Did Burma Escape The Consequences?: T S U N A M I

TSUNAMI: Did Burma Escape the Consequences?
Reported by Democratic Voice of Burma
Did Burma escape the consequences?

Reported by Democratic Voice of Burma Jan 6, 2004 While the world is witnessing the unfolding of traumatizing damages done by the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis on Sunday December 26, people around the world are still wondering what kinds of effect would they have on Burma which has over two thousand km long coastline on the India Ocean. The extent of the damage in Burma remains a mystery. How many people died? How many are still missing or left homeless? What was the evacuation process like and what kind of help was given to victims in Burma? DVB received numerous phone calls and requests for information from international media organizations, non-government organizations (NGOs), government officials, Burmese in exile and, sadly, also from people living within Burma. To respond to the growing need of urgent information, we have compiled this report based on information obtained from our sources and reporters in the filed in neighbouring countries as well as in Burma, from interviews with aid workers working in Burma and from international news reports.
What people say

Both local people in the areas affected and scientists said Burma did not escape the affects of December 26 tsunamis. Based on information provided by various sources, it is confirmed that villages along the southern coast of Burma, Coco Islands in the Andaman Sea and the Irrawaddy Delta were hardest hit by the tsunamis. According to a computer model created by a geophysicist Dr Steven N. Ward from University of California at Santa Cruz, southern Burma would have been hit as hard as the neighbouring southern Thailand where over five thousands people have died and a few thousands still registered as missing. (Washington Post, Jan 3) On January 4, US Secretary of State Collin Powell said Burma may not be hit as hard as other countries in the region, based on satellite images. "I don't know what to believe," he

said at the press conference in Thailand.
Death toll in Burma

We feared that at least more than a thousand people could have died in Burma due to the disaster. The International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) said on Jan 5 that the number of death in Burma is not more than 86 and the death toll may not even be reached more than 100. Again, the World Food Program (WFP) on Jan 5 considerably reduced the numbers of their earlier estimate on death toll and said only up to 60 people were killed in Burma. We have spoken with the IFRC representatives and other aid agencies in Rangoon. Their account of death toll in Burma was mostly from Irrawaddy region where access to the area is a lot easier than other regions such as southern Burma and Arakan state. Unlike other countries in Asia, many of the deaths in Burma were not in the costal land areas but islands along the coast where aid workers have very little access and people who were out fishing during the disaster struck, making it difficult to register the number. The confirmed numbers of the fishing boats missing are about 200 and we believed the actual number could be more than double. This report is based on information provided by our contacts inside Burma, internal government dispatches, and witness accounts, interviews with local people, aid workers and media reports from the areas affected.
Hardest Hit Areas in Burma

Coco Islands The death toll in Coco Islands alone is close to one hundred, according to internal government dispatches seen by our contacts inside Burma. The three Coco islands: Great, Small and Table Coco Islands are situated in the Andaman Sea, about 400 km south-west of Rangoon and the total inhabitants on the islands are believed to be more than 1000. China has installed electronic and radar facilities on the islands to intercept shipping movements in the Indian Ocean since early 1990s and some Chinese military experts alongside several hundred Burmese navy officers. That may explain why Chinese government sent a letter of condolence to the military government of Burma for the victims of tsunamis before the Burmese government admitted the damages done by tsunamis. Some army radar installations on Coco Islands were reported to be destroyed by the tidal waves. No aid workers are allowed to visit the islands yet except one staff from the IFRC was allowed to speak over the radio phone with a person from Coco Island. Burma navy has several others military bases in the India Ocean. That includes navy base in Remer Island, south of Sittwe in Arakan State, Hainggyi Island in the delta region, Mon-

key point in Rangoon and Zadetkyi Kyun at southern tip of Burma. It is of course not known how much damage it had done to these navy bases but this could be a reason why Burma army wants to play down the extent of the damage done by tsunamis in Burma. Southern Burma The port town, Mergui was not hit hard by the tidal waves as it is protected by hundreds of islands. However, officials at the Fishery Department in Mergui and Tavoy told us that about 2500 fishing boats, large and small, were registered at the department. It is not clear how many of them were damaged or missing, but the local authorities claimed that not a single boat was damaged. We know that is not true but we could not confirm the number of missing boats or deaths due to communication difficulties. About 200 sea-gypsies, the Salon (or) Moken people who live in the sea and islands near Lampi, about 180 km south of Mergui (Myeik or Beik in Burmese) were swept away by the destructive tsunamis, according to an aid worker who had recently returned from the area. There are at least 800 islands in the Mergui archipelago and it remains difficult to find out the exact figure of deaths and damages in this area. The total population of Moken people are about 3000. According to a local authority internal dispatch on Dec 26 seem by DVB, at 7:30 am local time, minor earthquake had struck in Kawthaung for about 2 minutes but there were no damage. At about 11:30 am local time, big tidal wave hit the Aukkyi Village near Kawthaung and the whole village was under the water for about 15 minutes. Fifty one houses on the village were destroyed and 50 fishing boats were swept away by the wave. About 200 people were homeless. Other villages nearby Aukkyi were also hit by the tidal wave, the report said. According another local authority dispatch on Jan 1, four bridges including Palao Ton Ton were destroyed in Kawthaung Township and 62 fishing both big and small were missing. The reports did not mention the human causalities or how many people were in need of assistance. International Federation of Red Cross said on Dec 30 that 27 people were killed in Kawthaung, on southern tip of Burma alone. A local fisherman told a visiting foreign journalist that he saw about 50 people swept to their deaths from the bridge across the island of Palao Ton Ton, near Kawthaung. It is said that Kawthaung was not badly hit as it was protected by several islands. "Even so, boats out in bay were lifted 30 ft on the main road by the force of the water," wrote the journalist Damien McElroy in the British newspaper Daily Telegraphs website. A local intelligence officer based in Ranong, Thailand, opposite Kawthaung, who has extensive knowledge about the area told DVB that he has spoken with several survivals. Based on their accounts, three main islands between Kawthaung and Mergui - Zadet-

kyi, Kyun Pila and Lampi were badly hit by the tsunamis on Dec 26. Several thousands people live on the three islands and hundreds of people from the islands were swept away by the tidal wave. Around this area, there are another 80 small islands but the government forbidden people to live on the islands since early 1990s for fear of deforestation and arm smuggling. Local people in the areas told us that after some period, people returned to islands and the number of population have grown to thousands. However, death toll from these islands were not be accounted as the government consider no one live there. Irrawaddy division Dr Tin Min Htut, the local opposition leader from Pantanaw Township in Irrawaddy division told DVB that the disaster struck during the high fishing season for local villagers meaning many fishermen could be killed by the tsunamis. Local Burmese authorities refused to say the number of fishing boats missing in the areas but several local people at Laputa, Bogale, Mawlamyine Kyun, Paypon and Bassein in the delta region of Irrawaddy Division told DVB that about 100 fishing boats have been missing since the tsunamis struck the areas on Dec 26. Hundreds of people could have died or missing since that disastrous Sunday. An AFP journalist reporting from Kha Pyat Thaung village in the delta region said some 600 people were swept into the sea by the tsunamis, leaving at least 17 dead and scores of families with nothing but shattered lives. The village is 352km southwest of Rangoon and the UNICEF officials in Rangoon said the tsunamis could have struck other dozens of costal communities in the areas. International Federation of Red Cross reported on Dec 30 that 42 people died in Irrawaddy division, 60 fishing boats were missing and about 461 people were homeless. Arakan State News from western Burma Arakan State is still very sketchy. According to an officer from local marine authority in Sittwe (Akyab) on Dec 30, about 5 or 6 fishing boats were missing. Some of the boats are owned by Thai fishing companies. There was no rescue attempt by nearby Danyawaddy Naval based. On Dec 30, Local authority in Sittwe sent a dispatch to Rangoon with the total number of death as 15. It said 11 males and 4 females were killed in tidal wave on Dec 26. The victims are from seven villages including Sittwe (Alyab), Man Aung, Kyautphu and Yanbye in Arakan State.
The military junta claims

The state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on January 1 that "the death toll to the earthquakes rose to 59, leaving 43 injured, while 21 are reported missing. It destroyed 592 houses from 17 villages and 3205 people were homeless". The junta said that

the Irrawaddy Division is the hardest-hit. They claimed the rest of the costal regions are either not hit or slightly hit by the tsunamis and it added: "beach resorts were thronged with vacationers including tourists and everything was going well." Again on Jan 6, Burmese Prime Minister Soe Win said in Jakata that "situation in our country is manageable and we are doing our best to alleviate the plight of our people."
Reports from International Aid Agencies

Several international aid agencies based in Burma are coordinating relief efforts after the tsunamis. They are International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC), World Vision, UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, ICRC and MSF. The World Food Program (WFP) said on January 4 that hundreds of fishermen were probably killed in Burma by the tsunamis and some 30,000 people are in immediate need of shelter, food, drinking water and medical drugs. But on Jan 5, the WFP Asia director said: "Up to 60 people were killed and ten thousands left in need of emergency food aid in Myanmar." On Dec 28, the UNICEF issued a situation report. It said: "there are at least 90 tsunami victims to date. There are indications that casualty and damage figures are likely to increase. Concerns remain about fishermen at sea, communities on small islands off the coasts of Rakhine (Arakan) State and Tanintharyi (Tenesserim) Division, and ethnic Salone and Moken sea gypsy communities." International Federation of Red Cross reported from Rangoon on 30 December that the total death toll in Burma is 86, 10 were missing and 5300 people were homeless.
Situation of Burmese in Thailand

This is another tragic and unclear area. There are at least 2 million Burmese workers in Thailand and most of them are illegal immigrants. Hundreds of Burmese migrants work in Thai fishing industry and construction sites such as beach resorts like Phuket. Exiled Burmese groups in Thailand said nearly 5,000 Burmese migrants are scattered all over Phuket and some of them have been forcibly deported. Our reporter who visited Phuket right after the tsunamis strike said some hundreds Burmese may have died in Phuket and about 1,500 Burmese in the area are missing as of 30 Dec. Surapong Kongchanthuek of Thailand's committee on human rights for stateless or displaced people told AFP that given the high number of migrant workers along Thailand's coast it was probable that hundreds of Burmese were among the thousands of casualties. "It is likely that 400 to 500 Myanmar (Burmese) migrant workers died in the disaster," he said.

An article reported by AP on January 4 quoted from human rights activists in Thailand said that "Thai survivors of Asia's tsunami disaster have complained they are second-class victims, with foreign tourists getting the best care. Now aid officials say a third class of victims in Thailand has emerged: migrant workers from Burma."
Conclusion
The Burmese government usually controls natural disaster news but this time it became obvious as it had happened not just in Burma but all Asia countries along the India Ocean. We have tried everything we can to verify the news, check with different sources and confirm with local authority but it is impossible to know exact information in this kind of situation. Based on our information, we feared that more than a thousand people could have died and ten of thousands are in need of urgent assistance. There was no rescue attempt by the authority during and after the tsunamis struck on Dec 26. Several local people from the southern part of Burma said that the authority told them to look for or rescue their relatives by their own. "With the current high fuel price; we have no chance to go by our own," they said. To get clear picture of the situation and give urgent assistance to the victims, the government in Burma must give free access to the areas damaged by the tsunamis to foreign aid workers as well as international journalists immediately.
For More Information, Please contact: 1. Aye Chan Naing (Director) - tel - 47 22 84 84 86/47 911 077 43 2. Khin Maung Win (Deputy Director) - tel - 47 22 86 84 72/47 917 889 28 3. Moe Aye (News Editor) - tel - 47 22 86 8474/47 41127424
Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) is a non-profit independent media organization run by exile Burmese journalists. DVB broadcasts two-hour daily via short-wave transmitters to Burma and provides Burma's related news and information.

Phuket of Thailand
Tenasserim Division: Journalists and NGOs do not reach most of affected areas 1 Lampi Islands of Burma 300 km from Phuket, about 3000 Salon or Sea Gypsies live on the Lampi Islands
2 Zadetkyi Islands 220 KM from Phuket

3 Kawthaung 220 KM from Phuket According to internal government dispatch: 62 boats missing 7 Stores destroyed 4 bridges destroyed Death toll27 (IFRC)
100 Sea-gypsy feared dead
Burmese Navy base About one thousand civilians live on the island 100 feared dead

Irrawaddy Delta
275 MK
Coco Islands of Burma 70 KM
Coco Islands

Burmese navy base 100 fear dead No aid workers have been allowed to visit since December 26

Irrawaddy Delta Most reports being seen in the media are about damages in Irrawaddy Delta where NGOs and Rangoon based journalists can reach.

IFRC confirmed 42 dead and 60 boats are missing in this delta areas. Local people told DVB missing boats must be more than 100

Graphic: DVB
Navy bases and other military installations in the Adaman Sea (only in Tenasserim Division)

DVB believes there must be damages in these military installations. Information DVB received on 6 January indicates that the military government is ordering its military units in the Tsunami affected areas to submit reports detailing the damages.
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Did Burma Escape The Consequences?: T S U N A M I

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TSUNAMI: Did Burma Escape the Consequences?

Reported by Democratic Voice of Burma