BURMA RELATED NEWS – JANUARY 19, 2012
Jan 19th, 2012
By Soe Than Win | AFP – Wed, Jan 18, 2012
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi launched her historic bid for a seat in parliament Wednesday in the latest sign of change in the country after the end of decades of outright military rule.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner is standing in April 1 by-elections seen as a major test of the regime’s reform credentials following a surprising series of conciliatory gestures by the new nominally civilian government.
The pro-democracy icon submitted her registration to stand in a rural constituency in Kawhmu near Yangon, an area devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, to the delight of crowds of supporters waiting outside.
“Aung San Suu Kyi was the first member of the NLD to register. She’s going to run for the lower house,” a senior party official, Win Htein, told AFP.
The 66-year-old’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party has already been given approval to return to the official political arena, against a backdrop of budding reforms including dialogue between the regime and the opposition.
The NLD was stripped of its status as a legal political party in 2010 because it boycotted a controversial national election, saying the rules were unfair.
Suu Kyi was released from years of house arrest shortly after the vote, which was marred by complaints of cheating and easily won by the military’s allies.
A quarter of parliament’s seats are now taken up by unelected military officials while the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which is packed with former military men, holds about 80 percent of the remainder.
Since coming to power in March, the new military-backed government dominated by former generals has made a series of reformist moves in an apparent attempt to reach out to political opponents and the West.
These included releasing hundreds of political prisoners, suspending construction of an unpopular mega-dam and pursuing peace deals with armed ethnic minority rebels.
The NLD won an election in 1990 by a landslide, while Suu Kyi remained under house arrest, but the ruling generals never allowed the party to take power.
A total of 48 seats are up for grabs in the April vote — not enough to threaten the resounding majority held by the ruling party. But the participation ofSuu Kyi would give a boost to the legislature’s credibility.
A top regime figure told AFP on Monday that Myanmar has “no other way” but to embrace democracy, and promised that the April poll would be democratic.
“I guarantee the elections will be free and fair,” said lower house speaker Shwe Mann.
Suu Kyi hinted at the weekend that she could take a position in the government but said it “depends on the circumstances”.
The April vote is to fill places vacated by those elected in the 2010 polls who have since become ministers and deputy ministers in the government.
Myanmar’s government released about 300 political prisoners in its latest amnesty on Friday, prompting the United States to move to restore full diplomatic ties for the first time in more than two decades.
The top Republican in the US Senate said Tuesday the regime was serious about change and voiced openness for an eventual lifting of the sanctions which he has long championed if Suu Kyi believed it was the right course.
“We are open to it,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told AFP by telephone after talks with key regime figures in the capital Naypyidaw, describing the change of direction in Myanmar as “quite remarkable”.
Associated Press – 1 hr 42 mins ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A prominent ethnic minority leader recently freed from prison in Myanmar said Thursday he will register his political party but it will not contest upcoming by-elections.
Hkun Htun Oo said his Shan Nationalities League for Democracy party decided to rejoin mainstream politics after being taken off the list of legal parties because it refused to take part in the 2010 general election.
The decision is the latest move illustrating a new era in Myanmar’s politics, after decades of strictly authoritarian military rule. The elected government is still dominated by the military and its allies, but the ex-general who became prime minister, Thein Sein, initiated reforms in an effort at reconciliation and ending West-imposed sanctions.
The Shan party won the second largest number of seats after Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in the 1990 election that the long-ruling junta nullified.
Suu Kyi’s party, which also boycotted the 2010 polls, recently reregistered and will contest all 48 seats in the April 1 by-election.
Hkun Htun Oo said his party decided at a meeting to register “so that they can legally conduct political activities” but added the party doesn’t have enough time to organize to run in the April by-election.
Hkun Htun Oo and several party colleagues were arrested in 2005 and charged with high treason and other offenses after the government accused them of launching movements to disintegrate national unity soon after they attended a meeting of many ethnic minorities.
Hkun Htun Oo, serving a 93-year prison sentence, and SNLD general secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin, serving 85 years, were freed under an amnesty on Jan. 13. After his release, Hkun Htun Oo said the charges against them were baseless and he was imprisoned only because his Shan group refused to take part in a military-directed constitution drafting process.
By AYE AYE WIN | Associated Press – 4 hrs ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s government and ethnic Kachin rebels met Thursday for cease-fire talks to end several months of armed clashes near the northern border with China, but their preliminary meeting did not make any major breakthroughs.
After two days of negotiations, a high-level government team and members of the Kachin Independence Organization agreed to continue talks later and in the meantime to inform the other side before deploying troops, according to an official at the talks who declined to be named.
The talks were the latest efforts by Myanmar’s new, nominally civilian government to end the country’s long-running ethnic conflicts, one of many reforms under way after years of military rule.
Stopping ethnic clashes is a key demand of Western governments that are weighing lifting sanctions imposed during the junta’s rule. Last week, the government signed a cease-fire pact with Karen rebels in eastern Myanmar, in a major step toward ending one of the world’s longest-running insurgencies. Other talks are reportedly taking place with the Shan, Karenni and Chin.
A prominent Kachin mediator, Rev. Saboi Jum, told The Associated Press that talks were held across the border in Ruili in China’s Yunnan province.
“Too much damage has been done since fighting erupted in June last year. It is most important to build confidence and trust between each other, and a lot of tension will be reduced if government troops withdraw from the KIO areas,” he said.
The next round of negotiations would be held in Myanmar, according to the official who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to disclose details of the talks.
The Kachin Independence Organization reached a peace deal with the country’s former ruling junta in 1994, but the truce broke down in 2010 after the group rejected a call by the junta to transform its troops into border guards under the government’s leadership.
The Kachin have been fighting the government since June, when the army tried to break up some of their militia strongholds. Thousands of ethnic Kachin have fled their homes to avoid the fighting.
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has described an end to the fighting with ethnic guerrillas as a national priority, and last month said she would be willing to help with peace negotiations.
The Nobel laureate and former political prisoner sent a letter to the Kachin people expressing compassion, particularly for the women and children who have been uprooted by the fighting, said Saboi Jum.
She “expressed her hope that one day the effected population would be able to come home and live in peace,” he said, saying that Suu Kyi’s message “lifted our spirits and we are very happy.”
Suu Kyi’s enormous popularity with the poor and disenfranchised majority is expected to propel her to her first seat in parliament during April by-elections.
By Aung Hla Tun | Reuters – 2 hrs 58 mins ago
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s government held peace talks on Thursday with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of the country’s most powerful rebel groups, as part of moves to resolve all its ethnic conflicts after decades of fighting.
A delegation led by industry minister and head peace negotiator Aung Thaung met KIA representatives in the Chinese border town of Ruili for talks aimed at halting a conflict that resurfaced in June and has displaced tens of thousands of people.
In a statement sent to Reuters, the KIA said the talks were aimed at containing the conflict “with a view to the emergence of stability, tranquility and sustainable peace.”
Myanmar has agreed to ceasefires with several ethnic rebel groups in the past two months, including the Shan State Army (South) and the Karen National Union (KNU), which has fought the central government since 1949.
It has yet to agree any political deals, however, and some groups are pushing for some form of autonomy in the jungle and mountain-clad regions they have controlled for decades along the Chinese and Thai borders.
A ceasefire with the KIA would be a step towards the lifting of sanctions imposed on Myanmar by the European Union and the United States, which have made peace deals with ethnic militias a pre-requisite.
U.S. officials have said the peace process might prove the toughest challenge for civilian leaders who are eager to bring the nation in from the cold after five decades of army rule.
‘TOTAL ANNIHILATION’
Myanmar’s government has faced fierce political and armed resistance from the KIA, which harbors deep distrust towards the military and accuses it of taking the Kachin State conflict to “total annihilation stage.”
Battles are continuing every day, despite an order last month by Myanmar President Thein Sein for the military to end its operations in Kachin State.
The government’s only explanation for the troops’ failure to withdraw has been communication problems, but the continued fighting has cast doubt on whether the former general in charge of the country has full control over the military.
In a statement posted on a Burmese-language Kachin News Today, the KIA suggested the military action was excessive but welcomed the offer of talks it said should be based on “the rights to self-determination and equality.”
“Battles have become widespread since the first broke out on June 9. Undesirable problems are breaking out every day as a result of using extensive military forces,” it added.
The government says peace is its priority, but has given no indication as to whether it would consider allowing some form of self-rule to any of the ceasefire groups.
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has long advocated autonomy under a federal system for some of the ethnic groups. She wants a “Second Pinlong Agreement,” which would be a revival of a 1947
autonomy plan that was aborted after the assassination of her late father and national independence hero, Aung San.
According to the government’s peace negotiators, Thein Sein wants to hold a conference in parliament aimed at cementing all the separate ceasefire agreements and ensuring the conflicts would not reignite.
Reuters – 2 hrs 9 mins ago
HANOI (Reuters) – U.S. sanctions on Myanmar could begin to come down if by-elections scheduled for April 1 in the former British colony are fair and open, U.S. Senator John McCain said on Thursday.
After half a century of authoritarian rule Myanmar has taken a series of dramatic steps in recent months to open up, the latest of which was the release last week of some 300 political prisoners.
The United States decided to upgrade diplomatic ties with Myanmar as a result, and President Barack Obama called the move a “substantial step” in democratic reform but stopped short of lifting economic sanctions.
Senator Joe Lieberman, speaking in Vietnam ahead of a visit to Myanmar with McCain and two other senators, said if the by-elections were “fair and open and legitimate” Myanmar could expect “some response from the United States in terms of the status quo between our countries as it exists now.”
“And certainly lifting of the sanctions, or some of them, would be part of that consideration,” McCain added.
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi enter parliament will run in the by-election, seeking a voice in parliament after boycotting polls in November 2010.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged to “meet action with action” in relations with Myanmar, and instructed a team at the State Department to identify further steps that the United States could take in conjunction with others to support the reforms.
Sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western nations have crippled Myanmar’s economy, despite its rich resources including natural gas, timber and precious gems, and driven it deeper into the embrace of regional power China.
Analysts have said Obama’s motivations for re-engagement with Myanmar include his stated desire to reassert U.S. power in the Asia-Pacific.
McCain, a former navy pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam, said ties between the United States and Vietnam should be strengthened to help counter China, but Vietnam’s human rights record would limit progress.
“There is increased tensions with China about the South China Sea and other issues and we believe that a multilateral approach to China and an increase in our strategic partnership with Vietnam is certainly called for,” he said.
Lieberman said many in the U.S. Congress would like to be able to transfer weapons to Vietnam “to particularly enhance maritime security” of the South China Sea, but that was unlikely unless human rights improved.
Human Rights Watch has said there has been an increase in the use of “national security” charges in Vietnam to silence critics.
By Pisit Changplayngam
BANGKOK, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Thailand’s top oil and gas explorer, PTT Exploration and Production Pcl (PTTEP), expects to divest some of its stake in its M11 petroleum field in Myanmar in February, its top executive said.
“We are looking to find two partners to come in for investment in M11 but, that being said, we will still have to hold a 40-50 percent stake and be a major shareholder,” Chief Executive Anon Sirisaengtaksin told reporters.
PTTEP is seeking partnership through asset divestment as it plans to synergise business opportunities and reduce investment risk, he said.
PTTEP, a subsidiary of state-controlled PTT Pcl, Thailand’s biggest energy firm, has a total of 41 projects in 13 countries, of which 20 are under production, two under development and 19 under exploration.
In Myanmar alone, it has four exploration and production (E&P) projects including Yadana, Yetagun, Zawtika and Block M3, M7 and M11 — where it holds 100 percent participation interest.
Anon said PTTEP would be able to sign contracts for two petroleum fields in Myanmar in February.
MONTARA
PTTEP would start operating its Montara oil field in Australia by the third quarter and targets to produce 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day before rising further later on, Anon said.
PTTEP’s operations in the Montara oil field off the Australian coast were halted after an oil spill and fire in late 2009. The company has delayed the start-up several times.
Anon said the company needs time to ensure it can meet safety requirements.
Last week, the company said it had earmarked about $19.6 billion for investment through 2016, excluding investment expenditure to support new venture opportunities.
PTTEP also aimed to make a decision in the first half of 2012 to acquire a stake in a new liquefied natural gas project in Australia, Anon said.
“We will do this with PTT. Once they find something they’re interested in, PTTEP will participate in stake holding,” Anon said, adding the move is part of its strategy to grow from merger and acquisition deals.
By 0426 GMT, PTTEP shares were down 0.6 percent at 176 baht while the main Thai index was 0.5 percent higher.
Jan 19, 2012, 9:12 GMT Ruili, China – Representatives from the Myanmar government and ethnic Kachin rebels failed to reach a peace agreement Thursday, but both sides vowed to pursue further negotiations.
‘The militaries of both sides will discuss the conflict areas in an effort to build up trust,’ said a joint statement issued as the talks concluded in the Chinese border town of Ruili.
It said the dialogue would resume at a later date, but gave no hint of where or when.
‘We’re quite satisfied with the meeting’s results,’ said Thein Zaw, the second-highest-ranking government negotiator.
The two-day meeting was organized to try to reach a ceasefire between the Myanmar army the Kachin Independence Army which have been engaged in heavy fighting since June.
The Kachin Independence Army is the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organization.
The Kachin Independence Army is the only major rebel group still engaged in combat operations against government forces, following tentative ceasefire pacts with ethnic Karen, Shan and Chin rebels.
Ending the decades-long ethnic insurgencies is a key condition for Western countries to normalize diplomatic ties with Myanmar.
‘This is just the beginning,’ said a member of the Kachin Independence Organization delegation. ‘We have to build up trust on both sides. It’s better than nothing.’
By AYE AYE WIN 01/19/12 06:54 AM ET
YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s government and ethnic Kachin rebels met Thursday for cease-fire talks to end several months of armed clashes near the northern border with China, but their preliminary meeting did not make any major breakthroughs.
After two days of negotiations, a high-level government team and members of the Kachin Independence Organization agreed to continue talks later and in the meantime to inform the other side before deploying troops, according to an official at the talks who declined to be named.
The talks were the latest efforts by Myanmar’s new, nominally civilian government to end the country’s long-running ethnic conflicts, one of many reforms under way after years of military rule.
Stopping ethnic clashes is a key demand of Western governments that are weighing lifting sanctions imposed during the junta’s rule. Last week, the government signed a cease-fire pact with Karen rebels in eastern Myanmar, in a major step toward ending one of the world’s longest-running insurgencies. Other talks are reportedly taking place with the Shan, Karenni and Chin.
A prominent Kachin mediator, Rev. Saboi Jum, told The Associated Press that talks were held across the border in Ruili in China’s Yunnan province.
“Too much damage has been done since fighting erupted in June last year. It is most important to build confidence and trust between each other, and a lot of tension will be reduced if government troops withdraw from the KIO areas,” he said.
The next round of negotiations would be held in Myanmar, according to the official who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to disclose details of the talks.
The Kachin Independence Organization reached a peace deal with the country’s former ruling junta in 1994, but the truce broke down in 2010 after the group rejected a call by the junta to transform its troops into border guards under the government’s leadership.
The Kachin have been fighting the government since June, when the army tried to break up some of their militia strongholds. Thousands of ethnic Kachin have fled their homes to avoid the fighting.
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has described an end to the fighting with ethnic guerrillas as a national priority, and last month said she would be willing to help with peace negotiations.
The Nobel laureate and former political prisoner sent a letter to the Kachin people expressing compassion, particularly for the women and children who have been uprooted by the fighting, said Saboi Jum.
She “expressed her hope that one day the effected population would be able to come home and live in peace,” he said, saying that Suu Kyi’s message “lifted our spirits and we are very happy.”
Suu Kyi’s enormous popularity with the poor and disenfranchised majority is expected to propel her to her first seat in parliament during April by-elections.
The Japan Times – Finessing the dramatic opening to Myanmar
By TOM PLATE
Los Angeles — Perhaps a democratic system of government will not prove the final answer for Myanmar. Just take a look at the Philippines if you’re crazy about another possible “for sale” democracy in Asia. But considering what the good people of what used to be called Burma have had to endure — an intellectually decrepit military and economic dictatorship — you have to admit: It’s time to try something else.
Certainly there is no reason for this expansive and verdant land to remain bogged down in the miasma of a Third World economy. Yes, it has had abysmal governance. But that can be changed. It has so much else going for it.
Now it has something else of value: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s belief that the regime’s recent loosening is a good first step in the inevitable direction of reform — and not a cruel feint to fake people into believing no further reform is required.
So for starters, the U.S. is restoring full diplomatic ties to the new civilian government, which has announced the release of some long-held political prisoners. This will encourage others to help, including international aid agencies. And lead to the day — one hopes — when all sanctions put up against the prior regime will be lifted.
It is difficult to believe that the Obama administration, led by Clinton, would have softened its policy course without the pressure of two major forces — one external and the other inside the country. That latter would be “The Lady,” as she is called (and as the thoughtful movie with the excellent actress Michelle Yeo is titled).
Aung San Suu Kyi, first placed under house arrest in 1989, has quietly but firmly kept the flame alive for the hope that Myanmar would see a better day. At any time the stalwart democracy advocate could have gotten out of the imprisonment. British special forces helicopters were always gassed and at the ready to ride in. But this was a special lady — not one for turning away from her people merely for her own safety and comfort.
Her nod to the West that the next election would be reasonably open and a new day might be not too far off was enough to start the train in motion.
Suu Kyi has that kind of credibility. But the other credible factor was China’s commercial and economic inroad into Burma, which has been tremendous. This not only scares environmentalists fearing for the fate of the Earth but also the United States, fearing for the diminished size of its future role in the Asia-Pacific.
Like all nation-states, Beijing’s policies are grounded in its national political and economic interests. But China is somehow less apologetic, or less guarded about that — and more aggressive — than many nations. It takes the view, in effect, that what is good for China is good, period.
Washington does not look at things that way. It imagines that an Asia-Pacific without the hefty economic, political and military presence of the U.S. is a region in unbalanced danger. But it was difficult to counter the political impact of China’s huge investment in — and extraction of — Myanmar’s natural resource sector by standing off to the side and relying on a policy of sanctions, diplomatic finger-pointing and indeed isolation.
A quick note on U.S. policy in Asia and its relationship to China: It is not sophisticated to take the view that every Beijing move is a threat or a loss to the West. We need to be careful to calibrate our policy responses and restructured priorities so as not to create the self-fulfilling prophecy of Chinese perfidy at every turn. We have the power to make the Chinese hate us if such is what we want. Let us hope instead we have the wisdom and national self-confidence to make clear that China’s rise can help create a more stable world, not less.
The Cold War starring the old evil Soviet Union is over; we don’t need to mold China into the new tangible villain to give our foreign policy an urgent but manufactured bipolarity.
A stable prosperous Burma is a case in point. It would be in everyone’s interest to see that come about. Let us work with the Chinese every step of the way to that end. This is not utopian but pragmatic. We don’t need a cold war — and a new deficit-creating arms race — in Asia, particularly over Burma.
Besides, that would not be a fit legacy for “The Lady”. Or, for that matter, for that other very capable lady — Mrs. Clinton.
Professor Tom Plate is the Distinguished Scholar of Asian and Pacific Studies at Loyola Marymount University and a visiting professor at United Arab Emirates University for spring semester 2012. His “Giants of Asia” book series includes portraits of Lee Kuan Yew, Mahathir Mohamad and Thaksin Shinawatra.
Posted: 19 January 2012 0218 hrs
BRUSSELS: The European Union is mulling whether to begin lifting sanctions against Myanmar as soon as February to encourage signs of reform after decades of outright military rule, EU diplomats said on Wednesday.
Aid for the southeast Asian nation is also under consideration, as well as a visit soon by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, her spokesman Michael Mann told AFP.
“In the light of developments in the country, we have launched a general review of our policies,” he added.
The 27-nation bloc’s response to a string of conciliatory gestures by the nominally civilian government in Myanmar is to be announced after talks between EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
The ministers are expected to announce willingness “to consider initial steps in February” on a start in lifting the sanctions, which otherwise come up for an annual review in mid-April, an EU diplomat said.
“Some countries want to give a sign of encouragement before April elections” which will see a historic bid for parliament by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the source said on condition of anonymity.
In Paris, the foreign ministry said Britain and France had agreed to call for “a gradual revision of European sanctions” and would propose at Monday’s talks “the first measures in the very short term”.
But Britain’s William Hague and French counterpart Alain Juppe also agreed in a phone conversation on Tuesday that the EU must remain vigilant, with the democratic standards of partial legislative elections April 1 impacting the “new approach”.
European states last year extended by 12 months a set of trade and financial sanctions despite Suu Kyi’s release in November 2010, but lifted travel bans and an assets freeze on a third of the cabinet, including the foreign minister.
In exchange for an end to all sanctions, the EU demanded Myanmar release all political prisoners and launch a dialogue with the opposition.
Since coming to office, the new military-backed government dominated by former generals has released hundreds of political prisoners and made other reformist moves, including dialogue with the opposition and pursuing peace deals with ethnic minority rebels.
The moves have sparked intense debate worldwide on potential policy change and in Brussels intensive discussions have been under way all week to overcome “differences of opinion and decide how to encourage Myanmar” ahead of Monday’s ministerial talks, a source said.
Britain and some Nordic nations favoured ensuring the April by-elections were fair and free while other European countries, notably France and Germany, favoured quick action to encourage the reform process.
“There are steps before you lift sanctions,” said one diplomat on condition of anonymity. “Encouraging measures can be a first step, and then you lift sanctions.”
Earlier this month, Hague, the first British foreign minister to visit Myanmar in over half a century, called for “much more” work to be done before sanctions could be lifted.
It is “very important that we do not relax the pressures prematurely”, he said.
This week, French foreign minister Juppe said in Myanmar that he was confident President Thein Sein was a reformer.
“It’s a certainty. It’s enough to look at what he has done in the past few months,” he said, describing the president as a “wise man, completely determined”.
Should differences between EU nations persist, a decision to lift even very few sanctions in February could be strained as this would require unanimity.
In April a unanimous vote would be required to maintain the sanctions.
Ministers meanwhile are expected to agree to offer more development aid and other financial measures to bolster the reform process.
In January, the EU announced it would open an office in Myanmar’s main city Yangon to manage aid programmes and play a “political role”.
VOA News – Burmese Political Reforms Raise Hope for Curbing Opium Production
Ron Corben | Bangkok
Burma’s political reforms and new ceasefire agreements with ethnic armed groups are raising hopes that the country will also be able to reduce illicit opium cultivation. Ron Corben reports from Bangkok.
This week Burma’s government signed another peace agreement with an armed ethnic army. Leaders reached a deal with the Shan State Army, a militia based in the northern Shan State where much of the country’s opium is produced.
Burma is world’s second largest opium producer after Afghanistan, which is responsible for 90 percent of world opium output.
The U.N.’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says 43,000 hectares were under cultivation in Burma in 2011, doubling the output in five years. Burma, also known as Myanmar, is a major source of amphetamine-type stimulants, most of which are produced in Shan State.
UNODC says grinding poverty and internal conflict in the troubled ethnic regions led to the doubling in production of opium poppy – the raw commodity for heroin.
Armed ethnic groups in the region also had resisted government calls to act as border patrol units.
Now, as Burma’s President Thein Sein presses ahead with political and economic reforms, as well as ceasefire agreements with the militias, the United Nations says the president is also looking to address drug production.
Gary Lewis is the UNODC regional representative for East Asia and the Pacific.
“We see the government developing a three year alternative development strategy; engaged in ceasefire with various insurgent groups and this we believe will give us an opportunity to encourage those in the international community who wish to partner with Myanmar and the communities on the ground to find alternatives to poppy,” said Lewis.
UNODC programs involve farmer support projects in Southern Shan State promoting alternative development.
Foreign aid to Burma has been limited because of allegations of the military’s past human rights record and restricted access for international donors. But analysts say the reforms, including the release of political prisoners, have set the way open for donor funds.
But UNODC’s Lewis says international assistance will be needed for poppy eradication and alternative crop programs.
“We need to do more, like in Shan State in Myanmar, that the international community engages, provides us with the type of financial support that we need at this stage now that the government is welcoming more international engagement,” added Lewis. “That will give us access to the areas there where we would then be able to engage with local communities.”
Bertil Lintner, author and analyst on Burma, says only a “political solution” will ensure an end to the economic and social uncertainties that led to drug production.
“I can’t see how any crop eradication program which has to go with the government in an area where the ethnic conflict has not been solved can achieve anything,” said Lintner. “You would need a political solution to Burma’s ethnic problems and that is not easy.”
Protection of human rights, especially access to land, also needs to be recognized, says Debbie Stothard, spokeswoman for the Alternative ASEAN Network. Past official eradication programs have often led to land confiscation from local communities.
“There definitely needs to be peace secured in the ethnic areas,” she said. “But there also needs to be good governance and there is a danger that international programs used for drug eradication would be manipulated by the government to push local people off their land.”
Stothard says demilitarization needs to occur as the armed forces have been accused of extorting funds from communities She says for effective drug eradication to succeed, legislative and institutional reforms also need to be put in place.
AP Thursday 19 January 2012
Ecstatic cheers of “Long live Aung San Suu Kyi!” echoed through the streets of Rangoon yesterday as Burma’s most famous citizen registered her candidacy for a parliamentary by-election. Throngs of flag-waving supporters crowded the local election office to shout support and catch a glimpse of the 66-year-old Nobel peace laureate, who spent years under house arrest.
The scene would have been unthinkable while the country was still under military rule. Her decision to contest the election on 1 April is the latest vote of confidence for reforms by the new, nominally civilian administration.
Since taking office in March, the authorities have released hundreds of prominent political prisoners, signed ceasefire agreements with ethnic rebels and begun a dialogue with Ms Suu Kyi herself. However, even if her pro-democracy party wins all 48 seats in the contest, it will have minimal power. The 440-seat lower house of parliament is heavily weighted with military appointees and allies of the former junta.
January 19, 2012: The government ordered the army to halt military operations throughout the tribal territories (northern and eastern Burma). A month ago the government had issued a similar order, but the fighting continued. This raised questions about how much control the recently elected government had over the army. The troops are always allowed to fight back in self-defense, and army commanders can arrange this by moving soldiers into areas that appear to threaten tribal people. Thailand still reports tribal refugees coming across the border daily.
China is now the primary source of foreign investment in Burma, replacing longtime leader Thailand. Chinese investment has skyrocketed in the last four years, from one billion to 13 billion dollars. Last year, China also displaced Thailand as the source of most tourists (65,838 to 61,696).
January 18, 2012: Just across the border in China, Burmese officials and Kachin rebel negotiators met to try and work out a ceasefire deal. The fighting has been going on since last June and has forced at least 60,000 people to flee to Thailand.
Despite peace deals with many tribal groups, the drug trade and various tribal feuds has kept the tensions high in the tribal areas. Pro-government tribes often use the money they now receive from the government to recruit and arm more gunmen for more fighting with other (usually, but not always, rebel) tribes.
January 16, 2012: In the north, the Shan State Army- South (SSA-South) has signed a peace deal with the government. Like other peace deals, the initial cease fire is to be followed with introduction of government aid and services and elections for local representatives in the national parliament.
January 12, 2012: The government signed a ceasefire with the Karen National Union, one of the tribal rebel groups that have been fighting (and signing cease fire deals) with the government for decades.
January 4, 2012: A bomb went off at a Karen tribal festival, killing four and wounding 40. No one took responsibility and the government was blamed.
Press Freedom News and Views
Committee to Protect Journalists – Freedom with limits in Burma
By Shawn W. Crispin/Senior Southeast Asia Representative
January 19, 2012 11:21 AM ET When President Thein Sein pardoned over 300 political prisoners last week in Burma, CPJ reported that at least nine journalists were among those released. Since then, the exile-run Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) has announced that all of its jailed reporters, including a group of eight who had remained anonymous, are now free.
Thirteen DVB reporters were released in total under the January 13 presidential pardon; another four of the news organization’s undercover journalists were released under a separate amnesty last year. At least three journalists who worked for other organizations are still in prison.
Last May, DVB launched its Free Burma VJ campaign to raise public awareness about its 17 jailed reporters and pressure Thein Sein’s democratically elected, military-backed government for their immediate and unconditional release.
The campaign focused on five jailed reporters — Hla Hla Win, Sithu Zeya, Maung Maung Zeya, Ngwe Soe Lin, Win Maw — identified by name, but left 12 others anonymous due to concerns Burmese authorities might extend their sentences if it was discovered they worked undercover for DVB.
DVB’s hard-hitting documentaries, including award-winning reportage of the previous Gen. Than Shwe-led government’s lethal crackdown on Buddhist monk-led protests in 2007 and its ineffectual response to the 2008 Cyclone Nargis disaster, were by necessity reported secretly and released under pseudonyms or without bylines.
Than Shwe’s oppressive military junta frequently referred to DVB as an “enemy of the state”, and the many surveillance measures implemented for the Internet after 2007 were interpreted as a response to local journalists secretly filing censorship-dodging reports to outside and exile-run media such as DVB.
Now, with all DVB’s jailed reporters released, the question is whether Thein Sein’s supposedly reformist regime will allow them to report and file freely, without fear of reprisal and a return to prison. His nominally civilian government has allowed reporting on certain previously banned topics but still pre-censors all news-related publications and dominates the broadcast media.
There are reasons to be skeptical: released DVB reporter Sithu Zeya, who was sentenced to 18 years for reporting on a 2010 bomb attack, was freed on the condition that he must serve his full sentence if he is convicted of any crime. Until the various laws used to oppress and jail journalists are amended or abolished, what constitutes a crime will remain highly arbitrary and hang over all Burmese reporters like a Sword of Damocles.
BANGKOK, 19 January 2012 (IRIN) – An estimated 40,000 Rohingya children are believed to be unregistered in Myanmar, according to a new report.
“Despite recent reform efforts in Myanmar, the government has reaffirmed its deeply discriminatory policies against the Rohingya, and the children bear the brunt of this,” Chris Lewa, director of The Arakan Project and author of the report, told IRIN before a session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva on 19 January.
These include the requirement of government authorization for marriage and a “two-child policy”. These restrictions have made children “evidence” of unregistered marriages, an act punishable with up to 10 years in prison, while third and fourth children who are unregistered are essentially “blacklisted” for life – unable to travel, attend school or marry.
Under Myanmar’s 1982 citizenship law, Rohingya children – both registered and unregistered – are stateless and hence, face limited access to food and healthcare, leaving them susceptible to preventable diseases and malnutrition. Many are prevented from attending school and used for forced labour, contributing to a Rohingya illiteracy rate of 80 percent.
More than 60 percent of children aged between five and 17 have never enrolled in school, the report said.
It’s not ridiculous to think that North Korea could take a page from Myanmar and make a shocking U-turn toward democracy.
BY DANIEL M. KLIMAN | JANUARY 19, 2012
For more than two decades, Myanmar was a pariah state ruled by military generals that suppressed political dissent, straitjacketed the media, persecuted ethnic minorities, and — despite resource riches — failed to improve its people’s living standards. The United States continuously sanctioned Myanmar and subjected it to regular rhetorical whippings in Congress. It was, for want of a better parallel, the North Korea of Southeast Asia. But the transformation of the past few months has been nothing short of remarkable. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s landmark visit late last year underscored the changes within Myanmar, and on Jan. 13, the United States restored full diplomatic ties with the country after it made good on its pledge to release a significant number of political prisoners and signed a cease-fire with ethnic Karen rebels. America’s breakthrough with Myanmar remains fragile; the government will have to meet other benchmarks such as abiding by the results of April’s parliamentary by-election. Still, this thaw raises the question: Could it ever happen in North Korea?
The conventional wisdom is that North Korea will at best muddle through its current leadership transition or at worst implode; either way, it will continue to treat the United States as enemy No. 1. If the latest Kim to rein in Pyongyang manages to consolidate power, though, he may take a page from Myanmar’s playbook and pursue an American opening. This choice may become more and more plausible as the regime’s economic dependence on China becomes uncomfortably high.
At the moment, the world is rightly focused on whether North Korea’s 20-something leader, Kim Jong Un, can hold the country together. While his father spent decades being groomed for leadership, the youngest Kim was elevated almost overnight; his ability to command loyalty among the generals and cadres that constitute North Korea’s elite remains unknown. The combination of an internal power struggle and popular discontent could cause a collapse, triggering massive refugee outflows, the proliferation of nuclear material, and a unified but unstable Korean Peninsula.
North Korea could just as easily survive. Predictions of its demise, though regularly made, have routinely underestimated the regime’s capacity to endure despite imposing terrible economic hardships on its people. During the famine of the 1990s, in which several million North Koreans may have perished, the regime channeled food and other goods to the military and party elites, guaranteeing their loyalty. And to buy some time while Kim consolidates his rule, it’s likely that Pyongyang will continue to provoke Washington with belligerent rhetoric, missile tests, and possibly more lethal forms of brinkmanship. Once secure internally, however, Pyongyang could depart from the path of confrontation and seek to normalize relations with the United States. To signal its desire for improved ties, North Korea could make limited changes internally — the opening of an Associated Press news bureau in Pyongyang, announced just this week, is suggestive.
Myanmar, like North Korea an ally of China, has just charted this course. For two decades, U.S. policy treated Myanmar as a pariah state. The military junta’s repression of popular protests, mistreatment of minority ethnic groups, and confinement of democratic activist Aung San Suu Kyi led the United States to institute ever tighter sanctions. Beyond its miserable human rights record, Myanmar also posed a security risk. In a bid to procure missile technology, the military junta turned to North Korea for help; just last year, the U.S. Navy interdicted a shipment of missiles bound for Myanmar. And rumors about a nascent nuclear program occasionally surfaced.
Yet rather than continue its confrontation with the United States, Myanmar began to change course. Starting in November 2010, its government launched a limited — but unmistakable — series of political reforms, releasing Aung San Suu Kyi and some political prisoners, shedding military uniforms for civilian garb, and curtailing media censorship. It also abandoned efforts to obtain missile technology after last year’s thwarted attempt. And after Clinton’s visit, Myanmar responded with a new wave of openings, including the release of 651 additional political prisoners and the signing of a cease-fire agreement with the ethnic Karen rebels.
These changes, which blindsided most outsiders, were above all motivated by concerns about Myanmar’s ally — China. Isolated from the world economy by long-term international sanctions, the government became ever more reliant on China for trade and investment. Reliance gradually blurred into an erosion of national independence as Chinese firms imported workers and came to dominate the country’s energy and transportation infrastructure. At the same time, Beijing’s growing focus on the Indian Ocean risked turning Myanmar into an extension of Chinese naval strategy. Looking to ease what had become an overbearing embrace, the government of Myanmar implemented the domestic reforms necessary for the United States to offer diplomatic normalization.
If North Korea survives former leader Kim Jong Il’s passing, it will confront a similar dilemma. Already, Chinese companies have a substantial presence in the North. Chinese firms are involved in resource extraction and construction, and the Rason free trade zone has become a focus for Beijing, which reportedly sends regular senior-level delegations there. China’s economic presence within North Korea will continue to expand, particularly if Kim Jong Un is willing to pursue market-oriented reforms in a more serious and sustained way than his father. While Kim’s desire to undertake such reforms is uncertain, China’s eagerness to see him revitalize North Korea’s economy is not. Despite the leadership transition in Pyongyang, Beijing’s objectives remain unchanged: to see an economically viable, subservient country on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula for the foreseeable future.
The new ruler of North Korea may ultimately face a stark choice: become an economic protectorate of China or build a less antagonistic relationship with the United States. For Pyongyang, normalizing ties with Washington is the gateway to improving relationships with other regional powers — Japan and South Korea. Both of these U.S. allies could become major sources of trade and investment for North Korea and help counterbalance Chinese influence. Neither, however, will adopt a radically different approach toward Pyongyang unless Washington moves first.
North Korea’s path toward better relations with the United States will be a difficult one. The Kim family’s legitimacy remains bound up in defying American power, including through the continued possession of nuclear weapons; confronting Washington was never as central to the legitimacy of Myanmar’s junta. Moreover, Pyongyang is far more repressive than Myanmar ever was. Whether North Korea can make the types of changes that Myanmar has implemented remains an open question. On the other hand, Pyongyang could portray some elements of a U.S. opening — like a high-level visit — as recognition of Kim’s exalted status and diplomatic acumen. The boost to domestic legitimacy could offset the weakening of domestic control.
As it confronts a North Korea in transition, the United States should prepare for the worst while being careful not to overlook early indicators of a new direction for the regime. Rather than worry about Chinese investments in North Korea -- a factor it has little capacity to influence -- Washington should recognize the upside: Such investments may actually hasten a U.S. rapprochement with Pyongyang.
By ZARNI MANN Thursday, January 19, 2012
Prominent Buddhist monk Ashin Pyinna Thiha, the abbot of the Sardu Pariyatti Monastery, agreed to follow the order of the Maha Nayaka Sangha Council of Rangoon, the official Rangoon council of Buddhist monks, and leave the monastery within one month.
“I just agreed to sign and leave and live peacefully as an obedient person to the Sangha, as I don’t want to be a reason for dispute. I would like to request all monks and everyone not to fight about my case as this may affect national reconciliation. However, all the social work we do will be continued by the other monks here,” said Ashin Pyinna Thiha, also known as Shwe Nya Wah Sayadaw.
The agreement regarding Ashin Pyinna Thiha’s departure was signed and acknowledged by Divisional Religion Officer Zaw Zaw Oo, the head of the divisional Sangha, and other authorities at the Rangoon Division Sangha office, while hundreds of supporters and monks waited outside under tight security.
Ashin Pyinna Thiha said that he has not yet decided where to live in the future, but will leave Sardu Pariyatti Monastery before February 19, which is the final date for his departure given by the Sangha.
The 47-member Maha Nayaka Sangha Council, Burma’s official state council of Buddhist monks, had previously banned Ashin Pyinna Thiha from giving Dhamma talks for one year.
In September, however, he spoke at the Mandalay office of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, where he vowed to keep working for peace in Burma and called for the release of political prisoners and the end of civil war. He said that there is no peace as long as political prisoners remain behind bars and there is war on the border.
A recorded video of the event spread among the Burmese public, and apparently citing this video, the Maha Nayaka Sangha Council issued a statement saying that the abbot was “disobedient” within the monk community and was to be evicted from his monastery.
He sent a letter of apology to the council asking that it reverse its decision, but the request was denied.
Ashin Pyinna Thiha is well known for social work and for allowing political events to be held in his monastery, as well as for sermons relating to the current situation in Burma. He was also among the social activists who met with US Secretary Hillary Clinton’s landmark visit to Burma.
By SAW YAN NAING Thursday, January 19, 2012
Burma’s military-backed civilian government could be rewarded as early as next month for its release last week of hundreds of political prisoners, as the European Union reveals that it is planning to review its sanctions on the country ahead of by-elections on April 1.
“Some countries want to give a sign of encouragement before the April elections,” according to an unnamed EU diplomatic quoted by Agence France-Presse on Wednesday.
The move, which also follows a historic ceasefire agreement signed by the government and the Karen National Union last Thursday, could begin with initial steps in February, the source said.
Michael Mann, a spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, also indicated that changes are in the works.
“In the light of developments in the country, we have launched a general review of our policies,” Mann told AFP.
Even as Britain and France’s foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to “remain vigilant” following their respective visits to Burma earlier this month, European countries have clearly indicated that they are more interested than ever in cooperating with Naypyidaw.
After concluding his trip to Burma on Monday, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé announced that his country will triple its aid to Burmese development projects to around 3 million euros (US $3.85 million) per year, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro.
Meanwhile, Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation Christian Friis Bach told The Irrawaddy last week that his country will double its development assistance to Burma to 100 million Danish kroner ($17 million) in 2012.
The EU is not the only long-time critic of Burma’s rulers to soften its stance on sanctions. Australia has already reduced the number of Burmese figures to whom it will apply financial and travel sanctions, in recognition of recent reforms.
The Philippines, a fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member that has often spoken out against Burma’s military rulers in the past, has also urged the West to reward the Burmese government by ending sanctions.
On Jan. 10, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said that his country, as current chair of Asean, will work toward the lifting of Western sanctions against Burma.
By DAVID I. STEINBERG Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The world, and especially the Burmese peoples, have seen many positive changes in their society over the past year. Now, in the light of these encouraging events, the world is beating a path to Myanmar’s [Burma's] doorstep. Some of those in the past have had rigorous negative opinions, ones they did not fail to share with all those around and about, and especially with those in policy positions. They wanted regime change as they believed there was little hope of progress under any military-dominated regime.
Some felt there should be no negotiations—even contact—with a corrupt, venal Burmese military, and that sanctions should squeeze the military junta until it cried Uncle (Sam). Many are now applying for visas. We hope that they will all be granted, and that they can find hotel rooms in Yangon.
And now from all sorts of foreign sources will come the barrage of claims that it was their policies that have brought about such changes in Myanmar. If it had not been for sanctions, opprobrium, invective, UN resolutions, restrictions on trade, discouragement of investment, warnings against tourism, vilification of those advocating dialogue, and a myriad of other restrictions and negative views on what was often described as a ”pariah” or “rogue” regime, the argument goes, these changes would not have taken place. So we, the foreigners, are the heroes.
This is the height of hubris. Yes, we know well the human rights abuses in that state, its sorry economic policies and incompetent implementation, its Potemkin-village-like-system of disguising reality, its manipulation of statistics to hide mal-administration. Yet to claim that foreigners have effectively controlled change or could force improvements in that sorry state is remarkably grotesque.
We all know that organizations or individuals, public or private, that have programs or projects like to claim success for their endeavors. Such efforts are individually or institutionally satisfying, stroking the personal or collective egos, and often resulting in raising more monies for further such exploits.
To make such claims, however, is to deny the acumen and capacity of the Burmese people. Yes, they have been oppressed, and their occasional outward expressions of discontent have been brutally suppressed. They have tolerated much, and seem to have had a long fuse and have not exploded as often as they might have given their provocations, perhaps because of the karmic belief that evil rulers with get their just desserts in future incarnations. To make such claims is also to deny that however grammatically singular the word “military” may be, it is in reality plural.
There always have been those within the rigid military system who thought of the plight of the people, as there have been “thugs” interested in self-aggrandizement. As one highly placed Burmese colonel who was a cabinet minister said, “We were taught that this uniform, this gun, came from the people, but we have forgotten that.” To deny the essential humanity of all this admitted elite is singularly inept.
Openings within the pervasive power system in Myanmar have allowed those concerned with their own society to advocate change and reform. After a half-century of repression, such progress is likely to be halting and asymmetrical, and it will only take place at a pace that the society can handle, if it is allowed to do so. For the world to deny the reality of such attempted changes is, in effect, to subvert them. Yet for foreigners to attempt to control, take over, and claim credit for progress is an equally effective method to diminish their effectiveness.
Foreigners should remember how marginal they really are—in spite of their military power, economic penetration, and propinquity or distance. Those for or against sanctions, for or against dialogue, or for or against engagement are bit players in the Burmese drama, in which the past or present villains and the present heroes are Burmese of all ethnicities and persuasions. We wish them well.
David I. Steinberg is Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. His latest volume (with Fan Hongwei) is “Modern China-Myanmar Relations: Dilemmas of Mutual Dependence” (March 2012).
Thursday, 19 January 2012 12:35 Mizzima News
(Mizzima) – Chin State, the poorest state in Burma, may again be facing a food shortage with up to 100,000 people affected, says the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) of Britain.
The humanitarian NGO said it sees evidence of renewed famine in Chin State following the Mawta famine that began in 2007. Chronic food shortages in parts of southern Chin State are particularly severe this year after a bad harvest, it said in a statement released on Wednesday.
The populations of Kanpetlet, Matupi, Mindat and Paletwa townships are at risk of forced migration when food stores run out, it said.
The cause of the last famine was a devastating rat infestation. The word “Mawta” is a dialectical word of the Chin people to describe the flowering of bamboo; a natural occurrence that takes place every 50 years. Bamboo covers a fifth of the area in Chin State, and its flower provides abundant food for rats.
Chin Human Right Organization (CHRO) has monitored the continuing effects of the Mawta famine. It has documented that Chin refugees in Dehli have doubled in the last year. In April 2011, a report from the United Nations OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) highlighted an increase in the cost of basic commodities and seasonal water shortages in the area.
Accurate information on the current situation in remote parts of Chin State is difficult to obtain. HART collected testimonial evidence from nine village representatives in the affected areas, who said that their villages harvested food supplies that are expected to last three months, running out between December 2011 and January 2012. The crisis faced by these villages is likely to be replicated across Chin State, said the NGO.
The situation could particularly bleak for those villages which have no roads connecting them to the outside world, it said, and the international community should respond once again to help prevent further famine.
For more information, see www.hart-uk.org
Thursday, 19 January 2012 20:13 Ko Wild
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese presidential special peace envoy and Rail Transportation Minister Aung Min has offered two exile-based democratic groups to meet for political talks the first week of February, said group leaders.
General-Secretary Dr. Naing Aung of the Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB), which consists of seven organizations, said that peace facilitators Hla Maung Shwe and Dr. Kyaw Yin Hlaing conveyed the message verbally. The same message was given to Aung Moe Zaw, the chairman of the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS).
“They told me that this was an official offer from the government minister and special envoy for peace…for informal talks,” Naing Aung told Mizzima.
Naing Aung, who is also the director of the Network for Democracy and Development (NDD), said that he had informed member organizations.
The FDB was formed to work for the “emergence of a democratic transition which will lay down foundations for good government, rule of law and justice” in early 2004 with a core group of seven member organizations which fled to the border after the then-military regime brutally suppressed the 1988 popular uprising.
DPNS Chairman Aung Moe Zaw told Mizzima, “They informed us that Aung Min would meet with us, but the date for the talks will be set later. Meeting with him is good, but we must call a central committee meeting within days for deliberations on the details of this talk.”
The DPNS was formed during the 1988 popular uprising. It had about 100,000 party members at the time of the 1990 general election. It was abolished in January 1991 by the then military regime and various party leaders fled to the border.
Though President Thein Sein and his cabinet colleagues invited Burmese nationals in exile to come back home, precise and specific laws and regulations are still needed for people who left Burma because of their political objectives and beliefs, said Min Ko Naing, 88 Generation leader who was released on 13th Janaury.
“They just called us to come back, but there should be practical and specific opinions and steps taken for this purpose,” said Aung Moe Zaw said.
Recently, the government reached cease-fire agreements with five ethnic armed groups (the KNU, SSA-S, CNF, UWSA and Mongla group). This is the first time the government has extended an offer of political talks to democratic forces outside Burma.
Thursday, 19 January 2012 13:19 Ko Wild
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) on Tuesday agreed to have peace talks with the Burmese government, ABSDF Vice Chairman Myo Win said.
Most of the nine ABSDF battalions are based in areas controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU), which has signed a cease-fire agreement with the government.
The ABSDF said that if it cannot cooperate with the KNU military wing, with which it has had a close relationship for more than 20 years, it could cooperate with the political wing in resolving problems that confront the ethnic communities, Myo Win said.
KNU General-Secretary Zipporah Sein said that despite its cease-fire with the government, many political issues remain to be discussed.
“Only if [the government] can establish a nationwide ceasefire, will problems be solved. Many political processes need to be resolved. The ABSDF has cooperated [with KNU], and we will discuss our alliance,” Myo Win told Mizzima.
In responding to the government peace-talk offer, “Our main message is that we also want to solve the political problems impartially. We’ve sent an official letter via our communication route,” Myo Win said.
The letter said the ABSDF is seeking national reconciliation, peace, a “genuine union” and democracy and human rights, he said.
Myo Win said the government said the ABSDF could pick the site of the peace talks.
Win Tin, a member of National League for Democracy patron committee, welcomed the negotiations. He said that the role of the ABSDF is as important as the role of ethnic groups in trying to establish peace. However, the ABSDF needs to beware of the Burmese army’s attitude, which appears to differ from the government’s approach to the peace talks.
“On December 10, the president ordered the commander in chief to stop military offensives [against ethnic armed groups]. But the attacks still continue,” Win Tin told Mizzima. “There are three sides. The first is all armed groups. The second is the government, and it knows that peace is needed for its survival and is doing its task. On the other hand, [the third side, the military] does not obey the government’s order and still launches military offensives.”
The ABSDF is an armed group formed by students who fled to border areas after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. The group said it plans to take advice from members living in Burma and foreign countries.
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 19 January 2012
Burma’s undernourished health sector will see a rise in government spending of 0.7 percent over the coming fiscal year, as well as an increase in staff numbers and facilities.
Still however the rise will bring total annual spending to only two percent of the budget, keeping Burma among the world’s lowest countries in terms of money allocated to healthcare.
“The [health] ministry is looking to allocate the new budget to increase staff numbers and medical supplies as well as improving [disease] prevention measures,” director of planning at the health ministry, Dr Phone Myint, told DVB.
He added that Burma’s healthcare sector “requires a budget of up to five percent of GDP” to meet the needs of Burmese citizens, who have long had to make do with rudimentary medical facilities.
Burma’s current spending on healthcare stands at 1.3 percent, or $US2 per person each year, while Thailand on the other hand allocates 11 percent. The remaining government budget includes 4.1 percent for education and 25 percent to the military, a seemingly colossal figure given that Burma has no external enemies.
There has also been talk of more funding for education. Economist Khin Maung Nyo said the government would soon hold talks with UN bodies to prepare for a possible overhaul of the education system in government schools, “Otherwise our education system will remain in the gutter,” he warned.
Whether the additional money is sourced from the public or from a reduction in military spending is unclear. In the country’s underdeveloped border regions, hospitals barely function on the scant money available, and many citizens cross into neighbouring Thailand to receive healthcare.
Anger was vented during the first session of parliament when it was announced that a Special Funds Law would be introduced that gives the army chief supreme authority to allocate unlimited additional money to the military without any notice, and without parliamentary consent. This would be in addition to current military spending.
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 19 January 2012
Despite recent tentative steps towards democratic reform in Burma, the government has continued with a discriminatory policy against the Rohingya ethnic group in the country’s western Arakan state that includes banning Rohingya children born out of wedlock from obtaining travel permits, attending school and, in the future, marrying.
The racial profiling of children immediately after birth contradicts the praise heaped on the pseudo-civilian government by world leaders in recent months, says The Arakan Project, which is this week submitting a report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
The UN body is currently reviewing the situation of children’s rights in Burma, and The Arakan Project claims the blacklisting of Rohingya babies stands in stark contrast to pledges of reform by the Thein Sein administration.
Chris Lewa, director of The Arakan Project, says the new government continues to ignore the existence of the Rohingya in its state party reports to the CRC, and has refused to implement the body’s recommendations first made in 2004.
“Rohingya children bear the full brunt of the state’s policies of exclusion, restrictions and arbitrary treatment,” she said. “These systematic policies gravely impair their physical and mental development as children and will affect the long-term future of their community.”
Successive Burmese governments claim the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group, are of Bengali origin, and thus have consistently denied them citizenship – The Arakan Project says their status in Burma “relies entirely on the political will of the government”, which is predominantly Buddhist and whose current representative at the UN, Ye Myint Aung, said during his prior tenure as Consul-General to Hong Kong that Rohingya were “ugly as ogres”.
Rohingya support groups say however that there is evidence that Islam existed in Burma prior to the now-dominant Theravada Buddhism, and that the Rohingya’s roots in Arakan state go back centuries.
For decades the government has meted out hefty treatment against the group, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the country. Up to 400,000 Rohingya are living as refugees in neighbouring Bangladesh, with hundreds attempting perilous journeys by boat each year to Thailand and Malaysia. Various NGOs have described them as one of the world’s most persecuted minority groups.
Those that remain in Burma suffer persecution at the hands of government officials as well as from local Arakan communities, where anti-Muslim sentiment, reinforced by the government, is strong and where many inhabitants consider them illegal immigrants.
“If children are not in their family list they cannot stay in the village,” a nine-year-old boy told researchers working on the CRC submission. “Like my brother – my parents could not include my younger brother’s name in their family list. That is why they had to leave the village.
“Some parents still live in the village without registering their children but they have to hide them. Or they have to register them with other parents. Like me. I am registered as the son of my grandmother.”
Another boy, 12, told the group that he was a “prisoner in [his] own village” and could not leave the confines of his village without travel documents. An 11-year-old said he was often made to skip school when local authorities forced him to help repair nearby roads, with no pay.
The Burmese government justifies this treatment of the Rohingya on national security grounds, claiming that the policy is aimed at managing “illegal migration”. A ban on Rohingya parents producing more than two children stems from alleged “control on population growth”, The Arakan Project says, and unauthorised marriages can result in a 10-year prison term.
The group estimates that more than 40,000 Rohingya children have been left unregistered, with parents fearing punishment if they come forward with children born out of wedlock. Those not registered face severe difficulties accessing education and healthcare.
The government has mooted a programme of registering blacklisted children and adding them to population censuses, but progress has been slow. In addition, “Despite [UN refugee agency’s] advocacy efforts to address their lack of status with the government, little progress has been achieved to date,” says the report.
Lewa urged the government to “build on its reform credentials and mark a break from past regimes by taking immediate steps to end all discriminatory policies and practices against the Rohingya”. The group warns that racial profiling by the government “has demoralised the Rohingya community, resulting in increased refugee outflows since September 2011”.