SITUATION OVERVIEW: 1. Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, making landfall in the Ayeyarwady Division and passing into Yangon Division before hitting the former capital, Yangon. With the wind speed of up to 200 km/h the damage was the most severe in the delta region, where the effects of the extreme winds were compounded by a sizable storm surge. Eye-witness accounts suggest that the tidal surge in some areas was more than 10 feet high. Some 2.4 million people are believed to have been affected by the cyclone, of a total 4.7 million people living in the affected Townships. The latest official figures put the number of dead or missing at more than 130,000.... 2. UNICEF reports that the camp population in Laputta has declined from over 40,000 to an estimated 10,000. In Bogalay proper, all camps have now been closed. The Government of Myanmar has established four transit sites at villages in Bogalay Township from where people will be encouraged to return to their villages. In Myaung Mya the Government has been assisting people to return to their villages, mostly in Laputta Township. The camp population at the two sites officially recognized by the government is now down from 13,000 to 3,700. There are also around 800 people in three informal camps. In Pathein, which was unaffected by the cyclone, all camps have now been closed. The 3,000 people formerly living in camps have returned to their villages, mostly in Laputta. In Mawlamyinegyun proper, all camps have been closed, with the displaced returning to their villages. In Pyapon proper, where there were around 37 camps hosting around 17,000 people, all camps steadily closed during the course of May.... 3. A Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of high-level representatives of the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN, was established at a donor conference in Yangon on 25 May to oversee the coordination of relief assistance. The TCG is currently coordinating a comprehensive multi-sectoral needs assessment in the cyclone-affected areas. Field surveys for the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) have been taking place from 10-19 June, with some 250 assessment personnel visiting 30 of the worst-affected Townships. Data-entry for the assessment is now well underway. The assessment consists of humanitarian needs (Village Tract Assessment/VTA) and damage components (Damage and Loss Assessment/DaLA).... 4. Since new Government guidelines for international organizations providing assistance in cycloneaffected areas were introduced on 10 June, UN agencies and NGOs have been reporting increasing problems with obtaining visas and travel permits for international staff to visit the affected areas. In many cases the line-ministries now responsible for processing requests have not been provided with new instructions, which have caused significant delays.