What else is there apart from "messages of hope"?

I refer to the commentaries "Don't hold your breath" by Yeni and "Save the people; Don't protect Generals" by Kyaw Zwa Moe.

Though the news of the junta agreeing to allow "all aid workers" to enter Burma is very encouraging, having seen the kind of deceit and lies that the junta is capable of, I feel reluctant to put faith into such promise from them. If the junta had genuinely wanted to allow "all aid workers" to enter Burma, the implementation would have been swift and immediate as the aid workers have been on standby for the past few weeks waiting for the green light from the junta. However, a day has passed without any visible improvement.

It is also disappointing to note that in the latest remarks to press, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has been too quick to paint a rather rosy picture of the likely collaboration between the junta and the international community in the near future [1]. Has he forgotten what happened during the Saffron revolution in September 2007? During that time, when Gambari was having a series of meetings with the junta and releasing public statements about how he felt encouraged by the positive outcomes of his meetings with the junta, the arrests of the monks and the raids at the monastries continued. UN, ASEAN and the various leaders of the international community condemned the junta for their brutal methods of suppression during the Saffron revolution. However, their words failed to put a stop to Than Shwe and his lackeys from having their own ways.

After every uprising in Burma, as time passed by, the atrocities committed by the junta and the images during the uprising would begin to fade in the minds of the international community and the people in Burma were left to continue to struggle on their own for survival. Words without actions from UN and ASEAN have provided little solace for the Burmese people.

Ban Ki-Moon said in his latest remarks to press that "the world is watching, and that the world is with you". How true! The world only keeps on watching and the world is with us only from a distance. Over the past twenty years or so, the world seemed to have given us nothing but just "messages of hope".


References:
[1] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's remarks to the press at Hotel Sedona, Yangon, Myanmar (http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/search_full.asp?statID=248)