Myanmar Agrees to Let ASEAN Handle Foreign Cyclone Aid
yanmar agreed to open its doors to medical teams from members of Southeast Asia's regional bloc as the country estimated losses from Cyclone Nargis will exceed $10 billion, Singapore's foreign minister said Monday.
An emergency meeting of foreign ministers from the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations decided that the bloc will work with the U.N. to hold a donor conference in Yangon on May 25, the foreign minister, George Yeo, told reporters.
In a major concession after being slammed for blocking foreign aid, Myanmar also agreed to open its doors to medical teams from all ASEAN countries, Yeo said.
At least 134,000 people were killed or left missing in the May 2-3 cyclone, and another 2.5 million people are living in poor conditions, most of them without shelter, enough food, drinking water or medical care.
Yeo said the meeting, which included Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win, agreed to set up an ASEAN-led task force for redistributing foreign aid. ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan will go to Myanmar soon for planning.
The effort, Yeo said, will ''facilitate'' the distribution of international aid, including the deployment of medical and other relief workers.
But this does not mean the junta will open its doors to foreign experts immediately, which aid agencies and the United Nations say is required immediately.
''There will not be an uncontrolled entry of foreign personnel into Myanmar,'' he said.
European Union nations have warned that the junta could be committing a crime against humanity by blocking aid intended for the survivors faced with hunger, loss of their homes and potential outbreaks of deadly diseases.
Yeo said Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win told the meeting that losses are expected to be well over $10 billion.
The bloc hopes to raise funds for Myanmar at the May 25 meeting and will also work closely with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank on aid packages, he said.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in an editorial in the daily Le Monde on Monday that the U.N. Security Council would be guilty of ''cowardice'' if it does not force Myanmar to accept international aid.
But the ASEAN meeting rejected suggestions that foreign ships carrying aid make a forced entry into Myanmar.
''That will create unnecessary complication. It will only lead to more suffering for Myanmar people,'' Yeo said.
yanmar agreed to open its doors to medical teams from members of Southeast Asia's regional bloc as the country estimated losses from Cyclone Nargis will exceed $10 billion, Singapore's foreign minister said Monday.
