Ban must visit Burma to begin the end-game

http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2009/01/ban-must-visit-burma-to-begin-the-end-game/63584.aspx

By Thaung Htun
09.01.2009 / 13:03 CET
A more active role by the UN's secretary-general is one of ways the international community can deepen its engagement with Burma's problems, argues the government-in-exile.
In backing a visit to Burma (Myanmar) by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the EU's envoy, Peiro Fassino, in mid-December added to the clarion call for the UN to take a lead role in Burma.

The EU itself is already well engaged, via a range of economic sanctions. It has opened channels of dialogue on Burma with interlocutors like the Philippines. Just before Christmas it pledged a further €40.5 million to aid efforts inside Burma, focusing particularly on victims of the Nargis cyclone of last May.

But, the EU cannot enact positive change on its own. It needs concerted action from the UN, starting with a high-profile, top-level, well-focused visit by Ban himself.

Instead, the United Nations secretary-general seems to be waiting for a miracle before he is prepared to visit Burma. Like a scientist afraid of his own experiment, he aims to plot the result before he begins the process.

He is seeking, he says, an assurance that there will be an outcome. This is an untenable position, overly cautious by far for a situation as critical as the one in which Burma finds itself. The UN is willing to allow the Burmese military junta to ride roughshod over international standards of human rights, political practice, economic sustainability and foreign relations. The global body is allowing the regime to push on towards a sham election in 2010, which will inevitably bolster their power and defer the development of democracy in Burma.


While the shortcomings of the UN indicate a global system that is failing Burma, the UN is not alone.

Regionally, a virtual free-for-all has erupted as investors from China, Russia, Korea, Thailand, and elsewhere rush into Burma. A resources and energy assets boom has given the military regime an opportunity to open the flood-gates. Sanctions in place in the EU and the US have ensured Burma's neighbours have few serious competitors, or watchdogs.

A step-by-step plan
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, as the legitimate and mandated de jure government in Burma has outlined a step-by-step plan for more focused and successful engagement with Burma.

The first vital and unavoidable step would be for the secretary-general to visit the country – and to so as soon as possible. That would be an opportunity to present and embody the international community's concern over widespread human rights violations and the volatile actions of the country's rulers.

Second, the UN's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, must go to Burma again to meet officials and to establish the infrastructure to: a) ensure the release of all political prisoners; b) facilitate open negotiations between Aung San Suu Kyi, the victor in Burma's last democratic elections, and the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the name Burma's military regime has given itself; c) to set a permanent liaison office in Burma to pursue the direct intentions of the secretary-general and; d) to bring solutions to Burma's economic crisis.

Third, a process of on-going engagement needs to be rolled out. The generals need to be obliged to meet and engage appropriately with the UN special envoy and must grant all relevant UN officers unlimited access throughout the country.

Fourth, the UN should kick off a process of national reconciliation, capitalising on the work already done in this direction by the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), which I represent at the UN. This process must be inclusive of all opposition parties, the military and all ethnic groups. This must take place before the proposed elections in 2010 to head off the usual ruses employed by the generals in order to exploit international goodwill, to marginalise authentic opposition voices in Burma and to ensure the irrevocably flawed 2010 election can never take place.

Fifth, all such processes need to have the full-backing of the UN and have their agenda set by the UN. This needs the backing of the UN member states, who must stand up and act on Burma more than they are, and should be a priority as the run-in to the 2010 election looms closer.

Sixth, this process has to be fully open, the dialogue made public and the results known to all, so as to ensure full accountability and the good governance of the initiative.

These are concrete steps, not idle thoughts. Such a programme could bring progress to Burma. The international community understands these mechanisms and can work within them. And yet there is inaction, a sense the rhetoric is there to knit a veil for international leaders.

Recently, Ban said that the actions of the junta are “abhorrent and unacceptable” and called for “bold action” on the generals' part to move towards democracy. But, the words will sink quickly unless they are forcefully backed up by Ban himself.

This is not the time to be overly fastidious in the interests of protocol or realpolitik, or to protect the perceived dignity of the secretary-general's office. Our people are in grave danger.

We can only hope the EU will continue to provide weight to the growing movement to begin the process of lasting change in Burma.

Thaung Htun represents Burma's government-in-exile, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), at the United Nations.


© 2009 European Voice. All rights reserved.