Kuala Lumpur, 29 Nov 2006

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) is extremely concerned with the recent closure of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) field offices in Burma.

Such an act of sheer disrespect to the rights of humans to basic humanitarian assistance is strongly condemned and we – as Parliamentarians from the Southeast Asian region – call on the Burmese government to immediately reverse their decision to close these offices in Mandalay, Mawlamyine, Hpa-an, Taunggyi and Kyaing Tong.

AIPMC previously sounded concern, early this year (2006), when Burma’s military junta halted ICRC’s visits to detention centers, prison and labour camps in the conflict-stricken country.

Now, in a land where over a thousand (1,000) political prisoners – including elected members of parliament – and thousands of internally displaced persons and general civilians living in ‘sensitive border areas’, are in dire need of protection and assistance of a varied kind, the de facto government has turned its back on them once again.

The ICRC will now find it difficult if not impossible to carry out its assistance in the form of medical supplies and attention, physical rehabilitation for amputees, construction of sanitized water supply systems in remote areas, and many other aspects of humanitarian aid.

How many more acts of inhumanity, such as this, towards the people of Burma does it take for more members of the international community and countries defending the junta to finally say ‘enough is enough, restore democracy and allow for freely accessible international humanitarian aid in Burma’.

The AIPMC urges ASEAN to exercise its inherent responsibility to call on its member nation to immediately re-open the five ICRC offices and to call on the junta to engage in constructive dialogue with the ICRC to ensure that the Burmese people benefits from much needed assistance that international aid agencies have to offer.

The AIPMC also reminds the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) of its duty and obligation to immediately pass a resolution on Burma that would see it adhering to international standards of human rights and establishing a democratic system in the country.