Myanmar going downhill on all fronts: US
HANOI - Myanmar is going downhill on all fronts, a senior US diplomat said during a visit to Vietnam Monday, urging regional neighbours to pressure the junta running the country formerly called Burma.
The regime in Burma is absolutely refusing to take any positive steps at all, either in response to its own people or to the international community, said US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel. It should be a cause of concern for everybody because the way Burma is going under this regime and its policies is sort of downhill on all fronts, he told a media briefing during a Hanoi stop on a regional tour.
We talk about it mostly in terms of human rights and democracy and thats critically important to us, but its beyond that, he said. The economy is going downhill, the education system is getting ruined. The health care system isnt functioning, ... youre getting more and more cases of resistant strains of tuberculosis and malaria out of Burma. Youve got refugee flows out of Burma. Its just a whole series of problems.
Posted by: Steve White 2008-01-22 |