As the urgency intensifies to get food, water and medicine into the worst-affected areas of Burma 11 days after the country was hit by Cyclone Nargis, the country’s military government continues to baffle the world by stonewalling international disaster relief. (more…)
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Daily Archive
The San Francisco Chronicle (California): Burmese junta stonewalling on aid; Buddhism’s Influence: The government wants to be seen as agency distributing relief to show its legitimacy, experts say
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
AP: Red Cross: Burma cyclone death toll could go up to 128K
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
The Red Cross says the death toll in Burma’s cyclone may be between 68,833 and 127,990. (more…)
Irrawaddy: NLD slams plan for May 24 referendum vote – Wai Moe
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
The National League for Democracy (NLD) has condemned the Burmese military government’s plan to go ahead with the constitutional referendum on May 24 in the devastated areas affected by Cyclone Nargis. (more…)
Irrawaddy: Authorities harass local NGOs, private donors – Min Lwin
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Burma’s military government is hindering and even blocking local people from sending aid to the victims of cyclone Nargis, adding to the frustration and anger sweeping the nation. (more…)
Mizzima News: Cyclone survivors told to make room for voters – Nem Davies
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Cyclone survivors in a Rangoon suburb have been ordered out of a temporary shelter so that it can be used as a polling station on May 24. (more…)
Burma’s junta has tightened access to areas hit by Cyclone Nargis, despite pleas to allow in foreign aid workers. (more…)
DVB: Mandalay abbots reach Rangoon with relief supplies – Naw Phay Saw
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Four abbots from Maha Gandaryon monastery in Mandalay arrived in Rangoon today with two vanloads of aid to help victims living in cyclone-devastated Rangoon and Irrawaddy divisions. (more…)
AP: UN warns of rice shortage in Myanmar as planting season approaches
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Business / Trade
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Business / Trade
Cyclone-battered Myanmar faces prolonged food shortages if farmers are not able to return to their fields in the next 90 days and start planting their next rice crop ahead of monsoon rains, a U.N. food agency warned Wednesday. (more…)
Thailand said today that Myanmar’s ruling junta, which has been criticised for refusing foreign assistance in the aftermath of a cyclone, would allow 30 of its doctors to go and help victims. (more…)
Activists say the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) must be more proactive in urging Burma’s military government to open up to humanitarian relief efforts or face the consequences of a natural and man-made humanitarian disaster. (more…)
Burma’s junta has approved aid personnel from Bangladesh, China, India and Thailand to help its relief efforts for victims of Cyclone Nargis, while still delaying granting visas to many non-Asian experts, a United Nations official said on Wednesday. (more…)
Mizzima News: EU Aid Commissioner to press for access to cyclone-hit delta – Solomon
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, International
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, International
The European Union’s top aid official will try to see first hand the extent of damage from Cyclone Nargis while discussing the matter of access to the region for international relief workers. (more…)
DVB: UN says relief effort still facing restrictions – Htet Aung Kyaw
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, International
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, International
A United Nations official has said that the aid situation has improved in Burma, but ongoing government restrictions mean the UN is still unable to mount a full-scale relief effort. (more…)
Irrawaddy: Burma’s displaced people a long-term problem – Dan Nicholson
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other
Somewhere from 1 to 2 million people are homeless in Burma today. The devastating impact of Cyclone Nargis was exacerbated by poor planning and inadequate warning by the Burmese military government. (more…)
We cannot allow politics to obstruct the delivery of assistance that can prevent this grave humanitarian situation from getting worse,” said US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton yesterday. (more…)
After Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar, killing tens of thousands of people, the world rushed to offer help. Most governments would be grateful. Not this one. A week and a half later, the country’s ruling generals are still blocking large-scale foreign aid. That negligence could lead to the death of tens of thousands more. (more…)
Asia Times: The problem with dictators and disasters – Sreeram Chaulia
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other
As the full extent of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis dawns, it is clear that Myanmar’s military junta has earned one more black mark in its egregious record of rule. United Nations officials reveal that the response of the country’s long-reigning tyrants to offers of humanitarian aid has been typically suspicious and opaque, even though the scale of the disaster is massive (approximately 100,000 casualties and more than 1 million displaced persons). (more…)
Mizzima News: EU Aid Commissioner to press for access to cyclone-hit delta – Solomon
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, International
Wed 14 May 2008
Filed under: News, International
The European Union’s top aid official will try to see first hand the extent of damage from Cyclone Nargis while discussing the matter of access to the region for international relief workers. (more…)