http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/burma/ en-us Thu, 5 Jun 2008 14:15:22 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026443/posts YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's military regime has forced cyclone survivors to do menial labor in exchange for food and stepped up a campaign to evict displaced citizens from aid shelters, an international human rights group said Thursday. London-based Amnesty International also said authorities in several cyclone-hit areas continue to divert aid despite the junta's pledge to crack down on the problem weeks ago. "Unless human rights safeguards are observed, tens of thousands of people remain at risk," Amnesty said in a report released Thursday. "Respect for human rights must be at the center of the relief effort." More than a... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026443/posts#comment Thu, 5 Jun 2008 14:15:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026151/posts Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A U.S. warship delivering aid to cyclone victims in Myanmar and its escort vessels will leave international waters near the country on Thursday. The departure of USS Essex on orders of the Pentagon follows the refusal of the military rulers of Myanmar to allow U.S. helicopters to airlift relief supplies to people in the Irrawaddy Delta region, which was hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis last month. According to a statemenf from Admiral Timothy J. Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Myanmar rejected the U.S. Navy's 15 requests for permission to fly the relief goods into... All Headline News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026151/posts#comment Wed, 4 Jun 2008 23:58:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026140/posts Myanmar cyclone: Burma's junta turns away US aid ships By Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent Last Updated: 1:46PM BST 04/06/2008 Four American navy ships, laden with relief supplies, are steaming away from the Burmese coast because the military junta will not allow them to help starving cyclone victims. On board the boats were 22 urgently needed heavy-lift helicopters, amphibious vehicles and water purification equipment. The Burmese regime claimed that, far from wanting to help the 2.5 million survivors of last month’s cyclone, the US was in fact intent on stealing the country’s oil resources. "I am both saddened and... The Telegraph (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026140/posts#comment Wed, 4 Jun 2008 23:44:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025676/posts A top U.S. military commander says American navy ships off Myanmar's coast will leave the area after failing to get the junta's permission to help with cyclone relief efforts. Adm. Timothy Keating says that he wants the USS Essex and accompanying vessels to resume their previously scheduled duties on Thursday. The ships were in the region for international exercises. Keating made them available to help with relief efforts for last month's cyclone and they were deployed near Myanmar in case they obtained permission to enter the country's waters. But Myanmar allowed only limited U.S. military aid flights to the country,... Anchorage Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025676/posts#comment Wed, 4 Jun 2008 04:35:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024731/posts The words “panties” and “spreading” usually don’t appear together on the agenda for bringing democracy, but a Canadian human rights group is changing all that. Panties for Peace has been around for less than a year, but the underwear revolution has spread to the Philippines, Spain, Poland and the U.S. It plays on the popular belief in Burma that contact with women’s panties strips a fighter of his strength. Yes, you read that correctly. Burma’s women have been victims of sexual violence and rape as weapons of war of the military junta for over 20 years. Now the body parts... North Star Writers Group http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024731/posts#comment Mon, 2 Jun 2008 12:43:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023767/posts Rangoon - The military junta began evicting destitute families from cyclone relief centres on Friday and rejected foreign food aid - because people can survive perfectly well by hunting "large, edible frogs." The New Light of Myanmar "newspaper", a government mouthpiece, also warned that foreign relief workers would snoop inside homes, and condemned donors for linking aid money to full access to the hardest-hit regions in the Irrawaddy Delta. The tirade came as the junta tightened its political grip on the country, extending democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest and announcing that its new constitution has been enacted.... The Bangkok Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023767/posts#comment Fri, 30 May 2008 23:41:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021345/posts Excerpt - Fire broke out early Monday and seriously damaged the top floor of the Burmese embassy on Sathorn Road, but there were no injuries, police officials said. They said the fire, which occurred after sunrise, was brought under control within 30 minutes but that there was a significant amount of smoke. The roof of the building collpased during the blaze, prompting officials at the embassy to move their cars out of the area. "The blaze broke out on the top floor, in a room full of documents and filing cabinets," firefighter Niwat Jootawong told a reporter of the AFP... Bangkok Post (excerpt) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021345/posts#comment Mon, 26 May 2008 08:51:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019209/posts The United Nations will send nearly a quarter of a million condoms into cyclone-hit Myanmar to help needy survivors with no access to contraceptives, a UN official says. So far, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said it had sent 72 800 condoms to survivors struggling to maintain their family planning after the storm hit in early May. A total of 218 400 condoms would be delivered, UNFPA aid advisor Chaiyos Kunanusont said. "We don't want regular use of contraception disrupted. An emergency usually damages the health system, so people don't have access to condoms and contraceptives," said Chaiyos. Flights were... News24 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019209/posts#comment Wed, 21 May 2008 16:58:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019165/posts YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar shunned a U.S. proposal for naval ships to deliver aid to cyclone victims today, according to state-run media, dimming hopes that the vessels could provide a major boost to relief efforts. The New Light of Myanmar, a mouthpiece for Myanmar's ruling junta, said that such assistance "comes with strings attached," citing fears that Washington wants to overthrow the country's government and seize its oil. The United States, as well as France and Great Britain, have naval vessels loaded with humanitarian supplies off the Myanmar coast, and had been waiting for a green light to deliver them.... chron.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019165/posts#comment Wed, 21 May 2008 15:18:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2017749/posts More than a fortnight has passed since a major cyclone struck the heavily populated coastal and delta plains of Burma, causing casualties in six figures, both from the immediate effects of violent winds and flooding, and those of disease and starvation in the aftermath. Indeed, one published estimate sourced to the Red Cross set the final toll of the "second wave" as high as two million souls. To this day, international relief organizations are still negotiating with the socialist regime in Rangoon to get direct access to survivors. The supplies they are delivering are impounded by this totalitarian government. The... canada.com/ottawacitizen http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2017749/posts#comment Sun, 18 May 2008 19:53:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2018519/posts SINGAPORE, May 20 (Reuters) - The World Bank is not in a position to provide any financial aid to cyclone-stricken Myanmar because the country has not been servicing its World Bank debt since 1998, a bank official said on Tuesday. "The World Bank is not in a position to assist Myanmar at this time," World Bank Managing Director Juan Jose Daboub told reporters, adding that it was the bank's policy not to provide funds to countries that have fallen behind on debt repayments. Reuters (excerpt) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2018519/posts#comment Tue, 20 May 2008 06:58:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2017462/posts The world has endured an almost mind-numbing series of shocks in recent weeks, from the unprecedented swarm of tornadoes across the American Midwest to the death and destruction wrought by Cyclone Nargis as it tore a path through Myanmar, better known as Burma.There were 368 documented tornadoes in the U.S. in January and February of this year, shattering the previous record of 243 over that two-month period, set in 1999. February's total of 232 tornadoes also shattered previous records.Cyclone Nargis ripped Burma apart, killing at least 128,000, according to Red Cross estimates, and creating some 2.5 million refugees.Al Gore was... WND http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2017462/posts#comment Sat, 17 May 2008 21:52:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2017459/posts Myanmar's junta kept a French navy ship laden with aid waiting outside its maritime border on Saturday, and showed off neatly laid out state relief camps to diplomats. The stage-managed tour appeared aimed at countering global criticism of the junta's failure to provide for survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which left at least 134,000 people dead or missing. The junta flew 60 diplomats and U.N. officials in helicopters to three places in the Irrawaddy delta where camps, aid and survivors were put on display. The diplomats were not swayed. MSNBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2017459/posts#comment Sat, 17 May 2008 21:46:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2017401/posts Myanmar cyclone: Burma junta may be prosecuted over aid block By Philip Sherwell in New York Last Updated: 6:17PM BST 17/05/2008 Burma's ruling generals could be threatened with prosecution for crimes against humanity as a last resort to pressure them to allow an international relief operation to reach desperate cyclone survivors. A boy looks out onto his devastated village near Yangon, Burma "The strategy is to raise the bar for the consequences of not allowing humanitarian intervention by introducing the threat of prosecution for crimes against humanity," said a senior US health expert involved in the discussions. "The goal is... The Telegraph (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2017401/posts#comment Sat, 17 May 2008 17:27:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2016271/posts YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar announced Thursday that a constitution won massive support in a referendum -- a claim slammed by a leading rights group as an insult to the country's people. The document, which critics say will cement nearly four decades of military rule, was approved by 92.4 percent of the 22 million eligible voters last Saturday, said Aung Toe, head of the Referendum Holding Committee on state radio. He put voter turnout at more than 99 percent. The vote has also come under fire for being held while the country responds to a massive cyclone that has killed... AP via New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2016271/posts#comment Thu, 15 May 2008 12:42:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2016011/posts THERE is a certain familiarity to the concomitant series of actions and reactions when disaster strikes in the world. The US stands ready, willing and able to offer assistance. It is often the first country to send in millions of dollars, navy strike groups loaded with food and medical supplies, and transport planes, helicopters and floating hospitals to help those devastated by natural disaster. Then, just as swift and with equal predictability, those wedded to the Great Satan view of the US begin to carp, drawing on a potent mixture of cynicism and conspiracy theories to criticise the last remaining... The Austrailian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2016011/posts#comment Wed, 14 May 2008 21:43:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015996/posts Whenever Burma faces a political or humanitarian crisis, Burmese and foreign observers monitor the reclusive military leaders from a distance, trying to gauge their reactions, guessing what shapes their decisions and where possible conflicts within the leadership lie. The question Burma watchers are quietly asking this time is: has the cyclone managed to instil fear in strongman Senior General Than Shwe and his hard-core military cronies? Are they trembling or are they standing firm? It is easy to imagine the pampered generals running from the storm, boarding themselves in their collective bunker and curling up in terror as the cyclone... Bangkok Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015996/posts#comment Wed, 14 May 2008 21:14:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015978/posts Surprise, surprise. The first relief planes which flew into Burma, or Myanmar, as its military junta, much cared for by our Department of Foreign Affairs, calls that godforsaken place, were American military planes carrying precious bottled water, food, medicines and mosquito nets, all paid for by American taxpayers and given willingly with no strings attached. As is well known, Burma has been ruled by a brutal and murderous military junta since 1988, and is now suffering not only the yoke of collectivist brutality but also the fierce lash of nature, which renders puny all of man’s works. Aren’t they irritating,... Daily Dispatch (South Africa) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015978/posts#comment Wed, 14 May 2008 20:38:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015935/posts Burma's rogue ruling military junta's actions in preventing international humanitarian assistance in the wake of Cyclone Nargis is criminal. There are at least 100,000 dead in the Irrawaddy Delta. More than 1.5 million people are in desperate need of aid. With each day passing, denying international aid and rescue to their own people is nothing short of self-inflicted genocide. There is only a short window to provide aid, else there are sure to be thousands of more deaths due to the break out of diseases such as cholera. The lack of food will cause many more deaths by starvation. With... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015935/posts#comment Wed, 14 May 2008 19:15:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015008/posts Burma cyclone: Burmese officials selling emergency aid supplies in local markets By Alan Brown in Yangonpauk Last Updated: 7:24PM BST 12/05/2008 Officials in Burma's cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta area are appropriating emergency aid supplies and selling them in local markets, it was claimed on Monday. Burmese officials have been accused of selling aid supplies Burmese volunteers who are operating their own private aid missions to the area have said that they are having to hide from local apparatchiks in order to prevent them commandeering their aid and selling it on at markets. The Daily Telegraph learned of the alleged scam from... The Telegraph (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015008/posts#comment Mon, 12 May 2008 23:47:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2014787/posts A sermon preached by the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith, Bishop of Shrewsbury at a confirmation at Christ Church, Shelton and Oxon on 11th May 2008 As Delivered Scripture: Acts 2 1 - 21 There are inevitably two focuses to our worship today. Gathered here are the candidates for confirmation with families and friends. It’s a joyful occasion as we come to celebrate with them this stage in their spiritual life. But we’d be kidding ourselves if we don’t face the fact that the other factor behind our worship today is the plight of those people in Myanmar (the place... Diocese of Litchfield http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2014787/posts#comment Mon, 12 May 2008 14:45:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014619/posts UN says 102,000 dead in Burma Thailand offers to be a base for relief supplies Thailand will act as a mediator to help with the movement of international relief supplies to Burma, which are being held up by the military junta and are stuck in Thailand, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday. The move comes as the UN says up to 102,000 people could have been killed by Cyclone Nargis and about 220,000 are reported missing. Mr Noppadon said he planned to leave for Burma tomorrow to push for additional assistance and ask the Burmese generals to provide wider access... The Bankok Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014619/posts#comment Mon, 12 May 2008 02:28:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014441/posts A Red Cross boat delivering supplies to help 1,000 victims of last weekend's cyclone sank Sunday when it hit debris in the Irrawaddy Delta region, as the U.S. prepared to deliver relief supplies to Myanmar. "The crew managed to get to the safety of an island, along with four Red Cross staff who were on the boat," Red Cross official Joe Lowry said. "But we've lost most of the cargo." CNN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014441/posts#comment Sun, 11 May 2008 17:21:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014428/posts Teams of aid experts allowed into the cyclone-ravaged Irrawady delta have returned to Thailand with the bleakest of warnings: Burma is on the brink of a “devastating public health crisis” compounded by an emerging refugee disaster. But for the hundreds of aid workers who have flown into Bangkok from around the world, the chances of a sudden glut of the precious entry visas appeared slimmer by the hour. Rumours have begun circulating between international aid organisations that the Burmese regime is preparing to close its doors altogether: a decision, warned UN-affiliated aid workers, that will cost the lives of thousands. Times Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014428/posts#comment Sun, 11 May 2008 16:10:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2014317/posts It became the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" on 4 January 1974, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2014317/posts#comment Sun, 11 May 2008 05:54:17 GMT