Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-02-Speech-1-096"
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"en.20001002.7.1-096"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank the Commissioner for his input in this debate and for his sound plans. I very much back the idea of strengthening economic, cultural and political ties with ASEAN and ASEM. I also believe in involving the NGOs, mainstream society and the citizens of those countries. However, I would like to focus on the political contacts and comment on two countries in that area, namely Burma and Indonesia.
Burma is without a doubt ruled by one of the world’s cruellest dictatorships. Ten years ago, a military regime pushed the elected President, Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi, out of office, dissolved parliament, drove out, imprisoned and even killed numerous members of parliament, and subsequently applied extreme terror in its treatment of the population and minorities. The European Union has taken a number of measures with regard to Burma, but to no avail. Not so long ago, Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi was once again restricted in her freedom, a number of key fellow party members were rounded up and Western human rights representatives found themselves in hot water in Burma. Nothing appears to be working. This is why, in line with previous EP resolutions, I should once again like to argue in favour of adopting a harder line in conjunction with the ASEAN and ASEM countries.
I would now like to turn my attention to Indonesia, which is having difficulty moving back towards being a democratic constitutional state. Wahid’s government is of good will and is genuinely trying to undo old-style practices in the short term. But there are hardened opponents. These include corrupt members of the old Suharto clique and disloyal sections of the army, as well as paramilitary militia and aggressive Muslim fundamentalists. Meanwhile, Indonesia is dealing with a total of one million refugees internally, 130 000 of whom are in Timor and 300 000 on the Moluccan Islands. Especially in the Moluccas, where aggressive Muslim groups are spreading death and destruction, the situation is plainly disastrous. With more than 5 000 killed, tens of thousands wounded and more than 300 000 refugees, the large Moluccan community in the Netherlands – 50 000 EU citizens – is worried out of its mind.
The European Union must support the democratic forces in Indonesia but at the same time fathom out how it can help Indonesia to defy the negative forces in Indonesia – certainly in the Moluccas, because so many Moluccan European citizens are so terribly worried."@en1
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