma's cyclone victims

2008-07-25T22:36:00.000-04:00

Nearly three months after the killer Cyclone Nargis played havoc in Burma's southwestern coastal region, hundreds of thousands are still not getting enough food, the United Nations World Food Programme said on Friday .

"The situation remains dire in Myanmar [Burma] ," said Chris Kaye, WFP's Country Director for Burma on Friday. "The vast majority of families simply don't have enough to eat."

Kaye said hunger is a huge threat and that comes in the way of victims concentrating in other fields of reconstruction and rebuilding their lives.

"Hunger remains a very real threat, and if people are hungry, they can't focus on restructuring their livelihood," Kaye said.

--Read More: here

700,000 Myanmar children need long-term aid: UNICEF

2008-07-25T22:08:00.003-04:00

The United Nations and the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) have estimated that it will cost about US$1 billion in total to rebuild Myanmar after the cyclone. -- PHOTO: AP

GENEVA - AROUND 700,000 children are in need of long-term aid in Myanmar due to the devastating effects of May's Cyclone Nargis, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

'While we have observed a gradual improvement in the situation for children, and have avoided the emergence of major epidemics, we must maintain our efforts,' added UNICEF's Myanmar representative Ramesh Shrestha in a statement.

The agency has launched an appeal for just over US$90 million (S$122.5 million) it needs for operations through to April 2009. To date, it has raised less than half of that sum.

The United Nations and the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) have estimated that it will cost about US$1 billion in total to rebuild Myanmar after the cyclone left more than 138,000 people dead or missing and over two million survivors in need of aid.

In the crucial days after the cyclone hit, Myanmar's notoriously secretive leadership blocked access for foreign relief workers, raising fears thousands more people would die after being denied life-saving aid.

The junta only eased its stance after a personal visit by UN chief Ban Ki Moon, but aid groups say access to the worst-hit southern delta remains patchy. -- AFP

--source: Strait s Times

ASEAN: Political Situation in Burma Still Impeding Aid

2008-07-25T21:48:00.001-04:00

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
25 July 2008

Burma will continue to require international aid to ensure communities hard hit by the devastation from Cyclone Nargis are able to avoid starvation. But, as Ron Corben reports from Bangkok, despite the help from the United Nations and Association of South East Asian Nations, senior ASEAN officials says the political situation in Burma continues to hinder their efforts.

The Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN, is warning that the international community needs to continue to maintain support for relief operations in Burma.

Burma needs at least $1 billion in emergency relief and reconstruction over the next three years for the hardest hit areas in the Irrawaddy delta region that bore the brunt May 2 cyclone.

More than 130,000 people were killed or remain missing from the cyclone, with the total cost of rebuilding estimated at more $4 billion.

ASEAN, together with the United Nations and Burma, formed the Tripartite Core Group after the international community pressured the Burmese government to open the country for more assistance.

Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN secretary general, told reporters Friday that recovery efforts are ongoing.

"The emergency, the recovery is still with us," he said. "That is solid. We are not going into any long-term planning."

The tripartite group this week released the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report, based on surveys conducted by 250 officials and volunteers of the worst affected regions.

Puji Pujiono, a senior United Nations Development Program (UNDP) officer, said that while the political situation in Burma is impeding aid efforts, there has been some success in helping the hardest hit communities.

"Where we are standing now our colleagues, the political complication remains there, it will continue to be there for the months to come," he said. "The suffering is still there, people still lacking food, shelter and so on. But we have the mechanisms; we have done something right in this tripartite core group."

The storm wiped out around 4,000 schools and about 75 percent of health facilities and damaged or destroyed about 800,000 houses and more than 600,000 hectares of farmland.

Don Baker, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator in Burma, says the international community's continuing efforts remain vital for recovery.

"Nobody has died since the cyclone from starvation but when we did the PONJA survey more than half of the population at that time only had food supplies for one day," he said. "So we have to keep the food going until the next harvest and even beyond because this next harvest is not going to be a full one."

The New York-based Human Rights Watch, while commending the Tripartite Core Group, warned assistance to victims was still being hampered by the military government.

Human Rights Watch said large numbers of people are still not receiving aid and face food shortages, shelter needs, lack basic sanitation and face grave psychological consequences from the cyclone's impact.

--Source: VOA

Fifth of Burmese aid cash lost to exchange rate trick

2008-07-24T22:00:00.001-04:00

International aid agencies helping the victims of the devastating cyclone in Burma are losing as much as a fifth of the money that they bring into the country because of arbitrary foreign exchange rules imposed by the military dictatorship.

Foreign non-governmental organisations and United Nations agencies, such as the UN Development Programme and the World Food Programme, are compelled to exchange US dollars for convertible vouchers known to expatriates as “Monopoly money” before they are changed into local currency for as much as 20 per cent below the market rate. The money lost in these transactions could otherwise have been spent on the millions of people who lost homes and livelihoods in Cyclone Nargis, which killed about 138,000 when it struck the Irrawaddy Delta on May 2.

The UN humanitarian chief, Sir John Holmes, raised the matter with the ruling generals yesterday but reached no agreement. “We need a solution and we need a solution quickly,” he said in the main Burmese city, Rangoon. “They did not say exactly how but they said they would try to find ways by which we could get round the problem.”

This week a joint report by the Burmese Government, the UN and South-East Asian governments said that $1 billion (£500million) one billion US dollars would be needed over the next three years to recover from the cyclone.

In the early weeks the generals were reluctant to allow foreigners to enter the disaster zone. The situation has eased, and hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by the UN agencies, including $54 million (£27 million) from the British Government. Most of that does not need to be converted into Burmese kyats because it is spent outside the country on imported food, medical supplies and blankets. However, as the aid operation progresses from emergency relief to recovery, agencies will increasingly have to source their supplies locally.

The official exchange rate is six kyats to a dollar but this is a fiction used only in government accounting. The black market rate varies around 1,200 kyat to a dollar, and although this is the rate used in day-to-day transactions, Burmese are not allowed to hold dollars and changing them on the black market is illegal. Aid organisations are compelled to purchase foreign exchange certificates, the so-called “Monopoly money”, printed by the Burmese Government and exchanged at a rate of one dollar for one FEC. When these are changed into kyat at the government-controlled Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, they are bought at an exchange rate significantly below the market rate for the dollars that were used to purchase them.

On July 9, according to information supplied by foreign diplomats, the dollar-to-kyat rate was 1,185 but the FEC-to-kyat rate was 980, a gap of 17.3 per cent. At other times the fluctuation in the FEC price has widened the gap even further. “It's a major problem and a huge concern for all of us, affecting all of the donor community,” the head of the World Food Programme in Burma, Chris Kaye, told The Times. “But the solution is not going to be easy, because the FECs are an important part of the way the government structures its economy.”
--Source: Times Online

Letter to donors on reconstruction after Cyclone Nargis

2008-07-23T22:29:00.000-04:00

Human Rights Watch remains deeply concerned about the dire plight of Burmese severely affected by Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta on May 2-3, 2008. The United Nations estimates that the cyclone left at least 140,000 persons dead or missing and that approximately 2.4 million more were severely affected, many of whom are still in need of urgent and sustained humanitarian assistance.

--Read More: here

A plea for forgiveness

2008-07-23T22:27:00.001-04:00

The mother was holding her baby tightly under an umbrella, trying her best to guard him from the pouring rain.

I could not see her face in the picture. But as a mother, I could feel her shaking fear, not for herself, but for her baby's safety, as a group of soldiers forced her and other Karen refugees to board a boat back to the war zone in Burma.

As a Buddhist, I know I should not feel enraged. Yet I was doubly enraged at the forced repatriation in Mae Hong Son last week.

It is bad enough to know that Thai troops have no heart for the innocent people who are war victims. But to force them back to face possible violence and death on the holy day of Asarnha Bucha? How could they possibly do this?

The cruelty is eye-opening. When such an important holy day has no power to arouse even a pinch of morality among those who declare themselves as the protectors of Buddhism, and when society at large feels nothing against such inhumanity, we are in a very deep, dark pitch.

But condemnation, however legitimate, only deepens our negativity. To have any hope at all of cleansing our souls and our sins, we must probe the roots of such cruelty.

It helps to go back to the gist of the Buddha's First Sermon on Asarnha Bucha Day. In case we have forgotten, here it is:

Our suffering stems from our likes and dislikes rooted in the false sense of self.

To end this cycle, we need to see that we are mere temporary composites of mind and matter under the natural laws of impermanence and conditionality. To realise this truth, the Buddha advises we follow the Eight-fold Path to see for ourselves the natural laws or dharma, to maintain ethical conduct, and to foster spiritual development.

The path helps us to avoid hurting or exploiting others. When the cessation of anger, greed and delusion can be many lifetimes away, constant contemplation on impermanence can miraculously fill our hearts with calm and loving kindness.

The realities of our daily struggles and politics have made it difficult to follow the path. That is why we celebrate Asarnha Bucha, so we can stop and review ourselves.

Buddhism is an optimistic system. People are not originally bad. Our behaviour is conditioned. We can change when the conditioning changes.

So we must ask why the military and the public believe that forced repatriation is not sinful? Also, why do we believe we are good Buddhists when we treat ethnic peoples like dirt?

Is it because fear has made us heartless? Is it because our traditional concept of sin has become too narrow for the modern age? Or is it because we are the faithful followers of a religion much more powerful than Buddhism - that of racist nationalism?

Is it all of the above?

The forced repatriation in Mae Hong Son last week was not the first, and it won't be the last, which failed to shake our hearts.

The public felt undisturbed when a group of youngsters from the Hmong refugee camp in Phetchabun was repatriated to Laos without their parents. Their camp was burned down after a petition against power and sexual abuse. And when they tried to make their voices heard in Bangkok, they were immediately deported to risk their lives from persecution in Laos.

Similarly, we feel nothing in using immigrant workers as slave labour, or when their families are shattered by separate deportations.

Meanwhile, the deep South has become a war zone because we insist on seeing the ethnic Muslim Malays as outsiders.

If this is not racist nationalism, what is?

As the country is fired up by the Preah Vihear nationalistic frenzy, I wonder how the Karen mothers and their children are doing back in the war zone.

It is still raining hard. Can they find shelter and food? Can they stay safe? Can they forgive us our sins?

Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor (Outlook), Bangkok Post.

Email: sanitsudae@bangkokpost.co.th

--Source: Bangkok Post

HRW Urges Donors to Ensure Burma's Rulers Do Not Divert Cyclone Aid

2008-07-23T22:13:00.000-04:00

The U.S.-based rights group said Wednesday that aid efforts in Burma should be monitored by an independent body co-managed by donors and the United Nations. It says such a body would boost the transparency and accountability of the aid process.

The group says that since the cyclone struck in May, Burmese leaders have restricted travel by foreign aid workers and arrested some locals involved in relief efforts.

Human Rights Watch says international donors should pressure Burma to adhere to basic principles on the provision of aid.

--Read More: here

Japan Monitoring Aid Distribution to Burma

2008-07-18T06:55:00.000-04:00

Japanese aid to Burma for the reconstruction phase in the cyclone affected areas of the Irrawaddy Delta will be determined based on an assessment of how effectively emergency aid has been delivered, a top Japanese official at the United Nations said on Thursday.

--Read More: here

Three Laputta Refugee Camps to Close

2008-07-18T06:52:00.000-04:00

Burmese authorities will close three remaining refugee camps in Laputta, one of the areas hardest-hit by Cyclone Nargis, on August 5, forcing about 6,000 remaining refugees to return to their villages, according to sources in the township.

--Read More: here

Groups worried about end to Myanmar relief flights

2008-07-18T06:42:00.001-04:00

BANGKOK, Thailand - Humanitarian groups say the ending of United Nations aid flights in Myanmar next month could slow a relief effort that already has come under fire for leaving many of the 2.4 million survivors without adequate food and water.

The U.N. plans to end an air link between Thailand's Don Muang airport and Myanmar Aug. 10 as well as withdrawal five helicopters that have ferrying relief supplies to the hard hit Irrawaddy delta.

The U.N. claims the move is a routine step in the relief efforts as Myanmar begins to shift into reconstructing villages, schools and the agriculture sector in the delta where 84,537 were killed and 53,836 more are missing.

--Source: here

Asean engagement of Myanmar not successful: US

2008-07-17T20:36:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON - A US official says the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations recognises that a strategy of engagement to encourage more democracy in military-led Myanmar has not been successful.

US Ambassador to Asean Scot Marciel added on Thursday that he was not being critical; other efforts to force change in Myanmar also have foundered. He says the United States welcomes Asean members who have been working to encourage Myanmar to open up.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travels to Singapore next week for the Asean Regional Forum. Myanmar is likely to be a topic of discussion.

Mr Marciel is praising Asean for its forceful, 'unprecedented' statement of criticism of Myanmar's violent crackdown on peaceful protesters last year. -- AP

--Source:: here

Myanmar: Burmese junta profiting from aid funds?

2008-07-17T20:08:00.000-04:00

Even as cyclone victims reel under the devastating impact of Nargis, the military rulers are lining their pockets from the aid funds donated by the international community including the UN. The money is being made by way of a twisted currency exchange mechanism – dollar to local Burmese kyat, a source in the Burmese military establishment said.

--Read More: here

First the storm, then the plague

2008-07-14T05:44:00.000-04:00

The flies are unbearable.’ When asked how things are in the Cylone-affected Irrawaddy delta of Myanmar, the first thing that they describe is the flies. Thick clouds of biting flies fill the air around the villages, having bred in the bloated carcasses of the buffalo killed by the storm. ‘There are so many, that some of the remaining buffaloes have even been killed from the bites.’

--Read More: here

Uphill task in rebuilding lives in Nga Pu Taw

2008-07-10T20:34:00.000-04:00

Victims of Cyclone Nargis in a village in Nga Pu Taw Township are facing an uphill task in rebuilding their lives. The trail of destruction left many dead and swept away belongings, said an...

--Read More: here

Additional £17.5 million by DFID to help Burmese cyclone survivors

2008-07-10T19:52:00.000-04:00

Solomon
10 July 2008

New Delhi - United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) on Wednesday announced that it will provide an additional £17.5 million to help cyclone victims, adding to a total of £ 45 million in aid since Cyclone Nargis lashed Burma two months ago.

David Leslie, spokesman of DFID said the donation will be handed over on Thursday during a United Nations' flash appeal in New York to aid groups working in Burma's Irrawaddy and Rangoon division.

United Nations aid agencies as well as several other international humanitarian groups have said emergency relief works and reconstruction programmes could come to halt unless more funds are provided.

The United Nations World Food Programme has said it requires US$ 28 million more to keep its six-month programme running.

The International Federation of Red Cross on Wednesday said it needed US$ 72.5 million to fund its three-year relief plans which will include emergency relief as well as long term reconstruction programmes.

Alistair Henley, head of the IFRC's Asia Pacific Zone said hundreds of thousands of Burmese people in the Irrawaddy and Rangoon division have been living precarious lives long before the cyclone hit them.

"Nargis has left them weaker and more vulnerable than ever. We must ensure not only that they regain what they lost but have improved and safer lives in the future," Henley said.

Leslie said, the DFID has decided to provide additional funds as a response to the flash appeal by the UN and international humanitarian groups.

Douglas Alexander, Secretary of DFID, in a statement on Wednesday said, "While access has improved and the rate of delivery of relief goods continues to increase, we believe that around 300,000 people are at quite serious risk if they do not get more help soon."

Leslie said, "We will wait and see what the flash appeal contains today, and then we will make an assessment where the money will go."

"We have assessment teams in Burma, they are looking at where the fund is needed for each organization," he added.

On May 2 and 3, Cyclone Nargis hit Burma's coastal divisions of Irrawaddy and Rangoon, leaving more than 138,000 dead and missing and devastated over 2.4 million people's lives.

Following the natural disaster in Burma, DFID immediately announced £5 million in aid and an additional £12 million on May 15. The DFID announced a further £10.5 million donation following the ASEAN/UN pledging conference in Rangoon on May 25, which Douglas Alexander attended.

Burma's military government, however, has appealed for US$ 11 billion in aid to fund emergency relief works and reconstruction in the cyclone affected region.

--Source: Mizzima News

UN to Continue Bangkok Briefings: Holmes

2008-07-10T19:49:00.001-04:00

A top United Nations official said on Wednesday that the world body would continue to hold press briefings on the progress of relief efforts in cyclone-hit areas of Burma in Bangkok when needed, despite the preference of the Burmese military regime that they be held in Rangoon.

--Read More: here

Report Slams Beijing’s Burma Policy

2008-07-09T23:19:00.001-04:00

A US-based rights group called “8-8-08 for Burma” has released a report condemning the Chinese government for its support of the Burmese military junta just one month ahead of the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony.

--Read More: here

Thousands of Karenni IDPs Hide in Jungle

2008-07-09T23:17:00.000-04:00

An estimated 4,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are currently hiding in the jungle near Hpasawng Township, about 94 kilometers south of the Karenni State capital Loikaw, according to a Karenni relief group.

--Read More: here

Regime Asks UN to Stop Press Conferences in Bangkok

2008-07-09T23:08:00.000-04:00

Burma’s military government has asked the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other UN agencies not to hold press conferences in Bangkok but in Rangoon, according to sources in the former Burmese capital.

--Read More: here

International community must step up response

2008-07-09T23:05:00.000-04:00

Now, more than two months after Cyclone Nargis left a trail of death and destruction in Burma, events and developments elsewhere around the globe have captured many of the region's news headlines. But not being the centre of the media's attention does not mean that the plight of Burma is over. Unfortunately, that is far from being the case.

--Read More: here

Families still waiting for news of detained relatives - Zarganar

2008-07-08T23:39:00.000-04:00

The families of Zarganar, Zaw Thet Htway and others involved in voluntary aid work for cyclone victims who were arrested by Burmese authorities say they are still waiting for information on their relatives.

--Read More: here

Over 400 orphans still search for parents: UNICEF

2008-07-08T23:35:00.001-04:00

Two months after the deadly Cyclone Nargis ripped across Burma's southwestern coastal divisions, more than 400 children are still frantically searching for their parents, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday.

--Read More: here

Cyclone Orphans Take Low-Paid Work to Survive

2008-07-08T23:28:00.003-04:00

Using a small oil lamp to seal the ends, a woman and

two children pack cheroots in to plastic bags in a small factory in Pegu,
58 kilometers (36 miles) north of Rangoon.
Sources said children orphaned by Cyclone Nargis
had migrated to the cities to find work. (Photo: AFP)

By VIOLET CHO
The Irrawaddy News

Many children orphaned by Cyclone Nargis are being employed in low-paid jobs in the Irrawaddy delta and Rangoon, according to monks in the region.

Monasteries throughout the region opened their doors to orphans, but a monk in Mawlamyinegyunn Township said children who lost their parents in the storm often preferred to live with adult survivors in their own communities, where they found work in the paddy fields and fish farms.

Other children who had lost their parents had migrated to the cities to find work in tea shops, small businesses and households, often encouraged by family members, the monk said. Some were as young as 10.

A senior monk in Mawlamyinegyunn said his monastery had sent 20 orphaned children to Phaungdawoo monastery in Mandalay, where they were being educated.

“There are so many children who desperately need care, and we are now trying to collect information and data about orphans so we can help them,” he said.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday that 428 children had been separated from their parents by the cyclone. More than 50 centers had been established to help them, said UNICEF spokesman Zafrin Chowdhury.

According to government figures, more than 84,000 people died in the cyclone and 54,000 are missing. The most vulnerable victims of the disaster were children, UNICEF said.

The International Labour Organization has expressed concern about the possibility that children may be forced to help in reconstruction work, and has warned UN agencies and relief workers of “the increased risk of incidences of forced labor, child labor, human trafficking and migrant labor as the authorities and individuals come to grips with the sheer size of the tragedy.”

Rangoon-based journalist Aung Thet Wyine contributed to this report.
--Read More: here

Junta Profits from Growing Gap in Value of Cash and FECs

2008-07-08T23:24:00.000-04:00

The growing gap between the value of the US dollar and Burmese foreign exchange certificates (FECs)—introduced in 1994 to ensure that most hard currency that enters the country ends up in government hands—is turning Cyclone Nargis relief efforts into a major cash cow for Burma’s ruling junta.

--Read More: here

Burma aid tents through at last

2008-07-08T23:13:00.001-04:00

Cornwall-based disaster aid charity Shelterbox has just received the first pictures of its aid helping victims of the Burma cyclone.

Hundreds of tents have been erected as part of the international response to the 2 May cyclone which left more than 130,000 people dead or missing.

--Read More: here

Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis Revised Emergency Appeal No. MDRMM002

2008-07-08T23:06:00.001-04:00

Relief Web

GLIDE no TC-2008-000057-MMR

This Revised Emergency Appeal seeks CHF 73,987,907 (USD 72,537,164 or EUR 45,955,222) in cash, kind or services to support the Myanmar Red Cross Society to assist 500,000 beneficiaries (100,000 households) for 36 months.

This operation will be completed by May 2011; a Final Report will be made available by August 2011 (three months after the end of the operation).

Appeal history:

- 16 May 2008: An Emergency Appeal was launched for CHF 52,857,809 (USD 50.8 million or EUR 32.7 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36 months.

- 6 May 2008: A preliminary Emergency Appeal was launched for CHF 6,290,909 (USD 5.9 million or EUR 3.86 million) to assist 30,000 households for six months.

- 5 May 2008: CHF 200,000 (USD 190,000 or EUR 123,000) was allocated from the International Federation’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF).

This Revised Emergency Appeal reflects the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ continued commitment towards assisting the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) in meeting the huge needs of communities affected by Cyclone Nargis. This appeal builds on the emergency appeal launched on 16 May, and the preliminary emergency appeal of 6 May. It provides an update on the progress and challenges of the relief and recovery operation (based on available information), and in particular, outlines the way forward for priority sectors.

Progress of relief and recovery operation

Achievements

Since the cyclone, MRCS staff and volunteers, with the support of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, have worked tirelessly to provide assistance to those affected by the disaster. To date, over 500,000 beneficiaries have been reached with emergency relief of water, food and relief items. About 80 per cent of the beneficiaries are in the Ayeyarwady Delta, and between 10,000 and 15,000 people are being reached every day. Up to 2 July, 55 Red Cross Red Crescent chartered relief flights, 97 regular commercial flights and two courier flights, have landed in Yangon, carrying a total of 1,570 tonnes of relief items. Transportation by sea has also begun, with about 100 tonnes of relief items received so far. It is estimated that around 10,000 MRCS volunteers are active in the relief efforts at any one time. They have been providing assistance to people throughout the affected regions. The MRCS also continues to scale up its first aid and community health efforts

Present situation

Over the last few weeks, the operation continued to face various challenges. Guiding principles on carrying out aid and assistance activities were issued for the international humanitarian community, by the Myanmar government on 10 June. This caused some confusion among the international organizations and the government authorities, as to how they should be implemented and created delays in the processing of visas and travel permission. However, this has now been largely clarified and delays experienced in receiving permission to travel to the delta appear to have eased. There is also some hope that information, analysis and assessments will be improved. As the humanitarian operation continues to be allowed to develop, there is evidence of improved operational infrastructure and it is clear that the delivery of muchneeded support to the beneficiaries is more effective and comprehensive.

It has been widely reported that the magnitude of destruction of Cyclone Nargis on Myanmar and its people is unprecedented. MRCS had no previous experience in responding to a natural disaster of these proportions. This situation understandably created significant constraints which continue to be identified and tackled, with the support of the International Federation and other partners of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.

The unpredictable and complex nature of the operational context continues to have an undeniable impact on the response. It is requested that if particular operational constraints continue to affect the operation, partners agree that the resources pledged can be re-negotiated for use in other related programming.

Despite all of these constraints, the MRCS and its volunteers in particular, with assistance from the Movement, have been recognized for the immediate response on the ground from day one. The MRCS, in its auxiliary role to the Myanmar government, is widely recognized as one of the leaders in the national response to the disaster.

Moving forward

With the revision of this three-year plan, the operation will continue to concentrate on immediate needs until they are met. The plan also provides for the development and implementation of programmes designed to address medium to long-term needs in the following sectors: relief, shelter, health and care; water, sanitation and hygiene; food security and livelihoods; and the cross-cutting measures of disaster preparedness and risk reduction.

Lessons from this operation have highlighted the importance of and the need to support local communities with the capacity to respond to and mitigate the effects of natural disasters. In order to achieve this within an environment of poor infrastructure which includes transportation and communication difficulties, an integrated or multi-sectoral approach is imperative.

It is crucial to recovery that communities themselves take an active part in identifying, preparing for and working towards reducing the risks and vulnerabilities that they face. This is central to the success of the

operation and incorporates the way much of the affected population begins recovery and responds to the effects of floods and other natural occurrences.

How we work

All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable.

The International Federation’s activities are aligned with its Global Agenda, which sets out four broad goals to meet the Federation's mission to "improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity".

Global Agenda Goals:

- Reduce the numbers of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters.

- Reduce the number of deaths, illnesses and impact from diseases and public health emergencies.

- Increase local community, civil society and Red Cross Red Crescent capacity to address the most urgent situations of vulnerability.

- Reduce intolerance, discrimination and social exclusion and promote respect for diversity and human dignity.

Contact information

For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:

Federation zone office in Kuala Lumpur:

Jagan Chapagain, deputy head of zone office, phone: +6012 215 3765, email: jagan.chapagain@ifrc.org

Amy Gaver, head of disaster management unit, phone: +6012 220 1174, email: amy.gaver@ifrc.org

For pledges of funding:

Penny Elghady, resource mobilization and PMER coordinator, phone: +6012 230 8634, email: penny.elghady@ifrc.org

For mobilization of relief items:

Jeremy Francis, regional logistics coordinator, phone: +6012 298 9752, fax: +603 2168 8573, email: jeremy.francis@ifrc.org

For media/communications:

Jason Smith, communications manager, phone: +6012 387 0829, email: jason.smith@ifrc.org

Federation secretariat in Geneva:

Christine South, operations coordinator Asia Pacific, phone: +41 22 730 4529; mobile: +41 79 308 9824; email: christine.south@ifrc.org

--Source: here

The hungry are fed, but Myanmar survivors' mental anguish goes on 2 months after cyclone

2008-07-08T23:02:00.001-04:00

As the crowd gathered in the hall of a Buddhist monastery to receive their free lunch, Hnin Mya sat listlessly, oblivious to the smell of warm curry, the sounds of clinking utensils and the chatter of her compatriots.

--Read More: here

Junta Profits from Growing Gap in Value of Cash and FECs

2008-07-08T20:27:00.001-04:00

Food shortage threatens Burmese survivors

2008-07-08T20:23:00.000-04:00

Two months after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported that more than 1 million cyclone victims have yet to receive any assistance. In lieu of effective help for farmers in the country’s devastated rice bowl, the World Food Program has warned that almost 1 million people will need food assistance for at least the next six months.

--Read More: here

Two months after Cyclone Nargis, condition of survivors still 'critical'

2008-07-06T23:20:00.000-04:00

Two months after the killer Cyclone Nargis lashed Burma, thousands of survivors said they still lack basic assistance including food, farming equipments and shelter.

--Read More: here

Aid groups face soaring rent prices

2008-07-06T23:19:00.000-04:00

House rents in Burma's cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta has hit an all time high as a result of humanitarian groups including United Nations aid agencies taking based in the area to...

--Read More: here

School Children and Teachers Still Finding Hard to Concentrate

2008-07-06T23:18:00.001-04:00

Two months after Cyclone Nargis struck, the teachers are seeing first-hand the problems children face in returning to their studies. Students show signs of difficulty concentrating on their lessons.

--Read More: here

Delta Farmers’ Woes Continue

2008-07-06T23:17:00.000-04:00

A lack of equipment and poor seed quality are plaguing efforts by farmers in the Irrawaddy delta to plant in time for this year’s growing season.

--Read More: here

The UN Must Set the Agenda

2008-07-06T23:15:00.000-04:00

After six weeks of unimpressive results in the Irrawaddy delta, it’s time for the United Nations to show the Burmese junta who’s boss.

--Read More: here

Burmese Refugees Moved to Better Camps in Bangladesh

2008-07-06T23:10:00.000-04:00

Dhaka: Burmese Muslim refugees, known as Rohingya, who have been staying in a makeshift camp outside of Teknaf in Bangladesh, began moving to a new refugee camp on Wednesday, in hopes of a better living standard, reported one resident from the camp.

He said, "The program to move Burmese refugees from the makeshift camp to the new camp started on Wednesday and the process is still going on. On the first day, 275 refugee families had to move, and over 150 families moved to the new camp yesterday."

There are 1,900 families and about 7,500 individual refugees who have been living at the makeshift camp for years without legal status after seeking refuge on Bangladesh soil.

According to refugee sources, the living standard of the refugees at the makeshift camp has been very poor, and food and clean drinking water was scarce. The camp is situated along the highway close to the Naff River, where the refugees lived packed into shelters constructed from wood and small pieces of plastic.

The refugee said, "I think the new camp is better than the previous makeshift camps, and there are a few facilities for refugees, including homes, food, and drinking water. We also received a ration book issued by the UNHCR for food, including rice, sugar, and cooking oil, for when we arrive at the new refugee camp."

In the makeshift camp many refugees were recently suffering with diarrhea, and at least three individuals died from the treatable disease.

At present there are around 26,000 refugees at two UNHCR refugee camps, Kutapalong and Nayapara. There were an estimated 7,500 refugees unrecognized by the UNHCR that were living in the makeshift camp.

The camp residents, however, will be given recognition as refugees by the UNHCR as they arrive at the new refugee camp located in Nila Township between Cox's Bazar and Teknaf Highway.

--Source: Narinjara News

Relief Rice Piles Up in Min Bya

2008-07-06T23:07:00.000-04:00

Min Bya: People from Min Bya Township donated a large amount of rice as relief aid to Cyclone Nargis victims soon after the storm had struck lower Burma, but the authorities in Min Bya have yet to send the rice to the stricken Irrawaddy Division, reports a teacher from Min Bya.

The teacher said, "I do not know why the authority piled up the rice in the store and is not sending it to Irrawaddy, but the rice will be ruined in the future if it is not sent to Nargis victims."

The rice was donated to Nargis victims by people throughout Min Bya Township and there are currently over 200 sacks of rice being kept in storage.

"I am really surprised about the authorities' manners and why they have not sent our donated rice to the victims from Irrawaddy on time, and we do not know the reason behind the pile-up of rice in the store," the teacher said.

Zaw Myin Thein, Chairman of Min Bya Township, told residents that he wants to send the rice to Irrawaddy Division but there are no funds for transporting the aid.

It has also been reported that the authorities are likely to send cash to the victims in Irrawaddy after selling the donated rice to traders in the markets of Min Bya. #

--Source: Narinjara News

Assessment confirms cyclone survivors face acute shortage of food, water

2008-06-26T00:31:00.000-04:00

The United Nations today said that more than half the survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Burma's Irrawaddy Delta and Rangoon Division are still starving without any food assistance.

Only 45 per cent of the survivors received food through humanitarian assistance, while the rest were forced to rely on their own efforts, according to an initial post-disaster assessment conducted by the UN, members of Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, and representatives of the government.

"Considering that 42 per cent of all food stocks were destroyed, continued food assistance is required," the UN said in a statement released on Wednesday.

--Read More: here

USAID assistance helped WFP helicopters to carry on relief operation

2008-06-26T00:28:00.000-04:00

The UN World Food Programme has said airlifting aid supplies to Burma's cyclone victims continues with an aid of USD 3 million given by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

WFP spokesperson in Bangkok, Paul Risley, however, said airlifting aid supplies could stop by end of June unless more assistance was provided for its logistical needs.

"We have enough funds to operate helicopters until end of June," said Risley, adding that it was possible through emergency help by USAID.

--Read More: here

'Save the Children' clarifies aid distribution mode

2008-06-26T00:06:00.001-04:00

'Save the Children', and international non-governmental organization that has been helping cyclone survivors in Burma's delta region on Wednesday admitted that it had given 9000 plastic sheets to the Burmese junta in response to its request.

--Read More: here

Nargis volunteer narrates tales of continued crisis

2008-06-25T07:14:00.000-04:00

Every day the coverage of Burma's Cyclone Nargis diminishes around the world. "After just one month news of Cyclone Nargis dropped on news programmer's priority lists," a foreign volunteer, Tom, said. He has arrived on the border after working for one month in Rangoon.

Although the global media coverage is fading, the crisis that followed the devastating events of May 2 and May 3 continues, as each day the Burmese cyclone survivors face food shortages. According to Tom, many cyclone survivors have been stealing food from each other in the Phyapon Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.

--Read More: here

Reporter arrested for covering cyclone news

2008-06-25T07:06:00.000-04:00

A woman journalist covering Cyclone Nargis victims asking for aid from international NGOs in Rangoon has been detained by for over two weeks, according to her publication.

Eint Khaing Oo (24) from 'Ecovision' weekly journal was arrested on 10 June while she was covering cyclone victims going to INGOs and asking for aid, an official from 'Ecovision' who wished not to be named said.

Eint Khaing Oo joined the publication two months ago. She is in custody at Tamwe police station and will be produced before the Tamwe Township court on Wednesday.

--Read More: here

More than 30,000 Burmese Refugees Resettled

2008-06-25T07:04:00.001-04:00

More than 30,000 Burmese refugees living in camps in Thailand have been sent to third countries in what the United Nations said on Wednesday had become the world's largest refugee resettlement operation.

Most of the refugees are ethnic Karen people who had been sheltered in nine refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border.

--Read More: here

No More Aid through Junta: US House

2008-06-25T06:56:00.001-04:00

In amendments to the Supplemental Appropriations Act 2008, the US House of Representatives has passed a bill that says US agencies should seek to avoid passing humanitarian relief through the military junta to cyclone victims in Burma.

Supplemental Appropriations Act 2008, passed on June 19 by the US House of Representatives—which approves the spending of the Bush administration for the fiscal year ending September 30—made specific reference to the cyclone disaster last month that resulted in the death of more than 130,000 people in the Irrawaddy delta.

--Read More: here

DFID objects to Save the Children's aid distribution mode

2008-06-24T22:02:00.000-04:00

An unseemly row has surfaced over distribution of aid to Burma's cyclone victims, with the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) voicing its objection about an aid group channeling its relief distribution through the Burmese military junta.

The DFID, which has provided donations to several aid groups to help Burmese cyclone victims, objected to International Non Governmental Organization, 'Save the Children' giving 9,000 plastic sheets to the regime for distribution.

--Read More: here

Burma drops new operating guidelines

2008-06-24T21:59:00.001-04:00

The United Nations agencies and international nongovernmental organizations will return to the old operating guidelines in effect before Burma issued new regulations on June 10, in agreement with the Burmese authorities, a UN agency said on Monday.

According to a report by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Burmese military junta issued new operating guidelines on June 10 for UN agencies and international nongovernmental organizations.

But following a meeting of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) made up of the Burmese regime, Asean and the UN, it was agreed to revert to the regulations in effect before June 10.

--Read More: here

Myanmar: 1st press release of Tripartite Core Group

2008-06-24T21:41:00.001-04:00

1 The Tripartite Core Group (TCG) was formed after the 19 May 2008 Special Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministerial Meeting in Singapore, and the 25 May 2008 ASEAN-United Nations International Pledging Conference in Yangon, Union of Myanmar. The aim of the TCG is to act as an ASEAN-led mechanism to facilitate trust, confidence and cooperation between Myanmar and the international community in the urgent humanitarian relief and recovery work after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar (2 to 3 May 2008).

--Read More: here

Help build a new home

2008-06-24T21:34:00.000-04:00

Earlier this month, Amarin Plaza, in collaboration with Asean Handicraft Promotion and Development Association and the Thailand Handicraft Trade Association, held a fund-raising event, ''10,000 baht to Build the Homes and Recuperate the Lives''. The programme aims to raise up to one million baht to build 100 houses for craftsmen and their families affected by Cyclone Nargis in Burma. You can make donations from now until June 30 at the Art for Life Education Centre, 5th Floor, Amarin Plaza.

For more information, call 02-612-5900 ext 5812 or 08-1658-7542.

--Source: here

Family Commits Suicide to Escape Hunger

2008-06-24T08:13:00.000-04:00

A three-member family in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, committed suicide by taking poison after they had been suffering from hunger, according to a relative.

He said, "I was very sorry when I saw the tragedy that took place on June 16."

The family died after eating rice that was mixed with poison at 11 am on the day, at their house in Ghaha Gi Line, Plot 11, in Sittwe's Mingan Ward.

--Read More: here

Labourers forced to work on seized cyclone lands

2008-06-24T08:03:00.000-04:00

Jun 24, 2008 (DVB)–Government authorities have forced unemployed people across Burma to work for low pay cultivating farmlands seized from cyclone victims in the Irrawaddy delta, according to locals.

A resident of Bogalay told DVB daily paid labourers from Mandalay had been brought to the township in military trucks in recent days by people wearing Union Solidarity and Development Association clothing to work on farmlands seized by the authorities after their owners were killed during the cyclone in May.

--Read More: here

Status of Zarganar and Zaw Thet Htway unknown

2008-06-24T08:01:00.000-04:00

The whereabouts of detained prominent comedian and social activist Zarganar and sports writer Zaw Thet Htway are still unknown, according to their relatives.

Rangoon’s Western District police commissioner and other local officials took Zarganar from his house on 4 June. The police chief said they would hold him for two days to investigate if he had been involved in any political activity but he has not returned home since.

--Read More: here

ABFSU aid workers remain in detention

2008-06-24T07:46:00.000-04:00

The ABFSU said seven of its members, including group leaders Ko Linn Htet Naing and Ma Hnin Pwint Wei, were among the group of 19 people arrested in Bogalay township's Thukhawady village while collecting bodies of cyclone victims.

--Read More: here

Will assessment report bring in more aid for cyclone survivors?

2008-06-24T07:40:00.000-04:00

The report of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment team will be used to seek more funds to help victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma, a United Nations spokesperson said on Monday.

Laksmita Noviera, spokesperson of the UN Coordination Office in Burma said they are hopeful that the report of the assessment conducted by PONJA will clearly show the actual situation after the cyclone and reflect the amount of aid needed to help victims.

"The result of the assessment will be used to feed the revised appeal so that we can solicit more funds from donors," Noviera said

--Read More: here

Cyclone affected farmlands likely to be seized for forest reserve

2008-06-24T07:38:00.001-04:00

In an inexplicable move the forest department of the ruling Burmese military junta has decided to confiscate nearly 25,000 acres of cyclone affected farmlands in Kadone Kani village tract, Bogale Township, Irrawaddy Division. The idea – to extend the reserve forest area and there is no answer to what will happen to the livelihood of farmers.

"The announcement states nearly 25,000 acres of farmland will be confiscated,"

--Read More: here

Burma's Monks Regroup after Killer Storm

2008-06-24T07:22:00.000-04:00

In helping others, Burma's saffron-robed Buddhist monks have helped themselves.

The monks' critical role in providing relief after Cyclone Nargis has galvanized their ranks and strengthened their political voice—just months after the junta quashed the democracy uprising spearheaded by the monks last fall.

The monks have channeled aid materials into stricken regions and turned monasteries into soup kitchens and refugee camps since the May 2-3 storm.

--Read More: here

Myanmar: IOM delivers medical, shelter aid from three delta hubs, appeals for more funding

2008-06-24T07:09:00.000-04:00

IOM relief operations, which are now coordinated from three hubs in the three delta townships of Bogale, Pyapon and Mawlamyinegyun, include distribution of relief items including tarpaulins, rain ponchos and mosquito nets, as well as the deployment of mobile medical teams providing direct medical aid.

--Read More: here

Myanmar Cyclone Toll Rises to 138,000 Dead, Missing

2008-06-24T07:04:00.000-04:00

More than 138,000 are dead or missing from the devastating cyclone that struck Myanmar last month, the government said on Tuesday, according to an Asian diplomat.

--Read More: here

Doubting donors withhold Burma aid

2008-06-21T03:31:00.000-04:00

Reverting to their tried and tested diplomatic strategy of making concessions and then not following through on those commitments, Burma's ruling junta appears to be weathering yet another storm of international criticism over its controversial handling of the Cyclone Nargis disaster.

--Read More: here

Will corruption hurt relief effort?

2008-06-21T03:12:00.001-04:00

"The misuse of aid remains a concern," Amnesty International's Southeast Asia researcher, Benjamin Zawacki told me. "Indeed, the problem with much aid distribution to date is not so much that it has fallen into the 'wrong hands', but that it has not reached the right ones. There are still people who have not received aid, and much of it remains simply unaccounted for."

--Read More: here

A firsthand look at Burma aid relief frustrations

2008-06-21T02:53:00.000-04:00

Nearly two months after Cyclone Nargis slammed into Burma's Irrawaddy Delta, humanitarian relief groups are still struggling to get government permission to deliver life-saving aid to 2 million survivors, said Richard Jacquot, a San Francisco resident and emergency program manager for Mercy Corps.

In a conversation with the San Francisco Chronicle, Jacquot, who returned early this week from a month in Burma, detailed the enormous frustrations and the modest triumphs of helping cyclone victims recover under the watchful eye of an authoritarian regime.

--Read More: here

Who was there to help?

2008-06-19T19:06:00.002-04:00

In a squalid, bare room dozens of survivors from Cyclone Nargis sat and laid upon the concrete and thin mats of a monastery in Burma's afflicted Rangoon Division – the complex's hti standing ominously and noticeably askew. Just shy of a week after the devastating storm, the monastery and its remaining monks were supplying what relief they could. And what relief the monastery was in a position to supply, was not nearly adequate.

This is a scene that played itself out seemingly ad infinitum throughout Rangoon and Irrawaddy Divisions in the immediate wake of the storm, which hit Burma's delta region with all its force on May 2nd.

--Read More: here

Volunteers burying storm victims arrested

2008-06-19T00:23:00.000-04:00

The 'Myanmar Tribune' journal chief editor Aung Kyaw San and at least six of his colleagues who had buried cyclone victims in devastated areas were arrested on June 14 by the authorities.

The volunteer grave diggers of 'Myanmar Tribune', CEO Aung Kyaw San (45) and six of his colleagues buried the remains of a number of cyclone victims in Bogale Township, Irrawaddy Division. They were detained last Saturday.

--Read More: here

NLD calls for parliament to be convened

2008-06-19T00:19:00.000-04:00

The National League for Democracy, Burma's main opposition political party urged the military junta yet again to convene Parliament to solve the political dilemma the country is facing.

The statement issued by the NLD said the country is facing a national crisis in the aftermath of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis. And it needs to be tackled at the earliest.

--Read More: here

Is Cyclone Aftermath Creating a Burmese Civil Society?

2008-06-19T00:15:00.001-04:00

The aftermath of Cyclone Nargis has produced a number of local private relief groups in a country where civil society is under strict scrutiny by the authorities—giving rise to the question: could this phenomenon grow into some kind of social structure?

Shortly after the cyclone struck, a Laputta Township youth group, previously involved in offering funeral services for poor people, set up a cyclone relief team, together with local monks.

--Read More: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article3.php?art_id=12816

New Hydropower Dam to Displace Thousands

2008-06-19T00:13:00.000-04:00

More than 3,500 people, including many ethnic Kayan in southern Shan State in eastern Burma, will be displaced by a new dam being built in the Pyinmana hills, according to the Kayan Women’s Union.

The Kayan Women’s Union released a report, “Drowning the Green Ghosts of Kayanland,” on Wednesday saying the Upper Paunglaung Dam will flood 12 villages and submerge more than 5,000 acres of fertile farm land about 26 miles east of Burma’s new capital at Naypyidaw.

--Read More: here

Local Activists Blast Relief Effort

2008-06-19T00:10:00.000-04:00

Burmese humanitarian activists have complained that the distribution of aid to cyclone survivors is uncoordinated and is restricted to people in urban areas.

A well-known activist from Mandalay, Than Myint Soe, said on Tuesday that private donors and international aid agencies are not cooperating or sharing information while distributing aid to cyclone survivors in the Irrawaddy delta.

--Read More: here

Regime Steps Up Crackdown on Private Cyclone Relief Efforts

2008-06-19T00:04:00.001-04:00

Despite assurances of free access by private donors to cyclone-devastated areas of Burma, the military government continues to arrest individuals taking aid to survivors of the May 2-3 storm.

Ten donors have been arrested since the beginning of this month, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

--Read More: here

Gov’t Tightens Restrictions on Relief Efforts

2008-06-18T04:07:00.001-04:00

As Burma’s state-run media urged private citizens to donate “cash and kind” to relief efforts in the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta, donors say that the government is moving to tighten its control over private donations.

On Monday, The New Light of Myanmar, a junta mouthpiece, announced that donations could be made through the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Sub-committee of the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee, as well as through authorities at the district and township levels.

--Read More: here

Burmese Endure in Spite of Junta, Aid Workers Say

2008-06-18T03:43:00.002-04:00

Now doctors and aid workers returning from remote areas of the delta are offering a less pessimistic picture of the human cost of the delay in reaching survivors.

They say they have seen no signs of starvation or widespread outbreaks of disease. While it is estimated that the cyclone may have killed 130,000 people, the number of lives lost specifically because of the junta’s slow response to the disaster appears to have been smaller than expected. (JEG's: what about the badly injured buried alive?)

--Read More: here

"In that one night my whole life was destroyed" : International Medical Corps and Mingalar/Myanmar Helps Survivors Rebuild Their Lives

2008-06-18T03:36:00.000-04:00

Yangon, Myanmar - Tint had moved his family to Dedaye town in April and was about to return to his home village to start preparing his paddies for the planting season when cyclone Nargis hit the delta. "The morning after the storm I looked around town and saw only devastation," he remembers. "I was convinced that everybody in my village was dead."

--Read More: here

Myanmar bloggers help build 'Budget Huts' for cyclone survivors

2008-06-18T03:19:00.001-04:00

LABUTTA, Myanmar (IHT): Bloggers may find their messages blocked by Myanmar's military regime, but that hasn't stopped blogger Nyi Lynn Seck from raising tens of thousands of dollars for cyclone survivors through his Web site.

The 29-year-old IT specialist and his friends are getting their hands dirty and putting the donations to work by helping to build "Budget Huts" in the Irrawaddy delta, a region still reeling from the May 2-3 killer storm.

--Read More: here

Volunteers help Myanmar cyclone victims still without foreign aid

2008-06-18T03:16:00.001-04:00

In this village of 300 homes, only six houses were left after the cyclone hit nearly seven weeks ago. Residents say 114 people died, many of their bodies washed into the freshwater ponds once used for drinking water.

Residents in Kyon Ka Nan say they have yet to receive any international aid, and official assistance has been meagre.

--Read More: here

New Asean emerging from response to Myanmar cyclone: Surin

2008-06-18T03:04:00.000-04:00

ASEAN, often criticised for not dealing firmly with member Myanmar, was 'baptised' by its response to the cyclone in the junta-led nation and was ready for new responsibilities, the bloc's chief said.

--Read More: here

Twilight of the Idle Regime

2008-06-16T23:58:00.001-04:00

In the final years of the Ne Win regime, two incidents occurred which I can still remember very distinctly. One was a storm warning that put everyone in the small-town base where we lived on alert. When the storm hit, soldiers were ordered to patrol the town to come to the assistance of any who might need it. This included not only government officials, but also people living in surrounding villages.

--Read More: here

Rumors of New Catastrophe Sweep Rangoon

2008-06-16T23:45:00.001-04:00

Now all hope of humanitarian intervention in Burma’s cyclone-devastated regions has vanished, rumors of another imminent natural catastrophe are sweeping Rangoon.

In the weeks following the cyclone, as US, British and French ships loaded with aid stood ready in international waters off Burma, many were certain that the three Western powers would decide to launch unilateral relief operations. Rumors spread widely that help was on its way.

--Read More: here

Student activists helping Nargis victims arrested

2008-06-16T23:40:00.000-04:00

New Delhi: The Burmese military junta authorities detained at least three members of 88 Generation Students last Thursday.

Three senior members, one man and three women- Myet Thu, Yin Yin Wai and Tin Tin Cho who were into cyclone relief efforts and aid distribution were arrested while they were sitting in a teashop in Maynigone, Rangoon.

--Read More: here

Burma cyclone impacting world food supply; forced evictions make post-cyclone hell worse

2008-06-16T23:34:00.001-04:00

The effects of Cyclone Nargis in early May have not only added new misery for the country’s 50 million people but have negated rice exports needed by neighboring countries and contributing to the global food crisis. The storm hit hardest in Burma’s main rice-growing region in the isolated Irrawaddy Delta, where some 2 million people were driven from their homes and farmland.

--Read More: here

Myanmar Cyclone Survivors Left Without Shelter, Aid Workers Say

2008-06-16T23:30:00.000-04:00

More than 75 percent of people needing shelter after Myanmar's cyclone are without tarpaulins for emergency protection six weeks after the storm devastated the southern Irrawaddy River Delta, aid workers said.

``There are still people who need a roof over their head,'' John Sparrow of the International Federation of the Red Cross said yesterday after returning from the delta, according to the United Nations IRIN news service. ``They are resilient, and they are doing the best they can for themselves, but it isn't enough.''

--Read More: here

Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis OCHA Situation Report No. 32

2008-06-16T23:27:00.000-04:00

SITUATION OVERVIEW

1. Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, making landfall in the Ayeyarwady Division and hitting the former capital, Yangon. 37 townships were significantly affected by the cyclone. Current estimates suggest that 2.4 million people were affected. 1.3 million people are estimated to have been reached so far by International NGOs, the Red Cross and the UN. Official figures put the number of dead or missing at more than 130,000.

2. A Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of high-level representatives of the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN, was established at a donor conference in Yangon on 25 May to oversee the coordination of relief assistance. The group’s fifth meeting took place in Yangon on 14 June. The ASEAN Secretary-General, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, visited Yangon on 14 June. The Secretary-General met with TCG partners, PONJA management teams (see below) and Government representatives.

3. A joint relief and early recovery assessment (Post-Nargis Joint Assessment/PONJA) is underway. The assessment involves humanitarian needs (Village Tract Assessment/VTA) and damage components (Damage and Loss Assessment/DaLA). Field surveys involving some 250 assessment personnel are taking place in 30 of the worst-affected townships between 10 and 19 June. As of 16 June 32 VTA teams have covered 84 out of 128 assessment ‘quadrants’ in Bogale, Labutta, Pathein, Pyapon, Wakema and Yangon.

4. New Government guidelines for international organizations providing assistance in cyclone-affected areas were introduced on 10 June. UN agencies and NGOs report difficulties with requests for visas and travel authorizations carried out in accordance with the new guidelines, with many line ministries not provided with instructions to expedite requests. More than 200 visas have been issued to UN staff as of 15 June. Most of the visas issued have been single entry visas for two weeks. Extensions are currently being approved in approximately 7-10 days. Close to 150 international operational UN staff have been to the affected areas as of 15 June, and at least five international UN staff have now been given permission to be based for up to 3 months in the field.

NATIONAL RESPONSE

5. The Xinhua news service reports that the Myanmar Engineers' Society (MES) and the Geological Science Society (GSS) are planning to build cyclone shelters in 500 vulnerable villages. The total cost of the project is estimated to be at least US$15 million. Designs are reportedly being developed by MES and sample shelters will initially be constructed in Ayeyarwady division.

6. IFRC reports that the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS), working with the IFRC and the ICRC, has reached more than 250,000 beneficiaries with water, food and other relief items as of 9 June. More than 189,950 of these beneficiaries are located in the Ayeyarwady delta. Approximately 10,000 people per day are being reached.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

7. The following information is provided by the clusters, which meet regularly to coordinate the humanitarian response of national and international NGOs, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and UN agencies. For more detailed up-to-date information relating to cluster activities please visit the Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) website: http://myanmar.humanitarianinfo.org.

Relief Web

Myanmar rice farmers get tillers to replace buffalo, but don't know how to use them

2008-06-16T23:21:00.000-04:00

Farmer Zaw Naing was puzzled as he stared at the brand new, unassembled tilling machine — equipment not seen in most of Myanmar's rice belt before the deadly cyclone.

--Read More: here

Editor aiding cyclone victims arrested by Junta

2008-06-16T01:46:00.000-04:00

The Burmese military junta continues to harass and detain people and despite odds have gone out of their way to help victims of Cyclone Nargis. In its latest instance of intolerance it arrested a journalist on Friday, who had been helping survivors.

Zaw Thet Htwe, the former editor of a weekly sports journal was arrested in his home town, Minbu, according to a close relative according to a close relative who refused to be quoted by his name.

--Read More: here

Red Cross welcomes special cyclone support

2008-06-16T01:40:00.001-04:00

Australian Red Cross CEO Robert Tickner today warmly welcomed a special contribution by the Government of South Australia to aid victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar(Burma).

Mr Tickner praised the work of Myanmar Red Cross aid workers and volunteers currently distributing life-saving relief items to affected families including drinking water, clothing, food and emergency shelter.

--Read More: here

NDPCC member inspects rehabilitation tasks in Ngapudaw Township

2008-06-16T01:29:00.001-04:00

Yangon, 13 June - Member of the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee Minister for Mines Brig-Gen Ohn Myint met with commanding officer of local battalion and those in-charge of construction companies, officials and USDA members at the control office of Pyinkhayein village, Ayeyawady Division in Ngapudaw Township on 9 June and gave instructions on rehabilitation tasks of storm-hit villages, progress in repairing schools, arrival of power-tillers and agricultural equipment and health matter.

--Source: here

Dodging the Junta

2008-06-16T01:09:00.000-04:00

Though the junta has attempted to commandeer every level of the relief effort--backed by its legions of foot soldiers in the army and police--some local groups have found detours around the blockades, helped by ground-level officials willing to look the other way. On a Wednesday afternoon last month, a group of volunteers visited a makeshift shelter in Shwebaukan, an area in the outlying districts of Rangoon. Inside a government school--the only concrete building in the neighborhood--500 homeless cyclone victims were huddled, "being threatened by the local army guy [who was saying] that they could not stay there for long," according to a Western expatriate who accompanied the group. The military man turned out to be a member of Suan Aa Shin, the local "brute force" contingent. Two days later, the victims were evicted from the school, left to patch together lean-to shacks from the wreckage of ruined huts.

--Read More: here

Quote on Empowerment

2008-06-13T03:23:00.002-04:00

Poverty has been a big blow to our people's freedom…
A person who has no home, no education, who has nothing to eat,
and no clean water to drink can never say
he is empowered in his own country.
— Reynato Puno, chief justice of the Philippine Supreme Court

Burma Gives 'Cronies' Slice of Storm Relief

2008-06-13T02:57:00.001-04:00

On Magazine's List of Junta's Chosen Tycoons Are Some Facing U.S. Sanctions

Just seven days after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma last month, the ruling military junta parceled out key sections of the affected Irrawaddy Delta to favored tycoons and companies, including several facing sanctions from the U.S. Treasury, according to a Burmese magazine with close ties to the government.

--Read More: here