MINORITIES IN BURMA.

HL Deb 24 April 1947 vol 147 cc135-8

4.42 p.m.

LORD RANKEILLOUR rose to ask His Majesty's Government whether in negotiating with the Constituent Assembly in Burma it will be an essential matter of policy that effective provision shall be made for the protection of the Karens, Indians and other minorities wherever dwelling. The noble Lord said: My Lords, I wish to revert to a point to which I referred on February 3, perhaps prematurely—namely, the position of the minorities in Burma. On that occasion the then Secretary of State for India and Burma said merely that he was sure the question of minorities would be fully present to the Constituent Assembly in Burma. But now the Constituent Assembly have been empanelled, and will have to negotiate with His Majesty's Government, I cannot but ask if His Majesty's Government have this matter fully present in their own minds. Certainly, in the like question arising in India, the Government have always professed that they would make provision for the protection of minorities, and then as time passed they seemed rather less insistent upon this matter than they had been in the past.

I do not wish to go into the general question of policy in Burma. I might raise a doubt as to whether it would be possible for the Burma Government to raise armed forces which would be adequate for their duties, both external and internal. I wish only to refer to the position of the minorities. In Burma—according to the last information I have obtained—there are some 9,000,000 Burmans proper, and there are altogether some 1,200,000 Karens; but of those fewer than 100,000 have been recognized in the Statute of the Government—those who dwell now with certain other minorities on the frontier. Nothing is said about those who dwell among Burmans on the plains, although there are some 1,100,000 of them. Then there are some 900,000 Indians who, of course, differ fundamentally from the Burmans in race, religion and tradition. There are also 150,000 Chinese and 120,000 Anglo-Burmans, corresponding, of course, to the Anglo-Indians in India.

I do not want to dwell particularly on the matter of numbers, because it seems to me that you ought to look to the rights of the individual rather than to the rights of particular communities who live in certain defined areas. What is needed is the protection of the status of individuals, whether they are dispersed in the rest of the community or whether they live apart. My own view—which I expressed in the discussion upon India—is that you can only give them protection, first by an organic law which cannot be repealed or altered by a bare majority, and secondly, by having an independent Supreme Court to interpret that law and a Governor with the reserve powers to enforce the findings of the Supreme Court. These conditions are found most fully developed in America, but there seems to be every reason, and with greater substance, why they should be enforced in a country like Burma. In connexion with the Bulgarian Treaty, we have had reference to "human rights," and therefore I suggest that the question of the rights of these people ought to be remembered and preserved. If the Government have any plan other than that which I have indicated, I trust they will explain what it is. It is for that reason that I put the question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

4.47 p.m.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA AND BURMA (THE EARL OF LISTOWEL)

My Lords, I am afraid it will not be possible for me to give to the noble Lord a very different reply from that which he received when he addressed a similar question to my noble friend Lord Pethick-Lawrence in February, and for the simple reason that events have not moved very far in the space of two months. The question of the extent to which special provision in the future Constitution of Burma for the protection of minorities is called for in the circumstances of that country, will doubtless be considered by the Constituent Assembly, elections to which have recently taken place. The noble Lord himself referred to the fact that the Constituent Assembly has not yet started to function.

As the noble Lord is aware, twenty-four seats in the Assembly have been reserved to representatives of the Karen Community—for which he very properly shows such a keen concern—and four seats to those of the Anglo-Burman Community. Both these Communities will, therefore, be in a position, through their representatives, to urge their respective interests. As for the people of the Frontier areas—of whom I think the noble Lord was also thinking as a minority in Burma—a Committee in Burma, under the chairmanship of Colonel Rees-Williams, M.P., is at present considering the best method of associating the Frontier peoples with the working out of the new Constitution for Burma. I would add only that I am perfectly satisfied and convinced that the majority Party returned at the recent elections in Burma, the A.F.P.F.L., are most anxious to give a square deal to minorities and have evinced a keen desire to see that minorities receive exactly the same consideration and treatment as other inhabitants of Burma.

LORD RANKEILLOUR

May I put one supplementary question? There will, I understand, be negotiations, but will the Government negotiate with the Constituent Assembly or with the Constituted Assembly when it exists?

THE EARL OF LISTOWEL

I am afraid that is a question which I cannot answer at the present moment, because the position is that the Constituent Assembly have not yet started to sit, and naturally until then we cannot tell what will emerge from their deliberations, or how soon the final Constitution will be set up. But the noble Lord, of course, is perfectly right in assuming that it is highly probable that there will be a treaty between this country and Burma in connexion with the transfer of power.