19 – 25 July: ASEAN Foreign Ministers Criticize but Fail to Act on Burma

By Burma Partnership • July 26, 2010

Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met earlier this week for the 43^rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting to discuss various regional issues, including Burma’s upcoming elections. In contrast to the statements of support for the elections that emerged from the bloc’s 16^th summit earlier this year, this ministerial meeting saw foreign ministers expressing more apprehension than support. “Myanmar, I think, got an earful last night,” said Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN Chairman, “ASEAN is very much concerned.”

There appears to be a growing realization within the bloc of the problematic nature of the junta’s election and the grossly unfair political playing field. In the last week, there has been increasing attention to the mistreatment of migrants sent back to Burma from Thailand at the hands of the pro-junta militia, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). According to the Karen National Union, attacks by SPDC and DKBA combined forces in July have led to hundreds of villagers displaced in Karen State and ongoing human rights violations. ASEAN can no longer ignore that Burma’s refugee, migrant, and human rights problems are spilling out into Thailand and the region.

However, ASEAN’s official statement following the meeting reflected classic ASEAN-style diplomacy: “We underscored the importance of national reconciliation in Myanmar and the holding of the general election in a free, fair, and inclusive manner, thus contributing to Myanmar’s stability and development. We also stressed the need for Myanmar to continue to work with ASEAN and the United Nations in this process.” The statement lacked any mention of Burma’s 2,100 political prisoners, the regime’s electioneering efforts and flawed election laws, as well as the questionable formation of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). It also failed to lay out any concrete steps that would be taken to address the particularly undemocratic lead up to Burma’s 2010 elections.

Indeed, some foreign minister noted the undemocratic nature of the regime’s formation of the USDP, but still maintained that the elections would prove a step forward for the region. “Once the generals take off the uniforms and they’ve got to win votes and kiss babies, and attend to local needs, the behaviour will change, the economy will gradually open up and this will be an important change in Myanmar,” claimed Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo.

ASEAN ministers later met with officials from China, South Korean and Japan, and similarly called on Burma to ensure free and fair elections but also noticeably lacked any “concrete measures to put pressures on Myanmar,” as noted by the meeting’s spokesman Tran Ngoc An.

Further absent were any resolute actions or statements addressing Burma’s growing nuclear weapon program. US Secretary of State Clinton voiced her concerns during the region’s security forum, but Yeo merely highlighted that “[Burma’s] foreign minister has told us categorically that they don’t have a nuclear weapons program” while Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa stated that the allegations were simply a “manifestation of the lack of information about what’s happening in the country” and supported greater “transparency”. Natalegawa did however note that ASEAN could send inspectors to Burma under the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone treaty (SEANWFZ), but did not indicate whether ASEAN was considering taking such actions.

ASEAN has historically failed to follow up on statements on Burma with concrete actions. But it is not as if the bloc is without options.

The Task Force on ASEAN and Burma, a network of civil society groups from Burma, sent an open letter to ASEAN Coordinating Council prior to this week’s ASEAN meetings, urging the body to support a “commission of inquiry into serious international crimes, including crimes against humanity and war crimes,” to send an investigation to determine whether Burma has violated the SEANWFZ treaty, and to push for the unconditional release of all political prisoners.

ASEAN must follow up its concerns with concrete actions to address the behavior of its most unruly member in the lead up to the 2010 elections. Burma’s undemocratic process will not improve the grave social, economic and political problems that continue to oppress Burma’s citizens. Instead, the sham elections will undoubtedly damage ASEAN’s reputation and impede its efforts for greater regional integration by 2015.