Can you work effectively in Myanmar?

“You can work here very well, and to say that you can’t is a lie,” said Frank Smithuis, a physician and the longtime country director for Medecins Sans Frontieres. “Look, the human rights record is shaky, yes, and it’s politically nice to beat up Burma, but the military has actually been quite helpful to us.” Dr. Smithuis said the delta had recovered well enough – and that enough other agencies were working there – that he had deployed his staffers to poorer, needier parts of the country.

“Because of sanctions there is a lot of suffering, and we see that particularly in the humanitarian-aid field,” said Frank Smithius, Myanmar country director for Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders. “There’s definitely hope in the aid community that the policy will be reconsidered.”

“The Myanmar people are victims of a humanitarian boycott,” Smithius said. “There is enormous pressure on politicians in the West to look politically correct, and they get human rights brownie points by being very strict on aid.” (Source: Myanmar loses aid to political “brownie points” – Bloomberg 5 May 2009)

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