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Impending release of aid to those in Kachin State
Posted By: PNA
Post Date: 5 Feb 2013
Post Date: 5 Feb 2013
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After being met with
increased pressure to alleviate humanitarian issues in the country’s worn-torn
regions, the Myanmar government has agreed to grant the UN and international
aid groups access and to displaced civilians
in Kachin State. The news comes after a Tuesday press release in which Ye Htut,
a spokesperson for President Thein Sein, said the UN and international aid
groups would be allowed to start relief operations in all internally displaced
persons (IDP) camps in Kachin State.
The statement came right
after a meeting with the Myanmar government and the Kachin Independence Army
(KIA) in China’s Yunnan Province, where the two sides agreed to cease their fighting and pursue
peace talks.
The government of
Myanmar had previously blocked
international relief from reaching thousands of civilians in Kachin state.
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Mr. Ye Htut preferenced his statement by adding that
relief agencies and the government would still need to discuss how to ensure
security for aid workers in IDP camps in government and rebel-controlled areas.
His released statement also suggested arrangements have not yet be solidified
and start dates are tentative.
Since the start of the
violence in Myanmar’s Northern regions, the government has repeatedly turned down requests by the UN,
the US and the UK to allow international aid to reach IDP camps. Some
international aid reached the NGOs through China but, in recent months support
dried up.
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According to UN
estimates from December 2012, more than 45,000 IDPs are living in more than a
dozen camps in areas along the Sino-Myanmar border, while another 30,000 Kachin
live in government-controlled camps further south.
The intensified fighting
has worsened transport routes and increased the difficulty of dispensing aid to
areas in need.
Earlier in the week, the
UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Burma Vijay Nambia visited
government-controlled camps at Kachin State capital Myitkyina and at Waimaw, in
order to assess the situation. During
his visit Mr. Nambia expressed hope and promise in working with those in the
IDP camps and throughout the region.
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