The cyclone tragedy in Myanmar (Burma), which, has claimed over 100,000 lives, certainly ranks as the worst natural disaster in Asia since the tsunami incident of 2004. The politically tormented country has continued to count its losses while hoping that the international community will come to the aid of thousands of its nationals who are internally displaced. The situation is dreadful enough and calls for massive action.
Natural disasters of the sort that just visited the poor Asian country often make nonsense of man's best preparation and in a rather frustrating way help to remind humanity of how vulnerable it is to the forces of nature. It is even worse in a country like Myanmar already beset with several socio-political crises.
Cyclone Nargis, which is the name of the storm that visited Myanmar, might not have left a warning. But even if it did, the degree of havoc it left in its trail makes it one of the deadliest storms in human history. It swept through communities, throwing down and uprooting everything in its way. Experts say preventive measures could not have achieved much given the fury of the storm. Apart from the high death toll, hundreds of thousands of Myanmese have been rendered homeless and hundreds, including children, were wounded. The cyclone was reported to have brought with it sea surge that smashed towns and villages.
For a country under the thumb of the worst military dictatorship, the cyclone disaster has added to the national gloom. The military junta that has ruled Myanmar as though it is accountable to no one may not be able to rise up to the challenge of providing the needed succour. In the face of the current disaster, it is doubtful that the country's bankrupt leadership will be able to offer the sort of leadership that Myanmese need in the face of this huge tragedy. Already the repulsive regime has engaged in bitter visa row with several world rescue agencies who have volunteered their services. This is quite shameful at a time like this.
With so much already gone wrong in Myanmar's polity, the best hope for helping it get out of the devastating effect of the cyclone is for the United Nations and all its relevant agencies to take charge of relief efforts in the country. All the internally displaced need to be quickly resettled. The wounded must be able to get proper treatment to aid their recovery from trauma and any physical injuries and the junta must be made to live up to its responsibility rather than protecting its own selfish political interest. Myanmar may not have the sort of infrastructure that this will require. We believe the international community, collaborating with non-governmental organisations, can do a lot to aid this process of recovery for Myanmese.
The International Red Cross has done very well so far. From all accounts, its officials have kept an effective presence in the troubled nation. But they need massive assistance for better result.
One thing to be said about natural disasters is that they are not a respecter of nations or communities. For that reason, the entire humanity is affected when one person or nation is affected. The challenge before the world community therefore is to help cushion the pain of those who are the current victims.
In that vein, we sympathise with the grief-stricken people of Myanmar and hope that the whole world will see their tragedy as one that affects all of us, if not physically, at least emotionally. What they need is effective intervention by way of relief efforts
