ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

Pau, 25 June 2008 - After 15 days in Myanmar, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) faced an unprecedented situation and decided to leave the country. TSF’s requests for authorizations to deploy to the Irrawaddy delta were not granted and as the organization was blocked in Yangon, TSF’s teams returned to their bases.

On June 1st, TSF obtained its first visas to enter Myanmar following Cyclone Nargis which hit the south western regions of the country on May 2nd and 3rd after having waited for more than a month at the border despite the scale of the disaster. TSF was first in charge of assessing telecommunication infrastructure and needs in the affected zones, particularly in the Irrawaddy Delta as part of an assessment mission of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). The AIT based in Bangkok is a partner of TSF since 2006. TSF’s Asian base is also situated on the AIT campus and students from the University are regularly part of TSF’s teams responding to emergencies in Asia and the Pacific.

To strengthen the organization’s operation and in expectation of an imminent deployment to the Irrawaddy zone, TSF sent an additional team on June 8th. This team was composed of two telecom specialists from TSF’s headquarters in Pau and one from the Asian Base in Bangkok. In coordination with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), TSF’s objective was to provide technical assistance and install back up communication solutions in three of the four humanitarian hubs in Laputta, Bogalay and Pathein right at the heart of affected zone. This support aimed at benefiting the entire humanitarian community working with those affected by providing all the necessary equipment to communicate and to better coordinate.

The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) is led by the World Food Programme (WFP) and Unicef and coordinated by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). TSF was appointed First Responder of the ETC in 2006. The objective of the ETC is to mutualise and better coordinate resources from different agencies involved in emergency telecommunications leaving no emergency responder unconnected. Since 2006, TSF already responded to several emergencies in coordination with the ETC: in Indonesia, in Lebanon, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and more recently in Mozambique following heavy floods in February.

In Myanmar, Cyclone Nargis killed at least 133 600 people and affected at least 2.4 million in particular in the regions of Irrawaddy and Yangon. This is the worst natural disaster since the Asian tsunami on December 26th, 2004.

Télécoms Sans Frontières: the leading humanitarian NGO specialised in emergency telecommunications.

With its 24-hour monitoring centre and relying on its operational bases in France, Nicaragua and in Thailand, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) crews of IT and telecoms specialists can intervene anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours after any sudden onset disaster or conflict and in a matter of minutes set up a satellite-based telecoms centre offering broadband Internet, phone and fax lines. These centres enable emergency NGO, the United Nations and local authorities to communicate right at the heart of event. They also facilitate the coordination of aid efforts. In parallel, TSF also runs humanitarian calling operation to offer support and assistance to affected civilians, giving them a link with the outside world from which they would be otherwise completely cut off.

TSF will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary on June 29th in Clairefontaine, near Paris. Since its creation in 1998, TSF deployed to over 50 countries and assisted almost 500 relief organisations and millions of victims. In 2006, TSF became a partner of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). TSF is First Responder of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC).

Télécoms Sans Frontières is also a working group member of the United Nations emergency telecoms body (WGET). TSF is a partner of the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO) and a member of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA).