VZCZCXRO8587
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH RUEHTRO
DE RUEHGO #0434/01 1540845
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 020845Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7698
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1244
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 4788
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 8332
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5894
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1626
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1699
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000434 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, AND IO 
PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM EAID
SUBJECT: FORCED RELOCATION AND MORE DEATH IN BURMA'S DELTA 
 
 
RANGOON 00000434  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: P/E Chief Leslie Hayden for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  Over the last week, Embassy Rangoon has 
received increasing reports the regime is forcing Cyclone 
Nargis victims to leave government-run and private shelters 
and return to their villages.  Local sources and UN employees 
confirm that forced relocation by the military in storm 
affected areas is systematic and wide-spread.  Political 
activists traveling to the Delta to perform relief work 
report that inaccessible villages outside population centers 
remain out of reach.  They report seeing fresh corpses of 
those they believe died recently of starvation.  End summary. 
 
 
¶2.  (C) Pol/econ chief met with 88 Generation leader Toe Kyaw 
Hlaing and the comedian/activist Zarganar, who have teamed up 
to deliver relief aid to the area surrounding Bogale in the 
Irrawaddy Delta.  They have made several trips to Bogale and 
report that, even though UN international staff and INGOs 
have a presence in Bogale Township, the outlying areas 
accessible only by boat are in dire need and not being 
reached.  Many of the residents in these townships were 
forced out of government-run camps, monasteries, and schools 
where they first took shelter.  The villagers recounted being 
forced by the military to return home to villages so they 
could "plant their rice crops," although they have no seeds, 
tools, or draft animals, according to the pair.  The 
villagers were forced to sign documentation stating they 
received 35 relief items such as tents, blankets, and 
mosquito nets, though they received nothing other than small 
sums of money or some clothing items.  The surviving 
residents of one village were given one bag of rice and one 
bag of beans and informed they were on their own. 
 
¶3.  (C) Toe Kyaw Hlaing reported that cyclone victims he 
spoke with reported the military was instructing people to 
tell international UN and NGO staff that only 37,000 people 
had died in the cyclone. Zarganar and Toe Kyaw Hlaing 
reported that the Delta was becoming increasingly 
militarized, with a large and visible presence of troops and 
police.  Military units reportedly told victims that the 
relief phase was over, and that private donors would not be 
permitted to enter the Delta after June 3.  Although Zarganar 
and Toe Kyaw Hlaing reported seeing UN staff in Bogale 
Township, and a boat operated by crony Tay Za's Htoo trading 
company passing out rice, they emphasized that many remote 
villages accessible only by boat were not getting sufficient 
food or water.  They reported seeing a number of corpses that 
were fresh and surmised the cause of death was starvation 
rather than the cyclone. 
 
¶4.  (C) In a separate meeting, NLD Youth leader and HIV/AIDS 
activist Phyu Phyu Thinn informed pol/econ chief she had come 
out of hiding to take part in cyclone relief efforts and had 
made three trips to Dedaye and four trips to Bogale since the 
cyclone hit one month ago.  She echoed Toe Kyaw Hlaing's and 
Zarganar's concerns, and also reported seeing bodies of those 
who appeared to have died recently.  Phyu Phyu Thinn reported 
visiting a monastery in Kungyangon from which local 
authorities forced 26 families to return to their villages, 
even though no preparations for proper food and shelter had 
been made for them. 
 
¶5.  (C) Phyu Phyu Thinn, Zarganar, and Toe Kyaw Hlaing all 
spoke repeatedly of the psychological devastation suffered by 
the survivors they encountered.  They reported that many 
residents from remote villages which suffered major loss of 
life appeared to be in psychological shock.  Some refused to 
eat or speak, and community members were at a loss as how to 
help them.  The situation was getting much worse, they 
asserted.  Assistance only reached large population centers 
regularly, and the most remote areas were being neglected. 
They all feared that the forced return of victims to their 
villages would only exacerbate the problem. 
 
¶6.  (C) The Embassy has received other reports of forced 
relocation as well.  An Embassy locally-employed staff member 
reported that Rangoon commander Hla Htay Win visited her 
 
RANGOON 00000434  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
church at a Karen Baptist Convention (KBC) compound in 
Rangoon on Thursday, May 29, and asked to meet cyclone 
victims who were being provided shelter and food there.  The 
Commander ordered the cyclone victims to return to their 
native villages near Labutta, and only allowed five pregnant 
women and some children to remain behind. 
 
¶7.  (C) UNHCR staff member Christiane Blessing-Win (PROTECT) 
told pol/econ chief that UNHCR had received multiple reports 
from its local staff in the Delta that authorities were 
forcing storm victims from government camps, schools, and 
monasteries.  UNHCR had sent a team of international staff to 
Bogale and Labutta to investigate the reports last Thursday. 
The officials confirmed several of the reports; they would 
return to Rangoon this evening with details.  Blessing-Win 
added that her husband was helping cyclone victims at a 
monastery in South Dagon Township in Rangoon where local 
authorities had ordered all cyclone victims being sheltered 
in the monastery to return to their villages. 
 
¶8.  (C) Pol/econ chief spoke to UN OCHA staff member Rebecca 
Richards who told her that the UN had instructed all of its 
field staff to gather information on forced relocations and 
report it back to headquarters in Rangoon.  She was compiling 
a report for UN Humanitarian Coordinator John Holmes on the 
growing problem.  Richards was reluctant to speak with 
pol/econ chief about the forced relocations.  She explained 
that the UN was concerned that "coming out strong" on forced 
relocation at this time could jeopardize the access to the 
Delta the regime had recently granted UN international staff. 
 
 
¶9.  (C) Comment: Although the regime has made some 
concessions by granting access to the Delta for international 
staff, it is not enough and many cyclone victims continue to 
be out of reach.  The increased militarization of the Delta 
and increasing reports of cyclone victims being forced to 
return to their villages without adequate support are 
troubling.  Above all, the regime wants to preserve its 
control and save face.  It has become ever more urgent that 
the international community gain much greater access to the 
Delta in order to prevent further tragedy.  While the UN and 
donors want to help get farmers back on their land, they 
understand that these people will only return willingly if 
they can be assured of adequate support to help them back on 
their feet.  The GOB does not seem to be providing that 
support.  The international community is willing, but still 
does not have access to the remote areas most in need of 
support.  Slowly access has opened, but not nearly enough. 
We must alert ASEAN and the UN at the highest levels that 
they must insist on greater access now to prevent a greater 
tragedy from occurring.  End comment. 
VILLAROSA