Myanmar News

Myanmar junta forcing storm victims from camps without proper supplies, UN 1 hour ago YANGON, Myanmar — The UN says Myanmar's military government is removing cyclone victims from refugee camps and dumping them near their devastated villages with virtually no aid supplies. In an aid agency meeting, the UN Children's Fund said eight camps set up to receive homeless victims in the Irrawaddy delta town of Bogalay had emptied as the mass clear-out of victims was stepped up. Camps were also being closed in Labutta, another town in the delta, a low-lying area which took the brunt of Cyclone Nargis nearly a month ago. About 2.4 million are homeless and hungry after the May 2-3 cyclone hit Myanmar. Centralizing the stricken people in the centers made it easier for aid agencies to deliver emergency relief since many villages in the delta can only be reached by boat or very rough roads. Aid workers who have reached some of the remote villages say little remains that could sustain their former residents: houses are destroyed, livestock has perished and food stocks have virtually run out. Medicines are nonexistent. "The government is moving people unannounced," said Teh Tai Ring, a UNICEF official, adding that authorities were "dumping people in the approximate location of the villages, basically with nothing." The UNICEF official said that some of the refugees are "being given rations and then they are forced to move." But others were being denied such aid because they had lost their government identity cards. A senior UN official in Bangkok, Thailand, said he could not confirm the camp closures but added that any such forced movement was "completely unacceptable." "People need to be assisted in the settlements and satisfactory conditions need to be created before they can return to their place of origins," said Terje Skavdal, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "Any forced or coerced movement of people is completely unacceptable." There had been previous reports of forced removals, but on a scattered basis. In some cases, people were reportedly sent away ahead of visits by foreign dignitaries, and in others people were sent from schools that were to be used as voting places during a recent national referendum on a new constitution. People were also cleared out of some Buddhist temples where they had taken shelter, but in those cases apparently had been transferred to official refugee camps. Human rights and aid groups also complained Friday that Myanmar's military government was still hindering the free flow of international help for victims. Some foreign aid staff were still waiting for permission to enter the Irrawaddy delta while the regime continues to review entry requests for 48 hours, the groups said. One foreign aid worker attending Friday's meeting said that in practice it took at least four days to obtain permission from the Ministry of Social Welfare to travel to the delta. "The longer you want to stay, the longer it takes," he said, declining to give his name for fear of government reprisals.