The opposite has instead unfolded - a spiralling transition into a society of extreme repression, poverty and serious health problems. Today, Burma is known more for its brutal military dictators and the severe human rights violations they have committed. Under their misrule, Burma has deteriorated into a UN Least Developed Nation, with a health system ranked second worst in the world, and is notorious for its corruption, money laundering, drug and human trafficking, forced labour, child soldiers and mass rape of women by the military.

Censorship is draconian and reliable statistics remain elusive, part of an effort to hide the facts behind a facade of normalcy. In particular, there is an absence of information about populations living in the conflict areas or "black zones" of Burma, who have faced decades of civil conflict. A newly released report entitled "Chronic Emergency - Health and Human Rights in Eastern Burma", provides us with an appalling glimpse into this heart of darkness. In this report by the Backpack Health Worker Team (BPHWT), the extent of the public health catastrophe in these areas, after five decades of civil war, money being taken out of social services, and widespread human rights abuses, is revealed for the first time. Infant, child and maternal mortality rates are much higher than Burma's official statistics, already amongst the worst in Asean. Death and disability from malaria, landmine injuries, and malnutrition are widespread. Forced relocation doubles the chance of childhood death and increases the risk of a landmine injury by almost five times. An inadequate supply of food not only increases the risk of malnutrition but also increases the chances of landmine injuries and malaria, as people are forced to forage in the jungles.

The Burmese military junta is the source of the problem, not only through its abuses and neglect for the welfare of the people, but also through increasing restrictions on humanitarian aid efforts, particularly to ethnic minorities. The Burmese regime has set increasingly restrictive conditions, leading several international organisations to withdraw from Burma or severely curtail programmes, including the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) - France. Dr Herve Isambert of MSF-France, one of the few groups that had been working in Karen and Mon States, said in March: "The [Burmese] authorities don't want anyone to witness how they organise the forced displacement of the population, the burning of villages and forced recruitment."

Many of the burdens arising from tyrannical rule in Burma are no longer borne by the people of Burma alone. Almost a million Burmese refugees have officially fled to neighbouring countries, perhaps another million live internally displaced in Burma, and probably over a million exist as undocumented migrants in Thailand alone. Malaria, much of it drug-resistant, is rife on Thailand's borders with Burma. Tuberculosis remains the most common disease diagnosed in Burmese migrants living in Thailand, and some diseases already eradicated or controlled in Thailand such as lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) are returning. Narcotics continue to flow from Burma, bringing with them the spread of HIV and a rash of social, economic and other health woes. Increasingly, hospitals in Thailand, their budgets already strained by the government's under-funded universal health programme, also have to devote increasing resources to provide care for migrant workers.

Polite diplomacy and unconditional engagement with the SPDC have not worked. In fact, trade and investment have provided them with the means to perpetuate their repressive rule. This year, in some of the areas covered in this survey, the regime actually intensified attacks on ethnic Karen civilians, displacing perhaps 18,000 more, creating a new humanitarian catastrophe. Thousands have already crossed into Thailand or are camped just on the border.

Groups such as the BPHWT, working in dangerous areas inaccessible to international humanitarian relief, should be fully supported by Burma's neighbours and international agencies in their impressive efforts to develop appropriate health services in such dangerous conditions. I admire this team of brave men and women for their dedication to the welfare of the communities whom they serve. They live and work under the same threat of violence as the people they serve - since the inception of the Backpack Medic Programme, seven medics and one midwife have been killed by landmines or SPDC soldiers.

Pressure must be brought to bear on the junta, whose policies continue to exacerbate these public health problems. This is why activists, legislators and many governments already support a binding UN Security Council resolution to ensure that the Burmese regime fulfils its own promises of economic and political reforms.

As Thais, we are well qualified to work with the international community on a common agenda that puts the interests of the Burmese peoples and of long-term social stability in the region above narrow commercial interests. We must also support those groups such as the BPHWT who are working along the border, as their vital work also serves our long-term national interests. Indeed, we can ill afford not to.

Jon Ungphakorn, whose term as a senator ends with the next sitting of the Senate, is a Member of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) and a respected advocate on issues related to health and human rights.

Jon Ungphakorn

Special to The Nation