Britain's Conservative leader calls for direct action in Burma
Britain’s Conservative Party leader David Cameron believes time is running out for the Burmese people following the devastation of Cyclone Nargis.
Mr. Cameron, who met with members of the Burmese community in London over the weekend, intimated that unless the military regime relaxes its grip on foreign aid entering the region, direct action might be the only realistic course if a humanitarian catastrophe was to be avoided.
“Time is running out,” the Tory leaders wrote on his personal blog. http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=144142
“Although a small number of planes have been granted permission to land, much too little aid is getting through to those who desperately need it.
“Experts say that up to five times more people often die in the aftermath of a natural disaster than from its immediate impact. That is certainly the danger here,” he said.
“It is estimated that 100,000 are dead or missing - and a further 1.7 million are at risk if disease takes hold. So the Burmese regime needs to feel the maximum amount of pressure in the shortest possible time to facilitate the delivery of aid.”
He warned: “If the Burmese government does not agree to the distribution of aid on the scale required, then the case for unilateral delivery of aid by the international community will only grow stronger.
“There was general frustration at what the United Nations itself can or would do. Again, as time runs out for the people of the Irrawaddy Delta, and as a fresh storm approaches the area this week, the case for the United Nations invoking the 'responsibility to protect' - which could trigger action by the rest of the international community - grows stronger too.”
Mr. Cameron acknowledged however, that such an idea would meet stern opposition from the Chinese and Russian governments.
He wrote: “The argument against this is that China - and Russia - would be bound to block it. But the Chinese have a choice: either they put effective pressure on the regime to save lives, in which case aid will get through - or not, in which case the argument for invoking the UN's 'responsibility to protect' will get stronger still.”
The World Food Programme (WFP) who have been struggling to convince the Burmese junta to allow their logisticians into the crisis-hit areas, were cautious about adopted a direct action claiming such a confrontational action would only deepen the Burmese government’s entrenched position and make life even worse for those already suffering.
