US Defense Secretary: Burma's Aid Delays Cost 'Thousands' Of Lives
美：缅甸拒外援可能使数万人丧生

　 
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the Burmese military government's rejection of aid soon after the May second cyclone may have cost the lives of 'tens of thousands' of people. The concern expressed by the defense secretary comes amid concern Burma's military is attempting to force local populations out of shelters and back to devastated villages.

美国国防部长盖茨表示，缅甸军政府在五月二号的强热带风暴之后拒绝国际援助的做法，可能导致数万人因此而丧生。就在国防部长盖茨发表上述讲话之际，缅甸军政府正强迫当地居民撤离临时搭起的住宅，回到被风暴洗劫一空的村庄去。

Speaking to a regional Asian security and defense seminar in Singapore Saturday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' assessment was blunt. He accused Burma's military government of being "deaf and dumb" to offers of foreign aid.

美国国防部长盖茨星期六在新加坡举行的亚洲安全大会上，对缅甸的局势做出了直截了当的评估。他谴责缅甸军政府对国际社会的援助意愿“充耳不闻。”

He said Burma's rejection of international and regional assistance stood in sharp contrast to the response of other nations to similar tragedies, such as the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia and the cyclone that hit Bangladesh in 2007.

盖茨说，缅甸政府拒绝国际社会和地区的援助，和其他国家处理类似灾情的方式和方法形成鲜明对照。他举例说，印度尼西亚在2004年的海啸之后、孟加拉国在2007年的强热带风暴之后所采取的措施，与缅甸截然不同。

"With Burma, the situation has been very different - at a cost of tens of thousands of lives," he said. "Many other countries besides the United States have also felt hindered in their efforts."

盖茨说，“缅甸的情况非常不同，而结果是，成千上万的人丧失了生命。除了美国之外，其他很多国家也都感到他们的救援努力受到了阻挠。”

International aid workers say they continue to face bureaucratic delays over access to the regions in the Irrawaddy Delta region that bore the brunt of Cyclone Nargis.

国际救援人员表示，他们继续面对官僚机制的拖延，难以进入灾情最严重的伊洛瓦底江三角洲地区。

At least 77,000 people have died with a further 56,000 still reported missing, while over two million people are still in need of food, shelter and medicine.

至少有七万七千人在这次风暴中丧生，另外有五万六千人仍旧下落不明；目前还有200多万人需要食品、住房以及医疗救治。

The United States, Britain and France dispatched naval vessels with emergency aid to the Bay of Bengal but the offers were rejected by the Burmese military. The military had also rejected offers by Asian regional partners to supply military helicopters to assist in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone.

美国、英国和法国分别派遣了海军舰只，携带紧急救援物资前往孟加拉湾，但是这些国家的援助被缅甸军方拒之门外。在强热带风暴刚刚过去之后，对亚洲区域夥伴主动提供协助救灾的军用直升机，缅甸方面也予以拒绝。

Regional countries have backed Mr. Gates' concerns over the delays, restrictions on aid and access to populations devastated by the cyclone.

该地区其他一些国家也和盖茨一样，对缅甸政府拖延救援、限制救援、限制接近强热带风暴灾民的做法感到担忧。

International aid organizations say less than 30 percent of the more than two million people most seriously affected by the cyclone have received adequate assistance.

国际救援组织说，受强热带风暴打击最严重的两百多万人中只有不到百分之三十的人得到了足够的救援。

Australian Ambassador to Thailand, Bill Paterson, in an interview with VOA, said Burma needed to provide "unfettered access" on humanitarian grounds to assist the populations still in desperate need.

澳大利亚驻泰国大使帕特森在接受美国之音采访时说，缅甸需要本着人道主义精神取消对国际救援的各种限制，帮助依然急需救助的灾民。

"These people are living in terrible conditions with the risk of disease outbreaks," he said. "They have lost their homes, they have lost their families. It's terribly important we get in there quickly. A lot of them probably have lost their lives since the cyclone because aid has not been able to be distributed."

帕特森说：“这些人生活在恶劣条件下，有突发疾病的危险。他们失去了家园，失去了家庭。我们及时赶到那里很重要。很多人在强热带风暴袭击之后可能因为救援物资无法分配到他们手里而已经死亡。”

The United Nations, along with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), reached agreement with Burma's military for access for international aid workers during the lead up to a donor's conference last weekend.

联合国与东盟上周末在捐助国会议召开之前与缅甸军方达成协议，允许国际救援人员进入灾区。

But human rights groups Saturday accused the military of evicting victims from emergency shelters currently housing thousands of people in a bid to force them to return to their devastated villages in the Irrawaddy delta region.

但是人权组织星期六指责缅甸军方把成千上万的灾民赶出他们居住的临时避难所，强迫他们返回伊洛瓦底江三角洲地区被风暴摧毁的村庄。