YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar's military government allowed in the first major international aid shipment Thursday, but it snubbed a U.S. offer to help cyclone victims struggling to recover from a tragedy of unimaginable scale.
More than 20,000 are known dead, tens of thousands more are listed as missing, and the UN estimates more than one million people are homeless in Myanmar, which also is known as Burma.
Residents in Yangon, Myanmar on Thursday collect water into tanks as they seek safe drinking water following the devastating cyclone.
Five days after the storm, the junta continued to stall on visas for UN teams and other foreign aid workers anxious to deliver food, water and medicine to survivors amid fears the death toll could hit 100,000.
Among those stranded in Thailand were 10 members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team. U.S. air force transport planes and helicopters packed with supplies also sat waiting for a green light.
"We are in a long line of nations who are ready, willing and able to help, but also, of course, in a long line of nations the Burmese don't trust," U.S. Ambassador Eric John told reporters in Thailand's capital, Bangkok.
"It's more than frustrating. It's a tragedy," he said. Each day of delay means "a lot more people suffering," he said.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper also expressed frustration with the situation in an interview Thursday with Toronto radio station CFRB.
"The world community wants to help, and I think we're all prepared to put aside our concerns about how Burma is run for the next few weeks, just to deliver humanitarian assistance," he said.
Canada has pledged up to $2 million.
Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier and International Co-operation Minister Beverley Oda released a statement late Thursday offering the services of Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team, also known as DART.
"We urge the Government of Burma to move quickly to grant immediate full and unhindered humanitarian access, including the necessary visas and customs clearance, so that desperately needed assistance may reach the people of Burma," the ministers said.
Bernier added that he spoke with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon earlier on Thursday and "reconfirmed Canada's support and willingness to help."
"We are now offering the services of our Disaster Assistance Response Team to help with relief efforts. A Canadian advance team has left for the region to assess how Canada can best deliver its support," Bernier was quoted in the statement.
Myanmar's isolationist regime issued an appeal for international assistance after winds of 190 km/h and a storm surge more than four metres high pounded the Irrawaddy Delta Saturday.
But the junta has been accused of dragging its feet despite emerging reports on entire villages submerged, bodies floating in salty water and children ripped from their parents' arms.
"My children were crying all night. There is not enough food. There will be no food this evening," said Daw Thay, who took refuge in a monastery with her three children and her 99-year-old mother in a town about 100 kilometres south of Yangon, the country's biggest city.
Daw Thay, 42, said monks were going without food so others could eat.
"We share what we have but there isn't enough. So they (the monks) give the food to the children and the old people first," she said.
-- AP-CP
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