Cyclone Mocha: Asean to send humanitarian aid to Myanmar on Sunday

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Asean's first emergency response aid to Myanmar following Cyclone Mocha will be delivered on Sunday (May 21) by commercial aircraft, according to Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The ministry, in a statement, explained that the aid has been prepared and is in the warehouses of the Disaster Emergency Logistics System for Asean in Subang, Malaysia; and Chainat, Thailand.

"The next aid will be sent on May 22 or May 23 using military aircraft from Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand," said the ministry.

Coordination of the transport for the provision of aid using Asean member military aircraft is done through the Asean Military Ready Group on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.

This is in line with Indonesia's commitment as the chairman of Asean 2023, and the joint statement of the Asean Foreign Ministers who conveyed the willingness to provide humanitarian aid to Myanmar through the "One Asean One Response" approach.

Executive Director of the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) and representatives of Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand in the Asean Emergency Response and Assessment Team (Asean-Erat) as well as the Asean Secretariat have arrived in Myanmar to support emergency response efforts.

They are also collecting information in the field and facilitating rapid needs assessment, said the ministry.

More than 400 people were reported dead in Myanmar's Rakhine state last Wednesday as a result of Cyclone Mocha, which hit the coastal area between Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district and the town of Kyaukpyu in Myanmar. - BERNAMA