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HEADLINES
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AP - Myanmar attacks media for cyclone coverage, arrests comedian-critic who gave private aid
AP - US says it does not have permission to fly aid to Myanmar
AP - UN: Myanmar prison shootings should be probed
AP - US military extends aid offer to Myanmar
AP - Cyclone destroys trees in Myanmar's main city
Reuters - Myanmar junta slams citizens over cyclone report
AFP - UN Expert Raises "Significant Concerns" Over Myanmar Vote
AFP - Disease spreads through Myanmar prison after cyclone: watchdog
MCOT - Thai doctors in Myanmar
MCOT - Little Myanmar in Thailand
AJC - With more access, more progress in Myanmar, says CARE worker
UNHCR - When a plastic sheet means more than shelter
DVB News - Monks and students reject junta’s constitution
DVB News - Cyclone refugees threatened with relocation
DVB News - Group slams environmental impact of dam projects

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Myanmar attacks media for cyclone coverage, arrests comedian-critic who gave private aid
AP - Friday, June 6

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's military junta lashed out at its own citizens and foreign media Friday for what it called distorted coverage of the aftermath of a devastating cyclone.

The attack came after authorities detained a popular comedian who had just returned from helping survivors of the disaster and had said government aid was not reaching some victims.

Unconfirmed reports circulated Friday in Yangon that at least a dozen people involved in filming cyclone victims in the Irrawaddy delta had been arrested.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar, considered a mouthpiece for the junta, accused "self-seekers and unscrupulous elements" of working in collusion with foreigners to shoot video films featuring made-up stories in the storm-ravaged areas in the delta.

"Those foreign news agencies are issuing such groundless news stories with the intention of tarnishing the image of Myanmar and misleading the international community into believing that cyclone victims do not receive any assistance," the report said.

The military regime has been criticized by international agencies for holding up shipments of food, water and temporary shelter supplies to some 1 million desperate survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

Well-known comedian Maung Thura _ whose stage name is Zarganar _ was taken from his home in Yangon by police Wednesday night after going to the Irrawaddy delta to donate relief items to survivors, his family said.

A family member said Friday that they had heard nothing from Zarganar and the regime has given no reason for his detention.

"We stopped our cyclone relief activities yesterday (Thursday), but we will hae to resume our relief assistance tomorrow," the relative said.

Zarganar, 46, known both for his anti-government barbs and his work for cyclone victims, was taken into custody after police searched his house and confiscated some belongings. He and his team had made video records of their relief activities and Zarganar gave interviews to foreign media.

A representative for the human rights group Amnesty International said Zarganar's detention was indicative of the kinds of human rights concerns that the group was trying to highlight in Myanmar.

"There's simply no doubt this was done for political reasons ... but has an extra element because it can presumed to be linked to the humanitarian assistance effort," Amnesty researcher Benjamin Zawacki said.

In a report, Amnesty International cited several cases of forced labor in exchange for food in the delta, and accused the regime of stepping up a campaign to evict the homeless from shelters.

The London-based group also said authorities in several cyclone-hit areas continue to divert aid despite the junta's pledge to crack down on the practice.

"Unless human rights safeguards are observed, tens of thousands of people remain at risk," Amnesty said in its report. "Respect for human rights must be at the center of the relief effort."

The government says Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar May 2-3, killed 78,000 people and left an additional 56,000 missing. The U.N. says more than 1 million still desperately need food, shelter or medical care.

This week, Zarganar gave interviews to several overseas media outlets, including the British Broadcasting Corp., that were critical of the government relief effort.

The junta is sensitive to being embarrassed abroad, and has a record of persecuting people who give interviews to foreign media.

In an interview with the Thailand-based magazine Irrawaddy, Zarganar said he and more than 400 entertainers in Myanmar had volunteered to aid cyclone victims, making many trips to the delta.

Some areas, he said, had neither been reached by the government nor international relief agencies. Zarganar and his group distributed food, blankets, mosquito nets and other aid.

Zarganar said his group sometimes had "confrontations with authorities" in the delta.

Earlier, other Myanmar entertainers had complained that authorities want all aid to be distributed through official channels rather than by private individuals and groups.

Zarganar, who works as a dentist to pay the bills, was first arrested in 1988 for his political activities and again for helping his mother _ a member of the National League for Democracy _ during her campaign for the 1990 general elections.

The party, led by detained Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, swept those elections, but the regime refused to yield power.

Last September, Zarganar was arrested and held for three weeks for providing food to Buddhist monks who spearheaded anti-government protests in Yangon.

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US says it does not have permission to fly aid to Myanmar
AP - Friday, May 9

BANGKOK, Thailand - U.S. Ambassador Eric John says his government does not have permission to send relief flights to Myanmar for its cyclone victims.

John says that U.S. and Thai authorities earlier believed they had permission from the Myanmar authorities to land U.S. military C-130s with relief goods.

He said Thursday that the Myanmar officials later made it clear that was not the case. He said it was not clear if they changed their mind or if there was a misunderstanding.

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UN: Myanmar prison shootings should be probed
By FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press Writer
AP - Saturday, June 7

GENEVA - Myanmar should investigate reports that inmates were shot to death in a Yangon prison as Cyclone Nargis ravaged the country last month, a U.N. human rights expert said Friday.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. Human Rights Council's new investigator for Myanmar, said security forces apparently opened fire after prisoners at Insein prison panicked when zinc roofs were blown off during the May 2-3 cyclone.

"The authorities should conduct a thorough and transparent investigation to clarify the facts and identify the perpetrators of these arbitrary killings," he said in a 16-page report to the rights council.

Tate Naing of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) put the death toll at 40, based on several reports the group received about the shooting.

The Thailand-based organization for Myanmar exiles said more than 1,500 prisoners were forced to congregate inside a prison hall and were locked inside until the morning of May 3.

Angry prisoners set fire to the hall and a riot ensued. Guards attempting to contain the situation opened fire and soldiers and riot police were called in, the group said.

However, Myanmar's government rejected the claim that inmates had been shot in the incident.

"No one was killed or injured during the event," said Wunna Maung Lwin, Myanmar's ambassador to the U.N. office in Geneva. "The prison security, as well as the police and the military, had not in any circumstances used arms against the prisoners."

Questioning Quintana's impartiality, Lwin added that "human rights issues must be addressed with respect for national sovereignty. "

Quintana, who took up his post May 1, has yet to visit the country himself.

In his report, he touched on aid delays related to the cyclone, but stopped short of blaming the junta for causing additional suffering to the 2.4 million people affected by the storm. Many could not be reached by international relief agencies because of government-imposed restrictions.

Beyond the cyclone, Quintana said he was greatly concerned the country's rulers had made no improvement on important issues such as the treatment of political prisoners, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

"The situation of human rights in Myanmar ... has not changed for the better," said Quintana, a rights expert from Argentina.

"The reported number of political prisoners and detention conditions continue to be appalling," Quintana said, adding he had been informed that some 1,900 people are imprisoned on political grounds.

He called on the government to release the country's most prominent political prisoner, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.

The Southeast Asian country faced international condemnation last September after security forces violently suppressed pro-democracy protests, killing dozens.

Last month's referendum on a new constitution meanwhile lacked transparency because international observers were blocked from attending, he said. The vote was held May 10, about a week after the May 2-3 cyclone.

Critics say the constitution is designed to perpetuate the military's decades-old grip on power and have questioned the fairness of the referendum.

The government reported that 98.12 percent of the 27.3 million eligible voters cast ballots and that 92.48 percent of them approved the charter.

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US military extends aid offer to Myanmar
By JOCELYN GECKER, Associated Press Writer
Friday, June 6, 2008

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) --The U.S. military has offered Myanmar 22 helicopters that could ferry relief to the majority of hungry and homeless cyclone survivors within three days — but the junta hasn't responded yet, military officials said Friday.

U.S. Navy ships laden with helicopters and emergency supplies sailed away from the coast of Myanmar on Thursday after being ignored by the junta for three weeks, but the American offer to help still stands, said Lt. Gen. John Goodman, commander of Marine Forces Pacific and head of the U.S. relief operation for Myanmar.

More than one month after Cyclone Nargis battered Myanmar, more than 1 million survivors are still in need of food, water and temporary shelter in the hard-to-access Irrawaddy delta, the U.N. says.

"Of the 1 million or 1.5 million people in need of relief support, we think that between 450,000 to 750,000 are in emergency need," Goodman said, adding that they could be reached "over the course of a three-day period" by American helicopters and landing craft.

The offer includes 10 helicopters aboard the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship currently steaming toward Thailand, and another 12 at a makeshift headquarters in Utapao, Thailand, said Lt. Col. Douglas Powell, a spokesman for what has been dubbed operation Caring Relief.

With only seven Myanmar government helicopters flying, relief supplies are mostly being transported along dirt roads and then by boat. International aid agencies say boats able to navigate the delta's canals are scarce and efforts to import vehicles have been hampered by government red tape.

Myanmar's xenophobic military rulers have allowed Marine Corps C-130 cargo planes to fly 116 flights, delivering more than 2.2 million pounds of aid to Yangon, the largest city, Goodman said. But the relief effort lacks helicopters to access hard-to-reach areas in the devastated Irrawaddy delta.

The junta is particularly sensitive to letting in U.S. helicopters, which would highlight the American effort in a country where the people have been taught to see the U.S. as a hostile aggressor. Myanmar's state media have hinted that the junta fears a U.S. invasion aimed at seizing the country's oil deposits.

Goodman said he sought to dispel those concerns during two meetings in Myanmar, the most recent on Monday, with high-ranking junta official Lt. Gen. Myint Swe.

"We tried to address each and every one of their concerns in a logical fashion to help them find a way to say yes," Goodman said in a telephone interview from Utapao.

The U.S. offered to allow Myanmar officials aboard all American helicopters to monitor their routes and to unload relief supplies and said no U.S. soldiers would stay overnight in the country, Goodman said.

"We offered them everything you can logically think of, and they're still considering it," he said.

The junta official responded by saying "that his government felt they had the capability and capacity to provide the support for their country," Goodman said, adding that the meeting was pleasant and the two exchanged gifts.

Goodman said he gave the Myanmar official a porcelain candy dish emblazoned with the U.S. Marine logo.

"He gave me a picture of a man steering a boat through the delta," he said. "He thought that was appropriate. "

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Cyclone destroys trees in Myanmar's main city
AP - Saturday, June 07

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The waiter looks down at the streets of Yangon from the panoramic rooftop restaurant. He remembers how diners used to be shielded from the noise and bustle of the city below by a thick green cushion of leaves.

When Cyclone Nargis ripped through Myanmar's largest city last month, its 120 mph winds snapped 100-year-old trees like matchsticks, wiping out much of Yangon's living link to its colonial past.

"There were green canopies covering the roads below. Now, you only see taxis and cars," said the waiter, San Myant Myant, as he stood beside a table on the 20th floor of the Thiripyitsayar Sky Lounge, atop one of the city's tallest buildings.

"There's no green anymore to soften the hues of the city," he said. "How long will it take to grow back all the trees? Perhaps a hundred years."

As Myanmar grapples with the tens of thousands of dead and many more homeless from the May 2-3 cyclone, it is coming to terms with another casualty: The loss of one of Asia's last colonial-era, leafy cities.

The Yangon Municipal Gardens Department said more than 10,000 trees were uprooted across Yangon, including at least 530 that were more than 50 years old.

"The cyclone was a terrible shock to me," said 83-year-old Khin Htway, a retired doctor who has lived her whole life in Yangon. "But to see so many trees that are older than I am uprooted in one fell swoop was devastating. They are irreplaceable. "

Back when the British built this city over a century ago and named it Rangoon, they paved wide boulevards lined with stately trees and created leafy suburbs of lakes and gardens.

Towering rain trees, stately mahoganies, banyan and Burmese rosewoods were scattered around Yangon's streets and parks, providing much-needed shade from the sweltering tropical sun.

These top-heavy trees were especially vulnerable to the cyclone's fierce winds, said conservationist Aung Din, noting that many of those still standing are teak and eucalyptus, with deeper roots.

Under British rule, Burma — as the country was then called — was one of the wealthiest in Southeast Asia and the region's biggest producer of timber and rice.

Over the years, much of Myanmar's colonial past was wiped away by the military regimes that have ruled since 1962 and transformed the country into one of the poorest in the world. The current junta renamed the country Myanmar in 1989 and changed the capital's name to Yangon. In 2005, they relocated the capital to the newly built, isolated city of Naypyitaw in the north.

The xenophobic and reclusive generals blocked the outside world's influence and modernity, leaving Yangon with the dusty tranquility of another era. Its leafy charm stood in stark contrast to the traffic-clogged concrete jungles that sprung up in neighboring Southeast Asian capitals such as Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila.

World War II-era buses still ply the streets. Peeling pastel paint hangs from the once grand facades of neglected but sturdy colonial buildings.

The old architecture survived the cyclone, unlike hundreds of the flimsy wooden homes of the poor, which were flattened.

But with the loss of the trees, Yangon is a changed city.

Many residents who visited the grounds of Yangon University after the storm came away in tears. The campus, which was full of stately old trees and was a favorite picnic spot, is now eerily bare.

"We used to sit under the big, shady trees to read and chat. I miss doing that," said Tin Moe Hlaing, 29, a masters student in international relations, while reading on a bench in the lobby of the history department.

Kandawgyi Lake, a large forest-like park across town, is similarly barren.

"There were so many big trees around the beautiful lake," said Tun Ohn, 73, who operates a tour boat that was smashed in the storm. "Now, all that's left is a lot of fallen trees and debris."

With the cyclone causing most of its death and destruction in the Irrawaddy delta to the south, life in Yangon has mostly returned to normal.

Crowds throng the city's markets and sidewalk stalls, and taxis ply the streets. Police direct cars at intersections because traffic signals are still broken.

Women scurry across busy Strand Road, dodging cars and pedicabs, with rattan trays of dried fish or fresh produce balanced on their heads.

Towering overhead, the golden domed Shwedagon Pagoda — the city's famed bell-shaped temple atop a hill — gleams in the sun and is spotlighted at night.

Electricity has been restored in the more affluent city center, although some residents still lack telephone service.

The city's trendy youth are again enjoying late nights of nocturnal fun.

Leaving their traditional sarong-like longyis at home in favor of baggy jeans and baseball caps, their weekend nights are spent dancing at the Pioneer Club, where partygoers drink beer and gyrate to techno music.

For some, returning to normal has meant restoring some of the fallen trees.

At an intersection in northeastern Yangon, residents raised a huge banyan tree that had been uprooted by the storm and pieced back together a porcelain-tiled shrine at its base.

Banyan trees are sacred to Buddhists, who believe that Buddha attained enlightenment while sitting under one. In Myanmar, the venerable trees are believed to house spirits.

"There were spirits in the trees around here," said Aye Aye San, a 45-year-old laborer who works at Yangon University. "I don't know where they are now."

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Myanmar junta slams citizens over cyclone report
By Aung Hla Tun
Fri Jun 6, 8:14 AM ET

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta attacked "unscrupulous" citizens and foreign media on Friday for presenting a false picture of the devastation left by Cyclone Nargis as experts began mapping the extent of the disaster.

The New Light of Myanmar, the mouthpiece of the ruling generals, said people had been selling video footage "of invented stories" to foreign news organizations which tarnished the country's image.

"The people who are in touch with the situation feel that the despicable and inhumane acts by local and foreign anti-government groups and self-centered persons and their exploiting of the storm victims are absolutely obnoxious," the newspaper said.

Bootleg copies of DVDs showing the devastation in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta have been snapped up on the streets of the former capital Yangon and smuggled out of the country.

Police detained famous activist/comedian Zarganar on Wednesday night and seized his computer, several banned films and records of the cyclone damage.

Newspaper, television and radio are tightly controlled by the military government, which also severely restricts international media access to the former Burma.

The New Light of Myanmar accused foreign media of running "groundless news stories with the intention of tarnishing the image of Myanmar and misleading the international community into believing that cyclone victims do not receive any assistance."

The first major criticism of foreign media coverage of the disaster followed a recent report on a satellite television network of bootleg video footage being sold at a Yangon market.

On Friday, police swooped on satellite television suppliers in Yangon, ordering them not to sell or install new receiver dishes.

Many such dishes, which provided one of the few conduits into the isolated country, were destroyed in the cyclone.

"Thanks to a tip-off given by an official, we were able to hide the things we had on sale," said one dealer.

In January, the government hiked the annual license fee from around $6 to $909 in an apparent bid to curtail satellite access.

RIGHTS PROBE DEMANDED

In Geneva, the United Nations human rights expert for Myanmar urged the junta to investigate reports its soldiers shot dead at least 36 prison inmates during unrest in the country's most infamous prison at the height of the May 2 storm.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, who reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council, also called for the free flow of aid to the delta.

Dozens of delta villages, some visited by Reuters, have yet to receive any relief assistance since the May 2 cyclone swept over the area and Yangon, leaving 134,000 dead or missing and 2.4 million people in desperate need of help.

The newspaper report accused media organizations and local people of "luring naive storm victims" with leading questions on their living conditions a week after the junta began evicting thousands of people from state-run camps out of apparent fear the tented villages could become permanent.

A team of 200 international disaster and aid experts fanned out across the delta to assess the extent of the cyclone destruction and gauge whether farmers would be able to plant crucial monsoon rice crops by the end of July.

"They have begun looking at areas today and will report back in the middle of next month," a spokeswoman for the ASEAN-UN "Emergency Rapid Assessment Team" told Reuters.

Plans to accelerate the delivery of aid to the delta were delayed on Friday when poor weather grounded seven U.N. World Food Programme helicopters in neighboring Thailand.

The helicopters, part of a fleet of 10 approved by the junta two weeks ago, are urgently needed by relief workers, but only one has so far arrived in Yangon.

A top U.S. military commander said on Friday the United States continued to extend its offer to help with the delivery of aid to the delta, but the regime had not replied so far.

Lt. Gen. John Goodman, commander of the joint task force Caring Response, said 22 heavy-lift helicopters were on standby in Thailand if Myanmar's generals gave the green light.

"We offered them to ride on our helicopters, to prescribe routes. I did everything that I thought was diplomatically and logically feasible to find a way for them to say yes," he told Reuters after his talks with a Myanmar general on Monday.

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UN Expert Raises "Significant Concerns" Over Myanmar Vote
AFP - Friday, June 6

GENEVA (AFP)--The U.N. expert on human rights in Myanmar on Friday raised " significant concerns" over the country's recent referendum and called for a public report on the event.

Myanmar went ahead with the vote on a new constitution in the wake of last month's devastating Cyclone Nargis, which left 133,000 dead or missing and millions in need of humanitarian aid.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, a U.N. special rapporteur, pointed to the lack of citizen participation in the drafting process for the referendum and questioned the conditions under which it was held, in a report to be presented Friday to the Human Rights Council.

These factors "all raise significant concerns from a human rights perspective" , he said in the report.

Myanmar's military rulers had claimed that despite the cyclone devastation, 98% of voters turned out and more than 92% endorsed their charter.

They also said the constitution would clear the way for democratic elections in two years, but critics believe it would only enshrine military rule.

Quintana also highlighted the importance of access to humanitarian aid in the wake of disasters, and urged the ruling junta to uphold an agreement with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to allow "unhindered access" to humanitarian workers and supplies.

Overall, he said the human rights situation in Myanmar "has not changed for the better" since the last report by his predecessor, whose mandate ended in April.

"It is a great concern of the present Special Rapporteur that almost no improvement has been made and that critical issues still have to be addressed," he said.

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Disease spreads through Myanmar prison after cyclone: watchdog

BANGKOK, June 6, 2008 (AFP) - Dysentery, typhoid and other diseases are spreading through Myanmar's notorious Insein Prison after Cyclone Nargis destroyed inmates' food supplies, a Thailand-based watchdog said Friday.

The cyclone that hit five weeks ago ripped off roofs and flooded wards at Insein, which holds many of Myanmar's nearly 2,000 political prisoners, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in a statement.

The group said last month that 40 people died in a riot in the prison during the cyclone after a fire broke out. Security forces opened fire to quell the violence, while four political prisoners were later tortured to death during interrogations, AAPP said.

In Geneva, special UN rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, called for an investigation to shed full light on the incidents and identify those responsible.

He said in a report to the UN Human Rights Council that a number of prisoners were killed but did not give a precise figure.

"Prisoners reportedly panicked, creating chaos inside the hall. In order to control the situation, it is reported that soldiers and riot police were called in and opened fire on the prisoners. A number of prisoners were allegedly killed during the operation," he said.

The storm ripped the roof off the prison's food warehouse, leaving most of its stocks rotting. The International Committee of the Red Cross delivered fresh food, but these supplies have already run out, AAPP said.

Now prison authorities are giving inmates rotten food, which has caused outbreaks of disease, hitting female prisoners especially hard, the group said.

"The health situation of prisoners will worsen and become critical if they are fed that bad and inedible food any longer," said Tate Naing, AAPP's secretary.

"Contagious diseases will spread very quickly in a crowded place like a prison, if authorities do not take appropriate actions promptly."

Myanmar is believed to have at least 1,800 political prisoners, including 700 arrested last year in a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks.

Tate Naing said at least two of them are in serious ill health, including Myo Yan Naung Thein, who was arrested in December for joining the monks' protests.

He was beaten during interrogation and now requires assistance to walk, Tate Naing said.

Ohn Than, who was arrested in August after protesting outside the US embassy in Yangon, is suffering from cerebral malaria, which is now at a severe stage, he added.

More than 133,000 people are dead or missing following the cyclone, which struck on May 2-3. The United Nations estimates that one million hungry and homeless survivors have yet to receive any aid, despite the ruling junta's promises to speed up the relief effort.

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Thai doctors in Myanmar
MCOT - Update : 18:00:21 6 June 2008 (GMT+7:00)

A Thai royal medical team was the first international team of doctors allowed to enter cyclone –hit Myanmar.  Gathering useful information, the team is particularly concerned about orphans who lost both parents in the disaster.

The Thai doctors consider Myanmar authorities worked  well to prevent any disease outbreaks. Despite a lack of equipment, no serious outbreak occurred after the cyclone disaster except respiratory diseases in crowded relief camps.

With a camp accommodating as much as 40,000 people, more education on hygiene should have been given to cycone survivors.

Thai doctors treated patients with wounds and ulcers.  A number of patients had wound inflammation caused from extremely heavy rain and wind of up to 180 kilometres per hour. Some survivors stayed in the flood waters and held on to poles to avoid being injured by the rain and wind. 

A second team of Thai doctors sent to Myanmar said it was not certain how long they would stay in cyclone-hit Myanmar. They should however stay until cyclone survivors could depend on themselves.

Dr. Phichit Siriwan Head of Thai doctor team said “We have to think about the appropriate time. We have to make sure they can help themselves before we return home.”

The number of orphans from Cyclone Nargis is as high as that in Thailand when the December 2004 tsunami struck six Andaman coastal provinces. Psychiatrists have asked them to draw pictures to reveal their state of mind.

The pictures convey messages. They drew pictures of the chaotic scene of the cyclone disaster, their parents’ belongings, and the clock at 2.35 pm. before the cyclone ripped through their homes. The children wanted to stop time, before the disaster killed their loved ones. Psychological problems like depression can lead to suicide. Giving them necceesities can help them, while Buddhist teaching can also help them to leave their suffering behind.

Dr. Benchaporn Panyayong Child and teenage psychiatrist said “They believe in the fruit of Karma and believe in practicing meditation. It helps them a lot. It boosts their emotional support.”

The ministries of Social Development of Myanmar and Thailand Myanmar will set up a temporary center to raise hundreds of orphans who lost both parents in the cyclone. of the two countries. Thai doctors said building the center would not require a large budget and would help the children.

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Little Myanmar in Thailand
MCOT - Update : 17:55:03 6 June 2008 (GMT+7:00)

Driven out by economic hardship, as many as 300,000 migrant workers have fled Myanmar and come to Thailand's central Samut Sakhon province in search of what they believe to be a ‘better’ life. Thai News Agency's news crew went there to find out how these migrant workers are coping.

At first these men would only talk to us on the condition they remain anonymous and appear on camera. But as we talked further, and explained our goodwill and mission to make their situations known and perhaps improve it, the shyness and reluctance gradually dissipated; they eventually agreed to be filmed.

Their message is that they are not as happy as they first thought they would be after migrating from Myanmar. For them, living here is a matter of survival, of just getting by day in, day out.

“I get only 5,000 baht a month. No, it’s not enough.” a Myamnar migrant worker said.

Another one said “It’s not enough, but we have to stay on. Back in Burma we got only 2,000 to 3,000 kyats or 60 to 70 Thai baht, which is impossible to live on. Yes, I am married, but having a child is impossible and proves so irrelevant in this sort of life. We don’t have any savings and everything is too expensive.”

This is little Myanmar—a community housing Myanmar migrant workers who work in the shrimp industry. These people propel the economy of Samut Sakhon.

Run-down, dirty and poorly ventilated, the community houses as many as 3,200 migrants. Unimaginable for some, but true for these people, each room is packed with at least ten people when bed time arrives.

Far from home and their loved ones, amid strangers, and living hard lives, these migrant workers complained they were not allowed to indulge themselves in a little nostalgia, remembering what it was like to be home again. They are barred from celebrating their National Day here.

“This is Thailand and it will be very inappropriate, in terms of international relations. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself is very sensitive about this,” said Kreeta Sopchoak, Head of Samut Sakhon Labour Office

It’s late afternoon; the evening is approaching, but the workday for these migrants has just begun. Starting at midnight, their job is to flock to the shrimp chill trucks, unload the contents and sell what we later enjoy on our dinner table without us quite knowing what it takes before we do so. (TNA)

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With more access, more progress in Myanmar, says CARE worker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Published on: 06/06/08
By MONI BASU

Chris Northey was among the first international aid workers permitted by Myanmar's ruling junta to enter the Irrawaddy Delta, pummeled by Cyclone Nargis a month ago.

Northey, 39, is the emergency team leader in Myanmar for CARE International, whose U.S. office is headquartered in Atlanta. She made the treacherous journey from the capital Yangon to isolated islands on the Irrawaddy River to distribute critical food and aid to 120,000 people left hungry and homeless by the cyclone.

The United Nations says Nargis killed 100,000 people and severely affected 2.5 million people.

Though Myanmar is beginning to disappear from television screens, Northey says much of the delta is still under water, a murky sea of flooded fields, felled trees and swollen rivers, pungent with the smell of death.

Nothing is dry anywhere. And it is raining, like clockwork, every evening.

Roofs peeled off houses like a half-opened can. Fishing boats are plunked on banks as though King Kong picked them up and tossed them from the river. Northey counted 26 boats. Then she stopped counting, stopped calculating nature's fury.

Northey, who has worked for a decade on emergency situations in Africa and elsewhere in Asia, says the scope of Myanmar's disaster is staggering. She says after weeks of no access, foreign aid workers are finally starting to make some progress.

She visited suffering villages with locals — CARE has been working in Myanmar for 14 years and employs 550 national staff.

Northey spoke by phone with the AJC this week. Here, then, are a few thoughts from one woman in the midst of humanity in crisis:

• The logistics: Northey says CARE workers unload aid coming in on flights to Yangon. Then, it's put on a truck, then onto long, narrow wooden boats traditional to the Irrawaddy. Sometimes, the aid is carried on motorcycles. It can take hours, even days to reach isolated communities. Some of these villages don't even appear on maps.

• The shock: The scale of destruction is shocking, Northey says. Images are indelibly etched her mind. Among them is an ornate, gold-leaf statue of Buddha that she stumbled across. It was stunning — and still standing 15 feet tall among hundreds of leveled houses. People here refer to the devastating cyclone as just a storm. Northey figures it's their way of making a frightening situation more manageable.

• The awe: Northey says she feels privileged as a foreigner to serve among the people of Myanmar, without whom this crisis would be insurmountable. Cyclone survivors are helping other survivors.
"These are people who themselves have suffered," she says. "Yet, they are working ridiculous hours to help their friends, help their neighbors."

• The resilience: Some villagers approached CARE and said that all they needed was a bit of diesel to run the pump they borrowed to get the salinated water out of their drinking water wells.
"Quite often, that's all it takes," Northey says. "A little bit of extra help."

• The distress: "It's never easy to see people who are distressed and who have suffered so much," Northey says. "As human beings, if you are not moved in some way or you do not have some sort of empathy for that then perhaps you should not be in this sort of role. It is very challenging. "

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When a plastic sheet means more than shelter
06 Jun 2008 12:49:44 GMT
Source: UNHCR

LAPUTTA, Myanmar, June 6 (UNHCR) – It's been a month since Cyclone Nargis killed her parents and two daughters. Ma Shwe is back in her village of Kan Gyi Su in Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta. Sheltered under a UNHCR plastic sheet, she is struggling to make sense of the past and look to the future.

"On the day of the tragic cyclone, I was in another village with my husband to sell the paddy," said the 43-year-old farmer, referring to the rice they grew in the delta, often called Myanmar's rice bowl. She left her three children with her parents at home. When she tried to rush back, the boat was overturned by the huge waves. She lost consciousness and was rescued by her husband.

After the cyclone passed, they took a small boat back to their village. "I found the lifeless, soaked bodies of my parents and two daughters lying in a small boat," said Ma Shwe. "My son had a 50-50 chance of hope. A moment later, unbelievably, someone shouted – my son was limping slowly into the village."

They survived on coconuts for a few days before being taken with other survivors to the nearest town of Laputta. The area was one of the worst-hit during the cyclone of May 2-3. This is where the UN refugee agency has set up one of its two field units – the other is in neighbouring Bogale – to monitor aid distribution and assess needs on the ground.

As part of joint efforts to respond to the emergency, UNHCR has so far airlifted and trucked in more than 430 tonnes of relief items to the affected areas. They include plastic sheets, blankets, mosquito nets and kitchen sets. Another two flights are expected to bring some 74 tonnes of plastic rolls next week.

UNHCR's partners are distributing these emergency shelter and household items in the delta and affected areas around the main city of Yangon.

Ma Shwe and her family recently returned home. "We decided to restart our lives in our village where my family is buried. We can't do anything for a living except farm work," she explained.

The family received UNHCR plastic sheets by boat on the day of their return. One is enough for the three of them, she said, "so no worries for temporary shelter."

Having a roof over her head allows Ma Shwe to focus on the future, including plans to send her son back to school next year. Asked what she needs to resume her life, she said: "It's a long list for a family with no money, no property, no house. Specifically, our immediate need is the capital to reinvest in my farm."

Although many people cannot yet return to their villages, it is everyone's hope that the country's rice bowl will soon be able to rise from the ruins and teem with life again.

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Monks and students reject junta’s constitution

Jun 5, 2008 (DVB)–The All-Burmese Monks’ Alliance, 88 Generation Students and All Burma Federation of Student Unions issued a joint statement yesterday rejecting the state constitution adopted by the military regime last week.

The organisations also urged the people of Burma and the international community not to accept the constitution that formally creates a repressive military class and legalises prolonged military rule in Burma.

Htun Myint Aung, a leader of the 88 Generation Students, told DVB that the statement was intended to firmly express that the constitution written in favour of the military and adopted by the junta by force was not acceptable.

“The constitution drafting process didn’t follow democratic principles and it was written amid injustices,” said Htun Myint Aung.

“The essence of the constitution doesn’t reflect the public interest or that of ethnic nationalities; it is just systematically structured to permit a long-lasting military dictatorship in the country,” he went on.

“Furthermore, it was adopted by force and deception and such a constitution is impossible to accept.”

The statement stressed that parliamentarians elected in the 1990 election had not been allowed to participate in the constitution drafting process and citizens had been threatened and prevented from free participation in the process by degree 5/96 which mandated a prison term for critics of the National Convention.

Proposals put forward by ceasefire organisations for a federal system in Burma were also rejected.

In conclusion, the groups emphasised that the UN and the international community should not accept the “military constitution” , which they said does not represent the will of the citizens.

“We have already documented how the national referendum was held amid gross injustice and deception and we are going to submit our findings to the UN, foreign governments and the international community,” Htun Myint Aung said.

“We want the UN and international governments to know that diplomatic pressure does not work on Burma’s military junta,” he said.

“We want them to take practical and concrete action against the generals to stop their continuous repression and bring them to the negotiating table to solve the country’s deep-rooted political impasse.”

Reporting by Aye Nai

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Cyclone refugees threatened with relocation

Jun 6, 2008 (DVB)–Local authorities in Rangoon division's Shwe Paukkan township are forcing cyclone victims out of makeshift refugee camps in town and threatening them with relocation to Arakan state if they refuse to leave.

A refugee living in one of the camps in the township said they had been told they would be sent to Butheetaung- Maung Taw township if they did not return to their villages.

"We’ve been at this camp since the day after the cyclone hit our homes. So far we have received no assistance from the government and now the local authorities are forcing us to go back to our homes," the refugee said.

"They said those who refused to leave the camp would be relocated to Butheetaung- Maung Taw township in Arakan state with an allowance of 100,000 kyat," he said.

"We don't want to go and live there but we have no homes left to go to."

An aid volunteer who has been working in Shwe Paukkan said it would be impossible for the cyclone victims to return to their homes.

"These refugees have no money to rebuild their homes and the places where their houses used to be are now surrounded by water,” the aid worker said.

“Now they are getting kicked out of the refugee camps, but they have nowhere to go,” he said.

“The government has provided no assistance for them – they have had to rely on aid from private donors."

The United Nations has said that forced returns of cyclone refugees are unacceptable, but authorities are continuing to send victims back to their villages.

Reporting by Htet Yazar

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Group slams environmental impact of dam projects

Jun 6, 2008 (DVB)–The Burma Rivers Network has urged foreign companies to reconsider their investments in dam and gas projects in Burma due to the devastating impact on the local environment.

In a statement released to mark World Environment Day yesterday, the group called on companies involved in dam building and extraction of natural gas in Burma to withdraw their investments.

The secretary of the Burma Rivers Network, U Aung Nge, said steps needed to be taken to protect against deforestation and air pollution in Burma.

“There are about 25 massive dams in Burma built by Chinese and Thai state companies and there has been large-scale deforestation around the dam sites,” Aung Nge said.

“Eighteen percent of Burma’s forests have been wiped out, and that’s higher than anywhere in the world.”

Aung Nge said that companies investing the dam building and natural gas projects in Burma needed to be aware of their impact on the local population.

“It is the Burmese people who are going to have to suffer the detrimental social and environmental consequences of these investments,” he said.

“So we urge the Thai and Chinese governments and Thai companies who are involved in these investments to think hard about these consequences and reconsider their investments.”

The group also pointed out how the loss of mangrove to deforestation exacerbated the impact of Cyclone Nargis, and warned that such disasters could become more frequent or more devastating in future if the problem is not addressed.

Aung Nge said the Burma Rivers Network would continue to advocate for environmental issues.

“Climate change and global warming issues are major concerns for people all over the world,” Aung Nge said.

“We are going to keep releasing statements for as long as there are countries and individuals who don’t protect the environment,” he said.

“And we will work with those who have influence over them to convince them to change their ways.”

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw

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