BURMA RELATED NEWS - SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

Myanmar's Suu Kyi wins top UK Chatham House prize
LONDON | Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:25pm EDT
(Reuters) - A leading British foreign policy think-tank said on Friday it had chosen Myanmar democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi as the winner of its prestigious prize this year.
The Royal Institute of International Affairs awards its Chatham House Prize annually to the person its members believe has made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.

It said Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, had become an international symbol of democracy and peaceful resistance, having spent most of the last two decades in some form of detention because of her efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar (formerly called Burma).

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will accept the prize on Suu Kyi's behalf at a ceremony in London on December 1.

Suu Kyi, 66, whose British husband Michael Aris died in 1999, has always refused to leave Myanmar for fear of not being allowed back.

"International awareness helps our struggle for democracy in Burma, and our struggle provides us with an insight into the yearnings of all peoples for peace and freedom," Suu Kyi said in a statement released by the think-tank.

Suu Kyi was released last November from 15 years of house arrest for campaigning for democracy in Myanmar, which has been under military rule for five decades.

As a gesture to improved ties from the army-backed government that came to power in March, President Thein Sein and Labour Minister Aung Kyi recently met with Suu Kyi, the leader of the country's democratic opposition.

Speaking by video link to a conference in New York on Wednesday, Suu Kyi said she was hopeful of seeing signs of change "very soon" in her country.
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Western states should reach out to Myanmar: study
AFP News – 17 hours ago

Western countries should reach out to Myanmar to encourage the new leadership's reforms, which are exceeding even the most optimistic hopes, the International Crisis Group said Thursday.

The think-tank, which focuses on conflict resolution, credited the nominally civilian new president, Thein Sein, with taking steps to mend ties with the opposition and ethnic minorities in the nation formerly known as Burma.

"With the political process moving ahead quickly, now is not the time for the West to remain disengaged and skeptical," said Robert Templer, the International Crisis Group's Asia program director.

"It is critical to grasp this unique opportunity to support a process that not even the most optimistic observers saw coming," he said in a statement introducing a study named "Myanmar: Major Reform Underway," by the think-tank.

The upbeat tone contrasts with the stance of many human rights and exile groups who point to continued abuses and charge that Myanmar's changes have been purely for show, with the military still firmly in control.

President Barack Obama's administration has made engagement with Myanmar a key priority and has held a series of talks with the regime, while saying it will not lift sanctions without greater progress on human rights and democracy.

The International Crisis Group called for the West to lift sanctions if parliament grants a general amnesty to political prisoners, saying that such a dramatic step was a real possibility with some military legislators in favor.

"Failure to do so, or to shift the goalposts by replacing old demands with new ones, would undermine the credibility of these policies and diminish what little leverage the West holds," the report said.

The think-tank said that Western nations should at least demonstrate "a less cautious political stance" and encourage international financial institutions' involvement in Myanmar. The regime recently invited an IMF team to advise on currency reform.

Myanmar last year held elections which the United States and the opposition said were unfair. The junta handed over to Thein Sein, who took the new civilian position of president after a nearly 50-year military career.

Myanmar's rulers last year freed opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize winner who spent most of the past two decades under house arrest. She met in August with Thein Sein -- a step the study said showed a true willingness by the new president to break with the junta's legacy.

The International Crisis Group also credited Myanmar's rulers with starting talks with ethnic minorities, who have long been in conflict with the army, but it acknowledged that little has changed on the ground.

Fighting flared up in far northern Kachin and Shan states earlier this year, causing thousands to flee. The US State Department has said that the army has carried out major human rights violations in long-running conflicts, including using rape as a weapon of war and forcing minorities into labor.

Myanmar exile groups have led a campaign to set up a UN inquiry into human rights abuses. The International Crisis Group agreed on the need for accountability, but said the commission was unlikely to become reality and could "cause retrenchment" by Myanmar's leadership.

In a recent interview with AFP, Suu Kyi reiterated her support for a UN probe, saying it could help bring reconciliation.

"For the sake of future harmony and forgiveness there is a necessity to establish facts," she said. "It's not a tribunal. It has nothing to do with revenge."
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Myanmar dam outrages many
Published: Sept. 22, 2011 at 5:37 PM

YANGON, Myanmar, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Opposition is mounting against plans to dam the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar with critics saying the project will cause great ecological harm.

Observers said people living in the area might force the government to drop the project -- unprecedented in the country formerly known as Burma where a secretive military junta is in power.

Even government officials are divided about the wisdom of damming the Irrawaddy, the International Herald Tribune reported Thursday. One official began crying at a news conference last month, the Paris-based newspaper said.

Critics say the Myitsone dam, which will create a reservoir four times the size of Manhattan, will do great ecological harm. It is being built and financed by a Chinese company and 90 percent of its electricity will go to China.

"China has colonized Burma without shooting a gun and has sucked the life of the people of Burma with the help of the Burmese regime and its cronies," said U Aung Din, an exile from Myanmar in the United States. "Now, they are killing the Irrawaddy River as well."

The dam is in a remote area near the point where two smaller rivers join to become the Irrawaddy, an area many in Myanmar regard as sacred.

U Ludu Sein Win, a dissident writing in the Yangon newspaper Weekly Eleven, called for a halt to the project: "If the righteous demands of the people are ignored and they continue the dam project, the people will defend the Irrawaddy with whatever means possible."
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Myanmar stands firm on Myitsone dam
Published: Sept. 22, 2011 at 12:22 PM

YANGON, Myanmar, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Work continues on a $3.6 billion hydropower dam project in Myanmar on the Irrawaddy River despite widespread objections.

The Myitsone Dam, a joint effort by Myanmar's military government and the China Power Investment Corp., is expected to produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity, about 90 percent of it to be exported to China. Under an agreement signed by Chinese and Myanmar officials, CPI will receive 70 percent of the project's profits.

CPI is planning to build and operate six additional dams on the Irrawaddy and its tributaries.

Environmentalists have said the dam in Myanmar's northern Kachin state will wreck the ecology of the Irrawaddy and now a growing list of activists, intellectuals, parliamentarians as well as former military officers are voicing opposition to the project, Asia Times Online reports.

The Kachin Development and Networking Group warns that more than 15,000 people in 60 villages are being forced to relocate without proper resettlement plans and millions more downstream would be affected.

Creation of the Myitsone Dam's reservoir will flood an area larger than Singapore KDNG says.

In an open letter last month, Myanmar's noted dissident, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi urged that the project be reassessed.

The Irrawaddy River is "the most significant geographical feature of our country," she wrote, and "the grand natural highway, a prolific source of food, the home of varied water flora and fauna" supporting traditional modes of life.

Even an environmental impact assessment of the project, fully funded by CPI, stated: "The fragmentation of the Irrawaddy River by a series of dams will have serious social and environmental problems not only at upstream of dams but also far downstream in the coastal area.

"There is no need for such a big dam to be constructed at the confluence of the Irrawaddy River."

The report also warned that the Myitsone site is less than 62 miles from the earthquake-prone Sagaing fault line.

While environmental activists and political groups have launched campaigns to urge the government to reconsider the project, Myanmar's Minister for Electric Power Zaw Min insists Myitsone will proceed as planned and that it is in the country's national interest.

Construction, which began in 2009, is to be completed in 2018.

"We'll keep working on the Myitsone Project. We'll never back down," Min said. "We won't halt this project in spite of objections from environmental groups."
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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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The Age - Burma reforms threatened
Lindsay Murdoch, Bangkok
September 24, 2011

HARDLINERS and vested interests in Burma's military-dominated government could threaten reforms as the country emerges from decades of isolation and authoritarianism, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group warns.

The group says that since mid-July, Burmese President Thein Sein has overseen a dramatic change as he has reached out to long-time critics of the former regime, proposing that differences be put aside for the good of the country.

''While there are strong indications that the political will exists to bring fundamental change, success will require much more than a determined leader as resistance can be expected from hardliners in the power structure and spoilers with a vested interest in the status quo,'' said Jim Della-Giacoma, the crisis group's south-east Asia project director.

The head of an international non-governmental organisation, who did not want to be named, visited Burma this week and told The Age that for every government official supporting the reforms, there was another one opposing them.

''The parliament is passing substantive laws and bold changes are being made rapidly in the new capital, Naypyitaw,'' he said. ''But it all could be derailed just as quickly.''

Robert Templer, the crisis group's Asia program director, urged countries to acknowledge and support Burma's major initiatives, such as the release of political prisoners, which he said is under consideration.

Mr Templer said sanctions were counterproductive and only encouraged a siege mentality among Burma's leaders that harmed the country's mostly poor population.

''With the political process moving ahead quickly, now is not the time for the West to remain disengaged and sceptical,'' Mr Templer said.

''It is critical to grasp this unique opportunity to support a process that not even the most optimistic observers saw coming,'' he said.

In a video link to a conference in New York, Burma's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, urged the world not to take its eye off her country as it entered what she said were the first small steps to freedom.
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Mong Palatino - Myanmar’s ‘prisoners of conscience’
Thu Sep 22, 2011
Written for The Diplomat

The plight of Burma’s political prisoners was among the principal issues raised by Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, after his five-day mission to the country last month.

Quintana, who has visited Burma four times since 2008, noted the positive steps taken by the government ‘that have the potential to bring about an improvement in the human rights situation of Myanmar (Burma).’ He also welcomed ‘what seems to be an opening of space for different actors and parties to engage in the political process.’

But while recognizing the efforts of the government to implement reforms, he also underscored the ‘serious and ongoing human rights concerns that need to be addressed.’ He also specifically cited the continuing detention of a large number of ‘prisoners of conscience.’

The military junta-dominated government continues to deny the existence of political prisoners in the country, but activists believe there are more than 2,000 people in the country who are in prison today because of their political activities. Burma is notorious for handing out insanely long sentences to captured dissidents. For example, Gen. Hso Ten of the Shan State Peace Council is serving a 106-year sentence for high treason. Hla Hla Win, a video journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma, was detained for using an unregistered motorbike, but her jail sentence has been extended to 20 years.

Burma has more than 43 prisons and around 100 labor camps, but the majority of political prisoners are held in Yangon’s Insein prison. Even democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi spent time in this top security prison.

In his statement delivered at Yangon International Airport, Quintana shared the testimonies of ‘prisoners of conscience’ in Insein Prison. ‘I heard disturbing testimonies of prolonged sleep and food deprivation during interrogation, beatings, and the burning of bodily parts, including genital organs. I heard accounts of prisoners being confined in cells normally used for prison dogs as means of punishment. I also heard accounts of inadequate access to medical care, where prisoners had to pay for medication at their own cost.’

Quintana also mentioned the continuing allegations of ‘torture and ill-treatment during interrogation, the use of prisoners as porters for the military, and the transfers of prisoners to prisons in remote areas where they are unable to receive family visits or packages of essential medicine and supplemental food.’

Insein Prison has a total prison population of 10,000, but it has only three doctors. The prison overcrowding is blamed for the spread of illnesses in the detention facility.

Quintana’s report validates the claim of human rights groups that Burma prisoners suffer regular physical and psychological abuse from officials. It also affirms the notorious image of Insein prison as the ‘darkest hole in Burma,’ where 300 political prisoners are currently detained.

After witnessing the conditions of the ‘prisoners of conscience’, Quintana immediately called for their release on humanitarian grounds. He also reminded the government that their release would be a ‘central and necessary step towards national reconciliation and would bring more benefit to Myanmar’s efforts towards democracy.’

If the Junta generals are serious in their commitment to promote democratic reforms, and if they want the approval of the international human rights community, they would do well to follow what Quintana has outlined in his latest report on the state of human rights in Burma. At the minimum, releasing the ‘prisoners of conscience’ will boost the democratic reform movement in the country.
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Asia Sentinel - Burma's Asean Solution
Written by A. Lin Neumann - The Jakarta Globe
Friday, 23 September 2011

The generals move toward acceptable authoritarianism -- just like most of Southeast Asia.

When I first visited Burma, on Sept. 17, 1988, it was to report on a massive popular uprising and what I thought would be the advent of democracy in a country that even then had been under the heel of the military for 26 years.

Instead of democracy, the next day a faction of the military brutally seized power and ushered in a period of even greater isolation that has lasted for 23 years.

But it now looks as if Burma has learned its lesson. Having installed a military-approved government through controlled elections in 2010, Burma is coming out of its cocoon and the international community is getting ready to accept one of its most errant members back into the fold. The process will get a big boost next month when Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa visits to assess whether the country is ready to take its turn in 2014 as the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Almost certainly the answer will be yes.

Opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest for most of the last two decades before being released by the new government, has been in talks with President Thein Sein and has said she is cautiously optimistic.

“I think there have been positive developments,” the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said in an interview with Agence France-Presse this week.

Burmese exiles have been invited home and some are beginning to accept.

“We are getting ready to go home,” a Burmese journalist who fled Rangoon in 1988 told me recently. “We do not know what to expect but the time is coming.”

So what can we expect of a semi-free Burma ruled by former generals in civilian attire?

I suspect it will be just a classier form of political repression, minus the military boot openly on the neck of the nation. The country already has a freer press than it did even a year ago by most accounts, and Facebook and Twitter are growing. There is less fear of being snatched off the street and thrown into prison just for voicing a contrary opinion, recent visitors say. It is repressive, but “better.”

In short, Burma seems ready to adopt Asean-style authoritarianism.

For all the world’s insistence that Burma become democratic, that was never in the cards. The generals have spilled too much blood and have had their hands on too much money to allow for a free-wheeling democracy.

Given the current setup, where the military’s ruling party is guaranteed to win any election and can pass any law it wishes, the country is moving rather quickly toward the kind of non-democracy found in most Asean countries. Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos are under the firm control of one party. Brunei is a sultanate. Malaysia and Singapore, despite recent gains by the opposition, have been virtual one-party states since their founding. Only Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia buck the trend.

Burma’s mistake has been its inability, until recently, to recognize that unapologetically shooting people in the streets or using truncheons on peacefully protesting monks, as it did in 2007, is too much even by Asean’s mild standards of human rights.

Telling outrageous lies in government-controlled newspapers in a tone reminiscent of the Stalin era in the Soviet Union is laughably counterproductive. China, India and a handful of other countries have ignored the outrages and pressed ahead with investment in Burma, but a somewhat more open climate is necessary if the enormous untapped potential of what was once the wealthiest economy in Southeast Asia is to be realized.

And perhaps the Burmese people understand that they will only get so much.

Suu Kyi spoke this week of reconciliation, saying “both sides have to be prepared to compromise and give and take.” My Burmese exile friend said there was no need for retribution and that he and his allies just wanted to be part of their country again.

In short, Burma has to allow its people enough freedom that it will no longer be an embarrassment to its neighbors, while remaining repressive enough to keep the generals secure.

It is not a perfect arrangement, but it is a start and probably the best anyone can hope for. -The Jakarta Globe

(A. Lin Neumann is a senior adviser to the Jakarta Globe and a co-founder of Asia Sentinel.)
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09/23/2011 13:10
MYANMAR
AsiaNews.it - Understanding and unity among Christians, for peace and development in Myanmar
by Yaung Ni Oo
These are the two principles that have inspired the second training course on ecumenism, organized by the Archdiocese of Yangon. Mgr. Bo urges Christians to work for the country's democratic progress and political leaders to listen to the indications of religious leaders.

Yangon (AsiaNews) - Mutual understanding and unity: they are the two guiding principles of the second training course on ecumenism, organized on September 20 last year by the Archdiocese of Yangon and attended by about 100 Burmese Christians. Introducing the meeting Msgr. Charles Bo, Archbishop of the former capital of Myanmar, spoke of "the desire and the need to promote mutual understanding and unity" among the faithful, according to the prelate, the two elements are key to "working together on issues of pastoral and social concern”. An appeal also raised by U Tin Maung Win, leader of the Baptist church in the town of South Dagon, that the formation "helps dialogue and discussion in the Christian churches and promotes the work in the future."

During the meeting, religious leaders have repeatedly noted the importance of the Christian community’s involvement in building the country, which has started on a slow journey toward democratic principles and economic reforms after decades of military dictatorship (see AsiaNews 2 / 09 / Aung San Suu Kyi calls for vigilance on Myanmar’s political changes). An issue also mentioned by the same Archbishop Bo, who said that the Church should play an active role - together with the political leadership - in pursuit of the desired changes in the former Burma.

"Political leaders - said the archbishop of Yangon - absolutely must invite religious leaders to join forces to improve the situation of the nation", but added the prelate, often the government seems not to want this help. "Religion in Myanmar – he added - is rooted deep in our culture. Those in positions of political responsibility must be able to listen to the most senior leaders of all religions. "

The meeting which involved hundreds of Christian leaders was held at the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, in conjunction with the International Day of Peace convened by the United Nations. Daw Yin Yin Maw, chairman of the Myanmar Council of Churches, invited the faithful to "continue to pray for peace in the country." "We must not remain isolated - she said - in a period of great change." The Christian leader judged the steps taken as "positive", even if "slow" and the future direction "not very clear."
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Philippine Star - Myanmar vows to actively take part in ASEAN parliamentary activities
(philstar.com) Updated September 23, 2011 09:00 PM

YANGON (Xinhua) - Myanmar official media Friday vowed on Friday that the country would actively take part in activities of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) as a permanent member.

The editorial of the New Light of Myanmar came after Myanmar was admitted to the AIPA as a permanent member on Sept. 20 which was announced at the 32nd AIPA held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

"With the firm belief that AIPA would have a meaningful role in setting up a bright and peaceful ASEAN Community, the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Union Parliament) of Myanmar decided to join the AIPA," said the editorial.

Myanmar had attended the AIPO general assembly as a special observer country annually since the 18th assembly held in Bali, Indonesia held in September 1997 and the country became a permanent special observer country at the 21st AIPO General Assembly attending annually till the 31st AIPA.

The inclusion of Myanmar into the AIPA as a full-fledged member was made after the country formed its parliament last year following the general election in last November.

The 32nd AIPA, held from Sept. 18 to 24, brought together the heads of all parliaments in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and observers from Australia, Canada, China, the European Parliament, Japan, South Korea, India, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia and the United States.

It expects to adopt a variety of documents on political, economic, social and women affairs, rights of migrant workers, and drug fighting in order to build stronger cooperation and relations among the ASEAN member countries.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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Sonalika forays Into Myanmar
India Infoline News Service / 11:38 , Sep 23, 2011

This is the first Indian Tractors and Implements manufacturing company which has made presence in the Myanmar in such a big way.

The Rs. 5,000 crore Sonalika Group has expanded in Myanmar with the inauguration of the Sonalika Tractors and Implements distributorship M/s. Farmers Choice Tractors Co. Ltd. early this month. The inauguration was done in the presence of Honb’le Chief Minister of Yangon and other dignitaries from various ministries and business houses. Six units of Tractors were delivered and three units booked on the day of inauguration, which kick started the dealership on a positive note.

Commenting on the occasion, Rajeev Pandey, Deputy General Manager - International Business, ITL, said, “This is the first Indian Tractors and Implements manufacturing company which has made presence in the Myanmar in such a big way. The Tractors and implements were very much liked by the visitors and they were confident that our Tractors will help Myanmar farmers to improve their farm productivity.”

L.D. Mittal, Chairman, Sonalika Group said, “Increasing customer demand for our new products has led us to expand our dealer footprint across the country. Myanmar has always been an important market for Sonalika and the opening of this dealership proves our eagerness to strengthen our presence in this region in order to meet the growing demand for Sonalika products here. Being the first Indian Tractors and Implements manufacturing company who made its presence in the Myanmar is a path breaking achievement.”


M/s. Farmers Choice Tractors Co is a well respected name in Myanmar and their expertise in the region, coupled with our value addition of trust, transparency and wide choice will ensure that Sonalika is well poised to tap the vast potential market in the region.
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Measles alert began with flight from Malaysia to U.S.
Report cites unvaccinated refugee from Myanmar
By Mark Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Sept. 22, 2011

The measles alert in Milwaukee began when an unvaccinated 23-month-old refugee from Myanmar flew here from Malaysia, according to a report Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The child flew to Wisconsin on Aug. 24 and was reported to have laboratory-confirmed measles on Sept. 7. Since then measles have been confirmed in two more people in Milwaukee, both of whom appear to have acquired the disease through exposure to the refugee patient, said Paul Biedrzycki, the city's director of disease control and environmental health.

Biedrzycki stressed that some of the three cases are still undergoing laboratory testing by CDC.

The CDC's report in "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly," said a case reported a little earlier, Aug. 26 in California, also involved an unvaccinated Burmese refugee, a 15-year-old boy, who had flown to the U.S. on the same day as the Milwaukee refugee.

The patients in Wisconsin and California flew on different flights. However, three other unvaccinated refugee children who were on the same flight as the boy in California have also come down with confirmed cases of measles: two very young children in Maryland and a 14-year-old in North Carolina.

"Whether these three patients were exposed to measles in Malaysia or during travel to the United States is unclear," according to the CDC report.

Thirty-one refugees flew on the same flight from Malaysia as the California patient, arriving in seven other states: Maryland, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. To prevent further transmission of measles, refugee travel from Malaysia to the U.S. has been suspended.

Biedrzycki said the new report raises several key points for public health officials: Imported measles cases are on an upswing in the U.S. at the moment; air travel is increasing the speed, efficiency and geographical range that viruses such as measles can spread; and finally the appearance of cases in refugee populations brings its own challenges.

When tracking viruses among refugee populations, health officials sometimes encounter language barriers and cultural issues having to do with refugees' access to American health care and their comfort and familiarity with the system.

Biedrzycki said Milwaukee health workers are working with refugee resettlement agencies such as Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities, as part of an outreach effort to identify and control the spread of measles. He said the city was able to alert local health care workers very early to be on the lookout for cases with symptoms that match those of measles. The symptoms are cold-like in the beginning, followed by a red, blotchy rash that starts at the hairline and migrates down the arms and legs.

Biedrzycki and the CDC have recommended that clinicians who see patients with suspected measles cases should be isolated and have blood samples and nasal swabs taken.
The CDC report recommended that U.S.-bound refugees in Malaysia who show no evidence of immunity be vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella, and have their travel to the U.S. postponed for 21 days after vaccination.
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