Myanmar refugees tell of violence despite peace calls
By James Pomfret | Reuters – 4 hrs ago

NONGDAO, China (Reuters) – In an obscure part of southwest China, a refugee crisis from one of the world’s longest running and least known conflicts in Myanmar is slowly unfolding, largely ignored by the outside world and denied by China.

Thousands of refugees bringing tales of rape and violence have flooded across the border into China, fleeing fighting between Myanmar government troops and ethnic minority Kachin rebels.

Conflicts between the Myanmar government and various minority rebel groups erupted soon after independence from Britain in 1948.

The Myanmar government is keen to end the violence as it introduces democratic reforms after five decades of iron-fisted military rule and as Western governments call for peace as they prepare to lift sanctions.

Concrete moves to end the conflicts is a condition for the full lifting of the embargoes.

While pacts have ended the fighting in most parts of Myanmar, the bloodshed has not stopped in Kachin state in the far north despite a call from the central government for an end.
Kachin state, a broad spur of Himalayan foothills wedged between China and India, has for generations produced some of the world’s finest jade, as well as opium and timber.

Now it is central to the energy plans of both Myanmar and China, home to hydropower dams and twin pipelines that will transport oil and natural gas to China’s southwestern Yunnan province.

In the town of Nongdao in a far western nook of Yunnan, talk of Myanmar’s return to democracy and the release of political prisoners ordered by President Thein Sein rings hollow to refugees such as Da Shi Jar Raw.

“They used big rockets to hit the villages and they burned the fields,” the 32-year-old told Reuters, describing attacks by government soldiers in the country also known as Burma.

“The Burmese soldiers are raping women and shooting children,” she said. “They killed a lot of mothers so we don’t dare go back.”

“TERRIBLE THINGS”

Labang Roi Tawng took her four young children and fled on a four-day trek in December to the border and safety at a camp in China of more than 500 people.

“The military were killing, shooting and raping people, doing terrible things, so we were very afraid and ran,” she said.

At least 10,000 refugees have entered China since fighting erupted between Myanmar’s military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) after a 17-year-old ceasefire broke down last June. Some Chinese media reports have put the number at 40,000.

“How long the fighting continues, we cannot say,” said Lahpai Zaulat, with the Kachin Relief and Development Committee at Longdao, another area where refugees have flocked.

“More and more will come,” he said of the flow of people fleeing, adding new huts were being built every week.

At one camp, where a mass of huts nestled between an open rubbish heap and farmland, organizers said refugees were arriving at a rate of about 10 a day.

Most of the Kachin villagers have fled to several areas along the fenceless border including Mai Jai Yang in Kachin state, and Nongdao, Longchuan and Leiji on the Chinese side.
The flow of displaced appears to be under control for now, with authorities grudgingly providing land for shelters.

Many refugees in two border camps visited by Reuters looked relatively healthy and well fed despite often dirty and crowded conditions in huts of plastic tarpaulin strung over bamboo.

But what baffles many Kachin is that President Thein Sein’s order for troops to end their offensives has fallen on deaf ears. The only explanation the government has provided is problems with communications equipment.

But few are convinced by that.

“The military has ignored government orders to stop fighting,” Khon Ja, a Kachin activist based in Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon, told Reuters.

“This should be the highest crime.”

Channels for dialogue with the KIA are open and talks are going on, but without any real progress.

“BORDER PEOPLE”

For its part, China, keen to secure Myanmar’s energy supplies and wary of an influx of displaced, officially denies the existence of the refugees. They are an embarrassment to a government which enjoys close ties with Myanmar and has stood by it in the face of Western sanctions.

“Remember these people aren’t refugees, they’re just here temporarily to escape the conflict,” said a Chinese government official in the border town of Ruili after police detained a Reuters news team for nearly five hours.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin, speaking at a briefing on Friday, described the refugees as “border people” and said there were “not as many of them as outside reports say.”

“China has all along dealt with this issue in a humanitarian way, and has provided daily necessities,” he said.

China has been relatively tolerant in allowing the Kachin to stay, many without identity papers, sometimes in border towns among Chinese citizens who share the same ethnicity. But it is wary of allowing non-government organizations (NGOs) to help.

“The NGOs can’t come to help us because China doesn’t have any refugee laws,” said refugee Joseph Dabang. “Really we have tremendous trouble and we have no money.”
Many Kachin are Christian and Christian organizations are helping to run camps and supply rations.

In another camp, that spilt into a plantation, corrugated iron shacks were crammed with bedding and scores of children gathered at a school set up with plastic sheeting for walls.
Teacher Htu Raw darted between blackboards as she taught two classes at the same time, getting children to recite English words like “flower” and “cup.”

“I’m very sorry for the children so it doesn’t matter if I’m tired,” said the round-faced teacher as a room full of wide-eyed children watched her every move.

“Many of these children have lost parents. But these students are now my children.”

GMA News – DFA Sec. del Rosario meets Suu Kyi and Myanmar leader
February 10, 2012 6:20pm

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario met with Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at her home on Thursday as she geared up for the start of electoral campaign for the April by-elections there.

The meeting “was aimed at strengthening the ties between the two countries” according to state media reports.

Del Rosario and Suu Kyi posed for photos in front of the democracy leader’s house in Yangon, where she held a press briefing for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party after their meeting.

Secretary del Rosario also met with Myanmar President U Thein Sein and held discussions with Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

The DFA said del Rosario “congratulated the Myanmar leadership on the political, economic and social reforms it has undertaken,” including the release of Suu Kyi.

It also said the Myanmar leader thanked the Philippines government for its support and encouragement to the various reforms that the Myanmar Government has undertaken.

Myanmar’s president “also expressed appreciation for the Philippine support towards the lifting of economic sanctions against Myanmar,”  the DFA added.

“The Myanmar President invited the Philippine business community to invest in various sectors of Myanmar economy such as oil and gas, agriculture, mining, forestry and timber products, development of deep sea ports, infrastructure, among others,” the DFA said.

Election campaign

Suu Kyi and her allies are contesting 48 seats in various legislatures including the 440-seat lower house in the April 1 by-elections that could give political credibility to Myanmar and help advance the end of Western sanctions.

Suu Kyi addressed a crowd of supporters, mostly from the party’s youth wing. “Concerted efforts can shake even the whole world,” she told the gathering.

Official campaigning begins this weekend, but Suu Kyi had been delivering speeches in villages and cities in recent weeks, giving the unmistakeable feel of a campaign.

As the southeast Asian nation emerges from half a century of isolation, diplomats from the region have been holding meetings with Suu Kyi.

Joining the diplomats are business executives, mostly from Asia, swarmed into Yangon in recent weeks to hunt for investment opportunities in one of the last frontier markets in Asia.

They are encouraged by statements from the European Union and the US that sanctions could be lifted if voters were able to vote freely in April’s elections.

Myanmar is also at the center of a struggle for strategic influence as the United States sees a chance to expand its ties there and balance China’s fast-growing economic and political sway in the region.

Friday, Feb. 10, 2012
The Japan Times – Long courting of Myanmar may finally pay off
By JUNKO HORIUCHI, Kyodo

Japanese government and business officials have flocked to Myanmar in recent months with a keen interest in the untapped investment opportunities in the country, which is embarking on democratic and economic reforms after decades of seclusion.

Japanese entities that have been nurturing ties with Myanmar are encouraged that the time has finally come for various cooperative projects to resume operations after years of being in limbo under the country’s military regime, while Myanmar welcomes Japan’s assistance.

“With Myanmar’s government starting to open up to the international community, what we have been working on for all these years may finally bear fruit,” said Shigeto Kashiwazaki, managing director of the Asian business research department at Daiwa Institute of Research.

Kashiwazaki was referring to a quasi-stock exchange called Myanmar Securities Exchange Center Co. (MSEC) that Daiwa Institute, under Daiwa Securities Group Inc., and the Myanmar Economic Bank, the country’s largest bank, set up as a joint venture in June 1996 with the aim of developing a securities market in Myanmar.

U Soe Thein, executive director at MSEC, said he is “always positive to any assistance given” by Japan and “appreciates all of those programs.” Before working at MSEC, he worked as a public official for more than 40 years and was involved in receiving Japanese assistance.

Japan has provided aid to Myanmar since 1954, including grant since 1975. In cumulative terms, Japan is the top provider of official development assistance to Myanmar, at $3.27 billion as of 2010. It also began providing loan aid in 1968 although it has suspended giving new loans since 1987 due to delays in repayments.

U Soe Thein noted that technical assistance from Japan may be even “more beneficial” if its training programs are specially designed for a target country, and if the trainers or lecturers in the programs have knowledge or experience of the nation.

“Having in mind these realities, both sides should try to mitigate the adverse impacts and maximize the benefits,” said U Soe Thein in an email.

MSEC was set up in response to a request by the Myanmar government, which wanted to prop up the market economy in the country. But to date, at MSEC, with 11 staff members, including two Japanese, the shares of just two firms and some government bonds are traded.

The 1997 Asian financial crisis prompted Myanmar to tighten regulations for financial institutions and as a result many problems with its financial regime, including the existence of multiple exchange rates, an opaque legal framework and weak banking system, were left unresolved, making it difficult for foreign firms to do business there.

The imposition of economic sanctions by the United States and European countries, the Myanmar junta’s crackdown on democracy-leaning parties such as the one led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and reports of human rights abuses since the 1980s also dissuaded the Japanese government and businesses from deepening economic ties with Myanmar.

“Our joint project to develop a securities market in the country has been virtually halted for more than 10 years,” Kashiwazaki said. “But now as Myanmar implements economic measures, we can finally get down to business.”

Myanmar, a country with abundant resources and a cheap labor force, is widely seen as the last untapped market in Asia. Since a military-backed civilian government took over power from the junta last March and implemented a series of democratic reforms, it has attracted investment interest from firms around the globe.

Japan and Myanmar have decided to launch negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty following Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba’s visit to the country in late December, the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to Myanmar since August 2002.

Such a pact, if realized, would help improve the levels of protection and liberalization of investment and make it easier for Japanese companies to do business in Myanmar.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano also visited the country in January, accompanied by around 100 business representatives and ministry officials, including senior executives from trading house Mitsui & Co., Sharp Corp. and Toshiba Corp., and expressed Japan’s plan to help vital infrastructure projects in Myanmar.

“Myanmar is a key junction that connects Southeast Asia and China. I have no doubt about its growth,” said Takashi Kawamura, chairman of the board at Hitachi Ltd., who participated in the business visit led by Edano.

“Japan should be able to make a strong showing (in Myanmar), such as through its energy-saving technologies,” Kawamura said during his visit to Myanmar.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan’s aid agency, has also stepped up efforts to assist Myanmar. In December, it invited 30 businesspeople and government officials from the country, including from the Myanmar Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance and Revenue, for a three-week training program in Japan, where they received lectures such as on Japanese farming, monetary systems and automobile manufacturing.

“We organized such a training program so that promising people from Myanmar will learn from our knowledge and expertise,” said Tomonori Nagase, an official at JICA’s Southeast Asia and Pacific Department.

“But at the same time, through such a program, we hope to forge better ties between Japan and Myanmar by getting to know each other,” he said.

During the program, they visited places such as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; the Bank of Japan; Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ; and Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc.

“We have long been engaged with Myanmar but the reforms are unfolding at a faster pace than expected. The government seems serious this time,” Nagase said.

MYANMAR-THAILAND: Dying for lack of reproductive healthcare

BANGKOK, 10 February 2012 (IRIN) – Lack of access to reproductive health services in Myanmar has led to high rates of maternal deaths and unplanned pregnancies among the country’s displaced, migrant and refugee populations, say health experts.

“There are huge unmet reproductive health needs for contraceptives, family planning, and access to skilled birth attendants,” said Priya Manwell, the UN Population Fund’s (UNFPA) humanitarian response coordinator for the Asia Pacific region.

Populations that are on the run or outside their home countries are often unable to gain access to reproductive healthcare, say health workers.

Without skilled birth attendants or contraception, complications from unsafe abortions and post-partum haemorrhage are common along the Thai-Burmese border, where there are more than 150,000 Burmese refugees, according to a new report by the international NGO, Ibis Reproductive Health.

“In Burma, the sad state of reproductive health… [bars] far too many, especially mobile populations, including migrants, refugees, and IDPs, from accessing appropriate, timely, and basic health services,” Vit Suwanvanichkij, a research associate at the US-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told IRIN.

Nationwide, only 37 percent of women gave birth with a trained birth attendant in 2007, according to the most recent government data reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Health displaced

Displaced people in Myanmar’s east face “a health disaster”, with a maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 721 deaths per 100,000 live births – three times the national average of 240, according to a 2010 NGO-collaborative report, Diagnosis Critical.

Some 10 percent of Myanmar’s national MMR has been traced to unsafe abortions.

“A lack of safe, legal abortion creates conditions where women in both eastern Burma and Thailand are likely to either self-abort or engage untrained providers who may use methods likely to cause harm or even death,” said Cari Siestra, co-author of Ibis Reproductive Health’s recent report.

The lack of health infrastructure in eastern Myanmar has led to frequent reproductive complications from preventable illnesses, such as malaria, which is “the number-one killer of pregnant women”, said Suwanvanichkij.

“Malnutrition, malaria, and repeat pregnancies without adequate birth spacing all impact [on] women’s ability to carry pregnancies, even wanted ones, to term,” added Sietstra.

Overall health challenges include a shortage of workers, investment and proper infrastructure, San San Myint, a national technical officer and reproductive health specialist at the WHO country office in Myanmar, told IRIN.

“Reproductive health coverage is [available in fewer than] 150 townships out of 325 townships. The main problem is funding and geographical barriers.”

Camps

Reproductive health improves for refugees on the Thai side of the border, who have better access to trained providers, according to Sietstra.

But Thailand’s estimated two million Burmese migrant workers, are often reluctant to seek medical assistance.

“Undocumented Burmese migrants are hesitant to access services because of their immigration status,” said Jaime Calderon, the Southeast Asia regional health migration adviser at the International Organization for Migration office in Bangkok.

This is compounded by providers’ discriminatory policies, language constraints and inability to pay, say health workers along the border.

“Put this awful constellation of vulnerabilities together and the result is that far too many women again are sickened, disabled, or die from preventable causes, such as complications of pregnancy and abortions,” said Suwanvanichkij.

While Myanmar’s recent political reforms have the potential to translate into better care if there is long-term investment in the health system, “we still need to address the immediate needs of people urgently”, said Taweesap Sirapapasiri, UNFPA’s programme officer for Thailand.

Asian Correspondent – What’s in a name – Burma or Myanmar?
Posted by Jo Lane on February 10, 2012 in Uncategorized

I AM always amazed at the utter confusion on people’s faces if I ever mention the name Myanmar. Yes Burma they know but Myanmar – where’s that exactly? Well there are plenty of places in the world that have changed names over the years such as Kolkata (Calcutta), Iran (Persia) and Cambodia (Kampuchea).

There are often political reasons for these name changes and it’s good to understand so you can then decide how you will refer to the place yourself.

Well let’s go back in time then. The country was called the Republic of Burma when it became independent from Great Britain in 1948. It was called that until 1989 when the military regime took over and changed the name to Myanmar.

As a result the pro-democracy movement and those that want to undermine the legitimacy of the ruling regime have elected to continue calling it Burma. The U.N. has recognised the name Myanmar, “presumably deferring to the idea that its members can call themselves what they wish” according to linguist Richard Coates.

In the media the BBC refers to it as Burma, the Washington Post will too but add, “also known as Myanmar” in each story. Lonely Planet calls it “Myanmar (Burma)”, CNN uses Myanmar, Wikipedia says “Burma, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar” and here at Travel Wire Asia, and sister publication Asian Correspondent, we prefer Burma.

Anyway that gives some of the history but the name options are a lot more complicated than just that. So let’s dig a bit deeper.

Essentially linguists hold that both words actually mean the same thing, that one is derived from the other. “Burma” is the colloquial form of “Myanmar”, considered the formal and literary form of the word. “Myanma” was the word often used and “Bama” the spoken word that derived when the “m” eroded into a “b” over time.

Hold on to your hats though, because it’s more complicated still. The name Burma is also seen to refer to the country’s ethnic majority, the Burmans or Bamar, and naming a country after one group of people is not considered particularly inclusive in a nation that is actually multi-ethnic.

The ruling regime has adopted the new name not only to break from the nation’s colonial past but claims it’s a way of being more ethnically inclusive. Sure, sure the cynics might say but many ethnic groups do prefer the name Myanmar for this exact reason.

However, even though the name changes are closer to their actual Burmese pronunciations and more inclusive, opposition has developed largely to the way in which the name was changed – without a referendum, with bloodshed and above all with the air of assumed authority.

In an article in the Washington Post was this comment:

“In some ways, Myanmar makes more sense,” said Aung Din, a former student protester and leader of the pro-democracy group U.S. Campaign for Burma. “But you look at the way the government did it. As if by changing the name, they could change the past … as if it could make people forget all those killed in the streets, all the suffering they caused.”

And have caused since, many would add. The BBC has similarly done an expose on the name in which there was this quote:

Mark Farmener, of Burma Campaign UK, says: “Often you can tell where someone’s sympathies lie if they use Burma or Myanmar. Myanmar is a kind of indicator of countries that are soft on the regime.

“But really it’s not important. Who cares what people call the country? It’s the human rights abuses that matter.

“There’s not a really strong call from the democracy movement saying you should not call it Myanmar, they just challenge the legitimacy of the regime. It’s probable it will carry on being called Myanmar after the regime is gone.”

It’s a good point and one I tend to agree with, particularly as the overwhelming majority of locals I spoke to defer to the name Myanmar. There didn’t even seem to be a question to them about what the country was called – it was simply Myanmar. They spoke largely of the ethnic and colonial overtones of the other name. There were many interesting discussions (for those interested these were people of varying ages, ethnicity, locations and education). One man even told me that Aung San Suu Kyi herself only used “Burma” with foreigners and English media, but at home she called it Myanmar like everyone else. Although in an interview with Lonely Planet last year she stated she preferred Burma (read this here).

So do you defy the regime or offend the locals? Well there’s no doubt the renaming of the nation will remain a contested issue and the only way it can be resolved is to put it to the people that matter – the 58.8 million that live there. And when a democratic government takes up the reins, they can decide once and for all, in a referendum, the official name of their own country.

Asian Correspondent – Burma: Economists, generals and culture vultures
By Kyi May Kaung Feb 10, 2012 12:55PM UTC

On February 11th, three notable economists, including Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, will give lectures in Rangoon.  In my previous piece I mentioned that both Ronald Findlay and Hla Myint were born in Burma, and as states scholars before World War II and in the democratic period immediately after Independence from Great Britain, studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and London School of Economics respectively.

Hla Myint (Burmese have one name only.  Most don’t have first and last names) http://www.flickr.com/photos/lselibrary/3982882799/ was stranded in the UK during the war.  In the postwar period he worked at LSE, and became, with Sir Arthur Lewis, one of the pioneers of development economics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hla_Myint

In Rangoon where I studied economics, Prof. Findlay was one of my mentors and my MA thesis supervisor.  I remember reading a short article by H. Myint (this is one of the ways he signed his name) about how the name of the field itself had metamorphosed from “economic backwardness” to “underdeveloped countries” to “developing countries”.

I was one year late to become a student of his, as he left Burma in 1962, the year of Ne Win’s coup.  He had been working as Rector of Rangoon University, and the rumor was that he and his British wife Joan, had sold their house in England to come and work in Burma, but Ne Win, the dictator made things hard on intellectuals with a western education, and he left.  Shortly before he did so, I went with my friend, a very beautiful young woman from a very rich family, who had just gotten a Columbo Plan scholarship, to his house on campus.

As I remember it, Dr. Findlay was also there – it was noontime or so, and we were between classes.  Yin (not her real name) talked about what career prospects she might have and what subjects she should take in Canada.  Dr. Hla Myint did not seem to be in a bad humor.  He joked “It won’t matter.  You’ll be lost anyway.” Yin did not understand it.  I explained what he meant when we walked back to the classrooms.

Ne Win had a poor education.  It was said he had been a postal clerk before he joined the Burma Defense Army (under Aung San) against the Japanese invaders.  He had the dictator’s classic insecurity and desire to dominate.  All the time I was in Rangoon, I heard stories of how he had beat up someone with a golf club; how he beat up a university instructor who had had a bit too much to drink at a Burma Research dinner and had insulted Ne Win’s second wife Kitty.  As late as the year 2000, when I interviewed Louis Wallinsky, then 92 or 93, in Washington DC, Louis told me of how he had witnessed Ne Win beat up the driver of their car at the Rangoon Golf Club because the car pulled up too quietly behind him as he tied his shoe laces.   At that time Wallinsky was the then PM U Nu’s economic advisor.

Findlay likewise had a bad time, even though he was a brilliant economist (still is) – a likeable person and a mild-mannered one, and a gifted, generous teacher.  He was passed over for the economics department professorship, solely on account of his racial origins, I thought, and given a research professorship, where he no longer taught.

All throughout the time I was writing my MA thesis, he was in small office at the Economics Institute. I seemed to be the only one who went to his office, to deliver chapters I had written.  In 1969, he left Burma to work at Columbia University in New York.

http://sipa.columbia.edu/academics/directory/ref2-fac.html

By then we had lived through the July 7, 1962 shooting of students, the demonetization of kyat 100 notes and the rice riots of 1967, which Ne Win diverted to anti-Chinese riots.
The worst part of the military junta has been its treatment of its people, not realizing they are, to use Adam Smith’s words, the wealth of the nation.

Scoop – Burma’s New Media Law May Fail to Ensure Press Freedom
Friday, 10 February 2012, 5:28 pm
Press Release: International Federation of Journalists

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins the Burma Media Association (BMA) in its concerns that Burma’s proposed new media law may not guarantee freedom of media as the government promised.

The new media law, drafted by the Ministry of Information’s Press Scrutinization and Registration Department (PSRD) was introduced in January at a media workshop jointly organized by Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association and Singapore-based Asia Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC).

Despite inviting local journalists, foreign-based Burmese journalists and journalists from Asian countries to the two-day event, the participants were not given the opportunity to thoroughly discuss the substance of the law. According to Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Mr. Tint Swe, the Deputy Director General of the PSRD only presented the Table of Contents of the draft law but no details of the law itself.

Sources close to the PSRD told the BMA that the draft law was adapted from the repressive Printers and Publishers Registration Act enacted after the 1962 military coup.

“It is important that any new media laws introduced by the government of Burma improve press freedom, and provide greater freedom and security for journalists”, IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

“The media laws need to represent a fresh start for the media environment in Burma. They should be drafted to ensure they are best suited to the modern media context and are able to protect press freedoms.

The IFJ joins the BMA in urging the government of Burma abolish the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act, and associated laws designed to restrict freedom of expression, such as the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act, Article 505/B of the Criminal Code and the 1923 Official Secrets Act.”

Although Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index 2011 ranked Burma a slightly better position (169th) than in 2010 (174th) as a result of political reforms including partial amnesties and a reduction in prior censorship, the country remains largely under the control of an authoritarian government run by former members of the military junta assuming new positions as civilian politicians. A number of journalists still remain in prison as of the start of 2012.

February 9, 2012, 9:11 AM SGT
The Wall Street Journal – Too Bad, Burma: Big Bank Loans Unlikely Anytime Soon
By Patrick Barta

Now that the U.S. has agreed to lift some of its restrictions blocking the World Bank and other multilateral institutions from working in Myanmar, it should only be a matter of time before they start pouring money into the country, right?

Not exactly.

The world’s so-called international financial institutions (IFIs), which were launched decades ago in part to help poorer nations like Myanmar, were blocked for years from doing extensive work in the Southeast Asian nation in large part because of objections from Western countries including the U.S., which exercise considerable influence at the institutions.

On Monday, though, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a partial waiver of its restrictions that officially enables the U.S. to support “assessment missions and limited technical assistance” by the World Bank and other similar organizations, including the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Offers of big development grants or loans – the kind that the World Bank and other groups extend to developing countries to fund infrastructure, poverty alleviation and other much-needed projects – are another matter, and would require further green lights from the U.S. Although leaders in the U.S. and Europe have taken numerous steps to repair relations with Myanmar since its government embarked on major economic and political reforms over the past year, they are still waiting to see the results of a planned April 1 parliamentary by-election in the country, which is also known as Burma, before deciding whether to lift sanctions further.

Then there’s the matter of the roughly $11 billion that Myanmar owes the World Bank, ADB, and various foreign governments, and which must be repaid or restructured before more extensive lending can start again. Most of the debts were incurred decades ago, before the banks pulled out, with some $8.4 billion in debts built up during the socialist military regime headed by late strongman Gen. Ne Win between 1962 and 1988. Myanmar owes $489 million to the ADB, the ADB said, and several hundred million dollars to the World Bank. It also owes at least $6.4 billion to Japan, $2.1 billion to China and $580 million to Germany, according to the Myanmar government.

Although Myanmar has said it’s engaged in talks with some of its creditors to settle those debts, paying it all off won’t be easy. Myanmar has vast natural resource reserves and a growing economy, but it also only has about $7 billion in foreign exchange reserves.

Even if the debts were paid and Western governments cleared the way for a full resumption of lending, it would likely take a long time before money could flow. Shareholders in the institutions want to be sure their money will be spent wisely, and that Myanmar’s ministries have sufficient controls in place to make sure some of the money doesn’t disappear – a big worry in a country that ranked 180th out of 183 nations in Transparency International’s latest survey of corruption perceptions around the world. Staff at multilateral lenders also lack solid data on the health of Myanmar’s economy and financial institutions, which they’ll want before committing large sums.

It’s possible the banks could face pressure from Myanmar boosters – led by companies that want to re-enter the country after being away for years due to sanctions – to offer some money later this year as a goodwill gesture to encourage Myanmar with its reforms. Already, leaders of the key multilateral institutions are scheduling meetings to discuss their options going forward, especially in light of Ms. Clinton’s latest move. But people familiar with the banks’ thinking say the most likely outcome, even if their hands are untied on lending, would be to keep sending high-level delegations to study conditions on the ground, buying the banks more time before they have to put cash on the table.

Whatever happens, development economists generally agree that getting the ADB, World Bank and other such groups back into Myanmar could help boost living standards and help the country modernize its antiquated economic system, which has left its residents with some of the lowest living standards in Asia. Analysts estimate that Myanmar needs billions of dollars of foreign money to help pay for new roads, bridges, power plants, railways and other assets — all the kinds of things multilateral institutions can help with, though foreign nations such as Japan and China could also provide some of that money.

The IMF, for its part, has held recent meetings with Myanmar officials about simplifying the country’s complex foreign exchange system, which involves multiple exchange rates and which has long been cited by foreign companies as a major deterrent to investing there.

The ADB said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal that it hasn’t been asked by its member governments to expand its assessment activities in Myanmar yet, though it is widely assumed that such a request will come soon following Ms. Clinton’s latest move.

“Any analytical work by ADB on Myanmar would be subject to consultations with ADB’s shareholders, and close coordination with other multilateral institutions and development partners,” the bank said. It noted that any resumption of lending would require further progress in the country’s engagement with the outside world – and “a resolution to the arrears issue.”

Efforts to reach World Bank officials were unsuccessful. In a statement on its website posted in December, the World Bank said “a great deal needs to be done to open up and improve the economy and the living conditions of the people of Myanmar,” and that “the World Bank can provide examples from other countries that have successfully made this transition.” But it added that arrangements for clearing debts to the bank would be need to be sorted out before lending could restart.

Washington Times – Civil war threatens reforms in Myanmar
By Ashish Kumar Sen
Updated: 11:26 a.m. on Friday, February 10, 2012

A civil war between Myanmar’s army and Christian rebels in the Asian nation’s northernmost state is threatening the military-backed government’s efforts to normalize relations with the West.

The Obama administration and the European Union have made peace with rebel groups a key condition for lifting sanctions on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

Myanmar’s government has achieved cease-fires with some rebels and promoted political reforms to shed the country’s status as an international pariah.

The fighting in the state of Kachin, however, has escalated since the breakdown of a 17-year truce with the government in June. It has continued despite President Thein Sein’s orders in early December that the army end the war. The Myanmar army and the Kachin Independence Army blame each other for provoking the recent hostilities.

Ethnic Kachin activists and human rights groups accuse the army of raping, torturing and executing civilians. They claim soldiers looted their food and forced some Kachins to walk in front of soldiers to trigger landmines.

Bauk Gyar, a Kachin activist who was in the conflict zone in December, said women, children and the elderly are not spared.

“Everyone has suffered abuses. And after they persecute these people, they kill them,” she told an audience at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington last week.

The rebels have also been accused of killing civilians.

In recent months, tens of thousands of Kachins have fled to refugee camps across the border in China.

Thein Sein, a retired general, has taken a number of steps during the past few months that have resulted in a thaw in his country’s relationship with the West.

Among his most significant reforms was his decision to allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent many years in prison and under house arrest, to participate in parliamentary elections on April 1. The government has also released hundreds of political prisoners and signed cease-fire agreements with ethnic rebels throughout the country.
Ending the decades-long ethnic rebellions is proving to the biggest challenge for the government.

“The ethnic issue is the most long-standing and difficult problem to resolve,” said a Western official who asked not to be identified citing the sensitive nature of the matter.

“The government has negotiated cease-fire agreements, but the question now is: Are these agreements going to be enforced?”

Uncertainty also hangs over the fate of more than 500 political prisoners freed as part of a government amnesty since October. The prisoners’ release is conditional. They can be forced to serve out the remaining portion of their prison terms if they are arrested again.

Among those released was Zarganar, a popular comedian and outspoken government critic, who remains skeptical about the reforms.

“We have been released, but we are not free,” Zarganar, who uses only one name, said in an interview in Washington last week.

He called on Thein Sein to sign an unconditional release of all political prisoners and said the reforms were nothing more than a “beautiful facade.”

Zarganar said the government needs to have a better plan to end ethnic conflicts and address their causes.

“Just saying, ‘Stop the war,’ is not a resolution,” he added.

None of the reforms announced so far have been institutionalized. The laws used to arrest political prisoners remain on the books. Many civil society groups have not been allowed to legally register.

The Obama administration has responded with caution. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in January that the United States will exchange ambassadors with Myanmar for the first time in three decades.

On Monday, the administration relaxed some sanctions, making it easier for the Asian nation to secure help from the World Bank and other international financial institutions. Most sanctions remain in place.

Hard-liners, including Myanmar First Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo and some generals, have resisted the reforms.

The military’s intentions have been hard to read, according to the Western official.

“The military is kind of a black box,” he said.

“They view themselves as a protector of the people. The question now is, ‘Are they good nationalists who want to see their country grow and prosper or do they want to protect their privileged place?’ “

David Steinberg, a Myanmar specialist at Georgetown University, said the military will only support reforms that it believes are in the national interest.

“The military has several critical things which they will protect: the autonomy of the military under any government; national unity; and state sovereignty,” he added.

The recent thaw between the West and the Myanmar government is seen by some as an opportunity to encourage the reformers.

“The U.S. must not lose this opportunity to strengthen the hands of those who are trying to bring reform,” Khin Than Myint, a member of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), said in an interview in Washington last week.

Mr. Steinberg warned that the reforms could be doomed if they are seen as instituted on the behalf of foreign states and organizations.

The reforms have to be seen as a Myanmarese solution to the country’s problems in order to succeed, he added.

The first test of the government’s commitment to reforms will come on April 1 in a scheduled election to fill 48 seats in a parliament of more than 600 seats and dominated by the military’s allies. The United States has asked the government to allow international observers to monitor the voting.

Tom Malinowski, Washington director for Human Rights Watch, said the presidential and legislative elections in 2015 will be the real test for the government.

“The situation is more hopeful than it has been in a very long time, but nothing will be settled until the elections in 2015,” he said.
“Until then [Myanmar] has a very, very long way to go.”

Mrs. Suu Kyi’s NLD party won a landslide election in 1990, but the military blocked it from taking office. The military also barred the party from the November 2010 elections, which the United States declared a sham.

Despite the reforms, little has changed for the people of Myanmar.

“The international community thinks there is a lot of change, but we are on the inside. We know true change is still a long way away,” said Khin Than Myint.

February 09, 2012
VOA News – China Hosts Burma-Rebel Peace Talks for Economic, Strategic Benefit
Daniel Schearf | Bangkok

Burma has won praise for signing a series of ceasefires with ethnic rebel groups fighting for autonomy. But renewed conflict with one group, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), is threatening peace in a key border area with China.

Burma’s resource-rich northern Kachin state has been the site of sporadic fighting since June, when a 17-year-old ceasefire ended with violent clashes.

Since then, thousands of villagers have fled across the border into China. To help resolve the situation, Beijing, which has billions invested in regionally-based trade and energy projects, has been quietly hosting peace talks between Burmese authorities and the rebels.

Brian Erikson of Partners in Relief and Development, an international Christian charity with a specific focus on the welfare of Burmese children, estimates that more than 60,000 people were displaced around the border area.

Those inside Burma, he says, are short on food with many are suffering from respiratory infections exacerbated by cold weather.

“There are definitely people numbering in the thousands that have fled from a direct conflict with the Burma army … direct confrontation where armed soldiers forcibly claimed area, property and sometimes people,” said Erikson. “And so people fled amidst live rounds of gunfire – I think the majority have fled from fear of this situation.”

International organizations and journalists have been granted limited access to Kachin state, leaving specifics of the situation difficult to verify. Details on the Chinese side, where authorities have not acknowledged any refugee crisis but have provided neutral territory for both sides to hold talks twice since November, are also unclear.

Raviprasad Narayanan, a researcher at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, says China’s role as host is a result of a similar 2009 conflict between Burma’s military and a Kokan militia in Shan state, which disrupted trade and sent thousands of refugees fleeing into China.

“This new round of interest that Beijing has shown, it emerges out of … the August 2009 Kokang conflict,” said Narayanan. “Now you [have] the refugee crisis on China’s border, and this [has] created a lot of hiccups, not only for the provincial leadership but also for people sitting in Beijing. Hence they felt that they should not be out of [the] loop at any moment lest they be caught off guard.”

A financial stake

The continued fighting in Kachin threatens not only peace, but also billions of dollars in Chinese trade and investments.

After hostilities erupted near the construction site of the controversial, $3.5 billion Myitsone hydropower dam, Burmese President Thein Sein suspended construction, surprising and upsetting the Chinese.

Beijing has deals to build seven hydropower dams in Kachin state, with the vast majority of the electricity going to China.

China also buys and invests in Burmese minerals, precious stones and logging – not all of it legal – and, in return, sells cheap manufactured goods.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Ruili-based Burma analyst, says China is hosting peace talks to protect its economic interests.

“In the northern Kachin area, especially the KIA controlled area, so [much] government capital, Chinese government capital,” he said. “They need peace.”

Pipelines, arms deals

Maung Zarni, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, says oil and gas pipelines that China and Burma are jointly laying across the country are of even greater importance.

When finished, the pipelines will stretch from Burma’s western coast and into China at Ruili, just south of Kachin state and not far from the recent fighting, providing a strategic alternative route for African and Middle East oil to flow to China while avoiding the piracy-prone Strait of Malacca.

For China, says Zarni, the pipelines make peace between Burmese authorities and Kachin’s rebel armies a strategic imperative.

“The Kachin state becomes extremely vital both to the Burmese military and Beijing in terms of … providing security for the pipeline as well as the cross-border trading post,” he said.

Military analysts say China is also the largest supplier of weapons to the United Wa State Army, the largest of Burma’s armed rebel groups, estimated at up to 30,000 fighters and considered the biggest narcotics dealing organization in Southeast Asia.

To balance its interests, China also sells weapons to Burma’s military.

Zarni says that, with Burma’s economy opening up, Beijing’s attention is squarely fixed on officials in the capital.

“China, when it suits its interests, will pressure local ethnic armed groups, especially Wa, and you know I think Kachin as well,” he said. “But I don’t know to what extent their efforts have been constructive or slanted in favor of the Burmese interests, because, at this point, China is fishing the bigger fish in Naypyidaw rather than fishing along the border with the local ethnic groups.”

An end to fighting with the rebels is one of the key demands of Western powers for improving relations with Burma after years of punishing economic sanctions.

The government has so far made deals with, among others, the Wa, the Karenni, the Shan, the Chin, and an historic ceasefire with the Karen, who have fought against Burma’s military for six decades.

National Times – Sanctions squeeze all but the tycoons
February 11, 2012

Burma is largely a cash economy, with 60 per cent of its export income not recorded in its official statistics, according to a top government economist, and some $300 million in inward capital flows arriving by informal means.

US dollars are the preferred medium of exchange, with locals rejecting all but the crispest, unsullied large-denomination bills, even though these are the most likely to have rolled off the printing presses of Pyongyang.

US-based credit cards such as Amex and Visa are, strictly speaking, not usable in Burma because of Washington’s financial sanctions. Still, when the Herald’s $US100 bills were deemed too creased and discoloured at our Rangoon hotel last week, an Amex card was grudgingly accepted.

A day after a form was filled in with the card details, the hotel bill in US dollars and signed, another Amex printout arrived, converted into Singapore dollars, plus a healthy margin, and bearing the imprint of the DBS Bank, one of Singapore’s major commercial banks.

Thus are sanctions circumvented, not without a large surcharge taken by the sanction breaker. The role of Singapore’s banks in weakening US sanctions cannot be unknown to the US Treasury, but presumably Singapore is too loyal a strategic ally to Washington for its banks to be cut off from the heart of the global financial system.

As Burma’s political transition moves closer to the point where Western countries are easing sanctions, governments face delicate decisions about how fast to move in response to Aung San Suu Kyi’s clearance to contest byelections and to a series of political prisoner releases.

Last Monday, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, announced the lifting of restrictions on economic consultations, clearing the way for the American-dominated international financial institutions, the IMF and World Bank, to begin helping Burma plan its economic recovery. Australia has cut the number of Burmese on its individual sanctions list.

How effective have sanctions been? Over the past week, the Herald has met several of Burma’s top business chiefs, two of them on American and Australian sanctions lists. All assert that sanctions helped the biggest tycoons grow bigger, caused thousands of small entrepreneurs to go bust, and forced the country closer to China.

”The way around the sanctions has been to set up a counterpart office in Singapore, to conduct echo trades,” said one tycoon, who ruefully says he was put on the US list in George W. Bush’s last day in office. He claims to have been deemed a ”crony” simply because as chief of a commerce chamber, he was often photographed at functions alongside army generals.

”This costs a bit, and the Singapore banks take a 3 to 4 per cent commission, so this pathway is only open to big groups like mine,” the tycoon added. ”So we got bigger and the small people went broke. For this we should thank the Americans.”

Serge Pun, whose SPA Group is big in real estate, financial services and car assembly, is not on the sanctions list but says the same. The isolation forced widespread closures in manufacturing, except for those willing to relabel their garments and textiles in China, again at a mark-up.

”So as a result of those sanctions, those factories had no choice but to close down,” Pun said. ”The immediate effect was a loss of employment for a vast number of people.” Some businessmen think half a million jobs could be quickly added in garment making if sanctions were lifted.

In Rangoon this week, the Herald dropped in on Zaw Zaw, an entrepreneur whose Max Myanmar group employs about 10,000 people in hotels and banking, and who remains on Australia’s sanctions list. Sanctions have choked development of labour-intensive industry that would spread welfare through the country, he said. ”I can afford to send my son and daughter to international schools here, but what about the ordinary people and their welfare?” he said.

Zaw, 44, was a final-year maths student at Rangoon University when the 1988 student uprising caused the military to close the campus. He went to Singapore to work, and returned to Burma in 1995. ”If you want to start a business, you cannot wait 10 or 20 years,” he said. ”You have to start when you are 25 or 30 years old. If I hadn’t started, I wouldn’t have reached my goal. And if you do business anywhere in the world you have to be close to the government, because they have the big projects and the policies.”

In Rangoon, big business is now widening political contacts to include Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy, and urging economic opening more loudly. No one, of course, is admitting to have been a military crony, just simple businessmen keeping their heads down. Indeed, most of Asia’s big business houses started as ”cronies” or ”compradores”.

But the moment for lifting at least the civilian sanctions is approaching, probably after the April 1 byelections, if they are fair and transparent. At the moment, that is still an open question. Draconian laws still make Suu Kyi’s electioneering technically illegal, until a week before the polls, giving hardliners an excuse for a crackdown. Nor has the President, Thein Sein, said whether outside observers will be permitted.

Set Aung, the President’s economic adviser, says lifting sanctions would greatly reinforce reforms. ”If they are lifted, if we can have normalised relations with international financial institutions, then the awkward situation that we are in will become normal,” he said.

In an interview last week with Radio Australia’s Burmese service, the Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, said several times Australian policy was being referred to Suu Kyi for her approval. But once she herself is working inside the system, Rudd should take wider advice. The civilian sanctions could come off. The still mysterious Tatmadaw, the military, has a lot more transparency to show.

Hamish McDonald was in Burma as guest of Melbourne University’s Asialink for a dialogue with Burmese and other south-east Asian officials, business people and opinion leaders.

The Nation – Don’t forget ethic minorities while democratising Burma, activists warn
Pravit Rojanaphruk The Nation
February 10, 2012 1:00 am

Despite positive development in the democratisation of Burma, Thailand-based activists say additional support is needed, especially when it comes to ethnic minorities. They said it is too early to say that Burma is firmly on the road to democracy, especially when it comes to the rights and liberty of ethnic minorities.

“Burma’s democratisation has not touched the ethnic minority yet,” said Naruemon Tabchumpol, Chulalongkorn University political scientist and a board member of the Bangkok-based Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma.

Naruemon said many ethnic-minority prisoners have yet to be released, especially those facing criminal charges because they are not recognised as political prisoners.

What’s more, she said, Burma has yet to hold genuine peace talks involving ethnic minorities. She said true democracy could not be achieved until there is peaceful and respectful coexistence amongst various ethnic groups in Burma.

“They do not just need peace and a ceasefire deal, but a proper political package,” she said, admitting that funding for their work in Thailand was dropping and that most of it was being directly channelled into Burma itself. She cited the European Union as an example along with some NGOs from Germany, which are now committing more resources within Burma and less in Thailand.

Charm Tong, leader of the Chiang Mai-based Shan Women’s Action Network, which works with thousands of refugees and displaced people along the Thai-Burmese border, said these people need continuous assistance.

“It’s necessary, because many are still under threat,” she said, adding that foreign-funded mega-projects, such as the Salween Dam, are leading to new waves of displacement.

Also, she said, that despite a ceasefire, about a quarter of the Burmese army was still in Shan-controlled areas.

“The Kachin are also still fighting and in Shan state, Burmese troops have yet to pull out,” Charm Tong said.

She hopes that there will be talk of a permanent ceasefire and political solution, but she admitted that there was still no telling if the situation would reverse forcing more people to flee into Thailand.

“Many villagers are still being attacked by Burmese soldiers,” she said, adding that many activists working on democracy and development-related issues in Burma were still living on the Thai side of the border.

The Nation – Burma’s Forever Group eyes revenue boost
WATCHIRANONT THONGTEP THE NATION
Naypyidaw February 10, 2012 1:00 am

In the light of rising prosperity in Burma, Forever Group, a major media company and broadcaster, expects to enjoy a 50-per-cent revenue surge this year after the establishment of a joint venture with BEC-Tero Entertainment to co-produce television programmes for both its existing and new channels.

“A new firm has recently been set up in Myanmar [Burma], named Forever BEC-Tero,” said chief executive officer Winn Maw, who is also adviser to the Burmese Information Ministry.

In the first phase, BEC-Tero will provide technical support and jointly produce TV drama and morning talk shows for Forever’s free-to-air channels.

Winn Maw said the Thai partner, which runs ThaiTV3, would provide expertise on programming to the JV with the aim of improving ratings and advertising revenue at Forever’s media outlets.

Rangoon-based Forever Group currently operates free-to-air channel MRTV-4 and also offers 70 subscription-based TV channels, including 10 digital channels and seven high-definition (HD) ones.

In mid-April, after Burma’s New Year festival, the company plans to introduce a new free-to-air Channel 7, with a US$10-million (Bt310 million) investment on basic infrastructure ahead of the soft opening.

It will also introduce more HD pay-TV channels, as prices of HD television sets are now affordable for many urban Burmese, Winn Maw said.

The CEO added that the group recorded revenue of $20 million last year, 70-80 per cent of which came from advertising on its free-to-air TV channel and FM radio channels, with the rest from subscriptions from pay-TV customers.

He believes the Forever BEC-Tero JV, as well as a partnership with Thailand’s Index Creative Village, will enable the group to achieve a 50-per-cent increase in revenue this year. The new Channel 7 is estimated to generate between $3 million and $4 million in the first year of operation.

He added that the advertising industry in Burma, valued at about $40 million last year, was expected to witness growth of 25-30 per cent this year.

There are about 6 million to 7 million households with access to television sets, mostly concentrated in the urban areas of Rangoon, Naypyidaw and Mandalay.

The Irrawaddy – Burmese Army Attacks Shan Base
By THAN HTIKE OO / THE IRRAWADDY Friday, February 10, 2012

Clashes have broken out over a two-day period between the Shan State Army–South (SSA-S) and Burmese government forces after the Burmese troops attacked a Shan military base on Tuesday, the SSA-S says.

The hostilities appear to have shattered a fragile ceasefire which was signed late last year.

SSA-S spokesman Maj Sai Lao Hseng told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the SSA-S troops based in Mong Ping Township in eastern Shan State were currently engaged in battle with government troops.

“Clashes have taken place in the Mong Ton area,” he said. “Government troops attacked our base. The most serious battle was on Feb. 7.”

The attack came as Shan people celebrated the 65th anniversary of Shan State National Day at Loi Tai Leng, where the group’s headquarters is located.

Sai Lao Hseng said about 200 government troops closed in on SSA units who retreated from the base after the Burmese forces launched 60 mm motor shells.

“A government column then followed our retreating troops and attacked one more time,” said Sai Lao Hseng.

Casualties from both sides are still unknown but the SSA-S concede that the area is presently under the control of government troops.

“We have already asked Aung Min, the head of a government delegation for peace talks, why such clashes had taken place as we had signed a ceasefire agreement with his delegation,” added Sai Lao Hseng.

The SSA-S spokesman said that the group had sent a letter to Aung Min on Thursday but are yet to receive a reply.

On Shan State National Day, SSA-S leader Lt-Gen Yawd Serk told the assembled crowd that his group intended to observe the ceasefire, and to help Shan people live free from the danger and impact of war.

However, if the government army tries to infringe on their security, he said, his troops will resist them.

Representatives from the Burmese government and SSA-S met in Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, on Dec. 2 when they signed a ceasefire agreement. Railways Minister Aung Min and Minister for Electric Power No. 2 Khin Maung Soe reportedly signed the agreement as witnesses.

The SSA-S was formed from the Shan United Revolution Army (SURA) by Lt-Gen. Yawd Serk. The SURA was a breakaway faction of the Mong Tai Army led by Khun Sa, who was wanted by the West for his involvement in the drug trade. He surrendered to the then Burmese military regime in 1996.

The Irrawaddy – Strike Enters Fifth Day, Spreads to Other Factories
By NYEIN NYEIN / THE IRRAWADDY Friday, February 10, 2012

After a full week without reaching a resolution, a strike that began on Monday at a shoe factory in an industrial estate in eastern Rangoon has spread to two other factories, according to labor activists.

The strike started earlier this week after 1,800 workers at the Chinese-owned Tai Yi Slipper factory in Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone (3) demanded payment of wages for an unofficial holiday to mark the Chinese New Year in late January.

It has since been joined by workers from the New Way footwear factory and the Taylar garment factory, according to Zaw Min, a workers rights activist.

Su Su Nway, another activist who has had contact with the striking workers, said that talks scheduled to take place today were postponed until 10 am Saturday by the Tai Yi factory’s management.

She added that a lawyer will represent the workers during negotiations with the company.

The workers have also been unable to speak with government authorities, said Zaw Min.

The factory has already posted notices offering a pay raise of 10 kyat (about US $0.01) per hour, and a monthly bonus of 1,000 kyat ($1.25) to employees who aren’t late or absent for work.

However, the workers angrily removed the notices before leaving the work site on Friday.

Education and health focus of U.N. conference
Friday, 10 February 2012 19:07 Mizzima News

(Mizzima) – A three-day U.N. conference “Development Policy Options with special reference to Education and Health in Myanmar” will be held in Naypyitaw on Monday.

The keynote addresses will be delivered by Prof. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Laureate in economics, and Prof. Ronald Findlay, both of Columbia University.

High-level government officials, the chef de cabinet and special advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General, Vijay Nambiar; the European Union Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs; and the U.N. Assistant Secretary-General and chair of U.N. Development Group for Asia-Pacific, Dr. Ajay Chhibber, will speak.

More than 40 national and international experts will participate in panel debates, sharing national, regional and the experiences of other countries.

The aim of the conference is to bring to the table discussions on policy options, priorities and institutional reforms for accelerating human development in Burma.

For more information, contact
Esben Q. Harboe at esben.harboe@one.un.org . or go to http://yangon.unic.org

The election will offer ‘intense rivalries’: NUP
Friday, 10 February 2012 21:37 Nyi Thit

(Mizzima) – The National Unity Party (NUP says its main competitors in the by-election will be the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National League for Democracy (NLD). It expects a hard fought election.

Joint General-Secretary Khin Maung Gyi said, “This by-election will be different than the 2010 general elections. Besides our party, a big party like the NLD will also contest. Also, the smaller parties that contested in the 2010 election are stronger. There will be intense rivalry.”

The NUP contested for 995 parliamentary seats in the 2010 elections. It is the second largest party after the ruling USDP. The NUP won 61 seats.

The party now has about 700,000 members; it will contest in 23 constituencies in the April 1 by-election.

This election will reflect the real desires of people, he said, and there cannot be any electoral fraud like in the 2010 elections, he said.

“The electoral commission has been reformed,” he said. “And the parties will manage to watch carefully to avoid electoral fraud.” He all the parties need to educate people to understand the voting system in order to avoid invalid votes.

“People need to avoid spoilt votes. Parties should prepare the voters,” Khin Maung Gyi said.

He welcomed Aung San Suu Kyi’s decision to stand for the by-election and said this is the era of women. A female NUP candidate will run in the Mingalar Taung Nyunt constituency in Rangoon.

If Aung San Suu Kyi can enter the Parliament, the situation can change depending on her leadership and motions, he said.

He would not comment on the NUP ideas about amending the 2008 Constitution.

The NUP, formed in 1988, has many retired top military officers in leadership posts. It is a reincarnation of the Burma Socialist Programme Party.

EU official to talk about aid package
Thursday, 09 February 2012 16:24 Mizzima News

(Mizzima) – The European Union development commissioner said on Thursday he would discuss an increased humanitarian aid package with Burmese officials in Naypyitaw next week.

“There is a lot of opening and a very promising dynamic in Myanmar, even if it is still fragile,” Andris Piebalgs told the media prior to his departure to Burma on Saturday.

Earlier, noting the recent democratic reforms underway in Burma, EU officials said the alliance would provide 150 million euros (almost US$ 200 million) in additional aid to Burma during the next two years.

“The new situation allows us to beef up the support,” Piebalgs was quoted as saying by Agence France Press, adding that the aid is channeled through nongovernment organizations and the United Nations.

Piebalgs said the April 1 by-elections will be crucial for the credibility of the democratic reforms. In response to the January release of a large number of political prisoners, the EU lifted some travel bans against Burmese leaders, and the alliance will consider lifting various economic sanctions after the by-election.

“We have removed part of the restrictive measures, but the country is still in transition, the political situation is still delicate,” he told AFP.

Piebalgs said he would discuss with Burmese officials how best to use the EU monetary aid, saying that some of the money could be used for microcredits while larger sums might go to health and education

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is expected to visit Burma in the near future.

Piebalgs will be the first EU Commissioner to meet the country’s President Thein Sein and will also hold talks with senior government ministers and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the European Commission said on Thursday. The commissioner will travel to Naypyitaw and Rangoon to hold a series of meetings, as well as visiting an EU-funded health clinic.

DVB News – Burma ‘struggling’ with tourism boom
By NAY THWIN
Published: 10 February 2012

Burma’s tourism industry is struggling to cope with the influx of travellers and businessmen visiting the country, with hotels at bursting point and the government fearing humilitation if it is unable to accommodate an expected surge in numbers over the coming year.

One plan mooted to cope with the increase is to expand existing motels, particularly in Rangoon, the first stop for tourists flying into Burma. Thet Lwin Toe, deputy chairman of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association, said that particular problems were arising from the many business delegations now arriving to scope out the investment climate.

“What has made matters worse is that when diplomats, businessmen or foreign [government] delegations come to Burma, they book out the large hotels, and other tourists are sent elsewhere or left with no accommodation.”

Tourist numbers for this year have already passed 400,000; in 2010, less than 800,000 in total visited. Accompanying the boom has been a rise in hotel prices in Burma, but Thet Lwin Toe said these had reached an ” unreasonable rate”. He added that the industry would need to “provide them a service good enough for the price, otherwise we’d lose face”.

Now that tourists will be able to obtain online visas and border gates have reopened, numbers could reach a million this year. While it pales in comparison to figures for neigbouring Thailand, which attracted around 17 million tourists in 2011, it nevertheless signals promise for an industry long derided by campaigners as an economic crutch for the former junta.

Still, however, major hurdles remain. “Buildings needed to be equipped with water, gas, electricity, phones, cable TV and information systems – an effort to introduce a 5000 kyat ($US7) mobile SIM card is gaining momentum, which is good,” said Thet Lwin Toe.

“For now, it’s hard for us even when we get two or three large planes arriving at the same time at Rangoon airport – we get people jostling at the immigration counters and the baggage carousel, so we also need to expand the airport.”

While tourists are likely to visit the major towns of Rangoon and Mandalay, as well as popular sites like Bagan and Inle Lake, Naypyidaw remains low on their list of prioroties. “It won’t get many tourists as there’s nothing attractive there and also it is difficult to get there,” he said of the vapid new capital, which was built on a patch of scrubland in central Burma and only opened in 2006.

DVB News – Exiles emotional upon return to Burma
By AFP
Published: 10 February 2012

Burmese academics who fled a brutal crackdown on student protests over two decades ago returned to their homeland for the first time on Friday in a gesture of support for the country’s reforms.

The exiles, who escaped through the jungle into Thailand after the bloody army assault on a failed uprising in 1988, were greeted by family and a small crowd of local journalists as they arrived in Rangoon airport.

Aung Naing Oo said he was “overwhelmed” setting foot on home soil after almost half a lifetime away, and fellow exile Aung Thu Nyein was visibly moved.

The two men, senior staff of the Vahu Development Institute (VDI), an organisation working on development, economic reform and governance issues in the country, are in Burma for a short visit.

Their colleagues Zaw Oo and Tin Maung Than returned for good on Friday.

The academics cite the country’s dramatic changes in the last year as a reason for their decision to open an office in Rangoon, Burma’s commercial hub.

A controversial 2010 election heralded the end of nearly half a century of outright military rule and a new regime has surprised skeptical observers with reforms including accepting democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi as a political force.

The government, which remains dominated by former generals, has also initiated a major release of jailed dissidents — including key 1988 student leaders.

Aung Naing Oo said speed of developments in the country over the last year had been astonishing, given that they were initiated by an army that has been blamed for the country’s decades of economic decline.

“I think in some ways it is a kind of miracle and I think the former military officers in government will suddenly wake up and realise that they have to catch up with the rest of the world,” he told AFP ahead of the visit.

“We don’t know how much we can do, we will go back with an open mind.”

The academics, who plan to visit the capital Naypyidaw, will hold meetings with government officials, the private sector and other groups.