Belgium sends aid to Myanmar 07/05/2008 00:00

Belgian and Flemish government will give EUR 250,000 and EUR 100,000 respectively to help victims of Cyclone Nargis.

7 May 2008

BELGIUM - The Flemish Development Aid Minister Geert Bourgeois has announced that Flanders is to give EUR 100,000 to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis.

According to unconfirmed reports, the cyclone killed more than 15,000 people when it swept across southern Burma last Saturday. Many tens of thousands of people are still missing.

The area in and around the capital Rangoon was especially badly hit by the cyclone.

The electricity and telephone lines are down across southern Burma and a state of emergency has been declared in the stricken region.

Water purification tablets, cooking sets, mosquito nets, first aid kits and food packages are all desperately needed to help the tens of thousand of people made homeless by the storm.

The Flemish cash will be given to the Red Cross and UNICEF, both of whom are active in the region.

It's not the first time that Flanders has given aid to Burma.

The Flemish government made funds availed to the UN's World Food Programme to help Burma during a food shortage at the end of last year.

EUR 250,000 of Federal Government aid
The Belgian foreign minister Karel De Gucht has pledged EUR 250,000 in aid to Burma.

This is in addition to the EUR 100,000 already pledged by the Flemish government.

The Belgian foreign ministery says that the Burmese military government has already agreed to accept the aid under certain conditions.

[flandersenews.be / Expatica]