IT IS NOT SURE TO SAVE CYCLONE REFUGEES, BUT FOR MILITARY REGIME
Asean and the UN will co-chair an international aid pledging conference in Rangoon on Sunday, both organizations announced in separate press releases. “The ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference will support efforts to alleviate the devastating impact of Cyclone Nargis on the country and widespread suffering caused to the people of Myanmar [Burma],” said the UN statement.
Both organizations said the meeting was called “in recognition of the outpouring of international solidarity and support.” However, critics say the main agenda of the ruling Burmese generals at the conference will be securing US $11 billion for aid and reconstruction, which is the amount the junta is calling for, according to Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, who visited Burma on May 20-21. A potential dilemma that could arise at the conference is the chasm in concept between the donors and the military regime. While donors, particularly in Western countries, insist on transparency and accountability within a relief mission, the junta strives mainly to control foreign relief workers and to line their own pockets, say critics. Richard Horsey, the spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangkok, said, “The donor conference will be a good opportunity for a detailed discussion between the Burmese regime and Asean leaders, as well as the UN, on what is needed right now for relief efforts—what the obstacles are, how to overcome those obstacles—which means not only financial pledges.” He also said that the recovery would be focused on aspects such as the rehabilitation of the agriculture sector in the delta, which was totally destroyed by Cyclone Nargis on May 2-3. The main thing about the donor conference is for the international community to see the Burma’s relief needs are met in the short, the medium and the long terms, said Larry Jagan, a British journalist in Bangkok who specializes on Burma. Expected at the conference is United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who arrived in Rangoon on Thursday. He is due to travel to the areas worst hit by Cyclone Nargis before meeting the head of the Burmese junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, on Friday. “Aid in Myanmar should not be politicized. Our focus now is on saving lives,” said Ban. The UN’s highest ranking humanitarian officer, John Holmes, said on Wednesday that the Burmese regime must either say “yes” or “no” to the relief mission. “The scene is set to move in the directions we have spoken about, but we need to see that happening on the ground before we can be absolutely certain about it,” he said. UN agencies estimate as many as 100,000 people died or missing and at least 2.5 million people have been affected by the tropical cyclone Nargis. Ahead of Ban Ki-moon trip to Burma, the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) said in the May 21 statement that it welcomed the UN secretary-general to Burma. Asean foreign ministers, including Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win, held a special meeting on Burma’s crisis on May 19 in Singapore. During the meeting, ministers agreed to establish a task force that will closely work with the UN as well as a central coordinating body to be set up by the Burmese regime. The task force would also “realize the Asean-led mechanism.” At the same time, the regional body called on the Burmese junta to allow more international relief workers into the stricken areas. However, Debbie Stothard, coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network (Altsean), said that the big problem is getting a commitment of aid, because everyone knows the Burmese regime is the one of the most corrupt one in the world. “The latest report by Transparency International said Burma and Somalia are the most corrupt countries in the world,” she said. Stothard said Asean may not be able to do everything, but it must assume leadership and then the rest of the international community could participate. “Asean’s role is to make sure the aid goes to where is needed”, she said. “If not, the donor conference in Rangoon on Sunday will be only a nice tea party without an outcome.”
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