Tens of thousands of people died because Burma’s government rejected offers of foreign aid for cyclone victims, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said today.
The Pentagon chief accused Burma's military rulers of being "deaf and dumb" to international pleas to allow in more foreign aid and relief workers.
We have reached out, they have kept their hands in their pockets Robert Gates
His charge came as human rights groups warned that Burma must stop forcing cyclone survivors to return to their shattered homes where they face more misery or death.
Mr Gates contrasted Burma’s reluctance to accept aid from the US military after Cyclone Nargis struck four weeks ago with the willingness of Indonesia and Bangladesh to accept assistance after natural disasters in recent years.
"We worked with both nations to alleviate suffering, while fastidiously respecting their sovereignty," Mr Gates said, referring to the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia and a fierce cyclone which struck Bangladesh last November.
"With Burma, the situation has been very different - at a cost of tens of thousands of lives," Mr Gates told an annual gathering of Asian security and defence officials in Singapore
"Many other countries besides the United States have also felt hindered in their efforts," he said. Mr Gates's comments were among the bluntest by any senior US official describing Burma's response to the cyclone.
The junta started evicting destitute families from government-run cyclone relief centres on Friday, apparently fearing the tented villages might become permanent.
"It's unconscionable for Burma's generals to force cyclone victims back to their devastated homes," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said.
"Claiming a return to 'normalcy' is no basis for returning people to greater misery and possible death," he added.
Burma has said the rescue and relief effort is largely over and that it is focused on reconstruction, but the United Nations has said the scale of the devastation means the relief phase after Cyclone Nargis struck on May 2nd is likely to last six months.
The US military has flown cargo planes of aid to the capital Rangoon, but it has said it could be much more effective if the ruling junta would let nearby US ships and helicopters deliver supplies directly to affected areas.
But the junta has declined the offer, appearing to fear that a large-scale international relief effort would loosen the grip the generals have held since a 1962 coup.
Mr Gates said the United States had tried as many as 15 times to get the junta to accept more aid in the current crisis.
The official toll of dead and missing from the cyclone is more than 134,000. An estimated 2.4 million people have been left destitute.