Humanitarian actions

Joint communiqué issued by the ministry of Foreign and European affairs and ministry of Defence (excerpts) (Paris, 25 May 2008)

M. Dominique Girard, the government’s diplomatic adviser, represented France at the conference which has just been held in Rangoon, in the presence of the United Nations Secretary-General, in the wake of Cyclone Nargis.

Our representative reiterated France’s constant position from the outset of this humanitarian disaster:

Burma has just experienced one of the greatest natural disasters in her history; the human toll is horrifying, over 75,000 dead, added to which tens of thousands of people are still reported missing;

France immediately released €2 million-worth of emergency humanitarian aid for distribution in particular by the NGOs present in Burma. Around ten of them were able to use specific funding made available in our embassies in Rangoon and Bangkok; with the Burmese authorities’ authorization, a first plane carrying humanitarian freight sent by France landed in Rangoon on 15 May, a second arrived on Friday, 23 May; the French ship "Mistral" has been off the coast of Burma since 17 May carrying 1,000 tonnes of humanitarian freight. (...)

We are particularly shocked that the Burmese authorities haven’t agreed to the 1,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid on board the "Mistral" and ready to assist near the Irrawaddy delta since 17 May being directly unloaded and distributed, yet this is the area with the greatest number of disaster victims and the shipment’s volume is equivalent to the cargo of around 30 planes.

The aid (medicines, water purification tablets, rice, tents, mosquito nets, etc.) is sufficient to feed and supply drinking water for a fortnight to 100,000 people and provide shelter for 60,000 disaster victims, as well as medical support.

Having to face the fact that the Burmese authorities haven’t given their agreement to the direct delivery of this aid in the Irrawaddy delta, including at today’s conference, we have decided to unload the boat at Phuket in Thailand; because of its logistics capability, the World Food Programme will take delivery of it and transport it to the disaster areas in Burma for distribution by the United Nations Agencies and NGOs.

France reiterates that in her eyes nothing can possibly justify disaster victims seeing themselves denied the basic right to benefit from the necessary aid and stresses her commitment to the implementation of the "responsibility to protect" principle under all circumstances.