Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis Timeline

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Since Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, the country has been besieged with offers of aid and assistance. While the military junta weighs the cost of letting foreigners onto their sovereign soil, the international community wrings its hands. As the clock ticks on, the SIIA keeps an eye on this developing situation.

Date Summary
06-Jun-2008 Myanmar's military regime has forced cyclone survivors to do menial labor in exchange for food and stepped up a campaign to evict displaced citizens from aid shelters, an international human rights group said Thursday (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/myanmar AP, 2 Jun 08)
05-Jun-2008 US Navy ships with humanitarian supplies withdrawn after being denied entry into Myanmar for three weeks. Cyclone survivors are being forcibly evicted from aid shelters, and forced to exchange menial labour for food. (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iy-MfhLN9Q7MwtQ1VlrvexLjr2dAD913SFA00 AP, 5 Jun 08)
02-Jun-2008 ASEAN kicks-off the post-Nargis Joint Assessment. (http://www.aseansec.org/21604.htm ASEANsec.org, 3 Jun 08)
30-May-2008 Authorities begin evicting destitute families from government-run cyclone relief camps, apparently fearing the 'tented villages' may become permanent. (Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)
29-May-2008 Myanmar military junta approves all UN relief worker visas. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7425130.stm BBC, 29 May 08)
28-May-2008 Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest arbitrarily extended by the Myanmar junta (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/27/suu.kyi/ CNN, 28 May 08)
27-May-2008 Junta extends house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for another year. Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.
26-May-2008 Disease fears loom over Myanmar (www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08)
25-May-2008 More than 50 countries pledge nearly $50 million at U.N.-organised donor conference in Yangon. (Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)
24-May-2008 Constitutional referendum held in Yangon and the delta. The junta quickly announces that the charter has passed with 92.5 percent support on a 98.1 percent turnout. New York-based Human Rights Watch said it had received indications that the referendum was conducted "in an atmosphere of official coercion and vote tampering." The military government refused international or independent referendum monitors and United Nations assistance in conducting the voting, the group said. (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/27/suu.kyi/index.html, Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08 )
23-May-2008 U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon state Myanmar's ruling junta agree to allow all foreign aid workers regardless of nationalities into the country to conduct relief efforts to help cyclone survivors. (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/23/myanmar/ CNN, 23 May 08, www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08)
22-May-2008 UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tours cyclone-hit areas. Junta supremo Than Shwe promises him "all" aid workers will be allowed in. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7414015.stm BBC, 22 May 08. Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08)
21-May-2008 Myanmar says it wants more than $11 billion in aid for victims ahead of a donor conference. (Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)
20-May-2008 ASEAN Emergency Rapid Assesment Team Mission Report, "Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar", 9-18 May 2008. World Bank says it can't give financial aid as Myanmar has not been repaying its debt since 1998. Myanmar agrees to let South Asian neighbours send medical personnel and an assessment team to the country. (http://www.aseansec.org/21558.pdf ASEANsec.org, 20 May 08Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08. www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08)
19-May-2008 Three days of official mourning for the victims of Cyclone Nargis declared by Myanmar. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7408461.stm BBC, 19 May 08)
18-May-2008 2 Weeks after Cyclone Nargis, the country's reclusive Junta leader Than Shwe visited a refugee camp outside Yangon (www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08)
17-May-2008 UN to press Burma on aid access. (www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08)
16-May-2008 Myanmar state television raises official toll to 77,738 dead and 55,917 missing. Gordon Brown states Burma "guilty of inhumane action". U.S to by pass Junta to send aid. (Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08. www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08)
15-May-2008 U.N. raises its estimate for the number of severely affected people from 1.5 million to between 1.6-2.5 million. Top aid envoys ramping up pressure on Burma, as reports that aid is still not reaching worst hit areas prevail. Junta denies misusing cyclone aid. (www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08, Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)
14-May-2008 UN: 2.5m estimated people dead; many more in serious danger of diarrhea and disease; most foreign aid workers barred from entering Myanmar, aid shipments encountering major delays. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7401572.stm BBC, 14 May 08)
13-May-2008 Government of Myanmar authorizes 5 more flights to land in the country. Surin Pitsuwan met with Robert B. Zoellick, World Bank President in Washington. Zoellick pledged technical expertise, not loans, to the emergency response. ASEAN to assemble and send damage assessment taskforce to Myanmar. (www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08 , http://www.aseansec.org/21536.htm ASEANsec.org, 13 May 08, http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/KKAA-7EN2ST?OpenDocument ReliefWeb, 14 May 08)
12-May-2008 First U.S. military flight lands in Yangon. The following day Myanmar rejects U.S. offers to distribute the aid. (Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)
11-May-2008 UN launches US$187m appeal for aid. Burma ceases restrictions on aid. (www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08)
10-May-2008 Myanmar holds Constitutional Referendum, that it sees as a key step in a seven step "roadmap to democracy", Myanmar TV urging people to vote "yes" in referendum. UNHCR entered Myanmar via Thailand with 22 tonnes of tents and other humanitarian supplies. Mounting frustration with aid delays. (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/09/myanmar/ CNN, 10 May 08, www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08 Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)
09-May-2008 The UN pressures to speed up the issuing of visas to foreign relief experts. Dozens of aid experts waiting for visas in Thailand; the Burmese embassy there has closed for a public holiday.After pressure from the UN to expedite the visa process for Myanmar articulates that it wants aid supplies, but not foreign aid workers. The junta said that it would manage the aid distribution themselves.The World Food Programme's Paul Risley said the delays were "unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts". U.N. appeals for $187 million in aid. Aid pledges: UK $10m UN $10m Japan $10m US $3m France $3m Australia $2.8m. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7391535.stm BBC 9 May 08 www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08 Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)
08-May-2008 UN issues statement: "disappointed" at the lack of access to Myanmar for relief work and aid to cyclone victims. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7391008.stm BBC, 8 May 08)
07-May-2008 France suggests invoking a U.N. "responsibility to protect" clause to get aid to cyclone victims without junta approval. Other countries dismiss the idea despite mounting frustration with the generals' response to the disaster. (Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)
06-May-2008 41, 000 missing after the catastrophic cyclone hit the country, UN estimates more than a million people could be homeless. First outside aid, a Thai military plane carrying food and medicine arrives. (www.mapreport.com/countries/cyclone_nargis.html, 05 June 08 Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)
05-May-2008 Myanmar state TV raises the death toll to nearly 4,000. Aid efforts remain slow as the country frustrates international attempts at executing relief operations. First Lady Laura Bush criticises the junta for a slow response and urges it t accept U.S. offers of aid. (Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)
04-May-2008 Death toll estimates vary widely across various reporting agencies, but one trend remains clear: they are all rising. Foreign aid pours in, but are stymied. Calls for Myanmar to let foreign aid workers in start. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/06/myanmar.cyclone/ CNN, 4 May 08)
03-May-2008 Cyclone Nargis hits Myanmar's Irrawaddy region, and five regions, including Yangon, are declared disaster regions. 20,000 homes destroyed, and 100,000 made homeless by the 120 mph 190 kph winds and a 12 ft 3.5 metre sea surge. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7382298.stm BBC, 4 May 08, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2465603.stm BBC, 4 May 08 - 2 Reuters_News@reuters.com, 02 June 08.)