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US urges Myanmar to halt ethnic attacks
Washington (AFP) Aug 31, 2009 The United States on Monday urged the military junta in Myanmar to halt attacks on ethnic minorities, saying it was "deeply concerned" about the fighting. The plea follows deadly clashes in a largely ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar as well as the junta's offensive in June against ethnic Karen rebels near the Thai border. "We urge the Burmese authorities to cease their military campaign and to develop a genuine dialogue with the ethnic minority groups, as well as with Burma's democratic opposition," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. The junta-run television in Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, said Sunday that 26 state security personnel and eight ethnic rebel fighters had been killed in three days of clashes near the Chinese border. Officials in China's southwestern Yunnan province said 37,000 refugees had streamed into the country from Myanmar following days of fighting in Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state. Refugees headed back across the border with China on Monday, but some said they feared a fresh outbreak of violence. A renewed crackdown by government forces in early June caused 4,000 of the mainly Christian Karen to flee to neighboring Thailand, the largest group of refugees to cross in more than a decade, aid groups say. Kelly said "the brutal fighting has forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes for safety in Thailand and China, and has reduced both stability and the prospects for national reconciliation in Burma." The fighting comes as President Barack Obama's administration nears completion of its review on policy toward Myanmar which has been under both US and European Union sanctions. Kelly said "that we will have a final review and approval of a Burma strategy" within the next couple of weeks. Jeremy Woodrum, director of the US Campaign for Burma, a Washington-based advocacy group opposed to the junta, welcomed the US statement. "It's important for the United States to speak out, and also important to take concrete action because the situation is only getting worse," Woodrum told AFP in an email exchange. "We hope the United States joins the United Kingdom's and France's call for a global arms embargo on Burma's military regime, as well as a UN Security Council investigation into crimes against humanity in Burma," he added. Kelly gave no sense of the policy Washington might pursue and declined to answer questions about Washington's stand on sanctions. The Obama team has been skeptical about sanctions as a diplomatic tool and supports engagement with US foes. The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Myanmar due to its refusal to recognize the last elections in 1990 and prolonged detention of the victor, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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UN says 30,000 flee Myanmar amid fears of full-scale civil warBangkok (AFP) Aug 28, 2009 Fighting between Myanmar's isolated ruling junta and rebel ethnic armies in the remote northeast has driven up to 30,000 refugees into China, the UN said, as analysts warned of a full-scale civil war. As thousands fled across its border, China issued a rare admonishment to its southern neighbour and close ally, urging it to resolve the conflict that has broken out in Kokang, a mainly ethnic ... read more |
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