Myanmar's ruling junta still wary of taking foreign aid

NO HELP NEEDED: Despite estimates of nearly 1 lakh killed, the military junta is still wary of foreign aid.

Other stories in the section:

Indian team of armed medical personnel land in Yangon

The team is expected to be deployed in the cyclone hit Irrawaddy delta.

• Cyclone-hit Myanmar restricts international aid
• Freak storm in summer kills 100 in N India
• Mandela turns 90, speaks out for the poor
• Khaleda Zia's son temporarily freed from detention

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• Indian team of armed medical personnel land in Yangon
• Cyclone-hit Myanmar restricts international aid
• Freak storm in summer kills 100 in N India
• Mandela turns 90, speaks out for the poor
• Khaleda Zia's son temporarily freed from detention

Keywords: Gordon Bacon, Aid

Bangkok: It's nearly a week since Cyclone Nagris left its devastating imprint on Myanmar and still the country's ruling junta is not allowing in the vast majority of international aid.

The US expected American planes carrying aid would be let in, but that did not happen.

The US Ambassador to Thailand says everything is ready to go and the only missing piece is the visas from the Myanmar government.

"I cannot stress enough for them to get these visas. If these visas are delayed a lot more people will suffer in Burma," he says.

Aid workers streaming in and out of Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok are in a holding pattern too.

"I think everybody is waiting here for the visas. We're not sure," an aid worker says.

But there are a few aid workers who are being let in.

At the Bangkok office of the International Rescue Committee one member of their team has now been given a visa. He's bringing things like medical supplies and communications. But how much can one person bring?

Aid worker Gordon Bacon is being briefed as he prepares to fly to Myanmar on his own.

He can only bring what he can carry, enough for him to survive. He's going to plead with the government, trying to make them understand the consequences of delaying aid.

"You can't do anything for people who have died but the priorities got to be for the living," Bacon says.

For now other aid workers must wait, frustrated and hoping that they will finally get to help the victims of this monster cyclone.