Particularly as massive amounts of foreign aid offered in the wake of Cyclone Nargis have been stonewalled or mired in red tape, it’s infuriating to read this Al-Jazeera report of the junta’s lastest antics:

“More than a million survivors of the deadly cyclone in Myanmar have yet to receive any aid a month on, with reports from refugees fleeing the disaster zone speaking of military-run lotteries to determine who receives food and who will go hungry.


…One man told Al Jazeera of how soldiers distributing the little relief reaching his village ran a lottery to determine who would receive aid.


‘A member from each family was given a number and the soldiers held a lottery,’ said the man sheltering in Mae Sot, a Thai town bordering Myanmar where hundreds of survivors are holed up after crossing over in search of help.


‘One hundred families got one egg, six cans of condensed milk and one potato. Those who drew a blank ticket had to walk away,’ he said.”

I wouldn’t put anything past Myanmar‘s brutal junta. It’s also being reported that quake survivors who sought refuge just across the border in Thailand are being forced to give soldiers money to come back across for the aid lotteries. And then there’s this:

“Meanwhile, aid workers who have visited affected regions have reported that scores of displaced people have been expelled from temporary shelters in schools, monasteries and public buildings.


The expulsions appear part of the military government’s attempt to show that people are capable of rebuilding their lives without foreign help.”

(Photo by Getty Images)