Burma begins mass evictions from cyclone camps

ABC NEWS

Burma's junta has started evicting destitute families from government-run cyclone relief centres, apparently out of concern the 'tented villages' might become permanent.

Locals and aid workers said there were 39 camps in the immediate vicinity of Kyauktan, 30 kilometres south of Rangoon, being cleared out as part of the wave of evictions.

"It is better that they move to their homes where they are more stable," a government official said at one camp where people were told to clear out by 4:00pm (local time).

"Here, they are relying on donations and it is not stable."

Twenty-one-year-old trishaw driver Kyaw Moe Thu he trudged out of the camp with his five brothers and sisters.

"We knew we had to go at some point but we had hoped for more support," he said.

They had been given 20 bamboo poles and some tarpaulins to help rebuild their lives in the Irrawaddy Delta, where 134,000 people were left dead or missing by Cyclone Nargis on May 2.

Four weeks after the disaster, the United Nations says fewer than one in two of the 2.4 million people affected by the cyclone have received any form of help from either the Government, or international or local aid groups.


Frogs, not chocolate

The junta has also lashed out at foreign aid donors, saying cyclone victims did not need supplies of "chocolate bars" and could instead survive by eating frogs and fish.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a government mouthpiece, also warned that foreign relief workers could snoop inside homes, and condemned donors for linking aid money to full access to the hardest-hit regions in the Irrawaddy Delta.

The tirade came as the junta tightened its political grip on the country, extending democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest and announcing that its new constitution has been enacted.

The regime says the charter will pave the way for democratic elections in two years, but dissidents say it will only enshrine military rule.

Despite the harsh statements in official media, aid agencies say they have had some success in receiving visas and securing access to the delta, which suffered the brunt of the May 2-3 storm that left 133,000 dead or missing.

An assessment team from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was set to arrive in Rangoon on Friday (local time) for a nearly two-week mission to determine how best to help the 2.4 million survivors in desperate need of food, shelter and medicine.

After several days of praising the work of the United Nations and charities, the regime's official newspaper renewed its attacks on foreign aid and insisted Burma could survive without outside help.

"The Government and the people are like parents and children," the paper said.

"We, all the people, were pleased with the efforts of the Government."

The paper said that granting free access for aid workers in the delta means donors "are to be given permission to inspect all the houses thoroughly at will".

Burma needs $US11 billion to recover from the storm, but donors have pledged just $US150 million so far, it said.

"Myanmar [Burmese] people are capable enough of rising from such natural disasters even if they are not provided with international assistance," the newspaper said.

"Myanmar people can easily get fish for dishes by just fishing in the fields and ditches," the paper said.

"In the early monsoon, large edible frogs are abundant. The people [of the Irrawaddy Delta] can survive with self-reliant efforts even if they are not given chocolate bars from [the] international community," it added.

No aid agencies are known to have actually provided chocolate bars to victims of Cyclone Nargis, which struck the impoverished country four weeks ago.

The UN's World Food Program gives rice, beans and special high-energy biscuits designed to provide nutrition to people without regular food supplies.

The United Nations estimates that about one million people in the delta are still without emergency aid.

The military regime drew international outrage for three weeks of delays in allowing foreign aid workers access to the delta region, although the United Nations said all of its staff had now been granted visas.

The official newspaper also took a swipe at a world monetary organisation for refusing to give aid - apparently a reference to the World Bank, which has said no loans could be given because Burma has not been repaying its debts.

It also criticised countries for maintaining sanctions on the regime despite the cyclone devastation.

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