BANGKOK (AFP) — Actress Mia Farrow Friday joined other prominent women activists to slam Myanmar's ruling junta on its human rights record in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.
The US actress-turned-activist spoke to reporters as she returned from visiting the Thai border with Myanmar -- formerly known as Burma -- where she met with 12 women's organisations who say cyclone aid is being swindled by the ruling regime.
"These are the views we should be listening to," she said. "It is unacceptable that the people of Burma, already suffering after years of repression, should now be dying from starvation and disease. It is long past time for some semblance of accountability and transparency."
Farrow said the groups had told her that foreign aid was being taken by the ruling junta and urged individuals to speak out more.
"If we look to the top we are going to see more of nothing (being done)," she said. "More of just self-serving interests."
The women's groups called for better protection from violence, an end to forced labour and better safeguarding of their human rights, she said.
Her colleague US Nobel peace laureate Jody Williams, from the Nobel Women's Initiative, said international aid was being sold by the junta rather than given to those in need.
"We are still expected to believe the official story," Williams said. "It's hard to believe if my country's providing aid to the junta to be sold to the poverty-stricken people of the delta who have nothing, but in many cases that's what we are hearing from the people who know."
Cyclone Nargis swept through Myanmar's southwestern delta region on May 2-3 leaving 138,000 people dead or missing and a further 2.4 million in desperate need of help.
Myanmar's ruling generals drew worldwide condemnation for blocking foreign aid from entering the country in the crucial days after the cyclone, but since they relented after a personal visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, criticism of the regime has been muted.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations said earlier this week that rebuilding the cyclone-devastated south and aiding the millions of survivors would cost one billion dollars over the next three years.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
