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Ending the Waiting Game: Notes

Ending the Waiting Game

NOTES


1 For a history of ethnic conflict in Burma, see, for example, Martin Smith, Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity, London: Zed Books, 1999, Bertil Lintner, Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency since 1948, Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1999, and Ashley South, Mon Nationalism and the Civil War in Burma: The Golden Sheldrake, London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002.
2 Before 1997, the regime was known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council or SLORC.
3 International Crisis Group, Myanmar Backgrounder: Ethnic Minority Politics, Report no. 52, May 2003, p. i.
4 The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement are based upon international humanitarian and human rights law and analogous refugee law and are intended to serve as an international standard to guide governments, international organizations and all other relevant actors in providing assistance and protection to IDPs. For the purposes of the Principles, internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.
5 Ashley South, “Burma: The Changing Nature of Displacement Crises,” in Eva-Lotta Hedman (ed), Conflict, Violence and Displacement in Southeast Asia, Berghahn Books, 2006.
6 Guillermo Bettocchi with Raquel Freitas, “A UNHCR Perspective,” Forced Migration Review, No. 17, May 2003, p. 13 and 14.
7 Thailand Burmese Border Consortium, Internal Displacement and Protection in Eastern Burma, October 2005, p. 11.
8 Thailand Burmese Border Consortium, Internally Displaced People and Relocations Sites in Eastern Burma, September 2002, p. 3.
9 Thailand Burmese Border Consortium, Internal Displacement and Protection in Eastern Burma, p. 24.
10 Human Rights Watch, “They Came and Destroyed Our Village Again”: The Plight of Internally Displaced Persons in Karen State, June 2005, p. 8.
11 International Crisis Group, Myanmar Backgrounder: Ethnic Minority Politics, p. i.
12 Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Profile of Internal Displacement: Myanmar (Burma), June 2005, p. 13.
13 Christian Aid, Burma’s Dirty War: The Humanitarian Crisis in Eastern Burma, May 2004, p. 5.
14 Christian Aid, p. 15.
15 Human Rights Watch, p. 49.
16 Human Rights Watch, p. 47.
17 Karen Human Rights Group, Suffering in Silence: The Human Rights Nightmare of the Karen People of Burma, Parkland: Universal Publishers, 2001, p. 16.
18 Protocol II (1977) is additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relates to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts.
19 Ashley South, “Political Transition in Myanmar: A New Model for Democratization,” Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 26 No. 2, 2004, p. 239.
20 International Crisis Group, Myanmar Backgrounder: Ethnic Minority Politics, p. 8.
21 Human Rights Watch, p. 55.
22 Human Rights Foundation of Monland, No Land to Farm: Executive Summary, October 2003.
23 Karen Rivers Watch, Damming at Gunpoint: Burma Army Atrocities Pave the Way for Salween Dams in Karen State, November 2004, p. 1.
24 EarthRights International, Total Denial Continues: Earth Rights Abuses along the Yadana and Yetagun Pipelines in Burma, May 2000, p. 39.
25 Burma Ethnic Research Group, Internal Displacement in Myanmar (Burma), July 1999, p. 2 and 3.
26 Human Rights Watch, p. 55 and 56.
27 The numbers of displaced along the eastern Burma border are from the Thailand Burmese Border Consortium publication, Internal Displacement and Protection in Eastern Burma. For more statistics and information on IDPs in different parts of Burma, see this publication and Thailand Burmese Border Consortium, Internal Displacement and Vulnerability in Eastern Burma, October 2004, and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre’s Profile of Internal Displacement: Myanmar (Burma).
28 Thailand Burmese Border Consortium, Internal Displacement and Vulnerability in Eastern Burma, p. 22.
29 Christian Aid, p.15.
30 DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, Threat to the Peace: A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma, September 2005, p. 11.
31 Thailand Burmese Border Consortium, Internal Displacement and Vulnerability in Eastern Burma, p. 49 and 51.
32 DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, p. 10.
33 DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, p. 12.
34 Human Rights Watch, p. 57.
35 Human Rights Watch, p. 49.
36 Thailand Burmese Border Consortium, Internal Displacement and Protection in Eastern Burma, p. 60.
37 By comparison, Nepal, with half the population of Burma has about 275 international NGOs; Cambodia, with a population of just 15 million, has about 115 international NGOs. 
38 General Assembly Resolution 46/182, approved in late 1991 states that, “humanitarian assistance must be provided in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality.”
39 Human Rights Watch, p. 60.
40 In the UN system, the "collaborative approach" gives all relevant agencies—especially UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNOCHA and the UNOHCR—shared responsibility for each emerging crisis of displacement.
41 To address shortcomings in the collaborative approach, in 2005 the UN’s Inter-Agency Standing Committee moved towards a clear allocation of leadership for various sectors, designating an agency lead for each of the sectors or ‘clusters’ where systemic and critical gaps exist. The cluster lead response is being piloted in three countries at present.
42 Human Rights Watch, p. 61.
43 For more on civil society in Burma and its potential, see South, ‘Political Transition in Myanmar: A New Model for Democratization.’
44 South, p. 234.
45 Human Rights Watch, p. 60.
46 Human Rights Watch, p. 61.
47 Thailand Burmese Border Consortium, Internal Displacement and Vulnerability in Eastern Burma, p. 4 and 77.
48 Burma Ethnic Research Group, Forgotten Victims of a Hidden War: Internally Displaced Karen in Burma, Chiang Mai: Nopburee Press, April 1998, p. 9.
49 Karen Human Rights Group, Sovereignty, Survival and Resistance: Contending Perspectives on Karen Internal Displacement in Burma, March 2005, p. 33 and 34.
50 Karen Human Rights Group, Sovereignty, Survival and Resistance: Contending Perspectives on Karen Internal Displacement in Burma, p. 34.
51 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: The Politics of Humanitarian Aid, Report no. 32, April 2002, p. 6.
52 Although the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are providing no direct financial assistance to Burma, since 2001 the Asian Development Bank has funded projects under the regional Greater Mekong Subregion cooperation program where some of the money is being channeled to Burma.
53 In the 1990 elections, the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory. The junta prevented the NLD from coming to power and Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the years since elections.
54 Richard C. Paddock, “So much need, so little help for the deathly ill in Myanmar,” Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2005, p. A4.
55 Tom Kramer, “Ethnic Conflict and Dilemmas for International Engagement,” in Martin Jelsma, Tom Kramer, Pietje Vervest (eds.), Trouble in the Triangle: Opium and Conflict in Burma, Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2005, p. 49.
56 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: The Politics of Humanitarian Aid, p. 5.
57 Marc Purcell, “Axe-Handlers or Willing Minions?: International NGOs in Burma,” in Burma Centrum Netherlands and Transnational Institute (eds.), Strengthening Civil Society in Burma: Possibilities and Dilemmas for International NGOs, Bangkok: Silkworm Books, 1999, p. 93 and 94.
58 Interview with Aung San Suu Kyi, The Irrawaddy, August 22, 2002.
59 In the past, agencies have acknowledged instances of abuse of aid. For example, UNICEF found that medicines provided to the SPDC for women and children had been diverted to the military instead. In another example, a few vials of long outdated vaccines provided by UNICEF were found in the market in Rangoon. 
60 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: The Politics of Humanitarian Aid, p. 4.
61 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: The Role of Civil Society, Report no. 27, December 2001, p.21.
62 DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, p. 11.
63 Alan Sipress, “Asia Keeps Burmese Industry Humming: Trade, Both Legal and Illegal, Blunts Effect of U.S. Economic Sanctions,” Washington Post, January 7, 2006, p. A11.
64 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: Sanctions, Engagement, or Another Way Forward?, Report no. 78, April 2004, p. 20 and 21.
65 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: Sanctions, Engagement, or Another Way Forward? p.17.
66 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: Sanctions, Engagement, or Another Way Forward? p.16.
67 There has been speculation that Global Fund took this action just before its replenishment conference of September 2005 to please countries like the US; the US has pledged to provide one-third of Global Fund’s budget.
68 Alan Sipress and Ellen Nakashima, “In Burma, a Setback on AIDS: Citing New Restrictions, Fund Cancels Treatment Program,” Washington Post, December 30, 2005, p. A21.
69 Security Council Report, Update Report No. 4: Myanmar, December 2005, p. 2.
70 Security Council Report, p. 1 and 2.
71 Susannah Price, “UN Stages Rare Burma Discussion,” BBC, December 17, 2005.
72 US Department of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Report on Conditions in Burma and U.S. Policy Toward Burma for the Period March 28 - September 27, 2005, Released to Congress
73 US Department of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Burma Background Note, August 2005.
74 Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Burma Country Brief, September 2005.
75 Altsean, Ready, Aim, Sanctions: Burma Special Report, November 2003, p. 26.
76 US Department of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Report on U.S. Trade Sanctions against Burma, Congressionally mandated report submitted to Congress on April 28, 2004.
77 Matthew P. Daley, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, US Department of State, Testimony before the Subcommittees on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights and Asia and the Pacific, House International Relations Committee, October 2, 2003.
78 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: Update on HIV/AIDS Policy, Briefing no. 34, December 2004, p. 3.
79 Altsean, Ready, Aim, Sanctions: Burma Special Report, p. 26 and 27.
80 US Agency for International Development, Burma Budget, 2005.
81 US Department of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Report on Conditions in Burma and U.S. Policy Toward Burma for the Period September 28, 2004 - March 27, 2005, Released to Congress on March 29, 2005.
82 US Department of State, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, March 2005.
83 US Department of State, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.
84 European Union, The EU's relations with Burma/ Myanmar, 2005.
85 European Union.
86 M. McAteer, “Sanctions for a Regime Change: Time for A Rethink,” Burma Issue, Vol. 15, No. 9, September 2005, p. 2.
87 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: Sanctions, Engagement or Another Way Forward? p. 3.
88 European Community Humanitarian Office, Burma/ Myanmar: A Silent Crisis, June 2005.
89 Christina Fink, Living Silence, Burma under Military Rule, Bangkok: White Lotus Company, 2001, p. 86.
90 Fink, p. 241.
91 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: The Politics of Humanitarian Aid, p. 6.
92 Fink, p. 233.
93 Sudha Ramachandran, “Yangon Still Under Beijing’s Thumb,” Asia Times, February 11, 2005.
94 Ramachandran.
95 Burma is the world's second largest producer of illicit opium and a primary source of amphetamine-type stimulants produced in Asia. Up to 80 percent of Burmese drugs now move through southern China.
96 In October 2005 UN officials announced that Burma was planning to leave the ILO. The officials also said that the ILO’s chief representative in the country had received death threats in recent months, considered part of a systematic campaign by the government to intimidate ILO staff. The following month, SPDC representatives attending the ILO Governing Body meeting in Geneva announced they would not be withdrawing from the organization
97 Soe Myint, “India and Burma: Working on their Relationship,” The Irrawaddy, March 1, 1999.
98 Andrew Selth, “Burma and Superpower Rivalries in the Asia Pacific,” Naval War College Review, Vol. LV, No. 2, Spring 2002, p. 12.
99 Amitav Acharya, “Democracy in Burma: Does Anybody Really Care” Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, September 1, 2005.
100 “The Mouse Finally Roars,” The Nation (Bangkok), December 13, 2005.
101 “Burma ‘too busy’ for Delegation,” BBC, January 6, 2006.
102 Mann (Mac) Bunyanunda, “Burma, ASEAN, and Human Rights: The decade of constructive engagement, 1991-2001,” Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs, Vol. 2, Spring 2002, p. 124.
103 Aung Zaw, “ASEAN-Burma relations,” Challenges to Democratization in Burma: Perspectives on multilateral and bilateral responses, Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2001, p. 46.
104 Fink, p. 235.
105 Fink, p. 235.
106 In 2000 an initial twelve international NGOs in Burma signed on to a Joint Principles of Operation, the Principles state that agencies are prepared to discontinue assistance if they become unable to implement and/or monitor programs in an ethnical and effective manner.
107 UK Government, Department for International Development, Country Plan for Burma, October 2004, p. 14.
108 Paddock, p. A4.
109 The Global Fund, Termination of Grants to Myanmar: Fact Sheet, August 18, 2005, p. 2 and 3.
110 Sipress and Nakashima, p. A21
111 Fink, p. 253.
112 South, p.251.
113 South, p. 253.
114 International Crisis Group, Myanmar: Aid to the Border Areas, Report no. 82, September 2004, p. 21.
115 Lintner, p. 65 and footnote 121 on p. 93.
116 Fink, p. 127.
117 Hugo Slim and Luis Enrique Eguren, Humanitarian Protection: A Guidance Booklet, Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action, 2001, p. 21.
118 David A. Korn, Exodus within Borders: An Introduction to the Crisis of Internal Displacement, Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 1999, p. 69.
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