Open Letter from Mary Robinson and John Ruggie to EU Foreign Ministers and EU High Representative

19 April 2012

On behalf of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, we are writing to urge you and your fellow European Foreign Ministers to make clear that respect for international human rights standards is integral to future trade with and investment in Myanmar.

For a start, that means adhering to relevant international standards such as the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which were unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011 and strongly supported by the European Union throughout the process of their development and adoption.

Upcoming European Union discussions on easing economic sanctions in response to the dramatic changes in the country following recent elections are indeed vitally important to the country’s hopeful steps towards reform, democracy and sustainable economic development.

As you know, new investors will likely face many complex challenges when sanctions policies are eased. For example, an unstable security situation requires well-trained security forces that comply with international standards. Another major risk is uncertainty around land acquisition and use. There is an urgent need for processes to ensure that the rights of customary and legal owners and users of land are respected. When land is acquired, every effort must be made not to forcibly evict inhabitants and before relocation or acquisition to ensure full consultation and prompt and adequate compensation. Companies should conduct due diligence to avoid involvement with business partners that pose serious legal risks, or have charges against them.

Moreover, it is essential to take into account the poorly regulated labour environment, and the importance of recognising the rights of free peaceful assembly, free association, and collective bargaining; the need for a strengthened domestic business sector, and to avoid corrupt practices in business operations. Finally, it is imperative to ensure that new investment does not perpetuate existing inequities, but instead provides equal opportunity for all.

The Government of Myanmar has the obligation to regulate new and existing foreign investment in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. Its actions over the coming months and years will be key in avoiding the "resource curse" faced by many countries blessed with abundant natural resources because poor governance of revenues can have adverse impact on state finances, limiting and restricting the state’s ability to protect human rights. For their part, foreign investors will have to proceed in a more accountable and transparent manner as well.

The opportunity for a new democratic beginning in Myanmar requires responsible actions on the part of all stakeholders. As EU Foreign Ministers discuss conditions for lifting sanctions and EU Member States’ responses to greater openness in Myanmar, the Institute for Human Rights and Business urges the European Union to use its powers, and those of its Member States, to adopt an explicit requirement for companies investing in Myanmar to adhere to international standards and operate in ways that support, rather than undermine respect for human rights.

This would include coherent actions pursuant to trade and investment policies, development assistance, lending, and export credit among others. The European Investment Bank should be encouraged to take a leadership role amongst multilateral development banks in ensuring that any projects financed in Myanmar involving the private sector include explicit human rights requirements. Businesses planning to invest should conduct initial human rights impact assessments and on-going due diligence in line with the UN Guiding Principles, consulting with local and international civil society, academia, officials, and independent experts.

The growing momentum to promote investment in Myanmar must be matched by commitments from states to fulfill their international legal obligations and from corporations to meet their responsibility to respect human rights.

Yours sincerely,

Mary Robinson, Patron

Institute for Human Rights and Business

Former President of Ireland &

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights  

John Ruggie, Chair

Institute for Human Rights and Business

Former UN Special Representative on

Business and Human Rights

Links : http://www.ihrb.org/news/2012/open-letter-from-mary-robinson-and-john-ruggie-to-eu-foreign-ministers-and-eu-high-representative.html

Statement by the Spokesperson of EU High Representative, Catherine Aston, on the reform process and the elections in Myanmar on 1 April 2012

EUROPEAN UNION
Brussels, 28 March 2012

A 151/12

Statement by the Spokesperson of EU High Representative, Catherine Aston, on the reform process and the elections in Myanmar
on 1 April 2012

The spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued the following statement today:

«The High Representative welcomes the remarkable programme of political reform undertaken by President U Thein Sein and his Government, including the constructive role played by the Parliament of Myanmar over the last year. The release of political prisoners, the continuing dialogue between the Government and the opposition, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, are all important positive developments, as is the ongoing effort to secure peace with armed ethnic groups and the commitment to economic reform.

The forthcoming by-elections are a key moment in national reconciliation and should allow a substantial review of EU policy vis-à-vis Myanmar. The High Representative is following the conduct of the campaign with close attention, and trusts that it will continue to unfold unhindered, allowing the candidates of all political parties to present their programmes to the electorate. The High Representative welcomes the unprecedented access by the international community. The EU will respond to the Government's invitation to be present on election day by sending an official Delegation. The High Representative welcomes the generally peaceful nature of the campaign. The High Representative is, however, concerned by reports of intimidation and other irregularities committed by some parties, and trusts that the Government will investigate and deal with them appropriately.»

____________________

P R E S S
FOR FURTHER DETAILS:
Michael Mann +32 498 999 780 - +32 2 299 97 80 - Michael.Mann@eeas.europa.eu
Maja Kocijancic +32 498 984 425 - +32 2 298 65 70 - Maja.Kocijancic@ec.europa.eu
Sebastien Brabant +32 498 986 433 - Sebastien.Brabant@ec.europa.eu
COMM-SPP-HRVP-ASHTON@ec.europa.eu
www.eeas.europa.eu

EN

Faith placed in Uncle Sam as neighbourhood warily welcomes China

Jessica Brown / March 29, 2012 / (Opinion)

"Even Burma's notoriously authoritarian military regime is warming to the U.S." Photo: AFP

The Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, was quick to play down suggestions yesterday that American military surveillance drones could begin operating from Australia's remote Cocos Islands.

Deep in the Indian Ocean, 3700 kilometres from Darwin, the islands are closer to major south-east Asian capitals including Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok: neighbours that Canberra cannot afford to get offside.

But Smith might have to worry more about convincing sceptics at home. South-east Asian countries, worried about the effect a rising China is having on the regional power balance, welcome America's presence in the neighbourhood more than many Australians realise

Even Burma's notoriously authoritarian military regime is warming to the US. Byelections this weekend are a welcome sign that the brutal dictatorship may be inching towards democracy. But, perhaps importantly for Smith, the Burmese generals' newfound taste for reform has a strategic element too.

Burma has long been a Chinese client state. It now hopes that political reforms will lead to closer engagement with the West, particularly the US.

Burma's strategic shift is the most dramatic but not the only such realignment taking place across south-east Asia.

The region's historical relationships with China and America vary wildly. But the uniformity with which they are moving towards the US in response to China's rise is striking.

All south-east Asian countries have close relationships with China, and all want to take advantage of China's economic rise. Yet none wants China to be in a position where it can dominate the region strategically.

The US has long been the preponderant military power in the region, whose nations, by and large, are happy for it to stay that way. They tolerate US primacy, because it has proved to be benign, and welcome its presence because it preserves the balance of power, enabling them to get on with the job of economic development without costly wars.

Like Australia, south-east Asian countries want to maintain the status quo for as long as possible, allowing them to free-ride on the US's implicit security guarantee while being lifted by the rising tide of China's growth.

Yet they know that is far from assured: they worry about a future where their major economic partner may come into conflict with their security guarantor.

South-east Asian strategies for dealing with this dilemma should be instructive for Australia, as we ponder what the ''Asian century'' might look like and our place in it. Although south-east Asian countries have remarkably different strategic outlooks, their strategy for dealing with regional security is essentially the same.

All pursue relationships with China and the US (although for Burma, and its neighbours Laos and Cambodia, these relations are in their infancy). They know that close ties with both is the best insurance against conflict emerging with (or between) either. And while countries such as Thailand and the Philippines have formal links to the US, they certainly don't want to be alienated from China in case it does grow to become the region's leading political power.

Paradoxically, some know they need to shift their own policies to preserve this status quo. Burma is the most striking example; Vietnam is another.

The emerging economic powerhouse of Vietnam shares a border with China, and the two countries are involved in a series of territorial disputes over islands in the resource-rich South China Sea, off Vietnam's coast. China stoked tensions last year when it reportedly cut cables being dragged by a Vietnamese oil exploration ship in the disputed waters.

Anxious about China's increasingly assertive posture in the sea, Hanoi has shifted noticeably closer to the US. The enthusiasm with which Vietnam has welcomed America's attention is an arresting symbol of just how much maritime south-east Asian states, spooked by the spectre of conflict in the South China Sea, hope the US will help keep China's naval ambitions in check.

Burma's case is quite different, but much of the thinking is the same. In October, the Burmese government cancelled a wildly unpopular Chinese-backed dam project, in the first sign that the regime wants to push back against China's dominance of their economy, and increasingly, their security policy.

In Australia, there is debate about whether the US should cede some power to China and accept its strategic rise - a debate fuelled by the musings of the new Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, about the wisdom of US troop deployments in Darwin. But there are bigger questions about whether the rest of Asia would support such a concession.

South-east Asian governments see overt conflict between China and the US as their worst nightmare, so the Australian government could quickly alienate its neighbours if it supported moves that stoke tension between the two major powers. (Hence the warning in Australia last week from Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, about the danger of resorting to ''traditional alliances and fault lines'' in response to China's rise.)

But, ultimately, south-east Asian governments like Beijing know Australia and the US have a long-standing and close relationship. What's more, they are working carefully to build their relationships with the US too.

South-east Asia - even Burma - welcomes America's substantial presence, not because it changes the status quo but because it helps preserve it.

Jessica Brown is a research fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies. Her report Southeast Asia's American Embrace is released today at cis.org.au.

Link : http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/politics/faith-placed-in-uncle-sam-as-neighbourhood-warily-welcomes-china-20120328-1vyqo.html#ixzz1qQ7dHLC7