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CANADA PRESSES BURMA WITH NEW ECONO
- Subject: CANADA PRESSES BURMA WITH NEW ECONO
- From: moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 07 Aug 1997 17:07:00
Subject: CANADA PRESSES BURMA WITH NEW ECONOMIC SANCTIONS
Canada presses Burma with new economic sanctions
04:18 p.m Aug 07, 1997 Eastern
By Randall Palmer
OTTAWA, Aug 7 (Reuter) - Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd
Axworthy announced additional economic sanctions against Burma
on Thursday to increase pressure on the country's military leaders to
improve human rights and move toward democracy.
Canada will withdraw Burma's General Preferential Tariff eligibility,
require all Canadian exporters to Burma to have an export permit
and encourage businesses not to invest in the country, he told a news
conference.
``Burma's military leaders have made no effort to improve the
current situation and have repeatedly failed to respond to the
international community's attempts to open channels of
communication,'' Axworthy said in a statement.
``The actions we have taken today are intended to convey the
seriousness of our concerns over the suppression of political
freedoms and our frustration with Burma's failure to curb the
production and trafficking of illegal drugs.''
Burma is the largest source for illegal heroin entering North
America, the Foreign Affairs Department said.
Axworthy spent much of his news conference seeking to justify
differences in treatment by Canada, which has applied sanctions
against countries such as Nigeria and Burma while opting for
dialogue with China, Cuba and Indonesia.
He was unable to provide an example of how talking with Beijing
had improved the human rights situation in China, which was
criticised recently in a U.S. State Department report on religious
persecution.
But he said dialogue with Cuba had led to the release of some
political prisoners.
``I wouldn't want to underestimate the importance simply of having a
face-to-face dialogue,'' Axworthy said.
But in the case of Burma, he said, the government was unwilling to
engage in any meaningful dialogue.
Axworthy met in Kuala Lumpur on July 29 with Burmese Foreign
Minister Ohn Gyaw, who he said failed to respond to any of eight
Canadian proposals.
These included the release of political prisoners, the return to Burma
of the International Committee of the Red Cross, a clear timetable
for the constitutional process and an agreement to let a U.N. human
rights representative visit.
Axworthy also announced C$350,000 (US$252,000) in
humanitarian aid for Burmese refugees in Thailand.
Canada suspended bilateral aid to Burma in 1988 and previously
had cut off military sales, suspended its diplomatic presence and
frozen export aid and commercial promotion for Canadian firms
doing business in Burma.
Axworthy said proposed exports to Burma by Canadian companies
would be scrutinised on humanitarian grounds, with items like
powdered milk for children receiving a permit.
Canada maintains a dialogue with Burmese human rights activist
Aung San Suu Kyi through Canada's ambassador to Burma, who is
resident in Thailand, and insists that the Burmese government also
talk with her. ^REUTER@