US envoy backs ASEAN efforts on Myanmar
SINGAPORE (AFP) — The US envoy to ASEAN backed the regional bloc's efforts to convince military-ruled Myanmar to open its doors to humanitarian aid after a devastating cyclone.
Scot Marciel, US envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, dismissed criticism not enough was being done to get aid to the estimated 1.5 million survivors of the tragedy at grave risk, the Sunday Times reported.
"That's the way it has to work," he told the newspaper.
"In order to get assistance to people, you have to work through the government. What we have to do is work with the realities as they are," he said.
ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan has written to Myanmar's foreign minister seeking the "quick admission" of the 10-member bloc's aid for cyclone victims, amid international fury at the ruling junta's refusal to let in aid workers.
Aid groups have warned that the official toll of 60,000 dead or missing in Myanmar, an ASEAN member, could rise unless the neediest survivors get help immediately.
