KBS to shoot documentary on Myanmar Buddhism
www.chinaview.cn 2009-01-29 14:18:25
YANGON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- A video shooting group of the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) will come to Myanmar for the second time to shoot a documentary video on Myanmar's Theravada Buddhism called "Road to Nibbana", the local weekly Pyi Myanmar reported Thursday.
Directed by Byan Choonho, the video will be shot in the country's famous Inlay Water Village located in northern Shan State.
The documentary will not only feature the life of Buddhist followers in the Inlay region but also the daily life of local inhabitants most of whom are fishermen, the report said.
Inlay region is known as an area of outstanding natural beauty and famous for its environment and villages in the region sit on floating islands on the lake. Colorful hill tribes inhabit the surrounding fertile valleys and forested mountaintops and their hand-woven silks are a specialty of the region.
In November last year, the KBS group had also come to Myanmar and video Myanmar's ancient city of Bagan where over 2,000 pagodas and monasteries lie.
Myanmar and South Korea have been cooperating in the sector of culture with Korean film week also being held in Myanmar annually.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Asia Times - Secret UN deals may entice Myanmar
Jan 30, 2009
Asia Times - Secret UN deals may entice Myanmar
By Brian McCartan
CHIANG MAI - New hopes are rising that the goodwill engendered by the joint United Nations and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) relief effort for Cyclone Nargis last year can be parlayed into greater multilateral access to the isolated and impoverished country through a possible aid-for-reform deal.
United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari's seventh visit to the country is scheduled for this week and will be closely watched by international observers. Gambari said previously that significant steps, such as the release of political prisoners and moves towards genuine free and fair elections in 2010, would need to be taken before he would return to Myanmar.
That stand was a diplomatic response to junta leader Senior General Than Shwe's refusal to meet with the envoy during his last two visits to the country. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi also declined to see Gambari during his most recent visit in August. Now there is speculation that Gambari aims to take a new diplomatic tack by dangling offers of development assistance in exchange for political reforms, including Suu Kyi's and other political prisoners release, and the inclusion of opposition parties in the upcoming polls.
A December 28 editorial in the Washington Post citing unnamed UN officials said "special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has proposed that nations offer Burma [Myanmar] financial incentives to free more than 2,000 political prisoners, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and to open the country to democratic change". A confidential document outlining the strategy was presented to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon in November, according to the Washington Post.
A former UN official who claims to have seen the secret document, however, downplays those claims. While many hope the joint cyclone relief effort will open access to the rest of the country for badly needed development projects, the idea of holding out aid as a "reward" for political reforms runs counter to humanitarian norms that govern relief and development operations, he said.
What the document definitely does call for is increasing development assistance for projects aimed at Myanmar's most vulnerable and impoverished people, but not direct disbursements to the junta, the former UN official says. It also proposes that policy reforms are vital, including economic reforms, which, if properly implemented, would improve the investment climate. The UN official says this should not be perceived as a call for foreign direct investment to Myanmar, which is currently sanctioned by both the US and European Union.
One initiative Gambari is expected to push is the establishment of a forum of experts - both local and international - to advise on social and economic policy, including towards exchange rate unification, health, agriculture and education. He will aim to build on the on-the-ground presence of the UN, ASEAN and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) during the ongoing Cyclone Nargis relief effort.
UN and ASEAN officials have categorized that controversial operation as a disaster relief success story, although one aid worker notes that the first six weeks after the storm were "an abomination" due to the government's inept handing of the crisis and its initial blockage of foreign aid and international aid organizations.
According to the first periodic review of the relief effort, released on December 15, there has been "significant progress" in both relief and recovery, according to the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), a coordinating body composed of representatives from the UN, ASEAN and the Myanmar government.
While the relief effort is far from finished, recovery operations have already begun, including a three-year plan known as the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan, or PONREPP. PONREPP establishes the framework for the international community's assistance, scheduled to run from January 2009 to December 2011, which will focus on "restoring productive, healthy and secure lives".
The joint aid effort is expected to cost $400-$500 million per year; the UN's revised appeal for cyclone relief assistance now stands at 64% funded, with $304 million received from international donors. The world economic downturn is unlikely to affect donations for 2009, since most donors have already committed, but the second and third years of the recovery plan could face funding shortages.
Unprecedented access
The UN's and other organization's access to needy communities is unprecedented in Myanmar's humanitarian context, aid workers say. According to a recent paper written by Julie Belanger and former UN spokesman Richard Horsey for the Overseas Development Institute of the Humanitarian Policy Group, the TCG effort has been the most effective tool yet for successful coordination between the government, UN and international NGOs.
However, the TCG mechanism is due to expire in July this year, although its possible continuation will be broached at the ASEAN summit to be held next month in Thailand. With unprecedented direct and high level access to the junta, aid officials working in the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta have been able to explain their operations and negotiate problems in a way that is all but impossible in other areas of the country.
The paper also cautioned that the future of humanitarian operations in the Delta, or elsewhere in Myanmar, will depend on the unsettled domestic political situation.
The UN and NGOs are sanguine that the goodwill won during the cyclone relief effort can be leveraged into greater access to other areas of the impoverished country. Myanmar is ranked as a least developed country and ranks 132 out of 177 on the UN's Human Development Index.
A mounting food crisis is a call for an expansion of aid. A report by the World Food Program (WFP) released this week states that, although widely assumed shortages due to damage caused by Cyclone Nargis did not materialize and this year's rice harvest was better than expected, one million Burmese are still short of food in the cyclone-affected Irrawaddy Delta and another five million in other areas are also in need.
Although there have been some openings, including increased access to provide food aid to the country's famine-hit western Chin State, some believe the xenophobic junta intends to maintain an "aid wall" around the cyclone-hit Delta areas. Local organizations and international NGOs usually are only allowed to operate in secure government areas, which are delineated by the geographical dividing line marked by the mountains lining its border with Thailand.
Those mountainous areas are where insurgent groups are still engaged in armed struggle against the military regime and where some of the most egregious rights abuses take place. Access to ceasefire areas along the Thai border is also difficult, with the UN and NGOs often denied access by the government - although local groups and staff are often able to enter the remote regions. As such, rather than going through Myanmar, international aid organizations distribute aid through a number of NGOs that work from inside Thailand along the two countries' border.
This longstanding cross-border aid operation was for the first time given an official stamp of approval by the UN, according to an undated confidential document compiled by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and reviewed by Asia Times Online. The document appears to mark one of the first times the UN has approved such an arrangement, which touches on sensitive sovereignty issues the global organization tends to shy from.
Sources in border-based relief organizations who declined to be named said that they were confused by the document and its confidential nature. That's because the prevailing perception in the Thailand-based aid community was that the UN was in favor of a shift to providing more aid through Yangon. There is some speculation that perhaps the UN is interested in keeping the cross-border option open in case its negotiations with the generals for greater access is denied.
While noting that there are issues that need to be addressed, such as the potential need for armed escorts and the diplomacy of dealing with local relief groups with known ties to armed opposition groups, the document notes that the people stuck in the middle of the armed conflict remain vulnerable and in need of aid which can only be distributed through Thailand.
The UN and aid workers have consistently contended that humanitarian aid and politics should be separate. Activists and opposition groups believe that UN-backed aid and development programs have recently lent international legitimacy to the regime. For instance, they note that while the UN worked alongside Myanmar officials in distributing cyclone relief, in other areas of the country the regime mounted a brutal crackdown on political dissidents, where thousands were imprisoned, and sustained a costly brutal war along its border with Thailand.
In those same border areas, relief and human-rights organizations such as the Free Burma Rangers, Backpack Health Workers and Karen Human Rights Organization report that their relief workers are often shot on sight by government soldiers. Several have been arrested, tortured and imprisoned, they say.
These presumably are some of the same organizations the UN now says it would support funneling aid through. Gambari's challenge will be to foster confidence in both the generals and political opposition at a time when the UN is sending mixed signals about its intentions.
Brian McCartan is a Chiang Mai-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.
Asia Times - Secret UN deals may entice Myanmar
By Brian McCartan
CHIANG MAI - New hopes are rising that the goodwill engendered by the joint United Nations and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) relief effort for Cyclone Nargis last year can be parlayed into greater multilateral access to the isolated and impoverished country through a possible aid-for-reform deal.
United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari's seventh visit to the country is scheduled for this week and will be closely watched by international observers. Gambari said previously that significant steps, such as the release of political prisoners and moves towards genuine free and fair elections in 2010, would need to be taken before he would return to Myanmar.
That stand was a diplomatic response to junta leader Senior General Than Shwe's refusal to meet with the envoy during his last two visits to the country. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi also declined to see Gambari during his most recent visit in August. Now there is speculation that Gambari aims to take a new diplomatic tack by dangling offers of development assistance in exchange for political reforms, including Suu Kyi's and other political prisoners release, and the inclusion of opposition parties in the upcoming polls.
A December 28 editorial in the Washington Post citing unnamed UN officials said "special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has proposed that nations offer Burma [Myanmar] financial incentives to free more than 2,000 political prisoners, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and to open the country to democratic change". A confidential document outlining the strategy was presented to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon in November, according to the Washington Post.
A former UN official who claims to have seen the secret document, however, downplays those claims. While many hope the joint cyclone relief effort will open access to the rest of the country for badly needed development projects, the idea of holding out aid as a "reward" for political reforms runs counter to humanitarian norms that govern relief and development operations, he said.
What the document definitely does call for is increasing development assistance for projects aimed at Myanmar's most vulnerable and impoverished people, but not direct disbursements to the junta, the former UN official says. It also proposes that policy reforms are vital, including economic reforms, which, if properly implemented, would improve the investment climate. The UN official says this should not be perceived as a call for foreign direct investment to Myanmar, which is currently sanctioned by both the US and European Union.
One initiative Gambari is expected to push is the establishment of a forum of experts - both local and international - to advise on social and economic policy, including towards exchange rate unification, health, agriculture and education. He will aim to build on the on-the-ground presence of the UN, ASEAN and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) during the ongoing Cyclone Nargis relief effort.
UN and ASEAN officials have categorized that controversial operation as a disaster relief success story, although one aid worker notes that the first six weeks after the storm were "an abomination" due to the government's inept handing of the crisis and its initial blockage of foreign aid and international aid organizations.
According to the first periodic review of the relief effort, released on December 15, there has been "significant progress" in both relief and recovery, according to the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), a coordinating body composed of representatives from the UN, ASEAN and the Myanmar government.
While the relief effort is far from finished, recovery operations have already begun, including a three-year plan known as the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan, or PONREPP. PONREPP establishes the framework for the international community's assistance, scheduled to run from January 2009 to December 2011, which will focus on "restoring productive, healthy and secure lives".
The joint aid effort is expected to cost $400-$500 million per year; the UN's revised appeal for cyclone relief assistance now stands at 64% funded, with $304 million received from international donors. The world economic downturn is unlikely to affect donations for 2009, since most donors have already committed, but the second and third years of the recovery plan could face funding shortages.
Unprecedented access
The UN's and other organization's access to needy communities is unprecedented in Myanmar's humanitarian context, aid workers say. According to a recent paper written by Julie Belanger and former UN spokesman Richard Horsey for the Overseas Development Institute of the Humanitarian Policy Group, the TCG effort has been the most effective tool yet for successful coordination between the government, UN and international NGOs.
However, the TCG mechanism is due to expire in July this year, although its possible continuation will be broached at the ASEAN summit to be held next month in Thailand. With unprecedented direct and high level access to the junta, aid officials working in the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta have been able to explain their operations and negotiate problems in a way that is all but impossible in other areas of the country.
The paper also cautioned that the future of humanitarian operations in the Delta, or elsewhere in Myanmar, will depend on the unsettled domestic political situation.
The UN and NGOs are sanguine that the goodwill won during the cyclone relief effort can be leveraged into greater access to other areas of the impoverished country. Myanmar is ranked as a least developed country and ranks 132 out of 177 on the UN's Human Development Index.
A mounting food crisis is a call for an expansion of aid. A report by the World Food Program (WFP) released this week states that, although widely assumed shortages due to damage caused by Cyclone Nargis did not materialize and this year's rice harvest was better than expected, one million Burmese are still short of food in the cyclone-affected Irrawaddy Delta and another five million in other areas are also in need.
Although there have been some openings, including increased access to provide food aid to the country's famine-hit western Chin State, some believe the xenophobic junta intends to maintain an "aid wall" around the cyclone-hit Delta areas. Local organizations and international NGOs usually are only allowed to operate in secure government areas, which are delineated by the geographical dividing line marked by the mountains lining its border with Thailand.
Those mountainous areas are where insurgent groups are still engaged in armed struggle against the military regime and where some of the most egregious rights abuses take place. Access to ceasefire areas along the Thai border is also difficult, with the UN and NGOs often denied access by the government - although local groups and staff are often able to enter the remote regions. As such, rather than going through Myanmar, international aid organizations distribute aid through a number of NGOs that work from inside Thailand along the two countries' border.
This longstanding cross-border aid operation was for the first time given an official stamp of approval by the UN, according to an undated confidential document compiled by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and reviewed by Asia Times Online. The document appears to mark one of the first times the UN has approved such an arrangement, which touches on sensitive sovereignty issues the global organization tends to shy from.
Sources in border-based relief organizations who declined to be named said that they were confused by the document and its confidential nature. That's because the prevailing perception in the Thailand-based aid community was that the UN was in favor of a shift to providing more aid through Yangon. There is some speculation that perhaps the UN is interested in keeping the cross-border option open in case its negotiations with the generals for greater access is denied.
While noting that there are issues that need to be addressed, such as the potential need for armed escorts and the diplomacy of dealing with local relief groups with known ties to armed opposition groups, the document notes that the people stuck in the middle of the armed conflict remain vulnerable and in need of aid which can only be distributed through Thailand.
The UN and aid workers have consistently contended that humanitarian aid and politics should be separate. Activists and opposition groups believe that UN-backed aid and development programs have recently lent international legitimacy to the regime. For instance, they note that while the UN worked alongside Myanmar officials in distributing cyclone relief, in other areas of the country the regime mounted a brutal crackdown on political dissidents, where thousands were imprisoned, and sustained a costly brutal war along its border with Thailand.
In those same border areas, relief and human-rights organizations such as the Free Burma Rangers, Backpack Health Workers and Karen Human Rights Organization report that their relief workers are often shot on sight by government soldiers. Several have been arrested, tortured and imprisoned, they say.
These presumably are some of the same organizations the UN now says it would support funneling aid through. Gambari's challenge will be to foster confidence in both the generals and political opposition at a time when the UN is sending mixed signals about its intentions.
Brian McCartan is a Chiang Mai-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.
"Don't send us back to Myanmar," Rohingyas beg
"Don't send us back to Myanmar," Rohingyas beg
By Olivia Rondonuwu
Thu Jan 29, 7:20 am ET
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Sobbing in an Indonesian hospital, a Rohingya migrant from Myanmar said on Thursday he faced certain death if forced home, piling more pressure on countries in the region to treat the Muslim minority as refugees.
"We have heard we'd be sent back to Myanmar," Noor Mohammad, one of a group of Rohingya who washed up off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province three weeks ago, told Al Jazeera English Television.
"In that case, we will ask the Indonesians to kill us. Better we die in the hands of Muslims," he added. "If we go back, we'll definitely be killed."
His testimony shines a harsh light on the plight of the former Burma's estimated 800,000 Rohingya, and the Thai military's handling of the hundreds who flee in rickety wooden boats every year in search of better lives.
The Thai army has admitted to towing hundreds far out to sea before cutting them adrift, but has insisted they had adequate food and water and denied persistent reports the boats' engines were sabotaged.
Of 1,000 Rohingya given such treatment since early December, 550 are feared to have drowned.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has made much of his respect for human rights in his six weeks in office, has also tried to paint the Rohingya as illegal economic migrants rather than genuine asylum seekers.
In its preliminary look at the 193 who washed up on Aceh, Jakarta came to a similar conclusion.
Neither Thailand nor Indonesia are signatories to the widely accepted 1951 Refugee Convention which defines who is a refugee, their rights and the legal obligation of states.
TRANSPARENT INVESTIGATION PROMISED
The view of Indonesia and Thailand that they are economic migrants is at odds with Mohammad's testimony, as well as that of a group 78 Rohingya now in Thai police custody with wounds on their bodies they say were inflicted by Myanmar naval officials.
Mohammad said his group were intercepted by the Myanmar navy as they chugged south toward Thailand and Malaysia, and were beaten but then released.
"We were told by the navy not to come this way again and to tell others to also not come this way," he said, adding they were then given some fuel, a compass and directions to Thailand. "When we got to Thailand we were tortured and detained."
Thailand promised a transparent investigation into the allegations of army abuse, but said the probe would be led by the shadowy military unit at the heart of the scandal.
More than two weeks after the reports first emerged, it remains unclear why the army's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), set up in the Cold War to oversee anti-communist death squads, is now in charge of stopping Rohingya migrants.
"It's our internal arrangement and if the military investigation is not satisfactory, we can set up another group to do it," Foreign Minister Kasit Piromyas told reporters after meeting U.N. refugee officials in Bangkok.
Shortly after the meeting, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officials were allowed access to 12 minors among the 78 in police custody in the Thai province of Ranong. The group are due to be deported after five days detention.
UNHCR spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey said the children, aged between 14 and 17, were in good condition, wearing clean clothes and able to talk freely. She said she could not reveal details of what they said before approval from the Thai government.
"They expressed their extreme gratitude to the Thai navy for saving their lives," she said.
According to the UNHCR, 230,000 Rohingya now live in Bangladesh, having fled their ancestral homes in northwest Myanmar after decades of abuse and harassment at the hands of its Buddhist military rulers.
The junta does not recognize them as one of the country's 130-odd ethnic minorities, and those in the northwest are restricted from travel inside the country. Besides Bangladesh, there are large numbers of Rohingya in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
By Olivia Rondonuwu
Thu Jan 29, 7:20 am ET
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Sobbing in an Indonesian hospital, a Rohingya migrant from Myanmar said on Thursday he faced certain death if forced home, piling more pressure on countries in the region to treat the Muslim minority as refugees.
"We have heard we'd be sent back to Myanmar," Noor Mohammad, one of a group of Rohingya who washed up off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province three weeks ago, told Al Jazeera English Television.
"In that case, we will ask the Indonesians to kill us. Better we die in the hands of Muslims," he added. "If we go back, we'll definitely be killed."
His testimony shines a harsh light on the plight of the former Burma's estimated 800,000 Rohingya, and the Thai military's handling of the hundreds who flee in rickety wooden boats every year in search of better lives.
The Thai army has admitted to towing hundreds far out to sea before cutting them adrift, but has insisted they had adequate food and water and denied persistent reports the boats' engines were sabotaged.
Of 1,000 Rohingya given such treatment since early December, 550 are feared to have drowned.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has made much of his respect for human rights in his six weeks in office, has also tried to paint the Rohingya as illegal economic migrants rather than genuine asylum seekers.
In its preliminary look at the 193 who washed up on Aceh, Jakarta came to a similar conclusion.
Neither Thailand nor Indonesia are signatories to the widely accepted 1951 Refugee Convention which defines who is a refugee, their rights and the legal obligation of states.
TRANSPARENT INVESTIGATION PROMISED
The view of Indonesia and Thailand that they are economic migrants is at odds with Mohammad's testimony, as well as that of a group 78 Rohingya now in Thai police custody with wounds on their bodies they say were inflicted by Myanmar naval officials.
Mohammad said his group were intercepted by the Myanmar navy as they chugged south toward Thailand and Malaysia, and were beaten but then released.
"We were told by the navy not to come this way again and to tell others to also not come this way," he said, adding they were then given some fuel, a compass and directions to Thailand. "When we got to Thailand we were tortured and detained."
Thailand promised a transparent investigation into the allegations of army abuse, but said the probe would be led by the shadowy military unit at the heart of the scandal.
More than two weeks after the reports first emerged, it remains unclear why the army's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), set up in the Cold War to oversee anti-communist death squads, is now in charge of stopping Rohingya migrants.
"It's our internal arrangement and if the military investigation is not satisfactory, we can set up another group to do it," Foreign Minister Kasit Piromyas told reporters after meeting U.N. refugee officials in Bangkok.
Shortly after the meeting, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officials were allowed access to 12 minors among the 78 in police custody in the Thai province of Ranong. The group are due to be deported after five days detention.
UNHCR spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey said the children, aged between 14 and 17, were in good condition, wearing clean clothes and able to talk freely. She said she could not reveal details of what they said before approval from the Thai government.
"They expressed their extreme gratitude to the Thai navy for saving their lives," she said.
According to the UNHCR, 230,000 Rohingya now live in Bangladesh, having fled their ancestral homes in northwest Myanmar after decades of abuse and harassment at the hands of its Buddhist military rulers.
The junta does not recognize them as one of the country's 130-odd ethnic minorities, and those in the northwest are restricted from travel inside the country. Besides Bangladesh, there are large numbers of Rohingya in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
Boat people arriving in Thailand not from Myanmar: official
Boat people arriving in Thailand not from Myanmar: official
Thu Jan 29, 2:40 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – A senior Myanmar official on Thursday denied that boat people from the Muslim Rohingya ethnic group, who have washed up in Thailand claiming abuse back home, originate from its shores.
Human rights groups have said the Rohingya come from Myanmar's western region and often flee persecution by the junta, but the official told AFP the group were from Bangladesh and had no historical connection with Myanmar.
"There is no so-called Rohingya ethnic minority group in our history before or after our independence," said the official, who refused to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
"It is totally unacceptable to say the Rohingya are from Myanmar," he added.
Thailand has been accused of mistreating up to 1,000 Rohingya migrants, hundreds of whom were rescued off India and Indonesia last month claiming they had been beaten by Thai soldiers and towed back out to sea.
The issue has cast into the spotlight a group believed to number about 700,000 in Myanmar but which has long been denied citizenship and faces religious persecution and crippling poverty, rights groups have said.
A further 78 boat people were detained this week on arriving in Thailand, supposedly from Myanmar, and await deportation.
Local press carried pictures of some of the men with welts on their backs and the Bangkok Post newspaper reported that the migrants said they were caned by Myanmar authorities and threatened with death if they returned.
The Myanmar official, however, claimed that such reports were untrue.
"These so-called Rohingyas are Bangladeshi who left their state for a better life, trying to get sympathy from Western countries by claiming to be Rohingyas from Myanmar," he said.
"(It's) not our problem. It's the problem of Bangladesh," he added.
Myanmar -- ruled by the military since 1962 -- is a predominantly Buddhist country but is also home to more than 135 different ethnic groups, some of whom are Christian and Muslim.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has requested access to any Rohingyas arriving in Thailand, saying there are legitimate concerns that some could face persecution back in Myanmar.
The Thai foreign ministry Wednesday "categorically denied" reports that it had mistreated any migrants.
Thu Jan 29, 2:40 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – A senior Myanmar official on Thursday denied that boat people from the Muslim Rohingya ethnic group, who have washed up in Thailand claiming abuse back home, originate from its shores.
Human rights groups have said the Rohingya come from Myanmar's western region and often flee persecution by the junta, but the official told AFP the group were from Bangladesh and had no historical connection with Myanmar.
"There is no so-called Rohingya ethnic minority group in our history before or after our independence," said the official, who refused to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
"It is totally unacceptable to say the Rohingya are from Myanmar," he added.
Thailand has been accused of mistreating up to 1,000 Rohingya migrants, hundreds of whom were rescued off India and Indonesia last month claiming they had been beaten by Thai soldiers and towed back out to sea.
The issue has cast into the spotlight a group believed to number about 700,000 in Myanmar but which has long been denied citizenship and faces religious persecution and crippling poverty, rights groups have said.
A further 78 boat people were detained this week on arriving in Thailand, supposedly from Myanmar, and await deportation.
Local press carried pictures of some of the men with welts on their backs and the Bangkok Post newspaper reported that the migrants said they were caned by Myanmar authorities and threatened with death if they returned.
The Myanmar official, however, claimed that such reports were untrue.
"These so-called Rohingyas are Bangladeshi who left their state for a better life, trying to get sympathy from Western countries by claiming to be Rohingyas from Myanmar," he said.
"(It's) not our problem. It's the problem of Bangladesh," he added.
Myanmar -- ruled by the military since 1962 -- is a predominantly Buddhist country but is also home to more than 135 different ethnic groups, some of whom are Christian and Muslim.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has requested access to any Rohingyas arriving in Thailand, saying there are legitimate concerns that some could face persecution back in Myanmar.
The Thai foreign ministry Wednesday "categorically denied" reports that it had mistreated any migrants.
The Independent - The war heroes forced to live on rice and beans
The Independent - The war heroes forced to live on rice and beans
Britain is accused of betraying the tribe that helped drive the Japanese out of Burma
By Andrew Buncombe
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
The tendons were old, the joints creaking, but the old man's thin arm sprang seamlessly into a smart salute. "For three years I was fighting with the British Army against the Japanese," said 95-year-old Sein Aye, his eyes sunk deep, his whiskery beard having long ago made the journey from grey to white. "We were living in the jungle and fighting ... Sometimes we would hide and then fight."
During the Second World War, Sein Aye was among thousands of Burmese volunteers who joined with British forces in a life-or-death struggle against the invading Japanese. Members of the Karen ethnic minority, these farmers-turned-soldiers had been promised their own homeland if they joined the cause. Yet once the Japanese were defeated, this was a promise the British quickly forgot.
Now, 60 years later, Sein Aye and his comrades feel that they, too, have been forgotten. Lethally persecuted by the Burmese junta and forced into refugee camps, these old soldiers – who were never eligible for any sort of official military pension – have been struggling to survive on rice and beans provided by aid groups. For several years a British charity provided a tiny amount of money that allowed for extras such as the occasional cup of tea or coffee, but those payments have now been stopped. Dignified but impoverished, these veterans feel they have been betrayed. "We get rations from the camp," said Sein Aye, wearing a blue-and-white-striped sweater. "That is the only way we can survive."
The story of Sein Aye (and around 130 other veterans scattered in refugee camps dotted along the Thailand-Burma border) dates to 1942, when Japanese forces drove the British from Burma. Initially, many Burmese – including General Aung San, the father of the currently imprisoned pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the man who would become independent Burma's first leader – sided with the Japanese.
As a result, British counter-measures concentrated largely in supporting insurgent groups among the Karen minority. A British officer, Major Hugh Paul "Grandfather Longlegs" Seagrim, was left behind to organise so-called "spider units" of Karen resistance fighters, only to be executed by the Japanese after he gave himself up in a failed effort to save his men.
When the Japanese were defeated, the British government quickly forgot its promises to those it had fought with. Although Burma secured independence in 1948 there was to be no homeland for the Karen. Reflecting on the affair in a recently published history of the Karen, one British officer who fought with them, Colonel Abbey, said: "I didn't think for a moment we would let them down as we did."
Since then the Karen have faced continuing persecution from the Burmese authorities, something that has drastically escalated in both scale and violence under the rule of the current military junta. Around 150,000 Karen have escaped into Thailand, most of whom are confined to refugee camps of bamboo huts and barbed wire that one regular visitor refers to as "green prisons". Designed to be temporary and yet seemingly fixed, these camps are weighed down by a quiet sadness.
Although the war veterans are advanced in years, to a man they remember the names of the British officers they served under, and reel them off with ease – Captain Bonnie, Major Hoare, Major Milner.
Eighty-three-year-old Thatin, who lives in the Mae La refugee camp, proudly tells of how he was a member of the Spider resistance and how he personally met Major Seagrim, who earned his nickname because of his slim 6ft 4in stature. "The British had to retreat to India but they left Major Seagrim behind. When he was killed, the units were scattered. After [three] years the British came back and started fighting again," he said.
Mr Thatin, frail but remarkably alert, told of his years as a guerrilla fighter when he lived in the jungle, carried a Bren gun wrapped in plastic against the rain and launched ambush attacks on the Japanese. He was given a medal for his services but this was lost when Burmese troops destroyed his village and he was forced to flee into Thailand. He has been in the camp since 2000.
"I expected to get a pension," he said. "I feel very sad about it. I worked very hard for the British and now I have nothing."
Around 50,000 Karen, mainly younger people, have been resettled to 10 nations. The US has taken around 20,000, while Norway, Ireland and Britain have also accepted some refugees. Most of the older ones, including the war veterans and a number of widows, have decided to stay where they are, hoping that the junta in Burma will be ousted and they will be able to return home.
Until then they are dependent on food rations provided by the Thai-Burma Border Consortium, a coalition of aid groups that runs nine camps in the area. Until 2007, the veterans also received a grant of 4,000 baht (around £80) provided by a charity, the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League. But that money was stopped after the charity and one its partners, the Burma Forces Welfare Association, decided that the money would be better spent on the veterans still living inside Burma.
A spokesman, Colonel Chris Warren, said its resources were finite, and that while the men in the camps were clearly not living in luxury, those inside Burma were considerably worse off. Col Warren said the charity, which last year distributed around £41,000, was unlikely to resume payments to those in the camps this year. "The people who we are supporting inside Burma have a greater need than those in the camps ... It is about priorities," he said.
Not everyone agrees. Sally Steen runs an organisation called Help 4 Forgotten Allies, which battles to raise funds for the veterans. It was set up after Mrs Steen, an activist, met a veteran in a refugee camp in 2000 who was in ill-health and all but destitute. When she asked the old soldier what she might do to help, he replied: "Please inform my officers."
Mrs Steen said Britain had a moral responsibility to help. "I'm profoundly disappointed that the Burma Forces Welfare Association should even consider discontinuing the small annual grants to the 130 refugees and widows in the camps. These soldiers were among Britain's most loyal allies. It seems to me simply a betrayal to abandon the few remaining veterans and widows."
Many of the Karen are Christian, converted by British missionaries. Pastor Dr Simon Htoo runs a church in the Mae La camp, having left Burma almost 20 years ago. During a recent service at his church made of bamboo and metal sheets, Dr Simon spoke of the confusion for ordinary mortals not understanding God's actions; his word were a clear reference to the fate of Karen, stranded in these camps located barely three miles from the Burmese border.
Afterwards he said: "We need to change awareness. Even though it was under Britain, no one knows about the Burmese or the Karen except these old soldiers. We feel as though they are being betrayed." The Ministry of Defence says the veterans are ineligible for any sort of pension as the first armed forces scheme came into effect in the 1970s. A spokesman said of the old men at Mae La: "It appears that the Burmese veterans were fighting alongside the British Armed Forces, rather than for us. This means that as they were not a part of our own armed forces, they are eligible for compensation for any injuries they suffered through our own war pension scheme."
In such circumstances the old soldiers appear destined to wait out their days fighting a long final battle against impoverishment. Remarkably, despite their insistence that they were let down by the British, the veterans still speak highly of the officers they knew.
One veteran, Duay Maung, 87, said the Karen had been fighting for independence for decades. "If you collected all the blood of the Karen it would be like a stream, if you collected all their bones you could build a mountain."
After he finished talking, Duay Maung suddenly broke into a song. It had been written for a British officer, Captain Brown, who had been stationed in his Karen village but who had then returned to Britain at the completion of the fighting. The Karen troops had sung it the day he left, apparently in tears. "Why have you left us Captain Brown; You said before you would never go but now you are leaving," sang the old soldier, marking time with his walking stick which he rapped on the floor. "How can we live if you leave us, how can we survive?"
Japan in Burma: A brief history
Japan made its first major assault on Burma, then a British colony, in 1942, aiming to defend its flank as it advanced through Malaya (modern Malaysia) and Singapore, and claiming its incursion as a liberating move. As British troops retreated, Rangoon fell in March. At first, the counter attack was confined to guerrilla attacks against Japanese troops in the jungle. Karen fighters made a critical contribution, but the homeland they were promised in return did not materialise. In 1943, after withstanding a siege at the crucial Indian border supply town of Imphal – in large part thanks to the Gurkhas – Japanese forces were repelled. Britain won thanks to its advantage in manpower and in the air; by 1944, Japanese forces were in full retreat. The Gurkhas marched into Mandalay alongside their British counterparts in March 1945, before taking Rangoon two months later.
Britain is accused of betraying the tribe that helped drive the Japanese out of Burma
By Andrew Buncombe
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
The tendons were old, the joints creaking, but the old man's thin arm sprang seamlessly into a smart salute. "For three years I was fighting with the British Army against the Japanese," said 95-year-old Sein Aye, his eyes sunk deep, his whiskery beard having long ago made the journey from grey to white. "We were living in the jungle and fighting ... Sometimes we would hide and then fight."
During the Second World War, Sein Aye was among thousands of Burmese volunteers who joined with British forces in a life-or-death struggle against the invading Japanese. Members of the Karen ethnic minority, these farmers-turned-soldiers had been promised their own homeland if they joined the cause. Yet once the Japanese were defeated, this was a promise the British quickly forgot.
Now, 60 years later, Sein Aye and his comrades feel that they, too, have been forgotten. Lethally persecuted by the Burmese junta and forced into refugee camps, these old soldiers – who were never eligible for any sort of official military pension – have been struggling to survive on rice and beans provided by aid groups. For several years a British charity provided a tiny amount of money that allowed for extras such as the occasional cup of tea or coffee, but those payments have now been stopped. Dignified but impoverished, these veterans feel they have been betrayed. "We get rations from the camp," said Sein Aye, wearing a blue-and-white-striped sweater. "That is the only way we can survive."
The story of Sein Aye (and around 130 other veterans scattered in refugee camps dotted along the Thailand-Burma border) dates to 1942, when Japanese forces drove the British from Burma. Initially, many Burmese – including General Aung San, the father of the currently imprisoned pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the man who would become independent Burma's first leader – sided with the Japanese.
As a result, British counter-measures concentrated largely in supporting insurgent groups among the Karen minority. A British officer, Major Hugh Paul "Grandfather Longlegs" Seagrim, was left behind to organise so-called "spider units" of Karen resistance fighters, only to be executed by the Japanese after he gave himself up in a failed effort to save his men.
When the Japanese were defeated, the British government quickly forgot its promises to those it had fought with. Although Burma secured independence in 1948 there was to be no homeland for the Karen. Reflecting on the affair in a recently published history of the Karen, one British officer who fought with them, Colonel Abbey, said: "I didn't think for a moment we would let them down as we did."
Since then the Karen have faced continuing persecution from the Burmese authorities, something that has drastically escalated in both scale and violence under the rule of the current military junta. Around 150,000 Karen have escaped into Thailand, most of whom are confined to refugee camps of bamboo huts and barbed wire that one regular visitor refers to as "green prisons". Designed to be temporary and yet seemingly fixed, these camps are weighed down by a quiet sadness.
Although the war veterans are advanced in years, to a man they remember the names of the British officers they served under, and reel them off with ease – Captain Bonnie, Major Hoare, Major Milner.
Eighty-three-year-old Thatin, who lives in the Mae La refugee camp, proudly tells of how he was a member of the Spider resistance and how he personally met Major Seagrim, who earned his nickname because of his slim 6ft 4in stature. "The British had to retreat to India but they left Major Seagrim behind. When he was killed, the units were scattered. After [three] years the British came back and started fighting again," he said.
Mr Thatin, frail but remarkably alert, told of his years as a guerrilla fighter when he lived in the jungle, carried a Bren gun wrapped in plastic against the rain and launched ambush attacks on the Japanese. He was given a medal for his services but this was lost when Burmese troops destroyed his village and he was forced to flee into Thailand. He has been in the camp since 2000.
"I expected to get a pension," he said. "I feel very sad about it. I worked very hard for the British and now I have nothing."
Around 50,000 Karen, mainly younger people, have been resettled to 10 nations. The US has taken around 20,000, while Norway, Ireland and Britain have also accepted some refugees. Most of the older ones, including the war veterans and a number of widows, have decided to stay where they are, hoping that the junta in Burma will be ousted and they will be able to return home.
Until then they are dependent on food rations provided by the Thai-Burma Border Consortium, a coalition of aid groups that runs nine camps in the area. Until 2007, the veterans also received a grant of 4,000 baht (around £80) provided by a charity, the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League. But that money was stopped after the charity and one its partners, the Burma Forces Welfare Association, decided that the money would be better spent on the veterans still living inside Burma.
A spokesman, Colonel Chris Warren, said its resources were finite, and that while the men in the camps were clearly not living in luxury, those inside Burma were considerably worse off. Col Warren said the charity, which last year distributed around £41,000, was unlikely to resume payments to those in the camps this year. "The people who we are supporting inside Burma have a greater need than those in the camps ... It is about priorities," he said.
Not everyone agrees. Sally Steen runs an organisation called Help 4 Forgotten Allies, which battles to raise funds for the veterans. It was set up after Mrs Steen, an activist, met a veteran in a refugee camp in 2000 who was in ill-health and all but destitute. When she asked the old soldier what she might do to help, he replied: "Please inform my officers."
Mrs Steen said Britain had a moral responsibility to help. "I'm profoundly disappointed that the Burma Forces Welfare Association should even consider discontinuing the small annual grants to the 130 refugees and widows in the camps. These soldiers were among Britain's most loyal allies. It seems to me simply a betrayal to abandon the few remaining veterans and widows."
Many of the Karen are Christian, converted by British missionaries. Pastor Dr Simon Htoo runs a church in the Mae La camp, having left Burma almost 20 years ago. During a recent service at his church made of bamboo and metal sheets, Dr Simon spoke of the confusion for ordinary mortals not understanding God's actions; his word were a clear reference to the fate of Karen, stranded in these camps located barely three miles from the Burmese border.
Afterwards he said: "We need to change awareness. Even though it was under Britain, no one knows about the Burmese or the Karen except these old soldiers. We feel as though they are being betrayed." The Ministry of Defence says the veterans are ineligible for any sort of pension as the first armed forces scheme came into effect in the 1970s. A spokesman said of the old men at Mae La: "It appears that the Burmese veterans were fighting alongside the British Armed Forces, rather than for us. This means that as they were not a part of our own armed forces, they are eligible for compensation for any injuries they suffered through our own war pension scheme."
In such circumstances the old soldiers appear destined to wait out their days fighting a long final battle against impoverishment. Remarkably, despite their insistence that they were let down by the British, the veterans still speak highly of the officers they knew.
One veteran, Duay Maung, 87, said the Karen had been fighting for independence for decades. "If you collected all the blood of the Karen it would be like a stream, if you collected all their bones you could build a mountain."
After he finished talking, Duay Maung suddenly broke into a song. It had been written for a British officer, Captain Brown, who had been stationed in his Karen village but who had then returned to Britain at the completion of the fighting. The Karen troops had sung it the day he left, apparently in tears. "Why have you left us Captain Brown; You said before you would never go but now you are leaving," sang the old soldier, marking time with his walking stick which he rapped on the floor. "How can we live if you leave us, how can we survive?"
Japan in Burma: A brief history
Japan made its first major assault on Burma, then a British colony, in 1942, aiming to defend its flank as it advanced through Malaya (modern Malaysia) and Singapore, and claiming its incursion as a liberating move. As British troops retreated, Rangoon fell in March. At first, the counter attack was confined to guerrilla attacks against Japanese troops in the jungle. Karen fighters made a critical contribution, but the homeland they were promised in return did not materialise. In 1943, after withstanding a siege at the crucial Indian border supply town of Imphal – in large part thanks to the Gurkhas – Japanese forces were repelled. Britain won thanks to its advantage in manpower and in the air; by 1944, Japanese forces were in full retreat. The Gurkhas marched into Mandalay alongside their British counterparts in March 1945, before taking Rangoon two months later.
Helping Hand: Helping The Burmese
Helping Hand: Helping The Burmese
By Scott Sarvay
Story Published: Jan 27, 2009 at 6:19 PM EST
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - A local company donates "green" cleaning supplies to help the Burmese population battle high "lead levels."
Enzyme cleaning manufacturing officials are giving the Burmese products like these to clean their homes.
They say the supplies will help eliminate toxins in their homes because of the natural cleaning agents in the product.
Enzyme officials say they made the donation after hearing of cases of lead poisoning in the Burmese community, and the possible cause of those cases.
Enzyme Spokesman Mark B. Newbauer said, “The reports theories were linked to products being brought in from over seas or outside the country into our community. And those may be linked to the lead poisoning.”
We'll have more on the investigation into those lead poisoning cases as it continues.
By Scott Sarvay
Story Published: Jan 27, 2009 at 6:19 PM EST
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - A local company donates "green" cleaning supplies to help the Burmese population battle high "lead levels."
Enzyme cleaning manufacturing officials are giving the Burmese products like these to clean their homes.
They say the supplies will help eliminate toxins in their homes because of the natural cleaning agents in the product.
Enzyme officials say they made the donation after hearing of cases of lead poisoning in the Burmese community, and the possible cause of those cases.
Enzyme Spokesman Mark B. Newbauer said, “The reports theories were linked to products being brought in from over seas or outside the country into our community. And those may be linked to the lead poisoning.”
We'll have more on the investigation into those lead poisoning cases as it continues.
Al Jazeera - Rohingyas claim Myanmar abuse
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Al Jazeera - Rohingyas claim Myanmar abuse
The migrants say they were burned when the Myanmar army tried to set fire to their boat
Al Jazeera has uncovered fresh evidence from Thailand's southwestern coast of another instance of abuse of Muslim Rohingya boat people.
A recently arrived group of refugees say their boat was boarded by soldiers from Myanmar, who beat them and tried to set fire to their vessel.
Al Jazeera's Selina Downes, reporting from the town of Ranong, said that 78 Rohingya migrants were found on a boat near Surin island, located near Thailand's Andaman coast.
They took to the seas in search of work to support their families.
"This group, we are told, have all come from Arakan state in western Myanmar. What they got, they say, was more brutality by one of the harshest military regimes in the world," Downes said.
"One man told us the Burmese Border Security Patrol twice intercepted their boat as it headed south towards Thailand. They say dozens of officers boarded the boat and severely beat them. Many of the men appear to have severe burns to their skin."
The incident appears to be yet another case of the abuses and atrocities committed against a people viewed as defenceless and stateless.
Exploited minority
Myanmar refuses to recognise the Muslim Rohingya minority as a distinct ethnic group.
Human-rights activists say they have been abused and exploited, forcing many to flee abroad, mainly across the border to Bangladesh.
Thousands of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis leave the country aboard rickety boats each year in hopes of finding work, with many travelling to Thailand by sea and then overland to Malaysia.
The Rohingya migrants told Al Jazeera that they each paid a few hundred dollars for the boat journey they thought would take them to a better life.
But by the time the Thai navy found them, they were floundering at sea, trying to keep their boat afloat.
But this time, the Thai authorities did not dump them at sea, but brought them to the mainland to be treated by medical staff.
The Thai military, too, have been accused of human-rights abuses against the Rohingya.
A Thai naval officer confirmed on Monday claims that Rohingya boat people from Myanmar, detained along Thailand's southwestern coast, were taken back out to sea and set adrift.
The naval officer, who declined to be identified, told Al Jazeera: "We have to take the engines off the boats or they will come back.
"The wind will carry them to India or somewhere."
Humanitarian groups have accused Thailand of systematically abusing Rohingya migrants.
The allegations surfaced after accounts emerged of a group of Rohingyas who were beaten and then towed back out to sea by Thai soldiers.
Reports from survivors who washed up on India's Andaman islands and northwest Indonesia suggested as many as 550 of the 992 towed out to sea by Thai soldiers later died.
The Thai authorities who rescued the latest group of Rohingya migrants, told Al Jazeera that once these men are processed by immigration, they too will be pushed back out of Thailand by land or, more likely, by sea.
Al Jazeera - Rohingyas claim Myanmar abuse
The migrants say they were burned when the Myanmar army tried to set fire to their boat
Al Jazeera has uncovered fresh evidence from Thailand's southwestern coast of another instance of abuse of Muslim Rohingya boat people.
A recently arrived group of refugees say their boat was boarded by soldiers from Myanmar, who beat them and tried to set fire to their vessel.
Al Jazeera's Selina Downes, reporting from the town of Ranong, said that 78 Rohingya migrants were found on a boat near Surin island, located near Thailand's Andaman coast.
They took to the seas in search of work to support their families.
"This group, we are told, have all come from Arakan state in western Myanmar. What they got, they say, was more brutality by one of the harshest military regimes in the world," Downes said.
"One man told us the Burmese Border Security Patrol twice intercepted their boat as it headed south towards Thailand. They say dozens of officers boarded the boat and severely beat them. Many of the men appear to have severe burns to their skin."
The incident appears to be yet another case of the abuses and atrocities committed against a people viewed as defenceless and stateless.
Exploited minority
Myanmar refuses to recognise the Muslim Rohingya minority as a distinct ethnic group.
Human-rights activists say they have been abused and exploited, forcing many to flee abroad, mainly across the border to Bangladesh.
Thousands of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis leave the country aboard rickety boats each year in hopes of finding work, with many travelling to Thailand by sea and then overland to Malaysia.
The Rohingya migrants told Al Jazeera that they each paid a few hundred dollars for the boat journey they thought would take them to a better life.
But by the time the Thai navy found them, they were floundering at sea, trying to keep their boat afloat.
But this time, the Thai authorities did not dump them at sea, but brought them to the mainland to be treated by medical staff.
The Thai military, too, have been accused of human-rights abuses against the Rohingya.
A Thai naval officer confirmed on Monday claims that Rohingya boat people from Myanmar, detained along Thailand's southwestern coast, were taken back out to sea and set adrift.
The naval officer, who declined to be identified, told Al Jazeera: "We have to take the engines off the boats or they will come back.
"The wind will carry them to India or somewhere."
Humanitarian groups have accused Thailand of systematically abusing Rohingya migrants.
The allegations surfaced after accounts emerged of a group of Rohingyas who were beaten and then towed back out to sea by Thai soldiers.
Reports from survivors who washed up on India's Andaman islands and northwest Indonesia suggested as many as 550 of the 992 towed out to sea by Thai soldiers later died.
The Thai authorities who rescued the latest group of Rohingya migrants, told Al Jazeera that once these men are processed by immigration, they too will be pushed back out of Thailand by land or, more likely, by sea.
AsiaNews.it - Myanmar, children exploited for less than 30 cents a day
01/27/2009 12:04
AsiaNews.it - Myanmar, children exploited for less than 30 cents a day
They work as farmhands, waiters, on building sites and in the fishing industry. Their “wage” varies from 0.25 to 0.85 US dollars a day. According to Save the Children over 400 children have abandoned school.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Small children forced to work for a “wage” less then 30 cents of a US dollar a day. The alarm is being sounded by a non governmental organisation – that asks to remain anonymous for security reasons – in Myanmar, according to who the practise of the forcing minors to work, in slave-like conditions, is still widespread today. Among those worst hit are children in the Irrawaddy delta region, badly hit by cyclone Nargis last May.
Burmese businessmen, fishermen, and farmers use male workers aging between 10 and 15 in order to pay out below minimum wages: for one working day the children receive a wage that varies between 300 and 1000 kyat ( 0.25 – 0.85US dollars), compared to an adult wage that varies between 1500 and 3000 kyat (1.50 – 2.50 US dollars).
“Children willingly work for 300 kyat and a meal”, says a member of the NGO, while local sources add “they are easier to control and they put up with heavy workloads”. In Myanmar it is not uncommon to meet children as young as eight who work aboard fishing boats, as waiters in the building industry or in the fields.
“I am tired but I am happy that I survived”, 10 year-old orphan Myo Min tells The Irrawaddy. Now he lives with his brother and works full time on a fishing boat. 11 year-old Po Po, also lost a brother and his father last May: he has abandoned his studies and now works as a waiter in a restaurant in Labutta. He earns 5000 kyat a month (equal to 4.20 US dollars) as a dishwasher and says he cries “every night” because he misses his mother.
According to the international organisation Save the Children An estimated 400,000 children did not return to school after the cyclone; about 40 percent of the 140,000 people who were killed or disappeared in the cyclone disaster were children. Many who survived were orphaned or separated from their parents.
AsiaNews.it - Myanmar, children exploited for less than 30 cents a day
They work as farmhands, waiters, on building sites and in the fishing industry. Their “wage” varies from 0.25 to 0.85 US dollars a day. According to Save the Children over 400 children have abandoned school.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Small children forced to work for a “wage” less then 30 cents of a US dollar a day. The alarm is being sounded by a non governmental organisation – that asks to remain anonymous for security reasons – in Myanmar, according to who the practise of the forcing minors to work, in slave-like conditions, is still widespread today. Among those worst hit are children in the Irrawaddy delta region, badly hit by cyclone Nargis last May.
Burmese businessmen, fishermen, and farmers use male workers aging between 10 and 15 in order to pay out below minimum wages: for one working day the children receive a wage that varies between 300 and 1000 kyat ( 0.25 – 0.85US dollars), compared to an adult wage that varies between 1500 and 3000 kyat (1.50 – 2.50 US dollars).
“Children willingly work for 300 kyat and a meal”, says a member of the NGO, while local sources add “they are easier to control and they put up with heavy workloads”. In Myanmar it is not uncommon to meet children as young as eight who work aboard fishing boats, as waiters in the building industry or in the fields.
“I am tired but I am happy that I survived”, 10 year-old orphan Myo Min tells The Irrawaddy. Now he lives with his brother and works full time on a fishing boat. 11 year-old Po Po, also lost a brother and his father last May: he has abandoned his studies and now works as a waiter in a restaurant in Labutta. He earns 5000 kyat a month (equal to 4.20 US dollars) as a dishwasher and says he cries “every night” because he misses his mother.
According to the international organisation Save the Children An estimated 400,000 children did not return to school after the cyclone; about 40 percent of the 140,000 people who were killed or disappeared in the cyclone disaster were children. Many who survived were orphaned or separated from their parents.
Report: Myanmar's Chin people persecuted
Report: Myanmar's Chin people persecuted
By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer
AP - Wednesday, January 28
BANGKOK, Thailand – The "forgotten" Chin people, Christians living in the remote mountains of northwestern Myanmar, are subject to forced labor, torture, extrajudicial killings and religious persecution by the country's military regime, a human rights group said Wednesday.
A report by the New York-based Human Right Watch said tens of thousands have fled the Chin homeland into neighboring India, where they face abuse and the risk of being forced back into Myanmar.
"The Chin are unsafe in Burma and unprotected in India, but just because these abuses happen far from Delhi and Rangoon (Yangon) does not mean the Chin should remain `forgotten people,'" the report said.
It said the regime also continues to commit atrocities against its other ethnic minorities.
Myanmar's ruling junta has been widely accused of widespread human rights violations in ethnic minority areas where anti-government insurgent groups are fighting for autonomy. The government has repeatedly denied such charges, but an e-mailed request for comment on the new report was not immediately answered.
A top official for India's Mizoram state, Chief Secretary Vanhela Pachau, said he hadn't seen the report and could not comment.
Human Rights Watch said insurgents of the Chin National Front also committed abuses, including the extortion of money from villagers to fund their operations.
"(The police) hit me in my mouth and broke my front teeth. They split my head open and I was bleeding badly. They also shocked me with electricity. We kept telling them that we didn't know anything," said a Chin man accused of supporting the insurgents, who are small in number and largely ineffective.
He was one of some 140 Chin people interviewed by the human rights group from 2005 to 2008. The group said the names of those interviewed were withheld to prevent reprisals.
A number spoke of being forced out of their villages to serve as unpaid porters for the army or to build roads, sentry posts and army barracks.
"We are like slaves, we have to do everything (the army) tells us to do," another Chin man said.
The report said the regime, attempting to suppress minority cultures, was destroying churches, interfering with worship services and promoting Buddhism through threats and inducements. Some 90 percent of the Chin are Christians, most of them adherents to the American Baptist Church.
The suffering of the Chin, the report said, was compounded by recent food shortages and famine caused by a massive rat infestation in Chin State, already one of the poorest regions of Myanmar.
"For too long, ethnic groups like the Chin have borne the brunt of abusive military rule in Burma," said the report, using the former name for the country.
Ethnic insurgencies erupted in Myanmar in the late 1940s when the country gained independence from Great Britain.
Former junta member Gen. Khin Nyunt negotiated cease-fires with 17 of the insurgent groups before he was ousted by rival generals in 2004.
Among rebels still fighting are groups from the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Chin minorities.
At least half a million minority people have been internally displaced in eastern Myanmar as a result of the regime's brutal military campaigns while refugees continue to flee to the Thai-Myanmar border. More than 145,000 refugees receive international humanitarian assistance in Thai border camps.
By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer
AP - Wednesday, January 28
BANGKOK, Thailand – The "forgotten" Chin people, Christians living in the remote mountains of northwestern Myanmar, are subject to forced labor, torture, extrajudicial killings and religious persecution by the country's military regime, a human rights group said Wednesday.
A report by the New York-based Human Right Watch said tens of thousands have fled the Chin homeland into neighboring India, where they face abuse and the risk of being forced back into Myanmar.
"The Chin are unsafe in Burma and unprotected in India, but just because these abuses happen far from Delhi and Rangoon (Yangon) does not mean the Chin should remain `forgotten people,'" the report said.
It said the regime also continues to commit atrocities against its other ethnic minorities.
Myanmar's ruling junta has been widely accused of widespread human rights violations in ethnic minority areas where anti-government insurgent groups are fighting for autonomy. The government has repeatedly denied such charges, but an e-mailed request for comment on the new report was not immediately answered.
A top official for India's Mizoram state, Chief Secretary Vanhela Pachau, said he hadn't seen the report and could not comment.
Human Rights Watch said insurgents of the Chin National Front also committed abuses, including the extortion of money from villagers to fund their operations.
"(The police) hit me in my mouth and broke my front teeth. They split my head open and I was bleeding badly. They also shocked me with electricity. We kept telling them that we didn't know anything," said a Chin man accused of supporting the insurgents, who are small in number and largely ineffective.
He was one of some 140 Chin people interviewed by the human rights group from 2005 to 2008. The group said the names of those interviewed were withheld to prevent reprisals.
A number spoke of being forced out of their villages to serve as unpaid porters for the army or to build roads, sentry posts and army barracks.
"We are like slaves, we have to do everything (the army) tells us to do," another Chin man said.
The report said the regime, attempting to suppress minority cultures, was destroying churches, interfering with worship services and promoting Buddhism through threats and inducements. Some 90 percent of the Chin are Christians, most of them adherents to the American Baptist Church.
The suffering of the Chin, the report said, was compounded by recent food shortages and famine caused by a massive rat infestation in Chin State, already one of the poorest regions of Myanmar.
"For too long, ethnic groups like the Chin have borne the brunt of abusive military rule in Burma," said the report, using the former name for the country.
Ethnic insurgencies erupted in Myanmar in the late 1940s when the country gained independence from Great Britain.
Former junta member Gen. Khin Nyunt negotiated cease-fires with 17 of the insurgent groups before he was ousted by rival generals in 2004.
Among rebels still fighting are groups from the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Chin minorities.
At least half a million minority people have been internally displaced in eastern Myanmar as a result of the regime's brutal military campaigns while refugees continue to flee to the Thai-Myanmar border. More than 145,000 refugees receive international humanitarian assistance in Thai border camps.
The Journal Gazette - Burmese celebration ‘shows we are united’
Last updated: January 26, 2009 10:48 a.m.
The Journal Gazette - Burmese celebration ‘shows we are united’
Jeff Wiehe
Writing a poem can land you in jail, they tell you, or even worse. It can get you beheaded.
Aung Naing and Maugn Soe say that back home, in the southeast Asian country they still call Burma, there is no such thing as the free sharing of ideas.
You don’t say what you really want to say; you can’t always get together and dance or celebrate how you want; you’re lucky to get your daily intake of bread; and you definitely can’t criticize a military government that now calls the country Myanmar.
You don’t even risk jotting down something very simple on a piece of paper – like a poem.
So, it was a special moment Sunday for both men as they watched several ethnicities of Burmese come together – a rarity in Myanmar – at the downtown library in a celebration of that country’s culture. There was dancing, pomp, music, genuine dress and food, all for anyone who wanted to take it in.
“This would be very unique,” Naing said of such an event in Myanmar.
Mapped out by the local Phi Theta Kappa chapter of Ivy Tech Community College, the event was designed to celebrate the mixed culture of the more than 5,000 Burmese refugees who now call Fort Wayne their home and to educate a curious public who may be critical of why any Burmese are here at all.
“Our goal became to raise awareness,” said Sheri Dunlavy, coordinator of the Indiana Region for Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society of the Two-Year College.
For Soe, who said he came to the United States in 1997 and became an American citizen in 2003, the event showed a unity he hopes will one day help his country out from the shadow of a military regime that has drawn criticism from many developed countries around the globe – including the U.S.
“This is important,” said Soe, instrumental in bringing together the different ethnicities and affiliations in the area for the event. “This shows we are united.”
Soe said he was part of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising that some national news organizations have reported led to the deaths of 3,000 protesters at the hands of the country’s military. He said for a pro-democracy movement to succeed, there needs to be financial support from the United States, like the $1 billion America pledged to the Republic of Georgia after its fight against Russia last year.
Plus, he and Naing said, there should be a concerted effort to free Myanmar from its current regime instead of constantly finding homes for refugees.
“We need to end the regime,” Soe said. “Day 1, we end the regime. Day 2, we make democracy.”
With President Obama taking the reins in the United States, Soe said he hopes the end of the regime in Myanmar can happen soon. He said he liked President Bush, but found where that administration stood on issues hard to fathom based on the history of his secretary of state.
Condoleezza Rice, who served in that position for Bush, spent about 14 years on the board of energy and oil giant Chevron Corp., which has done lucrative business as one of the few Western-based businesses operating in Myanmar.
The United States at one point banned new investments in Myanmar, but Chevron was allowed to operate there because it was there before the ban.
Though Rice left the board when she accepted her position as secretary of state, Soe still couldn’t understand how an administration that talked tough on making democracy for Myanmar did not press harder for Chevron to leave the country.
“We stay confused about U.S. policy,” he said.
Amid criticism about its presence there, Chevron last summer did donate $2 million for relief in the wake of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
The Journal Gazette - Burmese celebration ‘shows we are united’
Jeff Wiehe
Writing a poem can land you in jail, they tell you, or even worse. It can get you beheaded.
Aung Naing and Maugn Soe say that back home, in the southeast Asian country they still call Burma, there is no such thing as the free sharing of ideas.
You don’t say what you really want to say; you can’t always get together and dance or celebrate how you want; you’re lucky to get your daily intake of bread; and you definitely can’t criticize a military government that now calls the country Myanmar.
You don’t even risk jotting down something very simple on a piece of paper – like a poem.
So, it was a special moment Sunday for both men as they watched several ethnicities of Burmese come together – a rarity in Myanmar – at the downtown library in a celebration of that country’s culture. There was dancing, pomp, music, genuine dress and food, all for anyone who wanted to take it in.
“This would be very unique,” Naing said of such an event in Myanmar.
Mapped out by the local Phi Theta Kappa chapter of Ivy Tech Community College, the event was designed to celebrate the mixed culture of the more than 5,000 Burmese refugees who now call Fort Wayne their home and to educate a curious public who may be critical of why any Burmese are here at all.
“Our goal became to raise awareness,” said Sheri Dunlavy, coordinator of the Indiana Region for Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society of the Two-Year College.
For Soe, who said he came to the United States in 1997 and became an American citizen in 2003, the event showed a unity he hopes will one day help his country out from the shadow of a military regime that has drawn criticism from many developed countries around the globe – including the U.S.
“This is important,” said Soe, instrumental in bringing together the different ethnicities and affiliations in the area for the event. “This shows we are united.”
Soe said he was part of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising that some national news organizations have reported led to the deaths of 3,000 protesters at the hands of the country’s military. He said for a pro-democracy movement to succeed, there needs to be financial support from the United States, like the $1 billion America pledged to the Republic of Georgia after its fight against Russia last year.
Plus, he and Naing said, there should be a concerted effort to free Myanmar from its current regime instead of constantly finding homes for refugees.
“We need to end the regime,” Soe said. “Day 1, we end the regime. Day 2, we make democracy.”
With President Obama taking the reins in the United States, Soe said he hopes the end of the regime in Myanmar can happen soon. He said he liked President Bush, but found where that administration stood on issues hard to fathom based on the history of his secretary of state.
Condoleezza Rice, who served in that position for Bush, spent about 14 years on the board of energy and oil giant Chevron Corp., which has done lucrative business as one of the few Western-based businesses operating in Myanmar.
The United States at one point banned new investments in Myanmar, but Chevron was allowed to operate there because it was there before the ban.
Though Rice left the board when she accepted her position as secretary of state, Soe still couldn’t understand how an administration that talked tough on making democracy for Myanmar did not press harder for Chevron to leave the country.
“We stay confused about U.S. policy,” he said.
Amid criticism about its presence there, Chevron last summer did donate $2 million for relief in the wake of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
National Jeweler - Customs clarifies rules on banned Burmese gems
National Jeweler - Customs clarifies rules on banned Burmese gems
January 26, 2009
New York--The U.S. Customs Department has issued a set of more specific regulations for ruby and jadeite importers, including requirements that the companies obtain exporter certification and evidence of tracking, to ensure they are complying with a law banning the importation of Burmese rubies and jadeite into the United States.
In September 2008, the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act of 2008 became law, specifying that all rubies and jadeite originally from Myanmar (formerly called Burma), including jewelry containing those gemstones, be banned from the United States, even if the gemstones had been "substantially transformed" in a third-party nation.
The act was an effort by U.S. lawmakers to encourage democratic reforms in Myanmar, where the ruling military junta--which profits from state-run gemstone auctions--has a long history of human rights violations.
After the act passed, there were some lingering questions among gem dealers regarding how the law would be enforced and how companies could comply. On Jan. 16, 2009, Customs issued updated regulations addressing "conditions for importation" of Burmese and non-Burmese rubies and jadeite.
Burmese rubies and jadeite that were in the United States prior to Sept. 27, 2008, and items imported for personal use are exempt.
After reviewing the revamped Customs regulations, The Burma Task Force, composed of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC), the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and Jewelers of America (JA), issued a press release that provides guidance on the steps importers and exporters must follow to import non-Burmese rubies and jadeite.
"We look forward to assisting the trade to fully comply with the previsions of this law," said Cecilia L. Gardner, JVC's president, chief executive officer and general counsel, in a media release.
The guidance from The Burma Task Force is as follows:
Importer obligations: Under the new regulations, importers are still required to certify that their rubies and jadeite were not mined or extracted from Myanmar. The importer certification is created through the use of new Harmonized Tariff Codes.
Exporters must ensure that Burmese rubies and jadeite are not intermingled with non-Burmese-origin rubies and jadeite. Importers must secure a written certification from the exporter stating that the rubies and jadeite were not mined or extracted from Myanmar.
The exporter must also provide "verifiable evidence" that tracks rough stones from mine to place of first export, polished loose gems from mine to place of final finishing, and finished jewelry from mine to place of final finishing of the jewelry.
Exceptions to these provisions include the re-importation of rubies, jadeite or jewelry containing either that were in the United States prior to Sept. 27, 2008, but only if those materials were re-imported by the same entity or person who exported them originally from the United States and as long as their value has not increased. Another exception applies to rubies, jadeite or jewelry containing either that was re-imported for personal use.
Recordkeeping obligations: Importers of non-Burmese rubies and jadeite must maintain records of each transaction for five years. These records include complete information regarding purchase, manufacture or shipment of covered articles and the exporter's certification. Importers are required to produce such records to Customs upon demand.
This includes maintaining the exporter certification and the statement regarding "verifiable evidence" indicating the source of rough, polished or finished jewelry, depending on which was imported.
Verifiable evidence could be an exporter's warranty stating the country of origin of the covered articles, the place in which they were polished and the place where they were manufactured into jewelry. Such a warranty should also include a statement that the exporter has available records that corroborate the statement in the warranty.
Importers and exporters are required to name on the invoice a "responsible employee" of the exporter who has or can obtain knowledge of the transactions. The information that this employee should have access to includes the verifiable evidence of the source and movement of the covered articles.
Industry leaders say the new information from Customs should clear up many of the questions surrounding the Lantos act.
"The guidance created by the Burma Task Force reflects the culmination of a tremendous amount of work and cooperation between jewelry industry representatives and the U.S. government," AGTA Chief Executive Officer Douglas Hucker said in the release. "It will certainly help to clear up a lot of the anxiety we had about complying with the act. We look forward to introducing this guidance at the AGTA GemFair in Tucson. AGTA is eager to communicate this important information to our members and to help them to be in compliance with this important legislation."
JA also praised the clarifications from Customs.
"Jewelers of America welcomes the government's amended Burmese gem regulations, which further clarify importers' obligations and place new responsibilities on exporters," JA President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Runci said in the release. "We will ensure that our members are fully aware of the new requirements."
For those seeking further information, the JVC, AGTA and JA will present a seminar titled "Burma and Beyond--Operating Your Business in Today's New Regulatory Environment" at the AGTA GemFair in Tucson on Feb. 7. This seminar can help importers and exporters avoid interruptions in international business and will ensure they understand their legal obligations in this seemingly complex area. An international trade specialist from U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be present to answer questions, and written resources will be available.
The AGTA GemFair seminar will take place in the Mohave Room at 11:00 a.m. Registration is not required but space is limited. E-mail AGTA's Adam Graham at adam@agta.org or the JVC's Amy Greenbaum at amy@jvclegal.org with questions.
Visit the JVC's Web site, JVCLegal.org, for an explanation of the Jan. 16 regulations and other important legal-compliance information, products and services.
January 26, 2009
New York--The U.S. Customs Department has issued a set of more specific regulations for ruby and jadeite importers, including requirements that the companies obtain exporter certification and evidence of tracking, to ensure they are complying with a law banning the importation of Burmese rubies and jadeite into the United States.
In September 2008, the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act of 2008 became law, specifying that all rubies and jadeite originally from Myanmar (formerly called Burma), including jewelry containing those gemstones, be banned from the United States, even if the gemstones had been "substantially transformed" in a third-party nation.
The act was an effort by U.S. lawmakers to encourage democratic reforms in Myanmar, where the ruling military junta--which profits from state-run gemstone auctions--has a long history of human rights violations.
After the act passed, there were some lingering questions among gem dealers regarding how the law would be enforced and how companies could comply. On Jan. 16, 2009, Customs issued updated regulations addressing "conditions for importation" of Burmese and non-Burmese rubies and jadeite.
Burmese rubies and jadeite that were in the United States prior to Sept. 27, 2008, and items imported for personal use are exempt.
After reviewing the revamped Customs regulations, The Burma Task Force, composed of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC), the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and Jewelers of America (JA), issued a press release that provides guidance on the steps importers and exporters must follow to import non-Burmese rubies and jadeite.
"We look forward to assisting the trade to fully comply with the previsions of this law," said Cecilia L. Gardner, JVC's president, chief executive officer and general counsel, in a media release.
The guidance from The Burma Task Force is as follows:
Importer obligations: Under the new regulations, importers are still required to certify that their rubies and jadeite were not mined or extracted from Myanmar. The importer certification is created through the use of new Harmonized Tariff Codes.
Exporters must ensure that Burmese rubies and jadeite are not intermingled with non-Burmese-origin rubies and jadeite. Importers must secure a written certification from the exporter stating that the rubies and jadeite were not mined or extracted from Myanmar.
The exporter must also provide "verifiable evidence" that tracks rough stones from mine to place of first export, polished loose gems from mine to place of final finishing, and finished jewelry from mine to place of final finishing of the jewelry.
Exceptions to these provisions include the re-importation of rubies, jadeite or jewelry containing either that were in the United States prior to Sept. 27, 2008, but only if those materials were re-imported by the same entity or person who exported them originally from the United States and as long as their value has not increased. Another exception applies to rubies, jadeite or jewelry containing either that was re-imported for personal use.
Recordkeeping obligations: Importers of non-Burmese rubies and jadeite must maintain records of each transaction for five years. These records include complete information regarding purchase, manufacture or shipment of covered articles and the exporter's certification. Importers are required to produce such records to Customs upon demand.
This includes maintaining the exporter certification and the statement regarding "verifiable evidence" indicating the source of rough, polished or finished jewelry, depending on which was imported.
Verifiable evidence could be an exporter's warranty stating the country of origin of the covered articles, the place in which they were polished and the place where they were manufactured into jewelry. Such a warranty should also include a statement that the exporter has available records that corroborate the statement in the warranty.
Importers and exporters are required to name on the invoice a "responsible employee" of the exporter who has or can obtain knowledge of the transactions. The information that this employee should have access to includes the verifiable evidence of the source and movement of the covered articles.
Industry leaders say the new information from Customs should clear up many of the questions surrounding the Lantos act.
"The guidance created by the Burma Task Force reflects the culmination of a tremendous amount of work and cooperation between jewelry industry representatives and the U.S. government," AGTA Chief Executive Officer Douglas Hucker said in the release. "It will certainly help to clear up a lot of the anxiety we had about complying with the act. We look forward to introducing this guidance at the AGTA GemFair in Tucson. AGTA is eager to communicate this important information to our members and to help them to be in compliance with this important legislation."
JA also praised the clarifications from Customs.
"Jewelers of America welcomes the government's amended Burmese gem regulations, which further clarify importers' obligations and place new responsibilities on exporters," JA President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Runci said in the release. "We will ensure that our members are fully aware of the new requirements."
For those seeking further information, the JVC, AGTA and JA will present a seminar titled "Burma and Beyond--Operating Your Business in Today's New Regulatory Environment" at the AGTA GemFair in Tucson on Feb. 7. This seminar can help importers and exporters avoid interruptions in international business and will ensure they understand their legal obligations in this seemingly complex area. An international trade specialist from U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be present to answer questions, and written resources will be available.
The AGTA GemFair seminar will take place in the Mohave Room at 11:00 a.m. Registration is not required but space is limited. E-mail AGTA's Adam Graham at adam@agta.org or the JVC's Amy Greenbaum at amy@jvclegal.org with questions.
Visit the JVC's Web site, JVCLegal.org, for an explanation of the Jan. 16 regulations and other important legal-compliance information, products and services.
ReliefWeb - Special report: FAO/WFP crop and food security assessment mission to Myanmar
ReliefWeb - Special report: FAO/WFP crop and food security assessment mission to Myanmar
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Date: 22 Jan 2009
Mission Highlights
- During the 2008 monsoon season, agricultural production suffered a significant decline in areas severely affected by Cyclone Nargis, as a result of poor quality seeds, salinity and iron toxicity, lack of agricultural labour and draught animals. Compared to the previous year, average paddy production is estimated to have decreased by 32 percent in 7 affected townships in the Ayeyarwady Division and by 35 percent in 3 affected townships of Yangon Division. At the divisional level, 2008 monsoon paddy output was down by 13 percent in Ayeyarwady, and 9 percent in Yangon.
- Overall, aggretate food production in Myanmar is satisfactory, with positive outputs expected in most states/divisions, reflecting favourable weather and increasing use of F1 and HYV rice seeds. The Mission forecasts a 2008/09 (2008 monsoon and 2009 summer) cereal output of 21 million tonnes (rice at 19.8 million tonnes, maize at 1.11 million tonnes, and wheat at 0.147 million tonnes), 3.2 percent below the previous year, but approximately 10 percent above the five-year average. Cereal exports are expected to be high, with estimated rice exports of 477 000 tonnes and maize exports of 159 000 tonnes conversely, up to 64 000 tonnes of wheat are expected to be imported.
- The cyclone-related damage to the livestock and fishing sectors in the Ayeyarwady Delta will continue to affect food supply and income generation in 2008/09.
- Rats have damaged 685 hectares of rice and 400 hectares of maize in 121 villages of Chin State;localized food insecurity in these villages is expected.
- Despite the increase in international rice prices, paddy prices in Myanmar remained low in 2008 due to domestic market and trade barriers. These low prices, combined with the rising cost of fertilizer and other major inputs, have significantly reduced farmers' incentives profits, and may have negatively impacted agricultural productivity and the country's agricultural exports.
- The Mission received reports of high levels of malnutrition in northern Rakhine State and recommends that a joint UNICEF and WFP food security and nutrition survey be conducted to verify these reports and to plan appropriate interventions, if needed.
- In areas with high percentages of food insecure and vulnerable populations, defined as people living below the food poverty line, baseline surveys are required to measure food security, vulnerability, and nutrition, and plan appropriate interventions. Chin and Rakhine States are of the highest priority for baseline surveys.
- There are more than 5 million people below the food poverty line in Myanmar. States/divisions which the Mission found to be a priority for emergency food assistance are: cyclone-affected areas of Ayeyarwady Division (85 000 tonnes); Chin State (23 000 tonnes), particularly those areas affected by the rat infestation; Rakhine State (15 000 tonnes), particularly the north of the State; Kachin State (8 300 tonnes); north Shan State (20 200 tonnes); east Shan State (7 000 tonnes); and Magwe Division (27 500 tonnes). Most of the food commodities can be procured locally, with only a limited requirement for imported food aid.
- The Mission recommends the following agricultural assistance in cyclone-affected Ayeyarwady and Yangon Divisions: distribution of seeds for the coming summer and next monsoon planting seasons; distribution of draught animals adapted to local climatic conditions; distribution of other livestock for increased meat availability; distribution of hand tractors with training on their usage and maintenance; distribution of fishing equipment; re-establishment of ice production plants; and training in boat-building, net-making and on drafting of fishery laws.
- The Mission recommends the following actions in regard to national food policies: set up a market information and food security warning system; develop balanced food production and trade policies for both producers and consumers; remove domestic market/trade barriers; and improve market integration.
1. OVERVIEW
At the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of Myanmar (MOAI), a joint FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM)) team visited the country from 5 October to 4 November 2008. The main objective of the Mission was to analyze the food supply situation for the forthcoming year at the national and subnational levels (particularly in Cyclone Nargis-affected areas) and estimate food and agricultural assistance needs. Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, affecting the food security of approximately 2.4 million people in Ayeyarwady and Yangon Divisions, through damage to agricultural land, destruction of the livestock and fishery sectors and depletion of food markets. The Mission assessed the 2008 main-crop harvest, forecasted 2008/09 production of secondary crops, and estimated food aid requirements and agricultural assistance for the 2008/09 marketing year (November/October). This assessment also ascertained whether transport and marketing infrastructures have recovered from the disaster.
The Mission team held meetings with relevant institutions, including Government, international agencies, donors, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the private sector. Available data and information on food security was also collected and reviewed from different sources. At the institutional level, interviews were conducted with leaders of agricultural research institutes; staff of the Myanmar Agriculture Service (MAS) of various states, districts, and villages; staff of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD); staff of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoLF); and staff of NGOs in the field. Field trips visited 11 out of 17 of the country's states and divisions in all ecological zones of the country. The Mission team observed crop-growing conditions, analysed the key factors (such as rainfall, fertilizer, disease/insects, price, cost of production), and assessed the yields under various categories. Interviews were conducted with villagers (farmers, labourers, fisherman, etc.), rice/food traders, fertilizer traders, and millers.
The interviews covering households and hospitals collected first-hand information on food consumption, nutrition and health, and coping strategies (remittances, non-agriculture activities, changes in food consumption and assistance by the Government, WFP, NGOs, etc.). In addition, telephone interviews were conducted with the government officials of townships/districts from both Delta and Chin State, that could not be visited by the Mission. The Mission had a briefing session with MoAI in Nay Pyi Daw, prior to the field trips and held debriefings with MoAI and MoLF in Nay Pyi Daw and NGOs in Yangon, prior to its departure.
The FAO team was comprised of the following members: Dr Cheng Fang (FAO team leader), Dr Maung Mar (Agronomist), Dr Thanda Kyi (Economist), Ms Aye Mon (Agronomist), Mr Naing Lin (Data Specialist), and Mr Bernard Cartella (International Agronomist). The WFP team included: Mr Jan Delbaere (WFP team leader), Mr Michael Sheinkman (Senior Regional Programme Advisor), Mr Raul Varela Semedo (International Consultant), Mr Aaron Charlop-Powers (International Consultant), Ms Nang Seng Aye (Programme Assistant), Ms San San Nwet (Programme Assistant), and Mr. Thet Naing (WFP Programme Assistant). Mr. Siddharth Krishnaswamy (WFP Myanmar VAM Officer) contributed to the report
We would like to thank the MoAI for its strong support to the Mission. We are grateful to Dr Shin Imai, the project staff in the Emergency and Rehabilitation Coordination Unit (ERCU) and colleagues in the FAO Office, Yangon for their strong support. We also gratefully acknowledge the considerable efforts of our WFP colleagues in Yangon and in the field.
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Date: 22 Jan 2009
Mission Highlights
- During the 2008 monsoon season, agricultural production suffered a significant decline in areas severely affected by Cyclone Nargis, as a result of poor quality seeds, salinity and iron toxicity, lack of agricultural labour and draught animals. Compared to the previous year, average paddy production is estimated to have decreased by 32 percent in 7 affected townships in the Ayeyarwady Division and by 35 percent in 3 affected townships of Yangon Division. At the divisional level, 2008 monsoon paddy output was down by 13 percent in Ayeyarwady, and 9 percent in Yangon.
- Overall, aggretate food production in Myanmar is satisfactory, with positive outputs expected in most states/divisions, reflecting favourable weather and increasing use of F1 and HYV rice seeds. The Mission forecasts a 2008/09 (2008 monsoon and 2009 summer) cereal output of 21 million tonnes (rice at 19.8 million tonnes, maize at 1.11 million tonnes, and wheat at 0.147 million tonnes), 3.2 percent below the previous year, but approximately 10 percent above the five-year average. Cereal exports are expected to be high, with estimated rice exports of 477 000 tonnes and maize exports of 159 000 tonnes conversely, up to 64 000 tonnes of wheat are expected to be imported.
- The cyclone-related damage to the livestock and fishing sectors in the Ayeyarwady Delta will continue to affect food supply and income generation in 2008/09.
- Rats have damaged 685 hectares of rice and 400 hectares of maize in 121 villages of Chin State;localized food insecurity in these villages is expected.
- Despite the increase in international rice prices, paddy prices in Myanmar remained low in 2008 due to domestic market and trade barriers. These low prices, combined with the rising cost of fertilizer and other major inputs, have significantly reduced farmers' incentives profits, and may have negatively impacted agricultural productivity and the country's agricultural exports.
- The Mission received reports of high levels of malnutrition in northern Rakhine State and recommends that a joint UNICEF and WFP food security and nutrition survey be conducted to verify these reports and to plan appropriate interventions, if needed.
- In areas with high percentages of food insecure and vulnerable populations, defined as people living below the food poverty line, baseline surveys are required to measure food security, vulnerability, and nutrition, and plan appropriate interventions. Chin and Rakhine States are of the highest priority for baseline surveys.
- There are more than 5 million people below the food poverty line in Myanmar. States/divisions which the Mission found to be a priority for emergency food assistance are: cyclone-affected areas of Ayeyarwady Division (85 000 tonnes); Chin State (23 000 tonnes), particularly those areas affected by the rat infestation; Rakhine State (15 000 tonnes), particularly the north of the State; Kachin State (8 300 tonnes); north Shan State (20 200 tonnes); east Shan State (7 000 tonnes); and Magwe Division (27 500 tonnes). Most of the food commodities can be procured locally, with only a limited requirement for imported food aid.
- The Mission recommends the following agricultural assistance in cyclone-affected Ayeyarwady and Yangon Divisions: distribution of seeds for the coming summer and next monsoon planting seasons; distribution of draught animals adapted to local climatic conditions; distribution of other livestock for increased meat availability; distribution of hand tractors with training on their usage and maintenance; distribution of fishing equipment; re-establishment of ice production plants; and training in boat-building, net-making and on drafting of fishery laws.
- The Mission recommends the following actions in regard to national food policies: set up a market information and food security warning system; develop balanced food production and trade policies for both producers and consumers; remove domestic market/trade barriers; and improve market integration.
1. OVERVIEW
At the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of Myanmar (MOAI), a joint FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM)) team visited the country from 5 October to 4 November 2008. The main objective of the Mission was to analyze the food supply situation for the forthcoming year at the national and subnational levels (particularly in Cyclone Nargis-affected areas) and estimate food and agricultural assistance needs. Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, affecting the food security of approximately 2.4 million people in Ayeyarwady and Yangon Divisions, through damage to agricultural land, destruction of the livestock and fishery sectors and depletion of food markets. The Mission assessed the 2008 main-crop harvest, forecasted 2008/09 production of secondary crops, and estimated food aid requirements and agricultural assistance for the 2008/09 marketing year (November/October). This assessment also ascertained whether transport and marketing infrastructures have recovered from the disaster.
The Mission team held meetings with relevant institutions, including Government, international agencies, donors, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the private sector. Available data and information on food security was also collected and reviewed from different sources. At the institutional level, interviews were conducted with leaders of agricultural research institutes; staff of the Myanmar Agriculture Service (MAS) of various states, districts, and villages; staff of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD); staff of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoLF); and staff of NGOs in the field. Field trips visited 11 out of 17 of the country's states and divisions in all ecological zones of the country. The Mission team observed crop-growing conditions, analysed the key factors (such as rainfall, fertilizer, disease/insects, price, cost of production), and assessed the yields under various categories. Interviews were conducted with villagers (farmers, labourers, fisherman, etc.), rice/food traders, fertilizer traders, and millers.
The interviews covering households and hospitals collected first-hand information on food consumption, nutrition and health, and coping strategies (remittances, non-agriculture activities, changes in food consumption and assistance by the Government, WFP, NGOs, etc.). In addition, telephone interviews were conducted with the government officials of townships/districts from both Delta and Chin State, that could not be visited by the Mission. The Mission had a briefing session with MoAI in Nay Pyi Daw, prior to the field trips and held debriefings with MoAI and MoLF in Nay Pyi Daw and NGOs in Yangon, prior to its departure.
The FAO team was comprised of the following members: Dr Cheng Fang (FAO team leader), Dr Maung Mar (Agronomist), Dr Thanda Kyi (Economist), Ms Aye Mon (Agronomist), Mr Naing Lin (Data Specialist), and Mr Bernard Cartella (International Agronomist). The WFP team included: Mr Jan Delbaere (WFP team leader), Mr Michael Sheinkman (Senior Regional Programme Advisor), Mr Raul Varela Semedo (International Consultant), Mr Aaron Charlop-Powers (International Consultant), Ms Nang Seng Aye (Programme Assistant), Ms San San Nwet (Programme Assistant), and Mr. Thet Naing (WFP Programme Assistant). Mr. Siddharth Krishnaswamy (WFP Myanmar VAM Officer) contributed to the report
We would like to thank the MoAI for its strong support to the Mission. We are grateful to Dr Shin Imai, the project staff in the Emergency and Rehabilitation Coordination Unit (ERCU) and colleagues in the FAO Office, Yangon for their strong support. We also gratefully acknowledge the considerable efforts of our WFP colleagues in Yangon and in the field.
Int'l private college to provide scholarship to Myanmar students
Int'l private college to provide scholarship to Myanmar students
www.chinaview.cn 2009-01-25 10:52:03
YANGON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The TMC Educational Group, a Singapore-recognized international private college, will provide scholarship to Myanmar students to encourage them to pursue further study, according to the Asia Pacific Consultancy Ltd based in Yangon Sunday.
The scholarship test for English and Critical and Analytical Thinking will be carried out on Feb. 14 by the TMC, the sources said, adding that scholarship winners will be awarded 5,000 Singapore dollars each to attend the subject wise course of 2009 April intake covering journalism, mass communications, public relations, accounting and finance, international business management and marketing, logistics management., e-business and e-commerce, construction management and property, and hospitality and tourism as well as GCE "O" level.
Meanwhile, Singapore's two top universities -- the National Universities of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) organized an educational field trip for Myanmar students, who passed the matriculation examination and GCE O-level, to study the education status of Singapore in December 2008-January 2009 to help raise their education level.
The educational field trip, introduced for the first time for Myanmar students by the two world's top universities, designated a quota of 10 students each from some 20 countries for the attendance.
Besides, in July last year, a Singapore education fair, sponsored by the education agency of RV Center, was held in Myanmar's two major cities of Yangon and Mandalay.
Moreover, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) of Singapore planned to open a branch institution in Myanmar, aiming to nurture more Myanmar experts in the future, according to an earlier report.
The move of the ITE, which stands an institution also recognized by the Singapore Education Ministry as well as the international, is being assisted by the Myanmar domestic education company.
Myanmar students, who win ITE diploma certificates, are set to join the Singapore Polytechnic School and the National University of Singapore for further pursuit of bachelor degrees with technical subject.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-01-25 10:52:03
YANGON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The TMC Educational Group, a Singapore-recognized international private college, will provide scholarship to Myanmar students to encourage them to pursue further study, according to the Asia Pacific Consultancy Ltd based in Yangon Sunday.
The scholarship test for English and Critical and Analytical Thinking will be carried out on Feb. 14 by the TMC, the sources said, adding that scholarship winners will be awarded 5,000 Singapore dollars each to attend the subject wise course of 2009 April intake covering journalism, mass communications, public relations, accounting and finance, international business management and marketing, logistics management., e-business and e-commerce, construction management and property, and hospitality and tourism as well as GCE "O" level.
Meanwhile, Singapore's two top universities -- the National Universities of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) organized an educational field trip for Myanmar students, who passed the matriculation examination and GCE O-level, to study the education status of Singapore in December 2008-January 2009 to help raise their education level.
The educational field trip, introduced for the first time for Myanmar students by the two world's top universities, designated a quota of 10 students each from some 20 countries for the attendance.
Besides, in July last year, a Singapore education fair, sponsored by the education agency of RV Center, was held in Myanmar's two major cities of Yangon and Mandalay.
Moreover, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) of Singapore planned to open a branch institution in Myanmar, aiming to nurture more Myanmar experts in the future, according to an earlier report.
The move of the ITE, which stands an institution also recognized by the Singapore Education Ministry as well as the international, is being assisted by the Myanmar domestic education company.
Myanmar students, who win ITE diploma certificates, are set to join the Singapore Polytechnic School and the National University of Singapore for further pursuit of bachelor degrees with technical subject.
S’pore and Myanmar Red Cross sign agreement on Cyclone Nargis relief
S’pore and Myanmar Red Cross sign agreement on Cyclone Nargis relief
Channel NewsAsia - Sunday, January 25
SINGAPORE : The Singapore Red Cross signed an agreement on January 22 with its Myanmar counterpart to provide humanitarian aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis.
For a start, the collaboration will see three rural health centres and a cyclone shelter being built in three townships in the Irrawaddy delta. Money to do this will come from funds raised by the Singapore Red Cross.
This latest development adds to other efforts the Singapore Red Cross has been making, as part of its cyclone relief work in Myanmar.
The organisation had collaborated with various Singapore welfare organisations, as well as agencies in Myanmar, to provide assistance to victims in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone.
Projects completed included the rebuilding of a new village at Auk Pyun Wa, which include homes, a school, a clinic, a cyclone shelter, a school and an orphanage in Thanlyin.
Projects underway include a cyclone shelter in Twantay, two schools, a cyclone shelter in Bogalay and another cyclone shelter in Kungyangone.
The Singapore Red Cross has received a total of S$11.6 million from members of the public and corporate sector for its Cyclone Nargis fund. Of this, almost S$9 million has been expended or committed.
The Singapore Red Cross will continue to be the custodian of the fund and says it will assist victims of Cyclone Nargis, so long as the funding remains available.
Channel NewsAsia - Sunday, January 25
SINGAPORE : The Singapore Red Cross signed an agreement on January 22 with its Myanmar counterpart to provide humanitarian aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis.
For a start, the collaboration will see three rural health centres and a cyclone shelter being built in three townships in the Irrawaddy delta. Money to do this will come from funds raised by the Singapore Red Cross.
This latest development adds to other efforts the Singapore Red Cross has been making, as part of its cyclone relief work in Myanmar.
The organisation had collaborated with various Singapore welfare organisations, as well as agencies in Myanmar, to provide assistance to victims in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone.
Projects completed included the rebuilding of a new village at Auk Pyun Wa, which include homes, a school, a clinic, a cyclone shelter, a school and an orphanage in Thanlyin.
Projects underway include a cyclone shelter in Twantay, two schools, a cyclone shelter in Bogalay and another cyclone shelter in Kungyangone.
The Singapore Red Cross has received a total of S$11.6 million from members of the public and corporate sector for its Cyclone Nargis fund. Of this, almost S$9 million has been expended or committed.
The Singapore Red Cross will continue to be the custodian of the fund and says it will assist victims of Cyclone Nargis, so long as the funding remains available.
RFA - Another Loss for Burmese Activist’s Family
RFA - Another Loss for Burmese Activist’s Family
2009-01-23
Burmese groups condemn the lack of health care for political prisoners after the wife of a young activist suffers a miscarriage in jail.
BANGKOK—The 23-year-old wife of a Burmese activist involved in helping victims of Tropical Cyclone Nargis has suffered a second-trimester miscarriage in prison and has now been diagnosed with a heart condition, according to her parents.
Kathi Aung, whose husband Tun Tun has been in hiding from the authorities since September, was six months pregnant when she miscarried at O Bo Prison in Mandalay on or around Dec. 27, her parents said in an interview.
“We both cried—I am so worried,” Kathi Aung’s mother, Thi Da Aung, said of her Jan. 21 prison visit with her daughter. “She was thin and pale.” Thi Da Aung also said authorities threatened to transfer her daughter to a remote prison if she spoke to the media.
Kathi Aung is serving a 26-year sentence for allegedly crossing the Burmese border and maintaining contact with illegal organizations, although her husband says she had no involvement in politics. Her defense lawyer, Myint Thwin, said he plans to appeal her sentence to a higher court in Mandalay on Monday.
Her father, Soe Tint, said prison doctors had diagnosed his daughter with a heart condition. “This was the news, that she has heart trouble. We are worried. We’re not familiar with politics—we’re just poor vendors.”
“At first I was so angry when I heard she had been arrested. I was so angry with my daughter and her husband. Now I’m just so sad to hear this news,” Soe Tint said.
“If she has a heart condition, it may have been caused by the harsh treatment she received while she was being interrogated,” Tun Tun said. “She was detained for two months without any contact with family.”
Outcry from exile groups
Two Burmese exile groups, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) and the Burmese Women's Union, on Friday cited Kathi Aung’s case in a joint statement condemning inadequate health care for political prisoners in Burma.
“The authorities have clearly failed to meet their obligations” under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which the junta signed in 1997, the statement said.
“As a result, Kay Thi [Kathi] Aung has suffered a terrible loss. She needs urgent medical treatment,” it said, calling for the reinstatement of prison visits in Burma by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Cyclone help
Tun Tun, 24 and known as Myo Min Oo, said from an undisclosed hiding place in December that the authorities had come looking for him in early September, at the same time that they detained a number of other activists, whose work with Nargis victims showed up gaping holes in the government's handling of the disaster.
Junta officials came looking for him, Tun Tun said at the time, but they couldn’t find him so they detained his wife.
Until September, Tun Tun had been working closely with two Buddhist monks who were helping Nargis victims in Bogalay, Dedaye, Pyapone, and other disaster-stricken towns in the south of the country, collecting donations and distributing aid to the victims.
Following the “Saffron Revolution”—a monk-led series of protests sparked by rising fuel prices, which ended in an armed crackdown in October 2007—Tun Tun worked with two monks helping cyclone victims left without government aid, first in Mandalay, then on several trips to the devastated Irrawaddy delta.
Both monks have since been arrested on suspicion of re-grouping for further mass demonstrations on the first anniversary of the crackdown on the Saffron Revolution.
According to official figures, Cyclone Nargis killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured.
Local people left homeless and without food or water in the wake of the storm complained that the government prevented aid from reaching those who needed it, and hindered attempts by religious groups and private individuals to plug the gap.
In December, New York-based Human Rights Watch renewed its criticism of Burma's treatment of political prisoners, both in court and in prison.
It urged ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan to send an independent legal assessment team to monitor the situation, calling on ASEAN to address Burma's lack of respect for the rule of law when it holds its rescheduled ASEAN summit meeting in early 2009.
2009-01-23
Burmese groups condemn the lack of health care for political prisoners after the wife of a young activist suffers a miscarriage in jail.
BANGKOK—The 23-year-old wife of a Burmese activist involved in helping victims of Tropical Cyclone Nargis has suffered a second-trimester miscarriage in prison and has now been diagnosed with a heart condition, according to her parents.
Kathi Aung, whose husband Tun Tun has been in hiding from the authorities since September, was six months pregnant when she miscarried at O Bo Prison in Mandalay on or around Dec. 27, her parents said in an interview.
“We both cried—I am so worried,” Kathi Aung’s mother, Thi Da Aung, said of her Jan. 21 prison visit with her daughter. “She was thin and pale.” Thi Da Aung also said authorities threatened to transfer her daughter to a remote prison if she spoke to the media.
Kathi Aung is serving a 26-year sentence for allegedly crossing the Burmese border and maintaining contact with illegal organizations, although her husband says she had no involvement in politics. Her defense lawyer, Myint Thwin, said he plans to appeal her sentence to a higher court in Mandalay on Monday.
Her father, Soe Tint, said prison doctors had diagnosed his daughter with a heart condition. “This was the news, that she has heart trouble. We are worried. We’re not familiar with politics—we’re just poor vendors.”
“At first I was so angry when I heard she had been arrested. I was so angry with my daughter and her husband. Now I’m just so sad to hear this news,” Soe Tint said.
“If she has a heart condition, it may have been caused by the harsh treatment she received while she was being interrogated,” Tun Tun said. “She was detained for two months without any contact with family.”
Outcry from exile groups
Two Burmese exile groups, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) and the Burmese Women's Union, on Friday cited Kathi Aung’s case in a joint statement condemning inadequate health care for political prisoners in Burma.
“The authorities have clearly failed to meet their obligations” under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which the junta signed in 1997, the statement said.
“As a result, Kay Thi [Kathi] Aung has suffered a terrible loss. She needs urgent medical treatment,” it said, calling for the reinstatement of prison visits in Burma by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Cyclone help
Tun Tun, 24 and known as Myo Min Oo, said from an undisclosed hiding place in December that the authorities had come looking for him in early September, at the same time that they detained a number of other activists, whose work with Nargis victims showed up gaping holes in the government's handling of the disaster.
Junta officials came looking for him, Tun Tun said at the time, but they couldn’t find him so they detained his wife.
Until September, Tun Tun had been working closely with two Buddhist monks who were helping Nargis victims in Bogalay, Dedaye, Pyapone, and other disaster-stricken towns in the south of the country, collecting donations and distributing aid to the victims.
Following the “Saffron Revolution”—a monk-led series of protests sparked by rising fuel prices, which ended in an armed crackdown in October 2007—Tun Tun worked with two monks helping cyclone victims left without government aid, first in Mandalay, then on several trips to the devastated Irrawaddy delta.
Both monks have since been arrested on suspicion of re-grouping for further mass demonstrations on the first anniversary of the crackdown on the Saffron Revolution.
According to official figures, Cyclone Nargis killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured.
Local people left homeless and without food or water in the wake of the storm complained that the government prevented aid from reaching those who needed it, and hindered attempts by religious groups and private individuals to plug the gap.
In December, New York-based Human Rights Watch renewed its criticism of Burma's treatment of political prisoners, both in court and in prison.
It urged ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan to send an independent legal assessment team to monitor the situation, calling on ASEAN to address Burma's lack of respect for the rule of law when it holds its rescheduled ASEAN summit meeting in early 2009.
Diplomat: UN envoy to visit Myanmar at month's end
Diplomat: UN envoy to visit Myanmar at month's end
AP - Friday, January 23
YANGON, Myanmar - The special United Nations envoy tasked with promoting political reconciliation in Myanmar will visit the military-ruled country at the end of this month, a diplomat said.
The visit by Ibrahim Gambari is set for Jan. 31, the diplomat said Thursday. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because the news has not yet been officially announced.
The visit comes in the wake of a judicial crackdown during which government courts handed down harsh prison sentences to scores of pro-democracy activists. It will be Gambari's first visit in five months, and his seventh since he began his assignment in mid-2006.
The country's pro-democracy movement, whose leader is detained Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been disappointed by Gambari's previous visits, which have failed to secure the release of Suu Kyi from more than 13 years under house arrest.
During Gambari's last visit in August, Suu Kyi refused to meet him, and he also failed to be received by junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
The current junta came to power in 1988 after violently crushing a nationwide pro-democracy uprising. It called elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory.
AP - Friday, January 23
YANGON, Myanmar - The special United Nations envoy tasked with promoting political reconciliation in Myanmar will visit the military-ruled country at the end of this month, a diplomat said.
The visit by Ibrahim Gambari is set for Jan. 31, the diplomat said Thursday. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because the news has not yet been officially announced.
The visit comes in the wake of a judicial crackdown during which government courts handed down harsh prison sentences to scores of pro-democracy activists. It will be Gambari's first visit in five months, and his seventh since he began his assignment in mid-2006.
The country's pro-democracy movement, whose leader is detained Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been disappointed by Gambari's previous visits, which have failed to secure the release of Suu Kyi from more than 13 years under house arrest.
During Gambari's last visit in August, Suu Kyi refused to meet him, and he also failed to be received by junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
The current junta came to power in 1988 after violently crushing a nationwide pro-democracy uprising. It called elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory.
Nasdaq - UNHCR Seeks Access To Myanmar Refugees In Indonesia
Nasdaq - UNHCR Seeks Access To Myanmar Refugees In Indonesia
01-23-090134ET
JAKARTA (AFP)--The U.N. has expressed concern for the plight of 174 Myanmar boat people in Indonesian custody who were allegedly left to die at sea by the Thai military, a spokeswoman said Friday.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, has made two written requests to the Indonesian government for access to the ethnic Rohingya refugees, found drifting off the northern tip of Sumatra island Jan. 7, she said.
They are believed to be survivors from a group of about 1,000 Rohingya boat people who claim to have been detained and beaten by the Thai military late last year before being set adrift at sea with few provisions.
Almost 650 Rohingya have been rescued in waters off India and Indonesia this month, but Jakarta hasn't allowed independent access to the people in its care to confirm they are from the same group allegedly abandoned off Thailand.
"The UNHCR has expressed concern to (the Indonesian government), but we cannot get involved directly in the handling of the boat people, because we have not had a response," UNHCR spokeswoman Anita Restu said.
She said the U.N. was hoping for an answer next week, after a second written request for access was sent to the Indonesian foreign ministry Thursday.
"We do not know if they are looking for asylum but in view of the situation in North Rakhine state (in Myanmar) we are sure they are looking for international protection," she said.
Myanmar effectively denies citizenship rights to the Muslim Rohingya minority in western North Rakhine state, leading to their abuse and exploitation, and forcing thousands to flee abroad, mainly to Bangladesh.
Thailand says it is investigating the allegations against its military but has refused to give the UNHCR access to 126 Rohingya refugees in its custody.
01-23-090134ET
JAKARTA (AFP)--The U.N. has expressed concern for the plight of 174 Myanmar boat people in Indonesian custody who were allegedly left to die at sea by the Thai military, a spokeswoman said Friday.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, has made two written requests to the Indonesian government for access to the ethnic Rohingya refugees, found drifting off the northern tip of Sumatra island Jan. 7, she said.
They are believed to be survivors from a group of about 1,000 Rohingya boat people who claim to have been detained and beaten by the Thai military late last year before being set adrift at sea with few provisions.
Almost 650 Rohingya have been rescued in waters off India and Indonesia this month, but Jakarta hasn't allowed independent access to the people in its care to confirm they are from the same group allegedly abandoned off Thailand.
"The UNHCR has expressed concern to (the Indonesian government), but we cannot get involved directly in the handling of the boat people, because we have not had a response," UNHCR spokeswoman Anita Restu said.
She said the U.N. was hoping for an answer next week, after a second written request for access was sent to the Indonesian foreign ministry Thursday.
"We do not know if they are looking for asylum but in view of the situation in North Rakhine state (in Myanmar) we are sure they are looking for international protection," she said.
Myanmar effectively denies citizenship rights to the Muslim Rohingya minority in western North Rakhine state, leading to their abuse and exploitation, and forcing thousands to flee abroad, mainly to Bangladesh.
Thailand says it is investigating the allegations against its military but has refused to give the UNHCR access to 126 Rohingya refugees in its custody.
Jailed Myanmar monk goes on hunger strike
AFP - 5 minutes ago
BANGKOK (AFP) - - A Buddhist monk imprisoned in Myanmar for leading street protests against the junta has gone on hunger strike to demand access to his family, according to an exiled group of former political prisoners.
Monk Gambira began to refuse food ten days ago, said Bo Kyi of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma.
Burma is the country's previous name.
"He was at Mandalay prison when his family visited him. He was not allowed to see his family, therefore he demanded a meeting with (them). Then he set on hunger strike," Bo Kyi said.
Gambira was transferred from Mandalay prison to the remote Hkamti prison three or four days later, Bo Kyi told AFP, citing his family members and prison sources.
The reports could not be confirmed by official sources.
Gambira was sentenced to 68 years in prison last November, for his involvement in monk-led protests against the regime in 2007.
The protests began sporadically against fuel-price hikes in the August, but subsequently involved tens of thousands of people, led by the monks.
At least 31 people were killed and 74 went missing in the brutal crackdown that followed the demonstrations, according to the United Nations.
In recent weeks about 270 activists including monks, student leaders and NLD members have been handed long jail terms for their roles in the 2007 protests and for helping victims of Cyclone Nargis last May.
In mid-January a Myanmar court also jailed a student activist for 104 years, while the junta freed six people who had campaigned for the release of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, officials said.
Myanmar's military rulers have kept 63-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest in Yangon for most of the past 19 years. She currently has an appeal pending against her detention.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.
Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but the junta never allowed them to take office.
AFP - 5 minutes ago
BANGKOK (AFP) - - A Buddhist monk imprisoned in Myanmar for leading street protests against the junta has gone on hunger strike to demand access to his family, according to an exiled group of former political prisoners.
Monk Gambira began to refuse food ten days ago, said Bo Kyi of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma.
Burma is the country's previous name.
"He was at Mandalay prison when his family visited him. He was not allowed to see his family, therefore he demanded a meeting with (them). Then he set on hunger strike," Bo Kyi said.
Gambira was transferred from Mandalay prison to the remote Hkamti prison three or four days later, Bo Kyi told AFP, citing his family members and prison sources.
The reports could not be confirmed by official sources.
Gambira was sentenced to 68 years in prison last November, for his involvement in monk-led protests against the regime in 2007.
The protests began sporadically against fuel-price hikes in the August, but subsequently involved tens of thousands of people, led by the monks.
At least 31 people were killed and 74 went missing in the brutal crackdown that followed the demonstrations, according to the United Nations.
In recent weeks about 270 activists including monks, student leaders and NLD members have been handed long jail terms for their roles in the 2007 protests and for helping victims of Cyclone Nargis last May.
In mid-January a Myanmar court also jailed a student activist for 104 years, while the junta freed six people who had campaigned for the release of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, officials said.
Myanmar's military rulers have kept 63-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest in Yangon for most of the past 19 years. She currently has an appeal pending against her detention.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.
Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but the junta never allowed them to take office.
Mizzima News - NLD member jailed for two years for disturbing officials
Mizzima News - NLD member jailed for two years for disturbing officials
by Ko Wild
Wednesday, 21 January 2009 20:05
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A member of the National League for Democracy, Burma's main opposition party, was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison on charges of disturbing officials carrying out their duty at the behest of the authorities of the Township Peace and Development Council of Rangoon's suburban township of South Dagon on Monday.
Thein Soe, an NLD member, was charged under article (189) of the criminal code, an offence for disturbing officials carrying out their duty, by the police in-charge of North Dagon police station. He was sentenced by justice Daw Htay Htay to two years in jail
Thein Soe's wife Khin Moe Moe told Mizzima that her husband had been actively monitoring the activities of township and police officials and would frequently intervene if he saw that the officials were corrupt and were out to suppress the people.
"He protested against the township authorities recruiting child soldiers and he knew all about the corrupt practices of the police. So, may be that is why they [the official] wanted to get rid of him," she said.
Thein Soe was informed that he had been charged for disturbing officials while carrying out their duty since October last year.
Thein Soe, an active member of the NLD, had served as one of the security and information officers into recording events during the detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's political tour in upper Burma in 2003.
by Ko Wild
Wednesday, 21 January 2009 20:05
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A member of the National League for Democracy, Burma's main opposition party, was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison on charges of disturbing officials carrying out their duty at the behest of the authorities of the Township Peace and Development Council of Rangoon's suburban township of South Dagon on Monday.
Thein Soe, an NLD member, was charged under article (189) of the criminal code, an offence for disturbing officials carrying out their duty, by the police in-charge of North Dagon police station. He was sentenced by justice Daw Htay Htay to two years in jail
Thein Soe's wife Khin Moe Moe told Mizzima that her husband had been actively monitoring the activities of township and police officials and would frequently intervene if he saw that the officials were corrupt and were out to suppress the people.
"He protested against the township authorities recruiting child soldiers and he knew all about the corrupt practices of the police. So, may be that is why they [the official] wanted to get rid of him," she said.
Thein Soe was informed that he had been charged for disturbing officials while carrying out their duty since October last year.
Thein Soe, an active member of the NLD, had served as one of the security and information officers into recording events during the detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's political tour in upper Burma in 2003.
The Wall Street Journal - A New Government for Burma
OPINION ASIA
JANUARY 22, 2009
The Wall Street Journal - A New Government for Burma
Exiled democrats are planning a better future.
By SEIN WIN | From today's Wall Street Journal Asia
DUBLIN
The Burmese junta's disgraceful nonresponse to Cyclone Nargis last year called international attention to the direct human consequences of repressive rule in the Southeast Asian country. Since then, Burma's economic plight has only worsened. It is time for the political opposition abroad to present a broader, more coherent alternative for the Burmese people.
To this end, the legitimately elected representatives of the people of Burma -- the Members of Parliament from the 1990 elections -- are meeting in Dublin over the next few days to elect a new government-in-exile. The convention delegates are motivated by a sense that change in the culture of Burma's exiled opposition is needed. All are aware that the plight of Burma's people can no longer be tolerated; the status quo cannot be continued.
This move is a huge step forward for the multiethnic, multicultural Burmese people, who have never enjoyed a government that gave all groups an equal voice. A new government-in-exile should also provide comfort to Burma's neighbors, who worry about civil unrest when the junta falls.
We sketched out our core beliefs in this month's edition of the Far Eastern Economic Review, a sister publication of this newspaper. In Dublin, we call for an inclusive process that will lead to an interim constitution, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders in Burma. We also call for the release of all political prisoners; for the lifting of restrictions on liberties such as free speech and free association; and for an agreement on a realistic timetable for free and fair elections in Burma.
We have a vision of a nation-building process for Burma that will create a federal union with an appropriate relationship between the central government and the states and regions, ensuring, for example, the equitable distribution of revenue from natural resources. We support free trade.
We will also be good regional and global citizens. Our Asian partners need to become involved in solving Burma's myriad problems by urgently and effectively pushing for increased dialogue and national reconciliation. We look to the United Nations to forge a path by which such a dialogue can take place.
We call on the U.N. Secretary-General to conduct a goals-oriented tour of Burma as soon as the Burmese generals are prepared to compromise. We suggest enacting a regional strategy to democratize Burma perhaps through the Association of South East Asian Nations, overseen by the United Nations.
Burma desperately needs a liberal, open regime. Even before the global economic crisis landed, the Burmese economy was being run into the ground by the current regime's mismanagement and corruption.
Now, the global financial crisis is making a bad situation even worse. Natural gas revenues -- which account for around 40% of Burma's total export income -- fell 28.5% in the first nine months of 2008, compared to the same period last year. Tourism has slowed to a trickle. Unemployment is spiking.
This isn't just a problem for our country, but for our neighbors, too. Burma is Asia's second largest opium producer -- behind Afghanistan -- and a major exporter of synthetic drugs such as amphetamines. Our refugees -- who are fleeing in droves -- are carrying HIV, drug-resistant tuberculosis and malaria abroad. Today, over 3.5 million Burmese are displaced with some 10% of the population currently living overseas, one of the highest proportions in the world.
Our country needs major economic and social reforms that only a government with popular support can deliver. Yet the national elections scheduled for 2010 will be a parody of democracy. The tricks and thuggery of the military were instrumental in the passage of the 2008 constitution that legitimizes military rule in Burma. The same constitution, which mandates that 75% of the parliament will be civilian -- with the remainder reserved for the military -- will also ensure a rigged outcome of the elections in 2010.
The nominally civilian Union Solidarity and Development Association and the Swan-ah-Shin -- pseudo-independent political groups backed by the government -- are already working behind the scenes to fill the civilian seats with military lackeys. The resulting government will have little inclination to address the political or economic concerns of the Burmese people.
The Burmese government-in-exile has already initiated steps to enable clusters of Burmese, as well as foreign experts in political, economic, and other fields, to work on a blueprint for a transition to democracy in Burma. This presents better, clearer, options for the Burmese people. The interests of the military are included in this blueprint as well. We do not want the military to be what stands in the way of Burma's progress.
We look forward to working together in an inclusive new government to show that Burma can have a better future for its people. And when we return home, we'll show the international community what Burma should be: engaged abroad, prosperous and free.
Sein Win is prime minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, based in Washington D.C., and a delegate to the Dublin convention.
JANUARY 22, 2009
The Wall Street Journal - A New Government for Burma
Exiled democrats are planning a better future.
By SEIN WIN | From today's Wall Street Journal Asia
DUBLIN
The Burmese junta's disgraceful nonresponse to Cyclone Nargis last year called international attention to the direct human consequences of repressive rule in the Southeast Asian country. Since then, Burma's economic plight has only worsened. It is time for the political opposition abroad to present a broader, more coherent alternative for the Burmese people.
To this end, the legitimately elected representatives of the people of Burma -- the Members of Parliament from the 1990 elections -- are meeting in Dublin over the next few days to elect a new government-in-exile. The convention delegates are motivated by a sense that change in the culture of Burma's exiled opposition is needed. All are aware that the plight of Burma's people can no longer be tolerated; the status quo cannot be continued.
This move is a huge step forward for the multiethnic, multicultural Burmese people, who have never enjoyed a government that gave all groups an equal voice. A new government-in-exile should also provide comfort to Burma's neighbors, who worry about civil unrest when the junta falls.
We sketched out our core beliefs in this month's edition of the Far Eastern Economic Review, a sister publication of this newspaper. In Dublin, we call for an inclusive process that will lead to an interim constitution, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders in Burma. We also call for the release of all political prisoners; for the lifting of restrictions on liberties such as free speech and free association; and for an agreement on a realistic timetable for free and fair elections in Burma.
We have a vision of a nation-building process for Burma that will create a federal union with an appropriate relationship between the central government and the states and regions, ensuring, for example, the equitable distribution of revenue from natural resources. We support free trade.
We will also be good regional and global citizens. Our Asian partners need to become involved in solving Burma's myriad problems by urgently and effectively pushing for increased dialogue and national reconciliation. We look to the United Nations to forge a path by which such a dialogue can take place.
We call on the U.N. Secretary-General to conduct a goals-oriented tour of Burma as soon as the Burmese generals are prepared to compromise. We suggest enacting a regional strategy to democratize Burma perhaps through the Association of South East Asian Nations, overseen by the United Nations.
Burma desperately needs a liberal, open regime. Even before the global economic crisis landed, the Burmese economy was being run into the ground by the current regime's mismanagement and corruption.
Now, the global financial crisis is making a bad situation even worse. Natural gas revenues -- which account for around 40% of Burma's total export income -- fell 28.5% in the first nine months of 2008, compared to the same period last year. Tourism has slowed to a trickle. Unemployment is spiking.
This isn't just a problem for our country, but for our neighbors, too. Burma is Asia's second largest opium producer -- behind Afghanistan -- and a major exporter of synthetic drugs such as amphetamines. Our refugees -- who are fleeing in droves -- are carrying HIV, drug-resistant tuberculosis and malaria abroad. Today, over 3.5 million Burmese are displaced with some 10% of the population currently living overseas, one of the highest proportions in the world.
Our country needs major economic and social reforms that only a government with popular support can deliver. Yet the national elections scheduled for 2010 will be a parody of democracy. The tricks and thuggery of the military were instrumental in the passage of the 2008 constitution that legitimizes military rule in Burma. The same constitution, which mandates that 75% of the parliament will be civilian -- with the remainder reserved for the military -- will also ensure a rigged outcome of the elections in 2010.
The nominally civilian Union Solidarity and Development Association and the Swan-ah-Shin -- pseudo-independent political groups backed by the government -- are already working behind the scenes to fill the civilian seats with military lackeys. The resulting government will have little inclination to address the political or economic concerns of the Burmese people.
The Burmese government-in-exile has already initiated steps to enable clusters of Burmese, as well as foreign experts in political, economic, and other fields, to work on a blueprint for a transition to democracy in Burma. This presents better, clearer, options for the Burmese people. The interests of the military are included in this blueprint as well. We do not want the military to be what stands in the way of Burma's progress.
We look forward to working together in an inclusive new government to show that Burma can have a better future for its people. And when we return home, we'll show the international community what Burma should be: engaged abroad, prosperous and free.
Sein Win is prime minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, based in Washington D.C., and a delegate to the Dublin convention.
The Hindu - Myanmar exports over 90,000 tons of rice in two months
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Hindu - Myanmar exports over 90,000 tons of rice in two months
YANGON (Xinhua): Myanmar has so far exported over 90, 000 tons of surplus rice in nearly two months' period up to this week since such export was re-granted in last November, six months after storm, sources with the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.
Application for exporting at least 15,000 tons of rice is promptly granted and the export goods is set to be shipped by ocean liners in place of containers.
Myanmar rice now fetches about 260 U.S. dollars per ton, up slightly from 220 dollars in last November, the sources said.
According to other earlier local report, since Myanmar granted free export of rice by local trading companies late last year, 3, 055 tons were exported by 9 companies through border points.
Meanwhile, the statistics of the Central Statistical Organization showed that, in the fiscal year 2007-08, Myanmar exported 358,500 tons of rice, gaining 100 million U.S. dollars. The export tonnage in the first three quarters (April-December) of 2008-09 went to 150,000 tons amid storm.
Of the rice export, 101,235 tons were shipped to South Africa, 11,908 tons to Singapore, 8,007.85 tons to Sri Lanka, 2,499.7 tons to the United Arab Emirate, 1,500 tons to South Korea and 1,197.7 tons to Egypt, according to the Myanmar Agricultural Produces Trading.
Myanmar government has urged agricultural entrepreneurs to make greater efforts for exporting more rice, saying that the country has enough cultivable land to boost paddy production. Out of 17.6 million hectares of cultivable land, only 11.6 million hectares of paddy or 65.9 percent could be grown, the authorities said.
The calendar year 2007 saw a production of 30 million tons of paddy out of 7.6 million hectares grown, but only about 20,000 tons of rice were exported.
The Hindu - Myanmar exports over 90,000 tons of rice in two months
YANGON (Xinhua): Myanmar has so far exported over 90, 000 tons of surplus rice in nearly two months' period up to this week since such export was re-granted in last November, six months after storm, sources with the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.
Application for exporting at least 15,000 tons of rice is promptly granted and the export goods is set to be shipped by ocean liners in place of containers.
Myanmar rice now fetches about 260 U.S. dollars per ton, up slightly from 220 dollars in last November, the sources said.
According to other earlier local report, since Myanmar granted free export of rice by local trading companies late last year, 3, 055 tons were exported by 9 companies through border points.
Meanwhile, the statistics of the Central Statistical Organization showed that, in the fiscal year 2007-08, Myanmar exported 358,500 tons of rice, gaining 100 million U.S. dollars. The export tonnage in the first three quarters (April-December) of 2008-09 went to 150,000 tons amid storm.
Of the rice export, 101,235 tons were shipped to South Africa, 11,908 tons to Singapore, 8,007.85 tons to Sri Lanka, 2,499.7 tons to the United Arab Emirate, 1,500 tons to South Korea and 1,197.7 tons to Egypt, according to the Myanmar Agricultural Produces Trading.
Myanmar government has urged agricultural entrepreneurs to make greater efforts for exporting more rice, saying that the country has enough cultivable land to boost paddy production. Out of 17.6 million hectares of cultivable land, only 11.6 million hectares of paddy or 65.9 percent could be grown, the authorities said.
The calendar year 2007 saw a production of 30 million tons of paddy out of 7.6 million hectares grown, but only about 20,000 tons of rice were exported.
Myanmar Refugees Protest Alleged UN Discrimination
Myanmar Refugees Protest Alleged UN Discrimination
01-21-090506ET
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP)--At least 50 Myanmar refugees demonstrated Wednesday outside the United Nations refugee agency office to protest alleged discrimination by the U.N. organization.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, denied the claim by the action group All Burma Democratic Force.
The protesters, including women and children, held placards saying "We need better treatment from UNHCR," and "Our future depends on UNHCR."
Anti-riot police were deployed, but there was no trouble.
Aung Kyaw Moe, 37, the protest group's spokesman, said UNHCR officials had discriminated against some of them.
"They divided us along ethnic group and won't allow some of us to enter the UNHCR office," he said, saying it was causing ethnic tension among the various refugee communities.
The UNHCR had said there were about 45,400 refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia, of whom 40,400 are from Myanmar, formerly called Burma.
The majority are Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar's Rakhine state, while the rest are Christian Chins, Karens and Shan.
The demonstrators in Kuala Lumpur demanded fair treatment from the U.N. body regardless of ethnicity or religion, especially regarding issues related to resettlement in third countries.
The U.N. organization said it recognized their frustrations.
"UNHCR's policies towards all refugee groups are nondiscriminatory. We do our utmost to assist and protect all refugees," said Yante Ismail, the U.N. agency Kuala Lumpur office spokeswoman.
"The UNHCR will continue to engage different refugee communities to address their problems," she said.
01-21-090506ET
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP)--At least 50 Myanmar refugees demonstrated Wednesday outside the United Nations refugee agency office to protest alleged discrimination by the U.N. organization.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, denied the claim by the action group All Burma Democratic Force.
The protesters, including women and children, held placards saying "We need better treatment from UNHCR," and "Our future depends on UNHCR."
Anti-riot police were deployed, but there was no trouble.
Aung Kyaw Moe, 37, the protest group's spokesman, said UNHCR officials had discriminated against some of them.
"They divided us along ethnic group and won't allow some of us to enter the UNHCR office," he said, saying it was causing ethnic tension among the various refugee communities.
The UNHCR had said there were about 45,400 refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia, of whom 40,400 are from Myanmar, formerly called Burma.
The majority are Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar's Rakhine state, while the rest are Christian Chins, Karens and Shan.
The demonstrators in Kuala Lumpur demanded fair treatment from the U.N. body regardless of ethnicity or religion, especially regarding issues related to resettlement in third countries.
The U.N. organization said it recognized their frustrations.
"UNHCR's policies towards all refugee groups are nondiscriminatory. We do our utmost to assist and protect all refugees," said Yante Ismail, the U.N. agency Kuala Lumpur office spokeswoman.
"The UNHCR will continue to engage different refugee communities to address their problems," she said.
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Irrawaddy - Memories Keep Hope Alive in Insein Prison
The Irrawaddy - Memories Keep Hope Alive in Insein Prison
By JIM ANDREW
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
MAE SOT — They look like dog kennels, but human beings are locked up in these concrete boxes, with tiny wire-enclosed yards for exercise.
“They’re the latest cell block at Insein Prison,” explains Aung Kyaw Oo, who spent 14 years in Insein and is the latest addition to the dedicated staff of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
He shows visitors around the AAPP’s small museum, one room of the organization’s headquarters in the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot. Centerpiece of the museum exhibits is a scale model of Insein. Against one wall of the room is its latest exhibit—a model of the prison’s new cell block. “I wouldn’t want even my dog locked up in there,” said one visitor.
Insein’s new block is probably full to bursting these days following the series of kangaroo court trials late last year in which more than 400 activists were sentenced to prison terms of up to 68 years.
A further 600 dissidents are still being detained, awaiting trial, according to Bo Kyi, co-founder of the AAPP.
From their cramped offices in a Mae Sot backyard, Bo Kyi and his staff of 15 (including two volunteers) monitor the fate of more than 2,100 Burmese political prisoners and their families. They give material support, helping prisoners’ families to survive and to keep in touch with their loved ones.
The regime’s callous decision to send convicted activists to prisons scattered throughout Burma has placed an additional burden on the AAPP, according to Bo Kyi. Some of Burma’s 43 prisons are at least a day’s journey from Rangoon or Mandalay, making it very difficult for family members or friends to visit.
The AAPP tries to make it financially possible for families to keep in touch and to provide small necessities and food on an annual budget of US $200,000, provided by the US National Endowment for Democracy and other donors.
A small bank of computers in the AAPP’s main office contains the personal records of most of Burma’s increasing number of political prisoners. “It’s difficult to keep track,” says Bo Kyi. “We rely on many sources, some of them even in the prison service.”
Aung Kyaw Oo, who studied economics in Rangoon before his arrest and imprisonment in 1991, believes the AAPP brings not only material aid but hope to political prisoners and their families. He speaks from his experience of so many years of extreme hardship in Insein Prison.
After his release in 2005, Aung Kyaw Oo escaped to Thailand and joined the AAPP staff in August 2007, determined to work for the relief and eventual release of his fellow prisoners.
Aung Kyaw Oo has the AAPP to thank for helping him to escape to Thailand, sending him the money he needed to finance his hazardous trip.
Financial assistance was also recently sent to the wife of a political prisoner who sold her hair to raise the money to feed her family and visit her husband. “We were able to help her open a small shop to support herself and her family,” said Bo Kyi.
Aung Kyaw Oo’s dedication to his new job is strengthened whenever he conducts a visitor around the AAPP museum. Everywhere are reminders of his own prison life—leg irons, a guard’s baton, scraps of art and handicraft secretly made and smuggled out, photographs of fellow activists, some of whom have died of disease or torture.
On one wall hangs an eloquent testimonial to the sheer indomitability of Burma’s political prisoners—a beautifully embroidered piece of linen, with a love poem stitched above a cluster of flowers.
“I want you to know that everything reminds me to remember you,” wrote the unknown prisoner, working undercover in a bare cell. Memories kept him (or perhaps her?) going. And memories, the poet seems to be saying, are something no amount of oppression can destroy.
By JIM ANDREW
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
MAE SOT — They look like dog kennels, but human beings are locked up in these concrete boxes, with tiny wire-enclosed yards for exercise.
“They’re the latest cell block at Insein Prison,” explains Aung Kyaw Oo, who spent 14 years in Insein and is the latest addition to the dedicated staff of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
He shows visitors around the AAPP’s small museum, one room of the organization’s headquarters in the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot. Centerpiece of the museum exhibits is a scale model of Insein. Against one wall of the room is its latest exhibit—a model of the prison’s new cell block. “I wouldn’t want even my dog locked up in there,” said one visitor.
Insein’s new block is probably full to bursting these days following the series of kangaroo court trials late last year in which more than 400 activists were sentenced to prison terms of up to 68 years.
A further 600 dissidents are still being detained, awaiting trial, according to Bo Kyi, co-founder of the AAPP.
From their cramped offices in a Mae Sot backyard, Bo Kyi and his staff of 15 (including two volunteers) monitor the fate of more than 2,100 Burmese political prisoners and their families. They give material support, helping prisoners’ families to survive and to keep in touch with their loved ones.
The regime’s callous decision to send convicted activists to prisons scattered throughout Burma has placed an additional burden on the AAPP, according to Bo Kyi. Some of Burma’s 43 prisons are at least a day’s journey from Rangoon or Mandalay, making it very difficult for family members or friends to visit.
The AAPP tries to make it financially possible for families to keep in touch and to provide small necessities and food on an annual budget of US $200,000, provided by the US National Endowment for Democracy and other donors.
A small bank of computers in the AAPP’s main office contains the personal records of most of Burma’s increasing number of political prisoners. “It’s difficult to keep track,” says Bo Kyi. “We rely on many sources, some of them even in the prison service.”
Aung Kyaw Oo, who studied economics in Rangoon before his arrest and imprisonment in 1991, believes the AAPP brings not only material aid but hope to political prisoners and their families. He speaks from his experience of so many years of extreme hardship in Insein Prison.
After his release in 2005, Aung Kyaw Oo escaped to Thailand and joined the AAPP staff in August 2007, determined to work for the relief and eventual release of his fellow prisoners.
Aung Kyaw Oo has the AAPP to thank for helping him to escape to Thailand, sending him the money he needed to finance his hazardous trip.
Financial assistance was also recently sent to the wife of a political prisoner who sold her hair to raise the money to feed her family and visit her husband. “We were able to help her open a small shop to support herself and her family,” said Bo Kyi.
Aung Kyaw Oo’s dedication to his new job is strengthened whenever he conducts a visitor around the AAPP museum. Everywhere are reminders of his own prison life—leg irons, a guard’s baton, scraps of art and handicraft secretly made and smuggled out, photographs of fellow activists, some of whom have died of disease or torture.
On one wall hangs an eloquent testimonial to the sheer indomitability of Burma’s political prisoners—a beautifully embroidered piece of linen, with a love poem stitched above a cluster of flowers.
“I want you to know that everything reminds me to remember you,” wrote the unknown prisoner, working undercover in a bare cell. Memories kept him (or perhaps her?) going. And memories, the poet seems to be saying, are something no amount of oppression can destroy.
Mizzima News - Lawyer appeals to PM to meet Suu Kyi
Mizzima News - Lawyer appeals to PM to meet Suu Kyi
by Nem Davies
Tuesday, 20 January 2009 21:51
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burmese democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer U Kyi Win is submitting an appeal to the Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein requesting a meeting with his client.
"After our previous appeal was dismissed at the Police Special Branch level, we are submitting an appeal to the PM who is the Chief of the Appeal Authority. We will submit the appeal within a few days to the PM providing all reasons and effects," U Kyi Win said.
Though he had requested the Rangoon Police Special Branch to let him meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi 10 days ago, his attempt was not successful.
"The first point is to report to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that we have submitted an appeal for her on 9 October 2008 at Naypyitaw (the new capital city). We must meet her and let her know whether it has been accepted or not. The second point is 'convening the court' in accordance with the 'Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) Act'. We have not yet reached that stage. We have to meet Daw Suu and report to her on these points," U Kyi Win said.
The leader of the 'National League for Democracy' (NLD) submitted her appeal through her lawyer U Kyi Win to Naypyitaw on October 9 last year objecting against over-detention beyond the limit set by the law. She is under house arrest for over 13 of the last 20 years.
Though the NLD (Liberated Area) said that her appeal was dismissed by the junta, her lawyer U Kyi Win said that the junta has not got back to him yet on the appeal.
"If the authorities really reject this appeal, they must inform either Daw Aung San Suu Kyi directly or to me as I went to Naypyitaw and submitted the appeal. But I can't understand the rumors now being circulated among the people," he said.
U Kyi Win said that he hoped he would get a serious response from the Appeal Committee led by PM Gen. Thein Sein for letting him meet his client.
Lawyer U Kyi Win met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on September 11 last year for the last time.
by Nem Davies
Tuesday, 20 January 2009 21:51
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burmese democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer U Kyi Win is submitting an appeal to the Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein requesting a meeting with his client.
"After our previous appeal was dismissed at the Police Special Branch level, we are submitting an appeal to the PM who is the Chief of the Appeal Authority. We will submit the appeal within a few days to the PM providing all reasons and effects," U Kyi Win said.
Though he had requested the Rangoon Police Special Branch to let him meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi 10 days ago, his attempt was not successful.
"The first point is to report to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that we have submitted an appeal for her on 9 October 2008 at Naypyitaw (the new capital city). We must meet her and let her know whether it has been accepted or not. The second point is 'convening the court' in accordance with the 'Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) Act'. We have not yet reached that stage. We have to meet Daw Suu and report to her on these points," U Kyi Win said.
The leader of the 'National League for Democracy' (NLD) submitted her appeal through her lawyer U Kyi Win to Naypyitaw on October 9 last year objecting against over-detention beyond the limit set by the law. She is under house arrest for over 13 of the last 20 years.
Though the NLD (Liberated Area) said that her appeal was dismissed by the junta, her lawyer U Kyi Win said that the junta has not got back to him yet on the appeal.
"If the authorities really reject this appeal, they must inform either Daw Aung San Suu Kyi directly or to me as I went to Naypyitaw and submitted the appeal. But I can't understand the rumors now being circulated among the people," he said.
U Kyi Win said that he hoped he would get a serious response from the Appeal Committee led by PM Gen. Thein Sein for letting him meet his client.
Lawyer U Kyi Win met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on September 11 last year for the last time.
TMCnet.com - Roundup: Myanmar strives for development of cross-border fiber links with neighbors
January 20, 2009]
TMCnet.com - Roundup: Myanmar strives for development of cross-border fiber links with neighbors
YANGON, Jan 20, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Two cross-border fiber optic link projects, Myanmar-Thai's and Myanmar-India's, in addition to the already-established Myanmar-China's to boost information link between Myanmar and the two neighbors will be operational in the next two months as work on the two projects has almost been
completed, according to the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) Wednesday.
The project has been implemented as part of the information superhighway network (ISN) project of the six-country Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)-Economic Cooperation.
With the Myawaddy-Maesot cross-border network link as the final phase completed in last November, the Myanmar-Thai fiber optic link will be put into service in February, the MPT told media persons.
According to the MPT, the Myanmar-Thai fiber optic link, which is of 10 gigabyte and set up in cooperation with its Thai counterpart, will bring the country's total gigabyte to 20 after that with China.
The MPT also estimated that the cross-border optical fiber link between Myanmar and India will be completed and operational by March.
Under the Indian government loan, the project, which worths 7 million U.S. dollars, started in 2006 December.
The 640-kilometer-long Myanmar-India optical fiber link, which connects Indian's northeastern border town of Moreh and Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay, passes through 6 cities of Tamu, Kampatwa, Kyi Gone, Shwebo, Monywa and Sagaing.
Along the fiber link, ADSL+2 system with 7,000 lines are being installed in 80 locations including Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw.
The project was signed between the MPT and the Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) during Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam's state visit to Myanmar in March 2006.
According to the contract, MPT and TCIL agree to implement SDH/ STM 4 optical fiber link between the two cities and the ADSL system.
Earlier in March last year, fiber link between Myanmar and China, built since April 2007 and involving China Telecom and Yunnan Telecom, was set up in Myanmar's border town of Muse also as part of the regional ISN project.
The Myanmar-China fiber optic link was built across China's Kunming and Myanmar's Muse with its link further extended to reach the commercial city of Yangon.
The establishment of the fiber optic links between Myanmar and the three neighbors would not only improve the country's domestic information link system but also boost the country's information link with other GMS member countries, experts said, adding that the move would also improve Myanmar's international telephone service, internet usage and video-conferencing utilization.
There are 12 ISN fiber optic links being built across the GMS to boost information links.
With regard to the building of the fiber optic link across GMS, a memorandum of understanding was signed at the ministerial meeting of the GMS in Laos in 2004.
The ISN project covers building of a commercialized information and communication platform in order to launch basic business of chatting, data, connection of internet as well as distant education, medical treatment, e-government and e-commerce which will sharply raise the capacity of the internet to promote the socio-economic development of the subregion.
TMCnet.com - Roundup: Myanmar strives for development of cross-border fiber links with neighbors
YANGON, Jan 20, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Two cross-border fiber optic link projects, Myanmar-Thai's and Myanmar-India's, in addition to the already-established Myanmar-China's to boost information link between Myanmar and the two neighbors will be operational in the next two months as work on the two projects has almost been
completed, according to the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) Wednesday.
The project has been implemented as part of the information superhighway network (ISN) project of the six-country Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)-Economic Cooperation.
With the Myawaddy-Maesot cross-border network link as the final phase completed in last November, the Myanmar-Thai fiber optic link will be put into service in February, the MPT told media persons.
According to the MPT, the Myanmar-Thai fiber optic link, which is of 10 gigabyte and set up in cooperation with its Thai counterpart, will bring the country's total gigabyte to 20 after that with China.
The MPT also estimated that the cross-border optical fiber link between Myanmar and India will be completed and operational by March.
Under the Indian government loan, the project, which worths 7 million U.S. dollars, started in 2006 December.
The 640-kilometer-long Myanmar-India optical fiber link, which connects Indian's northeastern border town of Moreh and Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay, passes through 6 cities of Tamu, Kampatwa, Kyi Gone, Shwebo, Monywa and Sagaing.
Along the fiber link, ADSL+2 system with 7,000 lines are being installed in 80 locations including Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw.
The project was signed between the MPT and the Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) during Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam's state visit to Myanmar in March 2006.
According to the contract, MPT and TCIL agree to implement SDH/ STM 4 optical fiber link between the two cities and the ADSL system.
Earlier in March last year, fiber link between Myanmar and China, built since April 2007 and involving China Telecom and Yunnan Telecom, was set up in Myanmar's border town of Muse also as part of the regional ISN project.
The Myanmar-China fiber optic link was built across China's Kunming and Myanmar's Muse with its link further extended to reach the commercial city of Yangon.
The establishment of the fiber optic links between Myanmar and the three neighbors would not only improve the country's domestic information link system but also boost the country's information link with other GMS member countries, experts said, adding that the move would also improve Myanmar's international telephone service, internet usage and video-conferencing utilization.
There are 12 ISN fiber optic links being built across the GMS to boost information links.
With regard to the building of the fiber optic link across GMS, a memorandum of understanding was signed at the ministerial meeting of the GMS in Laos in 2004.
The ISN project covers building of a commercialized information and communication platform in order to launch basic business of chatting, data, connection of internet as well as distant education, medical treatment, e-government and e-commerce which will sharply raise the capacity of the internet to promote the socio-economic development of the subregion.
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