Myanmar moots camps or deportation for Rohingyas
AFP – 29 mins ago

Myanmar’s president told the UN Thursday that refugee camps or deportation was the “solution” for nearly a million Rohingya Muslims in the wake of communal unrest in the west of the country.

Thein Sein, who had previously struck a more conciliatory tone during fighting that left at least 80 people dead in Rakhine State last month, told the chief of the United Nations refugee agency the Rohingya were not welcome.

“We will take responsibility for our ethnic people but it is impossible to accept the illegally entered Rohingyas, who are not our ethnicity,” he told UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, according to the president’s official website.

The former junta general said the “only solution” was to send the Rohingyas — which number around 800,000 in Myanmar and are considered to be some of the world’s most persecuted minorities — to refugee camps run by UNHCR.

“We will send them away if any third country would accept them,” he added. “This is what we are thinking is the solution to the issue.”

Communal violence between ethnic Buddhist Rakhine and local Muslims, including the Rohingya, swept the state in June, forcing tens of thousands to flee as homes were torched and communities ripped apart.

Decades of discrimination have left the Rohingya stateless, with Myanmar implementing restrictions on their movement and withholding land rights, education and public services, the UN says.

Unwanted in Myanmar and Bangladesh — where an estimated 300,000 live — Rohingya migrants have undertaken dangerous voyages by boat towards Malaysia or Thailand in recent years.

According to the UNHCR around one million Rohingya are now thought to live outside Myanmar, but they have not been welcomed by a third country.

Bangladesh has turned back Rohingya boats arriving on its shores since the outbreak of the unrest.

“Basically Myanmar does not consider these 735,000 Muslims in northern Rakhine state to be their citizens and we think the solution is for them to get citizenship in Myanmar,” UNHCR’s Asia spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey told AFP.

“So we would not be very likely to assist in transporting them out of the country and housing them somewhere else. As a refugee agency we do not usually participate in creating refugees.”

McKinsey said the UN had been working for “several decades” in the area, trying to promote reconciliation and “benefit all communities, not just the Muslims”.

Ten aid organisation staff, including some from the UN, were detained in Rakhine in the wake of the unrest, according to a situation bulletin by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) last week.

Three people — two from the UN and another international aid worker — are thought to have appeared in court on June 9.

“They have been charged and appeared in court but they have not been tried,” an unnamed aid worker told AFP.

Although security forces have quelled the worst of the unrest, tens of thousands of people remain in government-run relief camps with the UN’s World Food Programme reporting that it has provided aid to some 100,000 people.

Both sides have accused each other of violent attacks, which were sparked following the rape and murder of a local Buddhist woman and subsequent revenge attack by a mob of ethnic Rakhines that left 10 Muslims dead on June 3.

A state of emergency is still in force in several areas.

Myanmar president urges West to lift sanctions
AFP – Thu, Jul 12, 2012 1:27 AM AEST

Myanmar President Thein Sein on Thursday urged the west to lift all sanctions against his country as it seeks to implement a second wave of economic reforms.

“It is extremely important that sanctions be lifted — both financial and other economic sanctions — to make possible the sort of trade and investments that this country desperately needs at this time,” he told the Financial Times.

Speaking to the paper from his presidential palace in Naypyidaw, Sein vowed to oversee a “second wave” of economic reforms and also rejected claims that the army still held power over the government.

The United States on Wednesday gave the green light to companies to invest in Myanmar including in oil and gas, in its broadest and most controversial easing yet of sanctions on the former pariah.

Hours after the arrival of Derek Mitchell, a veteran US policymaker on Asia, as the first US ambassador in two decades, President Barack Obama announced the latest gesture in recognition of reforms in a nation dominated by the military since 1962.

Obama’s move marked a divergence from Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition leader, who has warned foreign firms not to form partnerships with the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, or MOGE.

Under the new rules, US companies will have the right to enter into business with MOGE but must notify the State Department within 60 days.

Myanmar’s parliament is considering a new investment law and a series of other measures aimed at liberalizing the economy, which was left in tatters by decades of mismanagement, cronyism and isolation under the junta.

Suu Kyi’s party welcomes eased US sanctions on Myanmar
AFP – 10 hours ago

Aung San Suu Kyi’s party welcomed a US decision to ease Myanmar sanctions Thursday, but the opposition leader demanded more “transparency” as foreign firms hungrily eye the country’s energy sector.

Washington on Wednesday gave the green light for firms to invest in Myanmar including in oil and gas, its greatest loosening of sanctions so far to reward reforms in the former pariah state as it emerges from 50 years of military rule.

The US decision, which was swiftly followed by the announcement of top-level talks with Myanmar this week, comes despite concerns by Nobel laureate Suu Kyi about the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, or MOGE.

Suu Kyi — whose voice is highly influential in Washington — on Thursday said the US move was “nothing significant”, but repeated calls for the international community to pressure MOGE, which was closely linked to the junta government that was replaced by a reformist regime last year.

“What I said was they should ask MOGE to have transparency, I don’t know whether they asked or not,” Suu Kyi told AFP, adding that the state-owned body should sign up to International Monetary Fund codes of conduct.

Her National League for Democracy said that the US decision was not at odds with the party’s view that lifting tough Western sanctions should be considered if it would help regenerate the country’s moribund economy.

“There is nothing to be disappointed about,” party spokesman Nyan Win told AFP in response to the US decision, adding that the US “did what they should do”.

International firms are clamouring for a foothold in resource-rich Myanmar as the West begins to lift tough economic and financial sanctions on the nation, left impoverished by decades of mismanagement and isolation under army rule.

The announcement will soothe fears by American businesses that they will lose out to European and Asian competitors that already enjoy access to the potentially lucrative economy.

It also signals Washington’s desire to bolster Myanmar’s reformist President Thein Sein, a former junta general who has surprised the West with a series of dramatic changes.

“President Thein Sein, Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma continue to make significant progress along the path to democracy, and the government has continued to make important economic and political reforms,” President Barack Obama said in a statement Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet Thein Sein on the sidelines of a business conference in Cambodia on Friday to discuss the easing of US sanctions, a senior State Department official told reporters in Phnom Penh.

The Myanmar leader on Thursday urged the West to lift all sanctions against his country as it grapples to invigorate its economy with a “second wave” of reforms.

“It is extremely important that sanctions be lifted — both financial and other economic sanctions — to make possible the sort of trade and investments that this country desperately needs at this time,” he told the Financial Times.

Thein Sein also pledged “maximum transparency” in extractive industries, which have long been the target of rights campaigners concerned over abuses and cronyism in the sector.

Under the new rules, US companies will have the right to enter into business with MOGE but must notify the State Department within 60 days.

All US companies that invest more than $500,000 in Myanmar will be required to file reports to the State Department each year that show their consideration for human rights, workers’ rights and the environment.

Human Rights Watch slammed the decision, saying that the United States appeared to have “caved to industry pressure and undercut Aung San Suu Kyi” because it did not insist on reforms in governance and human rights.

Aung Lynn, director general for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at Myanmar foreign ministry told AFP that the US decision was “a positive sign”, but said the country was looking for “further action”.

Obama on Wednesday voiced concern about the role of the military and said that the United States would continue to ban investment in companies owned by the defence ministry or armed groups.

Clinton will host the largest ever gathering of American businesses in Asia at the Siem Reap talks, which will come hot on the heels of a barrage of meetings in Cambodia with Southeast Asian and East Asian countries.

Suu Kyi transparency call after US eases sanctions
AFP Updated July 12, 2012, 10:31 pm

NAYPYIDAW (AFP) – Aung San Suu Kyi’s party welcomed a US decision to ease Myanmar sanctions Thursday, but the opposition leader demanded more “transparency” as foreign firms hungrily eye the country’s energy sector.

Washington on Wednesday gave the green light for firms to invest in Myanmar, including in oil and gas, in its greatest loosening of sanctions to reward reforms in the former pariah state after 50 years of military rule.

The US decision was swiftly followed by the announcement of top-level talks with Myanmar this week.

Under the new rules US companies will have the right to enter into business with state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), but must notify the State Department within 60 days.

Suu Kyi described the US move as “nothing significant” and repeated calls for the international community to press MOGE — which was closely linked to the former junta government — for increased transparency.

She told AFP that that she believed the body should sign up to International Monetary Fund codes of conduct.

Her National League for Democracy said the US decision was not at odds with the party’s view that lifting tough Western sanctions should be considered if it would help regenerate the country’s moribund economy.

International firms are clamouring for a foothold in resource-rich Myanmar as the West begins to lift economic and financial sanctions on the nation, left impoverished by decades of mismanagement and isolation under army rule.

The announcement will soothe fears by American businesses that they will lose out to European and Asian competitors that already enjoy access to the potentially lucrative economy.

It also signals Washington’s desire to bolster Myanmar’s President Thein Sein, a former junta general who has surprised the West with a series of dramatic changes since taking power last year.

“President Thein Sein, Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma continue to make significant progress along the path to democracy, and the government has continued to make important economic and political reforms,” President Barack Obama said in a statement Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet Thein Sein on Friday in Cambodia’s Siem Reap on the sidelines of the largest ever gathering of American businesses in Asia.

“We are putting in place protections to ensure that our renewed investment advances, rather than undermines, continued reforms,” Clinton told counterparts from across Asia on Thursday.

All US companies that invest more than $500,000 in Myanmar will be required to file reports to the State Department each year that show their consideration for human rights, workers’ rights and the environment.

Human Rights Watch slammed the decision, saying that the United States appeared to have “caved to industry pressure and undercut Aung San Suu Kyi” because it did not insist on reforms in governance and human rights.

Obama on Wednesday said concerns remained about the role of the military, adding that the United States would continue to ban investment in companies owned by the defence ministry or armed groups.

Aung Lynn, director general for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at Myanmar’s foreign ministry, told AFP that the US move was welcome but urged “further action”, echoing Thein Sein’s call for sanctions to be lifted.

The Myanmar leader, who has embarked on a “second wave” of reforms to tackle the economy, told the Financial Times that there would be “maximum transparency” in extractive industries — long the target of rights campaigners concerned over abuses and cronyism.

Myanmar’s regional neighbours, meeting at a forum in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, on Thursday called for all international embargoes against the country to be lifted.

Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said it would be better “if they can ease all the sanctions”.

The European Union in April suspended for one year a wide range of trade, economic and individual sanctions, although it left intact an arms embargo.

Top EU diplomat Catherine Ashton on Thursday played down a race between EU and US investors to claim a stake in Myanmar, saying “it’s good for the country” to choose between businesses “coming in to help them with issues like energy and so on… It’s just great”.

Clock ticks for Yangon’s colonial treasures
By Daniel Rook | AFP – 7 hrs ago

From a teak clubhouse where British officers once sipped gin to an old English department store dubbed “Harrods of the East” — the race is on to save Myanmar’s colonial jewels from the wrecking ball.

Six decades after the country also known as Burma won its independence, the grandeur of the British Raj lives on in the elegant but crumbling 19th and early 20th century buildings that dot the former capital Yangon.

But as the nation emerges from decades of military rule and investors flock to what they hope will be the region’s next hottest economy, experts fear that Myanmar’s largest city could soon lose its architectural treasures.

Hundreds of colonial buildings have already been torn down in what was once one of Asia’s top trading hubs, many falling prey to a building boom and a wave of property speculation, as high-rise buildings mushroom around the city.

“Unfortunately I would say half of the residential buildings that are 50 years or older in downtown Yangon have been knocked down over the past 10 years,” said historian and writer Thant Myint Oo, founder of the Yangon Heritage Trust which is spearheading a preservation campaign.

“We have enough left that Yangon can still be a very special and unique city,” he told AFP.

“But the fear is also that in five years’ time it could look like any other Asian city with skyscrapers and traffic jams and not much else to distinguish it,” he added.

The trust’s goal is to have a statutory list of protected buildings as well as official regulations on standards of renovation.

An existing heritage list, compiled by the city authorities, includes about 180 buildings but offers no legal protection.

They include the former Reserve Bank of India, the colonial rulers’ central bank; the Secretariat, the one-time seat of the colonial-era government where independence hero General Aung San was assassinated in 1947; and the former headquarters of the mighty Irrawaddy Flotilla Company.

Hundreds of other residential buildings are not listed, while a number of landmark properties once filled by government ministries now stand empty after the regime moved the administrative capital to Naypyidaw in 2005.

Others, such as the former Rowe & Co. Department Store — later the office of the Immigration Department — have been snapped up by local tycoons who grew rich thanks to their ties to the generals who ruled for decades.

Jade mining and construction magnate Zaw Zaw plans to turn the dilapidated Rowe & Co. building in downtown Yangon into a luxury hotel to rival the nearby Strand, considered one of Yangon’s finest restored colonial buildings.

In its heyday, the storied emporium attracted hordes of wealthy Europeans and well-heeled Asians, including a Shan Princess who described it as a “veritable Harrods of the East” in her memoirs, according to a new book from the Association of Myanmar Architects titled “30 Heritage Buildings of Yangon.”

The Strand Hotel, a colonnaded landmark on Yangon’s waterfront built in 1901, played host to guests including George Orwell, Somerset Maugham, and Noel Coward, while Rudyard Kipling spent an evening at the Pegu Club across town.

The former Gentlemen’s Club — where British government officials and army officers played billiards and shared tales of battle — is a shadow of its former glory, slowly rotting and falling down.
But an example of the potential it holds can be seen in the Governor’s Residence, a 1920s teak mansion that is now a luxury Yangon hotel.

The monsoon rains and cyclones that pound the city have taken their toll on many of the colonial-era gems which are in need of urgent renovations.

“I have no illusions on the challenges we face,” Yangon Mayor Hla Myint told a recent conference organised by the Yangon Heritage Trust to look at ways to preserve the city’s architectural treasures.

“There are technical challenges. Many of these buildings have not been repaired or renovated properly in a long time. There are financial challenges. There are challenges related to regulation and the redrafting of laws. But I believe what we are setting out to do is doable,” he added.

The project appears to have the support of Myanmar’s new reformist government, which sees foreign investment and tourism as crucial to the future of the impoverished country.

“We all need to protect the nation’s heritage,” Industry Minister Soe Thein told the same forum.

The challenge is how to preserve and restore the colonial jewels while also meeting growing demand for office space and modern accommodation, and without leaving the people who call the ageing properties home left out on the street.

Inevitably, perhaps, restoration means the city also risks losing the faded grandeur that for main people is its main charm.

“What I really love about Yangon is how it’s been preserved very unartificially,” said Yangon-based architect Amelie Chai, whose company Spine Architects has helped to renovate a number of colonial-era properties.

“All those communities are living, working in these buildings without any government interference and nobody telling them you have to maintain this colour or whatever,” she said.

“Some people think that’s terrible because some of the buildings are falling into disrepair, but on the other hand to me that’s the most special part of it.”

Clinton to meet with Myanmar’s president
By BRADLEY KLAPPER | Associated Press – 10 hrs ago

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will introduce Myanmar’s president to a large gathering of American companies in the aftermath of eased U.S. sanctions on the country.

Clinton will meet President Thein Sein in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on Friday. Together they will participate in a forum aimed at bringing investment to Southeast Asia.

The events come after the Obama administration granted permission Wednesday for American companies to invest in the country also known as Burma, and work with its state oil and gas enterprise. That action was a reward for a series of reforms by Myanmar’s government.

Clinton previously met with Thein Sein when she visited Myanmar last year. That was the first trip by a U.S. secretary of state to the country in more than 50 years.

Clinton lauds change in a country with no name
Reuters – 4 hours ago

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – U.S. praise for Myanmar grows by the day, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton still cannot bring herself to use the name of the country in the presence of officials from the former Burma.

Addressing a regional forum in the Cambodian capital, Clinton studiously avoided using either Myanmar or Burma during a speech in which she lauded the reforms there that “few dared … would come”.

It appears Clinton did not wish to offend Myanmar’s government and its diplomats in Phnom Penh by referring to the country by the name officially used in Washington, Burma – two short syllables that rile the former generals who now lead its nascent democracy.

The dilemma dates back to 1989, a year after thousands were killed in the suppression of a popular uprising, when the army changed the name to Myanmar, a name the United States never accepted because it would have conferred legitimacy on the former generals.

Many of those generals swapped their military fatigues for civilian clothes in a rigged 2010 election that cleared the way for a surprisingly reformist parliament that took office last year, ending 49 years of unbroken military rule.

Britain, Myanmar’s former colonial ruler, also still uses Burma.

The two words mean largely the same thing. Burmah, as it was spelled in the 19th century, is a local corruption of the word Myanmar.

Clinton is scheduled to meet Myanmar’s President Thein Sein at a meeting of business leaders in Siem Reap on Friday, two days after the United States eased sanctions against the country to allow U.S. companies to invest there.

As the rapprochement between the two grows stronger, the real test may not be how far sanctions are rolled back but whether Washington swaps two syllables for three.

The Washington Post – UN refugee chief rejects Myanmar president’s call for world body to take care of Rohingya
By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, July 12, 9:56 AM

YANGON, Myanmar — The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on Thursday rejected a suggestion by Myanmar’s president that the world body resettle or take care of ethnic Rohingyas who have settled in the Southeast Asian country.

UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres told reporters it was not his agency’s job to resettle the Rohingya, who live in western Myanmar but without Myanmar citizenship.

On his website, President Thein Sein said he told Guterres in a meeting Wednesday that the solution to ethnic enmity in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state was to either send the Rohingya to a third country or have the UNHCR look after them.

Clashes last month between Buddhist Rakhines and Muslin Rohingya left at least 78 people dead and tens of thousands homeless. The Rakhine consider the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

Thein Sein described the violence at the time as a threat to the democratic and economic reforms his government launched after decades of repressive rule by a military junta.

“The resettlement programs organized by UNHCR are for refugees who are fleeing a country to another, in very specific circumstances. Obviously, it’s not related to this situation,” said Guterres.

Thein Sein’s reported suggestion to Guterres left unclear exactly how many people he had in mind. The U.N. estimates there are about 800,000 Rohingya in Myanmar. The count includes people of Bengali heritage who settled centuries ago, as well as people who may have entered the country in recent decades.

Many people in Myanmar don’t recognize as legitimate settlers even those of Bengali heritage who came in the 19th century, when Myanmar was under British rule and called Burma.

Large exoduses of Rohingya to Bangladesh in the 1980s and 1990s because of persecution, and their subsequent return, also add to the confusion over who is an illegal immigrant.

Thein Sein told Guterres that according to Myanmar law, those Bengalis who settled in Myanmar before the country gained independence from Britain in 1948 and their children are regarded as citizens.

However, post-independence immigrants are officially considered illegal and threatening to the country’s stability.

In practice, it is difficult for many people of Bengali heritage to obtain citizenship, and they face discriminatory legal restrictions on movement, marriage and reproduction.

“We will take responsibility of our ethnic nationals but it is impossible to accept those Rohingyas who are not our ethnic nationals who had entered the country illegally. The only solution is to hand those illegal Rohingyas to the UNHCR or to send them to any third country that would accept them,” Thein Sein told Guterres, according to his website.

Asia News Network – Myanmar’s army can’t be left behind: Thein Sein
Myanmar’s military has a much reduced role in now, but cannot be ‘left behind’ by moves towards democratic reforms, President Thein Sein says
Nirmal Ghosh, The Straits Times
Publication Date : 12-07-2012

Myanmar’s military has a much reduced role in the government now, but cannot be “left behind” by moves towards democratic reforms, President Thein Sein has said.

In a 90-minute interview on Tuesday with The Straits Times, the reformist president said Senior General Than Shwe, the former supremo, remains a nationally respected figure, but no longer has a role in government.

“This is an armed forces that the country has had to rely on for a very long time for security and to meet external threats,” he said.

“So, it is important at this time that they are not left behind entirely. They have a limited role within the Constitution. But they are not involved in any way in the direct affairs of government or government policy.”

The army has 25 per cent of parliamentary seats reserved for it. Also, the commander-in-chief picks three ministers – for home, defence and border affairs.

While critics of the government often warn of the army taking charge of the country again, thus far, the military has been supportive of the President’s reforms and peace efforts.

“We can’t yet say this is a stable and peaceful country,” Thein Sein said.

“We want very much to have lasting peace, but exactly how the coming years will work out in terms of our efforts to have lasting peace remains uncertain.”

Addressing the issue of ethnic conflicts in the country’s border areas, he spoke about his own change of perspective in the transition from military general to prime minister and, finally, to president, just over a year ago.

He now sees armed ethnic groups, which he spent half his adult life fighting, as “members of the same family under one roof”.

While as a soldier he fought the armed ethnic groups, as president he no longer sees them as the enemy, but as part of the solution to the decades-long conflicts that have dogged Myanmar.

Despite differences of opinion in Myanmar, one of the key aspirations of the people across the ethnically diverse country is to live in peace and stability, he said.

“There can’t be peace without democracy, and there can’t be democracy without peace.”

He added that he is optimistic over negotiations with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northern Kachin state – where fighting between government troops and the KIA has displaced tens of thousands of people, some of whom are living in squalid camps across the border in China’s Yunnan province. “We have to be patient; there are a lot of local issues that need to be addressed. But I’m optimistic we will be able to reach an agreement,” he said.

Addressing the contentious issue of political prisoners, he said recent releases were done after a “rigorous review”, and the government wanted to “ensure we are not releasing people who are genuinely guilty of serious felonies, violent felonies, murders, narcotics trafficking and terrorism’.

Some 650 political prisoners have been freed by the government since it took office in March. Last week, a general amnesty included another 23.

More people continue to be held on political grounds, but the number is disputed even by rights groups and political parties.

The process of releasing prisoners will continue, he indicated.

“If it is discovered that there are people who do not fall under any of these criteria, and are there simply because of their political convictions, they will be released.”

He called on the West to decisively lift sanctions to unblock foreign investment and aid, saying: “The problem right now is… we really need investments, we need loans to help to move the economy forward, (but) there are still restrictions from many Western countries in terms of our ability to do this.

“It’s extremely important that (financial and other economic) sanctions be lifted to make possible the sort of trade and investments the country desperately needs at this time.”

Outrage over easing of Myanmar sanctions
Published: July 12, 2012 at 10:16 AM

WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) — Human rights groups expressed “grave concern” over a White House decision to allow U.S. investors into Myanmar’s oil and natural gas sector.

U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order authorizing U.S. investments in Myanmar. Certain limitations were made for the country’s Defense Ministry and for sanctioned entities and individuals.

Last week, U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said he was “very interested” in getting U.S. oil and natural gas companies into the country as quickly as possible.

Freedom House, Physicians for Human Rights, U.S. Campaign for Burma, Myanmar’s alternate name, and United to End Genocide signed a joint declaration expressing “grave concern” over the decision to allow U.S. investors into the country. They said it would likely worsen the human rights situation in the country.

Arvind Ganesan, a business director at Human Rights Watch, said in a separate statement the White House should have linked rights issues to the provision. Ganesan said it appears the Obama administration “caved to industry pressure” by its decision to allow deals with the state-owned oil Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.

French supermajor Total said that, as of 2007, Myanmar was producing around 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with 90 percent of that represented by natural gas.

Sin Chew Jit Poh – Myanmar strives for enhancement of reproductive healthcare
2012-07-12 14:51
By Feng Yingqiu

YANGON, July 12 (Xinhua) — Myanmar is striving to achieve development goals in agenda of International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), providing multi-specialty universal reproductive healthcare which prioritizes mortality rate of infants and children under five and expectant mothers.

Five-year reproductive health strategic plan to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDG) related to reproductive health by 2015 have been adopted and is being implemented by the Health Ministry and United Nations agencies.

Myanmar Vice President Sai Mauk Kham stressed on Wednesday’s World Population Day commemorative function in Nay Pyi Taw and the need for quality universal reproductive healthcare in the country, saying that great emphasis is to be placed on healthcare and educative measures for mothers and infants to reduce death and ill health of mothers and infants.

According to statistics, Myanmar’s mortality rate of mothers has been reduced to 200 per 100,000 infants in 2010 from 520 in 1990. Though, about 2,000 mothers lose lives each year by pregnancy-related problems.

A nationwide birth and reproductive health survey revealed that the ratio of the unmarried has increased and the marrying age becomes gradually higher.

Unmarried youths and most adults in the reproductive years may act in harmful manner, it was warned, emphasizing the need to pay more attention to prevent death and ill health caused by unplanned pregnancy and unsafe abortion.

He stressed the need for dissemination of knowledge on family planning among the people, calling on government departments concerned and non-governmental organizations (NGO) to raise awareness about reproductive health as an education for young people as the government has also included the reproductive health in the curriculum for students.

In Myanmar, NGOs such as Myanmar Medical Association and Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association are actively participating in the drive for educative activities for reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases and also providing counselling services.

“Couples have understood that their decision on the number of children and birth spacing plays a key role in reducing mortality rate of women in pregnancy and illness and this acceptance would help to achieve the future tasks of the ICPD and the reproductive health service for every one, one goal of MDGs of the UN, ” Sai said.

To achieve the goals of the ICPD program of action plan and MDGs, Myanmar has been cooperating with world nations with emphasis on universal access to reproductive health.

There are about 16 million women of reproductive age in about 60 million population of Myanmar.

The 2008 constitution grants rights for mothers, children and expectant mothers and the national health policies promise universal health services and healthcare.

Myanmar prescribes no limited number of children in a family. It depends on individual choice.

Commonly, urbanites with reproductive health knowledge conceive one or two children, while rural population have unlimited number of children traditionally regarding them as the jewels.

July 12, 2012, 12:38 am
New York Times – Rights Groups Assail U.S. Decision on Myanmar
By MARK MCDONALD

HONG KONG — Human rights groups are tearing into the Obama administration for its decision to allow virtually any new American investment in Myanmar.

The prized oil-and-gas sector in Myanmar is now wholly open to American firms, even though the opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had asked foreign companies and governments to hold off doing business with the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.

M.O.G.E. has long had deep ties to the military, and for years it essentially bankrolled a succession of authoritarian juntas. The U.S. Congressional Research Service has estimated that one energy project alone, the Yadana natural gas pipeline, has provided at least $500 million in annual revenue for the government.

In a speech in Geneva last month, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi said M.O.G.E. was still operating without transparency or accountability. Any new investments should wait, she said, until the agency meets labor standards issued by the International Monetary Fund.

“By allowing deals with Burma’s state-owned oil company, the U.S. looks like it caved to industry pressure and undercut Aung San Suu Kyi and others in Burma who are promoting government accountability,” said Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch.

The group said petroleum lobbyists had “pressed the Obama administration for a wholesale removal of the investment ban without any limits on partnering with M.O.G.E., citing potentially lucrative investment opportunities when Burma opens up additional oil and gas blocks for exploration later this year.”

It was four years ago this month that a sweeping set of punitive sanctions against Myanmar was enacted by Congress, codified in the Tom Lantos JADE Act. The only American company exempted from the sanctions was Chevron, which holds a 28 percent stake in the Yadana pipeline project. The French firm Total operates the project.

“This legislation will turn off a huge cash spigot for the thuggish Burmese regime,” Mr. Lantos said as his sanctions bill was making its way through Congress.

But the Democratic congressman from California didn’t see his objection to the Chevron exemption upheld: He died of cancer in February 2008, and the law was enacted that July. The final wording merely says that “Congress urges Yadana investors to consider voluntary divestment over time” in Burma. That divestment did not happen.

Chevron’s profile of its outreach efforts in Myanmar is here, on the company Web site.

The U.S. Campaign for Burma said Wednesday that “investment in many of the most attractive sectors of the Burmese economy is likely to worsen the human rights situation while directly benefiting individuals and entities responsible for rights abuses, who contribute to corruption, or are otherwise acting to obstruct political reform.”

The campaign added: “The Obama administration’s decision-making process has lurched forward without careful thought, strategy or transparency.”

Mr. Obama’s executive order was issued Wednesday.

The administration, led by the personalized diplomacy of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, seemed to have struck a deal with Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi earlier this year on the “targeted easing” of an array of U.S. sanctions against the former Burma. Under a new government led by President Thein Sein, Myanmar has been undertaking a dramatic series of reforms, reforms that have consequently brought down longstanding trade and investment barriers erected by Japan and a number of Western countries.

Sen. Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, and Sen. James M. Imhofe, Republican of Oklahoma, wrote to Mrs. Clinton in May to say that her plan for targeted sanctions would be “a strategic mistake.” They wanted an open field for American businesses, not a sector-by-sector approach.

“The U.S. should not be picking winners and losers in our engagement abroad,” the senators said.

Encouraging further liberalizations by a government still riddled with former generals and their cronies is a dicey process and an inexact science. The initial reforms came so quickly and abruptly that many Western governments (and many Burmese activists) were simply caught off guard. Previous regimes, after all, had kept Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi locked up for much of the past two decades.

And human rights abuses still proliferate.

“Foreign investment is essential to rectify these harsh conditions,” said Rhonda Mays and Robert Herman of Freedom House. “But suddenly funneling money into the country’s opaque, scandalously corrupt business environment is no way to help Burma progress economically or politically. This is all the more true when the main investment goal is the exploitation of natural resources.

“It is no coincidence that around the world, growth strategies based on extractive industries tend to reinforce the concentration of wealth and power and do little to advance general economic well-being — unless the country in question has a strong system of checks and balances and the rule of law. Despite the recent steps toward reform, Burma still has neither.”

The new U.S. order still blocks direct dealings with the military or with people and companies already banned. The Treasury Department’s entire list of sanctions is here; the Directorate of Defense Industries and the Innwa Bank were added to it on Wednesday.

The Nation – Myanmar president asks UN to look after ‘illegal’ Rohingyas
July 12, 2012 4:43 pm

Yangon – Myanmar asked the United Nations to place 750,000 stateless Muslims in refugee camps, its president’s website said Thursday.

Members of the Rohingya ethnic group are refused citizenship by Myanmar’s government, which considers the Muslims of Bengali descentas illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, even if they have lived in Myanmar for generations.

“It is totally impossible to accept illegal Rohingyas,” President Thein Sein told visiting UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, according to the website.

“The last solution on this issue is to hand over Rohingyas to UNHCR to set up refugee camps,” Thein Sein was quoted as saying.”Then, the UNHCR should look after them.” “If a third country wants to accept them, we will send them,” hesaid.

It was not clear whether Thein Sein, a reform-minded former general who took office in March last year, was considering allowing the UNHCR to set up refugee camps in Myanmar, which has never been granted before.

The Nation – Hopeful Asean
Asia News Network July 12, 2012 1:00 am

Tensions in the South China Sea will evidently mark the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) annual meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, this week. However, without any intention of belittling the danger of a military build-up in the resource-rich waters, the meeting offers a wonderful opportunity to answer staunch critics and point out the encouraging progress of reform in Myanmar.

When the Asean Regional Forum is held on July 12, key global players will also be present, including the US, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the European Union. International media will likely focus on the South China Sea conflict. The North Korean nuclear threat will also become another key issue during the “confidence building” gathering.

China and the Philippines have overlapping claims to territories in the South China Sea, along with other claimants such as Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Beijing and Manila are intensifying their “megaphone” diplomacy with the latter apparently trying to remind the world of its close relationship with the US – its ally and former colonial master. Besides the South China Sea conflict, the North Korean nuclear threat will also be another key issue discussed in the meeting.

Asean is also in the final stage of transforming itself into a single market. However, amid the collapse of several EU economies, enthusiasm to follow in the EU’s footsteps may be in decline.

But aside from internal divisions that may exist, the meeting in Phnom Penh is an excellent place for Asean foreign ministers to point out to the international community the regional grouping’s endurance and patience in persuading and convincing Myanmar’s leaders to end the brutal oppression of their people and their isolation from the outside world.

In the 1980s, Cambodia was ruined by a prolonged civil war between the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge and Hun Sen, supported by Vietnam. In the early 1990s, peace returned to Cambodia thanks to Asean’s tireless diplomatic activities, in which Indonesia played a crucial role.

It is very hard – even for the staunchest critics of Asean – to deny the claims of Asean’s leaders that their often criticised policy has worked very well on Myanmar.

So when Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin attends the annual ministerial Asean gathering in Phnom Penh, it will be the first time in more than a decade that his country is not viewed with hostility or tension.

Myanmar’s foreign minister will receive a much warmer welcome from Asean colleagues and dialogue partners of the grouping. This is a big relief for Myanmar’s President Thein Sein, whose brave decision to end his country’s status as the world’s worst pariah state clearly has resulted in positive changes, though many remain extremely cautious about the Myanmar government’s real motives and commitment.

Asean leaders have promised that a summit will be held in Myanmar in 2014, when the country is better able to meet the demands of its own people for a better state.

Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is also positive on the ongoing developments in her country, emphasising that, “We don’t want to be shackled by the past. We want to use the past to build the future.”

Asean is obligated to ensure democratic reform is sustainable in the impoverished state. But the leaders should also remember that other Asean countries have serious democratic deficits. Thailand, once a champion of democracy in the region, is still fragile and it may only be a matter of time before the military flexes its muscles again against the civilian government.

We hope that this annual Asean gathering will produce more concrete results. Reduced hostility in the South China Sea is one expected outcome from the defence and security dialogue in Phnom Penh.

Asean has shown encouraging progress in many fields, and the improvements in Myanmar are one of the group’s most significant achievements.

Bangkok Post – Thanasak: Detained Thais are well
Published: 12/07/2012 at 06:07 PM
Online news:

Supreme Commander Thanasak Patimakorn on Thursday confirmed Myanmar had been taking good care of the 92 Thais arrested on suspicion of land encroachment offences and both sides were making progress on talks over their release.

Gen Thanasak was speaking after he had visited Myanmar on Sunday and returned to Bangkok on Wednesday. He said he had met with Myanmar President Thein Sein and Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Vice-Snr Gen Min Aung Hlaing, who both strongly affirmed good cooperation and relations between Bangkok and Nay Pyi Taw. This was a good sign in attempts to secure the release of the Thai detainees, he said.

Besides having the local Thai-Myanmar Border Committee (TBC) and the Regional Border Committee (RBC) as tools for negotiation, Gen Thanasak said he had proposed to Myanmar the setting up of a high-level committee, which will be chaired by both countries’ commanders-in-chief, to deal with border issues. Nay Pyi Taw had accepted the proposal. This would add more channels for talks and help strengthen ties.

On the release of the 92 Thais, members of the TBC abd RBC were now holding talks with their Myanmar counterparts. Gen Thanasak insisted that the Myanmar authorities would do their best to take care of the Thais in detention. Thai authorities will have to wait for Myanmar to question all of the suspects.

With Thai-Myanmar relations being strong, those who were arrested and found innocent may be freed soon before President Thein Sein visits Thailand later this month, he said.

The supreme commander urged the media to exercise caution in reporting the story so as to avoid putting pressure on Myanmar authorities in charge of the case.

“The incident must be conducted according to legal proceedings. Saying something bad or the media overdoing the story, it will result in putting pressure [on the Myanmar authorities],” he said.

UNICEF (press release) – In Myanmar, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Jackie Chan visits children affected by human trafficking
By Janine Kandel

YANGON, Myanmar, 11 July 2012 – 12-year-old Zaw* is a boy trying to build a future.  Life has not always been kind to Zaw, who was trafficked as a young child to Malaysia and then forced to beg in the streets.

But Zaw has worked hard to overcome these experiences, and last week he had the thrill of meeting one of his idols – actor, martial arts icon and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Jackie Chan.
Inspired by strength of children

In a special centre, Zaw and other young trafficking survivors spoke to Mr. Chan about their experiences. Mimi was sold by traffickers twice, first at the age of 10 and then again at the age of 17. With UNICEF support, Zaw and Mimi now recovering from their horrific ordeals, learning new skills and being reunited with their families.

The young people talked about their hopes and dreams for the future and listened closely as Mr. Chan offered his encouragement and support, along with tips about how they can protect themselves.

Mr. Chan was moved by their stories. “Look at how brave and strong all of you are. You were forced to do horrible things by very bad people. Yet they haven’t stopped you,” he said. “You are here building a new life for yourself, and I deeply admire this.”

Education is key to protection

Continuing his trip in Mandalay, Mr. Chan visited children who are especially vulnerable to trafficking. In schools, community centres and residential care facilities, he met children living on the streets, working instead of attending school and growing up without families. He also met children affected HIV and those living with disabilities.

In a non-formal school, 13-year-old Cho Cho explained that she attends evening classes because she has to work in the mornings, picking tea leaves for US$2 per day to support her mother.

Mr. Chan also met 9-year-old Mg Mg who lives in a monastery school. Because Mg Mg comes from a state where ethnic conflicts persist, his parents have sent him far away to ensure his safety and allow him to get an education.

Mr. Chan had important messages to deliver to all of the children he met. “Stay in school and study hard,” he told them. “Education is the best way to protect yourself against bad people. The bad people know many tricks to fool you, and you have to be smarter than them.”

‘Our children are not for sale’

Mr. Chan was greeted not only by the children who had to been preparing for his visit but also by hundreds of fans welcoming him to Myanmar. Mr. Chan was happy to use his fame to encourage fans to rally against human trafficking.

He concluded his visit to Myanmar by hosting a press conference in the capital Yangon. There, he confirmed his commitment to fighting human trafficking and asked the media for help. “Please expose every trafficking story and talk about the issue as much as you can,” he urged them. “We need to bring these horrible crimes out in the open. Our children are not for sale.”

*The children in this story are identified by nicknames

Financial Times (blog) – Myanmar: Japan makes up for lost time
July 11, 2012 8:45 am by Ben McLannahan

After the debt, the deluge? Three months after Japan agreed to waive much of the money owed to it by Myanmar, clearing the way for normalised economic relations after a 25-year lending freeze, Japanese companies are beginning to make up for lost time.

On Tuesday Marubeni, Japan’s fifth largest trading house, said it had been awarded a contract to overhaul a gas-fired power plant it built seven years ago, before tighter Western sanctions took hold.

Marubeni described the award to upgrade the creaking Ywama plant as the first infrastructure order to a Japanese company since the government of president Thein Sein took over in March 2011, ushering in democratic reforms.

Myanmar depends on hydropower for about 70 per cent of its electricity, making the economy highly vulnerable to the vagaries of weather. When water levels at hydroelectric dams fall during the dry season that runs from November to April, blackouts plague the country. In a report published in May, the IMF identified “inadequate infrastructure” as one of the main factors limiting GDP growth last year to 5.3 per cent, and to a projected 5.5 per cent this year.

Marubeni, which relies on power projects for one-eighth of net income – the third highest earner behind metals and energy – is now aiming to get involved in more brownfield and greenfield projects in Myanmar, according to Hirohide Sagara, senior operating officer in the company’s power, projects and infrastructure division.

Marubeni launched a liaison office in the capital city of Naypyidaw in January, intending to develop stronger relationships with government officials in anticipation of April’s resolution of the debt problem. It has maintained an office in the port of Yangon, the former capital once known as Rangoon, since 1942.

Plenty of other Japanese companies have similar ideas. Most of the country’s biggest trading companies have followed Marubeni in setting up offices in the capital this year. The Japan Bank for International Co-operation, the state-owned lender specialising in supporting Japan-led infrastructure projects, has included Myanmar as a key destination in what it calls the ‘Southern Economic Corridor’, extending from Vietnam to India through Cambodia and Thailand. Keidanren, the powerful business lobby, last month urged the government to position Myanmar as one of several targets for infrastructure exports, and to take effective policy measures to support them.

Foreign minister Koichiro Gemba is doing his bit: last week the Nikkei newspaper reported that Gemba met his counterpart in Myanmar to propose the setting up of a Japan-Myanmar Joint Initiative, with the aim of clearing barriers to direct investment. The hope is to do for Myanmar what a similar body did for Vietnam – now one of the biggest recipients of Japanese investment – from the early 1990s.

Also pitching in is All Nippon Airways, which on Tuesday said it would begin offering three business-class flights a week between Tokyo’s Narita airport and Yangon. If the service begins as planned in October, it would mark the first direct connection between Japan and Myanmar since March 2000.

No more layovers in Bangkok.

“It’s opening up, bit by bit,” said an executive at a rival trading house. “There is a huge deficiency in expertise in Myanmar. Whether it’s electricity, roads or water, they’re not there yet.”

July 11, 2012, 3:37 a.m. EDT
MarketWatch (press release) – Frost & Sullivan: Is it Time to Energize the Power Market in Myanmar?
Investment Opportunities in the Myanmar Power Market

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 11, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — The recent easing of sanctions by Western countries against Myanmar could prove to be a cornerstone in the nation’s economic development. As the economy attempts to take off from its current position, the power sector holds the key to support rapid economic growth in the currently power starved country.

According to Vishal Narain, Industry Analyst for Frost & Sullivan’s Asia Pacific Energy Practice, Myanmar has an estimated installed power capacity of 2,254 MW that has grown annually at a rate of 10% since 2007.

“The demand for power shot up by 15% in 2012 which has led to the current power crisis. A lot of projects in the recent past have increased the power generation capacity but only 13% of the country’s entire population has access to electricity,” he said.

Myanmar has a per capita power consumption of only 104 KWh compared to a consumption of over 2,000 KWh in Thailand and around 600 KWh in Indonesia. Up to 70% of the power generation capacity is from the 18 hydropower plants which generate up to 1,270 MW during the rainy season and 1,000 MW during the dry season. The gas fired plants generate up to 350 MW.

In the current scenario of reforms, the country is likely to attain higher consumption levels in less than two decades, which means a capacity of up to 50 GW in that time frame. This would entail an investment of roughly US$50 billion in the power generation sector alone.

“The scope to bridge the impending power demand-supply gap offers huge investment opportunities for both the multinational and domestic companies across the power industry value chain from generation to transmission and distribution and in distributed power generation including power rental sector,” said Narain.

He continued, “Myanmar has so far relied heavily on hydropower projects which puts power generation at the mercy of rains. In the future, we may expect a conscious decision to move away from hydropower and encourage a diversified mix in power generation. This could pave the way to more investments in conventional thermal power plants.”

Antiquated transmission & distribution (T&D) lines offer medium-term investment opportunities. With some cables as old as 40 years and more than half the cables transporting power at less than 230KV, power losses are significant.

“Massive investments in upgrading power T&D infrastructure could help the government reduce power losses and thereby, manage the power crisis more effectively. To increase the electrification ratio, the Myanmar government plans to set up as much as 5,000 miles of 230KV transmission lines with eight substation projects to support the grid. This is capable of generating investments worth US$1 billion over the next ten years,” said Narain.

Other investment opportunities include the distributed power generation sector, seen as a short-term solution to power shortages.

The increasing inflow of foreign tourists and expatriates looking to set up representative offices in Myanmar is likely to boost the demand for residential and office spaces. With an immediate mandate to welcome foreign investments in as many sectors as possible, the government would have to order generators from foreign firms to deal with the impending spike in power requirements.

“Private real estate companies providing residential and office spaces to expatriates are more likely to depend on power rental solutions. Demand for distributed power generation is likely to remain high till 2015 and later likely to reduce as new thermal, gas and hydro power plants are commissioned,” added Narain.

In the wake of government’s openness to reforms and private sector participation in nation-building, there are significant short-term and long-term investment opportunities for foreign companies across the power industry value chain.

“However, investing firms should exercise caution in this highly risky market by taking into consideration the interest of multiple stakeholders in major power projects that could upset investment plans,” said Narain.

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Myanmar farmers listen in to tune out hunger
Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:39 GMT
By an AlertNet correspondent

MONYWA, Myanmar (AlertNet) – Padamyar FM, a radio station covering the Sagaing region of Myanmar’s Dry Zone, has been broadcasting local market prices of crops, from sesame and maize to peas and groundnuts, twice a day since March.

The innovative project, run by the Myanmar Business Coalition on AIDS (MBCA), a non-government group set up initially to support people living with HIV/AIDS, brings much-needed information direct into the homes of village farmers via the airwaves.

Han Nyunt, a veteran farmer with 13 acres of pigeon peas and sesame in the semi-arid village of Kyar Pin Hla (Beautiful Lotus Plant), said getting hold of market prices for his crops used to be a real chore.

“We used to only find out at about eight or nine at night when people got back from town. By then it was too late to decide whether or not to sell our produce,” he told AlertNet, sitting on a wooden bench inside the village headman’s sparse hut.

The small settlement, atop a hillock at the end of a long, bumpy earth road, is covered in a fine layer of saffron-coloured dust. There is little shade from the blazing sun and it’s at least a half-hour walk to the nearest water point.

“Now by four in the afternoon we can know the prices,” said Han Nyunt, adding that he doesn’t have to spend a cent. “We’re all really pleased with this.”

Each afternoon, MBCA staff collect market prices from three main commodity centres in central Myanmar – Monywa, Mandalay and Pakkoku – and relay them to the radio station. The 4pm announcement informs listeners of that day’s prices, while the 9am one gives the previous day’s prices.

Another way of getting this valuable information is to use a mobile phone – but these are far and few between in poor villages that don’t even have a landline. Or a farmer can travel to another village with phones and call a trader in Monywa, a bustling market town in Sagaing, an hour’s drive away from Kyar Pin Hla.

But all this costs money and sometimes the lines don’t work. Besides, farmers can never be sure whether the trader is quoting them a lower price to make more profit.

HAND-TO-MOUTH EXISTENCE

Myanmar’s Dry Zone, home to about 14.5 million people, is also one of the hungriest parts of the country. According to the World Food Programme, 41 percent of households there are food insecure – meaning that they regularly cut down on what they eat because they don’t have enough food.

Irregular and scarce rainfall, prolonged dry spells, rocky soil, and a lack of basic infrastructure – roads, electricity and phone lines – make conditions extremely tough both for farming and living.

Rice is a staple food, but many Dry Zone villages, including Kyar Pin Hla, can only grow pulses and beans because of infertile soil and water scarcity. Yields are low, and many farmers and landless labourers live hand-to-mouth, heavily in debt.

When they do get the chance to sell surplus harvests and make a little money, it has always been marred by a lack of information and the urgent need to repay loans.

Droughts in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and a collapse in some crop prices this year have wiped out many of the gains from a lifetime toiling in the fields, with villagers around Monywa telling AlertNet they expect their hardship to continue.

RADIO TO THE RESCUE

One bright spot is the new radio broadcasts funded by the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT). They are a big help, farmers said, giving them timely and accurate market news.

Studies have shown that inadequate access to information was undermining incomes in rural communities, according to the LIFT, a donor fund managed by the United Nations.

A Harvard Kennedy School report released in January said Myanmar’s low penetration of cell phones, exacerbating farmers’ inability to find out market prices, “is not just a sign of poverty. It is a cause of poverty.”

But the one thing most households do own is a radio.

They are much cheaper than televisions and useful even when out in the fields – one reason why the MBCA project opted to communicate through radio broadcasts, said Tint Lwin Myo, its Monywa representative.

The aim now is to train farmers to analyse the information they hear so they can make better decisions.

It is a challenging goal, as many farmers are semi-literate, unused to strategic planning and unable or unwilling to change lifelong habits of planting a certain crop or blaming traders for their losses.

But there are signs of hope. On a recent visit to Kyar Pin Hla, Tint Lwin Myo asked villagers about the price of pigeon peas.

“Last year, we could get 27,000 kyats (about $28) a basket. Now it’s only 13,500,” lamented farmer Han Nyunt.

After further probing, he said that India – the main buyer of pigeon peas from Myanmar – may have increased its production, forcing down prices.

That’s got him mulling over a new plan for his 13 acres.

“We’re thinking of two rows of cotton for a row of pigeon peas,” he said, expressing the hope it could provide better financial security.

The Irrawaddy – Martyrs’ Day Ceremonies to be Opened to Public
By NYEIN NYEIN / THE IRRAWADDY| July 12, 2012

For the first time in 50 years, the authorities in Burma have indicated that ordinary Burmese will be allowed to participate in ceremonies marking Martyrs’ Day, the anniversary of the assassination of independence leader Aung San and members of his cabinet on July 19, 1947.

In a sign of the shift, an article in the state-run Myanmar Ahlin newspaper announced on Wednesday that the Martyrs’ Monument in Meiktila, Mandalay Division, will be open next Thursday to members of the public who wish to lay wreaths in memory of the fallen national heroes.

The article also said that the site has undergone renovations, noting that it has been neglected for the past five decades. While it doesn’t say why this has been the case, the period of neglect coincides with Burma’s half-century of military rule that began with a coup by former dictator Gen Ne Win in 1962.

Prior to the army’s takeover, public participation in Martyrs’ Day ceremonies was the norm. Under Ne Win and his successors, however, ordinary citizens were barred from attending official events, although low-key private ceremonies were common in many parts of the country.

As is often the case in Burma, there has been no official announcement of plans to permit public events, but many groups in the country say they expect to be allowed to openly commemorate the occasion this year.

“We are planning to march to the Martyrs’ Mausoleum to lay wreaths for our national heroes,” said Mandalay resident Ko Ko Lay.

Even activists who were recently detained for planning events to mark another anniversary—Ne Win’s deadly crackdown on Rangoon University students on July 7, 1962, and the subsequent dynamiting of the Student Union building—believe they will be able to go ahead with plans to commemorate Martyrs’ Day.

“I think we can celebrate Martyrs’ Day with fewer restrictions than other events such as the 7th of July because it is an official day in Burma,” said Phyo Phyo Aung, the general secretary of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions’ organizing committee, who was taken into custody on July 6 and detained for 23 hours.

However, there were news reports on Wednesday that members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) in Pegu were denied permission to hold a Martyrs’ Day ceremony just days after Burma’s Parliament  passed a law guaranteeing the right to protest and hold public gatherings. Under the  law, organizers must seek permission from local authorities and police five days in advance of the planned event.

This hasn’t, however, deterred others from planning events of their own.

“I don’t think we need to ask permission,” said Myint Maung, an NLD member in southern Burma’s Kawthaung Township. “We will go and lay wreaths in front of the statute of Gen Aung San in Kawthaung as we did in the past.”

The Irrawaddy – Serious Abuses Still Rife in Burma: UK Govt
By LAWI WENG / THE IRRAWADDY| July 12, 2012

While welcoming positive political developments in Burma, a new report from the UK government has raised serious concerns regarding ongoing human right abuses in ethnic areas where armed conflicts continue to rage.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office published “Human Rights and Democracy 2011” on Tuesday which highlights entrenched humanitarian crises in Burma just as local sources in Kachin State accuse the Burmese government of arbitrarily detaining and torturing civilians suspected of links to rebel groups.

“2011 was marked by some unexpected and positive political developments in Burma, although significant long-term challenges remained,” said the report, detailing the case of 30,000 houses from seven villages in Shan State which were razed to the ground in March last year by government troops.

And many serious human rights violations were also documented in northernmost Kachin State where a 17-year ceasefire broke down in June last year. The report detailed accusations of civilians being tortured, raped and killed by government troops while the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA) also allegedly used forced porters, child soldiers and land mines.

After Burma began a program of political reform, Conservative MP William Hague became the first UK foreign secretary to visit the military-dominated nation in 57 years to signify a new level of engagement between the two countries. This was followed by the European Union suspending economic sanctions in May.

“We acknowledge that there is more work to be done to address the serious human rights concerns that remain. In 2012, our human rights objectives will build on the progress in 2011,” said the report, adding that many of Burma’s existing laws are outdated, contradictory and in need of amendment.

Rebel peace brokers told The Irrawaddy that ongoing human right abuses in Kachin State remain serious, with suspected KIA supporters detained at Myitkyina refugee camps by the local authorities. This is despite article 17/1 of the Unlawful Associations Act, which states that it is illegal for anyone to have contact with an outlawed organization, apparently being suspended on June 21.

The constitutional law, which dates back to British colonial times, has been used for decades to justify the arbitrary arrest of anyone suspected of supporting anti-government organizations or ethnic armed groups.

And despite apparently being repealed, San Aung, a peace broker in the Kachin capital, said that 49 ethnic Kachins were detained for being KIA supporters or sympathizers last month, of which 29 are currently being prosecuted.

Instead of finding a political solution through peace talks, the government continues to use its armed forces to attack the KIA, claims another peace broker Lamai Gum Ja, adding that an end to hostilities remains far out of reach in the war-torn state.

Lamai Gum Ja told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that three more people were reportedly detained in northern Shan State on July 3 for suspected links to the Kachin rebels.

More than 1,500 Kachin people took part in a protest in Myitkyina Township on July 6 that demanded the release of Lahtaw Brang Shawng who was detained and faces trial in Myitkyina for being member of the KIA.

He was beaten and tortured during interrogation by the authorities and forced to confess to the allegations, according to his supporters.

KIA spokesman La Nan said that Railways Minister Aung Min, Naypyidaw’s chief peace negotiator, is not a man who can be trusted as many people are still being detained and tortured under article 17/1 despite his assurance that it was dropped.

Even though several rounds of negotiations have taken place between the Burmese government and KIA, no settlement has so far been reached. More than 70,000 civilians, including many women and children, have been forced to flee to temporary camps by the Chinese border due to the year-long conflict, according to humanitarian groups.

U.S. enters Code of Conduct issue in the South China Sea
Thursday, 12 July 2012 15:18 Mizzima News

As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed how the U.S. and China are cooperating on a wide range of issues, she also pressed Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to accept an Asean Code of Conduct to ease tensions in the South China Sea, during meetings at the Asean Summit in Cambodia on Thursday, said reports.

Tensions between Asean members Vietnam and the Philippines have risen as both they and China press territorial claims in the South China Sea, which hold rich reserves of oil and gas.

The U.S. is trying to walk a delicate diplomatic line, and this week it was criticized by China for meddling in the issue, which it said should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

At the meeting, Yang spoke of building an even closer U.S.-Chinese relationship. Neither side spoke about the South China Sea while reporters were allowed in the room, said The Associated Press.

A potentially dangerous war of words has grown in recent months ending in a tense standoff between Chinese and Philippine ships and disagreements between China and Vietnam over claims to a number of islands in the sea.

China claims almost the entire sea area and has created an entirely new city to bolster its claim to the area. The South China Sea accounts for about one-third of the world’s cargo traffic and in addition to its energy resources, it is a plentiful fishing ground.

Earlier, Clinton said, “The United States has no territorial claims there and we do not take sides in disputes about territorial or maritime boundaries. But we do have an interest in freedom of navigation, the maintenance of peace and stability, respect for international law and unimpeded lawful commerce in the South China Sea.”

She said all international disputes should be solved “collaboratively and diplomatically to resolve disputes without coercion, without intimidation, without threats and without use of force” and follow international law.

Earlier this week, the 10-member Asean group announced it had drafted a set of rules governing maritime rights and navigation, and procedures for when governments disagree. China is not a member of the group and has opposed such a procedure. The rules have not been made public.

The issue is the first recent major territorial disagreement involving so many Asian countries, and the first major test for the U.S. after it announced that it was re-engaging in Asia after decades of focusing on the Middle East. Speaking out on the subject already has helped the U.S. deepen ties with Vietnam and other governments in the region, said summit observers.

Disputes over ocean territorial claims and sea lanes have taken place among China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Burma, Bangladesh and Brunei, and analysts say the issue remains volatile and could spark unwanted confrontations.

A standoff between China and the Philippines in the Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines took place in April when the Philippines accused Chinese fishermen of poaching in its exclusive economic zone. Both sides sent government ships to the area.

Recently, the China National Offshore Oil Corp. opened nine oil and gas lots for international bidders in areas overlapping with existing Vietnamese exploration blocks. Vietnam said the lots lie entirely within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

Mizzima News – NLD official’s trial to resume Tuesday
Thursday, 12 July 2012 12:22 Mizzima News

Another hearing in the trial of the chief spokesman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) was held on Friday in Naypyitaw. Spokesman Nyan Win is charged with providing false information to a government official, in regard to information he passed on to the media during the Apirl 1 by-election.

The case is being heard in the Zabuthiri Township court in Naypyitaw, the capital, said Nyan Win’s lawyer, Kyaw Ho.

Nyan Win, the NLD campaign coordinator during the April by-election, passed on information from third parties across the country that alleged ballots had been found in some polling stations that were coated with wax, making the ballots harder to mark properly.

The government’s Union Election Commission (UEC), after investigating the widely circulated reports, said the information was not true, that it was based on hearsay, and it had damaged the commission’s reputation.

The commission asked for an apology, but Nyan Win refused, saying that he was only one person among many who passed on the reports that were circulating around the country, and that he had no way to verify the information at the time.

If found guilty, he could be sentenced up to six months in prison or fined.

In Naypyidaw on Friday, the court heard testimony from one of the prosecutor’s nine witnesses.

The trial is set to reconvene on July 17.

“The court will hear testimony from the prosecutors and prosecution’s witnesses first – there are nine – and then will hear Nyan Win’s side,” said lawyer Kyaw Ho.

He said NLD attorneys are preparing to counter the witnesses’ statements.

Kyaw Ho said, “Nyan Win was sued for allegedly providing false information that the ballots were waxed. We’ve been preparing for this for a long time. We will argue that he didn’t provide any false information.”

After investigating the NLD allegation, the Election Commission announced on May 9 that the NLD complaints were a “sham,” and it filed charges against Nyan Win.

The UEC director Thaung Hlaing filed suit under section 182 of the penal code for providing false information to a public servant and for making a claim in a press conference during the April 1 by-elections that ballots in several polling stations were coated in wax.

The UEC ordered Nyan Win to publicly retract his statements, but he refused to do so, saying that he was not the source of the rumors.

“If it is not true, we are happy with that, but we are not guilty according to the law,” said Nyan Win, who is also a lawyer.

Leading dissidents, including members of the 88-Generation Students group, and local and international media, also passed on the ballot-tampering claims.

Burma’s Human Rights Commission issues statement on Arakan State
Thursday, 12 July 2012 16:31 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The National Human Rights Commission of Burma on Wednesday released a statement urging the authorities to take effective action to punish those responsible for the sectarian violence and to provide further aid to people seeking safety in government-run camps.

The statement said commission Secretary Sit Myaing and two members visited Sittwe, Maungtaw, Buthidaung and Yathedaung townships in Arakan (Rakhine) State from June 27 to July 1 to hold discussions with officials, religious leaders and victims of the sectarian unrest that swept over the state in June.

The statement, printed in the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar, urged authorities to adopt steps to establish the rule of law and to take “just and effective actions” against the people responsible for the acts of violence that occurred.

The statement recommended that “a special program should be undertaken to enhance the basic education of the children in the affected areas for the building of mutual trust.”

The report said some schools were open in Sittwe, but few students attended in the aftermath of the violence. Some schools still remain closed, but are scheduled to open on Monday, it said.

The statement also recommended that steps should be taken to build mutual trust among the victims of the violence that pitted Buddhists against Muslims.

The group also urged more assistance and support be provided to refugees. The government has set up a total of 72 relief stations, it said, and Arakanese nationals from the relief camps in Buthidaung and Ponnagyun have been safely returned to their respective areas.

According to figures released by the government, from May 28 to June 24 there were 97 clashes and at least 78 people died in the violence.

DVB News – Gov’t will not recognise Rohingya: Thein Sein
Published: 12 July 2012

Burma’s President Thein Sein told a visiting delegation from the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees that the government will not recognize the Rohingya and are considering handing over the ethnic group to the UNHCR, reported a government website today.

The delegation led by Antonio Guterres met with the president on 11 July when the leader clarified his position on the Muslim minority group, reported the presidential office’s website.

The president told the visiting delegation that the 800,000 strong group “posed a threat to national security”.

According to the site, Thein sein alleged that the “Bengalis were brought into Burma to work as farmhands by the English colonialists before the [country’s] independence in 1948”.

The president then asserted that in accordance with Burmese Law, only a third generation [immigrant] descended from those who came into Burma before 1948 are recognised as a citizen.

“Burma will take responsibility for its ethnic nationalities but it is not at all possible to recognise the illegal border-crossing Rohingyas who are not an ethnic [group] in Burma,” said Thein Sein according to his office’s website.

As a last resort, the president said the government is prepared to hand over the Rohingyas to the UNHCR and would set up refugee camps for the group before they were eventually settled in any third country “that are willing to take them”.

Rioting in Arakan state has left almost 100 dead according to official tallies and displaced nearly 90,000 people. Last week, Human Rights Watch published a report claiming that Burmese security forces systematically abused the stateless Rohingya group after sectarian violence flared in northern Arakan state in June.

The UN views the Rohingya as one of the most persecuted minority groups in the world, while a majority of the Burmese populace views them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

DVB News – Chinese authorities push Kachin refugees back into Burma
By KO HTWE
Published: 12 July 2012

Villagers in northern Shan state who fled into China as fighting between Kachin Independence Army and Burmese military intensified were booted out by Chinese border guards.

On 6 July, about 1,500 residents in Panghsai township, near the border with China, attempted to cross into the neighbouring country after being ordered to evacuate their villages by the Burmese army.

The refugees were then driven back into Burma by Chinese border guards. The displaced communities are now living in makeshift tents on the Burmese side.

According to the Kachin News Group, Burmese troops have been reinforcing their positions near Pangsai and have been killing civilians as the government’s peace team holds unofficial talks with the Kachin Independence Organization.

“Chinese police told us there was currently no fighting on the Burmese side and to come only when fighting breaks out,” said one villager.

“They also detained one of ours for questioning but later released him when his family went and talk with them – they said they’d arrest and jail our whole village should they see us crossing the border again.”
“Now people are living in makeshift tents at the border while some are living in the jungle.”

According to the villager who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the refuges are in need of tarpaulin sheets to make roofs and drinking water.

More than 70,000 people have been displaced by the on-going conflict between the KIA and the Burmese Army, which have been in engaged in heavy fighting for more than a year.

Many of the displaced communities are living in refugee camps near the Chinese border and in Myitkyina, while others continue to hide in the jungle.

In June, Human Rights Watch published a report claiming Chinese authorities were using force to repatriate Kachin refugees fleeing the fighting and urged the country to abide by international law and provide the refugees with shelter until they can safely return home.

Experts estimate that about 10,000 Kachins live in makeshift camps on the Chinese side of the border without access to the legal protection or humanitarian aid.