BURMA RELATED NEWS - NOVEMBER 10-12, 2011

Suu Kyi 'likely' to stand in Myanmar by-election
By Hla Hla Htay | AFP News – 11 hours ago
Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is likely to contest an upcoming by-election, a party spokesman said Saturday, paving the way for a political comeback after years of exclusion by army generals.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD), delisted last year for boycotting the first elections for 20 years, will consider on Friday whether to re-register as a political party, after Myanmar's president recently approved changes to the registration laws.

"The NLD is likely to register and also Daw Suu is likely to participate at the coming by-election," Nyan Win, a party spokesman told AFP. Daw is a term of respect.

It is not yet clear when a by-election will be held, but there are more than 40 seats available in parliament's two chambers.

Suu Kyi swept the NLD to election victory in 1990 but the party was barred from taking office, and it shunned last year's vote largely because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members. Suu Kyi was under house arrest at the time.

Locked up for 15 of the past 22 years, the 66-year-old Nobel peace prize winner was released from her latest stint in detention a few days after last November's poll, which was widely condemned as a farce by the West.

The new army-backed government has, however, surprised critics with a string of reformist steps, such as defying ally China by freezing work on an unpopular mega-dam in the north, and holding direct talks with Suu Kyi.

The daughter of Myanmar's independence hero Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947, Suu Kyi took on a leading role in the pro-democracy movement in 1988, the year that protests erupted against the military and were brutally crushed.

Widely known as "The Lady" in Myanmar, she became a beacon of hope for many in her country in the face of repression, but was widely feared by the military rulers.

While Myanmar's nominally civilian government is still filled with former generals, the government said in September it was ready to work with Suu Kyi and her party if they officially re-entered politics.

A decision to re-register is widely expected, with 100 senior NLD members gathering in Yangon on Friday to discuss the move.

Nyan Win did not comment on which constituency Suu Kyi would stand in, or what kind of position she expected, but party sources said she would contest in a Yangon township.

His comments came a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Myanmar needed to do "much more" to improve human rights, despite her belief that "real changes" were under way.

"We continue to call for the unconditional release of all political prisoners and an end to the violence in ethnic minority areas," she told reporters at an Asia-Pacific summit in Hawaii.

Myanmar's law on political parties amended this month, and endorsed by President Thein Sein, removes the condition that all parties must agree to "preserve" the country's 2008 constitution, according to state media.

The wording has now been changed to "respect and obey", it said -- a small alteration but one that would allow the NLD to criticise and suggest changes to the constitution.

Myanmar expert Aung Naing Oo of the Vahu Development Institute, a Thai-based think-tank, said the NLD's return to the political process would offer the country "a better relationship with the international community".

"It is really, really important for Burma. It will be seen as a normal country for the first time in 23 to 24 years," he told AFP, using Myanmar's former name.

Suu Kyi, who was feted by thousands of supporters in August on her first political trip outside Yangon since she was freed, is expected to hold a press conference on Monday to mark the first anniversary of her release.
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US ready to be Myanmar's 'partner': Clinton
AFP – 19 hrs ago

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the United States was ready to become a "partner" of Myanmar if it makes good on signs of reform in the long-isolated country.

Speaking in Honolulu ahead of a weekend Asia-Pacific summit, Clinton praised what she called the "first stirrings of change in decades" in the country formerly known as Burma.

"Many questions remain, including the government's continued detention of political prisoners and whether reform will be sustained and extended to include peace and reconciliation in the ethnic minority areas," Clinton said in a speech a week before she heads to Southeast Asia.

"Should the government pursue genuine and lasting reform for the benefits of its citizens, it will find a partner in the United States."

Myanmar's generals last year freed democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and later nominally handed over control to civilians. More recently, authorities freed some 200 political prisoners and defied ally China by freezing work on an unpopular dam.

Critics say that the changes are cosmetic and argue that Myanmar has at best reverted to its situation before a bloody crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks in 2007.

President Barack Obama's administration in 2009 opened talks with Myanmar in hopes of coaxing it into the international mainstream, concluding that years of pressure have not worked.

Diplomatic activity has risen sharply in recent months. A new US envoy on Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, has visited the country three times since his appointment in September and has said the United States is ready to offer incentives for reform.

However, a full end to economic sanctions would require approval by the US Congress.
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Thai, Indonesia win golds before SEA Games opening
5 hours, 2 minutes ago

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)—Thailand has already won three gold medals and one bronze before the formal opening of the 26th Southeast Asian Games.

The host Indonesia has also got among the medals with two golds, two silvers and one bronze from the canoeing and kayaking finals on Friday in the West Java town of Karawang.
Wichan Jaitieng of Thailand won the K1000 to become the first gold medalist of the games.

Also successful on the first day was Myanmar with two silvers. Singapore earned a silver and two bronzes, and the remaining bronze went to Vietnam.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to open the biennial games late Friday in Palembang, the provincial capital of South Sumatra.

More than 6,000 athletes from 11 countries will be participating in the games which run to Nov. 22.
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The Asahi Shimbun - Myanmar activist calls for release of political prisoners
November 10, 2011
By RYUJI NAKAGAWA / Staff Writer

Pro-democracy activist Thwin Linn Aung, a prominent student leader of the 1988 student protests in Myanmar (Burma), said that while the government is taking a softer approach to the handling of political prisoners, it was too soon to think it has undergone a sea of change.

Thwin Linn Aung, who was visiting Japan in October, shared stories about his harsh life in prison in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo. Thwin Linn Aung was released in 2002 after five years behind bars.

“I cannot recognize this move as progress,” said the activist, citing the recent amnesty program by the Myanmar government, which released more than 6,300 prisoners.

Thwin Linn Aung participated in an anti-government movement in 1988 while he was a student at the Yangon Technological University, previously called the Rangoon Institute of Technology. He temporarily fled to Thailand, but was arrested in 1997 shortly after he returned home.

His trial proceeded without benefit of representation by a lawyer. Thwin Linn Aung pleaded not guilty, but was told by a security official, “Hey, actually the government sentenced you already. It will be seven years.”

The official continued, “If you make a defense, it will take two or three days, but if you do not object, you will be sentenced, and you can see your family.”

Thwin Linn Aung was sent to Myingyan Prison in Myanmar’s central district of Myingyan, where about 100 political prisoners were confined. Many of them were in solitary confinement, where they were not provided sufficient food or allowed to exercise.

“They did not allow us to speak to anybody, we didn’t have the right to talk (even with a prison guard),” Thwin Linn Aung said. “Most of the prisoners, they got mad and some have died, (because of) first, malnutrition, second, infectious disease.”

The former student protest leader added, “Beatings are very common in prison. They beat us with a stick.”

After being locked up, Thwin Linn Aung never saw his father again, who died before he was released in 2002.

In 2005, Thwin Linn Aung was back on the pro-democracy movement front, teaching English to about 40 students along with instruction on how to use the Internet. Of the students he taught, new activists emerged and joined the 2007 anti-government demonstrations, resulting in 10 of his former students being incarcerated. Four of the 10 were released on amnesty recently, but the rest are still behind bars.

Thwin Linn Aung never encouraged his students to become activists, but still feels regret when he considers their plight today.

In 2008, Thwin Linn Aung fled to Thailand after restricting himself to low-key activities for about a year. Currently, he is actively engaging in the pro-democracy movement in the Thai town of Mae Sot on the border between the two nations.

The Myanmar government, hoping to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), may issue more amnesties, trying to project the impression of progress being made toward a more democratic society.

But Thwin Linn Aung said he did not see any advancement being made, unless all political prisoners are released.

“You know, they can arrest (us) again anytime they want,” the activist said at the conclusion of the interview.
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Myanmar president meets CPC delegation
English.news.cn 2011-11-12 00:20:27

NAY PYI TAW, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar President U Thein Sein met with a visiting Communist Party of China (CPC) delegation led by senior Chinese official Liu Qi at the Presidential Office in Nay Pyi Taw Friday.

Liu Qi is a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC.

Liu said the Chinese side would like to make joint efforts with the Myanmar side to continuously strengthen the exchange at each level, realize the practical cooperation in economic and trade sectors, unshakably push the smooth implementation of major cooperation projects of the two countries and the continuous development of the two countries' strategic partnership.

Speaking highly of the Myanmar government's achievements in economic and social development, Liu maintained that China would continue to support Myanmar people's independent choice of the development path that suits the country.

President U Thein Sein said Myanmar-China bilateral ties developed smoothly with political trust of the two countries deepening, personnel exchange expanding and the development trend of economic and trade cooperation remaining fine.

U Thein Sein thanked China for rendering its long-term support and aid to Myanmar, expressing wishes to continuously push the realization of the two countries' cooperation project, expand sectorwise cooperation and push ahead the stable and healthy development of bilateral relations.

Speaker of Myanmar's Parliamentary House of Representative U Shwe Mann also met with Liu at the Parliament Building on the same day.

Both sides expressed wishes to work for the close ties between the two governments, the two parliaments and the two parties.

Moreover, Liu also met with ruling party USDP Secretary-General U Htay Oo separately.

The CPC delegation arrived at the new capital earlier on Friday on a goodwill visit to Myanmar at the invitation of the USDP.

Myanmar is the final leg of the CPC delegation's four-country tour. They had visited Laos, Nepal and Bangladesh earlier.
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Asian Correspondent - To prove irreversible reform, Burma must end war in Kachin State
By Zin Linn Nov 10, 2011 10:01PM UTC

Serious violations of human rights continue to be committed by the Burmese Army in eastern Burma, while humanitarian conditions deteriorate due to a lack of international funding, according to a report released yesterday (Nov. 9) by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

Soldiers from the Burma Army’s 88th Light Infantry Division attacked the Assemblies of God church in Muk Chyik village, Wai Maw Township on 6 November, injuring several people. The congregation was expelled from the church, and soldiers reportedly looted church donation boxes. The house of one church member, Mr Jumphpawk Hawng Lum, was burned down. At least 50 church members are taken to work as forced porters for the Burma Army.

During the army operation in Muk Chyik village, Burmese soldiers also looted money from the tithe and micro credit boxes of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Metta Development Foundation, two NGOs, villagers said.

The pastor and three other villagers were taken to the nearby military base located near Washawng Dam. However, Maung Maung, the owner of a rice-mill, was taken to Infantry Battalion No. 58 based in Waingmaw Town, eyewitnesses said.

Burmese soldiers also arrested four villagers suspected of aiding the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), local eyewitness told Kachin News Group.

“The detainees Lahawng Hkawng Hawng and Shayu Lum Hawng were severely tortured by Burmese soldiers after their hands, legs, and necks were tied with ropes,” an eyewitness recounted.

President Thein Sein’s government is currently increasing troops for the offensive against the KIA in Kachin State and northern Shan State, even as it talks about introducing democratic reforms in the country.

CSW’s East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said:

President Thein Sein and the regime in Burma have made some welcome gestures in recent months, potentially creating the conditions for some changes to be made. However, as long as the gross violations of human rights in the ethnic states continue, and political prisoners remain in horrific conditions in jail, we cannot speak of real change in Burma. It is clear from our visit to the Thailand-Burma border that there is a real need to maintain international pressure on the regime to match its rhetoric with action, and undertake substantial, significant and long-lasting change.

During a military offensive against the KIA, Burmese armed forces shattered electricity power supply cables using artillery fire in Ga Ra Yang village on Nov. 1, referring KIO officials the Kachin News Group reported.

Since then, residents of Myitkyina, the capital city of Kachin state, have been living without electricity. The Burmese Army knowingly destroyed the power supply lines to the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) controlled area, said KIO officials.

The war in Kachin State is a puzzle for Burma observers. Although the government has been talking about reform, its armed forces are freely committing crimes against racial inhabitants in the ethnic states.

The government’s military wing is behind war crimes and crimes against humanity. The human rights violations of Burmese soldiers in Kachin State, involving rape, forced labour, torture, the killings of civilians, and religious persecution are grave breaches of international law.

Attacking a church congregation is a brutal violation of religious freedom. The government, which is talking on the subject of reform, must take immediate action to rein in its soldiers.
If President Thein Sein government wants to be seen as a true civilian administration, it has to end the culture of impunity which has been deeply rooted in Burmese society for more than five decades.

It is also an obligation of the current government to provide humanitarian assistance to those war refugees and internally displaced populations in various ethnic states.
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Nov 11, 2011
Asia Times Online - Perception shift on Myanmar media
By Dan Waites

CHIANG MAI - Just over four years ago, a video journalist with exile-media agency Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) filmed a Myanmar soldier pushing Japanese reporter Kenji Nagai to the ground before shooting him dead at point-blank range. The clip, among hours of footage captured by DVB during the anti-government uprising that became known as Myanmar's ''Saffron'' revolution, was broadcast around the world. It spoke powerfully of the brutality of the Myanmar regime, as well as the need for an independent media that could scrutinize it from beyond its reach.

Today, Myanmar's exile media agencies - from the best-known outfits like DVB, The Irrawaddy and Mizzima to the small agencies that serve Myanmar's ethnic minorities - face severe funding difficulties. A US$300,000 embezzlement scandal has tarnished DVB's reputation and resulted in the departure of most of its undercover video journalists, crucial to the organization's operations.

And a surprising and rapid expansion in press freedom conditions inside Myanmar itself has prompted questions over the future of the exile media in general. Will Myanmar's next revolution be televised - and if so, by whom?

When President Thein Sein made an unprecedented call in his March 30 inaugural address for the role of the media as the ''fourth estate'' to be respected, Myanmar watchers could have been forgiven for cynicism. The former general was speaking in a country, also known as Burma, renowned for having one of the most restricted and censored media environments in the world.

As Thein Sein spoke, around 25 journalists were locked up in Myanmar jails, a small proportion of the some 2,000 political prisoners whose presence in the country could not be acknowledged in print. The regime completely dominated the local broadcast media, filling the airwaves with pro-military propaganda.
And yet Thein Sein's words have not proved to be completely empty. Change has come, and at a pace that has surprised many analysts. The Burmese regime's risible mouthpiece, The New Light of Myanmar, has dropped slogans accusing the BBC, Voice of America and Radio Free Asia - which beam Burmese-language radio programs into the country - of constituting a ''sky full of liars attempting to destroy [the] nation". The websites of the DVB and The Irrawaddy have, following years of censorship, been unblocked - though less than 1% of Myanmar's citizens have access to the Internet.

In Naypyidaw, foreign and local reporters have been allowed - with restrictions - to cover parliamentary proceedings. And officials, previously answerable to no one but their superiors, have made themselves more available to the media in recent months. In mid-October, Deputy Labor Minister Myint Thein gave an interview to a DVB reporter on the subject of Myanmar migrants in Thailand. It was the first time a minister had given an interview to an organization that just months earlier the regime was denouncing as "killer media" bent on "generating public outrage."

Perhaps most significant have been changes at the government's infamous censor board, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD). In June, the government announced that publishers would be allowed to print stories on sports, entertainment, technology, health and children's literature without PSRD approval.

And the censors are now applying a lighter touch to scrutiny of the country's 350 weekly and monthly news journals, allowing a range of topics to see the light of day that would formerly have been chopped, including interviews with exile-media editors, opposition politicians, dissidents and human-rights activists. Images of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, too, are now permitted.

"The relaxation of censorship has been significant and occurred faster than I think anyone in the industry expected," one Yangon-based editor, asking to remain anonymous, told Asia Times Online by e-mail. "Journalists now have more scope to criticize or quote people criticizing both the government and private sector. They are able to cover issues that were previously considered too sensitive, such as political prisoners. There is also a lot more advocacy - calling on the government to do this or that, which I think is also positive."

The social and economic conditions of the country, too, are increasingly fair game. "You can say how poor the Burmese people are now," said Toe Zaw Latt, Chiang Mai bureau chief for DVB. "They were never poor before."

While most analysts welcome the changes, some point out that decades of censorship have left many Myanmar-based journalists under skilled and unaccustomed to exercising press freedom. "The government has said that journalists need to take more responsibility for what they are writing if censorship is to be removed but the majority of those in the industry have no formal training," the editor pointed out.

"There is little understanding of issues such as contempt and defamation and in some cases adherence to accepted journalism conventions, such as attribution of sources, is poor."

Khin Maung Nyo, a Yangon-based freelancer with almost 20 years' journalism experience, said that in times past editors could rest easy knowing the censors were responsible for excising controversial material. Now, they are must take the tough decisions familiar to editors everywhere, knowing that officials will hold them responsible for what they print. "It's much more stressful now," he said. "We're talking about the relationships between tycoons and the government, about drugs and arms dealing. A year ago we couldn't do that."

The changing press environment, combined with developments in other spheres, has led some observers to conclude real change is afoot in Myanmar. In August, Thein Sein met Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw. That meeting led Suu Kyi to tell supporters there was an "opportunity for change", according to a report in this newspaper.

The following month, Thein Sein appeared to make a rare concession to public opinion in suspending the multi-billion dollar Myitsone Dam project following a campaign by environmental activists and local media. In October, a mass prisoner amnesty saw the release of around 200 political prisoners, with at least three journalists among them. Further releases are believed to be in the pipeline.

Mixed messages

But while many analysts, diplomats and international nongovernmental organizations have been seduced by the new president's reform program, other observers remain wary. They question the intentions of a man who rose to the highest echelons of a military that ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for almost half a century.

Others point to a still unresolved battle within the regime between supposedly reform-minded ministers such as the president and House Speaker Shwe Mann and more hard-line elements led by Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo as grounds for caution.

Bracketed by many in that hardline stable is Minister of Information Kyaw Hsan, the man responsible for Myanmar's media environment. Press freedom would bring "more disadvantages than advantages," Kyaw Hsan recently told the Lower House in Naypyidaw in a speech in which he likened the media to dangerous "red ants" that could bite Myanmar if allowed to run riot.

At the same time, 14 DVB journalists remain in prison, including 27-year-old Hla Hla Win, sentenced to 27 years in jail in 2009 after being caught interviewing monks for a story. In September, 21-year-old Sithu Zeya had his eight-year jail sentence extended by a decade under the vague and often-abused Electronics Act. "That's why we are very cynical about the 'changes' for the media," said Toe Zaw Latt.

And many issues crucial to the debate over the new democratic Myanmar that is supposedly emerging remain off limits for media inside the country. In particular, the controversial 2008 constitution, pushed through in a referendum held in the devastating aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, is beyond criticism. Yet this is the charter that provided a blanket amnesty to all members of the previous, murderous ruling junta and that enshrines the military-dominated National Defense and Security Council with executive power above that of the president.

Conflict in the country's outlying ethnic minority states, a fight that has largely defined the previous 60 years of Myanmar's history, is still scarcely acknowledged in the local press. On June 9, the Myanmar Army launched an offensive against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), breaking a ceasefire that had lasted 17 years.

Driving the conflict was the KIA's refusal to transform itself into a Border Guard Force, as demanded by the military's roadmap to democracy, as well as the KIA's control of strategic areas in Kachin State slated for Chinese funded hydropower projects.

The exile media, led by the Kachin News Group and the Shan Herald Agency for News, have reported horrific abuses perpetrated by the Myanmar Army in Kachin State and northern Shan State since the conflict began. In just one recent case, KNG reported the kidnap and gang rape by "dozens" of Myanmar soldiers of a 28-year-old Kachin woman near the Chinese border.

Kachin Women's Association Thailand, a rights group, documents many more such cases in its October report "Burma's Cover-Up War: Atrocities Against The Kachin People". For the Myanmar military, rape remains a weapon of war in the new democratic era.
Yet the conflict remains off-limits for media based inside the country. Naw Din, editor of Kachin News Group, said Yangon-based reporters have been forbidden by government authorities from travelling to the conflict zone. He argues that the international community has been duped into taking its eyes off what is happening in Kachin State by focusing on happenings in Yangon and Naypyidaw.

"The government is lying to Western governments when they say they are reforming the country. This is a trick," he said. "All this time, they've been attacking the Kachin people."

David Mathieson, senior researcher on Myanmar for Human Rights Watch, said the Myanmar Army enjoyed a "culture of recreational sadism" in ethnic areas of the country. "Until the majority of the media inside can freely and openly report on this stuff, I think there's always going to be a role for the exile media," he said.

Aung Zaw, editor and founder of the exile-run Irrawaddy, expressed similar sentiments. "Sometimes people say 'Aung San Suu Kyi's photo can be published so we've got press freedom.' But this is a very tiny baby step," he said. "What about the victims of human rights violations, rape cases and prisoners inside the prisons - can they write about that? Nobody can write about these things…These stories can only be written by media outside."

The PSRD recently spiked an interview Aung Zaw gave to the Myanmar Times despite allowing an earlier interview to appear in a Burmese-language journal.

The exile media can claim credit for breaking many stories of real significance - news that could never make it by the state's censorship board within Myanmar. In June 2010, DVB broke news of the country's secretive nuclear program, a story that made the front pages of newspapers and was aired by al-Jazeera around the world. Mizzima's report in August on oil driller Transocean's ties to Myanmar drug lords made the front-page of The New York Times and led to a US government investigation into the firm.

Trouble in exile

But while Myanmar's continued need for exile media is evident, the organizations are under severe financial pressure as donors - mainly the governments of Sweden, Norway and Denmark and the US-based National Endowment for Democracy and Open Societies Initiative - cut their funding for their operations. Partly responsible is general budgetary belt-tightening that is putting pressure on all Western donor organizations. At the same time, some donors are diverting money from exile groups to organizations inside Myanmar.

Last year, the Irrawaddy was forced to axe its monthly print news magazine after the Danish government withdrew its funding. A very public spat with the Danish Embassy revealed diplomats' frustrations with the organization. A leaked e-mail written by a Danish diplomat claimed the Irrawaddy's staff had broken a contractual commitment to attempt to become more sustainable.

"They seemingly prefer the easier option to be totally dependent on donor contributions," the message claimed. The magazine responded with an open letter accusing the content and timing of the leak of being "both erroneous and inflammatory".

This year, DVB was forced to cancel much of its programming after having its funding slashed by $1 million. Since then, things have gotten worse for the agency. In September, it emerged that three Mae Sot-based staff members responsible for DVB's inside network may have embezzled $300,000 in funds meant to pay reporters inside the country. Most of the organization's video journalists have since left DVB and formed a new organization, "Burma VJ", aiming to sell footage to outside media organizations on a freelance basis.

In a bid to restore confidence, DVB executive director Aye Chan Naing and his deputy Khin Maung Win, though not involved in the alleged crime, have stepped down while an investigation is carried out. The scandal could not have come at a worse time for exile-run media as donors continue to tip the balance of funding in favor of organizations inside the country.

For some observers, the exile media's problems are not entirely undeserved. One Yangon-based analyst said the exile media, with its strong ties to the Suu Kyi-led pro-democracy movement, had failed to acknowledge the existence of a burgeoning number of people inside Myanmar who had lost faith in her ability to improve the lot of the people.

While the limitations on media inside the country meant the exile media still performed an essential role, they often functioned more as "radical pamphlets" than independent news organizations. "We need them to exist but we need them to get better," he said.

Indeed, while times are tough for exile groups, a burgeoning civil society movement inside the country is increasingly benefiting from donors' largesse. In February, Mikael Winther, the Danish ambassador to Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, told Agence France-Presse that Denmark had not changed its policy on Myanmar. "But since we now have more access inside than we had before, we do support poverty-oriented projects for people suffering inside Burma," he said.

One organization making waves on the inside is civil society non-profit Myanmar Egress, run by Nay Win Maung, a policy analyst who spent time at Yale University and a former journalist who advocates engagement with the government in order to develop the country's economy.

His "Third Force" positions itself as an alternative to Myanmar's generals and Suu Kyi's democracy movement and has won the support of many diplomats and international humanitarian groups inside the country. Egress's activities include research and training in civil society activism and journalism. There is little love lost between Nay Win Maung and exile-media journalists, who note his close ties with the government and his family's military pedigree.

Some observers caution against donors abandoning the exile media altogether while the country's future remains uncertain. "Four years ago, DVB was the darling of the international community after the way that they covered the uprisings in 2007," said Mathieson. "Now with all the openings and the signs of change, people are thinking that Egress is the one. But you don't need to direct all your money in one direction. The debate needs to be had now to make sure all the eggs don't go into one basket."

If Myanmar continues on its current trajectory - and that is by no means certain - competition for donor money between organizations within and outside the country will increase. "There will continue to be a role for exile media in the foreseeable future but it's up to them to keep moving with the times and make themselves relevant," said the Yangon-based editor. "I think donors will demand higher standards if they are going to keep funding these organizations because there are now many more options inside the country."

Staff at an international media-development organization that supports the training of Myanmar journalists said that a level of "complacency" and "aid dependency" had developed in some exile media organizations. Many had overstretched and quality had suffered as "personalities" carved out increasingly large fiefdoms, the organization claims.

In order to survive, argues the organization's project director, these agencies will need to focus on doing what they do best. "They need to look to themselves to adjust to that situation by actually saying 'what is our niche here?' And what of our previous aspirations do we need to just let go?"

The long-term goal for the exile media is to return to a free Myanmar. There is some way to go before exile journalists will feel it is safe to go home. "The right time and the right moment will come. But we'll go home with dignity," said Aung Zaw. "We won't kowtow, bow our heads and go back to Burma and look like prisoners. I'm not going back like that. Nobody's going back like that… What I've been doing for the last 20 years, I could face a hundred years in prison. It's all illegal. If I could do what I've been doing here when I go back to Burma, I will."

Dan Waites is a freelance journalist based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He can be contacted at jamesdanielwaites@gmail.com.
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Washington Post - Clinton says Myanmar changing but much more needed, urges release of political prisoners
By Associated Press, Published: November 11

HONOLULU — Myanmar is making real progress toward reforms but much more needs to be done, including the release of political prisoners, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday.

A recent visit by senior U.S. diplomats found “real changes taking place on the ground,” Clinton said on the sidelines of an annual Pacific Rim summit.

“It appears there are real changes taking place on the ground and we support these early efforts at reform,” she told reporters. “We want to see the people of Burma able to participate fully in the political life of their own country.”

Clinton said the U.S. would continue to call for release of all political prisoners, an end to conflict in minority areas and greater transparency regarding Myanmar’s relations with North Korea.

At stake are political and economic sanctions the U.S. and other Western countries imposed against the junta that had ruled Myanmar until handing over power to the current elected military-backed government in March this year.

Those sanctions were imposed for the failure of Myanmar’s rulers to hand over power and its poor human rights record. But the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has sought to engage the government, shifting away from the previous policy of shunning it.

The U.S. could gradually ease its sanctions against Myanmar and allow aid from multilateral lending institutions such as the World Bank, over which it has exercised a veto.

Among the changes Washington wants to see in Myanmar is the inclusion of the National League for Democracy, led by democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, into the political system. Suu Kyi’s party overwhelmingly won a 1990 general election, but the army refused to hand over power, instead repressing Suu Kyi and other activists.

The junta that previously ruled Myanmar enacted a constitution and other laws with provisions aimed at limiting Suu Kyi’s political activities, fearing her influence.

U.S. special envoy to Myanmar Derek Mitchell told reporters in Yangon on Friday that the government has taken positive steps and that the U.S. side is thinking of how to actively support those reforms.
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Washington Post - Obama heads to Asia with sharp focus on China’s growing power
By David Nakamura and William Wan, Updated: Friday, November 11, 7:28 AM

As he begins a nine-day trip to the Asia-Pacific region on Friday, President Obama is aiming to reassure jittery U.S. allies and emerging nations that they have another avenue to prosperity, at a time when an increasingly aggressive China is extending its own sphere of influence.

At each stop — a pair of regional summits in Hono­lulu and Bali, Indonesia, sandwiched around a visit to Australia to highlight a military alliance — Obama will send a clear signal that the United States is a “Pacific power,” eager to help build economic success and security in the fast-developing region.

In doing so, the president will make clear the Chinese must “follow the rules of the road,” as one administration official put it this week.

High on the list of U.S. priorities is getting commitments from China to enact more flexible currency rate standards to help balance trade; respect intellectual property rights; and adopt a less aggressive military posture in the disputed South China Sea.

For their part, the Chinese are concerned about a budding trade pact between the United States and eight other nations, and they will be closely monitoring Obama’s visit next week to an Australian military base.

Since last year, China has fed the worries of its neighbors with a series of aggressive diplomatic and military moves, including attention-grabbing confrontations in the South China Sea, which is believed to hold valuable oil and minerals and is heavily used for commercial shipping.

The area has been in dispute for decades, with various portions claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. But China has made the largest claim, on a U-shaped section that covers almost the entire region.

China’s increasing willingness to throw its weight around has put other countries on edge and spurred them to solicit U.S. assistance. Even Burma, also known as Myanmar, appears to be hedging against the rise of its longtime ally, by releasing political prisoners in order to appeal to the West.

“It is both natural and inevitable that the leaders will address the South China Sea issues in the context of maritime security,” said Danny Russel, senior director for Asia on the National Security Council.

At the East Asia Summit in Bali next week, Russel said, the United States and other participating nations, including China, will seek consensus on “international norms and law — freedom of navigation, the right to unimpeded legitimate commerce — collaborative efforts to avoid the accidental conflict or miscalculation . . . that could lead to a spike in tensions.”

Even before Obama departs Washington on Friday, small signs of the U.S.-China rivalry for influence have begun to emerge. When U.S. officials said this week that they hoped to ramp up talks on trade and green jobs growth with emerging nations at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu, Beijing quickly criticized the agenda as too ambitious.

U.S. expectations are “too high” and “beyond the reach” of many developing Asian nations, Foreign Minister Wu Hailong complained in remarks to reporters.

Obama’s trip is part of the administration’s evolving foreign policy vision. Officials have pointed to the wind-down of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and said now is the time to pivot toward the Asia-Pacific region.

As Wu made clear, the U.S. administration’s bolder stance has not gone over well in Beijing. Chinese officials are wary about U.S. involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade pact still in the works that would include at least eight other nations.

And the Chinese are keeping an eye on Obama’s visit next week to a military facility in Darwin, Australia, at which he and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard are expected to unveil an agreement to allow U.S. Marines use of Australian bases for training and exercises.

Obama will hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Hono­lulu on Saturday.

In China, “There is a widespread belief that the U.S. is stirring up trouble,” said Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, who is visiting Beijing this week.

“The TPP is seen as something ‘mysterious’ that is designed in some way to contain China. . . . The dominant theme I am hearing here is that the international community is always asking for more from China and not appreciating what China already contributes to the global system.”

Indeed, a growing number of nations, including Australia, count China as their largest trading partner, critical to their own economies. The Obama administration is eyeing China's vast consumer base as a huge opportunity for U.S.-produced goods. In Southeast Asia, China also has ramped up its international aid to emerging economies.

With its economic growth, however, has come increased Chinese aggression, bolstered by the rapid modernization of its military. Defense spending has seen double-digit growth in China for much of the past two decades.

This year, China launched its first aircraft carrier — a retrofitted Soviet vessel. It is developing an anti-ship missile that could limit the range and options of U.S. aircraft carriers should a conflict arise over Taiwan. And earlier this year, just hours before a visit by then-defense secretary Robert M. Gates, China debuted its new J-20 stealth fighter jet in a provocative test flight.

In his tour of Asia last month, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told two of America’s closest allies — Japan and Korea — that America is committed to the Pacific. He vowed that even in the face of defense budget cuts, “we are not anticipating any cutbacks in this region. If anything, we’re going to strengthen our presence in the Pacific.”

Douglas Paal, head of the Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Obama must reassure allies that the United States will be more focused on Asia than it has been for the past decade.

“The U.S. has no ability to keep China out or to keep China down,” Paal said. But at the same time, the United States has too many interests in the Asia to be absent.

“We haven’t been tending [those interests] properly since 1997,” Paal said. “And now you have to do the hard work to get back in after exempting yourself for 12 years.”
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11/09/2011 @ 2:36PM
Forbes - Burma Censors Web With Gear From U.S. Tech Firm
Researchers Spot Blue Coat Web Control Gear In Another Repressive Regime: Burma

Since Web filtering and network monitoring gear from Blue Coat Systems turned up in Syria last month, the company has been scrambling to avoid a reputation as an Internet arms provider to the world’s most repressive dictatorships. A new report from Canadian researchers won’t help: It shows that Blue Coat gear has been used in Burma, too.

A team at Citizen Lab, a research center at the University of Toronto focused on Internet security and human rights, released evidence Wednesday that shows Blue Coat devices were deployed in Burma as well as Syria to filter and surveil the Internet. Using remote scanning tools and field researchers in both countries, they say they’ve found 13 more Blue Coat devices in Syria, as well as strong evidence that the company’s gear was used in Burma as well.

Citizen Lab found three clues that place Blue Coat gear used for surveillance and censorship in the military-controlled Southeast Asian country. First, they scanned IP addresses at Burma’s primary internet service provider Yatanarpon Teleport, and found names of devices that match Blue Coat’s names like “fw-webfilter” and “bc-director.” Second, they queried Blue Coat devices known to be in Syria and matched their error messages with those in Burma. And third, they correlated their own survey of 500 blocked websites in Burma with preset categories of filtering on Blue Coat devices like “Intimate Apparel and Swimsuits” and “LGBT,” and found a close-to-100% correlation.

“While not definitive, it is unlikely that this correlation would be as strong were Burma to use an alternative filtering system,” reads the report. Ron Deibert, a University of Toronto political science professor and Citizen Lab’s director, makes a stronger statement: ”With these three pieces of evidence, it’s practically impossible that these aren’t Blue Coat devices.”

A Blue Coat spokesperson I reached by phone declined to comment immediately and referred me to a statement on the company’s website published yesterday.”Blue Coat has become aware that certain Blue Coat ProxySG Web security appliances apparently were transferred illegally to Syria after being lawfully sold to a channel distribution partner for a seemingly appropriate designated end user. Blue Coat does not sell to countries embargoed by the US, and does not allow its partners to sell to embargoed countries,” the statement reads in part. “We don’t want our products to be used by the government of Syria or any other country embargoed by the United States. If our review of the facts about this diversion presents solutions that enable us to better protect against future illegal and unwanted diversion of our products, we intend to take steps to implement them.”

Burma, sometimes known as Myanmar, remains on a list of companies with whom the U.S. government carefully restricts trade, though it’s not clear whether sales of Blue Coat-type devices to the country would be illegal. Under the military junta that controls the country, opposition groups and minorities have been brutally repressed, and during a bloody crackdown on protests in 2007 the country became the first to temporarily shut down its Internet altogether.

The use of Blue Coat’s technology in Syria was revealed last month when the hacker group Telecomix exfiltrated and analyzed 54 gigabytes of data from a device in Syria. Blue Coat later admitted to the Wall Street Journal that its devices were in Syria, but claimed they had found their way to the country through sales to Iraq via the United Arab Emirates, and that the company hadn’t been aware of its gear’s presence in Syria. ”We don’t want our products to be used by the government of Syria or any other country embargoed by the United States,” Blue Coat executive Steve Daheb, told the Journal, adding that Blue Coat was “saddened by the human suffering and loss of human life” in Syria.

Some have expressed skepticism about Blue Coat’s ignorance of Syria’s use of its devices. “Bet you anything that the Syrian Blue Coat products are registered, and that they receive all the normal code and filter updates,” wrote security guru and blogger Bruce Schneier.

Blue Coat is only the latest Internet firm to face criticism for–wittingly or unwittingly–supplying dictators with tools for controlling and exploiting the Internet. Narus, a cybersecurity and digital surveillance subsidiary of Boeing, was found to have sold technology to the Libyan government. Cisco sold network censorship and spying gear to China. And a trio of other firms, American NetApp, French Qosmos, and German Ultimaco all had their technology used by the Italian firm Area SpA to set up a vast surveillance system in Syria.

While only some of those cases potentially violate U.S. trade restrictions, those companies’ ethical problems may be far more serious, says Jillian York, director of international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “It’s not about export controls,” she says. “Even if Blue Coat didn’t sell to Syria, they say they were selling to the UAE and Iraq, countries that also use these tools for unlawful surveillance and have no privacy controls.”

Citizen Lab’s Deibert says legal restrictions on trade can only go so far, particularly when non-U.S. companies offer competing products. “Legislation can only apply within jurisidations,” he says. “This really requires the media and researchers to lift the lid on the Internet and find out what goes on beneath the surface.”
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The Hindu - Myanmar rolls out red carpet for India
G. PARTHASARATHY
There now seems to be a clear divide between Asia and the West, on how to approach relations with Myanmar.
November 11, 2011:

For more than 25 years, the US backed the regime of Burma's military dictator General New Win, whose main contribution to relations with India was his expulsion of more than half a million Indians from the country. When the new military junta took charge in 1988, the Americans suddenly reinvented the virtues of democracy in that country. But democracy cannot be imported. It has to be nurtured from within.

Therefore, Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao decided that given their history, the Burmese would evolve their own ways towards more representative Government and that Indian long-term interests were best served if the military regime was constructively engaged. India's pragmatic approach has paid significant dividends.

DEMOCRACY IN MYANMAR

Myanmar and India share a 1640-kilometre land border. Myanmar has cooperated constructively in dealing with cross-border insurgencies afflicting some of India's north-eastern states. It has respected Indian security concerns arising from its increasing military cooperation with China.

It established that reports on its providing facilities to China in the Cocos Islands were baseless. Moreover, it assuaged Indian concerns on providing base facilities for the Chinese Navy in the port of Sittwe, by agreeing that India would construct this port and build a corridor, giving its landlocked north-eastern states access to the sea. Thousands of “Stateless” people of Indian origin have been assured Myanmar citizenship.

The recent visit of Myanmar's President Thein Sein to India came just after he had taken a series of measures, which have been widely welcomed. These included the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and commencement of dialogue with her.

On October 12, 6359 detainees were released. They included notables such as Ashin Gambara from the All Burma Monks Association, who led the street protests in 2007, comedian and social activist Zarganar, who criticized the Government's response to the travails of victims of Cyclone Nargis; and the Head of the Shan State Army insurgent group.

President Thein Sein signed preliminary peace agreements with the two eastern armed groups. Non-Burmese ethnic groups now have a say in their own future, after the recent elections enabled them, for the first time in history, to elect their representatives to the newly-established Assemblies for States and Regions in the country.

ISSUES WITH CHINA

Yielding to public protests, the Government halted construction in the Kachin State of a $ 3.6-billion hydro-electric project, being built with Chinese assistance.

Behind the seeming bonhomie, rifts are emerging in the Sino-Myanmar relationship. In the past two decades, millions of Chinese have moved into Myanmar from neighbouring Yunnan and other Chinese Provinces.

They now own virtually all the choice properties, pushing the Burmese to the outskirts, in cities such as Mandalay. Ethnic Chinese now control major businesses across Myanmar, and swarms of Chinese workers dominate the construction of Chinese aided projects. Networks of Chinese-built roads in Myanmar appear designed to give China access to the Bay of Bengal, facilitating the movement of goods, oil and gas, bypassing the Straits of Malacca.

The situation on Myanmar's borders with China is a matter of concern within Myanmar. In the Wa Hills, tribesmen of Chinese origin are actively involved in gun-running, including to Indian insurgent groups. Tensions along the border further north emerged, when the powerful Mandarin-speaking militia of the Kokang tribe refused to become part of the Myanmar Government's border militia. In the ensuing military clampdown, more than 20,000 Kokang tribesmen fled across the border into China.

Alarmed at the prospect of a similar clampdown on the Wa Army, Chinese leaders, including future President Xi Jinping and Premier Wen Jiabao, visited Yangon last year, with promises of further aid.

The situation was defused, but resentment against the millions of Chinese settlers and their Wa and Kokang compatriots can blow up, as they did in 1967.

TIES IN ASIAN REGION

Myanmar's rulers have no illusions that India can replace China as a partner for rapid growth of their infrastructure. India's performance record in Myanmar is disappointing. Work on the much-touted Kaladan corridor, linking Myanmar to the sea, proceeds at a snail's pace. After ‘consideration' for more than 15 years, India hasn't even finalised a Project Report for a 1500 MW hydro-electric project across the Chindwin River, adjacent to Manipur. Mr Sein is naturally looking for new tie-ups with more dynamic countries such as Japan, which has described recent developments in Myanmar as a good “step towards democratisation and national reconciliation”. Japan has agreed to resume economic and cultural exchanges, and its aid programme, on hold now for two decades. Indonesia has reacted similarly. Western sanctions are, however, unlikely to end in the immediate future.

There now seems to be a clear divide between Asia and the Western realm, on how to approach relations with Myanmar. It will take around a decade before Myanmar enjoys democratic freedoms akin to those prevalent in neighbouring Indonesia.

Comparing his country's relations with India and China, a senior Myanmar leader once remarked: “While we may have to go to Beijing for arms, as devout Buddhists, we have to go to Bodh Gaya for salvation.”
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Action star Michelle Yeoh takes on Aung San Suu Kyi
updated 3:22 AM EST, Fri November 11, 2011

(CNN) -- While playing the part of Aung San Suu Kyi in biopic "The Lady", Michelle Yeoh felt as if she had "lived" with the Burmese pro-democracy leader for years.

But when it came to actually meeting the real Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 2010, Yeoh didn't have a ready line.

"I wasn't quite sure how I should react or what I should do," she says.

Yet on meeting her, Suu Kyi immediately put her at ease.

Meeting Aung San Suu Kyi

"We hugged and then she said 'Oh I'm so sorry for the mess, it's been non-stop, things are happening, people are coming to see me all the time'."

Yeoh had visited Suu Kyi at her home soon after her years of house arrest in Yangon had ended, but she says that she didn't discuss the film she was making. Yeoh says that was in order to protect her as it wasn't known how the ruling government in Myanmar would react.

"It wasn't an interview or an interrogation to that point. It was just an indulgence on my part to be able to see someone that I admire and learned to love."

"So we sat down on the couch and she's very affectionate. Even though she's so petite and slim, you feel a great inner strength and a sense of ease about her."

Michelle Yeoh is better known for her parts in action films, from playing opposite Piece Brosnan's James Bond in "Tomorrow Never Dies" to martial arts blockbuster "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."

To try and portray such a renowned and revered figure was one the biggest challenges of Yeoh's life. To accurately play the part she had to learn Burmese to ensure the gravity of Suu Kyi's speeches were not lost.

"This was the role of a lifetime," says Yeoh. "This was something I had to do right and I was completely committed to it."
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School targets teen girls from war torn nations
By Dana Rosenblatt, CNN
updated 7:34 AM EST, Sat November 12, 2011

Decatur, Georgia (CNN) -- They've survived the brutality of war, extreme poverty, religious and racial persecution.

But here at a baseball field outside Atlanta, a group of giggling teenage girls from Ethiopia, Burundi, Afghanistan and Myanmar have found a level playing ground.

It's around noon, time for physical education class at the Global Village School, a small private institution for refugee teenage girls who have little or no English education.

The girls -- some wearing donated sneakers, others barefoot -- split into teams and take their positions.

A girl with a scarf worn loosely around her long wavy brown hair is next up. She surveys the field and gets ready to kick.

"Kick the ball clear to Russia!" shouts the coach.

Robika laughs excitedly as she kicks the ball, then makes first base.

Russia is where Robika, a 16-year old Afghan refugee, lived before arriving in the United States three years ago. Her family was forced to leave Afghanistan because of "a lot of trouble" there, she says.

With the help of a U.S. government aid agency, Robika, her mother and two brothers resettled in Clarkston, about 14 miles outside Atlanta.

Clarkston is home to more than 6,000 refugees who make up a majority of the small suburb's population, which is about 7,800 people, according to its mayor, Emanuel Ransom. Refugee families started streaming into Clarkston in the 1990s after federal officials found a large number of vacant apartment complexes there, he says.

That's still the case today. Because of its affordable housing and access to public transportation, thousands of refugees from Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Bosnia, Iraq, Iran, Nepal, Vietnam, Kosovo and Myanmar (formerly Burma) now call this small rural enclave home.

Ransom says programs like the Global Village School help the entire community bridge the communication and culture gap.

When Robika arrived in the United States at age 13, she could not understand or communicate in English. She would have easily "fallen through the cracks" at a public school, says Kelley Provence, the Global Village School's academic director.

"She has some difficulty learning but has made significant progress," says Provence, who has worked closely with Robika to improve her English comprehension.

Provence is one of a handful of full-time teachers at the Global Village School. The school, which has an annual operating budget of $250,000, survives solely on grants and donations and the help of volunteers.

Founders of the school saw a need to focus on teenage girls who would never be able to adapt at public school because of their lack of English skills. There was already a school for refugee boys in Clarkston -- the Fugees Academy, where Robika's brother is a student.

Like most of the other refugee students, Robika uses public transport to travel from her home in Clarkston to school, a trip that can take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes.

Despite the commute, she says she believes pursuing an education is a privilege.

"When I come here I didn't understand anything," says Robika. "The school has a lot of respect for the student," she says with a smile.

New and prospective students to the Global Village School are assessed on their ability to communicate, as well as their reading skills.

Once accepted into the program, girls are placed in different levels of learning. Some eventually go on to high school, while others can go on to receive their GEDs and apply for college.

Students are not only dealing with education and cultural barriers. Many girls were forced to leave family members behind, or worse -- lost them to violence, sickness or war.

Robika's classmates, sisters Melody, 18, and Rita, 16, arrived in the United States with their older sister more than a year ago. Their parents are still in their home country, Myanmar.

"Sometimes when we talk, my mom ... she cries," says Melody. "They never told us if they are in danger, they don't want us to be sad for them."

The girls never dwell on or analyze what they've been through before arriving in the United States. Robika says she wants to go to college and become a journalist one day. But now, she stays focused on her studies and improving her English.

Melody, who likes to dress in the latest trends, says she's interested in finding a career in the beauty industry. Rita says math and science are her favorite subjects, and she hopes to be a researcher one day.

"In these cultures, everybody would be paralyzed if they thought about and talked about their past experiences," says Provence.
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GMA News - Pinoys dominate expats darts tilt in Myanmar
11/10/2011 | 01:50 PM

A team of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and embassy personnel in Myanmar bagged the championship title in the "Myanmar Expats Community Darts Tournament-Monsoon Season" in Yangon.

Powered by team captain Norman Agpay, the "Pinoy Islanders" team bested seven other expatriate teams in the tournament that lasted from June to October this year.

The Filipinos also bagged three out of the four individual awards, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

They winners included:

Rodrigo "Rudy" Ramos, Highest Finish (Men's Division)

Ruben De Torres, Highest Production (Men's Division)

Finance Officer Sarah Amihan, Highest Production (Women's Division)

The other members of the team include Third Secretary and Vice Consul Bryan Jess Baguio, Loraine Reyes, Willy Araneta, and Rose Curato.

According to the website of the Philippine embassy in Myanmar, the Philippines and Myanmar established diplomatic relations on September 29, 1956.

The Philippine Embassy in Yangon (then Rangoon) opened on August 25, 1958. The Myanmar Embassy in Manila, on the other hand, opened in 1967.
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November 11, 2011, 4:03 PM SGT
Wall Street Journal (blog) - Migrant Workers Left Behind in Thai Floods
By Shibani Mahtani

Critics of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s fledgling government say authorities have not worked quickly or effectively enough to mitigate the worst of the country’s latest floods crisis. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, a small but vociferous group of critics is also challenging the Thai government’s response to the tens of thousands of migrant workers there – particularly from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos – who are facing a particularly dire set of circumstances in the flooding.

Activists say that migrant workers – who often lack strong family and social networks to fall back on or, in some cases, the legal ability to move to other provinces to seek dry land – are finding themselves stranded without help and open to exploitation.

These activists and some other experts say the severity of the flood crisis has forced many Thais to prioritize their own citizens. Many migrant workers have been turned away from evacuation centers, according to activists, sometimes because of a lack of legal documentation lost in the floods or language barriers. The government, for its part, has recently set up a crisis center for migrants in Ratchaburi, but it is overcrowded and already at full capacity, holding 432 migrants when thousands are displaced and in need of shelter. In the shelters, they are provided with meals and drinking water.

Another shelter, run by the Department of Employment and Ministry of Labour, was set up by the government on Nov. 2 and provides basic humanitarian supplies. This, said a spokesperson from the Ministry of Labour, is to protect migrants from illegal brokers who have been taking advantage of the chaos caused by the floods, charging migrant workers high fees for transporting them to borders and getting them across.

Experts say that providing migrants with evacuation centers, though, is insufficient. Migrant workers also face legal restrictions, with more than 500,000 laborers holding work permits that render them illegal once they travel outside the province in which they are registered to work. These limitations may force many migrant workers back to their home countries, an outcome that some experts say could slow down Thailand’s post-flood recovery process by leaving the country short of low-cost workers.

Officials from the Ministry of Labor’s Office of Foreign Workers Administration said that they have engaged non-governmental organizations to help migrant workers return safely to the borders if they wish to return home. Officials also said that they will help migrant workers get back to their factories when the water does recede, though this process might be complicated by the sheer number of migrants and work permit ambiguities.

Either way, the flooding “has revealed Thailand’s big dependence on migrant workers,” said Claudia Natali, a Labor Migration Program Coordinator at the International Organization for Migration. “When you are trying to rebuild the country after the crisis, particularly in construction, that is when you will need a big labor force.”

More than 874,000 migrants have been recorded in flood-affected provinces, the vast majority of them employed in factories and industries which have been hardest hit by the floods.

Migrant worker advocates have been lobbying the government to provide the workers with better legal rights and protections, and even rethink the country’s immigration policies overall – especially rules governing the rights for holders of temporary work permits who may have difficulty returning once the floodwaters have subsided.

“At the best of times, the issue of migrant workers is politically contentious, what’s more during a crisis like this one,” said Andy Hall, an expert on migration issues at Mahidol University in Bangkok. Mr. Hall wants the Thai government to do everything possible to keep all its migrant workers – who he says make up 5% to 10% of the workforce – in the country despite the flooding crisis, since some could face harassment or exploitation upon returning home to places like Myanmar.

“The Thai government has been reaping the benefits of these migrants for so long, they have a responsibility to protect them,” said Mr. Hall.

Activists added that since many of the migrants don’t have family or social connections in flood-affected areas, they sometimes seek the help of brokers or middle-men who promise to bring them across the border for a fee of about 2,000 Thai baht (US$65) – a hefty price for low-wage workers that many advocates say is unfair. The need to rely on brokers for help increases the risk of trafficking and debt bondage, activists say.

For migrants, and indeed for many Thais, it is feared that the worst is not over. While some factories in Ayutthaya have been able to get up and running in recent days, floods now threaten key factories in Bangkok, home to 392,859 registered migrants. Samut Sakhorn province, home to almost 200,000 migrants working in factories and the fishing industry, may too be at risk.

“Workers in big companies may not be as affected, because these big corporations are so reliant on them and will try to keep them in the country,” said Sompong Srakaew, executive director of the Labour Rights Promotion Network, a Thailand-based advocacy organization. He said workers for smaller companies are most affected, because these companies are often unable to offer them compensation.

He added that some migrant workers – those with immigration statuses that allow it – are moving to areas in the south which have remained dry to work in fishing industries there.
While Samut Sakhorn remains dry, the Labour Rights Promotion Network is currently working with the provincial governor and other representatives to ensure a clear evacuation plan for the thousands of migrants currently based there.
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November 11, 2011
NPR - In Myanmar, A Wary Welcome For Signs Of Change

The government of Myanmar bars or severely restricts reporting by foreign correspondents. NPR is withholding the name of the veteran journalist who recently entered the country and filed this story, in order to protect his identity and his ability to return in the future.

In Yangon, Myanmar's commercial capital, not far from the Sule Pagoda, a blind busker literally sings for her supper on a recent day. A scrawny young girl sits at her feet, keeping an eye on the begging bowl. As throngs of people hurry by, the singer's hips swing almost imperceptibly to her simple beat.

Myanmar's masses have long remained destitute, desperate and disenfranchised — as the country's repressive generals and their cronies have grown rich exploiting the country's vast mineral and energy wealth. Those who disagreed with the government faced harsh prison terms — or worse.

Myanmar President Thein Sein (shown here in March 2010, left) has promised change, but some fear that he's a puppet of the repressive military leadership. He pleased many onetime critics by suspending construction on a controversial dam.

But the new government installed by the military in March appears to be cleaning up its act. The Southeast Asian nation is showing signs it wants to end its international pariah status — and the world is paying attention.

U.S. officials have made several trips to the country in recent months, and Myanmar's foreign minister has made a rare visit to Washington, as the new government insists it's sincere about reform.

Changes 'In The Interests Of The People'

A few years ago, the generals approved a massive Chinese-financed dam near the headwaters of the Irrawaddy River, just upstream from where on a recent day women use the mocha-colored water to beat their clothes clean, brush their teeth and bathe.

Others, like some people farther downstream, depend on the river for transportation, fish and agriculture. During British colonial times, the Irrawaddy Delta was called the breadbasket of Southeast Asia. The new dam, opponents argued, threatened all this, but the military went ahead anyway.

Then, last month, the new president — Thein Sein, a former general — abruptly suspended construction, saying the dam was not "in the interests of the people." The decision angered the Chinese government, but drew rare praise from environmentalists, Western governments and the people of Myanmar.

"That's a good thing because people were very, very angry, so they stop it now," says Yangon businessman Tin Win, whose name has been changed to protect his safety.
Tin Win says he was surprised by that decision and others made by the new government.

"Now, we can see it's changing, [it's] a little bit better than before," he says. "Before, whatever they want, they can do. Now, no, they can't do."

A Freer Media?

President Thein Sein says he wants a better, more transparent government. And one of the ways he's trying to achieve that is by loosening the military's vise-like grip on Myanmar's media and access to the Internet.

In central Yangon, newspaper vendors sell just about anything that's published in the country. With more press freedom, journalists are starting to write more about what they want without fear of reprisal from the government.

On a recent day, the headlines of most newspapers trumpet the release of the famous political prisoner and comedian Zarganar, who was sentenced two years ago to 35 years in prison for criticizing the military's response to Typhoon Nargis, which killed more than 140,000 people in 2008.

Outside Mandalay, ordinary people crowd onto the most common form of transportation in Myanmar — private bus.

Even more striking is a business magazine called The Future, which has a full-page photo of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on its cover and, inside, a lengthy interview with her. In August, the new president actually met with the Nobel laureate — something his predecessor refused to do.

None of this would have been possible just a few months ago. Another Yangon resident, Aung Lay, says it's all welcome — but it's just a beginning. The next step, he says, is for the government to release all political prisoners.

Caution is to be expected from a people long accustomed to living under the boot of the military. But releasing the estimated 2,000 political prisoners now languishing in prison would win over many skeptical of the government's sincerity.

So far, it hasn't happened. But it's being discussed openly in parliament, in the press and in government. Just a few months ago, the regime didn't even admit it had political prisoners, only "criminals."

Many Fear Reforms Are Cosmetic

All these recent changes have prompted some longtime critics of Myanmar's military to start talking about lifting sanctions as a way of encouraging more reform and of easing the country's economic and political dependence on neighboring China. Still, not everyone's convinced.

In largely Buddhist Myanmar, monks occupy a revered position in society and have often led anti-government protests. Here, monks walk along the U Bein Bridge in Amarapura, a former capital located just outside Mandalay.

In the city of Mandalay, a snake charmer performs for a large crowd of people on the day of the full moon last month. The children in the crowd are visibly delighted. The faces of the adults are more wary.

In Mandalay, Yangon, and all over the country, many fear the recent political and economic reforms are a trick. They also fear that the president is merely a puppet of the same repressive military leadership that even now continues to carry out a brutal anti-insurgency campaign against the country's ethnic minority militias. It's the military that is still the real power constitutionally.

The changes, the skeptics fear, are merely cosmetic, aimed at duping the people and allowing the military to remain in charge and to keep what's happened in Egypt and Libya from happening here.

"They don't want to change, that's why they always thinking how to solve the problem," says Yangon businessman Tin Win. "They always find out a way. They are not so stupid. They are smart, but they are smart in [a] bad way."

These changes, some argue, are just a way to release a little steam, to give people's anger an outlet, in order, ultimately, to preserve the government's power.

But for all the people's suspicion and mistrust, consider this: Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi — long demonized by a military that kept her in detention for most of the past two decades — has said she believes President Thein Sein is sincere. She is even considering running for a seat in parliament later this year after she and her party boycotted last year's elections, calling them rigged. Her cautious optimism — and her apparent willingness to engage — may be the most telling sign that Myanmar is changing.
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November 11, 2011
Mainichi Daily News - Japan, Indonesia agree to cooperate on nurturing Myanmar democracy

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa agreed Thursday to enhance their cooperation in assisting Myanmar's transition to democracy and in dealing with other regional issues, a Japanese official said.

Natalegawa told Gemba about his visit late last month to Myanmar to assess its readiness to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014, the official said.

The meeting, which lasted for about 20 minutes, was held during Natalegawa's stopover in Tokyo on his way to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial meeting on Friday in Honolulu. Gemba will also attend the APEC meeting.

Indonesia chairs this year's meetings of the 10-member ASEAN. The two ministers also agreed to cooperate for the success of the East Asia Summit in Bali next week, the official said.
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November 10, 2011 14:09 PM
Myanmar Surgeons Successfully Separate Fifth Conjoined Twins

YANGON, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- Myanmar surgeons have successfully has separated the fifth conjoined twin baby girls, according to China's Xinhua news agency citing local press reports on Thursday.

The surgical operation by Dr. Htoo Han and his assistants was performed on the two-year-and-one-month-old conjoined twins named Ma Ingyin Khaing and Ma Ingyin Hlaing in the Children's Hospital in Yangon Wednesday, according to the New Light of Myanmar daily.

The separated twins, who are under extensive care in the hospital, are from Kawtin village in Laungton township in southern Tanintharyi region.

Myanmar surgeons had carried out four successful similar surgical operations on twins in the past over two decades.

The fourth twins, who are also baby girls named So Pyay Lin and So Pyay Win with their chests joined together, were successfully separated in October 2009.
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The Nation - Thai crisis to be factor in 2012 drop in rice-trade : FAO
November 12, 2011 12:43 pm

International rice trade should fall slightly next year, because of weakening demand as well as lower exports from flood-hit Thailand, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). In a statement released yesterday, the United Nations agency said trade volume next year could fall to 33.8 million tonnes, from 34.3 million forecast for this year.

It noted that much of the shortfall in Thai deliveries was likely to be made up by larger shipments from India. Australia, China, Pakistan and Vietnam are also foreseen to increase rice exports next year, while Argentina, Brazil, Burma, the United States and Uruguay may witness a contraction.

For this year, rice trade is forecast to increase by about 1 million tonnes to 34.3 million tonnes (milled basis), 9 per cent more than in 2010 and an all-time high. The expansion is fuelled by strong import demand from Asia (Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Iran) and Africa (Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal).

Supplies will come mainly from Thailand and India. Abundant supplies also enabled Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Burma, Uruguay and Vietnam to boost deliveries, while China, Egypt, Pakistan and the United States curbed theirs.

Between June and September, rice prices in most market segments increased, influenced by reports of flood-related crop losses and, especially, by the announced high-price policy in Thailand. The FAO Rice Price Index passed from an average of 251 points in July to 260 in August and September before dropping to 255 in October.

On an annual basis, international quotations over January-October averaged 13 per cent above its corresponding value in 2010.

Prospects for prices in the coming months remain highly uncertain, although they will be very much influenced by the unfolding of crops to be harvested in the second quarter next year. However, policy developments, especially in Thailand and India, will continue to weigh heavily on the market.

Despite extensive floods in Asia since August, the FAO has raised its July forecast of global paddy production in 2011 by 2.4 million tonnes to 721 million tonnes. The revision reflects expected improved rice harvests in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India and Vietnam, which more than outweighed a worsening of prospects in Indonesia, South Korea, Madagascar, Burma, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand.

At the current forecast of 721 million tonnes (481 million tonnes, milled basis), world paddy production would be 3 per cent larger than in 2010 and breach last year's record.

Much of the growth mirrors progress in Asia, in spite of consecutive storms in the Philippines and severe inundations in Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Thailand, which marred crop prospects in these countries. The region is now anticipated to produce 651 million tonnes (435 million tonnes, milled basis), 3.0 per cent above the already good 2010 outcome.
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Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011
The Japan Times - Envoy's remarks about UNSC reform clarified
Kyodo

NEW YORK — The Japanese Mission to the United Nations on Thursday posted a clarification of Ambassador Tsuneo Nishida's remarks on the upcoming Tokyo meeting on Security Council reform, claiming some reports were misleading.

It said that some press reports "misleadingly referred to" Nishida's statement made Tuesday at the General Assembly debate on Security Council reform by quoting him as saying Tokyo will host a meeting on U.N. Security Council reform next Monday "as part of efforts to include Japan as a permanent member."

To clarify the statement, the mission stressed that Japan's aim is "to have an honest, open and substantive dialogue to explore achievable reform."

At the General Assembly debate, Nishida unveiled Japan's plan to host the meeting Monday, telling U.N. member states: "Our aim is to open a new chapter for an honest, open and substantive dialogue, which is essential in order to explore achievable reform.

"It is our hope that this dialogue will stimulate fruitful discussions, in continuity with the previous efforts, to generate a further dynamism for meaningful progress, and we are ready to share the results with all interested member states."

Genba, Natalegawa meet
KYODO

Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba and his Indonesian counterpart, Marty Natalegawa, agreed Thursday to enhance cooperation on assisting Myanmar's transition to democracy and in dealing with other regional issues, a Japanese official said.

Natalegawa told Genba about his visit late last month to Myanmar to assess its readiness to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014, the official said.

The meeting, which lasted about 20 minutes, was held during Natalegawa's stopover in Tokyo on his way to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial meeting in Honolulu on Friday. Genba will also attend the APEC meeting.

Indonesia chairs this year's meetings of the 10-member ASEAN.
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The Guardian - 'Dramatic developments' in Burma, but still many challenges ahead
A year after elections, hopes are growing that Burma can break from an authoritarian past involving human rights abuses that made it the target of western economic sanctions
By IRIN, part of the Guardian development network
guardian.co.uk, Friday 11 November 2011 10.48 EST

One year after Burma held its first election in 20 years, domestic and international opinion is still cautious about the prospects for meaningful change in this country of more than 55 million people.

Much of the reaction to reforms introduced since President Thein Sein's inauguration in March this year reflects hope that the country can break from a heavy-handed authoritarian past involving human rights abuses that have made it the target of economic sanctions.

Recent events and reactions include:

• the opposition leader and head of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi, said after a groundbreaking meeting with Thein Sein in the capital, Naypyitaw, in August that she believed he wanted to achieve "real positive change". She has been released from house arrest imposed by the previous government

• the US assistant secretary of state for east Asian and Pacific affairs, Kurt Campbell, described the dialogue between Aung San Suu Kyi and the government as "very consequential", adding it was "also undeniably the case that there are dramatic developments under way"

• the UN special envoy on human rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, said the country was at a key moment in its history. "There are real opportunities for positive and meaningful developments to improve the human rights situation and deepen the transition to democracy." But Quintana acknowledged that while the government had taken steps to improve its human rights record, much remains to be done to ensure civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

In any transition to democracy, a critical issue is whether the country can achieve ethnic harmony, which has proved elusive since independence from Britain in 1948, say analysts.
Fighting has flared again this year in the north between government forces and the Kachin Independence Organisation, and in the east with Shan and Karen armed groups. The president's call in August for peace talks has so far failed to yield results.

While aid organisations report better access to most parts of the country, in contrast to the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in 2008, they are still unable to access areas of ethnic unrest, according to both a western diplomat and the head of a UN agency in Rangoon.

Progress has been reported on one front of the conflict: speaking out against the forced recruitment of child soldiers. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) office in Rangoon reported receiving 355 complaints about child soldiers from the start of 2010 to July 2011; 77 children have been discharged while investigations into the remaining 242 cases are pending. This was up sharply from 2009, with 78 complaints, and 2008, with 29 complaints, a trend the ILO attributed to greater awareness.

Change

In an inaugural speech to parliament in March, Thein Sein spoke of the need to alleviate poverty – barely acknowledged by the previous government – tackle corruption, end conflicts with various ethnic minorities, and work towards political reconciliation. Last year's election was boycotted by the NLD.

Other recent changes include:

• pension increases for retired public servants

• vote in parliament in favour of amnesties for political and other prisoners, followed by the release of more than 6,500 prisoners in October, including prisoners of conscience

• financial assistance to farmers

• easing of media censorship – with the head of the censorship authority calling for it to end in the near future

• establishment of human rights commission to "promote and safeguard fundamental rights of citizens"

• proposed changes to electoral laws, designed to encourage the NLD to contest future elections.

Reactions

Reaction to these and other changes has ranged from distrust to cautious optimism.

Sein Win, managing editor of Delhi-based publication, Mizzima News, said he was both sceptical and encouraged by the changes. "After first clapping my hands, I leaned back in my chair [to think deeply] as to the reasoning behind the moves of Thein Sein's government," he said.

Sein Win said while some changes were positive, he questioned why political prisoners were still in jail and called for legal amnesty for exiles and a lifting of remaining media restrictions.

Richard Horsey, a Burma analyst and the ILO representative in the country from 2002-07, said he was "very much encouraged" by the reforms. "These are the most significant changes in the government in half a century," he told IRIN. "Much remains to be done and many challenges lie ahead, but the direction is positive and the momentum appears strong."

Momentum

But can the president maintain this pace and path of reform?

Derek Tonkin, chairman of the UK-based Network Myanmar NGO, working on reconciliation issues, said while the pace of change could alarm conservative elements in the government, "the president is showing great confidence, which seems to be based on general support in the military and civilian hierarchies."

However, Sein Win said the situation was still "totally unpredictable during this stage of sensitive transition". Much depends on Thein Sein's "leadership, capacity, wisdom and tolerance of diverse opinions", he added, warning that there "could again be a U-turn involving a military coup to counter an untimely opposition challenge to the government".

"Transforming the political direction of any country, but particularly one that has been under authoritarian rule for so long, is a massive task," said Horsey.

Tonkin agreed the transition to democracy is bound to be "fraught", which heightens the need to resolve "serious internal problems relating to the non-Burmese nationalities whose desire for a measure of autonomy is strong".

Sein Win said the biggest obstacles were "the general public's lack of trust in the government – old habits die hard – power dynamics within the government, and a lack of resources".

A former government employee now working at his family business in Yangon, U Shwe, 55, said he saw little evidence of change thus far. "Our hardship remains the same. Though some people say there are changes, we do not feel our life has changed. We are still restricted by previous laws and regulations. Ethnic areas are still seeing the wars in their areas. No peace at all. As long as no peace is there, there is no safety there. You will be laughed at if you ask these questions of the ethnic people about any improvement in their areas under the new government."

For others, the pace of change is not quick enough. "If the government wants to change the country rapidly, there are many things they have to reform with the advice of experts," said a phone accessories seller in a local shopping mall.

But expertise is in short supply, said Horsey. "The biggest risk that I see at the current time relates to capacity: implementing the various reforms in a co-ordinated way requires strong administrative capacity and expert technical advice, both of which are in short supply."

Administration, key to carrying out any reform, is another obstacle, said Renaud Egreteau, a research assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong. "The state structure and administration … are in pretty bad shape [and] lack autonomy and expertise."

Analysts note a key issue that could boost the country's domestic and international legitimacy is whether changes proposed to political party laws would lead to the return of the NLD to the electoral process – an outcome that could result in an easing or lifting of US and EU sanctions.

Aung San Suu Kyi has said the NLD will consider participating in elections if the changes are approved by the lower house.

"Participating would allow the NLD to enter the parliament, where much has been going on, but it would also antagonise a portion of its supporters," said a Rangoon-based political analyst. "It is a difficult choice the NLD is facing."

For Sein Win, it is too early to say whether these proposed changes are enough to bring the NLD back into the electoral process, as hardliners may peg the party's return to the fate of their imprisoned members. "If a majority of political prisoners are left out in an amnesty, there would be the potential of a catch 22 for the NLD," he said.

The US and EU – Burma's second- and third-largest providers of overseas development assistance (ODA) in 2009 – have for years linked the easing of sanctions to an improvement in the human rights record, including the release of prisoners of conscience.

Burma received about $7 per capita in ODA in 2009, compared with $66 for Laos and $48 for Cambodia, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and population data reported to the UN.

The fact that Burma receives a fraction per person in ODA compared with Laos or Cambodia, which each have a higher gross national income, is clearly a result of "political pressure", said Frank Smithuis, founder of the NGO Medical Action Myanmar, who has worked in the country with medical NGOs since 1994. "Withholding aid affects the poor, who pay the price for this immoral political game," said Smithuis.

Reneaud Egreteau said Burma's military elites recognised the need to change. "They are not blind. They know that the region is changing fast, that the Burmese economy is dire, and that domestic politics still very much hinder Burma's path towards development."
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The Diplomat - Burma Government Turns One
By Luke Hunt November 11, 2011

Twelve months ago, the Burmese military allowed elections that resulted in the first civilian government coming to power since it took control in 1962. The poll was widely regarded as a sham, indeed it still is by many, but the change has pushed the country in a direction welcomed in much of the international community.

President Thein Sein has revised laws on political parties, freed 300 political prisoners, sought a conciliatory line with pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and defied one of its few allies – China – by suspending construction of a mega-dam inside Burma that had generated enormous local resentment.

The government has also legalized trade unions and eased censorship laws. These are seen as encouraging signs.

Suu Kyi is again travelling in the countryside where she attracts thousands. A film depicting her life and starring Michelle Yeoh, and which was directed by Luc Besson, is about to be released. Thein Sein’s government, meanwhile, has left the door open for her to re-register her National League for Democracy (LDP).

It’s a tantalizing offer and “The Lady” as she is often known, has indicated the NLD could contest future elections if certain electoral laws are amended. Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest, also says Thein Sein’s desire for reform appears genuine and sincere.

Burma’s regular detractors in the West have taken note. Sanctions will be maintained, although the United States says it will respond in kind if Burma halts human rights abuses and proves it’s genuine about democratic reform.

The United Nations, aid organizations and human rights groups are also paying attention as the government and military would desperately like to see sanctions lifted and Naypyidaw take up the chair of the annual prestigious Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in 2014.

But the changes are still far from overwhelming. Wholesale reforms aren’t in the offing, and some 1,700 political prisoners remain behind bars. Suu Kyi’s gripes about much needed amendments to electoral laws therefore appear justified.

Under the 2008 constitution, the military is mandated 25 percent of the seats in parliament, while at the November 7 election last year, the junta-backed Union of Solidarity and Development Party picked up 80 percent of the seats it competed for.

A direct result of the military’s interference in civilian life has seen Burma’s once vibrant economy reduced to the region’s poor house. Conflict among the country’s ethnic groups seems as bloody as ever, and reports of bullying and intimidation by the Army remain common.

A second movie on Burma is also about to get a screening that will test the government’s patience. Entitled Bringing Justice to Women, the documentary is a series of interviews in the state of Kachin about sexual violence perpetrated against women in conflict zones and the systematic use of rape as a weapon.

That production, along with Besson’s movie, aptly titled The Lady, is unlikely to get past the censors and make it onto screens in Burma anytime soon.

The new mood in Naypyidaw a year after the elections should be welcomed, but the military and the government of Thein Sein still have a long way to go in winning over the many cynics they have spawned over five decades of junta rule and who are still wondering: what’s really changed?
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Ekklesia - Burma regime faces calls to release Chin political prisoners
By staff writers10 Nov 2011

Human rights campaigners have called for the immediate release of ethnic Chin political prisoners held by the military regime in Burma (Mynamar).

They have urged President Thein Sein's government to free a range of people imprisoned for their political activity, including Kam Lam Khup, Kam Khan Khual, Go Pian Sing, Khun Tun Oo, Saing Ngunt Lwin, Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Kyi, U Nyi Puh, and Tin Min Thut.

Seven Chin are believed to have been among the 6,359 political prisoners released on 12 October 2011 as part of an amnesty programme instituted by the Myanmar government - following lobbying from international human rights groups, including Amnesty International Australia and Human Rights Watch.

Burmese refugees have been continuing to flee to neighbouring countries such as India, Thailand and Malaysia.

Last year, Graham Thom, Amnesty International Australia's National Refugee Coordinator, was able to visit the Indian state of Mizoram to talk to Burmese Chin refugees.

The visit was organised by the Centre for Refugee Research at the University of New South Wales as part of a cultural exchange focusing on human rights issues, including gender persecution.

"We heard appalling accounts of the systematic rape by the Burmese military of Chin women and the family’s powerlessness to stop these attacks," he said.

Most Chin refugees enter India across the land border with Mizoram State, and this is where the majority of the refugee population has settled. Mizoram is one of the most urbanised states in India, and refugees generally gravitate towards cities and towns despite coming from largely agricultural backgrounds, reports Refugees International.
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Rediff.com - Suu Kyi, Myanmar govt trying to work with each other
November 12, 2011 14:08 IST

Slowly and steadily, the Army-propped civilian regime in Myanmar headed by President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy icon, are coming to terms with each other to avoid a confrontation and to pave the way for a government, which would enjoy her support from outside, if not association, and thereby enjoy a greater credibility in the eyes of the people.

The government has not imposed any restrictions on her travels outside Yangon. Despite this, she has been avoiding any travels, in an attempt not to create an embarrassing law and order situation for the government. The change -- whether in her tactics or attitude to the government -- figured in a question posed to her during her weekly radio interview on November 8. Her reply was interesting.

She said, "I would like to clarify that it is not true that I have made trips around the country whenever I was released from house arrest. In 1995 and in 2000, when I was released for the second time, I never made trips around the country, because of restrictions. Between 2002 and 2003, I did make trips around the country. But this time, since my trip to Pegu, although I had thought about making trips around the country, I have been unable to do so because there is a lot of work to be done in Rangoon. Plans have already been made for the NLD to distribute rice to the flood victims as much as possible. I think that it would be better to distribute rice in this manner than to spend money to travel across the country."

Similarly, questions are being asked by sections of the people as to why she is not opposing the construction of the gas pipeline from the Arakan area to Yunnan in China. She had strongly opposed on environmental grounds the construction of a big hydel project by a Chinese company in Kachin state. Her opposition, combined with the opposition from the Kachin leaders and people, forced the government to suspend the project, leading to protests from Beijing [ Images ].

The gas pipeline project too is being opposed by the local people on various grounds such as payment of inadequate compensation for the land acquired for the project, taking the gas away to China instead of utilising it for the benefit of the local people and environmental damage. Despite this, she has not been as active in opposing the gas pipeline project in the Arakan area as she was in opposing the hydel project in Kachin state.

She was asked about it during her weekly radio interview of October 28. In another interesting reply, she said, "Although one cannot say that a nationwide boycott (of the pipeline project) could not happen, I don't think it would be easy. But it is necessary for the whole country, including the government, to be aware of matters that are really giving trouble to the people. Only then will we be able to find solutions to such issues. However, while we are protecting the interests of the people, we must at the same time be aware of -- and take care to maintain -- good relations with our neighbouring countries."

The gas pipeline being constructed is more important to China than the suspended hydel project. It is designed to carry not only gas found locally, but also gas brought from the Gulf by Chinese tankers in order to reduce the Chinese dependence on the Malacca Strait. Suu Kyi has been avoiding any opposition to the gas pipeline project lest it add to the difficulties already being faced by the government in its relations with China after the suspension of the hydel project.

In carefully calibrated steps, she and the government have been trying to pave the way for her election to the Parliament, which seems to be the present priority of both. An amendment to the law on political parties, endorsed by President Thein Sein on November 4, removed the condition that all parties must agree to "preserve" the country's 2008 constitution.

In a significant interview to the Yangon Times, Khin Aung Myint, the Speaker of the Parliament, who used to be the Director of Public Relations and PSYWAR in the ministry of defence, was quoted as saying, "I recognise the result of the 1990 election, which the NLD won with a vast majority of the votes. The results cannot be reversed and I have no intention to do so."

On November 8, a spokesman of her party the National League for Democracy, announced after a meeting at her residence in Yangon that more than 100 senior members of the party would meet at Yangon on November 18 to decide whether, in view of the change introduced by the government, the NLD should re-register itself as a political party. Though he did not say so, its re-registration would make it, including Suu Kyi, eligible to stand for election to the Parliament. The speculation is that there is already an unwritten understanding between her and the President that a by-election would be held before the year-end in which she could be elected.

What one has been seeing is a recognition of the victory of her party in the 1990 elections by the government. In return, she has agreed not to question the validity of last year's elections to the present Parliament under the supervision of the Army. The NLD has apparently agreed to end its boycott of the present Parliament and the government has agreed to pave the way for the election of some NLD leaders, including Suu Kyi, to the Parliament.

Will Suu Kyi and her party work from outside the government or will they join the government? An answer to this question is not yet available. She said in her November 8 radio interview, "If the people are active and enthusiastic, the government will also become active and the country will develop. If all of you are active in this manner, the road towards political change will be smooth, and our cooperation will be more effective."

Cooperation and national reconciliation, and not political confrontation, seems to be her objective. As part of this, she is prepared not to create any more difficulties for the government in Myanmar's relations with China. It is clear that she does not want to support the movement of the people of the Arakan region against the Chinese gas pipeline to Yunnan and the construction of a modern port at Kyaukpu to transport gas brought by Chinese tankers from the Gulf to Yunnan.
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Last updated: Sat. Nov. 12, 2011 - 06:25 am EDT
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel - Trine University offers Burmese class for first responders
By Ellie Bogue of The News-Sentinel

Burmese language instructor Michelle Winn fixed her gaze on her students and explained in Burmese where she was from. She was met with blank stares.

Switching to English, she repeated herself, and the class looked relieved. Thursday night was the first of five classes in a course offered by Trine University, Fort Wayne, to teach first responders conversational Burmese.

“This is not the first time we have tried to offer this, but it is the first time we found a time that seemed to work for students,” said Mersiha Alic, director of community education programs for Trine.

The class is designed for first responders — firefighters, paramedics and EMTs — who frequently come into contact with members of the growing Burmese community, which numbers roughly 4,000 in Allen County. The five-session class includes one devoted to EMS terms and one to fire terms.

“Classroom activities include language lessons, direct dialogue, group learning by pairing off oral drills and role-playing scenarios demonstrated by native speakers,” states the course description.

On Thursday night the class was covering the basics — cultural tips, phonetic pronunciation and the alphabet.

Winn showed the students how to ask for a person's Social Security card, driver's license and identification card. Burmese is a tonal language, meaning a word can have several very different meanings depending on how it is pronounced. There are short and long sounds, and putting different weights on them changes a word's meaning.

Of the four students in the current class, three work at the CVS pharmacy on South Anthony Boulevard. The store has a lot of Burmese customers, said one of the employees. The other class member works at Animal Control, where employees also find themselves struggling with the language barrier.

The class costs $99 for five weeks and meets 6-9 p.m. Thursdays at the Public Safety Academy of Northeast Indiana.
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Philippine Star - Brunei, Myanmar adopt hybrid rice tech
By Sanny Galvez (The Philippine Star) Updated November 13, 2011 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Encouraged by the benefits of hybrid rice technology, Brunei Darussalam and Myanmar (formerly Burma), two of the world’s biggest rice consuming countries, are also going into hybrid rice production to meet their growing demand for the cereal.

This was learned from Henry Lim, SL Agritech Corp. chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) who was in Brunei recently on the invitation of Mashhor General Contractor Sdn. Bhd. to discuss a possible joint venture agreement (JVA) on hybrid rice production.

Lim was with Dr. Noel Mamicpic and Dr. Frisco Malabanan, vice president for quality control and technical consultant, respectively, of SL Agritech Corp.

Lim’s party also met with Permanent Secretary Hajah Normah S.H. Jamil and Deputy Permanent Secretary Hajah Hasnah, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, to discuss the possible hybrid rice production project in Brunei.

Lim said Myanmar Union Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, U Myint Hlaing, was in town over the weekend to discuss his country’s plan to import hybrid rice seeds particularly the firm’s high-yielding SL-8H variety.

The meeting with Minister U was held at SL Agritech’s 40-hectare hybrid rice research and demo (R&D) farm in Barangay Oogong in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, where the Myanmar official was briefed on the firm’s nationwide operation.

Minister U also visited SL Agritech’s 15.6-hectare demo farm planted to parental hybrid rice seeds in Barangay Masapang, also in Laguna, where Dr. Weijun Xu, a Chinese rice scientist who is vice president of SL Agritech for international operation, explained to him “the efficient techniques of planting and harvesting hybrid rice. Dr. Weijun was formerly with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Also present during the Myanmar agriculture minister’s visit were SL Agritech officials, among them Dr. Mamicpic, Prof. Zhang Zhaodong, vice president for research and development; Dr. Malabanan, Brian Lim, head of the firm’s rice division and former Food Minister Jesus Tanchanco.

John Ba Maw, in-charge of the seed department of the International Sun Moon Star Agriculture Co., Ltd. in Myanmar, who was with Minister U’s party, said in an interview that he himself “is convinced that using the hybrid seed technology will accelerate growth in our rice production.”

“I strongly believe that hybrid rice production is our stepping stone towards the improvement of our agricultural economy,” he said.

While in Brunei, Lim’s group also met with the staff of Mashhor head Wan Krisnadi Bte Haji Osman, general manager of Hal-Foods SDN-BHD, Ferdinand de Chavez, Wan Shahin Hairuddin Bin Hj Ariffin, Dr. Hj Hatta B Hj Abidin, Mohd Saifur Rahman and Hj Osman Bin Haji Omar.

Lim said Mashhor will visit the Philippines sometime this November to finalize the joint venture agreement and to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

“SL Agritech and Mashhor initially agreed to establish a five-hectare hybrid rice technology demonstration farm using our SL-8H, SL-7H and SL-9H hybrid rice varieties. The seeds will be provided by us free of charge and will hire a qualified staff from the Philippines to provide the technical assistance to Brunei during the production cycle.” Lim explained.

He said however, that Mashhor will have to pay for the plane fare, salary and accommodation of the technical staff from SL Agritech.

Lim said the expansion of the hybrid rice production areas will be done after the initial trials in Brunei, as well as in Sulawesi, Indonesia for Brunei Darussalam to achieve 60 percent self-sufficiency in rice production by 2015.
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Asian Tribune - AIPMC calls on ASEAN to place ethnic conflict and human rights in Myanmar on ASEAN agenda
Sun, 2011-11-13 01:57 — editor
Jakarta, 13 November, (Asiantribune.com):

ASEAN MPs and members of the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) will speak in Jakarta Monday to call on leading ASEAN delegates to place the unresolved ethnic conflict and outstanding questions on political and human rights in Myanmar high up on the agenda at the 19th ASEAN Summit in Bali this week.

A press conference will be held at the Press Room of Nusantara III Building, Indonesian Parliament Building, at 11:00am, Monday, November 14. Speakers will include AIPMC President MP Eva K. Sundari, along with fellow MPs and members of the AIPMC Indonesia Caucus MP Lily Wahid, MP Mien Moentoro and MP Dadoes Soemarwanto.

Whilst welcoming many of the recent changes taking place in Myanmar, AIPMC remains concerned by the relatively slow pace of political reform and improvement of human rights in the country. AIPMC believes it is important for ASEAN to ensure all member states commit to basic principles of human and political rights.

As such, AIPMC is calling on leading ASEAN delegates to raise the issue of democratic reform and protection of human rights at this week’s Summit and to work together with the United Nations to set up a peace process to end the ethnic conflict in Myanmar.

The issue is of particular importance as ASEAN is expected this week to consider Myanmar’s bid to chair the regional grouping for the first time in 2014. AIPMC believes this is a key opportunity to encourage tangible change and democratic reform in Myanmar.
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The Irrawaddy - Kachin Rebels Blow Up Major Railway
By BA KAUNG Friday, November 11, 2011

Rebels from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic armed group, destroyed a section of a major railway in northern Burma on Wednesday in an effort to deter the Burmese military from resupplying its troops in Kachin State.

A section of the commercially-strategic railway from Mandalay—Burma’s second largest city—to Myitkyina in Kachin State was blown up by KIA troops at midnight on Wednesday to
prevent a cargo train suspected of carrying government military supplies from passing, said KIA spokesman La Nan.

There are reports that the attack, which occurred in Mogaung Township in Kachin State, injured at least one civil railway staff onboard the train. The KIA spokesman, however, claimed that the attack did not target the train and did not cause any injuries or deaths.

“We just bombed the railway section, as the government troops and arms supplies have been reinforced in Kachin State on a large scale,” La Nan said, adding that there were more than 160 armed clashes between the Burmese military and the KIA in October alone, during which 14 KIA rebels were killed and 26 wounded.

Many similar armed clashes continue to break out in Kachin and Shan States, and the conflict between the KIA and government troops has created thousands of refugees along the China-Burma border. In addition, human rights groups claim that serious human rights violations, such as rape and the burning of villages, have been perpetrated against locals by the government troops.

To independently verify such reports is almost impossible since the conflict zones near the China border are located in difficult terrain and are thus inaccessible to the local and international media. The Burmese authorities have also denied international aid groups access to the conflict zones.

Both the Burmese and Chinese governments have avoided official media coverage of the clashes, which began in June after the collapse of a 17-year-old ceasefire between the KIA and the Burmese government. It is important to both governments to stabilize the region, through which an oil and gas pipeline that is being built by China and a railway from Burma’s coast on the Bay of Bengal to China's landlocked Yunnan Province will pass.

The US $2.6 billion pipeline project is currently under construction and is expected to become operational by 2013, while construction on the $20 billion railway will begin in December.

KIA sources said that the continued fighting will pose difficulties for Burma and China in completing these projects.

Founded in 1961, the 10000-strong KIA is fighting for autonomy for the Kachin people and has rejected the current military-drafted Constitution as not granting equal rights to the ethnic groups. The KIA also did not accept recent offers from Burma’s new quasi-civilian government to participate in the national Parliament and have said that a political dialogue with Naypyidaw is a requirement for any renewed ceasefire.

Recently, Naypyidaw has signed renewed ceasefire pacts with other ethnic armed groups, including the United Wa State Army, the country’s largest ethnic armed group which operates in Shan State, and a breakaway faction of Democratic Karen Buddhist Army in Karen State.

The clashes in Kachin State have created a sense of caution amidst the optimism of the international community over certain reformist steps recently taken by the Burmese government, including overtures to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Reflecting the contrast between the reform measures and the continued armed conflicts, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that the government needs to take more steps in its reform process.

“Now, many questions remain, including the government’s continued detention of political prisoners, and whether reform will be sustained and extended to include peace and reconciliation in the ethnic minority areas,” she said.
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The Irrawaddy - The Gorkhalis of Myitkyina
By SUSHMA JOSHI Saturday, November 12, 2011
This article originally appeared in Himal magazine in October 2011

My flight to Rangoon on June 18 is canceled. Thai Airways announces that heavy rain has closed Yangon airport. In the restless gloom of the waiting area, rumors start to spread.

The Burmese army has taken over the airport, people whisper. Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday is a day away. Has some event occurred while they have been away? Young fathers sit
staring into space, wondering whether they can ever return home.

We get bussed to the Amaranth Hotel, a fancy five-star hotel in the outskirts of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. Using my wireless thumb drive, I e-mail my friend in Washington, DC, and request her to check Twitter. Within a few minutes, I get my answer: a plane has skidded off the tracks at Yangon Airport. Flights supposed to land there are being rerouted to Singapore.

We fly to Rangoon the next morning. In the excited conversations I start up with my fellow travelers, I refer repeatedly to my visit to “Burma,” to which they politely remind me it is now “Myanmar.” At a crowded traffic junction, a young newspaper boy flashes me illicit news printed in The Nation, a Thai newspaper. The front flap is folded over to hide the headlines inside: “Kachin Rebels Resume Fighting at Border, Threats of Civil War.” only 3,000 kyats (US $4.70), he says. I get a Hollywood thrill seeing the news, hidden so discreetly and flashed briefly before my eyes.

In a nearby restaurant, the kindly owner starts to discuss the Kachin rebels with me. The people are protesting, she says, because the benefits of the new hydroelectricity dam currently being built will all go to China. The Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River will dry up and the Kachin will get nothing in return. She is surprised I do not know all this already. “I think you are journalist and you come to report about this,” she confides. I deny this, but she hardly believes me: how could I not be a journalist? Obviously I was not a tourist—clearly I had come for some specific purpose.

Four months earlier, in February, I had ridden a pickup truck to Lashio, in the northern Shan state. A government official had looked at me and asked, “Are you a writer?” Do I have “I am a writer” written on my forehead, I had wondered at the time. In hindsight, this was disingenuous: which tourist in her right mind would be riding a pickup truck to Lashio, sitting squashed alongside 30 laborers in the back with a giant pile of goods, and only a plastic mat as cushioning?

I had admitted I was a writer, of sorts, but I need not have worried—the official went on to tell me that Myanmar was now introducing democratic norms and would soon become like other democracies. He also told me that he never took the state-owned Myanma Airlines, and that he felt that his country would slowly but surely adopt the political freedom of other countries. He admired writers, and wanted to learn to write in English.

Of course, he was a government official whose children studied at the best schools. His three rosy-cheeked children went to one of the best boarding schools in the country, in Pyin U Lwin (formerly Maymyo), where he was picking them up to take them for a short vacation. Ordinary people had told me that only government officials get to send their children to good schools, or to buy property or start businesses. We can’t do anything, they said. It might have been true in this case but the official was so pleasant, polite and charming, and so clearly on the side of a democratic system, that it was hard to fault him.

Despite all this, I was unsure how much I should reveal—would saying that I was writing a book about the Nepali/ Gorkhali community in Myanmar bring unwelcome attention? Did I want to invite the possibility of more government officials asking me more questions?

I was unsure, and in the confusing absence of information it seemed better not to say anything.

Back in the Rangoon restaurant on a steaming and oppressive June evening, I shook my head and said: “No, I’m not here to report on the Kachin rebellion.” The owner was surprised by this. Then she resumed telling me the story of what was happening in Myitkyina, almost as if it did not matter why I had come in the first place, as long as I got a chance to witness what was going on there. I was educated, it was clear. I could speak and write in English. And this was enough credentials to be a witness.

Reading the New Light of Myanmar, the government-run newspaper, I saw that indeed the Kachin rebels have resumed fighting in Myitkyina, where I was headed. As the restaurant owner had earlier indicated, the news also told me that the Kachin were protesting the building of a dam by China; they had already blown up 22 bridges.
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The Irrawaddy - Can Asean Centrality be Maintained at East Asia Summit?
By KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN Thursday, November 10, 2011

When Asean decided to invite the United States and Russia to join the premium leader-led East Asia Summit (EAS) in July 2010, it had no idea that their presence would impact on the overall pattern of engagement with other dialogue partners.

As it turns out, the desire to construct an expansive Asean-led regional architecture is being challenged fervently by other non-Asean EAS members. They have already collectively demanded to be treated as equal, as the sixth EAS scheduled on Nov. 18 is approaching. This is a red-herring as it could undermine the Asean central and its diplomatic conduct over the past four decades.

During the Ad-Hoc EAS senior officials' consultation in Bali last month, both sides were locked in an argument that the Asean centrality must be based on "equal partnership" with other EAS participants, namely China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, US and Russia. Otherwise, the non-Asean members countered the term "Asean centrality" should not be used at all. They reiterated that in all previous Asean documents including the Kuala Lumpur Declaration (2005) and the Hanoi Declaration (2010), this characterization of Asean was not used.

Indeed, the term was first introduced in 2008 as it appeared in the Asean Charter's preamble. Previously, the non-Asean members argued correctly that the term "Asean as the driving force" was commonly used. They contended if Asean wants to do away with "equal partnership," it has to drop "Asean centrality" from the proposed declaration as well.

Presently, the EAS agenda and the admission of new members are determined by the Asean members only. That has been the practice since the EAS forum was inaugurated at Kuala Lumpur in 2005. Apparently as the external relations of Asean with major powers intensifies, the latter's demand to be treated as equal partnership also increases.

The non-Asean members have argued that since the EAS is a forum to discuss broad strategic, political and economic issues, they should be able to set and contribute to the EAS agenda as well. In the future issues related to maritime security, nonproliferation, food and energy security and connectivity would also be the EAS main concerns. The Asean leaders fear they would lose control of the EAS process if others are allowed to set forth agenda and host the summit.

Like many Asean-led forums, Asean has now become a minority when it comes to numbers. In regional and global politics, numbers matters, they increase voices. For instance, the region-wide security forum, the Asean Regional Forum, began in 1995, now has 17 non-Asean members. In addition, nearly 20 countries outside Asean have signed up to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia of 1976. Under the treaty's amended protocol 3, they can now block any new signatory if they have not ratified it. Both the EU and Brazil are waiting for such eventuality before they can accede to the TAC. Obviously, the non-Asean members are pressuring Asean as they no longer want to be just the grouping's accessories or minor players.

Early this year, China has proposed and submitted a set of principles that would govern the future EAS discussion. The draft, which is officially known as the Declaration of the East Asia Summit on the Principles of Mutually Beneficial Relations, have been discussed and amended by the EAS senior officials. The two-page declaration will be vetted and subsequently approved by the EAS leaders during the Bali summit.

As one of the EAS founding members, Beijing is aware of the challenges of such a powerful leader's meeting in the region. Leaders can pick up any topic they like to discuss under the five broad themes of energy, finance, education, disaster management and avian flu prevention. But as previous meetings demonstrated including the EAS foreign ministerial meeting last year, the sensitive issue of South China Sea was taken up much to the chagrin of China.

The twelve principles contained in the declaration were drawn up from relevant codes of conduct from around the world including the UN Charter, TAC, the Indonesian panjacilla and other peaceful coexistence frameworks. To ensure that the EAS future engagements and discussions will promote "friendly and mutually beneficial relations," the proposed guidelines are stringently framed to respect independence and promote sovereignty and territorial integrity.

When the EAS leaders endorse the new code of conduct, it will be the region's first and most comprehensive. Apart from the non-interference in internal affairs and the non-use of forces in settling disputes, the EAS principles also touched on three new areas: enhancing regional resilience including during economic shocks and natural disasters, respecting human rights and promote social justice as well as promoting maritime cooperation.

Given the sensitivity of topics related to the maritime area, the last principle has been diplomatically phrased as "promotion of the ocean as a unifying factor and as public good for enhancing common prosperity of mankind."

It is interesting to note that as part of the ongoing effort to strengthen its cooperation with Asean, the US has been very supportive of its efforts related to peace and security. For instance, Washington has expressed support of the recent Asean-sponsored UN General Assembly Resolution on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ).

When it first came out in 1995, Washington was apprehensive, viewing the treaty negatively fearing it would weaken its global deterrence system. At the moment, both sides are negotiating for an early accession of the US including other nuclear powers to the Protocol of the SEANWFZ. But some of them have not agreed on the scope of declared special economic zones by Asean.

In a similar vein, for nearly two decades, Burma's political situation has been the key spoiler of Asean-US relations. Now, the ongoing political reforms there have served a new glue of their ties. Both sides have positive feelings toward each other. The US expressed the hope that Burma would continue to undertake political and economic reforms towards greater national reconsolidation. Asean was equally receptive in welcoming Washington's continuing engagement with Burma.

Now with major global shakers and movers in the EAS, Asean has to work closely together and treat them with respect. No EAS country will go against Asean as a driving force in the evolving regional architecture if Asean has what it takes—more common positions and policies on issues of global concerns. Asean has to earn it. Now with every Asean member fully involved and accepted in the EAS, such task is less difficult to attain.

This commentary first appeared in The Nation, a Bangkok-based newspaper. The opinions expressed by the author are his own.
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Burmese political prisoners who staged hunger strike not allowed to meet family
Friday, 11 November 2011 22:08 Tun Tun

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Fifteen political prisoners in Insein Prison who staged a hunger strike to demand remission of their sentences have not been allowed to meet with their families, according to the Helping Network for Families of Political Prisoners (HNFPP).

Under the prison manual, ordinary prisoners have been granted remission of their sentences, but political prisoners have been denied remission since 1997.

The hunger strike started on October 26.

Aung Zaw Tun, an HNFPP member, told Mizzima: “The family members of Soe Moe Tun and Nyi Nyi Tun went to the prison to meet with them. But the authorities did not allow the family member to meet, but they took the parcels given by the family members. Soe Moe Tun and Nyi Nyi Tun will not be allowed to meet with their family members for one month.”

In Insein Prison, family members of a prisoner are allowed to meet with the prisoner once every 14 days. Parcels can be sent to prisoners once a week.

The prison manual says that all prisoners, except prisoners who received a death sentence or life, can receive remission of a sentence.

The prison manual says that prisoners who stage a protest or who cause problems can be sent to a “military-dog cell” [a small cell about 8 x 10 feet], can be transferred to another prison, can be physically punished or denied permission to meet with their families.

Not permitting a prisoner to meet with their family is also a form of punishment, Aung Zaw Tun said.

He said: “Not giving remission to political prisoners is a violation of the prisoner manual. Political prisoners staged the hunger strike because the authorities have failed to give their rights to them. They [prison authorities] also have not allowed them to meet with their families and that is double punishment, we think. We can’t accept that.”

He said he believed the hunger strike ended because prison authorities allowed parcels to be sent to the prisoners.
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Mizzima News - Burma-U.S. talk about establishing military cooperation
Friday, 11 November 2011 16:12 Ko Pauk

(Interview) – U.S. Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma Derek Mitchell met with Commander in Chief of the Burmese Defense Forces Lt. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during his third visit to Naypyitaw. It was the first time in 23 years that a high U.S. official met with the Burmese armed forces chief. The state newspaper reported that they discussed "cooperation between the two nations' armies" during their meeting on November 3, 2011. As the relationship has seemed to improve dramatically, the US has resumed humanitarian assistance to Burma and appears to be moving ahead with military cooperation between the two armies. Mizzima reporter Ko Pauk interviewed Burmese military analyst U Htay Aung, who has observed the Burmese military for decades.

Question: What does a meeting between U.S. representative Derek Mitchell and Burmese Commander in Chief Lt. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing really mean?

Answer: We could presume that the relationship between the two governments must be adequate after the U.S. representative’s meeting with the Burmese president. But the U.S. envoy's additional meeting with Min Aung Hlaing means something else; the U.S. military seems to have softened its stance on the Burmese army and may want to deliver a “gesture” message.

Q: Was there any past military cooperation between the two countries prior to the 1988 popular uprising?

A: Since 1988, after the military had taken over power in Burma, the military ties between the two countries were severed. Previously, there was some close cooperation under the "drug eradication campaign," even under U Ne Win's one-party BSPP rule. Many Burmese military officers were trained in U.S. military schools. It included intelligence training, and Burma bought some weapons through U.S. companies. Actually, many Burmese generals have a high view about Western countries, particularly the U.S. They prefer to use U.S.-made military equipment and even when they watch war movies, they prefer U.S. films. While Burma has been relying heavily on China, China has offered a double-faced policy. The Chinese sold arms to the Burmese junta while at the same time, Chinese companies built small-arms factories for ethnic cease-fire groups in Burma. After the clashes with the Kokant ethnic armed group and the Burmese army, there has been some tension in the Sino-Burma relationship.

Now theUnion Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)-led government has given up on a lot of dealings with the Wa and Mongla ethnic groups because of China's pressure. As Burmese military leaders have gradually realized that long-term relationship with China will be cumbersome, they make eyes at the U.S. And to do that, they have to deal with Aung San Suu Kyi inevitably.

Q: When did you start to notice that they gave a winking signal to the U.S.?

A: Under the SLORC/ SPDC rule, they approached the U.S.in regard to anti-drug policies. Moreover, they had searched for remnants of U.S. planes that went down in Burma during WW II and returned them to the U.S. They have tried to appease the U.S. administration for quite a long time. Now they take advantage to approach closer to the U.S. as it ‘opens its arms.”

The termination of the Myitsone Dam project is basically, I think, to teach the Chinese rather than about listening to the voice of the Burmese people. They show they can approach another country, and they show they can shift from a close relationship with China.

Q: What could the two countries do in terms of military cooperation?

A: The aerial surveillance planes for the Burmese navy and the navy ships bought from China can't compete with the Thai weapons delivered by the U.S. The Burmese military leaders know that. If there is military cooperation, they want to buy arms from the U.S. and acquire US technology and then they will train in the U.S. They really wanted such a situation for quite a long time. What they can give in return is drug eradication in Burma. If they have good relations with the U.S, the Wa will be in tight corner. The Burmese army would attack the Wa sooner or later.

Q: Could a joint military exercise be possible in the region?

A: It could be possible. When the Nargis cyclone hit Burma, the U.S. navy approached the junta to help, but the Burmese leaders declined the proposal. There could be more cooperation later.

Q: Will military relations cause concern in the region?

A: I don't think so. The U.S. and Thai are doing joint military exercise annually. The U.S. is doing similar exercises with India and Bangladesh. If the exercise has a limited purpose and scale, it would not be a problem for anyone. As long as foreign bases are not allowed in Burma and Burma doesn't keep nuclear weapons, it could not be presumed to be a threat to the region. A good relationship with the U.S. doesn't necessarily mean to sever relations with China. Chinese investments are already there in the country. If we rely only on one country, it could be a problem longer-term.

Q: What are the obstacles for such cooperation?

A: As the U.S. army is working under the U.S. government and it upholds human rights standards and norms as well, the cooperation will happen after their demands are fulfilled. The relationship between the two governments is first and then the two armies are second.

The Burmese military regime has claimed that they haven’t been hurt by U.S. sanctions. Actually, the sanctions have hurt them a lot psychologically and economically. The meetings with Suu Kyi and the government are mainly to approach the U.S. Now the Burmese junta follows through with this military gesture.

Q: Snr-Gen Than Shwe met with U.S. Senator Jim Webb in 2009. Since he was also the commander in chief during that time, can we say this was the second meeting with a high U.S. official and the Burmese commander in chief?

A: Jim Web is a senator and he is responsible only for a senate affairs committee. He might have sounded out the Burmese government as a representative of the senate. But Derek Mitchell is a representative appointed by the U.S. government. His report will have much more impact on the two countries' relations.
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Mizzima News - What will November 18 mean for the NLD and Burma?
Friday, 11 November 2011 14:19 Salai Z. T. Lian

(Commentary) – The possibility of the NLD re-registering as a legal political party is high when about 106 members of the central committee of the National League for Democracy (NLD) from 13 states and regions will meet on November 18 in Rangoon to decide the issue.

Most young people in Burma will likely welcome the NLD if it decides to re-register, but many older Burmese might prefer the NLD to take a little bit more time to monitor and evaluate the development of Burmese politics under President Thein Sein’s government.

The fact is that there is a gap between the Burmese young and old on how they view politics, and how to deal with the government.
Regardless, the NLD needs to make policy and strategy changes since it no longer faces former dictator Than Shwe, but rather a new generation that looks more moderate and flexible than their previous boss. The NLD will choose the path that it believes is best on November 18.

The reason the government amended the Political Party Registration Law and the reason the NLD is considering to re-register are likely related to the talks between President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi on August 19, 2011.

There are interesting questions on how the NLD will go forward after November 18? Would it re-register as a lpolitical party and enter into elections, or would it decide not to re-register and watch the development of Burma’s politics, meanwhile focusing on humanitarian work? Its decision will tell us how much trust there is between the NLD and new Burmese government.

The trust between Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein seems established after the two met on August 19. But they kept their talk confidential. There must be the reason to keep it confidential. Maybe, they made a promise to change Burma or they shared sensitive information about changing Burma. Or they agreed to meet again. Or they made a deal that promised to amend the political parties registration laws in order for the NLD to re-register or run as a political party, or about releasing political prisoners, and in return, Suu Kyi agreed not to encourage mass demonstrations, and to tell international communities including Asean members, that Burma is changing positively.

Following their meeting, Suu Kyi credited President Thein Sein, saying she thinks he really wants to bring positive changes to Burma. Also, the talks between Union Minister Aung Kyi and Suu Kyi continued. Suu Kyi is allowed to communicate with international communities. She is also allowed to do her political activity without restrictions. Media censorship has relaxed somewhat. The government granted amnesty to 6,359 prisoners including about 200 political prisoners recently. Reportedly, the government will grant amnesty again soon.

The ethnic groups are watching carefully. And, they’re wondering if the NLD re-registered and worked with Burmese government, how seriously would they work to solve ethnic issues?

The government knows what is needed to establish good relationships with international communities such as the U.N., USA and Asean. They measure Burma’s progress toward democracy based on how it deals with Suu Kyi’s NLD party. That’s why the government started talking to her.

Ex-major Sai Thein Win, who leaked information about Burma’s nuclear work, said, “The NLD should re-register as a legal political party, and contest in the national Parliament. I didn’t vote in 1990. Like me, there are many young people who didn’t vote in 1990. The NLD should register as a political party so that many people who didn’t vote in the 1990 election can vote now.

“The Burmese military will make sure former Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his family are safe and their property is protected. There is a risk if their security and property are in danger that a military coup could happen at any time because he can still influence the military.”

Many Burmese including exiles are excited about what the NLD will decide on November 18. Most Burmese people will likely continue to support the NLD whether it decides to re-register or not. Suu Kyi’s party owns the hearts of the people in Burma.

The popularity of the NLD cannot be challenged politically. They will beat anyone as long as the elections are fair and free. Even if they just work as a social organization or NGO; they will still shake up Burmese politics.

But the NLD should enter the political battles at the Union, regional and local levels and not limit its work to social activities, even though that’s also a part of politics. That’s what November 18 will mean for the NLD and for Burma.
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DVB News - Troops raze Kachin villages, locals flee
Published: 11 November 2011

Burmese troops burned down around 50 homes in a village in eastern Kachin state two days ago as they prepare for an offensive against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), despite assertions from fleeing residents that no rebels inhabit the village.

In response, the KIA has told locals living in areas close to the town of Waingmaw to leave, prompting some 3,000 people to join those who fled the razed Aungja village as they make for the border with China.

A DVB reporter in Kachin state said that Burmese army battalions were closing in on the KIA’s Brigade 3 in Sanpai, which was being fiercely defended by the rebels.

“There were about 600 to 700 KIA troops in Sanpai and more reinforcements were arriving [on Thursday],” he said. Fighting there has been going on consistently for almost a month, and Burmese forces were also sending additional troops.

The burning of civilian villages is a key part of the army’s so-called Four Cuts strategy, which looks to sever lines of support and communication for Burma’s various ethnic armed groups. Many depend on support, including food and surveillance, from local populations.

Our reporter said that during the assault on the village, troops attacked a local pastor and his pregnant wife, who is now in hospital. Accusations have been levelled at the Burmese army that it is waging religious persecution against the predominantly Christian Kachin minority, fuelled by reports that it has attacked churches.

The razing of Aungja village comes one month after troops destroyed a number of houses in Namsan Yang village, also close to Waingmaw. Two inhabitants, U Lamalu, 30, and U Jamta, were shot dead, according to the KIA.

The Burmese military has been accused of war crimes in its offensives in Kachin state since June. A film released this week purports to show strong evidence that rape of ethnic women by Burmese troops is endemic, and could be a deliberate policy of the country’s military in its ongoing conflicts in the country’s border regions.

It findings supplement various reports released this year that document cases of rape by soldiers, notably the surveys carried out by the Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand (KWAT) which have found close to 40 incidents of sexual violence in the country’s war-torn northern state since fighting began.
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DVB News - Southeast Asia floods take 1,000 lives
By AFP Published: 11 November 2011

At least one thousand people have died in massive floods across Southeast Asia in recent months, according to an AFP tally on Thursday, and millions of homes and livelihoods have been destroyed.

The death toll in Thailand — grappling with its worst floods in half a century — has reached 533, the government said, and the slowly advancing waters are now threatening the heart of Bangkok, a city of 12 million people.

In neighbouring Cambodia, the most severe floods in over a decade have killed 248 people, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest flood report. Vietnam’s government has reported at least 100 deaths, including many children, in southern and central parts of the country.

At least 106 people died in flash floods caused by heavy storms in central Burma in late October, a government official in the military-dominated country told AFP at the time, on condition of anonymity.

In the tiny nation of Laos, 30 people lost their lives in the floods, according to OCHA. The UN body, which does not include Burma in its flood updates, also reported 98 deaths in the Philippines.
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DVB News - Police criticised for missing youths
By SHWE AUNG Published: 11 November 2011

The father of a teenager missing in Rangoon since September has criticised the police for failing to effectively investigate his whereabouts, a case that bears similarities to that of a 12-year-old also missing in the former capital.

Thein Win says his son had failed to return from university on 20 September. Aung Kyaw Phyo, 18, was a second-year mathematics student from Thuwanna township when he went missing.

In light of what Thein Win says is police incompetence, the case has been filed to both the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNICEF.

“The police station has been constantly ringing me up asking if I had any leads or information,” he told DVB. “They said they’ve been looking for him because they are getting a lot of pressure from high up.

“They said they were unable to find him so I told them it’s getting to the point where I will have to find him myself as they can’t do anything.”

Thein Win is not alone, however. The family of 12-year-old Ko Ko Hein has turned to a local wing of National League for Democracy party in Thingangyun township to find help. The boy has not been seen since leaving his home to buy some food on the morning of 4 September.

Rangoon division’s chief minister, Myint Swe, was quoted in domestic media last week as saying that the government would punish police forces who fail to properly investigate reports of missing persons. He also said that cases could be filed directly to him.

More often than not, the dozens of Burmese youths that go missing each year end up in the army, whose aggressive expansion carries with it the maligned practice of forced recruitment of soldiers.
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