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EU Commission allocates €15m in humanitarian aid to vulnerable in Burma/Myanmar and Burmese refugees

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The European Commission today allocated €15 million in humanitarian aid for vulnerable populations in Burma/Myanmar and to Burmese refugees along the Myanmar-Thai border. This is the second allocation to the Burmese crisis in 2005, which in total has reached €16.5 million. This decision will aim at providing protection and addressing some of the basic humanitarian needs in the health, food aid, nutrition and water & sanitation sectors of around 770,000 people inside Myanmar. It will also provide humanitarian assistance to over 130,000 Burmese refugees along the Myanmar-Thai border. Funds are managed by the Commission's Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), whose newly opened office in Yangon will help to monitor and increase the quality and impact of the aid delivered.

Commissioner for development and humanitarian aid Louis Michel said: "Burma/Myanmar, has become a silent humanitarian crisis, with many vulnerable groups, notably ethnic minorities in the border areas, living in an extremely vulnerable situation. The Commission is firmly committed to providing support to this forgotten crisis".

Burma/Myanmar is ruled by a military regime since 1962. On-going armed conflict with ethnic minority groups have led to a flux of refugees (around 145,000) and internally displaced people (estimated around 525,000). The number of refugees along the Thai/Burmese border has increased from around 10,000 in 1984 to about 145,000 in August 2005.

Inside Myanmar the health situation is very precarious. Rates of under-five mortality and malnutrition amongst children are very high compared with those of regional neighbours. The main causes of premature death in Burma/Myanmar are malaria, HIV/AIDS, acute respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases. The water and sanitation problems are also very acute: water-borne illnesses account for 50% of morbidity among young children, and according to UNICEF, diarrhoea is the second cause of mortality among children under 5.

With this decision, the Commission through its Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) intends to support the following activities:

• Refugees along Thai/Myanmar Border: The long duration of the displacement has made that the refugees are today almost totally dependent on international aid to meet their basic needs. This decision will thus include support to around 130,000 refugees through the supply of key food items and cooking fuel, as well as provision of appropriate curative health and water and sanitation services.
  
• Vulnerable groups inside Burma/Myanmar: around 770,000 people inside Myanmar will benefit of Commission's funding, aimed at providing protection and addressing some of the basic humanitarian needs in the health, food aid, nutrition and water & sanitation sectors in several of the most vulnerable areas of the country.

Since 1992 ECHO has provided over €89,5 million in humanitarian assistance inside Myanmar and along the Myanmar-Thai border. The humanitarian aid provided by ECHO goes impartially to those who need it most, irrespective of their nationality, ethnic origin, gender or religion.

More info :
http://europa.eu.int/comm/echo/field/myanmar/index_en.htm

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