The Second Burma Forum"
The Embassy West Hotel, 1400 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Canada
March 17-18 at 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM
Aung Din
Policy Director
US Campaign for Burma
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to begin by thanking the Convening Committee of the Second Burma Forum, especially U Than Aung, Ko Tin Maung Htoo, Ko Kyaw Moe, Ko Htun Htun Oo and Ko Htay Aung. I am also honored to be here with U Bo Hla Tint, MP elect from National League for Democracy party and a Cabinet Member of the NCGUB. I am also happy to be here together with my fellow Burmese activists in Canada as well as the Canadian activists who are helping us in our non-violent struggle.
Let me update you all about the current situation in Burma very briefly.
(1) According to the news this week in worldwide media, the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was detected for the first time in poultry in Burma. Experts confirmed cases in hundreds of dead chickens at a farm outside of Burma's second-largest city, Mandalay. The regime's controlled media didn't cover yet the news, but international community is trying to help to stop and contain this outbreak.
(2) The most significant development inside Burma continues to be the regime's move to Pyinmana, 200 miles North of Rangoon. At the end of February, all the Ministries have moved to Pyinmana. The move has made it more difficult for diplomats and international agency representatives to see the ministers and there have been delays, mainly of bureaucratic nature, such as getting visa and other clearances. The regime has invested a tremendous amount of money in the relocation, as it tried to pre-empt the possibility of being taken by a popular uprising. In the face of threats to declare civil servants “deserters” if they were absent without leave, all ministries moved there without open objection. Morale is very low, given the lack of notice to move, in some cases civil servants were given 48 hours notice and were not allowed to bring family. Further, the move separated civil servants from Rangoon business interests that they depended on to supplement their income. There is also some concern that local contractors have not been paid for work done.
(3) Rangoon is experiencing more frequent power cuts, even in areas where there was always electricity, as electricity is being diverted to Pyinmana. The biggest budget deficit resulted from accelerating of construction in Pyinmana and moving to there as well as high fuel prices have made all commodity prices going out of control, startling even those who have gotten “used to” perennial inflation. Meanwhile, the ongoing economic mismanagement of the regime continues to worsen the situation of the Burmese population.
(4) New guidelines for humanitarian aid
On February 7th, the junta's Ministries of Planning, Home Affairs, and Foreign Affairs convened a meeting with national NGOs and International NGOs to distribute the so-called Green Book, a set of new guidelines for humanitarian aid. The Burmese version of those guidelines is more harsh and restrictive and contains some issues that are not included or mentioned in the English version. The Burmese version is far more detailed, but officials said they did not want to annoy the foreign organizations with too many details and, as a result, circulated a more sanitised English version.
Those guidelines are completely unacceptable for these main reasons:
1. They imply a politicization of actors and participants involved in humanitarian operations.
2. The conditions for the employment of national staff go against the existing regulations (legal basis) and practices of most of the organizations involved.
3. Complying with those guidelines would make the process of delivering humanitarian aid too heavy and would cause significant delays, as too many clearance procedures and requirements are demanded.
4. The new guidelines require all foreign funds to go through the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) which is directly controlled by the regime.
The guidelines are coherent with the regime's political objectives: to gain total control on the ground and to ensure that political interference permeates every level of international humanitarian work. The ultimate aim is to manipulate the population into receiving assistance as the largesse of the regime and the USDA.
The UN agencies have already identified trends that could lead to a nationwide humanitarian crisis:
1. Accelerating impoverishment of the people, with an increasing number of individuals living below the poverty line.
2. High level of malnourishment among children under the age of five and an increasing number of children who cannot continue school, resulting in internal migration, child labour, unregulated economic activities, such as mining and logging.
(6) The regime continues to carry out a policy of disenfranchisement of the ethnic groups’ current leadership. The regime is aiming at creating more fragmentation and disintegration so that the gaps will be likely filled by groups that are closely linked to the regime and that have an economic agenda instead of a political agenda. In pursuit of this agenda, several top ethnic leaders have been sentenced to jail terms of up to 106 years in 2005. Military offensives in ethnic areas persist, and military presence in so-called ceasefire areas has been beefed up.
(7) Displaced persons
According to the latest figures released by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (January 2006), there are 155,416 refugees from Burma in the camps along the Thai-Burma border.
Nearly 700,000 refugees are currently living in Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh and India, having escaped from Burma.
The exodus of Burmese to neighboring countries includes more than 400,000 to Thailand, where thousands arrive each month, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, the main refugee aid group. It says the conflict wracking eastern Myanmar has destroyed some 3,000 villages and displaced 80,000 people a year in most recent times.
Burma and the UN General Assembly and UN Commission on Human Rights
On November 18, 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Burma, in which the General Assembly expressed grave concern over the extension of house arrest and consistent harassment of senior leaders of the National League for Democracy, particularly Aung San Suu Kyi and Vice Chairman U Tin Oo. The Assembly strongly called on the Burmese regime to end systematic human rights violations, bring human rights abusers to justice, immediately release political prisoners, enable human rights defenders to safely pursue their activities, and end recruitment of child soldiers, rape and sexual violence by the armed forces, and systematic enforced displacement that led to refugee flows to neighboring countries. The General Assembly also urged the Burmese regime to become a party to all international human rights instruments and fully cooperate with the Special Envoy and the Special Rapporteur to bring the country towards civilian rule.
It was the 15th resolution adopted by the UNGA in 15 years in a row. As usual, the Burmese regime declared that it would not associate with the resolution and rejected it as it did in the past 14 years. The regime's Ambassador called on all developing countries to stand with his government in the name of the spirit of the Non-Aligned Movement and the unity of developing countries, and to defeat the European Union drafted resolution. The representative of Cuba proposed a motion of non-action to kill the draft resolution on Burma and urged all delegates to vote for it. After the vote, Cuba's proposal was defeated by 54 in favor, 77 against and 35 abstentions. Later, the resolution on the situations of human rights in Burma was adopted by consensus. Over 50 countries from developing world and Non-Aligned Movement, notably and ironically with including South Africa, a country which was free from the Apartheid rule after decades of freedom movement and successful international campaigns and India, the so-called largest democracy in the world, aligned with the dictators to stop addressing human rights situation of unfortunate people. We now know that in this world, rhetoric and reality are often opposites.
I am sure that UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva will soon adopt its 14th resolution on Burma and it will be ignored by the regime as usual.
Burma and the UN Security Council
On September 20, 2005, Washington, DC based DLA Piper international law firm produced a report, entitled "Threat to the Peace; A Call for UN Security Council to Act in Burma', commissioned by former President of Czech Republic Vaclav Havel and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Arch-Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Presenting the dire situation in Burma and comparing with the precedence, which Security Council decided to involve, two leaders called for the Security Council to act in Burma immediately. The great impact of this report is that plenty of the world leaders came to realize that Burma deserves a binding resolution from the UN Security Council, instead of non-binding resolutions adopted by UN General Assembly and UN Commission on Human Rights, which are ignored by the junta.
In December, before the UNSC briefing on Burma, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- ASEAN -- used their summit to formally urge Burmese regime to release political prisoners and provide tangible proof that it is moving toward democracy. ASEAN also decided to send Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar to Burma to check on reforms. But it is not yet clear when he'll be allowed to go. This is a great improvement, but not materialized yet.
On December 16, 2005, for the first time in the 17 years, UN Security Council was briefed by UN Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari on the situation in Burma, with the presence of Secretary-General Kofi Annan and all member states. The issues covered by Ibrahim Gambari included litany of the problems that confronts Burma, the dire economic, social and political situation, the continued detention of political prisoners, the serious spread of diseases especially HIV, TB and Malaria, the food insecurity, the recruitment of child soldiers, the systematic abuse of human rights, lack of progress to actually tackle internal conflict, lack of progress on internal constitutional reform, lack of access of special envoy and increase movement of drugs in Burma.
A Way Forward and Canadian Support
I am here to ask for the support of Canadian Parliament and Government to help Burma free.
(1) Now, we are trying to have a resolution on Burma at the UN Security Council in the coming months, possibly in June. To make sure to have nine votes, which are required to put on the agenda and to make sure to persuade China and Russia not to oppose it, we would like to request Canadian Government to use its diplomatic effort and ask Chin and Russia to participate in international campaign to help Burma together. As a member of G 8, Canada has many chances to speak with China and Russia in various occasions. We would like to request Canadian Parliament to adopt a resolution, calling UN Security Council to act in Burma immediately. Even a letter from a group of Canadian MPs, calling its government and UNSC to take action on Burma, will be very helpful.
(2) ASEAN is now diverting from its tradition of non-interference and beginning to pressure the regime to expedite the political change in Burma. Some ASEAN members, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are showing their willingness to work together with the United Nations and international community to promote freedom in Burma. We ask the Canadian Government to include Burma in its discussion with ASEAN as a whole and its bilateral meetings with members of ASEAN to encourage their stronger involvement in Burma.
(3) Two years ago, ASEAN Inter-Parliamentarians Caucus on Myanmar (Burma) (AIPMC) was formed with members of Parliament from both ruling and opposition parties from ASEAN countries, in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand. In two years, AIPMC became a powerful mechanism in ASEAN and persuaded ASEAN governments to realize that how the military junta in Burma is destroying the image and dignity of the ASEAN, how it is cheating these governments and how it is using ASEAN to shield from the international pressure. In early this year, MPs from India also formed an Indian MP Caucus on Burma and now cooperating with AIPMC. We ask the Members of Canadian Parliament to form a similar caucus and work together with AIPMC.
Thank you.
Aung Din
Policy Director
US Campaign for Burma
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