Two and a half million of its people are facing starvation. Aid agencies are trying to get basics like food and water to them. Yet it is Myanmar's military government that is getting all the attention from the international media. And for all the wrong reasons.
For a start, it has created a buzz within the international aid agencies working within the country. They are now required to apply for yet more permits before they can reach the cyclone-affected Irrawaddy Delta region. Permission is required from
- relevant government ministries,
- the joint Myanmese, UN, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tripartite Core Group, acting as a coordinating agency.
Township Coordination Committees that direct aid deliveries, need to be informed.
According to a report by Human Rights Watch, sources in the Myanmese capital say approval must also be sought from divisional and local level military commanders, and that government officials must accompany all travel by foreign aid workers to the Irrawaddy Delta.
Aid agencies say they are already having to bribe soldiers with rice and cooking oil to get access. Do these new rules mean more pay-offs need to be made for the new middlemen now involved?
China's official Xinhua news agency now says the government has granted visas to some 900 aid workers. That works out to a ratio of 1:2,667 survivors. Even if they all manage to get to those in need, they are still constituting truly a drop in the delta.
Bad publicity is bad publicity
If the government keeps getting bad press it is because of unscrupulous nationals and foreign media. They denied reports that they were taking 10% of overseas donations. The state Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank has a practice of taking 10% from all foreign currency deposits. The government says it will not do that for donations for cyclone relief.
Then there are DVDs of gore and tragedy being sold off the streets of the Myanmar capital, showing the devastation and aftermath of Nargis, starring dead bodies. The government says the footage is painting a false picture. The locals beg to differ. Wanting to learn about the situation from a non-government source. they are snapping the US$1 discs up.
See Reuters' report on the DVD.
Grey Areas
No matter how bad they are (allegedly) behaving, Myanmar's miitary government has managed to get a "get-out-of-jail-free" card from its regular critics. The European Union has stated clearly that its aid to cyclone relief will have no strings attached. This is what its special envoy Pierro Fassino had to say:
"As far as access to the country the situation has actually improved in the past week..."
"The tripartite system that is being established I think is an extremely interesting opportunity to foster a new atmosphere of mutual trust and following this humanitarian emergency, the more we can work in the future on this new climate of trust (the better)."
The EU has donated 87.4 millions euros (US$135 million).
Thanks to its suffering masses, Myanmar can now just about do no wrong. Other despotic states should take note.
For a start, it has created a buzz within the international aid agencies working within the country. They are now required to apply for yet more permits before they can reach the cyclone-affected Irrawaddy Delta region. Permission is required from
- relevant government ministries,
- the joint Myanmese, UN, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tripartite Core Group, acting as a coordinating agency.
Township Coordination Committees that direct aid deliveries, need to be informed.
According to a report by Human Rights Watch, sources in the Myanmese capital say approval must also be sought from divisional and local level military commanders, and that government officials must accompany all travel by foreign aid workers to the Irrawaddy Delta.
Aid agencies say they are already having to bribe soldiers with rice and cooking oil to get access. Do these new rules mean more pay-offs need to be made for the new middlemen now involved?
China's official Xinhua news agency now says the government has granted visas to some 900 aid workers. That works out to a ratio of 1:2,667 survivors. Even if they all manage to get to those in need, they are still constituting truly a drop in the delta.
Bad publicity is bad publicity
If the government keeps getting bad press it is because of unscrupulous nationals and foreign media. They denied reports that they were taking 10% of overseas donations. The state Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank has a practice of taking 10% from all foreign currency deposits. The government says it will not do that for donations for cyclone relief.
Then there are DVDs of gore and tragedy being sold off the streets of the Myanmar capital, showing the devastation and aftermath of Nargis, starring dead bodies. The government says the footage is painting a false picture. The locals beg to differ. Wanting to learn about the situation from a non-government source. they are snapping the US$1 discs up.
See Reuters' report on the DVD.
Grey Areas
No matter how bad they are (allegedly) behaving, Myanmar's miitary government has managed to get a "get-out-of-jail-free" card from its regular critics. The European Union has stated clearly that its aid to cyclone relief will have no strings attached. This is what its special envoy Pierro Fassino had to say:
"As far as access to the country the situation has actually improved in the past week..."
"The tripartite system that is being established I think is an extremely interesting opportunity to foster a new atmosphere of mutual trust and following this humanitarian emergency, the more we can work in the future on this new climate of trust (the better)."
The EU has donated 87.4 millions euros (US$135 million).
Thanks to its suffering masses, Myanmar can now just about do no wrong. Other despotic states should take note.
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