The Strange World of Burma’s Home Affairs Minister

By AUNG ZAW

Is Burma’s Home Affairs Minister Maj Gen Maung Oo paranoid, does he really believe the tall stories he tells to his staff—or is he just making them up to scare nervous officials?

The question arises from a reading of the minutes of a confidential meeting addressed by the minister, a fascinating document leaked to The Irrawaddy and which should be studied by any aid agencies hoping to open offices in Burma.

There’s no doubt that his remarks were heavily influenced by Snr Gen Than Shwe’s secret cabinet meetings, which are usually held at night at the defense ministry compound.

He talked at length about international politics and the global balance of power, warning that the US had long-term imperialist ambitions but also calling for Burma to balance its relations with the world’s superpowers because of what he described as the country’s delicate situation.

He maintained that the EU is allied with the US, with Burma as their target. He didn’t mention a recent survey concluding that the EU’s policies on Burma and Darfur had failed.

Despite his attacks on the US and the EU, Maung Oo said Burma had no enemies and had to act according to each circumstance. “Whether a big nation or a small nation, they cannot stand alone,” he said.

Allies of the US, such as Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were encircling China, he said. Burma was China’s route out of this encirclement because of its opening to the sea, he added—while declaring: “We are not pro-China.”

Maung Oo saw the presence of the US Central Intelligence everywhere. From Mongolia to Burma—even in the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta. “They [the CIA] are also inside the country [Burma],” he warned his staff.

The CIA was even behind aid work in Cambodia, he charged, citing Prime Minister Hun Sen. UN and nongovernmental agencies spent relief money on themselves, leaving the Cambodians with rubbish, he charged. The aid agencies were lackeys and followers of the CIA, he declared.

Elaborating on US international policy, Maung Oo said Washington had two cards in its hands—one humanitarian and the other democracy. US criticism of “what happened inside the prisons, to the monks and student activists” was countered by the support Burma received from China, so Washington turned to the UN, he said.

Maung Oo said that when the US failed at the UN to bring down Burma’s government, it resorted to using UN agencies to raise social, health, humanitarian and human security issues.

The minister claimed the US had tried to sow fear of a health and humanitarian disaster after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma in May, while also looking for excuses to infiltrate Burma by using the UN and the “Responsibility to Protect” paradigm as part of an agenda to accuse the regime of “crimes against humanity.”

US requests to allow its ships to deliver aid to the Irrawaddy delta had been denied because government leaders believed the US military would find an excuse not to leave until after the 2010 elections, Maung Oo confirmed.

More importantly, the paranoid minister said, aid workers “brought in much communication equipment without government approval…. People also come to the delta on tourist visas.”

INGOs and UN agencies employed opposition party members, anti-government activists and students to go and work in the delta, he charged.

Maung Oo admitted that the government had tried to prevent aid agencies from entering the delta—“But they came with many excuses to help people. It was just for show and they were just corrupt and stealing (aid money) for themselves over this crisis.”

Aid had not been directed through the government, which hadn’t had a chance to monitor accounts and the expenditures of INGOs, he complained.

“We are feeding over 60,000 people everyday (in the delta) but no one has recognized this so far.” Requests for instant foods, clean water and building materials had either been rejected or ignored by INGOs, Maung Oo charged.

He accused INGOs of trying to build up strongholds in the delta, where large numbers of Karen live, because across the Thai border, in Mae Sot, there were refugee camps operating resettlement program.

Implying that refugees from the delta would be seeking to join the resettlement program, Maung Oo said: “Relying on Karen and Karenni, they [INGOs] are building a cell in the delta.”

In his remarks, the minister also offered the assurance that the police would play a pivotal role in any future anti-government demonstrations in Burma. He said he had visited a shooting range to inspect police equipment, assuring his staffers that the law would be enforced according to “international standards.”

I suggest Maung Oo should enroll in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, which hones true leadership skills according to real “international standards.”