| By TONY BROADMOOR | DECEMBER, 2001 - VOLUME 9 NO.9 |
INGOs inside Burma are trying to keep a humanitarian crisis at bay. But what can they accomplish with such a controlling and corrupt regime still firmly in place? Burma is facing a dire humanitarian crisis and without the proper assistance the situation is going to get worse before it gets better. The nostrum of increasing international aid is decidedly more complex than it initially seems, especially for the International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) already working in Burma. With the secret talks in Rangoon between Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi entering their second year, the answer to the question of increasing aid is still not clear. Roughly thirty International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGO) and a handful of United Nations (UN) agencies currently work inside Burma with the goal of stabilizing the country before total collapse occurs. Burma’s problems, however, run deep. The country has been suffering from forty years of economic mismanagement and institutionalized corruption. Its HIV/AIDS epidemic rivals the nations of Sub-Saharan Africa while the jungle-like conditions found throughout much of the country produce annual malaria and dengue fever outbreaks, killing thousands. The ongoing debate among Burma watchers is whether these groups should be working inside Burma. One argument against providing such aid is that by giving humanitarian assistance to a totalitarian regime, the regime boosts its legitimacy in the international community. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s official position is that aid money should only be provided to assist refugees at camps along Burma’s borders. More recently, however, Suu Kyi has reportedly told some of these organizations working inside Burma that if the aid can be delivered directly to those in need and the regime does not benefit from it, then she would accept it. Suu Kyi has reiterated this position to UN special envoy to Burma Razali Ismail on his last two visits to Rangoon. The INGOs now working in Burma all arrived after the current military regime seized power in 1988, when former dictator Ne Win stepped down from the post he had held since 1962. Before 1988, the Burmese government received almost US $400 million a year in Overseas Development Aid (ODA). But as a result of the military’s refusal to recognize the results of a fair and free democratic election held in 1990, and a long list of egregious human rights violations since, the amount of ODA has fallen to roughly US $50 million while the humanitarian crisis has worsened. The military regime has historically looked at international aid organizations with great suspicion. Since 1988, the government has viewed their presence as a potential threat to its grip on power. They fear the INGOs will act as a conduit to send potentially damaging information out of the country regarding the true situation in Burma. The government also expresses extreme consternation at any autonomous community organization that is beyond its control. "This is a military regime with a military mindset that is extremely sensitive to foreigners talking about their shortcomings," says one Rangoon insider. When it was revealed earlier this year that the regime had entered into reconciliation talks with Suu Kyi in October of 2000, many Burma watchers and citizens of Burma alike were pleased, considering it the best political development to come out of Burma in over a decade. INGOs hoped the reconciliation talks would lead to a more cooperative atmosphere between themselves and the regime. Since the talks began, a number of high-profile organizations have come to Burma to see what exactly has changed. There have been recent visits by the European Union, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), the International Labor Organization (ILO) and other high-level UN bodies. Smaller INGOs from Germany, Britain, and other parts of the world have also visited Rangoon to determine if the time is right to establish a presence. Unfortunately, the talks up to now have made things more difficult for the aid groups already working there. "The talks have actually caused a heightened state of tension amongst those of us working here," remarks one INGO worker in Rangoon. "Every time a report is issued that does not portray them in a positive light, the government storms around seeking accountability for statements found in the reports." Since the talks began, the government has stepped up efforts to control the groups inside Burma. A government official must now accompany INGO workers to their project sites and, most recently, the regime revoked the right to a waived visa fee. INGOs also have noted how difficult it is to import medicines and other necessary supplies. One community development group spoke of a recent four-month wait to get testing kits through customs. The INGO community also hoped that the talks would lead to an increase in aid money, enabling programs to increase in scale. The European Union did recently donate US $5 million for HIV/AIDS assistance. Unfortunately, however, after fourteen months of secret talks, the necessary aid money and cooperation from the government have not been forthcoming. "In an ideal world you would have competent counterparts working in the government that would allow you to take these projects to a larger scale," says one INGO worker. "Unfortunately that is not currently possible here." Representatives from other groups working inside the country continue to describe their relationships with the regime as strained. This rocky relationship is primarily the result of the government’s refusal to publicly recognize any of its problems, including the AIDS epidemic. Instead of the government embracing these organizations, government officials have become increasingly inaccessible. "They [the Burmese government] hate us," one INGO worker says. "The government cannot stand the fact that INGOs are doing positive things here." Another INGO worker from Rangoon expresses a similar sentiment: "The top officials would tell you that this is paradise here and make no mention of the humanitarian crisis." Once inside Burma, the paradisical propaganda is exposed for what it is. The constant rattling of generators, coupled with abject poverty, cannot be hidden, nor can ration lines where people patiently wait for their daily allotment of cooking oil. The INGOs in Burma are more effective than some of their critics outside of Burma appreciate. Supplies and assistance are being delivered to those in need without lining the generals’ pockets. A large number of the INGOs appear to be operating from a no-compromise stance, something people on the outside have been slow to understand. "We have a very high degree of autonomy here that enables us to deliver our aid directly," says one Rangoon-based INGO worker. INGOs in Burma also put together a guidebook for working inside the country called the "Joint Principles of Operation for INGOs in Burma (Myanmar)" (JPO). Roughly half of the groups working inside Burma signed the JPO when it came out two years ago. Numerous INGOs have ways to operate that help them maintain their independence. One is to avoid working directly with the government, or using them as an intermediary for getting supplies out to those in need. Some, although not all groups, have decided not to work with the regime’s Government Organized Non-Governmental Organizations, or GONGOs. Standing up to the regime, however, can have its price. One UN doctor recently refused to give the regime more HIV test kits until they could show some accountability for the last batch. The regime refused this ultimatum and expelled the doctor from the country, sending a message that if you want to play hardball you had better be prepared to pay the price. When INGOs are asked how they respond to outside criticism regarding their presence in Burma, emotions run high. "The fact that they [Burmese people] are living under a military regime is bad enough," says one Rangoon-INGO worker in disgust. "We cannot punish them twice by denying them assistance." "We are trying to keep people alive until the transition to democracy occurs," insists another INGO worker in Rangoon. Not all groups currently working in Burma, however, are ethically carrying out their duties, according to relief officials working in the country as well as along the Thai-Burma border. Japanese INGOs have continually come under fire for the manner in which they deliver their assistance. INGOs in Burma feel that Japan is setting a bad precedent by the way they choose to allocate their aid. Numerous INGO workers also pointed out that none of the Japanese INGOs in Burma endorsed the JPO. "The Japanese donations of cars and money to the regime is dangerous," remarks a Rangoon embassy worker. Preferential treatment for the Japanese has also been mentioned. University Avenue in Rangoon has long been off limits to all non-governmental vehicles due to its close proximity to Aung San Suu Kyi’s home, where she is currently again under house arrest. Vehicles registered to the Japanese embassy, however, are allowed to pass through the roadblocks uninhibited. This is something their colleagues find quite alarming. "Other than the Japanese, INGOs in Burma have done a tremendous job of not allowing the regime to legitimize themselves at their expense," says one Rangoon insider. The Japanese INGOs are not alone, however. UN agencies working in Burma have also been criticized for not properly monitoring their projects and thus leaving themselves open to corruption. A number of Rangoon insiders have also criticized the UN for their recent handling of the dismissed UN doctor. The UN did not come to his defense or appeal to the government to keep him in country. "They just want to keep quiet and collect their astronomical salaries," says veteran Burma analyst Bertil Linter. Another incident that does not bode well for the UN’s reputation was the dismissal of a Chinese Australian national in the mid-1990s. The man was working for the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) in the Wa region of the Shan State. The man was reportedly dismissed for his fluency in Mandarin, which allowed him to communicate directly with the Wa, one of the world’s leading producers of drugs. According to a Burma observer, the regime was worried that he could potentially expose their relationship with the Wa. UN policy also subtly encourages its employees to toe the line by dropping those who are kicked out of their host countries, according to one Burma watcher. The UN’s one-strike-and-you’re-out policy has caused many UN workers to be tight-lipped when it comes to criticizing the regime. "These people are making six to twelve thousand dollars a month," says one Burma-based aid worker. "They don’t want to lose that." The aid problem is complex. An increase in aid money must occur, but most of the groups currently working in Burma are not large enough to absorb additional funding. Therefore more groups are obviously needed, but how to guarantee they can work ethically is another question. An influx of groups with long-term political agendas and no ethical principles to prevent them giving money to the regime when it suits their needs would be detrimental to the groups working there now—groups that the government already sees as difficult. "The learning curve for INGOs declines the later they come into the situation," says one Thai-based relief worker. "When the first INGOs came in they had to do their homework to establish their modus operandi. However, as later INGOs came, things were set up for them and they were politically na๏ve." Meanwhile, Burma’s HIV/AIDS epidemic exceeds Thailand’s current rates of infection, but Burma receives just 1/40 of what Thailand does to combat the problem. In war-ravaged Cambodia this year, international donors allocated US $548 million in economic aid through grants and concessional loans. Burma is currently receiving 1/10 of that. As the deep-pocketed donors begin to line up in hopes of a coming transition to democracy in Burma, groups on the inside are bracing for their arrival. "We are afraid that if groups come in offering the regime aid money, then those of us who have stood up to the regime may be squeezed out by the government," remarks another INGO worker in Rangoon. Money certainly lightens the load and allows for groups to get larger programs underway. But money alone is not the answer to all of Burma’s problems. "The problem is systemic," says a Rangoon-based diplomat. "You can throw a ton of money at it but until the proper institutions are in place, you will only be able to work at the margins." Many Burma watchers agree that more coordination is needed. Until all concerned parties are working on the same page or at least reading the same chapter, the situation inside Burma will continue to snowball out of control.