Primary responsibility for disaster relief rests with the government of the affected state. If the affected state is not able to cope with the mentioned responsibility, there exists a chance that people, who had been affected by a natural disaster, would suffer due to lack of assistance, which could lead to violation of fundamental human rights. This is certainly something the international community is fighting against. The international community must respond to a disaster because our collective moral duty dictates that we help the people in need. State sovereignty poses a barrier to the delivering of international humanitarian aid. The Charter of the United Nations protects states from outside interference. The international community finds it difficult to aid and protect people inside the territory of the affected state, which denies humanitarian relief. The current lack of an extensive and solid framework for disaster response, which would dictate the responsibility of all states, only increases the risk for human rights violations. The development of a legal framework is of vital importance and exactly this is momentary the assignment of the International Law Commission, which is drafting the articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters. This assignment deals with the question whether international community progressed to the point where it would allow the state sovereignty to yield to human suffering?
|
