So devastating were the outcomes of Cyclone Nargis for the people of the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar in May 2008, and so inadequate and perverse were the responses of their government, that numerous calls were made for international intervention by invoking the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. The foundations for R2P actions lie in ‘specific legal obligations under human rights and human protection declarations, covenants and treaties, international humanitarian law and national law’. If taken by invoking R2P, an action to intervene in a disaster setting on behalf of those who have been affected would, therefore, be undertaken in the name of human rights; an action in which the international community assumes the role of duty bearer because a given sovereign state has failed to fulfil or is unable to meet its primary duty to provide adequate protection.

Disasters have three phases: the evolution of vulnerability through social processes preceding the disaster; the disaster singularity; and the recovery that follows. It is well established, though not always set out in sharp relief or adhered to in practice, that human rights principles of fair and equal treatment for all who suffer underpin approaches to the care of disaster victims. That is, established human rights norms have been drawn upon to govern the treatment of those impacted in the second and third phases of a natural disaster.