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A committee of Britain's upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords, is urging the British government to review its policy of sanctions on Burma, saying the measures have "secured no progress towards democratization or increased respect for human rights."
Britain's Labour government applies a wide range of sanctions against Burma, most of them in line with EU measures. The British policy on Burma discourages trade, investment and tourism and withholds export credit guarantees to British exporters wanting to do business with Burma. But after listening to evidence and views offered by a number of Burma experts and representative of British business and commerce, the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs reached the opinion that the government’s policy was not only failing to bring about change in Burma but was hurting the general population. The British sanctions policy was not targeted specifically at the regime, the committee found—and, as a result, "hits the economy generally and consequently hurts the ordinary Burmese people." The committee concluded that the sanctions against Burma "have secured no progress towards democratization or increased respect for human rights. The government should review current sanctions policy on Burma, to decide whether it is worth continuing." The committee looked at sanctions policies as a whole, concluding that "economic sanctions used in isolation from other policy instruments are extremely unlikely to force a target to make major policy changes. Even when combined effectively with other foreign policy instruments, sanctions usually play a subordinate role." The committee thought sanctions "may even be counterproductive when a target regime responds by increasing its internal control over resources." In the case of Burma, the committee agreed that sanctions "sent a signal of disapproval and show that the UK and EU are determined to apply pressure for change," but found that "there has been no significant move towards greater democracy or increased respect for human rights." While recognizing that Britain and the EU wanted military rule to give way to democracy in Burma, the committee found no expectation "that their current economic sanctions, combined with those of other countries, most notably the US, will bring about that change." The British government, the committee said, seemed to regard its Burma sanctions policy "as the best available option." The government’s view was that it "imposes a relatively low cost on the Burmese people and is better than any of the alternatives." The committee concluded: "We are not persuaded on either count." And it urged the government to undertake "an urgent enquiry" into its Burma sanctions policy, "with a view to deciding whether it is worth continuing with it." Britain's House of Lords is a non-elected assembly with severely restricted powers. Although it is required to review most of the legislation originating in the lower chamber, the House of Commons, it can, at best, only delay the passage of bills.
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