Politics ahead of compassion in disaster relief

[tinythinker]

Aid Groups Say Myanmar Food Stolen by Military

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: May 15, 2008

YANGON, Myanmar — The directors of several relief organizations in Myanmar said Wednesday that some of the international aid arriving into the country for the victims of Cyclone Nargis was being stolen, diverted or warehoused by the country’s army.

Myanmar Government Still Blocking Relief (May 14, 2008) The United States military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said there was a possibility that “a significant tropical cyclone” — a second big storm — would form within the next 24 hours and head across the Irrawaddy Delta, the region that suffered most from the first storm that struck on May 3.

In Yangon, the main commercial city, winds were already beginning to whip up Wednesday evening, but it was unclear how strong the storm would become.

Thailand’s prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, flew to Yangon on Wednesday to persuade Myanmar’s leaders to allow more foreign aid workers into the country. The members of the military junta told him they were in control of the relief operations and had no need for foreign experts, he told reporters after returning to Bangkok, The Associated Press reported.

The government said there were no outbreaks of disease or starvation among the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the cyclone. In Yangon, Mr. Sundaravej met the prime minister, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, The A.P. said.

The aid directors in Myanmar declined to be quoted directly on their concerns about the stolen relief supplies for fear of angering the ruling junta and jeopardizing their operations, although Marcel Wagner, country director of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, confirmed that aid was being diverted by the army. He said the issue would become an increasing problem, although he declined to give further details because of the sensitivity of the situation...

There were rumors in the capital on Wednesday that special high-energy biscuits donated for distribution in the disaster areas had been replaced by cheaper, off-the-shelf crackers. But Mr. Wagner and the others said they had not heard of high-quality foodstuffs being stolen and replaced by inferior products...

A number of countries have offered to bring in aid and deliver it from the south, by ship, but the junta has adamantly refused. One of the generals’ most enduring fears is a seaborne invasion by Western powers it refers to as “foreign saboteurs.”

Fear of a southern invasion is one of the reasons, along with ominous astrological portents, that the junta moved the country’s capital to the hinterlands. The new capital, in the city of Naypyidaw, was carved out of the jungle about 180 miles north of Yangon, the former capital and still the country’s commercial capital.

“These guys really believe we are planning an invasion,” Ms. Villarosa said. The United States said this week that several of its military ships were in the area and ready to provide help in Myanmar. “It’s nuts! We’re not! But if they hear that a large U.S. ship is off the coast, they don’t receive the message that it’s a genuine humanitarian effort,” she said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/world ... ted=2&_r=1

I've also heard similar reports that some of the interdicted supplies are being sold to the victims rather than given to them...

[tinythinker]

China quake: foreign aid workers are refused access to stricken area as time runs out for victims
Rajeev Syal, The Times (of London)

Western governments and aid agencies offering to send teams of rescue workers to China were rebuffed yesterday by a senior Chinese official.

The head of China’s Civil Affairs Ministry said that foreigners would not be allowed in to the country because travel conditions were too difficult in the Sichuan region.

Wang Zhenyao, the head of the Ministry’s Relief Department told a press conference: “Transportation in affected areas is obstructed and it is impossible for our rescue teams to reach the disaster-hit areas. So the conditions are not yet ripe for us to allow international rescue teams into China.”

One senior aid worker said anonymously that the Chinese Government should allow foreign rescue teams in while there was still hope of finding buried victims alive. “This is distinctly unhelpful. There are basic jobs that could be done such as locating those who are still alive, but the Government is holding us back,” he said.

Mr Wang’s comments echo those of Burmese leaders, who have declined to allow foreign aid workers into the country since last week’s typhoon.

China has accepted foreign aid in the past for disasters such as the typhoons and floods that often tear through parts of the south and centre during the summer. However, it does not usually welcome foreign aid workers, preferring to rely on its home-grown skills. People’s Liberation Army troops and the paramilitary armed police have decades of experience of coping with disasters.

Rain in the coming days in Sichuan is expected to hamper earthquake relief efforts, as well as increase risks of landslides, the China Meteorological Administration said...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 927277.ece

And from the AP as reported on MSNBC.com...

Residents complained that delays in aid had caused more deaths in the immediate aftermath of the quake.

Zhang Chuanlin, a 27-year-old factory worker, said his 52-year-old mother was trapped while watching television with her friend. No rescue workers were around so he started to dig by himself.

"No one was helping me and then two strangers came and dug through the rubble. They found her an hour later," he said. "When they pulled her out I couldn't look, I just couldn't look when they pulled her out."

A man who gave only his surname Li said he had suffered a double tragedy. His wife was killed while watching TV with Zhang's mother and his daughter died when her school collapsed.

The child did not die right away and could be heard saying, "Please help me daddy, please rescue me," right after the earthquake, he said, but there were no authorities to save her.

In Dujiangyan, a mother pleaded with police for information about her husband who was working in Wenchuan, blocking one of the few roads leading to the epicenter.

"I've begged and begged them to help me look for my husband," Li Zhenhua said, showing her husbands ID card to a crowd of onlookers. "I can't go by myself because I've got a little baby and elderly parents here, so I can't leave."

"The government is doing nothing for us. The government won't help us," she said, over and over.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24609645/page/2/

[Metacrock]

It's really so horrible. this whole week has been a real kick in the teeth tragedy wise. Tornaos in south and mid west of USA, Earth quake in China, continued "rape" of victims in Myn Mar.

sux.