News & Articles on Burma-Sunday 26 June, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Sunday 26 June, 2011
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Myanmar-Thailand bilateral trade doubled in five years
Myanmar burns $62 million of seized drugs
US throws weight behind UN probe
'India's neighbours in "most failed states" list'
Actor helps Myanmar poor on final journey
Myanmar parliamentarian delegation in Russia on study tour
Strong Chinese presence
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Myanmar-Thailand bilateral trade doubled in five years
Posted: 2010/09/07
From: Mathaba
Bilateral trade between Myanmar and Thailand amounted to 3.577 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2009-10.

YANGON, Sept. 7 (mathaba) -- In 2005-06, the bilateral trade was 1.593 billion dollars ,the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( UMFCCI) was quoted as saying.

Myanmar and Thai entrepreneurs had met for promoting bilateral trade cooperation this month.

Besides the normal trade, border trade has also been improving comparing the two fiscal years' Myanmar-Thai bilateral trade, according to vice chairman of UMFCCI U Tun Aung who added that the border trade at Tachilek, Myawady, Kawthaung and Myeik hit 199 million dollars in 2005-06 and rose to 295 million dollars in 2009- 10.

Thailand stood first in Myanmar's normal foreign trade partner line-up, followed by Singapore, China, India, China's Hong Kong region, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.

But it stood the second in border trade with neighboring countries.

Thailand exports to Myanmar textile, shoes, marine products, rice, rubber, jewelry, motor cars, computer and electronic accessories and vice versa, while importing from Myanmar forestry products, marine products, agricultural produces and natural gas.

Meanwhile, Thailand is leading in the Myanmar's foreign investment which is followed by the United Kingdom and Singapore.

Thailand injected 7.41 billion dollars into Myanmar during the 21 years' period from 1988 to 2009, of which 81.7 percent went to electric power, while 8.33 percent and 3.1 percent in manufacturing and hotel and tourism sectors respectively.

(Mathaba and Agencies) # http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=624607?rss
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Jun 26, 2011
Myanmar burns $62 million of seized drugs

NAYPYIDAW - MYANMAR burned opium and other illegal drugs with an estimated value of about $50 million (S$62 million) on Sunday to mark the UN International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

'We need to step up efforts to eradicate narcotic drugs by any means,' Lieutenant General Ko Ko, the home affairs minister, said at a ceremony in the capital Naypyidaw.

The seized drugs included about 4,500kg of opium and 146kg of heroin, along with various other types of drugs.

'Myanmar's new military-backed government 'will keep up the war against this problem until its roots are removed from our soil,' said Mr Ko Ko.

Myanmar, the world's second-largest opium producer after Afghanistan, has said it aims to eradicate illegal drugs by 2014.

Opium cultivation in the army-dominated nation rose by 20 per cent in 2010, with its share of global production up from five percent in 2007 to 12 per cent last year, the UN anti-narcotics agency said last week. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_684212.html
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US throws weight behind UN probe
By AFP
Published: 26 June 2011
US throws weight behind UN probe thumbnail
The Obama administration launched a policy of dialogue with the Burmese regime in 2009 but has been frustrated by lack of progress (Reuters)

The United States said on Saturday it is prepared to support a UN-backed human rights probe in Burma, after opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi urged such an investigation.

The United States “is committed to seeking accountability for the human rights violations that have occurred in Burma by working to establish an international commission of inquiry,’ said the State Department.

“We are consulting closely with our friends, allies, and other partners at the United Nations,” US officials said in the statement.

Suu Kyi, who was released in November after spending most of the past two decades under house arrest, spoke by video on Wednesday in a first-ever message to the US Congress, a stronghold of support for the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

She asked lawmakers to do “whatever you can” to support the work of the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma and assured that a so-called commission of inquiry would not be a tribunal.

The United States has publicly supported a UN-led probe – a longstanding demand of activists. But it has done little to make it a reality, worrying its efforts would be futile so long as Asian countries – particularly China – are opposed

Tags: burma, myanmar, obama, UN, US, war crimes http://www.dvb.no/news/us-throws-weight-behind-un-probe/16300
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'India's neighbours in "most failed states" list'
Press Trust Of India
New York, June 21, 2011

Other countries in the top 10 are Chad, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan Central African Republic and Iraq.

On Pakistan, the report said, "Pakistan has long been dubbed the world's most dangerous country in Washington policy circles" and "yet Pakistan isn't just dangerous for the West - it's often a danger to its own people."

On Bangladesh, the report said, two of five Bangladeshis live under the poverty line. Any improvements will also be fighting the environmental clock. If sea levels rise just by 1 metre, scientists warn, 17% of the country could be submerged.

"Nepal is the poorest country in South Asia, according to the United Nations, and that's unlikely to change until the peace process is implemented and security restored. There are signs that the Maoists may be losing patience - and thinking about going back to the trenches to fight for more," the report said.

On Sri Lanka, it said, "The government's final push against the rebels relied on the shelling of civilians and other atrocities, according to a 2010 report by the International Crisis Group.

"The most recent statistics from last year indicate that some 327,000 are still displaced from the conflict."

"Despite the pronounced fractures still lingering, the Sinhalese-dominated government in Colombo seems eager to forget the past," it added. http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/americas/India-s-neighbours-in-most-failed-states-list/Article1-711970.aspx
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Actor helps Myanmar poor on final journey
June 26, 2011, 4:16 pmAFP

Founder of the Free Funeral Services Society (FFSS) Kyaw Thu, seen here consoling a relative of a boy during a funeral ceremony in Yangon. In the decade since Kyaw Thu founded the Free Funeral Services Society, the organisation has helped more than 100,000 families pay their last respects to late relatives, without charging a single kyat.

YANGON (AFP) - He's the star of hundreds of films in military-dominated Myanmar, but these days Kyaw Thu is more likely to be found carrying coffins or driving a hearse at funerals for the poor.

In the decade since he founded the Free Funeral Services Society, the organisation has helped more than 100,000 families pay their last respects to late relatives, without charging a single kyat.

"I want someone's final journey to be good enough," said the 51-year-old, who with his long silver hair and moustache still retains some of the movie star looks that helped to propel him onto the silver screen.

With 80 paid employees and 115 volunteers, his group provides free services at about 50 funerals a day using 18 hearses and two boats to transport the deceased and relatives, relying on local and overseas donations.

It is one of a growing number of local civil society groups that have sprung up during almost half a century of military rule to fill the void left by an underfunded public sector and a relatively low inflow of foreign aid.

Despite abundant natural resources, Myanmar remains one of the world's least developed countries, with nearly a third of the population living below the poverty line, according to World Bank figures.

Rampant inflation has made it even harder for people to scrape by.

When 12-year-old Pyae Phyo Tun drowned in a lake his parents could not afford the funeral costs, so they turned to Kyaw Thu for help.

"You are our saviour. Without your help, my son's last journey could not be smooth," his 33-year-old mother Aye Maw told the one-time movie star at her son's funeral in Myanmar's main city of Yangon.

Funeral ceremonies are steeped in tradition in the country, also known as Burma, where the majority Buddhists believe that the journey to the next life should be smooth and without delay.

It is typical for relatives to build a temporary pavilion that stands for a week in front of the family home for people to gather in.

Usually on the third day mourners go to the cemetery where monks chant sutras before the body is cremated. Those who can afford to do so buy land at the cemetery for a grave.

A few days later a memorial service is held at which mourners and monks are invited to pray for the deceased to help guide them to the next life.

But for many families it is a struggle to organise such an elaborate final send-off, and these are busy days for Kyaw Thu.

"I feel both happy and sorry. My son didn't cause us trouble even though he's dead because the Free Funeral Service Society helped us to cremate him without any cost. We have many difficulties for his funeral," said Aye Maw, her voice trembling and tears running down her cheeks.

Her husband Zaw Tun, a 34-year-old construction worker, said it would be impossible for them to pay for their son's funeral themselves.

The cremation alone can cost more than 35,000 kyats (about $43), about 10 times time his daily wage -- when he can find work.

"I have borrowed 45,000 kyats at a 15 percent interest rate as I needed the money when I sent my son to hospital and to hire a boat for the funeral," Zaw Tun said sorrowfully after he returned from the cemetery.

"Our neighbours cannot help us because they are also casual labourers."

Although Kyaw Thu's group is not the only organisation offering such services for poor people, its activities have brought it under the scrutiny of the authorities in Myanmar, where power was handed to a nominally civilian government in March following the first election in 20 years.

The Union Solidarity and Development Party, the military's political proxies who swept a November election marred by complaints of cheating and intimidation, has also been competing by offering its own funeral services.

The one-time film star has briefly been detained twice by the authorities because of his activities in student and monk-led uprisings in 1988 and 2007.

"I'm not interested in politics. But the people rely on us and believe in us because of our activities. They donate to us. It might worry the authorities," Kyaw Thu said, adding that he and his group have been under the watch.

He gave up acting as his work was banned after his release from his most recent spell in detention.

Kyaw Thu said he will continue providing free funeral services while fighting old-fashioned beliefs related to death, which have led some of his former friends to shun him.
"I'm lonely compared with an actor's life. But if I think of myself as social worker Kyaw Thu, I have many more friends now. Not only living people, but also ghosts," he said.
http://nz.entertainment.yahoo.com/news/article/-/9710890/actor-helps-myanmar-poor-on-final-journey/
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Myanmar parliamentarian delegation in Russia on study tour

Jun 26, 2011, 10:29 GMT

Yangon - Myanmar's newly elected House Speaker has led a delegation to Russia to study its parliamentary system as part of a 'capacity building' exercise for the pro-military government.

People's Parliament speaker Shwe Mann led a delegation in a visit to the Russian parliament on Saturday at the invitation of B.V Gryzlov, chairman of the Duma federal assembly of Russian Federation, the New Light of Myanmar reported.

'The Hluttaw (Parliament) representatives are trying to build their capacity,' Shwe Mann told parliament representatives in Yangon on Friday, the day before his departure to Russia.

'In this regard, measures are being taken to conduct self-study, hold discussions and workshops and exchange visits between Hluttaw representatives and MPs of other nations,' said the former general.

Shwe Mann is one of the leading figures in Myanmar's new government, which came of office on March 30 following the general election on November 7.

The election was won by the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which is packed with former generals and high-ranking miliary men who doffed their uniforms to take up civilian posts.

The election, which excluded opposition leader Aung Sann Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party, was criticized as a 'sham' but most western democracies.

'The Hluttaws must accept criticism of the people and assessment of the international community,' Shwe Mann said, before departing for a study course in parliamentary democracy in Russia.

Myanmar has three houses of parliament, a lower house, upper house and a third house representing the separate regions.

All three houses include 25 per cent appointees by the military, assuring them veto power over any legislation.

Myanmar was ruled by military dictatorships between 1962 to 2010, and is now under a military-managed elected government.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1647653.php/Myanmar-parliamentarian-delegation-in-Russia-on-study-tour
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Strong Chinese presence

By N.C. Bipindra, Yangon, June 26 : What strikes the most about present-day Myanmar is the all-pervading Chinese influence.

China has presence in most of Myanmar's infrastructure projects including the construction of Nay Pyi Taw's palace-sized government buildings, parliament house and the international airport. More constructions in the new capital, that has come up within five years, is progressing at a rapid pace, mostly by Chinese firms.

Chinese goods -- clothing, electronic gadgets, electrical appliances, toys and food items -- are flooding the Myanmarese consumer market, including the shopping malls in both Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw.

--IANS http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-15186.html