Myanmar no to foreign rescue team

Myanmar is "not ready" for foreign search and rescue teams
Myanmar no to foreign rescue team

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2008-05-09 07:16:55 - No Air drop of food aids on Nargis victims.
US has offered to drop food packages from aeroplanes or helicopters to which Myanmar junta has not permitted their aircraft to fly on their aerial zone.US official says they have dropped the idea to undertake such an effort.


Myanmar is getting assurance of aid on Nargis victim as the cyclone has completely devasted leaving people in mayhem and great suffering,Countries which came forward are India Japan. South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand,German,Norweign,Israel,China,US,UK,Czech.

Myanmar is "not ready" for foreign search and rescue teams after the deadly cyclone, the foreign ministry said on Friday in a state newspaper, announcing that
some aid workers had been deported.

A search and rescue team and media who arrived on Wednesday on a flight from Qatar were deported the same day because Myanmar authorities believed the plane was only carrying supplies, not workers, the statement said.

"The relevant parties from the Myanmar side did not have prior information on the presence of such teams. The Myanmar side understood that only handing over of donated emergency provisions would take place," it said.
"Currently Myanmar has prioritised receiving emergency relief provisions and is making strenuous efforts to transport those provisions without delay by its own labours to the affected areas," it said.
"As such, Myanmar is not ready to receive search and rescue teams as well as media teams from foreign countries."
Myanmar will only accept donations of cash or emergency aid, the statement added, saying the country needed medical supplies, food, clothing, generators and shelters.
"The donors and the international community can be assured that Myanmar is doing its best ... to relieve the suffering of victims of Cyclone Nargis."

So far 11 charter flights carrying international aid have arrived in Yangon "with prior consent" from Myanmar authorities, the statement said.
"Myanmar authorities on their part have been making their best efforts to forward and distribute the donated provisions to the victims in a timely manner," it said.Officially, Myanmar says that nearly 23,000 people have died while more than 42,000 are missing.
The United States has estimated the true toll at near 100,000.
US prepared to work with India to provide relief in Myanmar
The US has said that it was prepared to work with countries like India and China to provide humanitarian assistance in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar if Yangon did not allow a direct entry to its military for relief operations.

Responding to a question on whether the US could work with the United Nations and countries like India and China until the airdrops by its military were okayed by the military junta, the Defence Secretary Robert Gates sounded positive.

"Well, this is really more the State Department's and the White House's arena, but my belief would be that if we cannot get in directly, that we would be prepared to work creatively with others in any way we could to help. And if that involves using an intermediary, perhaps we would do that," he said speaking at the Pentagon.

"I think our interest here is totally non-political. It's to try and help the people of Myanmar. And I think if we can't do it directly, then we'd be prepared to consider other means of doing it," he stressed.

Meanwhile, the State Department said that there were no plans to get the United Nations Security Council involved in the humanitarian issue.

"The UNSC has been used on Myanmar for political issues and there are no plans by Washington to approach that body in the current humanitarian crisis," State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"Our focus, really, is -- as well as others -- trying to get the diplomacy to work, to try to get this regime to allow in international assistance. That really is the focus of our efforts," he added.

A week after the Cyclone Nargis hit Irrawady delta 22 villages the southernwest coast of Burma rendering a lakh homeless and many thousand killed victime still to get relief.

Myanmar junta has been slow in offering timely help to the victim.Budhist monks with their open hearts are making efforts to bring the people to their monastries with help of all sorts,food,medicalaid, shelters and peoples are offering their assitance to these monastries as per the internet reports.


Author:
Naresh Sagar
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