|
JAKARTA: Hollywood stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt joined forces
with Asian political figures Wednesday in an advertising campaign
calling on the region to push Myanmar’s junta to allow in more
cyclone aid.
A full page advertisement in Indonesian English
language daily The Jakarta Post by US-based pressure group Not On
Our Watch said Asia must pressure the reclusive regime to fully open
its doors to foreign aid after Cyclone Nargis.
“Burma’s neighbors have the power to help
victims who remain desperately in need,” said the advertisement,
signed by former and current regional leaders and Nobel laureates,
referring to Myanmar by its previous name.
Signatories included former Philippine president
Corazon Aquino, East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta, Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and former Czech
president Vaclav Havel.
The advertisement said Myan-mar’s regime is
risking thousands of lives by holding out on aid, although the junta
has been giving increasing access to foreign relief workers despite
its initial refusal to cooperate.
The advertisement singled out Myanmar’s
military leader Gen. Than Shwe for criticism, saying the general had
backed out on a May promise to allow all foreign aid workers into
the country.
“Despite this, foreign supply ships with
emergency and lifesaving equipment have been turned away or gone
home. International relief continues to be slowed,” the
advertisement said.
“Burma’s delta remains shattered, its people
starving and in danger.”
The May 2 to 3 cyclone left around 138,000
people dead and missing in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta region,
according to the junta, and the UN estimates 2.4 million people are
in need of aid.
The junta has refused entry to most Western aid
workers but allowed in a 250-member Association of Southeast Asian
Nations backed assessment team on June 2.
-- AFP
|
