News & Articles on Burma

Saturday, 01 October, 2011
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Myanmar Backs Down, Suspending Dam Project
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: September 30, 2011

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, left, and Labour Minister Aung Kyi spoke to reporters after a meeting on Friday. Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who had opposed the dam, welcomed the government's suspension of the project.

The Myitsone dam project would have been the first to span the Irrawaddy River, the largest waterway in Myanmar, and was a showcase project for the previous military government. The halt in construction was a victory for dissidents in a country with a long history of stifling opposition.

A number of prominent people inside Myanmar, including writers, scientists and the Nobel Peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, had opposed the project.

The government’s announcement underscores the nascent stirrings of democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, after a nominally civilian government took control from a military junta in March.

The dam’s suspension was a blow to China, long considered a benefactor to the government in Myanmar. China Power Investment, a state-run Chinese company, was leading the construction of the project, which would have delivered electricity to southern China. It is unclear how the suspension will affect six other Chinese-led hydroelectric projects in northern Myanmar.

The announcement on Friday was made during a session of Parliament in the capital, Naypyidaw. The statement acknowledged the role that public pressure had played in the decision.

“Being the government elected by the people, it upholds the aspiration and wishes of the people,” said a statement by President U Thein Sein, according to the Weekly Eleven, a newspaper in Myanmar. “It is also responsible to solve the problems that worry the public. Therefore, the government will suspend the Myitsone dam project during its tenure.”

Although top officials in Myanmar, including Mr. Thein Sein, are former military officers, the government has sought to distance itself from decades of army rule. The new government has loosened restrictions on the news media, is drafting laws on economic liberalization and is holding regular meetings with Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from years of house arrest last November. An estimated 2,000 political prisoners remain in detention.

Despite describing its decision on Friday as a suspension of the dam’s construction, Mr. Thein Sein’s statement seemed to suggest that the project would not continue, at least not in its current form.

“To fulfill the electricity need of the country, the government will continue to implement other hydropower projects that are not harmful to the nation after conducting systematic surveys,” it said.

The statement added that the government would negotiate terms with China “without affecting the friendly bilateral relations between the two countries.”

Chinese businesses have rapidly spread throughout Myanmar in recent years, causing friction in some areas. Chinese companies are sometimes blamed for deforestation and are resented for their voracious appetite for Myanmar’s natural resources. A pipeline that would carry natural gas and oil from the Bay of Bengal to southern China is currently under construction.

The Myitsone dam project, which was largely being carried out by Chinese workers, aggravated anti-Chinese sentiment. As the cradle of Burmese civilization, the Irrawaddy River carries great symbolic significance in Myanmar. Critics of the dam said the trade-off between the electricity that would be produced by the project and the potential environmental impact was not worth it.

A report commissioned and financed by China Power Investment actually highlighted these questions. The company never released the report publicly, but a copy leaked out and was shared among environmentalists and opponents of the dam.

The report said a number of migratory fish species were likely to be wiped out, and it warned that more studies needed to be carried out to understand the possible impact of the dam, which would have flooded 26,238 hectares, or 64,835 acres.

Two smaller dams on tributaries of the Irrawaddy could produce the same amount of electricity, the report said.

Ultimately, the authors concluded, “There is no need for such a big dam.”

A version of this article appeared in print on October 1, 2011, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Myanmar Backs Down, Suspending Dam Project. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/world/asia/myanmar-suspends-construction-of-controversial-dam.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
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Burma's convicts become unwilling pawns in a long and bitter civil war
guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 September 2011 21.50 BST Article history
Prisoners forced to serve as military porters in army's decades-long fight against insurgency
Esmer Golluoglu in Mae Sot

And the pawns are the Burmese convicts forced to work as porters on the frontlines. Made to carry heavy supplies, they are regularly beaten and used as human shields against landmines.

Those who have escaped form a growing underclass of refugees on the Thai border, where they eke out a meagre living and face deportation at any time. "I work for a day, eat for a day but I am now free," said Thay Utoo Ong at the secret location where he and three others met the Guardian. "With the army, I had to carry 35kg of water on my back for 13 hours every day, without food or water. I knew I was going to die if I stayed … I would either starve to death or be shot dead."

In January, the 32-year-old was one of 1,200 convicts taken to bolster a military offensive against ethnic insurgents. Many were subjected to torture or summary executions, or placed directly in the line of fire, recounted Maung Nyunt.

"One porter stepped on a mine and lost his leg; he was screaming but the soldiers left him there," he added. "When we came back down the mountain he was dead. I looked up and saw bits of his leg in a tree."

Since 1948 the Burmese army, or Tatmadaw, has been fighting a civil war against armed groups including the Karen, whose members want greater autonomy and an end to what they describe as ethnic cleansing.

Tens of thousands of civilians, historically press-ganged to work as military porters, fled to Thailand, forcing the army to use prisoners instead. "These are petty criminals with no understanding of the conflict or desire to be a part of it," said David Mathieson, a researcher with US-based Human Rights Watch.

Alongside Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), Mathieson has written a report that documents nearly 60 testimonies. It says prisoners have been used this way since 1992.

The report also stresses the army's continued use of teenage soldiers, such as Nyew Sing, 18, who was abducted from the streets of Rangoon in 2009 at the age of 17, and escaped in March.

"I was leaving a [Buddhist] festival when a plainclothes policeman offered to drive me home," said Nyew Sing. "But he took me to an army recruitment centre where I was held in a dark room for two weeks with other [young] guys, then sent to the frontlines."

Nyew Sing only realised his battalion would be fighting insurgents when "the convict porters arrived". He said: "I was put on night sentry duty and told by my officers to shoot any porters trying to escape. Then they said: 'If you try to escape we'll shoot you.'"

The report describes the army's repeated use of young people and convicts, as well as rape, torture and extrajudicial killings, as "abuses that amount to war crimes … committed with the involvement or knowledge of high-level civilian and military officials".

The UK and 15 other countries have backed calls for a UN-led inquiry. However, the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), of which Burma is a member, has remained silent.

Last week Burma created its own human rights commission, aimed at implementing the new constitution. Rangoon declared a civilian government in 2008 but many critics are doubtful about the 15-member commission's motives, especially as Burma has yet to acknowledge the 2,000 political prisoners thought to be in custody.

The KHRG report is a blow to Burma, which held elections in November 2010 for the first time in 20 years and released the long-time political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi. Many have called the new civilian government – which largely comprises retired army officers – a sham. Although the regime recently acknowledged the use of convict porters, it says they serve voluntarily and do not fight on the frontline.

This government statement does not ring true for Thay Utoo Ong and Nyew Sing, who escaped their battalions in the nighttime and fled to the Thai border.

They now survive on menial work for £2.50 per day, with some, including Nyew Sing, sleeping on factory floors. They are not safe even here. Stateless and paperless, they face deportation if caught by Thai authorities, and arrest or death if they return to Burma.

Some 150,000 Burmese refugees live in nine camps along the border. But that could soon change as the local Thai authorities recently called for the camps' closure, citing their "shelter to a resistance movement".

Poe Shan of the KHRG warns that repatriation could be disastrous for the refugees.

"Some came because they lost their homes or villages, others because of human rights abuses, or forced labour, or attack. This can't be just a discussion between the Thai and Burmese governments. It has to include the refugees themselves."Thay Utoo Ong, who risked arrest by stealing back across the Burmese border to find his wife, says he will stay in Thailand until freedom arrives in his native land. "We could achieve democracy in Burma if we combined all of our individual battles," he said. "The rebels aren't just fighting for their ethnic rights, they're fighting for freedom in Burma. As Burmese, we must be thankful for that." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/30/burma-convicts-civil-war
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China calls for talks over shelved Myanmar dam
BEIJING | Sat Oct 1, 2011 7:19am EDT

(Reuters) - China called on Saturday for talks with Myanmar after the government there suspended a controversial $3.6 billion, Chinese-led dam project.

After weeks of rare public outrage against the Myitsone dam, Myanmar's largest hydropower project, President Thein Sein told parliament his government had to act "according to the desire of the people.

Myanmar's then military government proposed the dam in 2006 and signed a contract in 2009 with the Myanmar military-backed Asia World Company and China Power Investment Corp to build it.

China's Foreign Ministry said "relevant countries should guarantee the legal and legitimate rights of Chinese companies."

"The Myitsone dam is a jointly invested project between China and Myanmar, and has been ... thoroughly examined by both sides," ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn)

"Both sides should appropriately deal with matters related to the progress of this project through friendly consultations," he added.

The northern Myanmar dam would have flooded an area about the size of Singapore, creating a 766-square-km (296-square-mile) reservoir, mainly to serve growing energy needs in neighboring China, which would have imported about 90 percent of its power.

In recent years, Myanmar's leaders have embraced investment from China as a deep and lucrative market for the former British colony's energy-related resources and to counterbalance the impact of Western sanctions imposed in response to human rights abuses.

But in recent weeks, the dam had become a symbol of resentment over China's growing influence and revealed a stark divide between cabinet ministers and parliamentary leaders, making it the first real public test over whether reformers or hard-liners had more sway over the country's direction.

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.

China has frequently expressed its concern at instability along their often mountainous and remote border, where rebel groups deeply involved in the narcotics trade have been fighting Myanmar's central government for decades.

Myanmar in turn looks warily at its vast neighbor, and has tried forging closer ties with India to offset China's influence.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/01/us-china-myanmar-dam-idUSTRE7900N120111001?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&rpc=401
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P R E S S
FOR FURTHER DETAILS:
Michael Mann +32 498 999 780 - +32 2 299 97 80 - Michael.Mann@eeas.europa.eu
Maja Kocijancic +32 498 984 425 - +32 2 298 65 70 - Maja.Kocijancic@ec.europa.eu
COMM-SPP-HRVP-ASHTON@ec.europa.eu
www.eeas.europa.eu
EN
EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 30 September 2011
A 393/11
Statement by the Spokesperson of EU High Representative
Catherine Ashton on the Myitsone Dam project in Myanmar
(Burma)
The spokesman of Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, made today the following statement:
We are encouraged by the news that the President of Myanmar (Burma) has decided to halt the controversial Myitsone Dam project in northern Kachin State. We welcome the Government's readiness to address the ecological and economic concerns about this project, and its willingness to listen to diverse voices on this subject following a strikingly open nationwide debate. It is encouraging to see the leadership starting to put into practice its commitment to be a “Government of the people”.
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/124858.pdf
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Myanmar leader-in-exile to visit SA
2011-10-01 08:45

Johannesburg - Myanmar's prime minister-in-exile Sein Win is to visit South Africa to accept an honorary doctorate on behalf of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, his spokesperson said on Friday.

Win would arrive on Saturday evening and stay until next week Wednesday, spokesperson for the Free Burma Campaign Thein Win said.

Seine Win would have a meeting with International Affairs and Co-operation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim on Monday.

He would also attend a public lecture delivered by the founder of the Free Burma Campaign's South African branch, Kiru Naidoothe, at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Monday.

The lecture, titled "Dilemmas in South Africa's relations with Burma", would include a live video broadcast with Suu Kyi.

On Tuesday, UJ would bestow an honorary doctorate of philosophy on Suu Kyi.

The conferral, at the university auditorium, would feature a pre-recorded video message from Suu Kyi.

She won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent struggle for democracy.

The military placed her under house arrest in 1989, offering to free her if she agreed to leave the country. She refused and demanded a return to civilian government and the release of political prisoners.

Although she led her National League for Democracy to victory in the 1990 elections, the ruling military junta refused to recognise the results.

The junta changed the nation's name to Myanmar, but many democracy supporters, including Suu Kyi, still refer to it as Burma.

Suu Kyi spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest. Her house arrest was finally lifted in November 2010.

After the 2010 elections, won by a party close to the ruling junta, military leaders turned over control to a nominally civilian government in March 2011. http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Myanmar-leader-in-exile-to-visit-SA-20110930
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China Urges ‘Friendly Talks’ With Myanmar on Dam Project
October 01, 2011, 8:19 AM EDT
By Bloomberg News

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for “friendly talks” after Myanmar suspended the construction of a hydroelectric dam being built by both nations.

China has always upheld “mutual respect” and “mutual benefit” in cooperation with other countries, the ministry said today on its website. Other governments should also respect the lawful and appropriate rights of Chinese companies, it said.

“The Myitsone dam is a joint venture between China and Myanmar,” according to the statement. “Both sides should have friendly talks over matters related to the project.”

--Feiwen Rong. Editors: John Chacko, Digby Lidstone

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Feiwen Rong in Beijing at frong2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jim McDonald at jmcdonald8@bloomberg.net http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-01/china-urges-friendly-talks-with-myanmar-on-dam-project.html
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Associated Press
China wants talks after Myanmar halts dam project
Associated Press, 10.01.11, 08:24 AM EDT

BEIJING -- China is urging Myanmar to protect Chinese companies' interests after the Myanmar president's surprising suspension of a jointly developed, but disliked, multibillion-dollar dam project.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, in a statement posted on the agency's website Saturday, called on Myanmar to hold consultations to handle any problems with the Myitsone dam project. The statement notes that the dam is a project both countries agreed to undertake and had been subjected to rigorous review.

The Myanmar president's announcement Friday came after the dam project drew strong opposition from environmental activists and ethnic groups living near the site.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/10/01/general-as-china-myanmar_8711376.html
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Myanmar calls surprise halt to controversial China-backed dam
By Mark Magnier and Simon Roughneen, Los Angeles Times
October 1, 2011

Reporting from New Delhi and Bangkok, Thailand—
Myanmar's president ordered a halt Friday to work on a controversial $3.6-billion hydroelectric dam backed by China, a rare concession to the political opposition and public displeasure.

President Thein Sein said in a statement read out on his behalf in parliament that the Myitsone dam project in the northern state of Kachin should be terminated because it is "against the will of the people."

The reversal — if in fact it proves to be one, given Myanmar's often opaque governance — seemed somewhat surprising in a country where leaders have for decades paid limited attention to the public's concerns.

As recently as a few weeks ago, Electric Power Minister Zaw Min vowed to forge ahead with the dam despite growing resistance and widespread criticism.

And if the project is ultimately shut down, given that construction has already started, it's not immediately clear how a halt might be carried out in politically isolated Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Critics led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi have argued in recent months that the dam would hurt the ecological balance of the vital Irrawaddy River, displace at least 10,000 people from 63 villages and submerge culturally important sites.

Rebels and residents also have voiced their opposition. Fighting in the area has intensified recently, and in April bomb blasts at the dam site destroyed cars and buildings, leaving one man wounded.

About 90% of the power generated by the project would go to neighboring China, the government has said, even though most Myanmar residents lack electricity.

Activists and dissidents opposed to Myanmar's military junta welcomed Friday's news as a rare case of the government relenting after public protest.

"But I'm not sure they'll really stop the project," said Htun Htun, program coordinator with India's Burma Center Delhi, an activist group. "The military junta has taken a lot of money from the Chinese, some say $700 million in bribes, so it could be difficult to halt it. Later on, it may continue."

Others said the Myanmar government was making a virtue of necessity.

"The government had little choice," said Col. James Lum Dau, a spokesman for the Kachin Independence Army, an ethnic militia group that has battled the government over the dam. "Since the fighting started, it has been impossible for any construction materials or supplies to get through from China to Myitsone."

The dam, outlined in a 2009 deal between China Power Investment Corp. and Myanmar's military-backed Asia World Co., would flood an area roughly five times the size of Long Beach.

Burma Rivers Network, a coalition of environmental groups in Thailand and Myanmar that opposed the project, said it expects the dam to go ahead unless China makes its own cancellation announcement and leaves the site.

Analysts said China, with its huge stake in Myanmar's resource-based economy and growing environmental opposition of its own back home, is likely to take the setback in stride until it can regroup.

Although opposition in Myanmar toward China's presence is growing, said Sean Turnell, an economist at Australia's Macquarie University, this decision could ruffle feathers among hard-liners connected to Beijing and the dam.

"A great and somewhat brave decision," he added.

Ever since the Myanmar military handed nominal power to civilians in March — parliament is still dominated by army officers or recent military retirees — there have been some modest signs of reform.

Suu Kyi, who was released last fall from long-term house arrest, has been given some leeway to travel and speak. The government has put out peace feelers to ethnic guerrilla groups, and it has tolerated a modicum of criticism.

This loosening trend is likely to continue for a time, analysts said, as Myanmar tries to persuade the international community to lift economic sanctions. On Thursday, the country's foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, met with Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, and U.S. special envoy to Burma Derek Mitchell at the State Department.

But activists said they didn't rule out another crackdown or the rearrest of Suu Kyi if the junta feels it is losing too much control.

"We'll have to see," said Htun Htun. "Right now there seems to be an opportunity, for both the government and Aung San Suu Kyi."

mark.magnier@latimes.com

Times staff writer Magnier reported from New Delhi and special correspondent Roughneen from Bangkok, Thailand. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-myanmar-dam-20111001,0,6135163.story