Myanmar refugees leave China as battles end
By NG HAN GUAN, Associated Press Writer – Mon Aug 31, 7:46 am ET
NANSAN, China (AP) – Thousands of Myanmar refugees headed home from China on Monday as fighting between government troops and a rebel militia that left more than 30 people dead appeared to be over.
More than 30,000 civilian refugees streamed into China to escape the fighting, which broke out last week after hundreds of Myanmar soldiers moved into Kokang, an ethnically Chinese region in northeastern Myanmar run by a local militia.
The shooting ended Saturday and refugees were transported Monday to the border, where they walked through the gate, clutching bags and blankets.
At least 4,000 refugees had gone back by Monday afternoon, Yunnan provincial government spokesman Li Hui said. About 9,000 remained in seven camps set up to house them in tents and makeshift buildings. The rest are believed to be staying with friends and family, or are staying in hotels, or have left the area.
Li said authorities were closing parts of the vacated camps but would not force people to leave.
"We have been assured by the Myanmar side that things are stable on their side," Li said. "Whether they can maintain social stability is really their internal affair, so we do not know much about it."
Many refugees were returning to ruined homes and businesses, and it wasn't clear what percentage of Chinese investors who had moved in large numbers to Kokang in recent years would be going back.
At the border crossing, Chinese businesswoman Li Chunhua wept as she told of seeing looters carry off the entire stock of her clothing store.
"There's nothing left," Li said. "I was told I will not get any compensation. So what can I do?"
Hundreds of Kokang rebels fled the clashes, surrendering their weapons and uniforms to Chinese border police and crossing to safety after several days of skirmishes.
Myanmar's junta said three days of fighting killed 26 government soldiers and at least eight rebels. It said the clashes had ended and "the region has now regained stability."
Myanmar is trying to consolidate control over several armed ethnic groups along its borders to ensure smooth conditions for next year's national elections, the first in nearly 20 years. Several groups are resisting pressure to join the military to become border guards ahead of the vote.
The clashes and the flow of refugees have strained Beijing's close relations with Myanmar's ruling generals, prompting a rare demand last week from China's Foreign Ministry for Myanmar to end the fighting and protect the interests of Chinese citizens in the area.
Myanmar apologized for the death of one Chinese national from three artillery shells fired into Chinese territory, China's official Xinhua News Agency said. That followed China's issuing of a "stern representation" over the matter, it said.
The agency quoted local police chief Meng Sutie as saying 37,000 people, both Burmese and Chinese, had fled into China since fighting broke out.
The crisis came amid a push by China to ensure stability ahead of Oct. 1 celebrations to mark 60 years of communist rule. China borders a number of volatile states, including Pakistan and North Korea, and the country's leaders have struggled to maintain order within the country, particularly in Tibet and Xinjiang, where ethnic minorities have chafed against Beijing's rule.
Myanmar's conflict area is on the fringe of the drug-producing Golden Triangle region where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet. Many of the ethnic armies there have used the trade in heroin and amphetamines to finance their operations, with much of their product smuggled into China.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, is the second largest exporter of heroin after Afghanistan.
By NG HAN GUAN, Associated Press Writer – Mon Aug 31, 7:46 am ET
NANSAN, China (AP) – Thousands of Myanmar refugees headed home from China on Monday as fighting between government troops and a rebel militia that left more than 30 people dead appeared to be over.
More than 30,000 civilian refugees streamed into China to escape the fighting, which broke out last week after hundreds of Myanmar soldiers moved into Kokang, an ethnically Chinese region in northeastern Myanmar run by a local militia.
The shooting ended Saturday and refugees were transported Monday to the border, where they walked through the gate, clutching bags and blankets.
At least 4,000 refugees had gone back by Monday afternoon, Yunnan provincial government spokesman Li Hui said. About 9,000 remained in seven camps set up to house them in tents and makeshift buildings. The rest are believed to be staying with friends and family, or are staying in hotels, or have left the area.
Li said authorities were closing parts of the vacated camps but would not force people to leave.
"We have been assured by the Myanmar side that things are stable on their side," Li said. "Whether they can maintain social stability is really their internal affair, so we do not know much about it."
Many refugees were returning to ruined homes and businesses, and it wasn't clear what percentage of Chinese investors who had moved in large numbers to Kokang in recent years would be going back.
At the border crossing, Chinese businesswoman Li Chunhua wept as she told of seeing looters carry off the entire stock of her clothing store.
"There's nothing left," Li said. "I was told I will not get any compensation. So what can I do?"
Hundreds of Kokang rebels fled the clashes, surrendering their weapons and uniforms to Chinese border police and crossing to safety after several days of skirmishes.
Myanmar's junta said three days of fighting killed 26 government soldiers and at least eight rebels. It said the clashes had ended and "the region has now regained stability."
Myanmar is trying to consolidate control over several armed ethnic groups along its borders to ensure smooth conditions for next year's national elections, the first in nearly 20 years. Several groups are resisting pressure to join the military to become border guards ahead of the vote.
The clashes and the flow of refugees have strained Beijing's close relations with Myanmar's ruling generals, prompting a rare demand last week from China's Foreign Ministry for Myanmar to end the fighting and protect the interests of Chinese citizens in the area.
Myanmar apologized for the death of one Chinese national from three artillery shells fired into Chinese territory, China's official Xinhua News Agency said. That followed China's issuing of a "stern representation" over the matter, it said.
The agency quoted local police chief Meng Sutie as saying 37,000 people, both Burmese and Chinese, had fled into China since fighting broke out.
The crisis came amid a push by China to ensure stability ahead of Oct. 1 celebrations to mark 60 years of communist rule. China borders a number of volatile states, including Pakistan and North Korea, and the country's leaders have struggled to maintain order within the country, particularly in Tibet and Xinjiang, where ethnic minorities have chafed against Beijing's rule.
Myanmar's conflict area is on the fringe of the drug-producing Golden Triangle region where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet. Many of the ethnic armies there have used the trade in heroin and amphetamines to finance their operations, with much of their product smuggled into China.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, is the second largest exporter of heroin after Afghanistan.
*************************************************************
Myanmar rebels drop weapons, flee into China
By NG HAN GUAN, Associated Press Writer – Sun Aug 30, 12:31 pm ET
MENG PENG, China (AP) – Hundreds of ethnic rebels have fled clashes in northeastern Myanmar, surrendering their weapons and uniforms to Chinese border police and crossing to safety after several days of skirmishes with Myanmar government troops.
Myanmar's military junta ended a news blackout about the clashes Sunday, saying three days of fighting had killed 26 government forces and at least eight rebels. It said the fighting had ended and "the region has now regained stability."
The United Nations and Chinese officials say up to 30,000 civilian refugees have streamed into China to escape the fighting, which broke out last week after hundreds of Myanmar soldiers moved into Kokang, a mostly ethnic Chinese region run by a local militia.
Myanmar's junta is trying to consolidate control over several armed ethnic groups along its borders to ensure next year's national elections, the first in nearly 20 years, go smoothly.
A U.S.-based Myanmar watchdog group said Sunday that most of the Kokang rebels had surrendered their arms to Chinese authorities upon entering the country, but it was not clear whether their leader was among them. They also gave over their green uniforms in exchange for blue cotton tops and pants.
"There was no way we would win," said one former rebel, Ri Chenchuan, as he shopped for new clothes in the few shops of Meng Peng, a mountain town about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the border. Several former rebels said they arrived Saturday and slept in the open-air vegetable market.
The clashes have strained China's close relationship with Myanmar's military junta and come at a particularly sensitive time — ahead of Oct. 1 celebrations to mark 60 years of communist rule.
Beijing has asked Myanmar to end the fighting.
A government announcement read aloud Sunday evening on state-run TV news broadcasts in Myanmar said the fighting was over but had killed 26 junta soldiers and police and left 47 wounded. It said eight bodies of Kokang rebels were found and 600 pieces of weapons seized.
There was no way to independently verify the figures.
The announcement said fighting had started Thursday and ended Saturday. TV news showed still photographs of police corpses and Kokang people fleeing.
"The region has now regained stability. Kokang ethnic people who have returned to their homes are being accepted back after scrutiny," said the announcement, which was signed by "Office of the Government of Myanmar."
An official with the Public Security Bureau in China's Zhenkang county, which oversees the border area, said Sunday there had been no reports of fighting since late Saturday. Like many Chinese officials, he refused to give his name.
In Meng Peng, several men told The Associated Press they had turned in their weapons to Chinese officials. Dozens of the men wearing blue cotton pants and shirts, issued to them when they surrendered their green rebel uniforms, were seen shopping for civilian clothes.
Li Jiayun said he and others decided to retreat "so that more civilians didn't get hurt."
The Kokang are an ethnic Han Chinese minority group that speaks Chinese and, according to exiled Myanmar rights activists, has received support for decades from China because of its traditional ties to the Communist Party.
The Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma said about 700 rebels from the Kokang ethnic minority's militia had fled from thousands of Myanmar troops into China late Saturday, but tensions remained high.
"The majority of the Kokang troops have surrendered to China," said Aung Din, the campaign's executive director. There were conflicting accounts of whether militia leader Peng Jiashen was among them, he said.
But Myanmar's junta is expected to target other ethnic minorities along the border, Aung Din said. Several armed ethnic groups along the border with China are resisting pressure from the junta to join with the military to become border guards ahead of next year's elections.
"There will be more fighting, more tension and more conflict because the regime will continue to try to force these groups to surrender their arms," Aung Din said.
According to the junta's announcement Sunday, tension started in the area on Aug. 8 when authorities seized a Kokang weapons factory and summoned four rebel leaders who then fled into hiding.
On Thursday, Kokang troops then raided a police post at a border checkpoint and took 39 police hostage, the junta said.
"Fighting ensued when Kokang troops began firing at Myanmar troops but fighting stopped Aug. 29," the announcement said, adding that the junta holds the four leaders responsible for the fighting. It did not elaborate.
The conflict area is on the fringe of the drug-producing Golden Triangle region where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet. Many of the ethnic armies there have used the drug trade to finance their operations. The Kokang and neighboring Wa regions, both isolated by mountainous terrain and a lack of roads, were traditionally Myanmar's main poppy growing areas.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, is the second largest exporter of heroin after Afghanistan.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said up to 30,000 people have poured into the Chinese border town of Nansan from Kokang since early this month. Chinese authorities are providing emergency food, shelter and medical care, it said.
The official People's Daily newspaper quoted Yunnan provincial police chief Meng Sutie as confirming the 30,000 figure during a press conference Sunday. The report also said China's Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu visited the border area recently to see how the massive influx of refugees was being handled, but it gave no specifics.
Hundreds of refugees could be seen milling around Nansan on Sunday. Many hiked or drove up to a popular tourist spot to take photos of the heavily guarded border crossing.
The refugee camps, however, were off limits to foreign reporters. Li Hui, a local Foreign Affairs Department official, told AP reporters that media were not allowed in the settlement areas and ordered them to leave.
By NG HAN GUAN, Associated Press Writer – Sun Aug 30, 12:31 pm ET
MENG PENG, China (AP) – Hundreds of ethnic rebels have fled clashes in northeastern Myanmar, surrendering their weapons and uniforms to Chinese border police and crossing to safety after several days of skirmishes with Myanmar government troops.
Myanmar's military junta ended a news blackout about the clashes Sunday, saying three days of fighting had killed 26 government forces and at least eight rebels. It said the fighting had ended and "the region has now regained stability."
The United Nations and Chinese officials say up to 30,000 civilian refugees have streamed into China to escape the fighting, which broke out last week after hundreds of Myanmar soldiers moved into Kokang, a mostly ethnic Chinese region run by a local militia.
Myanmar's junta is trying to consolidate control over several armed ethnic groups along its borders to ensure next year's national elections, the first in nearly 20 years, go smoothly.
A U.S.-based Myanmar watchdog group said Sunday that most of the Kokang rebels had surrendered their arms to Chinese authorities upon entering the country, but it was not clear whether their leader was among them. They also gave over their green uniforms in exchange for blue cotton tops and pants.
"There was no way we would win," said one former rebel, Ri Chenchuan, as he shopped for new clothes in the few shops of Meng Peng, a mountain town about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the border. Several former rebels said they arrived Saturday and slept in the open-air vegetable market.
The clashes have strained China's close relationship with Myanmar's military junta and come at a particularly sensitive time — ahead of Oct. 1 celebrations to mark 60 years of communist rule.
Beijing has asked Myanmar to end the fighting.
A government announcement read aloud Sunday evening on state-run TV news broadcasts in Myanmar said the fighting was over but had killed 26 junta soldiers and police and left 47 wounded. It said eight bodies of Kokang rebels were found and 600 pieces of weapons seized.
There was no way to independently verify the figures.
The announcement said fighting had started Thursday and ended Saturday. TV news showed still photographs of police corpses and Kokang people fleeing.
"The region has now regained stability. Kokang ethnic people who have returned to their homes are being accepted back after scrutiny," said the announcement, which was signed by "Office of the Government of Myanmar."
An official with the Public Security Bureau in China's Zhenkang county, which oversees the border area, said Sunday there had been no reports of fighting since late Saturday. Like many Chinese officials, he refused to give his name.
In Meng Peng, several men told The Associated Press they had turned in their weapons to Chinese officials. Dozens of the men wearing blue cotton pants and shirts, issued to them when they surrendered their green rebel uniforms, were seen shopping for civilian clothes.
Li Jiayun said he and others decided to retreat "so that more civilians didn't get hurt."
The Kokang are an ethnic Han Chinese minority group that speaks Chinese and, according to exiled Myanmar rights activists, has received support for decades from China because of its traditional ties to the Communist Party.
The Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma said about 700 rebels from the Kokang ethnic minority's militia had fled from thousands of Myanmar troops into China late Saturday, but tensions remained high.
"The majority of the Kokang troops have surrendered to China," said Aung Din, the campaign's executive director. There were conflicting accounts of whether militia leader Peng Jiashen was among them, he said.
But Myanmar's junta is expected to target other ethnic minorities along the border, Aung Din said. Several armed ethnic groups along the border with China are resisting pressure from the junta to join with the military to become border guards ahead of next year's elections.
"There will be more fighting, more tension and more conflict because the regime will continue to try to force these groups to surrender their arms," Aung Din said.
According to the junta's announcement Sunday, tension started in the area on Aug. 8 when authorities seized a Kokang weapons factory and summoned four rebel leaders who then fled into hiding.
On Thursday, Kokang troops then raided a police post at a border checkpoint and took 39 police hostage, the junta said.
"Fighting ensued when Kokang troops began firing at Myanmar troops but fighting stopped Aug. 29," the announcement said, adding that the junta holds the four leaders responsible for the fighting. It did not elaborate.
The conflict area is on the fringe of the drug-producing Golden Triangle region where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet. Many of the ethnic armies there have used the drug trade to finance their operations. The Kokang and neighboring Wa regions, both isolated by mountainous terrain and a lack of roads, were traditionally Myanmar's main poppy growing areas.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, is the second largest exporter of heroin after Afghanistan.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said up to 30,000 people have poured into the Chinese border town of Nansan from Kokang since early this month. Chinese authorities are providing emergency food, shelter and medical care, it said.
The official People's Daily newspaper quoted Yunnan provincial police chief Meng Sutie as confirming the 30,000 figure during a press conference Sunday. The report also said China's Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu visited the border area recently to see how the massive influx of refugees was being handled, but it gave no specifics.
Hundreds of refugees could be seen milling around Nansan on Sunday. Many hiked or drove up to a popular tourist spot to take photos of the heavily guarded border crossing.
The refugee camps, however, were off limits to foreign reporters. Li Hui, a local Foreign Affairs Department official, told AP reporters that media were not allowed in the settlement areas and ordered them to leave.
*************************************************************
Myanmar's Suu Kyi to renovate home to stop trespassers
Mon Aug 31, 3:21 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi plans to renovate her crumbling lakeside home to keep out trespassers, her lawyer said Monday.
The Nobel peace laureate had her house arrest extended by 18 months earlier this month for violating her detention rules after a bizarre incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her Yangon residence in May.
Nyan Win, one of her lawyers and the spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, said Suu Kyi had been in contact with an architect about making renovations.
"She worries for the security of her house and that's why she wants to repair it," he said. "It is to prevent another trespassing."
Nyan Win said the democracy icon would pay for the renovations, which are still in the planning stages but will include fixing a balcony, herself.
He said she was concerned about security despite the house being more heavily guarded by authorities now than it was before John Yettaw made the trip across Inya Lake using a pair of homemade flippers.
Yettaw was sentenced to seven years hard labour for the stunt but was freed after a visit by US senator Jim Webb earlier this month.
Suu Kyi's own conviction over the incident, which sparked international outrage, means she will not be free for elections promised by Myanmar's junta in 2010.
She has spent much of the past two decades under house arrest at the family mansion since the junta refused to recognise the NLD's landslide victory in 1990.
After a stint in the notorious Insein prison for her trial, she returned to the house with her two aides, where they live an isolated existence with no Internet or telephone access and almost no visitors except doctors and lawyers.
Her lawyers are expected to file an appeal against her conviction early next week.
Mon Aug 31, 3:21 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi plans to renovate her crumbling lakeside home to keep out trespassers, her lawyer said Monday.
The Nobel peace laureate had her house arrest extended by 18 months earlier this month for violating her detention rules after a bizarre incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her Yangon residence in May.
Nyan Win, one of her lawyers and the spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, said Suu Kyi had been in contact with an architect about making renovations.
"She worries for the security of her house and that's why she wants to repair it," he said. "It is to prevent another trespassing."
Nyan Win said the democracy icon would pay for the renovations, which are still in the planning stages but will include fixing a balcony, herself.
He said she was concerned about security despite the house being more heavily guarded by authorities now than it was before John Yettaw made the trip across Inya Lake using a pair of homemade flippers.
Yettaw was sentenced to seven years hard labour for the stunt but was freed after a visit by US senator Jim Webb earlier this month.
Suu Kyi's own conviction over the incident, which sparked international outrage, means she will not be free for elections promised by Myanmar's junta in 2010.
She has spent much of the past two decades under house arrest at the family mansion since the junta refused to recognise the NLD's landslide victory in 1990.
After a stint in the notorious Insein prison for her trial, she returned to the house with her two aides, where they live an isolated existence with no Internet or telephone access and almost no visitors except doctors and lawyers.
Her lawyers are expected to file an appeal against her conviction early next week.
*************************************************************
Myanmar says 34 killed as border fighting ends
Sun Aug 30, 3:11 pm ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's junta-run television announced Sunday that 26 state security personnel and eight ethnic rebel fighters had been killed in three days of clashes near the Chinese border.
The broadcast ended a news blackout on the unrest between the army and rebel Kokang forces in the country's remote northeast.
According to the United Nations the fighting has sent up to 30,000 refugees fleeing into China.
The announcement late Sunday said 15 of the junta's police and 11 soldiers were killed in battles in Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state, while 13 police and 34 military were injured.
It said the fighting, in which eight rebel fighters died, had now ceased and the government army had seized 640 of the opposition's weapons.
Pictures of the bodies of Myanmar police were shown during the broadcast.
The US Campaign for Burma earlier said as many as 700 ethnic rebels may have crossed into China and surrendered their weapons but the numbers could not be independently confirmed.
The rebels retreated after deciding they were no match for junta troops, the rights group said, and it warned that the situation remained tense and fighting could resume at any time.
Some refugees began returning from China to their homes in Myanmar on Sunday amid signs that the fighting had subsided, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported, citing a Yunnan government official.
Sun Aug 30, 3:11 pm ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's junta-run television announced Sunday that 26 state security personnel and eight ethnic rebel fighters had been killed in three days of clashes near the Chinese border.
The broadcast ended a news blackout on the unrest between the army and rebel Kokang forces in the country's remote northeast.
According to the United Nations the fighting has sent up to 30,000 refugees fleeing into China.
The announcement late Sunday said 15 of the junta's police and 11 soldiers were killed in battles in Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state, while 13 police and 34 military were injured.
It said the fighting, in which eight rebel fighters died, had now ceased and the government army had seized 640 of the opposition's weapons.
Pictures of the bodies of Myanmar police were shown during the broadcast.
The US Campaign for Burma earlier said as many as 700 ethnic rebels may have crossed into China and surrendered their weapons but the numbers could not be independently confirmed.
The rebels retreated after deciding they were no match for junta troops, the rights group said, and it warned that the situation remained tense and fighting could resume at any time.
Some refugees began returning from China to their homes in Myanmar on Sunday amid signs that the fighting had subsided, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported, citing a Yunnan government official.
*************************************************************
Still afraid, Myanmar refugees head home from China
by Robert J. Saiget – 1 hr 33 mins ago
NANSAN, China (AFP) – Refugees who fled Myanmar into China after deadly clashes between junta forces and ethnic rebels trickled back across the border on Monday, but some said they feared going home to more unrest.
Officials in China's southwestern Yunnan province said 37,000 refugees had streamed into the country from the former Burma following days of fighting in Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state.
Eight rebel fighters and 26 security forces were killed in the clashes in Myanmar's remote northeast, state media there reported late Sunday, saying the unrest had ended. Two Chinese nationals were also killed, officials here said.
At the border crossing in the Chinese town of Nansan, refugees were crossing into Myanmar in groups of about 40 at a time, AFP reporters witnessed. The occasional person came into China.
"The Myanmar government has told us through diplomatic channels to send them back," Yunnan provincial government spokesman Li Hui told reporters.
"Those who want to go back can return. We are finding that most of these people want to go back to their homes," he added.
"The Myanmar government is saying that it is calm over there. From what we see, we don't think that there is any armed fighting."
But refugees interviewed by AFP in Nansan said they remained unconvinced by the junta's claims that calm had been restored in Kokang, a town of about 150,000.
"They were shooting ordinary people. I saw it myself. We don't believe what they say. We are afraid to go back," said 24-year-old farmer Li Jun.
"They say they will not shoot again but they will shoot."
Rows of blue tents have been set up in Nansan, nestled in rugged and lush mountains, to accommodate the refugees. China has provided them with food and medical care -- but has warned Myanmar to resolve the conflict quickly.
Refugees were also being housed in several nearly half-finished buildings.
Li, the provincial government spokesman, said 13,000 refugees were staying in camps, while 10,000-20,000 more were believed to be living with friends and relatives in and around Nansan.
Kokang's ethnic Chinese retain close ties with their kin across the porous border.
A Chinese clothing shop owner, who gave only his surname Chen, said he left Kokang with his wife amid the fighting.
"We have heard that our stores were being looted and that they are attacking the Chinese stores. We don't know what happened to our store," he told AFP.
His wife added: "We are afraid to go back."
A reporter for the Global Times, an English-language state daily in China, who crossed the border into Kokang at the weekend also reported Chinese-owned restaurants and stores had been looted.
"The Myanmar government has committed to protect the safety and property of Chinese citizens," the Yunnan government spokesman said, adding that Beijing had "expressed concern" on the issue.
China is one of the few allies of Myanmar's isolated junta, which is under US and EU sanctions. Beijing provides the ruling generals with military hardware and is a major consumer of the country's vast natural resources.
Few details have emerged about the clashes, which violated a 20-year ceasefire and prompted fears of all-out civil war. Fighting first erupted after police on August 8 raided an illegal weapons factory.
The Kokang forces -- known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army -- agreed to a ceasefire with the government in 1989 after fighting for autonomy in the region.
But the group split after recent pressure from the junta, which ordered the ethnic army to come under its command as "border guard forces". One faction agreed to do so while the other, led by Peng Jiasheng, refused.
Peng said in an interview at the weekend with the Global Times that he had not surrendered, and regretted signing a peace deal with the junta.
"The central government has broken its promises," Peng told the newspaper.
Yao Fu, a 46-year-old doctor who opened a hospital in Kokang about 10 years ago, described the situation in the town last week as "very desperate."
"The Burma army had come in and started to fire on rebels... The Burmese military also was attacking Chinese businesses," Yao said.
"I'm a Chinese citizen, I'm a patriot, and I love my country. We want to know what's going on."
by Robert J. Saiget – 1 hr 33 mins ago
NANSAN, China (AFP) – Refugees who fled Myanmar into China after deadly clashes between junta forces and ethnic rebels trickled back across the border on Monday, but some said they feared going home to more unrest.
Officials in China's southwestern Yunnan province said 37,000 refugees had streamed into the country from the former Burma following days of fighting in Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state.
Eight rebel fighters and 26 security forces were killed in the clashes in Myanmar's remote northeast, state media there reported late Sunday, saying the unrest had ended. Two Chinese nationals were also killed, officials here said.
At the border crossing in the Chinese town of Nansan, refugees were crossing into Myanmar in groups of about 40 at a time, AFP reporters witnessed. The occasional person came into China.
"The Myanmar government has told us through diplomatic channels to send them back," Yunnan provincial government spokesman Li Hui told reporters.
"Those who want to go back can return. We are finding that most of these people want to go back to their homes," he added.
"The Myanmar government is saying that it is calm over there. From what we see, we don't think that there is any armed fighting."
But refugees interviewed by AFP in Nansan said they remained unconvinced by the junta's claims that calm had been restored in Kokang, a town of about 150,000.
"They were shooting ordinary people. I saw it myself. We don't believe what they say. We are afraid to go back," said 24-year-old farmer Li Jun.
"They say they will not shoot again but they will shoot."
Rows of blue tents have been set up in Nansan, nestled in rugged and lush mountains, to accommodate the refugees. China has provided them with food and medical care -- but has warned Myanmar to resolve the conflict quickly.
Refugees were also being housed in several nearly half-finished buildings.
Li, the provincial government spokesman, said 13,000 refugees were staying in camps, while 10,000-20,000 more were believed to be living with friends and relatives in and around Nansan.
Kokang's ethnic Chinese retain close ties with their kin across the porous border.
A Chinese clothing shop owner, who gave only his surname Chen, said he left Kokang with his wife amid the fighting.
"We have heard that our stores were being looted and that they are attacking the Chinese stores. We don't know what happened to our store," he told AFP.
His wife added: "We are afraid to go back."
A reporter for the Global Times, an English-language state daily in China, who crossed the border into Kokang at the weekend also reported Chinese-owned restaurants and stores had been looted.
"The Myanmar government has committed to protect the safety and property of Chinese citizens," the Yunnan government spokesman said, adding that Beijing had "expressed concern" on the issue.
China is one of the few allies of Myanmar's isolated junta, which is under US and EU sanctions. Beijing provides the ruling generals with military hardware and is a major consumer of the country's vast natural resources.
Few details have emerged about the clashes, which violated a 20-year ceasefire and prompted fears of all-out civil war. Fighting first erupted after police on August 8 raided an illegal weapons factory.
The Kokang forces -- known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army -- agreed to a ceasefire with the government in 1989 after fighting for autonomy in the region.
But the group split after recent pressure from the junta, which ordered the ethnic army to come under its command as "border guard forces". One faction agreed to do so while the other, led by Peng Jiasheng, refused.
Peng said in an interview at the weekend with the Global Times that he had not surrendered, and regretted signing a peace deal with the junta.
"The central government has broken its promises," Peng told the newspaper.
Yao Fu, a 46-year-old doctor who opened a hospital in Kokang about 10 years ago, described the situation in the town last week as "very desperate."
"The Burma army had come in and started to fire on rebels... The Burmese military also was attacking Chinese businesses," Yao said.
"I'm a Chinese citizen, I'm a patriot, and I love my country. We want to know what's going on."
*************************************************************
UN Chief Defends Leadership Style, Citing Efforts in Myanmar
By Josiane Kremer and Marianne Stigset
Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon defended his leadership style and work in Myanmar, after criticism from a Norwegian diplomat.
“Different circumstances may require different leadership styles and different charisma,” Ban said today at a joint news conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg during a visit to Oslo. “I have my own charisma, I have my own leadership style.”
Ban’s performance was criticized by Norway’s UN ambassador, Mona Juul, in a leaked Foreign Ministry report this month, according to the Aftenposten newspaper. Juul said Ban was prone to fits of rage, “struggling to exert leadership,” and that his “voice on behalf of the poor has barely been heard,” Aftenposten reported. The Norwegian diplomat cited Ban’s work in Myanmar as an example of his lack of leadership skills. Juul’s husband, Terje Roed-Larsen, is Ban’s envoy to Lebanon.
Ban pointed to his efforts to help Myanmar recover from Cyclone Nargis last year, saying, “we were able together with the international community, particularly led by the Norwegian government, to save at least a half a million of population during this cyclone.”
Ban persuaded the junta in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to accept international aid last year in the wake of the cyclone, which killed about 138,000 people.
“We need to work more for the democratization of Myanmar,” Ban said, calling on the country to hold “fair, credible and inclusive” elections next year. “All political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released.”
Suu Kyi Sentenced
Pro-democracy activist Suu Kyi, 64, was sentenced on Aug. 11 to 18 more months of house arrest after being found guilty of breaching the terms of her detention by sheltering for two days a U.S. citizen who swam to her lakeside home in May. The verdict against the Nobel Peace Prize winner triggered international condemnation and calls to tighten sanctions against the regime.
“I am working very hard to keep up pressure on these commitments they gave me,” Ban said.
Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 years in custody since her National League for Democracy won elections in 1990. The military junta running Myanmar rejected the result.
Myanmar holds about 2,000 political prisoners, according to the UN. Elections are scheduled for next year under a constitution that the opposition says is designed to entrench military rule.
By Josiane Kremer and Marianne Stigset
Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon defended his leadership style and work in Myanmar, after criticism from a Norwegian diplomat.
“Different circumstances may require different leadership styles and different charisma,” Ban said today at a joint news conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg during a visit to Oslo. “I have my own charisma, I have my own leadership style.”
Ban’s performance was criticized by Norway’s UN ambassador, Mona Juul, in a leaked Foreign Ministry report this month, according to the Aftenposten newspaper. Juul said Ban was prone to fits of rage, “struggling to exert leadership,” and that his “voice on behalf of the poor has barely been heard,” Aftenposten reported. The Norwegian diplomat cited Ban’s work in Myanmar as an example of his lack of leadership skills. Juul’s husband, Terje Roed-Larsen, is Ban’s envoy to Lebanon.
Ban pointed to his efforts to help Myanmar recover from Cyclone Nargis last year, saying, “we were able together with the international community, particularly led by the Norwegian government, to save at least a half a million of population during this cyclone.”
Ban persuaded the junta in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to accept international aid last year in the wake of the cyclone, which killed about 138,000 people.
“We need to work more for the democratization of Myanmar,” Ban said, calling on the country to hold “fair, credible and inclusive” elections next year. “All political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released.”
Suu Kyi Sentenced
Pro-democracy activist Suu Kyi, 64, was sentenced on Aug. 11 to 18 more months of house arrest after being found guilty of breaching the terms of her detention by sheltering for two days a U.S. citizen who swam to her lakeside home in May. The verdict against the Nobel Peace Prize winner triggered international condemnation and calls to tighten sanctions against the regime.
“I am working very hard to keep up pressure on these commitments they gave me,” Ban said.
Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 years in custody since her National League for Democracy won elections in 1990. The military junta running Myanmar rejected the result.
Myanmar holds about 2,000 political prisoners, according to the UN. Elections are scheduled for next year under a constitution that the opposition says is designed to entrench military rule.
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The Christian Science Monitor - China issues rare rebuke after Burma border clashes
As more than 30,000 refugees return to Burma (Myanmar), key ally China urges Burma to "properly handle domestic problems and maintain stability."
By Tom A. Peter
from the August 30, 2009 edition
After several days of clashes between Burmese ethnic groups and government forces, the fighting came to an abrupt end on Sunday. The violence sent up to 30,000 refugees into China, some of whom were rebels who handed over their guns and uniforms to Chinese authorities.
China's official news service, Xinhua, has reported that a number of refugees have begun returning to their homes in Burma now that the fighting has stopped. Chinese officials assisted a number of refugees by providing tents, food, and medical aid.
Both China and the ruling military junta in Burma have a particular interest in the return of stability to the region, as China has plans to build oil and gas pipelines through Burma. There are also nearly 10,000 Chinese business people in the fractious area of Northern Burma.
In a rare move by China, an ally of the Burmese government, the country's foreign ministry spoke out urging Burma to "properly handle domestic problems and maintain stability in the China-Burma border region" and to "protect the security and legal rights" of its citizens in the country, reports the The Financial Times. Meanwhile, the Chinese media reports that Burmese officials have apologized for any Chinese casualities and thanked its neighbor for assisting refugees.
The situation erupted on Thursday when the Burmese army sent troops to occupy the Kokang territory following the refusal of several ethnic militias to convert into border security forces under the authority of the Burmese military. While it remains uncertain if the relative calm will remain, the Burmese government may have done considerable damage to its relationship with China, reports The Irrawaddy, a magazine published in Thailand by Burmese exiles.
Some observers said that junta head Gen. Than Shwe's decision to send troops into Kokang territory despite China's concerns showed his determination to demonstrate that he will not be constrained by Beijing.
"The Burmese junta doesn't care what anybody thinks, so I don't think the generals are thinking about China's response," said Chan Tun, a former Burmese ambassador to China.
Still, it remains unlikely that China and Burma's military junta will break ties over the incident. Meanwhile, The China Post reports that clashes between Burmese ethnic groups and government forces are likely to continue, because none of the ethnic groups' concerns have been addressed and the military junta is working to strengthen its grasp on power before the country's national elections.
The latest tension is a consequence of the military's attempt to silence the voice of the opposition in the runup to the 2010 general election. Unless the military junta can persuade the different ceasefire groups to accept its terms, it is likely that similar confrontations will occur. Despite international criticisms, the Burmese military junta is determined to move forward with the 2010 general election. Under the guidelines of the 2008 constitution, it is by and large a forgone conclusion that the military will hold on to power after election.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the Burmese government will move an additional 3,000 troops to the northern area of the country. Regional analysts and officials say the government's apparent objective is to rout out the ethnic militants before the elections. If the country does go to the ballot box in 2010, it will be the first time the country has had elections in nearly 20 years.
As more than 30,000 refugees return to Burma (Myanmar), key ally China urges Burma to "properly handle domestic problems and maintain stability."
By Tom A. Peter
from the August 30, 2009 edition
After several days of clashes between Burmese ethnic groups and government forces, the fighting came to an abrupt end on Sunday. The violence sent up to 30,000 refugees into China, some of whom were rebels who handed over their guns and uniforms to Chinese authorities.
China's official news service, Xinhua, has reported that a number of refugees have begun returning to their homes in Burma now that the fighting has stopped. Chinese officials assisted a number of refugees by providing tents, food, and medical aid.
Both China and the ruling military junta in Burma have a particular interest in the return of stability to the region, as China has plans to build oil and gas pipelines through Burma. There are also nearly 10,000 Chinese business people in the fractious area of Northern Burma.
In a rare move by China, an ally of the Burmese government, the country's foreign ministry spoke out urging Burma to "properly handle domestic problems and maintain stability in the China-Burma border region" and to "protect the security and legal rights" of its citizens in the country, reports the The Financial Times. Meanwhile, the Chinese media reports that Burmese officials have apologized for any Chinese casualities and thanked its neighbor for assisting refugees.
The situation erupted on Thursday when the Burmese army sent troops to occupy the Kokang territory following the refusal of several ethnic militias to convert into border security forces under the authority of the Burmese military. While it remains uncertain if the relative calm will remain, the Burmese government may have done considerable damage to its relationship with China, reports The Irrawaddy, a magazine published in Thailand by Burmese exiles.
Some observers said that junta head Gen. Than Shwe's decision to send troops into Kokang territory despite China's concerns showed his determination to demonstrate that he will not be constrained by Beijing.
"The Burmese junta doesn't care what anybody thinks, so I don't think the generals are thinking about China's response," said Chan Tun, a former Burmese ambassador to China.
Still, it remains unlikely that China and Burma's military junta will break ties over the incident. Meanwhile, The China Post reports that clashes between Burmese ethnic groups and government forces are likely to continue, because none of the ethnic groups' concerns have been addressed and the military junta is working to strengthen its grasp on power before the country's national elections.
The latest tension is a consequence of the military's attempt to silence the voice of the opposition in the runup to the 2010 general election. Unless the military junta can persuade the different ceasefire groups to accept its terms, it is likely that similar confrontations will occur. Despite international criticisms, the Burmese military junta is determined to move forward with the 2010 general election. Under the guidelines of the 2008 constitution, it is by and large a forgone conclusion that the military will hold on to power after election.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the Burmese government will move an additional 3,000 troops to the northern area of the country. Regional analysts and officials say the government's apparent objective is to rout out the ethnic militants before the elections. If the country does go to the ballot box in 2010, it will be the first time the country has had elections in nearly 20 years.
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China presents railway carriages to Myanmar
www.chinaview.cn 2009-08-31 21:42:57
YANGON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A ceremony of presenting a bulk of railway carriages by China to Myanmar for use in improving the latter's rail links was held here Monday.
The presentation of the bulk of 225 railway carriages, which includes 5 engines, 20 passenger coaches and 200 freight coaches, were offered by the Chinese side during the attendance of Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein at the 5th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Economic and Investment Summit in Nanning in October 2008.
The hand-over ceremony, attended by Myanmar Minister of Rail Transportation Major-General Aung Min and Director-General of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Railways of China Chen Juemin, took place on the occasion of the visit of a seven-member Chinese railway delegation, headed by Chen.
Director-General of the Myanmar Railways U Thein Swe said at the ceremony that it is the second time for China to present to the country railway carriages, while the first was in June 2006 with 130 passenger coaches which have run for three years, assisting in facilitating the country's rail transport.
On the occasion, Chen said the presentation brings friendship between peoples of the two countries as well as that between the two railways.
He expressed belief that the extensive cooperation sector wise between the two countries' railway transportation would benefit mutually.
According to official figures, Myanmar rail tracks extend as long as 6,942 kilometers now.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-08-31 21:42:57
YANGON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A ceremony of presenting a bulk of railway carriages by China to Myanmar for use in improving the latter's rail links was held here Monday.
The presentation of the bulk of 225 railway carriages, which includes 5 engines, 20 passenger coaches and 200 freight coaches, were offered by the Chinese side during the attendance of Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein at the 5th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Economic and Investment Summit in Nanning in October 2008.
The hand-over ceremony, attended by Myanmar Minister of Rail Transportation Major-General Aung Min and Director-General of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Railways of China Chen Juemin, took place on the occasion of the visit of a seven-member Chinese railway delegation, headed by Chen.
Director-General of the Myanmar Railways U Thein Swe said at the ceremony that it is the second time for China to present to the country railway carriages, while the first was in June 2006 with 130 passenger coaches which have run for three years, assisting in facilitating the country's rail transport.
On the occasion, Chen said the presentation brings friendship between peoples of the two countries as well as that between the two railways.
He expressed belief that the extensive cooperation sector wise between the two countries' railway transportation would benefit mutually.
According to official figures, Myanmar rail tracks extend as long as 6,942 kilometers now.
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Kantipur Online - Anti-Chinese attacks alleged in Myanmar unrest
NANSAN, China, Aug 31 - Witnesses on Monday accused Myanmar soldiers and civilians of attacking ethnic Chinese targets in border violence, despite Beijing's calls to safeguard the interests of its citizens.
China has warned its military-ruled southern neighbour and ally to protect Chinese nationals caught up in a junta offensive against ethnic rebels in Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state.
But Chinese who fled across the border in recent days claimed angrily that the government offensive morphed into attacks on the Chinese merchants who have long thrived in this remote and porous border area.
"After the Chinese in Kokang fled, after the Chinese businessmen left, the Myanmar locals started ransacking ethnic Chinese businesses and property," said Yao Fu, a Chinese doctor who had set up a hospital in Kokang. "The Myanmar military also was attacking Chinese businesses."
The accusations of Yao, who spoke to AFP in the Chinese border town of Nansan, were echoed by several Chinese nationals who had fled Kokang and now were waiting here, angry and anxious about their futures.
"The Myanmar people, if they see you as Chinese, they start attacking," said Yao, 46.
Officials in China's southwestern Yunnan province have said that more than 30,000 refugees had streamed across the border from Kokang.
Myanmar state media said eight rebel fighters and 26 security forces were killed in the clashes -- which broke a 20-year ceasefire -- and added the unrest had ended. Two Chinese nationals were also killed, officials here said.
The situation has emerged as a potential irritant in Myanmar's ties with China, which is the isolated state's sole major ally and trade partner.
Energy-hungry China is an eager buyer of Myanmar's sizeable natural gas reserves and has in the past tried to shield its ruling junta from harsh
international sanctions over its poor human rights record.
In a rare warning, China last week told Myanmar to resolve the conflict and "safeguard the stability of the China-Myanmar border."
"We also urge Myanmar to protect the safety and legal rights of Chinese citizens in Myanmar," a foreign ministry statement said.
But several Chinese citizens stuck in Nansan had harsh words for their own government.
Gao Muxiu, who ran a housewares store in Kokang before fleeing, said she and other Chinese citizens had expected Beijing to protect them.
She waited anxiously at the border crossing, hoping to return to determine the fate of her business, but was stopped by Chinese border guards since she had left her identification papers in Kokang.
"We believed the Chinese government would help protect us, so we stayed on. But in the end they really let us down," said Gao, 30.
"We heard (Myanmar nationals) looted and smashed everything in the business district and that is where the store is," she said.
Yunnan provincial government spokesman Li Hui told AFP that China was urging refugees to return to Myanmar, saying calm had returned there.
"The Chinese government will certainly do what it can to safeguard the safety and property of Chinese citizens" in Myanmar, Li said.
"The Myanmar government has committed to protect the safety and property of Chinese citizens."
However, while being careful not to directly single out Myanmar, an opinion piece in the state-run Global Times newspaper expressed irritation with the situation, referring to "unpopular governments" along China's border.
NANSAN, China, Aug 31 - Witnesses on Monday accused Myanmar soldiers and civilians of attacking ethnic Chinese targets in border violence, despite Beijing's calls to safeguard the interests of its citizens.
China has warned its military-ruled southern neighbour and ally to protect Chinese nationals caught up in a junta offensive against ethnic rebels in Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state.
But Chinese who fled across the border in recent days claimed angrily that the government offensive morphed into attacks on the Chinese merchants who have long thrived in this remote and porous border area.
"After the Chinese in Kokang fled, after the Chinese businessmen left, the Myanmar locals started ransacking ethnic Chinese businesses and property," said Yao Fu, a Chinese doctor who had set up a hospital in Kokang. "The Myanmar military also was attacking Chinese businesses."
The accusations of Yao, who spoke to AFP in the Chinese border town of Nansan, were echoed by several Chinese nationals who had fled Kokang and now were waiting here, angry and anxious about their futures.
"The Myanmar people, if they see you as Chinese, they start attacking," said Yao, 46.
Officials in China's southwestern Yunnan province have said that more than 30,000 refugees had streamed across the border from Kokang.
Myanmar state media said eight rebel fighters and 26 security forces were killed in the clashes -- which broke a 20-year ceasefire -- and added the unrest had ended. Two Chinese nationals were also killed, officials here said.
The situation has emerged as a potential irritant in Myanmar's ties with China, which is the isolated state's sole major ally and trade partner.
Energy-hungry China is an eager buyer of Myanmar's sizeable natural gas reserves and has in the past tried to shield its ruling junta from harsh
international sanctions over its poor human rights record.
In a rare warning, China last week told Myanmar to resolve the conflict and "safeguard the stability of the China-Myanmar border."
"We also urge Myanmar to protect the safety and legal rights of Chinese citizens in Myanmar," a foreign ministry statement said.
But several Chinese citizens stuck in Nansan had harsh words for their own government.
Gao Muxiu, who ran a housewares store in Kokang before fleeing, said she and other Chinese citizens had expected Beijing to protect them.
She waited anxiously at the border crossing, hoping to return to determine the fate of her business, but was stopped by Chinese border guards since she had left her identification papers in Kokang.
"We believed the Chinese government would help protect us, so we stayed on. But in the end they really let us down," said Gao, 30.
"We heard (Myanmar nationals) looted and smashed everything in the business district and that is where the store is," she said.
Yunnan provincial government spokesman Li Hui told AFP that China was urging refugees to return to Myanmar, saying calm had returned there.
"The Chinese government will certainly do what it can to safeguard the safety and property of Chinese citizens" in Myanmar, Li said.
"The Myanmar government has committed to protect the safety and property of Chinese citizens."
However, while being careful not to directly single out Myanmar, an opinion piece in the state-run Global Times newspaper expressed irritation with the situation, referring to "unpopular governments" along China's border.
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Monsters and Critics - Myanmar occupies Kokang region, sending message to other rebels
Asia-Pacific News
Aug 31, 2009, 10:52 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar's junta claimed Monday to have restored 'peace and security' to the Kokang region of the Shan State after losing 26 soldiers and police in clashes with rebels, but resistance sources said the fighting was still underway.
'Peace has been restored, and tasks for restoration of regional peace, stability and development have returned to normal,' Myanmar's state-run newspapers and TV reported Monday.
Fighting between an estimated 700 Kokang troops loyal to leader Peng Jiasheng and thousands of Myanmar troops forced an estimated 30,000 civilians to flee to Nansan, in Yunnan province in China, irking the Chinese government.
But sources on the Thai-Myanmar border claimed the fighting was ongoing.
'We hear that the Burmese army is still seizing people to turn them into porters while they mop up the Kokang fighters on the Myanmar side of the border,' said Khuensai Jaiyen, editor of the pro-resistance Shan Herald Agency for News website.
'My sources said they can still hear fighting,' he said in a telephone interview with the German Press Agency dpa.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper claimed the fighting had left 15 Myanmar soldiers and 11 police dead, and dozens wounded.
The government mouthpiece blamed the outbreak of fighting on Peng Jiasheng, whom they claimed was involved in various illegal activities such as drug trafficking and the illicit manufacturing of arms and ammunition.
Analysts of the region, however, claim Myanmar's junta was annoyed with Peng Jiasheng for refusing to comply with their demand that the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army - as the Kokang army has been called since 1989 - be turned into a border militia under army control.
The Kokang are one of a dozen former insurgencies that signed ceasefire agreements with the junta in 1989 in exchange for a certain measure of autonomy, allowing them to keep their small armies and run their own economies.
But the armies must come under government control by October, and be turned into border militias as part of the junta's preparations for a general election next year.
Besides the Kokang, other much larger ethnic minority armies such as the Kachin, Wa and Shan have expressed reluctance to turn their armies into border militias under the Myanmar army, their traditional enemy.
The attack on the Kokang army, with less than 1,000 soldiers, was seen as a warning to the other ethnic minority groups in the Shan State, analysts said.
'This was a means of sending a warning to the other ethnic minority groups,' said Win Min, a lecturer on Myanmar affairs at Chiang Mai University. 'After seeing what happened to the Kokang they will be afraid of being attacked as well and of losing control over their territories,' he said.
The Kokang are an ethnic Han Chinese minority group that has lived in north-eastern Myanmar for centuries. They once formed a core fighting group in the now-defunct Burmese Communist Party.
Asia-Pacific News
Aug 31, 2009, 10:52 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar's junta claimed Monday to have restored 'peace and security' to the Kokang region of the Shan State after losing 26 soldiers and police in clashes with rebels, but resistance sources said the fighting was still underway.
'Peace has been restored, and tasks for restoration of regional peace, stability and development have returned to normal,' Myanmar's state-run newspapers and TV reported Monday.
Fighting between an estimated 700 Kokang troops loyal to leader Peng Jiasheng and thousands of Myanmar troops forced an estimated 30,000 civilians to flee to Nansan, in Yunnan province in China, irking the Chinese government.
But sources on the Thai-Myanmar border claimed the fighting was ongoing.
'We hear that the Burmese army is still seizing people to turn them into porters while they mop up the Kokang fighters on the Myanmar side of the border,' said Khuensai Jaiyen, editor of the pro-resistance Shan Herald Agency for News website.
'My sources said they can still hear fighting,' he said in a telephone interview with the German Press Agency dpa.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper claimed the fighting had left 15 Myanmar soldiers and 11 police dead, and dozens wounded.
The government mouthpiece blamed the outbreak of fighting on Peng Jiasheng, whom they claimed was involved in various illegal activities such as drug trafficking and the illicit manufacturing of arms and ammunition.
Analysts of the region, however, claim Myanmar's junta was annoyed with Peng Jiasheng for refusing to comply with their demand that the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army - as the Kokang army has been called since 1989 - be turned into a border militia under army control.
The Kokang are one of a dozen former insurgencies that signed ceasefire agreements with the junta in 1989 in exchange for a certain measure of autonomy, allowing them to keep their small armies and run their own economies.
But the armies must come under government control by October, and be turned into border militias as part of the junta's preparations for a general election next year.
Besides the Kokang, other much larger ethnic minority armies such as the Kachin, Wa and Shan have expressed reluctance to turn their armies into border militias under the Myanmar army, their traditional enemy.
The attack on the Kokang army, with less than 1,000 soldiers, was seen as a warning to the other ethnic minority groups in the Shan State, analysts said.
'This was a means of sending a warning to the other ethnic minority groups,' said Win Min, a lecturer on Myanmar affairs at Chiang Mai University. 'After seeing what happened to the Kokang they will be afraid of being attacked as well and of losing control over their territories,' he said.
The Kokang are an ethnic Han Chinese minority group that has lived in north-eastern Myanmar for centuries. They once formed a core fighting group in the now-defunct Burmese Communist Party.
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Sep 1, 2009
Asia Times Online - Border war rattles China-Myanmar ties
By Larry Jagan
BANGKOK - Myanmar military operations against an ethnic insurgent group have forced tens of thousands of refugees across China's southern border and ratcheted up bilateral tensions between the usually allied neighboring nations.
Now there are growing fears that Myanmar army actions against the ethnic Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) could explode into a wider conflict as other ceasefire groups, including the heavily armed United Wa State Army (UWSA), are dragged into the fighting.
The 20-year-old ceasefire agreement between the ruling junta and MNDAA has fallen victim to the government's attempts to exert its authority over border areas before democratic elections are held next year. Some analysts believe the guerilla MNDAA has suffered heavy casualties and that at least one-half of their estimated 1,500 armed forces have fled into China.
In response, Beijing has deployed extra troops and armed policemen to the area to guard against a possible spillover of the violence across its border. A senior Chinese envoy has been dispatched to the Myanmar capital at Naypyidaw to convey Beijing's "serious concerns" about the situation, according to a senior Chinese government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
By the weekend, an estimated 50,000 refugees had fled from northeastern Myanmar into China, a local Chinese government official in the Yunnan province city of Kunming told Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity. The first wave of refugees crossed the border nearly three weeks ago, he said. "First, they came in dribs and drabs, and then in much larger numbers," according to a resident on the Chinese side of the border.
Up to 30,000 people earlier this month streamed into the Yunnan provincial town of Nansan and other nearby villages from ethnic Kokang areas in Myanmar's northeastern Shan State, according to Kitty McKinsey, regional spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees based in Bangkok. "Chinese authorities are providing emergency food, shelter and medical care," she said.
Over the weekend, the apparently defeated remnants of the Kokang army fled across the border, a Kokang military leader told Asia Times Online. At least 700 soldiers handed over their weapons to Chinese authorities as they crossed the border, discarded their green military uniforms and donned blue overalls supplied by their Chinese hosts. They are being held close to the border in a separate camp from the other refugees by heavily armed Chinese security forces, the Kokang military leader said.
Chinese refugees
Some of those who have fled the fighting are believed to be Chinese citizens, including businessmen and workers who in their thousands have migrated to Myanmar's Kokang areas over the past decade. Most businesses, including money changers, restaurants, casinos and entertainment venues in Kokang areas are either owned or run by Chinese citizens. Hundreds of traders also cross the border every week to do business and trade in the Kokang capital. They have been advised to suspend their activities until the situation stabilizes, according to Chinese sources.
One Chinese official, who requested anonymity, said that Chinese central authorities were "extremely upset" by the spillover effects of the Myanmar military's actions and were "furious" that they had not been forewarned about the offensive. After a flurry of diplomatic contacts, both in Beijing and Naypyidaw, Myanmar has "apologized" for the instability caused across the Chinese border, according to a Myanmar Foreign Ministry official.
It appears the military operations were aimed primarily at capturing a Kokang arms factory, Myanmar leaders told their Chinese counterparts. But Myanmar analysts remain skeptical and believe this was a pretext at best. "The junta knows it must move to disarm these ethnic rebel groups, and the Kokang are the weakest militarily," a Burmese academic and military specialist at Chiang Mai University in Thailand, Win Min, told Asia Times Online. "Before the military launched this attack the authorities have been trying to portray the Kokang leaders as drug dealers."
The Kokang are ethnically Chinese and speak a dialect of Mandarin, but have lived for many decades inside Myanmar. They have their own armed militia and fought against the Myanmar army for several decades demanding autonomy. They were part of the Burma Communist Party and agreed to a ceasefire in 1989, which until now had held.
The Kokang were also heavily involved in the narcotics trade and were known until recently to be major opium producers. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, their area has been poppy-free since 2003, though some analysts have contested that assessment.
Well-planned assault
Tensions had been rising in Myanmar's border areas for months as the military junta pressured various ethnic rebel ceasefire groups - including the Kachin, Kokang and Wa - to surrender their arms before democratic elections planned for next year. The Myanmar government wants to integrate these groups under the national government as border police guard units, but these and other ethnic groups along the Chinese border have resisted integration.
Thousands of Myanmar troops took up positions in the Kokang area in early August before launching their major offensive last week. Security along the way to the Kokang headquarters at Laogai had been tightened by the Myanmar military, while rice and food supplies were prevented from entering the area, according to one resident.
On August 8, a local Myanmar officer sent soldiers into the area to investigate reports that the Kokang forces were operating an arms factory. They also reportedly entered the home of Kokang military leader Peng Jiasheng in search of narcotics. He has reportedly since fled into the neighboring area controlled by the UWSA, which is believed to have more than 15,000 troops under arms.
Since the fighting subsided, the Myanmar army is in total control of the Kokang capital, Laogai. Once a bustling border town, full of bars, discos, karaoke clubs and gambling dens, the town center is now virtually deserted except for Myanmar soldiers. Most of the refugees fled with only the clothes on their back and a suitcase and left most of their possessions behind, according to aid workers.
Some refugees are now weighing whether to return to their homes for fear that their property will be looted by the soldiers. But they are also worried about living under Myanmar army rule. "We fear that the soldiers will not treat us well," a 53-year old Kokang woman told Asia Times Online. "We have heard how the army rapes women and children, forces the men folk to carry supplies and executes anyone who refuses to obey them," she said.
But with the Kokang promising to retaliate, and with the more powerful UWSA coming to their aid, the prospect for an orderly return of displaced persons is distant. "More confrontation and military encounters are expected in the following days and thousands of villagers are fleeing to the China-Burma border to avoid the war, and subsequent human-rights abuses," said a statement from the Kokang group.
Analysts believe other ceasefire groups could be targeted next. "This does not augur well for the other ceasefire groups like the Kachin and Wa," said the academic Win Min. "This may be a preview of what's to come," he added. Earlier this month, the Kachin, Kokang and Wa leaders all formed an alliance, known as the Myanmar Peace and Democracy Front, in which they mutually agreed not to surrender their arms before the scheduled elections.
Now there is a very high risk of a return to widespread armed conflict along the China-Myanmar border, according to a Chinese government official who closely follows events in Myanmar. "The problem is that the Wa are very close to the Chinese government and it would be very hard for them to desert them at this crucial point in time," he added.
At the same time, China wants to restore peace to border areas before it destabilizes areas of China. Beijing has advised Myanmar to stop fighting and encouraged a new ceasefire settlement with the Kokang, an arrangement China has offered to mediate, according to Chinese government sources. Beijing wants the refugees to return to Myanmar as soon as possible, but has no intentions of pushing them back, said the official. At the same time, Chinese authorities are guarding against the refugees traveling and attempting to settle further inland.
The military offensive bears out recent suggestions that Myanmar is bidding to assert itself against China, widely seen as the reclusive regime's main international backer. In the past few months, the ruling junta had reportedly become disillusioned with Beijing's lack of support for its attempts to disarm the rebel groups, including those that enjoy a special relationship with China.
Some say the enthusiastic reception the junta recently gave to United States Senator Jim Webb - usually only reserved for heads of state - was a clear sign of the junta's attempt to move away from its diplomatic reliance on China. In another jab at Beijing, this week's edition of the Myanmar Times ran a short agency news story on Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, visiting Taiwan, after it was approved by government censors.
It represented the first time Myanmar's tightly controlled media had even mentioned the Dalai Lama in more than 20 years, according to Yangon-based diplomats.
Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the British Broadcasting Corp. He is currently a freelance journalist based in Bangkok.
Asia Times Online - Border war rattles China-Myanmar ties
By Larry Jagan
BANGKOK - Myanmar military operations against an ethnic insurgent group have forced tens of thousands of refugees across China's southern border and ratcheted up bilateral tensions between the usually allied neighboring nations.
Now there are growing fears that Myanmar army actions against the ethnic Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) could explode into a wider conflict as other ceasefire groups, including the heavily armed United Wa State Army (UWSA), are dragged into the fighting.
The 20-year-old ceasefire agreement between the ruling junta and MNDAA has fallen victim to the government's attempts to exert its authority over border areas before democratic elections are held next year. Some analysts believe the guerilla MNDAA has suffered heavy casualties and that at least one-half of their estimated 1,500 armed forces have fled into China.
In response, Beijing has deployed extra troops and armed policemen to the area to guard against a possible spillover of the violence across its border. A senior Chinese envoy has been dispatched to the Myanmar capital at Naypyidaw to convey Beijing's "serious concerns" about the situation, according to a senior Chinese government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
By the weekend, an estimated 50,000 refugees had fled from northeastern Myanmar into China, a local Chinese government official in the Yunnan province city of Kunming told Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity. The first wave of refugees crossed the border nearly three weeks ago, he said. "First, they came in dribs and drabs, and then in much larger numbers," according to a resident on the Chinese side of the border.
Up to 30,000 people earlier this month streamed into the Yunnan provincial town of Nansan and other nearby villages from ethnic Kokang areas in Myanmar's northeastern Shan State, according to Kitty McKinsey, regional spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees based in Bangkok. "Chinese authorities are providing emergency food, shelter and medical care," she said.
Over the weekend, the apparently defeated remnants of the Kokang army fled across the border, a Kokang military leader told Asia Times Online. At least 700 soldiers handed over their weapons to Chinese authorities as they crossed the border, discarded their green military uniforms and donned blue overalls supplied by their Chinese hosts. They are being held close to the border in a separate camp from the other refugees by heavily armed Chinese security forces, the Kokang military leader said.
Chinese refugees
Some of those who have fled the fighting are believed to be Chinese citizens, including businessmen and workers who in their thousands have migrated to Myanmar's Kokang areas over the past decade. Most businesses, including money changers, restaurants, casinos and entertainment venues in Kokang areas are either owned or run by Chinese citizens. Hundreds of traders also cross the border every week to do business and trade in the Kokang capital. They have been advised to suspend their activities until the situation stabilizes, according to Chinese sources.
One Chinese official, who requested anonymity, said that Chinese central authorities were "extremely upset" by the spillover effects of the Myanmar military's actions and were "furious" that they had not been forewarned about the offensive. After a flurry of diplomatic contacts, both in Beijing and Naypyidaw, Myanmar has "apologized" for the instability caused across the Chinese border, according to a Myanmar Foreign Ministry official.
It appears the military operations were aimed primarily at capturing a Kokang arms factory, Myanmar leaders told their Chinese counterparts. But Myanmar analysts remain skeptical and believe this was a pretext at best. "The junta knows it must move to disarm these ethnic rebel groups, and the Kokang are the weakest militarily," a Burmese academic and military specialist at Chiang Mai University in Thailand, Win Min, told Asia Times Online. "Before the military launched this attack the authorities have been trying to portray the Kokang leaders as drug dealers."
The Kokang are ethnically Chinese and speak a dialect of Mandarin, but have lived for many decades inside Myanmar. They have their own armed militia and fought against the Myanmar army for several decades demanding autonomy. They were part of the Burma Communist Party and agreed to a ceasefire in 1989, which until now had held.
The Kokang were also heavily involved in the narcotics trade and were known until recently to be major opium producers. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, their area has been poppy-free since 2003, though some analysts have contested that assessment.
Well-planned assault
Tensions had been rising in Myanmar's border areas for months as the military junta pressured various ethnic rebel ceasefire groups - including the Kachin, Kokang and Wa - to surrender their arms before democratic elections planned for next year. The Myanmar government wants to integrate these groups under the national government as border police guard units, but these and other ethnic groups along the Chinese border have resisted integration.
Thousands of Myanmar troops took up positions in the Kokang area in early August before launching their major offensive last week. Security along the way to the Kokang headquarters at Laogai had been tightened by the Myanmar military, while rice and food supplies were prevented from entering the area, according to one resident.
On August 8, a local Myanmar officer sent soldiers into the area to investigate reports that the Kokang forces were operating an arms factory. They also reportedly entered the home of Kokang military leader Peng Jiasheng in search of narcotics. He has reportedly since fled into the neighboring area controlled by the UWSA, which is believed to have more than 15,000 troops under arms.
Since the fighting subsided, the Myanmar army is in total control of the Kokang capital, Laogai. Once a bustling border town, full of bars, discos, karaoke clubs and gambling dens, the town center is now virtually deserted except for Myanmar soldiers. Most of the refugees fled with only the clothes on their back and a suitcase and left most of their possessions behind, according to aid workers.
Some refugees are now weighing whether to return to their homes for fear that their property will be looted by the soldiers. But they are also worried about living under Myanmar army rule. "We fear that the soldiers will not treat us well," a 53-year old Kokang woman told Asia Times Online. "We have heard how the army rapes women and children, forces the men folk to carry supplies and executes anyone who refuses to obey them," she said.
But with the Kokang promising to retaliate, and with the more powerful UWSA coming to their aid, the prospect for an orderly return of displaced persons is distant. "More confrontation and military encounters are expected in the following days and thousands of villagers are fleeing to the China-Burma border to avoid the war, and subsequent human-rights abuses," said a statement from the Kokang group.
Analysts believe other ceasefire groups could be targeted next. "This does not augur well for the other ceasefire groups like the Kachin and Wa," said the academic Win Min. "This may be a preview of what's to come," he added. Earlier this month, the Kachin, Kokang and Wa leaders all formed an alliance, known as the Myanmar Peace and Democracy Front, in which they mutually agreed not to surrender their arms before the scheduled elections.
Now there is a very high risk of a return to widespread armed conflict along the China-Myanmar border, according to a Chinese government official who closely follows events in Myanmar. "The problem is that the Wa are very close to the Chinese government and it would be very hard for them to desert them at this crucial point in time," he added.
At the same time, China wants to restore peace to border areas before it destabilizes areas of China. Beijing has advised Myanmar to stop fighting and encouraged a new ceasefire settlement with the Kokang, an arrangement China has offered to mediate, according to Chinese government sources. Beijing wants the refugees to return to Myanmar as soon as possible, but has no intentions of pushing them back, said the official. At the same time, Chinese authorities are guarding against the refugees traveling and attempting to settle further inland.
The military offensive bears out recent suggestions that Myanmar is bidding to assert itself against China, widely seen as the reclusive regime's main international backer. In the past few months, the ruling junta had reportedly become disillusioned with Beijing's lack of support for its attempts to disarm the rebel groups, including those that enjoy a special relationship with China.
Some say the enthusiastic reception the junta recently gave to United States Senator Jim Webb - usually only reserved for heads of state - was a clear sign of the junta's attempt to move away from its diplomatic reliance on China. In another jab at Beijing, this week's edition of the Myanmar Times ran a short agency news story on Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, visiting Taiwan, after it was approved by government censors.
It represented the first time Myanmar's tightly controlled media had even mentioned the Dalai Lama in more than 20 years, according to Yangon-based diplomats.
Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the British Broadcasting Corp. He is currently a freelance journalist based in Bangkok.
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Sep 1, 2009
Asia Times Online - Economic crisis hits Myanmar's migrant women
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The global financial crisis threatens to shred the dreams of thousands of women from Myanmar who have fled their military-ruled country over the past decade for better jobs in more prosperous Thailand, say activists.
Mae Sot, a town on the Thai-Myanmar border that has been a magnet for female migrant workers, is one area where this pain is being felt, they said. Ongoing conflicts between the military and ethnic groups and a depressed economy in Myanmar are among the reasons behind such flight across the border.
"There is growing worry among these women that they will not be able to remit part of their earnings to their families in Myanmar," says Jackie Pollock, director of the Migrant Action Program, a group lobbying for migrants' rights in Thailand. "Entire families depend on such remittances, which are about 2,500 baht [US$75] every quarter."
She expects this predicament to worsen as the crisis, which has resulted in the drying up of export markets in the United States, unfolds in the months ahead. "It is just starting to hit them. The families in Myanmar are living off what was saved from last year's remittances."
The economic downturn is squeezing a female labor force that is already being discriminated against by the factory owners, mostly Thais, who refuse to pay the daily minimum wage. The Myanmarese women who labor for hours behind sewing machines get between 60 baht and 80 baht a day, whereas the minimum wage set out by the Thai state for Mae Sot is 151 baht a day.
These women make up the predominant labor force in the nearly 300 export-oriented textile and garment factories in Mae Sot, reveals a report released on Friday in Bangkok. Each factory employs 100 to 1,000 workers, while "about another 200 unregistered 'home factories' would employ between five and 20 workers," says the report.
This female labor force is part of the estimated 300,000 Myanmarese migrant workers in Mae Sot, which also provides work in other areas. That includes jobs in agriculture, construction, domestic work, call centers, the entertainment industry and on garbage sites.
In all these fields of labor, "women are shouldering a disproportionate burden", says Soe Lin Aung, co-author of the 48-page report, "Critical Times - Migrants and the Economy in Chiang Mai and Mae Sot". "A substantial number of women we surveyed - 43% - reported a drop in their incomes."
"Knitting factories, which produce warm clothing largely for very hard-hit US and European markets, are said to be struggling disproportionately, with demand dropping steeply," states the report. "The local chapter of the Federation of Thai Industries claims that orders have dropped by 12%, and 'the talk', as one report puts it, is of overwhelming layoffs, reduced working hours and increased difficulty finding new jobs."
The average monthly income for a worker in such factories hovers close to 2,500 baht, with only regular shifts available. Yet "at this time last year, which is a relatively high season, a knitting factory employee might have made 6,000 baht a month, while a garment factory worker would have made a bit more than 3,000 baht, including overtime hours," adds the report.
One female migrant worker interviewed for the report said, "I can't support my parents because I'm not in a good job situation. My brother and sister are also not okay - they also can't support with any money."
The money sent home by the migrant workers has become a vital lifeline for the families they have left behind, most of whom are elderly fathers and mothers and children too young to work.
"Over 30 people have come to work in Thailand from my village," said Deng Lungjong, who works in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, another magnet for her compatriots in search of jobs.
"There are six people in my village that are depending on the money I remit home," the 26-year-old said in an interview. "Earlier I could remit money four times a year; now I can only send twice a year."
The migrant workers in Mae Sot and Chiang Mai are among an estimated two million registered and unregistered migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos in Thailand. They labor in work described by labor rights groups as "dirty, dangerous and difficult." The majority of them - over one million - are from Myanmar.
The plight of the migrant workers in Mae Sot and other parts of Thailand feeling the economic pain hardly surprises the International Labor Organization (ILO). "All too often migrant workers in poorly visible categories of work tend to be the shock absorbers during an economic downturn," says Tim De Meyer, labor standards specialist at the Bangkok-based Asia office of the ILO.
The Geneva-based body had the female migrant workers from Myanmar in mind when it said earlier this year that the current economic meltdown had a "woman's face", since women laborers are affected more severely, and differently, compared with their male counterparts.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the ILO projected that as more people became unemployed, the total number of people in the region without jobs could be pushed to 112.2 million.
The hit taken by women in this dire picture stems from the work they do: often in labor-intensive export industries like the ones in Mae Sot.
A similar scenario played out a decade ago, when Southeast Asia was hit by the 1997 financial crisis, decimating once vibrant, export-driven economies. In Thailand, for instance, 95% of the workers laid off from the garment sector were women, according to the ILO.
Despite this repeating itself in places like Mae Sot, the female migrants from Myanmar are reluctant to return home. "While the situation may be getting bad here, the situation is worse in Myanmar," said Deng, who has been working in Thailand for 10 years. "My family at home has only me to depend on."
Asia Times Online - Economic crisis hits Myanmar's migrant women
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The global financial crisis threatens to shred the dreams of thousands of women from Myanmar who have fled their military-ruled country over the past decade for better jobs in more prosperous Thailand, say activists.
Mae Sot, a town on the Thai-Myanmar border that has been a magnet for female migrant workers, is one area where this pain is being felt, they said. Ongoing conflicts between the military and ethnic groups and a depressed economy in Myanmar are among the reasons behind such flight across the border.
"There is growing worry among these women that they will not be able to remit part of their earnings to their families in Myanmar," says Jackie Pollock, director of the Migrant Action Program, a group lobbying for migrants' rights in Thailand. "Entire families depend on such remittances, which are about 2,500 baht [US$75] every quarter."
She expects this predicament to worsen as the crisis, which has resulted in the drying up of export markets in the United States, unfolds in the months ahead. "It is just starting to hit them. The families in Myanmar are living off what was saved from last year's remittances."
The economic downturn is squeezing a female labor force that is already being discriminated against by the factory owners, mostly Thais, who refuse to pay the daily minimum wage. The Myanmarese women who labor for hours behind sewing machines get between 60 baht and 80 baht a day, whereas the minimum wage set out by the Thai state for Mae Sot is 151 baht a day.
These women make up the predominant labor force in the nearly 300 export-oriented textile and garment factories in Mae Sot, reveals a report released on Friday in Bangkok. Each factory employs 100 to 1,000 workers, while "about another 200 unregistered 'home factories' would employ between five and 20 workers," says the report.
This female labor force is part of the estimated 300,000 Myanmarese migrant workers in Mae Sot, which also provides work in other areas. That includes jobs in agriculture, construction, domestic work, call centers, the entertainment industry and on garbage sites.
In all these fields of labor, "women are shouldering a disproportionate burden", says Soe Lin Aung, co-author of the 48-page report, "Critical Times - Migrants and the Economy in Chiang Mai and Mae Sot". "A substantial number of women we surveyed - 43% - reported a drop in their incomes."
"Knitting factories, which produce warm clothing largely for very hard-hit US and European markets, are said to be struggling disproportionately, with demand dropping steeply," states the report. "The local chapter of the Federation of Thai Industries claims that orders have dropped by 12%, and 'the talk', as one report puts it, is of overwhelming layoffs, reduced working hours and increased difficulty finding new jobs."
The average monthly income for a worker in such factories hovers close to 2,500 baht, with only regular shifts available. Yet "at this time last year, which is a relatively high season, a knitting factory employee might have made 6,000 baht a month, while a garment factory worker would have made a bit more than 3,000 baht, including overtime hours," adds the report.
One female migrant worker interviewed for the report said, "I can't support my parents because I'm not in a good job situation. My brother and sister are also not okay - they also can't support with any money."
The money sent home by the migrant workers has become a vital lifeline for the families they have left behind, most of whom are elderly fathers and mothers and children too young to work.
"Over 30 people have come to work in Thailand from my village," said Deng Lungjong, who works in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, another magnet for her compatriots in search of jobs.
"There are six people in my village that are depending on the money I remit home," the 26-year-old said in an interview. "Earlier I could remit money four times a year; now I can only send twice a year."
The migrant workers in Mae Sot and Chiang Mai are among an estimated two million registered and unregistered migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos in Thailand. They labor in work described by labor rights groups as "dirty, dangerous and difficult." The majority of them - over one million - are from Myanmar.
The plight of the migrant workers in Mae Sot and other parts of Thailand feeling the economic pain hardly surprises the International Labor Organization (ILO). "All too often migrant workers in poorly visible categories of work tend to be the shock absorbers during an economic downturn," says Tim De Meyer, labor standards specialist at the Bangkok-based Asia office of the ILO.
The Geneva-based body had the female migrant workers from Myanmar in mind when it said earlier this year that the current economic meltdown had a "woman's face", since women laborers are affected more severely, and differently, compared with their male counterparts.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the ILO projected that as more people became unemployed, the total number of people in the region without jobs could be pushed to 112.2 million.
The hit taken by women in this dire picture stems from the work they do: often in labor-intensive export industries like the ones in Mae Sot.
A similar scenario played out a decade ago, when Southeast Asia was hit by the 1997 financial crisis, decimating once vibrant, export-driven economies. In Thailand, for instance, 95% of the workers laid off from the garment sector were women, according to the ILO.
Despite this repeating itself in places like Mae Sot, the female migrants from Myanmar are reluctant to return home. "While the situation may be getting bad here, the situation is worse in Myanmar," said Deng, who has been working in Thailand for 10 years. "My family at home has only me to depend on."
*************************************************************
UN News Centre - Ban emphasizes key role of UN in tackling today’s challenges
31 August 2009 – The United Nations plays a critical role in addressing the current food, climate and other crises, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in Oslo, as he stressed that Norway is one of the Organization’s strongest partners in tackling global challenges.
The financial, flu, fuel and other emergencies cannot be solved by nations acting alone, Mr. Ban told reporters after meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.
“The United Nations is the forum where we can all discuss our different agendas towards a very harmonious resolution for the common well-being and the common prosperity of the world,” he noted.
“People know that the United Nations is front and centre right now in addressing all these multiple crises.”
Acknowledging that it is natural for the international community to expect the world body to step up to the plate in addressing the simultaneous crises, he called for support from all 192 Member States.
Mr. Ban singled out Norway – home to the UN’s first Secretary-General, Trygve Lie – for its “steadfast” contributions in the realms of climate change, development, health, human rights and peacekeeping.
“Norway has been and is delivering,” the Secretary-General said. “It is among the most dynamic and generous supporters of the United Nations.”
Following a working breakfast with Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, he expressed appreciation for the country’s leadership and initiatives for Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Sudan.
On climate change, Mr. Ban thanked Norway for its role in UN Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD), which seeks to combat climate change through creating incentives to reverse the trend of deforestation.
The Secretary-General will travel to Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, to see firsthand the impact of climate change at the Polar ice rim.
“I will try to deliver a clear strong message from my visit to the North Pole,” he said, underscoring that only 15 days of negotiations remain before the start of December’s climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, where countries are expected to wrap up negotiations on a new pact to go into effect when the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period ends in 2012.
“Now is the time for decision-making,” Mr. Ban stressed. “We must seal a deal in Copenhagen for a global, equitable and comprehensive deal for the future of humanity and the future of Planet Earth.”
In a speech in Austria yesterday, he highlighted the importance of trust – both among States and in the United Nations – in tackling a range of global crises, while calling for a renewed multilateralism that delivers results for the world's people.
“Pressed by crisis on several fronts, the world is coming to understand the need to work together as never before in a spirit of shared purpose,” Mr. Ban said at the European Forum Alpbach Political Symposium.
“A renewed multilateralism that delivers real results for real people in need,” he stated, “a multilateralism where countries and regions engage with each other in a spirit of trust, cooperation and mutual reliance.”
31 August 2009 – The United Nations plays a critical role in addressing the current food, climate and other crises, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in Oslo, as he stressed that Norway is one of the Organization’s strongest partners in tackling global challenges.
The financial, flu, fuel and other emergencies cannot be solved by nations acting alone, Mr. Ban told reporters after meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.
“The United Nations is the forum where we can all discuss our different agendas towards a very harmonious resolution for the common well-being and the common prosperity of the world,” he noted.
“People know that the United Nations is front and centre right now in addressing all these multiple crises.”
Acknowledging that it is natural for the international community to expect the world body to step up to the plate in addressing the simultaneous crises, he called for support from all 192 Member States.
Mr. Ban singled out Norway – home to the UN’s first Secretary-General, Trygve Lie – for its “steadfast” contributions in the realms of climate change, development, health, human rights and peacekeeping.
“Norway has been and is delivering,” the Secretary-General said. “It is among the most dynamic and generous supporters of the United Nations.”
Following a working breakfast with Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, he expressed appreciation for the country’s leadership and initiatives for Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Sudan.
On climate change, Mr. Ban thanked Norway for its role in UN Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD), which seeks to combat climate change through creating incentives to reverse the trend of deforestation.
The Secretary-General will travel to Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, to see firsthand the impact of climate change at the Polar ice rim.
“I will try to deliver a clear strong message from my visit to the North Pole,” he said, underscoring that only 15 days of negotiations remain before the start of December’s climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, where countries are expected to wrap up negotiations on a new pact to go into effect when the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period ends in 2012.
“Now is the time for decision-making,” Mr. Ban stressed. “We must seal a deal in Copenhagen for a global, equitable and comprehensive deal for the future of humanity and the future of Planet Earth.”
In a speech in Austria yesterday, he highlighted the importance of trust – both among States and in the United Nations – in tackling a range of global crises, while calling for a renewed multilateralism that delivers results for the world's people.
“Pressed by crisis on several fronts, the world is coming to understand the need to work together as never before in a spirit of shared purpose,” Mr. Ban said at the European Forum Alpbach Political Symposium.
“A renewed multilateralism that delivers real results for real people in need,” he stated, “a multilateralism where countries and regions engage with each other in a spirit of trust, cooperation and mutual reliance.”
*************************************************************
Bangkok Post - The forgotten political prisoners
John Yettaw may have made it home, but what of the regime's other victims
Writer: Phil Thornton
Published: 30/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Spectrum
In recent weeks the Burmese military regime turned on the charm for US Senator Jim Webb in an attempt to ease trade sanctions between the two countries.
The regime allowed Senator Webb to fly out with eccentric US citizen John Yettaw, who was released on "humanitarian grounds" after being sentenced to seven years hard labour for illegally entering Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's house.
The senator's high-profile visit did nothing for Mrs Suu Kyi's freedom - a result of Yettaw's home invasion; her house arrest was extended by 18 months. Nor has the senator's meaningful dialogue with the regime gained anything for Burma's 2,100 other political prisoners.
The regime's quick release of Yettaw drew flak from Ko Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner and the co-founder of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
"Yettaw's release, and Senator Webb's mission, was a political stunt organised at the expense of political prisoners in Burma. It deflects attention away from the real issues - 500,000 displaced ethnic people, thousands of political prisoners and the continued house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi."
Closed off and isolated from much of the outside world, the military regime has in recent months, in spite of Yettaw's highly publicised release, stepped up its attacks on what it perceives as enemies of the state - its own citizens and its political opposition. The regime has created a climate of fear throughout Burma, using a vast network of security agencies, informers and neighbourhood spies to create a sense of paranoia were nobody is to be trusted. Secret police and para-military thugs have been dispatched in hundreds of night raids to drag opposition politicians, journalists, labour activists, artists, comedians, internet bloggers and Buddhist monks and nuns from their beds.
Those arrested are rarely charged, instead they are held, interrogated and tortured for days or months without access to lawyers or family in secret detention centres, jails or police cells. When prisoners are finally taken to court, it is usually behind closed doors or locked prison gates and without legal representation. Draconian sentences handed down in the last few months have ranged from three to 69 years for acts of civil disobedience.
The latest arrests are regarded by international observers as serving another purpose _ a cynical move by the regime to put political opponents in jail and out of the way before multi-party elections are held in 2010.
David Mathieson, the Burma researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, explains: ''Burma's leaders are clearing the decks of political opponents before they announce the next round of sham political reforms. The arrested, represent a broad section of civil society _ monks, artists, poets, writers, lawyers, doctors, activists and journalists.
''What they all have in common is a desire to see an end to the regime. The outcome of the elections is crucial to the regime's plans to solidify its power and continue its political dominance.''
In spite of local and international condemnation of the arbitrary arrests, the regime continues to jail its opponents, Human Rights Watch estimates that Burma has 2,100 prisoners' rotting away in prisons, more than double the figure in 2007, and since October last year, 350 political activists have been jailed.
These include :
Labour activist Ma Su Su Nway, who was arrested on Nov 13, 2007, attempting to put up an anti-government poster. A year later she was sentenced to 12 years and six months, later commuted to eight years and four months. She is serving her sentence in the remote Kale Prison, 680 kilometres from Rangoon.
- Gambari, one of the monks who led the September, 2007, protests, also known as the ''Saffron Revolution''. The regime took its revenge and sentenced U Gambari to 68 years in jail, 12 to be served as hard labour.
- Min Ko Naing, a leader of the 1988 student uprising and chair of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions. A strong believer in non-violent civil disobedience protests against military rule, after a series of court hearings he was sentenced on Nov 11, 2008, to 65 years in jail.
- Zargana is the stage name of U Thura, Burma's most famous comedian. After the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, Zargana organised aid deliveries to people in 42 villages. He received threats from the military to stop. He was arrested on June 4, 2008. He was given a total of 59 years in jail, later reduced to 35 years. He is serving his sentence in a one square metre cell, in the remote Myitkyina Prison, in Kachin state, northern Burma.
- Nilar Thein was a high school student when she first took to the streets in 1988 to protest for political change in Burma. In 1991 she was jailed for two months.
In 1996 she was arrested again for protesting against the government and jailed for nine years. In spite of the harsh jail sentences, Nilar Thein refused to give up her right to protest. In August, 2007, she marched with her husband, Kyaw Min Yu, to protest at high fuel costs. Her husband was arrested on Aug 21, 2007. After avoiding arrest for a year, Nilar Thein was captured on Sept 10, 2008. On Nov 11, 2007, Nilar Thein and 13 other political activists, including her husband, were sentenced to 65 years in jail.
AAPP says Burma has 44 prisons and at least 50 labour camps, dependent on the regime's infrastructure projects at the time. Many of the jails do not have hospitals, and at least 12 of them do not have a doctor. The regime jails political prisoners in remote areas as a deliberate ploy to obstruct family members from visiting and delivering much needed food and medicine.
IN JAIL I LEARNED I HAD NO FUTURE
In a small wooden house inside a tree-lined compound on the Thai Burma border, a group of men and women tap at computer keyboards, talk on mobile phones and show guests around a reconstruction of a prison cell. They work for the AAPP and all are former prisoners. Their sentences ranged from 14 years for writing leaflets, to five years for attending student demonstrations.
Bo Kyi, a founding member and now secretary of the AAPP, has made it his life's work to ensure these prisoners will not be forgotten. Bo Kyi was jailed for the first time in 1990 for leading a demonstration for the release of political prisoners: ''I was sentenced to three years hard labour. I was interrogated and tortured for 36 hours. I was given no food or water, and was kept handcuffed and blindfolded.'' Bo Kyi was denied access to his family and says they did not know what had happened to him.
''I was put in a small cell, I could see blood and many names, including those of my friends, on the walls. I was not allowed to shower for nine days.''
In spite of the torture and beatings Bo Kyi was determined to stay positive.
''I wanted to study. I had an English dictionary smuggled in. I ate the pages as I learned them. I also learned I had no future. It [jail] taught me to live in the present, otherwise I would have gone crazy thinking about the future.''
Despite this, Bo Kyi is not out for revenge. ''Those who tortured me are also victims of the system. Sooner or later Burma will change, the people want change, but in the meantime people will have to speak out. International NGOs working inside Burma have been silenced, but they need to speak out. We can't let our brothers and sisters rot in jail because they had the courage to protest for change.''
THEY STRIPPED AWAY OUR HUMANITY
Bo Kyi introduced me to a woman who seemed full of energy and laughter, despite having endured similar experiences.
Kyi Kyi (pronounced Gee Gee) Khin covers stories about the lives of migrant workers and refugees in her work as a video journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma.
''I was a member of the All Burma Students Federation Union. We wrote a newsletter. I also worked as an election campaigner for the NLD in the 1990 election. I think this was the real reason for my arrest. They wanted political campaigners out of the way.''
Kyi Kyi says it is easy for security agencies to know what political activists are up to: ''We had to submit all our travel arrangements and our planned activities to the local authorities. We had to give them all the details. It's similar to now, but now it's even harder. They know everything about us.''
Kyi Kyi was arrested and taken to Military Intelligence 4, in the Bassein Division in the Irrawaddy District.
''I was locked in a dark room for 28 days. I couldn't tell when it was night or day. The floor was concrete; I had a bed base, a pot for a toilet. Water was only given at meal times.''
Kyi Kyi felt the process was meant to humiliate political prisoners.
''You were only allowed to use the pot in the morning, at 6am. The smell was disgusting. When they fed us they slide a plate through a panel at the bottom of the door. They fed us twice a day, we had to eat in the dark _ it could have been anything.''
Kyi Kyi says she was not beaten, but the mental torture was constant.
''I was interrogated five times in 28 days, I had to stay on my feet all night, it was difficult. It was November, very cold, I got sick with fever. I couldn't sit down during the interrogations. I had to lean on the wall.''
Kyi Kyi's brave face breaks as she talks of her dignity being stripped from her by her tormentors. Her laughter turns to tears as she remembers.
''You can't see, you can only guess what's going on. Next to my cell a 16-year-old boy sobbed, on the other side a 60-year-old man continually cried for water.''
Kyi Kyi responded to their plight with the only weapon she had: ''I tried to comfort them by shouting and singing student songs. I had to do something. We were being stripped of our humanity.
''After 28 days I was transferred to jail, I was not charged. I was kept isolated, but at last I was given a shower. I smelled so bad. I had worn the same clothes for 28 days _ they stank and had rotted on me.''
Kyi Kyi, now 43, says being kept in the dark wore her down.
''I was so angry I kicked the door, I screamed, I cried. Most of the other prisoners had left. It was now so quiet. I could hear my heart beating.''
Kyi Kyi was taken to a special court in the jail were she was charged under the Illegal Publication Act and given two years prison.
''Jail was always bad, the food was bad, the rice was never cooked well and it was not always edible. Before I was charged I was kept separated from the prison population, after I was charged we all mixed together. We learned from each other. Thieves taught us how they operated and we talked politics with them.''
After two years, in 1992, Kyi Kyi was released. She stayed in Bassein, and from 1992 to 1995 worked with other political prisoners bribing guards to let them take food and medicine into the jails.
When the regime arrested its then Prime Minister and Military Intelligence chief, General Khin Nyunt, Kyi Kyi took advantage of the confusion during the dismantling of the Military Intelligence infrastructure to leave for Thailand.
''I told no one I was leaving. My father was worried, he didn't know where I was, so he travelled to Thailand to look for me. On his return he was arrested and sentenced to eight years for communicating with illegal political groups. My father is still in Insein jail, he's now 70, has high blood pressure and his health is failing.'' Kyi Kyi's family is not allowed to visit her father.
''In Burma, if one person is involved in politics the whole family will suffer. The family, the children, are denied promotions or education and will lose their jobs.''
Kyi Kyi says prison taught her a lot about herself and maintaining her dignity even when it seems hopeless.
''I followed my beliefs and kept my values. Political prisoners even got respect from guards and other prisoners because of our resolve.''
Following the regime's crackdown in September, 2007, many people were dragged from their homes by plainclothes police and taken to army interrogation centres. Myat (not her real name) was one of those arrested.
''They came for me at my home on Oct 10. I was taken to a detention centre and interrogated for five days before they sent me to Insein jail.'' Myat, 19, was studying law at a Rangoon University and was a youth member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. Myat is thin, shy and hardly fits the ''enemy of the state'' image bestowed on her by military intelligence. Over the next 15 days Myat was shifted back and forth between the jail and detention centre.
''I was terrified. Each time they said they'd release me, but they kept questioning me about who I worked for. The detention centre was dirty _ dirty food, dirty water, dirty floor and a dirty blanket.''
Myat worried about being tortured.
''I could hear people crying all the time, at night the lights were broken. I was scared they would come and beat me. Other people were terrified of ghosts. It was bad place where bad things happened to people.''
Myat's small, windowless cell was hot and cramped. She shared it with a sick seven-month pregnant woman who was arrested for watching the protests from a teashop.
''She was worried about her baby, she cried all the time. The guards told her to shut up. They came into the room and roughly massaged her belly, after that her baby didn't move again. I think it died. I felt so sad for her. She suffered a lot.''
The authorities confiscated Myat's possessions, leaving her with only the clothes she was wearing when arrested.
''They lied. They told my family I'd been released but I was still in Insein jail with four other women who had been arrested for watching the protests from a teashop. I had been held for about a month before my aunt found out where I was. She brought me food and clothes. They intentionally moved me again, so my family wouldn't know where I was.'' Myat was to remain locked-up for two-and-half months. She was eventually released after signing a statement admitting her ''crimes''. Free, Myat avoided politics and was afraid to contact her friends. She worried about the strangers loitering outside her house and those who stood too close to her when she was talking.
''I couldn't take any more. With the help of the underground movement I made my way to Thailand. I want to go back to Burma, all my family is there, but if I do, it will be dangerous for me. I don't want to spend my life in jail.''
John Yettaw may have made it home, but what of the regime's other victims
Writer: Phil Thornton
Published: 30/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Spectrum
In recent weeks the Burmese military regime turned on the charm for US Senator Jim Webb in an attempt to ease trade sanctions between the two countries.
The regime allowed Senator Webb to fly out with eccentric US citizen John Yettaw, who was released on "humanitarian grounds" after being sentenced to seven years hard labour for illegally entering Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's house.
The senator's high-profile visit did nothing for Mrs Suu Kyi's freedom - a result of Yettaw's home invasion; her house arrest was extended by 18 months. Nor has the senator's meaningful dialogue with the regime gained anything for Burma's 2,100 other political prisoners.
The regime's quick release of Yettaw drew flak from Ko Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner and the co-founder of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
"Yettaw's release, and Senator Webb's mission, was a political stunt organised at the expense of political prisoners in Burma. It deflects attention away from the real issues - 500,000 displaced ethnic people, thousands of political prisoners and the continued house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi."
Closed off and isolated from much of the outside world, the military regime has in recent months, in spite of Yettaw's highly publicised release, stepped up its attacks on what it perceives as enemies of the state - its own citizens and its political opposition. The regime has created a climate of fear throughout Burma, using a vast network of security agencies, informers and neighbourhood spies to create a sense of paranoia were nobody is to be trusted. Secret police and para-military thugs have been dispatched in hundreds of night raids to drag opposition politicians, journalists, labour activists, artists, comedians, internet bloggers and Buddhist monks and nuns from their beds.
Those arrested are rarely charged, instead they are held, interrogated and tortured for days or months without access to lawyers or family in secret detention centres, jails or police cells. When prisoners are finally taken to court, it is usually behind closed doors or locked prison gates and without legal representation. Draconian sentences handed down in the last few months have ranged from three to 69 years for acts of civil disobedience.
The latest arrests are regarded by international observers as serving another purpose _ a cynical move by the regime to put political opponents in jail and out of the way before multi-party elections are held in 2010.
David Mathieson, the Burma researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, explains: ''Burma's leaders are clearing the decks of political opponents before they announce the next round of sham political reforms. The arrested, represent a broad section of civil society _ monks, artists, poets, writers, lawyers, doctors, activists and journalists.
''What they all have in common is a desire to see an end to the regime. The outcome of the elections is crucial to the regime's plans to solidify its power and continue its political dominance.''
In spite of local and international condemnation of the arbitrary arrests, the regime continues to jail its opponents, Human Rights Watch estimates that Burma has 2,100 prisoners' rotting away in prisons, more than double the figure in 2007, and since October last year, 350 political activists have been jailed.
These include :
Labour activist Ma Su Su Nway, who was arrested on Nov 13, 2007, attempting to put up an anti-government poster. A year later she was sentenced to 12 years and six months, later commuted to eight years and four months. She is serving her sentence in the remote Kale Prison, 680 kilometres from Rangoon.
- Gambari, one of the monks who led the September, 2007, protests, also known as the ''Saffron Revolution''. The regime took its revenge and sentenced U Gambari to 68 years in jail, 12 to be served as hard labour.
- Min Ko Naing, a leader of the 1988 student uprising and chair of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions. A strong believer in non-violent civil disobedience protests against military rule, after a series of court hearings he was sentenced on Nov 11, 2008, to 65 years in jail.
- Zargana is the stage name of U Thura, Burma's most famous comedian. After the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, Zargana organised aid deliveries to people in 42 villages. He received threats from the military to stop. He was arrested on June 4, 2008. He was given a total of 59 years in jail, later reduced to 35 years. He is serving his sentence in a one square metre cell, in the remote Myitkyina Prison, in Kachin state, northern Burma.
- Nilar Thein was a high school student when she first took to the streets in 1988 to protest for political change in Burma. In 1991 she was jailed for two months.
In 1996 she was arrested again for protesting against the government and jailed for nine years. In spite of the harsh jail sentences, Nilar Thein refused to give up her right to protest. In August, 2007, she marched with her husband, Kyaw Min Yu, to protest at high fuel costs. Her husband was arrested on Aug 21, 2007. After avoiding arrest for a year, Nilar Thein was captured on Sept 10, 2008. On Nov 11, 2007, Nilar Thein and 13 other political activists, including her husband, were sentenced to 65 years in jail.
AAPP says Burma has 44 prisons and at least 50 labour camps, dependent on the regime's infrastructure projects at the time. Many of the jails do not have hospitals, and at least 12 of them do not have a doctor. The regime jails political prisoners in remote areas as a deliberate ploy to obstruct family members from visiting and delivering much needed food and medicine.
IN JAIL I LEARNED I HAD NO FUTURE
In a small wooden house inside a tree-lined compound on the Thai Burma border, a group of men and women tap at computer keyboards, talk on mobile phones and show guests around a reconstruction of a prison cell. They work for the AAPP and all are former prisoners. Their sentences ranged from 14 years for writing leaflets, to five years for attending student demonstrations.
Bo Kyi, a founding member and now secretary of the AAPP, has made it his life's work to ensure these prisoners will not be forgotten. Bo Kyi was jailed for the first time in 1990 for leading a demonstration for the release of political prisoners: ''I was sentenced to three years hard labour. I was interrogated and tortured for 36 hours. I was given no food or water, and was kept handcuffed and blindfolded.'' Bo Kyi was denied access to his family and says they did not know what had happened to him.
''I was put in a small cell, I could see blood and many names, including those of my friends, on the walls. I was not allowed to shower for nine days.''
In spite of the torture and beatings Bo Kyi was determined to stay positive.
''I wanted to study. I had an English dictionary smuggled in. I ate the pages as I learned them. I also learned I had no future. It [jail] taught me to live in the present, otherwise I would have gone crazy thinking about the future.''
Despite this, Bo Kyi is not out for revenge. ''Those who tortured me are also victims of the system. Sooner or later Burma will change, the people want change, but in the meantime people will have to speak out. International NGOs working inside Burma have been silenced, but they need to speak out. We can't let our brothers and sisters rot in jail because they had the courage to protest for change.''
THEY STRIPPED AWAY OUR HUMANITY
Bo Kyi introduced me to a woman who seemed full of energy and laughter, despite having endured similar experiences.
Kyi Kyi (pronounced Gee Gee) Khin covers stories about the lives of migrant workers and refugees in her work as a video journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma.
''I was a member of the All Burma Students Federation Union. We wrote a newsletter. I also worked as an election campaigner for the NLD in the 1990 election. I think this was the real reason for my arrest. They wanted political campaigners out of the way.''
Kyi Kyi says it is easy for security agencies to know what political activists are up to: ''We had to submit all our travel arrangements and our planned activities to the local authorities. We had to give them all the details. It's similar to now, but now it's even harder. They know everything about us.''
Kyi Kyi was arrested and taken to Military Intelligence 4, in the Bassein Division in the Irrawaddy District.
''I was locked in a dark room for 28 days. I couldn't tell when it was night or day. The floor was concrete; I had a bed base, a pot for a toilet. Water was only given at meal times.''
Kyi Kyi felt the process was meant to humiliate political prisoners.
''You were only allowed to use the pot in the morning, at 6am. The smell was disgusting. When they fed us they slide a plate through a panel at the bottom of the door. They fed us twice a day, we had to eat in the dark _ it could have been anything.''
Kyi Kyi says she was not beaten, but the mental torture was constant.
''I was interrogated five times in 28 days, I had to stay on my feet all night, it was difficult. It was November, very cold, I got sick with fever. I couldn't sit down during the interrogations. I had to lean on the wall.''
Kyi Kyi's brave face breaks as she talks of her dignity being stripped from her by her tormentors. Her laughter turns to tears as she remembers.
''You can't see, you can only guess what's going on. Next to my cell a 16-year-old boy sobbed, on the other side a 60-year-old man continually cried for water.''
Kyi Kyi responded to their plight with the only weapon she had: ''I tried to comfort them by shouting and singing student songs. I had to do something. We were being stripped of our humanity.
''After 28 days I was transferred to jail, I was not charged. I was kept isolated, but at last I was given a shower. I smelled so bad. I had worn the same clothes for 28 days _ they stank and had rotted on me.''
Kyi Kyi, now 43, says being kept in the dark wore her down.
''I was so angry I kicked the door, I screamed, I cried. Most of the other prisoners had left. It was now so quiet. I could hear my heart beating.''
Kyi Kyi was taken to a special court in the jail were she was charged under the Illegal Publication Act and given two years prison.
''Jail was always bad, the food was bad, the rice was never cooked well and it was not always edible. Before I was charged I was kept separated from the prison population, after I was charged we all mixed together. We learned from each other. Thieves taught us how they operated and we talked politics with them.''
After two years, in 1992, Kyi Kyi was released. She stayed in Bassein, and from 1992 to 1995 worked with other political prisoners bribing guards to let them take food and medicine into the jails.
When the regime arrested its then Prime Minister and Military Intelligence chief, General Khin Nyunt, Kyi Kyi took advantage of the confusion during the dismantling of the Military Intelligence infrastructure to leave for Thailand.
''I told no one I was leaving. My father was worried, he didn't know where I was, so he travelled to Thailand to look for me. On his return he was arrested and sentenced to eight years for communicating with illegal political groups. My father is still in Insein jail, he's now 70, has high blood pressure and his health is failing.'' Kyi Kyi's family is not allowed to visit her father.
''In Burma, if one person is involved in politics the whole family will suffer. The family, the children, are denied promotions or education and will lose their jobs.''
Kyi Kyi says prison taught her a lot about herself and maintaining her dignity even when it seems hopeless.
''I followed my beliefs and kept my values. Political prisoners even got respect from guards and other prisoners because of our resolve.''
Following the regime's crackdown in September, 2007, many people were dragged from their homes by plainclothes police and taken to army interrogation centres. Myat (not her real name) was one of those arrested.
''They came for me at my home on Oct 10. I was taken to a detention centre and interrogated for five days before they sent me to Insein jail.'' Myat, 19, was studying law at a Rangoon University and was a youth member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. Myat is thin, shy and hardly fits the ''enemy of the state'' image bestowed on her by military intelligence. Over the next 15 days Myat was shifted back and forth between the jail and detention centre.
''I was terrified. Each time they said they'd release me, but they kept questioning me about who I worked for. The detention centre was dirty _ dirty food, dirty water, dirty floor and a dirty blanket.''
Myat worried about being tortured.
''I could hear people crying all the time, at night the lights were broken. I was scared they would come and beat me. Other people were terrified of ghosts. It was bad place where bad things happened to people.''
Myat's small, windowless cell was hot and cramped. She shared it with a sick seven-month pregnant woman who was arrested for watching the protests from a teashop.
''She was worried about her baby, she cried all the time. The guards told her to shut up. They came into the room and roughly massaged her belly, after that her baby didn't move again. I think it died. I felt so sad for her. She suffered a lot.''
The authorities confiscated Myat's possessions, leaving her with only the clothes she was wearing when arrested.
''They lied. They told my family I'd been released but I was still in Insein jail with four other women who had been arrested for watching the protests from a teashop. I had been held for about a month before my aunt found out where I was. She brought me food and clothes. They intentionally moved me again, so my family wouldn't know where I was.'' Myat was to remain locked-up for two-and-half months. She was eventually released after signing a statement admitting her ''crimes''. Free, Myat avoided politics and was afraid to contact her friends. She worried about the strangers loitering outside her house and those who stood too close to her when she was talking.
''I couldn't take any more. With the help of the underground movement I made my way to Thailand. I want to go back to Burma, all my family is there, but if I do, it will be dangerous for me. I don't want to spend my life in jail.''
*************************************************************
The Nation - Conflict flare up in Triangle
By DON PATHAN
Published on August 31, 2009
SOMETHING IS BREWING in the Burmese corner of the Golden Triangle and it's more than just the chemicals boiling in the clandestine heroin and methamphetamine labs.
Bluffing between the military government and one of the cease-fire groups - the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), also known as the Chinese Kokang - turned into an armed clash last Thursday. Tens of thousands of residents were sent fleeing to China's Yunnan province, Thai and Chinese officials monitoring the border situation said.
With the help of Burmese government troops, Kokang's stronghold Laogai has now come under a splinter group led by the MNDAA's second in command, Bai Souqian, who broke away with about 200 troops, who accounted for 20 per cent of the outfit's total troop strength.
"It's a classical divide-and-conquer tactic. This is not the first time that the Burmese junta has done this," said a senior Thai Army officer on the border who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In response, MNDAA chairman Peng Jiasheng has dispatched a small outfit to carry out hit-and-run attacks against a Burmese outpost near the Kokang capital of Laogai and pockets manned by Burmese government troops.
Peng has also reportedly secured the support of other cease-fire groups, namely the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), Shan State Army-North and Mong La-based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), an outfit headed by his son-in-law Lin Mingxian, also known as U Sai Leun. Incidentally, the NDAA, on June 30, celebrated its 20th anniversary of "peace" with the Burmese.
Both Thai and Chinese sources downplayed the so-called military pact between the Kokang and other ethnic armies. Personal connections and common political and security interests aside, mobilising troops to take on the Burmese soldiers is easier said than done.
"It's all about logistics," said the senior Thai Army officer.
"The Burmese have all the holes plugged to prevent any major movement of troops along the border," added a senior officer from Thailand's' Narcotics Control Board.
In spite of the disturbing nature of the development, Chinese officials along the border area say it would not be in the interest of any stakeholder to let the situation escalate out of hand into an all-out war.
Behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts are being taken to minimise the damage before the situation spirals out of control, the Chinese officer said.
But even if the shooting stops, where all sides go from here is anybody's guess. It is undeniable that the two-decades-old cease-fire agreements that were orchestrated by then security chief Lt General Khin Nyunt in 1989 have been effectively shattered.
But for observers of the Golden Triangle, the real aim of this latest development is not to smash the Kokang's hold on Laogai but to send a brutal message to the 20,000-strong UWSA whose members are made up of some very interesting characters. The Wa rank-in-file include opium warlords and head-hunters turned militia. Chinese Red Guards who first entered the areas three decades ago to preach Marxism later discovered that opium was as good as gold, thus the moniker Golden Triangle.
They, too, joined forces with the Wa to seek fortune and glory. Prior to the 1989 cease-fire, Wa foot soldiers formed the largest block within the Communist Party of Burma.
And when the CPB broke up in 1989 along ethnic lines, Khin Nyunt quickly neutralised the CPB remnants with a series of cease-fire agreements.
The end of the CPB didn't mean the end of cross-border personal and political ties, however. It means a proxy army has just changed its uniform.
Ever since Khin Nyunt was ousted in October 2004, the UWSA leadership, as well as other cease-fire groups, have felt that their days were numbered. Almost five years later, their worst fear came true. Their two-decades-old cease-fire has effectively crumbled.
"Picking on the much smaller Kokang reflects the old Thai saying of 'slit the chicken's throat to scare the monkeys'," said a Thai intelligence officer. The monkeys in this case are of course the Wa.
The Burmese junta will continue with its divide-and-conquer tactic, said the Thai Army officer, pointing to the SPDC's relentless drive to split the UWSA. They succeeded in bringing down the Karen National Union in 1994.
The UWSA's geographical foothold in the Golden Triangle resembles that of a dumbbell - with the northern stronghold on the Chinese border, while three regiments are situated near the Thai border. Boa Yuxiang and his brothers control the north while Wei Hsueh-kang and his brothers dominate the south.
The two families can't stand each other but there is an understanding that divided they fall. But that traditional acknowledgement is about to end, said a Chinese official, pointing to the recent mobilising of troops from Wei's Military Region 171 to head to the northern region.
According to the Chinese officer, Wei wants to break away from the UWSA and dispatching troops to Bao's turf is a way of testing the waters. So why can't Wei just announce the breakaway from a distance?
According to Thai and Chinese officials, Wei has been under tremendous pressure from the SPDC to press the UWSA to transform their outfit into a border security guard under the control of the government's army, known as the Tatmadaw. One leverage the SPDC can bring to bear on Wei is that much of his money is invested in Burma while Bao does his banking and money laundering in China.
Since the 1989 cease-fire, Burmese troops were not permitted to enter the territories under the control of these ethnic armies unescorted. In most cases, they had to be disarmed.
Last week's clash was a rude indication that things are about to change. In real terms, this could mean hundreds of thousands of villagers running for their lives to China. Thailand is watching the development closely in case the UWSA's three regiments along its border are drawn into the fight.
For Thailand, it would mean more refugees to look after. For China, it could very well mean the annihilation of an old friendship, namely with the UWSA, whose bonds with the Chinese leadership go all the way back to the days of the communist insurgency.
Loyalty dies hard in the rugged Golden Triangle where warlords play for keeps. Some said friendship between the Chinese leaders and their proxies are forever. Apparently, the Burmese junta is saying it's time to part.
By DON PATHAN
Published on August 31, 2009
SOMETHING IS BREWING in the Burmese corner of the Golden Triangle and it's more than just the chemicals boiling in the clandestine heroin and methamphetamine labs.
Bluffing between the military government and one of the cease-fire groups - the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), also known as the Chinese Kokang - turned into an armed clash last Thursday. Tens of thousands of residents were sent fleeing to China's Yunnan province, Thai and Chinese officials monitoring the border situation said.
With the help of Burmese government troops, Kokang's stronghold Laogai has now come under a splinter group led by the MNDAA's second in command, Bai Souqian, who broke away with about 200 troops, who accounted for 20 per cent of the outfit's total troop strength.
"It's a classical divide-and-conquer tactic. This is not the first time that the Burmese junta has done this," said a senior Thai Army officer on the border who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In response, MNDAA chairman Peng Jiasheng has dispatched a small outfit to carry out hit-and-run attacks against a Burmese outpost near the Kokang capital of Laogai and pockets manned by Burmese government troops.
Peng has also reportedly secured the support of other cease-fire groups, namely the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), Shan State Army-North and Mong La-based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), an outfit headed by his son-in-law Lin Mingxian, also known as U Sai Leun. Incidentally, the NDAA, on June 30, celebrated its 20th anniversary of "peace" with the Burmese.
Both Thai and Chinese sources downplayed the so-called military pact between the Kokang and other ethnic armies. Personal connections and common political and security interests aside, mobilising troops to take on the Burmese soldiers is easier said than done.
"It's all about logistics," said the senior Thai Army officer.
"The Burmese have all the holes plugged to prevent any major movement of troops along the border," added a senior officer from Thailand's' Narcotics Control Board.
In spite of the disturbing nature of the development, Chinese officials along the border area say it would not be in the interest of any stakeholder to let the situation escalate out of hand into an all-out war.
Behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts are being taken to minimise the damage before the situation spirals out of control, the Chinese officer said.
But even if the shooting stops, where all sides go from here is anybody's guess. It is undeniable that the two-decades-old cease-fire agreements that were orchestrated by then security chief Lt General Khin Nyunt in 1989 have been effectively shattered.
But for observers of the Golden Triangle, the real aim of this latest development is not to smash the Kokang's hold on Laogai but to send a brutal message to the 20,000-strong UWSA whose members are made up of some very interesting characters. The Wa rank-in-file include opium warlords and head-hunters turned militia. Chinese Red Guards who first entered the areas three decades ago to preach Marxism later discovered that opium was as good as gold, thus the moniker Golden Triangle.
They, too, joined forces with the Wa to seek fortune and glory. Prior to the 1989 cease-fire, Wa foot soldiers formed the largest block within the Communist Party of Burma.
And when the CPB broke up in 1989 along ethnic lines, Khin Nyunt quickly neutralised the CPB remnants with a series of cease-fire agreements.
The end of the CPB didn't mean the end of cross-border personal and political ties, however. It means a proxy army has just changed its uniform.
Ever since Khin Nyunt was ousted in October 2004, the UWSA leadership, as well as other cease-fire groups, have felt that their days were numbered. Almost five years later, their worst fear came true. Their two-decades-old cease-fire has effectively crumbled.
"Picking on the much smaller Kokang reflects the old Thai saying of 'slit the chicken's throat to scare the monkeys'," said a Thai intelligence officer. The monkeys in this case are of course the Wa.
The Burmese junta will continue with its divide-and-conquer tactic, said the Thai Army officer, pointing to the SPDC's relentless drive to split the UWSA. They succeeded in bringing down the Karen National Union in 1994.
The UWSA's geographical foothold in the Golden Triangle resembles that of a dumbbell - with the northern stronghold on the Chinese border, while three regiments are situated near the Thai border. Boa Yuxiang and his brothers control the north while Wei Hsueh-kang and his brothers dominate the south.
The two families can't stand each other but there is an understanding that divided they fall. But that traditional acknowledgement is about to end, said a Chinese official, pointing to the recent mobilising of troops from Wei's Military Region 171 to head to the northern region.
According to the Chinese officer, Wei wants to break away from the UWSA and dispatching troops to Bao's turf is a way of testing the waters. So why can't Wei just announce the breakaway from a distance?
According to Thai and Chinese officials, Wei has been under tremendous pressure from the SPDC to press the UWSA to transform their outfit into a border security guard under the control of the government's army, known as the Tatmadaw. One leverage the SPDC can bring to bear on Wei is that much of his money is invested in Burma while Bao does his banking and money laundering in China.
Since the 1989 cease-fire, Burmese troops were not permitted to enter the territories under the control of these ethnic armies unescorted. In most cases, they had to be disarmed.
Last week's clash was a rude indication that things are about to change. In real terms, this could mean hundreds of thousands of villagers running for their lives to China. Thailand is watching the development closely in case the UWSA's three regiments along its border are drawn into the fight.
For Thailand, it would mean more refugees to look after. For China, it could very well mean the annihilation of an old friendship, namely with the UWSA, whose bonds with the Chinese leadership go all the way back to the days of the communist insurgency.
Loyalty dies hard in the rugged Golden Triangle where warlords play for keeps. Some said friendship between the Chinese leaders and their proxies are forever. Apparently, the Burmese junta is saying it's time to part.
*************************************************************
The Nation - Making AICHR work for Asean citizens
By Kavi Chongkittavorn
Published on August 31, 2009
FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, Thailand will be on the look-out for an ideal person to serve as the Thai representative of the upcoming Asean Intergovernmental Commission for Human Rights (AICHR). The candidate must be willing to work for free and be keen to promote human rights in the most diverse, if not difficult, region in the world.
Knowledge of Asean affairs, especially the human rights situation, a good track record of human rights protection and an excellent command of English are a must. During the three-year stint, the successful candidate will be given a free hand in managing a Bt1-million fund to support activities or plan of actions related to human rights within the country and Asean. Other expenses related to AICHR will be paid by the government.
Indonesia , Philippines and Malaysia, which have their own national human rights commissions, are expected to do the same. The remaining members would either stick to their High Level Panel (HLP) members who helped draft the AICHR terms of reference or pick a new government representative. At least half of HLP members will probably return as the commissioners. They consider themselves the gatekeepers.
Against this background, independent human rights experts are pivotal to ensure that the rights body would perform its dual functions to promote and protect human rights in balanced ways, without discrimination. A majority of Asean members preferred human rights promotion than protection - this bone of contention remains. However, at last week's meeting between members of Asean-based civil society groups and HLP in Jakarta, both sides expressed their willingness to work together to ensure AICHR will serve the 590 million Asean citizens despite their unresolved disagreements over the terms of reference (TOR). The AICHR will need all the help it can get from all stakeholders from the formal and informal sectors.
To provide such assurance, the HLP will issue a political declaration at the Asean summit in Cha-am, Hua Hin to reiterate Asean's political will to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to indicate Asean's vision for the development of human rights cooperation. At the moment, quite a few HLP members have already submitted their own versions with different emphasis and twists. Last week, a coalition of 70 Asian civil society groups also released its own political declaration calling for the establishment of a regional human rights court.
Civil society groups expect the AICHR's so-called evolutionary process would be an accelerated one and eventually incorporate all features of the existing regional mechanisms as in Europe or Africa. The TOR-AICHR will be reviewed in five years - quite a long time from non-governmental organisations' point of view. They encourage pro-human rights Asean members to push the envelope and serve as models for other recalcitrant members to emulate through pragmatism and actions. During the painstaking deliberation, majority of HLP members refused to give mandate to the AICHR for cross-country work - receive complaints, monitor and investigate human rights abuses.
Once it is launched in October, it remains to be seen how the AICHR will proceed next year when Vietnam succeeds Thailand as the Asean chair. Vietnam has already set up a national committee for Asean Chairmanship to identify issues and objectives that Asean would like to achieve under its leadership. At the Asean summit in March, Vietnam welcomed the dialogue between the Asean leaders and civil society sectors and subsequently urged them to work out a modality for the institutionalisation of the interface. Vietnam's plan of action will greatly impact on the relations between Asean and civil society groups as well as the future direction of human rights cooperation.
Vietnam's huge challenge ahead will be how to cope with the growing empowerment of the people's sector inside and in Asean. They are better equipped to articulate, monitor and lobby for issues related to Asean-wide protection of human rights and people-oriented causes. Under the Thai chair, they have been holding repeated dialogues directly with the HPL members and working with the pro-human rights Asean members. They have learned to appreciate the limits and potential of Asean and its cooperation on sensitive issues. They now have a more realistic view of Asean.
Looking ahead, certain articles of the TOR-AICHR could be used wisely to tackle sensitive issues as the commissioners have the mandate and function to take initiatives on human rights. Take for instance, the Article 4.8, which states that the AICHR must engage in dialogue and consultation with other Asean bodies, including civil society organisations and other stakeholders. This provides a window for the commissioners to continue the dialogue with the civil society groups.
Furthermore, Article 4.10 states in general terms that one of the AICHR functions is to obtain information from Asean on the promotion and protection of human rights.
Information can be anything that the AICHR desires. So there is still room for manoeuvre. Eventually, each of the 10 commissioners would make a difference, either to push Asean human rights to a new plateau or to make a mockery of Asean aspirations.
However, the biggest spoiler is Article 2.1.b on the non-interference in the internal affairs of Asean members. After 42 years, this long-held and much-abused principle is under scrutiny. While most of the Asean members still respect this protective shield, others want to move ahead with ongoing regional and global diplomatic dynamics, dwelling on collective responsibilities and shared norms. The litmus test will come soon when the current Asean chair submits the Asean statement on Burma calling for Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom, which will be signed by only half of the Asean members (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore). For the first time, Asean is washing its dirty linen for all to see. This Asean core group does not want to be held hostage by Burma's intransigence and lack of credibility anymore.
This is a good sign for the future Asean Community. Substantive changes of policies and practices on Burma would come from these members, after all they were the original drafters of the non-interference principle 33 years ago, which are currently asking for broader interpretations and applications.
By Kavi Chongkittavorn
Published on August 31, 2009
FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, Thailand will be on the look-out for an ideal person to serve as the Thai representative of the upcoming Asean Intergovernmental Commission for Human Rights (AICHR). The candidate must be willing to work for free and be keen to promote human rights in the most diverse, if not difficult, region in the world.
Knowledge of Asean affairs, especially the human rights situation, a good track record of human rights protection and an excellent command of English are a must. During the three-year stint, the successful candidate will be given a free hand in managing a Bt1-million fund to support activities or plan of actions related to human rights within the country and Asean. Other expenses related to AICHR will be paid by the government.
Indonesia , Philippines and Malaysia, which have their own national human rights commissions, are expected to do the same. The remaining members would either stick to their High Level Panel (HLP) members who helped draft the AICHR terms of reference or pick a new government representative. At least half of HLP members will probably return as the commissioners. They consider themselves the gatekeepers.
Against this background, independent human rights experts are pivotal to ensure that the rights body would perform its dual functions to promote and protect human rights in balanced ways, without discrimination. A majority of Asean members preferred human rights promotion than protection - this bone of contention remains. However, at last week's meeting between members of Asean-based civil society groups and HLP in Jakarta, both sides expressed their willingness to work together to ensure AICHR will serve the 590 million Asean citizens despite their unresolved disagreements over the terms of reference (TOR). The AICHR will need all the help it can get from all stakeholders from the formal and informal sectors.
To provide such assurance, the HLP will issue a political declaration at the Asean summit in Cha-am, Hua Hin to reiterate Asean's political will to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to indicate Asean's vision for the development of human rights cooperation. At the moment, quite a few HLP members have already submitted their own versions with different emphasis and twists. Last week, a coalition of 70 Asian civil society groups also released its own political declaration calling for the establishment of a regional human rights court.
Civil society groups expect the AICHR's so-called evolutionary process would be an accelerated one and eventually incorporate all features of the existing regional mechanisms as in Europe or Africa. The TOR-AICHR will be reviewed in five years - quite a long time from non-governmental organisations' point of view. They encourage pro-human rights Asean members to push the envelope and serve as models for other recalcitrant members to emulate through pragmatism and actions. During the painstaking deliberation, majority of HLP members refused to give mandate to the AICHR for cross-country work - receive complaints, monitor and investigate human rights abuses.
Once it is launched in October, it remains to be seen how the AICHR will proceed next year when Vietnam succeeds Thailand as the Asean chair. Vietnam has already set up a national committee for Asean Chairmanship to identify issues and objectives that Asean would like to achieve under its leadership. At the Asean summit in March, Vietnam welcomed the dialogue between the Asean leaders and civil society sectors and subsequently urged them to work out a modality for the institutionalisation of the interface. Vietnam's plan of action will greatly impact on the relations between Asean and civil society groups as well as the future direction of human rights cooperation.
Vietnam's huge challenge ahead will be how to cope with the growing empowerment of the people's sector inside and in Asean. They are better equipped to articulate, monitor and lobby for issues related to Asean-wide protection of human rights and people-oriented causes. Under the Thai chair, they have been holding repeated dialogues directly with the HPL members and working with the pro-human rights Asean members. They have learned to appreciate the limits and potential of Asean and its cooperation on sensitive issues. They now have a more realistic view of Asean.
Looking ahead, certain articles of the TOR-AICHR could be used wisely to tackle sensitive issues as the commissioners have the mandate and function to take initiatives on human rights. Take for instance, the Article 4.8, which states that the AICHR must engage in dialogue and consultation with other Asean bodies, including civil society organisations and other stakeholders. This provides a window for the commissioners to continue the dialogue with the civil society groups.
Furthermore, Article 4.10 states in general terms that one of the AICHR functions is to obtain information from Asean on the promotion and protection of human rights.
Information can be anything that the AICHR desires. So there is still room for manoeuvre. Eventually, each of the 10 commissioners would make a difference, either to push Asean human rights to a new plateau or to make a mockery of Asean aspirations.
However, the biggest spoiler is Article 2.1.b on the non-interference in the internal affairs of Asean members. After 42 years, this long-held and much-abused principle is under scrutiny. While most of the Asean members still respect this protective shield, others want to move ahead with ongoing regional and global diplomatic dynamics, dwelling on collective responsibilities and shared norms. The litmus test will come soon when the current Asean chair submits the Asean statement on Burma calling for Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom, which will be signed by only half of the Asean members (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore). For the first time, Asean is washing its dirty linen for all to see. This Asean core group does not want to be held hostage by Burma's intransigence and lack of credibility anymore.
This is a good sign for the future Asean Community. Substantive changes of policies and practices on Burma would come from these members, after all they were the original drafters of the non-interference principle 33 years ago, which are currently asking for broader interpretations and applications.
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The Irrawaddy - New Japanese Gov’t Expected to be More Critical of Junta
By LAWI WENG, Monday, August 31, 2009
Burma pro-democracy activists in Japan say newly elected Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama should be more supportive of the pro-democracy movement when he takes office in September.
The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), led by Hatoyama, defeated the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) by more than 300 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament in the election on Sunday.
Min Nyo, a secretary in the Burma Office Japan, an activist group, told The Irrawaddy on Monday he believed Japan will take a tougher stance toward the military government and offer more support for pro-democracy activists.
Members of the Burma Office and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation will meet with newly elected officials to discuss policy changes toward Burma, said Min Nyo.
A Japanese Labor Union office official, who asked not to be named, said, “We will request the Democrat Party change the official policy on Burma. We plan to meet elected leaders in the future and ask them to support economic sanctions and not to recognize the junta’s new constitution.
However, Shwe Ba, a Japanese freelance journalist, said, “They [Democrat Party] have said many things before. I don’t think they will do everything they say.”
Shwe Ba said that a weakness of the Japanese government’s current policy toward Burma is its lack of support for economic sanctions.
“It’s very important to block them [the regime],” he said. “Burmese democracy activists need to discuss with Japanese politicians ways to put pressure on the Burmese regime.”
Yukio Hatoyama is believed to be a strong supporter of the Burma democracy movement in Japan. He talked with pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the telephone when she was released from house arrest in 2002.
Hatoyama attended a meeting early this year in Japan with several Burmese ethnic leaders and said that American and Japanese foreign policy on Burma should be the same. Currently, Japan does not support economic sanctions.
In July, Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone told Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win at the Asean Regional Forum in Thailand Aung San Suu Kyi should be released from prison and Burma’s national election in 2010 should be free and fair...
After the Suu Kyi verdict, the Japanese foreign minister said in statement that Japan was deeply disappointed and called for the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Japan is one of Burma’s main donor nations. It provided Burma with more than US $2.96 billion from 1999 to 2006 in development assistance, according to Japan officials.
By LAWI WENG, Monday, August 31, 2009
Burma pro-democracy activists in Japan say newly elected Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama should be more supportive of the pro-democracy movement when he takes office in September.
The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), led by Hatoyama, defeated the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) by more than 300 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament in the election on Sunday.
Min Nyo, a secretary in the Burma Office Japan, an activist group, told The Irrawaddy on Monday he believed Japan will take a tougher stance toward the military government and offer more support for pro-democracy activists.
Members of the Burma Office and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation will meet with newly elected officials to discuss policy changes toward Burma, said Min Nyo.
A Japanese Labor Union office official, who asked not to be named, said, “We will request the Democrat Party change the official policy on Burma. We plan to meet elected leaders in the future and ask them to support economic sanctions and not to recognize the junta’s new constitution.
However, Shwe Ba, a Japanese freelance journalist, said, “They [Democrat Party] have said many things before. I don’t think they will do everything they say.”
Shwe Ba said that a weakness of the Japanese government’s current policy toward Burma is its lack of support for economic sanctions.
“It’s very important to block them [the regime],” he said. “Burmese democracy activists need to discuss with Japanese politicians ways to put pressure on the Burmese regime.”
Yukio Hatoyama is believed to be a strong supporter of the Burma democracy movement in Japan. He talked with pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the telephone when she was released from house arrest in 2002.
Hatoyama attended a meeting early this year in Japan with several Burmese ethnic leaders and said that American and Japanese foreign policy on Burma should be the same. Currently, Japan does not support economic sanctions.
In July, Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone told Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win at the Asean Regional Forum in Thailand Aung San Suu Kyi should be released from prison and Burma’s national election in 2010 should be free and fair...
After the Suu Kyi verdict, the Japanese foreign minister said in statement that Japan was deeply disappointed and called for the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Japan is one of Burma’s main donor nations. It provided Burma with more than US $2.96 billion from 1999 to 2006 in development assistance, according to Japan officials.
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Border Guard Force Plan Leads to End of Ceasefire
By WAI MOE, Monday, August 31, 2009
The failure of the Kokang ceasefire group to join the junta’s border guard force led to the armed clashes between government troops and the Kokang army, the subsequent loss of the Kokang headquarters and the end to two-decade ceasefire.
It may also signal the start of more similar clashes between government forces and ethnic groups opposed to the junta’s plan to create a border guard force made up of ethnic armies.
A four-month campaign to have ethnic ceasefire groups get behind the State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC) Border Guard Force before the 2010 election has clearly failed.
What is the Border Guard Force (BGF)?
In late April, Burmese generals, including Lt-Gen Ye Myint, the chief of the Military Affairs Security (MAS) of the Tatmadaw ( Burmese armed forces) and secretary of the BGF
Transformation Committee, traveled to Shan State and Kachin State to meet with leaders of the Kachin, Kokang, Shan and Wa ethnic armed groups based along the Sino-Burmese border.
The generals outlined the blue print of the Border Guard Force. According to a military document obtained by The Irrawaddy at the end of April, the blueprint made clear the BGF plan gives greater control of ethnic armed groups to the Tatmadaw by putting all ethnic armies under the command of the commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw, currently Srn-Gen Than Shwe, head of the SPDC.
According to the leaked document, a BGF battalion would have 326 soldiers including 18 officers and three commanders with the rank of major. Among the three commanders, two would be from ethnic armed groups and one from the Tatmadaw who would manage day-to-day administration.
Other keys positions such as general staff officer and quartermaster officer would also be from the Tatmadaw. Twenty-seven other ranking non-commissioned officers would be from the Tatmadaw such as company sergeant majors, sergeants, clerks, nurses and so on.
All BGF troops would be mobilized only in areas within their own territory. Salary and benefits for BGF troops would be paid by the Tatmadaw at the same level as regular soldiers.
To date only the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and the National Democratic Army-Kachin have agreed to transform their armies into a BGF.
The SPDC has set a June deadline for ethnic armies to response to the BGF order. Among the noticeable groups that have failed to sign on to the proposal are the Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the United Wa State Army, the National Democratic Alliance Army, the Kachin Independence Army and the Shan State Army-North.
In late July, regional commanders of the Tatmadaw from Shan State met with ethnic leaders in a final effort at negotiations. It’s failure prompted the SPDC to send thousands of troops to northeast Burma and led to the armed clashes that ended a two-decade ceasefire.
Mikael Graver of Aarhus University in Denmark who specializes in Burma’s ethnic affairs said that the renewed conflict between the regime and ethnic armies underscores the complexity of the ceasefires and highlights the struggle for control of natural resources and border trade, including the drug trade. Also at issue is the ethnic groups’ struggle for autonomy.
The BGF plan is authorized under the military-backed 2008 constitution. Under the constitution, the Tatmadaw the commander-in-chief can assign duties relating to security and border affairs in self-administered zones or among ethnic armed group- controlled areas. The constitution also authorizes a forth administrative position in self-administered zones for military officers appointed by the commander-in-chief.
Moreover, the constitution states that all the armed forces in Burma shall be under the command of the Tatmadaw commander-in-chief.
Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian studies at Temple University’s Japan campus, said, “Ethnic groups are naturally unhappy with the junta's approach to ethnic issues, its refusal to grant some autonomy under a federal system, exclusion from substantive influence on the new constitution and insistence on its ‘unitary state’ approach at the end of a gun barrel.”
“After 20 years of relative peace, this offensive is the latest sign that the ceasefires may be unraveling,” he said.
By WAI MOE, Monday, August 31, 2009
The failure of the Kokang ceasefire group to join the junta’s border guard force led to the armed clashes between government troops and the Kokang army, the subsequent loss of the Kokang headquarters and the end to two-decade ceasefire.
It may also signal the start of more similar clashes between government forces and ethnic groups opposed to the junta’s plan to create a border guard force made up of ethnic armies.
A four-month campaign to have ethnic ceasefire groups get behind the State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC) Border Guard Force before the 2010 election has clearly failed.
What is the Border Guard Force (BGF)?
In late April, Burmese generals, including Lt-Gen Ye Myint, the chief of the Military Affairs Security (MAS) of the Tatmadaw ( Burmese armed forces) and secretary of the BGF
Transformation Committee, traveled to Shan State and Kachin State to meet with leaders of the Kachin, Kokang, Shan and Wa ethnic armed groups based along the Sino-Burmese border.
The generals outlined the blue print of the Border Guard Force. According to a military document obtained by The Irrawaddy at the end of April, the blueprint made clear the BGF plan gives greater control of ethnic armed groups to the Tatmadaw by putting all ethnic armies under the command of the commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw, currently Srn-Gen Than Shwe, head of the SPDC.
According to the leaked document, a BGF battalion would have 326 soldiers including 18 officers and three commanders with the rank of major. Among the three commanders, two would be from ethnic armed groups and one from the Tatmadaw who would manage day-to-day administration.
Other keys positions such as general staff officer and quartermaster officer would also be from the Tatmadaw. Twenty-seven other ranking non-commissioned officers would be from the Tatmadaw such as company sergeant majors, sergeants, clerks, nurses and so on.
All BGF troops would be mobilized only in areas within their own territory. Salary and benefits for BGF troops would be paid by the Tatmadaw at the same level as regular soldiers.
To date only the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and the National Democratic Army-Kachin have agreed to transform their armies into a BGF.
The SPDC has set a June deadline for ethnic armies to response to the BGF order. Among the noticeable groups that have failed to sign on to the proposal are the Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the United Wa State Army, the National Democratic Alliance Army, the Kachin Independence Army and the Shan State Army-North.
In late July, regional commanders of the Tatmadaw from Shan State met with ethnic leaders in a final effort at negotiations. It’s failure prompted the SPDC to send thousands of troops to northeast Burma and led to the armed clashes that ended a two-decade ceasefire.
Mikael Graver of Aarhus University in Denmark who specializes in Burma’s ethnic affairs said that the renewed conflict between the regime and ethnic armies underscores the complexity of the ceasefires and highlights the struggle for control of natural resources and border trade, including the drug trade. Also at issue is the ethnic groups’ struggle for autonomy.
The BGF plan is authorized under the military-backed 2008 constitution. Under the constitution, the Tatmadaw the commander-in-chief can assign duties relating to security and border affairs in self-administered zones or among ethnic armed group- controlled areas. The constitution also authorizes a forth administrative position in self-administered zones for military officers appointed by the commander-in-chief.
Moreover, the constitution states that all the armed forces in Burma shall be under the command of the Tatmadaw commander-in-chief.
Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian studies at Temple University’s Japan campus, said, “Ethnic groups are naturally unhappy with the junta's approach to ethnic issues, its refusal to grant some autonomy under a federal system, exclusion from substantive influence on the new constitution and insistence on its ‘unitary state’ approach at the end of a gun barrel.”
“After 20 years of relative peace, this offensive is the latest sign that the ceasefires may be unraveling,” he said.
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Webb’s pragmatism is long overdue
Francis Wade
Aug 31, 2009 (DVB)–The Burma sanctions debate is where progress could triumph over stalemate, but it is also where the two competing ideologies which dominate international policy to Burma are fought out.
The debate hit the headlines last week following an article by United States senator Jim Webb, who visited Burma this month, that suggested the US should ease “overwhelmingly counterproductive” sanctions on the country and begin to engage with the regime. “The ruling regime has become more entrenched and at the same time more isolated. The Burmese people have lost access to the outside world,” he said.
It may well be the first pragmatic step in US policy to Burma, which appears thus far to have fixed on what can now only be seen as a symbolic gesture. Sanctions and isolation are not working, and Burma’s political stalemate will only continue unless a change in direction is adopted. Whether in agreement with his stance or not, it is timely of Webb, a senator with considerable clout on Southeast Asian affairs, to reignite a discussion.
The sanctions debate is one that pits East against West, and opposition against incumbent. Burma’s regional neighbours continue to engage with the country, resisting pressure from the United States and European Union to adopt an embargo. The business dimension is crucial for them, with Thailand relying on Burma for much of its energy, and China keen to exploit Burma’s passage to the Bay of Bengal, and thus Middle Eastern oil routes, should the Straits of Malacca one day be blocked by the US.
On the other side of the table are the Western nations, who have largely followed a policy of isolating the regime and strangling its economy. This strategy promotes the notion that when the situation in Burma gets bad enough the ruling generals will be forced to reach out a hand. Yet more than a decade on, one of the world’s most brutal military dictatorships continues to fester behind closed doors.
US senator Jim Webb’s visit to Burma this month was the first for a senior US politician in over a decade. Behind the jubilation of John Yettaw’s release and the bitterness that Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention, it could turn out to be the key catalyst for change in US policy to the country, which even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged in February had failed to shift the generals.
It is perhaps no coincidence that junta supremo Than Shwe’s first meeting with a US politician was with Webb, one of the few senior Western politicians who is outspoken in his anti-sanctions stance. Webb’s views are indeed heartening to the junta, who complain that sanctions are crippling the country’s development and suffocating lives, all the while siphoning off its vast gas reserves to energy-hungry neighbours.
Webb is aware of this, but he is also aware that China’s growing influence in Burma nullifies the impact of an economic boycott. China is to an extent content with the status quo in Burma, which allows military protection of its business interests and subservience to Beijing, and this relationship has only strengthened in tandem with tightening sanctions. With little tangible results, sanctions have been rendered a demonstration of the West’s unhappiness with the regime.
What should worry the US is that Burma’s reliance on its few allies has created stiff political competition for the West, which now has the spectre of growing Indian and Chinese influence in the country looming over any potential negotiation. Furthermore, what appear to be cosying relations with North Korea may well add another geopolitical dimension to the problem and further complicate US policy.
In is in this context that we must start to really tackle head-on Burma’s political stalemate, and not rely on symbolic methods with highly questionable track records. Webb is the first to challenge what has become almost sacrosanct among Burma observers and the opposition movement – that the easing of sanctions is a reward to the generals, and not an authentic attack on the political stalemate there.
When debating future policy to Burma, the international community must weigh up the risks of continuing a tried, tested and failed policy versus implementing a new one with unpredictable results. While a cynic might suggest that US priorities lie in stemming Chinese dominance in the region, and not improvement in the lives of Burmese citizens, both could have the same end result. Sanctions are not only failing to rein the generals in, but are indeed pushing them in the wrong direction, into the hands of a growing superpower that places respect for human rights low on the political agenda. If this continues, Burma’s political, social and economic freedom will remain among the most restricted in the world.
Francis Wade
Aug 31, 2009 (DVB)–The Burma sanctions debate is where progress could triumph over stalemate, but it is also where the two competing ideologies which dominate international policy to Burma are fought out.
The debate hit the headlines last week following an article by United States senator Jim Webb, who visited Burma this month, that suggested the US should ease “overwhelmingly counterproductive” sanctions on the country and begin to engage with the regime. “The ruling regime has become more entrenched and at the same time more isolated. The Burmese people have lost access to the outside world,” he said.
It may well be the first pragmatic step in US policy to Burma, which appears thus far to have fixed on what can now only be seen as a symbolic gesture. Sanctions and isolation are not working, and Burma’s political stalemate will only continue unless a change in direction is adopted. Whether in agreement with his stance or not, it is timely of Webb, a senator with considerable clout on Southeast Asian affairs, to reignite a discussion.
The sanctions debate is one that pits East against West, and opposition against incumbent. Burma’s regional neighbours continue to engage with the country, resisting pressure from the United States and European Union to adopt an embargo. The business dimension is crucial for them, with Thailand relying on Burma for much of its energy, and China keen to exploit Burma’s passage to the Bay of Bengal, and thus Middle Eastern oil routes, should the Straits of Malacca one day be blocked by the US.
On the other side of the table are the Western nations, who have largely followed a policy of isolating the regime and strangling its economy. This strategy promotes the notion that when the situation in Burma gets bad enough the ruling generals will be forced to reach out a hand. Yet more than a decade on, one of the world’s most brutal military dictatorships continues to fester behind closed doors.
US senator Jim Webb’s visit to Burma this month was the first for a senior US politician in over a decade. Behind the jubilation of John Yettaw’s release and the bitterness that Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention, it could turn out to be the key catalyst for change in US policy to the country, which even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged in February had failed to shift the generals.
It is perhaps no coincidence that junta supremo Than Shwe’s first meeting with a US politician was with Webb, one of the few senior Western politicians who is outspoken in his anti-sanctions stance. Webb’s views are indeed heartening to the junta, who complain that sanctions are crippling the country’s development and suffocating lives, all the while siphoning off its vast gas reserves to energy-hungry neighbours.
Webb is aware of this, but he is also aware that China’s growing influence in Burma nullifies the impact of an economic boycott. China is to an extent content with the status quo in Burma, which allows military protection of its business interests and subservience to Beijing, and this relationship has only strengthened in tandem with tightening sanctions. With little tangible results, sanctions have been rendered a demonstration of the West’s unhappiness with the regime.
What should worry the US is that Burma’s reliance on its few allies has created stiff political competition for the West, which now has the spectre of growing Indian and Chinese influence in the country looming over any potential negotiation. Furthermore, what appear to be cosying relations with North Korea may well add another geopolitical dimension to the problem and further complicate US policy.
In is in this context that we must start to really tackle head-on Burma’s political stalemate, and not rely on symbolic methods with highly questionable track records. Webb is the first to challenge what has become almost sacrosanct among Burma observers and the opposition movement – that the easing of sanctions is a reward to the generals, and not an authentic attack on the political stalemate there.
When debating future policy to Burma, the international community must weigh up the risks of continuing a tried, tested and failed policy versus implementing a new one with unpredictable results. While a cynic might suggest that US priorities lie in stemming Chinese dominance in the region, and not improvement in the lives of Burmese citizens, both could have the same end result. Sanctions are not only failing to rein the generals in, but are indeed pushing them in the wrong direction, into the hands of a growing superpower that places respect for human rights low on the political agenda. If this continues, Burma’s political, social and economic freedom will remain among the most restricted in the world.
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Civil servants warned against complaining
Aug 31, 2009 (DVB)–Civil servants in central Burma have been ordered not send complaints regarding workplace abuse or corruption to the government in the country’s capital, according to a government worker.
A government employee in Magwe division said that local township officials had ordered those working in government offices to sign an agreement vowing not to complain.
“They said, whether political problems or personal disagreements, no complaint should be made to the government administration in Naypyidaw,” he said under condition of anonymity.
“Township officials are now going to villages in the area to make everyone sign [the agreement], including school teachers.”
The officials also reportedly warned the government employees not to spread any news about it.
He said the order was likely due to concern over a recent incident where teachers at a local primary school complained about students being made to clear a grassland near the school for a visit by a senior government minister.
Visits to locations by government officials are often preempted by instances of forced labour, such as the cleaning of refurbishment of an area.
Government workers in Burma regularly complain to authorities in Naypyidaw about mismanagement, workplace abuses and corruption in the workplace.
Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet
Aug 31, 2009 (DVB)–Civil servants in central Burma have been ordered not send complaints regarding workplace abuse or corruption to the government in the country’s capital, according to a government worker.
A government employee in Magwe division said that local township officials had ordered those working in government offices to sign an agreement vowing not to complain.
“They said, whether political problems or personal disagreements, no complaint should be made to the government administration in Naypyidaw,” he said under condition of anonymity.
“Township officials are now going to villages in the area to make everyone sign [the agreement], including school teachers.”
The officials also reportedly warned the government employees not to spread any news about it.
He said the order was likely due to concern over a recent incident where teachers at a local primary school complained about students being made to clear a grassland near the school for a visit by a senior government minister.
Visits to locations by government officials are often preempted by instances of forced labour, such as the cleaning of refurbishment of an area.
Government workers in Burma regularly complain to authorities in Naypyidaw about mismanagement, workplace abuses and corruption in the workplace.
Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet
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