7 – 13 May: New Peace Committee Offers Little Hope to Ethnic People

May 14, 2012

Last week, the Thein Sein government formed its new union-level peace committee comprised of a central committee and a working committee. Although the formation of the committee looks very encouraging to investors and gives another reason for Western countries to further lift sanctions, it gives little hope to the people of Kachin State who have lost both their homes and their faith in the President after he unsuccessfully and repeatedly ordered the Burma Army to halt offensives in Kachin State.

As with most of the reforms announced, much secrecy surrounds the new peace committee. There is little transparency regarding the process of its establishment and mandate. Apart from names of the central committee members, disclosed by an unofficial source, there is no other official information available about the central and working committees. The central committee headed by President Thein Sein and the 52-member working committee includes the Vice-Presidents, heads of States and Divisions, Members of Parliament, Ministers and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

Formation of this new committee raises many questions about how and when it is going to resolve or at least cool down the heat of gunfire in Kachin State. A simple glance at a few of the key players in the committee will tell us enough: Thura Shwe Mann was rewarded honorific title “Thura” in 1989 for his involvement in offensives against the very same ethnic armed groups with whom he is now going to talk “peace”. Commander-in-Chief Deputy Senior General Min Aung Hlaing as the head of the Burma Army was the one who for months refused to execute President Thein Sein’s order to put an end to attacks in Kachin State. No matter how loudly the former generals claim they have changed, ethnic leaders, who have for many decades experienced the insincerity of successive military regimes, will not trust them easily and risk losing everything they have worked to protect such as their ethnic communities, identity, culture, land, religion, natural resources and more. President Thein Sein’s solution to the conflict is “more economic zones, more factories, more roads” but less of the things that ethnic people value such as equality, human rights and cultural values.

In a statement released last Thursday, the United Nationalities Federal Council, the 13-member ethnic political alliance whose members include Kachin Independence Organization as well as Karen National Union and Chin National Front who currently are in negotiations with Thein Sein’s government, stated, “The objective of Bamah Tatmadaw’s offensives in Northern Shan State and Kachin State with excessive military force is to protect foreign investments’ mega business projects.” The alliance group has also responded to Thein Sein’s invitation for them to set up political parties and contest in elections by qualifying it as unfair negotiation.

Another illustration of the government’s economic interest was raised by the Karen National Union, which questioned the presence of business groups during the ceasefire negotiations.

Currently, there are as many as 70,000 displaced people who are living in temporary camps in desperate need of new shelter for the coming rainy season. Besides, whether this peace committee is able or willing to address the political issues at the root of ethnic armed conflicts remains highly uncertain. Both the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have suffered high casualties and tension is at its highest point. The last ceasefire negotiation attempts with the KIA couldn’t produce any agreement and there is little sign of talks taking place in near future.

To further illustrate, recently Zahkung Ting Ying, longtime leader of the New Democratic Army-Kachin, which was absorbed into Border Guard Force, has predicted that government forces will completely “wipeout” the KIA. The non-stop offensives in Kachin State reaffirm ethnic leaders’ doubts.

The situation in Kachin State sadly hasn’t been able to convince the West to not reward the regime by lifting sanctions so quickly. Everyone seems eager not to be too late for their share of development deals with Burma’s lucrative resource reserves. With a lack of the rule of law, infrastructure and effective policies to protect the people, domestic businesses and the environment, Burma risks its economy falling into the hands of rich companies and corporations who know best how to make cash out of chaos. In this scenario, the whole of Burma stands to lose, not just the ethnic regions.

Thein Sein’s government will have to do a lot more to prove it shares the concerns and values of the ethnic people and that it is committed to solving the country’s longstanding political issues. Fighting in Kachin State and Northern Shan State has to stop immediately, government aid programs must be initiated and NGOs must be allowed access to conflict zones immediately. The international community must speak out more on the Burma Army’s ongoing attacks against ethnic communities and the essential need to fulfill the political aspirations of ethnic nationalities for equality when they hold talks with Thein Sein’s government in order to prove their support for national reconciliation and the protection of human rights in Burma.