By SPA,
United Nations : A top United Nations (U.N.) envoy said that up to 2.5 million people in Myanmar could be severely affected by a violent cyclone that struck the country last week.
U.N. Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator John Holmes revised the number of people affected up from 1.5 million, and said the death toll now stands at 38,491, up from 31,938.
Holmes, who urged the government of Myanmar to allow foreign aid workers into the small and isolated country, said 27,000 people are believed missing.
Even with resources “increasingly overstretched,” Holmes said the workers are “doing a heroic job.”
Holmes said the military junta running Myanmar has allowed 25 more U.N. staff members into the country, bringing the total U.N. presence to 100 people. He said there are more U.N. members on the ground than international staff, but said anywhere from a hundred to two hundred U.N. staff are needed in the affected areas.
Holmes told S.P.A. that roadblocks are in place in parts of the country, but they have not halted the aid effort.
“As I understand it, the roadblocks are there to prevent foreigners from getting in. They are not stopping the aid itself getting in,” he said.
Asked which countries have the most influence on Myanmar’s government, Holmes referred to Myanmar’s neighbors and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He said, however, that many of them “are having problems with direct dialogue” with “a leadership that seems to be allergic to the telephone.”
U.N. spokesperson Ferhan Haq on Wednesday told reporters Myanmar Senior General Than Swe has not responded to repeated calls and two letters from the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.