Myanmar turns back Qatari cyclone rescue team
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta turned back a disaster rescue team that arrived in Yangon from Qatar because the flight only had permission to deliver aid supplies, an official paper said on Friday.
"Myanmar is not in a position to receive rescue and information teams from foreign countries at the moment," the government-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper said in a report on the aid operation slowly building up for survivors Cyclone Nargis.
"But at present Myanmar is giving priority to receiving relief aid and distributing them to the storm hit regions with its own resources," it said.
The Qatar plane was one of 12 international relief flights that landed in the former capital on Thursday, the paper said.
ok, fine,let the planes carry on over Burma and give it to the Chinese instead....
"It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid."
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
this is a major scale disaster and they wont let Rescue Teams to enter their country,i jus wonder wat do they have on their mind.. as a rescuer myself i m damn bloody pissed!!
may allah help the people of myanmar affected by the disaster but not the generals!!
in Burma have a lot to answer for.
World opinion seems to be that to let in foreign aid workers will in some way weaken their (the generals) hold on power.
The last thing they seem to be bothered about is the people.
Let's hope and pray that the people somehow get through this disaster and that the Generals are in some way brought to task.
God will help those Myanmaris (Burmese)
There are thousands of Myanmaris (Burmese) who have fled the military oppression and have come into my country illegally in recent years. Many of them end up begging in the streets and the luckier ones end up in construction jobs. For a country that was once the pride of Asia (the first Asian UN Sec-General was from Burma remember)with its vast natural resources, it is now in shambles.
The recent natural disaster has only made the situation worse. Perhaps the positive thing that has come out of all these is that the world now sees how reclusive and oppressive the military junta actually is ie from the time it started crackdowns against free democratic elections against Aung San Suu Kyi's party and the recent high-handed manner it handled the mass protests led by the Buddhist clergy.
The fact that thousand of its people have died in the tragedy and thousands more are without food, water and shelter seems to be ignored by the junta. What a shame.
Why the conferscation of the supplies? With their referendum on is it to be used as propeganda or carrot( vote for me and receive)?
Sounds familiar to a number of mcounties with dictators. Get the supplies in and allow the help. What better way to show you people you care.
I think the international relief has started. The first is from Red Cross which they started with a charted Flight from Kuala Lumpur.
LOVE Really Does Mean Never Having To Say Your Sorry..
THat is great humanitarian act from Qatar.... anyway, they should share their gift from Allah... act of GIVING.. but since Myanmar refuse it the aid...May GOD save them...
In Burma you are only allowed to go to certain places and you have to register in the hotel every night.
The regime dont want outsiders to see what goes on and thus refuses access.
Who knows if the aid will get distributed to those who need it.....
And it would be a political tool to supress opposition.
Similar to Menguistu with the famine in Ethiopia in the 80s. Aid was rotting and stuck in docks while the president got his Mercedes thru.
The people there suffer enough now their misery is being used for political gains.
I can understand if they refuse direct US aid (they're a socialist country ruled by the military), but they could at least take all the help they get from many of the other countries offering it...
My friend who was the Captain of the plane that was sent to myanmar, told me that they were kept for 4 hours in the airport, and after that they were informed that the government, doesnot need any help from other countries and requested them to go back..That was a surprise to them, they flew 7 hrs having the medicine and doctors, and after waiting 4 hrs they were rejected..and now more that 60,000 are dead....
I admired the way 'speed' managed the recent QL philanthropic event to the fire victims. I am sure he will have something useful to contribute in this forum. Perhaps QLers can also see if there are any Mayanmaris(?) in Doha who are affected by the cyclone at home that we can help them.
That will be an international identity and dimension of QLers.
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Forgive & Forget.
Ummm, air drops without permission of the host nation would be an act of war as I understand it.
I was so proud of Qatar when i saw the lakhweya team leaving for Myanmar. I said thats a great diplomatic and humanitarian achievement for qatar. But i wasn't motivated by the terminologies used. rescue team? rescuing what? its not an earthquake, no flooding? I didn't like the idea. But i said good for the team.
I feel there was no accurate coordination and communication with the authorities in myanmar.
state sovereignty is vital in humanitarian interventions. Just like Oman, if mayanmar is capable of handling it, great and should be left to do so. political humanity doesn't work anywhere in this world.
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Forgive & Forget.
indeed vegas (hello btw....) but what can the ppl do ?
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
I would be so sad
Forgiveness is life...:)
yes alexa but it is really sad to see the difference in the different levels of ppl there......the maid we got when living there was paid QR50 a mth (even that to them is considered over paid!). a bowl of noodles that she'd buy me for bfast costs 20 dirhams....so go figure abt the rest.....
once i went to the supermarket hoping to buy some butter but what i found wat butter that had expired 2 mths before.....is is so sad
but the fact that the locals there are really very nice good fearing ppl.each time we go shopping and forget to wait for our change they would come running to return the change - talk abt honesty , have never seen more honest ppl than them.......
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
apparently the plane landed but the authorities refused to let anyone on the plane step off. they insisted that they board the plane, remove the supplies and then the plane should leave immediately.
yes , i used to live in myanmar and that is the way they do things- the millitary way.
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
military rulers are always like that, they should just accept it for the favor of the ppl, it true that USA might interfere in this way, but the 1st beneficiary now should be the victims.
How ridiculous, people are suffering, aid is provided and they are refusing it....
Very strange that they ask the world for help.... and then don't let the aid workers in. What are they afraid the world will see. Their people are in crisis. But then again being a military style goverment they probably see boogymen behind every tree. Very familiar will most dictatorship lead countries.
I only hope the people of Myammar are not suffering because of this decision.
They aren't letting any international aid workers in. Only the supplies they bring. They think they can distribute it by themselves. Good luck to them with that :-(
The missile maybe right but the target is not.
The qataris are not paying the labourers their salaries....on time....