Mon leaders are divided on the issue of sanctions lifting that has been imposed by the west.

There are two main Mon political parties in Mon State: the All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMDP), a non-violent political party with positions in the new Burmese parliament and the New Mon State Party (NMSP) which believes in an armed fight for freedom.

“Because of the west sanction, many garment industries in Rangoon were shut down and thousands of Mon people from Mon State were forced to work in Thailand, in slave-like conditions,” said the AMDP chairman.

Nai Ngwe Thein (AMDP) and four other political ethnic parties and Burma’s pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, met with a delegation of the European Union in Rangoon on March 15th to discuss lifting of the economic sanctions on Burma.

According to the statement, entitled “An Ethnic Perspective on Myanmar Democratic Transition and Sanction,” that the AMDP gave to the EU delegation in Rangoon, the AMDP requested the lifting of all economic sanctions by EU countries in order to spur a democratic transition within the country and lessen the economic desperation of the people in Burma.

The AMDP statement expresses the need for economic development and prosperity in order for civil society groups to form and pave the way for democratization, “ As part of the country’s democratization process in pursuing society change, we utterly need soft powers for State building. Technology and know-how, human resources, management, good governance, information and knowledge about markets, business, banking, institutions, etc.. and experiences about economic and political reform are sort of soft powers we need absolutely.”

On the other hand, Nai Tala Nyi, an executive committee member of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) said, “Our party does not agree that the people have suffered because of the sanctions.”

“Our country has a lot of natural resources. But, the people are still poor because the regime has mismanaged the economy,” he said.

The NMSP leaders said that they do not support the lifting of the sanctions as there is no political change in the country and the military still leads the new government and still hasn’t released over 2,000 political prisoners.

Agreeing with the NMSP leaders, Nai Sun Thorn, the chairman of the Mon Unity League (MUL), based in Thailand, said, “Sanctions have only affected people in Rangoon [Burma’s former capital]. Our Mon people have not suffered from it.”

“Our people have suffered from the fighting [between the Burmese army and the Mon groups]. If there is more fighting, the people will suffer more,” he said.

Burma has experienced a long civil war between the ethnic armed groups and the military regime while the regime has refused to have real political talks for many years. NMSP leaders state that sanctions are not the main issues in Burma. Instead it’s political issues which need to be solved, especially in terms of the ethnic conflict in the country and subsequent instability and lack of development.

The issue of stability was further impressed upon by Nai Sun Thorn, “To have change or stability in Burma, it depends on the ethnic armed groups. There are ethnic armed groups in every ethnic state, and the foreign investment can not invest unless there is stability in the region.”