Consulting With Greece on the Burma Policy Review

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000593 SIPDIS AMEMBASSY ANKARA PASS TO AMCONSUL ADANA AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/04/15 TAGS: PREL PGOV BM GR SUBJECT: Consulting With Greece on the Burma Policy Review REF: SECSTATE 33547 CLASSIFIED BY: Paul Carter, Deputy Pol Counselor, DoS, Athens; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) On April 10, pol off delivered reftel points on the subject of the ongoing Burma Policy Review to Dora Giovanni, Counselor in the A10 Division for Asia-Oceania. Giovanni appreciated the information and expressed her concern for the situation in Burma, especially in the area of human rights. She discussed the increasing amount of "spillover" refugees into neighboring countries and the effect it had on illegal trade and possibly increased terrorist activity. She also highlighted forced labor, child armies, and the more than 2000 activists and monks currently being held as political prisoners. ¶2. (C) Giovanni stressed that the U.S. and the E.U. should work closely together with other Asian countries, specifically countries of ASEAN, such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, because as neighbors, they could more easily implement our policies. She was not very hopeful for the future of Burma, however, because she believed it was a fine line between increased communication with the country and giving the illegally installed government legitimacy. She noted some recent small positive steps, such as the recent visit to Burma by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana. Finally, she welcomed the consultation and interest in the issue, and promised to review the Treasury Department's paper "Technical Analysis of Potential Modifications to EU Sanctions Against Burma." SPECKHARD