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From FountainofLight.net Articles
ADDHU Why Myanmar's generals shun aid Larry Jagan, Myanmar analyst for Al Jazeera Bunkered away in the centre of the country, the secret and reclusive generals who rule Myanmar fear all foreigners. A week after a deadly cyclone and facing huge pressure to open their country to international aid, they see everyone as a potential enemy intent on overthrowing their rule. Rather than alieviating the suffering wrought by Cyclone Nargis, the top generals' primary concern at present is to preserve their power and protect their families' future position and wealth. "Burma's military regime is extraordinarily xenophobic," says Sean Turnell, a Myanmar expert at Australia's Macquarie University. "They are afraid of everything." For years the generals' greatest fear has been that the US planned a strategic strike against them. The regime is also highly suspicious of the UN and other international aid agencies, fearing they are in cahoots with the West and only want to whip up opposition to military rule inside the country. Even before the current cyclone disaster hit Myanmar, international aid workers found it hard to travel around the country and visit development projects. Rejected Last year the government expelled the United Nation's top representative in the country, Charles Petrie on the grounds that he was interfering with government policy. "We must get rid of all the white faces," Senior General Than Shwe told his cabinet several times, according to reliable military sources. The unravelling of the burmese junta The Nation - Published on May 10, 2008 Today's referendum aside, Cyclone Nargis might spell the end of the generals' heartless rule Today a portion of Burma's population will vote in a nationwide referendum on the country's new charter, imposed on them by the military junta. Of course, they don't have much of a choice. To vote against the junta is dangerous and anything can happen. Not all voters will vote today, as those in areas devastated by Cyclone Nargis will vote at a later date. Despite the UN's appeal for it to concentrate on helping the victims of the cyclone last weekend, the junta is adamant that the referendum continue despite growing problems resulting from the disaster. Apparently, the junta's leaders put their people's well-being second to their political schemes. The generals are concerned about their political survival and everything must go according to plan. UN agencies and select international organisations have dispatched emergency aid and humanitarian assistance over the past few days, but more would be coming from around the world if junta leaders allowed it. At the moment, despite pledges from Burmese authorities that they would facilitate the entry of foreign aid workers into the country, hundreds of them remain stranded in Thailand and other neighbouring countries. Further delays could worsen the situation and further increase the death toll, which is already believed to have exceeded 100,000. There was a warning about the storm but the Junta seems to just have ignored it. A Very Warm Bay of Bengal Means Cyclone Nargis Will Hit Hard - Somewhere Said the expert Chris Mooney 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. 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. Right or wrong, that's a prediction that will certainly resonate for the Indian Ocean region of late. India says it gave Burma cyclone warning two days in advance By Deutsche Press Agentur New Delhi - The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday said it had given Burma 48 hours warning before cyclone Nargis smashed into the South-East Asian country claiming more than 22,500 lives. The IMD had been monitoring the depression in the Bay of Bengal after it was first detected on April 26 and was issuing regular advisories to neighbouring Burma since then, cyclone director M Mahapatra said. The IMD is a Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) which is mandated by the UN's World Meteorological Organization to issue cyclone warnings to Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Oman and Pakistan. "The system had intensified into a cyclone on April 28. Forty-eight hours before it struck, we had informed about its landfall, movement and severity such as wind speed of 180 kilometres per hour, to the Burmaese authorities," Mahapatra said. "We were more or less correct in our assessment and warnings. There was ample time to take precautionary measures to save lives," he added. UN Suspends Aid Shipment to Burma The UN announced on Friday that it has suspended all aid shipments to Burma, following the junta's seizure of all food and equipment of the World Food Program (WFP). WFP officials said they have 'no choice' but to suspend their aid efforts following the unprecedented seizure by the secretive military government. Well-dressed Burmese army officers and soldiers were doing photo-ops on state media on Friday, shown delivering some basic relief items such as food and water to cyclone victims in a superior, condescending manner. The UN said the junta's refusal to allow foreign aid workers into the country was "unprecedented" in the history of humanitarian work, even as survivors of a devastating cyclone waited for food, shelter and medicine. Burmese junta dooming its citizens with aid refusal The Nation - Published on May 10, 2008 The Burmese junta's decision to block foreign search and rescue teams after the deadly cyclone is tantamount to a death sentence for thousands of people who are unreachable or trapped in areas surrounded by floating dead bodies and without food and shelter. Cholera, malaria and dengue are sure to spread in these conditions. It seems that international patience is fast wearing thin for the Burmese junta's indifference to humanitarian assistance in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. The concept of "responsibility to protect" was recognised by the United Nations in 2005. Accordingly, if a government fails in its responsibility to protect its citizens, either willingly or unwillingly, humanitarian intervention can follow, even if this means intervention that violates national sovereignty. Consequently, the junta is going to be held responsible and guilty by the international community for its failed judgement and playing God with the lives of the unfortunate suffering people of the cyclone devastated areas. Sai Wansai Bangkok Rangoon, Burma - Burma's military regime distributed international aid Saturday but plastered the boxes with the names of top generals in an apparent effort to turn the relief effort for last week's devastating cyclone into a propaganda exercise. The United Nations sent in three more planes and several trucks loaded with aid, though the junta took over its first two shipments. State-run television continuously ran images of top generals - including the junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe - handing out boxes of aid to survivors at elaborate ceremonies. One box bore the name of Lt. Gen. Myint Swe, a rising star in the government hierarchy, in bold letters that overshadowed a smaller label reading: "Aid from the Kingdom of Thailand." But the boxes of aid are not going where most needed. International aid organizations say the death toll could climb to more than 100,000 as conditions worsen. The U.N. estimates that 1.5 million to 2 million people have been severely affected and has voiced concern about the disposal of bodies. But the junta has refused to grant access to foreign experts, saying it will only accept donations from foreign charities and governments, and then will deliver the aid on its own. "People in Burma say aid must be delivered anyway even if the regime doesn't give permission," The government seized two planeloads of high-energy biscuits - enough to feed 95,000 people - sent by the U.N. World Food Program. Despite the seizure, the WFP was sending three more planes Saturday from Dubai, Cambodia and Italy, even though those could be confiscated, too. Heavy rain forecast in the next week was certain to exacerbate the misery. Diplomats and aid groups warned the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because of illnesses and said thousands of children may have been orphaned.
We in Portugal we pray for burmese people and we ask ourselves how can those leaders be so cruel ? How far has it gone the madness of a few that caused the suffering of so many ? And we ask ourselves : in all this tragedy where is Aung San Suu Kyi ? ****** Fair Use Notice: There is no attempt here to usurp any copyright but only to distribute useful and educational information to a non profit audience. © Copyright 2000-2008 by Fountain of Light |
