U.S. Positions Forces to Help Burma, But Won't Go In Without Permission Red Cross Issues Multi-Million Dollar Appeal for Burma

I was stopped at one checkpoint on the way to Kungyangon, but our driver Htun (36) got me out of a scrape by telling the guards that I was a Shan tribesman looking for a friend. Next to Irrawady, Kungyangon was the hardest hit by the cyclone, but there was no way accurately to assess the level of damage in the field. All I encountered was rumors: that a family of five had perished after the river burst its banks, or that more than 200 people had died. With the help of Htun, who quizzed soldiers then busy repairing roads, I found out that it would take at least two or three months before things could return to normal.

A Burmese child displaced following Cyclone Nargis looks on at a temporary shelter on the outskirts of Rangoon on May 9, 2008. /AP

A makeshift clinic set up in a community hall downtown was packed with hundreds of patients. There were no confirmed infectious diseases for now, but more and more patients were said to be complaining about high fever and headaches. There was also a dire shortage of medical assistance. Near the clinic, a street vendor named Soe (39) said, “You have to wait three to four hours to get treatment.” He added medical supplies arrive once a day, but there’s just not enough to meet the demand. The only medical personnel in Kungyangon were medics from a military hospital, but other volunteer workers were unable to get in.

Our car could go no further than Kungyangon. Htun returned after meeting someone and said police and soldiers were all over the road to Irrawady. And it was not only rescue workers but all foreigners who were being stopped. There was no telling, he said, what would happen if I was caught by police.

The Burmese government has mobilized soldiers and public servants to conduct relief operations but is refusing to let international aid workers into the country. Economic Development Minister Soe Tha in a press conference on Sunday said 2 billion kyat (around W2 billion, US$1=W1,045) worth of emergency funds and supplies from overseas were being delivered to the disaster zones, and relief efforts were being carried out. The state-run New Light of Myanmar daily reported that Prime Minister Thein Sein visited a port in the Seikkan region and checked that relief supplies were delivered. State-run broadcaster MRTV is broadcasting daily images of high-ranking military brass delivering relief supplies.

But a vast majority of the disaster-hit areas are not getting them. Only women and children could be found in a school in Amakhanmathigan village near Kungyangon, where around 50 refugees have found shelter. They said they were eating roots because there was no other food. One villager named Maw said the only government aid they received were four bags of rice each the size of an adult’s fist -- not enough food to last a family of four for even a day. Rice prices, meanwhile, have skyrocketed, making it unthinkable to buy it. Wet and soggy rice sold here costs three times as much as in Rangoon.

Hundreds of refugees lined the road leading back to Rangoon. They were waiting for aid to arrive from the city. When workers on relief trucks threw instant noodles, cookies, bread and other food at the roadside, there were hellish scenes when people desperately scrambled for them. One 29-year-old woman named Nayin I met by the roadside said she was able to get three pieces of bread today, and residents of Rangoon were collecting supplies to send. From time to time, military trucks carrying relief supplies could be spotted, but it was unclear where they were headed.

Meanwhile, nine doctors from the Busan-based medical aid group Green Doctors are offering emergency services in Burma. The group, composed of four doctors specializing in internal medicine, surgery and ophthalmology and one assistant, arrived in Rangoon in two separate groups last Friday and Saturday. They moved to the Kiatumati region on Saturday afternoon and began providing medical services. The group said soldiers are tightly guarding the hardest-hit regions, and they had spotted no other doctors in the area they were in. The group added most boats had been damaged by the cyclone, while electricity to most areas has been cut off, turning them pitch dark after sunset. The doctors warned there was a high chance of typhoid fever and other waterborne diseases as a growing number of people were already complaining about diarrhea, stomach pains, headaches and other symptoms. Jeong Geun (49), the secretary-general of Green Doctors, expressed hope that the group can do something to alleviate the suffering of the Burmese people.

This story was contributed by Yoo Ha-ryong from Chosun Ilbo's International News Desk.

(englishnews@chosun.com )