Significant needs remain for Cyclone Mocha victims in Arakan State

By Admin 01 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
1 June 2023, Sittwe

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) issued a statement on May 31 saying that the 1.6 million people in Arakan State and northwest Myanmar who are affected by Cyclone Mocha are in need of safe shelter.

To date, shelter and other relief items have been distributed to more than 63,000 people but there is an urgent need for wider access and assistance in distributing materials to people in need, UNOCHA Myanmar said.

When DMG contacted villagers in Rathedaung and Ponnagyun townships about international aid, they said that they had received some aid, but that it was not provided by international organisations.

The General Administration Department (GAD) provided residents in Hsininngyi Village, Ponnagyun Township, with 15 corrugated steel sheets, cooking oil, three viss of nails, some instant noodles and rice, said U Moe Zaw, a village official.

“International organisations have yet to provide us with relief supplies. The GAD supplied us with some relief items. We are in urgent need of shelters. We were asked some questions by ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] officials yesterday. I don’t know whether we will be provided with relief items or not,” he added.

Humanitarian organisations are waiting for access approval to areas in need and are already providing shelter, water, basic healthcare, and emergency food to storm victims as access allows, according to UNOCHA Myanmar.

At least 180 homes in Sabahtar Village, Rathedaung Township, were destroyed by Cyclone Mocha and locals in the village are facing financial difficulties in rebuilding their homes due to lack of support from the regime and international organisations.

“We currently face accommodation difficulties as we cannot buy construction materials such as corrugated steel sheets and tarpaulins. Some storm victims borrowed rice from others. Children are in trouble,” said Daw Sandar Win, a local woman from Zayathla Village.

Locals and internally displaced people (IDPs) are repairing their damaged homes and shelters on a self-reliant basis and are in urgent need of construction materials.

“Our shelters cannot withstand the rain. We will be able to rebuild our shelters only if international organisations help us. We repair our shelters to live temporarily,” said U Soe Win Chay, manager of the Ceditaung displacement camp in Rathedaung Township.

A total of 1,156,796 people were affected by the cyclone and accompanying torrential flooding in Arakan State, with financial losses totaling nearly K4.7 billion and 148 deaths recorded, the junta’s Arakan State Administration Council has said.