Burma generals blocking aid while 30,000 are dead

Quite difficult to understand, after Burma and its regime of military has received pledges of outside help in the human catastrophe following cyclone Nargis, that it still bars aid workers form entering the country.
As there was a holiday yesterday, Burma's embassy was closed and not offering visas for aid workers -- quite an unimaginable bureaucratic failure in light of the possibility, that much more than 30,000 people might have been killed and most of the current rice crop devastated.
My personal feeling would be NOT to give money to aid organizations; initially harsh for the population affected, but it is very doubtful that any help will reach them and secondly, it further solidifies the hold of the junta on Burma -- which must be broken or suffering on a much larger scale will follow. The choosing of the lesser evil...

From the Bangkok Post:

"The military junta has appealed for international aid to cyclone victims, but five days after the storm experts cannot even reach victims. In Bangkok, the [Burmese] embassy simply took Monday off for a holiday rather than issue visas, further frustrating would-be aid teams.
Thailand plans to ship 40 tons of food and medical supplies on Wednesday, but there is no sign the aid can be delivered from the airport to the needy. Nine tons of food and medicine were loaded on a Royal Thai Air Force C-130 cargo plane which flew to Rangoon yesterday. It was the first international aid to reach Burma - four days after the storm."

DPA:

"The government of Burma has not responded to a request to waive visa requirements for international relief workers waiting for permission to bring much needed aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis, the UN said Tuesday.
The UN had asked the military junta to waive visas for relief workers assembled in nearby Bangkok so they can begin their journey to Burma, said Rachid Khalikov, an official of the UN emergency relief department at UN headquarters in New York. But the Burmese embassy in Bangkok simply closed up on Monday, because it was a Thai holiday."

Links of Interest:

• Burma cyclone might have killed 30,000