Modalities for the Humanitarian Assistance to the displaced people in Northern Rakhine State
Modalities
The humanitarian assistance to the displaced people in Northern Rakhine State shall follow the fundamental principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, independence and voluntary.
International and regional donors, including th ASEAN Member States, should communicate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar through the Myanmar Embassies/Consulates in their respective Capitals.
The Government of Myanmar will ensure the effective provision of humanitarian assistance to all inhabitants displaced by terrorist attacks in Rakine State
Nay Pyi Taw September 4
The government of Myanmar has the primary responsibility to ensure that humanitarian assistance is provided to all who have been displaced by the recent terror attacks in Rakhine State. Effective measures are being put in place by the Government to provide humanitarian assistance to all those affected by the terrorist attacks. To implement this, the Government will work together with the Red Cross Movement.
A Coordination Meeting was held today at the Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor.
The Meeting was attended by Union Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor U Kyaw Tint Swe, Union Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Dr. Win Myat Aye, National Security Advisor to the Union Government U Thaung Tun, Deputy Minister U Khin Maung Tin, the Secretary of the Rakhine State government and responsible personnel. Also present at the Meeting were development partner countries represented by Ambassadors of United Kingdom, United States, Denmark and the Charge d’Affairesa.i. of the Australian Embassy, the Charge d’Affairesa.i. of the Delegation of the European Union and the UN Resident Representative, as well as representatives from the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRC).
The Government’s plan to provide humanitarian assistance was intimated at the Meeting. The Meeting discussed how the international community could most effectively support the Government’s efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to all inhabitants of Rakhine State who have been displaced since 25 August 2017 by terrorist attacks.
National Security Adviser's visit to Dhaka
Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, right, meets with U Thaung Tun, Myanmar’s National Security Advisor. Photo: MNA
At the invitation of Mr. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, National Security Advisor to the Union Government of Myanmar U Thaung Tun visited Dhaka, Bangladesh from 2 July to 4 July, 2017. During his stay, he called on H.E. Ms. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, and met with Mr. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr Asaduzzaman Khan, Minister of Home Affairs, Maj.-Gen. (Ret) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Defence and Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, and Lt.-Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy, Commandant of the National Defence College, on separate occasions.
Development in Rakhine State as of 5 July 2017
Rakhine State related matters
- The situation in the Northern Rakhine State has gradually returned to normal.
- However, there emerge on the other hand, new threats of terrorism including terrorist trainings, killing and abduction within the Muslim communities.
- Since 9 February 201 7, curfew in the area was relaxed from 1 1 hours (7 pm- 6 &) to-8 hours (9 am). Area clearance operations conducted by the military and police: also ceased and there remains only police presence for the maintenance of peace and stability.
Speech by H.E. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, at the Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag (Stockholm, 13th June 2017)
The Honourable Speaker,
Members of the Swedish Parliament,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
May I begin by thanking the Honourable Speaker Mr. Urban Ahlin for inviting me to join this traditional seminar for Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, and to address the Swedish Parliament.
Sweden, though very far away from Burma, was one of the first countries that registered in my childhood memory. My mother came here on a visit at the beginning of the nineteen-fifties and brought back with her a tiny Swedish wooden house with a red roof, a wooden horse, and a great appreciation of mother and child care programmes in Sweden, In retrospect, I am amazed that she was able to make me take an interest, albeit is very shaky one, in Sweden’s welfare state activities as I must have been only about 6 years old at that time. A few decades later, when Bjorn Borg became a household name. I had no doubt his prowess owed much to all that good Swedish nutrition and care may mother had spoken of with so much enthusiasm.
“Care” is the concept around which we would like to base our essential services to our people in Myanmar. A state that cares for the basic needs of people through the assurance of basic human rights, the provision of appropriate health and education facilities, and capacity building initiatives aimed at equipping them for the multifarious challenges of our rapidly changing world. We look to our people to join us in our efforts to build a solid foundation for a caring state that will be able to contribute significantly to peace, stability and progress not just in our region but throughout the world.
Since taking office in March 2016, our government’s aim has been to achieve national reconciliation and peace while also striving for sustainable economic development. Myanmar is a very young and yet incomplete democracy, and as we are a land of great diversity, the peace process in which we are engaged is extremely complex and challenging. There is a vital need to build up mutual trust and respect out of the tangled legacy of long-standing conflicts, some of which go back to the day we gained independence nearly 70 years ago. Our goal is a stable, democratic federal union, which will guarantee security, freedom and progress for all our people.
The first meeting of the Union Peace Conference – the 21st Century Panglong was held in August 2016. Three weeks ago, the second meeting of the 21st Century Panglong Union Peace Conference was completed and a Union Peace Accord, covering a number of political, social, economic, environmental and land policy issues, was signed. This we see as a significant step on our path towards peace, national reconciliation, and the emergence of a democratic federal Union. At the same time, we recognize that there is still much left to be done and that, as is usual in efforts to put an end to conflicts that have lasted for decades, it will not be a straight, smooth path to peace.
The nature of our peace process and our efforts towards communal harmony and sustainable development is multidimensional. In a nation long plagued by political, economic and social woes, quick and easy solutions cannot be expected. Each step has to be carefully thought out, each agreement crafted with an awareness of the sensitivities of all who are a necessary part of our endeavours. We need sufficient time and space but, needless to say, we wish to find the speediest way to the best possible conclusion.
The need to bring peace and harmony to the Rakhine is one of our many challenges, multi-faceted in its need for a steady building of tolerance and friendship, for the full protection of rights that only a truly democratic system can guarantee and for sustainable development that will ease the tensions imposed by limited resources.
So long as we are unable to achieve national reconciliation and national unity, we will never be able to establish a sustainable, progressive society. Only peace and stability will enable our people to realize their potential. A Myanmar that is at peace, will be able to stand on an equal footing with other countries across the globe and the energy, faith and effort that our people have put into the achievement of peace and national reconciliation can be a beacon of hope for other countries and peoples who wish to resolve political and social problems through peaceful means rooted in positive values. We have started on the path to a lasting peace through the 21st Century Panglong Conference. Through unity, empathy, solidarity and the Panglong spirit, we will strive to overcome the challenges that we encounter along the way.
Myanmar’s long struggle for democracy and peace has not yet come to an end. When we started out on the journey nearly thirty years ago, we did not imagine it would be an easy one. But we never doubted that it was necessary endeavor, necessary for the many peoples of our country. The journey continues, as we seek to forge unity out of diversity, to weave the strands of different ethnicities, communities and aspirations into a vibrant tapestry of beauty and durability. Threading through all these endeavours is the vital need to align our Constitution and other laws with acceptable norms of democratic governance, never losing sight of our final goal: a true democratic Federal Union.
I have always considered that the Nobel Prize awarded to me as a recognition of the passionate longing of the people of Burma for peace: peace born of freedom from fear, peace born of national harmony and reconciliation, a deep peace that will be kneaded into the very soil of our beloved land as a lasting legacy for future generations.
During the long years of our quest for democracy, I have often been asked: “how soon will we get democracy?” My standard answer was: “ask yourself how much you are doing to reach our goal. The more you are doing, the quicker we will get there.” It is interesting that those who were deeply committed to, and actively involved in the movement for democracy seldom, if ever, asked such a question. Now too, when I am asked when we will achieve peace, I answer: “ask yourself how much you are doing to win peace and you will receive the answer to your question.” I am happy to say that not many of our people ask this question. They ask more often: “What can we do to help bring peace and harmony to our country?” To those who pose such a question I am profoundly grateful. Their faith in our ability to achieve peace in our time is our strength. It is a promise that together we will be able to make our dream of a nation safe for all our peoples a reality.
And when peace comes to our land, I hope that our friends from all over the world who have stood by us in our times of adversity will celebrate our triumph as though it were their very own. Thank you.
