By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - Desperation among Myanmar's 1.5 millioncyclone survivors mounted on Wednesday as the international aidflow remained a trickle and police barred foreign aid workersfrom worst-hit areas.
The United Nations and Western powers piled more pressureon the military regime to speed up its slow and disorganisedresponse to the disaster by suggesting that helpless victimscould have been robbed of food and other urgent supplies.
The reports were unconfirmed, but the relief effort --further complicated by heavy rains -- is only delivering onetenth of the supplies needed in the devastated delta region,where up to 100,000 people are dead or missing.
"It's just awful, people are in just desperate need,begging as vehicles go past," Gordon Bacon, an emergencycoordinator for International Rescue Committee, told Reuters byphone from Yangon.
The international community has flown in tonnes ofmedicine, food and shelter materials, but getting it tolow-lying delta area has been complicated by poor equipment,bad weather and government intransigence.
Myanmar's reclusive junta has also made it very clear itdoes not want outsiders distributing aid.
Foreign experts in sanitation, nutrition and medicine haveeither been prevented from entering the country formerly knownas Burma or are restricted to the main city of Yangon.
Armed police send back foreigners who attempt to passthrough checkpoints surrounding the former capital.
"It's such an immense area of devastation and so manypeople need help that I'm sure if these people could get in andbe coordinated properly it would assist the effortdramatically," said Bacon. "There is frustration all around."
TRAGEDY
The international community has warned of an even greatertragedy if the aid effort is not ratcheted up.
In a statement after emergency talks on Myanmar in Brusselson Tuesday, EU development ministers called on Yangon "to offerfree and unfettered access to international humanitarianexperts, including the expeditious delivery of visa and travelpermits."
The EU ministers stopped short of endorsing a French callto deliver supplies if necessary without the junta'spermission.
France's junior minister for human rights said it had thebacking of Britain and Germany to call on the U.N. SecurityCouncil for aid to be taken into Myanmar without thegovernment's green light if necessary.
"We have called for the 'responsibility to protect' to beapplied in the case of Burma," Rama Yade told reporters.
British officials said London would welcome discussion ofthe 'responsibility to protect,' a 2005 U.N. resolutionconceived to assist victims of genocide, war crimes and crimesagainst humanity, but not natural disasters.
But the official did not consider the proposal realisticgiven Russian and Chinese objections.
Tens of thousands of people throughout the delta arecrammed into monasteries, schools and other buildings afterarriving in towns that were on the breadline even before thedisaster.
Lacking food, water and sanitation, they face the threat ofkiller diseases such as cholera and in some parts are waitingin vain for help to arrive.
(Additional reporting by Carmel Crimmins in BANGKOK)
(Writing by Carmel Crimmins; Editing by Darren Schuettler)
