15 June 2008 : Burma News Extra
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Cyclone dead wash ashore on distant Myanmar beach: official
Walk the line - Myanmar opposition group backs constitution
Myanmar's gas exports to Thailand earn 2.7 billion dollars in 2007
Subject: Women's Rights in Burma
Cyclone dead wash ashore on distant Myanmar beach: official
In cyclone-hit Myanmar, rain drenches children in roofless school
11 killed in rain-triggered landslides in Mynamar
Myanmar state media stresses preventive measures against floods
Rights urged for Myanmar migrants
Recent Burma News Digest (15 June 2008)
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Cyclone dead wash ashore on distant Myanmar beach: official
AFP
28 minutes ago
About 300 bloated and decaying corpses, apparently victims of Cyclone Nargis, washed up on a beach in eastern Myanmar more than one month after the storm, a local official said Saturday.
The bodies had been found in the last week on the beach near Mawlamyine town, across the Gulf of Martaban, more than 100 miles (160 kilometres) east of the devastated Irrawaddy Delta, the official told AFP.
More than 133,000 people were killed or are missing after the cyclone struck six weeks ago. Many were washed out to sea as a tidal surge wiped out their villages.
"About 300 dead bodies have been cremated in the last week, after they floated into Kyaikkhami and Setse beaches. They were all decomposing. Most of them appeared to be women," said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Some fishermen saw these dead bodies on the beaches and informed the authorities," he said. "We decided to cremate them for the sake of the environment," he said.
Residents told AFP by telephone that many people had moved away to avoid the grim scenes of bodies washing onto the beaches.
The descriptions recalled the devastation in the delta last month, when victims' bodies were left rotting on roadsides and floating in rice fields, where in many cases they laid for weeks.
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Walk the line - Myanmar opposition group backs constitution
"Something is better than nothing," says Tu Ja, the third ranking member of Myanmar's Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), when asked why the group is supporting the Myanmar government's controversial constitution. Speaking to Jane's about the former separatist organisation's endorsement of Myanmar's draft constitution, the KIO's second vice-chairman states: "The constitution is not final, it is the starting point of a federal union." At first glance, the KIO's decision to support the referendum seems unusual for a former ethnic separatist organisation
[first posted to http://jir.janes.com - 12 June 2008] – subscription required.
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Myanmar's gas exports to Thailand earn 2.7 billion dollars in 2007
Posted : Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:48:01 GMT
Author : DPA
Yangon - Myanmar, which faces economic sanctions in the West because of its poor human rights record, earned 2.7 billion dollars from natural gas exports to Thailand last year, media reports disclosed Tuesday. In 2007, Myanmar's total trade hit an historic peak of 8.7 billion dollars, split into 5.9 billion exports and 2.8 billion in imports, leaving the country with a trade surplus of 3.1 billion, said the Myanmar Times weekly, citing government officials. Myanmar's exports last year were driven primarily by natural gas, which earned the impoverished country 2.7 billion dollars, or 45 per cent of its total exports. "The major reason why Myanmar's trade volume is increasing is the massive contribution form the energy sector - the export of natural gas to Thailand," said Maung Maung, an economist and researcher from Economic Studies and Research Institute, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industries (UMFCCI). Natural gas exports have risen dramatically since 2002, when Myanmar first opened a pipeline to deliver gas from offshore reserves in the Gulf of Martaban to Thailand. "As a result, Myanmar has enjoyed consecutive trade surplus since 2002," said Myanmar's Commerce Minister Brigadier General Tin Naing Thein in a recent interview. Besides natural gas, Myanmar's main export items last year included agricultural products, amounting to 572 million dollars in earnings, gems and jewellery to 561 million, and fishery products to 366 million. The country's main imports were fuel, which cost 471 million, followed by textiles at 276 million, palm oil at 251 million, machinery parts at 243 million, and automobiles at 192 million. Most multilateral lenders such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, severed their programmes with Myanmar in 1988 following a brutal military crackdown on a pro-democracy movement that left more than 3,000 people dead. The US forbid its private sector from investing in the country in the early 1990s, after the ruling junta refused to acknowledge the outcome of the 1990 general election, and the European Union has placed visa restrictions on the regime's rulers. US and EU Sanctions were tightened after another crackdown on protesters in September, when a sudden doubling of fuel prices prompted demonstrators, led by Buddhist monks, to take to the street on Yangon. The latest incident left at least 31 dead, according to official estimates.
Copyright, respective author or news agency
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/197377,myanmars-gas-exports-to-thailand-earn-27-billion-dollars-in.html
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Subject: Women's Rights in Burma
To: "Undisclosed recipients" <richard@freesuukyi. org>
Received: Friday, June 13, 2008, 11:14 AM
Hello Friends,
I hope this letter finds you well.
This is a one time email and I can assure you that you have not been added to any list.
I wanted to inform you that I have created a new website focusing on Women's Rights in Burma. Its purpose is to be used for information and educational purposes and will continually be updated with the latest reports and articles on the specific topic of the use of systematic rape as a military weapon by the Burma junta.
I spent over three weeks attempting to build a website site appropriate for this delicate matter. But after many trials with website templates, function and my extent of application of html code, I simply decided to incorporate the page into my general website.
The purpose of this email is in the hope that you may want to contribute.
I have given several lectures and presentations to local universities on the general situation in Burma and I have found the response to be overwhelming. As you know, many people simply do not know what is going on there. The students I have spoken with took a strong interest in what I had to say. They wanted to know more and most importantly the most common response so far has been that they did not expect to be so emotionally and intellectually provoked by what they heard before attending my presentations.
I wanted this site to be topic specific and not overwhelm young people with the vast and complicated array of human rights abuses, history and ethnic dispositions in Burma. This is a 'one thing at a time' approach.
I have posted flyers to be downloaded at the top of the page. I'm asking that you post these flyers at your local universities and organizations or hand them out to those you know who can.
The web page is http://www.freesuuk yi.org/womensrig hts/.
You can also download the flyer here. Word (2007 and older versions)
http://www.freesuuk yi.org/womensrig hts/Women% 20Rights% 20in%20Burma% 20%28Flyer% 20old%20Word% 29.dot
Thank you for your time. And if your so inclined forward this email to your contacts, post the link on forums or on your websites.
Best,
Richard
www.freesuukyi. org
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Cyclone dead wash ashore on distant Myanmar beach: official
AFP
Sat Jun 14, 4:05 AM ET
About 300 bloated and decaying corpses, apparently victims of Cyclone Nargis, washed up on a beach in eastern Myanmar more than one month after the storm, a local official said Saturday.
The bodies had been found in the last week on the beach near Mawlamyine town, across the Gulf of Martaban, more than 100 miles (160 kilometres) east of the devastated Irrawaddy Delta, the official told AFP.
More than 133,000 people were killed or are missing after the cyclone struck six weeks ago. Many were washed out to sea as a tidal surge wiped out their villages.
"About 300 dead bodies have been cremated in the last week, after they floated into Kyaikkhami and Setse beaches. They were all decomposing. Most of them appeared to be women," said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Some fishermen saw these dead bodies on the beaches and informed the authorities," he said. "We decided to cremate them for the sake of the environment," he said.
Residents told AFP by telephone that many people had moved away to avoid the grim scenes of bodies washing onto the beaches.
The descriptions recalled the devastation in the delta last month, when victims' bodies were left rotting on roadsides and floating in rice fields, where in many cases they laid for weeks.
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In cyclone-hit Myanmar, rain drenches children in roofless school
AFP
Sat Jun 14, 10:13 PM ET
Many remain traumatised after Cyclone Nargis flattened the impoverished farming village of Mawin, which is in Kawhmu township in a remote corner of the Irrawaddy Delta only accessible by a small motorized boat.
The village's brick schoolhouse was destroyed by Nargis, and a broken blackboard and a tiny Buddha statue are the only reminders that the rubble was once classrooms.
Building materials are difficult to come by. All of the 275 houses clustered in this village were blown away, except the teacher Hlang Thein's. It is, however, heavily damaged, and only the wooden frame and floor were left behind.
It is here where she has decided to teach the children.
Hlang Thein gently admonishes a group of primary school children to carefully repeat the alphabet after her so they can wrap up the lesson before the heavy rains drench them again.
Hlang Thein, in her immaculate white teacher's blouse, is trying to bring some semblance of normality back to the children in her community.
"But how can they not remember? We are studying in a house without a roof and walls and every time the rain comes, they get wet," Hlang Thein told AFP. "Our books and notepads are still damp."
The children sit on the wooden floor, and while some have managed to save their green and white uniforms when the cyclone struck in early May, many are wearing clothes donated by private relief agencies.
Hlang Thein said she has to be very patient with her pupils. Many of them do not want to study until the school house is rebuilt -- and that will take time.
It is here where she has decided to teach the children.
"I do not want them to miss any lessons, even under these conditions," she said.
None of the village's 100 registered primary school pupils were injured or killed "but their minds are stuck on Nargis," she said.
Myanmar's military rulers insisted that schools around Yangon open on schedule on June 2 after a long holiday, despite the cyclone that left 133,600 dead or missing, with 2.4 million people in need of food, shelter and medicine.
Schools in the hardest-hit regions of the delta were given another month to open, but UNICEF says 3,000 schools were wiped out by the cyclone. About 500,000 children have no classrooms at all.
In Mawin, village chief Zaw Win, 46, said little aid had arrived so far, blaming intermittent heavy rains which make it hard to navigate the narrow tributary that connects the hamlet to the nearest port upriver.
The tributary itself is still littered with debris, including uprooted, centuries-old birch trees and bloated animal carcasses.
"This is only accessible through the river. But only small motorized boats can get through," Zaw Win said. "And they are too small to carry loads of relief supplies or building materials."
He said the remaining food supplies will only be enough for 90 families, leaving 1,100 more families without any rations for the next few days.
The cyclone has also wreaked havoc on the fields, with the flood waters washing away what would have been a bountiful harvest in early May. Now it is between planting seasons, and while the fields are ripe for ploughing and there is enough irrigation, the rice seedlings have been spoiled.
"We have vast rice fields, but no rice to eat," Zaw Win said. "I am asking for donors to bring rice seedlings so we can again plant in the June-July season. Rice for cooking is also very essential."
"There is nothing left on the fields," he said, adding that government officials and medical personnel had visited once since the cyclone struck, but despite promising more rations have not returned.
Many of the other villages lying along the tributary are in the same condition. What once were houses are now just mounds of broken wood and debris.
Kitchen wares, trash and plastic containers line the shore and bamboo bridges that connected communities on both sides have not been repaired.
Thein's students meanwhile are distracted by a distant rumbling of thunder. The sky is dark, and she decides to call off lessons for the day.
"We will try to get them to sing nursery rhymes tomorrow," she said smiling, but with a concerned look in her eyes.
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11 killed in rain-triggered landslides in Mynamar
AP
Sat Jun 14, 6:26 AM ET
At least 11 people died in central Myanmar when their homes collapsed from landslides caused by heavy rain, state media reported Saturday.
The deaths occurred Wednesday and Thursday in Mogok region, which has been battered by heavy monsoon rains, the Myanma Ahlin newspaper reported.
Several homes collapsed along Mogok's Yeni creek, where water levels rose as much as three feet, the newspaper reported.
Mogok, 520 miles north of Yangon, is known as Ruby Land and is famed for its rich supply of rubies, sapphires and other precious stones.
Flooding is common during Myanmar's monsoon season, which typically starts in late May.
Heavy rains have battered other parts of the country, including southwestern Myanmar where Cyclone Nargis hit last month. Monsoon rains have complicated relief efforts for survivors of the cyclone. The storm killed 78,000 people and left another 56,000 missing, according to the government.
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Myanmar state media stresses preventive measures against floods
People’s Daily Online
14:48, June 15, 2008
Myanmar state media urged the people in the country Sunday to take preventive measures against floods caused by torrential rains as it has entered the rainy season.
The people should exercise a constant vigilance against floods triggered by swelling rivers, creeks and streams in the coastal regions and northern part of Myanmar with torrential rains as there used to be heavy rains in Myanmar in June and July, said the perspective carried on The New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
The exhortation came after a landslide caused by six-hour torrential rain from Wednesday midnight to Thursday morning 6:00 a.m. (local time) in Myanmar's northern part of Mogok, leaving 11 people dead.
It is necessary for people living in towns and villages in the coastal regions and on the banks of rivers and creeks to watch the mark of rising water level daily, the perspective said, urging the people to follow the warnings and reminders of the Meteorology and Hydrology Department as natural disasters may occur at any time and take preventive measures against possible natural disaster together with the local authorities.
It also urged the authorities concerned not only to form rescue teams and health care organizations in towns, wards and villages but also to carry out tasks for strengthening dams and embankments along rivers and stockpiling sand bags in advance without fail.
On May 2 and 3, the deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
Villages in some townships such as Ngaputaw, Laputta, Bogalay, Dedaye, Phyapon, Mawlamyinegyun and Haigyigyun in Ayeyawaddy deltaand Kungyangon, Kawmu and Kyauktan in Yangon division were almost totally destroyed and some even erased.
The storm has killed 77,738 people and left 55,917 missing and 19,359 injured according to official-released death toll.
Source: Xinhua
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Rights urged for Myanmar migrants
Al Jazeera
YANGON (Al Jazeera) - Pressure is mounting on Thailand to give greater protection to illegal migrant workers from Myanmar.
Human rights groups say they make up around 75 per cent of foreign workers in Thailand, and that number is expected to rise in the wake of Cyclone Nargis.
The Thai government has just introduced a new anti-trafficking law that recognises labor exploitation for the first time.
But campaigners fear that the new regulations may not be enough, and that more needs to be done to help give migrant workers basic rights.
The workers do a range of jobs in Thailand, including manning many of the fishing trawlers that work out of Bangkok harbor.
Verbal contract
Like many others from Myanmar the fishermen have no employment rights, no protection and no contract.
All of them work under a loose, verbal agreement under which their employers will pay them up to 6,000 baht ($170) at the end of the working month.
"The owners of the fishing boats shout at us and intimidate us when we are unloading the fish and it makes it difficult to work," Myo Chit, a Myanmarese fisherman told Al Jazeera.
According to Labour Rights Organisations, the fishermen are forced to work more than 12 hours per day, seven days per week.
Often they do not get paid, but despite that they are propping up Thailand's fishing industry, which is worth one billion dollars a year.
However the workers say they are prepared to put up with the low pay because they fear returning home to Myanmar to live under the oppressive military regime there.
No protection
For many though, life in Thailand is little better; many arrive via sophisticated human trafficking cartels without any documentation.
The Thai government considers them illegal immigrants but some employers are more than willing to exploit them.
"They will be sealed in the factory compound and not allowed to get out," said Junya Lek Yimprasert of the Thai Labor Campaign, "and for the young girls, they can be forced or tricked into the sexual opportunities of their employers."
Migrant workers also have no recourse to law if they are injured at work or lose their jobs.
Thit escaped Myanmar hoping for a better life in Myanmar, but in March she was involved in an accident at the recycling depot where she worked, and lost part of her arm.
"I can't work with one hand," Thit told Al Jazeera, "my husband says I must go back to Myanmar but the boss won't give me compensation so I can't afford to go back."
The Thai Labour Rights Protection Network is fighting to get her compensation, but because she is an illegal immigrant, her employer is not obliged to pay anything.
Anti-trafficking law
For its part the Thai government says it is making efforts to give workers from Myanmar some basic rights.
It has introduced a new anti-trafficking law which recognizes the mistreatment of migrant workers.
"We have asked the Labor ministry to survey and to register undocumented workers," said Noppadon Pattama, Thailand's foreign minister.
"We have to provide legal protection for Myanmar illegal workers in Thailand in the same way that we protect our Thai workers."
But the rights organisations fears that the police, often subject to corruption, will not enforce the new laws.
And while people continue to flee Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis, many Thai employers have a ready and willing workforce to exploit.
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Recent Burma News Digest (15 June 2008)
Journalist helping cyclone victims arrested
Today, June 15, 2008, 2 hours ago_ (go to full article)
The crackdown by the Burmese military junta continues unabated, It arrested a journalist, who has been helping Cyclone Nargis&#160; victims in Irrawaddy delta this morning, according to sources. Za...
Junta shuts down pro-opposition monastery
Today, June 15, 2008, 2 hours ago _ (go to full article)
The Burmese military junta authorities sealed a pro-opposition Buddhist monastery in Rangoon yesterday. The township chairman and security forces arrived at the Sasana Theikpan monastery compound o...
Intelligence officials assigned to keep eye on TCG
Today, June 15, 2008, 2 hours ago_ (go to full article)
The Burmese military junta has assigned over two dozen intelligence officials to accompany a joint mission of the Tripartite Core Group to access the damage in cyclone-affected Irrawaddy delta and Ran...
Eleven killed in Myanmar landslides
Today, June 15, 2008, 2 hours ago_ (go to full article)
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - More misery for Myanmar. State media report at least 11 people are dead after their homes collapsed from landslides caused by heavy rain. A state-run newspaper reports several ...
Myanmar to build cyclone shelters in 500 villages
Today, June 15, 2008, 2 hours ago_ (go to full article)
Yangon, June 14 (Xinhua) Myanmar would build temporary cyclone relief shelters in 500 villages in the country's disaster-prone areas as part of a quick response system to natural calamities, a media report said Saturday.
Burmese refugees fill meatpacking jobs
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 7:53:10 PM_ (go to full article)
CACTUS, Texas (AP) - Foreign-born workers have been the mainstay for decades at a meatpacking plant in the small Panhandle town of Cactus. When the Swift and Company plant opened in 1974, Vietnamese ...
Obstacles Force Donors to Abandon the Delta
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 7:39:32 PM_ (go to full article)
The abbot is not alone in his concern about the declining number of private donors. Other shelters for displaced storm victims are also facing an increasingly precarious situation, now that the flow o...
Foreign Doctors Leave Cyclone-hit Burma
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 6:32:05 PM_ (go to full article)
Foreign doctors have started leaving cyclone-hit Burma as the junta has closed down many relief camps in the affected areas, a senior Thai health ministry official said on Friday.The military governme...
11 killed in landslide in northern part of Myanmar
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 6:04:15 PM_ (go to full article)
A total of 11 people were killed in a landslide in Myanmar's northern part of Mogok, the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday. The landslide caused by midnight torrential rain on...
UN says Myanmar farmers need fuel for planting
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 8:05:30 AM_ (go to full article)
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar urgently needs diesel fuel to run the rice-tilling machines that are replacing water buffalo killed by Cyclone Nargis in the Irrawaddy delta, a senior U.N. official sai...
Burma landslide kills dozen
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 6:07:50 AM_ (go to full article)
Yangon - Torrential rains caused a landslide that killed 12 miners in Mogok, military-ruled Myanmar's "Valley of Rubies" gem zone, a source with relatives living in the area said on Friday. "At lea...
Foreign doctors leave cyclone hit Myanmar
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 5:00:55 AM_ (go to full article)
June 13, 2008, 20:45 Foreign doctors have started leaving cyclone hit Myanmar as the junta has closed down many relief camps in the affected areas, a senior Thai health ministry official said today. ...
Burma - Youths arrested for protesting Aung San Suu Kyi
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:49:35 AM_ (go to full article)
(Mizzima/IFEX) - Fifteen youth members of the opposition political party, the National League for Democracy, arrested for marching to party leader Aung San Suu Kyi's residence, were released from poli...
Mogok ruby city landslide kills 22, eight missing
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:49 AM_ (go to full article)
Incessant heavy rain since early morning of Thursday triggered landslides in Burma&#8217;s ruby city killing 22 people. Eight people are missing, according to residents.
Storm rumors create panic in Moulmein – Violet Cho
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:48 AM_ (go to full article)
A storm warning system launched by the Burmese army in Burma's Mon State has caused panic among local people, who believe it heralds another catastrophe on the scale of Burma's Cyclone Nargis.
Bogalay schools told to reopen despite setbacks – Aye Nai
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:46 AM_ (go to full article)
Local military officers in Bogalay township, Irrawaddy division, have been putting pressure on local schools to reopen despite the damage wrought by Cyclone Nargis, a township resident said.
US cannot be trusted: junta
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:46 AM_ (go to full article)
As individuals and aid agencies around the world dig into their pockets for funds to help Burma's cyclone victims, the country&#8217;s ruling junta on Friday said that such assistance from the United ...
In Myanmar, a Times reporter worked in secret to cover the story
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:45 AM_ (go to full article)
From the far side of a murky brown river, the only moving thing visible on the ravaged landscape was a tattered maroon cloth, fluttering listlessly atop a tree stripped of its branches. Two Buddhist ...
Cyclone nargis hits Burmese economy – Phanida
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:44 AM_ (go to full article)
Economists and merchants feel that devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis will slow down Burma&#8217;s economy. The cyclone caused unprecedented damage in major rice and fishery producing Irrawaddy Div...
World day against child labor – Sai Slip
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:44 AM_ (go to full article)
The International Labour Organization (ILO) and Thai authorities organized activities on Thursday to promote World Day Against Child Labour in the border provinces of Chiang Rai and Tak.
Farmers charged admin fees to receive loans – Aye Nai
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:43 AM_ (go to full article)
Farmers in Tharawaddy township, Bago division, have been charged up to 3000 kyat in administrative fees in order to receive their state agricultural loans, local residents said.
All members should be included in ASEAN human rights body
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:43 AM_ (go to full article)
Most participants from the two-day workshop of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said here on Friday that all the 10-members, including Myanmar, should be included in a future human r...
Grant full access to international community: Laura Bush – Lalit K Jha
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:41 AM_ (go to full article)
US first lady Laura Bush on Thursday urged the Burmese military junta to allow international aid workers full access to the Irrawaddy delta to carry out humanitarian relief work unhindered.
Burma gives ‘cronies’ slice of storm relief – Glenn Kessler
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:40 AM_ (go to full article)
Some of the most notorious business executives in Burma, including Tay Za and Steven Law, also known as Tun Myint Naing, were given control of &#8220;reconstru ction and relief&#8221; in critical towns...
Burma still refuses aid
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:39 AM_ (go to full article)
The United States is committed to bringing relief assistance to the victims of Cyclone Nargis. To date, the U.S. has provided more than thirty-five million dollars in humanitarian assistance to the pe...
New rules further delay relief
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 4:44:38 AM_ (go to full article)
New Burmese government guidelines on humanitarian agencies will further hamper the delivery of aid to the victims of Cyclone Nargis, Human Rights Watch said today.
More delays in Burma cyclone aid relief
Yesterday, June 14, 2008, 12:10:29 AM_ (go to full article)
Bangkok - New guidelines adopted by Myanmar's ruling generals are further delaying emergency efforts to deliver aid to regions ravaged by the cyclone, human rights experts said on Thursday. The rul...
Farm loans for monsoon crops soon
Friday, June 13, 2008, 8:40:23 PM_ (go to full article)
New Delhi – Farm loans for monsoon crops in the cyclone-hit delta region in Irrawaddy Division at Kyat 8,000 per acre is being given by the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank. The bank has han...
Junta distributed land soon after Myanmar cyclone
Friday, June 13, 2008, 7:50:45 PM_ (go to full article)
WASHINGTON &#8212; Just seven days after Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar last month, the ruling military junta parceled out key sections of the affected Irrawaddy Delta to favored tycoons and firms,...
As Donors Disappear, Cyclone Survivors Fend for Themselves
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:36:57 PM_ (go to full article)
As private donors disappear from cyclone-affected areas of the Irrawaddy delta, residents of Bogalay, one of the hardest-hit towns in the disaster zone, say that they are struggling to rebuild their h...
Burma allows the last four UN helicopters in
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:36:25 PM_ (go to full article)
New Delhi - Burma's military junta on Tuesday allow four more helicopters of the United Nations to fly into the country to assist in airlifting aid supplies to cyclone hit regions of the country. P...
Burma Funds Appeal Short of Target
Friday, June 13, 2008, 5:45:20 PM_ (go to full article)
Queen Elizabeth II, Bill Gates, J.K. Rowling and a clutch of Hollywood stars have all donated generously to help Burma&#39;s cyclone victims, but the United Nations says funding to keep its relief eff...
Malaysia Warns It Will Clamp Down on Fuel Price Protest
Friday, June 13, 2008, 2:33:02 PM_ (go to full article)
Malaysian authorities vowed to stop an opposition rally on Friday against a sharp fuel price rise that has stoked public anger and handed a political weapon to Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi&#39...
Thai Inflation Could Reach Double Figures, Says Bank Chief
Friday, June 13, 2008, 2:33:00 PM_ (go to full article)
Thailand&#39;s inflation could reach double-digit levels if consumers feel compelled to buy because they fear prices will be more expensive in the future, Bank of Thailand Governor Tarisa Watanagase s...
Philippine TV Crew Member Freed, Two Others Still Held
Friday, June 13, 2008, 2:32:58 PM_ (go to full article)
Suspected al-Qaida-linked militants have freed a cameraman for the Philippines&#39; largest TV network but his two colleagues remain captive on a southern island, officials said on Friday. ABS-CBN&#39...
Manila Talking to Vietnam about Buying More Rice
Friday, June 13, 2008, 2:32:56 PM_ (go to full article)
The Philippines said on Friday it was in talks with Vietnam about buying an unspecified quantity of rice to boost its buffer stock.Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said Manila had asked eight countrie...
A journey into the heart of the cyclone-hit delta
Friday, June 13, 2008, 1:55:18 PM_ (go to full article)
BOGALE, 13 June 2008 (IRIN) - A month after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, access to the worst-affected Ayeyarwady Delta for foreigners, whether aid workers or journalists, remains a challenge. A photo-j...
U.N. says funding for Burma cyclone victim relief falls short
Friday, June 13, 2008, 10:24:18 AM_ (go to full article)
RANGOON, Burma (AP) &#151; Queen Elizabeth II, Bill Gates, J.K. Rowling and a clutch of Hollywood stars have all donated generously to help Burma's cyclone victims, but the United Nations says funding...
Junta officials seize cameras – Nem Davies
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:27 AM_ (go to full article)
The seizure of video and still cameras came in the wake of news appearing in state-run newspapers that anti-government elements and self centred people were making money from concocted and fabricated ...
Keep doors open for aid: Thakin Thein Pe – Nay Thwin
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:27 AM_ (go to full article)
The statement was made after they heard that relief materials have not yet reached remote cyclone ravaged areas even a month. Thakin Thein Pe turns 93 today. &#8220;It is being heard that cyclone aid...
Police take valuables off bodies of cyclone victims in Mon state
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:26 AM_ (go to full article)
The police in Mon state, on the pretext of searching for some kind of identification of bodies of Cyclone Nargis victims floating into the area, have been taking away jewellery found on the corpses, s...
NLD members made to sign agreement – Khin Hnin Htet
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:25 AM_ (go to full article)
One of 15 National League for Democracy members freed from detention on Monday said they had to sign a document before their release agreeing not to take part in further protests.
USDA joins cyclone efforts to boost image – Htet Aung Kyaw
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:24 AM_ (go to full article)
The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that 264 youth members of the USDA would carry out reconstruction tasks in cyclone-hit areas of Irrawaddy division. The USDA members were dispatc...
Power supply in Myanmar Yangon division almost resumes after disaster
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:24 AM_ (go to full article)
A 92 percent of electric power supply has resumed in cyclone-hit Yangon division of Myanmar more than a month after a cyclone storm hit the country, according to the local-language Myanmar Times Thurs...
Shan migrants urge Thai authorities to withdraw trespassing charges – Sai Slip
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:23 AM_ (go to full article)
A group of Shan migrants who have been evicted from lands which they believed they had lawfully purchased have appealed to Thai authorities to withdraw charges against them for trespassing on governme...
ASEAN says team to have full access in Myanmar
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:21 AM_ (go to full article)
Southeast Asian and UN experts will have full access to cyclone-devastated parts of Myanmar, where more than a million people have still not received any foreign help, ASEAN said Thursday.
Diseases common in cyclone-hit areas but ‘no outbreak’: MSF – Zarni
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:21 AM_ (go to full article)
&#8220;We&#8217;ve found over 50 cases of diarrhea in the village around this area,&#8221; a Burmese doctor working with the MSF in Haing Gyi Island told Mizzima on Wednesday. &#8220;But we have been...
35,000 pregnant women need care in Myanmar
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:20 AM_ (go to full article)
Up to 35,000 pregnant cyclone survivors are in urgent need of proper care in Myanmar, a U.N. expert said Wednesday, as relief agencies again raised concerns about the junta&#8217;s willingness to acce...
UN’s Myanmar appeal only 44 percent funded
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:19 AM_ (go to full article)
The U.N. says it set out to raise $201 million but so far has gotten just $113 million from donors. The U.N. says areas like economic recovery and health have been well funded, but emergency food ope...
RI running out of time to play key role in Myanmar – Jared Genser
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:19 AM_ (go to full article)
The international community is wondering if Indonesia, with its key role as the only ASEAN member of the UN Security Council and its strong relationship with the Burmese junta will help avert an even ...
The troops have arrived at last, but where
Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:17:18 AM_ (go to full article)
In contrast with the impressive way neighboring China responded to the disastrous earthquake there, Burmese troops reacted to their own country's disaster sluggishly and coldheartedly. While Chinese ...
Worldwide Pharmaceutical Industry, Aid Organizations Warn of Second Disaster in Myanmar
Friday, June 13, 2008, 4:21:28 AM_ (go to full article)
Posted on: Thursday, 12 June 2008, 12:00 CDT WASHINGTON, June 12 /PRNewswire- USNewswire/ -- In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar is facing a second crisis from the threat of diseases resulting from...
Burma junta claims visas granted to 911 disaster relief workers
Friday, June 13, 2008, 3:52:40 AM_ (go to full article)
Rangoon - Burma&#039;s state-run media disclosed Wednesday that the government has issued visas to a total of 911 foreign disaster relief workers since Cyclone Nargis hit the country on May 2-3, in ap...
UN says it has received less than half the money it needs for Myanmar cyclone relief
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 11:28:05 PM_ (go to full article)
YANGON, MYANMAR -- The United Nations said today it has received less than half the money it needs for cyclone relief in Myanmar, with some nations delaying their donations because of concerns about ...
Back to School in the Delta
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 11:23:10 PM_ (go to full article)
The new academic year started in Burma on June 2. In the Irrawaddy delta and the western suburbs of Rangoon, schoolchildren are returning to schools that still bare the scars of Cyclone Nargis. In Kun...
Food, Fuel Uncertainties Top World Economic Forum Agenda in Malaysia
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 11:22:58 PM_ (go to full article)
The World Economic Forum said Thursday it will gather mainly Asian government and corporate leaders in Malaysia to search for ways to tackle uncertainties like soaring food and fuel prices. A two-day ...
Malnutrition Kills 21 Toddlers in Indonesia, Thousands More at Risk
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 11:22:56 PM_ (go to full article)
At least 21 toddlers have died of malnutrition in eastern Indonesia in recent months due to a food shortage that threatens the lives of thousands more children, a local health official said Thursday. ...
Coping with cyclone trauma
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 10:43:33 PM_ (go to full article)
BANGKOK, 12 June 2008 (IRIN) - Survivors of Cyclone Nargis continue to suffer from pervasive trauma, further challenging the process of rebuilding shattered lives. "I've seen a lot of people who are v...
Burmese generals are doing themselves great harm
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 9:34:28 PM_ (go to full article)
By preventing others from doing good, by interfering with the generosity of others, the Burmese generals are doing themselves great harm. The seriousness of this offense is clearly set forth in Losaka...
World Vision urges donations as Myanmar match deadline nears
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 8:51:08 PM_ (go to full article)
MISSISSAUGA, ON, June 12 /CNW/ - As the government's June 13 deadline for matching donations approaches, World Vision is encouraging Canadians not to miss this opportunity to double their generosity.. .
Suu Kyi Deserves to Be Flogged, Junta Says
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 8:27:53 PM_ (go to full article)
Burma&#39;s military junta said on Wednesday that detained opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi deserved to be beaten like an errant child for threatening national security.Seek. ..
WFP Forbidden to Buy Rice from Local Dealers
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 5:08:35 PM_ (go to full article)
An official from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has confirmed that the Burmese government has told the food relief agency that it will no longer be permitted to buy rice from local deal...
Oil Prices Edge Higher in Asian Trading on Supply Worries
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 5:08:15 PM_ (go to full article)
Oil prices rose modestly in Asian trading Thursday, extending gains from the previous session as supply concerns drew buyers to the market. After falling a week ago on concerns about slowing gasoline ...
Six Weeks After Cyclone, Burma Devastation Remains Uncertain
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 4:47:14 PM_ (go to full article)
Nearly six weeks have passed since Cyclone Nargis tore through much of Burma, killing tens of thousands of people. Relief agencies say the extent of the devastation remains uncertain because the Burme...
Burma says no tax taken from aid
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 4:46:53 PM_ (go to full article)
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