DEMARCHE TO LAOS: SHAPING POST-CYCLONE ASSISTANCE

UNCLAS VIENTIANE 000385 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS (COPE) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: BM EAID LA PREL SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO LAOS: SHAPING POST-CYCLONE ASSISTANCE IN BURMA REF: STATE 68527 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The DCM delivered reftel demarche on July ¶2. In response, an official at the foreign ministry's Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Department noted that many of the principles set forth in the demarche were consistent with the conclusions of the UN-ASEAN-Burmese Tripartite Core Group. He refrained from any comments on political issues in Burma, noting that such issues are discussed regularly by ASEAN at the Foreign Minister level. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) The DCM delivered reftel demarche to Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director General for ASEAN Songkane Luangmuninthone on July 2. She underscored the importance of international unity in positively influencing the Burmese regime's handling of relief efforts and emphasized that humanitarian assistance must not reinforce or perpetuate the Burmese regime's human rights abuses and economic mismanagement. The DCM provided an update on U.S. humanitarian assistance to Burma. ¶3. (SBU) DDG Songkane agreed that UN/NGO coordination of the relief efforts is important. He stressed, however, that the assistance to Burma should be "a humanitarian, and not a political issue." When the DCM pointed to the fact that many underlying problems in Burma, including the regime's poor response to the cyclone, are political, DDG Songkane said that political issues in Burma are regularly discussed within ASEAN at the Foreign Minister level. He noted that Laos had sent the first medical team to the cyclone-affected areas in May. At present, Laos is contributing relief supplies and money to Burma in coordination with China. There are no Lao relief workers in Burma at this time. ¶4. (SBU) DDG Songkane said that Phongsavanh Sisoulath, the other DDG in the ASEAN department, had attended the preliminary briefing by the Tripartite Core Group assessment team. He noted that a number of principles set out in the demarche, including the importance of community-based recovery efforts and the need to ensure that assistance reaches ethnic minorities and other vulnerable groups, were shared by the Tripartite Core Group. MCGEEHAN