Ethnic leaders have said that Burma can become a federal union in the future and that areas controlled by ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) will remain as part of the union and will not break away.
The promise was made in a conference statement on 6 May at the end of the ethnic armed groups’ leaders conference held in Pansang Town, Eastern Shan State, at the headquarters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) headquarters from 1 to 6 May.
The statement also said that to build a federal union: democracy has to be fully guaranteed, there must be equality of nationalities, they must have the right to self-determination and the 2008 constitution has to be amended.
The statement said the government must stop all offensives against EAOs because they prevent the building of trust between both sides as they go forward with the peace building process.
Also it called for peacekeepers from the UN and China to monitor and moderate the process and to ensure that fighting does not recommence.
In total 65 representatives from 12 ethnic armed groups attended the ethnic armed groups’ leaders conference.
Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI
