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Aid: Help is starting to arrive

THE devastation and suffering in cyclone-hit Burma might seem a distant concern in Oxfordshire, but people in the county are being urged to do whatever they can to help.

Sara Clarke, an English graduate from Oxford University and a former president of the university's Burma Society, said Oxford had many links to Burma, and has called on people here to help move the fundraising effort forward.

She said: "Any fundraising ventures in the wake of this catastrophe will make a huge difference to the lives of the men, women and children of Burma which hang in the balance following this disaster."

Cyclone Nargis struck Burma on May 2 and although an official death toll has not been given, there are fears it could be greater than 100,000.

It is believed the Burmese government's initial obstructive reaction to offers of foreign aid has put many more lives at risk.

It is estimated that 1.5 million people are homeless and face the threat of starvation and disease.

Ms Clarke, who lived and worked in Burma in 2006, said: "So far the response to Burma's natural disaster has been much less generous than the public response to the tsunami, perhaps due to the stance of the Burmese regime.

"I have many friends in Burma and thankfully it seems none of them are affected by the cyclone, as most of them live in Mandalay or the centre of Rangoon, but I have had many emails from a friend stressing the dreadful situation faced by many on the outskirts of the city.

She said funds could still be taken into the country. Keble College and University College had already donated £200 and £300 respectively to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Burma.

She said: "I hope that many other colleges, schools, businesses and individuals might be able to follow suit.

"Every penny will translate to life-saving aid.

"Oxford has historic links to Burma through the St Hugh's College alumni Aung San Suu Kyi, today the only imprisoned recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

"I believe a local fundraising effort from the city that Aung San Suu Kyi made her home for many years would prove our continuing goodwill and send a message of hope as well as much needed help to those survivors in Burma."

Aung San Suu Kyi, 62, who was married to the late Oxford University academic Michael Aris, returned to Burma in 1988 to care for her terminally-ill mother.

The daughter of General Aung San, a leader in Burma's independence movement after the Second World War, she became involved with the National League for Democracy, opposing the military junta which has ruled Burma since the 1960s.

After being placed under house arrest in Rangoon in 1989, she led the NLD to victory in a general election a year later, but the generals refused to recognise the result and have retained their grip on power ever since, using troops to suppress opposition protests last autumn.

She has spent 12 of the past 18 years under house arrest or in prison.

When Dr Aris was dying of cancer in 1999, the junta said she could leave Burma to see him, but she chose to remain in Burma for fear she would not be allowed to return.

To make a donation to the DEC Burma Cyclone Appeal, call 0870 6060 900 or see www.dec.org.uk

6:44am Saturday 17th May 2008

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