The European Union on Wednesday urged Burma to lift restrictions on the International Committee of the Red Cross, denouncing recent moves to limit the group's humanitarian work in the country.
The EU's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel appealed to Burma authorities to restart dialogue with the ICRC as soon as possible.
The Geneva-based ICRC last Friday issued a rare statement condemning abuses against civilians and detainees in Burma, saying they were causing "immense suffering."
Michel said he was "concerned about the seriousness of the violations denounced by the International Red Cross," adding that actions to destroy food supplies and reported abuses by the military against men, women and children living along the Thai-Burmese border amounted to violations of international humanitarian law.
"The provisions of the international humanitarian law should ... be fully applied," Michel said in a statement. The ICRC said Burmese authorities were compelling thousands of detainees to serve as porters for the armed forces, exposing them to the dangers of combat and other risks.
The ICRC said it had tried to resolve the problems through confidential talks with the Burmese military junta but that so far they had refused to engage in serious talks.
Ferrero-Waldner said the EU could help facilitate talks between the Red Cross and the junta.
Red Cross officials said Burma had imposed increasingly severe restrictions on ICRC staff, making it impossible for them to move independently and hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The ICRC has been unable to meet political prisoners, notably with the country's most prominent detainee, Nobel laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest.
The ICRC last visited Suu Kyi in 2003. She has spent more than 11 of the past 18 years in detention.
The EU's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel appealed to Burma authorities to restart dialogue with the ICRC as soon as possible.
The Geneva-based ICRC last Friday issued a rare statement condemning abuses against civilians and detainees in Burma, saying they were causing "immense suffering."
Michel said he was "concerned about the seriousness of the violations denounced by the International Red Cross," adding that actions to destroy food supplies and reported abuses by the military against men, women and children living along the Thai-Burmese border amounted to violations of international humanitarian law.
"The provisions of the international humanitarian law should ... be fully applied," Michel said in a statement. The ICRC said Burmese authorities were compelling thousands of detainees to serve as porters for the armed forces, exposing them to the dangers of combat and other risks.
The ICRC said it had tried to resolve the problems through confidential talks with the Burmese military junta but that so far they had refused to engage in serious talks.
Ferrero-Waldner said the EU could help facilitate talks between the Red Cross and the junta.
Red Cross officials said Burma had imposed increasingly severe restrictions on ICRC staff, making it impossible for them to move independently and hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The ICRC has been unable to meet political prisoners, notably with the country's most prominent detainee, Nobel laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest.
The ICRC last visited Suu Kyi in 2003. She has spent more than 11 of the past 18 years in detention.
