• Home
• about
• Activities
• Contact
• Programs
• Manual

• Analysis
• Commentary
• Feature
• General Election
• Monthly Report
• News
• PDF Format
• Special Report
• Video Clips

Returned Nargis Volunteer Tells of Continued Crisis

By HURFOM:

Every day the coverage of Burma’s Cyclone Nargis diminishes around the world. “After just one month news of Nargis dropped on news programmer’s priority lists,” said a foreign volunteer, Tom, newly arrived on the border after working for one month in Rangoon.

Although the world media coverage is fading, the crisis that followed the devastating events of May 2^nd and 3^rd continues, as each day Burmese cyclone survivors face food shortages. According to Tom, many cyclone survivors have been stealing food from each other in the Paypong Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.

The junta recently told Thai healthcare teams the post-Nargis situation was under control, and that the people of Burma no longer needed any aid. Having just returned from Burma, Tom stated that resettlement programs planned to run for two years would clearly need to be extended by at least another three. He went on to say, “The country is still in bad shape, with corpses still floating in the water and may survivors in desperate need of aid.”

In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, the world tried to offer aid to Burma, but the junta largely refused any outside help. In recent weeks the UN urged world leaders to provide more aid to Burma. The World Food Program (WFP) only received USD 35 million from post-Nargis donations; if further aid does not arrive soon the Burma arm of the WFP will be cut, leaving many cyclone survivors facing starvation.

The WFP has said survivors need more aid and they need water buffalos to resume their lives growing rice in the fields. Many water buffalos were killed by Nargis. Although the junta built schools and houses for the victims in Paypon, Tom told us, “The people can’t eat houses. They need food. These houses only benefit the Junta and their building contracting cronies.”

Tom said a Junta team visited Paypon and distributed rice and mangoes to the IDPs. There were five hundred families in Paypon, and the team offered ten bags of rice and a handful of mangoes. The victims only accepted one small basket of rice and one mangoe, while the team took photos. The Junta did not visit again.

This photo opportunity was not the only way the Junta exploited cyclone survivors, as donated goods were readily available at roadside stalls. Tom said, “I saw clothes donated at the temple and the next morning I found the same clothes in the public market. The military officers were those behind it, and they don’t try to hide their corruption.”

This type of report only serves to solidify fears held by the international community, who voiced concerns about their aid reaching the people who needed it most, and not just the Junta. After refusing foreign aid some communities worldwide expressed relief; many American reports stated their concerns that aid would not reach cyclone survivors but stop at the oppressive Junta.

Unfortunately aid restrictions have also been placed on local donors, even individuals who attempted to share food with their less fortunate neighbours. People in Burma are growing increasingly concerned that cyclone survivors may not survive for much longer. Concern is greatest for young children who lost their parents in Nargis.

Comments