(CNSNews.com) - More than two weeks after a massive cyclone hit Burma, foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are finally meeting on Monday to discuss how they can help the country respond to the disaster.

The meeting in Singapore comes amid ongoing international frustration about the restrictions placed by Burma's military junta on outside aid efforts since the storm hit on May 3. The official death toll is nearly 78,000, with an estimated 56,000 people missing.

Western governments have accused the regime of exacerbating the crisis by limiting aid and blocking the entry of foreign disaster response experts. Humanitarian agencies warn that many more people - including tens of thousands of children - may yet die without food, medicine and shelter.

ASEAN, which groups the region's 10 countries, has taken flak from the West for years for its reluctance to tackle the junta over human rights violations and failure to restore civilian rule.

That reluctance is based on ASEAN's fundamental principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states. Burma joined the 40-year-old bloc in 1997.

Burmese foreign minister Nyan Win is attending the ASEAN meeting, and some of the regional governments have voiced hope that the junta may be more amenable to a substantial Asian-led relief effort than one carried out by Western nations that are among the general's harshest critics.

France's ambassador to the U.N., Jean-Maurice Ripert, warned Friday that the junta's stance on outside aid "could lead to a true crime against humanity."

American and French navy ships are in the area, ready to provide food, water, supplies and medical assistance to the worst-hit Irrawaddy River delta, but Burma has not given permission for them to do so.

After some delays, the government did approve U.S. aid flights into the country, and by the weekend, more than 20 C-130 flights had landed in Rangoon with emergency supplies.

However, a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Disaster Assistance Response Team continues to coordinating the effort from Thailand, having been denied approval to enter Burma, according to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok.

Ahead of the meeting in Singapore, the Asian Human Rights Commission urged the ASEAN ministers to press the junta to open the doors to outside experts and relief workers and aid supplies, to ensure the provision of aid without discrimination or political considerations, and to allow independent monitoring of the aid effort.

Meanwhile, after having phone calls and written appeals to Burma's military rulers ignored for two weeks, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will on Wednesday be allowed to visit the country.

In another small shift, reclusive junta leader Than Shwe at the weekend made his first public appearance since the cyclone struck. State media showed him touring some of the affected areas near Rangoon, Burma's biggest city and former capital.

The cyclone is the worst natural disaster to hit the region since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people in a number of countries, with Indonesia hardest hit. On that occasion, the U.S. military played a key role in the relief efforts.

Burma's partners in ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei.

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