Toronto-- The first Burma Ethnic Nationalities Forum was held on 2-3 October 2009 in Toronto, Canada, according to a statement of the Burma Ethnic Nationalities Network - Canada.  

Over 100 ethnic activists attended the conference, including Canadian Members of Parliament, ethnic leaders and women activists from the Thai-Burma border. Victor Biak Lian, an organizer of the event, said “I was impressed by the outcome and appreciate the contributions from our activists.”  

Conference participants discussed recent political developments in Burma, as well as military offensives in ethnic areas. It also explored the effectiveness of ethnic responses to challenges posed by the planned 2010 elections.

Participants noted with concern the ever-deteriorating human rights and humanitarian conditions in the ethnic states, and their devastating impacts on ethnic populations across the Union of Burma.  While welcoming the recent announcement by the United States government to directly engage Burma’s military regime diplomatically, ethnic participants argued that such high level diplomatic engagement must be accompanied by sustained political and economic pressure on the regime.

Participants further claimed that the SPDC’s election, planned for 2010, is the product of a fundamentally flawed constitution that was passed in a biased referendum in 2008. They called on the international community to insist that the military regime initiate a tripartite dialogue with the pro-democracy opposition and representatives of the ethnic nationalities.  They also urged the Canadian government to sustain its political and economic pressure on Burma, continue with its humanitarian commitments and support a transition to democratic governance in Burma.

Burma Ethnic Nationalities Network – Canada was established to broaden the Canadian debate on Burma, with the aim of including the voices of ethnic nationalities when building a framework for Canadian foreign policy towards Burma.

Three years ago in August 2006, ethnic nationalities of Burma residing in North America attended a three-day seminar in St. Paul, Minnesota in the United States of America.