US lawmaker seeks to punish Myanmar on Suu Kyi
Fri Feb 26, 8:37 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States on Friday criticized Myanmar's Supreme Court for not releasing Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, with one lawmaker saying the time had come to tighten sanctions.
The military-ruled nation's highest court rejected an appeal by the democracy champion to be freed from house arrest. The verdict comes ahead of elections which have raised deep suspicions among the opposition and overseas.
"We condemn the Supreme Court's decision," a State Department official said, saying that Aung San Suu Kyi was being held under house arrest "for purely political reasons."
The official, who by protocol could not be named, said that the United States "strongly" urged Myanmar to free other political prisoners and allow them to participate fully in the political process.
Representative Joe Crowley, a Democrat who has long championed Aung San Suu Kyi, said the time had come for the United States to implement tighter sanctions that target military leader Than Shwe's regime.
"Aung San Suu Kyi's 14-year imprisonment has been a sham from day one," Crowley said.
"The cruel military junta must face consequences for violating the human rights of the Burmese people," he said, using Myanmar's former name of Burma.
The United States last year opened dialogue with Myanmar as part of the Obama administration's policy of reaching out to adversarial regimes.
The Obama administration argued that the previous tactic of isolating Myanmar had failed, although it said it would only ease sanctions in return for progress on democracy.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the past two decades since her National League for Democracy swept 1990 elections. The junta plans to hold fresh elections later this year.
The opposition leader had her incarceration lengthened by 18 months in August after being convicted over a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside home.
Fri Feb 26, 8:37 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States on Friday criticized Myanmar's Supreme Court for not releasing Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, with one lawmaker saying the time had come to tighten sanctions.
The military-ruled nation's highest court rejected an appeal by the democracy champion to be freed from house arrest. The verdict comes ahead of elections which have raised deep suspicions among the opposition and overseas.
"We condemn the Supreme Court's decision," a State Department official said, saying that Aung San Suu Kyi was being held under house arrest "for purely political reasons."
The official, who by protocol could not be named, said that the United States "strongly" urged Myanmar to free other political prisoners and allow them to participate fully in the political process.
Representative Joe Crowley, a Democrat who has long championed Aung San Suu Kyi, said the time had come for the United States to implement tighter sanctions that target military leader Than Shwe's regime.
"Aung San Suu Kyi's 14-year imprisonment has been a sham from day one," Crowley said.
"The cruel military junta must face consequences for violating the human rights of the Burmese people," he said, using Myanmar's former name of Burma.
The United States last year opened dialogue with Myanmar as part of the Obama administration's policy of reaching out to adversarial regimes.
The Obama administration argued that the previous tactic of isolating Myanmar had failed, although it said it would only ease sanctions in return for progress on democracy.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the past two decades since her National League for Democracy swept 1990 elections. The junta plans to hold fresh elections later this year.
The opposition leader had her incarceration lengthened by 18 months in August after being convicted over a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside home.
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Cameroon man faces life imprisonment in Myanmar
Mon Mar 1, 1:44 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A Cameroon football player who sought refuge at the French Embassy in Myanmar's main city could face life imprisonment on charges of forging currency notes, a newspaper said Monday.
The man, who was not named, fled temporarily to the embassy in Yangon last Tuesday as he was being taken to court by police. He surrendered to police a short time later.
The man and a friend had been charged with counterfeiting currency notes, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, the local Weekly News journal said.
The two men had come to Myanmar to play with local football clubs. After failing to secure contracts, the two lived in a downtown hotel where they were allegedly counterfeiting U.S. currency, the report said.
They were arrested after the hotel manager informed local authorities.
Mon Mar 1, 1:44 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A Cameroon football player who sought refuge at the French Embassy in Myanmar's main city could face life imprisonment on charges of forging currency notes, a newspaper said Monday.
The man, who was not named, fled temporarily to the embassy in Yangon last Tuesday as he was being taken to court by police. He surrendered to police a short time later.
The man and a friend had been charged with counterfeiting currency notes, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, the local Weekly News journal said.
The two men had come to Myanmar to play with local football clubs. After failing to secure contracts, the two lived in a downtown hotel where they were allegedly counterfeiting U.S. currency, the report said.
They were arrested after the hotel manager informed local authorities.
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EarthTimes - 'Strong plea' by EU's Ashton for Myanmar opposition leader release
Posted : Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:32:19 GMT
Brussels - The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, issued a "strong plea" on Monday for the release of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more than a decade. Ashton's call came after Myanmar's Supreme Court on Friday turned down an appeal by Suu Kyi against her latest 18-month house detention sentence, which is set to prevent her from taking part in an election planned this year.
"The authorities still have a chance to change course through the legal possibility of a final appeal," Ashton's spokesman Lutz Gullner said in a statement.
He added that Ashton was making "a strong plea (to Myanmar authorities) to grasp that opportunity in the interest of the future of their country and its people."
According to Gullner, Suu Kyi's sentence is "unjust" and "damages prospects for an inclusive political dialogue between the government and opposition parties that is urgently needed to achieve progress in national reconciliation and secure long-term stability."
Posted : Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:32:19 GMT
Brussels - The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, issued a "strong plea" on Monday for the release of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more than a decade. Ashton's call came after Myanmar's Supreme Court on Friday turned down an appeal by Suu Kyi against her latest 18-month house detention sentence, which is set to prevent her from taking part in an election planned this year.
"The authorities still have a chance to change course through the legal possibility of a final appeal," Ashton's spokesman Lutz Gullner said in a statement.
He added that Ashton was making "a strong plea (to Myanmar authorities) to grasp that opportunity in the interest of the future of their country and its people."
According to Gullner, Suu Kyi's sentence is "unjust" and "damages prospects for an inclusive political dialogue between the government and opposition parties that is urgently needed to achieve progress in national reconciliation and secure long-term stability."
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Monday, 1 March 2010
The Daily News - Lankan Buddhist temple to be set up in Myanmar
The Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy entered into an agreement on Saturday with Myanmar's Swedagon Viharaya to set up the first Sri Lankan temple in Myanmar.
Foreign Affairs Director of the Sri Dalada Maligawa Gamini Bandara and Chairman of Swedagon Trust Board Maya Theen signed the agreement on behalf of the two temples at the Auditorium of Swedagon Viharaya.
Speaking at the signing in ceremony, Sri Lankan Ambassador in Myanmar Newton Gunaratne said the two countries have close religious ties for centuries. "Sri Lanka made several attempts to set up a Sri Lankan Buddhist temple on Myanmar soil without success," he said.
The setting up of a Sri Lankan Buddhist temple in Myanmar became a reality with the official visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Myanmar last year, he said.
The Daily News - Lankan Buddhist temple to be set up in Myanmar
The Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy entered into an agreement on Saturday with Myanmar's Swedagon Viharaya to set up the first Sri Lankan temple in Myanmar.
Foreign Affairs Director of the Sri Dalada Maligawa Gamini Bandara and Chairman of Swedagon Trust Board Maya Theen signed the agreement on behalf of the two temples at the Auditorium of Swedagon Viharaya.
Speaking at the signing in ceremony, Sri Lankan Ambassador in Myanmar Newton Gunaratne said the two countries have close religious ties for centuries. "Sri Lanka made several attempts to set up a Sri Lankan Buddhist temple on Myanmar soil without success," he said.
The setting up of a Sri Lankan Buddhist temple in Myanmar became a reality with the official visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Myanmar last year, he said.
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The New Kerala - India-Myanmar to jointly fight northeast rebels
Imphal, Feb 28 : India and Myanmar will conduct a 'coordinated operation' against northeast separatist outfits taking shelter and setting up base camps in the neighbouring
country, Union Home Secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai said here.
"A coordinated operation by the joint forces of India and Myanmar would be conducted in the jungles of the neighbouring country to flush out northeast militants camps," Pillai told reporters here Saturday night after holding a meeting with top Manipur government officials.
The strategy for the joint operation was discussed with Myanmar officials during Pillai's visit to Yangon Jan 19-21.
"All camps (in Myanmar) which are acting against the interest of India would be targeted," the home secretary said refusing to divulge details about the proposed joint operation.
According to Pillai, quite a large number of separatist outfits belonging to northeast India have their camps across the border.
Pillai was here to review the law-and-order situation in Manipur and the development work being undertaken in the state.
Three northeastern states -- Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram -- share a 1,643-km unfenced border with Myanmar.
"We have given detailed information about the insurgent camps with specific locations to the Myanmar authorities," the union home secretary stated.
"If any extremist outfit abjures violence, it would be a great potential for talks," he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh in his speech during the internal security meeting in New Delhi earlier this month pointed out that the almost unchecked trans-border movement of Indian insurgent groups and the continued existence of their camps in Myanmar posed threats to the internal security of Manipur and other northeastern states.
"It is no secret that most arms and ammunition used against our security forces are smuggled in from Myanmar. It is also known that whenever our army, Assam Rifles and the state police launch operations, the militant groups take shelter in neighbouring areas of Myanmar," Singh told the meeting.
Highlighting the positive outcome of the home secretary-level talks Jan 19-21 at Yangon, the Manipur chief minister asked the central government to consult authorities in Myanmar for ascertaining the dates convenient for the first meeting of the proposed series of meetings between the border liaison officers. --IANS
Imphal, Feb 28 : India and Myanmar will conduct a 'coordinated operation' against northeast separatist outfits taking shelter and setting up base camps in the neighbouring
country, Union Home Secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai said here.
"A coordinated operation by the joint forces of India and Myanmar would be conducted in the jungles of the neighbouring country to flush out northeast militants camps," Pillai told reporters here Saturday night after holding a meeting with top Manipur government officials.
The strategy for the joint operation was discussed with Myanmar officials during Pillai's visit to Yangon Jan 19-21.
"All camps (in Myanmar) which are acting against the interest of India would be targeted," the home secretary said refusing to divulge details about the proposed joint operation.
According to Pillai, quite a large number of separatist outfits belonging to northeast India have their camps across the border.
Pillai was here to review the law-and-order situation in Manipur and the development work being undertaken in the state.
Three northeastern states -- Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram -- share a 1,643-km unfenced border with Myanmar.
"We have given detailed information about the insurgent camps with specific locations to the Myanmar authorities," the union home secretary stated.
"If any extremist outfit abjures violence, it would be a great potential for talks," he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh in his speech during the internal security meeting in New Delhi earlier this month pointed out that the almost unchecked trans-border movement of Indian insurgent groups and the continued existence of their camps in Myanmar posed threats to the internal security of Manipur and other northeastern states.
"It is no secret that most arms and ammunition used against our security forces are smuggled in from Myanmar. It is also known that whenever our army, Assam Rifles and the state police launch operations, the militant groups take shelter in neighbouring areas of Myanmar," Singh told the meeting.
Highlighting the positive outcome of the home secretary-level talks Jan 19-21 at Yangon, the Manipur chief minister asked the central government to consult authorities in Myanmar for ascertaining the dates convenient for the first meeting of the proposed series of meetings between the border liaison officers. --IANS
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Dhaka weighs trilateral gas pipeline
Published: March. 1, 2010 at 9:26 AM
DHAKA, Bangladesh, March 1 (UPI) -- The construction of a natural gas pipeline linking India to Myanmar could create a Central Asian energy hub and ease energy concerns, analysts said.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheik Hasina is said to be lifting opposition to serving as a host to a gas pipeline linking the two Bangladeshi neighbors, India's business newspaper Mint reports.
New Delhi has balked on the 560-mile pipeline from Myanmar. Bangladesh, for its part, stalled on embracing the project until Hasina took control of the government in 2009.
Hasina led her government to form stronger ties with New Delhi, reversing trends under former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.
Government officials said they were inching toward a strong commitment to the project, though gas volumes would need to be assessed.
Anish De, an analyst at energy consultancy Mercados Asia, told Mint the project could deliver huge advantages to the region.
"If the tri-nation pipeline happens, then there is a very strong possibility of the creation of a sub-regional gas grid," said De.
The governments of India and Myanmar signed a deal for natural gas supplies through the pipeline in 2006, though no specific route was mentioned. Bangladesh has resisted calls to expand its energy ties, the report said.
Published: March. 1, 2010 at 9:26 AM
DHAKA, Bangladesh, March 1 (UPI) -- The construction of a natural gas pipeline linking India to Myanmar could create a Central Asian energy hub and ease energy concerns, analysts said.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheik Hasina is said to be lifting opposition to serving as a host to a gas pipeline linking the two Bangladeshi neighbors, India's business newspaper Mint reports.
New Delhi has balked on the 560-mile pipeline from Myanmar. Bangladesh, for its part, stalled on embracing the project until Hasina took control of the government in 2009.
Hasina led her government to form stronger ties with New Delhi, reversing trends under former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.
Government officials said they were inching toward a strong commitment to the project, though gas volumes would need to be assessed.
Anish De, an analyst at energy consultancy Mercados Asia, told Mint the project could deliver huge advantages to the region.
"If the tri-nation pipeline happens, then there is a very strong possibility of the creation of a sub-regional gas grid," said De.
The governments of India and Myanmar signed a deal for natural gas supplies through the pipeline in 2006, though no specific route was mentioned. Bangladesh has resisted calls to expand its energy ties, the report said.
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MARCH 1, 2010, 11:21 A.M. ET
Wall Street Journal - Bangkok Under Fire on Immigration Policy
New Rules, Which Demand Compliance by March 2, Could Cause Massive Deportation of Migrant Workers
By PATRICK BARTA
Pressure is mounting on Thai authorities to rescind or delay new immigration rules that could cause hundreds of thousands of migrant workers to face deportation and drive up business costs in one of Southeast Asia's most important economies, human-rights workers say.
The rules, which demand compliance by Tuesday and which require some 1.5 million migrants to register with Thai authorities and prove their nationalities, or be kicked out, are adding to recent concerns about overreliance on imported labor in Asia's wealthier countries.
Other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Singapore and Korea, have increasingly drawn on low-cost foreign workers to help them stay competitive with China and India. Malaysian palm-oil plantation owners count heavily on labor from Bangladesh or Nepal to keep wages low.
In Thailand, textile manufacturers and fishing fleets—two industries that heavily rely on foreign labor—use workers from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and elsewhere.
Although precise data on such undocumented workers are unavailable, human-rights groups say they now account for roughly 5% to 10% of Thailand's work force.
As the number of migrants has grown, though, host countries have become more worried about backlash from local residents, who fear foreign labor is keeping local wages down. Officials say they also are concerned foreigners could pose security threats or health risks, since some come from countries with high rates of HIV or other diseases.
Thailand is emerging as the latest battleground. The country has long required migrant workers to register with the government. But now, authorities are asking them to undergo a considerably more onerous and time-consuming registration that involves verifying the migrants' identities with their home governments—something many workers are afraid to do because they fear it could subject them to punishments or penalties back home.
The goal of Thai authorities is to get a more reliable record of who is in the country at any given time, expand worker protections and tighten supervision, including ensuring workers have vaccinations.
The deadline for compliance, initially Feb. 28, was extended to March 2 after several hundred thousand migrants failed to appear. Workers who don't comply are subject to arrest and deportation, though it remains unclear when that process will start. In one concession, officials have said that workers who start the process now can finish the paperwork later, though they have also insisted they will take a hard line against anyone found to be intentionally avoiding the process.
Human-rights groups say as many as 700,000 of the 1.5 million or so migrants covered by the rule will refuse to comply, based on conversations they've had with Thai officials about current participation rates. A Thai government spokesman says he doubts the number is that high, but acknowledges at least several hundred thousand likely still haven't taken part.
Even a small reduction in the number of migrant workers could affect Thailand's competitiveness, analysts say, at a time when it is just beginning to recover from the world-wide economic crisis. Employers say they already are experiencing labor shortages, and will need more migrants to keep textile mills and other low-wage businesses, such as farm work or seafood processing, humming.
"Thai people don't want these jobs," says Amnart Nantaharn, deputy secretary general of the Federation of Thai Industries. Every sector of the Thai economy needs more migrant workers, he says.
Human-rights groups, meanwhile, say migrants have plenty of reasons to fear declaring themselves, including a history of past mistreatment by Thai authorities. Cases of arbitrary arrest and rape are detailed in a report released last week by New York-based Human Rights Watch. In some cases, activists allege, Thai authorities force migrants to pay bribes to avoid deportation.
On Thursday, police said Thai troops fire on a pickup truck carrying Myanmar migrants, killing three passengers, Reuters reported. The police said the driver was heading toward authorities near a border with Myanmar and refused to halt.
Other migrant workers worry that information about their activities will be shared with their governments in Myanmar, Laos or Cambodia, subjecting them to possible problems if they return home or their families to harassment.
"We recognize the right of the government to monitor immigration," says Phil Robertson, a deputy director of Human Rights Watch. "We just want them to do it in a way that prevents human-rights abuses against migrants."
Thai authorities say they are investigating the reports of abuse. They say the new registration process will ultimately help reduce such problems by formalizing workers' status and rights under Thai law.
"That is exactly why we need them to come forward and be protected, so they're not underground," says Panitan Wattanayagorn, a Thai government spokesman. He says he doesn't think higher costs for businesses "is much of an issue" but added the government will consider possible economic downsides as it considers how aggressively to enforce the rule.
Thailand isn't the only country in the region grappling with how to tighten rules on foreign workers without driving too many of them away. Last month, after complaints from local residents, Singapore said it would raise fees on employers who use overseas labor. Malaysia has cracked down on the movement of some migrants after a U.S. State Department report last year accused the country of allowing human trafficking, often for the purpose of bringing overseas workers in for forced labor. Malaysian authorities have said they don't condone trafficking and are dealing with the problem.Tighter controls could help Thailand and the foreign workers in the long run, says Christopher Bruton, an analyst at Dataconsult Ltd., a Bangkok advisory firm. Wages will likely have to rise and some businesses will "probably close or go over the border" to remain competitive if many migrant workers return home, he says. But relying on cheap labor tends to promote inefficiencies in businesses, he says, and forcing companies to accept somewhat higher wages could ultimately make them run better and be more competitive.
Wall Street Journal - Bangkok Under Fire on Immigration Policy
New Rules, Which Demand Compliance by March 2, Could Cause Massive Deportation of Migrant Workers
By PATRICK BARTA
Pressure is mounting on Thai authorities to rescind or delay new immigration rules that could cause hundreds of thousands of migrant workers to face deportation and drive up business costs in one of Southeast Asia's most important economies, human-rights workers say.
The rules, which demand compliance by Tuesday and which require some 1.5 million migrants to register with Thai authorities and prove their nationalities, or be kicked out, are adding to recent concerns about overreliance on imported labor in Asia's wealthier countries.
Other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Singapore and Korea, have increasingly drawn on low-cost foreign workers to help them stay competitive with China and India. Malaysian palm-oil plantation owners count heavily on labor from Bangladesh or Nepal to keep wages low.
In Thailand, textile manufacturers and fishing fleets—two industries that heavily rely on foreign labor—use workers from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and elsewhere.
Although precise data on such undocumented workers are unavailable, human-rights groups say they now account for roughly 5% to 10% of Thailand's work force.
As the number of migrants has grown, though, host countries have become more worried about backlash from local residents, who fear foreign labor is keeping local wages down. Officials say they also are concerned foreigners could pose security threats or health risks, since some come from countries with high rates of HIV or other diseases.
Thailand is emerging as the latest battleground. The country has long required migrant workers to register with the government. But now, authorities are asking them to undergo a considerably more onerous and time-consuming registration that involves verifying the migrants' identities with their home governments—something many workers are afraid to do because they fear it could subject them to punishments or penalties back home.
The goal of Thai authorities is to get a more reliable record of who is in the country at any given time, expand worker protections and tighten supervision, including ensuring workers have vaccinations.
The deadline for compliance, initially Feb. 28, was extended to March 2 after several hundred thousand migrants failed to appear. Workers who don't comply are subject to arrest and deportation, though it remains unclear when that process will start. In one concession, officials have said that workers who start the process now can finish the paperwork later, though they have also insisted they will take a hard line against anyone found to be intentionally avoiding the process.
Human-rights groups say as many as 700,000 of the 1.5 million or so migrants covered by the rule will refuse to comply, based on conversations they've had with Thai officials about current participation rates. A Thai government spokesman says he doubts the number is that high, but acknowledges at least several hundred thousand likely still haven't taken part.
Even a small reduction in the number of migrant workers could affect Thailand's competitiveness, analysts say, at a time when it is just beginning to recover from the world-wide economic crisis. Employers say they already are experiencing labor shortages, and will need more migrants to keep textile mills and other low-wage businesses, such as farm work or seafood processing, humming.
"Thai people don't want these jobs," says Amnart Nantaharn, deputy secretary general of the Federation of Thai Industries. Every sector of the Thai economy needs more migrant workers, he says.
Human-rights groups, meanwhile, say migrants have plenty of reasons to fear declaring themselves, including a history of past mistreatment by Thai authorities. Cases of arbitrary arrest and rape are detailed in a report released last week by New York-based Human Rights Watch. In some cases, activists allege, Thai authorities force migrants to pay bribes to avoid deportation.
On Thursday, police said Thai troops fire on a pickup truck carrying Myanmar migrants, killing three passengers, Reuters reported. The police said the driver was heading toward authorities near a border with Myanmar and refused to halt.
Other migrant workers worry that information about their activities will be shared with their governments in Myanmar, Laos or Cambodia, subjecting them to possible problems if they return home or their families to harassment.
"We recognize the right of the government to monitor immigration," says Phil Robertson, a deputy director of Human Rights Watch. "We just want them to do it in a way that prevents human-rights abuses against migrants."
Thai authorities say they are investigating the reports of abuse. They say the new registration process will ultimately help reduce such problems by formalizing workers' status and rights under Thai law.
"That is exactly why we need them to come forward and be protected, so they're not underground," says Panitan Wattanayagorn, a Thai government spokesman. He says he doesn't think higher costs for businesses "is much of an issue" but added the government will consider possible economic downsides as it considers how aggressively to enforce the rule.
Thailand isn't the only country in the region grappling with how to tighten rules on foreign workers without driving too many of them away. Last month, after complaints from local residents, Singapore said it would raise fees on employers who use overseas labor. Malaysia has cracked down on the movement of some migrants after a U.S. State Department report last year accused the country of allowing human trafficking, often for the purpose of bringing overseas workers in for forced labor. Malaysian authorities have said they don't condone trafficking and are dealing with the problem.Tighter controls could help Thailand and the foreign workers in the long run, says Christopher Bruton, an analyst at Dataconsult Ltd., a Bangkok advisory firm. Wages will likely have to rise and some businesses will "probably close or go over the border" to remain competitive if many migrant workers return home, he says. But relying on cheap labor tends to promote inefficiencies in businesses, he says, and forcing companies to accept somewhat higher wages could ultimately make them run better and be more competitive.
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Financial Express Bangladesh - B'desh-Myanmar-China road among matters discussed
Dhaka, Tuesday March 2 2010
Vice-Minister of International Department of the Communist Party of China Lu Jienyi paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina at Jamuna, her residence Monday when various matters, including Bangladesh-Myanmar-China road link, were discussed, reports UNB
During the meeting, the PM and the Chinese Minister discussed various issues of bilateral development, said Press Secretary to the PM Abul Kalam Azad.
The proposed cross-border Bangladesh-Myanmar-China road was "discussed at the meeting with importance", Azad said.
The CPC Vice-Minister thanked the PM for her role in further strengthening bilateral ties between China and Bangladesh.
Lu Jienyi also assured the Premier of continuous support and assistance to Bangladesh for its development of various infrastructures, including railways, and roads and bridges, and in socioeconomic sectors.
The meeting took place ahead of Sheikh Hasina's state visit to China, beginning on March 17.
The Chinese Vice-Minister said that the people and government of China were eagerly waiting to welcome Sheikh Hasina to their land.
The PM and the CPC Vice-Minister both stressed the need for increasing people-to-people, government to government and leader-to-leader contacts between Bangladesh and China for greater benefits of the peoples of the two countries. Hasina in this regard mentioned the recent visit of Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam and a team of Bangladeshi politicians to China.
She said that China could help Bangladesh in achieving the development goals through sharing its experience and knowledge in various sectors, particularly on technical and agricultural fields.
Besides, China's role as an observer in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was also discussed at the meeting, Azad said.
Sheikh Hasina and Lu Jienyi both recalled the historic moments when Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and former Chinese PrimeMinister Zhou Enlai visited China and Bangladesh in the 50s.
Dhaka, Tuesday March 2 2010
Vice-Minister of International Department of the Communist Party of China Lu Jienyi paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina at Jamuna, her residence Monday when various matters, including Bangladesh-Myanmar-China road link, were discussed, reports UNB
During the meeting, the PM and the Chinese Minister discussed various issues of bilateral development, said Press Secretary to the PM Abul Kalam Azad.
The proposed cross-border Bangladesh-Myanmar-China road was "discussed at the meeting with importance", Azad said.
The CPC Vice-Minister thanked the PM for her role in further strengthening bilateral ties between China and Bangladesh.
Lu Jienyi also assured the Premier of continuous support and assistance to Bangladesh for its development of various infrastructures, including railways, and roads and bridges, and in socioeconomic sectors.
The meeting took place ahead of Sheikh Hasina's state visit to China, beginning on March 17.
The Chinese Vice-Minister said that the people and government of China were eagerly waiting to welcome Sheikh Hasina to their land.
The PM and the CPC Vice-Minister both stressed the need for increasing people-to-people, government to government and leader-to-leader contacts between Bangladesh and China for greater benefits of the peoples of the two countries. Hasina in this regard mentioned the recent visit of Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam and a team of Bangladeshi politicians to China.
She said that China could help Bangladesh in achieving the development goals through sharing its experience and knowledge in various sectors, particularly on technical and agricultural fields.
Besides, China's role as an observer in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was also discussed at the meeting, Azad said.
Sheikh Hasina and Lu Jienyi both recalled the historic moments when Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and former Chinese PrimeMinister Zhou Enlai visited China and Bangladesh in the 50s.
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Monday, March 1, 2010, Chandigarh, India
A Tribune Exclusive
Chandigarh Tribune - Myanmar to Manipur, a scramble for HIV care
By Usha Rai
The Angel’s Care Centre at Moreh, 110 km from Imphal, Manipur, and on the border with Myanmar, one of the worst HIV-infected countries of the world, has to provide medical help not just to the over 400 People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLHA) in Moreh but to the infected of Myanmar who cross the border desperate for medical help.
The fact that Moreh is close to the Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Laos and Thailand) of the drug route, and within sniffing distance from India’s National Highway 39, has compounded the problem. Forty per cent of the Manipuri families inject drugs and there are 33,403 HIV positive in Manipur.
In fact, Manipur is one of the six HIV high prevalence states of the country with 1.13 per cent of the people infected. But in Manipur, as in the adjoining Nagaland, it is a deadly combination of alcohol and drugs in the form of tablets that the young turn to for their ‘high.’ When this fails to satisfy them, they have no qualms about injecting heroin no 4 and other drug opiates. Since a dose of heroin costs just Rs 20 in Moreh as against Rs 100 and more in Imphal, young people in this small border town resort to it when angry, depressed and even when happy and in need of celebration.
Though India is the medical destination for a range of ailments -- heart surgery to kidney transplants and corneal replacement, the treatment of HIV-infected from across the border is almost a clandestine operation. In a state like Manipur where adequate facilities are not available for treatment of the local HIV-infected population, many feel it is difficult to justify treatment of foreigners, however poor they are, coming from a country that has not been able to provide medical succour to its people.
Sachin, project coordinator of the Angel Care Centre, and Sumati, secretary of the NGO Meetei Leimarol Sinnai Sang (MLSS), Imphal, however, feel frustrated about their inability to help the very young and very sick people from across the border. Some are 20 years or even younger and others 40. They come with acute skin infection, TB and other ailments. At any given time, there are 60 to 70 patients from Myanmar and Sachin says they are HIV positive.
Many of them are farmers and daily wage labourers who buy the ART (antiretroviral therapy) medicines from pharmacies in Myanmar. They do not have reports on their CD-4 count or level of immunity because they have no access to these facilities in their own country.
Without a CD-4 count report, they cannot be given ART in Moreh. So they are treated for subsidiary ailments and sent home. Since MLSS runs a DOTS Centre in Imphal and there is high prevalence of HIV among the TB-infected, the people from Myanmar are able to access the TB medicines from Manipur. They cross the border regularly for the treatment but since they speak only Burmese, there are problems of communication.
While hospitals in Morey and even those in Imphal are in a dilemma about treating PLHA from across the border, Dr Priyo Kumar of JN Hospital, Manipur, says since the country lies on India’s border, treating patients from Myanmar is quite ethical. Besides it also helps protect Manipur’s population from the infected from across the border.
With the present support from the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria coming to an end this March, Sachin and Sumati are worried about the future of the Angel Care Centre which has become the lifeline for over 200 PLHA. It has a 10-bedded community care centre and is providing antiretroviral therapy to 55 persons from Moreh-21 men, 32 women and two children. The ART Link Centre was set up only in November 2009. If instead of upgrading the Angel Care Centre, it has to close down, there will be a vacuum in the care and support of PLHA. They will have to travel 110 km to Imphal for treatment, says Sumati.
In Manipur, the combination of HIV with Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C is playing havoc in the lives of those infected. This phenomenon has not been seen in other parts of the country. However at the JN Hospital, one of the top hospitals for treatment of HIV, the increased risk to the life of an HIV-infected from Hepatitis B is given special attention. Hopefully other hospitals and caregivers will realise the gravity of HIV with Hepatitis and give it due importance.
There has been a small decline in injecting drug users in Manipur and now the HIV-infected are joining the network of positive people. They have gained confidence and some have even become peer educators.
Take the case of Hanglem Bimola, 40, a widow on ART, now working with MLSS as a peer educator. A graduate from Bishnupur district of Manipur, Bimola married in 1996 an injecting drug user in Imphal not knowing his HIV status and had a baby girl the following year. When she was pregnant again, her husband died. The child born in 1999 too died after three months.
Then the discrimination by her in-laws began. They would not eat food cooked by her and she had to stay in a separate room. She then went to her parents’ house and in 2001 fell ill and was diagnosed as HIV positive.
She tried to support herself and her child by selling vegetables but no one would buy her vegetables because of her HIV status. So she moved to Imphal. Bimola recalls that after she bathed in a public pond at Utlou village, people of the village held a public meeting and disinfected the pond because they feared the water was contaminated.
Then she got in touch with the NGO MLSS and soon graduated to becoming a peer educator. Now she works with the Bishnupur Network of Positive People in an Access to Care and Treatment project.
In the case of Romeo S Misao, 37, he took to drugs to gain popularity among his peers. He was only 17 then and soon got addicted to it. When his parents found out and stopped giving him money, he started stealing and selling off things at home — he even sold his blood — to be able to buy heroin. In 1994 when he fell sick he was diagnosed HIV positive.
When Misao disclosed his status, his friends began distancing themselves from him. He took to alcohol to get over the depression. After coming out of a rehab clinic, he learnt through some articles in magazines that there was life beyond HIV. He then went for psychological help. Tested for Hepatitis C/HIV, he was found positive and put on
medication. Misao has joined the Network of Positive People at Senapati and his life has changed for the better.
Dr Priyo Kumar feels creating awareness and getting people to access services is the biggest challenge of the state, especially in areas that are hard to reach. The first case of HIV was seen in Manipur in 1989-90. Thereafter for a few years, many people suffered on account of common Opportunistic Infections, which could not be detected and some even led to death. Complications like cryptomeningitis, penicilliosis and toxoplasma were common.
Doctors could not diagnose cryptococcal meningitis and injection amphotericin-B was not available in Manipur. The cost of medicines was prohibitive and some HIV-infected had to spend Rs 5,000 per 100 tablets of zidovudine (retrovir).
With the introduction of HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) in 1996, HIV became like any other chronic manageable disease like diabetes, hypertension or arthritis but treatment was still beyond the reach of the common man. Many people ended up with incomplete regimens complicating their health profile further. Side effects were also reported.
But challenges continue to persist in Manipur. Of the six ART centres, only two are providing good service. There is a dearth of sound health professionals. In 2000, identification of HIV was still a problem especially among wives and partners of sex workers who remained unaware of their status. Also spread of the infection from mother to child continued to be a serious issue and inadequate medical infrastructure led to situations where opportunistic infections were often undiagnosed and follow-up was inadequate.
A Tribune Exclusive
Chandigarh Tribune - Myanmar to Manipur, a scramble for HIV care
By Usha Rai
The Angel’s Care Centre at Moreh, 110 km from Imphal, Manipur, and on the border with Myanmar, one of the worst HIV-infected countries of the world, has to provide medical help not just to the over 400 People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLHA) in Moreh but to the infected of Myanmar who cross the border desperate for medical help.
The fact that Moreh is close to the Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Laos and Thailand) of the drug route, and within sniffing distance from India’s National Highway 39, has compounded the problem. Forty per cent of the Manipuri families inject drugs and there are 33,403 HIV positive in Manipur.
In fact, Manipur is one of the six HIV high prevalence states of the country with 1.13 per cent of the people infected. But in Manipur, as in the adjoining Nagaland, it is a deadly combination of alcohol and drugs in the form of tablets that the young turn to for their ‘high.’ When this fails to satisfy them, they have no qualms about injecting heroin no 4 and other drug opiates. Since a dose of heroin costs just Rs 20 in Moreh as against Rs 100 and more in Imphal, young people in this small border town resort to it when angry, depressed and even when happy and in need of celebration.
Though India is the medical destination for a range of ailments -- heart surgery to kidney transplants and corneal replacement, the treatment of HIV-infected from across the border is almost a clandestine operation. In a state like Manipur where adequate facilities are not available for treatment of the local HIV-infected population, many feel it is difficult to justify treatment of foreigners, however poor they are, coming from a country that has not been able to provide medical succour to its people.
Sachin, project coordinator of the Angel Care Centre, and Sumati, secretary of the NGO Meetei Leimarol Sinnai Sang (MLSS), Imphal, however, feel frustrated about their inability to help the very young and very sick people from across the border. Some are 20 years or even younger and others 40. They come with acute skin infection, TB and other ailments. At any given time, there are 60 to 70 patients from Myanmar and Sachin says they are HIV positive.
Many of them are farmers and daily wage labourers who buy the ART (antiretroviral therapy) medicines from pharmacies in Myanmar. They do not have reports on their CD-4 count or level of immunity because they have no access to these facilities in their own country.
Without a CD-4 count report, they cannot be given ART in Moreh. So they are treated for subsidiary ailments and sent home. Since MLSS runs a DOTS Centre in Imphal and there is high prevalence of HIV among the TB-infected, the people from Myanmar are able to access the TB medicines from Manipur. They cross the border regularly for the treatment but since they speak only Burmese, there are problems of communication.
While hospitals in Morey and even those in Imphal are in a dilemma about treating PLHA from across the border, Dr Priyo Kumar of JN Hospital, Manipur, says since the country lies on India’s border, treating patients from Myanmar is quite ethical. Besides it also helps protect Manipur’s population from the infected from across the border.
With the present support from the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria coming to an end this March, Sachin and Sumati are worried about the future of the Angel Care Centre which has become the lifeline for over 200 PLHA. It has a 10-bedded community care centre and is providing antiretroviral therapy to 55 persons from Moreh-21 men, 32 women and two children. The ART Link Centre was set up only in November 2009. If instead of upgrading the Angel Care Centre, it has to close down, there will be a vacuum in the care and support of PLHA. They will have to travel 110 km to Imphal for treatment, says Sumati.
In Manipur, the combination of HIV with Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C is playing havoc in the lives of those infected. This phenomenon has not been seen in other parts of the country. However at the JN Hospital, one of the top hospitals for treatment of HIV, the increased risk to the life of an HIV-infected from Hepatitis B is given special attention. Hopefully other hospitals and caregivers will realise the gravity of HIV with Hepatitis and give it due importance.
There has been a small decline in injecting drug users in Manipur and now the HIV-infected are joining the network of positive people. They have gained confidence and some have even become peer educators.
Take the case of Hanglem Bimola, 40, a widow on ART, now working with MLSS as a peer educator. A graduate from Bishnupur district of Manipur, Bimola married in 1996 an injecting drug user in Imphal not knowing his HIV status and had a baby girl the following year. When she was pregnant again, her husband died. The child born in 1999 too died after three months.
Then the discrimination by her in-laws began. They would not eat food cooked by her and she had to stay in a separate room. She then went to her parents’ house and in 2001 fell ill and was diagnosed as HIV positive.
She tried to support herself and her child by selling vegetables but no one would buy her vegetables because of her HIV status. So she moved to Imphal. Bimola recalls that after she bathed in a public pond at Utlou village, people of the village held a public meeting and disinfected the pond because they feared the water was contaminated.
Then she got in touch with the NGO MLSS and soon graduated to becoming a peer educator. Now she works with the Bishnupur Network of Positive People in an Access to Care and Treatment project.
In the case of Romeo S Misao, 37, he took to drugs to gain popularity among his peers. He was only 17 then and soon got addicted to it. When his parents found out and stopped giving him money, he started stealing and selling off things at home — he even sold his blood — to be able to buy heroin. In 1994 when he fell sick he was diagnosed HIV positive.
When Misao disclosed his status, his friends began distancing themselves from him. He took to alcohol to get over the depression. After coming out of a rehab clinic, he learnt through some articles in magazines that there was life beyond HIV. He then went for psychological help. Tested for Hepatitis C/HIV, he was found positive and put on
medication. Misao has joined the Network of Positive People at Senapati and his life has changed for the better.
Dr Priyo Kumar feels creating awareness and getting people to access services is the biggest challenge of the state, especially in areas that are hard to reach. The first case of HIV was seen in Manipur in 1989-90. Thereafter for a few years, many people suffered on account of common Opportunistic Infections, which could not be detected and some even led to death. Complications like cryptomeningitis, penicilliosis and toxoplasma were common.
Doctors could not diagnose cryptococcal meningitis and injection amphotericin-B was not available in Manipur. The cost of medicines was prohibitive and some HIV-infected had to spend Rs 5,000 per 100 tablets of zidovudine (retrovir).
With the introduction of HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) in 1996, HIV became like any other chronic manageable disease like diabetes, hypertension or arthritis but treatment was still beyond the reach of the common man. Many people ended up with incomplete regimens complicating their health profile further. Side effects were also reported.
But challenges continue to persist in Manipur. Of the six ART centres, only two are providing good service. There is a dearth of sound health professionals. In 2000, identification of HIV was still a problem especially among wives and partners of sex workers who remained unaware of their status. Also spread of the infection from mother to child continued to be a serious issue and inadequate medical infrastructure led to situations where opportunistic infections were often undiagnosed and follow-up was inadequate.
********************************************************
126 people infected with A/H1N1 since outbreak in Myanmar
English.news.cn 2010-02-27 11:47:23
YANGON, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- A total of 126 people were infected with new influenza A/H1N1 in Myanmar as of Feb. 20 this year since the outbreak of the disease in the country in June last year, according to a compiled statistical report of the local weekly Voice Saturday.
Quoting the Yangon division administration, the report said of the flu patients, 109 have been discharged from hospitals.
There remains 17 such patients, who are confirmed with carrying the virus, are still receiving treatment in the hospitals, the report added.
During this month, the pandemic struck Chin state's Tiddim township, Shan state's Kyaukme and Yangon division's six townships of Bahan, Tamway, Dagon Myothit (north and east), Shwepyita, Hlaingtharya and Hmawby.
Disease control measures are being taken with added momentum by central and local authorities.
Myanmar reported the first case of new flu A/H1N1 in the country on June 27 last year with a 13-year-old girl who developed the symptoms after coming back home from Singapore a day earlier.
English.news.cn 2010-02-27 11:47:23
YANGON, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- A total of 126 people were infected with new influenza A/H1N1 in Myanmar as of Feb. 20 this year since the outbreak of the disease in the country in June last year, according to a compiled statistical report of the local weekly Voice Saturday.
Quoting the Yangon division administration, the report said of the flu patients, 109 have been discharged from hospitals.
There remains 17 such patients, who are confirmed with carrying the virus, are still receiving treatment in the hospitals, the report added.
During this month, the pandemic struck Chin state's Tiddim township, Shan state's Kyaukme and Yangon division's six townships of Bahan, Tamway, Dagon Myothit (north and east), Shwepyita, Hlaingtharya and Hmawby.
Disease control measures are being taken with added momentum by central and local authorities.
Myanmar reported the first case of new flu A/H1N1 in the country on June 27 last year with a 13-year-old girl who developed the symptoms after coming back home from Singapore a day earlier.
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POLITICS-BURMA: Conflict Pushes Karen Women to be Village Chiefs
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
CHIANG MAI, Thailand, Feb 28, 2010 (IPS) - In military-ruled Burma’s Karen state, tradition and a male-dominated social order have long guaranteed men the role of village chiefs. But this order is crumbling in the country’s eastern region, giving rise to the new phenomenon of women village chiefs.
"More Karen women are taking on leadership roles in villages, but this is not recognised," said Blooming Night Zan, joint secretary of the Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO), a group with over 49,000 members championing the cause of Karen women. "The responsibility that they are taking on needs to be appreciated."
This trend adds another dimension to the way women of the Karen ethnic community have been viewed in an area torn apart by conflict, she revealed in an interview in this northern Thai city. "Due to the conflict, people only think of women as victims. But we are now seeing that they have also being taking on leadership roles that are very challenging."
"This role requires a lot of courage for they are dealing with the Burmese army," Blooming Night Zan added. "But Karen villagers themselves are surprised by the emergence of women as leaders in their midst."
It is a view echoed in a just-released report, which chronicles this gender shift in an area that has witnessed Asia’s longest separatist conflict since rebels of the Karen ethnic minority launched a military campaign against the Burmese state in 1949.
This ethnic conflict, one of the many in Burma, also known as Myanmar, erupted a year after the country gained independence from British colonialism.
"After the fall of the Karen Headquarters in 1995 and subsequent loss of large Karen territory, the (Burmese) army’s presence spread further into lowland areas close to the Thai border, and more villages in these areas began appointing women village chiefs," revealed the 105-page report published by the KWO.
The women were stepping into the vacuum that was being formed as more Karen men fled their villages to join the Karen resistance or avoided taking on their traditional leadership roles out of fear of persecution.
"As (the Burmese) army’s persecution of male village chiefs became more intense, fewer men were willing to risk their lives in this position, and women were increasingly asked to be chiefs," added the report entitled ‘Walking Amongst Sharp Knives’.
But the testimonies in the report also reveal that being village leaders has brought mixed fortunes for the women leaders, whose ages range from 25 to 82 years. Some of them have been local leaders since the 1980s, when the Burmese military escalated its fight against the Karen resistance.
"My family and some other villagers don’t want me to be leader, but I chose to do it because I am thinking about the future of my community," said one woman village chief who was among those the KWO publication describes as displaying "a remarkable degree of strength and determination to protect the rights of their communities, regardless of all the risks and personal sacrifices."
Another said: "I became the village chief in 1985 and I have served for 20 years. The community here likes me very much because I fight for the villagers."
But being the head of a community also invites abuse from the Burmese military, known for gross human rights violations that range from extortion, forced labour, portering and torture to extrajudicial killings. "They started to beat and torture me. They beat me on the chest, then tied me up and beat me with a bamboo stick until the stick broke. I was then shoved into a dark room and left for two days. I felt incredible pain through my body," revealed one of the 95 women chiefs interviewed in the report.
"When I was village chief and was forced to be a porter, they tied me up with ropes at night and pulled me from this side to the other. I could not endure the torture anymore and they raped me," another woman confides, talking of a trend where "most women village chiefs were raped" by the Burmese military or forced to supply ‘comfort women’ for the troops.
Despite the abuse they suffer, these women are not suffering in silence, as has been the case with men when confronted by the Burmese military. Their display of anger – which has often included shouting back at Burmese troops – has also been noted in the region home to the Shan ethnic minority, which has faced similar abuse due to another decades-long separatist conflict.
"Women in these situations resist more strongly to help their community," said Charm Tong, a founder member of the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN), a group of Shan women in exile championing the rights of their community. "They show a lot of bravery talking back to the soldiers as a way of protecting their people."
This is the result of so many years of conflict including in areas like the Shan state, where the Burmese army has pursued a "scorched earth policy," Charm Tong told IPS. "It has resulted in a departure from the traditional roles expected of women, who are often brought up in a passive way."
KWO’s latest report is the third publication that highlights the fate of women in a conflict that, together with conflicts faced by the Shan and Karenni ethnic minorities in their respective homelands, has seen over 3,500 villages destroyed in the past 15 years.
The scale of the levelling of these villages, which exceeds the number documented in Darfur, Sudan, has prompted calls by the KWO and other human rights groups for the U.N. Security Council to establish a war crimes commission to inquire into these "crimes against humanity."
The north and eastern corner of Burma, close to the country’s borders with Thailand and China, is also home to some 500,000 internally displaced people. Among them are girls and women who have been raped by members of Burma’s military as a weapon of war, a trend that SWAN documented in a disturbing 2002 report called ‘Licence to Rape’.
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
CHIANG MAI, Thailand, Feb 28, 2010 (IPS) - In military-ruled Burma’s Karen state, tradition and a male-dominated social order have long guaranteed men the role of village chiefs. But this order is crumbling in the country’s eastern region, giving rise to the new phenomenon of women village chiefs.
"More Karen women are taking on leadership roles in villages, but this is not recognised," said Blooming Night Zan, joint secretary of the Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO), a group with over 49,000 members championing the cause of Karen women. "The responsibility that they are taking on needs to be appreciated."
This trend adds another dimension to the way women of the Karen ethnic community have been viewed in an area torn apart by conflict, she revealed in an interview in this northern Thai city. "Due to the conflict, people only think of women as victims. But we are now seeing that they have also being taking on leadership roles that are very challenging."
"This role requires a lot of courage for they are dealing with the Burmese army," Blooming Night Zan added. "But Karen villagers themselves are surprised by the emergence of women as leaders in their midst."
It is a view echoed in a just-released report, which chronicles this gender shift in an area that has witnessed Asia’s longest separatist conflict since rebels of the Karen ethnic minority launched a military campaign against the Burmese state in 1949.
This ethnic conflict, one of the many in Burma, also known as Myanmar, erupted a year after the country gained independence from British colonialism.
"After the fall of the Karen Headquarters in 1995 and subsequent loss of large Karen territory, the (Burmese) army’s presence spread further into lowland areas close to the Thai border, and more villages in these areas began appointing women village chiefs," revealed the 105-page report published by the KWO.
The women were stepping into the vacuum that was being formed as more Karen men fled their villages to join the Karen resistance or avoided taking on their traditional leadership roles out of fear of persecution.
"As (the Burmese) army’s persecution of male village chiefs became more intense, fewer men were willing to risk their lives in this position, and women were increasingly asked to be chiefs," added the report entitled ‘Walking Amongst Sharp Knives’.
But the testimonies in the report also reveal that being village leaders has brought mixed fortunes for the women leaders, whose ages range from 25 to 82 years. Some of them have been local leaders since the 1980s, when the Burmese military escalated its fight against the Karen resistance.
"My family and some other villagers don’t want me to be leader, but I chose to do it because I am thinking about the future of my community," said one woman village chief who was among those the KWO publication describes as displaying "a remarkable degree of strength and determination to protect the rights of their communities, regardless of all the risks and personal sacrifices."
Another said: "I became the village chief in 1985 and I have served for 20 years. The community here likes me very much because I fight for the villagers."
But being the head of a community also invites abuse from the Burmese military, known for gross human rights violations that range from extortion, forced labour, portering and torture to extrajudicial killings. "They started to beat and torture me. They beat me on the chest, then tied me up and beat me with a bamboo stick until the stick broke. I was then shoved into a dark room and left for two days. I felt incredible pain through my body," revealed one of the 95 women chiefs interviewed in the report.
"When I was village chief and was forced to be a porter, they tied me up with ropes at night and pulled me from this side to the other. I could not endure the torture anymore and they raped me," another woman confides, talking of a trend where "most women village chiefs were raped" by the Burmese military or forced to supply ‘comfort women’ for the troops.
Despite the abuse they suffer, these women are not suffering in silence, as has been the case with men when confronted by the Burmese military. Their display of anger – which has often included shouting back at Burmese troops – has also been noted in the region home to the Shan ethnic minority, which has faced similar abuse due to another decades-long separatist conflict.
"Women in these situations resist more strongly to help their community," said Charm Tong, a founder member of the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN), a group of Shan women in exile championing the rights of their community. "They show a lot of bravery talking back to the soldiers as a way of protecting their people."
This is the result of so many years of conflict including in areas like the Shan state, where the Burmese army has pursued a "scorched earth policy," Charm Tong told IPS. "It has resulted in a departure from the traditional roles expected of women, who are often brought up in a passive way."
KWO’s latest report is the third publication that highlights the fate of women in a conflict that, together with conflicts faced by the Shan and Karenni ethnic minorities in their respective homelands, has seen over 3,500 villages destroyed in the past 15 years.
The scale of the levelling of these villages, which exceeds the number documented in Darfur, Sudan, has prompted calls by the KWO and other human rights groups for the U.N. Security Council to establish a war crimes commission to inquire into these "crimes against humanity."
The north and eastern corner of Burma, close to the country’s borders with Thailand and China, is also home to some 500,000 internally displaced people. Among them are girls and women who have been raped by members of Burma’s military as a weapon of war, a trend that SWAN documented in a disturbing 2002 report called ‘Licence to Rape’.
********************************************************
Despite Protectionism, ASEAN Eyes Single Market
ABCNews - ASEAN still targets EU-style economic bloc by 2015 despite rise in trade protectionism
By EILEEN NG Associated Press Writer
ABCNews - ASEAN still targets EU-style economic bloc by 2015 despite rise in trade protectionism
By EILEEN NG Associated Press Writer
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia February 28, 2010 (AP) Southeast Asian nations on Sunday said they are still aiming to set up a European Union-style economic community by 2015 despite concerns that the global slump has led to a rise in trade protectionism.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plans to have a free flow of goods, services, investment and skilled labor within five years, although it has fallen short so far in most of the sectors targeted for accelerated integration.
"The crisis has somewhat affected our progress ... there is a tendency to be more protective," Malaysian Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed told reporters at the end of a two-day meeting of economic ministers from ASEAN nations, which comprise more than 500 million people.
He said satisfactory progress has been made in only four of 11 priority sectors targeted for accelerated integration: tourism, air travel, textiles and the automotive sector.
Some countries also failed to meet goals to eliminate non-tariff barriers, harmonize product standards and accelerate custom clearance, he said.
But it still has met most of its overall integration targets, and ministers this weekend renewed their commitment to speed up trade liberalization to create the ASEAN Economic Community as planned by 2015, Mustapa said.
"We need to put our house in order," he said. "We have not been able to achieve a perfect score but we have come a long way. The shortcomings are not fundamental, the (2015) goal is going to be achievable."
Skepticism remains about ASEAN's ability to achieve complete economic integration and insure that its diverse membership, which have occasional disputes among themselves, can cohere effectively.
A wide economic gulf divides its six more developed nations — Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines — and its four newer members, communist Vietnam and Laos, military-ruled Myanmar and Cambodia.
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan stressed the need to fuse the disparate economies into a single market to be competitive.
While ASEAN economies were bouncing back from the global slump, foreign investment, especially from the U.S., has dipped, he said.
An ASEAN ministerial delegation will tour the United States in May to woo investors and expand trade ties but the bloc has not decided whether to join a proposed U.S.-backed Asia-Pacific free-trade region, he added.
The proposed Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific comprising 21 economies ranging from the U.S. to Russia was envisaged as an alternative if global world trade talks failed but analysts have said it is premature for progress on such a broad pact.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plans to have a free flow of goods, services, investment and skilled labor within five years, although it has fallen short so far in most of the sectors targeted for accelerated integration.
"The crisis has somewhat affected our progress ... there is a tendency to be more protective," Malaysian Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed told reporters at the end of a two-day meeting of economic ministers from ASEAN nations, which comprise more than 500 million people.
He said satisfactory progress has been made in only four of 11 priority sectors targeted for accelerated integration: tourism, air travel, textiles and the automotive sector.
Some countries also failed to meet goals to eliminate non-tariff barriers, harmonize product standards and accelerate custom clearance, he said.
But it still has met most of its overall integration targets, and ministers this weekend renewed their commitment to speed up trade liberalization to create the ASEAN Economic Community as planned by 2015, Mustapa said.
"We need to put our house in order," he said. "We have not been able to achieve a perfect score but we have come a long way. The shortcomings are not fundamental, the (2015) goal is going to be achievable."
Skepticism remains about ASEAN's ability to achieve complete economic integration and insure that its diverse membership, which have occasional disputes among themselves, can cohere effectively.
A wide economic gulf divides its six more developed nations — Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines — and its four newer members, communist Vietnam and Laos, military-ruled Myanmar and Cambodia.
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan stressed the need to fuse the disparate economies into a single market to be competitive.
While ASEAN economies were bouncing back from the global slump, foreign investment, especially from the U.S., has dipped, he said.
An ASEAN ministerial delegation will tour the United States in May to woo investors and expand trade ties but the bloc has not decided whether to join a proposed U.S.-backed Asia-Pacific free-trade region, he added.
The proposed Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific comprising 21 economies ranging from the U.S. to Russia was envisaged as an alternative if global world trade talks failed but analysts have said it is premature for progress on such a broad pact.
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Bangkok Post - Burma asked to speed up ID checks on its workers here
Published: 28/02/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
SAMUT SAKHON : The Burmese cabinet has agreed to speed up the verification of Burmese workers' national identity in Ranong at the request of the Thai government for their safety during the monsoon season, according to Burmese Interior Minister Maung Oo.
Burmese workers are usually required to returned to border checkpoints in their country opposite Chiang Rai, Tak and Ranong for the verification. But the process incurs costs and risks, especially for those who have to travel by sea during storms. "For their safety, we will send officials here to verify their identity," Burma's Maj Gen Tin Oo said after a meeting with Labour Minister Paitoon Kaewthong.
Burmese workers can have their identities checked in the border province of Ranong without the need to return to their country. Burma plans to finish identity checks on 1.2 million of its workers by the end of the year. Burmese officials have been told to speed up the process and handle up to 1,000 checks per day at each checkpoint, doubling the numbers from the present 500 per day.
Published: 28/02/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
SAMUT SAKHON : The Burmese cabinet has agreed to speed up the verification of Burmese workers' national identity in Ranong at the request of the Thai government for their safety during the monsoon season, according to Burmese Interior Minister Maung Oo.
Burmese workers are usually required to returned to border checkpoints in their country opposite Chiang Rai, Tak and Ranong for the verification. But the process incurs costs and risks, especially for those who have to travel by sea during storms. "For their safety, we will send officials here to verify their identity," Burma's Maj Gen Tin Oo said after a meeting with Labour Minister Paitoon Kaewthong.
Burmese workers can have their identities checked in the border province of Ranong without the need to return to their country. Burma plans to finish identity checks on 1.2 million of its workers by the end of the year. Burmese officials have been told to speed up the process and handle up to 1,000 checks per day at each checkpoint, doubling the numbers from the present 500 per day.
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Deadline for BGF expires, Wa seeks extension
Monday, 01 March 2010 20:09 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzma) - The United Wa State Army (UWSA) has appealed to the Burmese military junta for another extension of the deadline to transform its army to the proposed Border Guard Force under Burmese Army control, sources said.
The deadline to respond to Naypyidaw’s wishes to transform the Wa Army to the Tatmadaw administered BGF expired yesterday. The UWSA however, kept harping on its 9-point proposal submitted to the junta in November last year.
In its proposal, UWSA, notorious for drug trfficking, demanded self-determination, while accepting the one military policy, and a roll back of the junta’s decision on demarcation of Meng Pauk and Meng Pyan region in northeast Shan State, putting them along with Maila and Ken Tung district.
If granted, this will be the fourth extension since the first one on October last year. The junta plans to transform 17 cease-fire groups to the BGF under its army’s control.
However, the chief negotiator of Naypyidaw, Lt-Gen Ye Myint reportedly rejected Wa’s demand for autonomy and said there would be no compromise on the regime’s policy, including that of 30 Burmese Army officers heading every battalion of Wa forces.
Its territory being contiguous to China, and being a traditional ally, Wa has appealed to Chinese authorities to intervene.
Monday, 01 March 2010 20:09 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzma) - The United Wa State Army (UWSA) has appealed to the Burmese military junta for another extension of the deadline to transform its army to the proposed Border Guard Force under Burmese Army control, sources said.
The deadline to respond to Naypyidaw’s wishes to transform the Wa Army to the Tatmadaw administered BGF expired yesterday. The UWSA however, kept harping on its 9-point proposal submitted to the junta in November last year.
In its proposal, UWSA, notorious for drug trfficking, demanded self-determination, while accepting the one military policy, and a roll back of the junta’s decision on demarcation of Meng Pauk and Meng Pyan region in northeast Shan State, putting them along with Maila and Ken Tung district.
If granted, this will be the fourth extension since the first one on October last year. The junta plans to transform 17 cease-fire groups to the BGF under its army’s control.
However, the chief negotiator of Naypyidaw, Lt-Gen Ye Myint reportedly rejected Wa’s demand for autonomy and said there would be no compromise on the regime’s policy, including that of 30 Burmese Army officers heading every battalion of Wa forces.
Its territory being contiguous to China, and being a traditional ally, Wa has appealed to Chinese authorities to intervene.
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COMMENTARY
The Irrawaddy - Opinion: Privatization? What Privatization?
By YENI - Saturday, February 27, 2010
Residents of Mogok, the center of Burma's gems industry, have been in a panic recently. Since last week, earth-movers and other heavy equipment have begun appearing in the town's residential neighborhoods.
This follows an earlier survey of the area carried out by local officials, the Ministry of Mines and two private companies—Htoo Trading Co, Ltd, owned by junta crony Tay Za, and Ruby Dragon Jade & Gems Co, Ltd, which counts a number of high-ranking generals among its shareholders.
“We are very worried now that our houses and land will be confiscated,” said one man living in Mogok, located some 200 km northeast of Mandalay in the “Valley of Rubies”—a land famous since ancient times for its gemstones, especially its rare pigeon's blood rubies and blue sapphires.
This is “privatization,” Burmese-stye, in action. And it is going on all over the country these days, as the ruling junta counts down to the election that will, at least nominally, end their total control of one of the world's most resource-rich yet woefully underdeveloped economies.
What is happening in Mogok—where the generals and their close associates are laying claim to anything worth owning—is also taking place everywhere else. From gas stations to hydropower plants, cinemas to telecommunications companies, factories and warehouses to airlines—everything is up for grabs.
This would be welcome news if it were a sign that the regime is finally getting around to the economic reforms it has been promising for the past two decades. Unfortunately, however, that isn't the case. What we are actually witnessing is the formal transfer of the nation's wealth into the hands of an entrenched elite who, until now, have been able to simply take whatever they want without having to worry about rival claims.
After the election, things won't be quite that simple. Although the ruling generals and their “business partners” will continue to hold a commanding position in the economy, when the new Constitution comes into effect, it will mean that, at least in theory, others will also have the right to possess property. That is why they are preemptively buying up everything in sight, before they find themselves actually having to pay a fair price for properties and concessions that they can now get virtually for nothing.
In its recent round of sell-offs, the regime has not invited public tendering or released information about the proceeds from the sales or how non-state ownership will work.
Whereas privatization that takes place under more transparent circumstances usually benefits the public, resulting in lower prices, improved quality, more choices, less corruption, less red tape and quicker delivery, in the case of Burma, the country's people will once again be the biggest losers.
Since 1989, the ruling junta has periodically sold off state-owned properties as part of its so-called “open-door” economic policy. But instead of undoing the damage done by former dictator Ne Win's “Burmese way of socialism,” the regime has merely replaced it with crony capitalism.
Of course, Burma is not alone in practicing this particularly pernicious approach to economic development; nor are well-connected Burmese tycoons the only ones bargain hunting in the country.
While Surin Pitsuwan, the secretary-general of the the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and former foreign minister of Thailand, was defending the 10-member regional bloc's position on Burma's upcoming election on BBC's Hardtalk recently, a group of Thailand-based investors were visiting the country. A few weeks earlier, a similar delegation from Vietnam was also looking at investment opportunities in Burma.
But even if the Burmese regime's disregard for economic transparency and accountability is hardly unique, there's no denying that the country's standards are among the worst in the world.
According to the “2010 Index of Economic Freedom,” a report prepared by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, Burma ranks 174th out of 179 countries in the world in terms of economic freedom.
The report identifies a number of factors contributing to Burma's low ranking, including government interference in economic activities; structural problems such as fiscal deficits; continuing losses by state-owned enterprises; and underdeveloped legal and regulatory frameworks and poor government service. On property rights in Burma, the report states succinctly: “Private real property and intellectual property are not protected.”
What Burma needs now is not self-serving “reforms” by the country's current rulers, but a return to the rule of law under a democratically elected government.
But since the coming election is not likely to deliver real change, the people of Mogok—like the rest of the country's population—can do no more than stand back and watch as the generals take away what little they have left.
Yeni is news editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at yeni@irrawaddy.org.
The Irrawaddy - Opinion: Privatization? What Privatization?
By YENI - Saturday, February 27, 2010
Residents of Mogok, the center of Burma's gems industry, have been in a panic recently. Since last week, earth-movers and other heavy equipment have begun appearing in the town's residential neighborhoods.
This follows an earlier survey of the area carried out by local officials, the Ministry of Mines and two private companies—Htoo Trading Co, Ltd, owned by junta crony Tay Za, and Ruby Dragon Jade & Gems Co, Ltd, which counts a number of high-ranking generals among its shareholders.
“We are very worried now that our houses and land will be confiscated,” said one man living in Mogok, located some 200 km northeast of Mandalay in the “Valley of Rubies”—a land famous since ancient times for its gemstones, especially its rare pigeon's blood rubies and blue sapphires.
This is “privatization,” Burmese-stye, in action. And it is going on all over the country these days, as the ruling junta counts down to the election that will, at least nominally, end their total control of one of the world's most resource-rich yet woefully underdeveloped economies.
What is happening in Mogok—where the generals and their close associates are laying claim to anything worth owning—is also taking place everywhere else. From gas stations to hydropower plants, cinemas to telecommunications companies, factories and warehouses to airlines—everything is up for grabs.
This would be welcome news if it were a sign that the regime is finally getting around to the economic reforms it has been promising for the past two decades. Unfortunately, however, that isn't the case. What we are actually witnessing is the formal transfer of the nation's wealth into the hands of an entrenched elite who, until now, have been able to simply take whatever they want without having to worry about rival claims.
After the election, things won't be quite that simple. Although the ruling generals and their “business partners” will continue to hold a commanding position in the economy, when the new Constitution comes into effect, it will mean that, at least in theory, others will also have the right to possess property. That is why they are preemptively buying up everything in sight, before they find themselves actually having to pay a fair price for properties and concessions that they can now get virtually for nothing.
In its recent round of sell-offs, the regime has not invited public tendering or released information about the proceeds from the sales or how non-state ownership will work.
Whereas privatization that takes place under more transparent circumstances usually benefits the public, resulting in lower prices, improved quality, more choices, less corruption, less red tape and quicker delivery, in the case of Burma, the country's people will once again be the biggest losers.
Since 1989, the ruling junta has periodically sold off state-owned properties as part of its so-called “open-door” economic policy. But instead of undoing the damage done by former dictator Ne Win's “Burmese way of socialism,” the regime has merely replaced it with crony capitalism.
Of course, Burma is not alone in practicing this particularly pernicious approach to economic development; nor are well-connected Burmese tycoons the only ones bargain hunting in the country.
While Surin Pitsuwan, the secretary-general of the the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and former foreign minister of Thailand, was defending the 10-member regional bloc's position on Burma's upcoming election on BBC's Hardtalk recently, a group of Thailand-based investors were visiting the country. A few weeks earlier, a similar delegation from Vietnam was also looking at investment opportunities in Burma.
But even if the Burmese regime's disregard for economic transparency and accountability is hardly unique, there's no denying that the country's standards are among the worst in the world.
According to the “2010 Index of Economic Freedom,” a report prepared by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, Burma ranks 174th out of 179 countries in the world in terms of economic freedom.
The report identifies a number of factors contributing to Burma's low ranking, including government interference in economic activities; structural problems such as fiscal deficits; continuing losses by state-owned enterprises; and underdeveloped legal and regulatory frameworks and poor government service. On property rights in Burma, the report states succinctly: “Private real property and intellectual property are not protected.”
What Burma needs now is not self-serving “reforms” by the country's current rulers, but a return to the rule of law under a democratically elected government.
But since the coming election is not likely to deliver real change, the people of Mogok—like the rest of the country's population—can do no more than stand back and watch as the generals take away what little they have left.
Yeni is news editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at yeni@irrawaddy.org.
********************************************************
70 percent of Burma property goes to junta cronies
Mar 1, 2010 (DVB)–Around 70 percent of property in Burma auctioned off to private enterprise in recent months has ended up in the hands of cronies of the ruling junta.
The Burmese government recently announced the sale of 115 national properties, including major shipping ports and airports. The majority of the remaining 30 percent of property has gone to foreign companies.
Rumours are circulating that the Rangoon Ministers’ Office, where independence hero Aung San was assassinated in 1947, has been sold to a foreign company, although it is not known whom.
A businessman in Rangoon said that local companies not close to the government can only bid for small properties which are unlikely to generate much revenue.
“[The junta] took the [promising properties] off the bidding list. Those are only opened for the big guys and foreign companies but it is impossible for an ordinary business owner to enter the bid,” he said.
“The big companies are not only close [to the ruling generals]; in fact [the generals] also owned shares in these companies. So there is nothing we can do.”
He added that authorities are selling bidding forms for 25,000 kyat ($US25) for each property. Among those being auctioned off are formerly private-owned properties nationalised by the Ne Win government in 1964.
An economist said that the current government was privatizing industry to show that Burma is heading towards a market economy. In reality, however, this will leave nothing for the country when a next [elected] civilian government comes to power.
“The international community and those who don’t have the technical knowledge may think the government is now carrying out the privatisation process in favour of private businesses,” he said.
“At least those properties that were nationalised could be regarded as belonging to the public, but now they are completely in the hands of the companies close to the government.”
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
Mar 1, 2010 (DVB)–Around 70 percent of property in Burma auctioned off to private enterprise in recent months has ended up in the hands of cronies of the ruling junta.
The Burmese government recently announced the sale of 115 national properties, including major shipping ports and airports. The majority of the remaining 30 percent of property has gone to foreign companies.
Rumours are circulating that the Rangoon Ministers’ Office, where independence hero Aung San was assassinated in 1947, has been sold to a foreign company, although it is not known whom.
A businessman in Rangoon said that local companies not close to the government can only bid for small properties which are unlikely to generate much revenue.
“[The junta] took the [promising properties] off the bidding list. Those are only opened for the big guys and foreign companies but it is impossible for an ordinary business owner to enter the bid,” he said.
“The big companies are not only close [to the ruling generals]; in fact [the generals] also owned shares in these companies. So there is nothing we can do.”
He added that authorities are selling bidding forms for 25,000 kyat ($US25) for each property. Among those being auctioned off are formerly private-owned properties nationalised by the Ne Win government in 1964.
An economist said that the current government was privatizing industry to show that Burma is heading towards a market economy. In reality, however, this will leave nothing for the country when a next [elected] civilian government comes to power.
“The international community and those who don’t have the technical knowledge may think the government is now carrying out the privatisation process in favour of private businesses,” he said.
“At least those properties that were nationalised could be regarded as belonging to the public, but now they are completely in the hands of the companies close to the government.”
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
********************************************************
Suu Kyi to seek special appeal
Mar 1, 2010 (DVB)–Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to take a special appeal over her house arrest to Burma’s supreme court after it was last week rejected.
Her lawyers said that the new appeal would go through two stages: acceptance by the court, and then a final presentation by lawyers at the court.
Analysts have said the appeal will effectively be made to junta chief Than Shwe, who is seen as the main architect behind her sentencing. Courts in Burma have been criticised as puppets of the government.
“There will be two judges deciding on [he acceptance] and we [lawyers] are to make an argument statement before them,” said lawyer Nyan Win.
“If they accept it, the appeal will be heard before three judges in [the capital] Naypyidaw. This is the current [legal] system procedure.”
Nyan Win said that judges last Friday only read out the ruling that rejected the previous appeal, but did not give any reasons for why it was rejected.
Suu Kyi has said that last year’s 18-month extension of her house arrest, and the new conditions placed on her house arrest, is unjust. Critics of the ruling junta have said the detention is a ploy to keep her locked up during elections, scheduled for later this year.
International leaders, including UK prime minister Gordon Brown and UN chief Ban Ki-moon, have condemned the rejection last week.
“I welcome the denouncing, because Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is not guilty in this case,” Nyan Win said.
He added that lawyers will meet with Suu Kyi to discuss the special appeal, and are looking to get a copy of the verdict to see why it was rejected.
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
Mar 1, 2010 (DVB)–Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to take a special appeal over her house arrest to Burma’s supreme court after it was last week rejected.
Her lawyers said that the new appeal would go through two stages: acceptance by the court, and then a final presentation by lawyers at the court.
Analysts have said the appeal will effectively be made to junta chief Than Shwe, who is seen as the main architect behind her sentencing. Courts in Burma have been criticised as puppets of the government.
“There will be two judges deciding on [he acceptance] and we [lawyers] are to make an argument statement before them,” said lawyer Nyan Win.
“If they accept it, the appeal will be heard before three judges in [the capital] Naypyidaw. This is the current [legal] system procedure.”
Nyan Win said that judges last Friday only read out the ruling that rejected the previous appeal, but did not give any reasons for why it was rejected.
Suu Kyi has said that last year’s 18-month extension of her house arrest, and the new conditions placed on her house arrest, is unjust. Critics of the ruling junta have said the detention is a ploy to keep her locked up during elections, scheduled for later this year.
International leaders, including UK prime minister Gordon Brown and UN chief Ban Ki-moon, have condemned the rejection last week.
“I welcome the denouncing, because Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is not guilty in this case,” Nyan Win said.
He added that lawyers will meet with Suu Kyi to discuss the special appeal, and are looking to get a copy of the verdict to see why it was rejected.
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
********************************************************
Heavy troop presence at Wa meeting
Mar 1, 2010 (DVB)–The Wa army are yet to give a decision on the Burmese junta’s request to transform into a border guard force, despite the deadline expiring last week.
Around 100 troops accompanied United Wa State Army (UWSA) leader Bao Youxiang to a meeting last Friday with Burmese intelligence chief Ye Myint, who had sought to pile pressure on the group to transform.
Despite several hours of talks, the meeting ended without an agreement being reached. The Burmese government has requested that the UWSA and a number of other ceasefire group change into a border militia and come under the control of Naypyidaw.
The deadline for groups to transform expired yesterday, but only two ceasefire armies have so far agreed to the proposal. The government is looking to consolidate alliances with ceasefire groups, many of whom it holds only tenuous truces with, prior to elections this year.
During the meeting, government representatives told the UWSA that a nine-point proposal lodged by the Wa in November last year would be considered, a source on the China-Burma border said. Both sides were unavailable for confirmation on this.
Ye Myint reiterated requests that the Wa army incorporate junta officials into its senior command, although this has been refused point-blank on a number of occasions.
The 30,000-strong UWSA, Burma’s largest ethnic army, took part in the government-led National Convention which drafted the 2008 constitution. The group previously said it agreed in principle with the border guard force plan.
Both the Burmese government and the UWSA have turned down a number of meetings proposed by their counterparts in recent months. Sources said the Friday meeting was helped along by China, who sent officials to the talks.
The Wa is made up of ethnic Chinese, and Beijing is rumoured to support the UWSA both financially and militarily.
The government’s border guard campaign was the trigger for conflict last August between Burmese troops and a Shan state-based ethnic Kokang army which forced some 37,000 people across the border into China.
Reporting by Aye Nai
Mar 1, 2010 (DVB)–The Wa army are yet to give a decision on the Burmese junta’s request to transform into a border guard force, despite the deadline expiring last week.
Around 100 troops accompanied United Wa State Army (UWSA) leader Bao Youxiang to a meeting last Friday with Burmese intelligence chief Ye Myint, who had sought to pile pressure on the group to transform.
Despite several hours of talks, the meeting ended without an agreement being reached. The Burmese government has requested that the UWSA and a number of other ceasefire group change into a border militia and come under the control of Naypyidaw.
The deadline for groups to transform expired yesterday, but only two ceasefire armies have so far agreed to the proposal. The government is looking to consolidate alliances with ceasefire groups, many of whom it holds only tenuous truces with, prior to elections this year.
During the meeting, government representatives told the UWSA that a nine-point proposal lodged by the Wa in November last year would be considered, a source on the China-Burma border said. Both sides were unavailable for confirmation on this.
Ye Myint reiterated requests that the Wa army incorporate junta officials into its senior command, although this has been refused point-blank on a number of occasions.
The 30,000-strong UWSA, Burma’s largest ethnic army, took part in the government-led National Convention which drafted the 2008 constitution. The group previously said it agreed in principle with the border guard force plan.
Both the Burmese government and the UWSA have turned down a number of meetings proposed by their counterparts in recent months. Sources said the Friday meeting was helped along by China, who sent officials to the talks.
The Wa is made up of ethnic Chinese, and Beijing is rumoured to support the UWSA both financially and militarily.
The government’s border guard campaign was the trigger for conflict last August between Burmese troops and a Shan state-based ethnic Kokang army which forced some 37,000 people across the border into China.
Reporting by Aye Nai
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