The Indonesian government has defended its opposition to bringing the issue of relief work in Myanmar to the UN Security Council, saying such a move could lead the country to completely shutting its doors.
Indonesia's UN Ambassador Marty Natalegawa has rebuffed a suggestion by France that the Security Council invoke the UN's "responsibility to protect" principle in the case of Myanmar, in a bid to hasten the delivery of aid to the country, major newspaper The Jakarta Post reported Thursday.
If the UN Security Council is involved in relief work, Marty said, "the whole country would shut down and more lives would be threatened".
"The moment an issue is brought to the council under the flag of the 'responsibility to protect', which is a very loaded term at the UN, the whole humanitarian effort will be politicized," he said.
Indonesia is a current non-permanent Security Council member.
He added that other UN avenues were available, saying the UN General Assembly has resolutions on humanitarian work and that Myanmar could take advantage of the whole UN family for assistance.
Marty said invoking the responsibility to protect principle "would jeopardize and undermine aid work, not only for Myanmar, but also for future humanitarian situations."
Source:Xinhua
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