Burma has agreed to allow foreign medical teams into regions hit by Cyclone Nargis. The agreement, reached during a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations, comes ahead of a visit to Burma this week by the United Nations secretary-general.
缅甸同意准许外国医疗队伍进入受纳尔吉斯热带风暴袭击的地区。这项协议是在联合国秘书长计划本星期访问缅甸前，缅甸政府和东南亚国家联盟在一次会议上达成的。
After weeks of resisting requests to send in relief workers, Burma's military government has agreed to allow foreign medical teams to help victims of Cyclone Nargis.
过去几个星期，缅甸军政府始终拒绝外国提出的向缅甸派遣救援工作人员的要求。
The agreement came Monday at a meeting of Association of South East Asian Nations foreign ministers Monday in Singapore.
星期一，东南亚国家联盟的外长在新加坡的一次会议上达成了一项协议。
The foreign ministers also agreed to establish a mechanism to coordinate assistance to cyclone victims. Burma's delegation said losses from the storm, which hit May second and third, could be up to $10 billion.. The toll of dead and missing has topped 134,000.
根据这项协议，缅甸军政府终于同意让外国医疗队伍协助纳尔吉斯热带风暴的受害者。东盟外长还同意，为协助纳尔吉斯热带风暴受害者设立一个援助协调机制。缅甸代表团表示，5月2号和3号的纳尔吉斯热带风暴可能造成高达100亿美元的损失。死亡和失踪人口超过13万4千人。
Burma's reclusive government is under international pressure to allow more outside assistance. So far, very few foreign aid workers have been allowed in, and supply shipments have been a small fraction of what disaster experts say they should be.
与外界隔绝的缅甸军政府一直受到国际压力，要求它接受更多的外国援助。到目前为止，只有很少的外国救援工作人员被准许进入缅甸。灾难专家表示，运到缅甸的救援物资也只是所需要的很小一部分。
Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the United Nations relief operation, says the Singapore meeting comes after days of behind-the-scenes talks.
联合国人道协调厅女发言人皮特表示，这次新加坡会议是经过好几天的幕后协商召开的。
"We're doing everything we can to ensure that as much dialogue is ongoing with regional responders and regional partners," Pitt said. "That's one of the aims of today's foreign ministers meeting in Singapore."
皮特说：“我们正尽一切可能确保和区域负责人和区域伙伴尽量进行对话。这是东盟外长今天在新加坡会议的目的之一。”
The storm affected 2.4 million people, and 150,000 now live in evacuee settlements across the Irrawaddy Delta region.
There are fears of disease outbreaks - including cholera, among survivors, who lack shelter and sanitation. Aid agencies say their priorities are to provide housing, clean water and sanitation.
Human rights groups and several Western governments have accused Burma's military of neglecting the storm's victims.
人权组织和几个西方国家政府谴责缅甸军政府对纳尔吉斯热带风暴的受害者漠不关心。
A World Food Program spokesman, Marcus Prior, says some progress has been made in distributing food and other essentials.
世界粮食计划署的一名发言人普莱尔说，在分发食物和其他民生必须品上，已经做出了一些进展。
"By the end of this weekend past we had despatched enough food now to feed over 250,000 people," Prior said. "About a week ago we were talking in terms of struggling to reach 20 percent (of those in need) and I would say now that we're probably reached just over 30 percent."
普莱尔说：“到上周末为止，我们已经分发了足够25万人的食物。大约一个星期前，我们救援百分之20的灾民都还非常困难，但是，现在我可以说说，我们救济的灾民可能已经超过百分之30了。”
The ASEAN meeting comes just ahead of a visit to Burma by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He is expected to arrive Wednesday to meet with the country's leaders, before returning to Thailand to attend an international donor's meeting on Saturday. U.N. officials have said Burma's leader, General Than Shwe, has refused to take telephone calls from Mr. Ban.
东南亚国家联盟的这项会议是在联合国秘书长潘基文访问缅甸前不久召开的。预计，潘基文将于星期三抵达缅甸，并和缅甸领导人举行会谈，然后再返回泰国，参加星期六举行的一项国际捐助国会议。联合国官员表示，缅甸领导人丹瑞大将拒绝接听潘基文的电话。
It is not clear why the government has been reluctant to allow in aid. Burmese officials reportedly have said the aid was not needed.
Some experts on Burma's politics say the military may fear that foreign aid workers would try to undermine its rule. The United States, European Union and other governments have long had economic sanctions against Burma because of its human rights abuses. |