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1. Political Context
Burma/Myanmar, independent since 1948, has been
ruled by military dictatorship since 1962. The current military
regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), formerly
known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council, seized power
in a bloody coup in 1988. In general elections, which took place
in 1990, the main opposition party under the leadership of Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), won 82% of the seats to the National Assembly.
However, the results of the elections were never honoured by the
military regime, which maintained power and has since continued
its repressive policies leading to serious human rights abuses in
the country.
On 30 May 2003, a violent attack against Aung
San Suu Kyi and her supporters during a trip to northern Burma/Myanmar
– followed by her renewed detention, the arrest of NLD members and
the closing of all NLD offices - shattered hopes that the State
Peace and Development Council was finally planning to embark on a
genuine process of political reform. To date, only the NLD
headquarters has been allowed to reopen, while Aung San Suu Kyi
remains under house arrest.
In August 2003, the Burmese military regime
presented a seven-step ‘roadmap’ for constitutional and political
reform. On 17 May 2004, the military regime further announced its
intention to reconvene the country’s National Convention, in order
to reopen negotiations on a Constitution. The National Convention
is expected to result in a referendum on a new constitution and
new elections. The National Convention was established in 1993,
but it was adjourned in March 1996 following the withdrawal of the
NLD out of protest over the undemocratic proceedings. The promised
opening of the political system, if it occurs, would be a unique
opportunity for national reconciliation. However, the prospects
for a real and inclusive process of national reconciliation remain
poor given the SPDC’s absolute control over the process and the
failure to reach an agreement between Aung San Suu Kyi and the
SPDC leadership which could have enabled the participation of the
NLD in the process.
On 19 October 2004, Burma/Myanmar again became
the focus of international attention with the removal of Prime
Minister Khin Nyunt. The Prime Minister has played a leading role
in negotiations with ethnic nationality groups as well as with
Aung san Suu Kyi in the lead up to the National Convention. Khin
Nyunt has been replaced by Lt. Gen. Soe Win.
Burma/Myanmar is an ethnically-diverse country,
made up of 60% ethnic Burmans with 40% of the population spread
across several ethnic groups and sub-groups. Since independence, a
number of these ethnic groups have waged armed insurgencies
against the central government in pursuit of greater regional
autonomy or independence. However, today most of these groups have
signed cease-fire agreements with the military regime, while only
a few of them continue their armed insurgencies. The ethnic groups
are mainly located in the border areas (Burma/Myanmar borders
Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand), surrounding the
central Burman area like a great horseshoe. Thousands of Burmese
citizens remain in exile in Bangladesh and Thailand, many of them
new arrivals driven out by Burmese army attacks on civilians in
ethnic minority areas. Adding to the ethnic fragmentation of the
country is the military regime’s approach to returning refugees.
For example, Rohingya refugees returning from Bangladesh are
officially classified as "non-citizens" and subject to movement
restrictions, which seriously hinders their reintegration.
Violations of human rights and fundamental
freedoms are major international community concerns in Burma/Myanmar,
including extra-judicial executions, forced relocations and forced
labour on a massive scale. In November 2000, the International
Labour Organisation implemented measures against Burma/Myanmar
under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution – the first time the
Article has ever been applied to an ILO member. Since March 2002,
an ILO liaison officer has worked in-country to help stop the use
of forced labour. In May 2003, the government agreed to appoint a
mediator for forced labour compensation. However, the
implementation of the agreed Plan of Action has remained on hold
since the events of May 2003.
To date, the various initiatives of the
international community have not been successful in improving the
political situation in Burma/Myanmar.
2. Legal basis of EU relations
The EU Common Position on Burma/Myanmar was
first adopted in October 1996. It confirmed previously imposed EU
sanctions - an arms embargo imposed in 1990, the suspension of
defence co-operation in 1991 and the suspension of all bilateral
aid other than strictly humanitarian assistance - and introduced a
visa ban on members of the military regime, members of the
government, senior military and security officers and members of
their families. It also suspended high-level governmental visits
to Burma/Myanmar.
Separately, GSP privileges were withdrawn from
Burma/Myanmar in 1997 due to that country’s forced labour
practices. In addition, the EU has decided that Burma/Myanmar is
not eligible to benefit from the "Everything but Arms” trade and
development initiative. The 1996 Common position was strengthened
in October 1998, by widening the visa ban on Burmese officials. In
April 2000, the Council (a) added an export ban of any equipment
that might be used for internal repression or terrorism, (b)
published the list of persons affected by the visa ban, and (c)
imposed a freeze on the funds held abroad by the persons named in
the list. At the same time, the Council reiterated its desire to
establish a meaningful political dialogue with the SPDC and
indicated that the visa ban for the Burmese Foreign Minister might
be waived where this would be in the interest of the EU. In 2003,
the Common Position was strengthened once again through an
extension of the scope of existing sanctions (to target more
persons linked to the economic and/or political activities of the
SPDC under the visa ban and asset freeze, and by amending and
strengthening the arms embargo).
On 26 April 2004, the EU Common Position on
Burma/Myanmar was extended by the Council in view of the military
regime’s failure to make any significant progress in normalising
administration of the country and addressing any of the EU’s
concerns as regards human rights in Burma/Myanmar. On 3 September
2004 EU Foreign Ministers agreed to Burma/Myanmar participation in
the ASEM Summit on a level below Head of State/Government (FM). At
this time, Ministers decided that further sanctions against the
military regime would be implemented if it failed to release Aung
San Suu Kyi and open the National Convention to NLD participation
in advance of Burma/Myanmar’s accession to the Asia-Europe Meeting
(ASEM) in October 2004.
As the military regime failed to meet these
demands on time, the Council agreed on 25 October 2004 to revise
the Common Position and to further tighten sanctions on Rangoon.
Specifically, the visa ban on senior military officials travelling
to the EU has been extended to cover all officers holding the rank
of Brigadier General or higher while new restrictions have been
authorised to prohibit EU companies from investing in Burmese
state-owned enterprises.
The Common Position was renewed for one year on
25 April 2005. No changes were introduced in the main text but
children below eighteen years were removed from Annex I and a
revision of Annex II was undertaken.
3. Trade/Economic Issues
Burma/Myanmar is a resource-rich yet poor
country. A post-independence phase of state socialism, a lack of
fundamental macro-economic know-how and growing international
isolation has impoverished the country. Economic data are scarce.
Worrying issues are the high percentage of public spending on
military hardware, as opposed to the few resources spent on public
health and education; widespread corruption and the uneven
distribution of opportunities in urban and rural areas. The
effects of the Asian financial crisis have compounded the economic
difficulties.
Burma/Myanmar has little access to foreign aid,
including assistance from the international financial
institutions. The EU, Canada and the USA have removed GSP
preferences on imports from Burma/Myanmar and provide no
preferential financing for exports to or investment in the
country. The US trade ban has had a large impact on the textiles
sector. Total foreign debt was estimated at the end of 2003 at US$
6.2 billions. There has been a dramatic reduction in foreign
investment in recent years (from US$ 2.8 billion in 1996/97 to US$
19.1 million in 2001/02). EU exports to Burma/Myanmar totalled €
54 million in 2003, imports from Burma/Myanmar totalled € 388
million.
4. Community Aid
There is no bilateral co-operation programme
with Burma/Myanmar. In accordance with the EU Common Position,
Commission funding is currently limited to humanitarian
assistance. It includes contributions to the UN programme to
combat HIV/AIDS in the country, the repatriation and reintegration
of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh (through the UNHCR and the US
ACF) and a number of NGO projects working primarily in ethnic
minority areas and focusing on water, sanitation, and medical
care. Substantial assistance is also provided for Burmese refugees
in Thailand and Bangladesh. Further humanitarian assistance could
be foreseen, provided the appropriate conditions for
implementation can be secured and that there will be no direct
involvement of or transfer of funds through the military regime.
5. General Data
|
Official Name |
Union of Myanmar |
|
Population |
53 |
| Area (1000 km²) |
677.000 km² |
|
Gross Domestic Product |
€ 8 billion |
|
GDP per capita |
1590 Euro |
| Real GDP (% growth) |
5.1 |
| Inflation rate (%) |
40.0 |
| Current account balance (% of GDP) |
-4.7 |
|
Head of State |
Senior General Than Shwe |
|
Head of Government/Prime Minister |
Lt. Gen. Soe Win. |
Sources: EUROSTAT (COMEXT, CRONOS), IMF (DOTS),
WEFA (WMM); all data for 2003.
* Statistics on Burma/Myanmar should not be regarded as fully
reliable, because they are based on different exchange rates and
the large informal sector and extra-legal economy are not captured
in the figures.
Latest update: November 2005
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29/03/06