RESTRICTIONS ON TRAVEL
However, in the immediate aftermath, aid workers, both Rakhine and international, were prohibited from fully scaling up assistance and preparing for reconstruction. The military took charge of relief efforts but also imposed restrictions on travel and cleanup efforts. Some local aid workers were detained for distributing aid, and some journalists were arrested.
Nevertheless, ASEAN’s Emergency Response and Assessment Team completed a rapid needs assessment only on May 30. Like the UN, however, the junta has restricted ASEAN from delivering aid.
The junta’s subsequent actions were unfathomable if one considers the urgent need to deliver aid quickly to affected civilians.
On Jun 1, the State Administration Council ordered 2,400 schools across the state to reopen, despite widespread damage to buildings and uneven aid distribution. Rehabilitation of ponds and preparation for the annual planting season have also been impacted by limitations on the movement of people and supplies. A week later, the State Administration Council imposed new restrictions on foreign aid operations. It suspended travel authorisations for UN officials and curtailed the distribution of foreign aid donations arriving in Yangon, including those supplied by ASEAN states.
The UN Office Coordinating Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued an update on Jun 19. Cyclone Mocha Situation Report No 5 stated, “significant conditions, imposed by the State Administration Council, remain in place for the replenishment of relief supplies from outside the country, and some have not yet been approved.”
The report added that the “unexpected retraction of initial approval for cyclone distribution and transportation plans and the temporary suspension of existing travel … has impacted the humanitarian response across the state”.
As a result, many Rakhine civil society aid workers faced restrictions. In many cases, they are the actual implementing partners of the UN.
Source: CNA
