The Burmese regime is continuing to hamper relief efforts, yet some aid has got through. One of the most useful countries has been Bangladesh, thanks to its long history of disasters, proximity, as well as its reasonable relations with the Burmese dictatorship:

“A plane carrying UN relief aid from Bangladesh to cyclone victims in Burma has landed in the capital, Rangoon. Aid agencies say the cargo was impounded on arrival after the World Food Programme won permission from Burma to send the shipment. Two planes carrying aid supplies organised by Bangladesh’s army have already been sent…

The BBC’s Mark Dummett in Dhaka says Bangladesh has stockpiles of emergency aid because of the frequency with which natural disasters strike the country. There are also hundreds of aid workers in Bangladesh with the experience of coping with the aftermath of a cyclone.”

It is nice to see a story like this, especially in the midst of all the suffering.