16 June 2008 : Burma News Late Extra
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UN plans Myanmar anti-dengue operation
Burmese Generals Deserve to be Flogged: US Congressman
Too little too late for Burma
Burma cracking down on satellite dish sellers, consumers
Burma arrests 245 drug traffickers
John Pilger: The West betrays Burma
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UN plans Myanmar anti-dengue operation
AP
2 hours, 1 minute ago
The United Nations plans to launch a massive anti-dengue campaign this week in cyclone-hit areas of Myanmar where mosquitoes that carry the disease have become a major concern, an official said Monday.
More than 1,700 volunteers will fan out across 22 priority areas in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, and the harder-hit Irrawaddy delta applying larvicide, a pesticide that kills mosquito larva, to water containers and other areas where mosquitoes are likely to breed, said Leonard Ortega, the World Health Organization's dengue expert in Yangon.
WHO and UNICEF are handling the operation with local aid groups.
"It is a major concern not just because this is dengue season, but because of the displacement of the population, the destruction of houses and because people are more exposed to mosquitoes," Ortega said.
The U.N. estimates a total of 2.4 million people were affected by the May 2-3 cyclone and warns that more than 1 million of those still need help, mostly in hard-to-reach spots in the Irrawaddy delta. The cyclone killed more than 78,000 people and left another 56,000 missing.
So far, the number of cases is roughly in line with previous years, Ortega said. There were 781 cases of dengue fever reported in Yangon as of June 10, and 481 cases reported in the delta through the end of May.
State-run media and volunteers from the Myanmar Red Cross and other organizations will be informing the public about the campaign and advising home owners to dispose of old tires, bottles, tin cans and other objects where water can collect and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
The WHO has also provided the government with 200 fogging machines to spray pesticide in areas where dengue cases have been reported, Ortega said, noting that fogging only kills adult mosquitoes but does not destroy the larva.
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Burmese Generals Deserve to be Flogged: US Congressman
The Irrawaddy
By LALIT K JHA / WASHINGTON
Monday, June 16, 2008
It is the Burmese generals, who have indulged in gross violations of human rights against its own citizens and prevented the establishment of democracy in the country, that need to be flogged and not Aung San Suu Kyi, an influential US Congressman has said.
A Burmese woman holds a candle next to a picture of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally to celebrateher 63rd birthday in Bucheon, west of Seoul, South Korea. (Photo: AP)
"It is the SPDC generals, brutal dictators with their crimes against humanity and campaigns of ethnic cleansing, who deserve to be stripped of power and placed under arrest for many years to come," Congressman Joe Pitts said on June 12.
Pitts, a Republican, who represents Pennsylvania's Lancaster Chester and Berks counties, made the speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, after Burmese state-run media said Aung San Suu Kyi deserved to be beaten like an errant child for threatening national security.
"Madam Speaker, I rise today over the comments made by the brutal generals, military dictators in Burma, saying that Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and rightful leader elected by the people, deserves to be flogged. Come again?" Pitts said.
Pitts said these are the generals who stonewalled for weeks and refused to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid to get to the people after Cyclone Nargis.
These are the generals who order their military to attack ethnic groups throughout the country and in 1988 issued a blood assimilation order to their troops to marry or rape the ethnic women in order to "purify" the ethnics’ blood lines, he said.
Pitts alleged the generals forcibly conscript children to serve as soldiers in their army and plant land mines around the villages they attack so that returning villagers get maimed or killed.
The authoritarian rulers pillage or plunder the resources of Burma so they can have huge weddings with millions of dollars of jewels around the necks of their daughters, Pitts said.
Meanwhile on June 12, the US Senate approved renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
"Last month, the whole world got a close look at the SPDC's contempt for human life when a devastating cyclone hit Burma," said Senator Mitch McConnell from Kentucky.
"No one can say with certainty what the full toll of death and destruction is from the storm, but we do know the junta greatly compounded matters through inaction and its utter disregard for the Burmese people," McConnell said before the Senate decided to renew the sanctions.
This bill is the same legislation the Senate has passed in prior years. If enacted, it would extend import sanctions for another year unless the regime takes a number of tangible steps toward democracy and reconciliation.
He said the SPDC severely restricted the entry of relief workers into Burma. Four US navy ships carrying much-needed supplies for Burmese people were turned away time and again by the regime, he alleged.
McConnell said: "Estimates put as many as 135,000 people dead or missing after the cyclone hit on May 3, and many of those deaths must lie at the feet of the SPDC for its outrageous acts of criminal neglect."
The bill, however, would not hinder or block US efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Burma in the wake of the cyclone. This bill imposes sanctions on trade, not humanitarian aid, McConnell said.
"America is a friend to the people of Burma. That is why we stand against Burma's tyrannical ruling regime," he said. Besides McConnell, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, were its co-sponsors.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=12763
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Too little too late for Burma
By Jane Elliott
Health reporter, BBC News
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Too little is being done to help the people of Burma and their health is suffering, an aid expert has warned.
Kaz de Jong, head of mental health services for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said that five weeks after the cyclone there are still remote villages in the Irrawaddy Delta that have received no help.
Other areas, he says, have received just a small amount of aid.
A veteran dealing with natural disasters, Dr de Jong has coordinated services for the Pakistan earthquake and the Asian tsunami, but he says this is the worst response he has ever seen.
More help needed
"I hardly saw any care-giving personnel, which is a big contrast to all other natural disasters, and I have been at most of them within the last 15 years.
"We have been in the area since day two and, despite the fact that we have done large scale distribution, there are still substantial medical needs.
"This needs to be addressed quickly."
Dr de Jong said he was shocked to find that some villages were still cut off.
"These people had been without food and medical care for a month.
"Unfortunately this is not the exception, and that is very worrying."
Focused on survival
He added that the numbers needing help far exceeded MSF's capacity.
"There is a big gap - there are other organisations giving, but it is not enough. It is just not enough.
"The people are extremely resilient and extremely cunning in surviving, but it is extremely difficult."
He said the normal coping mechanisms of the community would be to rally round and support each other, but that in many areas the cyclone had destroyed this caring and supportive network, making people more vulnerable.
"The communities are trying to care for each other, but their hands are full.
"How can you care for someone who has lost eight family members, when you have lost five."
Dr de Jong spent two weeks in Burma, also known as Myanmar, and he said the inhabitants were showing signs of mental trauma.
He said if more help were available now, some long term mental health problems could be avoided.
"People are severely affected by what has happened to them, especially in those areas where whole families have been washed away.
"They have watched their whole households be destroyed.
"They question whether they should continue, what is the meaning of life.
"They are not suicidal, but there are moments in life when you question the meaning of it and this is certainly one of those moments," he said.
"One woman came up, her family had been completely wiped out, she was the only survivor.
"She said 'I love you for your food distribution, but you know I don't feel like eating'.
"You can put food in front of people, but they need the motivation to eat it.
Mental stress
Dr de Jong said his teams were seeing signs of mental stress.
"Nearly everybody is plagued by sleeping problems. Their sleep is being disturbed by nightmares, they are also waking up early and not being able to sleep because they are very worried about everything. It is affecting children and adults.
"And if the wind starts blowing they get a sort of feeling they are back in the cyclone.
"Many people have complained about not having any energy," he said.
Dr de Jong said his clinic were also seeing general health problems such high as blood pressure and unspecified aches and pains.
"About 40% of the complaints are difficult to diagnose in the sense that they are unclear - they are not all stress related, but one of the signs of people being under stress is that they have all sorts of unclear physical complaints.
"This all points to people finding life very difficult and being very vulnerable.
"It is this vulnerability that worries us, because the fact that people are vulnerable and also suffering from the signs of stress may affect their functioning and at this stage they need to be fully functional to protect their survival and reconstruct their lives."
He said with help most would recover, but some would need more intensive interventions.
"The majority will recover by themselves after a very tough period. Some need a helping hand in the form of physical and/or mental support.
"But after some months there are a small minority who find it difficult to reconstruct their lives and put energy into their future - they need counselling, psychiatric support and some even medication.
Dr de Jong his teams are already building an infrastructure.
"We are not just assessing needs and walking off. We are in the process of training community health workers, and counsellors - people who are locally recruited.
"They are our eyes and ears.
"We also get them to draw attention to people who need help.
"We stay as long as we are needed. What we saw in Pakistan and after the tsunami was that after one year the situation stabilised and the role of MSF as medical emergency organisation became less relevant."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7450259.stm
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Burma cracking down on satellite dish sellers, consumers
16 June 2008
Source: SEAPA/Mizzima.com
Shops selling satellite dish antennas in Rangoon are being raided and searched by local authorities in Burma. SEAPA Alerts partner Mizzima.com reports that satellite dishes last week were confiscated from some shops and harassed shop owners "are being made to sign a pledge not to sell the equipment to unlicensed customers."
Under one of the most restrictive environments for the press and access to information, all communication and media devices require licenses in Burma. Everything from cell phones, fax machines, and modems must be registered in the military-led country.
All broadcast media are state-owned, and all printed material must go through a strict and tedious censorship system. Satellite television – including the access they provide to foreign news services – is expensive, but nonetheless widespread, creating a crucial platform for independent, non-state news and information in Burma. Mizzima says official government statistics estimate that there are about 60,000 licensed satellite dish subscribers in this country of 55 million. A black market for the services, however, may place the actual figures at a higher level.
In recent months, the Burmese junta has been shortening its leash on the satellite services. Following protests and a violent government crackdown in September 2007, Burmese officials compelled sellers to dramatically raise the prices on satellite dishes and subscriptions, putting them further out of reach of common Burmese. Mizzima says the higher prices were enough to put some sellers out of business.
And still, last week Mizzima.com says they received reports of outright harassment of vendors of such services.
"They are searching the shops now but our shop has stopped selling the dishes," Mizzima quoted one store owner.
"Meanwhile satellite dish dealers Ko Chit Win Kyaing from 'Grand Electronic' and another dealer from 'Green Leaf' were arrested recently without any reason being given," Mizzima, a leading online news provider for exiled Burmese, added.
http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/newsdetail.php?No=890
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Burma arrests 245 drug traffickers
June 16, 2008 - 3:31PM
Authorities in Burma arrested 245 drug traffickers in May, state media said, as the world's second-largest opium producer sought to show it was cracking down on narcotics.
Military, police and customs officers also seized 76.78kg of opium, 1.19kg of heroin, 3.43kg of marijuana, 93,867 stimulant tablets and other narcotics, a state-run newspaper said.
"Action was taken against 245 persons - 201 men and 44 women in 158 cases," the New Light of Myanmar reported ahead of the United Nations anti-drugs and trafficking day on June 26.
Burma is the second largest opium-producing nation after Afghanistan.
The military government has promised that Burma will be opium free by 2014, and regularly burns drug hauls to convince the world it is tackling rampant drug production.
But after years of sharp decline, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported last year that opium production in 2006 jumped by 46 per cent, blaming high-level collusion, corruption, and porous borders.
The United States, a vocal critic of the junta, has also said several hundred million amphetamine tablets are produced in Burma every year and shipped by gangs to neighbouring China and Thailand.
Even China, one of Burma's few allies, has publicly pressured the regime to crack down on narco-trafficking.
© 2008 AFP
http://news.smh.com.au/world/burma-arrests-245-drug-traffickers-20080616-2rdb.html
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John Pilger: The West betrays Burma
John Pilger
14 June 2008
The voices of those who know how to help Burma are all but extinguished by a virus called the “war on terror”.
When I phoned Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s home in Rangoon recently, I imagined the path to her door that looks down on Inya Lake. Through ragged palms, a trip-wire is visible, a reminder that this is the prison of a woman whose party was elected by a landslide in 1990, a democratic act extinguished by men in ludicrous uniforms.
Her phone rang and rang; I doubt if it is connected now. Once, in response to my “How are you?” she laughed about her piano’s need of tuning. She also spoke about lying awake, breathless, listening to the thumping of her heart.
Now her silence is complete. This week, the Burmese junta renewed her house arrest, beginning the 13th year. As far as I know, a doctor has not been allowed to visit her since January, and her house was badly damaged in the cyclone.
And yet the United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, could not bring himself to utter her name on his recent, groveling tour of Burma. It is as if her fate and that of her courageous supporters, who last week beckoned torture and worse merely by unfurling the banners of her National League for Democracy, have become an embarrassment for those who claim to represent the “international community”.
Why? Where are the voices of those in governments and their related institutions who know how to help Burma? Where are the honest brokers who once eased the oppressed away from their shadows, the true and talented peacemakers who see societies not in terms of their usefulness to “interests”, but as victims of it?
Where are the Dennis Hallidays and Hans von Sponecks, who rose to assistant secretary-general of the UN by the sheer moral force of their international public service?
The answer is simple. They are all but extinguished by a virus called the “war on terror”. Where once men and women of good heart and good intellect and good faith stood in parliaments and world bodies in defense of the human rights of others, there is now cowardice.
Think of the parliament at Westminster, which cannot even cajole itself into holding an inquiry into the criminal invasion of Iraq, let alone to condemn it and speak up for its victims.
Last year, 100 eminent British doctors pleaded with the minister for international development, then Hillary Benn, for emergency medical aid to be sent to Iraqi children’s hospitals. “Babies are dying for want of a 95 pence oxygen mask”, they wrote. The minister turned them down flat.
I mention that because medical aid for children is exactly the kind of assistance the British government now insists the Burmese junta should accept without delay.
“There are people suffering in Burma”, said an indignant British PM Gordon Brown, “there are children going without food … it is utterly unacceptable that when international aid is offered, the regime will try to prevent that getting in.” British foreign secretary David Miliband chimed in with "malign neglect."
Say that to the children of Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza, where Britain’s role is as neglectful and malign as any. As scores of children in Shia areas of Baghdad are blown to bits by US forces and what the BBC calls Iraq’s “democratic government”, Britain is silent, as ever.
“We” say nothing while Israel torments and starves the children of Gaza, ignoring every attempt to bring a ceasefire with Hamas, all in the name of a crusade that dares not say its name.
What might have been a new day for humanity in the post-Cold War years — even a renewal of the spirit of the Declaration of Human Rights, of “never again” from Palestine to Burma — was cancelled by the ambitions of a sole rapacious power that has cowed all before it.
The “war on terror” allows Australia and Israel to train Burma’s internal security thugs. It consumes most humanitarian aid indirectly and the very internationalism capable of bringing the “clever” pressure on Burma, about which Aung San Suu Kyi once spoke.
Dismissing the idiocy of a military intervention in her country, she asked, “What about all those who trade with the generals, who give them many millions of dollars that keep them going?”
She was referring to the huge oil and gas companies, Total and Chevron, which effectively hand the regime US$2.7 billion a year, and the Halliburton company (whose former CEO is US Vice-President Dick Cheney) that backed the construction of the Yadana pipeline, and the many British travel companies that send tourists across bridges and roads built with forced labour.
The BBC, in contravention of its charter, has just bought a 75% share of Lonely Planet travel guides, a truculent defender of “our” right to be tourists in Burma, regardless of slave labour or cyclones or the woman beyond the trip wire. Shame.
[First published in the British Guardian on June 4. Reprinted from http://johnpilger.com.]
From: International News, Green Left Weekly issue #755 18 June 2008.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/755/39022
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