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Monday, May 19, 2008
Asean holds emergency meeting on Myanmar (3:16 p.m.)
SINGAPORE -- Southeast Asian nations, under fire for being too lenient with Myanmar's junta, held an emergency meeting Monday to make it accept more international help for cyclone survivors.
The foreign ministers of the 10 countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which includes Myanmar, gathered in a Singapore hotel, hoping to find a way to resolve the issue despite the recalcitrance of the reclusive generals.
European Union nations have warned that the junta could be committing a crime against humanity by blocking aid intended for up to 2.5 million survivors faced with hunger, loss of their homes and potential outbreaks of deadly diseases.
According to the government, about 134,000 people died or are missing in the May 2-3 Cyclone Nargis, which devastated Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta and the area around Yangon, the country's former capital.
Critics have accused Asean of doing little so far to persuade the generals to rapidly let in outside help, especially disaster experts.
"More than any international organization, it's Asean which can do something, but it has shown no teeth," said Loretta Ann Rosales, a former Filipino legislator who is an adviser to a Southeast Asian lawmakers' group advocating democracy in Myanmar.
"If they cannot take a strong position in this emergency, they can dissolve themselves into irrelevance."
During the meeting, Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan is expected to give a rundown of the group's efforts to help in the cyclone's aftermath, while Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win will present a "needs assessment" to fellow ministers, said Philippine Assistant Foreign Secretary Marilyn Alarilla.
A proposal for Asean to play a role in arranging the entry of aid for Myanmar may be considered, she said, while suggestions that aid be taken in by force were unlikely to gain support.
"Asean moves gradually and by consensus," she said. "If Myanmar takes a hard-line position, we won't be effective."
Myanmar has long been a thorn in the side of Asean, which is hamstrung by its bedrock principle of not interfering in each other's affairs, and a policy of making decisions by consensus.
This has also prevented it from using its influence to encourage Myanmar's authoritarian rulers to adopt democracy. Asean's calls on the junta to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Khi have fallen on deaf ears.
"They can't force the junta to do anything. The only thing they can do is to act as a conduit between Myanmar and the West to facilitate the entry of foreign aid," said James Chin, a political science professor with Malaysia's Monash University.
"It's the most practical thing Asean can do and the thing most acceptable to the Myanmar leadership."
Asean's limited influence is underscored by the inability of most of its aid workers, including a token 15-man Philippine medical contingent, to obtain visas to go in. Myanmar did allow a 32-member Thai medical contingent to go to Irrawaddy. (AP) |
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