In his biggest challenge so far as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emerged yesterday from a meeting with Burma’s top generals to say he had extracted from them an assurance that international aid workers and supplies will now be let into the Irrawaddy Delta, devastated all of 22 days ago by Cyclone Nargis.
Ban and a UN party together with a group of journalists from around the world had been taken the day before by Burmese military helicopters to visit what the authorities said was a typical refuge erected for survivors of the disaster. One experienced UN official in Ban’s party, noting the pristine cleanliness of the facility and the surprising lack of occupants, branded it a “show camp”. The secretary-general was reportedly himself quite shocked at the patent fraud he was being shown but refused to be drawn on his views.
By maintaining that diplomatic silence, Ban almost certainly gave himself the chance to convince the Burmese Junta led by the reclusive Gen. Than Shwe that they must now permit the international community to aid their stricken people. Yet this concession by the paranoid generals may prove worthless. Ban left the meeting without any specific details on who will be permitted to assist and how they will be facilitated to do so by the authorities. The government has welshed on previous promises and may well do so again.
Indeed, the official line being given out over the catastrophe is not encouraging. This is that the rescue operation has come to an end and the rebuilding exercise is now beginning. It has been estimated that some 134,000 Burmese have died or are missing as a result of the tidal wave that swept ashore. How many more of the approximately two million inhabitants of the delta may have since perished from starvation and disease is not clear.
If international aid workers with their food and medicines are indeed now allowed unfettered access to the disaster area, it is certain they will find much to do to succor the survivors. Their work must also include the rapid rebuilding and restoration of paddy fields before the key current rice season passes. Yet it is unclear how many farmers are left to undertake the task.
It is notable that international condemnation of the ostrich-like behavior of the ruling junta has become muted in recent days. It is now evident that this deafening wave of protest was initially counterproductive in that it stiffened the government’s resolve to keep the world community out. Yet in the face of such astonishing heartlessness, little blame can be attached to the anguish of helpless onlookers worldwide. That France took the lead in calling for military intervention to drop aid to suppliers was however probably a step too far. So too were suggestions that Burma’s generals should be indicted for human rights abuses.
There will be time enough to judge the junta and that job should be left to the Burmese people. The priority remains to help the luckless tens of thousands whose lives have been destroyed.
