IRELAND: Prime Minister-in-Exile, Dr Sein Win, talks to Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Ireland's decision to establish diplomatic relations with the military regime in Myanmar/Burma last month came as a major surprise to the Burmese Prime Minister-in-Exile, Dr Sein Win.
Speaking on a visit to Dublin at the weekend, he told The Irish Times he had received no advance notice. He was "very much surprised" but, when asked if it was a good thing or not, he replied: "Well, it's already done, you know. You cannot withdraw, once you recognise."
He hoped the decision on diplomatic recognition would not change "in any way" the policy of Ireland towards Burma. "The Irish Government and people are very committed to helping Burma, assisting Burma, for democracy (and) human rights."
For example, Ireland always co-sponsored progressive resolutions on Burma with other European Union member-states at the United Nations General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Commission. Ireland had also been helpful in other ways, such as providing humanitarian assistance.
The decision to establish diplomatic relations on a non-resident basis with what the Government calls "Myanmar (Burma)" was announced on February 13th by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen. The Irish Ambassador in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is now also accredited to Rangoon. In a letter to this newspaper subsequently, the Minister said Ambassador Mulhall had sounded out Aung San Suu Kyi during a visit to the Burmese capital. "She indicated that she would welcome such a move on the part of Ireland." Dr Win said he had no knowledge of this.
At the time, Aung San Suu Kyi was in between periods of detention. Since then, she has been taken back into custody during a crackdown by the military, and supporters of the Burmese opposition believe it would be appropriate to get her view now, rather than when she was at liberty.
Formerly a British colony, Burma achieved its independence in 1948 but its democratically elected government was overthrown in a military coup in 1962. The country has been ruled, under one guise or another, by a military junta since that time.
In 1990 the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in multi-party elections but the ruling junta refused to hand over power. The main opposition leader and Nobel Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the last 15 years.
Since 1989 the military authorities have promoted "Myanmar" as the conventional name for the state but this decision was not approved by any sitting legislature in Burma. "We don't want to accept the way they changed the name, because once you want to change the name of the country, you have to consult with the people, you have to have some agreement," says Dr Win. "They just changed it, from one day to another."
Other official names were also changed and he sees it as a re-branding exercise by the Junta. "They want to show that everything is new." But in fact many of the generals who took power in 1962 are still there: "They are the same guys."
Dr Win, a teacher of mathematics by profession, has made several visits to Ireland over the past 10 years and been received by both President Robinson and President McAleese. There are about 40 Burmese people living in Ireland.
Dr Win is a first cousin of Aung San Suu Kyi: both their fathers were assassinated by a political opponent in 1947. At the time Sein Win was only four years old.
Burma's multi-party elections were held in May 1990 but by the following July it was obvious that the military did not intend to hand over power to the NLD and was, in fact, arresting its leaders. NLD members of parliament who were still at large decided to form a parallel government.
As head of this parallel administration, Dr Win is based in Washington DC but many of his parliamentary colleagues and ministers are scattered between different locations such as Thailand and India. Aung San Suu Kyi is general secretary of the NLD. "She was put under house arrest before the election, in '89."
In addition to her Nobel Prize, awarded in 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi has been given the freedom of the city of Dublin as well as the prestigious Sakharov Prize and numerous other honours. She underwent major surgery last September and was moved from prison to her house afterwards. Dr Win says he has no contact with her.
In a meeting with the Minister of State for Development Co-operation and Human Rights, Mr Tom Kitt, Dr Win pressed for a strong EU policy on Burma, including restrictions on imports and financial transactions. Mr Kitt "took note" of his representations and gave a commitment to see what could be done at the level of the European presidency.
Burma has Irish friends outside Government circles, such as the Burma Action Ireland organisation and, of course, Bono. The U2 singer recently described Aung San Suu Kyi as "a modern icon of moral courage". Dr Win, in turn, called him a "champion" of human rights in Burma.