Articles | Burma to let in all aid workers

Breakthrough in Burma

Published: Friday, 23 May 2008, 7:58AM

Burma's military government has agreed to allow aid workers into the country "regardless of nationalities."

The decision is a breakthrough for delivering assistance to cyclone survivors, UN chief Ban Ki Moon said.

The UN Secretary-General, on a mission to help 2.4 million people left destitute by the storm that struck three weeks ago, reached the agreement with junta supremo Than Shwe in a meeting lasting more than two hours in the remote capital of Naypyidaw.

Asked by a reporter whether this was a breakthrough, Mr Ban replied: "Yes, I think so, he has agreed to allow all aid workers regardless of nationalities."

Mr Ban said Than Shwe had also agreed to allow the airport in the former capital, Rangoon, to be used as a logistical hub for the distribution of aid, which is still only trickling in due to the junta's restrictions on foreign relief operations.

"He has taken quite a flexible position on this matter," Mr Ban told reporters who travelled with him, a rare concession from the reclusive junta, which is under tougher Western sanctions for cracking down on pro-democracy protests last year.

Disaster experts say that unless the generals open their doors, thousands more people in the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta could die of hunger and disease from Cyclone Nargis, which has left nearly 134,000 dead or missing.

"I urged him that it is crucially important for him to allow these workers in as quickly as possible and all this aid relief should also be delivered to the needy people as quickly as possible," Mr Ban said.

In the absence of details, one initial reaction from a relief expert to Mr Ban's meeting with the top general was sceptical.

"None of it sounds very different, to be honest," said Dan Collison of Save the Children in the Thai capital, Bangkok. "Aid workers of many nationalities are already inside Burma, but they're stuck in Rangoon."