Situation is Still Dire for Neglected Cyclone Victims in Burma, Says Christian Freedom International
by Staff
July 11, 2008
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich., (christiansunite.com) -- Christian Freedom International (CFI), a Michigan-based humanitarian organization, is reporting that thousands of storm victims in Burma are still in desperate need of relief aid, nearly two months after Cyclone Nargis ripped through the southeast Asian country.Nargis touched down in Burma's Irawaddy region in the early morning hours of May 3, 2008, bringing 120- mile an hour winds that left thousands of people dead or homeless, and an unprecedented trail of destruction in the already impoverished nation. To date, the government's official death toll from the storm has reached over 84,000, with 53,000 more still considered missing.
Burma's military government, which is known for an extensive history of human rights abuses and a vicious ethnic cleansing campaign against its Karen and Karenni population, was the subject of sharp criticism after the cyclone for its initial refusal to allow international relief aid into the country. But despite recent claims from ASEAN officials that most of the survivors' needs are now being met and that the crisis appears to be stabilizing, many local victims have reported to indigenous CFI workers that they have yet to receive aid from either the Burmese government or any foreign relief agencies. And even as dozens of communities continue to struggle for survival without the most basic of necessities, the junta has reportedly threatened to begin confiscating land from residents who don't resume rice production soon.
Christian Freedom International, an organization that has worked actively in Burma on behalf of persecuted Christians and provided firsthand testimony about the effects of the junta's brutality since 1998, began distributing relief aid in the country through a network of local pastors, underground churches, and a team of backpack medics in the days immediately following the storm. Even as other humanitarian agencies waited for permission to enter the region, CFI had already begun wiring funds for emergency supplies to key contacts in the country, who then delivered essential items such as food, clothing, medical supplies and clean drinking water in storm-affected areas.
With most other foreign aid still seemingly under the junta's strict control, CFI remains as one of the few organizations making a difference for storm victims who have been left to fend for themselves in Burma. CFI president Jim Jacobson, who recently traveled to the region to oversee the relief effort, is urging Americans to donate funds for more emergency supplies, including fishing and mosquito nets, water purifiers, clothing, food, medicine, and building materials to reconstruct homes. Funds are also urgently needed to purchase tractors to help with rice production, as well as to support the scores of children who have been left orphaned by the cyclone -- children who may otherwise face recruitment by the junta and forcibly sent to government "indoctrination" schools.
To donate to the cyclone relief effort, or to learn more about CFI's work in Burma, call 1-800-323-2273 or visit www.christianfreedom.org.
