BURMA RELATED NEWS – AUGUST 10, 2011
Aug 10th, 2011
By Zin Linn Aug 10, 2011 2:30AM UTC
The Shan State Army (SSA) has been launching guerilla-warfare on Burma Army units on the frontline. As a result, Burmese soldiers are facing morale and disciplinary problems due to shortage of rations, reports the Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.).
The SSA troops seized a large amount of Burma Army’s supplies including rice, onions, eggplants, fish paste, partially rotted fish, dry fish and condensed milk.
The Burmese military units sent a village headman to ask for the return of their supplies, saying they had nothing to eat. It is a pathetic attempt since the fight was started by the Burmese soldiers themselves.
“We asked the village headman to tell them we were sorry, but we were also facing the same trouble because of their offensive,” an SSA officer wrote to Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.).
“We had nothing to return their rations although we want to, because those rations were already eaten up by our fighters.”
According to the latest information, six infantry battalions have been deployed at two junctions around Wanhai, the SSA HQ in Kehsi Township. Light Infantry Battalion 513 and another infantry battalion, together 179 strong at the Pakhee junction, southeast of Wanhai, according to SHAN.
Pakhee can be reached from Monghsu in the east and Mongnawng from the south, while Nampook from Mongyai in the north and Kehsi from the south. The Burma Army has been deploying several units to take security measures for the main communication roads. But so far, they have been creating different results, as the SSA, both North and South, have been carrying out traditional guerrilla tactics.
Out of 14 infantry battalions surrounding Wanhai, only three remain, referring the SSA sources SHAN reported. The supplies were unloaded at Loi Kawngmu Markkieng, between Wan Merd and Kieng Lern, eight miles and seven miles respectively west of Wanhai. Both villages are under the control of the Burma Army.
Commenting on this, Lt-Gen Yawdserk, leader of the Shan State Army (SSA) South, said, “There could be two reasons: One, the Burma Army is changing its tactical plan. Two, it is waiting for the Shan State Government to send its delegation to negotiate with Sao Pang Fa (leader of the SSA North), like they are doing in Kachin State.”
According to the SSA North’s latest report, the two sides for the first time joined forces and fought against the Burma Army in Mongnawng Sub-township of Kehsi Township, 28-30 July.
The Burma Army’s objectives with the current Zwe Man Hein maneuver against the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’ is to grab hold of the border areas between it and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and it has been doing well in that respect, quoting a veteran Burma observer, Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.) reported in last week April.
To carry out the maneuver, Burma Army has been reactivated the 4 cut policy since the ceasefire groups dismissed the Border Guard Force program. According to the Burma observer on Sino-Burma border, the 4 cut campaign, includes: (a) Cutting and blockading of communications between rebel armed groups; (b)Embargo of people and consumer goods entering rebel territories; (c) Search and destruction of core members responsible for supply, information, funds and recruits; (d) Embargo on trade to reduce rebel revenue.
The four cuts campaign launched 1996-98 had been in vain. It caused displacement of more than 300,000 people in 1,500 villages in 11 townships in Shan State, (S.H.A.N.) said.
Meanwhile, five ethnic parties on August 3 called on the Burmese government to shape a peacemaking committee to discontinue the prevalent warfare in ethnic areas.
On April 5, the Friends of Democratic Parties bloc, an alliance of five ethnic political parties, also released a statement urging the government to hold a comprehensive “Union conference” to end armed conflicts in Burma.
On July 28, Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi made an appeal for political talks and an urgent ceasefire between major ethnic rebel groups – Kachin Independence Organization, Karen National Union, New Mon State Party, Shan State Army – and government troops.
“National reconciliation cannot be accomplished by using military might. If stakeholders used the gun to solve out the disagreement, it will make disadvantage for all sides. To establish an authentic national unity, that will make safe the future of the Union, can only be accomplished through political dialogue,” Aung San Suu Kyi says in her open letter.
But, President Thein Sein government turns a deaf ear to the calls for ceasefire and peace.
Although the Burma Army is caught up under Shan rebels’ guerilla-warfare, its government has no idea of armistice so far. Instead, Burma army has been strengthening its troops in Shan, Kachin and Karen States planning to crack down using four-cut tactics toward the ethnic armed forces defending their self-determination.
By Zin Linn Aug 11, 2011 12:41AM UTC
Burma’s new constitution, approved in May 2008 referendum was inundated with several misleading principles. It says the country must be under one and the only military command.
To bring in line with this proviso, the previous military regime had ordered all armed ethnic rebel groups to become part of Burma’s border guard forces ahead of the 2010 election.
The border guard force, which was announced in April 2009, will cut up the ethnic rebels’ strength and their military autonomy. In addition, all these border-guard regiments will have to come under the supervision of a Burmese army officer. It was a tactical move to disarm the ethnic rebels. But several ceased-fire groups are unwilling to fall a prey to this ploy.
The consequences of ethnic conflicts made by Burmese authorities create challenges for a peaceful Burma. In such a situation, nobody would say Burma is on the road to democracy under civil administrative system. While the ethnic population is under attack, majority people will not believe every peace-activity of Burmese government. The average population disapproved government’s so-called peacemaking process as duplicity.
Currently, Union Parliament Representatives all together 23 signed and released an open letter for peace proponents dated 8 August 2011 with the name of People’s Representatives, National Races Representatives, the government newspaper New Light of Myanmar said yesterday.
The MPs who signed the said letter are U Hsaung Si, U Saw Nay Kaw Gyi, U Khun Maung Thaung, U Ngun Moung, U Saw Thein Aung, U Mahn Maung Maung Nyan, Dr Than Win, U Sai Thiha Kyaw, Daw Mi Yin Chan, Daw Nan Wah Nu, Daw Dwe Bu, Daw Nan Nwan, Daw Khin Saw Wai, Daw Mi Myint Than, U Thurein Zaw, U Win Sein, U T Khun Myat, U Maung Toe, U Hla Myint Oo, U Than Myint and Amyotha Hluttaw Representatives U Za Khun Ting Ring, U Nay Win Tun and U Mahn Aung Tin Myint.
Without discussing each other, ordinary citizens instinctively know who is behind the open letter of 23 MPs. In one clause, the open letter says, “In fact, every one needs to know the truth behind the emergence of the armed struggle line of the groups at odds, their means to exist throughout the successive eras, and their goals.” People feel such analysis as pessimistic point of view.
In response to the open letter by 23 MPs on 8 August which was published in the New Light of Myanmar yesterday, Lt-Gen Yawdserk, leader of the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), said he was keeping an open door for negotiations with the President Thein Sein government, despite the failure in 2007, according to Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.)
“I have already been approached by Thai officials who said they were conveying the message at the request of their Burmese counterparts” said Yawdserk. “ According to them, the government wants to talk with us on how to end the conflict.”
The 52-year old leader of the SSA ‘South’, Lt-Gen Yawdserk told Shan Herald Agency for News his only conditions were that there should be no conditions.
“Each side must be allowed to air its views freely”, he explained. “And owing to the fact that the topic of our meeting is serious, there must be an officially written invitation.”
The planned meeting between the two sides on 23 May 2007 failed to materialize at the last minute, when the Burma Army side said the venue should take place in Tachilek, and not in Maesai in Thai territory as proposed by the SSA.
“The first meeting, we believe should be held at a neutral location,” Yawdserk told SHAN at that time. “But future meetings can be held anywhere, even in Pyinmana (Naypyitaw), if sufficient mutual trust has been built up.”
Since 13 March, the SSA South and North have been moving closer to each other following an offensive on the SSA North by the Burma Army.
According to a source Burma army soldiers took shelter under villagers’ houses and monasteries to avoid gunfire from the Shan armed forces. The battles between the Shan army and the Burma Army have begun since 13 March up to date and had injured and killed dozens of civilians including soldiers.
Actually, 23 MPs who co-signed the open letter for negotiation are just pawns of the military-backed sham civilian government. According to some analysts, the President Thein Sein government has been following the previous junta’s aggressive policy. The move seems playing divide and rule old stance to disorganize among the ethnic groups under various conditions.
By Todd Pitman
Associated Press / August 10, 2011
BANGKOK—More than 30,000 people have been displaced by fighting in eastern Myanmar this year despite the army handing power over to a nominally civilian government, activist groups said Wednesday.
Civilians traumatized by atrocities by troops including rape and mutilation now face “a dire humanitarian crisis” as many have fled into forests near their villages in Shan state, according to the Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women’s Action Network.
The groups called for international donors to help with aid, saying many were enduring chronic shortages of food, water, shelter and medicine, and noting 24 people had died of diarrhea and malaria in the past month.
“With the regime keeping tight control on all aid in Burma, cross-border aid is the only way to reach war-affected populations,” said Shan Women’s Action Network coordinator Nang Hseng Moon. “We urge international donors to respond to this humanitarian crisis before further lives are lost.”
The skirmishes — which broke a 22-year cease-fire — began in March just weeks before the new civilian-led administration took over after years of rule by a military junta.
The change was supposed to herald a new democratic era in the repressive nation, but critics say little has changed and the new government has become a proxy for continued army rule.
More than 100,000 refugees remain outside the country, and hundreds of thousands more are displaced within Myanmar from past violence.
Fighting intensified in July, when 4,000 government troops backed by fighter jets moved to seize the northern Shan rebel group’s headquarters in Wan Hai, the groups’ statement said.
“Advancing through surrounding villages, troops have been scaling up atrocities against civilians, including killing, rape and mutilation,” the statement said. “One dead villager was found with his leg and hand cut off.”
Similar fighting further north in Kachin state has displaced 20,000 people since June. In Shan state, the groups say 31,700 people have been displaced since March.
Wed Aug 10, 2011 6:5AM GMT
Preethi Nallu, Press TV, Mae Sot
The report details the severity of their current situation whilst working on the front lines as messengers and carriers without weapons, protection or basic rights.
Myanmar is the only country that currently implements military portering. Lead researchers explain the hazardous nature of these convicts’ tasks on the frontlines of an ongoing insurgency between the state military and ethnic armed groups.
The footage shown is from two separate locations in Myanmar where 700 convicts were gathered in southern Karen State and another 500 in eastern Pegu Division for two different offensives. Researchers present this as evidence of a systematic practice that they claim dates back to as early as 1992.
A young man, aged 20, was taken from a prison and sent as part of a large group to Karen State. He describes his experience whilst fleeing earlier this year.
The options for porters who manage to escape are limited because of their criminal backgrounds.
The Myanmar government has acknowledged that the practice occurs but claims that the porters do no not face grave dangers during their work. UN agencies continue to raise various issues of forced labor with the government in Naypyidaw.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has been at odds with the Myanmar government for years because of the regime’s constitutional provisions that authorize the use of civilians as porters. The ILO renewed the forced labor pact that was first signed in 2007 with the current administration. The pact allows the ILO to investigate cases of forced labor with expected cooperation from government officials.
In addition to convicts, the Myanmar military also forces civilians in ethnic minority areas to serve as porters during offensives.
The verdict of the report produced in collaboration with the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) is that these abuses, that amount to war crimes, are being committed with complicit involvement from high level civilian and military officials and that they should form part of a comprehensive commission of inquiry led by the UN.
By Jeremy Laurence
SEOUL | Tue Aug 9, 2011 8:39am EDT
(Reuters) – The world’s most closed country North Korea has nothing to reform or open up, the ruling party’s newspaper reported on Tuesday, accusing the United States of trying to impose its own ways to stifle socialism.
But in a rare concession, the Worker’s Party official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, indirectly admitted something the rest of the world has been saying for decades: its economy is in trouble.
“‘Reform’ and ‘opening’ much touted by the imperialists and reactionaries are not ‘a remedy’ for the DPRK to weather its economic difficulties or to revitalize its economy,” the paper said, referring to the North by its acronym.
The North’s centrally-planned economy, which only a few decades ago was stronger than its southern neighbor, has gone downhill after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Yet, the North has steadfastly stood by its policy of juche, or self-reliance, even as the rest of the communist world bowed to capitalism.
Juche was the brainchild of the state’s founder Kim Il-sung who pressed ahead with his ideology from the 1950s espousing “the ability to act independently without regard to outside interference.”
Further isolating the North, the outside world has imposed economic sanctions for its pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
But the United States and South Korea are not alone in calling for the North to change its economic ways. Its main benefactor, and only powerful friend, China also wants the North to open up.
China, which has surged to become the world’s second largest economy after adopting “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” or controlled capitalism, wants the North to do the same.
There have been signs that change is in the air, with the North pressing on this year with the creation of special economic zones to attract foreign investment and boost trade. [ID:nL3E7J203K]
But the Stalinist state insists it won’t be pressured into change by the capitalists from Washington, who themselves have endured a wobbly past few years with the 2008 financial crisis and this year’s debt crunch.
“The imperialists do not want to change their system but work hard to pressurize others to change their systems as dictated by them,” Rodong Sinmun said.
“This is an arbitrary and high-handed practice intolerable in the international community.
“Their escalating moves to force ‘reform’ and ‘opening’ on the DPRK are a wanton infringement on its sovereignty, shameless interference in its internal affairs and a blatant violation of international law on relations among countries.”
By Aung Hla Tun, Reuters August 10, 2011 10:01 AM
YANGON – North Korean trade officials visited Myanmar this week to discuss a possible deal to import Burmese rice to ease major food shortages at home, a government official said on Wednesday.
A meeting was held on Tuesday in the country’s biggest city, Yangon, but the terms of the agreement and how North Korea planned to pay for the rice were not known, the official told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
A North Korea-flagged cargo ship named Tumangang has been docked in the port city since Monday. Witnesses and a Reuters photographer said the vessel appeared empty and no cargo was seen being loaded or unloaded.
Myanmar was once the world’s biggest rice exporter and has shipped 450,000 tonnes of the grain so far this year, up from 440,000 tonnes for the whole of 2010. It exported 1.1 million tonnes in 2009, mostly to markets in Africa and the Middle East.
Its rice could be vital to North Korea, an impoverished, isolated nation that rarely produces enough food to feed its 24 million people, often as a result of bad weather affecting harvests.
International sanctions over its nuclear weapons program combined with neighbouring South Korea’s refusal to provide help have led to a substantial decline in food aid from its traditional donors.
ALTERNATIVE SUPPLIERS
North Korea has started to seek out new suppliers. A delegation from Pyongyang visited Cambodia two weeks ago to discuss a deal to import its rice, but officials from both countries refused to disclose details.
However, a Cambodian minister said North Korea had offered to provide agricultural machinery to Cambodia, suggesting a barter agreement may have been discussed.
The Burmese official said the North Koreans who visited Yangon on Tuesday dealt directly with the military-owned Myanma Economic Holding Ltd. (MEHL), one of the country’s biggest firms. MEHL enjoys a monopoly of many of the country’s most lucrative import and export produce.
A senior member of from the Myanmar Chambers of Federation of Commerce and Industry said it was likely North Korea would try to import more than just rice, noting that it previously bought Burmese rubber.
Ties between the two reclusive countries were restored in 2007 after a 24-year freeze that followed the failed assassination attempt by North Korea agents on then South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan during a visit to Myanmar.
The revived ties have worried the United States, which believes Myanmar’s military has sought to develop its own nuclear weapons technology using North Korean expertise.
Scientists in Myanmar have been involved in nuclear experiments but the government insists it is for peaceful purposes, a claim Burmese defectors and weapons experts reject.
Bernama – 1 hour 35 minutes ago
GEORGE TOWN, Aug 10 (Bernama) — A Myanmar who was kidnapped from his house, two days ago, was found dead with a slit throat in Bukit Tengah, Seberang Perai, early today.
The body of the 32-year-old victim, who had worked as a technician, was found about 3am.
Initial police investigations have revealed that vengeance was the motive behind the killing.
This followed the arrest of three suspects — known to the victim — who led the police to the location of the body.
The police also picked up eight Myanmars and a local in Bukit Mertajam to facilitate investigations, said Penang police chief Datuk Wira Ayub Yaakob.
He said the case was classified as kidnap-cum-murder.
He said, about 2am on Monday, the victim received a call involving work and left his house. When he did not return, his wife lodged a police report.
“Subsequent to that, the wife received a call, demanding for RM30,000 in ransom money which was later reduced to RM10,000,” Ayub told reporters here.
The Star – Asean flag fly proudly in Penang FOR the first time on Penang soil and in conjunction with Asean’s 44th anniversary, the Asean flag was raised at the Consulate-General of Indonesia in Burma Road here.
Indonesian Consul-General Chilman Arisman said the flag will be displayed permanently from now following a decision by member states earlier this year.
“Indonesia is the chairman of Asean this year.
“After a meeting (in Indonesia) in June, member states decided that the Asean flag should be displayed permanently at all diplomatic and consular missions alongside the member’s national flag.
“As a result, we have taken the opportunity to raise the flag on Asean’s 44th anniversary today,” he told reporters after the flag-raising ceremony at the consulate-general’s premises on Burma Road on Monday.
Earlier in a speech, Chilman said the Asean flag stood as a symbol of unity and integration.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was present to witness the ceremony, said Asean member countries could hold discussions to hold an Asean Day here next year to commemorate its anniversary following a successful EU (European Union) Day held back in June.
Also present at the ceremony were Thai Consul-General Voradet Viravakin, Japanese Consul-General Tetsuro Kai and representatives from Asean member states.
Steve Price From: Herald Sun
August 11, 2011 12:00AM
WHEN you turn 50 in Australia, these days your chances of getting a job if you are unemployed isn’t great.
Late baby boomers without enough superannuation and a family to support can spend months online applying for scarce work.
If you are prepared to travel and work in the remote mines of Queensland or the Kimberley you probably have a better chance. Having no dependent children and only a couple of mouths to feed would make things easier.
Trying for meaningful work in a major city as a 51-year-old who can’t speak English would be almost impossible, you’d think. Trying to feed a family of 10 including a baby not yet two years old would be a massive challenge.
Add to that a married daughter and her baby plus her husband: that’s a lot of mouths to feed.
Burmese refugee Tum Cung fits that family description and is soon to be Australia-bound. The entire family will resettle in Australia as part of the stalled Malaysian people swap deal.
His family will be flown to Australia and welcomed as Burmese fleeing violence in their homeland. Family members have reportedly been tortured by soldiers, according to a front-page story in The Australian on Tuesday.
Presumably the Federal Government wants Tum Cung to be an example of how the Malaysian deal works in practice.
Rather than Australia trying to cope with boatloads of illegal entrants without the proper documentation like passports and identification, we now want genuine refugees.
Tum Cung might even feature on one of the Government’s video productions aimed at scaring off the people smugglers’ clients.
But don’t we at least have the right to query whether this is the sort of family we need to accept into Australia? Work difficulties aside, shouldn’t Australia be seeking people who are conversant in English?
This group might end up being shining examples of a program doing the right thing but what are the guarantees? Social welfare is obviously going to be offered to the Cung family.
Adult members will be eligible for unemployment benefits and public housing will be provided. Our Medicare system will guarantee them healthcare and the education system free schooling.
But shortages of suitable public housing for those struggling families already in Australia don’t seem to get talked about.
In this case, schooling will be encouraged and the youngsters will need special aid to cope with a foreign language.
Travel expenses will be met and given that we will take 1000 of this type of refugee this year and 4000 in total, you would imagine they will want to live near each other.
I don’t know if there is a large Burmese community anywhere in Australia but there is about to be. Another ethnic enclave, encouraged by government policy.
Australia, as we are always told, prides itself on offering safe haven to dispossessed people. After World War II it was the Italians, the Greeks and the Slavic people displaced after years of war.
Sure, we assisted their passage and put a roof over their head for a limited time until they got established. The Vietnamese got a similar leg-up and carved out a community for themselves.
But can we really expect older unemployed Australians struggling to find work to welcome with open arms families of 10 or more into that mix?
This Government is taking a major punt on the Malaysian solution, convinced it will stop unidentified illegal boat people from paying a ransom to end up on an Australian beach.
And to make themselves feel better about stopping the boats they are giving 4000 displaced people a chance at a new life. They could be causing more problems than they are solving.
TAN Network – PM Counters Criticism against Cabinet
UPDATE : 10 August 2011
The prime minister insists the Cabinet line-up was carefully considered, adding that the government is set to give its policy statement in 15 days.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra stressed that she and other individuals in charge carefully considered the Cabinet line-up. She assured she is ready to run the nation.
After being sworn-in before His Majesty the King this evening, the Yingluck administration is scheduled to give its policy statement in Parliament in 15 days.
She asked for an opportunity for her government to work for at least six months before assessing its performance.
She went on to say her Cabinet will have a large number of experts and advisers.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Surapong Towichakchaikul, whose appointment has been most strongly criticized, said he is ready and determined to perform his duties while welcoming all advices.
Surapong stated he still has not talked to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra about his post and said he will review if the previous government’s revocation of Thaksin’s passport was lawful.
The minister said he will expedite his work and expressed confidence that the present strain on relations with Cambodia and Myanmar will be solved in the near future.
In the meantime, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said he is unfazed by criticism over his qualifications and pledged there will be no corruption in the Pheu Thai-led coalition.
Chalerm said he still has no idea which area of the government’s affairs he will be assigned to oversee and stated he is not sure whether he will be put in charge of supervising the national police office.
He maintained that Pheu Thai MPs who were passed over in the Cabinet nomination will not cause any disruption.
Education Minister Woravat Au-apinyakul defended criticism on his qualifications for the job, saying he has strong determination to work in this field and expressed confidence he will be able to gain trust from all sides.
Woravat added he will continue the education policies implemented by the previous government if they are beneficial.
For his own policies, Woravat said he will emphasize necessary curricular readjustment for students.
VOA News – ASEAN Looking Inward Amid US, EU Economic Woes
Brian Padden | Jakarta
Economic ministers throughout East Asia are meeting Wednesday in Indonesia to discuss the impact of a potential economic slowdown in the United States, European Union And Japan.
They are gathering for an annual commerce, trade and investment conference organized by the Association Southeast Asian Nations.
In an interview with VOA, ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan says the economic woes of the rest of the world will encourage more regional integration.
He adds Wednesday’s meetings are likely to focus on the downgrading of the U.S. credit rating, the volatile swings in stock markets around the world and concerns about how signs of economic stagnation in other parts of the world may affect Asia.
“That is going to have psychological impact. That will have a direct impact on investment mood, on the availability of resources and on the consumption,” he says. “Confidence of the consumers in the U.S. which will certainly impact on us, at least in the medium term and long term. Short term we probably can manage, but long term we still need the largest economy of the world to be humming.”
Southeast Asian countries have seen an increase in foreign investment of more than 100 percent from $37 billion in 2009 to $75 billion in 2010.
Surin says, although an economic slowdown in Japan and the West would hurt growth in Asia, investment in ASEAN countries from within the region has also grown to more than $12 billion in 2010. Surin says he expects economic ministers in the region to focus on improving intra-ASEAN investment, to reduce trade barriers in Asia and become less dependent on exports to Japan and the West.
“These are the figures that are rather encouraging for us. How we are going to maintain this in light of what happened in Japan, what happened in the U.S. now, what happened in the Euro zone, that is going to be quite a challenge, but I think the answer would be regional market, regional integration, regional cooperation.”
ASEAN has looked to the EU economic community as a model for its own economic integration plans.
But Surin says the difference in the level of political and economic development in members like Burma and Singapore limits such plans in the short term.
And he says recent experiences in the EU, where strong economies like Germany are being asked to help bail out struggling members like Greece, may make ASEAN countries members concerned about ever adopting measures like a single currency that would limit economic independence.
“If anything, integration in the Euro zone tells us that integration can also be negative, that we will be exposed to each other’s problems, that one country’s problem can drag everybody else down the same hole,” Surin says. “So if you want to go on the road to integration you have to be extremely careful that you have measures that can manage the downside of integration.”
The ASEAN-led economic conference in Indonesia will include meetings of the 25th annual ASEAN Free Trade Area, the 14th annual ASEAN Investment Area Council and other groups supporting the economic integration of the 600 million people living in Southeast Asia.
SPEAKING FREELY
Asia Times Online – India’s naval strategy needs shoring up
By Michael Kugelman
This revelation of radicals within Pakistan’s naval ranks underscores the vulnerability of India’s 7,000-kilometer coastline. India now faces not only the prospect of another Lashkar-e-Taiba-led coastal breach (the previous one occurred in advance of the Mumbai terror attacks of November 26, 2008), but also the possibility of renegade Pakistani naval personnel threatening the Indian shoreline. Consequently, a robust naval defense of India’s shores constitutes a national security imperative.
However, the Indian navy’s importance extends beyond the need to guard against Mumbai-style terrorism. The clout of China – which many within the Indian defense establishment unabashedly declare as the greatest long-term threat to India’s security – continues to grow, and the manifestations of this power are largely sea-based. Talk of Chinese “encirclement” may be exaggerated, yet Beijing’s intensifying activities in the waters of the Indian Ocean Region – from port and infrastructural development off Pakistan and Myanmar to natural resource acquisitions in the Bay of Bengal – are undeniable.
Little wonder New Delhi has launched a maritime modernization program to produce a blue-water navy with enhanced power projection capacities.
It is energy security, however, that most starkly illuminates the navy’s significance. With indigenous energy supplies unable to satisfy prodigious demand (the country is projected to become the world’s third-largest energy consumer by 2030), India has developed a severe addiction to overseas hydrocarbons. Today, two-thirds of India’s oil consumption originates abroad.
Most of these energy resources, along with the transit routes used to bring them home, are sea-based and situated in volatile regions. From offshore assets in the turbulent Persian Gulf to piracy-riven sea lanes off the coast of Somalia, India faces constant threats of energy supply shocks. Additionally, even as India strengthens its own offshore energy infrastructure (several thousand kilometers of pipeline have been laid to facilitate oil and gas flow from offshore platforms to onshore terminals), they remain vulnerable to attack by militants.
The onus for protecting these crucial assets, both at home and abroad, falls on the navy. With security problems often obstructing access to land-based energy resources – from coal in Naxalite-ravaged Chhattisgarh to natural gas in Pakistan and Afghanistan envisioned as part of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline arrangement – the navy’s role in promoting energy security could not be more vital.
Fortunately, India’s navy enthusiastically embraces this role. The official Maritime Military Strategy articulates the risks posed by overseas supply shocks and vulnerable domestic offshore facilities, and champions the protection of energy shipping cargo abroad and littoral-area energy infrastructure. Naval officials identify the safeguarding of far-flung energy assets as a prime motivation for modernization.
Unfortunately, desire exceeds capacity. The navy receives only about 15% of the country’s total military budget – the smallest allocation of the three branches. Meanwhile, the navy numbers only 55,000 personnel, while the army boasts more than a million. Little wonder that China’s navy has three times the number of combat vessels and five times the manpower of its Indian counterpart.
Some attribute these disparities to a legacy of “sea-blindness” – a strategic outlook that emphasizes subcontinental, land-based notions of security to the detriment of global, sea-based security paradigms. Admittedly, many of India’s security concerns have historically been land-based (such as border conflicts with Pakistan and China), and remain so today (think the Naxalites and Kashmir).
Yet given the realities of sea-based terrorism, the maritime activities of India’s neighbors, and the centrality of the sea in India’s energy security strategy, it is folly to ignore the waters that lie beyond India’s shores.
Indian naval capacities and resources must be enhanced. This does not merely require boosting the navy’s share of the military budget. It necessitates the acceleration of efforts to overhaul an aging fleet, and to strike the right balance between indigenous naval defense production (which is marred by slowness and inefficiency) and foreign acquisitions (which get bogged down by drawn-out negotiations, such as those surrounding Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier).
To be sure, India’s navy – the world’s fifth-largest – is no slouch. In recent years it has showcased its burgeoning regional power through tsunami relief operations across the Indian Ocean Region, and evacuations of South Asian nationals from Lebanon during the Hezbollah-Israel conflict. It also flashed its leadership bona fides by hosting the Indian Ocean Region naval symposium in 2008.
Nonetheless, the navy remains a long way from enjoying the untrammeled ability to protect the homeland from an ever-growing litany of sea-based threats. It must not rest in its quest to reach this point. While many may dismiss 19th-century naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan as a relic of the past, for today’s India his core belief remains resoundingly relevant: sea power matters.
North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy
Updated August 10, 2011 15:22:33
The media in Seoul are reporting that the communist North has sent an assassination squad to kill the South Korean defence minister.
Defence minister Kim Kwan-jin is reportedly being targeted for his tough stance against Pyongyang.
The JoongAng daily newspaper in Seoul is reporting that South Korean and US intelligence authorities have discovered the North sent an assassination team to kill Mr Kim.
The daily quotes an unnamed official as saying it is unclear if Pyongyang directly dispatched the squad, hired foreigners to do the job, or is using North Korean spies living in the South.
The North has a history of assassination attempts, the most successful being a 1983 bomb attack in Burma targeting the visiting South Korean president which killed several South Korean ministers.
August 11, 2011
We are shocked at the news that a North Korean team with a special mission to assassinate Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin, a hard-liner who insists on a strong reaction to the North’s provocations, is working in South Korea to achieve the goal. Such malicious attempts by the North are not new at all, as evidenced by its past attempts to kill our leaders: President Park Chung Hee in a raid on the Blue House (1968) and President Chun Doo Hwan at a cemetery in Myanmar (1983).
The North’s latest attempt appears to be based on our Army Reserve’s firing drills in which they used portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his son Kim Jong-un as targets. After the news broke, North Korea’s state newspaper Rodong Shinmun vehemently argued, “Using the supreme leader of our republic as shooting targets constitutes the ultimate crime” so the “puppet Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and other military thugs should be executed immediately.”
Given the North’s unique system to deify the Kim Dynasty, the latest assassination attempt must also have come from an agency in charge of espionage and maneuvers against the South.
Irrefutably, North Korea is trying to maximize the psychological impact on us before our memories of the brutal military attacks on the Cheonan warship and Yeonpyeong Island begin to fade. Through the assassination, North Korea also seems to be hoping to incite social conflict in the South over its sinking of the Cheonan, which it hopes will help augment the logic that the South Korean government’s hard-line stance against the North has resulted in the irrevocable breakdown of South-North relations.
Now the government should arrest those involved in the attempt to kill Defense Minister Kim and reveal the full picture of it, taking into account the possibility that the North’s special team might have attempted to murder other high-level officials as well. North Korea is also likely to raise tensions by shelling the tense maritime border around Yeonpyeong Island again, not to mention carrying out cyberterror against the South.
The Lee Myung-bak administration must give a stern warning to the North and proclaim its unflinching resolve to retaliate for any provocations. As Kim stressed on several occasions, the government must reaffirm its determination to hit back at the original attack point as well as the supporting troops. When it comes to national security, the most important thing for a government is action, not words.
SOURCE:Flight International
Flightglobal.com – MiG-29 production enters transformation
By Vladimir Karnozov
RSK MiG is beginning to wind down production of its “classic” MiG-29 design, as it completes a final batch of the aircraft for Myanmar.
The company’s plants in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Lukhovitsy will shift to producing the newer MiG-29K/KUB/M1/M2/35 unified platform.
The manufacturer showed 24 classic airframes in the final assembly shop at its Moscow factory during a 3 August visit.
The majority were incomplete examples for Myanmar, while two were Indian air force fighters undergoing modernisation to the MiG-29upg configuration.
RSK MiG says three aircraft have been delivered to Myanmar, with three more being shipped to the customer and the last due to arrive in 2012.
The nation ordered “about 20 classics, chiefly MiG-29SE single-seaters and a few MiG-29UBs,” said Vladimir Barkovsky, chief of the company’s engineering centre.
The company’s production process has been modernised to meet this delivery schedule, with several innovations having cut the lead time to one year.
“We will continue to innovate in our manufacturing methods to increase the [annual] output [of the Moscow plant] from 12 to 24″, said general designer – general director Sergey Korotkov.
The company’s current backlog for the type is five years, he added, noting that some customers “do not want to wait that long for their new airplanes”.
RSK MiG is also performing upgrades for four countries including India and Peru, with the former project covering roughly 60 interceptors.
Six of these will be modified in Russia, with the remainder to be completed in India.
Two single-seat and one twin-seat aircraft are already undergoing flight tests at the Zkukovsky aerodrome near Moscow.
The upgraded MiG-29upg features a new radar, believed to be the Phazotron Zhuk-ME, plus replacement cockpit displays, a larger ventral fuel tank and the ability to use modern air-launched weapons.
Korotkov said 11 MiG-29K/KUB shipborne fighters have been delivered to the Indian navy, with the remaining aircraft from a 16-aircraft launch order to be handed over by the end of this year.
A follow-on contract for 29 more aircraft was signed earlier this year, with these to be delivered from 2012.
Korotkov said India is “completely satisfied” with the performance of its MiG-29K/KUBs, after racking up more than 1,000 flight hours during operational trials over a one-year period.
The Russian navy has also shown interest in the K/KUB model, he said, with an initial order for 12-14 aircraft potentially being signed during this month’s MAKS air show in Moscow.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Heavy rain and flooding has badly hit Pegu City and surrounding townships within Pegu Region, forcing schools to close and blocking highway routes to other cities.
According to residents in Pegu City—80 km north of former capital Rangoon—highway buses and trucks have not come by since Tuesday evening. The water level of the Pegu River which flows through the city has reached danger levels and nearly touches Pegu Bridge.
Schools across more than three quarters of the city had to close on Wednesday leaving thousands of students without lessons, while surrounding townships of Payagyi, Katok, Waw and Myitkyoe are also flooded
Much of the affected land is a significant area for rice planting, with more than five million people living in Pegu Region. The region’s western part is often hit by monsoon floods.
In July, flooding destroyed an estimate 30,000 acres of rice fields, according to official data.
“The flooding makes it seem like we are at sea. The worst impact is on fields and agricultural villages,” said a resident from Pegu.
Other parts of Pegu Region hit by flooding include Taungoo, which is a major city on the banks of Sittaung River. Local sources in Taungoo told The Irrawaddy that an estimated 20 schools have temporarily shut down while more than 1,000 residents have been affected.
Local people said today that they had not witnessed any immediate assistance from the authorities to help those affected. Second Burma Vice-President Sai Mauk Khan was scheduled to visit flooded areas on Wednesday.
Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is also scheduled to visit Pegu on Sunday to meet supporters and open two libraries. It would be her first political outing outside Rangoon since her release from house arrest in November.
By LALIT K JHA Wednesday, August 10, 2011
WASHINGTON — Burma will have to abide by the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if it expects to receive any assistance from the global financial organization, the US said on Tuesday amid reports that the new Burmese government is seeking IMF help to reform its complex foreign exchange system.
“If they want IMF help, they’re going to have to live by IMF restrictions and rules,” US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference.
“So it’s Burma’s choice whether it takes the help or not. If it takes the help, it’s going to have to take it under the conditions that the IMF and its board put forward,” she said, expressing the views of the Obama administration on the subject.
Meanwhile, IMF officials confirmed that Burma has sought its help in reforming its foreign exchange system. No decision has been made yet on the Burmese request, an IMF official said.
In July, Burma’s Finance and Revenue Minister Hla Tun said the new government planned to change the official exchange rate of the national currency, which is currently set at around six kyat to the dollar.
The exchange rate has been a major source of concern for Burma’s business community in recent months, as the kyat continues to climb against the US dollar in the unofficial exchange market, where the dollar now fetches just 755 kyat, compared with more than 1,000 kyat at the start of the year.
The Burmese currency has steadily increased in value since 2009. In early 2010, one US dollar was equivalent to more than 1,000 kyat, but dropped to less than 900 kyat by the end of the year. Today, the currency is traded on the black market at 755 kyat per dollar.
Exporters said that the new exchange rate should be set at around 900-1,000 kyat to the dollar. But an IMF report released in 2008 suggested that “the equilibrium exchange rate under the unified market could be at around 400-500 kyat per US dollar.”
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
RANGOON—The policies of Burma’s new quasi-civilian government have left Burmese garment factories in crisis due to high taxes, the rising value the country’s currency and dismal economic conditions, causing some factories to be shut down and others to lay off workers and reduce operations.
The owner of a garment factory in Southern Dagon Township, Rangoon, said that those factories that are still running operate only three days per week.
A garment factory owner from Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone in Rangoon said that garment business owners cannot pay worker wages because of the rising cost of Burma’s currency, the kyat, a problem which has also hit the country’s sea products industry.
“The garment factories take manufacturing orders from foreign businesses and get payments in foreign currency, mainly the US dollar. With Burma’s currency rising and the foreign currencies decreasing, we have to struggle to avoid losses. Now we don’t accept orders from foreign countries. If the situation continues like this, more factories might shut down.”
The owners of factories that have already closed, and those that try and reduce wages to stay afloat, face problems with protesting workers.
“If the factories pay a small amount of compensation, the workers start protesting,” said one factory owner.
Protests by garment factory workers began on July 22 at a factory in Thingangyun Township, and thousands of workers protested in early August at the SGI Garment Factory in Southern Dagon Township.
Another reason for the garment factory crisis is high taxes on garment exports. Although the new civilian government reduced the tax on export products from 10 percent to 7 percent beginning on July 1, garment industry products were not included.
A factory owner from Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone said that government mismanagement is the reason the garment factories are shutting down.
According to data from the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Burma has around 300 garment factories operated by 70,000 to 100,000 workers.
Some factory owners said that the number of workers being dismissed, and the resulting protests, will increase in the future.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011 18:36 Tun Tun
New Delhi (Mizzima) – An appeal by Sithu Zeya, who took pictures following bomb explosions at the Rangoon water festival in 2010, asking the court to drop charges under the Electronics Act has been rejected, according to family members.
Sithu Zeya is serving an eight-year sentence under the Immigration Act and Unlawful Association Act.
Because of the court’s rejection of the appeal, Sithu Zeya, 23, who is in Insein Prison, will serve another seven to 15 years in prison, if the Mingalar Taungnyunt Township Court in Rangoon Region finds him guilty.
On August 3, Aye Thein, Sithu Zeya’s lawyer, filed the appeal. He said the judges rejected it immediately without even reading the case.
Sithu Zeya is charged under the Electronics Act, which has been widely used by the former military junta to punish pro-democracy opposition members who disseminate information by electronic communication that is deemed to threaten security or harm the government. On August 9, defence witnesses testified in Mingalar Taungnyunt Township court.
Sithu Zeya was arrested for taking photos of the scene of an explosion at the X2O water festival pavilion in Rangoon in April 2010. Sithu Zeya’s father, a journalist, was also arrested.
His father, who is a reporter for the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma and is an anti-government activist, was also charged under the Electronics Act. He was sentenced to 13 years and is in Hsipaw Prison.
Earlier, family members told the exile media that Sithu Zeya was tortured during police interrogation. They said they reported the torture to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Directorate of Prison Administration. About two weeks after the complaint, the authorities removed him from solitary confinement and stopped the interrogation, they said.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011 21:38 Te Te
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burma’s rice production policies were reviewed by the Myanmar Rice Industry Association (MRIA) in a two-day forum in Rangoon this week, in preparation for an upcoming meeting in Naypyitaw this month.
The current rice policy, reviewed in a meeting at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) on Monday and Tuesday, was attended by rice traders, millers, producers and specialized companies. The workshop’s findings will be submitted and discussed at an up-coming meeting in Naypyitaw in August.
MRIA officials said that the group supports the current policy, which makes rice self-sufficiency a priority and allows only for the export of surplus rice. The papers presented by four MIRA study groups will be compiled, officials said.
In workshop sessions, rice producers discussed issues including guaranteeing land-use rights to tillers, preventing land use loss, weaknesses in disseminating weather news and cultivation techniques.
A MIRA member said, “We discussed what should be done, what the state should do for rice production and our weaknesses and advantages.”
One finding, he said, was that rice producing companies could not work efficiently in the distribution of fertilizers and loans to farmers.
He said guaranteeing a minimum support price at 300,000 kyat (US$ 400) for 100 baskets of paddy (4,600 lbs) by rice companies was discussed to protect farmers in case of falling prices and to give priority and privileges to specialized companies for rice export. There are 36 specialized companies in rice production.
MRIA Vice Chairman Sein Win Hlaing said, “The number of farmers is about 70 per cent of the total population, so giving assistance to them is related with poverty alleviation work.”
MRIA was established in January 2010 and became a member of UMFCCI. MRIA includes the Rice Millers Association, Rice Traders Association and Rice Producers Association.
After the new government took power, the management of the right to export rice was transferred to MRIA. It was previously handled by the Economic and Commerce Ministry. The MRIA chairman is Chit Khaing, the Aden Economic Enterprises Group owner, who is a close business associate of the government.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011 12:39 Mizzima News
(Interview) – Burmese writer Dagon Taryar, 93, a lifelong peace activist, recently urged government troops and ethnic armed groups to stop the fighting and start a real dialogue to establish peace, noting the extensive loss of life and damage to the country’s infrastructure. Dagon Taryar aka Htay Myaing attended the World Peace Council meetings held in Vienna, Austria in 1953 and the meeting held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1961. In 1974, he chaired the World Peace Council and worked in peace campaigns. Mizzima reporter Tun Tun talked with Dagon Taryar, who lives in Shan State.
Question: You’ve sent out a private letter urging people across the country to work for peace.
Answer: Yes. I delivered the letters in Rangoon too. I have a man, Hla Maung, from Monywa. He distributed my letter to his close associates.
Question: What did your letter say?
Answer: I urged [the people] to make peace. I wanted to make people understand the phrase “People are not killed, the country is not ruined.” Obstacles may be encountered, but we will achieve peace, I hope.
Question: Why did you think you needed to write such a letter?
Answer: The [peace] agreement has been broken. The soldiers [the Burmese government] took power by force. The army held the 2010 election. Now, the military junta [the military-dominated government] has come to power. First, we should make peace, so I wrote the letter. Initially, they may reject it. They seem to be filled with hate. As for me, even if I am forced to hate, I cannot.
Currently, in our country the Burmese army is fighting against the Kachin, Chin, Karen, Mon, Shan and other ethnic people. In my opinion, a civil war has broken out. That’s not good, because they [the government] have hatred. The other side does not hate. But, the people and the soldiers from the government side hate [ethnic people]. They seem to be full of hate.
Question: How deep are the problems in Burma now? ?Is there any hope for a positive solution to stop the fighting?
Answer: Civil war will adversely affect the people. If it spreads, it can affect eating and drinking habits. It can affect health. It can shorten lifespans. I’m afraid that will happen. I have expected too much. People have potential. They can do it, and they know how to do it. The longer a lifespan, the more chance people have to achieve peace. Without peace, nothing can be done. The military personnel do not have anything to be attached to. They are pitiful. They only have Korea [Korean films] to be attached to.
I like peace. I want to live peacefully. People who disagreed with me did not like my phrase, “No enemy.” Now, half of them support me. Some people may think that if they support me, they will lose their dignity. That’s my opinion. Anyway, they have supported me. Many people talk about peace. The whole world says it wants peace. But, do they do as they say? Some people’s actions are different from their words. They are not making peace. I think that the next movement will be peace movement.
Question: How is the current impasse in the political arena linked to peace in the country?
Answer: Peace is important. Very important! Negotiations occurred in Burma before the military coup. Despite criticism, the Burmese people do not have hatred. All are good, honest and they like peace. Although they wanted to try to achieve peace, they were arrested [by the government]. The authorities beat them and arrested them.
They are aggressive. The people who are armed with weapons think that weapons can achieve their goals. No. Weapons cannot. The world seems worse, I think. Problems are getting worse in Burma and in the Middle East too.
Question: In your letter you wrote, “Bullets cannot provide security; only loving kindness can ensure security.”
Answer: Loving kindness is the fundamental requirement in Buddhism. I think it is deep. The more we love and the stronger our love, the closer we are to peace. [If people have loving kindness], they will try to establish peace.
Question: Do you have a message for government troops and the ethnic armed groups who are fighting?
Answer: I would like to urge them to make peace. It’s simple. If they sincerely make peace efforts, peace can be achieved. Both sides have chances to use weapons. I don’t expect too much. Now the country is ruined. Burma is ruined. I live in Shan State. The people in rural areas are in a pitiful situation. They grow crops but the production falls. Moreover, the [consumer] prices have gone up. Peace is required for people to have enough money. Without peace, people cannot be prosperous. We cannot rely on weapons [fighting]. We need to use peaceful ways to avoid killing. Many people have been killed in the Middle East and Burma. Both are the same.
Question: What kind of people does it take to form an effective peace movement?
Answer: Peace can be achieved if you work for it. People of your age [about 30] are active. I worked for peace when I was your age. I took part in peace movements, but just by words. I’m not good at organizing. I admit that I don’t have the skills to do that. Young people are active. Their thoughts are strong and right. You [young people] don’t lie. I know you. People your age don’t lie. So, just do it. As for me, I’m old. As an elderly man, I’m physically weak. I feel frustrated. I may have ideas, but I cannot be as active as you.
Young people are mentally strong and determined. So, I want to encourage the young to make efforts––peace can be achieved.
Question: Do you have a final thought to leave with people who want to work for peace?
Answer: Forming the Border Guard Forces provides the army with more soldiers and weapons. It makes [the government] stronger. It will be better if it can be dissolved. I mean you should try that via peaceful means. I hope you understand. The peaceful way is the best way.
By MIN LWIN
Published: 10 August 2011
A jailed Democratic Voice of Burma reporter has appeared in a court hearing inside Insein Prison compounds yesterday where he was facing an additional charge under the Electronic Act. Sithu Zeya is currently serving eight years in prison for filming the aftermath of 2010 April bombings in Rangoon.
The DVB video reporter was arrested on April 14 last year shortly after he took video footage of the aftermath of grenade attacks that took place at X2O Pavilion near the banks of Kandawgyi Lake in Rangoon.
His family claims the 21 year old was tortured and denied food and water during a five-day interrogation following his arrest. The torture forced him to reveal that his father, Maung Maung Zeya, who was subsequently arrested, was also a DVB reporter.
Maung Maung Zeya is now serving 13 years’ imprisonment in remote Hsipaw Prison in Shan State.
Sithu Zeya was sentenced to eight years in prison under the unlawful association act and the immigration act in December last year. Yesterday, he appeared in a trial at a special courtroom inside Insein Prison compounds where he faced an additional charge under the Electronic Act, said his mother who tested in the court hearing as his witness.
“He is being charged with the Electronic Act for allegedly distributing materials [via internet] that can damage tranquillity and unity in the government. Apparently he is facing a jail term from seven up to 15 years,” said Sithu Zeya’s mother.
“Right now he is being kept in Insein Prison and I don’t know where they will send him next.”
She criticised the judicial system under the new government for being no different from the previous military government’s judicial system, under which her son was sentenced to a long-term imprisonment based only on his forced confession under police torture, and said he is likely to be sentenced again based on the same confession
“They gave him the sentence based on the confession he gave to the police under torture. They will use the same confession to sentence him this time – [the judicial system] now is no difference from the previous one.”
Reports that emerged early this year said Sithu Zeya was being tortured in Insein Prison, where he is serving his initial term, for failing to abide by prison customs.
By AYE NAI
Published: 10 August 2011
The chairman of the National League for Democracy in Mergui township, Tenasserim division, has been sentenced to four months in jail for getting involved in a fight with two local youths who allegedly tried to break his fence gate.
Soe Lwin, NLD chairman in Mergui, his son and a son-in-law, got in a fight with two youths in the evening July 26. The youths arrived in front of their house and allegedly started kicking the gate of their fence. Both sides sustained minor injuries while Soe Lwin’s wife, Khin Win, a bystander, was also hurt and hospitalised for two days.
After the fight, Soe Lwin’s family reported the incident to the police who arrested and briefly detained the two youths.
On August 5, Mergui township court sentenced Soe Lwin to four months in jail and he was fined 1000 Kyat while his son and son-in-law were also given two months’ jail-terms with a 2000 Kyat fine each. The court decided to let both of the assailants go with just a fine.
Khin Win said she believed her husband was jailed because he was an NLD member but said they would not appeal.
She said that at the end of July Soe Lwin was summoned by government authorities and pressured to quit the group.
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 10 August 2011
Hundreds of farmers in Irrawaddy’s Dedaye township are being unlawfully detained by military owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Co. Ltd when they can’t repay debts loaned to them by the company.
Last year, the UMEH gave out 50,000 Kyat agricultural loans to farmers in Dedaye township which they were supposed to pay back by the end of the growing season. However, the farmers were unable to pay back the loans after their crops were destroyed by unusual weather patterns experienced in the past year, and they weren’t able to make any profit.
One of the farmers detained by the UMEH said army officials from the company rounded up farmers, who owed them money, at a rice mill and kept them in detention there until they paid back the money.
“I am a farmer from Daydaye’s Kalargontan village and I owe some money to the [UMEH] – we have been unable to pay back the debt. Recently we were summoned to Tantayar Rice Mill in the town by army captain Myint Than Aung. When we went there, he detained us in warehouses without any questioning,” said the farmer.
“They released those who paid back the money but a lot of people who were unable to pay remained in detention. There are over 100 people currently detained. I had to leave my son there as a substitute to come back out to find the money.”
Another farmer who was also detained told DVB he had to acknowledge upon receiving the loan that he would pay it back in the harvesting season. However, due to bad weather in the cropping season he was unable to do so as he didn’t make any profit.
National League for Democracy’s Central Executive Committee and Social Assistance Wing member Ohn Kyain and said the group’s Legal Advocacy Wing and Farmer’s Network are preparing to provide legal assistance to the farmers.
“I have linked [the farmers] with our Legal Advocacy Wing member U Nyan Win and he acknowledged this as an arbitrary detention. They have accepted the farmer’s complaint and are preparing to raise it to concerned government authorities,” said Ohn Kyaing.