AFP - 1 hour 55 minutes ago
JAKARTA, May 8, 2008 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta came under rare pressure
from its Southeast Asian neighbours Thursday to unlock its borders to
international aid as estimates of the death toll from Cyclone Nargis
topped 100,000.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chief Surin Pitsuwan
said the junta needed to work with the international aid community
"before it's too late."
"It's very much a matter of urgency," he said.
Surin said regional governments, working through the Jakarta-based
ASEAN secretariat, were "trying to communicate (to the Myanmar regime)
the sense of urgency and the flood of goodwill that is being offered."
The former Thai foreign minister was speaking on the sidelines of a
technology conference hours after Shari Villarosa, the US charge
d'affaires in Myanmar, said the death toll from Saturday's storm "may
well be over 100,000."
Official state media in the tightly controlled country have put the
number of dead and missing at more than 60,000, mainly in the southern
Irrawaddy delta which bore the brunt of the storm.
But as the United Nations, the United States and France stepped up
pressure on the junta to open its doors to foreign aid, governments in
the region have remained reluctant to criticise their secretive
neighbour.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington was
urging Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, India, China and others
to use "any leverage" they had with Myanmar to allow relief teams into
the country.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Member countries are generally reluctant to comment on other members'
internal affairs, according to the group's closely held principle of
non-interference.
Surin chose his words carefully when asked if the ASEAN secretariat
had spoken directly with the generals in Myanmar to convince them to
work with the international aid community,
"The goodwill is there (from the outside world), it's just a matter of
permission and coordination and that is being done now," he said,
referring to "communication problems" in Myanmar resulting from the
storm.
He said he was trying to tell the junta that "the ASEAN governments
are willing to help."
"I have no idea what is the cause of the delay but I would assume (it
is because) physical infrastructure has been destroyed and there is
probably some consultation inside about what is the best way to
receive this help," he said.
"I'm very concerned and I'm under tremendous pressure trying to
coordinate this," he added.
Indonesian Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie said Jakarta had
dispatched three transport aircraft with critical supplies to Myanmar
and donated one million dollars for the aid effort.
But among the countries that have pledged emergency aid so far
totalling more than 29 million dollars, Myanmar's Asian neighbours are
in the bottom half of the list.
China has promised 994,000 dollars, Japan has allocated 263,000
dollars, Singapore has offered about 200,000 dollars and a cargo-plane
full of medical supplies. ASEAN partner Australia has pledged 2.8
million dollars.
Thailand has made facilities available to be a hub for the relief
effort and has already sent more than 500,000 dollars worth of
emergency supplies and equipment to its western neighbour.
Speaking in Singapore on Wednesday, Surin said ASEAN and its three
biggest trading partners in the region, China, Japan and South Korea,
were discussing tapping into an East Asian emergency rice stockpile.
He said a stockpile was "ready to be delivered" but regulations
governing disbursement needed to be worked out.
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