Thousands of children in cyclone-hit Burma will starve to death within weeks unless food reaches them soon, UK charity Save the Children has warned. The charity said 30,000 under-fives in the Irrawaddy Delta were malnourished before Cyclone Nargis hit on 2 May. It says energy-rich food now needs to reach them "before it is too late". UK Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch-Brown, in Burma to press the junta to do more, says that the aid operation "is now starting to move". Speaking to the BBC from Rangoon, Lord Malloch-Brown said that there had been "bottlenecks in the relief operation, many of them man-made" but that now aid was starting to be delivered. He said that though the relief effort had not been what many Western nations considered sufficient, thanks to support from the governments of the region and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) a compromise had been struck that the "Burmese can work with".
He said that aid workers are insisting that the needs of the cyclone victims are not being met, and the Burmese junta has a much more optimistic view of the situation on the ground. Therefore, Lord Malloch-Brown says, the vital thing now is for a comprehensive assessment of exactly what is help is needed. Burma says some 78,000 people have died and 56,000 are missing since Cyclone Nargis hit. 'Running out of time' A UN humanitarian envoy is due in Burma to try to persuade the ruling junta to grant more access to UN relief workers. John Holmes will carry a letter from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Burma's leader, Than Shwe, who has refused to answer Mr Ban's calls. His visit comes as Save the Children UK's chief executive, Jasmine Whitbread, expressed concern that children in the worst-affected areas were suffering from "acute malnourishment" - the most serious level of hunger.
"When people reach this stage they can die in a matter of days," she said. "Children may already be dying as a result of a lack of food. They urgently need nutrient and energy-rich food, and food containing all the elements of a balanced diet. "We need to reach more before it is too late." Medical charity worker Jonathan Pearce, who returned from the Irrawaddy delta area on Saturday, says the situation is "desperate". "A lot of people are on the move, people are looking for shelter; people are looking for food," Mr Pearce, who works for the charity Merlin, said. "We're seeing people that are injured, body injuries from when the storm hit, these injuries have now become infected and those people need urgent treatment." 'Show visit' A team of 50 Indian medical personnel has been given permission to fly into Burma, equipped with medical supplies. But Burma has been refusing most offers of international aid, sparking international outcry. On Saturday, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned Burma's government for not allowing international aid to reach the cyclone victims.
Mr Brown told the BBC that a natural disaster had been turned into a "man-made catastrophe" because of the negligence of the ruling generals. He said their actions since the cyclone amounted to inhuman treatment. France has said Burma is on the verge of committing a crime against humanity. Burma has refused to allow in French and US aid ships which are waiting off the coast. On Saturday, Burma took foreign diplomats on a helicopter tour of the Irrawaddy Delta. But Shari Villarosa, the top US diplomat in Burma, dismissed the visit as a "show". However, Bernard Delpuech, head of the European Commission Humanitarian Office in Rangoon, said the trip had at least shown "the magnitude of the devastation". |
When people reach this stage they can die in a matter of days 
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