» 05/20/2008 12:57 MYANMAR Nargis survivors: we don't need national mourning, but foreign aid This is the appeal to AsiaNews by a Burmese citizen who has returned from a trip to the Irrawaddy delta: the world should not wait for permission from the junta. For now, the little international aid permitted will be coordinated by ASEAN. Arrival of Ban Ki-moon expected tomorrow.
Yangon (AsiaNews) - "What good are these three days of national mourning after three weeks of disaster? The only thing we need is more foreign aid! We are begging the world to intervene as soon as possible, even without the permission of our government, which wants to kill us slowly". This is the appeal sent to AsiaNews today by a Burmese citizen who has visited the areas of the Irrawaddy delta, the area hardest hit by the cyclone Nargis. This cry of distress, kept anonymous for obvious reasons of safety, condemns the uselessness of the superficial gestures of the junta, which, while it has flags flown at half staff for three days all over the country, continues to block the entry of foreign aid, indispensable for the 2.5 million people who according to the UN are in need of assistance.
Meanwhile, today, the three days of national mourning are part of the meagre openness that the junta has been demonstrating recently to the international community, but is not sufficient to prevent the second catastrophe that is ravaging the survivors of Nargis, left to themselves without food or health care. The official tally of the victims remains at 78,000 dead and 56,000 missing.
"In the refugee camps", the man recounts, "for days dozens and dozens of people have been living under flimsy pieces of plastic; each of us lost at least four relatives in the cyclone. The survivors have no clothing, so people are stripping the corpses that they find in the streets; there are many children who are seriously injured and need immediate attention. We are desperate!".
International efforts
The regime of Naypytaw continues to deny permission for British, American, and French ships anchored along the Burmese coast and waiting for the opportunity to deliver aid shipments. But yesterday, the generals gave permission for the entry of about 300 doctors from neighbouring countries, according to a statement released by the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) who have gathered in Singapore to discuss the emergency. ASEAN will also coordinate international aid efforts. But the junta - according to Singapore foreign minister George Yeo - will not give Western aid workers unlimited access, not even in the most severely affected areas. Humanitarian workers from other nations will be able to obtain permissions only on a case by case basis. "We must verify the specific needs, there will be no unregulated access", Yeo said. The details of the plan will be elaborated by the United Nations, which yesterday announced the opening of a conference of donor nations in the capital of Myanmar next May 25. Tomorrow, the secretary general of the United Nations will arrive in Yangon, and will also visit the areas hit by the cyclone in the Irrawaddy delta. It is not known whether he will meet with the head of the junta, Than Shwe.
