Harn Yawnghwe blacklisted by NLD Govt
Harn Yawnghwe,
a son of Burma’s first president Sao Shwe Thaike, has been blacklisted by the
National League for Democracy (NLD) government led by State Counselor Aung San
Suu Kyi.
Unable to extent
his visa, on June 9 he was forced to leave the country.
“Over the past
few years, it was never difficult for him [Harn Yawnghwe] to get a one-year
visa. He would be issued one within a week. He has been applying [for a visa] since
April but still didn’t get it,” said Khuensai Jaiyen, the managing director of
Pyidaungsu Institute for Peace and Dialogue (PI). “When he contacted the Burmese
embassy in Canada, they said they didn’t know anything about it.”
Khuensai
added: “Any visa ban is ordered by the Burmese Ministry for Foreign Affairs.”
There is a
rumor that the reason Harn Yawnghwe was blacklisted is because he has been
increasingly seen as an influential person in the ethnic political arena. He is
often accused by critics of masterminding the peace process single-handedly. Harn
Yawnghwe and his Euro Burma Office (EBO) organization has been one of the main
funders of civil society groups and ethnic armed organizations involved in
Burma’s peace process.
The EBO was established in 1997 with an agenda to promote
democracy and human rights. It was allowed to set up a branch office in Burma a
few weeks after Harn Yawnghwe met Naypyidaw’s chief negotiator Aung Min in
Bangkok in September 2011.
Khuensai Jaiyen said that Harn Yawnghwe has been a key player
in Burma’s peace process dating back to President Thein Sein’s initiative in
2011, frequently helping to facilitate talks between the Burmese government and
ethnic armed groups.
“In my opinion, this marks a failure for the State Counselor’s
peace process,” said Khuensai Jaiyen. “If he is not allowed to enter the
country, the peace process that the State Counselor is leading will face
problems. They should not ban him on the basis of these suspicions.
They should have talked with him face to face.”
Apart from Harn Yawnghwe, two other staff from EBO
are also on the blacklist.
Currently, EBO is helping to support the eight
nationwide ceasefire agreement signatory groups to set up liaison offices
inside the country.
Han Yawnghwe is the youngest son of Sao Shwe
Thaike, the prince of Yawnghwe who was the first president of Burma from 1948-52.
One of his brothers was shot dead when Gen. Ne Win staged a coup d’état in 1962. He and his mother, Sao Nang Hearn Kham, the founder of the
Shan State Army, immediately fled the country. He was allowed to return to
Burma in 2011 during the early days of the military-backed Thein Sein
government.
Tags: General, News
