Time to Invoke ‘Responsibility to Protect’: Burmese Activists

The UN is being urged by the Burmese expatriate community to invoke the "responsibility to protect" principle to save the lives of people stranded in the Irrawaddy delta 12 days after Cyclone Nargis devastated the area.

Expatriates have also called upon the United States, Britain and France—the three permanent members of the Security Council—to unilaterally provide aid and relief to the affected people even if it means bypassing the UN and Burma's military government.

"Now is the time to act. You have helicopters, ships and supplies ready and waiting. Stop waiting for China or the Burmese regime's approval and send aid now," wrote Aung Din, the director of the US Campaign for Burma, in a letter addressed to the heads of state.

Meanwhile, another key activist group, the Burma Campaign UK, will hold demonstrations on Saturday at the embassies of the US and France as well as the UK foreign office.

Mark Farmaner, the director of the Burma Campaign UK, said: "We have to face up to reality. Every day of delay is costing lives. The UK, USA and France have ships off the coast that could save lives today. Are we really going to let thousands die just a few miles from life-saving food and medicine sitting unused on our ships?" 

A group of Burmese monks began a three-day hunger strike in front of the United Nations in New York on Thursday, while other expatriates launched letter campaigns to the prime minister of Britain and the presidents of France and the US.

On Wednesday, representatives of Burmese monks in the US delivered a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to travel to Burma to assess the situation.

"We are not eating because our people are not eating,” said Ashin Nyaka, a monk and visiting professor at Columbia University. “They are starving while the world waits and the Burmese generals steal the food aid. Maybe when the UN sees hungry people outside its door, it will act more decisively."

The Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) will hold a rally in three Canadian cities—Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver—on Saturday to urge stronger action from the UN and leading Western countries. 

"When the military junta fails to provide proper protection for its own citizens, there is a responsibility of the world community to protect the vulnerable people facing the dire situation on the ground," said Tin Maung Htoo, the executive director of CFOB.