In Solidarity with the Noble People of Burma

DAW ANG SAN SUU KYI ADDRESSING SOME OF HER SUPPORTERS

This post is made in support of and in solidarity with the noble people of Burma, may they soon be free of the cruel fascist dictator Than Shwe and his evil cohorts who have raided, raped & ruined Burma for far too long.

DAW ANG SAN SUU KYI
The Angel of Burma

DAW ANG SAN SUU KYI

In The Quiet Land
(By Daw Aung San Suu Kyi)

In the Quiet Land, no one can tell
if there's someone who's listening
for secrets they can sell.
The informers are paid in the blood of the land
and no one dares speak what the tyrants won't stand.

In the quiet land of Burma,
no one laughs and no one thinks out loud.
In the quiet land of Burma,
you can hear it in the silence of the crowd

In the Quiet Land, no one can say
when the soldiers are coming
to carry them away.
The Chinese want a road; the French want the oil;
the Thais take the timber; and SLORC * takes the spoils...

In the Quiet Land....
In the Quiet Land, no one can hear
what is silenced by murder
and covered up with fear.
But, despite what is forced, freedom's a sound
that liars can't fake and no shouting can drown.

Read some more of her poems by clicking HERE


* State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) now renamed the State Peace And Development Council, or the COUNCIL OF DEVILS to use a much more appropriate name.

Devil Than Shwe

The Devils of Burma are led by Than Shwe, military dictator and head of the ruling junta in Burma (Myanmar), he is a secretive vindictive monster.

He shows no qualms about having dissidents, journalists, and even Buddhist monks were beaten, jailed, tortured, or executed.

He is very superstitious, in 2005 he moved the national capital essentially overnight, on the advice of an astrologer.

The multi-medalled-megalomaniac Than Shwe, where did he get all those medals?
He has never fought in any war!

He has absolute power, but Than Shwe is so reclusive that most of the Burmese people have never even heard his voice.

Smuggled video footage (see below) of the sumptuously vulgar wedding thrown for his daughter sparked outrage across the country, as it provided a glimpse of the lifestyle of the very rich at the expense of the majority in Burma who are totally oppressed and remain very poor.

SAY NO TO THAN SHWE & HIS EVIL JUNTA

Necesse est multos timeat quem multi timent


He must fear many, whom many fear

Shame on Malaysia – it's federal government seems to support the Burmese dictatorship

Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will protest her innocence when she goes on trial today, 18 May 2009, on trumped up charges in a Rangoon kangaroo court.

On Sunday, 17 May 2009, the Philippines added to the wave of condemnation, saying it was "outraged" by Mrs Suu Kyi's treatment, joining Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore among Burma's regional neighbours and ASEAN members in speaking out.

What about Malaysia?

By their collective silence, Najib's cabinet seems to be siding with the Burmese dictators.

One cannot help but think UMNO and the BN leaders are envious of the tyrannical junta who rule Burma with an iron fist.

How they must wish they could do the same in Malaysia!

Does Najib support the law of revenge [lex talionis]?

What about ASEAN?

Burma (Myanmar) should be immediately expelled from ASEAN and not allowed to join again until a semblance of democracy is restored.

Read stories on the arrest and trail of Aung San Suu Kyi in the Bangkok Post HERE

& on the Burma Wire HERE

Causarum justia et misericordia

For the causes of justice and mercy

Claims that Malaysia Handed 1,000s of Burmese Illegal Immigrants to Human Traffickers

The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has urged Malaysia to probe claims by refugees from Myanmar (Burma) that Malaysian immigration officials handed them over to human traffickers on Malaysia's border with Thailand.

A Senate report on 23 April 2009 that claimed illegal Burmese immigrants deported from Malaysia were often turned over to human traffickers and forced to work in brothels, fishing boats and restaurants in Thailand if they had no money to purchase their freedom.

The report was based on a one year review by committee staff who spoke to migrants from military-ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, and human rights activists.

According to the report, in recent 'a few thousand' Burmese immigrants may have become victims of extortion and trafficking once they were deported to Malaysia's northern border with Thailand.

'Upon arrival at the Malaysia-Thailand border, human traffickers reportedly take possession of the migrants,' the report stated.

Read the full news report HERE

Please also click HERE for a more detailed story on this shocking human trafficking


This appears to be clear example of man's inhumanity to man!

Facta, non verba

Deeds, not words

Emitte lucem et veritatem

Send out light and truth

Death, but Hope in China. Death, but only Dismay and Desperation in Burma

THE DEAD ARE DEEPLY MOURNED
MAY THOSE LEFT BEHIND FIND COMFORT AND A SYMPATHETIC SHOULDER TO CRY ON

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis,
et lux perpétua lúceat eis.
Requiéscant in pace.

Eternal rest grant unto them,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace.

THE CHINA EARTHQUAKE

HOPE

Rescue workers in China are struggling to reach nearly 60,000 people who are reported as missing near to the epicentre of the Sichuan earthquake, prompting fears that the death toll will continue to soar way past the present total which is close to 15,000.

The efficiency of the rescue work, the openness and the grateful acceptance of international aid, by the Chinese government, will, it is hoped, help to speed up the recovery of trapped victims, as well reduce the risk of the outbreak of epidemics of disease and also the risk of exposure to the elements, hunger or even starvation.

A video of the rescue work going on after the devastating earthquake in China is to be found HERE

THE BURMA CYCLONE

DISMAY AND DESPERATION

Nearly two weeks after cyclone Nargis hit the shores of the Irrawaddy Delta, the inflow of overseas aid is still being restricted and expert foreign rescue workers are still prevented from entering to assist in the rescue and other humanitarian work.

And now, threatening to make matters even worse, a second cyclone is bearing down on Burma, whilst the country is still in the midst of a gargantuan humanitarian crisis,which was initially caused by devastation wrought by cyclone Nargis, and which is being exacerbated by the evil Generals who head the inhuman tyrannical murderous military junta which enslaves and tortures the noble Burmese people.

Up to now over 128,000 lives have been lost, according to the latest Red Cross estimations (and the number is certain to rise when diseases and starvation take their toll), and it is estimated by a UK aid organisation, that between 1.6 to 2.5 million souls are now in dire need of help such as shelter, clothing, food and clean water, as well as other essential emergency aid.

To view a video, please go HERE

The international community needs to exert maximum pressure on the Junta, and if they remain intransigent, then whatever has to be done, must be done to ensure that all the required help, both in the form of manpower and materials, is supplied to help the Burmese people, with or without the consent of the wicked men who control Burma.

When the emergency is over, the Generals should be charged and brought to an international court to be tried for their crimes against humanity, then if found to be guilty, they should be severely punished.

Or even better, their own people should do unto them as they have done to their people!

Conscientia mille testes

-Conscience is as good as a thousand witnesses

Cyclone Nargis, who are the real killers?

Envisat captured Cyclone Nargis, making its way across the Bay of Bengal just south of Myanmar (Burma) on Thursday 1st May 2008, with its Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument working in Reduced Resolution mode to deliver a spatial resolution of 1200 meters.

Credit: European Space Agency

[Click on image for bigger picture]

A United Nations official says Burma’s military junta has seized all the food and equipment that the World Food Program had flown into the country for cyclone victims.

He says the WFP 'has no choice' but to suspend further aid shipments until the matter is resolved.

UPDATE: It has just been announced that there will be two WFP flights later today, Saturday 10th May 2008.

WFP spokesman Paul Risley said on Friday 9^th May 2008, that all 'the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated'.

The shipment included 38 tonnes of high-energy biscuits.

Risley said it is not clear why the material was seized. It was also not clear if the shipment seized was the one that was flown in on Thursday or another shipment.

Earlier on Friday, the junta announced said it was not ready to let in foreign aid workers, rejecting international pressure to allow experts into the isolated nation where disease and starvation are affecting cyclone survivors.

A week after the devastating storm killed many tens of thousands, Burma's generals, who rule with an iron fist, and are deeply suspicious of the outside world, said that whilst the country needed outside aid for those who were still alive, they would deliver it themselves, without outside help.

The Burmese foreign ministry announcement came as a top UN official warned that time was running out, and that is was imperative to quickly move in disaster experts and supplies to prevent hunger and diseases that could claim many more victims lives.

The foreign ministry, even said some relief workers who arrived on an aid flight from Qatar on Wednesday had been deported from Burma.

The dictatorial military regime that rules this now impoverished country has long been wary of any influences that could threaten their dictatorial, and oppressive iron grip on power, which it has maintained for almost 50 years. During this half century, conditions for the ordinary Burmese within Burma, have deteriorated more and more.

Burma is a member of the association of South East Asian Nations, (ASEAN), however the leaders of the other ASEAN members have kept very quiet up to now, except for the Thai prime minister, who has announced he will travel to Burma to talk with the generals this weekend.

Even though the country is devastated and battered by the tragic aftermath of cyclone ‘Nargis’, the generals insist they will hold a constitutional referendum on Saturday, brushing aside any criticism that they are ignoring the plight of the hungry, the sick and the homeless, not to mention the disposal of tens of thousands of rotting corpses of humans and animals which are left lying about, whilst they are selfishly devoting valuable already scarce resources to the vote.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy said the junta should delay the vote, an exercise her party says will merely enshrine military rule.

Had the cyclone early warnings, issued by the India Meteorological Office and others, been heeded, and had an evacuation of the areas most at risk been carried out, many thousands of lives could perhaps have been saved, but the generals chose to totally ignore these warning. Satellite imaging gave several days prior warning too, but this warning was obviously not heeded either.

The Burmese military junta leaders, and their supporters both within and outside of Burma (that includes their silent supporters in ASEAN) should be held jointly and severally responsible by the international community for the deaths of all those thousand who have died or will die from lack of care after the cyclone struck, the junta's lack of early action and non-cooperation with outside aid organisations and other governments should be classed as a form of conspiracy to cause suffering and death amongst the Burmese people, it can even perhaps be regarded as manslaughter, mass murder or even genocide.

PUTTING ALL THAT ASIDE, WHAT IS NEEDED NOW IS IMMEDIATE, MASSIVE UNITED RELIEF EFFORTS, SUPPLIES OF FOOD, WATER, MEDICAL SUPPLIES, MATERIALS TO MAKE TEMPORARY SHELTERS, AND OF COURSE TRAINED PERSONNEL TO PROVIDE THE SKILLS AND EXPERTISE WHICH ARE REQUIRED.

SANITATION INCLUDING THE PROPER DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD, BOTH HUMAN AND ANIMAL IS ALSO A VITAL PART OF THE RELIEF EFFORT.

THERE IS GREAT POTENTIAL FOR DISEASES, THEREFORE DOCTORS AND OTHER MEDICAL STAFF WILL BE NEEDED IN LARGE NUMBERS.

Vir prudens non contra ventum mingit


- A wise man does not urinate against the wind

How you can help the Burmese cyclone victims?

Hla Hla Htay/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images These displaced residents, who lost their homes in Cyclone 'Nargis', took shelter in a Buddhist temple. These are some of the more fortunate ones. (click on image for larger clearer view)

Commune periculum concordiam parit - Common danger brings forth harmony

Have a look HERE, you will read that all the money donated via AVAAZ, will go direct to Burma’s Buddhist Monks via the International Burmese Monks Organization, and other relevant organisations, so it should reach the victims more directly and will not be siphoned off, misused, misappropriated, or commandeered as has happened in so many cases in the past.

If you wish to donate to help the victims of Cyclone ‘Nargis’, please think carefully about how you would like to channel your money.

Newspapers, governments, and various organisations OXFAM International, OXFAM GB, Save The Children, and many others around the world, are collecting donations, so the choice is great.

Please check very carefully how you may wish to donate, and make an informed choice, so that whichever choice you make, is your personal best choice.

The oppressive tyrannical military junta which rules Burma are seemingly unable and / or unwilling to help, so the international community has to strive to maximise the relief effort to provide emergency humanitarian relief to the long suffering people of Burma.

Dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum

- While we have the time, let us do good

100,000 + dead? Burma's leaders facing growing international condemnation

The Affected area Before & After
NASA satellite image, (click image for larger view)

Because of the Burmese military junta's stubborn reluctance to accept foreign aid, six days after the devastating Cyclone 'Nargis' devastated much of the area in the Irrawaddy delta and beyond, those suffering from the aftermath of the devastation and flooding are unable to receive effective help.

This is a direct result of inhumanity of the oppressive, dictatorial Burmese military junta

The United Nations has reported that its planes, carrying essential food, and other supplies, cannot enter because they still do not have permission to land.

The regional ASEAN group has reportedly urged the military regime to allow in aid flights "before it's too late". The call from ASEAN, of which Burma is a member has thus far been rather half-hearted and weak, whilst millions of people are suffering, ASEAN seems to be almost indifferent, this is perhaps a reflection of how cheap life is seen to be in the countries which make up the regional grouping called ASEAN.

It has been said that the death toll easily could reach 100,000, and go even much higher if immediate effective aid is not received.

Some relief teams which have finally managed to reach some of the worst-hit areas have described harrowing scenes; aid workers have reported bodies rotting in the fields and desperate survivors fighting each other for what little food and water there is.

Burmese troops are moving into the affected areas but, according to reports, their resources are totally inadequate to deal with a disaster on this scale. Only a massive international, well coordinated effort will be able to provide adequate help for those affected by last Saturday’s Cylone ‘Narjis’.

The reclusive, dictatorial and oppressive Burmese military junta has however spurned some offers of aid, including one from the USA, which offered to deploy US Navy Ships.

Meanwhile, foreign aid workers are being held up by red tape are having to queue for Burmese entry visas.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said three UN flights from Bangkok, Dhaka and Dubai with 40 tonnes of high energy biscuits were still awaiting clearance by Burmese authorities.

WFP spokesman Paul Risley told AP news agency: "It is especially frustrating that critically needed food aid is being held up."

Late on Wednesday, 7^th May 2008, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Burma should let the international community help.

"It should be a simple matter. It's not a matter of politics. It's a matter of a humanitarian crisis," she said.

Libertas inaestimabilis res est



- Liberty is a thing beyond all price

Who is the real killer in Burma, the cyclone or humankind?

Satellite image of the Irrawaddy Delta

The Irrawaddy Delta

Burma's Irrawaddy delta is the area where at least 22,000 people were killed.

The area, which is hard to access even under normal circumstances, remains largely cut off from the rest of the country and the rest of the world, four days after a strong cyclone unleashed strong winds and high tidal waves with caused massive damage and flooding in the densely populated area.

Other parts of Burma were also badly affected, including the city of Rangoon which was until quite recently the capital city, and which remains the city with the largest population.

Concern mounts due to the lack of food, water, medical facilities, and shelter, especially for those in the delta and in other remote and inaccessible areas.

Diseases, and illnesses resulting from the lack of sanitation, poor diet, and exposure to the elements, as a result of damage caused by Cyclone 'Nargis', will be difficult to treat in a country, which has one of the world's poorest health care systems even under normal circumstance.

The devastation and loss of life in Burma is extraordinary high.

The official death toll is now 22,000 with 41,000 reported as missing, three days after Cyclone 'Nargis' hit the country.

From inside Burma, the Save The Children has been reported as saying that between 50,000 to 100,000 may have died.

The secretive and oppressive Military Junta in Burma was slow to respond to the crisis, and has now belatedly requested international aid.

How effective outside help will be depends on the willingness of the Burmese Junta to co-operate fully.

Burma's secretive military leaders finally approved, 7th May 2008, a UN aid flight to help victims of the devastating cyclone.

The flight, carrying 25 tonnes of aid, is due to leave Italy, while help from Burma's neighbours is already getting through.

But concerns remain that delaying access to outside aid workers is harming relief efforts after the devastating cyclone hit Burma on Saturday 3rd May 2008.

Why has the damage and the loss of life been so great?

A mangrove lined coast

Part of the answer is the wanton destruction of the mangrove forests, which line and protect the low lying coastlines of many areas in Asia, for example, in Bangladesh, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.

This destruction has been carried as there is much money to be made from the sale of the timber, or the charcoal made from it, mangrove trunks are also make ideal piles for houses and other small buildings, also in many areas in Asia, the areas cleared mangrove trees are used for buildings.

So, apparently, the primary cause of the disaster in Burma, is the avarice and greed of the corrupt and the powerful.

The destruction of mangrove forests in Burma, which has left low lying coastal areas exposed to the devastating forces (both strong winds and big waves) of last weekend's cyclone, was a major cause of the devastation caused by the cyclone, some thinking politicians have also suggested.

ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan reportedly said coastal developments had resulted in mangroves, which because of their specialised root system and great strength and durability, act as a natural defence against storms, being lost.

A study of the 2004 Asian tsunami had found that the areas near healthy mangrove forests suffered less damage and fewer deaths.

Mr Surin, speaking at a high-level meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore, said the combination of more people living in coastal areas and the loss of mangroves had exacerbated the tragedy.

Once again avarice, greed, corruption, and indifference have made fat-cat plunderers into what can only be called 'mass murderers'.

But who will these apologies for human beings blame?

God, of course, the phrase “It was an ‘Act of God’” is the normal escape clause!!!

Oppressed people everywhere need to get back their rights from the tyrants who oppress and exploit them.

For more details and news updates, from 'The Irrawaddy' please click HERE

Deus et natua non faciunt frusta

- God and nature do not work together in vain