1.5 million Cyclone survivors in Myanmar without shelter
Pastor Dale Morgan
1.5 million Cyclone survivors in Myanmar without shelter*
AP
YANGON, Myanmar - A severe shortage of housing has left hundreds of
thousands of cyclone survivors in Myanmar exposed to heavy rain as the
monsoon season begins, aid agencies said Saturday.
The United Nations and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies said there was an urgent need for tarpaulins to
provide temporary shelter to an estimated 1.5 million homeless
survivors. Otherwise, the threats of hunger and disease could intensify,
they warned.
"Exposure to the elements five weeks after a disaster of this magnitude
has to be a major concern," said John Sparrow, a spokesman for the IFRC.
"People are in a weakened condition. They are sick; they are hungry.
Without shelter, their whole situation is seriously exacerbated."
Sparrow estimated that only a quarter of those who need shelter
materials have been reached.
The U.N. estimates 2.4 million people were affected when Cyclone Nargis
hit May 2-3, and warns that more than 1 million still need help, mostly
in the hard-to-reach Irrawaddy delta.
John Holmes, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs,
said "relatively few" of those survivors who were badly affected by the
storm have not received any sort of aid. But he said the U.N.'s effort
needs to be stepped up because many survivors still need help and supplies.
"I think people are getting to all the main places, although it's not
always as easy as it should be," he said. "There's no evidence of
starvation at the moment, although as I say many people are still in
significant need of aid."
U.N. officials and aid groups have criticized the regime for hindering
access to the delta, saying it has prevented enough food, water and
shelter from reaching desperate survivors.
The U.N. also said Saturday that a lack of funding was hindering the aid
effort, with only $20 million of the required $50 million received to
finance logistic efforts that allow it to extend aid operations into
remote regions.
The U.N. has said that access could also be greatly improved if the
country's military junta would accept American offers of support which
include the use of 22 military helicopters to ferry aid to remote locations.
The U.S. military said it is keeping 22 helicopters on standby in case
Myanmar's ruling junta reverses its rejection of such help for cyclone
victims, saying the aircraft could reach survivors within three days.
With only seven Myanmar government helicopters reportedly flying, relief
supplies are mostly being transported along dirt roads and then by boat.
International aid agencies say boats able to navigate the delta's canals
are scarce and efforts to import vehicles have been hampered by
government red tape.
"Of the 1 million or 1.5 million people in need of relief support, we
think that between 450,000 to 750,000 are in emergency need," said Lt.
Gen. John Goodman, commander of Marine Forces Pacific and head of the
U.S. relief operation for Myanmar.
They could be reached "over the course of a three-day period" by
American helicopters and landing craft, he said in telephone interview
from a temporary U.S. staging area at Utapao, Thailand.
Goodman said the junta was "still considering" the offer of the use of
U.S. helicopters, which would include allowing Myanmar officials aboard
all U.S. helicopters to monitor their routes and to unload relief supplies.
The country's military leaders are particularly sensitive to allowing
U.S. helicopters into the delta, given the fact that Washington has been
a leading critic of the junta for its poor human rights record and
refusal to hand power to a democratically elected government.