Bangladesh, Burma and the Rohingya crisis 23 A political settlement 43. Hkanhpa Tu Sadan said: “Burma’s problem is a political issue and there is no clear path to finding a solution for the political grievance.” David Baulk agreed: “many of the longstanding demands of ethnic populations, be they Kachin, Ta’ang or Rakhine, have not been met by the Government of Myanmar, and that is a fundamental root cause of many of the conflicts in the country today.”70 “The Myanmar military, is unwilling to listening to the grievances of ethnic nationality populations and amend the constitution of the country and the fundamental structures that discriminate against ethnic nationality populations. If that does not change, we can expect those conflicts to continue for a very long time to come.”71 44. DFID’s 2004–09 country assistance plan stated: these ceasefires do not address the underlying issues of equity and distribution of power, and a comprehensive political solution is still needed.72 On balance, it appears to us that this position has not changed. 45. We believe there may be a fundamental problem with the peace process that the UK is supporting. The problem is that one side is unlikely to be sincerely engaged and probably has a completely different agenda. We think it highly likely that the process is just window-dressing for the Burmese Army. 46. We recommend that DFID commission and conduct an independent review of the peace process, evaluating its prospects for progress. There should be robust benchmarks set which, if not met, mean that the programme is suspended. IDPs and refugees Box 2: IDPs in Burma Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are described by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as “individuals or groups of people who have been forced to flee their homes to escape armed conflict, generalized violence and human rights abuses.” In Burma’s case, conflict is not the only factor in displacement. The UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement framework highlights that displacement can also be caused by large-scale development projects, and in Burma state-sponsored natural resource extraction and major infrastructure construction have displaced, and continue to displace, communities and destroy the local environment. Displacement is also caused by inappropriate state policies that drive people from their homes, such as forced labour; lack of food due to limited productive land and poor access to markets; and a dearth of basic social services such as schools and clinics. Source: DFID assistance to Burmese internally displaced people and refugees on the Thai-Burma border, Tenth Report, 2006–07, HC 645 70 71 72 Q149 Q159 DFID Burma Country Assistance Plan 2004