Cyclone Mocha in Burma: UN urges junta to let humanitarians help victims

The UN has urged Myanmar to ensure the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to areas of the country affected by Cyclone Mocha. Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on the military junta to allow aid agencies to make an assessment of the immense needs.

Mocha caused heavy rains and winds of 195 km/h in Burma and neighbouring Bangladesh on 14 May, causing buildings to collapse and turn streets into rivers.

Predictable and preventable damage

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The damage and loss of life was both predictable and preventable – and is clearly linked to the systematic denial of human rights," Turk told a news conference in Geneva. "It is imperative that the military lifts travel blockades, allow for needs assessment and ensure access and delivery of vital aid and services.

According to Myanmar's junta, Mocha left 148 people dead, most of them from the persecuted Rohingya minority in western Rakhine State. "For decades, the Burmese authorities have deprived the Rohingya of their rights and freedoms and relentlessly attacked other ethnic groups, eroding their ability to survive," Turk said.

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Rakhine State is home to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, many of whom are living in displacement camps after decades of ethnic conflict. "Displaced communities have survived in temporary bamboo structures, some since 2012, with the Burmese military repeatedly refusing requests from humanitarian agencies to create more sustainable living conditions in less flood-prone areas," Turk said.

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I myself have seen this in my many trips to Burma, particularly in the east. They have also consistently prevented the Rohingya from moving freely, including in the days leading up to the cyclone." On Tuesday, the UN launched an emergency appeal for $333 million (€309 million) for 1.6 million people it said were affected by Cyclone Mocha in the country.