Burma: Aid in a Tight Space

Burma, with a population of some 52 million, is one of the poorest countries in Asia, yet international aid had been negligible until recently.

Aid flows are rising, despite the isolation of the regime, a tense political environment and limited humanitarian space, according to the former top UN official in the country.

In September 2007, peaceful anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks were followed by a government crackdown attracting major international attention and diplomatic condemnation.

The former UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Burma, Charles Petrie, was obliged to leave his post in early December at the request of the Burma government.

In a show of support for UN efforts in Burma, Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, met the Burma UN country team on 10 December during a visit to neighbouring Thailand. He warned that the international community was “running out of patience” with Burma’s government.

“The people of Burma have suffered from isolation for such a long time and it is high time now for the Myanmar [Burmese] authorities and people to be able to enjoy genuine democracy and genuine integration in the international community,” he said.

“Mistrust”

Since September, day-to-day operations of most aid projects have not become much more difficult than they already were, Petrie said. However, he said levels of mistrust had increased, and engaging with the regime remained difficult.

“We are in a period of trying to protect the gains we have made,” said Petrie. “We have a regime that is now starting to look at us—focusing on us—and we are trying to push back their attempts to confine us.”

Those gains include an increase in international aid to the country, despite qualms among donors and multilateral organizations about the government’s human rights and governance record. In mid-2003 international aid was less than US $70 million, or less than $1.50 per capita—far less per capita than the assistance pouring into nearby Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam, according to Petrie.

However, over the last three years, international aid has nearly tripled to around $200 million, Petrie told IRIN.

Petrie was forced to leave Burma after his release of an October 24 statement publicly linking the September 2007 protests to widespread frustration at the hardships of day-to-day living and a “deteriorating humanitarian situation.”

Petrie insists the UN had a “moral obligation” to state what it saw as an inescapable truth about the country’s worsening socio-economic situation.

Burma is not yet in the throws of a classic humanitarian crisis, Petrie says. But malnutrition and poverty are pervasive and conditions are worsening, with growing displacement from land seizures and conflict. “The crisis of Burma is not a humanitarian emergency,” he says. “It’s a poverty emergency that is leading towards a humanitarian crisis.”

Aid through non-state structures

Reluctant to channel aid through state structures, aid agencies and donors have struggled to deliver assistance in ways that are consistent with humanitarian principles. They mainly work through non-state structures, such as religious groups, and national staff. The UN’s national staff number around 3,000 people.

Nearly $100 million has been pledged to a special fund to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in Burma; the World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up; and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is running micro-credit and community empowerment projects.

“The challenge of Burma is that it is a situation that is getting worse . . . defined by a regime that is basically embargoed,” said Petrie. “It’s a deteriorating situation from which the aid community is not allowed to work with the existing administrative structures to address the situation,” he added, saying: “The challenge on the assistance front is how to respond outside existing structures and how do you do it in an effective manner?”

Government guidelines

Efforts to regulate foreign aid workers have intensified since early 2006, when a range of new controls were declared by the government. “They decided we were too intrusive,” Petrie said. “There was a faction within the regime that saw aid as a political tool to support the opposition, support dissention, and empower groups against the regime.”

“They tried to co-opt our operations,” said Petrie, “but when they saw it wasn’t possible they just tried to marginalize us and constrain our activities.”

The government requires foreign aid workers to notify the authorities at least two weeks in advance of any plans to travel outside Rangoon.