UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said Monday that more visas are being granted to international relief workers to get into Myanmar to help victims of cyclone Nargis, but still more are needed.
Speaking at a press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York, Holmes said that 34 visas for relief staff of various agencies would be or were being granted and that the authorities in Myanmar are willing to look positively at visa applications for other United Nations relief personnel.
"This is welcome, but again clearly nothing like enough for the scale of the problems we are trying to deal with. The visa position for international NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) is a little bit less clear and less satisfactory," he said.
"I fear that we don't have a total picture of that, some limited good news on that front but clearly more is needed," he said.
Holmes said that there has also been an increase in the number of flights getting into Myanmar with relief assistance.
He said there have been special flights from Bangladesh, China, Laos, Thailand, India, Singapore, Spain, Italy and the United States and more are expected.
International relief agencies estimate that around 1.5 million people are at severe risk following Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar on May 2, while the official death toll reported by the government has reached almost 32,000, with over 34,000 others still missing.
Source:Xinhua
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