Sponsored by
Sadness of Burma
SANDWICHED between India and Thailand, the former British colony of Burma has become a closed and secretive country since gaining independence in 1948.
While international politicians wonder about how to engage with the socialist regime, which holds China as one of its closest allies and has been criticised by the United States, its people have suffered under a veil of fear.
Last Saturday's Cyclone Nagris brought 120mph winds and a huge tidal surge which left 23,000 dead and almost 50,000 people missing.
Aid workers and diplomats believe the death toll could be as high as 100,000, making it the world's biggest disaster since the Boxing Day 2005 Tsunami.
Up to one million people are reported homeless after their houses were washed away, bodies remain unburied and neighbours are turning against each other in the desperate search for food and clean water.
Already the British, American and Chinese governments have pledged millions to help the aid effort, but the Burmese political agenda has made progress slow.
Aid agencies and the United Nations have been frustrated in their attempts to get people and supplies into the country, prompting fears the initial death toll could rise as disease and famine ravages the already devastated towns and villages along the Irrawaddy Delta.
Fylde councillor Howard Henshaw is particularly touched by the events he has seen unfolding on the television, having visited the former capital Rangoon several times during the 1980s while working with the Standard Chartered Bank in the Far East.
He said: "Of the 136 countries I have visited around the world, Burma has to be the saddest.
"It's people are kind and gentle, those I met were very friendly. But sadly they live in fear of their military leaders.
"This is a terrible situation, made worse by the fact that the government was not prepared for a disaster and have been obstructive in the aftermath."
As international director for Standard Chartered, Coun Henshaw discovered first-hand how far the controlling arm of the Burmese Government stretched.
The bank was nationalised after independence and, despite brief talks, Coun Henshaw was told not to expect foreign interests ever to be allowed back into the country.
Such sentiments seem to have been played out, even in the face of huge tragedy, with UN and US aid flights delayed because of landing restrictions in Burma and aid workers still waiting for visas.
But Coun Henshaw, who has lobbied MPs on the issue in the past, hopes the focus of the international spotlight on this tiny sliver of the South Asian continent will lead to its re-entry into the international community.
"We went into Iraq to get rid of Saddam Hussein, a country with 25m people, but we ignore and abandon the 50m people of Burma. They all lived in fear so what is the difference?
"Once we tried to tip a tour guide but he was petrified of being seen accepting money from us. He believed he would be watched and would only take it after we went though the process of slipping in under the door of a toilet stall at the airport.
“This is the fear these people lived in and it’s the shame of the international community that we’ve done nothing.
“Because the regime is successful in suppressing information, we have turned away.
“It’s pathetic the UN has not stepped in before now, but perhaps this situation will force the world to look at the plight of the Burmese people and finally do something about it.”
In the meantime, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has issued a warning that the need for aid is “immediate and vast”.
A public appeal has been launched to help raise the millions of pounds which will be needed to alleviate the current suffering and, ultimately, rebuild the country.
The committee, which has 13 members including the British Red Cross, Christian Aid, Oxfam and Save the Children, last hit the headlines in 2005 with the Asian Tsunami.
Oxfam has released 250,000 from its funds and put a team on standby to travel to the country while the British Red Cross has 30,000 and 17,000 Burmese volunteers handing out cooking and hygiene kits, drinking water and mosquito nets through its affiliate, the Myanmar Red Cross.
Brendan Gormley, DEC chief executive, said: “Our members are there and need the UK public to show huge generosity to help them reach those thousands of people who have seen their lives and livelihoods uprooted by this disaster.”
l To donate to the DEC Mayanmar (Burma) Appeal go to www.dec.org.uk or call 0870 6060 900.
heather.butler@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
ends
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Blackpool
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: West
