euro|topics - The catastrophe in Burma from the European perspective

Main focus of Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The catastrophe in Burma from the European perspective

Burma is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. 10,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands left homeless when a cyclone ravaged the country several days ago. The Burmese military government, however, still plans to go ahead with a constitutional referendum to be held in a few days' time, to secure its grip on power. What does Europe have to say?

The Independent - United Kingdom

A leading article in the British daily The Independent comments on the "human tragedy" in Burma and argues that "some real good" can come of the tragedy if the junta now opens the country to international aid efforts. "if Burma's rulers have accepted that this disaster is too big for the country to handle on its own, and that relieving the suffering of their stricken people should take precedence over their hermit instincts, this is progress of a kind. The decision to open the country a crack is still progress, even if the response is born of fear for the regime's survival. ... The Burmese junta might reflect that opening up also holds dangers. The response to the Armenian earthquake helped usher in the greater openness that contributed three years later to the Soviet Union's collapse. A more productive conclusion would be that a closed dictatorship is an anomaly in the modern world and that today's reluctant opening should be a prelude to change." (06/05/2008)

Carl Bildt Blog - Sweden

Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt calls in his weblog for swift aid measures to help Burma. However, he points out that to ensure that this aid reaches the people it will be necessary to exert political pressure on the Burmese junta. "The news from Burma is getting worse and worse. There is talk of thousands of dead and hundreds of thousands who no longer have a roof over their heads. Gunilla Carlsson, the Minister for International Development Cooperation, has promised swift aid from Sweden. But the problem could take on political dimensions because the military regime wants to force the Burmese people to accept the new constitution in a referendum scheduled for Saturday, and is consequently giving foreign aid teams only restricted access. Now political pressure must be exerted so that this aid actually reaches the people." (05/05/2008)

die tageszeitung - Germany

"Burma's population has been denied a say in the country's affairs for twenty years. Holding a referendum now smacks of dishonest intentions," Sven Hansen writes. "Nevertheless, the junta shows no sign of postponing the plebiscite, and continues to bar the access of vitally needed aid. It is unclear whether the generals are doing this out of a cynical calculation - or whether in their new 'capital' in the country's interior they really lack an overview of the devastation wreaked by the cyclone on the country's coast. In fact the two questions go hand in hand. The junta had intended to prevent media coverage of the referendum. The cyclone has now faced them with a dilemma: either they postpone the referendum and let aid workers into the country, or they hold the referendum as planned and forgo external aid." (06/05/2008)

La Repubblica - Italy

Federico Rampini calls on Europe to provide humanitarian aid, but is also concerned about the time after the catastrophe: "The referendum ... is a fraud, a tragic farce, staged by the government to silence international protest in the wake of the bloody suppression of the September uprisings. ... The catastrophe has hit one of the poorest countries in the world, and now there is one priority. We must get blankets, medicine, drinking water and food to Birma as quickly as possible, before epidemics break out. When the emergency is over Burma must not once more sink into oblivion like it did after the bloody events in September, when international attention dwindled and the two superpowers China and India quickly resumed business with the military junta." (06/05/2008)

» To the complete press review of Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Bookmark this page at