Peace pacts reached with just five ethnic armies
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Despite President Thein Sein recently vowing that an end to 60 years of internal conflicts was just weeks away, only a handful of ethnic armed groups have so far reached deals for peace with the government.
Of the two-dozen or more groups that have taken up arms, only five had made peace pacts with the government, said Union Minister Aung Min of the President’s Office.
“We are working for a nationwide ceasefire agreement, but we have not yet achieved that aim,” said Aung Min, who is also vice chairman of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC).
“If every ethnic armed force agrees, we are going to sign a nationwide ceasefire. So far, we have agreed peace pacts with just five ethnic armed groups.”
Those groups are the Karen National Union (KNU), Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), the Restoration Council of Shan State’s Shan State Army (SSA) South, Shan State Progressive Party’s Shan State Army North and the Kayinni National Progressive Party (KNPP).
However, the fragile peace deals have come under scrutiny after recent clashes between government troops and some of the groups under peace deals.
On June 15, leaders of the SSA South and the KNU met with members of Peacemaking Work Committee in ongoing talks for a permanent peace.
Aung Min’s report on the progress of peace negotiations came after President Thein Sein vowed on his trip to Europe last week that a deal for a nationwide ceasefire would be reached soon.
“We are trying to sign ceasefires covering the whole country within the next few weeks, and the prospect for success is good. For that reason, the guns that have sounded for the last 60 years will soon be silent,” said Thein Sein, speaking in London.
