Burma aid increasing as casualties rise
The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, has said he is immensely frustrated at what he called the unacceptably slow delivery of aid to the victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma.
Mr Ban also warned that an outbreak of infectious diseases could dwarf the current crisis, unless more aid got into the country very quickly.
Although there appears to have been a significant increase in the relief effort, a BBC correspondent in the country says many people in coastal areas far from Rangoon are still in desperate need of assistance, and that heavy rain continues in the worst hit areas.
The Burmese authorities now say almost thirty-two thousand people died in the cyclone and almost thirty thousand are still missing.
The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, has said he is immensely frustrated at what he called the unacceptably slow delivery of aid to the victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma.
Mr Ban also warned that an outbreak of infectious diseases could dwarf the current crisis, unless more aid got into the country very quickly.
Although there appears to have been a significant increase in the relief effort, a BBC correspondent in the country says many people in coastal areas far from Rangoon are still in desperate need of assistance, and that heavy rain continues in the worst hit areas.
The Burmese authorities now say almost thirty-two thousand people died in the cyclone and almost thirty thousand are still missing.
Diplomatic pressure on Burma continues
Relief for those affected by the cyclone has been slow to arrive
The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has urged the Burmese authorities to provide immediate and unfettered access for humanitarian agencies.
Mr Brown said it was estimated that two million people faced famine or disease as a result of what he called the lack of cooperation from Burmese authorities and Britain was determined to push for action by the United Nations Security Council.
Mr Brown said a British plane carrying tents was leaving Dubai for Burma and that a Royal Navy ship had been dispatched.
The US ambassador to Thailand, Eric John, told the BBC that China and the countries in the south-east Asian grouping, ASEAN, were all urging Burma's generals to accept more relief supplies and more foreign experts in aid distribution.
Relief for those affected by the cyclone has been slow to arrive
The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has urged the Burmese authorities to provide immediate and unfettered access for humanitarian agencies.
Mr Brown said it was estimated that two million people faced famine or disease as a result of what he called the lack of cooperation from Burmese authorities and Britain was determined to push for action by the United Nations Security Council.
Mr Brown said a British plane carrying tents was leaving Dubai for Burma and that a Royal Navy ship had been dispatched.
The US ambassador to Thailand, Eric John, told the BBC that China and the countries in the south-east Asian grouping, ASEAN, were all urging Burma's generals to accept more relief supplies and more foreign experts in aid distribution.
Kick Burma Out of the U.N.
OpinionWall Street JournalMay 10, 2008
The United Nations this week said the refusal of Burma's government to allow workers into the country's devastated agricultural region was unprecedented in the history of humanitarian relief. The human catastrophe produced by Burma's refusal to permit aid in the wake of Cyclone Nargis has stunned the senses of a world that has watched this spectacle for a week.There are uncounted numbers of persons dead, homeless and orphaned. Bodies still float in water. The World Health Organization has warned there could be outbreaks of cholera and especially malaria. U.N. member-state India warned the junta the deadly cyclone was headed toward Burma on May 1, two days before it hit. Yesterday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said food relief hasn't yet reached the region because "regrettably" the junta won't talk to him.It's time to kick Burma out of the United Nations. If the U.N. does not put in motion a process to suspend Burma from its U.N. membership, then, clearly, nothing is forbidden.Chapter II of the U.N. charter provides for the suspension or expulsion of member states by the Security Council, which can also restore membership. We leave it to the lawyers to find words suitable for such a motion. Maybe there's something somewhere in the U.N.'s Declaration of Human Rights, which celebrates its 60th tattered anniversary this year.Some will say that China, the junta's friend, almost surely would veto any such motion. Then let it do so, on the eve of its torch-besieged Summer Olympics.Some will say if Burma, then why not Sudan? Good question.The person to press this point is John McCain, who has suggested creating a league of genuine democratic states willing to act when the U.N.'s "universal" membership fails.Booting Burma out of the U.N. would be symbolic. But a whole world watching Burma's generals let their people die of hunger and disease is symbolic of something worse. If the U.N. can do nothing about Burma, it should at least do something about its own self-respect.
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