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Burma Junta Welcomes Foreign Aid, Turns Back Relief Workers |
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Friday, 9 May 2008
Burma's military government is turning away relief workers as an estimated hundreds of thousands of victims of last week's deadly cyclone wait in desperate need of food, water, medicines, and other assistance. The official death toll remains at nearly 23,000 but is expected to be as high as 100,000. U.N. agencies say as many as 1.5 million people were severely affected by the storm. VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from our Southeast Asia Bureau in Bangkok.
Friday was another day of waiting for the hundreds of relief workers who are standing by in Bangkok for visas from the Burmese government. Frustration mounted as Burma's military leadership announced - through a state-run newspaper - that it was not accepting rescue teams from foreign countries. News reports Friday said the Burmese authorities turned away a rescue team that landed on a relief flight from Qatar.
The government says Burma is receiving relief aid and distributing it "with its own resources." State television shows images of Burmese soldiers handing out aid packages in some townships.
By Luis Ramirez
VOA News, Bangkok
09 May 2008 |
Friday, 9 May 2008
Burma
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