The long awaited presence of the WFP as part of the relief efforts in the Irrawaddy Delta was felt yesterday as the first aid flights began to arrive in the hardest hit areas. It has been five weeks in coming, but the first large flows of coordinated, airlifted supplies have begun to arrive in the regions that were previously extremely difficult to reach. By weeks end the WFP hope to have their full compliment of ten helicopters available to deliver aid into the most remote areas. The government’s relaxing of the rules restricting the use of the helicopters in the relief operation has coincided with the reduction in local capacity to meet the demands of the cyclone survivors. Some local relief groups say they have just about exhausted their reservoirs of aid after nearly five weeks of helping survivors. They indicate that that although the response has been massive on the part of ordinary individuals, many have already given two and three times to the relief effort and can afford no more. Aid groups say that financial contributions have begun to dry up as well.

The tripartite group of ASEAN, the UN and the Burmese government finally got its program underway yesterday as 250 experts from the various groups were flown, driven and boated into many regions of the delta. The mission was a part of an attempt to provide a comprehensive assessment of the damage to the region. The group is seeking to estimate the costs of emergency supplies: food, clean water and temporary shelter, as well as longer term reconstruction costs. The area is in dire need of schools, and financial assistance that will go toward reestablishing the agricultural industry in the region.

It appears that the regime has done just enough to appease the international community in order to stifle earlier reports of the discussion of the “responsibility to protect” doctrine. The doctrine, originally conceived as a tool for the use in times of crimes against humanity and genocide had been broached as a possibility, primarily in European diplomatic circles in recent weeks. However, the influential Economist Intelligence Unit think tank has released its findings on the viability of the doctrine’s implementation and found it highly unlikely, despite the west’s disappointment over the handling of the aid operation in Burma. The report also cites the junta’s support from veto holders, China as a major hindrance. The report is also critical of the ASEAN association, saying that the crisis has further highlighted the weakness of the group and its failure to influence policy in the region.

The positives of the week have again been tempered by the continuing internal problems in Burma, which have included the arrest of 18 women in children in Rangoon, in a seeming attempt to keep them away from UN offices located there. The group had come from Dagon Township to ask for help from UN officials. There have also been reports emerging from Burma of the arrests of government officials who have been stealing, selling and hording aid intended for victims of the cyclone.

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