GENEVA: The UN said Tuesday it had seen no blockage of aid in responding to the catastrophic earthquake in Myanmar that has killed more than 2,000 people in the conflict-ravaged country.
Four days after the shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck, humanitarians are struggling to deliver assistance, amid mounting fears that attacks and obstruction could hinder the aid effort.
The United Nations humanitarian agency however insisted it was not seeing signs of intentional blockage.
“So far, we have been able to provide assistance to the people,“ said Marcoluigi Corsi, the UN resident humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar.
“The distribution of different items is ongoing, and we haven’t experienced so far any blockage,“ he told reporters in Geneva, speaking via video link from Yangon.
Myanmar’s junta said Monday 2,056 people had been confirmed dead, with more than 3,900 injured and 270 missing. At least 20 people died in neighbouring Thailand.
But the toll is expected to rise significantly as rescuers reach towns and villages where communications have been cut off by the quake.
Complicating recovery efforts is the country’s brutal ongoing civil war, sparked in 2021 when a military junta ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government.
Since then, fighting between the military and a complex patchwork of anti-junta forces has left Myanmar’s infrastructure and economy in tatters.
Allegations that the junta has continued using air attacks since the quake have triggered sharp criticism, including from the UN special rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews.
The independent expert, who does not speak on behalf of the United Nations, insisted on X Tuesday that “junta military attacks must stop”.
“Obstructions to aid must be lifted. Young people should not be fearing arrest or conscription. The international community must step up with greater levels of emergency aid,“ he said.
Asked about those comments, Corsi acknowledged that “there is always… politicisation of aid”.
But he said that “we have a strong monitoring system… and we have trusted partners that can report on the distribution of aid… even in areas where it is difficult to achieve”.
“As far as I know, diversion of aid hasn’t happened.”
