American Buddhist Net

Bruce Hill, Rangoon
May 26, 2008

BURMA'S Government has been accused of fresh acts of callousness over cyclone Nargis after claims that officials ordered survivors tear down temporary shelters built along roads through the disaster zone.

In the absence of help from the Government, tens of thousands of people made homeless by the storm have erected roadside huts along the raised concrete roads across the Irrawaddy delta. Their location puts them less at risk from further flooding, and enables them to be on hand for donations from passing aid convoys.

Now, despite claims by the Burmese Government that it is doing more to help with relief efforts, aid workers say police in the delta areas have been ordering destitute villagers to dismantle the shelters, apparently unhappy at the image that the sprawling roadside shanty towns presents to the outside world.

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