Time is running out for hundreds of thousands of people stranded without food, drinking water and medical supplies on Burmaâs Irrawaddy Delta, in the wake of the devastating typhoon that hit the region nine days ago.
A number of Czech humanitarian aid organisations have joined the relief effort â raising money and trying to assess the priorities for aid.
Aid has begun trickling into the Irrawaddy Delta, but with it news that up to one and a million people could die if more Int'l community urging Burma junta to allow aid ...
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Eleven killed in east China blaze ... help does not arrive soon. The Czech government has already earmarked five million crowns (approximately 310 million U.S. dollars) for the relief effort, while Czech humanitarian aid organisations the Czech Red Cross, ADRA and People in Need have all launched appeals.
The money will go towards food, drinking water, shelter and medical supplies, but part of the problem is the Burmese authoritiesâ refusal to let foreign aid workers in to deliver it. Earlier we spoke to a People in Need co-ordinator whoâs currently on the Thai-Burmese border. He asked not to be named to avoid deportation by the Burmese authorities.
âThe information Iâm getting from the field, from the delta, is worse than any expectations. There are thousands and thousands of people in makeshift camps, in some locations Iâm being told that the Burmese army is forcibly moving people out because they are afraid of large numbers of people staying together. Of course the lack of food, lack of medical care and lack of water is a major problem, and hand in hand with the lack of water is the problem of people drinking contaminated water. There are reportedly thousands of dead bodies â both human bodies and carcasses of cattle â floating in the water, in very close proximity to the Internally Displaced Persons camps.â
Given the Burmese juntaâs refusal to allow most foreign aid workers to enter the country, what can People in Need realistically hope to achieve in Burma?
âWe are hoping to do as much as possible, even though itâs going to be just a drop in the ocean. We are planning to do food and non-food item distribution, and weâre preparing a big shipment of water purification tablets that we want to get to the people and we are bringing our organisational and logistical capacity. But our focus definitely at this stage will be on food, some blankets and clothing, and water purification tablets. This is whatâs most needed now.â
You can find more details about the Czech appeals here:
http://peopleinneed.cz/index2en.php?sid=402&idArt=787 http://www.cervenykriz.eu/cz.php http://www.adra.cz/adra/cz/
(radio-Prague)
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