Junta Article Attacks ‘Open Access’

Several Rangoon newspapers sanctioned by the Burmese junta blasted the idea of “opening up” to foreign aid workers and criticized refugees who lined the roads leading to the cyclone-stricken area, saying they made the country look bad.

The same commentary appeared in two newspapers, Myanma Alin and Kyemon, on Thursday. The article claimed that “free access” for foreign aid workers meant they could do whatever they liked in the country without limitations.

Newspapers in Burma are tightly controlled by the military government and are used by the ruling generals to publicize their views and changes in official policy.

The article also criticized the World Bank, which provided a $23 million loan to aid Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami, for its refusal to provide monetary aid to Burma.

The World Bank refused to offer Burma a disaster loan, citing the military junta’s failure to repay previous bank loans since 1998.

The article attacked the United States’ latest economic sanctions against the junta that were handed down in early May. The US is a powerful country and it knew the tropical storm would hit Burma, but it increased economic sanctions anyway, the article claimed.

The article said that military-ruled Burma can survive without foreign humanitarian aid because it now gets only US $3 annually as development assistance—the lowest amount among developing countries.

Fish paste curry and vegetables are delicious and offer enough nutrition for farmers in the Irrawaddy delta, the article said.

Another article on Thursday in a state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, criticized homeless, hungry refugees of Cyclone Nargis. Refugees lining the roads were in a scramble to get donations handed out by volunteers, and their behavior tarnished the image of the people and the country, the article said.

The article accused the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), which is now working to provide relief aid in the Irrawaddy delta, of “trying to exploit the situation politically, instead of cooperating with the people.” 

The NLD said on Thursday the party was not using the disaster for political purposes. Win Myint, the NLD’s secretary for Irrawaddy Division, said, “The NLD relief effort is based on the party’s members in the Irrawaddy delta, who are also cyclone survivors. They were aiding refugees immediately after the storm.”

The government’s disaster committee announced in a press release on Wednesday that aid donations should be given only to official government organizations so that aid may be “carried out more effectively”.  

“In that regard, assistance may be sought from the National Disaster Preparedness Committee at different levels,” the press release said.

Responding to the press release, an aid volunteer with a private donation group, who requested anonymity, said such announcements are usually ignored, but they can make working more difficult.

“Sometimes top officials say things like that,” she said. “But different things happen on the ground.”

However, she said a group traveling to the Irrawaddy delta on Sunday in about 27 vehicles was stopped in Hlaingtharyar Township by local authorities, and the drivers were taken to a technical college compound in Insein Township where they were questioned.

“They took driver licenses,” she said, “and the licenses have not been returned.” 

Currently, foreigners working with international nongovernmental organizations who want to enter the delta area have to get official documentation from Burma’s ministry of defense, ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of social welfare, making the aid process an extended exercise in bureaucracy while preventing effective aid from reaching the needy.