Amnesty International USA
Myanmar must end arrests of activists and continue aid after Cyclone Nargis
24 November 2009
International donors meeting in Bangkok this week should pressure the Myanmar authorities to end harassment of activists trying to help survivors of Cyclone Nargis, and ensure sufficient aid reaches those affected, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
In late October, the Myanmar authorities arrested at least 10 political activists and journalists for accepting relief donations from abroad, sources inside the country told Amnesty International.
Their whereabouts is unknown and it is not clear whether any charges have been brought against them.
The ten —whom Amnesty International considers prisoners of conscience— were among at least 41 dissidents arrested last month as part of a broader crackdown by the Myanmar government.
"The authorities are denying Nargis survivors assistance they desperately need and have a right to receive," said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar Researcher.
The most recent crackdown precedes the 25 November meeting of the ASEAN Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which was established in May 2008 to monitor, coordinate and facilitate international aid to areas hit by Cyclone Nargis. It comprises high-level representatives from ASEAN, the Myanmar government, and the United Nations.
"More than 18 months after the cyclone, the survivors still require critical support from the international community," said Zawacki.
Extra funding is still needed to provide new houses, cyclone shelters, livelihood programmes, water and sanitation facilities, education facilities, and health services to hundreds of thousands of people in Myanmar, international agencies say.
The TCG's three-year project for post-cyclone recovery efforts has a projected cost of US$691 million, but only $125 million has been committed.
"Leaders meeting in Bangkok must ensure that the required aid is forthcoming and reaches those who need it," Zawacki said. "The international community should increase its donations and demand transparency, accountability, and non-discrimination in the distribution of aid."
Seven people arrested in late October are members of the local Lin Let Kye (Shining Star) programme, formed in May 2008 and devoted to relief and social activism: Ka Gyi, Zaw Gyi, Lai Ron, Shwe Moe, Aung Myat Kyaw Thu, Paing Soe Oo, and Thant Zin Soe, who is also the editor of Foreign Affairs Weekly. Three others who had made donations to humanitarian efforts, Thet Ko, Myint Thein, and Min Min, were also arrested.
Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, and left 140,000 people dead or missing.
In October the US pledged to fund US$10 million through international NGOs for Nargis-related recovery programs, while the EU committed to funding 35 million Euros (US$51.5 million) for the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust (LIFT) fund, aimed at improving human security in Myanmar. Funds of US$326 million have been committed so far in the original 2008 Myanmar Flash Appeal, out of the US$477 million requested.
Myanmar must end arrests of activists and continue aid after Cyclone Nargis
24 November 2009
International donors meeting in Bangkok this week should pressure the Myanmar authorities to end harassment of activists trying to help survivors of Cyclone Nargis, and ensure sufficient aid reaches those affected, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
In late October, the Myanmar authorities arrested at least 10 political activists and journalists for accepting relief donations from abroad, sources inside the country told Amnesty International.
Their whereabouts is unknown and it is not clear whether any charges have been brought against them.
The ten —whom Amnesty International considers prisoners of conscience— were among at least 41 dissidents arrested last month as part of a broader crackdown by the Myanmar government.
"The authorities are denying Nargis survivors assistance they desperately need and have a right to receive," said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar Researcher.
The most recent crackdown precedes the 25 November meeting of the ASEAN Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which was established in May 2008 to monitor, coordinate and facilitate international aid to areas hit by Cyclone Nargis. It comprises high-level representatives from ASEAN, the Myanmar government, and the United Nations.
"More than 18 months after the cyclone, the survivors still require critical support from the international community," said Zawacki.
Extra funding is still needed to provide new houses, cyclone shelters, livelihood programmes, water and sanitation facilities, education facilities, and health services to hundreds of thousands of people in Myanmar, international agencies say.
The TCG's three-year project for post-cyclone recovery efforts has a projected cost of US$691 million, but only $125 million has been committed.
"Leaders meeting in Bangkok must ensure that the required aid is forthcoming and reaches those who need it," Zawacki said. "The international community should increase its donations and demand transparency, accountability, and non-discrimination in the distribution of aid."
Seven people arrested in late October are members of the local Lin Let Kye (Shining Star) programme, formed in May 2008 and devoted to relief and social activism: Ka Gyi, Zaw Gyi, Lai Ron, Shwe Moe, Aung Myat Kyaw Thu, Paing Soe Oo, and Thant Zin Soe, who is also the editor of Foreign Affairs Weekly. Three others who had made donations to humanitarian efforts, Thet Ko, Myint Thein, and Min Min, were also arrested.
Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, and left 140,000 people dead or missing.
In October the US pledged to fund US$10 million through international NGOs for Nargis-related recovery programs, while the EU committed to funding 35 million Euros (US$51.5 million) for the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust (LIFT) fund, aimed at improving human security in Myanmar. Funds of US$326 million have been committed so far in the original 2008 Myanmar Flash Appeal, out of the US$477 million requested.
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Ensure sufficient aid for Nargis survivors, Amnesty tells donors
By D. ARUL RAJOO - Tuesday, November 24
BANGKOK, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- International donors meeting in Bangkok Wednesday should pressure the Myanmar authorities to end harassment of activists trying to help survivors of Cyclone Nargis, and ensure sufficient aid reaches those affected, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
It said that in late October, the Myanmar authorities arrested at least 10 political activists and journalists for accepting relief donations from abroad, and their whereabouts was unknown.
"The authorities are denying Nargis survivors assistance they desperately need and have a right to receive," said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar researcher.
He said the most recent crackdown precedes the Wednesday meeting of the Asean Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which was established in May 2008 to monitor, coordinate and facilitate international aid to areas hit by Cyclone Nargis.
Zawacki said more than 18 months after the cyclone, the survivors still require critical support from the international community, adding that the TCG's three-year project for post-cyclone recovery efforts had a projected cost of US$691 million, but only $125 million had been committed.
MYANMAR-NARGIS 2 (LAST) BANGKOK
Cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy delta on May 2 and 3, 2008, and left 140,000 people dead or missing, while more than 1.4 million people were displaced.
Amnesty said extra funding was still needed to provide new houses, cyclone shelters, livelihood programs, water and sanitation facilities, education facilities, and health services to hundreds of thousands of people in Myanmar.
By D. ARUL RAJOO - Tuesday, November 24
BANGKOK, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- International donors meeting in Bangkok Wednesday should pressure the Myanmar authorities to end harassment of activists trying to help survivors of Cyclone Nargis, and ensure sufficient aid reaches those affected, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
It said that in late October, the Myanmar authorities arrested at least 10 political activists and journalists for accepting relief donations from abroad, and their whereabouts was unknown.
"The authorities are denying Nargis survivors assistance they desperately need and have a right to receive," said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar researcher.
He said the most recent crackdown precedes the Wednesday meeting of the Asean Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which was established in May 2008 to monitor, coordinate and facilitate international aid to areas hit by Cyclone Nargis.
Zawacki said more than 18 months after the cyclone, the survivors still require critical support from the international community, adding that the TCG's three-year project for post-cyclone recovery efforts had a projected cost of US$691 million, but only $125 million had been committed.
MYANMAR-NARGIS 2 (LAST) BANGKOK
Cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy delta on May 2 and 3, 2008, and left 140,000 people dead or missing, while more than 1.4 million people were displaced.
Amnesty said extra funding was still needed to provide new houses, cyclone shelters, livelihood programs, water and sanitation facilities, education facilities, and health services to hundreds of thousands of people in Myanmar.
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Missoulian - Victor pastor speaks of abuses in Myanmar
By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian
Posted: Monday, November 23, 2009 11:00 pm |
Learn more about Visions Beyond Borders and its efforts to help Burmese refugees on the Internet at www.vbbonline.org or at www.free burmarangers.org.
For local information, call Wes Flint at (406) 961-5299 or Visions Beyond Borders at (307) 672-5995.
The orphans of Myanmar wait far from Big Sky Country, but sometimes this seems the only place where help comes from.
For Pastor Wes Flint, their plight is too close to ignore. He's made 10 trips to Myanmar (he calls it by the old name, Burma) in the past three years, taking fellow Montanans to the Thailand river border where thousands of refugees seek security.
"These people have been abandoned, victimized and forgotten," he said of the Karen and Shan ethnic groups who've drawn the genocidal wrath of the country's army. "They have been broken, and the world just lets it go by. I can't do that anymore."
The leader of Victor's Crosspoint Christian Fellowship found an outlet for his hope in the international Christian organization Visions Beyond Borders. The group has straddled the political challenge of working with the country's military junta government to build orphanages there while at the same time helping its displaced people to escape.
Visions Beyond Borders was one of several aid organizations that tried to deliver food and supplies to victims of last year's Typhoon Nargis, which killed an estimated 140,000 people and left 60,000 children parentless. Flint said the group's internal contacts helped it deliver materials where others failed to clear the government roadblocks.
"But what I've been exposed to in the last year and a half or so - I'm trying to find the right words," he said during a visit to the Missoulian. "Shocking. Shocking human rights violations."
***
While most Myanmar news coverage has focused on imprisoned dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Flint said his time there has been spent with victims of rape, torture and sadistic abuse by the government.
One man in Flint's collection of photos lost his hands and eyes to a land mine that soldiers forced him to defuse. In a photo of a large group of children, Flint said half had witnessed their parents' murder, while the other half didn't know what had happened to their families.
Most of the refugees are concentrated on the Myanmar-Thailand border, which is both a physical and medical danger zone. The area is rife with malaria, dengue fever and other tropical diseases.
The Myanmar military frequently raids villages there, Flint said, driving the residents away and then planting land mines to keep them from returning. Thai authorities are not interested in harboring more refugees. And there are no jobs or farms to work, so no one can raise money or food to leave.
As a result, Visions Beyond Borders volunteers work both sides of the border, supporting a network of local activists who try to keep communications and aid moving. The group, which recently moved its headquarters from Sheridan, Wyo., to Bozeman, has made Flint a board member and given him the task of gathering national awareness to the Burmese efforts.
"We're always trying to find people with nursing or medical skills," he said of his volunteers. "We're also looking into hiring a counselor to help these children deal with what they've been through. But a lot of times, we're just there to load food and carry duffel bags. It's important to just let them know that someone cares."
By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian
Posted: Monday, November 23, 2009 11:00 pm |
Learn more about Visions Beyond Borders and its efforts to help Burmese refugees on the Internet at www.vbbonline.org or at www.free burmarangers.org.
For local information, call Wes Flint at (406) 961-5299 or Visions Beyond Borders at (307) 672-5995.
The orphans of Myanmar wait far from Big Sky Country, but sometimes this seems the only place where help comes from.
For Pastor Wes Flint, their plight is too close to ignore. He's made 10 trips to Myanmar (he calls it by the old name, Burma) in the past three years, taking fellow Montanans to the Thailand river border where thousands of refugees seek security.
"These people have been abandoned, victimized and forgotten," he said of the Karen and Shan ethnic groups who've drawn the genocidal wrath of the country's army. "They have been broken, and the world just lets it go by. I can't do that anymore."
The leader of Victor's Crosspoint Christian Fellowship found an outlet for his hope in the international Christian organization Visions Beyond Borders. The group has straddled the political challenge of working with the country's military junta government to build orphanages there while at the same time helping its displaced people to escape.
Visions Beyond Borders was one of several aid organizations that tried to deliver food and supplies to victims of last year's Typhoon Nargis, which killed an estimated 140,000 people and left 60,000 children parentless. Flint said the group's internal contacts helped it deliver materials where others failed to clear the government roadblocks.
"But what I've been exposed to in the last year and a half or so - I'm trying to find the right words," he said during a visit to the Missoulian. "Shocking. Shocking human rights violations."
***
While most Myanmar news coverage has focused on imprisoned dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Flint said his time there has been spent with victims of rape, torture and sadistic abuse by the government.
One man in Flint's collection of photos lost his hands and eyes to a land mine that soldiers forced him to defuse. In a photo of a large group of children, Flint said half had witnessed their parents' murder, while the other half didn't know what had happened to their families.
Most of the refugees are concentrated on the Myanmar-Thailand border, which is both a physical and medical danger zone. The area is rife with malaria, dengue fever and other tropical diseases.
The Myanmar military frequently raids villages there, Flint said, driving the residents away and then planting land mines to keep them from returning. Thai authorities are not interested in harboring more refugees. And there are no jobs or farms to work, so no one can raise money or food to leave.
As a result, Visions Beyond Borders volunteers work both sides of the border, supporting a network of local activists who try to keep communications and aid moving. The group, which recently moved its headquarters from Sheridan, Wyo., to Bozeman, has made Flint a board member and given him the task of gathering national awareness to the Burmese efforts.
"We're always trying to find people with nursing or medical skills," he said of his volunteers. "We're also looking into hiring a counselor to help these children deal with what they've been through. But a lot of times, we're just there to load food and carry duffel bags. It's important to just let them know that someone cares."
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Time Magazine - Former Thai PM Samak Dies at 74
By Robert Horn / Bangkok Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009
Less than two years after reaching the zenith of his political career, Samak Sundaravej, a former Thai Prime Minister known for his acid tongue, ultra-right-wing views and weekly gourmet cooking show, died of cancer at a Bangkok hospital on Tuesday morning. He was 74.
The 25th Prime Minister of Thailand, Samak was elected in December 2008 in the first national polls following a military coup that deposed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2006. Samak freely admitted he had been chosen to lead the victorious People Power Party by Thaksin, who was living in exile but retained enormous popularity with Thailand's poor and rural electorate. Samak, whose base was in Bangkok, appealed to the rural majority by proudly proclaiming he was Thaksin's "proxy."
A former television-quiz-show contestant and law student, Samak entered politics in the 1970s, winning a seat in parliament from Bangkok's military-populated Dusit district. He eventually held several Cabinet posts, including deputy premier. Samak's long-stated ambition was to become Prime Minister, but his time at the top was brief. He was disqualified from holding the premiership by the Constitutional Court after just nine months because he had violated the office's prohibition on holding a second job — his popular television cooking show, which he spiced and flavored with pungent political commentary.
One of the most divisive politicians in Thailand's history, the right-wing Samak was often at the center of controversy. In 1976, he was accused of fomenting an atmosphere that led to a massacre of students at Thammasat University by police and right-wing mobs, and in May 1992 he called democracy demonstrators who helped topple a military dictator "communists" and "rioters." Democracy activists branded him one of the country's political "devils." As Prime Minister he praised the military junta in Burma as "good Buddhists" and called Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi a "tool of the West."
Nonetheless, his no-holds-barred polemics made him popular with Bangkok's poor and lower-middle-class voters, who elected him governor in 2001 with over 1 million votes, the largest number in the city's history. "He's a lower-middle-class hero," says historian Chris Baker, author of Thailand, Economy and Politics. "He appeals to street vendors, small shopkeepers, minor officials and people working in the informal sector. They like him because he sounds off; he speaks his mind. He's a source of entertainment, but he's also a ranter and a thug."
Although Samak had become one of Thaksin's strongest supporters in recent years, they were once bitter rivals as Deputy Prime Ministers in 1996. Both had been tasked with solving Bangkok's intractable traffic problems, but their constant squabbling led constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej to summon them to the palace for a dressing down. Afterwards, the two made an effort at working together, but still failed to solve the capital's traffic jams.
By Robert Horn / Bangkok Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009
Less than two years after reaching the zenith of his political career, Samak Sundaravej, a former Thai Prime Minister known for his acid tongue, ultra-right-wing views and weekly gourmet cooking show, died of cancer at a Bangkok hospital on Tuesday morning. He was 74.
The 25th Prime Minister of Thailand, Samak was elected in December 2008 in the first national polls following a military coup that deposed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2006. Samak freely admitted he had been chosen to lead the victorious People Power Party by Thaksin, who was living in exile but retained enormous popularity with Thailand's poor and rural electorate. Samak, whose base was in Bangkok, appealed to the rural majority by proudly proclaiming he was Thaksin's "proxy."
A former television-quiz-show contestant and law student, Samak entered politics in the 1970s, winning a seat in parliament from Bangkok's military-populated Dusit district. He eventually held several Cabinet posts, including deputy premier. Samak's long-stated ambition was to become Prime Minister, but his time at the top was brief. He was disqualified from holding the premiership by the Constitutional Court after just nine months because he had violated the office's prohibition on holding a second job — his popular television cooking show, which he spiced and flavored with pungent political commentary.
One of the most divisive politicians in Thailand's history, the right-wing Samak was often at the center of controversy. In 1976, he was accused of fomenting an atmosphere that led to a massacre of students at Thammasat University by police and right-wing mobs, and in May 1992 he called democracy demonstrators who helped topple a military dictator "communists" and "rioters." Democracy activists branded him one of the country's political "devils." As Prime Minister he praised the military junta in Burma as "good Buddhists" and called Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi a "tool of the West."
Nonetheless, his no-holds-barred polemics made him popular with Bangkok's poor and lower-middle-class voters, who elected him governor in 2001 with over 1 million votes, the largest number in the city's history. "He's a lower-middle-class hero," says historian Chris Baker, author of Thailand, Economy and Politics. "He appeals to street vendors, small shopkeepers, minor officials and people working in the informal sector. They like him because he sounds off; he speaks his mind. He's a source of entertainment, but he's also a ranter and a thug."
Although Samak had become one of Thaksin's strongest supporters in recent years, they were once bitter rivals as Deputy Prime Ministers in 1996. Both had been tasked with solving Bangkok's intractable traffic problems, but their constant squabbling led constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej to summon them to the palace for a dressing down. Afterwards, the two made an effort at working together, but still failed to solve the capital's traffic jams.
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eTaiwan News - Taiwan to set up trade offices in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia
Central News Agency
2009-11-24 05:27 PM
Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) Taiwan is planning to set up trade offices in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, which may signal a breakthrough in the country's bid to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a ruling Kuomintang legislator said Tuesday.
At least one of the offices will be established by the end of the year, according to Justin Chou, a convener of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign and National Defense Committee.
Chou noted that Taiwan had difficulty setting up trade offices in these three countries in the past mainly because of China's obstruction.
However, as Taiwan's relations with China has improved significantly over the past year, ASEAN members are now more willing to develop economic and trade relations with Taiwan, he said.
This shows that it is not impossible for Taiwan to be included in ASEAN in the future, Chou said.
Also, he said, the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China will encourage ASEAN members to forge free trade agreements (FTAs) with Taiwan. Singapore is likely to be the first ASEAN member to ink an FTA with Taiwan following the establishment of the ECFA, Chou said.
Economic integration between ASEAN and the East Asian economies of China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN Ten Plus Three) is scheduled to be achieved in 2012.
For fear of being marginalized, Taiwan has been seeking to take part in the integration process and has put forth the concept of "ASEAN Ten Plus Four."
Central News Agency
2009-11-24 05:27 PM
Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) Taiwan is planning to set up trade offices in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, which may signal a breakthrough in the country's bid to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a ruling Kuomintang legislator said Tuesday.
At least one of the offices will be established by the end of the year, according to Justin Chou, a convener of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign and National Defense Committee.
Chou noted that Taiwan had difficulty setting up trade offices in these three countries in the past mainly because of China's obstruction.
However, as Taiwan's relations with China has improved significantly over the past year, ASEAN members are now more willing to develop economic and trade relations with Taiwan, he said.
This shows that it is not impossible for Taiwan to be included in ASEAN in the future, Chou said.
Also, he said, the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China will encourage ASEAN members to forge free trade agreements (FTAs) with Taiwan. Singapore is likely to be the first ASEAN member to ink an FTA with Taiwan following the establishment of the ECFA, Chou said.
Economic integration between ASEAN and the East Asian economies of China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN Ten Plus Three) is scheduled to be achieved in 2012.
For fear of being marginalized, Taiwan has been seeking to take part in the integration process and has put forth the concept of "ASEAN Ten Plus Four."
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Aljazeera.net - Changing tack on Myanmar
By Myanmar analyst Larry Jagan
Barack Obama's recent sortie into Asia has marked a radical change in Washington's approach to the region, as the US president looks to re-engage after eight years of diffidence shown by the previous Bush administration.
Nowhere is the new US approach starker than its shift in policy towards military-ruled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
In recent weeks the US has begun to talk directly with the country's ruling generals, who have been shunned by previous administrations.
There have been a series of meetings between senior US diplomats and Myanmar officials – in Naypyidaw the new Burmese capital, New York at the United Nations, and elsewhere.
It is a significant change of direction and one that is likely to increase competition for influence in the region between Washington and Beijing.
Critical move
The most critical series of meetings came during an early November visit to Myanmar by US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
Many expect him to make a follow-up visit before the end of the year.
He told members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by the detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi that he would back in Myanmar very soon.
So far there are no real signs that this is going to happen, and western diplomats in Yangon are sceptical that a return visit is on the cards in the near future.
The main problem, it seems, is that Myanmar's top military leader appears to have cooled on the idea of rapprochement with Washington.
"The ball is now very much in the Burmese court," said Sean Turnell a Myanmar expert at Australia's Macquarie University.
"Obama's hand has been extended - will they respond in kind or with the clenched fist?" he told Al Jazeera.
Washington, for its part, has made its position clear: previous US policy, which relied almost exclusively on sanctions and isolating the regime, has failed miserably.
New approach
And so, earlier this year, secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced it was time for a new approach - one where sanctions were maintained, but supplemented by a dialogue with Myanmar's military leaders.
"The US policy shift is part of Obama's overall approach to foreign policy – he is doing the same with Pyongyang, Damascus, Havana and Tehran," says Myanmar specialist, Derek Tonkin, a former British ambassador.
In contrast to Bush's "unilateralism", he says, it is a policy likely to produce better results.
The change in direction also comes amid a growing feeling on Capitol Hill that China has stolen the march on the US, creating a situation that is neither in the interests of Washington, or the region.
Democratic Senator Jim Webb, whose personal visit to Myanmar in August broke the ice with the top generals in Myanmar, is certainly convinced that this is the most important incentive for the US to re-engage, especially with Myanmar.
Many analysts in the region also welcome the shift in US policy and understand that, stated or otherwise, it will lead to a competition for influence with the Chinese.
"The US realises that if they are to retain American influence in this region, they must be able to match what China is doing," Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy told Al Jazeera.
"If China is improving its ties by leaps and bounds… it is not in America's interest to be left behind."
Chinese presence
Historian Thant Myint-U, author of 'A River of Lost Footsteps', a history or modern Myanmar, agrees.
"China has had a free run in Burma [Myanmar] for nearly two decades, and will certainly be uneasy with the prospects of a rapprochement between Washington and the Burmese," he says.
At the same time there are also signs that the overwhelming presence of the Chinese has also pushed Myanmar's military to at least become more receptive to the US overtures.
The generals have become over-reliant on Beijing – especially for arms, military hardware and economic investment.
According to official figures, more than 90 per cent of direct foreign investment in Myanmar last year was Chinese, jumping more than a quarter over the past 12 months to more than $1bn.
The bulk of that investment was in the mining sector, oil industry and numerous hydro-electric schemes in Myanmar.
"I think China's dominance of Burma, economically and politically, has reached its high tide," says Sean Turnell of Maquarie university. "I think they are worried, and are right to be worried."
"I'm really struck by what I can only describe as the seething resentment in Burma as to China's dominance of the country's economy, especially in resource extraction, but also in the various infrastructure projects -- the influx of Chinese workers to build them -- and in the massive influx of Chinese consumer goods."
Myanmar polls
But while the regime may appear to be courting Washington's recent advances, there is little evidence that the general's plans for next year's elections are going to be affected.
The US diplomats team that went to Myanmar has made it clear what they are offering in return for improved bilateral relations.
"The [forthcoming] elections in Burma could be an opportunity for the country to end its international isolation, but only if these elections are inclusive, with the full participation of all political parties," deputy assistant US secretary of state Scot Marciel told a press conference in Bangkok, following his visit.
"That includes creating the conditions in the run up to the elections which make the process credible."
"There cannot be a credible election that has legitimacy without a thoroughly inclusive political process, and that cannot happen without dialogue," he stressed.
So far there are few signs that the junta is seriously considering starting a dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, let alone releasing her.
There have been some tentative gestures, including allowing the Nobel peace laureate to talk directly with a government representative, the labour and liaison minister Aung Kyi, and meet various diplomats in Yangon, including Kurt Campbell and Scot Marciel.
Now Aung San Suu Kyi has written again to General Than Shwe asking for a meeting to discuss ways she could help the government ease its international isolation – a request which has so far been declined.
"This shows she has changed and is prepared to be flexible and compromise," says Justin Wintle, the British writer who wrote the recent biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, 'Perfect Hostage'.
But the problem is that the regime leader, Than Shwe does not appear to be inclined to accept her offer, or even talk to her.
"Than Shwe may feel there is no need to make any concessions, unless he wants to please the Americans," says former ambassador Derek Tonkin.
"And it could now be only six months to the elections," he warned.
Time then is running out for the US and the international community to influence events in Myanmar before next year's vote.
'No Asean leverage'
Both China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have also urged the junta to make sure the elections are credible.
But both will likely wait and see rather than increase pressure on the regime in the lead up to the polls.
China prefers quiet behind-the-scenes diplomacy and is not likely to push very hard, fearing that they would be ignored if they were to do so, reducing any influence they do have and endangering their already large investment in Myanmar.
Asean on the other hand has made some noises in the past 12 months, especially under Thailand's chairmanship of the regional grouping, emphasising the need for an inclusive and credible election.
But this also is unlikely to have much impact on the junta.
"There's not much Asean can do," historian Thant Myint-U told Al Jazeera. "They certainly have no special leverage."
In recent weeks Myanmar government ministers and officials, including the prime minister Thein Sein, have hinted that Aung San Suu Kyi may be released before the elections.
But that in itself would not placate the US administration nor satisfy the international community.
Only her uninhibited participation in the elections would satisfy them and Senior General Than Shwe, Myanmar's reclusive top leader, is highly unlikely to allow that.
By Myanmar analyst Larry Jagan
Barack Obama's recent sortie into Asia has marked a radical change in Washington's approach to the region, as the US president looks to re-engage after eight years of diffidence shown by the previous Bush administration.
Nowhere is the new US approach starker than its shift in policy towards military-ruled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
In recent weeks the US has begun to talk directly with the country's ruling generals, who have been shunned by previous administrations.
There have been a series of meetings between senior US diplomats and Myanmar officials – in Naypyidaw the new Burmese capital, New York at the United Nations, and elsewhere.
It is a significant change of direction and one that is likely to increase competition for influence in the region between Washington and Beijing.
Critical move
The most critical series of meetings came during an early November visit to Myanmar by US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
Many expect him to make a follow-up visit before the end of the year.
He told members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by the detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi that he would back in Myanmar very soon.
So far there are no real signs that this is going to happen, and western diplomats in Yangon are sceptical that a return visit is on the cards in the near future.
The main problem, it seems, is that Myanmar's top military leader appears to have cooled on the idea of rapprochement with Washington.
"The ball is now very much in the Burmese court," said Sean Turnell a Myanmar expert at Australia's Macquarie University.
"Obama's hand has been extended - will they respond in kind or with the clenched fist?" he told Al Jazeera.
Washington, for its part, has made its position clear: previous US policy, which relied almost exclusively on sanctions and isolating the regime, has failed miserably.
New approach
And so, earlier this year, secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced it was time for a new approach - one where sanctions were maintained, but supplemented by a dialogue with Myanmar's military leaders.
"The US policy shift is part of Obama's overall approach to foreign policy – he is doing the same with Pyongyang, Damascus, Havana and Tehran," says Myanmar specialist, Derek Tonkin, a former British ambassador.
In contrast to Bush's "unilateralism", he says, it is a policy likely to produce better results.
The change in direction also comes amid a growing feeling on Capitol Hill that China has stolen the march on the US, creating a situation that is neither in the interests of Washington, or the region.
Democratic Senator Jim Webb, whose personal visit to Myanmar in August broke the ice with the top generals in Myanmar, is certainly convinced that this is the most important incentive for the US to re-engage, especially with Myanmar.
Many analysts in the region also welcome the shift in US policy and understand that, stated or otherwise, it will lead to a competition for influence with the Chinese.
"The US realises that if they are to retain American influence in this region, they must be able to match what China is doing," Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy told Al Jazeera.
"If China is improving its ties by leaps and bounds… it is not in America's interest to be left behind."
Chinese presence
Historian Thant Myint-U, author of 'A River of Lost Footsteps', a history or modern Myanmar, agrees.
"China has had a free run in Burma [Myanmar] for nearly two decades, and will certainly be uneasy with the prospects of a rapprochement between Washington and the Burmese," he says.
At the same time there are also signs that the overwhelming presence of the Chinese has also pushed Myanmar's military to at least become more receptive to the US overtures.
The generals have become over-reliant on Beijing – especially for arms, military hardware and economic investment.
According to official figures, more than 90 per cent of direct foreign investment in Myanmar last year was Chinese, jumping more than a quarter over the past 12 months to more than $1bn.
The bulk of that investment was in the mining sector, oil industry and numerous hydro-electric schemes in Myanmar.
"I think China's dominance of Burma, economically and politically, has reached its high tide," says Sean Turnell of Maquarie university. "I think they are worried, and are right to be worried."
"I'm really struck by what I can only describe as the seething resentment in Burma as to China's dominance of the country's economy, especially in resource extraction, but also in the various infrastructure projects -- the influx of Chinese workers to build them -- and in the massive influx of Chinese consumer goods."
Myanmar polls
But while the regime may appear to be courting Washington's recent advances, there is little evidence that the general's plans for next year's elections are going to be affected.
The US diplomats team that went to Myanmar has made it clear what they are offering in return for improved bilateral relations.
"The [forthcoming] elections in Burma could be an opportunity for the country to end its international isolation, but only if these elections are inclusive, with the full participation of all political parties," deputy assistant US secretary of state Scot Marciel told a press conference in Bangkok, following his visit.
"That includes creating the conditions in the run up to the elections which make the process credible."
"There cannot be a credible election that has legitimacy without a thoroughly inclusive political process, and that cannot happen without dialogue," he stressed.
So far there are few signs that the junta is seriously considering starting a dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, let alone releasing her.
There have been some tentative gestures, including allowing the Nobel peace laureate to talk directly with a government representative, the labour and liaison minister Aung Kyi, and meet various diplomats in Yangon, including Kurt Campbell and Scot Marciel.
Now Aung San Suu Kyi has written again to General Than Shwe asking for a meeting to discuss ways she could help the government ease its international isolation – a request which has so far been declined.
"This shows she has changed and is prepared to be flexible and compromise," says Justin Wintle, the British writer who wrote the recent biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, 'Perfect Hostage'.
But the problem is that the regime leader, Than Shwe does not appear to be inclined to accept her offer, or even talk to her.
"Than Shwe may feel there is no need to make any concessions, unless he wants to please the Americans," says former ambassador Derek Tonkin.
"And it could now be only six months to the elections," he warned.
Time then is running out for the US and the international community to influence events in Myanmar before next year's vote.
'No Asean leverage'
Both China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have also urged the junta to make sure the elections are credible.
But both will likely wait and see rather than increase pressure on the regime in the lead up to the polls.
China prefers quiet behind-the-scenes diplomacy and is not likely to push very hard, fearing that they would be ignored if they were to do so, reducing any influence they do have and endangering their already large investment in Myanmar.
Asean on the other hand has made some noises in the past 12 months, especially under Thailand's chairmanship of the regional grouping, emphasising the need for an inclusive and credible election.
But this also is unlikely to have much impact on the junta.
"There's not much Asean can do," historian Thant Myint-U told Al Jazeera. "They certainly have no special leverage."
In recent weeks Myanmar government ministers and officials, including the prime minister Thein Sein, have hinted that Aung San Suu Kyi may be released before the elections.
But that in itself would not placate the US administration nor satisfy the international community.
Only her uninhibited participation in the elections would satisfy them and Senior General Than Shwe, Myanmar's reclusive top leader, is highly unlikely to allow that.
*************************************************************
Mainstream, Vol XLVII, No 49, November 21, 2009
Has India a Policy on Myanmar?
Tuesday 24 November 2009, by Ninan Koshy
With the visible shift of Washington’s policy on Myanmar, New Delhi seems to be rethinking its own relations with Myanmar.
It may be more correct to speak of an Indian approach to Myanmar or India’s relations with that country rather than of a policy. While certain assumptions or considerations behind the approach are evident, Myanmar rarely finds a place in India’s foreign policy formulations or perspectives, in spite of the stakes being very high.
The time has come to evaluate the results of the approach and test the validity of its assumptions in the light of new developments with a view to formulating a coherent policy. This is all the more necessary in view of repositioning of major powers in Asia and India’s self-understanding of its role as an emerging world power.
Myanmar’s geographical position is of immense strategic significance to India. India has extensive interests in Myanmar. It is the gateway to the ASEAN countries and the vitality of Myanmar as a link is of crucial importance especially with the gathering momentum of India’s Look-East policy.
In August 2007, Myanmar suddenly burst into international attention by the “saffron revolution” which was followed by the brutal crackdown by the military regime. The large-scale protests were triggered by a sudden and huge hike in fuel prices but there were other causes including anger against economic mismanagement, protest against political repression, loss of confidence in the junta’s ‘roadmap’ for democracy and finally overall discontent with the military misrule of nearly two decades. The violent suppression of the protests, led by the monks, prompted even allies of the military government to recognise that change was desperately needed.
While these developments present important new opportunities for change, they must be viewed against the continuance of profound structural obstacles. The balance of power is still heavily weighted in favour of the Army, whose top leaders continue to insist that only a strongly controlled military-led state can hold the country together.
Pushing forward the new Constitution which ensures military domination and the fraudulent referendum are clear indicators that there is no willingness on the part of the regime to include any form of national reconciliation with the political forces in Myanmar.
Factors that have necessitated the accommoda-tive Indian approach to Myanmar are the importance of containing insurgency in India’s North-East, countering or balancing the growing Chinese influence, and energy requirements. The people of Myanmar do not figure among these considerations; nor are their aspirations for a democratic future a factor. New Delhi’s diplomacy has traversed the entire spectrum from support to the pro-democracy Opposition groups to support for the military regime.
New Delhi claims to be working through quiet diplomacy but there is no evidence of any tangible results. Its public positions on Myanmar have been much less critical than those of China. During a visit to Myanmar on January 19, 2007, External Affairs Minister (then) Pranab Mukherjee said that India had to deal with governments “as they exist”.
“We are not interested in exporting our own ideology. We are a democracy and we would like democracy to flourish every where. But this is for every country to decide for itself”. Our respected statesman had conveniently forgotten that the people of Myanmar had long ago decided for democracy and that the implementation of the decision was illegally and violently destroyed by the junta. He also overlooked the fact that the right to decide was precisely what is being denied to the people of Myanmar today. When there was widespread condemnation of the 2007 crackdown, all what Mukherjee could manage to say was to express the hope that “the process of national reconciliation and political reforms initiated by the government of Myanmar would taken forward expeditiously”, bestowing legitimacy and credibility to the junta’s plans which they did not deserve.
India’s claim that it is following a policy of non-interference in internal affairs with regard to Myanmar does not hold water with its record of interference in Sri Lanka, Nepal etc. It should be remembered that leaders of the pro-democracy movement look up to India for inspiration and support. Sui Kyi frequently cites Mahatma Gandhi as a model for her own non-violent resistance and views India’s democratic system as a model for their own ethnically diverse country.
¨
There are tensions between India’s declared interests and its policy of engagement with Myanmar which legitimises the junta. India also appears to be increasingly out of step with Asian neighbours that are quietly pressing the military regime to pursue internal political reform in the interests of regional stability. There are also evident contradictions between Indian officials developing interest in employing the ‘soft power’ of Indian democracy as a tool of foreign policy and their support for a military regime that violently suppresses political dissent.
In 2003 India secured a commitment from the Myanmar regime that Indian insurgents including the ULFA and the Khaplang factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland would not be allowed to use Burmese territory as a refuge or to launch attacks into India. The two countries subsequently have shared intelligence and performed coordinated military operations against insurgents operating in the region. Indian military officials express satisfaction with the Myanmar military’s demonstrated cooperation on this issue and frequently cite this as a valued deliverable of New Delhi’s engagement with the regime.
So wary have been Indian officers of upsetting military cooperation with Myanmar that they have been outspoken, for instance, during the September-October 2007 crackdown in the junta’s defence. Calling the repression “their internal matter”, Indian Army commander General Deepak Kapoor spoke at the height of the violence about “maintaining the close relationship” citing India’s “good relations with Myanmar”. The military-to-military relationship has political implications, again exposing lack of a policy which emboldens Indian military officers to make such statements. In return Myanmar has leveraged its cooperation against Indian insurgents to secure significant military assistance from New Delhi including the provision of lethal weaponry with sophisticated components manufactured in Europe, alleged by human rights groups to have been employed against Burmese civilians.
Despite the military help, Myanmar’s support for Indian objectives has not been clear cut. Following bilateral agreements in 2003-04 on anti-insurgent cooperation the regime freed a group of Manipur dissidents captured in 2001. Perhaps more importantly the continuing military campaign against the ethnic minorities leading to destruction and displacement of people has given Indian insurgents not only space to operate but support from some of the minority groups. So it has to be carefully weighed whether a military regime waging war against ethnic groups or a democratic government that represents also the minorities is better for India to deal with the insurgents.
Indian leaders also view Myanmar with vast reserves of natural gas, as a leading potential long-term source of energy supply free from the geopolitical risks of West Asia oil and natural gas. However, here also the attempts by India have not been very successful. Myanmar has become a theatre of intense energy diplomacy and competition with clear advantage to China because of the support China renders to the junta in its capacity as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
One of the main factors limiting India’s influence is that India itself sees its relations with Myanmar essentially in terms of competition with China rather than formulating a policy to further its own strategic and economic imperatives. Indian officials and strategists are gravely concerned about Chinese activities in Myanmar, including competition for energy resources, the construction of deepwater ports capable of docking Chinese vessels along Myanmar’s coastline and the operation of military listening posts on the Coco islands only miles from India’s territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal. China is constructing deep water port facilities potentially capable of berthing war ships at Yangon, Kyankpyu and other harbours in Myanmar.
Indian officials believe that India can only counter such Chinese influence along India’s eastern land and maritime flanks through a policy of comprehensive engagement with Myanmar’s military junta.
There may be need for a policy debate over whether the best way to offset China’s influence is to emulate it by embracing the Myanmar regime even more closely or to pursue an approach that distinguishes India from China. through an engagement also with the pro-democracy movement, clearly factoring the people of Myanmar as a major consideration. Indian leaders who believe that unconditional support for the military rulers in Myanmar is necessary to sustain bilateral cooperation seem to have overlooked that China’s own tolerance for the junta’s repression is limited. Concerned by the possibility that the junta’s brutality towards its own people could lead to revolutionary unrest that would threaten regional stability, senior Chinese officials in both Beijing and Yunnan province reportedly pressed Myanmar’s leaders to improve governance and reduce violence against civilians.
Although it blocked the Security Council from imposing sanctions against Myanmar, China condemned the junta’s September 2007 crackdown in stronger terms than did democratic India. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao publicly expressed concern about the junta’s repression and urged it to “promote domestic reconciliation and achieve democracy and development”. China supported the UN Security Council statement deploring the crackdown in Myanmar and urging political reconciliation—a change of position by Beijing which had previously used its veto to shield the Myanmar regime from such criticism.
In contrast, India’s public response made no mention of democracy in Myanmar, with Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressing only “concern’ about the situation and declaring India’s friendly interest in a “peaceful, stable and prosperous” Myanmar. If Beijing had indeed identified “a real self-interest in stopping the leadership from taking further steps that lead to instability internally and in the region” it was surprising that New Delhi felt constrained from using its hard-won influence for similar ends. New Delhi’s voice was conspicuous by absence during the show trial of Suu Kyi held in May this year.
On the diplomatic front Myanmar’s junta has signalled where its strength lies. The strength of Myanmar lies in the strong demand for its natural resources by all its neighbours. The reality is that China, India and Thailand are all interested in the reserves of energy that Myanmar has. Myanmar’s resources have allowed it to bypass international sanctions in the past and will now be used to negotiate with its Asian neighbours to win necessary international support and recognition.
The shift in the policy of the USA on Myanmar has raised new questions with regard to India’s approach. For the first time in more than two decades the US has expressed its readiness for engagement with Myanmar. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement during her first foreign trip on a new approach to Myanmar has been followed up by discussions between the two countries and now the visit of the high-level delegation.
The talks presumably centred on improving Myanmar’s human rights situation and its claimed intention to move towards democracy, but the subtext is improving diplomatic relations and fostering influence in a country widely viewed as a key regional ally of China. While the US wants to make it clear that the new policy does not mean the end of US sanctions, it concedes a “momentum for policy shift”.
Policy analysts say a major reason for this new gambit is a realisation that Chinese political and economic influence in the region has blossomed in the past decade while US attention was largely diverted especially by a foreign policy to suit the ‘war on terror’. Washington, which has substantially expanded its military ties in Asia, seems to have become increasingly concerned about China’s growing influence and power in the region through non-military means. While much of the focus of the USA has been on China’s rapidly modernising military and its growing capacity to project power beyond its immediate borders, a quiet but strong competition is now emerging between Washington and Beijing for influence in South-East Asia which will have reverberations across the whole of Asia.
The implications for India by the US, its strategic partner, entering into Myanmar need serious consideration. That this is happening at a time of apparent change in the US’ perception of India with the change in the Administration in Washington makes such consideration particularly relevant.
[Revised text of the keynote address at a seminar on “Recent Developments in Myanmar: Implications for India” organised by the Centre for Asia Studies, Chennai and the Department of Politics University of Madras]
Dr Ninan Koshy is a commentator based in Thiruvananthapuram and formerly a Visiting Fellow, Harvard Law School, USA.
Has India a Policy on Myanmar?
Tuesday 24 November 2009, by Ninan Koshy
With the visible shift of Washington’s policy on Myanmar, New Delhi seems to be rethinking its own relations with Myanmar.
It may be more correct to speak of an Indian approach to Myanmar or India’s relations with that country rather than of a policy. While certain assumptions or considerations behind the approach are evident, Myanmar rarely finds a place in India’s foreign policy formulations or perspectives, in spite of the stakes being very high.
The time has come to evaluate the results of the approach and test the validity of its assumptions in the light of new developments with a view to formulating a coherent policy. This is all the more necessary in view of repositioning of major powers in Asia and India’s self-understanding of its role as an emerging world power.
Myanmar’s geographical position is of immense strategic significance to India. India has extensive interests in Myanmar. It is the gateway to the ASEAN countries and the vitality of Myanmar as a link is of crucial importance especially with the gathering momentum of India’s Look-East policy.
In August 2007, Myanmar suddenly burst into international attention by the “saffron revolution” which was followed by the brutal crackdown by the military regime. The large-scale protests were triggered by a sudden and huge hike in fuel prices but there were other causes including anger against economic mismanagement, protest against political repression, loss of confidence in the junta’s ‘roadmap’ for democracy and finally overall discontent with the military misrule of nearly two decades. The violent suppression of the protests, led by the monks, prompted even allies of the military government to recognise that change was desperately needed.
While these developments present important new opportunities for change, they must be viewed against the continuance of profound structural obstacles. The balance of power is still heavily weighted in favour of the Army, whose top leaders continue to insist that only a strongly controlled military-led state can hold the country together.
Pushing forward the new Constitution which ensures military domination and the fraudulent referendum are clear indicators that there is no willingness on the part of the regime to include any form of national reconciliation with the political forces in Myanmar.
Factors that have necessitated the accommoda-tive Indian approach to Myanmar are the importance of containing insurgency in India’s North-East, countering or balancing the growing Chinese influence, and energy requirements. The people of Myanmar do not figure among these considerations; nor are their aspirations for a democratic future a factor. New Delhi’s diplomacy has traversed the entire spectrum from support to the pro-democracy Opposition groups to support for the military regime.
New Delhi claims to be working through quiet diplomacy but there is no evidence of any tangible results. Its public positions on Myanmar have been much less critical than those of China. During a visit to Myanmar on January 19, 2007, External Affairs Minister (then) Pranab Mukherjee said that India had to deal with governments “as they exist”.
“We are not interested in exporting our own ideology. We are a democracy and we would like democracy to flourish every where. But this is for every country to decide for itself”. Our respected statesman had conveniently forgotten that the people of Myanmar had long ago decided for democracy and that the implementation of the decision was illegally and violently destroyed by the junta. He also overlooked the fact that the right to decide was precisely what is being denied to the people of Myanmar today. When there was widespread condemnation of the 2007 crackdown, all what Mukherjee could manage to say was to express the hope that “the process of national reconciliation and political reforms initiated by the government of Myanmar would taken forward expeditiously”, bestowing legitimacy and credibility to the junta’s plans which they did not deserve.
India’s claim that it is following a policy of non-interference in internal affairs with regard to Myanmar does not hold water with its record of interference in Sri Lanka, Nepal etc. It should be remembered that leaders of the pro-democracy movement look up to India for inspiration and support. Sui Kyi frequently cites Mahatma Gandhi as a model for her own non-violent resistance and views India’s democratic system as a model for their own ethnically diverse country.
¨
There are tensions between India’s declared interests and its policy of engagement with Myanmar which legitimises the junta. India also appears to be increasingly out of step with Asian neighbours that are quietly pressing the military regime to pursue internal political reform in the interests of regional stability. There are also evident contradictions between Indian officials developing interest in employing the ‘soft power’ of Indian democracy as a tool of foreign policy and their support for a military regime that violently suppresses political dissent.
In 2003 India secured a commitment from the Myanmar regime that Indian insurgents including the ULFA and the Khaplang factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland would not be allowed to use Burmese territory as a refuge or to launch attacks into India. The two countries subsequently have shared intelligence and performed coordinated military operations against insurgents operating in the region. Indian military officials express satisfaction with the Myanmar military’s demonstrated cooperation on this issue and frequently cite this as a valued deliverable of New Delhi’s engagement with the regime.
So wary have been Indian officers of upsetting military cooperation with Myanmar that they have been outspoken, for instance, during the September-October 2007 crackdown in the junta’s defence. Calling the repression “their internal matter”, Indian Army commander General Deepak Kapoor spoke at the height of the violence about “maintaining the close relationship” citing India’s “good relations with Myanmar”. The military-to-military relationship has political implications, again exposing lack of a policy which emboldens Indian military officers to make such statements. In return Myanmar has leveraged its cooperation against Indian insurgents to secure significant military assistance from New Delhi including the provision of lethal weaponry with sophisticated components manufactured in Europe, alleged by human rights groups to have been employed against Burmese civilians.
Despite the military help, Myanmar’s support for Indian objectives has not been clear cut. Following bilateral agreements in 2003-04 on anti-insurgent cooperation the regime freed a group of Manipur dissidents captured in 2001. Perhaps more importantly the continuing military campaign against the ethnic minorities leading to destruction and displacement of people has given Indian insurgents not only space to operate but support from some of the minority groups. So it has to be carefully weighed whether a military regime waging war against ethnic groups or a democratic government that represents also the minorities is better for India to deal with the insurgents.
Indian leaders also view Myanmar with vast reserves of natural gas, as a leading potential long-term source of energy supply free from the geopolitical risks of West Asia oil and natural gas. However, here also the attempts by India have not been very successful. Myanmar has become a theatre of intense energy diplomacy and competition with clear advantage to China because of the support China renders to the junta in its capacity as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
One of the main factors limiting India’s influence is that India itself sees its relations with Myanmar essentially in terms of competition with China rather than formulating a policy to further its own strategic and economic imperatives. Indian officials and strategists are gravely concerned about Chinese activities in Myanmar, including competition for energy resources, the construction of deepwater ports capable of docking Chinese vessels along Myanmar’s coastline and the operation of military listening posts on the Coco islands only miles from India’s territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal. China is constructing deep water port facilities potentially capable of berthing war ships at Yangon, Kyankpyu and other harbours in Myanmar.
Indian officials believe that India can only counter such Chinese influence along India’s eastern land and maritime flanks through a policy of comprehensive engagement with Myanmar’s military junta.
There may be need for a policy debate over whether the best way to offset China’s influence is to emulate it by embracing the Myanmar regime even more closely or to pursue an approach that distinguishes India from China. through an engagement also with the pro-democracy movement, clearly factoring the people of Myanmar as a major consideration. Indian leaders who believe that unconditional support for the military rulers in Myanmar is necessary to sustain bilateral cooperation seem to have overlooked that China’s own tolerance for the junta’s repression is limited. Concerned by the possibility that the junta’s brutality towards its own people could lead to revolutionary unrest that would threaten regional stability, senior Chinese officials in both Beijing and Yunnan province reportedly pressed Myanmar’s leaders to improve governance and reduce violence against civilians.
Although it blocked the Security Council from imposing sanctions against Myanmar, China condemned the junta’s September 2007 crackdown in stronger terms than did democratic India. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao publicly expressed concern about the junta’s repression and urged it to “promote domestic reconciliation and achieve democracy and development”. China supported the UN Security Council statement deploring the crackdown in Myanmar and urging political reconciliation—a change of position by Beijing which had previously used its veto to shield the Myanmar regime from such criticism.
In contrast, India’s public response made no mention of democracy in Myanmar, with Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressing only “concern’ about the situation and declaring India’s friendly interest in a “peaceful, stable and prosperous” Myanmar. If Beijing had indeed identified “a real self-interest in stopping the leadership from taking further steps that lead to instability internally and in the region” it was surprising that New Delhi felt constrained from using its hard-won influence for similar ends. New Delhi’s voice was conspicuous by absence during the show trial of Suu Kyi held in May this year.
On the diplomatic front Myanmar’s junta has signalled where its strength lies. The strength of Myanmar lies in the strong demand for its natural resources by all its neighbours. The reality is that China, India and Thailand are all interested in the reserves of energy that Myanmar has. Myanmar’s resources have allowed it to bypass international sanctions in the past and will now be used to negotiate with its Asian neighbours to win necessary international support and recognition.
The shift in the policy of the USA on Myanmar has raised new questions with regard to India’s approach. For the first time in more than two decades the US has expressed its readiness for engagement with Myanmar. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement during her first foreign trip on a new approach to Myanmar has been followed up by discussions between the two countries and now the visit of the high-level delegation.
The talks presumably centred on improving Myanmar’s human rights situation and its claimed intention to move towards democracy, but the subtext is improving diplomatic relations and fostering influence in a country widely viewed as a key regional ally of China. While the US wants to make it clear that the new policy does not mean the end of US sanctions, it concedes a “momentum for policy shift”.
Policy analysts say a major reason for this new gambit is a realisation that Chinese political and economic influence in the region has blossomed in the past decade while US attention was largely diverted especially by a foreign policy to suit the ‘war on terror’. Washington, which has substantially expanded its military ties in Asia, seems to have become increasingly concerned about China’s growing influence and power in the region through non-military means. While much of the focus of the USA has been on China’s rapidly modernising military and its growing capacity to project power beyond its immediate borders, a quiet but strong competition is now emerging between Washington and Beijing for influence in South-East Asia which will have reverberations across the whole of Asia.
The implications for India by the US, its strategic partner, entering into Myanmar need serious consideration. That this is happening at a time of apparent change in the US’ perception of India with the change in the Administration in Washington makes such consideration particularly relevant.
[Revised text of the keynote address at a seminar on “Recent Developments in Myanmar: Implications for India” organised by the Centre for Asia Studies, Chennai and the Department of Politics University of Madras]
Dr Ninan Koshy is a commentator based in Thiruvananthapuram and formerly a Visiting Fellow, Harvard Law School, USA.
*************************************************************
The New Nation - Indian influence on Myanmar
Internet Edition. November 25, 2009
Nuruddin Azam, Australia
Mayanmar is strategically situated to take the advantages of competition and cooperation between China and India over oil and gas resources. Both China and India are seeking to control the Indian Ocean for strategic military and economic reasons. The United States has been trying to militarise the region on the ground of fighting possible terrorist attacks and has already established an airbase on Banda Ache, Indonesia. Apprehending that the US is hell-bent on a unilateral militarisation of the entire region from the Middle East oil fields to the Strait of Malacca, Beijing has stepped up its engagement in Mayanmar. The Strait of Malacca, linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is the shortest sea route between the Persian Gulf and China. Myanmar also presents a possible supply route for oil and other commodities for China. An oil pipeline linking Mayanmar's deep-water port of Kyaukpyu with Kunming in China's Yunnan province was approved by Beijing in 2006. China is also Myanmar's most important defense ally, providing most of its military hardware and training.
In order to counter the increased Chinese influence on Myanmar, India has been trying to strengthen its ties with her eastern neighbour. She is spending millions of dollars to fund different projects in Myanmar which carry strategic significance for India. She is especially worried about the "maritime encirclement of India", with the Chinese bases at Gwadar in Pakistan and at Coco Island in Myanmar. India has been building up its military strength for a long time to close the gap with China. Recently India has also started pursuing closer relations with the United States.
Taking into account the above realities in international relations, Bangladesh need to develop cautiously and efficiently its own policies and programs to safeguard her vital national interests when dealing with her neighbors.
Internet Edition. November 25, 2009
Nuruddin Azam, Australia
Mayanmar is strategically situated to take the advantages of competition and cooperation between China and India over oil and gas resources. Both China and India are seeking to control the Indian Ocean for strategic military and economic reasons. The United States has been trying to militarise the region on the ground of fighting possible terrorist attacks and has already established an airbase on Banda Ache, Indonesia. Apprehending that the US is hell-bent on a unilateral militarisation of the entire region from the Middle East oil fields to the Strait of Malacca, Beijing has stepped up its engagement in Mayanmar. The Strait of Malacca, linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is the shortest sea route between the Persian Gulf and China. Myanmar also presents a possible supply route for oil and other commodities for China. An oil pipeline linking Mayanmar's deep-water port of Kyaukpyu with Kunming in China's Yunnan province was approved by Beijing in 2006. China is also Myanmar's most important defense ally, providing most of its military hardware and training.
In order to counter the increased Chinese influence on Myanmar, India has been trying to strengthen its ties with her eastern neighbour. She is spending millions of dollars to fund different projects in Myanmar which carry strategic significance for India. She is especially worried about the "maritime encirclement of India", with the Chinese bases at Gwadar in Pakistan and at Coco Island in Myanmar. India has been building up its military strength for a long time to close the gap with China. Recently India has also started pursuing closer relations with the United States.
Taking into account the above realities in international relations, Bangladesh need to develop cautiously and efficiently its own policies and programs to safeguard her vital national interests when dealing with her neighbors.
*************************************************************
The Telegraph - Monk who grounded a flight
A STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday , November 24 , 2009
A Myanmarese monk grounded an Air India plane taxiing for take-off at Calcutta airport on Monday morning by “unintentionally” opening the emergency exit next to his seat.
Waza Thunga, allotted seat 11A on the Airbus 320 bound for Yangon, set off an alarm in the cockpit the moment he pulled the lever of the emergency exit to his left “out of curiosity”, airport officials said.
The alarm prompted the pilot to immediately abort the scheduled take-off at 10.10am and take the plane back to the parking bay, where all 139 passengers were asked to disembark. A befuddled Thunga and the rest of the passengers were escorted back to the transit lounge, where they were stranded for seven hours as the emergency door was put back in place and the plane put through safety checks.
“Once an emergency door accidentally opens, the flight is said to be in a no-go situation. The plane cannot take off without a thorough check, and that takes time,” an air traffic control (ATC) official said.
The aircraft finally took off at 5.05pm, after Air India engineers ran a thorough check and gave the green signal.
A source said Thunga, who doesn’t know English and was travelling by air for only the second time, had difficulty explaining how the emergency exit opened. “But he managed to convince the airline staff that his was an unintentional act. So no action was taken against him,” he added.
Air India officials denied that the emergency door opened when Thunga pulled the lever. “He did trigger an alarm in the cockpit when the aircraft was in the parking bay but the door didn’t open and the flight was never in any kind of danger,” a spokesperson for the airline said.
The chute attached to the emergency exit was activated when the aircraft was taken for repairs, which added to the turnaround time. Once the lever is pulled, a cartridge is punctured and the escape chute is inflated with nitrogen gas. For the emergency exit to be used again, a refill of nitrogen is required.
Thunga, for all his exploratory push and prod, couldn’t have opened the emergency exit in mid-air.
“The emergency doors are closed but not locked when an aircraft is taxiing so as to allow crew and passengers to quickly open the doors during any kind of emergency.
However, as soon as it takes off, the doors are locked automatically,” a pilot said.
In November 2008, a first-time flier accidentally pressed the lever of the emergency door of a Kingfisher flight to Port Blair before take-off, forcing the passengers to disembark.
According to rules laid down by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, all passengers must be evacuated through the emergency exits within 90 seconds in the event of an emergency.
A STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday , November 24 , 2009
A Myanmarese monk grounded an Air India plane taxiing for take-off at Calcutta airport on Monday morning by “unintentionally” opening the emergency exit next to his seat.
Waza Thunga, allotted seat 11A on the Airbus 320 bound for Yangon, set off an alarm in the cockpit the moment he pulled the lever of the emergency exit to his left “out of curiosity”, airport officials said.
The alarm prompted the pilot to immediately abort the scheduled take-off at 10.10am and take the plane back to the parking bay, where all 139 passengers were asked to disembark. A befuddled Thunga and the rest of the passengers were escorted back to the transit lounge, where they were stranded for seven hours as the emergency door was put back in place and the plane put through safety checks.
“Once an emergency door accidentally opens, the flight is said to be in a no-go situation. The plane cannot take off without a thorough check, and that takes time,” an air traffic control (ATC) official said.
The aircraft finally took off at 5.05pm, after Air India engineers ran a thorough check and gave the green signal.
A source said Thunga, who doesn’t know English and was travelling by air for only the second time, had difficulty explaining how the emergency exit opened. “But he managed to convince the airline staff that his was an unintentional act. So no action was taken against him,” he added.
Air India officials denied that the emergency door opened when Thunga pulled the lever. “He did trigger an alarm in the cockpit when the aircraft was in the parking bay but the door didn’t open and the flight was never in any kind of danger,” a spokesperson for the airline said.
The chute attached to the emergency exit was activated when the aircraft was taken for repairs, which added to the turnaround time. Once the lever is pulled, a cartridge is punctured and the escape chute is inflated with nitrogen gas. For the emergency exit to be used again, a refill of nitrogen is required.
Thunga, for all his exploratory push and prod, couldn’t have opened the emergency exit in mid-air.
“The emergency doors are closed but not locked when an aircraft is taxiing so as to allow crew and passengers to quickly open the doors during any kind of emergency.
However, as soon as it takes off, the doors are locked automatically,” a pilot said.
In November 2008, a first-time flier accidentally pressed the lever of the emergency door of a Kingfisher flight to Port Blair before take-off, forcing the passengers to disembark.
According to rules laid down by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, all passengers must be evacuated through the emergency exits within 90 seconds in the event of an emergency.
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ReliefWeb - Myanmar: Responds to desperate shelter needs
Source: Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
Date: 24 Nov 2009
NRC continues to respond to the shelter needs in Myanmar. Several hundred thousand people are still in need of sustainable shelter, a year and a half after cyclone Nargis struck.
"NRC has built more than 1,000 permanent shelters with cyclone-resistant features in the severely affected areas in the delta. For the time being, we are setting up shelters at a speed of 200 per month," NRC Secretary General Elisabeth Rasmusson said.
NRC has built five schools that also can serve as community cyclone shelters, with 20 more buildings now under construction. Close to 3,600 additional shelters have been strengthened community infrastructure such as jetties and foot bridges have been rebuilt in several locations affected by the storm surge of Nargis. The construction activities, all in Labutta District, are complemented by on-site training and capacity-building of the village populations to increase disaster preparedness in case of future emergencies.
2,4 million people were severely affected when cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyarwady delta in the southern parts of Myanmar in May 2008. Not only did many people lose their loved ones. 800 000 families lost their homes. Also, livelihoods opportunities, health and education facilities and other essential infrastructure were destroyed by the cyclone.
The international community is struggling to get donors' support to the recovery efforts. To date, only US$120 million out of $691 million needed for the next three years has been pledged for the joint Post Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan. Projects in shelter, health, education and agriculture are most at risk of premature closure.
In a recent meeting in Oslo, between NRC and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Bishow Parajuli, as well as the Head of OCHA in Myanmar, Thierry Delbreuve, the Secretary General stressed that NRC is committed to continue its work in the delta in a time when other actors have to scale down or pull out completely because of lack of resources.
"In addition to provide continued support to the cyclone survivors, NRC is also looking into other parts of Myanmar where our expertise may be required," Rasmusson said.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator thanked NRC for efforts on the ground as well as for its support in seconding several staff to various UN agencies in Myanmar, through its emergency standby roster NORCAP, supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Source: Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
Date: 24 Nov 2009
NRC continues to respond to the shelter needs in Myanmar. Several hundred thousand people are still in need of sustainable shelter, a year and a half after cyclone Nargis struck.
"NRC has built more than 1,000 permanent shelters with cyclone-resistant features in the severely affected areas in the delta. For the time being, we are setting up shelters at a speed of 200 per month," NRC Secretary General Elisabeth Rasmusson said.
NRC has built five schools that also can serve as community cyclone shelters, with 20 more buildings now under construction. Close to 3,600 additional shelters have been strengthened community infrastructure such as jetties and foot bridges have been rebuilt in several locations affected by the storm surge of Nargis. The construction activities, all in Labutta District, are complemented by on-site training and capacity-building of the village populations to increase disaster preparedness in case of future emergencies.
2,4 million people were severely affected when cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyarwady delta in the southern parts of Myanmar in May 2008. Not only did many people lose their loved ones. 800 000 families lost their homes. Also, livelihoods opportunities, health and education facilities and other essential infrastructure were destroyed by the cyclone.
The international community is struggling to get donors' support to the recovery efforts. To date, only US$120 million out of $691 million needed for the next three years has been pledged for the joint Post Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan. Projects in shelter, health, education and agriculture are most at risk of premature closure.
In a recent meeting in Oslo, between NRC and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Bishow Parajuli, as well as the Head of OCHA in Myanmar, Thierry Delbreuve, the Secretary General stressed that NRC is committed to continue its work in the delta in a time when other actors have to scale down or pull out completely because of lack of resources.
"In addition to provide continued support to the cyclone survivors, NRC is also looking into other parts of Myanmar where our expertise may be required," Rasmusson said.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator thanked NRC for efforts on the ground as well as for its support in seconding several staff to various UN agencies in Myanmar, through its emergency standby roster NORCAP, supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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EarthTimes - HIV stable in Asia but rising among women, gay men
Posted : Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:28:20 GMT
Beijing - The rate of HIV infection has risen among women and gay men in some Asian nations but stabilized across the region in recent years, a United Nations report said on Tuesday. The proportion of women among the estimated 4.7 million people living with HIV in Asia rose from 19 per cent in 2000 to 35 per cent in 2008, said the annual report by UNAIDS, the UN umbrella group for HIV/AIDS prevention.
"In particular countries, the growth in HIV infections among women has been especially striking," it said.
Women accounted for an estimated 39 per cent of HIV-infected people in India by 2007, while the proportion of HIV-infected women in China also rose sharply, it said.
The report warned that female and male sex workers, and their clients, continued to run very high risks of HIV infection in many Asian nations.
It cited a study suggesting that "many low-risk women may be at considerable risk of HIV infection due to the high-risk sexual and drug-using behaviours of their male partners".
Across Asia, the annual number of new HIV infections fell from an estimated 400,000 in 2001 to 350,000 last year.
The estimates are based on a low proportion of clinically diagnosed cases. The discrimination, cultural and legal barriers associated with the disease means that many HIV-infected people in Asia are still undiagnosed.
In China, for example, some two-thirds of HIV-infected people have not sought treatment because of fear, ignorance and discrimination, UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe told reporters in Shanghai.
China and other nations still need to "break the conspiracy of silence" surrounding HIV/AIDS, Sidibe said.
"People are hiding themselves," he said, adding that "homophobic laws" were also preventing openness about HIV/AIDS among gay men in some nations.
The report said HIV infections were gradually becoming more common in mainstream groups in most Asian countries.
"Although Asia's epidemic has long been concentrated in specific populations, namely sex workers and their clients, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users, it is steadily expanding into lower-risk populations through transmission to the sexual partners of those most at risk," UNAIDS said.
"Notwithstanding its comparatively low HIV prevalence, Asia has not escaped the epidemic's harmful consequences," it said.
"The economic consequences of AIDS will force an additional 6 million households in Asia into poverty by 2015 unless national responses are significantly strengthened," it said.
Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu said sexual transmission was already the main mode of transmission in China, pointing to the need for greater efforts to prevent the spread of the virus from non-governmental organizations, civil society and the government.
UNAIDS said sex workers ran an "extremely high risk of HIV infection" in many Asian nations, where use of condoms remained low despite education campaigns.
One survey in China found that 60 per cent of female sex workers did not regularly use condoms, while in neighbouring Myanmar about 18 per cent of female sex workers were HIV-infected.
But the report reiterated UN praise for the Thai government's response to the country's early arrival of an HIV/AIDS epidemic as a "vivid illustration of both the power of HIV prevention leadership and the importance of sustaining a robust response over time."
"With visionary leadership and implementation of evidence-informed public health strategies in the 1990s, Thailand managed to arrest an epidemic that threatened to spiral out of control," UNAIDS said.
"However, after funding for basic prevention services was slashed as a result of the Asian economic crisis in the late 1990s, HIV incidence subsequently increased," it said.
"Having intensified national prevention efforts, Thailand has again succeeded in reducing HIV incidence in recent years," UNAIDS said.
Posted : Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:28:20 GMT
Beijing - The rate of HIV infection has risen among women and gay men in some Asian nations but stabilized across the region in recent years, a United Nations report said on Tuesday. The proportion of women among the estimated 4.7 million people living with HIV in Asia rose from 19 per cent in 2000 to 35 per cent in 2008, said the annual report by UNAIDS, the UN umbrella group for HIV/AIDS prevention.
"In particular countries, the growth in HIV infections among women has been especially striking," it said.
Women accounted for an estimated 39 per cent of HIV-infected people in India by 2007, while the proportion of HIV-infected women in China also rose sharply, it said.
The report warned that female and male sex workers, and their clients, continued to run very high risks of HIV infection in many Asian nations.
It cited a study suggesting that "many low-risk women may be at considerable risk of HIV infection due to the high-risk sexual and drug-using behaviours of their male partners".
Across Asia, the annual number of new HIV infections fell from an estimated 400,000 in 2001 to 350,000 last year.
The estimates are based on a low proportion of clinically diagnosed cases. The discrimination, cultural and legal barriers associated with the disease means that many HIV-infected people in Asia are still undiagnosed.
In China, for example, some two-thirds of HIV-infected people have not sought treatment because of fear, ignorance and discrimination, UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe told reporters in Shanghai.
China and other nations still need to "break the conspiracy of silence" surrounding HIV/AIDS, Sidibe said.
"People are hiding themselves," he said, adding that "homophobic laws" were also preventing openness about HIV/AIDS among gay men in some nations.
The report said HIV infections were gradually becoming more common in mainstream groups in most Asian countries.
"Although Asia's epidemic has long been concentrated in specific populations, namely sex workers and their clients, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users, it is steadily expanding into lower-risk populations through transmission to the sexual partners of those most at risk," UNAIDS said.
"Notwithstanding its comparatively low HIV prevalence, Asia has not escaped the epidemic's harmful consequences," it said.
"The economic consequences of AIDS will force an additional 6 million households in Asia into poverty by 2015 unless national responses are significantly strengthened," it said.
Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu said sexual transmission was already the main mode of transmission in China, pointing to the need for greater efforts to prevent the spread of the virus from non-governmental organizations, civil society and the government.
UNAIDS said sex workers ran an "extremely high risk of HIV infection" in many Asian nations, where use of condoms remained low despite education campaigns.
One survey in China found that 60 per cent of female sex workers did not regularly use condoms, while in neighbouring Myanmar about 18 per cent of female sex workers were HIV-infected.
But the report reiterated UN praise for the Thai government's response to the country's early arrival of an HIV/AIDS epidemic as a "vivid illustration of both the power of HIV prevention leadership and the importance of sustaining a robust response over time."
"With visionary leadership and implementation of evidence-informed public health strategies in the 1990s, Thailand managed to arrest an epidemic that threatened to spiral out of control," UNAIDS said.
"However, after funding for basic prevention services was slashed as a result of the Asian economic crisis in the late 1990s, HIV incidence subsequently increased," it said.
"Having intensified national prevention efforts, Thailand has again succeeded in reducing HIV incidence in recent years," UNAIDS said.
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Swiss Film to Show Life in Refugee Camp
By KO HTWE - Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A Swiss film director, Stephan Haupt, has completed filming in Thailand on a movie depicting life in a refugee camp along the Thailand-Burma border.
The script revolves around refugees and a Swiss doctor who arrives at a camp with his wife while on a vacation trip.
The budget for the film, which has a working title of “How About Love?,” is US $2 million. Swiss actor Adrian Furrer plays the doctor. The cast includes Burmese actors and refugees who are familiar with life along the border.
Filming was recently completed in Chiang Mai and the surrounding area. Permission could not be obtained to film inside a refugee camp. Final shooting will be completed in Switzerland.
Haupt, a native of Zurich, attended the Theater Academy of Zurich from 1985-1988 and has been an independent film and theater director since 1989. He won a 2002 Swiss film prize for “Utopia Blues.” Since 2008, he been president of the Swiss Filmmakers Association.
“When I was 20 years old my parents brought two Cambodian refugees in Switzerland to our apartment,” Haupt said. “They had lived in a refugee camp and seen terrible things.
Sometime at night I could hear them crying, yelling and shouting in dreams. They told me things they had seen and what happened to them. It started me thinking about the unbelievably strange world we live in.
Thein Win of Chiang Mai, who played a refugee camp leader, told The Irrawaddy: “I'm glad I could participate in this film. The direct wanted to show the effects of oppression. I think we can bring some attention to the subject.”
He said the film will draw attention to the issue of land mines and their effect on innocent civilians and children.
In 2008, US actor Sylvester Stallone made a big-budget film, part of his Rambo series, which showed the plight of ethnic groups in Burma.
An estimated 140,000 refugees, mostly from eastern Burma, live in nine refugee camps along Thailand’s western border, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium.
An interview with director Stephen Haupt can be found on The Irrawaddy Web site in the coming days.
By KO HTWE - Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A Swiss film director, Stephan Haupt, has completed filming in Thailand on a movie depicting life in a refugee camp along the Thailand-Burma border.
The script revolves around refugees and a Swiss doctor who arrives at a camp with his wife while on a vacation trip.
The budget for the film, which has a working title of “How About Love?,” is US $2 million. Swiss actor Adrian Furrer plays the doctor. The cast includes Burmese actors and refugees who are familiar with life along the border.
Filming was recently completed in Chiang Mai and the surrounding area. Permission could not be obtained to film inside a refugee camp. Final shooting will be completed in Switzerland.
Haupt, a native of Zurich, attended the Theater Academy of Zurich from 1985-1988 and has been an independent film and theater director since 1989. He won a 2002 Swiss film prize for “Utopia Blues.” Since 2008, he been president of the Swiss Filmmakers Association.
“When I was 20 years old my parents brought two Cambodian refugees in Switzerland to our apartment,” Haupt said. “They had lived in a refugee camp and seen terrible things.
Sometime at night I could hear them crying, yelling and shouting in dreams. They told me things they had seen and what happened to them. It started me thinking about the unbelievably strange world we live in.
Thein Win of Chiang Mai, who played a refugee camp leader, told The Irrawaddy: “I'm glad I could participate in this film. The direct wanted to show the effects of oppression. I think we can bring some attention to the subject.”
He said the film will draw attention to the issue of land mines and their effect on innocent civilians and children.
In 2008, US actor Sylvester Stallone made a big-budget film, part of his Rambo series, which showed the plight of ethnic groups in Burma.
An estimated 140,000 refugees, mostly from eastern Burma, live in nine refugee camps along Thailand’s western border, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium.
An interview with director Stephen Haupt can be found on The Irrawaddy Web site in the coming days.
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Selection Time Precedes Election Time in Burma
By AUNG ZAW - Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Although Burma's military regime has announced no election law nor declared the date of the poll it plans to hold in 2010, preparations appear to have begun in Naypyidaw.
Informed sources suggest that potential candidates for president, vice-president, commander-in-chief of the armed forces and defense minister have been chosen.
The current list may yet be modified before the election and some potential candidates in the list could be removed. All depends on the regime leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, who still calls the shots.
Than Shwe, who is in his late 70s, and his number 2, Dep Snr-Gen Maung Aye, who is only slightly younger, will retire soon after the election. Informed sources said that they are building lavish new homes in Naypyidaw for their retirement.
However, before vacating the throne, Than Shwe will make sure he and his family can live in safely, leaving his trusted officers in high positions to ensure security.
Than Shwe has reportedly already endorsed the junta's No 3, Gen Thura Shwe Mann, joint chief-of-staff in the armed forces, to become president of post-election Burma.
According to sources close to the military elite, Shwe Mann, 61, will be nominated by the representatives of the military in the future Senate and House, to be formed after the planned 2010 election.
The military will receive 25 percent of the seats at the village, township, state, regional and district levels in the new governing body, according to the 2008 Constitution.
There will be three nominees for the presidency—one from the military contingent, one from the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Union Assembly or Senate) and one from the members of the Pyithu Hluttaw (People's Assembly or House). The Senate and the House will then vote to choose the president.
Shwe Mann, a protégé of Than Shwe, has a reputation of being down to earth and a good listener, but he has yet to show his teeth on a broad range of social, economic and political issues. His vision of Burma’s future is unknown.
However, Shwe Mann increasingly oversees regular meetings on political and security affairs with high-ranking military officials in Rangoon and Naypyidaw—perhaps a further sign that Than Shwe will take a back seat after the election.
Shwe Mann and his wife are close to Than Shwe’s family on a personal level, undertaking shopping trips together to Singapore.
Recently, Shwe Mann was the subject of extensive news coverage focusing on his secret mission to North Korea in November.
According to the Constitution, one of the duties of the new president will be to head the National Defense and Security Council, which has the power to declare a state of emergency and nullify the Constitution.
Than Shwe's choice for one of the two proposed vice-presidents, according to informed sources, is Maj-Gen Htay Oo, the minister of agriculture and irrigation and a key leader of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), the junta-backed mass organization.
Htay Oo recently visited Japan—displaying, according to military sources, all the qualities of a politician rather than an army officer.
The choice of the second vice-president is likely to fall to an ethnic leader. It's worth recalling that Burma’s first and second presidents were Shan and Karen.
Analysts ponder the question of who will become commander-in- chief of the armed forces.
Than Shwe currently holds Burma’s most powerful position in the armed forces and analysts say he will hand this position over only to his most trusted ally.
There appear to be plenty of subordinates who could fill the shoes.
They include Lt-Gen Hla Htay Win, Maj-Gen Ko Ko, Maj-Gen Tin Ngwe and Maj-Gen Kyaw Swe. All are close to Than Shwe and Dep Snr-Gen Gen Maung Aye, the current army chief and deputy to Than Shwe.
Maj-Gen Tin Ngwe is said by analysts to be the front runner for the post of commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He recently accompanied Than Shwe when he made an official visit to Sri Lanka.
Born in Nyaung-Oo, in the central heartland of Burma, Tin Ngwe attended the Defense Services Academy Intake 22, together with Kyaw Swe, later serving as G-1 in the defense ministry. He is known to be loyal to Than Shwe and Shwe Mann.
According to the new Constitution, the commander-in-chief will control the ministries of defense, border affairs and home affairs, exercising wide executive powers.
Analysts also tip Lt-Gen Myint Swe, a Than Shwe protégé, as a possible candidate for the post of defense minister. He attended the 15th intake of the Defense Services Academy in 1971 and is currently commander of the Bureau of Special Operations 5.
Myint Swe became commanding officer of Light Infantry Division 11, overseeing security in Rangoon, and later served as commander of Southwest Military Region in Bassein, Irrawaddy Division, before moving in the late 1990s to the defense ministry, where he worked directly under Than Shwe and Maung Aye.
This seems to be Than Shwe’s “rest in peace” selection plan for 2010. If he executes it smoothly, he will avoid the fate of such top men as Gen Khin Nyunt and the late dictator Gen Ne Win, both of whom ended up under house arrest.
Analysts say Than Shwe wants to make sure the 2010 election provides him and his family with a safe exit strategy. That entails leaving his trusted aides at the helm—and that means the country will continue to be to run by the military.
By AUNG ZAW - Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Although Burma's military regime has announced no election law nor declared the date of the poll it plans to hold in 2010, preparations appear to have begun in Naypyidaw.
Informed sources suggest that potential candidates for president, vice-president, commander-in-chief of the armed forces and defense minister have been chosen.
The current list may yet be modified before the election and some potential candidates in the list could be removed. All depends on the regime leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, who still calls the shots.
Than Shwe, who is in his late 70s, and his number 2, Dep Snr-Gen Maung Aye, who is only slightly younger, will retire soon after the election. Informed sources said that they are building lavish new homes in Naypyidaw for their retirement.
However, before vacating the throne, Than Shwe will make sure he and his family can live in safely, leaving his trusted officers in high positions to ensure security.
Than Shwe has reportedly already endorsed the junta's No 3, Gen Thura Shwe Mann, joint chief-of-staff in the armed forces, to become president of post-election Burma.
According to sources close to the military elite, Shwe Mann, 61, will be nominated by the representatives of the military in the future Senate and House, to be formed after the planned 2010 election.
The military will receive 25 percent of the seats at the village, township, state, regional and district levels in the new governing body, according to the 2008 Constitution.
There will be three nominees for the presidency—one from the military contingent, one from the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Union Assembly or Senate) and one from the members of the Pyithu Hluttaw (People's Assembly or House). The Senate and the House will then vote to choose the president.
Shwe Mann, a protégé of Than Shwe, has a reputation of being down to earth and a good listener, but he has yet to show his teeth on a broad range of social, economic and political issues. His vision of Burma’s future is unknown.
However, Shwe Mann increasingly oversees regular meetings on political and security affairs with high-ranking military officials in Rangoon and Naypyidaw—perhaps a further sign that Than Shwe will take a back seat after the election.
Shwe Mann and his wife are close to Than Shwe’s family on a personal level, undertaking shopping trips together to Singapore.
Recently, Shwe Mann was the subject of extensive news coverage focusing on his secret mission to North Korea in November.
According to the Constitution, one of the duties of the new president will be to head the National Defense and Security Council, which has the power to declare a state of emergency and nullify the Constitution.
Than Shwe's choice for one of the two proposed vice-presidents, according to informed sources, is Maj-Gen Htay Oo, the minister of agriculture and irrigation and a key leader of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), the junta-backed mass organization.
Htay Oo recently visited Japan—displaying, according to military sources, all the qualities of a politician rather than an army officer.
The choice of the second vice-president is likely to fall to an ethnic leader. It's worth recalling that Burma’s first and second presidents were Shan and Karen.
Analysts ponder the question of who will become commander-in- chief of the armed forces.
Than Shwe currently holds Burma’s most powerful position in the armed forces and analysts say he will hand this position over only to his most trusted ally.
There appear to be plenty of subordinates who could fill the shoes.
They include Lt-Gen Hla Htay Win, Maj-Gen Ko Ko, Maj-Gen Tin Ngwe and Maj-Gen Kyaw Swe. All are close to Than Shwe and Dep Snr-Gen Gen Maung Aye, the current army chief and deputy to Than Shwe.
Maj-Gen Tin Ngwe is said by analysts to be the front runner for the post of commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He recently accompanied Than Shwe when he made an official visit to Sri Lanka.
Born in Nyaung-Oo, in the central heartland of Burma, Tin Ngwe attended the Defense Services Academy Intake 22, together with Kyaw Swe, later serving as G-1 in the defense ministry. He is known to be loyal to Than Shwe and Shwe Mann.
According to the new Constitution, the commander-in-chief will control the ministries of defense, border affairs and home affairs, exercising wide executive powers.
Analysts also tip Lt-Gen Myint Swe, a Than Shwe protégé, as a possible candidate for the post of defense minister. He attended the 15th intake of the Defense Services Academy in 1971 and is currently commander of the Bureau of Special Operations 5.
Myint Swe became commanding officer of Light Infantry Division 11, overseeing security in Rangoon, and later served as commander of Southwest Military Region in Bassein, Irrawaddy Division, before moving in the late 1990s to the defense ministry, where he worked directly under Than Shwe and Maung Aye.
This seems to be Than Shwe’s “rest in peace” selection plan for 2010. If he executes it smoothly, he will avoid the fate of such top men as Gen Khin Nyunt and the late dictator Gen Ne Win, both of whom ended up under house arrest.
Analysts say Than Shwe wants to make sure the 2010 election provides him and his family with a safe exit strategy. That entails leaving his trusted aides at the helm—and that means the country will continue to be to run by the military.
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Top Generals Hold Final meeting of 2009
By WAI MOE - Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Commanders of the Burmese armed forces (the Tatmadaw) began their final meeting of 2009 in Naypyidaw on Tuesday, with the proposed 2010 election reportedly high on the agenda.
The top junta brass meet every four months. The current meeting was postponed from October.
Observers say that, apart from the 2010 election, the meeting is expected to discuss tension with ethnic cease-fire groups over the proposed border guard force, US-Burma relations and the status of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe and the other top three generals might nominate potential Tatmadaw election candidates, observers say. The military-backed Constitution reserves 25 percent of the future upper and lower houses of parliament for military officers nominated by the Tatmadaw commander-in-chief.
“We can expect to hear something at the conclusion of the meeting,” a Rangoon-based journalist told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. “All key military officials are attending. This is the last meeting of commanders in 2009, so they have to decide something.”
The meeting takes place as rumors circulate that the junta's No.2, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, is likely to retire from the military. Maung Aye has reportedly told his close friends that he would like to retire after the election to a house he is building in Naypyidaw.
“I've heard that Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye may retire from the military and politics, although Than Shwe is not likely to give up his military role,” said Chan Tun, a veteran Rangoon politician.
Other observers say Than Shwe has not yet decided whether to step down after the election and is not yet ready to name a date for the poll.
Under the 2008 constitution, the Tatmadaw and its commander-in-chief will hold a paramount position in Burma's power structure. The commander-in-chief will automatically act as a vice president, with authority to abolish parliament for reasons of security. Since the military takeover in 1962, whoever was in charge of the Tatmadaw has also controlled the whole country.
If Than Shwe resigns his Tatmadaw position, his No. 3, Gen Thura Swe Mann, 62, is well placed to succeed him, although the junta's No. 4, Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, who is three years younger, is also being named as a possible successor. No love is lost between the two generals.
The London-based think tank, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), in a Burma report in October, tipped Shwe Mann for the post, but said conflict within the leadership could threaten the Tatmadaw’s long-term grip on power.
“A post-election shuffle of positions, with appointments to newly-established posts of president and vice-president, could prove to be destabilizing,” said the EIU.
The junta's plan to transform the armed cease-fire groups into a Border Guard Force poses another threat to stability. The plan, first floated in April, is opposed by key cease-fire groups, including the biggest, the United Wa State Army. The junta has extended its deadline for acceptance of the plan for a further month, until the last week of December.
The possibility of fresh military offensives along the Sino-Burmese border and the possible Chinese response are also certainly on the Naypyidaw agenda.
The generals will also undoubtedly consider the initiative taken two weeks ago by Suu Kyi, who wrote to Than Shwe asking for a meeting and also for permission to meet leaders of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). In her conciliatory letter, Suu Kyi also thanked the junta for allowing her to meet a visiting US delegation and western diplomats.
According to sources close to the NLD, the junta is likely to grant Suu Kyi’s request for a meeting with her party leaders, although it is uncertain whether the NLD vice-chairman ex-Gen Tin Oo, would be allowed to attend.
Tin Oo—the only former top general to oppose the junta—has been under house arrest since 2003 and the regime has consistently prevented him from meeting Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders. He is regarded by the junta as a traitor.
By WAI MOE - Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Commanders of the Burmese armed forces (the Tatmadaw) began their final meeting of 2009 in Naypyidaw on Tuesday, with the proposed 2010 election reportedly high on the agenda.
The top junta brass meet every four months. The current meeting was postponed from October.
Observers say that, apart from the 2010 election, the meeting is expected to discuss tension with ethnic cease-fire groups over the proposed border guard force, US-Burma relations and the status of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe and the other top three generals might nominate potential Tatmadaw election candidates, observers say. The military-backed Constitution reserves 25 percent of the future upper and lower houses of parliament for military officers nominated by the Tatmadaw commander-in-chief.
“We can expect to hear something at the conclusion of the meeting,” a Rangoon-based journalist told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. “All key military officials are attending. This is the last meeting of commanders in 2009, so they have to decide something.”
The meeting takes place as rumors circulate that the junta's No.2, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, is likely to retire from the military. Maung Aye has reportedly told his close friends that he would like to retire after the election to a house he is building in Naypyidaw.
“I've heard that Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye may retire from the military and politics, although Than Shwe is not likely to give up his military role,” said Chan Tun, a veteran Rangoon politician.
Other observers say Than Shwe has not yet decided whether to step down after the election and is not yet ready to name a date for the poll.
Under the 2008 constitution, the Tatmadaw and its commander-in-chief will hold a paramount position in Burma's power structure. The commander-in-chief will automatically act as a vice president, with authority to abolish parliament for reasons of security. Since the military takeover in 1962, whoever was in charge of the Tatmadaw has also controlled the whole country.
If Than Shwe resigns his Tatmadaw position, his No. 3, Gen Thura Swe Mann, 62, is well placed to succeed him, although the junta's No. 4, Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, who is three years younger, is also being named as a possible successor. No love is lost between the two generals.
The London-based think tank, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), in a Burma report in October, tipped Shwe Mann for the post, but said conflict within the leadership could threaten the Tatmadaw’s long-term grip on power.
“A post-election shuffle of positions, with appointments to newly-established posts of president and vice-president, could prove to be destabilizing,” said the EIU.
The junta's plan to transform the armed cease-fire groups into a Border Guard Force poses another threat to stability. The plan, first floated in April, is opposed by key cease-fire groups, including the biggest, the United Wa State Army. The junta has extended its deadline for acceptance of the plan for a further month, until the last week of December.
The possibility of fresh military offensives along the Sino-Burmese border and the possible Chinese response are also certainly on the Naypyidaw agenda.
The generals will also undoubtedly consider the initiative taken two weeks ago by Suu Kyi, who wrote to Than Shwe asking for a meeting and also for permission to meet leaders of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). In her conciliatory letter, Suu Kyi also thanked the junta for allowing her to meet a visiting US delegation and western diplomats.
According to sources close to the NLD, the junta is likely to grant Suu Kyi’s request for a meeting with her party leaders, although it is uncertain whether the NLD vice-chairman ex-Gen Tin Oo, would be allowed to attend.
Tin Oo—the only former top general to oppose the junta—has been under house arrest since 2003 and the regime has consistently prevented him from meeting Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders. He is regarded by the junta as a traitor.
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Junta’s priority is elections, not easing sanctions: Win Tin
by Salai Han Thar San
Tuesday, 24 November 2009 21:49
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Burmese military junta’s priority is to get on with its planned 2010 elections rather than looking at easing western sanctions, leaving little chance of the junta supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe responding to detained opposition leader’s latest proposal, a senior member of her party said.
Win Tin, a Central Executive Committee (CEC) member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), on Tuesday told Mizzima that the chances of Than Shwe responding to the Nobel Peace Laureate’s letter, requesting a meeting with him, is slim as the military clique seems to be far too preoccupied with its planned elections.
On November 11, the detained Burmese democracy icon, through her party spokesperson Nyan Win, sent her second letter to Than Shwe requesting a face to face meeting to follow up on the work to help ease western sanctions.
Nyan Win on Tuesday told Mizzima that Than Shwe has not responded to the letter, which also requested permission to allow the pro-democracy leader to pay her respects to aging party leaders and to allow her a meeting at her home with the party CEC.
The senior opposition leader on Tuesday said, Burma’s military supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe is unlikely to respond to the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal sent earlier this month, as the junta’s priority is its elections rather than easing sanctions.
Win Tin said, the military clique is unlikely to responds to the proposal as the 2010 elections are on the top of its agenda, compared to looking at easing western sanctions and engaging with the United States.
“Sanctions do not constitute real problems for them [junta], as it does not hurt them much but creates slight difficulties in their relationship with the international community. But the elections are very important to them,” Win Tin said.
Aung San Suu Kyi on September 25 sent her first letter to Than Shwe offering to cooperate in easing sanctions. The junta responded to her proposal by granting her request to meet diplomats from the United States, European Union and Australia.
Besides, the junta also allowed the detained Burmese democracy icon to meet the junta’s Liaison Minister Aung Kyi and also the visiting US high-level delegation led by Assistant Secretary for Asia Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell.
The letters and the meetings came following the United States’ announcement of a new policy of engaging the generals in Burma while maintaining existing sanctions.
Nyan Win, while saying that so far there was no reply, said he is optimistic that something positive will turn up.
But Win Tin said, “This election will guarantee the rule of the military because it will be held based on the 2008 constitution. And the new Parliament and the new government will be controlled by this constitution that will guarantee the military’s rule for many years to come in Burma.”
by Salai Han Thar San
Tuesday, 24 November 2009 21:49
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Burmese military junta’s priority is to get on with its planned 2010 elections rather than looking at easing western sanctions, leaving little chance of the junta supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe responding to detained opposition leader’s latest proposal, a senior member of her party said.
Win Tin, a Central Executive Committee (CEC) member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), on Tuesday told Mizzima that the chances of Than Shwe responding to the Nobel Peace Laureate’s letter, requesting a meeting with him, is slim as the military clique seems to be far too preoccupied with its planned elections.
On November 11, the detained Burmese democracy icon, through her party spokesperson Nyan Win, sent her second letter to Than Shwe requesting a face to face meeting to follow up on the work to help ease western sanctions.
Nyan Win on Tuesday told Mizzima that Than Shwe has not responded to the letter, which also requested permission to allow the pro-democracy leader to pay her respects to aging party leaders and to allow her a meeting at her home with the party CEC.
The senior opposition leader on Tuesday said, Burma’s military supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe is unlikely to respond to the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal sent earlier this month, as the junta’s priority is its elections rather than easing sanctions.
Win Tin said, the military clique is unlikely to responds to the proposal as the 2010 elections are on the top of its agenda, compared to looking at easing western sanctions and engaging with the United States.
“Sanctions do not constitute real problems for them [junta], as it does not hurt them much but creates slight difficulties in their relationship with the international community. But the elections are very important to them,” Win Tin said.
Aung San Suu Kyi on September 25 sent her first letter to Than Shwe offering to cooperate in easing sanctions. The junta responded to her proposal by granting her request to meet diplomats from the United States, European Union and Australia.
Besides, the junta also allowed the detained Burmese democracy icon to meet the junta’s Liaison Minister Aung Kyi and also the visiting US high-level delegation led by Assistant Secretary for Asia Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell.
The letters and the meetings came following the United States’ announcement of a new policy of engaging the generals in Burma while maintaining existing sanctions.
Nyan Win, while saying that so far there was no reply, said he is optimistic that something positive will turn up.
But Win Tin said, “This election will guarantee the rule of the military because it will be held based on the 2008 constitution. And the new Parliament and the new government will be controlled by this constitution that will guarantee the military’s rule for many years to come in Burma.”
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Thai officials rescue Burmese workers
by Usa Pichai
Tuesday, 24 November 2009 19:38
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Fifty four Burmese workers believed to be victims of human traffickers were rescued after Thai officials raided a frozen seafood factory in Trang Province, southern Thailand.
On Monday, Thai officials from Bangkok and Trang province, led by Pol Lt Col Taweep Changtor, from Thai Immigration Police Office, raided a factory of the J.D.P Co. Ltd. a big dried fish producer and ice distributer in Kantang district of Trang Province.
The raid followed information that Burmese workers were detained and face threats in the factory and were believed to have been trafficked. The police found 32 Burmese workers in a house in the factory compound. Another 24 were found in boats anchored near the area. Some of the workers had work documents while most did not.
“Immigration police were tipped off by Burmese workers who fled from the factory. They said that there were workers, who were being forced to work and some are beaten up by the head worker of the factory. The workers are taken to work by a fishery boat captain who acted as an agent searching for migrant workers. Some of them want to return to their country but are forced to work and are detained,” Pol Lt Col Taweep was quoted in a report in the Thai newspaper Manager.
The police said that the owner of the factory denied the accusation and claimed that the workers had work documents in keeping with the law. Some of them who did not have documents are fishermen, who worked for others boats and had no links with the factory.
The officials found out that the factory applied to the Ministry of Labour to hire more than 600 migrant workers.
However, the officials are investigating and following leads on agents, who might be human traffickers.
According to a recent report by The Mirror Foundation, a non-governmental organization working on the human trafficking issue in Thailand there are four provinces in southern Thailand which are blacklisted. They are Songkhla, Chon Buri, Samut Prakarn and Samut Sakorn all located on the seashore. It was felt that more provinces have the same problem. There are several trafficking networks that are active in the area because of the high demand for workers in the fishery industry.
Earlier, Issara Somchai, Minister of Social Development and Human Security said that Thailand has the biggest number of fishing boats in the lower part of Asia and many are using illegal labourers from Burma and Cambodia to work on the vessels.
by Usa Pichai
Tuesday, 24 November 2009 19:38
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Fifty four Burmese workers believed to be victims of human traffickers were rescued after Thai officials raided a frozen seafood factory in Trang Province, southern Thailand.
On Monday, Thai officials from Bangkok and Trang province, led by Pol Lt Col Taweep Changtor, from Thai Immigration Police Office, raided a factory of the J.D.P Co. Ltd. a big dried fish producer and ice distributer in Kantang district of Trang Province.
The raid followed information that Burmese workers were detained and face threats in the factory and were believed to have been trafficked. The police found 32 Burmese workers in a house in the factory compound. Another 24 were found in boats anchored near the area. Some of the workers had work documents while most did not.
“Immigration police were tipped off by Burmese workers who fled from the factory. They said that there were workers, who were being forced to work and some are beaten up by the head worker of the factory. The workers are taken to work by a fishery boat captain who acted as an agent searching for migrant workers. Some of them want to return to their country but are forced to work and are detained,” Pol Lt Col Taweep was quoted in a report in the Thai newspaper Manager.
The police said that the owner of the factory denied the accusation and claimed that the workers had work documents in keeping with the law. Some of them who did not have documents are fishermen, who worked for others boats and had no links with the factory.
The officials found out that the factory applied to the Ministry of Labour to hire more than 600 migrant workers.
However, the officials are investigating and following leads on agents, who might be human traffickers.
According to a recent report by The Mirror Foundation, a non-governmental organization working on the human trafficking issue in Thailand there are four provinces in southern Thailand which are blacklisted. They are Songkhla, Chon Buri, Samut Prakarn and Samut Sakorn all located on the seashore. It was felt that more provinces have the same problem. There are several trafficking networks that are active in the area because of the high demand for workers in the fishery industry.
Earlier, Issara Somchai, Minister of Social Development and Human Security said that Thailand has the biggest number of fishing boats in the lower part of Asia and many are using illegal labourers from Burma and Cambodia to work on the vessels.
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Australian aid to Burma eyed with caution
Nov 24, 2009 (DVB)–Experts have warned that the impact of a pledge by the Australian government to provide increased aid to Burma may be dampened by rampant state corruption in the country.
Ahead of a regional post-cyclone Nargis conference in Bangkok tomorrow, Australia has offered $AUS15 million in aid to fund ongoing relief efforts in the cyclone hit Irrawaddy delta.
“Implementation is critical above all, and you have to say that given the track record [of the Burmese government regarding aid], one can’t be confident that funds will be used in good ways,” said Burma economics expert Sean Turnell, from Australia’s Macquarie University.
The ruling junta in Burma was roundly condemned following cyclone Nargis in May 2008, which killed an estimated 140,000 people and left 2.4 million destitute.
The junta had initially refused to allow foreign aid workers into the delta region in the wake of the cyclone, but only bowed following pressure from Burma’s regional neighbours.
Relief work in delta however remains monopolised by junta-backed agencies, who have been accused of abusing aid funding and restricting the movement of foreign aid workers.
The Bangkok conference will be held by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which was formed following the cyclone and consists of the Burmese junta, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the United Nations.
Amnesty International today called on the junta “to end harassment of activists trying to help survivors of cyclone Nargis” after ten activists and journalists were rounded up and arrested for apparently collecting overseas donations to help survivors of Burma’s worst natural disaster.
The phenomenon of arresting journalists and aid workers extended to a DVB cameraman who filmed the award-winning documentary, Orphans of the Storm. He could face up to 10 years in prison under the Electronics Act.
The Australian aid will be divided into five different packages, according to an Australian foreign ministry press release. Burma’s agriculture and fisheries sector will receive $AUS4 million, with $AUS7 million going to water and sanitation. The rest will be split between education, maternal care and administration.
According to Turnell, however, “the devil is in the detail. Does that money go to the Myanmar Maternal Health and Women’s Association, which is a deeply, deeply corrupt local organisation with strong connections to the regime?”
Benjamin Zawacki, Burma researcher at Amnesty International, corroborated Turnell’s fears and called for the international community to “demand transparency, accountability, and non-discrimination in the distribution of aid”.
Reporting by Joseph Allchin
Nov 24, 2009 (DVB)–Experts have warned that the impact of a pledge by the Australian government to provide increased aid to Burma may be dampened by rampant state corruption in the country.
Ahead of a regional post-cyclone Nargis conference in Bangkok tomorrow, Australia has offered $AUS15 million in aid to fund ongoing relief efforts in the cyclone hit Irrawaddy delta.
“Implementation is critical above all, and you have to say that given the track record [of the Burmese government regarding aid], one can’t be confident that funds will be used in good ways,” said Burma economics expert Sean Turnell, from Australia’s Macquarie University.
The ruling junta in Burma was roundly condemned following cyclone Nargis in May 2008, which killed an estimated 140,000 people and left 2.4 million destitute.
The junta had initially refused to allow foreign aid workers into the delta region in the wake of the cyclone, but only bowed following pressure from Burma’s regional neighbours.
Relief work in delta however remains monopolised by junta-backed agencies, who have been accused of abusing aid funding and restricting the movement of foreign aid workers.
The Bangkok conference will be held by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which was formed following the cyclone and consists of the Burmese junta, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the United Nations.
Amnesty International today called on the junta “to end harassment of activists trying to help survivors of cyclone Nargis” after ten activists and journalists were rounded up and arrested for apparently collecting overseas donations to help survivors of Burma’s worst natural disaster.
The phenomenon of arresting journalists and aid workers extended to a DVB cameraman who filmed the award-winning documentary, Orphans of the Storm. He could face up to 10 years in prison under the Electronics Act.
The Australian aid will be divided into five different packages, according to an Australian foreign ministry press release. Burma’s agriculture and fisheries sector will receive $AUS4 million, with $AUS7 million going to water and sanitation. The rest will be split between education, maternal care and administration.
According to Turnell, however, “the devil is in the detail. Does that money go to the Myanmar Maternal Health and Women’s Association, which is a deeply, deeply corrupt local organisation with strong connections to the regime?”
Benjamin Zawacki, Burma researcher at Amnesty International, corroborated Turnell’s fears and called for the international community to “demand transparency, accountability, and non-discrimination in the distribution of aid”.
Reporting by Joseph Allchin
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Ethnic conflict in Burma demands ‘renewed focus’
Nov 24, 2009 (DVB)–International involvement in Burma’s domestic crises has to date had little effect on resolving ongoing ethnic conflict in the country, an influential British think tank said yesterday.
Furthermore, pressure from the ruling junta on armed ethnic groups to transform into border guard forces could “bring renewed instability to Burma”, according to a report published by Marie Lall, associate fellow at Chatham House.
While the United States has only recently announced it will begin dialogue with the junta after years of sanctions and isolation, Burma’s regional members have long practiced a policy of engagement with the regime.
Yet neither isolation nor engagement has resolved conflict between the Burmese army and the country’s multiple armed ethnic groups; conflicts that pre-date Burma’s independence from Britain in 1949, Lall said.
“An understanding of the ethnic conflicts, the political significance of the ceasefires and the economic and political seesawing between ethnic minority groups and the army is essential to understand Burma’s political future,” she says.
The report follows in the wake of a shift in US policy to Burma, with Washington announcing recently that it would begin dialogue with the junta.
Yet Burma observers have claimed that the international community, including the US, is not placing enough emphasis on the plight of the country’s 135 ethnic groups, many of whom are marginalized by the majority Burman government.
“I think the international community is not so aware that the conflict is really the basic problem in Burma; it’s not democracy, or against military rule,” said Harn Yawnghwe, senior advisor to the Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC).
“If the problem of the ethnic nationalities cannot be resolved, then you are not going to solve Burma’s wider problems.”
He added however that the US was beginning to show signs of an appreciation of the importance of the role that ethnic conflict plays in Burma’s instability, “and they seem to be saying that you need to resolve it, so I think that is the right step”.
The conflict between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Burmese government has stretched over six decades, and is thought to be one of the world’s longest running.
Lall also pointed to an outbreak of fighting between Burmese troops and an ethnic Kokang group in August this year as an example of the fragility of ceasefire agreements that 18 of the country’s armed ethnic groups hold with the government.
Reporting by Francis Wade
Nov 24, 2009 (DVB)–International involvement in Burma’s domestic crises has to date had little effect on resolving ongoing ethnic conflict in the country, an influential British think tank said yesterday.
Furthermore, pressure from the ruling junta on armed ethnic groups to transform into border guard forces could “bring renewed instability to Burma”, according to a report published by Marie Lall, associate fellow at Chatham House.
While the United States has only recently announced it will begin dialogue with the junta after years of sanctions and isolation, Burma’s regional members have long practiced a policy of engagement with the regime.
Yet neither isolation nor engagement has resolved conflict between the Burmese army and the country’s multiple armed ethnic groups; conflicts that pre-date Burma’s independence from Britain in 1949, Lall said.
“An understanding of the ethnic conflicts, the political significance of the ceasefires and the economic and political seesawing between ethnic minority groups and the army is essential to understand Burma’s political future,” she says.
The report follows in the wake of a shift in US policy to Burma, with Washington announcing recently that it would begin dialogue with the junta.
Yet Burma observers have claimed that the international community, including the US, is not placing enough emphasis on the plight of the country’s 135 ethnic groups, many of whom are marginalized by the majority Burman government.
“I think the international community is not so aware that the conflict is really the basic problem in Burma; it’s not democracy, or against military rule,” said Harn Yawnghwe, senior advisor to the Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC).
“If the problem of the ethnic nationalities cannot be resolved, then you are not going to solve Burma’s wider problems.”
He added however that the US was beginning to show signs of an appreciation of the importance of the role that ethnic conflict plays in Burma’s instability, “and they seem to be saying that you need to resolve it, so I think that is the right step”.
The conflict between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Burmese government has stretched over six decades, and is thought to be one of the world’s longest running.
Lall also pointed to an outbreak of fighting between Burmese troops and an ethnic Kokang group in August this year as an example of the fragility of ceasefire agreements that 18 of the country’s armed ethnic groups hold with the government.
Reporting by Francis Wade
