National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma

Press Release (January 17, 2007)

Regional Countries Urged To Help Resolve Burma Issues Urgently

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) is grateful to all nations that have voted in favor of a resolution by the United Nations Security Council which would have helped resolve the exacerbating political, socioeconomic, health, and narcotic problems in Burma.

The efforts to pass the resolution at the United Nations Security Council on 12 January regrettably failed because some nations chose to focus on the technicality of whether Burma's problems should be handled by the UN Security Council rather than on the intrinsic objective of the resolution which was in line with the fundamentals of the founding of the United Nations -- to resolve problems peacefully in Burma.

A UN Security Council resolution under "The Responsibility to Protect" could have delivered practical protection for the people in Burma, particularly the ethnic nationalities, many of whom continue to be victimized by those in power.  The vetoes in this instance in the United Nations Security Council, even if unintended, unfortunately provide the Burmese generals to continue persecuting pro-democracy elements, violating human rights, rejecting calls by the United Nations to investigate into the Depayin massacre and rapes, and even refusing to cooperate in earnest with the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy.

The NCGUB is, however, heartened by the fact that all UN Security Council members unanimously agreed that there are problems that need to be resolved in Burma.  Regional countries, including China, emphasized on the need for the Burmese generals to heed the "many recommendations" of ASEAN and the international community "to improve the situation in the country" and "listen to the call of its own people and speed up the process of dialogue and reform".

Based on the speeches at the UN Security Council, the people of Burma are of the view that the international community, particularly ASEAN and China, will effectively join the efforts by the United Nations to urgently find a resolution to Burma's problems.