Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-17-Speech-4-210"
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"en.20051117.23.4-210"2
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".
Mr President, today’s debate on human rights violations centres on one of Asia’s leading regimes. The Union of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is familiar to us from images of exquisite Buddhist temples and gold-encrusted, sumptuous palaces. Yet the tragic fate facing thousands of the country’s citizens is being covered up. Human rights are brutally violated there, and thousands are either serving time in prison after having been sentenced and persecuted for opposition activities, or are subjected to forced labour. Children as young as 11 are forced to do military service, and the majority of citizens live on less than USD 1 per day. They also lack access to health care, which exacerbates the problems faced by the many people infected with HIV.
Burma has been rated 190th out of 191 countries with regard to the quality of access to health care in the country. There is no such thing as access to the Internet in Burma. Satellite dishes were banned until recently, and the country’s citizens are not allowed into the small number of hotels where foreigners have access to the foreign press.
All the state structures were dissolved after the
in 1962 and 1988, and power was seized by the State Law and Order Restoration Council. Ironically, the latter has been responsible for instituting one of the bloodiest regimes in the world. Even though a parliament was legally elected in 1990, it has not yet taken up its duties.
The generals’ junta ignores the interventions of international organisations, whether they are undertaken by the UN or by human rights and labour organisations. There are many unanswered questions surrounding the existence of regimes and totalitarianism of this kind. The problems relate not only to the way in which power is exercised by psychopaths who exploit those weaker than themselves, but also to the difficulties involved in providing any kind of aid. The latter is an issue because the population of the country, which in any case suffers persecution and extreme poverty, is hit hardest by any embargo. The majority of economic aid provided goes into the regime’s pockets. The military junta in Burma/Myanmar uses 40% of its revenue to support or even expand its army, which is already sizeable even though the country is not at war with anyone.
In view of the above, foreign corporations should not invest in Burma/Myanmar, since such investment would effectively amount to tacit and material assistance for the army. Wherever a dictatorship exists, ways should be sought to provide help, to conduct negotiations and to cooperate with the opposition. This cooperation should take place both with members of the opposition living in the country and with those living abroad, since they will be most aware of the extent of the problem and of the most helpful forms of intervention.
We are therefore calling for Aung San Suu Kyi and the other opposition leaders to be released, for the National League for Democracy to be allowed to take up its work again and for humanitarian aid to be provided, thus preventing both religious persecution and the destruction of the Burmese nation and national minorities."@en1
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