BURMA RELATED NEWS – JANUARY 20, 2011
Jan 20th, 2011
Wed Jan 19, 2:30 pm ET WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged to work for democracy in Myanmar with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when she telephoned her on Wednesday, Clinton’s spokesman said.
“Secretary Clinton called Aung San Suu Kyi today and pledged to work with her to strengthen civil society and promote democracy in Burma,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, referring to Myanmar’s former name.
Crowley broke the news on the microblogging site Twitter.
The military junta in November freed Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and leader of the democratic opposition who had spent most of the past two decades under house arrest, after her party won elections but was not allowed to take power.
But her release came only after the junta held new elections, which were widely denounced by Western nations and by opposition groups as a sham.
Human rights groups say that Myanmar is still holding more than 2,100 political prisoners who are less prominent than Suu Kyi.
President Barack Obama’s administration in 2009 launched a dialogue with the regime aimed at ending Myanmar’s isolation. US officials have voiced disappointment at the results but said engagement is the best way forward.
Updated January 20, 2011 14:30:53
A group of doctors working on human rights issues is lobbying the United Nations to conduct an official inquiry into crimes against humanity in the western Burma China State.
Physicians for Human Rights has just released what they say is the first survey of the scale of abuses against the ethnic Chin people finding widespread forced labour and cases of killings, torture and rape. The group trained volunteers from health and community organisations within Burma to survey hundreds of families in Chin State hoping to document anecdotal reports of human rights abuses.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Richard Sollom,deputy director with Physicians for Human Rights
Listen: http://www.abc.net.au/ra/connectasia/stories/m1955066.asx
Straits Times – Myanmar looks at stock market to attract capital
BANGKOK – MYANMAR is in talks with South Korea’s bourse operator about opening a stock market, the latest in a series of steps by its military rulers aimed at drawing much-needed foreign capital to the country.
Korea Exchange is already involved in running the newly opened Laos Securities Exchange and is setting up a long-delayed stock market in Cambodia, which is due to open in July. Both are joint ventures with the respective governments.
‘We had a discussion (with Myanmar) before,’ Lee In Pyo, project director for the Cambodian exchange, told Reuters on Thursday. ‘Anything is possible, anything can happen,’ he said, when asked if the company was keen to work in Myanmar.
A spokesman for Korea Exchange in Seoul said representatives had visited Myanmar twice. ‘But nothing has been decided,’ the official said.
Myanmar is rich in natural resources but its development has been held back by five decades of economic mismanagement under military dictators and by Western sanctions.
But reforms are under way. The authorities have privatised hundreds of state assets in the past year and are seeking to expand the banking, telecommunications, shipping and agricultural sectors.
MYANMAR – INDIA
AsiaNews.it – Tint Swe: The military junta – not sanctions – cause of Burmese people’s suffering
by Tint Swe
The representative of the exiled government is against the idea of removing the U.S. and the EU embargo on the dictatorship. Increased trade and investment, would only serve to enrich those in power. ASEAN launches appeal for the lifting of the sanctions, never defends the oppressed people.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she wants to work with Aung San Suu Kyi for democracy in Myanmar. But the parliamentary groups – an expression of ethnic minorities, and foreign ministers of ASEAN countries have called for the removal of sanctions implemented by the United States and European Union towards the Burmese military regime. An appeal that does not find the support of leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the largest opposition movement in Myanmar, who insist that “targeted” sanctions should be maintained.
We have requested the opinion of Tint Swe, a member of the Council of Ministers of the National Coalition Government Union of Burma (NCGUB), composed of refugees from Myanmar after the 1990 elections won by the National League for Democracy, and never recognized by the junta. He fled to India in 1990, and since December 21, 1991 Tint Swe has lived in New Delhi, and is responsible for information on Asia South and East Timor in the Council.
It has been said when it comes to Burma sanctions have principally affected the common people. But to be honest, it is merely theoretical assumption yet to be substantiated. The debate on sanctions reappears after the most degraded election held on 7th November 2010 in Burma. It is something like those who presume that the regime is not persuadable so other governments should be blamed at.
A part from the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the holding of an election, there is no change on ground and no hope for next five years either. At this point the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) at foreign ministers’ meeting correctly observed the developments. But though detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and imprisonment of political prisoners might have invited restrictions from the responsible governments, the rationales of imposing sanctions did not include an electoral practice.
Since bloc’s inception in August 1967, and inclusion of Burma in July 1997, the ASEAN constantly pronounced in favor of the governments in power and failed to express for the oppressed people of a member country because the ASEAN charter is strictly based on no-embarrassment to each other. The ASEAN conferences are just retreats held habitually at tourist spots. This call for lifting sanction means merely for the ruling junta’s pleasure lacking sympathy for poor people there in Burma.
Before the ASEAN, the political parties including some, not all ethnic leaders also called for total removal of all sanctions. Those parties represent a small section of the people because the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) has 7, the Chin Progressive Party (CPP) has 4, and the All Mon Region Democratic Party (AMRDP) has 3, the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SDDP) has 3 and Chin National Party (CNP) has 2 out of 168 seats in the House of Nationalities (Amyotha Hluttaw). The SNDP has 18, the RNDP has 9 and the AMRDP has 3, and two Chin party has 2 each out of 330 seats in the House of Representatives (Pyithu Hluttaw). So their role in the parliament is minimal if not negligible because the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won 129 out of 168 and 259 out of 330 parliamentary seats in two Houses. Those parties have to say something that might entertain the voters and also not make ashamed of the junta. They also failed to study the genesis of the sanctions and most of them had little visible political sacrifice during the last two decades of struggle for democracy.
Moreover those political parties are to engage in doing business as advised given by the (USDP) soon after the election. The Nationalities Brotherhood Forum which was formed on 15th January among five businessmen parties see sanctions as obstacle to make profit for party and personal funds. Now it becomes obvious that the good advice from the (USDP) meant for that statement. Moreover the minority parties can enjoy only relative liberty of giving interviews to Burmese language radios rather than drafting bills in the parliament. The world media is correct that those parties are not termed as opposition.
The security precautions at the entrance of the new parliament are more scrupulous than those of the international airports around the world. The political parties which have surrendered to the 2008 controversial constitution would have to promote the junta because they are in the hands of the junta. Otherwise they will be shown exit door.
It is a ridiculous assumption that while western sanctions are in place the generals and the cronies get richer whereas people poorer because of trades with China, India and ASEAN and so sanctions should be removed. In the same way more trade and more investment will make the rich richer and the poor poorer if there is no regime change. So who hate and who advocate for the sanctions?
The observation which says that the Burmese people are trapped between the incumbent regime and the daily hardships caused by the sanctions imposed by the West seems superficially correct. But for that reason, the recommendation, embargos should be taken away is absolutely wrong. Instead the former must be eliminated.
Aung San Suu Kyi never goes against the command of her people. One of the reasons the regime put her house arrest was to keep her away from the people. Since her release she has relentlessly been consulting with various personals. Excluding foreign diplomats and journalists the list includes the her party organizers, the non-NLD politicians, the serious ethnic leaders, the young men and women of the new generation from inside and outside the country, the victims of natural disasters, the HIV patients, the families of political prisoners and so forth Then the (NLD) finally says that the targeted sanctions should remain as before.
Besides the NLD there are a few people who call for amnesty of 2189 political prisoners. The unfortunate Burmese people have expected the release order at the time of the election, on the New Year and on the Independence Day, the 4th January. But no good news comes. Instead they all are about to be recruited into the armed forces by law.
It is regrettable that all are talking about the harsh punishment to revoke by ignoring the terrible crime and forgiving the evil perpetrator because the anti-sanction camp is calling for amnesty to the perpetrators who imprisoned the political dissidents.
Rizal Sukma, Jakarta | Thu, 01/20/2011 9:22 AM | Insight
ASEAN’s foreign ministers just completed their two-day retreat in Lombok on Jan. 17, wherein Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa outlined the nation’s agenda and priorities for ASEAN as it assumes the association’s rotating chair.
He touched almost every issue of paramount importance to ASEAN, including the need to accelerate its community-building process, the imperative of finding a peaceful solution to the South China Sea dispute, the importance of East Asia Summit (EAS), and the question of ASEAN’s place in the world in the post-2015 period.
The most contentious and sensitive issue of all, Myanmar, was also touched upon and discussed.
Indonesia is of the opinion that it is time for the world — especially the West — to renew engagement with Myanmar by lifting sanctions against the nation. This position, unsurprisingly, was welcomed and embraced by other ASEAN countries.
Does ASEAN’s position signify a new approach to the Myanmar problem? It is fair to say that there is nothing new in this position. ASEAN has long argued that economic sanctions against Myanmar would never force the country to change. ASEAN believes that change, especially democratic change, cannot be imposed from outside. It has to take place within the country itself. In that context, external sanctions will not do much to bring change to Myanmar.
The recent call made by ASEAN for the West — especially the EU, Canada and the US — to consider lifting sanctions can also be seen as an ASEAN’s attempt to formulate a new approach toward the Myanmar problem. Three reasons can be put forward in this regard.
First, the call was made within a new context in Myanmar’s domestic politics. As Marty argued during the retreat, the international community should take note of two events in Myanmar: the general elections and the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Despite the fact that the general elections have been described as neither fair nor free, it seems that ASEAN intends to explore whatever opportunities — no matter how slim — that may arise in the post-election period. With the release of Suu Kyi, ASEAN also hopes that she will be able, and allowed, to participate in the process of finding a solution to the political impasse that has beset Myanmar for decades.
Second, ASEAN has long admitted that both ASEAN’s strategy of engagement and its policy of sanctions have failed. The position adopted during the retreat reflects an agreement to combine both approaches.
In this context, it is importance to note that Marty also emphasized that “lifting the bans and reconciliation should go hand in hand”. This should be seen as a warning to the junta in Nyapidaw that ASEAN’s willingness to help Myanmar is not a blank check. In other words, ASEAN will not blindly support Myanmar if the junta tries to block or delay an inclusive reconciliation process.
Third, the call also came about after a review by the US of its Myanmar policy under President Barack Obama. In September 2009, the US government announced that it would start engaging Myanmar’s government while retaining sanctions: a policy of “pragmatic engagement”. In effect, however, this new policy also constitutes an attempt to combine both engagement and sanctions, bringing the US’ position closer to that of ASEAN.
Indeed, if one wants to try a new approach towards Myanmar, it is time to go beyond the engagement-sanction debate. Regardless whether ASEAN’s dialogue partners will follow ASEAN’s call to lift the bans, ASEAN itself needs to formulate a more coherent and detailed Myanmar strategy, including how to engage without giving incentives to the junta to strengthen its grip on power by excluding and suppressing other forces in the country.
This is obviously a difficult proposition. However, ASEAN can begin its new approach by devising a three-pronged strategy. First, ASEAN should start devising a framework to make it possible for all major stakeholders to start reconciliation talks and discussions on democratization.
Second, ASEAN should have a common platform on how to encourage the junta to start a meaningful and inclusive economic development program. At the same time, ASEAN also needs to start helping the people of Myanmar directly through grassroots-based programs such as community development, humanitarian assistance and capacity building.
Third, ASEAN should also devise a platform on how to engage the wider Burmese community, to include both the new political elite (such as the “Parliament”) and civil society organizations.
Indonesia, as the chair of ASEAN, is in a position to devise such a new ASEAN Myanmar strategy.
Otherwise, the international community will see the Lombok agreement on Myanmar as another move by ASEAN to engage in rhetoric without substance. This is a challenge for Indonesia’s chairmanship and leadership in ASEAN. Hopefully Indonesia is more than ready to answer that challenge.
The writer is the executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta.
Soldiers Charged With Human Trafficking
KANGAR, Jan 20 (Bernama) — Two soldiers were charged in the Sessions Court here today with trafficking in 16 Myanmar citizens including four women, aged between 15 and 48 years, in December last year.
Mohd Rashidi Abd Halim, 36, and Mohd Johari Abu, 28, who are from Jitra, Kedah and are attached to a military camp in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The duo are alleged to have committed the offence at around 10.40pm at a sugar cane farm in Chuping, Perlis.
If convicted, they are liable to be jailed not more than 15 years or fined or both.
Judge Wan Norzanuar Wan Ahmad set bail at RM6,000 each in one surety each and Feb 22 for the trial.
Deputy public prosecutor Norsalihah Sulaiman appeared for the prosecution while both accused by represented by counsel Rahmathullah Baharudeen.
VOV News – Myanmar displays its products at Spring Fair
For the first time, Myanmar businesses have exhibited their products at a fair in Vietnam, which is seen as a major step forward in bilateral trade.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh BIen on January 20 met with the Myanmar business delegation headed by U Aung Lwin, Vice President of the Federation of Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Trade.
The Myanmar business delegation is attending the 2011 Spring Fair at the Vietnam Exhibition and Fair Centre in Giang Vo, Hanoi, from January 20-31.
During the meeting, Mr lwin thanked the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vietnamese sponsors, such as BIDV and Vietnam Airlines, for supporting Myanmar enterprises at the fair.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Bien expressed his hope that Myanmar’s successful general election on November 7, 2010, will pave the way for the country to develop further.
In April 2009, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited Myanmar, which helped to boost trade and investment ties between the two countries.
The export-import turnover between Vietnam and Myanmar hit US$144 million by November 2010, which exceeded the total revenues for 2009. The figure for the whole 2010 is expected to reach US$160 million, an increase of over 60 percent from the previous year.
Posted: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 10:19 pm
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) welcomes the release today of a major new report highlighting human rights violations against the Chin people in Burma, just over a week before Burma is due for a Universal Periodic Review of its human rights record at the United Nations.
The report, Life under the Junta: Evidence of Crimes against Humanity in Burma’s Chin State, published by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), winners of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, provides further evidence of crimes against humanity perpetrated by Burma’s military regime. A survey of 702 households in all nine townships of Chin State in 2010 found that almost 92 per cent of those surveyed had experienced forced labour at least once in the previous year. Evidence of rape, torture, arbitrary detention, disappearances, the recruitment of child soldiers and chronic food insecurity is also documented in the report, as well as and ethnic and religious persecution. Some Chin households surveyed report a campaign by the regime in Burma to convert Chin Christians to Buddhism, forcing Christians to build Buddhist pagodas in every major village. In some areas, government authorities persecute Chin Christians using violence and intimidation, destroying churches or threatening to destroy homes and kill family members.
With a foreword by the Nobel Laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu and the former UN Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Richard Goldstone, the report concludes that at least eight of the violations documented “fall within the purview of the International Criminal Court and may constitute crimes against humanity”.
CSW believes the PHR report completely confirms and corroborates evidence it has gathered during five fact-finding visits to the Chin people on the India-Burma border since 2004.
CSW’s East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said: “Having travelled to the Chin areas ourselves, and worked to highlight the plight of the Chin, we welcome this new report which places a much-need spotlight on a long-forgotten and much-overlooked humanitarian and human rights crisis. Combined with the regime’s offensives against ethnic nationalities in eastern Burma, persecution of the Muslim Rohingya people, and abuses in other parts of the country, we believe the evidence of possible crimes against humanity is now overwhelming and further strengthens the case for the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate these crimes, as recommended by the UN’s own Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma. It is now time to end the culture of impunity in Burma.”
For further information, visit: www.csw.org.uk.
To obtain a copy of the PHR report, please see www.lifeunderthejunta.org
English.news.cn 2011-01-20 21:51:19
YANGON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) — Myanmar’s Union Election Commission Thursday announced lists of nomination of parliamentary representatives from the military to the three-level parliaments ahead of the first parliamentary sessions which have been set to take place simultaneously at the end of this month, according to the state radio and television.
Nominated by the military commander-in-chief, 110 military personnel will represent in the parliamentary house of representatives (lower house), while 56 will represent in the parliamentary house of nationalities (upper house) and 217 in the region or state parliament shared among 14 regions and states totaling 383.
The details of the list will appear in Friday’s official newspapers, the announcement said.
Myanmar is due to start its first three-chamber parliamentary sessions simultaneously on Jan. 31 morning with the sessions of the house of representatives (lower house) and house of nationalities (upper house) to take place at the newly-built parliament buildings in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw.
Sessions of region or state parliament will be held separately in respective regions or states on the same day.
The summon for the sessions of the three-level parliaments by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) came nearly three months after the end of the multi-party general election on Nov.7, 2010.
The union parliament, made up of the house of representatives and the house of nationalities, will elect the country’s president and vice presidents according to the new state constitution.
In last November’s general election in Myanmar, 1,148 candidates representing political parties and 6 candidates representing independent individuals totaling 1,154 were elected as parliamentary representatives at three levels, in which 325 as representatives to the house of representatives, while 168 as representatives to the house of nationalities and 661 as representatives to the region or state parliament.
Under the new constitution, the coming parliamentary house at three levels consist of elected parliamentary representatives in the 2010 Nov. 7 multi-party general election and non-elected parliamentary seats, nominated by the commander-in-chief which account for 25 percent of the total.
Summing up the 110 non-elected or directly nominated military representatives to the parliamentary house of representatives, the total of the lower house will be 435, while adding the 56 military representatives to the parliamentary house of nationalities, the total of the upper house will be 224, and adding the 217 military representatives to the region or state parliament, the total of the said parliament will be 878, making up a grand total of the military representatives as 383.
In last November’s general election in Myanmar, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by Prime Minister U Thein Sein, won the majority of 882 parliamentary seats or 76.43 percent out of the final total of 1,154 at three levels.
The USDP is followed by the National Unity Party (NUP) with 64 seats, in which 12 with the house of representatives, 5 with the house of nationalities and 47 with the region or state parliament.
The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) took 57 seats, in which the party shares 18 with the house of representatives, 3 with the house of nationalities and 36 with the region or state parliament.
The Rakhine Nationalities Development Party held 35 seats with 9 in the house of representatives, 7 in the house of nationalities and 19 in region or state parliament, while the National Democratic Force (NDF) and the All Mon Region Democracy Party ( AMRDP) each with 16 at three levels of parliament.
Some minor number of seats were won by other parties which fielded a lesser number of candidates for the election.
In the Nov. 7 general election, a total of 29 million people across the nation were set as eligible to cast ballots with the number of turnout being unknown.
Nationally, a total of over 3,000 parliamentary candidates from 37 political parties including 82 independents took part in the competition across the country’s seven regions and seven ethnic states.
Immigration officials offered special visas to Myanmar nationals if they dropped suits
Immigration authorities offered to give special resident status to Myanmar nationals in return for withdrawing their lawsuit demanding refugee status, it has emerged.
The former plaintiffs and organizations representing Myanmar nationals in Japan have made the revelations to the Mainichi Shimbun.
Lawyers supporting them protested the move, saying that authorities attempted to decrease the number of court precedents recognizing Myanmar nationals as refugees, as Japan has come under fire from the international community for its strict standards for refugee recognition.
Several years after its founding, the League for Democracy in Burma (LDB) was told by the Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau that it would give its members special resident status on condition that they withdraw their lawsuits for refugee recognition and reapply for refugee status.
On recommendation from the LDB, four Myanmar nationals withdrew their lawsuits and reapplied for refugee status sometime around 2006, but they were not recognized as refugees and instead were given special resident status. Unlike refugees, various restrictions are placed on the lives of foreign nationals with such a special status.
A man living in central Japan, who belongs to another organization, launched a suit for refugee recognition in 2008 after immigration authorities refused to grant him refugee status.
The Immigration Bureau subsequently approached the man and made a similar offer on condition that he not mention it to his lawyer.
The man reapplied for refugee recognition and withdrew his suit. He was granted refugee status.
After a high-ranking member of another organization in Tokyo filed a refugee recognition suit in 2007, the bureau approached him without going through his lawyer, recommending that he withdraw the suit and reapply for refugee status. At the time, the bureau did not offer to give him special resident status instead of refugee status.
He was also granted refugee status after he complied.
Kuniaki Ishioka, director of the bureau’s Adjudication Division, denied that the bureau has made such proposals.
“We sometimes explain to foreign nationals, including those suing the bureau, that they can reapply for refugee recognition under law. However, it’s impossible for us to make such a proposal on the premise that we’ll give them special resident status.”
He also denied that the bureau urged the plaintiffs to withdraw their lawsuits or told them not to mention the proposals to their lawyers or anyone else.
However, the Japan Lawyers Network for Refugees (JLNR) said it has confirmed that eight of 13 Myanmar nationals, who have withdrawn their refugee recognition lawsuits since 2000, had been urged by the bureau to do so or to reapply for refugee status on the premise that they be given a special resident status.
The ratio of Myanmar nationals who win refugee recognition lawsuits is over 30 percent, far above the average of other foreign nationals, apparently because pro-democracy movements in the country are highly appreciated.
The bureau made such offers to plaintiffs that it believes was highly likely to win their suits, network officials said.
“The Immigration Bureau apparently wants to prevent such plaintiffs from being recognized as refugees through court rulings,” said Lawyer Shogo Watanabe, secretary-general of the JLNR.
Published Date: January 20, 2011
The release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has boosted awareness of HIV/AIDS in Myanmar, claims a leading figure in the country’s National League for Democracy (NLD).
But those living with HIV/AIDS say discrimination against them remains rife.
Activist and NLD youth leader Phyu Phyu Thin told the Irrawaddy newspaper: “We have worked on HIV/AIDS projects since 2002, but no one seemed to recognize our
accomplishments. However, once Aung San Suu Kyi was released, the world suddenly became aware of our social projects.” The NLD’s main such project provides three shelters in Yangon that house about 100 HIV/AIDS patients and provide food, bedding, anti-retroviral treatments and other drugs.
But away from the capital, care workers report that the stigma against the disease still acts as a barrier to treatment.
Spread of the virus has been worsened as sufferers are ostracized when people “find out one of their family members contracted the virus,” retired nurse Lucy Joi told ucanews.com. She works at the Church-run Hope Center, a facility in the north of the country which is like a home for patients whose relatives and families cannot cope and for those who live in the mountain villages, too far away to receive regular medical support.
Lucy believes people have to endure rejection and discrimination as a punishment because of poor education among the people and lack of HIV/AIDS awareness. There are an estimated 240,000 HIV/AIDS sufferers in Myanmar, according to UNAIDS, the United Nations program tackling the virus.
The center, run by the Columban Sisters, provides temporary shelter, food and medical treatment in collaboration with an AZG clinic. Currently the center takes care of some 50 patients, most aged from 30 to 50. U Win, a Buddhist from Mohnyin in northern Myanmar, at the center with his seven-year-old son, said that when he learned he had contracted the virus “I did not talk about this to others because I was so afraid that my neighbors and friends would avoid me. When my wife found out herself she was HIV positive, she argued for me to check also, and I found myself infected with HIV. Then, finally, we decided to check our son and he also had contracted the virus.”
U Cho, 41, lost his wife to the virus four years ago. He said: “I was discriminated [against] very badly because of the virus. Most of the patients have to die because of very little support and help in this situation. If these patients could get proper and sufficient treatment, there would be many more possibilities that we could live longer.”
But U Cho added that he had recovered and was able to return home – thanks to support from the center.
January 20, 2011 |
Just in time for the heated Chinese travel season, China Unicom and Myanmar Post and Telecommunications have signed a agreement in Kunming, Yunnan, to jointly provide GSM international roaming service to China Unicom’s users in Myanmar.
This is reportedly the first international roaming service agreement signed between Myanmar and an overseas telecom operator, making China Unicom the only operator in China and the first in the world to launch this service in the country.
Myanmar Post and Telecommunications is the only telecom company in Myanmar, which is the largest foreign trade partner for China’s Yunnan province. The trade volume between Myanmar and Yunnan accounts for over 50% of the trade volume between Myanmar and China.
The Daily Star, Bangladesh – 26 Myanmar citizens held
Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar
Members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) yesterday arrested 26 Myanmar citizens for illegally entering the country through Shahporir island under Teknaf upazila. Later, the arrestees were handed over to Teknaf police. Officer-in-charge Abul Hossain of Teknaf police station said, a case has been lodged against the Myanmar nationals for illegally entering the country.
Monday, Jan. 31, 2011
I read “The First Lady of Freedom” as soon as I received the issue [Jan. 10]. Then I read it out loud to all who would listen. I am 17 years old, and I deeply admire Aung San Suu Kyi. I am grateful for TIME’s emphasis on her importance; it’s journalism like this that inspires people to action.
Hope Loudon, RENO, NEV., U.S.
Thank you for your piece on Suu Kyi. It must be hard to write about a hero, so it’s good that you showed her imperfections. It is disappointing, though, that there was no mention of Burma’s minorities. Their disaffection was one of the excuses for the original military takeover.
Rob Wood, PHILLACK, ENGLAND
Suu Kyi has been a tough, resilient, upright and brave lady. Despite nearly two decades of house arrest, she reappeared in public triumphantly, with her usual charm and dignity. Sadly, her release appears to be conditional, for her every movement is still closely monitored by the junta. As outsiders, we can only wish her and her faithful followers well. Freedom in Burma shall prevail.
Boon-tee Tan, KEMAMAN, MALAYSIA
Just like Mohandas Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, the Lady has succeeded in convincing others that they can get the upper hand over an unjust system through peaceful resistance. With more beacons of hope advocating human rights like Suu Kyi, we could make this world a better place.
Matthias Holder, GüNZBURG, GERMANY
Because the top generals in Burma’s junta hate and fear her, Suu Kyi has not been able to negotiate on political reform. Yet her commitment to nonviolent resistance has prevented most of the country from falling into the kind of vicious cycle of terrorism and counterterrorism that has occurred in Sri Lanka, a country with Buddhist values similar to Burma’s. She may continue to be marginalized by the junta, but her moral example makes her one of Asia’s great leaders.
Donald M. Seekins, WAIPAHU, HAWAII, U.S.
The Lowdown on 2010
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 For years, critics of Western sanctions against Burma’s ruling regime have accused supporters of the country’s opposition of obsessing about the fate of Aung San Suu Kyi. Now, however, it seems the shoe is on the other foot, as those same critics argue that Suu Kyi’s release late last year was such a momentous event that it warrants ending sanctions once and for all.
On Sunday, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) issued a statement declaring that the events of last November—the freeing of Suu Kyi and the holding of an election less than a week earlier —were “sure signs that the country is heading toward a more democratic system.”
Never mind that the election, which was completely overshadowed by the reappearance of Burma’s Nobel Prize-winning pro-democracy leader on the national stage, was a fraud.
All that matters is that it happened and that Suu Kyi is free.
Asean was not alone in calling for sanctions to be dropped. Around the same time as the regional body made its call on the West to end its policy of penalizing the Burmese regime for its numerous abuses of power, a group of five ethnic parties inside Burma did the same thing. These parties did not, of course, include any of the junta’s longstanding opponents.
They were, rather, parties formed specifically to run in the election, and which are now keen to reap their rewards in the form of business concessions.
These are just the opening volleys in what promises to be a long, drawn-out war on sanctions. Expect the big guns to come out soon, as politicians and business lobbyists from the West itself grow increasingly frustrated with a policy that they see as serving only the interests of their rivals and competitors in Asia—most notably China.
It should be stated that Suu Kyi’s own party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), is also taking a hard look at sanctions and asking whether they are doing more harm than good. It has even offered to cooperate with the regime to have the sanctions lifted. Its focus, however, is on the impact of the sanctions on ordinary Burmese, rather than on the economic and political concerns of outsiders or their potential partners inside Burma.
Suu Kyi herself has made this point repeatedly. “If we find that the sanctions are only hurting the people and that there is no positive outcome as a result of the sanctions, then certainly we would consider calling on those who have imposed sanctions to think whether it is not time to stop them,” she said in one of many interviews she has given since her release.
At the end of the day, it is the governments of the West that will have to make their own call on sanctions. Inevitably, they will have to base their decision on their own criteria, which include, in the case of US legislation such as the 2003 Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, the release of all political prisoners in Burma, and not just Suu Kyi. So far, however, there has been no indication that the regime is planning to meet this requirement for ending sanctions.
If the junta and its partners want to see sanctions dropped, there will also have to be a meaningful improvement of the human rights situation in Burma. But again, there is no evidence that that is happening. On the contrary, recent reports show that the Burmese army is continuing to commit widespread abuses, including the use of prisoners as porters and human minesweepers in its conflict with a breakaway faction of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army near the Thai-Burmese border.
Even more disturbing than this, however, are the findings of a report released today that show a pattern of wholesale human rights violations against people in Chin State. According to the report, produced by the US-based rights group Physicians for Human Rights and titled “Life Under the Junta: Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity in Burma’s Chin State,” more than 90 percent of the population in this remote state has experienced abuse at the hands of the Burmese military, including forced labor, religious persecution, beatings, killing, disappearances, torture, rape and widespread pillaging.
As long as this remains the norm in Burma—and every indication suggests that it is, especially in predominantly ethnic areas—there can be little optimism for the country’s prospects of achieving even incremental steps towards democracy.
While Asean’s offer to mediate between the Burmese junta and the opposition is welcome news, its calls for prematurely dropping sanctions are less appreciated. If the regional grouping wants to declare a “Mandela moment” in Burma, it will have to work harder to bring the Burmese junta to the table with Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders.
Then, and only then, can we begin to have some hope that the real conditions for ending sanctions—namely, an improvement in the way the regime treats all Burmese—are even close to being met.
By KO HTWE Thursday, January 20, 2011
The agriculture and health of nearly 12,000 people living within a five-mile radius of Burma’s largest coal mine and coal-fired power plant are threatened with air and water pollution, according to a report titled “Poison Clouds” that was complied by the Pa-Oh Youth Organization (PYO) and the Kyoju Action Network (KAN).
According to the report, the power plant, which is located near Tigyit in Pinglaung Township in southern Shan State, releases 100 to150 tons of toxic ash containing mercury, lead and arsenic into the atmosphere every day.
In recent years, ash has been known to cover roads and some 50 percent of the local population suffers from skin infections, the report says.
“Our skies and waters are turning black,” said Khun Chankhe of the PYO. “What future is there for our children who are growing up in a toxic wasteland?”
The residue from the coal mine is piling up so high that the dumps have become like hills and are blocking the flow of water, as well as creating pollution and stagnant lakes. Toxic fly ash that is dumped on coal mine waste piles or spread on local roads is also running off into local water sources, some of which eventually flows into Inle Lake, the report states.
The Burmese military regime’s Vice-Snr-Gen Maung Aye chose the site for the power plant in 2001, and instructed local military officials to confiscate more than 100 acres of local farm lands, said the 54-page report.
However, some 500 acres of land were seized. Three hundred and twenty-one families from Lai Khar and Taung Pola villages each received a maximum of 170,000 kyats (US $170) compensation for forced relocation.
However, the Myanmar Mines Law of 1994, Chapter 5, Section 4, states that “the holder of a permit for mineral production within an area under the Ministry’s administrative control or which does not lie within the Mineral Reserve Area or Gemstone Tract, shall carry out such production only after coordinating and receiving agreement from the individual or organization having the right of cultivation, right of possession, right of use and occupancy, beneficial enjoyment, right of succession or transfer of the said land.”
The plant uses 640,000 tons of coal per year to produce 600 Gigawatts of power with a capacity of 120 Megawatts.
The China National Heavy Machinery Corporation, along with Eden Group of Myanmar and Shan Yoma Nagar, implemented the project in 2002 under the supervision of the Energy Ministry with an investment of $42.93 million.
Chit Khaine, the founder of Eden Group, is on the EU sanctions list under the category, “Persons Who Benefit from Government Economic Policies and Other Persons Associated with the Regime.”
“The project is for the sake of China, not for the local communities. The local people don’t receive sufficient electricity from the plant,” said Khun Chankhe.
Electricity produced from the power plant is sent to the nearby Nagar cement plant. A proposal is being considered to supply electricity to another mining project, the Pangpet iron factory near Hopone and the Taunggyi highway, which is run by Russian and Italian companies, the report said.
The Tigyit coal mine also produces nearly 2,000 tons of lignite and sub-bituminous coal every day. Lignite, a soft brown coal, produces the most carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy than any other type of coal.
The plants and the mine are located within the watershed that is 13 miles from Burma’s famous Inle Lake in Shan State. River waters polluted by the mine and waste from the power plant are flowing into the lake via the Balu Creek, the report says.
Khun Chanke said that this is one of the main reasons why Inle Lake is drying up.
Residue piles from the mine are now towering above the homes of 3,000 people, blocking streams and contaminating fields. The coal is extracted through an underground tunnel system which runs beneath tea farms—another major concern for villagers who live in constant fear of landslides and land collapses, said the report.
“We issue the report today with concern for Inle Lake,” said Khun Chanke on Thursday.
“We also wish to call on the elected candidates from Inle and Pinglaung region to discuss this issue in Parliament.”
The Inn National Development Party has previously said that the party will focus on the environmental issues of Inle Lake.
There are over 16 large-scale coal deposits in Burma. The Italian-Thai Development Plc, a large Thai construction firm, signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Burma in November for the development of a deep sea port in Dawei (Tavoy). The project includes plans for Southeast Asia’s largest coal-fired power plant that will build in Dawei where 18 villages have been ordered to move to make way for the project, said the PYO/ KAN report.
PYO was set up in 1998 and says it is “striving for peace and justice in Burma through empowering youth.” It published a report, “Robbing the Future,” in June 2009 after two years of research at the site of Burma’s largest iron mine and the Pangpet No. 5 Steel Mill in Shan State.
KAN was set up in 2010 and says its aim is “strengthening communities’ capacity to protect their natural resources.”
By BA KAUNG Thursday, January 20, 2011
The military regime should not have enacted a military conscription law without public consensus, according to Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
“This law is directly related to the public,” said an NLD statement issued on Wednesday. “Therefore, it should be roundly debated by the the country’s parliamentarians and should only be enacted if there is public consensus.”
The military conscription law will force every man between the age of 18 and 45 and every woman between 18 and 35 to serve in the military for two years or face prison sentences.
The law, dated Nov. 4, 2010, and signed by Burmese junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, is yet to be made public, and will come into force when proclaimed by the ruling military council, according to an official gazette which was recently circulated.
“The Parliament for the new government is going to emerge soon and it can exercise its legislative powers,” said NLD spokesman Nyan Win. “But since the law will only come into effect when proclaimed by the military regime, this shows the Parliament will not enjoy full legislative powers.”
Those who fail to report for military service could get three years in prison and those who intentionally avoid conscription through illnesses or inflicting injury on themselves could be imprisoned for up to five years, fined or both, according to the law.
Students, government servants, persons serving prison sentences or those who have to take care of elderly parents can postpone their military service, but can be called up at a later date.
Members of religious orders, married women or divorcées with children, and disabled persons will be exempted from the draft.
In an apparent attempt to offer a loophole to the military elite and their cronies, the law also exempts anyone whom the military has designated as free from military service.
In a separate statement issued on the same day, the NLD also criticized the new parliamentary laws and bylaws were made available to the public only this month although they had been issued by the junta in October.
The NLD, which is led by Aung San Suu Kyi, boycotted the general election last year and has since been disbanded. It will have no presence in the upcoming Parliament which is scheduled to be convened on Jan. 31 in the remote capital Naypyidaw.
On Monday, Burma’s Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Suu Kyi’s latest appeal against the dissolution of her political party. Nyan Win earlier said that he and other lawyers representing Suu Kyi would have to present their arguments for a special appeal to Naypyidaw.
Thursday, 20 January 2011 13:33 Te Te New Delhi (Mizzima) – The National Democratic Force (NDF) party says that all non-targeted economic sanctions on trade and investment should be lifted by the international community because they harm the livelihood of ordinary Burmese.
‘Three types of sanctions are found in Burma’, NDF leader Khin Maung Swe told Mizzima. ‘They are targeted sanctions, trade embargos and investment sanctions. Targeted sanctions are the freezing of assets owned by a targeted individual or organisation. However, trade embargos and investment sanctions affect average people’.
The last two sanction categories in reality hinder the development of human rights and democratic change in Burma, he said, because they hamper and delay social and civic growth in the country.
‘We cannot say they do not affect the common people. When trade embargos were imposed on Burma, the garment and textile industry were seriously affected, and it had a direct impact on the economy of our country. Non-targeted sanctions are one of the reasons for our poor economic growth, and they do not take into consideration the negative impact on ordinary people’, he said.
Another political party, the Democratic Party (Myanmar), led by veteran politician Thu Wei, advocates the end to all categories of economic sanctions.
The lifting of targeted sanctions against military leaders and their business associates could increase the chances that all political prisoners would be released, Thu Wei said.
‘I think it would be better if all these sanctions were lifted’, he told Mizzima, adding that this month he sent letters of appeal to various embassies in Rangoon.
The US government imposed an arms embargo on Burma in 1993 and imposed economic sanctions on new investments in 1997, citing human rights violations by the military regime.
Moreover, the US enacted the ‘Burma Freedom and Democracy Act 2003’ to freeze the foreign-based assets of key generals in the military regime and their cronies and imposed a visa ban on targeted individuals. Economic sanctions were renewed in May 2010.
Similarly, European Union (EU) countries imposed sanction on arms sales and transfer to Burma in 1996. It also froze foreign-based assents owned by military leaders, their family members and cronies and imposed a visa ban.
After the crackdown on the September 2007 protests, the EU cut off all aid and grants to Burma except for humanitarian assistance. The sanctions also ban importing timber, gemstones and minerals.
Many of the winning candidates of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) are included in the targeted sanction list of US and EU countries.
The National League for Democracy says it is now studying the lifting of targeted sanctions.
“The targeted sanctions imposed on the generals, their families and their cronies have nothing to do with us [average people]’, Win Tin, a prominent leader, told Mizzima. ‘We plan to study which sanctions affect the common people, and after that we will decide our policy’.
Economist Khin Maung Nyo told Mizzima that he agreed that sanctions imposed by Western countries are one of the factors that hinder economic growth but mismanagement of the domestic economy is the major factor.
‘State-level economic management, especially in macro-economic management, is very poor. We hope it will be better following the election. But I don’t believe we will see change overnight even if sanctions are lifted’, he said.
Aung Thu Nyein of the Thai-based Vahu Development Group said that if targeted sanctions and arms embargos were imposed effectively they would have little impact on ordinary people.
Meanwhile, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) called for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Burma at a meeting in Indonesia on January 16. In a statement on January 16, ethnic political parties representing the Shan, Rakhine, Mon, Chin and Falon-Sawaw have also called for the lifting of sanctions because they hinder economic growth in states dominated by ethnic nationalities.
Thursday, 20 January 2011 13:23 Ko Pauk
New Delhi (Mizzima) – More than 200 people, accompanied by their mothers, have visited the Waizayandar Religious Hall in the Sakyathiha Pagoda compound in Mandalay to leave their mothers’ footprints to mark Burma’s Mother’s Day, according to organisers of the Mother’s Day ceremony.
Later, the children will be able to pay homage to their mothers’ footprints.
‘They applied a paste mixture of oil and turmeric to the feet. Then, they stood on a white cloth and the soles and heels were pressed down. Then, the perimeters of the footprints were marked and decorated with embroidered flowers. The white cloth is then a representation of a mother’s footprints’, University Phone Myint Aung, the chairman of the organising committee, told Mizzima.
The tradition was started in Sagaing, which is near Mandalay, where sons and daughters used to take the footprints of their elderly parents. Writer Min Thurein wrote about the tradition in the book ‘Mom’s Footprints and Other Articles”.
Burma’s Mother’s Day falls on the Full Moon day of January 19 in accord with the Burmese traditional calendar.
To mark the 15th Mother’s Day, more than 3,000 people attended the Mother’s Day ceremony on Wednesday afternoon.
‘The Waizayandar Religious Hall was full. The pagoda’s compound was also crowded’, book shop owner Tun Oo, who attended the ceremony, told Mizzima.
In the ceremony, former actress Swe Zin Htike gave a talk titled ‘About Mom’ recalling how her mother looked after her and how she tended her daughter. Writer Chit Oo Nyo delivered a speech about the love between U Thant, who was secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, and his mother. At the ceremony last year, film directors Maung Nay Myo and Bogalay Tint Aung, and former actress and singer Cho Pyone gave talks. Pamphlets with quotations on mother’s love were distributed on the occasion.
In 1997, Burma’s first Mother’s Day ceremony was held in Pariyatti Sasana Beikman by a group of prominent writers led by Thukha and Ludu Daw Amar.
Event organiser University Phone Myint Aung told Mizzima: ‘The lunar month Pyatho is the coldest month, and the Full Moon Day of Pyatho is the coldest day. And the loves of mothers are cool. That’s why Mother’s Day is celebrated on the Full Moon Day of Pyatho. If people love their mother, I think they will also love the country. That’s why we hold the Mother’s Day’.
Mother’s Day ceremonies were also held in 30 areas including Madaya in Mandalay Division, Katha, Monywa, Shwebo, and Kanbalu in Sagaing Division, Lashio in Shan State and in Rangoon.
Since 1997, Mother’s Day has been officially held every year. In Burma, Father’s Day falls on the Full Moon Day of Dapaung in accord with the Burmese calendar.
By AYE NAI
Published: 20 January 2011
Thousands of chickens have been culled in western Burma after health officials detected an outbreak of the H5N1, or ‘bird flu’, virus.
Government newspapers announced on 17 January the outbreak of “a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza [HPAI] strain” of the virus and said that measures had been taken to curtail the spread, which also included a ban of the sale of chickens and eggs in Arakan state.
Around 10 farms close to Lathamar village in Arakan state have been affected, although one farmer told DVB that a one-kilometre radius had been placed around the village, within which all farms must be treated.
“Some of the farms there have around 2000 chickens and some around 1000,” said the farmer. “The chickens were killed and then buried in a six-foot deep hole in the ground. The farms were sprayed afterward.”
He added that other farmers nearby had begun vaccinating their poultry in anticipation of the virus spreading.
Around 60 percent of the Burmese population is dependent on agriculture as a primary source of income, although the majority of this is focused in the rice industry.
In February last year around 2500 chickens were culled in a Rangoon division township following an outbreak of H5N1. Dozens of people were also taken ill last year shortly after Burma confirmed its first case of the H1N1, or ‘swine flu’, virus.
By SHWE AUNG
Published: 20 January 2011
Falling US dollar prices have meant that domestic NGOs in Burma are unable to carry out infrastructural activities vital to peoples’ wellbeing, the head of a Rangoon-based aid group has warned.
Earlier this month the exchange rate hit a low of 780 kyat to the dollar, and businessmen in Burma are expecting that to decrease further over the coming months. The US is struggling to recover its housing and labour markets, and economic growth remains sluggish, although currency restructuring is underway to help boost exports.
Many NGOs in Burma rely on funding that comes in US dollars, which for decades has been used as the de facto second currency – as it has been globally – given its stability compared to the kyat. As the dollar weakens against the kyat, operational costs are effectively forced up. Prior to the global financial crash, the exchange rate hovered around 1000 kyat to the dollar.
“Usually it would cost us around 1.6 million kyat, which had normally been about $US1600, to dig a well, but now this will work out at around $US2000,” said Dr Hpone Win, head of Mingalar Myanmar, an independent, non-profit sustatinable development organisation in Burma.
“So we have to reduce the amount of wells and lakes we are digging. For example, we may only be able to dig wells in about eight or nine villages from an initial plan of 10 villages.”
He added that NGOs were also struggling to pay transportation fees in Burma, which have stayed at the same price while their funding has decreased.
Numbers of business owners in Burma are fearful that the exchange rate will drop to 700 kyat to the dollar as the quantity of US currency in the country increases following massive sales in the recent Naypyidaw gem fair.
There are around 20 Burmese-run NGOs operating inside the country, as well as a number of international aid groups who are permitted to work, albeit with limited mobility, by the ruling junta.
Such fluctuations in currency have prompted many to speculate or suggest that the world economy moves away from sole use of the dollar as a universal currency. Commodities such as oil are priced in US dollars, but as Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Washington, the sense of a seismic shift in currency usage is palpable, with World Bank chief Robert Zoellick even suggesting a modified gold standard to maintain stability through turbulent currency times.