Junta still not letting in aid

"We saw a lot of people in the coordination meeting [hosted by the UN and Asean on May 25], but we've not seen many organisations on the ground," Frank Smithuis, head of mission for Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF) in Burma, said yesterday.

Inaccessibility can be blamed, because Burma's xenophobic junta is reluctant to open the door wider for international aid workers.

The US has ordered its ships loaded with relief aid waiting off Burma's coast to leave the area after the junta refused to grant permission for them to help survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which hit Burma on May 2-3 and left 134,000 dead or missing.

Admiral Timothy Keating, the top US commander in the Pacific, said the USS Essex and accompanying vessels would leave after what he described as 15 separate attempts in recent weeks to get the junta's authorisation for the ships to help.

However, Smithuis said those who received permission still had not started working.

MSF began its fieldwork after the cyclone hit the country just over a month ago. Its 43 medical teams have joined 250 local staff in areas of the Irrawaddy Delta, including Bogale, Laputta, Ngaputa and Pyapon.

In these areas are about six or seven other small organisations, he said.

"The plans were large, with hundreds of people and millions of dollars promised, but they are not fully operational yet," he said.

Given the situation, the international community has not shown adequate generosity towards the victims compared with those in other disasters, such as the 2004 tsunami, he said.

An international conference in Rangoon on May 25 hosted by the United Nations and Asean agreed to set up a tripartite core group consisting of senior officials from the UN, Asean and the junta to implement the relief plan.

But things are moving too slowly, and the second pledging conference is set for next Thursday.