Myanmar cyclone: Burma to mourn cyclone's victims
- added May 19, 2008
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- kushan
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- Current News US (883)
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- Myanmar (155)
- Burma Cyclone (87)
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- Military Junta (29)
- Mourning (6)
Burma's junta has declared three days of official mourning for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, 17 days after the storm struck, state television has announced.
The move came as Burma's closest ally, China, began three days of mourning for its own disaster, the Sichuan quake.
Analysts say Burma's move may indicate it now recognises the scale of the disaster it initially downplayed, and could be more open to outside help.
Earlier, Burma agreed at an emergency summit in Singapore to accept more aid.
Burma's secretive military rulers have been criticised for the slow response to the 2 May disaster, which left about 78,000 dead - more than double the number killed in China's earthquake.
The BBC's South East Asian correspondent Jonathan Head says Burma's junta still seems implacably opposed to using the US, French and British navy helicopters aboard ships anchored just off their coast.
Catalyst for change?
But the firm line they have taken until now, that they can cope without foreign expertise, is softening, he says.
Burmese state television announced that the national flag would be flown at half-mast during the mourning period, beginning on Tuesday.
"Because many people were killed by Cyclone Nargis, we have declared three days of mourning from 20 May to 22, and will lower flags to half-staff starting at 0900 (0230 GMT) on 20 May," the statement said.
The regime has so far allowed only a trickle of aid to reach the 2.4m people estimated to be in desperate need of help.
At a meeting of regional foreign ministers in Singapore on Monday, Burma promised to accept significantly more international aid to help cyclone victims.
Credit: BBC News
The move came as Burma's closest ally, China, began three days of mourning for its own disaster, the Sichuan quake.
Analysts say Burma's move may indicate it now recognises the scale of the disaster it initially downplayed, and could be more open to outside help.
Earlier, Burma agreed at an emergency summit in Singapore to accept more aid.
Burma's secretive military rulers have been criticised for the slow response to the 2 May disaster, which left about 78,000 dead - more than double the number killed in China's earthquake.
The BBC's South East Asian correspondent Jonathan Head says Burma's junta still seems implacably opposed to using the US, French and British navy helicopters aboard ships anchored just off their coast.
Catalyst for change?
But the firm line they have taken until now, that they can cope without foreign expertise, is softening, he says.
Burmese state television announced that the national flag would be flown at half-mast during the mourning period, beginning on Tuesday.
"Because many people were killed by Cyclone Nargis, we have declared three days of mourning from 20 May to 22, and will lower flags to half-staff starting at 0900 (0230 GMT) on 20 May," the statement said.
The regime has so far allowed only a trickle of aid to reach the 2.4m people estimated to be in desperate need of help.
At a meeting of regional foreign ministers in Singapore on Monday, Burma promised to accept significantly more international aid to help cyclone victims.
Credit: BBC News
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Are the Junta just following the Chinese's lead in offering the three-day mourning?
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A great piece from yesterday's Media Guardian about the two "very different stories" coming out of Burma and China. Well worth the quick read. I wonder if in the wake of what was a western media lashing before the earthquake, China has figured out how to use certain publicity opportunities that western media eat up to save face and turn public opinion to a more favourable view of China... and whether Burma's ruling military sees a similar opportunity to show its "sensitive side" to relieve international pressure so it can carry on with its repressive control. -
Burma is slowly beginning to accept foreign aid but reports say many cyclone survivors are relying on private donations, which are illegal in the country.
And it's claimed the donors themselves have to bribe the army to allow them to distribute food. Unbelievable that they have to bribe in order to do some good!
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Is this too little, too late? The aid effort has been seriously hampered by the Burmese government's refusal to allow help in and more money will have to be spent to rectify the results of delayed aid.
17 days is a very long time to take to realise what much of the world already knew - that the cyclone was a disaster on a huge scale and many would need help immediately. -
Seems like the World Bank is tired of waiting as well. A top official has said that they've ruled out giving financial aid or loans to Burma. Apparently, the junta has owed the World Bank money since 1998 and so legally they can't give them any more money. So all they get from them is sympathy. Sad. -
Wow, that's really bad news crababble. The junta need foreign aid more than ever now and yet they're still dragging their heels over allowing it into the country.
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The people need foreign aid. I don't think giving the junta any more money is going to guarantee it will make it to the people who need it most.
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This is a tragedy! I am trying to help how do you help?
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- wwwthisisbetterws
- 2 months ago
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Burma began three days of mourning Tuesday for some 78,000 victims of Cyclone Nargis as Canadian officials urged the country's military junta to allow Ottawa to send in its Disaster Assistance Response Team.
Flags at government offices, schools and large hotels throughout Burma were all lowered to half-mast to mourn those killed by the cyclone, which hit the country on May 2-3.
But there was no period of silence and shops were open as usual with few people aware of the government-announced mourning period.
Meanwhile, Col. Chris Weicker, military attache to the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, told a news conference in Hong Kong Tuesday that the junta has been asked to allow in the DART team.
Weicker said an advance party for the relief team is already in Bangkok.
The DART team is made up of about 150 people, including Canadian Forces engineers, medical workers and communications experts.
On the weekend, about 2,000 emergency shelter kits from Canada started to arrive in Rangoon, Burma, the Red Cross has confirmed.
Last Wednesday, a C-17 Globemaster aircraft left CFB Trenton carrying the shelter kits.
The shipment was first sent to Bangkok and then into Rangoon on three smaller flights. Two of the flights landed in Rangoon on Sunday and one on Monday.
All the shipments are under the control of the International Federation of Red Cross, said the aid agency. -
Junta bows to pressure
On Monday, following weeks of diplomatic pressure, the junta finally agreed to allow its Asian neighbours to send medical teams to oversee the distribution of aid to survivors.
The teams come from countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which held an emergency meeting in Singapore on Monday.
Still, foreign aid agencies and the United Nations have said that only some 500,000 of the 2.4 million storm victims have received some form of international assistance.
"This is two-and-a-half weeks later, it's still happening in baby steps and that's why many expect the death toll to rise," ABC`s Jim Sciutto told CTV's Canada AM Tuesday from Bangkok, Thailand.
The junta has also approved a visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and is preparing to host a meeting of aid donors.
Ban will be travelling to the delta after he arrives in the country on Wednesday.
Junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe had previously refused to take calls from Ban and had ignored two letters.
State television has shown Than Shwe comforting victims. Other state-run media has blasted foreign critiques of cyclone relief efforts.
The government of Burma has said the losses from the disaster exceed $10 billion. -
Burma began three days of mourning for some 78,000 cyclone victims Tuesday, after its ruling junta appeared to relent to foreign pressure to allow more outside help for its storm survivors.
Flags at government offices, schools and large hotels were lowered to half staff to mourn for people killed by Cyclone Nargis on May 2-3. But there was no period of silence, shops were open as usual and many people in Rangoon said they had little idea of what the government-announced mourning entailed.
The mourning began a day after junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe met storm victims in the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta and declared that the regime had "promptly carried out rescue and rehabilitation tasks," according to state-owned media.
The general said the government, which has said it has spent more than $45.5 million on its relief operations, had met immediate needs such as food, shelter and health care and was now moving into the reconstruction phase.
But his assessment contrasted with ones from foreign aid agencies and the United Nations, which said that only some 500,000 of the 2.4 million storm victims have received some form of international assistance.
"It is clear that the emergency phase is set to continue for some time," the United Nations said.
And the regime did agree on Monday to allow its Asian neighbors to oversee the distribution of foreign relief to cyclone survivors. -
News Coverage on YouTube
SBS World News Australia (20/05/08)
Burma has begun three days of mourning for 133-thousand people dead or missing after Cyclone Nargis.
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