Another View

Thant Myint-U is one of the world's foremost experts on his native Myanmar. The former fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, UK offered up an explanation for the military government's seemingly inexplicable stance on foreign aid.

In a thoughtful piece in May 22's International Herald Tribune, he wrote,

"... the actions of the generals should also come as no surprise.

Myanmar's ruling junta is not simply a military government. At its core is a security machine developed over a half- century of civil war and foreign intervention. Everything is viewed through a security lens.

The idea of throwing open the country's borders to international aid teams goes against the most basic instincts of the men in power. It will never happen."

For them it is a case of protecting national sovereignty, and therein lies the paradox. For several potential donor nations, there is no legitimacy for a government that denies its people its democratically-elected representative, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The word the United States choose to describe those running Myanmar right now is a "regime". When Washington uses that word, even a fifth-grader can tell us from very recent history that chances are, someone in the US capital is "gunning" (forgive the pun) for change.

Especially when you consider that among other governments labelled regime are, well, Iran and Cuba. (Enough said.)

So is it any wonder that the generals are spurning the Good Americans at their door. When Uncle Sam wants regime change, Uncle Sam gets it. Uncle George makes pretty sure of that.

What about the other Western government then? Now, there is Britain, Myanmar's former colonial masters, which insists - as does the BBC and other international media - on still calling it "Burma". It may seem petty but surely London cannot expect the generals to be too receptive towards a country that refuses to acknowledge what they decree as the country's rightful name, that by the way, even the United Nations accepts. (Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon being the first world leader to be physically in Myanmar inspecting the affected region may just back that theory up.)

But before this descends into a squabble over words that neglects the real problem at hand, the point to be made here is that those held at arm's length by the generals do to a certain extent only have themselves to blame.

In the same article, Mr Thant pointed out that Myanmar is just now "emerging from decades of armed conflict, where aid has long been politicized and where the urgent tasks of emergency relief may soon be coupled with the immeasurably more complex challenges of recovery and reconstruction."

"As early at 1990, Rolf Carriere, then Unicef director in Yangon argued that there was a desperate need for humanitarian and development aid in Myanmar, and that it could not wait for democratic change.

His call went largely unheeded. The military government pleaded for assistance, especially from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to reform the economy. But Western governments had just begun to impose sanctions in the hope of nudging the junta towards democracy, and nearly all aid - including through the UN - was cut off."

Would the military government - in power since 1989 - be like a woman scorned? The world is waiting, as are the thousands starving, dying in the flooded regions.

All this underscores a deeply-entrenched distrust for Western governments on the part of the military government, and this is something that may take more than a cyclone to unroot.

Weekly update: May 9 - 15

“I’ve never seen an emergency situation such as this before. A week after the disaster, the entire humanitarian community is still sitting in another country, outside the affected area, looking for means to access the disaster zone.”

Greg Beck, Asia regional director of the International Rescue Committee.

May 9

John Holmes, the UN coordinator for humanitarian affairs, puts the death toll from Cyclone Nargis ranges from 63,000 to 100,000. The Myanmar government's announced toll is 22,000.

At a special session at the United Nations, the Myanmar ambassador says they will " accept aid from any corner". The UN has issued a "flash appeal" to its members to raise US$187.3 million in cyclone relief for Myanmar. Based on a quick assessment by more than 20 organizations, and it includes $56 million for food, nearly $50 million for logistics and about $20 million for shelter.

WFP resumes suspended air cargo deliveries, after two chartered plane loads of food aid were impounded in Yangon.

“Myanmar has got to open itself up to a major international effort very soon if we are not to face a second disaster, where infectious diseases and other problems start to take a significant toll.”

Richard Horsey, spokesman for a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

The Myanmar government says it welcomes aid but not aid workers. However it is appearing to be more receptive to nationals of ASEAN countries. Aid workers holding Southeast Asian passports are being admitted into Myanmar more readily than others.

International discussions are underway on how to get aid into Myanmar. A proposal to issue a UN resolution forcing Myanmar to open its doors to aid has been rejected by China and Russia, saying it infringes national sovereignty. Calls have also been made to airdrop rations.


May 10

Myanmar goes ahead with referendum on a new constitution which guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military. It will also allow the president to hand over all power to the military in a state of emergency and effectively bar Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from public office.

The referendum was held in most areas of the country but has been postponed for two weeks in places hit by the cyclone.


May 11

The first American airlift of 2,800 pounds of relief items land in Myanmar, with two more plane loads scheduled to arrive. US aid has now been raised to $16.25 million. The Myanmar government took control of the supplies, loading them onto helicopters when they arrived.


May 12

International attention shifts as a deadly earthquake hits Sichuan, China.


May 13

Myanmar's officials are accused by local aid groups of pilfering aid supplies and selling them on the black market. Survivors are also said be to be given poor-quality rations, with those distributing hoarding donations.


May 14

United Nations warns that death toll could now exceed 100,000, and estimates that 2.5 million have been affected.

Rains could severely worsen the flooding in cyclone-hit areas. 12 cm of rainfall is expected over the next few days. Hundreds of thousands are already stranded homeless without shelter.


May 15

Myanmar's government says that legal action will be taken against those who hoard aid supplies.

The official death toll is raised to 43,318. 27,838 are said to be missing.

Aid groups say they are not allowed beyond Yangon. Police are turning back foreigners at the city's checkpoints. ( Source: CNN)

Weekly update: May 2 - 8

May 4, Sunday

A state of emergency is declared in five areas : the city of Yangon, Irrawaddy, Pegu and the states of Karen and Mon. All flights to Yangon, the former capital, are cancelled.

Water and power supplies to most affected areas remain cut off. Cell phone and landline networks are down.


May 5, Monday

Myanmar government summon diplomats as it launches an appeal for international aid. Thailand has already received aid request.

15,000 believed to be dead, 10,000 in the township of Bogalay alone.

US First lady Laura Bush cites the lack of warning as the latest example of "the junta's failure to meet its people's basic needs." (CNN, May 5), begging comparison to the Bush administration's much-criticised response to Hurricane Katrina. Many unable to heed evacuation orders issued were neglected and survivors were stranded in squalid conditions without basic necessities for days. New Orleans' top emergency management official called the relief effort a "national disgrace".


May 7, Wednesday

State media: 22,464 confirmed killed in in disaster, 41,ooo homeless.

Governments pledge aid:

The United States ups offer from US$ 250,000 to $3 million. Britain promises £5 million ($9.9 million)

The European Union pledges 2 million euros ($3.1 million). China gives $1m.

France is limiting its financial aid to 200,000 euros ($310,000)

"It's not a lot, but we don't really trust the way the Burmese ministry would use the money," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, also co-founder of relief group Medicins sans Frontieres in 1971

(source : BBC)

The BBC also reports that Unicef has warned "survivors faced poor sanitation and a lack of access to clean water, as well as the threat of diseases such as malaria, cholera and dysentery.

"In some areas we know that the areas are still completely under water, under salt water... some people have absolutely no drinking water and food."

Andrew Kirkwood, Myanmar country director for Save the Children

May 8

Aid agencies are being frustrated by Myanmese bureaucracy.

Foreign aid workers are unable to enter the country pending visa approvals. Three UN flights from Bangkok, Dhaka and Dubai with 40 tonnes of high energy biscuits awaiting clearance by Burmese authorities finally land in Yangon.

China increases aid to US$ 5.3 million.

Myanmar's neighbours Thailand and India have managed to send aid planes.

Survivors in the Irawaddy region are stranded without shelter, clean water and food. Foods to the region are reported to be empty with no aid heading their way.