POLITICS: Burma Fears Politicisation of Humanitarian Crisis

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, May 16 2008 (IPS) – The United Nations, which has accelerated its pace of humanitarian assistance to cyclone-devastated Burma (Myanmar), is making little or no progress in dealing with the country s military leaders both at a political and personal level.
The military junta, presided over by Gen Than Shwe, has refused to pick up two phone calls from Ban Ki-moon, leaving the U.N. secretary-general out in the cold.

The government has also failed to respond to two letters he sent last week urging cooperation between the United Nations and the Burmese government.

Despite the obvious snubbing, Ban is sending a third letter through U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes, who is planning to visit the country next week, after the government agreed to provide him with the necessary visa.

The United Nations feels that international relief work is being hampered since the government continues to restrict the flow of both humanitarian aid and relief workers into the country.

Responding to charges that the United Nations is trying to politicise the crisis, the secretary-general told an informal session of the 192-member General Assembly on Friday: In my efforts so far, I have sought to avoid politicisation of the humanitarian crisis.
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Our humanitarian efforts need to be able to operate as much as possible without political interference. Again, this is not about politics. Our focus is saving lives, he added, trying to allay the fears of the military junta.

But some of the Western countries in the Security Council are accused of doing just that: trying to make political capital out of the crisis.

As a result, both China and Russia, two veto-wielding permanent members, have taken up the position that the humanitarian crisis in Burma is not a threat to international peace and security and therefore does not warrant any interference by the most powerful political body in the United Nations.

An air drop of food into Burma has been ruled out both for political and logistical reasons while unilateral intervention under the controversial principle of responsibility to protect (R2P) is a non-starter because of its wide political ramifications and also strong opposition by developing nations.

There is no reason for an R2P intervention, says one Asian diplomat, because this is purely a humanitarian issue, not a case of crimes against humanity or genocide.

Asked if the current situation was a test of the R2P principle, Holmes said he did not think it was. The notion had not been designed to be applicable to this kind of situation. It would be very dangerous if the current crisis was seen as a test of the principle and the principle to have failed, he added.

Responsibility to protect was a very valuable concept, which was still being developed. It amounted to more than a question about whether there were airdrops carried out against the wishes of Myanmar government, he added.

Ban has implicitly indicated his willingness to visit the cyclone-affected areas, where 1.6 million to 2.5 million people have been reduced to the status of internally displaced persons.

But there has been no invitation forthcoming from the military junta.

Meanwhile, Holmes is expected to pressure the government to provide visas to dozens of additional U.N. relief workers and also humanitarian organisations which are unable to enter the country.

But it is very unlikely that the government will accede to the U.N. request because it has been very selective in admitting foreigners and foreign organisations into the country.

As neighbouring countries and regional allies such as India, Japan China, Thailand and Malaysia are cooperating with the military junta in providing assistance to hundreds and thousands of cyclone victims, the United Nations is also planning to hold a pledging conference to seek increased financial assistance.

But a proposal to link the pledging conference to a meeting of foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), scheduled to take place next week, has been rebuffed.

Besides Burma, the members of ASEAN include Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Addressing a U.N. meeting Wednesday on the humanitarian situation, Ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon of Singapore made it unequivocally clear that the ASEAN foreign minister s meeting in Singapore was on an ASEAN-only event to discuss how best to continue supporting the Myanmar relief effort.

That was what has been agreed to by ASEAN. ASEAN has no plans to invite anyone else to the meeting, he said. There are also no plans to organise a pledging conference back-to-back with the ASEAN meeting, he added.

As to whether such a joint ASEAN-UN Pledging Conference could be held separately from the foreign minister s meeting, this is something that will need to be discussed by the ASEAN foreign ministers, Menon stressed.

Menon also expressed reservations over a proposal by the secretary-general to appoint a joint U.N.-ASEAN humanitarian coordinator.

He told Ban: You talked about the possibility of appointing an ASEAN-UN Joint Coordinator to deal with the humanitarian situation in Myanmar. This is an idea that will need to be carefully studied by the ASEAN foreign ministers.

My concern is that this post might become politicised. In any case, we will give the suggestion careful consideration, he said.

Expressing the sentiments of ASEAN, Menon said the humanitarian effort to alleviate the suffering of the Burmese people is the crux of the matter.

I agree with other speakers that this is a relief exercise that should not be politicised. Any attempt to do so would be counterproductive, he warned. Our goal should be to ensure that the relief effort proceeds as smoothly as possible. So we need to work with the Myanmar authorities to disburse the assistance.

No relief effort can succeed, he warned, without the cooperation of the Burmese authorities.