Environment

Myanmar Opens Borders Wide to Cyclone Relief

by Rob Walker | September 5, 2008 at 11:48 am

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Myanmar has finally opened its borders to international relief efforts, months after a devastating cyclone left upwards of 140,000 dead or missing.

While the government was initially held in harsh criticism for not allowing foreign aid, a US-led group says the country is being unfairly judged for its reponse to the disaster.

Away from public view, Myanmar has opened up to global-relief efforts to an unprecedented degree after initially thwarting foreign attempts to help victims of a devastating cyclone last spring, a U.S. relief agency said in a report issued today. The May 2-3 rampage of Cyclone Nargis left 140,000 people dead or missing.

Myanmar's military rulers provided a rapid response to victims of Cyclone Nargis last May despite criticism for shunning foreign aid, the World Health Organisation said.
"In the first week, the Ministry of Health had already sent around 50 doctors from Yangon General Hospital" to the worst-affected areas, WHO emergency relief coordinator Rudi Coninx told AFP late Thursday.