Word: burma
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...Perhaps this time will be different. The Irrawaddy delta is Burma's rice bowl. Not only was nearly all of this season's crop destroyed by Nargis, but most farmers won't be able to plant the next batch of seedlings because of salt-water inundation. Future shortages could spell dissent: at least five protest movements in Burma's recent history happened in the months when grain prices were at their highest. In a startling indication of dissatisfaction, an official counting referendum votes in Rakhine state told a Rangoon journalist that in 15 townships, the "no" vote ranged from...
...State of Fear The army has ruled burma with an iron grip for 46 years. The opposition has been so beaten down that it may not have the organizational power to challenge the generals. And the discussion by those in faraway lands over the possibility of an intervention may only further entrench the generals. "This public discussion of unauthorized landings, and even a possible invasion of Burma," says a Burma military expert, "simply adds to the regime's paranoia and makes it even more suspicious of the long-term intentions of foreign governments offering assistance...
...what is the world doing about it? Not much. The military junta that runs Burma initially signaled it would accept outside relief but has imposed so many conditions on those who would actually deliver it that barely a trickle has gotten through. Hundreds of foreign aid workers have been denied visas and blocked from visiting the stricken areas. Shipments of food and medicine have been seized. After more than 10 days, the U.N. World Food Program said it had been able to deliver only a fraction of the food required for the emergency. "I've never seen anything like this...
...disaster in Burma presents the world with its worst humanitarian crisis since the 2004 Asian tsunami. The ruling military junta says that more than 30,000 people are dead; the U.N. estimates the figure at perhaps 100,000. The number of Burmese at risk of starvation and disease could reach nearly 2 million. Unless the victims receive immediate help, the death toll could conceivably approach that of the entire number of civilians killed in the genocide in Darfur...
...they allowed U.S. forces to bring relief supplies into the country. But there's little chance a regime this insular and paranoid will let that happen. The trouble is, the Burmese lack the kinds of assets needed to deal with a calamity of this scale--and the longer Burma resists offers of help, the more likely it is that the disaster will degenerate beyond anyone's control. "A lot is at stake here," says Jan Egeland, the former U.N. emergency-relief coordinator. "If we let them get away with murder, we may set a very dangerous precedent...