Brussels, 21/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - Nearly three weeks since cyclone Nargis hit Burma/Myanmar, killing nearly 130,000 and leaving 2.4 without shelter, 1.4 million people have still not received aid from the government, although the Burmese junta did finally allow John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, entry to its territory, and although UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to meet the head of the Burmese junta in Rangoon on Thursday 22 May.
It is vital that aid should reach the “poor and oppressed” people of Burma, the president-in-office of the EU Council, Slovenian State Secretary Janez Lenarèiè, told the European Parliament. He nonetheless regretted that, despite the situation, the junta has not ruled out organising the national referendum. Louis Michel, European Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner, has made a great effort to convince the Burmese junta of the need to allow aid deliveries, which should of course be neutral, but the effectiveness of this aid will necessarily depend on the possibility of gaining access.
“A very frustrating mission, a total feeling of distrust towards the international community … I was quite pleased to return to Europe”, was the expressive comment by European Commissioner Louis Michel, who was in Rangoon on 15 and 16 May, but who, after a “polite but tough” meeting lasting two and a half hours, returned to Brussels having achieved little. The Commission immediately made €2 million available and decided to provide food aid worth €5 million. The Commission also immediately called for the opening of a second airport (a request that was refused) as well as permission for doctors of the region to go to the disaster-hit areas. This permission was given after the meeting of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) foreign ministers, in Singapore on 19 May, and concerns medical doctors from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, India and Bangladesh.
Burma, however, on the whole remains “very reticent to create conditions for international aid to meet the needs”, Louis Michel states bitterly. According to the European commissioner, a small step in the right direction would be the designation of a coordinator for the distribution of EU and ASEAN aid.
Harmut Nassauer, from the EPP-ED Group, calls on ASEAN countries. He says he hopes these countries will be able to convince the Myanmar regime to allow aid to enter the country. Speaking on behalf of the Greens/EFA political group, Daniel Cohn-Bendit of Germany, called for light to be shed on the concept of neutrality, saying: “If we want to support the Burmese population, in the eyes of the Burmese junta we are therefore not neutral”. Mr Cohn-Bendit, who was backed by representatives from all sides, said it would be necessary to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court and to the United Nations Security Council.
Some MEPs quite rightly stressed the difference of behaviour between Burma and China in the face of disaster, but China continues to support Burma. All MEPs who took part in the debate invited the EU and the member states to put pressure on Burma, invoking the concept of “right to humanitarian interference”. Some MEPs pointed out that only democratisation of the country will provide a long term solution to its problems. Mr Michel had the last word: “Would the EU have the determination and the possibility to use constraint against Burma?” (L.G.)