Time for action, not words

The heavy-handed political crackdown and brutal physical attacks on democracy groups in Burma have drawn headlines in the international media, prompting the EU, individual Western governments and the UN to respond with statements of censure and demands for detainees to be released.

However, press releases and calls on the regime to respect human rights and free activists are no longer enough. More than 20 years of such verbal disapproval have achieved nothing—it is time that the international community, governments and policymakers engaged in deep thought on what to do with the regime in Burma.

It is also time to admit that we have all failed on Burma, and the latest events and the reaction to them will sadly not be the last.

It is appalling to witness how Asean and Burma’s giant neighbors, India and China, have remained silent about the continuing crackdowns in the country. But it is, of course, understandable that neighbors who have been benefiting from resource-rich Burma stay conspicuously quiet. Less understandable is the behavior of some other governments, for Burma’s repressive regime has no shortage of ill-informed and opportunistic neighbors who have no qualms about exploiting its natural resources at the expense of people’s lives.

For example, Thailand Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand said during a meeting of Asean Energy Ministers last week that he had discussed with his Burmese counterpart progress in negotiations for natural gas trading between Thailand and Burma through a joint venture. This “business as usual” attitude is shameful.

Nearly 20 years ago, in December 1988, Thailand’s then army chief Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh broke Burma’s diplomatic isolation as he led a veritable army of businesspeople and high-ranking officials on a visit to Rangoon only a few months after the bloody coup there. A red carpet welcome awaited him, of course, although the international community was shocked by the visit.

Gen Chavalit returned to Bangkok with lucrative trade deals, including fishing rights in Burmese waters. Now we learn that Gen Sonthi Boonyratglin, the leader of the coup that ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, will visit Burma this week. Would it not be wiser for the Thai coup maker who pledged to return power to the Thai people and democracy to the kingdom to postpone the visit?

Shamefully, Burma’s two giant neighbors are also quiet. India, an established democracy, and China are sitting idly by, while busily selling arms to the Naypyidaw regime, reaching trade and gas deals and lending political support to the military government.
In short, China and India have proved themselves to be dishonest neighbors of the Burmese people.

China’s veto of a US-led resolution on Burma in the UN Security Council in January and the continuing failure to pressure the regime into freeing Aung San Suu Kyi are symptoms of its approach to democracy. Without China’s assistance and backing, Burma would have no leverage with the international community and would be unable to commit its human rights transgressions against its own people.

There is no doubt that the regime’s senior leaders and hardcore members were happy about the UN veto and interpreted it as a signal to adopt a more aggressive policy towards dissidents and pro-democracy groups inside Burma.

For instance, Industry Minister Aung Thaung, who is considered to be close to Snr-Gen Than Shwe, is one of the key organizers of the thuggish attacks on pro-democracy activists ,which have increased in number and ferocity since the UN Security Council vote. The Irrawaddy has now learned that he probably played a key role in last week’s attacks on civilians and peaceful demonstrators.

Burma’s neighbors are not alone in preserving the regime. UN bureaucrats, so-called peace-brokers and special envoys who have been jetting in and out of Burma for decades, have also failed to achieve tangible results.

Moreover, the regime’s apologists, dim-witted scholars and “Burma experts” brought the debate of sanctions and constructive engagement to the table. The UN, international aid agencies and well-paid non-Burmese consultants loudly discuss the humanitarian crisis in Burma and advocate the need for urgent aid and assistance, while conveniently ignoring the fact that the crisis and the refugee problems of Burma are a man-made disaster.

The UN’s special envoy on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari is soon to visit Naypyadaw, where he is scheduled to meet Snr-Gen Than Shwe and top brass. The visit is part of his routine schedule and has nothing to do with the recent protests.

During his trip to Thailand last month, Gambari, who is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon’s special Burma adviser, voiced hope that there would be progress in Burma on several issues, including the release of political prisoners. The irony is that on his next visit to Burma the UN envoy will probably again talk about “progress.”

Twenty years ago, when young Burmese students took to the streets, they naively hoped that the UN and the international community would help end the suffering and military oppression.

Two of those young idealists, Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi both served long prison sentences, and now they are back behind bars, together with many arrested other activists and civilians. They are likely to receive severe punishment for staging a peaceful protest. They’ll probably be comforted by all these official expressions of concern about their plight and condemnation of the regime—and resigned to the fact that none of these well-intentioned statements will do anything to win their freedom.