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BURMA RELATED NEWS - NOVEMBER 04, 2009
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AP - US officials meet Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi
AFP - US envoy in rare talks with Suu Kyi, Myanmar PM
Radio Netherlands - Myanmar: from one hiding place to the next
Xinhua - Myanmar traders sign million dollars export MoU in China-
ASEAN expo
Times Online - Visit of high-ranking US officials to Burma signals
relations thaw
INO News - US Ready To Improve Ties With Myanmar If Junta Reciprocates
Bernama - Seven Men Detained To Assist Probe On Murder Case
Asian Tribune - Can Campbell-Marciel Mission Make a Breakthrough in
Burma?
Asian Tribune - U.S. Policy and Burma Protracted Conflicts
The Irrawaddy - Burma: Catching Two Fishes at Once?
Mizzima News - Former Foreign Minister Win Aung dead
Mizzima News - US urged to call for revision of constitution
DVB News - Thailand grants driver licenses to Burmese
DVB News - Burma abstains from UN nuclear resolution
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US officials meet Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi
Wed Nov 4, 6:33 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – The U.S. wants better relations with military-
ruled Myanmar if it makes concrete steps toward democracy, a senior
American diplomat said Wednesday after holding the highest-level talks
with the junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 14 years.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said he explained
Washington's new policy, which reverses the Bush administration's
isolation of Myanmar, also known as Burma, in favor of dialogue with a
country that has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The goals of the new policy are "strong support for human rights, the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners and the
promotion of democratic reform," Campbell said in a statement at the
end of his two-day visit.
Campbell and his deputy, Scot Marciel, are the highest-level Americans
to visit Myanmar since 1995.
Earlier Wednesday, Campbell, the top State Department official for
East Asia, greeted Suu Kyi with a handshake after she was driven to
his lakeside hotel in Yangon where they met privately for two hours,
U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Mei said. The content of the talks was
not immediately known.
Suu Kyi, 64, has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years. Dressed in
a pink traditional Burmese jacket, she was upbeat as she emerged from
the hotel.
"Hello to you all," she said to photographers before getting into the
car that whisked her back to her tightly guarded home.
Myanmar's junta has praised the new U.S. policy, but shown no sign it
intends to release Suu Kyi or initiate democratic and electoral
reforms demanded by Suu Kyi's party ahead of elections planned for
next year.
But the military government has made some gestures, such as loosening
the terms of Suu Kyi's house arrest and allowing her more meeting with
visitors such as Campbell, in hopes that the U.S. will ease political
and economic sanctions.
Campbell said he told junta officials that the U.S. "is prepared to
take steps to improve the relationship but that process must be based
on reciprocal and concrete efforts by the Burmese government."
Campbell was continuing talks he began in September in New York with
senior Myanmar officials, which were the first such high-level contact
in nearly a decade. He met Wednesday morning with Prime Minister Gen.
Thein Sein, Mei said.
Campbell said he emphasized that Myanmar "should abide by U.N.
resolutions with regards to proliferation." He did not elaborate, but
was apparently referring to arms purchases from North Korea. There is
also some speculation, though no evidence has been made public, that
Myanmar is seeking to develop nuclear weapons with North Korea's help.
State television, which on Tuesday ignored the Americans' visit,
broadcast footage of Campbell's meetings with both Suu Kyi and the
prime minister.
Suu Kyi was recently sentenced to an additional 18 months of house
arrest for briefly sheltering an uninvited American, in a trial that
drew global condemnation. The sentence means she will not be able to
participate in next year's elections, which will be the first in two
decades.
U.S. sanctions, first imposed more than a decade ago, failed to force
the generals to respect human rights, release jailed political
activists and make democratic reforms. The Obama administration
decided recently to step up engagement as a way of promoting reforms.
Washington has said it will maintain the sanctions until talks with
Myanmar's generals result in change.
Campbell is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Myanmar since a
September 1995 trip by then-U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright.
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US envoy in rare talks with Suu Kyi, Myanmar PM
by Hla Hla Htay – Wed Nov 4, 8:24 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – The most senior US official to visit Myanmar for 14
years held talks with pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday
after the ruling junta granted the Nobel laureate a rare break from
detention.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt
Campbell also met Myanmar's prime minister as the administration of
President Barack Obama seeks a new era of engagement with the military
regime.
Suu Kyi met Campbell at a luxury hotel in Yangon, the first time she
had appeared in front of the media other than at her home or in prison
since the current period of her house arrest began in 2003.
Dressed in a pink and maroon traditional outfit, the 64-year-old
opposition leader smiled but did not speak as she headed into the
talks with the US diplomat and his deputy Scot Marciel.
"Am I beautiful when I smile?" Suu Kyi joked later with the media when
the talks ended after two hours. Related article: Suu Kyi meets US
envoy
Earlier this year journalists saw her in prison at her trial for
harbouring an American man who swam to her house, but they were not
allowed to take pictures and the only images were released on state
television.
The junta extended her house arrest by another 18 months in August
after she was found guilty, effectively ruling her out of elections
due in 2010 that critics say are a sham.
Suu Kyi has spent most of the last two decades in detention. The most
recent period of her house arrest began in 2003 after pro-junta forces
launched a deadly attack on her convoy during a political campaign.
Campbell and Marciel earlier Wednesday held talks with Prime Minister
Thein Sein in the remote administrative capital Naypyidaw, Myanmar
officials said on condition of anonymity, without giving details.
Myanmar officials said the US delegation was not expected to meet
reclusive junta leader Than Shwe. State media said that when the US
envoys arrived he was in southern Myanmar inspecting aid efforts after
last year's Cyclone Nargis.
Campbell is the highest ranking US official to travel to Myanmar --
formerly known as Burma -- since Madeleine Albright went as US
ambassador to the United Nations in 1995 during Bill Clinton's
presidency.
He was due to meet leaders of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
and give a press conference before leaving Yangon on Wednesday evening
for Bangkok.
The two-day trip is a follow-up to discussions in New York in
September between US and Myanmar officials, the highest-level US
contact with the regime in nearly a decade.
The Obama administration in September announced a dramatic change in
US policy because isolating Myanmar had failed, but said it would not
ease sanctions without progress on democracy and human rights.
US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said overnight that the
current visit was the "the second step in the beginning of a dialogue
with Burma."
Asked what Campbell discussed on Tuesday in talks with the information
minister and local organisations, Kelly said: "They laid out the way
we see this relationship going forward, how we should structure this
dialogue, but they were mainly in a listening mode."
September's talks had called for free and fair elections and the
release of Suu Kyi, but also dealt with US concerns about Myanmar's
possible military links with nuclear-armed North Korea.
NLD spokesman Nyan Win has said the visit is the "start of direct
engagement between the US and Myanmar government" but added that the
party was not expecting any "big change".
The junta refused to acknowledge the NLD's landslide win in Myanmar's
last elections, in 1990. The United States toughened sanctions after
the regime cracked down on protests led by Buddhist monks in 2007.
But in the first major sign of a thaw, Than Shwe in August held an
unprecedented meeting with visiting US senator Jim Webb, which yielded
the release of John Yettaw, the American detained for swimming to Suu
Kyi's house.
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Radio Netherlands - Myanmar: from one hiding place to the next
Published on : 4 November 2009 - 3:27pm | By RNW News Desk
Violence and abuse are on the increase in eastern Myanmar (formerly
known as Burma). A report published by the Thailand Burma Border
Consortium, an alliance of 12 organisations providing aid to Burmese
refugees, shows that in the past year alone about 75,000 civilians
have had to flee their homes because of the fighting and the
oppression in that part of the country.
For five years the consortium has conducted research on daily life in
the war zone. The report, which was published last week, shows the
presence of more than half a million internally displaced people in
eastern Myanmar. Most of the refugees are members of the Karen,
Karenni and Shan ethnic minorities, which have been at war with the
central government for decades.
The majority of the refugees flee to temporary shelters in areas close
to the Thai border and under the control of these ethnic minorities.
Tens of thousands of others are forced to move to locations controlled
by Myanmar’s military junta. Tens of thousands of others are roaming
the jungle, moving from one hiding-place to the next.
Hiding place
A Karen man told one of the researchers: “We live in fear, always at
the ready to flee. If we hear about the presence of troops near our
hideout, we run to another place". Those interviewed spoke about
torture, rape, extortion and forced labour for the army.
Human rights organisations point out that all parties to the conflict
are guilty of human rights violations. However, the report puts the
blame for the worsening security situation squarely on the increasing
militarisation of eastern Myanmar. At least 235 army battalions have
been deployed in the region, double the number compared to 15 years
ago.
During this period, minorities in the region have lost most of their
homeland and an increasing number of civilians have found themselves
in a region where the violence simply drags on as a low-intensity
conflict. Ever since then Burma gained independence in 1948, the
minorities in the east of the country have been at war with the
central authorities, seeking greater local autonomy and equal rights
in the context of a federal state.
Pipeline
Violence against civilians is a fixture of the army’s counter-
insurgence strategy known as Pya Ley Pya, (Four Cuts), intended to cut
rebels off from recruits, information, supplies and money. The
strategy is not only intended to force ethnic rebels to surrender.
Pacification of the region is also important because it’s the location
of a pipeline supplying natural gas to neighbouring Thailand, an
export that is one of the Myanmar regime’s financial lifelines. The
junta is also engaged in drawing up plans for the construction of dams
for the generation of hydroelectric energy.
The extensive humanitarian crisis in Myanmar’s remote jungles is for
the most part taking place out of sight of the international
community. The region cannot be reached from Yangon, as the junta has
declared the region off limits, From the Thai border, it takes several
days of hiking through the hills to reach the displaced people in
their temporary shelters and hideouts.
Elderly people
Every once in a while, a story comes out about elderly people who have
lost count of the number of times in their lives they have had to
flee, and about children bearing names such as Running Shell because
they were born during an offensive.
In their reporting, international media focus primarily on the power
struggle between the democratic opposition in Myanmar, led by Aung
Sang Suu Kyi, and the generals of the junta, formally known as the
State Peace and Development Council, in Naipyidaw. Experts repeatedly
warn that these reports do not do justice to the complex situation and
that a political solution for the position of ethnic minorities is
crucial to peace and democracy in Myanmar.
It is not yet clear whether elections scheduled to be held next year
will be a first step in this direction, or whether they will only
serve to give the army more political power. Whatever the case in that
regard, Jack Dunford, director of the Thailand Burma Border
Consortium, says Mynamar’s ethnic minorities issue needs to be
addressed urgently if a solution for the problem of the country’s
displaced people is to be found.
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Myanmar traders sign million dollars export MoU in China-ASEAN expo
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-04 13:19:54
YANGON, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar businessmen have signed some
memorandums of understanding (MoU) for exporting over 80 million U.S.
dollars' goods to China during the recent China-ASEAN expo heldin
Nanning, capital of Southwest China' Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,
the Union of Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI)
disclosed Wednesday.
Under the MoU, Myanmar is to export to China 51 million dollars'
forestry products, 30 million dollars' marine products and 1.6 million
dollars' beans and sesame, the sources said.
During the expo late last month, Chinese businessmen also bought 2.5
million-dollar car spare parts and agricultural machinery produced
from Myanmar's Hlaing Tharya industrial zone, it said.
Meanwhile, Myanmar won the best exhibitor award and best trade visitor
organizer award in the expo from Oct. 20 to 24 attended by over 200
businessmen of 83 companies from the country.
According to the UMFCCI, Myanmar also won some investment MoU from
Chinese companies during the China-ASEAN expo. These prospective
investments include those in the sectors of mining, hydropower,
agriculture, value-added wood processing and gem production.
Myanmar entrepreneurs, who attended the expo, were from such sectors
as agriculture, fishery, industry, manufacturing, gems, traditional
handicrafts, forestry and hotel and tourism.
According to Chinese official statistics, China-Myanmar bilateral
trade amounted to 2.626 billion dollars in 2008, up 26.4 percent. Of
the total, China's export to Myanmar took 1.978 billion dollars.
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November 3, 2009
Times Online - Visit of high-ranking US officials to Burma signals
relations thaw
Richard Lloyd Parry
The US Government began a new policy of engagement with the Burmese
dictatorship today with the arrival of the most senior Americans to
visit the country for more than ten years.
Kurt Campbell, the Assistant Secretary of State responsible for Asia,
will meet Burma’s Prime Minister, Thein Sein, and the detained
democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in a two day visit that brings to
an end an official policy of isolating the junta.
Mr Campbell, who is accompanied by his deputy, Scott Marciel, has
emphasised that the new policy does not mean the immediate lifting of
the array of sanctions against Burma, which has been under continuous
military rule since 1962. But it is an acknowledgement of the failure
of past efforts to persuade the junta to improve human rights, allow
democratic elections and release the country’s 2,100 political
prisoners, including Ms Suu Kyi.
“Mr Campbell's visit is the beginning of a new US engagement policy
toward Myanmar,” said Nyan Win, spokesman for Ms Suu Kyi’s political
party, the National League for Democracy, which has cautiously
welcomed the change of direction. “This is the first step of the
engagement but we have to see what comes out of the new policy.”
The first contacts between the two Governments are likely to be
tentative and no significant breakthrough is expected from this week’s
visit. Mr Campbell arrived in the administrative capital, Naypyidaw,
and will travel today to the largest city, Rangoon, where he will meet
senior NLD leaders as well as Ms Suu Kyi who has spent 14 of the past
20 years in detention. In August her house arrest was extended for 18
months because of a visit to her Rangoon home by an eccentric American
who swam across a lake to visit her uninvited.
Mr Campbell is not expected to meet the “Senior General” Than Shwe,
head of the State Peace and Development Council, without whose
authority no major policy change is likely.
Apart from the release of political prisoners, Mr Campbell will press
the junta on its plans to hold an election next year which have been
denounced by Burmese opposition figures and Western governments as a
means of perpetuating ongoing military rule behind a faced of
democracy.
Among the people he met last night were representatives of the Union
Solidarity and Development Association, a grass roots organisation of
pro-junta enforcers who frequently harass and attack those suspected
of anti-government sentiments. It is expected that the USDA will form
itself in to a political party for next year’s election.
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INO News - US Ready To Improve Ties With Myanmar If Junta
Reciprocates
November 4, 2009
(RTTNews) - The visiting high-level U.S. State Department delegation
said the United States is ready to improve its relations with Myanmar
if the ruling military administration makes significant moves towards
political reconciliation.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell was briefing the media
Wednesday after holding separate talks with Myanmarese Prime Minister
Thein Sein and detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel also accompanied
Campbell on the two-day visit to the South East Asian country.
Campbell's meeting with Thein Sein was held in the capital, Naypyitaw,
Wednesday morning. Later, he was allowed to meet the Nobel Peace
laureate in Yangon.
Campbell is the highest ranking American official to visit Myanmar in
14 years. Senator Jim Webb, during his visit to Myanmar in August, had
made possible the release of its citizen jailed in that country for
swimming secretly to the home of Suu Kyi.
Reading a statement at Yangon Airport before leaving the country,
Campbell said the U.S. team stressed clearly that Washington was
prepared to take steps to improve the relationship, but the initiative
must be reciprocated with "complete efforts" by the junta.
The U.S. officials also met with other military leaders and Opposition
party members.
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November 04, 2009 21:04 PM
Seven Men Detained To Assist Probe On Murder Case
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 (Bernama) -- Police have detained seven men,
including a local, in connection with the death of two men who were
assaulted by about 50 Myanmar nationals at the Selayang wholesale
market Tuesday.
Sentul police deputy chief Supt Zainuddin Ahmad said the men, who were
in their 20s and 30s, were detained in areas near the market early
today.
They were detained to assist police investigation in the case, he
added.
In yesterday's incident at 7.45pm, two out of eight men who attempted
to rob a trader was killed when assaulted by about 50 Myanmar
nationals armed with machetes, wood and knives at the market.
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Asian Tribune - Can Campbell-Marciel Mission Make a Breakthrough in
Burma?
Tue, 2009-11-03 02:54
By * Zin Linn
Compelled by crushing sanctions and crumbling economy, the Burmese
(Myanmar if you want the present day official word for Burma) the
unprofessional military junta is left with no option but to turn to
the west for deliverance. No surprise therefore that Senior-General
Than Shwe is looking for opportunities to mend fences with the US in
particular and in the process gain a little bit of legitimacy to his
rule.
October 9 provided the first window. On that day, Nobel laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest, was driven to a
government guesthouse to meet acting U.S. Charge d'affaire Thomas
Vajda, British Ambassador Andrew Heyn, who represented the European
Union, and Australian Deputy Head of Mission Simon Christopher Starr
for an hour to discuss the possible lifting of sanctions on Burma. The
surprise meeting with diplomats followed two consultation sessions in
early October between Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta's liaison and
Labor Minister Aung Kyi, to discuss her proposal of Sept. 25 to help
end sanctions against the regime.
In the meantime, the United States is planning to send a remarkable
mission to Burma so as to engage the military junta after decades of
unfriendliness. Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East
Asian and Pacific affairs, and Scot Marciel, a deputy assistant
secretary, are visiting Yangon on Nov. 3 and 4.
Kurt Campbell said the mission would follow up on talks in September
in New York, which marked the highest-level US contact with the regime
in nearly a decade. It began in last September when Campbell met with
Myanmar’s Science, Technology and Labor Minister U Thaung in New
York.
The US Mission is meeting Prime Minister Thein Sein in the new
administrative capital of Naypyidaw on Nov 3; its meets Suu Kyi and
executive committee members of her National League for Democracy (NLD)
on Nov 4, a source in Rangoon said on condition of anonymity. But, the
US officials are unlikely to ‘get an audience’ with the Big Boss, Than
Shwe, who appears keen still to play the game from the curtain as
usual.
Campbell doesn’t appear to over optimistic of the outcome of the
visit. In fact, during testimony on 21 October before a House of
Representatives Committee, he had sounded a word of caution. ‘We
expect engagement with Burma (Myanmar) to be a long, slow, painful and
step-by-step process’.
The National League for Democracy, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, sees
the US Mission visit as a "good thing."
"We welcome their visit and hope Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be allowed
to meet Mr Campbell,” party spokesman Nyan Win told the media on the
eve of the visit.
On the very day (Oct 9) Aung San Suu Kyi met western diplomats, Than
Shwe spoke in the capital, of plans to hold a general election as
scheduled in 2010. He also indicated that he would not yield to the
demand of domestic and international critics that the military-
sponsored constitution should be revised ahead of the election..
The 2008 Constitution, the junta said, was “approved” by more than 90
per cent of eligible voters during a referendum in May 2008. The
outcome of the referendum was widely dismissed as a sham. But, the
regime has constantly disregarded calls from the international
community and Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), to review the constitution.
Although there are 10 registered political parties in Burma, most of
them are stock-still. The most important thing to be done is to
proclaim an electoral law allowing new parties to form and register to
contest in the elections. The international community, led by the UN,
has constantly stated that the election be all-inclusive, free and
fair.
In its ‘Shwe-gon-dine declaration’ dated 29th April 2009, the NLD had
set two conditions for its participation in the 2010 election. One
amend provisions in the statute which are not in harmony with
democratic principles. Two hold an all-inclusive free and fair poll
under international supervision.
The majority of Western nations have demanded release Suu Kyi and over
2,100 other political prisoners as a first step toward democratization
of the country, which has been under military rule since 1962.
In fact, both the West and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have
warned Than Shwe that the world community would not recognize the poll
verdict unless the NLD participates in the election and polls and Aung
San Suu Kyi is freed from house incarceration.
Burma came under international sanctions in 1988 when the military
mercilessly cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrations, leaving an
estimated 3,000 people dead. The US and the EU increased their
sanctions after the junta refused to acknowledge the NLD's victory in
1990 elections and then arrested opponents and suppressed every type
of opposition. Most of the sanctions target the top generals in
particular.
Apart from sanctions by the US and the European Union, the regime is
suffering assorted sanctions from Australia, Canada and Japan. The
regime has been left without development assistance from International
financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International
Monetary Fund and the Asia Development Bank. If the regime ignored
calls from the international community to promote a favourable setting
for a free and fair election prior to 2010, international sanctions
may become harsher than now.
Than Shwe has hinted his willingness to open a political dialogue with
Suu Kyi if she agreed working together on the sanctions issue.
However, in his speech to the War Veterans Organization, Than Shwe
said that some powerful nations are playing to force and influence
Burma under various pretexts. Undoubtedly, NLD leader was allowed to
meet with western diplomats with an eye to influence the west and make
them ease sanctions. Also to persuade the world opinion into
supporting the so-called discipline-flourishing democracy and the 2010
election.
According to some analysts, there is no improvement at all in the
ground situation – there are more restrictions on media and civil
societies, more control on Internet users, more arrests, more
political prisoners, and more military attacks in the ethnic minority
areas. So, not only civilian people but also military personnel do not
believe the so-called discipline-flourishing democracy or Than Shwe’s
model democracy.
Sources in military say that Senior General and his top operators face
difficulty in promoting the seven-step road map. His top brass is
divided on the election strategy; even some higher-ranking officers
want to negotiate for genuine peace with opposition, including Aung
San Suu Kyi. But the military chief by no means takes notice of
establishing table-talk.
Than Shwe as an ex-psychological warfare officer who used to crackdown
on his opponents at any cost doesn't take risk to free his archrival
Aung San Suu Kyi because of fears of his own defeat and eventual
ouster. On the contrary, Aung San Suu Kyi has shown no disinclination
to talk about any subject matter on the dialogue table. She has
willingly called for talk with the junta since she has founded the
NLD.
So, Mr. Kurt Campbell’s mission should seek to convince Than Shwe to
cooperate in finding a solution to break the political deadlock. The
military regime must be converted into optimistic component. It must
stop finding fault with the Lady, the NLD and the ethnic parties which
is prolonging the misery and hopelessness of the people of Burma.
The military junta has unilaterally declared plans to hold the
country's first election in two decades next year as part of its seven-
step road map, which is actually designed as a sham exercise to
entrench the military's hold on power.
People around the world are keenly watching whether the United States’
ongoing special diplomatic mission to the military-ruled country can
make a significant breakthrough.
* Zin Linn, a freelance Burmese journalist, lives in exile. He is also
vice-president of Burma Media Association, which is affiliated with
the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers.
*************************************************************
Asian Tribune - U.S. Policy and Burma Protracted Conflicts
Tue, 2009-11-03 13:08
By Nehginpao Kipgen
In just over a month from the announcement of the Obama
administration's 9-month long policy review on Burma, the U.S.
assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and
his deputy will pay a two-day visit to the military-ruled country from
November 3 to 4.
Kurt Campbell and Scott Marciel are expected to meet with senior
military junta officials and members of the opposition, including
detained Aung San Suu Kyi as well as representatives of ethnic
minority groups. The administration announced on September 23 that it
will pursue a direct and high-level engagement with Burma, while
retaining sanctions. Though the visit is a short one, it will be a
test of the engagement-sanction policy.
There are critics who argue that the U.S. high-level attention
validates the brutality of the junta which has waged war against its
own people and imprisoned more than 2,200 political prisoners.
Proponents of engagement, however, argue that the policy is a way
forward to democratization for the country that has been under
military rule since 1962.
The good news is that Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, welcomes
engagement for the fact that it is designed to be inclusive of the
State Peace and Development Council, the National League for
Democracy, and the ethnic minorities.
As the first high-level talks is set to begin, the U.S. government and
other international players need to understand the historical nature
of conflicts in this ethnically diverse nation where there are “135
races” as per the government statistics, which is primarily based on
dialectical variations.
Before the British colonization in 1886, the territories of ethnic
minorities (Frontier Areas) were not part of the Burma proper. For
example, the Shans were ruled by their own sawbwas (princes), and the
Chins and Kachins were ruled by their own chiefs. The 1947 Panglong
agreement served as the basis for the formation of the ‘Union of
Burma’, and the country’s independence from the British in 1948.
Many have often failed to understand the complexity of the conflicts
in this Southeast Asian nation. Until recently, many thought the
conflicts are entirely between the Burmese military junta and the
opposition on the question of democracy.
The conflicts are largely the consequences of mistrust and
misunderstanding between the majority ethnic Burman-led central
government and other ethnic minorities because of the failure to
implement the 1947 Panglong agreement. One significant agreement was
granting “full autonomy” to the Frontier Areas, which has not
materialized until today.
The failure to implement this historic agreement has increased
mistrust and misunderstanding between the successive ethnic Burman-led
military governments and other ethnic nationalities. Autonomy has been
the core demand of minorities for over 50 years since 1947, and
continues to remain the fundamental issue.
Successful conflict resolution depends on the facilitation of open
dialogue on the basis of equality between all the interested parties.
Such open dialogue will yield result if the rights of all ethnic
groups are respected, irrespective of political and religious
affiliations. Equality of rights is one fundamental democratic
principle which is missing in the Burmese society today.
Burma’s ethnic minorities are neither secessionists nor separatists,
but are striving for autonomy in their respective territories within
the Union of Burma. The minorities believe that self-determination
would give them an opportunity to preserve their culture, language,
and tradition.
There needs to be an environment where everyone receives equal
treatment in the eyes of the law, regardless of the size of
population. Under the military dictatorship, ethnic minorities are
alienated and less privileged. This does not, however, advocate that
ethnic Burmans do not suffer under the military regime.
In the run up to the proposed 2010 general election, the junta has
stepped up military campaigns against ethnic minorities. The
dismantling of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, an
ethnic Kokang armed group, in late September was an example. With its
sizeable army of over 400,000, and without foreign enemy, the junta
has the power to cripple minorities militarily, but not necessarily
the spirit of their core demand, which is autonomy.
To bring a long lasting solution to the decades-old conflicts, it
needs the sincerity, honesty and the participation of all ethnic
groups. Different ethnic groups should be brought into confidence, and
their legitimate demands should be looked into. The country needs
reformation in various sectors – both private and public. Political
problems need to be resolved by political means.
Because of the protracted nature of the conflicts, there will be no
quick fix or a magical solution to the conflicts. It will require in-
depth analysis, a systematic approach, and comprehensive remedial
measures, including mediation and negotiation.
Because of its economic, political, military power, and the wide
reception by the Burmese military junta and the opposition alike, the
United States has the best leverage to help restore democracy in
Burma. Any solution should somehow address the concerns of ethnic
minorities, including a fundamental question on autonomy.
Nehginpao Kipgen is a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in
modern Burma (1947-2004) and general secretary of the U.S.-based Kuki
International Forum (www.kukiforum.com). He has written numerous
analytical articles on the politics of Burma and Asia for many leading
international newspapers in Asia, Africa, and the United States of
America.
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The Irrawaddy - Burma: Catching Two Fishes at Once?
By SAW YAN NAING - Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The visiting US delegation’s talks with the Burmese regime, ethnic
minority groups and the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has
coincided this week with the news that the China gas pipeline project
is finally under way in Arakan State.
Few things are coincidental in Burma, and several analysts questioned
whether the timing of the two initiatives was planned by Burma’s
generals or whether, in fact, the US and China were competing to win
influence among the generals ahead of each other.
Could it be that the pariah state was effectively catching two fish at
once? It would surely be a sunny day for the military elite’s bank
accounts if they could consolidate their pipeline deal with the
Chinese while simultaneously convincing the Americans to lift
sanctions.
China's state-owned National Petroleum Corporation announced on
Tuesday that construction has finally started on a pipeline that will
transfer Middle Eastern and African oil from the Indian Ocean through
Burma to Yunnan Province in China’s southwest.
The multimillion dollar pipeline project will also pipe natural gas
from Burmese waters in the Bay of Bengal to China.
If Beijing is to revert to talks with Naypyidaw concerning its energy
needs, the savings it will make bypassing the Malacca Strait, and a
timeline for constructing the pipeline, then it will likely have to
curb its criticisms of the junta’s policy to wage war on Chinese-
blooded ethnic groups such as the Kokang and the Wa, and reassess its
claims for damages caused by Burma’s government forces during their
campaigns against the ethnic armies and condone the resulting flood of
refugees onto Chinese soil.
The US has moved hastily to overturn the Bush doctrine of sanctions on
Burma’s military rulers since the Obama administration came to power
earlier this year. After an initial hint by Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton at engagement with the generals, the US moved quickly into the
spotlight in August by sending Senator Jim Webb to Naypyidaw—where he
went a full step further than UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon by
physically meeting with junta strongman Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
In September, Burmese Premier Thein Sein attended the UN General
Assembly in New York, the first time a Burmese leader had done so in
14 years. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Nyan Win took advantage of the
cooling climate to meet Webb at the Burmese embassy in Washington.
Most Burma analysts say the regime is trying to find a balance—it
wants to maintain a strong relationship with Beijing (without being
entirely dependent on China) while aiming to establish better
connections with the new US administration.
To that end, the Burmese authorities on Wednesday allowed a US
delegation, led by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, to meet with Suu Kyi, leaders of her
National League for Democracy, and some ethnic representatives.
But most analysts warned that it was too early to be optimistic about
results from the US delegation’s visit.
“We can’t expect much from the current visit as the US delegation is
just a fact-finding mission,” said Win Min, a Burmese analyst in
Chiang Mai, Thailand.
By allowing the US delegation to meet with opposition groups, the
regime is relaxing some of its restrictions on dissidents with the aim
of having the US lift sanctions on Burma, he said.
Larry Jagan, a Britain journalist who regularly covers Burma issues,
said, “I think this is a part of Than Shwe’s usual approach to
international relationships. He is trying to balance China’s influence
in Naypyidaw. But, he will keep Burma’s relationship with China
strong.”
Sean Turnell, an economist at Australia's Macquarie University who
produces the Burma Economic Watch report, said, “I think the regime
are attempting to assert that they are not wholly dependent on China,
and see the opening of a dialogue with the US as a way of presenting
this.”
However, he said that sanctions on Burma won't be lifted in the
absence of genuine reform in Burma, and he doesn't see any change on
this front for the time being.
“For the moment, it's hard to be anything but skeptical. We have been
down this road before,” he said.
Another Burma watcher, Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian Studies at
Temple University Japan Campus, said that the Burmese generals are
looking to balance their dependence on China by pursuing better ties
with the US—but only on their own terms.
“It is a strategy for remaining entrenched in power,” Kingston said.
He said the eruption of fighting against the Kokang army in August is
a reminder of just how fragile the peace is in Burma and how the
Burmese military represents the greatest threat to that peace.
“After 20 years of relative peace, this offensive is the latest sign
that the cease-fires may be unraveling, he said.
Chan Htun, a former Burmese ambassador to China, said Burma’s generals
are xenophobic and care for no one.
“They act first and solve later,” he said, and illustrated his point
by pointing to the way the Burmese government cracked down on Chinese
in Burma during the riots of 1967.
Benedict Rogers, the co-author of a forthcoming book called “Than
Shwe: Unmasking Burma's Tyrant,” said, “Their [the Burmese generals’]
policy is simply to look out for their own interests – and if by
engaging with the US they believe they can promote their own
interests, they will do so.”
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Mizzima News - Former Foreign Minister Win Aung dead
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 17:19
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Former Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung (65),
died early on Wednesday morning in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison,
while under detention, family sources said.
A family member told Mizzima that he died of illness related to age
but did not specify the disease, saying they are in no mood to give
details as they are now in mourning.
The family member said the body is being kept in a funeral parlour and
the obituary would be announced on Thursday.
Sources close to the family said Win Aung died at about 1:55 a.m.
(local time) on Wednesday in the prison.
Eyewitnesses said, the body was brought out of the Insein prison and
was transported in a hearse owned by the Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA) escorted by the police.
Win Aung was one of those trusted by the purged Prime Minister,
General Khin Nyunt. He served as the Foreign Minister of the Burmese
military regime from 1998 to 2004, until he was purged along with his
boss.
While several other officials loyal to Khin Nyunt were also purged
along with Win Aung, he was the only one to be imprisoned.
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Mizzima News - US urged to call for revision of constitution
by Mungpi
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 20:02
New Delhi (Mizzima) - Burma’s main opposition party – the National
League for Democracy – on Wednesday told the visiting United States
diplomats to include the revision of the 2008 constitution as one of
the main agendas in its engagement with the ruling junta.
1990 election winning party told the US Assistant Secretary of State,
Kurt Campbell led US delegation that without revising the 2008
constitution there could be no free and fair elections, no improvement
in the situation of Human Rights, and the process of national
reconciliation cannot be kick-started.
Campbell along with US ambassador to the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), Scot Marciel, accompanied by Charge d’Affairs
of US embassy in Rangoon Larry M Dinger, on Wednesday visited the NLD
office as part of their fact-finding mission.
“The main discussion from our side is urging them to call for a
revision of the 2008 constitution, without which, none of the other
concerns including violation of human rights can be achieved,” Win
Tin, a Central Executive Committee (CEC) member of the NLD told
Mizzima.
The US diplomats are in Burma for a two-day fact-finding mission as
part of the US’s new policy of engaging the military regime while
maintaining the existing sanctions.
They arrived on Tuesday, also had a two hour meeting with detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday afternoon prior to
their meeting with the NLD CEC.
“We did not have enough time to discuss or ask the diplomats about
their meeting with Daw Suu,” Win Tin said, adding that their meeting
with the two US officials began at about 3:30 p.m. and concluded at
4:30 p.m. (local time).
In their discussions, Win Tin said, the NLD made it clear that they
will not participate in the 2010 elections unless the junta revises
the 2008 constitution, on the basis of which the elections will be
held.
“It is good to demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners, but if the constitution is not revised, there
would be no improvement in Burma’s politics,” Win Tin said.
He argued that the 2008 constitution, which was drafted following a 14-
year long convention, where delegates were handpicked, is designed to
safeguard the military’s interest and not to guarantee the peoples’
rights.
“If we take out the gist of the constitution, we can say that the
Tatmadaw [military] is the principle guardian of the constitution,
Tatmadaw is the principle operator of the constitution and Tatmadaw is
the principle interpreter of the constitution,” Win Tin remarked.
He said he is a little disappointed with the US for remaining silent
over the junta’s 2008 constitution and making no particular mention in
their calls for reform.
The United States has urged Burmese military rulers to release
political prisoners including Suu Kyi and to make the 2010 elections
an all inclusive process but has not particularly called for a
revision of the 2008 constitution, Win Tin said.
“For me, this is most surprising because without getting the
foundation right, nothing will be right. There can be no free and fair
election and no inclusiveness in the political process,” he added.
But he said the NLD welcomes the visit of Campbell led delegation and
urged them to take stronger initiatives in order to facilitate a
political dialogue in Burma.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, the US delegates met Burmese Prime
Minister Thein Sein at the new jungle capital city of Naypyitaw. The
delegation also met several other political parties including ethnic
nationalities political parties.
Campbell is the senior most US official to visit Burma in the past 14
years. But he is unlikely to meet junta supremo Snr General Than Shwe,
as he is away on a tour to the Cyclone Nargis devastated region of the
Irrawaddy delta.
The delegation’s visit is the second step in the new US’s policy of
engagement with the junta, announced in September. In September,
Campbell met U Thaung, the Burmese Minister for Science and Technology
in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
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Thailand grants driver licenses to Burmese
Nov 4, 2009 (DVB)–Numbers of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand will
soon be able to drive vehicles following the Thai government’s
decision to allow them to possess cars and motorcycles.
Migrants arriving in Thailand who hold temporary resident cards are
targeted in the government scheme, Thailand’s Matichon newspaper
reported, while migrant workers without the cards will need
recommendations from their employers.
According to Thailand’s Department of Road Transport, it is now in the
preparation stage to accept vehicle registration for those who have
proper documents.
A Burmese migrant living in Thailand welcomed the decision. “Our
bicycles used to be confiscated because we didn’t have a sale receipt
from shop so we are now happy that we will be able to show licenses,”
he said.
Those who obtain the documents will have the same rights as Thai
drivers, with access to maintenance facilities.
“In the past, Burmese migrant workers didn’t have the right to either
posses or drive vehicles. We often had to pay fine whenever we got
caught by Thai authorities,” said Moe Gyo, chairperson of Joint Action
Committee for Burmese Affairs.
Burmese migrant workers in Thailand number around two million, who
work mainly in the construction, fishery and agriculture industries.
Htoo Chit, director of Thailand-based Grassroots Human Rights
Education and Development organisaiton, told DVB that he also welcomed
the registration plan but voiced concerns over safety.
“Burmese migrants sustain injuries from road accidents almost every
day because they don’t know Thai traffic regulations,” he said.
“We think it’s important for them to know the regulations…so we are
now planning training for them. We will officially deal with Thai
traffic police department to organize the training.”
Reporting by Aye Nai
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Burma abstains from UN nuclear resolution
Nov 4, 2009 (DVB)–The Burmese government has abstained from a draft
United Nations resolution on nuclear disarmament billed as a “leading
proactive measure” towards non-proliferation.
The draft resolution was however adopted by the UN general assembly
last week by an “overwhelming majority of 170 in favor to two
against”, according to the Japanese foreign ministry. It was Japan who
submitted it.
A foreign ministry statement said that the resolution “incorporates a
high evaluation of the constructive role of civil society in nuclear
disarmament and non-proliferation”.
Fears over Burma’s nuclear ambitions have strengthened in the past six
months in tandem with what appears to be a cosying relationship with
North Korea, who along with India rejected the resolution.
An investigation published in August by Australian academic Desmond
Ball and journalist Phil Thornton that quoted evidence from two
Burmese army defectors interviewed about apparent nuclear programmes
in Burma further fuelled concerns.
A senior-level United States delegation is now in Burma to kick-start
a new policy of engagement with the country’s military rulers.
Senior US officials have stated that Washington is looking to draw
Burma away from North Korea, which has been the subject of UN
sanctions since it carried out a successful nuclear test in May.
While no solid evidence that the Burmese government is developing
nuclear weaponry has come to light, observers believe the intention
could be there.
“A lot of countries dream of nuclear power, either for weapons or
peaceful research,” said Burmese political analyst Aung Naing Oo,
adding that “I’m not in the least bit surprised that Burma abstained”.
“Especially a country like Burma which has been isolated for so long,
they look around and see countries that can stand shoulder to shoulder
with superpowers that own, or are in the process of owning, nuclear
weapons.”
China, France, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Cuba and Bhutan also abstained
from the resolution. Both China and Israel are leading weapons
suppliers to the Burmese junta.
Aung Naing Oo added that the abstention may have held a more symbolic
meaning beyond just the ambitions of a country looking to bolster its
defence.
“A lot of countries with problems want to handle their own affairs
using the question of sovereignty, and they don’t want interference
from any other countries,” he said.
“Burma has used this non-interference to prevent international
meddling.”
Reporting by Francis Wade
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