Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on ICRC field offices in Burma/Myanmar

Press release 508/2006
5 December, 2006

The EU has learnt with dismay that the government of Burma/Myanmar has ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to close its five field offices in the country.

The EU is very concerned about the impact of this decision on the humanitarian situation in the country, in particular on the most vulnerable people. For many years, the ICRC has provided important humanitarian assistance and protection to the people in Burma/Myanmar including people living in remote border areas.

The EU strongly encourages the government of Burma/Myanmar to reconsider its decision concerning the ICRC field offices and allow the full resumption by the ICRC of its humanitarian operations in line with its mandate and mission. The EU is convinced that continued cooperation of the government of Burma/Myanmar with international organisations, which are working for the benefit of the people in the country, is essential.

The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

^* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.