On May 2, 2008, Cyclone Nargis clobbered Myanmar (Burma). Every day the estimated death toll seems to reach new levels. The Australian reports that 80,000 people may have perished in a single province while the government of Burma claims a total of 23,000 deaths.
Governments and NGO’s around the world are lining up to provide aid – if only they can get permission from the government. US Navy warships are remaining in the area awaiting orders to render assistance. See the USAID website for more on the US’s plans for aid.
On Friday May 9th, UN Secratary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the military junta there to ease humanitarian efforts. “If early action is not taken and relief measures put in place, the medium-term effect of this tragedy could be truly catastrophic… The sheer survival of the affected people is at stake.”
Now the ruling military junta is greatly hindering any foreign aid.
What are they afraid of: propaganda being brought in by foreign governments to poison the minds of their citizens? arms shipments to support any militant support groups? that foreigners will see the oppression being heaped upon these people by their rulers?
At the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda held on April 7, 2004, then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan reflected on the world’s failure to act for the benefit of the 800,000 souls who perished in that country’s genocide. He stated:
“We must never forget our collective failure to protect at least eight hundred thousand defenceless (sic) men, women and children who perished in Rwanda ten years ago. Such crimes cannot be reversed. Such failures cannot be repaired. The dead cannot be brought back to life. So what can we do?”"When we recall such events and ask ‘why did no one intervene?’, we should address the question not only to the United Nations, or even to its Member States. No one can claim ignorance. All who were playing any part in world affairs at that time should ask, ‘what more could I have done? How would I react next time – and what am I doing now to make it less likely there will be a next time?’
In this case, the government of Burma doesn’t have to carry out any of the killings. If they do nothing, hundreds of thousands more people will die. Diseases such as cholera will set in from the lack of sanitation. People will suffer starvation and dehydration and other complications. This is autogenocide by omission.
Kofi Annan further said, “We have little hope of preventing genocide, or reassuring those who live in fear of its recurrence, if people who have committed this most heinous of crimes are left at large, and not held to account.” Will these ruling generals be held to account for their lack of action?
When speaking of the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, Kofi Annan stated,
“It is vital that international humanitarian workers and human rights experts be given full access to the region, and to the victims, without further delay. If that is denied, the international community must be prepared to take swift and appropriate action. By “action” in such situations I mean a continuum of steps, which may include military action. But the latter should always be seen as an extreme measure, to be used only in extreme cases.”
Though there is the question of a nation’s sovereignty, how many more people have to die before we can step in to help them?
Ban Ki-moon’s statement on the tragedy in Rwanda is applicable to this situation:
“As we attempt to learn the lessons of the genocide in Rwanda, two messages should be paramount. First, never forget. Second, never stop working to prevent another genocide.
Our thoughts go to the victims — the more than 800,000 innocent people who lost their lives with terrifying speed. Our thoughts go to the survivors. Their resilience continues to inspire us. It is the responsibility of us all to support them in rebuilding their lives. How different it would have been, had we, the international community, acted properly at the proper time.”
