Time running out for survivors of cyclone in Burma

If the carrot of U.N. free aid to those in Burma (Myanmar) who have suffered from the ravages from the recent Cyclone, doesn't work, then maybe the stick is in order. And what might that be? I suggest that the Military Junta be told, that they will be held responsible for any deaths due to disease from the second wave of hardship on its people and they will be subject to being tried for Crimes against Humanity in the World Court and that all their assets in Banks will be confiscated.

It is getting indeed very critical now there. The latest news report can be found by
clicking here.

Brown Accuses Myanmar of Being `Inhumane' to Cyclone Victims (reprint)

This story is so important I have copied and pasted it here from Bloomberg news, unedited.

Brown Accuses Myanmar of Being `Inhumane' to Cyclone Victims
By Demian McLean and Sarah Jones

May 17 (Bloomberg) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown accused Myanmar's military regime of ``negligence'' and being ``inhumane'' for its refusal to admit more relief workers and supplies to the cyclone-hit country.

Brown said Cyclone Nargis, which has left as many as 2.5 million victims at risk of disease and hunger, has created an ``intolerable situation'' in the country formerly known as Burma.

Since the storm struck on May 3, the government has barred most foreign relief workers, rejected offers of helicopters and boats and accepted only a trickle of the aid offered by the world. Brown is among the most vocal world leaders criticizing Myanmar's rulers, while France's envoy to the UN said yesterday that the Junta's resistance to delivery of aid was close to criminal negligence that would allow intervention by force.

``It is being made into a man-made catastrophe by the negligence, the neglect, the inhuman treatment of the Burmese people by a regime that is failing to act and to allow the international community to do what it wants to do,'' Brown said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp.'s World Service aired today.

China is backing Myanmar as it resists pressure from the U.S. and other nations to accept more international aid, saying other countries must show ``due respect.''

``We are shifting from a situation of non-assistance to people in need to a situation that could lead to a true crime against humanity if we go on like that,'' Ambassador Jean- Maurice Ripert told reporters after a meeting of the UN General Assembly. ``People are dying every day. We want action.''

Security Council

Ripert said France will press for Security Council action next week.

In a May 15 letter, 43 members of the U.S. House of Representatives asked President George W. Bush to support efforts by France and other nations to seek greater access to the disaster-hit area and to consider a humanitarian intervention, Agence France-Presse reported today.

The U.S. government, which today extended sanctions on Myanmar, isn't endorsing measures beyond diplomatic efforts at persuading the regime to accept more help.

``We're going to keep working the politics of this in the hopes that we can get more aid and, importantly, expertise down to those areas,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in Washington said.

Opposition Calls

Brown has so far resisted calls from the opposition Conservatives to set a deadline for invoking the UN's ``responsibility to protect'' clause, citing private aid groups who said air-dropping relief would be ineffective and a ``distraction.''

``We will continue to use every international channel to pressure them to do what is the right thing by the people,'' Brown said today. ``The issue is not their survival as a regime, the issue is the survival of people who are desperately in need of help.''

United Nations emergency-relief coordinator John Holmes, who is due to arrive in Myanmar tomorrow to help expedite aid delivery, said this week that between 1.6 million and 2.5 million people have been ``severely affected'' by the cyclone and need help. The death toll from the storm has reached almost 78,000, the Associated Press cited state television as saying. An additional 56,000 people are missing.

Four more U.S. C-130 cargo planes landed in the Myanmar city of Yangon yesterday, and the contents of two of them were handed to charities instead of the regime, according to McCormack. He said it was the first time the U.S. has been able to ensure that aid has gone directly to international humanitarian groups in the country.

Relief Flights

At least four more U.S. relief flights are planned for today and tomorrow, McCormack said. About 10 Red Cross planes have arrived in the past week, with supplies distributed by locals.

The military regime today took a group of foreign diplomats on a tour of the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy River delta, AFP said, citing an unidentified diplomat. It's the first organized tour since the cyclone struck, the report said, without elaborating.

The cyclone is the worst natural disaster to hit Southeast Asia since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed more than 220,000 people.

Other countries must show ``due respect'' to Myanmar, said Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, at a briefing yesterday. ``Myanmar is a sovereign country. In the end, rescue and relief work will have to rely on the Myanmar government and people.''

China's Role

China helped block French and U.S.-led efforts to discuss Myanmar's resistance to granting visas to aid workers last week in the UN Security Council. In 2006 and 2007, China opposed efforts to discuss the Myanmar crackdown on political opponents in the council.

In Myanmar, donated food, water and supplies have been accepted, with the provision that the military distributes them in almost all cases.

``International aid workers need unrestricted access to the disaster area and have to be able to work unhindered,'' German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said this week. The first German flight reached Yangon on May 15, carrying six water-purification systems that can supply 40,000 people daily.

About 30 medical workers from Thailand arrived in Myanmar today, along with $230,000 of supplies, AFP reported, citing Prat Boonyawongvirot, permanent secretary at the health ministry. They are part of a group of more than 100 medical staff from Asian nations that the junta has allowed in.

A French naval vessel loaded with 1,500 tons of food, shelter and medicine is set to arrive today off Myanmar's coast and would have small boats and helicopters deliver aid with or without the government's agreement, Ripert said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Demian McLean in Washington at dmclean8@bloomberg.netSarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.

China is doing its best to save lives after earthquake, unlike Myanmar

I have been first to criticize the Chinese government in the recent past. However, my heart goes out to them for there heroic effort to save lives in the aftermath of the 7.9 Earthquake. They have accepted help from Russia, Japan and other countries and have sent tens of thousands of troops on foot to help rescue survivors trapped under rubble and to clear roads and restore some services. There is limited things we can do to help them, but for one thing, we can pray for the families who are suffering.

Contrast this situation and the response by the Chinese government to that of Myanmar. Here we are a full 2 weeks after their disaster and aid still is only allowed to trickle into their country. This is not because the world has offered help. It is due to the paranoid leadership of the country. And while the world still watches, they continue to be resolute. I compare this to the atrocities of Nazi Germany when the rest of the world watched and stood by to see the Holocaust without doing a thing to stop it. The World must act through the UN to end this senseless and unnecessary catastrophe from occurring.

At what point does the world hold China to account for Burma?

The tragedy in Burma (Myanmar) is getting the world community very mad at both the government of Burma and now of China, which borders the country. China is the only country with a good relationship with the Military Junta but with the problems of delivering aid to the innocent civilians in that country now more at peril it is about time the world speaks out not only about the Military leadership in Burma but now the role that China is playing here. Too many world problems are connected to China. There is North Korea, Somalia and the Darfur genocide, Tibet, Iran and now Burma. When is the world going to see that all roads lead to China. And with this latest appalling action of seizing the aid from the U.N. and hoarding it from their citizens, the world can not sit by. If China is not immediately helpful here, the Olympics should not be attended by anyone including athletes. China should not get a pass here. This is a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportion and if China wants to be a part of the civilized world then it needs to act more civilized and use its influence, pressure and threat of hostility if necessary to help the innocent people suffering in Burma.

Wake up!

UPDATE: May 10, 2008

Headlines tonight from Time magazine.com reads as follows:

Is It Time to Invade Burma?

It looks like others are thinking the same thing as I am.

To read their entire article click here.

The Military Junta in Burma makes a big gamble delaying aid.

Here's the gamble the leaders of the Military in Burma are making. As they control the average soldier and even non commissioned officers, many of the soldiers families are going to get really sick and die without assistance. Then ask yourself how loyal do you think the soldiers will be to their leaders. My guess, not very loyal. It's one way how a Coup d'etat gets its start. And add this to the current equation, the people are still in shock and have not yet gotten from shock to anger. That is coming too. The scariest thing the Military leaders fear is to allow foreigners into their country. The fact is, that is their only hope for survival.

UPDATE: May 9, 2008

News this morning that the Military Junta of Burma has seized all the food and aid. Here is a small quote from the story:

" Myanmar's junta seized U.N. aid shipments Friday meant for a multitude of hungry and homeless survivors of last week's devastating cyclone, forcing the world body to suspend further help.

The aid included 38 tons of high-energy biscuits and arrived in Myanmar on Friday on two flights from Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.

"All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated," U.N. World Food Program spokesman Risley said.

"For the time being, we have no choice but to end further efforts to bring critical needed food aid into Myanmar at this time," he said."

It seems as though they may be trying to help themselves and the soldiers by seizing the aid. This action by the Military leaders will certainly deteriorate conditions in Burma, as air born disease spares no one including the Military leaders and their families. It is a sad day indeed when the world community must stop aiding innocent civilians because of the shortsightedness of a few. Surrounding countries will be affected by the disease that is spawned there and so will their more friendly allies like China.

To read the complete article click here.

UPDATE: China must pay a price for Burma, Tibet and Darfur

A couple of posts ago I ran the story of how China is front and center on the issues in Burma (Myanmar). Well today the following is reported from an article by AP titled, "9 killed in 2nd day of Myanmar crackdown" For the complete article click here.

The crackdown has prompted condemnations from officials in the U.S. and Europe and statements of concern from regional powerhouse China, Myanmar's chief diplomatic ally.

China has come under increasing pressure to use its regional influence to urge Myanmar's ruling junta to show restraint in dealing with the protests.

On Wednesday, China blocked the U.N. Security Council from condemning the government's actions, saying after an emergency meeting in New York that "these problems now at this stage (do) not constitute a threat to international and regional peace and stability."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in Beijing on Thursday that "China hopes that all parties in Myanmar exercise restraint and properly handle the current issue so as to ensure the situation there does not escalate and get complicated."

I have to laugh at that last sentence, "the situation there does not escalate and get complicated." Is that what it is for China, a complication?! Unbelievable!

We must continue to see China's role as complicit in supporting these regimes. Start by adding one voice at a time to bring attention to China's role in these tragedies. All their financial gains should be put at risk. Don't buy anything made in China. Read product labels carefully and let's make a big dent in their economic gains. There must be a price to pay for their complicity in these tragedies. It is not about going to our Malls and buying cheap products. If they want to be respected as an important Global power, then they need to behave like one.

China must pay a price for Burma, Tibet and Darfur,