Was Win Tin Speaking for Suu Kyi?
MYANMAR: Few options for the blind
Myanmar makes efforts to promote tourism industry
Monks under the Eye of the Junta
China has no influence over Myanmar
Myanmar’s ethnic peace groups urged to adhere to new constitution
Myanmar prime minister to attend UN General Assembly
Myanmar PM warns against disturbances
Three Daughters Form Democratic Party
Suu Kyi Blocked from Attending Appeal Hearing
Suu Kyi barred from courtroom
Dissident questioned over pacemaker in Burma
Literacy has no nationality
China sway over Myanmar limited, says crisis group
Myanmar to expose manipulators of child beggars
Burmese civilians in Mongla flee to China in apprehension
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Was Win Tin Speaking for Suu Kyi?
By KO HTWE       Tuesday, September 15, 2009

There is growing speculation among Burma observers that an opinion piece that appeared in The Washington Post last week actually expressed the views of National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The commentary, written by senior NLD member Win Tin, denounced next year’s planned election as a sham and criticized US Senator James Webb, who recently visited Burma, for advocating engagement with Burma’s ruling regime.
In this recently videotaped interview, Win Tin speaks about the leadership and future of the NLD, as well as the role of the US and China in Burmese politics.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, Win Tin denied suggestions that he wrote the piece on Suu Kyi’s behalf.

“If the commentary reflects Suu Kyi’s opinions, [it’s because] we have very similar thinking. But we haven’t met for ages, so I don’t know what she is thinking now,” he said.

He added that the fact he quoted Suu Kyi in the commentary shows that her views are similar to his own, which he said were fundamentally in line with the party’s political stance.

“I’m a hardliner in the NLD, but I don’t go against the party,” he said.

Win Tin was summoned for questioning for several hours on Saturday. He said he was taken into custody because the authorities wanted to ask him about financial support he allegedly received from a foreign country, as well as his contact with opposition members who were arrested earlier this month.

Some suspect that his arrest might also have had something to do with his commentary, which strongly rebuked Webb for urging the democratic opposition to participate in next year’s election.

“That commentary was a response to the meeting between Suu Kyi and Webb, and to Webb’s comments. It accurately reflected Suu Kyi’s views,” said Moe Zaw Oo, the secretary of the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) Foreign Affairs Committee.

Thakin Chan Tun, a veteran politician and diplomat, said, “Win Tin and Suu Kyi have the same goal. He is one of the leaders of the NLD and will not neglect his view. Most members of the party agree with him.”

Eighty-year- old Win Tin spent 19 years in Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison until his release last year. Since then, he has spoken frequently to international and Burmese exiled media, often criticizing the ruling regime’s plans to create a military-backed civilian government.

“Some international observers view next year’s planned elections as an opportunity. But under the circumstances imposed by the military’s constitution, the election will be a sham,” he wrote in his commentary.
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 16790
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MYANMAR: Few options for the blind
Photo: Lynn Maung/IRIN

YANGON, 15 September 2009 (IRIN) – Myanmar has one of the highest rates of blindness in Asia, yet the country has scant resources to help visually impaired people, medical researchers and aid workers say.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008 identified avoidable blindness as an emerging health issue in the country, while aid organizations say it is a major public health concern in impoverished rural areas.

Researchers and aid workers say there is a lack of eye care services and resources in Myanmar.

According to the Vision Myanmar Programme, a training and research project run by the South Australian Institute of Ophthalmology, there are only 200 eye surgeons or ophthalmologists for Myanmar’s population of over 50 million. Most are in Yangon and Mandalay. Outside of these two cities, there is one ophthalmologist for every half a million people, it said.

“Of course there is a shortage of doctors… There simply aren’t enough surgeons,” the programme’s founder, Henry Newland, told IRIN from Adelaide, Australia.

The Vision Myanmar Programme started a four-year programme in 2008, primarily funded by AusAID, to provide training for eye surgeons, as well as provide equipment and facility upgrades.

In 2005, the programme conducted a population-based blindness survey of over 2,000 people in rural villages in central Myanmar and identified a blindness prevalence rate of 8.1 percent among people over 40, which it said is the highest published rate in the world.

”I want to stand on my own feet … But how can I, when nobody wants to employ a blind person like me?”
And according to 2001 figures published by WHO, Myanmar had a blindness prevalence rate of 0.9 percent of its population, among the highest in the region. Thailand had a blindness prevalence rate of 0.3 percent, while India’s was 0.7 percent.

Avoidable blindness

Most of Myanmar’s visually impaired people suffer from avoidable blindness, which can either be treated or prevented. Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness, followed by glaucoma, while Vitamin A deficiency causes blindness in children.

“Eighty percent of these cases are avoidable by either preventive measures or curative measures, surgery,” said Newland.

Hoping to make a living, Myo Myint Oo studied cane weaving for several years. Despite his efforts, the blind 39-year-old has been unable to find anyone to employ him.

Unable to feed or shelter himself, Myo Myint Oo is forced to rely on the government-run School for the Blind (Kyimyindine) in Yangon, where he learnt the cane craft.

“I want to stand on my own feet … But how can I, when nobody wants to employ a blind person like me?” he said.

Stigmatized

Like other disabled groups, blind people in Myanmar are stigmatized as unproductive members of society and find it difficult to live independent lives.

Photo: Lynn Maung/IRIN
Massage and cane crafting are common occupations for the blind. Here girls learn the art of massage
“Visually impaired people are still being isolated and excluded from society, “Maung Maung Tar, the principal of the school, told IRIN, adding that there was a need to change attitudes to the affliction.

Myanmar has a policy of inclusive education, which means disabled students, including those who are blind, are allowed to attend classes in mainstream schools.

However, there are challenges to implementing the policy, since schools lack the required resources and facilities.

“The schools should be equipped with teaching materials in Braille, and teachers who know how to teach the blind by using Braille,” said Thein Lwin, the general secretary of the Myanmar Christian Fellowship of the Blind (MCFB) NGO, which runs two schools for the blind.

Despite official policy, mainstream schools are not properly equipped to cater for blind students, meaning that most children are forced to attend specialist schools. However, there are just seven state and NGO-run schools for blind children in the whole country, where over 700 blind and visually impaired students receive a formal or vocational education.

Few options

Although a small percentage of blind students strive for as much education as possible, most do not finish high school.

“There are almost no job opportunities for blind graduates, which discourages them from pursuing higher formal education,” said Aung Ko Myint, secretary-general of the Myanmar National Association of the Blind (MNAB).

“So, most of the blind prefer vocational education to formal education,” he said.

In an effort to help the blind find jobs, organizations provide vocational training. But there are commonly just two types of vocational training on offer – cane craft and massage – leaving blind people with few career options, experts complain.

“We should create different kinds of vocational courses (for the blind) so they can get more choices,” said the MCFB’s Thein Lwin.

lm/ey/ds/cb

Theme(s): (IRIN) Education, (IRIN) Health & Nutrition

[ENDS] http://www.irinnews .org/report. aspx?ReportID= 86150
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Myanmar makes efforts to promote tourism industry
www.chinaview. cn 2009-09-15 20:28:59

by Ding Lingling

YANGON, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) — Myanmar is making efforts to promote its tourism industry through attending international travel trade shows and introducing the country’s attractive tourist sites.

Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board’s Marketing Committee has eyed a series of such international events for the two current years to expand its tourism market.

The two events this year which Myanmar focuses are the international tourism expo ITB Asia 2009 scheduled for Oct. 21-23 in Singapore and the ” World Travel Market 2009″ slated for Nov. 9-12 in London.

Next year’s events will include ” Fitur 2010″ in Feria Fe Madrid and ” ATF 2010″ in Brunei’s Bandar Seri Begawn in Brunei in January, “Bit 2010 ” in Fieramilano, Milan in February and “ITB Berlin 2010″ in March.

The Myanmar marketing committee (MCC) will extend its tourism market to trade and consumer shows in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and the Asia-Pacific region.

The MMC has 81 members comprising five airlines, 28 hotels in Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay, Inlay, Ngapali and Ngwe Saung Beach , 39 tour operators and nine tourism related companies.

Aimed at introducing the country’s attractive tourist sites and promoting the international tourism market through foreign media, the MMC has planned more domestic package trips to bring international travel agencies and media persons to the country’s famous tourist sites such as Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay and Inlay regions in the forthcoming travel season starting next month after the rainy season.

Besides, domestic travel agencies, airlines and hotels are also urged to play their active role in the move for attracting more tourists to the country.

Myanmar’s tourism business started to drop near the end of 2007and continued in 2008 which coincided with the deadly cyclone Nargis and the global financial crisis.

Contracted foreign investment in Myanmar’s hotels and tourism sector hit 1.049 billion U.S. dollars by the end of March this year since the country opened to foreign investment in late 1988.

According to official statistics, a total of over 260,000 tourists visited Myanmar and the country’s tourism industry earned165 million U.S. dollar in 2008.

In addition to international tourism activities, Myanmar has also launched festivals such as culture festival and market festival in famous tourist sites and made fund-raising activities in the second largest city of Mandalay, displaying the country’s traditional food stuff, costumes and handicrafts and attaching these events with traditional entertainment programs.

Also as part of its bid to boost cross border tourism with China, the country has granted visa on arrival since February this year for cross-border tourists arriving Myitkyina through chartered flights from Teng Chong international airport, as well as other international airports of China to travel far up to such tourist sites as Yangon, Mandalay, ancient city of Bagan and famous resort of Ngwesaung.

Aimed at drawing more foreign tourists, the country has lifted restriction since early this year on visiting Phakant, one of the six popular areas in Myanmar under gem and jade exploration. The five other areas are Mogok, Mongshu, Khamhti, Moenyin and Namyar.

Myanmar is known as a repository of archaeological regions, ancient edifices and artistic handicraft. It has a variety of tourist attraction such as natural areas of impressive geographical features, protected natural areas, snow-capped mountain and beach resorts.

Rich in natural resources including wildlife and rare species of flora and fauna that attracts tourists, Myanmar is also encouraging entrepreneurs to promote eco-tourism industry at the environmental conservation regions to earn income for the state.

According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, of a total of 652 hotels in the country, 35 are being operated under foreign investment, mostly form Singapore, Thailand, Japan and China’s Hong Kong.

Myanmar’s tourism season, which is the open season, runs from October to April. The month of April is traditionally highlighted by its water festival which marks Myanmar new year.
Editor: Li Xianzhi http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-09/15/ content_12057948 .htm
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Monks under the Eye of the Junta
By WAI MOE       Tuesday, September 15, 2009

On the two-year anniversary of the monk-led September mass demonstrations, the military junta keeps a close eye on the estimated 400,000 Buddhist monks in Burma with continued surveillance and propaganda in the media.

Security forces are present at the annual examinations for monks from Sept. 14 to 30 at Sangha [Monk] University in Rangoon.

About 60 soldiers are stationed in the university compound, according to monks taking examinations.

Meanwhile, in recent months publications in Rangoon and other cities have printed stories warning people of the dangers of a division between Theravada Buddhists and Mahayana Buddhists. Most Burmese are Theravada Buddhist.

The papers accused well-known Buddhist writers such as Parugu, Aye Maung, Chit Nge, Ashin Thoma Buddhi and Kyaw Hein, a veteran actor turned monk, as fostering confusion among Buddhists.

A main target of the stories is a former political prisoner, Ashin Nyana, a monk who exposes an alternative view of Buddhism that differs from traditional Theravada Buddhism. Since the 1980s, Ashin Nyana has advocated what he calls Paccuppanna [the present] Karma Buddhism. Unlike most monks in Burma who wear saffron robes, he wears sky blue robes.

He was charged with discrediting Buddhism in 1983 and served three years in prison. He was arrested again in 1991and received a 10-year prison sentence. He was released in 1998 in an amnesty.

“People are saying now that these papers were published by the Military Affairs Security [military intelligence] or the government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association to create dissension among monks,” said a journalist in Rangoon.

In fact, Buddhism actually promotes critical thinking. The Kalama Sutta said: “Do not accept anything by mere tradition… Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures.. .Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your pre-conceived notions…But when you know for yourselves—these things are moral, these things are blameless, these things are praised by the wise, these things, when performed and undertaken, conduce to well-being and happiness—then do you live acting accordingly.”

Correspondent Ba Saw Tin contributed reporting from Bangkok.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy. org
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 16791
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China has no influence over Myanmar
Reuters
Beijing, September 15, 2009
First Published: 00:33 IST(15/9/2009)
Last Updated: 00:34 IST(15/9/2009)

Beijing’s sway over Myanmar may be too weak to deter the junta from launching fresh offensives against armed ethnic groups on its frontier with China, the International Crisis Group said in a new report.

The group found Beijing’s influence over the generals who rule Myanmar is more brittle than many rights campaigners and Western diplomats assume.

Myanmar launched an army attack last month that overran Kokang, a territory on its border with China run by an ethnic Chinese militia that paid little heed to the central government.

The fighting pushed tens of thousands of refugees into neighbouring China, which has sought to send them back and prevent new fighting on the mountainous frontier.  http://www.hindusta ntimes.com/ world-news/ restofasia/ China-has- no-influence- over-Myanmar/ Article1- 453991.aspx
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Myanmar’s ethnic peace groups urged to adhere to new constitution
2009-09-15 15:36 BJT

YANGON, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) — Myanmar’s official media on Tuesday urged ethnic peace groups in the country to adhere to the approved new state constitution in light of the upcoming general election next year.

“The national race armed groups will have to reconsider formation of their political parties if they wish to work for their regional development within the framework of the constitution,” the New Light of Myanmar said in an article in the pen name of Ye Kyaw.

“To do so, those groups that existed as armed organizations for many years will have to seek ways to transform themselves into political parties,” the article said.

“Some anti-government groups have worked to keep their own forces as national race armed organizations that have made peace with the state,” the article complained, warning this would cause disintegration of the union.

“Before the elections to be held in 2010, the national race armed groups that have made peace with the state are to act in accord with the constitution regarding their armed forces if they want to stand for elections,” the article said.

The article disclosed that the government had made arrangements for the ethnic armed groups wishing to form political parties to retire for the engagement and to reconstitute their existing armed groups as frontier forces.

Criticizing calls by some anti-government groups for more time to undergo transformation, the article said peace agreements had been in place for a couple of decades, allowing plenty of time.

According to the government’s seven-step roadmap announced in 2003, a multi-party democracy general election is to be held next year in accordance with the 2008 new state constitution to produce parliament representatives and form a new civilian government.

Since the present government came to power in late 1988, 17 major anti-government ethnic armed groups and more than 20 small groups had returned to the legal fold by signing respective ceasefire agreements with the government.

Some of the armed groups were resettled in special regions with arms retained, conditionally enjoying self-administration .

There also remain 10 legal political parties in Myanmar.
Editor: Du Xiaodan | Source: Xinhua http://english. cctv.com/ 20090915/ 108232.shtml
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Myanmar prime minister to attend UN General Assembly
Asia-Pacific News
Sep 15, 2009, 11:56 GMT

Yangon – Myanmar’s prime minister, General Thein Sein, plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York during the last week of September, a government official said Tuesday.

The prime minister would be the highest ranking official to attend a UN General Assembly since General Maung Aye, currently vice senior general, attended the 50th Anniversary Special Commemorative Session of the United Nations General Assembly in October 1995.

Political sources in Yangon said Thein Sein was likely to outline the ruling junta’s plan to introduce limited political reform in his speech to the assembly.

In recent years Myanmar has sent its foreign minister to attend the gathering.

An official from the United States embassy in Yangon said he did not know about the prime minister’s decision. It was uncertain whether Thein Sein would meet with US officials during his stay in New York.

The decision to send Thein Sein follows a visit to Yangon last month by US Senator Jim Webb, Democrat from Virginia, in what some analysts have seen as a slight thaw in the frosty diplomatic relations between Washington and Yangon.

‘It may be a significant trip,’ an observer in Yangon commented on the prime minister’s planned visit to New York.
http://www.monsters andcritics. com/news/ asiapacific/ news/article_ 1501242.php/ Myanmar-prime- minister- to-attend- UN-General- Assembly
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Myanmar PM warns against disturbances
www.chinaview. cn 2009-09-15 11:02:34

YANGON, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) — Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein has warned against any disturbances that may arise in the country, stressing the need for the administrative bodies at various levels to constantly know about the state policies and objectives, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.

“It is necessary to strive for the emergence of a peaceful, modern and developed nation by upholding out three main national causes as it is a national policy forever so long as the state exists,” Thein Sein said in his address to the administrative officials from some six townships in Pyay district of Bago division when he inspected the areas on Sunday.

“At a time when the state is in its important state, constant measures are to be taken to ensure the rule of law in order to thwart any disturbances,” he emphasized, saying that high civil administrative capability is the main factor that will contribute much towards community peace and stability.

“To ensure high administrative capability and the rule of law, the strength of ward and village peace and development councils is needed,” he added.

Under the government’s fifth step of its seven-step roadmap announced in 2003, a multi-party democracy general election is to be held next year in accordance with the 2008 new state constitution to produce parliament representatives and form a new civilian government.

Under the 2008 new state constitution, which prescribes that all the armed forces in the union shall be under the command of the Defense Services, the government has initiated a program for ethnic armed groups in the country, which have cease fired and returned to the legal fold, to be formed into frontier forces under the control of the Commander-in- chief of the Defense Services to pave way for the upcoming election, according to official media.

“The leaders of the peace groups will have the rights to stand for 2010 election and take seats in the administrative organs of the regions concerned in consistent with the law,” the official media said, claiming that a transition period for the move is underway.

Necessary laws will also be passed in time for the 2010 election and political parties will get registered and canvass for votes, the media added.
Editor: Lin Zhi http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-09/15/ content_12054984 .htm
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Three Daughters Form Democratic Party
Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The formation of a new political party—the Democratic Party—to contend the 2010 Burmese elections was announced at a press conference in Rangoon on Monday. The party will be headed by the daughter of late Prime Minister U Nu, along with two other daughters of former political leaders.

The Democratic Party Chairman Thu Wai announced that the new party will be headed by: Mya Than Than Nu, the daughter of U Nu; Nay Yee Ba Swe, the daughter of late Prime Minister Ba Swe; and Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, the daughter of late Deputy Prime Minister Kyaw Nyein.

He said the three would act as secretaries of the party and that it is prepared to participate in the upcoming election.

Veteran politician and former political prisoner Thu Wai made the announcement after a seminar titled “Analytic Discussion of the State of the Union 2010,” which was held on Monday at the Dolphin restaurant on Nat Mauk Street, Bahan Township, in Rangoon.

He said the Democratic Party has been formed in order to pursue democracy and to participate in the 2010 elections, which will transform Burma from decades-long authoritarian rule into a new system and toward a new era. He said the party will abandon all personal grudges, and defuse conflicts relating to politics, party, religion, race and the factionalism of Burma past.

He said the party will pursue democracy through the means of the parliament. If the Democratic Party were in power, it would seek to release all political prisoners and to fulfill the peoples’ desires, he added.

The seminar at the Dolphin restaurant was chaired by Thu Wai and well-known politician [Amyotheryei ] Win Naing. Another 30 participants attended, including officers from the Police Special Branch and journalists.

Win Naing said that the 2010 elections offer few prospects for the pro-democracy forces in Burma, since the pro-democracy groups are divided on whether to run in the elections or not.

According to the 2008 constitution, the military will officially and permanently control 25 percent of both the Upper House and Lower House seats in parliament with the defense services personnel nominated by the Commander-in- Chief.

Win Naing suggested that the ruling junta would also form some political parties in order to nominate representatives in various constituencies. More importantly, the junta’s candidates will “apply various means to win” the election, he said.

One of the options for resolving Burma’s crisis is “the sharing of administrative power” between politicians and the armed forces, Win Naing said.

“We can share administrative power. In the post-election government, the military could take 60 percent of the positions of power while politicians occupy 40 percent,” he said. “Then in the next term, the power ratio between the military and the politicians would be 50-50. Then, after a third term of elections, the ratio could be 40 percent military and 60 percent for the politicians. This would mean a gradual decrease in military involvement in national politics and the open the door to a peaceful transition.”

Win Naing warned, however, that a “power-sharing proposal” could be unacceptable for the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the 1990 elections by a landslide.

Thu Wai said he wanted to convince others to first achieve power through the ballot box to fill the remaining 75 percent of parliamentary seats. He said he considered this a priority for all pro-democracy groups.

“If we were in power after the elections, we would propose rewriting the laws and regulations that are contradictory to democracy,” he said. “But the most important thing is: first we must be in power.”

However, a journalist from Rangoon told The Irrawaddy that he believed Thu Wai’s policies were impractical and difficult to implement.

“To revise the constitution, the proposed amendment needs at least 75 percent support from the representatives of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Upper House), and thereafter with the votes of more than half of eligible voters at a nationwide referendum. But first and foremost, the pro-democracy camp could hardly expect to win 75 percent of representatives’ votes,” he said.

The newly formed Democratic Party announced it would have 17 central executive members and 10 central committee members. It said it would be recruiting in the cities and some other regions.

Well-known businessman Ye Tun, the son of post-independence architect U Chan Tun, will serve as vice-chairman of the party.

Responding to rumors that his party would run as a proxy of Kyaw Myint of the Canada-based United Democratic Party (UDP), Thu Wai said the Democratic Party has no connection with the UDP and is receiving no funding from the exiled group.

At the seminar, both leading panelists stayed away from making comments about the 1990 general elections.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy. org
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 16788
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Suu Kyi Blocked from Attending Appeal Hearing
Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Burmese authorities are not allowing Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to hear her appeal in person at the Rangoon Division Court on Thursday, said Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Nyan Win.

Nyan Win said police told him they could not take her to the court, which has sole jurisdiction over Suu Kyi’s case.

The police from Special Intelligence Department, known as “special branch,” stationed at Suu Kyi’s compound would normally escort her to the court, said Nyan Win.
Riot police sit in the back of police trucks during a patrol. (Photo: AP)

Suu Kyi’s appeal was accepted by the Rangoon Division Court on Sept. 4, and the hearing will take place on Thursday at 10 a.m.

Suu Kyi was sentenced to 18 months under house arrest on Aug. 11 on the charge of allowing an American, John William Yettaw, to stay at her lakeside home when she was under house arrest.

Suu Kyi was initially sentenced to three years imprisonment by Rangoon Northern District Court. However, a special order from junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe stated that because Suu Kyi is the daughter of national hero Gen Aung San, her sentence would be commuted to 18 months under house arrest.

Suu Kyi has spent nearly 14 of the last 20 years under detention, mostly under house arrest.

Her current period of detention began after her arrest in May 2003, when a convoy of vehicles in which she was traveling was attacked by military regime-backed thugs in Depayin Township in Sagaing Division, central Burma.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy. org

http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 16789
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Suu Kyi barred from courtroom

Sept 15, 2009 (DVB)–Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been denied entrance to the Rangoon courtroom where she is due to lodge an appeal against her conviction, according to her lawyer.

Lawyer Nyan Win on Friday submitted a letter requesting that she be allowed to attend the hearing, set for 18 September, but the following day the request was rejected by the Special Police Information Branch.

“We said [in the letter] that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was willing to attend the hearing in person,” he said.

“There was no solid reason given for the denial. They told us to make the request to the court but actually the court doesn’t have authority to decide.”

“[Under normal circumstances] court hearings are open for public listeners and there is no law prohibiting people from attending the hearing of the case they are involved in,” he said.

Nyan Win said last week that the defence team was lodging an appeal comprising 11 points. Lawyers had met with Suu Kyi on 10 September to finalise the appeal.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader was sentenced in August to 18 months under house arrest, commuted from three years with hard labour.

The detention was triggered by the visit of US citizen John Yettaw to Suu Kyi’s Rangoon compound in May. Yettaw was originally given seven years with hard labour, but was released following a visit to Burma by US senator Jim Webb.

Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years. Her last spell in detention was due to expire only weeks after Yettaw visited.

According to her lawyers, the conditions of her current house arrest are stricter than before, with Suu Kyi denied access to her family doctor, who has been replaced by a government doctor.

Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet  http://english. dvb.no/news. php?id=2858
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Dissident questioned over pacemaker in Burma
By Deutsche Presse Agentur

Rangoon – Burma’s military junta have summoned a known dissident for questioning to establish who had paid for his pacemaker, one of his friends said Sunday.

Win Tin, 80, who was released from prison last September after serving 19 years, was picked up by police without warning on Saturday, Maung Maung Khin said in Rangoon.

The officers demanded that he provide information on who had paid for and fitted the artificial device that regulates his heart, his friend said. Win Tin was released after several hours.

Speaking after he was freed from Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison, regime critic Win Tin said: “I am fighting for democracy to be restored in this country.”

He is a senior member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party of opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi herself has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention and is current under house arrest.

The NLD suspects that Win Tin’s latest interrogation had more to do with an article that appeared in the Washington Post, in which he dismissed the junta’s planned elections in the coming year as a farce.  http://www.nationmu ltimedia. com/2009/ 09/14/regional/ regional_ 30112156. php
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Literacy has no nationality
The education of stateless children along the Thai-Burmese border remains a problem in search of a solution

Writer: Story and photos by PURICH TRIVITAYAKHUN – TAK
Published: 15/09/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Learningpost

There are 580km of border between Thailand and Burma in Tak, a province in northern Thailand. Immigrants, some of whom are refugees, have been settling in Tak for decades. Many generations have since been born on Thai soil. Many of these immigrants, as well as their children, remain stateless – not recognised as a citizen of any country.

Students from a neighbouring learning centre are absorbed in their lesson at Ban Tha Ard School, an opportunity made possible by the ‘School within a School’ initiative.

This article explores education opportunities for these stateless children and how the government is trying to ensure that they receive proper and standard education.

“It is the principal duty of the Ministry of Education (MOE) to ensure that all children, regardless of nationality, who live in Thailand are given equal learning opportunities,” says Deputy Minister of Education Chaiwuti Bannawat.

Learning centres

“There are no Thai students,” Wichuda Daengthoen responds quickly after being asked for the number of Thai students in Namtok School. “Most of the students here are the offspring of immigrants who work in the agricultural industry,” she says.

Wichuda is a Thai-language instructor and the only Thai teacher in Namtok School, which is located at the centre of the Phop Phra cultivation area.

The moderate temperatures and the fertile ground present in Phop Phra, a Thai-Burmese- border district about 120km west of Tak provincial city, make it and its surrounding areas one of Thailand’s largest vegetable and flower suppliers. Crops and fruits in this region are produced by a large number of foreign immigrants.

She says that many students return home to help their parents in the fields after they graduate from the school.

Currently, Namtok School hosts 252 students and 10 teachers and has classes from Anuban to Prathom 6 (kindergarten to Grade 6). Its student body comprises Burmese, Karen, Mon and other ethnic minorities, but no Thais. Other than the Thai-language class, all subjects are taught in Burmese and English.

Even though the name Namtok School is written on a small wooden board in front of the building, this establishment is actually a learning centre.

In Thailand, around 60,000 stateless children are enrolled in private and public schools. At the same time, more than 100,000 other students with the same political status are being educated in learning centres similar to Namtok School and schools located in shelter areas, which are mostly run by non-govermental organisations (NGOs), scattered along the Thai-Burmese border.

In Tak province alone, there are 61 registered learning centres and several unregistered similar establishments. The registered centres are hosts to about 10,800 students and 625 teachers. Nearly all of the students and teachers are foreigners and ethnic minorities.

Tak Educational Service Area Office 2 (Tak ESAO 2) has joined hands with the World Education Consortium to develop a curriculum for science and mathematics that have been translated into the Burmese and Karen languages and based on Thailand’s 2001 Curriculum for Basic Education for Prathom 1 to 3 (Grades 1 to 3). Also, the consortium developed a simplified course for teachers to use when teaching the Thai language.

Students at Namtok School in Tak take a welcome break.

Conflicts and solutions

Although several learning centres are registered, Namtok School for instance, and are thus under the collaborative supervision of the government and NGOs, the majority of them continue operating as rogue centres, making it difficult to know the content of their teaching ideology or its impact on the students.

“While we commend the learning centres for their meritorious actions in looking after the interests of the students, more problems may arise if we continue to let them run in different directions as we don’t know what they are teaching the students,” comments Mr Chaiwuti, adding that letting these centres operate unregulated might also have serious effects on national security as well as on the students themselves.

According to the minister, an existing problem with learning centres is that they have divergent standards and curricula. Moreover, they tend to have many volunteer teachers who entered the country illegally. Additionally, there is a lack of continuity in the learning process of many students due to high student turnover rates that occur when their parents relocate.

Finally, many of the centres do not provide lessons on the Thai language, Thai culture and Thai laws. Knowledge of these subjects is vital for students planning to remain in Thailand.

“These issues need to be addressed by all government agencies. It is also important that the private sector and NGOs participate in solving the problems,” Mr Chaiwuti says.

He suggests that learning centres that have potential to meet the prescribed standards be promoted to the level of private education institutions. Once they are upgraded, they will be eligible to benefit from the government’s free education policy.

As for the rest of the centres, the ministry is drafting a Prime Minister’s Office regulation to control and assist learning centres to enable them to deliver a national-standard curriculum. It is likely to be presented to the Cabinet for consideration soon, according to Mr Chai-wuti.

The regulation will enable the establishment of provincial committees that can supervise and control the centres.

The long-term challenges, as far as providing a national-standard education to all stateless children is concerned, says the minister, is solving the problem of student turnover and the issuance of professional licences to volunteer teachers who enter the country illegally. This is not permitted under prevailing laws. It is also important to put in place a national standard curriculum for use in learning centres attended by stateless children, he adds.

‘School within a School’

An example of successful delivery of education to stateless children, an approach that deserves to be applied at other learning centres, can be seen at Ban Tha Ard School, located a few kilometres north of Mae Sot, a large district along the Thai-Burmese border, which is 80km west of the provincial city. The school is just a few steps away from the border, represented by the Moei River.

The school is under the jurisdiction of Obec (Office of the Basic Education Commission) and hosts 426 students and 18 teachers. Only 50 of the students are Thai. The rest are Burmese, Mon, Karen and other ethnic minorities.

This year, Ban Tha Ard School started its “School within a School” project, under which the school invites teachers and students from other learning centres to teach and study in Ban Tha Ard School. The school has signed a memorandum of understanding with five learning centres in nearby areas.

“We want to provide learning opportunities, not only for Thai students, to be educated in a school. More importantly, with this system, we can exercise close supervision and instil gratitude towards Thailand, the monarchy, and Thai norms,” says Sutep Thamajak, the school’s director.

According to Mr Sutep, the contracted learning centres bring an additional 351 rotating students to be taught in the school. Ban Tha Ard School delivers the Thai and mathematics lessons, while the other subjects are delivered by teachers from the associate education facilities.

Two other schools under the jurisdiction of Tak ESAO 2 have adopted the “School within a School” concept. They are Ban Mae Pa Nua School and Ban Mae Tao School.Education sans borders

One interesting fact about Ban Tha Ard School is that 40 students cross the Moei River from Burma each day to study at the school.

The free-education policy of the MOE appears to be luring students from the neighbouring country to flock into Thai schools. However, Mr Chaiwuti argues that this school is an unusual case as it is very close to the border and that when one looks at the history of the area, the people of the two countries have always been living as sisters and brothers.

“Previously, the parents of the 40 students worked in Thailand. They are so impressed by our education system and the Thai people that they have decided to send their children to this Thai school even though they have returned to their home country,” explains Mr Sutep.

“I don’t have to pay any tuition fees. Besides, I get a free lunch every school day,” says Wallapa Norcheu, a Prathom 5 (Grade 5) student who travels back and forth between Burma and the school.

NGO support

Namtok School is one of 37 registered learning centres run by the Burmese Migrant Workers Education Committee (BMWEC). The organisation provides education opportunities to nearly 8,000 stateless children through its learning centres.

Paw Ray Rattanachairuedi, chair-person of the BMWEC, agrees to have her centres regulated by the Thai government.

She accepts the notion that quality learning centres should be promoted to private schools, while allowing the rest of the learning centres to continue to exist under the joint supervision of the government and her organisation.

“My preference is for 60 percent of the centres managing their own teaching and learning matters and the remaining 40 percent to be under the responsibility of Obec,” comments Ms Paw Ray.

Her learning centres hosts approximately 463 teachers, of which approximately 50 are Thai. She disclosed that there is still a shortage of Thai teachers.

To improve the situation, she would like the government to provide more Thai teachers, arrange teacher-training programmes and grant financial assistance once her centres are regulated.

Currently, her teachers are paid 3,000 to 5,000 baht each month according to their seniority.

She says that the BMWEC receives support from organisations in the US and UK, but due to the economic downturn, some of the organisations have had to reduce their donations.

“Last year, the grant for students was 1,000 baht per head per year, but this year the amount has been reduced to 600 baht,” the chairperson bemoans. Some parents contribute a 50-to-100-baht fee per student per year in the smaller centres, and up to 500 baht per student per year in the larger centres.

Ultimately, whether or not stateless children will receive a standard education depends on whether the so-far unauthorised learning centres are upgraded and recognised by the MOE as proper schools so as to receive the benefits of the collaboration between the government, the private sector and related entities.  http://www.bangkokp ost.com/life/ education/ 23892/literacy- has-no-nationali ty
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China sway over Myanmar limited, says crisis group
Reuters/Beijing

Beijing’s sway over Myanmar may be too weak to deter the junta from launching fresh offensives against armed ethnic groups on its volatile frontier with China, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a new report.

In a survey of the opaque relationship between China and its neighbour, the group found Beijing’s influence over the generals who rule Myanmar is more brittle than many human rights campaigners and Western diplomats assume.

Myanmar launched an army attack last month that overran Kokang, a territory on its border with China run by an ethnic Chinese militia that long paid little heed to the central government.

The fighting pushed tens of thousands of refugees into neighbouring China, which has sought to send them back and prevent new fighting on the mountainous frontier.

The ICG found Beijing “was not even forewarned” about the Myanmar offensive against Kokang, and may not wield enough influence to ward off similar campaigns against other, bigger ethnic enclaves in far northern Myanmar.

“Tensions continue to rise, and the possibility of conflict between the Myanmar army and the remaining ethnic groups is the highest it has been in 20 years,” says the group’s report.

If Myanmar attacks the bigger Wa or Kachin groups on the frontier with China, that could unleash bloodshed, refugee surges and political aftershocks that overshadow the Kokang conflict.

“Yet it is unclear whether Beijing will be able to dissuade the generals from undertaking further offensives,” says the report.

“While conceding that its influence with the (Myanmar) military likely eclipses that of many countries, Chinese officials unanimously assert that it is far less than believed by many in the West,” it says.

The ICG is a non-profit organisation with headquarters in Brussels that seeks to defuse conflicts.

The study “China’s Myanmar Dilemma” was mostly researched before the outbreak of the Kokang fighting, and by drawing on interviews with Chinese diplomats and officials it sheds rare light on the two neighbours’ ambivalent relationship. “The relationship between China and Myanmar is best characterised as a marriage of convenience, rather than a love match,” it says.

China’s growing investments and trade in Myanmar give it a special stake in the country that Western governments have shunned and other Asian neighbours often kept at arm’s length. That stake will be deepened by planned gas and oil pipelines through Myanmar into China.

Yet Chinese mines, products, traders and other economic footprints spreading across Myanmar also breed resentment and wariness, a problem Beijing often encounters with many of its smaller neighbours.

Beijing long supported Burmese Communists and maintains its own low-key links with the rebel ethnic groups in far-northern Myanmar, where China is worried about the spread of drugs and of HIV/Aids across the two nations’ 2,200 kilometre border.

These factors mean Myanmar’s generals look to Beijing for support, but also that the generals are suspicious of China, especially when it appears to be echoing Western pressure.

Often in its relations with states condemned by Western powers—Iran, North Korea and Myanmar—China has tacked between occasionally using its influence to pressure those states into concessions and resisting calls for sanctions that could badly damage bilateral relations.

The ICG report sees little chance of that pattern changing in ties between China and Myanmar, and it says other countries should take a more realistic and nuanced view of Beijing’s sway.

“A workable international approach will remain elusive as Myanmar continues to play China and the West against each other,” it says.
http://www.gulf- times.com/ site/topics/ article.asp? cu_no=2&item_no=314730&version=1&template_id= 45&parent_id=25
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Myanmar to expose manipulators of child beggars
www.chinaview. cn 2009-09-14 21:23:25              Print

YANGON, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) — The Myanmar social welfare authorities are taking measures to expose manipulators of child beggars scattered in some big cities of the country, the local Myanmar Newsweek journal reported in this week’s issue.

These children are smuggled and forced to earn money as beggars, the Social Welfare Department said.

The traffickers pressured the children to take up the job as beggars or persuaded them through offering liquor to leave child care center and drive them to work in dangerous places, it said.

The authorities outlined punishment ranging from six months to two years in prison for such offenses as torturing and forcing the child aged under 16 to serve as sex worker.

The department has called on the people to cooperate in combating such human traffickers.

Meanwhile, the authorities are launching resettlement project for homeless gypsies wandering on the streets in Yangon as part of its bid to make the city to possess a characteristics that a city should have, other reports said.

The gypsies are being sent to three youth concentration camps located at Thanlyin, Kaba Aye and Hmawby, the outskirts of Yangon, where they are to undergo re-education and re-molding.

Cases such as children missing, including young girls, were frequently reported.

The authorities attributed the cases to over-wandering, seeking jobs without making contact with their homes and arriving at the psychiatric hospital.

In order to bring down crime rate in Yangon, the police authorities launched crime-free-week campaign occasionally over the last two years with police force members patrolling round the clock in townships in Yangon, coupled with education on crime prevention through exhibitions and distribution of pamphlets against crimes.

These campaigns were introduced in the wake of emergence of greater number of cases of theft, robbery, cheat and murder occurring in Yangon.

The authorities also attributed 80 percent of the crime cases to the negligence of the victims against crime.
Editor: Anne Tang http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-09/14/ content_12052009 .htm
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Burmese civilians in Mongla flee to China in apprehension
News – Kachin News Group
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 13:36

Even before hostilities break out thousands of civilians in Mongla in eastern Shan State of Burma are fleeing to neighbouring China for two reasons, following the Burmese junta breaking a ceasefire pact and capturing the Kokang rebel’s capital Laogai on August 24, said local sources.

Firstly, Mongla residents are really worried about the inhuman act of the Burmese soldiers, who shot dead dozens of innocent children and civilians in Kokang territory during gun battles between the Burmese Army and the Kokang rebels loyal to Peng Jiasheng from August 27 and 29, said residents of Mongla.

Kokang and independent sources said Burmese soldiers shot dead Kokang-Chinese civilians in their homes and wherever they saw them in Kokang territories during the major clashes for three days.

The second reason was the Burmese Army’s offensive would spread to the Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS) led by Sai Leun, the son-in-law of Peng Jiasheng, the supreme leader of Kokang rebel also known as Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), added residents.

Since the end of the clashes in MNDAA territory, the junta has sent thousands of troops with about 20 tanks and heavy artillery like mortars near the Mongla, said local eyewitnesses.

In apprehension, therefore most people of a population of about 30,000 in the NDAA’s headquarters Mongla have fled to the border town Ta-law in Chinese territory soon after the fighting started in MNDAA, according to residents of Mongla. All shops are closed and business has come to a halt in Mongla.

Besides, thousands of civilians in the United Wa State Army (UWSA) area, which is contiguous to the territories of MNDAA and NDAA, including the group’s headquarters Pang Sang (also spelled Panghseng), also fled to China. But civilians in UWSA territories have now been stopped from fleeing to China by the group, said residents in UWSA.

Now, thousands of Burmese refugees from MNDAA, UWSA and NDAA are being accepted in the border towns like Ta-law and Nan San in China’s Yunnan province by Chinese refugee agents, said border sources.

Chinese refugee agents are also arranging for food, medicines and tents on the border for future arrivals from Burma, said border sources.

Meanwhile, China has deployed a fresh batch of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers with about 60 tanks on the border after the Burmese junta attacked the MNDAA last month, according to local eyewitnesses.

Till now, civilians in UWSA and NDAA-ESS areas believe that civil war will actually occur between the Burmese troops and the two ceasefire groups.

Border sources rejected news of the junta-run media that Kokang refugees are coming back to their homes. Some Kokang refugees came back for checking their properties, when the fighting stopped.  http://www.bnionlin e.net/news/ kng/7040- burmese-civilian s-in-mongla- flee-to-china- in-apprehension. html