Friday, May 09, 2008

U.N. Suspends Myanmar Aid After Supplies Seized by Junta - New York Times

U.N. Suspends Myanmar Aid After Supplies Seized by Junta - New York Times:
"BANGKOK — The United Nations suspended relief supplies to Myanmar on Friday after the military government seized the food and equipment it had already sent into the country.

Earlier, in a statement, Myanmar’s military junta said it was willing to receive disaster relief from the outside world but would not welcome outside relief workers, a key demand of aid agencies who want to coordinate and control their own aid. ..."
One flight was forced to return to its origin because in addition to relief supplies, it had a team of disaster assessment experts on board along with some journalists.

It's a tough call here -- does the UN acquiesce to the Myanmar ruling junta's restrictions, no matter how ridiculous they may be? Or do they go with the doctrine that where a government is unable or unwilling to help their people, the UN can step in unilaterally?

Time is running out, and the UN needs to summon the moral courage to put the Burmese people ahead of a suspicious, xenophobic government.

There is not much that Christians can do at this point except pray, and prepare for a time when aid workers are permitted to do what they are best qualified to do.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I would disagree; there ARE things that Christians can do to help.

The best thing, instead of donating to the Red Cross, would be to make a donation to www.movieguide.org, where I may continue to help the Burmese by offering up movie reviews based on strict Biblical principles.

I personally will ensure that some portion of your donations will enable me to travel to south-east asia, perhaps Thailand, maybe in the winter months when it gets cold out.