On May 31, 2006, the
State Department announced that the United States would "pursue a
U.N. Security Council resolution that will underscore the
international communities concerns about the situation in Burma."
It's about time. The military has ruled Burma since 1962, and this
effort, if it succeeds, would be the first time that the U.N.
Security Council has taken action.
The actions of the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the despotic military junta
that rules Burma, extend beyond human rights abuses and economic
mismanagement inside Burma's borders. The SPDC's arbitrary and
secretive decisions cause vast human suffering across Asia through
extensive drug production and rampant smuggling, displacement of
millions of political and economic refugees, and now the spread of
deadly diseases such as HIV/AIDS and avian flu.
Refugees, Drugs, and Disease
More than 500,000
documented Burmese political and economic refugees live in India,
China, and Thailand. The number of undocumented Burmese refugees
living in Thailand alone is estimated to be in the millions and
growing. More than 100,000 additional refugees have crossed into
Thailand since the April-May Burmese army offensive against the
Karen minority along Thailand's border.
Burma is the world's
second largest producer of opium and heroin and a major supplier of
amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), the world's newest illicit drug.
The drugs are smuggled out of Burma through Thailand, India, and
China, and substantial evidence indicates that the SPDC is involved
in drug production and smuggling.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic in
Burma is spreading into neighboring countries, especially along
drug trafficking routes. Furthermore, despite initial denials, the
junta admitted that it had discovered more than 100 outbreaks of
avian flu around Mandalay in March 2006. The junta is permitting
British and Australian experts to visit farms but is censoring
outside information on the bird flu epidemic. The news blackout on
bird flu risks continued spread of the disease through simple
ignorance of the problem. The junta's willful neglect of disease
control portends a black future for efforts to control avian flu
and other transnational diseases.
Until recently, the other
ASEAN members have been Burma's biggest apologists. The traditional
ASEAN principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of
other member states has dominated the group's policy toward
Rangoon. Yet now there are strong indications that the manifest
failure of ASEAN's "constructive engagement" has convinced them to
abandon their long-standing policy toward the junta.
Inter-Parliamentary Caucus Promoting Democracy and Human Rights in
Burma exemplifies this new policy environment. This group of
parliamentarians from six of the ten ASEAN countries rejects the
policy of noninterference, demands the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,
and promotes genuine national reconciliation.
In January 2006, Razali
Ismail, a Malaysian diplomat and the U.N. special envoy to Burma,
resigned in frustration because the SPDC would not permit him to
enter the country. For their part, the ASEAN countries sent a
formal representative to talk with the SPDC, but the junta would
only meet him in his ministerial capacity.
Many observers are
concerned that China will not support a U.N. resolution against
Burma, but even famously patient Beijing is getting annoyed with
the hardheaded generals in Rangoon. Burma watchers in Thailand say
that China was dismayed by the arrest of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt
and is now looking for ways to restrain the SPDC's worst excesses.
China is also affected by the flow of refugees, disease, and drugs.
Further, Burma's uncontrolled logging is damaging China's
reputation in the WTO. In May, China closed the China-Burma border
to all timber trade. In response, members of the Burmese army are
reportedly attacking Chinese migrant workers.
A Security Council
resolution is the most achievable diplomatic tool to build a policy
consensus among the countries interested in resolving the Burmese
problem. Realistically, a resolution supported by all U.N. Security
Council members would probably not contain sufficient sanctions to
please Congress or force the hardheaded Burmese military into
immediate compliance, but it could become the justification for an
internationally coordinated, gradual escalation of punitive
measures until the SPDC complies or falls.
The Security Council
resolution should call for:
The release of Aung San
Suu Kyi and other political prisoners;
A program for national
reconciliation that includes the National League for
unhindered access to all parts of Burma for U.N. relief agencies
and other international humanitarian organizations; and
A timeline for
compliance and punitive sanctions if the SPDC fails to
Since 1962, when the
Burmese military overthrew the civilian government, the
international community has unanimously condemned the junta's
behavior. Yet the junta will continue to survive for as long as the
international community remains divided on its strategy. A Security
Council resolution would move the international community towards
an effective, coordinated process for restoring democracy in
Dillon is Senior Policy Analyst for Southeast Asia in the Asian
Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation.