ASEAN Distancing Itself from Already Isolated Myanmar
The situation in Myanmar is brutal – the country has been ruled by a military dictatorship for the past 40 years. Not only does the government rule absolutely, they have created an isolationist pocket within the region, one that reminds us of the days of the Khmer Rhouge.
The main opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi – a peace activist and Noble Peace Prize winner, has been detained by the government for 17 years.
This week, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met for their annual conference. A statement demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi was deleted, even with pressure from Malaysia, the Phillipines, and Singapore.
“The final version [of the statement] released after one-day annual talks between the bloc’s foreign ministers removed those elements [demanding the release of Suu Kyi], saying only that the ministers “expressed concern on the pace of the national reconciliation process.”
“We reiterated our calls for the early release of those placed under detention and for effective dialogue with all parties concerned,” it said. [1]
After this latest conference, ASEAN admitted to purposefully distancing itself from Myanmar in favor of allowing UN Under Secretary General Ibrahim Gambari to take the lead. From ASEAN’s point of view, this gives Myanmar, “Enough to give them the space that they want and it also means that internationally we feel less of an obligation to defend them as a group.”
However, this could prove disastrous to the people within the country, especially the rural Christian population who suffer the most from the military’s corrupt rule. As we have seen in the past, the UN must cut through so much red tape to help those in need, that they often arrive with too little too late.
Gambari, who was welcomed by the government, made the following statement:”The United Nations will be engaged with them since they have already agreed for Gambari to do a second visit,” he told reporters. “I think these are processes that are being made in order not to sideline Myanmar. I think Myanmar engaged is better than Myanmar isolated.” [1]
For more information on Aung San Suu Kyi, please check out her wiki page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi. There are many great links to read more in depth the ideas and strength of this amazing woman.
Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man’s self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.
~Aung San Suu Kyi
[1] Southeast Asia waters down statement on Myanmar
Yahoo! News / AFP
by Sara Stewart
25 July 2006