Yangon (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Floods and landslides caused by the monsoon and by the aftermath of the cyclone Komen "have killed 103 people and affected 1.28 million citizens”, according to Win Shwe, Myanmar's Minister for Social Welfare. Heavy rains, which have pounded the nation for weeks have forced evacuations in at least 10 divisions.
In areas of Magwe and Sitgaing the population can not return to their homes; Rakhine State - home to most of the nation's Rohingya refugees in the country - is in a state of emergency since16 July.
The areas most affected are the regions of the center and south of the country, the centre for rice and cereal production; farmers are engaged in a tight battle to control the floods at different points in the course of the Irrawaddy River.
Even there where the rain has stopped there is still serious damage to infrastructure. An August 11 statement the Office of the United Nations for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) states that "although the water has receded in many areas, a large number of roads and bridges were destroyed and in the regions most affected. Transport remains difficult for teams to damage assessment and for the distribution of aid”.
In recent days, the archbishop of Yangon Card. Charles Bo has appealed to both the Burmese and the international Catholic community, to send food and relief "for the victims of floods in Myanmar." Even President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Su Kyi have turned to the international community. Basic necessities and logistic support have arrived from Asian countries (India and China in particular) and the United States, Europe and Australia.
The current flood is the worst environmental disaster for the former Burma since Cyclone Nargis in 2008, which claimed the lives of 140 thousand people. On that occasion, the ruling military junta was criticized for censorship of information and the refusal of international aid.