(CNSNews.com) - As aid groups warned that more than a million lives may be at risk following the recent cyclone in Burma, the country's ruling military junta held a weekend referendum on a new constitution and hailed it a success.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported a "massive turnout" of voters in Saturday's referendum. The junta, which did not permit any campaigning for a "no" vote, says approval of the constitution will lead to elections in 2010.

But critics say the document, drafted by a military panel, is designed to perpetuate the power of the generals, who have controlled Burma since 1962 and in 1990 overruled the result of elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).

The decision to go ahead with the vote came despite appeals by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the NLD, human rights groups and others for the regime to focus instead on responding to the massive humanitarian crisis caused by Cyclone Nargis on May 2.

The official death toll, reported on state-run television, stands at almost 28,500, with 33,000 people missing, but a U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report on an assessment in some of the worst-hit areas put the figure at between 63,000 and 101,000, with 220,000 missing.

It said between 1.2 million and 1.9 million people had been severely affected by the storm.

Slowly increasing supplies of emergency aid are arriving in Burma, but with continuing hold-ups in approving shipments and visas for relief personnel it remains far less than needed for the scale of the need, according to humanitarian organizations.

Dozens of nations have offered assistance but the government appears reluctant to allow outsiders to distribute aid. State television showed images of top generals handing out aid packages.

Human Rights Watch noted that under international law relating to internally displaced people -- like the estimated one million who have been left homeless by the cyclone -- a state is expected to allow "rapid and unimpeded access" to humanitarian assistance, especially when the authorities concerned are unable or unwilling to meet the need.

Illustrating the challenges facing the aid effort, a first Red Cross ship carrying food, fresh water and other supplies by river to the disaster zone sank on Sunday, apparently after hitting a submerged tree trunk. Although some of the cargo was salvaged, the International Federation of the Red Cross said the food would have been contaminated by the river water.

"Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid," the federation's disaster manager in Rangoon, Michael Annear, said in a statement.

The U.S. Defense Department says it has relief supplies and helicopters standing by in neighboring Thailand, awaiting Burma's permission to fly it in. After days of delays, the junta late last week finally okayed a first U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules carrying aid to land in Rangoon on Monday.

The helicopters have been deployed by the USS Essex Strike Group, which the U.S. Navy says is itself ready to provide help, if allowed entry into Burmese waters. The amphibious assault ship, other vessels and U.S. Marines are in the region for annual interoperability training with Thai forces, this year also involving the Singaporean, Japanese and Indonesian militaries.

The U.S. Navy played a major role in relief operations following the Indian Ocean tsunami that hit Indonesia and other countries on December 26, 2004. The death toll from the tsunami was twice as high as the current predictions of the number of fatalities in Burma, but the post-tsunami aid effort was mobilized quickly enough to prevent a major outbreak of disease.

Disaster relief experts have expressed concern that this may not be possible this time, because of the hold-ups resulting from the junta's slow and muddled response to the crisis. The international aid agency Oxfam warned in Bangkok that 1.5 million lives could be at risk from a combination of factors including disease and lack of food and water.

'Malign neglect'

"A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions in significant part because of the malign neglect of the regime," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband charged in a television interview on Sunday.

His French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, raised the possibility of delivering aid whether the junta objected or not. A French warship laden with food and medical supplies is reportedly planning to steam from India, to arrive in Burmese waters by midweek.

Kouchner, who has a background in humanitarian and human rights activism, has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of Burma's handling of the cyclone.

The French government last week sought to get the U.N. Security Council to intervene in Burma, citing a concept adopted by world leaders in 2005 of a "responsibility to protect" people facing genocide or crimes against humanity, when governments concerned were unwilling to do so. The attempt was opposed by several countries including China, Burma's closest ally.

Human Rights Watch at the weekend urged China, as well as India and South-East Asian nations with ties to the junta, to do more - including at the Security Council - to persuade it to lift all restrictions on aid.

"The world is watching to see if China does the right thing for Burma's cyclone victims," said Asia director Brad Adams in a statement. "China should do everything in its power to get sufficient aid into Burma or it will share responsibility for the deaths of tens of thousands of people."

Although China says it has sent at least three aid shipments to Burma since the cyclone -- and the junta evidently placed no restrictions on those -- it objects to outside "interference" in the affairs of its allies and trading partners.

China's support for some of the world's most repressive regimes has brought it unwelcome attention as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer.

Its backing for the Burmese junta, especially during a violent clampdown on Buddhist monk-led protests last September, triggered calls in some countries for a boycott of the games -- or at least a symbolic stay-away from the opening ceremony on August 8.

Those calls have grown since then, spurred by China's clampdown on violent protests in Tibet last March, and its close ties to the government of Sudan, accused of a key role in the conflict in Darfur.

China is a major purchaser of oil from Sudan and has also signed agreements to secure natural gas supplies from Burma.

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