Sunday, 30 October 2011
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iNewp Media Press
The First Crack In The New Government? Myanmar Police Stops Protest
Around 60 demonstrators staged a peaceful protest by having a sit-in right outside a government building in Myanmar's biggest and former capital city of Yangon to protest against evictions which have confiscated their land and their sole way of making a living as farmers. A legal representatives of the group, Pho Phyu, stated that "parliament did not give help, so we decided to take to the street." Pho Phyu added that the Myanmar authorities have wreaked havoc by seizing around 10,000 acres of land owned by more than 1,000 farmers.
The agricultural sector of Myanmar was once the #1 supplier of rice but the government's frequent practice of evictions and other policies have reduced the output and the farmers' economic and political abilities.
Protests are incredibly rare in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which has been brutally ruled by a military junta for the past five decades which encompassed hushed mass murders and genocides up until a controversial election in 2010 elected a new government run by civilians.
This new government has promised economic and political reforms for the country. The newly elected president Thein Sein held a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate and the symbol and leader of Myanmar's democracy movement.
Then the government released around 200 political prisoners in response to the international community's consideration of lifting sanctions if the government of Myanmar would act on their promise of reforms and changes in policy.
The military junta of course still holds the real power as many, including president Thein Sein, simply resigned right before the elections so they could run for office as civilians.
Some of their victories are further reinforced by the fact that roughly one-third of the seats in parliament are reserved for military officials.
Seven people who participated in the peaceful protest were charged with "unlawful assembly" and refusing to "comply with the police".
At worst, the seven people can face up to one year in prison. http://inewp.com/?p=9504
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Aung San Suu Kyi meets with Myanmar gov't minister as hopes high for political breakthrough
By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, October 30, 7:13 PM
YANGON, Myanmar --- Myanmar democracy movement leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met with a Cabinet minister to discuss issues whose resolution could lead to a breakthrough in the country's long-running political deadlock.
Labor Minister Aung Kyi read a joint statement after meeting Suu Kyi on Sunday that said the two had discussed an amnesty, peace talks with ethnic armed groups and economic and financial matters. Some 200 of an estimated 2,000 political prisoners were released on Oct. 11 under an amnesty for 6,300 convicts.
An elected but military-backed government took power in March after decades of repressive army rule and President Thein Sein has moved to liberalize the political atmosphere.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/aung-san-suu-kyi-meets-with-myanmar-govt-minister-as-hopes-high-for-political-breakthrough/2011/10/30/gIQAORuPVM_story.html
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Myanmar gov't official, Aung San Suu Kyi meet for 4th round of talks
English.news.cn 2011-10-30 17:15:31
YANGON, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar Minister of Labor U Aung Kyi and noted political figure Aung San Suu Kyi met for the fourth round of talks at the Sein Lei Kan Tha State Guest House here on Sunday for nearly an hour.
They had discussions on the country's requirements, rights of free trade and free flow of monetary for national economic development, U Aung Kyi told the press after the talks.
They also discussed the undertakings of the state on ethnic armed groups for getting eternal peace as well as amnesty to more prisoners, U Aung Kyi said, adding that they agreed to continue the dialogue based on the previous talks.
U Aung Kyi and Aung San Suu Kyi last met for the third time on Sept. 30.
Meanwhile, Myanmar President U Thein Sein had also met Aung San Suu Kyi in Nay Pyi Taw for the first ever time on Aug. 19 having discussions on prospect of cooperation for the common interest of the nation and the people, while putting aside the disagreements as claimed then.
Myanmar released 6,359 prisoners on Oct. 12 under the president 's amnesty order, the second in a year after the new government took office on March 30 this year. The first release in May covered 14,758 prisoners nationwide.
Editor: Tang Danlu http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/30/c_131220386.htm
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Suu Kyi holds talks with Myanmar gov't minister
(October 30th, 2011 @ 5:12am)
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar democracy movement leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met with a Cabinet minister to discuss issues whose resolution could lead to a breakthrough in the country's long-running political deadlock.
Labor Minister Aung Kyi read a joint statement after meeting Suu Kyi on Sunday that said the two had discussed an amnesty, peace talks with ethnic armed groups and economic and financial matters. Some 200 of an estimated 2,000 political prisoners were released on Oct. 11 under an amnesty for 6,300 convicts.
An elected but military-backed government took power in March after decades of repressive army rule and President Thein Sein has moved to liberalize the political atmosphere.
(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) http://www.620ktar.com/category/world-news-articles/20110812/Myanmar-government-urges-Suu-Kyi-to-register-party/
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Indonesian FM in Myanmar to weigh ASEAN bid
(AFP) -- 20 hours ago
YANGON --- Indonesia's foreign minister held talks with Myanmar's leaders on Saturday during a visit to consider the military-dominated nation's bid to chair the ASEAN regional bloc.
Marty Natalegawa -- whose country currently holds the rotating chair of the 10-nation grouping -- met President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw and was due to return to Yangon afterwards for talks with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar, which now has a nominally civilian leadership dominated by former generals, wants to take the chair of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014, when communist Laos was due to take the job.
The country also known as Burma relinquished the chance to head the bloc five years ago due to international pressure for democratic reforms.
"It was already our turn for the ASEAN chair in 2006. But we allowed others to take our turn as we were not ready for it at that time," a senior Myanmar government official who did not want to be named told AFP.
"I don't understand why there is so much criticism this year as we will take back our turn for the ASEAN chair. We're ready for it now."
Hopes of political change in Myanmar have increased recently, with efforts by the new government to reach out to opponents including Suu Kyi and the suspension of construction of an unpopular Chinese-backed mega dam.
Myanmar has been a source of embarrassment for ASEAN's more democratic states, overshadowing other problem members such as communist Vietnam and Laos, which have significant human rights issues of their own.
ASEAN also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
As chair of ASEAN, Myanmar would be required to speak on behalf of the bloc and host scores of meetings including the East Asia Summit which includes the United States.
The new US special envoy on Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, last week made his second trip in as many months to the long-isolated nation as part of an engagement policy launched by President Barack Obama's administration. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5isrTdFk67GU_oSOEP3LnFrQCmcug?docId=CNG.8afe33535318c24070f41e6e1d325a2b.3a1
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Myanmar reassures China after dam blocked, sailors killed
BEIJING | Sun Oct 30, 2011 1:02am EDT
Oct 30 (Reuters) - A senior Myanmar government minister assured China on Sunday of his country's friendship and cooperation with Beijing, state news agency Xinhua reported, ties having been strained by the suspending of a dam project and the killings of Chinese sailors.
Last month, Myanmar's new civilian President Thein Sein suspended the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam being built and financed by Chinese companies in northern Myanmar after weeks of public outrage over the project in the country also known as Burma.
China has called for talks to resolve the matter. But it has also been angered by an Oct. 5 attack on the Mekong River near the Thai-Myanmar border in which 13 Chinese sailors were killed.
Myanmar Interior Minister Ko Ko, meeting China's Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu in Beijing to discuss the Mekong killings, said his country would remain a good neighbour.
"The Myanmar government pays great attention to its friendly cooperation relationship with China," Xinhua paraphrased him as saying.
"Myanmar is willing to work hard with China on security cooperation on the Mekong River, take effective measures to crack down on cross-border criminal activities which harm the interests of countries on the river, and maintain international navigation safety on the river."
Thai police said on Sunday that nine Thai soldiers had turned themselves in over the killing of the Chinese sailors, which happened in the "Golden Triangle", where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet, a region notorious for drug smuggling.
China had demanded that Thailand, Laos and Cambodia ensure the safety of Chinese sailors on the river.
The deaths, as well as the suspension of the dam project, have underscored Chinese worries about both instability in Myanmar and how once close relations might change under the former British colony's new civilian government.
The shelving of the dam, agreed to by Myanmar's then military rulers in 2006, was seen as an unprecedented challenge to China's extensive economic interests in Myanmar, long shunned by the West for its poor human rights record.
In recent years, Myanmar's leaders have embraced investment from China as a market for its energy-related resources and to counterbalance the impact of Western sanctions.
While China and Myanmar have close economic and political ties, including the building of oil and gas pipelines into southwestern China, there are also deep mutual suspicions. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/30/china-myanmar-idUSL4E7LU01V20111030?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssEnergyNews&rpc=401
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Myanmar has not finished with amnesty
Oct 30, 2011, 10:25 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar's pro-military government has not completed freeing political prisoners as part of the partial amnesty granted earlier this month, an official said Sunday.
'We will not stop, and also not jump with both legs,' Labour Minister Aung Gyi said after talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon.
On October 12, Myanmar's new government freed some 7,500 prison inmates, including more than 200 known political prisoners.
The partial amnesty has fallen short of the expectations of many observers.
The release of all political prisoners, estimated at more than 2,000, is one of the pre-requisites for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) to cooperate with the new government that came to power after the November 7 general election.
Another was the amendment of the party registration law, which was approved by parliament a few weeks ago.
Suu Kyi said the NLD would meet to decide whether it would re-register as a political party once the amended law is promulgated.
The NLD boycotted the election on the grounds that a party registration decree, enacted by the previous junta, would have forced the opposition party to drop Suu Kyi from their ranks as it barred people serving prison terms from being members of political parties.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has headed the NLD since it was founded in 1989. She has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house detention.
Her last jail term ended on November 13, six days after the general election that brought the pro-military government to power.
'Re-registration of party will depend on the law,' Suu Kyi told reporters after meeting with Aung Kyi, the government's liaison officer with the opposition.
If the NLD re-registered as a political party it could contest the planned December by-election.
NLD sources have said that Suu Kyi is seriously considering contesting the by-election herself.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1672022.php/Myanmar-has-not-finished-with-amnesty
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editorial
Migrant workers must be treated with compassion
The Nation October 30, 2011 8:00 am
Burmese and others caught in flood should get free passage, not be fined
Thailand is going through a tough time at present, with millions hit hard by dramatic flooding. This is a national crisis that will cost the country billions. Amid this drama, there have been some magnificent reactions from volunteers, companies, as well as troops, government and city officials who have worked tirelessly for the public good. There have also been less than laudable responses, with some people taking advantage of others caught in the confusion and traumatic events that have played out in recent days. When disasters of this magnitude occur it is often people at the lowest levels who are worst affected. Here, that usually means the vast "underclass" of migrant workers. As well as millions of Thai victims there were many hundreds of thousands of Burmese, Lao and Cambodian workers, both registered and unregistered, who suddenly lost jobs. Many also found themselves with nowhere to stay. In some cases this was because emergency shelters had a policy of only accepting Thais. For some reason, state officials were so preoccupied with other things, they appear to have had no plan on how to help the "little people" caught in this crisis. In recent days, however, senior government ministers have been scrambling to rectify this oversight.
When news emerged last weekend that tens of thousands of Burmese were heading home - forced to travel back to Tak province and get a boat at Mae Sot over to the unofficial crossing in Myawaddy overseen by the DKBA, a rebel group allied with the junta - the Thai government suddenly announced that Burmese workers could take refuge at a temple in Nakhon Pathom. Within a day there were 500 people at Wat Rai Khing, and, allegedly no room for any more. Meanwhile, ordinary Burmese were being arrested by Thai police for being outside the province where they worked. Sometimes it was because they had no passports - still notoriously hard to get in their homeland, particularly for ethnic minorities in eastern Burma. For some, it was because employers kept their passports - a practice that is illegal but very common. In other cases, police in Bang Sue were openly seeking bribes - Bt4,000 to get each person back. On Friday, six "legal" migrants accused police at Victory Monument of stealing their money. This is the ugly side of Thailand, which needs to be stamped out aggressively. The new police chief should take note.
But let's not forget, the miserable treatment Burmese workers usually endure in Thailand, stems largely from their own government, which, until the last year or so, virtually took no interest whatsoever in the well-being of their own people. The supposedly civilian regime in Naypyidaw has yet to open the border crossing at Mae Sot - shut more than a year ago in the lead-up to the 2010 election. This has meant that all Burmese workers who returned to Myawaddy (up until at least a day ago) had to pay a bribe to the DKBA to return to their homeland.
This messy situation has led to appeals by groups such as the Mekong Migration Network (MMN) for the Thai government to allow migrant workers unimpeded access to essential services. They should also issue a directive to allow migrants to leave Thailand temporarily and return after the floods have receded without being penalised. "Thailand's computerised register of migrant workers can be used to reactivate their permits and visas on return," MMN's Jackie Pollock said. That would prevent workers being fleeced for making a journey that is partly humanitarian in nature and largely out of their control.
Groups such as MAP Foundation in Chiang Mai have been getting constant calls from migrants in areas such as Pathum Thani who had no power, food or drinking water. "Feeling excluded from relief efforts and isolated from any assistance", many just wanted to get home as quick as possible, Ms Pollock said. But those with only a temporary ID card (Tor Ror 38/1) or a migrant workers card risked losing legal status in Thailand by crossing back to their country of origin. "Migrants with temporary passports are allowed to leave but need to make a re-entry visa somewhere before they leave." More than 100,000 Burmese have reportedly done this.
The good news is the new Burmese administration is doing more for their people. Officials at their embassy in Bangkok have reportedly moved to set up systems so that migrants crossing back into Burma at Mae Sot/ Myawaddy are not extorted by the DKBA. Still, groups are having a tough time getting supplies to those in need. "Army trucks are difficult to get," activist Andy Hall said. There was also a shortage of food and volunteers were "encountering electric shock, crocodiles and chemicals", he said.
For Thais, who have copped a bucketing both physically and literally, the message is simply: Don't succumb to the temptation to extort and brutalise those who are weak and unable to defend themselves. These may be testing times, but Bangkokians have got through these tests before and will do so again. In crises such as these, police and state officials should try to act with utmost compassion and patience. A graceful approach will encourage workers to return and help speed the recovery we all desperately want. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Migrant-workers-must-be-treated-with-compassion-30168833.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Nationmultimediacom-Opinion+%28NationMultimedia.com+-+Opinion%29
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Indonesia Hints at Support for Burma Asean Chair
October 30, 2011
Rangoon. Indonesia's foreign minister welcomed signs of political reform in Burma during a visit aimed at assessing the military-dominated nation's bid to chair the Asean regional bloc.
"I get the impression that there are changes in Myanmar [Burma] and they are significant," Marty Natalegawa, whose country currently holds the rotating chair of the 10-nation grouping, told reporters late on Saturday.
"The full assessment I shall make upon my return to Jakarta and upon sharing my thoughts with my other ASEAN foreign minister colleagues," he added.
Natalegawa held a series of meetings with top government officials including Myanmar President Thein Sein, as well as pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi indicated after the meeting that she might support Myanmar's ASEAN bid if there were further moves towards democratic reform in the authoritarian state.
"I told him [Natalegawa] that I hope to get an answer that can give happiness for all Myanmar nationals as well as people in Asean," she said. "He explained to me how they are working on it."
The Nobel Laureate, released from house arrest in November shortly after an election won by the military's political proxies, has welcomed signs of political change but called for the release of all dissidents in prison.
Burma, which now has a nominally civilian leadership dominated by former generals, wants to take the chair of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014, when communist Laos was due to take the job.
The country relinquished the chance to head the bloc five years ago due to international pressure for democratic reforms.
"It was already our turn for the Asean chair in 2006. But we allowed others to take our turn as we were not ready for it at that time," a senior Burmese government official who did not want to be named said.
"I don't understand why there is so much criticism this year as we will take back our turn for the Asean chair. We're ready for it now."
Burma's new government has reached out to political opponents in recent weeks, holding a series of meetings with Suu Kyi and suspending construction of an unpopular Chinese-backed mega dam.
The nation has been a source of embarrassment for Asean's more democratic states, overshadowing other problem members such as communist Vietnam and Laos, which have significant human rights issues of their own.
Asean also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Agence France-Presse http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesia-hints-at-support-for-burma-asean-chair/475028
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The Lady and the Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi, By Peter Popham
Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's Struggle for Democracy, By Bertil Lintner
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Seoul.go.kr
When the New Statesman asked readers to nominate "heroes of our time" in 2006, a woman who has never held elected office and who has spent most of the past 22 years under house arrest, with no means of communication for much of that time, topped the list.
Indeed, Aung San Suu Kyi received three times as many nominations as the next person on the list, Nelson Mandela. This slight, grave figure who became the embodiment of opposition to Burma's military dictatorship at the age of 43 has certainly captured the world's attention. That she has held that attention is testified to by the approaching release of Luc Besson's biopic, The Lady, and the publication of two new biographies.
Peter Popham and Bertil Lintner both explain the familiar but essential backstory: that Suu Kyi came to prominence because her father, General Aung San, was the man who negotiated Burma's independence from Britain and whose early death (he was assassinated in 1947, just months before he would have become the country's first prime minister) ensured that he is almost the sole unsullied hero in that benighted state's postwar history. Consequently his only daughter, who looks extraordinarily like him, would always be treated as one who shared his aura. Even before Suu Kyi's permanent return from Oxford to Burma, her unwillingness to bend to the regime led a friend to tease her: "You not only have the courage of your convictions -- you have the courage of your connections!"
Both authors also take us through the decades of military dictatorship during which Aung San's old comrade-in-arms, General Ne Win, reduced the "rice bowl of Asia" to poverty: through his disastrous Burmese Path to Socialism; the 1988 massacres, after which even Ne Win realised he had to stand down, at least formally; the lost moment when it seemed the country might follow the example of the Philippines, where two years earlier the People's Power Revolution removed a tyrant and installed democracy; and the final extinction of that hope in the years since the junta ignored the 1990 election overwhelmingly won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.
Where the authors differ is in their assessment of the heroine at the heart of this tragic story. Lintner is a veteran reporter who has written several books on Burma. His expertise is widely acknowledged -- not least by Peter Popham, who quotes him at length. While Suu Kyi still emerges as a remarkable, if somewhat testy, saint in Lintner's book, he doubts her appreciation of Burma's ethnic complexities, and writes disparagingly of her "mystical streak". Most damagingly of all, he queries whether her "lack of a comprehensive political plan of action may fail to prevent more tragedies ... and may stall the re-emergence of a credible force that can challenge the present regime."
Popham, whose exemplary foreign coverage is well known to Independent on Sunday readers, takes a very different view. He acknowledges that a "personality cult" has grown up around Suu Kyi, even against her wishes. But where Lintner sees only imprecision and impracticality in her deepening spiritual journey, Popham argues that her "virtue-based politics" draws on the country's ingrained Buddhist culture and, combined with her insistence on Gandhian non-violence, provides her with a moral legitimacy that makes her "the single most important counterweight to the brutal might of the army".
Although Lintner has had longer experience of the country, Popham's links with his subject run deeper and he has had the great advantage of access to the diaries of Ma Thanegi, Suu Kyi's personal assistant during her campaigning travels in 1989. Popham has a gift for description (I particularly liked "it is the season when Burma is most quintessentially Burmese -- hot and sultry and shriekingly green and fertile") but the first-hand notes of a woman who was like a sister to Suu Kyi (until they later fell out; Ma Thanegi is believed to have been "turned" during a period of imprisonment) ring especially true and vivid.
Lintner's conclusion is pessimistic. "Burma's future looks bleak," he writes. Aung San Suu Kyi "may be a heroine in the West ... but realpolitik dominates the thinking of Burma's immediate neighbours." Popham is more upbeat, albeit while refraining from concrete predictions. "Her impact on her society has been enormously rich and important. Whatever happens or does not happen between now and her death, Burma will never be the same again." I am more inclined to agree with Lintner. But as a portrait both warm and objective, Popham's biography goes a long way to explaining why Aung San Suu Kyi is admired by so many all over the world. It will not be bettered for a long time. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-lady-and-the-peacock-the-life-of-aung-san-suu-kyi-by-peter-pophambraung-san-suu-kyi-and-burmas-struggle-for-democracy-by-bertil-lintner-2377643.html
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Myanmar Netizens to BBC: Apologize Now
Posted 29 October 2011 17:53 GMT
Some Myanmar netizens are asking BBC to apologize for publishing an 'inaccurate' map of Myanmar's ethnic groups. They claim that BBC reporter Anna Jones used an inaccurate map in an article she wrote on November 5, 2010 titled "Bleak outlook for Burma's Ethnic Groups."
According to them, the map showed that Rakhine (Arakan) State is represented by Rohingya who are identified as a minority group in Myanmar even though the state is inhabited by Rakhine People (Arakanese). Furthermore, they said the map wrongfully depicted the Shan State to be represented not only by "Shan" ethnics but also by "Wa"; and that the Ayeyarwaddy Division and Kayah are represented by Karen and so on which are not in conformity with Myanmar's official ethnic and state definitions.
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/10/29/myanmar-netizens-to-bbc-apologize-now/
Burma Flag
ေတာ္လွန္ေရးသီခ်င္းမ်ား(Politics Song)
Sunday, 30 October 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Saturday, 29 October 2011
တရားမ၀င္ ခုိး၀င္သူ ျမန္မာ ၄ ဦး ဖမ္းမိ
October 28, 2011 
BUKIT KAYU HITAM- မေလးရွားႏိုင္ငံအတြင္းသို႔ ၀င္ေရာက္ရန္ ႀကိဳးစားခဲ့သည့္ အသက္ ၃၅ ႏွစ္အရြယ္ အမ်ိဳးသမီးတဦးႏွင့္ ၈-ႏွစ္အရြယ္သမီးတုိ႔ ပါ၀င္သည့္ျမန္မာ ၄ ဦးကို ကားေပၚတြင္ အဂၤါေန႔က ဖမ္းဆီးရမိခဲ့သည္။
ကားေနာက္ခန္းရွိ ပစၥည္းမ်ားထည့္သည့္ေနရာတြင္ အမ်ိဳးသမီး၏ ေမာင္မ်ားျဖစ္သည့္ အသက္ ၂၃ႏွင့္ ၂၅ ႏွစ္အရြယ္တို႔သည္ လိုက္ပါလာၾကသည္။ ေဒသခံကားသမားကိုလည္း ဖမ္းဆီးခဲ့ေၾကာင္း သိရသည္။
ေနာက္ခန္းတြင္ ထိုင္လိုက္လာေသာ တျခား ျမန္မာ ၂ ဦးမွာ အနားရွိေတာအုပ္အတြင္းသို႔ ထြက္ေျပး လြတ္ေျမာက္သြားသည္ ဟု ဆိုသည္။
ျပည္နယ္ လူကုန္ကူးမႈတုိက္ဖ်က္ေရး ယူနစ္ တပ္မႉး Noor Mohamed Shaik Alaudinက ေနလယ္ ၂ နာရီ ၃၀ တြင္ လူ ၄ ဦး ပါ၀င္သည့္ အုပ္စုက Jalan Kampung Padang 1တြင္ ကားကို ရပ္တန္႔ခိုင္းခဲ့သည္ဟု ေျပာသည္။
“သူတို႔က ေဂါက္အပန္းေျဖေနရာနဲ႔ နီးတဲ့ ထိုင္း-မေလး နယ္စပ္ကေန ခရီးထြက္လာၾကတာပါ၊ ေမာင္ႏွမ ၂ ေယာက္က ကားေနာက္ မွာ ပုန္းေနတဲ့အခ်ိန္မွာပဲ အမိ်ဳးသမီးနဲ႔ ကေလးက ေနာက္ဘက္မွာ ထိုင္ေနတယ္၊ ဒါေပမယ့္ တျခားလူ ၂ ေယာက္က အနီးက ေတာအုပ္ထဲ ၀င္ေျပးသြားတယ္” ဟု Noor Mohamed Shaik Alaudinက ေျပာသည္။
ႏိုင္ငံျခားသားမ်ားတြင္ ခရီးသြားလက္မွတ္ တစုံတခုမပါေၾကာင္းလည္း သူက ေျပာသည္။
ကားဒရိုင္ဘာကို ရဲတပ္ဖြဲ႔သို႔ အပ္ႏွံသြားမည္ျဖစ္ၿပီး ႏုိင္ငံျခားသားမ်ားကို Belantik လူ၀င္မႈႀကီးၾကပ္ေရး ထိန္းသိမ္းေရး စခန္းသို႔ ပို႔ေဆာင္မည္ျဖစ္သည္ဟု ေျပာသည္။
ကားဆရာကိုလည္း လူ၀င္မႈႀကီးၾကပ္ေရး (လ၀က) ဥပေဒ ၅၅ က(၁)ျဖင့္ တိုင္းျပည္အတြင္းသို႔ တဦးတေယာက္ကို တရားမ၀င္ တိုက္ရိုက္ျဖစ္ေစ သြယ္၀ိုက္ျဖစ္ေစ သယ္ေဆာင္မႈျဖင့္ စစ္ေဆးမည္ျဖစ္သည္။
ျပစ္မႈထင္ရွားပါက မေလးရွား ရင္းဂစ္ ၁၀၀၀၀-၅၀၀၀၀ၾကားႏွင့္ ေထာင္ဒဏ္ ၂ႏွစ္မွ ၅ ႏွစ္၊ ႀကိမ္ဒဏ္ ၆ ခ်က္ထက္မနည္း က်ခံႏိုင္ေၾကာင္းသိရသည္။
လ၀က ဥပေဒပုဒ္မ ၆(၁)(ဂ) မေလးရွားႏုိင္ငံသုိ႔ ခြင့္ျပဳခ်က္မရွိဘဲ ၀င္ေရာက္ေနထိုင္မႈျဖင့္ ႏိုင္ငံျခားသားမ်ားကို စုံစမ္းစစ္ေဆး ေနသည္ဟု ဆိုသည္။
အျမင့္ဆုံးျပစ္ဒဏ္ အျဖစ္ ရင္းဂစ္ ၁၀၀၀၀ ဒဏ္ေငြ (သို႔) ေထာင္ဒဏ္ ၅ ႏွစ္ႏွင့္ ႀကိမ္ဒဏ္ ၆ ခ်က္ ျပစ္ဒဏ္ က်မွတ္ႏိုင္ေၾကာင္း သိရသည္။(The star /by KHT)
ဒုကၡသည္ ၈၁၀၀၀ ကို IMM13 စာရြက္စာတမ္းထုတ္ေပးျခင္းမရွိဟု ၀န္ႀကီးခ်ဳပ္ရုံး၀န္ႀကီး ေျပာ
October 28, 2011 
ႏိုင္ငံျခားသားမ်ားကို မေလးရွားႏုိင္ငံသား လတ္မွတ္ ထုတ္ေပးေနသည္ဟူေသာ စြပ္စြဲခ်က္မ်ားကို ၀န္ႀကီးခ်ဳပ္ရုံး၀န္ႀကီး Nazri Abdul Aziz က ျငင္းဆိုလိုက္သည္။
KOTA KINABALU: သက္ေသ အေထာက္အထားမ်ား ရွိေနေသာ္လည္း Sabah ရွိ ဖိလစ္ပိုင္ဒုကၡသည္မ်ားကို မေလးရွား ႏိုင္ငံသား ကဒ္မ်ား ထုတ္ေပးေနသည္ဟူေသာ စြပ္စြဲခ်က္မ်ားကို အစိုးရက ျငင္းဆိုလိုက္သည္။
၀န္ႀကီးခ်ဳပ္ရုံး၀န္ႀကီးNazri Abdul Aziz said ဒုကၡသည္ ၈၁၀၀၀ သည္ ယခုအခ်ိန္ထိ အလုပ္လုပ္ရန္ႏွင့္ လြတ္လပ္စြာ သြားလာႏိုင္ရန္ IMM13 အေထာက္အထားကို ကိုင္ေဆာင္ထားဆဲျဖစ္သည္ဟု ဆိုသည္။
၁၉၇၀ ေနာက္ပိုင္းကတည္းက Sabahရွိ ဒုကၡသည္ မည္မွ် မေလးရွားႏိုင္ငံသားအျဖစ္ ထုတ္ေပးသလဲႏွင့္ ယင္းသို႔ ထုတ္ေပးရန္ မည့္သည့္ လုပ္ထုံးလုပ္နည္းျဖင့္ လုပ္ေဆာင္ခဲ့သလဲဟူေသာ Tawau အမတ္ Chua Soon Bui ၏ ပါလီမန္၌ ေမးျမန္းခ်က္ကို Nazri က ေျဖၾကားျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။
၂၀၀၉ ခုႏွစ္က ဖိလစ္ပိုင္ေတာင္ပိုင္းႏွင့္ အင္ဒိုနီးရွား ဒုကၡသည္ ၈၁၀၀၀ ကို IMM13 အေထာက္အထားမ်ားကို Sabah လူ၀င္မႈႀကီးၾကပ္ေရး (လ၀က)က ထုတ္ေပးခဲ့သည္ဟု Nazriက Putatan ပါလီမန္အမတ္ Marcus Mojigohကို အေစာပိုင္းက တု႔ံျပန္ေျပာၾကားခဲ့သည္။
IMM13 သည္ အသက္ ၁၃ ႏွစ္အထက္ ဒုကၡသည္ ကေလးမ်ားကို ထုတ္ေပးလ်က္ရွိသည္။
“တရားမ၀င္ေျပာင္းေရႊ႕ေနထိုင္သူေတြကို IMM13 မထုတ္ေပးပါဘူး” ဟု Nazri ကေျပာသည္။
Sabahတြင္ ကုလသမဂၢဒုကၡသည္မ်ားဆိုင္ရာ မဟာမင္းႀကီးရုံး (UNHCR) ကဖြင့္လွစ္ထားသည့္ ဒုကၡသည္ စခန္း ၆ ခုရွိၿပီး Tawau၊ Semporna၊ Sandakan၊ Kota Kinabaluႏွင့္ Labuan တို႔တြင္ ရွိေၾကာင္းသိရသည္။
UNHCR က ဒုကၡသည္ ၆၀၀၀ အတြက္ စခန္းမွာ တည္ေထာင္ခဲ့သည္မွာ ၁၀ စုႏွစ္ ၄ ခုရွိၿပီျဖစ္၍ Nazri ေျပာသည့္ အေရ အတြက္ကို “မွားယြင္း၍ ရႈပ္ေထြးမႈမ်ား” အျဖစ္ Sabahတိုးတက္ေရးပါတီ (SAPP) ဒုဥကၠ႒ Chuaက စိန္ေခၚလိုက္သည္။
သူမက ေထာင္ေပါင္းမ်ားစြာေသာ ဒုကၡသည္မ်ားႏွင့္ ၎တို႔၏ ကေလးမ်ား၊ ေျမးမ်ားက ၎တို႔ပိုင္ မိသားစုကိုစတင္ေနသည့္ အတြက္ သူတို႔၏ လူဦးေရမွာ ၁ သိန္းေက်ာ္ျဖစ္ေနသည့္ ဆိုသည့္အခ်က္ကို အေျခခံ၍ သူမက ေျပာဆိုခဲ့ျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။
“သူတို႔ကေလးေတြက လက္ထပ္ၾကကုန္ၿပီ၊ တခ်ိဳ႕ေတြက ဒုတိယနဲ႔ တတိယ ဒုကၡသည္မ်ိဳးဆက္ ေတြျဖစ္ကုန္ၿပီ၊ အထူး သျဖင့္Tawau ရွိ UNHCR စခန္းက ဒုကၡသည္ေတြက အျပင္ကို ေျပာင္းေရႊသြားေတာ့ ဒီတြက္ခ်က္မႈက အသားတင္ေအာက္ ေလ်ာ့ ၿပီးခန္႔မွန္းထားတာပါ” ဟု သူမက ေျပာသည္။
Sabahရွိ ေသာင္းခ်ီေနသည့္ ဒုကၡသည္မ်ား၊ ၾသစေၾတးလ်ႏွင့္ ဒုကၡသည္ဖလွယ္ေရး အစီအစဥ္တို႔ႏွင့္ ပတ္သက္၍လည္း ရွင္းလင္းသည့္ မူ၀ါဒ တခုခ်မွတ္ရန္ Chuaက ေျပာသည္။
၁၉၉၀အေစာပိုင္းကUmnoသည္ Sabahသို႔ ခ်ဲ႕ထြင္သည့္ အခ်ိန္မွစ၍ ဒုကၡသည္ အေရအတြက္၊ ျပည္နယ္အတြင္းရွိ တရားမ၀င္ေရႊ႕ေျပာင္း ေနထိုင္သူ အေရအတြက္ပတ္သက္သည့္ ေမးခြန္းမ်ားကို တိတိက်က် ဆုံးျဖတ္ႏိုင္ျခင္းမရွိေၾကာင္း သိရသည္။
ထာက္ခံသူမ်ား အတိအက်မသိရသည့္ ေဒသတြင္ BN က ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲကို ဆက္တိုက္ အႏိုင္ရလ်က္ရွိ သျဖင့္ၾကာရွည္ ေနထိုင္လာသည့္ ဒုကၡသည္မ်ားႏွင့္ ႏိုင္ငံျခားေရႊ႕ေျပာင္းေနထိုင္သူမ်ားကို မေလးရွား ႏိုင္ငံသားကဒ္ကို ဖက္ဒရယ္အစိုးရက ထုတ္ေပးေနသည္ ဟူေသာ စြပ္စြဲခ်က္သည္ ႏိုင္ငံေရးသမားမ်ားႏွင့္ ေလ့လာသူမ်ားက ေမးခြန္း ထုတ္ခဲ့သည့္အတြက္ ေပၚေပါက္လာျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။
“စီမံကိန္း IC” “စီမံကိန္း M” ဟု အမည္ေပးထားသည့္ အစီအစဥ္ကို တၿပိဳင္တည္း လုပ္ေဆာင္ခဲ့ၿပီး ေထာင္ႏွင့္ခ်ီေသာ တရားမ၀င္ေရႊ႕ေျပာင္း ေနထိုင္သူမ်ားအထဲမွ မဲေပးႏိုင္သူအျဖစ္ ေရြးထုတ္ခဲ့သည့္အတြက္ ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲ ရလာဒ္ကို ယိမ္းယိုင္ေစသည္။
မေလးရွားႏိုင္ငံသား ကဒ္ကို ဒုကၡသည္ႏွင့္ ေရႊ႕ေျပာင္းေနထိုင္သူမ်ားကို ထုတ္ေပးေနျခင္းကို IMM13 သက္ေသအေထာက္ အထားကို အသုံးျပဳရန္ႏွင့္ ျပန္လည္စိစစ္ရာတြင္ သူတို႔သည္ Mykads မ်ားျဖင့္ အစားထိုးထားသည္ကို ေတြ႔ရွိခဲ့ရသည္။
၁၉၆၃ အေစာပိုင္းက Sabahသုိ႔ လာေရာက္သည့္ ႏိုင္ငံျခားသား အုပ္စု ၂ ခုကို ၈၁၀၀၀ IMM13 သက္ေသအေထာက္အထား မ်ား ထုတ္ေပးခဲ့သည္ဟု လ၀က စာရင္းေဟာင္းမ်ားကို ကိုးကား၍ ၂၀၁၀ ႏို၀င္ဘာလကလည္း ပါလီမန္တြင္ Nazri က Chuaကိုအလားတူ အေျဖေပးခဲ့သည္။
ယင္းအုပ္စု ၂ ခုမွာ ဆူကာတို သမၼတလက္ထက္တြင္ အင္ဒိုနီးရွားမွ ထြက္ေျပးလာသည့္ အင္ဒို-တရုတ္ ဒုကၡသည္မ်ား၊ ၁၉၇၂ ႏွင့္ ၁၉၇၄တြင္ Sabahသုိ႔ ၀င္ေရာက္လာသည့္ ဖိလစ္ပိုင္ေတာင္ပိုင္းမွ စစ္ေျပးဒုကၡသည္မ်ားျဖစ္သည္။
အစိုးရက ႏိုင္ငံကူးလတ္မွတ္ (ကင္းလြတ္ခြင့္) နံပါတ္ ၂ (ျပင္ဆင္ခ်က္) ၁၉၇၂ ဥပေဒ ဟူေသာ ၁၉၇၂ ခုႏွစ္ စက္တင္ဘာ လက ထုတ္ျပန္ခဲ့သည့္ ျပဌာန္းခ်က္အရ ယင္းအုပ္စုမ်ားကို Sabahတြင္ ေနထိုင္ခြင့္ျပဳခဲ့သည္ဟု Nazriက ေျပာသည္။
ဒုကၡသည္မ်ားႏွင့္ ေထာင္ႏွင့္ခ်ီေသာ ႏိုင္ငံျခားအလုပ္သမားမ်ား၊ တရားမ၀င္ ေရႊ႕ေျပာင္းေနထို္င္သူမ်ား ခြဲျခားရန္ Sabah လ၀က က IMM13 အေထာက္အထားမ်ား ထုတ္ေပးခဲ့ျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။
IMM13 အေထာက္အထားသည္ အေထြေထြသြားေရာက္လည္ပတ္ခြင့္ အမ်ိဳးအစားျဖစ္ၿပီး ၁ႏွစ္ သက္တမ္းရွိကာ ဒီဇင္ဘာ ၃၁ ရက္ေန႔တြင္ သက္တမ္းကုန္ဆုံးေလ့ရွိသည္။ Sabahရွိ IMM13ကိုင္ေဆာင္သူမ်ားက မူရင္းေနရပ္သို႔ ပို႔ေဆာင္ျခင္းမခံရမီ အခ်ိန္ထိ ျပန္လည္ သက္တမ္းတိုးရန္၍ ရသည္။
IMM13 ကိုင္ေဆာင္သူမ်ားသည္ စီးပြားေရး၊ ေဆာက္လုပ္ေရး၊ ၀န္ေဆာင္မႈ၊ သယ္ယူပို႔ေဆာင္ေရးႏွင့္ တျခားေသာ သင့္ေတာ္ သည့္ က႑မ်ားတြင္ အလုပ္လုပ္ခြင့္ရွိေသာ္လည္း လူထုႏွင့္ဆိုင္သည့္ ၀န္ေဆာင္မႈက႑မ်ားတြင္ အလုပ္လုပ္ခြင့္ရွိမည္မဟုတ္ ေခ်။
ယင္းအုပ္စု၀င္မ်ားသည္ သက္ဆိုင္ရာ အာဏာပိုင္မ်ား၏ ဆုံးျဖတ္ခ်က္ျဖင့္ ပညာေရးႏွင့္ က်န္းမာေရး ၀န္ေဆာင္မႈမ်ားကို ရရွိပိုင္ခြင့္ရွိသည္။
၁၉၇၂- ၁၉၈၄ ခုႏွစ္အတြင္း ေရာက္ရွိလာသူမ်ား IMM13 ရရွိသူမ်ားသည္ ၁၉၈၄ ခုႏွစ္ေနာက္ပိုင္းမွ လာေရာက္သူမ်ားျဖစ္ သည္ဟု မဆိုလိုေၾကာင္း Nazri က ဆက္ေျပာသည္။
“၁၉၈၄ ေနာက္ပိုင္းမွာ အမ်ားႀကီးေရာက္လာေပမယ့္ သူတို႔ကို IMM13မထုတ္ေပးေတာ့ပါဘူး၊ အဲဒီၿပီးတဲ့ေနာက္မွာ မေလးရွားကို ဒုကၡသည္ေတြမလာေတာ့ဘူးလို႔ က်ေနာ္ေျပာေနတာမဟုတ္ဘူးေနာ္၊ ရွိပါလိမ့္မယ္ ဒါေပမယ့္ သူတို႔က IMM13 မထုတ္ေပးထားပါဘူး” ဟု သူက ေျပာသည္။
ျပည္တြင္းစစ္အတြက္ ေဆြးေႏြးေနဆဲကာလျဖစ္သည့္အတြက္ အစိုးရက ယင္း ဒုကၡသည္မ်ားကို ဖိလစ္ပိုင္ေတာင္ပိုင္းသို႔ျပန္ပို႔ ရန္ အစိုးရက ဆုံးျဖတ္ခ်က္ခ်မွတ္ႏိုင္ေၾကာင္း Nazri ဆိုသည္။
“စစ္က အခုထက္ထိ ျဖစ္ေနတဲ့အတြက္ ဒီဒုကၡသည္ေတြကို ဖိလစ္ပိုင္ ေတာင္ပိုင္းကို ျပန္ပို႔လိုက္မယ္ဆိုရင္ ကုလသမဂၢရဲ႕ ျပင္းထန္တဲ့ ကန္႔ကြက္မႈကို ခံရပါမယ္၊ တကယ္လို႔က်ေနာ္တို႔က သူတို႔ကို ျပန္ပို႔ခဲ့မယ္ဆိုရင္ သူတုိ႔ေျမေပၚမွာ အသတ္ခံရဖို႔ ပို႔လိုက္ သလိုပါပဲ” ဟု သူက ေျပာသည္။ (မေလးရွားကီနီ) By-KHT
၂၁ ရာစု ပင္လံုညီလာခံ အျမန္ဆံုးက်င္းပရန္ ZNC တိုက္တြန္း
October 26th, 2011 |
ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံတြင္ ဒီမိုကေရစီစနစ္ အမွန္တကယ္ တည္ေဆာက္လိုပါက ၂၁ ရာစု ပင္လံုညီလာခံကို အျမန္ဆံုးေခၚယူ က်င္းပရန္လိုအပ္ေၾကာင္း ဇိုမီးအမ်ဴိးသားကြန္ကရက္(ZNC) ပါတီက ေျပာဆိုလိုက္သည္။
ယေန႔တြင္ က်ေရာက္ေသာ ဇိုမီးအမ်ဴိးသားကြန္ကရက္ ပါတီတည္ေထာင္ျခင္း ၂၃ ႏွစ္ေျမာက္ႏွစ္ပတ္လည္ေန႔တြင္ ေၾကညာခ်က္တရပ္ထုတ္ျပန္ျပီး ယခုလိုေျပာဆိုလိုက္ျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။
၂၁ ရာစု ပင္လံုညီလာခံက်င္းပျခင္းသည္ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံ အထူးသျဖင့္ တိုင္းရင္းသားေဒသမ်ားတြင္ ျဖစ္ပြားေနေသာ လက္နက္ကိုင္ပဋိပကၡမ်ား ခ်ဴပ္ျငိမ္းေစရန္ အေကာင္းဆံုး ႏွင့္ တခုတည္းေသာနည္းလမ္းျဖစ္သည္ဟု ZNC ရဲ့ထုတ္ျပန္ခ်က္ တြင္ ေဖာ္ျပထားသည္။
ထို႕အျပင္ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံ အက်ဥ္းေထာင္အသီးသီးတြင္ ယံုၾကည္ခ်က္ေၾကာင့္ အက်ဥ္းက်ေနၾကေသာ ႏိုင္ငံေရးအက်ဥ္း သားမ်ား အားလံုးကို ခြ်န္းခ်က္မရွိလြတ္ေပးရန္ အထူးသျဖင့္ ၈၈ မ်ဴိးဆက္ေက်ာင္းသား မင္းကိုႏုိင္၊ ဦးခြန္ထြန္းဦး၊ ဦးစိုင္းညြန္႔လြင္၊ ကိုေက်ာ္စိုး စသည့္ပုဂၢိဳလ္မ်ား ခ်က္ခ်င္းလႊတ္ေပးရန္ အစိုးရကို အေလးအနက္တိုက္တြန္းေၾကာင္း ထုတ္ျပန္ခ်က္ကဆိုသည္။
ၿပီးခဲ့သည့္ ၂ဝ၁ဝ ခုႏွစ္ ေအာက္တိုဘာလ ၂၄ ရက္ေန႔က စစ္ကိုင္းတိုင္း ကေလးၿမိဳ႕တြင္ က်င္းပေသာ ဇိုမီး အမ်ိဳးသား ကြန္ဂရက္ ၂၂ ႏွစ္ေျမာက္ အခမ္းအနားတြင္ ဒုတိယ ပင္လံုညီလာခံ ေခၚယူရန္ တိုင္းရင္းသားနဲ႔ ႏိုင္ငံေရးအင္အားစု ေခါင္းေဆာင္မ်ားအပါအဝင္ ဒီမိုကေရစီေရး လႈပ္ရွားသူမ်ားက သေဘာတူ လက္မွတ္ေရးထုိးခဲ့ၾကၿပီး ကေလးၿမိဳ႕ ေၾကညာစာတမ္းကို ထုတ္ျပန္ခ့ဲၾကသည္။
ကေလးျမိဳ႕ေၾကညာခ်က္တြင္ “ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံကို တျပည္ေထာင္ စနစ္လည္း မဟုတ္၊ ခြဲထြက္ေရး စနစ္လည္း မဟုတ္၊ ဒီမိုကေရစီႏွင့္ လူမ်ဳိးတိုင္း တန္းတူအခြင့္အေရးကို အေျခခံေသာ ဖက္ဒရယ္ျပည္ေထာင္စု စနစ္ျဖင့္ တည္ေဆာက္ရန္ တိုင္းရင္းသား ျပည္သူအားလံုး အတူတကြ လက္တြဲၿပီး ဒုတိယ ပင္လံုညီလာခံ ေခၚယူ က်င္းပသြားၾကရမည္” ဟု ေဖာ္ျပပါရွိသည္။
ယင္းကိစၥကို အေကာင္အထည္ေဖာ္ႏိုင္ရန္ ဆက္လက္လုပ္ေဆာင္သြားမည္ဟု အမ်ဴိးသား ဒီမိုကေရစီအဖြဲ႕ခ်ဴပ္ (NLD) ဒု-ဥကၠဌ ဦးတင္ဦးကလည္း ျပီးခဲ့သည့္ရက္ပိုင္းကေျပာဆိုခဲ့သည္။
ယေန႔တြင္ က်ေရာက္ေသာ ZNC ပါတီ ၂၃ ႏွစ္ျပည့္ေျမာက္ ႏွစ္ပတ္လည္အခမ္းအနားကို စစ္ကိုင္းတိုင္း ကေလးျမိဳ႕တြင္ က်င္းပခဲ့ၾကသည္ဟုသိရသည္။
မီဇိုရမ္ျပည္နယ္တြင္ ဆိုင္ကယ္သူခိုး ခ်င္းအမ်ဳိးသားတဦး ဖမ္းဆီး
October 29th, 2011 |
မီဇိုရမ္ျပည္နယ္ Champhai ၿမဳိ႕နယ္ Ngur ေက်းရြာရွိ ရပ္ကြက္ျပည္သူလူထူမ်ားက ဆိုင္ကယ္သူခိုး ခ်င္းအမ်ဳိးသား တဦး ကို ေအာက္တိုဘာ ၂၇၊ ၂၀၁၁ ရက္ေန႕က ဖမ္းဆီးခဲ့ေၾကာင္း သိရသည္။
အဖမ္းဆီးခံ ဆိုင္ကယ္သူခိုး ခ်င္းအမ်ဳိးသားမွာ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံ ခ်င္းျပည္နယ္ တီးတိန္ၿမဳိ႕နယ္ရွိ Suanzang ေက်းရြာသား အ ဘဦး Nang Khan Pai ၏ သား ေမာင္ Thang Khan Kim (32) အား ေဒသခံျပည္သူလူထု မ်ားက ဖမ္းဆီးၿပီး အာဏာပိုင္ ရဲလက္ထဲသို႕ အပ္ႏွံထားသည္။
ေဒသထုတ္သတင္းစာတြင္လည္း Ngur ေက်းရြာတြင္ မီးေသြးဖုတ္ေနသူ Suanzang ေက်းရြာသားမ်ားက Thang Khan Kim အား Ngur ေက်းရြာသားမ်ားထံ တိုင္ခ်က္ဖြင့္ၿပီး ေက်းရြာလူႀကီးမ်ား က အခုလိုဖမ္းဆီး လိုက္ျခင္းျဖစ္ေၾကာင္းေဖာ္ျပသည္။
အာဏာပိုင္ရဲေတြ စစ္ခ်က္အရ အမႈတြင္ တီးတိန္ၿမဳိ႕နယ္ Suanzang ေက်းရြာသား ၃ ဦး ႏွင့္ ကေလးၿမဳိ႕နယ္ ပ်ဥ္းေတာ္ သာ ေက်းရြာသား ၁ ဦး တို႕လည္းပါဝင္ ပတ္သက္ေၾကာင္း သိရသည္။
တရားခံမ်ားသည္ အဆုိပါ ဆုိင္ကယ္ကုိ ျမန္မာျပည္သုိ႕ သယ္သြားၿပီး တီးတိန္ၿမဳိ႕နယ္ရွိ Ngalbual ေက်းရြာ ရပ္ကြက္ လူႀကီး Eng Thang ႏွင့္ ရပ္ကြက္လူႀကီး Nang Suan Mang တို႕ထံ ေရာင္းသည္ဟု ဝန္ခံေၾကာင္း
ထပ္မံသိရသည္။
မီဇိုရမ္ျပည္နယ္အတြင္း ဆိုင္ကယ္ခိုးမႈတြင္ အဓိကအားျဖင့္ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံသားမ်ားျဖစ္ၿပီး ခုိးရာပါပစၥည္းမ်ားကုိ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံ သို႕ တင္ပို႕ၿပီး ေစ်းေကာင္းေကာင္းျဖင့္ ျပန္လည္ေရာင္းခ်ေနၾကျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။(ခိုႏႈမ္းထုန္)
BURMA RELATED NEWS - OCTOBER 28, 2011
Myanmar police charge 7 for staging land protest
AP – 3 hrs ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Police in Myanmar filed charges Friday against seven people who staged a peaceful protest against alleged unfair confiscation of their land, which comes as the outside world watches the government's stated commitment to democratic reforms.
A police officer said those charged included labor rights lawyer Pho Phyu, who was with more than 30 farmers who staged a sit-in Thursday in front of the government housing department in Yangon. The officer, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said they were charged with unlawful assembly and refusing to comply with a police order to disperse.
The charges carry a penalty of 6-12 months' imprisonment.
The protest comes amid the government's promise to enact democratic reforms. An elected but military-backed government took power in March after decades of army rule. The new president, Thein Sein, had been a top member of the old military government, but has declared his intention to liberalize the political atmosphere and opened a dialogue with the leader of the country's pro-democracy movement, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The United States and other Western nations imposed political and economic sanctions against the repressive former ruling junta.
But they have indicated they would respond positively to liberalization moves, such as a mass release of political prisoners, and a recent visit by Washington's special envoy to Myanmar has raised expectations that major developments may be in the offing.
Pho Phyu in an interview with Washington-based Radio Free Asia on Wednesday said the farmers decided to make their grievances heard by staging a peaceful protest as their pleas to parliament for help went unanswered. They believe they are not being adequately compensated.
The deputy agriculture minister has testified to parliament that several thousand acres of farmland in three townships in Yangon have been allocated for urban development and mechanized farming, with the government's housing department paying 20,000 kyat ($26) per acre (0.4 hectare) to acquire 7,505 acres (3,037 hectares) from 1,085 farmers.
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Film on Myanmar activist opens festival
By TRISHA THOMAS, Associated Press – 22 hours ago
ROME (AP) — A biopic about Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday opened Rome's film festival, whose organizers quoted the Nobel Peace Prize winner as calling truth and justice bastions against brutality.
"The Lady," by French director Luc Besson, features former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh playing Suu Kyi, who was freed from house arrest last year after spending most of the last two decades detained by a military junta. The movie was filmed in Thailand.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Yeoh, who on the screen bears a striking resemblance to Suu Kyi, recalled her emotions when she met her while preparing the role.
"I was very nervous before I went because I had been living and breathing and listening to her for so long, I thought like I knew her — but I didn't," the Malaysian actress said.
But upon reaching the house, the democracy activist "just opened her arms very wide and gave me the biggest hug. And she's the most slender woman, but you don't feel that she's frail. You sense a great sense of inner peace, you know, gentleness, and caring," Yeoh said.
Besson said Suu Kyi made it clear that "she didn't ask for the film, she didn't read it, and she has not seen it, so she can't be accused of anything." But, he added, "she was very happy to meet me."
Despite her distance from the film, festival organizers did receive a statement from the democracy leader. "What leads man to sacrifice himself and withstand untold suffering in order to build societies that are free from need and fear is his vision of a world that might satisfy the requirements of a rational and civilized humanity," she was quoted as saying.
"Concepts such as truth, justice and solidarity cannot be cast off as obsolete, when these are often the only bastions that stand between us and the brutality of power," the statement continued.
British actor David Thewlis plays Michael Aris, Suu Kyi's husband.
Suu Kyi, who was largely raised overseas, married Aris and raised their two sons in England. In 1988, at age 43, she returned home to take care of her ailing mother as mass demonstrations erupted against military rule. She was thrust into a leadership role, mainly because she was the daughter of the late Aung San, who helped lead colonial Burma to independence from Britain.
She paid a huge personal price: she never saw Aris before he died of cancer in 1999; hasn't seen her sons in a decade and has never met her two grandchildren. She refuses to leave Myanmar, even during her brief periods of freedom, fearing she would not be allowed to return.
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Washington Post - Myanmar Nobel winner praises truth, justice as biopic about her screens at Rome festival
By Associated Press, Published: October 27
ROME — A biopic about Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday opened Rome’s film festival, whose organizers quoted the Nobel Peace Prize winner as calling truth and justice bastions against brutality.
“The Lady,” by French director Luc Besson, features former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh playing Suu Kyi, who was freed from house arrest last year after spending most of the last two decades detained by a military junta. The movie was filmed in Thailand.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Yeoh, who on the screen bears a striking resemblance to Suu Kyi, recalled her emotions when she met her while preparing the role.
“I was very nervous before I went because I had been living and breathing and listening to her for so long, I thought like I knew her — but I didn’t,” the Malaysian actress said.
But upon reaching the house, the democracy activist “just opened her arms very wide and gave me the biggest hug. And she’s the most slender woman, but you don’t feel that she’s frail. You sense a great sense of inner peace, you know, gentleness, and caring,” Yeoh said.
Besson said Suu Kyi made it clear that “she didn’t ask for the film, she didn’t read it, and she has not seen it, so she can’t be accused of anything.” But, he added, “she was very happy to meet me.”
Despite her distance from the film, festival organizers did receive a statement from the democracy leader. “What leads man to sacrifice himself and withstand untold suffering in order to build societies that are free from need and fear is his vision of a world that might satisfy the requirements of a rational and civilized humanity,” she was quoted as saying.
“Concepts such as truth, justice and solidarity cannot be cast off as obsolete, when these are often the only bastions that stand between us and the brutality of power,” the statement continued.
British actor David Thewlis plays Michael Aris, Suu Kyi’s husband.
Suu Kyi, who was largely raised overseas, married Aris and raised their two sons in England. In 1988, at age 43, she returned home to take care of her ailing mother as mass demonstrations erupted against military rule. She was thrust into a leadership role, mainly because she was the daughter of the late Aung San, who helped lead colonial Burma to independence from Britain.
She paid a huge personal price: she never saw Aris before he died of cancer in 1999; hasn’t seen her sons in a decade and has never met her two grandchildren. She refuses to leave Myanmar, even during her brief periods of freedom, fearing she would not be allowed to return.
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Washington Post - United Nations: Leaded gasoline to be eliminated worldwide in two years after long fight
By Associated Press, Published: October 27
UNITED NATIONS — Leaded gasoline, once so widespread it was sold at U.S. pumps as “regular” fuel, is expected to be eradicated globally within two years, the United Nations Environment Program announced Thursday.
With the end of leaded gasoline in sight, public health and environmental advocates are claiming victory in a fight that stretches all the way back to when it was first added to gasoline in the 1920s.
Leaded gasoline is still used in six nations. Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, North Korea, Myanmar and Yemen are expected to complete the phase-out by 2013, said the U.N., which is assisting those nations.
The elimination of leaded gasoline has increased IQ scores, lowered lead-in-blood levels by up to 90 percent and prevented the premature deaths of more than 1.2 million people annually, according to a new study by Thomas Hatfield, chairman of California State University, Northridge’s department of environmental and occupational health.
“We live in a time when politicians and lobbyists make sport out of pitting the economy against public health,” said Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This study flies in the face of those petty politics.”
In 2002, the NRDC and the U.N. Environmental Program began a final push to eradicate leaded fuel by founding the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, which helps developing nations with the switch to unleaded gasoline.
Most of the six nations still using leaded gasoline are only using small amounts, said Jim Sniffen, a U.N. Environment Program spokesman. They are working with the U.N. and partner agencies to conduct blood testing for lead levels and develop plans to phase out leaded fuel, he said.
Lead became the gasoline additive of choice in the 1920s, after General Motors, DuPont and Standard Oil of New Jersey, the forerunner of Exxon, chose it over clean-burning ethanol and other alternatives as a way to make engines run better. It became universal despite warnings from public health advocates and a scandal over the deaths in 1924 of six refinery workers in Newark, New Jersey, who were poisoned while manufacturing it and “were led away in straitjackets,” said Bill Kovarik, a journalist and communication professor at Radford University who researched the history of leaded gasoline.
“Historically, there are only a handful of major environmental victories like this,” Kovarik said. “It took 90 years to eradicate what was always a well-known poison from a product that everyone uses. It’s a great achievement, but it really says something about how public health works globally, that it took so long ... Benjamin Franklin complained about lead poisoning in print shops.”
The industry falsely claimed that there were no alternatives to lead, which was more profitable, and gained control over the government’s scientific study of it, Kovarik said.
Eventually, exposure to airborne lead was found to cause brain, kidney and cardiovascular damage. In children, it was found to lower IQ levels and shorten attention spans.
A public health crisis again erupted around lead in the 1960s as the environmental movement bloomed. A lawsuit filed by the NRDC in 1973 lead to the Environmental Protection Agency regulating lead in gasoline and finally banning it as an additive in 1986.
“This is an environmental issue that was rediscovered and it was finally phased out, but it could have been done early on with even the slightest precaution, because everyone knew about lead poisonings,” Kovarik said.
“As we look to some future of environmental sanity, this is a great example of where we could have done better. We have to learn from this.”
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10/28/2011 11:41
AsiaNews.it - MYANMAR: A law to "legalize" street protests in Myanmar
The rule proposed by the Minister of Interior and approved by the Lower House is now before Upper House of Parliament. Then it must be ratified by a committee, the majority of which puts the end of ethnic conflicts as a precondition. In Yangon 15 political prisoners on hunger strike concerned about the conditions of monk Ashin Gambira.
Yangon (AsiaNews / Agencies) – A bill making "peaceful demonstrations" legal is under review by the Burmese upper house of parliament, if approved - and ratified by the Audit Committee - the bill would have a historical significance for Myanmar: after decades of military rule, it would authorize public demonstrations of protest. The last time the democratic opposition and the monks took to the streets in September 2007 against the rising price of petrol, the army violently suppressed the "Saffron Revolution" causing several deaths and numerous arrests. However, the new "civilian" government - the result of the "sham" election of November 2010, orchestrated and supported by the military - continues to use an iron fist against protesters; yesterday, police stopped a protest by force street in Yangon, arresting four people. One hundred farmers had gathered in the morning to denounce the confiscation of their land and demand their restitution.
In late September, the Interior Minister Ko Ko sponsored a bill called “peaceful gathering and procession", approved October 3 by the lower house. Now the norm is before the second branch of the national parliament of Burma, but must overcome the resistance of a group of deputies, on the condition that they agree to end conflict with the ethnic rebels, in the Kachin and Shan States.
The parliamentary opposition - the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) has no representatives because it refused to register during the 2010 election campaign - is requesting further loosening of restrictions. Thein Nyunt, former National Democratic Force (NDF) and now the National Democratic Party (NDP) has proposed four amendments to the law which at present prohibits slogans and requires the registration (in reality the opening of security files) of the protest leaders.
Upon Upper House approval, the bill would have to run the gauntlet of the Bill Committee, two-thirds members of t the governing party - a direct emanation of the army - the Union Solidarity and Development Party ( USDP). The USDP hawks inside the Committee clarify that the law can only be enacted "when peace is restored in all regions or states."
Despite the recent opening of the executive Burma, including the release of some political prisoners last week, decided in the context of a general amnesty by President Thein Sein, the conditions of those still in prison - at least 1700 - for "crimes of opinion" remain critical. Among these is a particular concern over the health of Buddhist monk Ashin Gambira, one of the leaders of the 2007revolt who is reported to be the victim of torture in jail.
To protest the terrible conditions in prison for political prisoners, 15 of them closed in the Insein prison in Yangon have begun a hunger strike. They are demanding their release, as with other prisoners in recent days.
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Political Prisoners Are Burma's Unsung Heroes
By Christian Papesch
NEW YORK, Oct 27, 2011 (IPS) - In a move that highlighted its sub-par human rights record, the government of Burma announced Oct. 11 that it would release 6,359 prisoners, but how many of these will be drawn from the country's estimated 500 to over 2,000 political prisoners remains uncertain.
The following day, Burma, officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, set free the first 200 prisoners.
Among them was comedian and activist Zarganar, who was arrested in June 2008 for speaking to foreign media about the precarious situation of millions of Burmese left homeless in the Irrawaddy delta following a devastating cyclone. Five months later, Zarganar had been sentenced to 59 years in prison for public order offences.
Even though international activists and organisations such as New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) generally appreciated the initial wave of releases, they remain critical about the actual reach of the announcement.
"It is a positive step in terms of those individuals and their families, but in terms of bigger amnesties they should really release all prisoners unconditionally," Elaine Pearson, deputy director of HRW's Asia division, told IPS.
"It is really quite a small step forward. These people are not bargaining chips or hostages for the military to play with. They're people who have been unjustly imprisoned."
"Into the Current", a documentary by Bangkok-based American filmmaker Jeanne Marie Hallacy, portrays some of those prisoners and gives an overview of the political and social situation in Burma, a country that was under military rule from 1962 to 2011.
"The most challenging aspect of the film was that we knew that we had to rely upon memory," the director said in an interview with IPS.
"It was really challenging for us to find a way that we could be provocative and evoke the kind of deep emotion and passion that people experienced in prison without having visual evidence of what they actually experienced," she explained.
But this lack of visual imagery also lends itself to the oppressive and alarming atmosphere of "Into the Current". By relying on statements made by former prisoners, the political terror of an oppressing regime acquires a face, a voice and a destiny.
One of the thousands of prisoners who endured the cruelty of Burma's jails is Thet Moo, imprisoned for seven years for being a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), which helped organise the 1988 pro-democracy national uprising that was violently suppressed by the military junta.
In prison, "we don't know our future," Moo told IPS. "I don't know if I can get out alive or not."
Not only are mental and physical punishment the order of the day for the majority of prisoners, but filmmakers like Hallacy along with journalists supporting her work in Burma also face serious daily threats.
"Working inside the country is extremely difficult for journalists and media," the director, who has not been granted a Burmese visa since the late 1990s, said.
"We have seen Burmese journalists who have been sentenced for 65 years for one story. And we have gotten corroborated information that they have been tortured in order to have them spill out other information about their colleagues in this underground network of media who gather information."
For this reason, a lot of the material used in the film is old footage shot by Hallacy during the 1990s, secretly filmed recordings or personal statements and objects – portraits of families, letters to friends or a song sung by a prisoner himself.
"People respond to stories of individual human beings – people who are fathers or mothers or have sisters or brothers who are in prison," Hallacy said.
"They're numbed by numbers," she elaborated. "If you cite a statistic, it's meaningless to most people. But if you try to bring into focus a few of these heroes and heroines and their acts of courage it speaks on behalf of the whole."
The broader image that "Into the Current" draws of Burma is a negative one, but the film's message is not completely pessimistic. At the end, protagonist Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner who is currently in exile in Thailand, finally gets to see his wife and little daughter again.
Even though their family cannot yet lead a normal life in Burma, hope for a better Burma does exist, especially after last year's election of a new government.
"The problem of the new government is that their bureaucracy is very slow," Thet Moo explained. "We are waiting for them to change. If they are changing, everybody would want to return to Burma."
For Pearson, the second largest country in Southeast Asia still has a very long way to go. "Burma has one of the most desperate human rights situations in the world," she said. "We haven't seen the new government really putting in the effort to effect change in the country."
The great white hope of Burma – and one of the characters to which the film repeatedly refers – is Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition politician and 1991 winner of the Nobel Peace Price "for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights".
"The message of the film was to convey that non-violence is their path," Hallacy pointed out.
"That's what will prevail change – not vengeance, not hatred, not retribution but actual inclusion and responding to cruelty with kindness, because that's what changes people. When you change people's hearts, you change people's politics."
Aung San Suu Kyi has never been in jail, but she has been under house arrest for 15 of the last 21 years. This is one of the reasons why the politician has become a symbol of opposition against oppression for many Burmese, especially those who still remain in prison for their resistance against the governing system.
"We saw the release of 200 political prisoners, there is still another 1800 that remain in prison," Pearson concluded. "These are people who have criticised the government, written controversial articles in the media, participated in demonstrations. They are not people who should be in prison. They are people who should be part of the community."
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Toronto Star - No Burmese Spring for country’s beleaguered youth
Published On Thu Oct 27 2011
By Olivia Ward Foreign Affairs Reporter
Mi Aie Son was just 11 when she began her first job. In fact, the slender little girl from Burma’s ethnic Mon region held two farm labour jobs: both grubby, uncomfortable and bone-achingly exhausting. They began when her school day ended.
Aung Naing Soe was finishing high school in his village in Western Burma when the authorities came to call. A road-building project was pending and each family had to ante up one member for the work gang or face stiff fines. To save his parents, he volunteered.
“You had to bring your own food and shovel,” he said. “There was no transportation so you slept at the side of the road. When the rains came, that meant in the mud.”
Both Mi and Aung seized the chance to flee to Thailand — Mi making a dangerous hike through the jungle to the border, and Aung bribing checkpoint guards with small change as he escaped across the country by bus.
In Toronto Wednesday on a speaking tour hosted by CUPE, Canadian Friends of Burma and the CUSO-VSO development charity, the two are now veteran activists working to create change from within.
Mi chairs the Mon Progressive Youth Organization, and spearheaded a campaign to raise awareness of Burma’s 2007 Saffron Revolution. Aung heads a multi-ethnic forum for youth empowerment and indigenous rights.
Based in Thailand, they train other young Burmese to spread democracy in one of the world’s most repressive countries. And they warn that a silent crisis is building among the country’s impoverished and unemployed youth.
“Young people have no rights in Burma, and most of them don’t even know they should have rights,” said Mi. “Most can hardly afford to stay in school. Even if they go to university, there are no jobs. They know there is only one way out, and that is to leave the country.”
Although Burma’s military junta formally ceded power to civilians last March, the new regime is dominated by former generals, and its president resigned from the army to run in an election won by the military-backed USDP party.
There have been some advances: democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest last year and an amnesty was declared for more than 6,000 prisoners this month, after 7,000 were released in 2009.
But Mi and Aung say that so far it’s mostly smoke and mirrors. The corruption that kept their families penniless and forced Mi’s parents off their tenant farm is still rampant. And only 200 of the 2,000 or more political prisoners have been released. Among the detained are some young recruits they trained themselves.
Even in the cities, Burma’s youth are struggling to find a future.
“For the young, there is no youth,” said Aung.
Unlike those in the Middle East, most young people in Burma are unaware of what is happening outside their own country. And with few modern tools such as computers and smartphones — and with a network of informers keeping an eye on potential opposition — they cannot plan or connect with their peers.
With help from Canadian and other NGOs in Thailand, Aung and Mi smuggle groups of young people across the border, train them in basic communications skills, equip them with video cameras, and help them to plant seeds of democracy and human rights in Burma’s thin soil.
But they are not optimistic that a “Burmese Spring” will happen anytime soon.
After thousands in the peaceful protest movement were imprisoned, tortured or killed, they say there is no one left to spark a new uprising.
“The leaders are still in jail,” said Aung. “It’s good that Aung San Suu Kyi is free, and she can give some advice. But she is mainly a figurehead. Young people are waiting, and they’re not ready to start a revolution. Not yet.”
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New Kerala - Burmese Python may harbour human heart disease cure
Washington, Oct 28 : Scientist have identified three fatty acids involved in the extreme growth of Burmese pythons’ hearts following large meals, which they believe could help in treating diseased human hearts.
Growth of the human heart can be beneficial when resulting from exercise – a type of growth known as physiological cardiac hypertrophy – but damaging when triggered by disease – growth known as pathological hypertrophy.
The new research co-authored by a University of Alabama scientist described a potential avenue by which to make the unhealthy heart growth more like the healthy version.
“We may later be able to turn the tables, in a sense, in the processes involved in pathological hypertrophy by administering a combination of fatty acids that occur in very high concentrations in the blood of digesting pythons,” said Dr. Stephen Secor, associate professor of biological sciences at UA and one of the study’s co-authors.
“This could trigger, perhaps, something more akin to the physiological form of hypertrophy,” he added.
The researchers identified the three fatty acids, myristic acid, palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid, for their roles in the snakes’ healthy heart growths after a meal.
They then took these fatty acids from feasting pythons and infused them into fasting pythons.
Afterward, those fasting pythons underwent heart-rate growths similar to that of the feasting pythons.
In a similar fashion, the researchers were able to induce comparable heart-rate growths in rats, indicating that the fatty acids have a similar effect on the mammalian heart.
The finding will be publishing in the Oct. 28 issue of Science.
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China Economic Net - 3 CCTV channels start launching in Myanmar
Last Updated(Beijing Time):2011-10-27 19:24
Three China Central Television ( CCTV) channels -- CCTV-4 (Chinese), CCTV-News (English) and CCTV-9 (Documentary) started launching in Myanmar Thursday in cooperation with Myanmar's semi-government MRTV-4 and Sky Net.
MRTV-4 is operated by the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) with the cooperation of the private Forever media Group, while the Sky Net is run by the MRTV with the private Shwe Than Lwin company.
Attending the launching ceremony here were Tian Jin, Vice Minister of the State Administration of Radio Film and Television of China and U Soe Win, Deputy Minister of Information of Myanmar.
The three CCTV channels' programs will be rebroadcast by MRTV-4 and Forever Media Group in Myanmar via Sky Net DTH Platform and Forever Group Digital Terrestrial Television System under a cooperative protocol reached among them.
CCTV-4 was launched on Oct. 1, 1992 which is the only CCTV international channel broadcast throughout the world in Chinese, while CCTV-News, a 24-hour English news channel, was launched on Sept. 25, 2000 and CCTV-9 Documentary is a 24-hour specialized documentary channel which is broadcast both in Chinese and English globally.
With the development of China-Myanmar relationship during recent years, the cooperation and exchanges between the two countries in terms of culture, arts, broadcasting and films are becoming closer.
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Thai News Agency MCOT - RI Foreign Minister visiting Myanmar
Jakarta, Oct 28 (ANTARA) - Foreign Affairs Minister Marty M Natalegawa is visiting Myanmar from October 28 to 30, 2011 with the main purpose of gauging the country`s readiness to chair ASEAN two years ahead.
The visit is being made based on a mandate from he 44th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting which took place in Bali last July, the foreign ministry said in a press statement here on Thursday.
In Myanmar, Marty would observe its government`s preparations to assume the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2014.
During his stay in Maynmar, Marty would among other things pay a courtesy call on Myanmar President U Thein Sein.
He will also hold meetings with his Myanmarese counterpart U Wunna Maung Lwin and a few other ministers, political party leaders, the speaker of the Myanmar parliament, members of the human rights commission and civic society representatives.
Myanmar wants to chair the 10-nation regional grouping in 2014 although according to tradition it would actually be Laos` turn.
Cambodia and Brunei Darussalam would take the ASEAN chair in 2012 and 2013 respectively, while Myanmar was initially projected to do so only in 2016.
Indonesia is the ASEAN Chair for 2011. ASEAN groups Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
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Last updated: October 24, 2011 10:29 a.m.
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Students’ service to aid others
Area colleges accept Obama’s challenge
Devon Haynie | The Journal Gazette
A few months ago, Ivy Tech-Northeast student Richard Helmke didn’t know much about his Burmese neighbors.
Their culture and traditions struck him as odd, he said. And he kept his distance.
But on Sunday, he found himself raking leaves and picking up trash in southeast Fort Wayne’s Autumn Woods apartment complex, home to hundreds of Burmese immigrants.
He was one of about 60 Ivy Tech and University of Saint Francis students participating in “a day of service” – a community service day meant to assist local Burmese.
The event is part of Better Together, a yearlong project by both colleges to promote understanding of the local Burmese population.
As part of classroom activities tied to the program, Helmke watched a documentary about Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and attended a photo exhibit about conflict there.
“Now that I know a lot more about them, I think I’ll be a lot more accepting,” he said of his neighbors.
In addition to sprucing up Autumn Woods apartments, volunteers also expanded a community garden used by some Burmese behind St. Henry’s Catholic Church. The volunteers ended the day with a dinner prepared by Ivy Tech-Northeast students.
Both campuses launched their yearlong programs after accepting President Obama’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge.
The initiative, which more than 200 colleges and universities pledged to participate in, endeavors to build understanding between different communities and contribute to the common good.
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Foreign Policy In Focus - An Arab Spring in Burma Requires Alliance Between Armed and Nonviolent Resistance
By Russ Wellen, October 28, 2011
In the Ten-Year Review of Dictator Watch, his invaluable site dedicated to rolling back the repression of Burma's military regime, Roland Watson presents a tactful, nuanced appraisal of the Nobel laureate who is the leader of Burma's pro-democracy movement.
"Daw [Mrs.] Suu is the moral leader of Burma, and here through her sacrifice and courage she has set a shining example. … Daw Suu has said that Burma requires a Spiritual Revolution [and] that there should be no fighting -- she has never offered any positive reinforcement to the armed struggle of the ethnic nationalities, even though acknowledging specific and widely publicized Burma Army atrocities against them. [But] she should understand that her silence has the effect of de-legitimizing their struggle. … This puts the people of Burma in a difficult situation. Should the ethnic groups fight or not? Their people are being attacked, so they have to fight, but Daw Suu apparently does not agree.
… It is not good enough to tell the people to wait. There is a terrible cost to this. More ethnic villagers will be killed or lose their livelihoods; more ethnic resistance -- and Tatmadaw [Burma's army] -- soldiers will lose their lives. … Even with a position of non-violence, Daw Suu should confer with representatives of the ethnic nationalities. … By talking together now, not only can they unearth opportunities to push for freedom, they will be building a pattern of cooperation for when Burma is democratic.
The view of Watson and Dictator Watch is
… that strategy for the Burma pro-democracy movement is relatively simple, albeit complex to implement. The movement has two arms, non-violent protestors and ethnic rebels.
But, rather than opposing each other, they can instead complement and work together.
Watson concludes:
If the people start protesting, and the ethnic groups launch offensive operations wherever and whenever possible, the regime will not be able to handle it.
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Foreign Policy In Focus - Review: Give Refuge to the Stranger
By Dong Yu, October 28, 2011
The United States is an immigrant nation, a haven for those fleeing persecution. This image of a welcoming country, however, has dramatically changed since the Cold War. In the shadow of 9/11 and the recent economic recession, the immigration issue has become increasingly sensitive. Xenophobia, job competition, and the federal government's limited resources have led to rigid and even harsh immigration policies and legislation. This change in public opinion and government policy has undermined the right of asylum.
In her new book Give Refuge to the Stranger: The Past, Present, and Future of Sanctuary, Linda Rabben — a writer, educator, and activist who has worked on refugee issues for 20 years — argues that it is necessary to educate the public about refugee and asylum issues by recalling the acceptance of Jews during World War II and Central Americans in the 1980s. Providing a detailed historical review of the transition from religious sanctuary in ancient times to the secular legal asylum system of today, Rabben tries to establish that sanctuary is a universal value rooted in human nature.
Rabben begins with scientific studies demonstrating that the phenomenon of sheltering strangers existed even in primatesocieties. Not only did the earliest human beings probably engage in such behavior, but such altruism may well have been the basis of morality in human development. From Greek and Roman civilizations to the "cities of refuge" in the Old Testament to the role that mosques have played in Islamic culture, ancient societies with different cultures and religions share the same tradition of providing asylum. In the medieval age, sanctuary represented the church's privilege over the monarch and secular rule. By the 17th century, however, sanctuary had become less a religious tradition than a legal institution under the state's sovereignty, and states used asylum as a tool for their own political purposes.
In the 20th century, the asylum issue became intertwined with immigration policy. There has been a growing cleavage between government and public attitudes about refugee and asylum seekers, even in the rescue of European Jews during the Holocaust. On one side, brave people in Nazi-occupied countries, such as in the French village of Le Chambon, sheltered Jews even at the risk of death, and different branches of Christianity cooperated in the Refugee Children's Movement. On the other side, governments were reluctant from the very beginning to become directly involved in refugee transportation and resettlement. After they allowed Jews to reside in their countries, they did not have a long-term policy to integrate these foreigners into local society and prevent workplace discrimination.
For Americans, the issue of sanctuary became perhaps most salient in the 1980s with the rise of the sanctuary movement. In order to save Salvadorans, Chileans, and other Central Americans from political persecution and violence, many grassroots groups, individual Americans, and churches helped to shelter these refugees despite the risk of arrest and felony charges. The movement steadily spread from the Southwest to the whole country. As Rabben notes, the movement "operated in the public realm, and it used political strategies to gain political objectives" such as pressuring the government to review its asylum policies and legislations.
By narrating numerous stories from refugees and asylum seekers, Give Refuge to the Stranger reveals the terrible challenges they currently face in the United States and other countries: the inadequate care and inhumane detention conditions, the arbitrary and reckless deportation system, and the lengthy and unreasonable application hearing procedures. In reviewing the fluctuating public opinion in western countries about the swelling refugee population, Rabben concludes that altruism and a fear of competition with outsiders create a tension at the heart of asylum policy.
Nevertheless, the book ends on an optimistic note in its description of the new sanctuary movement in the United States and examples from other countries, such as Glasgow's successful cooperation between government and local communities in refugee resettlement and integration. In general, Linda Rabben’s new book is an important look at an often-forgotten history and a much-needed movement. It highlights the policy dilemma that most governments face: to comply with universal morality and legal obligations to international society while balancing voter preferences.
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October 28, 2011 20:28 PM
Tents, Generators And Filters For Flood-hit Neighbours
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, through the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), will provide items of basic necessity to flood-hit Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said they would be provided with tents, power generators and water filters.
"Cabinet and the National Security Council (NSC) had been briefed on the matter. NSC will arrange to send the items as soon as possible," he said here.
Ahmad Zahid said those who wanted to contribute aid should hand them to MINDEF which would help send them to the countries concerned.
Meanwhile, he syampthised with Thailand which was unable to send its teams to the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition on Dec 6-10.
A total of 373 people were killed in Thailand which had been hit by floods since July. Myanmar had 100 casualties after it was hit by floods since last week. In Cambodia, 247 people had died from floods since August.
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Infosecurity magazine - Taiwan takes top spot from Myanmar as malicious internet traffic source
27 October 2011
Taiwan, Myanmar, and the US held the top three spots on Akamai’s list of sources of malicious internet traffic in the second quarter of 2011, accounting for 27% of observed malicious traffic combined.
Taiwan jumped to first, displacing Myanmar, which held the top spot in the first quarter of this year. That was the first time Myanmar had appeared on the Akamai top 10 list of malicious internet traffic originators.
Akamai measures malicious internet traffic based on what it terms “attack traffic.” The company maintains a distributed set of agents deployed across the internet that monitor attack traffic. Based on the data collected by these agents, Akamai identifies the top countries from which attack traffic originates, as well as the top ports targeted by these attacks.
Rounding out the top 10 attack traffic sources were China, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, India, Egypt, and Romania, according to the Akamai’s 'State of the Internet Report for the second quarter of 2011'. Egypt returned to the top 10 list for attack traffic after last appearing in the fourth quarter of 2010.
“We unfortunately do not have insight into whether these attacks are directly sourced within these countries or if there is something within the country that is being used as a proxy”, David Belson, author of the Akamai report, told Infosecurity.
The top 10 ports targeted by attack traffic accounted for 64% of observed attack traffic. While not the top targeted port, Port 80 (WWW) remained a very popular target, especially among the attack traffic originating from Myanmar, according to the report.
“The top ports remain consistent. They may shift in ranking from quarter to quarter. We are still seeing a lot of attack traffic targeting Port 445, which was the one previously associated with Conficker”, Belson said.
Reviewing data collected over the past several years on client-side SSL ciphers, Akamai said that SSL appears to be getting safer and more secure over time – the trend is toward stronger ciphers, driven by the adoption of more modern web browsers and encryption techniques.
Akamai explained that an SSL cipher is an encryption algorithm that, in combination with an exchanged key, is used to create a private encrypted connection between two networked computers, which blocks outsiders from accessing communications taking place over the connection.
“One of the things we started looking at this quarter is the data we have internally around SSL and client-side ciphers….What we are seeing is a trend toward stronger SSL ciphers”, Belson said.
“There has been a lot of press lately on SSL. Is SSL really secure? But this has to do with certificate authorities [CAs] and problems around compromised CAs and bogus certificates being generated. From that perspective, there are still a lot of challenges for SSL. But from an encryption perspective, things appear to be getting better”, Belson observed.
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Human Rights Watch - Japan’s Special Relationship with Burma?
by Kanae Doi
Published in: Asahi Shimbun WEBRONZA
October 21, 2011
The visit by Burma’s foreign minister to Japan this week, the first by such a senior official in 16 years, is an opportunity for Tokyo to put the long and vexed relationship between the two countries on the right track. Bureaucrats and corporations will be urging the Japanese government to increase overseas development assistance and investments in Burma’s emerging markets, especially the lucrative natural resources sector. Their argument will be that aid and trade coupled with quiet diplomacy is the best approach to encouraging reform in long isolated, repressive Burma.
This is not the approach Japan should take. It has been Tokyo’s policy toward Burma for decades, and it has not worked. Burma’s government is engaging in a sophisticated campaign to convince the world that is in transition from a military regime to a more open society. Japan should try to capitalize on its recent promises by pressing for genuine human rights reforms.
Burma’s government, formed on March 30 and consisting mainly of former military officials, has promised economic, political and legislative reforms. It has softened its rhetoric by using language on human rights and democracy, met with the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and loosened some restrictions on the media. President Thein Sein, a former general, has called on exiled dissidents to return. Crucial by-elections are slated for the end of 2011. There has been increased pressure on the government to allow the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) to register and possibly to offer candidates in the elections, though no decision has been made.
The suspension of a massive Chinese-financed hydro-electric dam in Kachin State on September 30 was another surprise gesture. However, the controversy around the dam should send important warning signs to Japan that investment in natural resource extraction in Burma without significant human rights reforms could fuel abuses, destabilize the environment, and facilitate corruption.
Last week, the Burmese government released 220 of its approximately 2,000 political prisoners in a total amnesty of more than 6,000 prisoners in a humanitarian gesture. This continues the trend over the past decade in Burma in which much heralded amnesties free only a fraction of dissidents. Burma’s favorite comedian, Zargana, expressed his disappointment with the amnesty, saying on his release: “The government does not have a true desire to release all political prisoners…Is there any cost to them in releasing the political prisoners?” Aung San Suu Kyi, who has cautiously welcomed some of the government’s actions, said the amnesty was insufficient.
Japan’s stated Burma policy is to encourage “solid democratization and national reconciliation,”
but this is a chimera when the military continues to conduct attacks on civilians in ethnic minority areas. Attacks by the Burmese army against civilians in conflict zones have intensified in 2011, with continued abuses in Karen State in eastern Burma, plus renewed fighting in the northern Kachin and Shan States, in which longstanding ceasefires recently broke down. An estimated 50,000 civilians have been displaced in this fighting.
Human Rights Watch has documented serious abuses by the Burmese army, including extrajudicial killings, attacks on civilians, unlawful use of forced labor, and pillaging of villages. Japan has so far demurred from supporting growing calls for a United Nations-led Commission of Inquiry into serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
Japanese officials have heralded positive gestures in Burma as a new page in their bilateral relationship, but Japan needs to do more to make these actions meaningful. For starters, the Japanese government should urge Burma to release all of its political prisoners immediately and unconditionally, abolish laws that are used to repress freedom of speech, association and assembly, and end violations of the laws of war against ethnic minority populations. The index for gauging genuine reform is an independent justice system, genuine democratization and a demonstrated commitment to address the grievances of the country’s minorities. Japan should push Burma to do better.
Kanae Doi is Japan Director in the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch, based in Tokyo.
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Friday, October 28, 2011OP-ED
The Daily Star - Burma on the cusp of change
Burma is on the cusp of change, according to diplomats based in Rangoon. There are continuous signs that the country's new quasi-civilian government is pursuing a real transition to democracy. Last week's release of more than two hundred political prisoners, including the renowned comedian Zaganar, is the latest signal that the new government is serious about political reform. Another batch of at least two hundred political detainees will be freed before the end of the month said a senior government minister on condition of anonymity.
In the past few months there has been growing signs that the new government formed more six months ago is serious about economic and political reform. "There is enough to make us cautiously optimistic, with the stress on optimistic," the head of the International Labour Organization in Rangoon told The Daily Star recently.
The winds of change are certainly beginning to blow through the country and real change seems to be in the pipeline. The key to this is the new president's willingness to accommodate the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. This rapprochement between Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi -- after their first meeting two months ago -- seems to have set a new tone for Burma's political future.
Even the pro-democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi seems to be more sanguine than before. "I believe we have reached a point where there is an opportunity for change," she told a small crowd of supporters gather outside the National League for Democracy's headquarters in Rangoon last month -- on the occasion of the International Day of Democracy.
"I think it would be fair to say that winds of change are clearly blowing through Burma. The extent of it is still unclear, but everyone who's gone there recognises that there are changes," US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said told reporters in Bangkok earlier this month.
However hints of real change continue to seep out of the regime -- though without any formal announcements. To mark democracy day, the government unblocked many international news sites, including the Bangkok Post, the BBC, the exile-run Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the Burmese language broadcasts of Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, all of which have been systematically blocked for more than two decades. This follows earlier relaxation of media censorship, including allowing access to Skye, Yahoo and Youtube.
Local editors and journalists have told The Daily Star that censorship has been virtually lifted, except in a few political sensitive areas. The head of the press scrutiny board, which polices local publications Tint Swe recently went on record calling foa an end to all press censorship.
There is certainly a new attitude amongst government ministers according to diplomats and UN officials who have been dealing with them for years. "Ministers are far more responsive than before," the ILO's Steve Marshall said in an interview with The Daily Star. "There's a real discussion now unlike under the previous regime. Decisions do not have to be passed back up to be approved."
The government has even enacted a new labour law which makes trade unions and limited strikes legal -- something that the former regime would never have allowed. The government -- for the first time since the military seized power in a bloody coup more than 23 years ago -- is making concerted efforts to tackle the country's poverty.
The newly elected parliament -- though many MPs owe their seats to a manipulated vote last November's election -- is beginning to function. The role of the parliament is also becoming crucial, as the speaker of the lower house, former general, Thura Shwe Mann tries to boost its influence -- and of course strengthen his role in government at the same time.
The debate in the parliament is much freer than it was when it first met in January. Significant motions have been passed, including calling for the release of political detainees. Oversight committees have been formed -- along the lines of the US Congressional system -- to make government more transparent and accountable.
The list of small changes and signs is endless. But the most critical is that the country's new quasi-civilian leader is looking to involve the democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in the country's political future -- albeit tentatively.
The recent landmark talks between the pro-democracy leader and President Thein Sein seem to set the pace for significant reforms, though much will depend on the government releasing all the political prisoners -- so far only 218 out of an estimated two thousand political detainees have been freed. There is no doubt though that the historic meeting between the Nobel Peace Laureate and the President in Naypyidaw in July signalled a real shift, especially on the part of the government.
While Aung San Suu Kyi was obviously happy with the outcome, she has revealed few details of their talks. There seems to have been a tacit agreement between the two not to reveal the content of their discussions. The two met privately -- "four-eyes," as Asian diplomats like to call it -- for a little over an hour. Few others have had that kind of access to the Burmese leader.
Both came out of the meeting relaxed and smiling. More importantly, a photo of General Aung San the opposition leader's father -- was purposely hanging in the presidential palace in which they met, according to Burmese government officials.
In the past decade, the former ruling general Than Shwe had tried to obliterate his name and image. But Thein Sein has pointedly shown his respect for the independence hero."It was important to show the Lady that we are willing to work with her," said a government official close to the president. "We see her as a potential partner, not an adversary."
In the meeting, Thein Sein talked about the role she could play in the future, according to sources in Naypyidaw. It was not a negotiation, but a trust-building meeting in which both leaders laid out some scenarios that could help the process of genuine reform and democracy take root, according to Burmese government sources. Thein Sein assured the pro-democracy leader that although her party is currently illegal, it would be left alone and she would be free to travel wherever she wants.
He also hinted that constitutional change would also be considered in due course. The NLD strongly objects to the pro-military constitution -- which was adopted in a sham referendum in 2008. It is this which largely caused the NLD to refuse to contest last year's elections.
She was treated as a VVIP, a Burmese academic at Aung San Suu Kyi's meeting with government ministers and advisors before-hand told this author. She was greeted warmly -- although not by all, as the hardliners opposed to Thein Sein's new era were aghast. The President's wife later invited her to an informal working dinner with other ministers' wives at the end of the day. The president's spouse is a keen admirer of the Lady, according to family friends.
Of course the issue of political prisoners was high on the agenda for the pro-democracy leader, who told her host that there could be no movement forward without their release first. Thein Sein knows that this is also the key to improved relations with the outside world -- and even with their neighbours and supporters in Asean. It would certainly smooth the path to Burma being confirmed as Asean chairman for 2014 later this year.
The president has kept the opposition leader up-dated on the forthcoming releases, according to NLD sources. But the release of political prisoners remains a delicate and vexed issue. General Than Shwe has made it clear on at least two occasions -- once just after the elections last year and again earlier this year before Thein Sein took over the reins of government -- that the release of political prisoners and the jailed military intelligence officers was not an option. Both Thura Shwe Man and Maung Aye tried to convince him to make the gesture, but he remained intransigent.
Of course, the recent motion to free political prisoners adopted by parliament by a large majority may have set the seal on the release of some them at least in the near future. It was highly significant that it was the speaker of the lower house, Thura Shwe Mann -- the former third top general in the junta's army -- that steered this through parliament.
When it looked like the motion was going to be rejected, the speaker called a 15-minute recess using the fact that the computer screens which show the voting results was down. During the break he convinced the military MPs -- who make up 25% of the parliament, a quota set be the new constitution adopted in a sham referendum more than three years ago -- to support the proposal. As a result it passed with a large majority.
Thura Shwe Mann is strongly supporting the president, according to sources close to him. He sees the issue of the release of political prisoners as something he can do which would make a difference -- both domestically and internationally. And the signs are that they will be released in the next few days, after the current parliamentary session finishes.
This is crucial, for the government cannot be seen to be bowing to international pressure. The freeing of these political activists is a necessary step in the democratic transition that Thein Sein says he is committed to. They have to be freed before the planned bye-elections -- possibly in November -- take place. And of course it is believed that the President promised Aung San Suu Kyi this, when they met last month.
But the most important thing to come out of the meeting, and which may have turned the page in Burma's long struggle for democracy, is the strong personal warmth that has developed between Aung San Suu Kyi and Thein Sein. This seems certain to set the stage for future cooperation. There are several personal matters that the two exchanged views on, according to sources in the Burmese government. Crucially Thein Sein has intervened to save the house in which Aung San and his family lived in Pymina, while he was leading the battle against the British for independence.
It is run down and was about to be demolished. Thein Sein intervened recently to ensure the building is left standing and is reportedly paying for its refurbishment. Aung San Suu Kyi has reportedly sent the president an old photo of the house with her standing outside it when she was a very young child in appreciation for his actions.
Aung San Suu Kyi also wants her youngest son, Kim Aris -- who has visited her in Rangoon several times now since her release last November -- to come to live in Burma and government sources told The Daily Star that he will be given a Burmese passport in the near future. This issue was initially broached between the pro-democracy leader and the president at their first meeting.
So it seems certain that the meeting has set the scene for significant changes in the future, including a role for Aung San Suu Kyi. Diplomats in Rangoon who have met the Lady recently all say she is confident about the future and optimistic about the possibility of genuine change. Thein Sein can be trusted, he is trying to reform the country, and needs support, she told them recently.
But the current optimism needs to be tempered, said a senior liberal-minded minister. The hardliners are still waiting in the wings to pounce, if they are given an opportunity to flex their muscles. These same hardliners -- led by the vice-president Thin Aung Mying Oo -- were not happy to see Thein Sein meet the Lady. Some ministers did not even know the meeting had taken place until they saw on the evening television news.
Many diplomats and analysts believe there is a real rapprochement under way. But Aung San Suu Kyi role is going to be crucial. She is obviously willing to support the president's reform process. But whether the next big step is taken will depend on Thein Sein and the government releasing most of the political prisoners, including the high profile activists. If this happens the NLD is expected to contest the forty parliamentary bye-elections -- scheduled for late November or early December -- with even Aung San Suu Kyi running.
While for the moment the signs are good, the hardliners are still lurking in the background ready to spring. "If we fail, we'll end up in jail," said a senior member of the government recently, on condition of anonymity.
Another military coup is also possible, if the army can be convinced that these changes are not in the interests of peace and stability. For the moment the army chief is supporting both the President and the Speaker of the lower house, but the army's continued support is by no means certain -- especially if the former military supremo Than Shwe decides to intervene.
The writer is a former Current Affairs Editor, Asia, BBC World Service.
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The Irrawaddy - NLD to Decide on Party Registration
Friday, October 28, 2011
The National League for Democracy (NLD), Burma’s main opposition political party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, will decide whether to officially register the party during a meeting of the NLD Central Executive Committee (CEC) next week.
Win Tin, a senior party leader and a member of the CEC, said that they would have an answer on the important issue of party registration next week.
The NLD decided not to register as a political party for the 2010 election because it objected to certain laws and obligations involved, including the requirement that a registered political party “preserve and protect” the 2008 Constitution.
Burma’s political party registration law was changed by Parliament on Thursday to state that “a party shall respect the Constitution.”
“It is better to ‘respect’ than to ‘preserve and protect’ the Constitution,” Win Tin told The Irrawaddy on Friday. “Every citizen shall respect the Constitution, law and order.”
Recently Parliaments passed a proposal to amend three clauses of the Political Parties Registration Law.
The clause titled “Preservation of the Constitution” was replaced by “Respect and Obedience of the Constitution.” Secondly, the clause in Section 10 of the act which prohibits “anyone convicted by a court of law from joining a political party” was removed.
The third amendment—arguably the most significant—scrapped the current law that maintains that, to be recognized, each political party must have contested a minimum of three seats in the previous general election.
The amended bill means that a political party is recognized as long as it has contested at least three constituencies in by-elections, 50 of which are scheduled for November.
“I would like the NLD to register and participate,” MP Thein Nyunt, a former NLD, told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
Khin Maung Swe, one of the leaders of the National Democratic Force (NDF) and a former member of the NLD, said that the NDF also wants Suu Kyi and the NLD to participate in the country’s political process and that Suu Kyi’s leadership is very important.
“The situation will be better if Daw Suu steps into the current political field with her registered party. Otherwise, it will not effective,” said Khin Maung Swe. “We are welcoming Daw Suu and her party to step into the political field because the democratic groups might become stronger.”
Aye Thar Aung, the secretary of the Committee Representing the Peoples’ Parliament, said, “By looking at the meetings of Aung San Suu Kyi and the president, the changes of some laws and the release of a few political prisoners, it seems that the government wants the NLD to participate in the current political field.”
Burma’s Election Commission announced the dissolution of the NLD in September 2010 because of its refusal to register as a political party.
Win Htain, an NLD leader and Suu Kyi’s close aide, said that the decision will be made with the participation of every single NLD member from the different townships.
“As for my opinion, I wish the party to register because of the current political situation in the country. I saw there are some improvements after Daw Suu met U Thein Sein,” said Win Htain.
The NLD won a landslide victory in Burma's 1990 general election, winning 392 out of 485 parliamentary seats, but the election was disallowed by the previous military junta.
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The Irrawaddy - Natalegawa Urged to Push Ethnic Issue
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, October 28, 2011
As Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa arrives in Burma on Friday on a visit deemed vital to advance Naypyidaw's bid to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2014, observers from both countries have called on the respective parties to use the trip as an opportunity for Indonesia to assist in settling Burma's ongoing conflict with ethnic minorities.
Burma's inability to end its ethnic conflicts—some of which have endured almost continuously for more than 60 years—is one of the priority issues on the agenda for the Indonesian foreign minister, alongside the release of political prisoners and democratic reform, as he schedules to meet Burma's President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Indonesia, itself ruled by dictatorship when Suharto wielded power between 1967 and 1998, shares certain geopolitical similarities with Burma, one of which is its diversity of
cultures, languages and religions.
Several observers concurred that Indonesia could lend advice to Burma's new government by recounting its own transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, as well as building peace with ethnic rebels—such as in th case of Jakarta's protracted war of 29 years with northern Sumatra's Free Aceh Movement.
Several experts who spoke to The Irrawaddy, echoed calls for Indonesia, as current chairman of Asean, to impose its authority by demanding Naypyidaw enact reforms because it is considered for the 2014 chairmanship, as well as using its experience to help facilitate democratization in Burma.
Most observers acknowledged that Burma's reforms must begin internally, but many also said that both the Burmese government and its pro-democracy opposition could benefit from Indonesia’s support.
Ahead of the Indonesian foreign minister's trip, regional watchdog Asean Inter-Parliament Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) called on leaders of the bloc nations to take the initiative in facilitating an inclusive peace process in Burma’s troubled border areas.
“It is now time for Asean to bring about its potential—to effectively act in line with the principles of its Charter—and utilize this opportunity to support peace and stability in its member state,” said the executive director of the AIPMC, Agung Putri Astrid, in a statement on Thursday.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, Anggara, a human rights advocate and lawyer who is the executive director of Jakarta-based Indonesian Advocates Association, said, “In relation to the minorities, especially the ethnic groups, I think this is a good dialogue-building opportunity through the involvement of third parties, as we ourselves experienced when dealing with Aceh.”
Burmese must show a willingness to unite, but at the same time recognize the differences in their cultural identity, and provide those ethnic groups with "Internal Self Determination," he said.
“However, this entire process should only be reached through dialogue between the central government and the ethnics groups,” he said.
After Suharto was forced to step down in 1998, Indonesia passed several constitutional amendments to promote political and economic reforms, as well as human rights.
Constitutional changes in Indonesia only happened after the general election of 1999 when we amended our constitution four times, said Anggara.
He said that Burma must first promote the establishment of democratic institutions such as NGOs, political parties and the judiciary.
A law that guarantees press freedom in Burma is a bonus, he added.
As a multi-ethnic nation like Indonesia, Burma must also respect the diverse culture of its ethnic minorities, said various observers.
Between 35 and 40 percent of Burma's 55-million population is non-Burman—indigenous groups such as Karen, Shan, Karenni, Kachin, Mon, Chin and Arakanese, almost all of which have fought against the central government for independence or autonomy for decades.
In an interview with The Irrawaddy in Yogyakarta in 2010, Thung Ju Lan, a professor at the Research Center for Society and Culture (Indonesia Institute of Science), said, “We have to learn from each other. The first thing we need to do is try to understand the differences and respect them.”
Aye Thar Aung, a Rangoon-based Arakanese politician said that real peace will not exist in Burma—a multi-ethnic nation—if the country keep neglecting the ethnic minority’s rights.
He called for the declaration of a nationwide ceasefire and peace talks between the government and ethnic armed groups. He also called for a constitutional amendment that would give real authority to ethnic state leaders.
The Burmese constitution was written by hand-picked representatives of the military junta in 2008 and has been widely criticized as unfair and biased toward the military.
In a visit to Jakarta in September this year, Burma’s delegation was reported seeking advice on how it should deal with requests for autonomy by ethnic groups in different states and regions.
Before leaving for Burma, Natalegawa said he would listen to voices from not only government and opposition groups, but also from civil society groups.
Observers speculated that a decision on Burma’s bid for the Asean chairmanship will be made at the upcoming summit in Bali in November, based primarily on the outcome of Natalegawa’s trip.
Burma—under the previous military regime—missed its turn in 2006 to act as chair of Asean in the face of strong international pressure led by Western countries, especially the US, which leveled criticism as the junta's record of human rights abuses and lack of progress toward restoring democracy.
But since November's election, Naypyidaw has been widely lauded for undertaking several promising steps, such as initiating dialogue with Suu Kyi, suspending the Chinese-financed US $3.6 billion Myitsone hydropower dam, and releasing some 200 political prisoners.
There are rumor that Burma plan to release another batch of political prisoners this weekend while the Indonesian foreign minister is in Burma.
Many of the observers who spoke to The Irrawaddy said they believed that, on this occasion, the Burmese government may be willing to heed foreign advice due to its preoccupation
with securing the Asean chair.
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The Irrawaddy - Invitation to Return Falls Flat Among Exiles
By SAI ZOM HSENG Friday, October 28, 2011
In August, Burmese President Thein Sein publicly invited exiles to return home, but his government has yet to put in place any formal policy or procedure that would allow them to feel secure in doing so. As a result, most Burmese exiles still have doubts about their ability to safely go back home and very few have actually accepted the invitation and returned.
“We have been forced to be in exile. One thing we have to be careful of is that the president’s talk is not a declaration of general amnesty like in 1980, during Ne Win’s government. It is just the talk of the president,” said Aung Moe Zaw, the chairman of the Democratic Party for a New Society, an organization operating in exile.
Aung Moe Zaw pointed out that in 1980, junta chief Gen Ne Win announced a general amnesty for exiles and prisoners under which many prominent exiles such as U Nu, Burma’s former prime-minister who Ne Win had ousted in a military coup, returned to the country. Without such an amnesty in place, Aung Moe Zaw said, exiles such as himself and his organization had no plans to go back to Burma.
Some international Burma observers, including the Brussels-based International Crisis Group and Georgetown University professor David Steinberg, have prominently featured Thein Sein’s invitation for the exiles to return home in making their arguments that significant reform is currently taking place inside Burma. But even sources close to the Burmese government have told The Irrawaddy that Thein Sein has undermined his own position on exiles by failing to follow-up with concrete actions making it easy for them to return home.
Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Thailand-based Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP-Burma), also sees Thein Sein’s invitation as weak without the backing of specific policies and laws that would protect the returning exiles.
“The president said the non-criminal exiles can return home. It is just talk and there’s no law or policy on this issue. It is not a part of reforming of country. The Burmese government has done this with the intention of making the exiles weaker,” he said.
Bo Kyi also said that despite some signs of openness in Burma, it is still hard to believe the government—as an example, he cites the Burmese foreign minister’s public position among the international community that there are no prisoners of conscience in Burma.
In addition, observers note that Thein Sein did not define what he means by “non-criminal,” and point out that many political prisoners currently held in Burmese jails were placed there on spurious “criminal” charges under draconian state security laws.
Members of Burma’s diverse ethnic groups who are living in exile are also cautious about returning home, with some even seeking asylum in foreign countries since the time that Thein Sein delivered the offer in his speech.
Zipporah Sein, the general-secretary of the Karen National Union, an ethnic armed group, said that if the Burmese government really wanted to show improvement it would release all of the political prisoners as the first priority and then institute a ceasefire with the ethnic armed groups.
“Human rights violations and battles are still happening in the ethnic areas. Those kinds of problems will never end without a political discussion and solution. I believe that without a political solution, no improvement will happen,” said Zipporah Sein.
Dr Maung Zarni, a prominent figure in the Burmese democracy movement and a research fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said that without analyzing how and why people became exiled, it is not possible to predict the conditions under which they would return to Burma.
He also said that personal safety is not the only factor that many exiles will take into consideration in making the decision of whether or not to go back home, noting his own personal experience of returning to Burma in 2005 after leaving his family and cancelling his asylum in the US, but finding upon arrival that there were so many Burmese government restrictions that he couldn’t do or write anything.
“If the people can’t think, discuss and express themselves freely yet, and if the government hasn’t become the servant of the people yet, no exiles will return home, including me, because the leaders of the country and the MPs are just people who suck the blood of the citizens and who control the people like animals.
Until there’s a system or government which treats people as human, I don’t see the exiles that have self-respect returning home,” Maung Zarni said.
Some actions taken by Thein Sein’s government have given exiles cause for concern that if they go back to Burma, their activities will in fact be restricted and they may not be allowed to leave.
A source close to the Burmese embassy in Bangkok said that exiles wishing to return home have to sign a five-point statement saying that they will: avoid actions and words which can harm the state; avoid writing, talking and lobbying which can harm the stability of the state; avoid contact with illegal organizations; avoid actions that are destructive or harassing; and be loyal to the state and stay within the law.
In addition, the source said that if any exile who has already requested asylum in any foreign country wants to return home, that person must leave their travel documents and identity card at the embassy, which will provide them with a letter of identity. There is no transparent policy stating whether the exiles who return home will be allowed to travel abroad once again.
Some exiles have found that they were not even welcome to return to Burma. Ba Aye and his wife, Than Than Nyunt, who are currently citizens and residents of Australia, received visas from the Burmese embassy in Canberra and returned to Burma on Oct 4, but the Burmese immigration office at the Rangoon International Airport didn’t allowed them into the country told them to go back to Australia.
Those who have thus far successfully tested the waters and returned from exile include persons who had become citizens of a foreign country and persons who remain citizens of Burma.
Harn Yawnghwe—who is a Canadian citizen, the director of the Euro-Burma office in Brussels and the managing director of the Democratic Voice of Burma—went back to Burma on Oct 21 and issued a statement saying that he did so because of Thein Sein’s invitation. However, Harn Yawnghwe also said that he was making a private trip to his hometown in Shan State and he had no political agenda, fixed itinerary or intention of acting on behalf of any organization during his stay.
Examples of exiles who remain Burmese citizens returning home include Peter Lin Pin, who was elected as an MP in the 1990 election, which the previous military junta disallowed, and some comedians from Tee-Lay-Tee Ah Nyeint, a traditional Burmese dance group.
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Ministers’ Office building will not be transformed into a hotel
Friday, 28 October 2011 21:59 Min Thet
Rangoon (Mizzima) – Burmese Industry Minister Soe Thein says the government will transform the historic Ministers’ Office building where National Hero General Aung San and other Burmese martyrs were assassinated into a museum; the building will not be leased to be used as a hotel.
“We will not rent it to anybody,” he said. “We will convert it into a museum, and we will open souvenir shops and food shops. So when foreigners visit there, our country can get foreign income,” Minister Soe Thein told local media in Naypyitaw on Tuesday.
A few days ago, Myanmar Tourism Board (MTB) chairman Khin Shwe said MTB would help anyone who wants to rent the building to be transformed into a a hotel.
The building on Bo Aung Kyaw Road in Kyauktada Township in Rangoon was built by the British in 1890 as an administrative office of the secretary-general of the government’s ministerial department.
The building was the location where Burmese National hero General Aung San and his cabinet members were assassinated shortly before independence by a rival political group led by Burmese politician U Saw and the location in which the first Burmese flag was hoisted to mark Burma’s independence from the British.
“There are some ancient buildings that could be suitable to be used as hotels. We will rent them to be used as hotels. Like big castles in Germany. The castles are being used as hotels. A palace in Russia is transformed into a museum too,” Minister Soe Thein said.
After word got around that the 120-year-old Ministers’ Office building would be rented out, various political parties and artists objected to the idea through the foreign media.
The Attorney-General Office building on Pansodan Road will also be conserved, Soe Thein said.
There are 189 old buildings in the Rangoon area, according to local officials.
In early 2010, the former junta privatized more than 110 state-owned businesses including clothing businesses, food businesses, household appliance factories, electrical equipment factories, cinemas and other state-owned buildings. In 2009, a total of 260 state-owned businesses, buildings and land were privatized, according to the Myanmar Privatization Commission.
The Minster’s Office holds a special place in the hearts of the Burmese public. In December 1938, student leader Aung Kyaw was beaten to death in front of the Ministers’ Office building by British government police in a student anti-colonial demonstration, in addition to the location of the assassination of General Aung San and his cabinet members.
“We need to talk about these historic buildings to new generations. The Ministry of Culture should shoulder the responsibility to preserve the historic buildings,” said Han Shwe, the spokesman of the National Unity Party.
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Large-scale gold mining on rivers to be shut down; panning ok
Friday, 28 October 2011 14:02 Min Thet
Rangoon (Mizzima) – Small-scale panning for gold will be allowed on Burma’s rivers and streams, but permits for large-scale mining will not be renewed when they expire in one year, according to the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River System (DWRIRS).
“The lifetime of gold mining permits is just one year. In the past, they could renew a permit. Now, gold mining permits cannot be renewed. So, it is not allowing gold mining [in the future’],” an official from Mining Enterprise No. 2 said.
In the past, the government allowed three types of gold mining along the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers: small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale.
In September, Mining Enterprise No. 2 announced that it would not allow large-scale gold mining in the rivers, streams and creeks of Burma. But, traditional small-scale panning for gold would still be allowed.
“We cannot forbid people who have to rely on traditional panning for gold from doing it. As usual, there will still be people who pan for gold by using pans and sieves, but they cannot harm the river,” an official from DWRIRS told Mizzima on condition of anonymity. The government banned gold mining to prevent rivers from being damaged, according to officials.
Most of the companies along the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers operate gold mines using machinery, and their practices can cause water pollution and harm the environment.
Small-scale gold miners pay 260,000 (about US$ 360) kyat per year; medium-scale gold miner pay 35 per cent of the gold discovered; and large-scale gold miners pay 50 per cent of the gold discovered as taxes to government, an official from the Ministry of Mines said on condition of anonymity.
According to environmental NGOs and other groups, in 1997, the Burmese government began giving gold mining concessions to Burmese businessmen. Land was often confiscated and villagers were denied access to upland farms. Many villagers had no alternative source of livelihood so they formed small groups and sold their land to invest in machinery and obtained gold mining permits. Traditionally villagers depended on rivers and forestlands for their livelihoods and cultural practices. The local environment has been severely affected in many areas.
A report by the Burma Environmental Working Group in June 2011 said gold mining operations have drained water sources, increased soil erosion, and polluted rivers with mercury and other chemicals. Mercury is highly toxic to the environment and poses serious risks to public health. The vast majority of toxic wastes from gold extraction processes is disposed of untreated directly onto land and into waterways, effectively poisoning the soil and compromising water quality. Mercury and other toxics are biomagnifying in food chains and accumulate in the tissues of living organisms, with negative effects on flora and fauna, local biodiversity and human health.
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Amended party registration law opens way for NLD to re-register
Thursday, 27 October 2011 22:32 Myo Thant
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burma's Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw on Thursday approved a draft law that amends three clauses of the Political Parties Registration Law including cancellation of the clause that restricted serving prisoners from being a member of a political party.
The existing party registration law says that a political party needs to contest in at least three parliamentary seats in an election. The amended law says that clause is not related to any new party that registers after the general election.
Moreover, there was a change in the wording that all political parties must "protect" the country's Constitution. It was amended to "respect" the Constitution.
"There is a difference between ‘protect’ the Constitution and ‘respect’ the Constitution. We have to respect all rules of law and the Constitution," said the NLD spokesperson Nyan Win.
The amended act was approved in the Upper House on October 5 and sent it to the Lower House for approval.
Observers said the amendments are designed to pave the way for the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, to re-register as a political party. The NLD decided not to re-register to run in the 2010 election, saying there were elements in the new Constitution that were undemocratic.
The amended act now awaits the president's signature to become a law.
Recently, Aung San Suu Kyi, the general-secretary of the National League for Democracy, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that her party would consider re-registration after studying the amended registration law.
Both Aung San Suu Kyi and party Vice Chairman Tin Oo were under house when the former military regime announced the election and party registration law. Political parties had 60 days to comply.
There were intense debates within the National League for Democracy, which would have had to oust many of its members who were imprisoned, if it wanted to re-register as a party. The decision not to re-register led to some top party leaders breaking away from the NLD to form a new political party, the National Democratic Force (NDF). The NDF won 16 parliamentary seats in the 2010 November election.
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DVB News - Suu Kyi, Zarganar to host film festival
By THUREIN SOE
Published: 28 October 2011
Burma’s independence day in January next year will be marked with the launch of a film festival organised by two of the country’s leading pro-democracy luminaries, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and comedian Zarganar.
Billed as the Art of Freedom Film Festival, it will open on 31 December and showcase both short films and documentaries. Suu Kyi is due to present awards to the festival’s winners on Independence Day on 4 January.
“The main theme is the idea that art can be created only when there is freedom, and film makers are to define freedom in their piece in whichever way they see it,” Zarganar, who was recently released from prison, told DVB.
He added that a number of entries were also likely to focus on the day Burma achieved independence after nearly a century of British rule. “Our main focus is about freedom and it doesn’t matter if they talk about history or not,” he said.
Also helping to organise the festival is former award-winning Burmese actor and director Kyaw Thu, whom since being banished from the film world has headed the highly-praised Free Funeral Service Society. The three will be joined by fellow film director Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi.
Zarganar, who served three years of a 35-year sentence after criticising the Burmese government’s woeful response to Cyclone Nargis in 2008, said he will be entering his own film focusing on the life of Thiri Thudhamma Khin Kyi, the wife of Burmese independence hero General Aung San and mother of Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi herself is the subject of French director Luc Besson’s latest offering, The Lady, which stars Michelle Yeoh and which yesterday opened the Rome film festival.
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DVB News - UN caginess hides a Kachin refugee crisis
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 28 October 2011
Reports that have emerged from Kachin state in northern Burma since the region spiralled into war earlier this year have made for grisly reading: close to 40 cases of rape of ethnic women by Burmese troops; countless incidences of forced labour; hundreds of civilians trapped in free-fire zones, and so on. After a brief lull, fighting has escalated in recent weeks, and is nearing an intensity not seen in the region for nearly two decades.
The meagre aid reaching victims of the conflict has largely been organised by local entities – churches, women’s organisations, and sympathetic families, as well as the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), whose armed wing has been battling Burmese forces since 9 June. These groups have been forced to step in and compensate for the lack of UN aid reaching refugees, which are thought to number between 25,000 and 30,000 – the vast majority are internally displaced persons (IDPs), while a few have managed to slip across the border into China.
Of that total figure, only around 6,000 are receiving UN aid, and the majority of these are in the Kachin state capital of Myitkyina and the towns of Bhamo and Waingmaw, which are under Burmese control. To date, no UN body will clarify why such a small proportion of refugees are being given assistance, although the most likely scenario is that the Burmese government has blocked offers of aid to those sheltering outside of its territory. UN envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana, one of the few Burma players in the UN who has not let up pressure on the regime, wrote in a recent report that UN offers appear to have been rebuffed by the government, which claims to be “[assisting] at the local level, and when needed they will seek further assistance from relevant partners.”
Claims that all refugees are being provided for, as the government seems to suggest, do not marry with independent local reports that have warned for months that food and medical supplies are low. Human Rights Watch said last week that Burmese troops continue to pillage villages, while supply lines carrying rice, medicine and water purification solution to the conflict zone have been blocked by the army.
The UNOCHA agency, which coordinates aid and which has an office in Rangoon, released a report in September that homed in on the needs of the 6,000-odd refugees in government territory that it has access to, whilst sidelining the 20,000-odd sheltering in Kachin areas. Nowhere in its ‘Recommendations’ section was there a call to allow them access to those 20,000. The reasons for its myopia may be manifold, but all point to a real reluctance to highlight ongoing, inhumane government and military policy towards Burmese refugees and IDPs. Acknowledging the thousands sheltering in KIO territory would go against Naypyidaw’s assertions that both the conflict is not on the scale feared, and that the vast majority of refugees have chosen to seek refuge in opposition territory rather than the government’s.
The arena that international aid groups in Burma work in is a fragile one, where criticism of the government can equal eviction or curtailment of operations. Thus they are effectively required to tow the official line (although the current OCHA head in Burma, Barbara Manzi, was more frank during a 2006 posting in Sudan when she told US diplomats that “confinement [of aid workers] is hampering food distribution to the estimated 73,000 refugees in need of food assistance” – a problem strikingly similar to the one in Kachin state now).
The major problem with the UN’s caginess is that projecting an artificial image of control means that backdoor donors who could channel crucial unofficial aid cross-border and through churches are not alerted to the crisis, while a complacency could set in among international donor countries who still see the UN as the most effective safety net for refugees in Burma. In short, although correcting government spin could well affect its work in the country, at least in this case it has proven to be an ineffective player.
When contacted by DVB, OCHA said that it could not comment on Quintana’s concerns that 15,000 were not receiving aid, but only that negotiations to get aid to all of those in need “is ongoing”. Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson, Martin Nesirky, also told a press briefing on Thursday that “assistance is being delivered in reachable areas … [and] discussions continue to ensure that assistance reaches all those in need.”
The guarded rhetoric is typical of the UN and other INGOs in Burma, whose public statements often vary greatly from concerns voiced behind the scenes. This is is understandable insomuch as the UN needs that continued access, but it paints a highly distorted picture: take the aid debacle after Cyclone Nargis in 2008, for example, when an OCHA staff member secretly told US officials that “the UN was concerned that ‘coming out strong’ on forced relocation [of cyclone victims by the army] at this time could jeopardize the access to the Delta the regime had recently granted UN international staff.” Private discussions with officials at the time, and which have now been leaked, showed that the extent of government ineptitude and paranoia, and the brutality of its treatment of victims, went far beyond what the UN was willing to publicly share with the world.
Another by-product of this policy is that it discredits the findings of local groups, whose work is often dismissed as politicised or rudimentary. The current crisis in Kachin state shows however that these groups are crucial to our wider understanding of the situation, and therefore that the impetus for action should not solely rest on ‘official’ bodies like the UN. Moreover, these somewhat blinkered assessments are being circulated at a time when the Burmese government is attempting, and with alarming success, to shore up its image; yet its denial of the extent of the crisis in Kachin state, which has been massaged by the UN, provides a fitting analogy for how much of the outside world has selectively judged the new government’s merits, whilst ignoring its major shortcomings.
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DVB News - Thailand ‘protecting migrants’ as water rises
By MAHN SAIMON
Published: 28 October 2011
Thailand’s labour minister says the government is working to ensure undocumented migrant workers can take shelter at relief centres and safely travel back to their home countries as the flooding crisis worsens.
Phadoemchai Sasomsap was visiting a migrant shelter in Nakhon Pathom province, west of Bangkok, on Wednesday. His proclamation follows reports that Burmese migrants have been subject to arrest as they try to flee affected areas in central and southern Thailand.
Sein Htay, spokesperson of the Thailand-based Human Rights Development Foundation, who met with Phadoemchai at the shelter, said the labour ministry would contact migrants’ “respective embassies for a form confirming their national identity and to ensure they get safe passage back to Burma”.
“So basically this is to protect them from getting arrested during this time of distress,” he said.
Thailand is currently experiencing its worst flooding in 70 years, with the death toll now standing at more than 370. Prime Minister Yingluck Sinawatra said there is a 50 percent chance Bangkok city centre will be submerged as thousands attempt to flee the capital.
Sein Htay said the ministry had also directed migrant employers to return legal documents to their workers and requested that the immigration department provide an extension to those whose visas are about to expire.
Thai law dictates that migrant workers are forbidden from travelling outside of the areas they were registered in, but police have now been ordered not to arrest those who flee their permitted zones to escape flooding.
The Nakhon Pathom province shelter currently houses around 500 migrants, the majority fromBurma, although that figure is expected to rise as more escape Bangkok.
Water levels on the Chao Phraya River, which weaves through Bangkok, today reached a record high, swamping the Grand Palace. Shops are running low on supplies as people stock in lieu of weeks of chaos.
Up to three million Burmese migrants live in Thailand, making up 80 percent of the country’s total migrant population, which accounts for five percent of its total workforce and seven percent of the country’s GDP.
The majority work in low-skilled factory jobs and without the legal safety net enjoyed by Thai nationals, resulting in lengthy struggles to access compensation for injuries and lay-offs.
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