BI Weekly No. 342

May 8th, 2008

The BI Weekly archive is available on our website: www.burmaissues.org

Inside Burma

Border

International

Cyclone victims in urgent need of assistance: U.N.
Don’t support the referendum
US crackdowns on Burma further
UNSC calls for political freedom in Burma

Storm’s Death Toll Reaches 22,000

More than 22,000 people were killed in Burma's devastating cyclone and 41,000 are still missing four days after the storm slammed into the country's southern coast, the military junta said.

Aid workers were racing to deliver food and water to the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta region, which was submerged by floodwaters, leaving scenes of utter devastation with homeless survivors running low on food and water.

Witnesses described horrific images of rice fields littered with corpses, and there were fears the death toll from tropical cyclone Nargis could rise much further.

Save the Children, one of the few relief agencies allowed to operate in the secretive and impoverished Southeast Asian country, said the toll would rise sharply in the coming days as more victims were found in hard-to-reach areas.

"If at this stage, only four days in, the government are telling us the numbers are already reaching over 20,000 and there are 40,000 people missing, I think it could well go higher," spokesman Dan Collinson said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it went as high as 50,000," he said.

“Myanmar says cyclone death toll tops 22,000”, Agence France Presse, May 6th, 2008

Burma's pro-democracy opposition said Tuesday that it was "extremely unacceptable" for the ruling junta to go ahead with a constitutional referendum after a cyclone killed 15,000 people in the country.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) said the regime had yet to provide meaningful assistance to hundreds of thousands of victims four days after the storm hit.

"We haven't seen effective assistance to storm victims, even though the authorities have declared (regions) as disaster zones," the party said in a statement.

"It is extremely unacceptable because they are giving priority to the constitution process without respecting the social difficulties faced by people during this disaster."

Burma's military rulers announced that they would go ahead with a referendum on Saturday in most of the country, despite the cyclone damage.

The voting will take place two weeks later in the 47 townships hardest-hit by the cyclone, state television announced.

“Myanmar opposition says referendum 'unacceptable' after cyclone”, Associated Press, May 6th, 2008

Travel and visa obstacles hampered aid deliveries to the estimated 1 million people in Burma believed to be homeless after the devastating cyclone, officials said.

Assistance had started to reach people in and around Rangoon, Burma's largest city, said Chris Kaye, the U.N. World Food Program's director for
Burma.

But many coastal areas remained cut off from food supplies because of flooding and road damage. Additional truckloads of food would be dispatched to Labutta township, the area hardest hit by the cyclone that struck over the weekend, Kaye said.

The food agency said its assessment teams were reporting tremendous storm damage to homes and shelter in villages in the rice-growing areas on Burma's coast. It said the death toll was still increasing.

However, U.N. relief spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said that some U.N. workers planning to assess needs were still awaiting their visas to enter the country.

The death toll in the country, which is also known as Burma, was in the tens of thousands with many more still missing, state radio reported. As many as 1 million people may have been left homeless.

“Transport, visa hurdles slowing aid to Myanmar storm victims”, Associated Press, May 6th, 2008

Fears of outbreaks fueled by mosquitoes, dirty water and poor sanitation were among the World Health Organization's biggest concerns after a devastating cyclone hit Burma, home to one of the world's worst health systems.

WHO was waiting Tuesday for permission from the country's ruling junta to send in medical teams but demolished infrastructure would likely hamper early efforts, said Vismita Gupta-Smith, spokeswoman for WHO's regional office in New Delhi.

"The communications are broken down and the roads are not operational," she said. "But the officers are on the ground and are ready for rapid assessment, surveillance and mobilization."

Teams will work to prevent mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, as well as diarrhea and other outbreaks that can spread quickly amid a lack of clean water and sanitation. Major concerns also include respiratory illnesses among children forced to sleep outside and injuries suffered during the storm, Gupta-Smith said.

WHO was waiting for Burma's military leaders to request aid from a regional emergency fund the UN agency set up last year to fill the time gap between international donors' pledges and the actual arrival of aid. About US $175,000 would be available right away, she said.

“WHO says Burma faces major health worries”, Associated Press, May 6th, 2008

Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be able to vote in the upcoming referendum on the country's military-backed draft constitution, according to an official voting list released.

Local government offices posted lists of people who have the right to vote in the May 10 referendum on a proposed constitution that critics say is a sham designed to cement military rule.

Suu Kyi's name was on the list of voters in Bahan township, a neighborhood in Rangoon, the country's biggest city. Suu Kyi—a Nobel Peace Prize laureate—has been detained for 12 of the past 18 years and is currently under house arrest.

The name of her deputy, Tin Oo, also under house arrest, was on the voters list for another ward of the same township.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy insisted in a statement last month that political prisoners held under emergency laws without being convicted by a court have a legal right to vote. It said a ban on convicted felons voting does not apply to such people.

“Junta says Suu Kyi can vote”, Associated Press, May 2nd, 2008

Hundreds of government workers in Burma have been forced to vote in favour of an army-drafted constitution in non-secret ballots held more than a week before a May 10 referendum, some of the workers said.

In one of the cases, about 700 employees in the Ministry of Electric Power-2's Yangon office had to tick their ballot papers on Wednesday with local referendum officials looking on, witnesses said.

"We were all shocked and some people were furious but they couldn't do anything," one of those present said. The worker did not want to be identified for fear of recriminations from the former Burma's military rulers.

"They said those who wanted to vote 'no' had to hand in their resignation," the worker said.

The United States has already written off the vote, with President George W. Bush saying it would not be "free, fair or credible" as he announced new sanctions on Thursday against state-owned companies to put pressure on the junta.

“Myanmar "forces" civil servants to vote for charter”, Reuters, May 2nd, 2008

Burmese sailors from Danyawaddy navy base in Kyaukpru, the largest navy base on the Arakan Coast, recently started touring rural villages on Rambree Island to campaign for the upcoming referendum, said a report.

The sailors traveled by ship from one village to another on the island. The report stated that the navy authority formed groups of 10 to 15 sailors to mobilize people in remote areas of the island to cast "yes" votes in referendum.

The villages recently visited by the sailors are Tan Kun Dai, Mru Byint and Alan chaing . All are remote rural villages on the island.

During the tours, the navy sailors checked the list of voters and the polling stations, and also held meetings with local people to urge them to cast "yes" votes in the referendum, it was further stated in the report.

Some officials from the Kyaukpru Township government administrative department accompanied the navy sailors to assist with campaigning for the referendum.

“Burmese navy mobilizes for "yes" vote”, Narinjara News, May 2nd, 2008

PTT suspends the transmission of natural gas from Burma's Yetagun Field, following the leakage of the pipeline.

Chitrapongse Kwangsukstith, senior executive vice president of PTT, said that the gas field operator Petronas is fixing the problem but there is no definite deadline. Due to the problem, the transmission of 400-500 million cubic feet per day would be stopped.

Thailand receives 1,100 mcfpd of gas from Burma per day, including gas from the Yadana Field.

"PTT has worked out with Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to solve the missing supply of fuel for power generating. More bunker oil would be supplied to the power plants," he said. Meanwhile, they would also look into the gas supply contract to see who are to shoulder responsibility for this.

Egat Deputy Governor Apichart Dilogsopon said on Thursday that Egat has been notified of the problem and it has informed the Energy Ministry that there would not be any disruption to power generating.

“Gas pipeline in Burma leaks”, The Nation, April 2nd, 2008

The United Nations estimates that "hundreds of thousands" of people in
Burma are in need of help after a cyclone that killed nearly 22,500, a top U.N. humanitarian official said.

"Unfortunately we cannot tell you how many people are in need of assistance," Rashid Khalikov, director of the U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, told reporters in New York. "We just clearly understand that it will probably be in the hundreds of thousands of people."

Khalikov also appealed to Burma to waive visa requirements for U.N. aid workers trying to get into the country days after the devastating cyclone, in the same way Pakistan and Iran did after disastrous earthquakes struck their countries.

Khalikov added that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had also asked the government to cooperate with the United Nations as much as possible to enable aid to reach people in the affected areas.

U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said that Ban had written a letter to the junta's senior general, Than Shwe, though she declined to say whether he had mentioned the issue of visas for U.N. aid officials.

Separately, the World Food Program (WFP), the food aid branch of the
United Nations, said in a statement that it began distributing food in cyclone-damaged areas in Rangoon on Tuesday.

WFP country director Chris Kaye said the government had provided "some valuable cooperation". However, he indicated that the cooperation provided so far was insufficient.

“Hundreds of thousands need help in Myanmar: U.N.”, Reuters, May 6th, 2008

India and China have been urged by Human Rights Watch not to give credence to Burma’s May 10 referendum that the rights body said seeks to entrench military rule.

Conditions for a free and fair referendum do not exist in Burma because of widespread repression, including arrests of opposition activists, media censorship, bans on political meetings and gatherings, and a pervasive climate of fear created by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in the run up to the referendum, Human Rights Watch said in a report.

“The Burmese generals are showing their true colours by continuing to arrest anyone opposed to their sham referendum, and denying the population the right to a public discussion of the merits of the draft constitution,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “International acceptance of this process will be a big step backward.”

The referendum is taking place just months after the military junta violently crushed massive nationwide pro-democracy protests in September 2007.

“India urged not to back Myanmar referendum”, Thaindian News, May 2nd, 2008

President Bush froze the assets of state-owned companies in Burma propping up the nation's military junta, which has been condemned by the international community for suppressing pro-democracy dissidents.

"These companies, in industries such as gems and timber, exploit the labour of the downtrodden Burmese people, but enrich only the generals," Bush said about Burma.

The new order allows the Bush administration to go after state-owned enterprises — something it previously didn't have the authority to do. The U.S. government already has the power to go after individuals and companies.

In remarks at the White House marking Asian Pacific American heritage month, Bush said the military regime in Burma continues to reject the will of its people to live under leaders of their own choosing.

"Over the past eight months, my administration has tightened sanctions on the regime," he said. "We've imposed visa bans on the junta's generals and their families and their cronies, trying to send a clear message, and we hope the rest of the world follows as well."

“Bush signs order to further crackdown on Myanmar”, Associated Press, May 2nd, 2008

It called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League Democracy, who has been under house arrest for more than 10 years.

It said for the political process to be "inclusive and credible, the government of Myanmar must respect fundamental political freedoms, release all political prisoners and detainees, allow the full participation of all political actors, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and take tangible and timely steps toward a genuine dialogue."

The statement was read to the 15-nation council in an open meeting by
British Ambassador John Sawers, the council president for May.

“UN council urges political freedoms for all in Myanmar”, Earth Times, May 2nd, 2008