News & Articles on Burma-Friday 24 June, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Friday 24 June, 2011
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Burma: Blasts strike three towns and cities
ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials Meeting held in Myanmar capital
Moscow's Nuclear Envoy Visits Burma
Japan envoy to meet Suu Kyi, Myanmar government
Burma’s ‘lady’ is free, but her country still in chains
House Speaker Warns Against 'Arab Spring'
Explosions rock three Myanmar cities
Bomb blasts rattle two Burma cities
Explosions rock Myanmar's capital
Blasts rock three Burmese cities
Bomb blasts rattle three Myanmar cities
Rising demand of heroin propelling more opium acreage
Burma’s poppy fields increase as permit given in elections period
Burma’s war against ethnic Kachin produces more refugees
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BBC NEWS
Burma: Blasts strike three towns and cities

People take picture of a damaged car after a blast in Mandalay The first blast occurred in Mandalay, destroying a car and shattering windows

Several near-simultaneous blasts have hit three towns and cities in Burma.

The explosions, thought to have been caused by bombs, struck the capital Naypyitaw, Mandalay and the garrison town of Pyin Oo Lwin.

At least three people are reported to have been hurt but there are no reports of deaths. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks.

Burma's military-backed government has blamed similar attacks on ethnic armed groups fighting for more autonomy.

The first blast destroyed a car and shattered windows near the main market in Burma's second-biggest city, Mandalay late in the morning, according to reports citing government officials.

Local residents told the BBC that three people were wounded.

Another explosion followed soon after in a disused building in the capital, Naypyitaw, close to the main market. There were no reports of casualties.

A third blast hit Pyin Oo Lwin in central Burma, where there is a military training academy.

The blasts come amid an armed conflict near the border with China between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army, Burma's second largest ethnic armed group.

The government blamed a bomb attack in Naypyitaw earlier this month on ethnic Karen rebels. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13901513
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ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials Meeting held in Myanmar capital
15:17, June 24, 2011

The 8th ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) has been held in Myanmar's capital of Nay Pyi Taw, attended by representatives and senior officials from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Russian Federation, official media reported Friday.

Co-chaired by visiting Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei N. Borodavkin and Director-General of ASEAN Affairs Department of the Myanmar Foreign Ministry U Tint Swai, the meeting on Thursday discussed development of ASEAN-Russia cooperation and exchanged views on regional and international issue, said the New Light of Myanmar.

The meeting reviewed ASEAN-Russia dialogue relations and discussed issues concerning future direction including implementation of ASEAN-Russia energy cooperation work plan, cooperation in countering terrorism, working on emergency management, implementation of comprehensive program of action plan 2005-2015 to promote cooperation between ASEAN and Russia Federation, road map of trade and economic cooperation and interaction in field of science and technology, the report added.

The meeting agreed to hold the next ASEAN-Russia SOM in Russia in 2012.

Myanmar has been serving as the country coordinator of ASEAN- Russia dialogue relations for three years since 2009.

Myanmar hosted the 8th ASEAN-Russia Joint Coordination Committee Meeting, the 7th ASEAN-Russia Joint Planning and Management Committee Meeting, the 2nd ASEAN-Russia Working Group Meeting for 2nd ASEAN-Russia Summit in November 2009.

Meanwhile, foreign ministries of Myanmar and Russia held consultations on Wednesday on promotion of bilateral relations and enhancement of cooperation in regional and international organizations with the two delegations represented by Deputy Union Foreign Minister U Maung Myint and his Russian counterpart Borodavkin respectively.

The two deputy foreign ministers exchanged views on current international issues.

Borodavkin arrived in Nay Pyi Taw earlier on Wednesday for the 5th regular consultations between the two foreign ministries.

On the same day, Myanmar Vice President U Tin Aung Myint Oo and speaker of the House of Representatives U Shwe Mann met with Borodavkin.

Source:Xinhua http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7419986.html
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Moscow's Nuclear Envoy Visits Burma
By KO HTWE Friday, June 24, 2011
Moscow's nuclear envoy to North Korea Alexey Borodavkin (right) talks with a South Korean nuclear delegation in Seoul in January.

Russia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexey N. Borodavkin, who is also the country's nuclear envoy to North Korea, led a delegation to Naypyidaw on Wednesday to meet Burmese counterparts.

According to Burma's state-run The New Light of Myanmar, Borodavkin met with Burma's Vice-President Tin Aung Myint Oo, Minister for Foreign Affairs Wunna Maung Lwin, house speaker Shwe Mann, and Minister for Science and Technology Aye Myint.

Observers said the talks are expected to focus on weapons deals between the two countries. The foreign mission from Moscow follows hot on the heels of an upgrade in the strategic partnership between China and Burma.

Aung Naing Oo, a political analyst based in Thailand, said relations are close between Burma and Russia. While Burma sends students to Russia to study, Russia sells weapons to Burma.

If the Burmese authorities' relationship with China and India breaks down, they can always turn to Russia, he said.

Like China, Russia remains a staunch ally of Burma at the United Nations, frequently vetoing Western attempts at the Security Council to impose resolutions on the Burmese government. It also has a track record of selling weapons, including MiG-29 fighter jets, and conducting officer training regarding nuclear and missile technology.

According to previous reports, Russia had plans to build a “nuclear studies” center in Burma, which would include a 10-megawatt, light water-moderated nuclear reactor, but later the plan was canceled.

Beijing and Naypyidaw have enjoyed a marked upgrade in their strategic partnership since Burma's new president, Thein Sein, visited China in May. Other nations, including the US, India, the EU and now Russia have been quick to mobilize delegations to the southeast Asian country, which is recognized as rich in natural resources yet boasts one of the poorest economies in the world.

Thakhin Chan Tun, a former diplomat who previously served as Burma’s ambassador to North Korea, and the People’s Republic of China, said that the recent diplomatic missions from Russia and India helps to balanced the outside influences on Burma.

“Burma has to rely on Russia, China and India, because the European Union is leading a boycott,” he said. “India doesn't want Burma to side with China. They want to do what they can in terms of trade and commerce.”

In recent years Russian companies have been involved in Burma's mining sector.

A Russian-trained Burmese army defector and missiles expert, Maj Sai Thein Win, said that Russian companies were exploring for thorium in northern Burma. Thorium is a naturally occurring radioactive chemical element which can be used for nuclear power plants, and is highly sought for its safety benefits.

“Russia especially wants thorium from Burma,” he said. “However, China has been smuggling it out in the metal-rich sand and silt from the U Ru Hka stream in Kachin State since 2006.

He said the Burmese government only recently became aware that Chinese companies were secretly smuggling the riverine sand and extracting thorium from it.

Meanwhile, Russian company Dalmorneftegeophysica, or DMNG, which provides an extensive range of geophysical services for the petroleum industry worldwide, including surveys planning, data acquisition, processing, interpretation and hydrocarbon resource evaluation, opened an office in Rangoon on June 18, according to The Myanmar Times.

DMNG has 10 years experience working in Burma on oil and gas projects, and its exploration contract with Thai state company PTTEP expired in January, said the Rangoon journal. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21567
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STRAITS TIMES: Jun 24, 2011
Japan envoy to meet Suu Kyi, Myanmar government

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi talks to reporters following a meeting with US Senator John McCain (not pictured), at her house in Yangon on June 2, 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP

TOKYO - JAPAN will send a senior diplomat to Myanmar next week to meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and hold talks with the government, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said on Friday.

Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Makiko Kikuta said she will discuss financial aid with Myanmar officials, although Tokyo believes more has to be done to fully democratise the country after recent polls.

She will be Japan's first senior official to meet Nobel Peace laureate Ms Suu Kyi in nine years. She will also meet Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin for the first senior-level talks since elections last year.

Myanmar's regime said the November 2010 poll was a step toward democracy, and it later handed over to nominally civilian rulers. But many outside observers say that the changes are purely cosmetic.

'I hope my visit will be the first step toward building a new relationship between the Japanese government and the new administration which is moving toward democratisation,' Ms Kikuta said.

Tokyo has suspended economic assistance since 2003, except for humanitarian and emergency aid, due to Ms Suu Kyi's arrest and long-term house arrest, and a crackdown on democracy advocates. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_683462.html
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Burma’s ‘lady’ is free, but her country still in chains
Published On Thu Jun 23 2011
By Olivia Ward Foreign Affairs Reporter

She’s directed Britain’s biggest summer festival, won applause from a Canadian conference and delivered a ringing human rights message to the U.S. Congress.

But seven months after her release from house arrest — and two decades of on-and-off detention — Burma’s iconic democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi spends most of her time in her cramped Rangoon office, and has yet to leave her authoritarian country for fear of permanent exile.

She has answered a flurry of international invitations with virtual, videotaped appearances that give her a global presence and polish her already glowing image as Burma’s face of principled resistance. And a new film on her life and career is attracting plaudits at festivals worldwide.

She has also met with international officials and visitors in Rangoon.

But opinion is sharply divided about the effectiveness of her stance in pushing Burma down the road to democracy. And she herself cast doubt on the progress the isolated country has made since its widely condemned elections last November, in which senior generals left their army posts to run as civilians.

If the government were sincere it would not be holding some 2,000 political prisoners, Suu Kyi told American lawmakers. And she called for a commission of enquiry into Burma’s many human rights abuses, but did not mention the sanctions that are a major bone of contention for policy makers.

“She’s still iconic, but the game has moved on,” says Justin Wintle, London-based author of her biography Perfect Hostage.

“The elections were obviously fixed, particularly with the generals leaving the army and becoming ‘civilians’ (in the new government). But there is a feeling that Suu Kyi’s party made a mistake in not contesting them, and it split the party. She has not played her political hand well.”

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was de-registered when it boycotted the polls, which were skewed in advance against the opposition.

Many Burmese, as well as international observers, are fiercely loyal to Suu Kyi and believe her firm stand on maintaining sanctions against Burma must continue until there are signs of real democracy.

But says Roberto Herrera-Lim of the Eurasia Group in Foreign Policy, the outcome may be deeper ties between Burma and Asian countries who are less interested in its democratic credentials than its gas and mineral reserves.

“No matter what the country’s politics, they want access to its natural resources,” he said.

Last month Suu Kyi said she was “saddened” by India’s “disappointing role” in tightening its ties with the Burmese regime.

Meanwhile, reports have surfaced about worsening human rights abuses against political prisoners, and in Burma’s restive border areas, where minority groups have been fighting for rights and autonomy for half a century. Suu Kyi, who is closely watched by the authorities, said she planned to travel upcountry, a move they are likely to block.

“I admire her greatly, but she has not addressed the question of the civil war,” says Ngun Cung Lian, assistant director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy at Indiana University, and a former Burmese freedom fighter. “There are about half a million people without homes because of it. That should be a priority for a leader.”

Last month Suu Kyi told a group of Danish students that “all this injustice” to minorities must stop, and that it was wrong for displaced people to be living in fear in their own country. “We must make them feel that they enjoy equal rights,” she said.

But Suu Kyi’s biggest tests lie ahead. She must not only strengthen her party, but convince younger activists who went through the brutally suppressed “saffron revolution” that gradual change is the best route to democracy.

And she must grapple with the fact that some Western countries, especially Europeans, believe that her release is reason to thaw relations with the out-of-uniform ruling Burmese generals. Yet if that fails to happen, the backlash from an embittered government may hit her directly, and her period of freedom be all too brief.http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1014175--burma-s-lady-is-free-but-her-country-still-in-chains
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House Speaker Warns Against 'Arab Spring'
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, June 24, 2011

The people of Burma should work together to help prevent an “Arab spring� that could damage the interests of the nation, Shwe Mann, the speaker of the Lower House of Burma’s Parliament, said at a meeting on Friday.

“As US Senator John McCain said when he visited Burma, we have to make sure that the kind of unrest that has happened in the Middle East doesn't happen here,� said Shwe Mann, speaking to members of the Rangoon regional Parliament.

At the meeting, he also said that an MP helped to ease tensions in Kachin State, where government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have been fighting since the second week of June.

Shwe Mann takes part in an Independence Day dinner in Naypyidaw on Jan. 4, 2011. (Photo: AP)
The MP, Thein Zaw, represents a constituency in Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital. On June 17, he sent a letter to the KIA telling them that Burmese commanders have given the order to stop fighting, and urging KIA leaders to do the same.

However, the KIA has rejected the letter's claims as “insincere,� and says it wants proof that the Burmese army has really ended its military operations against the group.

There were no clashes reported today, although more than 10,000 refugees remain sheltered in China as fears of a resumption of fighting persist.

Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21566
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Explosions rock three Myanmar cities
Reports indicate two people wounded after blasts in Mandalay, Naypyidaw and Pyin Oo Lwin.
Last Modified: 24 Jun 2011 10:45

Residents said two people were wounded in a blast which hit a vehicle in Mandalay [Reuters]

Near simultaneous bomb explosions in three Myanmar cities have wounded at least two people, the government and residents say.

The first explosion destroyed a car and shattered windows near the main market in the central city of Mandalay shortly before noon on Friday, a government official said.

There was no confirmation of the number of casualties, but residents said that two people had been wounded in the blast, with a government official saying that one of those injured was a traffic policeman.

The market was closed at the time of the blast.

Another explosion hit an abandoned home in the capital, Naypyidaw, a government official said.

"There was a bomb blast at an old house near the Thabyaykone market in Naypyidaw. There were no casualties," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

A third blast hit in the resort town of Pyin Oo Lwin, in the central part of the country, which is also home to a military training academy.

It was not immediately clear what kind of explosives were used in the attacks, nor who had carried them out.

Bombings have become increasingly common in Myanmar, where pro-democracy activists and various ethnic groups have been battling the military-backed government.

The government has blamed ethnic Karen rebels for a bombing in Naypyitaw earlier this month, and a train attack in May that killed two people and injured nine others.

Myanmar held its first elections in 20 years last November, formally ending the military rule which began in 1962.

The new government, however, comprises mostly retired army officers and critics say that the vote was arranged in order to keep power in military hands. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2011/06/2011624101344496681.html
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BANGKOK POST
Bomb blasts rattle two Burma cities

Published: 24/06/2011 at 03:32 PM
Online news: Asia

Two bombs exploded in Burma's capital and the central city of Mandalay on Friday, the latest in a series of blasts in the military-dominated country, an official said.

Two bombs exploded in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw and in the central city of Mandalay on Friday, the latest in a series of blasts in the military-dominated country, an official said.

The first explosion destroyed a car near Mandalay's main market shortly before noon, a government official said.

There was no confirmation of any casualties although local residents reported two people were wounded.

Soon afterwards an explosion occurred at a disused home in the capital Naypyidaw, said the official, who did not want to be named.

"There was a bomb blast at an old house near the Thabyaykone market in Naypyidaw. There were no casualties," he said.

It was unclear what type of explosive devices were used.

The military-dominated nation has been hit by several mostly minor bomb blasts in recent years, which the authorities have blamed on armed exile groups or ethnic minority rebels.

An explosion on a passenger train near the capital last month killed two people and wounded nine others, according to the authorities, who blamed Karen ethnic minority rebels.

Another bomb exploded at a Naypyidaw market on June 10, slightly injuring two people.

In April last year, in the worst attack in five years in Rangoon, a series of blasts left 10 people dead and about 170 wounded as thousands of people gathered for festivities to mark the Buddhist New Year.

Burma's military junta handed over power to a nominally civilian administration in March after nearly half a century of army rule, following an election marred by complaints of intimidation and fraud. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/243815/bomb-blasts-rattle-two-burma-cities
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Explosions rock Myanmar's capital

YANGON (Reuters) – Three explosions rocked Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, and two other towns within minutes of each other on Friday, residents said, adding several people were wounded but there were no reports of deaths.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility or response from the authorities on the apparent bombings, which Myanmar's government typically blames on ethnic separatists.

A suspected bomb exploded in a jeep in Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city after the former capital, Yangon, at about 12:10 p.m. (0540 GMT).

The incident happened near Zaygyo Market, a major shopping center in Mandalay, which is about 400 miles north of Yangon.

"We heard the car was badly damaged and four people were wounded," a Mandalay shopkeeper told Reuters by telephone, adding the market was closed, otherwise the number of casualties would have been higher.

A bomb was also blamed for the second explosion in an unoccupied house opposite a market in Naypyitaw, the new capital about 205 miles north of Yangon at about 12:20 p.m. (0550 GMT).

"It was very powerful. We all heard a very loud explosion," said a government official who had been in a bookshop near the market at the time.

"So far as I heard, there were no casualties. Security officials are now combing the area," said the official, who asked not to be named.

The third explosion hit Pyin Oo Lwin, a town about 45 miles north of Mandalay, at about 12:30 p.m. (0600 GMT), the Mandalay shopkeeper told Reuters after speaking with relatives living there.

Also known as May Myo, Pyin Oo Lwin is a garrison town as well as a hill resort, home to four military institutes including the elite Defense Services Academy.

There have been about half a dozen bomb blasts in Myanmar cities, including Naypyitaw and Kachin State capital Myitkyina, in the past few weeks.

On May 18 two passengers were killed and nine others wounded when a bomb exploded on a train near Naypyitaw.

The government normally blames ethnic armed groups that have been fighting successive central governments for greater autonomy since the country won independence in 1948.

A few weeks ago fierce battles broke out between Kachin separatist rebels and Myanmar's army in northeast Myanmar near the Chinese border.

(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Alan Raybould / Daniel Magnowski) http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110624/wl_nm/us_myanmar_blasts
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Blasts rock three Burmese cities
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 24 June 2011

The remains of a car are seen following the Mandalay explosion (Source: unknown)

A series of explosions on Friday struck several major cities in Burma, including Mandalay and the capital Naypyidaw.

Shortly after midday, a bomb detonated underneath a car in Mandalay, shattering windows of nearby buildings, including Zegyo Hotel, and injuring a bystander. A second explosion then occurred inside a disused home in the capital Naypyidaw.

“It was a powerful bomb,” said a Mandalay resident. “Shrapnel and a wheel from the car were blown away about 300 feet. Today the market is closed – normally there is a heavy traffic jam with a lot of motorbikes at the area. The whole town is now in panic.”

Confusion has surrounded the second explosion, with doubt over whether it came from a planted device.

An anonymous government official told AFP that there was a “bomb blast at an old house near the Thabyaykone market in Naypyidaw”, and that no casualties had been reported.

But a Naypyidaw resident told DVB: “It wasn’t a bomb – just a gas tank explosion from a refrigerator and air-conditioner repair shop. The whole town went into panic assuming it was a bomb explosion but it later turned out not to be.”

According to the Rangoon-based The Voice journal, an explosions occurred in Pyin Oo Lwin, close to Mandalay and the headquarters of the Burmese army’s top training academy.

The journal said that it occurred near to a park in Ward 3. Around 3pm, another suspicious device was removed by police on 84th street outside a jewellers shop, according to The Voice.

Images released from the scene of the Mandalay incident suggest that the device had been packed full of shrapnel.

Rumours are also circulating that an explosion has occurred in Rangoon, although there has been no confirmation of this.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110624/wl_nm/us_myanmar_blasts
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STRAITS TIMES: Jun 24, 2011
Bomb blasts rattle three Myanmar cities

YANGON - BOMBS exploded almost simultaneously in three cities across Myanmar on Friday, wounding at least two people but causing no fatalities, the government and residents said.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attacks, but bombings have become increasingly frequent in Myanmar, where pro-democracy activists and ethnic groups are at odds with the military-backed regime.

A government official told The Associated Press that one blast hit near a market in the administrative capital, Naypyitaw, not far from a zone housing most of the new city's hotels.

Another explosion occurred around the same time near another market in the country's second-largest city, Mandalay. The blast destroyed a car and wounded two people, including a traffic policeman, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

About 20 miles (30km) to the north, a third explosion hit the town of Pyinoolwin, home to a defence academy, a resident reached by phone there said.

There was no claim of responsibility for Friday's violence. The government blamed ethnic Karen rebels for a bombing in Naypyitaw this month, as well as a May train attack near the town that killed two and injured nine. -- AP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_683460.html
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Rising demand of heroin propelling more opium acreage
Friday, 24 June 2011 12:41 S.H.A.N.

The price of raw opium has gone up to 45,000 baht ($1,500) per viss (1.6 kg) and is likely to go up as much as 50,000 baht ($1,600) by the end of the month due to increased demand, according to sources coming across the border.

“This is twice as much as the price during harvest time”, a young migrant worker returning from Shan State East told SHAN. “My friends were even saying I need not go to Thailand anymore, since income from opium is better.”

Another source confirmed the report adding he saw hundreds of people coming from as far as Taunggyi to work in the poppy fields in one of the townships of Shan State East.

The name of the township and locations have been withheld by request, as previous reports by SHAN had led to order from Naypyitaw to destroy them.

“The officials don’t want to, because they are getting tax from them,” one businessman had told SHAN in 2009. “The farmers are also worried because their fields might be destroyed despite having paid tax.”
[Poppy field in Langkher township, Shan State South, during harvest time in January 2011]

Poppy field in Langkher township, Shan State South, during harvest time in January 2011
Preliminary reports from Shan State South, across the Salween, also say the seeds for the first season of the year have been sown in several townships, including Namzang, Hopong, Hsihseng, Laikha and Mongkeung.

The first season is during the rainy season, the second and main season toward its end and the third during the dry season (grown mostly on the mountains where there is dew for irrigation).

The current price of heroin on the Golden Triangle, where Burma and Thailand meet Laos, is 310,000-320,000 baht ($10,330-10,660), up from $9,700 earlier.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the output from Afghanistan, #1 opium producer, was down during the last season. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3802:rising-demand-of-heroin-propelling-more-opium-acreage&catid=89:drugs&Itemid=286
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Burma’s poppy fields increase as permit given in elections period
Thursday, 23 June 2011 17:26 Hseng Khio Fah

The number of poppy fields has increased in every part of Shan State in the 2010-2011season, resulting in increasing output of opium. The reasons for these increases range from more preferable weather conditions, to less restriction by local authorities, according to local sources.

Shan Drug Watch Issue 3
The fields are mostly seen flourishing in areas in Shan State East and South, especially in the Burma Army run People’s Militia areas, and most particularly in areas that have elected militia leaders known for their heavy involvement in the drug business.

According to villagers, there are three reasons for the increase in poppy plantations. One reason is more preferable weather conditions compared to previous years, where large numbers of poppy fields were washed away by heavy rains, frost and drought.

“If the weather favors us, we hope to gain a good harvest the coming season,” said one of the farmers from Shan State South.

Another reason for increased poppy production was campaign promises by candidates from the junta-backed Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP), better known as the “Lion Party”, to allow people to cultivate the opium freely if they voted for the party, according to Shan Drug Watch report to be released after 26 June, world anti-Narcotics Day.

One of the villagers in Shan State South recalled one of the promises, “Vote for us and you’ll be free to grow poppies.”

Some of the candidates, who are dubbed as drug dealers among the local villagers like Liu Guoxi, from Kokang constituency, Ho Xiaochang from Kunlong, T. Hkun Myat from Kutkhai, Panhsay Kyaw Myint from Namkham, Kengmai from Muse, Bai Xuoqian from Laogai are now MPs in the parliament, the report said.

Accordingly, another saying that became popular among the villagers was “The Army gets (drug) taxes (and) The Lion gets votes”.

The third reason for increased production is local militia groups were given more authority than ceasefire groups to become involved in the drug trade as they are part of its regime’s anti-insurgency apparatus, the report added.

During the 2009-2010 poppy season, there were 46 out of 55 townships in Shan State growing opium. More were grown in northern Shan State, particularly in areas under the control of the Burmese Army. However, the Burmese regime could make only 32 out of 42 targeted townships “poppy free” in the first two phases of its drug elimination plan, between 1999 and 2009, the previous 2009-2010 report said.

One of the townships that have long disappeared from the “Not free” list, Kunggyan, one of the two townships in the now Kokang Self Administered Zone, has returned to the list, local sources said.

In 1999, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) embarked on a 15-year plan to eradicate the cultivation and production of all drugs in Burma by 2014. The total townships targeted were 51: 43 in Shan State, 4 in Kachin, 2 in Kayah or Karenni and 2 in Chin. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3799:burmas-poppy-fields-increase-as-permit-given-in-elections-period&catid=89:drugs&Itemid=286
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Burma’s war against ethnic Kachin produces more refugees
By Zin Linn Jun 24, 2011 12:19AM UTC

The Kachin Independence Organization and Army (KIO & KIA) has condemned the orchestrated propaganda by the Burma’s Thein Sein government which accused KIO of instigating recent armed conflict in the state, as reported by the New Light of Myanmar newspaper on June 18.

According to Kachin News Group (KNG), KIO’s information department: “It is totally false propaganda published by the government saying the ‘KIA started the war.”

The June 20-dated statement released by KIO said the military offensive was launched by the Burmese government on purpose. In fact, armed conflicts between the Burma armed forces and KIA has widened since the ethnic armed group refused to accept the junta’s new constitution which says Burma Army is the only military institution in the country.

KIA detained two officers and one Burmese soldier on June 8, who intruded into their area of control with weapons but later released them given the request from the Northern military commander of the Burmese Army. The Kachin armed group said they treat prisoners of war well in accordance with the international law and released them with their weapons.

On June 9, Burmese government’s Battalion 437 and 348 started firing on the KIA camp in Sang Gang village. They captured the KIA liaison officer Chang Ying at Sang Gang post and detained him.

The KIA pulled out its battalion 15 to Bum Sen post near Sang Gang village. To avoid widespread war, the KIA refrained from shooting back at Burmese soldiers. However, on June 9, Burmese armed forces marched and attacked the KIA camp in Bum Sen. Then, KIA had to shoot back in self defense, said the KIO’s statement.

Furthermore, the Burmese Army murdered KIA’s Lance Corporal Chang Ying in an act of brutish cruelty, who they abducted from the liaison office at Sang Gang post on June 9.

The Burmese Army lied about the death of Corporal Chang Ying, telling KIA that the officer died in action due to injuries during fighting. But when the KIA checked his body, several marks of injuries and signs of gruesome torture were found on the whole body, including stab wounds.

“They are lying. They killed him by torturing him severely, when we treated their soldiers well,” the KIO said in the statement.

On the contrary, “The only objective of the Burma Army in launching attacks on the KIA was to protect its members and import hydropower to the nation without any intention of aggression or oppression,” said the state run media the New Light of Myanmar.

If it was true that Burma’s army intended only to protect its members and the hydro-power site, who were the culprits of rapes and killings in the disputed area? Yet, sources from Kachin State said rapes, killings, tortures and recruitment of civilians as porters by Burmese soldiers are apparently happening all through the Kachin state.

According to the statement on June 17 by Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT), at least six women and girls have been raped by Burmese soldiers, and three were killed after rape.

The current civil war between in Kachin State has forced almost 20,000 Kachin refugees to flee to the Sino-Burma border fearing continuous clashes, said the KNG referring a doctor helping refugees. The number of refugees has reached 13,000 in five refugee camps in the area of the Laiza headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) on the China border said the doctor. The KIO is providing rice to the refugees, while locally based Non Government Organizations (NGO) are providing health care.

However, the refugees hiding in the forests are suffering from cholera and malaria in the rainy season. They have to endure heavy rainfall without proper shelter. Almost all refugees are from the villages on the road between Myitkyina, Manmaw (Bhamo) and Loije and more than 20,000 refugees have fled to KIO controlled areas since the war began on June 9. Some refugees are staying on the other side of Laiza in China, KNG reported.

The KIO/KIA has already said they are ready to end fighting. But first, they want a promise that any amnesty will be respected by Burmese military commanders.

President Thein Sein himself is violating his own promises that he has guaranteed in his inaugural speeches in March. If he wants to build peaceful Burma under good governance, he must sit together with key stakeholders including ethnic leaders .

Refusing political talks to address the political question will intensify the civil war so as to protect the reign of military might in the deprived country. http://asiancorrespondent.com/58150/burma%E2%80%99s-immoral-war-against-ethnic-kachin-produces-more-refugees/

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