BRUNEI WANTS TO GIVE HUMANITARIAN AID TO BURMA

UNCLAS BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000144 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS & EAP/MLS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PREL BM BX SUBJECT: BRUNEI WANTS TO GIVE HUMANITARIAN AID TO BURMA Ref: State 48651 ¶1. (SBU) DCM delivered reftel points on May 8 to Joana Hj Daniel, Assistant Director of the Political I Department (ASEAN member countries) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MoFAT). She had no immediate response, but offered to follow up later in the day. ¶2. (SBU) That afternoon, MoFAT staff followed up, reporting that MoFAT officials had made a direct appeal to the Burma regime to grant visas to foreign disaster relief workers but had received no response. ¶3. (SBU) The Sultan of Brunei has given preliminary approval for the GoB to donate US$100,000 in funds to support disaster relief efforts in Burma. The GoB has not/not announced this publicly. MoFAT officials are currently looking at providing the assistance directly to the Burmese government. DCM suggested that unless the GoB has a mechanism in place to assure that the funds will be used as intended and not be diverted, Brunei would be better off providing this assistance through UN or other relief agencies. SKODON