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Media Statement (3) by Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Saturday, 10th May 2008:
Let ASEAN be the first to condemn the Myanmar military junta for its
callousness in not suspending its sham referendum to legitimize its
46-year dictatorship in the face of the Cyclone Nargis devastation
Let ASEAN be the first to condemn the Myanmar military junta for its
callousness in not suspending its sham referendum to legitimize its
46-year dictatorship in the face of the Cyclone Nargis devastation.
On May 3, 2008, cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy delta and wiped out
entire villages as it left a path of destruction across five regions.
Over seven million people were affected by the storm, with estimates of
dead ranging from 25,000 to 100,000 and up to a million homeless.
ASEAN governments and leaders cannot remain silent at the irresponsible
and inhumane conduct of the Myanmese military rulers which seized a
shipment of United Nations food aid intended for victims of the
devastating cyclone, declaring that they would accept donations of food
and medicine but not the foreign aid workers.
By preventing critical and timely humanitarian aid from reaching
survivors, the Myanmese military junta has put hundreds of thousands �
with one estimate as high as 1.5 million people - at risk of disease and
death as well as brought shame and disrepute to ASEAN, of which Myanmar
is a member.
*
Lim
Kit Siang, DAP Central Policy and Strategic
Planning Commission Chairman & MP for Ipoh Timor
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