KEY POINTS:
All 38 New Zealanders known to be in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar are believed to be safe and well.
Cyclone Nargis tore through the country on Saturday, leaving up to 100,000 people dead, and up to one million others missing.
International relief efforts have been frustrated by the secretive ruling
military regime's reluctance to open the country's borders.
Tonight, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) spokeswoman Emma Reilly said there were 38 New Zealanders in the country - 15 registered with the ministry and "23 we heard about that weren't registered".
"There was just one we hadn't been able to contact, but we've heard from him in the last hour or so."
Efforts by the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok to contact people had been hampered by disruptions to communications and power.
Ms Reilly said the ministry was advising New Zealanders in Myanmar to make contact with the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok, if possible, and to advise family/friends of their safety, monitor local media reports and follow the advice of the local authorities.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said today New Zealand would contribute another $1 million to the United Nations efforts to help Myanmar recover from the devastation caused by the cyclone.
The money is in addition to the $500,000 pledged yesterday to New Zealand aid and relief agencies involved in Myanmar.
"Reports coming out of Myanmar suggest that 40 per cent of those killed, injured or left homeless by this disaster are children. It's important that New Zealand does what it can to assist," Miss Clark said.
"Our contribution to UNICEF will focus on caring for the injured, preventing the spread of disease and ensuring children have access to clean water and food."
Meanwhile, international pressure is growing on Myanmar authorities to relax border entry measures for foreign aid representatives.
New Zealand Council for International Development executive director David Culverhouse said today relief efforts were being hampered by the country's military regime refusing to expedite visas for international aid workers and customs procedures for aid in kind.
"A failure by the government to properly pass on meteorological warnings and inadequate investment in infrastructure and flood warning systems has also contributed to the scale of the disaster," Mr Culverhouse said.
"This disaster is impacting most heavily on people who are already poor and marginalised.
"Reports of massive food price increases, and of food and roofing materials being sold by the government at prices out of reach of many of the victims is worrying."
New Zealanders are already working with the International Red Cross Movement to ensure aid can get into the country.
In Bangkok Malcolm McKinlay who is working with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as an organisational development delegate.
Also based in Bangkok is former New Zealand Red Cross aid worker Alan Bradbury, who is assisting with the relief effort as the acting head of the South East Asia regional office for the federation.
Mr Bradbury undertook numerous aid missions for New Zealand Red Cross throughout Asia and the Pacific between 1992 and 2002.
Former New Zealand Red Cross aid worker Jeremy Francis, based in Kuala Lumpur as a regional logistics co-ordinator with the federation, has been working to help load a Red Cross plane full of relief supplies to send into Myanmar as soon as the regime allows.
The Northern Advocate newspaper reported today that two Whangarei doctors were desperately trying to get into Myanmar to help family members caught in the cyclone.
Zaw Win, a partner at the Ngunguru Medical Centre, and his wife, Alice Ohnmar, a doctor at Primecare Medical Centre, were both born in Myanmar and have worked and lived in Northland for many years.
They left New Zealand on Monday and yesterday the pair, both New Zealand citizens, were still waiting at Singapore for their visas to enter Myanmar.
Whangarei colleagues said they were frustrated by the delay.
Dr Win's practice partner Martin Esser said the couple had taken some emergency medical supplies and equipment, such as water filters, with them.
Their main concern and motivation was finding their family, but they also hoped to be able help with what is shaping up to be huge humanitarian aid effort in Myanmar.
People in New Zealand with concerns about friends/family they understand to be in Myanmar should contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 hours) on 04 439 8000.
- NZPA
