‘This is a Good Day to Argue for Humanitarian Intervention’

Kavi Chongkittavorn, an editor at The Nation in Bangkok, is recognized as one of Thailand’s foremost experts on Asean. This week the junta granted Asean permission to send a small delegation accompanied by an Asean disaster assessment team to Burma. The Irrawaddy conducted the interview on Wednesday (May 14).

Kavi Chongkittavorn

Answer: Surin Pisuwan, the chief of Asean, told me Burma has expressed a wish to have Asean as a hub for coordination efforts for international assistance. We have to see, because I am very concerned the Burmese junta may be using Asean for its own purposes, for buying time and dragging its feet.

There are many reports coming out that foreign assistance and relief packages have been manipulated or changed hands, or the content [labeling] was changed to fit the junta’s propaganda campaign. I am quite worried.

Q: Now it’s almost two weeks after Cyclone Nargis. We haven’t seen any tangible move from Asean to persuade Burma to be more cooperative.

A: On May 19 Asian foreign ministers will have a special meeting on this situation, and they will come out with long-term strategy to rehabilitate and reconstruct Burma. For the time being, most of the assistance has been in bilateral terms. You have Japan, Singapore, Thailand and other Asian countries sending aid, etc. For Asean, at the moment, they have not yet done anything.

Q: Do you think Asean will reach a consensus in dealing with the Burmese government when it comes to the disaster?

A: I think we’ll have to wait and see. The cyclone disaster in Burma is huge and quite challenging for Asean. This is a defining moment for Asean. It’s interesting that some Asean members have been practicing to cope with emergencies like this since the 2004 tsunami. Asean countries like Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore have been practicing to cope with natural disasters.

Q: The junta has allowed only a trickle of aid to reach the people. Do you think it’s time for Asean and the world to initiate a humanitarian intervention?

A: The situation in Burma is really serious, and the government has been slow in allowing foreign assistance. The Burmese people are suffering and more will die because of disease and the very bad sanitation there. That is a fact and reality. Within that reality, there’s no way that Asean will initiate any intervention because Asean has followed a non-interference principle.

But there’s a possibility that the international community might assume a “responsibility to protect,” to force—using military means—Burma to open up so that they can deliver aid in time, and more precisely, to the victims. At the moment, there is no guarantee aid and cash can be sent directly to affected families and victims.

So I think this is a good day to argue for humanitarian intervention under the principle of “responsibility to protect,” because every government has a duty to protect its own citizen. Until today, the Burmese junta has not done anything and has not done much to cooperate with the international donors. At the moment, the junta is differentiating between members of Asean and other countries. 

Q: The Burmese government always tries to manipulate Asean and the international community. How do well does Asean deal with manipulation by the junta?

A: I think Asean is well aware of what the junta stands for. In the past, I think Asean has given a lot of room to Burma to maneuver.  I think now that kind of tolerance is no longer there. Asean would like to see Burma improve its behavior… regarding the intransigence it has displayed.