Asean faces tough decision on Burma

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

30 May 1997 
The Nation 

Asean faces tough decision on Burma 

Rangoon's intransigence has pushed the regional grouping further out on a 
limb, Yindee Lertcharoenchok writes. 

When Asean foreign ministers begin their meeting tomorrow in Kuala Lumpur to 
finalise the admission of Burma, Cambodia and Laos into the regional grouping, 
they will find Burma's membership the most problematic. 

Although the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has responded positively 
to Burma's bid to join the economic and political bloc, its members are 
finding it increasingly difficult to justify their association with the 
intransigent Burmese junta and their decision to grant it membership this 
year. 

The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council's (Slorc) latest crackdown 
on the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) could not have come at a 
worse time and is a big embarrassment for Asean. 

The news of the nationwide arrests of NLD MPs, members and their family 
members ­ more than 300 in total ­ broke on May 21, just one day after US 
President Bill Clinton signed into force an executive order imposing economic 
sanctions against Burma, and exactly 10 days before the crucial Asean meeting. 


The sweeping crackdown took place less than two weeks after the May 7 to 10 
visit to Burma of UN special envoy Alvaro de Soto, an assistant 
secretary-general for political affairs who was in the country to facilitate 
national reconciliation and dialogue. 

Along with the clampdown, Slorc also tried to block the NLD from holding a 
congress to commemorate the party's ignored landslide victory in the May 27, 
1990 general elections and to work out its political programme and activities. 


Although Asean members have played down any impacts from the American economic 
sanctions on their relations with Slorc, they are aware that Burma could 
become an unwelcome source of confrontation between the grouping and its 
Western dialogue partners, especially the US. 

They are also concerned that Washington's broadly-written economic sanctions 
could have far-reaching implications and might affect American participation 
in regional projects that extend from a third country to Burma. 

With rising domestic opposition to Burma's admission, Asean governments know 
that their peoples are becoming more intolerant of Slorc's repressive 
behaviour and its aggression which is extending beyond Burma's border. 

In Thailand, the public was shocked by the unexpected deployment of Burmese 
troops to protect the Burmese dredging of a disputed islet on the Moei River. 
Although top Thai officers promptly intervened to resolve the crisis, Burmese 
and Thai troops were at one time facing off just a few metres apart. 

They are also upset that Slorc has been indifferent to the resettlement of 
hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants in Thailand ­ the largest Burmese 
community outside Burma ­ whose presence has been a heavy financial, economic 
and social burden for the Thai public. 

In Malaysia, the powerful Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) has accused 
Slorc of harassing Burmese Muslim communities to the extent of ''ethnic 
cleansing" and of practising religious discrimination against Islam. 

Abim, whose founder and former president is the current acting prime minister, 
Anwar Ibrahim, has condemned Slorc for the alleged demolition of more than 30 
mosques and other Muslim properties throughout Burma since March 16 this year. 


Abim secretary-general Ahmad Azam Abdul Rahman called on his government to 
review its constructive engagement policy with Burma and to delay the 
country's entry into Asean. 

Foreign diplomats in the Burmese capital and in Bangkok share a similar 
opinion that as the regional and international pressure mounts, and with 
Burma's mismanaged economy on the verge of collapse, Slorc is acting and 
reacting more irrationally. 

They believe that some Asean countries are well aware that Burma's premature 
membership in Asean in the absence of democratic and human rights improvements 
could become a liability and not an asset for the grouping and could further 
alienate it from its key Western dialogue partners, especially the US and the 
European Union. 

Slorc's intransigence, and refusal to compromise and open a dialogue with the 
NLD, stems from the tacit political and economic support it has secured over 
the years from key regional powers Asean, China and Japan, as well as their 
pledges of non-interference. 

Obviously, the regime is betting that it can, like in May last year when more 
than 260 NLD activists were arrested, survive the current international 
backlash against its crackdown on the NLD. 

According to well-informed diplomatic sources, Slorc has retained ''a very 
tough stance" on nearly all issues, particularly the refusal to hold talks 
with the NLD. 

Although the regime has agreed to let UN human rights envoy to Burma Rajsoomer 
Lallah visit the country ''soon" ­ probably in September ­ and has already 
started talks with the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross 
on the reopening of its office in Rangoon, it has refused to budge on other 
issues. 

The sources pointed out that the latest crackdown on the NLD was Slorc's reply 
to NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi's latest peace initiative. In her recent 
proposal to Slorc, the Nobel Prize laureate agreed to stay out of any NLD 
dialogue with the ruling generals. 

Suu Kyi has assured Slorc that the NLD was not seeking power and that the 
dialogue could be ''unconditional" and ''secret" and be ''talk about talk", 
''talk about agenda" or ''talk about modality". 

She agreed that she would stay out of the talks and let other top NLD leaders 
­ U Kyi Maung, U Tin Oo and U Aung Shwe ­ participate in them. Asean countries 
have been informed of Suu Kyi's latest peace overture, according to the 
sources. 

Interestingly, while the NLD seemed to have softened its stance for the sake 
of national reconciliation, Slorc has toughened its stance and increased its 
suppression of the democratic opposition. 

Sources said Slorc had, during the recent meeting with UN envoy de Soto, 
blamed the NLD and Suu Kyi for the two tragic bombings in December and April 
that killed a number of innocent people including the eldest daughter of a top 
Slorc general. 

Slorc's ignorance and disrespect of the Burmese and international calls for 
political reform and compromise should not go unnoticed. Moreover, its 
repressive behaviour and aggression against its people and Burma's neighbours 
should be punished and not rewarded with Asean membership.