FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) stated that it had delivered food aid to nearly 300,000 people and that more than 110,000 received shelter materials, or other essential relief items, in Rakhine State before travel authorization was rescinded by the military regime in Naypyidaw. “The suspension of activities in Rakhine could not have come at a worse time with the monsoon arriving,” it stated in its Cyclone Mocha situation report on June 8. Heavy rains and floods had already begun to disrupt relief efforts. UNOCHA added that assistance to cyclone-impacted communities must be scaled up immediately to assist local authorities and civil society organizations distributing aid to survivors.