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BURMA: THE UN'S BILLION DOLLARS SOLUTION 
--------------------------------------------------Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe

The passage below is from a VOA (Voice of America) Broadcast 
-- DATE= 11/27/98, TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT, NUMBER=2-242229;  
TITLE=BURMA / REFORM > BYLINE=MAX RUSTON; DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS)
   ......"WHILE THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS OF MYANMAR (BURMA) MUST BE 
OBTAINED ESSENTIALLY AMONGST THE PEOPLE OF THAT COUNTRY, THE 
SECRETARY-GENERAL HAS OFTEN REPEATED HIS CONCERN THAT A MEMBER OF THE 
UNITED NATIONS SHOULD BE SO ISOLATED FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AND 
WOULD VERY MUCH HOPE TO ASSIST IN FINDING WAYS FOR MYANMAR TO ADDRESS THE 
CONCERNS THAT HAVE LED TO THAT ISOLATION. IN THAT EFFORT, HE RESERVES THE 
RIGHT TO CONSULT CLOSELY WITH INTERESTED AND INFLUENTIAL GOVERNMENTS AND 
WITH AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS OF THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM"......  

To quote from the above passage: ..."THE SECRETARY-GENERAL HAS OFTEN 
REPEATED HIS CONCERN THAT A MEMBER OF THE UNITED NATIONS SHOULD BE SO 
ISOLATED FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ... [HE] WOULD VERY MUCH HOPE 
TO ASSIST IN FINDING WAYS FOR MYANMAR TO ADDRESS THE CONCERNS THAT HAVE 
LED TO THAT ISOLATION".... 
   Let us be logical. Foremostly, BURMA is not a member of the United 
Nations. Actually, it is the military junta, which does not represent the 
people of Burma (and Burma, by extension), which is a UN member. It is 
the junta which is isolated (in one sense) from the international 
community. This is owed to its ungovernmental and uncivilized behavior -- 
a fact documented by the UN itself. 
   If it is the concern of the UN Secretary General to assist the junta 
to "address the concerns that have led to that isolation", let us be 
clear about who he is interested in assisting. Let us not confuse the 
issue by identifying the junta, a regime in power (and illegally too), 
with Burma, the country (and by extension, the people). 
   The political fact of Burma at present is that the government (i.e., 
the current junta) is a separate entity, not in any way connected to the 
people. The junta is, as a matter of fact, at war with the people. It has 
furthermore been rejected by the people, not once, but twice -- in 1988 
and in the 1990 general elections.    
   The second point that must be raised is the claimed "isolation" of 
Burma. How is "isolation" defined by the UN General Secretary, or what 
does he mean by the term "isolation"? 
   The military junta has not ever been isolated by the international 
community, at least not by ASEAN atates and China or by India. One could 
say, at most, that the regime has been abandoned -- not isolated -- by 
its ertswhile friends: the governments of ASEAN states, due primarily to 
economic woes and financial mess at home. 
   Any move by the UN to assist the people of Burma is welcomed, if the 
UN does it through a body that clearly represents the people and their 
aspirations, and not through one that is at war with them.    
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