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| Suffering and hope in a Burmese refugee camp |
| Friday, 31 July 2009 |
(This article describes the lives and hopes of Burmese refugees in a Thai-Burma border camp)
Mizzima News - Rays of sun pierce the clouds, bathing the entire mountain range and forest. At other times during monsoon season, drizzle and mist veil the mountains, including Noe Boe Mountain, hiding them from the outside world. In the far distance, from the village of Noe Boe, torrential streams of water can be seen cascading from surrounding mountains following the rain, the scent of seasonal wild flowers and the earth lingering in the air.
When night falls Noe Boe becomes silent, the sound of water flowing in the rain swollen streams mixed with night birds all that can be heard, ushering in mixed and sometimes haunting feelings for the forlorn and desolate refugees living in the camp.
These refugees came to this camp fleeing the severe oppression inflicted upon them politically, militarily, socially and religiously. Some have been here for over 12 years. Throughout their time in this camp they encounter only a miserable and hard life. For their survival they search for wild berries and vegetables in the dense forest along with frogs and fish from the streams. Occasionally, they make a salad by boiling banana buds and mixing them with raw onion, pea flour and seasoning powder. Those Karen refugees who arrived first serve as survival teachers for those who follow.
There are two types of refugees in the camp, those who receive a refugee ration and those who do not. Those with a ration need not worry about basic foodstuffs, while those without must rely on what they can scrounge from the forest and buy in the camp. For drinking water, rainwater is collected during the monsoon season from the leaf-woven roofs of huts, before it reaches the ground and turns reddish. To facilitate the collection, some build rainwater harvesting units comprising four bamboo poles and a plastic sheet. Bamboo, due to its versatility, is essential for the camp’s survival.
The monsoon season also brings with it melancholy feelings and stress, as refuges struggle to cope with daily livelihood and harsh weather conditions. Moreover, it is very sad for them to wonder when families may be reunited, when friends and colleagues can one day be visited and when they can again set foot again on the soil of their motherland. Yet, at other times the memories and thoughts of family, friends and home provides a feeling of closeness, togetherness, love and joy.
There is no proper work to be found in the camp, only the bartering of goods and services with fellow refugees. As a last resort, they have to rely on family members and friends who have been resettled in third countries to send back remittances.
The phone and Internet allows refugees, the latter at a more affordable rate, to keep in contact with family and friends abroad and update them as to their situation. Phone booths and Internet cafés are always busy and crowded, with refugees pouring out their despair, anxieties and hopes to those on the receiving end. It can be an experience of joy, pleasure, anger, sorrow and resentment – maybe even all at the same the time.
If friends living in outside countries do not want to talk with them or the money that is to be sent is not yet ready, they sometimes will not pick up the phone, leaving refugees to hear only the answering machine notifying them in a foreign language to repeatedly ‘Leave your message if any’. Phone booth owners warn them not to pick up the phone receiver before hearing the live voice on the other end to avoid unnecessary charges – a premature pick-up costing the dialer 10 baht to ‘converse’ with the answering machine, an expense few can afford on their shoestring budgets.
At other times family and friends will insist on calling back to save the refugees money. But sometimes refugees have to wait a long time at the phone booth for the return call, rushing forth whenever the phone rings, their necks extended like the ‘Padaung’ long-necks after waiting a long time in vain.
For those who can use the Internet, it is always hoped to find an Inbox full of mail. Even a single line from beloved friends can make them happy and bring encouragement. If they see friends online with a green light next to their name on Google Talk they are very happy and start to call them. And if those who are online try and ‘disappear’ once contacted in fear of being asked for money, refugees send an email to the concerned individual asking them not to try and avoid them, as they only wish to talk.
‘Peaceful coexistence’ for those in the camp encapsulates the feeling that the refugees live with body and soul existing separate. As most are simply waiting to leave, when the expected duration of wait becomes longer than expected their lives become more bitter and unpleasant, which sometimes brings with it cases of domestic violence and family conflict. It is natural to see counseling and psychotherapy services available in Noe Boe, while the owner of the liquor shop just outside the camp reaps a huge profit.
Asking each other about their situation and what news they have heard is habitual. And even if the news conveyed is false, anger is not shown, as the sharing of news is essential for the survival of everyone – daily news from prospective host countries, world news, news from around the camp and news of resettlement plans. We are happy when we hear encouraging news and despair when we hear bad news.
In the hope of expediting their departure and easing their transition into a new country, English lessons, especially with an English accent, are constantly sought after. It is a case of English, English everywhere, echoing forth from thatch roof huts and every nook and cranny of the camp.
New plants and trees are grown from seeds inadvertently thrown away during meal preparations. Around Noe Boe you can see chilly, pumpkin and papaya plants at almost every house with a courtyard. However, almost all papaya plants disappeared after a monk said, “If there is a papaya tree in front of your house, your departure date will be long” – though some housewives must lie to husbands not as superstitious, telling them that the plant was uprooted in strong winds. News spreads quickly around the camp of departure plans and the presence of any papaya plants in front of the concerned house.
Those who are lucky enough to leave and never again touch the red soil of the camp are seen off at the gate by those who are to remain behind, the sound of the engine starting on the blue bus which will carry those leaving for Mae Sot making those left behind further ponder just how long they will have to wait their turn. Tears of joy and sorrow mix in the eyes of farewells.
Those boarding the blue bus say to their friends after shaking hands, “Don’t worry, I’ll send pocket money to you when I get there”. And though they strolled together, fetched water together, gathered firewood together, searched for seasonal vegetables together, collected rations together, visited the market together, shared fortune and woe together around Noe Boe camp and the nearby forest – now these beloved friends are departing, not to return.
As for those left behind…it is back to the Internet cafes and phone booths in the hope of talking with a friend, securing a little pocket money and – just maybe – news on when they might in turn be boarding the blue bus to Mae Sot. |
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| Another person tests positive for Swine Flu in Burma |
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Chiang Mai (mizzima): One additional person has tested positive for the A (H1N1) virus, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the whole country to 10, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Health.
State-run newspaper, Myanmar Ahlin, today reported that a 57-year-old man, who had returned from Singapore by flight MI-512 on July 20, has tested positive.
Thirteen family members, 74 passengers on the same flight and 130 of Rangoon’s Mingaladon Airport staff are being monitored by Health Department officials, the paper revealed.
According to official statements issued so far, the people, who have tested positive, had all returned from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and India.
The health officials checked over 1.9 million people, who crossed the border gates, according to an official announcement.
However, many people doubt the actual figures and statistics of virus-positive people in the whole country because several hundreds daily cross the porous borders to Burma’s neighboring countries Thailand, China, Bangladesh and India.
Dr. Voravit Suwanvanichkij, Research Associate at the Center for Public Health & Human Rights of John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said there exists an alarming situation in Burma, as most people do not cross the borders into neighbouring countries through official check-points.
Thailand, where the virus is widespread, shares a border line of over 2,000 kilometres, with Burma. With people going in and out of the border area and avoiding the official check-points, along with the lack of public health system, the situation is very alarming, the doctor said.
“With an almost non-functional public health system, most infections are likely to thrive without being diagnosed or even noticed,” he added.
In Thailand, 9000 persons have tested positive and 65 were killed by the A (H1N1) virus. The disease has spread to 170 countries globally and over 130,000 people have tested positive. |
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| Opposition lawyer hounded by authorities |
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New Delhi (Mizzima) – Nyi Nyi Htwe, a lawyer belonging to the opposition camp, recently released from jail and forced out of his profession, alleged he is finding it difficult to continue with his present calling of selling government lottery tickets because he is being hounded by authorities.
The 33 year-old lawyer from Pegu town has been selling government lottery tickets to eke out a livelihood, after his bar license was revoked. He alleged that authorities had warned lottery dealers not to franchise him nor hire out a push-cart to him for selling lottery tickets.
“Since my bar license has been revoked, there is nothing that I can do to survive. I have no other business, but my wife sells lottery tickets. Since we lack capital, we have to procure tickets from bigger agents on credit. We also cannot afford to hire a permanent push-cart. The authorities have been creating obstacles,” he told Mizzima.
His business associates have been warned against dealing with him. He is currently finding it extremely difficult to franchise government lottery tickets and hiring a push-cart, given the harassment by the authorities.
Nyi Nyi Htwe was sentenced to a six-month prison term on October 30, 2008 by the northern District Court in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison on charges of ‘contempt of court’. He was, at the time, defending three National League for Democracy members including Yan Naing Tun, who were arrested and were facing trial for praying at the Pagoda for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
During the trial, the judge told Nyi Nyin Htwe to tell his three clients to change their sitting postures, where they had turned their backs to the judge. But the young lawyer said “they have their rights to sit the way they want.”
The judge charged him with ‘contempt of court’ and under Article 288 and sentenced him to six-months in prison.
While he served the prison term, authorities revoked his bar license. He was released on April 28, after he completed his six-month term. |
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| A(H1N1) infection could be alarming in Burma: Experts |
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New Delhi (Mizzima) – Even as Burma’s Ministry of Health on Thursday announced that the number of human infection of type A (H1N1) virus in the country has increased to 10, health experts sounded the alarm bell saying given the poor public health system, there is a likelihood of more people being infected with the virus in rural areas.
“With an inadequate public health care system the situation could be alarming and difficult to control. What is more alarming is that it could go undiagnosed,” Dr. Voravit Suwanvanichkij, Associate Researcher at Center for Public Health in John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said.
The government’s announcement, carried by its mouthpiece newspaper, said surveillance of the flu is being conducted at the Rangoon international airport as well as in the border gates. From April 28 to July 13, the government claims that it has tested 1.9 million people.
The New Light of Myanmar on Thursday reported detection of the tenth person infected with the virus stating that all the detected people have come from a visit abroad including Thailand and Singapore.
A veteran doctor at a private clinic in Rangoon said the possibility of the virus going unnoticed in rural areas is high as Burma lacks an adequate public health care system.
“It is very likely that the disease could spread in the rural areas, because these areas do not have proper health care and because the virus is easily transmittable,” the doctor said.
“I do not fear detecting the virus, but my worry is that it could spread to a large number of people because in neighbouring countries we have heard of such an outbreak,” he added.
Dr. Vit, however, praised the Burmese military junta, which often blacks out news and information regarding outbreak of diseases or even natural disasters, for announcing the detection of the virus.
“It is a delight to know that the government is forthcoming in announcing the situation on the ground,” he said.
But he fears that with the lack of a public health care system, the number of cases of infection might have risen alarmingly while remaining undetected.
Currently, authorities are referring patients infected with A(H1N1) virus to the Wai Bagi hospital in Rangoon’s North Okklapa Township for treatment. But critics fear that if the number of cases of infection increases, the 100 bed Wai Bagi hospital may not be able to accommodate patients.
But an assistant medical officer at the Wai Bagi Hospital assured that they could switch strategies in case the number of cases of infection goes up and would be able to cope with an outbreak.
“We can always switch strategies. It’s not that we prefer changing it but we need to utilise our resources to the maximum. So there is no need to worry,” the doctor said.
Meanwhile in neighbouring Thailand, the type A(H1N1) has claimed the lives of 65 people. In India the number of infected till Tuesday was 475 while in China till July 27, 1930 people had been infected.
The A(H1N1) virus has killed over 800 people. According to a recent United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate, the A(H1N1) virus could infect a total of 2 billion people across the world. |
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| Karen armed wing intends to recruit before Burmese army assault |
| Wednesday, 29 July 2009 |
The embattled armed wing of the largest Karen political group intends to recruit soldiers amongst Three Pagoda Pass township’s Karen population as the Burmese military government forces prepare to assault the Karen regional base.
The Karen National Union’s (KNU), Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), is intending to recruit soldiers after it has become evident that the Burmese Army will continue its offensive against the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) at brigade No. 6 located in the are of Three Pagoda Pass township.
The KNLA has been conducting brief military trainings for young men over the age of 18 throughout Karen territory for the past few years. The trainings have been conducted so that if necessary the men would be available to fight in the army.
The KNLA has already informed Karen villages that it will be recruiting villagers to serve in its army group. KNLA has not yet begun recruiting, but its efforts will focus on the Zami river area. Yet some villagers, including young men who were previously trained, are fleeing to Thailand, according to a Sa Ya Pa (Burmese military intelligence) who talked with Karen residents from TPP Township. There are Ten villages have along the Zami River and most consist of mostly Karen residents.
“I heard that the KNLA is trying to recruit villagers for their army,” said a Karen resident from TPP. “If there are 3 men in one household, the KNLA will take 2 men, and if you have 2 men in a house they will take 1.”
On July 8th the Burmese army State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) combined forces with the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) in a joint offensive against the KNLA brigade No. 6 forces in the temporary Tae Tone Lone camp, 12 kilometers outside Three Pagodas Pass. The KNU is preparing their forces to push back against the DKBA.
The recent fall of the KNLA base, brigade No. 7, led to a mass exodus of Karen refugees to the Thai-Burma border in the face of human rights abuses committed by the advancing SPDC –DKBA combined force. According to KNU sources, the SPDC and DKBA joint campaign is advancing towards the brigade No. 6 stronghold.
This increase in violence has caused problems throughout the Karen community. During recent fighting between the DKBA and the KNU, 2 DKBA soldiers were killed, according to a DKBA source. Since, the DKBA has blocked Karen villagers from Maketa from entering TPP township.
“About 10 Karen villagers who were suffering from illness went to get treated at a hospital,” commented a trader close to the DKBA. “When they arrived outside TPP town at the check point, DKBA and Burmese soldiers didn’t allow them to enter the town. So they had to go through the forest to enter town.”
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| DKBA ramps up civilian abuses and set sights on Brigade 6 |
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imna-Karen people are fleeing in droves to Thailand as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Association (DKBA) commits ongoing human rights abuses.
The Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) recently reported on the tense situation to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Thailand-based Karen Refugee Committee (KRC).
According to the report, about 200 Karen people have reached the Tha Song Yang district, Tak province in the last 24 hours alone, mainly taking temporary shelter at the Mae U Su site.
The report also detailed DKBA abuses such as forced recruitment, portering and the extortion of money, food, and livestock. Such abuses have become push factors for Karen migration and the creation of many Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
This month the DKBA and the Burmese army have launched a joint offensive against the Karen National Union (KNU), the main political party of the Karen people. Brigade 7 area has already fallen and the combined forces are now targeting Brigade 6, which includes 18 villages between Three Pagodas Pass Township and Kyainnseikyi Township.
The general secretary of the KRC said, “The number of Karen people arriving in Thailand has increased to 500 people [in the Tha Song Yang district]. Since [fighting began] between the KNU and the DKBA, Karen people have fled to Thailand. Karen people are seeking shelter from the NGOs and the Thai government.”
According to a July 19th story by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, the Burmese military’s Southeast Command (SEC) has begun using a variety of internal tactics in Karen State, including using DKBA name registries to require two baskets of rice per household, with a 10,000 kyat penalty for failing to provide this. |
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| Mon residents, fearful of terminating cease fire, don’t want Border Guard Force |
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IMNA,Amidst mounting political tension, Mon people explain that they don’t want the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) to be put under Burmese army control nor become a people’s militia force.
Nevertheless, they also express not wishing to end the ceasefire with the military government, a change that would open the door to increased fighting, as has been seen recently in Karen State.
As the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC, continues to put pressure on the New Mon State Party (NMSP), to place their army (MNLA) under the reconstitution of a Border Guard Force (BGF) or change it into a government-aligned people’s militia force, party officials and residents remain unconvinced.
“What the SPDC offers the NMSP so far, we don’t agree with either. We Mon People can create our own development through education, health care, and community development. If we agree with SPDC policy, the NMSP will [no longer represent] the Mon people and the MNLA can’t protect us,” said a Mon resident on July 24th at a meeting in Ye Township.
The NMSP must give a response to the SPDC by the end of this month and thus held town hall-style meetings to gauge residents’ opinions.
“We can’t agree what the SPDC offers to the NMSP; their policy will finish [our army]. Not only are we worried about the cease fire ending, but also we have to know that NMSP power has decreased during the cease fire term with the SPDC,” said a leader of youth monks active in politics.
Nai Rotsa, vice-chairperson of the NMSP, listened to opinions in Moulmein district; Nai Aung Min of the NMSP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) held a second meeting at the Central Headquarters in Ye Township. CEC member Nai Htar Wara, held a third meeting in Tavoy district and Nai Tla Nyeh (CEC) held a fourth in Thaton district.
Currently, the NMSP is holding an emergency meeting at the Central Headquarters to discuss with their members how to respond to the SPDC.
IMNA has received reports that some businessmen and politicians are concerned about the state of the cease fire and the possibility of future violence between the SPDC and NMSP; therefore, they’ve pressured the NMSP to become a BGF or people’s militia force.
Various Mon groups have publicly denounced the attempts by the SPDC to transform the military of Mon State. The Mon Affair Union (MAU), the Overseas Mon Community Committee (OMCC), along with monks and university students from ‘inside Burma’ sent an open letter to the NMSP strongly negative toward the SPDC offer and asking for them to fight back. |
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| Three Kachin peace groups give into junta |
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Three Kachin ceasefire groups in northern Burma last week, gave into the demands of the Burmese military junta of transforming their armed-wings into the kind of forces that the regime wants, said sources close to the groups.
The New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K), the Lasang Awng Wa Peace Group in Kachin State and the Kachin Defense Army (KDA) in northeast Shan State agreed to transform their armed-forces to a Border Guard Force or local militia, said sources in the three outfits.
KDA and Lasang Awng Wa Peace Group agreed to convert their forces into local militia groups with less manpower than it has now, said insiders.
The KDA led by Mahtu Naw based in Kawng Hka near Kutkai Town was formerly the 4th brigade of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). It has about 500 soldiers. It has been receiving rations from the ruling junta since it surrendered in 1990.
Kachins in northeast Shan State are terribly upset over the KDA agreeing to transform to a local militia group, said a Kachin resident in Muse.
Similarly, the Lasang Awng Wa Peace Group is also ready to transform its force, which accounts for about 200, to a local militia group because it is in no position to oppose the orders of the junta after it split from the mother unit the KIO/A in January 4, 2004.
The group is based in Gwi Htu Pa near the Kachin State capital Myitkyina, where it was set up by former Northern Command Commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint of the Burmese Army in late 2004. It receives rations from the regime, said insiders.
The New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) in Kachin State agreed to transform to a battalion of a Border Guard Force on June 24 in the meeting with the junta's Northern Command Commander Brig-Gen Soe Win in the organizational headquarters in Pang Wah, said Baptist pastor-turned NDA-K officer, Lt-Col Nhkum Doi La.
The Zahkung Ting Ying led NDA-K was formerly the Army Division No. 101 of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) after it split from the mother unit the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in 1968 and signed a permanent peace agreement with the junta on December 15, 1989.
Currently the NDA-K has about 800 soldiers and at least 500 of them are receiving monthly salaries from the junta, said NDA-K officers.
However, the KIO/A, the original mother unit of the three Kachin peace groups has refused to transform its armed-wing. It has told the junta that it could change to a State Security Force not a Border Guard Force.
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| KIA troops take to forests for possible war with Burmese Army |
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Troops of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) are going into the forests from their army battalions in Burma's northern Kachin State for a possible war with the Burmese Army. This, despite having accepted the junta's strategy of transforming the armed-wing in principle, said local sources.
Columns of KIA soldiers are heading for the frontline. The KIA’s activity is mainly concentrated in the areas around Laiza, the headquarters and the border trade centre of KIA and its political wing the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), said sources close to KIA soldiers.
A KIO serviceman of the KIA 3rd Brigade in Bhamo district told KNG, "Now, all KIA soldiers are entering the bushes. Many KIA soldiers have fanned out around the KIO/A headquarters in Laiza on the Sino-Burma border."
An eyewitness told KNG today, she surprisingly saw several columns of Burmese Army soldiers on the road between Bhamo and Kai Htik, the border trade route between China and Burma in Bhamo district.
All KIA soldiers are equipped with sophisticated guns and ammunition. They have been ordered to standby 24 hours in their army bases, KIA sources said.
The KIA’s preparation is to defend itself from the Burmese troops. It is not offensive in nature, according to KIA officials.
Maj-Gen Gunhtang Gam Shawng, Chief of Staff of KIA reiterated that the junta's proposal of transforming KIA into a battalion of border guard force before the end of this year is a load of nonsense. The KIA’s transformation will be considered after all political problems between the KIO and the junta are resolved.
On the other hand, political leaders of the KIO met the junta's army officials at least twice on transforming the KIA in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State in the last two weeks, said KIO/A's headquarter sources.
As of now, Kachin political leaders are against the junta's proposal of transforming KIA to a battalion of a border guard force. All Kachin political organizations, Kachin university students in the entire country and Kachin people both inside Burma and abroad are against this move.
The KIA is one of strongest ethnic armed groups in the country because it connects with all Kachin people and is supported by all Kachins in Burma and abroad.
Unless the political problems are resolved first, the transformation of KIA is unacceptable for both KIA and the Kachin people.
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| Ninth grade schoolgirl dies of Dengue in Myitkyina |
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A schoolgirl in the ninth grade died in Myitkyina public hospital, in Burma's northern Kachin State on July 23 at about 7 a.m. from Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF), said local sources.
Despite the high incidence of dengue and several deaths, especially among children, the Burmese military junta has remained apathetic in checking the spread of the disease and coming to the aid of the hospital in Myitkyina, which is spilling over with patients, locals said.
Hkawng Naw (16) studied in grade nine in No. 5 State High School in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. She died of dengue -- bleeding from her nose and mouth in Myitkyina public hospital, said hospital sources.
Hkawng Naw was hospitalized on July 22 night in a critical condition, hospital sources said.
Relatives of Hkawng Naw said she was hospitalized too late because she was from a very poor family, which had no money to admit her to the hospital. Her father Hkawng Hkawng is dead. Her mother Ja Hkawn lives in No. 294, Section 5 in Du Kahtawng (or Du Mare) Quarter in Myitkyina.
As in the case of Hkawng Naw, many patients suffering from dengue in Myitkyina cannot afford to go to the hospital, said a nurse.
At the moment, there are over 120 child patients afflicted by dengue in the ‘Children’s Ward’ in the hospital. The hospital is overcrowded with patients and some have been put on bed shelves and on platforms and corridors outside the children’s ward, hospital sources said.
Besides, there are over 70 DHF and Malaria patients over the age of 13 in the adult ward at the moment, said hospital sources.
So far the Burmese military junta authorities of Myitkyina have not initiated any action to check the disease but some private donors have provided dozens of drips in the children’s ward, said sources.
The number of DHF afflictions among both children and adults are increasing by the day and new patients are arriving in the hospital. But most patients are not being recorded as DHF cases by the duty-nurses on the instruction of Dr. Khin Tin, the head of the hospital, said sources close to him.
According to hospital sources, the number of children and adult dengue patients in the hospital is much more than last year. However, many patients do not go to the government hospitals or clinics outside but stay at home unless their condition turns critical, given the high treatment costs.
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| Nargis survivors still waiting for shelter |
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YANGON,(IRIN) - Shelter is still one of the most pivotal issues to affect survivors of Cyclone Nargis today, the UN says.
The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) estimates that more than 450,000 people are in dire need of shelter assistance across southern Myanmar, almost 15 months after the worst natural disaster to strike the southeast Asian nation.
"Up to 130,000 families remain exposed and are suffering under severe weather conditions due to a lack of sustainable shelter," Bishow Parajuli, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar, confirmed.
More than 700,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, creating what could easily be described as the greatest shelter needs at any one time since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Although emergency shelter relief efforts were well funded - reaching around 95 percent of those affected - early recovery or transitional shelter needs have been sidelined.
An amount of US$150 million was requested for shelter repair and reconstruction under the Post Nargis Recovery Plan (PONREPP) - a three-year recovery strategy running to 2011 - but only US$50 million has been received.
Of the 360,000 homes the government estimates were destroyed outright, the international community and its partners have rebuilt just 24,000, while the government, largely through the private sector in designated areas of the Ayeyarwady Delta, has built another 10,000.
"This is horrifically low," David Evans, UN-HABITAT acting country director, told IRIN, describing the international response to date as less than 7 percent of the actual needs.
"I would expect this to be around 40 to 50 percent at this point," Evans said, estimating the cost of an individual home at about $700.
Building initiative
About 209,000 families have rebuilt their own homes alone over the past year, UN-HABITAT estimates - largely through informal means.
In the tiny village of Kan Seik, a seaside community in Myanmar's badly affected Dedaye Township, dozens of ramshackle homes have been hastily rebuilt from the storm's debris.
Most are flimsy and it is only a matter of time before the winds take them again.
Of Kan Seik's 193 homes, 192 were destroyed by Nargis, leaving residents such as 35-year-old Daw Thin Thin Kyi and her three children no choice but to rebuild with whatever they could find around them.
While on the surface, life in the Twanty Township, just 80km southwest of Yangon, appears to have returned to normal, life at the village level has yet to recover.
About half the homes in the 220 villages that comprise Twanty were destroyed or badly affected.
And while typically a family of five would have lived in an area of 10 sqm before Nargis, many today live in less than half that.
"Most people were unable to rebuild to pre-Nargis levels," Ne Myo, a programme officer for CARE International, said, citing the inevitable financial constraints of rebuilding for this largely landless population.
"There is no work here," said 33-year-old Bibi San, outside her home in Talaot Htaw, a village of just 1,600. Her husband earns barely $1 a day as a casual labourer.
While happy to have put a roof back over her head, she laments the arrival of this year's monsoon rains as well as her rising debt burden. "When it rains, the water pours in. Sometimes the children get ill," the mother of two said.
But Bibi San could also be described as lucky. As part of the self-recovery group - accounting for almost 60 percent of all destroyed homes - at least she is not one of the 450,000 cyclone survivors still unassisted.
"If they could have helped themselves, they would have been part of the self-recovery group, rather than live in the atrocious conditions they live in now," Evans said of this group, some of whom are living with nothing more than a piece of plastic over their heads almost 15 months after the disaster.
"Unfortunately, we know we're not going to get to them and the agencies have no funding," Evans said, noting that it would take a minimum of $50 million to assist them.
More than 140,000 people were killed and another 2.4 million affected by Cyclone Nargis, which swept across southern Myanmar and the Ayeyarwady Delta in May 2008. |
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| Legally Suu Kyi is innocent: Defence lawyer |
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New Delhi (Mizzima) – The over two-month long trial of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi points to her innocence, legally and the verdict to be pronounced on Friday will put to acid test the rule of law in the military-ruled country, her lawyer said on Tuesday.
Nyan Win, one of Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers told Mizzima after the arguments put forward by the defence on Tuesday that testimonies of the witnesses, arguments of lawyers of both the defence and the prosecution have all proved that the Burmese pro-democracy leader is innocent.
“As far as I have analysed the trial, legally there is no evidence to convict her [Aung San Suu Kyi,” said Nyan Win, adding that it would surprise him and the other members of the defence team if the verdict pronounces her guilty.
On Tuesday Nyan Win submitted his clarification on the prosecution’s arguments stating that there are no grounds to charge the Nobel Peace Laureate and the charges filed by the prosecution are not valid as the 1974 constitution is no more in effect.
Fellow party member and one of the spokesperson of the National League for Democracy, Ohn Kyaing told Mizzima earlier that he believed legally there is no ground to charge and convict the Burmese democracy icon but expressed concern that the court might not independently take a decision.
“I think the court will convict her because that’s the junta’s plan,” he said.
Like Ohn Kyaing, observers and critics believe that the junta is using the incident of John William Yettaw’s visit to Aung San Suu Kyi’s home as an excuse to charge her and sentence her to yet another prison term, in a move to keep her out of the 2010 election scenario.
But Nyan Win said, the defence team has not given up, and is willing to go to any extent in trying to bring justice to the pro-democracy leader.
“Aung San Suu Kyi has agreed with us and has given us permission to continue fighting the case legally and we plan to take the case to higher courts if the verdict pronounces her guilty,’ Nyan Win said.
Opposition activists widely believe that the military has chalked out a plan to sentence Aung San Suu Kyi before the end of July to avoid the verdict coinciding with the ensuing anniversary of the 8.8.88 uprising on August 8.
But the junta, which initially thought of sentencing Aung San Suu Kyi in a short trial, is also taking into account the possible reaction – both international and domestic - that may erupt in the wake of her being sentenced.
Win Tin, a senior leader of the NLD and veteran journalist, earlier told Mizzima that pronouncing Aung San Suu Kyi guilty and sentencing her to a prison term could provoke peoples’ anger that could lead to yet another mass movement particularly in Burma’s former capital city Rangoon. |
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| Suu Kyi warns junta on 2010 elections |
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(DVB)–Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has again warned the ruling junta in Burma that without national reconciliation prior to next year, the 2010 elections would be futile.
The government has penciled in March next year for the first general elections since Suu Kyi’s opposition National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in 1990 that was never honoured.
The opposition leader was speaking to her lawyer Nyan Win on Friday during what should have been the final day of her trial.
“Daw Suu said the upcoming elections in 2010 would not be credited as legitimate unless national reconciliation has been carried out before that,” said Nyan Win, adding that she had urged the United Nations to warn the junta about the necessity of reconciliation.
Today is expected to be the final day of Suu Kyi’s trial, which was delayed on Friday by the prosecution team failing to testify.
Critics claim the trial is a ploy to keep her in detention beyond the 2010 elections, although Burma’s revised constitution which was ratified two weeks after cyclone Nargis last May bars her from running for office.
Earlier this month the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Burma in an attempt to kick start dialogue between the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and opposition groups, as well as push for the release of Suu Kyi.
Nyan Win said that Suu Kyi’s comments reflected the general feeling within the party, and this had been stressed to Ban Ki-moon during his visit.
Prosecution lawyers are today expected to give their final statements in the trial in which Suu Kyi has been charged with breaching conditions of her house arrest.
It is unclear when a verdict is likely to be given. If, as is widely expected, Suu Kyi is found guilty, she could face a sentence of up to five years.
A number of delegates attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum last week independently called for her release, while a joint communiqué issued following the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting said her release was a necessary prerequisite for free and fair elections next year.
Reporting by Thurein Soe |
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| Burma’s information ministry in new email campaign |
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(DVB)–The Ministry of Information in Burma has begun emailing government-generated newsletters to exiled Burmese activists and journalists in an attempt to counter news-sharing by exiled opposition groups.
The website responsible for the emails is the Kyaymon online newspaper, run by the government’s Ministry of Information, which carries headlines such as ‘Shame on you Clinton’ and ‘America’s ugly failure in the ASEAN summit’.
When approached by DVB, the assistant editor of Kyaymon, Aung Kyaw Thwin, said that the action was entirely orchestrated by the government.
“We have been sending you newsletters under direction from our information minister and there is no personal motive behind this,” he said.
Burma’s information minister, Brigadier General Kyaw Hasn, has reportedly sent out instructions to all media workers in Burma that include statements such as “strive for realization of the seven-step Road Map through media” and “train better qualified press workers who favour the profit of the nation”.
A UK-based Burmese journalist, Bo Bo Lan Sin, said that the newsletters were actually a refreshing alternative to other more generic government news.
“[Kyaymon] newsletters are not that boring; the more news variety than the government blogs,” he said, adding that he had only recently found out who was sending the emails.
His comments were echoed by the secretary of the Burma Media Association, San Moe Wei.
“The whole thing is clear; they are sending out the newsletters because no one bothers to go on to their websites and read their news,” he said.
State-run media, such as the Myanma Ahlin newspaper, is loaded with news on ribbon-cutting ceremonies and editorials penned by pro-government journalists.
Burma’s media environment is amongst the most repressive in the world, with media watchdog Reporters Without Borders last year ranking it 170 out of 173 in its annual Press Freedom Index.
Media laws are very tough, and journalists inside Burma face severe punishment if seen to be criticising the government.
Media workers are often under strict surveillance, with internet café owners forced to take screen-shots of each computers every five mintues which are then sent to the Ministry of Information.
“It’s easy for them to get a hold of our email addresses; they surf through blogs and find out which internet user is ‘politically concerned’”, said Burmese blogger, Mr Thinker.
“The media in exile has been using this newsletter method to spread their information and now [the government] has begun to do the same thing.”
It is unclear how many people the government is targeting in this campaign, although the email received by DVB had been sent to around 400 other addresses.
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat |
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| Suu Kyi Verdict Set for Friday |
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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The high-profile trial of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi concluded on Tuesday with the court announcing it will deliver its verdict at the end of the week, officials and diplomats said.
Judge Thaung Nyunt said the court will make its ruling on Friday, according to an Asian diplomat in the courtroom and a government official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Suu Kyi's lawyers had expected a verdict next month. Details on why the court set the earlier date were not immediately available.
Defense lawyers gave their final statements on Tuesday in the case that has drawn international condemnation from world leaders, the United Nations and Hollywood celebrities.
The detained 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who swam to her lakeside home and stayed for two days.
Suu Kyi faces up to five years in prison. She is widely expected to be convicted, although there has been speculation she may stay under house arrest rather than serve time in prison.
Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the last 20 years.
Defense lawyer Nyan Win said before the start of Tuesday's session that he held out hope for a verdict in Suu Kyi's favor.
"We are confident that we will win the case if things go according to the law," he said.
Suu Kyi and three other defendants were scheduled to reply to arguments presented on Monday by prosecutor Myint Kyaing, the lawyer said.
Diplomats from Japan, Singapore, Thailand and the United States were allowed to attend the trial on Tuesday, one of the diplomats said, citing embassy protocol for speaking on condition of anonymity.
Suu Kyi won London-based Amnesty International's highest award on Monday for her defense of human rights, underscoring international support for her struggle to bring democracy to the military-ruled country.
At a concert on Monday in Dublin, Ireland, U2's Bono publicly announced the award—Amnesty's Ambassador of Conscience Award—before 80,000 cheering fans. The rights group said it hopes its highest honor would help deter Myanmar's junta from imposing any harsh new punishments on her.
But neither international outrage, nor offers of closer ties with the U.S. if Suu Kyi is freed, appear to have deflected the ruling junta's determination to neutralize—if not imprison—her.
Suu Kyi emerged as the country's democracy icon during a popular uprising in 1988, which was brutally suppressed by the military that has ruled the country since 1962.
Yettaw, meanwhile, was also charged with violating terms of Suu Kyi's house arrest—as an abettor—and could be sent to prison for five years. He also faces a municipal charge of swimming in a non-swimming area and is accused of immigration violations.
Yettaw pleaded not guilty and explained in court he went to warn Suu Kyi after having a dream she would be assassinated.
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| US Wants to Put Asean ‘Into Its Pocket’: Junta Media |
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A Burmese state-run newspaper on Sunday said that the United States is trying to sound out the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and “put it into its pocket.”
The New Light of Myanmar said in a news commentary that if Asean does what the US has asked, it will fall under the control of the US. It also criticized US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for urging Asean members to put pressure on the Burmese military government to enact democratic reforms.
Clinton, who attended the Asean Regional Forum last week in Thailand, called on the Burmese junta to release pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi and, as an incentive, hinted that such a move could help convince the current US administration to lift its investment sanctions on the military-ruled country.
Detained for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi is currently on trial for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest and faces a possible five-year prison sentence.
The US foreign secretary also exerted pressure on Asean to expel Burma from the regional body if Suu Kyi was not released.
“In reality, her remarks amounted to interfering in the affairs of Asean,” reported The New Light of Myanmar. “If Asean does what the US secretary of state has asked, it will come under control of the US. This means the US is trying to sound the Asean out and put it into its pocket.”
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Thankin Chan Tun, a veteran Burmese politician, said, “It [the newspaper article] will not bring about anything good for the Burmese people. On the other hand, the US could put more sanctions on the country.
“In fact, Burma is a small country, so the military regime should try to be on good terms with other nations,” he added.
The commentary also suggested that US calls for Suu Kyi's release were part of a long-term plan to place someone in power in Burma whom it can control.
“It shows that the Burmese military regime will do what they like and are not concerned about the international community,” said Han Thar Myint, a spokesperson for the opposition National League for Democracy, on Monday. “Moreover, it shows that they do not intend to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.”
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| Seventh H1N1 Flu Case Reported in Burma |
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Burma has confirmed a seventh case of H1N1 flu after a man tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.
State media reported that a man, 25, who returned from Thailand on Thai Airways Flight TG305 on July 16, was found ill and transferred from his township health department to Waibagi Specialist Hospital on Saturday.
“A blood sample from the patient tested positive for the new influenza H1/N1 flu virus at the National Health Laboratory,” the state media reported.
Six family members living with the patient are being kept home in quarantine, the report said, while 244 passengers on the same flight are under surveillance.
A total of seven persons have been infected with the virus to date. Four have been discharged from hospital after recovering, and three remain under treatment.
“A total of 96 new influenza (H1/N1) virus suspects were examined at the National Health Laboratory, and seven were found to be infected with the virus,” state media reported.
A drug seller from Mingalar market told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that: “The demand for masks is very low. Chinese ones only cost around 30 kyat [US $.03 cents], others are 40 kyat.
Initially prices reached as high as 250 kyat for one mask when the disease first broke out, but now it seems people don’t care about swine flu because only a few are wearing masks.”
The first case of new flu A/H1N1 in Burma was confirmed on June 27, when a 13-year-old girl with symptoms was tested positive after returning from Singapore.
A student from Rangoon said: “I understand swine flu, and I am not afraid of it. I see most people don’t wear masks now.”
Worldwide, swine flu has caused 816 deaths, according to data published on Monday by the World Health Organization.
Overall, 134,503 cases of infection have been reported to the WHO. But the UN health agency added that since countries are no longer required to test and report individual cases, the figure reported "understates" the actual number.
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| Several Die in Kachin State’s Worst Dengue Fever Outbreak |
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An outbreak of dengue fever in Myitkyina, capital of Burma’s Kachin State, has claimed several lives, according to local residents.
Myitkyina’s public hospital wards are full of dengue patients and many residents are seeking medical attention in private clinics, local sources say. Most of the patients are children and elderly people.
“The situation is terrible,” said one local resident, Ma Grang.
Local hospitals and clinics are overburdened by the increasing number of cases, and Ma Grang said many patients waited in vain all day for treatment. The Kachin News Group reported that more then 120 children are being treated in a local hospital known as the “Children’s Ward.”
Hospital and clinic staff told The Irrawaddy they had no authority to give out information on the outbreak, which began in mid-June. No official death toll has been reported.
The Kachin News Group reported that a 16-year-old schoolgirl, Hkawng Naw, was among the recent victims,. She died on July 23.
Dengue fever outbreaks occur every year in Kachin State, but the current epidemic is the worst ever.
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| Suu Kyi Insists Her Trial Will Test Rule of Law in Burma |
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Aung San Suu Kyi insisted after Tuesday’s final session of her trial before Friday’s scheduled verdict that the proceedings would show “whether or not the rule of law exists in the country,” according to her lawyer Nyan Win.
Suu Kyi made the comment to Nyan Win after the court announced a verdict would be announced on Friday. Suu Kyi is charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest order by giving refuge to an American trespasser, John Yettaw, and faces a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment if convicted.
Nyan Win, who is also a spokesman of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, told The Irrawaddy that his legal team had tried its best in accordance with the law.
Suu Kyi was innocent, Nyan Win insisted. “She [Suu Kyi] did not break the law. According to the law, it will be unlawful if the court even sentences her.”
During Tuesday’s two-hour morning session, a defense plea for more witnesses to be heard was rejected by the court, Nyan Win said.
Win Tin, an NLD executive leader who joined Suu Kyi supporters outside Insein Prison on Tuesday, said her two female companions and Yettaw also appeared at Tuesday’s session.
Suu Kyi’s companions Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma also face a charge of giving unlawful refuge to Yettaw. They are represented by Hla Myo Myint.
Nyan Win was one of four lawyers representing Suu Kyi at Tuesday’s session. The others were Kyi Wynn, Hla Myo Myint and Khin Htay Kywe, according to Khin Maung Swe, an NLD spokesperson.
Diplomats from Japan, Singapore, Thailand and the US were allowed to attend Tuesday’s session, according to an Associated Press report.
Last weekend, Suu Kyi told Nyan Win that she is unhappy with the continual delays in her trial, which she said gave the prosecution more time to prepare its final arguments. The trial began on May 18 and has been interrupted by several adjournments.
The proceedings against Suu Kyi have drawn wide international condemnation.
Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and several Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers called for the release of Suu Kyi and more than 2,100 other political prisoners during the Asean Ministerial Meeting and Asean Regional Forum at Phuket in southern Thailand.
The Burmese state-owned newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, carried an editorial last weekend saying that “demanding the release of Suu Kyi means showing reckless disregard for the law.”
The opposition leader has spent nearly 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest. Her latest term of detention began in May 2003, when she and her supporters came under attack by junta-backed thugs while traveling in central Burma.
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| Suu Kyi Unsatisfied with Trial Delay: Lawyer |
| Monday, 27 July 2009 |
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is unhappy with the repeated delays in the current trial against her, according one of her lawyers.
Nyan Win, a member of Suu Kyi’s legal team, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that she complained about the court’s decision to adjourn her trial until Monday because it gave the prosecution extra time to prepare its final arguments. Suu Kyi’s defense team made its closing arguments on Friday.
“I’m not satisfied with the delay,” Suu Kyi told her lawyer.
Kyi Win, Suu Kyi’s chief defense counsel, told the court on Friday that his client maintains that she is not guilty of the charges against her. He argued that under the 1974 law that she is accused of violating, it is not a crime to speak to a stranger or offer him food.
He also said that his client did not break the terms of her house arrest because she did not contact any outsiders by phone or letter.
Suu Kyi, 64, has been on trial at Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison court since May 18. She is accused of illegally allowing an intruder, US national John William Yettaw, to stay at her home for two days.
The trial has provoked international outrage and is widely regarded as a ploy to allow the Burmese junta to keep Suu Kyi in detention ahead of elections slated for next year.
Critics say the trial has been highly biased. They note that the court approved 23 witnesses for the prosecution, of whom 14 appeared on the stand, while only two of the four witnesses requested by the defense were permitted to appear in court.
Burma does not have an independent judiciary.
Suu Kyi has spent nearly 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest. Her latest detention began in May 2003, when she and her supporters came under attack by junta-backed thugs while traveling in central Burma.
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| KNU Rejects Junta Report |
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One of Burma’s last remaining insurgent forces, the Karen National Union (KNU), has rejected a report by state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar which said that 22 KNU soldiers recently surrendered to the Burmese army.
The New Light of Myanmar reported on July 23 that 22 soldiers of Battalion 18 under Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 6, including high-ranking officers such as Capt Saw Lay Ke, had surrendered to the Burmese army in Thingannyinaung in southern Karen State with eight small arms and assorted ammunition.
Maj Hla Ngwe, joint secretary (1) of the KNU, the political wing of the KNLA, rejected the report, calling it “junta propaganda.”
He added: “We have already checked all our battalions in Brigade 6, and none of our troops disarmed.”
However, a Karen source at the Thai-Burmese border confirmed that a group of former KNLA soldiers had joined the Burmese army a few days ago.
“They [the defecting soldiers] are former Karen soldiers. But as far as I know, they are not currently enlisted with the KNLA,” said the source.
Burma’s state press reported that the Burmese government is providing assistance to the defecting soldiers and their 15 family members, totaling 37 people.
The 1949-founded KNU has been fighting for autonomy from the Burmese military regime for six decades and is one of the few remaining factions that has never signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government.
According to the Burmese regime’s official figures, 17 ethnic armed groups have signed ceasefire agreements with the Burmese government since 1989.
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| Extortion Increases in Arakan's Rambree |
| Friday, 24 July 2009 |
Rambree: Extortion in Rambree Township in Arakan State has been on the increase, particular extortion committed by the township chairman, said a retired school headmaster from Rambree.
He said that Township Chairman U Aung Kyaw Zaw has extorted taxes from many businessmen inRambree Township with threats of not providing them permits for future business operations.
U Aung Chit Than, who owns and operates the Rangoon-Rambree bus route, gave 100,000 kyat to the township chairman recently after being threatened with having his operation permit withdrawn.
U Tun Wai, who is also a bus owner from Sapar Ton Village under Lay Daung Village Tract in Rambree, gave 100,000 to the chairman in June after being similarly threatened.
U Nyo Win, a tractor owner from Ward One in Rambree, had to pay 100,000 kyats to U Aung Kyaw Zaw after he failed to meet the chairman when he was summoned.
U Than Kyaw, chairman of Ward Five in Rambree, and Ko Than Min Naing, a rickshaw puller, each had to give 5,000 kyats to the chairman. They were forced to pay after their tractor and rickshaw respectively crossed in front of the township chairman's motorbike when he was traveling in Rambree.
According to a source, the extorted money was transferred to him through the bank account that was opened at the government bank in the name of the township chairman fund.
Many high government officials in Arakan, including army and navy officials, have extorted money from the public recently because they believe they will lose this privilege after the 2010 election.
After the 2010 election, it is believe that the new government that comes to power will change the government administration system. Because of that, the government officials currently in power are taking advantage of the current situation to extort as much money as possible from the public, the retired teacher said.
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| Prices climb as scarcity mounts |
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The price of goods exported from Thailand increased, as fewer goods from Thailand have been arriving in Moulmein, according to traders in Moulmein.
Two days ago the main stream of business in Myawaddy mountain road was blocked as heavy rains falling in the mountain made the road impassible, and the Gaying bridge remained damage, forcing most trucks to have to reduce their weight while heading in the direction of Myawaddy at Hpa-an .
“Commodities are not arriving in Myawaddy so we just have to sell what we have left from before,” said a bulk seller from Zaykyo. “Because of this we are having to raise our sales prices.”
The price of most goods has increased beyond what would have sold when they were readily available. Before, one bucket cooking oil increasing in price from 24,000 kyat to 28,000 kyat said one resident. Among other items increasing in price are shoes, slippers and spices.
“Before the road was damaged we made profits of 300,000 kyat for trading with Myawaddy to Moulmein, but now we can’t ship our goods. We are waiting for road to reopen and have to spend money eating here and are losing the time for our job” said a trader from Myawaddy.
As previously reported by IMNA, authorities have limited the weight trucks are able to carry across the Gyaing suspension .The Gyaing suspension bridge is part of the main road to Rangoon,_Hpa-an,_Moulemin and_Myawaddy explained the rice trader from Myawaddy.
The trader added, “The Gyaing bridge was saging and the stream of the business imports from Thailand is slower because most of the trucks have had to transfer their cargo to smaller cars to transport it past the suspension bridge – they can only pass if they reduce the weight of their load.”
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| Karen armed wing intends to recruit before Burmese army assault |
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The embattled armed wing of the largest Karen political group intends to recruit soldiers amongst Three Pagoda Pass township’s Karen population as the Burmese military government forces prepare to assault the Karen regional base.
The Karen National Union’s (KNU), Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), is intending to recruit soldiers after it has become evident that the Burmese Army will continue its offensive against the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) at brigade No. 6 located in the are of Three Pagoda Pass township.
The KNLA has been conducting brief military trainings for young men over the age of 18 throughout Karen territory for the past few years. The trainings have been conducted so that if necessary the men would be available to fight in the army.
The KNLA has already informed Karen villages that it will be recruiting villagers to serve in its army group. KNLA has not yet begun recruiting, but its efforts will focus on the Zami river area. Yet some villagers, including young men who were previously trained, are fleeing to Thailand, according to a Sa Ya Pa (Burmese military intelligence) who talked with Karen residents from TPP Township. There are Ten villages have along the Zami River and most consist of mostly Karen residents.
“I heard that the KNLA is trying to recruit villagers for their army,” said a Karen resident from TPP. “If there are 3 men in one household, the KNLA will take 2 men, and if you have 2 men in a house they will take 1.”
On July 8th the Burmese army State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) combined forces with the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) in a joint offensive against the KNLA brigade No. 6 forces in the temporary Tae Tone Lone camp, 12 kilometers outside Three Pagodas Pass. The KNU is preparing their forces to push back against the DKBA.
The recent fall of the KNLA base, brigade No. 7, led to a mass exodus of Karen refugees to the Thai-Burma border in the face of human rights abuses committed by the advancing SPDC –DKBA combined force. According to KNU sources, the SPDC and DKBA joint campaign is advancing towards the brigade No. 6 stronghold.
This increase in violence has caused problems throughout the Karen community. During recent fighting between the DKBA and the KNU, 2 DKBA soldiers were killed, according to a DKBA source. Since, the DKBA has blocked Karen villagers from Maketa from entering TPP township.
“About 10 Karen villagers who were suffering from illness went to get treated at a hospital,” commented a trader close to the DKBA. “When they arrived outside TPP town at the check point, DKBA and Burmese soldiers didn’t allow them to enter the town. So they had to go through the forest to enter town.”
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| Two soldiers of DKBA arrested, one left standing |
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Two Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) soldiers were seized by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) yesterday between Three Pagoda Pass (TPP) and Maketa forest. During the arrest sources claim one of the DKBA soldiers was killed.
According to sources from Three Pagoda Pass (TPP), forces from KNLA Bridge No.6, battalion No. 16, at the Kyun-chaung checkpoint, arrested two DKBA soldiers who were traveling from Chaung Wa, where they lived, to TPP, by boat. The soldiers, who were regular infantry of a low rank, were traveling together with no other support, and it is unclear how they were recognized as DKBA, and subsequently arrested.
“DKBA Captin Saw Aye One called his soldiers to go to TPP, and while traveling they were arrested and one of them was killed by the KNLA. The other DKBA soldier is still being detained by the KNLA,” said a source from the Karen Peace Force. “The KNU have not retaliated after a recent combined attack from the DKBA and Burmese army against the KNU on July 8th.”
On July 8th, the DKBA fought against troops from KNLA Bridge No.6 in Maketa from which the DKBA suffered 2 casualties. After the conflict between the DKBA and the KNU, a rumor spread out that the Burmese army and the DKBA combine force would continue to fight against KNU Bridge No.6.
According to a KNU officer from Dooplaya District, their forces didn’t kill or arrest either DKBA soldier, and that their battalion No. 16 didn’t engage in any action yesterday.
The actual circumstances around the event remain unclear. According to a source from TPP close to the KNU, “[The] KNU arrested DKBA soldiers yesterday; 1 solider was killed but I am not sure where the KNU is keeping the other soldier.“
The event has prompted Burmese authorities to tighten security inside and outside TPP town, residents claim, explaining the security increase most likely came as reaction to the arrests as well as an increase fear about the spread of H1N1.
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| Cyclone survivors struggle with debt burden |
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A year ago, Soe Soe was US$20 in debt. Like many survivors of Nargis who lost their homes, she had no choice but to borrow from money lenders to feed her family - often at extortionate interest rates.
But more than a year after the category four storm struck southern Myanmar - leaving close to 140,000 people dead and affecting more than two million - she says she is drowning in debt.
"For me it’s one disaster after another," the 29-year-old told IRIN from her makeshift hut in Outkwin Village in Pyapon Township, in the heart of Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Delta and one of the hardest-hit areas.
She now owes about $200 and at an interest rate of 40 percent every two weeks, she is unlikely to be able to repay it.
Debt levels were already high before Nargis, according to the UN, but since then they have soared and credit is now harder to find. People are increasingly worried that they will not be able feed themselves, much less restore their livelihoods alone - pushing them increasingly into the hands of money lenders, who are thriving.
According to one interviewed by IRIN, interest rates are about 10-20 percent a month with some collateral, while others charge as much as 40 percent for a two-week period if there is a greater risk of default.
"We know our interest rates are higher than in previous years, but it's quite risky for us," one money lender in Outkwin said. "We can lose our money any time if they don’t pay back.”
Others maintain that the higher the interest rate, the more likely they will get their money back.
"I even had to leave a longyi [a sarong-like garment worn by men and women] as collateral,” said one mother of two.
Food debt
According to a Rapid Food Security Assessment conducted by the World Food Programme (WFP) earlier this year, 83 percent of households surveyed were reportedly in debt – with food the dominant expense.
The survey showed that 51 percent of sampled households in the Labutta and Bogale townships relied on food aid for rice supplies, while only 25 percent reported a recovery in their livelihoods.
"Recovery will require several more years of support and input," Chris Kaye, country director for WFP in Myanmar, told IRIN earlier.
That being the case, many survivors feel they have no choice but to accept higher interest rates, knowing they will face even tougher times ahead.
Aye Lwin, 41, from Phoshangyi Village, Dedaye Township, says her family of nine can barely afford one meal a day since they cannot borrow any more money.
“Is there anyone who will rescue us from this debt trap?” the mother-of-seven asked.
Last year she borrowed nearly $500 at 15 percent a month to buy fishing equipment, but this year’s catch has proven much smaller than in previous years and she can longer keep up with the payments.
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| Lack of cash slows Nargis recovery |
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YANGON, (IRIN) - A three-year recovery plan for survivors of Cyclone Nargis remains severely underfunded: of the US$691 million requested under the post-Nargis recovery and preparedness plan (PONREPP), just $100 million has been pledged.
"Only a limited amount has been released," Bishow Parajuli, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar, told IRIN in Yangon, the former capital.
"On behalf of the humanitarian community working in the cyclone-affected communities, I call upon the continued support from the international community to help us help the people, as a supplement to the efforts undertaken by the authorities," he said.
Of the nine sectors outlined in the plan - aimed at ensuring a smooth transition from emergency relief and early recovery to sustainable medium-term recovery - agriculture and shelter remain the least funded.
Of the $174 million requested for shelter, $50 million has been received, while for agriculture virtually nothing has been paid out, against a $189 million request for livelihoods.
"We have received hardly anything," Tesfai Ghermazien, a senior emergency and rehabilitation coordinator with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Myanmar and leader of the agriculture cluster, told IRIN.
NGOs are already struggling, with some, such as Help from Germany, having no choice but to leave altogether; more are likely to follow unless cash is forthcoming.
According to FAO, inadequate funding means insufficient productive inputs, technical support, adaptive post-harvest technology and less capacity building - with repercussions for food and nutrition security as well as income.
"Agriculture is the main source of livelihoods in the delta and possibly close to 90 percent of the population relies directly or indirectly on agricultural activities," Ghermazien told IRIN.
Despite efforts over the past year, assistance for livelihoods has been far less than needed just to bring farming households back to pre-Nargis levels, he said: "Many farming households are trapped in a vicious debt cycle. There are pockets of food-insecure areas and the poverty level is far [greater] than desired."
Comparative disasters
Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, a disaster on a similar scale to Nargis in terms of impact on the population of Aceh in Indonesia, Aceh received more than $5 billion in international assistance in the first three years.
The PONREPP's cost, together with the initial emergency response already delivered, represents only about a fifth of the international community's response to Aceh.
PONREPP averages $230 million per year for three years, representing $31 per capita per year for the delta's population (about 7.35 million people).
"Myanmar receives very little humanitarian support per capita," Mark Canning, Britain's ambassador to Myanmar, said. "The UK has contributed substantially to the Nargis response and in other areas like health, education and livelihoods, and would like to see more donors working in the country," the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) quoted him as saying in May.
And while he underlined that as a major donor the UK was committed to keeping its humanitarian activity and political views separate, he added that, like it or not, political developments inevitably affected donor perceptions.
The PONREPP - prepared by the TCG - comprising the Myanmar government, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and UN - runs from January 2009 through December 2011.
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| Taking bets on increased poverty |
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YANGON, 20 July 2009 (IRIN) - Illegal lotteries are growing in popularity in Myanmar, fuelled by a sense of hopelessness and exacerbating the widespread economic hardship, say aid workers.
On the streets of Yangon, the former capital, the so-called "two digits" illegal lottery is so popular that development workers call it one of the most serious problems facing the children of poor families. It is especially popular among the poorest, who can least afford to lose their daily wages of US$1-$3.
Agents willing to take bets are everywhere - in cities, market towns and rural areas across Southeast Asia's second-largest nation of 58 million. But there is no social safety net, nothing to stop a family from going under when the betting losses add up.
"They bet because they think they'll get a big win, and then their troubles will be over," said a Burmese community worker, who runs self-help groups for poor women living in temporary shelters around Yangon.
"When they've lost everything they must give up their house, take their children out of school and send them to work. Often they will end up begging."
Economic burden
Myanmar's citizens are no better off now than 20 years ago, and most subsist on an average annual income of less than $200 per capita, the US State Department reports.
According to a 2005 UN Development Programme (UNDP) household survey, one-third of Myanmar's population lives below the poverty line.
Inflation is adding to the economic burden, with the price of rice, for example, up by 30 percent over the past year alone.
In an extensive survey by an international NGO, Myanmar children cited gambling as one of their biggest problems.
"Children said gambling happens everywhere, at home, at school, in the village. They also said everyone gambles: fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents," said a child protection expert at the NGO, who did not want to be identified because illegal gambling is a sensitive political issue.
"The children said the gambling drained the family economy, created an unhappy household and led to domestic violence."
Paying with child labour
Children also said they could be used in negotiations over debt - parents often sell their children's labour in return for credit.
"In Mandalay, some teashop owners told us that children who came to work in their restaurants usually came from families who had lost their assets betting on the two digits and three digits lottery," the child protection worker told IRIN.
It is common for gambling addicts to lose their homes, or be forced to mortgage their houses to the government, burdening them with a monthly debt, aid workers say.
The two digits lottery is an illegal scheme based on the last two digits of the closing price of the Bangkok stock exchange, unpredictable numbers that appear each day on the Thai television news, beamed into Myanmar by satellite.
The higher-risk, and higher-reward, "three digits" lottery is based on numbers from Thailand's own national lottery.
Kyaw Kyaw, 35, is a typical gambler. He lives in the rundown Yangon township of Daubon, repairing small motors and generators on the ground floor of his small brick house. He bets about a third of his daily income of some $3. Like all Myanmar's small-time betters, he usually loses.
But he does not see it that way: "Twice a day I have hope," he says.
Saleswomen for the betting agents come round to the house every day, collecting cash. They take a 10 percent cut and will often offer credit - pushing families dangerously into debt.
Awareness raising
The business is illegal, and anyone caught gambling or taking bets could receive a prison sentence of between three months and two years.
But gamblers say a bribe will get rid of most policemen, who will also expect a cut if someone in the neighbourhood has had a big win.
NGOs say they want to start to tackle the problem at community level, by raising awareness in education, child protection or micro-finance programmes. This would give community members an opportunity to share experiences and to recognize how gambling affects their lives.
"Only the bookmakers get rich," said the community worker. "But if they could see what we see, how it ruins people's lives, then I hope they would stop."
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| Burma: Lack of care for landmine victims |
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YANGON, 15 July 2009 (IRIN) - Hundreds of landmine victims every year never receive adequate rehabilitation assistance, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).
While there are no exact figures, the group says the numbers are "substantial". Myanmar is second only to Afghanistan in terms of landmine casualties in Asia.
NGOs believe the casualty figures over the past five to six years have been increasing.
"The landmine problem in Burma is alarming," Afredo Ferrariz Lubang, regional representative for the NGO Nonviolence International in Bangkok told IRIN, citing at least one case a day.
"Not only does it pose a threat but it is crippling Burma's future on a daily basis," he said.
Access to services remains "inadequate", ICBL said.
Landmines have long been used along the borders with Thailand and Bangladesh where Myanmar's government has been battling armed rebel groups.
In December, ICBL reported widespread landmine use in Karen, Karenni, Rakhine and Shan States and the Tenaserrim and Pegu Divisions.
In addition to domestically produced mines, Myanmar has also obtained and used Chinese, Indian, Italian, Soviet and US-manufactured mines, ICBL says.
"The Burma army continues to use landmines. Not only on the border with Thailand, but all over the Karen, Karenni and Shan states of eastern Burma," David Eubank, director of the Free Burma Rangers, an organisation providing medical and other assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) inside Myanmar, told IRIN.
Some reports suggest that prisoners have been forced to assist in mine-clearing efforts, while Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the government of planting mines around rice crops in areas cleared by the military during counter-insurgency operations.
"It's a fairly common practice - particularly in conflict areas in Karen state," David Scott Mathieson, Burma researcher for HRW told IRIN from the Thai border town of Mae Sot. "The idea is to deter civilians from returning to their villages to collect their belongings or tend their crops."
Despite reporting difficulties, some 438 casualties were recorded in 2007 compared with 243 in 2006, Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, research coordinator for the Landmine Monitor, which provides research to ICBL, told IRIN. "That's an 80 percent increase."
Of those injured in 2007, the latest figures available, 47 people died, up from 20 deaths in 2006 - although those numbers are also not conclusive.
Access to services
In 2007, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stopped assisting three physical rehabilitation centres run by the Ministry of Health and three centres run by the Ministry of Defence.
It continues, however, to support the Myanmar Red Cross's outreach prosthetic programme in the southeast, the area worst affected by landmines.
According to ICRC's annual report for 2008, 223 amputees who might otherwise have been unable to travel were helped to the Hpa-an centre to receive appropriate care.
In 2008, 5,419 patients (including 694 women and 371 children) received help at the ICRC-supported physical rehabilitation centre, including 1,031 new patients (including 69 women and 30 children).
While prosthetic limbs are available to refugees along the Thai border at refugee camps and at the Mao Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, as well as through Thai hospitals, for those inside the country, access remains poor.
Limited service is available on the Bangladesh and Indian borders.
Myanmar's government remains one of more than 30 countries in the world that has not signed up to the 1997 Ottawa Convention, an international agreement banning the use of anti-personnel mines.
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| Tycoons close to junta to disburse agri loans |
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Rangoon (Mizzima) – The Burmese military junta has instructed 25 companies owned by top business tycoons, close to the regime, to disburse agricultural loans to farmers.
Businessmen, known to be cronies of the junta’s generals, dealing in rice have been asked to provide agricultural loans of Kyat 50,000 [approximately USD 50] to 100,000 per acre to farmers in Irrawaddy and Pegu Division at 2 per cent of interest rates per month.
According to the Myanmar Rice Producers’ Association, top businessmen like Zaw Zaw of Max Company, Chit Khaing of Aden Construction Works, Khin Shwe of Zay Kabar Company are leading the consortium of companies, businessmen and farmers in providing the loan.
A businessman, who is a partner of Gold Delta Company specializing in rice, led by Aden Chin Khaing said that they were assigned to provide production costs, technology and farm implements to rice producers on behalf of the junta.
“Of these 25 companies, some are owned and run by a single person. Some are in partnership with two or three companies,” he added.
“Gold Delta comprises 21 companies. Almost 30 local businessmen and farmers from Dahnuphyu are among them. We will start our business with a total paid up capital of Kyat 10 billion,” he said.
But some companies such as Htoo Trading and ‘Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry’ (UMFCCI) Chairman Win Myint are into the business as sole traders with their own capital, the businessman said.
Htoo Trading Co. Project Director Ye Min Oo said that their company has invested Kyat 3 billion in the business. Local businessmen from Bogale invested Kyat 2 billion in the business and will provide agricultural loan of Kyat 50,000 per acre.
Gold Delta Co. headed by ‘Aden’ Chit Khaing invested Kyat 10 billion and will provide loans of Kyat 100,000 per acre to the farmers in about 500 villages.
Following the foot-step, several other businessmen have began setting up companies with names such as Kyaiklat Rice Producing Co. owned by Dagon International Co. in Kyaiklat Township, Irrawaddy Agricultural Development Co. owned by ‘Yuzana’ Htay Myint in Pyapon Township, Max Myanmar Co. owned by Zaw Zaw in Yekyi and Ah Thote Townships, Shwe Nagar Min Co. owned by Win Myint in Myaungmya Township, a company owned by Wady in Maubin.
But a few businessmen in Burma views the new initiative as the junta’s effort to soothe the anger of farmers, who have accused the government of failing to provide assistance, and to allow a few businessmen, whom the junta has selected as candidates for the 2010 election, to be able to campaign for the election.
Most of the businessmen involved in the consortium are blacklisted in the US and EU economic sanctions against Burma. US have announced the names of over 100 businessmen, whom they called are providing financial lifeline to the junta, under the list.
In the wake of the brutal crackdown against peaceful demonstrators in the 2007 September saffron revolution led by monks, where scores of protesters were killed and thousands of activists arrested, the US and EU imposed targeted sanctions against State owned enterprises, the top echelon of the junta, protégés of the junta and their business networks.
Following the devastating Cyclone Nargis, which destroyed paddy fields and inundated many more with sea water, farmers find low yields in their work. While some farmers have welcomed the loan programme, many worried that they might be asked to payback with their paddy products at a reduced price.
Farmers said, they have bitter experiences in the past, where they took loans from businessmen, local army units and even local authorities in exchange for their paddy products. But they were forced to give their products at a much lesser rate then in the market.
In some cases, famers who are unable to repay their loans and do not have a good yield of paddy, they are forced to surrender their land for the loan they have taken.
Farmers from Thakan village tract on Bogale-Pyapon highway said that some of the farmers in their areas dare not take loans even at cheap interest rates.
But a project director at ‘Htoo’ Trading Co. told Mizzima, “The businessmen are doing this because they have been directed by the State. We don’t expect any economic benefits from the farmers. Two per cent interest rate is nothing for us.”
Sources at the Ministry of Economics and Commerce said the government have instructed the companies dealing in rice, that they could export rice only after deducting the amount allotted for sales in the region.
A former executive committee member of the UMFCCI told Mizzima, “We are doing this mainly because of pressure from seniors [junta’s high officials]. We have no intention of extracting profit from the farmers. Our main concern is free export of rice. In this country, authorities, if we follow their instructions usually give us other business opportunities.”
He said, besides, farmers would be thankful to the businessmen for providing loans and could gain their support, which could serve as a campaign for the upcoming 2010 election.
Sources at the Myanmar Rice Traders Association said Burma set the target of rice export at maximum 1.5 million tons for the this fiscal year - April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010. Burma was able to export over 658,000 tons of rice in the 2008-09 fiscal year.
While Burma’s export quality rice contains about 25 per cent of broken rice, it cost about USD 320 per ton in the export market. Over 80 per cent of Burma’s exports in rice goes to African countries.
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| Report on child soldier released |
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Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The unabated recruitment of child soldiers into the Burmese Army has been exposed in a report released by the Thai-Burmese border based ‘Yoma 3’ Burmese News Agency today.
The agency said, it took about one and-a-half years to compile the 72-page ‘Child Soldiers: Burma’s Sons of Sorrow’, which was released on Wednesday at a press conference held along the Thai-Burmese border.
The report includes interviews with two child soldier deserters, a sergeant and four parents of child soldiers forcibly recruited by the army.
“The junta always claims to the international community and UN that it never recruits child soldiers into the army. They also always claim that organizations in exile are disseminating concocted stories to western countries. We wish to let people know clearly what the true facts are,” Nyein Lu, editor of the Yoma 3 told Mizzima.
The report also presented news and photographs of the No. 1 Recruit Centre at Danyinkone Township in Rangoon Division, No. 2 in Mandalay, No. 3 in Yemethin and No. 9 Basic Military Training School in Zay Chaung village of Thaton Township in Mon state.
The group said, the survey and the facts and figures in the report were provided by activists inside Burma, military personnel in the Burma Army and former soldiers.
Yoma 3 news agency was founded in 1998 by pro-democracy and human rights activists, who fled to the border after the 1988 uprising. The report is Yoma 3’s second report on child soldiers.
Despite persistent allegations made by the UN, ILO and Human Rights organizations on the use of child soldiers by the Burmese Army, the junta has always blatantly denied.
In the UN Secretary General’s report released in December 2007, Ban Ki-moon says besides the Burmese Army, there are nine more ethnic armed forces, which also use child soldiers in their respective armed units.
Following severe criticism, Burma’s military rulers in February 2007 allowed the International Labour Organization (ILO) to open a liaison in Rangoon to accept complaints of child soldiers and to help in eliminating the use of children in the army.
According to complaints received by Mizzima, the junta often recruits children mainly between the age of 14-16 from poor family backgrounds in Rangoon, Irrawaddy and Magwe Divisions by using pressure tactics including summoning by quota from each village, intimidation and incentives by way of money.
In 2005, the Yoma 3, published its first child soldier report in collaboration with the Thailand-based ‘Human Rights Education Institute of Burma’ (HREIB).
The group said, they will also present the report to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, Asia Human Right Council and Human Right Watch.
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| NLD at a 'critical stage': Win Tin |
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New Delhi (mizzima) – A leader of Burma’s opposition party – National League for Democracy (NLD) – said the party’s leadership has reached a 'critical stage' as most members of the party’s executive committee are aging and faced with worsening health.
Win Tin, a veteran journalist and member of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the NLD, said with most CEC party members over the age of 80 and confronting severe health problems, the party is at a crossroads.
“The leaders are already at the age of retirement from party work, but with so many things yet to be done it is difficult for them to retire. They are also facing severe health problems, so the party is at a crossroads,” Win Tin said.
He said with Aung San Suu Kyi and Vice-Chairman Tin Oo still under detention, the party cannot renew its registration and inject young blood into the party’s leadership, as it would essentially remove Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo from the committee.
“With Daw Aung San Suu Kyi still under detention we cannot renew our party registration. And we cannot include more people in the committee, as we would like to do, because the election commissioner will check and we can only renew the registration with the people they approved,” Win Tin explained.
NLD CEC Chairman Aung Shwe, Vice-Chairman U Lwin and members Lun Tin, Nyunt Wei, Hla Pe, Than Tun, Win Tin and Thakin Soe Myint are all in their 80s and 90s and reportedly experiencing increasing health concerns.
“U Aung Shwe is over 90 now. He has not been able to come to the party office for months. I don’t think he can come in the next two to three months either. U Lun Tin’s eyesight and hearing are poor too. He has to be escorted to the office. He is paralyzed and is now confined to his bed. U Hla Pe’s health is also not so good, while U Than Tun suffers from frequent headaches,” elaborated Win Tin.
He added that he himself has been suffering from a heart problem as well as a low pulse rate and low blood pressure, in addition to diabetes and arthritis. He may also have to undergo an operation to combat deteriorating eyesight.
“My heartbeat is only 48 beats per minute. The normal is about 80 beats per minute. I cannot move easily. I get exhausted after taking four or five steps. My physician instructed me not to take liver, innards, tomato and bean sprouts, and to instead take only fish and meat with other healthy foods,” said Win Tin, who has his next medical check-up scheduled for August 3rd.
Yet, despite his poor health, he said he will not forego traveling to Insein prison on Friday, where a special court is to hear final arguments relating to the ongoing trial of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
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| US Offer Won’t Lead to Suu Kyi’s Freedom: Opposition Leaders |
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Opposition leaders on Thursday expressed doubt that a US offer of economic investment in Burma in return for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from prison would lead to the pro-democracy leader’s freedom.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday in Phuket, Thailand, that the US would expand relations with Burma if the military government released opposition leader Suu Kyi, who is now on trial.
“If she [Suu Kyi] were released, that would open up opportunities, at least for my country, to expand our relationship with Burma, including investments in Burma. But it is up to the Burmese leadership,” Clinton said while attending a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Burmese political opposition leaders urged the military regime to consider the offer as a way to encourage national reconciliation.
Khin Maung Swe, a spokesperson for Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), said that Clinton’s statement shows how much the international community supports the release of the detained opposition leader, who has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years.
If the Burmese generals followed up on the US offer, it would be a win-win situation with both Burma and the US benefiting from better economic and diplomatic cooperation between the two countries, said Khin Maung Swe.
“The Burmese generals should consider this carefully,” he said.
He said regional leaders should not only talk but also take actions to bring the Burmese regime to the “table of negotiation.”
Win Tin, the most prominent Burmese opposition politician after Suu Kyi, told The Irrawaddy that the Clinton’s statement displayed the weakness of US policy on Burma.
“What about reconciliation dialogue, the election [in 2010] and ethnic issues?” Win Tin asked. “Don’t they know that they would detain her again?”
Win Tin himself spent 19 years in prison and was unexpectedly released late last year.
Chan Htun, a Rangoon-based, veteran politician and former ambassador to China, said Clinton’s statement was positive.
“I would like to urge the Burmese generals to seriously consider the future of the country and cooperate with the offer,” Chan Htun said. “But, that’s only my wish. The Burmese regime will do whatever it wants and will listen to nobody.”
He said he doesn’t believe Burma’s No 1 general, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, will consider the offer.
A prominent Mon politician, Nai Ngwe Thein, who is vice president (1) of the Mon National Democratic Front in Mon State in southern Burma, said, “It is a good offer. But, I don’t think they [the generals] will follow up on it.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, Clinton said the US is seriously concerned about the closer military cooperation between Burma and North Korea, and Burma’s possible pursuit of “offensive weapons including nuclear weapons.”
The US imposed economic sanctions on Burma in 1997, preventing new US investment in the military-ruled country. It tightened economic sanctions that banned importing goods from Burma again in 2003, following an attack on Suu Kyi's convoy by regime-backed thugs in northern Burma.
A veteran journalist who works at a foreign wire service in Rangoon said that he doesn’t believe the regime will consider the US offer.
“You can’t go and bribe the regime [in exchange for Suu Kyi’s release],” he said.
But the correspondent said that there has been growing optimism among the Burmese people that Suu Kyi’s prison sentence might be reduced because of the pressure from the international community.
“People are saying that the regime will put her back under house arrest with a three-year sentence,” he said. “They [the junta] still want to take her out of the election in 2010.” If convicted, she could receive up to a five-year prison sentence.
Asked to predict whether the regime might consider freeing Suu Kyi anytime soon, he said, “We are dealing with a very peculiar regime. They are unpredictable.”
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| Lawyers Denied Access to Suu Kyi |
| Thursday, 23 July 2009 |
RANGOON — The legal team of Burma's jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was denied access to the 64-year-old Nobel laureate on Wednesday, two days before her trial resumes for final arguments, her lawyer said.
Authorities in the military-ruled country denied permission for Suu Kyi's lawyers to meet her to finalize the draft of their 23-page closing argument, said Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi's defense lawyers as well as spokesman for her party.
"This (refusal by authorities) shows that the judicial system in the country is very weak," said Nyan Win. "We need to see our clients to finalize the draft, and it was very bad that the right has been denied."
Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days. She is being detained at Burma's notorious Insein Prison.
The opposition leader, who was been under house arrest for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, faces a possible five-year prison term.
The refusal to allow legal access to Suu Kyi comes as Asian, US, and European ministers—including the top diplomat from Burma—meet in neighboring Thailand where the military regime's human rights record is in the spotlight.
The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. She is widely expected to be found guilty when the verdict is delivered, expected sometime next month.
The final arguments will be presented Friday.
Nyan Win said the lawyers last met Suu Kyi last Friday to discuss the closing argument.
Also on trial, and facing the same charges as Suu Kyi, are two women members of her party who were her sole companions under house arrest. The American, John Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, is charged with trespassing.
The mostly closed-door trial started May 18. The court had approved 23 prosecution witnesses, of which 14 took the stand. Only two out of four defense witnesses were allowed to testify.
The last defense witness Khin Moe Moe testified on July 10, arguing that Suu Kyi was innocent because the military government charged her under a law that cites a constitution abolished two decades ago.
The defense has not contested the basic facts of the case, but they also assert that the security guards who ensure Suu Kyi remains inside her compound should also be held responsible for any intrusion on her property.
Yettaw has pleaded not guilty and explained in court that he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had gone to warn her. Family and friends have said he was working on a book and wished to interview her.
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