Friday, 16 December 2011
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Burmas Election Chief Vows By-Election Will Be Free and Fair
By BA KAUNG Friday, December 16, 2011
The chief of Burmas Election Commission (EC) said in a press conference on Friday that upcoming parliamentary by-election will be free and fair and the countrys existing political parties can now start their election campaigns.
During the by-election, expected to be held in March, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party (USDP), opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) and Burmas other political parties will compete for 48 vacant parliamentary seats.
Ex-army general Tin Aye, the EC chairman, vowed during the press conference in Naypyidaw on Friday that the by-election will be held in a free and fair manner and that the EC will be independent and not submit to any outside influence. If his prediction comes to fruition, it would stand in contrast to the 2010 parliamentary elections, Burmas first in 20 years, which the NLD boycotted and observers condemned as widely fraudulent.
During the 2010 election campaign, political parties had to seek advance approval from the EC prior to canvassing for votes and faced various other forms of campaign restrictions. Tin Aye said that in the by-elections, parties will not face a repeat of such conditions and they all can launch their campaigns without reporting to the election commission in advance.
Only if you can organize the people, then (the parties) can join the Parliament and serve the people, he said, adding that the commission will act in strict accordance with the Constitution.
He also said that the parties will be notified of the election date three months in advance.
The USDP, led by former army generals including President Thein Sein, won a majority of the seats in last year's parliamentary elections.
There are now only a small number of vacant parliamentary seats, but the by-election is viewed as particularly significant because the NLD has decided to participate and Suu Kyi has stated her desire to compete for a seat in Parliamenta decision that was made following government overtures to the opposition.
The EC chief welcomed the fact that the NLD would compete in the election and noted that Suu Kyi will serve for the good of the public.
Although last years elections were marred by heavy vote rigging, the coming by-election is expected be be free and fair, particularly because the USDP has already gained a majority of seats in the parliament and also because the election will test to what extent Burma has made political progress under the new government.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22671
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Tavoy natives express concerns on deep-sea port construction
By SHWE AUNG
Published: 16 December 2011
Local residents in southern Burma's Tenasserim Division who are facing possible relocation to make way for Dawei [Tavoy] deep-sea port project construction held a press conference in Rangoon yesterday.
The conference's aim was to publicise their demands, to ensure safetyfor the natural environment, and an adequate sum of compensation if they have to abandon their homes and farmlands.
Speakers at the conference and residents in Tavoy and nearby villages who call themselves Dawei Region Development Group, told journalists their demands at Royal Rose Restaurant in Shwegondai township on December 15. They said they would like guidelines to be specified based on the local public's opinion established through surveys, they want to ensure protection for their livelihood and cultural heritage sites, and to ensure an appropriate amount of compensation for those who face relocation.
They also demanded for an environment and health-impact survey to be conducted by an independent organisation, and its findings to be publicised. And they asked to keep a communication channel between Non-Government Organisations, authorities, United Nations groups and the locals for a sustainable and long-term development project.
Abbot monk of Mayamingyi village in Tavoy Distrct, who was among some 100 people attending the press conference, said his village is already witnessing some destruction of natural environment as the construction begins to roll in.
"They are bulldozing the hill-strip next to our village from all sides and we used to find vegetables for food up there. And our cashew nut plantations were also destroyed by a costal-road construction. The villagers did not receive any compensation for that and they are disappointed," said the monk.
"Apparently the locals might also have to move [from the villages] but they don't want that -- they don't want the compensation either. They just want their trees."
Dawei deep-sea port is a multi-billion dollar project being developed by Thailand based construction company Italian-Thai Industrial Company Limited. The 10-year project looks to transform the region into a Special Economic Zone and includes development of a large, 250 square kilometre industrial zone for heavy industry and petro-chemical plants. In November 2010, Burmese government's Myanmar Port Authority signed an 8.6 billion US dollar contract with Ital-thai, giving it green-light to go ahead with the project.
In June this year, Ital-thai said around 10,000 people would have to be relocated to make way for the development. http://www.dvb.no/news/tavoy-natives-express-concerns-on-deep-sea-port-construction/19231
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Burmese Govt May Air Some VOA Programs
By WAI MOE Friday, December 16, 2011
Burma's information minister, ex-Gen Kyaw Hsan, has agreed to air programs produced by Voice of America (VOA) on state-run radio stations, according to the head of the VOA's Burmese-language service.
Than Lwin Tun, the chief of the Washington-based VOA Burmese Service, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that Kyaw Hsan agreed in principle to broadcast some VOA programs using local FM and medium-wave stations totally or partly run by the Ministry of Information.
The minister agreed to broadcast some programs, such as international news, English education, health, science and technology programs, on MRTV and local FM stations, said Than Lwin Tun, who visited Rangoon and Naypyidaw in the first week of December.
We will have to send the programs in advance and then they will air them, he said.
VOA has re-broadcasting agreements with local stations in Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand, and Than Lwin Tun said the Burmese Information Ministry expressed interest in reaching a similar agreement with VOA.
After I return to Washington, we will send a Memorandum of Understanding to the ministry and they will examine it. If they agree, we will make another visit with VOAs regional marketing officer, he said.
This trip was just to listen to them [Burmese officials]. Now that they have agreed, the next step will be implementation. Since this step is just beginning, I can't say exactly how long it will take, he said.
Notably absent from the programming that will be carried by the state-run broadcasters is VOA's reporting on Burma. At the moment, they do not want our Burma news, he said, adding that other foreign broadcasters Burmese-language services are also trying to broadcast inside Burma.
Besides its plan to begin rebroadcasting through local stations, VOA has also sought permission to post regular correspondents inside Burma. However, the Ministry of Information has not yet given a green light to the plan.
At the moment, we are only about halfway to getting approval to to post VOA correspondents inside Burma. But the information minister said VOA can send its reporters anytime, said Than Lwin Tun.
Than Lwin Tun, who was a student activist during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, left Burma after the brutal crackdown on demonstrators following the military coup on Sept 18, 1988. The trip was his first to his homeland in 23 years.
On the trip, he visited Rangoon and Burmas remote capital, Naypyidaw, where he met Kyaw Hsan, Railways Minister Aung Min, Deputy House Speaker Nanda Kyaw Zwa and two political advisors to President Thein Sein. In Rangoon, he met pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and journalists.
Than Lwin Tun said that during his meeting with Kyaw Hsan, he presented a copy of the VOA Charter to him because, in an earlier meeting with VOA editor Khin Soe Win, the minister referred to the slogan, fighting the media with the media.
He may have the wrong idea about the media. That's why I wanted to explain about VOAs professional stand, he said. I wanted him to know that VOA is a public service, not a government mouthpiece.
The VOA Charter was drafted in 1960 and signed into law in 1976 by then President Gerald Ford. It states that VOA news will be accurate, objective and comprehensive.
Describing the information minister as reform-minded, Than Lwin Tun said Kyaw Hsan asked him what he thought of state-run newspapers such as The New Light of Myanmar and Myanma Alin, and how they can be improved.
I told him that, speaking as a journalist, the ministrys newspapers are just government gazettes, not newspapers, said Than Lwin Tun.
During a visit to Burma by VOA editor Khin Soe Win in September to mark a government-sponsored democracy day, Kyaw Hsan told the first VOA staffer to return to the country since a civilian government was sworn in on March 31 that journalists based overseas have to help develop Burma's media.
Khin Soe Win told the minister that if that was what he wanted, the VOA chief would come and talk to him.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22670
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THE DIPLOMAT
A Step Back For Burma?
By Luke HuntDecember 16, 2011
A Burmese military offensive against ethnic Kachin rebels is hitting the headlines, and non-governmental organizations fear the conflict will lead to a humanitarian crisis after 30,000 to 40,000 people fled their homes for the safety of a makeshift jungle camp.
Refugees International has warned tensions between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese military has reached boiling point after a 17-year cease fire agreement broke down in June in Kachin, Burmas most northern sate. The camps remain inaccessible to aid organizations and the United Nations from within. Access routes exist from China, but Beijing is reluctant to host any refugees as it doesn't want to be seen as dabbling in a neighbor's internal affairs.
The fighting also comes amid a well-publicized charm offensive by the government, which has announced a series of reforms that prompted an historic visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Burmas pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to announce she would contest up-coming by-elections.
However, President Thien Sien has been quiet on the fighting that erupted around construction of a Chinese-backed hydropower project in June that shattered six years of relative peace amid reports of women being raped by soldiers and civilians killed. Instead, he has been touting the virtues of a civilian government that came to power after a widely discredited election, pleading with the international community and winning measured support.
Encouraged, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to allow Burma to take its turn as host of the prestigious ASEAN summit in 2014.
However, it's a resolution to ethnic conflicts which have dogged the country for decades that could decide whether or not Burma wins any real international acceptance for its reforms and its bid to have Western sanctions dropped and relations normalized. This was a point emphasized by Clinton along with persistent reports of human rights abuses among the ethnic minorities and the plight of about 1,700 political prisoners who remain behind bars.
In the lead-up to elections 13 months ago, the junta attempted to unite the various ethnic armies under the Border Guard Forces, which would have allowed the ethnic communities to contest the elections. But this would have required them to surrender their weapons and allow Burmese commanders to take control of the militias. Broadly speaking, the response was half-hearted, while the KIA rejected the military offer outright saying this would have meant the decades of struggle would have been in vain.
The Kachin are just one of many ethnic groups in conflict with Naypyidaw. Others include the Shan, Karen, Kokang and the Chinese friendly Wa.
Previously The Diplomat authors, in particular Alex Ellgee in July, have warned of the dangers of internal conflict in Burma. Its an important point that seems to have been overlooked during the scramble to embrace Burma for all it might be worth. And the current crisis in Kachin could be a simple pointer to Naypyidaw's true designs.
http://the-diplomat.com/asean-beat/2011/12/16/a-step-back-for-burma/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+the-diplomat+%28The+Diplomat+RSS%29
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Derek Mitchell: Burma policy point man
Friday, 16 December 2011 16:28 Mizzima News .
(Interview) Derek Mitchell, the special representative and policy coordinator for Burma, talked with reporters at the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Tuesday, at the end of his visit to brief Chinese officials on recent U.S. talks with Burmese officials. The interview includes the U.S. view of recent reforms by the new Burmese government, regional security, ethnic minorities and cooperation between the U.S. and China regarding reforms in Burma. The interview, provided by the U.S. State Department, has been edited for length.
QUESTION: After Secretary [Hillary] Clinton went to Burma there was a belief that there is something changed in the relations between the U.S. and Burma. What kind of role will Burma play in the U.S. foreign policy?
Derek Mitchell, U.S. policy coordinator for Burma. Photo: U.S. State Department
Answer: The relationship continues to evolve. As they continue to reform, then the United States will be responding in kind with increasing assistance, increasing partnership in the process.
Ive made four trips including the latest with the secretary. I think each time weve been building trust, building contacts, building a relationship. I met the foreign minister maybe five times in the past three or four months, or more. Burma is an essential component of Asean. For too long, Burmas been an outlier because of its under-development and its policies.
There is no intent of the United States in its relationship with Burma to have any negative influence on China-Burma relations. It is not meant to come at the expense of any country. It is not in the interest of the United States that Burma have tense relationships with its neighbors, in fact the contrary, that its in the interest of regional peace and stability and development that Burma have good relationships with its neighbors, that there not be division within the region, that there be cooperation and coordination of approaches, and that we have a unified approach or at least were working in coordination together.
China and Burma have, as I said, a long history as well as a long border. There is not a role for the United States in telling either country what to do with sovereign decisions on foreign policy and international relations. We havent in the past and we wont in the future.
QUESTION: Talking about regional security, what is your biggest concern on Burma?
Answer: The biggest concern I think is the defining challenge, in essence, of Burma post-independence, which is its national unity and national reconciliation. The ability of the country to find a resolution to the division between the ethnic minorities, ethnic nationalities and the center, and the Burman majority. Theyve been basically at civil war, or at least had these constant internal conflicts I should say, since its inception as an independent nation. I think that remains the biggest concern that we all must have about the stability of the country, the sustainability, of the stability of the country.
You can have artificial stability through force of arms, but thats not sustainable. The real sustainable stability inside the country comes from a political process of reconciliation: of dialogue, of trust, equality and goodwill on all sides. Theres a deep residue of mistrust, unfortunately, developed over years.
Democratic development is in the very, very nascent stage, very early stage. So were encouraged by some of the moves that have been made in terms of opening up the political process to allow Aung San Suu Kyis party to run in elections coming up. There is some more easing of restrictions on the media but only in certain arenas sports, culture, that kind of thing. Not in the political realm.
So they have a ways to go but their words are certainly encouraging. They talk about their commitment to democracy and their commitment to human rights. The parliament and the parliamentary speakers talk about building the parliament as an institution. They can perhaps do more debate, and initiation of policy, but its a very, very early stage of this new system that they have as well as of that commitment to development of democracy.
QUESTION: What measures will the U.S. take to strengthen bilateral ties between Burma and the U.S. such as invite Burmas leaders to visit to the U.S. or the U.S. ask Burma to participate in a regional joint military drill?
Answer: We have not asked the Burmese president to the United States. We have invited the foreign minister to come for a dialogue on Asia, just to exchange perspectives on the region as we do with many countries. Weve never had that kind of conversation with the Burmese government. We want to develop habits of dialogue and perspectives. We really have a limited understanding and I suspect they dont have a good understanding of where were coming from too.
But no, we havent invited the Burmese president to come to the United States. And on the regional joint military exercise there has been no movement on that as well. We have restrictions on military to military contact, so there is no movement on the second of your points. http://www.mizzima.com/edop/interview/6284-derek-mitchell-burma-policy-point-man.html
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Burma's 'Papillon' Goes Back to Prison
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, December 16, 2011
Five months after being deported from China, Karen rebel leader Mahn Nyein Maung has been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment, according to a source following the case in Rangoon.
A controversial character, Mahn Nyein Maung is often likened to French convict Papillon because of his extraordinary escape from prison on Coco Island in 1970 when he floated across the Indian Ocean clutching driftwood.
He went on trial on Dec. 8 behind closed doors at Mingaladon Court in Rangoon and was later sentenced after being charged with having connections to the Karen National Union (KNU), long denounced by the Burmese government as an illegal militia.
Mahn Nyein Maung, a leading member of the KNU and a central committee member of the ethnic armed alliance, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), disappeared at Chinas Kunming Airport in late July.
He was subsequently charged in Burma for violating immigration laws and possessing a fake passport. He was sentenced to one year for the immigration charge on Sept. 27, according to Rangoon-based Flower News Journal.
Then, in early December, he was put on trial on the more grievous charges. His case was not publicized and next to no information has been divulged either by the authorities or the KNU about Mahn Nyein Maungs case or his condition.
An inside source told The Irrawaddy that the Karen rebel leader visited the ethnic Wa region via China on the Sino-Burma border in July. He was subsequently denied reentry into Thailandwhere he was living at the timeas he had not applied for a reentry visa when he left from Thailand to China.
Despite his role within the KNU and UNFC, his trip to China and the Wa region had nothing to do with those organization, said the sources. KNU leaders also said that they didnt know about Mahn Nyein Maung trip to China.
A former activist and political prisoner, Mahn Nyein Maung apparently visited northern Burma to observe first-hand the armed conflict between ethnic armed groups and government troops near the border.
Karen sources have said that after he was denied entry into Thailand, he was sent back to China's Yunnan province where he was detained at the Kunming Airport. Yunnanese authorities reportedly insisted that Mahn Nyein Maung buy an air ticket with his own money for his deportation to Rangoon.
Mahn Nyein Maung was first arrested in 1960 for his work as an underground dissident. He was sentenced and sent to Coco Island, an infamous detention center for political prisoners located about 300 km off the Burmese mainland. He and two other political prisoners, Mahn Aung Kyi and Aung Ngwe, managed to escape from the island in 1970 by floating across the Indian Ocean clutching driftwood.
Due to his extraordinary escape from Coco Island, Mahn Nyein Maung is frequently likened to the famous French prisoner Henri Charri?re, nicknamed Papillon, who escaped a penal colony in French Guyana. Like Charri?re, Mahn Nyein Maung wrote and published a book about his experiences inside the brutal prison at Coco Island and his daring escape.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22669
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The Irish Times - Friday, December 16, 2011
China and US make overtures to Burma
CHINA IS redoubling its efforts to secure its position in Burma, which is hugely important because of its strategic geographical position and its wealth of natural resources. There are also signs that ties between Burma and Washington are getting warmer.
Chinas premier Wen Jiabao looks set to visit Burma next week for a summit of Mekong River countries, while its ambassador to Burma recently met democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in the first reported meeting between one of the regimes biggest backers and the high-profile opposition leader.
Since 1962 Burma has been run with an iron fist by a military junta, but since last year it has started to open up at a rate that has surprised many. It freed Ms Suu Kyi after years of house arrest, allowed her party to take part in elections and to free most of, if not all, remaining political prisoners.
There was no official confirmation of Mr Wens visit but the flurry of activity shows that China is keen to cement its close ties to the country, which was renamed Myanmar by the junta in 1989.
During Burmas 50 years of military rule and resultant tightening western sanctions, China played a central role in propping up its government and in return was given access to Burmas natural resources. Bilateral trade rose more than half last year to 3.4 billion and Chinas investment reached 9.5 billion in 2010.
In September Sino-Burmese relations were rocked by Burmas decision to suspend construction of a 2.7 billion dam project, the unpopular Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy River. The dam was being built by Chinese companies and would supply electricity mostly to Yunnan province in neighbouring China, and displace thousands of Burmese villagers.
The move was read as an overture to Washington, something that has rattled China, which does not want a resource-rich country on its borders cosying up to the US. Relations between Burma and the US peaked with this months landmark visit by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton. During her visit Ms Clinton met President Thein Sein, as well as Ms Suu Kyi, and the trip highlighted just how important a strategic geopolitical position Burma occupies.
Ahead of the visit China worked hard to shore up relations with Burma. Vice-president Xi Jinping met the head of Burmas armed forces and called for stronger ties. The friendship, forged by leaders of the older generations, has endured changes in the international arena, Mr Xi said.
Moe Kyaw, managing director of MMRD market research, emphasised the importance of links with China, despite the end of the dam project. The dam is not cancelled, it is suspended. They have the gas pipeline, they are looking at the railway to Kunming (in Yunnan in China). We are doing everything not to be taken as a province of China. But China is giving cheap loans, he said.
Hla Min, a senior member of Ms Suu Kyis party, the National League of Democracy, stressed repeatedly how important China-Burma relations were. China has been our brother and neighbour since the very beginning, we share land. And China will be our brother and our neighbour until the very end, she said.
America is our friend, but it is very far away. China is helping us a lot. Nobody says they dont like the people who help them.
Burmas hope is that Washington will ease the sanctions holding it back, and the US special envoy to Burma, Derek Mitchell, said: There is no intent of the United States in its relationship with Burma to have any certainly negative influence on Burma-China relations, he said.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/1216/1224309145074.html
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: ASIA NEWS
DECEMBER 16, 2011.
Chinese Diplomat Meets With Myanmar Dissident .
By CARLOS TEJADA and AARON BACK
BEIJINGChina's ambassador to Myanmar met with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a government spokesman, in a potential signal that Beijing hopes to take a greater role in the Southeast Asian nation's political transformation.
China also said Dai Bingguo, a top Foreign Ministry official, will attend an economic-cooperation forum in Myanmar beginning next week.
Observers have said China was caught flat-footed by Myanmar's new openness to the West, which comes as the long-ostracized country seeks to reduce its reliance on Chinese military and economic support. Some say a strain with China helped spark Myanmar's recent shifts.
At a daily press briefing on Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said China's ambassador met with Ms. Suu Kyi at her request. Mr. Liu didn't say when the meeting was held, saying "the date is not important," and declined to offer additional details. He also wouldn't confirm whether the meeting was the first between a Chinese official and Ms. Suu Kyi.
Ye Htut, a spokesman for Myanmar's Ministry of Information, said the government was unaware of the meeting. "Even if such a meeting took place, it is NLD's affair," he said, referring to Ms. Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy. He added, "all embassies and all parties have the right to meet with each other."
Ms. Suu Kyi has long reached out to foreign leaders and has embraced a U.S. push to re-engage with Myanmar.
Myanmar's military-dominated governmentwhich has long kept a tight grip on the country, to the frustration of Western leadershas pushed a series of reforms in recent months that led to the release of Ms. Suu Kyi and hundreds of other opposition figures and loosened restrictions on domestic media and the Internet. In response, Hillary Clinton paid the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state in more than 50 years to Myanmar two weeks ago and said the U.S. could countenance an eventual easing of sanctions to punish Myanmar's poor human-rights record, provided the Myanmar government satisfied American demands.
China's response was initially cool, with Mr. Liu saying last month that Chinese leaders "hope the domestic and foreign policies of Myanmar are conducive to peace and stability in Myanmar." Since then Chinese officials have expressed more support for closer U.S.-Myanmar ties.
Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Peking University in Beijing, said Thursday's comments suggest China is further warming up. "These signs are very encouraging," Mr. Zhu said. "It's some sort of signal that Beijing would like to lend a hand and support the new dynamic, the new political transformation."
China in the past has enjoyed close relations with Myanmar, a strategically important nation in the eyes of Beijing, and Chinese investment had filled a void left by Western sanctions against Myanmar. The two countries are currently building an oil and natural-gas pipeline that would give China an alternative to sending tankers through the Malacca Strait, a shipping choke point closely watched by the U.S. Navy.
But China's growing military presence on Myanmar's border and its efforts to secure natural resources have been unpopular in Myanmar. Its leaders in September suspended the construction of a China-backed dam that had been a sore point among its opposition groups.
China's leaders typically cite the importance of nations' sovereignty in their international dealings, and meetings with opposition leaders are unusual. Mr. Zhu said Ms. Suu Kyi now plays a bigger role in the political process after Myanmar's leaders removed a longtime ban on her party. She is expected to run for a seat in the country's parliament when elections occur.
Beijing's emphasis on sovereignty has backfired in the past, most recently in Libya, where it was slow to recognize the oil-rich nation's transitional government even after rebel forces took control of large swaths of the country away from former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Chinese officials now say they hope to have a healthy relationship with Libya's new government.
Celine Fernandez contributed to this article. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204844504577100020447275602.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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Kachin Refugees Get UN Relief, Finally
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Dec 16, 2011 (IPS) - Six months after fighting erupted between Burmese troops and ethnic Kachin separatists, international relief is finally trickling in for over 30,000 people who fled their homes near the snow-capped mountains north of the country.
The United Nations-led relief effort began distributing essential household items on Dec. 13 in Laiza, a town deep in the mountainous terrain under the control of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
The convoy, which included two truckloads of aid, travelled along a road that the government troops and the KIA agreed would serve as a humanitarian corridor.
"This is the initial delivery of U.N. assistance to Laiza," Zafrin Chowdhury, spokesperson for the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), told IPS from Rangoon. "The U.N. certainly hopes that additional relief supplies will be allowed to reach the most vulnerable people displaced in and around Laiza."
The Blue Flags are a lifeline for local Kachin aid workers, who struggled to distribute meagre rations of food and clothing to the refugees forced to live in forests and in rickety bamboo-shelters battered by harsh winter conditions.
Most of the relief work is being handled by the Kachin Independence Organisation, the political wing of the KIA.
"We can now feel hopeful for more international humanitarian assistance since we have been desperate for aid in the past months," La Rip, director of the Kachin Development Group (KDG), told IPS during a telephone interview from Laiza. "Our appeals for international aid since June have been finally answered."
The access three U.N. agencies, including UNICEF, have got to an area close to the Chinese border is unprecedented. It follows the alarm bells rung by international and regional humanitarian and human rights groups about a looming humanitarian crisis.
"It is a desperate picture out there," Lynn Yoshikawa of the Washington D.C.-based Refugees International told journalists in Bangkok last Friday following a two-week mission to an area in the Kachin state close to the fighting. "There is potential for a dire humanitarian crisis with the number of displaced growing and little aid available."
The plight of the victims was worsened by the politics of international aid after the quasi-civilian government of Myanmar, as Burma is also known, pushed through a policy of isolation to defeat the KIA.
Western governments were reluctant to channel aid directly to local relief groups like the KDG preferring U.N. agencies instead, according to a Rangoon-based diplomatic source.
Such cross-border assistance raised the touchy issue of sovereignty, given that relief would have to be channeled through China. "China is concerned about international assistance flowing into the Kachin state from its end," Yoshikawa said. "China has been permitting some aid to go through, but they dont want anything high-profile."
But it is not a new story in Burma. The nearly 500,000 other victims displaced by decades of conflict in ethnic areas close to the Thai-Burma border have also been deprived relief from Western governments and international humanitarian agencies if U.N. agencies are not present to channel funds.
The current round of fighting has undermined the reformist image being cultivated by Burmese President Thein Sein, who took power in March and has ushered in a raft of policies aimed at ending the nearly 50 years of military dictatorship. While the Thein Sein administration has sought peace deals with three other ethnic separatists in the country, it has turned its guns on the Kachins.
"The Burmese army started this fight in early June. They violated a ceasefire agreement we had with the government since February 1994," Col. James Lum Dau, the KIOs deputy chief of foreign affairs, told IPS. "They want to annihilate us, finish us by military force."
And even though Thein Sein issued an order Monday for the Burmese military to stop fighting the KIA, the tatmadaw, as the Burmese army is known, is still on the offensive. "The fighting has not stopped. We can hear gunfire and explosions," confirmed La Rip of KDG.
The latest battle in a protracted conflict going back to 1961 is rooted in the 2010 push by the last Burmese junta to get the four armed ethnic forces to serve under the military as border guards. The KIA refused and was subsequently described as "outlaws" by senior general Than Shwe, who preceded Thein Sein.
The last round of fighting has left in its wake a disturbing picture of human rights violations. The Burmese military is being accused by international and Kachin human rights groups of gross abuse against civilians.
"Between June and September, the Burmese troops looted food from civilians, fired indiscriminately into villages, threatened villagers with attacks and used civilians as porters and human minesweepers," revealed the United States-based Physicians for Human Rights in a report released late November.
The Kachin Womens Association has accused the Burmese military of unleashing a policy for soldiers to systematically rape women and girls since fighting began, according to an early December report. It echoes similar disturbing accounts of Burmese soldiers targeting women from other ethnic communities, such as the Shan and the Karen, during clashes over the past decade.
To avoid further attacks, the refugees are heading towards the Chinese border, said John Salin, a freelance Burmese video cameraman, who has just returned from the frontline. "They believe the Burmese troops will not attack them if they are near the Chinese border."
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106239
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Burma: Opium cultivation goes up due to political instability
Fri, 2011-12-16 08:43 editor
By - Zin Linn
Bangkok, 16 December, (Asiantribune.com): UNODC Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific launched the report South-East Asia Opium Survey 2011 - Lao PDR, Myanmar Thursday at The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand in Bangkok.
The presentation of the Report was highlighted by Mr. Gary Lewis, Regional Representative, UNODC Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific. Suggestion for drug eradication in Myanmar (Burma) was put forward by Mr. Jason Eligh, Country Manager, UNODC Myanmar and implication for Lao PDR was made by Mr. Leik Boonwaat, Representative/Deputy Regional Representative, UNODC Lao PDR.
In 2011, opium cultivation in Burma's war torn Kachin and Shan states was estimated at 43,600 ha, representing an increase of 14 per cent compared to 38,100 ha in 2010. The rising of poppy-growing area started slowly in 2007 after 6 years of decline (2001 to 2006), a United Nations report said Thursday.
According the estimation of the report, opium cultivation took place in 34 per cent of the surveyed villages in Shan State, with high concentrations in East Shan State 44 per cent and South Shan State 46 per cent.
The UN Agency agreed the regional increase of opium poppy cultivation to rising prices for the illicit drugs, and a lack of crop-substitution projects in these remote areas, where in Burmas question there are ongoing ethnic insurrections. Opium prices in Burma this year, as said by the report, have significantly increased. The average farm-gate price of opium was US$ 450/kg in 2011. It was up 48 per cent from US$ 305/kg in 2010.
The report spotlighted that poppy farmers are very vulnerable to loss of income derived from opium, especially those who count on this earnings source for food security. Moreover, opium cultivation is generally linked to a lack of peace and security, which points out the need for political and economic solutions.
According to Shan Drug Watch program (October 201) by Shan Herald Agency for News, poppy cultivation was continuing unchecked in 46 of the 55 Shan townships, mostly in areas under the control of the Burma Army and its militias. However, unfavorable weather conditions caused a massive drop in opium output during the last season. But, there is no evidence of constant effort by the Burmese regime to eradicate opium. On the contrary, opium farmers throughout the state are being taxed by Burma Army units, Shan Drug Watch said.
In Kachin State, northern part of Burma, poppy growing areas were up 27 per cent, the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes annual South-East Asia Opium Survey 2011 said.
Laos saw its opium poppy cultivation increase from 3,000 hectares in 2010 to 4,100 hectares, up 37 per cent, according to agency estimates.
The agencys executive director Yuri Fedotov said that the lack of security, political stability and sustainable development are some of the key drivers behind increased opium production. The high prices for opium in Lao DPR and the Thailand, as well as steep price increase in Burma, are also making production attractive to poppy farmers, Fedotov criticized.
Many analysts say that political reforms, improved security and stronger economic growth are needed to shift poppy farmers away from growing opium and to cut drug addiction.
The making of illicit drugs in Burma has considerable international, regional and national end results. At the international level, the opium and heroin produced in the country are consumed in Asia distributed through China and Thailand as well as the rest of Asia, reaching destinations as far away as Australia, North America and Europe.
At the regional level, drugs are at the root of various problems, including the spread of HIV/AIDS fuelled by injecting drug use, corruption of border officials and the large influence of criminal elements seeking on undermining the rule of law and further instability in the border areas.
Some political analysts pointed out, poppy growing and opium production in Shan State have increased over the past two years due to political volatility in Burma and growing economic despondency caused by cronyism, corruption and unprofessional conduct of the military-backed government.
- Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/12/16/burma-opium-cultivation-goes-due-political-instability
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US Wants Burma to Have Good Relations with its Neighbors
By LALIT K JHA Friday, December 16, 2011
WASHINGTON The US wants Burma to have good relations with its giant neighbors China and India, a senior US diplomat said ahead of trilateral talks with India and Japan and as the US special envoy for Burma is in Beijing to brief Chinese officials on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip to Burma earlier this month.
We seek a country that has a good, strong, trustful relationship with all its neighbors, principally India and China. We will be in close consultations with both of them about the developments inside the country, said Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell.
Washington aims to promote further reform in Burma, he said, adding that the US wants to coordinate its efforts with Japan and India during talks with diplomats from those countries to be held next week.
We would like to compare our overall strategy, said Campbell, citing the release of political prisoners, the greater opening of political space, an easing of ethnic tensions and progress towards national reconciliation, and the removal of military ties between Naypyidaw and Pyongyang as areas in which the three countries should speak in one voice.
Campbell said that the US also wants to coordinate its Burma policy with Asia's two largest democracies in other areas, such as capacity building, rule of law, agricultural issues and health concerns.
The trilateral meeting, scheduled to be held in Washington next Monday, will be the first of its kind, and will cover a range of key regional and global economic, military and strategic issues.
Meanwhile, the US special envoy for Burma, Derek Mitchell, told reporters in Beijing that Burma's greatest challenge is national reconciliation, noting that the country needs to resolve the division between the ethnic minorities and the Burman majority if it is to achieve lasting stability.
I think that remains the biggest concern that we all must have about the stability of the country, said Mitchell. You can have artificial stability through force of arms, but thats not sustainable.
Mitchell also referred to the impact Burma's conflicts have had on its neighbors.
I wont speak for China, but I know there are cross-border impacts of all of this that affect ... Thailand, affect India, Bangladesh, and many of the neighbors. This is something we ought to think about and hopefully assist in the right way Burmas development towards national reconciliation, he said.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22666
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UN nuclear watchdog wants to visit Myanmar
15 December 2011 / REUTERS, VIENNA
The United Nations nuclear watchdog is seeking to gain access to sites in Myanmar, which rejected allegations by an exile group last year it was trying to develop atomic weapons, a diplomat familiar with the issue said.
Myanmar officials signaled during talks in September that inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could come to the Southeast Asian nation, which has initiated radical reforms after decades of authoritarian military rule. The meeting on the sidelines of the IAEAs member state conference raised hopes of progress on the issue, the diplomat added, without specifying which facilities the Vienna-based UN agency may want to see. There was no immediate IAEA comment.
An exile group based in Norway said in mid-2010 that Myanmar had a secret program dedicated to developing the means to make nuclear weapons, following up on similar allegations by defectors from the then reclusive state. The IAEA said at the time that it was looking into the report. Myanmar is a member of both the IAEA and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Myanmars IAEA envoy, Tin Win, said in September the country did not have enough economic strength to develop atomic arms.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-265843-un-nuclear-watchdog-wants-to-visit-myanmar.html
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KIA bans logging in Northern Burma
DetailsCategory: News Created on Thursday, 15 December 2011 23:15 Published Date Written by KNG
Chinese timber trucks crossed on the border from Kachin State in northern Burma to China's Yunnan province.
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) this week issued a new directive banning logging in its territory, the Kachin News Group news group has learned.
The new ban nullifies logging permits previously issued by Burmese authorities to local militias in the Munggu (Mongkoe) and Hpawng Seng (Poungsai) regions of Northern Shan State, said Du Zawng, a KIA commander based in Munggu.
The KIA recently sent Hpawng Seng militia leader Lau Yawng, a letter informing him of the ban which is effective immediately. Lau Yawng, who is heavily involved in the logging trade, is the brother of the Kutkai militia group leader, Hkun Myat.
The KIA has made it known that those who violate the new ban will have strong action taken against them, Du Zawng said.
The KIA commander added the ban was necessary because local people in Hpawng Seng do not want any more deforestation in the area.
In Hpawng Seng most of the logging is done for timber, while in Munggu the logging is done to make charcoal. The vast majority of both the timber and charcoal is sent to China, where some of it is later resold to buyers in Japan and Korea.
On Thursday, the KIA prevented approximately 20 large Chinese logging trucks from crossing into Munggu from the Chinese town of Manghai, eyewitnesses said.
Munggu residents say that the since the end of the rainy seas in September, a team of about 300 Chinese woodcutters and 50 bulldozers have been busy clear cutting a large area west of the Salween River.
Fighting in the Munggu area between the KIA and the Burmese army has been sporadic since a 17 year cease fire with the central government ended in June. The KIA continues to control a significant portion of the Munggu area.
http://www.kachinnews.com/news/2188-kia-bans-logging-in-northern-burma.html
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Burmas Election Chief Vows By-Election Will Be Free and Fair
By BA KAUNG Friday, December 16, 2011
The chief of Burmas Election Commission (EC) said in a press conference on Friday that upcoming parliamentary by-election will be free and fair and the countrys existing political parties can now start their election campaigns.
During the by-election, expected to be held in March, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party (USDP), opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) and Burmas other political parties will compete for 48 vacant parliamentary seats.
Ex-army general Tin Aye, the EC chairman, vowed during the press conference in Naypyidaw on Friday that the by-election will be held in a free and fair manner and that the EC will be independent and not submit to any outside influence. If his prediction comes to fruition, it would stand in contrast to the 2010 parliamentary elections, Burmas first in 20 years, which the NLD boycotted and observers condemned as widely fraudulent.
During the 2010 election campaign, political parties had to seek advance approval from the EC prior to canvassing for votes and faced various other forms of campaign restrictions. Tin Aye said that in the by-elections, parties will not face a repeat of such conditions and they all can launch their campaigns without reporting to the election commission in advance.
Only if you can organize the people, then (the parties) can join the Parliament and serve the people, he said, adding that the commission will act in strict accordance with the Constitution.
He also said that the parties will be notified of the election date three months in advance.
The USDP, led by former army generals including President Thein Sein, won a majority of the seats in last year's parliamentary elections.
There are now only a small number of vacant parliamentary seats, but the by-election is viewed as particularly significant because the NLD has decided to participate and Suu Kyi has stated her desire to compete for a seat in Parliamenta decision that was made following government overtures to the opposition.
The EC chief welcomed the fact that the NLD would compete in the election and noted that Suu Kyi will serve for the good of the public.
Although last years elections were marred by heavy vote rigging, the coming by-election is expected be be free and fair, particularly because the USDP has already gained a majority of seats in the parliament and also because the election will test to what extent Burma has made political progress under the new government.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22671
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Tavoy natives express concerns on deep-sea port construction
By SHWE AUNG
Published: 16 December 2011
Local residents in southern Burma's Tenasserim Division who are facing possible relocation to make way for Dawei [Tavoy] deep-sea port project construction held a press conference in Rangoon yesterday.
The conference's aim was to publicise their demands, to ensure safetyfor the natural environment, and an adequate sum of compensation if they have to abandon their homes and farmlands.
Speakers at the conference and residents in Tavoy and nearby villages who call themselves Dawei Region Development Group, told journalists their demands at Royal Rose Restaurant in Shwegondai township on December 15. They said they would like guidelines to be specified based on the local public's opinion established through surveys, they want to ensure protection for their livelihood and cultural heritage sites, and to ensure an appropriate amount of compensation for those who face relocation.
They also demanded for an environment and health-impact survey to be conducted by an independent organisation, and its findings to be publicised. And they asked to keep a communication channel between Non-Government Organisations, authorities, United Nations groups and the locals for a sustainable and long-term development project.
Abbot monk of Mayamingyi village in Tavoy Distrct, who was among some 100 people attending the press conference, said his village is already witnessing some destruction of natural environment as the construction begins to roll in.
"They are bulldozing the hill-strip next to our village from all sides and we used to find vegetables for food up there. And our cashew nut plantations were also destroyed by a costal-road construction. The villagers did not receive any compensation for that and they are disappointed," said the monk.
"Apparently the locals might also have to move [from the villages] but they don't want that -- they don't want the compensation either. They just want their trees."
Dawei deep-sea port is a multi-billion dollar project being developed by Thailand based construction company Italian-Thai Industrial Company Limited. The 10-year project looks to transform the region into a Special Economic Zone and includes development of a large, 250 square kilometre industrial zone for heavy industry and petro-chemical plants. In November 2010, Burmese government's Myanmar Port Authority signed an 8.6 billion US dollar contract with Ital-thai, giving it green-light to go ahead with the project.
In June this year, Ital-thai said around 10,000 people would have to be relocated to make way for the development. http://www.dvb.no/news/tavoy-natives-express-concerns-on-deep-sea-port-construction/19231
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Burmese Govt May Air Some VOA Programs
By WAI MOE Friday, December 16, 2011
Burma's information minister, ex-Gen Kyaw Hsan, has agreed to air programs produced by Voice of America (VOA) on state-run radio stations, according to the head of the VOA's Burmese-language service.
Than Lwin Tun, the chief of the Washington-based VOA Burmese Service, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that Kyaw Hsan agreed in principle to broadcast some VOA programs using local FM and medium-wave stations totally or partly run by the Ministry of Information.
The minister agreed to broadcast some programs, such as international news, English education, health, science and technology programs, on MRTV and local FM stations, said Than Lwin Tun, who visited Rangoon and Naypyidaw in the first week of December.
We will have to send the programs in advance and then they will air them, he said.
VOA has re-broadcasting agreements with local stations in Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand, and Than Lwin Tun said the Burmese Information Ministry expressed interest in reaching a similar agreement with VOA.
After I return to Washington, we will send a Memorandum of Understanding to the ministry and they will examine it. If they agree, we will make another visit with VOAs regional marketing officer, he said.
This trip was just to listen to them [Burmese officials]. Now that they have agreed, the next step will be implementation. Since this step is just beginning, I can't say exactly how long it will take, he said.
Notably absent from the programming that will be carried by the state-run broadcasters is VOA's reporting on Burma. At the moment, they do not want our Burma news, he said, adding that other foreign broadcasters Burmese-language services are also trying to broadcast inside Burma.
Besides its plan to begin rebroadcasting through local stations, VOA has also sought permission to post regular correspondents inside Burma. However, the Ministry of Information has not yet given a green light to the plan.
At the moment, we are only about halfway to getting approval to to post VOA correspondents inside Burma. But the information minister said VOA can send its reporters anytime, said Than Lwin Tun.
Than Lwin Tun, who was a student activist during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, left Burma after the brutal crackdown on demonstrators following the military coup on Sept 18, 1988. The trip was his first to his homeland in 23 years.
On the trip, he visited Rangoon and Burmas remote capital, Naypyidaw, where he met Kyaw Hsan, Railways Minister Aung Min, Deputy House Speaker Nanda Kyaw Zwa and two political advisors to President Thein Sein. In Rangoon, he met pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and journalists.
Than Lwin Tun said that during his meeting with Kyaw Hsan, he presented a copy of the VOA Charter to him because, in an earlier meeting with VOA editor Khin Soe Win, the minister referred to the slogan, fighting the media with the media.
He may have the wrong idea about the media. That's why I wanted to explain about VOAs professional stand, he said. I wanted him to know that VOA is a public service, not a government mouthpiece.
The VOA Charter was drafted in 1960 and signed into law in 1976 by then President Gerald Ford. It states that VOA news will be accurate, objective and comprehensive.
Describing the information minister as reform-minded, Than Lwin Tun said Kyaw Hsan asked him what he thought of state-run newspapers such as The New Light of Myanmar and Myanma Alin, and how they can be improved.
I told him that, speaking as a journalist, the ministrys newspapers are just government gazettes, not newspapers, said Than Lwin Tun.
During a visit to Burma by VOA editor Khin Soe Win in September to mark a government-sponsored democracy day, Kyaw Hsan told the first VOA staffer to return to the country since a civilian government was sworn in on March 31 that journalists based overseas have to help develop Burma's media.
Khin Soe Win told the minister that if that was what he wanted, the VOA chief would come and talk to him.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22670
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THE DIPLOMAT
A Step Back For Burma?
By Luke HuntDecember 16, 2011
A Burmese military offensive against ethnic Kachin rebels is hitting the headlines, and non-governmental organizations fear the conflict will lead to a humanitarian crisis after 30,000 to 40,000 people fled their homes for the safety of a makeshift jungle camp.
Refugees International has warned tensions between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese military has reached boiling point after a 17-year cease fire agreement broke down in June in Kachin, Burmas most northern sate. The camps remain inaccessible to aid organizations and the United Nations from within. Access routes exist from China, but Beijing is reluctant to host any refugees as it doesn't want to be seen as dabbling in a neighbor's internal affairs.
The fighting also comes amid a well-publicized charm offensive by the government, which has announced a series of reforms that prompted an historic visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Burmas pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to announce she would contest up-coming by-elections.
However, President Thien Sien has been quiet on the fighting that erupted around construction of a Chinese-backed hydropower project in June that shattered six years of relative peace amid reports of women being raped by soldiers and civilians killed. Instead, he has been touting the virtues of a civilian government that came to power after a widely discredited election, pleading with the international community and winning measured support.
Encouraged, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to allow Burma to take its turn as host of the prestigious ASEAN summit in 2014.
However, it's a resolution to ethnic conflicts which have dogged the country for decades that could decide whether or not Burma wins any real international acceptance for its reforms and its bid to have Western sanctions dropped and relations normalized. This was a point emphasized by Clinton along with persistent reports of human rights abuses among the ethnic minorities and the plight of about 1,700 political prisoners who remain behind bars.
In the lead-up to elections 13 months ago, the junta attempted to unite the various ethnic armies under the Border Guard Forces, which would have allowed the ethnic communities to contest the elections. But this would have required them to surrender their weapons and allow Burmese commanders to take control of the militias. Broadly speaking, the response was half-hearted, while the KIA rejected the military offer outright saying this would have meant the decades of struggle would have been in vain.
The Kachin are just one of many ethnic groups in conflict with Naypyidaw. Others include the Shan, Karen, Kokang and the Chinese friendly Wa.
Previously The Diplomat authors, in particular Alex Ellgee in July, have warned of the dangers of internal conflict in Burma. Its an important point that seems to have been overlooked during the scramble to embrace Burma for all it might be worth. And the current crisis in Kachin could be a simple pointer to Naypyidaw's true designs.
http://the-diplomat.com/asean-beat/2011/12/16/a-step-back-for-burma/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+the-diplomat+%28The+Diplomat+RSS%29
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Derek Mitchell: Burma policy point man
Friday, 16 December 2011 16:28 Mizzima News .
(Interview) Derek Mitchell, the special representative and policy coordinator for Burma, talked with reporters at the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Tuesday, at the end of his visit to brief Chinese officials on recent U.S. talks with Burmese officials. The interview includes the U.S. view of recent reforms by the new Burmese government, regional security, ethnic minorities and cooperation between the U.S. and China regarding reforms in Burma. The interview, provided by the U.S. State Department, has been edited for length.
QUESTION: After Secretary [Hillary] Clinton went to Burma there was a belief that there is something changed in the relations between the U.S. and Burma. What kind of role will Burma play in the U.S. foreign policy?
Derek Mitchell, U.S. policy coordinator for Burma. Photo: U.S. State Department
Answer: The relationship continues to evolve. As they continue to reform, then the United States will be responding in kind with increasing assistance, increasing partnership in the process.
Ive made four trips including the latest with the secretary. I think each time weve been building trust, building contacts, building a relationship. I met the foreign minister maybe five times in the past three or four months, or more. Burma is an essential component of Asean. For too long, Burmas been an outlier because of its under-development and its policies.
There is no intent of the United States in its relationship with Burma to have any negative influence on China-Burma relations. It is not meant to come at the expense of any country. It is not in the interest of the United States that Burma have tense relationships with its neighbors, in fact the contrary, that its in the interest of regional peace and stability and development that Burma have good relationships with its neighbors, that there not be division within the region, that there be cooperation and coordination of approaches, and that we have a unified approach or at least were working in coordination together.
China and Burma have, as I said, a long history as well as a long border. There is not a role for the United States in telling either country what to do with sovereign decisions on foreign policy and international relations. We havent in the past and we wont in the future.
QUESTION: Talking about regional security, what is your biggest concern on Burma?
Answer: The biggest concern I think is the defining challenge, in essence, of Burma post-independence, which is its national unity and national reconciliation. The ability of the country to find a resolution to the division between the ethnic minorities, ethnic nationalities and the center, and the Burman majority. Theyve been basically at civil war, or at least had these constant internal conflicts I should say, since its inception as an independent nation. I think that remains the biggest concern that we all must have about the stability of the country, the sustainability, of the stability of the country.
You can have artificial stability through force of arms, but thats not sustainable. The real sustainable stability inside the country comes from a political process of reconciliation: of dialogue, of trust, equality and goodwill on all sides. Theres a deep residue of mistrust, unfortunately, developed over years.
Democratic development is in the very, very nascent stage, very early stage. So were encouraged by some of the moves that have been made in terms of opening up the political process to allow Aung San Suu Kyis party to run in elections coming up. There is some more easing of restrictions on the media but only in certain arenas sports, culture, that kind of thing. Not in the political realm.
So they have a ways to go but their words are certainly encouraging. They talk about their commitment to democracy and their commitment to human rights. The parliament and the parliamentary speakers talk about building the parliament as an institution. They can perhaps do more debate, and initiation of policy, but its a very, very early stage of this new system that they have as well as of that commitment to development of democracy.
QUESTION: What measures will the U.S. take to strengthen bilateral ties between Burma and the U.S. such as invite Burmas leaders to visit to the U.S. or the U.S. ask Burma to participate in a regional joint military drill?
Answer: We have not asked the Burmese president to the United States. We have invited the foreign minister to come for a dialogue on Asia, just to exchange perspectives on the region as we do with many countries. Weve never had that kind of conversation with the Burmese government. We want to develop habits of dialogue and perspectives. We really have a limited understanding and I suspect they dont have a good understanding of where were coming from too.
But no, we havent invited the Burmese president to come to the United States. And on the regional joint military exercise there has been no movement on that as well. We have restrictions on military to military contact, so there is no movement on the second of your points. http://www.mizzima.com/edop/interview/6284-derek-mitchell-burma-policy-point-man.html
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Burma's 'Papillon' Goes Back to Prison
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, December 16, 2011
Five months after being deported from China, Karen rebel leader Mahn Nyein Maung has been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment, according to a source following the case in Rangoon.
A controversial character, Mahn Nyein Maung is often likened to French convict Papillon because of his extraordinary escape from prison on Coco Island in 1970 when he floated across the Indian Ocean clutching driftwood.
He went on trial on Dec. 8 behind closed doors at Mingaladon Court in Rangoon and was later sentenced after being charged with having connections to the Karen National Union (KNU), long denounced by the Burmese government as an illegal militia.
Mahn Nyein Maung, a leading member of the KNU and a central committee member of the ethnic armed alliance, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), disappeared at Chinas Kunming Airport in late July.
He was subsequently charged in Burma for violating immigration laws and possessing a fake passport. He was sentenced to one year for the immigration charge on Sept. 27, according to Rangoon-based Flower News Journal.
Then, in early December, he was put on trial on the more grievous charges. His case was not publicized and next to no information has been divulged either by the authorities or the KNU about Mahn Nyein Maungs case or his condition.
An inside source told The Irrawaddy that the Karen rebel leader visited the ethnic Wa region via China on the Sino-Burma border in July. He was subsequently denied reentry into Thailandwhere he was living at the timeas he had not applied for a reentry visa when he left from Thailand to China.
Despite his role within the KNU and UNFC, his trip to China and the Wa region had nothing to do with those organization, said the sources. KNU leaders also said that they didnt know about Mahn Nyein Maung trip to China.
A former activist and political prisoner, Mahn Nyein Maung apparently visited northern Burma to observe first-hand the armed conflict between ethnic armed groups and government troops near the border.
Karen sources have said that after he was denied entry into Thailand, he was sent back to China's Yunnan province where he was detained at the Kunming Airport. Yunnanese authorities reportedly insisted that Mahn Nyein Maung buy an air ticket with his own money for his deportation to Rangoon.
Mahn Nyein Maung was first arrested in 1960 for his work as an underground dissident. He was sentenced and sent to Coco Island, an infamous detention center for political prisoners located about 300 km off the Burmese mainland. He and two other political prisoners, Mahn Aung Kyi and Aung Ngwe, managed to escape from the island in 1970 by floating across the Indian Ocean clutching driftwood.
Due to his extraordinary escape from Coco Island, Mahn Nyein Maung is frequently likened to the famous French prisoner Henri Charri?re, nicknamed Papillon, who escaped a penal colony in French Guyana. Like Charri?re, Mahn Nyein Maung wrote and published a book about his experiences inside the brutal prison at Coco Island and his daring escape.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22669
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The Irish Times - Friday, December 16, 2011
China and US make overtures to Burma
CHINA IS redoubling its efforts to secure its position in Burma, which is hugely important because of its strategic geographical position and its wealth of natural resources. There are also signs that ties between Burma and Washington are getting warmer.
Chinas premier Wen Jiabao looks set to visit Burma next week for a summit of Mekong River countries, while its ambassador to Burma recently met democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in the first reported meeting between one of the regimes biggest backers and the high-profile opposition leader.
Since 1962 Burma has been run with an iron fist by a military junta, but since last year it has started to open up at a rate that has surprised many. It freed Ms Suu Kyi after years of house arrest, allowed her party to take part in elections and to free most of, if not all, remaining political prisoners.
There was no official confirmation of Mr Wens visit but the flurry of activity shows that China is keen to cement its close ties to the country, which was renamed Myanmar by the junta in 1989.
During Burmas 50 years of military rule and resultant tightening western sanctions, China played a central role in propping up its government and in return was given access to Burmas natural resources. Bilateral trade rose more than half last year to 3.4 billion and Chinas investment reached 9.5 billion in 2010.
In September Sino-Burmese relations were rocked by Burmas decision to suspend construction of a 2.7 billion dam project, the unpopular Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy River. The dam was being built by Chinese companies and would supply electricity mostly to Yunnan province in neighbouring China, and displace thousands of Burmese villagers.
The move was read as an overture to Washington, something that has rattled China, which does not want a resource-rich country on its borders cosying up to the US. Relations between Burma and the US peaked with this months landmark visit by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton. During her visit Ms Clinton met President Thein Sein, as well as Ms Suu Kyi, and the trip highlighted just how important a strategic geopolitical position Burma occupies.
Ahead of the visit China worked hard to shore up relations with Burma. Vice-president Xi Jinping met the head of Burmas armed forces and called for stronger ties. The friendship, forged by leaders of the older generations, has endured changes in the international arena, Mr Xi said.
Moe Kyaw, managing director of MMRD market research, emphasised the importance of links with China, despite the end of the dam project. The dam is not cancelled, it is suspended. They have the gas pipeline, they are looking at the railway to Kunming (in Yunnan in China). We are doing everything not to be taken as a province of China. But China is giving cheap loans, he said.
Hla Min, a senior member of Ms Suu Kyis party, the National League of Democracy, stressed repeatedly how important China-Burma relations were. China has been our brother and neighbour since the very beginning, we share land. And China will be our brother and our neighbour until the very end, she said.
America is our friend, but it is very far away. China is helping us a lot. Nobody says they dont like the people who help them.
Burmas hope is that Washington will ease the sanctions holding it back, and the US special envoy to Burma, Derek Mitchell, said: There is no intent of the United States in its relationship with Burma to have any certainly negative influence on Burma-China relations, he said.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/1216/1224309145074.html
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: ASIA NEWS
DECEMBER 16, 2011.
Chinese Diplomat Meets With Myanmar Dissident .
By CARLOS TEJADA and AARON BACK
BEIJINGChina's ambassador to Myanmar met with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a government spokesman, in a potential signal that Beijing hopes to take a greater role in the Southeast Asian nation's political transformation.
China also said Dai Bingguo, a top Foreign Ministry official, will attend an economic-cooperation forum in Myanmar beginning next week.
Observers have said China was caught flat-footed by Myanmar's new openness to the West, which comes as the long-ostracized country seeks to reduce its reliance on Chinese military and economic support. Some say a strain with China helped spark Myanmar's recent shifts.
At a daily press briefing on Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said China's ambassador met with Ms. Suu Kyi at her request. Mr. Liu didn't say when the meeting was held, saying "the date is not important," and declined to offer additional details. He also wouldn't confirm whether the meeting was the first between a Chinese official and Ms. Suu Kyi.
Ye Htut, a spokesman for Myanmar's Ministry of Information, said the government was unaware of the meeting. "Even if such a meeting took place, it is NLD's affair," he said, referring to Ms. Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy. He added, "all embassies and all parties have the right to meet with each other."
Ms. Suu Kyi has long reached out to foreign leaders and has embraced a U.S. push to re-engage with Myanmar.
Myanmar's military-dominated governmentwhich has long kept a tight grip on the country, to the frustration of Western leadershas pushed a series of reforms in recent months that led to the release of Ms. Suu Kyi and hundreds of other opposition figures and loosened restrictions on domestic media and the Internet. In response, Hillary Clinton paid the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state in more than 50 years to Myanmar two weeks ago and said the U.S. could countenance an eventual easing of sanctions to punish Myanmar's poor human-rights record, provided the Myanmar government satisfied American demands.
China's response was initially cool, with Mr. Liu saying last month that Chinese leaders "hope the domestic and foreign policies of Myanmar are conducive to peace and stability in Myanmar." Since then Chinese officials have expressed more support for closer U.S.-Myanmar ties.
Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Peking University in Beijing, said Thursday's comments suggest China is further warming up. "These signs are very encouraging," Mr. Zhu said. "It's some sort of signal that Beijing would like to lend a hand and support the new dynamic, the new political transformation."
China in the past has enjoyed close relations with Myanmar, a strategically important nation in the eyes of Beijing, and Chinese investment had filled a void left by Western sanctions against Myanmar. The two countries are currently building an oil and natural-gas pipeline that would give China an alternative to sending tankers through the Malacca Strait, a shipping choke point closely watched by the U.S. Navy.
But China's growing military presence on Myanmar's border and its efforts to secure natural resources have been unpopular in Myanmar. Its leaders in September suspended the construction of a China-backed dam that had been a sore point among its opposition groups.
China's leaders typically cite the importance of nations' sovereignty in their international dealings, and meetings with opposition leaders are unusual. Mr. Zhu said Ms. Suu Kyi now plays a bigger role in the political process after Myanmar's leaders removed a longtime ban on her party. She is expected to run for a seat in the country's parliament when elections occur.
Beijing's emphasis on sovereignty has backfired in the past, most recently in Libya, where it was slow to recognize the oil-rich nation's transitional government even after rebel forces took control of large swaths of the country away from former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Chinese officials now say they hope to have a healthy relationship with Libya's new government.
Celine Fernandez contributed to this article. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204844504577100020447275602.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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Kachin Refugees Get UN Relief, Finally
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Dec 16, 2011 (IPS) - Six months after fighting erupted between Burmese troops and ethnic Kachin separatists, international relief is finally trickling in for over 30,000 people who fled their homes near the snow-capped mountains north of the country.
The United Nations-led relief effort began distributing essential household items on Dec. 13 in Laiza, a town deep in the mountainous terrain under the control of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
The convoy, which included two truckloads of aid, travelled along a road that the government troops and the KIA agreed would serve as a humanitarian corridor.
"This is the initial delivery of U.N. assistance to Laiza," Zafrin Chowdhury, spokesperson for the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), told IPS from Rangoon. "The U.N. certainly hopes that additional relief supplies will be allowed to reach the most vulnerable people displaced in and around Laiza."
The Blue Flags are a lifeline for local Kachin aid workers, who struggled to distribute meagre rations of food and clothing to the refugees forced to live in forests and in rickety bamboo-shelters battered by harsh winter conditions.
Most of the relief work is being handled by the Kachin Independence Organisation, the political wing of the KIA.
"We can now feel hopeful for more international humanitarian assistance since we have been desperate for aid in the past months," La Rip, director of the Kachin Development Group (KDG), told IPS during a telephone interview from Laiza. "Our appeals for international aid since June have been finally answered."
The access three U.N. agencies, including UNICEF, have got to an area close to the Chinese border is unprecedented. It follows the alarm bells rung by international and regional humanitarian and human rights groups about a looming humanitarian crisis.
"It is a desperate picture out there," Lynn Yoshikawa of the Washington D.C.-based Refugees International told journalists in Bangkok last Friday following a two-week mission to an area in the Kachin state close to the fighting. "There is potential for a dire humanitarian crisis with the number of displaced growing and little aid available."
The plight of the victims was worsened by the politics of international aid after the quasi-civilian government of Myanmar, as Burma is also known, pushed through a policy of isolation to defeat the KIA.
Western governments were reluctant to channel aid directly to local relief groups like the KDG preferring U.N. agencies instead, according to a Rangoon-based diplomatic source.
Such cross-border assistance raised the touchy issue of sovereignty, given that relief would have to be channeled through China. "China is concerned about international assistance flowing into the Kachin state from its end," Yoshikawa said. "China has been permitting some aid to go through, but they dont want anything high-profile."
But it is not a new story in Burma. The nearly 500,000 other victims displaced by decades of conflict in ethnic areas close to the Thai-Burma border have also been deprived relief from Western governments and international humanitarian agencies if U.N. agencies are not present to channel funds.
The current round of fighting has undermined the reformist image being cultivated by Burmese President Thein Sein, who took power in March and has ushered in a raft of policies aimed at ending the nearly 50 years of military dictatorship. While the Thein Sein administration has sought peace deals with three other ethnic separatists in the country, it has turned its guns on the Kachins.
"The Burmese army started this fight in early June. They violated a ceasefire agreement we had with the government since February 1994," Col. James Lum Dau, the KIOs deputy chief of foreign affairs, told IPS. "They want to annihilate us, finish us by military force."
And even though Thein Sein issued an order Monday for the Burmese military to stop fighting the KIA, the tatmadaw, as the Burmese army is known, is still on the offensive. "The fighting has not stopped. We can hear gunfire and explosions," confirmed La Rip of KDG.
The latest battle in a protracted conflict going back to 1961 is rooted in the 2010 push by the last Burmese junta to get the four armed ethnic forces to serve under the military as border guards. The KIA refused and was subsequently described as "outlaws" by senior general Than Shwe, who preceded Thein Sein.
The last round of fighting has left in its wake a disturbing picture of human rights violations. The Burmese military is being accused by international and Kachin human rights groups of gross abuse against civilians.
"Between June and September, the Burmese troops looted food from civilians, fired indiscriminately into villages, threatened villagers with attacks and used civilians as porters and human minesweepers," revealed the United States-based Physicians for Human Rights in a report released late November.
The Kachin Womens Association has accused the Burmese military of unleashing a policy for soldiers to systematically rape women and girls since fighting began, according to an early December report. It echoes similar disturbing accounts of Burmese soldiers targeting women from other ethnic communities, such as the Shan and the Karen, during clashes over the past decade.
To avoid further attacks, the refugees are heading towards the Chinese border, said John Salin, a freelance Burmese video cameraman, who has just returned from the frontline. "They believe the Burmese troops will not attack them if they are near the Chinese border."
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106239
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Burma: Opium cultivation goes up due to political instability
Fri, 2011-12-16 08:43 editor
By - Zin Linn
Bangkok, 16 December, (Asiantribune.com): UNODC Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific launched the report South-East Asia Opium Survey 2011 - Lao PDR, Myanmar Thursday at The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand in Bangkok.
The presentation of the Report was highlighted by Mr. Gary Lewis, Regional Representative, UNODC Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific. Suggestion for drug eradication in Myanmar (Burma) was put forward by Mr. Jason Eligh, Country Manager, UNODC Myanmar and implication for Lao PDR was made by Mr. Leik Boonwaat, Representative/Deputy Regional Representative, UNODC Lao PDR.
In 2011, opium cultivation in Burma's war torn Kachin and Shan states was estimated at 43,600 ha, representing an increase of 14 per cent compared to 38,100 ha in 2010. The rising of poppy-growing area started slowly in 2007 after 6 years of decline (2001 to 2006), a United Nations report said Thursday.
According the estimation of the report, opium cultivation took place in 34 per cent of the surveyed villages in Shan State, with high concentrations in East Shan State 44 per cent and South Shan State 46 per cent.
The UN Agency agreed the regional increase of opium poppy cultivation to rising prices for the illicit drugs, and a lack of crop-substitution projects in these remote areas, where in Burmas question there are ongoing ethnic insurrections. Opium prices in Burma this year, as said by the report, have significantly increased. The average farm-gate price of opium was US$ 450/kg in 2011. It was up 48 per cent from US$ 305/kg in 2010.
The report spotlighted that poppy farmers are very vulnerable to loss of income derived from opium, especially those who count on this earnings source for food security. Moreover, opium cultivation is generally linked to a lack of peace and security, which points out the need for political and economic solutions.
According to Shan Drug Watch program (October 201) by Shan Herald Agency for News, poppy cultivation was continuing unchecked in 46 of the 55 Shan townships, mostly in areas under the control of the Burma Army and its militias. However, unfavorable weather conditions caused a massive drop in opium output during the last season. But, there is no evidence of constant effort by the Burmese regime to eradicate opium. On the contrary, opium farmers throughout the state are being taxed by Burma Army units, Shan Drug Watch said.
In Kachin State, northern part of Burma, poppy growing areas were up 27 per cent, the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes annual South-East Asia Opium Survey 2011 said.
Laos saw its opium poppy cultivation increase from 3,000 hectares in 2010 to 4,100 hectares, up 37 per cent, according to agency estimates.
The agencys executive director Yuri Fedotov said that the lack of security, political stability and sustainable development are some of the key drivers behind increased opium production. The high prices for opium in Lao DPR and the Thailand, as well as steep price increase in Burma, are also making production attractive to poppy farmers, Fedotov criticized.
Many analysts say that political reforms, improved security and stronger economic growth are needed to shift poppy farmers away from growing opium and to cut drug addiction.
The making of illicit drugs in Burma has considerable international, regional and national end results. At the international level, the opium and heroin produced in the country are consumed in Asia distributed through China and Thailand as well as the rest of Asia, reaching destinations as far away as Australia, North America and Europe.
At the regional level, drugs are at the root of various problems, including the spread of HIV/AIDS fuelled by injecting drug use, corruption of border officials and the large influence of criminal elements seeking on undermining the rule of law and further instability in the border areas.
Some political analysts pointed out, poppy growing and opium production in Shan State have increased over the past two years due to political volatility in Burma and growing economic despondency caused by cronyism, corruption and unprofessional conduct of the military-backed government.
- Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/12/16/burma-opium-cultivation-goes-due-political-instability
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US Wants Burma to Have Good Relations with its Neighbors
By LALIT K JHA Friday, December 16, 2011
WASHINGTON The US wants Burma to have good relations with its giant neighbors China and India, a senior US diplomat said ahead of trilateral talks with India and Japan and as the US special envoy for Burma is in Beijing to brief Chinese officials on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip to Burma earlier this month.
We seek a country that has a good, strong, trustful relationship with all its neighbors, principally India and China. We will be in close consultations with both of them about the developments inside the country, said Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell.
Washington aims to promote further reform in Burma, he said, adding that the US wants to coordinate its efforts with Japan and India during talks with diplomats from those countries to be held next week.
We would like to compare our overall strategy, said Campbell, citing the release of political prisoners, the greater opening of political space, an easing of ethnic tensions and progress towards national reconciliation, and the removal of military ties between Naypyidaw and Pyongyang as areas in which the three countries should speak in one voice.
Campbell said that the US also wants to coordinate its Burma policy with Asia's two largest democracies in other areas, such as capacity building, rule of law, agricultural issues and health concerns.
The trilateral meeting, scheduled to be held in Washington next Monday, will be the first of its kind, and will cover a range of key regional and global economic, military and strategic issues.
Meanwhile, the US special envoy for Burma, Derek Mitchell, told reporters in Beijing that Burma's greatest challenge is national reconciliation, noting that the country needs to resolve the division between the ethnic minorities and the Burman majority if it is to achieve lasting stability.
I think that remains the biggest concern that we all must have about the stability of the country, said Mitchell. You can have artificial stability through force of arms, but thats not sustainable.
Mitchell also referred to the impact Burma's conflicts have had on its neighbors.
I wont speak for China, but I know there are cross-border impacts of all of this that affect ... Thailand, affect India, Bangladesh, and many of the neighbors. This is something we ought to think about and hopefully assist in the right way Burmas development towards national reconciliation, he said.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22666
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UN nuclear watchdog wants to visit Myanmar
15 December 2011 / REUTERS, VIENNA
The United Nations nuclear watchdog is seeking to gain access to sites in Myanmar, which rejected allegations by an exile group last year it was trying to develop atomic weapons, a diplomat familiar with the issue said.
Myanmar officials signaled during talks in September that inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could come to the Southeast Asian nation, which has initiated radical reforms after decades of authoritarian military rule. The meeting on the sidelines of the IAEAs member state conference raised hopes of progress on the issue, the diplomat added, without specifying which facilities the Vienna-based UN agency may want to see. There was no immediate IAEA comment.
An exile group based in Norway said in mid-2010 that Myanmar had a secret program dedicated to developing the means to make nuclear weapons, following up on similar allegations by defectors from the then reclusive state. The IAEA said at the time that it was looking into the report. Myanmar is a member of both the IAEA and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Myanmars IAEA envoy, Tin Win, said in September the country did not have enough economic strength to develop atomic arms.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-265843-un-nuclear-watchdog-wants-to-visit-myanmar.html
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KIA bans logging in Northern Burma
DetailsCategory: News Created on Thursday, 15 December 2011 23:15 Published Date Written by KNG
Chinese timber trucks crossed on the border from Kachin State in northern Burma to China's Yunnan province.
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) this week issued a new directive banning logging in its territory, the Kachin News Group news group has learned.
The new ban nullifies logging permits previously issued by Burmese authorities to local militias in the Munggu (Mongkoe) and Hpawng Seng (Poungsai) regions of Northern Shan State, said Du Zawng, a KIA commander based in Munggu.
The KIA recently sent Hpawng Seng militia leader Lau Yawng, a letter informing him of the ban which is effective immediately. Lau Yawng, who is heavily involved in the logging trade, is the brother of the Kutkai militia group leader, Hkun Myat.
The KIA has made it known that those who violate the new ban will have strong action taken against them, Du Zawng said.
The KIA commander added the ban was necessary because local people in Hpawng Seng do not want any more deforestation in the area.
In Hpawng Seng most of the logging is done for timber, while in Munggu the logging is done to make charcoal. The vast majority of both the timber and charcoal is sent to China, where some of it is later resold to buyers in Japan and Korea.
On Thursday, the KIA prevented approximately 20 large Chinese logging trucks from crossing into Munggu from the Chinese town of Manghai, eyewitnesses said.
Munggu residents say that the since the end of the rainy seas in September, a team of about 300 Chinese woodcutters and 50 bulldozers have been busy clear cutting a large area west of the Salween River.
Fighting in the Munggu area between the KIA and the Burmese army has been sporadic since a 17 year cease fire with the central government ended in June. The KIA continues to control a significant portion of the Munggu area.
http://www.kachinnews.com/news/2188-kia-bans-logging-in-northern-burma.html
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