BURMA RELATED NEWS – FEBRUARY 04, 2011
Feb 4th, 2011
YANGON, 4 February 2011 (IRIN) – More than three months after Cyclone Giri struck Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, 15,000 families (an estimated 104,000 people) are still homeless, shelter experts say.
Of the US$22 million received thus far for relief and early recovery efforts, $1.5 million has been spent on emergency tarpaulins, bamboo posts, ropes and hammers, but according to Srinivasa Popuri, country programme manager for the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), this will not be enough to protect “an already battered population from another humanitarian crisis.” The monsoon season begins in June.
“Self-repaired homes have tarpaulins as roofs, or for covering a hole in the wall, and are not disaster-resilient at all,” he added.
On 22 October, Rakhine State suffered one of the heaviest downpours ever recorded, when the category four storm struck, with winds of more than 121km per hour, according to the national met office. The office has documented a trend towards ever more frequent and powerful storms, based on its 100-year data archive, said Popuri.
“Communities are making the best of what they have and what they have received so far, but as the humanitarian community we cannot leave it with that as people are still living in temporary and inadequate shelters and in dire need of additional support to rebuilt their homes and their livelihoods,” UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Bishow Parajuli told IRIN.
The UN has estimated a total need of $57 million in relief and early recovery post-Giri.
A January joint assessment covering the 37 percent of the population worst affected by the cyclone, looked at nearly 20,000 homes in four townships – Myebon, Pauktaw, Kyaukpu and Minbya. More than a third of all homes were destroyed; another third were damaged.
In the worst affected township of Myebon, almost half the houses were destroyed.
It is estimated the cyclone completely destroyed 20,000 homes in all. Over 100,000 people were forced to stay with other families in “cramped, dire and at times rat-like deplorable conditions,” said Popuri.
UN-HABITAT estimates repairs to walls, roofs and floors designed to hold good for two years could cost up to $250 per house; $600 would buy another 6-8 years of relative stability. “And $600-1,000 can build a permanent structure that will last some two decades. A one-time investment is best because these cyclones will come annually,” said Popuri.
It will cost $12 million to replace the 20,000 destroyed homes. Another 14,500 damaged homes are expected to remain unrepaired until after the next monsoon season, when the total repair cost will be $2.5 million, according to UN-HABITAT.
Fri Feb 4, 7:52 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar named a key retired general as president on Friday, an official said, as the military hierarchy retained its stranglehold on power in the country’s new political system.
Thein Sein, who shed his army uniform to contest controversial elections last year, “was elected as the president with a majority vote,” a Myanmar official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The prime minister and former junta number four had been tipped for the post even before the electoral committee vote, supporting fears that the regime has engineered the political process to hide military power behind a civilian facade.
A key ally of junta leader Than Shwe, the 65-year-old became a civilian to contest the November election as head of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which claimed an overwhelming majority in the poll.
One of the president’s first jobs will be to appoint a government, and he can be confident of little resistance from a parliament dominated by the military and its cronies.
Sources said he was likely to retain his position as prime minister in addition to his new role.
Under complex parliamentary rules, the upper house, lower house and members of the military each nominated one vice president.
A select committee then chose the president from the three candidates, all of them members of the USDP as Myanmar’s military, which has ruled the country since 1962, continued its domination.
Thein Sein received 408 votes out of a potential 659.
The two vice presidents are Tin Aung Myint Oo, another retired top general and Than Shwe ally, and an ethnic Shan, Sai Mouk Kham.
Though Than Shwe, who has ruled Myanmar with an iron fist since 1992, has not taken the top political role, many analysts believe he will attempt to retain some sort of control behind the scenes to ensure his safety.
“The most crucial question is whether Than Shwe will relinquish the power to single-handedly control the armed forces and other security apparatus.
“My answer is categorically no,” said Maung Zarni, of the London School of Economics.
He said the country’s power structure was “classic dictatorship”, adding “the good guys do not get promoted”.
But Myanmar expert Aung Naing Oo said the very fact that Than Shwe was taking a back seat could present a small opportunity for change.
“Anything is possible if Than Shwe leaves. Maybe now Thein Sein is considered a very loyal ‘yes man’ but soon he will have to find his own way,” he said.
The formation of a national assembly in Naypyidaw, convened for the first time on Monday, takes the country towards the final stage of the junta’s so-called “roadmap” to a “disciplined democracy”.
A quarter of the parliamentary seats were kept aside for the military even before the country’s first poll in 20 years was marred by the absence of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and claims of cheating and intimidation.
USDP lawmakers bagged 388 of the national legislature’s 493 elected seats, leaving little room for dissenting voices.
The opposition National Democratic Force (NDF), which split from Suu Kyi’s party in order to contest the election, has a total of 12 seats in the parliament’s two chambers, and the Democratic Party (Myanmar) has none.
Khin Maung Swe, of the NDF, said his party had expected Thein Sein to be chosen.
“It’s not important for our party who becomes president or who will rule the country. We care more about how the administration can benefit the people,” he said.
Thein Sein’s rise to president comes after the United States said it was “disappointed” with Myanmar, adding it was “premature” to consider lifting sanctions.
Suu Kyi, released from seven consecutive years under house arrest a few days after the vote in November, also downplayed the impact of political changes in a Financial Times interview published last weekend.
“I don’t think the elections mean there is going to be any kind of real change in the political process,” she was quoted as saying.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has no voice in the new parliament after it was disbanded for opting to boycott the election.
14 mins ago
GUWAHATI, India (AFP) – A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked the India-Myanmar border region on Friday causing panic, but there were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties.
The US Geological Survey said the evening quake struck at a depth of 88 kilometres (55 miles), with its epicentre in a remote, sparsely populated region 85 kilometres east of Imphal in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur.
The force of the quake caused frightened residents in Imphal to run into the streets.
“Our building was shaking badly and it seemed to last for more than a minute,” local journalist Pradip Phanjoubam told AFP by phone.
“People ran out of their homes and out of our offices as well,” said Phanjoubam, editor of the Imphal Free Press, a mass circulation English daily.
An officer in the city’s police control room, T. Singh, said they were monitoring the situation but had yet to receive any specific news from the area around the epicentre.
“For the moment, there are no reports of any casualties or damage to properties,” Singh said.
Strong tremors were felt in Guwahati, the main city in nearby Assam state, about 450 kilometers away.
The Myanmar side of the border is also an area of few people or buildings.
By Martin Petty
Fri Feb 4, 2011 3:28am EST
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Prime Minister Thein Sein was chosen on Friday to become president in Myanmar’s new civilian-led political set-up, nominally at least becoming head of state as the country’s junta steps down.
The big question is: what will junta supremo Than Shwe do now?
IS THAN SHWE SIMPLY STEPPING ASIDE?
Unlikely. The presidency is probably something the military strongman never really wanted. The rise of one of his most trusted associates in a choreographed parliamentary vote suggests Than Shwe will remain in charge, but behind the scenes.
The reclusive junta boss is not suited to the public role required of a president. He rarely attends public events or gives speeches and has not spoken to the media in years. His state visits have been restricted to neighboring India and China.
IS IT A SURPRISE THAN SHWE DIDN’T BECOME PRESIDENT?
To a certain extent, yes. Many experts say the 78-year-old Than Shwe is seriously worried about what might happen to him and his family, and they assumed he was reluctant to put power into the hands of someone else, even a loyalist.
Than Shwe has made many enemies and he knows it. He’s not too bothered about Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi or the public. His real fear is probably people in the military he has crossed swords with, demoting them or forcing them into retirement.
Insiders say he is concerned he might one day be purged or even assassinated and needed to ensure the new political system was controlled by loyal servants.
Than Shwe knows all about purges. He engineered the downfall of two power-holders in the past, former junta boss the late Ne Win and ex-premier Khin Nyunt. He placed both under house arrest.
WHAT WILL HE DO NEXT?
One thing seems sure to analysts: he will continue to pull the strings behind the military, legislature and executive.
He could remain head of the military by taking the job of commander-in-chief of Defence Services, which is also a powerful, hands-on political role offering a seat on the National Defense and Security Council, a new entity analysts say could turn out to be similar to the politburo of China.
In a crisis, the commander-in-chief, with the president’s approval, can call a state of emergency and assume sovereign power over the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.
However, there are rumors he may have already appointed a successor. On Thursday state media reported that “the commander-in-chief” attended a meeting of parliament but didn’t mention Than Shwe by name, which is unusual.
SO WILL HE RETIRE?
It’s an option. He’s 78 years old and his health is deteriorating. He has a palace-like mansion in the new capital, Naypyitaw.
But some suggest he could become a patron of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the junta’s political proxy that controls 76 percent of the legislature.
Concerned the party could develop an agenda of its own and challenge the military status quo, he could take unofficial control and keep its members in check.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THEIN SEIN?
Thein Sein is the regime’s fourth-in-command and seen as a neutral figure in Myanmar’s military, having not been a member of any faction. The 65-year-old is seen as a “yes man” with no political agenda and no ambitions for real power, making him the perfect front man for Than Shwe.
Unlike his associates in the old regime, who have become considerably rich, he has no known business interests and has a clean image. He is a shy and retiring figure and military insiders say there’s little reason to dislike him.
Thein Sein was a career soldier who became part of the junta in 1997 when it was reorganized. He replaced General Soe Win as prime minister after his death in October 2007.
He resigned from the army in early 2010 so he could take part in the November election as a civilian.
He was the international face of the old regime and is known to other leaders, having attended summits. His ascendance to the presidency represents a continuation of the status quo.
ARE THESE CHANGES ALL FOR SHOW?
It seems so. If Than Shwe and his deputy, Maung Aye, seen to be stepping aside, it may make the elections and parliament look more like a political transformation to an international audience after five decades of iron-fisted military rule.
In reality, the regime has not ceded power at all.
The changes are largely cosmetic, simply retiring junta heavyweights and shifting them into other political positions. Most lawmakers are soldiers or retired soldiers. Military people fill many other top positions.
Asia Times Online – Equal opportunity abuse in Myanmar
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK – When independent researchers fanned out across military-ruled Myanmar’s mountainous Chin State to catalogue human-rights abuses, they expected to hear the usual disturbing stories of ethnic minority women being raped by government troops. But the research uncovered an unexpected new trend of abuse: Chin men were also being sexually violated by male soldiers in the country’s remote northwestern corner.
“It was not something that we expected to find,” said Vit Suwanvanichkij, co-author of a new investigative report released by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a US-based non-governmental rights lobby. “This abuse – rape of males – has not been reported before and it shows what life is like in militarized [Myanmar].”
The 63-page report, entitled “Life Under the Junta: Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity in Burma’s Chin State”, says that the male head of five different households were among 17 people who claimed to have been raped by Myanmar troops during a 12-month period spanning 2009 and 2010. Among them was a father of five children who, according to the report, the “[Myanmar] military sexually assaulted and threatened to kill him on July 20, 2009.”
The rape of men, as well as women and children, are part of a numbing list of human-rights violations committed by Myanmar troops in their quest to assert control over the remote Chin region situated near the Indian and Bangladeshi border, according to PHR’s research. Male victims quoted in the report said that they believed they were targeted by predominantly Buddhist Burman soldiers because of their different religious and ethnic identity as Christian Chins.
Forced labor was documented in 92% of over 600 households surveyed in nine different townships, with tasks ranging from building roads, to portering military supplies, to sweeping for landmines. However, the prevalence of male rape may have been underestimated in the report, due to difficulties in gathering accurate information.
Parveen Parmar, another co-author of the report, says that sexual violations rank among the most difficult rights abuses to chronicle, even when, as was the case during the surveys conducted by PHR’s 22-member research team, the interviews were done in private and confidentiality was guaranteed.
Myanmar’s abysmal rights record is extensively well documented. Forced conscription, torture, arson and the confiscation of land and food stocks have all been used by the Tatmadaw, as the over 400,000-strong Myanmar military is known, to quash a myriad of ethnic rebel movements that have been active for decades across the country.
The use of rape as a weapon of war was first exposed in “License to Rape”, an investigative report published by the Shan Women’s Action Network in 2002. The account documented 625 cases, including instances of gang rape, showing how Myanmar’s army systematically targeted women and girls from the ethnic Shan minority.
However, there was no hint at that time that Shan males were also targeted, according to SWAN researchers. “We documented what the community revealed happened to them from 1996 till 2001,” says Charm Tong, a member of SWAN’s advocacy team, during a telephone interview. “Rapes were widespread and committed by high-ranking military offices and soldiers.”
In 2005, Charm Tong, 29, had an audience in the White House with then US president George W Bush, lending credibility to her advocacy group’s findings. SWAN’s reporting on the junta’s human-rights abuses helped to harden Washington’s position towards Myanmar, including an expansion of the US’s sanctions regime.
PHR’s revelations come at an awkward moment for the European Union (EU), which maintains its own sanctions against Myanmar for its poor human-rights record, but is now under pressure from some member governments to reconsider this position after last year’s military-rigged general elections. The EU is expected to review its “common position”, as the regional groupings policy on Myanmar is known, in April.
Meanwhile, the United Nations is under growing pressure to establish a commission of inquiry into the junta’s human-rights abuses – a move US President Barack Obama has endorsed. Any such inquiry would now likely need to include investigations into the systematic sexual abuse of men as well as women.
“Sexual violence cases have mainly focused on women. Even human-rights people documenting this abuse have not paid attention that it could possibly happen to men,” says Aung Myo Min, director of the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, a non-governmental think-tank run from Thailand’s northern city of Chiang Mai.
“It is a kind of intimidation for the victim and they often don’t want to talk about it because of the shame,” he said. “But the recent revelations should prompt human-rights researchers to investigate this ignored area of abuse. There could be more cases.”
Myanmar’s military rulers have denied previous allegations of using rape as a war weapon. They deflected SWAN’s report as a “fabrication” and have denied the findings of various human-rights groups who have chronicled the regime’s abuses. That remained the junta’s line last week during the first-ever universal periodic review of Myanmar’s rights record, including in ethnic areas, at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
Win Min, a Myanmar military expert based in Chiang Mai, claims that in frontline areas of the conflict prisoners of war are seldom treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and many have been summarily executed because officers believe it is too complicated or costly to bring them to justice through court proceedings. That culture of impunity, he suggests, has fostered an environment conducive to sexual violence.
“I have never heard of serious action [taken] by the military following reports of rape cases in ethnic areas,” says Win Min. “There has been no mechanism to file such cases in the military.”
Marwaan Macan-Markar is a Sri Lankan journalist who covered the South Asian nation’s ethnic conflict before becoming a foreign correspondent for the Inter Press Service news agency in 1999. He is based in Thailand where he covers Southeast Asia.
Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 02/04/2011 11:22 AM | World
ASEAN’s latest request for the United States, the European Union (EU) and Canada to lift their sanctions on Myanmar may face challenges from their internal political situations.
ASEAN addressed that request during an ASEAN ministerial meeting on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara, last month.
But it is ASEAN that needs to convince their counterparts that it is the best solution possible for a better Myanmar and it is up to them whether they are willing to confront and able to convince their politicians at home, experts say.
“The Lombok meeting implied that the chance to see democratization [in Myanmar] happen as soon as possible would become smaller if the US failed to meet ASEAN’s demand,” University of Indonesian international relations expert Hariyadi Wirawan told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
“It is the US government’s responsibility to convince the US Congress and the US House of Representatives [that lifting sanctions on Myanmar would help settle issues in that country].”
He said Myanmar might not become a democratic country like the US wanted but would rather be like Malaysia or Singapore.
But Myanmar had nothing to lose if the US finally decided to turn down ASEAN’s request because the restive country was not in a hurry toward democracy and still had China in the backyard as its main ally, Hariyadi said.
Moreover, he said, alienating Myanmar would only cost the Southeast Asian region’s stability in the end of the day.
Parahyangan University international relations expert Bantarto Bandoro said ASEAN’s request showed that the bloc had no more ammo to solve issues in Myanmar, relying on sanction removal.
“Sanctions are actually a positive thing to certain degree. But they should be reviewed periodically and may perhaps need to end when there are [positive] changes,” he told the Post. “[Therefore] ASEAN needs to be more proactive [in persuading the US to finally lift sanctions on Myanmar].”
During the Lombok meeting, ASEAN foreign ministers said the US, the EU and Canada — all ASEAN dialog partners — needed to consider lifting their sanctions because Myanmar had “successfully conducted general elections” and released Nobel laureate and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest late last year.
“We believe that recent developments need to be responded to the international community, especially to ensure that economic development in Myanmar can take place,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said after the meeting.
“However, it should be remembered that lifting the bans and reconciliation go hand in hand.”
In response to the request, the US secretary of state’s deputy assistant Joseph Y. Yun recently said: “These are excellent demands from the ASEAN ministers, and I think the Myanmar authorities should really take them to heart and make them a reality.”
Yun, who oversees affairs in East Asia and the Pacific, said then there would be a positive response if Myanmar’s government had complied with all the requests from the international community.
“And clearly, as the reconciliation process makes progress, I think the international community can ensure a response,” he said.
Myanmar joined ASEAN in 1997 despite strong opposition from Western nations.
The US and a number of other countries imposed sanctions — both diplomatic and economic — on Myanmar for its poor human rights record and slow move toward democracy.
February 4, 2011: Burma has assigned some of its new Russian S-125 anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down a mysterious UAV that has been spotted several times in the last month near the Chinese border. Burma has been unable to identify the owner of the UAV, and anti-aircraft weapons in the area (small caliber autocannon and shoulder fired missiles) have not been able to hit the high flying UAV.
Burma is one of about ten export customers for Russia’s 1970s era S-125 (SA-3 Goa) surface-to-air missile system. Known customers are Libya, Syria, Venezuela, Myanmar, Vietnam and Turkmenistan. Some of these countries are buying updated launchers and radars as well. While the basic design of the S-125 is old, it has been frequently updated.
The two stage S-125 missiles weigh nearly a ton, and carry a 59 kg (130 pound) warhead against targets 35 kilometers away (and altitudes as high as 18,000 meters). There is also a smaller missile, weighing closer to half a ton, with a range of 15 kilometers. Having two different size missiles for the same system is a common practice with the Russians (and some other nations as well, like the U.S. Patriot system).
Users have upgraded or modified their S-125 missiles and radars themselves over the years. The most notable example of this was in Serbia, in 1999, where a missile battery commander used S-125s to shoot down a U.S. F-117 stealth aircraft. He did this by using human observers a lot, and his radar rarely. Since the S-125 can be controlled (flown by) a ground operator, once the F-117 was located, an S-125 missile was launched and flown manually to the target. Simple and effective, and largely immune to countermeasures.
This feat gave S-125 sales a shot in the arm, and three years ago the Russians opened a new factory to meet the demand (worth over $250 million). But nations don’t buy the inexpensive, and reliable, S-125 because one took down a stealth fighter. No, the missile provides basic air defense against neighbors who don’t have high-end air forces. The S-125 provides basic air defense, and keeps aerial smugglers, and secretive users of UAVs, nervous.
Posted : Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:17:19 GMT
Yangon – Thein Sein, Myanmar’s newly elected president, is best known for what he is not.
“Firstly, he is not an ambitious person,” said Win Min, a Myanmar scholar based in the United States. “He’s wanted to retire from politics for some time because of his heart problem.”
The 65-year-old former general who was elected president by Myanmar’s new parliamentFriday, has had a pacemaker since May 2004.
He is two years older than his main, behind-the-scenes rival for the presidency, former general Shwe Mann, who was elected lower house speaker Monday, the opening day of the parliamentary session, the first in military-ruled Myanmar in 22 years.
Both men are known to be loyal followers of Senior General Than Shwe, Myanmar’s junta chief since 1992, to whom they owe their careers.
“The criteria for promotion within the military dictatorship are unquestionable loyalty, complete obedience, corrupt to the core and intolerance towards any dissent,” said Maung Zarni, a research fellow on Myanmar at the London School of Economics.
Thein Sein is perhaps more loyal and more obedient than Shwe Mann, Myanmar watchers said. He is also believed to be somewhat less corrupt but that attribute might not count against him.
“I think Than Shwe may feel that Thein Sein is more malleable than Shwe Mann,” Win Min said. “He may also feel that Thein Sein may be more credible as president since Thein Sein’s family is much less corrupt than Shwe Mann’s family.”
Thein Sein has been prime minister since 2007 when he replaced his sickly predecessor Soe Min. In May 2008, Thein Sein chaired the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee, which coordinated international aid efforts for Cyclone Nargis, which killed an estimated 140,000 people.
He is head of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and is a familiar figure among South-East Asian leaders after attending many meetings of the 10-country Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). At the ASEAN summit of 2007 in Singapore, Thein Sein prevented the United Nations’ then-special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, from delivering a critical speech by threatening to pull out of the association.
Thein Sein had to retire from his military post in April to contest the November 7 general election under the USDP’s banner.
The party won 77 per cent of the contested seats. In addition, 25 per cent of the parliamentary seats are appointed by the military, ensuring its dominance and allowing Than Shwe to determine the government lineup.
It remained to be seen, however, how Than Shwe, 78, intends to control the government once it is in place.
Observers said they believe he might establish a special role as “patron” of the USDP or, more likely, cling to the post of commander-in-chief. “He doesn’t have many choices,” Zarni said. “He needs to live by his sword. Therefore, it is inconceivable that Than Shwe will not keep the most strategic role for himself.”
Than Shwe’s predecessor, Ne Win, who ruled Myanmar from 1962 to 1988, died in disgrace and obscurity in 2002 under house arrest, where he had been placed by Than Shwe.
Trying to find work in Thailand can turn into a nightmare
Published: 3/02/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Burmese illegal migrant Charlie Tiyu is waiting on treatment for pelvic fractures and for an intestinal operation at Bangkok’s Police General Hospital before being deported, probably in the next few months.
Charlie Tiyu, a 25-year-old illegal Burmese worker being treated at Police General Hospital inBangkok, is chained to his bed. Themanwas seriously injured at a construction site in Pathum Thani early last month.
He is chained to his hospital bed.
Mr Tiyu’s case is only the tip of a huge iceberg. Thailand’s humanitarian laws have not really served him well.
The 25-year-old said he had crossed the border at Mae Hong Son 10 years ago to work in Thailand and had been legally issued with a temporary work card for nearly five years.
A man called Kai in Pathum Thani’s Lam Luk Ka district took him and other migrants to work at construction sites. About two months ago, he went to work for a new employer, Tara Rit-taeng of Nonthaburi, without informing authorities.
Mr Tiyu said his migrant worker’s health insurance at Thanyaburi Hospital in Pathum Thani expired on Jan 20.
On Jan 9, he had a serious accident at a construction site at Charoen Pokphand’s food processing plant in Pathum Thani’s Lat Lum Kaeo district when a concrete wall fell on him.
The foreman of contractor NSU Supply Co, Veerasak Khamsri, sent him to state-run Pathum Thani Hospital.
Mr Charlie’s large intestine had burst from his stomach and his left hip was broken.
The hospital said he could be discharged on Jan 25 but would need another operation on his intestine within two months.
However, the hospital on Monday contacted police because he carried no identity card and could not pay his medical expenses of 70,000 to 80,000 baht.
He was sent to the Immigration Police Bureau in Soi Suan Phlu in Bangkok, then was sent to the Police General Hospital for more treatment before deportation.
Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) lawyers contacted Pathum Thani Hospital last Friday and coordinated with the immigration police to help resolve the matter.
However, Mr Tiyu’s employers and the contractor remained silent.
The HRDF also voiced concerns about the violation of the immigration police’s regulation that chains could not be used to restrain minors under 14 years, women, the elderly and injured people who could not flee.
Doctors and nurses at the Police General Hospital said yesterday Mr Tiyu’s pelvic fractures and ruptured intestine had to be treated.
Dr Samart Muangsiri, who is responsible for his case, was not available for comment.
Pathum Thani Hospital’s head of social welfare, Voraphat Saengkaew, told the Bangkok Post that miscommunication between the HRDF and the hospital staff might have resulted in the call for police to take responsibility.
“We’re not bad guys. In fact, the hospital has been shouldering lots of burdens for patients without any legal status for many years,” Ms Voraphat said.
“Of course, there are humanitarian policies, but in practice there are a lot of issues that we have to resolve by ourselves on a case-by-case and daily basis.”
Ms Voraphat said she had tried to contact employers to settle bills but they did not show up. She also found no other records from Thanyaburi Hospital, where Mr Tiyu claimed he had health insurance.
“We’ve waited for the HRDF to come up with a timely response about whether they could find a shelter. But we have other pressing needs to deal with.
“Since no one was taking care of him, our staff called the police. It’s probably miscommunication, nothing ill-intentioned.”
This is the first year a healthcare subsidy for people without status has been allocated. Pathum Thani Hospital receives 170,000 baht a year for such purposes, but its medical bills for this group last year exceeded 8 million baht.
“We’re handling some 200 people who have no status. Implementation of good policy is still an uphill task,” Ms Voraphat said.
Surapong Kongchantuk, chairman of the Lawyers Society of Thailand subcommittee on human rights, thanked immigration officials for sending Mr Tiyu to hospital and not blindly deporting him.
13:51, February 04, 2011
An exchange of gunfire between two Mon ethnic armed groups of Myanmar in Kyaikmaraw, southeastern Mon state, has left one villager dead, the official daily New Light of Myanmar reported Friday.
The gunfire was exchanged in a rubber plantation between a Mon splinter group, led by platoon commander Ko Yin Lay, and a group from the New Mon State Party, led by company commander Ba Kyaw, killing the villager over the last three days.
It has not yet confirmed that how many insurgents from both sides were injured and killed during the battle, the report doubted, adding that the government troop is in hot pursuit after the two groups.
Sify News – Why is a billion-strong democracy silent on Egypt?
A. Vinod Kumar | 2011-02-04 13:50:00 The parliament sat numbed, in an otherwise engaging November evening, when President Barack Obama, head of one of the two largest democracies, reminded the other that it had largely shied away from condemning suppression of democratic rights and movements. Obama’s specific reference was to Myanmar and India’s imperviousness to the military junta’s rigged elections and repression of democracy groups.
That this reference followed an exuberant praise of India’s support to South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement indicated a veiled rebuke of India’s current policy of engaging whoever is in power in a country of interest.
Mubarak likely to step down under US brokered deal
Neither is Washington an immaculate chevalier of the democracy sacrament. In fact, half of the world’s autocrats owed their existence to American backing. Yet, at the risk of throwing stone from a glasshouse, Obama could question India’s diminishing contribution to the global democracy cause, especially when it aspires to be permanently ordained in the UN Security Council.
Between them, India and the US have issued half-a-dozen joint statements in the past decade, with platitudinous reaffirmation of their common democratic virtues and commitment to its promotion globally. New Delhi, though, has hardly moved a finger in fulfilling this mission, often relegating such processes as the internal affairs of a country.
Simply so, its discreet silence and reclusiveness ever since the Jasmine Revolution swept the Arab world belies its trappings of an emerging global power. Though ignoring the turbulence in a less-prominent Tunisia was affordable to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Egyptian upheaval has put South Block into a diplomatic dilemna. At the heart of the matter is New Delhi’s reluctance to write off President Hosni Mubarak, who, like for the US and Israel, has been a long-time friend of New Delhi since the Non-Alignment days.
Mubarak’s net worth estimated at $40-70 bn
Despite the elephantine street protests, India convincingly feels Mubarak might pull through, at least temporarily, until a transition to a new regime. Misplaced fears of a potential embarrassment from a pro-democracy statement if Mubarak manages to survive have forced a pathetic timidity in the MEA, which could not even garner the courage shown by Washington through its fairly balanced exhortation of an ‘orderly transition’.
The roots of the MEA predicament lie not in its ‘realist’ policy transmutation of engaging useful regimes irrespective of their political attire. India’s insensitivity towards the ‘revolution’ could rather be attributed to the absence of a policy on how to approach political emancipation movements in the neighbourhood and farther out. After decades of Nehruvian-inspired crusades in favour of freedom struggles, third world empowerment and nuclear have-nots, India’s enhanced power profile, spurred by its astonishing economic growth, had prompted it to place itself among the global elite, but without appreciation of the responsibilities that comes with such elevation.
Driven by enlightened national interest, India has competitively engaged autocrats and juntas in its increasing bid to outmanoeuvre the Chinese influence in its strategic hinterland, extending up to Africa. Lost in this policy transformation was its ideological conviction on democracy and the will to endorse popular movements.
Egyptian journalist quits state TV
The turmoil in Egypt is an acid test which though also endows an opportunity to frame a long-term policy on its approach to popular movements and political turmoil. For, soon to follow on the heels of Egypt could be similar exigencies in volatile nations, including Yemen, Syria and Iran, and possibly even in the neighbourhood, in Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
A principled stand on such issues also becomes a pre-qualification for the UNSC ambition, more so being a billion-strong democracy. An Indian contribution to the democracy discourse is significant considering the dichotomies and prejudices that has emerged during the Bush years. Even while issuing joint statements with the Bush administration on promotion of democracy, New Delhi had not endorsed the Bush doctrine of forced regime change in tumultuous zones like the Middle East and Africa.
The Egyptian case embodies the diplomatic quandary for external powers forced to respond to political movements in regions known for their ethnic fault-lines, and where democracy has little rooting. The underlying theme of the Egyptian movement is to gain an inalienable right for the people to decide their destiny. Egyptians are revolting against a decades-old system wherein power elites subverted the means of popular determination and unilaterally determined the nation’s course.
The permeation of the Jasmine Revolution across the Arab world, and potentially to Africa and Middle East, could largely be attributed to the fact many of the nations in these regions are governed by autocracies, Mukhabarat (military-intelligence) regimes, and in some cases theocracies, all of which gives only marginal space for people’s will.
Attack on journos in Egypt unacceptable, says US
A post-Mubarak transition need not necessarily end up in a pure democratic system, rather could even lead to another semi-autocracy or a junta. Like in Pakistan, the army holds the reins of Egypt’s political system. Notwithstanding its sympathies for the movement, its plans for the transition are ambiguous. For, in a highly-fractured polity with no credible alternatives, the army will be self-empowered to preside over the transition. Fears of the radical Muslim Brotherhood attaining sway have gained traction, which could encourage a long-term military involvement to ensure moderation.
Considering this scenario, an outright support to the movement might not be prudent. Rather, the Indian approach should be to back a reform process that could facilitate a free-and-fair franchise to determine the future of the nation. Ultimately, Egyptians will have to decide their destiny, even if it is for an Islamic republic or an Islamocracy.
The Irrawaddy – Suu Kyi’s Davos Speech: A Radical U-Turn?
By HTET AUNGThursday, February 3, 2011
In her first major international speech since her release from house arrest in November, Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi spoke for the first time about investment opportunities in Burma.
In an articulate pre-recorded message to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Suu Kyi lauded the potential for investment in Burma to a gathering of world leaders, businessmen, politicians, academics and civil society representatives.
Following growing criticism of her party’s intransigence on the existing economic sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia, Suu Kyi acknowledged that the people of Burma has been left behind while their neighbors develop economic ties with the junta, and exploit Burma’s abundant natural resources at the expense of internal political conflict in the country.
“We have already missed so many opportunities because of political conflicts in our country over the last 50 years,” said Suu Kyi in her speech. “Despite an abundance of natural resources, Burma’s development has lagged far behind its neighbors.”
At first glimpse, her speech leads to the conclusion that Suu Kyi admits the sanctions have failed and have restricted Burma’s development; even more so when she went on to encourage foreign investment, albeit with principles attached.
“I would like to request those who have invested or who are thinking of investing in Burma to put a premium on respect for the law, on environmental and social factors, on the rights of workers, on job creation and on the promotion of technological skills,” she said.
Does this speech mark a radical U-turn in Suu Kyi’s attitude toward sanctions? Did she simply want to make a point about foreign investment? Or is she offering yet another olive branch to the generals, touting herself as a cheerleader for the new government?
“I don’t think her speech was a departure from her past approach,” said Prof. Sean Turnell of Macquarie University in Australia, a longterm economic expert on Burma. “What she said was not only sensible and reasonable in terms of social justice, but also in terms of sound economics.
“She really called for an infusion of foreign investment in Burma that was both in and of itself intrinsically beneficial in terms of Burma’s longterm economic development, and for the sort of environment that would maximize the benefits of such investment.”
Indeed, the speech proves Suu Kyi’s commitment to the people of Burma to improve the lot of the common citizens while sacrificing the political platform of her party, which was coincidentally denied the right to exist by Burma’s Court of Appeal on the same day she gave this speech at Davos.
Has her speech lessened the contentious debate about Burmese sanctions? Several Rangoon-based economists have recently analyzed whether the existing economic sanctions really hurt the ordinary people or the junta and its business circle.
Heading back to 1997 when the first US economic sanctions were imposed on the Burmese regime, more than 75 percent of Burma’s population was agrarian or reliant on the agriculture industry for their livelihoods.
Then, as now, the traditional export markets for Burmese agricultural produce are largely within Asia, with a very tiny market in Africa, and nothing in North America or Europe. As the Asian countries did not impose economic sanctions on Burma, and in many cases actively engaged with the junta, no barriers existed in Asian trade and investment in Burma.
Therefore, the rise or decline of trade between Burma and its Asian neighbors has never had anything to do with the Western sanctions. Of course, at the same time it is fair to say that Asia’s eagerness to do business with the junta is the major reason for the ineffectiveness of the economist sanctions. But on the whole, US and EU trade has played a minuscule role in the country’s economy since long before sanctions hit the table.
The US financial sanctions blocked the junta’s US Dollar transaction in its international trade, but Burma’s business elite are still able to use the Euro and other currencies.
Therefore, the junta’s ability to sell natural gas to Thailand has remained unhindered, and it has in recent years been able to expand the market to China.
Natural resource exports such as oil, gas, gems and teak are thriving businesses, but ones which require a huge investment up front. Indisputably, these contracts have remained the domain of the military generals, their families and their cronies, and they do not affect the common people of Burma.
The tiny portion of the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) from the industrial sector goes only to local markets.
Because of the low quality of the products, they don’t have a market outside the country; their competitive power is further reduced due to the enhanced status of popular imports mainly from China, India and Thailand.
But many still favor targeted sanctions.
“I believe sanctions that limit the ability of regime officials and connected cronies to use the international financial system, to both expropriate and disguise ill-gotten rents from exclusive access to Burma’s natural resources, will continue to have utility,” said Turnell.
In this point, a thorough policy analysis should be done on why the flow of foreign investments into the country’s agricultural and industrial sectors has been extremely low while their flow in the area of the natural resource extraction has been skyrocketing.
“Investment in manufacturing, agriculture and the like requires a degree of certainty—of reasonable property rights against expropriation—but such rights are not present in Burma,” said Turnell, who established Burma Economic Watch, an online resource on Burma’s economy. “Accordingly, Burma attracts the investment typical of that which flows to unstable states, the sort that through resource extraction (digging, cutting and carrying away) yields quick cash with little interaction with the economy as a whole.”
The rise and decline of the Foreign Direct Investment flow in a country depends mainly on domestic political and economic stability—the two areas are interlinked.
Suu Kyi emphasized this fact in her speech. “I believe that as necessary steps towards integration within the global community Burma must achieve national reconciliation, political stability and economic growth grounded in human resources development,” she said. “Without the first two—which are essential for the basic requirements of good governance such as transparency, accountability, credibility and integrity—social and economic development will remain mere pipe dreams.”
No government in this 21st century believes that it alone can build the state structures in the economic, social, political and cultural arenas without the support and active participation of its citizens.
Since her release, critics of Suu Kyi inside and outside the country have said that if Suu Kyi gave up her stand on sanctions, dialogue could begin between the junta and the NLD. But they have never shown their broad analysis on what are the root causes that have brought about the long economic stagnation in Burma.
She has taken a radical step—perhaps with a conciliatory tone—in announcing her economic principles at the World Economic Forum. If the Burmese generals do place national interests above all else, and are truly serious about improving the country’s economy, the time has come for the regime to consider Suu Kyi’s offer to work together for the betterment of the people.
The Irrawaddy – Burma’s Puppet Show
By AUNG ZAW Friday, February 4, 2011
Let me be clear that Burma’s new Parliament will not pave the way for change; nor will “disciplinary democracy flourish.” It is very much a hush-hush affair in military style—even choosing its own puppet to run the show. It is a show of cowards and clowns roaming the Parliament.
This week, the puppet master Snr-Gen Than Shwe was making his move. The senior general kept his thoughts to himself until the last minute, keeping everyone guessing who the president and vice-president will be. There are some surprises though.
Gen Shwe Mann is out of favor—he is now the chairman of the Lower House. Prime Minister Thein Sein and Tin Aung Myint Oo were nominated to be vice-presidents. Last month, a journalist friend told me that Thein Sein was the likely candidate to become president. And so it has come to pass.
As a token gesture, an ethnic Shan—Sai Mauk Kham, a little known politician from the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)—was elected as one of three vice-presidents. This confirmed earlier speculation that the regime would appoint someone from an ethnic region to be vice-president. Burma’s first president in 1948 was Shan.
If we were betting on Shwe Mann to become president, then we were all betting on the wrong horse. Shwe Mann was exposed long ago.
Did Than Shwe lose trust in him?
Some even speculated that there was an internal rift between two wives. What happened between Than Shwe’s wife Kyaing Kyaing and Shwe Mann’s wife Khin Lay Thet?
Khin Lay Thet often babysits Than Shwe’s grandchildren and runs errands for his daughters. This helped Shwe Mann rise to the rank of joint chief of staff of the army, navy and air force.
Remember that since 1997, Than Shwe has brought many of his trusted officers to the War Office, including Gen Soe Win, Gen Thein Sein, Gen Thura Shwe Mann, Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo and Gen Tin Aye. Except for Gen Soe Win, who was prime minister until he died in 2007, the rest are still there.
Shwe Mann is no saint. He has used his position to increase his family’s wealth. Two of his sons set up a company, Ayer Shwe Wah, which monopolizes the lucrative import and export business. It is entirely impossible to believe that Than Shwe doesn’t know anything of Shwe Mann and his sons’ business. Some say the senior general is known to be upset with his business connection. There were spin-doctors who in the past said that Shwe Mann is the one who would reform the economy once he became president.
There is a rumor circulating in Burma that Kyaing Kyaing is upset with Khin Lay Thet. Inside sources speculate that Than Shwe and Kyaing Kyaing thought Khin Lay Thet spoiled their children and grandchildren, who became increasingly unpopular in Burma.
Remember what happened between Kyaing Kyaing and Dr Khin Win Shwe, the wife of intelligence chief Gen Khin Nyunt? Many would agree family relations play a key role in Burma’s power dynamics.
But who knew that Than Shwe trusted Thein Sein enough to make him president? Until last week, no one was sure who he was thinking to select.
Thein Sein is a loyal officer and known to be an administrator. He has served under Than Shwe in the War Office since the early 1990s. With Than Shwe’s blessings, he rapidly rose through the ranks.
Born on April 21, 1945, Thein Sein is known to be less corrupt than many other generals, such as Shwe Mann and Tin Aung Myint Oo. He is not that controversial compared to many other top-ranking generals. But once he reaches the top, more dirt on Thein Sein will likely emerge.
Thein Sein is known to take no initiative but will wait for orders from his boss, Than Shwe. At 66, he is believed to be suffering from heart disease and wanting to retire. But the puppet master asked him to stay on. If Burma becomes chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the near future, Thein Sein is the best choice to present the new regime.
It is Than Shwe’s technique to play moderates off of hardliners. If Thein Sein is soft, Tin Aung Myint Oo is a fire-breathing dragon and notoriously corrupt. He has a foul mouth and many officers resent him. But this is useful. Than Shwe usually keeps a villain in the regime to serve his own interests. He can always hide behind the villain.
The bonus to Than Shwe, who just turned 78 this month, is that Thein Sein and Tin Aung Myint Oo are at loggerheads.
Is history repeating itself? Remember that Than Shwe silently sat and watched the bitter fight between intelligence and infantry factions until 2002 before he stepped in. He benefited from a fierce power struggle between Gen Khin Nyunt and Gen Maung Aye. To remain the puppet master, Than Shwe needs to keep two rivals at the top. He won’t leave soon.
This is his way of preserving his absolute power.
By KO HTWE Friday, February 4, 2011
Less than 100 Burmese citizens are known to be working and living in Cairo, but despite the ongoing riots and violence in the city, the Burmese embassy has made no effort to contact or repatriate its nationals, sources in Egypt said.
There was no reply at the Burmese Embassy in Cairo when The Irrawaddy called for comment.
Ko Tu, a worker from Irrawaddy Division, who has lived in the Egyptian capital with his wife and two children for nine years, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that riots had taken place near his apartment, but nevertheless, he said he would rather take his chances in Egypt than go back to Burma.
He said that his relatives in Burma are worried about him, especially now that the Internet and phone lines are down.
“A shopping center nearby was looted and set on fire four days ago,” he said. “The police have been questioning people who carry bags in the street.”
Ba Like, a Burmese cook for an Italian company in Cairo, said, “I’m not afraid. I have been through worse when the Burmese government cracked down on demonstrators during the 1988 uprising.”
Thousands of other foreigners in Egypt and international tourists have already left the country with embassies contacting their citizens and national airlines stepping up their services to accommodate the emergency evacuation.
“Most foreigners have left the country, but the Burmese embassy will not take any responsibility for us,” said Ba Like. “If the situation worsens and we have to leave the country, we’ll have to do so on our own.”
Thousands of Burmese working in the Middle East and the United Arab Emirates depend on the Burmese Embassy in Cairo for passport and visa services, as well as business and bureaucratic transactions, as there are few other Burmese embassies in the region.
Meanwhile, in Burma, many viewers have been eagerly watching events unfold in Egypt on foreign media such as BBC, CNN and Al-Jazeera.
“The Burmese public are encouraged by the demonstrations in Egypt,” said Phyo Min Thein, a politician in Rangoon in reference to the million-strong protests against the 29-year autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak.
Friday, 04 February 2011 18:36 Thomas Maung Shwe
Mizzima – Burma activists in Europe on Friday welcomed the Belgian government’s decision to support the creation of a UN Commission of Inquiry to probe possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the military government.
Belgium is now the 14th nation and the 10th EU member to support the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry on Burma.
Last fall, Belgium’s caretaker government indicated that it would likely support the creation of an inquiry. Interim Foreign Minister Steven Van Ackere told a Parliamentary committee that ‘the past should not be hidden’.
‘The proposal to establish a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity…must therefore, logically be included into this process’, he said.
In a press release heralding the move, Belgium-based Action Birmanie [Burma] said on Friday: ‘There is abundant proof of the possible crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Burmese generals, and these crimes occur increasingly. The time has come for these [crimes] to be investigated, in order to put an end to the culture of impunity, which feeds on a daily basis the oppression in Burma.’
Belgium has been without a permanent government since last June, when federal elections produced an electoral stalemate in which the Flemish nationalists N-VA party headed by Bart De Wever became the largest party in the country. Coalition talks between the Flemish N-VA and parties representing Belgium’s French-speaking community have dragged on for more than 230 day.
Friday, 04 February 2011 21:40 Kun Chan
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Township Peace and Development Councils in three townships in Mon State have forced farmers to donate money and rice to the army, according to local farmers.
Since early February, many farmers in Thanbyuzayat Township and some villages in Mudon Township were forced to give the army a bushel of rice and 1,000 kyat (about US$ 1) for each acre they work.
The Township Peace and Development councils reportedly ordered the relevant authorities to hold a meeting with villagers to collect money and rice, according to farmers in Wakharu Village in Thanbyuzayat Township.
A farmer in Kamawak Village in Mudon Township said that continuous rain from December 10 to 12 and heavy rain on January 11 spoiled his paddy fields and the rice that was harvested, but if he didn’t give as they asked he feared the army would confiscate his land.
Another farmer in Mudon told Mizzima that the land itself was also an issue with the farmers.
‘Although we work on our farms, we do not have the right to own our farms. If we refused to give them what they demanded, our paddy fields could be confiscated. So, I must give in every possible way’.
In Burma, ownership of farm land by farmers was eliminated by the Land Nationalization Act and the Tenancy Act of 1963.
Burma’s Meteorology and Hydrology Department in Naypyidaw announced that Moulmein received a record high rainfall of 4.09 inches on December 18, 2010.
Friday, 04 February 2011 21:28 Te Te
New Delhi (Mizzima) – ‘The Prison Where I live’, a film about the Burmese comedian Zarganar, who is serving a 35-year prison sentence, was screened on Thursday at the South Asia Foreign Reporters’ Club in New Delhi.
British director Rex Bloomstein filmed the documentary in 2007, and it includes numerous interviews with the popular comedian who was jailed by the military government for his humanitarian work during Cyclone Nargis.
‘Democracy and human rights is the hottest issues of Burma and in the world arena’, film producer Justin Temple told Mizzima. ‘They have conducted a general election in Burma but more than 2,200 political prisoners are still in prisons.
‘Among them, Zarganar is known to the whole world for his marvelous spirit. In this film, we tell about these political prisoners by portraying his exemplary role’.
The 90-minute film, includes scenes and interviews filmed while traveling with Zarganar for two days, and it discusses topics including the torture of political prisoners, banning performance artists and surveillance on artists and entertainers by the military authorities.
The film was showed at a Munich film festival in Germany in June last year.
Director Bloomstein said on his website that he had numerous interviews with Zarganar, and he got the idea for the film after the authorities arrested the comedian following the Saffron Revolution in 2007 and Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
The film includes many insights by Zarganar, made to director Bloomstein, such as: “The people have many words that they dare not speak in their deep hearts. I am just the amplifier of these words for them’’.
‘We laugh when the people laugh, we cry when the people cry, we hate when the people hate. We must stand in front of them.’
The narrator of the film, Michael Mittermeier, is one of the most famous comedians in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and he has visited Burma as a tourist. Mittermeier says at the end of the film: ‘They can oppress only the body but not the soul, spirit and heart. What they fear are these things’.
The film was shown at the International Film Festival held in Jaipur, India, from January 27 to 30. It will also be screened in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.
A secret court inside Insein Prison Zarganar to 59 years in November 2009 (later reduced to 35 years) on charges that he violated the military government’s laws regarding sending electronic transmissions (Internet usage) that could endanger public security and threaten the state and other charges.
By NANG KHAM KAEW Published: 4 February 2011A perceived lack of political awareness and interest among Burmese youths is potentially damaging to the future direction of the country, the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) has warned.
Young Burmese are being “swayed from politics by entertainment and materialist interests”, the head of the NLD general-secretary’s office, Win Htein, said yesterday during a celebration of veteran politician U Tin’s birthday.
He added that party leader Aung San Suu Kyi had developed concerns about the lack of a politicised youth in Burma where the median age remains relatively young, at 28 years.
The Nobel laureate is next week due to meet hundreds of young Burmese from across the country who are active in social and humanitarian work.
Since her release from house arrest in November last year, Suu Kyi has made engagement with Burma’s youth a priority and has spoken of her intentions to bring herself up to date with youth fads, such as social networking.
Win Htein said that the party would “make an effort to spread the idea among them that they play an important role in the country’s future politics”.
He acknowledged however that youngsters are hesitant to get involved in politics, a potentially dangerous venture in Burma where any sign political mobilisation can draw the wrath of the ruling regime.
University students were at the vanguard of the infamous 1988 uprising, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest economic mismanagement and government oppression. Up to 6000 were gunned down by the military.
Numbers of underground youth activist groups still exist, but their actions are closely monitored by the junta. With a new parliament and, ostensibly, a new political landscape, however, Suu Kyi has urged young Burmese to lend their voice to open debate about the country’s future.