Fuente: © European Parliament
http://www.europarl.eu.int/

EU: Burma: MEPs condemn slow response from Burmese authorities and ask them to open up to international aid

/noticias.info/ In adopting a resolution on the tragic situation in Burma, the House condemns the slow response to this grave humanitarian crisis by the Burmese authorities and ask Burma to open cyclone-affected areas to international humanitarian aid operations and to immediately grant visas to aid workers. If the Burmese authorities continue to prevent aid from reaching those in danger, they should be held accountable for crimes against humanity before the ICC, says the resolution.

MEPs call on the Burmese Government to put its people's lives first and ask South-East Asian nations to use their influence with the Burmese authorities to open Burma for immediate access by all possible humanitarian relief.

MEPs stress the urgent nature of the assistance to be delivered to the suffering population as the weather conditions in the affected area worsen owing to the beginning of the Monsoon. Affected farmers should receive assistance to plant a new crop of rice in time.

Burma is asked to open cyclone-affected areas to international humanitarian aid operations and to immediately grant visas to aid workers. MEPs reiterate that the sovereignty of a nation cannot be allowed to override the human rights of its people as enshrined in the UN principle of the 'responsibility to protect'.

MEPs deplore the distorted priorities of the regime in pushing ahead with its "so-called referendum on the sham constitution".

ASEAN, China and India's influence

The House welcomes the agreement, reached at the summit of ASEAN, India and China in Singapore on 19 May 2008, to allow the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to coordinate the international relief efforts.

MEPs urge the Governments of China and India to use their influence with the Burmese authorities in order to open Burma for immediate access by all possible humanitarian relief. notas_de_prensa_archivo