» 01/21/2012 11:55 MYANMAR Burmese Church: trust and time, the conditions for peace between government and Kachin In recent days, representatives of ethnic minority and government officials met in China. New talks on the horizon for a durable ceasefire. Bishop of Bhamo: trust is a prerequisite. Head of Caritas: time for the displaced people to return to their homes.
Yangon (AsiaNews) - Mutual trust between the two fronts and time are the "prerequisite" for a permanent ceasefire between the Burmese army and the Kachin rebel troops, from the Kachin state in northern Myanmar. The representatives of the central government and a delegation of ethnic minority, after a two days of meetings across the border in China, have agreed to "further negotiations" in the near future to put an end to a bloody war and conclude a lasting peace.
The president, in the his interview with a foreign newspaper, spoke of relations between Naypyidaw and Burma’s ethnic groups: in the long article published yesterday in The Washington Post, Thein Sein stresses the need to build a relationship of "trust" between the two fronts who must lay down their arms at the same time. He also ensures that the government has initiated a policy of "dialogue with all the 11 armed groups in our country" and, if even if the issue "is not yet fully resolved, we will continue negotiations."
The need for "trust" was also invoked by a Kachin prelate, who adds that it is the "prerequisite" to continue talks and reach a peace agreement in the near future. Archbishop Raymond Sumlut Gam, bishop of Bhamo, a town located along the Irrawaddy River, commented on the recent meeting between government representatives and Kio leaders - the Kachin Independence Organization - in China. He hopes that these events will lead to "positive results", although "I can not say exactly how far those involved [in the dialogue] can reach a peace agreement." Or, he adds, "establish mutual trust" between the parties.
Doubts and uncertainties emerge also from the comments of Fr Paul Aung Dang, director of Banmaw Karuna social services, the local Caritas: "Although the peace negotiations may in time produce results - he explains - it will take a longer time for refugees to return to their homes." The priest also states that the conflict between the government and the Kachin army - the Kia, the Kachin Independence Army - is not just a local problem and that "we must pray for all those who had to suffer the violence, even in the past." "The Kachin’s war – he concludes - is a problem for all of Burma."
Since independence in 1948, Myanmar has seen violent clashes - if not actual civil war - between the regular army and ethnic minority militias in various parts of the country. In particular, since June, the Kachin State has been the theatre of a bitter dispute that has caused hundreds of thousands of displaced as well as dozens of civilian and military casualties. A presidential decree in December marked the end of military operations, but the order issued by Thein Sein has not been enough to restore calm. In addition, the end of armed fighting with minorities and violations of the rights of minorities are among the conditions imposed by the Western bloc - the United States and European Union – for the removal of the economic and trade sanctions in force for some time.
