The ongoing human rights violations in Myanmar

Can you imagine what it's like to spend 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest?! Just ask Aung San Suu Kyi.

These are the stats I just read in a recent IHT/Associated Press piece:

"Myanmar's military, which has ruled since 1962 when they country was known as Burma, tolerates no dissent and crushed pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks in September 2007. It holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 before the demonstrations, human rights groups say.

The General Assembly "strongly" called on Myanmar's government "to desist from further politically motivated arrests and to release without delay and without conditions those who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, as well as all political prisoners."

The resolution said those freed should include Suu Kyi and other leaders of her party, leaders of the 88 Generation, a group at the forefront of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising, leaders of ethnic groups, and all those detained as a result of the September 2007 protests."

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Myanmar cyclone survivors struggle to rebuild lives

It's December and we are still seeing articles like this...

KUNGYANGON, Myanmar: With tents still serving as homes and schools seven months after Cyclone Nargis lashed Myanmar, survivors say they are struggling to rebuild their lives as international aid trickles in.

Fisherman Htein Lin Aung, a father of three, says a new roof is out of the question as he fixes the engine of his boat beneath the tarpaulin covering of his bamboo tent outside the town of Kungyangon.

"We have been in difficulties since Nargis. The weather is also unusual now," said Htein Lin Aung, 37, whose house was one of hundreds of thousands destroyed by the cyclone.

The storm left 138,000 people dead or missing and affected more than 2.5 million, while Myanmar's government provoked outrage by initially hampering international aid efforts with red tape.

The military government relented after a visit from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. But rebuilding the southwestern Irrawaddy Delta, which suffered the brunt of the cyclone, is dragging on.

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2.5 million isn't a small number

The population of some countries can be way below 2.5 million...and this is just the number of people who were displaced by Cyclone Nargis.

They still need aid - What are we doing about it?

From the Myanmar Times:

Donor nations gather in Yangon for Nargis roundtable

MYANMAR hosted a meeting last week to update potential donors on the funding requirements for ongoing relief and recovery efforts in areas of the Ayeyarwady delta affected by cyclone Nargis in May.

Senior government officials, aid experts and representatives of donor countries met in Yangon on Wednesday, amid reports by the United Nations of continuing shortfalls in funding to support livelihoods for 2.4 million cyclone victims.

The High-level Roundtable on Post Nargis Relief and Recovery Efforts in Myanmar, as the meeting was officially called, was the second of its kind organised by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which is overseeing the relief efforts.

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