| Home > South-East Asia >> Burma | |
Keep sanctions on Burma: Suu Kyi
Irrawaddy - February 7, 2011
Saw Yan Naing – Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday urged the West to maintain economic sanctions on Burma, saying that her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), had conducted a survey and concluded that Western sanctions had impacted only those connected with the Burmese junta and not the majority of Burmese people, according to NLD sources.
A full statement clarifying the NLD's stance will be released on Tuesday, said party spokesman Nyan Win.
NLD sources said the opposition party had carried out a study into the impact of sanctions, based on its own research and in consultation with economists.
Some NLD sources in Rangoon, however, said that the NLD wants the West to put targeted sanctions on specific members of the Burmese regime. "Sanctions that hurt the regime should be maintained, while sanctions that hurt civilians should be lifted," said one source.
Debates and arguments over the effectiveness of economic sanctions continue among scholars, politicians and Burma observers.
Many say that the policy of sanctions has failed to bring about any reforms and has simply pushed the Burmese generals and their business allies closer to neighbors China and Thailand, which are investing heavily in Burma's energy reserves.
Those voices generally urge targeted sanctions that level bans on arms sales and investments in Burma, as well as targetting specific memebers of the regime and their families and cronies with travel restrictions and the freezing of offshore bank accounts.
The EU first imposed sanctions on Burma in 1996, and has updated, renewed and extended its policy every year since. Sanctions, also known as the "EU common position," are renewed annually in April.
Following the junta's crackdown on demonstrators in September 2007, the EU put into place further sanctions that include a travel ban on Burma's top political officials, an arms embargo and a freezing of the assets in Europe of Burmese officials and their business partners.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said that the US will continue to push the Burmese authorities to give legal status to the NLD. He also said that the US has stated very clearly in the past that it was disappointed with the preparations in advance of the elections held last year.
Addressing thousands of supporters in her first political speech after being released from house arrest on Nov. 13, Suu Kyi said she may support the lifting of sanctions against her country. She said she would listen to the people first and then decide what she had to do.
See also:
 |