Government departments approaching diplomats and aid agencies in the Southeast Asian nation can not be sure of their treatment, as foreign embassies were received very differently according to their standing.
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Burma’s Foreign Ministry No Plum Posting
By WAI MOE
Within the first 100 days of Wunna Maung Lwin's reign as foreign minister, the ministry had to endure the indignity of a defection. In late June, Kyaw Win, Burma’s deputy chief of mission to Washington, sought political asylum in the US, saying there is no change in Burma under President Thein Sein’s new administration.
MoFA sources speculate that at the heart of Kyaw Win's defection was a ministry order that adult children of Burmese embassy personnel cannot live abroad. The new regulation made an exception for ambassadors, and the decision angered many MoFA staffers.
As within other government departments, sources say, the pervasive misuse of favoritism and frequent employment of double standards has divided colleagues, and causes friction between civilian officials and former military officers.
Cases of corruption and bribery have arisen at the ministry, sources say. Both current and former staffers have complained aloud that they are personally expected to pay about 2 million kyat [US $2,500] to the ministry’s administration department in order to secure a posting abroad, especially in Western countries.
MoFA has traditionally exercised a practice that embassy staffers abroad would take turns at what became known as “plum and lime postings,” meaning shifts between developed countries and Third World postings. However, those with close connections to senior officials in Naypyidaw are reportedly in a position to choose only the “plum postings” if they wish.
A prime example is Aye Aye Myat, a sister of Zaw Phyo Win, the son-in-law of former junta supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe. Despite MoFA regulations that set a three-year limit for staff in any one country, Aye Aye Myat has been enjoying employment as an embassy attaché in London, and the lifestyle that goes with it since 2006. And she recently extended her contract in the UK.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity, several MoFA sources complained that nepotism is still rife within the ministry, with family members of senior generals reaping the fruits of diplomatic postings. Examples given included the acquisition by Than Shwe's daughters of luxury apartments in China and Singapore—properties that were originally purchased by the state intended as accommodations for overseas staffers.
In November 2009, there was a significant reshuffle at the MoFA following news that a secret military delegation, led by Gen Shwe Mann, went to North Korea in 2008. After news of the visit leaked to exiled media, 65 senior staffers at the MoFA were reshuffled, demoted or sacked. In early 2010, a clerk with the MoFA, Thura Kyaw, was accused of leaking the relevant documents and sentenced to death. His colleague, Pyan Sein, received a 15-year sentence.
“People would think working at the MoFA is a great job, and that one gets the chance to work and travel abroad,” said a former officer at the ministry. “But the really is not like that.
He said that under Wunna Maung Lwin's administration, the remaining civilian officials are looked down on by those from military backgrounds. He said the civilian staffers had been accused of being “traitors” and told they could not be trusted.
“They always boast that 'the greens are needed,'” he said.
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