UN agency to resume aid flights into Myanmar

by Hla Hla Htay Fri May 9, 3:28 PM ET

YANGON (AFP) - The UN said Friday it would resume aid flights into Myanmar after a suspension triggered by a tussle with the military regime over two planeloads of goods meant for desperate cyclone survivors.

The junta has refused to allow foreign relief workers to direct the relief effort after the disaster which struck a week ago, drawing condemnation from the United Nations and world leaders who urged the ruling generals to open their doors.

The wrangle with the UN's World Food Programme cast further doubt on the regime's claim to be doing all it can to save the 1.5 million people at risk of starvation and disease after last week's devastating storm.

"The World Food Programme has decided to send in two relief flights as planned tomorrow, while discussions continue with the government of Myanmar on the distribution of the food that was flown in today, and not released to WFP," said Nancy Roman, WFP director of public policy and communications.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon later Friday warned that survivors' lives could be at risk if the military leaders refuse international aid.

"If early action is not taken and relief measures put in place, the medium-term effect of this tragedy could be truly catastrophic," Ban told a press conference in Atlanta.

Earlier, the White House welcomed news from Myanmar that it would accept US emergency aid and said one military cargo carrying supplies would reach the country on Monday.

According to the military government, the death toll is almost 23,000, with another 42,000 missing, but the United States says more than 100,000 could have perished.

The situation on the ground is one of horror almost beyond imagining -- with starving survivors picking for food in waterways littered with the bodies of the dead -- and aid groups agree time is running out.

The military, deeply suspicious of any outside influence that could dilute the tight control it has kept on the nation for 46 years, insists that it will welcome supplies from abroad, but must distribute them itself.

In a sign of the tensions, a UN source said Ban Ki-moon has not been able to contact directly the head of ruling junta, General Than Shwe, to discuss opening up to the relief effort.

The row with the UN came shortly after the junta, which has a long history of thumbing its nose at the international community, announced in the state-run press that it was "not ready" to allow foreign experts in.

"The international community can best help the victims by donating emergency provisions such as medical supplies, food, clothes, electricity generators, and materials for emergency shelters with financial assistance," it said.

"Myanmar will wholeheartedly welcome such course of actions. The donors and the international community can be assured that Myanmar is doing its best."

Countless masses are suffering in the country's waterlogged southern delta, where huge swathes of terrain remain under water since Cyclone Nargis struck last Saturday, and entire villages were washed or blown away.

"I am angry with the government," said Dowla Shwe, a single mother with five children who said her house was one of the many that simply vanished when the powerful storm tore through her village.

She said the military had brought no aid or food -- and that she feared her children would now starve to death.

"If they can't help," she said, "why not allow foreigners to come and help us?"

Aid groups have repeatedly said that foreign experts who specialise in moving aid through disaster zones and assessing which regions need help first are essential to keep more lives from being lost in the tragedy.

"The situation is getting critical," said Noeleen Heyzer, the top UN official for Asia.

"There is only a small window of opportunity if we are to avert the spread of diseases that could multiply the already tragic number of casualties."

Critics of the regime have warned relief organisations that if they do not supervise the aid supplies handed over, they may be snatched by the generals and never reach the victims in Myanmar, one of the world's poorest nations.

Looking ahead, the UN appealed Friday for 187 million dollars to provide aid over six months to Myanmar.

Despite the catastrophe, however, the generals insist they will hold a constitutional referendum on Saturday, brushing off criticism they are ignoring the plight of victims while devoting resources to the vote.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party said they should delay the vote, and that it is only intended to tighten the rule of the military that blocked her election win in 1990 -- and have detained her most of the time since.