BURMA RELATED NEWS - AUGUST 06-07, 2011

Suu Kyi to make 'political' Myanmar trip
By Soe Than Win | AFP News – 4 hours ago

Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is to make her first overtly political trip outside her home city since she was freed from house arrest, her spokesman said Sunday, defying authorities' warnings.

Suu Kyi will visit the Bago region, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) north of Yangon, on August 14 to attend a library opening and meet members of a youth forum, Nyan Win of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party told AFP.

He described the visit as "political" but only a day-trip out of Yangon.

"She will leave at 6:00am and return in the evening," he said. "After this trip she will try to make another trip," outside Yangon, he added.

In June Myanmar's regime told Suu Kyi, who was released from seven years of house arrest in November, to halt all political activities and warned that a political tour could spark chaos and riots.

In a subsequent tentative test of her freedom, Suu Kyi visited an ancient temple city in central Myanmar with her son for a few days in July, but the trip was describe as private, with politics not officially on the agenda.

She drew large crowds and was trailed by plain clothes police, but they allowed her to travel unhindered as she avoided making public speeches.

The democracy champion was freed shortly after elections that were won overwhelmingly by the military's political proxies, amid claims of cheating and the exclusion of Suu Kyi from the process.

The 66-year-old has spent much of the last two decades in detention, and some observers believe the government would be quick to restrict her freedom again if she is perceived to threaten their rule.

Security is also a major concern because her convoy was attacked in 2003 during a political trip, in an ambush apparently organised by a regime frightened by her popularity.

Late last month she held her first talks with a member of the new government, labour minister Aung Kyi, in contacts that have raised hopes for an ongoing dialogue between the two sides.

Her party, which won a landslide election victory two decades ago that was never recognised by the junta, was disbanded by the military regime last year because it boycotted the latest vote, saying the rules were unfair.
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August 5, 2011
CANOE- Suu Kyi finally gets her honorary degree
By Sherry Noik, QMI Agency

Newfoundland and Labrador's Memorial University was finally able to deliver the honorary degree it awarded activist Aung San Suu Kyi back in 2004, when she was still under house arrest in Burma.

Suu Kyi is known for her decades-long non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights in Myanmar (formerly Burma) as the leader of the democratic opposition party. When she won the 1990 election, the country's ruling regime put her under house arrest, where she remained for 15 of the next 21 years until her release this past November.

She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts.

Memorial U. bestowed on her an honorary doctor of letters degree in 2004, which was presented to her in absentia.

The university announced Friday that Suu Kyi's degree was finally delivered to her in person by Ron Hoffmann, Canada's ambassador to Thailand and newly appointed ambassador to Myanmar.

In the package were photos and videos of the 2004 ceremony, as well as a letter from Memorial's president, Dr. Gary Kachanoski.

"The process to recognize you and your work began more than 10 years ago when Memorial University first received your name in nomination for the honorary degree," wrote Kachanoski. "It is a testament to the impact of your dignity and inspirational leadership that it was instantly felt here in Newfoundland and Labrador - on the other side of the world - that this would be a fitting tribute and a strong show of solidarity with your struggle for democratic reform."

The ambassador also delivered an honorary doctorate recently bestowed on Suu Kyi by Ottawa's Carleton University.
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Asian Correspondent - Will Burma’s President honour 1988 People’s Desire?
By Zin Linn Aug 07, 2011 1:05AM UTC

On this 8 August, 2011, democracy-longing Burmese people around the globe will hold 23rd Anniversary of the 1988 People’s Democracy Revolution. On the contrary, no remembrances will be allowed to mark the 8888 anniversary in Burma, and heavy police security will be seen in big cities especially in Rangoon (Yangon) around Shwedagon Pagoda to fend off any protests.

In September 1987, Burma’s then dictator General Ne Win made mismanagement with downgrading general economy by revoking certain currency notes abruptly. As a superstitious man, he wanted only 45 and 90 kyat notes in circulation. He made such foolish decision because they were divisible by nine, which he considered a lucky number for his destiny.

However, by cancelling those currency notes which people keep as their savings were done away with overnight. Protests in relation to the swelling economic catastrophe were started by students of Burma, particularly in Rangoon.

On 13 March 1988, students protesting in front pf the Rangoon Institute of Technology ran into the security police plus military personnel and a student leader Phone Maw, a fourth year engineering student, was shot dead. His death activated more and more mass protests, which draw ordinary citizens and Burma’s much revered monks together with the avant-garde students.

On 8 August 1988 – well-known as 8-8-88 Democracy Movement – hundreds of thousands of people took part in protests across the country, calling for democracy. During this time, dissenting newspapers were freely brought out, banners of fighting-peacock were flying everywhere, coordinated demonstrations were held and many democratic speakers were appeared in public meetings.

On 26 August, Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence icon Aung San who had come back to Burma to look after her ailing mother, made a speech at Shwedagon Pagoda where roughly half million supporters appeared and became the public figure of the 1988 democracy movement.

Eventually, General Ne Win resigned as ruling socialist-party boss on 23 July. However, he made a last warning that “when the army shoots, it shoots in a straight line”. On 18 September, the military seized power supporting General Ne Win’s words.

Soldiers gunned down protesters using automatic rifle. They sprayed bullets into crowds of dissidenters. Hundreds of activists were taken away in army-trucks and most of them were never seen again. According to observers, analysts and Human rights watchers declare at least 3,000 citizens were killed.

After the 18 September coup d’état made by the then military Chief General Saw Maung, Aung San Suu Kyi led shaping the NLD, but she was put under house arrest in July 1989.

Despite her detention, the NLD party won 1990 elections in a landslide, but it was never allowed to form a parliament. Since her initial arrest, she has been allowed only a few brief years of freedom.

Since that time on, thousands of political prisoners have been unilaterally thrown into jail under unfair laws and trials in the absence of their lawyers. The military government’s penal code allows giving excessive sentences against political activists. For instance, article 5 (j) of the penal code allows authorities to impose 7 to 20 year prison terms on anyone who joined in peaceful protest or showing different opinion against the regime. Another article 505 provides an indefinite prison term for criticizing the authorities’ policies or behaviors.

Besides, the regime time and again prosecuted political prisoners under the Emergency Provision Act, Law to Safeguard the State against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts, Television and Video Act, Unlawful Association Act, Electronic Transactions Law, and Law Relating to the Forming of Organizations. The worst is that the regime usually extended prison sentences under the Law Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements.

According to international legal standard, all political prisoners have committed no crime at all. So, for the current President Thein Sein government, releasing of political prisoners should be the first and foremost of the political reform urgently requires today. Subsequently, the above mentioned undemocratic laws must be done away with as a necessity for change.

According to critics and watchdogs, the 7 November election, won by the military-backed political proxies, was flawed by widespread complaints of vote rigging and the exclusion of the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest shortly after the polls.

If Thein Sein government has ability and willingness to go along the political reform path, it must ensure the existence of the National League for Democracy which won landslide in 1990 and the essential role of its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Moreover, the NLD has been founded based on the burning wishes of the people participated in 1988 democracy movement. Although the successive military-backed rulers try to eliminate the history of 1988 people’s democracy movement, their attempts are in vain. In the same way, they also do their utmost to abolish the NLD as the party is the symbol of the 1988 movement. But, it is also with little hope as yet.

Therefore, President Thein Sein should have optimistic brains to allow political space for Suu Kyi. It is time for starting a dialogue with the Nobel laureate who is also one of the outstanding leaders of the 1988 uprising.

Thein Sein needn’t take a lot of time for real changes in the destitute country. He must also show goodwill by releasing political prisoners who are one way or another related to the fundamental causes of the 1988 people’s democracy revolution.

Without releasing political prisoners, without honoring the vital role of Suu Kyi and the NLD, Burma’s political crisis may not be addressed. According to many Burma observers, the country will not step into a democratic phase while sham civilian government has been keeping political prisoners in jail and heightening the wars on ethnic communities.

If President Thein Sein government overlooked the reconciliation process via dialogue with Suu Kyi, Burma has to face next 8-8-88-liked civil strife again in the near future.
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Asian Correspondent - Burma’s newspaper blames Kachin rebels means little hope for ceasefire?
By Zin Linn Aug 06, 2011 1:15AM UTC

Kachin Independence Army (KIO) opened fire at a vehicle on its return from Tarpein (1) Hydropower Plant (a China-backed hydroelectric project) to Momauk between mile posts No. 19 and 21, leaving seven dead and one injured, state-owned New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Friday.

On 2 August evening, three mechanics, one Chinese interpreter, two police members and two drivers, totaling 8 left Tarpein by car after repairing airconditioners at the communication room of Tarpein (1) Hydropower Plant, it said.

According to the newspaper, during the incident, Police officer Aung Kyi Tun, drivers U Nan Shaung, U Than Htay Aung, air-conditioner technicians U Nay Myo Thein, U Zaw Htwe, interpreter Maung Khant Min Htet, totaling 6 in the vehicle were killed on the spot due to gun fires.

The attack took place during two days of talks negotiating a new ceasefire between delegates from the Kachin Independence Organization and the Burmese government at the KIO’s Laja Yang Liaison Office.

The remaining a i r – c o n d i t i o n e r technician Maung Thaw Lin Tun was injured at belly seriously and constable Myo Thant Naing Hsan at left arm and right leg not serious.

The two injured reported their incident to the frontline military camp. The military column cleared the place of incident and found five dead persons in the car and one beside the car.

Maung Thaw Lin Tun, one of two injured persons who reported to the military column died the next morning due to his wounds.

The state newspapers accused KIA of making a false claim through BBC saying the car hit its landmine; that dead and injuries were due to the mine blast in its prohibited area before ceasefire has reached.

In reality, KIA intentionally opened fire at the vehicle small arms on its return from Tarpein, leaving seven persons dead and one injured out of eight, not by the blast of mine planted by KIA, the state-media blamed.Bullet wounds were found on the dead bodies, the injured person. Bullet holes were also found on the vehicle, New Light of Myanmar said Friday.

KIA could not be reached for comment. But, as reported by the Kachin News Group on 2 August, KIA attacked a military truck in the same area saying unknown number of casualties. KIA launched ambush-attack on a Burmese military truck at around 5 pm (local time) in N’mawk Township, Manmaw District, Northern Kachin State.

Meanwhile, Lower House MPs will submit proposals to accomplish peace in Kachin State during the second regular session of Union Parliament which starts on August 22, Chiang
Mai based Mizzima News said.

Lower House MP Dwe Bu of the Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State (UDPKS) said that she would talk about the armed conflict in Kachin State in Parliament. UDPKS is a Kachin Party that is reportedly backed by the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

Last week, Members of Parliament of the UDPKS visited Kachin churches to hear their views on the raging war in Kachin State from war refugees taking shelter there. Dwe Bu said most of the refugees wanted peace and she would voice their views in Parliament.

“Without peace, it is difficult for any development to occur,” she told Mizzima..

As said by Dwe Bu, the fresh ceasefire talks between the government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) are mainly focused on a temporary peace. She sought after to propose setting up of a permanent peace. There are 18 Lower House MPs and 12 Upper House MPs representing Kachin State.

Recently, the KIO has proposed an end to the merciless fighting if the government will inaugurate talks for a countrywide ceasefire. But Burmese government authorities did not reveal any obvious positive sign, according to La Nang, a spokesman for the KIO.

The officials of the Kachin State government have no authority to talk about the conflict. People consider that nothing will happen even though the MPs from Kachin state proposed for conciliatory in their State Parliament.

Recently, Burma’s Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, released an open letter addressed to President Thein Sein and ethnic armed groups. Suu Kyi made an appeal for political talk and an urgent ceasefire between major ethnic rebel groups – Kachin Independence Organization, Karen National Union, New Mon State Party, Shan State Army – and government troops.
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GlobalPost - A state-of-the-art subway in impoverished Burma?
Russians poised to build subway in Burma's isolated new capital
Patrick WinnAugust 7, 2011 02:31

A Russian firm is poised to construct a 31-mile state-of-the art subway in Burma, formally known as Myanmar, according to Voice of Russia radio.

This is an unexpected development in a country where many travel dirt lanes and get by without regular electricity.

But the subway, if ever completed, could be a showpiece project in Burma's unusual new capital, Naypyidaw. The city is described by those who've been as an isolated, thinly populated and heavily guarded center for civil servants and not much else. (The largest city and center of business, Yangon, was abandoned as the capital in 2006.)

The Democratic Voice of Burma, which has obtained leaked design plans for the subway, compares the new capital to North Korea's Pyongyang.

Both are orderly, centrally planned urban centers largely set aside for those with government connections.
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SteelGuru - CNPC unit breaks ground on Myanmar section of Sino Myanmar Pipeline
Sunday, 07 Aug 2011

Interfax-China reported that China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau a unit of China National Petroleum Corp has begun construction on the Myanmar section of the Sino-Myanmar Pipeline.

According to CNPC the company will build a 319 kilometer segment of the 793 kilometer long Myanmar section and running from the pipeline starting point in Kyaukphyu City to Mandalay City.

CPP won the right to build the section in May this year but has not yet disclosed a construction timetable.

China and Myanmar signed an agreement to build the 2,806 kilometer Sino-Myanmar cross-border natural gas pipeline in March 2009. Once operational, the pipeline is expected to supply some 12 billion cubic meters annually from Kyaukphyu to Kunming City in southern China's Yunnan Province.

The pipeline requires investment of USD 2.54 billion and is slated for completion by 2013.
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The Nation - Links to India and ASEAN as vital as links to China, expert says
By SASITHORN ONGDEE
Published on August 8, 2011

Thailand has the potential to be a regional investment hub catalysed by "logistics connectivity" with India and Asean as well as China, a top analyst has said.

The approach and saying that logistics links with China were a driving force for industry was too narrow, according to Dr Ruth Banomyong, Assoc Prof of Thammasat Business School.

He said a broader perspective was needed to reflect Thailand's potential and opportunities. Asean and India needed to be taken into account when talking about the country's position.

Ruth said the strength of Thailand, Asean and East Asian economies lay in the development of international production networks.

International trade and investment was now fragmenting into various directions, depending on suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors in different countries. Many research studies looked at this new "economic geography".

Presently, Japan has less production bases in its own country than in the past. Previously, there was normally a large integrated factory in the same area as the main base.

For example, Detroit in the US or Toyota City in Japan. But now, Toyota has its production bases outside Japan, located mainly in Asia.

"The objective is to pursue both deeper economic integration and how to narrow development gaps at the same time," Ruth said, adding that the key driver of such a change would be logistics connectivity.

To achieve this objective, Ruth suggested that middle-income countries make industrial conglomerations innovative. Countries close to industrial bases should push the frontier of production networks, while more remote countries that lagged behind should build up their logistics infrastructure to trigger new industrial development.

He said industrial bases in the region were located in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Pearl River Delta and Manila.

The challenge was connecting each to the other by developing logistics infrastructure with low costs, less travel time, and more reliability.

Ruth said four steps were recommended to develop economic integration among 13 Asian countries - Asean plus Bangladesh, China and India - in a pilot study by the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA) on the Mekong India Economic Corridor (MIEC) by 2030.

Some of the improvements needed were: a bridge over the Mekong River at Neak Loueng in Cambodia, firstly; a new road from Dawei to Kanchanaburi in Thailand, secondly; customs facilitation among MIEC, as a third step; and new sea route between Dawei and Port Madras that was equivalent to other routes between major ports.

"Dawei will have the largest impact in terms of percentage growth in gross domestic production (GDP)," Ruth said.

Other countries that would benefit were Burma and Cambodia. The main reason was that these countries currently have a small GDP base, so they would enjoy high growth with new economic activities.

If MIEC projects integrated a northern route through central areas of Burma and Bangladesh with a southern route through these countries, plus Kanchanaburi, all states would see benefits.

Cambodia, Burma and Bangladesh would enjoy large growth.

Meanwhile, Thailand and India would receive significant benefits, followed by Bangladesh and Vietnam, in terms of GDP value, the academic forecast.

However, he said connectivity via such routes alone would not be sufficient in itself. A network among countries in the region also needed to be created.

"Conceptually, the government should promote freer flows of trade and investment with lowest cost, most convenience and reliability to support the regional connectivity," Ruth suggested.

Meanwhile, the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) at the Transport Ministry is proceeding with plans to develop and improve infrastructure for all forms of transport to support links to neighbouring countries.

Roads and bridges across the Mekong, double-track railways nationwide, deep-sea ports in Pak Bara and Satun, a feeder port in Songkhla, an inland-river port at Chiang Saen, plus a third phase for Laem Chabang deep-sea port and high-speed rail lines are all included.

"However, the high-speed railways that will link southern China with Laos, Thailand and Malaysia, which are being negotiated with the Chinese government, will have to wait for decisions by the next government," the OTP's acting director for planning Peraphon Thawornsupacharoen said.
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The Nation - Flash flood destroys hilltribe shelter, killing seven
Published on August 8, 2011

A flash flood last week smashed a hilltribe shelter in Mae Hong Son , killing seven occupants and injuring a few others.

Scores of hilltribe people, mainly Karenni, were seeking refuge at the shelter after fleeing armed fighting in Burma. Altogether 346 households have been affected. One person of unknown nationality was reported missing.

The seven bodies were retrieved and subjected to verification of death and identification in neighbouring Tak before they were cremated in a ceremony organised by survivors and Thais of Karenni descent.

Two communities were accommodated at the shelter, which was located between Mae La-oon and Sob Moei districts. Initial rescue attempts and medical assistance were made difficult by the high waters and raging currents.

Four Thais, including three children, were hurt after they were swept away by torrential currents.

In Nan, more than 400 homes in Tha Wang Pha district were submerged under two metres of floodwaters while landslides and falling trees blocked a main road, marooning villages. Many homes located along a large creek were inundated, leaving many residents stranded.

The 400 homes are receiving food and water while the main road is being cleared by civilian and military authorities.

In Phitsanulok, a long stretch of the Yom River was swelling and burst its banks at spots, submerging nearby areas under one metre of water.

Farmers were rushing to harvest their rice and sell their crop at a cheap price.

A farmer estimated that about 10,000 rai of farmland had been washed out, while the local relief agency had not made a statement on flood damage to property.

The Yom River in neighbouring Phichit was also inundating vast areas in Sam Ngam district with one metre of water. All 12 villages in Tambon Rang Nok, the lowest area in the district, had been hit and are bracing for worse floods in the next few days.

Flooding in Phichit has affected 5,913 households of 175 villages in seven out of all 12 districts, covering more than 81,000 rai of farmland and fruit plantations.
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Wood smugglers nabbed off Ranong and on Mekong in North
By The Nation on Sunday
Published on August 7, 2011

Royal Thai Navy officials seized illegal processed wood planks worth Bt300,000 from a boat off Ranong yesterday as it motored from Burma's Mergui to deliver the planks to a Thai customer.

Meanwhile, the Navy's Mekong River Patrol Squad in Chiang Rai arrested two men trying to smuggle processed Siamese rosewood worth Bt500,000 to China.

In the first case, 3rd Naval Area Command chief Vice Admiral Choomnoom Ardwong said that the HTMS Hua Hin patrol ship found the suspicious large-engine boat two miles off Koh Phayam and searched it until they found 150 processed wood planks on board. There were no papers for the wood, so the navy officers arrested Burmese boat driver Na Piew, 40, along with four crew-members.

The boat driver said they left Mergui on Wednesday to deliver the wood to a Thai saw mill in Ranong Bay. Other suspects said a lot of Mergui processed wood was going to Thailand, as it was in high demand. Thai police charged the five men on board with smuggling processed wood without customs procedures and illegal entry to Thailand.

In the second case, following a tip that smugglers would use the chance of riding Mekong tides to take legally protected rosewood to China, the Mekong River Patrol, marine police and rangers arrested two suspects at 7.30am yesterday. They were Sakhon Nantharak, 40, and Chalil Cheablaem, 58.

They were in a boat on the Mekong near the Golden Triangle along with processed Siamese rosewood worth Bt500,000. The boat was heading from Chiang Saen district to the Burmese side.

The suspects told police that they brought the processed rosewood from Ban Huai Meng in Chiang Khong district in order to sell it to a Chinese merchant who waited at a Burmese pier five kilometres from the scene of the arrest. Chalil was arrested by marine police in May while trying to smuggle some processed rosewood to China and was released on bail.
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The Hindu - More rains for North-West seen from next week
Vinson Kurian
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug. 7:

The 24 hours ending Sunday morning has seen many stations in east and east-central India, northwest and along the west coast receive widespread to fairly widespread rainfall.

More rains are now expected to head to the northwest, Gujarat and west Rajasthan included, as a maze of upper air cyclonic circulations embedded in the monsoon trough and a fresh western disturbance set up enabling background.

An outlook from the US National Centres for Environmental Prediction suggested that the rains over northwest could become entrenched during the week ending August 20.

Effectively, this would make for varying wet cover for northwest India over the next fortnight. Even the southern peninsula also stands to make gains during this spell, the US agency said.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts sees the possibility of northeast Arabian Sea (off Gujarat coast) and the Bay of Bengal (off Myanmar and off Andhra Pradesh respectively) warming up to host cyclonic circulations.

Meanwhile, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) update said that during the 24 hours ending Sunday morning, widespread rainfall was reported from sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, east Madhya Pradesh, coastal Karnataka and Kerala.

It was fairly widespread over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, east Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, the Northeastern States, west Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, south interior Karnataka and Lakshadweep. Scattered rain fell over Uttarakhand, Orissa, Punjab, interior Maharashtra, north interior Karnataka and Andaman and Nicobar Islands during this period.

The IMD expected the monsoon trough to remain near its normal position and active with embedded cyclonic circulations during the next two days.

A weather warning valid for the period said that isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur over West Bengal and Sikkim.

Isolated heavy rainfall would also break out over the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, east Rajasthan, east Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, north Orissa, coastal Karnataka and Kerala.
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ASIAONE - refugees in Japan find adjusting to new life difficult
The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network
Saturday, Aug 06, 2011

CHIBA--Language barriers and unfamiliar work in a much different environment are making life in Japan very stressful for ethnic Karen refugees from Myanmar who were transferred from a refugee camp in Thailand to Japan last autumn.

These refugees have been accepted on a third-country resettlement program sponsored by the central government on a test basis. Among them, a husband and wife undergoing work training at a farm in Yachimata, Chiba Prefecture, said they doubt coming to Japan was the right decision.

Providing the refugees with support from public and private sectors is expected to promote the program.

The couple was among five families of 27 Karen who lived in a refugee camp in Mera, northwestern Thailand, and the first batch of refugees who came to Japan on the program.
They took a six-month language training program and then moved to Yachimata, or Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, in March, which are their designated settlement places.

Two men and their wives who work at a farm in Yachimata had been absent from work for a month from July 2 and just returned to work Monday. One of the men, 37, had been a rice and corn farmer in Myanmar while the other man, 46, was a carpenter.

After living in the refugee camp for about a decade, they are now assigned to do farmwork from early morning to evening using a mechanical cultivator.

They complained that they could not bear the work conditions with only one day off each week. They agreed to return to work after the conditions were improved by increasing the number of days off from one to two each week and also reducing work hours.

The 37-year-old man's four children, who go to primary or middle schools, said they could not keep up with their classes. Although they are given extra tutoring after school, the children struggle.

His 29-year-old wife sometimes shouts at a mountain behind their house to get rid of the enormous mental stress caused by raising children while doing farmwork.

The farm's 68-year-old operator, who accepted the two families, criticized the central government for leaving these refugees who speak such poor Japanese at the farm.

The operator also stated that the six-month training program is too short to acquire agricultural know-how in machinery operation and developing marketing channels.

Providing support to these refugees is necessary to help them live independently. However, as the Foreign Ministry has not made information about the refugees public, citing safety, the private sector has yet to offer assistance to them.

Under the third-country settlement program, third countries accept refugees who would be persecuted in their home countries and cannot settle in countries they have fled to.

The government decided in December 2008 to introduce the program, believing that the process is smoother than that of accepting refugees based on the international convention on the status of refugees, under which Japan has accepted 577 refugees through last year.

As part of the test program, the government will accept about 30 refugees from the Mera camp each year until 2012.
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ASIAONE - Deputy minister's aunt found murdered
New Straits Times
Sunday, Aug 07, 2011

PARIT BUNTAR - A 73-year-old aunt of Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai was found dead, allegedly strangled by one of her workers at her house in Jalan Bagan, Tanjung Piandang near here yesterday.

Kerian district police chief Superintendent Mat Fauzi Nayan said a Myanmar national had been arrested in connection with the death of Teoh Ah Nya @ Teoh Kooi Lan, who was discovered at 1.30am with bruises and marks around the neck.

"The 25-year-old suspect is said to be a part-time worker at the victim's butcher shop.

"He is believed to be responsible for breaking into the victim's house between midnight and 1am."

Mat Fauzi said the suspect, who was found loitering around the victim's house, was detained at 2.50am on the same day.

The foreigner would be remanded until Thursday to facilitate investigations.

Initial investigations showed that there were signs of forced entry at the back door of the house and RM7,000 (S$2,850) worth of jewellery, valuables and cash were reported missing.

"The victim's younger sister, who lived in the same house, found the body after being startled by noises in the night."
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The Buffalo News - Man guilty of some charges in threat to estranged wife
Published:August 6, 2011, 12:00 AM

Burmese immigrant Van Tha Cung was found guilty Friday of charges that he threatened his estranged wife and their two children during his arrest at her Maurice Street flat last Dec. 27.

The jury verdict followed a week-long trial before State Supreme Court Justice Deborah A. Haendiges.

Cung, 28, of Kail Street, was found not guilty of second-degree burglary and one count of child endangerment. However, he was found guilty of another count endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of criminal contempt.

He will be sentenced Sept. 13, when he could face from 1 1/3 to four years in prison.

Cung, who had arrived in Buffalo with his family from a Malaysian refugee camp in June 2009, said he had been invited to move back in with his wife, Ngun Tha Par, last December.

Though Par, 38, obtained orders of protection against Cung in June 2010 and again last October, Cung testified that he had lived with her and their 3- year-old son and year-old daughter last July and again in December.

Par testified that she had moved out with her two children in March 2010 and spent some time in Haven House, a facility for battered women.

Par told the jury she feared for her life and said Cung treated her “like an animal.”
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The Courier Mail - Minister says we can take more as another boat is intercepted off Christmas Island
From: The Daily Telegraph
August 07, 2011 3:38PM

MINISTER Chris Bowen claims people smugglers will struggle to fill places aboard Australia bound vessels, as another boat arrives.

HMAS Albany, operating under the control of Border Protection Command, intercepted a suspected 'irregular entry vessel' north east of Christmas Island this morning.
Initial indications suggest there are 50 passengers and 2 crew on board.

The vessel was initially detected by HMAS Albany, operating under the control of Border Protection Command.

The passengers will be taken to Christmas Island for pre-transfer assessments, pending removal to Malaysia.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen says he doesn't believe people smugglers will find 800 asylum seekers willing to come to Australia by boat once Labor's swap deal with Malaysia begins in earnest.

His comments came as another boat was intercepted in Australian waters. It's the second vessel to be picked up since the transfer deal was signed late last month.

"Nobody will be able to doubt this government's resolve ... after they have seen this arrangement implemented," Chris Bowen told Network Ten.

"Let's not assume that people smugglers will successfully sell to 800 people the product of being taken to Australia for $15,000 or $20,000 and then returned to Malaysia where ... the majority started their boat journey."

The first 54 asylum seekers taken to Christmas Island after the swap deal became effective are due to be flown to Malaysia within days.

Mr Bowen says the deal has already reduced the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat.

There's been 1000 fewer arrivals since the Gillard government flagged the transfer plan in early May than in the corresponding period last year, he said.

The minister also insisted the 4000 processed refugees from Malaysia who will be resettled in Australia over the next four years were the forgotten side of the equation.
"I think the Australian people do say that we should accept refugees, and I say, and I think many agree, that we can accept more refugees," Mr Bowen said.

"But we need an orderly process and this is what this arrangement delivers."

The first of those refugees, a Burmese family, will arrive from Malaysia this week.
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Sydney Morning Herald - Daring ends and the hope begins
Misha Schubert
August 7, 2011

IN THE seven years since he fled abuse and forced labour at the hands of the Burmese military, Kham Kap Thang Taithoul and his young family have hardly dared to hope for a permanent safe haven.

Their lives on the run have been dogged by a constant fear of forced return from the cramped flat they share with four other refugees in Kuala Lumpur, to face violent reprisals awaiting ethnic Chin villagers in the far north of Burma.

But that is about to change forever.

As the first plane load of boat arrivals is forcibly deported back to Malaysia as early as today under the federal government's swap deal, this family are the faces on the other side of the controversial refugee plan.

Kham, his wife Niang Lam Cing, and their children were told two weeks ago that they would be in the first group of refugees accepted by Australia under the pact.

''We were so happy that we danced in our room with our children. We don't know how to mention our happiness,'' Mr Taithoul said through an interpreter last week. ''We feel like we are going to a little heaven.''

When they board a flight to Melbourne this week, the family will put behind them the grinding poverty and uncertainty of life in the shadows of Malaysian society.

Their greatest hope is that their daughter, Cing San Lun, 4, and son, Hau Muon Khai, 2, might get an education eclipsing their own (neither parent went beyond primary school), and be able to live in freedom, safety and financial security.

But there is a bittersweet taste, too, as the family contrasts its own good fortune with that of others left behind.

''We are very happy that we have been approved but we feel very sad for those who have been stuck in Malaysia a long time,'' Mr Taithoul said. ''If Australia could take more refugees it would be very good and the refugees in Malaysia would have hope.''

Mr Taithoul is critical of the gamble taken by those families who, unlike them, could afford to pay people smugglers.

''This is not a good way because it makes other people wait longer for a chance with the UNHCR to find a chance to go to Australia,'' he said.

He believed the swap deal would ''scare the refugees waiting who think [using a] people smuggler is a good chance to go to Australia''.
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Canada.com - Regina police issue new plea for information in 2010 triple homicide
By Joe Couture and Ashley Martin, Postmedia News August 6, 2011

REGINA — One year after a multiple slaying left a family of three refugees dead, Regina police are reaching out to the community, issuing a call for information in the Karen language.

“We certainly do believe there is more information out there that we have not been told,” Regina Police Chief Troy Hagen said Friday. “There are language issues within that community and not everyone is fluent in English . . . so we’re reaching out in Karen and hoping that will (help) people to hear our message in their own language and clearly understand it.”

On Aug. 6, 2010, three bodies were found inside a Regina townhouse. It is believed they were in the townhouse for several days before being discovered by a property manager investigating a foul odour. Soon after, the bodies were identified as Gray Nay Htoo, 31, Maw Maw, 28, and their three-year-old son Seven June Htoo.

The three were refugees to Canada and were Karen, an ethnic minority from Burma.

This is the first time the appeal has been spoken in Karen, though in February investigators posted information about the case on www.kwekalu.net, a Karen website.

Police have been working closely with the community throughout the investigation, and “this is just enhancing that level of activity . . . The more people that hear our message, the better off I think we are,” said Hagen.

The statement, posted on the police website and on social media sites, includes the following plea: “To anyone who may have information, please do the right thing and contact the Regina Police Service. Your information will be taken seriously. Trust the police to use the information to help solve these murders. If you are afraid to come forward, understand that the Regina Police Service can offer protection to you and your family.”

Members of the First Baptist Church, which the family attended, said they arrived in Regina about three years prior to their deaths. The murders shook up many members of the Burmese community.

“Obviously, there was a great deal of fear in the Karen community,” Mark McKim, senior minister at the church, said this week. “In the first few days and weeks, you had folks who were deciding they were going to spend the night at each others’ houses. There was that kind of an anxiety: ‘Is this an attack on the community?’ That’s pretty much dissipated. It doesn’t seem to be anything that was aimed at a particular identifiable group.”

At the time of the murders, neighbours remembered that just weeks before the bodies were discovered, the north Regina townhouse was a place of celebration as people came
together for the birthday of the three-year-old boy.

But some neighbours told media that they believed there was something odd going on with the family. Some said there were often “shady people” coming and going. One neighbour said the man often seemed to double-check his door’s lock.

Last year, residents expressed concern after receiving a questionnaire from police asking questions such as: “Do you know who murdered those people?” and, “If you were going to conduct the investigation, how would you do it?” The series of questions was part of a broader technique often used to identify suspects.

Not long after the murders, the locks were changed at the crime scene after someone apparently entered it and turned on the lights and television. An explanation for that incident was never revealed.

In December, more than four months after the killings, Hagen announced investigators were watching two individuals in relation to the case, though he stopped short of calling them suspects.

Hagen, though optimistic, acknowledged that the case will be regarded as “one of our more complicated and involved files that the Regina Police Service has had.”
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Indian Express - ASI seeks to declare site near Myanmar border of “national importance”
ADAMHALLIDAY
Posted: Sun Aug 07 2011, 00:26 hrs

More than 170 menhirs with different carved figures that lie near India’s border with Myanmar in Mizoram have caught the attention of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and a proposal to declare Vangchhia (a village hosting the site) of “national importance” has been floated by S S Gupta, Superintending Archaeologist at ASI’s Guwahati Circle.

“The menhirs at Vangchhia in the border district of Champhai are unique to India’s north-eastern region,” Gupta said, “They carry carved or embossed figures of human beings and animals. We see similar carvings from the historic period in Central and South India, and hope to study these (in Mizoram) further, once they are protected.” No one is certain what these carvings are supposed to represent, but Gupta said they may be akin to the “heroic stones” found elsewhere in the sub-continent—commemoration stones that carry images of game or warriors hunted or killed by chiefs or warriors of a particular clan, tribe or community.
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Saturday, August 6th, 2011 at 02:45 pm
Raxanreeb Online - Puntland Rescues 14 Myanmar Hostages from Somalia Pirates

Garowe ( RBC Radio ) : The Government of Puntland State of Somalia has rescued 14 Myanmar fishermen held as hostages by Somali pirates. During a press conference in the Puntland capital of Garowe on 2 August 2011, held jointly by Puntland Minister for Maritime Transport and Ports, Hon. Saeed Mohamed Rage, and Puntland Counter-piracy Director Mr. Abdirizak Mohamed Ahmed (Ducaysane), the Government officials disclosed how the hostages were released.

This group of hostages was the crewmen of the fishing boat Frantalay 12, which was seized by pirates on 18 April. Initially, the ship was held at Gara’ad coastal town but the pirates later moved southward to El Dhanane coastal town.

On 12 July, the fishing boat sunk for yet unknown reasons. The pirates moved the hostages to land between Gara’ad and El Dhanane.

Puntland Government engaged local community leaders, including traditional elders. The joint initiative between the Government and the community led to the safe release of 14 Myanmar hostages, who are presently in Garowe.

International representatives from the UN Development Program (UNDP), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have met with the rescued hostages in Garowe.

The Government is seeking to relinquish custody of the rescued hostages in accordance with international law. Puntland Government respects and protects human rights of all people and currently, international organizations such as UNPOS, UNODC, UNDP and IOM are collaborating with the Government in order to achieve a safe journey home for the released hostages.

The Government regrets that four hostages from the fishing boat Frantalay 12 still remain in the hands of pirates, although there are ongoing efforts to release them.
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E-Pao.net - Indo-Myanmar liaison meeting
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 05 2011:

The Indo-Myanmar border liaison meeting was held at HQ 57 Mountain Division under the aegis of HQ 3 Corps, said a PIB (DW) release .

Informing that a 14-member Myanmar delegation led by Dy Cdr NWC Brig Gen Tin Maung Ohn had arrived at HQ 57 Mountain Division on August 1, by road from Moreh, the release they Myanmar team was received by GOC 57 Mountain Division Maj Gen Binoy Poonnen, along with delegation leader of Indian Army and other officers attending the meeting.

The liaison meet is a landmark event where representatives of both the Armies interact and co-ordinate border management issues and also gives an opportunity to further strengthen the bonds of friendship between both countries, it conveyed.

The meeting deliberated on steps to be taken to curb the activities of insurgent groups onboth sides of the border and ways of strengthening the military cooperation between two countries.

The Myanmar delegation also visited Kolkata and Gaya from August 2 till 4, and left for Myanmar via Moreh today.
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Monsters and Critics - Thailand's human trafficking draws UN attention
By Peter Janssen Aug 7, 2011, 4:06 GMT

Samut Sakhon, Thailand - Ei Phyo, 18, from Myawaddy, Myanmar, arrived in Samut Sakhon four years ago to work in a fish-ball factory in the coastal city 30 kilometres west of Bangkok.

Like most illegal migrant workers in Thailand she could not afford to pay the 16,500 baht (550 dollars) in transport and police checkpoint bribery fees that feed the multimillion dollar human trafficking trade.

Ei Phyo worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for 4,000 baht (133 dollars) a month with 1,000 baht deducted to repay her debt to the factory owner for advancing her entry fees.

'For two years I never left the factory once,' Ei Phyo said. 'Even when I had paid back the debt they wouldn't let me go outside because the boss said it wasn't right to take a break right after paying him back.'

Finally she managed to escape by putting her regular clothes on under her uniform and shedding her factory outfit after taking out the trash through a back exit.

'Now that factory has built a taller wall around it to make sure no one gets out,' said Ei Phyo, who currently has a better job in Samut Sakhon and has joined Thailand's registered workforce of migrant labourers, who number close to 1 million.

Her tale of modern indentured servitude is mild compared with some others.

Horror stories of Cambodian and Burmese labourers virtually enslaved for years on Thailand's armada of small fishing vessels abound.

'I ran away after one of my friends lost his arm in one of the boat's machines,' said Nai, 25, a Burmese migrant.

He has spent the past six years in Thailand being 'sold' by agents, usually compatriots, to one factory or fishing boat after another until ending up in Samut Sakhon, home to an estimated 300,000 Burmese.

'No matter how many problems I have in Thailand I have to stick it out because I still haven't made enough to pay back my debts at home,' Nai said. He had to borrow 6 million kyats (750 dollars) to pay an agent to get him into Thailand six years ago.

'An assessment of the cumulative risk of labour trafficking among Burmese migrant workers in the seafood industry in Samut Sakhon, Thailand found that 57 per cent of these workers experience conditions of forced labour,' said the US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report 2011, released on June 28.

The report placed Thailand in the Tier Two category for the second consecutive year, along with such countries as Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, Russia and Zambia.

The UN's special rapporteur on human trafficking will be in Thailand from Monday to August 19 to assess the kingdom's progress, or lack thereof, in tackling the illicit trade.

'During my mission, I wish to reach out to a wide range of stakeholders and trafficked persons themselves, so that their voices are heard and can be considered in the network of laws, policies and measures related to trafficking in persons,' Joy Ngozi Ezeilo said.

The Thai government has welcomed the trip.

'We are concerned about being on the Tier 2 watch list,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thingphakdi said. 'We have made serious efforts to address the human trafficking problem and we feel that a lot of progress has been made.'

Thailand's dynamic and diversified economy has been a magnet for illegal and legal migrant labourers from less-developed neighbours - Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar (also called Burma) - for decades.

This underclass of more than 2 million migrants now man the jobs Thais increasingly shun in the country's vast plantations of rubber and palm oil, on construction sites, as domestic servants and aboard thousands of small fishing vessels.

Thailand has made efforts to legalize the migrant labour force, having registered some 996,276 Cambodians, Lao and Burmese as of August 1 under its nationality verification process.

On June 14, the Labour Ministry proposed establishing a private insurance fund to cover migrant workers for work-related accidents or illness. For other ailments, registered migrant workers can benefit form the national universal health plan.

But abuses of migrant labourers abound and prosecutions are few and far between.

'Corruption remained widespread among Thai enforcement personnel, creating an enabling environment for human trafficking to prosper,' the US State Department noted in its report.
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Burma to take one more step toward regional acceptance
Friday, 05 August 2011 19:02 Te Te

New Delhi (Mizzima) – In a move to gain regional acceptance, Burmese members of Parliament will attend the general assembly of the Asean Inter Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in Phnom Penh in September.

Upper House Speaker Aung Khin Myint will lead a delegation including MPs from ethnic parties and the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

The 32nd AIPA general assembly will be held from September 18 to 24, according to Dr Aye Maung, the chairman of the parliamentary Guarantees, Pledges and Undertakings Vetting Committee.

Since its admission into Asean in 1997, Burma has been involved in AIPA as a “special observer.” AIPA comprises nine Asean countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippine, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei. Burma is the only Asean member not presently a full member of AIPA.

Asean countries formed AIPA in 1977 to promote solidarity and cooperation among parliaments of member countries. The venue is rotated among the member parliaments in alphabetical order unless otherwise decided by the general assembly, according to the AIPA Web site. MPs of member countries attend to discuss affairs regarding economics, politics, women’s rights, migrant workers’ rights and battling illegal drugs.

Burma critics say that if it becomes a full AIPA member, it would place limitations on the group’s discussions promoting democratic practices in regional countries.

Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma) said: “Some Asean members are not known for having free and fair elections. These governments will be quite happy to have someone worse than them in AIPA. It will ensure that AIPA will not be able to discuss or promote democratic practices and procedures in Asean governance.” On the other hand, she said that some AIPA members are not comfortable that regime-appointed MPs who won an “obviously unfree and unfair election” would be eligible to join.

This is the first time MPs of Burma will attend the general assembly. Under the former Burmese junta, only the chief justice and advocate general could attend. At that time, the Members of Parliament Union-Burma (MPU), which comprises elected representatives of the 1990-general elections, tried to join AIPA.

Dr. Tint Swe, a member of MPU who presented Burmese affairs to AIPA, said, “We don’t have any objection that AIPA accepts the [current] MPs of Burma. But, we doubt that the MPs of Burma can give a genuine voice to the people [in the general meeting].”
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Tax on sale of Burmese real estate to be increased?
Friday, 05 August 2011 21:36 Nyi Thit

(Mizzima) – Rumours have circulated in Rangoon since June saying that the Internal Revenue Department will announce a new tax rate for the sale of real estate on August 12.

However, even the officials from the Internal Revenue Department said they couldn’t predict what will happen. Real estate agents and others who want to invest are waiting until after August 12 to plan their moves.

The real estate market in Burma is fraught with wheeling and dealing. Former military officers who served under the junta used to buy land and buildings under other persons’ names.

The current real estate sales tax limit is 10 percent of value and a purchase tax of 15 percent (seven percent for revenue stamp and eight percent for profit tax).

The current one-year taxation policy has been established since 2007 and the policy is renewed each year on August 12.

Before the current taxation system, the purchaser had to pay 50 percent of the value as a purchase tax, so purchasers were reluctant to register land and buildings at the registration office. Sellers and buyers used to negotiate with official appraisers to register property using a value lower than the actual value.

“The current tax rate is 15 percent. We heard that the tax rate would be increased to 25 percent to 30 percent. If the tax rate is increased, the sale of expensive real estate will dramatically decrease. Even now, the sale of land and buildings worth more than 500 million kyat is weak,” a well-known real estate agent in Rangoon said.

If the tax rate is increased, he said, the sale of high-priced property can decrease, and as a result, the low volume of sales could temporarily prevent the prices of real estate from increasing. But, when the buyers who have to pay higher taxes resell the property, prices will go up.

“The current system was introduced by the former authorities. Even if the new government wants to modify the rules, it is unlikely that the taxation will be increased this year. The authorities will probably renew the current system. But, the tax rate will be increased probably next year,” a source close to a property registration office said.
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