Immediately after the cyclone, Burmese civil society groups, Buddhist monks, Christian charity organizations, and local staff from international agencies already operating in Burma responded in affected areas, often having to circumvent official restrictions on movement and access under extremely difficult circumstances. Without their work, the disaster response would have cost many more lives. The government’s response to these efforts in ensuing months was to arrest at least 21 of those involved…

– Extracted from “Burma: One Year After Cyclone, Repression Continues”, Human Rights Watch, 30 April 2009.