Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-21-Speech-4-195"
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"en.20070621.28.4-195"2
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".
Madam President, the Commission remains worried about the situation in Myanmar/Burma. The biggest worries concern the deep social and ethnic fault lines which divide the country and which result in human insecurity, widespread poverty and lack of progress in economic and social development. It is obvious, that in a climate of human insecurity and ongoing armed conflict in a few border areas, there is little space for respect for human rights.
The authorities of Myanmar/Burma are confronted with a number of challenges, like establishing national unity and political stability, and – most importantly – advancing the development level of their country which remains one of the poorest in the world. For the international community, helping the transition of Myanmar/Burma towards a more open and more developed society – led by a legitimate and civilian government – should remain the paramount goal.
The military leadership’s erratic governance continues, in economic terms and in the political sphere. The military continues to employ practices of forced labour, while civil society faces repression, uncertainty and operational difficulties. The ‘88 Students’ – the then leaders of the 1988 uprising – continue to exploit the minimal space for civil society as much as they can, while the National League for Democracy is marginalised and while the unjustifiable detention of Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi continues.
Transition is hard to imagine with more than one thousand political detainees, among whom Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi sticks out as the icon of peace and reconciliation. Such transition is equally inconceivable without a genuine dialogue with the various ethnic groups, including those continuing their armed battle.
The Commission supports the work of Professor Paolo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar. He said, in his last statement, that ‘grave human rights violations are indulged not only with impunity but authorised by the sanction of laws’. The Commission also welcomes the appointment by the UN Secretary-General of Professor Ibrahim Gambari as Special Envoy for Myanmar, and expects that the Government will extend its full cooperation to him, in order to allow the good offices of the UN Secretary General to continue.
Regarding the forthcoming session of the National Convention, we call on the Government to listen to the voices of ethnic groups and political stakeholders in opposition. We note progress in the working conditions of the local International Labour Organisation office, which will hopefully improve the situation of victims of forced labour practices filing a complaint. But we deplore the deteriorating working conditions for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and call on the Government to allow the ICRC to resume its humanitarian mission.
Among most observers, there is a growing consensus that more needs to be done about the political and socioeconomic situation. The European Union, in its common position, has mandated the Commission to engage the Government in a dialogue over its responsibilities to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The EU has, therefore, been looking for effective policies which may help the people of Myanmar/Burma and which may help to bring them back into the international community. The Three Diseases Fund, supported by the EU and its partners, is an example of this policy.
Our approach focuses on the most basic and immediate human security needs of the population, and it clearly recognises the limits which exist for all external actors. However, withholding aid and contributing to more isolation would only make the population pay the price, that is, the people of Myanmar/Burma who are already suffering. We simply do not believe that through increased sanctions the suffering of the people can be relieved. Moreover, such an approach would not help influence the military leaders.
The Commission is fully committed to stepping up its programmes in Myanmar/Burma, in quantitative and qualitative terms, with a view to contributing effectively to development and reconciliation."@en1
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