Suu Kyi warns ethnic armed groups not to take advantage but solve internal strife

Suu Kyi warns ethnic armed groups not to take advantage but solve internal strife
Aung San Suu Kyi delivered an opening speech at JICM meeting held at NRPC office in Nay Pyi Taw on January 8
Aung San Suu Kyi delivered an opening speech at JICM meeting held at NRPC office in Nay Pyi Taw on January 8
Published 9 January 2020
Nay Yine, Aung Min Thein & Zeya Tun

Taking advantage by means of stronger armed forces or playing with the fancy of finding other new solutions will never bring solutions to the problems of the country, warned State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to the ethnic armed groups, which haven’t signed the NCA yet, in an opening speech delivered at the 8th Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting on Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement held at the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC) in Nay Pyi Taw on January 8. 

“I believe that we have learned a salutary lesson that it is through the dialogues that are the one and only practical and efficient means, that the armed conflicts stretching out for over seventy years can be put to an end. Concerning the case of having more armed conflicts, we would like to remind you of the fact that taking advantage by means of stronger armed forces or playing with the fancy of finding other new solutions will never bring solutions to the problems of our country,” said Aung San Suu Kyi.

“We discuss the action plans that will be implemented not only during the life span of the present government but also during that of the future government, there still remains some non-ceasefire ethnic groups and non-signatories of the NCA. Our NRPC and the Peace Commission have been making every effort to get in contact with these groups for the sake of making the ceasefire agreement and being inclusive in the NCA. All ethnic armed groups are always welcome to come under the Umbrella of the NCA for collective discussions, and if necessary, the door is open for you to have separate discussions as a single group, as already clearly stated in the NCA,” she said.

“Our people, our national races have suffered the brunt of the over seventy years of armed conflicts, and our innocent children have been going through the never-ending cycles of suffering. These sufferings are living proof of the bad outcomes of armed conflicts. The armed conflicts have affected our innocent people and their villages. The war victims have to live in miserable conditions in the refugee camps. These are the visible bad results. But there are also bad impacts that we cannot see. That is, the fact that the future of the local ethnic groups who happen to be living in the conflict areas has faded out and disappeared. In the short term, you will be drifted along in the armed conflicts, driven by your swollen pride, hatred and prejudices. But in the long run, what has been sacrificed behind the scene of smoke and gunfire is the lives of our national races, the regions where they had been settled. This we will not fail to witness, in the long run,” She continued.

She added building the democratic federal Union is the exit path of this country that the seventy-year-old history of Myanmar has prescribed for the people.

“It is necessary to sit at the political roundtable discussions, speaking out your desires and needs and joining in our discussions. It is for this opportunity that the Door of Peace is open to all. I’d strongly urge you all to come through the Door of Peace in dignity and with full confidence,” said the State Counsellor.