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ビルマ市民フォーラム メールマガジン 2009/2/13
People's Forum on Burma
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ビルマ情報ネットワーク（BurmaInfo）からのメールを転送させていただき
ます。
（重複の際は何卒ご容赦ください。）
ＰＦＢ事務局
http://www1.jca.apc.org/pfb/
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ビルマ情報ネットワークの「今週のビルマのニュース」をお送りします。
「今週のビルマのニュース」バックナンバー
http://www.burmainfo.org/weekly.html
きょうのビルマのニュース（平日毎日更新）もご利用ください。
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/burmainfo/
ビルマ情報ネットワーク （www.burmainfo.org）
秋元由紀
========================================
今週のビルマのニュース Eメール版
2009年2月13日号【0906号】
========================================
【今週の主なニュース】
バレンタイン・キャンペーン
・活動家への長期禁固刑判決宣告が続いている。
9日には全ビルマ学生会連盟のリーダー2人が3年の
禁固刑判決を受けた（10日付DVB）。10日にはサイクロン
被災者救援活動をして逮捕された活動家10人の裁判が
始まった。裁判所に弁護人は入れなかった（12日付DVB）。
また、インセイン刑務所に収容されていた「８８世代学生
グループ」の13人が6日に遠隔地の刑務所に移送された
ことがわかった。家族との面会などが困難になった
（6日付イラワディ）。
・ビルマ国内で活動する全ビルマ学生会連盟など３団体が
「バレンタインのバラ」キャンペーンを始めた。平和と和解を
望む気持ちを表すため、パゴダにバラの花を供えたり、
バラの小物を身につけるよう市民に呼びかけている
（11日付DVB）。
また、ビルマ連邦記念日の12日、アウンサンスーチー氏が
書記長を務める国民民主連盟（NLD）が氏を始めとした
政治囚の解放を求める署名集めキャンペーンを始めた。
全国で展開する予定（12日付AP）。
・国連・ASEAN・軍政でつくるTCG（サイクロン被災支援を
監督する機関）は9日、2011年12月までの3年間の支援
計画（PONREPP）を発表した。期間中に緊急救援活動から
中期的回復作業に移ることを想定し、約7億ドルの資金が
必要だとしている。
【その他】
少数民族代表、ガンバリ特使が来日
・ビルマ連邦記念日に合わせ、少数民族団体の指導者
3人が来日中。1990年総選挙でアラカン州から当選した
トゥンウィン氏（ビルマ連邦国民連合政府（NCGUB＝
ビルマの亡命政権）の教育担当大臣）、新モン州党
（モン州で最大の政党）のナイトーモン議長、そして
カチン民族で弁護士のクンサー氏。12日には「ミャンマー
の民主化を支援する議員連盟」の会合に出席した。
また中曽根外務大臣に要請書を出し、「（軍政の計画
通り）2010年に総選挙が強行されれば、ビルマからさらに
多くの難民が流出する」と指摘。2008年憲法の内容の
再検討やすべての政治囚の解放を軍政に求めるよう訴えた。
・3日までビルマを訪れていた国連のガンバリ事務
総長特別顧問が11日に来日し、12日には中曽根
外務大臣と会談した。外務省によれば「2010年の
総選挙が国際社会に祝福されるものとなるよう
ミャンマー政府に対し働きかけていくことで意見が
一致」したとのこと（12日付外務省プレスリリース）。
・米議会上院のマケイン、マコネル、ファインスタイン、
ダービン各議員がクリントン国務長官（16～18日に来日予定）に
書簡を出し「2008年憲法と2010年総選挙を正当と認められ
ない、という米政府の見解を国連などの場で表明してほしい」
と呼びかけた。
【ビルマへの政府開発援助（ODA）約束状況など】
新たな発表はなし
【イベントなど】
・在日ビルマ人共同行動実行委員会アクション－
国連事務総長に対し、一刻も早くビルマを訪問し、
スーチーさんを含むすべての政治囚の釈放と対話の
促進を軍政に働きかけるよう要請するアピール行動
（国連大学前、9～13日15～16時）
・国境なき子どもたち公開講座「シリーズ アジア」
第10回ミャンマー 津守滋氏（元ミャンマー大使）
（JICA地球ひろば、14日14時～）＊要申込
・第61回チン民族記念日祝典
（市川市男女共同参画センター、15日13時～）、
第62回モン民族記念日祝典
（新宿区中落合・目白大学、15日14時～）
・日本ビルマ救援センター 月例ビルマ問題学習会
宇田有三「武装抵抗闘争60周年を迎えたカレン
民族同盟（KNU）の今」
（大阪ボランティアセンター、20日19時～）
・ビルマ市民フォーラム例会
外国人労働者は今…在日ビルマ人・外国人労働者の
おかれている状況について
（池袋・ECOとしま8階、2月21日18時～）
・ドキュメンタリー「ビルマ、パゴダの影で」水戸上映会
アムネスティ・インターナショナル日本・水戸グループ主催
（水戸市あむねすみと 2F、3月8日13時半開場、14時開演）
☆春秋社より新刊のお知らせ～
アラン・クレメンツ著「ダルマ・ライフ－日々の生活に"自由"を見つける方法」。
著者はビルマで得度して僧になった初めての米国人。
国際的な注目を集めるビルマの状況に対して、
新たな角度から光をあてる一冊。
四六判／372頁／定価（本体2500円＋税）
★ジェーン・バーキン最新アルバム『冬の子供たち』が
発売中。アウンサンスーチー氏に捧げる楽曲「アウンサンスーチー」を収録。
【もっと詳しい情報は】
きょうのビルマのニュース（平日毎日更新）
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/burmainfo/
ビルマ情報ネットワーク
http://www.burmainfo.org/
【お問い合わせ】
ビルマ情報ネットワーク 秋元由紀
====================================
今週のビルマのニュース Eメール版
2009年2月13日号【0906号】
作成： ビルマ情報ネットワーク
協力： ビルマ市民フォーラム
====================================
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配布元: BurmaInfo（ビルマ情報ネットワーク）
http://www.burmainfo.org
連絡先: listmaster@burmainfo.org
バックナンバー: http://groups.yahoo.co.jp/group/burmainfo/
※BurmaInfoでは、ビルマ（ミャンマー）に関する最新ニュースやイベント情報、
参考資料を週に数本配信しています。
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Friday, February 13, 2009
Fw: [burmainfo] 今週のビルマのニュース（0906号） バレンタイン・キャンペーン、ガンバリ氏来日ほか
US and Russian satellites collide
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/02/200921242731582448.html
A privately-owned US telecommunications satellite has collided with a defunct Russian satellite in what US military officials say is the first such orbital collision ever recorded.
The crash occurred on Tuesday at an altitude of about 780km, destroying both satellites and creating a cloud of debris that officials say could threaten other satellites including the International Space Station.
The satellites hit each other at a combined velocity of about 11km-a-second, or 10 times faster than a rifle bullet.
The US satellite was operated by Iridium, a satellite telephone provider, which operates a global network of 66 communication satellites.
The Maryland-based company said the collision was not a result of any error on its part and said it would be deploying a spare satellite already in orbit to replace the one destroyed.
The collision took place in an area of space known as low-earth orbit which is used by hundreds of communications and weather-monitoring satellites.
Possible risks
Air Force Colonel Les Kodlick of the US military's Strategic Command, which monitors thousands of pieces of space debris, said the a debris cloud created by the collision was being tracked to see what kind of threat it may pose.
Space debris
US Space Command is tracking more than 18,000 objects, including 900 operational satellites, in orbit at altitudes between 100km and 32,000km above Earth.
Thousands more objects smaller than about 10cm across are too small to track by radar, but still pose a danger.
The oldest piece of space debris is a sphere about 15cm in diameter launched in 1958.
Nasa regularly has to alter the flight path on shuttle missions to avoid potentially dangerous debris.
"We believe it's the first time that two satellites have collided in orbit," he told the Reuters news agency, adding that the area where the collision took place was "very important for a lot of satellites".
He said the Command's Joint Space Operations Centre was tracking 500 to 600 new bits of debris, some as small as 10cm across.
Nasa, the US space agency, said it was assessing the risk posed to the international space station and its crew of three, but said it believed any danger was "very small".
But Robert Massey, from the Royal Astronomical Society, told Al Jazeera the collision could pose a risk to other objects in orbit.
"Even a fragment of this collision that measures a few centimetres across, if that hits the space station at high speed, of course it could do tremendous damage," he said.
"It does illustrate the magnitude of the problem - there are 6,000 satellites up there and about 3,000 of them are still functioning. This issue is that when you launch something into space ... if they hit objects at high speed they can do a lot of damage and that's what the risk really is about."
Serious problem
The space station flies about 500km below the orbit where the collision took place.
The growing amount of space debris is becoming an increasingly serious problem for satellite operators and countries sending humans into orbit.
Travelling at high velocities in space, even tiny pieces of debris such as flecks of paint or a loose bolt have the potential to seriously damage or destroy other spacecraft.
The US Strategic Command says it is tracking more than 18,000 potentially dangerous objects and regularly has to move US defence satellites out of the way of potential harm.
The debris, which can stay in orbit for tens or even hundreds of years, includes larger pieces such as defunct satellites and spent rocket boosters, as well as thousands of smaller pieces such as tools dropped by astronauts.
China was widely criticised by other space-faring nations in 2007 after it destroyed one of its own obsolete weather satellites using a ground-launched ballistic missile.
The apparent test of a Chinese anti-satellite weapon generated a cloud of about 2,500 pieces of debris.
An unnamed US government spokesman told Reuters there was no indication that Tuesday's collision was the result of deliberate action.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
Junta's business crony to build Nature Park in northern Burma
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/1701-juntas-business-crony-to-build-natural-park-in-northern-burma.html
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Burmese military junta's business associate, the Htoo Trading Company, has begun building a Nature Park in Northern Burma, which will house rare species of butterflies, orchids and wild animals.
Earlier the Nature Park was to be built by Woodland Company in association with the Forest Department near Mularshidee village in Puta-O township of Kachin State. It has now been taken over by Htoo Trading.
"The park will cover 500 acres and is expected to be completed by 2010. Now the survey work has started and we hope the construction work can be started after two months. The main aim of this project is to boost tourism in this region," the project's official told Mizzima.
The butterfly park in the project will have over 50 rare species of butterflies from Burma especially from Kachin State with over 1,500 varieties and will resemble the Butterfly and Insect Park in Singapore.
Besides, the Nature Park will have rare Burmese orchids and rare animals like red panda and Takin, the official said. But he declined to say whether foreign experts have been roped in for the project.
Earlier, as a business expansion move in the tourism sector, the 'Balloons over Bagan', a subsidiary of Htoo Business Group, took over the 'Malikha Lodge', the highly rated guesthouse in Puta-O.
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Business tycoon Tay Za, owner of the Htoo Groups of Company, is among the list of businessmen that the United States had imposed sanctions on for his alleged role in supporting the ruling military regime's human rights violations and being a crony of the junta. He is also barred from visiting the US and his cash and assets were frozen in the US.
In the project area of the 'Nature Park', another hotel of the Htoo Trading Co. is under construction.
A sales manager of a travel agency in Rangoon said, "On the completion of this hotel, they will sell tour programmes to visit the park and for tourists to stay at the hotel. Currently they are running such tour operations in association with Malikha Lodge. We heard that there will be skiing in this region ".
Currently the 'Treasure' tour agency is operating tour programmes for those visiting areas around Puta-O and staying at the Malikha Lodge.
"Their tour programme will cost at least USD 1,500 per head depending on the itinerary and duration of stay," he added.
The Puta-O region, which is located in the foothills of the Himalayas, is a major tourist attraction site with abundance of wildlife. Bird watchers and tourists who love adventure frequently visit the area for mountaineering and hiking in the jungles. It is also home to several unique and rare birds, butterflies and orchids.
According to an eco-tourism operator in Rangoon, about 40 international tourists have either booked tour programmes to visit Puto-O region or have visited this region from December 2008 onwards.
"Since he [Tayza] has his own hotels, own airlines and enjoys favourable business opportunities from the junta, he took over everything," said another tour operator.
But he added that he has not lost hope in remaining in the business. "There's a saying in the tour business that the tourism industry is a 'Non-chimney industry' from which we can reap handsome profits while making little capital investment. Moreover the customers will never be exhausted in this business."
'Air Bagan' airline owner Tay Za has already has a chain of hotels in most of the famous tourist attractions sites in Burma including Rangoon, Mandalay, Inle lake in Shan state, the ancient city of Bagan, and Poppa and Ngapali beaches.
Facing a Jobless Reality
If you haven't cut back your spending or worked to get yourself out of debt by now, maybe the news from last Friday's sobering unemployment report will jolt you into action.
The latest Labor Department figures show that in January, 5980,000 jobs were slashed -- the most since 1974 -- pushing the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent.
"If the jobless rate keeps rising at the pace it has for the past two months, it will hit double digits in summer and reach its highest rate since the Great Depression by the fall" writes Post reporters Neil Irwin and Annys Shin. "Companies in nearly every sector of the economy have cut jobs or announced that they would take other steps to save on costs, including freezing or reducing pay or eliminating contributions to employee retirement programs."
While the White House, Treasury Department and Congress feverishly work on a financial rescue plan to pump more money into the economy and stimulate job growth, there are things you should know in case a pink slip lands on your desk. Read my column from June on what to do if you fear you may be laid off and what to do once you are unemployed.
Read these stories from today's newspaper for the latest developments:
* Out of Work and Challenged on Benefits, Too (By Peter Whorisky, Feb. 12)
* Congress Reaches Stimulus Accord (By Shailagh Murray and Paul Kane, Feb. 12)
To keep tabs on what the government is doing to help, check out Economy Watch for daily updates, the latest headlines and a snapshot of what's happening in the crisis.
Live Q&A Today
Are you worried about your job, or how best to handle your finances? Bring your questions to my Web chat today at Noon. If you miss the discussion, read the transcript to see if anyone asked a question you may have.
Also, please note, this month's Color of Money Book Club chat will be on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Noon ET, instead of the usual Thursday time.
Layoffs 101: What if You're the One to Fire?
Post Vice President Ben Bradlee and Business columnist Steven Pearlstein recently elicited multiple perspectives about how companies should execute laying off personnel and slashing expenses, as part of their On Leadership, online panel discussion group.
Michael Useem, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania suggests providing "as many forms of personal support as possible" such as employment counseling, placement services and temporary extensions of medical and dental benefits.
President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, David Walker, who once served as the U.S. Comptroller General advises cutting back on hours instead of laying off workers.
The majority of the panelists say that downsizing is very risky: Not only does it hurt the economy but also it can hurt the company.
Making Wise Choices
Nadya Suleman, also unemployed, may be taking the idea of loving her family one step further than what her financial reality can maintain, most likely setting her up for disaster.
If you don't recognize her name, she's the California single-mother of six who gave birth to octuplets using in-vitro procedures. Once the newborns are released from the hospital, she and all 14 children will be living with her parents. It's been reported that her father will go back to work in Iraq to help support the expanding family.
But take a look at this from an Associated Press report:
"An in-vitro procedure typically costs between $8,000 and $15,000. Asked on NBC how she was able to afford the treatments, Suleman said she had saved money and used some of the more than $165,000 in disability payments she received after being injured in a 1999 riot at a state mental hospital where she worked. She also told NBC that she does not intend to go on welfare, though her publicist confirmed Monday that Suleman already receives food stamps and child disability payments to help feed and care for her six other children."
What do you think of Suleman's family money management? Should you consider your finances before having more children? Tell me what you think. Send your comments to colorofmoney@washpost.com and put "Eight More" in the subject line. Insights from those working in the medical field, child protection agencies or economics would also be appreciated.
Also, if you too have a large family and may be are worried about how to feed your family a health meal during the receesion, read advice Kate Gosselin, which was featured in a recent column by Post Health columnist Jennifer Huget: An Organic Diet for a Family of 10? Yes, She Can. (Feb. 3).
Recessionary Desperation
Unfortunately, there are always a few that take advantage of a desperate situation. The Big Money reports about a guy named "Bailout Bill," who set up a booth in New York's Times Square and handed out money to strangers last Tuesday.
All he asked was that visitors tell him why they needed the money. They were promised anywhere from $50 to $1,000 reports Chadwick Matlin.
Hundreds of people lined up to tell their story and collect their share. He also offered his Web site as an alternative to waiting in line. But, the booth was only a gimmick; Bailout Bill is actually the shady figurehead of a new "video-classified-ad site" who wants people to take out sketchy loans.
There's no such thing as a free lunch, people. And yet, posted on the Web site are thousands of pleading messages. "The man who can't afford his daughter's C-section because he already spent all his money on a cashew tree is a personal [posting] favorite," says Matlin.
But overall, I couldn't agree more with Matlin's statement that "It's a reflection of the recession's ability to strip its victims of agency. We need the help because we are helpless."
Check out the full report: The Way We Beg (Feb. 5).
I also want you to read this story as a warning. As the economy gets worse -- and it probably will -- please be careful about falling for schemes and scams that prey on your fears. Stay away from get-rich-quick business opportunities that will just live you broke fast.
You are welcome to e-mail comments and questions to singletarym@washpost.com. Please include your name and hometown; your comments may be used in a future column or newsletter unless otherwise requested.
China’s Water Woes: Past, Present, and Future
http://thechinabeat.blogspot.com/2009/02/chinas-water-woes-past-present-and.html
2/12/2009
The Chinese droughts have just begun to move onto the front pages of the world's newspapers, but the droughts are just the latest sign of much more dire warnings of water woes in China. Some China experts are talking about this (see, for instance, today's event at the Wilson Center on "Temperatures Rising: Climate Change, Water, and the Himalayas"), but, in China Beat fashion, we're hoping to encourage many more people to do a little more reading and talking about it too, so we invited Ken Pomeranz to reflect on the present news and suggest a few further readings for those who are interested.
By Ken Pomeranz
Water is back in the China-related news lately – and that’s almost always a bad sign. Most recently, we have had stories about the grinding North China drought; this may be the worst since the late 50s drought that exacerbated the Great Leap Forward famine. A bit earlier, we had the report of credible (though unproven) research suggesting that last May’s catastrophic Sichuan earthquake may have been triggered by pressure from the water stored behind Zipingpu Dam. (See here for an early report, and then the slightly later piece, with more about the key Chinese scientist involved, by Evan Osnos of the New Yorker). Late in January, Jiang Gaoming of the Chinese Academy of Sciences released a sobering piece (China Dialogue, January 22, 2009) about how accelerating the construction of dams in China’s Southwest – part of the P.R.C.’s ambitious stimulus package to fight the global recession – is worsening the already considerable environmental and social risks involved, with some projects beginning before any Environmental Impact Assessments have been completed. Such a confluence of events is enough to make a historian think back…to about six weeks ago.
When the China Beat crew decided to put together our book China in 2008, I drew what you could consider either the long or the short straw, depending on your tastes: light editorial duties in return for writing an “end of the year wrap-up” piece to go at the end of the book. (Most of the copy had to go to the press by November 1, and a book with the sub-title “10 months out of a year of great significance” somehow didn’t seem right.) And as the last days of the year ticked off and I tried to figure out what things about 2008 to emphasize, water kept winding up at the center. Here’s an excerpt:
“The Olympics briefly focused attention on China’s serious air pollution problems…But China’s water woes are at least equally pressing, and it may be easier to see what effects they will have. Two little-noted news items from near the end of the year may illuminate that – after we review some background.
Water has always been a problem in China, and effective control of it has been associated with both personal heroism and legitimate sovereignty for as far back as our records go…. But water scarcity is probably an even greater problem than excesses, especially in the modern period. Surface and near-surface water per capita in China today is roughly ¼ of the global average, and worse yet, it is distributed very unevenly. The North and Northwest, with over half the country’s arable land, have about 7 percent of its surface water; the North China Plain, in particular, has 10 to12 percent of the per capita supply for the country as a whole, or less than 3 percent of the global average. China also has unusually violent seasonal fluctuations in water supply; both rainfall and river levels change much more over the course of the year than in either Europe or North America. While the most famous of China’s roughly 85,000 dams are associated with hydro-power (about which more in a minute), a great many exist mostly to store water during the peak flow of rivers for use at other times of year.
The People’s Republic has made enormous efforts to address these problems – and achieved impressive short-term successes that are now extremely vulnerable. Irrigated acreage has more than tripled since 1950, with the vast majority of those gains coming in the North and Northwest; this has turned the notorious “land of famine” of the 1850-1950 period into a crucial grain surplus area, and contributed mightily to improving per capita food supplies for a national population that has more than doubled. Much of that, however, has come through the massive use of deep wells bringing up underground water far faster than it can be replaced; and a great deal of water is wasted, especially in agriculture, where costs to farmers are kept artificially low. (Chinese agriculture is not necessarily more wasteful in this regard than agriculture in many other places – and certainly the deviations from market prices are no worse than in the supposedly market-driven United States – but its limited supplies make waste a much more immediate problem.) Water tables are now dropping rapidly in much of North China, and water shortages are a frequent fact of life for most urban residents. (Beijing suffers fewer water shortages, but only because it can commandeer the water resources of a large surrounding rural area included in the municipality.) Various technologies that would reduce water waste exist, but most are expensive. More realistic pricing of irrigation water would help – but probably at the price of driving millions of marginal farmers to the wall, and greatly accelerating the already rapid rush of people to the cities. Consequently, adoption of both of these palliatives is likely to remain slow.
Instead, the state has chosen a massive three-pronged effort to move water from South to North China – by far the biggest construction project in history, if it is completed. Part of the Eastern section began operating this year, and the Central section is also underway (though the December 31 Wall Street Journal reported a delay due to environmental concerns). The big story in the long run, however is the Western line, which will tap the enormous water resources of China’s far Southwest – Tibet alone has over 30 percent of China’s fresh water supply, most of it coming from the annual run-off of some water from Himalayan glaciers. (This is an aspect of the Tibet question one rarely hears about, but rest assured that all the engineers in China’s leadership, including Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, are very much aware of it. Tibetans, meanwhile, not only see a precious resource going elsewhere when their water is tapped: they regard many of the lakes and rivers to be dammed as sacred.) The engineering challenges in this mountainous region are enormous, but so are the potential rewards, both in water supply and in hydropower – the electricity water can generate is directly proportional to how far it falls into the turbines, and the Yangzi, for instance, completes 90 percent of its drop to the sea before it even enters China proper. The risks, as our two stories make clear, are social and political as well as environmental…
Call the two news stories the “double glacier shock.” On December 9, Asia Times Online reported that China was planning to go ahead with a major hydroelectric dam and water diversion scheme on the great bend of the Yarlong Tsangpo River in Tibet. The hydro project is planned to generate 40,000 megawatts – almost twice as much as Three Gorges. But the water which this dam would impound and turn northwards currently flows south into Assam to form the Brahmaputra, which in turn joins the Ganges to form the world’s largest river delta, supplying much of the water to a basin with over 300 million inhabitants. While South Asians have worried for some time that China might divert this river, the Chinese government had denied any such intentions, reportedly doing so again when Hu Jintao visited New Delhi in 2006. But when Indian Prime Minister Singh raised the issue again during his January, 2008 visit to Beijing, the tone had changed, with Wen Jiabao supposedly replying that water scarcity is a threat to the “very survival of the Chinese nation,” and providing no assurances. And so it is – not only for China, but for its neighbors. Most of Asia’s major rivers – the Yellow, the Yangzi, the Mekong, Salween, Irrawaddy, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Sutlej, and Indus – draw on the glaciers of the Himalayas, and all of these except the Ganges have their source on the Chinese side of the border. Forty-seven percent of the world’s people, from Karachi to Tianjin, draw on those rivers.
In short the possible damage to China’s neighbors from this approach to its water and energy needs is staggeringly large – and the potential to raise political tensions is commensurate. Previous water diversion projects affecting the source of the Mekong have already drawn protests from Vietnam (and from environmental groups), and a project on the Nu River (which becomes the Salween in Thailand and Burma) was suspended in 2004. But this project has vastly larger implications for both Chinese and foreigners. If, as some people think, the twenty-first century will be the century of conflicts over water, Tibet may well be ground zero.
Of course, China is hardly the only country that has ever appropriated water (not to mention other resources) that others see as theirs; I am writing in Southern California, made much more livable by denying Mexico Colorado River water it is theoretically guaranteed by treaty. And there is also something to be said, environmentally, for anything that provides China with lots of electricity and isn’t coal…
But that’s where the second glacier shock of 2008 comes in – news that this crucial water source is disappearing faster than anyone had previously realized. A report published in Geophysical Research Letters on November 22 noted that recent samples taken from Himalayan glaciers were missing two markers that are usually easy to find, reflecting open air nuclear tests in 1951-2 and 1962-3. The reason: the glacier apparently had lost any ice built up since the mid-1940s…And since the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that the Himalayan highlands will warm at about twice the average global rate over the next century, there is every reason to think the situation will get worse. One estimate has 1/3 of the Himalayan glaciers disappearing by 2050, and 2/3 by 2100. If that scenario is right, then even if all the engineering challenges of South-North water diversion can be solved, and even if China undertakes and gets away with taking water away from hundreds of millions of people in South and Southeast Asia, the resulting fix might not last very long…”
Strangely, these stories have attracted very little press coverage. There is, however, an excellent video at the Asia Society website. And there is a fair amount of stuff that’s worth reading about China’s water problems in general. If you are interested in learning more, here are a few things I would recommend:
1. James Nickum has a nice, short, summary of the South-North water transfer project available online. His December 1998 essay in China Quarterly, “Is China Living on the Water Margin?” (#156, 880-898) seems to me to have held up very nicely for a 10-year old overview of this rapidly changing set of problems (and as regular readers of this blog know, we give extra points for punning titles).
2. Another useful overview from several years ago (more technical than Nickum’s) is Olli Varis and Pertti Vakkilainen “China’s 8 challenges to water resources management in the first quarter of the 21st Century,” Geomorphology 41:2/3 pp. 93-104 (November 15, 2001). If you’re at a place where you can access the web version (i.e., a library with a subscription), you’ll find lots of useful further links to click on. (Here is one link for those with a subscription through ScienceDirect.)
3. Elizabeth Economy’s The River Runs Black seems to me to overstate the problems at some times (and since I don’t have a sanguine view, that should give an idea how, umm, black, her take is), but it’s a very good introduction to some of the relevant policy-making agencies and processes.
4. Dai Qing’s various essays on Three Gorges and other hydro projects are very useful, as is the collection Mega-Project (which included both official and unofficial views of the project).
5. Probe International often has good material, as does the International Rivers project.
6. And since plugging oneself is OK on a blog, I have a long-ish essay on the history of Chinese water management in a forthcoming collection of essays on environmental history: Burke, Edmund III, and Kenneth Pomeranz, editors The Environment and World History (UC Press, forthcoming March, 2009).
Posted by The China Beat at 2/12/2009 07:13:00 AM
Labels: China Behind the Headline, Global China, Tibet
Myanmar doubles rice exports
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_337419.html
Feb 12, 2009
Myanmar's rice exports have nearly doubled, to around 400,000 tonnes since January, as the country has stepped up sales on competitive prices and strong demand from Africa. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
SINGAPORE - MYANMAR'S rice exports have nearly doubled, to around 400,000 tonnes since January, as the country has stepped up sales on competitive prices and strong demand from Africa, regional traders said on Thursday.
Myanmar is selling 25 per cent broken rice at US$270-US$280 (S$407 to S$422) per tonne free on board (FOB), compared with US$348-US$353 quoted for a similar Vietnamese variety.
'The quality is an issue but African buyers don't mind as long as they get the best price,' said a Singapore-based trader. 'We expect very good sales from Myanmar this year.' The country's rice exports fell last year when Cyclone Nargis struck in May, and the generals in army-ruled Myanmar banned exports to preserve stocks.
Officials say the ban was eased from July and government data shows Myanmar exported 127,600 tonnes in the first seven months of the fiscal year, from April to October 2008. Around 101,000 tonnes was sold in April, before the cyclone.
Traders in Singapore said Myanmar was likely to sell 700,000-800,000 tonnes of rice in the coming months after a bumper harvest.
'They are the cheapest in the world for inferior quality of rice,' said another rice dealer trader with a global trading firm in Singapore. 'There are some constraints at the port, and mills are not geared to handle large quantities, but they should be able to contract 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes.' Traders said Europe's Louis Dreyfus was active in the region, trading 6 to 7 cargoes of around 20,000 tonnes each.
Media reports in Yangon in November estimated a surplus of up to 3 million tonnes of rice for 2009 shipment to world markets.
Myanmar could benefit after much higher prices in top exporters Thailand and Vietnam forced buyers to look for cheaper alternatives, especially price-sensitive African importers.
The price of benchmark Thai 100 percent B grade white rice fell to US$580 per tonne from US$590 last week, as buyers, particularly Africans, who have been the most active recently, pulled back.
Thai rice prices trebled to hit a record peak of US$1,080 a tonne last May, when governments and importers rushed to stock up on fears the food staple would be in short supply amid high domestic inflation.
Rice from Myanmar is generally of inferior quality because of poor milling. The main buyers are Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and African countries. -- REUTERS
UN to help Myanmar replant forest in cyclone-hit area
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/12/content_10808823.htm
www.chinaview.cn 2009-02-12 17:23:59 Print
YANGON, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will help Myanmar replant forest in Laputta, one of the cyclone-hard-hit areas in Ayeyawaddy division, the local Biweekly Eleven reported Thursday.
Of a total of 400 acres (162 hectares) covered by the project planned for the next tree-planting season, 300 acres are for forest plantation, while 100 acres are for kitchen crops.
Not long after the storm, the UNDP provided aid for cyclone survivors in Laputta to rebuild their storm-ravaged houses, offering each survivor with maintenance cost to rebuild their houses lost in the storm, according to earlier local report.
Laputta township suffered the biggest damage out of those in the Ayayawaddy delta, an assessment of a tripartite core group involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Myanmar and the U.N. said.
Due to the storm, over one million acres (405,000 hectares) of farmland in 7 townships in Ayeyawaddy division, 3 in Yangon division, 2 in Bago division and 3 in Mon state were flooded by sea water with more than 200,000 cows and cattle killed, according to the report.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states --Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm killed 84,537 people, left 53,836 missing and injured 19,359 people, according to official death toll.
Editor: Fang Yang
UN Envoy, Japan Encourage Myanmar On Next Year's Elections
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20090212%5cACQDJON200902120724DOWJONESDJONLINE000275.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=UN%20Envoy,%20Japan%20Encourage%20Myanmar%20On%20Next%20Year's%20Elections
TOKYO (AFP)--The U.N. envoy to Myanmar made a joint call Thursday with Japan for the military regime to move ahead with elections next year, saying the rest of the world would respond positively.
Ibrahim Gambari, a special advisor to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, was visiting Japan after spending four days in Myanmar where he tried to nudge the military regime toward dialogue with the democratic opposition.
The former Nigerian foreign minister spoke separately with detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Prime Minister Thein Sein, but failed to arrange for the two to meet.
Gambari in talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone "agreed that all the relevant parties need to participate in the democratization process of Myanmar," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
They agreed on "encouraging the Myanmar government to hold a general election in 2010 in a form that be congratulated by the international community," it said.
Nakasone told Gambari that the world would "react positively to a positive move" by the isolated regime.
"Even though there are few positive moves by the Myanmar government, it's a huge step for them to have announced that they would hold a general election in 2010, compared with two past decades of silence about its democratization process," said a foreign ministry official in charge of Japan's relations with Myanmar.
"If they take favorable action, the international community should react in a manner that encourages more positive actions," he said.
Japan, the top donor to Myanmar among the world's major developed economies, in 2003 suspended most assistance other than emergency aid and some training funding.
Japan cut its assistance further after Myanmar cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007.
But Japan refuses to join Western allies in slapping punishing sanctions on Myanmar. China, which often spars with Japan for influence, is the main political and commercial partner of Myanmar.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-12-090724ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Myanmar party to petition for Suu Kyi's freedom
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jVO1FhDR8gQBxfqS8TJhJmKPXDyQD96A2LRO0
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar's main pro-democracy party launched a nationwide signature campaign Thursday to press for the immediate release of its detained leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other political detainees.
Getting the public involved may be difficult in Myanmar, which has been under virtually continuous military rule since 1962. Few people are willing to publicly criticize the government, and dissidents face harassment or imprisonment.
The petition campaign was launched Thursday in Yangon at the headquarters of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party during a Union Day celebration attended by nearly 300 party members.
"The campaign is meant to show the ruling military junta and the international community the solidarity of the people and support of the people," party spokesman Nyan Win said. He said the party had not yet decided what to do with the collected signatures.
The party held a similar campaign in 2004 with no evident results.
Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention and is currently under house arrest in Yangon.
The current junta held elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory.
Human rights groups say Myanmar holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 before pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks were crushed in 2007.
For the official celebration of Union Day, Myanmar's military ruler, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, called on the people "to prevent the danger of internal and external destructive elements attempting to undermine peace and stability," in a speech printed in state-run newspapers.
He did not name anyone specifically, but frequently lashes out at the opposition and at the United States and other Western nations for imposing political and economic sanctions on the government.
Obama can learn from Bush on Burma
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/303b19022816233b/id/465475/cs/1/
Malaysia Sun
Thursday 12th February, 2009
((Op-ed) Benedict Rogers - The Guardian)
As President Barack Obama dismantles the legacy of the Bush administration, there is one area in which he should actually emulate and build on his predecessor's record: Burma.
Whatever else one thinks of George Bush, few could deny the contribution he, and particularly his wife Laura, made to raising the profile of the suffering in Burma. In 2005, he spent almost an hour in the Oval Office with a young Shan woman activist from Burma, Charm Tong, and heard about the military regime's use of rape as a weapon of war. In 2006, a day after former Czech President Vaclav Havel and former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu published a report calling for Burma to be placed on the UN security council agenda, the US declared its support for the initiative.
The US consistently led the way in raising Burma at the security council and seeking a resolution, initially with slow and grudging support from its natural allies. The US has the only meaningful set of sanctions against the regime, and in the past two years it has sought to tighten and target them further.
Laura Bush became a particular champion of Burma, making personal telephone calls to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, hosting a roundtable at the UN in New York and holding her own press conference after Cyclone Nargis in which she strongly condemned the military regime's denial of aid to the victims. Last year, on a visit to Thailand, Mr Bush met Burmese dissidents in the US embassy in Bangkok, and his wife visited a refugee camp along the Thai-Burmese border. For all their faults, the former president and first lady were consistent in highlighting the crisis in Burma and increasing international pressure on the junta.
As President Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton develop their foreign policy, they face many challenges, not least in the Middle East. Africa will understandably be a priority, given the scale of poverty on the continent and the president's own personal roots. Relations with Pakistan and China will be of strategic importance, and like Africa, the president will have a particular interest in Indonesia having spent part of his childhood there. But amid this long list of issues, the new administration must not lose sight of the dire situation in Burma.
There are five key ways in which the new administration can build on the previous government's record on Burma. First, keep raising Burma at every opportunity, within the UN and with Burma's neighbours. Empower the US special envoy appointed in the final days of the Bush administration to accelerate and intensify the international effort for change in Burma.
Second, don't let the increasingly vocal and misplaced criticism of sanctions and international pressure result in a change in the US sanctions, but rather focus sanctions more sharply at their rightful target – the generals.
Third, step up pressure on the UN secretary-general, his special envoy and the security council to spell out meaningful benchmarks for progress, accompanied by a clear indication of the consequences if the regime fails to comply. The first such benchmark should be the release of political prisoners and the beginning of meaningful dialogue.
Fourth, consider invoking the UN's "responsibility to protect" mechanism in regard to Burma. The regime is perpetrating crimes against humanity, including the use of rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, torture, forcible conscription of child soldiers, the use of human minesweepers and the destruction of more than 3,200 villages in eastern Burma alone. Over a million people are internally displaced, and thousands more forced to flee the country. The situation surely meets "responsibility to protect" criteria. Lastly, the US should abandon its previous opposition to the international criminal court and seek a referral of a case against Burma's generals for crimes against humanity.
Burma's suffering under military rule has gone on for almost half a century. But in the past two years, the junta has surpassed itself in its level of callousness and brutality. The brutal suppression of Buddhist monks in September 2007, the deliberate restriction and diversion of aid following Cyclone Nargis last year, the sham referendum on a new constitution, the sentencing of dissidents to 65 years or more in jail and the regime's failure to help Chin people in western Burma facing famine are all examples of its barbaric nature.
The junta is gearing up to solidify and legitimise its rule through elections in 2010, but everyone knows what a sham the ballot will be. And yet various UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and academics have been painting an extraordinarily rosy picture of the situation, which has little relation to reality.
Bush may have made many mistakes, but unlike many in the international community he did not pussyfoot about on Burma. Obama may be more predisposed toward consensual multilateral politics than his predecessor, but he should not do so at the cost of yet more lives in Burma. Be more favourable toward the UN, by all means Mr Obama – but give it back the spine it has lost.
EU: Leaders strengthen ties with ASEAN
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=3.0.3009335993
Jakarta, 12 Feb. (AKI) - The European Union has announced a series of measures aimed at deepening ties with members of the Association of South East Asian nations (ASEAN). Among the measures is the accreditation of EU ambassadors to ASEAN.
The British, French, German, and Czech ambassadors to Indonesia were formally appointed representatives to ASEAN from their respective countries in Jakarta on Thursday. The appointment of other EU ambassadors is expected to follow soon.
ASEAN is headquartered in the Indonesian capital. However, EU diplomatic representation to ASEAN will be conducted as part of a "EU Troika", comprising the current EU presidency, the subsequent EU presidency and a delegation from the European Commission.
Individual EU member sates will maintain their own bilateral contacts.
The European Union delegation in Indonesia has increased staff numbers in Jakarta and the European Commission is due to spend more than 50 million euros on development cooperation with ASEAN in the next three years.
Since the adoption of the ASEAN charter in December, ASEAN took the next step in its process of regional cooperation and integration. The charter reflects the commitment of ASEAN's ten member states to deepen their cooperation on political, economic and social affairs, along the lines of the EU.
ASEAN is comprised of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Cambodia.
As of 2006, the ASEAN region included a total population of about 560 million and a combined gross domestic product of almost 1,100 billion dollars.
Japan to provide more aid to rebuild houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit areas
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6591399.html
The Japanese government will provide 3 million U.S. dollars more of aid through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to rebuild the remaining damaged houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit regions, the Yangon Times weekly quoted the Japanese Embassy as reporting Thursday.
A total of 374,391 houses in Ayeyawaddy division and 371,373 in Yangon division were destroyed in the cyclone that hit Myanmar last year, the report said.
Early this month, the Japanese government had provided 2 million dollars through the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to help in agricultural restoration work in the country's Ayeyawaddy delta after storm.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) will also give Myanmar humanitarian assistance of 40.5 million euros (52 million USD) this year, according to earlier report.
Of the total, 22 million euros will be spent for those who had suffered disastrous cyclone Nargis last year, while the rest 18.5 million euros will be used for people who have difficulties with their living.
Besides, another Malaysian humanitarian organization, the MercyMalaysia, will also provide help to rebuild a dozen healthcare facilities in Dedaye, one of Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas in the Ayeyawaddy delta, the earlier report said.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states - Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
Source:Xinhua
A Bush legacy worth keeping(BURMA
George Bush was a champion of human rights in Burma . Barack Obama shouldn't turn his back on the country now
http://www.guardian .co.uk/profile/ benedictrogers
http://www.guardian .co.uk/profile/ benedictrogers
Benedict Rogers
As President Barack Obama dismantles the legacy of the Bush administration, there is one area in which he should actually emulate and build on his predecessor' s record: Burma.
Whatever else one thinks of George Bush, few could deny the contribution he, and particularly his wife Laura, made to raising the profile of the suffering in Burma . In 2005, he spent almost an hour in the Oval Office with a young Shan woman activist from Burma , Charm Tong, and heard about the military regime's use of rape as a weapon of war. In 2006, a day after former Czech President Vaclav Havel and former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu published a report calling for Burma to be placed on the UN security council agenda, the US declared its support for the initiative.
The US consistently led the way in raising Burma at the security council and seeking a resolution, initially with slow and grudging support from its natural allies. The US has the only meaningful set of sanctions against the regime, and in the past two years it has sought to tighten and target them further.
Laura Bush became a particular champion of Burma, making personal telephone calls to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, hosting a roundtable at the UN in New York and holding her own press conference after Cyclone Nargis in which she strongly condemned the military regime's denial of aid to the victims. Last year, on a visit to Thailand, Mr Bush met Burmese dissidents in the US embassy in Bangkok, and his wife visited a refugee camp along the Thai-Burmese border. For all their faults, the former president and first lady were consistent in highlighting the crisis in Burma and increasing international pressure on the junta.
As President Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton develop their foreign policy, they face many challenges, not least in the Middle East. Africa will understandably be a priority, given the scale of poverty on the continent and the president's own personal roots. Relations with Pakistan and China will be of strategic importance, and like Africa, the president will have a particular interest in Indonesia having spent part of his childhood there. But amid this long list of issues, the new administration must not lose sight of the dire situation in Burma.
There are five key ways in which the new administration can build on the previous government's record on Burma. First, keep raising Burma at every opportunity, within the UN and with Burma's neighbours. Empower the US special envoy appointed in the final days of the Bush administration to accelerate and intensify the international effort for change in Burma.
Second, don't let the increasingly vocal and misplaced criticism of sanctions and international pressure result in a change in the US sanctions, but rather focus sanctions more sharply at their rightful target – the generals.
Third, step up pressure on the UN secretary-general, his special envoy and the security council to spell out meaningful benchmarks for progress, accompanied by a clear indication of the consequences if the regime fails to comply. The first such benchmark should be the release of political prisoners and the beginning of meaningful dialogue.
Fourth, consider invoking the UN's "responsibility to protect" mechanism in regard to Burma. The regime is perpetrating crimes against humanity, including the use of rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, torture, forcible conscription of child soldiers, the use of human minesweepers and the destruction of more than 3,200 villages in eastern Burma alone. Over a million people are internally displaced, and thousands more forced to flee the country. The situation surely meets "responsibility to protect" criteria. Lastly, the US should abandon its previous opposition to the international criminal court and seek a referral of a case against Burma's generals for crimes against humanity.
Burma's suffering under military rule has gone on for almost half a century. But in the past two years, the junta has surpassed itself in its level of callousness and brutality. The brutal suppression of Buddhist monks in September 2007, the deliberate restriction and diversion of aid following Cyclone Nargis last year, the sham referendum on a new constitution, the sentencing of dissidents to 65 years or more in jail and the regime's failure to help Chin people in western Burma facing famine are all examples of its barbaric nature.
The junta is gearing up to solidify and legitimise its rule through elections in 2010, but everyone knows what a sham the ballot will be. And yet various UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and academics have been painting an extraordinarily rosy picture of the situation, which has little relation to reality.
Bush may have made many mistakes, but unlike many in the international community he did not pussyfoot about on Burma. Obama may be more predisposed toward consensual multilateral politics than his predecessor, but he should not do so at the cost of yet more lives in Burma. Be more favourable toward the UN, by all means Mr Obama – but give it back the spine it has lost.
Rogue Agent betrayed Burmese rebels
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/1694-rogue-agent-betrayed-burmese-rebels.html
by Salai Pi Pi
Wednesday, 11 February 2009 23:08
New Delhi - India's leading Human Rights lawyer Nandita Haksar said there are more political motives than legal reasons for India to have detained 34 Burmese rebels, who are currently lodged in Kolkata's Presidency jail. They have been in Indian jails for the past 11 years.
Haksar, who have been advocating the case of the Burmese rebels, said, "I have tried to explore the politics of this case, I don't think that they are in jail for legal reasons but for political reasons."
Haksar's comment came in a form of a book, titled 'Rogue Agent', which details the case of the 34 Burmese rebels and the politics behind their arrest and accusations of India's betrayal to the rebels.
Speaking after the formal release of her book by Burmese exiled Member of Parliament, Dr. Tint Swe, Haksar said an Indian military intelligence officer had played a vital role in betraying the Burmese rebels, who were arrested by Indian authorities in February 11, 1998 at Landfall Island of the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
"It is India's military intelligence officer, who betrayed the Burmese freedom fighters," said Haksar adding that the rebels on Wednesday completed 11 years in detention without proper trial.
Gathered at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar Park near the Parliament, at least a hundred Burmese pro-democracy activists on Wednesday staged a protest demanding India provide a fair trial to the Burmese rebels and release them immediately.
Leech Operation
The rebels, belonging to Burma's Arakan and Karen ethnics, said they were betrayed by Indian Military Intelligence, who promised them a base at Landfall Island in Andaman and Nicobar.
According to the rebels, six of their key leaders were killed brutally by Indian Military Intelligence upon arriving at the landfall and the rest were arrested.
The Indian defence ministry later claimed that a huge consignment of arms and ammunition were seized during a joint operation codenamed 'Operation Leech' and charged the rebels with gun running.
The rebels were then kept at Port Blair without trial for eight years. But later in 2006 October, the Supreme Court of India, after the rebels' petition, ordered the rebels to be transferred to Kolkata and to conduct a day-to-day trial.
The Rogue Agent
Haksar, who has tirelessly followed the case of the 34 rebels, in her book – 'Rogue Agent' – reveals that an Indian Military Intelligence officer named Lt. Col V.S. Grewal as the man masterminding the plot to betray the Burmese rebels.
According to her Grewal had negotiated with the rebels, mainly the Arakanese resistant group, to allow them a base in an Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in return for monitoring Chinese naval bases in Coco Island.
But Grewal, who also had good relationship with the Burmese military regime, betrayed the rebels on their arrival at the Landfall Island and killed six of their leaders in cold blood and arrested the others.
According to the book, Lt. Col V. S Grewal, who is a resident of Chandigarh, is being spotted in Rangoon and is enjoying the military government's favour after the operation against the rebels.
Haksar, however, said with the Indian military establishment turning down requests to allow access to Grewal, he cannot be working alone in his plot to betray the Burmese rebels.
"If Grewal had been working alone why would the Indian Army want to protect him? Would it not be better to hand him over and put the blame on one rogue agent rather than get into this long-drawn controversy?" Haksar asked in her book.
Haksar in her book also details how India had switched its stand on Burma and abandoned its support to Burmese pro-democracy movement under its claimed 'National Interest'.
The Rebels
The 34 Burmese rebels, who are now on a trial in a court in Kolkata, reportedly went into a hunger strike on Wednesday to protest against 11 years of detention.
The trial, according to one of their lawyers Akshay Kumar Sharma, is nearing a close as the prosecution has several times failed to produce key witnesses as demanded by the court.
But with their case drawing to a close, the lawyer said the rebels will need a refugee status from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or will likely be continued to be detained or face deportation to Burma under India's Foreigners Act.
Earlier the Czech Republic and East Timor has in principle agreed to accept them in their country but that would still require the UNHCR's recommendation.
Ethnic Alliance Calls for Unity on Union Day
http://www.chinlandguardian.com/index.php/Home/408
Chinland Guardian
12 February 2009
Chiangmai, Thailand: The Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC), the largest ethnic opposition alliance today calls for unity among the ethnic groups in the fight for democracy and federalism in Burma.
In a statement commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the signing of Panglong Agreement and the birth of the Union of Burma, the ENC says that unity among the people and all the ethnic groups is essential if Burma is to realize the promises of a genuine federal democracy and full internal autonomy.
After more than 60 years since the founding of the Union of Burma, the true spirit of the Union was never realized because chauvinistic agendas espoused by some Burman politicians failed to honor the very essence and principles of Panglong Agreement, the ENC says.
The Panglong Agreement, signed on 12 February 1947 between representatives of the ethnic nationalities and the interim Burmese government led by General Aung San, provided a contractual basis for Burma’s independence from Britain and the birth of the Union of Burma.
The ENC says that 60 years of civil war and economic crisis experienced by the people of Burma are the direct results of chauvinistic and authoritarian ideologies of successive Burmese rulers.
‘All the ethnic races and the people must join hands in unity if we want to see the military dictatorship removed from power and equal rights, self-determination and federal democratic system instituted in Burma according to the spirits of Panglong,’ says the statement.
Migrant Workers Worst Casualties of Economic Crisis
http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=15093
By YENI Wednesday, February 11, 2009
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Thailand’s Labor Ministry is currently delaying the issue of some 700,000 work permits to migrant workers. Labor Minister Paitoon Kaewthong said that foreign laborers would not be registered until the end of March, as the ministry takes measures to help the estimated one million Thai workers expected to lose their jobs amid the global economic slowdown find new employment.
Understandably, there are growing concerns that such moves signal the reemergence of economic nationalism and protectionism. In an effort to keep jobs and capital at home, many countries appear to be closing their labor markets to non-nationals, who in better times were indispensable to the development of many of the world’s fastest growing economies.
Thailand is not alone in making life more difficult for migrant workers. According to labor rights groups, there are an estimated 100 million migrant workers around the world, many of whom face bleak prospects as economic woes in the Gulf, Singapore and Taiwan lead to mass layoffs of laborers from countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
According to a 2006 survey by the International Labor Organization, Thailand is host to around 1.8 million workers, mainly from Burma, Cambodia and Laos. Most are employed in agriculture and fisheries, construction, manufacturing, and services such as domestic workers. They have made, in recent years, a net contribution of about US $53 million annually to the Thai economy.
Thailand has been registering migrant workers since 1992, but many stay unregistered to avoid the relatively expensive and time-consuming process.
In 2004, there were more than one million migrant workers seeking registration. Last year, the number of registered workers dropped to 500,000, or about one quarter of the total. Migrant workers, who overwhelmingly hail from Burma, now represent 5 percent of Thailand’s total labor force of 36 million.
The Thai Labor Ministry’s decision to postpone the registration of new migrant workers amid the slumping economy appears to be aimed at protecting Thai jobs. But newly unemployed Thais will probably show little interest in doing the difficult, dirty and dangerous jobs normally relegated to migrant workers.
Even registered Burmese migrants, on average, earn about half the minimum wage and are not eligible for state services such as medical care or education for their children. If they lack legal status, their fear of deportation forces them to put up with slave-like working conditions and mistreatment by criminal gangs and corrupt police.
Rising unemployment among Burmese migrant workers could also have a dire effect on Burma’s rural economy, in which millions of people rely on remittance money. Experts said that remittance payments are typically used for basic survival, consumption, housing, health and education.
“Remittance income does not benefit just individual recipients, it benefits the local and national economies in which they live,” according to the authors of a report published by Australia’s Macquarie University.
In the report, “Migrant Worker Remittances and Burma: An Economic Analysis of Survey Results,” economists Sean Turnell, Alison Vicary and Wylie Bradford show that remittances sent from Thailand to Burma in 2002-2003 would have been in the order of US $300 million. Such flows are more than twice the amount of foreign direct investment in Burma, and would represent about 5 percent of the country’s GDP, the researchers said.
Thailand has in the past attempted to cope with a domestic economic crisis by deporting Burmese migrant workers. When employment plunged following the 1997 economic meltdown, the Democrat-led government reacted by withdrawing work permits and repatriating migrant workers.
This policy was unsuccessful. Burmese workers continued to enter the country, both legally and illegally, drawn by demand for cheap labor. As a leading country in the region, Thailand should acknowledge that the Thai economy is likely to continue to employ migrants.
Sadly, however, as the global trend to economic nationalism gathers force, migrants are likely to be the last hired and the first fired, as politicians and policymakers struggle to come up with more effective ways to deal with their countries’ economic woes.
'New chapter for Asean'
Thai PM says meeting will be opportunity to show grouping's relevance to rest of the world
By Nirmal Ghosh, Thailand Correspondent
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva pledged that this month's Asean summit, scheduled to be held in Hua Hin from Feb 27 to March 1, would mark a 'new chapter' for the region. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
BANGKOK - THAI Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva pledged that this month's Asean summit, scheduled to be held in Hua Hin from Feb 27 to March 1, would mark a 'new chapter' for the region.
He said leaders at the upcoming summit would work towards a 'credible and realistic' human rights body, move towards a more rule-based and effective community of nations, and enhance the group's resilience to shocks like the global recession, food security and natural disasters.
'This is an opportunity to show the rest of the world that Asean is still relevant,' said Mr Abhisit, who has been wooing the international community in a bid to restore Thailand's credibility.
The Premier has been frequently addressing large business audiences in Bangkok. Over the past 10 days, he has also travelled to the World Economic Forum in Davos and Japan - a key investor - where his message to concerned Japanese corporations, many of whom are major exporters out of Thailand, was that the country is back on track and stable.
At a reception yesterday in Government House for the media and Asean diplomats, Mr Abhisit, flanked by Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, cited Thailand's past contributions to Asean, and said Thailand remained committed to the group.
Thailand also remained 'the land of freedom, the land of smiles, the land of opportunity', he said.
Speaking after him, Mr Kasit said Asean was in the process of transforming it from a loose association to an integrated community. Inputs from parallel meetings of civil society would be welcome.
'We will work together with civil society so that within five to six years, Asean will be a community second to none, and a voice to reckon with and be respected in the international arena.'
Mr Kasit also said the controversial issue of Myanmar's Rohingya people would be discussed on the sidelines of the summit.
'We need cooperation from all Asean member countries to solve this problem.'
Furthermore, he said, a regional meeting involving Thailand, Myanmar, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would be held soon to find a solution to the issue, probably first in Bangladesh and then in Geneva.
'I even discussed the matter with the UNHCR Commissioner in Geneva last month. The ministry's permanent secretary has already met ambassadors from Myanmar, India, Indonesia and Malaysia to look into the matter,' he said.
The Rohingya, a Muslim minority from Myanmar's Rakhine state who are refused citizenship in Myanmar and are also the target of severe discrimination by the ethnocentric military junta, have in recent weeks turned up in Thailand and Indonesia after arduous life-threatening journeys on rickety boats.
Thai security forces have been accused of pushing the Rohingya back out to sea and leaving them adrift. Hundreds of Rohingya are said to have died, while others were rescued in a state of severe dehydration and near death by the Indian coast guard and Indonesian authorities.
Thailand reiterated that it is not ready to offer refugee status to the Rohingya people but is willing to deport them to a third country if there is a request.
Mr Abhisit said Thailand was worried that more flow of Rohingya would occur if those detained in Ranong were given refugee status.
'The Rohingya people who came by boat are not refugees, but economic migrants. As such, we are not ready to take them in, but other countries can take them if they are ready.'
nirmal@sph.com.sg
Additional reporting from Bernama
Sanctions do not work
http://www.mizzima.com/edop/commentary/1685-sanctions-do-not-work.html
by Derek Tonkin
Wednesday, 11 February 2009 10:58
Re: Burma's policy debate: polarisation and paralysis (http://www.mizzima.com/edop/commentary/1673-burmas-policy-debate-polarisation-and-paralysis-.html)
Might I comment on the article by Benedict Rogers in Mizzima posted on Monday, February 9th?
I think most development aid experts would agree that Burma's exclusion from access to IMF, World Bank and Asian Development Bank funding since 1988 was the principle sanction which the West could apply against Burma, in addition to the cancellation at the same time of virtually all Western aid programs. Sanctions have indeed been in place now for some 20 years. They have been ratcheted up ever since 1996, but I have not noticed any change in the regime's attitude to human rights. In short, they have not been a success. They have made matters worse, not better. The regime is now more recalcitrant, more entrenched and increasingly prone to isolationism.
Almost every Burmese I speak to agrees with me. Dr. Sein Win, recently re-elected as Prime Minister of the government-in-exile, complains in the latest FE Economic Review, "We are concerned that sanctions have not worked," going on to say: "They are a negative energy at a time when our country needs the opposite." Aung Zaw, Chief Editor of The Irrawaddy, reached a similar conclusion in the wake of Professor Gambari's latest mission: "Let's be frank: UN diplomacy has failed. But so have the sanctions." I agree with Dr. Sein Win and Aung Zaw on this, if not on many other issues.
The latest EU sanctions haven't worked either. There are some 200,000 sawmills in China alone and many thousands in Thailand willing to take every log of Burmese timber previously sent to the EU. China also gladly takes all the jade and all the precious metals. Rubies have become a rarity, and prices were rising until the global credit crunch came. The only people to suffer have been the people, notably the 1,200 or more family businesses named and targeted by the EU (including eight gem merchants in Pakokku!), some of whom I know to be supporters of the NLD and most of whom I am sure have tremendous love and respect for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. So what on earth is the EU doing targeting them? Meanwhile, the International Trade Union Confederation in Brussels is rightly complaining that Burmese woodworkers and furniture makers forced to find work outside Burma are now being exploited in Thailand. It is Thai entrepreneurs who now get the "added value" from the processing of Burmese timber at the expense of many pro-NLD Burmese entrepreneurs and through the exploitation of migrant Burmese workers. So I cannot agree with Benedict Rogers that these latest EU sanctions are of any serious consequence. Indeed, they have once again been shown to be counterproductive. I don't think it would now make the slightest difference if the EU were to impose a total economic and financial embargo on Burma. The plain fact is that Burma doesn't need the West any more. We have forfeited our influence.
Rogers says that "some of the most naive critics of sanctions propose lifting them now." The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee suggested in 2007 that the Government should look at the UK/EU sanctions policy against Burma "with a view to deciding whether it is worth continuing with it." The Committee included individuals of wide experience in government and business - a former Chief Executive of TESCO, a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, a biographer of the economist Keynes, a former Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, an Indian-born business magnate, a lecturer at the London School of Economics, a former Adjutant-General in the British Army and even two former Chancellors of the Exchequer, Normal Lamont and Nigel Lawson. I don't think they would take kindly to being called "naive", with hints that they must be supporters of the military regime.
Rogers also lambastes the UK Department for International Development (DfID) for supposedly opposing an increase in aid. This is unfair. The officials concerned (and their Ministers) were primarily opposed to the transfer of resources from inside Burma to the border area, where less than five percent of those in need can be reached. Their concerns, I suspect, had something to do with the pro-Karen lobby anxious to build up financial support at the border in order to maintain the insurgency. It was never articulated in quite this way, but I have little doubt that this was what the battle was all about. In the end, DfID compromised with an increase in aid, pro rata, both inside Burma and on the border. UK bilateral aid to Burma, in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, is now higher than from any other country.
As regards the Burma Campaign UK (BCUK) document "Pro-Aid, Pro-Sanctions, Pro-Engagement", it is not a practical guide to action. It places impossible conditions on the delivery of aid, for if agencies were to attempt to meet the criteria set out, they would be expelled from Burma forthwith. As the former Chairman of a refugee charity conducting support programs in such difficult countries as the Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Uganda, Cambodia, Vietnam and Pakistan, I know from my own experience that from the start you may be dealing with incompetent, corrupt, devious and hostile regimes. But in order to get aid to the people you need to wage a constant battle with the local authorities, making the odd concession here and there, but not on issues of principle. No International NGO worth its salt would take the slightest notice of the BCUK recommendations because they are politically motivated and impossible to realize, which is why some might suspect that the aim is to stop the delivery of aid altogether, not to facilitate it.
BCUK in any case is not a charitable organization, lacking any experience in the implementation of aid programs. Thus agencies like Save The Children, CARE and Christian Aid are unlikely to take kindly to BCUK admonitions for programs to be "transparent, accountable and independently monitored" when that is the very basis of each and every operating charity I have ever known, and without which no funding would ever be available. As for being "Pro-Engagement", all the BCUK paper recommends is diplomatic engagement on the basis primarily of the Havel-Tutu Report, which recommended a binding Resolution based on Article 41 sanctions in the UN Security Council. This did not appeal to any of the 15 members of the Council, none of whom has ever mentioned the Havel-Tutu Report in any UN forum – Committee, General Assembly or Security Council – at any time. In other words, the extremist "Pro-Engagement" solutions recommended by the BCUK have found no takers among the 192 members of the UN.
The debate on sanctions is bedeviled because there is no common database on which to start discussion. The US and the EU have declined to issue any public analysis of their effectiveness to date, quite simply because they have clearly not been effective, and no government is publicly willing to admit that their policies were mistaken. But it is important that different views be aired, especially when they are diametrically opposed. It is only through thesis and antithesis, as Marx argued, that an eventual synthesis can be reached.
(The author is Chairman of Network Myanmar, former Chairman of Ockenden International, from 1991-2003, and served as British Ambassador to Thailand from1986-1989)
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