Wednesday, 14th May 2008
News Update: Cyclone Nargis Situation
Todayxs stats (source: www.irrawaddy.org):

Official death toll: 31,938
Missing (official): 29,770
Injured (official): 1,403
Dead (UN estimate): Up to 102,000
Missing (UN estimate): Up to 220,000
Affected (UN estimate): Up to 2 million

By Sai Silp, 13/05/08, Irrawaddy
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=11998

At the request of UNSG Ban Ki-Moon, Thailandxs Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej will travel to Burma today to try and persuade the juntaxs leaders to ease aid restrictions and allow an appropriate number of foreign workers into the country. Samak had originally planned to travel to Burma last week for this purpose, but cancelled due to the regimexs declaration that no outsiders would be permitted to distribute aid to the survivors. He then agreed to make another attempt after the Secretary-Generalxs personal request. Samak last met with Burmaxs Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein in Thailand in April, and hopes to meet with him again during this visit. Thailandxs cabinet has approved aid worth US $500,000, as well as medical supplies worth over US $4 million from the Ministry of Public Health, 40 medical teams to be deployed to the affected regions, and 480,000 liters of petroleum from PTT Public Company Limited, Thailandxs energy conglomerate.


UN Leader Tells Myanmar to Hurry on Aid
By Warren Hoge and Seth Mydans, 13/05/08, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/world/asia/13myanmar.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

Ban Ki-moon is expressing his deep concern and frustration with the juntaxs top officials, particularly General Than Shwe, who have not responded to four days of his letters and calls. Under-Secretary General for emergency management John Holmes reported that only 34 out of 100 workers have been granted entry visas thus far. Certain delta regions are still entirely underwater, and aid is thought to be reaching only one-third of survivors most in need of assistance. Even groups that have been granted limited access, such as Doctors Without Borders, are experiencing severe restrictions regarding travel and entry into hospitals.


The UNxs Responsibility to Protect
By Ivo Daalder and Paul Stares, 13/05/08, International Herald-Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/13/opinion/edaalder.php


After the junta seized relief supplies that the UN had sent in, the UN was forced to temporarily suspend assistance. With growing evidence that the junta has been confiscating, stealing, and selling aid provisions at highly inflated prices, as well as the prospect of the death toll rising to 1.5 million due to infectious diseases, international calls to invoke the UNxs xresponsibility to protectx doctrine and force aid into the country have been mounting. Calls began last week with Prime Minister of France Bernard Kouchner, who is also the founder of Doctors Without Borders – however, a UN resolution put forth by the UK, the US, and France has yet to materialize. Though many express hesitance at such an attempt due to the likelihood of a veto from China (and perhaps Russia), the authors of the article make the case that China cannot afford to take any actions that will further hurt its international image and possibly sway countries to pull out of the Beijing Olympics.


Two Disasters, Contrasting Reactions
By Bridget Kendall, 13/05/08, BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7399004.stm

Acute differences between the recent emergency management actions of China and Burma, both notorious for spurning outside political intervention, are highlighted as both states experience natural disasters that have killed tens of thousands. Ten days after Cyclone Nargis, the majority of aid workers attempting to gain access to Burma have been constrained (and those who have gained access are at high risk of arrest if found to have any journalistic involvement or intent) – while less than two days after Chinaxs earthquake, aid pledges have immediately been met with an official welcome. While Burmaxs junta appallingly insisted to continue with its power-strengthening referendum plans, China made the decision to scale down Olympic ceremonies and shift national focus to the disaster at hand. For once, Chinaxs reaction to a current crisis situation has warranted praise from the international community.

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(11/05/2008)