Reports are beginning to emerge from the more remote regions of the cyclone hit areas that the scourge of infectious disease may have begun, on a small scale at least. Relief teams that have been able to get to remote areas that have as yet not received any aid from the regime sources, relate that there have been small outbreaks of dysentery. Apart from dysentery, there have also been reported cases of typhoid and malaria. So far the cases are quite small in number, however the implications for the region are serious. The conditions which have led to these outbreaks are not isolated. Experts suggest that the diseases have been largely caused by villagers drinking and washing in contaminated water sources. The lack of action by the authorities in disposing of dead bodies in the worst hit areas has exacerbated the problem. Corpses of humans and animals are still polluting many water sources. Locals have had no choice but to continue using these sources or die. However, by doing so, they are at increased risk of contracting water borne diseases. Although many refugees are being aided in refugee camps attended to by the various UN agencies in the bigger townships, there are still many more that are not protected by this safety net. Those in the camps have access to medicines and clean drinking water, however those in outlying areas are denied these basic necessities, thus increasing their risks of infection. The authorities recent attempts to drive refugees back to devastated towns and villages is sure to place many thousands more at risk of contracting diseases as they move further and further away from sanitary conditions.

In an unsurprising announcement, the Security Council President for the month of June, US representative Zalmay Khalilzad, has criticize the Burmese referendum as not being up to UN standards for transparency and fairness. The comments were echoed by Human Rights Watch of New York. Despite the criticisms of the recent referendum, the results of the poll are sure to stand and help to further entrench the power of the military government in Burma. The fallout from the referendum continues as media sources report that villagers who voted ‘no’ are now suffering the consequences of going against the wishes of the military. In Chin state the military has been going to villages where no votes were recorded to find the culprits. Once the individuals who voted ‘no’ have been identified, they have been put to work as forced laborers who are made to help in the construction and fencing of new army camps. If the individuals in question are unwilling to perform forced labor they have been made to pay around 30,000 Kyat as a fine. Thus not only have the regime rigged the voting process from start to finish, but they have now started to profit from the exercise as well. If these practices are happening in Chin state there is no reason to assume that it is not taking place in other areas across the country as well. At least those in Chin state had the chance to vote ‘no’, which is more than can be said for those who had their voting cards filled out for them by the authorities in other areas of Burma.

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