BANGKOK, May 10 (AlertNet) - While international aid workers wait for visas to get into Myanmar, a week after a Cyclone Nargis killed tens of thousands and left a million homeless, rights activists criticise the military junta for harrying people to vote in a referendum aimed at cementing its grip on power.

They say the junta's focusing on politics instead of its citizen's needs, and international agencies should do more to help people prepare for disasters here and other countries where global warming is set to ravage coastlines more and more.

"Going ahead with the referendum today shows the military has put the referendum ahead of the needs of the people," said Sunai Phasuk, a consultant with Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Bangkok.

Authorities postponed the referendum in the hardest- hit Irrawaddy delta and the city of Yangon, but voting went ahead in other parts of the country.

In the lead- up to Saturday's ballot, soldiers threatened and intimidated voters in the isolated southeast Asian country, according to Charm Tong, spokesperson for Shan Women's Action Network.

"The Burmese military is too busy controlling the people, instead of helping the cyclone survivors," said Tong.

Military authorities told prisoners they would be given amnesty and released if they voted yes, Tong said.

She said local residents in Shan State were forced to take part in what appeared to be a referendum rehearsal. After showing their ballot papers, voters were told they didn't have to vote again on polling day, because their votes had already been counted.

"The regime only cares about their own power," HRW's Phasuk said. "They continue suppressing people against the backdrop of a humanitarian disaster."

STIRRING FLAMES?

But Phasuk warned that by failing to address its people's humanitarian needs, the junta could be stirring the flames of what others have said could be another widespread uprising against military rule in a country with 53 million people.

Phasuk also joined mounting calls from around the world for Myanmar to allow international experts and aid workers into the country.

"What is needed is heavy airlift capacity - helicopters," said Phasuk. "Clearly the Burmese military doesn't have that capacity. Time is running out. Today marks a full week since the cyclone. Time that could have been used to help survivors has been wasted by the Burmese authorities."

Phasuk urged ASEAN member nations to play a greater role in pressuring Myanmar's leaders to ease restrictions on foreign aid. He also criticised China and Indonesia for blocking discussion on the issue at the U.N. Security Council.

"There have been many countries that opened their borders to international aid," said Phasuk.

He cited Iran, which after a 2003 earthquake killed 31,000 people accepted U.S. assistance in spite of tense political relations. "What is wrong with the Burmese generals?"

VISA DELAYS

As scores of aid workers and international experts prepared to wait out the weekend in Bangkok hoping their visas would be approved next week, rights groups criticised Myanmar's military authorities for hampering the relief effort.

"It's part of a pattern that has emerged over the past 40 years," said Benjamin Zawacki, a southeast Asia researcher with Amnesty International.

"It's a callous step. When countries like Myanmar refused or are either unable or unwilling to meet their minimum core obligations to their own citizens - food and health - such countries have an obligation to seek international assistance."

He said this was the first time the international community had considered overriding national sovereignty in disaster response. "I think it's indicative of the level of crisis," said Zawacki.

World Vision is one of dozens of aid groups carrying out cyclone relief operations in Myanmar.

Two of its aid workers - an Australian, and a Japanese citizen - were granted visas this week. Ten others are waiting for approval in Bangkok, according to James East, the organisation's regional communications director.

Compared with many international aid groups, World Vision's disaster response is not as seriously hampered by visa restrictions. The agency has some 580 local staff in Myanmar, who have already distributed rice, water, fuel, rehydration salts and tarpaulins to 79,000 people in the Yangon area.

FUTURE LESSONS

East says important lessons can be learned for the future from Cyclone Nargis. Critically, he said, local citizens must be trained and empowered to distribute aid in a crisis.

"This disaster has shown once again that the focus of the international community has to switch from always responding after a disaster has struck to investing in preparedness," said East.

"You end up saving lives, and the economic impact of the disaster is weakened."

As global warming causes increasingly violent storms, and as sea levels rice, as is widely predicted, East claimed coastal communities in Asia will be particularly at risk.

Already, he said, large areas of land are disappearing in Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea, and local communities are having to respond.

"These coastal communities are becoming more vulnerable," said East. "Mitigation is absolutely crucial."