The European Union's aid chief, Louis Michel, is set to join the humanitarian workers waiting for visas to enter Myanmar in Bangkok as he tries to arrange a meeting with the Myanmar authorities, a spokesman confirmed Tuesday, dpa reported.
The EU aid and development commissioner is to "depart for the region with the aim of meeting the authorities in Yangon to explain the need for them to open up this international humanitarian corridor," Michel's spokesmen told journalists in Brussels.
Michel aims to depart for Bangkok as soon as an emergency meeting of EU aid ministers on the Myanmar situation has finished on Tuesday afternoon, the spokesman said. Michel himself called for the meeting - the first time in recent years that a member of the EU's executive has summoned member states in this manner.
But he has not yet been granted a visa by the Myanmar regime, the spokesman said, saying that "preparations are under way."
"The important thing to remember is the commissioner's desire to leave no stone unturned... As we know, every hour now really counts, it is vital that the international community manages to convey a united message that is humanitarian in nature and in no way political," he said.
International aid agencies complain that the Myanmar authorities are refusing to let them into the country, thereby seriously hampering relief operations in the wake of Cyclone Nargis.
Myanmar's military junta has so far rejected international calls to let relief workers into the country, but Michel's staff seemed optimistic that the EU's top aid official could buck the trend.
The visa question is "one we'll have to deal with in the coming days if the need should arise, but at the moment (Michel's) aim is to go to Yangon and meet with the authorities and explain this united message on behalf of the EU," the spokesman said.
Given that Bangkok is the regional hub for relief efforts, Michel could visit stalled relief workers and aid supplies in the city while waiting for his visa, the spokesman said.