“Responsibility to Protect”/ Nargis Cyclone Victims

To speed up global assistance for the victims of the Nargis Cyclone in Myanmar, the UN Secretary-General Ban Kee Moon will travel to the country this Wednesday. Diplomatic persuasion is the best way to handle the sensitive situation in Myanmar. Many people have rightly criticized the behavior of the Myanmar’s military leaders in their reluctant to allow foreign aid volunteers, or “the Good Samaritans” to come into the country to help with this gigantic emergency situation. But we must understand that there is pride involved here. Government officials want to show that they can handle the distribution of foods, tents, clothes and medicines to the people themselves with only the help of neighboring countries like India, Thailand and China. It is their right to decide to do things their way. I am certain that the United States Government would behave the same way in this kind of situation. Just imagine, a planeload of Chinese Buddhists and Indian Hindus insisted on flying into New Orleans to help the people directly during the Hurricane Katrina. I am quite certain that the US Government would not let them into the area without its permission. And yet, right now, we see the US and French navy ships sailing off the coast of the Irrawaddy delta. The French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner ignited a firestorm around the United Nations by invoking the “Responsibility to Protect” principle to force the government of Myanmar to accept humanitarian aid. The “Responsibility to Protect” principle does not apply to “natural disaster” or as some people called “the Act of God”. Countries that accepted this principle of intervention by international community only when it applied to crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing. We will have chaos if one country can barge into other countryon any emergency without the permission of national authority, no matter of what form of government the country has. Respect of International Law and country’s sovereignty are key elements of the United Nations Charter.

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