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By AcademicElephant Posted in burma | cyclone nargis | Foreign Affairs | myanmar — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

It is to be hoped that these children are still alive to continue their protest.

With all the hoopla surrounding yesterday's primaries in North Carolina and Indiana, most in our country have been distracted from the tragedy unfolding across the globe.

Cyclone Nargis struck Burma on Saturday, causing at least 22,000 deaths. The situation has been made worse by the criminal inaction of the ruling junta, which did nothing to warn the population about the approaching storm, and has done its best to stall or refuse international aid in its wake. It's not clear to me if the government is trying to avoid external scrutiny, is trying to get access to unfettered relief funds for its own purposes, or is simply incompetent--or is motivated by an unsavory combination of all three.

It hardly matters at this point as the slow moving train wreck that has gone on for the last three days could claim many, many more lives. Some 40,000 people are still unaccounted for. Millions of Burmese live in the disaster zone, now cut off from essential services. The wounded, displaced and vulnerable are waiting for help, but they cannot wait for long and the clock is ticking.

The tragedy is that these people do not have to die. Response to the 2004 tsunami demonstrated that rapid, targeted relief can make an enormous difference in the aftermath of a disaster. Yet such help is being denied to the people of Burma by their own government, which is accountable to no one and so has no incentive to act.

It is to be hoped that the United Nations can stir itself to take some action both to help the Burmese and to condemn the disgraceful behavior of this junta, which may well prove far more deadly to the country than Cyclone Nargis.

If you would like to donate, these two charities may be able to get some aid into Burma. [UPDATE: The Salvation Army is also on the ground, if you would like to help them.]