With each passing day, reports of devastation in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar become ever more dire. Its people need all the help the world can muster.
The trick is getting around Myanmar’s military junta and putting aid into the hands of the suffering.
If the world community has any chance of delivering food and medicine to hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors, then its leaders must stop using this disaster as an occasion to criticize Myanmar’s human rights record, no matter how well-deserved that criticism may be.
When first lady Laura Bush appeared before reporters Monday to urge Myanmar leaders to accept aid, she used the platform to condemn the country’s human rights abuses and call the government “inept.”
Furthermore, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has pointedly suggested the United Nations invoke what is known as the “responsibility to protect” doctrine that would allow the U.N. to enter the country without permission to deliver aid.
This kind of talk is bound to make Myanmar’s generals even more paranoid about the intentions of the outside world.
Making matters more complicated is the fact that Myanmar is set to have a controversial election today to decide whether to adopt a new constitution that essentially would perpetuate the military junta’s rule.
If the goal really is to help the people who have been devastated by the storm, the West must work through countries that already have established relations with Myanmar, including China, Thailand and India.
It appears this strategy of engaging Myanmar’s friends may have been at work as negotiators scored a breakthrough Friday.
Myanmar’s government agreed to allow the first U.S. planeload of relief supplies into the country, though skilled relief workers still are not being allowed into the country to distribute aid.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe on Friday mentioned the assistance of China and other countries in explaining how the change came about.
This situation presents an opportunity for China, in particular, to improve its troubled image in the international community. Brokering an aid agreement with the Myanmar government surely would help in that regard.
However, we must keep in mind that time is of the essence. More than 60,000 people are dead or missing since the cyclone struck a week ago. Another 1.9 million are homeless, injured or at risk for disease and starvation.
Along with aid, trained relief workers should be allowed into the country to distribute food and supplies.
Ultimately, Myanmar’s government may realize that allowing its citizens contact with outsiders delivering humanitarian aid is less risky than having hundreds of thousands of desperate people who will do anything to survive.
As the international community continues to work back channels, we hope that all involved will put aside politics and remain focused on the devastated people of Myanmar who so badly need our help.
