The Irrawaddy - Young Dissidents Remember Aung San
By SAW YAN NAING
Thursday, February 12, 2009
An underground dissident group in Rangoon has voiced its continued support for Burma’s independence hero, Gen Aung San, on the eve of the 94th anniversary of his birth.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Moe Thway, a spokesman for the dissident organization Generation Wave, said, “Gen Aung San is a hero who opposed oppression. The current Burmese leaders are trying to hide his image.”
Since November, Generation Wave has launched a series of underground activities honoring Aung San, the father of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in defiance of the ruling junta.
The activities include circulating notes of currency stamped with Aung San’s image and distributing postcards in Rangoon bearing slogans such as “We won’t forget Aung San’s birthday!” “Don’t forget Martyrs’ Day!” and “Accept the legacy of Aung San!”
Generation Wave was founded after the Saffron Revolution in 2007 by Rangoon youths, including Burmese celebrities. However, several members were arrested and jailed, and the group remains underground. It frequently provides information to exiled media, including The Irrawaddy.
“We launched these activities because we want to show that we hadn’t forgotten the spirit of Gen Aung San,” said Moe Thway.
Aung San, the founder of the Union of Burma, was born on February 13, 1915, in Natmauk in Magwe Division in central Burma.
He was highly respected—not only by Burman people, but also by the various ethnic groups of Burma—for his efforts in winning independence from Great Britain. However, he was assassinated by an armed group along with six comrades at a cabinet meeting in Rangoon on 19 July, 1947, a date now commemorated in Burma as Martyrs’ Day.
The anniversary of Aung San’s birthday, February 13, is recognized as Children’s Day in Burma and is celebrated throughout the country.
However, despite the symbolic celebrations for Children’s Day on Friday, many observers have said that conditions for children have worsened in Burma in recent years.
In 2007, according to a UNICEF report, Burma’s child mortality rate was the fourth highest in the world, eclipsed in Asia only by Afghanistan.
Burmese children are also subjected to human rights abuses, including forced labor, and have been recruited as soldiers.
Burma’s military rulers have forbidden Children’s Day to be associated with the country’s founding father. Burmese teachers usually do not tell their students stories about Aung San for fear of reprisals, said a source.
“The junta would just as soon erase Aung San’s name from Burmese history books and forbid his birthday being celebrated altogether,” she said.
On Thursday, in his message to the public on the Union Day of Burma, junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe made no mention of Aung San, even though he was the founder of Union Day and of the Burmese armed forces.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Irish Sun - Obama can learn from Bush on Burma
Irish Sun - Obama can learn from Bush on Burma
Thursday 12th February, 2009
((Op-ed) Benedict Rogers - The Guardian)
As President Barack Obama dismantles the legacy of the Bush administration, there is one area in which he should actually emulate and build on his predecessor's record: Burma.
Whatever else one thinks of George Bush, few could deny the contribution he, and particularly his wife Laura, made to raising the profile of the suffering in Burma. In 2005, he spent almost an hour in the Oval Office with a young Shan woman activist from Burma, Charm Tong, and heard about the military regime's use of rape as a weapon of war.
In 2006, a day after former Czech President Vaclav Havel and former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu published a report calling for Burma to be placed on the UN security council agenda, the US declared its support for the initiative.
The US consistently led the way in raising Burma at the security council and seeking a resolution, initially with slow and grudging support from its natural allies. The US has the only meaningful set of sanctions against the regime, and in the past two years it has sought to tighten and target them further.
Laura Bush became a particular champion of Burma, making personal telephone calls to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, hosting a roundtable at the UN in New York and holding her own press conference after Cyclone Nargis in which she strongly condemned the military regime's denial of aid to the victims. Last year, on a visit to Thailand, Mr Bush met Burmese dissidents in the US embassy in Bangkok, and his wife visited a refugee camp along the Thai-Burmese border. For all their faults, the former president and first lady were consistent in highlighting the crisis in Burma and increasing international pressure on the junta.
As President Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton develop their foreign policy, they face many challenges, not least in the Middle East. Africa will understandably be a priority, given the scale of poverty on the continent and the president's own personal roots. Relations with Pakistan and China will be of strategic importance, and like Africa, the president will have a particular interest in Indonesia having spent part of his childhood there. But amid this long list of issues, the new administration must not lose sight of the dire situation in Burma.
There are five key ways in which the new administration can build on the previous government's record on Burma. First, keep raising Burma at every opportunity, within the UN and with Burma's neighbours. Empower the US special envoy appointed in the final days of the Bush administration to accelerate and intensify the international effort for change in Burma.
Second, don't let the increasingly vocal and misplaced criticism of sanctions and international pressure result in a change in the US sanctions, but rather focus sanctions more sharply at their rightful target – the generals.
Third, step up pressure on the UN secretary-general, his special envoy and the security council to spell out meaningful benchmarks for progress, accompanied by a clear indication of the consequences if the regime fails to comply. The first such benchmark should be the release of political prisoners and the beginning of meaningful dialogue.
Fourth, consider invoking the UN's "responsibility to protect" mechanism in regard to Burma. The regime is perpetrating crimes against humanity, including the use of rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, torture, forcible conscription of child soldiers, the use of human minesweepers and the destruction of more than 3,200 villages in eastern Burma alone. Over a million people are internally displaced, and thousands more forced to flee the country. The situation surely meets "responsibility to protect" criteria. Lastly, the US should abandon its previous opposition to the international criminal court and seek a referral of a case against Burma's generals for crimes against humanity.
Burma's suffering under military rule has gone on for almost half a century. But in the past two years, the junta has surpassed itself in its level of callousness and brutality. The brutal suppression of Buddhist monks in September 2007, the deliberate restriction and diversion of aid following Cyclone Nargis last year, the sham referendum on a new constitution, the sentencing of dissidents to 65 years or more in jail and the regime's failure to help Chin people in western Burma facing famine are all examples of its barbaric nature.
The junta is gearing up to solidify and legitimise its rule through elections in 2010, but everyone knows what a sham the ballot will be. And yet various UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and academics have been painting an extraordinarily rosy picture of the situation, which has little relation to reality.
Bush may have made many mistakes, but unlike many in the international community he did not pussyfoot about on Burma. Obama may be more predisposed toward consensual multilateral politics than his predecessor, but he should not do so at the cost of yet more lives in Burma. Be more favourable toward the UN, by all means Mr Obama – but give it back the spine it has lost.
Thursday 12th February, 2009
((Op-ed) Benedict Rogers - The Guardian)
As President Barack Obama dismantles the legacy of the Bush administration, there is one area in which he should actually emulate and build on his predecessor's record: Burma.
Whatever else one thinks of George Bush, few could deny the contribution he, and particularly his wife Laura, made to raising the profile of the suffering in Burma. In 2005, he spent almost an hour in the Oval Office with a young Shan woman activist from Burma, Charm Tong, and heard about the military regime's use of rape as a weapon of war.
In 2006, a day after former Czech President Vaclav Havel and former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu published a report calling for Burma to be placed on the UN security council agenda, the US declared its support for the initiative.
The US consistently led the way in raising Burma at the security council and seeking a resolution, initially with slow and grudging support from its natural allies. The US has the only meaningful set of sanctions against the regime, and in the past two years it has sought to tighten and target them further.
Laura Bush became a particular champion of Burma, making personal telephone calls to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, hosting a roundtable at the UN in New York and holding her own press conference after Cyclone Nargis in which she strongly condemned the military regime's denial of aid to the victims. Last year, on a visit to Thailand, Mr Bush met Burmese dissidents in the US embassy in Bangkok, and his wife visited a refugee camp along the Thai-Burmese border. For all their faults, the former president and first lady were consistent in highlighting the crisis in Burma and increasing international pressure on the junta.
As President Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton develop their foreign policy, they face many challenges, not least in the Middle East. Africa will understandably be a priority, given the scale of poverty on the continent and the president's own personal roots. Relations with Pakistan and China will be of strategic importance, and like Africa, the president will have a particular interest in Indonesia having spent part of his childhood there. But amid this long list of issues, the new administration must not lose sight of the dire situation in Burma.
There are five key ways in which the new administration can build on the previous government's record on Burma. First, keep raising Burma at every opportunity, within the UN and with Burma's neighbours. Empower the US special envoy appointed in the final days of the Bush administration to accelerate and intensify the international effort for change in Burma.
Second, don't let the increasingly vocal and misplaced criticism of sanctions and international pressure result in a change in the US sanctions, but rather focus sanctions more sharply at their rightful target – the generals.
Third, step up pressure on the UN secretary-general, his special envoy and the security council to spell out meaningful benchmarks for progress, accompanied by a clear indication of the consequences if the regime fails to comply. The first such benchmark should be the release of political prisoners and the beginning of meaningful dialogue.
Fourth, consider invoking the UN's "responsibility to protect" mechanism in regard to Burma. The regime is perpetrating crimes against humanity, including the use of rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, torture, forcible conscription of child soldiers, the use of human minesweepers and the destruction of more than 3,200 villages in eastern Burma alone. Over a million people are internally displaced, and thousands more forced to flee the country. The situation surely meets "responsibility to protect" criteria. Lastly, the US should abandon its previous opposition to the international criminal court and seek a referral of a case against Burma's generals for crimes against humanity.
Burma's suffering under military rule has gone on for almost half a century. But in the past two years, the junta has surpassed itself in its level of callousness and brutality. The brutal suppression of Buddhist monks in September 2007, the deliberate restriction and diversion of aid following Cyclone Nargis last year, the sham referendum on a new constitution, the sentencing of dissidents to 65 years or more in jail and the regime's failure to help Chin people in western Burma facing famine are all examples of its barbaric nature.
The junta is gearing up to solidify and legitimise its rule through elections in 2010, but everyone knows what a sham the ballot will be. And yet various UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and academics have been painting an extraordinarily rosy picture of the situation, which has little relation to reality.
Bush may have made many mistakes, but unlike many in the international community he did not pussyfoot about on Burma. Obama may be more predisposed toward consensual multilateral politics than his predecessor, but he should not do so at the cost of yet more lives in Burma. Be more favourable toward the UN, by all means Mr Obama – but give it back the spine it has lost.
Christian Today - Call to prayer for Burma's oppressed Karen minority
Christian Today - Call to prayer for Burma's oppressed Karen minority
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 14:01 (GMT)
Christian Solidarity Worldwide is calling for prayers for Burma this weekend on the first anniversary of a Karen leader in Burma.
The Karen are a minority ethnic group living mainly in Burma's Irrawaddy delta that includes many Christians among its numbers.
The former General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, was assassinated by agents of the Burmese regime on 14 February 2008. He was shot dead by gunmen at his home in Maesot, on the Thai-Burmese border, just three days after meeting a CSW delegation.
CSW’s East Asia Team Leader, Benedict Rogers said: “I had the privilege of knowing Padoh Mahn Sha well. He was dedicated not only to his own Karen people, but to the cause of freedom for all the people of Burma. He had a remarkable ability to unite people of different political, ethnic and religious backgrounds, and a vision for a peaceful, democratic, federal Burma with respect for human rights for all. He paid the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of that vision, but the cause he lived and died for lives on."
Mr Rogers called on people around the world to remember the people of Burma and particularly the Karen, who he said "continue to suffer at the hands of one of the world’s most brutal regimes".
"We urge people to unite, and to pray for peace and freedom for Burma," he said.
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 14:01 (GMT)
Christian Solidarity Worldwide is calling for prayers for Burma this weekend on the first anniversary of a Karen leader in Burma.
The Karen are a minority ethnic group living mainly in Burma's Irrawaddy delta that includes many Christians among its numbers.
The former General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, was assassinated by agents of the Burmese regime on 14 February 2008. He was shot dead by gunmen at his home in Maesot, on the Thai-Burmese border, just three days after meeting a CSW delegation.
CSW’s East Asia Team Leader, Benedict Rogers said: “I had the privilege of knowing Padoh Mahn Sha well. He was dedicated not only to his own Karen people, but to the cause of freedom for all the people of Burma. He had a remarkable ability to unite people of different political, ethnic and religious backgrounds, and a vision for a peaceful, democratic, federal Burma with respect for human rights for all. He paid the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of that vision, but the cause he lived and died for lives on."
Mr Rogers called on people around the world to remember the people of Burma and particularly the Karen, who he said "continue to suffer at the hands of one of the world’s most brutal regimes".
"We urge people to unite, and to pray for peace and freedom for Burma," he said.
People's Daily Online - Japan to provide more aid to rebuild houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit areas
People's Daily Online - Japan to provide more aid to rebuild houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit areas
+-13:32, February 12, 2009
The Japanese government will provide 3 million U.S. dollars more of aid through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to rebuild the remaining damaged houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit regions, the Yangon Times weekly quoted the Japanese Embassy as reporting Thursday.
A total of 374,391 houses in Ayeyawaddy division and 371,373 in Yangon division were destroyed in the cyclone that hit Myanmar last year, the report said.
Early this month, the Japanese government had provided 2 million dollars through the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to help in agricultural restoration work in the country's Ayeyawaddy delta after storm.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) will also give Myanmar humanitarian assistance of 40.5 million euros (52 million USD) this year, according to earlier report.
Of the total, 22 million euros will be spent for those who had suffered disastrous cyclone Nargis last year, while the rest 18.5 million euros will be used for people who have difficulties with their living.
Besides, another Malaysian humanitarian organization, the MercyMalaysia, will also provide help to rebuild a dozen healthcare facilities in Dedaye, one of Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas in the Ayeyawaddy delta, the earlier report said.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states - Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
+-13:32, February 12, 2009
The Japanese government will provide 3 million U.S. dollars more of aid through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to rebuild the remaining damaged houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit regions, the Yangon Times weekly quoted the Japanese Embassy as reporting Thursday.
A total of 374,391 houses in Ayeyawaddy division and 371,373 in Yangon division were destroyed in the cyclone that hit Myanmar last year, the report said.
Early this month, the Japanese government had provided 2 million dollars through the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to help in agricultural restoration work in the country's Ayeyawaddy delta after storm.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) will also give Myanmar humanitarian assistance of 40.5 million euros (52 million USD) this year, according to earlier report.
Of the total, 22 million euros will be spent for those who had suffered disastrous cyclone Nargis last year, while the rest 18.5 million euros will be used for people who have difficulties with their living.
Besides, another Malaysian humanitarian organization, the MercyMalaysia, will also provide help to rebuild a dozen healthcare facilities in Dedaye, one of Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas in the Ayeyawaddy delta, the earlier report said.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states - Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
Minivan News - President urges release of Burmese political prisoner
Minivan News - President urges release of Burmese political prisoner
11 February 2009
Maryam Omidi
Former political prisoner President Mohamed Nasheed has spoken out against the 14-year detention of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi by the Burmese military authorities.
In a strongly-worded letter to Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy to Burma, President Nasheed urged him to seek a “more substantial result” in the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, has become a global symbol of non-violent resistance in the face of oppression by Burma’s military regime. In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle to bring democracy to Burma.
Nasheed, an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience in 1991, was elected as president of the Maldives in the country's first multi-party elections in October 2008. He extended an invitation to Aung San Suu Kyi for his swearing in ceremony on 11 November 2008.
In his letter, Nasheed said he was concerned about the political situation in Burma, which he says has made no “tangible democratic progress”.
He writes about the Maldives’ multi-party elections last year, which resulted in the overthrow of a “30-year-old dictatorship”. The people of the Maldives, he writes, are with those “struggling to establish democracy in Burma”.
“It is extremely frustrating to watch the constant abuse of human rights by the leaders of Burma and the plight of more than 270 pro-democracy activists recently jailed, some given sentences of 100 years.
“As a former political prisoner myself, it is especially distressing to see that nearly 2000 political prisoners are currently languishing in the jails of Burma without hope of freedom.”
Nasheed ends his letter by calling the Burmese junta’s “Roadmap to Democracy” a sham which will not “pull wool over the eyes of the world”.
Article 19, a human rights organisation that campaigns for freedom of expression around the world, has welcomed the president’s letter.
In an email to Minivan News, director Agnes Callamard said, “Governments of the region, particularly member states of the Asean have been remarkably quiet in front of the plight of the people of Burma.
“Their silence amounts to condoning the Burmese authorities’ complete disregard for human rights, democracy and the rule of law as exemplified by their continued imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi and of all other prisoners of conscience.”
Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of General Aung San – a leader in Burma’s independence movement – who was assassinated in 1947.
On her return to Burma in 1988 after living abroad, the country was undergoing a major political upheaval, with thousands taking to the streets and demanding democratic reform.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of peaceful resistance as well as Buddhist tenets of pacifism, she formed the National League for Democracy (NLD), which aimed to expedite the democratisation process in Burma.
The same year, she was put under house arrest and was told she could walk free if she left the country – she refused.
In 1990, the junta called national elections and the NLD won in a landslide victory, even though Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest.
In her most well-known speech, “Freedom from fear”, she said, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
11 February 2009
Maryam Omidi
Former political prisoner President Mohamed Nasheed has spoken out against the 14-year detention of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi by the Burmese military authorities.
In a strongly-worded letter to Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy to Burma, President Nasheed urged him to seek a “more substantial result” in the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, has become a global symbol of non-violent resistance in the face of oppression by Burma’s military regime. In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle to bring democracy to Burma.
Nasheed, an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience in 1991, was elected as president of the Maldives in the country's first multi-party elections in October 2008. He extended an invitation to Aung San Suu Kyi for his swearing in ceremony on 11 November 2008.
In his letter, Nasheed said he was concerned about the political situation in Burma, which he says has made no “tangible democratic progress”.
He writes about the Maldives’ multi-party elections last year, which resulted in the overthrow of a “30-year-old dictatorship”. The people of the Maldives, he writes, are with those “struggling to establish democracy in Burma”.
“It is extremely frustrating to watch the constant abuse of human rights by the leaders of Burma and the plight of more than 270 pro-democracy activists recently jailed, some given sentences of 100 years.
“As a former political prisoner myself, it is especially distressing to see that nearly 2000 political prisoners are currently languishing in the jails of Burma without hope of freedom.”
Nasheed ends his letter by calling the Burmese junta’s “Roadmap to Democracy” a sham which will not “pull wool over the eyes of the world”.
Article 19, a human rights organisation that campaigns for freedom of expression around the world, has welcomed the president’s letter.
In an email to Minivan News, director Agnes Callamard said, “Governments of the region, particularly member states of the Asean have been remarkably quiet in front of the plight of the people of Burma.
“Their silence amounts to condoning the Burmese authorities’ complete disregard for human rights, democracy and the rule of law as exemplified by their continued imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi and of all other prisoners of conscience.”
Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of General Aung San – a leader in Burma’s independence movement – who was assassinated in 1947.
On her return to Burma in 1988 after living abroad, the country was undergoing a major political upheaval, with thousands taking to the streets and demanding democratic reform.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of peaceful resistance as well as Buddhist tenets of pacifism, she formed the National League for Democracy (NLD), which aimed to expedite the democratisation process in Burma.
The same year, she was put under house arrest and was told she could walk free if she left the country – she refused.
In 1990, the junta called national elections and the NLD won in a landslide victory, even though Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest.
In her most well-known speech, “Freedom from fear”, she said, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
UN News Centre - Myanmar: UN envoy concludes Asian consultations
UN News Centre - Myanmar: UN envoy concludes Asian consultations
12 February 2009 – On the heels of his most recent visit to Myanmar, the top United Nations envoy to the South-East Asian nation has wrapped up consultations in the region on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
In Beijing, Special Adviser Ibrahim Gambari held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei, which whom he discussed the outcome of his four-day visit to Myanmar.
Mr. Gambari then travelled to Tokyo, where he met with Japanese Foreign Minister Nakasone and Deputy Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae. They conferred on how the international community can support the Secretary-General’s good offices efforts to promote the engagement in a democratic process by the people and Government of Myanmar.
During his visit to Myanmar, the fifth to the country in the past year and a half, the envoy met with Government officials and opposition and other political parties, including with detained pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Last week, the Secretary-General called on the country’s Government and opposition to resume substantive talks leading to national dialogue and reconciliation.
Security Council President Yukio Takasu of Japan told reporters today that Mr. Gambari will brief the 15-member body on 20 February.
12 February 2009 – On the heels of his most recent visit to Myanmar, the top United Nations envoy to the South-East Asian nation has wrapped up consultations in the region on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
In Beijing, Special Adviser Ibrahim Gambari held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei, which whom he discussed the outcome of his four-day visit to Myanmar.
Mr. Gambari then travelled to Tokyo, where he met with Japanese Foreign Minister Nakasone and Deputy Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae. They conferred on how the international community can support the Secretary-General’s good offices efforts to promote the engagement in a democratic process by the people and Government of Myanmar.
During his visit to Myanmar, the fifth to the country in the past year and a half, the envoy met with Government officials and opposition and other political parties, including with detained pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Last week, the Secretary-General called on the country’s Government and opposition to resume substantive talks leading to national dialogue and reconciliation.
Security Council President Yukio Takasu of Japan told reporters today that Mr. Gambari will brief the 15-member body on 20 February.
UN Envoy, Japan Encourage Myanmar On Next Year's Elections
UN Envoy, Japan Encourage Myanmar On Next Year's Elections
TOKYO (AFP)--The U.N. envoy to Myanmar made a joint call Thursday with Japan for the military regime to move ahead with elections next year, saying the rest of the world would respond positively.
Ibrahim Gambari, a special advisor to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, was visiting Japan after spending four days in Myanmar where he tried to nudge the military regime toward dialogue with the democratic opposition.
The former Nigerian foreign minister spoke separately with detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Prime Minister Thein Sein, but failed to arrange for the two to meet.
Gambari in talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone "agreed that all the relevant parties need to participate in the democratization process of Myanmar," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
They agreed on "encouraging the Myanmar government to hold a general election in 2010 in a form that be congratulated by the international community," it said.
Nakasone told Gambari that the world would "react positively to a positive move" by the isolated regime.
"Even though there are few positive moves by the Myanmar government, it's a huge step for them to have announced that they would hold a general election in 2010, compared with two past decades of silence about its democratization process," said a foreign ministry official in charge of Japan's relations with Myanmar.
"If they take favorable action, the international community should react in a manner that encourages more positive actions," he said.
Japan, the top donor to Myanmar among the world's major developed economies, in 2003 suspended most assistance other than emergency aid and some training funding.
Japan cut its assistance further after Myanmar cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007.
But Japan refuses to join Western allies in slapping punishing sanctions on Myanmar. China, which often spars with Japan for influence, is the main political and commercial partner of Myanmar.
TOKYO (AFP)--The U.N. envoy to Myanmar made a joint call Thursday with Japan for the military regime to move ahead with elections next year, saying the rest of the world would respond positively.
Ibrahim Gambari, a special advisor to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, was visiting Japan after spending four days in Myanmar where he tried to nudge the military regime toward dialogue with the democratic opposition.
The former Nigerian foreign minister spoke separately with detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Prime Minister Thein Sein, but failed to arrange for the two to meet.
Gambari in talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone "agreed that all the relevant parties need to participate in the democratization process of Myanmar," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
They agreed on "encouraging the Myanmar government to hold a general election in 2010 in a form that be congratulated by the international community," it said.
Nakasone told Gambari that the world would "react positively to a positive move" by the isolated regime.
"Even though there are few positive moves by the Myanmar government, it's a huge step for them to have announced that they would hold a general election in 2010, compared with two past decades of silence about its democratization process," said a foreign ministry official in charge of Japan's relations with Myanmar.
"If they take favorable action, the international community should react in a manner that encourages more positive actions," he said.
Japan, the top donor to Myanmar among the world's major developed economies, in 2003 suspended most assistance other than emergency aid and some training funding.
Japan cut its assistance further after Myanmar cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007.
But Japan refuses to join Western allies in slapping punishing sanctions on Myanmar. China, which often spars with Japan for influence, is the main political and commercial partner of Myanmar.
Myanmar NLD party to petition for Suu Kyi's freedom
Myanmar NLD party to petition for Suu Kyi's freedom
Thu Feb 12, 8:53 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar's main pro-democracy party launched a nationwide signature campaign Thursday to press for the immediate release of its detained leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other political detainees.
Getting the public involved may be difficult in Myanmar, which has been under virtually continuous military rule since 1962. Few people are willing to publicly criticize the government, and dissidents face harassment or imprisonment.
The petition campaign was launched Thursday in Yangon at the headquarters of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party during a Union Day celebration attended by nearly 300 party members.
"The campaign is meant to show the ruling military junta and the international community the solidarity of the people and support of the people," party spokesman Nyan Win said. He said the party had not yet decided what to do with the collected signatures.
The party held a similar campaign in 2004 with no evident results.
Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention and is currently under house arrest in Yangon.
The current junta held elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory.
Human rights groups say Myanmar holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 before pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks were crushed in 2007.
For the official celebration of Union Day, Myanmar's military ruler, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, called on the people "to prevent the danger of internal and external destructive elements attempting to undermine peace and stability," in a speech printed in state-run newspapers.
He did not name anyone specifically, but frequently lashes out at the opposition and at the United States and other Western nations for imposing political and economic sanctions on the government.
Thu Feb 12, 8:53 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar's main pro-democracy party launched a nationwide signature campaign Thursday to press for the immediate release of its detained leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other political detainees.
Getting the public involved may be difficult in Myanmar, which has been under virtually continuous military rule since 1962. Few people are willing to publicly criticize the government, and dissidents face harassment or imprisonment.
The petition campaign was launched Thursday in Yangon at the headquarters of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party during a Union Day celebration attended by nearly 300 party members.
"The campaign is meant to show the ruling military junta and the international community the solidarity of the people and support of the people," party spokesman Nyan Win said. He said the party had not yet decided what to do with the collected signatures.
The party held a similar campaign in 2004 with no evident results.
Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention and is currently under house arrest in Yangon.
The current junta held elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory.
Human rights groups say Myanmar holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 before pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks were crushed in 2007.
For the official celebration of Union Day, Myanmar's military ruler, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, called on the people "to prevent the danger of internal and external destructive elements attempting to undermine peace and stability," in a speech printed in state-run newspapers.
He did not name anyone specifically, but frequently lashes out at the opposition and at the United States and other Western nations for imposing political and economic sanctions on the government.
UN chief asks military junta and opposition to resume talks
United Nations, Feb 11 (PTI) Admitting that he is not "totally satisfied" with the meetings that his envoy to Myanmar had during his recent visit to the country, UN chief Ban Ki-moon once again has asked the military junta and opposition to resume talks.
Replying to a question at a press conference here yesterday, Ban said he was not satisfied with the meetings that his special adviser Ibrahim Gambari had during his recent visit to the military-ruled country.
"He had good discussions there even though one may not be totally satisfied," he said, adding that he plans to discuss the issue with Group of Myanmar shortly.
However, Ban said he looks forward to building on Gambari's visit with a view to further promoting national dialogue and reconciliation.
He agreed that Gambari was not able to meet with junta chief Senior General Than Shwe but pointed out he did meet with Prime Minister Thein Sein and detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I would again call on government and opposition to resume substantive dialogue without preconditions and without further delay," the UN secretary-general said.
Thailand upset with Angelina Jolie refugee comments
Thailand upset with Angelina Jolie refugee comments
Wed Feb 11, 1:13 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – The Thai government on Wednesday chastised US actress Angelina Jolie and the United Nations refugee agency for commenting on boat people from Myanmar, whom the Thai army stands accused of abusing.
Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt visited a refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border last week, and the Hollywood actress urged the Thai government to respect the rights of the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group from Myanmar.
Thailand's military has recently been accused of detaining and beating hundreds of Rohingya who fled abuse and poverty in Myanmar, before towing them back out to sea in ill-equipped boats with little food and water.
"Angelina was not focused on the Rohingya, but was visiting Myanmar refugee camps," said Virasakdi Futrakul, permanent secretary of the Thai foreign ministry.
"It was a coincidence that the Rohingya was a hot news issue at the time, therefore we must warn (UN refugee agency) UNHCR that they should not comment on this issue because they have no mandate on this issue."
Virasakdi also said that the UNHCR should not have brought Jolie, its goodwill ambassador, to one of the nine refugee camps stringing the Thai-Myanmar border which are run by Thailand's interior ministry.
"The Thai government will issue a reprimand letter to UNHCR asking why it allowed Angelina Jolie to visit the refugee camps," Virasakdi told reporters.
Kitty McKinsey, UNHCR spokeswoman in Bangkok, told AFP that both Jolie and Pitt had camp passes issued by the Ministry of Interior, and said the visit was arranged with the cooperation of the foreign ministry.
While touring the northern Ban Mai Nai Soi camp home to 18,000 refugees from Myanmar, Jolie said she hoped Thailand would be "just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores."
Hundreds of Rohingya have been found adrift at sea off the coasts of India and Indonesia in the last few months, with many of the migrants giving similar accounts of mistreatment and abandonment at the hands of the Thais.
Thailand has denied the claims of cruelty, but has taken a harsh stance toward the boat people. They insist the Rohingya are economic migrants and say they will not be offered any refuge in the kingdom.
"We have the right to arrest them ... we will not set up holding centres for the Rohingya but will put them in prisons," said Virasakdi.
Wed Feb 11, 1:13 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – The Thai government on Wednesday chastised US actress Angelina Jolie and the United Nations refugee agency for commenting on boat people from Myanmar, whom the Thai army stands accused of abusing.
Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt visited a refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border last week, and the Hollywood actress urged the Thai government to respect the rights of the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group from Myanmar.
Thailand's military has recently been accused of detaining and beating hundreds of Rohingya who fled abuse and poverty in Myanmar, before towing them back out to sea in ill-equipped boats with little food and water.
"Angelina was not focused on the Rohingya, but was visiting Myanmar refugee camps," said Virasakdi Futrakul, permanent secretary of the Thai foreign ministry.
"It was a coincidence that the Rohingya was a hot news issue at the time, therefore we must warn (UN refugee agency) UNHCR that they should not comment on this issue because they have no mandate on this issue."
Virasakdi also said that the UNHCR should not have brought Jolie, its goodwill ambassador, to one of the nine refugee camps stringing the Thai-Myanmar border which are run by Thailand's interior ministry.
"The Thai government will issue a reprimand letter to UNHCR asking why it allowed Angelina Jolie to visit the refugee camps," Virasakdi told reporters.
Kitty McKinsey, UNHCR spokeswoman in Bangkok, told AFP that both Jolie and Pitt had camp passes issued by the Ministry of Interior, and said the visit was arranged with the cooperation of the foreign ministry.
While touring the northern Ban Mai Nai Soi camp home to 18,000 refugees from Myanmar, Jolie said she hoped Thailand would be "just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores."
Hundreds of Rohingya have been found adrift at sea off the coasts of India and Indonesia in the last few months, with many of the migrants giving similar accounts of mistreatment and abandonment at the hands of the Thais.
Thailand has denied the claims of cruelty, but has taken a harsh stance toward the boat people. They insist the Rohingya are economic migrants and say they will not be offered any refuge in the kingdom.
"We have the right to arrest them ... we will not set up holding centres for the Rohingya but will put them in prisons," said Virasakdi.
The Irrawaddy - Tension Mounts between Wa and Burmese Army
The Irrawaddy - Tension Mounts between Wa and Burmese Army
By SAW YAN NAING
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Rising tension between the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and Burmese government forces is reported by sources in Shan State and along the Sino-Burmese border.
Saeng Juen, assistant editor of the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News, said the Burmese army had deployed an estimated 2,000 reinforcements since the middle of January in Mong Ping, Mong Hsnu, Tang Yan and Kunlong.
The reinforcements included troops under Military Operation Command 16, he said.
The sound of weapons fire was reported from around Hopang and Panlong, regions close to the Sino-Burmese border where the tension between Burmese army and Wa troops is mounting. Border-based analyst Aung Kyaw Zaw said a Wa unit based in Hopang had tested its weapons two days ago.
Aung Kyaw Zaw said that although the Burmese army was on the alert there was no military activity involving government forces or Wa troops at the moment.
Saeng Juen said Burmese authorities had halted the construction of a bridge on the upper Salween River in Shan State after the UWSA prohibited further work.
Aung Kyaw Zaw said tension between the UWSA and Burmese forces had been increasing for several reasons, including a Wa announcement in January describing Wa-controlled areas as a special autonomous region known as the “Government of Wa State, Special Autonomous Region, Union of Myanmar.”
Tensions also reportedly rose after the Wa ignored a Burmese government demand for drug dealer Aik Hawk to be handed over.
In a recent raid in Rangoon, a Burmese special drugs force arrested several associates of Aik Hawk, also known as Hsiao Haw, following the seizure of a quantity of heroin. Aik Hawk is the son-in-law of UWSA chairman Bao Youxiang.
The Burmese government believes Aik Hawk is being protected by Wa forces in Panghsang, headquarters of the UWSA, which is heavily involved in the drugs trade.
Another cause of rising tension was an incident on January 19, when a 30-member Burmese delegation led by Lt-Gen Ye Myint, chief of Military Affairs Security, was forced to disarm during a visit to Wa-held territory in Shan State.
An estimated force of 20,000 UWSA soldiers is currently deployed along Burma’s borders with Thailand and China, while an estimated 60,000 to 120,000 Wa villagers inhabit areas of lower Shan State.
By SAW YAN NAING
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Rising tension between the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and Burmese government forces is reported by sources in Shan State and along the Sino-Burmese border.
Saeng Juen, assistant editor of the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News, said the Burmese army had deployed an estimated 2,000 reinforcements since the middle of January in Mong Ping, Mong Hsnu, Tang Yan and Kunlong.
The reinforcements included troops under Military Operation Command 16, he said.
The sound of weapons fire was reported from around Hopang and Panlong, regions close to the Sino-Burmese border where the tension between Burmese army and Wa troops is mounting. Border-based analyst Aung Kyaw Zaw said a Wa unit based in Hopang had tested its weapons two days ago.
Aung Kyaw Zaw said that although the Burmese army was on the alert there was no military activity involving government forces or Wa troops at the moment.
Saeng Juen said Burmese authorities had halted the construction of a bridge on the upper Salween River in Shan State after the UWSA prohibited further work.
Aung Kyaw Zaw said tension between the UWSA and Burmese forces had been increasing for several reasons, including a Wa announcement in January describing Wa-controlled areas as a special autonomous region known as the “Government of Wa State, Special Autonomous Region, Union of Myanmar.”
Tensions also reportedly rose after the Wa ignored a Burmese government demand for drug dealer Aik Hawk to be handed over.
In a recent raid in Rangoon, a Burmese special drugs force arrested several associates of Aik Hawk, also known as Hsiao Haw, following the seizure of a quantity of heroin. Aik Hawk is the son-in-law of UWSA chairman Bao Youxiang.
The Burmese government believes Aik Hawk is being protected by Wa forces in Panghsang, headquarters of the UWSA, which is heavily involved in the drugs trade.
Another cause of rising tension was an incident on January 19, when a 30-member Burmese delegation led by Lt-Gen Ye Myint, chief of Military Affairs Security, was forced to disarm during a visit to Wa-held territory in Shan State.
An estimated force of 20,000 UWSA soldiers is currently deployed along Burma’s borders with Thailand and China, while an estimated 60,000 to 120,000 Wa villagers inhabit areas of lower Shan State.
Myanmar to hold fruits, vegetable exhibition in second largest city
Myanmar to hold fruits, vegetable exhibition in second largest city
www.chinaview.cn 2009-02-10 18:59:53
YANGON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will hold a fruit and vegetable exhibition in the second largest city of Mandalay on Thursday, exhibition sources from Mandalay said on Tuesday.
The sixth exhibition, taking place at the Kandawgyi garden, involves contests of flowers, orchids, vegetable and fruits as well as flower and leave decoration.
Myanmar has been placing emphasis on production of high-yield fruits and vegetables to boost export, taking advantage of the country's fair climatic conditions and geographic superiority.
The expanded production of quality fruits and vegetables will not only satisfy domestic demand but also generate foreign exchange earnings, thereby contributing to enhancing the socio-economic life of the entire people, agricultural experts said.
There are 100 kinds of kitchen crops including over 70 kinds of fruits produced by Myanmar along with vegetables.
Sown areas of fruit trees have reached 729,000 hectares in Myanmar, while that of vegetable 405,000 hectares and that of kitchen crops such as chilli, onion and potato 263,250 hectares, official report said.
Myanmar is also rich with other tropical fruit resources such as banana, strawberry, durian, mangosteen, papaya, coconut and so on.
Myanmar's fruit export to neighboring countries through border trade in 2008 amounted to 120,000 tons, up from 2007, according to local report.
Of Myanmar's neighboring countries, China imported Myanmar fruits most compared with others such as Thailand and India.
Tropical fruits such as pine-apple, musk melon, pomelo, avocadopear, asparagus and chilli are mainly exported by Myanmar.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-02-10 18:59:53
YANGON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will hold a fruit and vegetable exhibition in the second largest city of Mandalay on Thursday, exhibition sources from Mandalay said on Tuesday.
The sixth exhibition, taking place at the Kandawgyi garden, involves contests of flowers, orchids, vegetable and fruits as well as flower and leave decoration.
Myanmar has been placing emphasis on production of high-yield fruits and vegetables to boost export, taking advantage of the country's fair climatic conditions and geographic superiority.
The expanded production of quality fruits and vegetables will not only satisfy domestic demand but also generate foreign exchange earnings, thereby contributing to enhancing the socio-economic life of the entire people, agricultural experts said.
There are 100 kinds of kitchen crops including over 70 kinds of fruits produced by Myanmar along with vegetables.
Sown areas of fruit trees have reached 729,000 hectares in Myanmar, while that of vegetable 405,000 hectares and that of kitchen crops such as chilli, onion and potato 263,250 hectares, official report said.
Myanmar is also rich with other tropical fruit resources such as banana, strawberry, durian, mangosteen, papaya, coconut and so on.
Myanmar's fruit export to neighboring countries through border trade in 2008 amounted to 120,000 tons, up from 2007, according to local report.
Of Myanmar's neighboring countries, China imported Myanmar fruits most compared with others such as Thailand and India.
Tropical fruits such as pine-apple, musk melon, pomelo, avocadopear, asparagus and chilli are mainly exported by Myanmar.
ReliefWeb - Myanmar: Senior UN official stresses the importance of the right architecture as post-Nargis recovery moves to the next phase
ReliefWeb - Myanmar: Senior UN official stresses the importance of the right architecture as post-Nargis recovery moves to the next phase
Source: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
Date: 09 Feb 2009
Bangkok (ESCAP Information Services) – As the efforts to rebuild the communities in Myanmar affected by Cyclone Nargis move from emergency relief and early recovery stage towards medium-recovery, setting up the right framework is vitally important, the senior most United Nations official in the region says today.
Dr Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), made the remarks in a message delivered at the launch of The Post-Nargis Response and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP), which was held today at ESCAP in Bangkok.
The PONREPP, a three year plan beginning in January 2009, provides a platform for the transition between emergency assistance and short-term recovery to medium-term recovery. It was developed by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) which consists of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Government of the Union of Myanmar, and the United Nations.
Noting that the process of recovery from Nargis would take several years, Dr. Heyzer said the importance of the right architecture could not be over-emphasized.
"Strong institutions, effective mechanisms and accountable processes are needed to plan and orchestrate the various components of the recovery effort, to facilitate the many activities and programmes, to ensure coordination, communication, and coherence among the wide range of stakeholders, and to manage the smooth transition from one phase to the next," Dr Heyzer said.
"The PONREPP provides us with a framework for the medium- and long-term post-Nargis recovery effort, including the priorities of supporting food security and livelihood recovery, improving public health, restoring economic and social infrastructure, and integrating disaster risk reduction into the recovery process," Dr. Heyzer added. "To ensure that the strategies and plans laid out in the PONREPP translate into real support for the survivors of Cyclone Nargis, the continued engagement of international community is essential."
The launch was attended by representatives of all the partners in the TCG, including Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN; U Kyaw Thu, Chairman of the Civil Service Selection and Training Board, Union of Myanmar & Chair, TCG; and Mr. Bishow Parajuli, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar.
Dr, Heyzer recalled ESCAP's partnership with ASEAN and the Government of Myanmar in recovery planning, with the holding of the Post-Nargis Recovery and Livelihood Opportunities in Myanmar meeting at ESCAP last October. The meeting brought members of the TCG together with experts who had experience dealing with such recent disasters in the region as the 2004 Asian Tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, and the 2007 Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh.
The meetings followed visits in May and June of 2008 by Dr. Heyzer to Myanmar, during which Government representatives and the UN Country Team welcomed the idea of ESCAP, as part of the advisory group to the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force and the regional development arm of the United Nations, convening a series of regional expert group meetings and policy dialogues on issues of recovery and reconstruction in post-Nargis Myanmar.
Source: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
Date: 09 Feb 2009
Bangkok (ESCAP Information Services) – As the efforts to rebuild the communities in Myanmar affected by Cyclone Nargis move from emergency relief and early recovery stage towards medium-recovery, setting up the right framework is vitally important, the senior most United Nations official in the region says today.
Dr Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), made the remarks in a message delivered at the launch of The Post-Nargis Response and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP), which was held today at ESCAP in Bangkok.
The PONREPP, a three year plan beginning in January 2009, provides a platform for the transition between emergency assistance and short-term recovery to medium-term recovery. It was developed by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) which consists of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Government of the Union of Myanmar, and the United Nations.
Noting that the process of recovery from Nargis would take several years, Dr. Heyzer said the importance of the right architecture could not be over-emphasized.
"Strong institutions, effective mechanisms and accountable processes are needed to plan and orchestrate the various components of the recovery effort, to facilitate the many activities and programmes, to ensure coordination, communication, and coherence among the wide range of stakeholders, and to manage the smooth transition from one phase to the next," Dr Heyzer said.
"The PONREPP provides us with a framework for the medium- and long-term post-Nargis recovery effort, including the priorities of supporting food security and livelihood recovery, improving public health, restoring economic and social infrastructure, and integrating disaster risk reduction into the recovery process," Dr. Heyzer added. "To ensure that the strategies and plans laid out in the PONREPP translate into real support for the survivors of Cyclone Nargis, the continued engagement of international community is essential."
The launch was attended by representatives of all the partners in the TCG, including Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN; U Kyaw Thu, Chairman of the Civil Service Selection and Training Board, Union of Myanmar & Chair, TCG; and Mr. Bishow Parajuli, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar.
Dr, Heyzer recalled ESCAP's partnership with ASEAN and the Government of Myanmar in recovery planning, with the holding of the Post-Nargis Recovery and Livelihood Opportunities in Myanmar meeting at ESCAP last October. The meeting brought members of the TCG together with experts who had experience dealing with such recent disasters in the region as the 2004 Asian Tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, and the 2007 Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh.
The meetings followed visits in May and June of 2008 by Dr. Heyzer to Myanmar, during which Government representatives and the UN Country Team welcomed the idea of ESCAP, as part of the advisory group to the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force and the regional development arm of the United Nations, convening a series of regional expert group meetings and policy dialogues on issues of recovery and reconstruction in post-Nargis Myanmar.
UN chief says envoy had good talks in Myanmar
UN chief says envoy had good talks in Myanmar
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 46 mins ago
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday his envoy to Myanmar had good talks in the military-ruled Southeast Asian country, and the world body's chief again urged the government and opposition to quickly resume talks.
Ban said at a news conference that he looks forward to building on special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's recent visit "with a view to further promoting national dialogue and reconciliation."
Gambari met with Myanmar's prime minister, Gen. Thein Sein, as well as detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a four-day trip that ended earlier this month. But he did not meet with the junta's chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, as he did on three previous visits.
Gambari "had good discussions there even though one may not be totally satisfied," Ban said.
"I would again call on government and opposition to resume substantive dialogue without preconditions and without further delay," the secretary-general added.
Myanmar's current military leadership came to power in 1988, when the country was known as Burma, after crushing a nationwide pro-democracy movement. It held elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory. It tolerates virtually no dissent.
State television reported after Gambari's visit that the prime minister gave the U.N. envoy a cold reception, telling him the world body should lift economic sanctions and visa bans if it wants to see political stability.
Western nations, including the United States, impose economic and political sanctions on Myanmar because of its poor human rights record and failure to restore democracy.
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 46 mins ago
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday his envoy to Myanmar had good talks in the military-ruled Southeast Asian country, and the world body's chief again urged the government and opposition to quickly resume talks.
Ban said at a news conference that he looks forward to building on special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's recent visit "with a view to further promoting national dialogue and reconciliation."
Gambari met with Myanmar's prime minister, Gen. Thein Sein, as well as detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a four-day trip that ended earlier this month. But he did not meet with the junta's chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, as he did on three previous visits.
Gambari "had good discussions there even though one may not be totally satisfied," Ban said.
"I would again call on government and opposition to resume substantive dialogue without preconditions and without further delay," the secretary-general added.
Myanmar's current military leadership came to power in 1988, when the country was known as Burma, after crushing a nationwide pro-democracy movement. It held elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory. It tolerates virtually no dissent.
State television reported after Gambari's visit that the prime minister gave the U.N. envoy a cold reception, telling him the world body should lift economic sanctions and visa bans if it wants to see political stability.
Western nations, including the United States, impose economic and political sanctions on Myanmar because of its poor human rights record and failure to restore democracy.
MYANMAR Religious face recruitment challenges with hilltribe youths
MYANMAR Religious face recruitment challenges with hilltribe youths
February 9, 2009 | MY06605.1536 |
YANGON (UCAN) -- Working with rural youths interested in Religious life in Myanmar often involves education and character formation as well as discernment. Yet they may still end up deciding such a vocation is not for them.
Members of the De La Salle, Our Lady of the Missions and St. Joseph of the Apparition congregations recently shared, in separate interviews, some of these challenges.
They all agreed that Catholics living in cities today are more interested in furthering their careers at home or abroad than in Religious life. Most candidates now come from rural areas, many of them hilltribe youths from Catholic boarding schools, especially in Chin, Kachin and Shan states.
Sister Margaret Mang, novice director of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, said that after graduating from high school, young women interested in knowing more about her congregation live and work with the nuns during an annual “come and see” program. They work in various projects -- farming, gardening, raising fish and poultry -- through which the nuns support themselves.
However, the low standard of education in rural areas makes providing them the necessary training and formation a struggle, she shared. She hopes some may feel inspired to take up a Religious vocation after experiencing the nuns’ life and work.
Brother Lawrence Goh, 58, superior of the De La Salle Brothers, shared similar experiences. He noted that people from remote areas may need to learn how to interact properly in wider society. Some also “have an inferiority complex, and we need to be careful” in giving them formation, he added.
Young men who take part his congregation’s nine-month “come and see” program develop self-awareness, learn how they can serve the Church and receive regular counseling.
If they are interested in pursuing a vocation after the program, they remain with the brothers and study the De La Salle mission, English, music and catechism as aspirants. They are then sent to the Philippines for formation as postulants and novices.
Sister Rosy Tin Myint from the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition shared that her congregation often has to discern if young people are joining for the right reasons.
Sometimes, they may just want to escape poverty, she pointed out. The congregation has to help them discern their real “motives and intentions, and, if they are genuinely interested, give them guidance.”
Another challenge is to ensure that formators themselves are adequately trained. As Sister Mang put it: “If you are not skilled, well-trained or professional, how can you train others?”
Good Shepherd Sister Agnes Paitu, 40, vocations director for her congregation, said formators need to learn more and attend more training programs so they can better understand these young people in terms of their background, emotions and motivation.
Still, the Religious acknowledge that even with their best formation efforts, not all candidates will take up a religious vocation.
“Our intention of welcoming the young girls” and letting them experience the congregation’s work, Sister Mang said, “is so that even if they have no vocation to become nuns, they can still be good leaders in their dioceses and parishes.”
According to the 2009 Myanmar Catholic directory, 1,771 men and women belong to the 30 Religious congregations working in Myanmar.
February 9, 2009 | MY06605.1536 |
YANGON (UCAN) -- Working with rural youths interested in Religious life in Myanmar often involves education and character formation as well as discernment. Yet they may still end up deciding such a vocation is not for them.
Members of the De La Salle, Our Lady of the Missions and St. Joseph of the Apparition congregations recently shared, in separate interviews, some of these challenges.
They all agreed that Catholics living in cities today are more interested in furthering their careers at home or abroad than in Religious life. Most candidates now come from rural areas, many of them hilltribe youths from Catholic boarding schools, especially in Chin, Kachin and Shan states.
Sister Margaret Mang, novice director of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, said that after graduating from high school, young women interested in knowing more about her congregation live and work with the nuns during an annual “come and see” program. They work in various projects -- farming, gardening, raising fish and poultry -- through which the nuns support themselves.
However, the low standard of education in rural areas makes providing them the necessary training and formation a struggle, she shared. She hopes some may feel inspired to take up a Religious vocation after experiencing the nuns’ life and work.
Brother Lawrence Goh, 58, superior of the De La Salle Brothers, shared similar experiences. He noted that people from remote areas may need to learn how to interact properly in wider society. Some also “have an inferiority complex, and we need to be careful” in giving them formation, he added.
Young men who take part his congregation’s nine-month “come and see” program develop self-awareness, learn how they can serve the Church and receive regular counseling.
If they are interested in pursuing a vocation after the program, they remain with the brothers and study the De La Salle mission, English, music and catechism as aspirants. They are then sent to the Philippines for formation as postulants and novices.
Sister Rosy Tin Myint from the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition shared that her congregation often has to discern if young people are joining for the right reasons.
Sometimes, they may just want to escape poverty, she pointed out. The congregation has to help them discern their real “motives and intentions, and, if they are genuinely interested, give them guidance.”
Another challenge is to ensure that formators themselves are adequately trained. As Sister Mang put it: “If you are not skilled, well-trained or professional, how can you train others?”
Good Shepherd Sister Agnes Paitu, 40, vocations director for her congregation, said formators need to learn more and attend more training programs so they can better understand these young people in terms of their background, emotions and motivation.
Still, the Religious acknowledge that even with their best formation efforts, not all candidates will take up a religious vocation.
“Our intention of welcoming the young girls” and letting them experience the congregation’s work, Sister Mang said, “is so that even if they have no vocation to become nuns, they can still be good leaders in their dioceses and parishes.”
According to the 2009 Myanmar Catholic directory, 1,771 men and women belong to the 30 Religious congregations working in Myanmar.
EARTHtimes - Myanmar rebels refuse to join 2010 polls
EARTHtimes - Myanmar rebels refuse to join 2010 polls
Posted : Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:35:51 GMT
Author : DPA
Bangkok - The Shan State Army - an insurgent group in north-east Myanmar - has opposed the junta's planned general election in 2010, joining a growing number of ethnic minority groups determined to upset the polls, media reports and analysts said Sunday. Shan State Army leader Colonel Yod Serk said the SSA was one of at least ten ethnic minority rebel groups that have come out against the 2010 general election, the Bangkok Post reported.
"The junta announced the upcoming election, but never let the opposing parties run in the race," Yod Serk told the newspaper.
The rebel leader claimed even the United Wa State Army, a close ally of the Myanmar junta, was opposed to the upcoming election.
Growing opposition to the planned general election may force Myanmar's ruling junta to delay the polls, analysts said Sunday.
"Besides the SSA, the New Mon State Party and Kachin Independence Organization have also come out against the polls," said Aung Din, executive director for the US Campaign for Burma.
Myanmar's military regime has fought more than a dozen ethnic minority-based insurgencies in its hinterlands for decades, although cease-fire agreements have been signed with most of them.
The ruling junta included representatives of the ethnic minorities, representing almost half the population, in its constitution-drafting process, which took 14 years, but ignored their demands to establish a federation in a post-election period that would have granted states such as the Karen, Kachin, Shan, Arakan and Chin a measure of autonomy.
Instead, under the new constitution, all rebels groups will be required to give up their arms and submit to the central government.
"This is their last chance," Aung Din said. "If they allow the election to be held there will not be another chance for them to claim autonomy."
"Without satisfying the ethnic groups I don't think the junta will be able to hold the election," he said.
Besides the ethnic minority groups, Myanmar's chief opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by imprisoned Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi - has demanded amendments to the constitution before it considers contesting the 2010 polls.
The NLD won the 1990 polls by a landslide, but was denied power by the junta on the claim that a new constitution was needed before civilian rule was possible. NLD leader Suu Ski has spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest.
The new constitution of 2008 has been written in such a way as to cement the military's control over a post-election government.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962, when a coup led by General Ne Win ended the country's first post-independence elected government under Prime Minister U Nu.
Posted : Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:35:51 GMT
Author : DPA
Bangkok - The Shan State Army - an insurgent group in north-east Myanmar - has opposed the junta's planned general election in 2010, joining a growing number of ethnic minority groups determined to upset the polls, media reports and analysts said Sunday. Shan State Army leader Colonel Yod Serk said the SSA was one of at least ten ethnic minority rebel groups that have come out against the 2010 general election, the Bangkok Post reported.
"The junta announced the upcoming election, but never let the opposing parties run in the race," Yod Serk told the newspaper.
The rebel leader claimed even the United Wa State Army, a close ally of the Myanmar junta, was opposed to the upcoming election.
Growing opposition to the planned general election may force Myanmar's ruling junta to delay the polls, analysts said Sunday.
"Besides the SSA, the New Mon State Party and Kachin Independence Organization have also come out against the polls," said Aung Din, executive director for the US Campaign for Burma.
Myanmar's military regime has fought more than a dozen ethnic minority-based insurgencies in its hinterlands for decades, although cease-fire agreements have been signed with most of them.
The ruling junta included representatives of the ethnic minorities, representing almost half the population, in its constitution-drafting process, which took 14 years, but ignored their demands to establish a federation in a post-election period that would have granted states such as the Karen, Kachin, Shan, Arakan and Chin a measure of autonomy.
Instead, under the new constitution, all rebels groups will be required to give up their arms and submit to the central government.
"This is their last chance," Aung Din said. "If they allow the election to be held there will not be another chance for them to claim autonomy."
"Without satisfying the ethnic groups I don't think the junta will be able to hold the election," he said.
Besides the ethnic minority groups, Myanmar's chief opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by imprisoned Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi - has demanded amendments to the constitution before it considers contesting the 2010 polls.
The NLD won the 1990 polls by a landslide, but was denied power by the junta on the claim that a new constitution was needed before civilian rule was possible. NLD leader Suu Ski has spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest.
The new constitution of 2008 has been written in such a way as to cement the military's control over a post-election government.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962, when a coup led by General Ne Win ended the country's first post-independence elected government under Prime Minister U Nu.
Myanmar needs $700 mln in cyclone aid - U.N.
Myanmar needs $700 mln in cyclone aid - U.N.
Mon Feb 9, 2009 8:45am EST
BANGKOK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Military-ruled Myanmar needs around $700 million in aid over the next three years to recover from last year's devastating cyclone, an aid coordinating group said on Monday.
The appeal, focused on eight key areas including nutrition, health and livelihoods, comes at a time when many governments are being squeezed by the global economic crisis.
Foreign donors are also reluctant to provide aid to the former Burma, under military rule since 1962 and isolated internationally over its dismal human rights record.
A $477 million appeal for aid after Cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy delta last May has raised $309 million so far, the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which drafted the new 3-year plan, said in a statement.
But officials from the United Nations and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), who along with the Myanmar government form the TCG, were confident donors would help.
"It is a very, very modest support request compared to the magnitude of the disaster," Bishow Parajuli, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, told reporters in Bangkok.
He said the recovery budget for Cyclone Nargis, which left 140,000 people dead or missing and 2.4 million severely affected, was small compared to the $5.1 billion donated for recovery in Indonesia's Aceh after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Nearly a year after the cyclone swept away their villages, survivors are still struggling to find permanent shelter. A survey of 2,000 households in October found one in three living in temporary conditions.
Access to clean water also remains a challenge. Aid agencies are using reverse osmosis machines to purify the water but it is labour-intensive and costly.
"We're in the middle of the dry season in Myanmar and around half of the affected areas in March will experience salty streams at high tide," said Andrew Kirkwood, country director for the charity Save the Children.
"Basically it means getting fresh drinking water this time of the year is extremely difficult," he said.
A lack of credit and access to markets have also saddled many delta farmers with heavy debts, said Chris Kaye, country director for the U.N.'s World Food Programme.
Myanmar's junta was criticised for resisting international assistance in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, but ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said a certain level of trust had been achieved with the regime.
The TCG is chaired by senior Myanmar official Kyaw Thu, who did not attend the news conference, but in a statement praised the international community's efforts.
"The close collaboration between the government and the international community over the last nine months has been vital to the relief and early recovery efforts," he said.
Mon Feb 9, 2009 8:45am EST
BANGKOK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Military-ruled Myanmar needs around $700 million in aid over the next three years to recover from last year's devastating cyclone, an aid coordinating group said on Monday.
The appeal, focused on eight key areas including nutrition, health and livelihoods, comes at a time when many governments are being squeezed by the global economic crisis.
Foreign donors are also reluctant to provide aid to the former Burma, under military rule since 1962 and isolated internationally over its dismal human rights record.
A $477 million appeal for aid after Cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy delta last May has raised $309 million so far, the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which drafted the new 3-year plan, said in a statement.
But officials from the United Nations and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), who along with the Myanmar government form the TCG, were confident donors would help.
"It is a very, very modest support request compared to the magnitude of the disaster," Bishow Parajuli, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, told reporters in Bangkok.
He said the recovery budget for Cyclone Nargis, which left 140,000 people dead or missing and 2.4 million severely affected, was small compared to the $5.1 billion donated for recovery in Indonesia's Aceh after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Nearly a year after the cyclone swept away their villages, survivors are still struggling to find permanent shelter. A survey of 2,000 households in October found one in three living in temporary conditions.
Access to clean water also remains a challenge. Aid agencies are using reverse osmosis machines to purify the water but it is labour-intensive and costly.
"We're in the middle of the dry season in Myanmar and around half of the affected areas in March will experience salty streams at high tide," said Andrew Kirkwood, country director for the charity Save the Children.
"Basically it means getting fresh drinking water this time of the year is extremely difficult," he said.
A lack of credit and access to markets have also saddled many delta farmers with heavy debts, said Chris Kaye, country director for the U.N.'s World Food Programme.
Myanmar's junta was criticised for resisting international assistance in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, but ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said a certain level of trust had been achieved with the regime.
The TCG is chaired by senior Myanmar official Kyaw Thu, who did not attend the news conference, but in a statement praised the international community's efforts.
"The close collaboration between the government and the international community over the last nine months has been vital to the relief and early recovery efforts," he said.
Myanmar cyclone victims still need help: UN
Myanmar cyclone victims still need help: UN
Mon Feb 9, 5:55 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Survivors of Myanmar's devastating Cyclone Nargis nine months ago still need international aid to rebuild their lives, the United Nations said at the launch of a three-year recovery plan on Monday.
The 691-million-dollar plan finalised by the UN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Myanmar's military government focuses on restoring livelihoods and housing through grants and microfinance.
The cyclone in early May 2008 left 138,000 people dead or missing and 2.4 million people severely affected through the loss of their loved ones, homes or jobs.
"There is still a lot more to be done," the UN resident coordinator for Myanmar, Bishow Parajuli, told a news conference in Bangkok at the launch of the plan.
"There is an enormous need for help for these people to stand on their own two feet and to build back better," he said.
Donors had so far contributed 310 million dollars but more was needed over the next three years to rebuild the areas worst hit by the cyclone, especially the Irrawaddy Delta.
He said it was a "difficult time" due to the global financial crisis but added that the international community had been "very, very generous" in the past.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan meanwhile refused to condemn the Myanmar junta despite the jailing of Myanmar's most famous comedian and of a sports writer for helping cyclone victims.
Myanmar comedian Zarganar was sentenced to 45 years in prison in November while sports writer Zaw Thet Htwe got a 15-year jail term. The pair were arrested in June last year after organising deliveries of aid.
"As human beings there are a lot of things we are concerned about," Surin told the same news conference when asked about the jail sentences. "But we can't be involved with every issue everywhere".
Myanmar's ruling generals drew worldwide condemnation for blocking foreign aid from entering the country in the crucial days after the cyclone pummelled the delta.
The junta relented only after a personal visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Surin said that the "government of Myanmar, the people of Myanmar and the leadership of Myanmar have gained a higher degree of confidence" in working with the international community since then.
There were no official Myanmar representatives at the conference.
Mon Feb 9, 5:55 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Survivors of Myanmar's devastating Cyclone Nargis nine months ago still need international aid to rebuild their lives, the United Nations said at the launch of a three-year recovery plan on Monday.
The 691-million-dollar plan finalised by the UN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Myanmar's military government focuses on restoring livelihoods and housing through grants and microfinance.
The cyclone in early May 2008 left 138,000 people dead or missing and 2.4 million people severely affected through the loss of their loved ones, homes or jobs.
"There is still a lot more to be done," the UN resident coordinator for Myanmar, Bishow Parajuli, told a news conference in Bangkok at the launch of the plan.
"There is an enormous need for help for these people to stand on their own two feet and to build back better," he said.
Donors had so far contributed 310 million dollars but more was needed over the next three years to rebuild the areas worst hit by the cyclone, especially the Irrawaddy Delta.
He said it was a "difficult time" due to the global financial crisis but added that the international community had been "very, very generous" in the past.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan meanwhile refused to condemn the Myanmar junta despite the jailing of Myanmar's most famous comedian and of a sports writer for helping cyclone victims.
Myanmar comedian Zarganar was sentenced to 45 years in prison in November while sports writer Zaw Thet Htwe got a 15-year jail term. The pair were arrested in June last year after organising deliveries of aid.
"As human beings there are a lot of things we are concerned about," Surin told the same news conference when asked about the jail sentences. "But we can't be involved with every issue everywhere".
Myanmar's ruling generals drew worldwide condemnation for blocking foreign aid from entering the country in the crucial days after the cyclone pummelled the delta.
The junta relented only after a personal visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Surin said that the "government of Myanmar, the people of Myanmar and the leadership of Myanmar have gained a higher degree of confidence" in working with the international community since then.
There were no official Myanmar representatives at the conference.
Asian Tribune - UN Envoy Returns Home Frustrated
Asian Tribune - UN Envoy Returns Home Frustrated
Sat, 2009-02-07 03:07
By Nehginpao Kipgen
Just a day before he began his seventh visit to the military-ruled Burma, since his assignment as the U.N. secretary-general’s special advisor in 2006, I authored an analytical piece entitled "Go Gambari, But Don’t Expect Much" discussing the possible outcome of the mission.
As expected, the envoy was allowed to meet the National League for Democracy (NLD) general secretary Aung San Suu Kyi and a number of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister Thein Sein, among others.
The military chief Than Shwe refused to meet the visiting envoy again. Gambari met Aung San Suu Kyi but to listen to her frustration. Suu Kyi said, "she was ready and willing to meet anyone, but could not accept having meetings without achieving any outcome."
Prior to his 4-day trip which began on 31 January, confirmed by the U.N. only a day earlier, Gambari outlined his objectives: to urge the junta to free political prisoners, discuss the country’s ailing economy and revive a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi.
The fundamental demands from Suu Kyi and NLD were that: the government release all political prisoners, review the new constitution passed by a referendum in May 2007, and recognize the results of 1990 election that the NLD won by a landslide.
The basic demands of the U.N. and NLD fall on the same line. They both asked the military junta to release all political prisoners and start a serious dialogue with the opposition.
However, the U.N. appears to be shying away from some other key demands of the NLD, such as reviewing the military-drafted constitution and recognizing the 1990 general election results. In this regard, the U.N. seems to leave the matter to the Burmese themselves.
The NLD is not wrong at all on reiterating its consistent demands. If the international community were to let the military proceed with its seven-step "road map," it will lead to a general election in 2010 which will eventually install a new military-dominated "disciplined democracy" leaving the 1990 election result a bygone history.
The special envoy’s visit was also a preliminary survey whether the U.N. chief should go himself. Ban Ki-moon asked his advisor “to continue his consultations with the government and other relevant parties and looks forward to meaningful discussions with all concerned on all the points raised during his last visit."
The nature of Burma’s military regime is a one-man show. It is Than Shwe who steers the wheel. The U.N. must understand that Than Shwe will not be easily moved by visits and appeals. He worries three things to happen: popular uprising supported by elements in the military; a powerful binding resolution from the U.N. Security Council, and a unilateral military action from the big powers.
After a series of setbacks, the U.N. needs to equip itself with new strategies. Neither engagement nor sanctions alone will yield a democratic society in the Union of Burma. It needs a coordinated and collective international action that sends a clear message to the intransigent military generals.
A “carrot and stick” strategy should be used by working together with key international players - one similar to the North Korean six-party talks’ model. The office of the secretary-general should also push the Obama administration to confirm a special envoy for Burma, which the Bush administration initiated in 2008.
Gambari returns home frustrated, and with little progress to report. However even if Ban Ki-moon were to go today, he could not be much better yielding with the kind of support he has from the U.N. Security Council and the international community.
Hearing the voice of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party’s political stand was one notable development of the just concluded U.N. mission.
Nehginpao Kipgen is the General Secretary of US-based Kuki International Forum (www.kukiforum.com) and a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Burma (1947-2004).
Sat, 2009-02-07 03:07
By Nehginpao Kipgen
Just a day before he began his seventh visit to the military-ruled Burma, since his assignment as the U.N. secretary-general’s special advisor in 2006, I authored an analytical piece entitled "Go Gambari, But Don’t Expect Much" discussing the possible outcome of the mission.
As expected, the envoy was allowed to meet the National League for Democracy (NLD) general secretary Aung San Suu Kyi and a number of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister Thein Sein, among others.
The military chief Than Shwe refused to meet the visiting envoy again. Gambari met Aung San Suu Kyi but to listen to her frustration. Suu Kyi said, "she was ready and willing to meet anyone, but could not accept having meetings without achieving any outcome."
Prior to his 4-day trip which began on 31 January, confirmed by the U.N. only a day earlier, Gambari outlined his objectives: to urge the junta to free political prisoners, discuss the country’s ailing economy and revive a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi.
The fundamental demands from Suu Kyi and NLD were that: the government release all political prisoners, review the new constitution passed by a referendum in May 2007, and recognize the results of 1990 election that the NLD won by a landslide.
The basic demands of the U.N. and NLD fall on the same line. They both asked the military junta to release all political prisoners and start a serious dialogue with the opposition.
However, the U.N. appears to be shying away from some other key demands of the NLD, such as reviewing the military-drafted constitution and recognizing the 1990 general election results. In this regard, the U.N. seems to leave the matter to the Burmese themselves.
The NLD is not wrong at all on reiterating its consistent demands. If the international community were to let the military proceed with its seven-step "road map," it will lead to a general election in 2010 which will eventually install a new military-dominated "disciplined democracy" leaving the 1990 election result a bygone history.
The special envoy’s visit was also a preliminary survey whether the U.N. chief should go himself. Ban Ki-moon asked his advisor “to continue his consultations with the government and other relevant parties and looks forward to meaningful discussions with all concerned on all the points raised during his last visit."
The nature of Burma’s military regime is a one-man show. It is Than Shwe who steers the wheel. The U.N. must understand that Than Shwe will not be easily moved by visits and appeals. He worries three things to happen: popular uprising supported by elements in the military; a powerful binding resolution from the U.N. Security Council, and a unilateral military action from the big powers.
After a series of setbacks, the U.N. needs to equip itself with new strategies. Neither engagement nor sanctions alone will yield a democratic society in the Union of Burma. It needs a coordinated and collective international action that sends a clear message to the intransigent military generals.
A “carrot and stick” strategy should be used by working together with key international players - one similar to the North Korean six-party talks’ model. The office of the secretary-general should also push the Obama administration to confirm a special envoy for Burma, which the Bush administration initiated in 2008.
Gambari returns home frustrated, and with little progress to report. However even if Ban Ki-moon were to go today, he could not be much better yielding with the kind of support he has from the U.N. Security Council and the international community.
Hearing the voice of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party’s political stand was one notable development of the just concluded U.N. mission.
Nehginpao Kipgen is the General Secretary of US-based Kuki International Forum (www.kukiforum.com) and a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Burma (1947-2004).
The Daily Iowan - Faces of the UI: Tossed out of Burma, writer finds home here
The Daily Iowan - Faces of the UI: Tossed out of Burma, writer finds home here
Lini Ge - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: Metro
When Kerry Howley handed her passport to the immigration officer at an airport in Rangoon, Burma, she caught a glimpse of something popping up on the officer's computer screen.
Soon Howley and her fiancé had a group of officials surrounding them. After a long period of waiting, the couple were grabbed and pushed into a plane leaving Burma.
"I can't go back there. I'm crushed," said Howley, who was recently deported from Burma because of what she had written about the government.
The 27-year-old Iowa Arts Fellow in the UI Nonfiction Writing Program embarked on her journalism career in Burma after receiving a B.A. in philosophy and English from Georgetown University in 2003.
During her two years of work at the Rangoon-based Myanmar Times, she covered international organizations in Burma and later became a features editor. Although the newspaper was heavily censored, Howley said, she had the best experience of her life in Burma.
"I completely love Rangoon," she said. "It was not a particularly sophisticated journalistic medium. It was more of an exercise of dealing with dictatorship and engaging with people I would never have gone to engage with otherwise."
And not every journalist has the guts to work in a country like Burma.
"She's completely brilliant and brave as hell - it takes courage to move to totalitarian Burma - and yet she doesn't have even the semblance of an ego," said Chaim Katz, a college instructor who refers to himself as "a longtime drinking buddy of Howley's."
Howley left Burma in 2005 after the newspaper was temporarily shut down and later joined Reason magazine.
Her work has appeared in various newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Reader's Digest. She has also been a guest on National Public Radio and Fox News shows.
One thing Howley writes extensively about is migration, a topic she was first motivated to cover while she was in Burma. Many Burmese who were seeking better career opportunities in other countries were rejected visas by officials in those countries, who assumed they would stay permanently.
"I found the lack of mobility horrifying. But it's something that nobody talks about in terms of human rights," she said. "It's a human-rights issue because locking people out of wealth-trading economies causes them to be poor."
She shared her perspectives on migration during a lecture at the UI in late January, titled "Migration and Human Rights: How Global Apartheid Keeps the Developing World Poor."
"I was trying to awaken people to the fact that borders are not a natural fact of the world, that it wasn't always this way, that it's extremely economically inefficient to restrict the movement of people in this particular way," she said.
"When you put a wall around an economically dead region and people can't get out, you confine people to a life of poverty."
Besides migration, she also writes on issues of taboo markets - including human organ markets - globalization, and sexual politics.
For her first cover story at Reason magazine, Howley sold one of her eggs and wrote about the experience of putting her own genetic material on the market.
Her writing has won respect from many of her colleagues and friends.
"She was always - and this is rare in political journalism - equally concerned with the craft and the ideas: With producing a tight, witty piece and with having a powerful argument that eschewed easy talking points," said Julian Sanchez, the Washington editor for Ars Technica and Howley's former colleague at Reason magazine.
But preferring the act of writing over constructing arguments, Howley joined the Nonfiction Writing Program last August.
"I want to just be able to focus on sentences and paragraphs, beautiful essays, instead of constant talking heads and argumentation," she said. "And that's exactly what I found here."
Katz said the program fits her perfectly.
"She's a fantastic storyteller … She makes small narratives gripping but never fails to illuminate the big picture," he said. "Whenever I get to the end of a Kerry Howley story, I always wish it were longer."
Lini Ge - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: Metro
When Kerry Howley handed her passport to the immigration officer at an airport in Rangoon, Burma, she caught a glimpse of something popping up on the officer's computer screen.
Soon Howley and her fiancé had a group of officials surrounding them. After a long period of waiting, the couple were grabbed and pushed into a plane leaving Burma.
"I can't go back there. I'm crushed," said Howley, who was recently deported from Burma because of what she had written about the government.
The 27-year-old Iowa Arts Fellow in the UI Nonfiction Writing Program embarked on her journalism career in Burma after receiving a B.A. in philosophy and English from Georgetown University in 2003.
During her two years of work at the Rangoon-based Myanmar Times, she covered international organizations in Burma and later became a features editor. Although the newspaper was heavily censored, Howley said, she had the best experience of her life in Burma.
"I completely love Rangoon," she said. "It was not a particularly sophisticated journalistic medium. It was more of an exercise of dealing with dictatorship and engaging with people I would never have gone to engage with otherwise."
And not every journalist has the guts to work in a country like Burma.
"She's completely brilliant and brave as hell - it takes courage to move to totalitarian Burma - and yet she doesn't have even the semblance of an ego," said Chaim Katz, a college instructor who refers to himself as "a longtime drinking buddy of Howley's."
Howley left Burma in 2005 after the newspaper was temporarily shut down and later joined Reason magazine.
Her work has appeared in various newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Reader's Digest. She has also been a guest on National Public Radio and Fox News shows.
One thing Howley writes extensively about is migration, a topic she was first motivated to cover while she was in Burma. Many Burmese who were seeking better career opportunities in other countries were rejected visas by officials in those countries, who assumed they would stay permanently.
"I found the lack of mobility horrifying. But it's something that nobody talks about in terms of human rights," she said. "It's a human-rights issue because locking people out of wealth-trading economies causes them to be poor."
She shared her perspectives on migration during a lecture at the UI in late January, titled "Migration and Human Rights: How Global Apartheid Keeps the Developing World Poor."
"I was trying to awaken people to the fact that borders are not a natural fact of the world, that it wasn't always this way, that it's extremely economically inefficient to restrict the movement of people in this particular way," she said.
"When you put a wall around an economically dead region and people can't get out, you confine people to a life of poverty."
Besides migration, she also writes on issues of taboo markets - including human organ markets - globalization, and sexual politics.
For her first cover story at Reason magazine, Howley sold one of her eggs and wrote about the experience of putting her own genetic material on the market.
Her writing has won respect from many of her colleagues and friends.
"She was always - and this is rare in political journalism - equally concerned with the craft and the ideas: With producing a tight, witty piece and with having a powerful argument that eschewed easy talking points," said Julian Sanchez, the Washington editor for Ars Technica and Howley's former colleague at Reason magazine.
But preferring the act of writing over constructing arguments, Howley joined the Nonfiction Writing Program last August.
"I want to just be able to focus on sentences and paragraphs, beautiful essays, instead of constant talking heads and argumentation," she said. "And that's exactly what I found here."
Katz said the program fits her perfectly.
"She's a fantastic storyteller … She makes small narratives gripping but never fails to illuminate the big picture," he said. "Whenever I get to the end of a Kerry Howley story, I always wish it were longer."
The New York Times - Letter to the Editor: Burmese Justice
The New York Times - Letter to the Editor: Burmese Justice
Published: February 6, 2009
Related Op-Ed Columnist: Sneaking In Where Thugs Rule (February 5, 2009)
Re “Sneaking In Where Thugs Rule” (column, Feb. 5):
On behalf of monks and nuns inside Myanmar, which we still call Burma, I applaud Nicholas D. Kristof’s call for new actions against the “odious” regime ruling our country.
Burmese monks and nuns were brutally attacked by the military during peaceful protest in September 2007. Senior Gen. Than Shwe exacted vengeance against all protesters, shooting and killing many and arbitrarily imprisoning monks and political activists (issuing sentences ranging from 4 to 104 years in prison).
Mr. Kristof calls for new approaches. We monks are not politicians, but it is our religious duty to try our best to help relieve the suffering of our people, and we consider justice an old approach that has eluded the junta.
The world has an International Criminal Court, and the United Nations Security Council has the power to refer Burma to it. This call for justice is not a new approach. It is a basic human right.
Ashin Nayaka
New York, Feb. 5, 2009
The writer, a visiting scholar at Columbia University, is a leading member of the International Burmese Monk Association.
Published: February 6, 2009
Related Op-Ed Columnist: Sneaking In Where Thugs Rule (February 5, 2009)
Re “Sneaking In Where Thugs Rule” (column, Feb. 5):
On behalf of monks and nuns inside Myanmar, which we still call Burma, I applaud Nicholas D. Kristof’s call for new actions against the “odious” regime ruling our country.
Burmese monks and nuns were brutally attacked by the military during peaceful protest in September 2007. Senior Gen. Than Shwe exacted vengeance against all protesters, shooting and killing many and arbitrarily imprisoning monks and political activists (issuing sentences ranging from 4 to 104 years in prison).
Mr. Kristof calls for new approaches. We monks are not politicians, but it is our religious duty to try our best to help relieve the suffering of our people, and we consider justice an old approach that has eluded the junta.
The world has an International Criminal Court, and the United Nations Security Council has the power to refer Burma to it. This call for justice is not a new approach. It is a basic human right.
Ashin Nayaka
New York, Feb. 5, 2009
The writer, a visiting scholar at Columbia University, is a leading member of the International Burmese Monk Association.
All India Radio - Hamid Ansari visits Bahadur Shah Zafar shrine in Myanmar
All India Radio - Hamid Ansari visits Bahadur Shah Zafar shrine in Myanmar
Feb 7, 2009.
Vice-President Mohd. Hamid Ansari paid homage at the historic Bahadur Shah Zafar mazar at Yangon in Myanmar on Saturday.
Speaking on the occasion, the Vice-President said that Bahadur Shah Zafar occupies a special place in history. Speaking on the occasion, the Vice-President said that Bahadur Shah Zafar occupies a special place in history. Describing him as a saintly figure, Mohd Ansari said that Zafar will remain in our hearts forever.
The Vice-President will reach Mandalay in Myanmar on Saturday afternoon. He has had wide-ranging bilateral talks with the Senior General of the Myanmar Government, Mr. Than Shawe and Senior Vice-General Moung Aya on cross-border cooperation.
The AIR correspondent reports that India and Myanmar have agreed to enhance cooperation in the hydrocarbon and hydropower sectors. Agricultural technology and supply of railway wagons to Myanmar have been identified as new areas of cooperation. India will soon launch a working plan to carry forward these objects.
Feb 7, 2009.
Vice-President Mohd. Hamid Ansari paid homage at the historic Bahadur Shah Zafar mazar at Yangon in Myanmar on Saturday.
Speaking on the occasion, the Vice-President said that Bahadur Shah Zafar occupies a special place in history. Speaking on the occasion, the Vice-President said that Bahadur Shah Zafar occupies a special place in history. Describing him as a saintly figure, Mohd Ansari said that Zafar will remain in our hearts forever.
The Vice-President will reach Mandalay in Myanmar on Saturday afternoon. He has had wide-ranging bilateral talks with the Senior General of the Myanmar Government, Mr. Than Shawe and Senior Vice-General Moung Aya on cross-border cooperation.
The AIR correspondent reports that India and Myanmar have agreed to enhance cooperation in the hydrocarbon and hydropower sectors. Agricultural technology and supply of railway wagons to Myanmar have been identified as new areas of cooperation. India will soon launch a working plan to carry forward these objects.
Will Myanmar's journey to democracy be smooth?
Will Myanmar's journey to democracy be smooth?
From Pallab Bhattacharya
Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar), Feb 7 (PTI) The road leading to a new Parliament building in Myanmar's capital city is as smooth as silk but will the journey back to democracy in this military-ruled country be the same?
When Vice President Hamid Ansari drove around the huge complex of the the under-constructed Parliament building with a pagoda-type roof yesterday, he joined a growing list of foreign dignitaries to be shown the structure, that is set to be the temple of democracy in this country, on their visit here.
Amid growing international pressure on it to expedite restoration of civilian rule, Myanmar government is struggling to get eased the sanctions imposed by the United States and European countries on it.
During Ansari's talks with Myanmar's top military Generals Than Shwe and Maung Aye, it was conveyed to him that the junta was committed to holding fresh elections next year.
The military government has drawn up a seven-step road map to restoration of democracy, of which four steps have been completed.
However, a number of key questions remain unanswered which included: whether jailed icon of pro-democracy movement Aung Saan Su Kyi will be released before that and if political parties will be allowed to contest.
From Pallab Bhattacharya
Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar), Feb 7 (PTI) The road leading to a new Parliament building in Myanmar's capital city is as smooth as silk but will the journey back to democracy in this military-ruled country be the same?
When Vice President Hamid Ansari drove around the huge complex of the the under-constructed Parliament building with a pagoda-type roof yesterday, he joined a growing list of foreign dignitaries to be shown the structure, that is set to be the temple of democracy in this country, on their visit here.
Amid growing international pressure on it to expedite restoration of civilian rule, Myanmar government is struggling to get eased the sanctions imposed by the United States and European countries on it.
During Ansari's talks with Myanmar's top military Generals Than Shwe and Maung Aye, it was conveyed to him that the junta was committed to holding fresh elections next year.
The military government has drawn up a seven-step road map to restoration of democracy, of which four steps have been completed.
However, a number of key questions remain unanswered which included: whether jailed icon of pro-democracy movement Aung Saan Su Kyi will be released before that and if political parties will be allowed to contest.
Jolie, Pitt visit Myanmar refugees in Thai camp
Jolie, Pitt visit Myanmar refugees in Thai camp
Fri Feb 6, 2:21 pm ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Hollywood star couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt visited Myanmar refugees in a Thai camp, including one woman who had been there for more than two decades, the UN said Friday.
Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency, spent Wednesday in Thailand with Pitt, meeting refugees at the northern Ban Mai Nai Soi camp.
"I was saddened to meet a 21-year-old woman who was born in a refugee camp, who has never even been out of the camp and is now raising her own child in a camp," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported Jolie as saying.
The camp, three kilometres (two miles) from the Myanmar border, is home to more than 18,000 mainly ethnic Karen refugees who have no freedom of movement and are not allowed outside to seek work or higher education.
They fled crackdowns on ethnic rebel armies in military-ruled Myanmar.
"With no foreseeable chance that these refugees will soon be able to return to Burma, we must find some way to help them work and become self reliant," Jolie said, referring to Myanmar by its previous name.
Jolie previously visited the camp in 2004 and wanted to return to show her partner Pitt, UNHCR spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey said.
Ban Mai Nai Soi is the third largest of nine refugee camps in northern Thailand housing a total of 111,000 registered refugees.
Most refugees are from Myanmar's ethnic groups, including many Christians from the Karen minority.
Jolie urged Thai authorities to speed up the processing of 5,000 migrants who arrived in Mae Hong Son province in 2006 and 2007 after fighting across the border in Myanmar's Kayah state.
Her visit comes with Thailand in the spotlight for its treatment of ethnic Rohingya migrants arriving on its southern shores from Myanmar's north.
The Thai military is accused of pushing hundreds of the migrants back to sea in rickety boats without adequate food and water -- a charge it categorically denies.
Jolie said the fair treatment of refugees in the northern camps "makes me hope that Thailand will be just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores."
Fri Feb 6, 2:21 pm ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Hollywood star couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt visited Myanmar refugees in a Thai camp, including one woman who had been there for more than two decades, the UN said Friday.
Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency, spent Wednesday in Thailand with Pitt, meeting refugees at the northern Ban Mai Nai Soi camp.
"I was saddened to meet a 21-year-old woman who was born in a refugee camp, who has never even been out of the camp and is now raising her own child in a camp," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported Jolie as saying.
The camp, three kilometres (two miles) from the Myanmar border, is home to more than 18,000 mainly ethnic Karen refugees who have no freedom of movement and are not allowed outside to seek work or higher education.
They fled crackdowns on ethnic rebel armies in military-ruled Myanmar.
"With no foreseeable chance that these refugees will soon be able to return to Burma, we must find some way to help them work and become self reliant," Jolie said, referring to Myanmar by its previous name.
Jolie previously visited the camp in 2004 and wanted to return to show her partner Pitt, UNHCR spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey said.
Ban Mai Nai Soi is the third largest of nine refugee camps in northern Thailand housing a total of 111,000 registered refugees.
Most refugees are from Myanmar's ethnic groups, including many Christians from the Karen minority.
Jolie urged Thai authorities to speed up the processing of 5,000 migrants who arrived in Mae Hong Son province in 2006 and 2007 after fighting across the border in Myanmar's Kayah state.
Her visit comes with Thailand in the spotlight for its treatment of ethnic Rohingya migrants arriving on its southern shores from Myanmar's north.
The Thai military is accused of pushing hundreds of the migrants back to sea in rickety boats without adequate food and water -- a charge it categorically denies.
Jolie said the fair treatment of refugees in the northern camps "makes me hope that Thailand will be just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores."
Bangkok Post - COMMENTARY: A peek into brutal Burma
Bangkok Post - COMMENTARY: A peek into brutal Burma
By: Nicholas D Kristof
Published: 6/02/2009 at 12:00 AM
Before entering Burma from Thailand, you scrub your bags of any hint that you might be engaged in some pernicious evil, such as espionage, journalism or promotion of human rights. Then you exit from the Thai town of Mae Sot and walk across the gleaming white "friendship bridge" to the Burmese immigration post on the other side.
Entering Burma, you adjust your watch: Burma is 30 minutes ahead - and 50 years behind.
Already Burma's government is one of the most brutal in the world, and in recent months it has become even more repressive. A blogger, Nay Phone Latt, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A prominent comedian, Zarganar, was sentenced to 59 years. A former student leader, Min Ko Naing, a survivor of years of torture and solitary confinement, has received terms of 65 years so far and faces additional sentences that may reach a total of 150 years.
"Politically, things are definitely getting worse," said David Mathieson, an expert on Burma for Human Rights Watch living on the Thai-Burmese border. "They've just sent hundreds of people who should be agents of change to long prison terms."
A new American presidency is a useful moment to review policy toward Burma, and the truth is that the West's approach has failed. The Burmese junta has ruled despotically since 1988, ignoring democratic elections. Since then, sanctions have had zero effect in moderating the regime.
I have vast respect for Aung San Suu Kyi, the extraordinary woman who won a Nobel Peace Prize for standing up to the country's thugs. But the best use of her courage right now would be to accept that the trade sanctions she advocated have accomplished nothing more than further impoverishing her own people. As with Cuba and North Korea, isolating a venal regime usually just hurts the innocent and helps the thugs stay in power.
Instead, the best bet is financial sanctions that specifically target individuals close to the regime - and, even more, a clampdown on Burma's imports of arms. "It would be very difficult to get an arms embargo through the Security Council, but that's something that really goes to the heart of any military regime," Mathieson said. "You lock them out of the tools of their own self-aggrandisement and repression."
President George W Bush tried to help Burmese dissidents, but he had zero international capital. The Obama administration, in contrast, has a chance to lead an international initiative to curb Burmese arms imports and bring the regime to the negotiating table.
Burma's weapons have come from or through China, Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Singapore, and Russia is even selling Burma's dictators a nuclear reactor, Mathieson said.
In crossing from Thailand to Burma, you pass through a time warp. You leave the bustle and dynamism of Thailand and encounter a stagnating backwater of antique cars and shacks beside open sewers. I found it difficult to interview people in Burma, because I was travelling as a tourist with two of my kids (and my wife is sick of me getting our kids arrested with me in dictatorships). But we dropped in on the Myawaddy hospital, which was so understaffed that no one stopped us as we marched through wards of neglected patients.
The most flourishing business we saw on the Burmese side belonged to a snake charmer who set up temporary shop outside a temple. The moment a crowd gathered, an armed soldier ran over in alarm - and then relaxed when he saw that the only threat to public order was a cobra.
In Mae Sot, Thailand, I visited with former Burmese political prisoners, like the courageous Bo Kyi. They are at risk of being killed by Burmese government assassins, yet they are campaigning aggressively for change. Equally inspiring are the Free Burma Rangers, who risk their lives to sneak deep into the country for months at a time to provide medical care and document human rights abuses.
One gutsy American working with the group, who asked that his name not be used for security reasons, communicated with me by satellite phone from his hiding place deep inside Burma. He knows that the Burmese government will kill him if it catches him, yet he stays to gather photos and other evidence of how Burmese soldiers are drafting ethnic Karen villagers for forced labour and are raping women and girls. One recent case described by the Free Burma Rangers involved a 7-year-old girl who was raped, and then killed.
The courage of these people seeking a new Burma is infectious and inspiring. In this new US administration, let's help them - and see if with new approaches we can finally topple one of the most odious regimes in the world.
Nicholas D Kristof is a New York Times columnist.
By: Nicholas D Kristof
Published: 6/02/2009 at 12:00 AM
Before entering Burma from Thailand, you scrub your bags of any hint that you might be engaged in some pernicious evil, such as espionage, journalism or promotion of human rights. Then you exit from the Thai town of Mae Sot and walk across the gleaming white "friendship bridge" to the Burmese immigration post on the other side.
Entering Burma, you adjust your watch: Burma is 30 minutes ahead - and 50 years behind.
Already Burma's government is one of the most brutal in the world, and in recent months it has become even more repressive. A blogger, Nay Phone Latt, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A prominent comedian, Zarganar, was sentenced to 59 years. A former student leader, Min Ko Naing, a survivor of years of torture and solitary confinement, has received terms of 65 years so far and faces additional sentences that may reach a total of 150 years.
"Politically, things are definitely getting worse," said David Mathieson, an expert on Burma for Human Rights Watch living on the Thai-Burmese border. "They've just sent hundreds of people who should be agents of change to long prison terms."
A new American presidency is a useful moment to review policy toward Burma, and the truth is that the West's approach has failed. The Burmese junta has ruled despotically since 1988, ignoring democratic elections. Since then, sanctions have had zero effect in moderating the regime.
I have vast respect for Aung San Suu Kyi, the extraordinary woman who won a Nobel Peace Prize for standing up to the country's thugs. But the best use of her courage right now would be to accept that the trade sanctions she advocated have accomplished nothing more than further impoverishing her own people. As with Cuba and North Korea, isolating a venal regime usually just hurts the innocent and helps the thugs stay in power.
Instead, the best bet is financial sanctions that specifically target individuals close to the regime - and, even more, a clampdown on Burma's imports of arms. "It would be very difficult to get an arms embargo through the Security Council, but that's something that really goes to the heart of any military regime," Mathieson said. "You lock them out of the tools of their own self-aggrandisement and repression."
President George W Bush tried to help Burmese dissidents, but he had zero international capital. The Obama administration, in contrast, has a chance to lead an international initiative to curb Burmese arms imports and bring the regime to the negotiating table.
Burma's weapons have come from or through China, Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Singapore, and Russia is even selling Burma's dictators a nuclear reactor, Mathieson said.
In crossing from Thailand to Burma, you pass through a time warp. You leave the bustle and dynamism of Thailand and encounter a stagnating backwater of antique cars and shacks beside open sewers. I found it difficult to interview people in Burma, because I was travelling as a tourist with two of my kids (and my wife is sick of me getting our kids arrested with me in dictatorships). But we dropped in on the Myawaddy hospital, which was so understaffed that no one stopped us as we marched through wards of neglected patients.
The most flourishing business we saw on the Burmese side belonged to a snake charmer who set up temporary shop outside a temple. The moment a crowd gathered, an armed soldier ran over in alarm - and then relaxed when he saw that the only threat to public order was a cobra.
In Mae Sot, Thailand, I visited with former Burmese political prisoners, like the courageous Bo Kyi. They are at risk of being killed by Burmese government assassins, yet they are campaigning aggressively for change. Equally inspiring are the Free Burma Rangers, who risk their lives to sneak deep into the country for months at a time to provide medical care and document human rights abuses.
One gutsy American working with the group, who asked that his name not be used for security reasons, communicated with me by satellite phone from his hiding place deep inside Burma. He knows that the Burmese government will kill him if it catches him, yet he stays to gather photos and other evidence of how Burmese soldiers are drafting ethnic Karen villagers for forced labour and are raping women and girls. One recent case described by the Free Burma Rangers involved a 7-year-old girl who was raped, and then killed.
The courage of these people seeking a new Burma is infectious and inspiring. In this new US administration, let's help them - and see if with new approaches we can finally topple one of the most odious regimes in the world.
Nicholas D Kristof is a New York Times columnist.
Thaindian News - India-Myanmar sign two MoUs on first day of Vice President Ansari’’s visit
Thaindian News - India-Myanmar sign two MoUs on first day of Vice President Ansari’’s visit
February 5th, 2009 - 11:47 pm ICT by ANI
By Ravi Shankar
Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar), Feb.5 (ANI): India and Myanmar on Thursday signed two Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) to set up an English Language training Centre and Industrial Training Centre at Pakokku.
Designated officials of the two sides signed the MoUs in the presence of visiting Vice President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Myanmar’’s Nay Pyi Taw and Development Council Vice Senior General Maung Aye.
Indian Ambassador to Myanmar, Aloke Sen, and Vivek Katju, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs represented the Indian side during the signing of MoUs.
During the signing ceremony both the countries commenced the Instrument of Ratification on Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, which was signed in Yangon (June, 2008) between them.
Prior to the signing of the MoUs, the two sides held delegation-level talks
Vice President Hamid Ansari, during the official banquet hosted by his counterpart General Maung Aye, said that India has made great stride during recent years in terms of bilateral relations with Myanmar.
Ansari added that the agreements that were signed today are symbols of the immense potential and it would go in long run to nurture better ties.
Meanwhile, the highlight of the ceremony was the handing over of solar lanterns to Myanmar.
India is gifting 250 solar lanterns to Myanmar to assist in the ongoing relief process for the people in the areas affected by cyclone Nargis.
Minister of State for Defence, M. M. Pallam Raju handed the lantern to Major General Maung Swe, Minister for Social Welfare, Relief Resettlement.
February 5th, 2009 - 11:47 pm ICT by ANI
By Ravi Shankar
Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar), Feb.5 (ANI): India and Myanmar on Thursday signed two Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) to set up an English Language training Centre and Industrial Training Centre at Pakokku.
Designated officials of the two sides signed the MoUs in the presence of visiting Vice President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Myanmar’’s Nay Pyi Taw and Development Council Vice Senior General Maung Aye.
Indian Ambassador to Myanmar, Aloke Sen, and Vivek Katju, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs represented the Indian side during the signing of MoUs.
During the signing ceremony both the countries commenced the Instrument of Ratification on Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, which was signed in Yangon (June, 2008) between them.
Prior to the signing of the MoUs, the two sides held delegation-level talks
Vice President Hamid Ansari, during the official banquet hosted by his counterpart General Maung Aye, said that India has made great stride during recent years in terms of bilateral relations with Myanmar.
Ansari added that the agreements that were signed today are symbols of the immense potential and it would go in long run to nurture better ties.
Meanwhile, the highlight of the ceremony was the handing over of solar lanterns to Myanmar.
India is gifting 250 solar lanterns to Myanmar to assist in the ongoing relief process for the people in the areas affected by cyclone Nargis.
Minister of State for Defence, M. M. Pallam Raju handed the lantern to Major General Maung Swe, Minister for Social Welfare, Relief Resettlement.
The Economist - Myanmar and the United Nations
The Economist - Myanmar and the United Nations
Knock, knock
Feb 5th 2009
As usual, the UN finds no one at home in the junta to discuss political reform
AT LEAST he tried. That is probably the best that could be said for Ibrahim Gambari’s latest mission to Myanmar, which ended on February 3rd. The four-day visit was the Nigerian’s seventh as the United Nations’ envoy to the country, a job whose history is strewn with past failures.
On this trip, unlike his visit last August, Mr Gambari was able to see Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained leader of the opposition. He spent over an hour with her and with executives from her moribund National League for Democracy. General Than Shwe, however, the junta leader, was unavailable, as so often when the agenda is political reform. Instead, the job of stonewalling Mr Gambari fell to General Thein Sein, the prime minister. State television reported that the prime minister had asked for the lifting of sanctions on Myanmar as a precursor to “political stability”.
The next envoy to take tea with the regime may be Mr Gambari’s boss, Ban Ki-moon, the UN’s secretary-general. He went to Myanmar last May, in the dreadful aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, and managed to wring some concessions from the junta that helped to get foreign aid flowing more freely. Nobel peace-prize winners (Miss Suu Kyi is one) and others have since urged him to go back to push for greater political freedoms. Mr Gambari’s task was, in part, to test the waters for Mr Ban.
By that yardstick, Mr Gambari may still be out of luck. Late last year Mr Ban aborted a planned trip when it became clear that far from heeding his demands for the release of Miss Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, the regime was busy locking up more. Over 2,100 dissidents are shut away, their ranks swollen since the suppression in 2007 of monk-led protests. In her meeting with Mr Gambari, Miss Suu Kyi repeated her own plea for their release (and her own) to be made a precondition for Mr Ban’s proposed talks with the generals. With no signs of progress on this issue, Mr Ban may find it hard to justify a visit.
The Bush administration’s answer to Myanmar’s bad behaviour was to tighten economic sanctions. Indeed, two more of the junta’s cronies were added to a Treasury blacklist days before Mr Bush left office. Few expect the new administration to change tack. Myanmar’s exiled democracy camp may point to the prime minister’s complaint to Mr Gambari as evidence that sanctions are biting. But Western diplomats in Asia are sceptical of their leverage over Myanmar, as long as Asian powers stand by their neighbour.
Western donors had hoped that international cyclone relief would crack open the door to broader co-operation on aid, and perhaps a dash of glasnost. There is little sign that it did. The World Food Programme recently reported that Myanmar will need 185,000 tonnes of food aid this year, after the cyclone and a rat infestation have ruined crops. But its ability to deliver grain to the needy is strangled by the junta’s controls, particularly in desperately poor western Myanmar.
The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) played a useful role last year in channelling cyclone aid into Myanmar. But ASEAN is not prepared to cause a political controversy, despite its recent adoption of a charter that pays lip-service to human rights. Not all its members, which include autocratic regimes such as Vietnam and Laos, are convinced that political freedoms are such a good idea. Myanmar’s frustrated democrats face the choice of holding their nose to contest elections due to be held next year under a constitution entrenching the army’s political role, or sticking to their principles and boycotting a poll that may well be a sham but the only hope of change on offer.
Knock, knock
Feb 5th 2009
As usual, the UN finds no one at home in the junta to discuss political reform
AT LEAST he tried. That is probably the best that could be said for Ibrahim Gambari’s latest mission to Myanmar, which ended on February 3rd. The four-day visit was the Nigerian’s seventh as the United Nations’ envoy to the country, a job whose history is strewn with past failures.
On this trip, unlike his visit last August, Mr Gambari was able to see Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained leader of the opposition. He spent over an hour with her and with executives from her moribund National League for Democracy. General Than Shwe, however, the junta leader, was unavailable, as so often when the agenda is political reform. Instead, the job of stonewalling Mr Gambari fell to General Thein Sein, the prime minister. State television reported that the prime minister had asked for the lifting of sanctions on Myanmar as a precursor to “political stability”.
The next envoy to take tea with the regime may be Mr Gambari’s boss, Ban Ki-moon, the UN’s secretary-general. He went to Myanmar last May, in the dreadful aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, and managed to wring some concessions from the junta that helped to get foreign aid flowing more freely. Nobel peace-prize winners (Miss Suu Kyi is one) and others have since urged him to go back to push for greater political freedoms. Mr Gambari’s task was, in part, to test the waters for Mr Ban.
By that yardstick, Mr Gambari may still be out of luck. Late last year Mr Ban aborted a planned trip when it became clear that far from heeding his demands for the release of Miss Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, the regime was busy locking up more. Over 2,100 dissidents are shut away, their ranks swollen since the suppression in 2007 of monk-led protests. In her meeting with Mr Gambari, Miss Suu Kyi repeated her own plea for their release (and her own) to be made a precondition for Mr Ban’s proposed talks with the generals. With no signs of progress on this issue, Mr Ban may find it hard to justify a visit.
The Bush administration’s answer to Myanmar’s bad behaviour was to tighten economic sanctions. Indeed, two more of the junta’s cronies were added to a Treasury blacklist days before Mr Bush left office. Few expect the new administration to change tack. Myanmar’s exiled democracy camp may point to the prime minister’s complaint to Mr Gambari as evidence that sanctions are biting. But Western diplomats in Asia are sceptical of their leverage over Myanmar, as long as Asian powers stand by their neighbour.
Western donors had hoped that international cyclone relief would crack open the door to broader co-operation on aid, and perhaps a dash of glasnost. There is little sign that it did. The World Food Programme recently reported that Myanmar will need 185,000 tonnes of food aid this year, after the cyclone and a rat infestation have ruined crops. But its ability to deliver grain to the needy is strangled by the junta’s controls, particularly in desperately poor western Myanmar.
The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) played a useful role last year in channelling cyclone aid into Myanmar. But ASEAN is not prepared to cause a political controversy, despite its recent adoption of a charter that pays lip-service to human rights. Not all its members, which include autocratic regimes such as Vietnam and Laos, are convinced that political freedoms are such a good idea. Myanmar’s frustrated democrats face the choice of holding their nose to contest elections due to be held next year under a constitution entrenching the army’s political role, or sticking to their principles and boycotting a poll that may well be a sham but the only hope of change on offer.
The Daily Yomiuri - Myanmar's many stringed traditional dance
The Daily Yomiuri - Myanmar's many stringed traditional dance
Stephen Taylor / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
Feb. 6, 2009
If you ever find yourself in rural Myanmar and get invited to an all-night event featuring music and dance, you'll find there are strings attached.
Myanmar string puppetry (called yoke thay) is a traditional art form that substitutes human actors with wooden marionettes and, as Ma Ma Naing, managing director and puppeteer of the Mandalay Marionettes Theater told The Daily Yomiuri in Kawasaki this week, it is an important aspect of Myanmarese village life.
"At festivals, we perform for the whole night, like in the olden days. We start at 9 p.m. [and continue] until the next morning, 6 a.m.
"Because there are many people from other villages who come to that village to see the puppet show, if we finish at midnight, they cannot go back to their village as it's very dark, so they are very angry," she said.
The group, formed by Naing with Naing Yee Mar about 20 years ago, is on its second trip to Japan, which will include performances in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture.
In Mandalay, Myanmar's second city, the group perform for tourists who, unlike the villagers, have to pay. That version of the show is compressed into just an hour.
These performances comprise introductions to traditional Myanmar music, dance and string puppetry, followed by a story from the early life of Buddha, known as a Jataka.
With the group's marathon performances exclusive to Myanmarese villagers, the show for this tour will, relatively speaking, be a 90-minute sprint.
"We are going to show the audience an introduction to Myanmar string puppetry, but without Jataka. In 2002 the show included a Jataka, like in the olden days," Naing said.
While Myanmar puppetry dates back as far as the 11th century, it enjoyed great popularity in the courts of the country's royalty during the 19th century, as human dancers were banned at the time. Not that this stopped puppeteers from imbuing their marionettes with feelings.
"The puppets make the audience feel like they are [watching] humans on stage. It touches the audience and if it is very cruel, the audience throws things at the puppets. Stones, something like that, so it can give a very deep feeling to the audience," Naing said.
While the themes of Myanmar puppet theater are based on Buddhism, the climactic moment in the performance, a duet between the Prince and Princess, is not as earnest as one might expect.
"The Prince and Princess will see improvisation between the puppeteers and musicians. They make many jokes and say something about the festival organizer if, [for example], it is not very good curry. If they are not satisfied with their meal, they'll mention it during that part, with jokes. In the olden days, they were like a newspaper. They spread the news about current events and state affairs," she explained.
Music is another important feature of Myanmar puppetry and, according to Naing, something of a specialized skill.
"It's very important. Musicians, puppeteers and singers, the three parts work together in a synchronized manner," she said.
"Youk-The Pwe" will be performed at Lazona Kawasaki Plazasol on Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (044) 777-2228 and Cascade Hall in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Feb. 10 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. (03) 3265-6311.
Stephen Taylor / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
Feb. 6, 2009
If you ever find yourself in rural Myanmar and get invited to an all-night event featuring music and dance, you'll find there are strings attached.
Myanmar string puppetry (called yoke thay) is a traditional art form that substitutes human actors with wooden marionettes and, as Ma Ma Naing, managing director and puppeteer of the Mandalay Marionettes Theater told The Daily Yomiuri in Kawasaki this week, it is an important aspect of Myanmarese village life.
"At festivals, we perform for the whole night, like in the olden days. We start at 9 p.m. [and continue] until the next morning, 6 a.m.
"Because there are many people from other villages who come to that village to see the puppet show, if we finish at midnight, they cannot go back to their village as it's very dark, so they are very angry," she said.
The group, formed by Naing with Naing Yee Mar about 20 years ago, is on its second trip to Japan, which will include performances in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture.
In Mandalay, Myanmar's second city, the group perform for tourists who, unlike the villagers, have to pay. That version of the show is compressed into just an hour.
These performances comprise introductions to traditional Myanmar music, dance and string puppetry, followed by a story from the early life of Buddha, known as a Jataka.
With the group's marathon performances exclusive to Myanmarese villagers, the show for this tour will, relatively speaking, be a 90-minute sprint.
"We are going to show the audience an introduction to Myanmar string puppetry, but without Jataka. In 2002 the show included a Jataka, like in the olden days," Naing said.
While Myanmar puppetry dates back as far as the 11th century, it enjoyed great popularity in the courts of the country's royalty during the 19th century, as human dancers were banned at the time. Not that this stopped puppeteers from imbuing their marionettes with feelings.
"The puppets make the audience feel like they are [watching] humans on stage. It touches the audience and if it is very cruel, the audience throws things at the puppets. Stones, something like that, so it can give a very deep feeling to the audience," Naing said.
While the themes of Myanmar puppet theater are based on Buddhism, the climactic moment in the performance, a duet between the Prince and Princess, is not as earnest as one might expect.
"The Prince and Princess will see improvisation between the puppeteers and musicians. They make many jokes and say something about the festival organizer if, [for example], it is not very good curry. If they are not satisfied with their meal, they'll mention it during that part, with jokes. In the olden days, they were like a newspaper. They spread the news about current events and state affairs," she explained.
Music is another important feature of Myanmar puppetry and, according to Naing, something of a specialized skill.
"It's very important. Musicians, puppeteers and singers, the three parts work together in a synchronized manner," she said.
"Youk-The Pwe" will be performed at Lazona Kawasaki Plazasol on Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (044) 777-2228 and Cascade Hall in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Feb. 10 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. (03) 3265-6311.
Angelina Jolie, UN Envoy, Asks Thailand to Aid Myanmar Refugees
Angelina Jolie, UN Envoy, Asks Thailand to Aid Myanmar Refugees
By Michael Heath
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Angelina Jolie, a United Nations goodwill ambassador, asked Thailand to accept Muslim migrants fleeing Myanmar’s military authorities during a visit to refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border.
Thailand is facing an international outcry over its treatment of the minority Muslim Rohingya group, after CNN published a photo showing armed forces towing refugee boats away from the shore on Jan. 26. Five of six boats towed in late December sank, killing several hundred people, CNN reported.
Jolie issued the plea during a visit yesterday to camps in northern Thailand that house 111,000 mostly ethnic Karen and Karenni refugees from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
Witnessing the government’s hospitality to the refugees sheltering in camps “makes me hope that Thailand will be just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores,” the Oscar-winning actress said, according to a statement on the UN’s Web site.
Thousands of Rohingyas flee Myanmar each year because of land confiscation, arbitrary taxation, forced eviction and denial of citizenship, according to Amnesty International. Some members of the estimated population of 3 million also attempt to settle in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and India.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said earlier this week that his government won’t build a camp for the Rohingyas and will continue to expel them.
“They are not refugees,” Abhisit said in Bangkok on Jan. 4. “Our policy is to push them out of the country because they are illegal migrants.”
The government has said it is investigating the CNN report and the navy has denied allegations the boats were sent out without engines and adequate food and water.
Thailand has asked the UN to join a regional forum to help address the migrant issue.
Indonesia Rescue
Indonesia this week rescued 198 Rohingya refugees found adrift in a wooden boat after a trip that killed 26 of them. The vessel traveled for 21 days before it was discovered and towed to a port in the westernmost province of Aceh, the navy said.
Indonesia’s government plans to deport 193 Bangladeshis and Rohingyas who landed on Sabang Island in Aceh province on Jan. 7 as they have been designated economic migrants, the Foreign Ministry said last month.
Since becoming a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency in 2001, Jolie, 33, has visited refugees in more than 20 countries, according to the UNCHR’s Web site.
By Michael Heath
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Angelina Jolie, a United Nations goodwill ambassador, asked Thailand to accept Muslim migrants fleeing Myanmar’s military authorities during a visit to refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border.
Thailand is facing an international outcry over its treatment of the minority Muslim Rohingya group, after CNN published a photo showing armed forces towing refugee boats away from the shore on Jan. 26. Five of six boats towed in late December sank, killing several hundred people, CNN reported.
Jolie issued the plea during a visit yesterday to camps in northern Thailand that house 111,000 mostly ethnic Karen and Karenni refugees from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
Witnessing the government’s hospitality to the refugees sheltering in camps “makes me hope that Thailand will be just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores,” the Oscar-winning actress said, according to a statement on the UN’s Web site.
Thousands of Rohingyas flee Myanmar each year because of land confiscation, arbitrary taxation, forced eviction and denial of citizenship, according to Amnesty International. Some members of the estimated population of 3 million also attempt to settle in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and India.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said earlier this week that his government won’t build a camp for the Rohingyas and will continue to expel them.
“They are not refugees,” Abhisit said in Bangkok on Jan. 4. “Our policy is to push them out of the country because they are illegal migrants.”
The government has said it is investigating the CNN report and the navy has denied allegations the boats were sent out without engines and adequate food and water.
Thailand has asked the UN to join a regional forum to help address the migrant issue.
Indonesia Rescue
Indonesia this week rescued 198 Rohingya refugees found adrift in a wooden boat after a trip that killed 26 of them. The vessel traveled for 21 days before it was discovered and towed to a port in the westernmost province of Aceh, the navy said.
Indonesia’s government plans to deport 193 Bangladeshis and Rohingyas who landed on Sabang Island in Aceh province on Jan. 7 as they have been designated economic migrants, the Foreign Ministry said last month.
Since becoming a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency in 2001, Jolie, 33, has visited refugees in more than 20 countries, according to the UNCHR’s Web site.
ReliefWeb - Myanmar: One-tenth of Burmese go hungry despite food surplus
ReliefWeb - Myanmar: One-tenth of Burmese go hungry despite food surplus
Source: AlertNet
Date: 05 Feb 2009
Myanmar, once known as the rice bowl of Asia, still boasts a surplus of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rice and maize. Yet a tenth of the population is going hungry, according to the first U.N. food security report on the country.
"The reality is that this country has got massive potential," said Chris Kaye, country representative for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), which has been operating in Myanmar since 1994.
"Not only is it a major producer of rice but also many other agricultural products. There should not be a need for food assistance in Myanmar," said Kaye.
After the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis last May, affected townships saw rice harvests fall by about a third. But overall food production in the country is expected to be satisfactory thanks to favourable weather and increased use of high-yielding rice seeds, says the joint report from WFP and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), released in late January.
Yet many states are experiencing food deficits because of regional disparities and limited agricultural and financial resources.
Almost 35 percent of Burmese children under the age of five are underweight, according to the U.N. Development Programme. The WFP/FAO report says more than 5 million people live below the food poverty line, and WFP is providing food aid to around 2.6 million people across the country.
Emergency food assistance is still needed in many areas including the cyclone-affected Irrawaddy Delta, the report says. Other priority regions are Chin and northern Rakhine states in the west, where rights groups say ethnic groups suffer abuses at the hands of the military junta.
Human Rights Watch released a report last month about the mainly Christian Chin people, saying hundreds of thousands have fled Myanmar for fear of persecution by the government only to face discrimination and abuse in neighbouring India. India denies the charge.
In remote Chin, a rat infestation triggered by bamboo flowering in early 2007 has affected food supplies, the report says. Kaye told AlertNet that the state, the poorest in Myanmar, is "very poorly served by development assistance and there's been limited support from the government."
Northern Rakhine is home to the Rohingyas, an oppressed Muslim minority who have recently turned up on the shores of Thailand and Indonesia with tales of abuse by both the Thai and Myanmar militaries. The Thai army has admitted to towing hundreds of Rohingya far out in the Andaman Sea on boats before cutting them adrift.
The WFP/FAO report says food security and malnutrition levels in Rakhine deserve "immediate humanitarian attention."
An earlier WFP assessment in June found the cost of rice had increased 75 percent compared to the previous year, and more than half of the population was drinking water from an unprotected source.
"The restrictions on the movement of people, goods and commodities in northern Rakhine state are really at the forefront of the reasons why levels of food insecurity are what they are," Kaye said.
There are a number of regions where further analysis is needed, he added. WFP is negotiating with the U.N Children's Fund (UNICEF) to conduct a nutrition survey in northern Rakhine, and there will be a more detailed assessment in Chin in March.
In areas affected by the cyclone, usually the food basket of the country, food production will likely take some time to recover. Nine months into the response to the crisis, agriculture is the most cash-starved sector, receiving less than a third of required funds, according to the United Nations.
Source: AlertNet
Date: 05 Feb 2009
Myanmar, once known as the rice bowl of Asia, still boasts a surplus of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rice and maize. Yet a tenth of the population is going hungry, according to the first U.N. food security report on the country.
"The reality is that this country has got massive potential," said Chris Kaye, country representative for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), which has been operating in Myanmar since 1994.
"Not only is it a major producer of rice but also many other agricultural products. There should not be a need for food assistance in Myanmar," said Kaye.
After the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis last May, affected townships saw rice harvests fall by about a third. But overall food production in the country is expected to be satisfactory thanks to favourable weather and increased use of high-yielding rice seeds, says the joint report from WFP and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), released in late January.
Yet many states are experiencing food deficits because of regional disparities and limited agricultural and financial resources.
Almost 35 percent of Burmese children under the age of five are underweight, according to the U.N. Development Programme. The WFP/FAO report says more than 5 million people live below the food poverty line, and WFP is providing food aid to around 2.6 million people across the country.
Emergency food assistance is still needed in many areas including the cyclone-affected Irrawaddy Delta, the report says. Other priority regions are Chin and northern Rakhine states in the west, where rights groups say ethnic groups suffer abuses at the hands of the military junta.
Human Rights Watch released a report last month about the mainly Christian Chin people, saying hundreds of thousands have fled Myanmar for fear of persecution by the government only to face discrimination and abuse in neighbouring India. India denies the charge.
In remote Chin, a rat infestation triggered by bamboo flowering in early 2007 has affected food supplies, the report says. Kaye told AlertNet that the state, the poorest in Myanmar, is "very poorly served by development assistance and there's been limited support from the government."
Northern Rakhine is home to the Rohingyas, an oppressed Muslim minority who have recently turned up on the shores of Thailand and Indonesia with tales of abuse by both the Thai and Myanmar militaries. The Thai army has admitted to towing hundreds of Rohingya far out in the Andaman Sea on boats before cutting them adrift.
The WFP/FAO report says food security and malnutrition levels in Rakhine deserve "immediate humanitarian attention."
An earlier WFP assessment in June found the cost of rice had increased 75 percent compared to the previous year, and more than half of the population was drinking water from an unprotected source.
"The restrictions on the movement of people, goods and commodities in northern Rakhine state are really at the forefront of the reasons why levels of food insecurity are what they are," Kaye said.
There are a number of regions where further analysis is needed, he added. WFP is negotiating with the U.N Children's Fund (UNICEF) to conduct a nutrition survey in northern Rakhine, and there will be a more detailed assessment in Chin in March.
In areas affected by the cyclone, usually the food basket of the country, food production will likely take some time to recover. Nine months into the response to the crisis, agriculture is the most cash-starved sector, receiving less than a third of required funds, according to the United Nations.
ReliefWeb - Myanmar: Ban calls on Government, opposition to resume substantive talks
ReliefWeb - Myanmar: Ban calls on Government, opposition to resume substantive talks
Source: United Nations News Service
Date: 05 Feb 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the Myanmar Government and the opposition to resume substantive talks leading to national dialogue and reconciliation, after being briefed by his Special Adviser on the outcome of his latest visit to the South-East Asian nation.
Ibrahim Gambari briefed Mr. Ban on the visit, which took place from 31 January to 3 February, during a meeting in New Delhi, the last stop on the Secretary-General's two-week travels through Europe, Africa and Asia.
"The Secretary-General took note that his Special Adviser was able to continue his consultations with both the Government of Myanmar, including Prime Minister Thein Sein, and key members of the opposition, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as other relevant interlocutors," UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York.
She added that Mr. Ban looks forward to building on this visit with a view to further promoting national dialogue and reconciliation through his good offices, and "calls on the Government and opposition to resume substantive dialogue without preconditions and without further delay."
The visit was Mr. Gambari's fifth to the country in the past year and a half, and is part of the good offices mandate entrusted to the Secretary-General by the General Assembly.
Source: United Nations News Service
Date: 05 Feb 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the Myanmar Government and the opposition to resume substantive talks leading to national dialogue and reconciliation, after being briefed by his Special Adviser on the outcome of his latest visit to the South-East Asian nation.
Ibrahim Gambari briefed Mr. Ban on the visit, which took place from 31 January to 3 February, during a meeting in New Delhi, the last stop on the Secretary-General's two-week travels through Europe, Africa and Asia.
"The Secretary-General took note that his Special Adviser was able to continue his consultations with both the Government of Myanmar, including Prime Minister Thein Sein, and key members of the opposition, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as other relevant interlocutors," UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York.
She added that Mr. Ban looks forward to building on this visit with a view to further promoting national dialogue and reconciliation through his good offices, and "calls on the Government and opposition to resume substantive dialogue without preconditions and without further delay."
The visit was Mr. Gambari's fifth to the country in the past year and a half, and is part of the good offices mandate entrusted to the Secretary-General by the General Assembly.
UN urges Myanmar rulers, opposition to resume substantive talks
UN urges Myanmar rulers, opposition to resume substantive talks
Posted: 06 February 2009 0811 hrs
UNITED NATIONS (Channel NewsAsia) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon is appealing to Myanmar's military rulers and opposition to resume early, substantive negotiations without preconditions, his spokeswoman said Thursday.
Michele Montas said the secretary general issued the appeal after being briefed in New Delhi by his special adviser Ibrahim Gambari on the outcome of his four-day visit to Myanmar which ended Tuesday.
She added that Ban, who was in the Indian capital on the last leg of a two-week swing through Europe, Africa and Asia, looked forward "to building on the Gambari visit to further foster national dialogue and reconciliation" in Myanmar.
Ban "calls on the government and opposition to resume substantive dialogue without preconditions and without further delay," Montas said.
Gambari left Myanmar Tuesday after a visit aimed at nudging the regime toward dialogue with the democratic opposition, though he failed to secure a meeting with the top junta leadership.
Opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest for most the past 19 years, met Gambari on Monday.
She had refused to see him on his previous visit to Myanmar in August.
Less than a day after Gambari left the country, Myanmar state media accused Aung San Suu Kyi of being unrealistic, leaving little room for the diplomatic manoeuvring the UN envoy is seeking.
Posted: 06 February 2009 0811 hrs
UNITED NATIONS (Channel NewsAsia) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon is appealing to Myanmar's military rulers and opposition to resume early, substantive negotiations without preconditions, his spokeswoman said Thursday.
Michele Montas said the secretary general issued the appeal after being briefed in New Delhi by his special adviser Ibrahim Gambari on the outcome of his four-day visit to Myanmar which ended Tuesday.
She added that Ban, who was in the Indian capital on the last leg of a two-week swing through Europe, Africa and Asia, looked forward "to building on the Gambari visit to further foster national dialogue and reconciliation" in Myanmar.
Ban "calls on the government and opposition to resume substantive dialogue without preconditions and without further delay," Montas said.
Gambari left Myanmar Tuesday after a visit aimed at nudging the regime toward dialogue with the democratic opposition, though he failed to secure a meeting with the top junta leadership.
Opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest for most the past 19 years, met Gambari on Monday.
She had refused to see him on his previous visit to Myanmar in August.
Less than a day after Gambari left the country, Myanmar state media accused Aung San Suu Kyi of being unrealistic, leaving little room for the diplomatic manoeuvring the UN envoy is seeking.
Myanmar Junta Calls Suu Kyi’s Conditions for Talks Unrealistic
Myanmar Junta Calls Suu Kyi’s Conditions for Talks Unrealistic
By Michael Heath
Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s junta accused pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi of setting unrealistic conditions for talks, following the visit of a United Nations envoy trying to broker discussions between the military and the opposition.
“A dialogue will be practical and successful only if the discussions are based on the reality of prevailing conditions,” Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan said in a statement carried by state media yesterday. “There will be no success if it is based on unrealistic conditions.”
Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 of the past 20 years under house arrest, told UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Feb. 2 that she would only hold talks with the junta if all political prisoners are released and the results of 1990 elections won by her National League for Democracy are recognized, Agence France-Presse reported, citing NLD members at the meeting.
The junta plans elections in 2010 after it staged a referendum last year for a new constitution that it said was approved by 92 percent of voters. The NLD denounced the charter, which bars Suu Kyi, 63, from holding office, saying it aims to extend military rule.
Gambari was making his fifth visit to Myanmar since the junta crushed pro-democracy demonstrations led by monks in 2007, prompting international condemnation. The regime has stepped up prosecutions of dissidents involved in the protests, in what human rights organizations say is an effort to crush anti- government groups before the elections.
More than 2,000 political prisoners are held in Myanmar’s jails, according to the U.S. State Department.
International Sanctions
Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sein told Gambari Feb. 3, at the end of the envoy’s four-day visit, that the UN should press for the lifting of international sanctions to promote political improvements in the country, according to the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
Sanctions have damaged human rights and hindered efforts to build a democratic nation, Thein Sein told Gambari.
Suu Kyi first arrested in 1989, has had only brief periods of freedom from detention in her home in Yangon since her party won the 1990 elections. The results were rejected by the military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, daughter of independence leader General Aung San, emerged as an opposition leader during an economic crisis in the late 1980s.
By Michael Heath
Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s junta accused pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi of setting unrealistic conditions for talks, following the visit of a United Nations envoy trying to broker discussions between the military and the opposition.
“A dialogue will be practical and successful only if the discussions are based on the reality of prevailing conditions,” Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan said in a statement carried by state media yesterday. “There will be no success if it is based on unrealistic conditions.”
Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 of the past 20 years under house arrest, told UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Feb. 2 that she would only hold talks with the junta if all political prisoners are released and the results of 1990 elections won by her National League for Democracy are recognized, Agence France-Presse reported, citing NLD members at the meeting.
The junta plans elections in 2010 after it staged a referendum last year for a new constitution that it said was approved by 92 percent of voters. The NLD denounced the charter, which bars Suu Kyi, 63, from holding office, saying it aims to extend military rule.
Gambari was making his fifth visit to Myanmar since the junta crushed pro-democracy demonstrations led by monks in 2007, prompting international condemnation. The regime has stepped up prosecutions of dissidents involved in the protests, in what human rights organizations say is an effort to crush anti- government groups before the elections.
More than 2,000 political prisoners are held in Myanmar’s jails, according to the U.S. State Department.
International Sanctions
Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sein told Gambari Feb. 3, at the end of the envoy’s four-day visit, that the UN should press for the lifting of international sanctions to promote political improvements in the country, according to the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
Sanctions have damaged human rights and hindered efforts to build a democratic nation, Thein Sein told Gambari.
Suu Kyi first arrested in 1989, has had only brief periods of freedom from detention in her home in Yangon since her party won the 1990 elections. The results were rejected by the military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, daughter of independence leader General Aung San, emerged as an opposition leader during an economic crisis in the late 1980s.
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