Republic of the Union of Myanmar

National Unity Government

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Statement (11/2023)

30 May 2023

Statement on Cyclone Mocha relief

The National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar expresses its heartfelt gratitude to the countries, international and charitable organisations, community groups and private individuals who have so generously contributed to Cyclone Mocha relief.

Cyclone Mocha struck northwest Myanmar on 14 May with wind gusts of up to 120 miles per hour. One of our worst cyclones on record, it left a trail of death and devastation through a vast majority of areas that included Rakhine, Bago, Chin, Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing, Shan, Yangon and Ayeyarwaddy.

Mocha’s destruction of homes, crops and critical infrastructure and its triggering of floods and landslides has affected an estimated 1.6 million people. This has compounded the extreme suffering of the people of Myanmar, close to two million of whom were already internally displaced by the illegal military junta’s atrocity operations.

The National Unity Government is working tirelessly with its ethnic and civil society partners to deliver desperately needed humanitarian assistance to the hardest-hit and most vulnerable communities. It is a race against the clock before the monsoon.

We welcome the UN Humanitarian Country Team’s launch of a Flash Appeal seeking $333 million to fund further assistance, and we are outraged by UN reports that the illegal junta is blocking it from delivering aid and even prevented communities, including the Rohingya, from relocating to safety before the cyclone hit.

This exposes the junta’s ongoing weaponisation of aid for military gain and its sustained Rohingya persecution. To UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk:

[t]he damage and loss of life was both foreseeable and avoidable – and is clearly linked with the systematic denial of human rights. It is imperative that the military lift the blockages on travel, allow for needs assessments to happen, and ensure access to and delivery of lifesaving aid and services.

UN entities in Myanmar must expand their direct partnership with the National Unity Government and its ethnic and civil society partners to ensure that assistance reaches the people.

The international community, including the ASEAN Chair and Myanmar’s neighbours, must also work with us to secure urgent cross-border aid delivery through established ethnic and civil society networks.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

National Unity Government

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