UN Burma Envoy Ibrahim Gambari Should Not Be Replaced

The Burma Campaign UK today called on the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to maintain direct personal responsibility for Burma, rather than delegating to a new UN Envoy.

The former envoy, Special Advisor Ibrahim Gambari, has left the position to take up a new post as head of the joint African Union/UN peacekeeping force in Darfur.

“We have had 20 years of UN envoys going back and forth to Burma, and nothing to show for it,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “There has not been one genuine democratic reform, human rights abuses are at a 20-year high, and the regime has ignored requests to enter into genuine dialogue, instead going ahead with fake elections in 2010. They have also written a new constitution legalising dictatorship. It is hard to imagine a more comprehensive failure of the current UN approach. It is time for new thinking.”

Burma’s dictatorship has no respect for low-level envoys sent by the UN or others. There have been 40 visits by UN envoys and human rights Rapporteur, but no progress on any front. The Burma Campaign UK is calling on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to personally take the lead on the UN effort to persuade the generals to enter into genuine tri-partite dialogue. If dialogue does have any chance of succeeding it will take someone of his authority to make it happen, both in terms of getting access to senior generals who can actually make decisions, and in terms of mobilising the international community in support of his efforts.

The Secretary General should learn from the mistakes of his previous visit to Burma earlier this year, where little advance work was done to prepare for his visit, and no real effort was made to mobilise the international community behind him, to present a united international voice to the generals for the first time.

The Secretary General should also seek a resolution from the United Nations Security Council to strengthen his authority in future discussions with the generals.  Progress should be defined by actual change in Burma, not just process, such as simply having talks between the UN and the regime. There should be timelines and benchmarks set.

“Almost every time we get a new UN envoy or Rapporteur we see similar things happen said Mark Farmaner. “After a delay the new envoy gets a visa. He goes to Burma, tip-toes around issues that might upset the generals, and declares the fact of his visit is in itself a good sign that the generals are willing to enter into dialogue. Wildly overoptimistic statements are made about some kind of change on the way. The generals delay and delay and then take a few small steps or make promises, which are all just cosmetic. When it gets to the point that the envoy starts to realise he has been lied to all along, the generals stop giving him a visa. Eventually the envoy resigns, and the whole process starts over. This has to end.”

For more information contact Mark Farmaner on 020 7324 4710

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