ASEAN to lead aid relief in Burma
Updated
It's taken 17-days but finally Burma says it will allow international aid workers to assist in the wake of cyclone Nargis. The announcement was made in Sinagpore at an emergency meeting of ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations.
Presenter: Karen Percy
Speakers: Amanda Pitt, UN office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Assistance, Bangkok.
PERCY: The UN's humanitarian envoy, John Holmes, isn't wasting any time now that he has arrived in Burma.
He is heading into the hardest hit parts of the Irrawaddy Delta.
PITT: He's going down to have a look and see what things are like on the ground, to get a feel of how things are going and what sort of things are getting through to those affected people.
And he is going to meet with the humanitarian community this afternoon, I understand, to hear their concerns, to understand what they're doing, what the plans are over the coming days to step up the response where they can.
PERCY: Amanda Pitt is with the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance in Bangkok.
PITT: He wants to see what's been done on the ground, but to continue those efforts that are taking place at all levels to try and make sure that everybody fully understands what needs to be done and what is available to help the Government of Myanmar respond to this disaster properly.
PERCY: Burma's neighbours are also talking about what they can do to help.
Members of the Association of South East Asian Nations held a meeting in Singapore today amid complaints that they have dragged their feet on what is one of the region's worst disasters.
Despite its rogue reputation, Burma has a heavy influence over the region because of its plentiful energy supplies and needy neighbours.
Thailand has been one of its closest allies of late, despite the fact that Thailand deals directly with the human consequences of the dire conditions across the border.
Over the past three or four decades hundreds of thousands of people have come into Thailand to escape poverty or persecution in Burma.
Today, Thailand is set to deport 56 Burmese who almost suffocated as they tried to enter the country in search of work in early April.
There are at least 10 children in the group. They were aboard a refrigeration truck which was smuggling them to the tourist area of Phuket.
They thought they were the lucky ones because they lived when more than 50 of their colleagues died. But now with Burma still trying to recover from the cyclone, who knows what they'll find at home.
While the Thais have promised to monitor their return, past experience shows that deportees shouldn't expect a kind welcome from the Burmese authorities.
