Swissaid and Doctors without Borders refused entry to Naga areas of Myanmar
Eleven Myanmar
Yangon | August 17
The Myanmar government has refused to allow Swissaid and Doctors Without Borders to enter the Naga Self-Administered Zone (SAZ), where communities are plagued by an outbreak of measles, the organisations announced at a press conference at the Orchid Hotel on August 16.
Speakers at the conference also described the state of affairs in the areas affected by the infectious disease, rescue measures and the challenges of delivering aid.
The Naga SAZ is difficult to access, and its inhabitants suffer from shortages of food every year. The zone’s government has been weak in responding to such problems. The area has no systems for transporting emergency relief supplies or distributing information in a synchronised way. Furthermore, there is no organisation to managing emergency situations. Relief supplies cannot be transported in an effective manner.
Help yet to reach
several villages
Many villages in the disease affected areas of the Naga Self Administered Zone (SAZ) in Myanmar are yet to receive aid as of August 17.
Media reports from Myanmar state that the Council of Naga Affairs (CNA) has met with Vice President Henry Van Thio twice—once in Yangon on August 14 and once again in Nay Pyi Taw on August 16.
Ke Jung, the information officer of the CAN was quoted as saying: “The vice president confirmed that seven tonnes of food and Ks 50 million have been sent to allow for immediate rescue operations when we met yesterday evening. He said he has to report other details of the process to the President’s Office and the State Counsellor’s Office.”
It was further reported that food and rescue funds sent by the government reached Hkamti Township but not to Lahe Township because of bad weather in the area.
“We suggested to the vice president that the rescue team should wait in Hkamti until the weather is good and to send the materials onward then. I suggested to him that even if a helicopter cannot go to Lahe, it can deliver the goods to Thakyan, which is close to Lahe,” Ke Jung was quoted as informing the Myanmar Eleven media outlet.
Naw Aung Sann, the General Secretary of the CNA was reported to have said at a press conference on August 16 in Yangon that he was not pleased with the authorities’ performance in its emergency response. He said the government has not conducted rescue operations in a way that is commensurate to the magnitude of the emergency.
He was quoted as stating: “I would like to ask to the government who is responsible for this situation—the authorities of the Naga Self-Administered Zone? The Sagaing Region government? Or the central government? We face such a tragedy today since the government did not do what it should have done in the past. They cited difficulties in communication and transportation as excuses for their lack of an effective response. But who can improve the system? Only the government can offer an effective response.”
It was informed that the disease, thought to be a kind of measles, broke out on June 6, when a ninety year old died in Htankawnautkone Village in the Naga Self-Administered Zone. No one in the village knew the cause of his death until five more people in the village died that month. The villagers informed to the governing council of the Naga Self-Administered Zone of the situation on July 9.
The disease has killed 42 people, including 13 male and 15 female of children in Lahe Township and eight female and six male of children in Donhee Township. Three children in Htankawlarma Village are facing life-threatening conditions now.
The CNA General Secretary said: “If our lives continue to be sacrificed because of bad roads and transportation, what benefit do we have from being citizens of this country? We doubt Myanmar’s commitment to human rights as we witness the events in Naga today.”
