Basic food items, blankets, clothing, essential drugs and soap were distributed today at three detention sites – two labour camps and a facility for women – identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs as being in urgent need of assistance. ICRC personnel accompanied Myanmar's director-general of prisons and members of his staff, including a doctor, to the three sites.

"This is an extremely welcome development," stated the head of the ICRC's delegation in Yangon, Pierre-André Conod. "This gave us the chance to meet some of the immediate needs of the people detained in these facilities, and to see, first hand, the scale of damage done by the cyclone, enabling us to get a better idea of what kind of help is needed."

Distributions of aid in at least eight other prisons and labour camps, involving the additional challenge of moving supplies by boat, are scheduled to take place over the next two days.