Three weeks after Cyclone Nargis crashed through Burma‚s populous Irrawaddy Delta, the country‚s military regime has been more forthcoming about the number of buffaloes and chickens that perished than on human casualties. (more…)

The Burmese junta has no legal right to continue her [Aung San Suu Kyi] detention. Continuing to detain her will be violating its own law.
-Jared Genser, president of Freedom Now

Burma began its second phase of referendum to approve the draft constitution on Saturday with polling booths opening at 6 a.m. (local time) for the 47 disaster-hit townships in Irrawaddy and Rangoon division.
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Thousands of homeless cyclone survivors from rural areas who sought shelter and aid in Bogalay and Mawlamyinegyun have been forcibly expelled from the towns by local government officials over the last five to six days, said sources in Rangoon and Bogalay.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy by telephone, a resident in Bogalay said, “The authorities won’t allow refugees to stay in town. They are sending them back where they came from. (more…)

Cyclone damage to the Irrawaddy delta, Burma’s rice bowl, has caused a surge in looting in its restive border areas by poorly paid troops worried about food shortages, residents and human rights groups say.
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It is being dubbed a “pledging conference” but Sunday’s international donors’ meeting in cyclone-hit Myanmar is going to be more about getting the junta to open its doors than the world to open its wallet.
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More than 45 countries and regional organizations have signed up to attend a donors conference in Burma on Sunday to mobilize funds for immediate humanitarian assistance for the survivors of Cyclone Nargis, the United Nations said Friday.
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Burma Junta Owes World Bank-IMF US $3.5 Billion

It’s hardly surprising the World Bank and its sister organization, the International Monetary Fund, have refused to lend money to the Burmese government in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. (more…)

Former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid (left) meets with Myanmarese Buddhist monk Ashin Nayaka (second left) and Soe Aung (right) of the National Council of the Union if Burma on Friday in Jakarta. (JP/J.Adiguna)
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Burma’s promise to open its doors to aid workers sparked hope among relief agencies that they could soon bring food, shelter and medicine to more of the cyclone victims in the country, but they cautiously awaited practical details. (more…)

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander will travel to cyclone-devastated Burma to join international talks on how to get help to victims. (more…)

Question: Why did the Burmese military government, with its 400,000 battle-hardened army, respond so slowly to the Cyclone Nargis catastrophe? (more…)

Ahead of Sunday’s Asean-UN International Pledging Conference in Rangoon, where Burma’s military rulers will seek US $11 billion in aid to support the rehabilitation and resettlement process in cyclone-hit areas, top leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe told UN chief Ban Ki-moon he would allow “all aid workers” into the country to help cyclone survivors. (more…)