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Church World Service Joins Humanitarian, Human Rights Organizations in Call for UN Urgent Action on Burma
Washington, DC - June 27 - Church World Service joins over thirty non-governmental organizations from twenty countries today in sending a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and members of the United Nations Security Council, calling for a peaceful, binding resolution on the Southeast Asian country of Burma. The letter adds to a growing chorus from the international community calling for action on Burma.
The letter states: "The Burmese junta has ignored 28 UN General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions. Now is the time for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and members of the UN Security Council to move beyond discussion and take action in the Council. The situation for Burma's 53 million people grows more desperate and horrific each day."
The crisis in Burma has escalated in recent months with a brutal military offensive by the Burmese regime against Karen villagers, displacing up to 20,000 civilians. More than 2,000 of the displaced have fled to neighborin g Thailand, while others are desperately trying to survive in the jungle with little or no access to food, water, or safety. The Burmese army has planted thousands of landmines to prohibit the fleeing villagers from accessing humanitarian aid, and barred all humanitarian groups from the area. These 20,000 displaced Karen villagers join more than 1 million that have already fled the country and more than 500,000 living in fear as internally displaced persons. The use of rape as a weapon of war continues unabated throughout Burma's ethnic areas, including Shan State. Burma's military junta is the world's leading user of child soldiers, forcibly recruiting up to 70,000 children. In December 2005 the United Nations Security Council held its first-ever briefings to discuss Burma, followed by one this past May. The letter refers to the 2005 discussion: "It is essential for the United Nations Secretary-General and Security Council to follow up the historic December and May consensus discussions with concrete and urgent action to address the escalating catastrophe in Burma."
Other organizations signing the letter include, Action for Democracy in Vietnam (France), Alliance for Reform & Democracy in Asia (Hong Kong), Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC) (Philippines) (a coalition of 15 organizations from 11 countries), Australian Catholic Relief in Cambodia, Canadian Friends of Burma (Canada), EarthRights International (United States), FORUM-ASIA (Thailand), France Libertés - Fondation Danielle Mitterrand (France), Foundation for Media Alternatives (Philippines), Globe International (Mongolia), IBON Foundation Inc. (Philippines), Initiatives for International Dialogue (Philippines), International Movement for a Just World (Malaysia), Jesuit Refugee Service (United States), Jubilee Campaign (United States), Jubilee South Africa, Korean House for International Solidarity (South Korea), Network of Women in Growth (Ghana), People in Need Foundation (Czech Republic), Peoples Forum for Human Rights and Development (Bhutan), Polish Helsinki Committee (Poland), Pontis Foundation (Slovak Republic), Refugees International (Unite States), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières) (France), Rencontre Africaine Pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO) (Senegal), TENAGANITA (Women's Force) (Malaysia), The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, Bergen (Norway), U.S. Campaign for Burma (Unite States), United Lao Action Center (France) and WARIPNET, West African Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Network (Senegal).
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Copy of Letter
June 26, 2006
Secretary General Kofi Annan United Nations Headquartrs First Avenue at 46th Street New York, NY 10017 Fax: 212-963 4879
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
Dear Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari, and Members of the UN Security Council,
We are writing to you as leaders of the United Nations Secretariat and the UN Security Council.
We would like to thank you for the United Nations Security Council's first-ever briefings discussing the situation in Burma in December 2005 and May 2006. They were a tremendous first step in addressing Burma's crisis.
Now the UN Security Council must follow up on that first step and take action. The ongoing crisis in Burma has escalated in recent weeks with a rampage by the Burmese military against Karen villagers, forcing more than 13,000 from their homes in eastern Burma. More than 2,000 of the displaced have fled to neighboring Thailand, while the others are desperately trying to survive in the jungle with little to no access to food, medicine, water, and shelter.
The Burmese army has planted more than 2,000 anti-personnel landmines to prohibit the fleeing villagers from accessing humanitarian aid and alerting foreign actors of the regime's current violent eradication campaign.
It is essential for the United Nations Secretary General and Security Council to follow up the historic December 16th consensus discussion with concrete and urgent action to address the escalating catastrophe in Burma. The Burmese junta has ignored 28 UN General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions. Now is the time for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the members of the UN Security Council to move beyond discussion and take action in the Council.
The situation for Burma's 53 million people grows more desperate and horrific each day. The 13,000 displaced Karen villagers join more than 1 million that have already fled the country; more than 500,000 continue to live in fear as internally displaced persons. Within the last 12 years more than 2,800 villages have been destroyed in eastern Burma alone. The rampant use of rape as a weapon against women continues unabated. Burma's military junta is the world's leading conscriptor of child soldiers, forcibly recruiting up to 70,000 children. Illicit narcotics including opium and methamphetamines pour out of the country as drug lords reside under the protection of the regime.
The public health crisis in Burma is poised to destabilize the entire region. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health's Center for Public Health and Human Rights recently published a report on infectious diseases in Burma, showing that government policies in Burma that restrict public health and humanitarian aid have created an environment where AIDS, drug-resistant tuberculosis, and malaria are spreading. If left unchecked they could pose a serious health threat to other Southeast Asia nations and the world.
Burma is one of the most neglected crises in the world. "The displaced people of Burma are more than forgotten, they are virtually invisible," states the respected refugee organization Refugees International.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Refugees International, Church World Service, and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions are already calling for the UN Security Council to act. We add our strongest support to this effort, and urge the Security Council to follow up on its December and May briefings by immediately placing Burma on its formal agenda and passing a resolution.
The resolution should emphasize the Government of Burma's responsibility to protect and assist its citizens, demand an end to attacks on ethnic minorities, call for immediate access for humanitarian relief agencies to all civilians, request the Government of Burma to work with the Secretary-G eneral on a plan for national reconciliation, and ask the Secretary General to periodically report back to the Council.
Sincerely,
(In alphabetical order)
American Jewish World Service (United States), Action for Democracy in Vietnam (France), Alliance for Reform & Democracy in Asia (Hong Kong), Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC) (Philippines) (a coalition of 15 organizations from 11 countries), Australian Catholic Relief in Cambodia, Canadian Friends of Burma (Canada), Church World Service (United States), EarthRights International (United States), FORUM-ASIA (Thailand), France Libertés - Fondation Danielle Mitterrand (France), Foundation for Media Alternatives (Philippines), Globe International (Mongolia), IBON Foundation Inc. (Philippines), Initiatives for International Dialogue (Philippines), International Movement for a Just World (Malaysia), Jesuit Refugee Service (United States), Jubilee Campaign (United States), Jubilee South Africa, Korean House for International Solidarity (South Korea), Network of Women in Growth (Ghana), People in Need Foundation (Czech Republic), Peoples Forum for Human Rights and Development (Bhutan), Polish Helsinki Committee (Poland), Pontis Foundation (Slovak Republic), Refugees International (Unite States), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières) (France), Rencontre Africaine Pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO) (Senegal), TENAGANITA (Women's Force) (Malaysia), The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, Bergen (Norway), U.S. Campaign for Burma (Unite States), United Lao Action Center (France) and WARIPNET, West African Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Network (Senegal).