Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association call
on the Burmese government to grant visas to foreign journalists who want to
go and cover the aftermath of the cyclone that has devastated the south of
the country and Rangoon. They also call for the lifting of prior censorship
for the Burmese news media.

"The authorities should respond to the disaster that has hit Burma by
opening up and allowing the foreign press in," Reporters Without Borders
and the Burma Media Association said. "It is shocking to see them refuse to
grant press visas while appealing for international aid. In view of the
emergency, the military government should also stop subjecting the Burmese
media to prior censorship, as they can play a key role in helping the
victims and reconstruction."

The military government announced at a news conference on 6 May 2008 in
Rangoon that Cyclone Nargis killed at least 22,000 people as it battered
the country on 3 and 4 May.

Only official reports are being permitted for the time being. Burmese TV
stations are broadcasting footage of the damage and of the military helping
victims. In reality, many Burmese are complaining that they are not getting
any help. Journalists working for the Burmese media in exile say they have
information that indicates that the regime is underestimating the toll from
the cyclone and is trying to show that it is coping with the situation.

"Near Rangoon, a witness told me that soldiers arrived with a state TV crew
to film the distribution of clothes to cyclone victims but, in practice,
they gave out almost nothing," a Burmese journalist based in Thailand said.

There is no information about the cyclone on Myanmar.com, a government
website, or on the website of the "Myanmar Times", a privately-owned
weekly.

A journalist working for a European news organisation who obtained a
tourist visa was turned back on his arrival in Rangoon. Two Asian reporters
were also denied entry. A CNN journalist was nonetheless able to visit
areas hit by the cyclone on 6 May.

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association also call on the
government to explain the circumstances in which the security forces opened
fire on inmates in Insein prison during the cyclone. Organisations based in
Thailand say more than 30 prisoners were killed. There has been no word of
the prisoners of conscience held in Insein, including journalist Win Tin.