I certainly hope Amnesty's "dialogue" with the junta will be more productive for them than for Aung San Suu Kyi, whose best efforts to make progress meet the resistance of one of the world's most despotic regimes.
Commissioner [Chris] Patten, speaking at the EU-Asean ministerial meeting in Brussels last week, said, in response to the Burmese minister who was present, "the Burmese minister described Burma's march towards democracy which, I have to say, is a march most of us have not yet detected". Indeed, my own application for a visa two weeks ago, to meet Suu Kyi, was not granted.
It would be complete nonsense to assume anything has changed in Burma. Child labour and forced labour continue, and the levels of repression are as high as ever. The Burmese people are becoming poorer and HIV/Aids is spreading at an alarming rate. The harassment of Suu Kyi when she travels around the country is clear proof, if we need it, of the regime's unwillingness to make progress towards democracy or to respond to the human rights concerns raised by the international community.
Glenys Kinnock MEP
Lab, Wales
