A CONVERSATION WITH BURMA'S SOCIAL WELFARE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 000041

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP AND IO; PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2019
TAGS: PREL EAID PGOV PHUM PINR BM
SUBJECT: A CONVERSATION WITH BURMA'S SOCIAL WELFARE
MINISTER: CYCLONE RECOVERY AND POLITICS

Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Larry Dinger for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)

Summary
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1. (C) In an hour and twenty minute meeting with Charge
Dinger on Jan. 19, Burma's Minister of Social Welfare, Major
General Maung Maung Swe, thanked the USG for post-Cyclone
Nargis assistance and laid out a laundry list of continuing
needs, mostly to help reconstruct schools, roads, and the
Irrawaddy Delta economy. The Charge noted that the Burmese
regime's suppression of democracy elements makes assistance
difficult. When he urged a political opening, the Minister
suggested Westerners simply don't understand Burma's need for
a firm hand to maintain unity. The Minister complimented the
Tripartite Core Group (TCG). Asked about the regime's plans
for elections in 2010, the Minister suggested "free and fair"
elections would be part of a transition to democracy. The
Charge made clear that, to the U.S., "free and fair" has real
meaning. Asked about trafficking in persons, Maung Maung Swe
said his Ministry handles only repatriation and
re-integration issues, mostly in cases from China and
Thailand. We comment that post-cyclone assistance seems to
have caused the Minister to understand the value of foreign
assistance to Burma. He is well-connected politically and
willingly exchanged views, though his perspective reflects
the Burma regime's emphasis on "discipline" in any discussion
of "democracy." End summary.


2. (U) The Charge met with Burma's Minister of Social
Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement Major General Maung Maung
Swe on Monday, Jan. 19, at Charge's request. A USAID Office
of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) officer on long-term
TDY in Rangoon, Stacey Ballou, and an OFDA Washington
officer, Ward Miller, also attended. Since the Minister has
had a lead role in post-Cyclone Nargis relief, such issues
dominated the discussion.

Post-Nargis needs: a GOB laundry list
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3. (U) The Charge began the meeting by briefing on the
USG's contribution of some $70 million in cyclone relief,
with $5 million more in the pipeline. He noted that any
post-cyclone assistance beyond that amount would require
decisions by the new Obama Administration. The Minister then
talked at length about the GOB's post-cyclone development
priorities in the Irrawaddy Delta. He thanked the U.S. for
its contributions to date, which he said have helped ensure
that people have food, shelter, and medicine. Now, in
accordance with the PONREPP report on post-cyclone needs for
the next three years, the GOB requests international
assistance with:

-- education: build/reconstruct at least 600 schools, with a
special need for water and sanitation for school buildings.

-- livelihoods: assist agriculture, fisheries, and the salt
industry. Since the Delta is the country,s rice bowl,
improved food security there could support the rest of Burma
plus regional and global requirements. Farmers still use
traditional methods. They need upgraded skills and
mechanization to increase productivity. Tillers, tractors,
fertilizer, and quality seeds are priorities. Fishermen also
need improved technology. Electricity is a real constraint,
which hampers people's capacity to store and process fish for
markets. Salt production is a vital industry that supplies a
region broader than Burma. It needs further, unspecified
support.

-- transport and communications: the GOB plans to construct
five new, high-gauge roads through the Delta. Given the
topography, many bridges must be constructed.

-- disaster preparedness: an early-warning system (EWS) and
cyclone shelters need to be constructed. The GOB can only
afford to build 18 shelters; many more are needed. The

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Minister observed how a U.S. EWS helped save lives during
Hurricane Katrina. Burma aspires to build a better capacity
to warn people when necessary. (Note: GOB estimates the
costs of shelter construction as follows: 300 person
shelter--USD 575,000; 500 person shelter--USD 725,000; 1,000
person shelter--USD 994,000. End note.)

U.S. interests and the importance of politics and human rights
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4. (SBU) The Charge noted that OFDA has a very specific
mandate for early response to disasters. Even USAID, with a
broader development mandate, does not engage in major
construction projects. The U.S. does have strengths though,
including in education, health, micro-finance, and capacity
building, which can be tapped for longer-term humanitarian or
development goals. However, the Charge noted, Burma's
political situation and its human-rights abuses make it
difficult for the U.S. and other donors to contribute
development aid. The world, including the U.S., notices
continuing arrests and long sentences for those engaged in
peaceful dissent. The Charge urged the Minister to encourage
the regime to open its system, release political prisoners,
and engage in genuine dialogue with its political opponents.
The Minister suggested that Westerners simply do not
understand Burma's history, implying that a firm hand is
necessary to keep the diverse nation united and to further
economicdevelopment.

The TCG: useful mechanism; GOB wants it to eschew "politics"
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5. (SBU) The Charge asked the Minister's view of the
Tripartite Core Group (TCG),a joint GOB, UN, and ASEAN
mechanism that has coordinated details of international
post-cyclone assistance to the Delta. The Minister said the
TCG has been "a model for disaster response" and could
usefully continue. The Charge noted the USG agrees with that
assessment. The Minister added that for the coming
rehabilitation and reconstruction phase, the TCG needs to
focus on humanitarian, not political issues, on community
development of the people in the Delta, not on politics. The
Charge reiterated that, no matter how much the Burmese
government wishes otherwise, suppression of democratic
elements and abuses of human rights inevitably factor into
international decision-making about assistance, especially
when assistance moves beyond immediate "relief of suffering"
to long-term development perspectives.

2010 elections: what "free and fair" means
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6. (SBU) When the Charge noted rumors that some Ministers
will change from uniforms to suits and run in the regime's
2010 elections and asked if the Minister might be one of
them, the response was a genuine, lengthy chuckle. The
Minister said he had "no comment" about his own future. He
suggested, though, that the 2010 elections are to be a
further step in the regime's transition to democracy. The
Charge noted the Burmese Foreign Minister's pledge at the
UNGA last September that the elections will be "free and
fair." To the U.S. and others, "free and fair" means all
who wish to compete can do so, including those who are now
political prisoners, that they can make their political
points without fear of reprisal, that procedures are
transparent, and that all respect the results. The Minister
responded: "Well in our system prisoners can already vote."
The Charge stressed that political prisoners need to be able
to be free and to participate without fear, including as
candidates, not just vote from inside the prison. The West
has standards for "free and fair" elections and would be
observing events in Burma closely.

Trafficking in persons
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7. (U) The Charge inquired about GOB efforts to combat the

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trafficking in persons, an important priority for the U.S.,
and surely a concern for Burma as well. The Minister said
the Social Welfare Ministry only handles repatriation and
re-integration issues, especially focusing on returnees from
China and Thailand. The Ministry of Home Affairs deals with
efforts to combat trafficking itself. Asked what
specifically the Social Welfare Ministry does to assist
returnees, the Minister spoke in general terms about aiding
such people to reintegrate into society.

Comment
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8. (C) Diplomats who have been in Rangoon since before the
cyclone say Minister Maung Maung Swe has changed his views of
international donors dramatically, having had opportunity
post-Nargis to observe how much the outside world can help if
welcomed in the country. He clearly aspires for considerable
amounts of donor assistance to "reconstruct" the Delta's
infrastructure and rebuild its livelihoods. Maung Maung Swe
is very well connected politically as a brother-in-law of
Vice Senior General Maung Aye. When the conversation turned
to politics, he was willing to compare views. However, his
suggestion that prisoner voting rights should take care of
any concerns about human-rights aspects of the 2010 elections
is mind-boggling. The Minister understands English well and
most likely speaks it well, too; but in the meeting he spoke
in Burmese through an interpreter.
DINGER