MYANMAR 2008-2009
Remember Myanmar, more often known as Burma.
One year ago, a horrible typhoon spawned a cyclone in South East Asia which arrived last Spring and flooded the whole country—a potentially wealthy land but long run into the ground by dictatorial families.
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/11575387/
Recall what the news was like from last Spring! At first, for weeks the generals and the selfish families refused to let in any international aid until over several hundred thousand had died and millions had lost their homes.
That is, we could finally report that under international pressure some of the billions in aid was able to arrive where it should: however, even then, like the bullies in Brecht’s tale, “Myanmar's military regime was distributing international aid on May 10. But it was covering the boxes with the names of top generals in an effort to turn the relief effort for last week's devastating cyclone into a propaganda exercise, say news agencies.”
That cyclone was called Nargis.
http://burmadigest.info/2008/06/07/ali-ba-ba-and-four-hundred-thousand-thieves-guest-editorial/
Hundreds of thousands died over the months as the corrupt military despots and their families soaked up profits, donations and even land of the dead (and dispossessed).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24478247/
One year later, now in early May 2009, my own Buddhist friends, who have in the past traveled illegally in years past to support Buddhists and other Burmese refugees (from the slavery and criminality of the dictators) have reported and summarized the following in a recent e-mail:
“Dear Kevin, The only news is unhappy from Burma -- the junta didn't even hold any kind of religious ceremonies for the victims! We know that the funds we sent in were well distributed, but all donations could only amount to a fraction of the need. The farmers in the Delta are still suffering from lack of food, medicine and potable water. In some cases, with large foreign contributions managed by the authorities, people are being told they must repay the ‘loans’ they received after the storm, with interest. Outrageous. Zargana, the courageous comedian who also worked tirelessly for humanitarian relief after the cyclone is in poor health -- in prison; he was sentenced to decades behind bars for his efforts -- violated some electronics law or other, posting cyclone news and appeals. We just don't have the heart to talk about this much.”
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/myanmar-zargana-s-sentenced-reduced-to-35-years
The German Press, including the Frankfurter Allgemein Zeitung, has reported this past weekend that a very great percentage of what other countries donated has continued to make many of the generals’ families richer and more powerful.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/332065/124084901890.htm
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