| by B.Raman
( November 14, 2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka
Guardian) In his first foreign visit
after being re-elected, President Barack Obama will be in Cambodia,
Myanmar and Thailand from November 17 to 20, 2012. His visit to Cambodia is to
attend the East Asia summit. The brief
visits to Myanmar and Thailand
will be bilateral.
2. He will be in Yangon (Rangoon) where
Aung San Suu Kyi lives for a few hours on November 19,2012. He will have talks
with President Thein Sein also at Yangon and not in the capital. He will be
accompanied by Mrs. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, for whom this will be
the second visit to Myanmar.
3. The proposed visit has been projected
in warm terms both by the US and Myanmar. A spokesman for President Thein Sein
said on November 9: “His visit is warmly welcomed. It will strengthen the resolve
of Thein Sein to move forward with reforms. Obama's visit shows concrete
support for the democratisation process of President U Thein Sein, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Members of Parliament and
the Myanmar people. President Thein Sein fully believes that the trip of
President Obama will push the momentum of the process of democratic
reform."
4. The proposed visit underlines the US
confidence in the stability of the Government of President Thein Sein and its
belief that there is no opposition in the senior levels of the Myanmar Armed
Forces to the policy of political and economic reforms and opening-up to the
West undertaken by Mr.Thein Sein and his c-operation with Suu Kyi.
5. While there has been no comment so
far from the Chinese Foreign Office, Qin Guangrong, Secretary of the
Communist Party of China in Yunnan, who
is presently attending the 18th Congress of the CPC in Beijing, said that China
saw no threat to its interests from Mr.Obama's visit. He added: "We
understand and support the wish of the Myanmar authorities wanting to open up
and become part of the world."
6. Mr.Obama’s proposed visit will be
coming less than a month after a new spell of violence between the native
Buddhists of the Rakhine (Arakan) State and the Rohingya Muslims, who are projected
by the Myanmar authorities as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, not entitled
to full citizenship rights.
7. The violence, which led to over 80
fatalities and added to the number of internally displaced persons living in
camps, was triggered by the opposition of the Buddhists to a proposal to permit
the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to open a permanent office in
Yangon to monitor the human rights of the Rohingya Muslims and the distribution
of humanitarian relief to the internally displaced refugees from both the
communities living in camps in the Rakhine State.
8. While the violence has since
subsided, a Commission appointed by the Government of President Thein Sein to
enquire into an earlier spell of deadly violence in June has not been able to
make much progress in its enquiry due to non-cooperation from the Buddhists.
9. US officials dealing with the visit
have maintained a discreet silence on the recent violence in the Rakhine State
and sought to project the visit as meant to encourage the Thein Sein Government
to keep moving on the democratic path. However, there will be expectations from
the Muslims of the ASEAN region, who nurse feelings of solidarity with the
Rohingya Muslims, that Mr.Obama will exercise pressure on President Thein Sein
as well as Aung San Suu Kyi to pay attention to the human rights of the
Rohingya Muslims and grant them full citizenship rights.
10. The Buddhists are watching the visit
with apprehension that President Thein Sein and Suu Kyi may soften their opposition
to the grant of citizenship rights to the Rohingya Muslims under pressure from
Mr.Obama. Any impression of a US pressure in this regard during Mr.Obama’s
visit could trigger off fresh violence in the Rakhine State weakening the
ability of the Thein Sein Government to restore law and order and to re-settle
the displaced persons in their home villages.
11.Non-Governmental human rights
organisations such as the Amnesty International have expressed their misgivings
over the wisdom of Mr.Obama’s decision to visit Myanmar at this delicate time.
They are worried it could prove counter-productive.
12.In a report on the situation in the
Rakhine State due for release on November 12, the Brussels-based International
Crisis Group (ICG) has been quoted by the media as saying as follows:
“The flare-up in Rakhine State
represents a deeply disturbing backward step from Myanmar’s reforms. This is a
time when political leaders must rise to the challenge of shaping public
opinion rather than just following it. A failure to do so will be to the detriment
of the country. There is a threat of rising identity politics in Myanmar as
reforms give new found freedoms to interest groups. The situation needs
decisive moral leadership... by both President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi
to prevent it spreading and contribute towards long-term solutions.” The ICG
urged the Government to ensure camps for the displaced do not become a
precursor to the “segregation” of Rakhine and Rohingya.
13. Mr.Obama’s tricky visit is coming at
a time when sections of the Rakhine Buddhists are demanding a policy of
separate development for the Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, with separate
educational institutions, hostels and buses for Rohingya Muslim students. (
12-11-12)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet
Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For
Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China
Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com
Twitter @SORBONNE75)
