Not all cut and dry in The Delta

Posted on June 28, 2008
Filed Under Burma news |

Recently there have been a number of stories in various media about how aid workers are finding the situation in the Irrawaddy Delta is not as bad as they feared. This article in the New York Times is typical of the coverage.

Despite concerns over the junta’s slow response to Cyclone Nargis, aid workers returning from the disaster zone are reporting no widespread outbreaks of disease or starvation. It seems the majority of villages in the region have received some form of emergency aid, often from grassroots Burmese groups (see: Are we seeing the rebirth of Burmese civil society).

A tripartite core group made up of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the UN and the Burmese junta has completed its assessment of the disaster. It reportedly found that 45 percent of those affected are receiving food aid. Meanwhile, aid agencies are reporting they are now able to get to many of the worst hit areas with little or no obstruction from the junta.

Save the Children says relief supplies are reaching people in need

However, while we all breathe a sigh of relief that the expected second wave of deaths, caused by the outbreak of disease, may not happens; it seems all is not blue skies and sunshine in the Irrawaddy Delta. Save the Children says that while aid is getting through long term support is needed to help people rebuild their lives (see release).

The charity is focusing on getting children back to school. Country Director Andrew Kirkwood. says, “Schools are a safe place for children, allowing them to be with other children, to play and to begin dealing with the trauma they have experienced.”

“From our experience of responding to emergencies all over the world, education is too frequently under funded and under-recognized in an emergency response. Investment in education after an emergency is an investment in a child’s recovery and the best way to improve the life of affected children and young people.”

Meanwhile, as survivors move out of their devastated villages into refugee camps, the UN is highlighting another problem. In a recent briefing, John Holmes, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said: “There is a tendency for people to begin to concentrate now in different places; they’re moving away from the flooded areas in the delta towards the higher ground, towards some of the towns and villages which are less affected. I think that’s mainly a spontaneous movement, there could be some camps set up at some stage there. This has good and bad sides to it. It’s good in the sense that it’s easier to reach people if they’re concentrated in that way for aid delivery, but, obviously, it can increase the risks of infections if we’re not careful.”

With such widespread destruction, it is going to take years for people in this already very poor region to rebuild their lives. As we read reports of positive findings by aid workers, do not make the mistake of thinking the crisis is over; homes need to be rebuilt, crops need to be planted and the lives must be pieced back together.

Please consider donating to one of these organisations:

Partners Relief and Development

The US Campaign for Burma

Save the Children