Thoughts from afar on Burma

On a cursory and wholly unscientific survey of the newspaper articles, the television reports and the speeches of government officials in the "West" on the crisis in Burma, it is interesting to see how Asean is perceived with regards to Burma. Entering the words: 'Burma', 'cyclone' and 'Asean' on the bbc.co.uk website, a mere one page of hits was generated by the search engine. Going into the details of these hits, the only statements which linked Burma and Asean with regards to the cyclone was:

"The European Union is to hold an emergency meeting on getting aid to Burma on Tuesday [13 May 2008] - while Asean (the Association of South-East Asian Nations) says it will discuss the issue next Monday."

Interesting. So the EU which is miles away from Burma has already had its meeting on getting aid to Burma while Asean which Burma is of course part of, is still dithering on the issue of aid.

"In an apparent concession to international pressure, the generals say they will allow 160 foreign aid workers into the country, as well as an emergency relief team from the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).

But it was unclear whether the workers - from countries including Thailand, China, India, Bangladesh - would be allowed out of Rangoon into the stricken delta region, where help is most urgently needed."

Interesting. Even Asean countries which belong to the same regional organisation as Burma, are treated as foreign.

Of course what's more interesting is the paucity of references to Asean by the UN, the US, the EU and the media. Put simply and bluntly, Asean is not regarded as a regional body which is capable of influencing the situation in Burma. Sadly, Burma appears to share that view as well. You would at least expect the Burmese government to show some respect to the organisation that it belongs to and grant the aid workers from Asean countries the freedom to do what is necessary to help the Burmese people. But unfortunately, this is not the case. This is of course a problem stemming from the principle of no-interference.

Asean has to ask itself: does it owe a duty to the military junta, the government of the day for Burma or does it owe a duty to the Burmese people to protect their lives and rights? One can understand the political benefits of the principle of non-interference: to preserve the territorial and political sovereignty of the countries which form Asean. That being said, Asean must realise that qualifications must be made to this principle. Where human rights and the lives of Asean "citizens" are at stake, the principle of non-interference must be abandoned. The only issue now is: does Asean have the political will to do that? I am not advocating that Asean invades Burma. That is a decision that has to be considered by the UN, the international community. What I am asking for is that Asean denounces the actions of the military junta and add to the chorus of voices asking for the junta to do what is necessary to save the lives of the Burmese people.

Burma is the litmus test for Asean as an organisation to show the world that it is a legitimate organisation capable of influencing at least the region's affairs. Unfortunately, Asean has failed abysmally so far.