Burma imposes visa restrictions on

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Subject: Burma imposes visa restrictions on British govt officials 

Politics 

      Burma imposes visa
      restrictions on British
      govt officials

      THE British Foreign Office has expressed
      regrets over the Burmese junta's decision
      to impose a visa ban on British government
      officials, but said the measure will not
      dissuade it from continuing its work on
      improving the human rights and political
      situation in the Southeast Asian country. 

      In a press statement released on Tuesday,
      Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett said
      the restriction, which was conveyed to his
      office earlier in the day, will also not
      dissuade it from pressing the ruling State
      Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
      to enter talks with pro-democracy leader
      Aung San Suu Kyi. 

      The Burmese restriction, which takes
      immediate effect, applies only to the United
      Kingdom. The statement says it is unaware
      of similar visa bans on any other members
      of the 15-country European Union. The visa
      ban is applied to ''members of the British
      government and their families'' and
      ''persons who formulate or implement
      policies that impede the process of smooth
      transition to a multi-party democratic state
      in the Union of Myanmar [Burma] and their
      families.'' 

      It remains unclear why the restriction has
      been imposed and why Britain is the only
      target. The ban was introduced a few days
      after the Burmese Ambassador to England
      U Win Aung returned to Rangoon to take up
      his new post of foreign minister. 

      The restriction was imposed nearly two
      months after Fatchett played host to a small
      ''private meeting'' on Burma in which a new
      ''carrot'' policy was suggested to break the
      current political deadlock in Burma. 

      The Oct 12 and 13 meeting at Chilston
      Park in Kent agreed to propose a
      conditional US$1 billion ''humanitarian and
      technical assistance'' to Burma in exchange
      for the military rulers to open a dialogue
      with Suu Kyi and progress in the country's
      political development. 

      UN special envoy to Burma, Alvaro de Soto
      and five Rangoon-based ambassadors
      from Australia, Japan, the Philippines,
      United Kingdom and the United States, all
      of whom were present at the meeting, later
      discussed the initiative with Suu Kyi. 

      De Soto raised the offer, which was to be
      channelled through UN agencies and the
      World Bank, in late October with SPDC
      leader Gen Khin Nyunt. 

      According to well-informed sources, Suu
      Kyi has agreed to the extension of
      UN/World Bank humanitarian and technical
      assistance on condition that the junta
      release all political prisoners, give NLD the
      freedom to operate as a political party and
      for her to carry activities as the party's
      secretary-general. 

      One source said: ''Khin Nyunt was not keen
      with the idea at all. In return, he said [to de
      Soto] NLD was creating problems''. The
      Burmese general did not make any
      commitments, saying that he had to consult
      other senior leaders, added the source. 

      In a related development, British, Japanese
      and Thai government officials on
      Wednesday rejected as inaccurate several
      points in the breaking news report on the
      Chilston Park meeting reported by the
      International Herald Tribune last Thursday. 

      In a statement to The Nation, Japanese
      Ambassador to Thailand Hiroshi Ota said
      the Tribune report saying that ''most of the
      financial assistance to Burma will be borne
      by the Japanese government is inaccurate. 

      ''The Japanese government has no
      knowledge of what has been reported,'' he
      added. 

      A British government official told The
      Nation on Wednesday that the Chilston
      Park gathering was ''a private meeting'' and
      the participants were present in their
      ''personal capacity''. The official, who asked
      not to be named, said many points in the
      Tribune report were inaccurate but would
      not elaborate. 

      Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumband
      Paribatra, who had attended the meeting at
      Fatchett's invitation, on Wednesday
      rejected the Tribune report on ''financial
      assistance'' to Burma as inaccurate. He
      said the gathering discussed ''technical
      assistance'' not financial. 

      Thailand, he said, does not back the
      provision of finances and that the offer of
      technical aid is conditional to political
      reconciliation in the country. 

      It is not yet known if the British government
      will take any unilateral retaliation measures
      against the Burmese visa ban. The junta
      has yet to appoint a new ambassador to
      London and his accreditation needs an
      official British approval. Britain and other
      EU members have already imposed a visa
      ban on Burmese government officials and
      their families. 

      Fachett earlier said he would support the
      suspension of Burmese membership in the
      International Labour Organisation the
      military junta continues violating human
      rights and ILO obligations. 

      The Nation