Myanmar Cyclone

Though not (yet) a drop in the bucket as compared to the death toll from the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster of three years ago, the casualty figures from the Myanmar cyclone continue to grow: from 350 to 3000 to 10000 and now to 22,000 dead and 40000+ missing. As for the living, an unknown number are wounded (probably four times the number of dead) and up to one million persons are homeless.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is run by a military dictatorship and had initially refused outside aid. They appear to have changed their minds, but UN officials are still waiting for access into the country.

"The government has shown a certain openness so far," [U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs official Elisabeth] Byrs said. "We hope that we will get the visas as soon as possible, in the coming hours. I think the authorities have understood the seriousness of the situation and that they will act accordingly."

The appeal for outside assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling generals, who have long been suspicious of international organizations and closely controlled their activities. Several agencies, including the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, have limited their presence as a consequence.

Read more about the political situation in the country which, undoubtedly, has been radically altered in the past week.

Steve Graham suggests that both pray and donations would help the people of Myanmar and I second that.

Comments

[waltj]

Don't count on the political situation getting altered unless the cyclone took out a bunch of the senior generals and their pals. These guys have zero, zip, zilch, nada, bupkis consideration for their own people or for the outside world and will do whatever they have to do to stay in power. They receive most of their political support from China, partly because the Chinese don't ask them to change their nonexistent human rights policy in exchange for investment. They also allow several narcotics trafficking armies to openly operate inside Burma's borders, probably receiving a share of the proceeds. The junta is more resilient than single-person dictatorships, because several generals share the power, and while each controls a competitive faction, they can cooperate to crush popular uprisings, as they have on several occasions. Burma's been a strange place since Ne Win ran it (changed all the money to multiples of 9, since that was his lucky number; that was probably the least wacky thing he did with the economy) and it remains an odd duck to this day. But my prayers still go out to the victims.

[kristel]

i feel sorry 4 the people who died