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From the very start, the relief work has been politicized. The ruling junta should be blamed for its stubbornness. Its unwillingness to allow the entry of international relief groups has worsened the conditions inside Myanmar’s refugee camps. It does not help that the junta has problem communicating with the international media, foreign governments and civil society groups.
Initially, the junta refused the entry of foreign aid teams. Then the government granted visas to a few volunteer groups. The junta accepted aid from select countries, namely, China, India and Thailand. But it rejected the aid coming from many rich countries, especially the United States.
It was embarrassing and scandalous that Burmese soldiers were caught changing the labels of aid boxes from other countries. It seems the junta wants to get credit for aiding its constituents by “stealing” foreign relief goods.
Many have already condemned the callousness of the junta for deciding to continue with the constitutional referendum last weekend even though hundreds of thousands of Myanmar residents remained homeless and suffering. It was even reported that the junta forced many people to vote in favor of the government position.
Local residents are beginning to complain about the paltry assistance they are receiving from the government. Many have formed volunteer groups to help fellow Burmese who need food, water, medicines, clothes and other emergency supplies. But it is shocking to learn that even this domestic initiative is being discouraged by the junta. It seems the junta wants to monopolize the relief efforts. It is requiring local groups to seek a permit first before they can give assistance to cyclone victims. Helping a neighbor requires a permit? The junta must be crazy.
The ineptness of the junta is further highlighted when people compare the quick and resolute response of the Bangladesh government when a stronger cyclone hit the country last year. Bangladesh was able to minimize the number of casualties because of the government’s efficient handling of the crisis. Recently, the Chinese government’s rescue efforts in the towns ruined by a catastrophic earthquake were hailed by many as swift and well-organized.
Some have compared the junta’s slow and unreasonable actions to the behavior of the U.S. government when Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans a few years ago. Cuba’s offer of aid was rejected. Mexico was allowed to give a token assistance. It took some time before assistance was accepted from Europe and Canada. The junta has learned something from the U.S. government.
The people of Myanmar are crying for immediate help. Engineers, doctors, health workers and other experts are needed to revive Myanmar’s communities. But the junta won’t allow the entry of foreign aid teams. Since the junta is not cooperating with international groups, many are thinking of bold measures in order to deliver aid in the flooded regions of Myanmar. Some have proposed unilateral air drops by U.S military jets to bring food to the remote villages of Myanmar. Some have proposed an outright invasion of Myanmar.
There is a proposal to invoke the doctrine of “responsibility to protect” and ask the U.N. Security Council to allow a military invasion of Myanmar. The doctrine was passed in 2006 as an instrument to justify military attack on the grounds of preventing genocide, war, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The doctrine empowers the international community to assume the responsibility of protecting the people against a despotic government.
Is the junta guilty of committing a crime against humanity? Is it right to bypass Myanmar’s government and give direct aid to the local population? Is humanitarian intervention enough reason to trample the sovereignty of Myanmar?
Perhaps the junta is aware that humanitarian intervention is sometimes a euphemism for military strike. In 1999 the situation in Kosovo was exploited by the United States to wage war against Serbia and transform the province into a NATO protectorate. In the same year Australia justified a military intervention in East Timor by citing the violence of local rebels.
The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar could be used as an excuse to invade the poor country and install a new regime which would be sympathetic to the interests of the United States and other Western nations. Is this Myanmar’s punishment for being too close to China?
Meanwhile, as the debate rages on, the people of Myanmar continue to suffer. Aid is not reaching the remotest parts of the country. The junta should begin to realize that foreign assistance is needed to uplift the conditions of its people. The United Nations should resist the temptation of launching a military strike in Myanmar in order to help the victims. Invasion, whether it is called a relief invasion or humanitarian intervention, is still military aggression.
Writer Eric Augenbraun is right to quote historian Winston James who wrote about the hurricanes which hit the Caribbean islands at the start of the 20th century. James pointed out that “The effects of natural catastrophes are profoundly mediated by social, economic, and political relations. Put simply, God may send hurricanes, but their consequences are not God-given. The damage that hurricanes, floods, and droughts do is clearly related to the degree of power one has over the effects of these natural phenomena, and the mechanisms at one’s disposal to cope with their aftermath.”
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(Mong Palatino is a Filipino youth activist, news editor of Yehey!, a Philippine-based web portal and regional editor for Southeast Asia of Global Voices Online. He can be contacted at mongpalatino@gmail.com and his Web site is www.mongpalatino.motime.com. ©Copyright Mong Palatino.)
