Foreign powers lean on Myanmar

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The European Union's top aid official has warned the military government's restrictions on foreign aid workers and equipment were increasing the risk of starvation and disease in the country formerly known as Burma.

Nearly two weeks after the deadly storm tore through the heavily populated Irrawaddy delta rice bowl, leaving up to 128,000 people dead, supplies of food, medicine and temporary shelter have been sent out in dribs and drabs to devastated communities.

Monasteries and schools are sheltering the homeless and refugees are clamouring to get into these privately-run centres rather than government-run camps.

In the delta town of Bogalay, where around 10,000 people are thought to have perished, people complain of forced labour and low supplies of food at the state-run centres.

"They have to break stones at the construction sites. They are paid K1,000 (51 pence) per day but are not provided any food," said Ko Hla Min, who lost nine members of his family in the storm.

Along the river bank in Bogalay, rotting corpses are still tangled in the scrubs. Villagers continue to fish, wash and bathe in the same river.

The United Nations has said over half a million people may now be sheltering in temporary settlements.

In Myanmar's main city, Yangon, foreign aid experts prevented from accessing the delta play pool in the evenings and watch, in frustration, television footage of the miserable conditions.

"People all over the world want to help Myanmar but the government is blocking medical teams," said one relief worker.

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