News & Politics - Myanmar Cyclone Death Toll Soars Past 22,000

*Ledi* · 05-06-2008, 10:13 AM

This is just insane and so heartbreaking.

Quote:

The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 on Tuesday and more than 41,000 others were missing as foreign countries mobilized to rush in aid after the country's deadliest storm on record, state radio reported.

Up to 1 million people may be homeless after Cyclone Nargis hit the Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma, early Saturday. Some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are wiped out, the World Food Program said.

Images from state television showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of water in the Irrawaddy River delta region, which is regarded as Myanmar's rice bowl.

"From the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge," Mac Pieczowski, who heads the International Organization for Migration office in Yangon, said in a statement.

Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns wielding knives and axes joined Yangon residents Tuesday in clearing roads of ancient, fallen trees that were once the city's pride. And soldiers were out on the streets in large numbers for the first time since the cyclone hit, helping to clear trees as massive as 15 feet in diameter.

President Bush called on Myanmar's military junta to allow the United States to help with disaster assistance, saying the U.S. already has provided some assistance but wants to do more.

"We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who have lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation. But in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country," he said.

Bush spoke at a ceremony where he signed legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar's military regime has signaled it will welcome aid supplies for victims of a devastating cyclone, the U.N. said Tuesday, clearing the way for a major relief operation from international organizations.

But U.N. workers were still awaiting their visas to enter the country, said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"The government has shown a certain openness so far," Byrs said. "We hope that we will get the visas as soon as possible, in the coming hours. I think the authorities have understood the seriousness of the situation and that they will act accordingly."

The appeal for outside assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling generals, who have long been suspicious of international organizations and closely controlled their activities. Several agencies, including the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, have limited their presence as a consequence.

Allowing any major influx of foreigners could carry risks for the military, injecting unwanted outside influence and giving the aid givers rather than the junta credit for a recovery.

However, keeping out international aid would focus blame squarely on the military should it fail to restore peoples' livelihoods.

Some aid agencies reported their assessment teams had reached some areas of the largely isolated region but said getting in supplies and large numbers of aid workers would be difficult.

The cyclone came only a week ahead of a key referendum on a constitution that Myanmar's military leaders hoped would go smoothly in its favor, despite opposition from the country's feisty pro-democracy movement. However, the disaster could stir the already tense political situation.

State radio also said that Saturday's vote would be delayed until May 24 in 40 of 45 townships in the Yangon area and seven in the Irrawaddy delta, which took the brunt of the weekend storm. It indicated that the balloting would proceed in other areas as scheduled.

The decision drew swift criticism from dissidents and human rights groups who question the credibility of the vote and urged the junta to focus on disaster victims.

Myanmar's generals have hailed the referendum as an important step forward in their "roadmap to democracy." It offers the first chance for voters to cast ballots since 1990, and the probability is high they will approve the constitution — a legal framework the country has lacked for two decades.

But critics, including the United Nations, the United States and human rights groups, question whether it will lead to democracy.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Its government has been widely criticized for suppression of pro-democracy parties such as the one led by Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years.

At least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained when the military cracked down on peaceful protests in September led by Buddhist monks and democracy advocates.

Washington has long been one of the ruling junta's sharpest critics for its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

From Yahoo!

**Grace Like Rain** · 05-06-2008, 12:49 PM

I can’t even imagine going through something like that, let alone surviving the aftermath.The loss of life is so sad.

Lain · 05-06-2008, 01:29 PM

It's scary! This morning, I read it was 10,000 and now they upped the numbers

**sunnykerr** · 05-06-2008, 05:57 PM

The regime will accept aid now that it's had a cyclone, but woe betide those who tried to help its population find freedom before now.

Sorry, this is a horrible, horrible, tragic event. No one deserves this. Especially not the subjects of such a despotic regime.

And I certainly don't wish to diminish how good a thing it is that the Burmese junta is at least willing to open its doors to foreign aid in light of these tragic events.

But... gah. If only there was a way to use this (however disgusting it may be to use such a tragedy in any way) to blast open the doors to that country.

Sheebs · 05-12-2008, 09:58 AM

Myanmar Junta Still Blocking Much Cyclone Aid
Bloated corpses pile up; first U.S. aid flight arrives in Myanmar

So tragic. Their junta are cruel. People are sick and dying for goodness sake! I can't belive they even delayed aid for a minute, let alone a week! And now it is likely that over 100,000 will die.

**sunnykerr** · 05-12-2008, 04:52 PM

In a very sick way, I'm glad that the country is receiving a lot of attention at the moment. I'm not glad about the circumstances, but at least people might now act on the common knowledge that the living conditions in Burma (before this and certainly even more so now) are untenable.

SMG_fan · 05-16-2008, 02:53 AM

They've mentioned that the death toll could go as high as 200,000 now, that was on the news I heard on telly. Its awful, and their government isn't doing anything to help either.

I'm surprised at how few posts there are on this topic.

Belinda

**sum1** · 05-16-2008, 09:39 AM

The behavior of the government there beggars belief.

Sheebs · 05-16-2008, 01:44 PM

I read the death toll is currently at 78,000 and will only continue to grow.

***Nad*** · 05-16-2008, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Rain deepens Myanmar misery; death toll soars

By Aung Hla Tun 52 minutes ago

YANGON (Reuters) - Torrential rain lashed survivors of Cyclone Nargis on Friday as Myanmar's junta raised its toll sharply to more than 133,000 people dead or missing, putting the disaster on a par with a 1991 cyclone that killed 143,000 in neighboring Bangladesh.

In a shocking update to a count that had consistently lagged international aid agency estimates, state television said 77,738 people were dead and 55,917 missing after the May 2 storm in the military-ruled country formerly known as Burma.

Up to 2.5 million survivors are clinging to life in the low-lying Irrawaddy delta, with thousands of people lining roadsides to beg for help in the absence of large-scale government or foreign relief operations.

In the town of Kunyangon, 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Yangon, men, women and children stood in the mud and rain, their hands clasped together in supplication to the occasional passing aid vehicle.

"The situation has worsened in just two days," one aid volunteer said as children mobbed his vehicle, reaching through the window for scraps of bread or clothing.

The generals insist their relief operations are running smoothly, justifying their refusal to allow major aid distribution by outside agencies and workers to victims of the cyclone, which flooded an area the size of Austria.

The junta issued an edict in state-run media saying legal action would be taken against anybody found hoarding or selling relief supplies, amid rumors of military units expropriating trucks of food, blankets and water.

Aid groups, including U.N. agencies, say only a fraction of the required relief is getting through and, unless the situation improves, thousands more lives are at risk.

Given the junta's ban on foreign journalists and restrictions on the movement of most international aid workers, independent assessment of the situation is difficult.

RECLUSIVE REGIME

The United Nations said its top humanitarian official, John Holmes, would arrive in Myanmar on Sunday to try to establish contact with its reclusive generals, the latest face of 46 years of unbroken military rule.

U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said Holmes was carrying a third letter from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the junta's senior general, Than Shwe, who has repeatedly ignored Ban's requests for a conversation.

Four U.S. C-130 planes landed in Yangon on Friday and "two of the shipments were handed directly" to non-governmental organizations, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

He did not name the NGOs but said there was progress because this was the first time Myanmar's government had not taken possession of some of the U.S. aid.

"We're planning four to five flights for both Saturday and Sunday and it is our hope that some of those shipments, again, will be handed over directly to international NGOs," he said.

Myanmar's government was organizing a trip of diplomats to the affected areas this weekend, McCormack added.

In a sign of the tensions between the generals and the international community, Myanmar's U.N. envoy accused France of sending a warship to his country. France's U.N. ambassador said the junta was on the verge of a "crime against humanity."

French envoy Jean-Maurice Ripert said the ship is operated by the French navy but is not a warship. It is carrying 1,500 metric tons of food and medicine as well as small boats, helicopters and field hospital platforms.

"We are still trying to convince the authority of Burma to authorize us to go there," Ripert said. "The ship will be off the coast of the delta, but in international waters, tomorrow. We still hope they will not refuse that."

Two weeks after the storm, ordinary people in Myanmar were taking matters into their own hands, sending trucks into the delta with clothes, biscuits, dried noodles and rice provided by private companies and individuals.

'TIME IS LIFE'

With international pressure and outrage at the generals' intransigence growing, the European Union's top aid official flew to Yangon to push for more access for foreign aid workers and relief operations.

Like so many envoys before him, the EU's Louis Michel came away empty-handed but continued to urge the junta to shelve its pride and paranoia about the outside world.

"Time is life," he told reporters at Bangkok airport. "No government in the world can tackle such a problem alone. This is a major catastrophe."

Many refugees, crammed into monasteries, schools and other temporary shelters after the devastating storm, have already contracted diarrhea, dysentery and skin infections.

Officials said one international health agency had confirmed cholera in the delta, although the number of cases was in line with normal levels at this time of year in a region where the disease is endemic.

"We don't have an explosion of cholera," World Health Organisation official Maureen Birmingham said in Bangkok.

Earlier, the generals signaled they would not budge on their position of limiting foreign access to the delta, fearful that doing so might loosen their grip on power.

"We have already finished our first phase of emergency relief. We are going onto the second phase, the rebuilding stage," state television quoted Prime Minister Thein Sein as telling his Thai counterpart this week.

(Additional reporting by Ed Cropley and Darren Schuettler in Bangkok, Susan Cornwell in Washington and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; writing by Ed Cropley and John O'Callaghan; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

(For more stories on Myanmar cyclone follow the link to Reuters AlertNet http:/www.alertnet.org )

Source

The whole situation is beyond horrible

And the junta is still delaying international help

**sunnykerr** · 05-16-2008, 07:30 PM

It's sick, but they're playing an evilly smart game. Because they're not technically delaying international help. But, through their little caveat of wanting all the help to go through them, they get to both take control of the situation AND deflect all the blame for whatever lacks and delays may take place unto the international community.

Because the people of Burma don't have access to international media. They have no clue that we're all chomping at the bit to go and help them. The only information they get is what gets filtered through the junta.

***Nad*** · 05-17-2008, 09:18 AM

Confining foreigners to Yangon isn't helping either. Instead of allowing foreign help organizations to go and help, the Junta lets their own people suffer. Of course one shouldn't be too surprised by their actions, as totalitarianism usually goes way beyond cynical when it comes to things that pertain the population.

I heard on the news today that the UN envoy is scheduled to meet with the junta on Sunday. It's against all likelihood, but maybe he'll be able to get them to loosen their current 'we want to do everything on our own' policy.

**sunnykerr** · 05-18-2008, 08:29 PM

Like I said, evil. If they let foreigners in, those foreigners might bring actual information to the isolated communities. The people of Burma might understand the full scope of this disaster. They might start asking questions as to why their leaders let things go that far. Why they didn't prevent this. Why they weren't better organized before and after....

I also heard that UNICEF has been able to make some headway, but I don't know how much.

Ali · 05-20-2008, 09:27 PM

It's so sad. I don't know what else to say.

I bet some people know about the Miley Cyrus/Vanity Fair picture crap but know nothing about this.

Pathetic.

**sunnykerr** · 05-21-2008, 05:59 PM

And that's how this junta has gotten away and continues to get away with being the way it is. Information is the death of repressive regimes. I know I sound like a crazy journalism grad when I say that, but history proves my point.

The first thing dictatorships target are journalists and teachers and anyone who has a voice. Information breeds questioning and opposition. It's why democracies, however flawed they might all be, work. Information brings transparency in government. It allows people to make a choice. Even if that choice is to die opposing the oppressive regime.

And so the Burmese junta has been getting away for years now with mistreating its people and keeping them downtrodden and ignorant. Because it controls the flow of information. So most of the world knows very little about it. And most of the inhabitants there have nothing tangible to go on.

And it's why they're making such a fuss about foreigners coming in now. Because we bring information. About the world, about the rest of Burma. About the junta's weaknesses.


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