Page 1 of 2 Doubting donors withhold Myanmar aid
By Brian McCartan
CHIANG MAI, Thailand - Reverting to their tried and tested diplomatic strategy
of making concessions and then not following through on those commitments,
Myanmar's ruling junta appears to be weathering yet another storm of
international criticism over its controversial handling of the Cyclone Nargis
disaster.
The military regime's recent agreements with the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations (UN) to allow international relief
workers and aid into the country to help handle the humanitarian crisis was
greeted with guarded optimism by the international community. Foreign donors
have since taken a wait-and-see posture to the junta's request for US$11.7
billion in
reconstruction and rehabilitation and recent developments should give them
pause.
Cyclone Nargis, which made landfall on May 2, killed an estimated 135,000
people, although the junta only officially claims 78,000, a figure it has not
updated since mid-May. The UN estimates that 2.4 million people were affected
by the killer storm and 1 million are still in need of help. Senior US
government officials have characterized the junta's callous response to the
disaster as "criminally negligent".
Now the UN and ASEAN are at risk of abetting what many view as the junta's
crimes against humanity through its initial lack of response and subsequent
obstruction of aid deliveries associated with the natural disaster. One month
into the internationalized relief effort, there are growing signs that the
junta has reneged on its promises to better address the humanitarian crisis,
raising difficult questions about whether the international community should or
should not pledge billions of dollars to Myanmar's government to rebuild and
rehabilitate disaster-hit areas.
The junta's concession to allow increased access for aid workers and relief
shipments came at the end of a three-day mission to Myanmar by UN secretary
general Ban Ki-moon to cyclone-affected areas and his meeting on May 23 with
Myanmar's reclusive leader, Senior General Than Shwe, who before the
high-profile visit had refused to accept Ban's phone calls about the cyclone
disaster. ASEAN has since established a coordinating body of nine members to
manage the international relief effort, with three representatives each from
the Myanmar government, UN and ASEAN.
ASEAN secretary general Surin Pitsuwan referred to the arrangement as an
"international social contract" upon unveiling the plan to foreign journalists
in Bangkok in late May. At that same time, the United States, United Kingdom
and France all had warships laden with aid situated off Myanmar's coast.
Earlier, France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had suggested that the UN
and Western countries unilaterally force aid on Myanmar if the generals refused
to receive foreign assistance.
Editorials in several leading international papers and this publication raised
the prospect of a US-led, UN-endorsed exercising of the global body's "right to
protect" mandate, where the US military could have delivered aid to the
estimated two million people worst affected in Myanmar's remote Irrawaddy Delta
region.
During a May 25 donor conference held in Yangon and attended by representatives
from 44 countries, ministers from the 10 ASEAN nations, and several UN
agencies, Thein Sein made it clear that all aid work and assistance was welcome
as long as it came with "no strings attached". He told the conference, "We will
warmly welcome any assistance and aid which are provided with genuine good will
from any country or organization providing that there are no strings attached,
nor politicization involved."
Following the conference, Ban deemed the mission a success saying, "Senior
General Than Shwe agreed to allow all international aid workers to operate
freely and without hindrance. The Myanmar government appears to be moving
toward the right direction to implement these accords." Ban later added: "I
think the Myanmar government is moving fast in the right direction." ASEAN's
top representative Surin told a Bangkok press conference: "We are prying the
country open step-by-step ... There is a reciprocal sense of urgency."
Show us the money
Representatives at the donor conference, however, were less convinced, judging
by the meager $50 million to $100 million they initially pledged. That
lackluster response was due to several governments' concerns that Myanmar would
not honor its commitments and was rushing to reconstruct disaster areas before
the relief and rescue missions had been satisfactorily completed. Nearly one
month later, Ban's optimism has arguably not been borne out in practice.
Nor have donor commitments been forthcoming. As of June 13, the UN had received
only $88.5 million of its $201 million target for relief-oriented aid. Some
countries have delayed their pledged disbursements due to their concerns about
government restrictions on how aid has been distributed and reports that
displaced villagers have been forced back by government authorities to their
home areas without proper food, water or shelter.
Realizing that a US military-led, UN-endorsed humanitarian intervention was off
the table, Myanmar's generals have since hardened their stance and imposed new
bureaucratic hurdles against international humanitarian assistance and domestic
donor groups which have inhibited the efficient and equitable distribution of
aid.
New government guidelines were issued on June 9 stipulating that UN agencies
and all international and domestic relief groups must seek permission for
travel and aid distribution from several different authorities, including
government ministries. So-called township coordination committees must also be
kept informed of aid workers' movements and activities, according to the new
guidelines.
In addition, several sources indicated that permission has to be obtained from
local military, Light Infantry Division 66 and the Southwest Command
responsible for the Irrawaddy Delta region. Relief workers in the Delta say
that they must tell the exact name of the village they are going to and what
supplies they are bringing and be accompanied by a government official at all
times.
Prior to this announcement, foreigners working with relief agencies who wanted
access to the worst-hit Delta areas had to obtain official permission from the
Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social
Welfare. By June 10, 195 foreign workers had been issued visas by the junta and
the UN's World Food Program was operating 10 helicopters.
On June 11, the World Food Program confirmed that it had been told by the
government that they would no longer be able to buy relief rice domestically
and would have to receive government permission to import rice. A more worrying
sign of the regime's hardening line on relief aid have been the recent arrests
and increased restrictions on domestic donors, who to date have played a key
role in the amount of relief which has been distributed.
Local donors had earlier identified the payment of bribes, fees to use roads
and bridges, and even confiscation of aid by the authorities as major
hindrances to their efforts. Now they also risk harassment and even
imprisonment. Twenty-five cyclone survivors from Dagon township, including
women and children, were arrested by Myanmar authorities on June 10 on their
way to the United Nations Development Program offices in Yangon to plead for
more assistance.
Their arrests were followed by the recent detention of three local aid workers
in Yangon and prominent activist and journalist Zaw Thet Htway, who had helped
organize volunteer cyclone relief. The Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners based in Mae Sot, Thailand, claims that 10 domestic donors have been
arrested since the beginning of the month.
Instead, the government is angling to monopolize the distribution of local aid.
An announcement in the state-mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper on June
16 said that local donations could now be made through the government-run
Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Sub-committee of the National Disaster
Preparedness Central Committee and through district and township offices. This
was viewed by many local donors as an order rather than a request. Previous
announcements that aid
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