4/12/07 ASEAN attacked over Burma stance Tuesday

ASEAN attacked over Burma stance Tuesday

4th December 2007

By: Matt Cresswell.

THE ASEAN trading bloc has ‘let-down’ both the EU and the UN by taking a soft stance on the totalitarian regime in Burma, according to member of the British House of Lords.
ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), will not match the EU and UN’s commitment to imposing strong pressure on Burma following the protests in Rangoon three months ago.Speaking to Religious Intelligence, Baroness Cox (pictured), who recently returned from a humanitarian trip to Burma, said she and her co-workers were deeply saddened by ASEAN’s stance.“Burma has opened up its coffers of jade and gems and the ASEAN nations have bought it”, she said, quoting one of the leaders of the marginalised and persecuted Shan group.Lady Cox, who heads up the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) said that the trading bloc had come up with ‘a much milder statement’.She said: “Any attempts to pressurise the regime into being more responsible and more sensitive to international opinion and more pro-democracy will be undermined my ASEAN’s soft line.”This autumn Burma hit the headlines as thousands of monks descended on its capital, Rangoon, in the country’s largest protest against the oppressive junta. Some of the monks were of Shan origin, one of the groups with whom the Baroness has been working.The Shan, Karen and Karenni ethnic minorities in Burma have all suffered persecution and marginalisation by the State Peace and Development Council.During her trips this year Baroness Cox says she has witnessed terrible events, such as a man who had had his eyes gouged out by the army and people whose villages have been burnt to the ground.Thousands are forced to live in the jungle which can reach very low temperatures owing to its altitude.Baroness Cox believes that the situation among the ethnic people of Burma has probably worsened since her previous trip.She intends to return in March next year.

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