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As the humanitarian effort struggles on in the face of a potentially terminating funding crisis, the focus of the international community seems to have shifted to the wider political and human rights crises in Burma. The National League for Democracy has once again urged the military regime to convene Parliament in order to solve the political and humanitarian crises the country is facing.
U.S. Senator John Kerry has formally urged U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to investigate whether the junta’s restriction of foreign aid may constitute a crime against humanity under international law. He has requested a legal opinion from the State Department.
The World Bank has donated US$850,000 to ASEAN for disaster assessment and recovery activities in the wake of the cyclone. The grant is further intended to support ASEAN’s leadership role in the humanitarian efforts and to strengthen its capacity in the coordination of international response and senior-level dialogue on recovery planning.
Burmese groups in exile have issued a statement expressing concern that the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank may view the current humanitarian crisis as an opportunity to increase engagement with the junta’s State Peace and Development Council. The Ethnic Community Development Forum and other groups have urged the World Bank and ADB to focus only on facilitating relief efforts and to include community-based organisations advocating real political reform in any decision-making process regarding their activities in Burma.
The World Food Program has made a plea for additional funding for the humanitarian aid effort being carried out in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. Chris Kaye, WFP country director in Burma, warned that the distribution of supplies to distressed communities by boat, truck and air “will all grind to a halt by the end of this month unless we get additional funding now.”
The executive secretary of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Noeleen Hayzer, called on the international community to donate 1 million gallons of diesel fuel that the regime says is needed to operate the mechanical tillers donated by other countries.
Farmers in Labutta township, Irawaddy division, went to collect hand tractors donated as part of the cyclone relief effort but found that local authorities were demanding payment. Even the down payment far exceeded the means of most farmers.
Reports suggest that so far none of the farmers in the delta region has been provided with any financial or material assistance to enable them to get back to work. An absurdist bureaucracy charging farmers from the cyclone-stricken regions administration fees for defunct contracts has further hindered the distribution of machines in this critical planting season.
Private donors continue to face harassment and obstruction despite the junta’s promises. The Thai-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners states that ten donors have been arrested since the beginning of June.
One of the many civil groups to have formed since the strike of Cyclone Nargis has undertaken the grim task of disposing of the many corpses still lying in the rivers and fields of the Irrawaddy delta. They have given bodies a simple cremation and burial rites. Seven members of the group were arrested on June 14.
Donated food stored in a monastery in Phyar Pon was left to rot instead of being given to desperate cyclone victims because soldiers didn’t receive orders to distribute it. Meanwhile, increasing numbers of children in Rangoon and other cyclone-afflicted areas have been reduced to stealing food in order to stave off starvation.
The junta has warned against the exploitation of children orphaned by the cyclone. Anyone found guilty of trafficking children will be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison. The authorities have also announced that they will take sole responsibility for the care of orphans, banning all individuals and organisations from doing so. This move threatens the plans of the Free Funeral Service Society to build an orphanage.
The United Nations launched a massive anti-dengue operation in the cyclone-hit areas of Burma this week. The climate and lack of shelter in the Irrawaddy delta has left cyclone survivors at greater risk of succumbing to this disease. Other diseases are on the rise in Labutta, although not at the rate expected.
Celebrations for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s 63rd birthday on June 19 took place all across the globe this week. In Washington, an event was held at the Capitol Building, home of the U.S. Congress. Politicians from the U.S. government and the Burmese government in exile, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, along with activists and journalists from the exiled-Burmese and international media attended. U Tin Maung Thaw, board member of U.S. Campaign for Burma, cited the occasion as an opportunity to persuade the U.S. government to take the regime to the International Court of Justice.
Celebrations held in Burma were marred by beatings and arrests. An event held at the National League for Democracy headquarters was disrupted by members of the USDA and Swan Arr Shin. Members of the crowd were beaten and five activists were arrested.
The All Burma Monks’ Alliance called for the U.N. Security Council to safeguard the people of Burma. Citing the raping of ethnic women with impunity, the detention of political prisoners and the handling of Cyclone Nargis, the statement argues that “long-standing tolerance by the international community of human rights violations in Burma made the Burmese military junta believe that they have a license to kill and they have nothing to fear.”
The Free Burma Rangers have published reports documenting the ongoing attacks on the Karen people. The reports detail the destruction of villages, the laying of land mines and the displacement of the Karen.
The regime has announced a reshuffle of two Cabinet positions and the appointment of the navy’s commander-in-chief to a ministerial post. The move comes in the wake of Cyclone Nargis and will allow the minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement to concentrate on this role by relinquishing his post as the minister for immigration and population. Rangoon-based military sources claim that the move is unusual and could signal further changes.
Reports suggest that rumors of a national uprising on Aug. 8 are flying in Burma. Flyers being distributed in the country appeal to the dispossessed and poorly paid soldiers of the Burma Army to turn on their overseers on the 20th anniversary of the massacre of students across Burma and on the day that the Olympics open in Beijing.
The idea of military coups has lost popularity in today’s global-political climate, but it may be the only form of justice the leaders of the Burmese military regime can understand.
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(Khin Ohmar is coordinator of the Asia Pacific Peoples' Partnership on Burma, based in Thailand. She can be contacted at appartnership@gmail.com. Her blog may be found at http://apppb.blogspot.com.)
