Several government critics have expressed concerns over the lack of an instant rise in our country’s defence expenditure to 3.5% of the gross national income. In the wake of Iran’s pre-emptive bombing and Russia’s intrusion into Ukraine, there have been vigorous calls for ‘preparing for war to establish peace’. These voices argue that to sustain human life, we should expand our defence budgets. However, unmentioned in these discussions is the reality that much of our recent defense spending hasn’t effectively addressed our actual safety requirements.
Despite this, the persistent, loud drumbeats advocating for military expansion against China, our primary trading partner, continue. This clamor comes significantly from media outlets and a robust defense lobby, that surprisingly includes former politicians. The scenario across the globe reflects a pattern of increasing defence expenses at the cost of cutbacks in foreign aid. Amid this situation, it’s worth asking where true security resides.
Echoing this sentiment, I side with the Prime Minister’s stance to resist the pressure for an indiscriminate increase in defence spending merely because an international frontrunner advocates for it. Instead, our focus should be on how we can respond to our country’s actual needs rather than surrendering to the pressures exerted by defence proponents.
I’d like to emphasize that a safer world does not simply necessitate military investment, but also investment in ‘human security’. This can be manifested through promoting health and education, and extending humanitarian support. Preserving lives and strengthening connections with our nearest Indo-Pacific neighbors can be significantly accelerated through these critical investments.
In reply to demands for heightened defence budgets, a considerable number of European countries have slashed their aid in order to boost their defence. However, I commend our government for resisting this trend followed by other Western nations, maintaining its commitment to aid in the recent financial plan.
The decision to disassemble certain international aid organizations is projected to claim around 14 million lives by 2030, with children accounting for one-third of the casualties. Meanwhile, defence budgets are swelling and unused weapons are amassing in storage facilities, while aid offers immediate lifesaving benefits.
Bolstering defence expenditures more often sounds a war alert rather than signaling peace. A erstwhile defence secretary encapsulated this reality when he cautioned that cuts in diplomacy and aid would necessitate the purchase of more ammunition. This underscores the point that genuine security demands more than military might – it calls for stability, trust, and staunch alliances.
Just recently, I returned from the Thailand-Burma border after meeting with numerous refugees escaping the brutal aerial onslaught of their own junta-led government. These civilians endured the military usurpation of power after her ‘National League for Democracy’ government had secured an enormous re-election victory.
In the wake of this political upheaval, tens of thousands of citizens resigned from their civil positions to join the opposition, many choosing to flee. I had the opportunity to meet amputees and other victims of this violence in Thailand’s frontier hospitals, who were fortunate to have been transported across the border for treatment.
I had conversations with indigenous Chin leaders who relayed the distressing reality of over 60 of their churches being annihilated. These people, generally Baptists and impoverished farm laborers, regarded their beautiful churches as their only community pride sources; they are now subjected to both physical and psychological terror.
I also encountered Karen leaders in Thailand whose places of worship had met the same fate under bombings. The Karen, one of Myanmar’s largest ethnic groups, now report 1.2 million internally displaced individuals. Unfortunately, in these ethnically concentrated regions, there are no functioning active international NGOs and UN agencies, leaving only the churches and Buddhist monasteries to disseminate basic necessities and limited health aids.
All international assistance groups must acquire approval from the junta, limiting their operations to junta-controlled territories. Civil society groups have been marginalized, their leaders incarcerated. As a result of this turmoil, approximately 3.5 million people are displaced internally today, with 22 million Burmese urgently requiring humanitarian support as the country’s health and social systems collapse.
Even the restricted health aid that was being provided to vulnerable communities has now evaporated, including supplies of vaccines, and treatments for diseases like TB, malaria, and HIV. Despite calls from the UN Security Council and ASEAN for the junta to end its bombing campaign and allow humanitarian aid in, there has been no change in the situation.
As of a specific date, the directive to shut down nine refugee camps will leave around 108,000 refugees struggling for survival with limited food supplies and no employment opportunities in Thailand, resulting in an extreme humanitarian crisis. Painfully, the funding decisions of donor nations are currently instigating humanitarian havoc. However, we must not forget our duty too, as our representative serves as the UN Special Envoy for Myanmar. I take great pride that our government was among the few that upheld aid in its previous Budget, and I urge the opposition to consider support for aid as a bipartisan issue.
The post Balancing National Safety: Defence Budget vs. Human Security appeared first on Real News Now.
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