Myanmar Travel News Archives

The USS Essex , and the Essex Amphibious Ready Group steam in formation, Friday, May 23, 2008 in the Andaman Sea.

Getty Images As the Junta fails, the monks work to provide humanitarian assistance in Myanmar.

Myanmar's military government is forcing cyclone victims out of shelters and refugee camps and sending some back to their devastated villages with virtually no aid supplies, United Nations and church officials ...

A drumbeat of diplomatic pressure on the military rulers of Burma (Myanmar) has cracked open the door for more international aid to reach cyclone survivors after weeks of scattershot deliveries. But the junta's reflexive suspicion of the Western powers' offer of humanitarian help, and the hands-off approach of China and India toward the crisis, may continue to frustrate relief efforts, particularly if Burma's neighbors fail to stay engaged, say regional analysts, aid officials, and Western diplomats.

Technical changes have been made to prevent Internet users from using proxy servers to get around government controls, according to an announcement from Myanmar Teleport, one of the country's two Internet ...

Individual volunteers are free to travel into regions devastated by Cyclone Nargis to give donations to storm victims, Myanmar's tightly controlled state media insisted yesterday.

Getting to see one of the world's most reclusive military strongmen requires a VIP flight, armed escorts and soldiers pointing the way - not to mention a disaster of epic proportions.

BANGKOK : Myanmar is allowing some foreign aid workers to enter remote areas hard hit by the May 3 cyclone in what relief agencies said Tuesday appeared to be the beginning of a new policy that fulfills a ...

Burmese activist Thet Thet Tun responds to a question during a new conference launching the Panties for Peace campaign in support of the women of Burma.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo greeting doctors during a send off ceremony for humanitarian mission for Myanmar in Villamor Airbase in Pasay, south of Manila, yesterday.

Myanmar's failure to grant foreign aid workers unfettered access to cyclone devastated areas threatened Sunday to overshadow a vital conference aimed at securing billions of dollars for reconstruction.

Foreign relief workers began filtering into Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta on Monday, as aid agencies tested whether the ruling military junta would keep its promise to permit a major international effort to help ...

Donor nations said they were ready to provide Myanmar with more than $100 million to help it recover from Cyclone Nargis, but warned the ruling junta Sunday they will not fully open their wallets until they are provided access to the hardest-hit areas.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking to The Associated Press after a one-day meeting of 51 donor nations, said he believed a turning point had been reached in getting Myanmar's isolationist junta to allow foreign aid workers unhindered entry into the devastated Irrawaddy delta.

Myanmar was promised millions of dollars in cyclone aid on Sunday, but some Western donor countries said the cash was contingent on the junta keeping its word on letting in foreign aid workers.

More than 45 countries and regional organizations have signed up to attend a donors conference in Myanmar on Sunday to mobilize funds for immediate humanitarian assistance for the survivors of Cyclone Nargis, ...

Foreign aid agencies urged Burma's, also known as Myanmar, junta Saturday to urgently clarify rules for operating in the country's cyclone-devastated areas, expressing hope tinged with cynicism after the regime ...

DISASTER relief officials said there was 'no time to lose' to help Myanmar's cyclone survivors after the secretive military government promised the United Nations it would allow in more aid workers.

Website: http:/ / www.wvasiapacific.org World Vision welcomes the statement by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that all foreign aid workers are to be allowed into the country following his meeting with ...

OPINION: A fight for survival as mourning goes on SETH MYDANS and ALAN COWELL Although Myanmar has allowed some foreign aid into the country for victims of cyclone Nargis, relief officials say that without more ...

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, right, walks from a helicopter Thursday, May 22, 2008 in Mawgyun, Myanmar on a tour to view conditions in cyclone damaged areas and to meet with Myanmar government ...

Attempting to aid Myanmar cyclone victims Details Air Serv International is a Warrenton-based nonprofit aviation alumni organization of pilots who offer air support during crises, with nearly 25 years of ...

Myanmar's state media say the death toll from cyclone Nargis has reached almost 78,000 and that another 56,000 people are missing.

SATURDAY: SUNDAY: We have 2499 guests online and 1 member online YANGON, Myanmar - A French navy ship carrying 1,000 tons of food idled near Myanmar's coast Saturday, awaiting permission from the uncooperative ...

Main Category: Aid / Disasters Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health Article Date: 20 May 2008 UNICEF missions throughout the flooded regions of Myanmar report that the destruction of homes, schools ...

The UN's top humanitarian official made a fresh appeal to Myanmar's military government to allow in more foreign aid for cyclone survivors Tuesday as the country began three days of mourning for the 134,000 ...

“This mechanism will facilitate the effective distribution and utilization of assistance from the international community, including the expeditious and effective deployment of relief workers, especially health and medical personnel”

Survivors of Cyclone Nargis rush to get first in line to receive donated goods from a local donor at a monastery outside the capital of Yangon, Myanmar on Monday May 19, 2008. via The Topeka Capital-Journal

“But, like all turning points in Burma, the corner will have a few 'S' bends in it”

Hopes turned to a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers on Monday for a breakthrough in speeding up aid flows to the millions of desperate cyclone survivors in Myanmar. via Reuters RSS Reuters.com

“We are extremely worried that many children in the affected areas are now suffering from severe acute malnourishment, the most serious level of hunger”

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will travel to Myanmar this week to speak directly with the government about the aid crisis, his Deputy Press Spokesman Yves Sorokobi confirmed to CBS News this morning. via WWJ-AM Southfield

“We don't want gold, we just need water.”

International pressure on the ruling military junta continued to grow over the weekend as a senior U.N. envoy was due to arrive in Yangon today to talk with government officials about what the United Nations ... via Denver Post

“The government should find ways - maybe they could use their leverage with China, to knock some sense into the heads of the stubborn Burmese generals”

A Canadian military plane carrying 40 tonnes worth of relief supplies for Myanmar cyclone victims arrived Saturday in Bangkok, Thailand. via CFRB

“I'm not going to make any predictions for exactly what they are going to see and how widely and freely they are going to be able to travel.”

Supplies from U.S. relief flights were given directly to nongovernmental organizations Friday to help with the aftermath of Myanmar's disastrous cyclone, the State Department said.

Spokesman Sean McCormack said direct distribution also was being sought for as many as five flights during the weekend.

U.S. C-130 cargo planes began flying aid to the Southeast Asian nation on Monday. McCormack said the direct deliveries to relief organizations were the first allowed by Myanmar's ruling junta. Read more

“Supplies were dropped in flooded areas where the helicopters could not land”

The United States on Monday dispatched its first aid flight to Myanmar, where some 1.5 million survivors of a massive cyclone are still waiting for help as the relief effort flounders. via New Straits Times

“We are concerned about the effects on the people. It is clear, from what everyone is saying, the aid effort is far from over.”

The cyclone's official death toll has nearly doubled to almost 78,000 and another 56,000 people remain missing two weeks after the devastating storm, state television reported Friday.

The United Nations, meanwhile, said that severe restrictions by Myanmar's military junta have left aid agencies largely in the dark about the extent of survivors' suffering.

John Holmes, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, will go to Myanmar on Sunday in an attempt to convince junta leaders to grant more access to U.N. relief workers and massively scale up aid efforts, said Amanda Pitt, a U.N. spokeswoman in Bangkok, Thailand. Read more

“She had no warm clothes to change into”

A man stands among wreckage of a rice mill destroyed by Cyclone Nargis near Bogalay. via TurkishPress.com

“Myanmese ambassador has assured that the Myanmese government will do all to assist.”

The Red Cross estimated Wednesday that the cyclone death toll in Myanmar could be as high as 128,000 _ a much larger figure than the government tally. The U.N. warned a second wave of deaths will follow unless the military regime lets in more aid quickly.

The grim forecast came as heavy rains drenched the devastated Irrawaddy River delta, disrupting aid operations already struggling to reach up to 2.5 million people in urgent need of food, water and shelter.

'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. Read more

“Relatives' bodies and animals lay around decaying while the survivors tried to live on coconuts and anything they could scavenge. Orphans roamed around aimlessly.”

As UN estimates of the number of Burmese affected by Cyclone Nargis rose from 1.5 to 2.5 million and the United States and United Nations continued to wrangle with Myanmar's rulers over visas for aid workers, ... via News.ncmonline.com

“The fact that it is the rice bowl of Myanmar (that has been hit) and that all the stocks of rice have been destroyed -- there is a risk of a catastrophe at the level of famine”

Myanmar tightened access to its cyclone disaster zone Wednesday, turning back foreigners and ignoring pleas to accept outside experts who could save countless lives before time runs out. via The Age

“Normally they would be saying, 'We are going to stick it out, we don't need anyone's help,'”

Cyclone Nargis may have helped crack the Myanmar military junta's nearly 50 years of closed-door rule, exposing its claims of self-sufficiency. The junta largely succeeded in ignoring international pressure ... via Daily India

“It's sort of a fortress in the middle of the jungle”

Images of the cyclone-ravaged areas of Myanmar are especially painful for five members of Celebration Church in Green Bay who helped care for children in a church-sponsored orphanage there a little more than a ... via WisInfo

“The most important objective is to get the humanitarian aid there because there are many ordinary people who are suffering. We have to use all means to help them.”

International aid continued to arrive in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar Tuesday, but criticism mounted as the efforts were hampered by logistics problems and the military junta's bureaucratic stalling. via Tajikistan News.Net

“AFP "> UN warns of - second disaster”

But Myanmar's military rulers again rejected growing international pressure to open the door to a foreign-run relief effort, insisting against all the evidence that they could handle the emergency alone. via Gulf Times

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Journeys Within Tour Company today announced it is partnering with Journeys Within Our Community , a non-profit organization working in Southeast Asia, to raise funds ... via Earth Times

“They are concerned their money will not get through”

Burma may be on the brink of a second disaster, "potentially larger than the first," but this time self-inflicted. More than a week after Cyclone Nargis hit, the Burma's government's continued refusal to allow ... via Canada.com

As the death toll mounts from the cyclone that struck a densely populated area of Myanmar stretching from the Irrawaddy Delta to Yangon, the country's military dictatorship is pressing ahead with efforts to ... via The Daily Star

“The authorities of the country need to open up to an international relief effort. There aren't enough boats, trucks, helicopters in the country to run the relief effort of the scale we need”

The United States delivered its first relief supplies to Myanmar on Monday, as the U.N. urged the reclusive nation to open its doors to foreign experts who can help up to 2 million cyclone victims facing ... via Lubbock Avalanche

“We only have food for the next few days.”

THANAP PIN SATE, Myanmar : The bodies come and go with the tides. They wash up onto the riverbanks or float grotesquely downstream, almost always face down. via International Herald Tribune

“This is Burma's hour of need and the need is urgent”

By Aung Hla Tun Reuters Monday, May 12, 2008; 5:59 AM YANGON - The first U.S. military aid flight landed in Myanmar on Monday, but relief supplies continued to just dribble into the reclusive state nine days ... via The Washington Post

“For the safety of the teams and the people inside, we cannot give out information regarding the exact location of our teams, nor their identities.”

While the heavyweights of the international aid community are stymied by red-tape in their efforts to help cyclone-ravaged Myanmar, a little-known New Zealand-based organisation says it has found a way in. via XtraMSN Real Estate

“We need the supply pipeline to increase exponentially”

NEW YORK, May 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The situation for children continues to worsen in Myanmar as thousands of children have been separated from their families, many more are living in desperate ... via Earth Times

“We have no future and no hope. They shouldn't have a referendum because the government is forcing our people (to vote) by aiming the gun”

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia : About 500 Myanmar activists demonstrated Saturday outside their country's embassy in Malaysia, demanding that Myanmar's military regime call off its constitutional referendum even as ... via International Herald Tribune

“A fresh appeal will be launched in the next few hours”

AFP. GENEVA. The United Nations said yesterday it will give US$10 million in immediate aid to cyclone-hit Myanmar and that its disaster experts have finally been granted visas to enter the country. via The Herald

Myanmar's state television says the death toll in last week's cyclone has jumped by about 5,000 to 28,458.

It said Sunday that the number of missing now stands at 33,416.

International aid groups, however, say the death toll could eventually top 100,000 as conditions worsen.

Though international aid has started to trickle in, almost all foreign relief workers have been barred entry into the isolated nation. The junta says it wants to hand out all donated supplies on its own.

Meanwhile, a cargo ship carrying relief supplies for more than 1,000 cyclone victims in Myanmar has sunk. Read more

“And after the trees fell, it's so hot.”

The shady streets of Yangon, one of Asia's greenest cities, could have been changed forever by Cyclone Nargis, which knocked down many of its 100-year-old trees. via Hindustan Times

Main Category: Aid / Disasters Also Included In: Water - Air Quality / Agriculture Article Date: 07 May 2008 - 5:00 PDT rate article Some 130 UNICEF technical and operations staff continued to travel to the ... via Medical News Today

“The most dramatic situation is the case of children who have lost their parents. We don't know at the moment how many have lost their parents, relatives”

The United Nations blasted Myanmar's military junta on Friday, calling its refusal to let in foreign aid workers "unprecedented" as survivors of a devastating cyclone waited for food, shelter and medicine. via CFRB

“The country must open up so that there is not a catastrophe after the catastrophe, so that hundreds of thousands more people do not fall ill”

The first U.N. aid flight arrived in Myanmar on Thursday, bringing an Italian-financed shipment carrying 25 metric tons of emergency response equipment for cyclone survivors, a spokeswoman said. via LiveScience

“They asked our defense attache at the embassy in Rangoon for some imagery and we provided it”

The U.S. military stepped up preparations Thursday for a humanitarian mission to Myanmar, readying some ships already in the region for a multinational exercise.Though the country's military junta had not ... via KansasCity.com

This editorial is from the Los Angeles Times: The military rulers of Myanmar are brutal, repressive, incompetent, superstitious -- in sum, genuinely loathsome. via The Press Democrat

“Now we can repay the (Myanmar people) for all the warm hospitality and enriching experiences we have in the past enjoyed there.”

The Myanmar junta's refusal to let in foreign aid workers has not stopped donors - from billionaire Bill Gates to a small British travel company - from trying to help. via Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Due to the scope of the disaster facing Myanmar today, however, the Secretary-General believes that it may be prudent to focus instead on mobilizing all available resources and capacity for the emergency response efforts”

The United Nations humanitarian chief today voiced disappointment at the limited progress made in gaining access to Myanmar, where some 1.5 million people are believed to be severely affected by the recent ... via Scoop

“However, we are facing logistical issues for the transportation of our relief items to Yangon. We are hoping that a solution will present itself soon”

Two Malaysian Medical Relief Society officers will fly to Yangon, Myanmar tonight to facilitate and support relief work to the survivors of cyclone Nargis that hit the country on Saturday and has so far claimed ... via New Straits Times

“Let the United States come and help you”

U.N. officials said some aid is starting to reach people in and around Myanmar's largest city, in the wake of a deadly weekend cyclone. via Click2Houston.com - Weather

Myanmar News.Net Wednesday 7th May, 2008 New Delhi, May 7 : Two Indian Naval ships carrying essential relief material supplies berthed alongside at naval jetty Yangon on Wednesday. via Myanmar News.net

“So far, there were no instructions for visas in Bangkok”

The London News.Net Wednesday 7th May, 2008 Myanmar's junta, which has appealed for international aid to cope with the disastrous impact of Cyclone Nargis, is barring foreign journalists from entering the ... via The London News.Net

“There are a lot of ships sunk in the port area”

A New Zealander who was on a cruise ship when deadly Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar says the weather has cleared to reveal a devastated land. via The New Zealand Herald

“But it is likely to be in the hundreds of thousands.”

The death toll from Cyclone Nargis is expected to rise above 100,000, while hundreds of thousands more will need assistance. via Australian News

“The authorities are well aware of what has happened. They have set up a coordination effort among themselves.”

A leading Australian aid agency says the Burmese military regime has allowed its efforts to provide urgent relief following the catastrophic aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. via The Sydney Morning Herald

“Our biggest fear is that the aftermath could be more lethal than the storm itself”

International aid began to trickle into Myanmar on Tuesday, but the stricken Irrawaddy delta, the nation's rice bowl where 22,000 people perished and twice as many are missing, remained cut off from the world.

In the former capital of Yangon, soldiers from the repressive military regime were out on the streets in large numbers for the first time since Cyclone Nargis hit over the weekend, helping to clear away rubble. Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns wielded axes and long knives to remove ancient, fallen trees that were once the city's pride. Read more

“I think it will be a major challenge to bring assistance to these areas.”

AP Photo Myanmar soldiers carry sacks of rice, part of aid supplied by the Thai government, at an airport in Yangon, Myanmar Tuesday, May 6, 2008. via Reading Eagle/Reading Times

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. via News Dissector's Weblog

“We are basically standing on our toes, ready to run”

U.N. agencies and independent humanitarian groups rushed Monday to prepare assistance for victims of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar, while awaiting a formal go-ahead from the military regime in the Southeast ... via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

State radio in Myanmar says the death toll from a weekend cyclone is nearly 4,000 and the country's foreign minister says the final count could be more than twice that. via KWTX

A minor part of the daily life started to resume in Myanmar's former capital of Yangon Sunday, the first day in the aftermath of the deadly cyclone Nargis strike the country for 10 hours from Saturday night to ... via People's Daily Online