UK still worried over distribution of aid in burma

Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday urged his Thai counterpart Noppadon Pattama, who is visiting London on a European tour, to use whatever pressure he can to get the assistance to the hundreds of thousands of affected people.

The UK contributed £25 million (Bt1.6 billion) to Burma after Cyclone Nargis hit the country early last month and left more than 134,000 people dead and missing.

After long delays, international humanitarian aid has begun to flow into the junta-ruled country but the United Nations said only 60 per cent of 2.4 million affected people have received assistance.

Noppadon said yesterday he told Miliband the Asean-led coordinating mechanism and the tri-partite core group jointly set up by the UN, Asean and the junta would be able to get things done.

Burmese authorities said yesterday assistance from abroad could reach devastated areas without delay.

"Myanmar [Burma] was able to successfully carry out the relief and rehabilitation operation in a short time although it was hit hard by the severe storm," said the junta's mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar.

Noppadon urged the UK to continue humanitarian assistance to Burma beyond the emergency relief, in terms of education and human development.

Despite being a bilateral visit, the Burma issue dominated discussions between Noppadon and Miliband on the natural disaster and political development in the military-ruled country.

"I beg the UK for understanding that Thailand cannot take a tough position on democracy in Burma but needs to engage Burma since we are immediate neighbours who share more than 2,000 kilometres of border," he said via telephone conference from London yesterday.

The political situation in Burma has been in deadlock since the junta refused to allow the opposition to participate in politics. The authorities have just extended the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi despite proceeding with the so-called "seven-step" roadmap toward national reconciliation and democracy.