Eoin Ryan
Question:47 Mr. E. Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if the issue of human rights and democracy in Burma will be on the agenda for the EU/ASEAN ministerial meeting in February 1997. [2689/97]
Written Answers. - Human Rights in Burma.
I can assure the Deputy that the situation in Burma will be raised in the course of the EU/ASEAN ministerial meeting in Singapore in February 1997.
The Government and the European Union remain gravely concerned at the continuing deterioration of the political and human rights situation in Burma.
The Deputy will be aware that during the Irish Presidency of the European Union I had two meetings with the Burmese Foreign Minister, Mr. Ohn Gyaw; one as President of the Council in Jakarta on 22 July 1996, the other when I led the EU ministerial Troika in New York on 26 September. As I informed the House in the course of the Adjournment debate on 10 October 1996, these meetings gave me the opportunity to underline the serious concerns of the European Union in relation to the deterioration of political and human rights in Burma and the unwarranted restriction on fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, movement and association. The meetings also enabled me to urge the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to release unconditionally all political prisoners in Burma; to enter into meaningful dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and to bring about national reconciliation and democratic reform which would respect the aspirations of the Burmese people as expressed in the elections of May 1990.