The U.S. military Wednesday ordered navy ships loaded with
relief aid off Myanmar's coast to leave the area after the
country's xenophobic junta refused to give them permission to
help survivors of last month's devastating cyclone.
Adm. Timothy Keating, the top commander in the Pacific,
ordered the USS Essex and accompanying vessels to depart the
Myanmar area after what he said were 15 separate attempts in
recent weeks to get the junta's authorization to help with relief
efforts.
Myanmar's state media has said it feared a U.S. invasion aimed
at seizing the country's oil deposits.
The ruling generals also have forbidden the use of military
helicopters from friendly neighboring nations, which are vital in
rushing supplies to isolated survivors in the Irrawaddy delta.
This has forced aid agencies to scour for civilian aircraft
around the world, and bring them in at dramatically increasing
costs.
The UN has estimated 2.4 million people are in need of food,
shelter or medical care as a result of the storm, which the
government said killed 78,000 people and left another 56,000 missing.
Speaking in Hawaii, Keating said the U.S. unsuccessfully tried
to persuade Myanmar's leaders to allow ships, helicopters and
landing craft in to provide additional disaster relief.
The ships were in the region for international exercises.
Keating made them available to help with relief efforts for last
month's cyclone, and they were deployed near Myanmar in case they
obtained permission to enter the country's waters.
But Myanmar allowed only limited U.S. military aid flights to
the country, and barred the ships from approaching.
Paul Risley, a spokesman for the UN World Food Program, said
the departure of the American ships meant relief agencies
wouldn't have the chance to take advantage of their fleet of
helicopters.
"That is truly unfortunate because these helicopters represent
immediate heavy-lift capacity in the area of the delta," Risley
told reporters in Bangkok, Thailand.
Risley earlier warned the logistical aspects of the relief
operations, such as the chartering of helicopters, were causing
expenses to soar.
In previous large scale disaster -- such as the 2004 Indian
Ocean tsunami and Pakistan's 2005 earthquake -- military helicopters were used to meet the massive emergency's immediate
requirements, he said. Thailand and Singapore have many
helicopters on hand, he said.
"For political reasons, the Myanmar government was reluctant
to approve their use," Risley said. Myanmar was reportedly able
to field only seven helicopters of its own.
Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the UN relief operation in
Bangkok, said increased aid has reached survivors over the last
few days, but access to the delta remains difficult.
"Much remains to be clarified as far as stepping up of the
relief operation," she said.
"We want better access for international aid workers ... both
in terms of getting into the country and more consistent access
to the delta areas."
A total of 1.3 million survivors have been reached with
assistance by local and international humanitarian groups, the
Red Cross and the UN, said the UN's Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs in a situation report dated June 2.
It said in Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, the area hardest hit by
Cyclone Nargis, the proportion of people reached with assistance
had increased to 49 percent from 23 percent on May 25.
However, the report warned, "There remains a serious lack of
sufficient and sustained humanitarian assistance for the affected
populations."
In one effort to reach survivors, the U.S.-based Mercy Corps
sent the first of a fleet of barges into the delta where many
areas are only accessible by water.
The barge, bound for the hard-hit town of Laputta, carried
emergency supplies and items to jump-start a "cash-for-work"
recovery program, which was used after the tsunami in
Indonesia, a release from the group said. (****)
