U.N. human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana arrived in Burma last Sunday for a five-day visit to assess the human rights situation in the country.
Quintana, who was previously denied a visa to Burma after visiting there in February last year, is expected to meet with pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as Home Minister Ko Ko, Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and other senior government officials. Quintana was unable to meet with Suu Kyi during his previous trip when she was still under house arrest.
Amid all of this, a photo of Suu Kyi meeting with Burma’s Prime Minister Thein Sein was released to the public recently. A few weeks ago there was another meeting in Rangoon with Labour Minister U Aung Gyi. And then came the invitation for her to attend a poverty-reduction conference.
The impression is that the Thein Sein administration is heeding international appeals, including those of ASEAN, to promote dialogue with the opposition. Although these moves should be welcome, one must not lose sight of the fact that in reality Burma has actually done nothing yet, other than talk and pretend there is a thaw. This is an old ruse and the world has seen it before.
If Naypyidaw wants to show this is change, the generals need to actually do positive things. Just as important is the need for the international community, especially Thailand, to be even more patient and not rush to any conclusions. As for Thailand, under no circumstances should any refugees be returned to Burma until a whole range of issues are undertaken.
If and when refugees are returned, the UNHCR and refugee advocates must be involved in the process. This is to ensure that these people will not be harmed. But given the fact that ethnic villagers have suffered decades of vicious military attacks that have employed all sorts of means, including the use of rape, there is indeed a massive barrier of fear and mistrust that must be overcome.
Some of the moves Burma needs to undertake include the release of all political prisoners. People like Zarganar, the well-known comedian, should never have been put in jail - in the West he would have been honoured for helping his suffering colleagues (after Cyclone Nargis). Forgive him for speaking out. Let him go. Along with 2,000 others.
The generals need to get smart with Suu Kyi; utilise her as glue to keep the country together. The two-decade-old ceasefire has fallen apart and it’s a matter of time before all-out fighting erupts along the Sino-Burma and the Thai-Burma borders.
Suu Kyi has much more political capital with the ethnic minorities than the generals. Thus, it is understandable why they will be willing to listen to her more than they would the Burmese leaders. With military action in the Shan and Karen states curtailed, there would be no mass influx of refugees.
The Burmese leaders will have to re-negotiate development projects that are causing strife all around the country. Projects such as the Myitsone dam and others - the Tasang and Hat Gyi - are bitterly opposed. They need to tell the Chinese and other foreign groups backing the projects that these deals will have to be re-negotiated so local people are pacified.
This will probably mean that some of these deals simply can’t go ahead in their current form; a key facet will be to allocate a proportion of power generated from these projects (presumably downsized) for local people at a fair price. The payoff for foreign investors is the far greater likelihood that these projects will occur in the near future and not lag for years because they are the subject of opposition attacks.
They need to work to ensure that mighty rivers such as the Irrawaddy and Salween are saved for future generations. The government will need to pay proper compensation for land acquired for projects such as the Shwe pipelines; that will also minimise attacks. By ending land confiscation, the hatred for the military will likely decrease. This is only the beginning.
If political prisoners are released, there is the prospect of IMF loans for infrastructure and far greater foreign aid. The foreign business community is anxious to be part of the rebuilding of Burma. But we need to see peace and the rule of law applied.
