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BURMA RELATED NEWS - NOVEMBER 01 - 03, 2009
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AP - Myanmar's Suu Kyi supports US policy of engagement
AP - US officials hold talks in Myanmar in policy shift
AP - China oil company starts work on Myanmar pipeline
AFP - US envoys arrive in Myanmar
AFP - US envoys hold rare talks with Myanmar junta
AFP - US envoys in Myanmar 'unlikely to meet junta chief'
AFP - Myanmar torches seized drugs: state media
AFP - SKorea shipbuilder wins Myanmar gas deal order
AFP - Myanmar Rohingyas swap suppression for squalor
AFP - ASEAN-US summit to discuss Suu Kyi: Singapore
EarthTimes - US envoy to meet Aung San Suu Kyi on Myanmar trip
Asia Times Online - Drugs, guns and war in Myanmar
CSM - Burma's junta in a vise
GulfNews - Taming Myanmar's junta
UPI - Border clashes net thousands of pills
Ceylon Daily News - Trade Minister in Myanmar
WSJ - A Look at Myanmar's History as Emerging Energy Supplier
Xinhua - Myanmar, Japan economic cooperation committees meet in Yangon
Xinhua - Myanmar to join world travel market show in UK
Xinhua - Thaksin not to reside in Cambodia: Thai opposition leader
Malaysia Star - Once a child bride
MassLive.com - More than 100 Burmese refugees relocated to Western
Mass. to escape reported abuse in Myanmar
Channel News Asia - One killed, 15 injured in Thai festival explosion
Mizzima News - Optimism over reopening of NLD-Rangoon branch
Mizzima News - Junta chief visits cyclone devastated delta twice in a
row
Mizzima News - NLD to discuss 2008 constitution with US delegation
The Irrawaddy - Suu Kyi to Meet Campbell in Rangoon Hotel
The Irrawaddy - EDITORIAL: Engagement? It's Asean’s Shame
DVB News - Drugs burned during ceremony ‘were fake’
DVB News - ‘They forced me to kneel like a dog’
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Myanmar's Suu Kyi supports US policy of engagement
Sat Oct 31, 8:29 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is
aware of an upcoming visit by two American officials and supports the
new U.S. policy of engaging with Myanmar's military rulers, her lawyer
said Saturday.
Myanmar, meanwhile, has arrested about a dozen local journalists and
documentary filmmakers over the past two weeks, relatives of those
detained said Saturday, asking not to be identified for fear of
retribution.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and a deputy will be in
Myanmar, also known as Burma, for a two-day visit beginning Tuesday
and are scheduled to meet with the government and the opposition,
including Suu Kyi.
The trip is part of a new U.S. policy that reverses the Bush
administration's shunning of Myanmar in favor of direct, high-level
talks with a country that has been ruled by the military since 1962.
Campbell will be continuing talks he began in September in New York
with senior Myanmar officials, the first such high-level contact in
nearly a decade.
"We told Daw Aung San Suu Kyi about the visit of the U.S. officials
and she is aware of the visit," said Suu Kyi's party spokesman and
lawyer, Nyan Win, who met with her Thursday. "Since the U.S. diplomats
are meeting both the government and opposition members, things are
happening as she had wanted."
Nyan Win said the U.S. Embassy in Yangon was making arrangements with
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy for the visiting U.S.
officials to meet with party leaders.
Supporters of engagement argue that isolating the country has limited
U.S. influence among Myanmar's citizens and allowed China to establish
a strong business and diplomatic foothold. Campbell says engaging
Myanmar will enable the United States to learn more about the
intentions of the leaders of a country it knows even less about than
North Korea.
Critics say high-level U.S. attention validates a junta that has
killed and abused its people for speaking out in opposition. The
country is believed to hold more than 2,200 political detainees,
according to human rights groups.
Security in Myanmar has been tight since September, which marked the
two-year anniversary of massive pro-democracy demonstrations crushed
by the junta. Nyan Win said the government has detained scores of
activists.
The latest arrests, all made in Yangon, were journalists and bloggers.
Among them were documentary filmmakers Aung Ko Ko and Myo Min Khin as
well as freelance journalist Paing Soe Oo and the editor of the local
journal, Foreign Affairs, Thant Zin Soe, according to friends and
relatives who refused to be identified.
None of those interviewed said they knew why the journalists were
detained nor where they are being held.
Washington has said it will maintain its tough political and economic
sanctions against the regime. The U.S. and other Western nations apply
sanctions because of Myanmar's poor human rights record and its
failure to turn over power to Suu Kyi's party after it won the last
elections in 1990.
Elections are scheduled for next year, but Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace
Prize laureate, will not be able to take part. In August, she was
convicted and sentenced to an additional 18 months of house arrest for
briefly sheltering an uninvited American man at her home.
The sentence drew international condemnation.
Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention.
****************************************************************
US officials hold talks in Myanmar in policy shift
AP - Wednesday, November 4
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – The United States began a new policy of
engagement with Myanmar's ruling military junta on Tuesday, sending
two senior diplomats for the highest-level visit in more than a
decade.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for
East Asia, and his deputy, Scot Marciel, held talks with junta
officials and also were to meet detained pro-democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi, embassy spokesman Richard Mei said.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been detained for 14 of the
past 20 years.
The Obama administration has reversed the Bush administration's
isolation of Myanmar in favor of direct, high-level talks with a
country that has been ruled by the military since 1962.
"Mr. Campbell's visit is the beginning of a new U.S. engagement policy
toward Myanmar. This is the first step of the engagement but we have
to see what comes out of the new engagement policy," said Nyan Win,
spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
Campbell is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Myanmar since a
September 1995 trip by then-U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright.
The American diplomats flew Tuesday from neighboring Thailand to
Myanmar's administrative capital of Naypyitaw in a U.S. Air Force
plane, Mei said. He said 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.
Evening news broadcasts on Myanmar's state television did not mention
the two-day visit.
Myanmar government officials said Campbell would meet Prime Minister
Gen. Thein Sein early Wednesday. The officials, who spoke on condition
of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists,
said Campbell held talks with several Cabinet ministers and other
officials Tuesday.
Nyan Win said Campbell would meet with Suu Kyi in Yangon on Wednesday
and then hold talks with other NLD leaders at the party headquarters.
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. She is one of an estimated 2,100 detained
political prisoners.
The United States has long imposed tough political and economic
sanctions meant to force Myanmar's generals to respect human rights,
release imprisoned political activists and make democratic reforms.
Washington has said it will maintain the sanctions until talks with
Myanmar's generals result in change.
Campbell said last month if Myanmar doesn't address U.S. worries, "we
will reserve the option of tightening sanctions on the regime and its
supporters as appropriate."
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China oil company starts work on Myanmar pipeline
Chinese oil company says work has begun on Myanmar pipeline from
Indian Ocean port
By Joe Mcdonald, AP Business Writer
On 4:36 am EST, Tuesday November 3, 2009
BEIJING (AP) -- State-owned China National Petroleum Corp. said
Tuesday it has begun construction of a pipeline across neighboring
Myanmar to speed delivery of Middle East oil shipped through the
Indian Ocean.
Construction of the 771 kilometer (481 mile) pipeline comes as China
boosts investment in Myanmar and tries to gain greater access to
foreign oil and gas supplies to fuel its booming economy.
The pipeline will connect Myanmar's port of Maday Island on the Indian
Ocean via Mandalay in central Myanmar to Ruili in China's southwestern
province of Yunnan, CNPC said on its Web site. It gave no indication
when the pipeline would be ready for use but said it will be capable
of carrying 84 million barrels of oil per year.
The pipeline would speed delivery of Middle East oil to China and
eliminate the need for tankers to pass through the crowded Malacca
Strait between Malaysia and Indonesia.
China is Myanmar's biggest foreign investor and the closest ally of
its military regime, which is shunned by the West because of its poor
human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically
elected government.
Critics complain that oil and gas projects in Myanmar are helping to
keep the military in power and could harm the environment and local
residents.
"Past experience has shown that pipeline construction and maintenance
in Burma involves forced labor, forced relocation, land confiscations
and a host of abuses by soldiers," said a group based in Thailand, the
Shwe Gas Movement, in a report this year.
CNPC owns PetroChina Ltd., Asia's biggest oil and gas producer by
volume.
CNPC and another Chinese state-owned oil producer, China National
Offshore Oil Co., have exploration projects in Myanmar and are
expected to be key customers for natural gas from a newly developed
offshore field.
China also has built an oil pipeline connecting its northwest with
fields in Kazakhstan in Central Asia and is constructing another
pipeline to obtain crude from Russian fields in Siberia.
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US envoys arrive in Myanmar
Mon Nov 2, 11:20 pm ET
YANGON (AFP) – Two senior US envoys arrived in Myanmar Tuesday for
rare talks with the ruling junta and detained democracy icon Aung San
Suu Kyi, a US embassy official told AFP.
The event is the most high profile American visit to the country in 14
years.
The visit by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific
Affairs Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scot Marciel is the latest move
by President Barack Obama's administration to engage the military
regime.
The US pair are unlikely to see the reclusive chief of the junta, Than
Shwe, but will instead meet Prime Minister Thein Sein in the remote
jungle capital of Naypyidaw on Tuesday, Myanmar officials said.
They are set to travel to Yangon on Wednesday to meet Nobel Peace
laureate Suu Kyi, whose plight sparked international outrage earlier
this year when her house arrest was extended by 18 months, they said.
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 under the administration of
President Bill Clinton.
"We see this visit as the start of direct engagement between the US
and Myanmar government," Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy Party (NLD), told AFP.
"But we do not expect the exact and big change from this meeting. This
visit is just a first stage."
He said the NLD had been told that the US envoys would meet the
party's central executive committee at their headquarters on Wednesday
and would meet Suu Kyi the same day.
The Obama administration recently shifted US policy because its
longstanding approach of isolating Myanmar had failed to bear fruit,
but has said it would not ease sanctions without progress on democracy
and human rights.
The junta extended Suu Kyi's house arrest after she was convicted in
August over an incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside house
but critics say the charges were trumped up to keep her off the scene
for elections in 2010.
The visit by Campbell and Marciel is a follow-up to discussions in New
York in September between US and Myanmar officials, which marked the
highest-level American contact with the regime in nearly a decade.
In August, Than Shwe held an unprecedented meeting with visiting US
senator Jim Webb, a leading advocate of engaging the junta. The visit
also secured the release of John Yettaw -- the American swimmer in the
Suu Kyi case.
Thein Sein told Asian leaders at a summit in Thailand last month that
the junta sees a role for Suu Kyi in fostering reconciliation ahead of
the promised elections but it was not clear what form this would take.
The charge d?affaires at the US embassy in Yangon, Larry Dinger, said
in an interview with the semi-official Myanmar Times newspaper
published this week that Washington wanted to make progress on
"important issues" but would maintain sanctions "until concrete
progress is made".
A foreign diplomat in Yangon said the visit was "important but at the
same time without immediate consequence".
"It is necessary to be cautious. Everyone knows there is a risk of
relations going cold again in two months," the diplomat said.
The NLD won Myanmar's last elections in 1990 by a landslide, which the
junta refused to acknowledge, and has since faced a campaign of
oppression.
The 64-year-old Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the past 20 years in
detention. But last month the generals granted her two rare meetings
with a junta minister and allowed her to see Western diplomats.
The talks followed a letter she wrote to Than Shwe in late September,
offering her co-operation in getting Western sanctions lifted after
years of favoring harsh measures against the ruling generals.
****************************************************************
US envoys hold rare talks with Myanmar junta
by Hla Hla Htay – Tue Nov 3, 6:14 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Two top US envoys began talks with Myanmar's ruling
generals Tuesday and were set to meet democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi as they made the highest level visit to the military-ruled nation
in 14 years.
The trip by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific
Affairs Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scot Marciel is the latest move
by President Barack Obama's administration to engage Myanmar's
reclusive junta.
The American officials touched down in the remote administrative
capital Naypyidaw on a US Air Force plane from Bangkok in neighbouring
Thailand, US embassy spokesman Richard Mei said.
"They are due to meet with senior government officials today. Tomorrow
they will be in Yangon and meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other
opposition leaders," Mei told AFP.
Myanmar officials said Campbell met Information Minister Brigadier
General Kyaw Hsann and local organisations including the pro-junta
Union Solidarity and Development Association on Tuesday.
The US delegation would hold talks with Prime Minister Thein Sein on
Wednesday morning but was unlikely to meet junta chief Senior General
Than Shwe during the two-day trip, they said.
Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi had her house arrest extended by another
18 months in August, prompting an international outcry. She has spent
most of the last two decades in detention.
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 under the administration of
President Bill Clinton.
"We see this visit as the start of direct engagement between the US
and Myanmar government," Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy Party (NLD), told AFP.
The spokesman said he was not expecting a "big change" from the talks,
adding: "This visit is just a first stage."
The Obama administration recently shifted US policy because its
longstanding approach of isolating Myanmar had failed to bear fruit,
but Washington has said it would not ease sanctions without progress
on democracy and human rights.
Suu Kyi will be discussed when Obama meets Southeast Asian leaders in
Singapore later this month, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
said Tuesday, adding that Thein Sein was expected to attend.
Lee said the inaugural US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) summit on November 15 was a "significant step forward" in
relations between Washington and ASEAN.
The Southeast Asian bloc favours engagement but has been accused of
going soft on Myanmar's generals.
The junta extended Suu Kyi's house arrest after she was convicted in
August over an incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside house,
but critics say the charges were trumped up to keep her out of
elections in 2010.
The visit by Campbell and Marciel 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.
In August, junta chief Than Shwe held an unprecedented meeting with
doveish visiting US senator Jim Webb. The visit also secured the
release of John Yettaw -- the American swimmer in the Suu Kyi case.
Thein Sein told Asian leaders at a summit in Thailand last month that
the junta sees a role for the 64-year-old Suu Kyi in fostering
reconciliation ahead of the promised elections and could ease
restrictions on her.
A Western diplomat in Yangon said Campbell's visit was "important but
at the same time without immediate consequence".
The NLD won Myanmar's last elections, in 1990, by a landslide, which
the junta refused to acknowledge. The US toughened sanctions on
Myanmar after the regime cracked down on protests led by Buddhist
monks in 2007.
****************************************************************
US envoys in Myanmar 'unlikely to meet junta chief'
Sun Nov 1, 7:05 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Two senior US envoys travelling to military-ruled
Myanmar this week will meet detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
but are unlikely to see the reclusive junta chief, an official said
Sunday.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt
Campbell and his deputy Scot Marciel are planning the visit in the
latest move by President Barack Obama's administration to engage the
regime.
They will go to the remote administrative capital of Naypyidaw on
Tuesday and meet Prime Minister Thein Sein, a Myanmar official told
AFP on condition of anonymity.
This is the highest level government member the pair will meet, the
official said, suggesting that they will not be granted talks with
regime leader Than Shwe.
They will travel to Yangon Wednesday to meet Suu Kyi and members of
her National League for Democracy (NLD) before departing the country,
the official added.
The visit is a follow-up to discussions in New York in September
between US and Myanmar officials, which marked the highest-level
American contact with the regime in nearly a decade.
The Obama administration shifted its policy because its longstanding
approach of isolating Myanmar had failed to bear fruit, but said it
would not ease sanctions without progress on democracy and human
rights.
In August, Than Shwe held an unprecedented meeting with a visiting US
senator, Jim Webb, a leading advocate of engaging the junta.
But if, as the official's comments suggest, Than Shwe does not want to
meet the US delegation this week, he may leave the capital during
their visit, said activist and scholar Win Min in northern Thailand.
"He doesn't want to make significant concessions even though he wants
to get the US to lift sanctions," Win Min said, noting that the leader
avoided a request to meet UN special envoy Razali Ismail in 2003 by
visiting the west coast and leaving the then premier to see the envoy.
A State Department official, Stephen Blake, quietly visited Myanmar in
March to hold talks with both junta members and the opposition. It was
the first trip by a US envoy to the country in more than seven years.
Campbell told a congressional panel last month that the dialogue would
"supplement rather than replace" the sanctions regime.
The chief US diplomat for Asia acknowledged that the talks, which aim
to press for democratic reform in Myanmar ahead of elections promised
by the ruling generals for 2010, would be neither simple nor
straightforward.
Thein Sein told Asian leaders at a summit in Thailand last weekend
that the junta sees a role for Suu Kyi in fostering reconciliation
ahead of the elections, but it was not clear what form this would
take.
The 64-year-old Nobel peace laureate has spent 14 of the past 20 years
in detention, and in August was placed under a further 18 months'
house arrest, effectively barring her from taking part in the polls.
But last month the generals granted her two rare meetings with Labour
Minister Aung Kyi, the official liaison between her and the junta, and
a meeting with Western
diplomats.
The talks followed a letter she wrote to Than Shwe in late September,
offering her co-operation in getting Western sanctions lifted, after
years of favoring harsh measures against the generals.
Suu Kyi's NLD party won the last elections in 1990 by a landslide,
which the junta refused to acknowledge.
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Myanmar torches seized drugs: state media
Sun Nov 1, 2:57 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's junta has burnt more than 20 million dollars
worth of drugs seized during a recent campaign against ethnic rebel
forces in the remote northeast by the Chinese border, state media said
Sunday.
Prime Minister Thein Sein attended the torching ceremony Saturday in
Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Shan state, where clashes
broke out between the regime and rebels in August, the New Light of
Myanmar newspaper reported.
The report said the drugs were seized from 50 different hideouts in
Laukkai, the region's main town, between August 11 and October 24,
beginning with a raid by security forces on a factory owned by Kokang
rebel leaders.
This sparked fighting with the Kokang group in breach of a 20-year-
long ceasefire, which prompted an exodus of more than 30,000 refugees
into China and earned Myanmar a rare rebuke from Beijing, usually its
closest ally.
At Saturday's ceremony, Myanmar police chief Khin Yi accused ousted
rebel leader Phone Kyar Shin, also known as Peng Jiasheng, and his
associates of producing and trafficking drugs "freely and openly like
a Mafia gang", the newspaper said.
Analysts say that while in the past the junta often tacitly assented
to ethnic groups' involvement in the drugs trade, it is now using it
as a pretext to put pressure on groups that do not want to join the
Burmese security forces.
The regime recently stepped up its decades-long campaign against the
minority groups because it wants them to come under its control ahead
of the elections planned for 2010.
The junta has also vowed to make the country drug-free by 2014 by
following a 15-year elimination plan drawn up in 1999, but Myanmar
remains the world's second largest producer of opium after
Afghanistan.
Khin Yi was quoted as saying at the burning ceremony that the
authorities would make "every effort" to achieve the plan "with added
momentum".
The US State Department said in September however that Myanmar, which
has been military-ruled since 1962, had "failed" in its efforts to
meet international anti-drug measures.
Two senior US officials will travel to Myanmar this week in the latest
move by President Barack Obama's administration to engage the
reclusive regime.
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SKorea shipbuilder wins Myanmar gas deal order
AFP - Monday, November 02
SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's
largest shipbuilder, said Monday it has won a 1.4 billion dollar deal
to build an offshore gas platform in Myanmar.
It said it secured the order from Daewoo International, a South Korean
trading company which is leading a consortium to develop the gasfield
off Rakhine state near the border with Bangladesh.
Hyundai Heavy said it would build a platform capable of producing 500
million cubic feet of gas per day. Daewoo International plans to
supply gas from the field by May 2013 to China.
The shipbuilder said an official contract would be signed in December
after Myanmar?s approval.
Daewoo International in August announced investment of some 1.7
billion dollars to develop the gasfield as head of a consortium
including state-run companies from India and South Korea.
Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, is under
economic sanctions by the United States and Europe because of its
human rights record and long-running detention of democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.
But the impact of the sanctions has been weakened as neighbours such
as China, India and Thailand spend billions of dollars for a share of
its oil and gas reserves.
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Myanmar Rohingyas swap suppression for squalor
by Shafiq Alam – Mon Nov 2, 10:33 pm ET
KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh (AFP) – As one of Myanmar's ethnic Muslim
Rohingya, 45-year-old Manjurul Islam endured a lifetime of oppression
before he finally fled the country for a squalid refugee camp in
Bangladesh.
Described by UN officials as one of the most persecuted minorities on
earth, the Rohingya are not even recognised as citizens by the Myanmar
junta. They have no legal right to own land and are forbidden from
marrying or travelling without permission.
For Islam, decades of systematic discrimination came to a head six
months ago, when he says his 18-year-old niece and another woman in
his village were raped by soldiers.
Islam said he "foolishly" took the case to the chief of the local army
camp.
"He listened and I thought we had made progress, but then they tied me
and my friends up, beat us with leather belts and bamboo sticks and
kicked our chests with their boots."
Rohingyas hail from Myanmar's Arakan state. Widespread abuse and
exploitation have prompted hundreds of thousands to flee across the
border to Bangladesh since the early 1990s.
Islam and his friends were released a few days later -- but only after
his family paid a bribe.
Then a group of soldiers destroyed their village's shrimp farms --
their only source of income -- forcing Islam and his neighbours to
make a decision they had seen so many make before them.
"In the night, we piled into a boat and crossed the river Naf into
Bangladesh," he said.
According to Islam, more than 800 people fled his village over a two-
week period in April, with some crossing into Bangladesh by boat and
others walking across the forested, hilly border.
"My fifth child was born in the jungle under the open sky as we were
fleeing," said Shamsun Nahar, 32, showing her six-month old baby.
"Thanks Allah that both of us survived."
But survival brought with it fresh deprivation as Nahar and Islam
joined an estimated 25,000 Rohingyas living in appalling conditions in
a sprawling, refugee camp.
Only 28,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh have been granted official refugee
status, allowing them access to three official camps which provide
basic amenities.
The rest, like Nahar, are confined to the unofficial camp in
Kutuplaong in conditions which even hardened aid workers find
difficult to imagine.
"There is no water or power. Barring children and pregnant women, none
have access to food or medicine. When it rains it's impossible to walk
and the mud shacks became too muddy to even sleep in," said a worker
with Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger, ACF).
Following EU pressure, the Bangladeshi government has since May this
year allowed ACF and another French charity Medecins Sans Frontieres
(MSF) limited access to the unofficial camp.
"Twenty five thousand Rohingyas are living in dire humanitarian
conditions. It's extremely disturbing," said Paul Critchley, the MSF
head of mission in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh says it is unable to cope with the continued influx of
Rohingyas and the spread of the unofficial camp has stoked local
tensions.
In July, police moved into the camp and destroyed several hundred
makeshift dwellings in an operation condemned by MSF as "aggressive
and abusive".
Despite the squalor and alienation, many Rohingya still feel they are
better off here than back in Myanmar.
"Here at this camp there are days I don't have any food. But at least
I can live freely," said Mamun Rafiq, a Rohingya farmer who migrated
three years ago.
"In Myanmar if you are a Rohingya, you are entitled to a dog's life:
They don't even allow us to wear clean shirts or travel outside our
village."
Rights groups like the New York-based Human Rights Watch say they have
gathered volumes of personal testimony to the abuses visited on the
Rohingyas by the Myanmar authorities, including extra-judicial
killings and forced labour.
"The Burmese government does not just deny Rohingya their basic
rights, it denies they are even Burmese citizens," said Elaine
Pearson, a deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
Mohammad Ali, a Rohingya and head of the Bangladesh-based Arakan
Historical Society, said his community's plight began the day Myanmar,
formerly Burma, gained independence.
"Our fathers fought hand in hand with the Burmese people to win
freedom from Britain in 1948. But once Burma won independence, the new
rulers thought it was their country not ours," Ali said.
Such was the experience of Ezhar Hossain, the son of a wealthy farmer
who was elected as a lawmaker in Burma's second post-independence
polls in 1956 when he was still in his early 20s.
"But my rivals alleged that I used the religion card in the elections.
In February 1957, the authorities stripped me of my parliamentary
membership," said Hossain, now 75.
When democratic rule ended in 1962 following a military coup by
general Ne Win, Hossain, still a prominent Rohingya leader, was
accused of being a foreigner and standing illegally for election.
"I did not wait for justice. I've seen how other leaders were hounded
and jailed by the junta. I took a boat one night and fled," he said.
Hossain now lives in southern Bangladesh in a tin-shed shack with his
son, a janitor at a college.
Hossain was lucky in one respect as he became a naturalised
Bangladeshi when the country won independence in 1971.
For contemporary refugees like Islam and Nahar, the future offers a
devil's alternative between life in the camp or a risky and illegal
journey by boat to another Southeast Asian country.
Hundreds of Rohingya migrants were rescued in Indian and Indonesian
waters between December and February after being abandoned at sea with
few provisions by the Thai navy.
Scores are feared to have died as they drifted in rickety boats for
weeks before reaching land.
****************************************************************
ASEAN-US summit to discuss Suu Kyi: Singapore
2009-11-03 17:46
SINGAPORE, Nov 3 (AFP) - Detained Myanmar democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi will be discussed when US President Barack Obama meets
Southeast Asian leaders this month, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong said Tuesday.
Lee, who will host the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) summit on November 15, described the inaugural meeting as a
"significant step forward" in relations between Washington and ASEAN.
The event marks the first time a US leader will be in one room with
counterparts from all 10 ASEAN states. It will follow a meeting of the
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group, also in the city-
state.
Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein is expected to attend, Lee said.
Washington's ties with ASEAN had been hobbled by its position on
Myanmar, whose military regime has been accused of human rights
violations, including the continued detention of Suu Kyi and other
dissidents.
But in a recent policy shift, the Obama administration decided to re-
engage with Myanmar, while maintaining a critical view on certain
issues.
Regarding "Aung San Suu Kyi, I think ASEAN's view is clear and we've
always said that we believe she ought to be released," Lee said at a
news conference ahead of the APEC meeting.
"I'm sure this will be discussed in the US-ASEAN summit too and I'm
sure both sides will state their views."
Lee described the ASEAN-US summit as "a good sign because the US... is
now moving to engage Myanmar and I think Myanmar is engaging."
He spoke as two senior US envoys arrived in Myanmar for talks with the
ruling junta and Suu Kyi, the highest level visit to the country in 14
years.
"This is all to the good because our view has always been that
ostracising Myanmar and cutting it off altogether is not the
constructive way forward. It is unlikely to yield any results," Lee
said.
Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi had her house arrest extended in August
for 18 months after she was convicted over an incident in which an
American man swam to her home.
This effectively sidelines her from elections planned for next year,
analysts say.
Apart from Myanmar and Singapore, ASEAN also includes Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and
Vietnam.
****************************************************************
EarthTimes - US envoy to meet Aung San Suu Kyi on Myanmar trip -
Summary
Posted : Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:34:33 GMT
Yangon - US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is scheduled to
hold talks with Aung San Suu Kyi during a visit to Myanmar this week,
but is unlikely to meet the junta chief, sources said Monday. Campbell
and US Deputy Assistant Secretary Scot Marciel are scheduled to arrive
in Myanmar's former capital of Yangon Tuesday morning and fly directly
on to the military's new headquarters of Naypyitaw, government sources
confirmed.
In Naypyitaw, 350 kilometres north of Yangon, Campbell is to meet with
Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, Chief Justice Aung Toe and
representatives of the Union Solidarity Development Association
(USDA), the political arm of the junta. There was no meeting scheduled
with military supremo Than Shwe, said sources who requested
anonymity.
Campbell and Marciel are scheduled to return to Yangon Wednesday,
where, they would meet Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi at 2 pm at her
home-cum-prison near Inya Lake, military sources confirmed.
They also plan talks with leaders of the Suu Kyi' opposition National
League for Democracy (NLD), the Committee Representing People's
Parliament and the pro-junta National Unity Party (NUP).
Marciel is to travel on to Thailand to participate in a public forum
at Chulalongkorn University Thursday on US foreign policy towards
Myanmar, and also brief Thai government officials.
Suu Kyi has welcomed Campbell's visit, seen as part of US President
Barack Obama's diplomatic effort to engage with the pariah regime to
encourage democratic reforms.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD) party won a 1990 general election by a
landslide, but has been denied power by the military for the past 19
years - of which she has spent 13 years under house arrest.
Another election is planned in 2010, but the international community
is not expected to accept its outcome unless Suu Kyi and some 2,100
other political prisoners are freed beforehand and the NLD is allowed
to contest the polls.
****************************************************************
Nov 4, 2009
Asia Times Online - Drugs, guns and war in Myanmar
By Brian McCartan
BANGKOK - Mounting tensions between Myanmar's military government and
ethnic groups with which it has ceasefire agreements in the country's
northern regions have spurred a surge in drug trafficking. Driven by
militias' growing demand for weapons to counter anticipated government
offensives, a narcotics fire-sale is raising concerns of greater
instability along the borders of several neighboring countries,
including China.
Myanmar's military regime has demanded that the insurgent groups with
which it agreed ceasefires in the late 1980s and early 1990s hand over
their arms to government control. A deadline set for the end of
October has been allowed to pass and discussions between the military
and two main ethnic armies, the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the
National Democratic Alliance Army (Eastern Shan State) (NDAA), are
reportedly continuing.
Neither side appears willing to back down, prompting speculation that
new fighting may be imminent. Under the government's proposed Border
Guard Force plan, ethnic armies would be downsized into several
battalions consisting of 326 men. Each would have a contingent of
Myanmar army and non-commissioned officers and operate under the
central command of the Myanmar Army. The junta has said it will
provide weapons, equipment, uniforms and even salaries to the proposed
units.
The generals have indicated that a handover of weapons, either through
the border guard scheme or through forced surrender, is key to their
plan to achieve national reconciliation by holding general elections
next year. The political stakes for that plan are high. The junta has
demonstrated a willingness to risk the ire of ally China through an
assault in August on the Kokang ceasefire group, which caused a flood
of refugees to stream across the border into neighboring China.
Both the Myanmar army and the Kokang have since reinforced their
troops and appear to be preparing for further hostilities that
security analysts predict could spill over into other insurgent-
controlled territories. It's still unclear if Myanmar will risk its
relations with Beijing by attacking the remaining and better armed
ceasefire groups along the Myanmar-China border, a battle plan that
has the potential to significantly destabilize southern China.
Under the government's plan, the ceasefire groups' political wings
will be allowed to transform into political parties to contest the
general elections. Ethnic leaders, however, say that handing over
their armed forces to government control would entail relinquishing
their bargaining power vis-a-vis a regime that frequently uses
military force to press its demands. It would also mean handing over
much of the apparatus that protects, produces and transports their
narcotics trafficking operations.
Since a 1989 mutiny that broke up the Communist Party of Burma (CPB)
and spawned several ethnic armies in the north - including the UWSA,
NDAA and the Kokang group - the drug trade has steadily expanded in
the region. The military government has both permitted and profited
from the groups' drug production and trafficking, despite official
claims to lead an internationally assisted counter narcotics campaign
and disingenuous pledges by several of the insurgent groups to be drug-
free.
The ceasefire groups have plowed their profits into places such as
Panghsang and Mong La along the Myanmar-China border, transforming
them into boom towns. They have also invested in more legitimate
businesses in central Myanmar, as well as in neighboring China and
Thailand. For example, the UWSA's financial controller, Wei Xuegang,
who is wanted for narcotics trafficking in the United States and
Thailand, has built an extensive business empire in Myanmar around his
Hong Pang Group.
Without firm autonomy agreements with the Myanmar government, a
substantial portion of ceasefire groups' profits have gone towards the
upkeep of their armies and the procurement of new weapons. According
to security analysts, the UWSA has since its 1989 ceasefire agreement
grown into the largest and best armed fighting force in Myanmar
outside the government's army. The narco-trafficking militia consists
of between 15,000 and 20,000 heavily armed foot soldiers.
Should negotiations over the border guard plan collapse and a renewed
civil war break out in northern Myanmar, ethnic insurgents risk losing
access to their extensive drug-financed business operations. According
to Sai Khuensai Jaiyen of the Shan Herald Agency for News, an exile-
run media organization that closely tracks the drug trade in Shan
State, there are reports that Wei has started to sell parts of his
business holdings and has suspended some of Hong Pang Group's
operations in apparent preparation for hostilities. The company is
involved, among other things, in lumber, agriculture, gas stations and
department stores in the towns of Lashio, Mandalay and Yangon.
Security analysts and counter-narcotics officials in Thailand believe
that, without access to funds from their business interests, insurgent
groups like the UWSA will be forced to step up their narcotics
production and trafficking activities. As nationalist Chinese
Kuomintang general Duan Xiwen said in 1967 about fighting in Shan
State: " ... to fight you must have an army, and an army must have
guns, and to buy guns you must have money. In these mountains the only
money is opium" - and now methamphetamines.
Insurgent patron
China has been the main patron of the ceasefire groups along its
border since the CPB mutiny in 1989. The relationship, from Beijing's
perspective, is a pragmatic one that ensures that China has leverage
against Myanmar's generals with which to protect its large and growing
economic and strategic interests in the country. China has provided
development and economic assistance to the ceasefire groups, as well
as advanced weapons and even some training in their usage. This has
included 120mm and 130mm artillery and hand-held surface-to-air
missiles.
China's goodwill towards the ceasefire groups has been partly
contingent on their agreement to curtail drug smuggling into and
through China. Pressure from Chinese officials has been placed on
ethnic insurgent leaders to prohibit the smuggling of narcotics into
China. Much of the drug trade to China consists of opium and heroin,
which is becoming a growing problem seen in rising addiction rates in
the country.
The ability of the UWSA, NDAA and other ceasefire groups to fight will
be partially dependant on whether China permits them to maintain their
known cross-border businesses and investments, as well as access to
weapons and ammunition. Without the ability to generate income through
these operations, ethnic insurgent leaders will be faced with the
choice of either surrendering once their stocks of ammunition are
depleted - as happened to the Kokang in August - or stepping up
narcotics production and trafficking to raise funds and purchase arms
and ammunition from dealers in Thailand and China.
The insurgent groups' main market for narcotics is Thailand. While
heroin is still exported to the outside world via well-established and
well-protected trafficking routes in Thailand, most of the
methamphetamines produced are destined for Thai consumption. China,
too, could soon be faced with an upsurge in narcotics smuggling, both
to its growing addict population and through well-documented routes
across its southern region out to Shanghai and Hong Kong. Myanmar
remains China's main source of heroin.
Thai counter-narcotics officials are already claiming that the UWSA is
engaged in a fire sale by cutting prices to quickly move its stores of
narcotics to buy more weapons before hostilities with government
forces begin in the approaching cool season. In August, the Thai army
quietly revived an elite counter-narcotics force previously known as
Task Force 399 and renamed as 151st Special Warfare Company.
Task Force 399, which was tasked with interdiction at the border and
supported by US Special Forces personnel, was known previously for
taking a proactive approach to interdicting drug traffickers
including, some analysts of the drug trade say, pursuit across the
border into Myanmar territory.
Over the past five months, there have been frequent reports in the
Thai media about arrests of drug traffickers, disruption of smuggling
gangs and seizures of large quantities of narcotics. The New York
Times in an October 1 article cited Thai Office of Narcotics Control
Board (ONCB) figures that 1,268 kilograms of heroin had been seized
between January and August this year, a huge increase on the 57
kilograms seized in the region last year.
Last week, the government announced plans for a new drug suppression
force to combat trafficking in border provinces next to Myanmar. Thai
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban linked the creation of the new
force to an increase in drug trafficking from Myanmar, according to
media reports. The plan still needs government approval, but if
enacted the new unit will by coordinated by the army's Internal
Security Operations Command (ISOC).
Regional reach
While the bulk of the drug trafficking ceasefire armies are stationed
along the Myanmar-China border, the UWSA has also built up a
substantial area along the Thai border, contiguous with Thailand's
northern Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, through which much of
its heroin and amphetamine trade now passes. Because the Myanmar army
controls territory between the main UWSA units, each is largely self-
sustaining through their narcotics trafficking. Maintaining the
security of this area will be key for access to the Thai market.
Another key narcotics trade point is across the Mekong River into
Laos. The NDAA operates at least one major trade point jointly with
the UWSA at Sop Lwe on the Myanmar side of the river near the small
Lao town of Xieng Kok in the northern Luang Nam Tha province, says a
researcher familiar with the trade who recently visited the site. This
route, stretching across the width of UWSA and NDAA-held territory
along the China-Myanmar border, avoids the necessity of sending
narcotics shipments south across government-held territory to reach
the Thai border.
Observers of the regional drug trade have claimed that the UWSA and
NDAA have established methamphetamine laboratories in Laos, an
accusation that Lao officials have consistently denied. Trafficking
routes, however, are much harder to deny. Thai counter-narcotics
officials claim methamphetamines and heroin are smuggled through Laos
to less well-patrolled points in northeastern Thailand, including Nong
Khai, Mukdahan and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.
The ONCB reckons between three million and five million
methamphetamine pills are smuggled into northeastern Thailand from
Laos each year. In a sting operation in July, Thai police arrested two
Lao men and a Thai woman in northeastern Udon Thani province with
160,000 methamphetamine tablets worth as much as US$1.4 million when
sold in Bangkok. Police allege one of the Lao men was an important
trafficker in Laos with direct contact to Myanmar-linked drug labs.
An increase in production and trafficking in Myanmar could have far-
reaching regional implications. In Vietnam, there has been in recent
years an upsurge in trafficking of methamphetamines and other
synthetic drugs smuggled through Laos and traced back to northeastern
Myanmar. The drugs are known to be smuggled to the northern cities of
Hanoi and Haiphong and down the length of country to Ho Chi Minh City,
feeding a growing addiction problem. Demand has increased in Vietnam
as its large population becomes more affluent. Cambodia and Malaysia
have also seen an increase in narcotics trafficked from Myanmar.
The production and trafficking of narcotics has fueled a succession of
insurgent groups in Myanmar's northeastern region since the 1950's and
will continue to do so should fighting with the government resume.
Better communications and more efficient trafficking routes and
methods, as well as more easily produced synthetic drugs in mobile
laboratories, have financed the growth of certain Myanmar insurgent
groups. And as they prepare for new hostilities against the
government, the region's narcotics problem seems set to grow.
Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist. He may be
reached at bria...@comcast.net.
****************************************************************
CSM - Burma's junta in a vise
Next year's elections push ruling generals to contain dissidents and
quell insurgencies – without annoying China.
By Simon Montlake | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the November 1, 2009 edition
Bangkok, Thailand - The military junta of Burma (Myanmar) has been
busy consolidating control ahead of 2010 elections. Last month it
upheld a sentence giving opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi 18 more
months of house arrest, ignoring US calls for her release and its rare
offer to engage the pariah regime. But the government still struggles
to quell opposition among ethnic insurgency groups – it has cease-fire
agreements with 17 of them – in the country's north and east. The best-
armed group is probably the United Wa State Army (UWSA), with at least
20,000 combatants and Chinese-made weapons.
The latest flare-up, in the east Burma region of Kokang, in August,
sent 30,000 refugees across the border to China, prompting an
unusually stern response from that powerful neighbor. Burmese soldiers
captured the insurgents' base on Aug. 24.
What is Burma’s goal?
The military would like to neutralize armed threats to its authority
before elections next year, its first since 1990. The so-called cease-
fire groups – rebels that have signed truces but not laid down arms –
are seen as potential spoilers. Ethnic leaders want more autonomy and
may block the vote.
Last year, the junta said that all cease-fire groups must convert
their armies into border guards under military command. This proposal
has been strongly resisted by several groups, including the Myanmar
National Democratic Alliance Army, the armed wing in Kokang. By
attacking the MNDAA, the junta hopes to scare other groups into
complying.
"I don't think the Burmese [military] will give up. They want to get
these groups under their control," says Aung Zaw, the editor of
Irrawaddy, a Burmese publication in Thailand.
Why does China’s response matter?
China is the closest that Burma has to an ally. It has repeatedly
blocked efforts by Western powers to take tougher multilateral action
on Burma. China is the regime's main supplier of weapons. Its
companies have invested in Burma. Two new pipelines to carry Burmese
gas and transshipped crude oil to China are starting construction and
would pass through the insurgent-plagued north.
But China's backing of Burma doesn't mean it pulls the strings. Nor is
the junta comfortable with growing Chinese influence, according to the
International Crisis Group (ICG), a think tank in Brussels.
The violence in Kokang was an irritant to bilateral relations as it
spilled over the border and took the lives of ethnic Chinese. In
public, China urged Burma to protect the rights of Chinese citizens.
In private, Beijing was furious that it had no warning of the attack,
says the ICG.
Chinese officials have longstanding ideological ties to former
Communist rebels in Burma, including the MNDAA. Cultivating rebel
groups along the border is a buffer against Burma's military.
What might Burma do next?
Though no fighting has been reported since Kokang fell, the big fear
is that the conflict will spread to areas controlled by the UWSA or
the Kachin Independence Army, two rebel groups that strongly oppose
the border-guard policy. This could turn a small-scale conflict into a
civil war.
Burmese troops continue to fight rebels in the eastern states of Shan
and Karen that never signed cease-fires but can only mount guerrilla
raids and lack the firepower to hold territory.
A wider conflict has implications for refugee protection, given their
flow across the Kokang border into China, says Jim Della-Giacoma,
director for Southeast Asia for the ICG, who is based in Jakarta,
Indonesia. "The fighting has the potential to spread into other areas
controlled by different ethnic groups in Myanmar. If this happened,
some predict the impact in terms of refugees would be much greater,"
he says.
What is the US response, and why is it rethinking its policy on
Burma?
The United States hasn't said much on Kokang, though officials
recognize that ethnic unrest threatens any transition to greater
civilian rule.
In September, the US announced it would start to engage Burma, but
keep its sanctions in place. Ms. Suu Kyi said she supported the new
policy if opposition groups were included in any dialogue.
After several years of trying to isolate and punish Burma, the US now
intends to engage the regime through direct talks, though the Obama
administration says it won't lift economic and political sanctions
until it sees progress. Human rights activists have argued for tougher
sanctions if Burma doesn't change its behavior.
How might this affect elections?
Fighting in border areas would delay the voting there. Wider conflict
could lead to a postponement of the elections. Indeed, some analysts
think this may be a deliberate military tactic, says editor Aung Zaw.
That said, the regime has stuck to its democracy road map so far, even
holding a referendum on a new constitution soon after a devastating
cyclone hit in May 2008. No date has been set, and political parties
still don't know how and when they can campaign.
****************************************************************
Opinions | Columnists
GulfNews - Taming Myanmar's junta
India can exploit its cultural-spiritual soft power to engage the
Myanmarese people
By Gurmeet Kanwal, OpinionAsia, 2009, Special to Gulf News
Published: 00:00 November 3, 2009
Consequent to several months of back channel negotiations, Kurt
Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, will lead a US
delegation to Myanmar today.
This visit signifies the emerging consensus among Western democracies
to review the failed economic sanctions and the arms embargo imposed
on Myanmar and a desire to enter into a dialogue with the Generals
before elections are held next year.
At another level, the intention is clearly to gradually reduce China's
overpowering influence in the country. To discuss these issues, a
seminar was held at the Brookings Institution and the School for
Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Washington, D.C., in October.
India is among the key regional players which have some leverage with
Myanmar's ruling Junta. India's relations with Myanmar, a devoutly
Buddhist country, have been traditionally close and friendly.
Geographically, India and Myanmar share a long land and maritime
boundary, including in the area of the strategically important Andaman
and Nicobar islands where the two closest Indian and Myanmarese
islands are barely 30km apart.
Myanmarese ports provide India the shortest approach route to several
of India's north-eastern states, especially as Bangladesh does not
permit India overland access through its territory.
India's national interest lies in a strong and stable Myanmar that
observes strict neutrality between India and China and cooperates with
India in the common fight against the insurgencies raging in the
border areas of both the countries.
Myanmar is an important staging post on the land route for the
implementation of India's "Look East" policy. In fact, it is a bridge
between all the countries comprising the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (Saarc — Myanmar has observer status) and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). It is also a member of
Bangladesh India Myanmar Sri Lanka Thailand Economic Cooperation
(Bimstec) and the Mekong-Ganga grouping that aims to create an
enabling environment for rapid economic development.
The first decade of the 21st century has witnessed a growing
engagement between India and Myanmar.
Strategic relationship
There have been several high level bilateral visits by senior Indian
officials recently, including one by the vice-president of India in
February 2009. In keeping with India's policy of increasing military
engagement with its neighbours to counter a growing Chinese influence,
the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief of Naval Staff have also visited
Myanmar in recent years. Consultations between the Indian Ministry of
External Affairs and the Myanmar Foreign Office have also been
regularly held. The Ninth Round was held in November 2008.
The key drivers of the India-Myanmar strategic relationship are
cooperation in counter-insurgency operations and the need for India to
ensure that Myanmar is not driven into Chinese arms through India's
neglect of Myanmar's security concerns and arms requirements.
As an element of its strategy of slowing down, even preventing,
India's rise as a competing regional power in Asia and in order to
further its own economic and security interests, including energy
security, China has for long been engaged in the strategic
encirclement of India. As part of that policy, China has made rapid
advances into Myanmar and established close political, military and
economic relations. Myanmar provides China with the shortest land
route access to the Bay of Bengal and the northern Indian Ocean.
China has signed a long-term agreement with Myanmar for the
exploitation of its hydrocarbon reserves. Plans have been formalised
for the transportation of oil and gas through a 1,100km overland
pipeline from Kyaukryu port in Myanmar to the border city of Ruili in
Yunnan province.
After the completion and activation of this oil and gas pipeline,
China's dependence on the Malacca Straits will reduce considerably.
China is also developing the Myanmar coastal city of Sittwe as a
commercial port on the west coast. It is natural that Chinese naval
activity in the Bay of Bengal will soon follow.
Reports of Myanmar's quest for the a cquisition of nuclear weapons
from North Korea, though uncorroborated, are of concern to India as
nuclear weapons in the hands of yet another military regime would not
be conducive to long-term strategic stability in South Asia.
It is only through close engagement that India can promote leverage
with the ruling regime to nudge it gently towards national
reconciliation. India can exploit its cultural-spiritual soft power to
engage the Myanmarese people and the ruling regime in a more pro-
active manner than has been the case so far. There is an urgent
requirement for India to set up a cultural centre in Yangon. There is
a great deal that India can do in the areas of health and education.
India must also increase its economic footprint in Myanmar,
particularly in areas that are contiguous to India.
Gurmeet Kanwal is the Director of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies
(CLAWS), a New Delhi based think-tank.
****************************************************************
Border clashes net thousands of pills
Published: Nov. 2, 2009 at 11:00 AM
BANGKOK, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Around 50,000 capsules of methamphetamine
were among the drugs found on two smugglers shot dead by the Thai
military on the border with Myanmar.
The dead were among several armed men trying to cross into Thailand on
the weekend, according to a report by the Mizzima news agency. The
suspected smugglers opened fire on Thai forces, and the two men were
shot during a gun battle lasting just over 10 minutes, the report
said.
The other gunmen fled back into Myanmar, said New Delhi-based Mizzima,
an agency of pro democracy Myanmar journalists living in exile.
Officials said they believe the dead are soldiers of the United Wa
State Army, a widely suspected narcotics growing and trafficking
group. The UWSA includes members of the Wa ethnic group that
previously supported the military when it took control of Burma in a
1962 coup. But since the early to mid 1980s the Wa and other guerrilla
fighters have retreated to the northern part of Shan state.
However, the military rulers who renamed Burma as Myanmar in 1989 have
over the years signed uneasy truces with the insurgents, in particular
with the UWSA, whose fighters are thought to number around 20,000.
In Myanmar's 2008 constitution certain UWSA-controlled areas were
given the status of an autonomous region. Analysts believe the UWSA
operations are covertly sanctioned by corrupt sections of the Myanmar
military, although the Myanmar generals continually deny these
allegations.
A report in the Bangkok Post earlier in the week said another fatal
gun battle near the Myanmar border netted 142,000 methamphetamine
pills, a gun and a hand grenade.
Two smugglers were also killed and three villagers, members of the
Hmong tribe, were arrested on charges of possessing illegal drugs --
12,000 yaba pills hidden under the saddles of three motorbikes.
Yaba is a methamphetamine and caffeine pill that tastes like candy and
is a favorite of young people, especially at rave parties. It has also
been called Nazi speed because of its creation by German scientists
during World War II to boost the endurance of soldiers.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Teuksuban said last week that
military surveillance along the Myanmar border is to be increased
because of more fighting between the Myanmar military and armed ethnic
groups involved in smuggling. Thai authorities expect more armed
groups may attempt to enter Thailand to sell drugs in order to buy
weapons.
The border incidents come just before a widely expected fact-finding
visit to Myanmar this week by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for
East Asia Kurt Campbell and Scot Marciel, U.S. ambassador to the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional organization.
The visit is part of President Barack Obama's pursuit of engagement
with Myanmar's military rulers, although Campbell has said dialogue
will not replace sanctions, but simply supplement them.
****************************************************************
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Ceylon Daily News - Trade Minister in Myanmar
To negotiate rice, grain purchase:
A Government delegation led by Trade Marketing Development, Co-
operatives and Consumer Services Minister Bandula Gunawardena reached
Myanmar yesterday morning on a directive of President Mahinda
Rajapaksa to negotiate purchase of rice and other food grains from
that country, official sources said.
The decision to take steps to prevent a price hike or a shortage of
rice was made at a special meeting of Ministers presided over by
President Rajapaksa to review the present position of prices and
stocks of rice and other food grains in the country. The UN Food and
Agriculture Organization had warned of a price increase of world food
grains.
This anticipated increase is expected in the coming months and the
committee also considered the FAO report at its meeting. Some rice
growing areas had also suffered drought that could affect the Maha
season rice harvest, official sources said.
Minister Bandula Gunawardena before his departure said a stockpile of
about 50,000 tons of rice would be held in the government food stores
so that any adverse trends such as ad hoc increase of prices of rice
by traders could be averted by releasing the buffer stocks to the
market if it becomes necessary.
The official delegation held talks with the Myanmar rice trade
representatives yesterday and would continue talks today to negotiate
the purchases of rice and other food grains, Sri Lankan Ambassador in
Myanmar Newton Gunaratne said.
Myanmar had exported rice to Sri Lanka in the past and was in a
position to supply our requirements as it was an agricultural country
producing rice and other food grains in sufficient quantities and the
good relations between the two countries was also a significant
factor, he said. The delegation led by Minister Bandula Gunawardena
included the Ministry Secretary Lalith de Silva, Deputy Secretary to
the Treasury Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga and Lak Sathosa Chairman Nalin
Fernando.
****************************************************************
NOVEMBER 2, 2009
WSJ - A Look at Myanmar's History as Emerging Energy Supplier
By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter
Sandwiched in between China and India, two of the world's biggest new
sources of energy demand, Myanmar is believed to have significant
untapped reserves of natural gas. But its tangled history of
government restrictions and, more recently, allegations of human-
rights violations have limited outside investment to develop its
resources.
The country now known as Myanmar was one of the world's first oil
producers, with some exports as early as 1853. Foreign investment
followed, with sizable fields developed in the late 1800s and early
1900s.
In 1962, the country came under the control of a military regime that
nationalized the oil and gas industry. Until the late 1980s, the
government kept foreign operators out. But beginning in 1988, it
liberalized the oil and gas sector to begin allowing outside
investment again. Western companies including Total S.A. and Unocal
Corp. -- later bought by Chevron -- entered the market.
Within a few years, however, the U.S. and Europe imposed sanctions
against Myanmar's military regime, preventing other Western companies
from staking a claim. In their absence, a host of investors from Asia
and elsewhere expanded their operations, including Cnooc Ltd. of China
and South Korea's Daewoo International. The process intensified after
2004, as Myanmar authorities accelerated the opening of areas for
exploration.
By 2007, at least 27 companies from 13 countries, including Petronas
of Malaysia and ONGC of India, were active in Myanmar's oil and gas
industry, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. The list
included numerous companies that are wholly or partially owned by
national governments in the region.
Although discoveries of oil have been limited, companies have found
sizable deposits of natural gas, which now makes up the bulk of
Myanmar's production. Foreign companies are particularly interested in
offshore areas along Myanmar's western coast in the Bay of Bengal near
Bangladesh, where a consortium including Daewoo is developing a major
gas asset that will include a pipeline to China.
Human-rights advocates decry the rise in foreign investment in gas in
Myanmar because they believe much of the revenue is used by Myanmar's
military regime to support its rule and commit human-rights
violations.
According to Human Rights Watch, Myanmar's military government earned
approximately $2.16 billion in 2006 from sales of natural gas,
accounting for half the country's exports and serving as its single
largest source of foreign exchange. In September, a Washington, D.C.-
based group called EarthRights International said Myanmar's military
siphoned off at least $4.8 billion in revenues from gas in recent
years, storing much of the money in foreign banks.
Critics say some of the worst human-rights abuses -- including the use
of forced labor -- occurred in the construction of the country's last
major pipeline project, called Yadana, in the 1990s. EarthRights has
compiled reports detailing the allegations and posted them online.
Many foreign companies in Myanmar, including Total and Chevron, have
said they are not involved in human-rights abuses and that their
investments benefit both the Myanmar people as well as consumers of
the energy in other neighboring countries, including Thailand. Total
has set up a Web site detailing its operations in the country with
more detailed responses to some of the allegations regarding the
Yadana project.
As energy demands in the region grow, interest in Myanmar's untapped
reserves -- and the debates over whether they should be developed --
will only increase.
****************************************************************
Myanmar, Japan economic cooperation committees meet in Yangon
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-03 11:37:28
YANGON, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Cooperation Committees of
Union of Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) and the
Japan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) have met here to seek
ways of boosting trade and investment between the two countries, the
official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.
The 7th joint meeting of the economic cooperation committees of the
UMFCCI and JCCI discussed economies of Myanmar and Japan, and further
cooperation between the two business organizations.
The UMFCCI was headed by its chairman U Win Myint, while the JCCI by
its president Sumitaka Fujita who is leading an economic delegation on
a current visit to Myanmar.
Myanmar and Japan have been cooperating in a number of sectors and
Japan traditionally stands as Myanmar's biggest donor country.
Japan's investment in Myanmar, according to figures, so far amounted
to 216.76 million U.S. dollars in 23 projects since 1988.
The bilateral trade between Myanmar and Japan stood 341.8 million
dollars in the 2008-09 fiscal year, of which Myanmar's export to Japan
amounted to 179.6 million dollars with Japan ranking the 6th in
Myanmar's exporting countries line-up. Myanmar's import from Japan
took 162.2 million dollars.
****************************************************************
Myanmar to join world travel market show in UK
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-03 20:23:18
YANGON, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will join the World Travel Market
show 2009 to be held in the United Kingdom next week as its efforts to
attract more world travelers to the country, sources with the Myanmar
Marketing Committee (MCC) said on Tuesday.
The four-day event in London from Nov. 9 to 12 will be attended by MMC
and some local travel agencies, the sources said.
In the world travel market show, the committee will distribute
brochures, maps, magazines and travel and tourism information about
Myanmar, it said.
Meanwhile, the Union of Myanmar Travel Association (UMTA) and MMC also
took part in Travel Mart plus 2009-TTM 2009 in Bangkok, "Leisure 2009"
in Russia and "ITB Asia 2009" in Singapore in June, September and
October respectively.
Myanmar's tourism business started to drop near the end of 2007and
continued in 2008 during which deadly cyclone Nargis hit the country.
Moreover, the global financial crisis, which sparked in late 2008,
also affected Myanmar's tourism sector.
The tourism authorities are working hard to promote the country's
international tourism market for the revival of its tourism industry.
According to official statistics, tourist arrivals in Myanmar in
2008-09 fiscal year ended in March totaled over 255,000.
The country targets tourist arrival of 1 million in the present2009-10
fiscal year which began in April.
Myanmar, rich with natural resources, beautiful environment and
ancient cultural heritage, possesses potential opportunities for
further development of the country's tourism industry, observers here
said.
****************************************************************
Thaksin not to reside in Cambodia: Thai opposition leader
www.chinaview.cn 2009-10-31 14:40:02
BANGKOK, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Ousted former prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra refused to permanently reside in Cambodia as he did not
want to create problem to Thailand, opposition Puea Thai Party
Chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyuth said Saturday.
"I asked him through people close him why he did not stay in Cambodia
as it is near home and family, Thaksin said that he did not want to
create problem," the INN news agency quoted Chavalit, deputy prime
minister in Thaksin's administration as saying.
It was a test of Thaksin's thought, he said.
Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in September 2006 and has been
in exile since then. In February 2008, Thaksin returned to Thailand to
face corruption charges but later went to exile again and was
convicted in absentia.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told reporters during the recent 15th
ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit at
Thailand's central beach resort of Hua Hin that Cambodiawould not hand
over Thaksin to Thailand if Thailand sought his extradition.
Hun Sen also said that he could appoint Thaksin as his economic
advisor.
The opposition party chairman said that he is planning to visit
neighboring country of Malaysia in mid-November and visit Myanmar
after that.
"I have known Gen Than Shwe (Myanmar top leader) for quite a long time
and he can help improve relations between Thailand and Myanmar," he
said.
Over the criticism that he was trying to discredit the government and
to help Thaksin, Chavalit said if someone wants to do a big thing, he
must be able to stand for such a negative criticism.
Also on Saturday, Thailand's Attorney-General Julasingh Wasantsingh
said that Cambodia reserves the rights to refuse to extradite Thaksin
if he stays in the neighboring country, but substantial grounds must
be provided.
****************************************************************
Monday November 2, 2009
Malaysia Star - Once a child bride
Stories by MICHELLE CHAN
A young girl escaped marriage to drug warlord Khun Sa, but ended up as
a bride to the son of his successor. This is the story of her journey
from heroin heartland to new-found freedom.
NOTHING in the demeanour of housekeeper Mai, 22, revealed her past.
Doe-eyed and perky, the ex-teenage bride from a drug warlord’s empire
easily blended unnoticed into the crowd at the busy market in the
ancient Thai capital of Chiangmai. Her sweet smile and slim frame gave
no hint of her early days in the ruthless opium-churning regime of
Indochina – the Khun Sa fiefdom.
Mai was born in the eastern Myanmar border town of Tachileik, the
youngest of four daughters of a Shan family. Her earliest memories
revolved around the jungle playground of Khun Sa’s infamous narcotics
empire in the early 1990s, where her oldest sister was given to the
Opium King at 15 years old – as the latest addition to his burgeoning
harem.
At almost 60, he was four times her age. That arrangement worked well
economically for Mai’s family. Once elevated as relatives of the drug
baron, they were not denied any luxury despite the fact they lived
inaccessible lives in the jungles of the Thai-Myanmar border.
“We had houses in several cities as well as in the jungle. Our jungle
community was equipped with satellite TV, schools and high-tech
ammunition. Soldiers became our servants, drivers and gardeners,
tending our farms where we reared ducks and fishes, and planted
vegetables,” recalled the dewy-complexioned Mai.
Her family also enjoyed dual Thai-Myanmarese identification which gave
them access between the porous border and property ownership in both
countries.
At the height of his power in the 1980s, military separatist Khun Sa
was believed to have controlled at least 70% of the heroin trade in
the Golden Triangle – an area straddling the Thai-Myanmar-Laos border.
This accounted for an estimated 45% of the heroin entering the United
States, which led to a US$2mil bounty for his capture.
The Opium King had once offered to sell 1,000 tonnes of heroin to the
US government, proposing that by doing so, the drugs will not enter
the international narcotics market. He was indicted in a New York
court in 1989.
Khun Sa “surrendered” to Myanmar authorities in 1996 and retired
quietly in Yangon until his death in 2007 at the age of 73.
“Even though he was convicted, Khun Sa still walked around like a free
man; he roamed the beach and town. He had bodyguards and his car was
tinted, while others weren’t. One thing he could not do was leave the
country. He was a wanted man all over the world, and he chose to stay
in Myanmar because he was powerful there,” Mai explained.
Ignoring the US government’s hefty price on his head, the drug moghul
lived in relative peace and luxury during his final years, surrounded
by the women of his choice. Mai’s sister was not part of the chosen
retinue.
Running out of favour with an ageing warlord in the twilight of his
reign, Mai’s family realised their life of comfort was about to end.
Khun Sa’s more senior and experienced wives were already eyeing his
vast investments, while his henchmen waited for their share of his
expansive opium empire.
Ranked low in seniority, Mai’s family was no match for the veteran
wives who quickly carved out his fortune and left little for their
juniors.
“When Khun Sa died, his other consorts and relatives took control of
his estate and my teenaged sister was left with nothing,” said Mai,
“even her dual Thai identification was confiscated.”
Meanwhile, another ethnic minority group, the Wa, rose to power
forming the United Wa State Army (UWSA), picking up from where Khun Sa
left off. However, they “did not have as much authority as Khun Sa, as
they operated under the thumb of the Myanmarese authorities”, said
Mai.
“After Khun Sa’s ‘surrender’, a successor took over his position. His
son came and looked for me. We started a relationship,” she said.
In an effort to salvage their lot and secure their family position,
Mai, then 15, was offered as a bride to the son of the new heroin
honcho.
“The man’s son went to my mum and asked for me. My mum did not stop
him. We hung out and slept together. At that time I was naïve; he was
10 years older. He never mentioned he had a wife in Chiangmai. One day
his wife came back, and he started to avoid me. By then I had grown
very attached to him.
“I cried for days and contemplated suicide,” said Mai who by then had
three older sisters hooked on drugs and a mentally ill father.
However, Mai’s attempted suicide came to naught when the sleeping
pills she took from her father’s medication stash turned out to be
expired and useless.
“My parents discovered my attempt on my life but kept quiet. Later,
they sent me to Chiangmai to study. My niece and her adopted sister
came along. Since I was the oldest at 16, I was appointed to handle
the finances.”
It was a difficult time for the three young girls to start living on
their own.
“When we were rich, we did not bother with each other, and when all
three of us were forced to live in one room, we could not get along.
We could not see eye to eye on when to sleep and clean up, nor did we
respect each other.” Her niece returned to Myanmar, while the other
girl eloped with a man.
Mai dropped out of university after one semester as she was unable to
pay tutorial fees. She started to drift from one job to another. After
short stints scooping ice-cream in Haagen-Dazs and sitting behind the
city’s many guesthouse receptions, she found solace in Christianity
and decided to take stock of her life.
As a live-in domestic helper, Mai is thankful that her employer allows
her flexible hours to pursue an Economics course and run a T-shirt
business.
“This is my fresh start. God willing, I will use the most of my second
chance, and give back to the community,” said Mai resolutely.
****************************************************************
MassLive.com - More than 100 Burmese refugees relocated to Western
Mass. to escape reported abuse in Myanmar
By Elizabeth Roman
November 01, 2009, 1:00PM
The refugees have moved with the help of Jewish Family Services of
Springfield and Lutheran Social Services in West Springfield.
Sugarmoon doesn’t have a last name. No one in her tribe does, but in
the United States first and last names are required, so now her name
is Sugar Moon.
“It’s very strange to separate my name that way,” the 22-year-old
says.
Home for Sugarmoon until just a year ago was a Burmese refugee camp in
Thailand.
Sugarmoon is part of the Karen tribe, a group of Burmese people who
fled their country, now called Myanmar, seeking refuge from reported
abuse by the ruling government.
Many were forced to work in labor camps and were physically and
sexually abused by military personnel, said Duane Binkley, an
agricultural missionary who has worked extensively with Burmese
refugees in the United States. Most of those who fled first went to
refugee camps in Thailand and Malaysia.
Over the past year-and-a-half, more than 100 Burmese refugees have
been placed in Western Massachusetts with the help of Jewish Family
Services of Springfield and Lutheran Social Services in West
Springfield.
Both organizations help hundreds of refugees from around the globe
resettle here each year. The agencies help find housing,
transportation, jobs and enroll children in schools, said Misha
Gregorian, of Lutheran Social Services, who works with the Burmese
refugees when they arrive.
Sugarmoon is among the lucky few who arrived here with a grasp of the
English language.
“Language is the most serious barrier for Karen people,” Gregorian
said, explaining how most refugees struggle for months to learn
English.
Language is one of the three basic things he cites as necessary for
the refugees to prosper here; the others are work and transportation.
He has helped place the Karen children in schools where they are
completely immersed in studies in English and also enrolls as many
adults as he can in English classes.
Many of the refugees have also found a kind of home-away-from-home at
Agawam’s First Baptist Church.
“It is such a blessing to have them here with us,” said the pastor,
the Rev. Thomas N. Rice.
The newest members of Rice’s flock began arriving earlier this year.
“They are learning from us, but we are also learning from them, about
their traditions and their way of worship,” Rice said.
Each Sunday, he encourages the refugees to read a passage of the Bible
in their native language and sing a worship song to help immerse the
American congregates into their culture and religious traditions.
Church member Darcy Davis finds it exciting to have the refugees in
the congregation.
“It has been a learning experience for all of us,” she said. “It is
wonderful to see the children running around the church and bringing a
new life to it.”
Church members have also come together to provide clothing and other
necessities to the refugee families, according to Edith Gottsche.
“They need shoes and warm clothes for the winter and car seats,” she
said. “ We have gathered as much as we can to help them.”
Rice has an unusual connection with Burma as his parents were
missionaries there in the 1940s and he was born there in 1947. “Having
them here feels like a piece of my past,” he said. “It feels like the
natural thing to do to help them and welcome them to our church.”
The Baptist faith has a long history with Burma. While Buddhism is
still the primary belief system many Burmese have been Baptists since
missionaries, including Adoniram Judson, first visited the country in
the early 1800s.
“The Burmese government only accepts Buddhism as the national
religion, and many of these refugees have been persecuted for their
beliefs. We feel it is important for us to help them now,” Rice said.
Binkley spoke in Agawam this summer about the Karen tribe’s history in
Myanmar and Thailand and the problems the refugees face today. Due to
their fear of persecution many Burmese will not, in fact, admit that
they are Baptist, so there is no accurate number of how many there
are, Binkley said.
Binkley estimates more than 40,000 refugees have been moved to the
U.S. in the past five years. Many come from separate camps in Thailand
and Malaysia, he said, and their moves to the U.S. bring both
opportunities and difficulties.
“They have to learn to pay utility bills and learn to speak English
and learn how to use transportation all in a very short time period,”
he said. “Many of the families rely on their children to learn English
in school and translate for them.”
East Longmeadow High School teacher Ray Williams Jr., of Agawam, began
teaching English for the refugees at the church on Sundays after the
services.
“It’s really a very slow process, but they are the most hard working
group of people I have ever met,” he said. “All of them have a
willingness and a desire to learn even though it is incredibly
difficult for them to construct even basic sentences,” he said,
explaining how their language is monosyllabic, “so they have no
concept of words with multiple syllables.”
Williams incorporates useful topics, like unit and sale prices and how
to take a bus, into his teaching. Many of the families are still very
isolated within neighborhoods of Springfield and West Springfield, he
said.
“Some of them come to church on Sunday, and then they do not leave
their house again until the next Sunday,” he said.
“There are many difficulties for us here,” acknowledged Ka Ba Aye, one
of two Burmese ministers at the church. He is regarded as a spiritual
leader for the group and conducts services in Burmese after the
regular Sunday service in English.
“The biggest difference in our small service is the language,” he said
through a translator, Aung Myo. “ We still worship the same God. We
still read the same Bible.”
Ka Bay Ya is 59-years-old. He came to the United States less than a
year ago with his wife and five children and says he’s found it a
struggle to live a decent life.
“Many of our people do not have enough money to live every month,” Ya
said. “We cannot find jobs, or, if we do, it is difficult to get
transportation to the jobs.”
Currently only two members of the congregation have driver’s permits,
Paw Htoo, a young father, and Myo, 21, who came to the U.S. a year ago
and is a student at Springfield Technical Community College.
“They need to offer the permit in our language so that more of us can
drive,” Myo said. “We also need a van because ours broke and it is
difficult for people to get around.”
The congregation is desperately seeking a van to help transport
families to and from church and work if they can find it.
“Right now several of us are taking three round-trips every Sunday to
bring them to church,” Williams said. “They want to achieve some level
of independence and being able to drive would be a great help.”
Rice said that while there are some problems to work out he is proud
of the congregation for accepting the Karen people.
“ It has been an adjustment for all of us. The Karens have to adjust
to a different climate, a different language and a different way of
life. Our congregation has had to take on the challenge of helping
them,” he said. “It is really our faith that has brought us all
together and is transforming us into one community.”
Sugarmoon’s mother still lives in Thailand where she worked at a
health clinic at the refugee camp and picked up English from British
and Australian doctors and nurses. She taught English to Sugarmoon and
her sister in hopes that they could move to the U.S. and attend
college.
Sugarmoon is making her mother’s dream a reality. She is a student at
Springfield Technical Community College, studying to be an engineer.
She also works part time with Lutheran Family Services, translating
for new refugees as they arrive.
“I am not an interpreter really,” she explained. “Some words I cannot
translate, but I try to make them understand. The English language is
very difficult especially for the older people who come because most
do not have any schooling.”
At Lutheran Family Services, agriculturist Shemariah Blum-Evitts
helped families start their own vegetable gardens this summer in
Holyoke, West Springfield and Westfield. Most of the Karens are
familiar with farming and requested certain gourds native to their
home, according to Blum-Evitts.
“They are hard-working people, and they want to provide for their
families. By helping them start their own gardens they can become more
self sufficient,” she said.
Back home Ler Thaw owned a small market where he sold fruits and
vegetables. He was also a Baptist minister. He arrived in January with
two of his four children; the rest of his family remains in Thailand.
Through translation from Sugarmoon, Thaw said it has been difficult to
live here without a job. “I want to work, but it is hard to find jobs
here,” he said.
As for Sugarmoon, she hopes to bring her mother and sister here when
she obtains citizenship, a process she said could take years. For now
she is working on her English and adjusting to a new life.
“I still can’t believe that I am here in America. I sometimes wake up
and I think I am back home,” she said. “But, then I remember I am
here, and my mother’s dream is real for me.”
****************************************************************
Channel News Asia - One killed, 15 injured in Thai festival explosion
Posted: 01 November 2009 1610 hrs
BANGKOK : One man was killed and 15 people were injured when a
hydrogen tank for filling balloons exploded at a water lantern
festival in western Thailand, local police said on Sunday.
A 38-year-old Myanmar man died in the accident in Tak province on
Saturday night and two people were seriously injured with burns on
their faces, the police said. A 13-year-old girl was among the other
13 hurt.
They had gathered for the colourful Loy Krathong festival, celebrated
annually across Thailand.
The festival's name refers to handmade rafts, often made from banana
leaves, which are filled with flowers, candles and incense sticks and
floated in rivers to give thanks for water and apologise for
wrongdoing.
****************************************************************
Mizzima News - Optimism over reopening of NLD-Rangoon branch
Tuesday, 03 November 2009 20:32
New Delhi (Mizzima) - Members of the Rangoon division National League
for Democracy, Burma’s main opposition party, are optimistic about
their office reopening after the 1990 Election Commission on Monday
called them for a meeting over it, following a request.
Dr. Than Nyein, Chairman of the Rangoon Division NLD, on Tuesday told
Mizzima that he along with several of his colleagues were called to
the divisional commission office, near the Sule Pagoda in downtown
Rangoon, and asked to submit the list of currently active committee
members.
“They [the Commission] told us to submit a fresh list of committee
members of the NLD-Rangoon division and said that further discussions
would be held after the submission,” Dr. Tha Nyein said.
He said, the Rangoon Division NLD in early October submitted an
appeal, requesting the Commission to allow them to reopen their
office, which was closed in 2003.
“What is significant here is that the Commission said they would like
to have the list of the current divisional committee members of the
NLD and did not ask for the names of old members,” he added.
Formed in 1988, several members including branch office committee
members of the NLD have gone missing. While some have died, several
others are in exile and scores of them are still incarcerated.
Dr. Than Nyein, who was imprisoned for 11 years and released on
September 2008 said, in earlier years the Commission would question
them about NLD branch offices not having the required number of
committee members to be allowed to open their offices.
“But this time they did not ask us that, instead they told us to
immediately send the list of those that are currently active,” he
added.
He said, the NLD - Rangoon division, submitted a request to the
Commission in early October as the office in Rangoon’s Tamwe Township
needs to be repaired and as a legal political party, it needs the
office to carry out its activities.
Burma’s military junta, which had promised to return to the barracks
after conducting a general election in 1990, refused to hand over
power to the NLD, which recorded a landslide victory.
Instead the junta disbanded all political parties and closed their
offices, except the NLD’s headquarters in Rangoon’s West Shwegondine
Street.
“Whatever the reasons, I believe that if we are allowed to reopen our
office, it would be beneficial for both the government and for us,” he
added.
In recent months, the Burmese junta has granted rare permission to
detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to meet western diplomats
on her request and also allowed her party to meet several visiting
foreign diplomats including those from the US, UK and Australia.
On Tuesday, US Assistant Secretary of State, Kurt Campbell and US
Undersecretary Scott Marciel began a two-day visit to Burma. The two
diplomats are expected to meet several junta officials including
Minister for Information, Kyaw San in Naypyitaw.
On Wednesday, before concluding their trip, the two diplomats will
also be meeting Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent
14 of the past 20 years under some form of detention.
****************************************************************
Mizzima News - Junta chief visits cyclone devastated delta twice in a
row
Tuesday, 03 November 2009 14:43
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese junta supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe is
making yet another trip to Laputta and Mawlamyinekyun towns in cyclone
devastated Irrawaddy delta on Tuesday.
Sources in the military establishment said, during the trip, the Than
Shwe led team will spend a night in Bassein (Pathein) town, capital of
the Irrawaddy division, and will return to Rangoon on Wednesday.
Colonel Thein Nyunt, who is also a senior member of the junta-backed
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), is reportedly
planning a grand reception for the Than Shwe led team.
On Monday a 32-member team led by Than Shwe paid a day’s visit to
Bogale and Pyapone towns in the Irrawaddy delta in three helicopters
but returned to Rangoon in the evening. Than Shwe’s delta trip has
been planned since early October but was later cancelled and re-
scheduled.
The members of the team were informed of the trip at the eleventh hour
on October 30, the source said.
Than Shwe’s visit to the delta, coincides with the visit of United
States’ Assistant Secretary of State, Kurt Campbell and US ambassador
to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Scot Marciel to
Burma.
The four-member US delegation, which on Tuesday morning arrived in
Naypyitaw, will be meeting several junta officials including Minister
for Information Brig-Gen Kyaw San and will spend the night in Burma’s
new jungle capital.
According to the US embassy in Rangoon, the US delegation will arrive
in Rangoon and meet the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on
Wednesday morning. It will also have a press interaction including a
photo session before departing from the country later in the evening.
****************************************************************
NLD to discuss 2008 constitution with US delegation
by Phanida
Tuesday, 03 November 2009 13:26
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The National League for Democracy (NLD) would
stress on revising the 2008 constitution during discussions with the
high level US delegation visiting Burma.
A four-member US delegation, including US Assistant Secretary of State
for East Asia and Pacific, Mr. Kurt Campbell and Undersecretary Scott
Marciel are to meet NLD and ethnic leaders on November 4.
“We shall discuss on the three issues of humanitarian aid, dialogue
and sanctions with them. We would like to urge them to have a similar
meeting between the government and us. Only dialogue can resolve the
political crisis. We will not consider contesting the elections if the
junta does not revise the constitution,” NLD CEC member Win Tin told
Mizzima.
The NLD was informed on October 30 that the US delegation led by Mr.
Kurt Campbell would meet them. On the same day, Mr. Campbell will meet
detained NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The venue is yet to be
announced. The US delegation will meet six NLD CEC members at the
party head office.
“They will meet the CEC on November 4 at our party head office. The
time is yet be finalized. Maybe it will be between 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
CEC members Nyunt Wei, Than Tun, Hla Pe, Win Tin, Thakin Soe Myint and
Khin Maung Swe will receive the US delegation.
The Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP) Secretary
Aye Thar Aung (Secretary of Arakan League for Democracy-ALD) said that
they would present their view that there would be no political
stability if the junta goes ahead with its election without reviewing
and revising the 2008 constitution. CRPP is constituted of parties,
which won the 1990 general election.
“The 2008 constitution needs to be revised. There will be no peace in
Burma if the regime holds elections under this constitution. So there
will be no prospect of progress in our country. We will communicate
these things to them,” he said.
Mr. Campbell will also meet ALD, the Zomi National Congress (ZNC),
Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and leaders of banned
parties and 10 legal political parties.
US President Obama announced a new US foreign policy on Burma, where
it will engage with the military regime directly while maintaining
sanctions.
The opposition leader sent a letter dated 25 September offering to
help find a way to lift sanctions on Burma. After that, she met
junta’s Liasion Minister Aung Kyi twice.
Mr. Campbell’s visit will be the highest level visit by any US
official in over 10 years after former US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright paid a visit to Burma in 1995. Ms. Albright met Suu Kyi
during her visit.
****************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Suu Kyi to Meet Campbell in Rangoon Hotel
By WAI MOE - Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The US delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is
scheduled to meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at Rangoon’s
Inya Lake Hotel on Wednesday morning.
The meeting was confirmed by an official with the US embassy in
Rangoon. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity said the
embassy had been responsible for arranging the meeting at the hotel.
Following the meeting with Suu Kyi, Campbell will hold talks with
opposition and ethnic leaders, the official said.
Campbell will hold a press conference on Wednesday at Rangoon
International Airport before leaving Burma, the official announced.
The State Department official will also report to the press on his
Tuesday talks with senior regime officials in Naypyidaw.
Journalists in Rangoon report that Burma’s Ministry of Information is
allowing photographers access to the US delegation and Suu Kyi when
they meet on Wednesday.
“We are permitted by the authorities to take photos of the meeting
between the US officials and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but only a photo
opportunity,” said one Rangoon journalist. “The authorities told us
‘no questions’.”
Ahead of Campbell’s trip to Burma, Suu Kyi told her lawyer last week
that she is “keenly monitoring” the State Department officials’ two-
day visit to Burma.
Some observers remain skeptical about the visit and its chances of
success. “We are not that excited,” said a senior Rangoon
correspondent, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We have seen this
kind of cosmetic [by the junta] in the past.”
“The real question is whether they [the military regime] have genuine
political will,” the journalist said. “People have given them the
benefit of a doubt, but whatever they do we treat it with a pinch of
salt.”
A week before Campbell’s visit, the junta arrested more a dozen relief
workers who helped Cyclone Nargis victims, including eight
journalists, according to human rights groups.
Campbell’s visit follows the launch of a new Burma policy by the Obama
administration in Washington. US officials led by Campbell met with a
Burmese delegation
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