Tens of thousands of cyclone survivors are on the move in the Irrawaddy Delta, posing a challenge for international relief workers trying to reach them with aid.
Meanwhile, children are at risk of being kidnapping and trafficked in the aftermath of the cyclone, which the UN has warned is on the verge of a major humanitarian crisis.
Eye-witnesses said villagers from the lower Irrawaddy Delta area are moving north to safety, and many are even trekking towards the former capital Rangoon.
"They are understandably trying to escape the devastation," Richard Horsey, a spokesperson for the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Mizzima. "This is of course makes assessing the needs of the displaced people more difficult and targeting relief even harder."
Richard Bridal, regional Unicef head, warned that children were especially vulnerable.
"Of course many of the survivors are children and they are in danger of being kidnapped and trafficked," Bridal said. "These children are also in danger of suffering from acute malnutrition; they need to be identified and treated – if they are not, they will certainly die."
The international community is growing increasingly impatient with the Burmese junta's intransigence in allowing in more aid and supplies. On Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his "immense frustration" at Burma's slow response to the cyclone that hit the country more than a week ago.
"This is certainly Burma's tsunami," said Terje Skavadal, the regional head of UNOCHA in Bangkok.
"It's an unprecedented natural disaster. Millions of poor people have lost everything – their homes, food and their livelihood," he told Mizzima. "If something isn't done soon they will perish, and the second wave of deaths from disease and malnutrition will outstrip those who died from the cyclone itself."
Nearly 125,000 people were killed by the cyclone, according to aid workers assessing the damage done in the Irrawaddy Delta. The UN estimates that a further 100,000 are missing. The government insists the death toll is around 31,930 with 1,403 injured and 29,770 missing.
