A prominent exiled Myanmar opposition lawmaker yesterday called on the Philippines to take a more prominent role in pushing for genuine democratic changes in the isolated state.
Khun Myint Tun, who is a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), said atrocities continued in his homeland and urged the UN to withdraw its recognition of the ruling military junta.
He said it was time for ASEAN “and the United Nations to be more serious in crafting tangible ways to bring democracy back” to Myanmar, including pressuring the generals to open up dialogue with the opposition.
“ASEAN should talk about dialogue. ASEAN should discuss the Burma issue during dialogues with China,” Khun Myint Tun said, using the country’s former name.
Khun Myint Tun said he was in Manila to “urge the Philippine government as a member state of ASEAN to reject the Burmese junta’s so-called road map to democracy and to take a lead in forwarding a genuine tripartite dialogue in Burma.”
The Philippines has warned it will not ratify ASEAN’s charter if the junta continues to detain democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The group has often been criticized for its “constructive engagement” policy towards Myanmar, even as foreign ministers issued a strong statement expressing “deep disappointment” over the continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi last month.
Myanmar’s military rulers had “ruthlessly murdered monks, students and people who had demonstrated peacefully for dialogue,” Khun Mying Tun said, referring to a crackdown on protestors last year that the UN has said left 31 dead.
Khun Myint Tun was elected a member of parliament in 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to a landslide win that was never recognized by the junta.
He was imprisoned for seven years until 2003, but continues to work in exile for reforms in Myanmar.
Meanwhile, US first lady Laura Bush, an outspoken critic of Myanmar’s junta, met yesterday with refugees from the country.
Accompanying US President George W. Bush on a three-country swing through Asia, Laura Bush flew to the Thai-Myanmar border to spend the day at the Mae La refugee camp and a health clinic run by a woman known as the “Mother Teresa of Burma.”
Mae La is home to 38,000 Karen, an ethnic minority group that rights organizations say is the target of a violent military crackdown in Myanmar.
Laura Bush was greeted at the camp by Karen dancers. She attended English and math classes for children at the camp and an orientation briefing for refugees going to third countries.
“We are refugees. Our dream is that we want to go home. But repatriation with dignity and safety is not possible right now,” community leader Mahn Htun Htun told her during a discussion.
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