24 October 2009

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) calls on the ASEAN leaders attending the 15th ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand to employ the ASEAN Charter to address the on-going human rights violations and lack of democratic reform in Myanmar.

As a signatory to the charter, Myanmar has agreed to adhere to the principles of democratic governance and to respect and protect the human rights of its citizens. Myanmar’s military government has yet to show willingness to abide by its commitments to the charter and as a member of ASEAN.

ASEAN’s long-held assertion that Myanmar’s political and human rights issues are the country’s own internal affairs are inapplicable with the creation of the charter and especially since the problems in Myanmar have impacted all countries in the region.

Regional parliamentarians, whom make up the membership of AIPMC, have constantly raised this with regional leaders, most recently during private meetings with various ASEAN foreign ministers at the sidelines of the summit, and urges ASEAN member countries whom are reluctant to take bolder steps towards addressing the struggle of Burma’s people, to consider the further damage to its own nation – and the region – that the Myanmar’s regime is capable of.

Myanmar’s military regimes, in recent months, have stepped up its military offensives against ethnic peoples in eastern Burma as part of preparation for its planned election in 2010. As a result, thousands of refugees have been forced into neighbouring countries such as China and Thailand.

AIPMC urges ASEAN leaders to use this 15^th summit to adequately address the Myanmar issue especially in the context of its armed conflicts and its political reform and to ensure the ASEAN uses all tools available and place strategic political pressure on the junta.

The recent revision of the United States’ policy towards Myanmar has provided an opportunity for increased cooperation to tackle the crisis with dialogue and sanctions. AIPMC urges ASEAN to also properly review its policies on Myanmar and collaborate with concerned nations and international organisations by maximising its engagement with the regime while more tangibly holding the junta accountable for its abuses.

AIPMC welcomes the inauguration of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and sincerely hopes that the commission will serve as an effective tool to improve human rights in the region and in Myanmar, in particular.

ENDS

/This statement was released at AIPMC’s press conference on “ASEAN’s approach and strategy to a democratic Myanmar” at Hua Hin, Thailand on 24 October 2009. For media inquires or to facilitate an interview with AIPMC members attending the press conference, please contact Aticha Wongwian (AIPMC Country Coordinator in Thailand) at +66-(0)8-6386-3494./

CHA-AM : The Asean Charter must be implemented immediately to address ongoing human rights violations in Burma and keep a close watch on any offences against ethnic people ahead of next year’s elections there, politicians and activists urged yesterday.

Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, said the junta had yet to show a willingness to adhere to the principles of democratic governance under the Asean Charter.

Asean’s long-held assertion that Burma’s political and human rights issues were internal affairs is no longer applicable, especially since the problems in Burma have impacted all countries in the region, Mr Kraisak said.

Burma’s junta has in recent months stepped up operations against ethnic people in the east as part of preparations for planned elections next year, resulting in an influx of thousands of refugees to neighbouring countries such as China and Thailand, said Charm Tong, of the Shan Women’s Action Network in Burma.

Asean politicians and exiled Burmese activists have gathered at the sidelines of the 15th Asean summit to remind the bloc the problem has not gone away, even though there might be some positive developments including the direct engagement of the US and EU.

US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, chair of the EU presidency, are to make separate visits to Burma soon to discuss humanitarian and economic packages as well as future political dialogue with the junta.

Voravit Suwanvanichkij, a research associate from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US, said Burma truly needed more assistance, but people must be aware of the reality that many problems have their roots in structural causes.

Deeply flawed economic policies and military impunity in human rights abuses systematically perpetrated on the people – from forced relocation, forced labour, seizure of property, destruction of farms and villages, to arbitrary taxation – must be addressed.

“From a health standpoint, we are already at a critical juncture. Malaria remains uncontrollable in many parts of the Thai-Burma border and we are now faced with the very real possibility of increasing resistance,” Mr Voravit told the Bangkok Post. He also expressed concern over the spread of new strains of TB and recent cholera outbreaks in border areas where medical treatment was inadequate.

Bangkok Post – October 7

Thailand needs to guard its border more closely in response to a possible spillover of fighting in Burma ahead of the national election there next year, a former chief of the National Intelligence Agency says.

Vaipot Srinual, also a former deputy permanent secretary for defence, yesterday said Thailand’s border security should be better prepared to respond to possible threats or low-scale conflicts between factions inside Burma before the election.

“It is within our rights and capabilities in light of what’s going on with our neighbour right now,” Gen Vaipot said.

“But at the same time we need to maintain a security dialogue through such mechanisms as the Asean Regional Forum and other non-state actors to better understand and be better understood by our neighbour.”

Gen Vaipot yesterday addressed a forum, “Thailand’s Position, Role and Policy Towards Burma”, organised by the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University.

Burma’s main problems involving its approach to democracy and human rights should be resolved internally, he said.

Outsiders, including Thailand, should be on standby in readiness to assist Burma, not pressuring or pushing it on these issues, he said.

Bhornchart Bunnag, director of the Bureau of Border Security Affairs under the National Security Council, said Thailand and other countries in the region would have to shoulder the impact of the increasing roles of the superpowers manoeuvring inside Burma.

“Their influence or clash of influences in Burma, be it security, economic or political, and whether [it is] in a negative or a positive light, will affect Thailand in particular,” Mr Bhornchart said.

“So we should be better prepared to respond to the problems or to reap the benefit of more economic transactions between foreign countries and Burma.”

Mr Bhornchart said Thailand was heavily dependent on Burma for its energy supplies, and this needed to be weighed against the need to call for democracy in that country.

“We need to have a well-balanced approach as there are certain risk factors if we cannot handle our relations with the country now that we rely on our neighbour for more than 20% of our energy supplies,” he said.

Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, said Thailand, as Asean chair this year, was in a weak position in dealing with Burma but the region and the international community should not succumb to such a scenario.

“If we let the Burmese government lead Asean’s voice, the regional organisation will be dragged down to hell in 2010 because it will be Asean’s eventual and inevitable job to endorse that non-inclusive and non-credible election,” he said.

Thailand should be firmer in differentiating itself from the West’s policy toward’s Burma, said Sunait Chutintaranond, director of Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Asian Studies.

The Nation – October 7

Thailand will not forcibly repatriate Burmese refugees residing along the border provinces, even after the upcoming general election in Burma, the director of the Bureau of Border Security Affairs and Defence at the National Security Council (NSC) said yesterday.

Attending a conference on Thailand-Burma relations at Chulalongkorn University, Bhornchart Bunnag said the government would continue to abide by the current policy of not forcing refugees back to unsafe areas.

“Any repatriation of displaced people would be voluntary,” Bhornchart said.

Moreover, Bhornchart said, the refugees’ situation could become worse if the Burmese army launched more attacks against cease-fire groups, such as the Shan or the Wa rebels.

The August attack along the Sino-Burma against Kokang Chinese had sent several thousand ethnic Chinese and hilltribes’ people across into China.

Thai security officials along the border said an attack on the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), an outfit with strongholds on the Thai and the Chinese borders, could force more than 200,000 refugees into Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces.

Much of yesterday’s debate centered on the new US strategy of engaging Burma, one of the world’s most reclusive regimes.

But while the idea of talking to the Burmese junta has won support across the spectrum, Democrat Party MP Kraisak Choonhavan passionately urged the international community not to overlook the plight of displaced people, namely the Karens and the Shans, inside Burma and residing in camps along the Thai border.

Asst Prof Puangthong Pawakapan, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, dismissed suggestions that conflict and human rights violations inside Burma were purely domestic problems.

“Be it suppression of their own people, clashes with the rebel groups, the lack of good governance or the influx of illegal workers and refugees, Thailand will always be at the receiving end of Burma’s internal problems,” Puangthong said.

“Thailand doesn’t have a coherent policy on Burma. On the one hand, we want their cheap labour and their natural resources, such as logging along the border. But we don’t seems to realise that the Burmese junta are displacing their own people so we can have these concessions,” she added.

Kraisak pointed to a report, License to Rape, saying the atrocities committed against minority women by Burmese troops are taking place in resource-rich areas which Thai and foreign businesses were looking to exploit for financial gain.

September 2009

In the past decade Indonesia has transformed itself from a repressive and decrepit dictatorship into a vibrant and hearty democracy-on-the-rise. This amazing progress, demonstrated most recently by this year’s peaceful parliamentary and presidential elections, has earned Indonesia heaps of international praise as the “beacon of democracy” in Southeast Asia.

A label well-deserved perhaps, but as the region’s rising democratic star, Indonesia must take a hard look at its policy decisions and the divergence of its words and actions, especially on issues of democracy and human rights.

Myanmar’s ruling junta’s unabashed disregard for the welfare and civil- and human rights of its citizens is well documented. Myanmar’s criminal actions have made it the shame of ASEAN, and yet robust regional support for reform in the reclusive, brutal country continues to come only in word and not in deed.

To its credit, Indonesia has been among the most outspoken advocates for change in Myanmar; however, recent events in Jakarta would seem to indicate that Indonesia’s support for democratic reform and reconciliation in Myanmar may be just a bunch of hot air. Lovely words, but with no will to support them when faced with a challenge from the generals.

When the Movement for Democracy and Rights for Ethnic Nationalities, an exiled Burmese opposition coalition – led by Burma’s government in exile – pushing for democratic transition in Myanmar, held a conference in Jakarta earlier this month, it was shown Indonesia’s “hospitality” in a somewhat shocking fashion.

The event to launch the movement’s new “Proposal for National Reconciliation”, which was hosted by the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), was blocked by police, on orders from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

According to their spokesman, the Foreign Ministry could not allow a meeting that included the Myanmar government-in-exile to be held in Indonesia. However, the government’s interference in the event only occurred after the Embassy of Myanmar sent a letter to the Ministry threatening adverse effects on bi-lateral relations between the nations.

The Embassy’s actions were ironically a blatant meddling in Indonesia’s internal affairs, something Myanmar’s ruling generals would certainly never tolerate.

So why did Indonesia?

How can Indonesia aspire to be a regional leader when it caves to pressure from the vilest government in the neighborhood? The fact remains that this intervention, perpetrated by the Burmese Embassy and acted upon by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shows inconsistency with Indonesia’s Free and Active Foreign Policy that led to Indonesia’s leadership among the members of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Leaders stand by their words, back them up with their deeds. They follow the right path, though it is very often the most treacherous. They show by example the just and honorable course of action.

When it comes to Myanmar, Indonesia has not yet been the leader it can be, that it needs to be.

For decades ASEAN has stood by weak and reticent while the generals in Myanmar have plundered, tortured, and murdered the Burmese people. The ASEAN states allow Myanmar to continue bringing shame on the region, each afraid to speak out for fear of losing its access to a lucrative trading partner.

Even more sadly, there are signs that this is not just a shared interest in trades, but more as a form of “solidarity” between the elites in the governments. Therefore, their policies are no longer a reflection of people’s aspirations. Pleas by the House of Representatives to ASEAN’s executive powers to impose sanctions on the country have largely fallen on deaf ears. This situation cannot be allowed to continue.

As the “beacon of democracy” in the region, Indonesia must bravely step forward and tell the junta that its violent and repressive antics will no longer be tolerated. This is what a leader would do. A leader would not call for inclusive elections and freedom for political prisoners one day and the next day bow to pressure and shut down a meeting aimed at achieving those fundamentals.

Indonesia has the potential to be a great leader in ASEAN and the wider international community, on a number of issues, but to reach that position it first must show that its word and deed are one.

Leaders are those who fearlessly pursue the right course while others stand idle, afraid to take the first step. On the issue of Myanmar, Indonesia should be the fearless leader – in practice – , blazing the trail, and certainly others will soon follow.

Eva Sundari
AIPMC Vice-President
Indonesia Member of Parliament

August 2009

Looking down from the air at 3,500 feet above sea level, the southern region of Myanmar’s Shan State is a place of breathtaking beauty. Lush jungle forests tumble over scenic mountains and valleys, creating a rich carpet of green. From a distance it looked like a picture of the Garden of Eden. Up close, however, the serene splendor of the landscape makes way to reveal the harsh realities of the lives of the internally displaced people and refugees of the Shan State in Myanmar.

Victims of Myanmar’s long-running civil war, many of them are living in fear and on the run. Their lives are at the mercy of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the latest incarnation of Myanmar’s military government. Forced to flee their homes and establish camps in the forest, they hope to gain some degree of protection from the fighting that plagues their homeland. Many of them can relate first-hand experiences of rape, torture, forced labour and forced relocation at the hands of the SPDC. For the people who occupy camps on the Thai-Shan border, life is a constant struggle for survival.

I recently visited one of those camps in that border region as a member of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) together with several ASEAN parliamentarians. In that camp nearly 3,000 people, including scores of children, suffer a precarious daily existence. Clean water is scarce; residents use a nearby stream. There is no electricity. Two small generators, one at the camp clinic and another at the makeshift school provide emergency power but are seldom in use as fuel is expensive. Camp medics provide healthcare, but lack adequate supplies and medicine for treating diarrhea, TB, malaria, flu, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases, which are rampant. Lack of resources and difficulty in crossing the border to a Thai hospital for treatment of serious illness make death a common occurrence. A teacher in the camp’s school asked for much needed writing material for his students and mosquito nets so that fewer students would miss class due to malaria. Access to the camp by relief agencies is extremely difficult. What little aid does reach the camp comes by way of Thailand-based organizations and individuals who must take great risks to smuggle the supplies over the border.

Despite the harsh reality of life in the camp, the residents, especially the young leaders, cling to their desire for freedom, justice and peace in a democratic Myanmar. The elderly residents just yearn for the day when they can go home and rebuild their burnt down villages and cultivate their rice fields in peace.

Condemnation of the SPDC seemed universal among the camp’s residents as many have been victims and witnesses of torture and atrocities. However despite the hardships in the camp and the on-going armed struggle around them, the people appear grateful to the Shan State Army and the nearby Thai Army for giving them a sense of security against SPDC soldiers.

The tension in the area is exacerbated by the long standing fracture between the SPDC and ethnic armies. Ahead of next year’s scheduled elections, the ruling military junta has been pressuring the ethnic armies that have signed cease-fire agreements with the SPDC into converting themselves into subservient border guard forces. This does not mean that peace and security will follow as tensions continue to exist between the warring factions. The Shan State Army (SSA), for example, has a history of animosity with the United Wa State Army (UWSA), which also operates in Shan State. The UWSA has also refused the SPDC’s demand to convert themselves into border guards, dramatically increasing tensions between the SPDC and the UWSA forces. However an uneasy truce appears to be holding between the UWSA and the SSA as both these groups stockpile arms and ammunition in anticipation of becoming the SPDC Army’s next targets once it completes it current onslaught against the Karen National Union (KNU) Army further south.

Should the tension among these three – the UWSA, SPDC, and SSA-South, continue to escalate, the situation for residents of the five Shan camps along the northeastern border of Thailand, including the one I visited, will become even more dangerous. An eruption of fighting would send the residents fleeing, either deeper into the jungle or across the border into neighbouring countries, where many face exploitation, imprisonment and deportation. While life in the current camps is far from safe, either of these two alternatives is often worse.

So far, western sanctions, ASEAN rhetoric and United Nations missions have failed to significantly move the SPDC generals towards good governance. Years of ASEAN’s efforts in ‘constructive engagement’ have not persuaded the SPDC generals into giving its people a better life and democratic rights especially not to its estimated two million internally displaced people. As the face of democracy in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi’s plight is often reported in the media but many, many stories of the displaced people remain untold. They are stuck with nowhere to turn and no truly good option for their security and livelihood.

Until there is coordinated action by the international community and all of Myanmar’s neighbours or among the ranks of Myanmar’s military regime to force change for the better, its citizens will continue to suffer.

It is also uncertain if there would be lasting peace among the ethnic armies once the SPDC is out of the equation. What is certain however for the people living in refugee camps along Myanmar’s border, the status quo under the SPDC is untenable.

Charles Chong
AIPMC Vice-President
Singapore Member of Parliament.

Abridged version was published in the Perit – newsletter of People’s Action Party (Singapore’s ruling political party).