A British Royal Navy frigate has been ordered to stand by off Burma with emergency aid for the survivors of cyclone Nargis. The 4,900-ton HMS Westminster will join US and French warships waiting in international waters off the Burmese coast, ready to rush relief supplies to the Irrawaddy delta if instructed by the UN or invited by the Burmese regime.

HMS Westminster is one of 23 frigates described as the mainstay of Britain’s Royal Navy fleet. Originally designed for anti-submarine warfare, the ship evolved into a powerful and versatile multipurpose vessel with the capability to operate anywhere in the world.

The frigate is designed to conduct a wide range of other tasks, disaster relief work and embargo-enforcement and surveillance operations.

The US has sent part of its Seventh Fleet, headed by the USS Essex, to the Bay of Bengal, while France has dispatched a 22,000-ton amphibious naval craft, Mistral, with 1,500 tons of rice and medical supplies.

The US vessels carry more than 20 helicopters, landing craft and 11,000 troops.

The dispatch of the British frigate was announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said the failure of the Burmese regime to send adequate relief to the cyclone victims was “completely unacceptable.”

Brown said: “We now estimate that two million people face famine or disease as a result of the lack of cooperation of the Burmese authorities. It is increasingly important that the Burmese authorities recognize that their lack of cooperation is preventing assistance getting to people, and that unfettered access should be made available immediately.”

Brown said the UK, which currently chairs the UN Security Council, would urge the chamber to take urgent action.

“We are determined to use our membership and, indeed, the chairmanship of the Security Council to push action forward in the next few days—indeed, in the next day.”

The Security Council adopted on May 2 a presidential statement on Burma calling on the military regime to “establish the conditions and create an atmosphere conducive to an inclusive and credible process”.

In the US, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton urged the Bush administration to demand from the Burmese ruler’s agreement for direct delivery of US assistance to the cyclone survivors.

Clinton said the United States must make clear to Burma’s military rulers that the international community will hold them responsible if they refuse to meet their international obligations by blocking access and aid to the people of their country who are in dire need.

“We cannot allow politics to obstruct the delivery of assistance that can prevent this grave humanitarian situation from getting worse,” she said. “The US should continue to press for access to deliver assistance directly.”

In the devastated Irrawaddy delta region, meanwhile, cyclone victims from Laputta were relocated to a camp in Pathein, the capital of Irrawaddy Division. Aid workers reported that private donors and NGOs who were on the way to Laputta were forced by soldiers to hand them half the relief supplies of rice and other aid intended for the survivors.

In Myaungmya, the authorities converted the six state high schools into shelters to accommodate about 600 survivors of the storm. The high schools were sealed off and none of the refugees was allowed to leave nor could outsiders enter.

Aid donors were being forced to also hand over supplies to the authorities, villagers reported.

The authorities are publishing daily sheets listing destroyed or flooded villages and the names of victims and survivors. But only villages with predominantly Burman populations are listed—those with Christian, Karen or Muslim minorities are not mentioned.

Correspondent Lalit K Jha contributed reporting from New York.