Aung San Suu Kyi, John Kerry Discuss Myanmar’s Rohingya Issue And Sanctions

By Roseanne Gerin
2016.05.23
myanmar-assk-john-kerry-may22-2016.jpg Myanmar's State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi (R) shakes hands with U.S.Secretary of State John Kerry (L) during their meeting in Naypyidaw, May 22, 2016.
AFP

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said Sunday that the country’s government is working towards a solution to the controversial and divisive Rohingya issue, and that she accepts the United States’ move to maintain some sanctions against Myanmar after recently dropping others.

The Myanmar government has excluded from its list of national ethnic minorities the roughly 1.1. million members of the persecuted Muslim minority group who predominantly live in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Instead, the government and Buddhist nationalists refer to them as “Bengalis” and brand them illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh, although many have lived in Myanmar for generations. As a result, authorities have imposed harsh restrictions on their movements and access to social services such as health care.

The new civilian-led government wants to find a solution to the problem that is acceptable to both sides, Aung San Suu Kyi said during remarks with visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at a news conference in Yangon.

“What we want is to find a practical resolution,” she said. “We are not interested in rhetoric. We are not trying to out talk anybody. We are not trying to say that any particular stand with regard to nomenclature is better than another.”

“We will still accept it as our responsibility, and we will try to do the best we can to resolve the problem to the benefit of both communities,” she said.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who also is foreign minister and minister of the President’s Office, said people must be careful to avoid terms that are incendiary and create greater divisions between those who live in Rakhine and elsewhere.

“The reason why I say that we’ve got to be very firm about not using emotive terms is because emotive terms make it very difficult for us to find a peaceful and sensible resolution of our problems,” she said.

“There are two terms which are emotive, and we’ve got to face them fairly and squarely,” she said. “The Rakhine Buddhists object to the term ‘Rohingya’ just as much as the Muslims object to the term ‘Bengali,’ because these have all kinds of political and emotional implications which are unacceptable to the opposing parties.”

Outside the camps

Aung San Suu Kyi went on to say that the government has granted humanitarian access to the internally displaced persons’ camps where the majority of the country’s Rohingya now live.

About 140,000 Rohingya were forced to live in squalid camps after violence erupted between them and local Buddhists in 2012, leaving more than 200 dead and tens of thousands homeless. Today, about 120,000 remain in the camps while thousands of others have fled persecution on rickety boats to other Southeast Asian countries.

Aung San Suu Kyi said the government is working for a solution that will allow them to live peacefully and securely outside the camps.

The U.S. is committed to work with the Myanmar government to find a solution to the sensitive and divisive issue, Kerry said.

“[W]hat the minister and I talked about today is very much in line with what she has just said, and that is that what’s critical to focus on is solving the problem,” he said.

“What’s critical to focus on is improving the situation on the ground to promote development, promote respect for human rights, and to benefit all of those who live in Rakhine and throughout Myanmar,” he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party took office at the beginning of April, has not fully moved to address the Rohingya issue, prompting criticism from rights groups, the United Nations and some Western nations.

Earlier this month, the Myanmar government advised foreign embassies, including the American embassy, to avoid using the term Rohingya.

The U.S. embassy had used the word in a public letter of condolence to the families of 21 people who died when a boat transporting them capsized on April 19. The statement cited local reports that identified the victims as Rohingya who lived in an internally displaced people’s camp in Rakhine’s provincial capital Sittwe.

The incident also prompted Myanmar nationalists to protest outside the U.S. embassy, demanding American diplomats stop using the word, a day after new U.S. ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel presented his diplomatic credentials to President Htin Kyaw.

Marciel later said the U.S. would continue to refer to members of the Muslim minority group as “Rohingya.”

‘Not afraid of sanctions’

Kerry’s visit to Myanmar comes less than a week after the U.S. eased some sanctions against the country to promote the nation’s economic growth and political reform.

The U.S. removed seven state-owned enterprises and three state-owned banks from its official blacklist and extended a measure to allow shipments to go through ports and airports in Myanmar.

But it maintained restrictions on trade and investment by Myanmar’s powerful military and on individuals and firms tied to human rights abuses and military trade with North Korea under the country’s former military regime.

During the news conference on Sunday, Aung San Suu Kyi said she believes that the U.S. is keeping some sanctions in place to help the Southeast Asian nation, but will remove them shortly.

“We’re not afraid of sanctions,” she said. “We’re not afraid of scrutiny. We believe that if we are going along the right path, all sanctions should be lifted in good time.”

Democratization is key

The U.S. had originally imposed targeted sanctions to prod the country’s former ruling military junta, which was in power for a half-century, to undertake democratic reforms while avoiding unintended impact on development in the Southeast Asian nation.

The U.S. lifted a slew of sanctions in 2011 to reward changes put in place after a quasi-military government took over from the hard-line junta.

The most recent easing of sanctions will strengthen democracy and promote economic growth in Myanmar under the new government, Kerry said.

“In consultation with the elected government and working with our own Congress, we have adjusted our sanctions policy now to strengthen democracy, to encourage inclusive economic growth, and to facilitate foreign investment in the civilian-led economy,” Kerry said.

“And at the same time, we are maintaining some sanctions in order to encourage all institutions, investors, and members of society to support the government’s continued reform efforts that are aimed at consolidating a civilian-led democracy,” he said.

Myanmar’s progress in democratization is the key to the lifting the remaining sanctions, he said, adding that the country’s current constitution must be changed.

“It needs to be a reflection of how civilian authority is fully respected and how the separation of powers, if you will, is clearly defined,” he said.

“In addition, there has to be an inclusivity, a resolution of some of the other issues with respect to normal democratic reforms,” he said.

The country’s charter, which was drafted by the military junta and took effect in 2008, ensures that military officers are appointed to a quarter of all seats in parliament, have veto power over proposed constitutional changes, and control appointments to three key defense and security ministries.

It also contains a clause which has kept Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president because she has foreign-born relatives.

U.S President Barack Obama has made Asia a priority focus for his administration, and since 2012 the U.S. has provided more than $500 million in assistance to Myanmar for civil society, national reconciliation, democracy, human rights, the promotion of health, and food security for vulnerable populations, Kerry said.

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