Myanmar elections "not credible" - U.N. envoy
Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:00pm IST
By Jonathan Lynn
GENEVA (Reuters) - Elections planned for this year by Myanmar's military junta will lack credibility as regulations for the polls breach basic human rights, a United Nations envoy said on Monday.
Tomas Ojea Quintana, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said regulations just published banned prisoners of conscience from participating in elections, or even being members of political parties.
Ojea Quintana said there was no indication the junta was planning to release prisoners of conscience -- who he estimated at over 2,100 -- or allow basic freedoms of expression or assembly.
"Under these current conditions, elections in Myanmar cannot be considered credible," he told a news conference after presenting a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
The regulations would prevent detained Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in the poll.
Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won the last election in 1990 but the junta ignored the result and officially annulled it last Thursday.
The NLD, which has been allowed to open regional branch offices closed for seven years, is considering whether to take part in the poll, which has been widely dismissed outside Myanmar as a sham intended to make the former Burma appear more democratic while leaving the military in control.
Ojea Quintana, who visited the resource-rich southeast Asian country in February, said officials had assured him that the elections would go ahead this year, even though a date has not been set.
Besides acting fast to make the elections fair, the junta must address the question of accountability for the gross systematic violations of human rights over past decades, the Argentine lawyer said.
Otherwise, the international community needed to step in, he said, for instance by launching a U.N. commission of inquiry, spelling out a recommendation in his report to the council.
Myanmar's ambassador to the U.N., U Wunna Maung Lwin, dismissed Ojea Quintana's report as a politicised attempt to interfere in the election.
"My government has clearly stated that there are no prisoners of conscience and that those who are serving prison terms are (those) who offended the existing laws and regulations," he told the council.
Ojea Quintana also criticised the government for its treatment of the Muslim minority in northern Rakhine state.
He said they were suffering discrimination because they are treated as illegal immigrants rather than citizens, and are punished for illegal marriage while new-born children are not registered, depriving them of access to health and education.
Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:00pm IST
By Jonathan Lynn
GENEVA (Reuters) - Elections planned for this year by Myanmar's military junta will lack credibility as regulations for the polls breach basic human rights, a United Nations envoy said on Monday.
Tomas Ojea Quintana, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said regulations just published banned prisoners of conscience from participating in elections, or even being members of political parties.
Ojea Quintana said there was no indication the junta was planning to release prisoners of conscience -- who he estimated at over 2,100 -- or allow basic freedoms of expression or assembly.
"Under these current conditions, elections in Myanmar cannot be considered credible," he told a news conference after presenting a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
The regulations would prevent detained Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in the poll.
Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won the last election in 1990 but the junta ignored the result and officially annulled it last Thursday.
The NLD, which has been allowed to open regional branch offices closed for seven years, is considering whether to take part in the poll, which has been widely dismissed outside Myanmar as a sham intended to make the former Burma appear more democratic while leaving the military in control.
Ojea Quintana, who visited the resource-rich southeast Asian country in February, said officials had assured him that the elections would go ahead this year, even though a date has not been set.
Besides acting fast to make the elections fair, the junta must address the question of accountability for the gross systematic violations of human rights over past decades, the Argentine lawyer said.
Otherwise, the international community needed to step in, he said, for instance by launching a U.N. commission of inquiry, spelling out a recommendation in his report to the council.
Myanmar's ambassador to the U.N., U Wunna Maung Lwin, dismissed Ojea Quintana's report as a politicised attempt to interfere in the election.
"My government has clearly stated that there are no prisoners of conscience and that those who are serving prison terms are (those) who offended the existing laws and regulations," he told the council.
Ojea Quintana also criticised the government for its treatment of the Muslim minority in northern Rakhine state.
He said they were suffering discrimination because they are treated as illegal immigrants rather than citizens, and are punished for illegal marriage while new-born children are not registered, depriving them of access to health and education.
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Bangladesh to persuade China to use Chittagong port
Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:41pm IST
DHAKA, March 14 (Reuters) - Bangladesh will persuade China to use Chittagong port as a commercial outlet for its southern Yunnan province, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said on Sunday.
The Bangladesh stance was announced nearly three months after Bangladesh had agreed to allow India, Nepal and Bhutan to use its two sea ports mainly Chittagong port.
"It will be a great achievement if China agrees to use our Chittagong port, which we want to develop into a regional commercial hub by building a deep seaport in the Bay of Bengal," she told a news conference.
The offer for Chittagong port to Beijing will be discussed when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visits China from Wednesday on a five-day itinerary, Moni said.
The impoverished south Asian country has taken plans to build an $8.7 billion deep-sea port in three phases to raise bulk cargo handling capacity to 100 million tonnes and container handling to 3.0 million twenty-feet equivalent unit (TEU) containers annually by 2055.
Presently the port handles 30.5 million tonnes of bulk cargo and 1.1 million TEUs annually.
Port officials said when built the port would serve Nepal, Bhutan, southern China, Myanmar and the northeastern region of India.
To use Chittagong port China will need a road or railway link or both between Kunming, the capital of southern Yunnan province with Chittagong via Myanmar, Moni said.
Myanmar last year had agreed to expand a planned road project with Bangladesh to link up with China in a tri-nation network, another foreign ministry official said.
Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal in July 2007 to construct a 25 km (16 mile) road to connect the two countries and construction will begin soon, officials at the Communication Ministry said.
The road project between Myanmar and Bangladesh is nearing completion, a senior foreign ministry official said on Sunday.
Chinese investment for Bangladesh's energy and IT sectors, boosting trade and seeking assistance for building a $9 billion deep seaport and a $2.5 billion river bridge will be on top of Hasina's agenda.
China is Bangladesh's biggest trade partner with annual turnover worth more than $4 billion -- with the balance heavily in Beijing's favour.
After bilateral talks with her Chinese counterpart and signing of probable agreements for financial assistance, Hasina will visit Kunming on March 20.
Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:41pm IST
DHAKA, March 14 (Reuters) - Bangladesh will persuade China to use Chittagong port as a commercial outlet for its southern Yunnan province, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said on Sunday.
The Bangladesh stance was announced nearly three months after Bangladesh had agreed to allow India, Nepal and Bhutan to use its two sea ports mainly Chittagong port.
"It will be a great achievement if China agrees to use our Chittagong port, which we want to develop into a regional commercial hub by building a deep seaport in the Bay of Bengal," she told a news conference.
The offer for Chittagong port to Beijing will be discussed when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visits China from Wednesday on a five-day itinerary, Moni said.
The impoverished south Asian country has taken plans to build an $8.7 billion deep-sea port in three phases to raise bulk cargo handling capacity to 100 million tonnes and container handling to 3.0 million twenty-feet equivalent unit (TEU) containers annually by 2055.
Presently the port handles 30.5 million tonnes of bulk cargo and 1.1 million TEUs annually.
Port officials said when built the port would serve Nepal, Bhutan, southern China, Myanmar and the northeastern region of India.
To use Chittagong port China will need a road or railway link or both between Kunming, the capital of southern Yunnan province with Chittagong via Myanmar, Moni said.
Myanmar last year had agreed to expand a planned road project with Bangladesh to link up with China in a tri-nation network, another foreign ministry official said.
Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal in July 2007 to construct a 25 km (16 mile) road to connect the two countries and construction will begin soon, officials at the Communication Ministry said.
The road project between Myanmar and Bangladesh is nearing completion, a senior foreign ministry official said on Sunday.
Chinese investment for Bangladesh's energy and IT sectors, boosting trade and seeking assistance for building a $9 billion deep seaport and a $2.5 billion river bridge will be on top of Hasina's agenda.
China is Bangladesh's biggest trade partner with annual turnover worth more than $4 billion -- with the balance heavily in Beijing's favour.
After bilateral talks with her Chinese counterpart and signing of probable agreements for financial assistance, Hasina will visit Kunming on March 20.
***********************************************************
Philippines: Myanmar broke promise to democratize
By jg - Tuesday, March 16
MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Myanmar's military government broke its promise to democratize by barring opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from upcoming elections, the Philippines said Monday, urging Southeast Asian countries to push the junta to rescind a slate of new elections laws.
Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo's comments are unusual for a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which usually refrain from criticizing other members.
But the Philippines has been more vocal in its condemnation of Myanmar, and this is not the first time it has expressed displeasure with the junta's recently announced election laws, which were denounced by a number of countries, including the United States.
Romulo said he will ask fellow ASEAN ministers when they meet in an annual summit in Vietnam next month to prod Myanmar to consider rescinding the new election laws and rapidly enforce a long-standing promise to implement a "roadmap to democracy," a package of reforms that is supposed to ensure free and credible elections.
"It's contrary to the roadmap to democracy that they have pledged to ASEAN and to the world," Romulo told reporters. "It's their own pledge and promise."
ASEAN has yet to issue an official reaction to the new elections laws.
Romulo said he will raise his concerns when he meets Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win, who promised to attend a two-day ministerial conference in Manila this week.
This year's elections in Myanmar will be the first poll since 1990, when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory. The junta ignored the results of that vote and has kept Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, jailed or under detention for 14 of the past 20 years. The Philippines has repeatedly called for her release.
An election law announced last week prohibits anyone convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party, making Suu Kyi ineligible to become a candidate in the elections or even a member of the party she co-founded and heads.
Suu Kyi was convicted last August of violating the terms of her house arrest by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside residence. She was sentenced to 18 more months of detention.
By jg - Tuesday, March 16
MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Myanmar's military government broke its promise to democratize by barring opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from upcoming elections, the Philippines said Monday, urging Southeast Asian countries to push the junta to rescind a slate of new elections laws.
Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo's comments are unusual for a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which usually refrain from criticizing other members.
But the Philippines has been more vocal in its condemnation of Myanmar, and this is not the first time it has expressed displeasure with the junta's recently announced election laws, which were denounced by a number of countries, including the United States.
Romulo said he will ask fellow ASEAN ministers when they meet in an annual summit in Vietnam next month to prod Myanmar to consider rescinding the new election laws and rapidly enforce a long-standing promise to implement a "roadmap to democracy," a package of reforms that is supposed to ensure free and credible elections.
"It's contrary to the roadmap to democracy that they have pledged to ASEAN and to the world," Romulo told reporters. "It's their own pledge and promise."
ASEAN has yet to issue an official reaction to the new elections laws.
Romulo said he will raise his concerns when he meets Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win, who promised to attend a two-day ministerial conference in Manila this week.
This year's elections in Myanmar will be the first poll since 1990, when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory. The junta ignored the results of that vote and has kept Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, jailed or under detention for 14 of the past 20 years. The Philippines has repeatedly called for her release.
An election law announced last week prohibits anyone convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party, making Suu Kyi ineligible to become a candidate in the elections or even a member of the party she co-founded and heads.
Suu Kyi was convicted last August of violating the terms of her house arrest by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside residence. She was sentenced to 18 more months of detention.
***********************************************************
Spate of Myanmar privatisations raises questions
by Danny Kemp – Sun Mar 14, 3:09 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Myanmar's junta has embarked on a flurry of privatisations of state firms, raising questions about whether it is reforming the economy or trying to take profits before 2010 elections.
The military government, which faces strict Western sanctions because of its human rights record, is trying to sell off petrol stations, ports and state-owned buildings including cinemas and warehouses.
The move has added to unease in the country, with this year's polls set to shift power within the entrenched military structure, and a history of social unrest linked to economic change in Myanmar.
The government is planning to sell a network of about 250 state-owned gas stations around the country, including 53 in the commercial hub Yangon, Myanmar's privatisation commission office said in February.
State newspapers called for potential buyers to submit proposals to run the stations for "smooth sales" of petrol "in the private sector in accord with the open market economy."
The regime also invited private enterprises to tender for the running of four ports in the country as well as business operations on the Yangon river.
Sean Turnell, a specialist on Myanmar's economy, said he thought the privatisations were sparked by some desire to reform, and were also an attempt by current members of the junta to cash out while they retain power.
"I am taking a bit of comfort from the fact that, although it is bad... because resources that belong to the people are being taken, it also seems to be a signal of uncertainty amongst the groups which are in power," Turnell, of Macquarie University in Australia, told AFP.
Myanmar remains one of the world's poorest nations after its economy was run down by a previous socialist but also military-run regime.
The economy has previously been the catalyst for pro-democracy uprisings against the current junta, which took power in 1988 and has struggled to reform the economy.
A massive and unannounced hike in fuel prices in August 2007 unleashed protests led by Buddhist monks that snowballed into the biggest threat to the ruling junta in nearly 20 years.
And mass student-led pro-democracy rallies in 1988 were triggered when the regime invalidated currency notes the previous year in a bid to clamp down on the black market.
Turnell said that the junta's overall motive to privatise was to boost its position ahead of this year's elections, which rights groups and the international community fear will be neither free nor fair.
New election laws unveiled this month bar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi from standing in the polls and also force her National League for Democracy party to expel her or face dissolution.
Turnell said the junta, accused by critics of enriching itself by selling off Myanmar's natural resources to Asian countries including China, India and Thailand, was also simply raising much-needed cash.
Wielding economic power to win over various electoral groups is likely part of the junta's reason to privatise. "But also connected there does seem to be a big cash shortage in the place," he said.
"They have a lot of money from gas revenues but very little comes into Burma itself given that it is mostly under control of generals one and two," he said, referring to junta leader Senior General Than Shwe and second in command Maung Aye. Burma is the former name for Myanmar.
But behind the doubts could lie some hope for change.
Than Shwe must relinquish power to a new national assembly after the elections, and although he may take on a new presidential position created by a 2008 constitution, he may be worried about rivals to his power, Turnell said.
"Perhaps these guys have some doubts and that is something we have not seen there for a long time," he said.
Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar political analyst in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, agreed that the privatisations could be a sign of shifting sands in Myanmar.
"Given the steps the military government has taken in the past six months, including privatisation, to me it indicates that things are changing," he told AFP.
by Danny Kemp – Sun Mar 14, 3:09 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Myanmar's junta has embarked on a flurry of privatisations of state firms, raising questions about whether it is reforming the economy or trying to take profits before 2010 elections.
The military government, which faces strict Western sanctions because of its human rights record, is trying to sell off petrol stations, ports and state-owned buildings including cinemas and warehouses.
The move has added to unease in the country, with this year's polls set to shift power within the entrenched military structure, and a history of social unrest linked to economic change in Myanmar.
The government is planning to sell a network of about 250 state-owned gas stations around the country, including 53 in the commercial hub Yangon, Myanmar's privatisation commission office said in February.
State newspapers called for potential buyers to submit proposals to run the stations for "smooth sales" of petrol "in the private sector in accord with the open market economy."
The regime also invited private enterprises to tender for the running of four ports in the country as well as business operations on the Yangon river.
Sean Turnell, a specialist on Myanmar's economy, said he thought the privatisations were sparked by some desire to reform, and were also an attempt by current members of the junta to cash out while they retain power.
"I am taking a bit of comfort from the fact that, although it is bad... because resources that belong to the people are being taken, it also seems to be a signal of uncertainty amongst the groups which are in power," Turnell, of Macquarie University in Australia, told AFP.
Myanmar remains one of the world's poorest nations after its economy was run down by a previous socialist but also military-run regime.
The economy has previously been the catalyst for pro-democracy uprisings against the current junta, which took power in 1988 and has struggled to reform the economy.
A massive and unannounced hike in fuel prices in August 2007 unleashed protests led by Buddhist monks that snowballed into the biggest threat to the ruling junta in nearly 20 years.
And mass student-led pro-democracy rallies in 1988 were triggered when the regime invalidated currency notes the previous year in a bid to clamp down on the black market.
Turnell said that the junta's overall motive to privatise was to boost its position ahead of this year's elections, which rights groups and the international community fear will be neither free nor fair.
New election laws unveiled this month bar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi from standing in the polls and also force her National League for Democracy party to expel her or face dissolution.
Turnell said the junta, accused by critics of enriching itself by selling off Myanmar's natural resources to Asian countries including China, India and Thailand, was also simply raising much-needed cash.
Wielding economic power to win over various electoral groups is likely part of the junta's reason to privatise. "But also connected there does seem to be a big cash shortage in the place," he said.
"They have a lot of money from gas revenues but very little comes into Burma itself given that it is mostly under control of generals one and two," he said, referring to junta leader Senior General Than Shwe and second in command Maung Aye. Burma is the former name for Myanmar.
But behind the doubts could lie some hope for change.
Than Shwe must relinquish power to a new national assembly after the elections, and although he may take on a new presidential position created by a 2008 constitution, he may be worried about rivals to his power, Turnell said.
"Perhaps these guys have some doubts and that is something we have not seen there for a long time," he said.
Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar political analyst in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, agreed that the privatisations could be a sign of shifting sands in Myanmar.
"Given the steps the military government has taken in the past six months, including privatisation, to me it indicates that things are changing," he told AFP.
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Malaysia 'detains 93 Myanmar boat people'
Sun Mar 14, 6:24 am ET
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysian maritime authorities said Sunday they had picked up 93 members of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority who had drifted aboard a boat for 30 days after fleeing their country.
The boat, packed with refugees, was found off Langkawi island off the northwest coast on Wednesday after a tip-off from fishing vessels, said the northern regional head of the Maritime Enforcement Agency, Zulkifli Abu Bakar.
Mainly Buddhist Myanmar denies citizenship and property rights to the Bengali-speaking Rohingya, leading to their abuse and exploitation and prompting many to flee the country.
The boat people "are suspected of trying to enter Malaysia illegally after being at sea for 30 days and so this is why we detained them for further investigations," Zulkifli told AFP, adding they ranged from 16 to 50 in age.
"This is the first time we have had such a big number of people found in our northern waters in many years."
The group had been handed to immigration officials in the northern state of Kedah, who would investigate and determine whether to prosecute them, Zulkifli said.
Malaysian police last July arrested five immigration officials for involvement in an international syndicate that smuggled Rohingya refugees into the country to work illegally.
With one of Asia's largest populations of foreign labour, Malaysia relies on its 2.2 million migrants to clean homes, care for children and work in plantations and factories.
Sun Mar 14, 6:24 am ET
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysian maritime authorities said Sunday they had picked up 93 members of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority who had drifted aboard a boat for 30 days after fleeing their country.
The boat, packed with refugees, was found off Langkawi island off the northwest coast on Wednesday after a tip-off from fishing vessels, said the northern regional head of the Maritime Enforcement Agency, Zulkifli Abu Bakar.
Mainly Buddhist Myanmar denies citizenship and property rights to the Bengali-speaking Rohingya, leading to their abuse and exploitation and prompting many to flee the country.
The boat people "are suspected of trying to enter Malaysia illegally after being at sea for 30 days and so this is why we detained them for further investigations," Zulkifli told AFP, adding they ranged from 16 to 50 in age.
"This is the first time we have had such a big number of people found in our northern waters in many years."
The group had been handed to immigration officials in the northern state of Kedah, who would investigate and determine whether to prosecute them, Zulkifli said.
Malaysian police last July arrested five immigration officials for involvement in an international syndicate that smuggled Rohingya refugees into the country to work illegally.
With one of Asia's largest populations of foreign labour, Malaysia relies on its 2.2 million migrants to clean homes, care for children and work in plantations and factories.
***********************************************************
Door narrows for foreign workers in Singapore
by Martin Abbugao – Sat Mar 13, 10:45 pm ET
SINGAPORE (AFP) – Construction workers from Bangladesh, hotel staff from the Philippines, waitresses from China, shipyard welders from Myanmar, technology professionals from India -- Singapore has them all.
For years the rich but worker-starved city-state, built by mainly Chinese immigrants, had rolled out the welcome mat for foreigners, whose numbers rose drastically during the economic boom from 2004-2007.
But with one in three of the five million people living on the tiny island now a foreigner and citizens complaining about competition for jobs, housing and medical care, the government is taking a fresh look at its open-door policy
With the grumbling getting louder and general elections expected to be called before they are due in 2012, the government has unveiled measures to reduce reliance on foreigners and assure citizens they remain the priority.
"There are social and physical limits to how many more we can absorb," Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told parliament in February.
He said the government will make it costlier for companies to hire foreigners by raising the levies they must pay for every non-Singaporean or non-resident they hire.
The government also earmarked 5.5 billion Singapore dollars (3.9 billion US) over the next five years to upgrade Singaporean workers' skills to boost their productivity, make them more competitive and raise incomes.
It imposed measures to cool down rising home prices, also blamed on foreigners buying into the property market, and pledged it will further tighten the process of accepting permanent residents and new citizens.
Of Singapore's population of nearly five million last year, 533,200 were permanent residents and 1.25 million were foreigners on employment passes, along with their families, official statistics show.
"I think it is shaping up to be one of the hottest issues in Singapore today," political commentator Seah Chiang Nee told AFP.
Economist Song Seng Wun of CIMB-GK Research said that apart from helping local companies rise up the value chain, the new measures will also address potential election issues.
Singapore's last elections, held in 2006, saw the ruling People's Action Party returned to power for six years, continuing its uninterrupted rule over the island since 1959.
"The government has to be seen doing something in areas that are potential flashpoints," Song said.
Disenchantment over foreign workers gained momentum during a severe economic slump that began in the third quarter of 2008, when trade-reliant Singapore became the first Asian economy to slip into recession.
Drastic job and salary cuts were implemented, affecting many white-collar workers.
In coffee shops, Internet forums, letters to newspapers and sessions with members of parliament, citizens became more vocal about the rapidly growing numbers of foreigners in their ranks.
The most common complaint is that Singaporeans are losing jobs to foreigners who are willing to accept much lower salaries.
"Foreigners are a damn pain in the butt. I seriously wonder if they are here to work or just snatch jobs from our locals," said one posting on the popular online forum sammyboy.com.
"The country is fast becoming an unfamiliar place to many Singaporeans. The sense of national pride is disappearing by the day," said a posting by Nur Muhammad on The Online Citizen.
Seah, who runs the political website www.littlespeck.com, said much of the resentment comes from Singaporeans who have to compete directly with foreign engineers, accountants, hotel managers and IT professionals.
"Most Singaporeans do not feel angry against low-skilled foreign workers... It is more aimed at those who come in as white collar workers and get the jobs that Singaporeans can do," he said.
Citizens have also complained about having to share space in crowded trains with a large number of foreigners, or compete with them for places in government schools and public housing.
Foreign labourers are accused of loitering, spitting in public and leaving litter behind. Another sore point for locals is dealing with waitresses and sales people who can hardly understand English.
Some employers have argued they do not hire Singaporeans for certain jobs because locals are choosy and often lack the natural social and communication skills in service professions like manning hotel front desks.
In some ways, Singapore is a victim of its own success.
A campaign in the 1970s for families to have only two children was so effective that the country is now well below the 60,000 babies needed per year just to naturally replace the resident population.
Efforts to reverse the trend have failed as increasingly affluent couples marry at a later age and opt for just one child or none at all.
Officials, economists and business executives admit that with Singaporeans procreating less, the country will need foreign workers in the long term, while making sure citizens' interests are addressed.
Singapore's founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, who advises the cabinet of his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said in January that "we've grown in the last five years by just importing labour."
"Now, the people feel uncomfortable, there are too many foreigners," Lee said.
"The answer is simple: We check the flow of foreigners, raise your productivity, do the job better, so that instead of two workers, eventually you'll do it with one worker, like the Japanese do."
by Martin Abbugao – Sat Mar 13, 10:45 pm ET
SINGAPORE (AFP) – Construction workers from Bangladesh, hotel staff from the Philippines, waitresses from China, shipyard welders from Myanmar, technology professionals from India -- Singapore has them all.
For years the rich but worker-starved city-state, built by mainly Chinese immigrants, had rolled out the welcome mat for foreigners, whose numbers rose drastically during the economic boom from 2004-2007.
But with one in three of the five million people living on the tiny island now a foreigner and citizens complaining about competition for jobs, housing and medical care, the government is taking a fresh look at its open-door policy
With the grumbling getting louder and general elections expected to be called before they are due in 2012, the government has unveiled measures to reduce reliance on foreigners and assure citizens they remain the priority.
"There are social and physical limits to how many more we can absorb," Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told parliament in February.
He said the government will make it costlier for companies to hire foreigners by raising the levies they must pay for every non-Singaporean or non-resident they hire.
The government also earmarked 5.5 billion Singapore dollars (3.9 billion US) over the next five years to upgrade Singaporean workers' skills to boost their productivity, make them more competitive and raise incomes.
It imposed measures to cool down rising home prices, also blamed on foreigners buying into the property market, and pledged it will further tighten the process of accepting permanent residents and new citizens.
Of Singapore's population of nearly five million last year, 533,200 were permanent residents and 1.25 million were foreigners on employment passes, along with their families, official statistics show.
"I think it is shaping up to be one of the hottest issues in Singapore today," political commentator Seah Chiang Nee told AFP.
Economist Song Seng Wun of CIMB-GK Research said that apart from helping local companies rise up the value chain, the new measures will also address potential election issues.
Singapore's last elections, held in 2006, saw the ruling People's Action Party returned to power for six years, continuing its uninterrupted rule over the island since 1959.
"The government has to be seen doing something in areas that are potential flashpoints," Song said.
Disenchantment over foreign workers gained momentum during a severe economic slump that began in the third quarter of 2008, when trade-reliant Singapore became the first Asian economy to slip into recession.
Drastic job and salary cuts were implemented, affecting many white-collar workers.
In coffee shops, Internet forums, letters to newspapers and sessions with members of parliament, citizens became more vocal about the rapidly growing numbers of foreigners in their ranks.
The most common complaint is that Singaporeans are losing jobs to foreigners who are willing to accept much lower salaries.
"Foreigners are a damn pain in the butt. I seriously wonder if they are here to work or just snatch jobs from our locals," said one posting on the popular online forum sammyboy.com.
"The country is fast becoming an unfamiliar place to many Singaporeans. The sense of national pride is disappearing by the day," said a posting by Nur Muhammad on The Online Citizen.
Seah, who runs the political website www.littlespeck.com, said much of the resentment comes from Singaporeans who have to compete directly with foreign engineers, accountants, hotel managers and IT professionals.
"Most Singaporeans do not feel angry against low-skilled foreign workers... It is more aimed at those who come in as white collar workers and get the jobs that Singaporeans can do," he said.
Citizens have also complained about having to share space in crowded trains with a large number of foreigners, or compete with them for places in government schools and public housing.
Foreign labourers are accused of loitering, spitting in public and leaving litter behind. Another sore point for locals is dealing with waitresses and sales people who can hardly understand English.
Some employers have argued they do not hire Singaporeans for certain jobs because locals are choosy and often lack the natural social and communication skills in service professions like manning hotel front desks.
In some ways, Singapore is a victim of its own success.
A campaign in the 1970s for families to have only two children was so effective that the country is now well below the 60,000 babies needed per year just to naturally replace the resident population.
Efforts to reverse the trend have failed as increasingly affluent couples marry at a later age and opt for just one child or none at all.
Officials, economists and business executives admit that with Singaporeans procreating less, the country will need foreign workers in the long term, while making sure citizens' interests are addressed.
Singapore's founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, who advises the cabinet of his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said in January that "we've grown in the last five years by just importing labour."
"Now, the people feel uncomfortable, there are too many foreigners," Lee said.
"The answer is simple: We check the flow of foreigners, raise your productivity, do the job better, so that instead of two workers, eventually you'll do it with one worker, like the Japanese do."
***********************************************************
EarthTimes - UN expert: No sign Myanmar to release prisoners ahead of elections
Posted : Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:30:08 GMT
Geneva - A United Nations human rights experts said Monday that there was no sign Myanmar's government would release political prisoners ahead of the upcoming elections.
"I see no indication that the government is willing to release all prisoners of conscience and that fundamental freedoms will be granted," said Tomas Ojea Quintana, an independent UN expert on Myanmar.
He was addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
But U Wunna Maung Lwin, from the Myanmar delegation to the UN, said that his country was "holding a free and fair multi-party general election this year" and that the "transition to democracy is proceeding systematically."
The envoy rejected much of Quintana's report.
"I consider prisoners who are imprisoned for the exercise of what is considered as basic freedoms and rights ... as prisoners of conscience," Quintana said, referencing the Universal Declaration on Human Rights from 1948.
During a recent visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma, Quintana met with prisoners in private, he told reporters.
The government's alleged human rights violations, including torture and persecutions, could be tantamount to "crimes against humanity," Quintana warned, urging the country's leaders to take actions to rectify the situation.
"This is an opportunity to make clear to the government that they have to take action before the election ... after the elections will be too late," he said.
In his report to the rights council Quintana said Muslims and other minorities were facing discrimination, though the government insisted "there is no discrimination whatsoever on grounds of religion, races and genders."
Regarding sanctions, Quintana noted that the international community should be "more creative" and that some sanctions might be harming ordinary citizens.
"It is a very difficult task," he said.
Posted : Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:30:08 GMT
Geneva - A United Nations human rights experts said Monday that there was no sign Myanmar's government would release political prisoners ahead of the upcoming elections.
"I see no indication that the government is willing to release all prisoners of conscience and that fundamental freedoms will be granted," said Tomas Ojea Quintana, an independent UN expert on Myanmar.
He was addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
But U Wunna Maung Lwin, from the Myanmar delegation to the UN, said that his country was "holding a free and fair multi-party general election this year" and that the "transition to democracy is proceeding systematically."
The envoy rejected much of Quintana's report.
"I consider prisoners who are imprisoned for the exercise of what is considered as basic freedoms and rights ... as prisoners of conscience," Quintana said, referencing the Universal Declaration on Human Rights from 1948.
During a recent visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma, Quintana met with prisoners in private, he told reporters.
The government's alleged human rights violations, including torture and persecutions, could be tantamount to "crimes against humanity," Quintana warned, urging the country's leaders to take actions to rectify the situation.
"This is an opportunity to make clear to the government that they have to take action before the election ... after the elections will be too late," he said.
In his report to the rights council Quintana said Muslims and other minorities were facing discrimination, though the government insisted "there is no discrimination whatsoever on grounds of religion, races and genders."
Regarding sanctions, Quintana noted that the international community should be "more creative" and that some sanctions might be harming ordinary citizens.
"It is a very difficult task," he said.
***********************************************************
Monday 15 March 2010
Number 10 - PM calls election terms in Burma “restrictive and unfair”
The Prime Minister has called the terms of the Burmese election laws “restrictive and unfair” and called for an urgent meeting at the UN in New York to discuss these developments.
The laws have been published ahead of the election in the country later this year.
They prohibit anyone convicted by a court from joining a political party - excluding National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from taking part.
The PM said:
“Burma has ignored the demands of the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General, the US, EU and its own neighbours by imposing restrictive and unfair terms on elections.
The targeting of Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD is particularly vindictive and callous. I have today written to the UN Secretary General to call for an urgent meeting in New York to discuss these developments.
We will also seek international support to impose an arms embargo against Burma. Burma’s people are demanding political and economic freedom, and the international community must stand with them.”
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention, was convicted last August of violating the terms of her house arrest. She was sentenced to a new term of house arrest that is due to end in November.
Number 10 - PM calls election terms in Burma “restrictive and unfair”
The Prime Minister has called the terms of the Burmese election laws “restrictive and unfair” and called for an urgent meeting at the UN in New York to discuss these developments.
The laws have been published ahead of the election in the country later this year.
They prohibit anyone convicted by a court from joining a political party - excluding National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from taking part.
The PM said:
“Burma has ignored the demands of the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General, the US, EU and its own neighbours by imposing restrictive and unfair terms on elections.
The targeting of Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD is particularly vindictive and callous. I have today written to the UN Secretary General to call for an urgent meeting in New York to discuss these developments.
We will also seek international support to impose an arms embargo against Burma. Burma’s people are demanding political and economic freedom, and the international community must stand with them.”
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention, was convicted last August of violating the terms of her house arrest. She was sentenced to a new term of house arrest that is due to end in November.
***********************************************************
Silver City Sun-News - Editorial: What should U.S. do in Burma?
Washington Post editorial
Posted: 03/15/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
The following editorial appeared in the Washington Post:
President Obama took office hoping that constructive diplomacy could yield progress on some of the thorniest foreign-policy challenges facing the United States. Among these was Burma, a Southeast Asian nation of 50 million people that has been misruled into poverty, decline and perpetual warfare by a benighted military dictatorship. Obama did not abandon economic sanctions against the regime, but he did hold out the prospect of warmer relations if Burma's regime would show some sign of easing up on its people.
Last week the regime delivered its answer: Get lost. The government promulgated rules that make clear that an election planned for this year will be worse than meaningless.
That had always been the fear, given laws that guaranteed the military a decisive role in parliament, no matter who won the election. But the new rules make it official: Burma's leading democratic party and its leader, Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, will not be permitted to take part.
Burma (called Myanmar by its rulers) is a unique case, because the opposition has legitimacy that cannot be denied. Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the country's independence hero, led the National League for Democracy to a landslide victory the only time reasonably fair elections have been permitted, in 1990, even though she was under house arrest. No transition to civilian rule is plausible unless she and other legitimate stakeholders are allowed to play a role.
A State Department spokesman said that the new law "makes a mockery of the democratic process and ensures that the upcoming elections will be devoid of credibility." The question now is how the administration will respond. It needs to pursue financial sanctions that target Burma's ruling generals and their corruptly amassed wealth. It needs to rally the European Union and Burma's enablers, such as Singapore, to take similar actions. And it needs to take more seriously the security challenge posed by the regime's intensifying wars against minority nationalities and the resulting refugee crises.
A senior U.N. official, in a draft report that became public this week, said that Burma is guilty of "a pattern of gross and systematic violation of human rights" that has continued for years, that reflects state policy and that may constitute "crimes against humanity, or war crimes." The official, Tomas Ojea Quintana, special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, will recommend the establishment of a commission of inquiry to investigate these crimes, which include ethnic cleansing and the widespread use of rape as a weapon of war.
Obama was right to offer, cautiously, an open hand. It has been spat upon. Now is the time for something new.
Washington Post editorial
Posted: 03/15/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
The following editorial appeared in the Washington Post:
President Obama took office hoping that constructive diplomacy could yield progress on some of the thorniest foreign-policy challenges facing the United States. Among these was Burma, a Southeast Asian nation of 50 million people that has been misruled into poverty, decline and perpetual warfare by a benighted military dictatorship. Obama did not abandon economic sanctions against the regime, but he did hold out the prospect of warmer relations if Burma's regime would show some sign of easing up on its people.
Last week the regime delivered its answer: Get lost. The government promulgated rules that make clear that an election planned for this year will be worse than meaningless.
That had always been the fear, given laws that guaranteed the military a decisive role in parliament, no matter who won the election. But the new rules make it official: Burma's leading democratic party and its leader, Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, will not be permitted to take part.
Burma (called Myanmar by its rulers) is a unique case, because the opposition has legitimacy that cannot be denied. Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the country's independence hero, led the National League for Democracy to a landslide victory the only time reasonably fair elections have been permitted, in 1990, even though she was under house arrest. No transition to civilian rule is plausible unless she and other legitimate stakeholders are allowed to play a role.
A State Department spokesman said that the new law "makes a mockery of the democratic process and ensures that the upcoming elections will be devoid of credibility." The question now is how the administration will respond. It needs to pursue financial sanctions that target Burma's ruling generals and their corruptly amassed wealth. It needs to rally the European Union and Burma's enablers, such as Singapore, to take similar actions. And it needs to take more seriously the security challenge posed by the regime's intensifying wars against minority nationalities and the resulting refugee crises.
A senior U.N. official, in a draft report that became public this week, said that Burma is guilty of "a pattern of gross and systematic violation of human rights" that has continued for years, that reflects state policy and that may constitute "crimes against humanity, or war crimes." The official, Tomas Ojea Quintana, special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, will recommend the establishment of a commission of inquiry to investigate these crimes, which include ethnic cleansing and the widespread use of rape as a weapon of war.
Obama was right to offer, cautiously, an open hand. It has been spat upon. Now is the time for something new.
***********************************************************
ABS-CBNNEWS - RP says will pressure Myanmar over new laws
Agence France-Presse First Posted 21:44:00 03/15/2010
MANILA—The Philippines said Monday it would use an international forum in Manila this week to pressure Myanmar over new laws blocking Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from elections this year.
Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo said he would raise his concerns with Myanmar counterpart Nyan Win during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a two-day Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference beginning Wednesday.
"Definitely, it's a reverse. It's contrary to the road map to democracy that they pledged to ASEAN and to the world," Romulo said of the Myanmar election laws when asked by reporters what he would discuss with Nyan Win.
"I am expressing a feeling that I think articulates the belief of those who believe in democracy... it's Myanmar itself that promised to us the road map to democracy. That was their pledge and promise."
Under the Myanmar junta's laws unveiled last week, Suu Kyi faces exclusion from her National League for Democracy (NLD) and is prevented from contesting elections expected late this year on grounds that she is a serving prisoner.
The new laws also officially annul the result of Myanmar's last elections in 1990, which the NLD won by a landslide. The junta never allowed the party to take power.
Nyan Win is among 120 senior officials and foreign ministers expected to join the NAM meeting this week that is focused on inter-faith dialogue.
The forum is expected to culminate in the adoption of a Manila declaration aimed at strengthening government and civil society cooperation, including faith-based organisations, officials said.
Romulo said that, while Myanmar's democracy issues would likely not be tackled as a specific agenda item during the NAM forum, reconciliation was in the spirit of any inter-faith dialogue.
Romulo also said he would separately urge other members of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to call for a reversal of Myanmar's decree during the group's annual summit in Vietnam next month.
"Definitely, I will," he said when asked whether he would push for ASEAN to censure its fellow member.
ASEAN has traditionally had a policy of non-interference in each others' affairs. But that has slowly begun to erode in recent years, with the Philippines taking a leading role in criticizing the Myanmar junta.
Agence France-Presse First Posted 21:44:00 03/15/2010
MANILA—The Philippines said Monday it would use an international forum in Manila this week to pressure Myanmar over new laws blocking Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from elections this year.
Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo said he would raise his concerns with Myanmar counterpart Nyan Win during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a two-day Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference beginning Wednesday.
"Definitely, it's a reverse. It's contrary to the road map to democracy that they pledged to ASEAN and to the world," Romulo said of the Myanmar election laws when asked by reporters what he would discuss with Nyan Win.
"I am expressing a feeling that I think articulates the belief of those who believe in democracy... it's Myanmar itself that promised to us the road map to democracy. That was their pledge and promise."
Under the Myanmar junta's laws unveiled last week, Suu Kyi faces exclusion from her National League for Democracy (NLD) and is prevented from contesting elections expected late this year on grounds that she is a serving prisoner.
The new laws also officially annul the result of Myanmar's last elections in 1990, which the NLD won by a landslide. The junta never allowed the party to take power.
Nyan Win is among 120 senior officials and foreign ministers expected to join the NAM meeting this week that is focused on inter-faith dialogue.
The forum is expected to culminate in the adoption of a Manila declaration aimed at strengthening government and civil society cooperation, including faith-based organisations, officials said.
Romulo said that, while Myanmar's democracy issues would likely not be tackled as a specific agenda item during the NAM forum, reconciliation was in the spirit of any inter-faith dialogue.
Romulo also said he would separately urge other members of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to call for a reversal of Myanmar's decree during the group's annual summit in Vietnam next month.
"Definitely, I will," he said when asked whether he would push for ASEAN to censure its fellow member.
ASEAN has traditionally had a policy of non-interference in each others' affairs. But that has slowly begun to erode in recent years, with the Philippines taking a leading role in criticizing the Myanmar junta.
***********************************************************
03/15/2010 17:43
AsiaNews.it - MYANMAR: Win Tin’s story, 7,000 days in a Burmese prison
Journalist and co-founder of the National League for Democracy, Win Tin spent 19 years in prison, 12 under isolation. He recently celebrated his 80th birthday. In a book, he says Myanmar is prison. In 1989, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison for anti-government propaganda.
Yangon (AsiaNews/RFA) – Win Tin, a prominent Burmese journalist and pro-democracy activist, has just celebrated his 80th birthday, 19 of which spent in jail as a political prisoner. In a recently released book, he describes his time in prison, going into the details of the everyday life of a political dissident. He hopes it might help others understand how much those who fight for democracy in Myanmar suffer.
Sponsored by the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based non-profit Burmese media organisation, the 318-page book titled ‘7,000 Days of Prison Experiences’ gives Win Tin, a top leader and co-founder of the National League for Democracy (NLD), an opportunity to talk about the abuses he endured in prison for so many years, 12 of which under isolation.
Before his release in September 2008 after 19 years, he refused to sign a gag order from the military, saying he would be happier staying behind bars than sign. The authorities let him go anyway. Minutes after his release, he vowed to keep fighting for democracy in Burma.
A former vice president of the writers’ union, he was charged with anti-government propaganda and sentenced to 21 years in jail following a crackdown on Generation 88, a student-led pro-democracy movement. He got an extra seven years for describing the harsh conditions in Insein prison in a 1996 written testimony to the United Nations.
Last Friday, he sent a video-message to a crowd in Maesot on the Thai-Burmese border that had gathered for a promotional ceremony organised by the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (Burma), a group formed in 2000 by former Burmese political prisoners.
“I felt that I had to write this book so that people know the truth and can empathise with the real plight of Burma’s political prisoners. I hope [. . .] they understand the situation,” he said.
“I know that I face great risk in writing this book,” he added, “but I refuse to be intimidated by this danger. I purged all of my fears and wrote frankly about what everyone should know.”
“Burma is home to 40 prisons, including Insein prison. Political prisoners are held within the four walls of these prisons, but the rest of the population is being held in an even larger prison—the borders of Burma. They must be made to understand that.”
AsiaNews.it - MYANMAR: Win Tin’s story, 7,000 days in a Burmese prison
Journalist and co-founder of the National League for Democracy, Win Tin spent 19 years in prison, 12 under isolation. He recently celebrated his 80th birthday. In a book, he says Myanmar is prison. In 1989, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison for anti-government propaganda.
Yangon (AsiaNews/RFA) – Win Tin, a prominent Burmese journalist and pro-democracy activist, has just celebrated his 80th birthday, 19 of which spent in jail as a political prisoner. In a recently released book, he describes his time in prison, going into the details of the everyday life of a political dissident. He hopes it might help others understand how much those who fight for democracy in Myanmar suffer.
Sponsored by the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based non-profit Burmese media organisation, the 318-page book titled ‘7,000 Days of Prison Experiences’ gives Win Tin, a top leader and co-founder of the National League for Democracy (NLD), an opportunity to talk about the abuses he endured in prison for so many years, 12 of which under isolation.
Before his release in September 2008 after 19 years, he refused to sign a gag order from the military, saying he would be happier staying behind bars than sign. The authorities let him go anyway. Minutes after his release, he vowed to keep fighting for democracy in Burma.
A former vice president of the writers’ union, he was charged with anti-government propaganda and sentenced to 21 years in jail following a crackdown on Generation 88, a student-led pro-democracy movement. He got an extra seven years for describing the harsh conditions in Insein prison in a 1996 written testimony to the United Nations.
Last Friday, he sent a video-message to a crowd in Maesot on the Thai-Burmese border that had gathered for a promotional ceremony organised by the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (Burma), a group formed in 2000 by former Burmese political prisoners.
“I felt that I had to write this book so that people know the truth and can empathise with the real plight of Burma’s political prisoners. I hope [. . .] they understand the situation,” he said.
“I know that I face great risk in writing this book,” he added, “but I refuse to be intimidated by this danger. I purged all of my fears and wrote frankly about what everyone should know.”
“Burma is home to 40 prisons, including Insein prison. Political prisoners are held within the four walls of these prisons, but the rest of the population is being held in an even larger prison—the borders of Burma. They must be made to understand that.”
***********************************************************
People's Daily Online - Bangladesh team leaves for Myanmar for maritime boundary talks
20:58, March 15, 2010
A high-level Bangladesh team, comprising officials and experts, left capital Dhaka Monday for Myanmar to hold a two-day maritime boundary talks, a foreign ministry official said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Md Jashim, told Xinhua that "the team that left Dhaka on Monday for Yangon will hold meeting on March 16-17."
Additional Foreign Secretary Rear Admiral (retd.) M Khorshed Alam is leading the 11-member Bangladesh team to Myanmar, he said.
In a meeting held in Bangladesh in December last year, both Dhaka and Yangon reached a consensus to demarcate maritime boundary through a coordinated policy to resolve dispute.
"The December meeting decided that the next meeting would be held in Myanmer in April this year but Yangon recently expressed its interest to set this month so we responded positively," another foreign ministry official said.
The official who preferred to be unnamed said dispute over the maritime boundary between the two neighboring countries arose as Bangladesh protested Myanmar's move for extracting mineral resources from a block in the Bay of Bengal in 2008.
Due to the dispute, he said Bangladesh also failed to award its offshore areas to the international oil companies. Against this backdrop, Bangladesh formally raised the issue at the Arbitration Tribunal of the United Nations in October last year. Source: Xinhua
20:58, March 15, 2010
A high-level Bangladesh team, comprising officials and experts, left capital Dhaka Monday for Myanmar to hold a two-day maritime boundary talks, a foreign ministry official said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Md Jashim, told Xinhua that "the team that left Dhaka on Monday for Yangon will hold meeting on March 16-17."
Additional Foreign Secretary Rear Admiral (retd.) M Khorshed Alam is leading the 11-member Bangladesh team to Myanmar, he said.
In a meeting held in Bangladesh in December last year, both Dhaka and Yangon reached a consensus to demarcate maritime boundary through a coordinated policy to resolve dispute.
"The December meeting decided that the next meeting would be held in Myanmer in April this year but Yangon recently expressed its interest to set this month so we responded positively," another foreign ministry official said.
The official who preferred to be unnamed said dispute over the maritime boundary between the two neighboring countries arose as Bangladesh protested Myanmar's move for extracting mineral resources from a block in the Bay of Bengal in 2008.
Due to the dispute, he said Bangladesh also failed to award its offshore areas to the international oil companies. Against this backdrop, Bangladesh formally raised the issue at the Arbitration Tribunal of the United Nations in October last year. Source: Xinhua
***********************************************************
Vancouver Sun - Column: Myanmar's generals take no chances on electoral overthrow
By Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun March 15, 2010 7:54 AM
When the people of Myanmar, formerly Burma, were last given a chance to vote 20 years ago they got it wrong and tried to oust the military regime which, in one guise or another, has ruled the southeast Asian country for more than 50 years.
Within the next few months Burmese voters are going to be given another chance, and this time the generals are making absolutely certain that they get it right.
The junta, led by Senior General Than Shwe, has already spent 12 years, starting in 1995, crafting a new constitution that ensures that whatever mischief voters may get up to when handed a ballot, the military will remain firmly in control.
The coming elections may produce something that can be portrayed to Myanmar's uncomfortable neighbours and an outraged international community as a civilian government. But it will be a sham with all the essential levers of power, the security and financial ministries, a bloc of seats in the parliament and the appointment of a president with the power to dismiss the whole lot of them firmly in the grip of the military.
If that was not enough, the generals last week started releasing specific election laws and regulations which make it clear they are still scared witless by Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained opposition leader, and her National League for Democracy (NLD).
Suu Kyi has been under various forms of imprisonment and detention for 15 of the last 21 years. She was already under detention when the NLD won about 85 per cent of the parliamentary seats in the 1990 election that the junta refused to recognize and has now legally annulled.
As the widow of a foreigner Suu Kyi was already barred from running in the next election, but the generals are so frightened by the political authority of the woman they can only bring themselves to call "the lady," and the affection in which she is held by the vast majority of Burmese, that they don't even want her eligible to vote.
One of the election laws published last week prohibits anyone convicted of a crime from not only voting, but also being a member of a political party. This disenfranchises Suu Kyi, and also hundreds of senior members of the NLD -- including most of those elected in the junked 1990 elections -- who have spent time in prison and who still make up the majority of the general's 2,100 political prisoners.
The NLD has been given 60 days to comply with the new regulations and re-apply for registration as a recognized political party. As of the end of last week, Suu Kyi and the NLD leadership had not decided what to do.
They resolutely refused to take part in the 12-year-long nonsense of a "convention" to produce the new constitution. But until last week's publication of the new election regulations they were seriously considering taking part in the elections on the grounds that it was a step, however feeble and flawed, towards a real civilian, accountable and representative government.
But with the shattering of that thin and weak shaft of hope, it will be hard for the NLD to escape the conclusion that its participation will give unwarranted credibility to this electoral nonsense and whatever gerrymandered regime it produces.
The junta's brutish display of contempt for all the pressure, diplomatic and economic, that has been heaped on it over the years by both neighbours and the international community, including Canada, has produced both outrage and embarrassment. Europe, the Nordic countries, the U.S. and others have all dismissed the election laws and constitution as a mockery of a civilian political dispensation.
Even the Philippines, Myanmar's fellow member of the 10-country Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), has called the upcoming election a "farce."
At the same time a special United Nations envoy is due to deliver a report today recommending the regime be investigated for systematic crimes against humanity.
Tomas Ojea Quintana says the junta has failed to end human rights abuses such as the conscription of child soldiers, slavery, discrimination against the Muslim Rohinga minority in northwestern Myanmar, and the deprivation of basic rights to food, shelter, health and education.
ASEAN will feel especially embarrassed because when the organization defied international disapproval to bring in Myanmar as a member in 1997 it argued that "constructive engagement" would be more productive than sanctions and embargoes in changing the junta's evil ways.
Most recently, even the new United States administration of President Barack Obama bought into this argument. His administration said that by moving away from Washington's previous emphasis on isolating the regime, the generals would be encouraged to embrace democratic reform.
"We want credible, democratic reform; a government that responds to the needs of the Burmese people; immediate, unconditional release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi; serious dialogue with the opposition and minority ethnic groups," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said when the new approach was announced last September.
Well, the generals have given their answer and it's time to think again.
By Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun March 15, 2010 7:54 AM
When the people of Myanmar, formerly Burma, were last given a chance to vote 20 years ago they got it wrong and tried to oust the military regime which, in one guise or another, has ruled the southeast Asian country for more than 50 years.
Within the next few months Burmese voters are going to be given another chance, and this time the generals are making absolutely certain that they get it right.
The junta, led by Senior General Than Shwe, has already spent 12 years, starting in 1995, crafting a new constitution that ensures that whatever mischief voters may get up to when handed a ballot, the military will remain firmly in control.
The coming elections may produce something that can be portrayed to Myanmar's uncomfortable neighbours and an outraged international community as a civilian government. But it will be a sham with all the essential levers of power, the security and financial ministries, a bloc of seats in the parliament and the appointment of a president with the power to dismiss the whole lot of them firmly in the grip of the military.
If that was not enough, the generals last week started releasing specific election laws and regulations which make it clear they are still scared witless by Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained opposition leader, and her National League for Democracy (NLD).
Suu Kyi has been under various forms of imprisonment and detention for 15 of the last 21 years. She was already under detention when the NLD won about 85 per cent of the parliamentary seats in the 1990 election that the junta refused to recognize and has now legally annulled.
As the widow of a foreigner Suu Kyi was already barred from running in the next election, but the generals are so frightened by the political authority of the woman they can only bring themselves to call "the lady," and the affection in which she is held by the vast majority of Burmese, that they don't even want her eligible to vote.
One of the election laws published last week prohibits anyone convicted of a crime from not only voting, but also being a member of a political party. This disenfranchises Suu Kyi, and also hundreds of senior members of the NLD -- including most of those elected in the junked 1990 elections -- who have spent time in prison and who still make up the majority of the general's 2,100 political prisoners.
The NLD has been given 60 days to comply with the new regulations and re-apply for registration as a recognized political party. As of the end of last week, Suu Kyi and the NLD leadership had not decided what to do.
They resolutely refused to take part in the 12-year-long nonsense of a "convention" to produce the new constitution. But until last week's publication of the new election regulations they were seriously considering taking part in the elections on the grounds that it was a step, however feeble and flawed, towards a real civilian, accountable and representative government.
But with the shattering of that thin and weak shaft of hope, it will be hard for the NLD to escape the conclusion that its participation will give unwarranted credibility to this electoral nonsense and whatever gerrymandered regime it produces.
The junta's brutish display of contempt for all the pressure, diplomatic and economic, that has been heaped on it over the years by both neighbours and the international community, including Canada, has produced both outrage and embarrassment. Europe, the Nordic countries, the U.S. and others have all dismissed the election laws and constitution as a mockery of a civilian political dispensation.
Even the Philippines, Myanmar's fellow member of the 10-country Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), has called the upcoming election a "farce."
At the same time a special United Nations envoy is due to deliver a report today recommending the regime be investigated for systematic crimes against humanity.
Tomas Ojea Quintana says the junta has failed to end human rights abuses such as the conscription of child soldiers, slavery, discrimination against the Muslim Rohinga minority in northwestern Myanmar, and the deprivation of basic rights to food, shelter, health and education.
ASEAN will feel especially embarrassed because when the organization defied international disapproval to bring in Myanmar as a member in 1997 it argued that "constructive engagement" would be more productive than sanctions and embargoes in changing the junta's evil ways.
Most recently, even the new United States administration of President Barack Obama bought into this argument. His administration said that by moving away from Washington's previous emphasis on isolating the regime, the generals would be encouraged to embrace democratic reform.
"We want credible, democratic reform; a government that responds to the needs of the Burmese people; immediate, unconditional release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi; serious dialogue with the opposition and minority ethnic groups," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said when the new approach was announced last September.
Well, the generals have given their answer and it's time to think again.
***********************************************************
Expatica France - Rights prize for Myanmar, anti-pollution films
14/03/2010
Films about dissident journalists in Myanmar and dangerous river pollution in French Guiana won the top prizes at a human rights film festival and forum in Geneva, organisers said on Sunday.
Danish director Anders Hogsbro Ostergaard won the Grand Prix offered by the state of Geneva for his film "Burma VJ-Reporting from a closed country", the festival organisers said in a statement.
The film is about journalists who risked their lives to cover a revolt by Buddhist monks against Myanmar's military junta in 2007.
"By honouring the film, the panel of judges intended to support an entire people on the way towards liberty," the organisers said.
Swiss director Daniel Schweizer also won top honours for his film "Dirty Paradise" about clandestine gold-diggers who have sparked a health and environmental disaster by dumping mercury into a river in French Guiana.
The film shows how the dumping contaminates the food chain, causing local indigenous people to suffer from neurological problems.
The judges intended to help the Wayana Indian tribe in French Guiana denounce "an environmental crime which has hit a poor and peaceful people hard," organisers said.
14/03/2010
Films about dissident journalists in Myanmar and dangerous river pollution in French Guiana won the top prizes at a human rights film festival and forum in Geneva, organisers said on Sunday.
Danish director Anders Hogsbro Ostergaard won the Grand Prix offered by the state of Geneva for his film "Burma VJ-Reporting from a closed country", the festival organisers said in a statement.
The film is about journalists who risked their lives to cover a revolt by Buddhist monks against Myanmar's military junta in 2007.
"By honouring the film, the panel of judges intended to support an entire people on the way towards liberty," the organisers said.
Swiss director Daniel Schweizer also won top honours for his film "Dirty Paradise" about clandestine gold-diggers who have sparked a health and environmental disaster by dumping mercury into a river in French Guiana.
The film shows how the dumping contaminates the food chain, causing local indigenous people to suffer from neurological problems.
The judges intended to help the Wayana Indian tribe in French Guiana denounce "an environmental crime which has hit a poor and peaceful people hard," organisers said.
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COMMENTARY
Bangkok Post - Opinion: Asean must stand up to the generals
Saritdet Marukatat is News Editor, Bangkok Post.
Published: 15/03/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
A maturity test for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will come this year, right in Burma. Thailand's recalcitrant neighbour has made the grouping uncomfortable ever since it joined the bloc in 1997. Asean hoped that by opening its arms to the military-controlled country, the junta would become compliant in the way other members wanted to see.
Asean has banked on its engagement with Burma to bring about democracy there. Bringing Burma in instead of leaving it out was the right approach, according to the grouping.
Thirteen years on, the expectations for change in Burma have proven completely wrong. Nothing has gone the way other Asean members wanted. Worse, the junta-styled election set for this year is taking shape to prolong the military's hold on power.
The junta, officially known as the State Peace and Development Council, is gearing up for the election by enacting election-related laws. An election commission will soon be appointed to be the agency responsible for the poll which will be closely watched by other countries. Members of the commission need qualifications acceptable to the SPDC.
They "shall be deemed by the SPDC to be an eminent person, to have integrity and experience, to be loyal to the state and its citizens and shall not be a member of a political party", according to the law.
The election in 1990, which was easily won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy and never recognised by the Burmese generals, has been officially voided.
Back then the Nobel Peace Prize laureate led her party to win 392 out of 485 parliamentary seats in what was a shock to the Burmese generals.
Worst of all is that the democracy icon will certainly not be in the contest this time. Its Political Parties Registration Law will not allow anybody convicted by a court from joining a political party. That clause is clearly written with one person in mind.
The Burmese court in August handed down a house arrest order until November against the NLD leader for breaking the house arrest rule by letting an American briefly stay in her house by the lake in Rangoon.
The junta is haunted by the result of the 1990 election and it has to do everything not to repeat its mistakes in the new poll, which is the only chance to legitimise its political power. Two decades after the last election, the popularity of Mrs Suu Kyi and her NLD is still strong. They are ready to challenge any party backed by the SPDC if all parties can run on the same playing field.
Asean has made clear its position, at least when Thailand was the grouping's chairman, that the election must be fair. Its key word is "inclusive", meaning Mrs Suu Kyi and her NLD party should not be left out of the contest. The election should not be set up in order to prolong the legitimacy of the top brass in Burma. Other democratic countries also have the same attitude regarding the next poll in Burma. They want to see Mrs Suu Kyi in contention.
Yet, no members in Asean expect Burma to respect the call from other members from the beginning. Burma regards the poll as its own business. The only thing for Asean to do is to put pressure on Burma to make the poll open for Mrs Suu Kyi and her political party. Asean's most punitive measure is not to recognise the outcome of the election if it is still designed exclusively for the party backed by the SPDC.
All moves by Asean must be started by its chairman. Now the rotated position is being held by Vietnam. The problem is the leaders in Hanoi seem to care less about what will happen in Burma when it comes to political issues. Thus the first thing Asean has to do is start its campaign to restore Burmese democracy and convince Vietnam to send a strong signal on behalf of other members that without Mrs Suu Kyi and her party, the poll will be meaningless.
That might be difficult too.
Bangkok Post - Opinion: Asean must stand up to the generals
Saritdet Marukatat is News Editor, Bangkok Post.
Published: 15/03/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
A maturity test for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will come this year, right in Burma. Thailand's recalcitrant neighbour has made the grouping uncomfortable ever since it joined the bloc in 1997. Asean hoped that by opening its arms to the military-controlled country, the junta would become compliant in the way other members wanted to see.
Asean has banked on its engagement with Burma to bring about democracy there. Bringing Burma in instead of leaving it out was the right approach, according to the grouping.
Thirteen years on, the expectations for change in Burma have proven completely wrong. Nothing has gone the way other Asean members wanted. Worse, the junta-styled election set for this year is taking shape to prolong the military's hold on power.
The junta, officially known as the State Peace and Development Council, is gearing up for the election by enacting election-related laws. An election commission will soon be appointed to be the agency responsible for the poll which will be closely watched by other countries. Members of the commission need qualifications acceptable to the SPDC.
They "shall be deemed by the SPDC to be an eminent person, to have integrity and experience, to be loyal to the state and its citizens and shall not be a member of a political party", according to the law.
The election in 1990, which was easily won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy and never recognised by the Burmese generals, has been officially voided.
Back then the Nobel Peace Prize laureate led her party to win 392 out of 485 parliamentary seats in what was a shock to the Burmese generals.
Worst of all is that the democracy icon will certainly not be in the contest this time. Its Political Parties Registration Law will not allow anybody convicted by a court from joining a political party. That clause is clearly written with one person in mind.
The Burmese court in August handed down a house arrest order until November against the NLD leader for breaking the house arrest rule by letting an American briefly stay in her house by the lake in Rangoon.
The junta is haunted by the result of the 1990 election and it has to do everything not to repeat its mistakes in the new poll, which is the only chance to legitimise its political power. Two decades after the last election, the popularity of Mrs Suu Kyi and her NLD is still strong. They are ready to challenge any party backed by the SPDC if all parties can run on the same playing field.
Asean has made clear its position, at least when Thailand was the grouping's chairman, that the election must be fair. Its key word is "inclusive", meaning Mrs Suu Kyi and her NLD party should not be left out of the contest. The election should not be set up in order to prolong the legitimacy of the top brass in Burma. Other democratic countries also have the same attitude regarding the next poll in Burma. They want to see Mrs Suu Kyi in contention.
Yet, no members in Asean expect Burma to respect the call from other members from the beginning. Burma regards the poll as its own business. The only thing for Asean to do is to put pressure on Burma to make the poll open for Mrs Suu Kyi and her political party. Asean's most punitive measure is not to recognise the outcome of the election if it is still designed exclusively for the party backed by the SPDC.
All moves by Asean must be started by its chairman. Now the rotated position is being held by Vietnam. The problem is the leaders in Hanoi seem to care less about what will happen in Burma when it comes to political issues. Thus the first thing Asean has to do is start its campaign to restore Burmese democracy and convince Vietnam to send a strong signal on behalf of other members that without Mrs Suu Kyi and her party, the poll will be meaningless.
That might be difficult too.
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Bangkok Post - Burma slams call for 'crimes against humanity' probe
Published: 16/03/2010 at 12:55 AM
Online news: Asia
Burma on Monday condemned a UN expert's finding that human rights violations in the Southeast Asian country may amount to crimes against humanity and could warrant a UN inquiry.
This 2009 United Nations handout photo shows Tomas Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma. Burma on Monday condemned the UN expert's finding that human rights violations in the Southeast Asian country may amount to crimes against humanity and could warrant a UN inquiry.
"We strongly condemn and reject these recommendations and the report as a whole," Burma envoy Wunna Maung Lwin told the Human Rights Council, referring to a report by the UN's special rapporteur on the human rights in Burma.
Pointing to paragraphs referring to possible crimes against humanity which could prompt an UN inquiry, Burma's ambassador in Geneva said such recommendations "violate the right of a sovereign state".
He also charged that the report to the council contained "unfounded allegations" from "unverifiable sources" and that the rapporteur, Tomas Quintana, had referred to issues which fell outside his mandate.
"The deliberate intention of putting allegations in the report is to draw his own conclusion and thereby recommending" the UN inquiry, alleged the ambassador.
"Never in the history of the Human Rights Council had such line of action been warranted on the situation of human rights in the particular country. This will set a dangerous precedent for all the developing countries," he added.
Quintana noted in his report that "the possibility exists that some of these human rights violations may entail categories of crimes against humanity or war crimes under the terms of the statute of the International Criminal Court."
Quintana, who visited the Southeast Asian country in February, said the "mere existence of this possibility" requires the Burma government to investigate the allegations.
However, the ruling junta has failed to remedy abuses such as the detention of political prisoners, recruitment of child soldiers and discrimination against the Muslim minority in the northern Rakhine state, he said.
It had also not addressed the deprivation of the population's basic rights to food, shelter, health and education, he said.
"Given this lack of accountability, UN institutions may consider the possibility to establish a commission of inquiry with a specific fact finding mandate to address the question of international crimes," his report said.
Speaking to the council on Monday, Quintana noted that with elections to be held this year, "Burma is at a critical moment in its history."
However, the junta had not seized the opportunity to address rights abuses and move towards democracy, he said.
"I call upon the international community to take stronger steps with regards to accountability.
"There are many alternatives, one of those is to establish a commission of inquiry under the mandate of the UN agencies," Quintana reiterated to journalists shortly after the hearing.
Published: 16/03/2010 at 12:55 AM
Online news: Asia
Burma on Monday condemned a UN expert's finding that human rights violations in the Southeast Asian country may amount to crimes against humanity and could warrant a UN inquiry.
This 2009 United Nations handout photo shows Tomas Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma. Burma on Monday condemned the UN expert's finding that human rights violations in the Southeast Asian country may amount to crimes against humanity and could warrant a UN inquiry.
"We strongly condemn and reject these recommendations and the report as a whole," Burma envoy Wunna Maung Lwin told the Human Rights Council, referring to a report by the UN's special rapporteur on the human rights in Burma.
Pointing to paragraphs referring to possible crimes against humanity which could prompt an UN inquiry, Burma's ambassador in Geneva said such recommendations "violate the right of a sovereign state".
He also charged that the report to the council contained "unfounded allegations" from "unverifiable sources" and that the rapporteur, Tomas Quintana, had referred to issues which fell outside his mandate.
"The deliberate intention of putting allegations in the report is to draw his own conclusion and thereby recommending" the UN inquiry, alleged the ambassador.
"Never in the history of the Human Rights Council had such line of action been warranted on the situation of human rights in the particular country. This will set a dangerous precedent for all the developing countries," he added.
Quintana noted in his report that "the possibility exists that some of these human rights violations may entail categories of crimes against humanity or war crimes under the terms of the statute of the International Criminal Court."
Quintana, who visited the Southeast Asian country in February, said the "mere existence of this possibility" requires the Burma government to investigate the allegations.
However, the ruling junta has failed to remedy abuses such as the detention of political prisoners, recruitment of child soldiers and discrimination against the Muslim minority in the northern Rakhine state, he said.
It had also not addressed the deprivation of the population's basic rights to food, shelter, health and education, he said.
"Given this lack of accountability, UN institutions may consider the possibility to establish a commission of inquiry with a specific fact finding mandate to address the question of international crimes," his report said.
Speaking to the council on Monday, Quintana noted that with elections to be held this year, "Burma is at a critical moment in its history."
However, the junta had not seized the opportunity to address rights abuses and move towards democracy, he said.
"I call upon the international community to take stronger steps with regards to accountability.
"There are many alternatives, one of those is to establish a commission of inquiry under the mandate of the UN agencies," Quintana reiterated to journalists shortly after the hearing.
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Guardian - Inside Burma
Fred Taino is a Burmese-speaking human rights defender who regularly visits Burma. Following a recent trip to Burma's biggest city, Yangon, he describes recent natural disasters, how locals are fighting repression, human rights abuses and how tourists have deserted the country
Tuesday January 26th 2010
Yangon looks different after Nargis. About 70% of the big trees collapsed so the view of the city has changed; much more is revealed. The tragedy is remarkable for the fact that many either lost their entire families in the cyclone, or they lost no one. I haven’t come across anyone who just lost an uncle or grandfather because in the places that were hit nearly everyone was swept out to sea and drowned. I asked about one monastery I have stayed in and was told that two of the monks had lost relatives, and for both it was their entire extended families. One man's entire village was wiped off the map.
The psychological damage of this is enormous but there doesn’t seem to be any attempt to come to terms with it at all on a national scale. The cyclone caused many business- or middle-class families from the damaged areas to move into the cities. This year those who can afford it have moved to Yangon for the rainy season.
These days more mobile phones are being used and they’re just starting to introduce pre-paid cards, which will mean that access to people is a bit less restricted. But despite some differences – more overseas employment shops and more internet cafés – the living conditions remain stagnant. In the rainy season there’s pretty much no electricity from local grids (there’s no national grid) and almost every business has a generator running. Many households do without. There are huge problems with the water supply too; you only get water when the power comes on and in the dry season the pipes often dry out.
It doesn’t look like imprisoning Aung San Suu Kyi is going to generate protests inside the country; she was barely discussed, not like the way she used to be. There is great respect and concern for the monks in jail from last year’s protests, but again, it rarely comes up. From the conversations I had and those I listened in on, people are much more concerned with the basics, like the cost of food and the fact that more products are turning up with toxins in them. People were contracting serious illnesses this spring from mouldy, dried chilli.
In terms of the political situation the Burmese have an expression – hpyit thaloe nay – it basically means: “You just have to live with it.” People ask why should they spend their time and energy thinking about something when they can’t tell what’s true anymore? After fifty years this is how they survive psychologically.
Aung San Suu Kyi embodied expectations for change, but by systematically destroying her party and locking her away, the regime has managed to bring them down. It may still be there, deep inside people, but now it’s like a sadness more than anything else.
In internet cafés the computers have proxy programs to beat the censors and almost all staff members have numbers committed to memory. I went to one café and found that Yahoo was blocked but the attendant was able to help me access it pretty quickly by trying a few different proxy addresses. Those people know an incredible amount about the technology out there out of necessity. But they probably wouldn’t help me access a controversial site, such as Human Rights Watch, and I thought it dangerous to try. Most users wouldn’t think to anyway; they are like net café customers everywhere: 15 to 20 year olds playing computer games and downloading rock music from South Korea. The consequences of anything else have been made all too clear to them.
Still, the technological capabilities of the police force are limited, often in a ridiculous way. Police reports tend to be vague about exactly what they find in a supposed dissident’s possession. If a hard drive is recovered, the contents are not usually mentioned; this is because they don’t know what they’re dealing with, and because they don’t need to detail anything for a charge to be made.
It’s still a surveillance culture in the sense of insulation. People watch what one another are doing.
The economy has just stalled. The current figure on tourism is a quarter of a million people, and most of those are from neighbouring countries. Only 90,000 came from further afield on tourist visas this financial year. For a country of this size and compared to the expectations they had in the nineties, it’s very low – they were talking about half a million then, and this year projecting millions. There were five-star hotels built and never completed in Yangon. Some are concrete shells and some have been converted into private hospitals, which is pretty much the only boom area, and it's thanks to Chinese and South Korean expat business travellers.
But there’s no other new development. All state funds were poured into this new national capital of ostentatious buildings and highways with no cars on them. The one from the Yangon airport to Naypyidaw is about to be officially opened. One driver I talked to said he’d never seen a road like it in his life.
The private news journals can’t say anything about the economic downturn directly, though you can sometimes read between the lines. Instead they give regular announcements of new committees being formed to solve every problem under the sun.
On the plane out I sat next to a consultant dealing with the mortality rates of pregnant women, who told me that not only is Burma the worst place for this in South East Asia, but it doesn’t even come close to somewhere like Cambodia. The statistics are similar she says – about three to four hundred deaths per 100,000 births in both countries – yet though she thinks this is true in Cambodia the anecdotal evidence in Burma says otherwise. In interviews in Cambodian villages she’ll hear of maybe one woman who died in childbirth in a year, in one village in Burma there were 14.
Tourists are free to travel to most places except those frontier areas under ceasefire arrangements such as parts of the Shan State, or economically sensitive areas like the ruby mines. Wherever you go outside of the main tourist areas though, be expected to be questioned by officials – usually three or four representing different government agencies. They don’t seem to trust each other.
Fred Taino was interviewed by journalist Jo Baker
Fred Taino is a Burmese-speaking human rights defender who regularly visits Burma. Following a recent trip to Burma's biggest city, Yangon, he describes recent natural disasters, how locals are fighting repression, human rights abuses and how tourists have deserted the country
Tuesday January 26th 2010
Yangon looks different after Nargis. About 70% of the big trees collapsed so the view of the city has changed; much more is revealed. The tragedy is remarkable for the fact that many either lost their entire families in the cyclone, or they lost no one. I haven’t come across anyone who just lost an uncle or grandfather because in the places that were hit nearly everyone was swept out to sea and drowned. I asked about one monastery I have stayed in and was told that two of the monks had lost relatives, and for both it was their entire extended families. One man's entire village was wiped off the map.
The psychological damage of this is enormous but there doesn’t seem to be any attempt to come to terms with it at all on a national scale. The cyclone caused many business- or middle-class families from the damaged areas to move into the cities. This year those who can afford it have moved to Yangon for the rainy season.
These days more mobile phones are being used and they’re just starting to introduce pre-paid cards, which will mean that access to people is a bit less restricted. But despite some differences – more overseas employment shops and more internet cafés – the living conditions remain stagnant. In the rainy season there’s pretty much no electricity from local grids (there’s no national grid) and almost every business has a generator running. Many households do without. There are huge problems with the water supply too; you only get water when the power comes on and in the dry season the pipes often dry out.
It doesn’t look like imprisoning Aung San Suu Kyi is going to generate protests inside the country; she was barely discussed, not like the way she used to be. There is great respect and concern for the monks in jail from last year’s protests, but again, it rarely comes up. From the conversations I had and those I listened in on, people are much more concerned with the basics, like the cost of food and the fact that more products are turning up with toxins in them. People were contracting serious illnesses this spring from mouldy, dried chilli.
In terms of the political situation the Burmese have an expression – hpyit thaloe nay – it basically means: “You just have to live with it.” People ask why should they spend their time and energy thinking about something when they can’t tell what’s true anymore? After fifty years this is how they survive psychologically.
Aung San Suu Kyi embodied expectations for change, but by systematically destroying her party and locking her away, the regime has managed to bring them down. It may still be there, deep inside people, but now it’s like a sadness more than anything else.
In internet cafés the computers have proxy programs to beat the censors and almost all staff members have numbers committed to memory. I went to one café and found that Yahoo was blocked but the attendant was able to help me access it pretty quickly by trying a few different proxy addresses. Those people know an incredible amount about the technology out there out of necessity. But they probably wouldn’t help me access a controversial site, such as Human Rights Watch, and I thought it dangerous to try. Most users wouldn’t think to anyway; they are like net café customers everywhere: 15 to 20 year olds playing computer games and downloading rock music from South Korea. The consequences of anything else have been made all too clear to them.
Still, the technological capabilities of the police force are limited, often in a ridiculous way. Police reports tend to be vague about exactly what they find in a supposed dissident’s possession. If a hard drive is recovered, the contents are not usually mentioned; this is because they don’t know what they’re dealing with, and because they don’t need to detail anything for a charge to be made.
It’s still a surveillance culture in the sense of insulation. People watch what one another are doing.
The economy has just stalled. The current figure on tourism is a quarter of a million people, and most of those are from neighbouring countries. Only 90,000 came from further afield on tourist visas this financial year. For a country of this size and compared to the expectations they had in the nineties, it’s very low – they were talking about half a million then, and this year projecting millions. There were five-star hotels built and never completed in Yangon. Some are concrete shells and some have been converted into private hospitals, which is pretty much the only boom area, and it's thanks to Chinese and South Korean expat business travellers.
But there’s no other new development. All state funds were poured into this new national capital of ostentatious buildings and highways with no cars on them. The one from the Yangon airport to Naypyidaw is about to be officially opened. One driver I talked to said he’d never seen a road like it in his life.
The private news journals can’t say anything about the economic downturn directly, though you can sometimes read between the lines. Instead they give regular announcements of new committees being formed to solve every problem under the sun.
On the plane out I sat next to a consultant dealing with the mortality rates of pregnant women, who told me that not only is Burma the worst place for this in South East Asia, but it doesn’t even come close to somewhere like Cambodia. The statistics are similar she says – about three to four hundred deaths per 100,000 births in both countries – yet though she thinks this is true in Cambodia the anecdotal evidence in Burma says otherwise. In interviews in Cambodian villages she’ll hear of maybe one woman who died in childbirth in a year, in one village in Burma there were 14.
Tourists are free to travel to most places except those frontier areas under ceasefire arrangements such as parts of the Shan State, or economically sensitive areas like the ruby mines. Wherever you go outside of the main tourist areas though, be expected to be questioned by officials – usually three or four representing different government agencies. They don’t seem to trust each other.
Fred Taino was interviewed by journalist Jo Baker
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Opinion
The Hindu - Editorials: A fraud of an election
Monday, Mar 15, 2010
The Political Parties Registration Law, enacted by the military junta in Myanmar ahead of general elections to be held later this year, is aimed at keeping the popular leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi out of the electoral process. Only portions of the law have been released and they are outrageous. There cannot be a greater fraud on the electoral process, the sole aim of which is to keep the military junta in power. The international community, led by the United Nations, was hoping against hope that the military rulers would see some reason and make the forthcoming elections an inclusive process. In a slap in their face, the junta has barred anyone convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party. Further, parties that want to register under the new law must expel members who are “not in conformity with the qualification to be members of a party.” This means that Ms Suu Kyi cannot contest the elections, and her National League for Democracy (NLD) must expel her if it is to be eligible to participate in the process. The junta has also offered a carrot to the NLD by removing the seals on the regional offices of the party.
There are preliminary indications that the NLD may not be averse to jettisoning Ms Suu Kyi so that it can contest the election. Evidently, the thinking is that it can win the election and then try to undo the enormous damage the military rulers have done over the past two decades. But the NLD must remember that the junta annulled the 1990 elections after the party swept the polls. There is no indication that it is willing to loosen its iron grip on power. It has built into the new constitution reservation of 20 per cent of the seats in parliament not for women — but for the armed forces. It has adopted as a model the Indonesian constitution under the brutal and corrupt dictator Suharto. Painful experience has shown that the junta remains unmindful of world opinion. Neither the U.N. nor the regional cooperation forum, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), has been able to make the military rulers see reason and bring the country back to the path of democracy. Assuming that people voting in this fraudulent election somehow manage to teach the ruling generals some kind of a lesson, they are unlikely to relinquish power. China remains Myanmar's only friend and there is no indication that even this rising global power, with all its resources, can make the junta abandon the path of tyrannical, boorish isolation from the world.
The Hindu - Editorials: A fraud of an election
Monday, Mar 15, 2010
The Political Parties Registration Law, enacted by the military junta in Myanmar ahead of general elections to be held later this year, is aimed at keeping the popular leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi out of the electoral process. Only portions of the law have been released and they are outrageous. There cannot be a greater fraud on the electoral process, the sole aim of which is to keep the military junta in power. The international community, led by the United Nations, was hoping against hope that the military rulers would see some reason and make the forthcoming elections an inclusive process. In a slap in their face, the junta has barred anyone convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party. Further, parties that want to register under the new law must expel members who are “not in conformity with the qualification to be members of a party.” This means that Ms Suu Kyi cannot contest the elections, and her National League for Democracy (NLD) must expel her if it is to be eligible to participate in the process. The junta has also offered a carrot to the NLD by removing the seals on the regional offices of the party.
There are preliminary indications that the NLD may not be averse to jettisoning Ms Suu Kyi so that it can contest the election. Evidently, the thinking is that it can win the election and then try to undo the enormous damage the military rulers have done over the past two decades. But the NLD must remember that the junta annulled the 1990 elections after the party swept the polls. There is no indication that it is willing to loosen its iron grip on power. It has built into the new constitution reservation of 20 per cent of the seats in parliament not for women — but for the armed forces. It has adopted as a model the Indonesian constitution under the brutal and corrupt dictator Suharto. Painful experience has shown that the junta remains unmindful of world opinion. Neither the U.N. nor the regional cooperation forum, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), has been able to make the military rulers see reason and bring the country back to the path of democracy. Assuming that people voting in this fraudulent election somehow manage to teach the ruling generals some kind of a lesson, they are unlikely to relinquish power. China remains Myanmar's only friend and there is no indication that even this rising global power, with all its resources, can make the junta abandon the path of tyrannical, boorish isolation from the world.
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The Irrawaddy - UN Official Makes Secret Trip to Burma
By LALIT K. JHA - Monday, March 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — A day before the Burmese military junta announced electoral laws and plans about the general election later this year, Vijay Nambiar, a key confident of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is believed to have made an unannounced trip to Burma early this month.
A former Indian diplomat, Nambiar is the chef de cabinet of the secretary-general. After the departure of the UN Envoy for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, in January, Nambiar was given the temporary charge to look after the good offices role of the secretary-general in Burma.
The secretive trip, which had been kept under wraps and out of the news media's eyes, is believed to have been undertaken to deliver a personal letter from Ban to Snr-Gen Than Shwe, authoritative sources told The Irrawaddy, adding that it was a day-long visit.
Officials who are familiar with the visit refused to divulge any details about the trip in terms of who he met and what issues were discussed.
Notably the UN has kept a low profile after the Obama administration engaged the junta in two rounds of direct talks late last year.
However, on March 8, talking to reporters at UN headquarters in New York, Ban said that he had written to the the junta's leader expressing his concern about the lack of progress in national reconciliation and also emphasizing the importance of the election which will be held this year to be credible, inclusive and transparent manner.
Meanwhile, sources said the Burmese military junta is understood to have “vetoed” the name of Noer Hassan Wirajuda, the former Indonesian foreign minister, as the new UN Envoy for Burma. Though the Burmese government did not give any reason for the rejection when it conveyed to the office of the secretary general that Wirajuda was “unacceptable,” it is believed that the rejection had to do with the Indonesia's pro-democracy stance.
It is well-known that Indonesia has repeatedly called for democratic reform in Burma.
Meanwhile, in a statement over the weekend, Ban reiterated his call for Burmese authorities to ensure that all citizens including Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners can freely participate in the electoral process.
The UN is studying Burma's new electoral laws. The indications available so far suggest that they do not measure up to the UN's or the international community’s expectations of what is needed for an inclusive political process.
By LALIT K. JHA - Monday, March 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — A day before the Burmese military junta announced electoral laws and plans about the general election later this year, Vijay Nambiar, a key confident of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is believed to have made an unannounced trip to Burma early this month.
A former Indian diplomat, Nambiar is the chef de cabinet of the secretary-general. After the departure of the UN Envoy for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, in January, Nambiar was given the temporary charge to look after the good offices role of the secretary-general in Burma.
The secretive trip, which had been kept under wraps and out of the news media's eyes, is believed to have been undertaken to deliver a personal letter from Ban to Snr-Gen Than Shwe, authoritative sources told The Irrawaddy, adding that it was a day-long visit.
Officials who are familiar with the visit refused to divulge any details about the trip in terms of who he met and what issues were discussed.
Notably the UN has kept a low profile after the Obama administration engaged the junta in two rounds of direct talks late last year.
However, on March 8, talking to reporters at UN headquarters in New York, Ban said that he had written to the the junta's leader expressing his concern about the lack of progress in national reconciliation and also emphasizing the importance of the election which will be held this year to be credible, inclusive and transparent manner.
Meanwhile, sources said the Burmese military junta is understood to have “vetoed” the name of Noer Hassan Wirajuda, the former Indonesian foreign minister, as the new UN Envoy for Burma. Though the Burmese government did not give any reason for the rejection when it conveyed to the office of the secretary general that Wirajuda was “unacceptable,” it is believed that the rejection had to do with the Indonesia's pro-democracy stance.
It is well-known that Indonesia has repeatedly called for democratic reform in Burma.
Meanwhile, in a statement over the weekend, Ban reiterated his call for Burmese authorities to ensure that all citizens including Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners can freely participate in the electoral process.
The UN is studying Burma's new electoral laws. The indications available so far suggest that they do not measure up to the UN's or the international community’s expectations of what is needed for an inclusive political process.
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The Irrawaddy - NLD to Decide on its Fate on March 29
By KO HTWE - Monday, March 15, 2010
Burma's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) will decide at a meeting of its Central Committee on March 29 whether or not to register as a political party and participate in the general election planned for this year.
If it does so, the NLD will have to expel its co-founder, Aung San Suu Kyi, because the newly published election law prohibits political parties from admitting prisoners as members. Suu Kyi is under house arrest and is not expected to be freed before the election.
The election law gave the NLD and other political groups until May 7 to decide whether to register and participate in the planned election.
NLD representative Ohn Kyaing told The Irrawaddy that the NLD's Central Committee and Central Executive Committee had discussed “the NLD's current political situation and the election law enacted by the military government” at the party's Rangoon headquarters on Monday. They had agreed to meet again on March 29 to “decide the future of the party,” he said.
NLD Spokesman Khing Maung Swe told The Irrawaddy: “We discussed [the question of] continuing to exist as a party.”
The NLD stance until now has been to adhere to last April's “Shwegondaing Declaration,” calling for a review of the Constitution, political dialogue and the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
The declaration, however, is ignored by the election law, which states: “A person convicted by a court and currently serving a jail term or the person in the process of a legal pursuit against the jail term for a review of it at a court are not eligible to found a political party.”
The election law is seen to have been crafted to make sure that all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, the 88 Generation students leaders and Khun Htun Oo, the leader of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), which won the most seats in the 1990 election after the NLD, will be excluded from the 2010 election.
After promulgating the election law, the regime permitted about 300 NLD branch offices across Burma to reopen. They had been closed since a regime-friendly gang of thugs attacked Suu Kyi's motorcade in Depayin in upper Burma in 2003, killing scores of NLD supporters.
By KO HTWE - Monday, March 15, 2010
Burma's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) will decide at a meeting of its Central Committee on March 29 whether or not to register as a political party and participate in the general election planned for this year.
If it does so, the NLD will have to expel its co-founder, Aung San Suu Kyi, because the newly published election law prohibits political parties from admitting prisoners as members. Suu Kyi is under house arrest and is not expected to be freed before the election.
The election law gave the NLD and other political groups until May 7 to decide whether to register and participate in the planned election.
NLD representative Ohn Kyaing told The Irrawaddy that the NLD's Central Committee and Central Executive Committee had discussed “the NLD's current political situation and the election law enacted by the military government” at the party's Rangoon headquarters on Monday. They had agreed to meet again on March 29 to “decide the future of the party,” he said.
NLD Spokesman Khing Maung Swe told The Irrawaddy: “We discussed [the question of] continuing to exist as a party.”
The NLD stance until now has been to adhere to last April's “Shwegondaing Declaration,” calling for a review of the Constitution, political dialogue and the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
The declaration, however, is ignored by the election law, which states: “A person convicted by a court and currently serving a jail term or the person in the process of a legal pursuit against the jail term for a review of it at a court are not eligible to found a political party.”
The election law is seen to have been crafted to make sure that all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, the 88 Generation students leaders and Khun Htun Oo, the leader of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), which won the most seats in the 1990 election after the NLD, will be excluded from the 2010 election.
After promulgating the election law, the regime permitted about 300 NLD branch offices across Burma to reopen. They had been closed since a regime-friendly gang of thugs attacked Suu Kyi's motorcade in Depayin in upper Burma in 2003, killing scores of NLD supporters.
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The Irrawaddy - Asean's Silence on Burmese Election Law
By WAI MOE - Monday, March 15, 2010
Most of Burma’s neighboring countries have remained silent regarding the Burmese junta’s political party registration law, which bars dissidents including opposition party leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the forthcoming election this year.
Of the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) only the Philippines and Indonesia have commented on Burma’s electoral law announced on Monday.
“Unless they release Suu Kyi and allow her and her party to participate in the elections, it’s a completely farce and therefore contrary to their road map to democracy,” said Alberto Romulo, the foreign secretary of the Philippines, on Thursday.
Jakarta followed Manila in criticizing the Burmese junta’s election law. Teuku Faizasyah, a spokesman of Indonesia’s foreign ministry, said the law may undermine the election because it will result in an election that is not inclusive.
Analysts including The Economist have suggested that Indonesia, a former military dictatorship that has become the world’s third largest democracy, might be a good example for Burma’s transition to democracy.
The Burmese junta appear to have learned from Indonesia’s Suharto era (1968-1998) by forming the Union Solidarity and Development Association, which can be likened to Indonesia's Golkar Party.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to send his foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, to Burma later this month. Indonesia is expected to raise its stand for democratic reform in Burma including the inclusiveness the West is calling for in the coming election.
However, the rest of Asean has remained silent. Governed by a communist regime, Vietnam, the current holder of Asean's chairmanship, is unlikely to make a hasty announcement regarding Burma’s electoral law.
“The rest of Asean is shocked by Burma’s election law, which rejected Asean’s call for inclusiveness in the election. Asean countries might not know what to say,” said Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network, speaking with The Irrawaddy on Monday.
In February, Surin Pitsuwan, Asean’s Secretary-General and former foreign minister of Thailand told BBC’s “Hardtalk” that Asean expected a credible and transparent election in Burma in 2010, but it cannot interfere in the details of the election.
“No election is perfect. It has to begin. That's why they [the Burmese regime] are beginning. They promise [to hold an election] at the end of this year,” said Surin, adding that the Burmese generals commitment to the election should be seen as a positive factor.
Thailand, which is one of Burma's biggest investors and trading-partners, has made no comment and is now busy with internal affairs, controlling mass protests by Redshirt supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Asean is scheduled to hold its 16th Summit in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on April 8-9. However, it is questionable whether Hanoi will allow discussion on Burma during the summit. Vietnam’s chairmanship motto is: “Towards the Asean Community: from Vision to Action.”
Stothard said the Burma issue has undermined the vision of the Asean Community. “Burma's election law is another example of why Asean has failed,” she said.
Asean’s next chairmanships are to be held by Brunei (2011) and Cambodia (2012). Like Vietnam, these countries are not very interested in Burma’s politics.
Kurt Campbell, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs is on his 10 Asian nations trip. In contrast to its Asean allies, the US denounced the junta’s election law.
"The US approach was to try to encourage domestic dialogue between the key stakeholders, and the recent promulgation of the election criteria doesn't leave much room for such a dialogue," said Kurt Campbell in Bangkok on Friday.
"We're very disappointed, and we are concerned. It's very regrettable. This is not what we had hoped for, and it is a setback,” he said.
US President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Indonesia this weekend. The Burmese junta’s ban on Suu Kyi and other political prisoners from participating in the election is likely be a subject for discussion in addition to the US anti-terrorism agenda.
Like Asean, Burma’s two giant neighbors, China and India, have yet to make any public statements on Burma's election law.
Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao will visit Burma in the near future, according to official Chinese sources. But, aside from bilateral economic ties, rising tensions between the junta and ethnic groups along the Sino-Burmese border are likely to be the subject of discussion.
India, meanwhile, announced investment of 1.35 billion dollars in Burma’s gas projects earlier this month, competing with China’s more than 2.5 billion dollar investment in Burma's oil and gas sectors.
By WAI MOE - Monday, March 15, 2010
Most of Burma’s neighboring countries have remained silent regarding the Burmese junta’s political party registration law, which bars dissidents including opposition party leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the forthcoming election this year.
Of the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) only the Philippines and Indonesia have commented on Burma’s electoral law announced on Monday.
“Unless they release Suu Kyi and allow her and her party to participate in the elections, it’s a completely farce and therefore contrary to their road map to democracy,” said Alberto Romulo, the foreign secretary of the Philippines, on Thursday.
Jakarta followed Manila in criticizing the Burmese junta’s election law. Teuku Faizasyah, a spokesman of Indonesia’s foreign ministry, said the law may undermine the election because it will result in an election that is not inclusive.
Analysts including The Economist have suggested that Indonesia, a former military dictatorship that has become the world’s third largest democracy, might be a good example for Burma’s transition to democracy.
The Burmese junta appear to have learned from Indonesia’s Suharto era (1968-1998) by forming the Union Solidarity and Development Association, which can be likened to Indonesia's Golkar Party.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to send his foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, to Burma later this month. Indonesia is expected to raise its stand for democratic reform in Burma including the inclusiveness the West is calling for in the coming election.
However, the rest of Asean has remained silent. Governed by a communist regime, Vietnam, the current holder of Asean's chairmanship, is unlikely to make a hasty announcement regarding Burma’s electoral law.
“The rest of Asean is shocked by Burma’s election law, which rejected Asean’s call for inclusiveness in the election. Asean countries might not know what to say,” said Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network, speaking with The Irrawaddy on Monday.
In February, Surin Pitsuwan, Asean’s Secretary-General and former foreign minister of Thailand told BBC’s “Hardtalk” that Asean expected a credible and transparent election in Burma in 2010, but it cannot interfere in the details of the election.
“No election is perfect. It has to begin. That's why they [the Burmese regime] are beginning. They promise [to hold an election] at the end of this year,” said Surin, adding that the Burmese generals commitment to the election should be seen as a positive factor.
Thailand, which is one of Burma's biggest investors and trading-partners, has made no comment and is now busy with internal affairs, controlling mass protests by Redshirt supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Asean is scheduled to hold its 16th Summit in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on April 8-9. However, it is questionable whether Hanoi will allow discussion on Burma during the summit. Vietnam’s chairmanship motto is: “Towards the Asean Community: from Vision to Action.”
Stothard said the Burma issue has undermined the vision of the Asean Community. “Burma's election law is another example of why Asean has failed,” she said.
Asean’s next chairmanships are to be held by Brunei (2011) and Cambodia (2012). Like Vietnam, these countries are not very interested in Burma’s politics.
Kurt Campbell, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs is on his 10 Asian nations trip. In contrast to its Asean allies, the US denounced the junta’s election law.
"The US approach was to try to encourage domestic dialogue between the key stakeholders, and the recent promulgation of the election criteria doesn't leave much room for such a dialogue," said Kurt Campbell in Bangkok on Friday.
"We're very disappointed, and we are concerned. It's very regrettable. This is not what we had hoped for, and it is a setback,” he said.
US President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Indonesia this weekend. The Burmese junta’s ban on Suu Kyi and other political prisoners from participating in the election is likely be a subject for discussion in addition to the US anti-terrorism agenda.
Like Asean, Burma’s two giant neighbors, China and India, have yet to make any public statements on Burma's election law.
Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao will visit Burma in the near future, according to official Chinese sources. But, aside from bilateral economic ties, rising tensions between the junta and ethnic groups along the Sino-Burmese border are likely to be the subject of discussion.
India, meanwhile, announced investment of 1.35 billion dollars in Burma’s gas projects earlier this month, competing with China’s more than 2.5 billion dollar investment in Burma's oil and gas sectors.
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DVB News - Thai princess to meet Burma junta chief
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESS
Published: 15 March 2010
Burma’s reclusive junta chief was due to meet a princess from neighbouring Thailand on Monday, on the first visit by a Thai royal to the remote capital of the military-ruled nation, an official said.
Senior General Than Shwe was set to meet Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in the afternoon after she arrived in the capital Naypyidaw on a special flight from Bangkok, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
During her three-day goodwill trip, Princess Sirindhorn, who is adored by the Thai public, was also due to visit the southern delta region to see development works in the area worst-hit cyclone Nargis in May 2008. The cyclone killed up to 138,000 people and devastated infrastructure in the rural river belt.
The last visit of the princess to Burma was in 2003.
Burma’s ruling generals moved their entire government from the economic hub Rangoon to Naypyidaw in late 2005, after building the new administrative capital in secret over the previous three years.
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESS
Published: 15 March 2010
Burma’s reclusive junta chief was due to meet a princess from neighbouring Thailand on Monday, on the first visit by a Thai royal to the remote capital of the military-ruled nation, an official said.
Senior General Than Shwe was set to meet Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in the afternoon after she arrived in the capital Naypyidaw on a special flight from Bangkok, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
During her three-day goodwill trip, Princess Sirindhorn, who is adored by the Thai public, was also due to visit the southern delta region to see development works in the area worst-hit cyclone Nargis in May 2008. The cyclone killed up to 138,000 people and devastated infrastructure in the rural river belt.
The last visit of the princess to Burma was in 2003.
Burma’s ruling generals moved their entire government from the economic hub Rangoon to Naypyidaw in late 2005, after building the new administrative capital in secret over the previous three years.
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DVB News - Border guard switch claims first victim
By AKT
Published: 15 March 2010
An official of a newly-formed Kokang ceasefire group has been assassinated outside of his house in Burma’s northeastern Shan state.
Lin Xiang, who worked as a communicator between the Burmese army and the Kokang Border Guard Force (BGF) Unit 1006, was shot by unknown gunmen on Thursday last week in Lashio, Shan state’s principal town.
His unit is led by Bai Suoqian, who usurped Peng Jiasheng as the head of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) after a violent conflict in August last year.
Peng Jiasheng had opposed the Burmese government’s attempts to transform the MNDAA into a border guard force, something which has fuelled tension between the Burmese army and the majority of the country’s ethnic ceasefire groups.
Lin Xiang’s assassination mirrors a similar killing in January of Min Ein, secretary of the Mongla ethnic group, National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), also in Shan state.
Today is the deadline for Burma’s 18 ceasefire groups to transform into border guard forces. This will bring them under the direct control of the government prior to elections this year, with Burmese army commanders having control of BGF forces at battalion level.
The majority have however refused, leading to concerns that the Burmese army will launched a series of offensives in an attempt to weaken those who don’t comply. It was the refusal by the MNDAA that sparked the fighting last year.
Burma’s largest ceasefire group, the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), met with Burma’s intelligence chief Ye Myint last week where it again rejected the border guard proposal.
The UWSA could now be declared ‘unlawful’ by the Burmese government. Ye Myint reportedly warned the group that if it continued to refuse, it would face military action.
Locals in Kachin state warned last week that the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), which has also refused the border guard proposal, is stepping up military preparations on mountains and hills in their region.
By AKT
Published: 15 March 2010
An official of a newly-formed Kokang ceasefire group has been assassinated outside of his house in Burma’s northeastern Shan state.
Lin Xiang, who worked as a communicator between the Burmese army and the Kokang Border Guard Force (BGF) Unit 1006, was shot by unknown gunmen on Thursday last week in Lashio, Shan state’s principal town.
His unit is led by Bai Suoqian, who usurped Peng Jiasheng as the head of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) after a violent conflict in August last year.
Peng Jiasheng had opposed the Burmese government’s attempts to transform the MNDAA into a border guard force, something which has fuelled tension between the Burmese army and the majority of the country’s ethnic ceasefire groups.
Lin Xiang’s assassination mirrors a similar killing in January of Min Ein, secretary of the Mongla ethnic group, National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), also in Shan state.
Today is the deadline for Burma’s 18 ceasefire groups to transform into border guard forces. This will bring them under the direct control of the government prior to elections this year, with Burmese army commanders having control of BGF forces at battalion level.
The majority have however refused, leading to concerns that the Burmese army will launched a series of offensives in an attempt to weaken those who don’t comply. It was the refusal by the MNDAA that sparked the fighting last year.
Burma’s largest ceasefire group, the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), met with Burma’s intelligence chief Ye Myint last week where it again rejected the border guard proposal.
The UWSA could now be declared ‘unlawful’ by the Burmese government. Ye Myint reportedly warned the group that if it continued to refuse, it would face military action.
Locals in Kachin state warned last week that the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), which has also refused the border guard proposal, is stepping up military preparations on mountains and hills in their region.
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