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Monks say 'If we have guns we will shoot back'
Clancy Chassay reports from inside Burma on plans for a new uprising against the military regime, and hears some monks calling for more western intervention and an armed insurrection Clancy Chassay reports from inside Burma on plans for a new uprising against the military regime, and hears some monks calling for mor... more
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'If we have guns we will shoot back'
Guardian reports from inside Burma on plans for a new uprising against the military regime, and hears some monks calling for more western intervention and an an armed insurrection. Guardian reports from inside Burma on plans for a new uprising against the military regime, and hears some monks calling for more west... more
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Burmese opposition ready to escalate pro-democracy fight
Members of Burma's battered and disparate opposition are growing disillusioned with the old methods of the pro-democracy movement and are seeking ways to escalate their armed struggle with the help of covert western support.
"There is a very real debate among us about how to begin a more sustained armed struggle," an organiser of last September's failed uprising told the Guardian. "We are ready for that kind of action, if we can get the supplies and training that we need." Members of Burma's battered and disparate opposition are growing disillusioned with the old methods of the pro-democracy movement and ... more -
Burmese Woman Abused
Image of Malaysia’s secret immigration prison near the Thai-Malay border (Blantik Camp). (More than 120 Burmese are being detained here before deportation.)
Three Burmese women who went to work legally in Malaysia two years ago are being detained pending deportation after they lodged a complaint with police about sexual harassment and mistreatment in the workplace.
But on June 11, they filed a complaint with their local Brickfields police station that their kitchen supervisor had harassed and threatened them after they refused his sexual advances.
Police detained the women's supervisor on June 14, following the complaint. Local rights groups said they also found the electrical device which they alleged he used to threaten them. But then, the tables were turned once more, campaigners said.
"On the 17th, they revoked their work permits, and the immigration department arrested the women," he said.
Florida Sandanasamy, program coordinator for rights group Tenaganita, called on the government to justify sending the women for deportation.
"This is not against any of the immigration laws. However, not only did the immigration arrest them, they also put them in the immigration prison and are now even arranging for their deportation," Sandanasamy said.
Burmese migrant workers in Malaysia live at the mercy of international human-trafficking gangs who sell them back and forth as slave labor with the full knowledge of Malaysian and Thai immigration officials, according to a series of investigative reports by RFA's Burmese service.
Thousands of Burmese find themselves stuck in a human rights no-man's-land after losing their legal status, often because employers withhold passports or refuse to pay their return airfare.
Reports of mistreatment and substandard living conditions within Malaysia's little-known immigration prisons are rife, as undocumented migrants are detained for indefinite periods.
Conditions in the detention centers have sparked protests, complaints to Malaysia's human rights body, riots and breakouts. Immigration officers often stage raids on suspected illegal immigrants using volunteer security forces who have wide-ranging powers, the right to bear arms, and little professional training.
Image of Malaysia’s secret immigration prison near the Thai-Malay border (Blantik Camp). (More than 120 Burmese are being detained her... more -
Burmese Farmer's Debt Trap
“THE thought of crop failure worries me so much,” said Win Tun, an elderly farmer, squatting on a bank in his unplowed field under the scorching sun. “I’m afraid the next cyclone that hits us will be the spiral of debt.”
Win Tun is not alone. There are thousands of farmers in the Irrawaddy delta whose land has been inundated with seawater and who have lost their traditional “machinery”—cattle and buffaloes—in the cyclone that struck on May 2-3.
An estimated 780,000 hectares (almost 2 million acres) of agrarian land was ruined and more than 200,000 cattle and buffaloes died in the cyclone.
Normally, a farmer’s greatest fear is that a crop fails or yields a poor harvest. Missing a season is unthinkable. A farmer would have to work for nothing and buy everything on credit.
According to farmers, there should be an interval between plowing and planting. Traditionally they wait for several days after plowing so that the fields are in the best condition for seeds to grow. The last opportunity for planting this year was around the end of June. Farmers without seeds or the ability to plow their fields before the monsoon set in will miss out on a harvest in November—with dire financial consequences.
The next headache farmers face is employing workers to help in the fields. So many people were killed or have relocated since the cyclone that there is already a drastic shortage of labor. Others are too traumatized by the disaster and are afraid to return to farms and villages near the sea.
“Even if we offer higher wages for working on our farms, we will still not get enough laborers,” farmer Tint Lwin said.
Farmers often prefer to pay workers by giving them a certain number of baskets of rice. Without any rice in storage, this will be impossible this year.
Then there is the lack of fertilizer. Traditionally, many Burmese farmers spread the manure of cattle or buffalo on their fields. Without livestock or money, farmers have no natural fertilizer and are forced, yet again, to borrow.
If farmers have to buy rice seeds on credit, they encounter an additional dilemma. The seeds the authorities provide may be inferior or might not grow well in the delta conditions. Most farmers are not confident about working with different kinds of seeds.
To compound their misery, many farmers believe they will not be given loans if they have no equity. Normally they can guarantee a loan with their farm or equipment, but farmers who lost everything in the cyclone have nothing of value to use as collateral. “THE thought of crop failure worries me so much,” said Win Tun, an elderly farmer, squatting on a bank in his unplowed field under the... more -
Burmese Beg for Tourists to Return
When a taxi carrying two Westerners pulled up this past week at the Shwe Sin hotel at the Chaung Tha beach resort in Myanmar's cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta region, cheers rang out from local residents and workers.
The two were congratulated for being the first foreigners to set foot in town since Cyclone Nargis slammed ashore last month, wiping entire villages off the map and killing an estimated 78,000 people.
The disaster, and the military government's "stay-away" attitude toward foreign aid workers and reporters, has scared off tourists, adding to the area's woes.
With little prospect of filling his 41 empty seaside bungalows, Shwe Sin hotel's assistant manager Ko Tin Oo appealed to his sole foreign guests, an Australian and a French national, to encourage their friends and family to travel to Myanmar.
"Tell everyone you know that Myanmar people need foreign people," he said as he switched on the evening's entertainment, an amateur video of Cyclone Nargis featuring cyclone-toppled trees, crushed houses and bloated bodies floating in flood waters. When a taxi carrying two Westerners pulled up this past week at the Shwe Sin hotel at the Chaung Tha beach resort in Myanmar's cyclone... more -
Burma fair to muddling in wake of savage blow
BOGALAY, Burma: Two months after a cyclone savaged the fertile Irrawaddy Delta, in Burma's south-west, the bones of drowned victims still clutter the muddy banks of waterways.
One bamboo stick at a time, survivors in hundreds of flattened villages are struggling to rebuild their homes. For shelter, they squeeze several families into a single tent. For drinking water, they collect monsoon rainwater that trickles off tarpaulin roof coverings into buckets or salvaged ceramic vases. For food, they cook communal meals with rice, beans and oil from hand-outs. Sometimes it is spoiled.
In one village, survivors kept up a steady pace of sawing and hammering at planks salvaged from the wreckage.
"To work is to be busy, and to be busy helps them forget," said Soe, the village leader.
BOGALAY, Burma: Two months after a cyclone savaged the fertile Irrawaddy Delta, in Burma's south-west, the bones of drowned victims st... more -
Children's drawings of Cyclone Nargis
The Burmese children’s drawings bear silent eloquent witness to the devastating experiences that they and their families went through during the cyclone and its immediate aftermath.
Now the problem facing the Cyclone victims is getting rice seed, getting their fields cleaned and ready for planting, they have to do this even while there are still carcasses of dead animals and some of the bodies of their community members still lying in the fields and their homes are not yet rebuilt. The Burmese children’s drawings bear silent eloquent witness to the devastating experiences that they and their families went through ... more -
Dozens die in Myanmar ferry sinking
A ferry sank in a river in Myanmar's cyclone-battered Irrawaddy delta, killing nearly 40 people, state-media reported Friday.
The motorized ship sank in the Yway river Tuesday after water entered its stern section, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported. The report did not give details on how the accident happened.
The newspaper said 38 people were killed and 44 others rescued.
The ferry, named "Myo Pa Pa Tun," was traveling from Pakeikkyi village to Myaungmya, about 94 miles west of Yangon, the newspaper said.
Myaungmya was not badly affected by Cyclone Nargis, which left a swath of death and devastation in the delta when it struck in early May. More than 84,000 died in the storm.
People living in Myanmar's vast delta region often travel and transport goods by boat because of the lower cost and inaccessibility of many areas by road.
Boat accidents are common in the river deltas and coastal regions of Myanmar. In May, a ferry collided with another passenger boat in Twantay canal near Yangon killing at least 6 people.
A ferry sank in a river in Myanmar's cyclone-battered Irrawaddy delta, killing nearly 40 people, state-media reported Friday. ... more -
Myanmar journalist arrested for burying cyclone dead
Aung Kyaw San, editor of the Myanmar Tribune, was arrested on June 15 along with 16 other people who had volunteered to help bury the cyclone dead, Aung Kyaw San, editor of the Myanmar Tribune, was arrested on June 15 along with 16 other people who had volunteered to help bury the ... more
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Burma blocks emergency telecoms
Two teams of foreign aid workers dedicated to delivering emergency telecoms in disaster areas have been forced to leave cyclone-hit Burma.
The members of Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) left the country after attempts to reach affected areas were blocked.
The charity, which described the situation as "unprecedented", said it had no other choice but to leave.
TSF finally reached Burma on 1 June after waiting nearly a month to be granted visas to enter the country.
"The frustration is that we were allowed into the country but not allowed to deploy," TSF spokesman Oisin Walton told BBC News.
Many international charities were allowed into Burma following a visit to the area by UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon.
But repeated attempts to get the necessary authorisation to visit affected areas such as the Irrawaddy Delta, were met with a wall of silence.
"We got no reply at all," said Mr Walton.
Time lags
TSF is a specialist agency which works with the UN to provide communication support to aid agencies and local people. Its presence was requested by Unicef following Cyclone Nargis on 2 May. Two teams of foreign aid workers dedicated to delivering emergency telecoms in disaster areas have been forced to leave cyclone-hit Bu... more -
The real disaster in Burma
Ricky Gervais features in this video showing why "The Real Disaster In Burma is The Government".
In the wake of the devastating Cyclone Nargis that hit Burma on 2 May, more than one million people are homeless, up to 128,000 killed. This natural disaster was turned into a man-made catastrophe by Burma's brutal regime. They blocked international aid and left thousands without food, shelter or medicine. The real disaster in Burma is the government.
Ricky Gervais features in this video showing why "The Real Disaster In Burma is The Government". ... more -
A Clip from today's Myanmar Newspaper
My wife is coordinating the relief efforts in Myanmar and her team there just scanned this page from today's newspaper. It's sobering to see how the government is still trying to manipulate its people after they've been through so much. My wife is coordinating the relief efforts in Myanmar and her team there just scanned this page from today's newspaper. It's sobering ... more
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Myanmar says US aid can't be trusted
There are so many valid reasons to be this suspicious of U.S. intentions. How many lives will be lost over this distrust?
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Burma: It Can't Wait- I Will Be Light by Matisyahu
An amazing artist, supporting and raising awareness for the U.S. Campaign for Burma.
RAISE YOUR VOICE and support this campaign by checking out their website!
http://www.burmaitcantwait.org/burmaitcantwait/
An amazing artist, supporting and raising awareness for the U.S. Campaign for Burma. ... more -
Doctors Without Borders:Survivors of Cyclone Nargis Still Living in Dire Condition...
MSF medical staff have in the past month carried out more 17,000 consultations, with an average of 500 per day in the last week of May. At first, more than half the patients were treated for injuries caused by the cyclone, but very soon other pathologies linked to the dire conditions in which people lived dominated the consultations. Some MSF teams have seen a high number of respiratory infections and cases of diarrhea, which could be linked to a lack of access to clean water, absence of shelters, and exposure to heavy rains in recent weeks.
"In many areas, especially where death rates have been high, we are seeing more and more people suffering from mental health problems," says Alena Koscalova, MSF medical coordinator in Yangon. "Some can not talk anymore, others are highly depressed after they lost their loved ones. In the coming weeks, we will try to address this problem by giving trauma counseling and psycho-social support with mental health specialists."
Over a three month period, MSF expects to carry out around 50,000 consultations at a rate of 500 per day. MSF aims to respond to any disease outbreaks within 24 hours of the reports and to ensure that any patients with severe health problems will be referred to secondary level health facilities. So far, no disease outbreak or alarming rates of malnutrition were reported by MSF’s 36 mobile teams in the delta.
Four weeks after the relief operations started, food, shelter, and access to clean water and remain the biggest needs of the victims. Food supplies have been largely insufficient as specialized agencies have not been able to set up proper distribution channels and in many areas, people have barely received enough to survive, if anything at all. Tens of thousands of people have seen their houses destroyed, lost all their properties and food reserves and have to rely on external assistance.
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Doctors Without Borders is truly one of the most extraordinary organizations on this planet. No matter where tragedy strikes they are there to give aid and life to those who suffer regardless of what they need. While I feel helpless in being able to do as much as I would like to help these people, I know that through helping DWB I am helping them and that gives me peace of mind.
If you wish to help the people of Burma, Doctors Without Borders is for sure a good way to get that help to them. This is another tragedy that I fear is falling out of the consciousness of people now that the initial news cycle is over. However, millions still suffer and the international community must then in my opinion step up and hold the military junta in Burma accountable for the deaths of those who did not receive aid in time due to their dictatorial rule of this country. MSF medical staff have in the past month carried out more 17,000 consultations, with an average of 500 per day in the last week of May... more -
1.5 million survivors in Myanmar without shelter
A severe shortage of housing has left hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors in Myanmar exposed to heavy rain as the monsoon season begins, aid agencies said Saturday.
The United Nations and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said there was an urgent need for tarpaulins to provide temporary shelter to an estimated 1.5 million homeless survivors. Otherwise, the threats of hunger and disease could intensify, they warned.
"Exposure to the elements five weeks after a disaster of this magnitude has to be a major concern," said John Sparrow, a spokesman for the IFRC. "People are in a weakened condition. They are sick; they are hungry. Without shelter, their whole situation is seriously exacerbated."
Sparrow estimated that only a quarter of those who need shelter materials have been reached.
The U.N. estimates 2.4 million people were affected when Cyclone Nargis hit May 2-3, and warns that more than 1 million still need help, mostly in the hard-to-reach Irrawaddy delta.
John Holmes, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said "relatively few" of those survivors who were badly affected by the storm have not received any sort of aid. But he said the U.N.'s effort needs to be stepped up because many survivors still need help and supplies.
"I think people are getting to all the main places, although it's not always as easy as it should be," he said. "There's no evidence of starvation at the moment, although as I say many people are still in significant need of aid."
U.N. officials and aid groups have criticized the regime for hindering access to the delta, saying it has prevented enough food, water and shelter from reaching desperate survivors.
The U.N. also said Saturday that a lack of funding was hindering the aid effort, with only $20 million of the required $50 million received to finance logistic efforts that allow it to extend aid operations into remote regions.
A severe shortage of housing has left hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors in Myanmar exposed to heavy rain as the monsoon seaso... more -
Myanmar detains activist Comedian
U Maung Thura, a popular comedian in Myanmar was detained by police after carrying out private campaigns to help survivors of last months cyclone. Police raided his house and seized computer files which showed things the military government would prefer the world doesn't see, including videos of the cyclone victims and also video of the "Champagne and diamonds" wedding of a senior general's daughter. U Maung Thura, a popular comedian in Myanmar was detained by police after carrying out private campaigns to help survivors of last mon... more
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Cyclone Nargis Fundraiser
We are launching an Appeal, to raise $500,000 (CDN) online for emergency aid in response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. You can use the link below to donate by credit card, so that those in need will receive your money faster. If you are a Canadian taxpayer, the government will match $1 to every dollar of your donation until June 11th, 2008 at no extra cost to you. We are launching an Appeal, to raise $500,000 (CDN) online for emergency aid in response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. ... more
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US Navy withdraws ships after Burma rebuffs aid
The US military has ordered a flotilla of naval vessels packed with emergency aid for Burma to leave after the country's military regime refused to allow the ships to dock.
Fifteen separate attempts to obtain the junta's permission to help with relief efforts were refused during the month after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country. Admiral Timothy Keating, the senior US commander in the Pacific, said: "Should the Burmese rulers have a change of heart and request our full assistance for their suffering we are prepared to help."
The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that more than half of all the people living in the devastated Irrawaddy delta have received no aid from local or international aid groups. It is unclear what support has been provided by the Burmese military. The US military has ordered a flotilla of naval vessels packed with emergency aid for Burma to leave after the country's military regi... more
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