Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-11-Speech-4-245"
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"en.20100211.18.4-245"2
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"Mr President, as Members have very clearly underlined, serious human rights violations are continuing in Burma. The military government has not responded to international calls to stop those human rights infringements and it has not released political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Pressure has increased on the Rohingya minority to force them to leave the country, and the deterioration of socioeconomic conditions continues. An estimated 80% of the population live in rural areas, and severe problems in agriculture and food production are developing.
The EU has several times issued declarations condemning violations of human rights. The EU has also tightened sanctions and, in parallel, we have pressed the neighbours of Burma/Myanmar – ASEAN, China, India – to use diplomatic pressure too, and some of the neighbours are doing this. In addition, the EU has strongly supported the United Nations efforts. These measures have created difficulties for the military government, but they have failed to make it change its behaviour.
Now the military government has promised elections in 2010 as a step towards its gradual exit from power. We can only judge these elections when the electoral law is published and when we see if clear and fair arrangements are in place for the ballot. In the meantime, the EU is willing to engage with the present government to persuade it to use the opportunity of the elections in order to change the situation and to start a positive phase in the history of Burma.
By saying this, I make it very clear that the EU does not want to isolate Burma. We are, in fact, the biggest donors of humanitarian and related assistance to that country. The bulk of our assistance goes to the countryside – particularly to the delta – which is still recovering from cyclone Nargis. Assistance also goes to the refugee camps along the Thai border. We should also know that the report of the United Nations special rapporteur speaks a very clear language. We back the special United Nations rapporteur and are ready to help him.
But we also know that direct activities on human rights in Burma are hardly possible. For instance, the EU will not be invited to observe the elections, so we have to utilise indirect measures. Therefore, human rights are built into all our assistance programmes. In order to promote our values – human rights development, dialogue – we need to have a very clear message. Today the united Parliament had this very clear message, and I am sure it will be heard. I am also sure that we should not outsource our task of reminding Myanmar of its obligations to neighbouring countries. We have to remain committed ourselves. We have to engage directly on our human rights agenda with the authorities, and we will continue to do so."@en1
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