Signs emerge for progress in Myanmar: EU envoy
Fri Nov 27, 12:03 pm ET
ROME (AFP) – Opportunities are emerging for a breakthrough in the political stalemate in military-ruled Myanmar, including the possibility of talks with the junta, and they must not be missed, an EU envoy said Friday.
Italian politician Piero Fassino, the European Union special envoy on Myanmar, discussed efforts to push democracy in the state with Asian leaders during a just-ended tour of Southeast Asia.
"A window of opportunity with regards to the Myanmar dossier seems to be opening up as a result of the recent encouraging events," Fassino said in a statement.
These included a "new, inclusive approach" from US President Barack Obama and subsequent indications from the military rulers that they were available for talks, he said.
Fassino also cited a November letter from detained Myanmar opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi to the chief of the junta, Senior General Than Shwe, asking for a meeting, and the efforts of Asian nations.
"All these events represent opportunities not to be missed," Fassino said.
Ahead of 2010 elections, "every step towards a free, transparent and credible electoral process needs to be encouraged," he said.
Suu Kyi, who is barred from contesting next year's elections, and Than Shwe have not met since 2002.
The democracy icon has been in detention for 14 of the past 20 years and had her house arrest extended by a further 18 months in August after being convicted over a
bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside house.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, when the country was known as Burma.
A UN commission issued a resolution this month expressing "grave concern" over widespread rights abuses in Myanmar and detention of political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
Fri Nov 27, 12:03 pm ET
ROME (AFP) – Opportunities are emerging for a breakthrough in the political stalemate in military-ruled Myanmar, including the possibility of talks with the junta, and they must not be missed, an EU envoy said Friday.
Italian politician Piero Fassino, the European Union special envoy on Myanmar, discussed efforts to push democracy in the state with Asian leaders during a just-ended tour of Southeast Asia.
"A window of opportunity with regards to the Myanmar dossier seems to be opening up as a result of the recent encouraging events," Fassino said in a statement.
These included a "new, inclusive approach" from US President Barack Obama and subsequent indications from the military rulers that they were available for talks, he said.
Fassino also cited a November letter from detained Myanmar opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi to the chief of the junta, Senior General Than Shwe, asking for a meeting, and the efforts of Asian nations.
"All these events represent opportunities not to be missed," Fassino said.
Ahead of 2010 elections, "every step towards a free, transparent and credible electoral process needs to be encouraged," he said.
Suu Kyi, who is barred from contesting next year's elections, and Than Shwe have not met since 2002.
The democracy icon has been in detention for 14 of the past 20 years and had her house arrest extended by a further 18 months in August after being convicted over a
bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside house.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, when the country was known as Burma.
A UN commission issued a resolution this month expressing "grave concern" over widespread rights abuses in Myanmar and detention of political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
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Singapore firm inks massive Myanmar gas deal
AFP - Friday, November 27
SINGAPORE (AFP)— A Singaporean marine engineering company has signed a multimillion dollar contract with a Myanmar firm, and will lay gas pipelines off the shores of the military-ruled nation next year.
Singapore-based firm Swiber Holdings will construct 150 kilometres of gas pipelines after signing a 77 million US dollar contract with "a Myanmar oil and gas company," the company said in a statement Friday.
The statement did not give the name of the Myanmar company involved.
The project will start in the first quarter of 2010 and will last six months, it added.
"We are honoured and excited to kick-start the offshore installation job in Myanmar," said Raymond Goh, group chief executive officer of Swiber Holdings.
The agreement comes as foreign investment in military-ruled nation soared more than fivefold to reach almost one billion dollars last year, official statistics showed.
Total foreign investment in Myanmar increased from 172.72 million dollars in the 2007-2008 fiscal year to 985 million dollars in 2008-2009, the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development said earlier this year.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, and sanctions by the United States and Europe coupled with fiscal mismanagement during decades of military rule have battered its economy.
AFP - Friday, November 27
SINGAPORE (AFP)— A Singaporean marine engineering company has signed a multimillion dollar contract with a Myanmar firm, and will lay gas pipelines off the shores of the military-ruled nation next year.
Singapore-based firm Swiber Holdings will construct 150 kilometres of gas pipelines after signing a 77 million US dollar contract with "a Myanmar oil and gas company," the company said in a statement Friday.
The statement did not give the name of the Myanmar company involved.
The project will start in the first quarter of 2010 and will last six months, it added.
"We are honoured and excited to kick-start the offshore installation job in Myanmar," said Raymond Goh, group chief executive officer of Swiber Holdings.
The agreement comes as foreign investment in military-ruled nation soared more than fivefold to reach almost one billion dollars last year, official statistics showed.
Total foreign investment in Myanmar increased from 172.72 million dollars in the 2007-2008 fiscal year to 985 million dollars in 2008-2009, the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development said earlier this year.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, and sanctions by the United States and Europe coupled with fiscal mismanagement during decades of military rule have battered its economy.
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Myanmar rebels cashing in illegal drugs stocks: UN
Thu Nov 26, 2:50 pm ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Military-ruled Myanmar's rebel ethnic groups are increasingly cashing in their illegal drugs hordes on expectations of a junta crackdown, a UN expert said Thursday.
Minority groups that feel under threat from central government are using drugs trafficking to sustain themselves and keep control of their territories, said Gary Le
wis, a representative for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
"What we have seen is an increased movement of products across border," he said in Bangkok at the launch of a UNODC report on amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and other drugs in East and Southeast Asia.
The trafficking from Myanmar includes opium and morphine-based products as well as ATS, he said.
There has also been "an increased degree of cashing (in) of the products within Myanmar, in anticipation of exposure of those products through contacts with law enforcement and military counterparts," he said.
The new report said the "unsettled" political situation in Myanmar could result in the relocation of clandestine manufacturing sites across the border.
Lewis said that the drugs were not just moving through Thailand, where increased law enforcement may have curbed direct trafficking, but also through other nearby countries such as Laos, Vietnam and India.
Myanmar's military regime has in recent months stepped up its decades-long campaign against minority groups because it wants them to come under its control ahead of
elections planned for 2010.
Analysts say that while in the past the junta often tacitly assented to ethnic minority involvement in the drugs trade, it is now using it as a pretext to put pressure on groups that do not want to join the Burmese security forces.
The junta has also vowed to make the country drug-free by 2014 by following a 15-year elimination plan, but Myanmar remains the world's second largest opium producer after Afghanistan.
Lewis said East and Southeast Asia were "facing an uphill struggle" with regard to ATS -- now the leading drugs in terms of use in the region.
The report said methamphetamine in particular has "rapidly become more prominent" in several countries.
More than 31 million methamphetamine pills were seized across the region in 2008, up by more than a quarter from 2007, according to the report.
Overall, for countries in the region that report data by drug type, admissions for methamphetamine treatment have almost doubled between 2004 and 2008.
In Thailand the jump was particularly extreme, with more than 70,000 treatment admissions for the drug in 2008, up from 19,489 four years earlier.
Lewis said the drugs were not only being sought for recreational purposes, but could also be linked to "intense" economic competition in the region.
"What we have seen at a social level is the use of these drugs...to a significant degree to increase the mental and physical acuity of those who take them, so they can work longer hours and maintain a higher degree of concentration in their manual and intellectual work," he said.
Thu Nov 26, 2:50 pm ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Military-ruled Myanmar's rebel ethnic groups are increasingly cashing in their illegal drugs hordes on expectations of a junta crackdown, a UN expert said Thursday.
Minority groups that feel under threat from central government are using drugs trafficking to sustain themselves and keep control of their territories, said Gary Le
wis, a representative for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
"What we have seen is an increased movement of products across border," he said in Bangkok at the launch of a UNODC report on amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and other drugs in East and Southeast Asia.
The trafficking from Myanmar includes opium and morphine-based products as well as ATS, he said.
There has also been "an increased degree of cashing (in) of the products within Myanmar, in anticipation of exposure of those products through contacts with law enforcement and military counterparts," he said.
The new report said the "unsettled" political situation in Myanmar could result in the relocation of clandestine manufacturing sites across the border.
Lewis said that the drugs were not just moving through Thailand, where increased law enforcement may have curbed direct trafficking, but also through other nearby countries such as Laos, Vietnam and India.
Myanmar's military regime has in recent months stepped up its decades-long campaign against minority groups because it wants them to come under its control ahead of
elections planned for 2010.
Analysts say that while in the past the junta often tacitly assented to ethnic minority involvement in the drugs trade, it is now using it as a pretext to put pressure on groups that do not want to join the Burmese security forces.
The junta has also vowed to make the country drug-free by 2014 by following a 15-year elimination plan, but Myanmar remains the world's second largest opium producer after Afghanistan.
Lewis said East and Southeast Asia were "facing an uphill struggle" with regard to ATS -- now the leading drugs in terms of use in the region.
The report said methamphetamine in particular has "rapidly become more prominent" in several countries.
More than 31 million methamphetamine pills were seized across the region in 2008, up by more than a quarter from 2007, according to the report.
Overall, for countries in the region that report data by drug type, admissions for methamphetamine treatment have almost doubled between 2004 and 2008.
In Thailand the jump was particularly extreme, with more than 70,000 treatment admissions for the drug in 2008, up from 19,489 four years earlier.
Lewis said the drugs were not only being sought for recreational purposes, but could also be linked to "intense" economic competition in the region.
"What we have seen at a social level is the use of these drugs...to a significant degree to increase the mental and physical acuity of those who take them, so they can work longer hours and maintain a higher degree of concentration in their manual and intellectual work," he said.
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Philippines seeks release of fishermen in Myanmar
AP - Friday, November 27
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – The Philippines Embassy is seeking the release of 14 Filipinos detained last week for allegedly fishing illegally in Myanmar waters.
A Philippine diplomat said Thursday that the embassy had been given consular access to the 14 men and had seen them three times since they were arrested.
The diplomat, who did not want to be named because he was not authorized to talk to the press, said the fishermen, detained in Yangon's notorious Insein prison, are in good health.
The Filipinos were among 128 fishermen arrested on board 10 fishing vessels, including four owned by Taiwan, that were seized on Nov. 18. Most of the crew members are from Indonesia, China and Taiwan, but also include some from Myanmar.
AP - Friday, November 27
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – The Philippines Embassy is seeking the release of 14 Filipinos detained last week for allegedly fishing illegally in Myanmar waters.
A Philippine diplomat said Thursday that the embassy had been given consular access to the 14 men and had seen them three times since they were arrested.
The diplomat, who did not want to be named because he was not authorized to talk to the press, said the fishermen, detained in Yangon's notorious Insein prison, are in good health.
The Filipinos were among 128 fishermen arrested on board 10 fishing vessels, including four owned by Taiwan, that were seized on Nov. 18. Most of the crew members are from Indonesia, China and Taiwan, but also include some from Myanmar.
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Myanmar cyclone survivors still need shelter: U.N.
Wed Nov 25, 10:38 am ET
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in makeshift homes 18 months after Cyclone Nargis tore into Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, killing at least 140,000, the United Nations said Wednesday.
International donors pledged a fresh $88 million for 17,800 new houses, 40 new schools and livelihood programs for 1 million people, but that won't be enough, the United Nations and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations said.
The money only covers 14 percent of the most vulnerable families, leaving about 100,000 without a proper home. The United Nations says 178,000 families in the former Burma need help with shelter.
Most of those families are living in makeshift homes covered with threadbare tarpaulins distributed in the early phase of the relief effort, according to aid workers.
"The materials have gone through two monsoons and they won't last another season," Srinivasa Popuri, leader of a shelter aid group in Myanmar, told Reuters.
In May last year, Cyclone Nargis swept through Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, flattening villages, destroying 450,000 houses, killing 140,000 and leaving 2.4 million destitute.
"What is reflected here (with 17,800 new houses) is not what is needed. It is a much-reduced version of what may be possible to do between now and July," said Bishow
Parajuli, U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar.
The latest pledge falls short of $103 million sought by the United Nations, ASEAN and the Myanmar government for the period ending next July. In February, that group estimated the cost of recovery from Cyclone Nargis at $690 million.
Wed Nov 25, 10:38 am ET
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in makeshift homes 18 months after Cyclone Nargis tore into Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, killing at least 140,000, the United Nations said Wednesday.
International donors pledged a fresh $88 million for 17,800 new houses, 40 new schools and livelihood programs for 1 million people, but that won't be enough, the United Nations and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations said.
The money only covers 14 percent of the most vulnerable families, leaving about 100,000 without a proper home. The United Nations says 178,000 families in the former Burma need help with shelter.
Most of those families are living in makeshift homes covered with threadbare tarpaulins distributed in the early phase of the relief effort, according to aid workers.
"The materials have gone through two monsoons and they won't last another season," Srinivasa Popuri, leader of a shelter aid group in Myanmar, told Reuters.
In May last year, Cyclone Nargis swept through Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, flattening villages, destroying 450,000 houses, killing 140,000 and leaving 2.4 million destitute.
"What is reflected here (with 17,800 new houses) is not what is needed. It is a much-reduced version of what may be possible to do between now and July," said Bishow
Parajuli, U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar.
The latest pledge falls short of $103 million sought by the United Nations, ASEAN and the Myanmar government for the period ending next July. In February, that group estimated the cost of recovery from Cyclone Nargis at $690 million.
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Reuters AlertNet - Myanmar (Burma): Greater funding needed to meet most critical needs
30 Nov 2009 09:41:14 GMT
Source: Merlin - UK
Eighteen months after Cyclone Nargis devastated communities in the Irrawaddy Delta, there are critical needs that still haven't been addressed.
International donors pledged $88 million at an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) conference in Bangkok last week to support the recovery effort, but more funding is needed to help the most vulnerable - particularly women and children living in some of the most hard to reach areas.
While three out of four households even now have no access to improved water sources and nine out of ten babies are still delivered at home, the UN has estimated that a further $483m is required over the next three years to meet the needs of the whole recovery programme.
Yet many organisations are downsizing their operations and some are even pulling out of the country, due to lack of funds.
In a speech to leaders at the conference, Dr Paul Sender, Merlin's Country Director in Myanmar said:
"The scale of humanitarian operations across the cyclone-affected Delta region is reducing month by month. From the time the cyclone hit in May 2008 to the end of that year, $74m was made available to international NGOs to provide humanitarian assistance. This figure fell to $64m available for 2009, and the figure for 2010 could be half that. The levels of funding currently available will not allow us to match assistance and actions to where even the most critical needs have been identified."
Merlin is co-leading the UN’s post-Nargis recovery plan (PONREPP) for the health sector and advocating for greater funding from international donors.
At the conference, which was chaired by the ASEAN Secretary General and UN Under Secretary General, Dr Sender presented the PONREPP Prioritised Action Plan on behalf of international aid agencies on the ground, outlining minimum needs to be addressed by July 2010.
Recovery will take more than two years, but Merlin is calling for international donors to support the Action Plan to meet the most pressing needs in the next seven months.
Dr Ashok, Merlin's Senior Project Medical Coordinator based in Laputta, said: "Merlin has made significant progress in meeting the health needs since the cyclone. We have rebuilt or refurbished 22 health centres that were damaged or destroyed in the cyclone. And our network of over 534 community health workers have provided frontline health care to over 185,000 people. But with more funding, we could reach many more people affected by the cyclone who are still in need of assistance."
30 Nov 2009 09:41:14 GMT
Source: Merlin - UK
Eighteen months after Cyclone Nargis devastated communities in the Irrawaddy Delta, there are critical needs that still haven't been addressed.
International donors pledged $88 million at an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) conference in Bangkok last week to support the recovery effort, but more funding is needed to help the most vulnerable - particularly women and children living in some of the most hard to reach areas.
While three out of four households even now have no access to improved water sources and nine out of ten babies are still delivered at home, the UN has estimated that a further $483m is required over the next three years to meet the needs of the whole recovery programme.
Yet many organisations are downsizing their operations and some are even pulling out of the country, due to lack of funds.
In a speech to leaders at the conference, Dr Paul Sender, Merlin's Country Director in Myanmar said:
"The scale of humanitarian operations across the cyclone-affected Delta region is reducing month by month. From the time the cyclone hit in May 2008 to the end of that year, $74m was made available to international NGOs to provide humanitarian assistance. This figure fell to $64m available for 2009, and the figure for 2010 could be half that. The levels of funding currently available will not allow us to match assistance and actions to where even the most critical needs have been identified."
Merlin is co-leading the UN’s post-Nargis recovery plan (PONREPP) for the health sector and advocating for greater funding from international donors.
At the conference, which was chaired by the ASEAN Secretary General and UN Under Secretary General, Dr Sender presented the PONREPP Prioritised Action Plan on behalf of international aid agencies on the ground, outlining minimum needs to be addressed by July 2010.
Recovery will take more than two years, but Merlin is calling for international donors to support the Action Plan to meet the most pressing needs in the next seven months.
Dr Ashok, Merlin's Senior Project Medical Coordinator based in Laputta, said: "Merlin has made significant progress in meeting the health needs since the cyclone. We have rebuilt or refurbished 22 health centres that were damaged or destroyed in the cyclone. And our network of over 534 community health workers have provided frontline health care to over 185,000 people. But with more funding, we could reach many more people affected by the cyclone who are still in need of assistance."
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Prison for 3 Burmese teenage killers
Published: Nov. 29, 2009 at 5:41 PM
SATUN, Thailand, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Three male teenagers from Myanmar received prison sentences for the bludgeoning death of a British yachtsman off the Thailand coast, officials say.
The pirates pleaded guilty to boarding Malcolm Robertson's yacht, Mr Bean, in March. They tied up his wife, Linda for 10 hours, fatally bludgeoned Robertson and threw him overboard, the BBC reported Sunday.
Thai fishermen found Robertson's body a week after the attack.
A Thai court handed down 25-year prison sentences to 19-year-old Eksian Warapon, an 18-year-old called Aow, and a 17-year-old known as Ko.
"I do hope the time they spend in jail will help them reflect and realize the heinous crime they committed," said Linda Robertson. "I don't want to trivialize Malcolm's death but I don't think 25 years in a Thai prison is going to be pleasant for them."
Published: Nov. 29, 2009 at 5:41 PM
SATUN, Thailand, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Three male teenagers from Myanmar received prison sentences for the bludgeoning death of a British yachtsman off the Thailand coast, officials say.
The pirates pleaded guilty to boarding Malcolm Robertson's yacht, Mr Bean, in March. They tied up his wife, Linda for 10 hours, fatally bludgeoned Robertson and threw him overboard, the BBC reported Sunday.
Thai fishermen found Robertson's body a week after the attack.
A Thai court handed down 25-year prison sentences to 19-year-old Eksian Warapon, an 18-year-old called Aow, and a 17-year-old known as Ko.
"I do hope the time they spend in jail will help them reflect and realize the heinous crime they committed," said Linda Robertson. "I don't want to trivialize Malcolm's death but I don't think 25 years in a Thai prison is going to be pleasant for them."
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MYANMAR: Funding shortfall hits Nargis survivors
BANGKOK, 26 November 2009 (IRIN) - A lack of funding is still posing a serious problem for recovery efforts to help the survivors of Cylone Nargis, the UN says, despite fresh pledges from donors.
At a Post-Nargis and Regional Partnership Conference, held on 25 November in Bangkok, donors pledged more than US$88 million for an appeal for $103 million to cover critical recovery needs – part of the earlier Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP) released in December 2008 by the Tripartite Core Group, comprising the Myanmar government, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the UN.
The original appeal called for $691 million for a three-year recovery plan from 2009 to 2011.
“There was very good support and excellent response from the donors – there was a good acknowledgement of the recognition of the need,” said Bishow Parajuli, the UN Resident Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar.
However, “what must be underlined is that the $103 million is only for needs identified until July 2010, and moreover this need doesn’t include many other critical elements”, he told IRIN.
Nargis struck Myanmar in May 2008, killing at least 140,000 people and affecting another 2.4 million, mostly in the Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions. Damage was estimated at more than $4 billion.
Recovery threatened
Thierry Delbreuve, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Myanmar, said there had been a sharp drop in contributions to recovery activities in the Ayeyarwady Delta.
“Pledges were made this year but very little has trickled down so far,” he told IRIN, adding that there was also a need for funding for general humanitarian assistance outside the delta in areas such as Chin state and the border regions.
Before the 25 November announcement, only $120 million of the $691 million had been committed, with $64 million received, according to the UN.
Parajuli warned that a lack of funding would stop recovery activities.
“It is a big challenge,” he said. “Several NGOs and UN agencies have started cutting down staff because of a lack of funding. If there is no new funding, some of the critical activities could be stopped.”
With money just trickling in for the PONREPP, the TCG decided in October to launch an appeal for the $103 million to address critical gaps in education, health, livelihoods, shelter, and water, sanitation and hygiene until July 2010.
The money will be used to provide 17,800 new houses, 40 new schools and 16 cyclone shelters, as well as livelihood programmes, water and sanitation facilities, education facilities and health services, ASEAN said.
Delbreuve said support for the restoration of livelihoods was crucial, with indebtedness growing among survivors who had borrowed money to rebuild their homes. However, he said shelter was the most important need identified for now.
“Only 10,000 individual shelters delivered by humanitarian agencies can be considered truly durable with cyclone-resistant features,” Delbreuve told IRIN.
“There is still an overall gap of 178,000 households that require urgent shelter assistance and have been waiting for support from the humanitarian community for over a year,” he said.
BANGKOK, 26 November 2009 (IRIN) - A lack of funding is still posing a serious problem for recovery efforts to help the survivors of Cylone Nargis, the UN says, despite fresh pledges from donors.
At a Post-Nargis and Regional Partnership Conference, held on 25 November in Bangkok, donors pledged more than US$88 million for an appeal for $103 million to cover critical recovery needs – part of the earlier Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP) released in December 2008 by the Tripartite Core Group, comprising the Myanmar government, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the UN.
The original appeal called for $691 million for a three-year recovery plan from 2009 to 2011.
“There was very good support and excellent response from the donors – there was a good acknowledgement of the recognition of the need,” said Bishow Parajuli, the UN Resident Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar.
However, “what must be underlined is that the $103 million is only for needs identified until July 2010, and moreover this need doesn’t include many other critical elements”, he told IRIN.
Nargis struck Myanmar in May 2008, killing at least 140,000 people and affecting another 2.4 million, mostly in the Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions. Damage was estimated at more than $4 billion.
Recovery threatened
Thierry Delbreuve, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Myanmar, said there had been a sharp drop in contributions to recovery activities in the Ayeyarwady Delta.
“Pledges were made this year but very little has trickled down so far,” he told IRIN, adding that there was also a need for funding for general humanitarian assistance outside the delta in areas such as Chin state and the border regions.
Before the 25 November announcement, only $120 million of the $691 million had been committed, with $64 million received, according to the UN.
Parajuli warned that a lack of funding would stop recovery activities.
“It is a big challenge,” he said. “Several NGOs and UN agencies have started cutting down staff because of a lack of funding. If there is no new funding, some of the critical activities could be stopped.”
With money just trickling in for the PONREPP, the TCG decided in October to launch an appeal for the $103 million to address critical gaps in education, health, livelihoods, shelter, and water, sanitation and hygiene until July 2010.
The money will be used to provide 17,800 new houses, 40 new schools and 16 cyclone shelters, as well as livelihood programmes, water and sanitation facilities, education facilities and health services, ASEAN said.
Delbreuve said support for the restoration of livelihoods was crucial, with indebtedness growing among survivors who had borrowed money to rebuild their homes. However, he said shelter was the most important need identified for now.
“Only 10,000 individual shelters delivered by humanitarian agencies can be considered truly durable with cyclone-resistant features,” Delbreuve told IRIN.
“There is still an overall gap of 178,000 households that require urgent shelter assistance and have been waiting for support from the humanitarian community for over a year,” he said.
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MYANMAR: Rats gnaw at cyclone recovery hopes
SATSALONGKYA, 25 November 2009 (IRIN) - Hla Shwe, 47, had great expectations for his 14ha of paddy fields, which he hoped would help him recover from the devastation of Cyclone Nargis.
But then the rats came to his small village of Satsalongkya, a two-and-a-half hour boat trip from Bogale, one of the worst-hit areas in last May’s cyclone.
“I’ve tried my best to wipe out the rats, but they are still there, destroying my paddy plants,” Hla Shwe said, pointing at the remains.
Besides killing young paddy plants and ruining the harvest, the rats also eat rice grains as they ripen.
“Rat infestation is a big problem in the cyclone-affected area, which is very worrying,” Myo Aung Kyaw, secretary-general of the Myanmar Rice and Paddy Traders’ Association, told IRIN. “Production of rice could be affected due to the rat infestation.”
The rodent population is growing exponentially in the Ayeyarwady Delta - where agriculture is the primary income source for 60 percent of families - and posing a new risk to the livelihood recovery of communities still suffering from the cyclone’s impact, experts say.
The storm devastated the divisions of Ayeyarwady and Yangon, leaving most low-lying fertile areas ruined and 783,000ha of farmland flooded, according to the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan.
The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says the increase in the rat population is most likely due to the loss of predators such as snakes, dogs and cats during Cyclone Nargis.
With a three-week gestation cycle, rats are breeding more quickly than snakes, which take two to three months to produce offspring. Since more delta land is lying fallow than before the cyclone, rats are also profiting from favourable habitats and food availability.
To solve the problem, cyclone-affected farmers have been instructed by the government to kill up to 15 rats a day, and submit their tails to local authorities, or risk being fined.
In the past three months, more than 2.5 million rats have been exterminated in the Ayeyarwady Delta by the Myanmar Agriculture Service, with support from the FAO and other community, NGO and UN partners, the FAO says.
Culling rodents
Despite the culling efforts, there are probably three to four times as many rats still living in the delta. In some villages in Bogale township, up to 50 percent of rice acreage already shows signs of rat damage, according to the FAO.
“Unless funding is found to continue the current, coordinated prevention efforts, there will likely be an increase in the rat population, replacing the population already killed and leading to further damage and a possible spread of the rodents to crops not currently affected,” Shin Imai, FAO’s representative in Myanmar, told IRIN.
“If we are to prevent further damage to the monsoon rice crop and damage to the following dry season crops, we must continue the current preventative measures and emphasize an integrated pest-management approach for the coming winter season,” he said.
The monsoon rice crop is usually planted in July and harvested in November and December, while the summer rice or dry season crop is planted in December or January, and harvested in March and early April.
Preventative measures include community campaigns on topics such as hygiene, waste management, and non-chemical rodent control and trapping, Imai said.
Crop support
While most cyclone-affected rice fields have returned to production, thanks to agricultural inputs from government institutions and the community, the FAO says some southern areas in the delta, particularly the townships of Bogale and Labutta, still need support.
"Paddy harvest is unlikely to have returned to pre-Nargis levels,” Imai said, “However, preliminary information indicates that this year’s harvest may have been better than last year's.”
While equipping the farmers with essential inputs for farming is crucial, the price of rice – fixed by the government - also plays an important role, said Myo Aung Kyaw of the rice association.
“Farmers should be motivated in terms of rice price,” he said, calling for the government to be flexible over prices.
But then the rats came to his small village of Satsalongkya, a two-and-a-half hour boat trip from Bogale, one of the worst-hit areas in last May’s cyclone.
“I’ve tried my best to wipe out the rats, but they are still there, destroying my paddy plants,” Hla Shwe said, pointing at the remains.
Besides killing young paddy plants and ruining the harvest, the rats also eat rice grains as they ripen.
“Rat infestation is a big problem in the cyclone-affected area, which is very worrying,” Myo Aung Kyaw, secretary-general of the Myanmar Rice and Paddy Traders’ Association, told IRIN. “Production of rice could be affected due to the rat infestation.”
The rodent population is growing exponentially in the Ayeyarwady Delta - where agriculture is the primary income source for 60 percent of families - and posing a new risk to the livelihood recovery of communities still suffering from the cyclone’s impact, experts say.
The storm devastated the divisions of Ayeyarwady and Yangon, leaving most low-lying fertile areas ruined and 783,000ha of farmland flooded, according to the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan.
The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says the increase in the rat population is most likely due to the loss of predators such as snakes, dogs and cats during Cyclone Nargis.
With a three-week gestation cycle, rats are breeding more quickly than snakes, which take two to three months to produce offspring. Since more delta land is lying fallow than before the cyclone, rats are also profiting from favourable habitats and food availability.
To solve the problem, cyclone-affected farmers have been instructed by the government to kill up to 15 rats a day, and submit their tails to local authorities, or risk being fined.
In the past three months, more than 2.5 million rats have been exterminated in the Ayeyarwady Delta by the Myanmar Agriculture Service, with support from the FAO and other community, NGO and UN partners, the FAO says.
Culling rodents
Despite the culling efforts, there are probably three to four times as many rats still living in the delta. In some villages in Bogale township, up to 50 percent of rice acreage already shows signs of rat damage, according to the FAO.
“Unless funding is found to continue the current, coordinated prevention efforts, there will likely be an increase in the rat population, replacing the population already killed and leading to further damage and a possible spread of the rodents to crops not currently affected,” Shin Imai, FAO’s representative in Myanmar, told IRIN.
“If we are to prevent further damage to the monsoon rice crop and damage to the following dry season crops, we must continue the current preventative measures and emphasize an integrated pest-management approach for the coming winter season,” he said.
The monsoon rice crop is usually planted in July and harvested in November and December, while the summer rice or dry season crop is planted in December or January, and harvested in March and early April.
Preventative measures include community campaigns on topics such as hygiene, waste management, and non-chemical rodent control and trapping, Imai said.
Crop support
While most cyclone-affected rice fields have returned to production, thanks to agricultural inputs from government institutions and the community, the FAO says some southern areas in the delta, particularly the townships of Bogale and Labutta, still need support.
"Paddy harvest is unlikely to have returned to pre-Nargis levels,” Imai said, “However, preliminary information indicates that this year’s harvest may have been better than last year's.”
While equipping the farmers with essential inputs for farming is crucial, the price of rice – fixed by the government - also plays an important role, said Myo Aung Kyaw of the rice association.
“Farmers should be motivated in terms of rice price,” he said, calling for the government to be flexible over prices.
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ReliefWeb - No homes in sight for 900,000 Myanmar cyclone survivors
Source: AlertNet
Date: 25 Nov 2009
Written by: A Myanmar expert in Bangkok
BANGKOK - For about 100,000 people in Myanmar who have been living in makeshift shelters since Cyclone Nargis hit 18 months ago, Wednesday's news of fresh donor money spells light at the end of the tunnel.
But for the remaining 900,000 people whose homes were destroyed or damaged, the prospects are dim.
International donors pledged a fresh $88 million for new houses, schools and employment programmes for the cyclone's survivors. The money will help fund 17,800 new family homes.
Using a U.N. standard of five to six people per family, it works out that the new houses will accommodate around 100,000 people. But about one million need help with shelter, according to the United Nations.
Earlier this year, the United Nations listed responding to the immediate need for sustainable shelter in Myanmar as one of its priorities for 2009-10. Despite that, shelter remains one of the most under-funded needs in the country.
Part of the reason, aid workers say, is the perception among donors that housing is the responsibility of the government and most donors want to avoid being seen as subsidising Myanmar's military regime.
"If we have resources, I believe we can do much more," said Bishow Parajuli, U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar. "The fundamental problem for the recovery support in Myanmar is lack of money - for everything."
Cyclone Nargis swept through Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, once dubbed the country's rice bowl, in May last year, killing 140,000 people, destroying 450,000 houses and leaving 2.4 million destitute.
Source: AlertNet
Date: 25 Nov 2009
Written by: A Myanmar expert in Bangkok
BANGKOK - For about 100,000 people in Myanmar who have been living in makeshift shelters since Cyclone Nargis hit 18 months ago, Wednesday's news of fresh donor money spells light at the end of the tunnel.
But for the remaining 900,000 people whose homes were destroyed or damaged, the prospects are dim.
International donors pledged a fresh $88 million for new houses, schools and employment programmes for the cyclone's survivors. The money will help fund 17,800 new family homes.
Using a U.N. standard of five to six people per family, it works out that the new houses will accommodate around 100,000 people. But about one million need help with shelter, according to the United Nations.
Earlier this year, the United Nations listed responding to the immediate need for sustainable shelter in Myanmar as one of its priorities for 2009-10. Despite that, shelter remains one of the most under-funded needs in the country.
Part of the reason, aid workers say, is the perception among donors that housing is the responsibility of the government and most donors want to avoid being seen as subsidising Myanmar's military regime.
"If we have resources, I believe we can do much more," said Bishow Parajuli, U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar. "The fundamental problem for the recovery support in Myanmar is lack of money - for everything."
Cyclone Nargis swept through Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, once dubbed the country's rice bowl, in May last year, killing 140,000 people, destroying 450,000 houses and leaving 2.4 million destitute.
*******************************************************************
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Isle medical team tends to hundreds
By Helen Altonn
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 30, 2009
An Aloha Medical Mission team of 17 volunteer doctors and nurses performed nearly 60 surgeries and treated more than 300 patients during a recent two-week mission to Myanmar.
Among them was an 11-year-old girl with a large eyelid tumor that invaded her eyeball, said Dr. Carl Lum, surgeon and team leader. He and Dr. Dirk Noyes excised the tumor, a benign lymphangioma arising from lymphatic vessels.
"The family was looking dumbfounded," said Dr. Michael Healy, a pediatrician who examined the girl. "They had trouble believing someone would help ordinary people. The best answer to that is, That's what we do."
Lum, a medical mission veteran, has taken teams to Myanmar five times, going twice last year, including a trip to the Irrawaddy Delta in July to provide medical care for victims of Cyclone Nargis in May.
The missions are sponsored by Sitagu Sayadaw, one of Myanmar's most respected monks.
Dr. Nicole Littenberg, Honolulu Medical Group internist, has been on four Aloha Medical missions, including the emergency Irrawaddy Delta trip last year. This was her first mission to Sagaing, where the group works at the Sitagu Hospital.
"The working and living conditions were significantly better than during our trip to the delta," she said. "We had great food, running water and near-constant electricity."
She said the families of Drs. Myo Nwe and Harry Taw, Burmese physicians in Hawaii who were on the mission, "were invaluable in providing interpretation."
High-ranking members of the Buddhist monastery helped them through customs when they landed in Yangon Oct. 23, said Healy, who was on his fourth mission.
They boarded a prop plane with their equipment and flew about 55 miles into Mandalay, where a caravan of vehicles was waiting to take them to the Buddhist monastery, he said.
"We met our friends, because now we know these people very well, got our bags off the truck and started rounding." It was about 8 p.m. and they were exhausted, but they had surgical patients waiting to be screened, he said.
After breakfast at 6 the next morning, they began doing surgery, he said, noting the hospital had built an additional operating room. "We saw them build it basically by hand last year, carrying concrete on their heads."
Many patients had walked four or five hours to the hospital to see the doctors, and the Buddhists gave those waiting for surgery a place to stay and food, Healy said.
Lum said the British ambassador's wife, Jane Heyn, saw the child with the large tumor covering her eye in a classroom in Rangoon, and when she heard an Aloha Medical Mission was coming there, she contacted Paula Helfrich.
Helfrich, a former Hilo resident and Aloha Medical Mission volunteer, is teaching English at the International School in Yangon.
"They then made hasty arrangements to send the parents and the girl to Sagaing, a 12-hour bus trip, and gave them enough money for food and lodgings," Lum said.
The mother said the girl was born with a small lump over the upper eyelid, which gradually enlarged and blinded her, but they were too poor to see a doctor, Lum said.
There was no eye doctor on the mission, so Healy said he and Lum e-mailed ophthalmologists asking about reconstruction of the girl's eye. Honolulu ophthalmologist Dr. George Camara, a medical mission volunteer, immediately responded and explained what would be required, Healy said. The information was sent to Helfrich, who will be liaison for the girl's eye reconstruction, he said.
The hope is she will receive a prosthesis before the next mission there in October, he said, noting other countries also are sending medical missions to Sitagu Hospital, which has only one general surgeon. A German team was expected this month.
An Aloha Medical Mission team of 17 volunteer doctors and nurses performed nearly 60 surgeries and treated more than 300 patients during a recent two-week mission to Myanmar.
Among them was an 11-year-old girl with a large eyelid tumor that invaded her eyeball, said Dr. Carl Lum, surgeon and team leader. He and Dr. Dirk Noyes excised the tumor, a benign lymphangioma arising from lymphatic vessels.
"The family was looking dumbfounded," said Dr. Michael Healy, a pediatrician who examined the girl. "They had trouble believing someone would help ordinary people. The best answer to that is, That's what we do."
Lum, a medical mission veteran, has taken teams to Myanmar five times, going twice last year, including a trip to the Irrawaddy Delta in July to provide medical care for victims of Cyclone Nargis in May.
The missions are sponsored by Sitagu Sayadaw, one of Myanmar's most respected monks.
Dr. Nicole Littenberg, Honolulu Medical Group internist, has been on four Aloha Medical missions, including the emergency Irrawaddy Delta trip last year. This was her first mission to Sagaing, where the group works at the Sitagu Hospital.
"The working and living conditions were significantly better than during our trip to the delta," she said. "We had great food, running water and near-constant electricity."
She said the families of Drs. Myo Nwe and Harry Taw, Burmese physicians in Hawaii who were on the mission, "were invaluable in providing interpretation."
High-ranking members of the Buddhist monastery helped them through customs when they landed in Yangon Oct. 23, said Healy, who was on his fourth mission.
They boarded a prop plane with their equipment and flew about 55 miles into Mandalay, where a caravan of vehicles was waiting to take them to the Buddhist monastery, he said.
"We met our friends, because now we know these people very well, got our bags off the truck and started rounding." It was about 8 p.m. and they were exhausted, but they had surgical patients waiting to be screened, he said.
After breakfast at 6 the next morning, they began doing surgery, he said, noting the hospital had built an additional operating room. "We saw them build it basically by hand last year, carrying concrete on their heads."
Many patients had walked four or five hours to the hospital to see the doctors, and the Buddhists gave those waiting for surgery a place to stay and food, Healy said.
Lum said the British ambassador's wife, Jane Heyn, saw the child with the large tumor covering her eye in a classroom in Rangoon, and when she heard an Aloha Medical Mission was coming there, she contacted Paula Helfrich.
Helfrich, a former Hilo resident and Aloha Medical Mission volunteer, is teaching English at the International School in Yangon.
"They then made hasty arrangements to send the parents and the girl to Sagaing, a 12-hour bus trip, and gave them enough money for food and lodgings," Lum said.
The mother said the girl was born with a small lump over the upper eyelid, which gradually enlarged and blinded her, but they were too poor to see a doctor, Lum said.
There was no eye doctor on the mission, so Healy said he and Lum e-mailed ophthalmologists asking about reconstruction of the girl's eye. Honolulu ophthalmologist Dr. George Camara, a medical mission volunteer, immediately responded and explained what would be required, Healy said. The information was sent to Helfrich, who will be liaison for the girl's eye reconstruction, he said.
The hope is she will receive a prosthesis before the next mission there in October, he said, noting other countries also are sending medical missions to Sitagu Hospital, which
has only one general surgeon. A German team was expected this month.
By Helen Altonn
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 30, 2009
An Aloha Medical Mission team of 17 volunteer doctors and nurses performed nearly 60 surgeries and treated more than 300 patients during a recent two-week mission to Myanmar.
Among them was an 11-year-old girl with a large eyelid tumor that invaded her eyeball, said Dr. Carl Lum, surgeon and team leader. He and Dr. Dirk Noyes excised the tumor, a benign lymphangioma arising from lymphatic vessels.
"The family was looking dumbfounded," said Dr. Michael Healy, a pediatrician who examined the girl. "They had trouble believing someone would help ordinary people. The best answer to that is, That's what we do."
Lum, a medical mission veteran, has taken teams to Myanmar five times, going twice last year, including a trip to the Irrawaddy Delta in July to provide medical care for victims of Cyclone Nargis in May.
The missions are sponsored by Sitagu Sayadaw, one of Myanmar's most respected monks.
Dr. Nicole Littenberg, Honolulu Medical Group internist, has been on four Aloha Medical missions, including the emergency Irrawaddy Delta trip last year. This was her first mission to Sagaing, where the group works at the Sitagu Hospital.
"The working and living conditions were significantly better than during our trip to the delta," she said. "We had great food, running water and near-constant electricity."
She said the families of Drs. Myo Nwe and Harry Taw, Burmese physicians in Hawaii who were on the mission, "were invaluable in providing interpretation."
High-ranking members of the Buddhist monastery helped them through customs when they landed in Yangon Oct. 23, said Healy, who was on his fourth mission.
They boarded a prop plane with their equipment and flew about 55 miles into Mandalay, where a caravan of vehicles was waiting to take them to the Buddhist monastery, he said.
"We met our friends, because now we know these people very well, got our bags off the truck and started rounding." It was about 8 p.m. and they were exhausted, but they had surgical patients waiting to be screened, he said.
After breakfast at 6 the next morning, they began doing surgery, he said, noting the hospital had built an additional operating room. "We saw them build it basically by hand last year, carrying concrete on their heads."
Many patients had walked four or five hours to the hospital to see the doctors, and the Buddhists gave those waiting for surgery a place to stay and food, Healy said.
Lum said the British ambassador's wife, Jane Heyn, saw the child with the large tumor covering her eye in a classroom in Rangoon, and when she heard an Aloha Medical Mission was coming there, she contacted Paula Helfrich.
Helfrich, a former Hilo resident and Aloha Medical Mission volunteer, is teaching English at the International School in Yangon.
"They then made hasty arrangements to send the parents and the girl to Sagaing, a 12-hour bus trip, and gave them enough money for food and lodgings," Lum said.
The mother said the girl was born with a small lump over the upper eyelid, which gradually enlarged and blinded her, but they were too poor to see a doctor, Lum said.
There was no eye doctor on the mission, so Healy said he and Lum e-mailed ophthalmologists asking about reconstruction of the girl's eye. Honolulu ophthalmologist Dr. George Camara, a medical mission volunteer, immediately responded and explained what would be required, Healy said. The information was sent to Helfrich, who will be liaison for the girl's eye reconstruction, he said.
The hope is she will receive a prosthesis before the next mission there in October, he said, noting other countries also are sending medical missions to Sitagu Hospital, which has only one general surgeon. A German team was expected this month.
An Aloha Medical Mission team of 17 volunteer doctors and nurses performed nearly 60 surgeries and treated more than 300 patients during a recent two-week mission to Myanmar.
Among them was an 11-year-old girl with a large eyelid tumor that invaded her eyeball, said Dr. Carl Lum, surgeon and team leader. He and Dr. Dirk Noyes excised the tumor, a benign lymphangioma arising from lymphatic vessels.
"The family was looking dumbfounded," said Dr. Michael Healy, a pediatrician who examined the girl. "They had trouble believing someone would help ordinary people. The best answer to that is, That's what we do."
Lum, a medical mission veteran, has taken teams to Myanmar five times, going twice last year, including a trip to the Irrawaddy Delta in July to provide medical care for victims of Cyclone Nargis in May.
The missions are sponsored by Sitagu Sayadaw, one of Myanmar's most respected monks.
Dr. Nicole Littenberg, Honolulu Medical Group internist, has been on four Aloha Medical missions, including the emergency Irrawaddy Delta trip last year. This was her first mission to Sagaing, where the group works at the Sitagu Hospital.
"The working and living conditions were significantly better than during our trip to the delta," she said. "We had great food, running water and near-constant electricity."
She said the families of Drs. Myo Nwe and Harry Taw, Burmese physicians in Hawaii who were on the mission, "were invaluable in providing interpretation."
High-ranking members of the Buddhist monastery helped them through customs when they landed in Yangon Oct. 23, said Healy, who was on his fourth mission.
They boarded a prop plane with their equipment and flew about 55 miles into Mandalay, where a caravan of vehicles was waiting to take them to the Buddhist monastery, he said.
"We met our friends, because now we know these people very well, got our bags off the truck and started rounding." It was about 8 p.m. and they were exhausted, but they had surgical patients waiting to be screened, he said.
After breakfast at 6 the next morning, they began doing surgery, he said, noting the hospital had built an additional operating room. "We saw them build it basically by hand last year, carrying concrete on their heads."
Many patients had walked four or five hours to the hospital to see the doctors, and the Buddhists gave those waiting for surgery a place to stay and food, Healy said.
Lum said the British ambassador's wife, Jane Heyn, saw the child with the large tumor covering her eye in a classroom in Rangoon, and when she heard an Aloha Medical Mission was coming there, she contacted Paula Helfrich.
Helfrich, a former Hilo resident and Aloha Medical Mission volunteer, is teaching English at the International School in Yangon.
"They then made hasty arrangements to send the parents and the girl to Sagaing, a 12-hour bus trip, and gave them enough money for food and lodgings," Lum said.
The mother said the girl was born with a small lump over the upper eyelid, which gradually enlarged and blinded her, but they were too poor to see a doctor, Lum said.
There was no eye doctor on the mission, so Healy said he and Lum e-mailed ophthalmologists asking about reconstruction of the girl's eye. Honolulu ophthalmologist Dr. George Camara, a medical mission volunteer, immediately responded and explained what would be required, Healy said. The information was sent to Helfrich, who will be liaison for the girl's eye reconstruction, he said.
The hope is she will receive a prosthesis before the next mission there in October, he said, noting other countries also are sending medical missions to Sitagu Hospital, which
has only one general surgeon. A German team was expected this month.
*******************************************************************
PHILANTHROPY: ANDREA BALL
Austin American-Statesman - Trip to Burma changes guest columnist's life
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Gary Watkins has a passion for Burma.
After visiting the country with Crestview Baptist Church two years ago, the Williamson County man formed the Burma Connection, a nonprofit that has invested about $40,000 in orphanages, $15,000 in schools, and $10,000 in refugee-related efforts. Watkins wrote a guest column describing his first trip to the country:
Making the connection
Flying at 32,000 feet traveling at 565 mph over the Pacific Ocean is not an opportune time to change your mind about a trip. I sat uneasy in my seat, questioning my decision to travel to a country about which I knew very little. Compounding my dilemma was realizing what little I had to offer the mission team.
Although a Christian, I am not a regular student of the Bible. In fact, as best as I can recall, I had not been to church for 10 years. The details of my absence are not important; it is enough to state that despite my genuine anger toward God for how my life was progressing, there were no good reasons for such a lengthy separation.
There I was, starting my journey, and I was searching for the emergency exit to put a merciful end to my anguish over allowing my emotional reaction to a presentation lead me 10,000 miles away to Burma. I had no talents and had never been on a mission trip. Of what possible value could I be to this team and their cause?
What unfolded over the next 15 days changed my life. I had seen many of the same images you have seen on TV of orphaned children or leafed through articles with pictures of desperate faces. On that trip two years ago at age 58, I learned the difference between physical poverty and spiritual starvation.
Despite the overwhelming oppression surrounding every facet of their daily lives, I learned much from the people of Burma. I learned what it means to share when you have so little. I learned what it means to be faithful when surrounded by evil. I learned what it means to love when there is so much sorrow.
I have just returned from my fifth trip in two years to Burma. In between trips, I have co-founded a nonprofit called the Burma Connection. We are involved with ministering
to hundreds of orphaned children, establishing neighborhood schools, assisting refugees and more.
As I reflected upon my initial trip, I concluded that despite the thousands of miles covered, the longest part of my journey was traveling the distance between my mind and my heart. It is OK to have doubts and have faith at the same time.
For information, visit theburmaconnection.org.
Austin American-Statesman - Trip to Burma changes guest columnist's life
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Gary Watkins has a passion for Burma.
After visiting the country with Crestview Baptist Church two years ago, the Williamson County man formed the Burma Connection, a nonprofit that has invested about $40,000 in orphanages, $15,000 in schools, and $10,000 in refugee-related efforts. Watkins wrote a guest column describing his first trip to the country:
Making the connection
Flying at 32,000 feet traveling at 565 mph over the Pacific Ocean is not an opportune time to change your mind about a trip. I sat uneasy in my seat, questioning my decision to travel to a country about which I knew very little. Compounding my dilemma was realizing what little I had to offer the mission team.
Although a Christian, I am not a regular student of the Bible. In fact, as best as I can recall, I had not been to church for 10 years. The details of my absence are not important; it is enough to state that despite my genuine anger toward God for how my life was progressing, there were no good reasons for such a lengthy separation.
There I was, starting my journey, and I was searching for the emergency exit to put a merciful end to my anguish over allowing my emotional reaction to a presentation lead me 10,000 miles away to Burma. I had no talents and had never been on a mission trip. Of what possible value could I be to this team and their cause?
What unfolded over the next 15 days changed my life. I had seen many of the same images you have seen on TV of orphaned children or leafed through articles with pictures of desperate faces. On that trip two years ago at age 58, I learned the difference between physical poverty and spiritual starvation.
Despite the overwhelming oppression surrounding every facet of their daily lives, I learned much from the people of Burma. I learned what it means to share when you have so little. I learned what it means to be faithful when surrounded by evil. I learned what it means to love when there is so much sorrow.
I have just returned from my fifth trip in two years to Burma. In between trips, I have co-founded a nonprofit called the Burma Connection. We are involved with ministering
to hundreds of orphaned children, establishing neighborhood schools, assisting refugees and more.
As I reflected upon my initial trip, I concluded that despite the thousands of miles covered, the longest part of my journey was traveling the distance between my mind and my heart. It is OK to have doubts and have faith at the same time.
For information, visit theburmaconnection.org.
*******************************************************************
November 29, 2009 14:09 PM
Asian Lawmakers Want Regional Powers To End Sufferings In Myanmar
By P.Vijian
NEW DELHI, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- A group of Asian lawmakers have criticised Asean and its dialogue partner India for not doing enough to resolve the human sufferings in Myanmar -- the only military-ruled state in Southeast Asia.
The Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) wants Asean and India to play a constructive role to restore democracy in Myanmar by engaging genuine political dialogue among all parties in the state.
"Things are getting worse in Burma (Myanmar) instead, there are more refugees fleeing Burma," said Charles Chong, a Singapore parliamentarian and vice-chair of the AIPMC.
"Asean cannot do on its own because the military generals have made it clear that the western sanction has no impact so long the two largest neighbours India and China continue to do big business (with Myanmar)," he added.
Chong said Asean had tried to influence the military leaders for the last 10 years but they were wasted efforts as they failed to convince the junta to restore democracy and introduce civil rule by holding elections.
Lawmakers across South Asia and Southeast Asia were debating over the role of regional powers at the "Parliamentarian Solidarity for the Struggle of Democracy in Myanmar" in Delhi last week.
Sharad Joshi, the convenor of Indian Parliamentarians' Forum for Democracy in Burma urged regional leaders, especially from the eight-member South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to pressure the military regime to release all political prisoners.
"Asean and SAARC countries should come together for immediate release of all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi and restoration of democracy in Burma," he said.
Suu Kyi, the 64-year-old pro-democracy leader, has spent almost 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.
The parliamentarians want Myanmar to hold fair and free elections next year, cease attacks against ethnic groups and review the 2008 constitution before the elections are held in 2010.
Asian Lawmakers Want Regional Powers To End Sufferings In Myanmar
By P.Vijian
NEW DELHI, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- A group of Asian lawmakers have criticised Asean and its dialogue partner India for not doing enough to resolve the human sufferings in Myanmar -- the only military-ruled state in Southeast Asia.
The Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) wants Asean and India to play a constructive role to restore democracy in Myanmar by engaging genuine political dialogue among all parties in the state.
"Things are getting worse in Burma (Myanmar) instead, there are more refugees fleeing Burma," said Charles Chong, a Singapore parliamentarian and vice-chair of the AIPMC.
"Asean cannot do on its own because the military generals have made it clear that the western sanction has no impact so long the two largest neighbours India and China continue to do big business (with Myanmar)," he added.
Chong said Asean had tried to influence the military leaders for the last 10 years but they were wasted efforts as they failed to convince the junta to restore democracy and introduce civil rule by holding elections.
Lawmakers across South Asia and Southeast Asia were debating over the role of regional powers at the "Parliamentarian Solidarity for the Struggle of Democracy in Myanmar" in Delhi last week.
Sharad Joshi, the convenor of Indian Parliamentarians' Forum for Democracy in Burma urged regional leaders, especially from the eight-member South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to pressure the military regime to release all political prisoners.
"Asean and SAARC countries should come together for immediate release of all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi and restoration of democracy in Burma," he said.
Suu Kyi, the 64-year-old pro-democracy leader, has spent almost 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.
The parliamentarians want Myanmar to hold fair and free elections next year, cease attacks against ethnic groups and review the 2008 constitution before the elections are held in 2010.
*******************************************************************
28 November, 2009 14:16 PM
Myanmar: Free And Fair Election To Be Held In 2010
YANGON, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- Myanmar top leader Senior General Than Shwe said that a free and fair election would be held in 2010 in accordance with the publicly-approved constitution, China's Xinhua news agency said citing a report by the official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar on Saturday.
Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, made the remarks at a meeting of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) on Friday.
Than Shwe, who is also Chairman of the USDA, stated that parties, formed based on their different beliefs, will get involved in political activities, adding that they need to uphold non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of national solidarity and perpetuation of sovereignty as they are the historical requirements of the state.
Stability and peace are the focal point of the drive for creating a better future of the nation, he stressed.
He also called for the USDA members to cooperate with the people in successful implementation of the seven-step Road Map to democracy.
Under the government's fifth step of its seven-step roadmap announced in 2003, a multi-party democracy general election is to be held in 2010 in accordance with the 2008 new state constitution to produce parliament representatives and form a new civilian government.
Myanmar: Free And Fair Election To Be Held In 2010
YANGON, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- Myanmar top leader Senior General Than Shwe said that a free and fair election would be held in 2010 in accordance with the publicly-approved constitution, China's Xinhua news agency said citing a report by the official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar on Saturday.
Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, made the remarks at a meeting of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) on Friday.
Than Shwe, who is also Chairman of the USDA, stated that parties, formed based on their different beliefs, will get involved in political activities, adding that they need to uphold non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of national solidarity and perpetuation of sovereignty as they are the historical requirements of the state.
Stability and peace are the focal point of the drive for creating a better future of the nation, he stressed.
He also called for the USDA members to cooperate with the people in successful implementation of the seven-step Road Map to democracy.
Under the government's fifth step of its seven-step roadmap announced in 2003, a multi-party democracy general election is to be held in 2010 in accordance with the 2008 new state constitution to produce parliament representatives and form a new civilian government.
*******************************************************************
Updated at 9:10am on 29 November 2009
Radio New Zealand - Myanmar humanitarian worker granted refugee status
A woman who co-ordinated disaster relief work in Myanmar and helped monks flee Government crackdowns there has won refugee status in New Zealand.
The businesswoman from Yangon, who has not been named, took part in large-scale demonstrations and facilitated meetings between foreign activists and the pro-democracy opposition, including its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The woman changed money on the black market to help monks during their protests in 2007 and so they could buy and transport food rations for victims of last year's cyclone.
The Refugee Status Appeals Authority says it has no doubt that there is a real risk to the woman's safety if she returns to Myanmar.
The authority also criticised the denial of legal aid for her appeal.
Radio New Zealand - Myanmar humanitarian worker granted refugee status
A woman who co-ordinated disaster relief work in Myanmar and helped monks flee Government crackdowns there has won refugee status in New Zealand.
The businesswoman from Yangon, who has not been named, took part in large-scale demonstrations and facilitated meetings between foreign activists and the pro-democracy opposition, including its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The woman changed money on the black market to help monks during their protests in 2007 and so they could buy and transport food rations for victims of last year's cyclone.
The Refugee Status Appeals Authority says it has no doubt that there is a real risk to the woman's safety if she returns to Myanmar.
The authority also criticised the denial of legal aid for her appeal.
*******************************************************************
Inner City Press - Child Soldiers in Sudan and Myanmar, No UN Comment on Sri Lanka, LRA on Move
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, November 27 -- In South Sudan, both local officials and humanitarian groups are calling for the UN Mission in Sudan to do more to protect civilians from the Lord's Resistance Army, UN child soldier expert Radhika Coomaraswamy told the Press on November 25. She also acknowledged that the government of Myanmar continues to recruit child into its "vast" army, while declining to comment on children and armed conflict issues in her native Sri Lanka.
While in Sudan, Ms. Coomaraswamy met with the governor of Western Equatoria after she met with humanitarian groups. The latter urged that UNMIS do more to protect civilians, and that the Security Council strengthen the Mission's mandate if that is the only way to make UNMIS take these actions. The governor echoed these concerns.
After her briefing, Inner City Press asked Ms. Coomaraswamy whether the governor or the NGOs raised this concern firm. She replied that the NGOs raised it to her, so she asked the governor.
Inner City Press asked about reports that the LRA is moving into South Darfur. Ms. Coomaraswamy said that the LRA is said to be "moving up the Central African Republic" to the border with South Darfur. Video here, from Minute 35:43. Since Ms. Coomaraswamy's November 25 briefing, the Justice and Equality Movement rebels have fired back, saying she did not visit their camps, click here for that.
Later in the briefing, on non-Sudan questions, Inner City Press asked about the Than Shwe government's continued recruitment of child soldiers in Myanmar, and about the just announced moves on internally displaced persons including children in Sri Lanka's internment camps.
Ms. Coomaraswamy replied, in a seeming partial defense of Myanmar, that the recruitment takes places at the "regional" level -- every place is in a region, isn't it? -- and that if the UN gets an action plan with the military junta, it will be allowed to verify. We'll see.
On Sri Lanka, on which Inner City Press posed questions to Ms. Coomaraswamy as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, she replied that she has appointed Patrick Cammaert to go there from December 5 to 11, that he will hold a press briefing after that and answer all Sri Lanka questions. Video here, from Minute 46:57.
In the past, Ms. Coomaraswamy has at least proffered some answer to Sri Lanka questions. Ironically, by appointing Cammaert, she now defers all questions to him. But he is in UN Headquarters much less than she is. After the briefing, Inner City Press told Ms. Coomeraswamy that the test will be if Cammaert is as accessible, that is, able to be accessed, as she is. Again, we'll see after December 11. Watch this site.
Footnote: Inner City Press has asked UNICEF about a child soldier issue raised to it in Georgia, and has been promised an answer. While Ms. Coomaraswamy was not asked about it on November 25, one wonders how many issues are out there, from Yemen to the Philippines, and what her Office should do to make these known. Watch this site.
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, November 27 -- In South Sudan, both local officials and humanitarian groups are calling for the UN Mission in Sudan to do more to protect civilians from the Lord's Resistance Army, UN child soldier expert Radhika Coomaraswamy told the Press on November 25. She also acknowledged that the government of Myanmar continues to recruit child into its "vast" army, while declining to comment on children and armed conflict issues in her native Sri Lanka.
While in Sudan, Ms. Coomaraswamy met with the governor of Western Equatoria after she met with humanitarian groups. The latter urged that UNMIS do more to protect civilians, and that the Security Council strengthen the Mission's mandate if that is the only way to make UNMIS take these actions. The governor echoed these concerns.
After her briefing, Inner City Press asked Ms. Coomaraswamy whether the governor or the NGOs raised this concern firm. She replied that the NGOs raised it to her, so she asked the governor.
Inner City Press asked about reports that the LRA is moving into South Darfur. Ms. Coomaraswamy said that the LRA is said to be "moving up the Central African Republic" to the border with South Darfur. Video here, from Minute 35:43. Since Ms. Coomaraswamy's November 25 briefing, the Justice and Equality Movement rebels have fired back, saying she did not visit their camps, click here for that.
Later in the briefing, on non-Sudan questions, Inner City Press asked about the Than Shwe government's continued recruitment of child soldiers in Myanmar, and about the just announced moves on internally displaced persons including children in Sri Lanka's internment camps.
Ms. Coomaraswamy replied, in a seeming partial defense of Myanmar, that the recruitment takes places at the "regional" level -- every place is in a region, isn't it? -- and that if the UN gets an action plan with the military junta, it will be allowed to verify. We'll see.
On Sri Lanka, on which Inner City Press posed questions to Ms. Coomaraswamy as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, she replied that she has appointed Patrick Cammaert to go there from December 5 to 11, that he will hold a press briefing after that and answer all Sri Lanka questions. Video here, from Minute 46:57.
In the past, Ms. Coomaraswamy has at least proffered some answer to Sri Lanka questions. Ironically, by appointing Cammaert, she now defers all questions to him. But he is in UN Headquarters much less than she is. After the briefing, Inner City Press told Ms. Coomeraswamy that the test will be if Cammaert is as accessible, that is, able to be accessed, as she is. Again, we'll see after December 11. Watch this site.
Footnote: Inner City Press has asked UNICEF about a child soldier issue raised to it in Georgia, and has been promised an answer. While Ms. Coomaraswamy was not asked about it on November 25, one wonders how many issues are out there, from Yemen to the Philippines, and what her Office should do to make these known. Watch this site.
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EarthTimes - Domestic natural gas to triple in Myanmar in next decade
Posted : Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:22:20 GMT
Bangkok - The supply of natural gas for domestic use is to triple in Myanmar over the next decade, the Myanmar Times reported Monday quoting the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). The gas is due to come from two major projects coming on stream - Shwe and Zawtika - leading to increases in onshore gas production, and the construction of a new pipeline linking the older Yadana offshore gas project with the capital Yangon.
Gas exports are also scheduled to increase, almost doubling over the same period, said U Myint Oo, MOGE's acting managing director earlier this month.
In fiscal 2008-2009 year, Myanmar earned 2.38 billion US dollars from natural gas exports to Thailand, according to Myanmar government figures cited by the paper.
Electricity generation from natural gas in Myanmar is to drop from 39.8 per cent of the total in 2005 to just 4.3 per cent in 2030, when almost 95 per cent of electricity is due to come from hydropower projects.
Posted : Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:22:20 GMT
Bangkok - The supply of natural gas for domestic use is to triple in Myanmar over the next decade, the Myanmar Times reported Monday quoting the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). The gas is due to come from two major projects coming on stream - Shwe and Zawtika - leading to increases in onshore gas production, and the construction of a new pipeline linking the older Yadana offshore gas project with the capital Yangon.
Gas exports are also scheduled to increase, almost doubling over the same period, said U Myint Oo, MOGE's acting managing director earlier this month.
In fiscal 2008-2009 year, Myanmar earned 2.38 billion US dollars from natural gas exports to Thailand, according to Myanmar government figures cited by the paper.
Electricity generation from natural gas in Myanmar is to drop from 39.8 per cent of the total in 2005 to just 4.3 per cent in 2030, when almost 95 per cent of electricity is due to come from hydropower projects.
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Nov 27, 2009
Straits Times - Swiber inks Myanmar deal
A SINGAPOREAN marine engineering company has signed a multimillion dollar contract with a Myanmar firm, and will lay gas pipelines off the shores of the military-ruled nation next year.
Singapore-based firm Swiber Holdings will construct 150km of gas pipelines after signing a US$77 million (S$198 million) contract with 'a Myanmar oil and gas company', the company said in a statement on Friday.
The statement did not give the name of the Myanmar company involved. The project will start in the first quarter of 2010 and will last six months, it added.
'We are honoured and excited to kick-start the offshore installation job in Myanmar,' said Raymond Goh, group chief executive officer of Swiber Holdings.
The agreement comes as foreign investment in military-ruled nation soared more than fivefold to reach almost one billion dollars last year, official statistics showed. Total foreign investment in Myanmar increased from US$172.72 million in the 2007-2008 fiscal year to US$985 million in 2008-2009, the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development said earlier this year.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, and sanctions by the United States and Europe coupled with fiscal mismanagement during decades of military rule have battered its economy.
Straits Times - Swiber inks Myanmar deal
A SINGAPOREAN marine engineering company has signed a multimillion dollar contract with a Myanmar firm, and will lay gas pipelines off the shores of the military-ruled nation next year.
Singapore-based firm Swiber Holdings will construct 150km of gas pipelines after signing a US$77 million (S$198 million) contract with 'a Myanmar oil and gas company', the company said in a statement on Friday.
The statement did not give the name of the Myanmar company involved. The project will start in the first quarter of 2010 and will last six months, it added.
'We are honoured and excited to kick-start the offshore installation job in Myanmar,' said Raymond Goh, group chief executive officer of Swiber Holdings.
The agreement comes as foreign investment in military-ruled nation soared more than fivefold to reach almost one billion dollars last year, official statistics showed. Total foreign investment in Myanmar increased from US$172.72 million in the 2007-2008 fiscal year to US$985 million in 2008-2009, the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development said earlier this year.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, and sanctions by the United States and Europe coupled with fiscal mismanagement during decades of military rule have battered its economy.
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Mainland informs Taiwan of roster of fishermen held in Myanmar
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-27 07:40:10
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Thursday passed on the names of the four Taiwan fishermen held in Myanmar to Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), a spokesperson said.
The mainland contacted the Myanmar authorities immediately after learning of reports of the detentions on Monday, said a spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.
The mainland had urged the Myanmar authorities to handle the issue appropriately and safeguard the fishermen's safety and lawful rights.
Myanmar released the roster of the fishermen Thursday to the mainland and the office passed it to the SEF through the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).
The spokesperson said more efforts would be made for an early resolution of the case.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-27 07:40:10
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Thursday passed on the names of the four Taiwan fishermen held in Myanmar to Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), a spokesperson said.
The mainland contacted the Myanmar authorities immediately after learning of reports of the detentions on Monday, said a spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.
The mainland had urged the Myanmar authorities to handle the issue appropriately and safeguard the fishermen's safety and lawful rights.
Myanmar released the roster of the fishermen Thursday to the mainland and the office passed it to the SEF through the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).
The spokesperson said more efforts would be made for an early resolution of the case.
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Myanmar urged to protect detained Chinese fishermen: FM spokesman
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-26 20:10:11
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China has urged authorities in Myanmar to protect the safety and legal rights of the detained Chinese mainland and Taiwan fishermen, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang Thursday.
According to Taiwan media reports, two Taiwan fishing boats have been detained by the Myanmar military.
Asked to confirm the reports at a routine press conference, Qin said the Myanmar authorities informed the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar on Tuesday evening, that they had detained 10 foreign fishing vessels and 128 foreign fishermen for alleged illegal fishing activities.
They detained crews included four seamen from Taiwan and one from the Chinese mainland.
He said the embassy was checking the information and had asked the Myanmar authorities to allow them to visit the detained fishing crews.
The Foreign Ministry and the embassy had also requested the Myanmar authorities properly deal this matter according to law, and protect the safety and legal rights of those detained, he said.
He said the Chinese government had always attached high importance to protect the security and legal rights of all Chinese, whether they were from the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-26 20:10:11
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China has urged authorities in Myanmar to protect the safety and legal rights of the detained Chinese mainland and Taiwan fishermen, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang Thursday.
According to Taiwan media reports, two Taiwan fishing boats have been detained by the Myanmar military.
Asked to confirm the reports at a routine press conference, Qin said the Myanmar authorities informed the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar on Tuesday evening, that they had detained 10 foreign fishing vessels and 128 foreign fishermen for alleged illegal fishing activities.
They detained crews included four seamen from Taiwan and one from the Chinese mainland.
He said the embassy was checking the information and had asked the Myanmar authorities to allow them to visit the detained fishing crews.
The Foreign Ministry and the embassy had also requested the Myanmar authorities properly deal this matter according to law, and protect the safety and legal rights of those detained, he said.
He said the Chinese government had always attached high importance to protect the security and legal rights of all Chinese, whether they were from the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan.
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Thailand-aided new Myanmar national blood bank to open next year
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-25 19:58:41
YANGON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A new national blood bank in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon, built with the aid of Thailand, will open in the beginning of next year, sources with the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.
With a total of 780,000 U.S. dollars funded by the Princess of Thailand Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Thai National Red Cross Society, the blood bank is established to become the largest of its kind in the country.
The blood bank has a capacity of storing more than 1,500 blood units and can render technical aid to all other blood centers in the country, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the Thai red cross also provided over 180,000 dollars each to build two hospitals in two villages of Taman and Kyonekadon in cyclone hard-hit Ayeyawaddy division, it also said.
In the wake of blood shortage in hospitals, the Myanmar health authorities have appealed to the public for more donation of blood.
According to Yangon hospital sources, up to 3,000 units of blood are in regular demand monthly by the blood bank which supplies 80 percent of the blood in need in the hospitals.
Over the four-year period from 2004 to 2008, a total of 62,715 patients benefited from blood donation in time through the hospital, while 40,837 other patients are still in short of the blood, the sources said.
As an encouragement for more people to donate blood for saving lives, the health authority honored blood doners who had their blood transfused to patients in need for more than 50 times, the hospital sources disclosed.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-25 19:58:41
YANGON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A new national blood bank in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon, built with the aid of Thailand, will open in the beginning of next year, sources with the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.
With a total of 780,000 U.S. dollars funded by the Princess of Thailand Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Thai National Red Cross Society, the blood bank is established to become the largest of its kind in the country.
The blood bank has a capacity of storing more than 1,500 blood units and can render technical aid to all other blood centers in the country, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the Thai red cross also provided over 180,000 dollars each to build two hospitals in two villages of Taman and Kyonekadon in cyclone hard-hit Ayeyawaddy division, it also said.
In the wake of blood shortage in hospitals, the Myanmar health authorities have appealed to the public for more donation of blood.
According to Yangon hospital sources, up to 3,000 units of blood are in regular demand monthly by the blood bank which supplies 80 percent of the blood in need in the hospitals.
Over the four-year period from 2004 to 2008, a total of 62,715 patients benefited from blood donation in time through the hospital, while 40,837 other patients are still in short of the blood, the sources said.
As an encouragement for more people to donate blood for saving lives, the health authority honored blood doners who had their blood transfused to patients in need for more than 50 times, the hospital sources disclosed.
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Myanmar allows RP to see 14 detained Filipino fishers
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net First Posted 10:12:00 11/26/2009
MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) The Philippine embassy in Yangon has been allowed to see the 14 detained Filipino fishermen who were caught for alleged illegal fishing off Myanmar waters, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.
And the DFA is now working on their immediate repatriation. It is also talking to the vessel owner on the payment of immigration fines.
“Myanmar authorities have assured the embassy access to the Filipino fishermen whenever requested,” the DFA said in a statement, adding that the Philippine embassy in Yangon has been allowed to see the Filipino fishermen twice already.
According to the DFA, the 14 were among the 128 fishermen on board 10 Taiwanese fishing vessels were arrested last November 18. Most of the crew members are Indonesians, with some Taiwanese and Filipinos.
Detained at Insein Prison, where the Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was at one time jailed, the detained foreign fishermen were visited by Philippine embassy officials , who gave them food and clothing.
The fishermen told the Filipino diplomats that all their personal belongings, including passports and personal documents, were confiscated by the Myanmar Navy.
“Embassy personnel made representations with Myanmar authorities for the return of the Filipino fishermen’s passports and other belongings,” the DFA said.
According to the DFA, the fishermen may face prosecution for violation of immigration laws, which carries a penalty of imprisonment not exceeding three months, or payment of fine not exceeding 200 kyat or $30.72.
The vessels allegedly sailed into Myanmar’s exclusive economic zone without its permission. Under the law of the sea, a nation has the right to outline an exclusive economic zone stretching up to 200 nautical miles from its shores and claim the right to exploit the resources within that area. Myanmar possesses a 2,229 kilometer-long (1,385 miles) coastline along the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.
Myanmar and the Philippines are members of Asean, the regional bloc that has recently approved its charter. The other Asean member-states are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net First Posted 10:12:00 11/26/2009
MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) The Philippine embassy in Yangon has been allowed to see the 14 detained Filipino fishermen who were caught for alleged illegal fishing off Myanmar waters, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.
And the DFA is now working on their immediate repatriation. It is also talking to the vessel owner on the payment of immigration fines.
“Myanmar authorities have assured the embassy access to the Filipino fishermen whenever requested,” the DFA said in a statement, adding that the Philippine embassy in Yangon has been allowed to see the Filipino fishermen twice already.
According to the DFA, the 14 were among the 128 fishermen on board 10 Taiwanese fishing vessels were arrested last November 18. Most of the crew members are Indonesians, with some Taiwanese and Filipinos.
Detained at Insein Prison, where the Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was at one time jailed, the detained foreign fishermen were visited by Philippine embassy officials , who gave them food and clothing.
The fishermen told the Filipino diplomats that all their personal belongings, including passports and personal documents, were confiscated by the Myanmar Navy.
“Embassy personnel made representations with Myanmar authorities for the return of the Filipino fishermen’s passports and other belongings,” the DFA said.
According to the DFA, the fishermen may face prosecution for violation of immigration laws, which carries a penalty of imprisonment not exceeding three months, or payment of fine not exceeding 200 kyat or $30.72.
The vessels allegedly sailed into Myanmar’s exclusive economic zone without its permission. Under the law of the sea, a nation has the right to outline an exclusive economic zone stretching up to 200 nautical miles from its shores and claim the right to exploit the resources within that area. Myanmar possesses a 2,229 kilometer-long (1,385 miles) coastline along the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.
Myanmar and the Philippines are members of Asean, the regional bloc that has recently approved its charter. The other Asean member-states are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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Inter Press Service News Agency
BURMA: Nobel Laureate Stiglitz to Advise Junta on Poverty
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Nov 30 (IPS) - The list of high-profile foreigners heading to Burma to engage and advise the country’s military regime is about to get longer. The latest due to join that flow is Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz.
The former chief economist of the World Bank will fly into Burma, or Myanmar as it is also known, on Dec. 14 for a mission aimed to examine and improve the South-east Asian nation’s rural economy, says Noeleen Heyzer, head of a United Nations regional body based in Bangkok.
"He will share his ideas on what kind of economic decision making is critical for growth in the rural economy and poverty reduction," adds the executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). "He will be there for a couple of days."
"We hope that this mission will be able to open up a new space in economic decision-making and policy formulations," Heyzer tells IPS. "The focus is on how do we reach the poorest people in Myanmar."
Stiglitz, who has engaged with poorer countries to offer development models through the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, a think tank he founded, will meet Burma’s Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Maj Gen Htay Oo and National Development Minister Soe Tha during this visit.
Both ministers are reportedly close to Burma’s strongman, Senior Gen Than Shwe, who presides over a regime notorious for its oppression and secrecy.
Stiglitz is due to deliver a lecture on ‘Economic Policies and Decision Making for Poverty Reduction: Reaching the Bottom Half’ in the afternoon of Dec. 15. The two ministers and Heyzer have also been billed as speakers during this ‘development forum’ under the theme ‘Policies for Poverty Reduction— Effecting Change in Myanmar’s Rural Economy’.
This forum, to be held in Naypidaw, the administrative capital, is one of a series of talks Stigliz will be involved in. Others will include an exchange of ideas with leading Burmese economists, U.N. experts, the diplomatic community and speakers from the local and international non-governmental groups.
Field visits to Burma’s dry zone are also on the cards, confirms Heyzer, who has been instrumental in the visit of the globally renowned economist. "It should be for two or three days to bring him into contact with the issues of the rural economy and the problems of trading, the banking system and the commodity prices."
ESCAP’s foray into Burma is part of a broader programme to reach out to countries with "special needs" among its over 50 member states. The foundation for this engagement with Burma’s rural economy was laid in August when Heyzer visited the military-ruled country. The initial talks she had at that time touched on issues like the need for farmers to gain greater access to rural credit and concerns over the state fixing of rice prices at rates that condemned farmers into permanent poverty.
Currently, some 7.8 million hectares are under paddy cultivation, producing an estimated 30.5 million tonnes of rice during the 2008-2009 harvest period, states the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Such rice production has come at a heavy price for Burmese rice farmers. Most of them, who are small farmers, have had difficulty accessing rural credit, according to Sean Turnell, an Australian academic who publishes the ‘Burma Economic Watch’, in an interview with IPS.
"The policies of the Burmese government have been anything but helpful," he says. "They have, in essence, stood by while Burma’s rural credit scheme has collapsed."
Burmese economists wonder how open the junta will be to Stiglitz’s policy prescriptions given previous foreign attempts to suggest improvements to the country’s beleaguered economy, which were initially received with much fanfare but then ignored by the regime.
A Japanese initiative in 2002 is illustrative. Tokyo, with early support from the regime, conducted a macro-economic and structural reform study. Researchers reportedly had access to sensitive economic data for this project.
But the implementation of the results, which the Japanese government was willing to back, found little takers within the regime.
"This research that was conducted by top Japanese and Burmese economist was rejected by the military government," says a Burmese economist based in northern Thailand, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This was after the Japanese made every effort to offer a feasible programme that the regime could undertake according to its comfort level."
"Other efforts can face a similar fate," he adds. "They will fall on deaf ears."
Such reluctance for change has been attributed to the new wealth the regime has amassed since the discovery of huge offshore natural gas fields in the 1990s. Gas exports to neighbouring Thailand has resulted in Burma’s foreign exchange reserves reaching a record 3.6 billion U.S. dollars.
That figure is expected to increase with Chinese investments in a new offshore natural gas project.
Yet 75 percent of the country’s estimated 57 million people who live in rural areas and make up the largest slice of the country's poor have hardly benefited from such financial bounty. Malnutrition is rampant, affecting over a third of the country’s children. It is ranked by the U.N. as one of the hunger hotspots of the world.
The junta’s public spending offers some clues for this dire picture. Nearly 40 percent of the gross domestic percent goes to support of its over 400,000- strong army while only 0.3 percent is set aside for health, placing it just above the lowest ranked Sierra Leone, at 191st, on a World Health Organisation list.
Stiglitz’s solutions to help Burma’s rural poor will have to grapple with other numbers, too. Inflation is at 30 percent and the annual growth rate— estimated at four to five percent by independent analysts—is far lower than the 10 percent rate that the regime claims it to be.
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Nov 30 (IPS) - The list of high-profile foreigners heading to Burma to engage and advise the country’s military regime is about to get longer. The latest due to join that flow is Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz.
The former chief economist of the World Bank will fly into Burma, or Myanmar as it is also known, on Dec. 14 for a mission aimed to examine and improve the South-east Asian nation’s rural economy, says Noeleen Heyzer, head of a United Nations regional body based in Bangkok.
"He will share his ideas on what kind of economic decision making is critical for growth in the rural economy and poverty reduction," adds the executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). "He will be there for a couple of days."
"We hope that this mission will be able to open up a new space in economic decision-making and policy formulations," Heyzer tells IPS. "The focus is on how do we reach the poorest people in Myanmar."
Stiglitz, who has engaged with poorer countries to offer development models through the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, a think tank he founded, will meet Burma’s Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Maj Gen Htay Oo and National Development Minister Soe Tha during this visit.
Both ministers are reportedly close to Burma’s strongman, Senior Gen Than Shwe, who presides over a regime notorious for its oppression and secrecy.
Stiglitz is due to deliver a lecture on ‘Economic Policies and Decision Making for Poverty Reduction: Reaching the Bottom Half’ in the afternoon of Dec. 15. The two ministers and Heyzer have also been billed as speakers during this ‘development forum’ under the theme ‘Policies for Poverty Reduction— Effecting Change in Myanmar’s Rural Economy’.
This forum, to be held in Naypidaw, the administrative capital, is one of a series of talks Stigliz will be involved in. Others will include an exchange of ideas with leading Burmese economists, U.N. experts, the diplomatic community and speakers from the local and international non-governmental groups.
Field visits to Burma’s dry zone are also on the cards, confirms Heyzer, who has been instrumental in the visit of the globally renowned economist. "It should be for two or three days to bring him into contact with the issues of the rural economy and the problems of trading, the banking system and the commodity prices."
ESCAP’s foray into Burma is part of a broader programme to reach out to countries with "special needs" among its over 50 member states. The foundation for this engagement with Burma’s rural economy was laid in August when Heyzer visited the military-ruled country. The initial talks she had at that time touched on issues like the need for farmers to gain greater access to rural credit and concerns over the state fixing of rice prices at rates that condemned farmers into permanent poverty.
Currently, some 7.8 million hectares are under paddy cultivation, producing an estimated 30.5 million tonnes of rice during the 2008-2009 harvest period, states the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Such rice production has come at a heavy price for Burmese rice farmers. Most of them, who are small farmers, have had difficulty accessing rural credit, according to Sean Turnell, an Australian academic who publishes the ‘Burma Economic Watch’, in an interview with IPS.
"The policies of the Burmese government have been anything but helpful," he says. "They have, in essence, stood by while Burma’s rural credit scheme has collapsed."
Burmese economists wonder how open the junta will be to Stiglitz’s policy prescriptions given previous foreign attempts to suggest improvements to the country’s beleaguered economy, which were initially received with much fanfare but then ignored by the regime.
A Japanese initiative in 2002 is illustrative. Tokyo, with early support from the regime, conducted a macro-economic and structural reform study. Researchers reportedly had access to sensitive economic data for this project.
But the implementation of the results, which the Japanese government was willing to back, found little takers within the regime.
"This research that was conducted by top Japanese and Burmese economist was rejected by the military government," says a Burmese economist based in northern Thailand, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This was after the Japanese made every effort to offer a feasible programme that the regime could undertake according to its comfort level."
"Other efforts can face a similar fate," he adds. "They will fall on deaf ears."
Such reluctance for change has been attributed to the new wealth the regime has amassed since the discovery of huge offshore natural gas fields in the 1990s. Gas exports to neighbouring Thailand has resulted in Burma’s foreign exchange reserves reaching a record 3.6 billion U.S. dollars.
That figure is expected to increase with Chinese investments in a new offshore natural gas project.
Yet 75 percent of the country’s estimated 57 million people who live in rural areas and make up the largest slice of the country's poor have hardly benefited from such financial bounty. Malnutrition is rampant, affecting over a third of the country’s children. It is ranked by the U.N. as one of the hunger hotspots of the world.
The junta’s public spending offers some clues for this dire picture. Nearly 40 percent of the gross domestic percent goes to support of its over 400,000- strong army while only 0.3 percent is set aside for health, placing it just above the lowest ranked Sierra Leone, at 191st, on a World Health Organisation list.
Stiglitz’s solutions to help Burma’s rural poor will have to grapple with other numbers, too. Inflation is at 30 percent and the annual growth rate— estimated at four to five percent by independent analysts—is far lower than the 10 percent rate that the regime claims it to be.
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Inter Press Service News Agency
BURMA: Junta under Scrutiny for Concrete Pre-election Signs
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Nov 29 (IPS) - In the wake of a meeting attended by the all-powerful military elite, Burma’s military regime is due to come under close scrutiny for concrete signs of change leading up to a promised general elections in 2010.
The weeklong gathering in Naypidaw, the administrative capital, is where the country’s strongman, Senior General Than Shwe, receives reports from senior officers in the military machine that dominates the South-east Asian country and then determines policies for the following four months.
There were close to 200 officers who attended this high-powered meeting, from Nov. 23 to 27, according to Win Min, a Burmese national security expert at Payap University in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
"Than Shwe has been normally holding these meetings once in four months. It draws in ministers of the military government, regional commanders, heads of the light infantry divisions and officers of brigadier general rank," Win Min told IPS.
"Highest policy decisions are made here. Military reshuffles normally occur, but Than Shwe will keep people guessing till the very last minute about concrete moves. He prefers to take people by surprise. It is his military thinking."
Among the announcements that diplomats following Burmese affairs are waiting to hear is Than Shwe’s order to military officers to enter the political field for the 2010 elections. "The order for senior military officers to change uniforms will be significant," one Asian diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told IPS. "Who among them ordered to do so will also be revealing."
Other more certain signs that the regime will go ahead with the election is the announcement of two election laws, the diplomat added. They are the law for the registration of political parties and the law governing the election process.
Until now, the junta’s commitment towards the poll to create a "discipline- flourishing democracy" has only been verbal assurances as part of its "roadmap" towards political reform in Burma, officially called Myanmar.
On Friday Than Shwe repeated this promise at a meeting of the Union of Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) held in Naypidaw to coincide with the meeting of the country’s military elite.
A free and fair election will be held in 2010 in keeping with the country’s new 2008 constitution, Than Shwe had told members of the USDA, according to Saturday’s edition of ‘The New Light of Myanmar,’ a junta mouthpiece.
Yet the strongman sounded a note of warning to the political parties that may vie in this long-awaited poll. They should not undermine the disintegration of the country and affect national solidarity, Than Shwe was reported as saying.
Than Shwe is the head of USDA, a civilian arm of the junta that is expected to play a pivotal role in the polls to avoid a repeat of the 1990 elections. At that poll, the last held in Burma, the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, won with a massive mandate, which the junta refused to recognise.
The new constitution, which was approved in a deeply flawed referendum in May 2008, has other features to ensure that the military’s grip on power will remain even after the poll. The powerful army, with its nearly 450,000- strong troops, has been guaranteed 25 percent of all seats in the legislative bodies from the national to the village levels.
Although Western governments are aware of these anti-democratic features, they are increasingly open to engagement with the regime. Still unchanged, however, are the punitive economic sanctions that marked the hostile policy the United States and the European Union (EU) have towards Burma.
There are new opportunities for a breakthrough in the political deadlock in Burma, Piero Fassino, the EU special envoy to Burma, said in a statement Friday following mission through South-east Asia. The Italian politician was encouraged by the prospect of a dialogue involving the junta.
Fassino’s views add to the softer line taken by the administration of U.S. President Barak Obama on Burma. The latter’s policy shift to engage with Burma has seen an encounter between the U.S. leader and Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein at a regional summit in Singapore in mid- November.
That landmark meeting—the first by a U.S. president in over 40 years— followed a visit to Burma in October by Kurt Campbell, the U.S. assistant secretary of state, who became the highest-ranking official from Washington to visit Burma in 14 years.
Campbell’s visit included a nearly two-hour meeting with Suu Kyi, who has spent over 14 of her last 20 years under detention.
For her part, Suu Kyi has used the momentum towards engagement to write to Than Shwe, seeking a meeting between the two. The Nobel Peace laureate’s letter reportedly expressed a willingness to "cooperate" to end the stalemate between the junta and the NLD leader.
The last time the two met was in 2002 in Rangoon, the former Burmese capital. But Suu Kyi has met with a government minister appointed as the junta’s liaison officer seven times in the past two years, the most recent in October.
The changes in the international community’s thinking towards Burma served as a backdrop for the just concluded meeting of the country’s military elite.
"The military government could not ignore this during this week’s meeting," said Zin Linn, information director for the National Coalition Government for the Union of Burma, the government elected in 1990 currently in exile.
"There is some pressure and expectations of change from the international community," he told IPS. "The military government has to decide how they will deal with Aung San Suu Kyi and how they will manage (the country’s) political affairs during the election year."
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Nov 29 (IPS) - In the wake of a meeting attended by the all-powerful military elite, Burma’s military regime is due to come under close scrutiny for concrete signs of change leading up to a promised general elections in 2010.
The weeklong gathering in Naypidaw, the administrative capital, is where the country’s strongman, Senior General Than Shwe, receives reports from senior officers in the military machine that dominates the South-east Asian country and then determines policies for the following four months.
There were close to 200 officers who attended this high-powered meeting, from Nov. 23 to 27, according to Win Min, a Burmese national security expert at Payap University in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
"Than Shwe has been normally holding these meetings once in four months. It draws in ministers of the military government, regional commanders, heads of the light infantry divisions and officers of brigadier general rank," Win Min told IPS.
"Highest policy decisions are made here. Military reshuffles normally occur, but Than Shwe will keep people guessing till the very last minute about concrete moves. He prefers to take people by surprise. It is his military thinking."
Among the announcements that diplomats following Burmese affairs are waiting to hear is Than Shwe’s order to military officers to enter the political field for the 2010 elections. "The order for senior military officers to change uniforms will be significant," one Asian diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told IPS. "Who among them ordered to do so will also be revealing."
Other more certain signs that the regime will go ahead with the election is the announcement of two election laws, the diplomat added. They are the law for the registration of political parties and the law governing the election process.
Until now, the junta’s commitment towards the poll to create a "discipline- flourishing democracy" has only been verbal assurances as part of its "roadmap" towards political reform in Burma, officially called Myanmar.
On Friday Than Shwe repeated this promise at a meeting of the Union of Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) held in Naypidaw to coincide with the meeting of the country’s military elite.
A free and fair election will be held in 2010 in keeping with the country’s new 2008 constitution, Than Shwe had told members of the USDA, according to Saturday’s edition of ‘The New Light of Myanmar,’ a junta mouthpiece.
Yet the strongman sounded a note of warning to the political parties that may vie in this long-awaited poll. They should not undermine the disintegration of the country and affect national solidarity, Than Shwe was reported as saying.
Than Shwe is the head of USDA, a civilian arm of the junta that is expected to play a pivotal role in the polls to avoid a repeat of the 1990 elections. At that poll, the last held in Burma, the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, won with a massive mandate, which the junta refused to recognise.
The new constitution, which was approved in a deeply flawed referendum in May 2008, has other features to ensure that the military’s grip on power will remain even after the poll. The powerful army, with its nearly 450,000- strong troops, has been guaranteed 25 percent of all seats in the legislative bodies from the national to the village levels.
Although Western governments are aware of these anti-democratic features, they are increasingly open to engagement with the regime. Still unchanged, however, are the punitive economic sanctions that marked the hostile policy the United States and the European Union (EU) have towards Burma.
There are new opportunities for a breakthrough in the political deadlock in Burma, Piero Fassino, the EU special envoy to Burma, said in a statement Friday following mission through South-east Asia. The Italian politician was encouraged by the prospect of a dialogue involving the junta.
Fassino’s views add to the softer line taken by the administration of U.S. President Barak Obama on Burma. The latter’s policy shift to engage with Burma has seen an encounter between the U.S. leader and Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein at a regional summit in Singapore in mid- November.
That landmark meeting—the first by a U.S. president in over 40 years— followed a visit to Burma in October by Kurt Campbell, the U.S. assistant secretary of state, who became the highest-ranking official from Washington to visit Burma in 14 years.
Campbell’s visit included a nearly two-hour meeting with Suu Kyi, who has spent over 14 of her last 20 years under detention.
For her part, Suu Kyi has used the momentum towards engagement to write to Than Shwe, seeking a meeting between the two. The Nobel Peace laureate’s letter reportedly expressed a willingness to "cooperate" to end the stalemate between the junta and the NLD leader.
The last time the two met was in 2002 in Rangoon, the former Burmese capital. But Suu Kyi has met with a government minister appointed as the junta’s liaison officer seven times in the past two years, the most recent in October.
The changes in the international community’s thinking towards Burma served as a backdrop for the just concluded meeting of the country’s military elite.
"The military government could not ignore this during this week’s meeting," said Zin Linn, information director for the National Coalition Government for the Union of Burma, the government elected in 1990 currently in exile.
"There is some pressure and expectations of change from the international community," he told IPS. "The military government has to decide how they will deal with Aung San Suu Kyi and how they will manage (the country’s) political affairs during the election year."
*******************************************************************
Asian Tribune - Burma Media Faces Junta Squeeze
Sat, 2009-11-28 02:19 — editor
By Zin Linn
Presently, Burma is at an intersection of political makeover. The military regime wants to maintain the status quo while the people desire to open a new chapter of change.
People are demanding freedoms of expression and association while the junta is in no mood to allow basic civic rights.
So much so, most people are rallying in support of NLD the proposals. In its ‘Shwe-gon-dine declaration’ dated 29th April 2009, the National League for Democracy (NLD) has set two conditions for its participation in the 2010 election. One amend provisions in the 2008 constitution which are not in harmony with democratic principles. Two hold an all-inclusive free and fair poll under international supervision.
The International Community has been urging the junta to release all political prisoners prior to the 2010 election in order to gain international support. “Burma must release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and let her to take part in a nationwide election, otherwise the vote will not be honourable and U.S. economic sanctions will not be lifted”, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Scot Marciel, warned after meeting her in Rangoon.
No diplomatic breakthrough was achieved during the visit to Burma by Mr. Marciel and the Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on November 3 and 4. In addition to Suu Kyi, the two American diplomats met Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein, opposition politicians, ethnic leaders, and others. But they could not meet the Big Man, Senior Gen Than Shwe himself. Why a meeting with him could not be arranged remains unclear. After all it is Gen Than who calls the shots in Burma and a meeting with him could have been beneficial to both sides.
According to some analysts, there is no progress at all since the US Special Mission’s visit to Burma. There is more belligerence, more restrictions on media and civil society, more control on Internet users, more arrests, more political prisoners, and more military attacks in the ethnic minority areas. So, dissident politicians warned each other to be very wary and have asked the international community to put pressure on the regime until the said benchmarks are achieved.
If the junta has a sincere mindset to start democratic reform, the media must be free at the outset. Access to information is crucial to establish a healthy democracy. Moreover, media is the backbone of a democracy system. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless frontiers".
But, in Burma, not only the political oppositions but also the journalists and the media personnel are under the strictest rules of the stratocracy. In most countries, journalists or media workers can do their jobs without fear or favour and survive. But in military ruled Burma, journalism is a hazardous work. Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai was killed in the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Several citizen journalists are still in prisons.
According to the Burma Media Association and Reporters Sans Frontieres, at least 12 journalists and dozens of media workers including poets and writers are held behind bars since the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis and the May 2008 constitutional referendum. Some like film director, writer and comic Zarganar and blogger Nay Phone Latt received long-term sentences while sentences for print journalists ranged from two to seven years. Saw Wai, a poet, was arrested in January 2008 for inserting a concealed message – power crazy Than Shwe - in a Valentines Day poem. He has been awarded a two- year jail term..
The New York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) "strongly condemned" the arrest on 28 October 2009 of freelance journalist and blogger Pai Soe Oo (alias) Jay Paing, reportedly a member of Cyclone Nargis disaster relief volunteer group named "Lin Let Kye" ("Shining Star"). CPJ called for his immediate release, saying his arrest undermined the Burmese junta's assertion of moving toward democracy.
"Burma's military regime claims to be moving toward democracy, yet it continues to routinely arrest and detain journalists," said Shawn W. Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative. "Reducing international pressure should require demonstrable improvements in press freedom."
A freelance journalist, speaking under condition of anonymity, said that around 20 people, including entertainers, writers and press workers, have been arrested since third week of October. There were several arrests without warrant between 21 and 28 October. Staff members of the Voice, the Foreign News, the Favourite, the Pyi Myanmar and the Kandarawaddy journals are reportedly picked up for a life in jail.
He could confirm at least eight people including 4 journalists arrested by police and military intelligence officials at their homes. They included Khant Min Htet, a poet and the layout designer for the ‘Ahlinkar Wutyi Journal’,Thant Zin Soe, an editor of the Foreign Affair News weekly journal, freelancer Nyi Nyi Tun (alias) Mee Doke and Paing Soe Oo (alias) Jay Paing, a freelance reporter and blogger. The other four, Aung Myat Kyaw Thu, Thet Ko, Myint Thein and Min Min are students of Dagon University.
The detained youths are members of "Linlet Kyei," or "Shining Star" a group which helps survivors of last year's Cyclone Nargis, which killed over 140,000 people. The Linlet Kye volunteer group was formed in early May 2008 and has over 40 members. Most of them are Rangoon-based reporters and young social activists. They help orphaned schoolchildren by providing them with textbooks and paying for their school expenses.
Burmese media is often targeted during periodical crackdown on dissents. Some more arrests of journalists cannot be ruled out since the regime has turned a virtual deaf ear to the appeals from the international community to release political prisoners prior to elections next year..
Burma was at the forefront of press freedom in Southeast Asia before the 1962 military coup. The country then enjoyed a free press; censorship was something unheard then. As many as three dozen newspapers, including English, Chinese and Hindi dailies, existed between 1948 and 1962. Journalists had free access even to the prime minister’s office in those days. They were free to tie –up with international press agencies.
The situation changed in 1962, when the military seized power. All newspapers were nationalized. Press Scrutiny Board (PSB) came up to enforce strict censorship on all forms of printed matter including advertisements and even obituaries. Since then, censorship and self-censorship have become commonplace in Burma undermining political rights and civil liberties.
Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) is a major oppressive tool of Than Shwe military regime. Not surprisingly, Burma stands downgraded from a free state to a prison state. All news media in Burma is strictly censored and tightly controlled by the military -- all daily newspapers, radio and television stations are under supervision of the junta. Whatever privately-owned journals and magazines are there, these are few and work strictly under the PSRD scanner. No printed matter can bring out without PSRD permission.
The radio, television and other media outlets are monopolized for propaganda warfare by the regime and opposition views are never allowed. Recently some FM Radio stations have come up but people view them as a part of the military campaign to secure voters’ support for the ‘official nominees’ in the 2010 elections.
The regime knows well how to take advantage of the popularity of FM radio. They are now using the new stations to magnetize people away from the exiled media. The media is a special tool for the military regime and no space is given for the opposition.
Unless the junta guaranteed the essential value of human rights – such as, freedom of expression and freedom of association – its ongoing polling process will be meaningless.
Press is the fourth pillar of a State. It is accepted around the globe. Not in Burma. The lifeblood of democracy is free flow of information. Burma needs regional cooperation for Press Freedom. While Burma is at an intersection of political makeover, the media workers in Burma are looking forward to have more assistance, understanding and pragmatic help from the international media groups.
Without press freedom a nation cannot have social equality or democracy.
Sat, 2009-11-28 02:19 — editor
By Zin Linn
Presently, Burma is at an intersection of political makeover. The military regime wants to maintain the status quo while the people desire to open a new chapter of change.
People are demanding freedoms of expression and association while the junta is in no mood to allow basic civic rights.
So much so, most people are rallying in support of NLD the proposals. In its ‘Shwe-gon-dine declaration’ dated 29th April 2009, the National League for Democracy (NLD) has set two conditions for its participation in the 2010 election. One amend provisions in the 2008 constitution which are not in harmony with democratic principles. Two hold an all-inclusive free and fair poll under international supervision.
The International Community has been urging the junta to release all political prisoners prior to the 2010 election in order to gain international support. “Burma must release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and let her to take part in a nationwide election, otherwise the vote will not be honourable and U.S. economic sanctions will not be lifted”, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Scot Marciel, warned after meeting her in Rangoon.
No diplomatic breakthrough was achieved during the visit to Burma by Mr. Marciel and the Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on November 3 and 4. In addition to Suu Kyi, the two American diplomats met Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein, opposition politicians, ethnic leaders, and others. But they could not meet the Big Man, Senior Gen Than Shwe himself. Why a meeting with him could not be arranged remains unclear. After all it is Gen Than who calls the shots in Burma and a meeting with him could have been beneficial to both sides.
According to some analysts, there is no progress at all since the US Special Mission’s visit to Burma. There is more belligerence, more restrictions on media and civil society, more control on Internet users, more arrests, more political prisoners, and more military attacks in the ethnic minority areas. So, dissident politicians warned each other to be very wary and have asked the international community to put pressure on the regime until the said benchmarks are achieved.
If the junta has a sincere mindset to start democratic reform, the media must be free at the outset. Access to information is crucial to establish a healthy democracy. Moreover, media is the backbone of a democracy system. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless frontiers".
But, in Burma, not only the political oppositions but also the journalists and the media personnel are under the strictest rules of the stratocracy. In most countries, journalists or media workers can do their jobs without fear or favour and survive. But in military ruled Burma, journalism is a hazardous work. Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai was killed in the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Several citizen journalists are still in prisons.
According to the Burma Media Association and Reporters Sans Frontieres, at least 12 journalists and dozens of media workers including poets and writers are held behind bars since the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis and the May 2008 constitutional referendum. Some like film director, writer and comic Zarganar and blogger Nay Phone Latt received long-term sentences while sentences for print journalists ranged from two to seven years. Saw Wai, a poet, was arrested in January 2008 for inserting a concealed message – power crazy Than Shwe - in a Valentines Day poem. He has been awarded a two- year jail term..
The New York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) "strongly condemned" the arrest on 28 October 2009 of freelance journalist and blogger Pai Soe Oo (alias) Jay Paing, reportedly a member of Cyclone Nargis disaster relief volunteer group named "Lin Let Kye" ("Shining Star"). CPJ called for his immediate release, saying his arrest undermined the Burmese junta's assertion of moving toward democracy.
"Burma's military regime claims to be moving toward democracy, yet it continues to routinely arrest and detain journalists," said Shawn W. Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative. "Reducing international pressure should require demonstrable improvements in press freedom."
A freelance journalist, speaking under condition of anonymity, said that around 20 people, including entertainers, writers and press workers, have been arrested since third week of October. There were several arrests without warrant between 21 and 28 October. Staff members of the Voice, the Foreign News, the Favourite, the Pyi Myanmar and the Kandarawaddy journals are reportedly picked up for a life in jail.
He could confirm at least eight people including 4 journalists arrested by police and military intelligence officials at their homes. They included Khant Min Htet, a poet and the layout designer for the ‘Ahlinkar Wutyi Journal’,Thant Zin Soe, an editor of the Foreign Affair News weekly journal, freelancer Nyi Nyi Tun (alias) Mee Doke and Paing Soe Oo (alias) Jay Paing, a freelance reporter and blogger. The other four, Aung Myat Kyaw Thu, Thet Ko, Myint Thein and Min Min are students of Dagon University.
The detained youths are members of "Linlet Kyei," or "Shining Star" a group which helps survivors of last year's Cyclone Nargis, which killed over 140,000 people. The Linlet Kye volunteer group was formed in early May 2008 and has over 40 members. Most of them are Rangoon-based reporters and young social activists. They help orphaned schoolchildren by providing them with textbooks and paying for their school expenses.
Burmese media is often targeted during periodical crackdown on dissents. Some more arrests of journalists cannot be ruled out since the regime has turned a virtual deaf ear to the appeals from the international community to release political prisoners prior to elections next year..
Burma was at the forefront of press freedom in Southeast Asia before the 1962 military coup. The country then enjoyed a free press; censorship was something unheard then. As many as three dozen newspapers, including English, Chinese and Hindi dailies, existed between 1948 and 1962. Journalists had free access even to the prime minister’s office in those days. They were free to tie –up with international press agencies.
The situation changed in 1962, when the military seized power. All newspapers were nationalized. Press Scrutiny Board (PSB) came up to enforce strict censorship on all forms of printed matter including advertisements and even obituaries. Since then, censorship and self-censorship have become commonplace in Burma undermining political rights and civil liberties.
Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) is a major oppressive tool of Than Shwe military regime. Not surprisingly, Burma stands downgraded from a free state to a prison state. All news media in Burma is strictly censored and tightly controlled by the military -- all daily newspapers, radio and television stations are under supervision of the junta. Whatever privately-owned journals and magazines are there, these are few and work strictly under the PSRD scanner. No printed matter can bring out without PSRD permission.
The radio, television and other media outlets are monopolized for propaganda warfare by the regime and opposition views are never allowed. Recently some FM Radio stations have come up but people view them as a part of the military campaign to secure voters’ support for the ‘official nominees’ in the 2010 elections.
The regime knows well how to take advantage of the popularity of FM radio. They are now using the new stations to magnetize people away from the exiled media. The media is a special tool for the military regime and no space is given for the opposition.
Unless the junta guaranteed the essential value of human rights – such as, freedom of expression and freedom of association – its ongoing polling process will be meaningless.
Press is the fourth pillar of a State. It is accepted around the globe. Not in Burma. The lifeblood of democracy is free flow of information. Burma needs regional cooperation for Press Freedom. While Burma is at an intersection of political makeover, the media workers in Burma are looking forward to have more assistance, understanding and pragmatic help from the international media groups.
Without press freedom a nation cannot have social equality or democracy.
*******************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Thai Navy Vessel Fires on Burmese Soldiers
By SAW YAN NAING - Monday, November 30, 2009
An exchange of gunfire on Friday between the Thai navy and Burmese government soldiers injured five Burmese soldiers in waters near Kawthoung Township in far southern Burma, according to sources.
The gunfire exchange lasted for about 30 minutes after the Thai navy opened fire on a group of seven Burmese soldiers who were based on Auriol Island, according to sources in the area. No Thai sailors were reported injured in the fighting.
A Burmese officer, identified as Lt Lwin Min Thu, reportedly sustained serious injuries. He and four soldiers were taken to a military hospital in Kawthaung, said Maung Tu, a businessman who is close to Burmese authorities.
The encounter reportedly occurred about 4 kilometers inside Thai waters between Kawthoung, Burma, and Ranong, Thailand.
The Burmese soldiers were pursuing Thai fishermen who they believed to be fishing illegally in Burmese waters, sources said.
Thai fishermen reportedly told the Thai navy that they believed the Burmese were pirates because they did not wear military uniforms. A ship manned by the Burmese soldiers sank after the fighting, said Maung Tu.
Local sources said that Burmese soldiers based on Auriol Island are known to extort money from Thai fishermen in the area.
Kawthaung, at Burma's far southern border, is one of the major border points where Burmese cross over to Ranong to look for work in Thailand or to travel on to Malaysia.
By SAW YAN NAING - Monday, November 30, 2009
An exchange of gunfire on Friday between the Thai navy and Burmese government soldiers injured five Burmese soldiers in waters near Kawthoung Township in far southern Burma, according to sources.
The gunfire exchange lasted for about 30 minutes after the Thai navy opened fire on a group of seven Burmese soldiers who were based on Auriol Island, according to sources in the area. No Thai sailors were reported injured in the fighting.
A Burmese officer, identified as Lt Lwin Min Thu, reportedly sustained serious injuries. He and four soldiers were taken to a military hospital in Kawthaung, said Maung Tu, a businessman who is close to Burmese authorities.
The encounter reportedly occurred about 4 kilometers inside Thai waters between Kawthoung, Burma, and Ranong, Thailand.
The Burmese soldiers were pursuing Thai fishermen who they believed to be fishing illegally in Burmese waters, sources said.
Thai fishermen reportedly told the Thai navy that they believed the Burmese were pirates because they did not wear military uniforms. A ship manned by the Burmese soldiers sank after the fighting, said Maung Tu.
Local sources said that Burmese soldiers based on Auriol Island are known to extort money from Thai fishermen in the area.
Kawthaung, at Burma's far southern border, is one of the major border points where Burmese cross over to Ranong to look for work in Thailand or to travel on to Malaysia.
*******************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - No Military Reshuffle after Top Brass Meet
By MIN LWIN - Monday, November 30, 2009
Despite expectations that Snr-Gen Than Shwe would reshuffle senior military leaders in preparation for the 2010 election, he transferred no one and ended the quarterly military meeting by playing golf.
The meeting, which ended on Nov. 27, was attended by more than 150 high-ranking military leaders including members of the ruling military council, regional commanders of the army, navy and air force, department chiefs from the War Office and cabinet ministers.
“We expected a major reshuffle in the Tatmadaw [the Burmse military] and cabinet ministers, but nothing happened,” said the personal assistant to a commander of a light infantry division.
Government-run newspapers published no official announcements of the quarterly meeting.
Burmese political observers inside and outside of the country had speculated that a major reshuffle in preparation for the 2010 military-sponsored election would take place at the meeting.
Rangoon-based politicians wanted Than Shwe to approve the country’s election law, which would authorize an election in 2010 and the constitutional backing for the Burmese armed forces to retain at least 25 percent of parliamentary seats.
Meanwhile, a rumor going round dissident circles said Snr-Gen Than Shwe reportedly said he does not want to free Suu Kyi before the election in 2010, even though some senior military officers want her released to decrease international pressure on the military regime.
The US has been calling on the regime to free Suu Kyi and allow her to contest in the election.
The Burmese military dictators have dominated politics in Burma for over 40 years. They last held an election in 1990 but refused to hand the country over to the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi, which won a landslide victory.
By MIN LWIN - Monday, November 30, 2009
Despite expectations that Snr-Gen Than Shwe would reshuffle senior military leaders in preparation for the 2010 election, he transferred no one and ended the quarterly military meeting by playing golf.
The meeting, which ended on Nov. 27, was attended by more than 150 high-ranking military leaders including members of the ruling military council, regional commanders of the army, navy and air force, department chiefs from the War Office and cabinet ministers.
“We expected a major reshuffle in the Tatmadaw [the Burmse military] and cabinet ministers, but nothing happened,” said the personal assistant to a commander of a light infantry division.
Government-run newspapers published no official announcements of the quarterly meeting.
Burmese political observers inside and outside of the country had speculated that a major reshuffle in preparation for the 2010 military-sponsored election would take place at the meeting.
Rangoon-based politicians wanted Than Shwe to approve the country’s election law, which would authorize an election in 2010 and the constitutional backing for the Burmese armed forces to retain at least 25 percent of parliamentary seats.
Meanwhile, a rumor going round dissident circles said Snr-Gen Than Shwe reportedly said he does not want to free Suu Kyi before the election in 2010, even though some senior military officers want her released to decrease international pressure on the military regime.
The US has been calling on the regime to free Suu Kyi and allow her to contest in the election.
The Burmese military dictators have dominated politics in Burma for over 40 years. They last held an election in 1990 but refused to hand the country over to the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi, which won a landslide victory.
*******************************************************************
Japan to allow resettlement of Burmese refugees
by Usa Pichai
Monday, 30 November 2009 19:51
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Parliamentarians from several countries expressed concern about the plight of refugees from North Korea and Burma, while a Japanese MP said that Japan will start selecting refugees from Burma to resettle from early 2010.
On Saturday, the International Parliamentarians' Coalition for North Korean Refugees and Human Rights (IPCNKR) expressed concerned about refugees from Burma, where they share a similar plight with North Korean refugees.
The view was expressed in a press conference after the annual General Assembly of IPCNKR held in Chiang Mai, Thailand from November 27 to 29, 2009.
Beginning with its 2003 founding General Meeting in Seoul, IPCNKR currently consists of 200 parliamentarians from 62 nations.
Nakagawa Masaharu, Japan’s Member of the House of Representatives, and Senior Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, who is also the standing Co-Chairman of IPCNKR, talked in his welcome speech about the meeting which was organized in Thailand because the country shares a border with Burma - a country with a military junta that can be ranked alongside North Korea.
“It is a fact that gross violations of human rights and persecution of minorities are a serious issue in this country as well. We [IPCNKR] would like to take this opportunity to issue a heartfelt appeal for the restoration of human rights in Myanmar,” he noted.
The meeting focussed on the need to promote and protect the human rights of North Korean refugees in keeping with the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also expected parliamentarian’s participation in efforts to improve the human rights situation in North Korea as well as around the globe.
Refugees from North Korea who flee to escape starvation and/or oppression by their government, cross into China, where some remain and some make their way to South Korea, the United States, Japan, or other countries. A number cross to Lao and Thailand though the northern border in Chiang Rai Province.
Thailand is widely recognized as the number two destination (the first is China) into which North Korean refugees flee from their homeland. Many of them, who arrive in Thailand, are resettled in South Korea. According to the Thai Immigration Office, about 1,000 North Korean defectors entered Thailand in 2007. Later statistics have not been released, but estimates place the 2008 total at around 1,500.
In addition, Nakagawa told the Mizzima that the resettlement programme of refugees from Burma to Japan will start in early 2010, while the actual programme to prepare the refugees to live in Japan could begin around July.
“The first group of refugees to be resettled is around 30 to 40 people. The programme will be handled in phases to see the progress,” he added.
By the end of (2010), Japan has decided to accept a group of Burmese refugees in camps along the Thai-Burma border. The decision makes Japan the first Asian country to accept Burmese refugees.
Japan now becomes the first Asian country to accept Burmese refugees, who have earlier been resettled in United States, Canada, Australia and European countries, through the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. Besides, it is also a sign of a policy shift in Japan, which rarely allows refugees to be resettled in their country.
Recently, Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama called on the UNHCR to support Japan's plan to accept Burma refugees from fiscal 2010, while he was meeting U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.
At the meeting in the Prime Minister's office, Guterres responded that Japan's foreign policy and the UNHCR's support are heading towards the same goal and that Japan expects continued support from the agency. The government will examine the outcome of the programme after three years and decide whether to continue.
by Usa Pichai
Monday, 30 November 2009 19:51
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Parliamentarians from several countries expressed concern about the plight of refugees from North Korea and Burma, while a Japanese MP said that Japan will start selecting refugees from Burma to resettle from early 2010.
On Saturday, the International Parliamentarians' Coalition for North Korean Refugees and Human Rights (IPCNKR) expressed concerned about refugees from Burma, where they share a similar plight with North Korean refugees.
The view was expressed in a press conference after the annual General Assembly of IPCNKR held in Chiang Mai, Thailand from November 27 to 29, 2009.
Beginning with its 2003 founding General Meeting in Seoul, IPCNKR currently consists of 200 parliamentarians from 62 nations.
Nakagawa Masaharu, Japan’s Member of the House of Representatives, and Senior Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, who is also the standing Co-Chairman of IPCNKR, talked in his welcome speech about the meeting which was organized in Thailand because the country shares a border with Burma - a country with a military junta that can be ranked alongside North Korea.
“It is a fact that gross violations of human rights and persecution of minorities are a serious issue in this country as well. We [IPCNKR] would like to take this opportunity to issue a heartfelt appeal for the restoration of human rights in Myanmar,” he noted.
The meeting focussed on the need to promote and protect the human rights of North Korean refugees in keeping with the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also expected parliamentarian’s participation in efforts to improve the human rights situation in North Korea as well as around the globe.
Refugees from North Korea who flee to escape starvation and/or oppression by their government, cross into China, where some remain and some make their way to South Korea, the United States, Japan, or other countries. A number cross to Lao and Thailand though the northern border in Chiang Rai Province.
Thailand is widely recognized as the number two destination (the first is China) into which North Korean refugees flee from their homeland. Many of them, who arrive in Thailand, are resettled in South Korea. According to the Thai Immigration Office, about 1,000 North Korean defectors entered Thailand in 2007. Later statistics have not been released, but estimates place the 2008 total at around 1,500.
In addition, Nakagawa told the Mizzima that the resettlement programme of refugees from Burma to Japan will start in early 2010, while the actual programme to prepare the refugees to live in Japan could begin around July.
“The first group of refugees to be resettled is around 30 to 40 people. The programme will be handled in phases to see the progress,” he added.
By the end of (2010), Japan has decided to accept a group of Burmese refugees in camps along the Thai-Burma border. The decision makes Japan the first Asian country to accept Burmese refugees.
Japan now becomes the first Asian country to accept Burmese refugees, who have earlier been resettled in United States, Canada, Australia and European countries, through the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. Besides, it is also a sign of a policy shift in Japan, which rarely allows refugees to be resettled in their country.
Recently, Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama called on the UNHCR to support Japan's plan to accept Burma refugees from fiscal 2010, while he was meeting U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.
At the meeting in the Prime Minister's office, Guterres responded that Japan's foreign policy and the UNHCR's support are heading towards the same goal and that Japan expects continued support from the agency. The government will examine the outcome of the programme after three years and decide whether to continue.
*******************************************************************
Burma's 2010 election: New version of Diarchy
by Dr. Tint Swe
Monday, 30 November 2009 02:54
Mizzima News - To answer the frequently asked query - is democracy possible in Burma - is yes. But what democracy is the following question. The officially dubbed “disciplined democracy” is coming soon if everything goes smoothly. Thesaurus plainly tells that disciplined means restricted or closely controlled.
For external observers, an election can be seen as a routine and standard practice in democracy and would perfectly remark that a democrat can’t reject holding of an election. As the government in exile follows the policy and position of the National League for Democracy (NLD) as far as possible, (NCGUB) has neither endorsed nor rejected the 2010 election at this stage.
Not only foreigners but also the people of Burma are divided while commenting on the controversial 2010 election. It is normal that different people have different views on different issues. However the forthcoming election in Burma is abnormal because when it comes to Burma not everything is normal. Look at the election held in 1990, the freely and fairly held election did not lead to formation of a democratic government. It has been 19 years and 6 months and has not materialized. Bluntly speaking supporting an abnormal one is something like marrying a mad fiancée.
There may be people, who think that they are being defeated by the military, and prefer to go along with the military. Some may perceive the election after over 20 years of military rule, as an opening that may give rise to non-military people to play a role.
Optimistically yes. But objectively that election is something like the TV shows. The Parliament after (2010) election would resemble a wrestling match fought in a cage. The iron cage is the 2008 constitution. You can’t come out of the locked doors. Even if you win the match you can’t get the due prize like in the Spiderman movie. Meanwhile Spiderman’s uncle can be shot dead.
New version of Diarchy
The people of India and Burma have experience of Diarchy of British colony. Diarchy is one of the oldest types of government known from ancient Sparta, Rome, and Carthage. Also in 20th century, the system signified as a breakthrough and was the prototype of India’s full provincial autonomy and then independence. So Indian people had to wait for 28 years while Burmese people for (1948 – 1923) = 25 years. I don’t think the people of Burma of today are supposed to wait for such a long period as they are almost ready for democracy by having had a successful election exercise in 1990, the esteemed leaders who have vision for the future. This is 21st century and no colony at all.
During the Diarchy years the British Governor took 21% of Assembly seats, appointed selected ministries and shared with Burmese, Anglo-Burmese and Indians there. The same will be applied in the Nargis Constitution of 2008. The Chief of the Army will take 25% of the seats, appoint Ministers of Defence, Security/Home affairs and Border affairs, and then in the Parliament will be cronies, and like-minded representatives. So the 5th step of the roadmap should preferably be called “disciplined diarchy”.
The following categories will favour the 2010 election.
Those who readily want to collaborate with the military regime such as members of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and members of Union Solidarity Association (USDA) and business cronies
Those who have no attachment and or no fondness to the 1990 election
Those who contested and lost in the 1990 election
Those who are being expelled from the NLD and those who are discredited by the student groups
Those who are too young and awfully immature
The opportunists
Why is the 2010 election to be held?
The stakeholders of the Union of Burma precisely highlighted that the country’s problems are twofold: (1) lack of democracy and (2) the question of rights of ethnic minorities. The international community, including the United Nations acknowledged and supported both issues.
Correspondingly the military regime has taken two big steps.
The answer to ethnic issues is ceasefire agreement formulated in 1992. Most of the armed ethnic groups reached ceasefire contracts. Years later most of them are not satisfied. Now they are forced to transform to “border guards”, which have no political role.
The response to the democracy question is holding an election to be held in 2010. Some of us want to go along. The same conspiracy will follow for the legislators of (2010) election. Maybe a few years later they will become “assembly guards”, who can’t do any politics.
The non-NLD persons and groups have liberty to agree or disagree with NLD’s declaration in April this year. Whatever the justification to support or to participate in the 2010 election the military junta will be happy about it. But emotional observation is not to be concerned. Politically, all have to recollect the people’s determination expressed in the 1990 election. They voted for the NLD because they realized the need to be unified to bring down the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP), which had ruled for 26 years.
Here again, unity of consciousness is crucial to prevent the perpetual rule of the army. If we are divided and some of us are going along with the deceitful plan of the regime, we are finished.
It is sad that some intellectuals are not intelligent as the people on the street. I am confident the people’s intellect will prevail.
by Dr. Tint Swe
Monday, 30 November 2009 02:54
Mizzima News - To answer the frequently asked query - is democracy possible in Burma - is yes. But what democracy is the following question. The officially dubbed “disciplined democracy” is coming soon if everything goes smoothly. Thesaurus plainly tells that disciplined means restricted or closely controlled.
For external observers, an election can be seen as a routine and standard practice in democracy and would perfectly remark that a democrat can’t reject holding of an election. As the government in exile follows the policy and position of the National League for Democracy (NLD) as far as possible, (NCGUB) has neither endorsed nor rejected the 2010 election at this stage.
Not only foreigners but also the people of Burma are divided while commenting on the controversial 2010 election. It is normal that different people have different views on different issues. However the forthcoming election in Burma is abnormal because when it comes to Burma not everything is normal. Look at the election held in 1990, the freely and fairly held election did not lead to formation of a democratic government. It has been 19 years and 6 months and has not materialized. Bluntly speaking supporting an abnormal one is something like marrying a mad fiancée.
There may be people, who think that they are being defeated by the military, and prefer to go along with the military. Some may perceive the election after over 20 years of military rule, as an opening that may give rise to non-military people to play a role.
Optimistically yes. But objectively that election is something like the TV shows. The Parliament after (2010) election would resemble a wrestling match fought in a cage. The iron cage is the 2008 constitution. You can’t come out of the locked doors. Even if you win the match you can’t get the due prize like in the Spiderman movie. Meanwhile Spiderman’s uncle can be shot dead.
New version of Diarchy
The people of India and Burma have experience of Diarchy of British colony. Diarchy is one of the oldest types of government known from ancient Sparta, Rome, and Carthage. Also in 20th century, the system signified as a breakthrough and was the prototype of India’s full provincial autonomy and then independence. So Indian people had to wait for 28 years while Burmese people for (1948 – 1923) = 25 years. I don’t think the people of Burma of today are supposed to wait for such a long period as they are almost ready for democracy by having had a successful election exercise in 1990, the esteemed leaders who have vision for the future. This is 21st century and no colony at all.
During the Diarchy years the British Governor took 21% of Assembly seats, appointed selected ministries and shared with Burmese, Anglo-Burmese and Indians there. The same will be applied in the Nargis Constitution of 2008. The Chief of the Army will take 25% of the seats, appoint Ministers of Defence, Security/Home affairs and Border affairs, and then in the Parliament will be cronies, and like-minded representatives. So the 5th step of the roadmap should preferably be called “disciplined diarchy”.
The following categories will favour the 2010 election.
Those who readily want to collaborate with the military regime such as members of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and members of Union Solidarity Association (USDA) and business cronies
Those who have no attachment and or no fondness to the 1990 election
Those who contested and lost in the 1990 election
Those who are being expelled from the NLD and those who are discredited by the student groups
Those who are too young and awfully immature
The opportunists
Why is the 2010 election to be held?
The stakeholders of the Union of Burma precisely highlighted that the country’s problems are twofold: (1) lack of democracy and (2) the question of rights of ethnic minorities. The international community, including the United Nations acknowledged and supported both issues.
Correspondingly the military regime has taken two big steps.
The answer to ethnic issues is ceasefire agreement formulated in 1992. Most of the armed ethnic groups reached ceasefire contracts. Years later most of them are not satisfied. Now they are forced to transform to “border guards”, which have no political role.
The response to the democracy question is holding an election to be held in 2010. Some of us want to go along. The same conspiracy will follow for the legislators of (2010) election. Maybe a few years later they will become “assembly guards”, who can’t do any politics.
The non-NLD persons and groups have liberty to agree or disagree with NLD’s declaration in April this year. Whatever the justification to support or to participate in the 2010 election the military junta will be happy about it. But emotional observation is not to be concerned. Politically, all have to recollect the people’s determination expressed in the 1990 election. They voted for the NLD because they realized the need to be unified to bring down the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP), which had ruled for 26 years.
Here again, unity of consciousness is crucial to prevent the perpetual rule of the army. If we are divided and some of us are going along with the deceitful plan of the regime, we are finished.
It is sad that some intellectuals are not intelligent as the people on the street. I am confident the people’s intellect will prevail.
*******************************************************************
NLD proclaims 'positive' Than Shwe speech
Nov 30, 2009 (DVB)–Burma’s ruling general last week made a “positive contribution” towards future peace in the country during a speech that touched on elections next year, an opposition party spokesperson said.
In the speech, delivered to the government proxy Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), Senior Geneal Than Shwe promised “free and fair” elections for 2010, despite past pledges being met with skepticism from Burma observers.
Nyan Win, spokesperson for the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, said the speech was “not antagonistic”, but a repeat of past government rhetoric.
“In our view, the speech did not rule out opportunities to work for the benefit of the nation,” he said. The issue now is not about confrontation of policies but about exploring how best to find a solution and serve the interests of the nation.
“We believe that the speech under question is a positive contribution in that regard. We can see that the SPDC is not antagonistic and that it wants to work with goodwill for the betterment of the country.”
The NLD is yet to announce whether it will participate in the elections next year, the first to be held in Burma since 1990, arguing that the 2008 constitution must first be revised before polling takes place.
Despite the government claiming that 92 percent of the country had approved the revised constitution, critics say that a guarantee of 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military even prior to voting calls into question the legitimacy of the government’s pledge for free and fair elections.
Nay Myo Wei, from the Individual Politicians Network, said that parties must now be allowed to campaign freely for votes. The junta has placed tight restrictions on freedom of movement for opposition parties.
“Three basic methods of campaigning - distributing leaflets, giving speeches and showing campaign videos - should be allowed,” he said.
“Even if we wouldn’t be allowed to go onto the streets, it’s still no problem – we can distribute leaflets, give speech and show campaign videos at our houses. But I expect [the government] to make everything clear.”
His comments were echoed by Nyan Win: “I think the information on the freedom to campaign is more important than when the election is going to be held. For now, there is no freedom to campaign.”
The government is yet to announce the election laws, or a date for when polling will take place. In 1990, around 200 political parties participated in the elections following the announcement of a law on the formation of parties.
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
Nov 30, 2009 (DVB)–Burma’s ruling general last week made a “positive contribution” towards future peace in the country during a speech that touched on elections next year, an opposition party spokesperson said.
In the speech, delivered to the government proxy Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), Senior Geneal Than Shwe promised “free and fair” elections for 2010, despite past pledges being met with skepticism from Burma observers.
Nyan Win, spokesperson for the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, said the speech was “not antagonistic”, but a repeat of past government rhetoric.
“In our view, the speech did not rule out opportunities to work for the benefit of the nation,” he said. The issue now is not about confrontation of policies but about exploring how best to find a solution and serve the interests of the nation.
“We believe that the speech under question is a positive contribution in that regard. We can see that the SPDC is not antagonistic and that it wants to work with goodwill for the betterment of the country.”
The NLD is yet to announce whether it will participate in the elections next year, the first to be held in Burma since 1990, arguing that the 2008 constitution must first be revised before polling takes place.
Despite the government claiming that 92 percent of the country had approved the revised constitution, critics say that a guarantee of 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military even prior to voting calls into question the legitimacy of the government’s pledge for free and fair elections.
Nay Myo Wei, from the Individual Politicians Network, said that parties must now be allowed to campaign freely for votes. The junta has placed tight restrictions on freedom of movement for opposition parties.
“Three basic methods of campaigning - distributing leaflets, giving speeches and showing campaign videos - should be allowed,” he said.
“Even if we wouldn’t be allowed to go onto the streets, it’s still no problem – we can distribute leaflets, give speech and show campaign videos at our houses. But I expect [the government] to make everything clear.”
His comments were echoed by Nyan Win: “I think the information on the freedom to campaign is more important than when the election is going to be held. For now, there is no freedom to campaign.”
The government is yet to announce the election laws, or a date for when polling will take place. In 1990, around 200 political parties participated in the elections following the announcement of a law on the formation of parties.
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
