UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon says Myanmar to allow WFP helicopters

Record ID: 563146

  • Title: UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon says Myanmar to allow WFP helicopters
  • Date: 21st May 2008
  • Summary: (BN11) UNITED NATIONS (MAY 20, 2008) (UNTV) U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI-MOON IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL CHAMBER (SOUNDBITE) (English) BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL, SAYING: "I welcome the government of Myanmar's recent flexibility. Yesterday, it agreed to allow Asian relief workers under the auspices of the ASEAN to oversee and begin distributing international aid supplies. We have received government permission to operate nine WFP helicopters which will allow us to reach areas that have so far been largely inaccessible. I believe further similar moves will follow including expediting the visas of relief workers seeking to enter the country. I am confident that emergency relief efforts can be scaled up quickly."
  • Embargoed: 5th June 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVAA1VO9MIJ16JGUOBZDRZPTBH7Y
  • Story Text: As Myanmar and China struggle with the enormous impact of a cyclone and earthquake respectively, on Tuesday (May 20) the U.N. Security Council holds a minute of silence in memory of the victims and discusses ways to help improve the aid process.
    UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband led the Security Council in holding the minute of silence. Later, Chinese ambassador Wang Guangya expressed his thanks for the condolences from the Security Council, while adding that he was confident that with concerted efforts of the Chinese government as well as international support, China would be able to "prevail in its earthquake relief efforts."
    The Security Council meeting was attended by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, just before he left for a trip to Bangkok and Myanmar.
    He told reporters that Myanmar's junta had granted permission for the World Food Programme (WFP) to use helicopters to distribute aid to cyclone-hit areas of the country.
    The military government in the former Burma has allowed relief flights to deliver supplies to Yangon, the largest city, but had balked at aerial access to the southwestern Irrawaddy delta, where an estimated 2.4 million people were left destitute.

    "We have received government permission to operate nine WFP helicopters which will allow us to reach areas that have so far been largely inaccessible," Ban told reporters before departing for his visit to Myanmar.
    The top U.N. humanitarian envoy, John Holmes, said in Myanmar on Tuesday he had discussed the use of helicopters with government officials, who "took note" of his suggestion.
    The junta's delays in allowing access to international aid workers has drawn criticism and warnings that many more people could die in the aftermath of the cyclone that roared across parts of the Southeast Asian country at the start of May.
    Ban said he welcomed the government's "recent flexibility"
    but added that aid workers had so far been able to reach only around 25 percent of those in need.
    He said he hoped Myanmar's reclusive leader Than Shwe would be among senior government officials he meets during his visit. Ban was due to arrive in the Thai capital Bangkok on Wednesday and go to Myanmar on Thursday.
    Ban said a May 25 donors' pledging conference in Yangon would be crucial for the longer term rebuilding of the country, where he said the government had estimated the cost of the disaster at some $10 billion in economic losses.
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