The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Yangon

Myanmar's military government denied on Sunday it was evicting victims of Cyclone Nargis from relief camps, saying it was working on a voluntary resettlement program more than a month after the disaster.

The New Light of Myanmar, the voice of the ruling generals, quoted Prime Minister Thein Sein as saying survivors of the May 2 storm would be given aid to return home or settle in new areas.

"If victims want to live in areas where relief camps are being opened, arrangements will be made to resettle them there," Thein Sein said during a tour of a relief camp on Saturday in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta.

"In addition, the government will provide for their basic needs to a certain degree for some time," he said, adding survivors would receive food rations and farming equipment.

More than a month after the storm, which left 134,000 people dead or missing and another 2.4 million destitute, many survivors have not yet been reached and Western nations and foreign aid groups say the relief effort is being hampered by the country's military rulers.

In its first assessment of the junta's response to the disaster, Amnesty International said last week the government was stepping up its eviction of victims from emergency shelters, but said it was unclear whether this was official policy.

"The government's actions place tens of thousands of already vulnerable survivors at increased risk of death, disease or starvation," the London-based rights group said.