Myanmar - blocking emergency telecommunications

Burma blocks emergency telecoms
see also Telecoms Sans Frontieres

Two teams of foreign aid workers dedicated to delivering emergency telecoms in disaster areas have been forced to leave cyclone-hit Burma.

The members of Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) left the country after attempts to reach affected areas were blocked.

The charity, which described the situation as "unprecedented", said it had no other choice but to leave.

TSF finally reached Burma on 1 June after waiting nearly a month to be granted visas to enter the country.

"The frustration is that we were allowed into the country but not allowed to deploy," TSF spokesman Oisin Walton told BBC News.

Many international charities were allowed into Burma following a visit to the area by UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon.

But repeated attempts to get the necessary authorisation to visit affected areas such as the Irrawaddy Delta, were met with a wall of silence.

"We got no reply at all," said Mr Walton.