Chronology of UN Visits to Burma
A duty to investigate arises as soon as a UN member state or a designated global monitor such as the ICRC receives verifiable information that heinous crimes are occurring. Since 1990, eight envoys have been appointed by the United Nations system to facilitate dialogue between the junta and the pro-democracy forces, and to carry out fact-finding missions in Burma. The timeline below, created by ALTSEAN, chronicles the visits and reports of UN envoys to Burma, all of which have been met with silence.
Download the full PDF version of the Chronology of UN Visits and Reports compiled by the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN)
In January, UN Special Envoy for Burma Razali Ismail resigned frustrated at being barred from entering the country for nearly two years. "My contract lapsed after December 2005. It is clear they [the military junta] do not want me back," Razali said. "I have not been allowed to visit the [Burma] leadership in [Rangoon] in the past 22 months." Razali visited Burma 12 times as Special Envoy.
On 20 May, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He was the first foreigner who had been allowed to visit Daw Suu since Razali's last mission to Burma in March 2004. Gambari's unexpected meeting with Daw Suu prompted speculation that Daw Suu would be released when her detention expired on 27 May. These expectations were heightened when SPDC police chief Maj-Gen Khin Yi publicly admitted that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest was unlikely to pose a threat to the country's political stability. However, on 27 May, the SPDC extended Daw Suu's detention for another year.
On 31 May, Gambari briefed the UN Security Council on his visit to Burma. At the briefing, Gambari expressed the UN Secretariat's disappointment over the SPDC's failure to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
On 27 November, Gambari briefed the UN Security Council on his 9-12 November trip to Burma. Gambari said the military authorities had made "some small steps" since his previous visit in May, but he warned that the "good offices" process of the Secretary General towards Burma "cannot be open ended." "We are now waiting for the government to [take] further steps to respond to the concerns of the international community. The ball is clearly in the court of the government," he added.
CHR, 62nd session, 7 February 2006, E/CN.4/2006/34
UNGA, 61st session, 21 September 2006, A/61/369