Suu Kyi Detained; Cyclone Aids to Continue
(AP Photo: Burmese coping up after the cyclone. At the background, Suu Kyi’s banner with monks behind her)
As cyclone aids continue to flow to Myanmar, the military regime quietly detained Aung San Suu Kyi for another year to her home in Yangon. Key donors however assured d that he Outrage over Suu Kyi’s house arrest will not hamper relief work. The United Nations also reported on Wednesday “small gains in getting aid to cyclone survivors.”
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed regret over Suu Kyi’s continued arrest while praising “a new spirit of cooperation” between the junta and the international community in the aid effort.
Bush “deeply troubled”
As expected Bush sounds disappointment to a year-long extension on the house arrest of Suu Kyi.
In Washington, President Bush said Tuesday he was “deeply troubled” by the extension of Suu Kyi’s house arrest but stressed the U.S. would continue to provide aid to the victims.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate who has been detained for more than 12 of the past 18 years, had her detention extended by one year Tuesday, a government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
On Wednesday, her National League for Democracy party denounced the extension as “illegal,” saying it would launch an appeal. Party spokesman Nyan Win said the regime should also open a public hearing on the case.”
The decision came just two days after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon left Myanmar following a donor conference that generated tens of millions of dollars in aid pledges in response to the cyclone that left 133,000 dead or missing
“The United States will continue to help the people of Burma recover from the devastation of Cyclone Nargis and will continue to support the Burmese people’s long-term struggle for freedom,” he said.
Improved Cooperation with the Junta
Even with Suu Kyi’s detention, international contines to flow with improved cooperation from the regime.
Despite condemnation pouring in from around the world, aid agencies said they had seen signs of improved cooperation with the regime.
“All the major obstacles we’ve been facing have been resolved. Now the relief effort will scale up more quickly,” said Richard Horsey, spokesman for the UN’s disaster relief arm in Bangkok.
He said more than 200 international staffers were now in Myanmar working with the United Nations, and that those who have entered the delta have not encountered any major problems.
“My understanding is there haven’t been any problems so far and they’ve been able to go where they’ve wanted to go, which is mainly the most-affected regions,” Horsey said.
Foreign Staffers Moving into the Delta
Emergency food supplies are slowly moving in to the delta to be distributed to the victims.
The U.N. says some of their foreign staffers have begun moving into the delta and emergency food supplies are being ferried in on its helicopters.
“Some international aid workers and NGOs have already gone into the regions of the Irrawaddy delta, without any problem,” Ban told reporters in New York on Tuesday. “I hope — and I believe — that this marks a new spirit of cooperation between Myanmar and the international community as a whole.”
The regime has forbidden direct aid by warships of France, the United States and Great Britain, which have been standing by off the Myanmar coast to deliver the assistance. Myanmar’s state media has voiced fears of a U.S. invasion to grab the country’s oil reserves.
Alternative Ways of Delivering Aids
After the suspicious military junta refuse to allow French ship to enter the country and deliver thousands of tons of supplies, international donors found and alternative way of delivering aid and is working.
Donors also began trying alternative ways of delivering aid.
After Myanmar refused to allow the French naval ship Mistral to enter the country, the thousands of tonnes of supplies on board were unloaded Wednesday in Phuket in neighbouring Thailand.
The supplies will now be loaded on to a commercial vessel, which the junta is willing to accept.
Myanmar’s state media, which insisted for three weeks that the military could handle the relief effort itself, has taken a more open tone about foreign aid.
The government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar on Wednesday again highlighted the work done by WFP and charities like Doctors Without Borders.
Access Remained Spotty
Even as foreign aid worker are allowed to access to the delta to distribute aids, some still have to struggle to reach the victims.
“Everybody may make donations freely. Everybody may make donations to any person or any area,” the paper said.
But access remained spotty, with some saying they were still struggling to get into the delta.
Florian Meyer, an aid expert with the German relief group Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland, said he has tried and failed to win access for the past two weeks.
Tags: Bush, Cyclone Nargis victims, cyclone victims, doctors without borders, French warship Mistral, general's daughter, International relief workers to Myanmar, Jail, military junta a Myanmar, New Light of Myanmar, Suu Kyi's detention extended, United Nations, WFP
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