Joint Australian-Burmese naval exercise frowned upon

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 18:38 Larry Jagan

While Burmese pro-democracy activists are not opposed to Australia’s decision to increase humanitarian assistance to Burma, it has frowned on the country’s move to participate in regional military manoeuvres that include the Burmese Navy.

The pro-democracy movement is anxious about Australia’s decision to have joint exercises with the Burmese Navy, in the wake of its plans to increase aid.

Thirteen countries are involved in these naval exercises, which take place in Indian waters, including Australia and Burma, at the invitation of New Delhi. The others are Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The drills, which are organised by India every two years, cover a range of activities including disaster relief and counter terrorism. Pro-democracy groups are concerned about these because they feel they can only help the Burmese junta.

“It is not appropriate at the moment for the Australian military to be involved in training the Burmese military,” a leading opposition spokesman, Zin Linn told Mizzima.

“It is tantamount to recognising the regime and giving it credibility,” he said. Any dialogue must be with both the NLD and the junta he said – not just one side, he stressed.

That was the problem in the past in the attempts by former Canberra governments to provide training and support to Burma. “That was why we opposed the Australian government’s human rights training – as only government officials were involved.”

“Apart from that, we fear the Burmese Navy will also get supplies and equipment through these exercises,” he added.

Zetty Brake, of the Burma Campaign Australia, who works with Burma issues based in Thailand was even more angry. “The military dictatorship will never allow Burma’s Navy to use the skills gained from these exercises to help the people of Burma, and Australia would be naive, at best, to believe that,” she fumed.

In fact these exercises took place last month. “It was only a fleet review, as part of confidence building measures,” said an Australian military officer involved in the manoeuvres, who declined to be identified because he had no official authority to make public statements. “The Australian contingent had no direct contact with the Burmese,” he said. “In fact we didn’t think they would even show up.”

The controversy over the naval exercises have come even as Australia plans to increase humanitarian aid to Burma in the hope that the regime will respond to calls for a dialogue with the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The doubling of the aid package, announced by the country’s foreign minister, Stephen Smith earlier this week, is intended to help support ordinary citizens as they wait for long-overdue political change. But sanctions will remain until the regime significantly improves the way it treats its people, the minister insisted.

The increase in Australian assistance was in line with the US policy, he said. Washington has been calling for engagement with Burma since the middle of last year, but has stressed that sanctions will remain in place until there is significant change in the country.

“Australia urges the Burmese authorities to respond in good faith both to international engagement and to Aung San Suu Kyi's recent approach to it on sanctions and on dialogue,” said Mr Smith.

The Australian move is also consistent with a major shift in policy amongst many Western countries, especially the European Union that have isolated the country since the military regime seized power in 1988, after brutally crushing the pro-democracy demonstrations. The junta has promised multi-party elections later this year, as part of its seven-stage roadmap to democracy.

“Burma's capacity cannot be allowed to completely atrophy to the ultimate disadvantage and cost of its people," said Mr Smith, in a statement to Parliament.

Australia plans to boost its humanitarian assistance to Burma by more than 40%, starting this April. More than $A130 million dollars ($US112 million) has now been earmarked for Burma in the next three financial years. Most of this aid will be focussed on health, education and agriculture, Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith insisted that the pledge was not a reward for Burma's generals for their plans to hold elections later this year. “This is not a reward for Burma's military, but a recognition of the immense task faced by current and future generations of Burmese,” Mr Smith told MPs.

At some stage Burma will return to civilian rule and the job of repairing the country will be enormous, he reflected. Donor nations had to start helping Burma rebuild its crumbling economic and social infrastructure in preparation for that day.

But he warned the Burmese junta that there will be no move to ease the existing travel restrictions, export ban and financial sanctions that are currently in place. “Until we see significant change from Burma's authorities, Australia will maintain a policy of targeted financial sanctions,” he added.

This is not a reversal of policy towards Burma, but a realisation of the need to engage the Burmese authorities in order to influence them, a senior advisor to the Australian government told Mizzima on condition of anonymity.

“By isolating the junta, all the international community has done is push the regime into the hands of China, and left us with little leverage,” he said.

Since the Labor Party, under Kevin Ruud, replaced the former conservative Liberal Party government of John Howard in December 2007, Australia has taken a keen interest in Burma and wanted policy changes that would help make a difference for the ordinary Burmese people. Last November the country’s external broadcaster, Radio Australia has been transmitting news programmes in Burmese on short-wave.

The Labor government’s move has caused some disquiet amongst the pro-democracy activists in Australia. “On the one hand, the Australian government should provide more humanitarian assistance for the people of Burma, on the other hand they have to put more pressure on the military regime to change political systems towards democratisation and national reconciliation in Burma,” said Dr Myint Cho, a pro-democracy Burmese lobbyist from the Australia-Burma Council.

“Targeted investment sanctions will push the generals to go to the negotiating table with Aung San Suu Kyi and opposition leaders and ethnic leaders for national reconciliation,’ he said. “So far the Australian government hasn't imposed these sanctions,” he lamented.

The main opposition group, the National Coalition Government of Burma in exile, is not opposed to increasing humanitarian assistance. “But we urge donors to make sure that any aid goes directly to those who need it, and not through official military channels that are likely to siphon off funds,” a leading opposition spokesman, Zin Linn told Mizzima.

“And there must be effective monitoring measures in place to ensure that all aid to the regime is transparent and accountable,” he added.

Australia has travel restrictions on senior Burmese military figures and imposed a ban on defence exports to the country after the military brutally crushed the pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988. Financial sanctions were adopted following the military regime's violent suppression of the monk-led protests in 2007.