Catholic aid agency already in Myanmar faces travel restrictions

Published: 2008-05-08

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNS) -- A Catholic aid agency already working in Myanmar when Cyclone Nargis struck has been grappling with travel restrictions as it tries to assess the situation and help survivors in the Irrawaddy delta region. "We would be able to do noticeably much more in terms of aid if our team could travel to the affected region in the Irrawaddy delta area. But the Myanmar government does not allow our international aid workers to go there," Ingo Radtke, head of Malteser International, told the Asian church news agency UCA News May 8. UCA News, based in Bangkok, received an e-mail from officials at Malteser's offices in Germany. Malteser's international staffers are prohibited from traveling to the project areas where they were working before the cyclone hit May 3. An agency official said Myanmarese staffers have to inform the authorities before traveling outside Yangon, the capital. Malteser International, formally the Order of Malta Worldwide Relief, has been working in Myanmar since 2001 on several humanitarian projects, including health care and safe drinking water.

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