Myanmar junta official meets Aung San Suu Kyi
Wed Dec 9, 8:22 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was taken from her home Wednesday into unannounced talks with a junta official, the first in two months, officials said.
Suu Kyi met for 45 minutes with Relations Minister Aung Kyi, who serves as a liaison between the military government and the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Their last meeting was Oct. 7, after Suu Kyi sent the first of two letters to junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe saying she was willing to cooperate with the junta to have Western sanctions against Myanmar lifted.
Details of Wednesday's talks were not immediately known. It was not clear if the meeting was related to a commentary published the same day in a state newspaper that accused Suu Kyi and her National League of Democracy party of trying to pressure the government by leaking the letters to the media before they reached Than Shwe.
"She should have approached the government in an honest way in order to work out the stalemate," the commentary said. "Her letters suggest her dishonesty and are designed to tarnish the image of the ruling government."
Commentaries in Myanmar's state-run media are seen as reflections of the junta's views.
If Suu Kyi and her party "really want to work together with the government in the national interest, they can deliver letters directly to the head of state," the commentary said.
"They sent letters by post, but the news about the letters had received media coverage, from the Internet down to radio stations, before the letters were received by the person concerned."
In her most recent letter, dated Nov. 11, Suu Kyi requested a meeting with Than Shwe.
"The attempt of one side to force the other into a corner by making dishonest use of the media might delay the other's response," the commentary said.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years, mostly under house arrest.
NLD spokesman Nyan Win said he hoped the commentary did not reflect the junta's position. He said he could not independently confirm the meeting with Aung Kyi but said if a meeting did take place "it must have been related with the second letter."
Suu Kyi "wrote the letter with good intentions for the good of the country," Nyan Win said. "This (letter) was not confidential and our goal was to make it public at an appropriate time. We did not intend to pressure the government."
He could not immediately be reached later in the day to comment on the meeting.
Politics in Myanmar have been deadlocked since Suu Kyi's party overwhelmingly won elections in 1990. The military refused to allow it to take power and clamped down on the pro-democracy movement, causing the United States and another Western nations to impose economic and political sanctions in an attempt to isolate the junta.
However, the Obama administration has said the sanctions failed to foster reforms and is seeking to engage the junta through high-level talks.
Wed Dec 9, 8:22 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was taken from her home Wednesday into unannounced talks with a junta official, the first in two months, officials said.
Suu Kyi met for 45 minutes with Relations Minister Aung Kyi, who serves as a liaison between the military government and the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Their last meeting was Oct. 7, after Suu Kyi sent the first of two letters to junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe saying she was willing to cooperate with the junta to have Western sanctions against Myanmar lifted.
Details of Wednesday's talks were not immediately known. It was not clear if the meeting was related to a commentary published the same day in a state newspaper that accused Suu Kyi and her National League of Democracy party of trying to pressure the government by leaking the letters to the media before they reached Than Shwe.
"She should have approached the government in an honest way in order to work out the stalemate," the commentary said. "Her letters suggest her dishonesty and are designed to tarnish the image of the ruling government."
Commentaries in Myanmar's state-run media are seen as reflections of the junta's views.
If Suu Kyi and her party "really want to work together with the government in the national interest, they can deliver letters directly to the head of state," the commentary said.
"They sent letters by post, but the news about the letters had received media coverage, from the Internet down to radio stations, before the letters were received by the person concerned."
In her most recent letter, dated Nov. 11, Suu Kyi requested a meeting with Than Shwe.
"The attempt of one side to force the other into a corner by making dishonest use of the media might delay the other's response," the commentary said.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years, mostly under house arrest.
NLD spokesman Nyan Win said he hoped the commentary did not reflect the junta's position. He said he could not independently confirm the meeting with Aung Kyi but said if a meeting did take place "it must have been related with the second letter."
Suu Kyi "wrote the letter with good intentions for the good of the country," Nyan Win said. "This (letter) was not confidential and our goal was to make it public at an appropriate time. We did not intend to pressure the government."
He could not immediately be reached later in the day to comment on the meeting.
Politics in Myanmar have been deadlocked since Suu Kyi's party overwhelmingly won elections in 1990. The military refused to allow it to take power and clamped down on the pro-democracy movement, causing the United States and another Western nations to impose economic and political sanctions in an attempt to isolate the junta.
However, the Obama administration has said the sanctions failed to foster reforms and is seeking to engage the junta through high-level talks.
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No progress despite engagement with Myanmar: US official
Wed Dec 9, 9:56 am ET
SINGAPORE (AFP) – There are no signs of progress towards democratic change in Myanmar despite Washington's decision to hold direct talks with the country's military rulers, a senior US diplomat said Wednesday.
High-level talks last month in Myanmar between the junta and US officials were "cautious" and made little headway, said Scot Marciel, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs.
"It's perhaps useful that we are talking, but that isn't progress," Marciel said at a seminar organised by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, a Singaporean think tank.
"Progress will come when there's change on the ground in Burma. So far, there's been none," said Marciel, who was part of the US delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
A lack of progress will make it difficult for the United States to continue its policy of engagement with Myanmar but Washington is willing to give it time to yield results, said Marciel.
"At some point if there's no progress, it will be hard to sustain a dialogue but we're not at that point yet and I think, as I said, we didn't make progress on our trip," he said.
"On the other hand, we didn't really anticipate that we were going to go there and make progress overnight.
"The problem is there is only one person who makes the decisions and that person has not yet shown a particular amount of openness," Marciel said in reference to Than Shwe, the chief of Myanmar's military government.
Under President Barack Obama, the US government has adopted a policy of engagement after sanctions on the impoverished Southeast Asian country had failed to bring about desired reforms.
At a landmark summit in Singapore on November 15 with Southeast Asian leaders including Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, Obama called for the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Wed Dec 9, 9:56 am ET
SINGAPORE (AFP) – There are no signs of progress towards democratic change in Myanmar despite Washington's decision to hold direct talks with the country's military rulers, a senior US diplomat said Wednesday.
High-level talks last month in Myanmar between the junta and US officials were "cautious" and made little headway, said Scot Marciel, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs.
"It's perhaps useful that we are talking, but that isn't progress," Marciel said at a seminar organised by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, a Singaporean think tank.
"Progress will come when there's change on the ground in Burma. So far, there's been none," said Marciel, who was part of the US delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
A lack of progress will make it difficult for the United States to continue its policy of engagement with Myanmar but Washington is willing to give it time to yield results, said Marciel.
"At some point if there's no progress, it will be hard to sustain a dialogue but we're not at that point yet and I think, as I said, we didn't make progress on our trip," he said.
"On the other hand, we didn't really anticipate that we were going to go there and make progress overnight.
"The problem is there is only one person who makes the decisions and that person has not yet shown a particular amount of openness," Marciel said in reference to Than Shwe, the chief of Myanmar's military government.
Under President Barack Obama, the US government has adopted a policy of engagement after sanctions on the impoverished Southeast Asian country had failed to bring about desired reforms.
At a landmark summit in Singapore on November 15 with Southeast Asian leaders including Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, Obama called for the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
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Bangladesh, Myanmar 'worst-hit' by extreme weather
Tue Dec 8, 11:36 am ET
COPENHAGEN (AFP) – Bangladesh, Myanmar and Honduras were the countries most severely affected by extreme weather events from 1990 to 2008, according to a climate change risk study published on Tuesday.
When only 2008 is considered, the top three worst-hit countries were Myanmar, Yemen and Vietnam, said the paper which was published on the sidelines of the ongoing UN talks in the Danish capital.
The so-called Global Climate Risk Index aims at giving a pointer of a country's vulnerability to violent weather events stoked by global warming.
It is derived from a basket of factors, namely the total number of deaths from storms, floods and other weather extremes; deaths per 100,000; losses in absolute dollar terms; and the loss in terms of a percentage of a country's gross domestic product (GDP).
"Weather extremes are an increasing threat for lives and economic values across the world, and their impacts will likely grow larger in the future due to climate change," said the report, authored by an NGO called Germanwatch.
"Our analyses show that in particular poor countries are severely affected."
The report, which uses data provided by the insurance giant Munich Re, was issued on the sidelines of the December 7-18 talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The conference aims at crafting a post-2012 pact on reducing carbon emissions and providing funds for poor countries exposed to the impacts of climate change.
The "top 10" for 1990-2008 were:
1 Bangladesh
2 Myanmar
3 Honduras
4 Vietnam
5 Nicaragua
6 Haiti
7 India
8 Dominican Republic
8 Philippines
10 China
Tue Dec 8, 11:36 am ET
COPENHAGEN (AFP) – Bangladesh, Myanmar and Honduras were the countries most severely affected by extreme weather events from 1990 to 2008, according to a climate change risk study published on Tuesday.
When only 2008 is considered, the top three worst-hit countries were Myanmar, Yemen and Vietnam, said the paper which was published on the sidelines of the ongoing UN talks in the Danish capital.
The so-called Global Climate Risk Index aims at giving a pointer of a country's vulnerability to violent weather events stoked by global warming.
It is derived from a basket of factors, namely the total number of deaths from storms, floods and other weather extremes; deaths per 100,000; losses in absolute dollar terms; and the loss in terms of a percentage of a country's gross domestic product (GDP).
"Weather extremes are an increasing threat for lives and economic values across the world, and their impacts will likely grow larger in the future due to climate change," said the report, authored by an NGO called Germanwatch.
"Our analyses show that in particular poor countries are severely affected."
The report, which uses data provided by the insurance giant Munich Re, was issued on the sidelines of the December 7-18 talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The conference aims at crafting a post-2012 pact on reducing carbon emissions and providing funds for poor countries exposed to the impacts of climate change.
The "top 10" for 1990-2008 were:
1 Bangladesh
2 Myanmar
3 Honduras
4 Vietnam
5 Nicaragua
6 Haiti
7 India
8 Dominican Republic
8 Philippines
10 China
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Rights under growing threat in China: analysts
Tue Dec 8, 7:05 pm ET
LONDON (AFP) – Human rights are increasingly under threat in China, according to a British firm which analyses dangers for business worldwide, while also describing risks in Russia, Nigeria and India as extreme.
While Afghanistan and Somalia are the worst countries in the world for rights, China has dropped five places in a global ranking and is notably poor on arbitrary arrest, freedom of speech and minority rights.
The Human Rights Risk Atlas 2010 by analysts Maplecroft also places Pakistan and Iraq among the worst offenders, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Myanmar, Sudan, Colombia and Zimbabwe.
The rankings are published to mark International Human Rights Day on Thursday.
"The economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China are predicted to drive the world?s economy over the coming years," said Alyson Warhurst, executive chair of Maplecroft and a professor at Britain's Warwick Business School.
"But, the results of this research suggest that economic growth is not translating into progress on human rights. Organisations working in those countries have a number of risks to navigate," she added.
Afghanistan, where NATO-led forces have been fighting Taliban insurgents since 2001, is considered the worst place for kidnapping, child soldiers, disappearances, torture, unlawful killings or internal displacement.
Iraq, which has also seen a surge in violence since the US-led invasion in March 2003, is in second place, while Somalia, mired in civil conflict since 1991, and Pakistan, fighting an Islamist insurgency, are also in the top ten.
China is listed as the 12th most risky country overall for human rights, but the analysts rate the emerging economic giant as the worst for labour rights and protection.
In an assessment of child labour, forced labour and violations of freedom of association, discrimination and working conditions, China has the most risk, followed by Myanmar and Pakistan. Emerging economy India is placed sixth.
Iran, where anti-government protesters clashed with security forces this week, is in joint place with Somalia as the riskiest places for civil and political rights, which include freedom of speech and from arbitrary arrest.
Iraq, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, China, Syria, DR Congo and Pakistan complete the top 10.
Meanwhile indigenous people are most at risk in parts of Asia and Latin and Central America, with India topping the rankings followed by Colombia, Honduras, Bolivia, Brazil, DR Congo, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Mexico and Myanmar.
On a positive note, the tiny landlocked state of San Marino in southern Europe is named the best place for human rights, followed by Monaco, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Maplecroft has assessed 196 countries for the risks posed to businesses of complicity in human rights violations, putting Russia in 18th place, the United States in 134th and Britain in 155th.
Tue Dec 8, 7:05 pm ET
LONDON (AFP) – Human rights are increasingly under threat in China, according to a British firm which analyses dangers for business worldwide, while also describing risks in Russia, Nigeria and India as extreme.
While Afghanistan and Somalia are the worst countries in the world for rights, China has dropped five places in a global ranking and is notably poor on arbitrary arrest, freedom of speech and minority rights.
The Human Rights Risk Atlas 2010 by analysts Maplecroft also places Pakistan and Iraq among the worst offenders, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Myanmar, Sudan, Colombia and Zimbabwe.
The rankings are published to mark International Human Rights Day on Thursday.
"The economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China are predicted to drive the world?s economy over the coming years," said Alyson Warhurst, executive chair of Maplecroft and a professor at Britain's Warwick Business School.
"But, the results of this research suggest that economic growth is not translating into progress on human rights. Organisations working in those countries have a number of risks to navigate," she added.
Afghanistan, where NATO-led forces have been fighting Taliban insurgents since 2001, is considered the worst place for kidnapping, child soldiers, disappearances, torture, unlawful killings or internal displacement.
Iraq, which has also seen a surge in violence since the US-led invasion in March 2003, is in second place, while Somalia, mired in civil conflict since 1991, and Pakistan, fighting an Islamist insurgency, are also in the top ten.
China is listed as the 12th most risky country overall for human rights, but the analysts rate the emerging economic giant as the worst for labour rights and protection.
In an assessment of child labour, forced labour and violations of freedom of association, discrimination and working conditions, China has the most risk, followed by Myanmar and Pakistan. Emerging economy India is placed sixth.
Iran, where anti-government protesters clashed with security forces this week, is in joint place with Somalia as the riskiest places for civil and political rights, which include freedom of speech and from arbitrary arrest.
Iraq, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, China, Syria, DR Congo and Pakistan complete the top 10.
Meanwhile indigenous people are most at risk in parts of Asia and Latin and Central America, with India topping the rankings followed by Colombia, Honduras, Bolivia, Brazil, DR Congo, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Mexico and Myanmar.
On a positive note, the tiny landlocked state of San Marino in southern Europe is named the best place for human rights, followed by Monaco, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Maplecroft has assessed 196 countries for the risks posed to businesses of complicity in human rights violations, putting Russia in 18th place, the United States in 134th and Britain in 155th.
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Bali Democracy Forum opens in Indonesia
Thu Dec 10, 12:50 am ET
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the second Bali Democracy Forum on Thursday with a call for more equitable growth after the global financial crisis.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and senior officials from more than 20 countries attended the start of the two-day gathering at a luxury beachside resort on the tourist island of Bali.
Under the broad theme of "promoting synergy between democracy and development in Asia", the two-day forum is the second in an initiative launched last year by the Indonesian government.
In his keynote address, Yudhoyono said that as the world clawed its way out of financial turmoil, economies had to restructure in a way that protected the "poor and weak".
"The crisis has forced the world to conduct restructuring that is more democratic. One of the consequences (of the crisis) is the surge in demand for more inclusive growth," he said.
He said representative, accountable government would be "hollow" without development.
"Many have the opinion that democracy is not the ultimate objective. The ultimate objective of democracy as well as development is creating prosperity for the people," he said.
Hatoyama said elections this year in India, Indonesia and Japan testified to the health of democracy in the region.
But he said challenges remained in countries like China, Myanmar and North Korea.
On China, he said there were "great expectations" that Beijing would "continue to make progress as a responsible power on the issues of democracy and human rights".
He said Japan would "continue to encourage rather than impose" democratic change in Myanmar, and called for the junta to ensure elections scheduled for next year are free and fair.
Japan would also continue to work through the six-party talks -- which also group the two Koreas, Russia, China and the US -- to encourage Pyongyang to "join the trend in Asia and elsewhere" for greater openness and democracy.
Thu Dec 10, 12:50 am ET
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the second Bali Democracy Forum on Thursday with a call for more equitable growth after the global financial crisis.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and senior officials from more than 20 countries attended the start of the two-day gathering at a luxury beachside resort on the tourist island of Bali.
Under the broad theme of "promoting synergy between democracy and development in Asia", the two-day forum is the second in an initiative launched last year by the Indonesian government.
In his keynote address, Yudhoyono said that as the world clawed its way out of financial turmoil, economies had to restructure in a way that protected the "poor and weak".
"The crisis has forced the world to conduct restructuring that is more democratic. One of the consequences (of the crisis) is the surge in demand for more inclusive growth," he said.
He said representative, accountable government would be "hollow" without development.
"Many have the opinion that democracy is not the ultimate objective. The ultimate objective of democracy as well as development is creating prosperity for the people," he said.
Hatoyama said elections this year in India, Indonesia and Japan testified to the health of democracy in the region.
But he said challenges remained in countries like China, Myanmar and North Korea.
On China, he said there were "great expectations" that Beijing would "continue to make progress as a responsible power on the issues of democracy and human rights".
He said Japan would "continue to encourage rather than impose" democratic change in Myanmar, and called for the junta to ensure elections scheduled for next year are free and fair.
Japan would also continue to work through the six-party talks -- which also group the two Koreas, Russia, China and the US -- to encourage Pyongyang to "join the trend in Asia and elsewhere" for greater openness and democracy.
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Myanmar junta calls detained Suu Kyi "dishonest"
By Aung Hla Tun – Wed Dec 9, 9:50 am ET
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar's ruling junta on Wednesday dismissed reconciliatory moves by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as insincere and dishonest, dealing a blow to efforts to engage with the reclusive regime.
The rebuke came just as the 64-year-old Nobel peace laureate met a junta go-between, which suggested lines of communication were still open, despite the disparaging remarks in the media.
Suu Kyi, who is held under house arrest, had asked to meet junta leader Senior General Than Shwe in a letter dated November 11, saying she wanted to work with his government in the interests of the country.
In a similar letter on September 25 she stated her desire to work with Western countries and the junta to bring about the lifting of sanctions, which critics say have been largely ineffective because of Myanmar's trade with China and India.
"Her letters suggest her dishonesty, and are designed to tarnish the image of the ruling government, putting all the blame on the government," said a commentary in the state-run New Light of Myanmar.
Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country for almost 50 years and is shunned by the West because of its rights record, plans to hold multi-party elections in 2010.
Since September, the international community has been encouraged by reconciliatory gestures by the junta, which has allowed high-level United States and United Nations delegations to visit the country to meet with opposition parties and top generals.
Suu Kyi had tried to harm the government's image in her offer to work with the regime and her behavior was "highly questionable," commentaries carried in three state-run newspapers said.
On Wednesday, Suu Kyi met Labor Minister Aung Kyi, who has acted as the intermediary, illustrating the unpredictable nature of Myanmar's rulers.
LETTERS "DISHONEST"
The commentary in the state media was the first response by the regime to Suu Kyi's requests and appeared to criticize the National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader for leaking one of the letters to the media.
"The two letters reflect her dishonesty. She should have approached the government in an honest way in order to work out the stalemate," it said.
In her last letter, Suu Kyi expressed thanks to the regime for allowing her to meet U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit Myanmar in 14 years, in November.
Myanmar's rulers had previously allowed top Western economists to advise the government and gave the go-ahead for diplomats to meet with Suu Kyi, the daughter of the late independence hero Aung San, who is seen as the biggest threat to the junta's grip on power.
Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years in some form of detention, is appealing against a conviction for breaching an internal security law by allowing an American intruder to stay for two nights at her lakeside home.
The verdict was widely seen as an attempt to keep her sidelined in the run-up to the former Burma's first election in two decades. The NLD scored a landslide victory in the 1990 election that the military refused to recognize.
By Aung Hla Tun – Wed Dec 9, 9:50 am ET
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar's ruling junta on Wednesday dismissed reconciliatory moves by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as insincere and dishonest, dealing a blow to efforts to engage with the reclusive regime.
The rebuke came just as the 64-year-old Nobel peace laureate met a junta go-between, which suggested lines of communication were still open, despite the disparaging remarks in the media.
Suu Kyi, who is held under house arrest, had asked to meet junta leader Senior General Than Shwe in a letter dated November 11, saying she wanted to work with his government in the interests of the country.
In a similar letter on September 25 she stated her desire to work with Western countries and the junta to bring about the lifting of sanctions, which critics say have been largely ineffective because of Myanmar's trade with China and India.
"Her letters suggest her dishonesty, and are designed to tarnish the image of the ruling government, putting all the blame on the government," said a commentary in the state-run New Light of Myanmar.
Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country for almost 50 years and is shunned by the West because of its rights record, plans to hold multi-party elections in 2010.
Since September, the international community has been encouraged by reconciliatory gestures by the junta, which has allowed high-level United States and United Nations delegations to visit the country to meet with opposition parties and top generals.
Suu Kyi had tried to harm the government's image in her offer to work with the regime and her behavior was "highly questionable," commentaries carried in three state-run newspapers said.
On Wednesday, Suu Kyi met Labor Minister Aung Kyi, who has acted as the intermediary, illustrating the unpredictable nature of Myanmar's rulers.
LETTERS "DISHONEST"
The commentary in the state media was the first response by the regime to Suu Kyi's requests and appeared to criticize the National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader for leaking one of the letters to the media.
"The two letters reflect her dishonesty. She should have approached the government in an honest way in order to work out the stalemate," it said.
In her last letter, Suu Kyi expressed thanks to the regime for allowing her to meet U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit Myanmar in 14 years, in November.
Myanmar's rulers had previously allowed top Western economists to advise the government and gave the go-ahead for diplomats to meet with Suu Kyi, the daughter of the late independence hero Aung San, who is seen as the biggest threat to the junta's grip on power.
Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years in some form of detention, is appealing against a conviction for breaching an internal security law by allowing an American intruder to stay for two nights at her lakeside home.
The verdict was widely seen as an attempt to keep her sidelined in the run-up to the former Burma's first election in two decades. The NLD scored a landslide victory in the 1990 election that the military refused to recognize.
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Thailand set to dominate SEA Games
By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer 6 hours, 43 minutes ago
VIENTIANE, Laos (AP)—Myanmar and Vietnam won two gold medals each at the Southeast Asian Games, as eight finals were decided before the formal opening of the event later Wednesday.
Ya Min K-Khine, a 16-year-old from Myanmar, won individual gold in women’s taekwondo, while the country’s sepak takraw women’s team also won a gold. Myanmar also won two silvers and a bronze for a total of five medals to top the table.
Vietnam won two gold medals in taekwondo Wednesday, one for men’s team and one for mixed pair.
Thailand, Laos, Philippines and Singapore have bagged one gold each so far.
The games will formally open later Wednesday with a cultural extravaganza including dances and songs glorifying the traditions of the this landlocked communist country of 6.8 million people.
Laos, one of the poorest countries in the world, has not followed the lead of other communist nations such as China, Cuba and the former Soviet bloc, in producing sporting winners with state support.
“This is a major event for Laos. We have put in a lot of effort over the last two years and now we are ready to go,” said Khenthong Nuanthasing, a Lao government spokesman.
The opening ceremony will be held at the 20,000-capacity main stadium, part of the new National Sports Complex built at a cost of $100 million with the help of aid from China, Japan, Brunei, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand.
Attendance at the pre-opening events has been sparse.
“Football and boxing are the most popular sports in Laos but people are not interested in other games,” said Maiva Yourtongjerxiong, a 20-year-old university student.
“But still we are very excited. This is the biggest sporting event held in our country,” said Yourtongjerxiong, who plans to watch swimming and football. “I would love to compete in swimming but I am not that good,” she said.
Only 25 sports are being contested at the games, down from 43 sports at the last games in Thailand in 2007.
Laos won only a single gold medal each in 2001 and 2003, three golds in 2005 and five in 2007.
“Our team will try to do better this time. Let’s see what we can do. Medals are important of course but most important thing for Laos is hosting these Games as a friendship game,” said Nuanthasing.
There is little doubt that Thailand will dominate the biennial event once again.
Thailand won 183 gold medals in 2007, the fourth straight SEA Games where the host nation had finished atop the standings. The Philippines dominated the games in 2005, Vietnam in 2003 and Malaysia in 2001.
Thailand has won a total of 1,692 gold medals since the inception of the SEA Games in 1959. Indonesia is second with 1,377 and Malaysia third with 900 gold medals.
The SEA Games has taken on more of a Southeast Asian flavor over the years, boosting the amount of sports peculiar to the region and popular with fans while downgrading traditional sports in which its nations are less globally competitive.
The 2009 event has done away with cycling, basketball, gymnastics, hockey, rowing and weightlifting, while including or retaining dragon boat racing, wushu, Muay Thai, sepak takraw, pencak silat and Go.
Sepak Takraw is a type of volleyball played with the foot and a light ball; wushu and pencak silat are martial arts while Muay Thai is kickboxing. Go is a traditional Asian board game. In addition, there will be tenpin bowling, petanque, bodybuilding and billiards.
Athletics will have the biggest number of participants with 288, followed by football with 280 players. A total of 4,869 athletes will be vying for the 370 gold, 370 silver and 539 bronze medals on offer.
Defending champion Thailand will send the largest contingent of 842 to the SEA Games, comprising 550 athletes and 292 officials and expects to dominate athletics, boxing and Muay Thai. Laos has the second biggest contingent of 743.
By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer 6 hours, 43 minutes ago
VIENTIANE, Laos (AP)—Myanmar and Vietnam won two gold medals each at the Southeast Asian Games, as eight finals were decided before the formal opening of the event later Wednesday.
Ya Min K-Khine, a 16-year-old from Myanmar, won individual gold in women’s taekwondo, while the country’s sepak takraw women’s team also won a gold. Myanmar also won two silvers and a bronze for a total of five medals to top the table.
Vietnam won two gold medals in taekwondo Wednesday, one for men’s team and one for mixed pair.
Thailand, Laos, Philippines and Singapore have bagged one gold each so far.
The games will formally open later Wednesday with a cultural extravaganza including dances and songs glorifying the traditions of the this landlocked communist country of 6.8 million people.
Laos, one of the poorest countries in the world, has not followed the lead of other communist nations such as China, Cuba and the former Soviet bloc, in producing sporting winners with state support.
“This is a major event for Laos. We have put in a lot of effort over the last two years and now we are ready to go,” said Khenthong Nuanthasing, a Lao government spokesman.
The opening ceremony will be held at the 20,000-capacity main stadium, part of the new National Sports Complex built at a cost of $100 million with the help of aid from China, Japan, Brunei, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand.
Attendance at the pre-opening events has been sparse.
“Football and boxing are the most popular sports in Laos but people are not interested in other games,” said Maiva Yourtongjerxiong, a 20-year-old university student.
“But still we are very excited. This is the biggest sporting event held in our country,” said Yourtongjerxiong, who plans to watch swimming and football. “I would love to compete in swimming but I am not that good,” she said.
Only 25 sports are being contested at the games, down from 43 sports at the last games in Thailand in 2007.
Laos won only a single gold medal each in 2001 and 2003, three golds in 2005 and five in 2007.
“Our team will try to do better this time. Let’s see what we can do. Medals are important of course but most important thing for Laos is hosting these Games as a friendship game,” said Nuanthasing.
There is little doubt that Thailand will dominate the biennial event once again.
Thailand won 183 gold medals in 2007, the fourth straight SEA Games where the host nation had finished atop the standings. The Philippines dominated the games in 2005, Vietnam in 2003 and Malaysia in 2001.
Thailand has won a total of 1,692 gold medals since the inception of the SEA Games in 1959. Indonesia is second with 1,377 and Malaysia third with 900 gold medals.
The SEA Games has taken on more of a Southeast Asian flavor over the years, boosting the amount of sports peculiar to the region and popular with fans while downgrading traditional sports in which its nations are less globally competitive.
The 2009 event has done away with cycling, basketball, gymnastics, hockey, rowing and weightlifting, while including or retaining dragon boat racing, wushu, Muay Thai, sepak takraw, pencak silat and Go.
Sepak Takraw is a type of volleyball played with the foot and a light ball; wushu and pencak silat are martial arts while Muay Thai is kickboxing. Go is a traditional Asian board game. In addition, there will be tenpin bowling, petanque, bodybuilding and billiards.
Athletics will have the biggest number of participants with 288, followed by football with 280 players. A total of 4,869 athletes will be vying for the 370 gold, 370 silver and 539 bronze medals on offer.
Defending champion Thailand will send the largest contingent of 842 to the SEA Games, comprising 550 athletes and 292 officials and expects to dominate athletics, boxing and Muay Thai. Laos has the second biggest contingent of 743.
******************************************************************
Obama defends US wars as he accepts peace prize
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 47 mins ago
OSLO (AP) – President Barack Obama entered the pantheon of Nobel Peace Prize winners Thursday with humble words, acknowledging his own few accomplishments while delivering a robust defense of war and promising to use the prestigious award to "reach for the world that ought to be."
A wartime president honored for peace, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president in 90 years and the third ever to win the prize — some say prematurely. In this damp, chilly Nordic capital to pick it up, he and his wife, Michelle, whirled through a day filled with Nobel pomp and ceremony.
And yet Obama was staying here only about 24 hours and skipping the traditional second day of festivities. This miffed some in Norway but reflects a White House that sees little value in extra pictures of the president, his poll numbers dropping at home, taking an overseas victory lap while thousands of U.S. troops prepare to go off to war and millions of Americans remain jobless.
Just nine days after ordering 30,000 more U.S. troops into battle in Afghanistan, Obama delivered a Nobel acceptance speech that he saw as a treatise on war's use and prevention. He crafted much of the address himself and the scholarly remarks — at about 4,000 words — were nearly twice as long as his inaugural address.
In them, Obama refused to renounce war for his nation or under his leadership, saying defiantly that "I face the world as it is" and that he is obliged to protect and defend the United States.
"A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaida's leaders to lay down their arms," Obama said. "To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism, it is a recognition of history."
The president laid out the circumstances where war is justified — in self-defense, to come to the aid of an invaded nation and on humanitarian grounds, such as when civilians are slaughtered by their own government or a civil war threatens to engulf an entire region.
"The belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it," he said.
He also spoke bluntly of the cost of war, saying of the Afghanistan buildup he just ordered that "some will kill, some will be killed."
"No matter how justified, war promises human tragedy," he said.
But he also stressed the need to fight war according to "rules of conduct" that reject torture and other methods. And he emphasized the need to exhaust alternatives to violence, using diplomatic outreach and sanctions with teeth to confront nations such as Iran or North Korea that defy international demands to halt their nuclear programs or those such as Sudan, Congo or Burma that brutalize their citizens.
"Let us reach for the world that ought to be," Obama said. "We can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace."
In awarding the prize to Obama, the Nobel panel cited his call for a world free of nuclear weapons, for a more engaged U.S. role in combating global warming, for his support of the United Nations and multilateral diplomacy and for broadly capturing the attention of the world and giving its people "hope."
But the Nobel committee made its announcement in October when he wasn't even nine months on the job, recognizing his aspirations more than his achievements.
Echoing the surprise that seemed the most common reaction to his win, Obama started his 36-minute speech by saying that others who have done more and suffered more may better deserve the honor.
"I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage," the president said. "Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize ... my accomplishments are slight."
The list of Nobel peace laureates over the last 100 years includes transformative figures and giants of the world stage. They include heroes of the president, such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and others he has long admired, like George Marshall, who launched a postwar recovery plan for Europe.
Earlier, Obama had said that the criticism might recede if he advances some of his goals. But, he added, proving doubters wrong is "not really my concern."
"If I'm not successful, then all the praise in the world won't disguise that fact," he said.
The timing of the award ceremonies, coming so soon after Obama's Afghanistan announcement, lent inspiration to peace activists.
The president's motorcade arrived at Oslo's high-rise government complex for Obama's meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as a few dozen anti-war protesters gathered behind wire fences nearby. Dressed in black hoods and waving banners, the demonstrators banged drums and chanted anti-war slogans. "The Afghan people are paying the price," some shouted.
Greenpeace and anti-war activists planned larger demonstrations later that were expected to draw several thousand people. Protesters have plastered posters around the city, featuring an Obama campaign poster altered with skepticism to say, "Change?"
The debate at home over his Afghanistan decision also followed the president here. He told reporters that that the July 2011 date he set for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan to begin will not slip — but that the pace of the full drawdown will be gradual and conditions-based.
"We're not going to see some sharp cliff, some precipitous drawdown," Obama said.
Obama's first stop in Oslo was the Norwegian Nobel Institute, where the Nobel committee meets to make its decisions. After signing the guest book, Obama told reporters he had penned thanks to the committee and noted the pictures of former winners filling the wall, many of whom gave "voice to the voiceless."
In the evening, Obama is expected to wave to a torchlight procession from his hotel balcony and stroll with Norwegian royalty to a dinner banquet. He will offer comments a second time there and cap his brisk jaunt to Europe.
The president and his wife, Michelle, arrived here in the morning, coming off Air Force One holding hands and smiling. Having left Washington Wednesday night, Obama was due back by midday Friday.
The Nobel honor comes with a $1.4 million prize. The White House says Obama will give that to charities but has not yet decided which ones.
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 47 mins ago
OSLO (AP) – President Barack Obama entered the pantheon of Nobel Peace Prize winners Thursday with humble words, acknowledging his own few accomplishments while delivering a robust defense of war and promising to use the prestigious award to "reach for the world that ought to be."
A wartime president honored for peace, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president in 90 years and the third ever to win the prize — some say prematurely. In this damp, chilly Nordic capital to pick it up, he and his wife, Michelle, whirled through a day filled with Nobel pomp and ceremony.
And yet Obama was staying here only about 24 hours and skipping the traditional second day of festivities. This miffed some in Norway but reflects a White House that sees little value in extra pictures of the president, his poll numbers dropping at home, taking an overseas victory lap while thousands of U.S. troops prepare to go off to war and millions of Americans remain jobless.
Just nine days after ordering 30,000 more U.S. troops into battle in Afghanistan, Obama delivered a Nobel acceptance speech that he saw as a treatise on war's use and prevention. He crafted much of the address himself and the scholarly remarks — at about 4,000 words — were nearly twice as long as his inaugural address.
In them, Obama refused to renounce war for his nation or under his leadership, saying defiantly that "I face the world as it is" and that he is obliged to protect and defend the United States.
"A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaida's leaders to lay down their arms," Obama said. "To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism, it is a recognition of history."
The president laid out the circumstances where war is justified — in self-defense, to come to the aid of an invaded nation and on humanitarian grounds, such as when civilians are slaughtered by their own government or a civil war threatens to engulf an entire region.
"The belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it," he said.
He also spoke bluntly of the cost of war, saying of the Afghanistan buildup he just ordered that "some will kill, some will be killed."
"No matter how justified, war promises human tragedy," he said.
But he also stressed the need to fight war according to "rules of conduct" that reject torture and other methods. And he emphasized the need to exhaust alternatives to violence, using diplomatic outreach and sanctions with teeth to confront nations such as Iran or North Korea that defy international demands to halt their nuclear programs or those such as Sudan, Congo or Burma that brutalize their citizens.
"Let us reach for the world that ought to be," Obama said. "We can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace."
In awarding the prize to Obama, the Nobel panel cited his call for a world free of nuclear weapons, for a more engaged U.S. role in combating global warming, for his support of the United Nations and multilateral diplomacy and for broadly capturing the attention of the world and giving its people "hope."
But the Nobel committee made its announcement in October when he wasn't even nine months on the job, recognizing his aspirations more than his achievements.
Echoing the surprise that seemed the most common reaction to his win, Obama started his 36-minute speech by saying that others who have done more and suffered more may better deserve the honor.
"I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage," the president said. "Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize ... my accomplishments are slight."
The list of Nobel peace laureates over the last 100 years includes transformative figures and giants of the world stage. They include heroes of the president, such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and others he has long admired, like George Marshall, who launched a postwar recovery plan for Europe.
Earlier, Obama had said that the criticism might recede if he advances some of his goals. But, he added, proving doubters wrong is "not really my concern."
"If I'm not successful, then all the praise in the world won't disguise that fact," he said.
The timing of the award ceremonies, coming so soon after Obama's Afghanistan announcement, lent inspiration to peace activists.
The president's motorcade arrived at Oslo's high-rise government complex for Obama's meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as a few dozen anti-war protesters gathered behind wire fences nearby. Dressed in black hoods and waving banners, the demonstrators banged drums and chanted anti-war slogans. "The Afghan people are paying the price," some shouted.
Greenpeace and anti-war activists planned larger demonstrations later that were expected to draw several thousand people. Protesters have plastered posters around the city, featuring an Obama campaign poster altered with skepticism to say, "Change?"
The debate at home over his Afghanistan decision also followed the president here. He told reporters that that the July 2011 date he set for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan to begin will not slip — but that the pace of the full drawdown will be gradual and conditions-based.
"We're not going to see some sharp cliff, some precipitous drawdown," Obama said.
Obama's first stop in Oslo was the Norwegian Nobel Institute, where the Nobel committee meets to make its decisions. After signing the guest book, Obama told reporters he had penned thanks to the committee and noted the pictures of former winners filling the wall, many of whom gave "voice to the voiceless."
In the evening, Obama is expected to wave to a torchlight procession from his hotel balcony and stroll with Norwegian royalty to a dinner banquet. He will offer comments a second time there and cap his brisk jaunt to Europe.
The president and his wife, Michelle, arrived here in the morning, coming off Air Force One holding hands and smiling. Having left Washington Wednesday night, Obama was due back by midday Friday.
The Nobel honor comes with a $1.4 million prize. The White House says Obama will give that to charities but has not yet decided which ones.
******************************************************************
Los Angeles Times - Why Chrysler ads star Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi
As a brand, there is nothing worthwhile left of Chrysler. Why not begin to remake it in the image of what it will become -- globalized, sophisticated, European -- instead of what it was?
By Dan Neil
December 8, 2009
The newest star of a Chrysler ad couldn't get arrested in this town.
Aung San Suu Kyi is a 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Burmese pro-democracy dissident who has spent most of the last two decades detained at her house at Inya Lake, outside of Yangon, Myanmar. Suu Kyi -- who was elected prime minister in 1990, before the military junta invalidated the election -- was again convicted in a sham trial in August after a deranged American, John William Yettsaw, swam out to her house, giving the junta the pretense to charge Suu Kyi with violating the terms of her house arrest. And again, the world denounced Myanmar.
What does any of this have to do with Chrysler? My very question. This week Chrysler -- now owned by Italian auto-making giant Fiat -- launched a high-minded image campaign calling for the unconditional release of Suu Kyi, who is not exactly a household name in the U.S. The 30-second spot is a re-creation of a Lancia spot by Italian ad house Armando Testa. In the spot, we see Nobel laureates -- Lech Walesa, Mikhail Gorbachev -- arriving for the 10th Summit of Peace Prize laureates in Berlin.
"You can build walls that separate people from people," the voice-over intones. "But it is impossible to build a wall that separates a man from his freedom." Now we see a white Chrysler 300 tooling past the wall (Is it prom night in Berlin?). A soprano sings a set of minor-key scales. "Because freedom always finds a path to build peace." The car bursts through a wall, and the exploding bricks are transformed into white doves.
"This film is dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, still prisoner in Burma." The spot fades out on a poster with Suu Kyi's face and the appeal, "Free now unconditionally."
The end-card slogan: "Chrysler: for a World Without Walls."
Yes, well, in a world without walls, roofs collapse, and when I saw this commercial I certainly felt as though mine had fallen in on me.
And yet, I caught myself in mid-cynical paroxysm. OK, granted, most Americans wouldn't know Suu Kyi if she lobbed a grenade at them. I'll also stipulate that Myanmar is a Double Jeopardy level of difficulty in the geography category. And then there's the babbling prosody of the voice-over. Is it really impossible to build a wall that separates a man from his freedom? I'd say not. And did the scriptwriters overlook the fact that Suu Kyi is a woman?
Like the current National Geographic and the "I Am. Jeep." spots, the Chrysler ad perpetuates a trend in advertising of what might be called nonsense affirmation, a la Eckhart Tolle.
A reasonable objection might be that a Burmese pro-democracy dissident has nothing to do with Chrysler. And I say, what of it? As a brand, there is nothing worthwhile left of Chrysler. It has retreated to marketing's primordial ooze. Why not begin to remake it in the image of what it will become -- globalized, sophisticated, European -- instead of what it was? Chrysler is for all intents now an Italian car company. So Chrysler is right to embrace a larger, less domestically myopic worldview.
Obviously, Fiat-Chrysler's agitations will have zero effect on the Burmese junta, which has shrugged off decades of condemnation over Suu Kyi. So it would be easy enough to charge the spot with exploiting her image to sell scary-looking sedans. If the company wanted to embarrass a regime it might have picked nearer targets, such as the lack of adequate healthcare for the poor or continuing disenfranchisement of African American voters.
But that's the beauty of the Suu Kyi message. It's noble yet at a safe distance. There's not much risk of blow-back. Cynicism is actually a fairly useful faculty.
Also -- and this is back-of-the-house stuff -- the spot apparently cost Chrysler next to nothing to produce. A story in this week's Ad Age caused a kerfuffle when it said, erroneously, that Chrysler had used federal bailout money to hire an Italian ad agency at the same time it was pulling the plug on longtime agency of record BBDO Detroit. Not so, responded Chrysler chief Olivier Francois. It simply, and cheaply, repackaged the Lancia ad. That's just good business.
Will the spot move the sheet metal? You couldn't sell these cars if you stocked them like a bass pond with vestal virgins. But I do think it sets an interesting and positive tone for the brand while the company is, literally, retooling (Chrysler's new Fiat-based products are a good 18 months away). It aims at a smarter, better educated, more engaged audience, people who can find Myanmar, on a map. It has all the textures of Europhilic sophistication -- the opera singer, the Brandenburg Gate, etc.
It's not about the Chrysler that was, but the one that is about to be.
As a brand, there is nothing worthwhile left of Chrysler. Why not begin to remake it in the image of what it will become -- globalized, sophisticated, European -- instead of what it was?
By Dan Neil
December 8, 2009
The newest star of a Chrysler ad couldn't get arrested in this town.
Aung San Suu Kyi is a 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Burmese pro-democracy dissident who has spent most of the last two decades detained at her house at Inya Lake, outside of Yangon, Myanmar. Suu Kyi -- who was elected prime minister in 1990, before the military junta invalidated the election -- was again convicted in a sham trial in August after a deranged American, John William Yettsaw, swam out to her house, giving the junta the pretense to charge Suu Kyi with violating the terms of her house arrest. And again, the world denounced Myanmar.
What does any of this have to do with Chrysler? My very question. This week Chrysler -- now owned by Italian auto-making giant Fiat -- launched a high-minded image campaign calling for the unconditional release of Suu Kyi, who is not exactly a household name in the U.S. The 30-second spot is a re-creation of a Lancia spot by Italian ad house Armando Testa. In the spot, we see Nobel laureates -- Lech Walesa, Mikhail Gorbachev -- arriving for the 10th Summit of Peace Prize laureates in Berlin.
"You can build walls that separate people from people," the voice-over intones. "But it is impossible to build a wall that separates a man from his freedom." Now we see a white Chrysler 300 tooling past the wall (Is it prom night in Berlin?). A soprano sings a set of minor-key scales. "Because freedom always finds a path to build peace." The car bursts through a wall, and the exploding bricks are transformed into white doves.
"This film is dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, still prisoner in Burma." The spot fades out on a poster with Suu Kyi's face and the appeal, "Free now unconditionally."
The end-card slogan: "Chrysler: for a World Without Walls."
Yes, well, in a world without walls, roofs collapse, and when I saw this commercial I certainly felt as though mine had fallen in on me.
And yet, I caught myself in mid-cynical paroxysm. OK, granted, most Americans wouldn't know Suu Kyi if she lobbed a grenade at them. I'll also stipulate that Myanmar is a Double Jeopardy level of difficulty in the geography category. And then there's the babbling prosody of the voice-over. Is it really impossible to build a wall that separates a man from his freedom? I'd say not. And did the scriptwriters overlook the fact that Suu Kyi is a woman?
Like the current National Geographic and the "I Am. Jeep." spots, the Chrysler ad perpetuates a trend in advertising of what might be called nonsense affirmation, a la Eckhart Tolle.
A reasonable objection might be that a Burmese pro-democracy dissident has nothing to do with Chrysler. And I say, what of it? As a brand, there is nothing worthwhile left of Chrysler. It has retreated to marketing's primordial ooze. Why not begin to remake it in the image of what it will become -- globalized, sophisticated, European -- instead of what it was? Chrysler is for all intents now an Italian car company. So Chrysler is right to embrace a larger, less domestically myopic worldview.
Obviously, Fiat-Chrysler's agitations will have zero effect on the Burmese junta, which has shrugged off decades of condemnation over Suu Kyi. So it would be easy enough to charge the spot with exploiting her image to sell scary-looking sedans. If the company wanted to embarrass a regime it might have picked nearer targets, such as the lack of adequate healthcare for the poor or continuing disenfranchisement of African American voters.
But that's the beauty of the Suu Kyi message. It's noble yet at a safe distance. There's not much risk of blow-back. Cynicism is actually a fairly useful faculty.
Also -- and this is back-of-the-house stuff -- the spot apparently cost Chrysler next to nothing to produce. A story in this week's Ad Age caused a kerfuffle when it said, erroneously, that Chrysler had used federal bailout money to hire an Italian ad agency at the same time it was pulling the plug on longtime agency of record BBDO Detroit. Not so, responded Chrysler chief Olivier Francois. It simply, and cheaply, repackaged the Lancia ad. That's just good business.
Will the spot move the sheet metal? You couldn't sell these cars if you stocked them like a bass pond with vestal virgins. But I do think it sets an interesting and positive tone for the brand while the company is, literally, retooling (Chrysler's new Fiat-based products are a good 18 months away). It aims at a smarter, better educated, more engaged audience, people who can find Myanmar, on a map. It has all the textures of Europhilic sophistication -- the opera singer, the Brandenburg Gate, etc.
It's not about the Chrysler that was, but the one that is about to be.
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Thaindian News - Krishna heads to Myanmar for BIMSTEC meet Thursday
December 9th, 2009 - 6:53 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna goes to Myanmar on a three-day visit Thursday to attend a multilateral meeting of seven countries which ring the Bay of Bengal that will focus on jointly combating terrorism and promoting free trade in the region.
The 12th ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation will he held in the Myanmar capital Nay Pyi Taw.
The ministers of seven countries will firm up a regional convention to expand counter-terror cooperation and promote trade, connectivity and popular contacts in the region, official sources said here.
BIMSTEC comprises India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. India hosted the second BIMSTEC summit last year.
A joint statement on promoting mutual economic growth and development is expected to be signed at the ministerial meeting.
Four pacts related to the establishment of BIMSTEC Energy Centre, centre for weather and climate, cultural industries observatory and cultural industries, as well as cooperation against international crime are expected to be signed.
Krishna is likely to meet the foreign ministers of Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting.
December 9th, 2009 - 6:53 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna goes to Myanmar on a three-day visit Thursday to attend a multilateral meeting of seven countries which ring the Bay of Bengal that will focus on jointly combating terrorism and promoting free trade in the region.
The 12th ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation will he held in the Myanmar capital Nay Pyi Taw.
The ministers of seven countries will firm up a regional convention to expand counter-terror cooperation and promote trade, connectivity and popular contacts in the region, official sources said here.
BIMSTEC comprises India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. India hosted the second BIMSTEC summit last year.
A joint statement on promoting mutual economic growth and development is expected to be signed at the ministerial meeting.
Four pacts related to the establishment of BIMSTEC Energy Centre, centre for weather and climate, cultural industries observatory and cultural industries, as well as cooperation against international crime are expected to be signed.
Krishna is likely to meet the foreign ministers of Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting.
******************************************************************
Over 3 dozen trafficked Myanmar women repatriated from Thailand
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-09 13:40:39
YANGON, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- A total of 39 trafficked Myanmar women have been rescued and repatriated from neighboring Thailand to Myanmar, according to the Myanmar Social Welfare Department on Wednesday.
Through Myawaddy border town, these women were brought to Mawlamyine, Mon state last week and settled at a cottage industry there to undergo vocational training for their livelihood in the future.
According to the department, a total of 122 such repatriated victims have reached homes so far this year.
In 2008, the Myanmar authorities punished 342 traffickers in connection with 134 related cases, rescuing 203 victims, statistics showed.
According to the department, under government-to-government system, a total of 686 victims, smuggled out of Myanmar, were rescued and brought back to the country as of 2008 and they were being kept at the rehabilitation centers.
Of them, those who were repatriated back from Thailand stood the majority with 344, followed by those from China with 272, Malaysia with 45, Japan, Bangladesh, Jamaica and Singapore as well as China's Macao, China's Taiwan.
The government has so far built eight rehabilitation centers offering educational program and vocational skill training for the victims.
Meanwhile, Myanmar, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, has developed information networks at highway terminals in the second largest city of Mandalay to curb human trafficking undertakings centered in the city.
Mandalay has been exposed as the country's internal human trafficking point and used as transit center to reach up to border areas along the trafficking route of Mandalay-Pyin Oo Lwin-Lashio-Muse to other countries.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-09 13:40:39
YANGON, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- A total of 39 trafficked Myanmar women have been rescued and repatriated from neighboring Thailand to Myanmar, according to the Myanmar Social Welfare Department on Wednesday.
Through Myawaddy border town, these women were brought to Mawlamyine, Mon state last week and settled at a cottage industry there to undergo vocational training for their livelihood in the future.
According to the department, a total of 122 such repatriated victims have reached homes so far this year.
In 2008, the Myanmar authorities punished 342 traffickers in connection with 134 related cases, rescuing 203 victims, statistics showed.
According to the department, under government-to-government system, a total of 686 victims, smuggled out of Myanmar, were rescued and brought back to the country as of 2008 and they were being kept at the rehabilitation centers.
Of them, those who were repatriated back from Thailand stood the majority with 344, followed by those from China with 272, Malaysia with 45, Japan, Bangladesh, Jamaica and Singapore as well as China's Macao, China's Taiwan.
The government has so far built eight rehabilitation centers offering educational program and vocational skill training for the victims.
Meanwhile, Myanmar, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, has developed information networks at highway terminals in the second largest city of Mandalay to curb human trafficking undertakings centered in the city.
Mandalay has been exposed as the country's internal human trafficking point and used as transit center to reach up to border areas along the trafficking route of Mandalay-Pyin Oo Lwin-Lashio-Muse to other countries.
******************************************************************
Myanmar makes progress in soft-shell crab production
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-10 12:37:54
YANGON, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has been making progress in soft-shell crab production on its own with its raw materials after two years' endeavors in the move, sources with the Crab Entrepreneurs Association (CEA) said on Thursday.
Previously, Myanmar exported crabs to neighboring China on demand and raw materials to Vietnam and Thailand for production of soft-shell crab.
Soft-shell crab has become a new export item of the country's marine export products in addition to fresh-water fish, crabs and prawns.
In the first eight months (April-Nov) of the 2009-10 fiscal year, Myanmar exported a total of 20.12 million U.S dollars worth of crabs, of which the soft-shell crabs accounted for 5.04 million dollars, statistics show.
The Myanmar CEA has set a target of crab export as 35 million dollars for the present fiscal year 2009-10 against the previous years' 31.5 million dollars.
According to an overall statistics of the fishery department, Myanmar's marine export hit 283 million U.S. dollars in the first eight month of 2009-10, accounting for 40.4 percent of the targeted export of 700 million dollars for the entire year.
Among the marine export, that of fresh-water fish fetched the largest amount with 75.55 million dollars.
Meanwhile, China topped Myanmar's marine export country line-up, followed by Thailand, Japan and Singapore.
The other marine products exporting countries include Middle East countries, European Union countries, South Korea, Japan and Argentina.
Myanmar's fishery sector remained as the fourth largest contributor to the gross domestic product and also the fourth largest source of foreign exchange earning during the past five years.
With a long coastline of over 2,800 km and a total area of 500,000 hectares of swamps along the coast, the country has an estimated sustainable yield of marine products at over one million tons a year.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-10 12:37:54
YANGON, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has been making progress in soft-shell crab production on its own with its raw materials after two years' endeavors in the move, sources with the Crab Entrepreneurs Association (CEA) said on Thursday.
Previously, Myanmar exported crabs to neighboring China on demand and raw materials to Vietnam and Thailand for production of soft-shell crab.
Soft-shell crab has become a new export item of the country's marine export products in addition to fresh-water fish, crabs and prawns.
In the first eight months (April-Nov) of the 2009-10 fiscal year, Myanmar exported a total of 20.12 million U.S dollars worth of crabs, of which the soft-shell crabs accounted for 5.04 million dollars, statistics show.
The Myanmar CEA has set a target of crab export as 35 million dollars for the present fiscal year 2009-10 against the previous years' 31.5 million dollars.
According to an overall statistics of the fishery department, Myanmar's marine export hit 283 million U.S. dollars in the first eight month of 2009-10, accounting for 40.4 percent of the targeted export of 700 million dollars for the entire year.
Among the marine export, that of fresh-water fish fetched the largest amount with 75.55 million dollars.
Meanwhile, China topped Myanmar's marine export country line-up, followed by Thailand, Japan and Singapore.
The other marine products exporting countries include Middle East countries, European Union countries, South Korea, Japan and Argentina.
Myanmar's fishery sector remained as the fourth largest contributor to the gross domestic product and also the fourth largest source of foreign exchange earning during the past five years.
With a long coastline of over 2,800 km and a total area of 500,000 hectares of swamps along the coast, the country has an estimated sustainable yield of marine products at over one million tons a year.
******************************************************************
Chinese vice president to visit four Asian nations
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-10 17:16:43
BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping will pay official visits to Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Cambodia and Myanmar from Dec. 14 to 22.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu told a regular press conference that Xi would exchange views with leaders of the four countries on bilateral relations and issues of common concern.
Xi's visit to Japan is the first by a Chinese leader since the new Japanese government was formed. He will have broad contacts with the Japanese government and major political parties.
"We hope the visit will enhance political mutual trust between the two countries, expand cooperation, promote friendship between the two peoples, and push forward the China-Japan strategic relationship of reciprocity," Jiang said.
During Xi's stay in the ROK, the second leg of his tour, Xi will talk with ROK President Lee Myung-bak, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan and Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Hyong-o. He will also meet economic groups and major political party leaders.
Besides the capital, Seoul, Xi will also visit Gyeongju.
"China and the ROK have seen the smooth development of exchanges and cooperation. The two countries also maintain good communication and coordination on international and regional issues. We hope the visit will further promote the good-neighborly relationship," Jiang said.
Xi was invited by the governments of Japan, ROK and Cambodia, as well as Vice Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar Maung Aye.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-10 17:16:43
BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping will pay official visits to Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Cambodia and Myanmar from Dec. 14 to 22.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu told a regular press conference that Xi would exchange views with leaders of the four countries on bilateral relations and issues of common concern.
Xi's visit to Japan is the first by a Chinese leader since the new Japanese government was formed. He will have broad contacts with the Japanese government and major political parties.
"We hope the visit will enhance political mutual trust between the two countries, expand cooperation, promote friendship between the two peoples, and push forward the China-Japan strategic relationship of reciprocity," Jiang said.
During Xi's stay in the ROK, the second leg of his tour, Xi will talk with ROK President Lee Myung-bak, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan and Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Hyong-o. He will also meet economic groups and major political party leaders.
Besides the capital, Seoul, Xi will also visit Gyeongju.
"China and the ROK have seen the smooth development of exchanges and cooperation. The two countries also maintain good communication and coordination on international and regional issues. We hope the visit will further promote the good-neighborly relationship," Jiang said.
Xi was invited by the governments of Japan, ROK and Cambodia, as well as Vice Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar Maung Aye.
******************************************************************
Foreign Relations - General Malaise
Burma’s junta plays us again.
Joshua Kurlantzick
December 9, 2009 | 12:00 am
From the hills outside Mandalay, Burma’s second city, the vista resembles a postcard of Asian serenity. Monks climb stone steps to a hillside shrine, where local men and women leave offerings of flowers and fruit. But the placid scene conceals one of the most repressive states in the world--a state that the Obama administration has decided may be more worthy of American friendship than American threats.
For more than four decades, Burma’s junta has persecuted its population. In conflict-torn eastern Burma, the army reportedly employs state-sanctioned rape of women and girls, conscription of local children, and the burning of villages. Nearly one million Burmese have fled to neighboring countries, while those who stay are sometimes press-ganged into forced labor, during which, numerous reports reveal, they may be beaten or even killed. Dissent, of course, is virtually unthinkable. According to the documentary film Burma VJ, which chronicles the monk-led 2007 Saffron Revolution, troops raided monasteries after the protests, beating monks and tossing their dead bodies into creeks.
The junta, meanwhile, has run the economy into the ground, while the regime’s senior leaders live in opulence.
This record of atrocity doesn’t seem to have dissuaded the current administration in Washington from attempting to engage the Burmese regime. After more than a decade during which U.S. administrations have isolated the junta through sanctions, visa bans, and other measures, the Obama administration has decided to re-engage. Speaking to a group of foreign ministers in New York this September, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that “[e]ngagement versus sanctions is a false choice, in our opinion. … To help achieve democratic reform, we will be engaging directly with Burmese authorities.”
The Burmese regime seemed to respond quickly to Washington’s warmth. Only weeks after the administration’s new policy was announced, the junta allowed foreign envoys in Burma to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest on and off for nearly two decades. Then, last week, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell became the highest-level American official to visit Burma in more than a decade; he also was allowed to meet with Suu Kyi. A commentary in Burma’s state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper, normally vehemently anti-Western, captured this new mood. Burma and the United States, it sunnily declared, had taken “the first step toward marching to a 1,000-mile destination.”
Don’t expect to see the end of that march any time soon. Over the past two decades, the junta has used similar promises of rapprochement to get what it wants from the outside world. With each fake new dawn, the Burmese generals have skillfully played the international community for fools, promising the West just enough to win aid and investment without ever really releasing the junta’s stranglehold on power.
Launched last winter, the Obama administration’s Burma policy review accompanied its decision to re-engage with other rogue actors like Iran, North Korea, and Sudan. Overall, the Obama administration apparently decided, there was no harm in talking to anyone, even the most destructive governments: Engaging would show the world that the isolationist George W. Bush was really gone, might actually deliver policy results that isolation could not, and could prevent the United States from losing the diplomatic game to China, which is always willing to deal with dictatorships.
When it came to Burma, the United States has decided, for now, to deal with the generals, and possibly help the long-suffering Burmese population. As one senior State Department official recently told me, “We’re moving forward to reach out to them no matter what they did in the past.” The administration, he said, plans to initiate high-level meetings between junta officials and State Department power players like Campbell. State will also start thinking up ways to work with China, the junta’s closest ally, to deliver more assistance to Burma. Already, the administration has allowed Burmese Foreign Minister Major General Nyan Win a rare visit to Washington. “These are the types of outreach we think [the junta] will respond to,” the State Department official said.
To date, the Burmese have fed this optimism. This year, the junta allowed Stephen Blake, a senior American diplomat, to visit the country and meet with its foreign minister, the first time such a high-ranking State Department policymaker had gone to Burma in nearly a decade. Meanwhile, in August, Senator Jim Webb, who heads the East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee, visited the nation, scoring an unusual audience with the dour, dough-faced junta leader Senior General Than Shwe, who normally disdains meeting foreigners. The junta also allowed Webb to meet with Suu Kyi.
Yet optimists like Webb ignore recent history at their peril: Time and again, the Burmese regime has softened just enough to win concessions, before reverting to its natural state. In the mid-1990s, the junta, hobbled by international isolation, made similar promises. It began wooing investment from the United States, Japan, and neighboring Southeast Asian nations, and it allowed Suu Kyi and her party more freedom to operate. Foreign investors flocked to Burma, which boasts abundant natural resources and architectural wonders that could make it a tourist magnet. During that period, Burma’s neighbors invited it to join the most important regional organization, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, an honor the regime had craved.
Yet, by the end of that decade, the junta had turned its back on the world. Having reaped enough foreign investment to keep the economy afloat, and clearly fearful that any more opening could threaten the regime’s hold on power, the junta cracked down. It started seizing assets it wanted, and it placed Suu Kyi under total house arrest once again, shuttering many offices of her party.
In 2002 and 2003, desperate for aid and investment, the junta again fooled the outside world. At the time, many foreign Burma-watchers saw Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt, the urbane head of military intelligence and main interlocutor with foreign nations, as a supposed “moderate.” Khin Nyunt announced a “road map to democracy” and again freed Suu Kyi. New aid money flowed into Burma. Sitting at the posh Traders Hotel in Rangoon in late 2002, I listened to Western diplomats confidently predict that Burma would witness real political opening within the next two years.
But--surprise--the regime once again shut down. Hard-liners, likely scared by the vast crowds Suu Kyi was attracting, returned to the strategy they knew best. In May 2003, thugs suspected of links to the regime attacked Suu Kyi’s motorcade on a rural road, killing at least 70 people; again, Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest. The junta began slapping restrictions on foreign aid organizations, or forcing them out of the country altogether. Frustrated, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, one of the most prominent international health organizations, simply pulled out of Burma in 2005. Even Khin Nyunt could not escape the crackdown: Regime hard-liners jailed hundreds of his associates and placed the general himself under house arrest.
Today, the junta again has reasons for appearing to open up to the world. This time, the regime seems desperate to gain leverage over China, its main foreign ally and investor, by obtaining more independence from Beijing. “They want to be closer to the U.S. because they don’t want to be reliant on us,” says one Chinese diplomat.
Twice-burned, those who know Burma aren’t buying its current act. “The junta will be anxious to give the appearance of responding to the U.S. outreach, while hoping to avoid any real commitments,” says Sean Turnell, who runs Burma Economic Watch, probably the most authoritative publication on the country. “I think the [junta] … is simply testing out what they might perceive as an administration they might be able to fool.”
Indeed, no serious Burma specialist believes the 2010 national elections planned by the junta will be much more than a sham. Similarly, even as the junta has cozied up to the United States, it has unleashed its forces against ethnic-minority militias. In August, thousands of Kokang, a minority group, fled into China, but not before the military killed at least 200, including many civilians, according to the Kokang.
To be sure, a decade of sanctions and isolation neither brought down the military regime nor fostered real economic reform inside the country. Yet engaging with the junta has dangers as well. It can undermine dissidents and human rights activists, now unsure whether Washington will stand behind them. Experts also believe that financial aid sent to Burma for starving populations is likely to be siphoned off by the regime. Finally, engaging with a brutal regime could make it harder to get any international consensus on sanctions again.
The White House, however, seems ready to be burned a third time. And what happens when Burma’s regime reverts to form? “If you ask them [the administration’s Burma policymakers], ‘What are you going to do if the regime doesn’t respond?,’ they don’t seem to have an idea,” says one prominent D.C.-based Burma activist who consults closely with the State Department. “So what will they do when the junta doesn’t change?”
Joshua Kurlantzick is a special correspondent for The New Republic and a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Burma’s junta plays us again.
Joshua Kurlantzick
December 9, 2009 | 12:00 am
From the hills outside Mandalay, Burma’s second city, the vista resembles a postcard of Asian serenity. Monks climb stone steps to a hillside shrine, where local men and women leave offerings of flowers and fruit. But the placid scene conceals one of the most repressive states in the world--a state that the Obama administration has decided may be more worthy of American friendship than American threats.
For more than four decades, Burma’s junta has persecuted its population. In conflict-torn eastern Burma, the army reportedly employs state-sanctioned rape of women and girls, conscription of local children, and the burning of villages. Nearly one million Burmese have fled to neighboring countries, while those who stay are sometimes press-ganged into forced labor, during which, numerous reports reveal, they may be beaten or even killed. Dissent, of course, is virtually unthinkable. According to the documentary film Burma VJ, which chronicles the monk-led 2007 Saffron Revolution, troops raided monasteries after the protests, beating monks and tossing their dead bodies into creeks.
The junta, meanwhile, has run the economy into the ground, while the regime’s senior leaders live in opulence.
This record of atrocity doesn’t seem to have dissuaded the current administration in Washington from attempting to engage the Burmese regime. After more than a decade during which U.S. administrations have isolated the junta through sanctions, visa bans, and other measures, the Obama administration has decided to re-engage. Speaking to a group of foreign ministers in New York this September, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that “[e]ngagement versus sanctions is a false choice, in our opinion. … To help achieve democratic reform, we will be engaging directly with Burmese authorities.”
The Burmese regime seemed to respond quickly to Washington’s warmth. Only weeks after the administration’s new policy was announced, the junta allowed foreign envoys in Burma to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest on and off for nearly two decades. Then, last week, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell became the highest-level American official to visit Burma in more than a decade; he also was allowed to meet with Suu Kyi. A commentary in Burma’s state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper, normally vehemently anti-Western, captured this new mood. Burma and the United States, it sunnily declared, had taken “the first step toward marching to a 1,000-mile destination.”
Don’t expect to see the end of that march any time soon. Over the past two decades, the junta has used similar promises of rapprochement to get what it wants from the outside world. With each fake new dawn, the Burmese generals have skillfully played the international community for fools, promising the West just enough to win aid and investment without ever really releasing the junta’s stranglehold on power.
Launched last winter, the Obama administration’s Burma policy review accompanied its decision to re-engage with other rogue actors like Iran, North Korea, and Sudan. Overall, the Obama administration apparently decided, there was no harm in talking to anyone, even the most destructive governments: Engaging would show the world that the isolationist George W. Bush was really gone, might actually deliver policy results that isolation could not, and could prevent the United States from losing the diplomatic game to China, which is always willing to deal with dictatorships.
When it came to Burma, the United States has decided, for now, to deal with the generals, and possibly help the long-suffering Burmese population. As one senior State Department official recently told me, “We’re moving forward to reach out to them no matter what they did in the past.” The administration, he said, plans to initiate high-level meetings between junta officials and State Department power players like Campbell. State will also start thinking up ways to work with China, the junta’s closest ally, to deliver more assistance to Burma. Already, the administration has allowed Burmese Foreign Minister Major General Nyan Win a rare visit to Washington. “These are the types of outreach we think [the junta] will respond to,” the State Department official said.
To date, the Burmese have fed this optimism. This year, the junta allowed Stephen Blake, a senior American diplomat, to visit the country and meet with its foreign minister, the first time such a high-ranking State Department policymaker had gone to Burma in nearly a decade. Meanwhile, in August, Senator Jim Webb, who heads the East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee, visited the nation, scoring an unusual audience with the dour, dough-faced junta leader Senior General Than Shwe, who normally disdains meeting foreigners. The junta also allowed Webb to meet with Suu Kyi.
Yet optimists like Webb ignore recent history at their peril: Time and again, the Burmese regime has softened just enough to win concessions, before reverting to its natural state. In the mid-1990s, the junta, hobbled by international isolation, made similar promises. It began wooing investment from the United States, Japan, and neighboring Southeast Asian nations, and it allowed Suu Kyi and her party more freedom to operate. Foreign investors flocked to Burma, which boasts abundant natural resources and architectural wonders that could make it a tourist magnet. During that period, Burma’s neighbors invited it to join the most important regional organization, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, an honor the regime had craved.
Yet, by the end of that decade, the junta had turned its back on the world. Having reaped enough foreign investment to keep the economy afloat, and clearly fearful that any more opening could threaten the regime’s hold on power, the junta cracked down. It started seizing assets it wanted, and it placed Suu Kyi under total house arrest once again, shuttering many offices of her party.
In 2002 and 2003, desperate for aid and investment, the junta again fooled the outside world. At the time, many foreign Burma-watchers saw Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt, the urbane head of military intelligence and main interlocutor with foreign nations, as a supposed “moderate.” Khin Nyunt announced a “road map to democracy” and again freed Suu Kyi. New aid money flowed into Burma. Sitting at the posh Traders Hotel in Rangoon in late 2002, I listened to Western diplomats confidently predict that Burma would witness real political opening within the next two years.
But--surprise--the regime once again shut down. Hard-liners, likely scared by the vast crowds Suu Kyi was attracting, returned to the strategy they knew best. In May 2003, thugs suspected of links to the regime attacked Suu Kyi’s motorcade on a rural road, killing at least 70 people; again, Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest. The junta began slapping restrictions on foreign aid organizations, or forcing them out of the country altogether. Frustrated, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, one of the most prominent international health organizations, simply pulled out of Burma in 2005. Even Khin Nyunt could not escape the crackdown: Regime hard-liners jailed hundreds of his associates and placed the general himself under house arrest.
Today, the junta again has reasons for appearing to open up to the world. This time, the regime seems desperate to gain leverage over China, its main foreign ally and investor, by obtaining more independence from Beijing. “They want to be closer to the U.S. because they don’t want to be reliant on us,” says one Chinese diplomat.
Twice-burned, those who know Burma aren’t buying its current act. “The junta will be anxious to give the appearance of responding to the U.S. outreach, while hoping to avoid any real commitments,” says Sean Turnell, who runs Burma Economic Watch, probably the most authoritative publication on the country. “I think the [junta] … is simply testing out what they might perceive as an administration they might be able to fool.”
Indeed, no serious Burma specialist believes the 2010 national elections planned by the junta will be much more than a sham. Similarly, even as the junta has cozied up to the United States, it has unleashed its forces against ethnic-minority militias. In August, thousands of Kokang, a minority group, fled into China, but not before the military killed at least 200, including many civilians, according to the Kokang.
To be sure, a decade of sanctions and isolation neither brought down the military regime nor fostered real economic reform inside the country. Yet engaging with the junta has dangers as well. It can undermine dissidents and human rights activists, now unsure whether Washington will stand behind them. Experts also believe that financial aid sent to Burma for starving populations is likely to be siphoned off by the regime. Finally, engaging with a brutal regime could make it harder to get any international consensus on sanctions again.
The White House, however, seems ready to be burned a third time. And what happens when Burma’s regime reverts to form? “If you ask them [the administration’s Burma policymakers], ‘What are you going to do if the regime doesn’t respond?,’ they don’t seem to have an idea,” says one prominent D.C.-based Burma activist who consults closely with the State Department. “So what will they do when the junta doesn’t change?”
Joshua Kurlantzick is a special correspondent for The New Republic and a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
******************************************************************
Interconnectionworld - Yangon invites Bangladesh to set up industries, farms in Myanmar
By Anonymous
Dhaka, Dec. 9 -- Yangon Wednesday proposed that Bangladesh set up joint-venture industries and agricultural farms in Myanmar utilizing its huge workforce and Myanmar's abundant land. Myanmar Ambassador Phae Tham Oo made the proposal when he called on Industries Minister Dilip Barua at his office and discussed bilateral issues, including Rohingya refugee problem, maritime-boundary disputes and transport facility for mutual benefit.
"If Bangladesh sets up its world-standard industries like textiles, ceramics, medicines and jute in Myanmar through transferring their technology, both the neighbouring countries will be gainer economically," the envoy said.
He stressed the need for resolving the current disputes between the two countries, including Rohingya refugee problem and maritime- boundary dispute, through mutual understanding.
He stressed strengthening South-South cooperation for enhancing socioeconomic conditions of Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Speaking during the meeting, Dilip Barua said the two neighbours would able to develop their industrial sectors through introducing smooth and easy rail-and road-transport networks.
Recalling historical relationship between Bangladesh and Myanmar, he said the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led incumbent government is committed to maintaining harmonious and cooperative relationship with neighbouring countries.
"Bangladesh is willing to work together with Myanmar for achieving bilateral socioeconomic development of the two countries," the minister told the envoy.
He sought cooperation from Myanmar side through playing a positive and comprehensive role at the climate conference in Copenhagen for tackling the impacts of global climate change.
By Anonymous
Dhaka, Dec. 9 -- Yangon Wednesday proposed that Bangladesh set up joint-venture industries and agricultural farms in Myanmar utilizing its huge workforce and Myanmar's abundant land. Myanmar Ambassador Phae Tham Oo made the proposal when he called on Industries Minister Dilip Barua at his office and discussed bilateral issues, including Rohingya refugee problem, maritime-boundary disputes and transport facility for mutual benefit.
"If Bangladesh sets up its world-standard industries like textiles, ceramics, medicines and jute in Myanmar through transferring their technology, both the neighbouring countries will be gainer economically," the envoy said.
He stressed the need for resolving the current disputes between the two countries, including Rohingya refugee problem and maritime- boundary dispute, through mutual understanding.
He stressed strengthening South-South cooperation for enhancing socioeconomic conditions of Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Speaking during the meeting, Dilip Barua said the two neighbours would able to develop their industrial sectors through introducing smooth and easy rail-and road-transport networks.
Recalling historical relationship between Bangladesh and Myanmar, he said the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led incumbent government is committed to maintaining harmonious and cooperative relationship with neighbouring countries.
"Bangladesh is willing to work together with Myanmar for achieving bilateral socioeconomic development of the two countries," the minister told the envoy.
He sought cooperation from Myanmar side through playing a positive and comprehensive role at the climate conference in Copenhagen for tackling the impacts of global climate change.
******************************************************************
BH Global Marine forms joint venture with two Myanmar businessmen
By Yasmine Yahya, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 08 December 2009 2359 hrs
SINGAPORE: Mainboard-listed BH Global Marine has formed a joint venture with two businessmen in Myanmar.
The firm says the two businessmen are experienced in marine and oil & gas engineering, and have a strong network in Myanmar.
The company and its two partners will establish a joint venture firm in Singapore, with a paid up share capital of S$300,000, divided into 300,000 shares.
Each of the partners will subscribe for 35 per cent of the issued share capital and BH Global Marine will take up the remaining 30 per cent.
The transaction will be funded entirely through internal resources.
The joint venture firm will export various marine-related goods and products to Myanmar.
BH Global Marine says the venture is synergistic and beneficial to the company as it will enable the firm to extend its presence in Myanmar.
By Yasmine Yahya, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 08 December 2009 2359 hrs
SINGAPORE: Mainboard-listed BH Global Marine has formed a joint venture with two businessmen in Myanmar.
The firm says the two businessmen are experienced in marine and oil & gas engineering, and have a strong network in Myanmar.
The company and its two partners will establish a joint venture firm in Singapore, with a paid up share capital of S$300,000, divided into 300,000 shares.
Each of the partners will subscribe for 35 per cent of the issued share capital and BH Global Marine will take up the remaining 30 per cent.
The transaction will be funded entirely through internal resources.
The joint venture firm will export various marine-related goods and products to Myanmar.
BH Global Marine says the venture is synergistic and beneficial to the company as it will enable the firm to extend its presence in Myanmar.
******************************************************************
December 08, 2009 18:21 PM
UN Helps Myanmar Achieve Anti-Poverty Goals
HANOI, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- The United Nations will support a review of Myanmar's efforts to reach its global anti-poverty targets, which is known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and help the country to upgrade its agricultural sector, reports the Vietnam news agency on Tuesday.
This was announced by Ajay Chhibber, an Assistant Administrator for the UN Development Programme (UNDP), during his five-day visit to the Southeast Asian nation.
According to the UN News Centre, Chhibber also held talks with Government officials, UN colleagues and donors, which focused on expanding cooperation in development.
He also visited the so-called Dry Zone in central Myanmar, where the UNDP is carrying out microfinance and community development projects.
Some 350,000 households across three regions namely the Ayeyarwady Delta, the Dry Zone and Shan State, respectively, are benefiting from the microfinance project, which provides credit at affordable interest rates to poor rural communities.
The UNDP is also playing a key role in supporting efforts to recover from Cyclone Nargis, which devastated large parts of the country in May 2008, killing 140,000 people and shattering the lives of 2.4 million more.
Myanmar ranks 132 out of 177 countries in the 2007-2008 UNDP Human Development Index, with an annual per capita gross national income of only US$220, according to the UN News Centre.
UN Helps Myanmar Achieve Anti-Poverty Goals
HANOI, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- The United Nations will support a review of Myanmar's efforts to reach its global anti-poverty targets, which is known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and help the country to upgrade its agricultural sector, reports the Vietnam news agency on Tuesday.
This was announced by Ajay Chhibber, an Assistant Administrator for the UN Development Programme (UNDP), during his five-day visit to the Southeast Asian nation.
According to the UN News Centre, Chhibber also held talks with Government officials, UN colleagues and donors, which focused on expanding cooperation in development.
He also visited the so-called Dry Zone in central Myanmar, where the UNDP is carrying out microfinance and community development projects.
Some 350,000 households across three regions namely the Ayeyarwady Delta, the Dry Zone and Shan State, respectively, are benefiting from the microfinance project, which provides credit at affordable interest rates to poor rural communities.
The UNDP is also playing a key role in supporting efforts to recover from Cyclone Nargis, which devastated large parts of the country in May 2008, killing 140,000 people and shattering the lives of 2.4 million more.
Myanmar ranks 132 out of 177 countries in the 2007-2008 UNDP Human Development Index, with an annual per capita gross national income of only US$220, according to the UN News Centre.
******************************************************************
EarthTimes - Four premiers to attend opening of Southeast AsianGames - Summary
Posted : Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:46:04 GMT
Vientiane - The prime ministers of Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the 25th Southeast Asian Games hosted by Laos this week, state media reported Tuesday. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Myanmar's Prime Minister General Thein Sein, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung are due to attend Wednesday's ceremony in Vientiane, the Vientiane Times reported.
The December 9-18 games in the Laotian capital will be the largest international event hosted by land-locked, communist country since the summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations in 2004.
Thailand is sending 550 athletes and 292 officials, making it the largest participant in the 25th SEA Games, according to the state-run KPL News.
The host nation sent 482 athletes and 261 officials, Vietnam 671 athletes and officials, Malaysia 469, Indonesia 465, the Philippines 413, Myanmar 400, Singapore 392, Cambodia 204, Brunei 79 and East Timor 77.
A total of 4,869 athletes will vie for 370 gold, 370 silver and 539 bronze medals.
Local and foreign spectators have complained that black market tickets for the Vietnam-Thailand football match were overpriced at 200,000 kip (22 dollars), a hefty mark-up from the official rate of 50,000 to 70,000 kip per ticket.
The games' opening ceremony Wednesday will be the first event attended by the prime ministers of Cambodia and Thailand since a diplomatic spat broke out between the two countries in October, over Hun Sen's decision to appoint fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as his personal adviser.
Thaksin is a political archrival of Abhisit and his Democrat Party that heads the current coalition government in Bangkok. Thailand recalled its ambassador from Phnom Penh following Thaksin's appointment, prompting Hun Sen to withdraw his ambassador from Bangkok.
Lao Prime Minister Bouason Boupphavanh has expressed concern over the diplomatic conflict and expressed a willingness to play a mediating role if requested by both countries.
Posted : Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:46:04 GMT
Vientiane - The prime ministers of Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the 25th Southeast Asian Games hosted by Laos this week, state media reported Tuesday. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Myanmar's Prime Minister General Thein Sein, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung are due to attend Wednesday's ceremony in Vientiane, the Vientiane Times reported.
The December 9-18 games in the Laotian capital will be the largest international event hosted by land-locked, communist country since the summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations in 2004.
Thailand is sending 550 athletes and 292 officials, making it the largest participant in the 25th SEA Games, according to the state-run KPL News.
The host nation sent 482 athletes and 261 officials, Vietnam 671 athletes and officials, Malaysia 469, Indonesia 465, the Philippines 413, Myanmar 400, Singapore 392, Cambodia 204, Brunei 79 and East Timor 77.
A total of 4,869 athletes will vie for 370 gold, 370 silver and 539 bronze medals.
Local and foreign spectators have complained that black market tickets for the Vietnam-Thailand football match were overpriced at 200,000 kip (22 dollars), a hefty mark-up from the official rate of 50,000 to 70,000 kip per ticket.
The games' opening ceremony Wednesday will be the first event attended by the prime ministers of Cambodia and Thailand since a diplomatic spat broke out between the two countries in October, over Hun Sen's decision to appoint fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as his personal adviser.
Thaksin is a political archrival of Abhisit and his Democrat Party that heads the current coalition government in Bangkok. Thailand recalled its ambassador from Phnom Penh following Thaksin's appointment, prompting Hun Sen to withdraw his ambassador from Bangkok.
Lao Prime Minister Bouason Boupphavanh has expressed concern over the diplomatic conflict and expressed a willingness to play a mediating role if requested by both countries.
******************************************************************
Christian Today - UN called to investigate war crimes in Burma
Posted: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 14:26 (GMT)
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has today welcomed a letter to the United Nations Security Council signed by 442 Members of Parliament around the world and issued on the 61st anniversary of the introduction of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The letter calls for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma, and the introduction of a universal arms embargo.
The letter, signed by Parliamentarians in 29 countries, including Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and France comes a day after the British House of Commons debated the human rights crisis in Burma.
Yesterday, Nigel Evans MP introduced a debate on Burma in the House of Commons, in which he called on the British government to support the establishment of a commission of inquiry. Several other contributing MPs added their support to this call.
In addition, an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the British Parliament calling for a commission of inquiry on Burma has been signed by 92 MPs so far, and a new EDM, tabled by Mr Evans to mark International Human Rights Day, states that “in Burma, the case of Aung San Suu Kyi highlights the cruel suppression of democracy and perpetration of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the military junta”.
Benedict Rogers, East Asia Team Leader at CSW, said: “We warmly welcome the support of almost five hundred Parliamentarians around the world, and we are delighted that the British House of Commons has debated Burma again and has spoken so strongly in support of a commission of inquiry.
"The international recognition that what is happening in Burma amounts to crimes against humanity and war crimes is growing, and governments now need to respond to this by working to establish a UN commission of inquiry to investigate these crimes.”
Posted: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 14:26 (GMT)
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has today welcomed a letter to the United Nations Security Council signed by 442 Members of Parliament around the world and issued on the 61st anniversary of the introduction of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The letter calls for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma, and the introduction of a universal arms embargo.
The letter, signed by Parliamentarians in 29 countries, including Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and France comes a day after the British House of Commons debated the human rights crisis in Burma.
Yesterday, Nigel Evans MP introduced a debate on Burma in the House of Commons, in which he called on the British government to support the establishment of a commission of inquiry. Several other contributing MPs added their support to this call.
In addition, an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the British Parliament calling for a commission of inquiry on Burma has been signed by 92 MPs so far, and a new EDM, tabled by Mr Evans to mark International Human Rights Day, states that “in Burma, the case of Aung San Suu Kyi highlights the cruel suppression of democracy and perpetration of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the military junta”.
Benedict Rogers, East Asia Team Leader at CSW, said: “We warmly welcome the support of almost five hundred Parliamentarians around the world, and we are delighted that the British House of Commons has debated Burma again and has spoken so strongly in support of a commission of inquiry.
"The international recognition that what is happening in Burma amounts to crimes against humanity and war crimes is growing, and governments now need to respond to this by working to establish a UN commission of inquiry to investigate these crimes.”
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Scoop - Investigate crimes against humanity in Burma
Thursday, 10 December 2009, 2:15 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
New Zealand MPs back call for UN Security Council to investigate crimes against humanity in Burma
A significant number of New Zealand MPs are joining the call to urge the UN Security Council to launch an investigation into crimes against humanity committed by the military regime in Burma, says Labour MP Maryan Street.
“They are joining over 400 Members of Parliament from 29 countries around the world in the call for the council to launch the investigation and to impose a global arms embargo on that regime.
“Today is International Human Rights Day and is a particularly appropriate time to acknowledge the need for such action, which is long overdue,” says Maryan Street, who chairs the Cross-Party Parliamentary Group on Burma.
“So far 23 New Zealand MPs, including Labour Leader Phil Goff and many of my Labour colleagues, have signed the letter to the UN Security Council. MPs from the Green Party and the Maori Party have also signed.
“Burma’s military regime has carried out brutal attacks on its own people for decades. According to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, a humanitarian agency providing aid to Burmese refugees and displaced persons for 25 years, the regime has destroyed over 3,500 ethnic minority villages in Eastern Burma since 1996.
“At least 75,000 people were forced to leave their homes during the past year alone and more than half a million people remain internally displaced.
“These crimes are well documented by UN bodies, yet no effective action has been taken.
“It’s time for the United Nations to act and act quickly,” Maryan Street says.
Thursday, 10 December 2009, 2:15 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
New Zealand MPs back call for UN Security Council to investigate crimes against humanity in Burma
A significant number of New Zealand MPs are joining the call to urge the UN Security Council to launch an investigation into crimes against humanity committed by the military regime in Burma, says Labour MP Maryan Street.
“They are joining over 400 Members of Parliament from 29 countries around the world in the call for the council to launch the investigation and to impose a global arms embargo on that regime.
“Today is International Human Rights Day and is a particularly appropriate time to acknowledge the need for such action, which is long overdue,” says Maryan Street, who chairs the Cross-Party Parliamentary Group on Burma.
“So far 23 New Zealand MPs, including Labour Leader Phil Goff and many of my Labour colleagues, have signed the letter to the UN Security Council. MPs from the Green Party and the Maori Party have also signed.
“Burma’s military regime has carried out brutal attacks on its own people for decades. According to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, a humanitarian agency providing aid to Burmese refugees and displaced persons for 25 years, the regime has destroyed over 3,500 ethnic minority villages in Eastern Burma since 1996.
“At least 75,000 people were forced to leave their homes during the past year alone and more than half a million people remain internally displaced.
“These crimes are well documented by UN bodies, yet no effective action has been taken.
“It’s time for the United Nations to act and act quickly,” Maryan Street says.
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The Irrawaddy - Some Optimistic After Third Dialogue?
By WAI MOE and BA KAUNG - Thursday, December 10, 2009
Some NLD members are voicing cautious optimism about negotiations between the Burmese junta and Aung San Suu Kyi, following the third meeting in three months between her and the junta's liaison officer, Aung Kyi, on Wednesday.
State-run media on Thursday reported that they met in the regime's Seinle Kantha Guesthouse for 45 minutes, from 1:05 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
No official details of the meeting were made available. However, senior National League for Democracy (NLD) members told The Irrawaddy that the meeting probably was in response to Suu Kyi's Nov. 11 letter to Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
NLD spokesman Khin Maung Swe said, “The topic of the meeting might be related to economic sanctions, which she mentioned in her letter, and it shows that the government is still willing to talk with her.”
Suu Kyi sent letters to the junta leader in September and November. In both letters, she said she wanted to cooperate with the junta in working toward the lifting of international economic sanctions against Burma. In the November letter, she also requested to meet with Than Shwe.
The meeting on Wednesday came as somewhat of a surprise, following a recent commentary article in state-run newspapers that criticized Suu Kyi and the NLD for providing details about her two letters to the media, describing it as “dishonesty.”
The newspaper commentary said that Suu Kyi and the NLD used “the media as a tool in an insincere way.”
“It is acceptable that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi sent a letter to the Head of State. However, they should not have passed the buck to the government after disclosing the letter to the media with an ulterior motive,” said the article.
Khin Maung Swe said the media regularly runs stories critical of Suu Kyi and the NLD, and the criticism should be put in perspective.
“We can say there could be some parties on both sides who do not want to see a positive dialogue,” he said. “Hard-liners and soft-liners could be in both camps. Those people who oppose dialogue write these kind of articles.”
It's not surprising that the military regime and the NLD reflect different perspectives about the same events.
While transparency and accountability to the public is an important value for pro-democracy groups, the generals in Naypyidaw prefer secrecy and confidentiality as the first priority. As a result, he said, the generals might see any public announcements by the opposition as “insincere.”
Such views are reflected in the recent commentary article, where it said: “It should be taken into consideration that the attempt of one side to force the other into a corner by making dishonest use of the media might delay the other side's response.”
Regardless of the commentary, relations between the junta and the NLD seem to be improving somewhat following Suu Kyi's offer to cooperate on removing sanctions.
NLD sources noted that, in spite of some difficulties, the authorities allowed an NLD divisional level meeting in Monywa in Sagaing Division to take place in November, at the same time an application for reopening a party office in Rangoon Division was being considered by the government.
Also, the NLD relief committee for Cyclone Nargis recently completed a trip to the Irrawaddy delta, since the two-month detention in 2008 of committee head Ohn Kyaing.
Ohn Kyaing told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday: “During previous trips to the delta, all the guest houses there would not accept our team because of restrictions by the authorities. On this trip, we stayed at guest houses.”
On Thursday, the NLD marked the 61st Human Rights Day at its party headquarter in Rangoon with a public talk on human rights issues in the country chaired by Win Tin, a prominent NLD executive committee member.
However, some political observers inside Burma still voiced skepticism about any real progress being made in Suu Kyi's overtures to the junta.
“I won't get excited about U Aung Kyi meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi until I see a genuine outcome,” said Aye Thar Aung, an Arakanese leader who is secretary of the opposition umbrella group, the Committee Representing People’s Parliament. “For any real change in Burma, there are many more steps that need to be taken.”
By WAI MOE and BA KAUNG - Thursday, December 10, 2009
Some NLD members are voicing cautious optimism about negotiations between the Burmese junta and Aung San Suu Kyi, following the third meeting in three months between her and the junta's liaison officer, Aung Kyi, on Wednesday.
State-run media on Thursday reported that they met in the regime's Seinle Kantha Guesthouse for 45 minutes, from 1:05 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
No official details of the meeting were made available. However, senior National League for Democracy (NLD) members told The Irrawaddy that the meeting probably was in response to Suu Kyi's Nov. 11 letter to Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
NLD spokesman Khin Maung Swe said, “The topic of the meeting might be related to economic sanctions, which she mentioned in her letter, and it shows that the government is still willing to talk with her.”
Suu Kyi sent letters to the junta leader in September and November. In both letters, she said she wanted to cooperate with the junta in working toward the lifting of international economic sanctions against Burma. In the November letter, she also requested to meet with Than Shwe.
The meeting on Wednesday came as somewhat of a surprise, following a recent commentary article in state-run newspapers that criticized Suu Kyi and the NLD for providing details about her two letters to the media, describing it as “dishonesty.”
The newspaper commentary said that Suu Kyi and the NLD used “the media as a tool in an insincere way.”
“It is acceptable that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi sent a letter to the Head of State. However, they should not have passed the buck to the government after disclosing the letter to the media with an ulterior motive,” said the article.
Khin Maung Swe said the media regularly runs stories critical of Suu Kyi and the NLD, and the criticism should be put in perspective.
“We can say there could be some parties on both sides who do not want to see a positive dialogue,” he said. “Hard-liners and soft-liners could be in both camps. Those people who oppose dialogue write these kind of articles.”
It's not surprising that the military regime and the NLD reflect different perspectives about the same events.
While transparency and accountability to the public is an important value for pro-democracy groups, the generals in Naypyidaw prefer secrecy and confidentiality as the first priority. As a result, he said, the generals might see any public announcements by the opposition as “insincere.”
Such views are reflected in the recent commentary article, where it said: “It should be taken into consideration that the attempt of one side to force the other into a corner by making dishonest use of the media might delay the other side's response.”
Regardless of the commentary, relations between the junta and the NLD seem to be improving somewhat following Suu Kyi's offer to cooperate on removing sanctions.
NLD sources noted that, in spite of some difficulties, the authorities allowed an NLD divisional level meeting in Monywa in Sagaing Division to take place in November, at the same time an application for reopening a party office in Rangoon Division was being considered by the government.
Also, the NLD relief committee for Cyclone Nargis recently completed a trip to the Irrawaddy delta, since the two-month detention in 2008 of committee head Ohn Kyaing.
Ohn Kyaing told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday: “During previous trips to the delta, all the guest houses there would not accept our team because of restrictions by the authorities. On this trip, we stayed at guest houses.”
On Thursday, the NLD marked the 61st Human Rights Day at its party headquarter in Rangoon with a public talk on human rights issues in the country chaired by Win Tin, a prominent NLD executive committee member.
However, some political observers inside Burma still voiced skepticism about any real progress being made in Suu Kyi's overtures to the junta.
“I won't get excited about U Aung Kyi meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi until I see a genuine outcome,” said Aye Thar Aung, an Arakanese leader who is secretary of the opposition umbrella group, the Committee Representing People’s Parliament. “For any real change in Burma, there are many more steps that need to be taken.”
******************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Burma Threatens Thailand's stability: Bangkok Govenor
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN - Wednesday, December 9, 2009
BANGKOK — Speaking at a dinner talk on Tuesday night, Bangkok Gov. M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra said that Thailand's already precarious stability faces additional pressure from its neighbor Burma.
Addressing a forum at the Bangkok Sheraton Grande Hotel, the Democrat Party deputy secretary-general and former deputy foreign minister said, “A major source of regional instability is the large standing army maintained by the Myanmar [Burmese] government.”
He compared Thailand's 430,000-strong military with Burma's, which has been estimated at more than 500,000 and is thought to be the largest standing army in Southeast Asia.
Commenting on the Burmese junta's attempts to upgrade and expand its military, Paribatra said, “Myanmar [Burma] has been modernizing [its military] for a long time, and this could fuel a regional arms race.”
Thailand spends less than 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, he said, while the military dictatorship in Naypidaw is thought to allocate around one-third of the country's GDP to military spending.
Accurate figures for Burma's military spending are not available, but several organizations including the Soros Foundation believe that around 40 percent of Burma's GDP is spent on the military.
Thailand is about to start a military modernization program based on two five-year procurement and upgrade phases, according to Paribatra. Thailand's defense spending as a proportion of GDP has declined relative to the rest of southeast Asia in recent years.
The increasingly close relationship between the Burmese junta and the Communist regime in North Korea is also causing concern in Thailand. Both sides are collaborating on conventional military means and rumors circulate that Naypyidaw is seeking Pyongyang's assistance in developing some form of nuclear capability. North Korea itself tested nuclear weapons in early 2009.
Focusing on domestic Burmese politics, Paribatra said that the lack of national reconciliation in Burma would mean continued violence and instability, especially in the borderlands where ethnic minorities live. This would lead to more displacement, and, inevitably, Thailand would receive additional refugees coming in to the north. More than 130,000 Burmese refugees already live in camps along northern Thailand's border with Burma.
The Burmese junta's armed forces attacked the ethnic Kokang militia in northern Shan State close to the Chinese border in late August, causing 37,000 refugees to flee to China. It was suggested that this was a prelude to a wider assault on ethnic minority groups.
Militias representing the 17 “cease-fire groups” have been ordered to become border guard forces that would be part of the junta state security apparatus. However, most have either refused or ignored the request, prompting speculation that the junta's growing and well-equipped forces will attack the recalcitrant ethnic militias before and possibly after the planned 2010 national elections.
Paribatra likened the internal displacement situation in Burma to that of Sudan's western Darfur region, where government forces and allied militias have carried out what the US believes to be genocide since early 2003.
Another source of concern for Thailand is the Burmese drug trade, he said. UN figures show Burma produced an estimated 410 tons of opium in 2008 (enough to make 40 tons of heroin), making the country the world's second-largest producer after Afghanistan, which accounts for 90 percent of world output. Burma is also a major source for methamphetamine, much of which is trafficked to Thailand from northern Shan State.
Despite the concerns, Thailand has an ambivalent relationship with Burma. Economists believe the Thai economy depends on cheap Burmese labor provided by an estimated 3 million Burmese migrants.
He said gas piped from the Shwe Field helps meet Thailand's electricity needs even though Burmese citizens frequently go without power, and this despite long-standing allegations that junta forces have perpetrated atrocities and human rights violations in the vicinity of the Yadana Pipeline, which carries the gas south to Thailand.
Thailand is also involved in a highly controversial project to build dams on the Salween River, less than 50 km from the Thai-Burma border–though this has been hit by recent fall-off in Thailand electricity needs.
The drop in demand of 2,000 megawatts over the past year is more than the entire generating capacity in Burma.
He said Thailand's Burma policy appears contradictory and lacks a coherent overall strategy, according to observers, who suggest Burma's ruling military are siphoning off the revenues from Burma's natural resource exports for both personal use and to finance the same massive military budget that is now causing concern in Bangkok.
Similarly, many of the Burmese refugees and migrants in Thailand have been displaced by forced clearances and rights abuses carried out by junta forces.
On Nov. 23, a petition signed by 189 organizations was presented to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva which outlined the potential impacts of the Salween project. It warned that while Thailand may benefit from greater electricity, it is also likely to face another influx of Burmese refugees escaping human rights abuses at the site of the Hatgyi dam in Karen State.
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN - Wednesday, December 9, 2009
BANGKOK — Speaking at a dinner talk on Tuesday night, Bangkok Gov. M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra said that Thailand's already precarious stability faces additional pressure from its neighbor Burma.
Addressing a forum at the Bangkok Sheraton Grande Hotel, the Democrat Party deputy secretary-general and former deputy foreign minister said, “A major source of regional instability is the large standing army maintained by the Myanmar [Burmese] government.”
He compared Thailand's 430,000-strong military with Burma's, which has been estimated at more than 500,000 and is thought to be the largest standing army in Southeast Asia.
Commenting on the Burmese junta's attempts to upgrade and expand its military, Paribatra said, “Myanmar [Burma] has been modernizing [its military] for a long time, and this could fuel a regional arms race.”
Thailand spends less than 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, he said, while the military dictatorship in Naypidaw is thought to allocate around one-third of the country's GDP to military spending.
Accurate figures for Burma's military spending are not available, but several organizations including the Soros Foundation believe that around 40 percent of Burma's GDP is spent on the military.
Thailand is about to start a military modernization program based on two five-year procurement and upgrade phases, according to Paribatra. Thailand's defense spending as a proportion of GDP has declined relative to the rest of southeast Asia in recent years.
The increasingly close relationship between the Burmese junta and the Communist regime in North Korea is also causing concern in Thailand. Both sides are collaborating on conventional military means and rumors circulate that Naypyidaw is seeking Pyongyang's assistance in developing some form of nuclear capability. North Korea itself tested nuclear weapons in early 2009.
Focusing on domestic Burmese politics, Paribatra said that the lack of national reconciliation in Burma would mean continued violence and instability, especially in the borderlands where ethnic minorities live. This would lead to more displacement, and, inevitably, Thailand would receive additional refugees coming in to the north. More than 130,000 Burmese refugees already live in camps along northern Thailand's border with Burma.
The Burmese junta's armed forces attacked the ethnic Kokang militia in northern Shan State close to the Chinese border in late August, causing 37,000 refugees to flee to China. It was suggested that this was a prelude to a wider assault on ethnic minority groups.
Militias representing the 17 “cease-fire groups” have been ordered to become border guard forces that would be part of the junta state security apparatus. However, most have either refused or ignored the request, prompting speculation that the junta's growing and well-equipped forces will attack the recalcitrant ethnic militias before and possibly after the planned 2010 national elections.
Paribatra likened the internal displacement situation in Burma to that of Sudan's western Darfur region, where government forces and allied militias have carried out what the US believes to be genocide since early 2003.
Another source of concern for Thailand is the Burmese drug trade, he said. UN figures show Burma produced an estimated 410 tons of opium in 2008 (enough to make 40 tons of heroin), making the country the world's second-largest producer after Afghanistan, which accounts for 90 percent of world output. Burma is also a major source for methamphetamine, much of which is trafficked to Thailand from northern Shan State.
Despite the concerns, Thailand has an ambivalent relationship with Burma. Economists believe the Thai economy depends on cheap Burmese labor provided by an estimated 3 million Burmese migrants.
He said gas piped from the Shwe Field helps meet Thailand's electricity needs even though Burmese citizens frequently go without power, and this despite long-standing allegations that junta forces have perpetrated atrocities and human rights violations in the vicinity of the Yadana Pipeline, which carries the gas south to Thailand.
Thailand is also involved in a highly controversial project to build dams on the Salween River, less than 50 km from the Thai-Burma border–though this has been hit by recent fall-off in Thailand electricity needs.
The drop in demand of 2,000 megawatts over the past year is more than the entire generating capacity in Burma.
He said Thailand's Burma policy appears contradictory and lacks a coherent overall strategy, according to observers, who suggest Burma's ruling military are siphoning off the revenues from Burma's natural resource exports for both personal use and to finance the same massive military budget that is now causing concern in Bangkok.
Similarly, many of the Burmese refugees and migrants in Thailand have been displaced by forced clearances and rights abuses carried out by junta forces.
On Nov. 23, a petition signed by 189 organizations was presented to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva which outlined the potential impacts of the Salween project. It warned that while Thailand may benefit from greater electricity, it is also likely to face another influx of Burmese refugees escaping human rights abuses at the site of the Hatgyi dam in Karen State.
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The Irrawaddy - Detained Journalists Can't Go Back to Old Jobs
By ARKAR MOE - Thursday, December 10, 2009
Journalists who have been arrested and questioned by the Burmese military regime say they are unable to return to their jobs because they have lost the support of their former employers due to pressure from the government.
Thant Zin Soe, the editor of "Foreign Affairs" (FA) magazine, was arrested by Burmese authorities in October and later released without charge.
He said he has been unable to return to his former job on the magazine. Living Color media group, the publisher of FA, has not made a decision about rehiring Thant Zin Soe, said an editor of the media group.
Editor Kyaw Kyaw Than of "Weekly Eleven" journal and Eint Khine Oo, reporter of "Eco Vision” journal have also been let go from their media groups.
Kyaw Kyaw Than told The Irrawaddy, “Now I am no longer on the staff of 'Weekly Eleven.' I'm working freelance.”
Eint Khine Oo said, “My office won't take me back. I read books now, and I may freelance.”
Analysts said that most leading media groups will not rehire journalist who are arrested and detained by the government under the pressure—both direcly and indirectly—from the Burmese Press Scrutiny and Registration Division of the Ministry of Information that oversees press censorship.
The censorship authorities, however, say the decision to rehire journalists is not theirs and is up to a publication's owner. An officer at Press Scrutiny and Registration Division told The Irrawaddy, “Firing or rehiring is not our responsibility. It is an affair between an employer and a journalist.”
An owner of a media group in Rangoon said, “Burmese authorities have made it clear they don't want detained journalists rehired or their writing published. The authorities monitor the publications carefully and as a result most articles by these journalists are rejected.
“If they want to work for a newspaper or magazine, writers must submit resumes in detail to Burmese authorities. So detained journalists find it hard to be rehired. Some released journalist still manage to write regularly for some publications by using psedonyms. We should admire and appreciate their creativity and courage.”
San Moe Wai, the secretary of the exile Burma Media Association, a partner organization of Reporteurs Sans Frontiers said, “The media is not like other businesses because it's so important to society. Real journalists need to stand up and be courageous. Although there are many limitations and restrictions in Burma, the owners should not give up their professional standards because of fear of the government.”
“The owners of press houses also should not run the business solely with the idea of making money," he said. "They must understand the position of reporters and editors and support them. Actually, all of us should support and help every journalist.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ) on Tuesday released a series of reports on journalists imprisoned around the world. Burma, which has jailed nine journalists, was ranked in the top five nations for imprisoning journalists, along with Iran, China, Cuba and Eritrea.
“The days when journalists went off on dangerous assignments knowing they had the full institutional weight of their media organizations behind them are receding into history,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Today, journalists on the front lines are increasingly working independently. The rise of online journalism has opened the door to a new generation of reporters, but it also means they are vulnerable.”
Kyi Wai contributed to this report.
By ARKAR MOE - Thursday, December 10, 2009
Journalists who have been arrested and questioned by the Burmese military regime say they are unable to return to their jobs because they have lost the support of their former employers due to pressure from the government.
Thant Zin Soe, the editor of "Foreign Affairs" (FA) magazine, was arrested by Burmese authorities in October and later released without charge.
He said he has been unable to return to his former job on the magazine. Living Color media group, the publisher of FA, has not made a decision about rehiring Thant Zin Soe, said an editor of the media group.
Editor Kyaw Kyaw Than of "Weekly Eleven" journal and Eint Khine Oo, reporter of "Eco Vision” journal have also been let go from their media groups.
Kyaw Kyaw Than told The Irrawaddy, “Now I am no longer on the staff of 'Weekly Eleven.' I'm working freelance.”
Eint Khine Oo said, “My office won't take me back. I read books now, and I may freelance.”
Analysts said that most leading media groups will not rehire journalist who are arrested and detained by the government under the pressure—both direcly and indirectly—from the Burmese Press Scrutiny and Registration Division of the Ministry of Information that oversees press censorship.
The censorship authorities, however, say the decision to rehire journalists is not theirs and is up to a publication's owner. An officer at Press Scrutiny and Registration Division told The Irrawaddy, “Firing or rehiring is not our responsibility. It is an affair between an employer and a journalist.”
An owner of a media group in Rangoon said, “Burmese authorities have made it clear they don't want detained journalists rehired or their writing published. The authorities monitor the publications carefully and as a result most articles by these journalists are rejected.
“If they want to work for a newspaper or magazine, writers must submit resumes in detail to Burmese authorities. So detained journalists find it hard to be rehired. Some released journalist still manage to write regularly for some publications by using psedonyms. We should admire and appreciate their creativity and courage.”
San Moe Wai, the secretary of the exile Burma Media Association, a partner organization of Reporteurs Sans Frontiers said, “The media is not like other businesses because it's so important to society. Real journalists need to stand up and be courageous. Although there are many limitations and restrictions in Burma, the owners should not give up their professional standards because of fear of the government.”
“The owners of press houses also should not run the business solely with the idea of making money," he said. "They must understand the position of reporters and editors and support them. Actually, all of us should support and help every journalist.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ) on Tuesday released a series of reports on journalists imprisoned around the world. Burma, which has jailed nine journalists, was ranked in the top five nations for imprisoning journalists, along with Iran, China, Cuba and Eritrea.
“The days when journalists went off on dangerous assignments knowing they had the full institutional weight of their media organizations behind them are receding into history,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Today, journalists on the front lines are increasingly working independently. The rise of online journalism has opened the door to a new generation of reporters, but it also means they are vulnerable.”
Kyi Wai contributed to this report.
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Burma: world’s fifth worst jailer of freelance journalists
by Salai Pi Pi
Thursday, 10 December 2009 23:14
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Military-ruled Burma has been ranked the world’s fifth worst country in terms of imprisoning freelance journalists, while its closest ally, China, is number one, according to a new report by a Press Freedom Watchdog.
New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in its 2009 prison consensus titled ‘ Freelance Journalists under Fire’ released on Tuesday said, with nine freelance journalists detained, Burma is the world’s fifth worst country to arrest and detain freelance journalists following China, Iran, Cuba and Eritrea.
Among the detained Burmese freelance journalists, an undercover journalist for the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), who helped film an award-winning international documentary, “Orphans of the Burmese Cyclone” is also included, CPJ said.
“Journalism is so dangerous in Burma, one of the world’s most censored countries, that undercover reporters are a crucial conduit to the world,” the report added.
Maung Maung Myint, President of the Burma Media Association (BMA) in exile, a group that monitors press freedom in Burma, said the CPJ’s ranking of Burma clearly indicates the level of restriction imposed by the ruling junta on the press and on journalists.
“In many countries, though there might not be freedom of the press, authorities often refrain from imprisoning and persecuting journalists. But in the case of Burma, journalists are subjected to imprisonment, and persecution,” Maung Maung Myint said.
Besides, he added authorities even after releasing journalists from prisons, make sure that they are no longer employed by their previous employers, to stop them from resuming their career.
“After they are released from jail, authorities make sure they cannot go back to their earlier jobs,” Maung Maung Myint said.
He said authorities have further tightened their stranglehold on press freedom in Burma, as more and more freelance journalists are beginning to muster courage to report for the outside world.
“Censorship of news and articles in journals and magazines is also increasing. If there is a minor mistake made by journalists, they are dismissed from their job or put behind bars,” he said.
The CPJ’s report said with online journalism coming to the fore, journalists have become freelancers, working independently. But given the vulnerability, imprisonment of freelancers is increasing at the same time.
The CPJ said, their research revealed that at least 60 freelance journalists are behind bars worldwide, nearly double the number compared to just three years ago.
“Freelance journalists are especially vulnerable to imprisonment because they often do not have the legal and monetary support that news organizations can provide to staffers,” the report said.
Of the nine journalists imprisoned in Burma, the CPJ said five are freelancers.
Maung Maung Myint said with the Burmese military junta’s planned elections in 2010 drawing near, “there will be more restrictions on the press.”
According to the CPJ, there are 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists being detained worldwide as on December 1. The figures show that the number of imprisoned journalists increased to 11 compared to last year.
by Salai Pi Pi
Thursday, 10 December 2009 23:14
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Military-ruled Burma has been ranked the world’s fifth worst country in terms of imprisoning freelance journalists, while its closest ally, China, is number one, according to a new report by a Press Freedom Watchdog.
New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in its 2009 prison consensus titled ‘ Freelance Journalists under Fire’ released on Tuesday said, with nine freelance journalists detained, Burma is the world’s fifth worst country to arrest and detain freelance journalists following China, Iran, Cuba and Eritrea.
Among the detained Burmese freelance journalists, an undercover journalist for the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), who helped film an award-winning international documentary, “Orphans of the Burmese Cyclone” is also included, CPJ said.
“Journalism is so dangerous in Burma, one of the world’s most censored countries, that undercover reporters are a crucial conduit to the world,” the report added.
Maung Maung Myint, President of the Burma Media Association (BMA) in exile, a group that monitors press freedom in Burma, said the CPJ’s ranking of Burma clearly indicates the level of restriction imposed by the ruling junta on the press and on journalists.
“In many countries, though there might not be freedom of the press, authorities often refrain from imprisoning and persecuting journalists. But in the case of Burma, journalists are subjected to imprisonment, and persecution,” Maung Maung Myint said.
Besides, he added authorities even after releasing journalists from prisons, make sure that they are no longer employed by their previous employers, to stop them from resuming their career.
“After they are released from jail, authorities make sure they cannot go back to their earlier jobs,” Maung Maung Myint said.
He said authorities have further tightened their stranglehold on press freedom in Burma, as more and more freelance journalists are beginning to muster courage to report for the outside world.
“Censorship of news and articles in journals and magazines is also increasing. If there is a minor mistake made by journalists, they are dismissed from their job or put behind bars,” he said.
The CPJ’s report said with online journalism coming to the fore, journalists have become freelancers, working independently. But given the vulnerability, imprisonment of freelancers is increasing at the same time.
The CPJ said, their research revealed that at least 60 freelance journalists are behind bars worldwide, nearly double the number compared to just three years ago.
“Freelance journalists are especially vulnerable to imprisonment because they often do not have the legal and monetary support that news organizations can provide to staffers,” the report said.
Of the nine journalists imprisoned in Burma, the CPJ said five are freelancers.
Maung Maung Myint said with the Burmese military junta’s planned elections in 2010 drawing near, “there will be more restrictions on the press.”
According to the CPJ, there are 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists being detained worldwide as on December 1. The figures show that the number of imprisoned journalists increased to 11 compared to last year.
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Burmese women to block 2010 elections
Dec 10, 2009 (DVB)–Burma’s 2010 elections will prolong poverty and violence against women and should not be supported by the international community, an exiled Burmese women’s rights group said.
Campaigns to block the elections will be carried out by the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), which yesterday celebrated its 10-year anniversary, the group’s general secretary, Lway Aye Nang, said.
“We cannot accept the government’s 2008 basic constitution which didn’t include any resolution on security and insurance for the women and was approved without the true will of the people,” she said.
Critics of the Burmese government have argued that the constitution, which guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the army prior to polling, will entrench military rule.
Furthermore, given that women are largely excluded from the military in Burma, all of the power reserved for members of the military is automatically unavailable to women.
This denial of gender equality is in direct opposition to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), to which Burma is a state party.
“Sexual harassments and violations against women are taking place in Burma and most of these are caused by the people planning the 2010 elections,” she added.
The WLB comprises 12 Burmese women’s groups, including the Burmese Women’s Union (BWU) and Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN). The latter in 2002 released the landmark 'License to Rape' report, which documented the use of rape as a weapon of war by the Burmese military.
“If the elections went on successfully, the situation will get worse,” Lway Aye Nang said. “We will raise awareness and convince the international community that the military leaders are criminals, and that it will still be them in civilian clothing after the 2010 elections.”
Events to mark the umbrella organisation’s anniversary were also held yesterday in Bangladesh and India.
Saw Mra Raza Linn, a member of the WLB board, said the group’s marking of the event in Bangladesh’s Cox's Bazaar, close to the border with Burma, would include a discussion forum on opposing the 2010 elections.
Reporting by Naw Noreen
Dec 10, 2009 (DVB)–Burma’s 2010 elections will prolong poverty and violence against women and should not be supported by the international community, an exiled Burmese women’s rights group said.
Campaigns to block the elections will be carried out by the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), which yesterday celebrated its 10-year anniversary, the group’s general secretary, Lway Aye Nang, said.
“We cannot accept the government’s 2008 basic constitution which didn’t include any resolution on security and insurance for the women and was approved without the true will of the people,” she said.
Critics of the Burmese government have argued that the constitution, which guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the army prior to polling, will entrench military rule.
Furthermore, given that women are largely excluded from the military in Burma, all of the power reserved for members of the military is automatically unavailable to women.
This denial of gender equality is in direct opposition to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), to which Burma is a state party.
“Sexual harassments and violations against women are taking place in Burma and most of these are caused by the people planning the 2010 elections,” she added.
The WLB comprises 12 Burmese women’s groups, including the Burmese Women’s Union (BWU) and Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN). The latter in 2002 released the landmark 'License to Rape' report, which documented the use of rape as a weapon of war by the Burmese military.
“If the elections went on successfully, the situation will get worse,” Lway Aye Nang said. “We will raise awareness and convince the international community that the military leaders are criminals, and that it will still be them in civilian clothing after the 2010 elections.”
Events to mark the umbrella organisation’s anniversary were also held yesterday in Bangladesh and India.
Saw Mra Raza Linn, a member of the WLB board, said the group’s marking of the event in Bangladesh’s Cox's Bazaar, close to the border with Burma, would include a discussion forum on opposing the 2010 elections.
Reporting by Naw Noreen
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Child soldier numbers ‘increasing’ in Burma
Dec 9, 2009 (DVB)–Recruitment of child soldiers by the Burmese army is increasing after incentives were offered to troops to boost battalion numbers, a legal advocacy group has warned.
Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is reportedly offering cash in return for recruitment drives by troops.
The military-ruled country already has one of the highest troop-civilian ratios in the world, but under domestic law cannot use children under the age of 18 in army.
Aye Myint, leader of the Guiding Star legal advocacy group in Burma’s central Bago division, said that the group had assisted in 115 child soldiers cases since May this year.
Most cases had originated in Mandalay, Bago and Irrawaddy divisions, and only around 10 children had been returned home.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO), which also deals with child soldiers in Burma, said last month that it had received only 102 complaints since February 2007.
Aye Myint added that the situation was “becoming like a child trafficking business”. He said the army provides 50000 kyat ($US50) and a bag of rice to anyone who brings a new recruit to the army.
Burmese government officials on Monday held a workshop with international aid groups, including UNICEF and Save the Children, on the prevention of child solider recruitment.
UNICEF resident representative, Ramesh Shrestha, told DVB that the government had been “implementing its own policy of screening to make sure that children are not recruited”.
“One of the points that we are trying to emphasise is that this should be implemented in all [army] training schools,” he said.
“Other preventative measures include advocacy with the communities to inform them that government policy is to recruit between 18 to 24-years-old,” he added. “Parents must be aware that under-18s should not be recruited even if people want to join the army.”
Maung Maung Lay, from the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Network said that the group has received 41 child soldier complaints since April this year.
“Around 10 are back at home now,” he said. “Some were retrieved while they were still in the recruitment centres and some were in prison work camps or in their army posts.”
Reporting by Naw Say Phaw
Dec 9, 2009 (DVB)–Recruitment of child soldiers by the Burmese army is increasing after incentives were offered to troops to boost battalion numbers, a legal advocacy group has warned.
Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is reportedly offering cash in return for recruitment drives by troops.
The military-ruled country already has one of the highest troop-civilian ratios in the world, but under domestic law cannot use children under the age of 18 in army.
Aye Myint, leader of the Guiding Star legal advocacy group in Burma’s central Bago division, said that the group had assisted in 115 child soldiers cases since May this year.
Most cases had originated in Mandalay, Bago and Irrawaddy divisions, and only around 10 children had been returned home.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO), which also deals with child soldiers in Burma, said last month that it had received only 102 complaints since February 2007.
Aye Myint added that the situation was “becoming like a child trafficking business”. He said the army provides 50000 kyat ($US50) and a bag of rice to anyone who brings a new recruit to the army.
Burmese government officials on Monday held a workshop with international aid groups, including UNICEF and Save the Children, on the prevention of child solider recruitment.
UNICEF resident representative, Ramesh Shrestha, told DVB that the government had been “implementing its own policy of screening to make sure that children are not recruited”.
“One of the points that we are trying to emphasise is that this should be implemented in all [army] training schools,” he said.
“Other preventative measures include advocacy with the communities to inform them that government policy is to recruit between 18 to 24-years-old,” he added. “Parents must be aware that under-18s should not be recruited even if people want to join the army.”
Maung Maung Lay, from the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Network said that the group has received 41 child soldier complaints since April this year.
“Around 10 are back at home now,” he said. “Some were retrieved while they were still in the recruitment centres and some were in prison work camps or in their army posts.”
Reporting by Naw Say Phaw
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