International Aid Filters in for Flood-Ravaged Burma Skip to main content

International Aid Filters in for Flood-Ravaged Burma

By | Wednesday, August 5, 2015 |
Aid and supplies reach Mrauk U in Arakan State on Tuesday. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)
Aid and supplies reach Mrauk U in Arakan State on Tuesday. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)
Pledges of international aid have ramped up as Burma’s government struggles to respond to widespread flooding that authorities say has affected more than 250,000 people nationwide.
On Tuesday, Burma’s Information Minister Ye Htut said the country was appealing for international assistance to meet the crisis which has so far claimed the lives of 69 people, according to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.
A press release in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar on Tuesday called on humanitarian agencies, the UN and donor countries to contact foreign ministry officials to facilitate the supply of humanitarian assistance.
Several countries have thus far pledged emergency relief assistance.
Australia announced on Wednesday it would contribute AUD$2 million towards relief efforts in response to a request from Burma’s government.
“We are working with the Myanmar Government and humanitarian partners to determine how funding will be allocated,” the country’s foreign minister Julie Bishop said in a statement. “A specialist is now assisting with the relief effort and coordinating damage assessments.”
Japan pledged emergency relief supplies worth 18 million yen (approximately US$145,000), according to a statement released through its embassy in Rangoon.
Regional and international leaders, including Burma’s foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin, have gathered in Kuala Lumpur this week for a series of ASEAN and related meetings.
Speaking in the Malaysian capital, both the US and Norwegian foreign ministers reportedly pledged financial assistance to aid Burma’s emergency response to the floods.
“We express our hopes that the impact of this can obviously be dealt with minimal further loss of life and disruption,” US Secretary of State John Kerry told a meeting of ASEAN leaders on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
According to the state-run English language newspaper China Daily, a 10-member Chinese search and rescue team arrived in Rangoon on Tuesday to assist with relief efforts and will soon be deployed in Arakan State.
China has also been providing aid, coordinated through its embassy in Rangoon, to flood-affected people in Sittwe, Arakan State and in Kale, Sagaing Division, the newspaper reported.
Neighboring Thailand, which in recent months has grappled with its worst drought in decades, pledged a donation to Burma of 5 million baht (US$142,000) on Monday.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/international-aid-filters-in-for-flood-ravaged-burma.html
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl
Post a Comment
Read more

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do
1 comment
Read more