jun 3rd, 2008

two reasons why the burmese did not let white guys in:

1. they were terrified of ambulance-chasing missionaries

2. they felt it amounted to interference in their affairs by malign foreigners

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The

Myanmar - Save us from the rescuers

Author: David Rieff
Publication: Los Angeles Times
Date: May 18, 2008
URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-rieff18-2008may18,0,3540076.story  

Introduction: Calls for military action to force aid on Myanmar march us down a dangerous road.

The decision by the government of Myanmar not to admit foreign humanitarian relief workers to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis has been met with fury, consternation and disbelief in much of the world.

With tens of thousands of people dead, up to 100,000 missing and more than a million displaced and without shelter, livelihood or possibly even sufficient food, the refusal of the military rulers of the country to let in foreign aid organizations or to open airports and waterways in more than a token way to shipments of aid supplies seems to be an act of sheer barbarism.

In response, Gareth Evans, the former Australian foreign minister who heads the International Crisis Group, made the case last week that the decision by Myanmar's authorities to default on their responsibilities to their own citizens might well constitute "a crime against humanity," and suggested that the United Nations might need to consider bringing aid to Myanmar non-consensually, justified on the basis of the "Responsibility to Protect Resolution" adopted at the 2005 U.N. World Summit by 150 member states.

... deleted