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UN appeals for $33.5 million for Myanmar
U.N. humanitarian chief to visit Myanmar next week
Recent Burma News (17-07-08)

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UN appeals for $33.5 million for Myanmar
AP
Thu Jul 17, 11:01 AM ET

A U.N. food agency is appealing for $33.5 million to help small farmers and fishermen in cyclone-hit Myanmar.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said that 75 percent of farmers in the country's main food-producing region lack sufficient seed, with little time left before the end of the planting season in August.

The agency said over 50,000 small-scale farming households and 99,000 landless rural households need immediate assistance. More than 100,000 fishermen have also been affected.

FAO said in a statement Thursday that some 1,934,793 acres of rice paddy fields were submerged when Cyclone Nargis struck in May and up to 85 percent of seed stocks were destroyed.

Fish and rice constitute the key components of Myanmar's diet.

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U.N. humanitarian chief to visit Myanmar next week
Reuters
Wed Jul 16, 5:24 PM ET

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said on Wednesday he would visit Myanmar next week to check on aid delivery to the isolated country that initially shut out foreign relief workers after a deadly cyclone in May.

Holmes told a news conference he would spend three days in Myanmar after a meeting in Singapore with officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday to assess the situation after the cyclone.

He said he would visit the Irrawaddy Delta, the area worst hit when Cyclone Nargis struck on May 2-3, leaving an estimated 138,000 people dead or missing. He also hoped to meet Prime Minister Thein Sein.

The United Nations appealed last week for more than $300 million in additional aid for Myanmar, on top of $178 million already provided by donors.

Myanmar's secretive military government lifted restrictions on foreign aid workers after a visit in late May by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Holmes, who accompanied Ban, is making his first visit to the country since then.

Holmes said he wanted to "reassess the situation for myself."

"The problems are not entirely disappeared but certainly containable for the moment," he said. "But we want to make sure they stay that way."

The United Nations said on Tuesday that Myanmar had invited Ban's special representative for the country, Ibrahim Gambari, to visit next month. Gambari, seeking to promote democracy in Myanmar, will be making his fourth visit since the ruling junta cracked down on monk-led protests last September.

(Reporting by Patrick Worsnip; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

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Recent Burma News (17-07-08)

Singers to raise funds for cyclone victims with new album
Today, July 17, 2008, 6 hours ago
New Delhi - Lending a helping voice, 22 Burmese pop singers will soon release a music album to raise funds for cyclone victims. The new album, which will have 15 songs dedicated to cyclone victim...

‘Free Daw Suu’ campaigners charged with instigating public unrest - Phanida
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
Fourteen members of Burma’s opposition party - National League for Democracy - who were arrested for protesting on their leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday on Wednesday were charge...
Monks continue regime boycott - Naw Say Phaw
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
Buddhist monks across Burma have said they are continuing their boycott against government officials by refusing to accept donations or passing them on to needy people.

Nargis refugees offered low-cost housing - Saw Yan Naing
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
Sixteen private companies in Burma will build more than 6,000 low-cost homes for refugees in seven cyclone-hit regions in the Irrawaddy delta and Rangoon division, according to Flower News, a Rangoon-...

Rats on the rampage in western Burma
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
“Since June this year, rats have been attacking farms in our village. We sow paddy seeds in the day and the rats eat them at night. The rodents have not spared maize either. It is a problem we a...

Myanmar to regrow mangrove in cyclone-hit area
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
Myanmar will regrow 50,000 acres (20,250 hectares) of mangrove in Meinmahlagyun village, the country’s Ayeyawaddy division, to resist cyclone attack in the future, the local weekly 7-Day reporte...

Eleven ethnic Padaungs still missing - Than Htike Oo
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
The 11 Padaung or Kayan ethnic tribes living in Huay Pu Ke and Huay Suu Htauk villages in this district have been missing since July 3. Local Thai authorities are searching for them but in vain....

Russian specialists inspect Tenasserim outposts - Moe Aye
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
Four Russian defence specialists have reportedly arrived in Tenasserim division to inspect the Burmese government’s air defence and artillery outposts along the Thai-Burmese border.

Migrants find it difficult to work in Thailand
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
Nai Thu, living in Thailand for three years said that migrant workers faced more and more difficulties finding work in rubber plantations, but they are still entering Thailand looking for jobs....

Corruption scandal prevents timber trade in muse - Min Lwin
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
Tons of timber dumped in a football ground in Muse Township several months ago are still waiting to be exported to China, residents of the town said.

US lawmakers ease pressure on Chevron in Myanmar
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
US lawmakers have dropped plans to impose sanctions that would have pressured US energy giant Chevron to pull out from a gas project in military-ruled Myanmar, congressional aides said on Tuesday.

ASEAN meet to highlight Myanmar, North Korea - Tony Hotland
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
Relief work in Myanmar and North Korea’s accession to the ASEAN peace treaty are expected to be the main topics addressed at the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Singapore, a Foreign Ministry o...

House votes to punish ruling junta in Myanmar
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
The unanimous vote sent back to the Senate a bill that bars rubies and jade from Myanmar from being imported into the U.S. The Senate bill, which passed in December, also sought to bar timber from Mya...

‘The most vulnerable were swept away, killed’ - Jeff Davis
Today, July 17, 2008, 14 hours ago
The first thing that struck him when he climbed off the commercial flight in the Burmese former capital of Rangoon on May 16, two weeks after the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, was the disquieting cal...

UN humanitarian chief bound for Myanmar
Today, July 17, 2008, 15 hours ago
UNITED NATIONS - United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes said on Wednesday he would visit Myanmar next week to check on aid delivery to the isolated country that initially shut out foreign ...

Agencies seek to protect Myanmar cyclone orphans
Today, July 17, 2008, 19 hours ago
World Vision .Because of such fears, agencies like World Vision working in the cyclone-devastated region are advocating placement of orphans with surviving relatives, like the grandparents in Twe Zin ...

State media: Myanmar Has Approved 1,500 Visas For Foreign Aid Workers To Help Cyclone Victims
Today, July 17, 2008, 20 hours ago
YANGON, MYANMAR: Myanmar’s military regime has approved visas for more than 1,500 international aid workers to help victims of Cyclone Nargis, with half of them involved in relief operations in storm-...

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