Members of the CSSU that includes Shan political parties, armed organizations, and domestic and international civil society organizations had planned to hold a meeting in Thailand on 20 July 2017. The intention was to review the proceedings of the recent 3rd Union Peace Conference – the Second 21st Century Panglong, in order to improve outcomes in future Peace Conferences by ensuring that there is a common understanding of the 5 issues under discussion – 1. Political Affairs, 2. Security Matters, 3. Economic Affairs, 4. Social Issues, and 5. Land and Natural Resources Management.

But on 19 July 2017, the Thai 3rd Regional Army informed the organizers that the Myanmar Military Attache in Bangkok had requested the Thai Government to prevent the CSSU Meeting from taking place. It was claimed that the CSSU was obstructing the Myanmar peace process and that the membership of the CSSU includes a non-signatory of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. Taking into consideration the interest of the Thai Government and the long-term interest of the peace process, the CSSU decided that:

1. The CSSU Meeting planned for 20-22 July 2017 will not take place,

2. The CSSU will consult with the Myanmar National Peace and Reconciliation Centre / Peace Commission (NRPC/PC) in order to hold CSSU meetings in the future,

3. In order to build peace, the Government (of Myanmar) needs to be broadminded, and if there are any doubts, clarification should be requested,

4. The planned CSSU meeting was going to discuss the 5 issues agreed in the NCA. Therefore the conference was not in any way obstructing the peace process.

5. The CSSU was established in 2013 to facilitate peacebuilding in order to establish a federal democratic union. We will continue to work to achieve our objective.

Contact
1. Sao Brong Khur (+66 2896 0970)
2. Sai Nyunt Lwin (+95 7324 1587)
3. Sai Poe Aung (_95 4100 1654)

Download the statement in English HERE.

ထုတ္ျပန္ေၾကညာခ်က္ ျမန္မာဘာသာကုိ ဤေနရာတြင္ ရယူႏုိင္သည္။