As thousands of cyclone survivors cling to life in Burma, disturbing new reports about the military’s distribution of relief aid are surfacing from the devastated region. Residents in the Irawaddy Delta, which bore the brunt of the cyclone that tore through the country on May 3, 2008, are now claiming that the Burmese military is diverting aid from areas heavily populated by ethnic Karen villagers -- a claim consistent with the government’s longstanding history of discriminatory practices against the Karen, the largest and mostly Christian minority ethnic group in the country. In certain rural areas, reports also reveal that the military’s setup of strategically placed checkpoints is not only intended to block the passage of journalists and foreign aid workers, but to prevent relief aid from reaching Karen villagers in desperate need of help. It is also believed that the forced relocation of storm-affected victims into consolidated population centers -- a practice typically enforced in Karen State -- is part of the junta’s effort to increase civilian control, rather than for the benefit of the country’s affected population.
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