Burmese Government refuses entry to Aid Workers
Outrage over Burma’s aid worker ban 11 May 2008 By Máirtín O’Riada in Beijing Sunday Business Post The first shipments of international aid arrived in Burma on Friday, almost a week after Cyclone Nargis smashed into the hermetic country, causing widespread devastation and exposing, once again, the neuroses of its ruling military leadership. Close to 23,000 people are now believed to have died in the immediate aftermath of the storm, with another 40,000 unaccounted for, but international observers predict that the final tally will be far higher. The UN said the toll could be 100,000. As international relief organisations push for greater access, the Burmese government has said it will not allow foreign aid workers into the country, while continuing to accept relief supplies. This is entirely true to form for a schizophrenic leadership that has long insisted on insulating the country from the international community, and remains deeply suspicious of outside influences that could threaten the monopoly on power it has held since 1988. The junta refused all offers of help in the aftermath of the tsunami on St Stephen’s Day 2006, for example, but experts fear that the long-term effects of the cyclone could be far worse than that tragedy. The head of the US Embassy in Yangon, Shari Villarosa, last Thursday, warned that food shortages and sickness could wreak havoc, and predicted the eventual death toll from the cyclone would top 100,000. The UN estimates that 1.5 million people have been ‘‘severely affected’’, and more than 1 million people have been left homeless by the cyclone, which smashed into the Irrawaddy Delta on May 2.Reports from some areas indicated that entire towns had been destroyed, with few survivors. Members of the ruling junta, meanwhile, were likely spared the brunt of the storm, with the government having moved three years ago to a hastily constructed new capital city, Naypyidaw, deep inland. Last week, state television broadcast images of prime minister Thein Sein visiting the affected regions and distributing aid, but the stunt has done little to stem intense international criticism of the government’s response. As concerns have grown about the survivors in the affected areas, who have limited access to food, medical supplies and even clean water, international aid organisations and politicians have become increasingly frustrated. The government’s apparent intransigence has even prompted one of its closest allies, China, to pressure it to open its borders to external aid. ‘‘We hope Myanmar will cooperate with the international community, and will have consultation with the international community,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a press conference in Beijing, though he was careful to highlight that ‘‘Myanmar’s sovereignty must be respected’’. Others, though, have been more blunt. Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd described the government’s delays as ‘‘obscene’’, while the US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that his government was ‘‘outraged’’ that the Burmese government had refused his country’s offer to send aid workers. Burmese activists have also criticised the junta for its response. Some have accused it of dragging its feet, in contrast with last year’s aborted ‘Saffron Revolution’, when the military leaders rapidly mobilised the army to quell protests by thousands of monks. Others have condemned the government’s own financial contribution of €3 million to the relief effort, with Mark Farmaner, director of the British-based Burma Campaign, calling it ‘‘pathetic’’. Meanwhile, most of the country’s 52 million citizens were due to go to the polls yesterday, to vote on a new constitution that critics say would solidify the junta’s iron hold on power. The government has postponed voting in Yangon and other affected areas - but only for two weeks.
Outrage over Burma’s aid worker ban 11 May 2008 By Máirtín O’Riada in Beijing Sunday Business Post The first shipments of international aid arrived in Burma on Friday, almost a week after Cyclone Nargis smashed into the hermetic country, causing widespread devastation and exposing, once again, the neuroses of its ruling military leadership. Close to 23,000 people are now believed to have died in the immediate aftermath of the storm, with another 40,000 unaccounted for, but international observers predict that the final tally will be far higher. The UN said the toll could be 100,000. As international relief organisations push for greater access, the Burmese government has said it will not allow foreign aid workers into the country, while continuing to accept relief supplies. This is entirely true to form for a schizophrenic leadership that has long insisted on insulating the country from the international community, and remains deeply suspicious of outside influences that could threaten the monopoly on power it has held since 1988. The junta refused all offers of help in the aftermath of the tsunami on St Stephen’s Day 2006, for example, but experts fear that the long-term effects of the cyclone could be far worse than that tragedy. The head of the US Embassy in Yangon, Shari Villarosa, last Thursday, warned that food shortages and sickness could wreak havoc, and predicted the eventual death toll from the cyclone would top 100,000. The UN estimates that 1.5 million people have been ‘‘severely affected’’, and more than 1 million people have been left homeless by the cyclone, which smashed into the Irrawaddy Delta on May 2.Reports from some areas indicated that entire towns had been destroyed, with few survivors. Members of the ruling junta, meanwhile, were likely spared the brunt of the storm, with the government having moved three years ago to a hastily constructed new capital city, Naypyidaw, deep inland. Last week, state television broadcast images of prime minister Thein Sein visiting the affected regions and distributing aid, but the stunt has done little to stem intense international criticism of the government’s response. As concerns have grown about the survivors in the affected areas, who have limited access to food, medical supplies and even clean water, international aid organisations and politicians have become increasingly frustrated. The government’s apparent intransigence has even prompted one of its closest allies, China, to pressure it to open its borders to external aid. ‘‘We hope Myanmar will cooperate with the international community, and will have consultation with the international community,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a press conference in Beijing, though he was careful to highlight that ‘‘Myanmar’s sovereignty must be respected’’. Others, though, have been more blunt. Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd described the government’s delays as ‘‘obscene’’, while the US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that his government was ‘‘outraged’’ that the Burmese government had refused his country’s offer to send aid workers. Burmese activists have also criticised the junta for its response. Some have accused it of dragging its feet, in contrast with last year’s aborted ‘Saffron Revolution’, when the military leaders rapidly mobilised the army to quell protests by thousands of monks. Others have condemned the government’s own financial contribution of €3 million to the relief effort, with Mark Farmaner, director of the British-based Burma Campaign, calling it ‘‘pathetic’’. Meanwhile, most of the country’s 52 million citizens were due to go to the polls yesterday, to vote on a new constitution that critics say would solidify the junta’s iron hold on power. The government has postponed voting in Yangon and other affected areas - but only for two weeks.