Info Sheet On Burma
(Provided by Canadian Friends Of Burma (CFOB) Based On First And Second Burma Forum Reports)
A Glimpse Of Burma:
Located in Southeast Asia, Burma shares borders with China (2185 km), Thailand (1800 km), India (1643 km), Laos (235 km), and Bangladesh (139 km) with a lengthy coastline (1930 km) along both the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
The country’s history is ancient, stretching back millennia, including a succession of three imperial dynasties since 1044 AD (Pagan; Toungoo; and Konbaung). After the culmination of three wars with the British between 1824 and 1885, the country fell completely into the orbit of the British Colonial Empire. Later, facilitated by nationalist movements, Burma achieved independence from Britain in 1948.
Today, with a population of 53 million people living in a territory (678,500 sq km) slightly larger than the province of Alberta, the country is a mosaic of many cultures and ethnicities. While all ethnicities in the national territory are officially Burmese,[1] the Burmans (Bama) constitute more than 60% of the population. Other sizeable ethnic groups include Kachin, Kaya, Karen, Chin, Mon, Rakhine, and Shan. Indian and Chinese descendants further constitute significant portions of the population.
Burma is a land rich in natural resources; it has two-thirds of the world’s teak reserves and significant amounts of petroleum and natural gas. It also has a number of mineral resources including precious stones. More than 70% of Burma’s population live in rural areas,[2] thus the majority of people tend to work in agricultural sectors. Manufacturing and textile industries are also increasingly important parts of the national economy.
Burma's geopolitical position is also significant. It has historically been a gateway and 'buffer' between the two mostpopulated countries in the world - China and India. For China, Burma continues to be strategically important as a point of access to the Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea, both for commercial and military purposes. India, formerly a staunch supporter of democratic reform in Burma, recently adopts a foreign policy that courts and accommodates the Burmese regime, in anxiety over the closer ties between China and Burma.
Upon Independence from Britain in 1948, Burma established a parliamentary democracy. However, democracy was abruptly aborted for all Burmese by a military coup in 1962, which also crushed ethnic minorities' hopes for equality and has led to decades of continuing civil war between the Burmese military and many ethnic groups. In 1974 the junta introduced a one-party socialist system under the Burmese Socialist Programme Party, or BSPP), which lasted until 1988.
In 1988, many thousands of students in Burma led revolts against the dictatorship. This reflected popular sensibilities, as it sparked mass uprisings that quickly spread among all sectors of the population, who proceeded to openly defy the junta and demand democracy. However, the military brutally suppressed these protests, shooting over 10,000 demonstrators to death and arresting thousands more nationwide. More than 20,000 students and dissidents then fled to the borders of neighboring countries, and some turning to armed struggle against the regime as a last resort.
The Burmese junta – then called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and later renamed the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) – saw the potential for greater trouble if they continued ruling without a popular mandate. Thus in 1990, the regime held a multi-party national election to establish their legitimacy, apparently believing they could easily manipulate an electoral victory. But despite the junta’s repression, there was wide-spread voter turnout and the NLD party, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (daughter of Burma’s most revered Independence hero), won the election by a landslide victory, taking 392 of 484 parliamentary seats.
Even in the face of this colossal electoral defeat, the military refused to cede power. And in order to obscure their retention of power from the international community, the military government initiated infamous ‘National Convention’, ostensibly to discuss a new Constitution for the country in its transition to democracy. But the National Convention delegates were simply hand-picked by the military, which retained a dominant role in all discussions in order to perpetuate their leading role in the future of national politics.
Overview On Canada-Burma Relations:
A direct diplomatic relation between Canada and Burma was established in 1958 even though Canada formally recognized Burma as an independent state right after Burma gained Independence from Britain in 1948. Burma has maintained a permanent diplomatic mission in Ottawa except being shutdown for a few years in the early 1980s for financial reasons, whereas Canadian diplomatic portfolio was assigned to Canada’s High Commissioner of Malaysia and Bangladesh, and thereafter reassigned – until now- to Canadian Embassy in Thailand.
Canada-Burma relations fell to a low-point in 1988 during the Burmese government’s brutal suppression of the nation-wide democracy uprising. The Canadian government protested this massacre by withdrawing its bilateral aid worth 15 million dollars each year. In 1997 Canada imposed selective economic sanctions, restricting Canadian exports allowed to Burma, in order to underscore Canada's concern over human rights and the regime's failure to curb illegal drug production and trafficking.[3]
In 2003 the Canadian government further imposed diplomatic sanctions against the regime’s representatives in Ottawa in response to the “Depayin Massacre.”[4] Movements of the Burmese diplomats have been restricted to within 65 km of Ottawa, unless special permission is obtained from Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC).
Further, Canada announced a ban on issuing visas to Burma’s military leaders.[5] Occasionally, Canada expresses its displeasure with the de facto legitimization of the Burmese regime. Various Canadian foreign ministers have from time to time used regional and local diplomatic events as opportunities for protest, voicing disapproval over reported human rights violations in Burma.
Burma: Biggest Exporter of Heroin to Canada
Under the military junta, Burma has become the world’s first and then second largest producer and exporter of heroin, surpassed only by Afghanistan in 2002. Much of that heroin is produced under the 'blind eye' of the Burmese regime, with most of that production arriving in North America via the west coast of Canada.
In fact, 90% of heroin arriving in Canada is reportedly from Burma,[6] and 200 to 300 Canadians die each year in the lower mainland of British Columbia alone as a result. RCMP identified Burma as the primary source of heroin and opium in Canada. The Criminal Intelligence Directorate of RCMP also reports on its website “Canadian annual demand (i.e. 1,000 - 2,000 kg) could generate between US$10 million and US$20 million being returned to that area of the world, particularly Burma.” It also noted that no large-scale importation of heroin originating in Afghanistan has been documented recently in Canada.
Thus, an often overlooked but direct cost of condoning the Burmese military regime is that the Canadian government must annually allocate billions of dollars in taxpayer's money toward rehabilitation and law-enforcement programs to try and combat an endemic narcotics problem that has very specific and identifiable sources – and very specific and tragic consequences for Canadians who succumb to the lure of heroin.
Heroin Seized in Canada and en route to Canada(weights in kilograms)
YEAR / 1995 / 1996 / 1997 / 1998 / 1999 / 2000 / 2001 / 2002 / 2003 / 2004
CANADA / 128 / 83 / 95 / 105 / 88 / 168 / 74 / 33 / 35 / 68
ABROAD / 61 / 80 / 56 / 129 / 54 / 9 / 20 / 13 / 25 / 20
TOTAL / 189 / 163 / 151 / 234 / 142 / 177 / 94 / 46 / 60 / 88
Source: RCMP report – 2004
Trade with Burma:
Trade with Burma is the lowest point in a decade. For example, exports from Burma have been gradually dropping since 2001 and sharply plummeted to a mere $11 million in 2005, about 55% slide from a year before, supposedly resulted from some mild economic measures being taken by Canada.
For example, market disadvantages resulted from the withdrawal of General Preferential Tariff (GPT) and exclusion from Canada's LDCs (Least Developed Countries) Market Access initiative, make Burma goods more expensive and less profitable for Canadian importers, compared to importing from other LDC countries.
Burma exports were valued at $60 million in 2000, $62 million in 2001, $46 million in 2002, $40 million in 2003, and 28 million in 2004, respectively. On the other hand, Canada exports to Burma ebbed to a mere $367, 000 in 2005, a decrease of 78% from 2004. Canadian exports dove to its lowest point with $87,420 in 1999. In 1997, the Canadian government imposed limited economic sanctions on Burma, restricting Canadian exports to Burma. In fact, this represents a rather minimal if not entirely symbolic measure. Even though Canadian exports to Burma are restricted, Burma continues to export goods consist of seafood and textiles.
Investment in Burma:
Although Canada discourages businesses from investing in Burma, scope and scale of Canadian investment in Burma remains constant. Some new businesses even showed interest in doing business. For example, Calgary-based TransCanada Pipelines, along with Calgary-based Sea NG Management Corporation and Kanata-based BMT Fleet Technology, expressed interest to transport gas from Burma to India.[7]
Notably, TransCanada, Canada's largest pipeline firm, assisted in the construction of the Thai portion of the Yadana gas pipeline that carries gas from offshore wells in Burmese waters in the Andaman Sea to a generating station in Ratchaburi in southern Thailand.[8] Vancouver-based CHC Helicopter Corporation provides helicopter service to Western oil companies involved in offshore natural gas production in Burma. Also, Toronto-based Marshall Macklin Monaghan Ltd. (MMM) provided project management and architectural design for the new Mandalay International Airport.[9]
Nortel Networks sold a 2000 line cellular phone system to the SPDC Post and Telecommunications Department (PTD) through Telrad Telecommunications of Israel. Nortel owns 20 percent of Telrad which is also making 70 percent of the switching equipment for Burma's telephone system and has already supplied 35 percent of its 160,000 phone lines.[10] Montreal-based Teleglobe, which provides internet and telecommunication services worldwide, started its operations in Burma at the end of 2005. It is reported that Internet security provided by Hong Kong-based SS8 Networks Inc. and internet filtering system, Fortinet Fortiguard, are built on the infrastructures and services provided by Teleglobe.
In the past some Canadian companies, including Petro-Canada, which spent US$ 22 million for oil exploration in Burma, pulled out of the country, following intense public criticism. Wal-Mart Canada and Sears Canada also stopped importing products from Burma. Yet firms such as Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines and others remain resistant to public pressure, or even requests by the Canadian government for them to sever their Burmese ties. It is clear that voluntary restrict is not simply working.
A holding of 285,900 Ivanhoe Mines shares at the market value of Cnd$32 millions by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is a surprise and offending for everyone who supports Democracy and human rights in Burma, especially for more than 10,000 Burmese residents living in Canada. CPP does not have ethnical investment and free to invest in anywhere at its discretion.
On Oct. 24, 2005, MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis said in the House of Commons: “Canadians are outraged that our money is helping to prop up the brutal Burmese regime. Despite our official government position against doing business in Burma, our CPP Investment Board still pours millions of dollars of our savings into Burma, just as it knowingly invests our money in tobacco deaths and the arms trade.”
Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB), 145 Spruce St. Suite 206,Ottawa, ON K1R 6P1, Tel: 613.237.8056
Fax: 613.563.0017; Email: , Website: http://www.cfob.org
1
[1] We apply the term ‘Burmese’ in its conventional sense to refer collectively to the peoples of Burma, respecting and notwithstanding their ethnic diversity.
[2] Address by Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the SPDC: Nov. 17, 2004 (http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/)
[3]3 “Canada Announces Further Action on Burma,” News Release #130 of DFAIT: August 1997
[4]4 “Depayin Massacre,” also known as “Black Friday,” was the attempt to assassinate Burmese democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi when she was travelling in a convoy which was ambushed in rural Burma by armed thugs in the employ of the junta. www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/may/30/yehey/opinion/20050530opi7.html
5 “Graham Announces further Actions Against Burma,” News Release #98 of DFAIT: July 10, 2003
[5]
[6] Ellie Tesher, “We need to get tough with Burma,” Toronto Star. Toronto. Dec 4, 2001. p.A29
[7] “GAIL forges ahead with CNG option to evacuate Myanmar gas,”Pipeline Asia, March 31, 2006 via Shwe Gas Movement website: http://www.shwe.org/news/newsarchive/2006_03_01_archive.html
[8] Asad Ismi. “Financing Slavery: Canadian Investment in Burma,”, Outfront, Spring 2000, Briarpatch, May 2000, Peace and Environment News, June 2000
[9] Burma Forum Report: Assessment on Canadian Foreign Policy on Burma, Nov. 2004
[10] See Asad Ismi,