First Lady Laura Bush Urges Burma Reforms

By Deidra Avendasora

Thousands of Burmese families living in neighboring Thailand underline the need for Rangoon to engage political opposition and embark on the path to reform, says first lady Laura Bush.

"A lot of these families would rather go home, but because of the situation in Burma, they can't," Mrs. Bush told reporters during her August 7 visit to the Mae Sot refugee camp and the Mae To medical clinic along the Thai-Burmese border.

Mae Sot is one of the largest communities of refugees fleeing the repressive rule of Burma's ruling military junta led by General Than Shwe. Most of the camp's 39,000 residents come from Burma's persecuted Karen ethnic minority and have lived in the camps for 20 years.

When Mae Sot's families crossed the border, Mrs. Bush said, they came together as a community, electing a camp council and constructing all of the camp's buildings. Today, many support themselves through the sale of hand-woven textiles and traditional crafts.

"I think those things are very encouraging, and I think they also say something about the people of Burma, that the people of Burma will be able to run the country once they have a chance," Mrs. Bush said.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, Thailand, President Bush met with exiled Burmese journalists and democracy activists, received a briefing on efforts to help the Burmese people recover from May's devastating Cyclone Nargis and called on regional leaders to press for reforms in Rangoon.

"America reiterates our call on Burma's military junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners," he said in a speech later in the day. "We'll continue working until the people of Burma have their freedom that they deserve."

Mrs. Bush says that she was inspired by Suu Kyi's writings and in recent years has been an active advocate on behalf of the Burmese people. She hosted a 2006 U.N. roundtable on their plight and meets frequently with Ibrahim Gambari, the U.N. secretary-general's special adviser on Burma.

In 2008, the United States delivered $50 million in U.S. government assistance for the cyclone relief effort as well as $65.5 million to help the people of Burma in the areas of democracy-building, humanitarian assistance, health and education. Washington also has provided an additional $12.7 million in 2008 in aid to Burmese refugees living in Thailand, according to an August 7 White House fact sheet.

The human cost of Burma's refugees has had serious economic implications for a country that was once the agricultural breadbasket for the entire region but where half of its population now faces malnutrition, says Mrs. Bush. Though the country is rich in natural resources, she added, "the junta uses those resources to prop themselves up for their own benefit, not for the benefit of the people of Burma."

The United States has long worked to convince Burma's rulers to pursue reforms, appealing to Rangoon directly, as well as through the United Nations and regional bodies such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In 2003, Congress passed the Freedom and Democracy Act after an attack on Suu Kyi's motorcade, while in a 2005 speech, President Bush placed Burma among several "outposts of tyranny," including Cuba, Belarus, Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe.

Since the government's repression of the September 2007 "Saffron Revolution," the White House has stepped up the pressure by imposing sanctions against 84 Burmese government agencies and leaders - a move followed by several European countries. "We do think some of those are being effective," says Mrs. Bush.

On July 29, President Bush signed the Burma JADE Act, targeting trade in Burma's gems and precious stones, another major source of income for its rulers. (See "United States Imposes Sanctions on 10 Burmese Firms ( http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2008/July/20080729144559dmslahrellek0.9923365.html ).")

As the president and first lady headed to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics and millions worldwide observe the 20th anniversary of Burma's August 1988 crackdown on pro-democracy activists that claimed more than 3,000 lives, Mrs. Bush called on regional leaders - particularly China - to urge the junta to engage Burma's opposition parties by imposing additional sanctions.

"We think that the way we can be most effective is financially, is for the countries that are propping the regime up by their large trade with them to discontinue that for some amount of time at least to really put the squeeze on the junta so that they would finally start the dialogue that everyone has been calling for," she said.

Source: U.S. Department of State

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com