More than 1 Million in Myanmar Require 'Urgent Humanitarian Assistance'

July 6, 2008

Reuters/Stringer, courtesy of http://www.alertnet.org

An estimated 2 million people in Myanmar are "severely affected" by the most devastating cyclone to hit Asia since 1991.

A U.S. official in Myanmar's capital said Wednesday that indications are the number of cyclone-related deaths could reach 100,000.

Mercy Corps is accepting donations to help partners on the ground bring relief to affected families.

"Burma is a country that had great needs even before this emergency," said Mervyn Lee, executive director of Mercy Corps' European headquarters, who visited the country last September. "Now those needs are magnified immensely, and it will require a response that's beyond the capacity of any one country to restore normalcy to people's lives."

Lee should arrive in Myanmar by Monday, after securing a visa today from Myanmar's London Embassy. We are applying for additional visas for members of our emergency-response team.

The UN reported Thursday that the situation is becoming "increasingly precarious," and that more than one million people are "now expected to be in need of urgent humanitarian assistance."

Humanitarian access, however, remains difficult. The UN continues to stress that "the issuance of visas for humanitarian actors and the easing of customs rules for the delivery of aid remains of vital concern."

Mercy Corps continues to work toward a partnership with a global humanitarian agency already on the ground.

Mercy Corps currently works to assist rural families in Burma through an international partner, and has a robust presence throughout South Asia. The agency operates economic-development programs in neighboring India and nearby Nepal, and last November helped raise money for colleague agencies to deliver humanitarian aid when a cyclone displaced millions in Bangladesh.

Please consider a gift to our Myanmar Cyclone Fund to speed relief to families in need.