Archive for 'International'
Govt Officials: Stop Helping Survivors!
Posted on May 27, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under International.
Burmese government officials handed out leaflets this weekend ordering people to stop donating to survivors of the cyclone. The UN estimates that 2.5 million people are still in need of help. Yet the junta wants Burmese people to stop donating aid directly to survivors in order to “save the prestige of Myanmar people.”
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Saving Face, Not Lives
Posted on May 21, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under International, Media.
The Burmese junta continues to be more concerned about its image than about the safety of roughly 2.5 million people affected by Cyclone Nargis.
Homeless people and beggars have been kicked off the streets in preparation for visits to cyclone-hit areas by the dictator, Sen. Gen. Than Shwe.
The Irrawaddy reports that soldiers arrested eight Burmese journalists Monday night for trying to cover the disaster in Laputta Township in the Irrawaddy delta. The soldiers arrested the journalists at their hotel and interrogated them all night. They released them the following morning, but only after the reporters signed an agreement that they wouldn’t return to cyclone-affected areas without permission.
A source in Rangoon also told the Irrawaddy that the junta has stepped up its strict censorship policies.
Only positive stories are allowed. Photos about refugees, victims and children are always rejected..The censorship board will only allow propaganda stories and photos, such as reconstruction projects, to be published.
The censorship has led to the growth of “cyclone DVDs,” which show images of dead bodies and destroyed villages - scenes the government has tried to control.
This is reminiscent of last fall when the junta tried to control news on the nation-wide protests and subsequent military crackdown on democracy demonstrators. Then people also responded to the censorship by producing illegal DVDs featuring the protests and ones showing monks - symbols of resistance - giving sermons.
The difference between last fall and now is that this time there are 2.5 million people in need of food, water, housing and medicine. Thousands of corpses remain in the delta water. Save the Children warns that thousands of children could starve to death in the next two to three weeks if they don’t receive aid. People in Western Burma were safe from the cyclone but now struggle to pay for basic food that has tripled in price because the storm destroyed rice fields and killed livestock and farmers.
The junta should be coordinating aid and relief, not arresting beggars or looking for sneaky reporters.
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Occupation Diplomacy
Posted on May 20, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under International, Politics, Religion.
Check out my latest blog on the Huffington Post’s Off the Bus.
One thing is certain about the outcome of this November’s presidential election — whoever wins will have the monumental job of improving America’s standing around the world. He or she (I’m one of the few who won’t pronounce Hillary Clinton’s campaign dead until it’s official) should start by loudly proclaiming his (or her) anger and repugnance at the American soldier in Baghdad who used a copy of the Koran for target practice.
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‘Please, Please Stop’
Posted on May 19, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under Crime, Immigration, International.
South Africans have killed at least 22 foreigners and terrorized many times more in the past week as a wave of xenophobia washes over the country. See photos here. Anger against immigrants is not new to South Africa, but the violence rarely reaches this level.
Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu condemned the attacks: “Please stop. Please stop the violence now. This is not how we behave. These are our sisters and brothers. Please, please stop,” he said, as quoted in the Cape Times.
The violence has been targeted at refugees and immigrants who fled Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Somalia and other African nations to find safety and jobs in their new home. But South Africa itself has been struggling with 40 percent unemployment and rampant crime. Marketplace reporter Gretchen Wilson has a powerful story on how the violence is tied to the country’s economic problems.
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About Time
Posted on May 18, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under International.
More than two weeks after Cyclone Nargis hit, Burma’s dictator, Sen. Gen. Than Shwe finally climbed out of his cave and visited survivors. He left his new, remote capital Naypyidaw to tour refugee camps in the outskirts of Rangoon.
The New Light of Myanmar reports in junta-propaganda jargon:
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Than Shwe accompanied by General Thura Shwe Mann of the Ministry of Defence, member of SPDC Lt-Gen Tin Aye, Commander-in-Chief (Navy)Vice-Admiral Soe Thein, Commander-in-Chief (Air) Lt-Gen Myat Hein, Deputy Minister for Health Dr Paing Soe, senior military officers and officials of SPDC Office flew to Yangon from Nay Pyi Taw by special flight to inspect storm-hit areas of Yangon and Ayeyawady Division this afternoon.
Than Shwe still has not gone to the Irrawaddy River delta, where the vast majority of damage was done and dead bodies still float in the water. A well-known Burmese blogger, Nyi Lynn Seck, has recent photographs from his relief work in Laputta, one of the worst-hit areas.
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Lovers Trapped
Posted on May 18, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under International.
There’s a beautiful story in Monday’s New York Times about a married couple trapped together for 28 hours after the earthquake in China.
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Blossoms Over Burma
Posted on May 16, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under International, Politics.
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Problems With ‘Citizen Journalism’
Posted on May 15, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under International, Media.
The inability of foreign correspondents to enter Burma and the government’s strict censorship of the local media make the country a perfect breeding ground for citizen journalism. Burmese and foreigners living there take photographs, write stories and engage in acts of journalism. Without the presence of many professionals, such citizen journalism has been crucial to spreading information on what happens in the closed, isolated land of Burma. But there can also be pitfalls.
Burmanet, which disseminates a daily collection of international articles and commentaries on Burma, put out an alert to its readers to beware of false photographs of the cyclone and its aftermath. It says that while many photographs are legitimate, people have been sending around images that might have come from the Tsunami. Burmanet says this is worrisome because it will affect the relief efforts.
This could have serious consequences, compounding the difficulty of the already complicated efforts to coax the Burmese regime to let in aid and aid workers. Therefore, we encourage you to be vigilant and practice caution when attributing anonymous photos about Cyclone Nargis. Be sure to examine the photo accreditation in order to ensure that the images you are viewing have come from a trusted source. If in doubt, don’t send it.
Inaccurate news and photographs can also affect the credibility of all information coming out of Burma.
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Hometown Paper Covers Me
Posted on May 15, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under International.
My hometown newspaper, the Times Herald Record, in Middletown, New York, ran a short story today on my connection to Burma and my work writing about the political and humanitarian situation there after the cyclone.
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Junta Steals Aid; Money Still Needed
Posted on May 14, 2008, by Hanna Ingber Win, under International, Politics.
Reports are now pouring out of Burma about government officials stealing international and domestic aid and then either keeping some of it or selling it to survivors of the cyclone. Here is my story on it in the Huffington Post from last weekend. Foreign aid workers aren’t allowed to accompany the aid and ensure it gets to the survivors. Even Burmese living in the country trying to donate are now forbidden from traveling to the Irrawaddy River Delta, where the worst damage was done, to provide relief.
And now, as horrible as it is unimaginable, UN meteorologists predict that a second cyclone will soon hit Burma and further endanger the lives of the remaining survivors.
Despite the difficulties in getting aid into the country and then to the survivors, more donations are desperately needed. Dead bodies continue to litter the delta and contaminate the drinking water. About 2 million people are homeless or at risk of disease.
Please think about how you can donate. Remember the outpouring of support after the 2004 tsunami. Reporters can’t travel around Burma and write compelling stories that attract donors’ eyes. Tourists aren’t there. Photos are limited and the junta just banned cameras from the delta. But Burma still needs help. The Irrawaddy is collecting money for its reporting. US Campaign For Burma is raising funds for relief. And my husband is collecting money to send to his family and community in Rangoon so they can afford food and water. He will give the money to a friend who is traveling to the region soon. Please help. Thank you.
