Burma: aid before politics, please

Now is not the time to be thinking about a referendum. The humanitarian crisis comes first
David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner

The Cyclone Nargis disaster is doubly tragic for the people of Burma. Already suffering from the lowest living standards in Asia and years of misrule and mismanagement, they have now been struck by this terrible natural catastrophe.

Our differences with the Burmese regime are well known, but our most urgent task now is humanitarian. The latest figures report more than 22,000 dead. The fear is that this death toll will rise even higher since the cyclone hit the Irrawaddy delta, one of the country's most densely populated regions, particularly hard. More than 40,000 people are reported missing. According to the UN, hundreds of thousands and very probably millions are without shelter. The needs already appear huge: shelter, medicines, water purification tablets, food and electricity generators.

Our differences with the Burmese regime are well known, but our most urgent task now is humanitarian. The latest figures report more than 22,000 dead. The fear is that this death toll will rise even higher since the cyclone hit the Irrawaddy delta, one of the country's most densely populated regions, particularly hard. More than 40,000 people are reported missing. According to the UN, hundreds of thousands and very probably millions are without shelter. The needs already appear huge: shelter, medicines, water purification tablets, food and electricity generators.

Our two countries immediately mobilised significant funding to come to the aid of the disaster victims. Once the UN has conducted a review of the most urgent needs, larger sums will be allocated.

However, even in the face of this emergency, even in the face of the horror, we have to take into account the Burmese authorities, upon whom we depend to facilitate international action. The priority is to ensure that the aid actually reaches all the people affected by the cyclone: we look to the regime to lift any restrictions on the distribution of this aid. All efforts must now focus on bringing relief to the people in the region, including measures to prevent further calamities, particularly epidemics. We call on the Burmese authorities to expedite the work of the UN agencies and NGOs.
Background

* Cyclone victims plead for food and new roofs

* Burma junta drags its feet over aid visas

* Burma may be left unable to feed itself

* Burma junta faces challenge to its isolation

We will get down to the job. We will not let our longstanding and deep concerns over democracy and human rights hold back the lifesaving work at hand. The regime in Naypyidaw has announced it will go ahead with the referendum on its constitution tomorrow, a process that excludes Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of ethnic groups. It is clear, however, that the conditions on the ground make the free and fair process demanded by the UN Security Council all the more difficult. We believe the priority should be the humanitarian crisis. Now is not the time to be making decisions about the country's political future.

It is our shared hope that the united response to the tragedy will help this notoriously isolationist military regime to place trust in the international community. Even though this political objective is still of utmost importance, our immediate priority is to save any lives that can still be saved and to ensure that the political tragedy suffered by the Burmese does not degenerate into deeper humanitarian tragedy.

David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner are the foreign ministers of Britain and France.

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