- Web Master
- March 26, 2024
The Thai ministry in a statement disclosed that the Thai Red Cross Society was
providing humanitarian assistance to Myanmar in order to scale up assistance
for the people along the Thai-Myanmar border.
The handover ceremony was held on the Thai side of the 2nd Thailand-Myanmar
Friendship Bridge.
Thai Red Cross district branch of Mae Sot handed over 4,000 relief bags containing rice, dry food and other essential commodities for 20,000 Myanmar IDPs. Those were received by the Myanmar Red Cross Society chairman from Myawaddy district. The distribution of those items will be conducted by Red Cross Societies from both the neighbouring countries.
The executive director of the ASEAN coordinating centre for humanitarian
assistance on disaster management (AHA centre) was also present on the
occasion.
As part of the Thai government's ‘humanitarian pilot
project’, discussions will be held with concerned partner organizations to
explore the ways to enhance assistance for those in need, particularly staying
along the Thai-Myanmar border.
Earlier, the Thai government was criticized for not
showing interest over engaging with all stakeholders raising concerns about the
effectiveness of the initiative.
Thailand should engage in dialogues with all ethnic
armed organizations and civil society organizations, rather than handing over
everything to Myanmar Red Cross Society, various observers commented.
Myanmar's political activists also noted that Thailand
had to cooperate with the Myanmar military junta and even then they will
closely monitor if the assistance actually reaches the genuine IDPs.