On May 8, 2008, Hillary Clinton, who was Senator of New York, urged international humanitarian agencies to be ready to provide disaster relief in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. After the cyclone swept through the Irrawaddy Delta, relief workers were standing by at the borders, ships and flotillas loaded with food and medicine were anchored in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, the world was holding its breath and watching… But the Burmese military leaders were steadfast about keeping their borders closed, especially to Westerners. Sadly, the Burmese government refused to temporarily waive its closed-door policy so that the relief workers can enter the country. In the days following, the death toll climbed as the Burmese people were left with no shelter, little to no food, and no access to clean drinking water. The government released the death toll as 32,000 with another 30,000 missing, but “the United Nations estimated the real death toll as 62,000 to 100,000. In hindsight, Mother Nature dealt the Burmese a hard blow, but the result has been heightened attention from the international community.
Over three years later on November 30, 2011, Hillary Clinton visited Burma as the Secretary of State in the Obama Administration. She met with the country’s president, U Thein Sein, and offered $1.2 million in aid. Devex reported that “$1 million will be allotted for microcredit lending and $200,000 for land mine victims.”
In just the past 14 months, Burma held elections (highly flawed, but a first step nonetheless), released Aung San Suu Kyi, and released a small number of political prisoners. This is rapid progress toward democratization, especially when compared to the Arab Spring and democratic movement in Egypt which has been slow and riddled with violence. However, the elections and open dialogue with foreign leaders are only improvements on the surface. There are still major issues to be dealt with in Burma such as oppression of minority groups, using rape as a weapon to intimidate citizens, and thousands more political prisoners who were detained and indicted for bogus crimes.
Yes, it may seem like the tides are a-changing in Burma, but they’re only ripples on the surface. More time will tell if the transition will lead to a democratic system of governance where the lay Burman has a voice.
This article sums up Secretary Clinton’s visit very well, illustrated with my new favorite photograph of the Secretary and Daw Aung: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/world/asia/us-will-relax-curbs-on-aid-to-myanmar.html?_r=1&hp
