New Delhi - In an unfortunate move, the United States on Wednesday said it will withdraw naval ships off Burma 's coast, carrying relief material, after the country's military rulers refused to allow it to help survivors of last month's Cyclone Nargis.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Timothy J. Keating said the US Navy has made at least 15 attempts to convince the Burmese military junta to allow them access to help the cyclone victims. But the junta refused.
"I am both saddened and frustrated to know that we have been in a position to help ease the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people and help mitigate further loss of life, but have been unable to do so because of the unrelenting position of the Burmese military junta," Keating said.
After the failed attempts, Keating has recommended that the USS Essex group and U.S. Marine Corps 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) continue with their previously scheduled operational commitments by June 5.
"The Secretary of Defence approved this recommendation," the statement said.
Keating said the Essex ships will now head for the coast of Thailand to reload their remaining helicopters and personnel on June 11.
"However, should the Burmese rulers have a change of heart and request our full assistance for their suffering people we are prepared to help," said Keating.
The US Essex ships had been positioned off the coast of Burma since May 13, ready and able to deliver urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the victims of Cyclone Nargis that swept Burma on May 2 and 3, leaving more than 130,000 people dead or missing and 2.4 million homeless.
The statement on the withdrawal of the US Navy ships came days after US Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates said that the Burmese junta's obstruction of international efforts to help cyclone victims cost 'tens of thousands of lives.'
Keating, who personally flew to Rangoon with the first U.S. military relief flight on May 12, said he had offered the Burmese junta to visit U.S. ships in international waters and to fly on U.S. military relief flights in an effort to help ease any concerns they might have regarding U.S. humanitarian assistance and intentions.
But the junta turned down the offer and continues to deny permission to help victims in the hardest hit areas in Irrawaddy delta, wasting the efforts of the Joint Task Force Caring Response, including the four-ship Essex Group, 22 medium and heavy lift helicopters, four landing craft, and more than 5,000 U.S. military personnel.
Earlier last week, the French withdraw its military vessel loaded with relief aid from its position near the coast off Burma after failing to obtain permission to go into the Delta to help cyclone victims.
Burma 's military junta has maintained that it welcomes aid supplies and international aid workers to help survivors of the cyclone but will not accept the use of any foreign military equipment for relief purposes.
The United States was quick in responding after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma on May 2. The USAID and the Department of Defence have so far completed a total of 106 airlifts carrying more than two million pounds of emergency relief supplies that are believed to be reaching at least 417,000 people.
The United Nations, however, said aid has reached only an estimated 1.3 million out of the total of more than 2.4 million affected people.
