Thursday, May 8, 2008 GMT 6:40pm

Dear Friends,

So many of you have reached out, expressing your grief and concern, your thoughts and prayers, and your solidarity over Burma’s most recent tragedy.  We want to thank you for that—and thank you for your sincere desire to do what you can to help, once again, in Burma’s time of great need.  Your camaraderie has meant a lot to us as we have worried about our friends, our colleagues, our family members, our students and alumni--communications are still down and we simply don’t know if those we love are safe. 

We have also, of course, been trying to determine the best way to provide relief and help to ease the incredible suffering that we know is happening right now.  You have asked us what you can do to help.  To answer that question perfectly honestly, we must say quite simply that we just don’t know.  When we ask those who would, in normal circumstances, know more about disaster relief than we do—they wring their hands and tell us that they don’t know either. 

Nobody does.  It is a great source of frustration and distress.  Many major international disaster relief organizations are receiving donations that they currently cannot use, in the hopes that the regime will give them the access that they need soon; other humanitarian relief organizations are sending individual volunteers and staff members into Burma with wads of cash, hoping that they’ll be able to find ways to hand it out in person when they arrive; small local organizations are doing what they can to make a difference for one person, one family, one village at a time. 

We know that you are looking to us to give you an answer—to tell you how you can help, where you can send money, supplies, medicine.  The truth is, we can’t give you a simple answer.

We have been spending time learning about what organizations that we know and trust are doing right now.  We have a new list, below, of groups that we believe are making the most direct impact on the ground.  This situation will change every day—and other people, with different contacts and information will have different suggestions.  We are not saying that these are the only groups that are doing good work.  We know there are more.  These are simply organizations that we believe will effectively receive and distribute support in what is truly an almost impossible situation that gets increasingly urgent with each passing day.

Please keep in touch, and check back with us regularly.  We hope to have more positive news to report soon.

Katie Redford

Click here for ERI's recommended list of aid and disaster relief organizations

Click here for more updates from inside Burma

ERI Calls on Oil Companies to Use Their Influence With Burmese Junta to Help Improve Desperate Conditions

Related News:

Click to view hi-res map

Reuters Comprehensive Coverage of Cyclone Nargis "Delaying Democracy - How Long Must the Burmese Wait?" (International Herald Tribune) "At Home With the General" (The Guardian) "Relief As War in Myanmar" (Asia Times) "Regime Quakes in Burma & China" (The Nation) "Burma Warns of Food Shortage" (Washington Post) "Getting Creative on Myanmar Aid" (Wall Street Journal)

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EarthRights International Official Statement - Thursday, May 7, 2008

What may turn out to be the worst natural disaster in Burma’s history struck this past week, when Cyclone Nargis reigned devastation on the former capital, Rangoon as well as the Irrawaddy River Delta and parts of Pegu Division, Karen State, and Mon State. Initial reports of a few hundred deaths have risen to over 20,000, and unconfirmed information from inside Burma  Over a million have been left without shelter, food and other necessities, and reports of bodies being dumped into rivers and whole towns wiped out underscore the severity and desperate conditions facing those affected. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this horrible tragedy. indicates that number will increase dramatically as access to cut-off areas is slowly restored.

While the ruling military regime in Burma has been criticized over its handling of the crisis - from insufficient warnings of the on-coming storm to a slow and inadequate response - the world community must focus on those currently suffering in Burma.  The reclusive State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has indicated it will accept international assistance, but visa restrictions continue to slow the delivery of aid, with the United Nations humanitarian affairs coordinator, Rashid Khalikov appealing on Wednesday to the SPDC to drop burdensome visa requirements.

The Burmese people are being caught in a frustrating international standoff that is delaying the crucial delivery of aid - the reclusive military regime is suspicious of the international community’s political agenda - and the international community is wary of the SPDC’s commitment to help its own people based on its track record. Government and nongovernmental aid agencies alike correctly remain concerned that the military regime will divert aid to assist the army and their supporters, especially because those affected are predominantly Karen and other ethnic groups that the SPDC has been oppressing for years. This history further underscores the need for delivery of aid by experienced disaster agencies and organizations experienced in providing humanitarian relief and services to the people of Burma.

As a result of this mutual distrust, over a million Burmese continue to suffer the devastating after-effects of the storm while urgently needed assistance waits ready to be delivered. The SPDC should immediately allow aid organizations unfettered access to the devastated communities and repeal all restrictions that are delaying assessment and response efforts, including visa and customs procedures for relief supplies and personnel.  Although logistical challenges present major hurdles to the delivery of much-needed aid – roads are damaged and blocked, whole fleets of boats have been destroyed, infrastructure in many areas has been reduced to rubble – we call on the SPDC to allow  disaster experts, who specialize in delivering supplies, providing potable water, emergency shelters and health care, to do their jobs.

At this time, when the army can for once do something to ease a desperate situation, criticism of the Burmese regime’s track record on human rights is counterproductive. Statements like those of First Lady Laura Bush, no matter how well-intentioned, are not helpful. In a brief televised statement on Monday, Mrs. Bush moved to confirm the Burmese junta’s fears that international aid is another method of political influence by lecturing the military on its failures and seemingly conditioning further direct US aid on the admittance of U.S. assessment teams. While The First Lady is correct in her assessment of the human rights situation in the country and the military government’s oppressive nature, the focus right now must be on delivery of aid.

As a human rights organization, we call on the US government to put aside the lectures and immediately prepare to deliver aid to those who are in desperate need.  We call on the SPDC to grant immediate visas and access to humanitarian organizations to help in the delivery of aid, and we implore the global community to assist these efforts with donations and support for the people of Burma affected by this awful disaster.