Ragtag rebels vow to fight on in Myanmar
by Claire Truscott – Sun Jul 12, 1:57 am ET
ON THE THAILAND-MYANMAR BORDER (AFP) – They prowl their jungle battleground in sneakers and have to steal their weapons, but Myanmar's ethnic Karen rebels say they will never quit their struggle against the junta.
The ragtag Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) has been fighting Myanmar's military government for 60 years -- marking the country's eastern border as the stage for one of the world's longest running conflicts.
But a renewed crackdown by government forces in early June caused 4,000 of the mainly Christian Karen to flee to neighbouring Thailand, the largest group of refugees to cross in more than a decade, aid groups say.
The offensive comes as Myanmar's generals try to stamp out the last of the more than two dozen ethnic uprisings that have riven the country since shortly after independence in time for elections due next year.
Despite the overwhelming firepower against them, the KNLA say they will not quit.
"We never give up," said David Tharckabaw, a former soldier with the KNLA and now a leader of the political wing, the Karen National Union (KNU), based in a secret location on the Thai-Myanmar border.
"Yes, this is an asymmetric conflict, but overall we can still carry on."
In video footage AFP received from the Democratic Voice of Burma, a multimedia agency run by Myanmar expatriates that uses the country's former name, KNLA soldiers are seen fighting in rolled-up jeans and t-shirts.
A small guerrilla group rearms their rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the dense scrub -- Tharckabaw said most these weapons are stolen from government forces in raids because the KNLA obtains only sparse funds from logging and by levying cross-border trade taxes.
"We are operating on a shoestring so we rely heavily on guerrilla tactics and we have to be mobile and cause as many casualties as possible on the enemy," Tharckabaw told AFP.
"That's through ambushes... what we call 'battle of annihilation'," he said.
The struggling fighters are often forced to carry a week's worth of food, he said, as they attempt to take advantage of their superior knowledge of the tough terrain.
Some are based in their home villages while others are in camps for people internally displaced by the fighting in Myanmar, like one at Ler Per Her in eastern Myanmar's Karen state, where several mortars fell last month as it became the focus of the most recent offensive by the junta.
Inhabitants living nearby were forced to flee to uncertain refuge in Thailand and residents said they had been told they must work as minesweepers and porters for government forces.
Despite his belligerent talk and, in a sign that the strength of the rebels is waning, Tharckabaw, 74 -- who joined the KNLA aged 14 -- said they now actively discourage new recruits because they are more of a burden on resources than a help.
The Karen's struggle began alongside Myanmar's other ethnic minority groups seeking greater autonomy the year after British colonial rule ended in 1948.
General Ne Win, the dictator who seized control of the country in a 1962 coup, sought to crush the ethnic insurgencies with a "four cuts" policy: choking supplies of "food, funds, recruits and information" by razing villages.
It is a tactic that is still employed today.
"People have been writing off the KNU for years but unfortunately for people caught up in the middle of this, it could dribble on for quite some more time," said Myanmar analyst David Mathieson of Human Rights Watch.
He said the Karen rebels are probably at their lowest ebb militarily, while the junta's forces have gained in strength thanks to the defection to its side of a breakaway Buddhist faction of the largely Christian KNLA.
Myanmar's rulers now hope to use the defectors -- known as the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA) -- as part of a national border defence force ahead of the 2010 elections, said Zipporah Sern, head of the KNU.
"They (the junta) try to push the DKBA to attack the KNLA base camp... they use their tactics in a tricky way to persuade them (not to rejoin the rebels)" said Sern, who also spoke to AFP from a secret border location.
This sort of "divide and rule" strategy leaves no doubt that the fight must continue, says Tharckabaw, although he adds that the KNU are willing to talk with the authorities.
"We are always ready to negotiate and we have been there five times already, but they say you have to lay down arms first. But who would? Where's the trust?" Tharckabaw said.
by Claire Truscott – Sun Jul 12, 1:57 am ET
ON THE THAILAND-MYANMAR BORDER (AFP) – They prowl their jungle battleground in sneakers and have to steal their weapons, but Myanmar's ethnic Karen rebels say they will never quit their struggle against the junta.
The ragtag Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) has been fighting Myanmar's military government for 60 years -- marking the country's eastern border as the stage for one of the world's longest running conflicts.
But a renewed crackdown by government forces in early June caused 4,000 of the mainly Christian Karen to flee to neighbouring Thailand, the largest group of refugees to cross in more than a decade, aid groups say.
The offensive comes as Myanmar's generals try to stamp out the last of the more than two dozen ethnic uprisings that have riven the country since shortly after independence in time for elections due next year.
Despite the overwhelming firepower against them, the KNLA say they will not quit.
"We never give up," said David Tharckabaw, a former soldier with the KNLA and now a leader of the political wing, the Karen National Union (KNU), based in a secret location on the Thai-Myanmar border.
"Yes, this is an asymmetric conflict, but overall we can still carry on."
In video footage AFP received from the Democratic Voice of Burma, a multimedia agency run by Myanmar expatriates that uses the country's former name, KNLA soldiers are seen fighting in rolled-up jeans and t-shirts.
A small guerrilla group rearms their rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the dense scrub -- Tharckabaw said most these weapons are stolen from government forces in raids because the KNLA obtains only sparse funds from logging and by levying cross-border trade taxes.
"We are operating on a shoestring so we rely heavily on guerrilla tactics and we have to be mobile and cause as many casualties as possible on the enemy," Tharckabaw told AFP.
"That's through ambushes... what we call 'battle of annihilation'," he said.
The struggling fighters are often forced to carry a week's worth of food, he said, as they attempt to take advantage of their superior knowledge of the tough terrain.
Some are based in their home villages while others are in camps for people internally displaced by the fighting in Myanmar, like one at Ler Per Her in eastern Myanmar's Karen state, where several mortars fell last month as it became the focus of the most recent offensive by the junta.
Inhabitants living nearby were forced to flee to uncertain refuge in Thailand and residents said they had been told they must work as minesweepers and porters for government forces.
Despite his belligerent talk and, in a sign that the strength of the rebels is waning, Tharckabaw, 74 -- who joined the KNLA aged 14 -- said they now actively discourage new recruits because they are more of a burden on resources than a help.
The Karen's struggle began alongside Myanmar's other ethnic minority groups seeking greater autonomy the year after British colonial rule ended in 1948.
General Ne Win, the dictator who seized control of the country in a 1962 coup, sought to crush the ethnic insurgencies with a "four cuts" policy: choking supplies of "food, funds, recruits and information" by razing villages.
It is a tactic that is still employed today.
"People have been writing off the KNU for years but unfortunately for people caught up in the middle of this, it could dribble on for quite some more time," said Myanmar analyst David Mathieson of Human Rights Watch.
He said the Karen rebels are probably at their lowest ebb militarily, while the junta's forces have gained in strength thanks to the defection to its side of a breakaway Buddhist faction of the largely Christian KNLA.
Myanmar's rulers now hope to use the defectors -- known as the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA) -- as part of a national border defence force ahead of the 2010 elections, said Zipporah Sern, head of the KNU.
"They (the junta) try to push the DKBA to attack the KNLA base camp... they use their tactics in a tricky way to persuade them (not to rejoin the rebels)" said Sern, who also spoke to AFP from a secret border location.
This sort of "divide and rule" strategy leaves no doubt that the fight must continue, says Tharckabaw, although he adds that the KNU are willing to talk with the authorities.
"We are always ready to negotiate and we have been there five times already, but they say you have to lay down arms first. But who would? Where's the trust?" Tharckabaw said.
********************************************************
Two Malaysian men charged with human trafficking: report
Sat Jul 11, 2:06 am ET
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Two men have been charged with the trafficking of two Myanmar refugees, according to a report, Malaysia's first such cases of people smuggling for the purposes of "forced labour".
Second-hand goods trader Azhar Yusof, 32, and self-employed Mohamad Nazeri Mat Hussein, 50, appeared separately in court on Friday, according to the New Straits Times.
The two Malaysians, who allegedy made 1,500 ringgit (419 dollars) in each deal, face up to 20 years in jail and a fine of 500,000 ringgit if convicted. Both denied the charges.
Prosecutor Mohamad Dusuki Mokhtar said they were believed to be part of a human trafficking syndicate.
Last month, the United States put Malaysia back on a people smuggling blacklist, saying the country had failed to comply with minimum standards to eliminate trafficking.
And Malaysian premier Najib Razak has admitted that his country was being used as a transit point for illegal immigrants, as human trafficking and drug smuggling replaced piracy as the main crime threat off its long coastline.
Malaysian marine police said 93 migrants, of different nationalities, have been arrested in the treacherous Malacca Strait since January as they tried to sail to Australia via Indonesia.
Sat Jul 11, 2:06 am ET
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Two men have been charged with the trafficking of two Myanmar refugees, according to a report, Malaysia's first such cases of people smuggling for the purposes of "forced labour".
Second-hand goods trader Azhar Yusof, 32, and self-employed Mohamad Nazeri Mat Hussein, 50, appeared separately in court on Friday, according to the New Straits Times.
The two Malaysians, who allegedy made 1,500 ringgit (419 dollars) in each deal, face up to 20 years in jail and a fine of 500,000 ringgit if convicted. Both denied the charges.
Prosecutor Mohamad Dusuki Mokhtar said they were believed to be part of a human trafficking syndicate.
Last month, the United States put Malaysia back on a people smuggling blacklist, saying the country had failed to comply with minimum standards to eliminate trafficking.
And Malaysian premier Najib Razak has admitted that his country was being used as a transit point for illegal immigrants, as human trafficking and drug smuggling replaced piracy as the main crime threat off its long coastline.
Malaysian marine police said 93 migrants, of different nationalities, have been arrested in the treacherous Malacca Strait since January as they tried to sail to Australia via Indonesia.
********************************************************
The Japan Times Weekly: July 11, 2009
Ban's diplomatic trip proves fruitless
After a two-day visit during which Myanmar's ruling junta tried to stage-manage the world's top diplomat at every step, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon left the country July 4 with few prospects of even slightly loosening the iron grip on power held by the regime and its chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
If people saw Ban acting independently in Myanmar "that would cause Than Shwe to lose face," said Donald Seekins, a Myanmar expert at Japan's Meio University. "So they want to manipulate him."
Ban's diplomatic trip proves fruitless
After a two-day visit during which Myanmar's ruling junta tried to stage-manage the world's top diplomat at every step, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon left the country July 4 with few prospects of even slightly loosening the iron grip on power held by the regime and its chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
If people saw Ban acting independently in Myanmar "that would cause Than Shwe to lose face," said Donald Seekins, a Myanmar expert at Japan's Meio University. "So they want to manipulate him."
********************************************************
The Hindu - Ban to brief UNSC on Myanmar
Saturday, July 11, 2009 : 1000 Hrs
Washington (PTI): United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would brief Security Council on his recent visit to Myanmar on Monday, a UN spokeswoman said on Friday.
Ban had visited Myanmar last week, wherein the Myanmar's military junta denied him permission to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader.
When asked about Ban's meeting with the National League for Democracy (NLD) while he was in Yangon, the Spokeswoman, Michele Montas, noted that Ban had asked to see the opposition parties in the country and was able to meet with them.
Montas said the Secretary General expressed his concerns about the proposed 2010 elections and the constitutional reform process in the country.
Saturday, July 11, 2009 : 1000 Hrs
Washington (PTI): United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would brief Security Council on his recent visit to Myanmar on Monday, a UN spokeswoman said on Friday.
Ban had visited Myanmar last week, wherein the Myanmar's military junta denied him permission to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader.
When asked about Ban's meeting with the National League for Democracy (NLD) while he was in Yangon, the Spokeswoman, Michele Montas, noted that Ban had asked to see the opposition parties in the country and was able to meet with them.
Montas said the Secretary General expressed his concerns about the proposed 2010 elections and the constitutional reform process in the country.
********************************************************
THE NEW YORK TIMES - On Trial and Under Wraps, a Burmese Icon Tends a Flickering Flame
Published: July 11, 2009
NEAR YANGON, Myanmar — The sewing machines click and clack in the small workshop where Ei Phyu stitches fake Levi’s shirts. Over the din she sometimes overhears her co-workers talking about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy leader whose trial awaits a verdict.
“I only know her name,” said Ms. Ei Phyu, a slight and shy 20-year-old who says she has no idea what Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi looks like.
“I’ve never seen a picture of her,” Ms. Ei Phyu said. “I think she’s an old lady.”
Outside Myanmar, formerly Burma, the trial has energized dissident Burmese exiles, has caused some politicians in neighboring countries to issue rare criticism of Myanmar’s military government and has mobilized Hollywood actors and rock stars to take up the cause of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, the only living Nobel Peace Prize laureate currently in detention.
Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, visited Myanmar last weekend in a failed attempt to meet with her.
But in a waterlogged hamlet an hour’s drive from the prison where Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi is being held, villagers are preoccupied with their own severe poverty and are only vaguely aware of her trial.
Having spent the better part of the past two decades detained in her home in Yangon, formerly Rangoon, and now facing the prospect of five years in prison for breaking the terms of her house arrest, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi is up against a great deal as an agent of democratic change: a young generation that barely knows who she is; government-run media that portray her as a lackey of the West; and an educated elite that is eager for economic development but wary of more political confrontation after two decades of deadlock.
For those old enough to remember the events of 1988, when Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi led protests against the military government, and two years later when she won an election in a landslide, she remains a powerful icon of democracy. Residents of Yangon, unprompted, often tell foreigners of their affection for her, commonly describing her as a “kind lady” who stands for justice in a country where there is not much of it.
“She is still the symbol of an alternative,” said a foreign-educated, wealthy resident of Yangon who spoke on the condition that her name be withheld, “but if they release her she would need to win the hearts of the people again.”
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who turned 64 last month, is often referred to as a political prisoner, but she falls into a different category from the 2,100 other dissidents locked up in Myanmar. She is free to leave the country but chooses to remain, a point of pride among her admirers.
The military government made it clear long ago that she could go overseas, said her lawyer, U Kyi Win, but it would be a one-way ticket. “It was quite definite that she wouldn’t be allowed a re-entry,” Mr. Kyi Win said in an interview.
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi has been dismissed as irrelevant before, only to rally Burmese in large numbers. But today, it remains very difficult to gauge her prospects and popularity.
Her lineage has been a crucial reason for her popularity, but that aura is now fading into history. Her father, U Aung San, the Burmese independence hero, was assassinated six decades ago.
To the large younger generation — as much as a quarter of Myanmar’s population is believed to be under 15 — Mr. Aung San is a distant historical figure they learn about in high school textbooks.
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, the National League for Democracy, is a shell of its former self, its leaders well into their 70s.
There are no opinion polls in Myanmar, and there have been no elections since 1990, when Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won the decisive victory that the ruling generals ignored. The junta has announced that there will be elections next year, but most diplomats and political analysts predict that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi will be barred from taking part.
Since her trial started in May, there have been scattered signs of protest. Graffiti appeared one morning on a well-traveled bridge in downtown Yangon saying, “Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” a bold move in a country where the faintest dissent can result in a lengthy prison term. (By evening, the graffiti had been painted over.)
A few days later, a man standing outside Insein Prison, where the trial is being conducted, held out a white sheet with the same message but was quickly tackled by plainclothes police officers and hauled away.
A different kind of protest last week underscored the depth of the hatred for the military government in some quarters: near Yangon’s City Hall a dog was set loose that had been painted with the name of Senior Gen. Than Shwe, who leads the junta and is particularly reviled. The dog’s tail had been cut; it yelped and ran frantically near the headquarters of the military intelligence agency.
Longtime foreign residents of Yangon point out that questions about Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s relevance are not new. In the early part of this decade, diplomats openly speculated that her party had atrophied and that she was no longer an important political force. But when she was released from house arrest in 2002, she toured the country and drew large, spontaneous, cheering crowds. She was rearrested a year later.
Testimony in her trial ended on Friday. Lawyers say that she should know her fate soon; if convicted, she could face up to five years’ imprisonment.
So could John William Yettaw, the American who says he saved her from an assassination plot by swimming to her lakeside home and whose visit led to the charge that she violated the terms of her detention.
Published: July 11, 2009
NEAR YANGON, Myanmar — The sewing machines click and clack in the small workshop where Ei Phyu stitches fake Levi’s shirts. Over the din she sometimes overhears her co-workers talking about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy leader whose trial awaits a verdict.
“I only know her name,” said Ms. Ei Phyu, a slight and shy 20-year-old who says she has no idea what Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi looks like.
“I’ve never seen a picture of her,” Ms. Ei Phyu said. “I think she’s an old lady.”
Outside Myanmar, formerly Burma, the trial has energized dissident Burmese exiles, has caused some politicians in neighboring countries to issue rare criticism of Myanmar’s military government and has mobilized Hollywood actors and rock stars to take up the cause of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, the only living Nobel Peace Prize laureate currently in detention.
Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, visited Myanmar last weekend in a failed attempt to meet with her.
But in a waterlogged hamlet an hour’s drive from the prison where Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi is being held, villagers are preoccupied with their own severe poverty and are only vaguely aware of her trial.
Having spent the better part of the past two decades detained in her home in Yangon, formerly Rangoon, and now facing the prospect of five years in prison for breaking the terms of her house arrest, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi is up against a great deal as an agent of democratic change: a young generation that barely knows who she is; government-run media that portray her as a lackey of the West; and an educated elite that is eager for economic development but wary of more political confrontation after two decades of deadlock.
For those old enough to remember the events of 1988, when Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi led protests against the military government, and two years later when she won an election in a landslide, she remains a powerful icon of democracy. Residents of Yangon, unprompted, often tell foreigners of their affection for her, commonly describing her as a “kind lady” who stands for justice in a country where there is not much of it.
“She is still the symbol of an alternative,” said a foreign-educated, wealthy resident of Yangon who spoke on the condition that her name be withheld, “but if they release her she would need to win the hearts of the people again.”
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who turned 64 last month, is often referred to as a political prisoner, but she falls into a different category from the 2,100 other dissidents locked up in Myanmar. She is free to leave the country but chooses to remain, a point of pride among her admirers.
The military government made it clear long ago that she could go overseas, said her lawyer, U Kyi Win, but it would be a one-way ticket. “It was quite definite that she wouldn’t be allowed a re-entry,” Mr. Kyi Win said in an interview.
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi has been dismissed as irrelevant before, only to rally Burmese in large numbers. But today, it remains very difficult to gauge her prospects and popularity.
Her lineage has been a crucial reason for her popularity, but that aura is now fading into history. Her father, U Aung San, the Burmese independence hero, was assassinated six decades ago.
To the large younger generation — as much as a quarter of Myanmar’s population is believed to be under 15 — Mr. Aung San is a distant historical figure they learn about in high school textbooks.
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, the National League for Democracy, is a shell of its former self, its leaders well into their 70s.
There are no opinion polls in Myanmar, and there have been no elections since 1990, when Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won the decisive victory that the ruling generals ignored. The junta has announced that there will be elections next year, but most diplomats and political analysts predict that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi will be barred from taking part.
Since her trial started in May, there have been scattered signs of protest. Graffiti appeared one morning on a well-traveled bridge in downtown Yangon saying, “Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” a bold move in a country where the faintest dissent can result in a lengthy prison term. (By evening, the graffiti had been painted over.)
A few days later, a man standing outside Insein Prison, where the trial is being conducted, held out a white sheet with the same message but was quickly tackled by plainclothes police officers and hauled away.
A different kind of protest last week underscored the depth of the hatred for the military government in some quarters: near Yangon’s City Hall a dog was set loose that had been painted with the name of Senior Gen. Than Shwe, who leads the junta and is particularly reviled. The dog’s tail had been cut; it yelped and ran frantically near the headquarters of the military intelligence agency.
Longtime foreign residents of Yangon point out that questions about Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s relevance are not new. In the early part of this decade, diplomats openly speculated that her party had atrophied and that she was no longer an important political force. But when she was released from house arrest in 2002, she toured the country and drew large, spontaneous, cheering crowds. She was rearrested a year later.
Testimony in her trial ended on Friday. Lawyers say that she should know her fate soon; if convicted, she could face up to five years’ imprisonment.
So could John William Yettaw, the American who says he saved her from an assassination plot by swimming to her lakeside home and whose visit led to the charge that she violated the terms of her detention.
********************************************************
The Scottish Herald - Suu Kyi ‘is being charged under abolished constitution’
Web Issue 3504, July 12 2009
YANGON
Testimony in the trial of Burma's jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has finished as the last defence witness argued that she is not guilty because the military government charged her under a constitution abolished two decades ago.
Yesterday's court session came a week after the regime's top general rebuffed a personal appeal by UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon to release the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harbouring an uninvited American man who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days. She faces a possible five-year prison term.
The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi's supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. She is widely expected to be found guilty.
Yesterday, defence witness Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer and a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, argued during cross- examination that the 1974 constitution under which Suu Kyi was being tried had been abolished in 1988.
"I have known her Suu Kyi for 20 years and based on that and legal points, I made my testimony," Khin Moe Moe told reporters. "She violated no laws."
"The prosecution was on the defensive. We are satisfied with the testimony," said Nyan Win, Suu Kyi's lawyer.
The session, which lasted nearly seven hours, ended with the court setting July 24 for final arguments in the case, said Nyan Win. He said the verdict could be expected in the early part of August.
Security was tight around Insein prison - where Suu Kyi is being held and the trial is ongoing - with roads blocked by barbed wire barricades manned by police. Truckloads of riot police were also deployed around the prison.
Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, mostly at her home.
British Charge D'Affaires Jeremy Hodges asked to be allowed to attend Suu Kyi's trial, but was barred from entry, the British Embassy in Yangon said in a statement.
"I asked for access to the court where Aung San Suu Kyi's trial resumed today. I was not allowed past the security cordon around the main gates of Insein prison which leads to the court," he said.
He added that the trial "fails to meet the most basic standards of Burmese law and international practice".-AP
Web Issue 3504, July 12 2009
YANGON
Testimony in the trial of Burma's jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has finished as the last defence witness argued that she is not guilty because the military government charged her under a constitution abolished two decades ago.
Yesterday's court session came a week after the regime's top general rebuffed a personal appeal by UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon to release the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harbouring an uninvited American man who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days. She faces a possible five-year prison term.
The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi's supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. She is widely expected to be found guilty.
Yesterday, defence witness Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer and a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, argued during cross- examination that the 1974 constitution under which Suu Kyi was being tried had been abolished in 1988.
"I have known her Suu Kyi for 20 years and based on that and legal points, I made my testimony," Khin Moe Moe told reporters. "She violated no laws."
"The prosecution was on the defensive. We are satisfied with the testimony," said Nyan Win, Suu Kyi's lawyer.
The session, which lasted nearly seven hours, ended with the court setting July 24 for final arguments in the case, said Nyan Win. He said the verdict could be expected in the early part of August.
Security was tight around Insein prison - where Suu Kyi is being held and the trial is ongoing - with roads blocked by barbed wire barricades manned by police. Truckloads of riot police were also deployed around the prison.
Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, mostly at her home.
British Charge D'Affaires Jeremy Hodges asked to be allowed to attend Suu Kyi's trial, but was barred from entry, the British Embassy in Yangon said in a statement.
"I asked for access to the court where Aung San Suu Kyi's trial resumed today. I was not allowed past the security cordon around the main gates of Insein prison which leads to the court," he said.
He added that the trial "fails to meet the most basic standards of Burmese law and international practice".-AP
********************************************************
EarthTimes - Myanmar expects rice exports to double
Posted : Sun, 12 Jul 2009 07:17:36 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar expects to double its exports of rice after the next harvest later this year, media reports said Sunday. "We plan to double the exports of surplus rice after the next major harvest season," Aung Than Oo, president of the Myanmar Rice and Paddy Traders' Association, told the weekly Myanmar Times.
He did specify the amount, but according to rice traders in Bangkok, Myanmar had already exported more than 500,000 tons of rice by mid-year, and was expected to export at least 1 million tons by the end of the year.
Myanmar's main crop is harvested after the rainy season, which runs from May through October.
Government regulations allow only rice deemed surplus to the nation's needs to be exported, to guarantee that domestic prices remain stable.
According to association's statistics, the country's rice surplus in fiscal 2008-09, ending on March 31, was 700,000 tons and earned 201 million dollars. In fiscal 2007-08, Myanmar earned only 103 million dollars from rice exports.
Myanmar managed a rice surplus and exports last fiscal year, even though the country's traditional rice basket, the Irrawaddy Delta, was hard hit by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, destroying hundreds of hectares of farmland and claiming up to 140,000 lives.
Tons of emergency food had to be imported from the international aid community to meet the needs of some 2 million people whose livelihoods were wiped out by the cyclone.
Myanmar's main export markets for rice include Bangladesh, South Africa and the Ivory Coast.
In the 2008-09 financial year, Africa bought 56 per cent of Myanmar's total rice exports, while 41 per cent went to the Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Although Myanmar's rice exports are on the rise this year, the price it fetches on the world market is below that of Thailand and Vietnam because of steep competition and poorer quality.
"Our production costs in the agricultural sector are quite low, giving us room to compete with our overseas competitors but our issue lies with quality," Aung Than Oo told the Myanmar Times.
"If we want to get a solid hold in the international market we really need to put heavy emphasis on improving our quality," he said.
Posted : Sun, 12 Jul 2009 07:17:36 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar expects to double its exports of rice after the next harvest later this year, media reports said Sunday. "We plan to double the exports of surplus rice after the next major harvest season," Aung Than Oo, president of the Myanmar Rice and Paddy Traders' Association, told the weekly Myanmar Times.
He did specify the amount, but according to rice traders in Bangkok, Myanmar had already exported more than 500,000 tons of rice by mid-year, and was expected to export at least 1 million tons by the end of the year.
Myanmar's main crop is harvested after the rainy season, which runs from May through October.
Government regulations allow only rice deemed surplus to the nation's needs to be exported, to guarantee that domestic prices remain stable.
According to association's statistics, the country's rice surplus in fiscal 2008-09, ending on March 31, was 700,000 tons and earned 201 million dollars. In fiscal 2007-08, Myanmar earned only 103 million dollars from rice exports.
Myanmar managed a rice surplus and exports last fiscal year, even though the country's traditional rice basket, the Irrawaddy Delta, was hard hit by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, destroying hundreds of hectares of farmland and claiming up to 140,000 lives.
Tons of emergency food had to be imported from the international aid community to meet the needs of some 2 million people whose livelihoods were wiped out by the cyclone.
Myanmar's main export markets for rice include Bangladesh, South Africa and the Ivory Coast.
In the 2008-09 financial year, Africa bought 56 per cent of Myanmar's total rice exports, while 41 per cent went to the Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Although Myanmar's rice exports are on the rise this year, the price it fetches on the world market is below that of Thailand and Vietnam because of steep competition and poorer quality.
"Our production costs in the agricultural sector are quite low, giving us room to compete with our overseas competitors but our issue lies with quality," Aung Than Oo told the Myanmar Times.
"If we want to get a solid hold in the international market we really need to put heavy emphasis on improving our quality," he said.
********************************************************
UN responds to deadly landslide in Myanmar
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-11 11:21:12
UNITED NATIONS, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is assessing how it can assist Myanmar in the wake of a deadly landslide caused by heavy rains which swept away a jade miners' settlement in the north of the country, UN officials said here on Friday.
The July 4 landslide occurred in the settlement on the Uru River in Kachin State, the officials said.
According to media reports, dozens of people have been killed, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that between 700 and 800 people have been affected and are currently sheltering in five sites, including monasteries and a school.
The United Nations and its partner agencies are working in the area by Hpakant township to plan and coordinate the distribution of supplies, said the officials.
Food is expected to be the main priority for those affected by the torrential floods, and the UN World Food Program (WFP) will be supplying emergency food aid through its partners on the ground.
For its part, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is looking into the possibility of distributing essential drugs to authorities and health facilities.
At the national level, OCHA and the UN Development Program (UNDP) have offered their support during talks with Myanmar's Ministry of Social Welfare, the officials said.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-11 11:21:12
UNITED NATIONS, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is assessing how it can assist Myanmar in the wake of a deadly landslide caused by heavy rains which swept away a jade miners' settlement in the north of the country, UN officials said here on Friday.
The July 4 landslide occurred in the settlement on the Uru River in Kachin State, the officials said.
According to media reports, dozens of people have been killed, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that between 700 and 800 people have been affected and are currently sheltering in five sites, including monasteries and a school.
The United Nations and its partner agencies are working in the area by Hpakant township to plan and coordinate the distribution of supplies, said the officials.
Food is expected to be the main priority for those affected by the torrential floods, and the UN World Food Program (WFP) will be supplying emergency food aid through its partners on the ground.
For its part, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is looking into the possibility of distributing essential drugs to authorities and health facilities.
At the national level, OCHA and the UN Development Program (UNDP) have offered their support during talks with Myanmar's Ministry of Social Welfare, the officials said.
********************************************************
MoU on establishing friendly city ties between Nanning, Yangon signed in Myanmar
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-11 14:06:17
YANGON, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Municipal authorities of Nanning of China and Yangon of Myanmar Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of friendship-city relationship between the two cities.
Nanning is the capital of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, while Yangon is Myanmar's former capital and now a commercial city.
The MoU signing ceremony was attended by visiting Chairman of Standing Committee of the People's Congress of China Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Secretary of Guangxi Communist Party of China Guo Shengkun, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar Wang Zongying, Nanning Mayor Huang Fangfang and Yangon Mayor Brigadier-General Aung Thein Lin on behalf of their respective sides.
On the occasion, Yangon Major Aung said the signing of the MoU would surely further enhance the development of friendly relations between the two cities.
He noted that the economic and trade exchange between Nanning and Yangon is based on mutually beneficial cooperation, expressing wishes of the Myanmar side to strengthen the exchange between the two cities and further enhance cooperation in such sectors as municipal economy, transport, culture, education, technology and tourism.
Nanning Mayor Huang said that the signing of the MoU reflects the deepened "Paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship between the two countries, expressing firm belief that the two cities' friendly relations, built on the basis of "goodwill and cooperation, equality and mutual benefit, mutual supplementation of superiority and joint development", would bring the friendly exchange of the two regions into a new era and deepen the traditional friendship of the two cities, thus promoting the cooperation of the two sides in all sectors and contributing significantly to the realization of joint development and joint enjoyment of prosperity.
Guo, leading the Guangxi Nanning delegation, arrived in Yangon on Wednesday on a goodwill visit to Myanmar at the invitation of Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win.
During the visit, Guo met with Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein and had discussions with Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win in Nay Pyi Taw on promoting the friendly relations and cooperation between the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Myanmar.
A contract on inviting bids for trade and exhibition for the Nanning Expo was also signed by the two sides and a ceremony to launch a TV week in Myanmar by airing programs of Guangxi TV with the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) starting Friday also took place.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-11 14:06:17
YANGON, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Municipal authorities of Nanning of China and Yangon of Myanmar Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of friendship-city relationship between the two cities.
Nanning is the capital of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, while Yangon is Myanmar's former capital and now a commercial city.
The MoU signing ceremony was attended by visiting Chairman of Standing Committee of the People's Congress of China Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Secretary of Guangxi Communist Party of China Guo Shengkun, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar Wang Zongying, Nanning Mayor Huang Fangfang and Yangon Mayor Brigadier-General Aung Thein Lin on behalf of their respective sides.
On the occasion, Yangon Major Aung said the signing of the MoU would surely further enhance the development of friendly relations between the two cities.
He noted that the economic and trade exchange between Nanning and Yangon is based on mutually beneficial cooperation, expressing wishes of the Myanmar side to strengthen the exchange between the two cities and further enhance cooperation in such sectors as municipal economy, transport, culture, education, technology and tourism.
Nanning Mayor Huang said that the signing of the MoU reflects the deepened "Paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship between the two countries, expressing firm belief that the two cities' friendly relations, built on the basis of "goodwill and cooperation, equality and mutual benefit, mutual supplementation of superiority and joint development", would bring the friendly exchange of the two regions into a new era and deepen the traditional friendship of the two cities, thus promoting the cooperation of the two sides in all sectors and contributing significantly to the realization of joint development and joint enjoyment of prosperity.
Guo, leading the Guangxi Nanning delegation, arrived in Yangon on Wednesday on a goodwill visit to Myanmar at the invitation of Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win.
During the visit, Guo met with Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein and had discussions with Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win in Nay Pyi Taw on promoting the friendly relations and cooperation between the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Myanmar.
A contract on inviting bids for trade and exhibition for the Nanning Expo was also signed by the two sides and a ceremony to launch a TV week in Myanmar by airing programs of Guangxi TV with the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) starting Friday also took place.
********************************************************
Union of Catholic Asian News
MALAYSIA NGO gives medical, counseling aid to Myanmar refugees
July 10, 2009
TANAH RATA, Malaysia (UCAN) -- A Catholic NGO is helping refugees in the mountainous central region of Malaysia who say they are cut off from their loved ones and live in constant fear.
"We are constantly afraid of the security forces and everyone else around us," said Batang, a refugee leader, during a mobile clinic conducted by A Call To Serve (ACTS).
"We have not seen our families in years. When ACTS comes here, it is like our parents visiting us."
Batang, 38, is one of several hundred ethnic Chin people from Myanmar who live in the forests at the mountain ridges around Cameron Highlands, a popular tourist destination and agricultural center.
ACTS, which gives medical aid and other assistance to refugees who have no one to turn to, is the only hope for many.
"It is our only chance of getting any medical attention when we fall sick or get injured," Batang, a Baptist, said during the July 4 clinic.
ACTS sets up mobile clinics in three areas within Cameron Highlands once every two months. It gives free medical and counseling services, as well as food and clothes to the refugees who have settled in the area trying to find work in vegetable plantations.
Doctor Caroline Gunn, a volunteer in her 60s, said most of the medical cases are either anxiety-related or due to exposure to pesticides. Common ailments are headaches, gastritis and skin rashes, she added.
Doctor Gunn left private practice a few years ago to devote herself full-time to serving the refugees. She said that she could not do otherwise, seeing how great the need was.
Most of the Chin refugees are men in their late teens or early 20s who ran away from their homes in northwestern Myanmar to escape persecution.
Teisanglian, 21, for example, said he ran away two years ago after Myanmar soldiers conscripted him into forced labor.
Another refugee, in his 20s, said he ran away with his wife after soldiers threatened to kill him for giving medical care to his own ethnic group.
According to ACTS, apart from fleeing political and economic persecution in Myanmar, these people end up in Malaysia after having been trafficked, or after having fled natural disasters.
There are more than 100,000 Myanmar refugees in the country, according to ACTS director Rosemary Chong.
ACTS also operates a permanent clinic and fortnightly mobile clinics at two detention centers and two convalescent homes in the Kuala Lumpur area. In addition, it conducts periodic mobile clinics in other parts of the country and a monthly food aid program at its center in Petaling Jaya.
Explaining why she started this ministry, Chong said: "The local poor have access to government clinics for free. But the refugees living in the jungles have no access to public health."
"We have to put our faith into action. We have to move the Church to see what is real" in our neighborhood, said the 60-year-old lay Catholic woman, whose simple office is decorated with a Marian statue, religious pictures and Bible verses.
ACTS, which started in 2003 with the help of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), now has eight local full-time staff, more than 20 full-time Myanmar refugee volunteers and around 50 part-time volunteers of various nationalities and religions.
MALAYSIA NGO gives medical, counseling aid to Myanmar refugees
July 10, 2009
TANAH RATA, Malaysia (UCAN) -- A Catholic NGO is helping refugees in the mountainous central region of Malaysia who say they are cut off from their loved ones and live in constant fear.
"We are constantly afraid of the security forces and everyone else around us," said Batang, a refugee leader, during a mobile clinic conducted by A Call To Serve (ACTS).
"We have not seen our families in years. When ACTS comes here, it is like our parents visiting us."
Batang, 38, is one of several hundred ethnic Chin people from Myanmar who live in the forests at the mountain ridges around Cameron Highlands, a popular tourist destination and agricultural center.
ACTS, which gives medical aid and other assistance to refugees who have no one to turn to, is the only hope for many.
"It is our only chance of getting any medical attention when we fall sick or get injured," Batang, a Baptist, said during the July 4 clinic.
ACTS sets up mobile clinics in three areas within Cameron Highlands once every two months. It gives free medical and counseling services, as well as food and clothes to the refugees who have settled in the area trying to find work in vegetable plantations.
Doctor Caroline Gunn, a volunteer in her 60s, said most of the medical cases are either anxiety-related or due to exposure to pesticides. Common ailments are headaches, gastritis and skin rashes, she added.
Doctor Gunn left private practice a few years ago to devote herself full-time to serving the refugees. She said that she could not do otherwise, seeing how great the need was.
Most of the Chin refugees are men in their late teens or early 20s who ran away from their homes in northwestern Myanmar to escape persecution.
Teisanglian, 21, for example, said he ran away two years ago after Myanmar soldiers conscripted him into forced labor.
Another refugee, in his 20s, said he ran away with his wife after soldiers threatened to kill him for giving medical care to his own ethnic group.
According to ACTS, apart from fleeing political and economic persecution in Myanmar, these people end up in Malaysia after having been trafficked, or after having fled natural disasters.
There are more than 100,000 Myanmar refugees in the country, according to ACTS director Rosemary Chong.
ACTS also operates a permanent clinic and fortnightly mobile clinics at two detention centers and two convalescent homes in the Kuala Lumpur area. In addition, it conducts periodic mobile clinics in other parts of the country and a monthly food aid program at its center in Petaling Jaya.
Explaining why she started this ministry, Chong said: "The local poor have access to government clinics for free. But the refugees living in the jungles have no access to public health."
"We have to put our faith into action. We have to move the Church to see what is real" in our neighborhood, said the 60-year-old lay Catholic woman, whose simple office is decorated with a Marian statue, religious pictures and Bible verses.
ACTS, which started in 2003 with the help of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), now has eight local full-time staff, more than 20 full-time Myanmar refugee volunteers and around 50 part-time volunteers of various nationalities and religions.
********************************************************
The Telegraph - Turning the cameras on Burma
A documentary recording the brave work of a group of undercover cameramen protesting against the Burmese dictatorship is about to be released in British cinemas. Adrian Blomfield reports
By Adrian Blomfield
Published: 5:34PM BST 11 Jul 2009
In every dictatorship, dissidents will tell you, there are particular sounds that engender fear. The tramp of jackboots in the stairwell or the urgent nocturnal rapping on the door are not just Hollywood fictions. In Burma, it is the putt-putting of motorcycles on the street that triggers the instinct of flight.
Lying on a mattress in his bedroom, Joshua often strains to hear the rumble of the motorcycle engine. Distinguishing it from the bustling hum of the Rangoon night can buy him a few seconds to make his escape. Sometimes, on nights when there are additional reasons to be fearful, Joshua sleeps in his trainers.
Only the secret police in Burma's capital ride motorcycles. For these men, the 27-year-old is prized quarry. He owns a video camera, the weapon the Burmese authorities most fear. To outfox the men on motorcycles, he has had to construct two lives. To the outside world, he is a normal Burman; cowed, subservient and unquestioning. But beneath the legend he has manufactured for himself, he is also 'Joshua' the video journalist, cataloguing the crimes of the regime and capturing the plight of the Burmese people on his illegal camcorder.
"I have created another life with another identity and another name," 'Joshua' explains. "As long as they cannot connect my personal life with my professional, I can feel a little bit safer."
His is the life of Winston Smith, the hero of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, who seeks to challenge the totalitarian order with his clandestine diary. Orwell, of course, has a special association with Burma. During the 1920s, he spent five years as a police officer in what was then one of the Empire's most nettlesome outposts. The experience provided the inspiration for his first novel, Burmese Days, which is still surreptitiously peddled to the few western tourists who wander Rangoon's markets.
But it is for his Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four that Burmese intellectuals know Orwell as "the prophet". As though writing history before it was made, the first seemed to chart Burma's disastrous experiment with socialism after Britain's withdrawal in 1948, while the second foreshadowed the country's subsequent evolution into totalitarian dystopia.
The State Peace and Development Council, the Orwellian title that the Burmese military junta uses to describe itself, has turned Burma into one of the world's most repressive and isolated states. Like all dictatorial regimes, it rules through fear. A vast network of informers has infiltrated the population so comprehensively that independent thought has been all but proscribed. To challenge state orthodoxy, however mildly, is to run the risk of a lengthy stay in Rangoon's soul-crushing Insein prison.
Yet, in the autumn of 2007, something remarkable happened.
With astonishing courage, and fully cognisant of the consequences, the Burmese people rose up against the generals. Students, dissidents and saffron-robed monks poured on to the streets of Burma's cities to demand an end to the injustice and poverty meted out to them for so long.
The junta responded with predictable violence. It also sought to close the country off to the outside world. Western news organisations were banned from reporting inside Burma as the protests mounted. Yet the generals were not able to shut off the flow of information entirely. Joshua and a handful of fellow Burmese activists were able to record and smuggle video footage out of the country, providing the sole channel of information between Burma and the outside world during those tumultuous days. Their aim, 'Joshua' explains now, was to ensure that "Burma should not be forgotten by the international community".
In 1992, a group of Burmese nationals created a broadcasting service based in Oslo they called the Democratic Voice of Burma. On shortwave radio, and later on satellite television, the DVB sought to challenge the misinformation and propaganda of the state by beaming independent news into Burma. But it was during the protests that the service came into its own.
As the demonstrations evolved, DVB correspondents like Joshua captured the events unfolding on the streets on camcorders hidden inside duffle bags. They could only operate for a few minutes at a time. The soldiers sent to crush the protests were searching for anyone with a camera as the state sought to block the leaks in its information blockade. A Japanese reporter was shot dead as he tried to photograph the arrest and beatings of a group of monks.
Yet every day, the DVB video journalists managed to get their footage out of Burma. Rebroadcast by the BBC, CNN and major news channels across the world, their pictures ensured international attention and pressure remained focused on the junta. Although dozens of peaceful demonstrators were killed, the work of DVB probably ensured that there was no repeat of the atrocities of 1988, when soldiers killed 3,000 students and activists protesting against the generals in a single day.
"Even for a prisoner who is in jail, if he gets more attention from the international community and media, he will get less torture," says 'Joshua'. "If the international community had not paid the attention it did, more people would have been killed for sure."
On July 14, a documentary recording the work of DVB correspondents during the protests will be released in 40 cinemas across Britain. Using Joshua as its prism, Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country weaves the footage shot by DVB's reporters into a powerful narrative.
Although the protests failed to remove the generals, the documentary is essentially a tale of hope. From the first rumblings of discontent in mid-August to the brutal suppression of the demonstrations six weeks later, it charts the transformation of Burma's people from timidity to moral outrage.
Initially, the demonstrations are small. A solitary activist unfurls a lone banner. Within minutes, he is dragged away by secret policemen in plain clothes.
The protests, initially sparked by rising food and fuel prices, are given fresh impetus as the monks join in. Soon there are tens of thousands on the streets, marching barefoot and chanting the Metta Sutta, the Buddha's injunction of love and kindness. They walk with their alms bowls turned upside down to show that they had excommunicated the generals, a powerful gesture in devout Burma.
The monks, phalanxed by tens of thousands of activists, eventually pass through the barricades on the street where Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest since her election victory in 1990. At first too terrified to act against the powerful force of the monks, the junta is now too terrified not to. Tear gas and then live ammunition is fired. Monks are dragged out of monasteries. A curfew is imposed.
All this is captured by the DVB reporters, their images overlaid by recordings of telephone conversations between Joshua, who has been forced to flee to Thailand, and his colleagues shooting the footage.
Most of the voices in the film have fallen silent. DVB's secret headquarters in Rangoon were eventually found. Fifteen of the channel's 30 employees operating in Burma are now in prison, facing sentences of up to 65 years.
Even so, Joshua keeps DVB alive. Couriers still smuggle video footage across the mountains into Thailand, and Joshua continues to make the perilous journey across the border.
"You can easily disappear on the way," he says softly. "There is as much risk for those helping you in. Fortunately, there is one good thing about corruption in Burma. Sometimes you can just bribe the officer. If I am stopped I can say 'OK, I'm a traitor, here's a present'".
With the release of the film, Joshua hopes to ensure that the world does not forget about Burma. Along with the Co-operative Bank, he is campaigning to draw attention to five of the characters who appear in the documentary, people like Ko Win Maw, serving 11 years for writing political songs and sending news to DVB, and Ohn Than, jailed for life for protesting outside the US embassy in Rangoon dressed in a prison uniform.
By placing them in the public eye, he says, the junta will feel under pressure to ensure that they are not tortured as regularly.
"There are 55 million people suffering in Burma," he says. "If a small percentage of the attention that was given to Michael Jackson was turned to Burma, it could make a huge difference."
*Burma VJ is in cinemas nationwide from July 14. For details, visit www.burmavjmovie.com
A documentary recording the brave work of a group of undercover cameramen protesting against the Burmese dictatorship is about to be released in British cinemas. Adrian Blomfield reports
By Adrian Blomfield
Published: 5:34PM BST 11 Jul 2009
In every dictatorship, dissidents will tell you, there are particular sounds that engender fear. The tramp of jackboots in the stairwell or the urgent nocturnal rapping on the door are not just Hollywood fictions. In Burma, it is the putt-putting of motorcycles on the street that triggers the instinct of flight.
Lying on a mattress in his bedroom, Joshua often strains to hear the rumble of the motorcycle engine. Distinguishing it from the bustling hum of the Rangoon night can buy him a few seconds to make his escape. Sometimes, on nights when there are additional reasons to be fearful, Joshua sleeps in his trainers.
Only the secret police in Burma's capital ride motorcycles. For these men, the 27-year-old is prized quarry. He owns a video camera, the weapon the Burmese authorities most fear. To outfox the men on motorcycles, he has had to construct two lives. To the outside world, he is a normal Burman; cowed, subservient and unquestioning. But beneath the legend he has manufactured for himself, he is also 'Joshua' the video journalist, cataloguing the crimes of the regime and capturing the plight of the Burmese people on his illegal camcorder.
"I have created another life with another identity and another name," 'Joshua' explains. "As long as they cannot connect my personal life with my professional, I can feel a little bit safer."
His is the life of Winston Smith, the hero of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, who seeks to challenge the totalitarian order with his clandestine diary. Orwell, of course, has a special association with Burma. During the 1920s, he spent five years as a police officer in what was then one of the Empire's most nettlesome outposts. The experience provided the inspiration for his first novel, Burmese Days, which is still surreptitiously peddled to the few western tourists who wander Rangoon's markets.
But it is for his Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four that Burmese intellectuals know Orwell as "the prophet". As though writing history before it was made, the first seemed to chart Burma's disastrous experiment with socialism after Britain's withdrawal in 1948, while the second foreshadowed the country's subsequent evolution into totalitarian dystopia.
The State Peace and Development Council, the Orwellian title that the Burmese military junta uses to describe itself, has turned Burma into one of the world's most repressive and isolated states. Like all dictatorial regimes, it rules through fear. A vast network of informers has infiltrated the population so comprehensively that independent thought has been all but proscribed. To challenge state orthodoxy, however mildly, is to run the risk of a lengthy stay in Rangoon's soul-crushing Insein prison.
Yet, in the autumn of 2007, something remarkable happened.
With astonishing courage, and fully cognisant of the consequences, the Burmese people rose up against the generals. Students, dissidents and saffron-robed monks poured on to the streets of Burma's cities to demand an end to the injustice and poverty meted out to them for so long.
The junta responded with predictable violence. It also sought to close the country off to the outside world. Western news organisations were banned from reporting inside Burma as the protests mounted. Yet the generals were not able to shut off the flow of information entirely. Joshua and a handful of fellow Burmese activists were able to record and smuggle video footage out of the country, providing the sole channel of information between Burma and the outside world during those tumultuous days. Their aim, 'Joshua' explains now, was to ensure that "Burma should not be forgotten by the international community".
In 1992, a group of Burmese nationals created a broadcasting service based in Oslo they called the Democratic Voice of Burma. On shortwave radio, and later on satellite television, the DVB sought to challenge the misinformation and propaganda of the state by beaming independent news into Burma. But it was during the protests that the service came into its own.
As the demonstrations evolved, DVB correspondents like Joshua captured the events unfolding on the streets on camcorders hidden inside duffle bags. They could only operate for a few minutes at a time. The soldiers sent to crush the protests were searching for anyone with a camera as the state sought to block the leaks in its information blockade. A Japanese reporter was shot dead as he tried to photograph the arrest and beatings of a group of monks.
Yet every day, the DVB video journalists managed to get their footage out of Burma. Rebroadcast by the BBC, CNN and major news channels across the world, their pictures ensured international attention and pressure remained focused on the junta. Although dozens of peaceful demonstrators were killed, the work of DVB probably ensured that there was no repeat of the atrocities of 1988, when soldiers killed 3,000 students and activists protesting against the generals in a single day.
"Even for a prisoner who is in jail, if he gets more attention from the international community and media, he will get less torture," says 'Joshua'. "If the international community had not paid the attention it did, more people would have been killed for sure."
On July 14, a documentary recording the work of DVB correspondents during the protests will be released in 40 cinemas across Britain. Using Joshua as its prism, Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country weaves the footage shot by DVB's reporters into a powerful narrative.
Although the protests failed to remove the generals, the documentary is essentially a tale of hope. From the first rumblings of discontent in mid-August to the brutal suppression of the demonstrations six weeks later, it charts the transformation of Burma's people from timidity to moral outrage.
Initially, the demonstrations are small. A solitary activist unfurls a lone banner. Within minutes, he is dragged away by secret policemen in plain clothes.
The protests, initially sparked by rising food and fuel prices, are given fresh impetus as the monks join in. Soon there are tens of thousands on the streets, marching barefoot and chanting the Metta Sutta, the Buddha's injunction of love and kindness. They walk with their alms bowls turned upside down to show that they had excommunicated the generals, a powerful gesture in devout Burma.
The monks, phalanxed by tens of thousands of activists, eventually pass through the barricades on the street where Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest since her election victory in 1990. At first too terrified to act against the powerful force of the monks, the junta is now too terrified not to. Tear gas and then live ammunition is fired. Monks are dragged out of monasteries. A curfew is imposed.
All this is captured by the DVB reporters, their images overlaid by recordings of telephone conversations between Joshua, who has been forced to flee to Thailand, and his colleagues shooting the footage.
Most of the voices in the film have fallen silent. DVB's secret headquarters in Rangoon were eventually found. Fifteen of the channel's 30 employees operating in Burma are now in prison, facing sentences of up to 65 years.
Even so, Joshua keeps DVB alive. Couriers still smuggle video footage across the mountains into Thailand, and Joshua continues to make the perilous journey across the border.
"You can easily disappear on the way," he says softly. "There is as much risk for those helping you in. Fortunately, there is one good thing about corruption in Burma. Sometimes you can just bribe the officer. If I am stopped I can say 'OK, I'm a traitor, here's a present'".
With the release of the film, Joshua hopes to ensure that the world does not forget about Burma. Along with the Co-operative Bank, he is campaigning to draw attention to five of the characters who appear in the documentary, people like Ko Win Maw, serving 11 years for writing political songs and sending news to DVB, and Ohn Than, jailed for life for protesting outside the US embassy in Rangoon dressed in a prison uniform.
By placing them in the public eye, he says, the junta will feel under pressure to ensure that they are not tortured as regularly.
"There are 55 million people suffering in Burma," he says. "If a small percentage of the attention that was given to Michael Jackson was turned to Burma, it could make a huge difference."
*Burma VJ is in cinemas nationwide from July 14. For details, visit www.burmavjmovie.com
********************************************************
Jul 11, 2009
Asia Times Online - China labor straining neighborly ties
By Peter J Brown
Vietnam's government recently estimated that fewer than half of the 50,000 or more foreign workers in the country held valid work permits. As the number of foreign workers arriving from China multiplies, Vietnam, in particular, and other Southeast Asian countries are walking a tightrope in balancing local criticism of the influx while maintaining lucrative investment ties with Beijing.
More than 2,000 Chinese workers are expected to be imported to work at a big new bauxite mining project in Vietnam's Central Highlands region. The estimated US$15 billion project involves Chinalco, a Chinese government-controlled mining giant, working under contract to a Vietnamese mining consortium known as Vinacomin.
The project, and the fact that as many as 500 Chinese workers are already employed at a bauxite mine in a neighboring province, has led to an outcry from many unemployed Vietnamese suffering from the global economic downturn. The campaign against the project is using the Internet to express dissent while bloggers and other nationalistic commentators challenge the government's decision to allow the project to go forward.
Similar complaints have been heard in countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, where Chinese workers have been exported to work on China-invested projects. Some experts say the migration of Chinese workers to Southeast Asian countries is a growing and potentially volatile trend.
However, there is a modern twist to the old outward Chinese migration story, according to Patrick Keefe, a fellow at Washington's The Century Foundation and author of The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream, a new book on Chinese human smuggling and labor migration.
"Labor migrants have left China and settled throughout Southeast Asia, seeking better opportunities in difficult times and creating burgeoning and long-standing communities. But historically the migration was a fairly ad hoc process," said Keefe in an interview. "If a new generation of migrants is being ushered into countries like Vietnam in the context of specific Chinese investment projects, that certainly poses a series of novel challenges for the governments in question."
Keefe describes China's labor market as "exquisitely responsive to economic conditions, both inside and outside China ... Since the advent of the current global recession, we have seen a huge internal migration in China, with migrant workers leaving the coastal boomtowns and heading back to their ancestral villages. It seems likely that many others will leave China altogether, trying their luck in countries like Vietnam."
When the Vietnamese government announced in June that 200 Chinese workers employed at the construction site of a new cement plant in Bien Hoa province had been fined and deported, some anticipated a diplomatic response or backlash from China.
According to John Walsh, an expert on Asian labor trends and migration at Shinawatra University in Bangkok, the issue of growing outward Chinese migration is a predicament for the region's foreign investment-starved governments and slowing economies.
"It will certainly intensify as and when overseas Chinese settle in Southeast Asia - as many seem to want to do - and then create cross-border relationships of their own," said Walsh. "Reluctant as I am to generalize, I would say that anti-Chinese sentiment remains quite close beneath the surface."
"The Vietnamese remember the 1979 war [with China] and the history of imperialism. As the economy worsens, these prejudices are likely to become more important. Populists might fan the flames, too. The long history of enmity between the two countries is relevant," said Walsh. Resentment generated by Chinese migrants is springing up in the most unlikely places, even in Singapore "since they are considered not to speak English properly, or at all, and [to be] a bit boorish," he added.
The exodus is not being driven only by the global economic downturn; the closure of foreign-owned Chinese factories due to rising labor costs set the wave in motion before the first signs of crisis in 2007. Earnings of Vietnamese workers, in comparison, are on average half those of their Chinese industrial counterparts, and high inflation and an unfavorable exchange rate have closed many factory doors and driven a growing number of Chinese workers in search of overseas opportunities.
One German entrepreneur who began shifting his production base from China to Vietnam told Spiegel Online that "the worst thing in China is uncertainty", pointing to the unpredictability of Chinese officials and fluctuations in tax rates on an almost yearly basis as undermining his ability to make long-term business plans. Thus the erosion of China's industrial base was arguably well underway before the bottom dropped out of global export markets.
"It certainly seems to be true that outwards migration of Chinese workers seems to be increasing. In Burma [Myanmar] and Laos - also Cambodia to a lesser extent - there are hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers building infrastructure, ports, roads, factories and so forth," said Walsh. "Vietnam is slightly different in that it features, at least to some extent, official Chinese overseas ventures in a country which has more power vis-a-vis overseas investment - hence the repatriations."
Enormous implications
The implications both for China and neighboring countries of this outward-looking mobile work force could be enormous. "The arrival of thousands of single and effectively single Chinese workers has obvious social impacts," said Walsh. "As for China, it is an extension of both hard and soft power. Within a decade, it will have an impact on the prevalence of mainland Chinese pop culture. It might even supplant Korean pop culture which, here in Thailand, is extremely hot these days."
Jennifer Richmond, the China director at the Texas-based global intelligence company Stratfor, takes a different view on the "soft power" dimension of Chinese migration. "Unemployment is the Chinese central government's biggest fear. It leads to social instability, and that threatens the state," said Richmond.
"As a result, China is pushing its energy-related industries overseas in search of new resources. This has spurred not only energy companies, but also other sectors to search for profitable ventures overseas to boost sagging demand at home," Richmond said. "As part of this push, the government and companies would prefer to employ Chinese workers to help address the growing unemployment problem at home."
Chinese business management practices play a role too. "Companies want to ensure that their investments are being managed according to their particular designs. Chinese companies are also known for employing their own personnel to mitigate the risk of misunderstanding - both linguistic and cultural - in addition to deflecting any social tensions that may arise from varying cross-cultural business practices," said Richmond.
While some might question whether China has really promoted its overseas expansion with no strings attached, Richmond contends that China invests without imposing political qualifications - unlike many Western countries. "China thought that this would make them immune to internal political battles within the countries [they invest]. They are finding that their employees face many difficulties and discriminations nevertheless," said Richmond.
She cites in particular that Chinese workers have recently faced tensions at a mine in Papua New Guinea operated by a Chinese company, where local employees clashed violently with Chinese employees after complaints about discrimination went unheeded. Richmond also notes that in Africa Chinese employees have been kidnapped by groups embroiled in domestic political battles, which often came as a surprise to the Chinese, who remained neutral on internal political matters.
Whether that volatility intensifies in neighboring Southeast Asia, where China has invested heavily in commercial diplomacy, is a wildcard, particularly in countries that have witnessed outbreaks of anti-Chinese violence in the past. One recent violent confrontation earlier this year involved Cambodian security guards, who apparently opened fire on more than 100 Chinese construction workers protesting in front of the Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh. The workers were upset because their bosses abruptly left the country without paying them for six months. The incident has to some degree complicated the two countries' burgeoning bilateral ties.
Richmond believes the growing influx of Chinese workers is "leaving policy-makers in a bind".
"It can be expected that negotiations that strike a balance between investment and the number of Chinese employees involved will intensify, as will protectionist sentiment, which is already notably on the rise throughout the world," she said. "The problem is that China is currently one of the few countries that have the money to investat the moment, biasing any negotiations in their favor."
So far there has been no official Chinese response to the outward migration fanning across the region. "There has not been an acknowledged 'official' response. The response will depend on the nature of the investment, and the companies investing, as well as their relationship with the central government," said Richmond.
"Officially, the Chinese are pushing domestic companies overseas. This is a priority, and to this end they have made several policies that ease domestic Chinese companies access to resources and foreign exchange that promotes overseas investments."
In Vietnam, the communist party-led government realizes that it can no longer ignore legal and illegal Chinese labor migration without suffering domestic political consequences.
There is also rising criticism across the region as Chinese industrial investments are viewed as environmentally destructive in both remote areas and major population centers. For these reasons, Southeast Asian governments are no doubt monitoring how exactly Hanoi strikes a balance between fostering stronger economic ties with China while responding to mounting popular pressure to stem the tide of Chinese migration.
Peter J Brown, a freelance writer from Maine USA, is a frequent contributor to Asia Times Online.
Asia Times Online - China labor straining neighborly ties
By Peter J Brown
Vietnam's government recently estimated that fewer than half of the 50,000 or more foreign workers in the country held valid work permits. As the number of foreign workers arriving from China multiplies, Vietnam, in particular, and other Southeast Asian countries are walking a tightrope in balancing local criticism of the influx while maintaining lucrative investment ties with Beijing.
More than 2,000 Chinese workers are expected to be imported to work at a big new bauxite mining project in Vietnam's Central Highlands region. The estimated US$15 billion project involves Chinalco, a Chinese government-controlled mining giant, working under contract to a Vietnamese mining consortium known as Vinacomin.
The project, and the fact that as many as 500 Chinese workers are already employed at a bauxite mine in a neighboring province, has led to an outcry from many unemployed Vietnamese suffering from the global economic downturn. The campaign against the project is using the Internet to express dissent while bloggers and other nationalistic commentators challenge the government's decision to allow the project to go forward.
Similar complaints have been heard in countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, where Chinese workers have been exported to work on China-invested projects. Some experts say the migration of Chinese workers to Southeast Asian countries is a growing and potentially volatile trend.
However, there is a modern twist to the old outward Chinese migration story, according to Patrick Keefe, a fellow at Washington's The Century Foundation and author of The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream, a new book on Chinese human smuggling and labor migration.
"Labor migrants have left China and settled throughout Southeast Asia, seeking better opportunities in difficult times and creating burgeoning and long-standing communities. But historically the migration was a fairly ad hoc process," said Keefe in an interview. "If a new generation of migrants is being ushered into countries like Vietnam in the context of specific Chinese investment projects, that certainly poses a series of novel challenges for the governments in question."
Keefe describes China's labor market as "exquisitely responsive to economic conditions, both inside and outside China ... Since the advent of the current global recession, we have seen a huge internal migration in China, with migrant workers leaving the coastal boomtowns and heading back to their ancestral villages. It seems likely that many others will leave China altogether, trying their luck in countries like Vietnam."
When the Vietnamese government announced in June that 200 Chinese workers employed at the construction site of a new cement plant in Bien Hoa province had been fined and deported, some anticipated a diplomatic response or backlash from China.
According to John Walsh, an expert on Asian labor trends and migration at Shinawatra University in Bangkok, the issue of growing outward Chinese migration is a predicament for the region's foreign investment-starved governments and slowing economies.
"It will certainly intensify as and when overseas Chinese settle in Southeast Asia - as many seem to want to do - and then create cross-border relationships of their own," said Walsh. "Reluctant as I am to generalize, I would say that anti-Chinese sentiment remains quite close beneath the surface."
"The Vietnamese remember the 1979 war [with China] and the history of imperialism. As the economy worsens, these prejudices are likely to become more important. Populists might fan the flames, too. The long history of enmity between the two countries is relevant," said Walsh. Resentment generated by Chinese migrants is springing up in the most unlikely places, even in Singapore "since they are considered not to speak English properly, or at all, and [to be] a bit boorish," he added.
The exodus is not being driven only by the global economic downturn; the closure of foreign-owned Chinese factories due to rising labor costs set the wave in motion before the first signs of crisis in 2007. Earnings of Vietnamese workers, in comparison, are on average half those of their Chinese industrial counterparts, and high inflation and an unfavorable exchange rate have closed many factory doors and driven a growing number of Chinese workers in search of overseas opportunities.
One German entrepreneur who began shifting his production base from China to Vietnam told Spiegel Online that "the worst thing in China is uncertainty", pointing to the unpredictability of Chinese officials and fluctuations in tax rates on an almost yearly basis as undermining his ability to make long-term business plans. Thus the erosion of China's industrial base was arguably well underway before the bottom dropped out of global export markets.
"It certainly seems to be true that outwards migration of Chinese workers seems to be increasing. In Burma [Myanmar] and Laos - also Cambodia to a lesser extent - there are hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers building infrastructure, ports, roads, factories and so forth," said Walsh. "Vietnam is slightly different in that it features, at least to some extent, official Chinese overseas ventures in a country which has more power vis-a-vis overseas investment - hence the repatriations."
Enormous implications
The implications both for China and neighboring countries of this outward-looking mobile work force could be enormous. "The arrival of thousands of single and effectively single Chinese workers has obvious social impacts," said Walsh. "As for China, it is an extension of both hard and soft power. Within a decade, it will have an impact on the prevalence of mainland Chinese pop culture. It might even supplant Korean pop culture which, here in Thailand, is extremely hot these days."
Jennifer Richmond, the China director at the Texas-based global intelligence company Stratfor, takes a different view on the "soft power" dimension of Chinese migration. "Unemployment is the Chinese central government's biggest fear. It leads to social instability, and that threatens the state," said Richmond.
"As a result, China is pushing its energy-related industries overseas in search of new resources. This has spurred not only energy companies, but also other sectors to search for profitable ventures overseas to boost sagging demand at home," Richmond said. "As part of this push, the government and companies would prefer to employ Chinese workers to help address the growing unemployment problem at home."
Chinese business management practices play a role too. "Companies want to ensure that their investments are being managed according to their particular designs. Chinese companies are also known for employing their own personnel to mitigate the risk of misunderstanding - both linguistic and cultural - in addition to deflecting any social tensions that may arise from varying cross-cultural business practices," said Richmond.
While some might question whether China has really promoted its overseas expansion with no strings attached, Richmond contends that China invests without imposing political qualifications - unlike many Western countries. "China thought that this would make them immune to internal political battles within the countries [they invest]. They are finding that their employees face many difficulties and discriminations nevertheless," said Richmond.
She cites in particular that Chinese workers have recently faced tensions at a mine in Papua New Guinea operated by a Chinese company, where local employees clashed violently with Chinese employees after complaints about discrimination went unheeded. Richmond also notes that in Africa Chinese employees have been kidnapped by groups embroiled in domestic political battles, which often came as a surprise to the Chinese, who remained neutral on internal political matters.
Whether that volatility intensifies in neighboring Southeast Asia, where China has invested heavily in commercial diplomacy, is a wildcard, particularly in countries that have witnessed outbreaks of anti-Chinese violence in the past. One recent violent confrontation earlier this year involved Cambodian security guards, who apparently opened fire on more than 100 Chinese construction workers protesting in front of the Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh. The workers were upset because their bosses abruptly left the country without paying them for six months. The incident has to some degree complicated the two countries' burgeoning bilateral ties.
Richmond believes the growing influx of Chinese workers is "leaving policy-makers in a bind".
"It can be expected that negotiations that strike a balance between investment and the number of Chinese employees involved will intensify, as will protectionist sentiment, which is already notably on the rise throughout the world," she said. "The problem is that China is currently one of the few countries that have the money to investat the moment, biasing any negotiations in their favor."
So far there has been no official Chinese response to the outward migration fanning across the region. "There has not been an acknowledged 'official' response. The response will depend on the nature of the investment, and the companies investing, as well as their relationship with the central government," said Richmond.
"Officially, the Chinese are pushing domestic companies overseas. This is a priority, and to this end they have made several policies that ease domestic Chinese companies access to resources and foreign exchange that promotes overseas investments."
In Vietnam, the communist party-led government realizes that it can no longer ignore legal and illegal Chinese labor migration without suffering domestic political consequences.
There is also rising criticism across the region as Chinese industrial investments are viewed as environmentally destructive in both remote areas and major population centers. For these reasons, Southeast Asian governments are no doubt monitoring how exactly Hanoi strikes a balance between fostering stronger economic ties with China while responding to mounting popular pressure to stem the tide of Chinese migration.
Peter J Brown, a freelance writer from Maine USA, is a frequent contributor to Asia Times Online.
********************************************************
The Bangkok Post - Push to lifttrade ties with Burma
Published: 12/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
More trade and investments are needed between Thailand and Burma, former army chief Chettha Thanajaro said, after being named new chairman of the Thai-Burmese cultural and economic cooperation association.
He said that despite the global economic slump which had led to a reduction in trade between the two countries, the association was likely to remain a key driver for the growth of bilateral trade.
Gen Chettha said he would lead a delegation of Thai investors to Burma to discuss any problems which hinder economic cooperation.
With Burma's abundant natural resources and Thailand's advanced technology, both countries would receive huge benefits if they can strengthen cooperation.
Thai businesses were ready to increase investments in Burma if the atmosphere permits.
The association would not interfere in Burma's internal affairs and would focus its activities on economic and cultural exchanges, he said.
Thailand is Burma's third biggest trading partner and both countries' trade with each other has increased in the past few years.
In the 2005-2006 fiscal year, trade between the two nations was worth US$1.59 billion, but in the 2006-2007 fiscal year that had grown to US$2.4 billion, or about 30% of Burma's overall trade volume.
Published: 12/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
More trade and investments are needed between Thailand and Burma, former army chief Chettha Thanajaro said, after being named new chairman of the Thai-Burmese cultural and economic cooperation association.
He said that despite the global economic slump which had led to a reduction in trade between the two countries, the association was likely to remain a key driver for the growth of bilateral trade.
Gen Chettha said he would lead a delegation of Thai investors to Burma to discuss any problems which hinder economic cooperation.
With Burma's abundant natural resources and Thailand's advanced technology, both countries would receive huge benefits if they can strengthen cooperation.
Thai businesses were ready to increase investments in Burma if the atmosphere permits.
The association would not interfere in Burma's internal affairs and would focus its activities on economic and cultural exchanges, he said.
Thailand is Burma's third biggest trading partner and both countries' trade with each other has increased in the past few years.
In the 2005-2006 fiscal year, trade between the two nations was worth US$1.59 billion, but in the 2006-2007 fiscal year that had grown to US$2.4 billion, or about 30% of Burma's overall trade volume.
********************************************************
The Bangkok Post - Major boost for officials tackling illegal labour
By: POST REPORTERS
Published: 12/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Thailand's efforts to tackle illegal alien labour has received a major boost now that Burma has agreed to verify the nationality of the Burmese workers currently employed in Thailand.
Labour Minister Paitoon Kaewthong said Burmese authorities will start authenticating the nationality of the Burmese workers from July 15.
Burmese migrant workers can stop by for nationality certification in one of the three areas - Victoria Point, Myawaddy or Tachilek in Burma, said Mr Paitoon.
This was confirmed by Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint during Mr Paitoon's recent talks in Ranong.
Verifying the nationalities of migrant workers from neighbouring countries is part of the Labour Ministry's new policy on alien labour.
The ministry has set Feb 28 next year as the deadline for nationality identification for all migrant workers.
Once their countries of origin are identified, they would then have their nationalities endorsed by their respective governments.
After that process is completed, the workers would be issued a two-year work permit renewable for another two years.
Mr Paitoon said under the new labour policy, business operators will also be required to procure alien workers through channels permitted by the Labour Ministry only.
He did not elaborate.
The ministry plans to allow the import of another 10,000 Burmese workers and cut the work permit fees from 2,000 baht per head to 500 baht as an incentive for employers.
He said business operators interested in employing workers from this new batch of 10,000 could do so by having them registered at the labour offices in their provinces.
Mr Maung Myint said only around 400 Burmese workers are expected to come forward for the nationality identification process.
The number of Burmese workers, both registered and those working illegally in Thailand, is estimated at 1.2 million.
Mr Maung Myint denied rumours that Burmese authorities planned to charge a service fee for the endorsement.
To facilitate the nationality verification process, Thai officials, led by Pichai Ekpitaktamrong, chief of the Employment Department, yesterday handed over 21 computer units and related equipment to Burmese authorities for the job at Victoria Point.
By: POST REPORTERS
Published: 12/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Thailand's efforts to tackle illegal alien labour has received a major boost now that Burma has agreed to verify the nationality of the Burmese workers currently employed in Thailand.
Labour Minister Paitoon Kaewthong said Burmese authorities will start authenticating the nationality of the Burmese workers from July 15.
Burmese migrant workers can stop by for nationality certification in one of the three areas - Victoria Point, Myawaddy or Tachilek in Burma, said Mr Paitoon.
This was confirmed by Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint during Mr Paitoon's recent talks in Ranong.
Verifying the nationalities of migrant workers from neighbouring countries is part of the Labour Ministry's new policy on alien labour.
The ministry has set Feb 28 next year as the deadline for nationality identification for all migrant workers.
Once their countries of origin are identified, they would then have their nationalities endorsed by their respective governments.
After that process is completed, the workers would be issued a two-year work permit renewable for another two years.
Mr Paitoon said under the new labour policy, business operators will also be required to procure alien workers through channels permitted by the Labour Ministry only.
He did not elaborate.
The ministry plans to allow the import of another 10,000 Burmese workers and cut the work permit fees from 2,000 baht per head to 500 baht as an incentive for employers.
He said business operators interested in employing workers from this new batch of 10,000 could do so by having them registered at the labour offices in their provinces.
Mr Maung Myint said only around 400 Burmese workers are expected to come forward for the nationality identification process.
The number of Burmese workers, both registered and those working illegally in Thailand, is estimated at 1.2 million.
Mr Maung Myint denied rumours that Burmese authorities planned to charge a service fee for the endorsement.
To facilitate the nationality verification process, Thai officials, led by Pichai Ekpitaktamrong, chief of the Employment Department, yesterday handed over 21 computer units and related equipment to Burmese authorities for the job at Victoria Point.
********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Bleak Future for Burmese Stateless Children
By THAWDAR, Saturday, July 11, 2009
BANGKOK—Stateless Burmese children in Thailand are still being denied basic rights such as access to education and health services, and they are vulnerable to many kinds of exploitation and abuse, specialists say.
It is estimated that there are about one million stateless children in Thailand, with about two thirds of them thought to be born to Burmese migrant workers who come in search of a better life.
"The stateless children,” Kanchana Di-ut, Program officer with MAP Foundation, said, “are denied basic human rights from time of birth."
“They are denied birth registrations and certificates, which are essential to gaining access to basic education and health services,” Kanchana said.
The Thai government, which ratified the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), has instructed all state-hospitals to issue birth registration documents to any baby born to any parents, regardless of their backgrounds. However, in practice, many hospital staff reportedly fail to do so in the case of migrants.
Most Burmese women who are not registered migrants dare not go to state-hospitals to give birth, as they fear arrest and deportation if the hospital notices they are unregistered. As a result, they deliver their children at their work sites using local midwives.
Burmese migrant parents do not realize the importance of birth certificates for their children, nor do they know where and how to get them for their children.
Making matters worse is the possibility of arbitrary arrest and deportation facing unregistered migrants. This discourages parents from taking their children to local health-care facilities, risking their children missing basic inoculations against crippling diseases such as polio.
Stateless children are not given equal rights in the education system.
According to the Peace Way Foundation in Thailand, a migrant child can only be educated if a teacher is willing to accept the child, and the family can afford it. In some areas, children can attend classes, but with little hope of obtaining a Thai certificate of education, which is essential for further study.
In 2005, the government adopted a policy entitled "Education for All", which was intended to give all children in Thailand equal access to schooling. Practice does not reflect this policy, however.
Even Thailand's Deputy Education Minister, Chaiwut Bannawat, admitted that there remains a large number of children who fail to receive education, even though the Kingdom has strived to provide educational opportunities for all children.
While some children face the problem of a language barrier to enter Thai schools, others have to work to support their families.
The inability to get Thai certificates of education is another reason specialists give for Burmese children not continuing their education when they migrate to Thailand with their families.
A very low percentage of stateless children are able to further their studies in Thai schools and go on to foreign countries on scholarship programs.
Aye Aye Mar, the founder of Social Action for Women (SAW), said, “If children see no prospect for their future, they just take any job available in their community, which does not help them towards establishing better livelihoods.” SAW is an NGO providing shelter, training, and learning centers for Burmese women and children.
Aye Aye Mar also noted that many teenagers move to urban cities to seek better jobs using agents, which can make them vulnerable to human trafficking, exploitation, and abuse.
There are several cases of human trafficking in which teenagers are being illegally transported to the cities.
Tattiya Likitwong, a project coordinator for the Child Development Foundation, was quoted as saying that the child labor situation in Thailand has not improved because children, including stateless children from Burma, Laos and Cambodia, can be found working in businesses, particularly in the big cities.
Employers have registered more than 200,000 migrant children between the ages of 15 to 18 working in their business, while many more have not been registered, Tattiya Likitwong said.
Many of the children work in the fishing industry, or sell flowers by the roadside or beg on the streets
Unlike refugees, these stateless children get neither recognition nor aid by regional and international agencies.
“Shockingly little is being done to protect the basic rights of millions of stateless children around the world,” said Maureen Lynch of Refugees International's Senior Advocate for Stateless Initiatives, and author of Futures Denied.
“These children are stigmatized and blocked from such basic services as health care and education because a government won't recognize them as citizens,” she said.
Lynch also said, “Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to a nationality, these children are forced into an underclass with little hope for the future through no fault of their own.”
Lynch believes that reducing statelessness is achievable. “By ensuring that every child is registered at birth, granting citizenship in cases of disputed nationality, and strengthening the UN Refugee Agency so it can do more to resolve this problem are just a few of the simple steps that can help millions of children access a brighter future,” Lynch said.
Thai government amended the law on civil registration in 2008, which means that all children born in Thailand regardless of the legal status of their parents can receive birth registrations.
“Efforts are underway to ensure that the system is accessible and well known to
parents, including stateless parents, local officials and communities,” Amanda Bissex, Chief of Child Protection Section with UNICEF Thailand, said.
She also maintains that systems also need to be developed between Thailand and neighboring countries to ensure children born in Thailand that have received birth registration here can receive nationality in the country of origin of their parents.
In a bid to promote and protect human rights, including those of vulnerable stateless children, the Asean Human Rights Body (AHRB) was created, and would be enforced sooner or later by the cooperation of the member states.
While some human rights specialists expect the AHRB would address the cross-border issues of registration, improve information sharing and systems between ASEAN countries to build a regional initiative for both birth registration and civil registration, some specialists doubt the effectiveness of the AHRB.
“The AHRB would be nothing more than a paper-tiger,” Aung Myo Min, director of Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, said, “if regional governments, most of which have records of violation of human rights in their countries, fail to respect it.”
By THAWDAR, Saturday, July 11, 2009
BANGKOK—Stateless Burmese children in Thailand are still being denied basic rights such as access to education and health services, and they are vulnerable to many kinds of exploitation and abuse, specialists say.
It is estimated that there are about one million stateless children in Thailand, with about two thirds of them thought to be born to Burmese migrant workers who come in search of a better life.
"The stateless children,” Kanchana Di-ut, Program officer with MAP Foundation, said, “are denied basic human rights from time of birth."
“They are denied birth registrations and certificates, which are essential to gaining access to basic education and health services,” Kanchana said.
The Thai government, which ratified the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), has instructed all state-hospitals to issue birth registration documents to any baby born to any parents, regardless of their backgrounds. However, in practice, many hospital staff reportedly fail to do so in the case of migrants.
Most Burmese women who are not registered migrants dare not go to state-hospitals to give birth, as they fear arrest and deportation if the hospital notices they are unregistered. As a result, they deliver their children at their work sites using local midwives.
Burmese migrant parents do not realize the importance of birth certificates for their children, nor do they know where and how to get them for their children.
Making matters worse is the possibility of arbitrary arrest and deportation facing unregistered migrants. This discourages parents from taking their children to local health-care facilities, risking their children missing basic inoculations against crippling diseases such as polio.
Stateless children are not given equal rights in the education system.
According to the Peace Way Foundation in Thailand, a migrant child can only be educated if a teacher is willing to accept the child, and the family can afford it. In some areas, children can attend classes, but with little hope of obtaining a Thai certificate of education, which is essential for further study.
In 2005, the government adopted a policy entitled "Education for All", which was intended to give all children in Thailand equal access to schooling. Practice does not reflect this policy, however.
Even Thailand's Deputy Education Minister, Chaiwut Bannawat, admitted that there remains a large number of children who fail to receive education, even though the Kingdom has strived to provide educational opportunities for all children.
While some children face the problem of a language barrier to enter Thai schools, others have to work to support their families.
The inability to get Thai certificates of education is another reason specialists give for Burmese children not continuing their education when they migrate to Thailand with their families.
A very low percentage of stateless children are able to further their studies in Thai schools and go on to foreign countries on scholarship programs.
Aye Aye Mar, the founder of Social Action for Women (SAW), said, “If children see no prospect for their future, they just take any job available in their community, which does not help them towards establishing better livelihoods.” SAW is an NGO providing shelter, training, and learning centers for Burmese women and children.
Aye Aye Mar also noted that many teenagers move to urban cities to seek better jobs using agents, which can make them vulnerable to human trafficking, exploitation, and abuse.
There are several cases of human trafficking in which teenagers are being illegally transported to the cities.
Tattiya Likitwong, a project coordinator for the Child Development Foundation, was quoted as saying that the child labor situation in Thailand has not improved because children, including stateless children from Burma, Laos and Cambodia, can be found working in businesses, particularly in the big cities.
Employers have registered more than 200,000 migrant children between the ages of 15 to 18 working in their business, while many more have not been registered, Tattiya Likitwong said.
Many of the children work in the fishing industry, or sell flowers by the roadside or beg on the streets
Unlike refugees, these stateless children get neither recognition nor aid by regional and international agencies.
“Shockingly little is being done to protect the basic rights of millions of stateless children around the world,” said Maureen Lynch of Refugees International's Senior Advocate for Stateless Initiatives, and author of Futures Denied.
“These children are stigmatized and blocked from such basic services as health care and education because a government won't recognize them as citizens,” she said.
Lynch also said, “Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to a nationality, these children are forced into an underclass with little hope for the future through no fault of their own.”
Lynch believes that reducing statelessness is achievable. “By ensuring that every child is registered at birth, granting citizenship in cases of disputed nationality, and strengthening the UN Refugee Agency so it can do more to resolve this problem are just a few of the simple steps that can help millions of children access a brighter future,” Lynch said.
Thai government amended the law on civil registration in 2008, which means that all children born in Thailand regardless of the legal status of their parents can receive birth registrations.
“Efforts are underway to ensure that the system is accessible and well known to
parents, including stateless parents, local officials and communities,” Amanda Bissex, Chief of Child Protection Section with UNICEF Thailand, said.
She also maintains that systems also need to be developed between Thailand and neighboring countries to ensure children born in Thailand that have received birth registration here can receive nationality in the country of origin of their parents.
In a bid to promote and protect human rights, including those of vulnerable stateless children, the Asean Human Rights Body (AHRB) was created, and would be enforced sooner or later by the cooperation of the member states.
While some human rights specialists expect the AHRB would address the cross-border issues of registration, improve information sharing and systems between ASEAN countries to build a regional initiative for both birth registration and civil registration, some specialists doubt the effectiveness of the AHRB.
“The AHRB would be nothing more than a paper-tiger,” Aung Myo Min, director of Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, said, “if regional governments, most of which have records of violation of human rights in their countries, fail to respect it.”
********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Burmese Detainees in Danger
By SAW YAN NAING, Saturday, July 11, 2009
The relocation of Burmese refugees in Malaysia could lead to worse human rights abuses as they would be isolated from outside world, rights advocacy groups in Malaysia said.
According to the rights groups, the Malaysia immigration authorities moved 598 Burmese refugees including women and children who were detained at Semenyih Immigration camp near Malaysia’s Kajang Township on Friday.
The move was likely due to the Malaysia authorities wanting to isolate the refugees from the outside world, while other sources said it was due to the riot between Burmese refugees and Malaysia camp authorities on July 1.
The riot broke out after camp authorities beat 30 detainees who were refusing to board a truck that was to take them to another camp. Eight Burmese detainees were wounded in the riot.
Aung Naing Thu, general secretary of the Malaysia-based rights advocacy group known as the Burma Youth of Nationalists Association said, “Now the Burmese refugees have been relocated to other places, they will be isolated, and the authorities will be able to do whatever the want, even torture them.”
Forty-eight out of more then 600 Burmese refugees who were detained in Semenyih detention camp were released on Monday, but 598 of them remained. Many of the remaining refugees are undocumented, said rights groups.
The released detainees said there had been many human rights abuses while they were in the camp. Months-old children and women and pregnant women were the most vulnerable, as the meals distributed in the detention camp lack nutrition, they said.
Thant Zin, a Burmese refugee who was released on Monday, said that only ten sick people are allowed to receive medical treatment per week.
“Many people who feel sick in the camp go without medical treatment. They are not allowed to see doctors,” said Thant Zin.
“The drinking water and the water used in the toilet come from the same source,” he added.
“If they find communication materials such as mobile phones, they brutally beat you,” said Thant Zin.
Immigration authorities regularly beat the detained Burmese refugees during inspections. Last week, two Burmese detainees were seriously beaten when they went to the clinic to ask for medicine.
One detainee was beaten around the eyes till they filled with blood and he became unable to see. The other detainee suffered from cigarette burns on his body and was said to be in serious condition.
A delegation from the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees in Malaysia is now investigating the riot, according to Yante Ismail, a spokesperson for the UNHCR, in Kuala Lumpur.
There are 22 detention camps in Malaysia, some of which are located in isolated areas on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Some refugees have spent years in the detention camps.
About 500,000 Burmese migrants work in Malaysia, legally and illegally, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based Burma Workers’ Rights Protection Committee.
By SAW YAN NAING, Saturday, July 11, 2009
The relocation of Burmese refugees in Malaysia could lead to worse human rights abuses as they would be isolated from outside world, rights advocacy groups in Malaysia said.
According to the rights groups, the Malaysia immigration authorities moved 598 Burmese refugees including women and children who were detained at Semenyih Immigration camp near Malaysia’s Kajang Township on Friday.
The move was likely due to the Malaysia authorities wanting to isolate the refugees from the outside world, while other sources said it was due to the riot between Burmese refugees and Malaysia camp authorities on July 1.
The riot broke out after camp authorities beat 30 detainees who were refusing to board a truck that was to take them to another camp. Eight Burmese detainees were wounded in the riot.
Aung Naing Thu, general secretary of the Malaysia-based rights advocacy group known as the Burma Youth of Nationalists Association said, “Now the Burmese refugees have been relocated to other places, they will be isolated, and the authorities will be able to do whatever the want, even torture them.”
Forty-eight out of more then 600 Burmese refugees who were detained in Semenyih detention camp were released on Monday, but 598 of them remained. Many of the remaining refugees are undocumented, said rights groups.
The released detainees said there had been many human rights abuses while they were in the camp. Months-old children and women and pregnant women were the most vulnerable, as the meals distributed in the detention camp lack nutrition, they said.
Thant Zin, a Burmese refugee who was released on Monday, said that only ten sick people are allowed to receive medical treatment per week.
“Many people who feel sick in the camp go without medical treatment. They are not allowed to see doctors,” said Thant Zin.
“The drinking water and the water used in the toilet come from the same source,” he added.
“If they find communication materials such as mobile phones, they brutally beat you,” said Thant Zin.
Immigration authorities regularly beat the detained Burmese refugees during inspections. Last week, two Burmese detainees were seriously beaten when they went to the clinic to ask for medicine.
One detainee was beaten around the eyes till they filled with blood and he became unable to see. The other detainee suffered from cigarette burns on his body and was said to be in serious condition.
A delegation from the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees in Malaysia is now investigating the riot, according to Yante Ismail, a spokesperson for the UNHCR, in Kuala Lumpur.
There are 22 detention camps in Malaysia, some of which are located in isolated areas on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Some refugees have spent years in the detention camps.
About 500,000 Burmese migrants work in Malaysia, legally and illegally, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based Burma Workers’ Rights Protection Committee.
********************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment