Red Cross aid packs sold in markets in Rangoon

The online journal Mizzima has just published this photo showing boxes of products emblazoned with the Red Cross logo piled up at a Rangoon market stall ready for sale. Is international aid funding the country's military officials?

Mizzima News, a Burmese information site based in India, says that its correspondents in the country found foreign branded noodles, biscuits, dried meats, tents and mosquito nets in several markets in the capital. According to the site, these are the same products that had been distributed to zones wrecked by the cyclone, which came from foreign aid packages sent by various countries including Thailand, China, the USA and Japan.

Kio, one of our Observers for Burma, confirms to us that products intended for humanitarian aid relief are being sold in markets all over the country. It's impossible to know how the goods got there, but Kio reminds us that each delivery of aid goes through the junta. According to him, the products would have been sold-off by Burmese regime officials.

Photo taken yesterday (May 14). Source: Mizzima.