A Green Light for US Earthquake Relief in Myanmar

“We’re not the government of the world,” Marco Rubio told a BBC reporter at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on April 4. The U.S. Secretary of State defended a modest $2 million contribution for Myanmar, recovering from a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 3,500 people. The State Department later softenedContinue Reading

Myanmar marks new year festival mourning quake losses

Myanmar’s ruling military junta has commanded the five-day festival to have no music or dance. Since the Mar 28 quake Mandalay temperatures have soared up to a parching 44 degrees Celsius while at night tent-dwellers are needled by mosquitos before rising at dawn to line up for aid. More thanContinue Reading

The US Is MIA in Myanmar’s Earthquake Response

Since the devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar two weeks ago, the official death toll now exceeds 3,600 – and the real number is likely to be much higher. Many ancient cultural and religious sites have been completely destroyed. Homes have collapsed. Thousands of people are sleeping in the open airContinue Reading

BIMSTEC: Missing in Action in Myanmar

In October 2017, senior representatives and military officers from the six member states of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) – Thailand, India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal – met in New Delhi for the forum’s first multinational disaster management exercise. ItContinue Reading