MYANMAR: ECHO to conclude post-cyclone activities
BANGKOK, 21 April 2010 (IRIN) - The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) is to conclude its activities in Myanmar's cyclone-affected Ayeyarwady Delta at the end of May.
“The decision to wind down ECHO assistance to those affected by Cyclone Nargis was taken during the second half of 2009, as we assessed that the level of acute humanitarian needs had decreased significantly in the course of last year,” Christophe Reltien, ECHO’s head of office in Myanmar, told IRIN from Yangon.
“What is needed now is longer-term development assistance,” he said.
The last Nargis project funded by ECHO will officially end on 31 May 2010.
More than 138,000 people lost their lives when the cyclone slammed into Myanmar’s southern Ayeyarwady delta on 2 and 3 May 2008, affecting 2.4 million people and leaving nearly half of them in need of assistance.
ECHO's mandate is to provide emergency assistance and relief to the victims of natural disasters or armed conflict.
“Overall, after 24 months of tremendous efforts by our partners and other organizations, the humanitarian situation can be categorized as satisfactory,” Reltien said.
However, challenges remain, he said, citing the re-establishment of livelihoods so that communities can again become self-sustaining.
“These needs have to be addressed in the medium- to long-term,” the ECHO official said.
Assistance to date
ECHO provided a total of 39 million euros (US$52.5 million) from 2008 to 2010 in emergency assistance to affected communities. It enabled more than two dozen partners to implement 37 programmes to provide for the immediate needs of the affected population through the distribution of non-food items, food aid, basic health care, water and sanitation, and shelter material.
Over 1.35 million people in the delta, as well as in the Yangon area, benefited from the assistance.
Asked what ECHO would be doing next in Myanmar, Reltien said that the needs of the affected population had changed, and so would their programmes.
“We are moving from humanitarian aid to a more recovery/developmental form of assistance,” he said.
Other funds are now available, such as the multi-donor trust fund called LIFT (Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund), to which the EU is a major contributor, he added.
“This fund will support projects to address livelihood activities in the affected areas. There are also a number of other bilateral donors present to support the recovery effort,” Reltien said.
This year, ECHO will provide 9.25 million euros to fund a number of humanitarian projects around the country, up from 8.75 million euros in 2009.
BANGKOK, 21 April 2010 (IRIN) - The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) is to conclude its activities in Myanmar's cyclone-affected Ayeyarwady Delta at the end of May.
“The decision to wind down ECHO assistance to those affected by Cyclone Nargis was taken during the second half of 2009, as we assessed that the level of acute humanitarian needs had decreased significantly in the course of last year,” Christophe Reltien, ECHO’s head of office in Myanmar, told IRIN from Yangon.
“What is needed now is longer-term development assistance,” he said.
The last Nargis project funded by ECHO will officially end on 31 May 2010.
More than 138,000 people lost their lives when the cyclone slammed into Myanmar’s southern Ayeyarwady delta on 2 and 3 May 2008, affecting 2.4 million people and leaving nearly half of them in need of assistance.
ECHO's mandate is to provide emergency assistance and relief to the victims of natural disasters or armed conflict.
“Overall, after 24 months of tremendous efforts by our partners and other organizations, the humanitarian situation can be categorized as satisfactory,” Reltien said.
However, challenges remain, he said, citing the re-establishment of livelihoods so that communities can again become self-sustaining.
“These needs have to be addressed in the medium- to long-term,” the ECHO official said.
Assistance to date
ECHO provided a total of 39 million euros (US$52.5 million) from 2008 to 2010 in emergency assistance to affected communities. It enabled more than two dozen partners to implement 37 programmes to provide for the immediate needs of the affected population through the distribution of non-food items, food aid, basic health care, water and sanitation, and shelter material.
Over 1.35 million people in the delta, as well as in the Yangon area, benefited from the assistance.
Asked what ECHO would be doing next in Myanmar, Reltien said that the needs of the affected population had changed, and so would their programmes.
“We are moving from humanitarian aid to a more recovery/developmental form of assistance,” he said.
Other funds are now available, such as the multi-donor trust fund called LIFT (Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund), to which the EU is a major contributor, he added.
“This fund will support projects to address livelihood activities in the affected areas. There are also a number of other bilateral donors present to support the recovery effort,” Reltien said.
This year, ECHO will provide 9.25 million euros to fund a number of humanitarian projects around the country, up from 8.75 million euros in 2009.
******************************************************
Stuff - Myanmar trio funded by taxpayer
By TOM HUNT - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 22/04/2010
Three government officials from Myanmar's repressive military regime are studying English in New Zealand, funded by the taxpayer.
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully, who once called Myanmar's rulers the "Butchers of Burma", confirmed he had agreed that the three officials could study here. More are likely to arrive.
The decision was condemned by an Otago academic, who said the officials were likely to be complicit in the internationally condemned junta.
"They [the regime] are not going to be sending dissidents," Otago University professor Kevin Clements, from the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, said.
Myanmar, formerly Burma, is governed by a military regime under which opponents are persecuted. Aung Sung Su Kyi – the country's democratically elected leader – has been under house arrest for most of the past 20 years since she won a general election.
Burma Cross-Party Parliamentary Group chairwoman Maryan Street, a Labour MP, said: "We should not be doing anything to prop up that administration."
She said the officials – studying in Wellington, Napier, and Nelson – could spy on refugees in this country, leading to possible persecution of families in Burma.
"This is not the same as providing humanitarian support and assistance and training for people who are going back to help develop their country."
Mr McCully said he had allowed the officials to study here after a review of Myanmar's involvement in the English Language Training for Officials scheme. That was in line with an international move – led by United States President Barack Obama – to increase engagement with Myanmar in preparation for what were hoped to be democratic elections this year.
In 2008, Mr McCully – then in opposition – criticised Labour for allowing government-owned company Kordia, formerly BCL, to work in a joint venture doing engineering work on cellphone tower installations in Myanmar. He called the Myanmar government the "Butchers of Burma".
Asked to justify his apparent change of heart, Mr McCully would only say it was "consistent with the international community".
He said the three studying in New Zealand worked in the civil service in Myanmar. "We don't do it for people who hold controversial roles."
Labour foreign affairs spokesman Chris Carter said it was important to show the Myanmar officials how democracy should work. "It's about political education in a way."
The Greens' foreign affairs spokesman, Keith Locke, said including Myanmar in the scheme was a "betrayal" of the people of Myanmar.
By TOM HUNT - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 22/04/2010
Three government officials from Myanmar's repressive military regime are studying English in New Zealand, funded by the taxpayer.
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully, who once called Myanmar's rulers the "Butchers of Burma", confirmed he had agreed that the three officials could study here. More are likely to arrive.
The decision was condemned by an Otago academic, who said the officials were likely to be complicit in the internationally condemned junta.
"They [the regime] are not going to be sending dissidents," Otago University professor Kevin Clements, from the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, said.
Myanmar, formerly Burma, is governed by a military regime under which opponents are persecuted. Aung Sung Su Kyi – the country's democratically elected leader – has been under house arrest for most of the past 20 years since she won a general election.
Burma Cross-Party Parliamentary Group chairwoman Maryan Street, a Labour MP, said: "We should not be doing anything to prop up that administration."
She said the officials – studying in Wellington, Napier, and Nelson – could spy on refugees in this country, leading to possible persecution of families in Burma.
"This is not the same as providing humanitarian support and assistance and training for people who are going back to help develop their country."
Mr McCully said he had allowed the officials to study here after a review of Myanmar's involvement in the English Language Training for Officials scheme. That was in line with an international move – led by United States President Barack Obama – to increase engagement with Myanmar in preparation for what were hoped to be democratic elections this year.
In 2008, Mr McCully – then in opposition – criticised Labour for allowing government-owned company Kordia, formerly BCL, to work in a joint venture doing engineering work on cellphone tower installations in Myanmar. He called the Myanmar government the "Butchers of Burma".
Asked to justify his apparent change of heart, Mr McCully would only say it was "consistent with the international community".
He said the three studying in New Zealand worked in the civil service in Myanmar. "We don't do it for people who hold controversial roles."
Labour foreign affairs spokesman Chris Carter said it was important to show the Myanmar officials how democracy should work. "It's about political education in a way."
The Greens' foreign affairs spokesman, Keith Locke, said including Myanmar in the scheme was a "betrayal" of the people of Myanmar.
******************************************************
EarthTimes - Malaysia's love-hate relationship with migrant community - Feature
Posted : Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:00:28 GMT
Kuala Lumpur - In a voice devoid of any emotion, Hartono relates how since arriving in Malaysia his life has been filled with grueling and often unpaid labour and constant harassment from the law.
Yet none of this has made Hartono pack his bags and return home to his wife and three children in Indonesia's Aceh province.
"When we do finally get paid, it is worth the sufferings," Hartono told the German Press Agency dpa, during a short break while renovating a home in an affluent neighbourhood of the capital Kuala Lumpur. "There is always work to do here in Malaysia. It's just a matter of whether our bodies can take it."
Hartono's story echoes the experiences of most of Malaysia's 2 million registered migrant workers, and almost as many illegal migrants.
Since arriving here almost eight years ago, Hartono has often gone unpaid for long periods, slept in public toilets and spent nights in jail for not having valid travel documents when his employers failed to renew his work visa after the first two years.
He lives in constant fear of being detained by police or members of an anti-illegal-immigrant volunteer corps - whose members have the power to detain migrants without valid documents. On many occasions he has had to use his meager earnings to bribe his way out of jail.
Still, the endless opportunities as well as an acute shortage of jobs in his homeland are what keeps Hartono and his fellow immigrants staying on in Malaysia, where its own residents are increasingly shunning the dirty, dangerous jobs that most of the migrants do.
Malaysia's thriving economy has created a boom in jobs in various industries ranging from manufacturing to construction and agriculture - and the relatively low unemployment rate of around 3.5 per cent reflects an urgent need for workers.
Since the 1970s, Malaysia has had to rely heavily on foreign workers to achieve its policy of rapid industrialization, taking in unskilled workers from Myanmar, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, among others.
Despite the fact that the foreigners are crucial to the country's economy, Malaysia has a curious love-hate relationship with its migrant community.
For years, the government has threatened to drastically cut its reliance on immigrant workers and to take harsher actions against those entering the country illegally.
Blamed for an increase in urban crime and social ills, migrant workers are largely treated as pariahs and are seen as a burden to society.
"Police officers will look out for us and accuse us of crimes. They threaten us at times if we don't have enough money to pay them," said Hartono.
In 2002, the government amended its immigration laws to allow for whipping and jail terms for both illegal migrants and their local employers.
Every year, government agencies hold nationwide crackdowns, rounding up tens of thousands of illegal immigrants into already cramped detention camps before they are shipped home.
It's not just those without documentation who are singled out. Many legal immigrant workers also face problems with the authorities or are socially outcast.
According to Amnesty International's report on the abuse of migrant workers released earlier this year, many immigrants in Malaysia reported being beaten, raped, abused and unpaid, while enduring conditions likened to bonded labour.
Based on interviews with more than 200 migrant workers in July 2009, the rights group claimed that immigrant workers were regularly targeted by authorities for extortion, adding that frequent and highly publicized raids to supposedly weed out illegal workers were painting a negative and unfair image of foreign workers.
Amnesty claimed in its report that Malaysian labour practices forced migrant workers to rely heavily on their employers and recruiting brokers, some of whom would keep the migrants' passports, making it impossible for them to leave.
Malaysian Home Minister Hishammudin Hussein rubbished claims of widespread abuse in the report as "inaccurate," saying migrant workers could always report abuse to the Labour Department.
"The problem is that many of the migrant workers claiming abuse were working illegally and, as such, they will face problems from employers," he said.
"This is why we insist that foreign workers come to Malaysia on valid working permits and work in the sectors assigned to them."
Human rights groups claim migrant workers continue to suffer from institutionalized exploitation and are constantly denied access to justice.
"Once the migrant worker leaves (the employer), his work permit is cancelled, and he is only allowed to apply to stay for a maximum of three months for the judicial process," said Irene Fernandez, director of Tenaganita, a group fighting for the rights of women and migrant workers.
As most of the reported cases of abuse take more than three months to be processed, the impacted workers are forced to return home without any recourse.
"There is no safe place for us to go to," Hartono said as he prepared to finish his 12-hour workday.
"But still I won't go home unless I'm forced to. At least here, there's an opportunity to make a living."
Posted : Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:00:28 GMT
Kuala Lumpur - In a voice devoid of any emotion, Hartono relates how since arriving in Malaysia his life has been filled with grueling and often unpaid labour and constant harassment from the law.
Yet none of this has made Hartono pack his bags and return home to his wife and three children in Indonesia's Aceh province.
"When we do finally get paid, it is worth the sufferings," Hartono told the German Press Agency dpa, during a short break while renovating a home in an affluent neighbourhood of the capital Kuala Lumpur. "There is always work to do here in Malaysia. It's just a matter of whether our bodies can take it."
Hartono's story echoes the experiences of most of Malaysia's 2 million registered migrant workers, and almost as many illegal migrants.
Since arriving here almost eight years ago, Hartono has often gone unpaid for long periods, slept in public toilets and spent nights in jail for not having valid travel documents when his employers failed to renew his work visa after the first two years.
He lives in constant fear of being detained by police or members of an anti-illegal-immigrant volunteer corps - whose members have the power to detain migrants without valid documents. On many occasions he has had to use his meager earnings to bribe his way out of jail.
Still, the endless opportunities as well as an acute shortage of jobs in his homeland are what keeps Hartono and his fellow immigrants staying on in Malaysia, where its own residents are increasingly shunning the dirty, dangerous jobs that most of the migrants do.
Malaysia's thriving economy has created a boom in jobs in various industries ranging from manufacturing to construction and agriculture - and the relatively low unemployment rate of around 3.5 per cent reflects an urgent need for workers.
Since the 1970s, Malaysia has had to rely heavily on foreign workers to achieve its policy of rapid industrialization, taking in unskilled workers from Myanmar, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, among others.
Despite the fact that the foreigners are crucial to the country's economy, Malaysia has a curious love-hate relationship with its migrant community.
For years, the government has threatened to drastically cut its reliance on immigrant workers and to take harsher actions against those entering the country illegally.
Blamed for an increase in urban crime and social ills, migrant workers are largely treated as pariahs and are seen as a burden to society.
"Police officers will look out for us and accuse us of crimes. They threaten us at times if we don't have enough money to pay them," said Hartono.
In 2002, the government amended its immigration laws to allow for whipping and jail terms for both illegal migrants and their local employers.
Every year, government agencies hold nationwide crackdowns, rounding up tens of thousands of illegal immigrants into already cramped detention camps before they are shipped home.
It's not just those without documentation who are singled out. Many legal immigrant workers also face problems with the authorities or are socially outcast.
According to Amnesty International's report on the abuse of migrant workers released earlier this year, many immigrants in Malaysia reported being beaten, raped, abused and unpaid, while enduring conditions likened to bonded labour.
Based on interviews with more than 200 migrant workers in July 2009, the rights group claimed that immigrant workers were regularly targeted by authorities for extortion, adding that frequent and highly publicized raids to supposedly weed out illegal workers were painting a negative and unfair image of foreign workers.
Amnesty claimed in its report that Malaysian labour practices forced migrant workers to rely heavily on their employers and recruiting brokers, some of whom would keep the migrants' passports, making it impossible for them to leave.
Malaysian Home Minister Hishammudin Hussein rubbished claims of widespread abuse in the report as "inaccurate," saying migrant workers could always report abuse to the Labour Department.
"The problem is that many of the migrant workers claiming abuse were working illegally and, as such, they will face problems from employers," he said.
"This is why we insist that foreign workers come to Malaysia on valid working permits and work in the sectors assigned to them."
Human rights groups claim migrant workers continue to suffer from institutionalized exploitation and are constantly denied access to justice.
"Once the migrant worker leaves (the employer), his work permit is cancelled, and he is only allowed to apply to stay for a maximum of three months for the judicial process," said Irene Fernandez, director of Tenaganita, a group fighting for the rights of women and migrant workers.
As most of the reported cases of abuse take more than three months to be processed, the impacted workers are forced to return home without any recourse.
"There is no safe place for us to go to," Hartono said as he prepared to finish his 12-hour workday.
"But still I won't go home unless I'm forced to. At least here, there's an opportunity to make a living."
******************************************************
Myanmar state media links anti-gov't organizations with water festival bombings
English.news.cn 2010-04-21 13:22:47
YANGON, April 21 (Xinhua) -- A Myanmar state newspaper Wednesday charged some anti-government organizations at home and abroad with masterminding a recent terrorist bomb attacks in the water festival in Yangon, in which eight people were killed and 170 others were injured.
Without furnishing firm evidences so far, the "Mirror" accused such organizations as Kayin National Union (KNU), All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), Kayin Youth Organization (KYO), Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB), National League for Democracy- Liberated Area (NLD-LA), National Council of the Union of Burma ( NCUB) of being responsible for the bomb attacks, citing some information that these organizations held meetings in a neighboring country earlier to plot bombings during the water festival which targeted at Bago, Mandalay, Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw areas.
Under the name of "A researcher", the commentary of the paper also charged the NLD, one of the 10 old political parties in Myanmar which has boycotted the coming general election, with being involved in the incident along with its allies.
The paper quoted statistics as saying that there occurred 36 cases of such bomb attacks during 2009 and over 300 since 1988 when the present government took power.
The paper further disclosed in a compiled report that during the period of Myanmar's water festival over the past week, bombs blast in four places in the country with the first on April 14 at a toll gate in Muse check point in Shan state run by a private Asia World Company, the second on the same day at the compound of a check point in southeastern Kayin state's Kawkareik, injuring three persons, the third on April 15 at a water throwing pandal in Yangon killing eight people and injuring 170, and the fourth on April 17 at four worksites of the Myitsone hydropower dam project in the upper reaches of the Ayeyawaddy River in northernmost Kachin state on April 17, injuring one person and destroying two temporary buildings and six motor vehicles.
Several unexploded bombs were also found at the hydropower project sites, the paper added.
The authorities are carrying out urgent investigation against all the above incidents.
English.news.cn 2010-04-21 13:22:47
YANGON, April 21 (Xinhua) -- A Myanmar state newspaper Wednesday charged some anti-government organizations at home and abroad with masterminding a recent terrorist bomb attacks in the water festival in Yangon, in which eight people were killed and 170 others were injured.
Without furnishing firm evidences so far, the "Mirror" accused such organizations as Kayin National Union (KNU), All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), Kayin Youth Organization (KYO), Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB), National League for Democracy- Liberated Area (NLD-LA), National Council of the Union of Burma ( NCUB) of being responsible for the bomb attacks, citing some information that these organizations held meetings in a neighboring country earlier to plot bombings during the water festival which targeted at Bago, Mandalay, Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw areas.
Under the name of "A researcher", the commentary of the paper also charged the NLD, one of the 10 old political parties in Myanmar which has boycotted the coming general election, with being involved in the incident along with its allies.
The paper quoted statistics as saying that there occurred 36 cases of such bomb attacks during 2009 and over 300 since 1988 when the present government took power.
The paper further disclosed in a compiled report that during the period of Myanmar's water festival over the past week, bombs blast in four places in the country with the first on April 14 at a toll gate in Muse check point in Shan state run by a private Asia World Company, the second on the same day at the compound of a check point in southeastern Kayin state's Kawkareik, injuring three persons, the third on April 15 at a water throwing pandal in Yangon killing eight people and injuring 170, and the fourth on April 17 at four worksites of the Myitsone hydropower dam project in the upper reaches of the Ayeyawaddy River in northernmost Kachin state on April 17, injuring one person and destroying two temporary buildings and six motor vehicles.
Several unexploded bombs were also found at the hydropower project sites, the paper added.
The authorities are carrying out urgent investigation against all the above incidents.
******************************************************
SM Goh in Tokyo, meets Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada
Channel NewsAsia - Thursday, April 22
SINGAPORE: Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and the Japanese Foreign Minister agree that upcoming elections in Myanmar must be transparent, free and fair.
Mr Goh met Mr Katsuya Okada in Tokyo Wednesday, where he’s on three—day visit.
It’s the first meeting between Mr Goh and Mr Katsuya Okada.
Both men also discussed other regional and bilateral issues.
Aside from developments in Myanmar, they also discussed regional integration.
Mr Goh said ASEAN was committed to realising an ASEAN community by 2015.
And he called on Japan to strengthen its engagement in Southeast Asia.
Before he arrived in Tokyo, Mr Goh had attended a meeting in Hiroshima on nuclear disarmament, nuclear weapons and non proliferation, attended by former world leaders.
Mr Okada said he was pleased with the outcome.
Later, Mr Goh also sat down with the leader of Japan’s largest opposition party, the Liberal Democrats.
Its leader Sadakazu Tanigaki had just come back from a diet debate with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
He told Mr Goh that he tried to grill the Prime Minister on the controversial issue of relocating the US base in Okinawa.
Earlier in the day, the Senior Minister learned more about how Japan deals with land scarcity.
He was guided by Paul Tange, the son of the late renowned architect Kenzo Tange, who designed the Cocoon Tower completed in October 2008.
The building houses three vocational schools.
Students studying fashion, graphic design and developing game software were thrilled to get up close with the Senior Minister and receive advice on their future.
"For the Senior Minister, the main purpose of this trip is to meet with members of the DPJ administration.
The Democratic Party of Japan took power after the general election last year that from Liberal Democrats in power since 1955.
Mr Goh is expected to meet Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Thursday.
Channel NewsAsia - Thursday, April 22
SINGAPORE: Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and the Japanese Foreign Minister agree that upcoming elections in Myanmar must be transparent, free and fair.
Mr Goh met Mr Katsuya Okada in Tokyo Wednesday, where he’s on three—day visit.
It’s the first meeting between Mr Goh and Mr Katsuya Okada.
Both men also discussed other regional and bilateral issues.
Aside from developments in Myanmar, they also discussed regional integration.
Mr Goh said ASEAN was committed to realising an ASEAN community by 2015.
And he called on Japan to strengthen its engagement in Southeast Asia.
Before he arrived in Tokyo, Mr Goh had attended a meeting in Hiroshima on nuclear disarmament, nuclear weapons and non proliferation, attended by former world leaders.
Mr Okada said he was pleased with the outcome.
Later, Mr Goh also sat down with the leader of Japan’s largest opposition party, the Liberal Democrats.
Its leader Sadakazu Tanigaki had just come back from a diet debate with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
He told Mr Goh that he tried to grill the Prime Minister on the controversial issue of relocating the US base in Okinawa.
Earlier in the day, the Senior Minister learned more about how Japan deals with land scarcity.
He was guided by Paul Tange, the son of the late renowned architect Kenzo Tange, who designed the Cocoon Tower completed in October 2008.
The building houses three vocational schools.
Students studying fashion, graphic design and developing game software were thrilled to get up close with the Senior Minister and receive advice on their future.
"For the Senior Minister, the main purpose of this trip is to meet with members of the DPJ administration.
The Democratic Party of Japan took power after the general election last year that from Liberal Democrats in power since 1955.
Mr Goh is expected to meet Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Thursday.
******************************************************
APRIL 21, 2010, 3:41 A.M. ET
Wall Street Journal - NHPC May Build Power Projects in Myanmar
By ERIC YEP
MUMBAI -- India's state-run NHPC Ltd. is considering building two hydroelectric power projects in Myanmar at an investment of 250 billion rupees ($5.6 billion) as it seeks to expand, its chairman said Wednesday.
"We are inching towards Myanmar. We have already sent our team to Myanmar for further survey and investigation for two projects," S.K. Garg told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.
NHPC has been looking at neighboring countries for expansion partly because of slow progress in projects in India. The company, which raised 40 billion rupees ($899 million) through its initial public offering last year, is also planning to set up power projects in Bhutan.
The hydroelectric power producer has an installed generation capacity of 5,175 megawatts, accounting for a little more than 3% of India's total generation capacity from all fuel sources. India has an estimated hydroelectric potential of 148,701 MW, junior Power Minister Bharatsinh Solanki told Parliament in December.
However, progress on hydroelectric power capacity addition has been slow due to environmental concerns and issues related to resettlement of people displaced because of the construction of dams. Mr. Solanki said in December that 15 hydroelectric projects that could add more than 12,000 megawatt capacity were awaiting environment and forest-related approvals.
Mr. Garg said also that NHPC is looking to build a 510 MW plant and another project with a capacity of 520 MW in Myanmar. NHPC is yet to decide on whether it will tie up with any other company for the projects, he said.
The company aims to produce 18 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in the financial year that started April 1. It produced 17 billion KWh in the previous year, lower than the targeted 17.2 billion KWh, Mr. Garg said.
Wall Street Journal - NHPC May Build Power Projects in Myanmar
By ERIC YEP
MUMBAI -- India's state-run NHPC Ltd. is considering building two hydroelectric power projects in Myanmar at an investment of 250 billion rupees ($5.6 billion) as it seeks to expand, its chairman said Wednesday.
"We are inching towards Myanmar. We have already sent our team to Myanmar for further survey and investigation for two projects," S.K. Garg told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.
NHPC has been looking at neighboring countries for expansion partly because of slow progress in projects in India. The company, which raised 40 billion rupees ($899 million) through its initial public offering last year, is also planning to set up power projects in Bhutan.
The hydroelectric power producer has an installed generation capacity of 5,175 megawatts, accounting for a little more than 3% of India's total generation capacity from all fuel sources. India has an estimated hydroelectric potential of 148,701 MW, junior Power Minister Bharatsinh Solanki told Parliament in December.
However, progress on hydroelectric power capacity addition has been slow due to environmental concerns and issues related to resettlement of people displaced because of the construction of dams. Mr. Solanki said in December that 15 hydroelectric projects that could add more than 12,000 megawatt capacity were awaiting environment and forest-related approvals.
Mr. Garg said also that NHPC is looking to build a 510 MW plant and another project with a capacity of 520 MW in Myanmar. NHPC is yet to decide on whether it will tie up with any other company for the projects, he said.
The company aims to produce 18 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in the financial year that started April 1. It produced 17 billion KWh in the previous year, lower than the targeted 17.2 billion KWh, Mr. Garg said.
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One World - Burma's Chin villagers face persecution by junta
Sam Bagnall
21 April 2010
People of the Chin State in Burma have been subjected to abuse and persecution for decades as part of a Burmese government policy to suppress the villagers and their ethnic identity. Activists and refuges are coming out to narrate their stories to the world and provide them with support.
The Chin people, who number roughly 1.5m and live mainly in the hilly west of the country near the Indian border, are one of the most persecuted minority groups in Burma.
Yet their plight is little known in the rest of the world.
Filming for the series Tropic of Cancer, presenter Simon Reeve and a two-man BBC crew managed to visit the area.
Risking capture and arrest at the hands of the Burmese army, who have around 50 bases in Chin State, they trekked through the jungle to a remote village.
"It was an extraordinary journey," said Reeve. "The villagers I met gave me horrifying accounts of the abuses they suffer at the hands of Burmese troops."
These stories appear to confirm recent research by US organisation Human Rights Watch.
After interviewing Chin refugees in neighbouring India their report concluded that the Chin are subjected to forced labour, torture, rape, arbitrary arrest and extra-judicial killings as part of a Burmese government policy to suppress the Chin people and their ethnic identity.
The BBC team was taken into Burma by Chin human rights activist Cheery Zahau.
Despite being on a Burmese army wanted list, Ms Zahau was prepared to run the risk of working with the BBC, which, like other western media organisations, is banned from entering Burma.
"If we don't speak up, if we don't tell the stories of the people under this repressive military regime, then no-one will know what's happening, and if they don't know they will not do anything," she said.
Christian persecution
The Chin are mainly Christians, having converted to the faith when the British ruled the area before independence after World War II.
The persecution of the Chin dates back to the military takeover of Burma in the 1960s.
According to the US State Department, Burmese troops and officials have tried to forcibly convert the Chin from Christianity to Buddhism.
They have also destroyed churches, and arrested and even killed Christian Chin clergy, who now often work undercover.
The Chin also suffer from acute food shortages.
The United Nation's World Food Programme believes that food consumption in Chin State is the lowest in Burma. In recent years food shortages have been further exacerbated by a plague of rats, which have devastated Chin crops.
There is little in the way of medical facilities in Chin State. The villagers said that they had not seen a doctor for 10 years.
The Christian NGO Free Burma Rangers is one of the few sources of medical aid.
They give training to local volunteers who take basic drugs and medical equipment to the remote villages. The danger of running into a Burmese army patrol is ever present.
"If they catch us they will kill us," one volunteer inside Burma said.
In the neighbouring Indian state of Mizoram, Chin refugees receive little help from the Indian authorities or aid agencies.
Instead they face discrimination and hostility, and are often forcibly repatriated to Burma.
"The Chin are unsafe in Burma and unprotected in India, but just because these abuses happen far from Delhi and Rangoon does not mean the Chin should remain 'forgotten people'," said Human Rights Watch in its report.
Burmese refugees from other persecuted ethnic groups who can flee from the south and east of the country into neighbouring Thailand receive international help and assistance.
Human Rights Watch has called for better treatment for the Chin and for Chin refugees who arrive in India.
Burma's military rulers intend to hold an election later this year, but most opposition leaders are banned from taking part.
The most famous is Aun Sang Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in the elections of 1990.
Burma's military leaders refused to accept the results and she has spent most of the last two decades in detention. The NLD says it will boycott these elections.
Amnesty International has warned that ethnic groups, like the Chin, face increased repression at the hands of the Burmese military.
The Burmese regime has previously denied repressing ethnic groups.
Sam Bagnall
21 April 2010
People of the Chin State in Burma have been subjected to abuse and persecution for decades as part of a Burmese government policy to suppress the villagers and their ethnic identity. Activists and refuges are coming out to narrate their stories to the world and provide them with support.
The Chin people, who number roughly 1.5m and live mainly in the hilly west of the country near the Indian border, are one of the most persecuted minority groups in Burma.
Yet their plight is little known in the rest of the world.
Filming for the series Tropic of Cancer, presenter Simon Reeve and a two-man BBC crew managed to visit the area.
Risking capture and arrest at the hands of the Burmese army, who have around 50 bases in Chin State, they trekked through the jungle to a remote village.
"It was an extraordinary journey," said Reeve. "The villagers I met gave me horrifying accounts of the abuses they suffer at the hands of Burmese troops."
These stories appear to confirm recent research by US organisation Human Rights Watch.
After interviewing Chin refugees in neighbouring India their report concluded that the Chin are subjected to forced labour, torture, rape, arbitrary arrest and extra-judicial killings as part of a Burmese government policy to suppress the Chin people and their ethnic identity.
The BBC team was taken into Burma by Chin human rights activist Cheery Zahau.
Despite being on a Burmese army wanted list, Ms Zahau was prepared to run the risk of working with the BBC, which, like other western media organisations, is banned from entering Burma.
"If we don't speak up, if we don't tell the stories of the people under this repressive military regime, then no-one will know what's happening, and if they don't know they will not do anything," she said.
Christian persecution
The Chin are mainly Christians, having converted to the faith when the British ruled the area before independence after World War II.
The persecution of the Chin dates back to the military takeover of Burma in the 1960s.
According to the US State Department, Burmese troops and officials have tried to forcibly convert the Chin from Christianity to Buddhism.
They have also destroyed churches, and arrested and even killed Christian Chin clergy, who now often work undercover.
The Chin also suffer from acute food shortages.
The United Nation's World Food Programme believes that food consumption in Chin State is the lowest in Burma. In recent years food shortages have been further exacerbated by a plague of rats, which have devastated Chin crops.
There is little in the way of medical facilities in Chin State. The villagers said that they had not seen a doctor for 10 years.
The Christian NGO Free Burma Rangers is one of the few sources of medical aid.
They give training to local volunteers who take basic drugs and medical equipment to the remote villages. The danger of running into a Burmese army patrol is ever present.
"If they catch us they will kill us," one volunteer inside Burma said.
In the neighbouring Indian state of Mizoram, Chin refugees receive little help from the Indian authorities or aid agencies.
Instead they face discrimination and hostility, and are often forcibly repatriated to Burma.
"The Chin are unsafe in Burma and unprotected in India, but just because these abuses happen far from Delhi and Rangoon does not mean the Chin should remain 'forgotten people'," said Human Rights Watch in its report.
Burmese refugees from other persecuted ethnic groups who can flee from the south and east of the country into neighbouring Thailand receive international help and assistance.
Human Rights Watch has called for better treatment for the Chin and for Chin refugees who arrive in India.
Burma's military rulers intend to hold an election later this year, but most opposition leaders are banned from taking part.
The most famous is Aun Sang Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in the elections of 1990.
Burma's military leaders refused to accept the results and she has spent most of the last two decades in detention. The NLD says it will boycott these elections.
Amnesty International has warned that ethnic groups, like the Chin, face increased repression at the hands of the Burmese military.
The Burmese regime has previously denied repressing ethnic groups.
******************************************************
The Nation - No more registrations for immigrant workers
Published on April 21, 2010
The Labour Ministry's Department of Employment (DoE) will not open new registrations for immigrant workers currently in Thailand, DoE chief Jeerasak Sukhonthachat said yesterday.
Instead, to solve the country's labour shortage, the DoE aims to open up channels for the legal immigration of Burmese labourers, speeding up the nationality identification process for the remaining worker applicants, he said.
The Federation of Thai Industries - fearing a shortage of 300,000 workers in various industries - had called for another round of registration after the Songkran holidays, fearing there would be no more such registrations this year.
The estimated shortage of workers matched the number of immigrants who had failed to apply for the nationality ID process earlier, he said. Some 1.3 million workers had applied for the process. While speeding up the registration process for the remaining applicants, the DoE would also allow immigration of workers to make up for the projected shortage of labour, Jeerasak said. The DoE had contacted Burma to send the first batch of 20,000 workers to Thailand.
Employers wishing to retain workers they had hired earlier could send them back home and then give their names to the DoE. It would contact the workers' countries to return the workers to Thailand legally.
So far, 70,000 workers have completed the Burmese nationality ID process. Three checkpoints providing the service had lifted their daily applications intake from 600 to 1,000, he said. Thai authorities had urged Burma to provide sufficient staff to handle the increased daily workload, he added.
Published on April 21, 2010
The Labour Ministry's Department of Employment (DoE) will not open new registrations for immigrant workers currently in Thailand, DoE chief Jeerasak Sukhonthachat said yesterday.
Instead, to solve the country's labour shortage, the DoE aims to open up channels for the legal immigration of Burmese labourers, speeding up the nationality identification process for the remaining worker applicants, he said.
The Federation of Thai Industries - fearing a shortage of 300,000 workers in various industries - had called for another round of registration after the Songkran holidays, fearing there would be no more such registrations this year.
The estimated shortage of workers matched the number of immigrants who had failed to apply for the nationality ID process earlier, he said. Some 1.3 million workers had applied for the process. While speeding up the registration process for the remaining applicants, the DoE would also allow immigration of workers to make up for the projected shortage of labour, Jeerasak said. The DoE had contacted Burma to send the first batch of 20,000 workers to Thailand.
Employers wishing to retain workers they had hired earlier could send them back home and then give their names to the DoE. It would contact the workers' countries to return the workers to Thailand legally.
So far, 70,000 workers have completed the Burmese nationality ID process. Three checkpoints providing the service had lifted their daily applications intake from 600 to 1,000, he said. Thai authorities had urged Burma to provide sufficient staff to handle the increased daily workload, he added.
******************************************************
Burma's Electoral Dilemmas: Succession Strategy
Ashley South
The World Today, Volume 66, Number 5
April 20, 2010
The Burmese people are probably about to get their first chance to vote in twenty years. Things did not go well last time; the military prevented the winners taking power. Now, new groups are emerging to try to take advantage of the limited opportunities on offer.
The Burmese military Government issued five laws on March 8, providing a framework for elections which are likely to be held later this year. While a number of opposition activists and politicians will boycott the polls, others are preparing to participate in the first opportunity to vote since 1990.
The elections are the brainchild of junta supremo, Senior General Than Shwe, and represent his 'succession strategy' - a way of easing himself out of the day-to-day running of the country, while ensuring that no single person can consolidate power, and represent a threat to his continued pre-eminence behind-the-scenes.
The polls could still be cancelled, if Than Shwe and his inner grouping feel they are losing control of the process. In this scenario, the most likely pretext would be to fabricate some kind of national emergency, perhaps by provoking a resumption of conflict with armed ethnic groups, most of which have agreed ceasefires with the military government over the past twenty years.
Assuming that they do go ahead, the elections are likely to result in a consolidation and legitimisation of continued military control in Burma/Myanmar. For this reason, many opposition activists are opposed to the process. These include Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD), won the last elections in 1990, only to be denied the opportunity of forming a government by the military. The NLD has recently announced it will not register to contest the elections.
However, some non-military-controlled actors, including groups which are outright opposed to the government, are nevertheless preparing to participate. These include representatives of Burma's ethnic nationality - or minority - communities, which make up about a third of the population.
ANY CHANGE WILL HELP
Why are independent candidates interested in contesting the polls? Not because of any great enthusiasm for the process, which will be tightly controlled by the military regime, but rather because they see little alternative but to go along with the government's plans, and in some cases, even glimpse a few potential opportunities.
The elections are likely to result in the creation of more political space; a relative concept in such a repressive country. Certainly, they will introduce opportunities for a broader range of economic actors to make their interests felt, including many closely associated with the military.
To many activists and observers, any change is better than the status quo; constitutional rule-of-law, however problematic, being preferable to continued rule by military fiat. Indeed, to the extent that the elections are Than Shwe's 'exit strategy', many proponents of change in Burma argue that the process should be encouraged.
Most observers of the Burmese political scene are familiar with two main branches of the opposition: the urban-based, pro-democracy movement, led by Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the last two decades under house arrest; and a loose alliance of ethnic nationalist insurgents, who once operated across large swathes of the country, but in recent years have been restricted to a few jungle enclaves along the Thai border. The Burma Army continues its brutal counter-insurgency campaigns in these border areas, which have displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.
THIRD FORCES
There are however, other important sectors of the political scene. These include armed ethnic ceasefire groups which have ended outright hostilities with the central government, and political elites who have not taken up arms, but rather seek to work for change from within military-controlled Burma.
Among the former, probably the best prepared are Kachin nationalists, including a number of senior officials recently retired from the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) - which agreed a ceasefire in 1994 - who are preparing to compete in the polls through a new vehicle, the Kachin State Progressive Party.
This group is likely to appeal to large numbers of the Kachin population in northern Burma. However, it may yet be denied the chance, if the military government insists on trying to bring the armed wings of the KIO and other ceasefire groups under the direct control of the Burmese army, before the election. Such a development might be designed to provide a resumption of armed conflict - not just in Kachin State, but in other restive border areas.
Another interesting set of alliances is emerging in the Karen ethnic community. Two Karen parties are likely to participate in the elections, one in Karen State, adjoining Thailand, and another in the old capital of Rangoon, and further to the west, in the Irrawaddy Delta, including areas affected by Cyclone Nargis two years ago. The latter party will attempt to appeal beyond a purely Karen constituency, to members of other ethnic groups, including Burmans, whose villages are often interspersed with those of the Karen.
An important set of emergent players is associated with the 'third force' in Burmese politics, which is seeking to mobilise support primarily among the Burman majority. This mostly civilian network is positioning itself as an alternative to military-backed parties, which is nevertheless independent of the NLD and its 'politics of dissent'.
After sixty years of armed ethnic conflict, the elections are a rare opportunity for ethnic nationalist and other elite groupings to outline their political objectives, and compete on the national political stage. Having said this, most ethnic parties are focusing on winning seats in provincial legislatures, rather than the two national-level assemblies. They are hoping to gain enough seats to leverage at least some concessions on the issues which have structured ethnic and state-society conflict for over half a century.
In particular, ethnic nationalist politicians hope to begin using minority languages in schools and local government departments, in areas where their populations live, and to have some say over the proceeds of natural resource extraction, and the use of government funds. They also hope to promote the creation of greater political 'space', within which civil society-based approaches to community development can flourish, and provide a vehicle for long-term, bottom-up democratisation.
The main risk of participation in the elections is that this will legitimise the process, and support the consolidation of militarised rule. Those taking part may also undermine their own standing in disgruntled ethnic communities. Their attempts to promote incremental change in this way are therefore quite principled, and in many cases decidedly brave.
INTERNATIONAL AGENDAS
Regarding the international aspect of the elections, the China angle is of considerable importance. Burma's giant neighbour to the north is its main geo-strategic patron. It offers cover for the generals' misrule and human rights abuses - for example in the United Nations Security Council - in exchange for access to the country's natural resources. Less influential, but still of some note, are the various Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries which border Burma to the south and east, and are looking for stability and investment opportunities.
Despite - or perhaps, even because of - the lofty rhetoric of western actors, European and North American countries have very little influence on the political situation. Regardless of whether the British or United States governments - or the European Union - like it or not, the elections will take place, and if they do not, this will not be because of western pressure. To think otherwise is to misunderstand the nature of Burmese politics, in an era of declining western influence globally.
Those inside the country seeking to participate in the elections, are hoping to make the best of a poor set of options. They are surely better placed than exiled politicians and their sympathisers to judge the opportunities and constraints locally.
Ashley South, independent writer and consultant, specialising in politics and humanitarian issues in Burma/Myanmar and Southeast Asia: www.ashleysouth.co.uk
Ashley South
The World Today, Volume 66, Number 5
April 20, 2010
The Burmese people are probably about to get their first chance to vote in twenty years. Things did not go well last time; the military prevented the winners taking power. Now, new groups are emerging to try to take advantage of the limited opportunities on offer.
The Burmese military Government issued five laws on March 8, providing a framework for elections which are likely to be held later this year. While a number of opposition activists and politicians will boycott the polls, others are preparing to participate in the first opportunity to vote since 1990.
The elections are the brainchild of junta supremo, Senior General Than Shwe, and represent his 'succession strategy' - a way of easing himself out of the day-to-day running of the country, while ensuring that no single person can consolidate power, and represent a threat to his continued pre-eminence behind-the-scenes.
The polls could still be cancelled, if Than Shwe and his inner grouping feel they are losing control of the process. In this scenario, the most likely pretext would be to fabricate some kind of national emergency, perhaps by provoking a resumption of conflict with armed ethnic groups, most of which have agreed ceasefires with the military government over the past twenty years.
Assuming that they do go ahead, the elections are likely to result in a consolidation and legitimisation of continued military control in Burma/Myanmar. For this reason, many opposition activists are opposed to the process. These include Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD), won the last elections in 1990, only to be denied the opportunity of forming a government by the military. The NLD has recently announced it will not register to contest the elections.
However, some non-military-controlled actors, including groups which are outright opposed to the government, are nevertheless preparing to participate. These include representatives of Burma's ethnic nationality - or minority - communities, which make up about a third of the population.
ANY CHANGE WILL HELP
Why are independent candidates interested in contesting the polls? Not because of any great enthusiasm for the process, which will be tightly controlled by the military regime, but rather because they see little alternative but to go along with the government's plans, and in some cases, even glimpse a few potential opportunities.
The elections are likely to result in the creation of more political space; a relative concept in such a repressive country. Certainly, they will introduce opportunities for a broader range of economic actors to make their interests felt, including many closely associated with the military.
To many activists and observers, any change is better than the status quo; constitutional rule-of-law, however problematic, being preferable to continued rule by military fiat. Indeed, to the extent that the elections are Than Shwe's 'exit strategy', many proponents of change in Burma argue that the process should be encouraged.
Most observers of the Burmese political scene are familiar with two main branches of the opposition: the urban-based, pro-democracy movement, led by Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the last two decades under house arrest; and a loose alliance of ethnic nationalist insurgents, who once operated across large swathes of the country, but in recent years have been restricted to a few jungle enclaves along the Thai border. The Burma Army continues its brutal counter-insurgency campaigns in these border areas, which have displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.
THIRD FORCES
There are however, other important sectors of the political scene. These include armed ethnic ceasefire groups which have ended outright hostilities with the central government, and political elites who have not taken up arms, but rather seek to work for change from within military-controlled Burma.
Among the former, probably the best prepared are Kachin nationalists, including a number of senior officials recently retired from the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) - which agreed a ceasefire in 1994 - who are preparing to compete in the polls through a new vehicle, the Kachin State Progressive Party.
This group is likely to appeal to large numbers of the Kachin population in northern Burma. However, it may yet be denied the chance, if the military government insists on trying to bring the armed wings of the KIO and other ceasefire groups under the direct control of the Burmese army, before the election. Such a development might be designed to provide a resumption of armed conflict - not just in Kachin State, but in other restive border areas.
Another interesting set of alliances is emerging in the Karen ethnic community. Two Karen parties are likely to participate in the elections, one in Karen State, adjoining Thailand, and another in the old capital of Rangoon, and further to the west, in the Irrawaddy Delta, including areas affected by Cyclone Nargis two years ago. The latter party will attempt to appeal beyond a purely Karen constituency, to members of other ethnic groups, including Burmans, whose villages are often interspersed with those of the Karen.
An important set of emergent players is associated with the 'third force' in Burmese politics, which is seeking to mobilise support primarily among the Burman majority. This mostly civilian network is positioning itself as an alternative to military-backed parties, which is nevertheless independent of the NLD and its 'politics of dissent'.
After sixty years of armed ethnic conflict, the elections are a rare opportunity for ethnic nationalist and other elite groupings to outline their political objectives, and compete on the national political stage. Having said this, most ethnic parties are focusing on winning seats in provincial legislatures, rather than the two national-level assemblies. They are hoping to gain enough seats to leverage at least some concessions on the issues which have structured ethnic and state-society conflict for over half a century.
In particular, ethnic nationalist politicians hope to begin using minority languages in schools and local government departments, in areas where their populations live, and to have some say over the proceeds of natural resource extraction, and the use of government funds. They also hope to promote the creation of greater political 'space', within which civil society-based approaches to community development can flourish, and provide a vehicle for long-term, bottom-up democratisation.
The main risk of participation in the elections is that this will legitimise the process, and support the consolidation of militarised rule. Those taking part may also undermine their own standing in disgruntled ethnic communities. Their attempts to promote incremental change in this way are therefore quite principled, and in many cases decidedly brave.
INTERNATIONAL AGENDAS
Regarding the international aspect of the elections, the China angle is of considerable importance. Burma's giant neighbour to the north is its main geo-strategic patron. It offers cover for the generals' misrule and human rights abuses - for example in the United Nations Security Council - in exchange for access to the country's natural resources. Less influential, but still of some note, are the various Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries which border Burma to the south and east, and are looking for stability and investment opportunities.
Despite - or perhaps, even because of - the lofty rhetoric of western actors, European and North American countries have very little influence on the political situation. Regardless of whether the British or United States governments - or the European Union - like it or not, the elections will take place, and if they do not, this will not be because of western pressure. To think otherwise is to misunderstand the nature of Burmese politics, in an era of declining western influence globally.
Those inside the country seeking to participate in the elections, are hoping to make the best of a poor set of options. They are surely better placed than exiled politicians and their sympathisers to judge the opportunities and constraints locally.
Ashley South, independent writer and consultant, specialising in politics and humanitarian issues in Burma/Myanmar and Southeast Asia: www.ashleysouth.co.uk
******************************************************
The Irrawaddy - US Response To Sudan Election Omen for Burma?
By HTET AUNG - Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The United States recognized the winners in the Sudan parliamentary election last week and said the Obama administration will engage with the new government even though the electoral process was not judged to be free or fair.
“This was not a free and fair election,” said P.J. Crowley, the State Department spokesperson on Monday. “It did not, broadly speaking, meet international standards. [But] I think we recognize that the election is a very important step.”
That leads to a question: Could the US stand on the Sudan election be a preliminary sign for its possible response to Burma's parliamentary election which will be held late this year?
President Barack Obama is engaged in a new policy on Burma. However, it has so far gained no tangible result after several meetings between the two countries' senior officials in New York and Rangoon.
Recently, US Senator Judd Gregg and six other senators called for US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to assess whether the policy of engagement with the Burmese military junta has been effective in furthering US interests.
“I think Burma is worse than Sudan though the governments share similar things such as repression and human rights violations,” said Win Tin, an executive committee member of the National League for Democracy and a close associate of Aung San Suu Kyi. “I understand the American's recognition on the result of the Sudan election because they see a political progress between the ruling party and the opposition.
“But Burma is not like Sudan and the junta has never shown their willingness to talk with the opposition. Therefore, the American stand on Burma could be different.”
Asked his view on the US senators call for the need to reassess US policy, Win Tin said: “I agreed with them. They may want to see their government be tougher than now on its Burma policy. Since our meeting with Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, I knew that the US has a plan to appoint a US special envoy on Burma to be stationed in Rangoon to bring about a dialogue among us. But nothing has happened.”
Campbell visited Burma last November as part of the US engagement policy and met both ruling generals and the opposition, including Suu Kyi.
Similar to the Sudan election, the first in 24 years, Burma's election will be the first in 20 years. However, Burma's recently promulgated election laws have ignored the international community's concerns, including the US, which called for a free, fair and inclusive process so that all the political parties could participate.
The election laws excluded more than 2,000 political prisoners, including the key opposition leaders such as democratic icon Suu Kyi, Shan leader Hkun Htun Oo and student leader Min Ko Naing from participating in the election. Due to the unjust laws, late last month the National League for Democracy led by Suu Kyi decided not to contest the election.
However, except for expressing respect for the NLD decision, the US has taken no concrete step to response to the junta. Analysts said it is likely that the US will recognize the result of the election, as they did in Sudan, and will engage with the new government.
Sudan and Burma have both been under sanctions imposed by the international community because their leaders, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and Snr-Gen Than Shwe, have both committed serious human rights violations against their own people.
Bashir is on the wanted list of the International Criminal Court based in The Hague which has charged him with war crimes committed in Darfur. The Burmese military junta led by Than Shwe has so far managed to escape from ICC charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Last month, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, called for an international inquiry into possible crimes against humanity and war crimes.
“According to consistent reports, the possibility exists that some of these human rights violations may entail categories of crimes against humanity or war crimes under the terms of the statute of the International Criminal Court,” said Quintana, in a 30-page report to the U.N.
Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Referring to the US, Win Tin said the NLD understands the US must deal with the junta while also giving moral support to the NLD and democratic movements in Burma. “I don't expect much from them,” he said.
By HTET AUNG - Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The United States recognized the winners in the Sudan parliamentary election last week and said the Obama administration will engage with the new government even though the electoral process was not judged to be free or fair.
“This was not a free and fair election,” said P.J. Crowley, the State Department spokesperson on Monday. “It did not, broadly speaking, meet international standards. [But] I think we recognize that the election is a very important step.”
That leads to a question: Could the US stand on the Sudan election be a preliminary sign for its possible response to Burma's parliamentary election which will be held late this year?
President Barack Obama is engaged in a new policy on Burma. However, it has so far gained no tangible result after several meetings between the two countries' senior officials in New York and Rangoon.
Recently, US Senator Judd Gregg and six other senators called for US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to assess whether the policy of engagement with the Burmese military junta has been effective in furthering US interests.
“I think Burma is worse than Sudan though the governments share similar things such as repression and human rights violations,” said Win Tin, an executive committee member of the National League for Democracy and a close associate of Aung San Suu Kyi. “I understand the American's recognition on the result of the Sudan election because they see a political progress between the ruling party and the opposition.
“But Burma is not like Sudan and the junta has never shown their willingness to talk with the opposition. Therefore, the American stand on Burma could be different.”
Asked his view on the US senators call for the need to reassess US policy, Win Tin said: “I agreed with them. They may want to see their government be tougher than now on its Burma policy. Since our meeting with Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, I knew that the US has a plan to appoint a US special envoy on Burma to be stationed in Rangoon to bring about a dialogue among us. But nothing has happened.”
Campbell visited Burma last November as part of the US engagement policy and met both ruling generals and the opposition, including Suu Kyi.
Similar to the Sudan election, the first in 24 years, Burma's election will be the first in 20 years. However, Burma's recently promulgated election laws have ignored the international community's concerns, including the US, which called for a free, fair and inclusive process so that all the political parties could participate.
The election laws excluded more than 2,000 political prisoners, including the key opposition leaders such as democratic icon Suu Kyi, Shan leader Hkun Htun Oo and student leader Min Ko Naing from participating in the election. Due to the unjust laws, late last month the National League for Democracy led by Suu Kyi decided not to contest the election.
However, except for expressing respect for the NLD decision, the US has taken no concrete step to response to the junta. Analysts said it is likely that the US will recognize the result of the election, as they did in Sudan, and will engage with the new government.
Sudan and Burma have both been under sanctions imposed by the international community because their leaders, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and Snr-Gen Than Shwe, have both committed serious human rights violations against their own people.
Bashir is on the wanted list of the International Criminal Court based in The Hague which has charged him with war crimes committed in Darfur. The Burmese military junta led by Than Shwe has so far managed to escape from ICC charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Last month, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, called for an international inquiry into possible crimes against humanity and war crimes.
“According to consistent reports, the possibility exists that some of these human rights violations may entail categories of crimes against humanity or war crimes under the terms of the statute of the International Criminal Court,” said Quintana, in a 30-page report to the U.N.
Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Referring to the US, Win Tin said the NLD understands the US must deal with the junta while also giving moral support to the NLD and democratic movements in Burma. “I don't expect much from them,” he said.
******************************************************
The Irrawaddy - DKBA Gold Mining Disrupting Lives: KORD
By ALEX ELLGEE - Wednesday, April 21, 2010
MAE SOT, Thailand—Gold mining activities carried out by the pro-junta Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) have severely disrupted the lives and livelihoods of villagers in northern Karen State, according to the Karen Office for Relief and Development (KORD), which is based in Mae Sot in Thailand.
In an internal report passed to The Irrawaddy, a KORD researcher who spent seven months monitoring and researching the situation said that mining activities have destroyed more than 10,000 acres of paddy fields, and that the DKBA has imposed strict travel restrictions and has inflicted human rights abuses on local villagers.
As a result, many Karen villagers in the area face severe food shortages and are surviving by sharing and borrowing from each other, the report said.
“The villagers face heavy travel restrictions,” said Htoo Klei, the secretary of the KORD. “They are not allowed to leave their villages, so they have lost work and income. They are already very poor and have serious problems looking after their families.”
The report said that although travel restrictions were relaxed at various times, villagers over 15 years of age generally had to pay the DKBA 500 kyat (US $0.50) for travel permits and were only allowed out between 6 a.m. And 5 p.m. Villagers reported to the KORD that the did not allow them sufficient time to get to their paddy fields and work a full day.
Villagers also reportedly said that restrictions were increased when armed conflict flared between the DKBA and the rebel Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU).
The KORD report said that local villagers are frequently accused of being KNLA sympathizers.
After the KNLA reportedly ambushed a bulldozer at one mining site, local villagers were victimized by the DKBA, which reinstated travel restrictions on the villagers. In February, DKBA soldiers reportedly raided local houses in another village following a KNLA raid on a DKBA base.
The village headmen is reported to have been severely tortured by the DKBA and accused of providing information to the KNLA. As a result, many villages have no headmen because no one wants to take on the role for fear of reprisals.
Fearing KNLA attacks, the DKBA planted landmines all around the gold-mining areas without informing local villagers where the mines were laid. Consequently, many villagers are scared to go out, and report losing animals to landmines.
The KORD reported that when miniing began, some 700 DKBA soldiers set up bases in the villages of Waw Mu, Wa Tho Klar, Nay Hsa Gaw Hta, Wah Mi Kho, Thay Hsaw Khee and Pho Kheh Hta.
The villagers said the soldiers had not been sent with enough food provisions, and the DKBA commander, Col. Chit Thu, assembled the village headmen and told them to prepare food for the troops, which the DKBA would pay back at a later date. However, the villagers were never repaid, the report said.
“I went to see Chit Thu on behalf of the villagers, but he would not listen to me,” a village headman told the KORD researcher. “In fact, he told me to go back and tell the villagers that the DKBA are not farmers, but the villagers are. Therefore, they should be prepared to support the army with supplies of rice.”
The KORD also reported the repeated use of forced labor by DKBA troops.
“When the DKBA first arrive in the area, many villagers are forced to carry supplies and build facilities for the DKBA,” said Htoo Klei.
As a result of time spent working for the DKBA, many villagers reported that they were unable to take care of their harvests and lost much paddy.
The DKBA has constructed roads leading to the gold mines through the villagers’ paddy fields, KORD said. As a result, many villagers have lost their best paddy fields. They were given no warning before construction began, the report said.
Until recently, villagers in northern Karen State panned for gold as a source of income. Since the DKBA set up mining activities, the villagers have been banned from panning and from visiting the mine sites.
“It’s more appropriate for a mining company to be doing this work as opposed to the DKBA, who don’t care about human rights and let the local people suffer, Htoo Klei told The Irrawaddy. “The DKBA should take care of the people whose land they are exploiting.”
Some of the villagers reported the DKBA troops as saying they plan to stay in some of the gold-mining areas for up to 10 years.
By ALEX ELLGEE - Wednesday, April 21, 2010
MAE SOT, Thailand—Gold mining activities carried out by the pro-junta Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) have severely disrupted the lives and livelihoods of villagers in northern Karen State, according to the Karen Office for Relief and Development (KORD), which is based in Mae Sot in Thailand.
In an internal report passed to The Irrawaddy, a KORD researcher who spent seven months monitoring and researching the situation said that mining activities have destroyed more than 10,000 acres of paddy fields, and that the DKBA has imposed strict travel restrictions and has inflicted human rights abuses on local villagers.
As a result, many Karen villagers in the area face severe food shortages and are surviving by sharing and borrowing from each other, the report said.
“The villagers face heavy travel restrictions,” said Htoo Klei, the secretary of the KORD. “They are not allowed to leave their villages, so they have lost work and income. They are already very poor and have serious problems looking after their families.”
The report said that although travel restrictions were relaxed at various times, villagers over 15 years of age generally had to pay the DKBA 500 kyat (US $0.50) for travel permits and were only allowed out between 6 a.m. And 5 p.m. Villagers reported to the KORD that the did not allow them sufficient time to get to their paddy fields and work a full day.
Villagers also reportedly said that restrictions were increased when armed conflict flared between the DKBA and the rebel Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU).
The KORD report said that local villagers are frequently accused of being KNLA sympathizers.
After the KNLA reportedly ambushed a bulldozer at one mining site, local villagers were victimized by the DKBA, which reinstated travel restrictions on the villagers. In February, DKBA soldiers reportedly raided local houses in another village following a KNLA raid on a DKBA base.
The village headmen is reported to have been severely tortured by the DKBA and accused of providing information to the KNLA. As a result, many villages have no headmen because no one wants to take on the role for fear of reprisals.
Fearing KNLA attacks, the DKBA planted landmines all around the gold-mining areas without informing local villagers where the mines were laid. Consequently, many villagers are scared to go out, and report losing animals to landmines.
The KORD reported that when miniing began, some 700 DKBA soldiers set up bases in the villages of Waw Mu, Wa Tho Klar, Nay Hsa Gaw Hta, Wah Mi Kho, Thay Hsaw Khee and Pho Kheh Hta.
The villagers said the soldiers had not been sent with enough food provisions, and the DKBA commander, Col. Chit Thu, assembled the village headmen and told them to prepare food for the troops, which the DKBA would pay back at a later date. However, the villagers were never repaid, the report said.
“I went to see Chit Thu on behalf of the villagers, but he would not listen to me,” a village headman told the KORD researcher. “In fact, he told me to go back and tell the villagers that the DKBA are not farmers, but the villagers are. Therefore, they should be prepared to support the army with supplies of rice.”
The KORD also reported the repeated use of forced labor by DKBA troops.
“When the DKBA first arrive in the area, many villagers are forced to carry supplies and build facilities for the DKBA,” said Htoo Klei.
As a result of time spent working for the DKBA, many villagers reported that they were unable to take care of their harvests and lost much paddy.
The DKBA has constructed roads leading to the gold mines through the villagers’ paddy fields, KORD said. As a result, many villagers have lost their best paddy fields. They were given no warning before construction began, the report said.
Until recently, villagers in northern Karen State panned for gold as a source of income. Since the DKBA set up mining activities, the villagers have been banned from panning and from visiting the mine sites.
“It’s more appropriate for a mining company to be doing this work as opposed to the DKBA, who don’t care about human rights and let the local people suffer, Htoo Klei told The Irrawaddy. “The DKBA should take care of the people whose land they are exploiting.”
Some of the villagers reported the DKBA troops as saying they plan to stay in some of the gold-mining areas for up to 10 years.
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Rangoon blasts were grenade attacks: army engineer
Wednesday, 21 April 2010 16:12 Myo Thein
Rangoon (Mizzima) - Hand grenades lobbed into the X2O pavilion in Kandawgyi Park, Rangoon last week caused the three blasts during water-festival celebrations, according to an army engineer on the case.
A team of military engineers and crime-division police investigated the site of the attacks under the supervision of an army commanding officer and a police commander. Three hand grenades were thrown into the massive crowd in front of the pavilion and two detonators were found, an official who asked to remain anonymous said. “The grenades were thrown into the crowd. We found two safety pins. The pins were about 20 yards (18 metres) apart”, he said.
The bombs exploded at the X2O pavilion as the Rangoon Division No. 4 Military Region Commander Colonel Ohn Cho arrived on an inspection tour. He was reportedly hit by shrapnel in his abdomen by one of the three blasts, which killed 10 people and left 170 injured.
But, by April 18, just 50 patients remained in Rangoon Hospital, most of whom were in the hospital’s neurology department.
The army engineer explained the rationale behind the verdict: “We knew that there were around 300 or 400 people present during the incident … many people were dancing so we could assume the bombs could not be time bombs,” he said, without elaborating. “We heard boxes of cigarettes were thrown from the pavilion and that some people threw them back … So, we think criminals threw the grenades, mixing their actions with those of the box throwers.”
As the blasts went off when government officials were arriving at the pavilion, Mizzima asked the engineer if the attackers were targeting the officials. He could not exactly say.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010 16:12 Myo Thein
Rangoon (Mizzima) - Hand grenades lobbed into the X2O pavilion in Kandawgyi Park, Rangoon last week caused the three blasts during water-festival celebrations, according to an army engineer on the case.
A team of military engineers and crime-division police investigated the site of the attacks under the supervision of an army commanding officer and a police commander. Three hand grenades were thrown into the massive crowd in front of the pavilion and two detonators were found, an official who asked to remain anonymous said. “The grenades were thrown into the crowd. We found two safety pins. The pins were about 20 yards (18 metres) apart”, he said.
The bombs exploded at the X2O pavilion as the Rangoon Division No. 4 Military Region Commander Colonel Ohn Cho arrived on an inspection tour. He was reportedly hit by shrapnel in his abdomen by one of the three blasts, which killed 10 people and left 170 injured.
But, by April 18, just 50 patients remained in Rangoon Hospital, most of whom were in the hospital’s neurology department.
The army engineer explained the rationale behind the verdict: “We knew that there were around 300 or 400 people present during the incident … many people were dancing so we could assume the bombs could not be time bombs,” he said, without elaborating. “We heard boxes of cigarettes were thrown from the pavilion and that some people threw them back … So, we think criminals threw the grenades, mixing their actions with those of the box throwers.”
As the blasts went off when government officials were arriving at the pavilion, Mizzima asked the engineer if the attackers were targeting the officials. He could not exactly say.
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Dangerous levels of arsenic found in drinking water
Wednesday, 21 April 2010 22:50 Myo Thein
Rangoon (Mizzima) – Arsenic contamination in drinking water, which poses a serious public health risk, has been found in all 12 regions of Burma, a Ministry of Health official says, quoting a joint survey with the UN child protection body, Unicef.
The survey by the ministry’s Occupational Health section, Unicef water resources department and the “Border and Municipal” department, found water contaminated with arsenic at levels above 10 ppb (parts per billion) – the level set as permissible by the World Health Organisation (WHO) – was found in the states and divisions of all 12 regions, Deputy Director of Occupational Health Dr. Than Htut said.
It found the highest content of arsenic in Irrawaddy and Pegu divisions and a similarly high content in Rakhine State, he said. Contaminated water with more than 50 ppb of arsenic was found elsewhere in all states and divisions.
“The contamination of arsenic will be higher in Rakhine State because we took smaller test samples there … but contamination levels were higher than the worst states so we expect Rakhine State to actually be the worst state,” Dr. Than Htut said.
According to the survey of more than 80,000 water samples taken from 28 townships in Pegu Division, 42 per cent contained more than 10 ppb and 9.6 per cent showed greater than 50 ppb. Of tests in 26 Irrawaddy Division townships, 29.2 per cent registered greater than 10 ppb and 4.23 per cent, more than 50 ppb.
Out of 5,200 water samples taken in Rakhine State, 42 per cent showed more than 10 ppb, and more than 8 per cent, greater than 50 ppb.
The highest arsenic contamination is found in river valleys and delta regions and along the rivers, creeks, lakes and reservoirs based on water bearing mud and sand layers. The high contamination of arsenic is reportedly found in groundwater too.
“As there is shortage of water, we must take care of our potable water resources. The people think the water from rivers and creeks is dangerous for health as it is contaminated with human waste and other impurities that can cause infectious diseases,” the deputy director said. “So the people switch to groundwater by thinking it is a safe and clean water resource. But the groundwater is also contaminated with chemical residues and a high content of acids. It is becoming a huge problem.”
The surveys were conducted after water was found to be highly contaminated with arsenic in neighbouring India and Bangladesh. Called arsenic poisoning in the Bangladeshi wells the “largest mass poisoning of a population in history”.
Arsenic interferes with cell metabolism causing many effects such as cancers, vascular diseases and brain damage. It can also cause changes of skin colour, warts and deformities of the fingernails and toenails.
“We cannot drink arsenic-contaminated water by any means, even after boiling it. We cannot treat it by storing in a container overnight,” Dr. Than Htut said.
Water contaminated with arsenic at concentrations of more than 10 ppb was found in: Irrawaddy, Pegu, Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay, Rakhine, Kachin, Shan (South), Shan (North), Mon, Rangoon and Tanintharyi, but only a few cases of arsenic-related illnesses were found or reported, he said.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010 22:50 Myo Thein
Rangoon (Mizzima) – Arsenic contamination in drinking water, which poses a serious public health risk, has been found in all 12 regions of Burma, a Ministry of Health official says, quoting a joint survey with the UN child protection body, Unicef.
The survey by the ministry’s Occupational Health section, Unicef water resources department and the “Border and Municipal” department, found water contaminated with arsenic at levels above 10 ppb (parts per billion) – the level set as permissible by the World Health Organisation (WHO) – was found in the states and divisions of all 12 regions, Deputy Director of Occupational Health Dr. Than Htut said.
It found the highest content of arsenic in Irrawaddy and Pegu divisions and a similarly high content in Rakhine State, he said. Contaminated water with more than 50 ppb of arsenic was found elsewhere in all states and divisions.
“The contamination of arsenic will be higher in Rakhine State because we took smaller test samples there … but contamination levels were higher than the worst states so we expect Rakhine State to actually be the worst state,” Dr. Than Htut said.
According to the survey of more than 80,000 water samples taken from 28 townships in Pegu Division, 42 per cent contained more than 10 ppb and 9.6 per cent showed greater than 50 ppb. Of tests in 26 Irrawaddy Division townships, 29.2 per cent registered greater than 10 ppb and 4.23 per cent, more than 50 ppb.
Out of 5,200 water samples taken in Rakhine State, 42 per cent showed more than 10 ppb, and more than 8 per cent, greater than 50 ppb.
The highest arsenic contamination is found in river valleys and delta regions and along the rivers, creeks, lakes and reservoirs based on water bearing mud and sand layers. The high contamination of arsenic is reportedly found in groundwater too.
“As there is shortage of water, we must take care of our potable water resources. The people think the water from rivers and creeks is dangerous for health as it is contaminated with human waste and other impurities that can cause infectious diseases,” the deputy director said. “So the people switch to groundwater by thinking it is a safe and clean water resource. But the groundwater is also contaminated with chemical residues and a high content of acids. It is becoming a huge problem.”
The surveys were conducted after water was found to be highly contaminated with arsenic in neighbouring India and Bangladesh. Called arsenic poisoning in the Bangladeshi wells the “largest mass poisoning of a population in history”.
Arsenic interferes with cell metabolism causing many effects such as cancers, vascular diseases and brain damage. It can also cause changes of skin colour, warts and deformities of the fingernails and toenails.
“We cannot drink arsenic-contaminated water by any means, even after boiling it. We cannot treat it by storing in a container overnight,” Dr. Than Htut said.
Water contaminated with arsenic at concentrations of more than 10 ppb was found in: Irrawaddy, Pegu, Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay, Rakhine, Kachin, Shan (South), Shan (North), Mon, Rangoon and Tanintharyi, but only a few cases of arsenic-related illnesses were found or reported, he said.
******************************************************
DVB News - Canadian uni ‘spied’ on Burmese students
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 21 April 2010
Ka Hsaw Wa is a Karen refugee in Canada, a nation with some of the most stringent sanctions on Burma’s ruling generals. It has now been revealed that he and others were spied on by a university for having a meeting about his homeland.
Ka Hsaw Wa, one of the founding members of the US-based EarthRights International (ERI), was due to speak at the University of Ottawa, along with members of the Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB), about the French oil giant Total and its business activities in Burma, which include the Yadana pipeline project.
Rights groups have said that human rights violations have surrounded the project, accusations which landed Total in court, although the case was eventually settled out-of-court. The 5 December 2007 meeting was called ‘Burma Blood Profits: was Ottawa U’s Desmarais building paid for with cash tainted by the blood of innocent Burmese citizens?’
However the university had other ideas. In a leaked email dated 30 November 2007 circulated to colleagues by Victor Simon, University of Ottawa vice president for resources, he cautioned that “we should prohibit the use of our facilities for this event, on the grounds that the program material includes allegations and accusations that may be libellous . . .I know that this kind of action thinking flies in the face of many principles we hold dear in the University world, but I think we have others interests at stake here.”
The university was concerned because the building Ka Hsaw Wa was going to talk in, the new $15 million Desmarais building named after the family of the same name, was bankrolled by Paul G. Desmarais, who sat on the board of Total.
The information, disclosed to CFOB through the freedom of information request, “implicates a corporate interest at the university”, according to former Ottawa University student and now-prominent human rights lawyer, Yava Hameed.
However the release of this information was delayed for more than ten months as the university sought to prevent disclosure of their relationship and bias towards a benefactor.
“They tried everything they could to delay and prevent us from getting the documents. They said we couldn’t see the documents because of an attorney client privilege, but we eventually got that disclosed,” says Kevin McCleod, on the board of directors of CFOB.
Despite Simon’s feeling that the action “flies in the face of many principles”, the university president, Giles Patry, as a result of the ‘other interests’ that Simon speaks of, suggests in the emails that “We should monitor to see if they [Ka Hsaw Wa et al] are exposing themselves with libellous comments.”
Indeed after the event, CFOB were suspicious of a number of members of the audience who, according to Mcleod, “were acting rather strange…like writing down everything that was said – they really weirded people out”.
This prompted CFOB to request the access to information and, through multiple appeals and a previous case in which a professor was sacked based on evidence from a student spy from the university’s newspaper, they realised that the activities of discussing the impacts of large corporations on Burma was, as Yavar Hamid puts it, a “sore spot for the university administration”.
On receiving, drip by drip, the transcripts of the emails that senior university staff sent between each other, some with redacted areas, CFOB also came to learn that as requested, the social networking site Facebook had been used to find out which students were attending the meeting. One message, sent on 30 November 2007 by Steve Bernique, assistant director of operations at the university, said “I love this programme [Facebook]! Now we know who is going to attend.”
A screen shot of the list was distributed amongst the higher echelons of the university as they discussed possible ways of blocking the event, including making use of university facilities out of the financial reach of groups such as ERI and CFOB.
“I think it’s quite incomprehensible; I don’t understand the actions of any academic institution spying on students and the community expressing their academic right and freedom; it’s preposterous,” says Hameed. “It wasn’t clear to me who the spies were but all the same it was quite distressing that students could be induced or paid to spy on fellow students and human rights activities.”
One member of the audience had deeper reasons for feeling distressed: octogenarian Harvey Su is the oldest Karen refugee in Canada. He was “appalled” by the surveillance, a phenomenon he thought he had fled.
“Who are these University of Ottawa presidents, vice presidents and security staff working for exactly? The people of Ontario? Or are they working for the Desmarais family, the oil companies and the Burmese military regime? This I really want to know.”
He has since forbidden his grandchildren from attending the University of Ottawa and called for the resignation of the chancellor of ‘Canada’s university’, as their slogan goes.
The University of Ottawa was unavailable for comment.
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 21 April 2010
Ka Hsaw Wa is a Karen refugee in Canada, a nation with some of the most stringent sanctions on Burma’s ruling generals. It has now been revealed that he and others were spied on by a university for having a meeting about his homeland.
Ka Hsaw Wa, one of the founding members of the US-based EarthRights International (ERI), was due to speak at the University of Ottawa, along with members of the Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB), about the French oil giant Total and its business activities in Burma, which include the Yadana pipeline project.
Rights groups have said that human rights violations have surrounded the project, accusations which landed Total in court, although the case was eventually settled out-of-court. The 5 December 2007 meeting was called ‘Burma Blood Profits: was Ottawa U’s Desmarais building paid for with cash tainted by the blood of innocent Burmese citizens?’
However the university had other ideas. In a leaked email dated 30 November 2007 circulated to colleagues by Victor Simon, University of Ottawa vice president for resources, he cautioned that “we should prohibit the use of our facilities for this event, on the grounds that the program material includes allegations and accusations that may be libellous . . .I know that this kind of action thinking flies in the face of many principles we hold dear in the University world, but I think we have others interests at stake here.”
The university was concerned because the building Ka Hsaw Wa was going to talk in, the new $15 million Desmarais building named after the family of the same name, was bankrolled by Paul G. Desmarais, who sat on the board of Total.
The information, disclosed to CFOB through the freedom of information request, “implicates a corporate interest at the university”, according to former Ottawa University student and now-prominent human rights lawyer, Yava Hameed.
However the release of this information was delayed for more than ten months as the university sought to prevent disclosure of their relationship and bias towards a benefactor.
“They tried everything they could to delay and prevent us from getting the documents. They said we couldn’t see the documents because of an attorney client privilege, but we eventually got that disclosed,” says Kevin McCleod, on the board of directors of CFOB.
Despite Simon’s feeling that the action “flies in the face of many principles”, the university president, Giles Patry, as a result of the ‘other interests’ that Simon speaks of, suggests in the emails that “We should monitor to see if they [Ka Hsaw Wa et al] are exposing themselves with libellous comments.”
Indeed after the event, CFOB were suspicious of a number of members of the audience who, according to Mcleod, “were acting rather strange…like writing down everything that was said – they really weirded people out”.
This prompted CFOB to request the access to information and, through multiple appeals and a previous case in which a professor was sacked based on evidence from a student spy from the university’s newspaper, they realised that the activities of discussing the impacts of large corporations on Burma was, as Yavar Hamid puts it, a “sore spot for the university administration”.
On receiving, drip by drip, the transcripts of the emails that senior university staff sent between each other, some with redacted areas, CFOB also came to learn that as requested, the social networking site Facebook had been used to find out which students were attending the meeting. One message, sent on 30 November 2007 by Steve Bernique, assistant director of operations at the university, said “I love this programme [Facebook]! Now we know who is going to attend.”
A screen shot of the list was distributed amongst the higher echelons of the university as they discussed possible ways of blocking the event, including making use of university facilities out of the financial reach of groups such as ERI and CFOB.
“I think it’s quite incomprehensible; I don’t understand the actions of any academic institution spying on students and the community expressing their academic right and freedom; it’s preposterous,” says Hameed. “It wasn’t clear to me who the spies were but all the same it was quite distressing that students could be induced or paid to spy on fellow students and human rights activities.”
One member of the audience had deeper reasons for feeling distressed: octogenarian Harvey Su is the oldest Karen refugee in Canada. He was “appalled” by the surveillance, a phenomenon he thought he had fled.
“Who are these University of Ottawa presidents, vice presidents and security staff working for exactly? The people of Ontario? Or are they working for the Desmarais family, the oil companies and the Burmese military regime? This I really want to know.”
He has since forbidden his grandchildren from attending the University of Ottawa and called for the resignation of the chancellor of ‘Canada’s university’, as their slogan goes.
The University of Ottawa was unavailable for comment.
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