As the death toll in Myanmar surged to 50,000 today, international governments and aid organizations jumped at the opportunity to help the reclusive southeast Asian nation, which spurned aid in the aftermath of a 2004 tsunami. Unfortunately, the Burmese junta seems somewhat less anxious to let aid workers into the country.

The U.S. Embassy provided an initial $250,000 package Monday after Cyclone Nargis swept through the southwest portion of Myanmar. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) followed with another $3 million on Tuesday. The USAID Disaster Assistant Response Team (DART), positioned next door in Bangkok and waiting for permission to enter Myanmar, will allocate the funds.

China has offered $1 million in aid, half of which is measured in relief materials such as tents, bedding and biscuits, and has promised to “closely follow Myanmar’s disaster relief.” China committed no personnel as of Tuesday.

a five-member UN disaster assessment team rushed to the region to mobilize UN relief efforts, only to wait for their visas to enter Myanmar. The UN has 1,650 personnel on the ground in Myanmar, and is waiting for the five specialists to enter before releasing $5 million in emergency response aid.

Operation Blessing International, a non-governmental organization with German funding, is also waiting—with doctors and water purification systems in hand—to “get green light to enter the country and permission to clear customs,” says OBI president Bill Horan.

One NGO, however, has been able to mobilize with the surprising acceptance of the Burmese junta. “Our organization has been given permission, which is pretty unprecedented, to fly people in. This shows how grave it is in the Burmese government’s mind,” World Vision Australia head Tim Costello said.

Myanmar’s government granted special visas to World Vision, allowing them to increase their present staff of 600 to provide assistance and materials like tents, clothes, and medicine.

World Vision analysts—some of the few allowed in Myanmar since the cyclone hit Saturday—have estimated that nearly 2 million people have been immediately affected by the storm. The UN has predicted that nearly 24 million people live in the areas most affected.

	Topic: Front Page, The World		Email a friend
	Keywords: aid, myanmar		RSS 2.0
	Both comments and pings are currently closed.		Share this: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.