US ships sail away as Burma snubs cyclone aid
5/6/08
A flotilla of US navy ships off the coast of Burma are leaving after failing to get the junta’s permission to unload aid supplies to “ease the suffering of hundreds of thousands” of cyclone survivors, the senior US military commander in the Pacific said yesterday. Word of the aborted aid mission came as the UN warned that a month after the cyclone swept through Burma, more than a million people still had no adequate food, water or shelter, and junta policies were hindering relief efforts. Admiral Timothy Keating ordered the US vessels to leave the area today, after Washington made at least 15 attempts to convince Burma’s leaders to allow ships, helicopters and landing craft to come ashore to offload their aid. Burma’s state media said it feared a US invasion aimed at seizing the country’s oil deposits. The junta has also forbidden overflights by military helicopters from friendly neighbouring nations, which are vital in rushing supplies to isolated survivors.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23811031-26397,00.html
Tags: Burma, Environment, Human Rights