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NEWS - UK Politics Burma bans UK m (r)
- Subject: NEWS - UK Politics Burma bans UK m (r)
- From: Rangoonp@xxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 19:25:00
Subject: NEWS - UK Politics Burma bans UK ministers
UK Politics Burma bans UK ministers
BBC Dec.1, 1998
Burma has banned UK ministers
and government officials from
visiting the country.
Diplomatic relations between the
two countries worsened on
Tuesday when the Burmese
regime told the Foreign Office no
minister or officials will receive a
visa to enter the country, with immediate effect.
The move is seen as a response to the UK stepping
up pressure on the Burmese military authorities to
hold talks with ousted democratic leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.
Last month, Foreign Office
Minister Derek Fatchett
called for a European
Union mission to visit
Burma in an attempt to
improve human rights in
the country.
Commenting on the ban
on entry to Burma, Mr
Fatchett said: "I regret this
move by the Burmese
regime.
"It will in no way dissuade
us from continuing to work
for an improvement in the
human rights and the political situation in Burma
and bringing pressure on the regime to enter into
dialogue with democratic leaders, including Aung
San Suu Kyi."
The EU has already placed a series of sanctions on
the Burmese regime including an arms embargo,
putting restrictions on visas and suspending
non-humanitarian aid.
The UK also discourages companies from putting
new investment into the country.
The Burmese restrictions apply only to the UK. The
Foreign Office said it was not aware of similar
restrictions on any other EU state.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The visa ban is
an acknowledgement that the UK is at the forefront
of international action to bring pressure on the
Burmese regime to improve the human rights and
political situation in Burma."
Mrs Suu Kyi, 50, who is married to an Oxford
academic, was leader of the National League for
Democracy, which won a landslide victory in general
elections in 1990.
She had challenged the military after soldiers killed
hundreds of people as they quelled a mass uprising
against autocratic rule.
The military junta put Mrs Suu Kyi, who won the
1991 Nobel Peace Prize, under house arrest
allegedly for inciting unrest.
She has since been freed, although she still faces
restrictions and the military regime is still in power.