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Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, we have very little time and I have a lot of points to answer, if the noble Baroness will be so kind.
The SPDC has ignored the views of the Burmese people, as expressed in the 1990 election, as well as the recommendations and the expectations of the
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international community, including the Secretary General of the United Nations and his special envoy to Burma Tan Sri Razali Ismail.
The noble Baroness, Lady Cox, argued, in effect, that there is a policy of something approaching cultural genocide against the ethnic minorities in Burma. Although the convention meeting has only just reopened, despite the alleged desire for a democratic state, reports indicate that the SPDC is determined to put in place a strongly centralised model of government. It wants control of mineral, gem and timber resources as well as education and school curricula. We know that the ethnic groups are against this and they are particularly keen to re-establish the teaching of local languages, which was abolished after 1974. The current proposals also give the regime the right to terminate or relocate villages if it is "in the public interest". This is bound to be a sensitive issue in the ethnic areas, which have already seen large-scale forced relocation, as the noble Baroness argued.
The noble Baronesses, Lady Rawlings and Lady Cox, and the noble Lord, Lord Alton, who I thought spoke very movingly about his personal experiences in Burma, talked about the internal displacement in Burma. There are about 140,000 refugees, mostly from the Karen and the Karenni states, living in camps on the Thai/Burmese border. As many as 1 million live as illegal immigrants in Thailand and many of the illegal migrants are from the Shan state. Approximately 20,000 refugees from Muslim and Rohingya ethnic groups live in camps in Bangladesh and there are 630,000 internally displaced refugees within Burma itself.
In her fifth question, the noble Baroness, Lady Cox, asked about opening all parts of Burma to human rights observers. Although ceasefire negotiations have started between the Karen National Union and the State Peace and Development Council there is no evidence, so far, to suggest that the environment is right for the safe return of Karen refugees. The UNHCR has only recently made a first reconnaissance visit to assess the situation in one part of south-east Burma. It will be making further visits in forthcoming months.
In her third question, the noble Baroness asked specifically about the Thailand, Bangladesh and India angle. We remain of the view that the border areas of Burma remain too unstable to encourage or force the return of refugees. Although Thailand, India and Bangladesh are not signatories to the 1951 refugee convention, they do work closely with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to provide appropriate protection to refugees and to ensure that they are not forced into that position. Obviously, we fully support the work of the UNHCR and the Governments of Thailand, India and Bangladesh in trying their best to protect the Burmese refugees.
In her fifth question, the noble Baroness asked about access. I hope that I have given her the indication that we do not believe that it is yet safe for full access across Burma. The noble Lord, Lord Chan,
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and other noble Lords were also very interested in DfID assistance. The United Kingdom is the largest EU donor of humanitarian assistance. DfID provides humanitarian assistance to help those displaced by funding the Burmese Border Consortium, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and UNHCR. The UK also provides support through the European Commission and for the repatriation and reintegration of refugees.
As I have been able to indicate to noble Lords on a previous occasion, one of DfID's major priorities is supporting the prevention and awareness of HIV/AIDS through a UN-coordinated programme in Burma. I can send details to those of your Lordships who would be interested in that. The matter was not specifically raised in the debate so I shall not dwell on it.
Cross-border programmes are another issue. We are aware that some NGO groups undertake cross-border assistance from Thailand. We have not so far supported those through DfID as we do not have access to the areas where these people live and are not able to monitor what is really going on and evaluate the proper use of funds. However, DfID's policy is to fund only transparent and accountable humanitarian assistance. I am very happy to discuss that further with the noble Baroness if she would find that helpful.
The noble Baroness was quite right to raise the question of religious persecution, as were the noble Lords, Lord Chan and Lord Avebury. Despite a background of general religious tolerance in most areas, there remain instances of restriction on the right to religious freedom. But I assure the noble Lord, Lord Chan, that we have condemned that in successive highly critical UK and EU-sponsored UN resolutions, most recently at the UN Commission on Human Rights on 21 April.
The noble Baroness, Lady Cox, also spoke about child soldiers. Burma is reported to be the world's single largest user of child soldiers, a truly awful record. Most are forcibly recruited in rural areas, and UNICEF estimates that as many as 70,000 child soldiers are currently in the Burmese army. We have sponsored UNGA and UNHCR resolutions on this,
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most recently in January 2004 when the UN Security Council passed a resolution on children affected by the conflict.
The noble Lord, Lord Alton, was quite right in the points that he made about rape. However, I want to turn to the issue of ASEAN. We welcome the ASEAN action calling for the full release of Aung San Suu Kyi and national reconciliation in Burma. We believe that all Burma's regional neighbours have a role to play in this and we will continue to raise our concerns on this with the Burmese authorities.
I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Flather, that the reason we have the trade policy with Burma that we do—I cannot go into detail because time is against me—is that it is the policy that Aung San Suu Kyi, the elected leader of the country, has asked us to pursue. We favour multilateral sanctions wherever possible. We will continue to support multilateral action through the EU's common position. I stress to the noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings, that that is an EU position that has been agreed among us all. We follow that policy, and it is slightly different, of course, from that of the United States of America.
Her Majesty's Government remain committed to helping Burma to achieve national reconciliation. We have repeatedly called on the regime to release immediately Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as well as all political prisoners and to reopen the NLD's offices. We believe that a lasting settlement to Burma's problems can be reached only by all parties working together, and of course Aung San Suu Kyi has a crucial role to play in that.
So together with our partners in Europe we will be closely monitoring the situation, and we will respond proportionately. I stress that point to the noble Baroness, Lady Flather, who I know has very strong views on this. Recognising the public calls by certain Asian countries on the SPDC to make the convention fully inclusive, we hope that all Burma's regional neighbours will follow suit. For the sake of Burma and its people—who have suffered years of oppression and economic decline—we want to ensure that there is a real opportunity for progress and that genuine reconciliation is a goal to which everyone in Burma can look forward.
I thank your Lordships for your participation this evening.
House adjourned at twenty-three minutes past ten o'clock.
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Official Report of the Grand Committee on the
Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
(Fifth Day)
Tuesday, 25 May 2004.The Committee met at half past three of the clock.
[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Lyell) in the Chair.]
Clause 162 [Proceedings for presumption of death order]:
Baroness Crawley moved Amendments Nos. 65C to 65G:
(c) the two people concerned registered as civil partners of each other in England and Wales and it appears to the court to be in the interests of justice to assume jurisdiction in the case."
On Question, amendments agreed to.
Clause 162, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 164 [Applications for declarations as to validity etc.]:
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