Today's Date:

From day one of the disaster which hit Burma on a scale comparable to that of the tsunami, very probably killing over a hundred thousand people and displacing more than a million, I asked the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry to mobilize all the necessary resources to provide assistance to the Burmese people (…).

Our embassy in Rangoon, which was immediately mobilized, is currently increasing its staff. The embassy’s services had been able to warn the members of the French community about the cyclone’s imminent arrival. It is undoubtedly thanks to these warnings that our community in Burma has, to date, suffered no losses. (…)

In Paris we have activated a crisis unit, headed by the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry and including representatives of the Ministry of Defence and Interior Ministry (Sécurité civile [emergency services]), which is meeting daily to assess the situation and coordinate France’s action. (…)

ain areas of French action:

- release of an initial €200,000, which we have now increased to €2 million, to go principally to the French NGOs already in the country, depending on how the aid would be distributed. (…)

- support for the NGOs’ demarches to the Burmese authorities to facilitate their access to the victims, both as regards the issue of visas and possibility of getting absolutely essential resources to the victims;

- preparation of French-chartered planes to be sent not only from France but also from airports near Burma, with humanitarian supplies on board. A first French plane carrying in particular equipment provided by the French Red Cross (water purification units) and by Action Against Hunger (AAH) could leave very soon, once the Burmese authorities have given it permission to land and provided the necessary guarantees vis-à-vis the taking delivery and impartial distribution of this aid.

- in cooperation with the Defence Ministry, offer of assignment of French Naval vessels, present in the area because of a scheduled joint exercise with the Indian and British armed forces, and particularly "Le Mistral". This amphibious landing ship [LHD or BPC (bâtiment de projection et de commandement as they are known in France)] currently awaiting loading in Chennai (Madras) can transport around 1,500 tonnes of equipment and emergency medical supplies (medical team and on-board hospital). Our Rangoon embassy and French fire and rescue service will coordinate the loading of the humanitarian freight, and World Food Programme teams already in Burma could take delivery of it.

I again solemnly appeal to the Burmese authorities to lift all restrictions on the distribution of the aid by the most efficient channels. The specialized United Nations agencies and NGOs must immediately be able to have access to the victims. To address human suffering, wherever it may be, is precisely what is meant by the "responsibility to protect" accepted by the international community and initiated by France. This is what we wanted to remind the United Nations Security Council. (…)./.