Australian FM: Focus on aid to Myanmar; blame game can wait
HONG KONG (AP) — The international community should focus on humanitarian aid to Myanmar instead of criticizing the ruling junta's handling of the deadly cyclone, Australia's foreign minister said Tuesday.
Stephen Smith's comments come a day after first lady Laura Bush rebuked Myanmar's authoritarian junta for not warning citizens about Tropical Cyclone Nargis, which hit the Southeast Asian country early Saturday.
Myanmar's official media said Tuesday that at least 10,000 people had been killed by the storm. A U.N. agency said as many as 1 million people may have been left homeless.
Smith told reporters after a speech in Hong Kong that it remains difficult to evaluate how the disaster played out in Myanmar because of patchy communications.
"I just don't think we're in a position to make that sort of judgment now given the difficulties of communication. And also, frankly, it's not, in my mind, the priority. The priority now is rendering assistance to thousands of displaced people who urgently need our assistance," he said.
Smith said Australia was "ready, willing and able" to offer humanitarian assistance to Myanmar and will most likely start with a financial donation. He didn't give an amount, but said he hopes the Myanmar government will be open to on-the-ground assessments of aid needs.
Bush also said the U.S. was ready to pump more aid into Myanmar but said help was conditioned on a U.S. disaster response team being allowed in the country. In the meantime, the U.S. Embassy in the country is already providing $250,000 from an emergency fund.
But the first lady also faulted the junta for proceeding with a May 10 constitutional referendum that she described as a sham. The junta says the referendum is part of a "road map to democracy."
Myanmar's government has been widely criticized for suppression of pro-democracy parties such as the one led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years.
On Tuesday, Smith noted Australia's past concerns about the country's junta, but he did not criticize the government's disaster response. In February, Smith said Australia wasn't convinced the constitutional referendum was "anything more than a cynical sham."
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has started mobilizing assistance and resources for Myanmar, a member country, through its humanitarian assistance coordinating center, said Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, in Singapore. The organization appealed to its other members to send aid as well.
Surin said that the group is considering tapping into its emergency rice stockpile to provide emergency food to the country.
Chinese President Hu Jintao has also pledged assistance to cyclone-hit neighbor Myanmar, the official Chinese Xinhua News Agency reported.
