Burma cyclone disaster: UN says 102,000 dead

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First US aid plane lands in Burma



Many survivors are desperate for aid in the Irrawaddy Delta


The first US aid flight to Burma following the devastating cyclone nine days ago has landed in Rangoon.
The US spent days negotiating with Burma's military government to gain permission for the aircraft to land.
The junta has admitted that parts of the worst-affected region remain cut-off, but the generals are still refusing entry to foreign aid workers.
The official death toll has risen to almost 30,000 but aid agencies fear 1.5m could die if help does not come.
They say more than two-thirds of the cyclone victims are yet to be reached.
The agencies estimate that 100,000 have already perished.

A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions David Miliband, UK foreign minister

Nine days after Cyclone Nargis struck Burma's low-lying Irrawaddy Delta region, survivors are beginning to gather in makeshift camps around the edges of the disaster zone.
The UN, which has launched a $187m (ฃ96m) appeal for aid, says people urgently need food, water, shelter and medical aid.
Many victims are said to be dehydrated or suffering from injuries that have not been treated.

An Associated Press reporter, in the delta region, described how bodies continued to litter the land and the rivers.
"More than 50 bodies can be spotted in just three hours on the river. Many have turned white as they float entwined in mangrove trees, where they remain lodged," the AP report said.
A monk from the area said people had become used to living with the bodies.
"The first few we saw, we were all very shocked. After a while, there were just too many."
Fresh video footage has emerged that shows the extent of the suffering, including the corpses of children lined up in a makeshift morgue.

But there are some signs that Burma's military leaders may be relaxing their stance on accepting foreign aid.
Firstly, the US plane was given permission to land. It was carrying 12,700kg of supplies including mosquito nets, blankets and water.
And three aircraft from medical relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres are due in the country later.
A number of other flights arrived over the weekend and some supplies were trucked across the border.

But many foreign experts are still waiting for visas to enter the country and on Sunday, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) said that the amount of aid getting to victims was "nowhere near the scale required".
The US military says about 11,000 servicemen and four ships are in the region for an annual military exercise and could be harnessed to help.
But the junta is sticking to its line - foreign aid is acceptable, foreign aid workers are not.

"Aid from any nations [is] accepted, and delivery of relief goods can be handled by local organisations," said minister for economic development, Soe Tha.

But he admitted in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper that some areas were still cut off.
"Supplies were dropped in flooded areas where the helicopters could not land," he said.

UK Foreign Minister David Miliband said the military government's attitude was helping to create a "humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions".

And the generals' tight control on the media has not relaxed.
The BBC's Asia bureau editor Paul Danahar was deported from Rangoon on the weekend after a week of reporting on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.
He had already boarded a flight to return to Bangkok when he was detained by Burmese security officials, who then formally deported him.

Meanwhile, aid agencies are warning of serious logistical hurdles getting supplies to affected areas.
Roads and bridges have been washed away, and heavy rain is forecast for the coming week, further complicating relief efforts.

The European Union is to hold an emergency meeting on getting aid to Burma on Tuesday - while Asean (The Association of South-East Asian Nations) says it will discuss the issue next Monday.

Burmese voice anger on poll day

Abridged from BBC News

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Fewer than one-third of Burmese needy get relief

New York (dpa) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that Burma's "unacceptably slow response" to international relief aid has resulted in less than one-third of victims of Cyclone Nargis receiving assistance from the outside.

UN officials said the military regime has shown some cooperation 11 days after Nargis hit the country's low-lying southern delta, killing more than 31,000 people, with 34,460 people still missing, according to government figures. But they said the cooperation has been far from adequate.

"I want to register my deep concern - and immense frustration - at the unacceptably slow response to this grave humanitarian crisis," Ban said.

Ban said he had tried repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, to telephone top military leader, General Than Swe, since last week. Instead Ban has had to send two letters, the second one on Monday, through diplomatic channels.

John Holmes, the chief coordinator for the UN's emergency humanitarian office, said there had been no official contact between New York and the top military government leaders since Nargis struck May 3. Holmes said most contact had been made by UN relief workers on the ground with local officials in Burma.

Ban issued an appeal to the military regime "to put its people's lives first. It must do all that it can to prevent the disaster from becoming even more serious."

The 270,000 people in Burma who have so far received aid, out of an estimated more than 1 million cyclone survivors, have received "only the most rudimentary assistance."

The international community has been unable to organise large- scale logistical support, which ordinarily would go to any country hit by natural disasters.

Bangkok Post

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Rush trip

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has scheduled his on-again, off-again trip to Burma for Wednesday, when he will personally hand over an appeal to allow more aid from the secretary general of the United Nations to the Burmese military junta.

Foreign Minister Noppodon Pattama told the media on Tuesday that "Mr Samak will go to Burma tomorrow (Wednesday) to deliver a message from Ban Ki-Moon," the UN chief.

He spoke on the way into a cabinet meeting, which was expected to approve new Thai emergency aid of $500,000, in addition to the $100,000 already pledged last week, and another $500,000 for China's earthquake victims.

UN chief Ban reportedly phoned Mr Samak on Monday to ask for his assistance in persuading the junta to allow more international aid workers and aid into Burma to speed up a multi-million-dollar disaster relief operation for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which killed an estimated 100,000 people and left more than 1.5 million homeless.

It was not the first time Mr Samak offered his good offices as middleman between the international community and the xenophobic Burmese generals.

Last Friday, Mr Samak announced he intended to fly to to Rangoon to persuade the ruling junta to accept aid workers and supplies from the United States, but he had to cancel the weekend visit when he heard that the junta "was not ready" to accept foreign aid workers.

Mr Samak has cultivated warm relations with the Burmese dictators since he became premier in January. After an official visit in March, Mr Samak described the ruling generals as "good Buddhists," months after they launched a crackdown on peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks that left at least 31 people dead and the world appalled.

The international aid community has expressed growing frustration with the Burmese military for throwing up unnecessary obstacles to a massive disaster relief programme for victims of Cyclone Nargis, which crashed into central Myanmar May 2 and 3, leaving an estimated 100,000 dead and up to 2 million desperately in need of food, water, shelter and medicine.

Thailand was the first country to fly in emergency aid into Rangoon on May 8. The government proposed using a Thai military C-130 cargo plane to deliver US aid, but the offer was rejected by Burmese authorities.

Ina reversal, the junta then permitted the US to fly one of its own military C-130s with aid aboard into Rangoon from Utapao base in Chon Buri. The first US aid delivered via Thailand was on Monday with a second flight planned later on Tuesday.

Burmese Vice-Admiral Soe Thein, speaking through the regime's mouthpiece newspaper New Light of Myanmar said the country was grateful for the shipment from the United States.

"The donation will enhance friendship between the governments, armed forces and the peoples of the two countries," Soe Thein said.

But he also reiterated that Burma remained closed to foreign aid workers.

(BangkokPost.com, dpa)

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VIDEO: Aid workers view from Burma

(Footage of aid distribution.)

"An aid worker from Operation Blessing describes the conditions faced by the people of the Delta region, where aid is just starting to arrive more than a week after the cyclone hit Burma."

BBC News.

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Junta facing division?

As the disaster grows and pressure from the outside world intensifies, the junta faces a dilemma.
If it opens its doors to large numbers of foreigners, it may never be able to seal the country again against the outside influences and interference it dreads.

But by keeping foreign assistance out the generals must be ready to accept the deaths of hundreds of thousands more people, according to foreign relief officials. At the moment, that is the choice it appears to be making.

But even if there are divisions within the leadership over policy, most analysts say the junta is very likely to maintain its grip.
"I don't think anything is going to happen," said Terrence Lee, an expert on regional militaries from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University. "They have too much invested in the regime to have any ideas of jumping ship." Most analysts agree that any change must come from within the power structure.
"I believe the junta is really walking on thin ice and has been since the attacks on the monks last September," said Josef Silverstein, an expert on Myanmar at Rutgers University, referring to a violent crackdown on peaceful democracy demonstrations.
But, he added: "The mechanism for change will be from within the junta itself. I don't see how any civilian group or individual can influence the outcome given the extent of power and control the junta has."

The change could range from a coup at the top that might bring little change in policy, to a liberal opening that could even involve cooperation with Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy leader who has spent 12 of the past 18 years under house arrest.
In any case, the military would remain in charge. It pervades almost all the workings of government and business and even Aung San Suu Kyi has said that the military would have to be involved in any future power structure.
The four pillars of the military's world view, said Lee, are nationalism, paranoia, self-reliance and ethnocentrism. All of those seem to be in play now.

The cyclone challenged the image the junta projects - and its self-perception - as an all-powerful protector of the people and their defender against an alien foreign presence.
When relief shipments have arrived, the junta has in many cases insisted on distributing it, and newspapers carry photographs and reports of military officers handing out foreign aid.

A government spokesman said that the United States delivery Monday of mosquito nets, blankets and water would be ferried by military helicopters to the worst-hit areas. Two more shipments were scheduled to land Tuesday, part of $3.2 million allocated by the United States for relief.
In a sign that this was more than simply a cargo delivery, the aircraft also carried Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. military in the Pacific.
In a telephone interview, Keating said it had been years, if not decades, since a U.S. military officer of his rank had visited Myanmar.
He said the U.S. had about a dozen medium- and heavy-lift military helicopters on standby in Thailand ready to assist.
In addition, he said a three-ship naval task force with another dozen transport helicopters was 24 hours away, and ready to help relief efforts.
"We told them we could come in during the day and leave at night, that they could put Burmese officials on our planes and ships, and that we would provide our own fuel," Keating said. "We told them we wouldn't stay a day longer than they wanted."

The Burmese expatriate grapevine is filled with reports that the junta is divided, that younger or more liberal officers have had enough and that change will finally come.
There is no real evidence for this.
One exile found meaning in a recent photograph on the front page of the government mouthpiece, The New Light of Myanmar, which showed four top generals facing the camera.
"Than Shwe and Maung Aye were smiling," this hopeful analyst said, referring to the two top generals in the junta. "But the other two generals were not."
Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political analyst and refugee who lives in Thailand, reads a pattern of indecisiveness and possible internal conflict into an initial confusion over whether to allow the U.S. relief flight.
On Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok was ready to announce an agreement, only to find that Myanmar seemed to have changed its mind.
Then, the following day, permission for the flight was given.

For now, such differences have appeared to be only ripples on the surface. The solidity of the 400,000-strong military, known as the Tatmadaw, runs deep.
The military cements the loyalty of its officers with privileges and harsh punishment, as well as isolation from any understanding of the outside world.
Officers live in a cocooned, privileged world where they can send their children to special schools and take part in the corruption that amounts to a major sector of the economy. Without a military connection, it is difficult to rise in life. Myanmar is not just a military-run state; it is a military state.
Apart from a purge in 2004, there have never been serious rifts in the military, experts say.
Even if there are divisions of opinion or revulsion over policy, they say, the structure will probably remain intact.

(From article by) International Herald Tribune staff contributed reporting from Yangon.

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Aid distribution hits Burma communications snags

A desperate international push to get food, water and medicine out to remote areas hard-hit by Cyclone Nargis has run into a basic bottleneck of lack of decent roads and bridges in the countryside of Burma, aid agencies said Tuesday.

"One of the big limiting factors is that most of bridges in the Irrawaddy Delta are only built to withstand five-ton loads, so we need a large fleet of small trucks," said World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman Marcus Prior.

Cyclone Nargis, packing 200 kilometres-per-hour winds, swept through Burma's central coastal region on May 2 to 3, leaving an estimated 100,000 dead and up to 1.9 million in need of basic necessities such as food, water, shelter and medicine.

Much of the destruction was wrought on the Irrawaddy Delta, the country's rice bowl, a low-lying fertile plain intersected by hundreds of rivers and streams, posing a transportation challenge in the best of times.

While trucks, albeit small ones, are now bringing in basic supplies to the main delta towns such as Labutta and Bogale, unknown thousands of people have been stranded in the fingertips of the Irrawaddy without transport.

"There are no roads out there. People get around by boats and now they have no boats because they were destroyed by the cyclone," said Richard Horsey, spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), that is heading the relief effort in Burma.

"With the relief effort not up to speed, people are migrating," said Horsey. The UN estimated that more than a quarter of a million people in the Irrawaddy Delta have been been forced to migrate in the aftermath of Nargis.

Aid workers continued to complain Tuesday about the Burmese military's slowness in granting visas to UN relief experts who could facilitate and speed up the emergency operation with their expertise.

The UN has been seeking cooperation from the ruling junta in the granting of visas to about 60 key relief experts form the UN and other aid agencies in the military's headquarters in Naypyitaw, 350 kilometres north of Rangoon.

"Recent discussion with the government in Naypyitaw suggest that those visas formally applied for through the centralized system will be issued in the coming days," said Prior.

Meanwhile, as hundreds-of-thousands continue to go without food, water, medicines and proper shelter, on Tuesday monsoon rains poured down on much of the area already battered by Cyclone Nargis, adding to the misery.

"These are really desperate times for those people," said Prior.

Meteorologists have forecast that the Irrawaddy Delta will this week be hit by rains equal to all the rainfall in May, last year.

(dpa, reporting from Bangkok and Rangoon)

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Military aid 'an option' in Burma



Relief for those affected by Cyclone Nargis has been slow to arrive

Military action on humanitarian grounds is an option to get more aid to Burma's cyclone survivors, Britain's foreign secretary has told the BBC.
David Miliband said the "responsibility to protect" UN doctrine, drawn up to apply in cases like genocide, could apply to natural disasters.
"All instruments of the UN should be available," he told the BBC.

Earlier the United Nations said it had only been able to reach 270,000 of the 1.5m survivors of Cyclone Nargis.
It called for an air or sea "corridor" to be opened up to channel large amounts of aid to the region and warned of the risk of a "second catastrophe" if a major operation did not begin.

Aid convoys
Some European nations have called for the UN principle of "responsibility to protect" to be applied, which would allow aid deliveries without Burma's consent.
Asked about the issue for Tuesday BBC Radio 4 World Tonight programme, he said the problem with the protocol - drawn up to protect people against war crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity - was that it was a "legal requirement". But asked if it could apply in the event of a natural disaster, Mr Miliband told the BBC: "It certainly could and we have been absolutely clear in New York over the last 12 days that all instruments of the UN should be available."

However asked if aid convoys could be sent into Burma with military escorts, without the military regime's permission he said "you could try to" but pointed out there were 400,000 Burmese troops in uniform.
"No-one should think that there is an easy or quick answer to this," he said.
But he said "all options are being looked at" - pointing out that HMS Westminster had been sent to the area, alongside French and US military assets.

The military junta that rules Burma has admitted that parts of the worst-affected region remain cut-off, but the generals are still refusing entry to foreign aid workers
However the first US aid flight landed in Rangoon on Monday, after days of negotiation.
Both Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg have called for the dropping of aid directly into Burma if the ruling regime continues to block foreign relief workers.

Abridged from BBC News

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NEWS THINK
Handle with care
COMMENTARY

By Achara Ashayagachat

The saying "too many cooks spoil the broth" could apply to Thailand's relations with Burma if the kingdom mishandles international pressure on the Burmese junta to open the country to international assistance for survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

So far Thailand has done its best by expressing its concern and offering its condolences as well as delivering a token but much-needed aid to Burma.

This success is due to the Samak government's junta-appeasing policy and the junta's recognition of an admirable reception during a visit to Thailand by Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein, which ended just two days before the natural disaster swept the former capital Rangoon and the Irrawaddy Delta.

Another reason is Burma's recognition of His Majesty the King's goodwill message to the Burmese people, which was delivered by air force chief ACM Chalit Pookphasuk.

The Burmese military regime warmly welcomed aid relief delivered by US Admiral Timothy Keating, head of the US Pacific Command, through the coordination of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's special envoy Lt-Gen Nipat Thonglek and the Thai embassy there. More disaster relief flights are planned from U-tapao air base to Rangoon.

Yet, Rangoon is adamant that it will not allow American citizens to interfere and trespass on its sovereignty. The Burmese generals have shrugged off pressure from the global community.

By doing too much, too soon could even create a bad impression, and affect the warm relations between Thailand and its neighbour.

Thailand should not be pressured by the international community, or even United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to lobby the Burmese military government to open up its doors to foreign assistance.

Thailand can do it in a more subtle manner. The last thing Burma needs is perhaps megaphone diplomacy, or the message that Thailand is so influential that the kingdom can push for anything the world likes.

The UN should work things out through a line of communication between the junta and its special envoy for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, who has made many trips to the country to help bring about national reconciliation and democratisation in Burma.

Thailand, meanwhile, has its own interests to protect. If the kingdom pushes Burma too hard, it may not only be fruitless, but may lead to the kingdom being considered by Burma as a proxy of the Western world.

Thailand can urge the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to do more. But expectations that pressure from Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan on the repressive regime should also be used to force Burma to allow outsiders to disseminate aid is an unrealistic demand.

After all, Asean has never shown the clout to pressure the junta since Burma joined the regional body in 1997.

If Mr Samak's visit to Rangoon today is to deliver things requested by the junta, which included 100 satellite phones, 480,000 litres of diesel and Thai Red Cross survival kits, the generals might be willing to talk.

But if the trip is just aimed at showing off the government's prowess in its megaphone shuttle diplomacy, it would certainly spoil the broth.

Bangkok Post

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BURMA CYCLONE

HM urges Thais to help victims

His Majesty the King has urged Thai people to help Cyclone Nargis victims in Burma, and Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej will leave for the neighbouring country this morning to convince the junta to open up to international assistance. Addressing staff of the Rajaprajanugroh Foundation under royal patronage, the King said the Thais were generous and should do their best to help other people regardless of race and languages.

Hardship would prevail if people in need of aid did not receive assistance offered by other countries, the King said.

Government spokesman Wichienchote Sukchoterat said Mr Samak will leave for the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw to talk his Burmese counterpart Thein Sein into accepting more western rescuers to help the survivors and rehabilitate their communities.

''The prime minister decided to leave for Burma after United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon phoned him ... and asked him to convince the Burmese leaders to grant visas to personnel and specialists who will help rehabilitate the country because they are now being obstructed,'' Lt-Gen Wichienchote said.

Mr Samak's delegation will also deliver 100 satellite-based mobile phones and base station equipment to the Burmese government, as the cyclone had damaged Burma's telecommunications networks. The Thai grant follows Burma's refusal to accept mobile phones from the US.

In addition, the cabinet yesterday approved a grant of US$500,000 (16 million baht) for Burma while the Supreme Patriarch had the Sangha Council donate three million baht to help cyclone victims.

PTT Plc said its grant of 480,000 litres of diesel, worth about 15 million baht, would arrive at the Thanlyin port in Rangoon tomorrow.

The Pentrader tanker is carrying the oil from Penang, and the cargo will be delivered to the state-run Myanmar Petrochemical Enterprise to fuel the transport of consumer goods and power generation in cyclone-hit areas.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will also send its rapid relief team to Burma.

The team, comprising experts in water and sanitation, health, logistics and food, will be mobilised within 48 hours and will be based in Rangoon to work with the Burmese government, said Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan.

Meanwhile, Thai forensic and health officials have voiced concern over sluggishness in disposing of the bodies of dead cyclone victims, which could lead to outbreaks of diseases.

''The body identification process is also a race against time when a disaster strikes. However, it seems nothing has been undertaken so far,'' said Disease Control Department chief Thawat Sundarachan.

Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan, director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, said post-mortem examinations depended on scientific methods such as checks of dental records, fingerprints matching, DNA tests and comparison of physical appearances.

However, fingerprint matching and comparing appearances could no longer be used as most bodies had been left exposed in water and damp areas for almost two weeks already, she said.

Bangkok Post

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BURMA

Are the generals still indifferent?

AUNG ZAW

Whenever Burma faces a political or humanitarian crisis, Burmese and foreign observers monitor the reclusive military leaders from a distance, trying to gauge their reactions, guessing what shapes their decisions and where possible conflicts within the leadership lie. The question Burma watchers are quietly asking this time is: has the cyclone managed to instil fear in strongman Senior General Than Shwe and his hard-core military cronies? Are they trembling or are they standing firm?

It is easy to imagine the pampered generals running from the storm, boarding themselves in their collective bunker and curling up in terror as the cyclone whipped through the southwest of the country. In the wake of the cyclone, the ordinary people of Burma are braving the elements and starting to put their lives back together. Meanwhile, the cowering junta has been oblivious to the calls to help survivors and allow aid into the affected areas.

Despite the junta's long history of perfidy and brutality, many observers were taken aback by the regime's refusal to allow international aid and foreign aid workers to tend to the cyclone victims in and around the Irrawaddy delta.

Then, over the last week, cracks of dissent within the leadership were detected. Gen Than Shwe and his deputy Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye reportedly have been at loggerheads since troops opened fire on Buddhist monks and activists on the streets last September.

Now rumours have surfaced that Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein has drawn the ire of the top general for showing a soft side after witnessing the tragedy first-hand while overseeing the delivery of aid to cyclone victims from a helicopter. Apparently distressed by what he saw, Gen Thein Sein urged his boss to permit international aid into the area as quickly as possible.

Reportedly, Gen Thein Sein filed a situation report and was immediately stonewalled. At an emergency meeting in Naypyidaw, Gen Than Shwe is said to have told council members that the country's armed forces could handle the humanitarian crisis and that he would rather concentrate on the referendum.

Gen Thein Sein backed off and returned quietly to Rangoon to oversee the relief effort, which was already falling apart _ ill-prepared, ill-equipped and mismanaged. To his and everyone else's frustration, the doors to large-scale international aid remained closed.

The prime minister reportedly began suffering from stress and told his subordinates that he was looking forward to retiring soon.

This time around, sources in Rangoon say Gen Than Shwe and Gen Maung Aye are hanging tight together. They both were seen on TV at polling stations casting their votes last Saturday.

With Gen Than Shwe determined to focus on the national referendum, calls from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to postpone the referendum, and pleas from the international community to allow aid into the delta, fell on deaf ears.

Then, a rumour started circulating among dissidents in exile that Gen Thura Shwe Mann, who is being groomed to take over the armed forces, supports the line of Gen Thein Sein, the prime minister.

Sources say Gen Shwe Mann wanted aid flown in immediately. However, he was apparently unwilling to confront the commander-in-chief, Gen Than Shwe.

Gen Shwe Mann may be acting out of personal concerns. Two of his sons run Ayer Shwe Wah Company, selling fertiliser to farmers in the Irrawaddy delta. They also own a rice mill. Among the Burmese businesses on the United States' sanctions list, the Ayer Shwe Wah Co has approximately 30,000 acres of rice fields in the Irrawaddy delta and is a leading exporter of rice.

Reports from Naypyidaw suggest that Gen Than Shwe doesn't want to hear about the death toll and missing persons in the delta. Some senior officials in the capital have let it leak that Gen Than Shwe's subordinates are afraid to brief him on the horrific figures.

It is a sad irony that it has taken a disaster of such proportions to unmask the true depth of the inhumanity and darkness that resides within the brutal strongman Gen Than Shwe. Perhaps the military leaders closest to him will look into his heart of darkness and see the truth for themselves.

Aung Zaw is Editor of the Irrawaddy magazine covering Burma and Southeast Asia.

Bangkok Post