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HEADLINES
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AP - US aid ships could soon leave Myanmar coast
AP - Gates slams Myanmar over response to aid offers
AP - Gates: Decision to pull US ships from Myanmar coast will come within days
AP - Myanmar criticized for plan to reopen some schools a month after cyclone
AP - Myanmar junta defends cyclone response as 'prompt,' with schools set to reopen
AP - Aid workers still waiting to enter Myanmar's delta
Reuters - Myanmar defends cyclone response
AFP - More will die unless Myanmar changes approach: Gates
AFP - Cyclone aid drips in but Myanmar still wary of foreign help
CNA - Myanmar says cyclone aid must have "no strings attached"
Bernama - Myanmar cyclone tragety - 2
Bernama - Myanmar cyclone tragety acid test for ASEAN's capability in helping members, says Najib.
Bkk Post - Burmese still suffering, says Thai medical team
Mizzima News - Burma allows entry to aid workers at snail's pace

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U aid ships could soon leave Myanmar coast
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jun 1, 8:11 AM ET

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in Thailand Sunday as anti-government protesters raise the specter of a military coup, urged top leaders to maintain democratic rule.

A senior U.S. official traveling with Gates said the secretary sent a clear message to Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and about a dozen high ranking military officers. The official said Gates told them that the relationship between the U.S. and Thailand's militaries is "based upon shared democratic values."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private. But earlier in the day Gates told reporters that he planned to make that point to the Thai leaders.

"We want to see a democratically elected government, and we will convey that message," Gates said prior to his meeting. He added that the trip had been planned for a long time and to cancel because of the demonstrations would be an unwelcome and possibly not useful signal to the country.

Officials said Gates saw no protesters or signs of unrest during his travel to and from the defense ministry.

The 45-minute session came as the protesters vowed to keep up their demonstrations until Samak steps down. Protesters charge that Samak is little more than a puppet for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 military coup.

On Saturday Samak had threatened to use riot police to forcibly remove the protesters, but on Sunday said authorities would relocate the protesters without force. He did not say when that move would take place.

The bulk of the meeting with Samak on Sunday, however, dealt with the crisis in Myanmar. Later this year Thailand will assume the leadership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Samak told Gates that he will continue to press the military junta in Myanmar to accept greater humanitarian assistance from the international community, the official said.

Samak told Gates the Myanmar government may be fearful that opening up its country even just to receive relief supplies could be perceived as an invasion or threat to their rule.

Gates has questioned the lack of power ASEAN and its members have had in convincing the Myanmar government to allow U.S. Navy ships and helicopters to deliver much needed supplies to the cyclone victims.

Gates told reporters that he will make a decision within "a matter of days" to withdraw U.S. Navy ships from the coast of Myanmar, because "it's becoming pretty clear the regime is not going to let us help."

As a result, he said many more people will die, particularly those in areas that can only be reached by helicopters, such as those sitting idle on the U.S. ships.

Asked if the military junta there is guilty of genocide, Gates said, "I tend to see genocide more as a purposeful elimination of people, this is more akin, in my view, to criminal neglect."

Speaking to reporters at the close of an international security conference in Singapore, Gates said the Myanmar representative at the forum did not seem interested in speaking with him. But, he said "it was interesting to watch as minister after minister described their respective unhappiness at their inability to get assistance in to Burma."

It was particularly pointed, he said, since Chinese officials thanked other countries for the help provided after the earthquake in China.

Still, Gates affirmed again that there is unanimous opposition in the international community to forcing aid to the Myanmar people suffering in the wake of the devastating cyclone that struck in early May.

"There is great sensitivity all over the world to violating a country's sovereignty, " Gates said. "Particularly in the absence of some kind of U.N. umbrella that would authorize it." Asked if that sensitivity is linked to the controversy surrounding the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Gates said he has heard no one make that connection.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that even when the decision is made to pull the four U.S. Navy ships off the coast, the vessels will move away slowly enough to turn back if there is an unexpected change of heart by the Myanmar government.

Gates comments came a day after he made his strongest public condemnation of the Myanmar government at the conference, saying that Myanmar's rulers "have kept their hands in their pockets" while other countries sought to help cyclone victims.

The widespread displeasure with the Myanmar government was clear at the conference, coming up in nearly all conversations among leaders. Gates met with his top Pacific commander Saturday to discuss the timing of a U.S. Navy pullout. A final decision still has not been made.

Gates is on a weeklong trip through Asia. After his stop in Thailand, he will travel to South Korea.

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Gates slams Myanmar over response to aid offers
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
Sat May 31, 1:51 PM ET

SINGAPORE (AP) - Myanmar's rulers "have kept their hands in their pockets" while other countries sought to help cyclone victims, the Pentagon chief said Saturday, branding the military government as "deaf and dumb" for obstructing aid efforts.

Despite the dire situation, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at an international security conference that the U.S. will not force assistance on the country.

He also said the next U.S. administration would maintain a strong commitment to Asia and the rest of the world, no matter what political party won the fall election.

The speech focused heavily on Asia, with subtle calls for China to work more amiably and fairly with other Pacific nations. It was when Gates discussed Myanmar that he was the most emotional.

"We have reached out, frankly, to Myanmar multiple times during this crisis in very direct ways," the Pentagon chief said. "It's not been us that have been deaf and dumb in response to the pleas of the international community, but the government of Myanmar. We have reached out, they have kept their hands in their pockets."

He said the government's obstruction of international efforts has cost "tens of thousands of lives."

U.S., British and French Navy ships off the coast of Myanmar are poised to leave because the government has blocked them from delivering assistance. Gates said the U.S. will not bring in supplies by force without permission of the government and will continue to "respect the sovereignty" of Myanmar.

The growing displeasure with the Myanmar government was clear at the conference, coming up in nearly all conversations among leaders. Gates met with his top Pacific commander Saturday to discuss the possible U.S. Navy pullout; a final decision has not been made.

In the speech, Gates said the next U.S. president will inherit the worrisome issue of North Korea's nuclear ambitions but will continue America's commitment to Asia.

While he said he could not make specific policy predictions for the next administration, Gates said there will be "no change in our drive to temper North Korea's ambitions, a policy not possible without China's valued cooperation. "

Despite the often divergent views of the Republican and Democratic candidates, Gates said he is confident that the strong U.S. ties to Asia will continue regardless of who wins in November.

When a questioner suggested that the U.S. may not have the time, money or energy to maintain interest in Asia, he quoted former President Ford, saying, "We ought to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time."

On China, Gates extended a hand while also offering a subtle but somber warning.

Gates noted improved relations with the communist power. He said leaders have begun discussions on issues to "help us understand one another better and to avoid possible misunderstanding. "

A long-sought direct telephone link between the U.S. and China has been established, and Gates said he used it recently to speak with the defense minister.

Yet Gates took unmistakable jabs without mentioning China by name. For example, he urged greater openness about military modernization in Asia.

In recent annual reports, the Pentagon has criticized China for its massive military buildup, saying its motives and spending are unclear.

"We desire to work with every country in Asia to deepen our understanding of their military and defense finances, and to do so on a reciprocal basis," Gates said.
Lack of such clarity, Gates said, can lead to outright suspicion.

In response, the top ranking Chinese official at the forum took aim at U.S. missile defense policies — which include plans for anti-missile defenses with Japan, as well as the deployment of missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff for the People's Liberation Army, said developing such an offensive — rather than purely defensive — system could tip the balance of power and threaten peace.

"We do not support either side to take the initiative to break the balance," he said. He also dismissed claims that China's military is dramatically expanding.

Gates' next stops were in Thailand and South Korea.

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Gates: Decision to pull US ships from Myanmar coast will come within days
By LOLITA C. BALDOR,Associated Press Writer
AP - Monday, June 2

SINGAPORE - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday he will make a decision in a matter of days to withdraw U.S. Navy ships from the coast of Myanmar, because "it's becoming pretty clear the regime is not going to let us help."

As a result, he said, many more people will die, particularly those in areas that can only be reached by helicopters, such as those sitting idle on the U.S. ships.

Asked if the ruling military there is guilty of genocide, Gates said, "I tend to see genocide more as a purposeful elimination of people, this is more akin, in my view, to criminal neglect."

Speaking to reporters at the close of an international security conference here, Gates said the Myanmar representative at the forum did not seem interested in speaking with him. But, he said "it was interesting to watch as minister after minister described their respective unhappiness at their inability to get assistance into Burma."

Still, Gates said there was unanimous opposition among the international community to forcing aid to the Myanmar people suffering in the wake of the devastating cyclone that struck in early May.

Cyclone Nargis killed 78,000 people and left another 56,000 missing.

"There is great sensitivity all over the world to violating a country's sovereignty, " Gates said. "Particularly in the absence of some kind of U.N. umbrella that would authorize it." Asked if that sensitivity is linked to the controversy surrounding the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Gates said he has heard no one make that connection.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said even when the decision is made to pull the four U.S. Navy ships off the coast, the vessels will move away slowly enough to turn back if there is an unexpected change of heart by the Myanmar government.

On Saturday Gates said Myanmar's rulers "have kept their hands in their pockets" while other countries sought to help cyclone victims. He said the government's obstruction of international aid efforts has cost "tens of thousands of lives."

The widespread displeasure with the Myanmar government was clear at the conference, coming up in nearly all conversations among leaders. Gates met with his top Pacific commander Saturday to discuss the timing of a U.S. Navy pullout. A final decision still has not been made.

Gates flew to Thailand on Sunday following the conference.

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Myanmar criticized for plan to reopen some schools a month after cyclone
AP - Sunday, June 1

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's plan to reopen schools this week in the country's cyclone-devasted delta region could do more harm than good, aid groups said Sunday, a day after the government came under criticism for forcing cyclone survivors out of shelters.

The government has said that it will reopen some of the schools damaged in the cyclone on Monday, while others will reopen in July.

The U.N. Children's Fund says that more than 4,000 schools serving 1.1 million children were damaged or destroyed by the storm and more than 100 teachers were killed. The government plans to train volunteer teachers and hold some classes in camps and other temporary sites, UNICEF says.

Gary Walker, spokesman for the U.K. charity Plan, said Sunday that if schools are reopened too early it could put children at risk.

"What is normally a safe space can become an unsafe space," Walker said. "Sending (children) to what can be unsafe buildings with ill-trained and ill-equipped teachers can actually set them back rather than leading them on a road to speedy recovery."

Anupama Rao Singh, UNICEF's regional director, said recently that reopening schools in the delta Monday "may be too ambitious," since construction materials were still on the way and there was not enough time to rebuild schools and train new teachers.

The reopening of schools comes precisely one month after the May 2-3 Cyclone Nargis battered Myanmar, killing 78,000 people and leaving another 56,000 missing. An estimated 2.4 million people remain homeless and hungry from the cyclone.

Some international aid agencies say they are still being blocked from sending foreign experts into the delta, despite the junta's pledge to open its doors to foreign aid workers. Other aid groups say their staffers are meeting survivors deep in the delta who have not received any help since the storm hit.

Meanwhile, the junta has come under sharp criticism for kicking homeless cyclone survivors out of shelters and sending them back to their devastated villages.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of displaced people also have been expelled from schools, monasteries and public buildings where they had been taken refuge, Human Rights Watch said Saturday.

"The forced evictions are part of government efforts to demonstrate that the emergency relief period is over and that the affected population is capable of rebuilding their lives without foreign assistance," Human Rights Watch said.

Anupama Rao Singh, UNICEF's regional director, who recently visited affected areas, warned Saturday against premature resettlement, even if it's voluntary.

"Many of the villages remain inundated with water, making it difficult to rebuild," she said. "There is also a real risk that once they are resettled, they will be invisible to aid workers.

Without support and continued service to those affected, there is a risk of a second wave of disease and devastation. "

In the nation's biggest city, Yangon, there were eyewitness reports of one such eviction from a Christian church that was providing refuge to more than 400 cyclone victims from a delta township, Labutta.

"It was a scene of sadness, despair and pain," said a church official at the Yangon Karen Baptist Home Missions in Yangon, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of official reprisals. He said the survivors were evicted Friday following orders from authorities a day earlier.

All the refuge seekers except some pregnant women, two young children and those with severe illnesses left the church in 11 trucks Friday morning.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates added his voice Saturday to critics of the junta's handling of the humanitarian crisis, calling the government "deaf and dumb" over its refusal to accept outside help.

"We have reached out, frankly, to Myanmar multiple times during this crisis in very direct ways," Gates said during an international security conference in Singapore. "We have reached out, they have kept their hands in their pockets."

The generals' obstruction of international efforts to help cyclone victims cost "tens of thousands of lives," he said.

Shortly after the cyclone struck, the U.S., France and Britain sent warships loaded with relief supplies, but the Myanmar regime has refused to let them land, apparently fearing a foreign invasion.

With U.S. ships off Myanmar's coast poised to leave because they have been blocked from delivering assistance to the ravaged country, Gates vowed that the U.S. will keep trying to deliver aid.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, the government's mouthpiece, reported nothing Sunday about the junta's troubled relief effort. Instead, it heaped praise on the country's leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe for his handling of the disaster.

"His loving kindness and goodwill for the people is much better than that which a parent has for his children," the newspaper said. "As a matter of fact, he is dedicating his life to a prosperous future of the nation's over 57 million population."

Than Shwe faced international criticism for waiting until two weeks after the storm hit to survey the damage and visit survivors in the delta.

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Myanmar junta defends cyclone response as 'prompt,' with schools set to reopen
AP - Monday, June 2

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's military junta insisted Sunday that it promptly provided relief after Cyclone Nargis and said recovery from the catastrophe will be "speedy" _ an apparent response to global outrage over the junta's slowness in helping its people.

Deputy Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Aye Myint made the comments in Singapore, as Myanmar authorities back home pushed ahead with plans to open schools Monday in several cyclone-battered areas _ a move that aid groups fear could put children in harm's way.

Aye Myint told an international security conference that the military junta broadcast warnings about the May 2-3 cyclone more than a week in advance and moved quickly to rescue and provide relief to the estimated 2.4 million survivors.

"Due to the prompt work" of the military government, food, water and medicine were provided to all victims, the defense minister said. "I believe the resettlement and rehabilitation process will be speedy."

The comments came a day after the junta came under sharp criticism for kicking homeless cyclone survivors out of shelters and sending them back to their devastated villages.

Some international aid agencies said they were still being blocked from sending foreign experts into the hard-hit Irrawaddy River delta, despite the junta's pledge to open its doors to
foreign aid workers. Other aid groups said their staffers were meeting survivors deep in the delta who have not received any help since the storm hit.

In its struggle to return to normalcy, the junta planned to reopen many schools Monday in areas hit by the cyclone, though some were scheduled to reopen in July.

UNICEF said more than 4,000 schools serving 1.1 million children were damaged or totally destroyed by the storm and more than 100 teachers were killed. As a result, the government planned to train volunteer teachers and hold some classes in camps and other temporary sites, the U.N. Children's Fund said.

"What is normally a safe space can become an unsafe space," said Gary Walker, a spokesman for the U.K. charity Plan. "Sending (children) to what can be unsafe buildings with ill-trained and ill-equipped teachers can actually set them back rather than leading them on a road to speedy recovery."

Anupama Rao Singh, UNICEF's regional director, said that reopening schools in the delta Monday "may be too ambitious," since construction materials were still on the way and there was not enough time to rebuild schools and train new teachers.

Cyclone Nargis killed 78,000 people and left another 56,000 missing.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of displaced people have recently been expelled from their temporary shelters in schools, monasteries and public buildings, Human Rights Watch said Saturday.

"The forced evictions are part of government efforts to demonstrate that the emergency relief period is over and that the affected population is capable of rebuilding their lives without foreign assistance," Human Rights Watch said.

In the nation's biggest city, Yangon, there were eyewitness reports of one such eviction from a Christian church that was providing refuge to more than 400 cyclone victims from the delta township of Labutta.

"It was a scene of sadness, despair and pain," a church official at the Yangon Karen Baptist Home Missions in Yangon said on condition of anonymity for fear of official reprisals. He said the survivors were evicted Friday on orders from authorities.

On Sunday, Aye Myint reiterated the junta's official stance of welcoming international aid.

"We would warmly welcome any assistance and aid which are provided with genuine goodwill from any country or organizations provided there are no strings attached," he said.

Shortly after the cyclone struck, the U.S., France and Britain sent warships loaded with relief supplies, but the Myanmar regime has refused to let them land, apparently fearing a foreign invasion.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday in Singapore he would make a decision within "a matter of days" to withdraw the U.S. Navy ships from the coast of Myanmar, because "it's becoming pretty clear the regime is not going to let us help."

As a result, he said many more people will die, particularly those in areas that can only be reached by helicopters.

The comments from Gates came a day after he made his strongest public condemnation of the Myanmar government, which he called "deaf and dumb" over its refusal to accept outside help.

He said Myanmar's rulers "have kept their hands in their pockets" while other countries sought to help cyclone victims.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, the government's mouthpiece, reported nothing Sunday about the junta's troubled relief effort. Instead, it heaped praise on the country's leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, for his handling of the disaster.

"His loving kindness and goodwill for the people is much better than that which a parent has for his children," the newspaper said. "As a matter of fact, he is dedicating his life to a prosperous future of the nation's over 57 million population."

Than Shwe has faced international criticism for waiting until two weeks after the storm hit to survey the damage and visit survivors in the delta.

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Aid workers still waiting to enter Myanmar's delta
By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jun 1, 12:52 AM ET

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Myanmar needs more than food and shelter. It needs human expertise for everything from cleaning water to mental health counseling — and right now, those experts can't get to the hard-hit delta.

Dozens of aid workers from UNICEF, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other groups are still stuck in Yangon, the nation's largest city, without the required travel permits to leave for the delta region.

These workers include Red Cross water quality engineers, for example, to train their local counterparts to run major drinking water treatment plants.

"The priority is drinking water," UNICEF spokeswoman Shantha Bloemen said Friday.

For the first several weeks after Cyclone Nargis struck May 2-3, few of the more than 2 million survivors received any help. Myanmar's government only has about 15 transport planes that cannot carry tons of food and up to 40 aging helicopters, many not working, experts say.

Foreign aid agencies are now trying to get in not just trucks and helicopters, but also workers with experience from dealing with disasters like the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2005 Pakistani earthquake.

"It's not about extra pairs of hands; there are special skills that are required," said Richard Horsey, a spokesman for the U.N. humanitarian effort that is trying, like other groups, to reach the country's flooded Irrawaddy delta.

Relief officials say they are poised to:

• Set up dozens of drinking water treatment plants in the delta and operate hand pumps and other equipment to desalinate wells and fields contaminated by the saltwater tidal surge.
• Send in health and nutrition experts to track disease and to identify acute cases of malnutrition, particularly in children, and mental health counselors.
• Join local teams to conduct emergency assessments of just what help is most needed, including food, water, shelter and medicine, and how many schools and other public facilities are required. UNICEF said Friday that more than 4,000 schools serving 1 million children were either damaged or destroyed.

Some people in Myanmar are already trained to deal with similar problems but not on such a large scale, said John Sparrow, Red Cross spokesman for the Asia-Pacific region.

"The kind of expertise you need doesn't come overnight, and that's why we need the expatriates in there," he said. Those who have handled multiple disasters will be able to reach more people and work more efficiently and quickly, he said.

On Saturday, a U.N. official warned Myanmar against prematurely resettling cyclone refugees, saying those who leave relief camps may not receive the aid they need and will become even more vulnerable to disease and the elements.

Human rights groups have lambasted Myanmar's military rulers, accusing them of kicking homeless cyclone survivors out of shelters. The U.S. defense secretary said the junta's blockage of international help has cost "tens of thousands of lives."

But Myanmar's deputy defense minister, Maj. Gen. Aye Myint, said Sunday that his government responded promptly to the emergency by opening relief camps, providing food and water to cyclone victims, restoring electricity and clearing roads.

Relief operations are now over and the government is now concentrating on rehabilitation and rebuilding, he told a security conference in Singapore.

Few countries can deal with such a huge disaster, let alone one of the poorest nations in Asia. Senior Gen. Than Shwe and other top generals who run the country have spent most of the money on the military's 400,000 soldiers.

But some foreign aid workers with a history of working in Myanmar say the government's resistance to foreign assistance also has sparked an impressive grass roots effort to deliver aid.
"It's come from the Myanmar people themselves," said Curt Bradner, who with his wife, Cathy, has been working on a water treatment project called Thirst-Aid the past two years in Myanmar.

"They may not be responding as quickly as the international community would like to see happen," he said of Myanmar's people. "But in their own way, they're really doing an excellent job. This is a country that is 300 years behind the rest of the world, in many respects. Only 7 percent of the country has electricity. It's astounding."

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Myanmar defends cyclone response
Reuters - Monday, June 2

YANGON - Myanmar's military junta on Sunday defended its response to Cyclone Nargis after stinging criticism from the United States, while a U.N. official said food supplies had yet to reach at least 200,000 people.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who has accused the regime of causing more deaths by stonewalling foreign aid, said on Sunday U.S. ships cruising near Myanmar could leave in a "matter of days" if they cannot deliver relief supplies.

Myanmar Deputy Defence Minister Aye Myint, in Singapore for a security conference also attended by Gates, insisted the government had acted swiftly and it was open to foreign aid with "no strings attached."

"Through the prompt and immediate supervision of the supervisory central body headed by the prime minister and member ministers, relief camps and hospitals were opened, debris was cleared, emergency power and water supply restored," Myint said.

State media had given plenty of advance warning of the May 2 cyclone, which left 134,000 dead or missing and up to 2.4 million others destitute, Myint told the annual gathering of security and defence officials in Singapore.

The former Burma has said the rescue and relief effort is largely over and it is focused on reconstruction. The United Nations has said the scale of the devastation meant the relief phase could last six months.

A major problem in delivering foreign aid has been an inability to get enough international aid workers into the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta due to visa hurdles and red tape.

"We haven't been able to get the whole mechanism going. Progress has been slow," Hakan Tongul, deputy director in Myanmar of the U.N.'s World Food Program, told Reuters in Yangon.

Around 500,000 people have received some food and water since the storm struck nearly a month ago, but another 200,000 have received no international help at all, he said.

"CRIMINAL NEGLECT"

Some 45 U.N. visa requests were approved after junta leader Senior General Than Shwe promised last week to allow in "all" legitimate foreign aid workers, but obstacles remain.

One western aid worker said on Saturday that a two-day processing period to enter the delta area, which had been earlier cut from two weeks, had now increased to three.

Speaking to reporters in Singapore, Gates, whose government is one of Myanmar's harshest critics, accused the generals of "criminal neglect".

Asked how much longer U.S. ships and helicopters would be deployed in the area, he said: "I think it's matter of days."

"No decision has been made at this point but I think they've obviously been out there steaming round in circles for a long time at this point," he added.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said southeast Asian nations, loathe to interfere in each other's affairs, should play a bigger role in a crisis that could be worse than the 2004 Asian tsunami which killed at least 232,000 people.

Nearly a month after the cyclone, some villagers are trying to rebuild their lives, including forming ad-hoc teams to dredge waterlogged fields, rebuild houses and organize food supplies.

"We're seeing a level of resilience and recovery that's unlike what we've seen before. They are moving onto the next phase of shoring up their lives," Steve Goudswaard of the charity World Vision said.

Authorities began evicting families from government-run cyclone relief centres on Friday, apparently fearing the 'tented villages' might become permanent.

"It's unconscionable for Burma's generals to force cyclone victims back to their devastated homes," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Some 39 camps in the immediate vicinity of Kyauktan, 30 km south of Yangon, were being cleared as part of a general eviction plan, cyclone survivors and aid workers said.

The evictions followed commentaries in the official media which have criticized donors' demands for access to the delta and said cyclone victims could "stand by themselves" and did not need "chocolate bars" from foreign countries.

The New Light of Myanmar said in an editorial that "people can easily get fish for dishes by just fishing in the fields and ditches". It also noted "large edible frogs are abundant".

Official papers have in the last few days have also carried more reports of Than Shwe's visits to the delta area, including photographs of the junta supremo comforting cyclone victims or giving "guidance" on the construction of roads.

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More will die unless Myanmar changes approach: Gates
AFP - Monday, June 2

BANGKOK (AFP) - - More people will perish in Myanmar's cyclone disaster zone unless the regime lifts restrictions on foreign aid, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned Sunday, accusing it of "criminal neglect."

Nearly a month after the storm tore through swathes of Myanmar, around 60 percent of the 2.4 million survivors remain without foreign aid, despite some opening-up by the military rulers after an intense UN-led diplomatic push.

The junta blocked entry to overseas aid workers in the critical days after Cyclone Nargis pummelled the impoverished nation on May 2-3, leaving 133,000 people dead or missing.

"Unless the regime changes its approach, its policy, more people will die," Gates said en route to Bangkok after a regional security forum in Singapore.

"I would describe it as criminal neglect."

Gates, who earlier said that Myanmar's initial delays could have cost tens of thousands of lives, added that the United States would decide within days whether to recall four US Navy ships waiting to deliver aid.

He said it was "becoming pretty clear" the junta would not accept military help from the United States, which has been a fierce critic of the regime.

The USS Essex and three other ships have been off the coast of Myanmar for more than two weeks with a dozen helicopters, landing craft and Marines, but have been refused permission to use them to distribute relief.

Supplies are slowly trickling through to worst-hit areas, but the generals -- notoriously suspicious of the West -- are wary of what is coming in.

"We would warmly welcome any assistance and aid which are provided with genuine goodwill from any country or organisation, provided that there are no strings attached, or politicisation involved," Deputy Defence Minister Aye Myint told the same forum in Singapore that Gates attended.

He said officials were now concentrating on reconstruction, with the junta estimating the cyclone caused more than 10 billion dollars in damage.

"For those groups who are interested in rehabilitation and reconstruction, we are ready to accept them in accordance with our priorities," he added.

That stance earned Aye Myint "a good old-fashioned ear-bashing" from donor nations represented at the conference, Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay told AFP, adding Myanmar appeared to be in "a state of denial."

MacKay said Canada and other nations have been ready to supply food, water, clothing, shelter and other basics, but "have met with considerable reticence and reluctance to let that relief flow."

While more foreign aid workers are now being allowed into Myanmar, they are finding it difficult to gain access to some of the hardest-hit areas -- where villagers say they have received little or no government help either.

What they are finding instead is that many people are still without clean water and at risk of disease.

With the monsoon rains now hitting hard, survivors are at increased risk of respiratory infections, MSF said in a statement.

Residents in the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta village of Kanzeik are only now getting the plastic sheets and clean water that should have arrived long ago.

"I was so happy once I saw the aid boat entering the village," said Kyaw, a 35-year-old villager with four children.

"I'm so glad that I got what I really need for my family now. At least our family can live safely under the rain for this year," he told AFP.

With crucial supplies now arriving, aid groups hope storm victims can think about returning to the fields in this key rice-growing area -- but many others in need of food, shelter and medicine still remain out of reach.

Aye Win, the UN's spokesman in Yangon, said about 41 percent of survivors, or close to one million people, had received some form of assistance.

"There have been some improvements" in access and visas, he added, "albeit not as much as would like them to be."

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Cyclone aid drips in but Myanmar still wary of foreign help
by Moe Moe Yu
Sun Jun 1, 2:21 AM ET

KANZEIK, Myanmar (AFP) - Nearly a month after a cyclone tore through swathes of Myanmar, residents in this Irrawaddy Delta village are only now getting the plastic sheets and clean water that should have arrived long ago.

As the village head screamed orders telling people to collect the supplies brought by foreign agencies, families who lived through Cyclone Nargis needed little encouragement -- queuing up outside the monastery within minutes.

"I was so happy once I saw the aid boat entering the village," Kyaw, a 35-year-old villager with four children, told AFP in the badly-hit village of Kanzeik.

"I'm so glad that I got what I really need for my family now. At least our family can live safely under the rain for this year."

In the crucial days immediately after the May 2-3 cyclone, which left 133,000 people dead or missing, Myanmar's ruling military junta blocked entry to overseas aid workers trying to reach some 2.4 million survivors.

Supplies are now trickling through to worst-hit areas following intense UN diplomacy, but the junta, notoriously suspicious of the West, is still wary of what is coming in.

"We would warmly welcome any assistance and aid which are provided with genuine goodwill from any country or organisation, provided that there are no strings attached, or politicisation involved," Deputy Defence Minister Aye Myint told a forum in Singapore on Sunday.

He said officials were now concentrating on reconstruction after a cyclone which the junta estimates caused more than 10 billion dollars in damage.

"For those groups who are interested in rehabilitation and reconstruction, we are ready to accept them in accordance with our priorities," he added.

But aid workers already in the impoverished country and heading to remote villages are still finding people without clean water and at risk of disease.

"We hope the aid to the delta region can increase. Even already it has been 25 days after the storm -- people still need help," said one aid worker with the Japan branch of Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

With the monsoon rains now hitting hard, survivors are at increased risk of respiratory infections, MSF said in a statement.

And although more visas are being issued to foreign staff, they said it was still not enough.

"Normally, in a situation like this, MSF would send in a lot more international staff with experience in emergency response to natural disasters," the group said.

"Our aid effort has been hampered by restrictions on international staff presence in the delta."

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Saturday criticised the regime's delay in allowing in foreign aid, saying US ships and aircraft could have swiftly brought much-needed relief to the cyclone-hit nation.

The delays, he told the security forum in Singapore, could have cost "tens of thousands of lives".

The International Labour Organisation said it was now concerned the junta could use forced labour to rebuild areas of the country devastated by Cyclone Nargis, and must be closely watched over.

There is an "increased risk of incidences of forced labour, child labour, human trafficking and migrant labour" following the disaster, the UN organisation said in a report out of Yangon presented Saturday.

With crucial supplies now arriving, aid groups hope storm victims can think about returning to the fields in this key rice-growing area.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned that the next rice planting season must go ahead in early June to prevent a food shortage.

"I am so thankful for all the support -- the food, shelter and clothes provided from different donors," said one paddy field worker. "Because of their care to us, I can go back to work once the rice fields are ready."

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Myanmar says cyclone aid must have "no strings attached"
Channel NewsAsia - Sunday, June 1

SINGAPORE — Foreign aid to Myanmar’s hundreds of thousands of cyclone victims must have "no strings attached," Deputy Defence Minister Aye Myint said Sunday, insisting the focus was now on reconstruction.

"We would warmly welcome any assistance and aid which are provided with genuine goodwill from any country or organisation, provided that there are no strings attached, or politicisation involved," he told a high—level security forum in Singapore that included representatives of donor countries.

He stressed that Myanmar was now concentrating on reconstruction and repeated the latest official toll of 77,738 dead and 55,917 missing, as well as the estimate of US$10.67 billion in cyclone damage.

"For those groups who are interested in rehabilitation and reconstruction, we are ready to accept them in accordance with our priorities," Major General Aye Myint said.

He added that "we would consider allowing them (into Myanmar) if they wish to engage in rehabilitation and reconstruction work, township by township."

The Myanmar official was speaking at the Shangri—La Dialogue, an annual conference in Singapore of defence ministers, military officials and security experts from Asia, North America and Europe.

Myanmar has asked its Southeast Asian neighbours to coordinate the international cyclone relief effort, but aid workers on the ground have expressed frustration over the military government’s handling of the humanitarian crisis.

Singapore, which currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that includes Myanmar, has criticised the slow response of the military government to the disaster.

"It’s regrettable that the Myanmar government has responded in this way. Myanmar’s partners in ASEAN have all been deeply concerned by the massive suffering of the victims, which a more rapid international relief operation could have minimised," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a keynote address to the security forum on Friday.

At the same forum, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Saturday said the military government’s slow response to the cyclone disaster had cost "tens of thousands of lives".

"Our ships and aircraft awaited country approval so they could act promptly to save thousands of lives — approval of the kind granted by Indonesia immediately after the 2004 tsunami and by Bangladesh after a fierce cyclone just last November," Gates said.

"With Burma (Myanmar), the situation has been very different — at a cost of tens of thousands of lives."

Rights groups accused Myanmar’s government of forcing victims out of emergency shelters and back to their devastated villages — even if they have no homes left after the May 2—3 cyclone.

Nearly one month after the cyclone, only 40 percent of the estimated 2.4 million people in need have received any help, according to the United Nations.

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MYANMAR CYCLONE TRAGEDY - 2
Bernama - Monday, June 2

Najib said reports he received from those on the ground suggested that the scale of the tragedy in Myanmar might be bigger than that of the 2004 tsunami, which killed over 200,000 people in the region.

This would be a huge human tragedy that had befallen Myanmar, he said, adding that such a disaster could have been prevented if Myanmar was more receptive to foreign humanitarian assistance and relief.

He stressed that Asean had made its position clear that it had no other agenda when it sent its military into the cyclone-stricken areas and this was proven in many cases -- that it was strictly humanitarian in nature when Asean sent its troops.

Najib, who arrived here yesterday to participate in the 7th IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies) Asia Security Summit - The Shangri-La Dialogue which ended this evening, later left for Jakarta for a one-day visit to Indonesia.

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Myanmar cyclone tragety acid test for ASEAN's capability in helping members, says Najib.
By Zakaria Abdul Wahab
Bernama - Monday, June 2

SINGAPORE, June 1 (Bernama) -– The cyclone tragedy in Myanmar serves as an acid test for Asean's capability in helping its members faced with a real crisis, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak said here today.

He said it was important for Asean, as an association, to show the world that it had come a long way and that in the Myanmar case it should be able to help the country.

Myanmar is currently facing a humanitarian crisis after it was hit by Cyclone Nargis early last month and has been reluctant to accept foreign aid until Asean decided to be involved directly to assist the country.

Speaking at a media conference after attending the annual Asia Security Summit here, Najib said Asean would want to play a bigger role in helping Myanmar to face the tragedy, provided the country allowed it.

He said Asean was willing to send more military personnel and logistics requirements such as helicopters and boats to help distribute foreign aid to the victims who remained cut off in the cyclone-stricken areas and were starving.

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Burmese still suffering, says Thai medical team
Stress, disease and infections rampant
Bangkok Post - Sunday June 01, 2008

The Burmese are still suffering from stress and diseases in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, a doctor who led the first Thai medical team dispatched to the country said yesterday. Pichit Siriwan, of Chulalongkorn Hospital and the Thai Red Cross Society, said people living in lowland areas were the hardest hit, made homeless by the cyclone.

They lived under stress and most suffered from respiratory diseases and food-borne and water-borne infections, he told reporters.

About 200 camps were set up, accommodating about 1,000, according to Dr Pichit, the team leader of the unit of 18 doctors and 12 nurses. He added that the Thai team treated 3,700 sick people from those camps and surrounding areas. About 1,900 of the patients were children whose parents were killed in the disaster.

The unit returned to Bangkok yesterday after leaving on May 17 to assist the victims. The Thai doctors also organised activities to help the mental health of the victims.

''The Burmese appreciated the kindness of the Thai doctors,'' Dr Pichit said, adding that Burmese doctors wanted more Thai medical teams to help them look after victims.
More doctors from Thailand were willing to go if the Burmese leaders allow future missions.

Dr Pichit said Thai businessmen in Burma also helped arrange for translators to overcome the language barrier during the relief operation.

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Burma allows entry to aid workers at snail's pace
Mizzima News - Saturday, 31 May 2008 18:37
Solomon    

New Delhi – The Burmese military junta is allowing entry to aid workers into the cyclone devastated areas at snail's pace. As a result a huge number of survivors continue to be deprived off any kind of support. This despite the regime's recent permission allowing access to aid workers in to cyclone hit regions, officials of Medicines Sans Frontiers said.

"We are aware that some villages have not received any kind of help yet," said Dr. Frank Smithius, chief of the MSF team in Burma.

This is a fall out of lack of communication and difficulties in transportation and slow distribution of aid, Dr. Smithius added.

Following Burma's military supremo Senior General Than Shwe's meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, aid agencies said a few international aid workers have been provided access into the Irrawaddy delta, where the cyclone wreaked the worst havoc.

"Four weeks have elapsed after the storm and I think it is quite sad that many villages have not yet received aid," Dr. Smithius said.

Domestic volunteers and national aid workers in Rangoon said, access to the delta area has recently been made possible for both international and domestic aid agencies.

But with communication problems and difficulties in transportation, aid has not reached many places in the remote areas.

"There are many more areas yet to be accessed," an aid worker in Rangoon told Mizzima.

The aid worker said, though access has been granted to aid workers with few supplies, it is not enough for all the affected people.

"Emergency supply is not over yet, I think that all organisations should make serious efforts to reach all the villages," Dr. Smithius, head of MSF said.

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