Burmese cyclone survivors face a massive crisis unless they are urgently delivered aid, leading aid agencies have warned - while Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Burma's generals to ease restrictions on outside assistance.

Burma's military regime is distributing international aid today. But it is covering the boxes with the names of top generals in an effort to turn the relief effort for last week's devastating cyclone into a propaganda exercise.

Development agencies and United Nations officials are exasperated at the obstructiveness of the Burmese junta toward an international aid effort aimed at bringing desperately needed supplies to victims of the recent cyclone.

Teams from Disasters Emergency Committee member agencies, along with flights of emergency relief items, are now reaching those affected by Cyclone Nargis. DEC is calling for urgent donations to the DEC Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone Appeal.

As the death toll from the Burma cyclone continues to rise dramatically, possibly to around 100,000, the Methodist Church and the Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF) in Britain have launched an emergency appeal for funds.

UK-based international development agency Christian Aid has launched an appeal to help those left without shelter, food or water in Burma after Cyclone Nargis hit the country four days ago.

Development agencies say that the final outcome of the Burmese cyclone disaster, which latest reports suggest has claimed over 23,000 lives, may be on the scale of the Asian tsunami a few years ago. They are urging a global response.

Global church development agencies, including the UK-based Christian Aid, are calling on the international community and the Burmese government to use all available means to help those affected by cyclone Nargis.