Burma Flag
ေတာ္လွန္ေရးသီခ်င္းမ်ား(Politics Song)
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Sunday, 11 November 2012
ျပင္းအား ၆.၆ အဆင့္ရွိ ငလ်င္ေၾကာင့္ ဘုရားစိန္ဖူးေတာ္ က်ခဲ့ရ
ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံအလယ္ပိုင္းတြင္
ႏိုဝင္ဘာ ၁၁ ရက္ေန႔ နံနက္ ၇း၄၅ မိနစ္
ခန္႔ကရစ္ခ်္တာစေကး ၆.၆အဆင့္ရွိ
ငလ်င္တခုလႈပ္ခတ္သြားေၾကာင္း
အေမရိကန္ႏိုင္ငံ ဟာဝိုင္ရီအေျခစိုက္
ငလ်င္တိုင္းတာေရး စခန္းက
ေၾကညာသည္။
ငလ်င္သည္ ေရႊဘိုၿမိဳ႕ႏွင့္ ၃၅ မိုင္အကြာ၊ မိုးကုတ္ၿမိဳ႕ႏွင့္ ၃၇
မိုင္အ
ကြာ၊ မႏၲေလးၿမိဳ႕ႏွင့္ ၇၆ မိုင္အကြာ၊ ေနျပည္ေတာ္ႏွင့္ ၂၂၆
မိုင္အ
ကြာတြင္ လႈပ္ခတ္သြားသည္ဟု မိုးေလဝသပညာရွင္ ေဒါက္တာ
ထြန္းလြင္၏
အင္တာနက္ စာမ်က္ႏွာတြင္ ေဖၚျပထားသည္။
အမရဌာနနီ အေရွ႕ရပ္ကြက္၊ အကြက္ ၃၁ ရွိ အရိပ္မထြက္ဘုရား
စိန္ဖူးေတာ္ႏွင့္
ထီးေတာ္ ျပဳတ္က်ခဲ့ျခင္းေၾကာင့္ အာ႐ံုခံတန္ေစာင္း
သို႔ ေခတၱ ေျပာင္းေရႊ႕ထားရသည္ဟု မႏၲေလး မဇၩိမ သတင္း
ေထာက္က ေပးပို႔သည္။
မႏၲေလး
ေဈးခ်ဳိတြင္ ဖြင့္လွစ္ထားသည့္ မန္းျမန္မာ ပလာဇာသည္
လည္း ငလ်င္ေၾကာင့္
ေစာင္းလာၿပီး ေဈးသည္မ်ား ေနရာ ေျပာင္း
ေရႊ႕ေနၾကသည္ဟု မႏၱေလး သတင္းေထာက္က
သတင္းေပးပို႔
သည္။
မႏၲေလးတိုင္း စဥ့္ကူးၿမိဳ႕နယ္တြင္လည္း ငလ်င္ေၾကာင့္ လူတေယာက္
ေသဆံုးၿပီး အပ်က္အစီး ပမာဏ မ်ားျပားသည္ဟု စဥ့္ကူးရဲစခန္းမွ
တာဝန္ရွိ
ရဲအရာရွိ တဦးက ေျပာသည္။ ပ်က္စီးဆံုး႐ႈံးမႈ စာရင္းကိုမူ
အတည္ျပဳခ်က္
ရယူဆဲဟုလည္း အဆိုပါ ရဲအရာရွိက ေျပာသည္။
ငလ်င္တစ္ခု လႈပ္ခတ္ၿပီးပါက ေနာက္ထပ္ ငလ်င္ငယ္မ်ား
ထပ္မံ
လႈပ္တတ္သည္ဟုလည္း မုိးေလဝသ ပညာရွင္ ေဒါက္တာထြန္းလြင္
က သတိေပးထားသည္။
သို႔ေသာ္ အစိုးရိမ္ မလြန္ကဲရန္လည္း သူက
ထပ္ေလာင္းေျပာၾကားသည္။
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Friday, 9 November 2012
အုိဘားမားရဲ႕ ျမန္မာျပည္ခရီးစဥ္ အိမ္ျဖဴေတာ္ အတည္ျပဳ
2012-11-08
ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံကို အေမရိကန္ သမၼတ ဘားရက္ အိုဘားမား သြားေရာက္မယ္လို႔ သမၼတအိမ္ျဖဴေတာ္က မေန႔က အတည္ျပဳေျပာဆိုပါတယ္။ ကေမာၻဒီးယားႏိုင္ငံ ဖႏြမ္းပင္ၿမိဳ႕
မွာ ႏိုဝင္ဘာလ (၁၇)ရက္ေန႔ကေန (၂ဝ)ရက္ေန႔အထိ က်င္းပမယ့္ အာဆီယံညီလာခံ
ကို တက္ေရာက္ဖို႔အသြားမွာ ထိုင္းနဲ႔ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံကို ဝင္ေရာက္မွာ ျဖစ္ပါတယ္။
အေမရိကန္ သမၼတ အိမ္ျဖဴေတာ္ပံုျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံကို ေရာက္ရွိမယ့္ ေန႔ရက္ကို အိမ္ျဖဴေတာ္က အတိအက် ထုတ္ျပန္ျခင္းမရွိေသးပါဘူး။ တခ်ဳိ႕သတင္းေတြမွာေတာ့ ႏို
ဝင္ဘာ (၁၉)ရက္ေန႔မွာ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံကုိ အိုဘားမား ေရာက္ရွိမယ္လို႔ ေဖၚျပထားပါ
တယ္။
သမၼတအုိဘားမားရဲ႕ ခရီးစဥ္ဟာ ျမန္မာျပည္ဒီမုိကေရစီ ျပာင္းလဲေရးအတြက္
အင္
မတန္အေရးပါမယ့္ ခရီးျဖစ္ပါတယ္လုိ႔ ျမန္မာျပည္အေရး အထူးေလ့လာသူ အေမရိကန္သုေတသီတဦးျဖစ္တဲ့ မုိက္မစ္ခ်ယ္လ္ Mike Mitchell ကေျပာပါတယ္။
ဒါဟာ သမၼတအုိဘားမားက သူတုိ႔အစုိးရအေနနဲ႔ ျမန္မာျပည္ရဲ႕အေရးပါမွဳကိုအေလး
အနက္ထားေၾကာင္း ျပသလုိက္တာျဖစ္ပါတယ္။ သမၼတအေနနဲ႔ ပါတီ ၂ခုလုံးကုိ
ကုိယ္စားျပဳ သြားေရာက္တဲ့ခရီးစဥ္ လည္းျဖစ္ပါတယ္လုိ႔ သူကေျပာပါတယ္။
အခုလုိ သမၼတအုိဘားမား ျမန္မာျပည္သြားေရာက္မယ့္သတင္းကို RFA က ႏိုဝင္ဘာ
(၂)ရက္ေန႔ကပင္ ထုတ္လႊင့္ခဲ့ဲၿပီးျဖစ္ပါတယ္။ အဲဒီေန႔က ရရွိတဲ့သတင္းအရဆုိရင္
ေတာ့ အုိဘားမားဟာ ထုိင္းႏုိင္ငံကုိ ၁၆ရက္ေန႔ေရာက္မွာ သြားေရာက္မွာ ျဖစ္ၿပီး ၁၇ရက္ေန႔မွာ ေနျပည္ေတာ္ကုိသြားေရာက္ကာ ၁၈ရက္ေန႔မွာ ျမန္မာျပည္က
ျပန္လည္ထြက္ခြာမွာ ျဖစ္ပါတယ္။
ျမန္မာျပည္မွာ ရွိစဥ္ သမၼတ အုိဘားမားဟာ သမၼတ ဦးသိန္းစိန္၊ ဥကၠဌ ေဒၚေအာင္
ဆန္းစုၾကည္ အျပင္ ျမန္မာ့ႏုိင္ငံေရးအတြက္ အေရးပါတဲ့တျခားေခါင္းေဆာင္ေတြနဲ႔
လည္း ေတြ႔ဆုံမယ္လုိ႔ဆုိပါတယ္။
သမၼတ အုိဘားမားအေနနဲ႔ ျမန္မာအစုိးရေခါင္းေဆာင္ေတြနဲ႔ ေတြ႕ဆုံတဲ့အခါ ဘာ
ေတြေျပာၾကားမယ္ ထင္ပါသလဲလုိ႔ မုိက္မစ္ခ်ယ္လ္ Mike Mitchell ကုိေမးျမန္းရာ
မွာေတာ့ လက္ရွိ ျမန္မာျပည္ ဒီမုိကေရစီအေရးေဆာင္ရြက္မွဳေတြကုိ ႀကိဳဆုိေၾကာင္း
ေျပာၾကားမယ့္အျပင္ တရားဥပေဒစုိးမိုးေရးကို အေလးထားေဆာင္ရြက္ဖုိ႔၊ က်န္ရွိ
ေနေသးတဲ့ ႏုိင္ငံေရးအက်ဥ္းသားအားလုံး လႊတ္ေပးဖုိ႔နဲ႔ ျမန္မာျပည္သူလူထုအေန
နဲ႔ လြတ္လပ္စြာ ဆႏၵသေဘာထားထုတ္ေဖၚခြင့္ ပုိမိုရရွိဖုိ႔လုိေၾကာင္း စတာေတြကုိ
ေျပာၾကားမယ္လုိ႔ ယူဆေၾကာင္း ျမန္မာ့အေရးေလ့လာသူ မုိက္မစ္ခ်ယ္လ္
Mike Mitchell ကေျပာပါတယ္။
ဒီခရီးစဥ္အတြက္ ျပင္ဆင္တဲ့အေနနဲ႔ ဝါရွင္တန္ ဒီစီၿမဳိ႕ေတာ္ရွိ အေမရိကန္ႏုိင္ငံ
ဆုိင္ရာ ျမန္မာသံအမတ္ႀကီး ဦးသန္းေဆြဟာ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံကုိ လာမယ့္ ၁၃ရက္ေန႔မွာ ႀကိဳတင္သြားေရာက္မယ္လု႔ိသိရပါတယ္။
အေမရိကန္သမၼတနဲ႔အတူ ရာနဲ႔ခ်ီတဲ့ အရာရွိေတြ သတင္းေထာက္ေတြ လုိက္ပါ
ၾကမွာျဖစ္ၿပီး အဲဒီ သူေတြအတြက္ လုိအပ္တဲ့ ဗီဇာထုတ္ေပးဖုိ႔ ၿပီးခဲ့တဲ့လကပင္
ျမန္မာသံရုံးမွာ ႀကိဳတင္ေလွ်ာက္ထားခဲ့တယ္ လုိ႔လည္း ဝါရွင္တန္ သံတမန္အသုိင္း
အဝန္းက သတင္းရပါတယ္။ ဝါရွင္တန္ ျမန္မာသံရုံးက ဝန္ထမ္းေတြလည္း ဒီခရီး
စဥ္အတြက္ အင္မတန္ အလုပ္မ်ားေနၾကတယ္လုိ႔ ဆုိပါတယ္။
မစၥတာ အိုဘားမား ရဲ႕ အခုခရီးစဥ္ဟာ အေမရိကန္သမၼတတစ္ဦး ပထမဦးဆံုး
အႀကိမ္အျဖစ္ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံကို သြားေရာက္တဲ့ သမိုင္းဝင္ ခရီးစဥ္ ျဖစ္ပါတယ္။(RFA)
မတန္အေရးပါမယ့္ ခရီးျဖစ္ပါတယ္လုိ႔ ျမန္မာျပည္အေရး အထူးေလ့လာသူ အေမရိကန္သုေတသီတဦးျဖစ္တဲ့ မုိက္မစ္ခ်ယ္လ္ Mike Mitchell ကေျပာပါတယ္။
ဒါဟာ သမၼတအုိဘားမားက သူတုိ႔အစုိးရအေနနဲ႔ ျမန္မာျပည္ရဲ႕အေရးပါမွဳကိုအေလး
အနက္ထားေၾကာင္း ျပသလုိက္တာျဖစ္ပါတယ္။ သမၼတအေနနဲ႔ ပါတီ ၂ခုလုံးကုိ
ကုိယ္စားျပဳ သြားေရာက္တဲ့ခရီးစဥ္ လည္းျဖစ္ပါတယ္လုိ႔ သူကေျပာပါတယ္။
အခုလုိ သမၼတအုိဘားမား ျမန္မာျပည္သြားေရာက္မယ့္သတင္းကို RFA က ႏိုဝင္ဘာ
(၂)ရက္ေန႔ကပင္ ထုတ္လႊင့္ခဲ့ဲၿပီးျဖစ္ပါတယ္။ အဲဒီေန႔က ရရွိတဲ့သတင္းအရဆုိရင္
ေတာ့ အုိဘားမားဟာ ထုိင္းႏုိင္ငံကုိ ၁၆ရက္ေန႔ေရာက္မွာ သြားေရာက္မွာ ျဖစ္ၿပီး ၁၇ရက္ေန႔မွာ ေနျပည္ေတာ္ကုိသြားေရာက္ကာ ၁၈ရက္ေန႔မွာ ျမန္မာျပည္က
ျပန္လည္ထြက္ခြာမွာ ျဖစ္ပါတယ္။
ျမန္မာျပည္မွာ ရွိစဥ္ သမၼတ အုိဘားမားဟာ သမၼတ ဦးသိန္းစိန္၊ ဥကၠဌ ေဒၚေအာင္
ဆန္းစုၾကည္ အျပင္ ျမန္မာ့ႏုိင္ငံေရးအတြက္ အေရးပါတဲ့တျခားေခါင္းေဆာင္ေတြနဲ႔
လည္း ေတြ႔ဆုံမယ္လုိ႔ဆုိပါတယ္။
သမၼတ အုိဘားမားအေနနဲ႔ ျမန္မာအစုိးရေခါင္းေဆာင္ေတြနဲ႔ ေတြ႕ဆုံတဲ့အခါ ဘာ
ေတြေျပာၾကားမယ္ ထင္ပါသလဲလုိ႔ မုိက္မစ္ခ်ယ္လ္ Mike Mitchell ကုိေမးျမန္းရာ
မွာေတာ့ လက္ရွိ ျမန္မာျပည္ ဒီမုိကေရစီအေရးေဆာင္ရြက္မွဳေတြကုိ ႀကိဳဆုိေၾကာင္း
ေျပာၾကားမယ့္အျပင္ တရားဥပေဒစုိးမိုးေရးကို အေလးထားေဆာင္ရြက္ဖုိ႔၊ က်န္ရွိ
ေနေသးတဲ့ ႏုိင္ငံေရးအက်ဥ္းသားအားလုံး လႊတ္ေပးဖုိ႔နဲ႔ ျမန္မာျပည္သူလူထုအေန
နဲ႔ လြတ္လပ္စြာ ဆႏၵသေဘာထားထုတ္ေဖၚခြင့္ ပုိမိုရရွိဖုိ႔လုိေၾကာင္း စတာေတြကုိ
ေျပာၾကားမယ္လုိ႔ ယူဆေၾကာင္း ျမန္မာ့အေရးေလ့လာသူ မုိက္မစ္ခ်ယ္လ္
Mike Mitchell ကေျပာပါတယ္။
ဒီခရီးစဥ္အတြက္ ျပင္ဆင္တဲ့အေနနဲ႔ ဝါရွင္တန္ ဒီစီၿမဳိ႕ေတာ္ရွိ အေမရိကန္ႏုိင္ငံ
ဆုိင္ရာ ျမန္မာသံအမတ္ႀကီး ဦးသန္းေဆြဟာ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံကုိ လာမယ့္ ၁၃ရက္ေန႔မွာ ႀကိဳတင္သြားေရာက္မယ္လု႔ိသိရပါတယ္။
အေမရိကန္သမၼတနဲ႔အတူ ရာနဲ႔ခ်ီတဲ့ အရာရွိေတြ သတင္းေထာက္ေတြ လုိက္ပါ
ၾကမွာျဖစ္ၿပီး အဲဒီ သူေတြအတြက္ လုိအပ္တဲ့ ဗီဇာထုတ္ေပးဖုိ႔ ၿပီးခဲ့တဲ့လကပင္
ျမန္မာသံရုံးမွာ ႀကိဳတင္ေလွ်ာက္ထားခဲ့တယ္ လုိ႔လည္း ဝါရွင္တန္ သံတမန္အသုိင္း
အဝန္းက သတင္းရပါတယ္။ ဝါရွင္တန္ ျမန္မာသံရုံးက ဝန္ထမ္းေတြလည္း ဒီခရီး
စဥ္အတြက္ အင္မတန္ အလုပ္မ်ားေနၾကတယ္လုိ႔ ဆုိပါတယ္။
မစၥတာ အိုဘားမား ရဲ႕ အခုခရီးစဥ္ဟာ အေမရိကန္သမၼတတစ္ဦး ပထမဦးဆံုး
အႀကိမ္အျဖစ္ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံကို သြားေရာက္တဲ့ သမိုင္းဝင္ ခရီးစဥ္ ျဖစ္ပါတယ္။(RFA)
သမၼတ ဦးသိန္းစိန္နဲ႔ ထုိင္းဝန္ႀကီးခ်ဳပ္ေဟာင္း သက္ဆင္ေတြ႕ဆုံ
ျပည္ပမွာခိုလႈံေနတဲ့ ထိုင္းဝန္ႀကီးခ်ဳပ္ေဟာင္း သက္ဆင္ ရွင္နာဝပ္ ဟာ
မေန႔က ျမန္မာ
သမၼတ ဦးသိန္းစိန္နဲ႔ ေနျပည္ေတာ္မွာ ေတြ႕ဆံုခဲ့ေၾကာင္း The
Nation နဲ႔ Bangkok Post သတင္းစာေတြက ေဖၚျပခဲ့ၾကပါတယ္။
ဦးသိန္းစိန္နဲ႔ သက္ဆင္တို႔ ေတြ႕ဆံုခဲ့ရာမွာ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံရဲ႕
ႏိုင္ငံေရး စီးပြားေရး ျပဳျပင္
ေျပာင္းလဲမႈေတြကို သက္ဆင္က
ခ်ီးက်ဴးေျပာဆိုခဲ့ၿပီး၊ အာဆီယံရဲ႕ေရွ႕ေရးအပါအဝင္
ေဒသတြင္းဆိုင္ရာ
ကိစၥရပ္အေတာ္မ်ားမ်ားကို ေဆြးေႏြးခဲ့တယ္လို႔ သက္ဆင္ရဲ႕ ဥပေဒအႀကံေပး
ေနာ့ပါဒန္က ေျပာပါတယ္။
ဒါေပမဲ့ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံအတြင္း ထိုင္းႏိုင္ငံရဲ႕ ရင္းႏွီးျမႇဳပ္ႏွံမႈ
ဆိုင္ရာကိစၥေတြကိုေတာ့ ဒါ
ေတြဟာ အစိုးရခ်င္းသာ ေဆြးေႏြးရမယ့္ ကိစၥလို႔
သက္ဆင္က ယံုၾကည္တဲ့အတြက္ မေဆြးေႏြးဘဲေရွာင္ရွားခဲ့ေၾကာင္းလည္း
ေျပာဆိုပါတယ္။
သူက ဆက္လက္ေျပာဆိုရာမွာ အဲဒီေဆြးေႏြးပြဲမွာ ဦးသိန္းစိန္က သက္ဆင္ကို
ေက်း
လက္ေဒသ တိုးတက္ဖြံ႕ၿဖိဳးေရးနဲ႔ ဆင္းရဲမြဲေတမႈ တိုက္ဖ်က္ေရးနဲ႔
ပတ္သက္တဲ့ ေဟာ
ေျပာခ်က္တစ္ရပ္ ပို႔ခ်ေပးဖို႔အတြက္ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံကို
ေနာက္ထပ္ တစ္ေခါက္လာ
ေရာက္ပါဦးလို႔ ဖိတ္ေခၚခဲ့ပါတယ္။
ေဟာေျပာမယ့္ေန႔ရက္ကို စီစဥ္ရဦးမွာ ျဖစ္ပါတယ္လို႔လည္း သက္ဆင္ ရဲ႕
ဥပေဒအႀကံေပး ေနာ့ပါဒန္က ေျပာဆိုေၾကာင္း The Nation နဲ႔ Bangkok Post
သတင္းစာေတြက ေဖၚျပခဲ့ၾကပါတယ္။
ကေလးၿမိဳ႕တြင္ ဖမ္းဆီးထားသည့္ ဘဂၤါလီလူမ်ဳိး ၅၀ ခန္႕ရွိၿပီ
November 9th, 2012
ရခုိင္ အဓိကရုဏ္း ျဖစ္ပြားသည့္ ေနာက္ပုိင္း အိႏိၵယ – ျမန္မာ
နယ္စပ္မွ စစ္ကုိင္းတုိင္း
ကေလးၿမိဳ႕ တြင္း တရား မ၀င္ ခုိး၀င္လာသူ ဘဂၤါလီလူမ်ဳိး ၅၀ ခန္႕ ဖမ္းဆီးရမိၿပီဟု သိ
ရသည္။
“ ႏိုဝင္ဘာ ၅ ရက္ မနက္ ၈ နာရီခန္႔က ဘင္ဂါလီလူမ်ဳိး ၁၉ ဦးကို ေတြ႔ရွိတဲ့ တံငါသည္
တဦးက အာဏာပုိင္ေတြထံ သတင္းပုိ႔လုိ႔ ၉ မိုင္ေက်ာက္တလံုးအရပ္မွာ ဖမ္းမိတယ္၊
အရင္ လ က ဖမ္းဆီးတာ ၃၀ ခန္႕ေတာ့ ရွိၿပီ” ဟု ကေလးၿမိဳ႕ ၉ မုိင္အရပ္က ေဒသခံ
တဦးကေျပာပါသည္။ေနာက္ဆုံး ဖမ္းဆီးထားတဲ့ ဘဂၤါလီ ၁၉ ဦးကုိ အမႈမစစ္ခင္ လူထု
ေရွ႕ေမွာက္တြင္ ျပသခဲ့ရာ ေဒသခံ ၁၀၀၀ ခန္႕လာ ေရာက္ၾကည့္ရႈၾက ေၾကာင္း သိ
ရသည္။
“ ျပည္သူေတြက ဘဂၤလီလူမ်ဳိးနဲ႕ ရုပ္ခ်င္းဆင္သည့္ သူစိမ္းေတြ ေတြ႕ရွိပါက အခ်ိန္မွီ
သတင္းေပး ပုိ႕ႏုိင္ ေရးအ တြက္ ယခုလုိ လုပ္ရျခင္းျဖစ္မယ္ ” ဟု မ်က္ျမင္တဦးက
ေျပာပါသည္။ဘဂၤါလီလူမ်ဳိးေတြဟာ စစ္ကုိင္းတုိင္း ကေလးၿမိဳ႕ ကေနတဆင့္ မႏၱေလး
ကုိ ျဖတ္ၿပီး ထုိင္း နယ္စပ္ကုိ ျဖတ္ ေက်ာ္ၿပီး မေလးရွားသုိ႔၀င္ေရာက္ၾကရန္ ျဖစ္သည္
ဟု ကေလးၿမိဳ႕ အမႈစစ္ အာဏာ ပုိင္ေတြ ထံ မွ သိရသည္။
ထုိ႕အျပင္ ကေလးၿမဳိ႕နယ္အတြင္း ဘဂၤါလီလူမ်ဳိးမ်ား ဖမ္းဆီးမႈ မၾကာခဏ ရွိေနသည့္
အျပင္၊အိမ္ေဖာက္ထြင္း ခိုးယူမႈလည္းမ်ားျပားလာသည္ဟု ေဒသခံမ်ား ေျပာသည္။
အမ်ားအားျဖင့္ တာဟန္း၊ စမ္းၿမဳိ႕၊ ေတာင္ဇလပ္ရပ္ကြက္ေတြမွာ အျဖစ္မ်ားၿပီး ေဖာက္
ထြင္းခိုးယူ သူမ်ားမွာ အသက္မျပည့္ကေလးငယ္မ်ား နဲ႕ ဘဂၤါလီလူမ်ဳိးမ်ားျဖစ္ေၾကာင္း
သိရသည္။
“ ဟုတ္ပါတယ္။ အိမ္ေဖာက္ၿပီး ခိုးယူမႈကေတာ့ မၾကာမၾကာရွိတယ္။ အမ်ားအားျဖင့္
အိမ္ေဖာက္ ခိုးယူသူေတြ က အသက္မျပည့္ကေလး နဲ႔ ရိုဟင္ဂ်ာကုလား ေတြျဖစ္
တယ္”လို႕ တာဟန္းျမိဳ႕ခံတဦးက ေျပာပါတယ္။
ကေလးၿမိဳ႕ တြင္း တရား မ၀င္ ခုိး၀င္လာသူ ဘဂၤါလီလူမ်ဳိး ၅၀ ခန္႕ ဖမ္းဆီးရမိၿပီဟု သိ
ရသည္။
“ ႏိုဝင္ဘာ ၅ ရက္ မနက္ ၈ နာရီခန္႔က ဘင္ဂါလီလူမ်ဳိး ၁၉ ဦးကို ေတြ႔ရွိတဲ့ တံငါသည္
တဦးက အာဏာပုိင္ေတြထံ သတင္းပုိ႔လုိ႔ ၉ မိုင္ေက်ာက္တလံုးအရပ္မွာ ဖမ္းမိတယ္၊
အရင္ လ က ဖမ္းဆီးတာ ၃၀ ခန္႕ေတာ့ ရွိၿပီ” ဟု ကေလးၿမိဳ႕ ၉ မုိင္အရပ္က ေဒသခံ
တဦးကေျပာပါသည္။ေနာက္ဆုံး ဖမ္းဆီးထားတဲ့ ဘဂၤါလီ ၁၉ ဦးကုိ အမႈမစစ္ခင္ လူထု
ေရွ႕ေမွာက္တြင္ ျပသခဲ့ရာ ေဒသခံ ၁၀၀၀ ခန္႕လာ ေရာက္ၾကည့္ရႈၾက ေၾကာင္း သိ
ရသည္။
“ ျပည္သူေတြက ဘဂၤလီလူမ်ဳိးနဲ႕ ရုပ္ခ်င္းဆင္သည့္ သူစိမ္းေတြ ေတြ႕ရွိပါက အခ်ိန္မွီ
သတင္းေပး ပုိ႕ႏုိင္ ေရးအ တြက္ ယခုလုိ လုပ္ရျခင္းျဖစ္မယ္ ” ဟု မ်က္ျမင္တဦးက
ေျပာပါသည္။ဘဂၤါလီလူမ်ဳိးေတြဟာ စစ္ကုိင္းတုိင္း ကေလးၿမိဳ႕ ကေနတဆင့္ မႏၱေလး
ကုိ ျဖတ္ၿပီး ထုိင္း နယ္စပ္ကုိ ျဖတ္ ေက်ာ္ၿပီး မေလးရွားသုိ႔၀င္ေရာက္ၾကရန္ ျဖစ္သည္
ဟု ကေလးၿမိဳ႕ အမႈစစ္ အာဏာ ပုိင္ေတြ ထံ မွ သိရသည္။
ထုိ႕အျပင္ ကေလးၿမဳိ႕နယ္အတြင္း ဘဂၤါလီလူမ်ဳိးမ်ား ဖမ္းဆီးမႈ မၾကာခဏ ရွိေနသည့္
အျပင္၊အိမ္ေဖာက္ထြင္း ခိုးယူမႈလည္းမ်ားျပားလာသည္ဟု ေဒသခံမ်ား ေျပာသည္။
အမ်ားအားျဖင့္ တာဟန္း၊ စမ္းၿမဳိ႕၊ ေတာင္ဇလပ္ရပ္ကြက္ေတြမွာ အျဖစ္မ်ားၿပီး ေဖာက္
ထြင္းခိုးယူ သူမ်ားမွာ အသက္မျပည့္ကေလးငယ္မ်ား နဲ႕ ဘဂၤါလီလူမ်ဳိးမ်ားျဖစ္ေၾကာင္း
သိရသည္။
“ ဟုတ္ပါတယ္။ အိမ္ေဖာက္ၿပီး ခိုးယူမႈကေတာ့ မၾကာမၾကာရွိတယ္။ အမ်ားအားျဖင့္
အိမ္ေဖာက္ ခိုးယူသူေတြ က အသက္မျပည့္ကေလး နဲ႔ ရိုဟင္ဂ်ာကုလား ေတြျဖစ္
တယ္”လို႕ တာဟန္းျမိဳ႕ခံတဦးက ေျပာပါတယ္။
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
News & Articles on Burma(07 November 2012)
07 November 2012
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Rebel leader warns Naypyitaw: No more ceasefire violations
Wednesday, 07 November 2012 10:56 S.H.A.N.
More violations by the Burma Army of the ceasefire agreement may end up in the collapse of the treaty, said Lt-Gen Yawdserk, leader of the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) on Monday, 5 November.
The army and the government should not be at cross purposes, he said. They also need to do everything to help the people so they (the people) can get over the armys past excesses. Last but not least, political dialogues need to begin as soon as possible. That is how trust and peace can be built.
Lt. Gen. Yawdserk, left, leader of Shan State Army (SSA), and Gen. Soe Win, chief of Myanmar government negotiation group, shake hands during their meeting in Kengtung, eastern Shan State, Myanmar, Saturday, May 19, 2012. It was second round of peace talks between the government and Shan rebels. Photo: Khin Maung Win / AP
He saw not much progress since he first meet President Thein Seins Minister Without Borders U Aung Min in Chiangrai on 19 November 2011. We have been attacked 32 times during the past year, he said. 1,000 families of our fighters have been waiting to move into the Mongtaw-Monghta area for resettlement (as agreed in January). But 60 of our men sent to make preparations for the move have not been allowed to go anywhere.
On the drug front, no (practical) agreement had been reached at the Tachilek meeting (on 28 October).
He said since it was the government that had made the first call for peace, it rests primarily on the governments shoulders to make trust and peace a reality.
The picture is not altogether gloomy, according to his earlier statements. On the brighter side, all groups that have entered truce with the government have acknowledged the opening of liaison offices in sensitive areas, the holding of public consultations on the peace process and the freedom to call on authorities when there are problems have been useful.
Ceasefire and peace have always been shattered by the governments side, he pointed out. Just take a look at the fighting against the Shan State Army (SSA) North and Kachin Independence Army (KIA). They were not started by the SSA or the KIA, but by the governments side.
The two sides are due to meet again sometime this month. The venue may be Taunggyi (Shan State capital), he told SHAN. But the date is yet to be fixed.
On the other hand, U Aung Min, also Vice Chairman of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee, has always said his peace missions are not funded by the government, that they were from his own pockets. The first payment for his work, Euro 700,000, appeared to have come only during the visit of the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso last week. It will reportedly be followed by another 30 million euros for the countrys peace process in the upcoming year. http://www.english.panglong.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5054:rebel-leader-warns-naypyitaw-no-more-ceasefire-violations&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Bangkok Post
Obama to visit Myanmar
Published: 7/11/2012 at 08:05 PM
Online news:
Newly re-elected US President Barack Obama will visit Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon later this month, a Myanmar government official said Wednesday, in the latest sign of Washington's support for reforms in the former pariah state.
''Obama will come to Yangon on November 19. He will meet with the President and Daw (honoric) Aung San Suu Kyi here,'' the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding further details were unavailable because of security concerns.
Relations between the United States and Myanmanr have thawed significantly since President Thein Sein took the helm of a quasi-civilian regime last year and ushered in a period of sweeping reform.
Fresh from his re-election triumph, Mr Obama has a small window for foreign travel before Thanksgiving on Nov 22 and deliberations in Congress about averting a destructive budgetary arrangement known as the ''fiscal cliff''.
The White House has not confirmed any trip to Myanmar.
Mr Obama is also expected to travel to Phnom Penh to attend the East Asia summit, an annual gathering of leaders of Southeast Asian nations and regional partners including China and Russia.
``According to the plan, he will be arriving on the 18th,'' Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP, adding that he did not know how long Mr Obama would stay in the country. The summit ends on Nov 20.
The Obama administration has encouraged the political developments in Myanmar under the new regime that replaced half a century of military rule.
Thein Sein made a landmark trip to New York in September, becoming the first Burma leader to speak to the UN General Assembly, following a series of visits to Myanmar by US officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mrs Suu Kyi also visited the US on a historic tour that coincided with the Myanmar leader's schedule and included a meeting with Mr Obama.
''We welcome his visit. We are also glad that he won the election. He met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Washington during her visit and was very knowledgeable about Myanmar,'' Ohn Kyaing, a spokesman for the opposition leader's National League for Democracy, told AFP.
He said the party had ''heard he would come here but we did not know the date''.
``No American president has visited Burma in a long time... It's more than 50 years,'' he added, using the country's former name.
The opposition party of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has been welcomed back into mainstream politics under the dramatic reforms, which have also included the release of hundreds of political prisoners and a series of tentative ceasefires with ethnic minority rebels.
In response to the reforms the US and other Western countries have rolled back sanctions, despite concerns about an ethnic conflict raging in northern Kachin state and a surge in communal violence in western Rakhine.
Washington lifted sanctions on American investment in Myanmar in July, enabling a major US trade delegation to visit the country.
Global corporate giants from Coca-Cola to General Electric have already begun to vie for a share of an expected economic boom in the long-isolated nation.
The US has also lifted 2007 sanctions on Thein Sein and parliament speaker Shwe Mann and announced it would ease a ban on imports. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/320045/
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Myanmar vice president visits Thailand
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 15:29
Myanmar Vice President Nyan Htun hopes his visit to Thailand, to streamline agenda for the Thai-Myanmar leaders meeting later this month, would pave way for further improvement in the bilateral relations.
While meeting with Thailands Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Nyan Htun, as chairman of the special economic zones in Myanmar, said that his country is open for foreign investment particularly investment from Thailand, which is now the second biggest foreign investor.
Leading a delegation of high-level officials, he is in Bangkok to join the 1st Thai-Myanmar senior official meeting, wherebydevelopment strategies in the Dawei special economic zone and related areas are discussed. Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong led the Thai delegation.
Yingluck reiterated Thailands readiness to support development in Dawei and expressed Thai investors interest in pouring investment in other areas. On Dawei, she said that it is necessary that the senior officials clearly prioritise development agenda.
Meanwhile, she suggested further cooperation in growing border trade. As Thailand is involved with the development of new linkage infrastructure, Myanmar is urged to provide security to Thai workers and officers. Myanmar is also urged to consider opening more permanent checkpoints.
To help address the power shortage in Myanmar which is hosting a number of international events in the next few years like World Economic Forum on East Asia and SEA Games, Thailand is delivering old gas turbines to Yangon.
Source: The Nation http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1207-myanmar-vice-president-visits-thailand
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MPs block amendments to 1982 Citizenship Law
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 19:32
The Myanmar parliament will not tackle changes to the 1982 Burma (Myanmar) Citizenship Law after several MPs objected to the amendments.
Tin Mya of the Union Solidarity and Development Party submitted amendments to the body but Speaker Khin Aung Myint said the proposal will be kept only as a record after some MPs raised their objection.
The Burma Citizenship Law, enacted in 1982 , categorises citizen, associate citizen, naturalised citizen and foreigner.
The 20-year-old law also provides guidelines on those who can apply for naturalised citizenship including those with a foreign parent as long as the other parent is a citizen.
Others who are qualified to seek naturalised citizenship are those with parents who are an associate citizen and a naturalised citizen; an associate citizen and a foreigner; both naturalised citizens; and a naturalised citizen and a foreigner.
The law can protect nationals from the influence of illegal foreign migrants into the country. This law is essential for both Rakhine State and all nationals. If this law was updated, there would be some international pressures in the enactment process. If the new citizenship law was not firm, the people in Rakhine State will suffer, warned MP Kyaw Kyaw, who was one of those who objected.
MP Kyaw Oo of the Rakhine Nationals Development Party said the law was enacted to address Myanmars situation being bordered with a country where population is bursting. He said the law should only be amended once Myanmar enjoys peace and stability.
On the other hand, some MPs from ethnic political parties, said amendments to the law may be enough.
http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1225-mps-block-amendments-to-1982-citizenship-law
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Suu Kyi calls for tolerance on Rakhine conflict
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 19:19
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged for tolerance and emphasised the rule of law in addressing ethnic violence in Rakhine State.
In an interview with a BBC reporter in Nay Pyi Taw last week, Suu Kyi said it is not appropriate to promote the cause of one side without looking at the root of the conflict.
She was referring to riots between Rakhine locals and Bengalis in Rakhine State, west Myanmar.
Fighting began in June while the most recent violence occurred on October 21. The government reported that 84 people died and 29 others were injured while nearly 3,000 houses were burned down in the latest outbreak.
She said the rule of law should be a top priority and only after security is in place can other problems be addressed. She added that a proper solution could not be reached if people were locked in deadly fights and arson attacks.
Responding to criticisms over her lack of stand on the Rakhine conflict, Suu Kyi said it wont help the situation. She said she has been used to critical remarks in the past 20 years.
Suu Kyi blamed previous governments for policies that led to human rights violations and discrimination against Rakhine Buddhists. http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1223-suu-kyi-calls-for-tolerance-on-rakhine-conflict
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Cambodia says Obama to visit, raising Myanmar chances
ReutersReuters 3 hours ago
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama will go to Cambodia on November 18 to attend an Asian summit, a Cambodian minister said on Wednesday, adding to speculation he may use the opportunity to visit nearby Myanmar.
Myanmar is opening up after almost half a century of military rule and the United States suspended sanctions on the country earlier this year in recognition of the changes under way.
In November 2011 Hillary Clinton became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit in more than 50 years.
Many U.S. companies are looking at starting operations in the country, located between China and India, with abundant resources and low-cost labour.
Officials in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have not confirmed an Obama visit.
Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said he did not know how long Obama would be in his country.
"We will have Obama and also (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and leaders from China and Japan," he told reporters.
The annual summit of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is usually extended to take in meetings with leaders of partner countries. Preliminary details for this year show the event will run from November 15 to 20.
Local media have said Obama may visit Thailand, like Myanmar an ASEAN member, while he is in Asia, but that could not be confirmed.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Alan Raybould and Jonathan Thatcher)
http://in.news.yahoo.com/cambodia-says-obama-visit-raising-myanmar-chances-092619987.html
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Foreign insurers enter Myanmar market with hope, caution
Agencies : Hong Kong, Wed Nov 07 2012, 15:30 hrs
The world's top insurance firms are setting their sights on Myanmar, steeling themselves for a fight with corruption and ghosts from the nation's political past.
Prudential Plc, AIA Group Ltd and Manulife Financial Corp are among the global insurance giants preparing to enter Myanmar as the government rolls out a framework for the sector's development with the lifting of European and U.S. sanctions.
The opportunities are many. A large population, economic reforms and a natural resources industry could combine to create rising wealth among Myanmar's people. There is also money to be made by general insurers providing cover for the impending boom in construction projects.
A few years ago everybody needed to have a China story and India as well, said Michael Daly, a director and consulting actuary for the China and Southeast Asia life insurance practice at Milliman Inc. Now the attention has shifted to Southeast Asia.
Myanmar could produce $1.6 billion in annual premium revenues, according to Reuters calculations based on economic data and comparisons with neighbouring markets. That would less than 10 percent of what Singapore premiums bring in now, but in line with Vietnam's current insurance market.
With the opportunities come obstacles, including new rules governing foreign insurers that are yet to be tested.
In addition, the country's one sole established insurer - state-backed Myanma Insurance - is guaranteed certain contracts, effectively closing off portions of the market.
Other challenges include competition from a handful of regional players and corruption.
The country's political history may also pose problems for insurers looking to sell products to high net worth individuals who may have ties to the former junta or be on blacklists.
And yet the early enthusiasm among global insurers shows how tough things have become in their home markets and how crucial they see their position in Southeast Asia's growth story.
Southeast Asia
Global insurers have had their eyes on Southeast Asia, buying up assets and opening offices in Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand as growth rates in the developing world far-outpaced developed markets.
Premiums in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to rise an average of 7.9 percent next year, according to a report by Swiss Re, more than double the global life insurance average.
Myanmar is attractive to insurance executives as its population of nearly 60 million makes it one of the largest in the region. Per capita gross domestic product is also over $850, near the $1,000 mark that insurers say is the threshold where individuals begin buying insurance.
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd have already established representative offices in Myanmar.
Before nationalisation in 1963, there were more than 70 local and foreign private insurance companies in Myanmar.
Myanmar is an economic rising star, said David Wong, who runs Manulife's Southeast Asian operations and who travelled to Myanmar this fall as part of a Canadian delegation. It's not far behind Vietnam.
Myanmar vs Vietnam
Analysts and executives interviewed by Reuters struggled to put an exact dollar figure on Myanmar's insurance market.
Using Vietnam as a model, Myanmar may eventually generate between $1 billion and $2 billion in premiums a year, according to a Reuters analysis, based on sources and economic data.
Vietnam last year had a GDP of $120 billion and generated just over $1.8 billion worth of premiums. That meant an insurance penetration of 1.5 percent of GDP.
If Myanmar's economy grows 7 percent annually in the next decade - the lower end of the rate estimated by the Asian Development Bank - it will double in size in 10 years' time to over $100 billion. If its insurance penetration matches or comes close to that of Vietnam, Myanmar could generate around $1.6 billion in premiums.
Singapore brings in around $19.5 billion in premiums, the highest in Southeast Asia.
Dark past, Local laws
The clearest obstacle for a foreign insurer in Myanmar is corruption.
Transparency International ranks Myanmar as one of the four most-corrupt nations, on par with Afghanistan and only half a point better than North Korea and Somalia.
Rampant corruption would make it nearly impossible for global insurers to run proper background and business checks on policies for individuals and corporations.
Even worse, corruption could get an insurer in trouble if the company backs a person or entity that later becomes a criminal liability, a not-too-distant possibility in a country such as Myanmar.
Many businessmen with close links to the military are now keen to reposition themselves as business friendly and compliant, said Richard Dailly, managing director at consulting firm Kroll Inc. However, many of them still appear on blacklists either because of their close link to the regime or their proximity to narcotics production.
Detailed market information is also hard to come by, with debt and equity analysts and ratings agencies yet to begin covering Myanmar's insurance sector. Performing due diligence is difficult, Dailly adds.
The laws governing Myanmar's insurance sector are loosely-worded and don't apply to the state's monopoly, though some parts of the law could be attractive to foreign insurers.
Insurers can get licenses from the Central Bank of Myanmar that allow them to write policies in foreign currencies. Other parts of existing laws could prove worrisome.
So far, government officials are saying foreign insurers will be kept at arms-length until around 2015. That's when they will be granted licenses and allowed to do business, the deputy minister of finance and revenue told Reuters in September.
For those who invest the time and energy and know-how to actually help it develop, those people are going to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, said Ince & Co partner Iain Anderson, an industry lawyer who recently travelled to Myanmar. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/foreign-insurers-enter-myanmar-market-with-hope-caution/1028172/0
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Thailand, Myanmar throw weight behind Dawei zone
ReutersBy Amy Sawitta Lefevre | Reuters 3 hours ago
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Ministers from Myanmar and Thailand met on Wednesday to show their support for the struggling multibillion-dollar Dawei economic zone in Myanmar and to look for ways to drum up more private sector interest.
"Collaboration on Dawei is of the utmost importance to both our countries. The next step is to invite investment from the state and private sectors," Thai Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong said during a break in the meetings in Bangkok.
The $50 billion, 250 sq km (100 sq mile) complex was planned to include a deep-sea port, steel mills, refineries, a petrochemical complex and power plants.
However, Italian-Thai Development Pcl, Thailand's largest construction firm and the parent of Dawei Development Co, has struggled to find the $8.5 billion needed to finance infrastructure and utilities under the first phase.
On Wednesday, Thailand and Myanmar agreed to set up joint committees overseeing infrastructure projects, including a 132-km (83-mile) road stretching from Dawei to the Thai border, plus water and energy needs. Another committee will advise businesses on Myanmar's new foreign investment law.
A follow-up meeting will be held in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, in December.
Funding for Dawei's first phase will be decided in the next three or four months, with Myanmar keen for construction to begin no later than April 2013, said Somchai Sajjapong, chief of the Thai Finance Ministry's fiscal policy office.
In September, sources said Thai banks, led by Bangkok Bank and Siam Commercial Bank, would provide short-term loans to keep the first phase afloat before an expected Japanese loan of up to $3.2 billion was secured.
"There is strong interest from international banking organisations keen to provide investment loans for Dawei," Finance Minister Kittirat said, adding Myanmar and Thailand had not discussed the involvement of a third country.
Thailand is keen to see Dawei get off the ground as it is ideally placed to provide its companies with a low-cost base for heavy industry.
Bangkok approved a $1.1 billion budget in May for Dawei-related infrastructure in Thailand. It included a four-lane highway linking towns in Thailand to Myanmar plus government offices at the border and housing for Thais who will work in the zone.
Dawei Development Co said last month it planned to invest more than 1 billion baht ($32 million) on infrastructure in the economic zone to promote light industry.
($1 = 30.7500 Thai baht)
(Additional reporting by Kittipong Thaicharoen; Editing by Alan Raybould and Ron Popeski)
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/thailand-myanmar-throw-weight-behind-dawei-zone-105438176--finance.html
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UN appeals for $11 million for Myanmar displaced
The Associated Press, Sittwe, Myanmar | World | Wed, November 07 2012, 8:32 PM
The United Nations food agency has issued an urgent appeal for $11 million to feed more than 110,000 people displaced by violence between Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar.
The UN World Food Program's Asia spokesman, Marcus Prior, says some people who fled from their burning homes are now living in impromptu shelters under trees and in rice paddies.
Prior said Tuesday that the money would help feed those displaced by the unrest between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state for the next six months.
The UN agency made its first emergency food deliveries to some of the latest wave of 35,000 displaced people last week and will reach most within the next few days by boat and truck.
The vast majority of the displaced are Rohingya Muslims.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/07/un-appeals-11-million-myanmar-displaced.html
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Analysis: Foreign insurers enter Myanmar market with hope, caution
Clare Baldwin Reuters
2:55 a.m. CST, November 7, 2012
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The world's top insurance firms are setting their sights on Myanmar, steeling themselves for a fight with corruption and ghosts from the nation's political past.
Prudential Plc , AIA Group Ltd and Manulife Financial Corp are among the global insurance giants preparing to enter Myanmar as the government rolls out a framework for the sector's development with the lifting of European and U.S. sanctions.
Ads by Google
The opportunities are many. A large population, economic reforms and a natural resources industry could combine to create rising wealth among Myanmar's people. There is also money to be made by general insurers providing cover for the impending boom in construction projects.
"A few years ago everybody needed to have a China story and India as well," said Michael Daly, a director and consulting actuary for the China and Southeast Asia life insurance practice at Milliman Inc. "Now the attention has shifted to Southeast Asia."
Myanmar could produce $1.6 billion in annual premium revenues, according to Reuters calculations based on economic data and comparisons with neighboring markets. That would less than 10 percent of what Singapore premiums bring in now, but in line with Vietnam's current insurance market.
With the opportunities come obstacles, including new rules governing foreign insurers that are yet to be tested.
In addition, the country's one sole established insurer - state-backed Myanma Insurance - is guaranteed certain contracts, effectively closing off portions of the market.
Other challenges include competition from a handful of regional players and corruption.
The country's political history may also pose problems for insurers looking to sell products to high net worth individuals who may have ties to the former junta or be on blacklists.
And yet the early enthusiasm among global insurers shows how tough things have become in their home markets and how crucial they see their position in Southeast Asia's growth story.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Global insurers have had their eyes on Southeast Asia, buying up assets and opening offices in Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand as growth rates in the developing world far-outpaced developed markets.
Premiums in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to rise an average of 7.9 percent next year, according to a report by Swiss Re, more than double the global life insurance average.
Myanmar is attractive to insurance executives as its population of nearly 60 million makes it one of the largest in the region. Per capita gross domestic product is also over $850, near the $1,000 mark that insurers say is the threshold where individuals begin buying insurance.
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc , Sompo Japan Insurance Inc , Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd have already established representative offices in Myanmar.
Before nationalization in 1963, there were more than 70 local and foreign private insurance companies in Myanmar.
"Myanmar is an economic rising star," said David Wong, who runs Manulife's Southeast Asian operations and who travelled to Myanmar this fall as part of a Canadian delegation. "It's not far behind Vietnam."
MYANMAR VS. VIETNAM
Analysts and executives interviewed by Reuters struggled to put an exact dollar figure on Myanmar's insurance market.
Using Vietnam as a model, Myanmar may eventually generate between $1 billion and $2 billion in premiums a year, according to a Reuters analysis, based on sources and economic data.
Vietnam last year had a GDP of $120 billion and generated just over $1.8 billion worth of premiums. That meant an insurance penetration of 1.5 percent of GDP.
If Myanmar's economy grows 7 percent annually in the next decade - the lower end of the rate estimated by the Asian Development Bank - it will double in size in 10 years' time to over $100 billion. If its insurance penetration matches or comes close to that of Vietnam, Myanmar could generate around $1.6 billion in premiums.
Singapore brings in around $19.5 billion in premiums, the highest in Southeast Asia.
DARK PASTS, LOCAL LAWS
The clearest obstacle for a foreign insurer in Myanmar is corruption.
Transparency International ranks Myanmar as one of the four most-corrupt nations, on par with Afghanistan and only half a point better than North Korea and Somalia.
Rampant corruption would make it nearly impossible for global insurers to run proper background and business checks on policies for individuals and corporations.
Even worse, corruption could get an insurer in trouble if the company backs a person or entity that later becomes a criminal liability, a not-too-distant possibility in a country such as Myanmar.
"Many businessmen with close links to the military are now keen to reposition themselves as business friendly and compliant," said Richard Dailly, managing director at consulting firm Kroll Inc. "However, many of them still appear on blacklists either because of their close link to the regime or their proximity to narcotics production."
Detailed market information is also hard to come by, with debt and equity analysts and ratings agencies yet to begin covering Myanmar's insurance sector. Performing due diligence is difficult, Dailly adds.
The laws governing Myanmar's insurance sector are loosely-worded and don't apply to the state's monopoly, though some parts of the law could be attractive to foreign insurers.
Insurers can get licenses from the Central Bank of Myanmar that allow them to write policies in foreign currencies. Other parts of existing laws could prove worrisome.
So far, government officials are saying foreign insurers will be kept at arms-length until around 2015. That's when they will be granted licenses and allowed to do business, the deputy minister of finance and revenue told Reuters in September.
"For those who invest the time and energy and know-how to actually help it develop, those people are going to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Ince & Co partner Iain Anderson, an industry lawyer who recently travelled to Myanmar.
(Additional reporting by Taiga Uranaka in TOKYO and Lawrence White in HONG KONG; Editing by Michael Flaherty and Ryan Woo) http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-insurers-myanmarbre8a60yl-20121107,0,7027358,full.story
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Myanmar pipeline fuels fighting, rights abuses in ethnic areas report
Wed, 7 Nov 2012 12:28 GMT
Source: alertnet
Ethnic Kachin people wave their hands at a ceremony on the International Day of Peace in Yangon Sept. 21, 2012. Hundreds of people joined the march against civil war REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
BANGKOK (AlertNet) Myanmar government troops are still fighting Kachin rebels and ethnic groups are suffering persistent human rights abuses in areas affected by the controversial Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline, problems ignored by those praising the governments reforms, a report by a Palaung youth group said on Wednesday.
Almost 3,000 members of the Palaung (locally known as Taang) ethnic group living in the northwest of Shan State in eastern Myanmar have been displaced by the clashes along the pipeline between the army and the Kachin rebels who are supported by Palaung rebels, the report said.
"Those refugees have no support, no shelter, and the U.N. doesn't know about them," said Lway Aye Nang of the Taang Students and Youth Organisation (TSYO) which published the report and the Palaung Womens Organisation (PWO).
"They are in urgent need of help now and the season is entering winter, she said, appealing to international aid agencies to help those newly displaced.
Foreign governments must keep pressing the Myanmar authorities on the continuing human rights abuses in the country and should not hold back for fear of harming the reform process, she said.
Fighting between government troops and the Kachin broke out in northern Myanmar in June 2011 and aid groups say around 75,000 people have been displaced since then.
The twin 2,800-km pipelines, due to start operating in 2013, will carry natural gas from Myanmars Bay of Bengal offshore reserves and oil shipped from Africa and the Middle East to southwest China. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), both state owned, are leading the project.
Pipeline construction has resulted in land confiscation, forced labour, heightened drug use and security concerns for women and girls, in addition to fighting and displacement, the TSYO report said.
The government has deployed an additional 20 battalions about 6,000 soldiers to increase pressure on armed ethnic groups and provide security for the pipelines, which run northeast from the coast in Rakhine state to China through central Myanmar and Shan State, it said..
One rights group has said the project will provide Myanmar, one of the poorest countries in the world, with revenues of around $29 billion over the next 30 years.
REFORMS ABSENT IN ETHNIC AREAS
Myanmars reformist President Thein Sein, who took office in March 2011, surprised observers by freeing hundreds of dissidents, loosening restrictions on the political opposition and abolishing pre-publication censorship, reforms which led to an easing of Western sanctions.
The government also said it intended to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to regulate an industry that has so far been opaque and has been accused of rampant corrupt practices.
Nang said the widely praise democratic reforms have not been reflected in the ethnic areas.
People living along the pipeline route have had their land confiscated, sometimes without prior consultation, and compensation has tended to be inadequate, the report said.
The distribution of compensation for loss of land, property and livelihood has been inconsistent, unfair and had no thought or planning for the future of those affected, it said. There has been an increase in the use of forced labour, with people in some areas forced to work on a continual basis and without receiving any payment.
The report said there had been many cases of sexual harassment and intimidation of local women by both Myanmar soldiers and Chinese workers brought in to work on the pipeline.
Drug use has soared with the arrival of Chinese workers, with drugs openly sold in the towns and villages without any intervention from government authorities, the report said.
The Burma army has no respect for human rights. They continue to act the same (as before), said the TSYOs Nang.
She urged world leaders to continue to press Myanmars authorities on rights issues.
We don't see world leaders talking about human rights atrocities that are still going on in the country any more because (they) don't want to harm the reform process, she said.
Everyone is praising the government, President Thein Sein but at the same time we need to continue raising this issue so we can improve the situation, she added. http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/myanmar-pipeline-fuels-fighting-rights-abuses-in-ethnic-areas-report
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No green light so far for private newspapers in Burma
By Zin Linn Nov 07, 2012 9:07PM UTC
Burmas Lower House session continued for 9th day at People Parliament Hall in Parliament Complex in Nay-Pyi-Taw on Tuesday, attended by Lower House Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann and 394 Members of Parliament. At Tuesdays session, six questions were replied; one proposal submitted; and one bill submitted, the state-run New Light of Myanmar said.
Out of six questions, the most interesting one was about the possibility of publishing private-owned daily newspapers. No private owned daily newspapers are allowed up to now. No independent radios or televisions are permitted thus far. MP Thein Nyunt of Thingangyun Constituency raised a question that private newspapers were allowed to print under the 1962 Printing and Publishers Registration Act even under the then military junta. So, he wanted to know whether the government has planned to give green light to publish private newspapers according to the Printers and Publishers Registration Law (1962).
Union Minister for Information Aung Kyi replied that some private newspapers were working during the period between 1965 and 1967 once in a while when the Printers and Publishers Registration Law (1962) was still in force. Green light will be given to publication of private newspapers soon. By this means, he said, a new media environment is being set up in cooperation with respective media. The Union Government would allow the publication of daily private newspapers at an opportune time, Aung Kyi replied.
Thein Nyunt asked further that he would like to know the more accurate time for publishing daily papers. The Information Minister said that it depends on the facts that how the remaining organizations including the Press Council would implement institutions without delay in the process of new media reforms. According to Aung Kyis answer, Government is not ready to make a decision giving fixed dates for private dailies.
However, Aung Kyi had an interview with the Myanmar Times Journal on 2 September, and he spoke in support of abolishing the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law. He told Myanmar Times that it is essential for a democratic country to allow private-owned daily newspapers to operate and predicted that daily publishing licenses will be issued to the private sector early next year.
Information Minister Aung Kyi attended the meeting of creation of a new press council on 17 Sept. 2012.
Information Minister Aung Kyi attended the meeting of creation of a new press council on 17 Sept. 2012. (Photo:http://www.ministryofinformation.gov.mm)
Dr. Than Htut Aung, Chairman and CEO of Eleven Media Group, made a comment on this matter.
Two months ago, the information minister disclosed the publication of private newspapers would be allowed at the start of 2013. Both local and international media reported the news about it. The governments attitude towards the private media is not clear. It has no sincerity. Oppressing and controlling the independent media mean the government has no wish to exercise genuine democracy, Dr. Than Htut Aung highlights his view in the Eleven Media Groups web-page.
No idea of amending the 2008 Constitution means no idea of establishing national reconciliation, national consolidation and peace. (Only this point was highlighted at the peace dialogue with KIO.) Not having these two points will push the country backward direction and never bring peace. Everyone will no longer believe in the government, he remarked.
U Win Tin, a veteran journalist and former editor-in-chief of Hanthawady Daily, also told the EMG concerning the private dailies: The government talked about the publication of private newspapers variously. What they have said is not right yet when a new information minister was appointed. On one occasion, they said private newspapers could be published in early 2013. On another occasion, they said again that it was not possible. Anyhow, what we heard is who has been allowed to publish and who will be allowed. In that regard, the time has come to publish private newspapers. If possible, state-run newspapers should not exist. The Kyemon and Myanma Alin dailies were privately owned in the past. I think they should be privatized now.
Another thing is that they should assess who is appropriate and capable of publishing a private newspaper. It is rumoured that the government has handpicked some to publish private newspapers and that they are getting prepared and seeking new employees. I think it is not appropriate. I completely favour private newspapers. Even the Kyemon and Myanma Alin newspapers must be privatized. This is my opinion. Private newspapers must emerge. State-run newspapers should not exist, he criticized strongly.
Taking into consideration of Aung San Suu Kyis pragmatic political move, people believe that Burma is struggling at a crossroads with the intention of starting a political restructuring. While the majority population wishes a genuine chapter of democratic changes, the quasi-civilian government wants to maintain the country under limited or guided democracy. The disciplined democracy the regime used to say is no more than restricted freedom.
Above all, citizens are demanding freedom of expression and freedom of press while the Thein Sein government is reluctant to allow the basic rights of the citizens.
If the government is sincere enough regarding democratic reforms, the media must be free along with the inauguration since free speech and access to information is fundamental to a healthy democracy. But, there is no sign of permission for daily newspapers in Burma until now.
Even though, Information Minister has immediately responded the question in his website (http://www.ministryofinformation.gov.mm) today. He said that he will not fail to keep his promise and he has been doing his best to accomplish the emergence of the daily newspapers. He also made a call to the media circle to help implementing respective institutions urgently at the heart of new media reforms. http://asiancorrespondent.com/91729/no-green-light-so-far-for-private-newspapers-in-burma/
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30,000 Dawei Villagers Forced Out by June
By NYEIN NYEIN / THE IRRAWADDY| November 7, 2012 |
The forced relocation of more than 30,000 villagers by southern Burmas Dawei deep-sea port project will take place before June next year, says Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Support Team Chairman Tin Maung Swe.
A total of 16 villages in Yaybyu and Longlon townships in Dawei Province of Tanintharyi Division will be moved to three new locations, he told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Tin Maung Swe explained that two new villages are under construction and some will start moving before the next academic year, which begins in June.
The new residential zones are being built in accordance with the development of a town plan and the villagers will be moved after electricity, water supplies and telecommunication are in place, he said.
We will complete a total of 500 new homes in Bawar Village, which is the new place where five villages from the Nabulae area of Yaybyu Township will first be relocated this month, said Tin Maung Swe. So far we have completed building 343 houses.
Another 10 villages in Yaybyu Township will be moved near the Industrial Zone in Pugawzun Village and the remaining settlement of Nyungpinseik, in Longlon Township, will be moved to nearby Bantaninn Village.
The Dawei project started in 2010 with the first stepsroad construction, site preparation, an industrial zone for small and medium enterprises, a 33 megawatt gas-fueled power plant and new towns for displaced localsset to be completed before 2014, despite concerns of some foreign investors regarding the slow pace of progress.
Site preparation has just begun for the Ministry of Industrys palm plantation area in Pagawzun Village where the light industrial zone will be based, said Tin Maung Swe. He added that local residents will be helped to reestablish their livelihoods near their new homes and will be provided with agricultural materials for small plantations as well as new houses.
But Dawei residents told The Irrawaddy that they worry about losing their jobs as farmers. Local people currently grow rubber, cashew and palm and their plantations will be destroyed by the project.
We have already lost some plantations due to road construction, said a monk at Thabyayzun Village. Some people also have not accepted compensation as it is too low.
But Tin Maung Swe disagrees. Some people just did not accept the standard compensation as they want more, he said, adding that their money is waiting in the bank and will be paid as soon as villagers agree to standard terms.
Meanwhile, Burmese Vice-President Nyun Htun discussed the establishment of the Burma-Thailand Joint Committee for the Comprehensive Development in the Dawei SEZ and its related projects during a bilateral meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday.
The committee will oversee the entire project, which is led by Italian-Thai Development Company. Earlier reports that President Thein Sein would attend the meeting proved to be inaccurate. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18278
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Govt Accused of Ongoing Abuses at Shwe Pipeline
By CHARLIE CAMPBELL / THE IRRAWADDY| November 7, 2012 |
A catalogue of ongoing human rights abuses have been documented along the path of the Chinese-backed Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline which transects Burma, according to a new report.
Pipeline Nightmare, released by The Taang Students and Youth Organization (TSYO) on Wednesday morning, illustrates how the project has resulted in the confiscation of land, forced labor and an increased military presence affecting thousands of people.
Moreover, the report documents human rights violations in six target cities and 51 villages committed by the Burma Army, police and militias taking responsibility for security during construction.
Even though the international community believes that the government has implemented political reforms, it doesnt mean those reforms have reached ethnic areas, especially not where there is increased militarization along the Shwe Pipeline, increased fighting between the Burmese Army and ethnic armed groups, and negative consequences for the people living in these areas, said Mai Amm Ngeal, a member of TSYO.
Once completed, the project will transport oil and gas across from the Bay of Bengal in western Burmas Arakan (Rakhine) State to Chinas southwestern Yunnan Province across the border from Shan State. Sources close to the project suggest it could be completed as early as next May.
The government has deployed additional soldiers and extended 26 military camps in order to increase pressure on ethnic armed groups and provide security for the pipeline project and its Chinese workers, claims the report.
Last month, an alliance of 12 civil society groups in Burma called for the suspension of the Shwe Gas pipelines until the project had been properly assessed and existing problems solved.
Tin Thit, a spokesman for the Myanmar-China Pipeline Watch Committee, told The Irrawaddy that there needs to be a solution to the environmental and social problems. Therefore, we urge the authorities to suspend the project until these issues are solved.
Double the amount of land has been used to accommodate the pipelines than the contractors promised the landowners who, in turn, have received less compensation than they should expect.
The Shwe Gas project is a joint venture between China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the former junta-linked Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE). The oil and gas pipelines pass through 21 townships as they span 800 km (500 miles) across the country.
Local sources report daily fighting along the pipeline route between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Shan State ArmyNorth and Taang National Liberation Army in Namtu, Mantong and Namkham, where there are more than 1,000 Taang (Palaung) refugees.
Wong Aung, the coordinator at the Shwe Gas Movement, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the TSYO report is consistent with earlier research conducted by his group regarding clashes between the Burmese military and ethnic people.
Especially with the KIA, the ongoing conflict is driving people from the construction, he said. The TSYO report is important as there has been a lot of positive developments inside the country and interest from foreign investment yet the ongoing crisis with the pipeline is directly related to foreign investment. There are clashes as they lack a proper investment mechanisms and legal framework.
Although CNPC and MOGE have signed agreements for the Shwe Pipeline, TSYO claims neither company has conducted any Environmental Impact Assessments or Social Impact Assessments while the Burmese central government is set to earn an estimated US $29 billion from the project over the next three decades.
The government and companies involved must be held accountable for the project and its effects on the local people, such as increasing military presence and Chinese workers along the pipeline, both of which cause insecurity for the local communities and especially women. The project has no benefit for the public, so it must be postponed, said Lway Phoo Reang, Joint Secretary (1) of TSYO.
The TSYO report urges President Thein Seins administration to postpone the Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline project, withdraw the military from Shan State, reach a ceasefire with all local ethnic armed groups and address the root causes of the armed conflict by engaging in political dialogue. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18259
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November 6, 2012 2:10 pm
Group breaks away from Suu Kyi party
By Gwen Robinson in Yangon
Turmoil within the party of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has prompted a breakaway group from her National League for Democracy to establish its own political organisation, amid growing criticism of the partys leadership and threats of further resignations.
About 130 NLD members in the Ayeyarwady region of western Myanmar resigned from the party and last week established a group called Democracy Network to focus on helping the local community although some members hope the group will eventually become a political party.
The walkout was triggered by disputes over the selection process for local delegates to the NLDs first national convention, which will be held in December or January.
In a rare public outburst, three of the NLDs longest-serving members in Pathein, an Ayeyarwady township, accused the partys central executive committee of undemocratic practices.
At a recent press conference, they said long-time members had been pushed aside by the central headquarters in the delegate selection process. In response, the NLDs executive committee dismissed the three members and the partys local headquarters was closed.
A national NLD spokesman denied the party was being undemocratic and told local media that delegate positions were being assigned to the people who are the most capable.
But the partys harsh response to dissent has prompted political analysts and diplomats to question the NLDs tactics, given the partys own history of persecution under previous military regimes, including the 15-year house arrest of Ms Suu Kyi, the partys founding leader.
Its ironic that even as reformers leading this government are soliciting dissenting views and reaching out across the political divide, the NLD is behaving in this way; even more ironic that the NLD was the one to complain the loudest about lack of political freedoms, said an academic who is working in Myanmar.
In disputes that have engulfed at least 10 NLD branches around the country including in Thone Kwa district of Yangon members have accused NLD membership of high-handed tactics and alleged favouritism in the selection process.
However, such internal arguments have crystallised growing tensions between the NLDs leadership and its vast network of local branches, say local analysts and diplomats. Party members are increasingly complaining about the NLDs strict, hierarchical structure and the autocratic approach of its central committee, they noted.
In all cases, however, dissenters have avoided directly criticising Ms Suu Kyi, who distanced herself from daily party leadership when she entered parliament in April.
Members have also complained privately that Ms Suu Kyi is focusing on her parliamentary role and international travels while neglecting her grassroots support base.
The NLD hopes to double its current membership of 400,000 by the 2015 national election, in which the party hopes to contest all available parliamentary seats. The convention is being planned to discuss strategies for that contest.
One-quarter of the 664 seats in the bicameral legislature are reserved for the military, leaving 498 seats dominated by the ruling Union Solidarity and Development party up for grabs in 2015.
While analysts still believe the NLD, which holds 43 seats, will sweep the 2015 polls, they warn that growing internal dissent could imperil the partys machine.
Some consider that the problem in the party is a battle for power between old and new party members and activists, but it is also indicative of the [NLD] headquarters weaknesses, U Ko Ko Aung, a long-time NLD member, recently told the Myanmar Times, the English-language weekly.
Ms Suu Kyi has said only that it would take time to solve conflict between dedicated members and self-interested people in the party. However, Mr Ko Ko Aung and others have urged her to intervene. All that is needed is for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to say that the process should be democratic . . . [because] its probably right to say about 90 per cent of people join the NLD because they love [her], he said. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/29297a4c-2812-11e2-ac7f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2BXjeRZxq
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Burma to host Green Economy forum
Wednesday, 07 November 2012 16:02 Mizzima News
Burma will host its second forum on green economy and sustainable growth from November 13 to 15 in Naypyidaw where some 80 environmental experts from foreign countries and about 20 domestic experts are expected to attend.
The conference will be followed by a roundtable seminar in Rangoon on November 16.
According to a report by Xinhua, delegates will discuss 18 different topics including low carbon development, energy, water, food security, forests, and responsible tourism.
The first Green Economy and Green Growth Forum (GEGG) was held in Naypyidaw in November last year, organized by former UN Assistant Secretary-General Dr. Nay Tun in cooperation with governmental agencies and NGOs.
In June last year, Burmese Vice-president Dr. Sai Mauk Kham addressed the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he said that President Thein Seins government is committed to seeking economic development in parallel with the environmental conservation, and has called on all its citizens and social organizations to actively take part in this task.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8364-burma-to-host-green-economy-forum.html
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Rebel leader warns Naypyitaw: No more ceasefire violations
Wednesday, 07 November 2012 10:56 S.H.A.N.
More violations by the Burma Army of the ceasefire agreement may end up in the collapse of the treaty, said Lt-Gen Yawdserk, leader of the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) on Monday, 5 November.
The army and the government should not be at cross purposes, he said. They also need to do everything to help the people so they (the people) can get over the armys past excesses. Last but not least, political dialogues need to begin as soon as possible. That is how trust and peace can be built.
Lt. Gen. Yawdserk, left, leader of Shan State Army (SSA), and Gen. Soe Win, chief of Myanmar government negotiation group, shake hands during their meeting in Kengtung, eastern Shan State, Myanmar, Saturday, May 19, 2012. It was second round of peace talks between the government and Shan rebels. Photo: Khin Maung Win / AP
He saw not much progress since he first meet President Thein Seins Minister Without Borders U Aung Min in Chiangrai on 19 November 2011. We have been attacked 32 times during the past year, he said. 1,000 families of our fighters have been waiting to move into the Mongtaw-Monghta area for resettlement (as agreed in January). But 60 of our men sent to make preparations for the move have not been allowed to go anywhere.
On the drug front, no (practical) agreement had been reached at the Tachilek meeting (on 28 October).
He said since it was the government that had made the first call for peace, it rests primarily on the governments shoulders to make trust and peace a reality.
The picture is not altogether gloomy, according to his earlier statements. On the brighter side, all groups that have entered truce with the government have acknowledged the opening of liaison offices in sensitive areas, the holding of public consultations on the peace process and the freedom to call on authorities when there are problems have been useful.
Ceasefire and peace have always been shattered by the governments side, he pointed out. Just take a look at the fighting against the Shan State Army (SSA) North and Kachin Independence Army (KIA). They were not started by the SSA or the KIA, but by the governments side.
The two sides are due to meet again sometime this month. The venue may be Taunggyi (Shan State capital), he told SHAN. But the date is yet to be fixed.
On the other hand, U Aung Min, also Vice Chairman of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee, has always said his peace missions are not funded by the government, that they were from his own pockets. The first payment for his work, Euro 700,000, appeared to have come only during the visit of the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso last week. It will reportedly be followed by another 30 million euros for the countrys peace process in the upcoming year. http://www.english.panglong.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5054:rebel-leader-warns-naypyitaw-no-more-ceasefire-violations&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Bangkok Post
Obama to visit Myanmar
Published: 7/11/2012 at 08:05 PM
Online news:
Newly re-elected US President Barack Obama will visit Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon later this month, a Myanmar government official said Wednesday, in the latest sign of Washington's support for reforms in the former pariah state.
''Obama will come to Yangon on November 19. He will meet with the President and Daw (honoric) Aung San Suu Kyi here,'' the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding further details were unavailable because of security concerns.
Relations between the United States and Myanmanr have thawed significantly since President Thein Sein took the helm of a quasi-civilian regime last year and ushered in a period of sweeping reform.
Fresh from his re-election triumph, Mr Obama has a small window for foreign travel before Thanksgiving on Nov 22 and deliberations in Congress about averting a destructive budgetary arrangement known as the ''fiscal cliff''.
The White House has not confirmed any trip to Myanmar.
Mr Obama is also expected to travel to Phnom Penh to attend the East Asia summit, an annual gathering of leaders of Southeast Asian nations and regional partners including China and Russia.
``According to the plan, he will be arriving on the 18th,'' Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP, adding that he did not know how long Mr Obama would stay in the country. The summit ends on Nov 20.
The Obama administration has encouraged the political developments in Myanmar under the new regime that replaced half a century of military rule.
Thein Sein made a landmark trip to New York in September, becoming the first Burma leader to speak to the UN General Assembly, following a series of visits to Myanmar by US officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mrs Suu Kyi also visited the US on a historic tour that coincided with the Myanmar leader's schedule and included a meeting with Mr Obama.
''We welcome his visit. We are also glad that he won the election. He met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Washington during her visit and was very knowledgeable about Myanmar,'' Ohn Kyaing, a spokesman for the opposition leader's National League for Democracy, told AFP.
He said the party had ''heard he would come here but we did not know the date''.
``No American president has visited Burma in a long time... It's more than 50 years,'' he added, using the country's former name.
The opposition party of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has been welcomed back into mainstream politics under the dramatic reforms, which have also included the release of hundreds of political prisoners and a series of tentative ceasefires with ethnic minority rebels.
In response to the reforms the US and other Western countries have rolled back sanctions, despite concerns about an ethnic conflict raging in northern Kachin state and a surge in communal violence in western Rakhine.
Washington lifted sanctions on American investment in Myanmar in July, enabling a major US trade delegation to visit the country.
Global corporate giants from Coca-Cola to General Electric have already begun to vie for a share of an expected economic boom in the long-isolated nation.
The US has also lifted 2007 sanctions on Thein Sein and parliament speaker Shwe Mann and announced it would ease a ban on imports. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/320045/
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Myanmar vice president visits Thailand
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 15:29
Myanmar Vice President Nyan Htun hopes his visit to Thailand, to streamline agenda for the Thai-Myanmar leaders meeting later this month, would pave way for further improvement in the bilateral relations.
While meeting with Thailands Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Nyan Htun, as chairman of the special economic zones in Myanmar, said that his country is open for foreign investment particularly investment from Thailand, which is now the second biggest foreign investor.
Leading a delegation of high-level officials, he is in Bangkok to join the 1st Thai-Myanmar senior official meeting, wherebydevelopment strategies in the Dawei special economic zone and related areas are discussed. Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong led the Thai delegation.
Yingluck reiterated Thailands readiness to support development in Dawei and expressed Thai investors interest in pouring investment in other areas. On Dawei, she said that it is necessary that the senior officials clearly prioritise development agenda.
Meanwhile, she suggested further cooperation in growing border trade. As Thailand is involved with the development of new linkage infrastructure, Myanmar is urged to provide security to Thai workers and officers. Myanmar is also urged to consider opening more permanent checkpoints.
To help address the power shortage in Myanmar which is hosting a number of international events in the next few years like World Economic Forum on East Asia and SEA Games, Thailand is delivering old gas turbines to Yangon.
Source: The Nation http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1207-myanmar-vice-president-visits-thailand
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MPs block amendments to 1982 Citizenship Law
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 19:32
The Myanmar parliament will not tackle changes to the 1982 Burma (Myanmar) Citizenship Law after several MPs objected to the amendments.
Tin Mya of the Union Solidarity and Development Party submitted amendments to the body but Speaker Khin Aung Myint said the proposal will be kept only as a record after some MPs raised their objection.
The Burma Citizenship Law, enacted in 1982 , categorises citizen, associate citizen, naturalised citizen and foreigner.
The 20-year-old law also provides guidelines on those who can apply for naturalised citizenship including those with a foreign parent as long as the other parent is a citizen.
Others who are qualified to seek naturalised citizenship are those with parents who are an associate citizen and a naturalised citizen; an associate citizen and a foreigner; both naturalised citizens; and a naturalised citizen and a foreigner.
The law can protect nationals from the influence of illegal foreign migrants into the country. This law is essential for both Rakhine State and all nationals. If this law was updated, there would be some international pressures in the enactment process. If the new citizenship law was not firm, the people in Rakhine State will suffer, warned MP Kyaw Kyaw, who was one of those who objected.
MP Kyaw Oo of the Rakhine Nationals Development Party said the law was enacted to address Myanmars situation being bordered with a country where population is bursting. He said the law should only be amended once Myanmar enjoys peace and stability.
On the other hand, some MPs from ethnic political parties, said amendments to the law may be enough.
http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1225-mps-block-amendments-to-1982-citizenship-law
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Suu Kyi calls for tolerance on Rakhine conflict
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 19:19
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged for tolerance and emphasised the rule of law in addressing ethnic violence in Rakhine State.
In an interview with a BBC reporter in Nay Pyi Taw last week, Suu Kyi said it is not appropriate to promote the cause of one side without looking at the root of the conflict.
She was referring to riots between Rakhine locals and Bengalis in Rakhine State, west Myanmar.
Fighting began in June while the most recent violence occurred on October 21. The government reported that 84 people died and 29 others were injured while nearly 3,000 houses were burned down in the latest outbreak.
She said the rule of law should be a top priority and only after security is in place can other problems be addressed. She added that a proper solution could not be reached if people were locked in deadly fights and arson attacks.
Responding to criticisms over her lack of stand on the Rakhine conflict, Suu Kyi said it wont help the situation. She said she has been used to critical remarks in the past 20 years.
Suu Kyi blamed previous governments for policies that led to human rights violations and discrimination against Rakhine Buddhists. http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1223-suu-kyi-calls-for-tolerance-on-rakhine-conflict
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Cambodia says Obama to visit, raising Myanmar chances
ReutersReuters 3 hours ago
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama will go to Cambodia on November 18 to attend an Asian summit, a Cambodian minister said on Wednesday, adding to speculation he may use the opportunity to visit nearby Myanmar.
Myanmar is opening up after almost half a century of military rule and the United States suspended sanctions on the country earlier this year in recognition of the changes under way.
In November 2011 Hillary Clinton became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit in more than 50 years.
Many U.S. companies are looking at starting operations in the country, located between China and India, with abundant resources and low-cost labour.
Officials in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have not confirmed an Obama visit.
Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said he did not know how long Obama would be in his country.
"We will have Obama and also (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and leaders from China and Japan," he told reporters.
The annual summit of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is usually extended to take in meetings with leaders of partner countries. Preliminary details for this year show the event will run from November 15 to 20.
Local media have said Obama may visit Thailand, like Myanmar an ASEAN member, while he is in Asia, but that could not be confirmed.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Alan Raybould and Jonathan Thatcher)
http://in.news.yahoo.com/cambodia-says-obama-visit-raising-myanmar-chances-092619987.html
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Foreign insurers enter Myanmar market with hope, caution
Agencies : Hong Kong, Wed Nov 07 2012, 15:30 hrs
The world's top insurance firms are setting their sights on Myanmar, steeling themselves for a fight with corruption and ghosts from the nation's political past.
Prudential Plc, AIA Group Ltd and Manulife Financial Corp are among the global insurance giants preparing to enter Myanmar as the government rolls out a framework for the sector's development with the lifting of European and U.S. sanctions.
The opportunities are many. A large population, economic reforms and a natural resources industry could combine to create rising wealth among Myanmar's people. There is also money to be made by general insurers providing cover for the impending boom in construction projects.
A few years ago everybody needed to have a China story and India as well, said Michael Daly, a director and consulting actuary for the China and Southeast Asia life insurance practice at Milliman Inc. Now the attention has shifted to Southeast Asia.
Myanmar could produce $1.6 billion in annual premium revenues, according to Reuters calculations based on economic data and comparisons with neighbouring markets. That would less than 10 percent of what Singapore premiums bring in now, but in line with Vietnam's current insurance market.
With the opportunities come obstacles, including new rules governing foreign insurers that are yet to be tested.
In addition, the country's one sole established insurer - state-backed Myanma Insurance - is guaranteed certain contracts, effectively closing off portions of the market.
Other challenges include competition from a handful of regional players and corruption.
The country's political history may also pose problems for insurers looking to sell products to high net worth individuals who may have ties to the former junta or be on blacklists.
And yet the early enthusiasm among global insurers shows how tough things have become in their home markets and how crucial they see their position in Southeast Asia's growth story.
Southeast Asia
Global insurers have had their eyes on Southeast Asia, buying up assets and opening offices in Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand as growth rates in the developing world far-outpaced developed markets.
Premiums in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to rise an average of 7.9 percent next year, according to a report by Swiss Re, more than double the global life insurance average.
Myanmar is attractive to insurance executives as its population of nearly 60 million makes it one of the largest in the region. Per capita gross domestic product is also over $850, near the $1,000 mark that insurers say is the threshold where individuals begin buying insurance.
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd have already established representative offices in Myanmar.
Before nationalisation in 1963, there were more than 70 local and foreign private insurance companies in Myanmar.
Myanmar is an economic rising star, said David Wong, who runs Manulife's Southeast Asian operations and who travelled to Myanmar this fall as part of a Canadian delegation. It's not far behind Vietnam.
Myanmar vs Vietnam
Analysts and executives interviewed by Reuters struggled to put an exact dollar figure on Myanmar's insurance market.
Using Vietnam as a model, Myanmar may eventually generate between $1 billion and $2 billion in premiums a year, according to a Reuters analysis, based on sources and economic data.
Vietnam last year had a GDP of $120 billion and generated just over $1.8 billion worth of premiums. That meant an insurance penetration of 1.5 percent of GDP.
If Myanmar's economy grows 7 percent annually in the next decade - the lower end of the rate estimated by the Asian Development Bank - it will double in size in 10 years' time to over $100 billion. If its insurance penetration matches or comes close to that of Vietnam, Myanmar could generate around $1.6 billion in premiums.
Singapore brings in around $19.5 billion in premiums, the highest in Southeast Asia.
Dark past, Local laws
The clearest obstacle for a foreign insurer in Myanmar is corruption.
Transparency International ranks Myanmar as one of the four most-corrupt nations, on par with Afghanistan and only half a point better than North Korea and Somalia.
Rampant corruption would make it nearly impossible for global insurers to run proper background and business checks on policies for individuals and corporations.
Even worse, corruption could get an insurer in trouble if the company backs a person or entity that later becomes a criminal liability, a not-too-distant possibility in a country such as Myanmar.
Many businessmen with close links to the military are now keen to reposition themselves as business friendly and compliant, said Richard Dailly, managing director at consulting firm Kroll Inc. However, many of them still appear on blacklists either because of their close link to the regime or their proximity to narcotics production.
Detailed market information is also hard to come by, with debt and equity analysts and ratings agencies yet to begin covering Myanmar's insurance sector. Performing due diligence is difficult, Dailly adds.
The laws governing Myanmar's insurance sector are loosely-worded and don't apply to the state's monopoly, though some parts of the law could be attractive to foreign insurers.
Insurers can get licenses from the Central Bank of Myanmar that allow them to write policies in foreign currencies. Other parts of existing laws could prove worrisome.
So far, government officials are saying foreign insurers will be kept at arms-length until around 2015. That's when they will be granted licenses and allowed to do business, the deputy minister of finance and revenue told Reuters in September.
For those who invest the time and energy and know-how to actually help it develop, those people are going to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, said Ince & Co partner Iain Anderson, an industry lawyer who recently travelled to Myanmar. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/foreign-insurers-enter-myanmar-market-with-hope-caution/1028172/0
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Thailand, Myanmar throw weight behind Dawei zone
ReutersBy Amy Sawitta Lefevre | Reuters 3 hours ago
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Ministers from Myanmar and Thailand met on Wednesday to show their support for the struggling multibillion-dollar Dawei economic zone in Myanmar and to look for ways to drum up more private sector interest.
"Collaboration on Dawei is of the utmost importance to both our countries. The next step is to invite investment from the state and private sectors," Thai Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong said during a break in the meetings in Bangkok.
The $50 billion, 250 sq km (100 sq mile) complex was planned to include a deep-sea port, steel mills, refineries, a petrochemical complex and power plants.
However, Italian-Thai Development Pcl, Thailand's largest construction firm and the parent of Dawei Development Co, has struggled to find the $8.5 billion needed to finance infrastructure and utilities under the first phase.
On Wednesday, Thailand and Myanmar agreed to set up joint committees overseeing infrastructure projects, including a 132-km (83-mile) road stretching from Dawei to the Thai border, plus water and energy needs. Another committee will advise businesses on Myanmar's new foreign investment law.
A follow-up meeting will be held in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, in December.
Funding for Dawei's first phase will be decided in the next three or four months, with Myanmar keen for construction to begin no later than April 2013, said Somchai Sajjapong, chief of the Thai Finance Ministry's fiscal policy office.
In September, sources said Thai banks, led by Bangkok Bank and Siam Commercial Bank, would provide short-term loans to keep the first phase afloat before an expected Japanese loan of up to $3.2 billion was secured.
"There is strong interest from international banking organisations keen to provide investment loans for Dawei," Finance Minister Kittirat said, adding Myanmar and Thailand had not discussed the involvement of a third country.
Thailand is keen to see Dawei get off the ground as it is ideally placed to provide its companies with a low-cost base for heavy industry.
Bangkok approved a $1.1 billion budget in May for Dawei-related infrastructure in Thailand. It included a four-lane highway linking towns in Thailand to Myanmar plus government offices at the border and housing for Thais who will work in the zone.
Dawei Development Co said last month it planned to invest more than 1 billion baht ($32 million) on infrastructure in the economic zone to promote light industry.
($1 = 30.7500 Thai baht)
(Additional reporting by Kittipong Thaicharoen; Editing by Alan Raybould and Ron Popeski)
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/thailand-myanmar-throw-weight-behind-dawei-zone-105438176--finance.html
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UN appeals for $11 million for Myanmar displaced
The Associated Press, Sittwe, Myanmar | World | Wed, November 07 2012, 8:32 PM
The United Nations food agency has issued an urgent appeal for $11 million to feed more than 110,000 people displaced by violence between Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar.
The UN World Food Program's Asia spokesman, Marcus Prior, says some people who fled from their burning homes are now living in impromptu shelters under trees and in rice paddies.
Prior said Tuesday that the money would help feed those displaced by the unrest between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state for the next six months.
The UN agency made its first emergency food deliveries to some of the latest wave of 35,000 displaced people last week and will reach most within the next few days by boat and truck.
The vast majority of the displaced are Rohingya Muslims.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/07/un-appeals-11-million-myanmar-displaced.html
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Analysis: Foreign insurers enter Myanmar market with hope, caution
Clare Baldwin Reuters
2:55 a.m. CST, November 7, 2012
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The world's top insurance firms are setting their sights on Myanmar, steeling themselves for a fight with corruption and ghosts from the nation's political past.
Prudential Plc , AIA Group Ltd and Manulife Financial Corp are among the global insurance giants preparing to enter Myanmar as the government rolls out a framework for the sector's development with the lifting of European and U.S. sanctions.
Ads by Google
The opportunities are many. A large population, economic reforms and a natural resources industry could combine to create rising wealth among Myanmar's people. There is also money to be made by general insurers providing cover for the impending boom in construction projects.
"A few years ago everybody needed to have a China story and India as well," said Michael Daly, a director and consulting actuary for the China and Southeast Asia life insurance practice at Milliman Inc. "Now the attention has shifted to Southeast Asia."
Myanmar could produce $1.6 billion in annual premium revenues, according to Reuters calculations based on economic data and comparisons with neighboring markets. That would less than 10 percent of what Singapore premiums bring in now, but in line with Vietnam's current insurance market.
With the opportunities come obstacles, including new rules governing foreign insurers that are yet to be tested.
In addition, the country's one sole established insurer - state-backed Myanma Insurance - is guaranteed certain contracts, effectively closing off portions of the market.
Other challenges include competition from a handful of regional players and corruption.
The country's political history may also pose problems for insurers looking to sell products to high net worth individuals who may have ties to the former junta or be on blacklists.
And yet the early enthusiasm among global insurers shows how tough things have become in their home markets and how crucial they see their position in Southeast Asia's growth story.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Global insurers have had their eyes on Southeast Asia, buying up assets and opening offices in Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand as growth rates in the developing world far-outpaced developed markets.
Premiums in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to rise an average of 7.9 percent next year, according to a report by Swiss Re, more than double the global life insurance average.
Myanmar is attractive to insurance executives as its population of nearly 60 million makes it one of the largest in the region. Per capita gross domestic product is also over $850, near the $1,000 mark that insurers say is the threshold where individuals begin buying insurance.
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc , Sompo Japan Insurance Inc , Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd have already established representative offices in Myanmar.
Before nationalization in 1963, there were more than 70 local and foreign private insurance companies in Myanmar.
"Myanmar is an economic rising star," said David Wong, who runs Manulife's Southeast Asian operations and who travelled to Myanmar this fall as part of a Canadian delegation. "It's not far behind Vietnam."
MYANMAR VS. VIETNAM
Analysts and executives interviewed by Reuters struggled to put an exact dollar figure on Myanmar's insurance market.
Using Vietnam as a model, Myanmar may eventually generate between $1 billion and $2 billion in premiums a year, according to a Reuters analysis, based on sources and economic data.
Vietnam last year had a GDP of $120 billion and generated just over $1.8 billion worth of premiums. That meant an insurance penetration of 1.5 percent of GDP.
If Myanmar's economy grows 7 percent annually in the next decade - the lower end of the rate estimated by the Asian Development Bank - it will double in size in 10 years' time to over $100 billion. If its insurance penetration matches or comes close to that of Vietnam, Myanmar could generate around $1.6 billion in premiums.
Singapore brings in around $19.5 billion in premiums, the highest in Southeast Asia.
DARK PASTS, LOCAL LAWS
The clearest obstacle for a foreign insurer in Myanmar is corruption.
Transparency International ranks Myanmar as one of the four most-corrupt nations, on par with Afghanistan and only half a point better than North Korea and Somalia.
Rampant corruption would make it nearly impossible for global insurers to run proper background and business checks on policies for individuals and corporations.
Even worse, corruption could get an insurer in trouble if the company backs a person or entity that later becomes a criminal liability, a not-too-distant possibility in a country such as Myanmar.
"Many businessmen with close links to the military are now keen to reposition themselves as business friendly and compliant," said Richard Dailly, managing director at consulting firm Kroll Inc. "However, many of them still appear on blacklists either because of their close link to the regime or their proximity to narcotics production."
Detailed market information is also hard to come by, with debt and equity analysts and ratings agencies yet to begin covering Myanmar's insurance sector. Performing due diligence is difficult, Dailly adds.
The laws governing Myanmar's insurance sector are loosely-worded and don't apply to the state's monopoly, though some parts of the law could be attractive to foreign insurers.
Insurers can get licenses from the Central Bank of Myanmar that allow them to write policies in foreign currencies. Other parts of existing laws could prove worrisome.
So far, government officials are saying foreign insurers will be kept at arms-length until around 2015. That's when they will be granted licenses and allowed to do business, the deputy minister of finance and revenue told Reuters in September.
"For those who invest the time and energy and know-how to actually help it develop, those people are going to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Ince & Co partner Iain Anderson, an industry lawyer who recently travelled to Myanmar.
(Additional reporting by Taiga Uranaka in TOKYO and Lawrence White in HONG KONG; Editing by Michael Flaherty and Ryan Woo) http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-insurers-myanmarbre8a60yl-20121107,0,7027358,full.story
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Myanmar pipeline fuels fighting, rights abuses in ethnic areas report
Wed, 7 Nov 2012 12:28 GMT
Source: alertnet
Ethnic Kachin people wave their hands at a ceremony on the International Day of Peace in Yangon Sept. 21, 2012. Hundreds of people joined the march against civil war REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
BANGKOK (AlertNet) Myanmar government troops are still fighting Kachin rebels and ethnic groups are suffering persistent human rights abuses in areas affected by the controversial Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline, problems ignored by those praising the governments reforms, a report by a Palaung youth group said on Wednesday.
Almost 3,000 members of the Palaung (locally known as Taang) ethnic group living in the northwest of Shan State in eastern Myanmar have been displaced by the clashes along the pipeline between the army and the Kachin rebels who are supported by Palaung rebels, the report said.
"Those refugees have no support, no shelter, and the U.N. doesn't know about them," said Lway Aye Nang of the Taang Students and Youth Organisation (TSYO) which published the report and the Palaung Womens Organisation (PWO).
"They are in urgent need of help now and the season is entering winter, she said, appealing to international aid agencies to help those newly displaced.
Foreign governments must keep pressing the Myanmar authorities on the continuing human rights abuses in the country and should not hold back for fear of harming the reform process, she said.
Fighting between government troops and the Kachin broke out in northern Myanmar in June 2011 and aid groups say around 75,000 people have been displaced since then.
The twin 2,800-km pipelines, due to start operating in 2013, will carry natural gas from Myanmars Bay of Bengal offshore reserves and oil shipped from Africa and the Middle East to southwest China. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), both state owned, are leading the project.
Pipeline construction has resulted in land confiscation, forced labour, heightened drug use and security concerns for women and girls, in addition to fighting and displacement, the TSYO report said.
The government has deployed an additional 20 battalions about 6,000 soldiers to increase pressure on armed ethnic groups and provide security for the pipelines, which run northeast from the coast in Rakhine state to China through central Myanmar and Shan State, it said..
One rights group has said the project will provide Myanmar, one of the poorest countries in the world, with revenues of around $29 billion over the next 30 years.
REFORMS ABSENT IN ETHNIC AREAS
Myanmars reformist President Thein Sein, who took office in March 2011, surprised observers by freeing hundreds of dissidents, loosening restrictions on the political opposition and abolishing pre-publication censorship, reforms which led to an easing of Western sanctions.
The government also said it intended to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to regulate an industry that has so far been opaque and has been accused of rampant corrupt practices.
Nang said the widely praise democratic reforms have not been reflected in the ethnic areas.
People living along the pipeline route have had their land confiscated, sometimes without prior consultation, and compensation has tended to be inadequate, the report said.
The distribution of compensation for loss of land, property and livelihood has been inconsistent, unfair and had no thought or planning for the future of those affected, it said. There has been an increase in the use of forced labour, with people in some areas forced to work on a continual basis and without receiving any payment.
The report said there had been many cases of sexual harassment and intimidation of local women by both Myanmar soldiers and Chinese workers brought in to work on the pipeline.
Drug use has soared with the arrival of Chinese workers, with drugs openly sold in the towns and villages without any intervention from government authorities, the report said.
The Burma army has no respect for human rights. They continue to act the same (as before), said the TSYOs Nang.
She urged world leaders to continue to press Myanmars authorities on rights issues.
We don't see world leaders talking about human rights atrocities that are still going on in the country any more because (they) don't want to harm the reform process, she said.
Everyone is praising the government, President Thein Sein but at the same time we need to continue raising this issue so we can improve the situation, she added. http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/myanmar-pipeline-fuels-fighting-rights-abuses-in-ethnic-areas-report
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No green light so far for private newspapers in Burma
By Zin Linn Nov 07, 2012 9:07PM UTC
Burmas Lower House session continued for 9th day at People Parliament Hall in Parliament Complex in Nay-Pyi-Taw on Tuesday, attended by Lower House Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann and 394 Members of Parliament. At Tuesdays session, six questions were replied; one proposal submitted; and one bill submitted, the state-run New Light of Myanmar said.
Out of six questions, the most interesting one was about the possibility of publishing private-owned daily newspapers. No private owned daily newspapers are allowed up to now. No independent radios or televisions are permitted thus far. MP Thein Nyunt of Thingangyun Constituency raised a question that private newspapers were allowed to print under the 1962 Printing and Publishers Registration Act even under the then military junta. So, he wanted to know whether the government has planned to give green light to publish private newspapers according to the Printers and Publishers Registration Law (1962).
Union Minister for Information Aung Kyi replied that some private newspapers were working during the period between 1965 and 1967 once in a while when the Printers and Publishers Registration Law (1962) was still in force. Green light will be given to publication of private newspapers soon. By this means, he said, a new media environment is being set up in cooperation with respective media. The Union Government would allow the publication of daily private newspapers at an opportune time, Aung Kyi replied.
Thein Nyunt asked further that he would like to know the more accurate time for publishing daily papers. The Information Minister said that it depends on the facts that how the remaining organizations including the Press Council would implement institutions without delay in the process of new media reforms. According to Aung Kyis answer, Government is not ready to make a decision giving fixed dates for private dailies.
However, Aung Kyi had an interview with the Myanmar Times Journal on 2 September, and he spoke in support of abolishing the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law. He told Myanmar Times that it is essential for a democratic country to allow private-owned daily newspapers to operate and predicted that daily publishing licenses will be issued to the private sector early next year.
Information Minister Aung Kyi attended the meeting of creation of a new press council on 17 Sept. 2012.
Information Minister Aung Kyi attended the meeting of creation of a new press council on 17 Sept. 2012. (Photo:http://www.ministryofinformation.gov.mm)
Dr. Than Htut Aung, Chairman and CEO of Eleven Media Group, made a comment on this matter.
Two months ago, the information minister disclosed the publication of private newspapers would be allowed at the start of 2013. Both local and international media reported the news about it. The governments attitude towards the private media is not clear. It has no sincerity. Oppressing and controlling the independent media mean the government has no wish to exercise genuine democracy, Dr. Than Htut Aung highlights his view in the Eleven Media Groups web-page.
No idea of amending the 2008 Constitution means no idea of establishing national reconciliation, national consolidation and peace. (Only this point was highlighted at the peace dialogue with KIO.) Not having these two points will push the country backward direction and never bring peace. Everyone will no longer believe in the government, he remarked.
U Win Tin, a veteran journalist and former editor-in-chief of Hanthawady Daily, also told the EMG concerning the private dailies: The government talked about the publication of private newspapers variously. What they have said is not right yet when a new information minister was appointed. On one occasion, they said private newspapers could be published in early 2013. On another occasion, they said again that it was not possible. Anyhow, what we heard is who has been allowed to publish and who will be allowed. In that regard, the time has come to publish private newspapers. If possible, state-run newspapers should not exist. The Kyemon and Myanma Alin dailies were privately owned in the past. I think they should be privatized now.
Another thing is that they should assess who is appropriate and capable of publishing a private newspaper. It is rumoured that the government has handpicked some to publish private newspapers and that they are getting prepared and seeking new employees. I think it is not appropriate. I completely favour private newspapers. Even the Kyemon and Myanma Alin newspapers must be privatized. This is my opinion. Private newspapers must emerge. State-run newspapers should not exist, he criticized strongly.
Taking into consideration of Aung San Suu Kyis pragmatic political move, people believe that Burma is struggling at a crossroads with the intention of starting a political restructuring. While the majority population wishes a genuine chapter of democratic changes, the quasi-civilian government wants to maintain the country under limited or guided democracy. The disciplined democracy the regime used to say is no more than restricted freedom.
Above all, citizens are demanding freedom of expression and freedom of press while the Thein Sein government is reluctant to allow the basic rights of the citizens.
If the government is sincere enough regarding democratic reforms, the media must be free along with the inauguration since free speech and access to information is fundamental to a healthy democracy. But, there is no sign of permission for daily newspapers in Burma until now.
Even though, Information Minister has immediately responded the question in his website (http://www.ministryofinformation.gov.mm) today. He said that he will not fail to keep his promise and he has been doing his best to accomplish the emergence of the daily newspapers. He also made a call to the media circle to help implementing respective institutions urgently at the heart of new media reforms. http://asiancorrespondent.com/91729/no-green-light-so-far-for-private-newspapers-in-burma/
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30,000 Dawei Villagers Forced Out by June
By NYEIN NYEIN / THE IRRAWADDY| November 7, 2012 |
The forced relocation of more than 30,000 villagers by southern Burmas Dawei deep-sea port project will take place before June next year, says Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Support Team Chairman Tin Maung Swe.
A total of 16 villages in Yaybyu and Longlon townships in Dawei Province of Tanintharyi Division will be moved to three new locations, he told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Tin Maung Swe explained that two new villages are under construction and some will start moving before the next academic year, which begins in June.
The new residential zones are being built in accordance with the development of a town plan and the villagers will be moved after electricity, water supplies and telecommunication are in place, he said.
We will complete a total of 500 new homes in Bawar Village, which is the new place where five villages from the Nabulae area of Yaybyu Township will first be relocated this month, said Tin Maung Swe. So far we have completed building 343 houses.
Another 10 villages in Yaybyu Township will be moved near the Industrial Zone in Pugawzun Village and the remaining settlement of Nyungpinseik, in Longlon Township, will be moved to nearby Bantaninn Village.
The Dawei project started in 2010 with the first stepsroad construction, site preparation, an industrial zone for small and medium enterprises, a 33 megawatt gas-fueled power plant and new towns for displaced localsset to be completed before 2014, despite concerns of some foreign investors regarding the slow pace of progress.
Site preparation has just begun for the Ministry of Industrys palm plantation area in Pagawzun Village where the light industrial zone will be based, said Tin Maung Swe. He added that local residents will be helped to reestablish their livelihoods near their new homes and will be provided with agricultural materials for small plantations as well as new houses.
But Dawei residents told The Irrawaddy that they worry about losing their jobs as farmers. Local people currently grow rubber, cashew and palm and their plantations will be destroyed by the project.
We have already lost some plantations due to road construction, said a monk at Thabyayzun Village. Some people also have not accepted compensation as it is too low.
But Tin Maung Swe disagrees. Some people just did not accept the standard compensation as they want more, he said, adding that their money is waiting in the bank and will be paid as soon as villagers agree to standard terms.
Meanwhile, Burmese Vice-President Nyun Htun discussed the establishment of the Burma-Thailand Joint Committee for the Comprehensive Development in the Dawei SEZ and its related projects during a bilateral meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday.
The committee will oversee the entire project, which is led by Italian-Thai Development Company. Earlier reports that President Thein Sein would attend the meeting proved to be inaccurate. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18278
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Govt Accused of Ongoing Abuses at Shwe Pipeline
By CHARLIE CAMPBELL / THE IRRAWADDY| November 7, 2012 |
A catalogue of ongoing human rights abuses have been documented along the path of the Chinese-backed Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline which transects Burma, according to a new report.
Pipeline Nightmare, released by The Taang Students and Youth Organization (TSYO) on Wednesday morning, illustrates how the project has resulted in the confiscation of land, forced labor and an increased military presence affecting thousands of people.
Moreover, the report documents human rights violations in six target cities and 51 villages committed by the Burma Army, police and militias taking responsibility for security during construction.
Even though the international community believes that the government has implemented political reforms, it doesnt mean those reforms have reached ethnic areas, especially not where there is increased militarization along the Shwe Pipeline, increased fighting between the Burmese Army and ethnic armed groups, and negative consequences for the people living in these areas, said Mai Amm Ngeal, a member of TSYO.
Once completed, the project will transport oil and gas across from the Bay of Bengal in western Burmas Arakan (Rakhine) State to Chinas southwestern Yunnan Province across the border from Shan State. Sources close to the project suggest it could be completed as early as next May.
The government has deployed additional soldiers and extended 26 military camps in order to increase pressure on ethnic armed groups and provide security for the pipeline project and its Chinese workers, claims the report.
Last month, an alliance of 12 civil society groups in Burma called for the suspension of the Shwe Gas pipelines until the project had been properly assessed and existing problems solved.
Tin Thit, a spokesman for the Myanmar-China Pipeline Watch Committee, told The Irrawaddy that there needs to be a solution to the environmental and social problems. Therefore, we urge the authorities to suspend the project until these issues are solved.
Double the amount of land has been used to accommodate the pipelines than the contractors promised the landowners who, in turn, have received less compensation than they should expect.
The Shwe Gas project is a joint venture between China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the former junta-linked Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE). The oil and gas pipelines pass through 21 townships as they span 800 km (500 miles) across the country.
Local sources report daily fighting along the pipeline route between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Shan State ArmyNorth and Taang National Liberation Army in Namtu, Mantong and Namkham, where there are more than 1,000 Taang (Palaung) refugees.
Wong Aung, the coordinator at the Shwe Gas Movement, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the TSYO report is consistent with earlier research conducted by his group regarding clashes between the Burmese military and ethnic people.
Especially with the KIA, the ongoing conflict is driving people from the construction, he said. The TSYO report is important as there has been a lot of positive developments inside the country and interest from foreign investment yet the ongoing crisis with the pipeline is directly related to foreign investment. There are clashes as they lack a proper investment mechanisms and legal framework.
Although CNPC and MOGE have signed agreements for the Shwe Pipeline, TSYO claims neither company has conducted any Environmental Impact Assessments or Social Impact Assessments while the Burmese central government is set to earn an estimated US $29 billion from the project over the next three decades.
The government and companies involved must be held accountable for the project and its effects on the local people, such as increasing military presence and Chinese workers along the pipeline, both of which cause insecurity for the local communities and especially women. The project has no benefit for the public, so it must be postponed, said Lway Phoo Reang, Joint Secretary (1) of TSYO.
The TSYO report urges President Thein Seins administration to postpone the Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline project, withdraw the military from Shan State, reach a ceasefire with all local ethnic armed groups and address the root causes of the armed conflict by engaging in political dialogue. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18259
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November 6, 2012 2:10 pm
Group breaks away from Suu Kyi party
By Gwen Robinson in Yangon
Turmoil within the party of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has prompted a breakaway group from her National League for Democracy to establish its own political organisation, amid growing criticism of the partys leadership and threats of further resignations.
About 130 NLD members in the Ayeyarwady region of western Myanmar resigned from the party and last week established a group called Democracy Network to focus on helping the local community although some members hope the group will eventually become a political party.
The walkout was triggered by disputes over the selection process for local delegates to the NLDs first national convention, which will be held in December or January.
In a rare public outburst, three of the NLDs longest-serving members in Pathein, an Ayeyarwady township, accused the partys central executive committee of undemocratic practices.
At a recent press conference, they said long-time members had been pushed aside by the central headquarters in the delegate selection process. In response, the NLDs executive committee dismissed the three members and the partys local headquarters was closed.
A national NLD spokesman denied the party was being undemocratic and told local media that delegate positions were being assigned to the people who are the most capable.
But the partys harsh response to dissent has prompted political analysts and diplomats to question the NLDs tactics, given the partys own history of persecution under previous military regimes, including the 15-year house arrest of Ms Suu Kyi, the partys founding leader.
Its ironic that even as reformers leading this government are soliciting dissenting views and reaching out across the political divide, the NLD is behaving in this way; even more ironic that the NLD was the one to complain the loudest about lack of political freedoms, said an academic who is working in Myanmar.
In disputes that have engulfed at least 10 NLD branches around the country including in Thone Kwa district of Yangon members have accused NLD membership of high-handed tactics and alleged favouritism in the selection process.
However, such internal arguments have crystallised growing tensions between the NLDs leadership and its vast network of local branches, say local analysts and diplomats. Party members are increasingly complaining about the NLDs strict, hierarchical structure and the autocratic approach of its central committee, they noted.
In all cases, however, dissenters have avoided directly criticising Ms Suu Kyi, who distanced herself from daily party leadership when she entered parliament in April.
Members have also complained privately that Ms Suu Kyi is focusing on her parliamentary role and international travels while neglecting her grassroots support base.
The NLD hopes to double its current membership of 400,000 by the 2015 national election, in which the party hopes to contest all available parliamentary seats. The convention is being planned to discuss strategies for that contest.
One-quarter of the 664 seats in the bicameral legislature are reserved for the military, leaving 498 seats dominated by the ruling Union Solidarity and Development party up for grabs in 2015.
While analysts still believe the NLD, which holds 43 seats, will sweep the 2015 polls, they warn that growing internal dissent could imperil the partys machine.
Some consider that the problem in the party is a battle for power between old and new party members and activists, but it is also indicative of the [NLD] headquarters weaknesses, U Ko Ko Aung, a long-time NLD member, recently told the Myanmar Times, the English-language weekly.
Ms Suu Kyi has said only that it would take time to solve conflict between dedicated members and self-interested people in the party. However, Mr Ko Ko Aung and others have urged her to intervene. All that is needed is for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to say that the process should be democratic . . . [because] its probably right to say about 90 per cent of people join the NLD because they love [her], he said. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/29297a4c-2812-11e2-ac7f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2BXjeRZxq
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Burma to host Green Economy forum
Wednesday, 07 November 2012 16:02 Mizzima News
Burma will host its second forum on green economy and sustainable growth from November 13 to 15 in Naypyidaw where some 80 environmental experts from foreign countries and about 20 domestic experts are expected to attend.
The conference will be followed by a roundtable seminar in Rangoon on November 16.
According to a report by Xinhua, delegates will discuss 18 different topics including low carbon development, energy, water, food security, forests, and responsible tourism.
The first Green Economy and Green Growth Forum (GEGG) was held in Naypyidaw in November last year, organized by former UN Assistant Secretary-General Dr. Nay Tun in cooperation with governmental agencies and NGOs.
In June last year, Burmese Vice-president Dr. Sai Mauk Kham addressed the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he said that President Thein Seins government is committed to seeking economic development in parallel with the environmental conservation, and has called on all its citizens and social organizations to actively take part in this task.
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
News & Articles on Burma
06 November 2012
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Locals to dictate agenda of upcoming Shan conference
By NANG MYA NADI, Published: 6 November 2012
Senior government officials are set to join talks with Shan political parties and civil society groups during an upcoming conference that will address pressing issues as defined by local residents.
Before the conference, fact-finding teams will survey residents in Shan and Kachin states and Sagaing and Mandalay divisions to find out what issues should be discussed at the conference. The conference is being organised by the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and is expected to take place at the end of this month.
We wanted to hear the peoples voice, see how they view our parties and what they want to see, and their opinion on the armed groups and the peace process they engage in, said SNLD spokesperson Sai Lek.
We are also looking to conduct a public survey concerning the governments peace process as well well be sending at least four [survey] teams out.
SNLD spokesperson Sai Lek and members from the conferences organising committee said the event will host at least 12 groups including Shan ethnic-based political parties and civil society organisations.
The conferences creation after President Thein Sein asked the SNLDs chairman Khun Htun Oo to help support the countrys peace process.
Vice President Sai Mauk Kham, who is an ethnic Shan, and the Presidents Office ministers Aung Min and Soe Thein will also attend the conference.
According to Sai Lek, trust between the government and ethnic nationalities is needed before dialogues addressing the countrys political problems can begin.
http://www.dvb.no/news/locals-to-dictate-agenda-of-upcoming-shan-conference/24629
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Myanmar welcomes accountants
November 6, 2012 10:23 am by Gwen Robinson
Myanmar may finally have completed its shiny new foreign investment law, after much delay. But sceptics still question whether the much-vaunted rush of foreign investment will follow.
Despite pronouncements by companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestle and GE about entering Myanmar, most deals are limited to product supply and distribution. The big western names are yet to commit serious money, let alone build factories. But at least the professional services firms are setting up shop the latest being PwC, which this week announced the opening of a Myanmar office.
The news came hard on the heels of an announcement by rival firm KPMG, which last week announced the launch of its Myanmar operation.
Both firms were among the many financial services companies, auditors and consultants which pulled out of Myanmar after the US imposed sanctions in 2003.
Their return suggests that Myanmar is seeing the rush before the rush, the advance of professional services firms which could pave the way to a future expansion from the big industrial investors.
The Big Four accountancy firms pride themselves on knowing what their clients want and positioning themselves to meet their demands. Their re-entry is a good indicator that big western companies are poised to set up in Myanmar.
Already, demand is oustripping supply, Ong Chao Choon, managing director of PwC Myanmar for assurance and advisory services, told beyondbrics. The market is big and needs international professional services.
Initially, PwCs fledgling Myanmar operation run out of one of the few new buildings in Yangon, the towering CentrePoint Tower will focus on professional services related to three main areas: infrastructure, banking and financial services, and M&A.
For local companies in Myanmar to build up capital and knowhow, it makes sense to partner with a foreign partner. For foreign investors, they would be interested in joint ventures with local companies, a PwC spokesman said.
Choon has a ready answer for doubters who query whether such moves are premature before Myanmar has proper regulatory frameworks in place to back up its foreign investment laws.
Its actually when regulation is still in infancy that an international firm like us can make the most contribution to the country and our clients.
Just to back up its view, PwC has drawn up a handy Myanmar business guide which attempts to explain the countrys investment and regulatory environment ahead of new laws and regulations.
Big business groups have welcomed the move.
Its all still evolving in Myanmar, and the entry of firms like KPMG and PwC is an important step particularly for big western companies that need help in starting up in the country and navigating aspects such as new US disclosure and licensing regulations, said Praab Pianskool, who oversees Thailand, Myanmar and neighbouring countries at the US-Asean Business Council in Bangkok.
The next Big Four firm to enter could be Deloitte, which joined the councils first Myanmar business mission in July and has since been scouting for staff and locations in Yangon. http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/11/06/myanmar-welcomes-accountants/#axzz2BRbNNAQj
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88 Gen Activist Hopes Burma Can Mimic Thailand
By LAWI WENG / THE IRRAWADDY| November 6, 2012 |
Mya Aye, a leader of 88 Generation Students group, landed in Thailand on Saturday for his first trip to a foreign country since being released from prison earlier this year.
Mya Aye, who was incarcerated for a total of 12 years in two spells after the 1988 and 2007 democracy uprisings, plans to meet Burmese civil society organizations and ethnic armed groups to discuss how to cement a permanent peace in the country.
The 50-year-old told The Irrawaddy during an interview at his hotel in Chiang Mai how different he found northern Thailand and that he hoped Burma would one day emulate the prosperity of its eastern neighbor.
Mya Aye accompanied fellow members of the 88 Generation Students to meet Burmese students who were studying in Bangkok and remarked that he was impressed by the intelligence of the questions asked during their discussion.
The students asked good questions and they are smart, said the recently published novelist. We need educated students to run our country. I do not know how to run the country so we need educated students.
Mya Aye met members of the Womens League of Burma on Monday and was pleasantly surprised that they had sharp political views and were equally confident as their male counterparts at expressing themselves.
There are women of a similar age in Burma who do not have the confidence of women in Thailand, he said. There is better education and a more open society here than in Burma, so this may be one reason.
The delegation drove up from Bangkok to Chiang Mai during the night and Mya Aye found that the people did not use their high beam headlights and had more respect for one another on the road compared to his homeland.
If you only stay proud of what you know in Burma then you do not learn about other countries, and so you will remain behind the rest of the world, he said.
During our one-hour interview, Mya Aye smoked two cigarettes and confessed that he did not dare to smoke outside his room as people in Thailand only used designated smoking zones where they would not offend other people.
He added that smokers could light up anywhere in Burma as people did not understand that cigarettes caused health problems for others.
Mya Aye said that the Burmese military constantly lied to the people, including in textbooks and the curriculum of school lessons, and even his studies at university did not match what he was currently finding in Thailand.
He added that Thailand has good infrastructure and that he hoped Burma would soon develop in a similar vein.
In Burma, some people eat meat and just abandon the bones in the street where pedestrians walk. It is very careless and not clean. Thailand is clean and even has good services, he said.
Although Burma has undergone a series of political reforms under President Thein Seins quasi-civilian administration, Mya Aye said that he still does not completely trust that the current democratization process is genuine.
The Napyidaw government recently issued passports to leaders of the 88 Generation Students group, but there are many other former political prisoners who have not yet received travel documents despite submitting applications.
All citizens have the right to own passports and travel to other countries, said Mya Aye. We should not say that there is political change just because we received a passport.
He also emphasized the need to amend undemocratic articles in the 2008 Constitution if Burma was to finally achieve peace and prosperity, as otherwise ethnic people will continue to fight for greater autonomy.
The Burmese government knows what to change in order to have peace, but they do not want to do it, said Mya Aye. The government just does a little to look good to the international community.
The visiting delegation of 88 Generation Students will hear the concerns of Burmese civil society and ethnic organizations along the border and then later present these to a wider meeting of group members back in Rangoon.
It is good to cooperate in order to work for peace, said Mya Aye. To have peace, we need to hear different voices and ideas from each other. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18144
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Burma activists denounce Gillard talks
From: AAP
November 06, 2012 2:30PM
ACTIVISTS have denounced Prime Minister Julia Gillard for suggesting Australia may resume defence ties with Burma.
Ms Gillard on Monday met with Thein Sein, the president of Burma - also known as Myanmar - on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Laos.
It was the first such meeting between Australian and Burmese leaders since 1984.
Shortly before the meeting, Ms Gillard revealed her government was considering resuming defence ties - cut off in 1988 - as Burma continues its democratic reforms after decades of iron-fisted military rule.
"We have still got some decisions to make on defence co-operation," she said.
Burma Campaign Australia co-ordinator Zetty Brake said the comments were inappropriate given the military's ongoing violations of human rights.
"It is appalling that Australia would consider having any defence ties with a country whose military continues to commit human rights abuses against its own people," Ms Brake said.
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Australian Greens senator Scott Ludlam said resuming military ties could weaken Burma's reform movement.
"If this is about assisting the regime with security-sector reform and improving operating procedures that have shocked the world in past decades, then there may be some value in closer ties," he said.
"However, political reforms in Burma remain fragile and reversible."
Australia this year lifted travel and financial sanctions against Burma, but an arms embargo remains in place.
It also moved to normalise trade and investment relations with the South-East Asian nation.
The changes come after Burma's military junta began relaxing its grip on power, holding elections that led to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi take a seat in parliament. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/burma-activists-denounce-gillard-talks/story-fn3dxiwe-1226511512515
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EDITORIAL The two ills of Myanmar
Published: 6/11/2012 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Myanmar is showing the face of reform to the world. But our western neighbour is also displaying what a long, tough road still lies ahead. President Thein Sein and the elected parliament are rightly celebrating a new foreign investment law. At the same time, the country is at the centre of controversies over its failure to deal with drug trafficking, and is being rightly condemned around the world for its treatment of Rohingya people.
Myanmar will soon celebrate the second anniversary of the release of democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi. There will be little celebrating in the north or the west of the country, however. In those areas, life is tougher than ever, despite the efforts of the president and parliament. In Rakhine state in the west, and in the northern areas where Shan and Kachin people live, "reform" is just another word, and life remains cheap.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported last week that confident drug gangs have once again increased the size of the country's opium fields. Myanmar is already the world's second-largest producer of poppies and heroin. The gangs and cartels that make 60-plus tonnes of heroin stepped up opium production this year from 43,600 hectares to 51,000 hectares _ 319,000 rai. By comparison, Thai villages produced opium this year on 1,300 rai, with virtually no heroin production.
This does not count the ever-growing output of the methamphetamine ya ba and crystal meth ya ice factories. The drug production is a legacy of the long and close, profitable cooperation between drug gangs and the military dictators of Myanmar. Like Thai farmers of 40 years ago, Myanmar farmers are isolated from markets, and must produce opium for the gangs or perish. President Thein Sein must get more help to the opium fields, to help the farmers and his people.
The treatment of the Muslim minority in Rakhine state is an international disgrace. Thein Sein and his parliament actually seem not to be especially upset about serial, communal riots which have killed hundreds and uprooted tens of thousands. In their view, the Rohingya are interlopers, non-citizens and the root cause of the problem.
Such heartless and wrong-headed thinking is difficult to comprehend. The idea that the Rohingya, born in Myanmar, are somehow inferior human beings is _ as the UN and others state _ not just heartless but legally wrong. The prevailing view in official Myanmar circles appears to be that the Muslim minority is somehow getting what it deserves by being burnt and slaughtered out of its villages.
This attitude appears to pervade the parliament as well as Myanmar society. As Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan pointed out, the Rohingya could become radicalised. The Rohingya compare in some ways to the Muslims of the Thai deep South. But the differences are stark. The people of the deep South are full Thai citizens, with all the rights of citizenship.
Drugs and human rights are perhaps the two biggest problems that Myanmar faces. The world community and Myanmar citizens understand that some reform questions like foreign investment must be taken a step at a time. But encouraging drug traffickers and murderous human rights abuses must be dealt with quickly. http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/319703/the-two-ills-of-myanmar
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Bangkok Post
Four get death penalty for Chinese sailor deaths
Published: 6/11/2012 at 03:48 PM
Online news: Asia
Four members of a gang accused of masterminding the murder of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year were sentenced to death by a court in southwest China on Tuesday.
A Chinese vessel sails down the brown waters of the Mekong River (or Lancang River in China) that separate China (L) from Myanmar. Four members of a gang accused of masterminding the murder of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year were sentenced to death at a court in southwest China on Tuesday.
The sailors were killed in October 2011 in a raid on two Chinese cargo boats on the Mekong, an attack thought to have been carried out by a notorious gang in the "Golden Triangle", an area known for drug production and smuggling.
The reading of the verdicts was shown live on state television.
The trial finished in September after the gang of six men pleaded guilty to intentional homicide, drug trafficking, kidnapping and hijacking, state news agency Xinhua said in September.
Another defendant received a suspended death sentence, while a sixth man was handed eight years in prison at the sentencing at Kunming Intermediate People's Court.
The gang, based in Myanmar's northern Shan state, was led by Myanmar national Naw Kham, who was one of the men sentenced to death.
At least one of the remaining five gang members is Thai, but the nationalities of the other four is unclear.
The "Golden Triangle" is where the Mekong River runs through China, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.
Last year's incident sparked an angry reaction from China, which summoned diplomatic envoys from Thailand, Laos and Myanmar and asked authorities to speed up investigations into the incident. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/319827/four-handed-death-penalty-for-chinese-sailor-deaths
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Egypt calls Myanmar envoy
By: AFP | November 06, 2012
CAIRO - Egypt summoned Myanmars ambassador in Cairo to express its concern with violence against the southeast Asian countrys Muslim minority and call for a stop to it, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The foreign ministry yesterday summoned the ambassador of Myanmar and conveyed an urgent message expressing Egypts dismay after renewed violence against Rohingya Muslims, it said.
It called on Myanmar to take steps to immediately end the violence and bring its perpetrators to justice. Egypt summoned the ambassador in August to protest against ethnic clashes between the majority Buddhists and Muslims that began in June.
The Rohingya Muslims are considered by many Burmese as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The United Nations considers them one of the worlds most persecuted minorities. The clashes in June, followed by fresh fighting in October, have killed 180 people and displaced an estimated 110,000.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/international/06-Nov-2012/egypt-calls-myanmar-envoy
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Charity Says Threats Foil Medical Aid in Myanmar
By THOMAS FULLER, Published: November 5, 2012
BANGKOK Radical Buddhist groups are preventing doctors from delivering assistance to areas of western Myanmar affected by intense sectarian violence, an international medical charity said Monday.
The group, Doctors Without Borders, reported that many of its local staff members were afraid to work at refugee camps and medical centers in Rakhine State, where people wounded in clashes need treatment for wounds from guns, knives, arrows and other weapons.
Ive never experienced this degree of intolerance, Joe Belliveau, the operations manager for Doctors Without Borders, said by telephone. What we really need is for people to understand that giving medical aid is not a political act.
The violence dates to June, when long-simmering resentment toward Muslims, some of whom come from Bangladesh, erupted after Muslims were accused of the rape and murder of a Buddhist girl. More than 70,000 Muslims fled their homes; most remain in the refugee camps. Another spasm of violence late last month left 89 people dead and displaced an additional 35,000, according to the United Nations.
The initial fury was focused on the Rohingya, a Muslim minority widely reviled in Myanmar and a large segment of the population in Rakhine, an impoverished state bordering Bangladesh. But now members of at least one other group, Kaman Muslims, have been forced from their homes, raising concerns that the violence could spread to other parts of Myanmar, where Muslims make up about 4 percent of the population.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has reported the widespread deployment of Myanmar security forces in Rakhine State, but also widespread fear there. Our staff spoke to displaced people who shared their fears of being attacked again if the troops leave, a spokesman for the office, Adrian Edwards, said in a press briefing on Friday.
Aid workers have reported severe malnutrition among children and widespread malaria. Theres a huge group of people who have not been displaced but are cut off from health care, Mr. Belliveau said.
But he said that posters and pamphlets threatening aid workers who treat Muslims were being distributed in Sittwe, the largest city in Rakhine, and that staffing in the area had been reduced to a few dozen people, from around 300 before the June violence. Our own staff are simply scared and unwilling to work after receiving direct threats, Mr. Belliveau said.
The difficulties facing international agencies in Rakhine underline the instability of the area and the potential for further violence despite the security forces. Many of Myanmars ethnic groups are restive, presenting challenges for President Thein Sein as he leads the country out of decades of military dictatorship that justified its repressive grip in part by citing ethnic insurgencies. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/world/asia/aid-for-refugees-in-myanmar-threatened-by-violence.html?_r=0
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Australia, Britain prod Myanmar on sectarian unrest
Posted: 06 November 2012 1706 hrs
VIENTIANE: Australia and Britain pressed Myanmar on the plight of ethnic minorities and called for an end to deadly sectarian unrest in western Rakhine state, officials said on Tuesday.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and British Foreign Secretary William Hague raised the issue separately in meetings with Myanmar President Thein Sein on the sidelines of a major Asia-Europe summit in Laos.
"At a time of so much progress on human rights we would also look for progress on the treatment of ethnic minorities," Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters in Vientiane afterwards.
It was the first meeting between leaders of Australia and Myanmar in nearly three decades.
Myanmar has signed a series of ceasefire deals with armed ethnic minority rebels but the efforts have been overshadowed by deadly clashes between ethnic Rakhines and Rohingyas in the western Rakhine state.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he voiced "concern" at the violence in Rakhine in his talks with Thein Sein.
"The UK is urging all political parties in Burma to do what they can to end the violence and address the issue of Rohingya citizenship," Hague said in a statement afterwards.
At the same time he congratulated Thein Sein on his "vital political and economic reforms", and said he hoped the former general would be able to visit Britain early next year.
Myanmar's 800,000 Rohingya are seen by the government and many in the country as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. They are described by the UN as among the world's most persecuted minorities.
- AFP/jc http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1235577/1/.html
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Bangkok Post
PM readies ministers for Thein Sein visit
Published: 5/11/2012 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will tomorrow meet ministers and officials working on the Dawei deep-sea port project in preparation for a Thai-Myanmar meeting on the joint development this week.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra leads European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso on an inspection of the Guards of Honour at Government House yesterday. APICHIT JINAKUL
Myanmar President Thein Sein is scheduled to visit Thailand on Wednesday, when the Thai government will kick off a two-day bilateral meeting on the joint development, worth US$50 billion (1.54 trillion baht).
Deputy government spokesman Chalitrat Chandrubeksa said Ms Yingluck will tomorrow prepare ministers and officials from transport, industry, energy and foreign ministries for the meeting, which is expected to cover three major issues.
Those issues are the development of the deep-sea port in southern Myanmar, the construction of a 132km road linking the sea port to the Thai-Myanmar border, and the development of a 33-megawatt power plant and transmission cables in the Dawei special economic area.
Ms Yingluck and Thein Sein will finalise the meeting outcome at the Asean Summit in Cambodia on Nov 17-20, when the two are expected to officially announce a joint partnership to support the Dawei deep-sea port project.
Thein Sein on Saturday met European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, who offered development aid to Myanmar.
Mr Barroso then visited Thailand and met Ms Yingluck yesterday.
They discussed various issues ranging from the decades-long diplomatic ties between Thailand and the European Union, to the new economic prospects in Southeast Asia when the Asean Economic Community is formed in 2015.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ms Yingluck said she told Mr Barroso that Thailand is ready to be a gateway to the Asean single market so that investors from the EU can base their production here.
Ms Yingluck and Mr Barroso also agreed to seek closer cooperation on measures to tackle human trafficking, transnational crimes and money laundering.
The two are scheduled to meet again at the 9th Summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting held in Vientiane, Laos today and tomorrow. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/319555/pm-readies-ministers-for-thein-sein-visit
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Bangok Post
Thaksin shortens Myanmar trip
Published: 5/11/2012 at 03:43 PM
Online news: Local News
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has cancelled his coming trip to Tachilek on Friday and Saturday, but will still meet Myanmar President Thein Sein on Thursday when he visits Nay Pyi Taw, Thaksin's close associates said on Monday.
According to his close associates, including key members of the Pheu Thai Party and the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), the fugitive former premier will not travel to the border town of Tachilek, opposite Mae Sai, due to safety concerns.
Jatuporn Prompan, a red-shirt core member, said he had not been informed about the cancellation of Thaksin's visit to Tachilek but said security there might not be 100%.
"Thaksin will likely meet President Thein Sein because it is an official visit and the Myanmar government will be able to ensure his safety," Mr Jatuporn said.
Previously, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung and his son Panthongthae "Oak" Shinawatra said there was a plot to assassinate him.
Mr Chalerm said a Myanmar man who was arrested on Sunday in Tak province by Thai authorities for transporting heavy firearms from the Thai border confessed that there was a plot to kill Thaksin during merit-making in Tachilek on Saturday.
"The suspect has revealed the name of the mastermind behind the assassination attempt but I won't say whether the person is an army general as reports speculated.
"I'm pretty sure that the person gave the assassination order from Thailand and had already paid some money for it to happen," said the deputy premier in charge of national security.
He said the mastermind was not involved with "plans to topple the government" but the person had a plan to directly harm Thaksin.
Although the Karen suspect later recanted his testimony, Thai police had been working closely with Myanmar police on security issues, Mr Chalerm added.
Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra (L) and his son Panthongtae Shinawatra (Photo by Apichit Jinakul)
Mr Panthongthae posted on his Facebook page that he was worried about his father's safety.
Thaksin's only son said that during his father's time as prime minister he was responsible for the arrest of many drug dealers, which put him on bad terms with local crime lords and gangs.
Tachilek was categorised by the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB ) as a red zone swarming with minority groups linked with drug dealers and wanted men who had fled Thailand.
"My father is a man who is not scared of death," he said. "I would like to say that even though you [father] are not scared, your three children are deeply concern about your safety."
Mr Panthongthae said that despite his personal feelings, Thaksin showed signs of hesitation when he mentioned the possibility of participants at the meetings being injured.
However, his father's decision to visit Myanmar was based on the consideration he has for people organising the event and the individuals who had already made plans to visit him.
Democrat Party list MP Ong-Art Klampaiboon said Mr Panthongtae needed to be more careful when posting such messages about a rumoured assassination plot against his father. It was quite normal for Thai authorities to search for, and seize, weapons along the border.
Previously, Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva called on the national police chief, Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew, to seek the extradition of Thaksin if he was certain that the fugitive politician would visit Myanmar.
"This is a case to prove whether the police chief as well as the prime minister [Yingluck Shinawatra] are performing their duties and I hope there won't be any conflicts of interest," Mr Abhisit said.
Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit, leader of the anti-government Pitak Siam group, said Mr Panthongtae was likely trying to get people to feel for Thaksin by saying that the confiscated weapons and ammunition in Tak would have been used to kill his father.
"How can Thai people transport the weapons because security along the Myanmar border is very tight," said Gen Boonlert, alias Seh Ai. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/319658/thaksin-shortens-myanmar-trip
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Child rights organization gives 20,000 children birth certificates
November 5 | Author: Nan Thoo Lei (KIC)
The Committee for the Protection and Promotion of Child Rights (Burma) said at a ceremony to acknowledge the organizations 10-years working on the Thai Burma border that they had organized 20,000 birth certificates for children from Burma.
Ma Aye Thandar Aung from the statistics department of CPPCR spoke to Karen News.
Weve provided birth certificates to 21,700 children in 10 years. Those children are now eligible to study in Thai schools or migrant schools in the Mae Sot area.
Children who were born at Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot Hospital, medical clinics in the Mae Sot district were entitled to receive birth certificates.
CPPCRs 10 year anniversary ceremony was held at the Quee Place Hotel in Mae Sot on November 2 and was attended by more than 100 people.
Dr Cynthia Maung speaking at the ceremony said.
CPPCR is promoting the education of child rights, recording data on child protection issues and ensuring childrens births are recorded.
Dr Cynthia Maung said all the birth records CPPCR has collected from children born of Burmese parents are used to inform the relevant Thai and Burma authorities, lawyers to ensure these children are eligible for Burmese citizenship at some point in the future.
U Myint Thein, the joint secretary of the Burma Lawyer Council said birth certificates are critically important for migrant children living in Thailand.
People from Burma had to leave the county because of civil war. Many children did not have a chance to have a proper education and many have been denied their basic human rights. These children are at risk of losing their identity if they do not have birth certificates.
CPPCR was founded in 2002 in Mae Sot to provide protection to children, giving access to their rights, healthcare and education. http://karennews.org/2012/11/child-rights-organization-gives-20000-children-birth-certificates.html/
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Locals to dictate agenda of upcoming Shan conference
By NANG MYA NADI, Published: 6 November 2012
Senior government officials are set to join talks with Shan political parties and civil society groups during an upcoming conference that will address pressing issues as defined by local residents.
Before the conference, fact-finding teams will survey residents in Shan and Kachin states and Sagaing and Mandalay divisions to find out what issues should be discussed at the conference. The conference is being organised by the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and is expected to take place at the end of this month.
We wanted to hear the peoples voice, see how they view our parties and what they want to see, and their opinion on the armed groups and the peace process they engage in, said SNLD spokesperson Sai Lek.
We are also looking to conduct a public survey concerning the governments peace process as well well be sending at least four [survey] teams out.
SNLD spokesperson Sai Lek and members from the conferences organising committee said the event will host at least 12 groups including Shan ethnic-based political parties and civil society organisations.
The conferences creation after President Thein Sein asked the SNLDs chairman Khun Htun Oo to help support the countrys peace process.
Vice President Sai Mauk Kham, who is an ethnic Shan, and the Presidents Office ministers Aung Min and Soe Thein will also attend the conference.
According to Sai Lek, trust between the government and ethnic nationalities is needed before dialogues addressing the countrys political problems can begin.
http://www.dvb.no/news/locals-to-dictate-agenda-of-upcoming-shan-conference/24629
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Myanmar welcomes accountants
November 6, 2012 10:23 am by Gwen Robinson
Myanmar may finally have completed its shiny new foreign investment law, after much delay. But sceptics still question whether the much-vaunted rush of foreign investment will follow.
Despite pronouncements by companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestle and GE about entering Myanmar, most deals are limited to product supply and distribution. The big western names are yet to commit serious money, let alone build factories. But at least the professional services firms are setting up shop the latest being PwC, which this week announced the opening of a Myanmar office.
The news came hard on the heels of an announcement by rival firm KPMG, which last week announced the launch of its Myanmar operation.
Both firms were among the many financial services companies, auditors and consultants which pulled out of Myanmar after the US imposed sanctions in 2003.
Their return suggests that Myanmar is seeing the rush before the rush, the advance of professional services firms which could pave the way to a future expansion from the big industrial investors.
The Big Four accountancy firms pride themselves on knowing what their clients want and positioning themselves to meet their demands. Their re-entry is a good indicator that big western companies are poised to set up in Myanmar.
Already, demand is oustripping supply, Ong Chao Choon, managing director of PwC Myanmar for assurance and advisory services, told beyondbrics. The market is big and needs international professional services.
Initially, PwCs fledgling Myanmar operation run out of one of the few new buildings in Yangon, the towering CentrePoint Tower will focus on professional services related to three main areas: infrastructure, banking and financial services, and M&A.
For local companies in Myanmar to build up capital and knowhow, it makes sense to partner with a foreign partner. For foreign investors, they would be interested in joint ventures with local companies, a PwC spokesman said.
Choon has a ready answer for doubters who query whether such moves are premature before Myanmar has proper regulatory frameworks in place to back up its foreign investment laws.
Its actually when regulation is still in infancy that an international firm like us can make the most contribution to the country and our clients.
Just to back up its view, PwC has drawn up a handy Myanmar business guide which attempts to explain the countrys investment and regulatory environment ahead of new laws and regulations.
Big business groups have welcomed the move.
Its all still evolving in Myanmar, and the entry of firms like KPMG and PwC is an important step particularly for big western companies that need help in starting up in the country and navigating aspects such as new US disclosure and licensing regulations, said Praab Pianskool, who oversees Thailand, Myanmar and neighbouring countries at the US-Asean Business Council in Bangkok.
The next Big Four firm to enter could be Deloitte, which joined the councils first Myanmar business mission in July and has since been scouting for staff and locations in Yangon. http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/11/06/myanmar-welcomes-accountants/#axzz2BRbNNAQj
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88 Gen Activist Hopes Burma Can Mimic Thailand
By LAWI WENG / THE IRRAWADDY| November 6, 2012 |
Mya Aye, a leader of 88 Generation Students group, landed in Thailand on Saturday for his first trip to a foreign country since being released from prison earlier this year.
Mya Aye, who was incarcerated for a total of 12 years in two spells after the 1988 and 2007 democracy uprisings, plans to meet Burmese civil society organizations and ethnic armed groups to discuss how to cement a permanent peace in the country.
The 50-year-old told The Irrawaddy during an interview at his hotel in Chiang Mai how different he found northern Thailand and that he hoped Burma would one day emulate the prosperity of its eastern neighbor.
Mya Aye accompanied fellow members of the 88 Generation Students to meet Burmese students who were studying in Bangkok and remarked that he was impressed by the intelligence of the questions asked during their discussion.
The students asked good questions and they are smart, said the recently published novelist. We need educated students to run our country. I do not know how to run the country so we need educated students.
Mya Aye met members of the Womens League of Burma on Monday and was pleasantly surprised that they had sharp political views and were equally confident as their male counterparts at expressing themselves.
There are women of a similar age in Burma who do not have the confidence of women in Thailand, he said. There is better education and a more open society here than in Burma, so this may be one reason.
The delegation drove up from Bangkok to Chiang Mai during the night and Mya Aye found that the people did not use their high beam headlights and had more respect for one another on the road compared to his homeland.
If you only stay proud of what you know in Burma then you do not learn about other countries, and so you will remain behind the rest of the world, he said.
During our one-hour interview, Mya Aye smoked two cigarettes and confessed that he did not dare to smoke outside his room as people in Thailand only used designated smoking zones where they would not offend other people.
He added that smokers could light up anywhere in Burma as people did not understand that cigarettes caused health problems for others.
Mya Aye said that the Burmese military constantly lied to the people, including in textbooks and the curriculum of school lessons, and even his studies at university did not match what he was currently finding in Thailand.
He added that Thailand has good infrastructure and that he hoped Burma would soon develop in a similar vein.
In Burma, some people eat meat and just abandon the bones in the street where pedestrians walk. It is very careless and not clean. Thailand is clean and even has good services, he said.
Although Burma has undergone a series of political reforms under President Thein Seins quasi-civilian administration, Mya Aye said that he still does not completely trust that the current democratization process is genuine.
The Napyidaw government recently issued passports to leaders of the 88 Generation Students group, but there are many other former political prisoners who have not yet received travel documents despite submitting applications.
All citizens have the right to own passports and travel to other countries, said Mya Aye. We should not say that there is political change just because we received a passport.
He also emphasized the need to amend undemocratic articles in the 2008 Constitution if Burma was to finally achieve peace and prosperity, as otherwise ethnic people will continue to fight for greater autonomy.
The Burmese government knows what to change in order to have peace, but they do not want to do it, said Mya Aye. The government just does a little to look good to the international community.
The visiting delegation of 88 Generation Students will hear the concerns of Burmese civil society and ethnic organizations along the border and then later present these to a wider meeting of group members back in Rangoon.
It is good to cooperate in order to work for peace, said Mya Aye. To have peace, we need to hear different voices and ideas from each other. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18144
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Burma activists denounce Gillard talks
From: AAP
November 06, 2012 2:30PM
ACTIVISTS have denounced Prime Minister Julia Gillard for suggesting Australia may resume defence ties with Burma.
Ms Gillard on Monday met with Thein Sein, the president of Burma - also known as Myanmar - on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Laos.
It was the first such meeting between Australian and Burmese leaders since 1984.
Shortly before the meeting, Ms Gillard revealed her government was considering resuming defence ties - cut off in 1988 - as Burma continues its democratic reforms after decades of iron-fisted military rule.
"We have still got some decisions to make on defence co-operation," she said.
Burma Campaign Australia co-ordinator Zetty Brake said the comments were inappropriate given the military's ongoing violations of human rights.
"It is appalling that Australia would consider having any defence ties with a country whose military continues to commit human rights abuses against its own people," Ms Brake said.
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Australian Greens senator Scott Ludlam said resuming military ties could weaken Burma's reform movement.
"If this is about assisting the regime with security-sector reform and improving operating procedures that have shocked the world in past decades, then there may be some value in closer ties," he said.
"However, political reforms in Burma remain fragile and reversible."
Australia this year lifted travel and financial sanctions against Burma, but an arms embargo remains in place.
It also moved to normalise trade and investment relations with the South-East Asian nation.
The changes come after Burma's military junta began relaxing its grip on power, holding elections that led to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi take a seat in parliament. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/burma-activists-denounce-gillard-talks/story-fn3dxiwe-1226511512515
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EDITORIAL The two ills of Myanmar
Published: 6/11/2012 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Myanmar is showing the face of reform to the world. But our western neighbour is also displaying what a long, tough road still lies ahead. President Thein Sein and the elected parliament are rightly celebrating a new foreign investment law. At the same time, the country is at the centre of controversies over its failure to deal with drug trafficking, and is being rightly condemned around the world for its treatment of Rohingya people.
Myanmar will soon celebrate the second anniversary of the release of democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi. There will be little celebrating in the north or the west of the country, however. In those areas, life is tougher than ever, despite the efforts of the president and parliament. In Rakhine state in the west, and in the northern areas where Shan and Kachin people live, "reform" is just another word, and life remains cheap.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported last week that confident drug gangs have once again increased the size of the country's opium fields. Myanmar is already the world's second-largest producer of poppies and heroin. The gangs and cartels that make 60-plus tonnes of heroin stepped up opium production this year from 43,600 hectares to 51,000 hectares _ 319,000 rai. By comparison, Thai villages produced opium this year on 1,300 rai, with virtually no heroin production.
This does not count the ever-growing output of the methamphetamine ya ba and crystal meth ya ice factories. The drug production is a legacy of the long and close, profitable cooperation between drug gangs and the military dictators of Myanmar. Like Thai farmers of 40 years ago, Myanmar farmers are isolated from markets, and must produce opium for the gangs or perish. President Thein Sein must get more help to the opium fields, to help the farmers and his people.
The treatment of the Muslim minority in Rakhine state is an international disgrace. Thein Sein and his parliament actually seem not to be especially upset about serial, communal riots which have killed hundreds and uprooted tens of thousands. In their view, the Rohingya are interlopers, non-citizens and the root cause of the problem.
Such heartless and wrong-headed thinking is difficult to comprehend. The idea that the Rohingya, born in Myanmar, are somehow inferior human beings is _ as the UN and others state _ not just heartless but legally wrong. The prevailing view in official Myanmar circles appears to be that the Muslim minority is somehow getting what it deserves by being burnt and slaughtered out of its villages.
This attitude appears to pervade the parliament as well as Myanmar society. As Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan pointed out, the Rohingya could become radicalised. The Rohingya compare in some ways to the Muslims of the Thai deep South. But the differences are stark. The people of the deep South are full Thai citizens, with all the rights of citizenship.
Drugs and human rights are perhaps the two biggest problems that Myanmar faces. The world community and Myanmar citizens understand that some reform questions like foreign investment must be taken a step at a time. But encouraging drug traffickers and murderous human rights abuses must be dealt with quickly. http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/319703/the-two-ills-of-myanmar
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Bangkok Post
Four get death penalty for Chinese sailor deaths
Published: 6/11/2012 at 03:48 PM
Online news: Asia
Four members of a gang accused of masterminding the murder of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year were sentenced to death by a court in southwest China on Tuesday.
A Chinese vessel sails down the brown waters of the Mekong River (or Lancang River in China) that separate China (L) from Myanmar. Four members of a gang accused of masterminding the murder of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year were sentenced to death at a court in southwest China on Tuesday.
The sailors were killed in October 2011 in a raid on two Chinese cargo boats on the Mekong, an attack thought to have been carried out by a notorious gang in the "Golden Triangle", an area known for drug production and smuggling.
The reading of the verdicts was shown live on state television.
The trial finished in September after the gang of six men pleaded guilty to intentional homicide, drug trafficking, kidnapping and hijacking, state news agency Xinhua said in September.
Another defendant received a suspended death sentence, while a sixth man was handed eight years in prison at the sentencing at Kunming Intermediate People's Court.
The gang, based in Myanmar's northern Shan state, was led by Myanmar national Naw Kham, who was one of the men sentenced to death.
At least one of the remaining five gang members is Thai, but the nationalities of the other four is unclear.
The "Golden Triangle" is where the Mekong River runs through China, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.
Last year's incident sparked an angry reaction from China, which summoned diplomatic envoys from Thailand, Laos and Myanmar and asked authorities to speed up investigations into the incident. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/319827/four-handed-death-penalty-for-chinese-sailor-deaths
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Egypt calls Myanmar envoy
By: AFP | November 06, 2012
CAIRO - Egypt summoned Myanmars ambassador in Cairo to express its concern with violence against the southeast Asian countrys Muslim minority and call for a stop to it, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The foreign ministry yesterday summoned the ambassador of Myanmar and conveyed an urgent message expressing Egypts dismay after renewed violence against Rohingya Muslims, it said.
It called on Myanmar to take steps to immediately end the violence and bring its perpetrators to justice. Egypt summoned the ambassador in August to protest against ethnic clashes between the majority Buddhists and Muslims that began in June.
The Rohingya Muslims are considered by many Burmese as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The United Nations considers them one of the worlds most persecuted minorities. The clashes in June, followed by fresh fighting in October, have killed 180 people and displaced an estimated 110,000.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/international/06-Nov-2012/egypt-calls-myanmar-envoy
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Charity Says Threats Foil Medical Aid in Myanmar
By THOMAS FULLER, Published: November 5, 2012
BANGKOK Radical Buddhist groups are preventing doctors from delivering assistance to areas of western Myanmar affected by intense sectarian violence, an international medical charity said Monday.
The group, Doctors Without Borders, reported that many of its local staff members were afraid to work at refugee camps and medical centers in Rakhine State, where people wounded in clashes need treatment for wounds from guns, knives, arrows and other weapons.
Ive never experienced this degree of intolerance, Joe Belliveau, the operations manager for Doctors Without Borders, said by telephone. What we really need is for people to understand that giving medical aid is not a political act.
The violence dates to June, when long-simmering resentment toward Muslims, some of whom come from Bangladesh, erupted after Muslims were accused of the rape and murder of a Buddhist girl. More than 70,000 Muslims fled their homes; most remain in the refugee camps. Another spasm of violence late last month left 89 people dead and displaced an additional 35,000, according to the United Nations.
The initial fury was focused on the Rohingya, a Muslim minority widely reviled in Myanmar and a large segment of the population in Rakhine, an impoverished state bordering Bangladesh. But now members of at least one other group, Kaman Muslims, have been forced from their homes, raising concerns that the violence could spread to other parts of Myanmar, where Muslims make up about 4 percent of the population.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has reported the widespread deployment of Myanmar security forces in Rakhine State, but also widespread fear there. Our staff spoke to displaced people who shared their fears of being attacked again if the troops leave, a spokesman for the office, Adrian Edwards, said in a press briefing on Friday.
Aid workers have reported severe malnutrition among children and widespread malaria. Theres a huge group of people who have not been displaced but are cut off from health care, Mr. Belliveau said.
But he said that posters and pamphlets threatening aid workers who treat Muslims were being distributed in Sittwe, the largest city in Rakhine, and that staffing in the area had been reduced to a few dozen people, from around 300 before the June violence. Our own staff are simply scared and unwilling to work after receiving direct threats, Mr. Belliveau said.
The difficulties facing international agencies in Rakhine underline the instability of the area and the potential for further violence despite the security forces. Many of Myanmars ethnic groups are restive, presenting challenges for President Thein Sein as he leads the country out of decades of military dictatorship that justified its repressive grip in part by citing ethnic insurgencies. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/world/asia/aid-for-refugees-in-myanmar-threatened-by-violence.html?_r=0
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Australia, Britain prod Myanmar on sectarian unrest
Posted: 06 November 2012 1706 hrs
VIENTIANE: Australia and Britain pressed Myanmar on the plight of ethnic minorities and called for an end to deadly sectarian unrest in western Rakhine state, officials said on Tuesday.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and British Foreign Secretary William Hague raised the issue separately in meetings with Myanmar President Thein Sein on the sidelines of a major Asia-Europe summit in Laos.
"At a time of so much progress on human rights we would also look for progress on the treatment of ethnic minorities," Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters in Vientiane afterwards.
It was the first meeting between leaders of Australia and Myanmar in nearly three decades.
Myanmar has signed a series of ceasefire deals with armed ethnic minority rebels but the efforts have been overshadowed by deadly clashes between ethnic Rakhines and Rohingyas in the western Rakhine state.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he voiced "concern" at the violence in Rakhine in his talks with Thein Sein.
"The UK is urging all political parties in Burma to do what they can to end the violence and address the issue of Rohingya citizenship," Hague said in a statement afterwards.
At the same time he congratulated Thein Sein on his "vital political and economic reforms", and said he hoped the former general would be able to visit Britain early next year.
Myanmar's 800,000 Rohingya are seen by the government and many in the country as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. They are described by the UN as among the world's most persecuted minorities.
- AFP/jc http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1235577/1/.html
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Bangkok Post
PM readies ministers for Thein Sein visit
Published: 5/11/2012 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will tomorrow meet ministers and officials working on the Dawei deep-sea port project in preparation for a Thai-Myanmar meeting on the joint development this week.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra leads European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso on an inspection of the Guards of Honour at Government House yesterday. APICHIT JINAKUL
Myanmar President Thein Sein is scheduled to visit Thailand on Wednesday, when the Thai government will kick off a two-day bilateral meeting on the joint development, worth US$50 billion (1.54 trillion baht).
Deputy government spokesman Chalitrat Chandrubeksa said Ms Yingluck will tomorrow prepare ministers and officials from transport, industry, energy and foreign ministries for the meeting, which is expected to cover three major issues.
Those issues are the development of the deep-sea port in southern Myanmar, the construction of a 132km road linking the sea port to the Thai-Myanmar border, and the development of a 33-megawatt power plant and transmission cables in the Dawei special economic area.
Ms Yingluck and Thein Sein will finalise the meeting outcome at the Asean Summit in Cambodia on Nov 17-20, when the two are expected to officially announce a joint partnership to support the Dawei deep-sea port project.
Thein Sein on Saturday met European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, who offered development aid to Myanmar.
Mr Barroso then visited Thailand and met Ms Yingluck yesterday.
They discussed various issues ranging from the decades-long diplomatic ties between Thailand and the European Union, to the new economic prospects in Southeast Asia when the Asean Economic Community is formed in 2015.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ms Yingluck said she told Mr Barroso that Thailand is ready to be a gateway to the Asean single market so that investors from the EU can base their production here.
Ms Yingluck and Mr Barroso also agreed to seek closer cooperation on measures to tackle human trafficking, transnational crimes and money laundering.
The two are scheduled to meet again at the 9th Summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting held in Vientiane, Laos today and tomorrow. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/319555/pm-readies-ministers-for-thein-sein-visit
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Bangok Post
Thaksin shortens Myanmar trip
Published: 5/11/2012 at 03:43 PM
Online news: Local News
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has cancelled his coming trip to Tachilek on Friday and Saturday, but will still meet Myanmar President Thein Sein on Thursday when he visits Nay Pyi Taw, Thaksin's close associates said on Monday.
According to his close associates, including key members of the Pheu Thai Party and the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), the fugitive former premier will not travel to the border town of Tachilek, opposite Mae Sai, due to safety concerns.
Jatuporn Prompan, a red-shirt core member, said he had not been informed about the cancellation of Thaksin's visit to Tachilek but said security there might not be 100%.
"Thaksin will likely meet President Thein Sein because it is an official visit and the Myanmar government will be able to ensure his safety," Mr Jatuporn said.
Previously, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung and his son Panthongthae "Oak" Shinawatra said there was a plot to assassinate him.
Mr Chalerm said a Myanmar man who was arrested on Sunday in Tak province by Thai authorities for transporting heavy firearms from the Thai border confessed that there was a plot to kill Thaksin during merit-making in Tachilek on Saturday.
"The suspect has revealed the name of the mastermind behind the assassination attempt but I won't say whether the person is an army general as reports speculated.
"I'm pretty sure that the person gave the assassination order from Thailand and had already paid some money for it to happen," said the deputy premier in charge of national security.
He said the mastermind was not involved with "plans to topple the government" but the person had a plan to directly harm Thaksin.
Although the Karen suspect later recanted his testimony, Thai police had been working closely with Myanmar police on security issues, Mr Chalerm added.
Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra (L) and his son Panthongtae Shinawatra (Photo by Apichit Jinakul)
Mr Panthongthae posted on his Facebook page that he was worried about his father's safety.
Thaksin's only son said that during his father's time as prime minister he was responsible for the arrest of many drug dealers, which put him on bad terms with local crime lords and gangs.
Tachilek was categorised by the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB ) as a red zone swarming with minority groups linked with drug dealers and wanted men who had fled Thailand.
"My father is a man who is not scared of death," he said. "I would like to say that even though you [father] are not scared, your three children are deeply concern about your safety."
Mr Panthongthae said that despite his personal feelings, Thaksin showed signs of hesitation when he mentioned the possibility of participants at the meetings being injured.
However, his father's decision to visit Myanmar was based on the consideration he has for people organising the event and the individuals who had already made plans to visit him.
Democrat Party list MP Ong-Art Klampaiboon said Mr Panthongtae needed to be more careful when posting such messages about a rumoured assassination plot against his father. It was quite normal for Thai authorities to search for, and seize, weapons along the border.
Previously, Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva called on the national police chief, Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew, to seek the extradition of Thaksin if he was certain that the fugitive politician would visit Myanmar.
"This is a case to prove whether the police chief as well as the prime minister [Yingluck Shinawatra] are performing their duties and I hope there won't be any conflicts of interest," Mr Abhisit said.
Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit, leader of the anti-government Pitak Siam group, said Mr Panthongtae was likely trying to get people to feel for Thaksin by saying that the confiscated weapons and ammunition in Tak would have been used to kill his father.
"How can Thai people transport the weapons because security along the Myanmar border is very tight," said Gen Boonlert, alias Seh Ai. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/319658/thaksin-shortens-myanmar-trip
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Child rights organization gives 20,000 children birth certificates
November 5 | Author: Nan Thoo Lei (KIC)
The Committee for the Protection and Promotion of Child Rights (Burma) said at a ceremony to acknowledge the organizations 10-years working on the Thai Burma border that they had organized 20,000 birth certificates for children from Burma.
Ma Aye Thandar Aung from the statistics department of CPPCR spoke to Karen News.
Weve provided birth certificates to 21,700 children in 10 years. Those children are now eligible to study in Thai schools or migrant schools in the Mae Sot area.
Children who were born at Mae Tao Clinic, Mae Sot Hospital, medical clinics in the Mae Sot district were entitled to receive birth certificates.
CPPCRs 10 year anniversary ceremony was held at the Quee Place Hotel in Mae Sot on November 2 and was attended by more than 100 people.
Dr Cynthia Maung speaking at the ceremony said.
CPPCR is promoting the education of child rights, recording data on child protection issues and ensuring childrens births are recorded.
Dr Cynthia Maung said all the birth records CPPCR has collected from children born of Burmese parents are used to inform the relevant Thai and Burma authorities, lawyers to ensure these children are eligible for Burmese citizenship at some point in the future.
U Myint Thein, the joint secretary of the Burma Lawyer Council said birth certificates are critically important for migrant children living in Thailand.
People from Burma had to leave the county because of civil war. Many children did not have a chance to have a proper education and many have been denied their basic human rights. These children are at risk of losing their identity if they do not have birth certificates.
CPPCR was founded in 2002 in Mae Sot to provide protection to children, giving access to their rights, healthcare and education. http://karennews.org/2012/11/child-rights-organization-gives-20000-children-birth-certificates.html/
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