Regarding Congressman Tony P Hall's

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Regarding Congressman Tony P Hall's Trip to Burma

Sunday January 17 8:16 AM ET 

Humanitarian Aid Urged for Myanmar

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A U.S. congressman on Sunday appealed for
large-scale humanitarian aid to Myanmar, rejecting arguments that such
assistance would merely sustain that country's harsh military regime.

``Humanitarian concerns are taking a back seat in Burma. But I've always
believed that human concerns and human rights go together,'' Rep. Tony P.
Hall, D-Ohio, told reporters in Bangkok.

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whom Hall met last week,
opposes foreign aid to her country, saying some 50 percent of it is siphoned
off by the military.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has also criticized some foreign aid workers
for allegedly ``collaborating'' with the regime and promoting poorly
conceived projects.

Hall quoted Suu Kyi as saying she would reverse her stance only if there was
a 100 percent guarantee that foreign aid would not go to supporting the
government.

Hall said Myanmar, also known as Burma, was plagued by malnutrition,
diseases, poor education and the rapid spread of AIDS. Myanmar is ranked as
one of the world's poorest nations.

``If humanitarian aid is not provided a whole generation will be lost. The
need is tremendous,'' Hall said, adding that waiting to provide foreign
assistance until democracy is restored might take years and merely prolong
poverty and suffering.

Hall said he brought up the government's alleged human rights abuses in his
meeting with strongman Gen. Khin Nyunt.

The regime is widely criticized for arresting political opponents, torture
and ruthlessness in dealing with ethnic minorities. It routinely denies such
charges. 
-----------------
 US Lawmaker rejects opposition veto
South China Morning Post - 18th Jan
BKK
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi should not have a veto on aid to her
country, a United States congressman said yesterday.

Tony Hall, a prominent aid advocate, said Burma's health, education and food
problems were "too dire for the international community to ignore".

"I would not say that she should have veto powers at all," he said in Bangkok
after a visit to Burma.

The opposition's suspicions that the military regime would cream off or manage
aid money has effectively cut Burma off from all but a trickle of humanitarian
help.

The congressman, who has encouraged health and food programmes for North Korea
and Sudan, said the world should not be blinded by politics to the Burmese
people's "tremendous" problems such as HIV, hunger, dirty water and
illiteracy.

Mr Hall said Ms Aung San Suu Kyi had been isolated by the regime and so
"doesn't really get a chance" to see many of the problems faced by her fellow
citizens.

He urged her to let reputable non-government organisations know she was not
opposed to humanitarian work as long as they could give "a 100 per cent
guarantee that it would not benefit the regime".

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi claimed some aid workers ended up as government
"collaborators" and that more than 50 per cent of all assistance was siphoned
off, he said.

She also asked that anyone offering humanitarian assistance to Burma should
consult the National League for Democracy - which won a 1990 election by an
overwhelming majority only to be ignored by the military.

But Mr Hall said many aid organisations saw consultations with any political
party as "going down a slippery slope" and had concentrated their efforts in
other, less complicated countries.

Burma's military intelligence chief, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, had given
Mr Hall the usual line that the regime "was working towards democracy while
safeguarding law and order".

Nevertheless the general had "promised to be gentle and lenient with the
opposition and would try to find agreement with them", said Mr Hall, who had
asked the military junta to release political prisoners and stop persecuting
ethnic minorities.
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World: Asia-Pacific

US congressman calls for aid to Burma 



An American Congressman, who's just returned from a trip to Burma, has said
the country is in desperate need of large scale humanitarian aid. 

The congressman, Tony Hall, a Democrat, said that withholding international
aid until there's real democracy in Burma would only prolong the poverty and
suffering. 

His call conflicts with the policy of the opposition National League for
Democracy, whose leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, argues that any aid will go into
the pockets of Burma's generals and won't change the lives of ordinary
people. 

>From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

 

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