Burmese Death Toll Could Reach 100,000
The Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 took the lives of some 225,000 people in 11 different countries. As it stands now, the death toll in Burma is still being held at roughly 22,000, but given that much of the southern portion of the Irrawaddy delta remains underwater, it is estimated that the death toll could rise as high as 100,000 – just under one half of that of the 2004 tsunami in a single country.
Burma’s hard-line political leadership could also make matters worse by refusing foreign aid workers access to parts of the country. There is also the danger that international relief could be diverted by the ruling regime and not used for its intended purpose. In truth, the very same thing happened in numerous countries after the 2004 tsunami, with governments using the disaster to usurp the rights of citizens that once inhabited lucrative ocean front areas and securing them for the future development of resorts.
A statement issued by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will hopefully be the rallying call of the day…
“Forget politics. Forget the military dictatorship. Let’s just get aid and assistance through.”
May 7th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Yeah I hope that they follow through on that sentiment. In times like these, we have to remember that this is about the people, not the politics of the freaking country.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:57 am
sad that something so massively terrible
could happen to a people already burdened
by oppression and evil.
where is “oliver’s army” when you need it,
as far as putting the world to rights-
or at least in this case helping to minimize
the suffering and plight of so many.
vincent, in buffalo
http://www.louisebrooks.com
May 7th, 2008 at 11:43 am
A statement issued by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will hopefully be the rallying call of the day…
“Forget politics. Forget the military dictatorship. Let’s just get aid and assistance through.”
We can only hope that all will read that statement for what it truly is and not just read it as if it were going in one ear and out the other.
May 7th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
It’s staggering to think that nearly 1,000,000 people have been left homeless. You just can’t get your head round that sort of number…
May 7th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Kevin Rudd is all talk.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
And, they managed to increase the toll by killing some political prisoners too:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/1934080/Burmese-prisoners-′executed-after-cyclone-Nargis-hit′.html
Cannot forget politics
This burden of history.
Cannot deliver aid
Unless there is compliance,
Unless THEY let me…
Cannot process numbers -
One Hundred Thousand dead?
What about the survivors?
May 8th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
The big question … can the rallying cry be loud enough to wake up the dictatorship.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Hatred and dis-trust of Americans is so wide spread now, that this is the result. People are viewing America as The Great Satan and the Real Terrorists in the world, the source of international cruelty and evil. How can the thugs and murderers of Burma change that all of a sudden? It’s a good example of being careful what you wish for. Thousands more will die while prepositioned food,water and medicine sits off shore, denied to the common folk due to lies and misinformation.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
This Government makes FEMA look good. My question is how stupid can a government be. These people are afraid of the US or some other country invading them and overthrowing their government. So what do they do? They show us just how bad and evil of a government really are. If things go as they are, somebody is going to pull a trigger. Maybe within the country, maybe from outside. But even some of our most hated enemies don’t do that.
Also, after awhile of hearing of this I started listening to music a lot more than usual, 99% of is is a failure seemed to really just go well with the thoughts I get on this one.