The country's military junta say more than 10,000 people were killed in the natural disaster.
Some sources are reporting that the toll could be well over 15,000. The United Nations, which is also preparing to fly in supplies, say several hundreds of thousands of Burmese have been left homeless. Some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas wiped out. The former Burma cyclone death toll could top 10,000 ...
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Germany's foreign ministry announced in Berlin on Monday, May 5, that it would channel the pledged funds through German aid organizations. The aid is intended to provide emergency accommodation, drinking water, household utensils and mosquito nets.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier appealed to the military government to launch an effective assistance operation and to cooperate with international aid organizations. He also expressed his condolences to the families of those who had died.
Military junta unusually open to outside offers Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The Burmese government have been accused of failing to issue timely weather warnings The scale of the disaster caused by Cyclone Nargis prompted a rare acceptance of external aid from the country's diplomatically isolated government, which rejected such offers of help after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
"This shows how grave it is in the Burmese government's mind," said Tim Costello, the head of aid agency World Vision in Australia, adding that his and other aid organizations had been given permission to fly people to Burma, "which is pretty unprecedented."
There has been international criticism of the government's failure to warn its people of the impending storm in time.
Countries around the world have reacted quickly to the crisis. Australia, Britain, India, Japan, Thailand and the United States have also pledged aid.
The German foreign ministry announced on Monday that it was continuing its efforts along with its partners to put the Burmese government under pressure to improve its human rights record and move towards national reconciliation.
The European Union has imposed sanctions on the country, officially known as Myanmar, because of the extremely poor human rights situation.
(Deutsche Welle)
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