EBO
“
News Summary:
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1. Pressure on
2. Criticism of
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Pressure on
The Guardian
By Tom Templeton
The Foreign Office
says it will continue to increase the pressure on tour firms
operating to
Suu Kyi and allows
her National League for Democracy party (NLD) to operate freely.
British officials
are due to meet the 18
to explain how their operations are
supporting the military regime.
Foreign Minister
Mike O'Brien launched a high-profile campaign two weeks ago
in direct response to the 30 May attacks by
government-sponsored militia forces
which killed up to 70 NLD members and resulted
in Suu Kyi's imprisonment.
It is estimated
that
6,000-8,000 are
British. These visitors annually raise around £25 million in
foreign currency for the regime from entry
certificates alone.
Many of
caused forced relocation of the local people. The
democratically elected NLD has
always argued that the benefit of the little
tourism money that filters through
to the locals is outweighed by the cost to
of propping up the current regime.
Western diplomats
in the capital
their cronies are benefiting directly from
recent tourism developments. A list of
owners of the hotel plots at the newest beach
resort in the country, Ngwesaung,
reads like 'a Who's Who of generals and their
cronies', one said. These include
the Htoo
construction group, owned by U Teza who is barred
from visiting
European
Union countries as part of EU sanctions against the regime.
Htoo
is also apparently building a new $3m complex - comprising a viewing
tower, souvenir shops, meeting rooms and a hotel
- at the Bagan heritage site.
The tower, which
is said to have appeared to Than Shwe, leader of the junta,
in a dream, will overshadow the tallest of
the ancient pagodas there.
The residents of Bagan were not consulted about the complex.
Tour operator
Abercrombie & Kent announced last week that it would drop
from its 2004 brochure due to lack of demand.
However, if a client insists on
visiting
their travel arrangements.
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Criticism of
Myanmar’s Junta Lacks Any Real Force of Change
By Peter Kammerer
Asian nations lack
the desire to do more than criticise
regime for refusing to implement democracy,
observers have agreed.
International
pressure has forced the Association of South East Asian
Nations (Asean) to take the unprecedented step of criticising a
member
country, but there was little more the group could
- or would - do. Even a
much-publicised road map for democratic change proposed by
vague concept rather than a firm proposal, one
observer said.
tour of Asean
countries to discuss the moves. In
toughened diplomatic and economic sanctions, he
hinted that detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be released
before Asean's annual
summit in October. Asean,
breaking its principle of non-interference in
the affairs of member nations, formally asked
for the release of Ms Suu
Kyi and hundreds
of her supporters and implementation of greater democracy
at a meeting of foreign ministers in
the call, along with their European
counterparts, at the Asia-Europe
Meeting (Asem) in
minister, Mahathir Mohamad,
suggested
for non-compliance with its demands.
Asean
expert Amitav Acharya said
the requests showed the organisation was
changing, although it was "not completely out
of the non-intervention
mode". But he doubted the efficacy of Asean's cautious approach to
"I don't
think what Asean has done so far would make a big
difference,"
said Dr Acharya, the
deputy director of
and Strategic Studies. "It may lead to
the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,
but that's addressing the symptom, not the
cause - and even that happening
cannot be taken for granted."
He said
while this continued, external efforts would
achieve little.
Thailand-based
observers agreed that Asean lacked the ability to
force the
democratisation of
committee, Sunai Phasuk, said that Asean was in a
bind because
military had clearly indicated an intention to
retain power indefinitely,
yet it had done its best to appease
international pressure for action.
The pressure had
been the reason for Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai's road map, which the professor of political science at
Sunai
claimed the announcement was made in the lead-up to the Asean
meeting without the consultation of either the
junta or pro-democracy
groups, or the knowledge of Foreign Ministry
officials and advisers.
Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said after meeting
General Aung Win
that he was willing to go to
offered to mediate between the junta and the
international community.
Dr Sunai believed little would come of the plan - especially
as
like the junta, had never recognised the
victory of Ms Suu Kyi's National
League
for Democracy political party in 1990 elections.
Other than
proposing Ms Suu Kyi's release, other details of the plan were
unclear. Dr Surakiart had spoken of unity for
the status quo through armed groups giving up
their weapons and
being a conduit for talks.
"In general,
the idea is in favour of the junta and could endanger the
pro-democracy side by forcing those engaged in armed
struggle to give up
weapons," said Dr Sunai,
also a spokesman for the Thai human rights group
Forum
Debbie Stothard, co-ordinator of the Bangkok-based pressure group
Altsean-Burma,
agreed that the lack of consultation made the road map
problematic.
She said
down on most exiled pro-democracy groups from
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Euro-Burma Office
Square Gutenberg 11/2
1000
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