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Australia announces additional aid for Myanmar survivors
Australia announced on Wednesday an additional 30 million Australian dollars (US$29 million) in aid for survivors of Myanmar's May cyclone, but pressed its recalcitrant military junta to democratise quickly and respect human rights.
- AP
- Published: 10:59 July 23, 2008
Singapore: Australia announced on Wednesday an additional 30 million Australian dollars (US$29 million) in aid for survivors of Myanmar's May cyclone, but pressed its recalcitrant military junta to democratise quickly and respect human rights.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he informed his Myanmar counterpart, Nyan Win, of the aid during a meeting on Tuesday on the sidelines of an annual security meeting in Singapore.
Smith also called on the junta to ensure that general elections in 2010 will be free and fair and will allow the political opposition, including long detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, to participate.
"We want to see Myanmar return to respect for human rights, respect for the rule of law and we want to see democracy return to Myanmar," Smith said he told Win.
Smith's remarks were the first of many expected to be unleashed against Myanmar's ruling generals by top Western diplomats, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who will attend the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's largest security gathering, on Thursday.
The international community has condemned Myanmar's junta for its refusal to restore democracy, a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last year and its failure to release Nobel laureate Suu Kyi and other political detainees.
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