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The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats echoes the
expression of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon of "deep concern
and immense frustration" over the hampered efforts to usher
humanitarian aid and disaster relief to the thousands of victims
of Cyclone Nargis in Burma.
CALD notes with increasingly alarm the military regime's
obstinate disregard for more extensive international assistance
and intervention to address what is a staggering catastrophe and
prevent what could well be the onset of deadly health epidemics.
In such a dire situation, CALD reiterates the call of its member
party, the National Council for the Union of Burma, for full
attention to the humanitarian crisis and to defer the referendum
on a new constitution, the process for which excluded Aung Sang
Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy.
Given the state's full control of media, the flow of truth and
information on early warnings of the impending cylcone by
Thailand and India had been blocked by the junta, thereby
directly endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands in the
Irrawddy Delta and surrounding regions. In the cyclone's
aftermath, the flow of truth and information is proving to be
more ominous to the regime than the impacts and extent of the
human tragedy.
Democracy and its fundamental requisites of freedom and the
respect for human rights, which CALD embraces as its mandate, is
the bedrock for the flourishing of society. The scale of
devastation and death in Burma -- and the harrowing and
repressive official response of the regime -- only serve
to amplify the critical urgency of bringing democracy and
freedom to the long-suffering people of Burma. |
