U.N. Says Myanmar Junta Agrees to Allow Entry of All Aid Workers

United Nations general secretary Ban Ki-moon has announced that the leader of Myanmar’s military junta government has agreed to allow all international aid workers into the country to assist with relief efforts three weeks after the country was hit by a cyclone, reports The New York Times.

However, the announcement has been met with doubts. Mr. Ban did not say when aid workers would be permitted entry or if they would be able to survey the Irrawaddy Delta, an area especially hit hard by the cyclone.

Lionel Rosenblatt, former president of the humanitarian group Refugees International, said, “Translating what you hear in a place like that into reality — we will have to wait and see what will happen.”

According to Surin Pitsuwan, secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the junta has asked for $11.7-billion in aid. The junta insists that the country no longer needs emergency aid and that further assistance should focus on reconstruction, but the United Nations says millions of people lack food, clean water, shelter, and medical supplies.

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