By BangkokPost.com, Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpaPrivy Councillor Surayud Chulanont is to fly to
Burma on Sunday, the ninth day of the cyclone disaster, to try to convince the Burmese dictatorship that the world wants to help devastated people. On Saturday, the junta reached a new level of cynicism, pasting huge labels on aid packages from Thailand to claim the help was from the top generals, rather than the Thai people.
The regime plastered names of the top generals on the aid boxes, as part of the propaganda and intimidation campaign it is running to back its referendum seeking to perpetuate the 46-year military control of the country.
The Associated Press reported that state-run television inside Burma continuously ran images of elaborate cemonies where top generals - including the junta leader, Senior Gen Than Shwe - handed out boxes of Thai aid disguised so as to appear it came from the junta, to survivors of the tragedy.
One box seen in the videos bore the name of Lt Gen Myint Swe, a rising star in the government hierarchy, in bold letters, overshadowing a smaller label which barely could be read:: "Aid from the Kingdom of Thailand."
"We have already seen regional commanders putting their names on the side of aid shipments from Asia, saying this was a gift from them and then distributing it in their region," said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, which campaigns for human rights and democracy in the country.
Gen Surayud, a former prime minister, is to fly to Naypyidaw, the Burmese "jungle capital," to do the unthinkable - convince the Burmese generals to allow the world to help the victims of a killer cyclon.
As an illustration, Gen Surayud will present aid packages provided by the King. On Saturday, His Majesty instructed the Raja Prachanukroh Foundation to send 2,000 bags of utensils and bedding.
The 10 tonnes of subsistence aid was to be flown to Rangoon on Sunday on a Royal Thai Air Force C-130 cargo plane, said foundation officials.
While aid agencies hashed out terms with the Burmese military regime, the country's rulers pushed through a "sham" referendum intended to cement their political power.
Marcus Prior, a spokesman for the WFP in Bangkok, said: "Given the humanitarian crisis, we felt the need to continue the supplies." The agency was allowed another three air shipments of supplies to Rangoon, scheduled to arrive Saturday and Sunday.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said its first trucks had also arrived in Burma carrying 20 tons of emergency aid - enough to provide shelter for up to 10,000 people.
"This convoy marks a positive step in an aid effort so far marked by challenges and constraints," said Raymond Hall, UNHCR's Representative in Thailand. "We hope it opens up a possible corridor to allow more international aid to reach the cyclone victims."
While aid agencies hashed out terms with the military regime by which the emergency supplies may be released, Burmese rulers pushed through a "sham" referendum Saturday intended to cement their political power.
Meanwhile the military's referendum went ahead despite international appeals to postpone the vote in the wake of Cyclone Nargis that could have killed up to 100,000 people.
Although the junta postponed the vote to May 24 in 47 of the districts worst-hit, including much of the former capital Rangoon, it rejected international appeals for a general delay.
The referendum process, held under the strict control of the military masters, has been call a "sham" by human rights activists and western democracies for being neither free nor fair.
The country's 400,000-strong military was been given the double task of monitoring the referendum and taking the lead in the distribution of emergency aid.
Over the past week, state-controlled newspapers and TV have highlighted pictures of military men passing out emergency supplies to the people affected by the cyclone, including, oddly, some shots showing officers handing out VCD and DVD players to the needy.
The publicity stunt clashes with the reality. Recipients of government handouts have complained of the small quantities and poor quality.
But in Burma's media-controlled environment most people are unaware of the international furore over the junta's delaying tactics in granting visas to disaster relief experts from the UN and other aid organizations.
These have warned that diphtheria, cholera and malaria could spread in an epidemic of "apocalyptic proportions" if medical, food, water and other types of aid are not allowed in, along with trained personnel to administer the support.
In its latest announcements, the government has confirmed 23,335 deaths and some 37,019 missing. UN officials on Friday estimated the death toll will climb to 63,000 to 100,000 based on reports from 18 aid organizations working in 55 devastated townships.
While aid is trickling in to the Irrawaddy, many people have apparently survived on Buddhist charity this week.
In Labutta, for instance, the population has doubled as refugees seek shelter and food in the relatively large city.
"There is now some aid coming in but many people are relying on the charity of the Burmese families who are residents in Labutta," said Heinke Veit, a director for the European Commission Humanitarian aid Office (ECHO).
Veit and sources at UNICEF denied reports that cases of cholera had already been detected in the delta area.
"The chief of health operations for UNICEF in Rangoon said there is no evidence of cholera or typhoid yet, although it is a concern," said Shantha Bloemen, a spokesperson for UNICEF in Bangkok.
The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) in Geneva said humanitarian aid had reached around 220,000 people, despite logistical difficulties.
France is to make its own aid action for the victims of cyclone Nargis, sending the warship Mistral loading with 1,500 tonnes of goods, it was reported Saturday.
"We have decided to act without waiting any further," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was quoted by the French daily Le Figaro.
The aid is to be directly distributed to the effected..., either by the ship's crew or by French aid organizations," Kouchner said, adding that "delivering aid directly to (the military) junta doesn't come into the question."
A move by Indonesia to block a resolution in the United Nations' Security Council over the crisis was "unbelievable and unacceptable," Sunai Phasuk, a representative of rights group Human Rights Watch, said Saturday.
Indonesia has no excuse for its cynical tactics because it received massive lifesaving international help after the tsunami disaster in December 2004, said the New York-based agency's international representative.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Aid hijacked
Drip-feed of help
from BANGKOK POST
Supplies trickling into cyclone-hit Burma on the 10th day of the Cyclone Nargis disaster are far below what is needed, UN and other aid agencies say. The UN says it believes 102,000 are dead from the storm and slow aid efforts, and while aid workers wait for visas in Bangkok, the struggling relief programme suffered a new blow with the sinking of a Red Cross boat.
The boat, carrying vital supplies of drinking water, rice and water purification tablets, hit a submerged tree trunk as it travelled by river through the disaster zone. Much of the aid was lost, but no one was injured.
"Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid," said Michael Annear, disaster manager in Rangoon for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Supplies have slowly begun to make their way into isolated Burma, but relief workers are frustrated over restrictions by the ruling junta, which has refused to allow foreign experts in to direct the recovery effort.
"Some opening-up on the part of the authorities is allowing us to get these materials to their destination," said Stephan Goetghebuer, director of operations of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
"But it's no more than a drip-feed, really, given a serious response is more than required. We still need more back-up aid and personnel ready to leave."
A United Nations flight from Italy carrying water purification equipment and other supplies landed in Rangoon, but three UN disaster assessment experts were still waiting for visas in Thailand.
In an indication of the tight controls the junta is maintaining, two of the three had their UN travel documents refused by Burmese officials at Rangoon airport when they tried to enter the country Thursday.
Other arrivals were a cargo plane chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and a Greek air force plane with a cargo of tents, food and medicine.
Greece said its foreign ministry staff will stay in Rangoon to make sure the the aid reaches those it is intended to help, and that a second military transporter is due to land on Tuesday.
Cyclone Nargis, which smashed into the rice-growing Irrawaddy Delta region in the country's south on May 3, left nearly 62,000 people dead or missing, according to a government toll.
The military government's refusal to open its doors has infuriated aid groups and foreign governments who say that unless they have free access, the toll from the disaster will rise dramatically as hunger and disease set in.
"It's not true that nothing is happening at all, but not enough is happening," said Frank Smithuis, Burma country manager for MSF.
Two MSF cargo planes carrying 75 tonnes of shelters, water-treatment equipment, first-aid supplies and food are en route from Europe and due to arrive on Monday.
French charity Medecins du Monde said Sunday that authorities had agreed to let it distribute its aid, which was arriving Monday.
The international community has spoken out in increasingly concerned tones over Rangoon's apparent sluggishness or suspicion when it comes to taking up offers of overseas and even non-governmental aid.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband accused Burma's ruling generals of "malign neglect," warning the aftermath of its cyclone was a "catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions."
And Europe's aid commissioner Louis Michel, while praising "signs of improvement" in cooperation, urged Rangoon to let more relief workers in.
"The (European) Commission is ready to give more but the funds won't be much use without professional delivery on the ground," he said.
Sarah Ireland, East Asia director for development charity Oxfam, warned that all the factors were in place for a public health crisis that could multiply diplomats' estimates of 100,000 dead by up to 15 times.
"It's a perfect storm of factors such as a lack of water, sanitation, predicted heavy rain over the next week, lack of food as well as outbreaks of disease," she told a press conference. (Agencies)
Tropical Cyclone Nargis: Get Ready for the Worst
A Very Warm Bay of Bengal Means Cyclone Nargis Will Hit Hard – Somewhere
We all remember (I hope) November's Cyclone Sidr, the deadliest global hurricane in a decade, which killed more than 3,000 people after making a powerful landfall in Bangladesh. After that, you would think this vulnerable region would get a break – but Cyclone Nargis may have other ideas.
This storm, which formed over the weekend, is now a Category 1, and the official forecast right now is for steady intensification up to Category 4 at least. No one is sure where the storm will make landfall, but India, Bangladesh, and Burma/Myanmar all have worrying to do.
Joint Typhoon Warning Center
What's most troubling is that Nargis has a very warm Indian Ocean to travel over, as you can see in this data from the Atlantic Oceanic and Meteorological Laboratory:
AOML SST
And according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, there's nothing else in the atmosphere ocean system that will interfere with Nargis either – as the agency predicts, "THE STORM WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD DUE TO FAVORABLE OCEAN HEAT CONTENT, LOW VERTICAL WIND SHEAR, AND GOOD POLEWARD OUTFLOW."
Much of the world has been relatively quiet of late for hurricanes – but it's important to bear in mind that that has not been the case for the North Indian region. First came 2007's shocking Category 5 Arabian Sea cyclone, Gonu; then came Sidr; and now, here's Nargis. This puts me in mind of my last post, about Kerry Emanuel's most recent work: It suggests that in our changing world, the different hurricane basins of the world will respond very differently to climate change. Storms may also be fewer, but stronger when they do occur.
from http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/hurricanes-storms/tropical-cyclone-nargis-47042807
UN says 102,000 dead in Burma
Thailand offers to be a base for relief supplies
BANGKOK POST AND AGENCIES.
Thailand will act as a mediator to help with the movement of international relief supplies to Burma, which are being held up by the military junta and are stuck in Thailand, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday.
The move comes as the UN says up to 102,000 people could have been killed by Cyclone Nargis and about 220,000 are reported missing.
Mr Noppadon said he planned to leave for Burma tomorrow to push for additional assistance and ask the Burmese generals to provide wider access and to allow foreign assistance for the cyclone victims.
He said he will also ask that foreign experts be allowed to enter Burma to give humanitarian aid to the victims.
He said the foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will meet in Singapore on May 19 to discuss ways to help the victims.
Former foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan is the Asean secretary-general.
The number of people reported missing after the cyclone hit has risen to about 220,000, the United Nations said, and it warned of environmental damage, violence and mass migration.
It said assessments of 55 townships in the Irrawaddy delta and other disaster-hit areas found up to 102,000 people could have been killed in the cyclone, which struck flimsy dwellings with fierce winds and huge waves on May 2.
''Based on these assessments, the UN estimates that 1,215,885 to 1,919,485 people have been affected by the cyclone, the number of deaths could range from 63,290 to 101,682, and 220,000 people are reported to be missing,'' said the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
State-run television in Burma reported last night that the death toll had risen to more than 28,458 and 33,416 people were missing.
Meanwhile, a cargo boat carrying the first Red Cross aid to survivors sank yesterday. The boat carrying relief supplies for more than 1,000 people was believed to have hit a submerged tree in the Irrawaddy delta and started taking on water, International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) official in Bangkok Andy McElroy said.
The accident highlighted the enormous logistical difficulties of delivering aid to the survivors, who are in need of food, shelter and medicine, with roads washed away and much of the delta turned into swampland.
The crew steered the stricken Red Cross boat to an island but it sank rapidly, Mr McElroy said. All crew members and the four Burma Red Cross personnel on board, two men and two women, scrambled to safety.
''This is a great loss for the Burma Red Cross and for the people who need aid so urgently,'' Aung Kyaw Htut, the Burma Red Cross aid distribution team leader, said. ''This would have been our very first river shipment and it will delay aid for a further day.''
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said yesterday he called off his plan to visit Burma to push for British and American rescuers to be allowed in.
But he said he fully supported Burma as Thailand was a neighbour and he would not mind if his stance causes the West to isolate Thailand.
Mr Samak also said he admired Supreme Commander Boonsang Niampradit for arranging for swift assistance to Burma. Thailand was the first nation to send help.
Gen Boonsang said Nipat Thonglek, the director-general of the Border Affairs Department, left for Rangoon as a special representative of Mr Samak yesterday. Lt-Gen Nipat would meet Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein to coordinate assistance.
The visit followed a US statement that agencies were ready to help through the World Food Programme.
The US is sending its aid to Bangkok and is committed to supplying food to 600,000 Burmese for six months, but supplies cannot reach Burma because of visa restrictions imposed by the junta.
Air Force commander ACM Chalit Phukphasuk also flew to Burma yesterday. He was delivering necessities worth 1.08 million baht His Majesty the King donated to cyclone victims.
Mae Sot district in Tak province is now the only land route for necessities to be transported into Burma.
According to local charity activist Panithi Tangphati, Win Myint, chief of the Myawaddy Border Trade Office, said donations can be delivered through government officials and at the Tamaya monastery. However, donors must pay a transport fee of 40,000 baht per truck.
Form Bangkok post
May 12th 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
25% of Burma's Karenni State is internally displaced
Burma Issues
03 April 2008
News
(Bangkok, Thailand) Over one quarter of the Karenni population of eastern Burma has been forced from their homes due to years of military oppression, a figure expected to increase as militarisation of the state continues unabated, according to a new report from Burma Issues.
In Karenni State, located in eastern Burma, 81,000 villagers are currently internally displaced, representing 27 per cent of the state's population. Between 70 and 80 per cent of those displaced are women and children.
What is needed is Thailand's immediate action to enable international support for cross-border aid and for the governments of SE Asia, China and India to support a UN Security Council Resolution on Burma, Khu Thaw Reh, Mae Hong Son Area Coordinator for Burma Issues, a non-governmental organisation working in Thailand, said.
IDPs in Karenni State face severe food shortages, inadequate shelter, cannot access health care or education services and are vulnerable to violence and exploitation from Burmese soldiers,said Khu Thaw Reh said.
He urged Burma to move quickly into genuine dialogue with ethnic groups to address issues of human rights and socio-economic grievances.
Unarmed villagers are forced to flee their homes to escape military attacks and human rights abuses perpetrated by the Burmese army, while others are forced from their homes to make way for income generating projects benefiting the military junta. Over the last five years the number of internally displaced persons in Karenni State has increased by 42 per cent, a number expected to increase if the situation continues to worsen, according to Khu Thaw Reh.
Sudan, Colombia, Iraq, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have the five largest displaced populations in the world. In Sudan nearly 13 per cent of the population is displaced, Colombia 8.5 per cent, Iraq over 6 per cent, Uganda over 6.5 per cent, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo nearly 2 per cent.
The percentage of the population displaced in Karenni State is twice as high as the level in Sudan which has the world's largest internally displaced population, however, they receive little assistance or international attention, Khu Thaw Reh said.
Displaced people in Karenni State need humanitarian assistance urgently, but they also need a genuine solution to their displacement crisis which involves a significant change to Burma's political, economic and social systems, he said.
Living Ghosts: The spiraling repression of the Karenni population under the Burmese military junta, a new report released by Burma Issues, documents the worsening situation for the Karenni people over the past six years, including reduced access to health care and education, the impact of increased growth of poppies and production of synthetic drugs in the state, and the ongoing oppression by both state and non-state armies. This in-depth report is based on interviews with villagers, surveys and observations from Burma Issues field staff collected between 2001 and 2007, and documents the threat to regional and international security.
Living Ghosts: The spiraling repression of the Karenni population under the Burmese military junta is available at www.burmaissues.org/En/livingghosts.html in both html and PDF versions and hardcopies of the report can be requested by emailing us at burmaissues@burmaissues.org .
Backgrounder
Burma Issues is a not-for-profit organization focusing on marginalized communities within Burma to build peace based on justice for everyone. Its approach is rooted in community organisation and empowerment, which take their form through grassroots organising, activist development, information for action, and international peace campaigns.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
True Friend
Some cute pictures to remind what are friends for…..
True friends always pop up to say hello....
True friends don't care if you're a little different...
True friends never fight like cats and dogs... 
True friends will drive you anywhere!!! 
True friends let everyone come along.... 
True friends don't laugh at you when you get new glasses...
True friends help you up when you're down... 
And true friends never let you do something you'll regret when you wake up the next morning! 
Send this little message to all your friends..... 
and let them know you care! BYE!!!
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