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Aid donors turn up heat on Burma Donors pledge $50m to help Burma
(about 2 hours later)
International aid donors who have been meeting in Rangoon have put pressure on Burma to grant unhindered access to the areas devastated by Cyclone Nargis. International donors meeting in Rangoon have pledged nearly $50m (£25m) in aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma more than three weeks ago.
A top US official, Scot Marciel, said further US aid depended on Burma giving disaster experts access to the affected areas, where at least 78,000 have died. The sum is a fraction of the $11bn Burma's military government is seeking to fund relief work.
This was "established practice readily accepted by other nations" responding to natural disasters, he added. Some donors said the money depended on foreign aid-workers being allowed into the Irrawaddy Delta disaster zone.
Burma's military government wanted some $11bn (£5.5bn) to fund relief work. The head of the United Nations has said he hopes Burma's leaders will now face up to the scale of the problem.
The BBC's Laura Trevelyan, in Rangoon, says the conference has ended and officials are currently adding up how much money has been pledged. "I'm cautiously optimistic that this could be a turning point for Myanmar to be more flexible, more practical, and face the reality as it is on the ground," Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the BBC.
American, French and British military ships full of aid are waiting just outside Burma's waters. Burma's Prime Minister, Thein Sein, said more help would be welcome but only if it did not have political overtones.
But, diplomats say, the Burmese government is concerned that these ships could somehow be used to launch an invasion. At least 78,000 people have died as a result of the cyclone and more than 50,000 people are still missing.
Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein said on Sunday Rangoon would accept supplies from foreign warships off its coast, but only if they came in on civilian boats. The UN believes only a quarter of those needing aid - up to 2.4 million people - have received it.
The conference came as Burma's pro-democracy opposition, the National League for Democracy, renewed calls for the release of its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. 'Full and unfettered'
Her five-year house arrest is due to expire this week, although the military rulers have previously extended the detention period a number of times. More than 40 governments attended the one-day conference hosted by the UN and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean).
'Saving lives'
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said he was encouraged that dozens of countries were represented at the conference.
Click here for a map of the deltaReporter's diaryWill Burma keep its word on aid?Burmese anger at juntaSend us your commentsClick here for a map of the deltaReporter's diaryWill Burma keep its word on aid?Burmese anger at juntaSend us your comments
He said Burma had begun honouring an agreement struck on Friday to allow in foreign aid workers. Britain and other Western donors said the pledged money was contingent on Burma's generals keeping their promise to give foreign aid-workers greater access to the delta.
But Mr Ban rejected Burma's insistence that relief work was already over. The UK's International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander, said the eyes of the world would be on the Burmese to ensure aid workers were given "full and unfettered" access.
"I ask all of us to keep our eye firmly on the immediate objective - saving lives," he said. "The humanitarian crisis in Burma is grave and urgent," he told the conference.
"I expect the relief effort will run for several months, probably six months at least, as we feed and care for those who have lost everything." "I have told the Burmese ministers that I have met: 'You will be judged not by your words but by your actions' and action is what the world will be looking for in the days and weeks ahead."
Three weeks on, many of the 2.4 million people affected by the cyclone have not received help. More than 50,000 people are still missing, in addition to those confirmed dead. A top US official, Scot Marciel, also said further US aid depended on Burma giving disaster experts access to disaster areas.
Our correspondent says the donor governments have been reluctant to give aid funds until their experts have been able to go in and assess the damage for themselves. This was "established practice readily accepted by other nations", he added.
Invasion fear American, French and British military ships full of aid are waiting just outside Burma's waters.
Forty-four countries signed up to attend the conference, jointly organised by the UN and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean). 'Six months'
Mr Ban said Burma had begun honouring an agreement struck on Friday to allow in foreign aid-workers.
Douglas Alexander calls for action at the UN aid conferenceDouglas Alexander calls for action at the UN aid conference
While Burma will not get the $11bn it seeks pledged, the talks mark the beginning of a process, our correspondent says. "I expect the relief effort will run for... six months at least, as we feed and care for those who have lost everything," he said.
Mr Marciel, from the US State Department, said his country was ready to pledge millions more in aid, but that it was conditional on the Burmese allowing "international disaster assistance experts to conduct thorough assessments of the situation in the affected areas". The Burmese government is concerned that the foreign naval ships off its shores could somehow be used to launch an invasion, diplomats say.
"These requests are not unusual, but rather established practice readily accepted by other nations around the world when they are confronted with a natural disaster of this magnitude," he added. Prime Minister Thein Sein said on Sunday that Burma would accept supplies by sea only if they came in on civilian boats.
Britain's International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander, also took a tough line. In sight of the conference centre in Rangoon is the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader kept under house arrest by the military.
"The real test of the promises from the regime will come in the days ahead when the suffering people of the Irrawaddy Delta need action and not simply words from their government," he said. The opposition National League for Democracy has renewed calls for her release.
On Saturday, Mr Ban opened a new logistics hub at Bangkok airport, in Thailand, to help speed up the delivery of outside aid to victims of the cyclone. Her five-year house arrest is due to expire this week, although the military rulers have previously extended the detention period a number of times.
The BBC's Chris Hogg in Bangkok says some aid has already accumulated in a cavernous warehouse in the city's old airport, which will be sorted so that the most urgent shipments can be prepared for loading. The UN has chartered three cargo planes to carry it into Burma.
The UN estimates that only a quarter of the 2.5 million Burmese affected by the cyclone have received the help they need.
But on Saturday Burmese state television ran a special programme celebrating the government's response to the disaster.
Meanwhile, the authorities decided to go ahead with polling for a controversial constitutional referendum, which had been postponed in those areas affected by the cyclone.
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