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Burma 'guilty of inhuman action' Burma 'guilty of inhuman action'
(about 3 hours later)
Burma's government has been guilty of "inhuman" treatment of Cyclone Nargis survivors by refusing to allow aid to get through, Gordon Brown says. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has condemned Burma's military government for not allowing international aid to reach the victims of Cyclone Nargis.
The UK prime minister said the disaster was becoming a "man-made catastrophe" and the military regime should be held to account for its "negligence". Mr Brown told the BBC that a natural disaster had been turned into a "man-made catastrophe" because of the negligence of the ruling generals.
Air-drops had not been ruled out, but could be counter-productive, he said.
There is growing condemnation of Burma's response to the 2 May cyclone, said to have killed at least 78,000.There is growing condemnation of Burma's response to the 2 May cyclone, said to have killed at least 78,000.
Another 56,000 people are thought to be missing, according to the latest official estimates. France has said Burma is on the verge of committing a crime against humanity.
France's UN ambassador has warned the Burmese government that its refusal to allow aid to be delivered to those who need it "could lead to a true crime against humanity". France and the US both have ships carrying large consignments of aid waiting off the Burmese coast, but so far the government has refused to allow relief aid arriving by sea directly to the worst affected areas.
Jean-Maurice Ripert, speaking at a UN General Assembly session, rejected Burmese allegations that a French aid ship in international waters off Burma's coast was a warship. Some 56,000 people are thought to be missing, according to the latest official figures - double the previous estimate.
'Rule nothing out'
In an interview for the BBC World Service, Mr Brown said that Burma's ruling generals would be judged by the world and their own people for thwarting the assistance offered by the rest of the world.In an interview for the BBC World Service, Mr Brown said that Burma's ruling generals would be judged by the world and their own people for thwarting the assistance offered by the rest of the world.
"This is inhuman. We have an intolerable situation, created by a natural disaster," he said."This is inhuman. We have an intolerable situation, created by a natural disaster," he said.
"It is being made into a man-made catastrophe by the negligence, the neglect and the inhuman treatment of the Burmese people by a regime that is failing to act and to allow the international community to do what it wants to do." "It is being made into a man-made catastrophe by the negligence, the neglect and the inhuman treatment of the Burmese people by a regime that is failing to act and to allow the international community to do what it wants to do.
He added: "The responsibility lies with the Burmese regime and they must be held accountable." "The responsibility lies with the Burmese regime and they must be held accountable." Aid agencies have also become frustrated by the slow progress at which relief supplies are getting to the areas worst hit, with many survivors still without food, water and shelter. Aid workers already inside Burma have been prevented from entering some areas.
Air-drops The cyclone has filled many rice fields with sea water, destroying vital crops
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which is organising the relief effort of a number of UK charities, said the equivalent of at least £6m of British aid had already reached 350,000 people in need. However, the Burmese authorities have allowed the UN and some other agencies to hand out supplies directly. A team of 50 Indian medical personnel is also being allowed to fly into Rangoon on Saturday, equipped with medical supplies.
The DEC, which includes the British Red Cross, Christian Aid, Oxfam and Save the Children, said money donated by Britons would be spent on immediate relief efforts and also long-term reconstruction projects.
But aid agencies have become frustrated by the slow progress at which relief supplies are getting to the areas worst hit, with many survivors still without food, water and shelter.
The Burmese junta, which is currently controlling distribution, has allowed the UN and some other agencies to hand out supplies directly.
EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION See map and satellite imagesSend us your comments
However, it is still preventing foreign aid workers from entering cyclone-hit areas. Agencies are relying on their in-country and local partner organisations to distribute supplies.
Asked if he believed it was time for forced air-drops of aid, Mr Brown said it remained an option.Asked if he believed it was time for forced air-drops of aid, Mr Brown said it remained an option.
"We rule nothing out and the reason we rule nothing out is that we want to get the aid directly to the people.""We rule nothing out and the reason we rule nothing out is that we want to get the aid directly to the people."
But he said aid bodies were advising that the most effective course of action was to apply international pressure on the Burmese regime to force it to accept foreign aid. But he said aid bodies were advising that the most effective course of action was to apply international pressure on Burma to force it to accept foreign aid.
The UK government was working with the international community to channel British aid through China and the countries forming the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), Mr Brown said. The UK government was working with the international community to channel British aid through China and the countries forming the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), Mr Brown added.
"That's what we're trying to do as quickly as possible and with great speed.""That's what we're trying to do as quickly as possible and with great speed."
Asean countries would be holding a high-level meeting on Monday to discuss the problems with aid distribution, Mr Brown added. Asean is due to hold a high-level meeting on Monday that is expected to lay the framework for a broader aid donors' conference.
Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch-Brown has also criticised the junta for blocking foreign assistance. 'Time is life'
"I cannot recall a relief operation where... the international response has been subjected to such delays," he said. Earlier, France's UN envoy angrily rejected Burmese allegations the French ship in international waters off Burma's coast was a warship, saying it was carrying 1,500 tonnes of food and medicine.
EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION See map and satellite imagesEyewitness: Barred from BurmaSend us your comments
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Jean-Maurice Ripert warned that the Burmese military's refusal to allow aid to be delivered to those who needed it "could lead to a true crime against humanity".
"Hundreds of thousands of lives are in jeopardy and we think that the primary responsibility of the government of Myanmar (Burma) is to help and open the borders so that the international aid could come into the place," he said.
The BBC's Natalia Antelava says there has been little sign of official help in the delta this week and that foreign aid workers have been barred from the area.
She saw muddy river banks are lined with white, swollen bodies, and found survivors with barely enough rice to live on. Heavy rain has been lashing the region, compounding the survivors' misery.
A Reuters team travelling to Kunyangon, around 100km (60 miles) south-west of Rangoon, found rows of beggars stretching for miles on either side of a road.
Men, women and children stood in the mud and rain, hands clasped together in supplication at the occasional passing aid vehicle.
The UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator, John Holmes, is due to visit Rangoon on Sunday in a bid to persuade the government to grant more access to UN relief workers and expand its aid effort.
Correspondents say that at this stage it is not clear who he will be able to talk to given that Burma's leader, Gen Thein Sein, has refused to answer calls from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.