By Alan Brown in Bago, Graeme Jenkins in Rangoon and Gethin Chamberlain
Last Updated: 9:59PM BST 10/05/2008

Burma's generals have hijacked the international aid effort by handing out small quantities of foreign relief supplies stamped with their own names.
While their officials were impounding two further aeroplane loads of food and shelter materials sent to help the victims of the cyclone that has killed up to 100,000 people, the regime's leaders appeared on television handing out boxes on which they had stamped their own names over those of the donors.
The clumsy publicity stunt did nothing to placate frustrated aid workers inside the country who say two million cyclone survivors are at risk of death if the relief effort is not immediately stepped up.
In a further disturbing development, the Telegraph has learnt that child traffickers have moved into the area hit by the cyclone, hoping to prey on survivors.
Two traffickers are reported to have been arrested in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta region, where many children have been orphaned, leaving them vulnerable to abuse.
Save The Children said that it had received a report of the arrests from local aid workers. Guy Cave, the agency's deputy country director, described it as a "very worrying development".
The United Nations warned yesterday that only one quarter of the neediest victims of Cyclone Nargis have received any kind of aid. The official Burmese government death toll stands at 23,335, with 37,019 missing, but unofficial estimates suggest the true figure is far higher.
Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, said: "We now believe that 100,000 are dead. It is completely unacceptable that the Burmese government should block the international aid. They should immediately remove the restrictions."
British donors have so far contributed £5 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee Burma appeal.
Burmese sources have told the Telegraph that Senior General Than Shwe, the leader of the junta, has personally blocked international relief efforts.
Than Shwe is notorious for his stubbornness and xenophobia and the source said that although the army had been prepared to focus more resources on the delta, the general ordered it to reserve much of its strength to provide security for yesterday's referendum on a new constitution.
Richard Horsey, the spokesman for the United Nations emergency relief arm, said high-energy biscuits that could feed 95,000 people remained stuck in Rangoon airport.
In Bago, a town nestling in paddy fields 50 miles north of Rangoon, those turning up to vote were greeted with a specially commissioned referendum pop tune. "Come, come, come," the singers urged, "Vote here and show your desires."
If more sceptical residents felt like they'd heard it all before, it was because they had – the same ditty was used during Burma's last referendum back in 1974, a previous junta-engineered fix that in effect enshrined military rule.
The referendum was billed by the government as a generous concession to the protests which it crushed last September. State propaganda has hailed the new constitution as paving the way for a return to democracy.
Critics have dismissed the vote as a sham and pointed out that police and army units deployed around the polling stations might be better engaged in aid operations.
Most Burmese, particularly the vast numbers of uneducated rural poor, have not even seen the document and have little idea of what it means. Few people believe the government will respect the verdict if it is rejected.
None the less, the country's underground opposition movement has been trying to persuade people to vote against it as a register of protest.
"The people in the countryside have little understanding of politics and all they have heard is government propaganda telling them that this constitution is a great idea," one opposition activist said. "We have just given them a simple message – only vote yes if you are happy with life here as it is at the moment. Nobody is happy right now, so they say 'of course, I will vote no'."
But with early reports suggesting 80 to 90 per cent of votes backed the new constitution, many appeared not to have taken the advice. Some said they were afraid of reprisals, while others had mistakenly thought a yes vote was a vote in favour of change.
"I voted no because I know that this constitution will be used against the people to prevent any further change," said one store owner, who did not wish to give his name.
"But I think about 70 per cent of people here in Bago have voted yes, either because they are afraid or because they don't understand what the constitution means."

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Classic. And we get it.

Posted by... Nightflyer..Go get me a beer.... Posted by Zekos....get me one too b.itch Posted by... Exo1.Haha!!... good man!!.... .........yeah!!.... while your out there get me one too.....Posted by... SniperALpha1Corona with lime is the way to go. CAUSE THAT'S AMERICA *****!Posted by...Zidane Whiskey pl0x.

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They think any western interferance will loosen their grip on power.....they want the aid...but they want to distrbute it themselves......in my opinion the most needy wont get it.....and millions will starve anyway......while the goverment sits on the UN aid......

Well if Burma wants to hand the food out, let them . Its not our place to play god all around the world. Who the hell does the West and the UN think it is?

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The objective is piece!

Dont be so nieve... the UN is a global organisation that everybody has signed upto in case you havent noticed, and the Burmise Govt dont want western help cos they are naughty boyz playing with the Chinese and possibly the Russians and dont want any western military aid around cos they might find out...

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"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

No! it is a highly corrupt organisation that feathers its own nest at every opportunity. Member states only contribute soldiers and aid workers to gain financially or to influence events. It is a morally bankrupt organisation that has become a laughing stock.

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The objective is piece!

Tell that to the 47 Irish Soldiers who are KIA bringing peace under a UN banner to other countries!!!....

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"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

Oh don't get mad. We are here to learn EXo. Just because you think the UN is wonderful doesn't make it so. The Irish would be better just acting within the EU and staying away from that horrible rats nest called the UN. I have nothing against the Irish. Just a bunch of self seeking parasites pretending to be enforcing some kind of global law HA!

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The objective is piece!

The Irish arn't parasites. However the UN are a waste of space.

As Exo says.....tell that to not only to the Irish peacekeepers.....but the thousands from all four conners of the world..fighting to bring peace to the most war-torn..poverty stricken regions of our world....knocking the job that UN peacekeepers do??.......your an idiot....Ireland were trying to gain financially or influence events from their work in the leb??.....or the Germans in the congo...or the Finnish in Afghanistan.....they were/are trying to influence events.....its called bringing peace.....and if these people didnt stand up and be counted.....the world would be in a far worste state then it already is......your a clown without the comedy eliment