BURMA RELATED NEWS – JANUARY 21-22, 2013
Jan 23rd, 2013
AFP – Myanmar ethnic groups say will discuss Kachin with govt
AFP – Myanmar’s Suu Kyi to reveal favourite records
Channel News Asia – Myanmar not ready to deal with huge influx of tourists: industry players
UPI – China watching Myanmar border carefully
UPI – Take Kachin truce seriously, Myanmar told
CNN Travel – Myanmar records one million tourists, surge in tourism income
Bangkok Post – TCC backs economic zone on Thai-Myanmar border
Zee News – Myanmar assures India it won’t let rebels use its territory
The Nation – Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi heading for Hawaii, Seoul
Bernama – Myanmar’s First Development Cooperation Forum Approves Nay Pyi Yaw Accord
Bernama – India, Myanmar Should Enhance Ties In Defence, Says Minister
ANI – India, Myanmar should work together to address common concerns: Antony
BBC News – Kirsty Young admits to Aung San Suu Kyi Desert Island slip-up
The Scotsman – Officers in human trafficking probe
New Straits Times – 54 foreigners held for illegal entry
Energy Tribune – China-Myanmar oil, gas pipelines to be completed in May
The New Indian Express – Antony meets Myanmar president
The Irrawaddy – Govt and Donors Forge Aid Plans for Burma
The Irrawaddy – From Japan, an Unfiltered Look at Burma
The Irrawaddy – Over and Under the Thai-Burma ‘Friendship Bridge’
Mizzima News – Burma govt meets with Chinese military team
Mizzima News – South Koreans to bid for Burma’s unpolished rice
Mizzima News – Peace marchers set off from Rangoon to Kachin State
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AFP – Myanmar ethnic groups say will discuss Kachin with govt
AFP News – 8 hours ago
A federation of Myanmar ethnic groups said Tuesday it had agreed to hold talks with the government to try to end the conflict in the northern state of Kachin.
The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), which was formed by about a dozen ethnic groups, expects to hold talks with Myanmar peace negotiators by mid-February, possibly in Thailand, said UNFC spokesman Khun Okker.
“The upcoming meeting will focus on the Kachin situation because of the serious fighting there,” Khun Okker, chairman of the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation, told AFP by telephone.
“The first meeting is likely to be held in Thailand,” he said.
“The meeting could be before mid-February. KIO (Kachin Independence Organisation) leaders will be there and the Kachin issue will be discussed,” he added.
There was no immediate comment from the government or the KIO.
Myanmar’s quasi-civilian government has reached tentative ceasefires with a number of ethnic rebel groups since taking power in early 2011. But several rounds of talks with the Kachin rebels have failed to reach a breakthrough.
The Kachin rebels say any negotiations should also address their demands for greater political rights.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Kachin state since June 2011, when a 17-year ceasefire between the government and the KIO’s armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army, broke down.
The government on Friday announced a unilateral halt to a recent offensive against the Kachin but fighting continued over the weekend.
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Myanmar’s Suu Kyi to reveal favourite records
AFP – 11 hours ago
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will reveal her favourite records in the BBC radio show “Desert Island Discs” to be aired on Sunday, it was revealed on Tuesday.
On the show, the longest-running on British radio which celebrated its 70th birthday last year, guests are asked which eight songs they would like with them as a castaway on the mythical island.
Presenter Kirsty Young travelled to the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw to record the programme.
“Most of her choices are for family reasons: connections to her childhood, to her own children,” Young told Radio Times magazine.
Suu Kyi spent much of the past two decades under house arrest in Myanmar after previously living in the English university city of Oxford.
The 67-year-old’s British husband Michael Aris was refused a visa to visit her before he died of cancer in 1999.
“She speaks very poignantly of the torment she went through. It was emotional torture for her, but she refuses to self-aggrandise and plays down her personal suffering,” said Young.
“There are some people who rise above the throng. She’s been through hell and back and yet she remains a woman of humour, intellect and dignity. She’s a showstopper.”
It took six months of negotiations to get the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner to appear and the interview fell through a few times before it went ahead.
The BBC Radio 4 station’s controller wrote to the chair of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy after hearing her say, while delivering her Nobel lecture in June, that she listened to “Desert Island Discs” while living in England.
Young admitted she was overawed by Suu Kyi and said she had been “swotting for this interview like I was doing an exam”.
“The experience was so intense and had such a surreal quality about it that I forgot to ask her which of the eight tracks she would save.
“To get the Queen to appear is, perhaps, the only comparable guest on the ‘Desert Island Discs’ wish list.”
The programme has had legions of prime ministers, political and religious leaders, royals, film and pop stars and cultural icons appear in its 70 years.
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Channel NewsAsia – Myanmar not ready to deal with huge influx of tourists: industry players
By Sujadi Siswo | Posted: 22 January 2013 1756 hrs
YANGON: Myanmar’s tourism industry is booming, following the country’s economic and political reform.
Latest data from the Myanmar Tourism Federation has shown a record 1 million tourists visited Myanmar last year.
But industry players warn the country isn’t yet ready to receive a huge inflow of visitors, as the tourism infrastructure is still under-developed.
For the last four decades, international visitors could only enjoy Myanmar’s panoramic sights in the presence of government minders.
Getting a tourist visa was also not easy.
Even those trying to promote tourism in the country had a tough time.
Phyoe Wai Yar Zar, chairman of the Myanmar Marketing Committee, said: “When we approached some tour operators, they simply said ‘we are not going to promote your country’.
“We have faced such rejections many times. But we do not despair. We keep on promoting Myanmar in international trade shows.”
Myanmar was only able to attract 200,000 international tourists a year.
But that changed dramatically after the government undertook political and economic reform two years ago.
A record 1 million international tourists visited Myanmar last year – a staggering jump of five times its average annual arrivals.
Dr Aung Myat Kyaw, chairman of the Myanmar Travel Association, said: “We never actually expected this increase because the numbers have been stagnant for so many years. So we never expected this jump.”
Almost two-thirds of the international tourists come through Yangon International Airport – the main gateway for overseas visitors.
The remainder pass through the country’s border checkpoints with China and Thailand.
The French top the European visitors. But overall, it is the Asians who make up the majority of international arrivals.
Yan Min, chairman of the Myanmar Tourism Federation, said: “The top markets are China, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Japan and Singapore.”
The Myanmar government is already preparing to receive even more visitors from ASEAN countries in 2015.
That is when an open skies policy will be introduced and visa requirements lifted under the ASEAN Community Plan.
But industry players are not sure Myanmar is ready for an influx of tourists.
Mr Phyoe said: “We need more hotels – international standard hotels. We do have hotels run by Myanmar nationals. But we need to upgrade the skills of those running the hotels and we also need to expand the number of rooms.”
The urgent need to develop tourism infrastructure has spurred the Myanmar Tourism Federation to hold the country’s first Hospitality and Tourism Conference in Yangon next month.
The ideas generated from that will be used to draw up the government’s tourism master plan.
Besides the majestic Shwedagon, the Sule Pagoda is another tourist attraction in Yangon. But Myanmar has much more to offer beyond the former capital. It is now about getting them ready to receive an expected influx of visitors.
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China watching Myanmar border carefully
Published: Jan. 22, 2013 at 9:10 AM
BEIJING, Jan. 22 (UPI) — The situation along the Chinese border with Myanmar is stable after the government in Naypyitaw declared a truce with Kachin rebels, Beijing said Tuesday.
Myanmar last week announced a unilateral cease-fire to its conflict against ethnic Kachin rebels in northern Myanmar. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Tuesday that the situation along the shared border was calm.
“According to information from Yunnan province (in southwest China), the situation on the Chinese side of the border with Myanmar is currently stable,” he was quoted by China’s official Xinhua news agency as saying.
The spokesman added that Beijing was giving the situation “great attention” noting both parties to the conflict were called on to settle their differences at the negotiating table.
“China is in close contact with all concerned parties and is playing a constructive role,” he added.
Beijing in early January expressed its concern about the fighting after confirming that three bombs landed on Chinese territory during fighting between Kachin rebels and Myanmar forces late last year.
Fighting in Kachin erupted in 2011, ending a 17-year truce.
The international community last year commended Myanmar, known formerly as Burma, for a series of political reforms that began with general elections in 2010. Security and human concerns continue to tarnish the government’s reputation, however.
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Take Kachin truce seriously, Myanmar told
Published: Jan. 21, 2013 at 10:39 AM
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 21 (UPI) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on parties to the conflict in Myanmar’s Kachin state to make a serious effort at resolving their differences.
Myanmar last week announced a unilateral cease-fire to its conflict against ethnic Kachin rebels in northern Myanmar.
In a statement issued through his spokesman, Ban said an end to a three-week offensive presented an opportunity for renewed calm in the region.
“He calls upon both sides to make serious effort to create conditions for sustained peace in Kachin through enhanced confidence-building measures and political dialogue,” his statement read.
Conflict between the Myanmar military and Kachin rebels erupted in June, ending a long-standing cease-fire. The recent conflict forced an estimated 75,000 people to flee their homes.
The recent cease-fire followed a visit to the country by U.N. special adviser Vijay Nambiar, who called for a resumption of talks. There are reports, however, that the cease-fire was broken by the government Monday.
International leaders have called for an easing of sanctions against Myanmar in an effort to encourage stronger economic ties with the Asian country. General elections in 2010 moved the country toward democratic rule following years of military leadership.
Nambiar last week expressed a concern in seeing that internal issues don’t “undermine the overall direction of reform and transformation in the country or adversely affect the positive international atmosphere that had been generated so far.”
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CNN Travel – Myanmar records one million tourists, surge in tourism income
Myanmar is the travel industry’s newest star and now it has the numbers to prove it
By Frances Cha 21 January, 2013
“I thought I was the only one with the bright idea to travel here.”
Myanmar’s newly released tourism statistics for 2012 show dramatic increases in visitor numbers and revenue from inbound travel.
More than a million travelers flocked to Myanmar last year, compared with approximately 816,000 visitors in 2011.
The country’s tourism income showed startling year on year growth, recording a 67 percent increase in earnings. The total tourism income for 2012 was US$534 million, compared with US$319 million in 2011.
Foreign investment
Despite reports of infrastructure overwhelmed by the sudden surge in visitors, officials say they aren’t worried, and remain optimistic about foreign investment in the industry.
“Since the new investment law was enacted last year, many foreign investors have been asking about the situation,” Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism director Khin Than Win told CNN, adding that the ministry is focusing on human resource development, transportation and hotels.
More numbers
According to official statistics, there are currently 28,291 hotel rooms in Myanmar. The ministry is working on a five-star hotel development project with Vietnamese company Hoang Anh Gia Lai.
Thais beat out the Chinese for most visitors by nationality. Approximately 90,000 Thais, 70,000 Chinese and 37,000 U.S. tourists visited Myanmar last year.
Visitors are overwhelmingly male, with the male-to-female visitor ratio at 62 percent to 38 percent.
Higher hopes
The ministry expects even greater numbers in 2013.
“We expect the growth of tourism to further continue and forecast to receive 1.5 million tourist arrivals this year,” said Khin Than Win, citing the new on-arrival visas as an additional reason for the rapid rise.
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Bangkok Post – TCC backs economic zone on Thai-Myanmar border
Published: 23 Jan 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: Business
Businesses have hailed the government’s plan to develop a special economic zone on the Thai-Myanmar border, but they urged the government to promote investments in neighbouring countries more seriously.
“The private sector hopes the Mae Sot special economic zone, which was initiated eight years ago, will materialise and be completed before the formation of the Asean Economic Community in 2016,” said Prasert Juengkijrungroj, secretary-general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) for Tak province.
The mobile cabinet, which met in Uttaradit province on Monday, approved the proposal.
The special zone could consist of either a portion or the entire area of Mae Sot district of Tak.
Mr Prasert proposed a 5,600-rai plot of land near Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Mae Sot as the appropriate location for the zone.
The Interior Ministry is issuing an executive decree to use the land.
According to a TCC study, the zone should focus on eco-friendly industries.
The factories should supply products not only to Myanmar but also to the other five members of the Greater Mekong Subregion via the East-West Economic Corridor as well as exports to India via Dawei deep-sea port.
Mr Prasert said border trade via Mae Sot checkpoint saw a surge of 80% last year to about 39 billion baht thanks to the easing political situation in Myanmar and investment deregulation.
The TCC projects border trade to reach 60 billion baht this year.
The chamber urged the government to come up with clearer policies and incentives to support investment abroad.
“I have yet to see any concrete plans to support private investment in neighbouring countries,” Mr Prasert said.
“Germany has established a development fund to help Myanmar’s government to restructure economic agencies and implemented a plan to support its investors interested in Myanmar.”
Government spokesman Tosaporn Serirak said the government also plans to establish similar special economic zones in Kanchanaburi, Sa Kaeo, Trat, Songkhla, Narathiwat, Nong Khai, Chiang Rai and Mukdahan.
It also plans to upgrade efficiency at eight checkpoints in Mae Sai, Mae Sot, Chiang Kong, Nong Khai, Mukdahan, Aranyaprathet, Padang Besar and Sadao.
The government is also committed to human resource development of engineers, architects, surveyors, doctors, nurses, dentists and accountants.
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Zee News – Myanmar assures India it won’t let rebels use its territory
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 22, 2013, 21:17
New Delhi: Myanmar Tuesday assured India that it won’t let its territory to be used by insurgent groups and offered itself as a “bridge” between New Delhi and Southeast Asia.
In his meeting with President U Thein Sein in Nay Pyi Taw, Defence Minister A K Antony said as neighbours sharing both land and maritime borders, “the two sides should work together to address common concerns”.
In a release, the Defence Ministry said, “The Myanmar President assured that Myanmar will not allow its territory to be used by anti-India insurgent groups.”
In the past, rebels from the northeastern states tried to seek refuge in border areas inside Myanmar whenever under pressure from security forces here.
Strengthening mechanisms for joint border patrolling between India and Myanmar to curb activities of insurgent groups was high on the agenda of Antony who was on a two-day visit to the neighbouring country.
Antony also discussed issues relating to border management, armed forces interactions and other defence and security matters of interest to both countries.
He also conveyed the importance placed by India on enhancing bilateral ties in all fields, including defence and noted that the “recent exchanges of visits between both countries at political and other levels had imparted a new momentum to the bilateral relationship”.
Antony said the visit of all three Service Chiefs of India to Myanmar in the last 18 months reflected the desire of the Indian government to strengthen ties.
“These visits and other exchanges in the recent times had provided each side a better understanding of mutual concerns, needs and strengths,” he told the President of Myanmar.
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The Nation – Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi heading for Hawaii, Seoul
January 21, 2013 4:56 pm
Yangon – Myanmar opposition leader and former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi plans to visit Hawaii and South Korea this month to accept more prizes for her struggle for democracy and peace, her party said Monday.
Suu Kyi, 67, is to depart Thursday for Honolulu, where she is to meet Myanmar families, give a speech at the Rotary International club’s Global Peace Forum and accept the Hawaii Rotary Global Peace Award, her close aide Nyan Win said.
She plans to arrive January 28 in South Korea, where she is to meet President Park Geun-hye, attend the opening session of the Pyeonchang Special Olympics, speak to the Global Development Summit and accept the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights before returning to Myanmar on February 1, according to officials at her National Leaguefor Democracy (NLD) party.
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January 21, 2013 14:13 PM
Myanmar’s First Development Cooperation Forum Approves Nay Pyi Yaw Accord
YANGON, Jan 21 (Bernama) — The first Myanmar Development Cooperation Forum has approved the Nay Pyi Taw Accord Effective Development Cooperation, the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development said Monday.
At the two-day forum which ended in the Myanmar capital Sunday, development partners approved to prioritise implementation of specific sectors including achievable programmes under the Economic and Social Reform Framework.
The development partners also agreed to lay down strategies and coordinate them in receptive sectors to put them at the top of the priority list, Xinhua news agency quoted the ministry saying in a statement.
Discussions on measures for generating more income at home and international aid for development of Myanmar were made, the statement said.
In the budget allotment, development partners hoped that more financial assistance will go to key sectors especially poorly-funded ones.
They also approved for aid to be used effectively in Myanmar’s reform process that will help obtain more international aid.
Chaired by Dr. Kan Zaw, the first Myanmar Development Cooperation Forum was attended by related ministers, parliament members, representatives from partners and 57 international organisations, local and foreign non-governmental organisations, and representatives from the private sector.
President U Thein Sein highlighted the need to deepen cooperation between Myanmar and development partners in political and economic reform for people-centered development under the Economic and Social Reform Framework.
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January 23, 2013 10:36 AM
India, Myanmar Should Enhance Ties In Defence, Says Minister
NEW DELHI, Jan 23 (Bernama) – India and Myanmar should further elevate bilateral ties in all fields including defence, said Defence Minister AK Antony.
The recent exchanges of visits between both countries at political and other levels had imparted a new momentum to the bilateral relationship, he said.
Antony, who called on Myanmar’s President U Thein Sein, said that both countries were working to consolidate defence ties.
He said the visit by three Service Chiefs of India to Myanmar in the last 18 months reflected the Indian government’s desire to strengthen ties.
“These visits and other exchanges in recent times have provided each side a better understanding of mutual concerns, needs and strengths,” he said.
As neighbours sharing a land and maritime boundary, both countries should work together to address common concerns, Antony added.
Sein said that Myanmar could play the role of a bridge between India and South east Asia.
The President assured the Indian minister that Myanmar would not allow its territory to be used by anti-India insurgent groups.
He welcomed the development of cooperation between the Armed Forces of both sides to deal with challenges along the land and maritime boundaries between both countries.
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India, Myanmar should work together to address common concerns: Antony
By ANI | ANI – 14 hours ago
New Delhi, Jan.22 (ANI): Defence Minister A K Antony today called on the President of Myanmar U Thein Sein in NayPyiTaw.
According to an official release, Antony conveyed the importance placed by India on enhancement of bilateral ties in all fields, including defence.
He noted that the recent exchanges of visits between both countries at political and other levels had imparted a new momentum to the bilateral relationship.
In the case of defence in particular, the defence minister noted that the two sides were working to consolidate ties, in mutual interest of both.
He informed that the visit of all three Service Chiefs of India to Myanmar in the last 18 months reflected the desire of the Indian government to strengthen ties.
These visits and other exchanges in the recent times had provided each side a better understanding of mutual concerns, needs and strengths. Shri Antony stated that as neighbours which share a land and maritime boundary, both sides should work together to address common concerns.
The Myanmar President welcomed the enhancement of bilateral ties between both countries in all fields.
He stated that Myanmar can also play the role of a bridge between India and South-East Asia.
The President also assured that Myanmar will not allow its territory to be used by anti-India insurgent groups.
He welcomed the development of cooperation between the Armed Forces of both sides to deal with challenges along the land and maritime boundaries between both countries.
Earlier, the Defence Minister met the C-in-C Defence Services of Myanmar Armed Forces Vice Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who also hosted a lunch in his honour.
The C-in-C welcomed the enhancement of exchanges and interactions between the Armed Forces of both countries.
In particular, he stated that such exchanges would be useful in maintaining stability in border areas.
He also looked forward to enhancement of exchanges between the Navies and Air Forces of both countries.
Yesterday, Antony met the Defence Minister of Myanmar Lt Gen Wai Lwin.
During these meetings, both sides discussed various issues of mutual interest and also discussed measures to enhance exchanges and cooperation between the Armed Forces of both sides.
Enhancement of measures of closer and regular contacts between border forces were also discussed.
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22 January 2013 Last updated at 06:56 ET
BBC News – Kirsty Young admits to Aung San Suu Kyi Desert Island slip-up
Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young has revealed she was so overwhelmed by interviewing Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi that she forgot a key question on air.
Young, who had been “swotting for this interview like I was doing an exam”, omitted to ask Ms Suu Kyi which of her eight tracks she would save.
Senior producer Nick Springate prompted Young when he “frantically signalled to me by holding up a single finger”.
The interview took place in Burma.
It followed six months of negotiations for BBC Radio 4 and took place in December last year at Ms Suu Kyi’s home in Naypyidaw.
Radio 4 controller Gwyneth Williams wrote to the chair of Burma’s National League for Democracy to request the interview after hearing Ms Suu Kyi say, while delivering her Nobel Lecture in June, that she listened to Desert Island Discs while living in Oxford.
“It was a well-known programme – for all I know, it still continues,” said the Burmese pro-democracy leader, who studied at Oxford University and lived in the UK for 18 years.
Kirsty Young Young said her mind had been “busy doing cartwheels of joy”
Young told the Radio Times that she forgot the crucial question because the interview had been “so intense and had such a surreal quality about it” that her “mind was busy doing cartwheels of joy”.
Luckily the speedy intervention of Springate saved the day.
There had been a long build-up to the interview, which Young revealed had fallen through several times.
“It wasn’t until I was sitting opposite her with a microphone that I actually believed it was going to happen,” she said.
Young did not reveal Ms Suu Kyi’s musical choices, although they include a “first” for the show. She did say that most of the choices were “for family reasons: connections to her childhood, to her own children”.
The politician spoke during the interview about her father – the leader of Burma’s struggle for independence in the 50s, who was assassinated when she was just two. She also discussed being raised by her mother.
Ms Suu Kyi met her late husband, academic Michael Aris, in Oxford, and they married in 1971 and had two sons.
‘A showstopper’
Having returned to the military state of Burma in 1988 to nurse her mother, she went on to give a speech to crowds of half a million during protests and political unrest.
She was placed under house arrest before Burma’s 1990 election. Mr Aris was refused a visa to visit her before he died of terminal cancer in 1999.
The interview includes her feelings about her relationship with him and how they dealt with the Burmese Government’s refusal to allow them to see each other.
The political prisoner was not released until shortly after the November 2010 polls that formally ended military rule.
Ms Suu Kyi’s party has now rejoined the political process and secured a small presence in Parliament after winning by-elections in April 2012.
Young said: “She speaks very poignantly of the torment she went through. It was emotional torture for her, but she refuses to self-aggrandise and plays down her personal suffering.
“She’s been through hell and back and yet she remains a woman of humour, intellect and dignity. She’s a showstopper.”
Ms Suu Kyi’s selection can be heard on BBC Radio 4 at 11.15 GMT on Sunday.
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The Scotsman – Officers in human trafficking probe
Published on Wednesday 23 January 2013 00:00
TWO Thai army officers – one of them a colonel – have been suspended over alleged involvement in trafficking members of Burma’s Rohingya minority to a third country.
More than 800 Rohingya were found in raids this month in the southern Thai province of Songkhla after they fled sectarian violence in western Burma which has killed hundreds and displaced around 100,000 since last June.
Thai police arrested eight trafficking suspects in one raid and are searching for three others, including a local politicians.
Southern region army commander Lieutenant General Udomchai Thammasarorat said he has set up a committee to probe the claims and that the two officers have been suspended pending the investigation.
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23 January 2013| last updated at 12:18AM
New Straits Times – 54 foreigners held for illegal entry
ALOR STAR: Fifty-four Myanmar nationals were detained for illegal entry in Kubang Pasu and Pendang near here yesterday.
An express bus driver, a local man aged 52, and a Myanmar national, 32, with a work permit, were detained in separate arrests.
In the first case, seven Myanmar nationals, including a woman, were travelling in a car at Km63.5 of the North-South Expressway, near Pendang, when they were detained at 12.30pm.
The woman, in her 20s, was seated in the car driven by a Myanmar national with a work permit, while the remaining foreigners were crammed in the backseat.
When immigration officers stopped the car, they found three passengers squatting on the floor in the back seat.
All seven Myanmar nationals did not have valid travel documents on them.
Earlier the same day, police arrested 20 Myanmar nationals inside a double-decker express bus in Changlun.
Acting on a tip-off, police checked the bus bound for Kuala Lumpur, and found the foreigners lying on the floor on the upper deck of the bus at 7am.
Checks showed the foreigners also did not have valid travel documents.
The bus driver was later detained and was expected to be charged for human trafficking under the Anti-Human Trafficking Act and the Anti-Migrant Smuggling Act 2007.
The remaining foreigners were rounded up after they were found loitering near the bus station and a mosque later the same day.
Read more: 54 foreigners held for illegal entry – General – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/54-foreigners-held-for-illegal-entry-1.205977#ixzz2IlkY93Sz
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Energy Tribune – China-Myanmar oil, gas pipelines to be completed in May
MENAFN – Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) – 22/01/2013
(MENAFN – Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The China-Myanmar oil and natural gas pipelines, China’s new strategic energy channels are expected to be completed on May 30, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Monday. Upon completion, crude oil will be shipped from the Middle East via the Indian Ocean — instead of the risk-prone Strait of Malacca — before reaching Myanmar and entering China via the oil pipeline, the report said.
“Construction has been sped up on the pipelines’ domestic and overseas sections. Barring insurmountable barriers, the oil and gas pipelines could begin operating in early June,” Gao Jianguo, the head of the project under the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), told Xinhua.
The main parts in Myanmar have been finished, while those in Chinese territory will be completed this month.
The pipelines will undergo pressure tests and a drying process in February, according to Gao.
The 1,100-kilometer-long oil and natural gas pipelines run from the port of Kyaukpyu on Myanmar’s west coast and enter China at Ruili, Yunnan Province. The oil pipeline has a designed annual transport capacity of 22 million tons, while the natural gas pipeline has a designed annual transport capacity of 12 billion cubic meters. The channels will significantly increase the energy supply to the country’s underdeveloped southwestern regions.
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The New Indian Express – Antony meets Myanmar president
By IANS – NAY PYI TAW
22nd January 2013 06:07 PM
Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony Tuesday met Myanmarese President U Thein Sein in the capital to discuss bilateral relations, the president’s office said.
The two sides discussed cooperation in all sectors and increase of contact between the people of both countries, Xinhua reported.
The leaders also border security and better transport to link the countries with southeast Asia.
Antony’s trip comes a month after External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visited the country in December last year.
Khurshid met Thein Sein and had discussions on cooperation in energy, construction, power, education and health and construction of highways, among others.
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The Irrawaddy – Govt and Donors Forge Aid Plans for Burma
By PAUL VRIEZE / THE IRRAWADDY| January 22, 2013 |
While the Kachin conflict raged on this weekend, hundreds of representatives of the international community met with Burma’s President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw to sign an agreement that outlines how international donor aid will flow into Burma in coming years.
At the first ever Myanmar Development Cooperation Forum on Sunday, the government and donor countries, aid agencies and international development banks signed the so-called Naypyidaw Accord, a non-binding agreement that sets out guidelines on government-donor cooperation.
The 5-page Naypyidaw Accord, posted on the President’s Office website, lists a number of obligations for both the government and donors as they implement the government’s reform policies and aid projects.
The government for instance, agrees to maintain a high-level dialogue with the donors about its national and regional development policies. It also promises to strengthen the rule of law, respect human rights, improve public administration, and include civil society organizations in the government decision-making process.
Donors for their part agree to “align assistance” projects with the government policies that cover fields such as education, health, poverty reduction and economic development.
The accord did not make any specific mention of the role of ethnic groups in future government-donor cooperation, other than stipulating that the government would “engage strongly… in participatory approaches, including providing a greater voice to women, minorities and marginalized people.”
Following the political reforms introduced by President Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government since 2011, the international community has been keen to reestablish diplomatic relations with Burma, set up local aid programs and provide loans.
As it reengages with Burma, the international community is expected to start spending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid in the country every year. Such massive aid flows are normal in many other developing countries, but Burma was cut off from this support as international donors snubbed the country’s previous repressive military regime.
Steve Marshall, the International Labor Organization’s liason officer in Burma, said the Naypyidaw Accord would help ensure good coordination between government policies and donor projects as foreign aid begins to flow into Burma.
“This is basically about trying to ensure that there is added value to the aid cooperation and we get a better return on the aid dollars” being spent, he said by telephone from Naypyidaw on Monday. “These principles are being applied elsewhere in developing countries too,” he added.
At the meeting, the government outlined its broad reform plans for the coming years in its Framework for Economic and Social Reforms, which was presented to donors. A copy of the document was not immediately available.
President Thein Sein told the meeting these reforms would be “people-centered” and focus on “10 priority areas such as finance and revenue, relaxation of restrictions on trade and foreign investment, development of the private sector, education and health sectors, food security and development of the agricultural sector, transparency in government, the mobile phone and internet systems, and development of the basic infrastructure.”
But at the forum on Sunday the raging Kachin conflict was the elephant in the room, and in front of the assembled international diplomats and aid workers, Thein Sein took a moment to cast the blame for the conflict on the Kachin rebels.
“I have ordered the Tatmadaw [Burmes army]… to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict. I want to note that [Kachin Independence Organization] will need to reciprocate in a similar way,” he said.
Over the weekend in northern Kachin State meanwhile, The Irrawaddy observed repeated government attacks on a Kachin-held mountaintop.
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The Irrawaddy – From Japan, an Unfiltered Look at Burma
By KYAW PHYO THA / THE IRRAWADDY| January 22, 2013 |
RANGOON—When he first came to Burma in 1993, at the age of 29, Yuzo Uda didn’t think he would stay for very long. A freelance photojournalist from Japan, he planned to spend about five years covering the country’s repressive military regime before shifting his focus elsewhere, perhaps moving to cover another dictatorship in another part of the world.
But, as the bespectacled 49-year-old knows now, plans can change.
“I never shifted my focus to another country, because that’s Burma,” he told The Irrawaddy last week. “I’ve been sticking to this country for 21 years.”
There was always more to see, he said, so he kept coming back to Burma with his cameras, often traveling to areas so remote that they could only be reached on foot.
Hoping to document the lives of ordinary people under the military regime, he became the first foreign photojournalist to visit every region of the country. On one trip, he went all the way up to Burma’s northernmost town, Putao in Kachin State, and trekked for two weeks to photograph ethnic Rawang communities living in relative isolation. Another time, he went to a fishing village at the southernmost tip of Burma to record the daily lives of ethnic Pashu Muslims.
Now, after more than two decades, he has become Japan’s most authoritative photojournalist on Burma.
“If a Japanese publication or someone in Japan needs a photo of Burma, they come to me because I’m the only one in my country who works here,” said Yuzo Uda, whose photographs have also been widely published by Burmese exiled media, including The Irrawaddy, Mizzima News and the Democratic Voice of Burma, as well Thai newspapers such as The Bangkok Post and The Nation.
“I have a very rare opportunity to travel around Burma, and I’ve managed to visit places where even local people can’t go,” he said during his latest visit to Rangoon, where he was working on his second photography book, which documents communities around the country from 1993 until 2012. The book, “Peoples in the Winds of Change,” is bilingual, with text in Burmese and English, and will hit bookstores in Rangoon, Naypyidaw and Mandalay early next month.
“My publisher said I’m the first international photojournalist to publish my photos from Burma here [in Burma],” he said. “I’ve spent half my life here. For me, it’s natural to publish my work here because my feelings, my ideas, have always been stimulated by things that happen here.”
Wai Lin, chief of operations at Myanmar Consolidated Media, which is printing the book, said the government’s newly relaxed stance on media censorship has allowed Yuzo Uda’s photographs to see the light of day.
“Plus, the content of the book doesn’t badly damage our country’s image,” he added.
Yuzo Uda, a Kobe city native, developed an interest in photography in his mid-20s and went to study photojournalism at the New England School of Photography in Boston in 1990, three years before coming to Burma.
After completing his courses in 1992, his awareness and sympathy for people living under dictatorship pulled him to El Salvador in Central America, where he documented the end of the country’s military regime. Bound for Burma a year later with six cameras and several lenses, he spent three months in Karen State, trekking through the jungle near the Thai-Burma border to cover areas of fighting between the Karen National Union and the government’s army.
“I’m against the military regime,” he said. “I can’t be neutral; I feel a connection to people living under the military regime and resisting it. I just want to be a voice for the voiceless under a regime that shows no justice.”
After nearly a decade in the border area, Yuzo Uda moved in 2002 to Rangoon, which was the country’s capital at the time. Here in Burma’s biggest city, he says he experienced the fear of working as a photojournalist under the military regime. After taking photos at the headquarters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, the National League for Democracy, he remembers dodging the watchful eyes of plainclothes police officers by changing taxis three or four times. When military intelligence officials were on his trail another time, he tried to lose them by spending the night in a town about 50 miles outside Rangoon. Every day for nearly a month he became physically ill when he heard a knock on his guesthouse door, fearing the police had come to arrest him.
“I was very scared and I started realizing how it feels, the fear, to live under a military regime—a very big experience for me,” he said. “It’s my desire to document the lives of people surviving under the repressive regime that has kept me here so long, covering the country.”
Yuzo Uda has been interrogated and harassed by security forces, including once at gunpoint, but he says he has never been deported or detained. “I’ve never broken the law and I always managed to get the travel documents I needed, so they couldn’t take action against me,” he said.
As President Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government embarks on a platform of reform, he said he only feels partly secure—about “70 percent”—to travel around the country.
“It [the reform] has come from the government, and at any time there might be backsliding,” he said. “Burma’s history tells us this. If the changes were from the people, I would feel 90 percent secure.”
Asked why he felt so attached to Burma, the veteran photojournalist said he believed the country had, in some ways, chosen him.
“Somebody, something here picked me up,” he said. “I don’t know who or what. But when I started as photojournalist at [the age of] 27, I was an amateur. Coming here and spending 21 years in the country has taught me a lot.”
After more than two decades documenting the daily lives of ordinary people, Yuzo Uda is thinking about a new challenge: taking photographs of people in higher places, such as the country’s ex-dictator Than Shwe, to record changes inside the country.
“They’re part of Burma’s history and we have to accept their existence,” he said.
And if these high-ranking officials would rather not stand before the camera? To this, the 49-year old replied: “Look, now the country is changing, and I’m trying to cover the change. If they don’t say ‘yes,’ they will be out of my record.”
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The Irrawaddy – Over and Under the Thai-Burma ‘Friendship Bridge’
By LAWI WENG / THE IRRAWADDY| January 22, 2013 |
MYAWADDY, Burma — In this town on the Thai-Burma border, thousands of job seekers make a 10-minute crossing every day over the “Friendship Bridge” to the northern Thai town of Mae Sot or elsewhere in Thailand, where they will join an estimated 2 million Burmese migrant workers.
In Myawaddy, the second-largest border zone in Burma, cars from other cities such as Moulmein, Pa-an or Rangoon sit parked near the bridge, after dropping off a group of job seekers or waiting to meet returning workers on their way back from Thailand.
Some of the returning workers carry Thai goods for delivery in other Burmese townships. The products are in high demand, with about 50 million baht (US $1.65 million) in trade exported from Thailand over the border every month, both legally and illegally, according to the Thai government.
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The one-lane road between Thailand and Myawaddy continues to other townships in Burma via a dangerous mountain route.
More than 500 cars make the bumpy cross-border journey every day, with passengers thrown about in overcrowded buses on their way into and out of Thailand. When a bus or car engine dies, they wait for hours, sometimes sleeping on the road until the problem is fixed and they can continue.
In Myawaddy, which benefits from 24-hour electricity from Thailand, drivers call out into the streets for passengers to come quickly before they depart. However, most of the buses do not leave on time, as drivers wait to fill every seat before hitting the road.
A bus ticket might cost 5,000 kyat ($6) or 10,000 kyat for a higher-class car, though standards or class are questionable. Some drivers offer misleading promises of air-conditioning but then simply open the windows—“natural air-conditioning”—when it comes time to leave.
Some travelers opt to ride by boat, crossing the border on the Moei River under the bridge for the price of 1,000 kyat.
Others walk under the bridge on a path, the illegal road to Mae Sot. Rather than paying a border fee to Burmese authorities on the bridge, these illegal crossers pay a bribe of 1,000 kyat to guards from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which signed a ceasefire with the government last year.
At least 20 illegal border points are under the control of ethnic Karen armed groups and the Karen Border Guard Force, which was part of the DKBA before splitting away.
Despite the high volume of trade between Myawaddy and Mae Sot, the border point has no fence to stop the illegal crossings.
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Burma govt meets with Chinese military team
Monday, 21 January 2013 17:22 Mizzima News
Qi Jianguo, a senior officer in the Chinese armed forces, expressed his government’s hope that Burma would settle peacefully its conflict with the Kachin ethnic group and safeguard tranquility along the two countries’ mutual border, according to a report on Sunday in China’s official Xinhua News Agency.
Qi, the deputy chief of general staff in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and his party met with Burma’s President Thein Sein on Saturday in Rangoon at what was billed “the first Strategic Security Consultation” between the armed forces of China and Burma.
Xinhua quoted Qi saying that “China will not interfere in the internal affairs of Myanmar.” However, he reportedly added that Beijing hopes the Burmese government “will take care of the security needs in Sino-Myanmar border areas, and adopt effective measures to achieve stability there.”
Qi also met with Burma’s Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann, Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services Vice Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and his deputy, Gen. Soe Win.
Beijing last week reprimanded the Burmese authorities after artillery shells and at least one bomb landed on the Chinese side of the border in a series of ground assaults and air strikes on Kachin positions near the Kachin Independence Organization headquarters of Laiza, a town which straddles the Sino-Burmese border.
A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, Hong Lei, confirmed on Thursday that a bomb was dropped about 500 meters inside China two days earlier, but that no one was injured.
He said in a statement that China had expressed “grave concerns and dissatisfaction,” and noted that Thursday’s was the fourth bomb to land on Chinese soil, following three others on the evening of December 30.
He called for both sides to “realize a ceasefire soon.”
Naypyitaw on Friday unilaterally announced a ceasefire, although Kachin military sources claimed on Sunday that hostilities are continuing in strategic areas near Laiza.
Burma’s state-run media did not elaborate on the substance of the military meeting on Saturday, simply noting that following a Guard of Honor for Lt-Gen Qi Jianguo, he and Burma’s Gen. Soe Win “exchanged views on regional and global conflicts, and promotion of joint drills and ties between the two armed forces.”
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Mizzima News – South Koreans to bid for Burma’s unpolished rice
Tuesday, 22 January 2013 11:45 Khin Myo Thwe
A South Korean company has offered to buy 70,000 tons of unpolished rice from Burma, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF).
“Korean-based Samsung CAT Company came here to negotiate with MAPCO [Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation] and offered to purchase 70,000 tons of unpolished rice. If MAPCO are able to deliver that quantity, then the Koreans need to submit a tender in February,” Dr. Soe Tun, a spokesman for MRF, told Mizzima.
He added that if the tender is accepted, MAPCO will be expected to deliver 10,000 tons per month of unpolished rice, or brown rice, beginning in March.
“We will sell the rice at the FOB [free on board] price of US $370 per ton,” said a MAPCO director. “If we begin exporting rice to Korea, it will be our second foreign market. The first was Japan.”
Burma currently exports rice to Africa, Russia, China, Indonesia and India.
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Peace marchers set off from Rangoon to Kachin State
Tuesday, 22 January 2013 17:53 Mizzima News
About 30 Burmese activists set off on Monday morning from Rangoon on a 1,300-km journey by foot to the besieged town of Laiza in Kachin State, calling for an end to the ongoing conflict in Kachin State.
According to a report in Radio Free Asia (RFA), the peace marchers said they expect to cover the 800-mile walk in about two months, during which time they hope to gather more participants and step up their peace campaign.
The Burmese government announced a unilateral ceasefire on Friday, following widespread condemnation from the international community, including a severe rebuke from Beijing after at least four bombs or artillery shells fell on the Chinese side of the border.
Kachin military sources, however, accuse the Burmese forces of flouting their own ceasefire, and say the Burmese army continues to launch offensives around the Kachin rebel headquarters of Laiza.
“We are marching in an effort to stop the fighting as the people, including ethnic groups and Buddhist monks, want no war in this country,” activist Ko Khine Nay Min told RFA’s Burmese service as he set off on the long walk to Laiza.
“We want to request the government to stop fighting,” he added. “We also would like to ask the Kachin armed group to stop fighting if they are concerned about the casualties of the war.”
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DVB News – President bows to parliament on controversial new law
By HANNA HINDSTROM
Published: 22 January 2013
President Thein Sein on Tuesday agreed to amend Burma’s constitutional tribunal law after an escalating standoff with the country’s parliament over the legality of the proposed changes, according to state media.
The changes will give parliament greater influence over the tribunal, but have been criticised for violating Burma’s 2008 constitution and the independence of the judiciary. Thein Sein has previously suggested that parliamentarians should first seek to amend certain sections of the constitution, which address the role of the tribunal, but was overruled by the legislature last week.
Legal analysts say the changes constitute a cynical attempt by parliament, which is dominated by former military cronies, to exert pressure on the tribunal without having to alter Burma’s controversial 2008 legislation.
“The majority members of the Hluttaw [parliament] come from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP),” Aung Htoo from the Burma Lawyers’ Council told DVB, referring to the ruling military-backed party. “They would never dare to open the process for the amendment of the constitution. It would lead to a way for the people, and other members of the Hluttaw to amend other parts of the constitution.”
The new law hands parliament the authority to challenge the tribunal’s decisions, and greater input over the appointment of its chairman, who would in turn be required to report back to them and the president on his work, raising questions over his independence.
In the New Light of Myanmar today, Thein Sein reluctantly accepted the amendments, but insisted they would “hamper the jurisdiction of the highest constitutional court”. He added that it would now be up to the tribunal to rule on the constitutionality of the parliament’s decision.
The news follows months of disagreements over the role of Burma’s constitutional tribunal, which culminated in the resignation of all nine judges in September last year after parliament threatened to impeach them. The row kicked off in March when the court issued an order limiting the power of parliamentary committees and commissions – a decision which the new law overturns.
But Aung Htoo insists that parliament cannot overrule the tribunal’s previous decisions, even if they are “controversial and wrong”, without making a mockery of the rule of law.
“They know that their amended law is also against the 2008 constitution, but they ignored it, and why? Because they would like to control the judiciary, including the constitutional tribunal, so that they can strengthen their power and facilitate the rule of military dictatorship in Burma.”
Last week, parliament passed an unprecedented motion to investigate a blogger, who criticised the legislature for acting “above the law” in their standoff with the president. The blogger — dismissed by some as a government lackey — could face criminal defamation charges if identified.
Aung Thu Nyein from the Vahu Development Institute told DVB that the conflict with the president, which has been described as a jostle for power within the USDP, is likely to continue, despite the parliament “flexing its muscle” and securing the “upper hand”.
Burma’s constitution was drafted by the former junta and guarantees the military a firm hand in public affairs, including 25% of seats in parliament. Activists say the current dispute should not be used to distract from the challenge of changing its more controversial provisions.
“There are many complications and inconsistencies in the constitution,” said Ko Ni, a central court lawyer from Rangoon, who is leading a drive to change the legislation. “Most of our laws are in conflict with the constitution. It is one of its many problems.”
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