Global Voices Online

Stories

May 11th, 2008

Myanmar: Survivors of Cyclone Nargis

A week has passed since Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar. The situation on the ground continues to deteriorate: food rationing is inadequate, medical supplies are running out and hundreds of thousands are still without shelter.

Burma Cyclone provides general updates of the situation in Myanmar. Bangkok Parlour fears there will be more casualties due to cholera and other diseases:

“The prognosis is bad. 65,000 dead, possibly in excess of 100,000. More than 1 million homeless, battling to stave off hunger and disease whilst living amidst debris and bloated bodies. Cholera may yet kill more than the cyclone.”

Bangkok Dazed received another email from a friend in Yangon:

“I’m fine but so many others, so many, are homeless or dead or without shelter. I really did not take much notice of the cyclone warnings from the state media although they did say it would be serious. Now I am careful of batteries in my laptop, but thank god I can send emails. I hope this gets to you. I have no power but everything is alright. Writing this by torch and candlelight. It was a very scary 13 hours from before midnight of the 2nd to afternoon of next day. Had a slight accident with my car, front grill/lights ripped out. I am unhurt but rattled. So many trees are down … Yangon looks wounded.”

Fear from Freedom feels sad after reading a Burmese blog:

“These are the educated youth of Myanmar with no hope for their future inside the country. He said that he did not want to live in this country when he is 30 in 2010. He wrote about the cyclone in his blog and today he and his friends are trying their best to help the victims.

“According to his news, the cyclone victims are desperate, hungry and grab whatever they can from any office or donors. Cholera is spreading, no clean water, no security, transport is bad, everything in chaos.

“Is there anyone that can calm the situation and promise help to these victims?”

Myat Thura gets an update from his family:

“After the cyclone, the prices of commodities rose to 50% of that before the cyclone; but now they have stabilized to around 20% above the pre-cyclone level. Petrol price is now 5,000 kyats a gallon (around 4 US dollars).

“Most of the main roads have been cleared of the debris and fallen trees. Electricity is coming back in a few areas but most places are still without electricity. Municipal water is coming back.”

The Junta has partially allowed the entry of some foreign aid teams. Perhaps international pressure has worked. Golden Colour Revolution posts a letter which is a sample of the sentiments expressed by Burmese living overseas:

“We, Burmese medical professionals and Burmese civic organizations all over the world have been following the news of cyclone Nargis victims with deep sympathy and concerns. Cyclone victims have been without effective help for 6 days now and we are very much concerned about unnecessary human suffering and deaths. The situation is extremely dire with many people barely surviving.”

Rule of Lords gathers stories on relief operations. He notes that

“doctors are using their own money to buy medicines and townspeople are organizing to feed the refugees and victims of the storm being treated at the hospital.”

Even local relief groups are prevented from giving aid to victims:

“Private citizens and domestic social welfare groups within Burma trying to give assistance have encountered problems with authorities. According to VOA, residents have complained of harassment and questioning when they have taken whatever supplies of food, clothing and other items to badly affected persons.”

Residents are now complaining of the little assistance they are receiving form local councils:

“Yoma 3 says that people in Rangoon are getting angrier about their predicament and the small amounts of assistance given by local councils. According to one resident of ward no. 8 in Shwepyithar,

“We heard that they would distribute food and went to find that it was only one pyi (about a quarter litre) of rice grain and one hseithar (about 160gm) of potato per household, and even then it just went to the people close to the USDA and Women’s Affairs, which led them to argue with the other people.”

“In some other areas victims of the cyclone have been getting pathetic amounts of assistance and they have been forced to boil the rice grain as a thin soup because there is not enough of it to cook as normal.”

Burma Partnership gives an update:

“Malaria and cholera cases and death in delta around worse-hit areas of Laputta, Bogalay and Pyapon Townships and around 600 villages are still under water. The current situation is quite overwhelmed and many heartbreaking stories emerge as some local residents and aid workers are able to reach to areas like Laputta, Bogalay, Pyapon, and Hinegyi Island. On Thursday (8/5/08), the regime turned back one relief flight with the reason that it carried search and rescue team plus media without permission.”

Moe Gyo provides a narrative of how volunteers are distributing aid inside Myanmar:

10 May 2008 (Saturday)

07:55 hr - Left Yangon (through Hlaing Thar Yar)
08:45 hr - Reached Ayeyarwaddy Division
10:20 hr - Passed through MaUBin (from junction to MaUBin - bad road condition) - fair destruction along the road
10:40 hr - Passed through KyaitLatt (MuB - KyL: fair road condition) - severe (buildings/trees) destruction along the road and in KyaitLatt town
11:30 hr - Reached Phyar Bon (KyL - PhB: fair road and poor bridge condition) - severe destruction in Phyar Bon (some relief camps there - don't know the number)

12:30 hr - Arrived Bogalay Township - Flat tire, helped by locals, who shared their experience: received warning in the morning at around 7 on ward by speakers (they know only for the Bogalay town, but not sure about the villages around/across the river, near sea), no evacuation plan, many people didn't pay much attention as they didn't expect much danger based on the past Tsunami experience in Delta (little damage), they started noticing of heavy winds around 6 p.m. and became stronger, the sky were totally red, wind blew from different direction, then many people in town took shelter in neighbors' houses (with brick-wall/strong roofs), debris everywhere, one person said it could have been worse (more casualties) in town if happened during the day time as many people were on the road (20 deaths in Bogalay town - figure not confirmed), water went up to about 3 feet in town and reached up to 20 feet in surrounding villages, where thousands died. Those who helped us said that they will never forget the experience and they lost their houses (saw in person), but they seemed to have high-spirit waiting for help to rebuild their houses (now they got help from their neighbors for shelter and rice from relief camps). But, under the condition, they shouldn't wait any minutes. Distributed a few bags of milo, ovaltine, some food etc. to them and gave a tent-sheet (bought from BKK) to an elderly who still lived under a house with no roof (experienced some rain). The conditions in surrounded areas of Bogalay are very bad as the authority had to issue Martial Law in some areas (some looting and killing for food). Those who survived (7-8 only in some villages) left their villages.

14:00 hr - Went to the river bank (similar to Tsumani affected area to some extent - based on what we saw in Phuket area). Talked to some locals: situation is still very chaotic, they saw 4-5 bodies in the river, we saw one, nobody seemed to care about that even we saw some people around and they were trying to save an engine from the river). Saw some victim family/refugees in a monastery, but couldn't talk to them due to time constraint. One thing that surprised me was that we didn't hear anyone crying for help or asking desperately for food/shelter. I'm sure that will be a very different story in severely affected areas that can be reached by boats. Some aid workers and volunteers have already arranged with some boats to reach there to deliver supplies.
15:00 hr - Left Bogalay (after fixing the spare-tire. Note: everyone must take a spare-tire as the roads were full of debris in some areas)
16:45 hr - Passed through Kawt Mhuu (fair road, bad destruction along the road) - heavy rain

Conclusion, based on this experience, it's very feasible to reach to the affected areas in Delta very quickly. Road conditions in some areas are bad, but manageable: with normal speed (40-50 km/h), even Bogalay can be reached within 4-5 hours. Since some bridges are not strong enough, heavy supplies (such as rice) wouldn't be practical. There were some normal checkpoints (asked questions: where to go? driver's name?) One must avoid any argument with the authorities at the checkpoints as it might just delay achieving your main objectives.

Golden Colour Revolution shares the complaint of a relief group operating in Myanmar:

“You have seen and heard about the situation in here. Yesterday, we distributed the food and shelter to the cyclone affected area within our project area. It's totally 800 household and as our project is the food security project we need to support them in this situation.

“But today we received the letter from the authorities to stop that without the permission. Now, all the NGOs are trying to support and go to the effected area, and but we cannot go immediately as gov don't want to permit it. They ask us to give support through them.

“So you can think and imagine of the people in delta region. U know, this is not the politic, it's really humanity matter. We are now sitting many meetings in the office all the time and busy with storing the materials.

“All the Burmese people outside of Myanmar should do something for that. Pls pray for all the refugees. “

Ur's sister.

KyiMayKaung ponders on the recent tragedy:

“Nargis is a beautiful word and means “narcissus” in Urdu. It was also the name of a famous Bollywood actress who was achingly beautiful, with a pale oval face, black arched eyebrows and plump arms. In one of the novels of Salman Rushdie, the woman who cooks, but cooks with rancor, turns out nargissi kofta, or deep fried meat balls encasing hard boiled eggs, otherwise known as Scotch eggs.

“Something so beautifully named has caused a lot of death and destruction. We are only now starting to hear excruciating survivor stories.”

0 comments · »»

May 8th, 2008

Myanmar: Slow relief work

Mong Palatino · 17:51 · East Asia

lingua → bn · mg · fr

First, an update on the situation in Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis hit the country a few days ago. The death toll continues to rise. The official report on the number of casualties is way below international estimates. The government is still placing the number of dead people around 23,000 while international aid groups believe the figure could now reach 100,000.

Golden Colour Revolution hints the death toll could be worse:

“According to an undisclosed interview with one government official, death toll is reaching 600,000 so far and 100,000 still missing. According to his figure, 180,000 were killed in Lutbutta township alone. 90,000 in Phyar Pone Township; 80,000 in Bogalay Township; 50,000 each in KywanGanKone, DayDaYae and MawKyane Township.Authorities. Army and its thugs are throwing away dead bodies to the nearby river. Even in Ye Way Cemetery in Yangon City, dead bodies are cremated in batch without proper identification. Emphasizing to Phyar Pone Township, authority declared an Emergency Act.”

Bangkok Dazed received an e-mail from an expat friend living in Yangon, Myanmar. Below is a short description of how people in the residential city are coping with the situation:

“In our house we were trapped when tress around the house fell over after 11 hours of strong winds at 200-240 knots. The mess is terrible everywhere, with all electricity down and no water for days. Our home/office phone lines are down including all power lines. I am here today at the internet café. This area on Mahabandoola Street is open again in downtown Yangon, as they had underground wiring and cables. All the rest of us who live in residential areas and in the city are left with no power. We are looking at 3 to 6 months, or maybe 1 year to get power again! To add more stress, all food and water has gone up 3 times the price. As each day goes by, the price of generators go up; we paid $2,000 for a generator that is usually priced at $900 to $1,200. So it’s really bad. All of us are unhurt, but we are still coping with this situation.”

Now, let’s discuss the status of the relief work in Myanmar. The ruling Junta is still restricting the movement of international relief groups. Soe Moe enumerates the services and goods needed by Myanmar today:

“It’s been 6 days since the cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar and the situation is getting worse day by day due to the decomposed animals and human lying around the effected areas. Recent days, we had witnessed the generosity of the world as the humanitarian aid in millions of dollars. But it is very sad to find out that Burmese government is hesitating to grant visa to UN aid workers and NGOs in the name of politics. It is not the time for politics during the time of humanitarian crisis. And it is very sad to hear on news that the western nations are willing to provide the aid needing by the cyclone Nargis victims while Burmese government is refusing to accept them.

“Today first UN aid plane has landed in Yangon International Airport after 2 days delay due to the visa issues. And more planes are waiting permission from Burmese government to land in Yangon. Italy, Thai, India and Indonesia aid planes had been allowed to land in Yangon. We have seen the death toll increasing dramatically over the days.

“What we desperately need is experience aid works and rescue units to help the survivors, to dispose the dead bodies properly and to control the deadly diseases. We need helicopters to go to the most remote areas where the aid is greatly needed. In Burmese air force, we have limited numbers of helicopters and they won’t be able to help those from remote areas. US military is offering aid mission. The US airbase in Thailand is ready to send its helicopters and ships to Burma for search and rescue mission. And again, Burmese generals are not going to accept the offer because they are Americans. This is not the time for like or dislike. This is the time to save as much people as we can.”

The blogger is also horrified to see the dumping of corpses in the rivers:

“I was so surprised to see that dead people being dump into the rivers. I’m wondering what they are thinking. It won’t solve the problem by throwing the dead bodies in to the river. In fact, it will endanger the people who are living along the river bank with deadly diseases.

“In a matter of days, the death toll will increase again. This time it is not going to be devastating force of the cyclone Nargis, but it is going to be the poor health care and reluctance to accept the aid workers around the world by the generals of Burma. And this time the government will also be responsible for the dead of tens of thousands of Burmese in Burma. Their ignorance to the early warning of the cyclone Nargis and reluctance to accept the aid from around the world will be the main cause of people dying in our country. And we will never forget how people are being killed during 1988, September 2007 and May 2008.”

Bangkok Dazed insists giving aid should not be politicized:

“If the USA, or any country, wants to offer humanitarian aid, I think that is wonderful. But the aid shouldn’t come with strings attached, or accompanied by lectures. Just help the people that need it, and keep your political and religious agenda to yourself. But that seems to be an impossible task for the “holier than thou” contingent. You would think those idiots in the Bush administration would “get it” by now. But no, they continue their same style of inflammatory, derisive diplomacy; criticizing and ridiculing other countries, rather than making a sincere attempt to engage in constructive dialogue. That means sitting down and talking to the other country, not lecturing them and calling then bad names.”

Beyond SG advises the Junta to learn from the Chinese government:

“Aid is pouring in from all over the world. The bottleneck is the damaged infrastructure which was not very good to begin with. Initially suspicious of foreign assistance, the Myanmar Government is cautiously opening its door to outside help. This is a major test for the military government. If it rises to the challenge, its standing in the eyes of the citizenry will go up. The manner in which the Chinese leadership responded to the unusually cold weather during the Chinese New Year period this year earned it widespread praise.”

Asia's Perfect 10 is looking for the intervention of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN):

“Close to 5 days after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, ASEAN has yet to mobilize anything to aid Myanmar. Thailand and Indonesia have pledged something. Good for them but ASEAN is reacting really slow to aid one of its member states.”

The Junta really suffers from low reputation. Even international relief campaigns are assuring the potential donors that the relief goods will not be directed to Myanmar’s government. Melody’s quotes a sample of the relief campaign information drive:

“You can provide immediate, direct relief to Burmese cyclone victims. The relief will go entirely to the victims. These will not be sidetracked by government agencies, politics or administrative siphoning.”

Straight Talk provides details on the donation drive in Malaysia. Busy Days monitors donation collection in Singapore. The blogger also writes that

“A well-known regional Myanmar Blogger, Nyi Lynn Seck, from Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar, has volunteered to go to the affected regions of Irrawady Delta to distribute food, medicine and other relief supplies.”

Ko htike's prosaic collection describes the military generals as shameless after they were caught replacing the labels of aid boxes from Thailand. The Burmese Ruby Diary is disappointed that some commentators are writing that the cyclone was a punishment for Myanmar. Little Myanmar compiles an international aid contribution list.

15 comments · »»

May 7th, 2008