Survivors failed by junta, says PM

Published on Saturday 17 May 2008 19:37

GORDON Brown stepped up the international pressure on Burma yesterday, condemning the country's "unnatural dictatorship" for failing the survivors of cyclone Nargis.

Addressing the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, he savaged Burma's military junta for stopping international aid from getting to the sick and starving of the nation.

The United Nations says that 2.5 million people have been made homeless in the Southeast Asian country. Authorities there say 78,000 people have died and 56,000 are missing. Aid groups say the death toll is probably about 128,000, with many more deaths possible from disease and starvation unless help is provided quickly.

Setting out the moral framework which drives his politics, Brown spoke about how people-power, mass communications and the internet could transform the world.

He said: "Some dismiss the internet as a shouting match without a referee, but let us remember its power for change."

"The monks of Burma, with only a begging bowl and their blogs, persuaded the world to bear witness to their fight against oppression – and now tell us of their struggle to survive in the face not only of natural disaster but an unnatural dictatorship that cares more about its survival than theirs."

Earlier, Brown attacked the government in Rangoon in a BBC World Service interview.

He said: "A natural disaster is being made into a man-made catastrophe by the negligence, the neglect and the inhuman treatment of the Burmese people by a regime that is failing to act and to allow the international community to do what it wants to do."

Brown added: "The responsibility lies with the Burmese regime and they must be held accountable."

The Prime Minister said forced air-drops of aid were being considered, but added that charities had warned they could be "counter-productive".

"We rule nothing out and the reason we rule nothing out is that we want to get the aid directly to the people," he said.

Brown added that Britain was looking at channelling its aid to Burma through China and the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).

At least 6m worth of British assistance has already reached 350,000 Burmese people, according to the Disasters Emergency Committee.

INTERNATIONAL: Two Asian disasters, but the response is a world apart

POLL SETBACK

Gordon Brown faces another setback in next week's Westminster by-election battle in Crewe and Nantwich. Research by ICM for the News of the World found that 45% of constituents are planning to vote Conservative, compared with 37% backing Labour.