UN chief blasts Burma over cyclone response 13/05/2008 - 07:16:36
United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon criticised Burma’s military junta for its “unacceptably slow response” to helping cyclone victims.
Nearly 32,000 people were killed by the cyclone and almost 30,000 others are still missing after the May 3 cyclone, according to Burma state television yesterday.
“We believe that it’s going to be very difficult to reach everybody and to tackle the crisis as we would like without some outside military and civilian assets,” John Holmes, the UN’s top humanitarian official, told reporters.
Almost all foreign relief workers have been barred entry into the isolated nation. The junta says it wants to hand out all donated supplies on its own.
“I want to register my deep concern – and immense frustration – at the unacceptably slow response to this grave humanitarian crisis,” Ban said last night.
“Unless more aid gets into the country – very quickly – we face an outbreak of infectious diseases that could dwarf today’s crisis. I therefore call, in the most strenuous terms, on the government of Burma to put its people’s lives first. It must do all that it can to prevent this disaster from becoming even more serious.”
Ban said Burma’s leaders had not returned his repeated calls and letters to them, including a second letter sent yesterday, seeking greater cooperation with the UN and other international relief efforts.
Meanwhile three of the UN Security Council’s five veto-wielding members - France, Britain and the US – remained interested in possible action to require Burma’s government to open its doors to more aid, US and other council diplomats said.
“We’ll be pushing the issue in the council,” deputy US ambassador Alejandro Wolff said.
There is no agreement on proposed wording for a statement or resolution, but US officials say their aim is to craft language saying authorities in Burma must do everything possible to accept international help.
Western powers were taking a wait-and-see approach in their discussions, based on indicators such as how many US flights are allowed into Burma. Mr Wolff noted Burma gave the US permission to bring in two more C-130 flights with emergency supplies today. The first one flew into the country yesterday, carrying water, blankets and mosquito nets.
Previous discussions last week to pressure Burma to accept more aid were set aside temporarily after the nation began taking steps to let in a few flights and aid shipments.
Last week, French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner suggested the 15-member security council could use the UN’s mandate adopted in 2005 that nations have a “responsibility to protect” their own citizens to bypass Burma’s military leaders and drop supplies by air. But that mandate does not mention natural disasters.
Council diplomats said eight of the 15 members – China, Russia, South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Libya and Panama – had opposed having the UN body that deals with peace and security take up a humanitarian catastrophe.
But last night, Mr Wolff said proponents of a resolution to pressure Burma were “seeing some movement” in their favour.
“While we’re encouraged by that movement, more needs to be done,” he said. “I wouldn’t focus so much on ’responsibility to protect’ as I would on the need to ensure that the Burmese authorities do everything they can to be receptive to the desperately-needed humanitarian assistance and expertise the international community wants to offer.”
Burma’s UN ambassador, Kyaw Tint Swe, declined to discuss any such proposal but suggested it was unnecessary.
“We are doing everything we can,” he said.
Last week, he told a UN meeting appealing for €117.3m in emergency aid for Burma that his country was prepared to co-operate with the international community and accept help from all quarters, but that the aid “has to be orderly and systematic”.
In London, Conservative Party leader David Cameron suggested dropping aid in Burma without the consent of the country’s military rulers.
But British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s office said any move to drop aid by air was unlikely though all options should be considered.
And US defence secretary Robert Gates said last week he could not imagine dropping aid into Burma without consent from authorities.
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United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon criticised Burma’s military junta for its “unacceptably slow response” to helping cyclone victims.
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