EU Urged to Use Diplomatic Influence on Myanmar

When Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest was extended for a year and a half in August, the EU was among the first to condemn the verdict. But this condemnation did not help.

“The EU is all mouth and no action,” says Mark Farmaner, the director of the NGO "Burma Campaign UK".

“For literally 10 years now we have seen that the EU consistently threatened the dictatorship with consequences if they don’t respond to their request, but never delivered on its promises.”

The EU first imposed sanctions against Myanmar in 1996 following the junta’s failure to restore democracy in the country. These include a ban on arms export, visa restrictions on junta officials and their families and freezing their offshore assets. Following Suu Kyi’s latest sentencing, the EU extended the sanctions to April 2010, a move that is not likely to yield any substantial results. “The sanctions are not working because Myanmar has other partners such as China and India,” says Gerhard Will of German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

Business interests overshadowing sanctions?

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently called for a global ban on arms sales to Myanmar. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on the other hand, said the EU should particularly target those resources the military regime profits from directly, for example wood and ruby mining. For Farmaner, these measures are a welcomed move, but he doubts if they will ever be implemented.

“The reason why the French government proposed timber and gems sanctions is to avoid any sanctions on the gas sectors,” he says. “The gas revenue is the major source of revenues for the generals in Burma and the French oil company Total is the largest investor in the gas fields in Burma. So when Sarkozy says this, he sounds like he is talking tough but actually what he is doing is protecting French interests in Burma.”

Dialogue is the only way

Farmaner insists the EU, with its huge economic and diplomatic influence, should utilize its potential to the fullest. It should follow its policy of using diplomatic channels and maintaining economic pressure at the same time -- an approach that has recently won the support of the US as well. Expert Will agrees, “I don’t see any alternative approach. We have to talk to the military. Of course, it is a process with ups and downs. But in the long run, this is the only way.”

But this communication has to be with the top leadership, says Farmaner. “At the moment all the discussions are with low level generals and this doesn’t lead anywhere. We know this from the UN. They sent 40 envoys to Burma in the past 20 years and have nothing to show for it. Because low level dialogue doesn’t work in a country where you have a dictator- one man makes all the decision.”

Many observers see the upcoming elections next year as a rare window of opportunity for the international community to press Myanmar's junta on reforms. And most agree that for this, a combination of both sanctions and dialogue is needed.

Author:Disha Uppal
Editor: Thomas Bärthlein