The responsibility to protect the survivors of natural disaster: Cyclone nargis, a case study

Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, devastating the Irrawaddy Delta, affecting 2.4 million people and leaving an estimated 130,000 people dead or missing. In the weeks following the disaster, in the face of enormous humanitarian needs, the government of Myanmar imposed significant restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid. The restrictions imposed, and the frustration felt by the international community, led to intense debate regarding the potential application of the 'responsibility to protect', and to suggestions that the legal doctrine could be invoked to justify military intervention for the purpose of delivering humanitarian aid to the survivors of the cyclone. Using Cyclone Nargis as a case study, this article examines the meaning of 'responsibility to protect' in the aftermath of natural disaster. The status of humanitarian intervention and the 'responsibility to protect' in customary international law is discussed, followed by a consideration of whether the 'responsibility to protect' could have been invoked in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis as a justification for military intervention. This article concludes that while the restrictions imposed by the government of Myanmar fell short of what would be required to justify military intervention, it is possible to envisage situations where, in the aftermath of natural disaster, a government's refusal to allow access to survivors might be so complete, and the humanitarian needs so immense, that the use of force may be warranted. © Oxford University Press 2009; all rights reserved.