22 Bangladesh, Burma and the Rohingya crisis DFID’s role 40. DFID reported its support for the Peace Process as, in total, £50.5 million between 2017 and 2022, comprising: • Joint Peace Fund (11 donors) with UK funding via the CSSF, managed by DFID (£5 million as of March 2018) • Paung Sie Facility (PSF) (3 donors) funding managed by DFID (£10.8 million as of March 2018) • InterMediate (UK INGO) funded via the CSSF, managed by FCO (£1.9 million since 2015 to date) Prospects for peace 41. Minister Burt’s position appeared to be that any process was better than no process. He told us: if people are not fighting, and if people are still talking, I reckon the programme is working.”65 And: “Nothing is acceptable about violence, but nor is it acceptable, if there is a chance of preventing it, or a chance of finding an answer, to walk away, so we will continue to support the processes so long as there is an opportunity for success.”66 Hkanhpa Tu Sadan, Kachin Relief Fund, argued that there was no chance of finding an answer within the current process. He said: “when I was learning about the Northern Ireland peace process, the British Government, the IRA and everyone recognised that nobody was going to win the war. At the moment, the Burmese military still think they win the war. That is the key point here.”67 42. Richard Montgomery, DFID Director, pointed out that there were groups that were invested in the peace process and parts of Burma that were less violent than others. He said what was needed were some dividends, some incentives, from the Burmese government and the military, as well as from the ethnic groups. He suggested a political settlement could come later. He cautioned us: Investing in the peace process may not have tangible outcomes like a vaccination programme, but it is probably a more important piece of work for the UK Government to be pump‑priming than many others that you could see across the world.68 Hkanhpa Tu Sadan said that DFID should understand that, while the Burma military and its government were seen as pursuing peace and national reconciliation, at the same time they were laying the foundations for even more complicated conflicts that could take many more decades to resolve. He said: “the current approach to peace is not working and we urge DFID to stop peace funding, such as Joint Peace Fund, review its policy and initiate more meaningful initiatives for peace and justice.”69 65 66 67 68 69 Q257 Q259 Q167 Q262 Kachin Relief Fund (DBB021)