The SPDC is causing
a humanitarian crisis in Burma. Protracted military
operations against ethnic groups, collapsing health
and education systems, and massive internal displacement
are all contributing to the humanitarian crisis. The
SPDC does little if anything to address this crisis.
The junta allocates less than 3% of the national budget
to health and education, while devotes up to 40 percent
of public funds to military spending. Numerous countries
and international agencies have come to the assistance
of the people of Burma. However, SPDC restrictive
policies with regard to humanitarian aid hamper the
delivery of services by relief groups.
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Official humanitarian assistance is very low –
just over $120 million in 2004 – a per capita
allocation of $2.4, compared to Cambodia $34.70 or Laos
$46.50. |
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Key providers are Japan (US$35 million), UK ($12 million),
EC ($11 million) and Australia ($8 million). [2003 figures] |
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Aid is concentrated in emergency assistance, health,
and education sectors. |
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| Restrictions
to humanitarian assistance |
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Many agencies have
been forced to leave when they could no longer deliver
their programs.
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The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria cancelled
its US$35.6 million grant in August 2005 over its inability
to overcome SPDC obstacles in delivering its humanitarian
assistance programs. |
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The World Food Program (WFP) admitted it had to pay
“unacceptable” taxes to SPDC authorities,
and was restricted in the type of assistance they were
providing, where they could go, and to whom they could
provide it. |
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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have
also been restricted in what, where, when and to who
they provide assistance to. MSF France withdrew its
programs, and the ICRC had to scale back their operations. |
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HIV/AIDS programs in particular have been compromised
by interference, threats, and violence by SPDC authorities. |
On
7 February 2006, the SPDC imposed new guidelines that
expanded their control over funds and the direction
of delivery. The guidelines further complicated approval
processes, restricted travel to and within the country,
imposed restrictions on the recruitment of local staff,
and established new regulating bodies as well as empowering
existing ones. |
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| Some assistance
is getting to the people that need it most. But this
aid is outside the realm of SPDC control. Most often
this is in the form of “cross-border” aid.
Medical workers, teachers, trainers, and others are
crossing from neighboring countries into the most isolated
and most needy areas of Burma. The aid workers carry
“backpacks” of emergency food, medical and
other supplies, as well as training to the people that
live or are displaced in these areas so that their communities
might survive and grow. These workers have been attacked
by SPDC troops, had their supplies stolen or destroyed,
and, in some cases, have been killed. |
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