Visa Delays Stall Myanmar (Burma) Relief Efforts

May 6, 2008

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

The death toll from Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis could climb steeply unless aid agencies get into the country quickly and get clean drinking water and shelter to tens of thousands of traumatized survivors.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio's (ABCR) South Asia Correspondent Karen Percy reported it's now known that a big tidal surge that followed the cyclone swept across the low-lying Irrawaddy River delta may have been responsible for most of the deaths.

ABCR reported that Myanmar's military junta puts the number of dead at more than 22,000, and says up to 41,000 are missing. And as the days go on, ABCR reported, a clearer picture is emerging - not just of the devastation but of the junta's failure to deal with it.
One Burmese man who spoke to ABCR works for an international organization based in Rangoon, but did not want to be identified.
"Big trees fell on the street and it is very huge for us to clean up," he told ABCR. "I saw some soldiers cutting up and moving (the trees out), but I wish they were more active. They are using generators to pump the water to the water tanks, so people are buying generators like they are buying groceries - those who can afford (to do so)."

He added, "There is no significant support to those who have lost their home. To those who don't have any money, to those who don't have any job, support is not significantly made to those people."

Pierre-Andre Conod, who heads up the operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yangon, told ABCR it is terrifying to see how the roofs of well-built houses were just blown away.

"If one imagines that in the worst-affected area of the country, namely the delta area, something like 100 to 200 kilometers south of Yangon, the houses are, for most of them, makeshift houses - they're not that well built," he told ABCR. "You can imagine that the disaster created might be really considerable."

ABCR reported Conod's local team has spent the past two days assessing the damage in the Irrawaddy delta, and he expects the team to report back soon. Then he is planning to mount a full-scale humanitarian effort - taking food, shelter and medicines to those in need.

Visa Delay
ABCR said Conod wants to see additional aid agencies admitted to the country, under an agreement between the United Nations and Myanmar's military leaders.

But the UN's Bangkok office says some of its crisis specialists are still waiting to be granted visas. ABCR said there are reports that the generals want to keep the visiting aid workers on what it called a short leash, for fear that they will try to influence the referendum vote for a new constitution due on Saturday.

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org or http://www.christianity.com/joyjunction. He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City: A Call to Service." Additional details about "Homeless" are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: (505) 877-6967 or (505) 400-7145. Note: A higher resolution JPEG picture of Jeremy Reynalds is available on request from Dan Wooding at danjuma1@aol.com.