The Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report addressing the medium to long term needs of the Nargis survivors will be ready for release on the 21 July 2008. The report will be presented to the ASEAN foreign ministers, and concurrently released in Yangon. Data from the report has already been used by the UN in New York to launch their Revised Appeal of US$481.8 million. Surin Pitsuwan, secretary general of ASEAN said of the PONJA report, ‘we anticipate a comprehensive, credible and viable report based on the objective needs of the victims of Cyclone Nargis; a report that will be useful to help guide relief and recovery efforts in cyclone-hit Myanmar, so that the medium-term needs of the Nargis victims are sufficiently addressed.’

The Burmese government has estimated that 60-100 internally displayed Nargis survivors are returning to their villages everyday. In Labutta alone there are 2,213 families living in three temporary camps all of whom are being encouraged by the government to return home. As part of the government’s return program each returning family is registered, and provided with a food package for two weeks, tarpaulins and a registration book to record all assistance received by the village relief committee. Reports have also been recieved that some people are being beaten by the authorties and focred to leave temporay shelter camps.

Villagers from Daydaye Township have complained that fishing equipment donated to them by the Burmese government has been seized by local authorities. A private donor told The Democratic Voice of Burma this week that village authorities had provided fishing farmers with fishing boats, nets and other equipment whilst senior officials were present, but then took these items away once the officials had left. The equipment that was originally donated would have given farmers the means to restart the local fishing industry and providing both food and income on a long term basis.

When Cyclone Nargis struck Burma in early May thousands of children were left orphaned. UNICEF has estimated that at least 2, 000 children have been orphaned or have missing parents. Aid works have expressed their concerns that children left without family after Nargis may face an increased vulnerability to becoming the target of forced military recruitment, forced labor, trafficking, and involvement in the sex industry. In June border police rescued more than 80 women and child victims of Nargis from human traffickers who intended to sneak them across the border. In an effort to prevent child trafficking in the wake of Nargis the Burmese government has prohibited the adoption of storm children.

The UN children’s fund is currently supporting 51 community based ‘child friendly spaces’ where children affected by Cyclone Nargis are provided with education, recreational space, and other forms of aid. Centers like these protect orphaned children against exploitation whilst relief agencies endeavor to reunite families. At the end of June UNICEF announced that 428 unaccompanied children and separated children had been traced. Of these 15 were reunited with their family. However, effort to trace families are being slowed down by the movement of internally displaced Nargis survivors as they begin to move out of temporary shelter to seek permanent accommodation. The Irrawaddy news source has reported that some orphaned children have been employed in low-paid work since the cyclone, after migrating to cities. Some children in this situation were as young as 10. Others, along with adult survivors are being focred to work as porters, cut bamboo and clean roads and villags. Some are even being forced to work on construction sites.

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