Ethnic distrust complicates the massive cyclone evacuation in Myanmar

After causing widespread panic, Cyclone Mahasen weakened considerably as it reached the Bangladesh coast. Fearing severe devastation, more than 800,000 people had already been evacuated in Bangladesh. Evacuees took refuge in 2000 cyclone shelters, schools, and colleges along the country’s long coastline.

A beefed-up emergency preparedness plan was put in place to help the country gear up for possible devastation. Officials were prepared for the natural disaster and had stacked up enough supplies to cope with the aftermath. Mohammad Shah Alam, the director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said, “We have enough food, medicine and other facilities in these shelters,” adding that the armed forces were on standby. [Source: The New Zealand Herald]

Mohammad Shah Alam told Reuters news agency “It [the storm] has now crossed over coastal areas and is a land depression over Bangladesh and adjoining areas of India and will gradually weaken further.” Earlier, winds of up to 62 mph lashed the coast, whipping up big waves as the UN warned that 4.1 million people could be threatened. [Source: Aljazeera]

The cyclone still took its share of casualties, killing at least 10 people and flattening mud and straw huts in remote fishing villages with its torrential rain and fierce wind.

In Myanmar too, the government had ordered residents along the western coast to evacuate ahead of the storm. However, the residents resisted the evacuation orders, reluctant because of a history of ethnic and religious unrest.

In dozens of refugee camps along Burma’s western coast, the evacuation order ahead of the storm was met with widespread refusal. In Rakhine state, about 140,000 mostly Rohingya people have been living in crowded camps since last year, when sectarian violence between the Muslim minority and ethnic Buddhists forced many Rohingya from their homes. As the weather worsened, most people camped there appeared to be staying put, saying that they distrusted officials in the majority-Buddhist country, where Rohingya have faced decades of discrimination.

Evacuation efforts were focused on Western Myanmar where these low-lying camps could be flooded by heavy rains.

“In the Sittwe area, we have 13 IDP camps, 11 are Bengali camps – these refused to move. The Rakhine camps were moved to [Buddhist] monasteries in Sittwe town. The UN and NGOs… are trying to negotiate with the Bengalis and the government,” reported International Business Times.

The UN News Centre reports “United Nations agencies are currently assessing parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar to study the impact caused by the tropical cyclone. Aerial assessment across the affected districts showed no significant damage; however there are localized pockets of flooding which may see limited needs for provision of drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, and temporary shelter to people who have been affected.” However, UN agencies and partner organizations are still assessing the region to protect the displaced people from the ongoing rainy season.

United Nations (UN) with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had implemented an emergency preparedness plan in Rakhine, Myanmar. The plan, developed in March, included a relocation of 120,000 people to higher and safer locations.