My Articles
It is Imperative that the UN makes a Bold Action for Burma
Oct 25th, 2007
Burma people have been living under the military dictatorship without freedom or justice for 45 years. They have been suffering brutality and suppression for many decades. The Burma military junta’s inhumane crimes against the people of Burma has accelerated since 1988 to such a degree that the world should not carry on impassively watching for the regime’s next move.The diplomats and other world leaders have been far too lenient with this murderous regime for far too long.
The people of Burma have lived in the hope that the UN or USA would send troops into Burma to stop the atrocities and suffering that the Burma army inflicted on them. They have waited and waited.
The Burma Army’s vicious rein of terror against the ethnic races such as the Shan, Karen, Kachin and others have been addressed again and again by the human rights activists, but the meetings with UK and USA leaders had made very little change. These ethnic people still have to endure terrible crimes inflicted on them by the Burma Army, SPDC, such as license to rape the women and children, systematic and unlawful killings, arrests and torture, forced labour, forced displacement, destruction of their homes, their culture, their history, and their race.
Thoroughly incompetent in running the country, the Burma Junta reduced Burma into one of the poorest countries in the world, while the generals lavished any profits on themselves and their families. The state of poverty became so unbearable that many families cannot even have enough rice to eat.
Then, last month, when the world watched in horror and disbelief at the SPDC ruthlessly and savagely slaughtering the peaceful demonstrators, it brought home to them that the Burma regime would go to great lengths, in crushing any opposition, even their own citizens.
The exiled Burma human rights activists demonstrated, campaigned, and some countries e.g. USA and Australia imposed additional sanctions against the regime, many activists collected petitions to free the political prisoners, and they achieved some or little success. Lately, Joshua Kurlantzick of the New Republic suggested smarter sanctions against the regime (for instance sanctions such as luxury goods that the generals enjoy, measures that target the generals and not the people), and there has been a few other tactics suggested by others.
It is imperative that UN realizes that the soft and diplomatic approach is not going to work. It hasn’t done so for decades, so it is now necessary that they change their tactics. Perhaps threats such as UN invasion, and subsequent peace-keeping force, for at least six years, disarming the military and seeing that the regime behaves themselves, and smarter sanctions may be better ways to try.
The Burma generals do not understand diplomacy. They are evil and cunning, and they will do anything to save their own skin. Anyone who believes their words or promises is a fool. Some members of the ASEAN expressed fear of ethnic uprising and problems in filling the power vacuum. Obviously, they naively believed what the junta intended them to believe.
The UN must be bold and direct the Burma military generals to behave according to the ways of a civilised and democratic government.
The people of Burma have waited far too long already.
If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we’ve always got.
Feraya
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