Burma Update
News and updates on Burma27 March 2009
[ReadingRoom] News on Burma - 27/3/09
U.S. Diplomat, Burmese official meet; White House is reviewing policy toward nation - Glenn Kessler A senior U.S. diplomat met with the Burmese foreign minister in the ruling junta's jungle capital yesterday, possibly signaling a softening in the tense relations between the two countries. The Obama administration is conducting a high-profile review of its policy toward Burma, including whether unilateral sanctions have been effective, and the State Department issued a statement late yesterday saying the visit by Stephen Blake, director of the office for mainland Southeast Asia, "does not reflect a change in policy or approach to Burma." But the government of Burma, also known as Myanmar, has not recently granted access to the foreign minister to any visiting U.S. official, and the government's official newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, trumpeted the meeting in an unusually glowing account. Normally, if the state-run media mention the United States, they focus on the negative, such as casualty figures in Iraq and Afghanistan. The government newspaper said Blake and Foreign Minister Nyan Win held "cordial discussions on issues of mutual interests and the promotion of bilateral relations between the Union of Myanmar and the United States." Blake made a rare visit to Naypyidaw, the new capital, and also traveled to Rangoon, the former capital, where he met with members of the opposition party. The junta's decision to grant Blake an audience with the foreign minister is highly significant, said David I. Steinberg, director of Asian studies at Georgetown University who met with government officials in Burma this month. During his talks, he added, government officials "indicated they are interested in improving relations." Last month in Indonesia, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the administration was reviewing its Burma policy. "Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the Burmese junta," she said, adding that the route taken by Burma's neighbors of "reaching out and trying to engage them has not influenced them, either." Burma is regarded as one of the world's most oppressive nations, ruled by generals who have enriched themselves while much of the country remains desperately poor. The National League for Democracy, the party of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide electoral victory in 1990, but the military leadership refused to accept it. Since then, she has been under house arrest for most of the time, as have hundreds of her supporters. European officials have been looking for guidance from the United States on Burma policy, deferring a decision on whether to extend sanctions. But the administration has given little hint of its approach, with officials saying yesterday that the review is still incomplete. "While we have not yet finalized our approach, we remain committed to encouraging a genuine dialogue between the Burmese authorities and opposition that leads to a free and democratic Burma that respects the rights of its diverse citizens and is at peace with its neighbors," the State Department said. Prodded by the Bush administration, Congress has imposed increasingly tough sanctions on Burma. But on Capitol Hill, there is also an increasing willingness to reconsider the sanctions approach, including whether to use humanitarian relief as a wedge into the country. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, plans to make a Burma policy review a key part of his agenda this year, because "he is dissatisfied where we are" in trying to promote the return of civilian rule, a congressional aide said. Paul Grove, the senior Republican aide on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee for foreign operations, also recently visited Burma's delta region to examine assistance efforts. Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), the new chairman of the East Asia panel of the Foreign Relations Committee, is a fierce critic of the sanctions approach and will play a major role in the congressional review. "I have said for several years that it is to the benefit of all involved that we speak directly with Burma's leadership and work toward resolving our differences," he said yesterday. Monks protest banning of "Dharma Lectures" - Min Lwin Monks in upper Burma have launched a petition calling for an end to an official ban on so-called "dharma lectures" featuring the Buddha's teachings, according to sources in Mandalay and Magwe divisions. A monk in Kyaukpadaung Township, Mandalay Division, said the authorities in Salay Township had banned not only dharma lectures but the production, copying and sale of VCDs and CDs featuring the lectures. He said the ban had been in force since January. Novice monks from a monastery shave each others heads, in western Rangoon. (Photo: AP) "We are collecting signatures among the monks, and then we will send them to state senior monks," he said. The banned VCDs and CDs feature some of Burma's most respected senior monks, including U Thumingala, U Nyanithara and U Kawvida. The dharma lectures are based on classical Buddhist stories, but are often interpreted as criticism of the government and its policies. U Kawvida, a Buddhist scholar with a PhD degree, says in one VCD that the worst disease is hunger, and that if people are poor and hungry it is a universal truth that they will struggle. In one banned CD, titled "The Way of Dumb People," U Nyanithara, also known as Thitagu Sayardaw, criticized the popular belief in numerology and astrology. His criticism was thought to have been aimed also at junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, who is famous for basing important decisions on his astrologer's advice. In VCDs and CDs that achieved wide popularity, U Nyanithara also talked about democracy and open society. Senior CPC official meets Myanmar top leader Li Changchun, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), met with Than Shwe, chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), here on Thursday, during which they exchanged views on developing good-neighborly and friendly ties between China and Myanmar. Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, was on a visit at the invitation of the Myanmar government. Li conveyed greeting from Chinese President Hu Jintao to Than Shew in the meeting. "China and Myanmar are good neighbors, friends and partners, and the China-Myanmar friendship, which was built on the basis of Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, has withstood the ordeal of time and the changes in the international situation," Li said. He described the features of China-Myanmar ties as "mutual respect, equally treatment to the other, mutual trust and sincere cooperation." Bilateral ties scored new progress after the ardent of the new century with frequent high-level contacts and increasingly mutual trust in political areas, he said, adding that the two nations also collaborated with the other in regional and international issues. The development of good-neighborly, friendly and cooperative ties with neighboring countries constitutes an important part in China's foreign policy. "As friendly neighbors and developing nations, China and Myanmar face similar tasks of development. We should seize the new opportunity to develop bilateral ties under the complex international situation," he said. He urged both to push forward concrete cooperation. China encourages the Chinese enterprises to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation with Myanmar in energy and resources, infrastructure, agriculture, industry, mining and telecom sectors, he said. Li also highly spoke of the progress made by Myanmar on political construction, national reconciliation, economic development and the improvement of people's life. Than Shwe commended China's socio-economic achievements. Myanmar is one of the first countries which recognized the new China after its founding in 1949. "The people of Myanmar is proud of this," Than Shwe said, adding that "the further growth of bilateral ties comply with the fundamental interests of both." He reiterated that Myanmar supports China on issues related with China's core interests. Li flew from Yangon earlier this morning to Nay Pyi Taw. Myanmar is the second-leg of Li's four-nation tour which will also take him to Republic of Korea and Japan. He has already visited Australia. Changes proposed on US economic sanctions - Lawi Weng A high-level US official told the Committee Representing People of Parliament (CRPP) on Wednesday that some existing economic sanctions may be withdrawn while other targeted sanctions may remain in place. Aye Thar Aung, secretary of CRPP, said that Stephen Blake, the director of the US State Department's Office of Mainland Southeast Asia, made his remarks at a meeting in Rangoon. No details of the new policy were available. The CRPP was formed following the 1990 election and is made up of elected members of parliament and various opposition groups. Meanwhile Nyan Win, a spokesperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD), said that the NLD urged the US government to initiate talks with the Burmese regime to help move the reconciliation process forward. During a four-day visit, Blake also met with Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win at the administrative capital of Naypyidaw. Burma was Blake's last stop on a tour of Southeast Asia that also took him to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. Aung Naing Oo, a Burma political analyst in exile, said that it is good sign that US officials are meeting with high-level members of the Burmese junta. However, he said that the US will not change its Burma policy dramatically as long as the regime detains political prisoners, including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The US is Burma's strongest critic among the international community. In 1996, it began economic sanctions by freezing US investments in Burma because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government. In July 2003 following a junta-backed attack on Suu Kyi and her convoy in May 2003, former President Gorge W. Bush placed tighter economic sanctions on Burma which banned imports from Burma. In October 2007, after a crackdown on the monk-led demonstrators in September 2007, the US used a new method by imposing targeted sanctions, visa bans as well as financial sanctions on Burmese regime members, their family and business cronies. Since then, at least six businessmen with links to the junta cronies have been placed under US-targeted sanctions. In July 2008, President Bush, the US Senate and House signed a new Burma law, the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act 2008, which imposed new financial sanctions and travel restrictions on the leaders of the junta and their associates; tightened the economic sanctions imposed in 2003 by outlawing the importation of Burmese gems to the US; and created a new position of "US Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma." Isolated heroine still haunts Burma - Peter Goodspeed Despite years in detention and forced isolation, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi still has the power to encourage her followers and enrage Burma's military rulers. The charismatic daughter of independence hero, Aung San, and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle to bring democracy to her country, she has been confined to her home without any contact with the outside world since September, 2000. Known fondly to the residents of Rangoon simply as "The Lady," she has lived in virtual solitary confinement for 13 of the last 19 years in a heavily guarded, whitewashed villa on the south shore of Inya Lake. Surrounded by soldiers and coils of barbed wire, the sickly 63-year-old widow is allowed to see only her doctor — every two months — a live-in maid and her jailers. Not since Nelson Mandela became the personification of South Africa's struggle against apartheid, despite spending 27 years in jail, has anyone else approached the same level of political heroism in the face of repression. Now, the United Nations has declared, for the fifth time in 18 years, Ms. Suu Kyi's detention is arbitrary and a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But this time, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention added a twist to its ruling by declaring it also violates Burma's own constitution. The working group, an arm of the UN Human Rights Council, said Ms. Suu Kyi is being held under Burma's 1975 State Protection Law, which provides for the detention of anyone deemed a threat to the "security of the state or public peace and tranquility" for up to five years. Under this law, the detention order must be renewed every year and the law says it is renewable for a maximum of only five years. In Ms. Suu Kyi's case, that five-year period ended at the end of May, 2008. The UN group called for her immediate release. "I am under no illusion the junta will listen to the United Nations," says Jared Genser, her family's Washington lawyer. "There is no quick and easy answer to the problem of Burma, so we have to take it one step forward at a time." A breakthrough appears unlikely since Burma is undergoing yet another political crackdown before parliamentary elections scheduled for early next year. This month, five members of Ms. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) were arrested, joining about 2,100 political prisoners in Burma's jails. That is almost double the number of political prisoners held in the country at the same time last year. The Burmese junta has unveiled a "road-map to democracy," which calls for a national election next year to transfer power from uniformed officers to a civilian dictatorship. But the new constitution, approved by 94.5% of voters in an apparently rigged referendum last year, guarantees a quarter of all legislative seats to the armed forces and bars opposition leaders, such as Ms, Suu Kyi, from ever holding office. However, her continued imprisonment is proof of her political clout. Though silent and ailing, she remains dangerous as the only person who can unite a broad array of forces against the generals. ——— TIMELINE OF DETENTION 1988: Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of her life in Britain, returns to Burma as pro-democracy protests sweep country. Uprising crushed. 1989: Placed under house arrest. 1990: As head of the opposition movement and NLD leader, wins national elections by a landslide. Generals nullify elections. 1991: Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades" 1995: Released and tens of thousands rally to her cause. 2000: Again placed under house arrest. Awarded U. S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, U. S.'s highest civilian honour. From 'people's army' to 'enemy of the people' - Tettoe Aung As Hegel said, "The only lesson we learn from history is that we do not learn from history." One thing for sure, is that we Burmese have not learned from the proud history of our military. The founder of our military, Bogyoke Aung San, stated in unambiguous terms that the Burmese army (Tatmadaw) had not been founded for one man or one party, but rather for the whole country. He rejected the view of those military personnel who harbored the opinion that only they were capable of patriotism. Those that subscribed to the more narrow definition of patriotism branded people who dared to disagree with them as 'axe handles'. If someone was married to a non-Burmese or a foreigner, like Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, he or she would be disowned. The military's view that they are the only ones capable of patriotism is made explicit every March 27th, when they celebrate the once-called 'Revolutionary Day' as their exclusive 'Armed Forces Day'. With the general public kept away from the ceremonies, it seems to have never occurred to them that there are others who are not soldiers who have suffered and made all kinds of sacrifices for their country. The irony is that the military, unlike celestial beings, are not born out of thin air. They are the offspring - sons and daughters - of the people whom they have chosen to turn against. Unlike the founding father, Bogyoke Aung San, the military under Ne Win and his successors, Saw Maung and now Than Shwe, has been indoctrinated to believe that they are above the people whom they are supposed to serve. For them, only the soldiers matter. As an article published in The Irrawaddy about the 'military mindset' noted, the underlining rationale in military training is to make a person immediately act or follow orders without thinking. There is no time for them to think whether their actions are right or wrong. Such a mentality was clearly on display in September 2007, as a young, Burmese soldier shot dead a Japanese cameraman at point blank range. And even if foot soldiers rise in rank to serve as officers or generals, still the lack of rational thought prevails. A study in 'Killology' by Colonel David Grossman shows that the training methods a military uses are brutalization, classical conditioning, operant conditioning and role-modeling. He writes: "Brutalization and desensitizing is what happens at the boot camp. From the moment you step off the bus you are physically and verbally abused. Your head is shaved, you are herded together naked, and dressed alike, losing all vestiges of individuality. This brutalization is designed to break down your existing mores and norms and to accept a new set of values which embrace destruction, violence and death as a way of life. In the end you are desensitized to violence and accept it as a normal and essential survival skill in your brutal new world." When it comes to 'classical conditioning' Grossman says, "The Japanese were masters at using classical conditioning with their soldiers." Let us not forget the fact that the Burmese military was founded with the help of the Imperial Japanese military during the War. I recall how one of my relatives, trained to be an officer under the Japanese, himself became a Director of Training, incorporating similar methods of indoctrination to that of the Japanese. As for myself, I wasn't cut out for that and even my three month training at Phaung-gyi is something that I still feel disgusted about every time I recall the experience. The Burmese military may have been founded out of necessity as an institution, but reason says that institutions, the military included, are created to provide service for humanity, not to advance the personal interests of those mandated to serve. In the same vein, Zhuge Liang wrote, "When offices are chosen for persons, there is disorder; when persons are chosen for offices, there is order." Yet, the Tatmadaw will continue to parade on March 27th of this year just as they always do, marching merely for themselves and not, as it should be, for the people. Thai Mediator Role: Foreign Minister needs in-depth study on Burma's ethnic conflict - Sai Wansai The core problem of the ethnic conflict in Burma is the successive military regimes, including the present State Peace and Development Council's (SPDC) insistence of its failed and inhumane policy of Burmanisation and political-power monopoly, at all cost. Burma is made up of, at least, eight major ethnic groups, including Burman - the lowland dwelling and most numerous among ethnic groups. The non-Burman ethnic groups are Kachin, Shan, Karenni, Karen, Mon, Arakan and Chin. Also there are numerous minorities within each state, which have, more or less, existed peacefully in general. By this, it is meant that there has been no "horizontal conflict" of going at each others throats or killings like in African continent. But it is a vertical one, where all non-Burman ethnic groups are being suppressed, occupied and colonised by the successive Burmese military regimes, in the name of "national unity". The heart of the problem, as stated from the outset, is the military regimes' implementation of ethnic and cultural genocide to obtain its Burmanisation scheme. As all know, the well documented ethnic cleansing, forced population transfer, recruiting child soldiers, extra-judicial killings, using rape as a weapon of war and numerous other human rights violations are being committed, on a daily bases, which are ongoing in non-Burman ethnic areas. This is how the SPDC have been implementing its Burmanisation policy, at the expense of the non-Burman ethnic groups. If this is not enough, the upcoming 2010 SPDC's approved nation-wide election is designed to continue its Burmanisation and political-power monopoly policies. First, the constitution is drawn by the SPDC, where 25% of the seats will go to the military without having to run for election. Second, its self-created USDA and other splinter parties will enter the election and will only allow some individual parties to contest for democratic window-dressing purpose. Finally, the outcome is predictable for it will be stage-managed from the beginning to the end. To sum up, if Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya really wants to help in reconciliation and democratisation process, it will do him well to look into the grievances of the non-Burman ethnic groups and the suppression of democratic rights all over Burma in general. There would be no way around, other than to create an atmosphere of a level playing-field for all to participate in a fair and open manner. In concrete terms, he would need to urge the military junta to amend its self-drawn constitution together with all ethnic and opposition groups, release all political prisoners, declare nation-wide cease-fire and last but not lest, to call for peace talks without precondition with all opposition and resistance armed groups. Only then, there will be a fighting chance of real reconciliation and democratisation process in this long, deeply divided society. Sai Wansai is the General Secretary of the exiled Shan Democratic Union SSA opposes junta's political process calling it undemocratic - Hseng Khio Fah The political wing of the Shan State Army (SSA) South, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), has said that the current junta-dictated political process is not a democratic one, according to its statement released today. It stops short of calling it "the 7 step roadmap," apparently not to offend Thailand, which has lent support to it. The statement deals with three topics: politics, drugs and the proposed peace talks. On the current political situation in Burma, the SSA has recommended a 4 point proposal:
Concerning drugs, the resolution, it says, must come from a political settlement. "Shan State must be given the right to rule itself," citing the 1947 Panglong Agreement, which united Shan, Kachin and Chin with Burma. (Bangkok Post, 10 June 2001 issue, quoted the Thai Army as saying that the root of Thailand's drug problems could be traced to violations of the treaty by Burma's successive governments.) Regarding the Thai-facilitated peace talks with Burma's military rulers, the RCSS says, "Our doors are always open for talks with the Burmese military. However, for talks to succeed, both sides must make concessions, not just the RCSS yielding to all the conditions set by the Burmese military." The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) also welcomes Thailand's offer to facilitate talks, according to Khu Oo Reh, Deputy Secretary General. "We are always ready to hold talks with the junta if there is a safe venue for both sides," he said. With Thailand as a facilitator, chances for peace are greater, according to him. "It would have more chance to succeed than if we did it by ourselves," he added. KNPP has held several peace talks with the junta both officially and unofficially. The latest was in 2007 in Tachilek, eastern Shan State, opposite Thailand's Maesai, he said. Thailand offers to mediate Burmese talks - Ron Corben An offer by Thailand to act as an intermediary between Burma's military government and the ethnic-Karen armed group the Karen National Union is being cautiously welcomed by the rebels and rights activists. Analysts have raised doubts of a complete cease-fire unless Burma's military government modifies the constitution before 2010 national elections. Thailand's offer to mediate talks between Burma's military and the Karen National Union was made by Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, during an official visit to Burma. A spokesperson for the Forum for a Democratic Burma, Soe Aung, says Thailand needs to look at questions linked to the constitution and human rights in Burma. "If the Thai Foreign Minister is really willing to help, they have look at the root cause of the problem which is the ongoing human rights violations of the military regime and ignoring the people's call for democracy and freedom," he said. The Karen National Union has been fighting for autonomy for five decades. A short ceasefire was reached between Burma's military and the rebels following talks in 2004, but fighting has resumed. More than 100,000 Burmese refugees, including Karen, are living in camps in Thailand. Spokesperson Debbie Stothardt of the rights group the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, says Thailand should not use a peace agreement as a pretext to force refugees back to Burma. "It is in Thailand's interests to try and be a go-between and negotiate something but we also would like the Thai authorities to do it in a very fair and principled manner, and not use this as an excuse to indiscriminately push back people who have been trying to flee the military oppression in Burma," she said. The Karen National Union and political and rights activists also want the military to revise the constitution that was adopted last year. They say the constitution entrenches the military in power and excludes participation by ethnic and pro-democracy groups such as the National League for Democracy. The constitution is part of the military government's so-called "road map to democracy" that includes general elections in 2010. Soe Aung says the main issue remains the military government's support for democracy. "If there is no constitution that guarantees the rights of the people, this constitution is not going anywhere because it lacks the people's participation, the people's representatives, like the NLD and the ethnic groups," he said. Since 1998 the Karen National Union is reported to have held talks with the military government on four occasions, the last in 2006. Burma key to war on drugs - Editorial Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is to kick off a new campaign against illegal drugs next week. And there is good reason for the new impetus on the "war on drugs". In announcing the new campaign, Mr Abhisit cited frightening new evidence that the rate of addiction is rising once again. His figures appear to confirm the general feeling throughout the country that neither drug suppression nor treatment have been adequate. The government must lead the fresh campaign against illicit drugs while keeping in mind that the public will not accept either legal abuses or official violence of the past. The serious drug problem in today's world has several faces. One of the most important is that the drugs which debase and imperil the country come almost exclusively from outside. Thailand of the past was a drug producer, home to traffickers selling out their country and exporting their illegal products. Today, the country imports virtually all illegal drugs. Chiefly, they come from Burma, where the government appears to do little against one of the world's richest and most prolific trafficking rings. So-called recreational drugs also come from South America and Europe, frequently carried through neighbouring countries along the way. Mr Abhisit has promised to increase border security as part of the six-month anti-drug programme he will kick off on April 1. Of all the ways to fight drug trafficking, this may be the most difficult and prone to failure. The long and difficult Burmese and Lao borders in particular are virtually impossible to seal. Smugglers detect an effort to guard one portion of border and move to another. The premier and his anti-drug security forces of the military and police should put more emphasis on gaining information about the drug gangs. Last week, a joint US-Thai operation dealt a significant blow to the narcotics trade when agents arrested some top traffickers and hit them where it really hurts - in their pocketbooks. Authorities seized more than 117 million baht in cash and goods. The three arrested men, former associates of the late heroin warlord Khun Sa, admitted to having sold 750kg of heroin and methamphetamines in the past year. The arrested men pinpointed a large drugs laboratory. Close to the Thai border of Tak province, it is reportedly owned by the United Wa State Army, Southeast Asia's biggest and most influential drug cartel. The UWSA thrives in what seems to be the absence of any action against the group by the generals in Burma. The public backs increased government action against drugs. Weekly surveys by Abac Poll show that drugs have been the top overall concern of viewers of the premier's weekly talk on TV. Mr Abhisit was correct to equate drugs with terrorism and international crime as the chief threats to the country. The prime minister correctly ordered that the war on drugs must adhere to civil and human rights. Two additional steps are vital to defeat the drug traffickers. The first is to make good on Mr Abhisit's pledge to redirect some anti-drug resources to help addicts and victims. It is as necessary to reduce the demand for drugs as the supply. But the key to reducing supply rests with the military dictators of Burma. Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya was in Burma and agreed to talk about the Burmese concern over the Karen resistance, but without gaining any concessions from the junta on the UWSA. So long as Burma allows drug trafficking to flourish, Thailand and other neighbours will remain at a disadvantage. Bound by Burma - Ramadan Alig Earlier this year, a brief news item mentioned that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was concerned about the fate of 126 Burmese refugees being held at an undisclosed Thai location. The boat people are members of Burma's (renamed "Myanmar," another traditional name for the country, by the ruling military junta in 1989) Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority. In Jan. 2009, the Thai navy towed boats filled with about 1,000 Rohingya refugees into international waters and set them adrift with only paddles; nearly 650 were rescued off the Thai and Indonesian coasts. The Thai navy denies persistent reports that the boats' engines had been sabotaged and that the refugees had been given inadequate food and water supplies. Various international media reports dismiss Thai claims and hold the navy and the army's dreaded Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) responsible for these violations. Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand label these refugees "economic migrants," which creates excuses for such human rights violations. Independent investigators reject this label. As neither Thailand nor Indonesia have signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, which defines who is a refugee, their rights, and states' legal obligation, or its 1967 Protocol, they give little legal protection to the Rohingya. According to official figures, 1,225 Rohingya arrived in Thailand in 2005-06, 2,763 more in 2006-07, and another 4,886 in 2007-08. The root causes of this ongoing problem lie with the junta, which does not recognize the Rohingya as one of Burma's estimated 130 ethnic minorities. Its 1982 amendment to the country's citizenship law rendered the Rohingya Muslims "stateless" and thus vulnerable to severe restrictions of movement, which affect their ability to trade, seek employment, healthcare, and education. Even visiting a neighboring village requires a travel permit. After the Feb. 2001 riots, travel authorizations became more restrictive. Arbitrary land confiscation (without compensation) occur to provide land for Buddhist settlers or to build and enlarge military camps and plantations for growing crops for the military and for commercial purposes. In 2002, at least two new "model villages" were established in Maungdaw township. The junta used the 9/1 1 "war on terror" as a pretext to grab more Rohingya land to build military camps on its border with Bangladesh. A 2003 International Labor Organization (ILO) report revealed that forced labor is widespread in Northern Arakan state - the poor cannot afford the bribes demanded - even though the practice declined significantly during the last decade after the UNHCR and the WFP (World Food Program) assumed responsibility for building local roads. Despite the presence of UNHCR and international agencies, however, conditions have hardly improved. In 1978, more than 200,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh to escape the "Nagamin" (Dragon King) military operation. Officially aimed at "scrutinizing each individual living in the state, designating citizens and foreigners in accordance with the law and taking actions against foreigners who have filtered into the country illegally," it resulted in widespread killing, rape, destruction of mosques, and more religious persecution. During 1991-92, some 250,000 people from Burma's Northern Rakhine state fled to Bangladesh, claiming widespread forced labor, summary executions, torture, and rape. They were sheltered in twenty camps in the Cox's Bazar district. While most eventually went back, some 20,500 people- mostly Rohingya- remain in two of the original camps. Even though they live under excruciating conditions, most of them do not want to return home in the absence of peace and democracy. Amnesty International and similar groups have reported on these events. Besides Bangladesh, large numbers of Rohingya live in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Every year, thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshis get on rickety boats in hopes of finding work elsewhere. Many travel to Thailand by sea and then overland to Malaysia. Thailand recently offered to host a regional conference on how to deal with these "illegal immigrants." The military, which has ruled since 1992 under the garb of the "State Peace and Development Council" (the former "State Law and Order Restoration Council"), considers Arakan's Muslims to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Unfortunately, Burmese civil society and political opposition often share this perception. Such conditions can hardly be considered "conducive for a return in safety and with dignity" of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. This explains why the majority of them do not agree to repatriate voluntarily. As of 2005, the UNHCR has helped repatriate some of them, but allegations of human rights abuses in the refugee camps have threatened this effort. Despite earlier UN efforts, the vast majority of them cannot go home because of the junta's policies. Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner who has spent much of the last two decades under house arrest, is often covered in the international news; however, the plight of the Rohingyas and similar items is only reported when an "incident" occurs. Suu Kyi, the daughter of General Aung San (the father of modern-day Burma), heads the National League, which won the 1990 general elections. The junta, however, did not allow her to become prime minister. The Rohingya, a mainly Muslim ethnic group, is concentrated in two northern townships of Rakhine state (formerly known as Arakan) in western Burma. Their history in the state dates back to the early seventh century, when Arab Muslim traders settled down and married local women. There is little historical evidence, however, about this period. The Rohingya are physically, linguistically, and culturally similar to South Asians, especially Bengalis. In addition, some of Arakan's Rohingya are descendants of those Arabs, Persians, and Pathans who migrated there during the Mughal Empire. Several Rohingya held cabinet and parliamentary posts under U Nu (1907-95; prime minister 194856, 1957-58, and 1960-62). Sean Garcia and Camilla Olson, who assessed the Rohingya's situation in Bangladesh and Malaysia in Nov. 2008 for the Washington-based Refugees International (www.refugeesinternational.org), observed that repressive government policies in Bangladesh and Malaysia, as well as the lack of adequate international support, force the Rohingya to struggle for survival in both countries. Garcia and Olson, who also fault the UN and donor countries for helping to separate the Rohingya from other Burmese refugees, recommend that they be integrated into the regional responses for Burmese refugees. Host countries should allow the UNHCR and implementing partners to provide basic services to the Rohingya and officially recognize them as a refugee population. Coalition group will not contest 2010 election - Nay Htoo Burmese political coalition group the Forum for Democracy in Burma has stated that it opposes the planned 2010 elections and will educate Burmese people about the problems with the election. The statement was made at the end of a five-day seminar, which took place from 18 to 22 March, held at an unspecified place along the Thai-Burma border. The FDB is a coalition of exiled organisations and activists. The seminar was attended by 32 coalition group members and five observers. Dr Naing Aung, leader of the FDB, said the coalition had chosen to stand strong against the ruling State Peace and Development Council's plan to hold elections in 2010, and vowed that the group would cooperate with the public for their campaign. "We will be educating our people more about the election," he said. "The aim of the election is to bring the 2008 constitution to life which would lead us to remain as slaves of the military the same as 20 years ago," said Naing Aung. The 1990 elections were won by the opposition National League for Democracy in a landslide victory but the military government ignored the results and has continued to rule. "We will be looking for various methods to fight for our rights," he added. "It is unlikely that we would be on safe ground when calling for our rights since Burma is ruled by an oppressive government." Gem sales earn Myanmar $191 million Myanmar has earned more than 140 million euros, or $191 million, from sales of jade at its latest government-sponsored gem auction, despite a U.S. ban on their import, a merchant said. More than 3,500 lots of jade were sold at the Jade, Gems and Pearl Emporium, said the merchant who participated in the auction but spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisal. Revenue figures for gemstones and pearls were not available. Organized by the Mines Ministry, gem auctions are a major revenue earner for Myanmar's ruling junta, which faces economic and political sanctions from the West because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government. The government, which takes a 10 percent tax from the sales, does not release official sales figures from the auction. The sale ran from March 8-20 in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, and drew more than 3,000 gem merchants, mostly from China and Hong Kong. Attendance and revenue was roughly the same as at previous auctions, despite the sanctions and the global financial crisis. Last year, the United States banned the import of gems from Myanmar, which already was the voluntary policy of retailers such as Tiffany's and Bulgari. U.S. officials said at that time that Myanmar has been evading earlier gem-targeting sanctions by laundering stones in other countries before they are shipped to the United States. Because of U.S. economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar in July 2003, which froze all U.S. dollar remittances to the country, international business transactions including the gem sales are done in euros. Myanmar gem sellers say the sanctions have little impact on their business because their major buyers are gem merchants from Asia. Army capitalists: the junta's wealth The Burmese military has monopolized the country's economy, especially heavy industries, mining and the import-export sector, since the military seized state power in September, 1988. According to Burmese defense scholar Maung Aung Myoe, the collapse of the socialist regime in 1988 opened the way for the Tatmadaw [armed forces] to resume its socio-economic role, independent of the country and its private, commercial interests, as it decided to play the leading role in national politics. The scholar notes in his book, "Building the Tatmadaw," that there were two reasons to establish commercial enterprises: to be self-reliant and to finance defense modernization as an off-budget measure. The Burmese military founded two military-managed economic organizations, the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holding Limited (UMEHL), in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Interestingly, UMEHL, also known as U Pai, funding is based on contributions from military personnel, military units, retired military personnel, army veteran organizations and the ministry of defense to support in-service and retired military personnel. UMEHL was previously led by Lt-Gen Myo Nyunt, a former Rangoon regional commander. It is currently led by Lt-Gen Tin Aye of the Office of Defense Industries. UMEHL was the first business venture established by the Burmese military for small and medium-sized commercial enterprises and industries. Its subsidiary and affiliated firms engage in macroeconomic trading with Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, China, South Korea, and India. Edible oil, fuel oil and automobiles from these countries are imported to Burma and exports include cigarettes, beans and pulses, gems and garment products. Maung Aung Myoe's book, published by Institute of Southeast Asia Studies in Singapore, said that between 1990 and early 2007, UMEHL formed 77 fully owned firms. UMEHL's commercial interests include gem production and marketing, garment factories, wood and wood-based industries, food and beverage, supermarkets, banking, hotels and tourism, transportation, telecommunications and electronic equipment, computer, construction and real estate, the steel industry, cement production, automobiles, cosmetics and stationery. In the 2006-2007 fiscal year, UMEHL started 35 firms; it has liquidated six firms since 1999. One of the liquidated firms, the Myanmar Ruby Enterprise, operated Mogoke mine, Mongshu mine, Nanyar mine, Mawchi mine and a gold mine in the Tahbeikkyin area. Maung Aung Myoe noted that one of the main reasons for firms being liquidated was the investment sanctions imposed by Western governments. Another possible reason could be structural problems relating to poor macroeconomic policies and business environment in Burma. Among the corporations heavily involved with UMEHL are Segye Corporation of Korea, Daewoo Corporation of Korea, Korea-based Pohon Iron and Steel Co. Ltd, Rothmans Myanmar Holding Pte Ltd. Of Singapore, Fraser & Neave of Singapore, Mitsugi Corporation of Japan and Nikko Shoji Co. Ltd of Japan. The MEC is by nature secretive. It is under the ministry of defense and is designed to help the Tatmadaw to build its own industrial and technological base. MEC operates at least 21 heavy factories across the country, according to Maung Aung Myoe. Among them, MEC operates with Thai companies on the construction of Tarsan Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Salween River. Since 1989 when Burma introduced an open-market economy, the country has remained poor, but the generals who monopolize the natural resources and the economy have increased their personal fortunes while maintaining their military machine. Number of Internet cafes jumps in Myanmar Number of Internet cafes in Myanmar has jumped 11 percent in less than three months, a local weekly paper reported in its latest issue. The number of cybercafes increased from 409 in January to 455 in mid-March, the Weekly Eleven newspaper reported, quoting figures from state-run Myanmar Infotech, the only provider authorized to issue Internet cafe licenses in Myanmar. Of the total, 353 are located in the country's largest city Yangon and in nearby areas, while 13 are in the country's second largest city Mandalay, the report said. Myanmar started allowing Internet cafes, which are officially called Public Access Centers, in 2004. The number of such centers stood at only around 20 in Yangon in 2006 but has grown significantly as Myanmar Infotech began more generously issuing licenses to promote education. Myanmar is one of the 12 countries listed as ''Internet Enemies'' by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders in its latest annual report on Internet freedom, issued March 12. The country not only has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in the world but its users are among the most threatened, the press freedom organization said. ''Going on line is itself seen as a dissident act,'' it says, adding that laws relating to electronic communications and the dissemination of news online ''are among the most dissuasive in the world, exposing Internet-users to very harsh prison sentences.'' The other countries on the list are Saudi Arabia, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. World's longest war nears its end It began with British betrayal after the Second World War and has stubbornly outlived every other conflict. But now, as it marks it diamond jubilee, the world's longest-running war is nearing its endgame. The guerrilla army of the Karen ethnic group, which has been fighting since 1949 for independence from Burma, is facing the greatest crisis in its history. If Karen resistance collapses, as some believe is likely, it will be a triumph for the Burmese junta as it consolidates its hold on power. After a three-year offensive by the junta, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) has been forced into increasingly small pockets of resistance, according to Burma experts. Deprived of funds and equipment, it is able to do little more than slow the advance of the Burmese Army as it lays waste to hundreds of villages, driving thousands of terrified civilians before it. Most serious of all, the Karen leadership is losing the support of neighbouring Thailand, where it was formerly able to organise, arm and - when necessary - retreat. Trapped between the Burmese Army to the west and an increasingly unfriendly Thailand to the east, with hundreds of thousands of their people in wretched refugee camps, the Karen are experiencing a humanitarian and military catastrophe. "The military situation is as bad as it's been at any time in the past 60 years," said David Mathieson, a Burma researcher with Human Rights Watch. "The Karen have less territory, fewer soldiers and fewer resources to sustain resistance. The Burmese have them more and more surrounded, and their backs are up against the wall." A Karen leader on the Thai border said that the KNLA and Burmese Army were fighting near the town of Kawkareik, close to the Thai border. All year there have been reports of Karen villagers being driven into the jungle by marauding soldiers. "It's a cat-and-mouse kind of struggle," David Tharckabaw, vice-president of the political organisation the Karen National Union (KNU), told The Times by phone from the Thai border town of Mae Sot. "The Burmese burn down villages and relocate the people close to their own camps." The Karen conflict has its origins in the Second World War, when many Karen fought alongside the British Army against the invading Japanese. The seven million Karen were promised their own state by the British but when independence came in 1948 the promise was forgotten. A year later, in January 1949, the Karen began the armed struggle that has continued ever since. In the early decades of the war, the KNU dominated the Irrawaddy Delta, close to the former Burmese capital Rangoon, as well as areas north of the city and all of Kayin State. But in the 1990s an increasingly well-armed Burmese Army made steady gains and in 1995 the KNU was driven out of its capital, Manerplaw. At this time, Buddhists in the Christian-dominated KNU broke away to form the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which now fights alongside the Burmese Army. Formerly, the KNU had operated as a quasi-government, providing schools and clinics and receiving income from tax, as well as from a profitable trade through Thailand in timber, gold, zinc and antimony. The loss of territory brought a loss of funds, which made it harder to arm and equip itself. The KNU claims to have 10,000 soldiers, including village militia men, but according to Mr Mathieson the number of active fighters is probably between 3,000 and 5,000. Last year the KNU suffered another blow when its respected and charismatic leader, Pado Mahn Shar, was assassinated at his home in Thailand by unidentified gunmen. Among many Karen there was a suspicion that the ease with which the killers escaped, and the failure to apprehend them, reflected a cooling of the welcome afforded by Thailand. Last month Karen military commanders were ordered out of Thailand and back across the border. This probably reflects the Thai Government's increasing dependence on Burma for raw materials and energy - the two governments are jointly planning ambitious hydroelectric dams along the Salween River which forms part of their border. The border is a valuable conduit not only for the Karen but for Burmese struggling to overthrow the military dictatorship. After the junta cracked down on large pro-democracy demonstrations of monks and activists in 2007, many of them escaped into Thailand. "It's a crucial route for information," said Mark Farmaner of the Burma Campaign UK. "If that's closed down the whole country will become much more isolated." - The United Nations has ruled that the continued detention by Burma of the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi violates domestic and international laws. The latest one-year detention period of Ms Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest, expires in May. Burma's generals are afraid of telephones and the internet LAST WEEKEND, the Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published a report entitled "Enemies of the Internet", which named Burma as one of 12 countries that actively practices censorship and restricts freedom of speech on the Internet. "The 12 enemies of the Internet … have all transformed their internet into an intranet in order to prevent their populations from accessing 'undesirable' online information," the RSF report said. As I work for a daily news service, this report is nothing surprising for me. But I was surprised when I learned that a group of hackers from the jungle capital of the low-speed intranet country attacked high-speed websites in the world's richest country. "Yes, this cyber attack was made by Russian technicians. However, they are not in Moscow but in Burma's West Point cyber city", claimed Aung Lin Htut, the former deputy ambassador to Washington and a former spy for ousted Burmese prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt. (Many Burmese observers compare the country's Maymyo Academy of Defence Services to the US Army's West Pont academy). Last September, which was the anniversary of the "saffron revolution" led by Buddhist monks, the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) website and two others leading websites (of the Chiang Mai-based Irrawaddy magazine and Delhi-based Mizzima) were attacked by unknown hackers. "We can easily say that the Burmese government is behind this attack," said a DVB statement. They used DdoS, or distributed denial-of-service, which overloads websites with an unmanageable amount of traffic." But the DVB technicians doubt that the attackers are government-backed hackers who are based in Russia. "Technically, it is of course difficult to say who is behind the attack," the statement said. According to Aung Lin Htut, thousands of Burmese army officers are studying Defence Electronic Technology at the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI), and hundreds of them return to Burma each year to work in Maymyo after they receive the four-year Masters Degrees. The subjects for Burmese officers studying there are computer software programs, nuclear technology, short range and long range missiles, and aeronautics and engineering. "There is full-scale electricity supply and hi-speed Internet connections at Napyidaw (the country's official capital city) and the West Point cyber city. The cyber attack is just the beginning of their plan to attack the democracy movement," the former spy told this correspondent in an electronic conversation from Washington. I asked how these officers would be able to apply their knowledge in Burma, where the electricity supply is intermittent. Although the two VIP locations are very advanced in IT, the rest of the country is still in the dark. There is not enough electricity, telephone lines, or hi-speed Internet connections for the general population. "Our office telephone line has been cut for over two years. There is no response from the authority whenever we ask the reason," said Nyan Win, a spokesman for the opposition National League for Democracy. "To open an e-mail address for the NLD may lead me to Insein (prison)" he added. The junta recently arrested dozens of students and activists, including Min Ko Naing's 88 Generation students' group, which took part in the September 2007 uprising and who were involved in distributing relief after Cyclone Nargis ripped through the country last year. A number of the students and activists were sentenced to 65 years in prison for violations of the electronic law, meaning that they had used cellphones, cameras, e-mail and the internet without permission from the authorities. "I'm very interested in IT and so I learned something about it on the Internet. This is only my guilt that will send me to Insein," said one activist named Zagana as a judge sentenced him to jail. A recent UN report says that 6 out of every 10 people in the world use a mobile phone. "But I think the NLD is the only political party in the world that has no telephone, no Internet or website in the 21st century," Nyan Win lamented to me during a cellphone (which he rents from friends) conversation from Rangoon. The NLD members and activists have no permission to buy a cellphone, and are not permitted to own or even use an Internet line or a laptop computer in Burma. If you live in Burma, you need permission from the authorities to buy a cell or land phone, a fax machine, an Internet line, computer, camera, satellite TV, or short-wave radio. "This is an unacceptable condition for the party that won the 1990 election, while the junta allows everything for the USDA - the pro-government Union Solidarity Development Association - for the 2010 election campaign," said Soe Aung, a spokesman for exiled 88 Generation students and the Forum for Democracy in Burma. "Cellphones and the Internet are daily basic necessities for politicians and the party," he said to this correspondent in a text message from his Blackberry. "This is very useful and you will see how US President Obama does his daily job using this phone," he added from Bangkok. But in Burma, the ageing NLD leadership in Rangoon and the army generals in Napyidaw have no Blackberry or cellphone. The generals have banned cellphones in the capital for security reasons, while the NLD leaders have not been able to get either a land phone, a cellphone or an e-mail account. "This is not just the nature of a generation gap between Obama and Than Shwe. Burma's politics is wrong indeed," Soe Aung added. International court condemns Burma junta for its illegal and "grotesque" record on detention Today sees the publication of one of the most important international law judgments in recent years. In a heavily argued case, decided last November but only now made public, the international legal system has ruled in the clearest possible terms that the military regime in Burma has contravened every last vestige of humanitarian law and falls to be condemned in the strongest possible way. Significantly, the tribunal rejected every single one of the Burmese Government's arguments. The regime has been held to be operating entirely outside of the law and its violations of minimum standards of international law are described by the tribunal as "grotesque". The judgment has come in a case brought on behalf of four prisoners in Burmese jails. Their "crime" was to wear white clothes, to call for Buddhist prayers and to organise a letter-writing campaign to inform the generals of the plight of the people. Their fate as a result has been extreme torture, a year of detention without charge, lack of access to family and lawyers, eventual trial without representation (their lawyers were imprisoned for contempt for trying to represent them) and now sentences of hundreds of years of imprisonment for their supposed crimes. They are also representative of thousands of other prisoners wrongfully and inhumanely detained by the Burmese junta. Their names are Min Ko Naing, Ko Jimmy, Min Zayar and Pyone Cho. The case of these four men was taken up by the Burma Justice Committee and was argued by two English barristers (Sappho Dias and Adam Zellick instructed by Jared Genser of DLA Piper LLP (US)) before the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The Burmese Government defended the proceedings, arguing that the detentions of the four were legal and fully in accordance with Burmese law. In an impressive judicial ruling, the jurists of the international tribunal founded under the auspices of the UN Charter have declared the Burmese Government's position to be unarguable and improper as a matter of international law. The detentions of all four Petitioners have been held to be arbitrary and in contravention of a whole raft of provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Whilst the Burmese military has so far ignored the outcome and continues illegally to imprison all four Petitioners contrary to international law and in contempt of the judgment of the tribunal, the ruling is almost unprecedented in its force and signifies that the Burmese dictatorship's conduct cannot be tolerated in international law any longer. Experts believe that International Criminal Court indictments against the ruling Generals and global sanctions against the regime are many steps closer today in light of the judgment handed down. Sappho Dias, Chairman of the Burma Justice Committee, said: "The BJC calls on Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, to press for the release of all political prisoners in Burma. The international community has a responsibility to those being persecuted in Burma, and we must act now to end the injustice that is being perpetrated against the Burmese people." Tim Dutton QC, immediate past Chairman of the Bar and a leading member of the BJC, said: "The Burma Justice Committee is pleased that the UN Working Group has reached its conclusion in this case. The Petitioners' case was overwhelming, although that did not stop the dictatorship from attempting to defend their actions. But the Petitioners remain incarcerated. The junta lost the case and the tribunal has ruled, but the ruling is being flouted. These four men must be released immediately. "More generally, the judgment is yet further evidence against the brutal military dictatorship, which, as part of its regime of repressing its citizens, illegally detains thousands of people, and subjects them to degrading and inhumane punishment. "We support the call for the release of these four men. We also call for the release of all those unlawfully detained by this regime. The junta is guilty of wholesale breaches of human rights, and the continued oppression of those working to bring democracy and the rule of law to Burma will not be tolerated. Those who support the illegal activities of this regime must expect, whether they be generals or gaolers, that they will be brought before courts and tribunals and held responsible." Note for Editors The Burma Justice Committee was established by lawyers in order to provide advice and assistance to those who are affected by the unlawful conduct of the Burmese Military Dictatorship. It is chaired by Sappho Dias (a barrister) who is of Burmese origin and the Vice Chair is Adam Zellick, also a barrister who has acted in a number of international human rights cases, and is the author of a book on habeas corpus. Amongst its members are barristers and solicitors with expertise in (amongst others) War Crimes, Human Rights, International Law, International Trade and Sanctions, Criminal Law. It counts amongst its members and supporters the current and immediate past Chairmen of the Bar Council and many other distinguished lawyers and jurists. Burma : The Petitioners in Brief. NB These notes on the Petitioners lives were included in the materials for the case put before the UN Group on Arbitrary Detention, and were released in November 2007 when the Petitions were lodged. They record information known to the Burma Justice Committee as at that date. Htay Win Aung (alias Pyone Cho). The alias Pyone Cho in Burmese means Sweet Smile. He was a Joint General Secretary of the Rangoon Division Students Union in the period 1988 to 1989. He was first arrested following the post 1988 crackdown in July 1989 alongside Tint Sann. The Military Junta accused them of anti-government activities although Htay Win Aung was not brought to face trial until 1991 (2 years after arrest). The so-called trial was before a military tribunal which did not permit Htay Win Aung to be legally represented. Nor were his relatives allowed to attend the trial. A sentence of 7 years imprisoment was imposed on him. This 7 year sentence was extended to 14 years as Htay Win Aung sent to the UN a statement about the conditions existing in the notorious Myingyan Prioson. He was released for the first time in 2005. On release he was suffering from malnutrition as well as cataracts, which made him blind. He was re-arrested for a second time on 30th September 2006 being released (for the second time) on 11th January 2007. Following the recent protests by the monks against the Military Junta, Htay Win Aung was re-arrested on 22nd August 2007. Kyaw Min Yu (alias Ko Jimmy). Kyaw Min Yu was a student in his third year studying Physics at Rangoon University when he was first arrested in 1989. He was tried and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. This sentence was increased by a further 12 years when he contacted the UN Human Rights Commission. Ge was released in 2005. He is married and his wife is currently in hiding from the Military Junta. Nilar Thein AND Kyaw Min Yu have a daughter, now aged 4 months, who is now living without her father or her mother. Kyaw Min Yu was re-arrested following the prodemocracy protest by the monks on 22nd August 2007. There have been repeated rumours of his death in Burma but U Myint Tein, a spokesperson for the National League for Democracy believes these are false rumours generated by the Military Junta to flush his wife out of hiding. Min Ko Naing. (Formal name: Paw Oo Tun). Min Ko Naing is an alias meaning the Conqueror of Kings in Burmese. Min Ko Naing is one of the prominent figureheads in the struggle for democracy. In 1988, he was the Chairperson of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions. He was in his third year at Rangoon Arts and Science University reading Zoology. Min Ko Naing is regarded as the most charismatic of the student leaders to have emerged from the 88 Generation. He is described as kind, generous, flexible and broad-minded. It is also said of him that he has a sense of humour which has sustained him through the long years of solitary imprisonment. He was first arrested on 23rd March 1989 and subsequently sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. During his first spell in prison, Min Ko Naing was visited by the then-US Congressman Bill Richardson who offered him freedom on the basis of an agreement to be deported to the United States. Min Ko Naing refused this offer. He was subsequently released for the first time on 19th November 2004. However, on 27th September 2006, he was arrested a second time and was not released until 11th January 2007. Although his name his not well known outside Burma, his is a name which has charismatic power in Burma. He was arrested after the recent prodemocracy protests by the monks on 22nd August 2007. He is the recipient of human rights awards from Canada, the Czech Republic, Norway, Italy and United States. Min Zayar. (Formal Name: Aung Myin, Aung Par). Min Zayar is an alias meaning the Teacher of Kings in Burmese. Min Zayar at 49, in the oldest of the detainees. In 1988, he was in his fifth year at Rangoon University reading Law and was a Committee member of the now banned All Burma Students Union. Throughout 1988, he was repeatedly arrested and held in prison for short spells. There were 3 such arrests in 1988. On 25th August 1989, he was arrested for a fourth time and sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. He was released in October 1995 but since that date has been repeatedly re-arrested and imprisoned for varying lengths of time. He was last released on 11th January 2007. However, following the recent pro-democracy protests he was rearrested on 21st August 2007. There are fears that all of the detainees are being tortured and mistreated. For more information, or a copy of Opinion No. 46/2008, please call Camilla Barker on 0207 067 0330 UN DECLARES NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE AUNG SAN SUU KYI OF BURMA'S DETENTION ILLEGAL; URGES HER IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE Freedom Now Tue 24 Mar 2009 Washington, D.C. - Today, Freedom Now released Opinion No. 46/2008 from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The judgment declares unequivocally that the ongoing detention of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is illegal and in violation of both Burmese and international law. It also urges her immediate release: The Working Group . . . declare[es] Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi's placement under house arrest [is] arbitrary, being in contravention of Articles 9, 10, and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . . . and even domestic law . . . which itself contradicts to the basic principles and norms of modern international law . . . Consequent upon this Opinion, the Working Group requests the Government to immediately release, without any condition, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi from her continued placement under house arrest. An independent and impartial body of the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention consists of experts from Chile, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Senegal, and Spain. Previously, the Working Group has issued four opinions - 8/1992, 2/2002, 9/2004, and 2/2007 - that her prior terms of house arrest violated international law. But this is the first time the Working Group has declared her detention to be a violation of domestic Burmese law. After Ms. Suu Kyi's political party and its allies won the 1990 elections in Burma with more than 80% of the parliamentary seats, she has spent more than 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest. "It is deeply unfortunate that the Burmese junta continues to flagrantly violate its own and international law," said Jared Genser, President of Freedom Now, and lead attorney for Ms. Suu Kyi. "Previously, the UN Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, ASEAN, European Union, and United States have all called for Ms. Suu Kyi's release. The only question remaining is how long will Burma's bold-face defiance of the international community be tolerated?" he added. Freedom Now is supporting the Free Burma's Political Prisoners Now Campaign (www.fbppn.net), which aims to collect 888,888 signatures calling for the release of Ms. Suu Kyi and the more than 2,100 other political prisoners in Burma. For more information, contact Ted Loud +1 (202) 799-4348. |
16 March 2009
[ReadingRoom] News on Burma - 16/3/09
Major parties not to contest polls unless constitution is revised - Nem Davies The leader of the 'Committee Representing People's Parliament' (CRPP) Aye Thar Aung has declared that they will not contest the 2010 general elections in Burma unless the constitution is amended. In the course of its regular meeting held yesterday, CRPP Chairman Aye Thar Aung said that the constitution must be reviewed and amended. "Since this constitution does not have democratic principles and does not guarantee the right of ethnic people, the constitution must be reviewed and amended. Only after that, we will consider contesting the 2010 general elections," he said. But the junta had said that they were implementing their 7-step roadmap in accordance with the democratic principles and the constitution has been approved by 92 per cent of the voters who turned out in the 2008 constitutional referendum. However, independent observers were not allowed to monitor the referendum and there were widespread reports of rampant vote rigging and irregularities in the referendum. The opposition political parties see the constitution as deliberately designed for the legitimacy and supremacy of the military in Burmese politics. "The main point that needs to be amended is lack of democratic fundamentals especially the No. 6 point in the basic principles which says 'enabling the Defence Services to be able to participate in the National political leadership role of the State'. Many points under this principle must be amended," he added. All the member political parties in the CRPP namely the main opposition party the National League for Democracy, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), Zomi National Congress (ZNC) and Mon National League for Democracy agreed not to contest the 2010 general election unless the constitution is amended. "We must engage in dialogue for this purpose. The ethnic nationalities, NLD and SPDC (junta) must review the constitution and make necessary modifications and insertions in it," Aye Thar Aung said. Political prisoners doubled in two years, say activists - Wai Moe The number of political prisoners in Burma has almost doubled since July 2007, according to activists who launched a campaign on Friday to press for their release. Before the start of demonstrations in August 2007, it was estimated that Burmese jails held 1,100 political prisoners. Today the number stands at 2,100, said Khin Ohmar, a leading Burmese activist at the launch of the campaign "Free Burma's Political Prisoners Now!" (www.fbppn.net) in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. "Unless political prisoners are released, there is no peace and stability in the country," she said. The "Free Burma's Political Prisoners Now!" campaign is organized by the Thailand-based Burmese Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP) and the Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB), an umbrella dissident group of seven organizations in exile. Khin Ohmar, of the FDB, was banned from attending the Asean summit in Thailand last month, along with a Cambodian activist. The current campaign aims to collect a symbolic 888,888 signatures on a petition for the release of Burma's political prisoners. The petition will be circulated in Thailand, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. In Thailand, the launch was held at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok and Chiang Mai University's International Center. Friday was chosen for the launch because March 13 was proclaimed Burma's Human Rights Day by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other leading dissidents to mark the anniversary of the deaths of activists Phone Maw and Soe Naing in clashes with police in 1988. The petition calling for the release of political prisoners will be circulated until May 24, the day that Suu Kyi should be released from her current term of house arrest under Burmese law. It will be sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, The UN General Assembly has been urging the release of Burma's political prisoners for more than a decade. AAPP Secretary Tate Naing said at Friday's launch that the 2010 election would be meaningless if political prisoners were still behind bars on polling day. "The release of political prisoners is number 1 priority for national reconciliation and democratization in the country," he said. Burmese people sacrificed on the altar of economic interests, says Indian priest - Nirmala Carvalho Clergyman slams the "silence" of the international community, including India, and their tendency to dismiss human rights as an "internal affair" and do business with the dictatorship. In Myanmar today is Human Rights Day, but democracy "will be reached only on the long run." The silence of the international community with regards to the tragedy unfolding every day in Myanmar is "shameful". Even India is interested only in "economic and commercial opportunities" and is doing nothing about "human rights", dismissing the whole thing as "an internal matter" with the result that the military dictatorship is "enjoying all the privileges" whilst the population "continues to suffer", this according to Father A Cyril, a Jesuit priest from Madurai, southern India, who was born in Myanmar and spent there the first ten years of his life. The clergyman's outcry coincides with Human Rights Day in the former Burma. For the occasion activists have launched a campaign to free Aung San Suu Kyi and the other 2,100 political prisoners held in the country's prisons. For Father Cyril the campaign is "good sign" and can be used to "reawaken the conscience of the international community", but it "will not have any effect in Myanmar where the government will continue to play big brother. Anyone who puts his or her name to the signature campaign is in danger of arrest, torture and persecution." "In Myanmar the violation of human rights is total. The military junta does not provide a decent education and does not create job opportunities for people. There is no freedom; even religious freedom is heavily restricted. There is no freedom of movement and people are under surveillance, jailed if suspected of anti-government activities, and tortured in the most inhuman ways." "Real social and economic development" is an impossibility for the clergyman because the junta is not interested in "truly democratic reform." Father Cyril, who visited Myanmar after cyclone Nargis, spent four months in the country working in direct contact with displaced people. The most extensive damages caused by the tropical cyclone that hit the southern part of the county on 2 May 2008 were in the area of the Irrawaddy Delta. Even now, ten months after the tragedy, the situation there remains critical. Nargis killed about 140,000 people but affected about 2.4 million Burmese who are still waiting for assistance. The Jesuit clergyman is upset that the military dictatorship has created "obstacles" to help and shown "unwillingness to accept foreign aid." "We tried to help people who lost everything in the cyclone. We tried to give them food, aid, a home, but the government prevented us. But people are still willing to fight to free themselves from an oppressive tyranny." The priest is concerned about the "future of the country and its liberation" because if there is democracy "the nation can grow." Its soil is rich in mineral resources like gold and oil; its forests have precious wood; the land is fertile. But "capable and talented" people cannot express themselves because they have to "struggle to survive", living "in terror" under the constant threat of "guns and rifles" with many killed. "People are scared," said Father Cyril, "but there are still some who are fighting for democracy and freedom. It is a journey that will take a long time and will be reached only on the long run. But Myanmar and its people have all it takes to emerge." RSF lists Burma among 12 "Internet Enemies" - Mungpi Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Without Border (RSF), has listed military-ruled Burma among 12 countries, which it has called "Internet Enemies" for censoring online freedom of expression. In a report published on Thursday, entitled "Enemies of the Internet", the RSF identified 12 nations, that it said had systematically restricted the flow of information to the people by denying them access to the internet and banning sites that it deemed "undesirable". The list of such nations included, Burma, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba and Tunisia. According to the report, Burma's military rulers have displayed their high-handedness on the few internet users in Burma, by arresting and sentencing at least 14 journalists and two bloggers to long prison terms. Out of an approximate nearly 50 million people, only about 40,000, mostly urban dwellers, have the privilege of access to the internet, the report said. In 1996, Burma had introduced a law on television, and video along with the Electronic Act, which banned the import, possession and use of a modem, without official permission. The offense was punishable with up to 15-years of imprisonment, for damaging state security, national unity, culture, the national economy and law and order. Burma has two government-controlled Internet Service Providers, namely the Myanmar Post and Telecommunication (MPT) and the Bagan Cybertech, which was later renamed as Myanmar Teleport. Besides monitoring public cyber cafes by conducting surprise checks on internet users and asking the café managers to keep track records of users, the prohibitive prices of getting a connection at home, also restricts the population from accessing the internet. The report said, the Burmese military junta due to its fear of losing control over the internet, had made laws relating to electronic communications and the dissemination of news online, the most dissuasive in the world, exposing internet-users to very harsh prison sentences. Internet users in Burma could be simply arrested and sentenced to long prison terms, if they were found surfing or browsing dissident websites, international news sites, and exiled Burmese Media sites, including Mizzima News. Nay Phone Latt, a 28 year old, owner of two cyber cafes in Rangoon, was arrested in January 2008, and sentenced to over 12 years of imprisonment, under the Electronic Act for possessing a film, which the junta said was "subversive". Similarly, popular comedian Zargarnar was also sentenced to 35 years under the Electronic Act, for posting pictures and information on the impact of Cyclone Nargis, which revealed the government's failure to adequately assist the victims. The report said, "All of these countries mark themselves out not just for their capacity to censor news and information online, but also for their almost systematic repression of internet users." The report, which made a study of 22 countries, also said there were "at least 69 people behind bars, for having expressed themselves freely online." The RSF also puts 10 other countries including Australia and South Korea, "Under Surveillance" for adopting worrying measures that could be the beginning of abuses on internet users and imposition of censorship on freedom of expression online. The military mind-set - Saw Tun I would like to try to explain what I believe to be the genuine attitude of the Burmese military government. What is the aim of the Burmese Tamadaw [the military]? How do they think? Until 1988, late dictator Gen Ne Win, who was the god father of the current ruling generals, didn't favour the communism and parliamentary democracy. He ordered prominent political theorists to draw up a middle-way political ideology. Finally, due to the economic decline, he began to follow the reforms conducted by China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. However, Ne Win gave up his political control by the nation-wide democracy uprising, which produced the1988 student movements. His protégé, former spy chief Gen Khin Nyunt, also stated that the enemy of the military was the Communists and Western neo-colonialists [a phrase usually used by Communists] who were accused of controlling the opposition movement from behind the scenes. Until now, the generals continue to teach army officers along similar lines. Not like Ne Win, the current ruling generals lacked the experience of independent struggles or Cold War politics. They are not able to stand on a nationalistic platform and non-alliance ideology. They are not skilful in playing political theory games. But they have learned some effective ways to hold on to their power. My Brother's Lesson "What is military training?" asked my brother, who was a military officer, when I was young. I replied that the training taught me to be disciplined. "No, it teaches you to immediately follow an order without thinking," he said. "When you hear 'Attention,' you follow the order at once, don't you? When you hear, 'At ease,' you follow it without thinking, don't you?'" The training and lectures eventually gives all soldiers a military mindset, which is comprised of the following characteristics:
In a soldier's view, thus, ordinary people and civil servants live more easy-going lives. They are undisciplined and have many leisure hours. They do business to become rich. The result is that soldiers believe they have the sole right to hold state power due to their hard work and sacrifices. These basic opinions are what hinder the relationship between the people and the military, the military and opposition groups and also warp the military view of the international community, which is constantly telling them to give up their hold on power. Military officers were surprised when I, a scholar, travelled with them through the forests and mountains. They didn't think anyone except a soldier could do such hard work. When the army cracks down on peaceful demonstrators, they viewed them as lazy opportunists who are asking for rights without working hard. The army, in a way, blames the people for failing to develop the country. Although the army as a whole works hard, the people and civil servants don't work hard. Foreigners work and think smarter than lazy Burmese people, and these are the reasons developed countries are ahead of Burma. However, when ordinary people go abroad to seek job opportunity, they see foreigners as human beings like them. They work industriously because they receive advantages from their work. They are disciplined because reap advantages from performing well. They know exactly the things that Burma could not move forward because of the army's heavy handed control. The Influence of Communist Thought Patterns After removal of Ne Win from politics, the military generals didn't have anyone to give them effective policy guidance that could have gone about reshaping the country. Khin Nyunt, who was more broad-minded than others, formed the American-style Institute of Strategic and International Studies, and selected young military officers for the intelligence units and trained them in international politics. Using various underground political strategies, Khin Nyunt approached the United States, the European Union and Japan. He drew up the junta's political road map, the Naypyidaw plan, and the policies propagated in the National Defence College. Although the generals never believed in communism and socialism, they studied the tactics and methods of these ideologies, which are premised on hostility to politicians and negativism toward multi-party and federal systems. Clearly, the generals followed the dictum of Mao Tse Tung: "Crack down on the extreme minority, leave the educated to live in illusion, and label the majority of ordinary people as supporters." Today the generals are trying to divide Asean and educated Burmese people from the opposition groups. Speaking in Communist terms, they see Asean and the educated class as walking in illusion. The army believes students and the educated class get into politics because of their misconceptions. At first, they aimed at strictly controlling the student movement itself, but later in 2007, they labelled most students as part of the extreme group. Because of their highly indoctrinated, military mind-set, military leaders are cut-off and isolated from the people. They truly have no understanding of the people's plight. Military officers do not associate with the general population even if they are appointed to civilian positions, because they are trained not to be too close to the people. Military officers who understand the life of the people are dismissed from their positions. Military leaders who are retired from the army are isolated. Many incumbent military leaders are desperately afraid of being retired, because they know no other way of life - or thought. The author is a Rangoon-based observer of politics and military affairs in Burma. Cyclone relief coordinator sentenced to 17 years - Khin Hnin Htet A man who organised rescue efforts via the internet for Cyclone Nargis victims has been sentenced to 17 years in jail. Min Thein Tun (also known as Thiha) was charged under the Electronics Act, Unlawful Associations Act and Immigration Act. The sentence was passed on 11 March in a court inside Insein prison. He had carried out the efforts whilst working legally in Malaysia, but was arrested on his return to Burma last year, his mother Thein Thein said. "On 11 July 2008 [the police] came to my house and searched it," she said. "They found nothing. They searched the house a second time and told Thein Thein that her son had been arrested. "When I asked [Min Thein Tun] what had happened, he said he was not involved in politics, just social work and support," she said. Six members of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions are currently on trial following their arrest last year for collecting and burying corpses in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. They are defending allegations of sedition and Unlawful Associations Act. 'Suu-Parliament-Meet' movement in Northern Shan State Activists, who want 'Freedom for all political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, convening of Parliament, and having a political dialogue' have started a movement in northern Shan State. The movement wants supporters to write the words 'suu-parliament-meet' on currency notes and spend it in the market. The movement was started in some regions in Burma after a respected journalist, U Win Tin talked to the foreign based media when he was released from jail. A local who participated in the movement said that the movement was started on March 8 at a religious ceremony Hsenwi (Theindi) town, northern Shan State. "Our movement does not represent a party or an organization. We, have a common feeling, gather a group and go about it without hurting anybody. We believe that the 'suu-parliament-meet' is the only way to solve the political problems in our country. Therefore we did it." We spent a total of 50,000 Kyat at a religious ceremony in Hsenwi's pagoda. We wrote the words 'suu-parliament-meet' with a ball-pen on the corner of a 1,000 Kyat note and a 500 note, and distributed them among local people, said the local. "We are creating a movement. We are focussing on it whether it is effective or not. We are doing what we can do. All the people can easily participate in this movement. If all people participate in this movement, wishes and desires of the people will spread to the whole country," he added. During the May 2008 referendum, 'vote no' leaflets were distributed and 'vote no' campaign was launched in Nang Kham and Muse region, northern Shan State. Free Burma's political prisoners now A global signature campaign for the release of Burma's political prisoners has been launched today, on Burma's Human Rights Day. The campaign aims to collect 888,888 signatures before 24 May 2009, the legal date that Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should be released from house arrest. Over 150 Burma exile and solidarity groups are participating in the campaign. Events and activities will take place around the world, including in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, London, Dublin, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Manila, Seoul, Jakarta, Sydney, and Tokyo. The petition calls on the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to make it his personal priority to secure the release of all political prisoners in Burma, as the essential first step towards national reconciliation and democratization in the country. The target symbolises 8.8.88, the day the junta massacred some 3,000 people who courageously protested in Burma's largest democracy uprising. On 3 December 2008, 112 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 50 countries sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to press for the release of all political prisoners in Burma by the end of 2008. 241 legislators from all over Asia also sent a public letter to the UN Secretary-General on 5 December conveying the same message. Over 2,100 political prisoners remain in Burma's jails. Tate Naing, a former political prisoner and secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), said, "Political prisoners are not criminals. They have simply stood up for freedom and democracy. Without the release of all political prisoners, there can be no peace and stability in our country. But we need the UN Secretary General to step in and show strong leadership on this issue. With this signature campaign, we want to show Ban Ki-moon just how many people around the world care about this issue." The global signature campaign will run from 13 March to 24 May. To sign the petition, visit www.fbppn.net. For media interviews, please contact: Chinese nuclear expert dies in Burma - Sein Win A nuclear scientist from Beijing University died at the Central Hotel in Rangoon while attending a meeting organized by Burma's Nuclear Department under the Ministry of Science and Technology. Mr. Zhang Peixin (47) was found dead in his hotel room on the last day of the meeting. Mr. Zhang arrived in Burma on February 22nd, but failed to appear at the meeting hall on March 1st, his departure date. Personnel from the host Ministry and an Assistant Hotel Manager then broke into his room, finding him dead on the bed. After receiving the information from the hotel, police and medical personnel rushed to the scene for inspection. They later confirmed the death without finding any marks or injuries on the body. Doctors from Rangoon General Hospital's Forensic Department conducted a post mortem and found Mr. Zhang's heart's main arteries were blocked and narrow, according to police sources. Sources who investigated the case said that the deceased was alone in the hotel room when he died. His wife and daughter traveled to Burma and cremated his remains at Yeway Cemetery on March 6th at 4:20 p.m., returning to China with the ashes. Wa continue to resist census taking Latest reports from the Sino-Burma border say the United Wa State Army (UWSA) is still refusing entry to census takers coming from Kengtung, the capital of Shan State East. A team of 27 government officials who arrived on the Wa border checkpoint Kho-Hsoong on 26 February were forced to return to Kengtung. Col Than Tut Thein, G1 from Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command, was dispatched to Panghsang, the Wa headquarters last week. "He returned empty -handed on 6 March after spending two days in Panghsang," said an officer from the Wa's closest ally National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), commonly known as the Mongla group by the name of its main base. Meeting Col Sai Hsarm, Commander of the UWSA's Mongpawk-based 468th Brigade on his way back, he had reportedly stressed on two points:
Tension between the UWSA and the Burma Army has been high since the beginning of the year. According to the Wa's own estimates, they are being besieged by at least 50 Burma Army infantry battalions. Mongla, on the other hand, has permitted junta officials to conduct census in its domain, but refused to divulge the group's own roster. Local people meanwhile are skeptical about the process which is expected to last until the end of March. "They are taking back our white cards (temporary IDs issued before the May 2008 referendum) without issuing us a substitute in return," said a villager. A permanent ID is a pink card. The ruling military generals are taking a nationwide census in preparation for the 2010 general elections. The New Mon State Party (NMSP) has also refused to provide information on its members and their families, reported Independent Mon News Agency (IMNA) yesterday. Chinese company secretly spirits away minerals from Northern Burma While working on dam projects for hydroelectric power in northern Burma, Chinese companies are secretly spiriting away unidentified minerals to their country, said local sources. Two or more sub-Chinese companies in the Chinese government's China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) have been taking away different kinds of minerals to their country from areas around N'Mai River (N'Mai Hka in Kachin) hydropower project in Chipwi (Chibwe) east of Burma's northern Kachin State since the CPI's hydropower inspectors arrived in Chipwi in 2007, according to residents of Chipwi. Local eyewitnesses told KNG, that some unknown minerals are tidily put in wooden boxes and some are not. The trucks are covered with opaque plastic when minerals are loaded in the trucks and transported to China mostly at night, added the eyewitnesses. Local Kachin villagers always see the Chinese taking away mineral from the areas around them but they have no idea what kind of minerals are being taken away by the Chinese, local villagers told KNG. According to businessmen on the Sino-Burma border, minerals like Aluminium, Silver and Lead are found in the hydropower project site in Chipwi. The project site is protected by Burmese army soldiers and no one is authorized to go inside the projects site or watch the activities of Chinese workers, said sources in the Kachin ceasefire group in the area, the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K). A NDA-K officer told KNG recently, Chinese trucks loaded with unidentified minerals from Chipwi hydropower project site cross the Sino-Burma border which is controlled by the NDA-K. However, both NDA-K and Burmese military authorities are not authorized to check Chinese workers' activities in the project site and trucks crossing the two countries' border. In December last year, the number of Chinese workers in the Chipwi hydropower project site increased from over 300 to about 1,000, said residents of Chipwi. Under the agreement between the governments of China and Burma, the Chipwi hydropower project in N'Mai River is being implemented by Asia World Company in Burma and CPI. The project is one of seven hydropower projects in Mali and N'Mai Rivers, and the Mali and N'Mai Rivers' Confluence called the Mali-N'Mai Zup in Kachin or Myitsone in Burmese and it is estimated to generate 2,000 MW of electricity. Burma's Rohingyas in flight and the solutions to their plight - Vitit Muntarbhorn Much ink has been spilt over the plight of Rohingyas who have sought shelter in the Southeast Asian region in recent months, even though the situation is hardly new. Opinions range from the nationalistic to internationalistic - varying from defensive claims of national security immersed in an attitude of denial, to international law-based advocacy of their rights inviting a more open response. This group is currently of great interest to the international community, because they are primarily a Muslim minority originating in theArakan (or Rakhine) state of Burma with a particularly challenging history. Their outflow has, for a long time, been the result of a situation of great ambivalence in that country of origin where they are, in reality, treated as outcasts. Even though historically they have been there for many generations, their ethnicity was not adequately recognised at the time of Burma's independence. Even today, while the authorities there seem to be willing to recognise over one hundred ethnic groups in the country, they do not recognise Rohingyas as a legitimate group in that list. The past three decades have witnessed various disturbing facts which should help to inform the need for a balanced policy, nationally, regionally and internationally, concerning the group. They are not allowed to move freely in Burma. They are not allowed to marry without permission. They are impeded from accessing schools and other services. They are extremely poor and are marginalised politically and economically. They suffer from the uncertainties of being a stateless people. In effect, the Rohingyas are persecuted by a regime which instrumentalises Buddhism for political ends and plays on the fear of Islam. These factors thus provide for a scenario of explicit and implicit persecution of the group which, for lack of national protection, requires international protection. While they may at times fit into the category of economic migrants in their exodus, the likelihood is that concurrently, they are also refugees ("persons with a well-founded fear of persecution," according to the international definition of "refugee") - given the oppressive background that shapes their existence. The outflows date back many years. In the late 1970s, tens of thousands of Rohingyas were pressured to leave Burma, but they were later able to repatriate to the country with UN help. In the early 1990s, another massive outflow took place - of several hundred thousands. Most were able to seek temporary refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh. Again with UN help, many were able to return voluntarily to Burma. However, a residual number remained in camps in Bangladesh and even today, there are some 20,000-30,000 officially in the camps there. It is estimated that there are also some 200,000-300,000 outside the camps who do not enjoy the formal protection offered by the camps. Nor is their influx into Thailand new. Today, it is estimated that there are some 20,000 Rohingyas in Thailand. In the past few years, several thousands have been trickling into the region by boat. Over the past few months, it is evident that the arrivals have been mainly men. It is suspected that they are helped by third parties - smugglers or traffickers, in their precarious voyage. While many seem to be searching for work, the background of their departure should not be forgotten - especially the environment of discrimination noted above which may be interlinked with persecution. Sadly, recent arrivals have been subjected to numerous cruelties in the Southeast Asian region, with several reports of push-backs ("refoulement") at sea, and physical violence and other violations committed against them. In composition, these "boat people" may also be mixed flows; news reports indicate that while some are Rohingyas coming from the camps or around the camps in Bangladesh, others are coming directly from Burma - while others are Bangladeshis (non-Rohingyas) sharing the boats. But how can the world be really certain? Before conjecturing too much, it is important that there be ways of talking with the arrivals to ascertain their background and their reasons for departure from their homesteads and/or recent shelters. It is important to have credible third parties accessing them to listen to their life histories and the reasons for their departure from their country of origin and/or their country of transit. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is traditionally the best placed organisation to do so, in cooperation with the authorities of the country of refuge. If it is found that the circumstances and personal situation of those who seek refuge - objectively and subjectively - indicate that they left their country of origin because of actual or potential persecution, they are entitled to international protection. They should not be pushed out or pushed back from the country of refuge, whether at sea, on land or by air; this encapsulates the international law principle of "non-refoulement". It is important to relay that message emphatically to border authorities, including the armed forces, immigration officials and police, as well as the message of the duty to rescue people at sea. The tendency to classify arrivals as "illegal immigrants" under national immigration law should not undermine that overarching duty. And what is to be done? After a rather haphazard beginning in recent months, the various countries of refuge, particularly Thailand, are now moving towards more humane solutions, based upon dialogue, consultation and shared responsibility. Yet, one of the strange ironies of the current situation is that while there has been much advocacy vis-a-vis countries of refuge in relation to deficiencies in their treatment of those who seek refuge, much less has been said concerning the country of origin. Clearly, it is Burma which is the most important element of the equation and which should bear the brunt of the responsibility. Unless the root causes of displacement and the marginalisation of the Rohingya people are dealt with effectively there, there can be no genuine, long-term solutions. And the plight of the Rohingya people is closely intertwined with the challenge of human rights and democracy in Burma as a whole. The issue of statelessness also needs to be dealt with concretely by the country of origin. Food security, economic and social development, respect for their religion and culture, freedom of movement, political participation, property ownership, access to schools and livelihood opportunities, and the right to marry are but some of the key issues to be dealt with at the source. Even if those who are now seeking refuge in other countries did not have Burmese nationality before their exodus, there are still ways of ascertaining that they were long-time residents there. Evidence of this status can be gauged from the various forms of registration in Burma, such as "family lists". In the event of their possible return to the country, they need to be reinstated on such lists and to be assured that they will be treated humanely. Indeed, it is worth recalling the international position that even those who do not have a country's nationality are entitled to respect for their human rights - as human rights are the rights of all persons irrespective of nationality and other origins. In the quest for solutions, there are various possibilities open to dialogue and related action. There is the 10-country Asean channel, but Bangladesh is not part of this forum. There is the channel known as the Bali process which involves over 50 countries on measures to deal with aspects of migration in the Asia-Pacific region. However, to date, this process has tended to deal with transnational crime, and human trafficking and smuggling, rather than the plight of those who seek refuge. If the Bali process is to be used in regard to the latter, there needs to be strong injection of the human rights element and refugee protection into the forum. On another front, there is a possible tripartite/quadripartite process, involving Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh and the UN. Or there could simply be a bilateral channel between Thailand and Burma on aspects of the Rohingya issue. The door should thus be open and not closed, on the basis of shared responsibility and humanitarian responses. Vitit Muntarbhorn is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn University. He has helped the United Nations in a variety of capacities, including as an expert, consultant and Special Rapporteur. He is the author of "The Status of Refugees in Asia," published by Oxford University Press. Myanmar's military as a Ponzi scheme - Norman Robespierre Rank inflation and an ever-expanding flag officer corps are unable to provide sufficient promotion opportunities within Myanmar's military, known as the Tatmadaw. The civil government structure is at risk of further militarization as the country slowly moves towards the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) military regime's unique interpretation of democracy. On September 17, 1988, the day before the Myanmar military staged a coup and formed the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), there were only two officers above the rank of major general in the entire Tatmadaw. They were General Saw Maung, the defense forces chief of staff, and then-Lieutenant General Than Shwe, the army's vice chief of staff. In current nomenclature, these positions would be referred to as CINC (defense forces) and CINC (army). Today, the Tatmadaw has no less than 24 senior flag officers serving in lieutenant-general or above billets on active service (See Table). The 1,200% increase in senior flag ranks far outpaces the approximate 250% increase of the entire Tatmadaw over that same period. This expansion of the upper tier has been central to Senior General Than Shwe's ability to stay firmly in control. By expanding promotion opportunities within the Tatmadaw, Than Shwe has successfully ensured continued loyalty of the officer corps. The expansion of the flag ranks provides more opportunities for advancement, allowing Than Shwe to dangle the carrot of self-interest that often entices officers' to continue to support the system. Expansive reorganizing Illustrative of Than Shwe's efforts to expand promotion opportunities was the reorganization of the Tatmadaw in November 2001. According to a senior Myanmar military official intimately familiar with the Ministry of Defense's planning process at the time, the major reorganization of the Tatmadaw was done to expand promotion opportunities for the officer corps and reduce the power of regional commanders. The morale in the Tatmadaw had been particularly poor in the late 1990s. A 500% raise for the military granted on Armed Forces Day in 2000 improved the situation somewhat. However, according to the source, there remained an undercurrent of dissatisfaction among field-grade officers over the scarce opportunities for advancement. That was caused in part by the long tenures of regional commanders, who used their positions to consolidate significant powers. They were essentially warlords and controlled virtually all of the weaponry and manpower of Myanmar's ground forces, which were engaged in combat with ethnic insurgent groups. Than Shwe could not risk taking action against any one regional commander as the others might band together and stage a mutiny against him. At the time, the regional commanders were also members of the SPDC, a designation which made them technically higher than ministers. As a result, ministerial decrees were difficult to implement, with regional commanders deciding on which decrees to enforce or ignore. The dilemma was resolved then by luring the SPDC-member regional commanders from their fiefdoms to accept promotions within the War Office. In a policy shift, new regional commanders were not made SPDC members. To ensure allegiance of the new regional commanders, they were not selected from the corps of officers next in seniority. Instead, Than Shwe promoted officers from several rungs down the ladder. The rationale apparently was that an officer next in line by seniority would have assumed the position with the attitude he had earned it through his own hard work. Conversely, one promoted early would recognize the value of his mentor's assistance and be indebted with a sense of loyalty. The plan required considerable expansion of the lieutenant-general positions to accommodate the regional commanders. A number of lieutenant-general positions were opened up by a variety of means: two lieutenant-generals were terminated for corruption just before the 2001 re-organization. The Bureau of Special Operations (BSO), which co-ordinates operations across regional commands, was separated into four entities. Additional billets also were created with the new position chief of staff (army, navy and air force) and by forming Offices for Defense Industries, Air Defense and Training. In the Myanmar military, offices are headed by lieutenant-generals and directorates by major generals. The creation of offices to justify a third star was done previously. In August 1993, the Office of Special Studies (OSS) was created to justify the promotion of the former head of intelligence, Khin Nyunt, to the rank of lieutenant-general. The OSS's function and personnel were not readily distinguishable from headquarters staff of Khin Nyunt's Directorate of Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI). A former military intelligence officer said in an interview that outsiders and Western analysts attached too much significance to the formation of the OSS, as it was essentially a paper shuffle to justify Khin Nyunt's third star. Rank inflation The November 2001 reorganization is just one factor in the subsequent expansion of the Tatmadaw's flag officer corps. Creation of new ranks, development of new positions, and military infiltration of the civil service has fostered rank inflation and growth of the flag officer corps. The trend toward a larger flag officer corps was established just 18 months after the SLORC seized control of the country, when mass promotion of generals and some colonels took place in March 1990. To maintain a pyramid structure to military command, Than Shwe's predecessor, Saw Maung, elevated himself to the newly created rank of senior general. The creation of a new rank was repeated in September 2002 when the regime's No 2 man, Maung Aye, was knighted with the rank of vice-senior general, equating to 4.5 stars. The new rank allowed him to maintain rank superiority when his rival Khin Nyunt put on his fourth star. Khin Nyunt's promotion to general required a paper shuffle similar to that associated with his previous promotion. To justify his fourth star, Khin Nyunt was designated special advisor to the senior general. Later, his appointment as prime minister justified the rank. Khin Nyunt fell from power in a 2004 internal purge and is currently being held in house arrest. While justification of Khin Nyunt's promotions may have been an exercise in paperwork, operational positions have been created to expand the flag ranks. Following the precedent of the November 2001 reorganization, two more BSOs were activated: BSO-5 covering Yangon Division and BSO-6 with responsibility for Rakhine State and Magwe Division. The most recent lieutenant-general position to be created is that of Defense Services Inspection and Auditor General. While there may be some operational utility to the creation of the BSOs, the latest created position appears to do little more than add an additional layer of bureaucracy. The military bureaucracy has likewise expanded below the lieutenant-general grade. The formation of new regional commands, an increase in the number of operational control commands, and inception of division-level control commands for artillery units and armor, has significantly contributed to the expansion of the flag-level officer corps. Bloated civil service Parallel to the regime's expansion of the military bureaucracy is an ever-expanding civil bureaucracy. Shortly after the SLORC took over in 1988, the government consisted of the Office of the Prime Minister and 18 ministries led by nine ministers. Of the nine, eight were military officers serving in positions under the Ministry of Defense. Since then, the civil bureaucracy has grown to provide additional opportunities for Than Shwe to reward kleptocrats for their support of the system. Today, in addition to the Prime Minister's Office, there are 32 other ministries, each headed by its own minister. Only seven ministers are "civilians" and most have prior military service, including a few ex-generals. According to a Myanmar source with close connections to senior military officials, during a 2004 meeting of senior officers discussing manpower issues, Than Shwe directed an end to the practice of ministers holding multiple portfolios in order to provide additional promotion opportunities. The practice came to an end last June when Major-General Maung Maung Swe relinquished the Ministry of Immigration and Population portfolio. While U Aung Kyi is Minister for Labor and Minister for Relations, the latter is purely titular with no actual brick-and-mortar ministry. With the exception of the Minister of Defense, no minister holds an MOD operational position. While the creation of new ministries has broadened the avenues for advancement to military personnel, it threatens to saddle the country with an even more bloated and inefficient bureaucracy. If the reins of power do some day pass to a democratically elected government, as envisaged in the upcoming 2010 elections, it will likely find its ability to govern handicapped by a dysfunctional ministerial structure developed under military rule. Moreover, the infiltration of the civil bureaucracy by military members is likely to increase in both depth and breadth. The appointment of four brigadier generals to the Civil Service Selection Board in 2006 foreshadowed the expected increased military involvement in the civil service sector. According to a recent Internet report, students of the National Defense College (NDC) were reportedly warned by an instructor that due to increased class size, graduates can no longer count on being rewarded with postings at regional or division commands. Instead, they may have to accept postings at the director-general level in ministries outside the MOD. Fractures in the pyramid In some respects, Than Shwe has run the Tatmadaw like a typical pyramid or Ponzi scheme. Early investors in a pyramid scheme are paid with the investments of newcomers and everyone benefits as long as the pyramid continues to expand. When the pyramid ceases to expand, the early investors have reaped huge rewards and the latecomers have little or nothing to show for their investment. The current regime leadership invested their loyalty in the system early and has been rewarded with lucrative positions and concessions. As the recent NDC graduates have discovered, individual rewards become smaller as the upper tiers of the pyramid become more crowded. The Ponzi-like nature of the system has maintained pressure for the Tatamadaw to expand. In some units, soldiers are not allowed to retire until they have recruited two replacements from training. This pressure has increased unsavory practices of shanghaiing bystanders and recruiting child soldiers. A new directorate of recruitment was added to the Tatmadaw in 2007, either to address these issues or to focus on achieving recruitment goals. Further manipulation of the military and government structure to provide more promotion opportunities for military officers is likely as the regime moves the country toward its own version of democracy. Past methods could be repeated to create more billets. Several of the current BSOs could be split to provide additional three-star positions. New regional commands could be sprouted in Magwe Division, in Karrenni State or in Karen State, boosting the number of two-star and one-star positions. Eventually rank inflation may see BSO chiefs move up to the position of general and the regional commanders become lieutenant-generals. The further infiltration of military officers into the civilian government structure, and the creation of new branches of the bureaucratic tree, threaten to saddle Myanmar with an ineffective government structure under continued military domination in the name of democracy. From where the resources to sustain this bloated system will arise is another important question for Myanmar's political future. Norman Robespierre, a pseudonym, is a freelance journalist specializing in Southeast Asian affairs. He may be reached at normanrobespierre@gmail.com China may start receiving Myanmar gas through pipeline in 2013 - Shinhye Kang China, the world's second-biggest energy consumer, may start receiving natural gas from Myanmar's Shwe project through a cross-border pipeline in April 2013. China will import 400 million cubic feet of gas a day from Myanmar's offshore fields, U Aung Htoo, director of planning at state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, said in an interview in Seoul today. A group led by Daewoo International Corp. signed an agreement in December to sell gas from Myanmar to China National Petroleum Corp. The group — which includes Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise, India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp., GAIL India (Ltd.) and Korea Gas Corp. — will supply the fuel to China's biggest oil company for 30 years. China and Myanmar are still in talks on how the gas link is to be built and how construction costs may be split, Aung Htoo said. China shares with Myanmar a mountainous land border of 2,185 kilometers (1,355 miles). Gas will account for 8 percent of China's overall energy consumption by 2015 compared with 3.3 percent in 2007, Cui Yingkai, a director at PetroChina Co.'s gas and pipeline unit, said on Nov. 27. Prices will be negotiated with China on a quarterly basis to reflect global market conditions, Daewoo International said in December. The Shwe, Shwe-Phyu, and Mya areas in the A-1 and A-3 blocks are estimated to hold between 4.5 trillion and 7.7 trillion cubic feet of gas in total, according to the Seoul- based company. Daewoo International has a 51 percent stake in the fields while Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise has a 15 percent share. Oil & National Gas owns 17 percent, GAIL India 8.5 percent and Korea Gas 8.5 percent. Zawtika Project Commercial output at M-9 gas block in Myanmar will begin in 2015 or earlier, Aung Htoo said. The project in Zawtika field is developed by PTT Exploration & Production Pcl, Thailand's only publicly traded oil and gas explorer, and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, he said. As much as 250 million cubic feet of gas will be exported to Thailand, Aung Htoo said. PTT Exploration will postpone output at the M-9 block to 2013 from 2012, Krungthep Turakij newspaper reported last month. The block is estimated to have at least 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, which can be supplied over 20 years. Thailand, which buys about 30 percent of its gas from neighboring Myanmar, uses gas to generate about two-thirds of its electricity. Proven gas reserves in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, jumped 39 times to 21.19 trillion cubic feet at the end of 2007, equivalent to almost a quarter of Australia's proven reserves, according to the BP Statistical Review. Myanmar's daily gas production will almost double to 2.235 billion cubic feet by 2015 from 1.215 billion cubic feet currently, Aung Htoo said. To contact the reporter on this story: Shinhye Kang in Seoul atskang24@bloomberg.net . QBE pulls out of Burma QBE Insurance has cancelled insurance it provided to Burma and is to cease providing insurance to companies operating in the country, according to the Burma Campaign UK's Insurance Campaign. In a statement to the Burma Campaign UK, Frank O'Halloran, QBE's chief executive, said: "QBE has always had a policy that the company does not fund the current ruling party in Burma. To provide further certainty that the policy is being adhered to, QBE has reviewed its various portfolios around the world and has cancelled the few incidental Burmese exposures on multinational insurance policies which could have a direct or indirect benefit for the current ruling party in Burma. QBE does not have an office, an agent or any employees in Burma and does not provide insurance for any business owned in Burma." Johnny Chatterton, campaigns officer at the Burma Campaign UK, said: "Foreign insurers provide a financial lifeline to Burma's brutal regime. They insure the projects that make the regime billions of dollars a year. These billions don't help the people of Burma, they entrench military rule and fund campaigns of ethnic cleansing in Eastern Burma. "QBE's welcome decision shames insurers like Catlin and Atrium that continue to help fund the Burmese regime." The role of QBE in the Burmese insurance market was highlighted in the Burma Campaign UK report, "Insuring Repression" published in July 2008. QBE was added to the "Insurance Dirty List" after an investigation by The Burma Campaign UK discovered company documents detailing two correspondent offices in Burma. Insurers that have already stopped writing business in burma include AIG, Allianz, Aon, Aviva, Axa, ING, Munich Re, SCOR, Swiss Re and Willis. No home, little hope - Greg Torode Myanmar's consul general in Hong Kong, Ye Myint Aung, sparked outrage when he wrote to his diplomatic peers last month to describe the Rohingya boatpeople as "ugly as ogres". Yet, as undiplomatic as his remarks may have been, Ye Myint Aung highlighted just how difficult the problem of the stateless Muslim tribe will be to solve, and showed the depth of official antagonism they face in Myanmar. Thousands of Rohingya have fled their homes in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state in recent months to risk crossing the Bay of Bengal and then the Andaman Sea in rickety boats in the hope of reaching Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia. It is an annual migration that takes advantage of winter calms, and appears to grow every year. A recent series of reports in the South China Morning Post has shown just how dangerous that crossing has become. We revealed a new Thai army policy of detaining Rohingya in camps on isolated islands before towing them out to sea in powerless boats and abandoning them. At least 1,190 were abandoned in such fashion. Hundreds are now dead or missing. As Thai authorities investigate reported abuses and quietly rein in the country's politically powerful military, the focus is shifting to the search for a so-called regional solution to stem the Rohingya tide once and for all. As Ye Myint Aung's remarks suggest, that search will not be easy. In fresh interviews with refugee experts, aid workers and foreign envoys, it is clear that the Rohingya would have unusually strong claims to refugee status and therefore international resettlement. Raymond Hall, regional co-ordinator for Southeast Asia for the UN's refugee agency, said the Rohingya's plight was as bad as anything he had seen in more than 30 years of working with migrants, including spells in Hong Kong handling Vietnamese boatpeople. While some returning migrants may face atrocities such as in Darfur, Mr Hall said that in terms of "generalised and systemic oppression of their most basic rights, the suffering of the Rohingya is about as bad as it gets". "Other people in this situation often have homes they can return to, but for these people, they have nowhere they are welcome. That sense of home is being denied them. It is a terrible plight." Others familiar with their situation detail persecution on a grand scale in the marshy lowlands of Rakhine, once known as Arakan, near Myanmar's isolated western border with Bangladesh. Unable to legally work, move villages or have access to education, even marriage between Rohingya couples is fraught with risk. Official permission must first be obtained before a couple can marry - in practice a complex task that often involves big bribes from people who are among the poorest in a nation that is now the poorest in Southeast Asia. But if a couple is caught in a liaison outside marriage, the situation is even worse, with the man risking four years' jail. Some regional leaders have been quick to describe the Rohingya as economic migrants seeking a better life, rather than refugees. Like the best propaganda, it is at least partly true. As one refugee worker explained, if you asked a Rohingya boatperson why they fled, they would inevitably say to find work. The reason they must seek work, however, is because they are denied the most basic rights at home - something that falls into realms of clear persecution. Current estimates suggest there are 800,000 Rohingya in Myanmar, and a further 200,000 living in poverty in Bangladesh, including 27,000 in camps. Almost all would have strong claims to refugee status. Yet both Asian and western diplomats warn it would also be naive to imagine the creation of regional reception and detention centres, screening procedures and resettlement en masse in third countries - the kind of events Hong Kong witnessed as it handled waves of boatpeople from Vietnam in the late 1970s and 1980s. "It ain't going to happen," one western envoy said. "The Rohingya are being treated as miserably as anyone you could find, but there is just no stomach anywhere - in Asia or in the west - for any policy on that kind of scale. "There is universal understanding that, as we move to try to fix this, we must not do anything that turns the tide of Rohingya into a flood. No one is prepared to handle it now … this isn't post-Vietnam and the height of cold war." Instead, both western and Asian diplomats talk of solutions where small groups of migrants are quietly resettled, but more visibly, international pressure intensifies on Myanmar's military rulers to extend even the most basic rights to Rohingya - an ethnic group whose very name they refuse to acknowledge and insist have no claim to nationality. Securing adequate food supplies and working opportunities will be a key part of the effort. In short, they want to fix the problem at source. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres arrived in Myanmar at the weekend to start a week of talks with junta generals and visits to UN offices. Mr Guterres is expected to travel by road and boat to reach the UNHCR's troubled field office in Rakhine, an important beachhead as the agency seeks to stabilise the situation and draw in international support and understanding. The UN is actively preparing for a meeting next month of the so-called Bali Process on human trafficking, a seven-year-old grouping that diplomats hope can be used to find some meaningful solution. The Bali Process is chaired by Indonesia and Australia, and includes all major regional powers - and Myanmar. It has worked to improve immigration training and co-operation in tackling human smuggling. It has never tackled a specific crisis such as the Rohingya, but some envoys believe its fledgling nature may allow a fresh approach. It has been all too clear that more established bodies, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, lack the political and diplomatic will to tackle such an issue involving one of its members. At the annual Asean leaders' summit in Thailand last week, Myanmar was able to invoke the grouping's long-cherished policy of not interfering in any members' internal affairs to keep the Rohingya issue firmly on the sidelines. Summit chairman, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, said the leaders acknowledged the need for a regional solution to the problem of "Indian Ocean migrants" - but made clear it would have to come from outside the bloc. "Asean is too hung up on what it can't do, rather than what it can achieve, and Myanmar exploited that," said one frustrated Indonesian diplomat involved in the sessions. "The Bali Process is young and still finding its way … it is a good opportunity to carve out a role for itself." Myanmar may find it harder to avoid discussions of the Rohingya at the meeting, but that does not mean it will be easier to force an official change of heart from an increasingly insular and isolated regime. Scholars have traced Rohingya settlements in Arakan from Persia going back to the 9th century, while the last century saw them formally accepted as citizens under British colonial rule. Myanmar's present regime deliberately wrote them out of a nationality law in 1983, however, and Ye Myint Aung's recent remarks show official hostility remains. Traders and conservative Muslims - Rohingya women are kept indoors from the age of 14 - they are treated with suspicion by other ethnic groups, including fellow Muslims. "A perfect solution is going to be hard to find," a Thai Foreign Ministry official said. "But, if there is one, it has to be found within Myanmar." The UN has discretely been lobbying China, India and Russia - all members of the Bali grouping - to exploit their own relations with Myanmar's leaders to force a change towards the Rohingya. No single country can boast extensive or direct influence over Myanmar's ultimate ruler, the secretive and reportedly paranoid Senior General Than Shwe, however. "We've been dealing with Myanmar for years on this issue, and frankly speaking, it doesn't get any easier," said one senior Bangladeshi diplomat. "It has actually become harder to know what is going on at the very top … I worry that the only solution to the persecution of these people will come when the generals are no longer in power. And we can only guess when that will be." Activist arrested for supplying news - Maung Too Human rights activist Thein Thein Yin was arrested on 11 February by authorities for allegedly supplying news to foreign news agencies, her relatives said. The 27-year-old was arrested at her home in Mingan ward, Sittwe township, in Arakan State. "Thirteen policemen, including three female officers, came on three motorcycles and one police van," an eyewitness said. "They arrested her and took her to army base in Ann." Her six-year-old son Kyaw Myat Han was left in the care of his grandparents as his father is working away from home. |
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