MERCY Malaysia Head of Relief Operation, Hew Cheong Yew is currently in the Rakhine region, assessing the needs of the distressed community, as well as providing basic medical aid

According Hew, he is now working together with the local government as well as other NGOs in the area to serve those who have been relocated due to Cyclone Mahasen to schools and monasteries which are currently being used as evacuation centers

Displaced residents start to pack up to return home after they were evacuated due to Cyclone Mahasen.

Rain and strong winds lashed Burma’s northwest coast as the weakened Cyclone Mashasen crossed into Bangladesh on Thursday, killing four people.

Following the Burmese government’s muddled efforts to relocate thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) along the Arakan coastline, it remains unclear if people will begin moving back on Friday or whether they would remain at their current locations.

Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:04 Hintharni

Preparations are being made to begin compensating civilians in Shan State affected by the civil war between the Myanmar government and the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA).

A Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House of Parliament) member from the Shan State-based Kyarr Phyu Party (White Tiger Party) said that from May 15 information was being collected to calculate the total losses in Nant Kham Township.

By PAUL VRIEZE and HTET NAING ZAW

SITTWE, Arakan State—Tropical Cyclone Mahasen missed western Burma’s Arakan State on Thursday afternoon, bringing relief to tens of thousands of internally displaced Rohingyas living in camps near the coast.

An official at the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology said the cyclone had made landfall at the Chittagong coast in central Bangladesh at 3:30 pm.

By Becky Webb in Myanmar

As tropical cyclone Mahasen continues to make its way over the Bay of Bengal, hundreds of Myanmar Red Cross Society volunteers are working tirelessly to help evacuate people from vulnerable coastal areas in Rakhine State.

Reports suggest the effects of the cyclone will be felt in Myanmar and Bangladesh. “We know from our experience in Cyclone Giri in 2010 that families living in these coastal areas and small islands will bear the brunt of this storm,” said U Maung Maung Khin, Head of Disaster Management from Myanmar Red Cross Society.

By NANG MYA NADI

Thousands of displaced Rohingya are still stranded in low-lying areas next to the sea, less than a day before a tropical storm is expected to batter northwestern Burma, local sources have warned.

Among these are hundreds of families, who are too terrified to leave their camps with state security forces, because they have previously been implicated in carrying out mass atrocities against the Muslim minority.

As the people and Government of Myanmar brace themselves for Cyclone Mahasen, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar, Mr. Ashok Nigam, has called for the prompt relocation of everyone who will be affected.

Read the full report.

The New Light of Myanmar, Tuesday, 16 May, 2013

(extract)

Padaung, 15 May— Myanmar Red Cross Society Community-based Health Development Project, Padaung Township Fire Services Department and wellwishers provided water to water-scarce Yedwinhla village in Talokebin villagetract and Kya-in village in Kyokyar village-tract in Padaung Township in Pyay District in Bago Region on 11 May.