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  Nargis Poses Humanitarian Dilemma: Burma's Junta Has the West over a Barrel

Nargis Poses Humanitarian Dilemma Burma's Junta Has the West over a Barrel

By our reporter in Rangoon

Part 2: A Clear 'No, Thank You'

Take the example of the absurd situation experienced by a group of US diplomats earlier this week. When they were finally allowed to land in Rangoon last Monday in a C-130 cargo plane, the group -- which even included Admiral Timothy Keating, head of the US Pacific Command -- was given a friendly welcome in the airport's VIP lounge. But that was it.

Sitting on comfortable leather chairs in the lounge, a top Burmese military official made it clear to the guests in English that the government was happy to accept relief supplies. Western relief workers, however, were not necessary. The man showed the US representatives on a map where the goods would be sent. Outside on the runway, a military helicopter was preparing to transport the supplies -- the regime had promised the United States that they would not put the goods into storage.

"It was a nice 'thank you,'" recalls one of the US diplomats who was present. "But the 'no, thank you' was even clearer." Barely 10 minutes later, the members of the foreign delegation were escorted back to their airplane; clearly no one wanted to entertain them too long. The US diplomats had achieved almost nothing.

The administration of US President George W. Bush may have taken a hard line on Burma in the past. But now it is taking a strikingly passive stance.

The Burmese people need to be helped -- that is also the gist of Villarosa's message. Politics and criticism need to take a back seat for the moment. One can see just from the way she keeps shrugging her shoulders that she is not happy with the situation. But what other option does she have than to grit her teeth?

Nevertheless, the US has since managed to get another 12 C-130 cargo planes into Burma. The relief supplies, however, were distributed by the military, sometimes even by the generals themselves. The crisis team from USAID, Washington's state aid organization, is still sitting frustrated in Bangkok, waiting to get visas to enter Burma.

Walking a Fine Line

The Germans have not done much better. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier repeatedly telephoned with his Burmese counterpart Nyan Win to renew offers of German aid. It was actually a substantial diplomatic gesture -- but the diplomats in Rangoon quickly realized that "exerting pressure achieves absolutely nothing."

Since then, the Germans have walked a fine line of humanitarian diplomacy. Busso von Alvensleben, a diplomat from the German Foreign Ministry, was dispatched as a special envoy. According to his business cards, Alvensleben, as well as being responsible for humanitarian aid, is also the German government's representative on human rights issues. As such, the diplomat had previously regarded Burma's military government as "untouchable."

The German diplomat therefore preferred to leave his business cards behind in Germany. As soon as he entered Burma last Tuesday evening, the pesky term human rights caused Alvensleben problems with the police, despite his diplomatic passport. "I would prefer to strike that topic from my vocabulary here," he said after he had been in the country for a few days. The real issue here is aid, he said -- everything else must wait.

Crisis managers like Alvensleben certainly don't make it easy for themselves. Alvensleben can easily spend half an hour discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the soft line he has been told to take. He talks about how drops of water can wear away stone over time. Another diplomat expresses it more simply: "It's better for me to get my hands dirty and deal with the regime than to let people die."

It was mainly the good contacts of the German ambassador to Burma, Dietrich Andreas, that made it possible for a Russian cargo plane carrying German goods to land in Burma on Wednesday evening. He knew that he could not demand anything in return -- at most he could ask politely. Each of his requests went further up the hierarchy of the Burmese state apparatus. Nothing could be decided by the cabinet members, everything had to be approved by the military. As a result, he kept his wishes small.

Essentially it was horse-trading. Andreas promised that the German supplies would be declared as UN goods. In return, he asked that the experts from the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) who had flown in separately as tourists would be allowed to install the water treatment plants themselves.

The Germans are now hoping that this will actually happen. Of course, there are no guarantees that it will.

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