Current grants from the EC draft strategy paper are attached. The sum is not insignificant ...
EU gives 15 million euros in support to Burma
23 December 2005
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Brussels (dpa) - The European Commission said Thursday it had earmarked
a total 15 million euros in aid for victims of the political crisis in
Brma and for refugees living along the Thai-Burma border.
The aid package will go towards meeting the basic needs of around
770,000 most vulnerable citizens in Burma, helping to provide health
services, food, water and sanitation, the Commission said.
Food and cooking fuel as well as curative health, water and sanitation
facilities will be given to around 130,000 refugees living in camps
along the border between Burma and Thailand.
Due to the long duration of their displacement, refugees today almost
totally depend on international help, the Commission underlined.
"Burma has become a silent humanitarian crisis, with many vulnerable
people, notably ethnic minorities in the border areas, living in an
extremely vulnerable situation," European Union development commissioner
Louis Michel said in a statement.
Since 1992, the E.U. has supported people in Burma and refugees along
the Burma-Thai border with 89.5 million euros.
The number of refugees along the Thai-Burmese border has increased from
around 10,000 in 1984 to about 145,000 in August 2005.
Inside Myanmar the health situation is very precarious, the Commission
said. Rates of under-five mortality and malnutrition amongst children
are very high compared with those of regional neighbours.
The main causes of premature death in Myanmar are malaria, HIV/AIDS,
acute respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases.
Water and sanitation problems are also very dramatic, with water- borne
illnesses accounting for the death of every second under-five year old.
According to UNICEF, diarrhea is the second cause of mortality among
young children.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. On-going armed conflict
with ethnic minority groups has led to a flux of refugees (around
145,000) and internally displaced people (estimated around 525,000),
according to the Commission.
The human rights situation in the country is a subject of concern for a
wide number of international organizations. There is no independent
judiciary in Myanmar, and political opposition to the military
government is not tolerated. dpa sch mga
http://www.bangkokpost.com
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Europe Steps Up Aid to Burma
December 23, 2005
By Shah Paung
Burma’s main opposition National League for Democracy party and an
activist group on Friday welcomed Thursday’s announcement by the
European Commission of an increased euro 15 million (US $17.8 million)
humanitarian aid package for Burma, but warned that dispensing the aid
should be closely monitored.
The aid is to provide health treatment, food, clean water, and
sanitation for 770,000 Burmese. It will also go towards humanitarian
assistance for more than 130,000 Burmese in refugee camps across the
Burmese-Thai border.
The refugee relief will be in the form of basic food needs, cooking oil,
water and sanitation services.
But the regime’s opponents said the implementation of the aid program in
the country should be watched for transparency. “It needs independent
monitoring, to ensure it reaches needy people,” said Myint Thein, an NLD
spokesman. “It needs proper management to administer this program.”
The 88-Generation Students group also warned that dispersal of the aid
should be closely monitored. “We would like to reiterate that we
appreciate any help from outside, because the humanitarian situation has
become a national cause,” a senior official from the group told The
Irrawaddy by phone. “But transparency and accountability should be
maintained in allocating such assistance.”
The 88-Generation group, named after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising
nationwide in that year, includes among its members well-known student
leader and former political prisoner Min Ko Naing, who received the 2005
Civil Courage Prize of the Northcote Parkinson Fund.
European commissioner for development and humanitarian aid Louis Michael
said in an EC press release: “Burma/Myanmar has become a silent
humanitarian crisis, with many vulnerable groups, notably ethnic
minorities in the border areas, living in an extremely vulnerable
situation.” The commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department’s Rangoon
office will manage the aid program, which is nearly double the $9.6
million program in 2005.
In a briefing to the UN Security Council last week, the UN’s
undersecretary-general for political affairs, Ibrahim Gambari,
criticized the Rangoon not only on political grounds, but also for
creating a humanitarian crisis.
The EU, like the US, has clamped tough economic sanctions on Burma,
mainly because of the regime’s poor human rights record. But the EC
decided at its “Burma Day” in Brussels in April to step up humanitarian
aid to the country.
