Pope urges access for Cyclone Mocha relief

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for humanitarian organisations to be given access to areas hit by a deadly cyclone which tore through parts of Myanmar and Bangladesh two weeks ago.

“I appeal to those responsible to facilitate the access of humanitarian aid,” the pontiff said at the end of the Angelus prayer in the Vatican.

“And I appeal to the sense of human solidarity and ecclesial solidarity to come to the aid of these brothers and sisters of ours,” he added.

Cyclone Mocha brought lashing rain and winds of 195 kilometres per hour to Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh on May 14, collapsing buildings and turning streets into rivers.

The United Nations on Wednesday called for Myanmar’s military rulers to open up and ensure life-saving aid can get to parts of the Southeast Asian that need it.

It says at least 800,000 people in Myanmar need emergency food aid and other assistance.

Myanmar’s junta has declared Rakhine state a natural disaster after the cyclone hit.

The western state is home to hundreds of thousands of the persecuted Rohingya minority, many of whom live in displacement camps following decades of ethnic conflict.

The United Nations launched on Tuesday an appeal for $333 million in emergency funding for 1.6 million people it said were affected after deadly Cyclone Mocha tore through Myanmar.

Myanmar’s junta has given a death toll of 148 people, mostly from the persecuted Rohingya minority in western Rakhine state.

The UN’S humanitarian affairs office said it was seeking $333 million to help provide shelter, medical facilities, food and clean water ahead of the rainy season.

“We are now in a race against time to provide people with safe shelter in all affected communities and prevent the spread of waterborne disease,” Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator Ramanathan Balakrishnan said in a statement.

More than $200 million would come from the overall humanitarian aid plan for this year in Myanmar, the statement added, with $122m sought to support new relief efforts for those affected by the cyclone.

Balakrishnan later told reporters the United Nations was hoping to receive approval soon to distribute relief to communities in Rakhine.