Local aid group pleased with UN visit to Mai Ja Yang

PHOTO: UN STAFF DISTRIBUTE FOOD TO THE SENG MAI PA CAMP NEAR MAI JA YANG ON MARCH 28,2O12.(CREDIT WPN)

MAI JA YANG, Burma — The staff from Wunpawng Ninghtoi (WPN) a local Kachin aid group that provides relief and medical supplies for refugees living in the Mai Ja Yang area is very pleased by the results of a recent UN aid convoy to eastern Kachin state.

At the end of March a small UN convoy consisting of staff from various UN agencies came to visit internally displaced person camps in the Mai Ja Yang area.  Staff from UNICEF, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Program (WFP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) accompanied six large trucks carrying supplies for displaced villagers who have sheltered in the Mai Ja Yang area.

On March 28 the UN team visited Seng Mai Pa refugee camp home to more than 825 people mostly from Bhamo (Manmaw) township.  The UN staff distributed family emergency aid kits and rice to camp residents while other UN staff evaluated the conditions of the camp.

UN staff also visited several other camps in the Mai Ja Yang area.  “We are very pleased the UN came to visit the people here and provide assistance” said May Li Aung director of WPN.

The UN is planning on visiting the camps again in the near future. “We hope that the UN can come back soon,” added May Li Aung.

Update on Previous UN story

Following Kachin News Group's previous reporting about the UN visit to Seng Mai Pa we subsequently learned that a brief misunderstanding resulting from the presence of a volunteer photographer during the aid delivery process was later resolved in a friendly manner.

According to the photographer involved “this was a minor misunderstanding, the important thing is the refugees received aid.”