Myanmar: anger mount among NGOs waiting for “business” visas to help

The European Commission has called for an urgent meeting of European Union ministers in charge of humanitarian aid on Tuesday 13th to beef up the EU response to the Myanmar emergency. Waiting for its result, in Bangkok NGOs struggle for “business” visas to enter the country where 1.5 million survivors of Cyclone Nargis need urgent help.

Since the military-ruled and isolated southeast Asian nation has no such thing as an “emergency aid” visa, humanitarian workers need to ask for business visas. According to AlertNet, rescue workers have been waiting for days outside the iron-spiked, grey walls of the embassy compound in Bangkok while their leaders and local visa agents try to see if their applications have got anywhere.

“I’ve never seen delays like this, never,” declared to Reuters Pierre Fouillant of the Comite de Secours InternationauxFouillant, a veteran of 10 humanitarian disasters. “It’s a crime against humanity. It should be against the law. It’s like they are taking a gun and shooting their own people.”

According to Alert Net, together with Un agencies, 45 international NGOs are working on the emergency, either on the ground in Myanmar or from their headquarter. Clik here to view their complete list