Australia to boost Myanmar aid but keep sanctions
Australia plans to increase aid to Myanmar but maintain sanctions against military junta
By Rod Mcguirk, Associated Press Writer , On Monday February 8, 2010, 12:07 pm
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Australia will inject more humanitarian aid into Myanmar but maintain sanctions until the Southeast Asian nation's military junta significantly improves how it treats its people, a top official said Monday.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said his country would ramp up aid to impoverished Myanmar over three years from 30 million Australian dollars ($26 million) in the current fiscal year to AU$50 million ($43 million) a year.
But Australia agreed with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that removing international sanctions against Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, would send the regime the "wrong signal," he said
"Australia has long been appalled both by the Burmese military suppression of the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people and by its disrespect for their human rights," Smith told Parliament.
"Until we see significant change from Burma's authorities, Australia will maintain a policy of targeted financial sanctions," he added.
He welcomed Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's offer in September last year to work with the junta to persuade the international community to lift sanctions.
He also called for the regime to release Suu Kyi and another 2,000 political prisoners so that they could take part in elections promised for this year.
Smith said donor nations had to start helping Myanmar rebuild its crumbling economic and social infrastructure because some day it will be ruled by a civilian government.
"This is not a reward for Burma's military, but a recognition of the immense task faced by current and future generations of Burmese," Smith said.
"Burma's capacity cannot be allowed to completely atrophy to the ultimate disadvantage and cost of its people," he added.
Australia imposed travel sanctions against members of the regime after the bloody suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and banned defense exports to Myanmar after the regime failed to acknowledge the election of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party at 1990s elections.
Australia's financial sanctions followed the military's violent response to pro-democracy rallies in 2007.
Australia plans to increase aid to Myanmar but maintain sanctions against military junta
By Rod Mcguirk, Associated Press Writer , On Monday February 8, 2010, 12:07 pm
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Australia will inject more humanitarian aid into Myanmar but maintain sanctions until the Southeast Asian nation's military junta significantly improves how it treats its people, a top official said Monday.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said his country would ramp up aid to impoverished Myanmar over three years from 30 million Australian dollars ($26 million) in the current fiscal year to AU$50 million ($43 million) a year.
But Australia agreed with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that removing international sanctions against Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, would send the regime the "wrong signal," he said
"Australia has long been appalled both by the Burmese military suppression of the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people and by its disrespect for their human rights," Smith told Parliament.
"Until we see significant change from Burma's authorities, Australia will maintain a policy of targeted financial sanctions," he added.
He welcomed Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's offer in September last year to work with the junta to persuade the international community to lift sanctions.
He also called for the regime to release Suu Kyi and another 2,000 political prisoners so that they could take part in elections promised for this year.
Smith said donor nations had to start helping Myanmar rebuild its crumbling economic and social infrastructure because some day it will be ruled by a civilian government.
"This is not a reward for Burma's military, but a recognition of the immense task faced by current and future generations of Burmese," Smith said.
"Burma's capacity cannot be allowed to completely atrophy to the ultimate disadvantage and cost of its people," he added.
Australia imposed travel sanctions against members of the regime after the bloody suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and banned defense exports to Myanmar after the regime failed to acknowledge the election of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party at 1990s elections.
Australia's financial sanctions followed the military's violent response to pro-democracy rallies in 2007.
****************************************************************
Philippine FS urges Myanmar to release Suu Kyi
Philippine foreign secretary urges Myanmar to release detained opposition leader Suu Kyi
On Friday February 5, 2010, 2:39 pm EST
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Philippine foreign secretary says Myanmar should free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as a sign that the military-ruled country is serious about holding credible elections this year.
Alberto Romulo told an audience at a Washington think tank Friday that Myanmar should also allow Suu Kyi and her political party to participate in the elections.
Those as-yet unscheduled general elections would be the first since Suu Kyi's party won in 1990. Those results were never honored by the military.
Romulo says that the countries pressing Myanmar for more democracy must be patient. He is praising the new U.S. push to talk with the junta. He also points out that many of Myanmar's neighbors have growing business interests with the country, also known as Burma.
Philippine foreign secretary urges Myanmar to release detained opposition leader Suu Kyi
On Friday February 5, 2010, 2:39 pm EST
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Philippine foreign secretary says Myanmar should free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as a sign that the military-ruled country is serious about holding credible elections this year.
Alberto Romulo told an audience at a Washington think tank Friday that Myanmar should also allow Suu Kyi and her political party to participate in the elections.
Those as-yet unscheduled general elections would be the first since Suu Kyi's party won in 1990. Those results were never honored by the military.
Romulo says that the countries pressing Myanmar for more democracy must be patient. He is praising the new U.S. push to talk with the junta. He also points out that many of Myanmar's neighbors have growing business interests with the country, also known as Burma.
****************************************************************
Philippines sees Myanmar vote 'farce' in September
Fri Feb 5, 2:37 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Myanmar is likely to hold elections around September but they are shaping up to be a "farce" with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi unable to run, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Friday.
On a visit to Washington, Romulo said he expected the fellow Southeast Asian nation's military regime to release Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the past 20 years under house arrest.
"I believe the election will go through in September -- around that time -- and I believe that perhaps from what we hear that Aung San Suu Kyi would be released before the election," Romulo said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.
But he said that the junta would likely prohibit Aung San Suu Kyi from running as well as some members of her National League of Democracy, which won the last election in 1990 but was never allowed to take power.
"If this is so, then it's a mockery of Burma's own roadmap to democracy," he said, using Myanmar's former name. "Such an election would be a farce."
The Philippines has been outspoken in demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, with Romulo calling his country a "strong and sometimes solitary voice" on Myanmar in the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The junta has pledged to hold elections in 2010 but has not set a date.
The opposition and ethnic minorities have been deeply suspicious about the election, fearing the junta would use it to legitimize its rule.
US President Barack Obama's administration has called for a free election as part of its policy of engagement with Myanmar.
Romulo said it supported the new US approach to Myanmar, long a pariah to Western nations.
"We think this is a step in the right direction," he said. "It's time to adopt a new tactic."
Fri Feb 5, 2:37 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Myanmar is likely to hold elections around September but they are shaping up to be a "farce" with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi unable to run, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Friday.
On a visit to Washington, Romulo said he expected the fellow Southeast Asian nation's military regime to release Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the past 20 years under house arrest.
"I believe the election will go through in September -- around that time -- and I believe that perhaps from what we hear that Aung San Suu Kyi would be released before the election," Romulo said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.
But he said that the junta would likely prohibit Aung San Suu Kyi from running as well as some members of her National League of Democracy, which won the last election in 1990 but was never allowed to take power.
"If this is so, then it's a mockery of Burma's own roadmap to democracy," he said, using Myanmar's former name. "Such an election would be a farce."
The Philippines has been outspoken in demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, with Romulo calling his country a "strong and sometimes solitary voice" on Myanmar in the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The junta has pledged to hold elections in 2010 but has not set a date.
The opposition and ethnic minorities have been deeply suspicious about the election, fearing the junta would use it to legitimize its rule.
US President Barack Obama's administration has called for a free election as part of its policy of engagement with Myanmar.
Romulo said it supported the new US approach to Myanmar, long a pariah to Western nations.
"We think this is a step in the right direction," he said. "It's time to adopt a new tactic."
****************************************************************
(AFX UK Focus) 2010-02-08 09:03
Myanmar to privatise Yangon port facilities
YANGON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government is planning to transfer three port facilities in the commercial capital, Yangon, to the private sector, adding to a list of recent privatisations, an industry official said on Monday.
"Arrangements are under way to hand over ports under the Ministry of Transport, including three major ports in Yangon," said a senior official from the Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce.
The military, which has ruled under various guises since a 1962 coup, has been on a drive to privatise state-run operations ahead of elections due sometime this year.
Around 250 petrol stations around the country were handed over to the private sector last week. Factories, mills, cinemas, land and an airline have also been transferred or are in the process of being trasnferred.
The wharves involved are Botataung, Bo Aung Kyaw and Sule, which handle about 90 percent of Myanmar's imports and exports. Two private companies are already operating services in the port of Yangon.
Asia World has a port in Ahlone in the west of the city, and Hong Kong-based Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa (MITT) runs Thilawa Port, a deepsea facility at the mouth of Yangon River, about 9 miles (14.5 km) from central Yangon.
A senior official from the Ministry of Transport declined comment on the issue.
Myanmar to privatise Yangon port facilities
YANGON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government is planning to transfer three port facilities in the commercial capital, Yangon, to the private sector, adding to a list of recent privatisations, an industry official said on Monday.
"Arrangements are under way to hand over ports under the Ministry of Transport, including three major ports in Yangon," said a senior official from the Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce.
The military, which has ruled under various guises since a 1962 coup, has been on a drive to privatise state-run operations ahead of elections due sometime this year.
Around 250 petrol stations around the country were handed over to the private sector last week. Factories, mills, cinemas, land and an airline have also been transferred or are in the process of being trasnferred.
The wharves involved are Botataung, Bo Aung Kyaw and Sule, which handle about 90 percent of Myanmar's imports and exports. Two private companies are already operating services in the port of Yangon.
Asia World has a port in Ahlone in the west of the city, and Hong Kong-based Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa (MITT) runs Thilawa Port, a deepsea facility at the mouth of Yangon River, about 9 miles (14.5 km) from central Yangon.
A senior official from the Ministry of Transport declined comment on the issue.
****************************************************************
U.S. citizen faces years in Myanmar prison
Published: Feb. 6, 2010 at 2:25 PM
BANGKOK, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A naturalized U.S. citizen who returned to his native Myanmar faces 12 years imprisonment if convicted by a Myanmar court, said human rights activists.
Nyi Nyi Aung, 40, was arrested in Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, in September and a court is to announce a verdict Wednesday on charges that include possessing a forged identity card and undeclared foreign currency, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Nyi Nyi Aung was arrested soon after landing in Yangon in what friends said appeared to have been a trap by the government.
Nyi Nyi Aung had made four trips to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since becoming a U.S. citizen in 2002. He likely was arrested in September because the government had singled him out for his advocacy efforts to promote democracy in Myanmar, said Aung Din, head of the U.S. Campaign for Burma in Washington, a human right groups.
"If any of us had known he was returning, we would have stopped him," Aung Din told the newspaper.
Nyi Nyi Aung's mother, Daw San San Tin, who has thyroid cancer, is serving five years in a Myanmar prison for her involvement pro-democracy activities.
Published: Feb. 6, 2010 at 2:25 PM
BANGKOK, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A naturalized U.S. citizen who returned to his native Myanmar faces 12 years imprisonment if convicted by a Myanmar court, said human rights activists.
Nyi Nyi Aung, 40, was arrested in Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, in September and a court is to announce a verdict Wednesday on charges that include possessing a forged identity card and undeclared foreign currency, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Nyi Nyi Aung was arrested soon after landing in Yangon in what friends said appeared to have been a trap by the government.
Nyi Nyi Aung had made four trips to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since becoming a U.S. citizen in 2002. He likely was arrested in September because the government had singled him out for his advocacy efforts to promote democracy in Myanmar, said Aung Din, head of the U.S. Campaign for Burma in Washington, a human right groups.
"If any of us had known he was returning, we would have stopped him," Aung Din told the newspaper.
Nyi Nyi Aung's mother, Daw San San Tin, who has thyroid cancer, is serving five years in a Myanmar prison for her involvement pro-democracy activities.
****************************************************************
Rumble in the Junta
The Seoul Times - Myanmar's Elections Won't Be Free and Fair
Special Contribution
By Dr. Drew Thompson of the Nixon Center
Walking through the streets of Yangon this January, I saw the futility of U.S. sanctions on every corner. Commerce thrives on steamy streets and markets, and billboards advertising Japanese, South Korean, and European brands are everywhere. Meanwhile, junta leaders targeted by sanctions that prevent their families' travel have contented themselves with retirement in splendid homes, while their grandchildren, denied visas to visit the United States, simply go to college in Europe and Australia. Sanctions have only served to isolate the United States. This is especially unfortunate at a time when the United States should be carefully watching, and even influencing, what might be the most important political year in Myanmar's recent history.
The date is not set, but the tiny handful of generals who have a monopoly on political power have declared elections will take place in 2010, and no one doubts they will happen before the year's end. Most Burmese citizens are nonplussed, and no one can blame them for assuming that the military junta that runs the country from the isolated capital of Naypyidaw has rigged the process.
But the truth is that the elections will bring change: perhaps not a sudden end to the military junta, but important and underappreciated change nonetheless. And the United States should be fully engaged.
This year's elections will be hotly contested by opposition politicians eager to gain a parliamentary seat. Although far from being a free and fair process, they might represent the start of a long and possibly tortuous road toward a relatively more democratic system. A new government is certain to emerge in Myanmar once the voting is over, one that is expected to include directly elected politicians representing a
broader cross section of society than ever before. Rather than dismissing these elections out of hand and calling them a sham, the United States should carefully consider its options and assess this potentially historic opportunity to shape Myanmar's future.
The reason elections are expected soon is the ill health of the detested general known as "Number One," Than Shwe. A leader of the 1988 coup, Than Shwe became the chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in 1992 (in 1997, the SLORC changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council) and has maintained a firm
grip on power to this day. He and his family have amassed a fortune, and at nearly age 77 his health is failing and he is ready to retire. Like many dictators before him, however, he realizes that retiring in safety can be more complicated than maintaining an iron grip on power. As the saying goes, "Riding a tiger is easy; getting off is more difficult."
To ensure that he and his family do not face trial or a firing squad once he relinquishes power, Than Shwe has crafted an elaborate retirement plan that replaces his junta with a new government, made up of military personnel and civilians, that will not be powerful enough to exact retribution from him, his family, or his cronies. The only outcome that preserves his wealth and freedom is a relatively weak, inclusive
civil-military government that self-balances and checks the power of any one faction or branch. Establishing a durable civil-military government requires elections that confer enough legitimacy to sustain it and bolster the authority of civilians vis-à-vis the more powerful military. Learning from the experiences of many other military dictators, Than Shwe fears an authoritarian successor might bend to populist sentiment and obliterate him.
This plan was expedited following the 1990 elections, in which Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide victory, prompting the army to ignore the elections' results and throw her in jail. Than Shwe has since then clawed his way back to the top, eliminating rivals and successors alike, all the while plotting to enact a "road map" to democracy that has been broadly dismissed by all but his closest followers.
At the center of Than Shwe's plan is the 2008 Constitution. Superficially, Myanmar's Constitution is broadly based on the U.S. Constitution, with three branches of government forming a system of checks and balances. But the Constitution is flawed, just as the parliamentary elections and selection of the next head of state will be.
The military is guaranteed 25 percent of seats in the legislature, and the president will be selected from three candidates picked by the government, with the two other candidates becoming vice presidents.
Although this might sound bleak, the optimist would recognize that 75 percent of the parliamentary seats will be chosen by popular vote, and it is quite likely that many of those seats will be won by opposition candidates. The government is already working hard to recruit candidates who are well regarded in their communities and not antagonistic to the military — such as teachers and successful farmers — ensuring that parliament includes independent MPs who are respected by the population.
With the military guaranteed 25 percent of seats and the rest shared between pro-government, independent, and opposition parliamentarians, it is unlikely that an outright majority will control the legislature, necessitating the need for compromise and coalition-forming.
However, there are two things that might stand in the way of this grand plan — the next generation of military leaders and "the lady." There is no guarantee that the next generation of officers will be willing to share power with civilians, especially elected ones. They might not respect the limits on power as they have been set out on flimsy paper.
Aung San Suu Kyi presents the other potential problem for the generals. Should she be released from detention and allowed to campaign freely for her NLD candidates, they would easily win a majority of seats, just as they did in the 1990 elections when they won 392 of 485 seats, even with Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. An overwhelming NLD victory in 2010 will be almost certainly unacceptable to the retiring generals who do not want to find themselves at the mercy of the long-persecuted and exiled NLD. Another coup would likely result, ending any hope for representational government in Myanmar emerging for decades to come.
To prevent this, the generals will likely seek to prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from campaigning, keeping her under house arrest until the elections are concluded. Although the election law and polling dates have not been announced yet, some analysts are guessing that the election law will be issued in early spring and the elections possibly held on the numerologically auspicious October 10 (10-10-10). However, Aung San Suu Kyi has indicated that she is pragmatic, expressing to the government that she is willing to compromise and discuss anything, though up to now
she has not committed the NLD to either participate or boycott the process. There is a pervasive air of uncertainty. But should an accommodation be reached between the generals and Aung San Suu Kyi and elections held, it potentially represents the first step in Myanmar's evolution from a military dictatorship to a form of representational government familiar to many of Myanmar's Asian neighbors.
Consider one historical precedent. South Korea's presidential and National Assembly elections in the 1970s and particularly in 1987 and 1988, though hardly considered free and fair, gave opposition parties and candidates, including Nobel laureate and future president Kim Dae-jung (who ran for president three times before being elected in 1997), a legitimate platform from which to develop their voices, attract supporters, learn the political process, and oppose the ruling party.
Few might have predicted it at the time of South Korea's first elections, but today the country has an entrenched and mature democratic process, with conservative and liberal parties exchanging power peacefully.
Despite the stacked deck, some political candidates in Myanmar are optimistic about the prospects for this year's elections. One opposition leader who has spent years in jail said the government had encouraged him to field candidates to contest the elections. Admitting that they were a small step, he said, "One thing I like about the Constitution is that we can get elected to parliament; I can speak freely in parliament and not on the side of the road on a soapbox. Why don't we as a people take this opportunity to help [Than Shwe] make a graceful exit and gain democracy in the process?"
In addition to enthusiastic political candidates, civil society is growing and provides a tenuous base to support democracy. Grassroots organizations pepper the countryside, and Yangon-based NGOs look increasingly like their counterparts in Bangkok and Seoul implementing social and environmental programs supported by international funding, particularly in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. The official media is still a ham-fisted propaganda arm of the government, but small publications are emerging and the Internet is an increasingly important source of balanced information. The Voice of America's Burmese service's three hours of daily shortwave broadcasts will be particularly important during election campaigning as one of the few nongovernment-controlled sources of information available nationwide.
Of course, the government still has many tools at its disposal to fight the opposition, such as the election law and outright intimidation. For instance, officials and their families will be told who to vote for, while watchful cadres will likely maintain a highly visible presence at polling stations. The election law will also possibly exclude particular candidates — such as former political prisoners or members of ethnic groups that remain in armed opposition to the government — in addition to giving very little time for opposition candidates to raise support, publish materials, and campaign. In addition to ballot box-stuffing, the government is also reportedly planning elaborate dirty tricks, such as creating new political parties that sound like the opposition parties in an effort to confuse voters.
Nonetheless, opposition leaders are optimistic that this year's elections will give them a foot in the political door, a few seats in parliament, and a platform from which to gain valuable experience and contest the next elections in 2015. That year, the president will likely start a second term, setting the stage for a really experienced cadre of politicians to campaign their hearts out in 2020.
As part of its new engagement formula, the United States should consider supporting a peaceful political process in Myanmar that provides an opportunity for the opposition to participate in government.
Continued support for human rights is essential, as is relentless pressure on the Burmese government to release political prisoners and reach a peaceful détente with the opposition and ethnic groups. Although it might seem like a choice of pragmatism over human rights policy, engaging in the Burmese elections is actually a decision that benefits both.
Dr. Drew Thompson serves as director of China Studies and Starr Senior Fellow, The Nixon Center in Washington DC. He can be reached at dthompson@nixoncenter.org
The Seoul Times - Myanmar's Elections Won't Be Free and Fair
Special Contribution
By Dr. Drew Thompson of the Nixon Center
Walking through the streets of Yangon this January, I saw the futility of U.S. sanctions on every corner. Commerce thrives on steamy streets and markets, and billboards advertising Japanese, South Korean, and European brands are everywhere. Meanwhile, junta leaders targeted by sanctions that prevent their families' travel have contented themselves with retirement in splendid homes, while their grandchildren, denied visas to visit the United States, simply go to college in Europe and Australia. Sanctions have only served to isolate the United States. This is especially unfortunate at a time when the United States should be carefully watching, and even influencing, what might be the most important political year in Myanmar's recent history.
The date is not set, but the tiny handful of generals who have a monopoly on political power have declared elections will take place in 2010, and no one doubts they will happen before the year's end. Most Burmese citizens are nonplussed, and no one can blame them for assuming that the military junta that runs the country from the isolated capital of Naypyidaw has rigged the process.
But the truth is that the elections will bring change: perhaps not a sudden end to the military junta, but important and underappreciated change nonetheless. And the United States should be fully engaged.
This year's elections will be hotly contested by opposition politicians eager to gain a parliamentary seat. Although far from being a free and fair process, they might represent the start of a long and possibly tortuous road toward a relatively more democratic system. A new government is certain to emerge in Myanmar once the voting is over, one that is expected to include directly elected politicians representing a
broader cross section of society than ever before. Rather than dismissing these elections out of hand and calling them a sham, the United States should carefully consider its options and assess this potentially historic opportunity to shape Myanmar's future.
The reason elections are expected soon is the ill health of the detested general known as "Number One," Than Shwe. A leader of the 1988 coup, Than Shwe became the chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in 1992 (in 1997, the SLORC changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council) and has maintained a firm
grip on power to this day. He and his family have amassed a fortune, and at nearly age 77 his health is failing and he is ready to retire. Like many dictators before him, however, he realizes that retiring in safety can be more complicated than maintaining an iron grip on power. As the saying goes, "Riding a tiger is easy; getting off is more difficult."
To ensure that he and his family do not face trial or a firing squad once he relinquishes power, Than Shwe has crafted an elaborate retirement plan that replaces his junta with a new government, made up of military personnel and civilians, that will not be powerful enough to exact retribution from him, his family, or his cronies. The only outcome that preserves his wealth and freedom is a relatively weak, inclusive
civil-military government that self-balances and checks the power of any one faction or branch. Establishing a durable civil-military government requires elections that confer enough legitimacy to sustain it and bolster the authority of civilians vis-à-vis the more powerful military. Learning from the experiences of many other military dictators, Than Shwe fears an authoritarian successor might bend to populist sentiment and obliterate him.
This plan was expedited following the 1990 elections, in which Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide victory, prompting the army to ignore the elections' results and throw her in jail. Than Shwe has since then clawed his way back to the top, eliminating rivals and successors alike, all the while plotting to enact a "road map" to democracy that has been broadly dismissed by all but his closest followers.
At the center of Than Shwe's plan is the 2008 Constitution. Superficially, Myanmar's Constitution is broadly based on the U.S. Constitution, with three branches of government forming a system of checks and balances. But the Constitution is flawed, just as the parliamentary elections and selection of the next head of state will be.
The military is guaranteed 25 percent of seats in the legislature, and the president will be selected from three candidates picked by the government, with the two other candidates becoming vice presidents.
Although this might sound bleak, the optimist would recognize that 75 percent of the parliamentary seats will be chosen by popular vote, and it is quite likely that many of those seats will be won by opposition candidates. The government is already working hard to recruit candidates who are well regarded in their communities and not antagonistic to the military — such as teachers and successful farmers — ensuring that parliament includes independent MPs who are respected by the population.
With the military guaranteed 25 percent of seats and the rest shared between pro-government, independent, and opposition parliamentarians, it is unlikely that an outright majority will control the legislature, necessitating the need for compromise and coalition-forming.
However, there are two things that might stand in the way of this grand plan — the next generation of military leaders and "the lady." There is no guarantee that the next generation of officers will be willing to share power with civilians, especially elected ones. They might not respect the limits on power as they have been set out on flimsy paper.
Aung San Suu Kyi presents the other potential problem for the generals. Should she be released from detention and allowed to campaign freely for her NLD candidates, they would easily win a majority of seats, just as they did in the 1990 elections when they won 392 of 485 seats, even with Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. An overwhelming NLD victory in 2010 will be almost certainly unacceptable to the retiring generals who do not want to find themselves at the mercy of the long-persecuted and exiled NLD. Another coup would likely result, ending any hope for representational government in Myanmar emerging for decades to come.
To prevent this, the generals will likely seek to prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from campaigning, keeping her under house arrest until the elections are concluded. Although the election law and polling dates have not been announced yet, some analysts are guessing that the election law will be issued in early spring and the elections possibly held on the numerologically auspicious October 10 (10-10-10). However, Aung San Suu Kyi has indicated that she is pragmatic, expressing to the government that she is willing to compromise and discuss anything, though up to now
she has not committed the NLD to either participate or boycott the process. There is a pervasive air of uncertainty. But should an accommodation be reached between the generals and Aung San Suu Kyi and elections held, it potentially represents the first step in Myanmar's evolution from a military dictatorship to a form of representational government familiar to many of Myanmar's Asian neighbors.
Consider one historical precedent. South Korea's presidential and National Assembly elections in the 1970s and particularly in 1987 and 1988, though hardly considered free and fair, gave opposition parties and candidates, including Nobel laureate and future president Kim Dae-jung (who ran for president three times before being elected in 1997), a legitimate platform from which to develop their voices, attract supporters, learn the political process, and oppose the ruling party.
Few might have predicted it at the time of South Korea's first elections, but today the country has an entrenched and mature democratic process, with conservative and liberal parties exchanging power peacefully.
Despite the stacked deck, some political candidates in Myanmar are optimistic about the prospects for this year's elections. One opposition leader who has spent years in jail said the government had encouraged him to field candidates to contest the elections. Admitting that they were a small step, he said, "One thing I like about the Constitution is that we can get elected to parliament; I can speak freely in parliament and not on the side of the road on a soapbox. Why don't we as a people take this opportunity to help [Than Shwe] make a graceful exit and gain democracy in the process?"
In addition to enthusiastic political candidates, civil society is growing and provides a tenuous base to support democracy. Grassroots organizations pepper the countryside, and Yangon-based NGOs look increasingly like their counterparts in Bangkok and Seoul implementing social and environmental programs supported by international funding, particularly in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. The official media is still a ham-fisted propaganda arm of the government, but small publications are emerging and the Internet is an increasingly important source of balanced information. The Voice of America's Burmese service's three hours of daily shortwave broadcasts will be particularly important during election campaigning as one of the few nongovernment-controlled sources of information available nationwide.
Of course, the government still has many tools at its disposal to fight the opposition, such as the election law and outright intimidation. For instance, officials and their families will be told who to vote for, while watchful cadres will likely maintain a highly visible presence at polling stations. The election law will also possibly exclude particular candidates — such as former political prisoners or members of ethnic groups that remain in armed opposition to the government — in addition to giving very little time for opposition candidates to raise support, publish materials, and campaign. In addition to ballot box-stuffing, the government is also reportedly planning elaborate dirty tricks, such as creating new political parties that sound like the opposition parties in an effort to confuse voters.
Nonetheless, opposition leaders are optimistic that this year's elections will give them a foot in the political door, a few seats in parliament, and a platform from which to gain valuable experience and contest the next elections in 2015. That year, the president will likely start a second term, setting the stage for a really experienced cadre of politicians to campaign their hearts out in 2020.
As part of its new engagement formula, the United States should consider supporting a peaceful political process in Myanmar that provides an opportunity for the opposition to participate in government.
Continued support for human rights is essential, as is relentless pressure on the Burmese government to release political prisoners and reach a peaceful détente with the opposition and ethnic groups. Although it might seem like a choice of pragmatism over human rights policy, engaging in the Burmese elections is actually a decision that benefits both.
Dr. Drew Thompson serves as director of China Studies and Starr Senior Fellow, The Nixon Center in Washington DC. He can be reached at dthompson@nixoncenter.org
****************************************************************
Assam Rifles to deploy spy unit along Myanmar border
STAFF WRITER 20:39 HRS IST
Shillong, Feb 7 (PTI) Assam Rifles (AR) today said it will deploy its independent intelligence unit along the Myanmar border by May this year.
"The field intelligence unit is already through and its raising has started. We hope to put it in place by May this year," AR Director General Lt Gen KS Yadava told reporters here.
Lt Gen Yadava said AR being the lead intelligence agency of the Myanmar border will get a major boost once the intelligence unit is deployed along the Myanmar border.
"The unit will have around 200 men besides 27 officers picked from the organisation," he said.
He also informed that by the end of this year the process of raising 26 new battalions will start.
"Every year, we plan to raise two-three. Two commando battalions will also be a part of the raisings," he said.
STAFF WRITER 20:39 HRS IST
Shillong, Feb 7 (PTI) Assam Rifles (AR) today said it will deploy its independent intelligence unit along the Myanmar border by May this year.
"The field intelligence unit is already through and its raising has started. We hope to put it in place by May this year," AR Director General Lt Gen KS Yadava told reporters here.
Lt Gen Yadava said AR being the lead intelligence agency of the Myanmar border will get a major boost once the intelligence unit is deployed along the Myanmar border.
"The unit will have around 200 men besides 27 officers picked from the organisation," he said.
He also informed that by the end of this year the process of raising 26 new battalions will start.
"Every year, we plan to raise two-three. Two commando battalions will also be a part of the raisings," he said.
****************************************************************
EarthTimes - Ghana rejects 'unwholesome' Myanmar rice
Posted : Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:40:17 GMT
Yangon - Ghana's rejection last month of 15,000 bags of "unwholesome" rice from Myanmar has sparked calls for improved quality controls for the commodity, one of the country's key export items, media reports said Sunday. Ghana's Food and Drugs Board last month rejected a shipment of Myanmar rice "for being unwholesome for human consumption," as it was infested with weevils and gave off an offensive smell, the Myanmar Times reported.
Myo Aung Kyaw, a central executive committee member of the Myanmar Rice Industry Association and secretary of the Myanmar Rice Traders Association, said the rejection was a wake-up call for the local industry.
"Africa is a key export market for Myanmar rice, and quality control is a priority, from seeds to finished products," he said.
"If this happens again, Myanmar rice could disappear from the international market. Our rice exporters and traders have to meet international standards," Aung Kyaw told the Myanmar Times.
He said the country needs to ensure that exported rice contains no more than 14-per-cent moisture.
"If moisture levels in the rice aren't properly checked, you can get foul odour, caking and discolouration," he said.
As of October 1, 2009, halfway through the country's fiscal year which ends on March 31, Myanmar had exported 558,900 tons of rice.
Posted : Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:40:17 GMT
Yangon - Ghana's rejection last month of 15,000 bags of "unwholesome" rice from Myanmar has sparked calls for improved quality controls for the commodity, one of the country's key export items, media reports said Sunday. Ghana's Food and Drugs Board last month rejected a shipment of Myanmar rice "for being unwholesome for human consumption," as it was infested with weevils and gave off an offensive smell, the Myanmar Times reported.
Myo Aung Kyaw, a central executive committee member of the Myanmar Rice Industry Association and secretary of the Myanmar Rice Traders Association, said the rejection was a wake-up call for the local industry.
"Africa is a key export market for Myanmar rice, and quality control is a priority, from seeds to finished products," he said.
"If this happens again, Myanmar rice could disappear from the international market. Our rice exporters and traders have to meet international standards," Aung Kyaw told the Myanmar Times.
He said the country needs to ensure that exported rice contains no more than 14-per-cent moisture.
"If moisture levels in the rice aren't properly checked, you can get foul odour, caking and discolouration," he said.
As of October 1, 2009, halfway through the country's fiscal year which ends on March 31, Myanmar had exported 558,900 tons of rice.
****************************************************************
Before It's News - Bird flu H5N1 re-strikes Myanmar
Contributed by Anonymous on Monday, February 08, 2010 12:03:49 AM
Bird flu H5N1 has re-struck Myanmar with one case occurring in Yangon's Mayangong township in the beginning of this month, according to a statement of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD) Saturday.
Control measures are being against the spread of the disease, the statement said, calling on people to step up bio-security measures, change of livestock breeding system, avoidance of illegal import, transport and trading of chickens and its products, and prompt report of suspected bird flu case.
In April 2008, the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) declared Myanmar as a bird-flu-free country three months after the country was proved that there was no residual bird flu virus remained over the period since January of the year.
Contributed by Anonymous on Monday, February 08, 2010 12:03:49 AM
Bird flu H5N1 has re-struck Myanmar with one case occurring in Yangon's Mayangong township in the beginning of this month, according to a statement of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD) Saturday.
Control measures are being against the spread of the disease, the statement said, calling on people to step up bio-security measures, change of livestock breeding system, avoidance of illegal import, transport and trading of chickens and its products, and prompt report of suspected bird flu case.
In April 2008, the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) declared Myanmar as a bird-flu-free country three months after the country was proved that there was no residual bird flu virus remained over the period since January of the year.
****************************************************************
Trend News Agency - 8 more people found with A/H1N1 in Myanmar
08.02.2010 07:01
Eight more people have been found infected with influenza A/H1N1 in a suburban township of Myanmar' s largest city of Yangon, the official daily New Light of Myanmar reported Monday.
These child patients were confirmed with the infection when a disease control team of the Health Department made a field trip to Dagon Myothit township, Xinhua reported.
The patients are kept in quarantine and are undergoing treatment at a special hospital and measures are being taken by scanning those who are in contact with the patients, the report said.
"Now, the patients are in good condition," the report added.
Earlier this month, another four people had been found carrying influenza A/H1N1 in a village of Falam in Myanmar's western Chin state.
The influenza was also discovered when a disease control team of the ministry inspected the village.
"The four patients are in good condition," earlier report also confirmed.
The above 12 cases brought the total number of A/H1N1 cases to 81 so far in Myanmar since the outbreak of the disease in the world in April last year, according to a compiled statistics.
There is no flu death cases reported in the country.
Myanmar reported the first case of A/H1N1 on June 27 with a 13- year-old girl who developed the symptoms after coming back home from Singapore a day earlier.
08.02.2010 07:01
Eight more people have been found infected with influenza A/H1N1 in a suburban township of Myanmar' s largest city of Yangon, the official daily New Light of Myanmar reported Monday.
These child patients were confirmed with the infection when a disease control team of the Health Department made a field trip to Dagon Myothit township, Xinhua reported.
The patients are kept in quarantine and are undergoing treatment at a special hospital and measures are being taken by scanning those who are in contact with the patients, the report said.
"Now, the patients are in good condition," the report added.
Earlier this month, another four people had been found carrying influenza A/H1N1 in a village of Falam in Myanmar's western Chin state.
The influenza was also discovered when a disease control team of the ministry inspected the village.
"The four patients are in good condition," earlier report also confirmed.
The above 12 cases brought the total number of A/H1N1 cases to 81 so far in Myanmar since the outbreak of the disease in the world in April last year, according to a compiled statistics.
There is no flu death cases reported in the country.
Myanmar reported the first case of A/H1N1 on June 27 with a 13- year-old girl who developed the symptoms after coming back home from Singapore a day earlier.
****************************************************************
Monsters and Critics.com - Myanmar authorities hinder disaster-relief projects
Feb 7, 2010, 8:16 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar authorities have slowed recovery programs for areas hit by Cyclone Nargis in the Irrawaddy Delta, by delaying visas and travel permits to aid workers, media reports said Sunday.
William Sabandar, the head of Nargis relief operations in Myanmar, said timely processing government documents was critical for recovery projects under the 2008 Prioritised Action Plan (PONREPP).
'I hope these issues can be resolved very soon because if (visas and permits) continue to be delayed, projects under the PONREPP will be delayed,' he told The Myanmar Times.
On May 2-3, 2008, Cyclone Nargis inundated the Irrawaddy Delta with tidal waves and left up to 140,000 people dead or missing.
The disaster sparked outrage at Myanmar's paranoid ruling junta, which was reluctant to allow foreign aid and aid workers into the devastated area.
An action plan was finally established between the government, United Nations and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for emergency and recovery efforts.
But 20 months later, problems with access to the affected area remain, according to Sabandar.
The third post-Nargis periodic review will be held on February 9 in Yangon.
International donors pledged 90.4 million dollars for recovery projects at the previous conference held in Bangkok on November 25.
Of the total pledged, 71.3 million has been spent, but more money is needed, Sabandar said.
'More funding is needed for the shelter sector and I urge donors who have not allocated their funding to allocate that sector,' he said.
'ASEAN is engaging with the government to ensure an effective coordination between recovery activities and longer-term development programs,' Sabandar told The Myanmar Times.
Feb 7, 2010, 8:16 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar authorities have slowed recovery programs for areas hit by Cyclone Nargis in the Irrawaddy Delta, by delaying visas and travel permits to aid workers, media reports said Sunday.
William Sabandar, the head of Nargis relief operations in Myanmar, said timely processing government documents was critical for recovery projects under the 2008 Prioritised Action Plan (PONREPP).
'I hope these issues can be resolved very soon because if (visas and permits) continue to be delayed, projects under the PONREPP will be delayed,' he told The Myanmar Times.
On May 2-3, 2008, Cyclone Nargis inundated the Irrawaddy Delta with tidal waves and left up to 140,000 people dead or missing.
The disaster sparked outrage at Myanmar's paranoid ruling junta, which was reluctant to allow foreign aid and aid workers into the devastated area.
An action plan was finally established between the government, United Nations and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for emergency and recovery efforts.
But 20 months later, problems with access to the affected area remain, according to Sabandar.
The third post-Nargis periodic review will be held on February 9 in Yangon.
International donors pledged 90.4 million dollars for recovery projects at the previous conference held in Bangkok on November 25.
Of the total pledged, 71.3 million has been spent, but more money is needed, Sabandar said.
'More funding is needed for the shelter sector and I urge donors who have not allocated their funding to allocate that sector,' he said.
'ASEAN is engaging with the government to ensure an effective coordination between recovery activities and longer-term development programs,' Sabandar told The Myanmar Times.
****************************************************************
The New Nation - Bangladesh's maritime boundary and the Myanmar factor
Mahbubul Haque
Internet Edition. February 7, 2010
An understanding was made among 32 countries in the 52nd meeting of UNESCAP in Bangkok in 2003. Later 26 among those 32 countries signed it in the meeting in Shanghai. UNESCAP proposed 3 routes at that time. The route number 1 was from the Bongaon of India to Benapole of Jessore of Bangladesh to Dhaka to Tamabil of Sylhet to Meghalaya of India. The route number 2 from Siliguri and Jalpaiguri of India to Banglabandha of Panchagar of Bangladesh to Dhaka to Ashtogram of Sylhet to Assam of India. The route number 3 from India to Mongla of Bangladesh to Hatikumrul of Sirajganj. From Hatikumrul to Dhaka to Chittagong to Teknaf in Cox's Bazar to Myanmar. In the proposal route No. 1 was mentioned as AH-1, route No. 2 as AH-2 and route No. 3 as AH-41. The AH-1 and AH-2 (from India to India) was mentioned as international route. The AH-41 route (from India to Bangladesh to Myanmar was mentioned as a sub-regional route.
Five things were given importance to determining the route of the Asian Highway according to the proposed criteria of UNESCAP. In the light of these conditions of UN ESCAP, the Asian Highway route through Bangladesh was determined in 1992 as the AH-l route from India through Banglabandha and AH-2 route through Bongoan of India up to Dhaka, and AH-41 route from Dhaka through Cox's Bazaar to Myanmar. These are, connecting the capital of one country with another country at the same time connecting main agricultural and industrial cities also.
But later India opposed this route to include their seven north-eastern states and determined the AH-1 route from Dhaka to Tamabil of Sylhet excluding the Dhaka to Cox's Bazar route. The present route through Tamabil of Sylhet does not fulfil any of the UNESCAP mentioned five criteria. Participating countries agreed that the basic underlying principles for the Asian Highway network would be include only major national roads in the network and to make the maximum use of existing roads, avoiding the construction of new highways except in cases where deemed necessary to complete "missing links". The route through Chittagong and Cox's Bazar to Myanmar fulfils all the conditions.
Besides, if the route through Tamabil is used to connect Bangladesh with Myanmar, then we have to go through 777 kilometres of extra road in India. This route also goes through the four Indian north-east states of Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur that those, are struggling for independence from India. Regarding the security context, it is very alarming for Bangladesh. All these states are reaming insurgency year after year. It should be mentioned that these route also require climbing to a height of about 2 kilometres from plain/and to Shillong in Meghalaya, about 55 metres height of Guwhati in Assam, about 1.5 kilometers height of Kohima city in Nagaland and about 790 metres height of Imphal city in Manipur. This part of the route will be very difficult for the loaded container trucks to run for its ups and downs.
Asian Highway is not only an economic but also a political, state security and regional geo-political issue. We have to think about the political dependence other than economic dependence on India, in other words, Indian interference will be increased in the politics of Bangladesh.
Implementation of proposed Asian Highway will bring change to the regional politics and new polarisation in geo-politics. In this regard, we have to consider the influence of China-Myanmar and India-US powers. Some corners prefer the Asian Highway route from India to Bangladesh and then through Teknaf to Myanrnar. This route may not facilitate India as the other route but it would facilitate US in regional politics. They want to encircle China and this route will let them access to Myanmar and China.
We have to be careful not to be in the crossroads of power tussle among US, India and China. China will not be pleased if India expands its influence on Bangladesh through the corridor. The alternate route AH-41 will be economically profitable for Bangladesh but it may increase Chinese influence in this regional politics. At the same time proposed Asian Highway (AH-1 & 2) route will be more harmful for Bangladesh in security and economic context. In this circumstance, Bangladesh government should take a brave move in proposing the link via AH -41, which will enter Bangladesh from India through Benapole (Jessore) and into Myanmar through Teknaf the southeastern tip of the country. As part of the national interest, this route will go all the way to Bangkok which will provide Bangladesh with immense opportunities of trade between ASEAN countries.
When bringing up the topic of border conflict, the first instance that perhaps leaps to the mind is BSF killings. But that is certainly not exclusive. On the other side we have the conflict zone of Myanmar. Border clashes recur sporadically between Myanmar and Bangaldesh, but have not degenerated into war. But recently it turned war tension between two states. Bangladesh has some unresolvable issues with Myanmar, such as Rohingya, maritime boundary, different rebellious groups, illicite activities, drugs smuggling, etc. These issues were discussed in different high level official bilateral meetings, but still it is not resolved at any stages. In this circumstance, Bangladesh announced on 8 October that it would ask the UN to resolve a regional maritime wrangle, which involves India, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Four days later, what Bangladeshi army spokespersons called "a massive military build-up," took place on the Burmese side of the land border, and on the same day, their navy based in Arakan State stationed five warships close to the disputed area. A day later, the Chittagong-based Bangladeshi navy sent four warships to the disputed area in response. Myanrnar's military junta had earlier protested against Bangladesh's exploration of oil and gas in the disputed maritime zone, and warned against oil companies going ahead based on exploration rights granted by Dhaka.
During that time Bangladeshi foreign minister and Myanmar foreign minister met in mid October at Colombo, and according to a Bangladesh foreign ministry press statement, discussed a wide range of bilateral issues. The statement spoke of the need to address the potential for "misperceptions" on each side, and added that "regarding recent media reporting on troop movements along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Myanmar foreign minister stated that no such event has taken place."
The Myanmar side last month prompted Bangladesh to put its border force on alert, and to deploy 3,000 more troops. But Bangladesh's defence preparedness is woeful. So the government has sought to make light of rising tensions over Myanmar provocative exploration in disputed waters of the gas-rich Bay of Bengal."
It should be mentioned that Myanmar had very warm relation with China. But recently this underwent a change after certain incidents. China and Myanmar have been at odds of late. With India moving into a friendlier bond with Myanmar does this bear significance to the regional equation? Analysts were almost certain of war breaking out between Bangladesh and Myanmar. However, suddenly the issue defused and silence now prevails. Why? The maritime boundary issue hasn't been resolved as yet, nor has the issue of the Rohingyas. In geo-political terms with the changing parameters in the region, the question arises as to whether the resolution of long-standing issues between India and Bangladesh has bearing on the sudden defusing of tensions between Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The world stands at a crucial time of globalisation where energy, economy and geo- politics equate how a nation will stand or fall. It is imperative that Bangladesh makes sure that it stands firm on its own two feet. We are a fiercely independent nation will safeguard our interests with anything that it takes.
Mahbubul Haque
Internet Edition. February 7, 2010
An understanding was made among 32 countries in the 52nd meeting of UNESCAP in Bangkok in 2003. Later 26 among those 32 countries signed it in the meeting in Shanghai. UNESCAP proposed 3 routes at that time. The route number 1 was from the Bongaon of India to Benapole of Jessore of Bangladesh to Dhaka to Tamabil of Sylhet to Meghalaya of India. The route number 2 from Siliguri and Jalpaiguri of India to Banglabandha of Panchagar of Bangladesh to Dhaka to Ashtogram of Sylhet to Assam of India. The route number 3 from India to Mongla of Bangladesh to Hatikumrul of Sirajganj. From Hatikumrul to Dhaka to Chittagong to Teknaf in Cox's Bazar to Myanmar. In the proposal route No. 1 was mentioned as AH-1, route No. 2 as AH-2 and route No. 3 as AH-41. The AH-1 and AH-2 (from India to India) was mentioned as international route. The AH-41 route (from India to Bangladesh to Myanmar was mentioned as a sub-regional route.
Five things were given importance to determining the route of the Asian Highway according to the proposed criteria of UNESCAP. In the light of these conditions of UN ESCAP, the Asian Highway route through Bangladesh was determined in 1992 as the AH-l route from India through Banglabandha and AH-2 route through Bongoan of India up to Dhaka, and AH-41 route from Dhaka through Cox's Bazaar to Myanmar. These are, connecting the capital of one country with another country at the same time connecting main agricultural and industrial cities also.
But later India opposed this route to include their seven north-eastern states and determined the AH-1 route from Dhaka to Tamabil of Sylhet excluding the Dhaka to Cox's Bazar route. The present route through Tamabil of Sylhet does not fulfil any of the UNESCAP mentioned five criteria. Participating countries agreed that the basic underlying principles for the Asian Highway network would be include only major national roads in the network and to make the maximum use of existing roads, avoiding the construction of new highways except in cases where deemed necessary to complete "missing links". The route through Chittagong and Cox's Bazar to Myanmar fulfils all the conditions.
Besides, if the route through Tamabil is used to connect Bangladesh with Myanmar, then we have to go through 777 kilometres of extra road in India. This route also goes through the four Indian north-east states of Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur that those, are struggling for independence from India. Regarding the security context, it is very alarming for Bangladesh. All these states are reaming insurgency year after year. It should be mentioned that these route also require climbing to a height of about 2 kilometres from plain/and to Shillong in Meghalaya, about 55 metres height of Guwhati in Assam, about 1.5 kilometers height of Kohima city in Nagaland and about 790 metres height of Imphal city in Manipur. This part of the route will be very difficult for the loaded container trucks to run for its ups and downs.
Asian Highway is not only an economic but also a political, state security and regional geo-political issue. We have to think about the political dependence other than economic dependence on India, in other words, Indian interference will be increased in the politics of Bangladesh.
Implementation of proposed Asian Highway will bring change to the regional politics and new polarisation in geo-politics. In this regard, we have to consider the influence of China-Myanmar and India-US powers. Some corners prefer the Asian Highway route from India to Bangladesh and then through Teknaf to Myanrnar. This route may not facilitate India as the other route but it would facilitate US in regional politics. They want to encircle China and this route will let them access to Myanmar and China.
We have to be careful not to be in the crossroads of power tussle among US, India and China. China will not be pleased if India expands its influence on Bangladesh through the corridor. The alternate route AH-41 will be economically profitable for Bangladesh but it may increase Chinese influence in this regional politics. At the same time proposed Asian Highway (AH-1 & 2) route will be more harmful for Bangladesh in security and economic context. In this circumstance, Bangladesh government should take a brave move in proposing the link via AH -41, which will enter Bangladesh from India through Benapole (Jessore) and into Myanmar through Teknaf the southeastern tip of the country. As part of the national interest, this route will go all the way to Bangkok which will provide Bangladesh with immense opportunities of trade between ASEAN countries.
When bringing up the topic of border conflict, the first instance that perhaps leaps to the mind is BSF killings. But that is certainly not exclusive. On the other side we have the conflict zone of Myanmar. Border clashes recur sporadically between Myanmar and Bangaldesh, but have not degenerated into war. But recently it turned war tension between two states. Bangladesh has some unresolvable issues with Myanmar, such as Rohingya, maritime boundary, different rebellious groups, illicite activities, drugs smuggling, etc. These issues were discussed in different high level official bilateral meetings, but still it is not resolved at any stages. In this circumstance, Bangladesh announced on 8 October that it would ask the UN to resolve a regional maritime wrangle, which involves India, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Four days later, what Bangladeshi army spokespersons called "a massive military build-up," took place on the Burmese side of the land border, and on the same day, their navy based in Arakan State stationed five warships close to the disputed area. A day later, the Chittagong-based Bangladeshi navy sent four warships to the disputed area in response. Myanrnar's military junta had earlier protested against Bangladesh's exploration of oil and gas in the disputed maritime zone, and warned against oil companies going ahead based on exploration rights granted by Dhaka.
During that time Bangladeshi foreign minister and Myanmar foreign minister met in mid October at Colombo, and according to a Bangladesh foreign ministry press statement, discussed a wide range of bilateral issues. The statement spoke of the need to address the potential for "misperceptions" on each side, and added that "regarding recent media reporting on troop movements along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Myanmar foreign minister stated that no such event has taken place."
The Myanmar side last month prompted Bangladesh to put its border force on alert, and to deploy 3,000 more troops. But Bangladesh's defence preparedness is woeful. So the government has sought to make light of rising tensions over Myanmar provocative exploration in disputed waters of the gas-rich Bay of Bengal."
It should be mentioned that Myanmar had very warm relation with China. But recently this underwent a change after certain incidents. China and Myanmar have been at odds of late. With India moving into a friendlier bond with Myanmar does this bear significance to the regional equation? Analysts were almost certain of war breaking out between Bangladesh and Myanmar. However, suddenly the issue defused and silence now prevails. Why? The maritime boundary issue hasn't been resolved as yet, nor has the issue of the Rohingyas. In geo-political terms with the changing parameters in the region, the question arises as to whether the resolution of long-standing issues between India and Bangladesh has bearing on the sudden defusing of tensions between Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The world stands at a crucial time of globalisation where energy, economy and geo- politics equate how a nation will stand or fall. It is imperative that Bangladesh makes sure that it stands firm on its own two feet. We are a fiercely independent nation will safeguard our interests with anything that it takes.
****************************************************************
Malaysian Mirror - Education gives hope to the refugee child
Melati Mohd Ariff
Friday, 20 November 2009 11:50
KUALA LUMPUR - Statistics issued by UNHCR Malaysia indicate that as of last Sept 30, there were 63,600 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the UN Refugee Agency.
And out of this number, 58,000 were from Myanmar comprising some 27,700 Chins, 15,900 Rohingyas, 3,800 Myanmar Muslims, 2,300 Kachins and the remaining being other ethnic minorities from that country.
There are also some 5,600 refugees and asylum-seekers from other countries, including 2,700 Sri Lankans, 760 Somalis, 530 Iraqis and 530 Afghans.
Based on the available statistics, 51 per cent of the refugees and asylum-seekers were men while women made up 49 per cent. There were 14,600 children below the age of 18.
UNHCR Malaysia said there were also a large number of persons of concern to the agency who remained unregistered and the figure was said to be around 30,000.
Generation of beggars
For Zin Oo Ko, who is from Myanmar and whose family migrated to Malaysia in the late 80s, only education will take the refugee children off the streets and prevent them from becoming a generation of beggars apart from being dragged into bad company.
Zin said there were two groups of Rohingya refugee children who took to the streets as beggars in Malaysia.
On one side, the children were in the clutches of a triad from their own ethnic group in cahoots with local gangs who pay money to the parents of the children and the children themselves before sending them out to the streets to beg.
"The other group are those who have no choice but to beg and it is the easiest form of earning a livelihood," he said.
Zin then related the story of one of the refugees, a Abdul Rahim
"He was actually selling religious books but this is also considered like begging because there is no fixed amount for the books. It is up to the people to give him whatever amount they think suitable.
"His family is ashamed to allow Abdul Rahim to do this but they have no choice and the boy is also too young to get a job. The father used to go round collecting metal scraps and recycled items but later he became too ill and became bedridden," said zin.
The young boy then started to mix with the bad elements and was later picked up by the authorities. After some considerations by the relevant authorities, they decided to send him to a reform school in Kelantan.
Teach them how to fish
Zin said poverty, particularly for the refugees, served not only as the breeding ground for crimes but also for the refugees to rapidly 'multiply' in their number as they were ignorant of family planning.
"To me, the only way to get these people out from the clutches of poverty is through education. We can give them rice, a packet or two or give them money but the money is never enough.
"We need to empower them, especially the children, teach them how to fish, not just giving them the fish so they can stand on their own two feet. What if one day I am not here anymore and the others who are helping them?
"What would happen to them then? Would they go back to their old lives? In a way I am a bit worried," Zin said in an interview with Bernama here recently.
Zin who can also speak fluent Bahasa Malaysia, said he had taken onto himself to teach some of the Rohingya children The students are between five and 23 years old.
Rewarding vocation
According to the 30-year-old Zin, he started teaching the children around the end of 2005 until recently when he decided to temporarily stop until he could get a proper place to conduct the classes.
"I was going from house to house, teaching Bahasa Malaysia, English, some Mathematics and religious studies. The children were great, very responsive and excited to learn.
It is satisfying to see the glow on their faces as they respond to my teaching. They also love drawing.
Zin, who has a Malaysian Permanent Resident (PR) status himself, has no experience in teaching but after asking around from his friends who are teachers and lecturers, he began to develop his own syllabus to teach the children.
"I feel privileged that I can assist them. We are not in their situation, we are the lucky ones and if we compare our lives to theirs and also our everyday problems, it is nothing compared to what they are going through.
"They are practically living with no hope, no dreams, no tomorrow, nothing. I am helping them straight from my heart. My goal is, let's say out of 100 students, if I can get one into university, this is already very rewarding. This will take some time but I am willing to do this forever.
"At the same time for those who cannot study, I want to give them vocational training like that in wiring, house renovations, auto mechanics and handicrafts. This is my long-term plan," said Zin.
Melati Mohd Ariff
Friday, 20 November 2009 11:50
KUALA LUMPUR - Statistics issued by UNHCR Malaysia indicate that as of last Sept 30, there were 63,600 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the UN Refugee Agency.
And out of this number, 58,000 were from Myanmar comprising some 27,700 Chins, 15,900 Rohingyas, 3,800 Myanmar Muslims, 2,300 Kachins and the remaining being other ethnic minorities from that country.
There are also some 5,600 refugees and asylum-seekers from other countries, including 2,700 Sri Lankans, 760 Somalis, 530 Iraqis and 530 Afghans.
Based on the available statistics, 51 per cent of the refugees and asylum-seekers were men while women made up 49 per cent. There were 14,600 children below the age of 18.
UNHCR Malaysia said there were also a large number of persons of concern to the agency who remained unregistered and the figure was said to be around 30,000.
Generation of beggars
For Zin Oo Ko, who is from Myanmar and whose family migrated to Malaysia in the late 80s, only education will take the refugee children off the streets and prevent them from becoming a generation of beggars apart from being dragged into bad company.
Zin said there were two groups of Rohingya refugee children who took to the streets as beggars in Malaysia.
On one side, the children were in the clutches of a triad from their own ethnic group in cahoots with local gangs who pay money to the parents of the children and the children themselves before sending them out to the streets to beg.
"The other group are those who have no choice but to beg and it is the easiest form of earning a livelihood," he said.
Zin then related the story of one of the refugees, a Abdul Rahim
"He was actually selling religious books but this is also considered like begging because there is no fixed amount for the books. It is up to the people to give him whatever amount they think suitable.
"His family is ashamed to allow Abdul Rahim to do this but they have no choice and the boy is also too young to get a job. The father used to go round collecting metal scraps and recycled items but later he became too ill and became bedridden," said zin.
The young boy then started to mix with the bad elements and was later picked up by the authorities. After some considerations by the relevant authorities, they decided to send him to a reform school in Kelantan.
Teach them how to fish
Zin said poverty, particularly for the refugees, served not only as the breeding ground for crimes but also for the refugees to rapidly 'multiply' in their number as they were ignorant of family planning.
"To me, the only way to get these people out from the clutches of poverty is through education. We can give them rice, a packet or two or give them money but the money is never enough.
"We need to empower them, especially the children, teach them how to fish, not just giving them the fish so they can stand on their own two feet. What if one day I am not here anymore and the others who are helping them?
"What would happen to them then? Would they go back to their old lives? In a way I am a bit worried," Zin said in an interview with Bernama here recently.
Zin who can also speak fluent Bahasa Malaysia, said he had taken onto himself to teach some of the Rohingya children The students are between five and 23 years old.
Rewarding vocation
According to the 30-year-old Zin, he started teaching the children around the end of 2005 until recently when he decided to temporarily stop until he could get a proper place to conduct the classes.
"I was going from house to house, teaching Bahasa Malaysia, English, some Mathematics and religious studies. The children were great, very responsive and excited to learn.
It is satisfying to see the glow on their faces as they respond to my teaching. They also love drawing.
Zin, who has a Malaysian Permanent Resident (PR) status himself, has no experience in teaching but after asking around from his friends who are teachers and lecturers, he began to develop his own syllabus to teach the children.
"I feel privileged that I can assist them. We are not in their situation, we are the lucky ones and if we compare our lives to theirs and also our everyday problems, it is nothing compared to what they are going through.
"They are practically living with no hope, no dreams, no tomorrow, nothing. I am helping them straight from my heart. My goal is, let's say out of 100 students, if I can get one into university, this is already very rewarding. This will take some time but I am willing to do this forever.
"At the same time for those who cannot study, I want to give them vocational training like that in wiring, house renovations, auto mechanics and handicrafts. This is my long-term plan," said Zin.
****************************************************************
Toronto Sun - A bridge to nowhere
Refugees and migrants flee Burma for a better life in Thailand, only to find things are little better on the other side
By TEVIAH MORO, QMI Agency
Last Updated: 6th February 2010, 7:35pm
MAE SOT, Thailand - Trucks packed with goods as high as they are long line up to cross the "Friendship Bridge" between Thailand and Burma.
This is the most conventional way across the Moei River, that separates the two countries.
But black market goods – everything from teak to amphetamines - make their way into Thailand via more unorthodox routes.
Burmese migrant workers, the mainstay of this border town's underground economy, fall into that category.
They are ferried across the river on inner tubes, while Thai border guards look the other way for 20 baht (about 64 cents Canadian).
There are an estimated 100,000-plus Burmese migrant workers in the border town of Mae Sot and more than 2.5 million in all of Thailand.
Hoping for a life free of oppression and grinding poverty, the migrants look for a better life on the other side.
More often than not, however, life on the construction sites, garment factories and farms that hire them fall well short of ideal conditions.
"All the factories use migrant workers," says Moe Swe, who heads up the Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association. "They treat them like animals. When they need them, they hire them. When they don't need them, they kick them out."
San Dar was one of countless Burmese women who toiled for long hours on a sewing machine in Thailand until she lost her job.
The 24-year-old woman from Rangoon came here with her mother about a year ago because of Burma's dismal economic conditions.
In Burma, San Dar - a false name the migrant woman made up due to fear of reprisals from Burmese authorities - owned a sewing machine, which she used to run a small business.
A day's wages in Burma, an impoverished nation of about 50 million, could not buy meat, a relative luxury she can afford in Thailand, she noted.
But in Thailand, San Dar and her mother have watched dreams of a better life get shredded at a garment factory.
At the garment factory, she worked from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., a shift broken up by a two-hour break, seven days a week.
That earned her 61 baht ($1.96 Canadian) a day.
The legal minimum wage in this part of Thailand is 152 baht ($4.87 Canadian) for a day's labour, but is easily skirted for the sweatshops who have learned how to hide their conditions from government inspectors.
Things turned sour for San Dar and her mother when the factory's manager asked them to move to other sleeping quarters, which she said were beside smelly toilets.
Because her mother was already very sick, San Dar refused, a response that prompted the manager to kick their dinner across the floor, she said.
“That's why they came to us," said Moe Swe, whose association offers a safe house for dismissed migrant workers.
Apart from emergency shelter, his workers' association offers migrants retraining, coaches them on workers' rights and advocates for their compensation from ruthless employers.
Between May 2002 and July 2008, the association, working with lawyers paid for by international aid organizations, successfully represented 1,835 workers before the Thai courts.
In 132 cases, the total compensation was 10.7 million baht ($342,935.53).
That's made Moe Swe an unpopular man among Thailand' business community.
A neatly dressed man with glasses and a laid-back manner, he is used to upsetting the status quo.
Before he fled Burma, he led a student uprising in 1988 and spent 12 years hiding in the jungle.
Now, it's not the Burmese regime that's gunning for his head. It's sweatshop owners in Mae Sot.
"I've cost them a lot of money,” Moe Swe says with a laugh.
While migrant workers are able to register to work legally in Thailand, many employers prefer to remain underground.
About 997,000 migrant workers registered with the government in 2009, but Moe Swe said an equal number or more did not.
Others choose to bypass the factories for a life of mining through mountains of trash at a local garbage dump at the edge of the border town.
Trash pickers can earn between 30-40 baht (96 cents-$1.28 Canadian) digging through trash and reselling their finds – about the same wages they would make taking care of cows at an area farm.
About 200 Burmese migrants have traded their troubled homeland for rudimentary bamboo dwellings perched amid the peaks and valleys of foul-smelling rubbish.
"It's worse in Burma," says a 25-year-old mother of two children from Rangoon who has lived in the dump for about a year.
Last month, her husband died here after a bout with malaria. He was 28 years old.
Elsewhere, others languish in refugee camps.
While the line between migrant and refugee tends to blur in Thailand, there are an estimated 50,000 refugees living in a camp just north of Mae Sot, waiting for a chance to return home or move on.
Officially, there are roughly 150,000 Burmese living in Thai camps.
Some camp residents have spent their whole lives there.
Though some at Mae La earn money as migrant workers in illegal sweatshops, many get by on food rations.
Ley Nge would like to leave the camp and earn some money, but is too afraid to cross paths with Thai authorities.
"Here's it's peaceful, but it's not like a village," says the 30-year-old.
Thai policies that restrict camp dwellers' freedom of movement are troublesome, says Sally Thompson, deputy director of the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), a group of aid agencies that provide camp dwellers with food and other basic necessities.
"The opportunities for livelihood are extremely limited," Thompson said.
"It's really unrealistic to think that refugees can be self-reliant within a camp context."
Lucky children lodging at Kaw Tha Blay Hostel, a residence supported by Canadian-based charity Project Umbrella Burma, are able to go to school.
The Orillia, Ont., charity provides about $600 to feed, educate and house each orphan or unaccompanied youth who stays at the hostel.
Lucky ones may study two more years at Project Umbrella Burma's college.
One Burmese man working at a small eatery in downtown Mae Sot likened the life of a migrant to one of perpetual limbo.
"I've got no future now. I cannot live in my country. I cannot live in Thailand," said 25-year-old Johnny Adhikari.
Adhikari said he and his uncle found themselves at the wrong end of Burmese authorities when they made the mistake of confronting a soldier for stealing a goat.
Realizing they would never win their case, his uncle told him to leave the country.
"He said, 'Johnny, you have to go.'"
Now a river separates his new home and his old, with little hard times no further behind him.
Refugees and migrants flee Burma for a better life in Thailand, only to find things are little better on the other side
By TEVIAH MORO, QMI Agency
Last Updated: 6th February 2010, 7:35pm
MAE SOT, Thailand - Trucks packed with goods as high as they are long line up to cross the "Friendship Bridge" between Thailand and Burma.
This is the most conventional way across the Moei River, that separates the two countries.
But black market goods – everything from teak to amphetamines - make their way into Thailand via more unorthodox routes.
Burmese migrant workers, the mainstay of this border town's underground economy, fall into that category.
They are ferried across the river on inner tubes, while Thai border guards look the other way for 20 baht (about 64 cents Canadian).
There are an estimated 100,000-plus Burmese migrant workers in the border town of Mae Sot and more than 2.5 million in all of Thailand.
Hoping for a life free of oppression and grinding poverty, the migrants look for a better life on the other side.
More often than not, however, life on the construction sites, garment factories and farms that hire them fall well short of ideal conditions.
"All the factories use migrant workers," says Moe Swe, who heads up the Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association. "They treat them like animals. When they need them, they hire them. When they don't need them, they kick them out."
San Dar was one of countless Burmese women who toiled for long hours on a sewing machine in Thailand until she lost her job.
The 24-year-old woman from Rangoon came here with her mother about a year ago because of Burma's dismal economic conditions.
In Burma, San Dar - a false name the migrant woman made up due to fear of reprisals from Burmese authorities - owned a sewing machine, which she used to run a small business.
A day's wages in Burma, an impoverished nation of about 50 million, could not buy meat, a relative luxury she can afford in Thailand, she noted.
But in Thailand, San Dar and her mother have watched dreams of a better life get shredded at a garment factory.
At the garment factory, she worked from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., a shift broken up by a two-hour break, seven days a week.
That earned her 61 baht ($1.96 Canadian) a day.
The legal minimum wage in this part of Thailand is 152 baht ($4.87 Canadian) for a day's labour, but is easily skirted for the sweatshops who have learned how to hide their conditions from government inspectors.
Things turned sour for San Dar and her mother when the factory's manager asked them to move to other sleeping quarters, which she said were beside smelly toilets.
Because her mother was already very sick, San Dar refused, a response that prompted the manager to kick their dinner across the floor, she said.
“That's why they came to us," said Moe Swe, whose association offers a safe house for dismissed migrant workers.
Apart from emergency shelter, his workers' association offers migrants retraining, coaches them on workers' rights and advocates for their compensation from ruthless employers.
Between May 2002 and July 2008, the association, working with lawyers paid for by international aid organizations, successfully represented 1,835 workers before the Thai courts.
In 132 cases, the total compensation was 10.7 million baht ($342,935.53).
That's made Moe Swe an unpopular man among Thailand' business community.
A neatly dressed man with glasses and a laid-back manner, he is used to upsetting the status quo.
Before he fled Burma, he led a student uprising in 1988 and spent 12 years hiding in the jungle.
Now, it's not the Burmese regime that's gunning for his head. It's sweatshop owners in Mae Sot.
"I've cost them a lot of money,” Moe Swe says with a laugh.
While migrant workers are able to register to work legally in Thailand, many employers prefer to remain underground.
About 997,000 migrant workers registered with the government in 2009, but Moe Swe said an equal number or more did not.
Others choose to bypass the factories for a life of mining through mountains of trash at a local garbage dump at the edge of the border town.
Trash pickers can earn between 30-40 baht (96 cents-$1.28 Canadian) digging through trash and reselling their finds – about the same wages they would make taking care of cows at an area farm.
About 200 Burmese migrants have traded their troubled homeland for rudimentary bamboo dwellings perched amid the peaks and valleys of foul-smelling rubbish.
"It's worse in Burma," says a 25-year-old mother of two children from Rangoon who has lived in the dump for about a year.
Last month, her husband died here after a bout with malaria. He was 28 years old.
Elsewhere, others languish in refugee camps.
While the line between migrant and refugee tends to blur in Thailand, there are an estimated 50,000 refugees living in a camp just north of Mae Sot, waiting for a chance to return home or move on.
Officially, there are roughly 150,000 Burmese living in Thai camps.
Some camp residents have spent their whole lives there.
Though some at Mae La earn money as migrant workers in illegal sweatshops, many get by on food rations.
Ley Nge would like to leave the camp and earn some money, but is too afraid to cross paths with Thai authorities.
"Here's it's peaceful, but it's not like a village," says the 30-year-old.
Thai policies that restrict camp dwellers' freedom of movement are troublesome, says Sally Thompson, deputy director of the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), a group of aid agencies that provide camp dwellers with food and other basic necessities.
"The opportunities for livelihood are extremely limited," Thompson said.
"It's really unrealistic to think that refugees can be self-reliant within a camp context."
Lucky children lodging at Kaw Tha Blay Hostel, a residence supported by Canadian-based charity Project Umbrella Burma, are able to go to school.
The Orillia, Ont., charity provides about $600 to feed, educate and house each orphan or unaccompanied youth who stays at the hostel.
Lucky ones may study two more years at Project Umbrella Burma's college.
One Burmese man working at a small eatery in downtown Mae Sot likened the life of a migrant to one of perpetual limbo.
"I've got no future now. I cannot live in my country. I cannot live in Thailand," said 25-year-old Johnny Adhikari.
Adhikari said he and his uncle found themselves at the wrong end of Burmese authorities when they made the mistake of confronting a soldier for stealing a goat.
Realizing they would never win their case, his uncle told him to leave the country.
"He said, 'Johnny, you have to go.'"
Now a river separates his new home and his old, with little hard times no further behind him.
****************************************************************
Internet Law News Portal - Myanmar Gearing up for Taxing E-Commerce
Staff Attorneys, IBLS Editorial Board
Myanmar (formerly known as Burma and Siam) has articulated economic objectives calculated for the “development of the economy inviting participation in terms of technical know-how and investments from sources inside the country and abroad" In order to facilitate this objective, Myanmar provides a spectrum of incentives in the form of taxes and duties.
Myanmar has made it a national goal to develop a legal basis for the development of a domestic e-commerce infrastructure in light of the mutually beneficial economic advantage for the long term. The potential foreign investors can carry on business conveniently by utilizing these advantages and facilities.
Myanmar, rich in natural resources, human resources and cultural and national heritage, offers a range of opportunities to potential investors. Myanmar, unlike other Asian countries, also boasts Common Law legal system similar to that of European nation-states. Experts believe that foreign direct investment can play a vital role in the process of development of E-commerce in Myanmar, where the investment will not be subject to oppressive oversight and may indeed take hold.
Recently, leading domestic computer companies in Myanmar formed computer associations such as the Myanmar Computer Scientists Association (MCSA), the Myanmar Computer Industry Association (MCIA), the Myanmar Computer Enthusiasts Association (MCEA) and the Myanmar Computer Federation (MCF) to help further facilitate this growth and to spur further Myanmar’s interest in the IT revolution domestically and abroad.
What measures are being taken by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) for development of e-commerce in Myanmar?
Myanmar was one of the first member countries to sign the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement initiated at the ASEAN Summit in Singapore in 2000. As such, it has formed the e-NTF to support its IT development.
Lt-Gen. Khin Nyunt, Secretary One of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), laid the foundation stone for the first Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Park in Burma. The cyber-law program suggests strong political will to promote e-commerce and harmonize the related legal system with other ASEAN member countries.
Mr. Minn Minn, Assistant Director of the Ministry of Commerce of Myanmar reports that a comprehensive cyber-law will contain three main components:
(a) Electronic Transaction Laws
(b) Telecommunications Laws and
(c) Science and Technology Laws to cover elements such as digital signature, payment gateway, certification authority, intellectual property rights, cyber-security and crime.
The Electronic Transactions Law (SPDC Law No. 5/2004) was passed in April of 2004. This law calls for and funds specific training for implementation of these regulations and is being promulgated with the cooperation of organizations such as the e-ASEAN Task Force, JICA and Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia.
The Myanmar Electronic Transaction Law is based mainly on the current nature of electronic transactions and prevailing circumstances in Myanmar. This law maintains the growth prospective of e-commerce in view also provides for the creation of organs like the Central Body and Certification Authority for regulation of electronic transactions.
Some legal training appears to have taken place during the drafting process of the cyber-laws. It was felt worthy to target legal professionals including judges and lawyers rather than regulators or drafters of laws.
The 18-member e-National Task Force, with Deputy Minister of Science and Technology U Hlaing Win as its chairman, was formed to help put Myanmar on a comparable footing with its developed ASEAN counterparts and to accelerate development of the domestic information and communication technology industries.
The task force's responsibilities include: making suggestions for the emergence of information and communication infrastructure; drafting national policies, laws and by-laws on e-commerce based on the existing laws in the country and international norms; coordinating, with government agencies, Myanmar's implementation of provisions in the e-ASEAN framework agreement; evaluating current resources for execution of appropriate programs for Myanmar's e-readiness; and forwarding recommendations for the implementation of information and communications technology projects.
What is the Tax structure in Myanmar?
Myanmar Tax system consists of fifteen types of taxes and duties under four main heads, they are:
(1) Taxes levied on domestic production and public consumption - excise duty; license fees on imported goods; state lottery; taxes on transport, commercial tax and sale proceeds of stamps.
(2) Taxes levied on income and ownership - income tax and profit tax.
(3) Customs duties.
(4) Taxes levied on utility of State-owned properties - taxes on land; water tax, embankment tax; taxes on extraction of forest products, minerals, rubber and fisheries.
Income of tax payer is computed on the basis of one fiscal year. The fiscal year in which income is received is expressed as "income year" and the year following as "assessment year"
A resident foreigner or a resident citizen is subject to tax on all income derived from sources within the Union of Myanmar and on income from sources outside the Union of Myanmar. In the case of an enterprise operating under the Union of Myanmar Foreign Investment Law, tax is payable only on income derived from sources within the Union of Myanmar.
A non-resident foreigner is subject to tax on all income from sources in Myanmar. A resident foreigner is defined as:
(a) A foreigner who lives in Myanmar for not less than 183 days during the income year,
(b) A company formed under the Myanmar Companies Act or any other existing Myanmar Law wholly or partly with foreign share holders.
(c) An Association of persons other than a company formed wholly or partly with foreigners and where control, management and decision making of its affairs are situated and exercised wholly in the Union of Myanmar.
A foreigner or a foreign organization who is not a resident in Myanmar is classified as a non resident. A branch company is treated as a non-resident. However, this classification is irrelevant to an enterprise operating under the Union of Myanmar Foreign Investment Law.
Commercial Tax in Myanmar is turnover tax levied on goods either domestically produced or imported. It is also levied on services such as transport of passengers, entertainment, trading, operation of hotels, lodging and enterprises engaged in sale of foods and drinks.
For goods and services supplied in Myanmar, commercial tax is imposed at the time of supply. For the import of goods, commercial tax is collected by the Customs Department at the point of importation in the same manner that customs duties are collected.
Staff Attorneys, IBLS Editorial Board
Myanmar (formerly known as Burma and Siam) has articulated economic objectives calculated for the “development of the economy inviting participation in terms of technical know-how and investments from sources inside the country and abroad" In order to facilitate this objective, Myanmar provides a spectrum of incentives in the form of taxes and duties.
Myanmar has made it a national goal to develop a legal basis for the development of a domestic e-commerce infrastructure in light of the mutually beneficial economic advantage for the long term. The potential foreign investors can carry on business conveniently by utilizing these advantages and facilities.
Myanmar, rich in natural resources, human resources and cultural and national heritage, offers a range of opportunities to potential investors. Myanmar, unlike other Asian countries, also boasts Common Law legal system similar to that of European nation-states. Experts believe that foreign direct investment can play a vital role in the process of development of E-commerce in Myanmar, where the investment will not be subject to oppressive oversight and may indeed take hold.
Recently, leading domestic computer companies in Myanmar formed computer associations such as the Myanmar Computer Scientists Association (MCSA), the Myanmar Computer Industry Association (MCIA), the Myanmar Computer Enthusiasts Association (MCEA) and the Myanmar Computer Federation (MCF) to help further facilitate this growth and to spur further Myanmar’s interest in the IT revolution domestically and abroad.
What measures are being taken by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) for development of e-commerce in Myanmar?
Myanmar was one of the first member countries to sign the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement initiated at the ASEAN Summit in Singapore in 2000. As such, it has formed the e-NTF to support its IT development.
Lt-Gen. Khin Nyunt, Secretary One of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), laid the foundation stone for the first Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Park in Burma. The cyber-law program suggests strong political will to promote e-commerce and harmonize the related legal system with other ASEAN member countries.
Mr. Minn Minn, Assistant Director of the Ministry of Commerce of Myanmar reports that a comprehensive cyber-law will contain three main components:
(a) Electronic Transaction Laws
(b) Telecommunications Laws and
(c) Science and Technology Laws to cover elements such as digital signature, payment gateway, certification authority, intellectual property rights, cyber-security and crime.
The Electronic Transactions Law (SPDC Law No. 5/2004) was passed in April of 2004. This law calls for and funds specific training for implementation of these regulations and is being promulgated with the cooperation of organizations such as the e-ASEAN Task Force, JICA and Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia.
The Myanmar Electronic Transaction Law is based mainly on the current nature of electronic transactions and prevailing circumstances in Myanmar. This law maintains the growth prospective of e-commerce in view also provides for the creation of organs like the Central Body and Certification Authority for regulation of electronic transactions.
Some legal training appears to have taken place during the drafting process of the cyber-laws. It was felt worthy to target legal professionals including judges and lawyers rather than regulators or drafters of laws.
The 18-member e-National Task Force, with Deputy Minister of Science and Technology U Hlaing Win as its chairman, was formed to help put Myanmar on a comparable footing with its developed ASEAN counterparts and to accelerate development of the domestic information and communication technology industries.
The task force's responsibilities include: making suggestions for the emergence of information and communication infrastructure; drafting national policies, laws and by-laws on e-commerce based on the existing laws in the country and international norms; coordinating, with government agencies, Myanmar's implementation of provisions in the e-ASEAN framework agreement; evaluating current resources for execution of appropriate programs for Myanmar's e-readiness; and forwarding recommendations for the implementation of information and communications technology projects.
What is the Tax structure in Myanmar?
Myanmar Tax system consists of fifteen types of taxes and duties under four main heads, they are:
(1) Taxes levied on domestic production and public consumption - excise duty; license fees on imported goods; state lottery; taxes on transport, commercial tax and sale proceeds of stamps.
(2) Taxes levied on income and ownership - income tax and profit tax.
(3) Customs duties.
(4) Taxes levied on utility of State-owned properties - taxes on land; water tax, embankment tax; taxes on extraction of forest products, minerals, rubber and fisheries.
Income of tax payer is computed on the basis of one fiscal year. The fiscal year in which income is received is expressed as "income year" and the year following as "assessment year"
A resident foreigner or a resident citizen is subject to tax on all income derived from sources within the Union of Myanmar and on income from sources outside the Union of Myanmar. In the case of an enterprise operating under the Union of Myanmar Foreign Investment Law, tax is payable only on income derived from sources within the Union of Myanmar.
A non-resident foreigner is subject to tax on all income from sources in Myanmar. A resident foreigner is defined as:
(a) A foreigner who lives in Myanmar for not less than 183 days during the income year,
(b) A company formed under the Myanmar Companies Act or any other existing Myanmar Law wholly or partly with foreign share holders.
(c) An Association of persons other than a company formed wholly or partly with foreigners and where control, management and decision making of its affairs are situated and exercised wholly in the Union of Myanmar.
A foreigner or a foreign organization who is not a resident in Myanmar is classified as a non resident. A branch company is treated as a non-resident. However, this classification is irrelevant to an enterprise operating under the Union of Myanmar Foreign Investment Law.
Commercial Tax in Myanmar is turnover tax levied on goods either domestically produced or imported. It is also levied on services such as transport of passengers, entertainment, trading, operation of hotels, lodging and enterprises engaged in sale of foods and drinks.
For goods and services supplied in Myanmar, commercial tax is imposed at the time of supply. For the import of goods, commercial tax is collected by the Customs Department at the point of importation in the same manner that customs duties are collected.
****************************************************************
Zee News - India prepares to tackle Chinese threat in Andamans
Updated on Monday, February 08, 2010, 21:05 IST
Port Blair: In view of the Chinese presence in Myanmar's Coco Islands, just 40 km from the Andaman and Nicobar, and its increasing military activity in the Indian Ocean
, India is planning to plug gaps in the islands' security with possible induction of Sukhois, more warships and radars.
"There are gaps in surveillance, air defence and coastal security. We are working towards plugging the gaps," a senior officer in the tri-services Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) comprising Army, Navy and Air Force units said here on Monday.
"The Chinese have a presence in Coco Islands, which is just 40 km of Landfall Islands in the northern most part of Andaman. Earlier it used to be large, but now they have scaled down the presence. But, yes, they are there," the officer said on condition of anonymity.
The comments gain significance, as the Myanmarese, who enjoy good relations with both India and China, had only a couple of years ago taken a delegation of military personnel from India to Coco Islands to allay the fears of New Delhi on Chinese presence there and they had returned convinced of Rangoon's claims.
The delegation had even stated that China's presence in Coco Islands was a myth and even satellite surveillance had established it.
The officer said, "In fact, the Chinese presence in the region is all the more reason for gearing up the security apparatus in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the plans include Sukhoi squadrons for air defence and radars for both aerial and surface surveillance."
Though Sukhois have operated from Port Blair in the past, the plans to have a fighter squadron of these potent air dominance jets are still in the pipeline and depend on future induction of the 240 of these aircraft already ordered by India in recent years.
The plans include having at least four air bases at Shipur in the north Andamans and Campbell Bay in the Nicobar Islands in the south, apart from Port Blair and Car Nicobar for which the first two airfields are being upgraded to support night operations and their airstrips are being extended.
"Su-30 fighters have operated from here. But at present only Port Blair can support these fighter operations. The airstrips in Shipur and Campbell Bay are being extended from the existing 3,200 feet to 12,000 feet and equipped with night operations facility so that we can operate all types of aircraft from these airstrips too," Andaman and Nicobar Command Chief Vice Admiral D K Joshi said.
Not only Sukhois, the ANC is also looking at having other fighters from the MiG series and Mirage-2000s in the Islands if possible, other officers indicated.
On the Navy's part, the ANC at present does not have major surface combatants among the 15 warships that are permanently based it. But it will be wise to have destroyers or frigates in Port Blair due to the strategic importance of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which sits right on the entry and exit of northern approaches to Malacca Straits, they said.
Updated on Monday, February 08, 2010, 21:05 IST
Port Blair: In view of the Chinese presence in Myanmar's Coco Islands, just 40 km from the Andaman and Nicobar, and its increasing military activity in the Indian Ocean
, India is planning to plug gaps in the islands' security with possible induction of Sukhois, more warships and radars.
"There are gaps in surveillance, air defence and coastal security. We are working towards plugging the gaps," a senior officer in the tri-services Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) comprising Army, Navy and Air Force units said here on Monday.
"The Chinese have a presence in Coco Islands, which is just 40 km of Landfall Islands in the northern most part of Andaman. Earlier it used to be large, but now they have scaled down the presence. But, yes, they are there," the officer said on condition of anonymity.
The comments gain significance, as the Myanmarese, who enjoy good relations with both India and China, had only a couple of years ago taken a delegation of military personnel from India to Coco Islands to allay the fears of New Delhi on Chinese presence there and they had returned convinced of Rangoon's claims.
The delegation had even stated that China's presence in Coco Islands was a myth and even satellite surveillance had established it.
The officer said, "In fact, the Chinese presence in the region is all the more reason for gearing up the security apparatus in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the plans include Sukhoi squadrons for air defence and radars for both aerial and surface surveillance."
Though Sukhois have operated from Port Blair in the past, the plans to have a fighter squadron of these potent air dominance jets are still in the pipeline and depend on future induction of the 240 of these aircraft already ordered by India in recent years.
The plans include having at least four air bases at Shipur in the north Andamans and Campbell Bay in the Nicobar Islands in the south, apart from Port Blair and Car Nicobar for which the first two airfields are being upgraded to support night operations and their airstrips are being extended.
"Su-30 fighters have operated from here. But at present only Port Blair can support these fighter operations. The airstrips in Shipur and Campbell Bay are being extended from the existing 3,200 feet to 12,000 feet and equipped with night operations facility so that we can operate all types of aircraft from these airstrips too," Andaman and Nicobar Command Chief Vice Admiral D K Joshi said.
Not only Sukhois, the ANC is also looking at having other fighters from the MiG series and Mirage-2000s in the Islands if possible, other officers indicated.
On the Navy's part, the ANC at present does not have major surface combatants among the 15 warships that are permanently based it. But it will be wise to have destroyers or frigates in Port Blair due to the strategic importance of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which sits right on the entry and exit of northern approaches to Malacca Straits, they said.
****************************************************************
redOrbit - Community Health Navigator Program to Fill Gaps in Care for Houston's Burmese Refugees
Posted on: Saturday, 6 February 2010, 11:00 CST
Physician Assistant Foundation, Baylor College of Medicine partner to create model for refugee health care
HOUSTON, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Physician Assistant Foundation (PAF), Baylor College of Medicine and other local partners today unveiled their unique approach to providing health care and social services to Burmese refugees in Houston, with hopes the program could become a model for meeting similar needs of refugees across the country.
Facilitated by Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS), a Houston-based organization that specializes in connecting underserved communities with resources and services essential to their well-being, the Community Health Navigator Program is a pilot program intended to increase access to quality, affordable health and social services for Houston's Burmese refugees in ways that are culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate, while also addressing other social challenges they may be facing, such as transportation and employment.
The Community Health Navigator Program engages physician assistants (PAs) -- health professionals trained in the medical model -- and Health Navigators -- English-speaking individuals from within the refugee community trained to act as health educators as well as translators and cultural interpreters -- to work with Burmese refugees, assessing their individual needs and identifying culturally appropriate solutions.
"With their extensive reach in the community, ECHOS knows first-hand the health problems facing the Burmese in Houston and the potential magnitude of these problems if left unattended," said Carl Fasser, PA, Baylor College of Medicine PA Program director. "The Baylor College of Medicine PA Program saw this as a great fit for our students; they have the opportunity to put their general practice skills to use, truly match health care needs with culturally appropriate treatments and develop their advocacy skills."
According to the Texas Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, the Burmese population is one of the largest refugee groups arriving in Houston and is one that needs extra support to adapt to life in the US. An initial assessment at the onset of the Community Health Navigator Program found that it would be challenging for the state's refugee resettlement program to meet the many varying and widespread health and social welfare needs of the Burmese refugees.
"The Burmese refugees who are now coming to the United States have spent years -- if not their entire lives -- in refugee camps, setting them apart from other refugee groups who have resettled in Texas," explains Jean Kegler, executive director of ECHOS. "Many don't speak English, may not be literate in their own language and may have no employable skills. In order to become successful members of Houston's robust, diverse community, they need a little extra support. They need to learn how to use our health care system and our public transportation. They need to know where they can turn for health screening or help getting their children enrolled in school."
The program's initial assessments revealed that the Burmese refugees are facing critical health care challenges: Disabled adults and children are in need of artificial limbs and wheelchairs, children with incapacitating illnesses need 24-hour medical attention and tube feedings, adults with chronic and infectious illnesses need treatment and refugees who received no or inadequate oral hygiene need significant dental care. Barriers to understanding English-language medical forms and documents may prevent many Burmese from seeking the health care and social services they need if assistance is not provided.
"Through the Community Health Navigator Program, PAs have an opportunity to be part of a team that is guiding and supporting the Burmese in Houston as they integrate into their new society," says William Leinweber, interim executive director of PAF. "We hope that through this experience, the Health Navigators and PA students will help the Burmese refugees establish a community that centers on health and well-being and that we're able to learn from and apply this model to address the unmet needs of other refugee populations."
Fasser, Kegler and Leinweber were joined today by Michael Milner, PA, chief health services officer, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and Aaron Tate, director of resettlement, Interfaith Ministries, for a roundtable discussion with Houston's health and social services community about the needs of the Burmese refugees in Houston and opportunities to further expand this program. The roundtable was followed by a health fair for the Burmese community in Houston, where they received complimentary health screenings for skin ailments, hypertension, trauma and dental work.
The Community Health Navigator Program is a collaboration among the PA Foundation, ECHOS, Baylor College of Medicine PA Program, Catholic Charities, Interfaith Ministries, YMCA International, the Alliance for Multi-cultural Community Services, Gateway to Care and Houston Community College. Financial support for the program is provided by the Chevron Corporation.
SOURCE Physician Assistant Foundation
Source: PR Newswire
Posted on: Saturday, 6 February 2010, 11:00 CST
Physician Assistant Foundation, Baylor College of Medicine partner to create model for refugee health care
HOUSTON, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Physician Assistant Foundation (PAF), Baylor College of Medicine and other local partners today unveiled their unique approach to providing health care and social services to Burmese refugees in Houston, with hopes the program could become a model for meeting similar needs of refugees across the country.
Facilitated by Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS), a Houston-based organization that specializes in connecting underserved communities with resources and services essential to their well-being, the Community Health Navigator Program is a pilot program intended to increase access to quality, affordable health and social services for Houston's Burmese refugees in ways that are culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate, while also addressing other social challenges they may be facing, such as transportation and employment.
The Community Health Navigator Program engages physician assistants (PAs) -- health professionals trained in the medical model -- and Health Navigators -- English-speaking individuals from within the refugee community trained to act as health educators as well as translators and cultural interpreters -- to work with Burmese refugees, assessing their individual needs and identifying culturally appropriate solutions.
"With their extensive reach in the community, ECHOS knows first-hand the health problems facing the Burmese in Houston and the potential magnitude of these problems if left unattended," said Carl Fasser, PA, Baylor College of Medicine PA Program director. "The Baylor College of Medicine PA Program saw this as a great fit for our students; they have the opportunity to put their general practice skills to use, truly match health care needs with culturally appropriate treatments and develop their advocacy skills."
According to the Texas Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, the Burmese population is one of the largest refugee groups arriving in Houston and is one that needs extra support to adapt to life in the US. An initial assessment at the onset of the Community Health Navigator Program found that it would be challenging for the state's refugee resettlement program to meet the many varying and widespread health and social welfare needs of the Burmese refugees.
"The Burmese refugees who are now coming to the United States have spent years -- if not their entire lives -- in refugee camps, setting them apart from other refugee groups who have resettled in Texas," explains Jean Kegler, executive director of ECHOS. "Many don't speak English, may not be literate in their own language and may have no employable skills. In order to become successful members of Houston's robust, diverse community, they need a little extra support. They need to learn how to use our health care system and our public transportation. They need to know where they can turn for health screening or help getting their children enrolled in school."
The program's initial assessments revealed that the Burmese refugees are facing critical health care challenges: Disabled adults and children are in need of artificial limbs and wheelchairs, children with incapacitating illnesses need 24-hour medical attention and tube feedings, adults with chronic and infectious illnesses need treatment and refugees who received no or inadequate oral hygiene need significant dental care. Barriers to understanding English-language medical forms and documents may prevent many Burmese from seeking the health care and social services they need if assistance is not provided.
"Through the Community Health Navigator Program, PAs have an opportunity to be part of a team that is guiding and supporting the Burmese in Houston as they integrate into their new society," says William Leinweber, interim executive director of PAF. "We hope that through this experience, the Health Navigators and PA students will help the Burmese refugees establish a community that centers on health and well-being and that we're able to learn from and apply this model to address the unmet needs of other refugee populations."
Fasser, Kegler and Leinweber were joined today by Michael Milner, PA, chief health services officer, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and Aaron Tate, director of resettlement, Interfaith Ministries, for a roundtable discussion with Houston's health and social services community about the needs of the Burmese refugees in Houston and opportunities to further expand this program. The roundtable was followed by a health fair for the Burmese community in Houston, where they received complimentary health screenings for skin ailments, hypertension, trauma and dental work.
The Community Health Navigator Program is a collaboration among the PA Foundation, ECHOS, Baylor College of Medicine PA Program, Catholic Charities, Interfaith Ministries, YMCA International, the Alliance for Multi-cultural Community Services, Gateway to Care and Houston Community College. Financial support for the program is provided by the Chevron Corporation.
SOURCE Physician Assistant Foundation
Source: PR Newswire
****************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Ban on CNN May Be Related to Haiti Coverage
By WAI MOE - Saturday, February 6, 2010
MRTV-4, Burma's only provider of non-state television stations, has stopped broadcasting US-based news network CNN, possibly because of its extensive coverage of US troops involved in the Haiti earthquake relief effort.
“Since Feb.1, MRTV-4 has stopped broadcasting CNN,” said a housewife in Rangoon. “In the past, MRTV-4 cut Burma-related news, but now they've cut the news network completely.”
Sources in Rangoon said the operators of MRTV-4 decided to exclude CNN after Ministry of Information officials complained that the network's coverage of international humanitarian efforts in Haiti featured too many images of US troops.
According to its Web site, MRTV-4 is a joint venture between the Ministry of Information, Forever Group Co Ltd and Family Entertainment Group. Since it was formed in 2005, MRTV-4 has carried CNN as its only international news channel.
Until it was cut completely on Feb. 1, CNN was aired with a 20-30 minute delay to allow censors to remove Burma-related reports or any other international coverage deemed sensitive by the country's ruling junta.
Since coming under heavy criticism for its response to Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, the regime has been wary of reporting on similar disasters elsewhere in the world, particularly in cases where the US military has played a major role in providing relief.
The high death toll from Cyclone Nargis, estimated at around 140,000, has often been ascribed to the junta's reluctance to allow international aid workers into the country in the critical weeks immediately after the disaster struck.
Although Haiti also faced delays in the initial stages of the relief effort, these were mostly due to severely damaged infrastructure and the virtual collapse of the government in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
Haiti’s catastrophe is believed to have claimed between 100,000 and 200,000 lives.
In early May 2008, as some two million people were left homeless by Cyclone Nargis, the Burmese regime pressed ahead with plans to stage a national referendum on a Constitution it had drafted the year before, leaving victims of the disaster to fend for themselves.
With concerns mounting over the fate of survivors, the US, UK and France sent warships with relief supplies close to Burmese territorial waters.
Only after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon personally interceded at the end of May did the regime allow international non-governmental organizations to provide assistance in the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta.
By WAI MOE - Saturday, February 6, 2010
MRTV-4, Burma's only provider of non-state television stations, has stopped broadcasting US-based news network CNN, possibly because of its extensive coverage of US troops involved in the Haiti earthquake relief effort.
“Since Feb.1, MRTV-4 has stopped broadcasting CNN,” said a housewife in Rangoon. “In the past, MRTV-4 cut Burma-related news, but now they've cut the news network completely.”
Sources in Rangoon said the operators of MRTV-4 decided to exclude CNN after Ministry of Information officials complained that the network's coverage of international humanitarian efforts in Haiti featured too many images of US troops.
According to its Web site, MRTV-4 is a joint venture between the Ministry of Information, Forever Group Co Ltd and Family Entertainment Group. Since it was formed in 2005, MRTV-4 has carried CNN as its only international news channel.
Until it was cut completely on Feb. 1, CNN was aired with a 20-30 minute delay to allow censors to remove Burma-related reports or any other international coverage deemed sensitive by the country's ruling junta.
Since coming under heavy criticism for its response to Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, the regime has been wary of reporting on similar disasters elsewhere in the world, particularly in cases where the US military has played a major role in providing relief.
The high death toll from Cyclone Nargis, estimated at around 140,000, has often been ascribed to the junta's reluctance to allow international aid workers into the country in the critical weeks immediately after the disaster struck.
Although Haiti also faced delays in the initial stages of the relief effort, these were mostly due to severely damaged infrastructure and the virtual collapse of the government in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
Haiti’s catastrophe is believed to have claimed between 100,000 and 200,000 lives.
In early May 2008, as some two million people were left homeless by Cyclone Nargis, the Burmese regime pressed ahead with plans to stage a national referendum on a Constitution it had drafted the year before, leaving victims of the disaster to fend for themselves.
With concerns mounting over the fate of survivors, the US, UK and France sent warships with relief supplies close to Burmese territorial waters.
Only after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon personally interceded at the end of May did the regime allow international non-governmental organizations to provide assistance in the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta.
****************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - International Lawyers Question Thailand's Security Law
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN / BANGKOK Monday, February 8, 2010
A weak rule of law is contributing to political division and violence in Thailand, according to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).
A report issued by the ICJ at a Bangkok seminar said the Thai government needs to find a balance between protecting citizens and guaranteeing security on the one hand, and maintaining the rule of law under international human rights obligations on the other.
The International Commission of Jurists is a non-governmental organization of lawyers from around the world which works “to ensure that international human rights law is actually implemented” at national levels,
At the Bangkok seminar, held at Chulalongkorn University, a panel discussed Thailand's Internal Security Act (ISA). One panelist, Roger Normand, the ICJ's Asia-Pacific director, acknowledged that the ISA is an improvement on original drafts, and is less-restrictive than the Emergency Decree that remains in force in the Muslim-majority south.
But a weak rule of law contributes to political divides and violence in Thailand, according to the ICJ, which said it was concerned at the ISA's “failure to clearly define the concept of a threat to national security.”
This “legal uncertainty,” the ICJ said, was “likely to have a chilling effect on freedom of association and expression, and to negatively impact on privacy rights.”
Noting that no specific level of violence was required to assess an internal security threat, the ICJ said this risked “blurring the line between security threats and legitimate political dissent.”
To address real and perceived security threats, the ISA gives significant powers to Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC),which was set up to deal with Communist uprisings in the 1960s and 1970s. While in power as Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra reduced the powers of the ISOC and the influence within it of the army.
However, after the 2006 coup the ISOC was granted extra powers and the role of the army was upgraded. The downsizing of military budgets implemented under Thaksin has also been reversed, the ICJ said, although some of Thailand’s establishment argue that the country's military spending still lags behind southeast Asian counterparts.
The Bangkok panel was joined briefly by one of the men closely involved in the creation of the ISA—acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn, who said the measure was a response to Thailand security and political conditions. “Laws come about and are made as these conditions change,” he said.
The ICJ agreed that “states have an obligation under international law to protect the human rights of people within their jurisdiction, and the right to security is part of this.” When violence takes place under a political agenda, states have the right to prevent it and punish the perpetrators.
Panitan compared the ISOC to the US Department of Homeland Security, which was set up after the terrorist attacks in the US on Sept 11 2001.
Seven times in the latter half of 2009, the Thai government declared exceptional powers under the ISA to be in force, in four southern districts of Muslim unrest and in other areas where anti-government demonstrations had broken out.
The ICJ stopped short of recommending the repeal of the ISA but said certain provisions “that violate or risk violating international human rights obligations” needed to be amended.
The ICJ recommended that the language of the act should be revised to better define the SOC's powers and jurisdiction, and that human rights protections should be made explicit in the legislation. The ICJ also recommended that the provision for the prime minister to delegate direction of the ISOC to the head of the army should be abolished.
Originally, the army commander-in-chief was to head the ISOC, but under the revised ISA, the prime minister is the ISOC Director.
However, there is a significant caveat to this, as the prime minister can delegate authority over the ISOC to the head of the army. The ICJ says that this is not ideal as it means that civilian control of the ISOC depends on the relative strength of the prime minister in a country where coups and coup attempts are frequent.
Coup rumors circulated recently after the appearance of armored vehicles on Bangkok streets, with Thailand awaiting a Feb 26 verdict on frozen assets belonging to deposed former premier Thaksin.
Pro-Thaksin “red shirts” are staging a series of protests against the looming High Court decision, which some believe will go against the former premier.
Panitan believes that the ISA might be deployed in coming weeks, but told journalists that no decision had yet been taken.
Associate Prof Somchai Preecha-silpakul of Chiang Mai University went further than the ICJ in criticising the ISA.
He said the law was “about government security not state security” and gave the military “a role in Thai politics.”
This role could be decisive in deciding who governs Thailand, according to fellow panelist Naruemon Thabchompon, of the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University. She said the ISA allows military officers to effectively act as “kingmakers” in Thai politics, in keeping with what she termed the “Thai style of democracy,” which allows “prominent personalities to have a disproportionate say in [the question of] by whom and how the country is ruled.”
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN / BANGKOK Monday, February 8, 2010
A weak rule of law is contributing to political division and violence in Thailand, according to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).
A report issued by the ICJ at a Bangkok seminar said the Thai government needs to find a balance between protecting citizens and guaranteeing security on the one hand, and maintaining the rule of law under international human rights obligations on the other.
The International Commission of Jurists is a non-governmental organization of lawyers from around the world which works “to ensure that international human rights law is actually implemented” at national levels,
At the Bangkok seminar, held at Chulalongkorn University, a panel discussed Thailand's Internal Security Act (ISA). One panelist, Roger Normand, the ICJ's Asia-Pacific director, acknowledged that the ISA is an improvement on original drafts, and is less-restrictive than the Emergency Decree that remains in force in the Muslim-majority south.
But a weak rule of law contributes to political divides and violence in Thailand, according to the ICJ, which said it was concerned at the ISA's “failure to clearly define the concept of a threat to national security.”
This “legal uncertainty,” the ICJ said, was “likely to have a chilling effect on freedom of association and expression, and to negatively impact on privacy rights.”
Noting that no specific level of violence was required to assess an internal security threat, the ICJ said this risked “blurring the line between security threats and legitimate political dissent.”
To address real and perceived security threats, the ISA gives significant powers to Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC),which was set up to deal with Communist uprisings in the 1960s and 1970s. While in power as Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra reduced the powers of the ISOC and the influence within it of the army.
However, after the 2006 coup the ISOC was granted extra powers and the role of the army was upgraded. The downsizing of military budgets implemented under Thaksin has also been reversed, the ICJ said, although some of Thailand’s establishment argue that the country's military spending still lags behind southeast Asian counterparts.
The Bangkok panel was joined briefly by one of the men closely involved in the creation of the ISA—acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn, who said the measure was a response to Thailand security and political conditions. “Laws come about and are made as these conditions change,” he said.
The ICJ agreed that “states have an obligation under international law to protect the human rights of people within their jurisdiction, and the right to security is part of this.” When violence takes place under a political agenda, states have the right to prevent it and punish the perpetrators.
Panitan compared the ISOC to the US Department of Homeland Security, which was set up after the terrorist attacks in the US on Sept 11 2001.
Seven times in the latter half of 2009, the Thai government declared exceptional powers under the ISA to be in force, in four southern districts of Muslim unrest and in other areas where anti-government demonstrations had broken out.
The ICJ stopped short of recommending the repeal of the ISA but said certain provisions “that violate or risk violating international human rights obligations” needed to be amended.
The ICJ recommended that the language of the act should be revised to better define the SOC's powers and jurisdiction, and that human rights protections should be made explicit in the legislation. The ICJ also recommended that the provision for the prime minister to delegate direction of the ISOC to the head of the army should be abolished.
Originally, the army commander-in-chief was to head the ISOC, but under the revised ISA, the prime minister is the ISOC Director.
However, there is a significant caveat to this, as the prime minister can delegate authority over the ISOC to the head of the army. The ICJ says that this is not ideal as it means that civilian control of the ISOC depends on the relative strength of the prime minister in a country where coups and coup attempts are frequent.
Coup rumors circulated recently after the appearance of armored vehicles on Bangkok streets, with Thailand awaiting a Feb 26 verdict on frozen assets belonging to deposed former premier Thaksin.
Pro-Thaksin “red shirts” are staging a series of protests against the looming High Court decision, which some believe will go against the former premier.
Panitan believes that the ISA might be deployed in coming weeks, but told journalists that no decision had yet been taken.
Associate Prof Somchai Preecha-silpakul of Chiang Mai University went further than the ICJ in criticising the ISA.
He said the law was “about government security not state security” and gave the military “a role in Thai politics.”
This role could be decisive in deciding who governs Thailand, according to fellow panelist Naruemon Thabchompon, of the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University. She said the ISA allows military officers to effectively act as “kingmakers” in Thai politics, in keeping with what she termed the “Thai style of democracy,” which allows “prominent personalities to have a disproportionate say in [the question of] by whom and how the country is ruled.”
****************************************************************
Boat capsizes, two bodies recovered
Monday, 08 February 2010 23:30 Khai Suu
New Delhi (Mizzima) – A motor schooner carrying 23 people capsized on the 5th of this month while traveling downstream on the Pachan River along the Burma and Thailand border. Local residents said two female bodies believed to be from this capsized vessel were recovered yesterday evening.
The boat, operating under the cover of nighttime, was carrying 20 Burmese workers, most of whom were women, along with the boat’s operator, a 4-year old boy and a human trafficking agent when it capsized near the village of Ayechantharyar en route to the Thai settlement of Thitsetni.
All passengers except for the two female bodies recovered survived the accident.
"The boat was covered with a tarpaulin at the time when water entered the boat and sank it at 7 p.m. A 16-year old girl and about a 40-year old woman went missing. The rest survived the accident. Villagers went and tried to find them but could not. First a girl's body was recovered at 3 p.m. yesterday evening. Then, the body of the missing woman was recovered," a local from Ayechantharyar told Mizzima.
"The two bodies have now been taken to Kawthaung hospital by hearse courtesy of the Kawthaung free funeral service," added a resident of Kawthaung in southern Burma.
At the time of the accident the boat, with a maximum capacity of 18, was overloaded, while the tarpaulin was employed to conceal the vessel’s illegal human cargo.
The boatman has since been on the run, with all other survivors, including the trafficking agent, detained at Ayechanthar police station.
When contacted by Mizzima, the police officer on duty at the station could not provide any further information. However, it is learnt one of the detainees, a mother, died at 7 p.m. yesterday.
"Her heart stopped beating on the way to the clinic. She was pronounced dead when she reached the clinic. Her husband is also being detained at the police station,” said the Ayechanthar villager. “The mother of the girl who died in the accident is also being detained at the same police station."
Monday, 08 February 2010 23:30 Khai Suu
New Delhi (Mizzima) – A motor schooner carrying 23 people capsized on the 5th of this month while traveling downstream on the Pachan River along the Burma and Thailand border. Local residents said two female bodies believed to be from this capsized vessel were recovered yesterday evening.
The boat, operating under the cover of nighttime, was carrying 20 Burmese workers, most of whom were women, along with the boat’s operator, a 4-year old boy and a human trafficking agent when it capsized near the village of Ayechantharyar en route to the Thai settlement of Thitsetni.
All passengers except for the two female bodies recovered survived the accident.
"The boat was covered with a tarpaulin at the time when water entered the boat and sank it at 7 p.m. A 16-year old girl and about a 40-year old woman went missing. The rest survived the accident. Villagers went and tried to find them but could not. First a girl's body was recovered at 3 p.m. yesterday evening. Then, the body of the missing woman was recovered," a local from Ayechantharyar told Mizzima.
"The two bodies have now been taken to Kawthaung hospital by hearse courtesy of the Kawthaung free funeral service," added a resident of Kawthaung in southern Burma.
At the time of the accident the boat, with a maximum capacity of 18, was overloaded, while the tarpaulin was employed to conceal the vessel’s illegal human cargo.
The boatman has since been on the run, with all other survivors, including the trafficking agent, detained at Ayechanthar police station.
When contacted by Mizzima, the police officer on duty at the station could not provide any further information. However, it is learnt one of the detainees, a mother, died at 7 p.m. yesterday.
"Her heart stopped beating on the way to the clinic. She was pronounced dead when she reached the clinic. Her husband is also being detained at the police station,” said the Ayechanthar villager. “The mother of the girl who died in the accident is also being detained at the same police station."
****************************************************************
Karen refugees threatened on media contact
Feb 8, 2010 (DVB)–The Thai army has reportedly told Karen refugees at the centre of a dispute over their forced repatriation to Burma not to speak to media, otherwise they may face arrest.
Around 3000 refugees in northwestern Thailand are currently awaiting news on whether they will be forced back into Burma’s eastern Karen state, which they had fled in June last year following fighting between Burmese troops and an ethnic Karen group.
Rights groups have urged the Thai government to ensure that any repatriation is purely voluntary, following warnings that the area remains heavily landmined and returnees run the risk of being forcibly recruited into the Burmese army.
A senior member of the Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO), Blooming Night Zen, who met with the refugees on Saturday, said that Thai soldiers had told them that they “will face arrest and deportation if they talk to the media and other organisations about [the repatriation]”.
The return was due to begin on Friday last week, although it has been temporarily suspended after strong criticism from rights groups, as well as an outspoken letter sent by 27 US lawmakers to the Thai premier, Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Before the suspension, Thailand had planned to return all refugees by 15 February. Last Friday it was confirmed that eleven refugees, including a toddler, were sent back into to Burma.
The London-based Burma Campaign UK also called on the British government and international leaders to urge Thailand not to send the refugees back.
A Thai government spokesperson last week told a press conference that the refugees had crossed into Thailand not to escape fighting, but instead to find work.
However many of the refugees had fled the Ler Per Har camp for internally displaced persons in Karen state, which was shelled by the Burmese army, and claimed that those who remained were being forcibly recruited into the army.
Bangkok came under fire late last year after forcing around 4600 ethnic Hmong refugees back to Laos, where they are likely to face persecution by the government. The fallout from the incident, which was covered widely on international media, may have shifted their postion on the Karen refugees.
Reporting by Nay Thwin
Feb 8, 2010 (DVB)–The Thai army has reportedly told Karen refugees at the centre of a dispute over their forced repatriation to Burma not to speak to media, otherwise they may face arrest.
Around 3000 refugees in northwestern Thailand are currently awaiting news on whether they will be forced back into Burma’s eastern Karen state, which they had fled in June last year following fighting between Burmese troops and an ethnic Karen group.
Rights groups have urged the Thai government to ensure that any repatriation is purely voluntary, following warnings that the area remains heavily landmined and returnees run the risk of being forcibly recruited into the Burmese army.
A senior member of the Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO), Blooming Night Zen, who met with the refugees on Saturday, said that Thai soldiers had told them that they “will face arrest and deportation if they talk to the media and other organisations about [the repatriation]”.
The return was due to begin on Friday last week, although it has been temporarily suspended after strong criticism from rights groups, as well as an outspoken letter sent by 27 US lawmakers to the Thai premier, Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Before the suspension, Thailand had planned to return all refugees by 15 February. Last Friday it was confirmed that eleven refugees, including a toddler, were sent back into to Burma.
The London-based Burma Campaign UK also called on the British government and international leaders to urge Thailand not to send the refugees back.
A Thai government spokesperson last week told a press conference that the refugees had crossed into Thailand not to escape fighting, but instead to find work.
However many of the refugees had fled the Ler Per Har camp for internally displaced persons in Karen state, which was shelled by the Burmese army, and claimed that those who remained were being forcibly recruited into the army.
Bangkok came under fire late last year after forcing around 4600 ethnic Hmong refugees back to Laos, where they are likely to face persecution by the government. The fallout from the incident, which was covered widely on international media, may have shifted their postion on the Karen refugees.
Reporting by Nay Thwin
****************************************************************
Exiled media ‘should be charged with libel’
Feb 8, 2010 (DVB)–Burmese exiled media should be sued for broadcasting a “skyful of lies” in relation to forced recruitment of child soldiers by the ruling junta, state-run media said on Saturday.
The comment in the junta mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper follows coverage by the BBC, Voice of America and DVB of the abduction in January of two teenage boys by the Burmese army.
After the three media groups aired interviews in which a mother of one of the boys, Daw Nwe Nwe, pleaded for his release, soldiers last week showed up at her house with her son.
But, according to the article, the accusations of forced recruitment were “fabricated and false”, and instead one of the boys had willingly joined the army because “he was beaten by his mother”.
“We should understand that the western media has intentionally made fabricated news as a blow to the country,” it said. It also pointed a finger at the role that Aye Myint, head of the Guiding Star legal advocacy group in central Burma, played in the affair.
According to the article, Aye Myint had recorded an interview with Daw Nwe Nwe which he then passed “to foreign media”, as well as uploading onto the internet.
Last night police visited Aye Myint at his house in Bago division and questioned him about the accusations, although he was not arrested.
“I’m not the one recruiting child soldiers to earn money; I’m offering free assistance to those who come to me,” he told DVB. He added that he had also spoken to the mother of another child soldier, and would be releasing footage of this.
“There is nothing to lie about. I would like to tell [the author] to face me and make this clear like a real journalist,” he said.
According to the head of the BBC’s Burmese service, the release may have been an attempt at damage-limitation by the Burmese army following the media attention.
A Human Rights Watch report in 2002 found that the Burmese government was one of the world’s leading recruiters of child soldiers, which made up an estimated 70,000 of a total 400,000 troops.
Reporting by Maung Too
Feb 8, 2010 (DVB)–Burmese exiled media should be sued for broadcasting a “skyful of lies” in relation to forced recruitment of child soldiers by the ruling junta, state-run media said on Saturday.
The comment in the junta mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper follows coverage by the BBC, Voice of America and DVB of the abduction in January of two teenage boys by the Burmese army.
After the three media groups aired interviews in which a mother of one of the boys, Daw Nwe Nwe, pleaded for his release, soldiers last week showed up at her house with her son.
But, according to the article, the accusations of forced recruitment were “fabricated and false”, and instead one of the boys had willingly joined the army because “he was beaten by his mother”.
“We should understand that the western media has intentionally made fabricated news as a blow to the country,” it said. It also pointed a finger at the role that Aye Myint, head of the Guiding Star legal advocacy group in central Burma, played in the affair.
According to the article, Aye Myint had recorded an interview with Daw Nwe Nwe which he then passed “to foreign media”, as well as uploading onto the internet.
Last night police visited Aye Myint at his house in Bago division and questioned him about the accusations, although he was not arrested.
“I’m not the one recruiting child soldiers to earn money; I’m offering free assistance to those who come to me,” he told DVB. He added that he had also spoken to the mother of another child soldier, and would be releasing footage of this.
“There is nothing to lie about. I would like to tell [the author] to face me and make this clear like a real journalist,” he said.
According to the head of the BBC’s Burmese service, the release may have been an attempt at damage-limitation by the Burmese army following the media attention.
A Human Rights Watch report in 2002 found that the Burmese government was one of the world’s leading recruiters of child soldiers, which made up an estimated 70,000 of a total 400,000 troops.
Reporting by Maung Too
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