MYANMAR: US special envoy announces 1.5 million U.S. dollars in aid for displaced people and reiterates demand for free and transparent process in the upcoming by-elections

Record ID: 773765

  • Title: MYANMAR: US special envoy announces 1.5 million U.S. dollars in aid for displaced people and reiterates demand for free and transparent process in the upcoming by-elections
  • Date: 16th March 2012
  • Summary: MON STATE, MYANMAR (RECENT - MARCH 11, 2012) (REUTERS) CHILD DANCING AT NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY (NLD) CAMPAIGN RALLY VARIOUS OF CROWD WAITING TO SEE NLD CANDIDATE AUNG SAN SUU KYI
  • Embargoed: 31st March 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Myanmar, Myanmar
  • Country: Myanmar
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2AXAZ2ECGVQCDZXMD0B3INYSD
  • Story Text: US special envoy to Myanmar Derek Mitchell on Thursday (March 15) announced additional financial aid for the displaced in the country and called for free and transparent process in the upcoming by-elections.
    Mitchell, on his sixth trip to the country in the past seven month to Myanmar, expressed concerns about the ongoing conflict in Kachin State bordering China.
    Despite seven rounds of talks and calls for calm from Myanmar's president, fighting continues to rage between the Kachin Independence Army and government troops.
    The conflict has resulted in an estimated 55,000 internally displaced people (IDP) and the Myanmar army has been accused of burning villages, shooting civilians and raping women, according to witnesses interviewed by rights groups.
    "The first has to do with some developments in Kachin State, specifically the issue of humanitarian access to internally displace persons we called IDPs," Mitchell told reporters at a news conference in Yangon. "And I want to announce here that to that end the United States is going to provide 1.5 million dollars in additional funding to the (United Nations' refugee agency) UNHCR for that purpose to assist the internally displace persons."
    Mitchell said the United States was would keep a close eye on upcoming parliamentary by-elections, hoping for a fair contest as a gauge of the country's progress towards reforms, adding that the US had no interest in which party won the 48 seats up for grabs in the April 1 ballot.
    "The outcome of the elections are of course up to the people of this country. That is not what our interest is. Our interest is the process, that it be free, that it be fair, that it be transparent and that truly represents the will of the people in this country. We do see this, the international community as well. I know the citizens here they see it as a critical moment in a maker towards building trust and confidence," said Mitchell.
    The by-elections for mainly lower house and senate seats are particularly significant, because they will feature pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party after two decades in the political wilderness.
    The NLD, Myanmar's biggest force against decades of brutal dictatorships, accepted an offer by the country's civilian president, Thein Sein, to take part in the polls and end a boycott of a new political system crafted by, and heavily favouring, the military.
    The 2010 parliamentary elections were widely regarded as a sham by the international community, with allegations of vote-rigging to favour an army-backed party, with no independent observers present.
    The NLD boycotted the polls which the army-backed party easily won.
    The by-elections are a critical test of the year-old government's commitment to reforms and if deemed fair, could lead to an easing of Western sanctions. Mitchell gave no comment on when the United States would consider lifting the embargoes.
    The West has responded positively to a series of unprecedented changes in Myanmar, including the release of more than 600 political prisoners, media, civil liberties and economic reforms and peace talks with ethnic minority rebels or political groups.
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