Authorities and ethnic groups in Myanmar kicked off a historic meet on Wednesday with 1,800 participants including representatives from the government, army, guerrilla groups and worldwide observers, EFE news reported.
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Myanmar has a unique opportunity to end decades of ethnic rebellion in various parts of the country, leader Ms Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday, as she promised that her government would guarantee rebel groups equal rights and respect in the historic peace talks that her government organised.
Attendees observe during the 21st Century Panglong Conference in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, 31 August 2016.
Ban will also meet President Htin Kyaw, General Ming Aung Hlaing, commander in chief of Myanmar’s armed forces, and other political and civil society representatives.
But the online journal The Irrawaddy reported on Monday that the Myanmar military has made a decision to bar the three groups from attending, though they had expressed a readiness to participate, according to Zaw Htay, deputy director-general of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s office.
Resolving the country’s violence has been a goal of state chancellor Aung San Suu Kyi since her National League for Democracy party won a parliamentary majority previous year.
Kyaw, who is on his first state visit to a foreign country after assumption of office in March 2016, would be holding official discussions on Monday during which some agreements would be signed, she said.
“Greater bilateral cooperation between India and [Burma] is required to promote inclusive growth and development and to contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in both countries and in the region as a whole”, U Htin Kyaw said.
Greater autonomy is the main demand of almost all ethnic minorities in the country, including the Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kokang, Kayah, Mon, Rakain and the Shan communities, who together represent over 30 per cent of the country’s population.
The 1947 deal granted ethnic minorities autonomy and the right to secede if they worked with the federal government to break away from Britain together.
The 21st Century Panglong Conference is an attempt to end multiple rebel insurgencies that have been waged in Myanmar since the country’s independence in 1948.
A sea of colour filled the vast conference hall in the capital Naypyidaw as delegations from Myanmar’s myriad ethnic groups mingled with stony-faced military officers decked out in full regalia.
The rebel armies control a patchwork of remote territories rich in jade and timber that are located mostly in the north and east along the borders with China and Thailand.
The former military-backed government had reached truces with some groups, but has never managed to secure a nationwide deal.
The meeting comes nearly 70 years after Ms Suu Kyi’s father, independence hero Aung San, signed a landmark agreement to devolve powers to some ethnic groups after independence.
Myanmar is home to more than 100 ethnic groups and many minorities harbour deep seated historical suspicions of the Bamar majority group – which includes Suu Kyi – complaining that they have endured decades of discrimination.
But opening the five-day talks, Aung San Suu Kyi said unity was essential for Myanmar’s future.
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Aung San was assassinated the following year and the deal fell apart. “Still no result”, said Khu Oo Reh, who represents an umbrella organization of some of the most powerful ethnic groups.
