WEDNESDAY, 14 MARCH 2012<\/p>\n
Ethnic minorities in Burma fear an increase in rights abuses associated with natural resource development in the wake of the government\u2019s reform programme, according to a new field-based study.<\/p>\n
Research by the UK-based NGO Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) reveals that locals in Shan, Karen and Kachin states are deeply worried by the international community\u2019s enthusiastic endorsement of recent changes in Burma.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are deep concerns that development aid ($66 million reportedly requested) and potential massive economic investment from the international community may be used in ways that are harmful for the ethnic nationals, exploiting their land, dislocating their local communities, and triggering armed resistance,\u201d cited the report.<\/p>\n
There was an overall sense among those interviewed that the Burmese government is getting everything they want for limited concessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen foreign leaders stepped on Burmese soil, they brought great advantages to the [Burmese Government] and nothing to the ethnic national peoples,\u201d said a Shan leader, who was quoted in the report.<\/p>\n
The suspension of the controversial Myitsone Dam project was dismissed as a \u201ctactical move\u201d to gain international and local support for the new government. \u201cNone of the equipment has been removed and local people have not been allowed to return to their land,\u201d cited the report.<\/p>\n
More than 25 additional mega-dams are under construction, mainly in ethnic areas, and have led to the displacement of local populations without consultation or compensation.<\/p>\n
Karen River Watch warned today that the push by investors to proceed with the Hatgyi dam near the Thai border in Karen state is threatening to undermine the ceasefire negotiations between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Burmese government.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this fragile stage of the ceasefire process, pushing ahead with the Hatgyi dam will reignite conflict and derail the talks,\u201d said Saw Paul of Karen Rivers Watch. \u201cInvestors are sabotaging the hopes of Karen people for lasting peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Burmese government should show its sincerity by halting all mega-development projects in ethnic areas until there is genuine peace and political reform which guarantees the rights of impacted communities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Despite growing local resentment, the Burmese government has refused to address their concerns, fuelling suspicions that ceasefire talks are a smokescreen for gaining access to resource-rich rebel-held territories.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week UN human rights expert Tomas Quintana also warned that economic reforms could lead to an \u201cincrease in land confiscations, development-induced displacement and other violations of economic, social and cultural rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the HART report, ethnic minorities comprise about 30% of the country\u2019s population and occupy 60% of the land.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is therefore essential for the international community to recognise the concerns of the ethnic national peoples and to ensure their full participation in any political agreements affecting the Burmese nation,\u201d said Baroness Caroline Cox, Executive Director of HART.<\/p>\n
photo : Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WEDNESDAY, 14 MARCH 2012 Ethnic minorities in Burma fear an increase in rights abuses associated with natural resource development in the wake of the government\u2019s reform programme, according to a new field-based study. Research by the UK-based NGO Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) reveals that locals in Shan, Karen and Kachin states are deeply worried […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5016,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5014\/revisions\/5016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}