World's inaction in Burma a crime

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/letters/worlds-inaction-in-burma-a-crime-1688594.html

Friday March 27 2009

A recent report into the humanitarian effort following last May's Cyclone Nargis, which killed 140,000 people and left many hundreds of thousands homeless, accuses the Burmese government of blocking aid to the victims.

While we should not be surprised that the Burmese authorities, notoriously one of the most repressive regimes in the world, abused their position, what's truly shocking is that the international community allowed it to happen.

This is yet another example of the utter inability of the UN Security Council in its current guise to serve the needs of those who need them most.

The UN has a responsibility to protect those who are being mistreated by their government, yet not one single UN soldier set foot on Burmese soil to ensure that the aid reached those who needed it.



The report calls for the Burmese to be brought before the International Criminal Court for their actions.

But what is truly criminal is the international community's inaction -- sitting on its hands while the world's most vulnerable were left to fend for themselves as their government so cruelly ignored their suffering.

John O'Shea
Goal, PO Box 19 Dun Laoghaire