UN in Burma

Ibrahim Gambari meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangon November 2006


Today U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari is to arrive in Burma in hopes to convince the military junta to end its brutal crackdown on demonstrators. Gambari's schedule is said to have been set by the government and probably would not include meetings with pro-democracy figures, such as Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu, who is under house arrest. Gambari told reporters, "I expect to meet all the people that I need to meet". Well, Gambari met with Aung San Suu last May and still nothing has changed. During his visit in May he was given the rare opportunity of meeting Aung San Suu Kyi, who is a symbol of resistance to Burma's ruling military junta. It was the first time in more than two years that a foreigner had been allowed to meet her, and the visit fuelled hopes that she would soon be released, and that the military might finally make some concessions to international demands. It has not.

His schedule has been set by the dictatorship. They will have him see who they want him to see. They will say whatever they want, and send him on his way. He can continue to visit Burma but that will not change anything.

I have read that the U.S. has urged "all civilized nations" to press Myanmar's leaders to end the crackdown. Well that sounds really nice but that is not what is going to fix the situation in Burma. They have been under a military dictatorship for 45 years. I don't have all the answers for fixing the situation but I think that it would be a good start to put pressure on China and India, who have major investments in Burma. How that will happen is the difficult part.

The U.S. putting pressure on some key figures in Myanmar is a joke. That's not going to do a thing and they know it. I guess to understand what needs to happen, first you have to understand the United Nations. The only countries with the power to put an end to Burmas military rule are the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, which are China, France, Russia, The United Kingdom and The United States. These five permanent members of the UN Security Council each have veto power on any Security Council resolution. These five members are to maintain peace and security among nations. Doesn't look like they are doing a very good job in Burma. Well, now we have a big problem the only nations with a tiny possibility of helping Burma are, obviously, the U.K., France and the U.S., China and Russia are part of the problem in Burma. China and Russia only care about the energy they can get out of Burma not the people. In May of this year Russia signed a deal to build a nuclear research reactor in Myanmar. Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs in Burma, U Khin Maung Win, said the reactor would be for peaceful purposes "in the interests of the people". "Myanmar’s interest in nuclear power is not for the wrong purpose."
As long as Russia can get what they want out of Burma they are not going to care about the people.

At the moment what I would like to see happen, is for people to start getting educated and gain a real understanding of how the world works. Maybe then we can put some pressure in numbers on the powers of the world to stop these atrocities from happening.