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SINGAPORE - Southeast Asian foreign ministers meet here Monday to discuss how to help Myanmar recover from a devastating cyclone, amid criticism their regional bloc has been too slow to respond.
The meeting comes more than two weeks after Cyclone Nargis left more than 133,000 dead or missing and up to 2.5 million survivors needing urgent aid in Myanmar, whose military rulers have spurned offers of a huge foreign relief operation.
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Singapore, which currently chairs the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), called the talks to discuss the humanitarian situation in its impoverished member "and consider how best to assist Myanmar in its relief and recovery efforts."
In contrast with more aggressive calls by Western nations for Myanmar to open its doors to foreign aid workers, ASEAN is likely to attempt a compromise to speed up aid delivery and spur reconstruction, diplomatic sources said.
But under ASEAN's consensus doctrine, any such plan must have the approval of Myanmar, whose foreign minister Nyan Win is attending.
Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama has said he and his fellow ministers would discuss forming a mechanism within ASEAN to help member nations suffering from similar disasters in the future.
Thailand will also air its proposal for ASEAN to work with the United Nations to help Myanmar recover from the disaster, Noppadon said.
But critics wonder whether the Singapore talks would make any difference if Myanmar, whose human rights record has become a black mark for the entire organisation, remains reluctant to accept substantial foreign help.
ASEAN member states, including Singapore and Thailand, have individually sent aid to Myanmar, whose ruling generals have accepted relief goods but refused to allow foreign relief workers to distribute them.
Despite impassioned appeals by the United Nations, the United States, France, Britain and humanitarian groups for Myanmar to ease restrictions, ASEAN's leaders have yet to make their voices heard.
Debbie Stothard, an activist with the anti-Myanmar group Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, noted that the cyclone is the biggest natural disaster to hit the region since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and called ASEAN's reaction "deeply disappointing."
"It's still not too late for ASEAN to redeem the situation. But they need to show some political leadership and ensure that the Burmese regime behaves in a more sensible manner," she told AFP, using Myanmar's former name.
"ASEAN has a lot to make up for, they need to show that they have some spine here."
Hannah Ruth Chia, an analyst with the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said Monday's meeting must address the urgency of aid reaching the victims.
"But with ASEAN having failed to exact significant change in Myanmar over the past 11 years since it became a member, what can such a meeting achieve except to hector the Myanmar foreign minister in private?" she wrote in a commentary.
Chia said that with Western powers considering forced intervention to deliver aid, ASEAN risked being viewed as ineffective if it refused to take a stand.
Despite its non-interference policy, ASEAN "must show that it is willing to make subtle exceptions when a government refuses to help its own people," she wrote.
"If ASEAN is seen to be unwilling to act one way or another, it could find itself being undermined by external powers should these powers decide to go ahead with forced intervention regardless of ASEAN's position on the matter," Chia said. - AFP/ir
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