Myanmar Raises Official Cyclone Death Toll

State Television Reports More Than 43,000 Killed - Still Far Below Red Cross Estimates

(CBS/AP)  The official death toll from Myanmar's devastating May 3 cyclone has climbed to 43,318, state television reports.

The figure was broadcast Thursday night and was almost 5,000 more than the number released Wednesday by the military government. The number of missing has remained at 27,838 for at least two days.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimated Wednesday that the total death toll may be between 68,833 and 127,990. The U.N. has said more than 100,000 may have died.

The U.N. and the Red Cross say 1.6 million to 2.5 million people are in urgent need of food, water and shelter. Only 270,000 have been reached so far by aid groups. The U.N. warned a second wave of deaths will follow unless the military regime lets in more aid quickly.

The grim forecasts come as additional heavy rains drenched the devastated Irrawaddy River delta, disrupting aid operations already struggling to reach the millions of people in urgent need of food, water and shelter.

Henrietta Fore, an administrator with the State Department's USAID agency, told CBS News Wednesday that "somewhere between 1 million and 2 million people" had been displaced in Myanmar.

"Another couple of days exposed to those conditions can only lead to worsening health conditions and compound the stress people are living in," said Shantha Bloemen, a spokeswoman for UNICEF.

A tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal added new worries, but late in the day forecasters said it was weakening and unlikely to grow into a cyclone.

Myanmar's government issued a revised casualty toll Wednesday night, saying 38,491 were known dead and 27,838 were missing.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, however, said its estimate put the number of dead between 68,833 and 127,990. The Geneva-based body said the range came from a compilation based on other estimates from 22 different organizations, including the Myanmar Red Cross Society, and on media reports.

Even though the figures seemed precise, spokesman Matthew Cochrane said they were not based on body counts, but were only rough estimates designed to provide Red Cross donors and partner organizations with an idea of the numbers being discussed within the aid community.

U.N. officials have said there could be more than 100,000 dead.

The Red Cross estimated the number of people needing help after cyclone surged over the low-lying delta on May 3 at between 1.64 million and 2.51 million.

But the junta still refused to accept help from foreign aid experts, who have vast experience in handling humanitarian crises.

It insisted Myanmar can handle the disaster on its own - a stance that appeared to stem not from the isolationist regime's ability but from its deep suspicion of most foreigners, who have frequently criticized its human rights abuses and crackdowns on democracy activists.

Meanwhile, Myanmar announced Thursday that a new military-backed constitution was overwhelmingly approved by voters in last week's referendum.

State radio said the draft constitution, which critics say is designed to solidify the military's rule, was approved by over 92 per cent of the 22 million eligible voters. It put turnout at more than 99 per cent.

Voting has been postponed in two regions battered by the deadly cyclone but the results of the late balloting cannot mathematically affect the outcome.

The document guarantees 25 per cent of parliamentary seats to the military and allows the president to hand over all power to the armed forces in a state of emergency.

Critics say these elements contradict the junta's professed commitment to democracy.

"The government has a responsibility to assist their people in the event of a natural disaster," said Amanda Pitt of the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs.

"We are here to do what we can and facilitate their efforts and scale up their response. It is clearly inadequate, and we do not want to see a second wave of deaths as a result of that not being scaled up," she said.

Myanmar's prime minister, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, told visiting Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Wednesday that the government was in control of the situation and didn't need foreign experts.

Samak said after returning to Bangkok that the junta gave him a "guarantee" that there was no starvation or disease outbreaks among survivors.

But critics say the government is woefully lacking in helicopters, trucks and boats as well as planning expertise needed to distribute aid to survivors, who have jammed into monasteries and relief centers or are camping outside.

U.N. agencies and other voluntary groups have been able to reach only 270,000 of the affected people, said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva.

She said the World Food Program would need 55,000 tons of rice to feed 750,000 people for three months, but the agency had been able to ship in only 361 tons so far.

The junta did grant approval Wednesday for a Thai medical team to visit the delta, said Dr. Thawat Sutharacha of Thailand's Public Health Ministry. If the team goes as scheduled Friday, it will be the first foreign aid group to work in the ravaged delta.

Myanmar has limited the few international aid workers in the country to Yangon, the country's biggest city, and used police to keep foreigners from going to the delta.

The government gave a little ground to demands that it let in more experts. It announced it would allow in 160 relief workers from neighboring countries - India, China, Bangladesh and Thailand. It was not clear whether they would be permitted to go to the delta.

In New York, U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes welcomed the junta's move. But he said it was not enough and demanded that Myanmar open its borders to foreign relief specialists and let outsiders work in the Irrawaddy delta.

[nyeinc]

Is Humanitarian Aid to Cyclone Victims Misappropriated in Burma?

The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune publishes the reports with the headlines %u201CAid Groups Say Myanmar Food Stolen by Military%u201D and %u201CJunta is stealing aid, relief groups assert%u201D respectively on May 15 and May 14, 2008. Their reports are apparently filed by the same correspondent Seth Mydans, although not mentioned so. I infer that the reporter must be Seth Mydans because he has been filing syndicated reports to both New York Times and International Herald Tribune so far. However, the media should notice that the two reports do not include any substantial evidence of stolen aid.

Marcel Wagner, country director of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, confirmed that aid was being diverted by the army. (The New York Times, Aid Groups Say Myanmar Food Stolen by Military, May 15, 2008)

There were rumors in Myanmar on Wednesday that special high-energy biscuits donated for distribution in the disaster areas had been replaced by cheaper, off-the-shelf crackers. But Mr. Wagner and the others said they had not heard of high-quality foodstuffs being stolen and replaced by inferior products. (The New York Times, Aid Groups Say Myanmar Food Stolen by Military, May 15, 2008)

[nyeinc]

Is Humanitarian Aid to Cyclone Victims Misappropriated in Burma?

NY Times and IH Tribune file the reports but neither Times nor Tribune includes any substantial evidence of stolen aid in their reports; still, they publish the reports with sensational headlines like Junta STOLE aid.

Asked whether or not the junta has been misappropriating aid and keeping the best for the, Gordon Bacon replies %u201CNO, absolutely NOT. %u2026 There are quite a number of agencies who are working here prior to the cyclone and who have more people on the ground obviously and NOTHING was reported back that there was any misappropriation or anything that has been done wrongly. %u2026 Ultimately, if it is found that aid was misappropriated, another course of action got to take place. (CNN Video News, Interview with Gordon Bacon of the International Rescue Committee to Discuss Aid Response in Myanmar, May 14, 2008, 6:58 a.m. New York Time; International Rescue Committee is one of the agencies who went into Burma prior to cyclone.)

The WFP said it had not heard of its supplies disappearing. "We''ve had no reports whatsoever about any incidents of this kind," Marcus Prior, a WFP spokesman, said in Bangkok.%u201D (USA Today, May 13, 2008)

[nothappyatall]

U.N. officials have said there could be more than 100,000 dead."

Good, they need more population control over there, this is Rick''s god''s FINEST work, he killed 100,000 of them over there a couple of years ago, and now another 100,000, keep up the good work!

[nothappyatall]

(The New York Times, Aid Groups Say Myanmar Food Stolen by Military, May 15, 2008)



LOL and the dumb sheeple we are we never LEARN, were always the FIRST one to ship food and cash overseas at the drop of the hat, and half a million in aid to CHINA even now after the quake!!! CHINA!!! a country who has screwed us big time, lead toys, poison pet food and whose econ is BOOMING- they should be give *US* aid!
We never seem to have the food and nmoney for OUR people!

[bezil1]

you people blow me away.
7.9 for 3 minutes will destroy any city in the US.
You want to call this just bith control for a third wold country.
you havent spent much time in a care unit where unsuspecting victims are cring in pain.
Maybe if a loved family member were there we let them die to

[cyberus-2009]

Military junta is just using junta math ... the fewer starving peasants you have the less chance there will be an uprising.
You don''t need to worry about food since you''ve already confiscated all the supplies for hundreds of thousands of people sent from outside the country.

[pfd572]

bezil1: You give newster too much credit. There isn''t anything human about him, so to credit him with feelings or a conscience are a waste of time.While I normally denounce attacks on these boards, I can''t believe how awful one person can be. His personal attacks against other people are severe and strident. He should be denounced, as a warning, for his intolerance of others opinions and bigoted personal beliefs. Go ahead and call me names, including hypocrite, but sometimes its necessary to let someone know how much you disagree with their ugliness. Newster has to be one of the most narrow-minded, ignorant, hostile, unsympathetic (as a personality and toward others), mean spirited, abrasive and hardened persons on these boards. JMO

[pfd572]

I wonder if those of you begrudging the aid we are sending would call yourselves Christians? It seems that the some of the same people who make such unholy comments are the same people who quote scripture. I think our aid once more just shows that most of us are just good, empathetic and caring people who can''t bear the idea of people who have done no one any harm suffering. And for you selfish little people, oh well.

[yongamerica]

As they proven themselves in Hurricane Katrina, the Red Cross is not to be trusted with aid monies as they''ll take donations but not necessarily give them to the cause indented. Their scare tactic is another fund drive for a company that profits from major disasters.

Blame the miltary juanta and the Chinese puppet master for the grief and suffering of these Burmese people. Tho China is Burma''s military dictaorships best friend, they have not even one Olympic coin token, much less help of any sort to this small country.

Democracy Now

[mexinvasion]

We''ll never know how many people were lost.

[nyeinc]

I now know where the disproportionately negative and unsubstantiated rumors damaging to the global aid efforts and hampering the aid drive come from: the old and usual enemies of Burmese military regime, that have been long critical of the regime, like Human Rights Watch, US Campaign for Burma, UK Campaign for Burma, etc. %u201CNew York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement Wednesday that it had confirmed an Associated Press report that the military had seized high-energy biscuits that came from abroad, and distributed low-quality, locally produced biscuits to survivors.%u201D (Associated Press, May 15, 2008 at 3:59 PM New York Time, via The Globe and Mail, Canada)

The media, particularly journalists, should be wary of the sources of its news and reports. If the media is fed the bad news about their opponents by the Burmese military regime, the journalists should be careful about publishing/broadcasting those news. By the same token, if they are fed the bad news by the regime opponents, their organizations like US Campaign for Burma, and UK Campaign for Burma, and their allies like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International about the Burmese military regime, the media should take the news with a grain of salt given the dubious source and their malicious intent.

[nyeinc]

Part I: Another Biscuit Crisis in Burma

Do you remember reading what I had written a few days earlier about sending the relief materials, we Burmese in general and cyclone victims in particular do NOT know how to use and do NOT consume, including high-energy biscuits? I had predicted a few scenarios then. The victims would eat biscuits as snacks and continue looking for food. Second, they might give biscuits to children and the children will end up hyperactive the entire time. Third, the biscuits would be sold back into the market (to buy rice) and you are going to find it scandalous. Now you found the biscuits in the market and you publish and broadcast all kinds of unfounded accusations (levied by the regime opponents (like US Campaign for Burma, UK Campaign for Burma) and their allies like Human Rights Watch) against the Burmese military without any credible evidence so far?

Do you also remember reading the news for one day that the Burmese military government seized the relief materials in a WFP plane? (This news, damaging to the Burmese military government%u2019s image, to the delight of its opponents and their state/non-state supporters, was published with the glaring and sensational headlines like Junta Impound UN Aid, Junta Impound More UN Aid.) WFP reported later that the relief materials were released but the damage was done. Those materials include mostly of biscuits.

[nyeinc]

Part II: Another Biscuit Crisis in Burma

YES, the major food items World Food Program brought is high-energy biscuits. The government knows that its people are NOT going to eat the biscuits, high-energy or otherwise. The cyclone victims would take their biscuit rations and sell back in the market (to buy rice or something more urgently needed). Graham Saunders of the International Federation of the Red Cross recalls a mission in Afghanistan where he found that US military rations -- meals ready-to-eat, or MREs -- had been used by the locals as bricks to fill in road potholes. Nobody had explained to them that the strange, plastic-wrapped packages contained food. (Richard Ingham, Agence-France Press, Paris, Low technology is the only hope in Myanmar, China disasters, May 13, 2008)

Now the biscuits got into the market; you guys found it scandalous; you guys blame the easy target, the Burmese military regime, whose global image is so poor that you can get away spreading the rumors as news without any serious consequences.

This does not mean that there is no aid abuse in Burma. There is and there will be as in anywhere else and any humanitarian relief operations. This simply means that you guys should be more careful about what you publish and refrain yourselves from cheap shots against the regime. It is neither good for your own reputation nor for Burmese people, particularly cyclone victims.

[mommakat64]

nyeinc...you seem to be quite the shill for Burma''s junta. For some reason, food and aid and help IS NOT getting to the people...they are dying quickly. China has not given ANY help to it''s "pet" nation. Come on, quite sheilding the junta and making excuses for them. We''ve seen this in too many other disasters..Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Somalia, Turkey. Corrupt governments steal aid to their people.

[geyser1500]

The critical situation in Myanmar is not just humanitarian crisis, this is a practice of brutality by the military regime. The slow response and the ignorance of the rulers is devastating and intolerable. The people of Myanmar deserves to be treated much better. There are tons of aid available for victims, however people are still not receiving the treatment they needed. As we speak, more and more people are dying. This is a brutal crime committed by the military regime. On behalf of the Burmese people, I deeply like to urge UN secretary general, Ban, Ki-Moon, President Bush and Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other political leaders to make a change to the political situation in Myanmar. Unlike other dictatorships, with the support and power of the world, we can free Myanmar. Just like Barack Obama claims, " YES, WE CAN!!"

[sistatee-2009]

I''m seeing more and more "Nuke Myanmar" bumper stickers.