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Thai premier in Burma aid talks Burma junta 'seals cyclone zone'
(about 5 hours later)
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is heading to Burma to urge military rulers to allow aid agencies to help victims of the devastating cyclone. Burma's military rulers have tightened access to areas hit by Cyclone Nargis, in spite of international pleas to allow foreign aid workers in.
Western nations want Mr Samak to persuade the junta to relax its stance on letting foreign experts in. A UN official in Rangoon says the military has erected more checkpoints to make sure foreigners cannot get to the worst-affected areas.
The European Union's aid commissioner, Louis Michel, is also due in Burma today for talks on the same issue. Thai leader Samak Sundaravej held talks with the junta, but failed to broker a deal on access for foreigners.
Forecasters are warning that another tropical storm is forming in the sea near Burma's largest city, Rangoon. Meanwhile forecasters say another cyclone is forming off Burma's coast.
"The potential for the development of a significant tropical cyclone within the next 24 hours is good with the only limitation being temporary land interaction," the Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center said on its website. The Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center said on its website that "a significant tropical cyclone" could develop in the next 24 hours.
On Tuesday, the UN warned more people would die in Burma without a greatly expanded humanitarian relief operation. Aid agencies are warning that the ruling generals' refusal to sanction a major international relief effort will cause more deaths.
It said it had only been able to reach 270,000 of the 1.5 million survivors, more than 10 days after the Cyclone Nargis struck. The military say more than 34,000 people have perished - but international bodies estimate the toll to be closer to 100,000, with millions in need of help.
'Not necessary'
The Thai prime minister's plane left a military airport in Bangkok loaded with relief supplies, including satellite phones to help the relief effort.
Thai officials say he will meet Prime Minister Thein Sein, rather than top leader General Than Shwe.
The EU envoy, meanwhile, said he would appeal to Burmese leaders "to be more open-minded and more understanding" during his three-day visit to the country.
But he told the French news agency AFP that his chances of success were "slight".
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An aid worker's account of conditions in Burma's Delta region (12 May) Undercover reporter says aid is still in short supply in Burma
On Tuesday, a senior Burmese official reiterated the leadership's stance, insisting that aid was welcome but "skilful humanitarian workers are not necessary". Chris Kaye, the Burma director for the UN's World Food Programme, said the generals were trying to ensure no foreigners were allowed into the affected areas by beefing up security on checkpoints.
The official death toll from Cyclone Nargis has now reached 34,273, according to Burmese state television, but observers fear the final count will be much higher. A further 27,838 people are known to be missing. "There is absolutely no progress in getting foreign experts out into the field," he said.
'Sandblasted' Dire warnings
A BBC correspondent inside Burma says aid delivery is haphazard and private citizens have begun to distribute water and cakes from the backs of their cars rather than waiting for the soldiers to help. Mr Samak flew to Rangoon for talks with Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein, aimed at persuading the junta to allow more foreign aid workers access.
Aid agencies say much of the aid is not reaching those who need it because the junta does not have the organisation to transport it. But he said General Thein was adamant the military needed no outside help.
They say trucks, boats and helicopters are needed - and more personnel. "He insisted that his country with 60 million people has a government, its people and the private sector to tackle the problem by themselves," Mr Samak told reporters in Bangkok after his day-trip to Burma.
On Tuesday, the delegation head for the Red Cross, Bridget Gardner, returned from a two-day assessment trip to worst-hit parts of the Irrawaddy Delta. EU envoy Louis Michel is also heading for Burma for a three-day visit, where he says he will urge the generals "to be more open-minded and more understanding". EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7389848.stm">See map and satellite images class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7397794.stm">Resilience amid Burma catastrophe class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7398313.stm">Urgent EU mission
"The town of Labutta is unrecognizable," she said in a statement. "I have been there before, and now - with the extent of the damage and the crowds of displaced people - it is a different place." But he told the French news agency AFP that his chances of success were "slight".
Getting shelter and medical aid to the victims was vital, she said. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced he wants an emergency UN summit over Burma, and says he has urged UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit the country in person.
"During the cyclone, many people held onto trees to avoid being blown away. At the same time they were almost "sand blasted" by dirt and saltwater," she said. The continuing diplomatic efforts come amid more dire warnings of the consequences of the cyclone.
"(Many) lost the top layer of their skin and it's important that these injuries are treated before infections can set in." The UN's food agency says Burma will face food shortages if farmers cannot return to their fields in the next 90 days.
'Aid corridor' "If we are not able to plant before the monsoon, we will have a serious shortage of rice in the country," said Leon Gouws, of the Food and Agriculture Organization.
In Geneva, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that quick work was needed "to avoid a second disaster or maybe a third disaster". Another UN body, the International Organization for Migration, says it may already be too late to save the many victims who are in need of aid.
EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7389848.stm">See map and satellite images class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7397794.stm">Resilience amid Burma catastrophe class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7398313.stm">Urgent EU mission "Maybe we should already be looking at rebuilding projects instead of emergency relief," said the IOM's Chris Lom.
"We need a kind of air bridge or sea bridge, and huge means as... we did during the [2004 Asian] tsunami. It's the same kind of logistical operation. That's why it's urgently needed that we act now," she added. "There's been an opportunity lost - in terms of immediate response, maybe we're too late for that."
World leaders have stepped up their rhetoric against the Burmese generals in recent days. Residents have told the BBC's Burmese service how private citizens have been trying to distribute water and supplies from their own cars - but soldiers have been confiscating the goods.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "immense frustration" at what he called their "unacceptably slow" response, while US President George W Bush described them as either "isolated or callous". A BBC correspondent in Burma described aid delivery as "unco-ordinated and piecemeal".
European nations have meanwhile called for the UN principle of "responsibility to protect" to be applied, allowing aid deliveries without Burma's consent. He said one devastated village - with one-quarter of its 400 houses left standing - had received just one bag of rice from the government.
UN member states acknowledged in 2005 a collective "responsibility to protect" people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Aid agencies say trucks, boats, helicopters and more personnel are urgently needed.
France, Germany and the UK said they would make the proposal to the UN Security Council, but acknowledged they did not have unanimous support from the EU, French Human Rights Minister Rama Yade told reporters in Brussels.
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