BURMA RELATED NEWS - SEPTEMBER 01, 2011

IMF to help Myanmar reform exchange rate
By Pornchai Kittiwongsakul | AFP News – 19 hours ago

IMF economists will visit Myanmar to help modernize its complicated exchange rate system, an official said Wednesday, in a sign that the country's new government is seeking economic reforms.

A technical team from the International Monetary Fund will visit the country also known as Burma in the second half of October, said Gita Bhatt, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based financial institution.

"We have received a request from the authorities in Myanmar to help them prepare to modernize their exchange rate system and lift restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions," she said.

She declined further details on the trip. But the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said that authorities had reached out to the IMF and sent trainees overseas to reform the exchange rate, calling it a top priority.

The "problem of exchange rate gap, main barrier to international trade, will be solved along with the proper evolution of market economy," the newspaper quoted Finance Minister Hla Tun as saying.

Myanmar maintains multiple exchange rates, with the kyat currency's official value -- which the public sector is required to use -- set far above the market level. Myanmar restricts its nationals from obtaining foreign currency.

A 2008 working paper by two IMF economists, which does not necessarily represent the views of the fund, found that Myanmar's losses in efficiency due to the exchange rate system were equivalent to 14 to 17 percent of its economy in 2006-2007.

Myanmar is a member of the IMF and economists from the fund generally visit once a year, Bhatt said. The last formal consultation was in February 2010.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962, but the country nominally switched to civilian leadership earlier this year after November elections chose a new national assembly.

The opposition, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and the United States have voiced disappointment with the pace of reforms and believe the changes are primarily cosmetic, with the military still in charge.

The United States maintains economic sanctions against Myanmar, including its key gem industry, due to human rights concerns including the army's alleged use of forced labor and rape in its campaigns against ethnic minority fighters.
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European Voice - Myanmar's abuses demand justice
By Nicolas Beger
01.09.2011 / 05:14 CET

It is time for the EU to push for a UN-led commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity committed in Myanmar.

Four years ago, the people of Myanmar rose up in a ‘Saffron Revolution', named after the robes of the Buddhist monks who eventually led the demonstrations. While the world initially condemned the security forces' violent crackdown, the authorities managed to deflect criticism several months later by announcing that they would hold national elections and form a civilian government.

The international community, including the EU, has been distracted ever since, despite abundant information that the government has continued to violate human rights on a massive scale. The prevailing approach has been ‘wait and see' – what the government will do before the elections, how the elections are conducted, whether the new government makes any changes.

Meanwhile, the human-rights situation has gone from bad to worse. By the time the elections were announced, the number of political prisoners in Myanmar had nearly doubled from its pre-Saffron Revolution number to more than 2,100 – where it remains today. Several months later, the government denied, obstructed and/or confiscated international aid in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, turning the humanitarian disaster into a human-rights crisis. And a year later, the authorities arrested, tried, and unlawfully extended the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Among the issues crying out for justice and accountability is the treatment of Myanmar's ethnic minorities.

In mid-2008, Amnesty International released a report focusing on the army's systematic human-rights violations against ethnic-minority Karen civilians, including extra-judicial executions, torture, arbitrary detention, forced labour, confiscation of land and food, and the large-scale forced displacement of civilians.

This was the first time that we characterised such violations as crimes against humanity under international law. The findings, though, were consistent with our research over two decades based on testimonies not only from the Karen, but by many other ethnic minorities, including the Rohingya, the Karenni, the Shan, and the Mon.

Similarly, since mid-2008, especially since the day of Myanmar's national elections last November, when hostilities were accelerated or renewed between the Myanmar army and armed groups fighting on behalf of several ethnic minorities, accounts recall our report's findings: serious human-rights violations – some of which may amount to crimes against humanity and/or war crimes – against ethnic minority Karen, Kachin, and Shan civilians.

These include recent accounts of the army using prison convicts as porters in the fighting in Kayin (Karen) state, of forcing them to act as human shields and mine-sweepers, and of rape and other sexual violence, primarily in Shan state. Reliable reports indicate that the number of displaced people there has reached 30,000, while in or near Kachin state 20,000 internally displaced people were reported in late July.

These violations call for accountability. Without international action, this is highly unlikely, since the Myanmar constitution provides for immunity from prosecution for past violations by officials.

In October, the UN's special rapporteur will present a report to the UN General Assembly, which is likely to adopt a resolution on Myanmar. The EU will again take the lead in drafting this resolution. In each of his reports or statements to the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, the special rapporteur has called for greater accountability for grave crimes or expressly recommended that the UN should establish a commission of inquiry into such crimes.

It is unclear whether such a commission would have access to Myanmar. But a similar 1997 commission by the International Labour Organization compensated for its inability to obtain access partly through expert testimony, which Amnesty International and others provided. Two years later, Myanmar passed a law banning forced labour. Accountability must begin somewhere.

And accountability need not exclude increased humanitarian assistance and efforts to engage the new government.

Twelve of the 16 nations that have publicly supported a commission of inquiry are EU members, but neither the EU en bloc nor some of its influential members, including Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, have done so.

After more than three years of ‘wait and see', it is time for the EU and its member states to translate their concern about Myanmar's human rights into public support for the establishment of a UN-led commission of inquiry.

Nicolas Beger is the director of Amnesty International's European institutions office in Brussels.
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Asian Tribune - Investigation on crimes against humanity is critical to building peace in Myanmar
Thu, 2011-09-01 01:33 — editor

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) welcomes the efforts of Tomás Ojea Quintana, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, to ensure that justice and accountability measures are introduced to address human rights violations and build peace in Myanmar.

AIPMC has appealed to the European Union and ASEAN to support Mr. Quintana’s call.

On 25 August 2011 Mr. Quintana concluded his fourth visit to Myanmar and released a statement expressing serious concern for ongoing human rights abuses in the country, including the continued incarceration and ill-treatment of prisoners of conscience, attacks against civilians in border areas, and a host of violations of economic, social and cultural rights.

AIPMC has stated that it shares these concerns and calls on the international community to take an immediate action to protect civilians and end impunity.

Following a series of meetings with Myanmar’s government officials and political opposition leaders, the Special Rapporteur also described the possible expansion of political space and welcomed the creation of Parliamentary committees to tackle human rights issues in Myanmar.

Regardless of whether or not such developments take shape, a mechanism should be set up to investigate possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. Justice and accountability should not be sidestepped by the “potential” for improvements in the political sphere.

AIPMC in a statement has encouraged genuine political reform in Myanmar; such reform should include the release of all prisoners of conscience, inclusive multiparty peace talks with non-state armed groups, and an end to impunity for perpetrators of egregious crimes. “We believe such measures are necessary for establishing a foundation for long lasting peace in Myanmar and pursuing justice for victims of human rights abuses “the AIPMC statement revealed.

Since the November 2010 elections, fighting along Myanmar’s borders has escalated.

Mr. Quintana has repeatedly called on both sides to halt hostilities and find a political solution to the decade’s long armed conflict. The conflict threatens regional stability as thousands of displaced people seek refuge in neighboring countries. AIPMC urges the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and its member states, to support an investigation into reports of possible international crimes. An inquiry into reported crimes could accelerate peace-seeking initiatives.

The statement further revealed “ASEAN is committed to promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms and should also call on the Government of Myanmar to adhere to its obligations under the ASEAN Charter and international law.

AIPMC in its statement added, “Members of the European Union should also include the call for a Commission of Inquiry or any kind of mechanism to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar in the draft of UN General Assembly Resolution. “
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Time Magazine - The Slow Thaw of Burma's Notorious Military Junta
By Andrew Marshall Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011

A cabal of military men has ruled Burma for nearly half a century, often with unfathomable cruelty. But recent events have made Burma watchers wonder if change is coming.

Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest last year, made her first trip outside Rangoon in August. She was greeted by enthusiastic crowds and not, as she was in 2003, by the junta's thugs. When she left Rangoon again, this time for a one-hour talk with President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw that left her feeling "happy and satisfied."

Is one of the world's oldest military regimes finally taking baby steps toward reform? Even the experts seem split. "There is still no evidence of a wish to embrace real democracy," says Andrew Selth, a research fellow at Australia's Griffith University. "But it has to be admitted that Burma's new government is demonstrating a degree of flexibility many commentators did not expect." Here are five signs that the junta is reforming — and five reasons for caution. (See photos of Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest.)

THE GOOD NEWS:

1. The New President
Thein Sein was handpicked by retired general Than Shwe but is no tyrant himself. He is "committed, not driven by personal interest, as well as modest and approachable," says analyst Richard Horsey, a former U.N. official in Burma. "[He is] proactively seeking inputs and signaling that there are no taboos in discussions with him." Thein Sein has been wishfully compared to South Africa's apartheid-era President F.W. de Klerk, with Suu Kyi his Nelson Mandela.

2. Aung San's Reappearance
Burma's independence hero is also Suu Kyi's late father, which is why the regime removed his face from bank notes and public places. But Aung San's youthful portrait dominated the room in which his daughter was greeted by Thein Sein — another sign the President is "his own man," says Horsey.

3. An Insein Prison Visit
U.N. human-rights investigator Tomás Ojea Quintana was allowed into Rangoon's most notorious jail to talk with political prisoners. He also met Suu Kyi and government officials.

4. A Slightly Freer Media
Government censors are usually unforgiving. But when True News Journal mistakenly referred to Suu Kyi as "President" in a recent cover story, it got off with just a warning. Newspapers are free to run photos of the Nobel laureate, although she can't be shown giving speeches. (Read "Aung San Suu Kyi: Burma's First Lady of Freedom.")

5. Thein Sein's Choice of Chief Economic Advisor
Among the technocrats on the President's advisory board is U Myint, a respected economist and a friend of Suu Kyi.

THE BAD NEWS:

1. The New President
President Thein Sein is a puppet of Than Shwe, say some critics, and is cynically co-opting Suu Kyi to take pressure off the military and prolong its pre-eminence. "Finding an F.W. de Klerk–like figure among Burma's military rulers is like searching for a needle in a haystack during a power outage on a pitch black night," wrote Maung Zarni, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, on the Democratic Voice of Burma website. (Read about whether Burma's strongman Than Shwe is really retired.)

2. Insein Jail
Conditions inside Insein jail remain horrific. Interrogators extract confessions with sleep and food deprivation, beatings and "the burning of bodily parts, including genital organs," reported U.N. envoy Quintana. And activists claim the regime still holds nearly 2,000 political prisoners, including 225 monks.

3. The Continued Persecution of the National League for Democracy
One member of Suu Kyi's party, Aung Hla Myint, was recently sentenced to 16 months in prison for traveling outside his hometown in central Burma.

4. Raging Civil Wars
Ongoing counterinsurgency operations by the Burmese military have displaced 50,000 people in Karen, Shan and Kachin states this year, claims Human Rights Watch. The New York City–based group believes the military's torture of convict porters, who are sometimes forced to trip landmines, constitutes a war crime.

5. The Runaway Kyat
Burma's currency is rapidly appreciating against the dollar, which punishes exporters and farmers. Poor economic conditions sparked popular uprisings in 1988 and 2007, and could do so again. This, say critics, is what really drives Burma's generals: fear of unrest, not desire for reform.
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Sin Chew Jit Poh - Seven killed by WWII bomb in Myanmar
2011-09-01 13:39

YANGON, September 1, 2011 (AFP) - Seven people died when an old World War II bomb exploded in western Myanmar, officials said Thursday.

"They were killed accidentally in the blast while trying to remove a bomb that appeared at the sea shore near their village. They seemed to have no idea what it was," said a government official who asked not to be named.

The accident took place on Wednesday near the port town of Sittwe. The victims were all men.

"We think the old bomb was left over from World War II. We have no idea how many of them are left buried around the country," a second official said.

Fatal accidents involving old bombs are rare in Myanmar, which saw fierce fighting during World War II, when it was occupied by Japan before returning to British rule until its independence in 1948.
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The Nation - Thai investors should seize opportunities to regain Burma
By Nalin Viboonchart
Published on September 1, 2011

China has become Burma's biggest business partner in terms of trading value, replacing Thailand, and is likely to benefit from the open-market policy the most, said Burmese and Thai businesspeople as well as the Thai Board of Investment (BoI).

Thai investors should penetrate potential markets such as Burma more, while the government must facilitate Thai companies wishing to expand their business not only in Burma but in other countries, including India and China, a seminar heard.

Vasana Mututanont, director of the BoI's International Affairs Bureau, said during the seminar titled "Thai Investors Move Forward in India and Burma" that the Kingdom had been Burma's largest business partner from 1988 to 2008, but it had lost this position to China over the past few years. China is expanding aggressively into Burma and now markets many consumer products there.

"Thai investors and the government cannot ignore Burma and should think about playing a greater role in the country," she said. "The government of Burma has set a target to transform it from an agricultural-oriented to an industrial country by 2030. It needs more investment and trade. Thailand has an opportunity from this policy."

The seminar was held by the Office of Industrial Economics and the Centre for International Trade Studies of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce to disclose research on the opportunities for Thai enterprises to invest in India and Burma.

Moe Myint Kyaw, president of the Myanmar Fishery Products Processors and Exporters Association, said Burma imported US$4.53 billion (Bt136 billion) worth of goods last year, with China, Thailand and Singapore the top three suppliers, in that order. China's trade value was the largest at about $9.5 billion, followed by Thailand with a little bit lower value.
He said Thai businesspeople had many opportunities to invest in various sectors in Burma, particularly fishery, agriculture, food, wood, cement and infrastructure. However, Thai investors do not benefit as much as they could. Collaboration between the two countries is needed.

"The two governments should have a good relationship. I think the relationship today is so far so good.??? Good cooperation will prevent investors conducting hit-and-run-style business in Burma," he said.

Thai businesses should think beyond how to sell their products in the Burmese market and plan to invest there, he said. Burma has limitations for exporting goods to other markets, lacking facilities such as ports. It needs Thailand as an export centre, as the cost may be lower than exporting directly from Burma. Hence Thai companies could use raw materials from Burma for production, while Burmese firms could undertake reprocessing and packaging in Thailand and use this country as their distribution centre.

Vichai Kemtongkum, managing director of Oriental Unique, a Thai trading company that has done business in Burma since 1994, said Thailand had lost market share in the neighbouring country to China even though it should have a trade value of many billions of baht with Burma. One obstacle may be concern about the security and stability of doing business with Burmese investors.

"As far as I'm concerned, Burma is safer than Thailand. Burmese investors are reliable. I have done business in Burma for many years and never experienced cheating by Burmese partners," he said.

Surasak Chuasuknothip, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Department of International Economic Affairs, said India needed to invest more than $1 trillion in infrastructure, and there was an opportunity for Thai contractors to take part in the investment.
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International Herald Tribune - Myanmar Soccer Fans Given Freedom of Raucous Speech
Published: August 31, 2011

YANGON, Myanmar — The hardships and oppression of living in an authoritarian country like Myanmar all but vanish at the gates of its soccer stadiums. Or so say the fans, who swarm into the grandstands for a carnival of drunken revelry that would never be tolerated outside the stadium walls.

A soccer match ticket in Myanmar, formerly Burma, costs 70 cents.

“I don’t come here to support any particular team,” said Kyaw Lin, 15, a high school student standing in an especially rowdy section of bleachers during a recent match. “I come for the freedom to yell anything I want.”

Sports is an escape nearly everywhere from the tedium of life. But in Myanmar, with its layers of secret police and prison sentences of as much as 100 years for those who speak out against the government, a soccer match seems something more: an island of raucous merriment in a sea of grinding poverty and fear.

It is 90 minutes of seemingly unfettered liberty. Truckloads of riot police officers surround stadiums during matches, but these sour-faced legions stay mostly near the exits.

A World Cup qualifying match in July between Myanmar’s national team and Oman was called off by the Japanese referee before halftime after fans threw rocks, shoes and water bottles onto the field and a member of Oman’s coaching staff was reported to have suffered a head injury.

The episode, however, has done little to diminish the enthusiasm in the grandstands.

“I’m going to break your legs!” yelled a fan as a striker moved down the field in the recent match. This was one of the more polite exclamations.

The outdoor grandstand reeked of cheap liquor and the occasional pool of vomit. Shirtless fans exhibited a variety of creative, roughly sketched tattoos.

Myanmar, formerly Burma, is one of Asia’s most impoverished countries and also one of its most expensive. Opening a cellphone account costs $700. A new car can run in excess
of $200,000 because of onerous taxes and permits.

But two things are particularly cheap here: rice (about 15 cents for a small bucketful) and a ticket to soccer matches (70 cents). Deliberately or not, the government is taking a page out of the Roman Empire, with soccer as the equivalent of bread and circuses.

The soccer league, the Myanmar National League, was formed with the government’s encouragement in 2008, a time of widespread anger at the military’s handling of a deadly cyclone and fresh memories of large-scale protests led by Buddhist monks the previous year. The government prodded supportive business executives to help finance the league and its 12 teams.

Now in its third season, the league has proved a particularly successful form of entertainment, a local complement to a longstanding obsession here with the English Premier League. Among the private publications allowed in Myanmar, sports newspapers outsell those devoted to general news, journalists say. “When someone faces a lot of hardship and burdens in his daily life, he wants to forget them,” said U Ko Htut, one of the country’s prominent writers on soccer.

“There are not many people who obtain success in our country,” Mr. Ko Htut said. “We want to imagine we are football stars. We want to put ourselves in their shoes.”

Mr. Ko Htut was imprisoned for 13 years and tortured for perceived crimes related to his student activism during a major uprising in 1988. Writing about sports, he says, is the closest thing to freedom of expression in Myanmar. The censors rarely bother him, he said, unlike political journalists who spend their careers having their work excised and redacted. (The name of this article’s author is being withheld because foreign journalists, with rare exceptions, are not officially allowed to report in the country.)

Myanmar has suffered under various shades of military rule since a coup in 1962, a political legacy that has engendered a distrust for government and authority among its 55 million people.

So it comes as little surprise that the paramount symbol of authority during soccer matches, the referee, is the target of generous doses of invective, often quite personal and obscene.

Entering a soccer stadium can be a Jekyll-and-Hyde experience. The Burmese, generally polite, leave civility at the gates.

U Min Aung, 29, owns a business and has a 3-year-old daughter. Once in the grandstands, he stripped off his shirt and paced drunkenly through the crowd, assailing the opposing team.

Occasionally he threw bottles onto the field, or anything else he could get his hands on. During a recent match he tried, unsuccessfully, to pry loose the concrete bleachers.

Mr. Min Aung said that in July he had joined the ruckus during the match between Myanmar’s national team and Oman. He showed no signs of remorse. “The referee was unfair,” he said. “Everyone was throwing bottles. I did, too.”

A statement by FIFA, the governing body of World Cup soccer, said the referee ended the Oman match after “local supporters repeatedly hurled objects onto the field.”
“The matter will be referred to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee,” it said.

The rowdiness at soccer matches veers close to hooliganism, with occasional fights between supporters of opposing teams. But tension is often defused — partly, it seems, because many fans are too drunk to raise a fist.

Nor is bad behavior necessarily restricted to the fans. In 2004, three players on Myanmar’s national team were ejected during a match against Singapore. One tripped his opponent, another kicked mud toward the referee and the third hit a Singapore player with a water bottle and made a lewd gesture as he left the field. It was a low point in Myanmar’s soccer history that even embarrassed some of its fans.

One reason for the raucousness at matches involving the national team is a deep frustration over a long decline in the team’s performance in recent decades, said a sportswriter who is known by his pen name, Okocha.

Myanmar’s glory years came in the 1950s and ’60s, when the national team won pan-Asian tournaments and regularly defeated its neighbors. Now FIFA ranks Myanmar 165th out of 203 national teams, behind countries like the Maldives and the Bahamas, which are not known for their soccer prowess.

“We are in a very bad state,” Mr. Okocha said.
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Research and Markets: Myanmar Oil Markets 2011 - An Essential Source for Top-Level Energy Industry Data and information

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/d3b6df/myanmar_oil_market) has announced the addition of GlobalData 's new report "Myanmar Oil Markets, 2011" to their offering.

This profile is the essential source for top-level energy industry data and information. The report provides an overview of each of the key sub-segments of the energy industry in Myanmar.

It details the market structure, regulatory environment, infrastructure and provides historical and forecast statistics relating to the supply/demand balance for each of the key sub-segments. It also provides information relating to the crude oil assets (oil fields, refineries and pipelines) in Myanmar.

The report compares the investment environment in Myanmar with other countries in the region. The profiles of the major companies operating in the crude oil sector in Myanmar together with the latest news and deals are also included in the report.

Scope:

Historic and forecast data relating to production, consumption, imports, exports and reserves are provided for each industry sub-segment for the period 2000-2020.

Historical and forecast data and information for all the major oil fields, refineries, pipelines and storage terminals in Myanmar for the period 2000-2015.

Operator and equity details for major crude oil assets in Myanmar.

Key information relating to market regulations, key energy assets and the key companies operating in the Myanmar's energy industry.

Information on the top companies in the Myanmar including business description, strategic analysis, and financial information.

Product and brand updates, strategy changes, R&D projects, corporate expansions and contractions and regulatory changes.

Key mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, private equity and venture capital investments, and IPOs.

Companies Mentioned:
China National Petroleum Corporation
ONGC Videsh Limited
PTT Exploration and Production PCL

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/d3b6df/myanmar_oil_market
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Rigzone - Myanmar O&G Exploration Tender Draws over 50 Bids
by Cheang Chee Yew, Dow Jones Newswires
Thursday, September 01, 2011

Myanmar has received more than 50 bids for an oil and gas exploration tender, which closed last week, a government official said Thursday.

The bidders are from China, Europe, Middle East, Russia and Southeast Asia, the official, who didn't wish to be named, said.

The energy planning department is now short-listing the bidders and will invite selected firms to review the geological and geophysical data of 18 onshore blocks, mostly in central areas, the official said.

Each short-listed foreign firm is required to form a joint venture with an approved Myanmarese company to bid in the tender. Local companies participating in the tender have to register with the energy ministry by Sept. 9.

Once the review of geological and geophysical data is completed, the joint ventures can submit details on the work program and budget to the ministry.

As of April 1, 2008 the country's proven onshore and offshore crude-oil reserves were 112 million barrels and 101 million barrels respectively, Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, which regulates the upstream oil and gas sector, said previously.

Proven onshore and offshore natural gas reserves totaled 0.46 trillion cubic feet and 17 trillion cubic feet respectively.
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U.S. Department of State - Press Releases: Rhythm Road Visit to Burma (Taken Question)
Press Statement
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
Question Taken at the August 30, 2011 Daily Press Briefing
August 31, 2011

Question: Is this the first cultural group the United States has been able to schedule for Burma?

Answer: Next month, the bluegrass group “Earth String Band” will travel to Asia for a five-country tour that includes stops in Laos, Thailand, Timor Leste, and South Korea. Pending the Burmese government’s approval of visas, the band will also stop in Burma.

This is the third time the State Department has sent Rhythm Road musicians to Burma. The musical group “The Student Loan” visited Burma in 2009, and the musical group “Maya Azucena Band” visited in 2008.

Yesterday, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced the 2011 fall tour schedule for The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad in partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program uses music and culture as diplomatic tools to bring people together and foster mutual understanding. To date, 155 musicians from 40 ensembles have toured with The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program visiting more than 100 countries on five continents.

While on tour, these Rhythm Road musicians conduct public concerts, master classes, workshops, jam sessions, and collaborations with local musicians and communities.
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The Oneida Daily Dispatch - Burmese Chin refugee Phua Naing helps teach literacy tutors for Madison County Reads Ahead
Published: Wednesday, August 31, 2011

CAZENOVIA — It was a long and uncertain journey that brought Phua Naing to Cazenovia in 2008. Naing, a member of the Burmese Chin minority who fled Burma in 2004, spent four years in Malaysia before finally arriving in Central New York. With help from local agencies, Naing found a job, settled in Cazenovia and began to receive tutoring in English at Cazenovia Public Library.

However, during a recent tutor training session organized by Madison County Reads Ahead, Phua Naing was doing the teaching. The volunteer organization that provides adult literacy programs, asked Naing to demonstrate a basic ESL (English as a second language) teaching skill to 12 new tutors. Morris Atwood, director of Reads Ahead, and Carla Zimmerman, a literacy coordinator at the Cazenovia Public Library, directed the exercise.

Phua Naing came to Syracuse and settled in Cazenovia in 2008 with the help of Eastern Hills Bible Church in Manlius. He went to work for Stickley Furniture and in 2010 married his Burmese wife, Sung Par, who came to the area that same year.

Phua Naing is from the Chin region in Burma. He speaks Zotung and Burmese and is now working with Cazenovia Public Library literacy coordinator Carla Zimmerman to fine-tune his English language skills. According to Zimmerman, “It’s wonderful how Phua participates in the circle of learning and teaching.”

Reads Ahead always needs more volunteers to tutor in its ESL, basic literacy and GED programs. For more information, call the Cazenovia Public Library at 655-9322.
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Monsters and Critics - Myanmar parliament approves "peace committee" for ethnic conflicts
Sep 1, 2011, 9:41 GMT

Yangon - Myanmar's parliament approved the establishment of a 'peace committee' to deal with the country's ongoing conflicts with its ethnic minority groups, some of whom have been fighting the government for six decades, sources said Thursday.

The upper house, meeting in the capital, Naypyitaw, approved the committee Wednesday and was asked to consider including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as one of the peacemakers, sources said. 'Aye Maung from the Rakhine State Party suggested that Aung San Suu Kyi should be considered as a member of the peace committee,' a member of parliament who requested anonymity said.

The upper house, which is dominated by the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party, did not decide on whether to include Suu Kyi.

'Parliament just approved the principle of the formation of the peace committee, but it was not clear whether Suu Kyi will be allowed to participate in the committee or even whether Suu Kyi herself wanted to join or not,' the legislator said.

One of the key threats to Myanmar's stability is its ethnic minority problems.

The government has faced a dozen insurgencies as minorities fight for the autonomy of their traditional territories since independence from Britain in 1949.

Suu Kyi has made known her interest in participating in the reconciliation process with the ethnic groups.

'On my part, I am prepared and pledge to do everything in my power towards the cessation of armed conflicts and building peace in the union,' Suu Kyi said in an open letter to President Thein Sein and ethnic groups last month.

The suggestion to include Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in the reconciliation process with minority groups came at a time of seeming rapprochement between the democracy icon and the new government.

Suu Kyi met with Thein Sein for the first time August 19 at his personal invitation.

The two leaders reportedly discussed the need to cooperate. Suu Kyi later described the meeting as a 'positive step.'

Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence leader Aung San, had spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest. She was released from her latest period of detention in November, six days after polls that brought the current pro-military government to power.
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Eurasia Review - Europe Drags Its Feet In Myanmar – Analysis
Written by: Emanuele Scimia
September 1, 2011

The European Union (EU) is called to draft the annual UN General Assembly Resolution on Myanmar. A dozen of EU countries, along with the United States, Canada and Australia, are pushing for the inclusion in the Resolution of a commission probing into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity by the regime of Naypydaw. The U.S. State Department declared on August 11 that Washington is committed to establish an international commission on crimes against humanity in Myanmar, as recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in onetime Burma.

EU state members are quite divided about the establishment of such a commission. According to Burmese and western pro-democracy groups, Germany and other European countries are wary of protecting their own economic investments and export in Southeast Asia, with Berlin aiming to engage the Burmese government led by newly elected president, retired general Thein Sein, rather than maintaining a confrontational stance. The problem is that, up to now, Brussels special representatives for Myanmar have yielded no tangible results from dialogue with the Burmese military junta or its “quasi-civilian” spin-off now formally in charge.

Divisions within Europe on Myanmar are certainly under scrutiny in China after the EU has broken into what Beijing regards as its own strategic backyard. As reported by The Irrawaddy website, last July 9 EU representatives met with leaders of an umbrella group of Burmese ethnic parties in Bangkok: the United Nationalities Federation Council (UNFC). The UNFC delegation urged the EU to broker a political solution to the long-standing conflict between Myanmar’s central government and Burmese armed ethnic groups.

Myanmar is a key political ally of China in Indochina. It is an outlet for Chinese investments and an alternative hub for oil and gas that Beijing imports from the Persian Gulf and Africa. At the same time, as it is the south-eastern flank of the Mediterranean basin for Europe, Myanmar could prove to be China’s geopolitical soft underbelly. If an all-out Burmese civil war were to broke out, Beijing could find itself unprepared to handle a humanitarian crisis resulting from its south-western edge.

To date, it is estimated the ongoing armed clashes in north-eastern Myanmar between the Burmese army (Tatmadaw) and ethnic militias has brought about 15,000 to 20,000 war refugees in Kachin state and as many as 31,000 in Shan state. As happened in August 2009, when about 30,000 Kokang (a group of ethnic Chinese settled in Myanmar) escaped attacks by the Tatmadaw in Shan state, many ethnic Kachin and Shan on the run have poured into the neighbouring Chinese Yunnan province.

This scenario could worsen if China decided to launch a “surgical” cross-border military incursion in the north-eastern regions of Myanmar to protect its industrial facilities based there and contain the mass of refugees within the Burmese boundaries. This would be an adaptation of the contingency plan that is supposed to be the Chinese insurance against the possible collapse of North Korea’s regime.

In this regard, it is noteworthy that on December 2010 – as reported early this year by the South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo – Beijing deployed its own troops in the special economic zone of Rajin-Sonbong, in the North Korean province of North Hamgyong. In case of sudden crisis in North Korea, these soldiers should protect both Chinese port facilities and residents there as well as providing the first bulwark against the wave of displaced North Korean fleeing the restive country.

China should take into account the large presence of ethnic Kachin living in Yunnan province in devising a military blitz deep inside the north-eastern Myanmar. Indeed, Kachin within Chinese borders could rise up against Beijing if this were to back Naypydaw’s military operation against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N).

Europe has room for diplomatic maneuver in Myanmar, while ceasefire talks between the Burmese government and the ethnic groups are failing on. In addition, there is uncertainty around the role the Burmese pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, can play in brokering a political deal between ethnic armed militias and the Tatmadaw. On the other hand, from interethnic civil war in Myanmar to Thai-Cambodian border rows and the maritime disputes in the South China Sea, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is turning out to be unable to settle conflicts regarding its state members.

Despite its demonstration of military and political disunity about the Libyan civil war and the internal disputes among its member states to draw up a common policy about migrants running away from Libya and Tunisia following the so-called Jasmine Revolutions, or its inconsistent strategy relative to ongoing revolts in Syria, the EU is still regarded as a reliable power broker in the world stage.

Moreover, doubts are being raised about China’s ability to exert a stabilizing influence in case of geopolitical crises in its “near abroad”, which is ultimately the test-bed for a country striving for global leadership. Last year, for instance, during the riots in Kyrgyzstan between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, Beijing stepped aside paving the way for the mediation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

However, ghosts of recession are haunting the Old Continent, and as long as the EU is compelled to focus on its own debt crisis, it is doubtful it can employ political energies in drafting the annual UN Resolution on Myanmar. At least in the mid-short run, the global economical and financial emergency underway will bury peripheral geopolitical rifts as much as the ideological confrontation between the West and the Communist bloc did during the Cold War.
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Myanmar braces for more tourists in open season
English.news.cn 2011-09-01 10:26:23
by Feng Yingqiu

YANGON, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar is expecting more tourists in this year's tourism season starting October and steps are being taken by the tourism authorities to provide better services.

Good hotel services, smooth transport and communication, maintenance of tourist destinations and good guides as well as fixed and reasonable prices of taxi are among steps taken for the convenience of tourists to improve tourism industry, a main source of national income.

According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, since Myanmar launched the "Visit Myanmar Year" in 1996, there had been increase of tourist arrivals year-on-year from 416,344 in 2000 to 660,206 in 2005 and to 791,505 in 2010.

It has secured 469,457 tourist arrivals in the first seven months of 2011.

Most of the tourists arrived through Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw international airports as well as through Muse and Tachileik border points by road respectively.
Visitors from China ranked first, followed by Germany, Spain, Norway, Thailand, Cambodia and India.

Services will be provided in line with international standards and cooperation is under way with international and domestic airlines, hotels, tour operators and some travel agencies to promote international tourism markets.

Meanwhile, the country is planning to introduce entertainment programs in Myanmar traditional style in some main tourist sites such as those in Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inlay.
Myanmar's peak tourism season runs from October to April, the hottest monthes in a year.

Visit Myanmar Year-1996 had brought about foreign investment in the tourism sector from Singapore, Thailand, Japan, China's Hong Kong, Malaysia and Britain.

So far, Singapore has topped foreign investment in Myanmar's hotel sector, followed by Thailand and Japan.

According to the ministry, there are over 700 hotels and inns and about 700 tourism companies are operating with over 4,000 multi-language speaking tourist guides throughout the country.

Aimed at promoting tourism industry in the region, Myanmar is also making preparations to hold the first-ever Maha Mekong travel fair in the Bagan cultural site in Mandalay in November this year

Myanmar will display with booths featuring some sectors in the fair with a total of 11 associations under the Myanmar Tourism Board (MTB) showing distinctive places, international standard hotels, restaurants and region-wise souvenir shops in the country.

Countries from Maha Mekong region -- China, Lao, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia will also display their tourism sites during the show.
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Press TV - Thai-Myanmar deep sea port under construction
Wed Aug 31, 2011 10:57PM GMT
Preethi Nallu, Press TV, Bangkok

A deep sea port stretching over 250 square kilometers located in Dawei, Southern Myanmar, that will become the gateway to Indo-China and potentially the world biggest industrial estate.

This is how Ital -Thai, the engineering giant describes the model construction of the 8 billion US dollar project comprising deep-water harbor facilities, an oil refinery and an industrial estate, which the Thai engineering giant will overlook for the next ten years.

The director of the company explains the geo-political and geo-economic implications of this project that is expected to create 100,000 jobs according to the company. But a main issue of concern is that the project is located in a conflict zone where human rights violations have been prevalent and displacement a huge concern.

The project began earlier this year with the construction of a highway linking Myanmar and Thailand which is under the control of the Karen National Union (KNU), one of the ethnic minority rebel groups. In late July, the KNU began fighting the Myanmar army battalion stationed to protect the workers of Ital-Thai leading to concerns about workers safety. But, the company announced at a latest press conference that they are determined to carry on with the construction.

Ital-Thai is confident that this project will lead to unprecedented access to trade routes leading to the Middle East and Africa and hence new economic opportunities locally and regionally. But environmental and human rights groups are most concerned with the rapid industrialization in this special economic zone and the resultant large scale displacement and environmental damage.

Environmental experts explain the potential impact of the project, especially given that it is being constructed under the laws of Myanmar where anti-pollution legislation is weak to non-existent in implementation.

Meanwhile, researchers have expressed concern over the lack of alternative housing options given that the project construction is already underway. Presently at least 19 villages with 30,000 residents along the coast of Tavoy will be affected. These villagers are expected to be evicted to create space for the industrial zone.
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Posted on August 31, 2011 10:47:54 PM
BusinessWorld Online - Rice grower to set up farms in Cambodia and Myanmar

HYBRID RICE producer SL Agritech Corp. plans to set up a plantation in Cambodia via a joint venture instead of shipping out produce from its Philippine farms, a ranking official said last week.

“We are looking at starting the shipment of seeds to Cambodia and to start planting there in the fourth quarter,” SL Agritech President Henry Lim Bon Liong said in a telephone interview.

Under the joint venture, he said seeds will be given by SL Agritech to be used for the plantation, while its partner firm will provide the labor and land in Cambodia.

He said that for every produce sold there, SL Agritech will be paid with royalties.

The firm is focusing on international development this year with not much push from the Philippine government for hybrid rice, he said.

Apart from Cambodia, the firm is also reportedly looking at Myanmar as part of its international development program.

“We are in talks with a firm in Myanmar. We are studying what model we will do, if we will just export seeds to be sold there or if there could be a plantation there [for seed production],” he said.

SL Agritech hopes to finalize the discussions with the Myanmar-based firm before the end of the year.

This is on top of existing plantations for the development of hybrid seeds in Indonesia and Bangladesh.

He said the firm, which is also shipping hybrid seeds to Vietnam is planning to hike shipments there to 600 metric tons (MT) from the planned shipment of 300 MT this year.

“As the market becomes steady, we are looking at increasing the shipments [to Vietnam],” he said.

SL Agritech, a subsidiary of the Sterling Paper group of companies started in 1998 as an unincorporated researcher for hybrid rice. -- Louella D. Desiderio
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The Irrawaddy - Bullies Across Borders?
By DAVID I. STEINBERG
Thursday, September 1, 2011

The new, still fragile reform activities of the recently installed government in Burma have excited an outburst of vituperation from across international frontiers. As internal positive change is something external analysts have long sought, why is this so?

Military regimes inherently bully—orders are given and are expected to be obeyed. Orthodoxy is required and diverse views are eschewed. Line up and obey. So bullies inside Burma are a distressful but expected outcome of the nature of that military- dominated government. The deeply flawed elections were, in a sense, the outcome of such bullying.

But outside Burma? Developments within the country by the new government, with its probes toward positive change, have prompted an outburst of advocacy of heightened sanctions and renewed pressures for a UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights abuses at the very time when there is at least the possibility of reforms within the new “disciplined-flourishing democracy”. Even the possibility of positive change, still very much in process, has prompted a bullying type of orthodoxy from outside Burma by members of organizations devoted to liberty, democracy and human rights. This is quite disturbing.

Throughout the long rule of the military since 1988, voices in opposition abroad have often countered nuanced consideration of the problems of Burma with cries, reminiscent of President George W Bush, that if you are not with us you are against us. The new tone, with its more frenetic stridency, seems borne out of the fear that the internal changes at least advocated by the head of state may indeed have some positive results, thus perhaps prolonging the life of the new administration and making it more acceptable to the Western world, and threatening the sanctions regimen that had been serially imposed on Burma and its rulers. In effect, this new approach to internal change may postpone or prevent the “Arab Spring” from reaching Burma.

These attacks have become personalized against some individuals who have studied that country and who have advocated the well-being of the diverse Burmese peoples. Democracy requires diversity of views and intelligent debate over alternatives, none of which may have simple answers. Policies based on dichotomies rarely are successful. The goals of those new bullies on the policy block are indeed admirable—human rights and improved freedoms and lives—and ones that can be widely shared and with which most of us would identify. Yet their tactics undercut the very goals they seek to reach.

It is a sad, bordering tragic, condition that those of us physically, but not emotionally, removed from the Burma scene do not seem to be able to negotiate with amicable, respectful, and dignified personal relations the necessary and desirable policy differences among us that are reflective of the democracy we would like to see in that country. Dissent is essential, but so is amity.

For years, some observers of the Burmese scene have said that some of the incessantly articulated goals of the military government—national unity, sovereignty, better health, education, agriculture, etc.—are ones that could conceptually prompt widespread approval, but the means by which those goals have been approached, the tactics used to attempt to enforce them on the people, subvert the very aims toward which they purportedly work. In other words, one cannot get there from here on that route.

But what about this new stridency? Can one get to democracy, however defined in some non-adjectivally modified form, in this manner? It would seem highly unlikely. One does not question the motivation of those organizations advocating liberalization and change in Burma, nor the intent of their members, but one must question some ill-advised temperamental actions because—as across the frontier—you cannot get there from here.

David I. Steinberg is Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. His latest volume is“Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know” (Oxford).
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The Irrawaddy - Burma to Lease State-Run Industries
Thursday, September 1, 2011

Naypyidaw—The Burmese government is to allow private companies to lease and run for profit a number of state-run industries on long-term contracts, according to Minister for Industry No 1 and Industry No 2 Soe Thein.

“We will lease a large number of state-run industries within 10 years,” Soe Thein said at an economic forum held at Myanmar Convention Centre in Naypyidaw on Aug. 19.

According to the Soe Thein, the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation has already agreed to rent five state-owned factories—four sugarcane refineries and a whisky distillery—for a total of 1,050 million kyat (US $1.4 million) per annum to private enterprises on 30-year contracts.

According to a source within the industry ministry, several well-known Burmese private sector companies, including Yuzana Co. Ltd, International Gate Ways Co. Ltd, and Delicious Food Co. Ltd, have consolidated long-term contracts to lease seven state-owned factories—all sugarcane refineries and whisky distilleries—in Pyinmana and Mandalay in central Burma.

But according to a businessman in Rangoon, none of the state-ownded enterprises will be sold to the private sector as they are too expensive and the risk of loss too high.

“In fact, private businessmen don’t want to buy companies like these,” he said. “They would prefer to lease them on a long-term basis.”

The privatization plan was announced by Soe Thein during an economic development workshop in Naypyidaw with Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in attendance.
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The Irrawaddy - Parliament Gets Down to Details
By KO HTWE Thursday, September 1, 2011

While national parliaments are typically meant to be the place where issues and policies of national importance are introduced, discussed and debated, since reconvening on August 22, much of the current session of Burma's new Parliament has been taken up by the introduction of local matters.

“The issues they are raising are not important. MPs should know which issues should be raised in Parliament. If they don't know, then Parliament can become a comedy show,” said Phyo Min Thein, a Rangoon based politician.

For example, issues raised by MPs during the current session include such local matters as whether there is a plan for the Rangoon-Bagan Express train to stop over at Taikkyi Station for 2 minutes and whether there is a plan to place new lamp posts in Rangoon's Thakayta Township. They also included matters such as whether there is a plan to hire experienced international coaches to train Burma's athletes for the SEA Games in 2013.

Some MPs, however, argue that they are forced to raise such minor issues at the national level because they cannot get any cooperation from government officials at the local level.

“The lack of cooperation from ward, township and district level authorities force MPs to raise such small issues in the Parliament. They don't respect MPs. The State and Region minsters themselves don't settle the regional issues so we raise them in Parliament,” said Pe Than, a Lower House MP from the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party.

In the Lower House, most proposals by opposition MPs have been opposed by MPs from the majority Union Solidarity and Development Party, and much of the discussion has been prohibited by Shwe Mann, the speaker of the Lower House, because it has related to personal attacks on MPs.

“I don't wish to waste time with unnecessary words that can ruin respect and confidence between us. The cost for convening Parliament comes from the public. And I don't wish to waste public money,” said Shwe Mann.

However, there have been issues of national concern raised in Parliament.

Lower House MP Nan Wah Nu of the Kunhein Constituency in Shan State raised the questions of national reconciliation and talks between the new government and ethnic armed groups.

Thein Nyunt, from the Thingangyun Constituency, proposed that Parliament request the president to issue general amnesty orders, requested that the Emergency Act of 1950 be revoked and introduced a bill for a Prisons Act which is in keeping with 21st century prison standards and guarantees human dignity.

The request for general amnesty received support from two delegations of military MPs, which gave the matter a significant chance of being raised at the level of the National Defense and Security Council. But the proposal to revoke the Emergency Act of 1950, which is used to imprison democracy activists, was shot down.

In response to the proposal for the adoption of a humane Prisons Act, Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Ko Ko said that conditions for prisoners are already good, because by being assigned to labor camps such as agricultural and livestock breeding, the prisoners' energy is not wasted in a cell and they are able to earn wages that are given to them when they are released. In addition, he said that prisoners are also treated well inside the prisons.

“Family members are allowed to visit and stay with them and hospitals, clinics and schools are set up for them. Besides, if they wish to live in the new life camps when they are released, the ministry provides them with homes, land for farming, farming equipment, free loans and help so they can live with dignity in society,” said Ko Ko.

Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, said that some of the facts in Ko Ko's reply may be true in places such as the three Bawa Thit labor camps, which are for prisoners from the military and rich families who can bribe authorities to allow them to live separately from normal prisoners, but not in most prisons.

“Prisons are not good living places like they mentioned. The condition of prisons is still like a human hell. Prisoners who have no wish to work are also forced to work.

Wages for prisoners are just policy and the wages they earn are not enough,” he added, saying many prisoners who have been sent to labor camps have died.

There were also proposals by Upper House MP Tun Lwin of Kachin State Constituency No.9 to form a standing committee for ensuring eternal peace and stability in Burma and by Thein Win of Sagaing Region Constituency to reset the amount of kyat equivalent to US $1, which are appealing to many people.

“The discussion in Parliament and approval should take place immediately or support will weaken,”said Phyo Min Thein.

The suggestion by Aye Maung, an Upper House MP, that pro democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi be member of the committee for ensuring eternal peace and stability in Burma was not published in the state media.

While state media reports on the machinations of Parliament, such as questions raised and answered, proposals discussed and bills submitted and approved, it does not report on sensitive or controversial issues such as the fact that Burma will run a deficit of about 2.2 trillion kyat (US $3.2 billion) in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. In addition, the state censorship board does not allow these types of facts to be reported in private journals.

Burma's second parliamentary session convened in Naypyidaw on Monday.

The fact that parliamentary rules require MP proposals to be submitted to the house speaker at least 15 days in advance of the session is a hindrance to MPs's ability to raise sensitive issues, said an observer.

Under Burma's 2008 Constitution, 110 seats in the Lower House of the Union Parliament, 56 in the Upper House and 222 in the State and Regional Parliaments are reserved for military appointees selected by the country's armed forces chief.
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Coach on Rangoon passenger train derails; four people injured
Thursday, 01 September 2011 19:06 Myo Thein

Rangoon (Mizzima) – Four passengers were seriously injured when the last carriage of a Rangoon “circle” passenger train detached from the train and derailed between Kamayut and Hledan stations in Kamayut Township at 1:55 p.m. on Thursday.

Three men and a woman were seriously injured after the carriage detached and fell on its side, authorities said.

Rangoon Region Transportation Minister Aung Khin and the Rangoon Region military commander went to the scene of the accident. The commander told reporters that the accident was from “natural” causes.

The railway carriage carried 20 people at the time of the accident. The injured were identified as the Insein railway station chief Kyaw Shwe, 56, Ye Win, 57, Hla Oo, 27, and Naw Li Khin, 49.

“The train left Insein at 1:35 p.m. I stopped the train as soon as I knew that the last carriage had detached from the train,” said Win Min Oo, the train driver.

A witness living in the area said, “We were sitting in a shop when we heard a loud sound, and we looked and saw a carriage had left the train and it kept going under its own momentum for about 150 yards and then fell on its side. Some people went to the carriage and helped the passengers exit with the help of ladders.”
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Irrigation dams in Burma delayed due to financial problems
Thursday, 01 September 2011 13:32 Mizzima News

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A budget shortfall has delayed irrigation dams in the Sagaing and Magwe regions of Burma, Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Myint Hlaing told the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday.

Under the former junta, the Yazajo Dam Project in Kalay Township in Sagaing Region and the Myittha Dam Project in Gangaw Township in Magwe Region were started in 2005 and in early 2011 respectively. Minister Myint Hlaing said that because of a lack of funds only 35 per cent of the Yazajo Dam Project and only 36 per cent of Myittha Dam Project has been finished.

Regarding a question about the Yazajo Dam across Nayyinzaya Creek near Yazajo Village, which was put by MP Thein Hlaing of Sagaing Region constituency 8, the minister said that only a geological survey, some foundation work and some walls had been completed.

He said that the government had planned the dam project to be finished in 2013-2014, with the cooperation of private investors. After the project is completed, 4 megawatt of electricity will be generated and the dam could supply 6,500 acres of farmland with water, he said.

Regarding a question about the Myittha Dam, which was put by MP Hla Swe of Magwe Region constituency 12, the minister said that the project was delayed until it received more funds. The government had also planned for the project to be finished in 2013-2014.

Similarly, the minister said that the Myaytha Lakpan Irrigation Dam, with a water storage capacity of 4,910 acre feet, in Myinmu Township in Sagaing Region, which was built across Lakpan Creek, was originally intended to irrigate 2,500 acres of land, but only about 3,400 acre feet of water was stored in the dam. As a result, the dam’s capacity for irrigation has fallen short of projections.

In reply to a question by MP Win Tin of Sagaing Region constituency 1, the Myint Hlaing said that to help meet needs, an irrigation dam was scheduled to be built across Thitlane Creek in Myinmu Township and a geological survey was begun in 2008.

In reply to another question by MP Saw Tun Mya Aung of Karen State constituency 5, Electric Power No. 2 Minister Khin Maung Soe said that because of limited security around the power station in Hphapun Township in Karen State, the station could supply the township with electricity for only about two hours per a day.

Regarding a question whether the government has a plan to repair engines in the hydropower station in Hphapun, the minister said that during the maintenance of the hydropower station in August 2008, rebels killed three security force members.

Employees cannot go to the power station now, he said, but the government has a plan to tighten security around the power station.
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KNU still investigating Karen leader’s mysterious disappearance
Thursday, 01 September 2011 21:23 Ko Pauk

New Delhi (Mizzima) – KNU leader Mahn Nyein Maung’s one-month disappearance is still under investigation by the Karen National Union (KNU), officials said, and the cause of his absence since late July is was still unknown.

KNU officials said Mahn Nyein Maung’s visas for both Thailand and China had expired and after he was denied entry to both countries, he vanished from the Kunming Airport.

“Thailand deported him back to China because his visa for Thailand had expired,” said KNU Major Saw La Ngwe. “He was denied entry at Kunming Airport to China too. He then disappeared from Kunming Airport without a trace. The airline company said they didn’t know anything.

“We don’t have any reliable information about his disappearance, and we don’t know where he is. We're still investigating,” said Saw La Ngwe.

Meanwhile, word has spread that Mahn Nyein Maung may have been deported to Burma by Chinese authorities. However, the KNU said that information couldn’t be confirmed.

Mahn Nyein Maung had taken leave from the KNU on a personal matter more than eight months ago, and he had lost connections with the KNU. The trip to China was a private trip and had nothing to do with the KNU, officials said.

While some rumours said Mahn Nyein Maung had been arrested by the Burmese government, others said he was still in China, said Saw La Ngwe.

“The situation is still unclear,” he said. “We think he may be in China but if we report about that, he may encounter problems. On the other hand, if the Burmese government has arrested him and we do not report that, he could be severely tortured and leave no trace. We need to be balanced between the two possibilities.”

Mahn Nyein Maung was arrested by former dictator Ne Win’s government in 1967 as a Karen youth leader and was sent to a prison camp on Koko Island. He and two prison mates tried to flee by boat, but were captured. Later, under the pen name “Yebaw Shaung,” he wrote about his adventures in the book “Against the storm, Across the Sea.”
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DVB News - Detained Prome youths tortured
By NAY THWIN
Published: 1 September 2011

Two youths in central Burma’s Pegu Division who were arrested by authorities last month were said to be being tortured in an interrogation whilst also being denied food, water and sleep for two days, according to a source close to one of their families.

Zarni Htun, a resident of the town of Prome, and Wei Phyo of Okpho, were arrested on August 12 in Innma township and interrogated in police stations in Innma and Prome. They were also being denied visits by their families.

The source under condition of anonymity said police found three posters, dedicated to a campaign for the release of political prisoners’, underneath the seat of the motorbike the two were driving when they were arrested but it was not clear whether the posters actually belonged to them or not.

A family member of one of the youths said they were currently being detained in Prome prison and are to appear in a court hearing on September 14. They will likely face charges under Unlawful Associations Act for allegedly making contact with an unlawful association.

Min Lwin, a lawyer for the Asian Human Rights Commission said that torture in Burma is know to induce people death or being mentally damaged.

“We see that government authorities, under the pretext of the law are not only neglecting the law but also violating it themselves. These violations, when reported, are ignored.”

United Nations’ Special Human Rights Rapporteur Thomas Ojea Quintana in the end of his recent visit to Burma expressed a concern over torture of political prisoners in prisons and interrogation centres through the country.
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DVB News - Govt reaffirms policy of racial profiling
By Joseph Allchin
Published: 1 September 2011

The Immigration Minister was chosen to answer a question in parliament brought by U Zarad Rawmam aka U Htay Win of Arakan constituency seven, in which he enquired about why “indigenous Rakhine Muslims” still had their freedom of movement curtailed by having to apply to the military’s border force, Nasaka, to move between towns. Failing to do so can result in jail time as a Muslim National League for Democracy (NLD) member found out near Mandalay.

Htay Win was quoted by the New Light of Myanmar saying that; “indigenous Myanmar Muslim voters in Maungtaw District of Rakhine State cannot travel freely; to travel other Regions or States for economic, education, health and social reasons, they have to take out Application Form (4) of Immigration Department under the directive of Na-Sa-Ka, forcing them to face many difficulties in socio-economic life; and how the state will help address this issue.”

The response came from the immigration minister, U Khin Yi, a former police chief. The key part of his response reaffirmed the government’s commitment to racial profiling, stating that;

“Those who are labeled “Myanmar Muslims” were assumed to be Bengalis in Maungtaw of Rakhine [Arakan] State;” and; “Bengalis in Maungtaw have shared common religion, culture, appearance and language with their counterparts [in Bangladesh].”

Incidentally other ethnic groups in Burma share “appearance” and cultural traits with those over international boundaries in nations such as Thailand or China.

David Matheison, senior Burma researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW) responded that it was symptomatic of “systemic racism” on the part of the Burmese government.

Khin Yi meanwhile claimed in parliament that migrants from Bangladesh were “penetrating deep into the country,” international NGOs and the UNHCR have confirmed that there is a “protracted emergency” in Bangladesh as a result of refugees from Burma’s northern Arakan state where Maungdaw or Maungtaw is located.

Matheison confirmed that claims of Bangladeshi migration to Burma were a “massive mistruth,” adding that; “its going the other way.”

Khin Yi however stated that; “As there was mass migration 180,000 were given refuge after being scrutinised by Nagarmin Operation and Hintha Plan in 1978.”

Nagarmin, translates as dragon, and was by most accounts an appropriate description for it was in all intents and purposes a racial purge, where by some 200,000 Burmese Muslims or Rohingya were sent fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh by heavily armed members of the Burmese military.

Khin Yi none the less stated that; “the Application Form (4) is used in need of State’s security and nationalism as the foreign Bengalis illegally migrated into Maungtaw of Rakhine State.”

Muslims have lived in the Arakan region since at least the 9th century BCE whilst today Cox’s Bazar, in Bangladesh is home to some 200,000 Burmese Muslim refugees as well as significant numbers of Arakanese Buddhist refugees.

However systemic persecution on the basis of race has been experienced not just in border areas. Such laws or policies are regularly used against Muslim Burmese.

A Muslim member of National League for Democracy (NLD) in Mandalay’s Tatkon township was recently sentenced to one and half years in prison for trying to travel to a nearby town to celebrate Martyr’s Day.

Pho Htaung (also known as) Hla Myint was sentenced under the immigration act last Friday, said Meikhtila township NLD member Myint Myint Aye.

“He was prosecuted by Tatkon township’s Immigration Chief U Nyi Nyi for failing to inform the Immigration Office when he travelled outside of his town, a regulation for those who carry non-citizen ID cards. Now he has been sentenced to a year and half in prison,” said Myint Myint Aye.

Pho Htaung was previously arrested in March 2010 for travelling to Mandalay [town] to attend an NLD meeting there and sentenced to a year and half prison term. He was released from Sagaing Division’s Katha Prison after serving 13 months. His recent arrest comes just three months after he was released from his previous sentence.

The Muslim population of Northern Arakan state are known as Rohingya people. They were specifically targeted by the military party, the Union Solidarity Party (USDP) in last year’s controversial elections, to garner votes. Matheison states that they were given temporary ID cards to allow them to vote.

Despite being able to vote for the USDP they are now denied what Matheison describes as a “basic human freedom”, the freedom of movement.

As a result groups such as Refugees International describe the ethnic group as; “one of the most persecuted in the world”.

This discrimination was characterised by the Burmese consul general to Hong Kong, Ye Myint Aung who in 2009 described the ethnic group as “ugly as ogres” in the press.

Burma is not signatory to the UN’s convention on elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, unlike all of its neighbours.
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