UN halts aid as Myanmar junta seizes shipment
05/09/2008 | 10:56 PM
YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's junta seized two planeloads of UN aid shipments meant for a multitude of hungry survivors of last week's devastating cyclone, prompting the world body to suspend further help, UN officials said Friday.
"All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated," said Paul Risley, a spokesman for the UN's World Food Program in Bangkok.
The seized aid, including 38 tons of high-energy biscuits, arrived on two flights from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "It is being held by the government," he said.
Meanwhile, more than 1 million people made homeless in last Saturday's cyclone waited for food, shelter and medicine. Many crammed into Buddhist monasteries or just camped out in the open.
The WFP's regional director, Tony Banbury, pleaded with the junta to free the shipment.
"Please, this food is going to people who need it very much. You and I, we have the same interests. Those victims — those 1 million or more people — who need this assistance are not part of a political dialogue. They need this humanitarian assistance. Please release it," Banbury said in a message recorded by Associated Press Television News.
Entire villages have been submerged in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta, with bodies floating in salty water and children ripped from their parents' arms. More than 60,000 people are dead or missing, state media reported, and aid groups warned that thousands of children may have been orphaned and the area is on the verge of a medical disaster.
A junta spokesman, Ye Htut, said the aid shipment was taken over by authorities so that it could be distributed to the needy "without delay by (the government's) own labor." He said this did not amount to a seizure.
"I would like to know which person or organization (made these) baseless accusations," he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Also Friday, three Red Cross aid flights loaded with emergency supplies landed in Myanmar without incident.
"We are not experiencing any problems getting in (unlike) the United Nations," Danish Red Cross spokesman Hans Beck Gregersen told the AP. He said the Red Cross flights carried 300 shelter kits and other emergency equipment.
The UN estimates 1.5 million people have been "severely affected" by the cyclone and voiced "significant concern" about the disposal of dead bodies.
"Animal and human corpses (are) a big problem. Many are not buried and lie in water. They have started rotting and the stench is beyond words," said Anders Ladekarl of the Danish Red Cross who arrived in Yangon Friday.
He said about 20,000 body bags were being sent so volunteers can start collecting bodies.
The WFP had sent some aid on a scheduled Thai Airways cargo flight on Thursday, which went through without a hitch. Another flight carrying Italian aid also came in Thursday.
But a bureaucratic mix-up led to the seizure when the two flights landed on Friday, Risley said. Until it is freed, the UN will send no more aid, Risley said.
"For the time being, we have no choice but to end further efforts to bring critical needed food aid into Myanmar at this time," Risley said.
The isolationist regime of this Southeast Asian nation has also refused to grant visas to foreign aid workers who could assess the extent of the disaster and manage the logistics.
"The frustration caused by what appears to be a paperwork delay is unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts," said Risley. "It's astonishing."
On Friday, Japan said it will give aid worth US$10 million (€6.49 million) through the U.N. to Myanmar, adding to the massive amounts of aid that has been pledged by foreign governments.
The junta said in a statement Friday it was grateful to the international community for its assistance — which has included 11 chartered planes loaded with aid supplies — but the best way to help was just to send in material rather than personnel.
One relief flight was sent back after landing in Yangon on Thursday because it carried a search-and-rescue team and media representatives who had not received permission to enter the country, the junta said. It did not give details, but said the plane had flown in from Qatar.
"Believe me the government will not allow outsiders to go into the devastated area," said Yangon food shop owner Joseph Kyaw,
"The government only cares about its own stability. They don't care about the plight of the people," he said.
In neighboring Thailand, tons of critical aid and experts are waiting to go in if the junta gives permission.
Among those waiting were members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team. Air Force transport planes and helicopters packed with supplies also sat waiting for a green light to enter Myanmar, also known as Burma.
According to state media, 23,335 people died and 37,019 are missing from Cyclone Nargis, which hit the country's Irrawaddy delta on Saturday. Shari Villarosa, who heads the United States Embassy in Yangon, said the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because of illnesses.
A Norway-based opposition news network, the Democratic Voice of Burma, provided graphic details of the people's misery.
In the village of Kongyangon, someone had written in Burmese, "We are all in trouble. Please come help us" on black asphalt, a video from the opposition group showed. A few feet away was another plea: "We're hungry," the words too small to be seen by air rescuers.
Grim assessments about what lies ahead continued: The aid group Action Against Hunger noted that the delta region is known as the country's granary, and the cyclone hit before the harvest.
"If the harvest has been destroyed this will have a devastating impact on food security in Myanmar," the group said.
In Yangon itself, the price of increasingly scarce water shot up by more than 500 percent, and rice and oil jumped by 60 percent over the last three days, the group said. - AP
"All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated," said Paul Risley, a spokesman for the UN's World Food Program in Bangkok.
The seized aid, including 38 tons of high-energy biscuits, arrived on two flights from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "It is being held by the government," he said.
Meanwhile, more than 1 million people made homeless in last Saturday's cyclone waited for food, shelter and medicine. Many crammed into Buddhist monasteries or just camped out in the open.
The WFP's regional director, Tony Banbury, pleaded with the junta to free the shipment.
"Please, this food is going to people who need it very much. You and I, we have the same interests. Those victims — those 1 million or more people — who need this assistance are not part of a political dialogue. They need this humanitarian assistance. Please release it," Banbury said in a message recorded by Associated Press Television News.
Entire villages have been submerged in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta, with bodies floating in salty water and children ripped from their parents' arms. More than 60,000 people are dead or missing, state media reported, and aid groups warned that thousands of children may have been orphaned and the area is on the verge of a medical disaster.
A junta spokesman, Ye Htut, said the aid shipment was taken over by authorities so that it could be distributed to the needy "without delay by (the government's) own labor." He said this did not amount to a seizure.
"I would like to know which person or organization (made these) baseless accusations," he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Also Friday, three Red Cross aid flights loaded with emergency supplies landed in Myanmar without incident.
"We are not experiencing any problems getting in (unlike) the United Nations," Danish Red Cross spokesman Hans Beck Gregersen told the AP. He said the Red Cross flights carried 300 shelter kits and other emergency equipment.
The UN estimates 1.5 million people have been "severely affected" by the cyclone and voiced "significant concern" about the disposal of dead bodies.
"Animal and human corpses (are) a big problem. Many are not buried and lie in water. They have started rotting and the stench is beyond words," said Anders Ladekarl of the Danish Red Cross who arrived in Yangon Friday.
He said about 20,000 body bags were being sent so volunteers can start collecting bodies.
The WFP had sent some aid on a scheduled Thai Airways cargo flight on Thursday, which went through without a hitch. Another flight carrying Italian aid also came in Thursday.
But a bureaucratic mix-up led to the seizure when the two flights landed on Friday, Risley said. Until it is freed, the UN will send no more aid, Risley said.
"For the time being, we have no choice but to end further efforts to bring critical needed food aid into Myanmar at this time," Risley said.
The isolationist regime of this Southeast Asian nation has also refused to grant visas to foreign aid workers who could assess the extent of the disaster and manage the logistics.
"The frustration caused by what appears to be a paperwork delay is unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts," said Risley. "It's astonishing."
On Friday, Japan said it will give aid worth US$10 million (€6.49 million) through the U.N. to Myanmar, adding to the massive amounts of aid that has been pledged by foreign governments.
The junta said in a statement Friday it was grateful to the international community for its assistance — which has included 11 chartered planes loaded with aid supplies — but the best way to help was just to send in material rather than personnel.
One relief flight was sent back after landing in Yangon on Thursday because it carried a search-and-rescue team and media representatives who had not received permission to enter the country, the junta said. It did not give details, but said the plane had flown in from Qatar.
"Believe me the government will not allow outsiders to go into the devastated area," said Yangon food shop owner Joseph Kyaw,
"The government only cares about its own stability. They don't care about the plight of the people," he said.
In neighboring Thailand, tons of critical aid and experts are waiting to go in if the junta gives permission.
Among those waiting were members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team. Air Force transport planes and helicopters packed with supplies also sat waiting for a green light to enter Myanmar, also known as Burma.
According to state media, 23,335 people died and 37,019 are missing from Cyclone Nargis, which hit the country's Irrawaddy delta on Saturday. Shari Villarosa, who heads the United States Embassy in Yangon, said the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because of illnesses.
A Norway-based opposition news network, the Democratic Voice of Burma, provided graphic details of the people's misery.
In the village of Kongyangon, someone had written in Burmese, "We are all in trouble. Please come help us" on black asphalt, a video from the opposition group showed. A few feet away was another plea: "We're hungry," the words too small to be seen by air rescuers.
Grim assessments about what lies ahead continued: The aid group Action Against Hunger noted that the delta region is known as the country's granary, and the cyclone hit before the harvest.
"If the harvest has been destroyed this will have a devastating impact on food security in Myanmar," the group said.
In Yangon itself, the price of increasingly scarce water shot up by more than 500 percent, and rice and oil jumped by 60 percent over the last three days, the group said. - AP
