News & Articles on Burma-Thursday, 23 December, 2010

News & Articles on Burma
Thursday, 23 December, 2010
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Suu Kyi to meet breakaway democracy group
USDP Candidates Prepare for Opening of Parliament
Than Shwe's Son-in-law Named Ambassador to China
Aung San Suu Kyi (A dialogue with Aljazeera)
Pro-junta parliamentarians gather for closed-door meeting
Shan look to heroic Thai king for inspiration
Suu Kyi could be a boon for Myanmar's old soldiers
Burma’s post-election press freedom maintains the status quo
Wa offers another olive branch to junta
Volunteer Group Aids All Comers in Mae Sot
More Land in Arakan State Confiscated for Railway
Burma must let IAEA to inspect its doubtful nuclear sites
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Dec 23, 2010
Suu Kyi to meet breakaway democracy group

YANGON - MYANMAR democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi will meet former colleagues who rebelled against her election boycott and formed a new party to fight the controversial poll, the breakaway group said on Thursday.

The Dec 30 meeting will be the first held between Suu Kyi and members of the National Democratic Force (NDF) since her release from house arrest days after the November vote, NDF leader Khin Maung Swe told AFP.

'We will explain to her that we formed a party for national reconciliation, as confrontation is not the way to achieve democracy,' he said.

The NDF was formed by senior members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which was disbanded for boycotting the poll.

The breakaway group won 16 seats in the election after fielding 161 candidates but has complained of widespread fraud by the junta-backed party, which has claimed an overwhelming victory.

'I want to meet her as soon as possible. I haven't seen her for about two decades already. She was in detention when I was freed from my prison sentence,' Khin Maung Swe said. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_616995.html
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USDP Candidates Prepare for Opening of Parliament
By BA KAUNG Thursday, December 23, 2010

The junta's proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) concluded on Thursday a special conference in Naypyidaw to prepare for the newly-elected parliament and government, according to party officials.

Four hundred elected USDP members attended the three-day meeting. They discussed the party's parliamentary agenda and reorganization plans, said Khin Shwe, a business tycoon and one of the participants.

USDP Chairman Thein Sein, who is also the current government's prime minister, instructed the newly elected legislators on the “code of conduct” to be followed in parliament.

“The prime minister told us how we should speak and behave in parliament and also how to fulfill the party's campaign promises to the public, such as paving streets,” said Khin Shwe.

The Naypyidaw meeting was the party's first major gathering since the Nov. 7 election, where it claimed nearly 77 percent of the seats contested.

The DPA German news agency quoted an unnamed government official as saying that the meeting took place behind closed doors. Nominations for important government posts could have been discussed, the official said.

However, Khin Swe said the details of what was discussed at the meeting remained sketchy, although they also involved the question of how to reform “some negative aspects of the party at the grassroots level.”

A top-level party meeting preceded the three-day plenary, according to party sources. Those who attended included the junta's third and fourth ranking members, Shwe Mann and Tin Aung Myint Oo, both of whom were elected to parliament in the Nov. 7 election.

During preparations for the opening of parliament next month, the USDP has reportedly reached out to pro-democracy opposition parties, which won a small fraction of the contested seats, inviting them for talks.

The party's move is viewed as an attempt to neutralize possible opposition in parliament, while pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called on opposition parties operating both inside and outside parliament to coordinate their efforts to achieve a democratic breakthrough in Burma.

Thu Wai, chairman of the Democratic Party (Myanmar), complained the USDP meeting lacked transparency and accused the party of failing to join talks with the international community.

“All the other parties meet foreign diplomats, but the USDP did not,” he said.

His party won no seats in the bi-cameral parliament. Three of its candidates won election to regional parliaments, one of whom is currently locked in a legal dispute with the unsuccessful USDP candidate who has accused the Democratic Party member of vote buying.

While the USDP will dominate the legislature, the new Constitution provides for a vital role still to be played by the army, guaranteeing it a quarter of the parliamentary seats.

When the parliament assembles, vice-presidents will be nominated by the army and a majority of civilian representatives in the parliament, many of whom will be the elected USDP candidates. One of three vice-presidents who is required to be “acquainted with political, administrative, economic and military affairs” will be selected as president.


The presidency is expected to go to either junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe or the junta's third ranking official, Shwe Mann, a USDP MP-elect.
In the run-up to the election, Suu Kyi said that the future civilian government would be incapable of reining in the broad-ranging powers of the president. Her party, the National League for Democracy, boycotted the election, and the regime has made no response to her calls for a dialogue. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20395
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Than Shwe's Son-in-law Named Ambassador to China
By WAI MOE Thursday, December 23, 2010

In his 18 years as head of Burma's ruling junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe has worked tirelessly to cement not only the regime's hold on power, but also the status of his closest relatives as members of the country's de facto royal family.

Now, in the latest move to ensure that his influence survives the transition to quasi-civilian rule following this year's election, he has named his son-in-law as his point man in China, the regime's most important and powerful ally.

According to sources in Naypyidaw, Maj Zaw Phyo Win, husband of Than Shwe's youngest daughter, Thandar Shwe, has been appointed Burma's ambassador to Beijing, following a stint as the Burmese consul general in Kunming, in China’s southwestern province of Yunnan.

Thandar Shwe and Zaw Phyo Win were last in the international media spotlight in 2006, when a leaked video of their wedding outraged Burmese observers with its displays of opulence, in a country where millions live in poverty due to the regime's stranglehold on the economy.

More recently, Zaw Phyo Win appeared in Burma's state-run media during a state visit to Kunming by Foreign Minister Nyan Win, who was in the city to attend an opening ceremony for the Burmese consulate's new office building on Sept. 12.

Observers say that Than Shwe appears to be trying to emphasize the regime's “pauk phaw” (brotherly) relationship with Beijing by sending close relatives to serve as his representatives to China, which recently granted a US $6 billion loan to Burma.

Like her husband and Than Shwe’s three other daughters, Thandar Shwe also works with Burma’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). She is currently a senior diplomat to China, while her sisters—Kyi Kyi Shwe, Aye Aye Thit Shwe and Dewa Shwe—are senior officials with the Burmese embassy in Singapore.

In addition to Than Shwe’s daughters, other relatives are also posted with the Foreign Ministry, including two of Zaw Phyo Win’s sisters. According to sources in Naypyidaw, the family's connections to the ministry are so strong that it is often jokingly referred to as the “Shwe MOFA.”

Some officials in Naypyidaw say that these foreign postings serve no other purpose than to give Than Shwe's daughters opportunities for overseas shopping trips. “They are go abroad and they draw foreign salaries,” said one source, describing the extent of the duties involved in these postings.

Other relatives of Burma's top general have similarly benefited from their family connections. In June 2008, Brig-Gen Thein Naing, the husband of Than Shwe's daughter, Khin Pyoe Shwe, took over as the commander of Mingaladon Airbase in Rangoon. Soon after this, he was promoted from colonel to brigadier general. He currently serves at the office of the air force commander in chief.

Nepotism is nothing new to military-ruled Burma. The family of the late dictator Ne Win also enjoyed privileges that made them objects of scorn among ordinary Burmese, until they were finally placed under arrest for allegedly plotting to overthrow the current regime in Ne Win's dying days.

Unlike Than Shwe, however, Ne Win did not directly involve his family in affairs of state. Than Shwe, on the other hand, routinely brings family members to official ceremonies and on state visits alongside other senior military officials.

“History repeats itself within one decade. Ten years ago, the current top two generals, Than Shwe and Maung Aye, were not comfortable with the behavior of Ne Win’s grandsons, who had nothing but contempt for the generals,” said a Burmese official close to the regime's senior leadership, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Now the generals serving under Than Shwe are grumbling about members of his family, who in some ways are worse than Ne Win’s relatives.”

Nay Shwe Thway Aung, Than Shwe's favorite grandson, has earned a reputation as the most notorious member of the ruling family. He has been accused of ordering military officers serving as his assistants to carry out attacks on business rivals, and even top generals are said to be wary of displeasing him.

According to business sources in Rangoon, earlier this year Nay Shwe Thway Aung took a new Mercedes Benz from a warehouse of the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holding, Ltd (UMEHL), paying just 10 million kyat (US $11,600) for a luxury vehicle valued at least 200 million kyat ($230,000) in Burma.

“It happened with the acknowledgment of [former UMEHL head] ex Lt-Gen Tin Aye. Nay Shwe Thway Aung sent one of his friends to take the Mercedes from the warehouse,” said a Rangoon-based businessman who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Even Tin Aye, who is one of the top junta members, cannot deter the grandson from this kind of act because he is Than Shwe’s favorite,” the source added. http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=20396
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Dec 23, 2010
IAEA wants to visit suspect nuclear sites in Myanmar

VIENNA - THE UN atomic watchdog has asked Myanmar to be allowed to visit a number of suspect nuclear sites and facilities, a source close to the agency said Thursday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 'has sent an official letter to Myanmar requesting access' to the sites, the source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The source was not aware whether any response had been received as yet.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the IAEA's safeguards department, which has already sought details in recent months from the Southeast Asian country about a purported nuclear drive, had sent a letter to the ruling military junta.

The watchdog's request for information comes at a time when the United States and some Asian countries have expressed heightened concern about military - and possible nuclear - collaboration between Myanmar and North Korea.

Washington has suspected for years that Myanmar has a secret nuclear programme with the support of Pyongyang. According to recent diplomatic cables leaked by the the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, witnesses have reported suspicious activity as far back as 2004, with dockworkers and foreign businessmen saying they had seen evidence of alleged secret nuclear and missile weapons sites being built deep in the Myanmar jungle. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_616914.html
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Aung San Suu Kyi (At the Crossroads: a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi )
A dialogue with the recently released Burmese dissident about democracy, conflict, and the need for reconciliation.
News special Last Modified: 22 Dec 2010 14:00 GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/general/2010/12/2010122115315511156.html

Aung San Suu Kyi, the recently released Burmese dissident, has become an international symbol of peaceful resistance in the face of oppression and human rights violations in Myanmar.

The 65-year-old has spent most of the last 20 years in some form of detention because of her efforts to bring democracy to military-ruled Burma.

In 1991, one year after her party, the National League for Democracy, won an overwhelming victory in an election the junta later nullified, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Now she talks to Al Jazeera about the country's future, the need for change, and why she believes that national reconciliation is the road Myanmar has to take to get the country out of the present state of economic stagnation and political unfreedom.

She speaks about democracy, development, a strong civil society, and the humanitarian situation in Myanmar - and how change and progress could be achieved.

To put the challenges facing Myanmar into global context we are joined by a distinguished panel of experts:

Helping us facilitate the dialogue is Maung Zarni, a Burmese dissident and an academic research fellow at the London School of Economis. His first-hand knowledge of Burma allows him to share his insights of armed conflicts, resistance, and the Burmese military.

Mary Kaldor is professor and co-director of Gobal Governance. She has written extensively on global civil society, how ordinary people organise to change the way their countries and global institutions are run.

Timothy Garton Ash is a historian, political commentator and regular colomnist for the UK newspaper The Guardian. He is professor of European studies at Oxford University. His main interest is civil resistance and the role of Europe and the old West in an increasingly western world. In 2000, Aung San Suu Kyi invited Professor Garton Ash to Burma to speak to members of her party, the National League for Democracy, about transitions to democracies.

At the Crossroads: a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi can be seen from Wednesday, December 22, at the following times GMT: Wednesday: 0030, 0730; Thursday: 1230, 1900. http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/general/2010/12/2010122115315511156.html
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Pro-junta parliamentarians gather for closed-door meeting

Dec 23, 2010, 4:54 GMT

Yangon - Elected members of Myanmar's pro-junta political party that won last month's general election gathered this week in Naypyitaw for closed-door discussions on nominations for the country's top leadership, sources said Thursday.

Legislators from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which won 77 per cent of the contested seats in the November 7 polls, met from Tuesday until Thursday in Naypyitaw, the military's new capital situated about 350 kilometres north of Yangon.

'The meeting is for preparing for the coming parliaments,' a government official said. 'I think there may be some nominations for important posts for the new government,' said the official, who requested anonymity.

Last month, military-ruled Myanmar held its first polls in two decades for its three houses of parliament - upper, lower, and regions or states.

USDP, the proxy party of Myanmar's ruling junta, won 76.8 per cent of the 1,096 contested seats, or altogether 842 seats in the three chambers of parliament.

According to Myanmar's constitution, the elected legislators must nominate a new president and vice presidents within three months of the election, who will then select cabinet ministers and open parliament.

The selection process will be dominated by the winning USDP, which is packed with ex-military men and government ministers.

Even without the massive USDP election win, the next parliaments would not be free from military controls since the current constitution allows the army to appoint 25 per cent of all legislators, enough for them to veto any legislation they disapprove of.

Myanmar's elections were strongly criticized by the international community for being unfair and for excluding Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy opposition party.

Suu Kyi, 65, was freed from a seven-year house detention term on November 13, a week after the polls.

The National League for Democracy won the 1990 general election by a landslide, but it was blocked from assuming power by the military. The party was officially disbanded in May for failing to register to contest the polls.

Beside the USDP, other parties that won seats in the election included the pro-establishment National Unity Party with 5.7 per cent, the pro-democracy Shan Nationalities Democratic Party with 5.2 per cent and the Rakhaine National Development Party polled 3.2 per cent.

The National Democratic Force, a breakaway faction from the main opposition National League for Democracy party, came in sixth with 1.5 per cent of all contested seats.

Myanmar has been under military dictatorships since 1962.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1607505.php/Pro-junta-parliamentarians-gather-for-closed-door-meeting
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Shan look to heroic Thai king for inspiration
By The Nation
Published on December 23, 2010

The Shan State Army (SSA) ethnic group - which is fighting for independence from Burma - has erected a statue of Thai hero King Naresuan the Great at its stronghold in Doi Tailang as a symbol of its struggle, according to Shan commander Yawd Serk.

The nearly three-metre-tall bronze statue of the Thai king who liberated the Ayutthaya kingdom from Burma in 1584, was erected last Friday in Doi Tailang, opposite northern Mae Hongson province.

"I initiated this project five years ago, but managed to complete it only this year after all difficulties were cleared," Yawd Serk said.

The statue of the legendary king was made in Thailand, but Thai authorities were reluctant at first to allow Yawd Serk to move it out of the Kingdom to erect in Burma's Shan state, fearing conflict with Naypyidaw.

"Nobody opposed the idea this year. I believe that is because King Naresuan wants to live with us in the land of Tai," he said, "I understand that Thai and Tai people share the same faith."

Shan people called themselves Tai for their Tai ethnicity.

The Shan leader wants the Thai king to be a symbol of bravery for his Tai fellows in Shan state.

A Shan legend said King Naresuan was willing to help his Shan friend Sao Khamkainoi build a Tai state, Yawd Serk said. "Unfortunately, King Naresuan passed away before the dream came true and I believe his soul is around Tai territory to help protect us," the Shan commander said.

The great king died in Muang Hang, somewhere northwest of Chiang Mai's Fang district, in 1650, during an unfinished mission to expand the Ayutthaya Empire over a collapsed Burma. The Ayutthaya kingdom was secured and maintained a significant role in the region during his reign. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/12/23/national/Shan-look-to-heroic-Thai-king-for-inspiration-30145020.html
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Suu Kyi could be a boon for Myanmar's old soldiers
By Martin Petty

BANGKOK | Wed Dec 22, 2010 5:58pm IST

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Myanmar's military rulers are not getting softer as they maintain their longstanding grip on power, but by freeing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, they could be getting smarter.

Myanmar's democratic facelift is almost complete and with the spotlight firmly on the recently released Nobel laureate, the generals have the perfect distraction to consolidate power behind a civilian-fronted government for decades to come.

A landslide win last month by an army-backed party in an election fraught with allegations of fraud will ensure political and economic power remains in the hands of the current leaders after a government is formed in the next six weeks.

Analysts suggest that Suu Kyi, the arch-enemy of 77-year-old junta supremo Than Shwe and number two Maung Aye, 72, might now be more of an asset than a threat.

The charismatic Suu Kyi, whose party boycotted the poll, has no political role in the new system.

But she has been given an unprecedented free rein that has revived hopes of Western engagement and eased international pressure on the regime as it adds the finishing touches to its new military-managed democracy.

"They're extremely reluctant to release control. They still want to rule this country completely," said Aung Thu Nyein, a Harvard-educated academic and expert on Myanmar politics.

"The generals feel very secure now because of their party's landslide win. China and their other allies have endorsed the polls. They can rule the country as civilians and Suu Kyi is no longer a threat to them."

The release from house arrest of Suu Kyi, analysts say, was no act of benevolence on the part of her foes, who have yet to respond to her calls for dialogue. Most believe the military, which has ruled for almost half a century and curtailed the country's development, will continue to ignore her.

FREE REIN FOR SUU KYI

But the reclusive junta's restraint in letting Suu Kyi conduct myriad media interviews and meetings with diplomats and political allies suggests they might want her to do something they seem incapable of: initiating engagement with the West.

Experts say Suu Kyi could be key to boosting the country's tainted image, and a chance to get Western sanctions lifted, attract foreign businesses and reduce Myanmar's dependence on neighbouring China, its biggest political and economic ally.

"They're trying to use Suu Kyi and (show) a glimmer of reform for their own purposes, namely, to encourage greater investment and re-engage with the West as a hedge against China," said Josh Kurlantzick of the U.S-based Council on Foreign Relations.

"I don't think they want to be this close to China. I think they have concerns about any closeness with any major power, so they need to hedge against that." http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-53731720101222?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=southAsiaNews&rpc=401
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Burma’s post-election press freedom maintains the status quo
By Zin Linn Dec 22, 2010

Burma was at the forefront of press freedom in Southeast Asia before the 1962 military coup. The country then enjoyed a free press; censorship was something unheard of. As many as three dozen newspapers, including English, Chinese and Hindi dailies, existed between 1948 and 1962.

The situation changed in 1962 when the military seized power. All newspapers were nationalized and a Press Scrutiny Board created to enforce strict censorship on all forms of printed matter. Since then, censorship and self-censorship have become commonplace in Burma.

The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) is a major tool or repression of the Than Shwe military regime. Not surprisingly, Burma stands downgraded from a free state to a prison state. All news media in Burma is strictly censored and tightly controlled by the military – all daily newspapers, radio and television stations are under supervision of the junta.

The radio, television and other media outlets are monopolized for propaganda warfare by the regime and opposition views are not allowed.

Currently, PSRD or state censor-board has been stepping up barring on news and interviews with Democracy Icon Aung San Suu Kyi as instruction orders comes from information ministry based in the junta’s capital Naypyidaw, one editor who wants to remain anonymous said.

Journalists from Venus journal had met Suu Kyi 14 December and People’s Era journal on 14 December. Both journals put forward the copies of their interview with the Lady and respective photos to the infamous PSRD. The censor-board yet notifies the journals that any issue of the Lady would be postponed due to the instruction from Naypyidaw.

One sports journal and eight news periodicals including 7 Day News, The Voice, People’s Era and Venus journals have been suspended by the junta’s PSRD because of covering news articles of Burma’s Nobel laureate.

The board has also released notice limiting the size of Aung San Suu Kyi’s portrait to a maximum of 2 x 3 inches for publication in journals. In addition, the board also barred the journals not to cover her photos on front or back pages.

At the same time, a township court in Rangoon sentenced photo-journalist Sithu Zeya to eight years imprisonment for taking photograph the aftermath of the April 15, 2010 bomb blast in the former capital.

Sithu Zeya was sentenced three years for violating the Immigration Act and five years for violating the 1957 Unlawful Associations Act for links he made with unlawful organizations, according to his lawyer U Aung Thein, At some point in cross-examination by special branch police, Sithu Zeya apparently confessed his former relationship with an official from the exile media organization Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).

Moreover, he also confessed that he was present at media training in Thailand. The police plaintiff put forward those confessions at the trial. His lawyer said the case will be appealed to a higher court because the evidence shown to the township court was flawed and there were not enough witnesses.

If the junta is sincere about democratic reforms, the media must be free at the outset. Access to information is crucial to a healthy democracy. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

But in Burma, the political opposition as well as journalists and media personnel are under the strictest rules of the stratocracy. In most countries, journalists or media workers can do their jobs and live well. But in military-ruled Burma, it is very thorny and hazardous work.

Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai was killed while covering the 2007 Saffron Revolution, and some citizen journalists are still in prison.

According to the Burma Media Association and Reporters Sans Frontieres, at least 12 journalists and dozens of media workers are still in custody since the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis and the constitutional referendum in May 2008.

Although the optimistic politicians and media personnel hope for better free-press environment after the recent polls, the scenario looks gloomy and it remains the status quo.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/44250/burma%E2%80%99s-post-election-press-freedom-maintains-the-status-quo/
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Wa offers another olive branch to junta
Thursday, 23 December 2010 14:19 Hseng Khio Fah
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The United Wa State Army (UWSA), one of the ceasefire groups at loggerheads with the Burma Army over the Border Guard Force (BGF) program, has extended an offer for peace talks with the new government that is expected to be installed early next year, according to local sources.

[Xiao Minliang speaking at a party conference (On his right hand side is Bo Lakham) (Photo: UWSA)]

The announcement was made at UWSA's political wing United Wa State Party (UWSP)'s 5th district level party congress which is being held in Mongmai, 170 km north of its main base Panghsang. The USDP was formed on 20 December 1988.

The congress fittingly started on 20 December and to be held until 29 December, has some 2,500 participants including Xiao Minliang, vice chairman of the Wa State; Bo Lai Kham, Chairman of the Wa Political Consultative Conference;Bao Youri, Political Commissar of the Wa's southern military region 171; and Ai Lon, deputy Commander in Chief.

"We are ready to send a delegation to talk with the new government on the basis of 'Opposition to War' and 'Work for Peace and Development' principles," he was quoted as saying.

Panghsang is only reiterating its statement on 6 November, a day before the elections, expressing its readiness to resume peace talks with the new government, said a participant.

[Bao Samrai, Commander, 618th Brigade (Photo: UWSA)]

The two sides have also been reinforcing more troops and weapons, building bunkers, and digging trenches in bases along the front, since the Beijing-mediated talks failed earlier this year.

The UWSA had also set up a new brigade, the 618th, at Manghseng-Nawngkhet area facing Burma Army's strongest base Loi Panglong, a Wa officer said.

Currently, the UWSA has 9 Brigades, one artillery unit and 4 people's militia brigades in the 4 districts under its control: Mongmai (916th Brigade), Wiangkao (917th Brigade), Mongpawk 918th Brigade) and Mongyawn (unidentified). Each brigade is 2,500-3,200 strong, he claims.

Elections for district committee members are being held today. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3375:wa-offers-another-olive-branch-to-junta&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Volunteer Group Aids All Comers in Mae Sot
By ALEX ELLGEE Thursday, December 23, 2010

MAE SOT—It is early morning and the doors to the People’s Volunteer Association (PVA) office have been open for only one hour. Street vendors are still setting up their stalls to catch the first factory workers on their way to work. But inside the office, there is already a line of people queuing to talk with PVA staff who wear their signature green T-shirts.

“We’re always busy, busy busy,” said director Thein San, as he juggled phones and gave instructions to various workers and office members.

A PVA counselor talks to a Burmese woman. (Photo: Alex Ellgee)
“The office opens just before seven and closes around ten thirty, but our phones ring all night,” he said.

The problems the people have who come to ask for help offer a good overview of what keeps the PVA staff busy twenty-four hours every day.

A young Burmese man named Aung Oo sat anxiously in the office, after running for his life from the village where he worked. Having worked on a farm for eight years, he had asked for permission from his Thai employer to leave his job and return to Burma.

But the employer became enraged and fired several gunshots into the air and then accused him of stealing 20,000 baht. He ordered him to pay it back by continuing to work or otherwise he would call the police.

Like many Burmese workers who face similar situations because of their vulnerability, Aung Oo went straight to the PVA office to seek help.

“We have a good relationship with Thai police, so we will go down to the local station and try to work it out with the employer,” said Thein San, after consulting with Aung Oo.

Set up in 2008, the People's Volunteer Association functions a little like a neighborhood citizens' watch, whose mission includes aiding the Thai police in settling disputes, providing refugee care, mediating domestic abuse issues, labor rights, health and education issues, and, really, to help solve refugees' problems any way they can.

Bo Bo, a Burmese leader in the area, said: “They have helped our community so much with all the problems we face, living here as poverty stricken Burmese in another country. Without them we would be facing even more hardships and oppression.”

Thein San, who founded the volunteer group in 2004, previously served as an All Burma Student Democratic Front (ABSDF) commander. A photo from the 1990s on an office wall shows him with his battalion making their way through the jungle. Having fought guerillas warfare campaigns against the regime’s army since he fled Rangoon in 1988, he said he was ready to find a new way to help the Burmese people.

Until 2008, the group operated with less than 50 volunteer members, but it then decided to change its name and strategy.

“We didn’t want to limit it to just Burmese people. We wanted to include all people, including Thai,” he said.

During a demonstration in December 2009, Thein San played a pivotal role in calming the situation and earning the trust of the Mae Sot chief of police. When two Burmese men were badly beaten by Thai security forces while they waited outside a factory for their sisters, 3,900 factory workers demonstrated to demand the security workers face punishment.

The protest began at 11 p.m. and by early morning the whole factory was surrounded by Thai riot police and armed soldiers. Mae Sot’s chief of police was about to order a crackdown when Thein San pleaded with him for a chance to calm things down.

“He gave me the loudspeaker, and I organized the demonstrators to make a statement,” he said, pointing to photos of the event on the wall. “Then the police backed off and the demands were met, so it ended peacefully.”

Another major PVA breakthrough was an unofficial MoU, which stated that a special PVA member card can be shown to police and the card holder will not be arrested. The cost of the card is used to help fund PVA work.

Asked what is PVA’s biggest problem, Thein San said, “funds,” but added: “We don’t want to rely on donors. We want to be able to stand on our two feet and become self-reliant.

“The benefit of PVA is that we’re not like NGOs. We help people who are facing problems in any type situation, and when they call us, we go to them straight away. NGOs will only stick to their line, and will turn away people in need if it’s not in line with their field of work.”

The group's symbol is a hawk inside two triangles. “We chose a hawk because we are fast to help the people and we're always looking and studying carefully how we can help them,” said Thein San. “The two triangles show the organization’s inclusiveness for all people.”

PVA now has a safe house that can house 16 people and Thein San has a plan to set up PVA schools in remote areas.

“Everyone makes schools in Mae Sot. There are so many, but in the remote villages they have nothing.”

PVA also has its own doctor who travels to remote areas to treat patients.

“It is too far for many migrant workers to travel to the Mae Tao Clinic. They have problems with transport fees, and they're also scared of the Thai police,” said the doctor. “With our limited funds, I do as much as I can to help the people who live far from the medical clinics.”

Another client in the office that morning was a victim of domestic violence, a common case for the PVA staff. Settling domestic disputes is a major part of their work.

Thein San said in order to deal with the woman's case, the husband would be invited to the office, and the staff would counsel the couple about domestic violence and its negative effects. They will then get her husband to sign an agreement saying that if he commits domestic abuse again, he must pay compensation to his wife.

Later that morning, a lady rushed into the office. Thai forestry department officials had arrested her husband for cutting down a tree. She said he was only carrying wood for his Thai employer, who was cutting the trees, but the employer blamed it on his workers when the authorities arrived.

Handed over to the Thai police, her husband was put in jail and required to pay a 15,000 baht (US $470) fine, an amount too large for a Burmese migrant worker family that normally earns about 3,000 baht ($95) a month.

In this case, Thein San will consult with a Thai lawyer who works with PVA on unfair cases involving the authorities.

While the PVA headquarters is based in Mae Sot, the group has six offices around Mae Sot and in the future it would like to expand to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and other areas.

In the last two months, the number of members has increased from 50 to 700, said Thein San. He said he hoped to have 1,000 member by the end of the year.

As this reporter was leaving the office, a young PVA worker named Johnny was preparing documents to take to the police station.

He said he joined PVA because the organization stands for all people, and he wanted to help all the communities living in the Mae Sot area.

He recalled a tragic situation recently when a Burmese pedestrian was hit and severely injured by a drunk driver. When Johnny was told, he went to the scene of the accident and helped the victim to the hospital, where he later died.

“We contacted his family, but they are inside Burma and couldn’t afford to travel, so we organized his funeral for them,” said Johnny. “If we had not come, then there wouldn’t have been anyone to help him.”
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20374
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More Land in Arakan State Confiscated for Railway
By KHIN OO THAR Thursday, December 23, 2010

More residents in Burma's western Arakan (Rakhine) State suffer as their farm land and plantations have been confiscated or damaged due to a railway project in the area, according to local sources.

“Apart from receiving no compensation, we weren't even informed that our lands were confiscated. Some rubber plantations located along the railway were also destroyed,” a resident in the construction area told The Irrawaddy. He said about two acres of his land were confiscated and part of his rubber plantation was destroyed.

Local residents said that the authorities had confiscated more than 1,000 acres of land between Mrauk U and Kyauk Taw townships, which are on the projected Sittwe-Ann-Minbu railway line.

Last month, several ancient temples and cultural heritage sites in Mrauk U Township were damaged or destroyed because they were located on the planned railway route, according to local residents.

“By building this railway, the military regime is launching a psychological offensive against local people, rather than developing our area. It has destroyed what the locals value one by one, and it does as it wants,” said a Mrauk U resident.

He said the construction of the railway on ancient cultural land in Mrauk U began on Nov. 7. Authorities later altered sections of the route because of repeated objections from local residents.

The route is now affecting land around the Arakan State's most ancient city of Dannyawaddy, he said.

A resident of Kyauk Taw told The Irrawaddy that a dispute broke out recently between the army and Myanma Railway officials after an earth excavator that was used in the railway construction work between Kyauk Taw and Mrauk U damaged underground cables connecting local army posts.

“A battalion commander ordered them to stop the construction work immediately after their property was damaged,” he said.

The order came from the commander of Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 377 on Dec. 17. LIBs 377, 378 and 540 are based in the area, he said.

According to residents of Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, the regime has been working on the railway line in Arakan State since 2009. Several sections have been completed, they said, but some completed sections, especially in the Sittwe area, frequently need to be repaired.

The Sittwe-Ann-Minbu railway is scheduled to be part of the regime's nationwide railway network.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20389
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ASIAN CORRESPONDENT.COM
Burma must let IAEA to inspect its doubtful nuclear sites
By Zin Linn Dec 23, 2010 10:54PM UTC

Burma (Myanmar) has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It is also a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) whose members jointly signed the 1995 Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, also called the Bangkok Treaty.

Robert Kelley, a former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), scrutinized the files smuggled out of Burma by Major Sai Thein Win,a Russia-trained missile-engineer, and said the evidence indicated “a clandestine nuclear programme” was in progress.

Burma is carrying out a secret atomic weapons programme that could “really speed up” if the army-ruled country is aided by North Korea, according to the top nuclear scientist. Kelley shared his views on the issue at Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok on 26 October, 2010.

The DVB documentary featured Major Sai Thein Win, who said he had served in the engineering unit developing a nuclear reactor and rocket engine parts in a military facility. The Burmese regime said Sai Thein Win had deserted from the army in February 2010.

On 23 December, the UN atomic watchdog has asked Burma to be allowed to visit a number of suspect nuclear sites and facilities, AFP said quoting a source close to the agency.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ‘has sent an official letter to Myanmar requesting access’ to the sites, the source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. But, the source did not mention whether any answer had been received as yet.

Washington has speculated for years that Burma has a secret nuclear programme with the backing of Pyongyang. According to recent diplomatic cables leaked by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, witnesses have reported suspicious activity as far back as 2004, with dockworkers and foreign businessmen saying they had seen evidence of alleged secret nuclear and missile weapons sites being built deep in the jungle of Burma.

Kelley also mentioned his concerns in an article published in Thailand daily The Nation on 26 October, 2010, saying: “In the non-proliferation community, we have argued for more and better tools to detect potential proliferators. Now we have used some of those tools to identify one, but the response from many quarters is that it is too soon, too difficult and too hard, to investigate and stop Burma.”

“But when is the right time? When it is too late? What tools will the world use then? Sanctions? Bombs? These are key questions. Intelligence analysis has done its job: it’s identified the parts of a potential smoking gun. Now is the time to act,” Kelley warns in his article.

On the contrary, a large portion of the country’s budget, an estimated 40-50 percent goes to finance a 400,000-strong armed force. The warning sign is that defense will continue to be top of the junta’s budget. Russia had delivered 20 MiG-29 planes to Burma’s air force. Kommersant – Russia’s Daily Online reported that the contract was worth nearly 400 million Euros (570 million dollars).

However, UNICEF reports that spending on the public health care in Burma amounts to 40 cents per citizen per year, compared to $ 61 in Thailand. According to the UN estimation, one child in three under the age of five is suffering from malnutrition.

Even though, the junta continues strengthening its military might without any external threats. But, it neglects the social welfare of the citizens. Due to its mismanagement policies and corruptions, the country’s swollen unemployment problem forces the citizens to leave the native land.

Over the past two decades, more than two million Burmese workers have fled to Thailand. Trafficking in women and children has increased along the 2,400 km-long Thailand-Burma border. The regime’s negligence of health-care has also produced a new HIV/AIDS flow into neighbouring countries. Trans-border crime has gone up with a massive influx of narcotics drugs, including heroin and methamphetamines.

The recent vote-rigging elections result is going to legalize the military rule. It is not a good sign for the region as the 2008 constitution allows the military to take the lion share of the national budget. So, the junta’s nuclear development plan seems to be growing underneath.

In brief, ASEAN members should take notice of Robert Kelley’s remark on Burma’s nuclear issue. He says, “It is time to invoke Articles 12 and 13 of the Bangkok Treaty that allow the group to begin an investigation of these assertions and force Burma to come clean. Citizens of this populous region may not feel threatened today or next year, but they will never know when they can feel safe without resolution of this issue.”
http://asiancorrespondent.com/44423/burma-must-let-iaea-to-inspect-its-doubtful-nuclear-sites/

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