Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Hassan departed for Myanmar on Saturday for a one-day visit as part of a humanitarian mission following the severe earthquake that hit Myanmar on March 28.
The special aircraft carrying Mohamed Hassan and his delegation took off from the Malaysian Royal Air Force base at around 8 am today (5th) and arrived at Naypyidaw International Airport at 9:30 am local time.
This humanitarian mission is jointly led by the Malaysian and Thai Foreign Ministers Marise Payne to reinforce the spirit of close cooperation within ASEAN in humanitarian response, demonstrating regional solidarity and support for the people of Myanmar.
This humanitarian mission is jointly led by the Malaysian and Thai Foreign Ministers Marise Payne to reinforce the spirit of close cooperation within ASEAN in humanitarian response, demonstrating regional solidarity and support for the people of Myanmar.
As the ASEAN chair, Malaysia, alongside Thailand, initiated this effort, which was a consensus reached during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Special Emergency Meeting hosted by Mohamed Hassan via video conference last Sunday. The meeting was aimed at discussing follow-up measures in response to the disasters affecting Myanmar and Thailand.
The Foreign Ministry released a statement on Friday indicating that the Malaysian and Thai Foreign Ministers will meet with the Myanmar military government leader Min Aung Hlaing and Myanmar Foreign Minister Than Swe during their time in Naypyidaw.
The two foreign ministers will also receive a briefing from the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) on the current humanitarian and relief operations.
Additionally, Mohamed Hassan will emphasize ASEAN's coordinated disaster response efforts and Malaysia's contributions to date, including dispatching the Malaysian Special Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) and providing humanitarian aid materials.
In conjunction with this visit, Malaysia’s second batch of 15 tons of humanitarian aid will arrive in Naypyidaw. This aid will be coordinated through the AHA Centre and transported using a Malaysian Royal Air Force A400M transport aircraft as part of the collective ASEAN aid effort.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar mentioned on March 30 that the Malaysian government would take the lead in providing 10 million ringgit in humanitarian aid to Myanmar. On the same day, members of Malaysia's SMART and the National Disaster Management Agency support teams had already departed for Myanmar to commence search and rescue operations.
Besides Malaysia, aid from other ASEAN member states, such as Singapore and Indonesia, also began arriving by April 1, with additional search and rescue teams deployed to assist in the disaster response and humanitarian aid efforts.
Myanmar experienced a strong 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28, which also affected neighboring Thailand. As of Friday, the death toll from the Myanmar earthquake had risen to 3,145, with 4,589 injuries and 221 people missing.