News and Articles on Burma Sunday, 27 November 2011 ----------------------------------------- Genba lining up rare Myanmar visit More boat people to flee Burma Sex workers trafficked in front of police Myanmar wants 'regular relationship' with US Myanmar human rights commission welcomes Clinton visit Yangon: From stately city to crumbling symbol of isolation US engagement with Myanmar Burma: Suu Kyi starts registering her party while by-election is still undecided Bangladesh and Myanmar adopt action plan to curb drug pedalling ----------------------------------------- Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011 Genba lining up rare Myanmar visit Kyodo Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba is considering visiting Myanmar late next month to speak with Myanmar President Thein Sein, government sources said Saturday. If the trip goes ahead, Genba is expected to urge Thein Sein to make greater efforts toward democratization, while conveying Japan's readiness to assist Myanmar's economic development Genba also intends to meet with Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi during his trip, the sources said. If Genba visits Myanmar it would be the first time a Japanese foreign minister has traveled to the country since Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi's trip to Yangon in August 2002. Japan welcomed Myanmar's inauguration of a civilian government in March and the recent release of political prisoners. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to make a rare trip to Myanmar on Wednesday. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Thein Sein met earlier this month in Indonesia, on the sidelines of summits involving the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its dialogue partners. Noda told Thein Sein that he welcomes Myanmar's positive steps toward national reconciliation and democratization, and that Japan will continue to support Myanmar's transition to democracy and its economic development. It was the first meeting of its kind in two years. Tokyo also has expressed readiness to launch consultations on new official development assistance programs for Myanmar. Japan has frozen all official aid to Myanmar, other than humanitarian aid, since 2003, when Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest. She was freed last November. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111127a2.html ----------------------------------------- More boat people to flee Burma Lindsay Murdoch, Bangkok November 28, 2011 - 12:00AM REFUGEE advocates expect a new wave of "stateless" Rohingya asylum seekers to attempt perilous sea voyages in rickety boats from ports in Bangladesh, raising concerns about how they will be treated if they land in Thailand. A boatload of 92 Rohingya fleeing persecution in Burma's border regions has been handed over to the Thai army near a fishing port north of the resort island of Phuket. Three years ago the Thai army was behind a then secret policy of casting Rohingya adrift, causing hundreds of deaths. Advertisement: Story continues below One group of almost 100 was pushed back out to sea in an engineless boat with little food or water. The policy was exposed after photographs of asylum seekers in distressed conditions on boats and beaches were published worldwide. Following international condemnation of the policy, immigration officials began to handle groups of Rohingya who landed in Thailand earlier this year. But the handing over of the latest asylum seekers to the army indicates a reversal of the policy. The whereabouts of the boys and men who waded ashore last Thursday after apparently scuttling their boat is unknown. A photograph published on the Phuke-tWan website showed them crammed into the back of an army truck. The Rohingya, a Muslim minority group, usually attempt the voyages during the "sailing season" between November and April when conditions on the monsoon-prone Andaman Sea are tranquil. They are trying to reach Malaysia, where an estimated 50,000 Rohingya live. Some are also expected to chance their luck with people smugglers to try to reach Australia. Human Rights Watch says that for more than 30 years the Rohingya have faced extra-judicial killings, forced labour, religious persecution and restrictions of movement by Burmese authorities. As many as 300,000 have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they live in primitive and squalid conditions in makeshift refugee camps. Bangladesh does not give them official resident status or work papers. An estimated 800,000 Rohingya remain in Burma, primarily in western Arakan state and Rangoon where their citizenship is not formally recognised. The Rohingya are descended from a mix of Arakanese Buddhists, Chittagonian Bengalis and Arabic sea traders. Their leaders have not been included in preliminary peace talks with other ethnic groups in Burma's border areas, some of which have small armies that have been fighting the Burmese for decades. Hillary Clinton is due to travel to Burma later this week in the first visit to the isolated and impoverished country by a US secretary of state for 50 years. US envoys have told Burma's military-dominated government that economic sanctions would not be lifted until the Burmese army ended its repression of ethnic groups despite the government appearing to have embarked on a path of economic and political reform. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/more-boat-people-to-flee-burma-20111127-1o1bu.html#ixzz1ev6pfoJG ---------------------------------------------- The Bangkok Post Sex workers trafficked in front of police BURMESE WOMEN AND GIRLS LURED INTO PROSTITUTION IN CHANTHABURI MASSAGE PARLOURS Published: 27/11/2011 at 12:00 AM Newspaper section: News Many of the Burmese women rescued from a prostitution ring in Chanthaburi earlier this month had been lured under the noses of local police. On Nov 9, Chanthaburi police and officials from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) raided Marina massage parlour on Tha Chalaeb Road in downtown Chanthaburi. Police rescued 67 ethnic Shan women from Burma, 37 of whom were under the age of 18. They have now been entrusted to the care of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry. Pol Lt Col Komvich Pathanarat, director of the DSI's human trafficking prevention and suppression centre, said he was tipped off last month by a women's rights organisation that girls and women from Burma had been tricked into working as prostitutes at the massage parlour. The organisation said that even though it had alerted local police to the problem, little progress was made so it asked for help from the DSI. Pol Lt Pol Komvich said after the information had been verified, he and Chanthaburi police had worked out a plan to rescue the workers. He said on Nov 9 he posed as a visitor to the massage parlour and found the Burmese women as described. Police then raided the massage parlour and removed the workers, who were believed to have been trafficked. The officer said he was looking for a 16-year-old girl called Aey after her aunt asked police and the DSI through anti-human trafficking networks in Burma to find her. He said the girl, along with two friends from Burma, were lured into the sex trade by a human trafficker six months ago. The trafficker made arrangements for them to cross the border at Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district, where they were picked up by a Thai man. Pol Lt Col Komvich said initial checks have found that four influential people are behind the human trafficking networks in the North. Women who have been lured go through a "trial" at massage parlours in Chanthaburi. If they pass this trial, they will then be sent to work in Bangkok. He said the DSI is tracking down those behind the network. After being rescued, Aey told police that she and her friends were taken to the massage parlour in Chanthaburi and stayed with other women who had also been lured into the job. They were prohibited from leaving the parlour's compound and those who could not work without good reason would have 3,000 baht deducted from their wages every day, she said. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/268062/sex-workers-trafficked-in-front-of-police ------------------------------------------- Myanmar wants 'regular relationship' with US Sunday, 27 November 2011 09:18 Naypyidaw: Myanmar wants a "regular relationship" with the United States, a senior official in the military-dominated country said on Friday, days before a historic visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The signal of a desire for warmer diplomatic ties came as democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party took its first step towards a return to mainstream politics in the latest indication of reform in the isolated nation. Shwe Mann, the speaker of the lower house of Myanmar's parliament, welcomed the first trip by a US secretary of state to the country in 50 years and said Suu Kyi would be embraced by the army-dominated legislature. Myanmar, ruled for decades by a repressive junta and shunned on the world stage, has seen promising changes since an election last year brought to power a nominally civilian government. US President Barack Obama said Clinton's visit, which will begin on Wednesday, is aimed at boosting what he called "flickers" of progress in the the country. Former general Shwe Mann, regarded as one of the most powerful men in the current regime, said better ties with Washington would not mean worse relations with China, Myanmar's largest foreign investor and key ally. "We have no regular relations between the United States and Myanmar. In reality, we want to have a regular relationship," he told reporters in the capital Naypyidaw, in his first-ever news conference. "The road is open for better relations between the two countries." Myanmar's new administration has surprised many observers with a series of reformist moves, including holding talks with Suu Kyi, passing a law giving workers the right to strike and releasing around 200 political prisoners. "I think there will be more changes and developments in politics in the future," Shwe Mann said. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) applied to officially re-register as a political party on Friday, paving the way for the Nobel laureate to stand for office for the first time. The NLD, which was officially disbanded after boycotting much-criticised parliamentary polls in November 2010, plans to contest upcoming by-elections, where 48 seats will be up for grabs. Party officials have said Suu Kyi is likely to stand, though she has yet to confirm this and no date has been set for a vote. Shwe Mann, also one of the leading figures in the junta that kept Suu Kyi under lock and key for most of the last two decades, said if the 66-year-old were elected to the lower house, he would "welcome her cheerfully". Jim Della-Giacoma, South East Asia Project Director at the International Crisis Group, said the NLD's return to the fray was a "significant landmark". "The NLD obviously has a particular and special place, historically in terms of the opposition and in particular in relation to the international community," he told AFP. Obama announced Clinton's November 30 to December 2 visit only after a call to Suu Kyi. Washington maintains economic sanctions against Myanmar and has long pressed for a range of reforms, including the release of political detainees. The US has pursued a policy of tentative engagement with Myanmar in recent years and is thought to be keen to boost its influence in Southeast Asia to counter China's rise. Shwe Mann insisted stronger ties with America would not affect its relationship with its giant northern neighbour. "There is no reason to have worse relations between Myanmar and China when Myanmar and US relations get better," he said. Myanmar's rulers froze work on an unpopular Chinese-backed dam project in September, earning a public rebuke from Beijing, but they have since been keen to stress their commitment to its second-largest trading partner. Beijing has helped shield Myanmar from the impact of Western sanctions with trade ties, arms sales, and through its position as a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council. AFP http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/s.-asia/philippines/173936-myanmar-wants-regular-relationship-with-us-.html ---------------------------------------- Myanmar human rights commission welcomes Clinton visit Nov 27, 2011, 3:47 GMT Yangon - Myanmar's National Human Rights Commission on Sunday welcomed an upcoming visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as a push to build democracy in the once pariah-state. 'The commission hopes that the first visit of the US secretary of state in 50 years will pave the way for promoting bilateral relations and provide positive impulses towards the building of a democratic society in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar,' the commission said in the pro-government newspaper The New Light of Myanmar. The commission was established in September, after a visit by UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana who urged the government to do more to protect human rights. The 15-member panel includes government officials and academics. Its establishment was hailed as one of the positive steps taken by President Thein Sein, who was elected in November 2010. 'The country is at a critical juncture in its efforts to build a democratic society by enhancing national unity, economic prosperity, and the promotion of human rights for its people. The support and encouragement by the international community would certainly contribute to this process and must be welcomed,' it said. Myanmar was under military dictatorships during 1962-2010. It has one of the world's worst human rights records, especially for its treatment of ethnic minorities who have been waging decades-old insurgencies against central government rule. The ethnic minority issue is one of several on the agenda for Clinton, who will arrive in the capital Naypyitaw on Wednesday. She is scheduled to hold talks with Thein Sein and other officials on Thursday, before flying to Yangon for a dinner with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. On Friday, she will hold official talks with Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel laureate who has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest. Suu Kyi was released from detention on November 13, 2010, days after the election won by the pro-military Union Solidarity and Developemnt Party. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1677643.php/Myanmar-human-rights-commission-welcomes-Clinton-visit ------------------------------------------- The Korea Times: 27-Nov-2011 US engagement with Myanmar By Nehginpao Kipgen On Nov. 18, U.S. President Barack Obama said he will send Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Myanmar (Burma) next month. His announcement is a manifestation of improved diplomatic engagement between the two nations. When Clinton begins a two-day visit from Dec. 1, it will be the first visit by top U.S. diplomat in half a century. As it moves forward with a new level of diplomacy, some important questions need to be pondered. What has triggered this new level of U.S. engagement toward a country it once branded as an "outpost of tyranny?" Does it have the potential of ending over six decades of ethno-political conflicts in this Southeast Asian nation? While some observers, mostly activists, argue that it is too early to embark on such a bold initiative, others believe that it is important to seize a political opening in the reclusive country. The two most important priorities of the Myanmarese government in international relations, in recent years, have centered around legitimacy and recognition. In pursuing these objectives, the immediate goal of Nay Pyi Taw was to convince the collective leadership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) of its sincerity, and to urge the U.S. government to ease sanctions, if not lift them. Nay Pyi Taw's diplomatic efforts have positively paid off, and therefore, 2011 can be considered the most successful year of diplomacy in recent Myanmarese history. Washington's new level of engagement is augmented by the 19th ASEAN Summit's unanimous agreement to award Myanmar the 2014 chairmanship of the regional bloc. In 2006, Myanmar had to forego its rotating ASEAN chair because of intense pressure from rights groups and the international community, particularly the U.S. government. Some ASEAN members were also concerned that giving chairmanship to Myanmar would tarnish the regional body's international image. There is a good reason to be cautiously optimistic on the recent developments in Myanmar and as Obama stated, there have been "flickers of progress" in the past few weeks. The greater question now is whether the Myanmarese government has a genuine intention for true democracy and national reconciliation. A number of tangible political developments have driven a shift in U.S. foreign policy. Among others, the advice and recommendations of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) have played an important role in this development. Besides visits by the U.S. special envoy Derek Mitchell, both Obama and Clinton personally spoke to Suu Kyi and consulted her on how America should move forward with its engagement policy. Suu Kyi and the NLD leadership support Washington's engagement approach. Since her meeting with President Thein Sein on Aug. 19, Suu Kyi has toned down her rhetoric against the Union Solidarity and Development Party-led (USDP) government, paving the way for political reconciliation. The NLD is now prepared to re-register its defunct political party and Suu Kyi and her party members are expected to contest in the upcoming by-election. Anyone who pursues an in-depth study of Myanmar's history should understand the root cause of its decades-old problems. U.S. strategists and policymakers must understand that all major ethnic minorities in Myanmar fight against the central government in one way or another. It must be noted that ethnic Karens began fighting against the government in 1949. What has compelled ethnic minorities to take up arms against the central government is a fundamental question that needs to be addressed for Myanmar to achieve peace and stability. During the diplomacy stages before the country's independence, General Aung San was fully aware that a unified Myanmar could not be established if equality was not guaranteed for all ethnic nationalities, who were ruled under different administrative units by the British colonial administration. In his attempt to clear the lingering doubts and suspicions of the British government and the frontier leaders, Aung San made a historic remark by stating that: "If Myanmar receives one kyat, you will also get one kyat." This assurance was the basis on which the Union of Myanmar was formed at the Panglong conference in February 1947. With the assassination of Aung San and his colleagues in July 1947, the dream of equality or autonomy disappeared in Myanmar's politics. Myanmar's first post-independence civilian government of Prime Minister U Nu failed to address the minorities' concern, and successive military governments have attempted to forcefully suppress it. While the reconciliation between NLD and USDP is an important step, emphasis must now be given to the fundamental political problem. Democracy for one majority group alone cannot solve Myanmar's political imbroglio. Several decades of military operations have been unable to solve Myanmar's minority problems, and nor should they be a means to an end. One most viable way to integrate ethnic minorities is to end military offensives against them, and begin a political dialogue based on mutual respect and a constitutional guarantee of equality for all citizens. The U.S. should continue to set the benchmark for normalizing relations with the Myanmarese government. Nay Pyi Taw's commitment to democratization needs to be irreversible and should be demonstrated by releasing all remaining political prisoners; the government must be able to tolerate political dissent and respect the rights of every citizen to express opinions without fear. When she travels to Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon for a fact finding and policy assessment, Clinton should underscore the need for addressing the problems of ethnic minorities. Because of her wide acceptance by minorities, Suu Kyi can play an important role in restoring mutual trust between the government and ethnic minorities. Only when the country's minority problems are resolved, can there be an end to over six decades of political conflict in Myanmar. The advantage the U.S. government has on Myanmar is crucial for national reconciliation. Nehginpao Kipgen is a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Myanmar and general secretary of the U.S.-based Kuki International Forum (www.kukiforum.com). Contact him at nehginpao@gmail.com. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2011/11/137_99621.html --------------------------------------- Yangon: From stately city to crumbling symbol of isolation November 27, 2011 YANGON, Nov 27 There are no skyscrapers in Yangon. No gleaming shopping malls. Certainly no subway system. Its rutted sidewalks are laced with treacherous holes and broken slabs of concrete. Myanmars former capital and biggest city is a crumbling monument to almost half a century of isolation and mismanagement at the hands of generals who took power in a 1962 coup and ruled with an iron first until a nominally civilian parliament opened in March this year. The city that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit this week wasnt always that way. In the early 20th century, the country then known as Burma was one of Asias richest nations and a shining part of the British empire. Imposing Victorian buildings rose on the waterfront of the capital. Department stores sold goods imported from Europe. Crowds packed into majestic cinemas with grand names such as the Palladium and Excelsior. After seizing Yangon in 1852 and anglicising its name to Rangoon, Britain developed the area into its administration base, building law courts, parliament buildings, shady parks and botanical gardens. Rangoon University, founded in 1878, became one of Asias premier universities. The city was laid out by many of the same British urban planners who helped to design another strategic British colony, Singapore. Its public services and infrastructure rivaled Londons. Rangoon was ravaged during the Japanese occupation in World War Two, but still retained much of its imperial grandeur when it was granted independence by Britain in 1948. But independent Burma was plagued by insurgencies and the military took over in a 1962 coup. A disastrous Burmese Way to Socialism adopted by the then-leader, General Ne Win, led to sweeping nationalisation and global isolation. Today, chronic power outages and deteriorating buildings are constant reminders of decades of troubles. Yellow and orange diesel generators, some as big as buses, are ubiquitous, symbols of a failing power grid behind the city of about 5 million people that accounts for a quarter of Myanmars economic activity. Sometimes the power is cut and sometimes its regular. Were used to it, said 71-year-old Abdullah Mingala, an ethnic Indian Burmese who was born and raised in Yangon and who makes a living renting out a pickup truck and a sedan as a taxi. The best thing about the city is its weather and people. The weather is not too hot and everyone is simple and friendly and open. PARIAH Myanmar has not had a record of being simple or friendly. The United States and Europe imposed sanctions in the years after the junta refused to hand power to the winners of a 1990 election and threw hundreds of democracy activists in jail. Thousands of activists were killed. Continued human rights abuses over the years sealed the countrys pariah status. Aid from organisations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund ended. Investment from the West dried up. The government moved the capital to the interior, a new city called Naypyitaw, in 2006. Signs of Myanmars isolation include a dearth of major international brands, save a few Asian consumer goods and computer manufacturers such as Hitachi and Samsung. There are no Coca-Cola or Heineken signs in Yangon. Instead, billboards proudly advertise made-in-Myanmar goods such as Sunday Coffee Mix and Tea Mix, Wellman Vitabiotics Supplements, Fresh Up toothpaste and Denim mens care products. Beer stations, Yangons humble answer to the pub, sell cold Myanmar beer on tap for 600 kyat (RM2.43) a glass. On the streets, booksellers throw plastic tarpaulin over sidewalks stained with rust-red betel nut spittle and offer used titles such as Frederick T. Woods 1961 book Current English Usage. One even had the March 30, 1992, issue of Newsweek for sale, a youthful Bill Clinton on the cover with the headline Can He Beat Bush? At Cherry Mann, a restaurant in Yangons Chinatown thats been serving the community for 42 years, customers sit at fold-out tables in the street on a cool night and tuck into curried meat and fried pratha flat bread. Its hard to say if business conditions now are good or bad or improving. Theyre okay. They could be better, said Htat Kyo, a restaurant employee, as he prepares cheques. U Thu Myint, a 77-year-old former professor of Burmese history, said he was forced to retire from his job at a state university at the age of 64, a year before he would have been eligible to collect his pension. Life is a struggle, he says. He spends his days shuffling around Myanmars holiest of shrines, the dazzling, gold-domed Shwedagon Pagoda, where he offers visitors facts about the stupa, its history as the anchor of Yangon and the principles of Buddhism. He asks for cash donations. The cost of living is very high now. One kg of rice went from 1,000 kyat a few months ago to 1,500 kyat now, he said. I may move back to my place of birth and become a monk next year. WRECKING BALL But Myanmars economic stunting has one silver lining: it may have saved once-stunning landmark colonial-era buildings in Yangon from the wrecking ball. A riverside grid of streets that forms the downtown area, a colonial vestige in and of itself, is full of buildings constructed when the country was one of Britains most-prized colonial crown jewels from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. The US$300 (RM959.22)-a-night Strand Hotel, opened in 1901 and refurbished in 1995, is an example of what many buildings could be, with marble floors, lazy ceiling fans and dark wood paneling. Some locals fear the new governments recent eagerness to end its isolation could threaten stately but time-worn structures that are reminders of Yangons former glory. A sense of urgency to protect the architectural heritage appears to be growing. There has been outcry in recent weeks, for instance, in Myanmars flourishing private newspapers over comments by a well-heeled businessman and member of parliament that the derelict, red-brick former colonial government complex known as the Secretariat might be turned into a hotel. The complex that occupies an entire city block is abandoned, overgrown with weeds and surrounded by a fence to keep the public out. Some consider it beyond repair, yet it holds a place in history as the site where revered General Aung San, the father of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was assassinated in 1947. In recent weeks a feeling of cautious optimism has begun to infect the slow-moving city as the nominally civilian government that took office eight months ago shows signs of embracing reforms and engaging with the world, as illustrated by Clintons three-day visit from Wednesday, the most prominent by an American since before the 1962 coup. We are all talking about it, said Abdullah Mingala. We are all hopeful. Reuters --------------------------------------------------- Burma: Suu Kyi starts registering her party while by-election is still undecided Sat, 2011-11-26 03:28 --- editor Article; By - Zin Linn Burmese people are highly concerned about the issue of releasing political prisoners in Burma. President Thein Sein's remark in Bali giving serious cause for concern. Speaking to Burmese journalists in Bali, Thein Sein said that he did not agree with the assessment that Burma has been holding several political prisoners, repeating previous military junta's usual complaint, that Burma only lockups prisoners who violated relevant laws. In his remarks reported by Radio Free Asia Burmese service and Democratic Voice of Burma, Thein Sein said, "We punished the prisoners since they violated the law. In our prisons, there are lots of people due to breaking the law. So if we give favor some of them by using the term 'prisoner of conscience', then it will be unfair for the other inmates." The authorities transferred some important political prisoners in mid-November. Well-known student leader Min Ko Naing was transferred from a far-off prison in Shan State to notorious Insein Prison in Rangoon. But next day, he was transferred to Thayet Prison which is 350 km - north of his place of origin Rangoon. Moreover, Buddhist monk U Gambira was transferred from Kale Prison in northern Burma to Myaungmya Prison in the Irrawaddy Delta and a prominent female prisoner of conscience Nilar Thein was transferred from Thayet Prison to Thayarwaddy Prison in Pegu Division. Leader of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) Khun Htun Oo has been transferred from Putao prison in Kachin State to Taung-ngu's prison in middle Burma. The transfers carried out after the government-appointed Human Rights Commission appealed President Thein Sein to grant official pardon to Burma's lingering prisoners of conscience. The appeal was made public in an open letter published in a state-run newspapers on 12 November. However, the letter also urged the president that if he thought some prisoners were not appropriate to be released for reasons of keeping peace and stability, he should allow them transferring to prisons close to their families. Consequently, there are now assumptions that prisoners like Min Ko Naing and Khun Tun Ooo who have now been transferred from remote prisons to prisons closer to their hometown will not be released anytime soon. Most people think that after ASEAN agreed its chair to Burma in 2014, President Thein Sein seems breaking his promise to release all political prisoners right away. In addition, the momentum of civil war in Kachin State has been increasing hysterically. People throughout the country are against this war since numerous casualties from both sides were citizens of Burma. As a result, many people do not have trust in Thein Sein government as a sincere administration that guaranteed good governance. In such a moment, Burma's opposition party the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, submitted its application to Union Election Commission Friday to reregister to contest in forthcoming by-election. Twenty-one senior members as party founders, including Suu Kyi, Tin Oo and Win Tin made the submission in the capital, Naypyitaw, a spokesman for the NLD said. Although the international community has hailed the NLD's decision as an essential gesture of rapprochement between the government and the opposition party, some anti-military dissidents are reluctant to support the NLD's risking political stance. NLD's application to return to the political tussle came days before the arrival of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, scheduled to visit Burma next week. Clinton travels to Burma from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, during which she will be meeting top officials of the Burmese government and opposition leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League for Democracy. Meanwhile, according to Democratic Voice of Burma, Lower House Speaker Thura Shwe Mann welcomed the NLD's return to parliament politics, after it was dissolved earlier this year for boycotting the 2010 elections. As said by a journalist, Shwe Mann said he welcomes her on behalf of the People's Parliament if she was planning to compete for it. Nevertheless, the lower house speaker said today in a press briefing in Naypyidaw that three months' notice needed to be given before the polls are held. Since no notice has yet been made, would-be candidates can guess there will be no by-elections for at least three months. The uncertainty of political prisoners' release and the inattention of ethnic war in Kachin State provide evidence that current government is still dragging its feet for genuine change. For that reason, some people are worrying for the future of the NLD led by charismatic leader Aung San Suu Kyi who has decided to enter parliament so as to work together with the military-dominated Thein Sein government. However, one good thing is that majority of people believe in Suu Kyi's honesty and sacrifice and they also have a clear choice of supporting the NLD as people's party. So, people consider the upcoming by-elections as the most important point for entering into a new era. - Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/11/25/burma-suu-kyi-starts-registering-her-party-while-election-still-undecided -------------------------------------------------- Latest Update: Sunday27/11/2011November, 2011, 12:32 AM Doha Time Bangladesh and Myanmar adopt action plan to curb drug pedalling By Mizan Rahman Dhaka Bangladesh and Myanmar have adopted a seven-point action plan to fight cross-border drug pedalling, putting emphasis on preventing smuggling of aphrodisiac drug Yaba and poppy cultivation, official sources said yesterday. A two-day meeting between officials of narcotics and law enforcement agencies of the two neighbouring countries in Myanmar's Yangon city yielded the seven-point action plan that suggested intensified cross-border surveillance on the south-eastern frontier. "We have adopted a seven-point action plan at the two-day meeting held in middle of this month with Myanmar to stop smuggling of sex-stimulating Yaba and poppy cultivation," said Khandker Mohammad Ali, director general of Department of Narcotic Control. Officials familiar with the development said the action plan includes regular exchange of information on drug related crimes and drug dealers, increased security surveillance on the Naaf river that separates the two countries and the common coastlines. They said the agencies concerned agreed in the meeting to intensify co-operation in spearheading the anti-drug campaign including prosecuting the suspects. "The two sides decided to demolish the poppy plantation on both the sides of the frontier and the Yaba producing factories in Myanmar," the narcotics department chief said. Ali led the Bangladesh delegation comprising police, Rapid Action Battalion, Border Guard Bangladesh, Coastguard, Customs, ministries of home and foreign affairs while Myanmar police chief Major General Kawa Kawa Thun led the Myanmar delegation. The meeting mainly discussed checking smuggling of drugs, especially Yaba and heroin in line with the agreement inked between the two countries in 1994. In the 1990s, Yaba was being smuggled into Bangladesh from Chiang Mai province in Thailand via Myanmar. Yaba is generally produced in a round pill form. It is brightly coloured in red, orange or lime green and carry logos such as "R" or "WY". It is small and round, roughly 6mm in diameter and packed inside a regular drinking straw for easy trafficking or in a reusable 'mint' container. http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=472327&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24
Monday, November 28, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Thursday, 24 November 2011-UZL
News & Articles on Burma Thursday, 24 November 2011 ------------------------------------------------ Over 30 Burmese soldiers killed in clashes with KIA Jailing of DVB reporters ‘arbitrary’: UN Is China threatened by a more open Burma? Clinton to visit Burma, meet Suu Kyi Burma: Can you trust the army? Myanmar parliament passes law allowing protests Japan in talks to resume Myanmar aid Myanmar parliament passes law allowing protests Burma Finds Company as Layer of Landmines Child Beggars on the Mean Streets of Mae Sot Than Shwe Retires … From Front Pages Clinton Visit Set for Nov 30 Deported Burmese Await ‘January Solution’ to Return to Thailand ------------------------------------------------ Over 30 Burmese soldiers killed in clashes with KIA Category: News , Published Date 24 Nov. 2011, Written by KNG Despite its numerical superiority, over 30 Burmese Army soldiers were killed in this morning’s clashes with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in three places on the Muse-Nam Hkam-Manmaw (Bhamo) route in the country’s northern Kachin State, said locals. At least 10 government soldiers were killed in a landmine explosion targeted at five military trucks by the KIA’s Battalion 1 soldiers. The Burmese Army convoy had started moving to Manwin from Nam Hkam, said residents of Nam Hkam. At about 1 a.m. the KIA’s Battalion 1 troops ambushed a Burmese military column near the Burmese Army’s Kai Htik post enroute after the column left the post, killing over 20 government soldiers, said KIA officers of Battalion 1. Skirmishes continue in areas between Shweli River Bridge and Nam Hkam, and downtown Nam Hkam and Manwin, said people in the two towns. Casualties figure on the Burmese Army side in the fighting downtown but the exact figure could not be ascertained. In the three places mentioned, clashes took place between hundreds of government troops from the Meiktila-based Light Infantry Division (LID) No. 99 and Bago-based LID No. 77 and dozens of KIA soldiers from Battalion 1 and 27. President Thein Sein’s government has sent in two army divisions from lower Burma to southern Kachin State to clear the Muse-Nam Hkam-Manmaw (Bhamo) route, which connects Kachin State and Shan State since early November. Till now, most sections of the route remains under control of the KIA, said local people. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/2164-over-30-burmese-soldiers-killed-in-clashes-with-kia.html Burmese Army despatches reinforcements to Kachin State The Burmese Army is sending in troop reinforcements from the Meiktila-based Light Infantry Division No. 99 to Kachin State, where it launched a massive military offensive against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) as of June 9, said eyewitnesses. On Wednesday, about 50 military trucks carrying troops, rations, weapons and ammunition arrived in Manwin in Manmaw (Bhamo) district in southeastern Kachin State from Mandalay-Muse-Nam Hkam Road, locals in Manwin told the Kachin News Group. Till late this night, the reinforcements were stationed in Manwin. The division commander is based in Nam Hkam next to Manwin in Northern Shan State, said locals. Government troops ferried in two ships from unidentified battalions also arrived in Manmaw from Mandalay today, according to eyewitnesses. nov23-manwinSoon thereafter, over 300 troops disembarked from the ships and moved to the N’Mawk (Momauk) Town in northeastern Manmaw in seven large trucks and three small ones at about 3 p.m. local time, said locals. A part of the Manmaw-Kai Htik-Nam Hkam Road which connects Kachin State and Shan State is controlled by the KIA since the government launched the offensive on the KIA. Four days before the LID No. 99 was sent to Kachin State, Aung Min, Minister of Railways of the Burmese government, who is negotiating peace, met Lt-Gen N’ban La Awng, the Vice-President of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the KIA in Chiang Mai, Thailand on November 19 and offered the olive branch in terms of a new ceasefire to the KIO. The majority Burman-led government has already deployed troops from over 120 battalions in its military offensive against the KIA in Kachin State, La Nan, General Secretary of KIO told KNG recently. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/2163-burmese-army-despatches-reinforcements-to-kachin-state.html ----------------------------------------------- Jailing of DVB reporters ‘arbitrary’: UN By FRANCIS WADE Published: 24 November 2011 The UN says the sentencing of DVB reporters Sithu Zeya [right] and his father, U Zeya, is arbitrary (DVB) The Burmese government has been warned by a UN body comprised of legal experts in the human rights field that its sentencing of two journalists working for the Democratic Voice of Burma is arbitrary, and now faces high-level calls for their release. Twenty-one year old Sithu Zeya and his father, U Zeya, were handed lengthy sentences last year after Burmese intelligence discovered they had been working for DVB. Sithu Zeya was arrested after being caught filming the aftermath of the Rangoon grenade attacks in April 2010; under torture, he revealed that his father was also a DVB video journalist. A five-page opinion adopted by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that their sentencing was in violation of articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which cover freedom of expression and assembly. Wong Kai Shing, the director Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission, which has made a number of calls for their release, said in a statement yesterday that the Burmese government “is under obligation to take this call from a UN human rights expert body very seriously”, particularly in light of its proclamations that Burma is transitioning to a democracy. In August Sithu Zeya had his sentence extended by a decade after he was found guilty of breaching the Electronics Act, which has been used by the government on numerous occasions to target journalists feeding footage to foreign and exiled media organisations. He is now due to serve 18 years behind bars. U Zeya was given a 13-year term on the same raft of charges his son was sentenced under, and is currently being held in Hsipaw prison in Shan state. The two are among around 1,700 political prisoners in Burma, including politicians, monks, doctors and lawyers. Some are serving sentences of more than 100 years for their activism, although Naypyidaw refuses to acknowledge that it has jailed anyone on ‘political’ charges. Yet according to the Working Group, the government, having initially arrested the two on suspicion of involvement in the Rangoon attacks, later admitted to the body that they had been sentenced for their links with DVB. Despite the two being charged under the Unlawful Association Act, as well as the Electronics and Immigration Act, DVB is not classified under Burmese law as an illegal organisation. The government however has not clarified the nature of this charge. Wong Kai Shing said the UN decision also raised an issue regarding political prisoners that has remained absent from the majority of appeals for their release, that of “the question of appropriate legally enforceable compensation for what has oftentimes been years of illegal imprisonment”. The mother of Sithu Zeya reported shortly after his arrest last year that he had been beaten and denied food for two days whilst being interrogated. In January 17 inmates in the same Insein prison ward that Sithu Zeya was being held in began protesting the 21-year-old’s ill treatment by authorities, which included being held in solitary confinement and acts of public humiliation. Fellow DVB reporter Win Maw, who is serving a 17-year sentence in Kyaukphyu prison in westernmost Burma, was recently awarded the prestigious Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artists Prize 2011. As well as his work in journalism, Win Maw is a recognised singer/songwriter whose compositions were used in the Oscar-nominated Burma VJ. At present 14 journalists who worked for DVB are behind bars in Burma, down from a total of 17 following a prisoner amnesty in October. Burma has a long history of criminalising independent journalism, and has consistently ranked at the tail end of press freedom indexes, although a government advisor said earlier this week that draconian censorship laws would soon be done away with. http://www.dvb.no/news/jailing-of-dvb-reporters-%E2%80%98arbitrary%E2%80%99-un/18889 ----------------------------------------------- Is China threatened by a more open Burma? Clinton’s visit to Rangoon may shift regional politics and dislodge China as Burma’s lone ally. Kathleen E. McLaughlinNovember 24, 2011 07:35 BEIJING, China — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Burma next week not only marks a milestone in American foreign policy, but also has the potential to shift regional politics and dislodge China as Burma’s lone ally. And while many in Beijing are concerned about the potential swing in power dynamics, there is growing acknowledgment that a more open Burma would benefit China as well. What China doesn’t want or need is another North Korea, a closed-off hermit state dependent almost entirely on this country and its commerce. Policy-watchers here are hoping for stable change in Burma (known by its military government as Myanmar), and a gradual transformation. “It’s in China’s interest for Myanmar to end its isolation,” said Zhao Daojiong, an international economist at Peking University. “An isolated Myanmar is an unstable Myanmar. It’s in China’s interest that Myanmar internationalize and stabilize.” Clinton has said her recently announced visit, the first for an American secretary of state in 50 years, does not mean the end of US sanctions on Burma. Instead, administration officials have described her planned trip as the latest step in diplomatic moves to encourage Burma’s transformation to a more open country with greater human rights. While China has repeatedly downplayed the symbolism and potential impact of reinvigorated American influence in Burma, there is debate over how to maintain China’s relationship with its resource-rich neighbor to the southwest. Chinese analysts and officials dismiss speculation that a more aggressive China is pushing Burma to open up and explore its options. For three decades, China has been Burma’s main ally and trade partner. In recent months, as Burma has begun to liberalize politically following democratic elections, it has also made strong, symbolic moves away from China. Notably, in late October, the Burmese government cancelled a massive and deeply controversial Chinese dam project. The $3.6 billion Myitsone Dam would have been one of the largest hydropower projects in the world, and it would have flooded thousands of square miles of forest in Burma’s Kachin state. The Chinese-backed project, only one of many major investments there, drew violent opposition and spurred deadly fighting. Opposition to the dam coalesced into action by the military government after democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi expressed her disapproval of the project in August. More from GlobalPost: Clinton won't lift Burma sanctions. Yet. China downplayed the cancelled dam project, saying its overall intentions were misunderstood. The nationalistic Global Times newspaper, in an editorial about the dam’s end, said there was “an underestimation of China's role in facilitating Myanmar's change and misreading of the situation.” “A long period of sanctions from the West has resulted in poverty and a closing up of the country,” the newspaper wrote. “However, competition and tension are often played up by Western media. Halting the construction of the Myitsone Dam, for instance, was interpreted as the clearest signal of Myanmar's willingness to embrace the West.” Zhu Feng, international relations scholar at Peking University, echoed that sentiment and said he believes international media often plays up power struggles between the United States and China that don’t really exist. “I don’t think Myanmar is of great significance strategically to China,” said Zhu. “It’s not bad in the eyes of China for Clinton to visit, for Myanmar to be more open, and it could be in the interests of China.” More from GlobalPost: Burma reformist government dares to push back against China As always, “stability” is the catchword for China. Zhu said there are fears that Burma will open too fast and violently, with something like a color revolution that fueled the Arab Spring. That kind of instability on China’s borders would inevitably create consternation here. But China has already dealt with instability within Burma caused by civil wars in recent years. At least twice since 2009, thousands of Burmese refugees have flooded across the border into China’s Yunnan province, seeking shelter from factional fighting. The trick now is how to balance China’s desire for investment, trade and resources from Burma with the need for more openness and as Beijing sees it, stability. Zhao said he’s watching to see how Clinton addresses the growing potential nuclear ambitions of Burma’s regime. “I feel that there is a window of opportunity here and it’s also customary for the United States to claim leadership on these issues,” said Zhao. “It’s certainly not in China’s interest to see a nuclearized Myanmar.” http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/111123/burma-myanmar-hillary-clinton-diplomacy ------------------------------------------------- Clinton to visit Burma, meet Suu Kyi Published: 24/11/2011 at 10:38 AM Online news: Bangkok Post The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will make a three-day visit to Myanmar (Burma) from Nov 30 to Dec 2, the State Department’s acting spokesman Mark C. Toner said on Wednesday. Mrs Clinton's visit, the first by a US secretary of state since February 1955, will follow her brief stop in Busan, South Korea. During the visit, Mrs Clinton is expected to meet with President Thein Sein and National League for Democracy de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to discuss further reforms in the country. Mrs Clinton will underscore Washington's commitment to a policy of principled engagement and direct dialogue as part of the its dual-track approach, the statement said. ''She will register support for reforms that we have witnessed in recent months and discuss further reforms in key areas, as well as steps the US can take to reinforce progress,'' said Mr Toner. Mrs Clinton would also consult with a broad and diverse group of civil society and ethnic minority leaders to gain their perspectives on developments in the country. Mrs Clinton's trip had been initially arranged for Dec 1-2. Prior to her travel to Naypidaw, the new administrative capital, Mrs Clinton will attend the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in the South Korean port city of Busan. The last visit by a US Secretary of State to Myanmar was during the time of president Dwight D. Eisenhower when the containment policy-initiator, John Foster Dulles, met with then Premier U Nu and senior Burmese officials in Rangoon. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/267697/clinton-to-meet-suu-kyi ----------------------------------------------- Burma: Can you trust the army? By Gwynne Dyer, Special to QMI Agency Last Updated: November 24, 2011 9:45am Burma is the second poorest country in Asia (after North Korea), although fifty years ago it was the second richest. It is the second most repressive dictatorship in Asia, outdone again only by North Korea. It is third from the bottom on Transparency International's list of the world's most corrupt countries. And the credit for all these distinctions goes to the Burmese army, which has ruled the country with an iron hand for the past half-century. So what should pro-democracy leaders in Burma do when the army shows signs of wanting to make a deal and withdraw from direct control over the country. Do you hold out for more, or do you co-operate with the generals in the hope that they can be persuaded to go further later on? That's the dilemma that faced Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize-winning leader of the National League for Democracy, when the military staged the first elections Burma had seen for twenty years last November. Back then, she decided to boycott the elections, but last week she actually took the leap of faith and registered the NLD as a legal political party. She had good reason to be wary last year, because 23 generals resigned and founded the Union Solidarity and Development Party just before the elections. They wouldn't have done that unless the new party was going to "win," and in the end it got a highly implausible 80% of the votes. But then Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest a few days after the election, and the regime began to offer further concessions. Thein Sein, the former general who became the president of Burma last March, put out feelers to see if the NLD leader could be coaxed into participating in the new political arrangements. He wanted her help in giving his government more legitimacy, and she realised that she could probably win some major concessions in return. She saw Thein Sein in private in August, and it's likely that they made the deal there and then. Six weeks later a Human Rights Commission was created, and the media suddenly became much freer. In mid-October 200 political prisoners were freed (although 500 more remain in jail for the time being). These changes were probably part of the price that the regime had agreed to pay for Aung San Suu Kyi's agreement to participate in a political system still dominated by the army. Later in October it paid another instalment, passing a law that legalised trade unions. And then it was time for Suu Kyi to fulfill her side of the bargain. She did it last week, declaring that she would register the National League for Democracy as a political party under the new constitution. There is even talk of her running for parliament herself in the December by-elections. There is nothing illegitimate about making deals in politics. The question is whether this deal is wise -- or is Aung San Suu Kyi just being taken for a ride? Aung San Suu Kyi has probably been told a great deal more in private about the army's ultimate intentions, but even if they have promised to give up power eventually, she cannot know if they will keep their promises. Probably the generals themselves don't know yet. But she has decided to take the risk, and her supporters just have to trust her judgment. Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. http://www.lfpress.com/comment/2011/11/24/19013931.html ---------------------------------------------------- Myanmar parliament passes law allowing protests By Aung Hla Tun YANGON | Thu Nov 24, 2011 6:58pm IST (Reuters) - Myanmar's parliament has passed a bill allowing citizens to stage peaceful protests, a lawmaker said on Thursday, the latest in a string of reforms pulling the pariah state out of isolation. The "Peaceful Assembly and Procession Bill" requires advance permission for would-be demonstrators but represents a major step in a country where just four years ago the army opened fire on peaceful mass protests led by Buddhist monks. "This bill allows peaceful assembly and procession by holding flags with prior permission from the authorities five days in advance," said Aye Maung, an upper house delegate and chairman of Rakhine Nationalities' Development Party. "Monks are also citizens so I think they can also join," he told Reuters. The bill was passed on Tuesday and requires the ratification by President Thein Sein to become law, he said. In recent months, Myanmar's new army-dominated parliament and government have surprised critics by introducing the most sweeping reforms in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup. They have included freeing more than 200 political prisoners and letting the media cover heretofore taboo topics like politics and crime. In October, Thein Sein enacted a new Labour Law under which Myanmar's workers are entitled to stage protests and set up labour unions, both of which were banned under the junta that ruled the country with an iron fist until ceding power to parliament following elections last year. Japan said on Wednesday it would hold working-level talks with Myanmar next week to discuss aid projects, another step in growing international involvement as the country moves tentatively towards democracy. Last week, Myanmar won a powerful endorsement when U.S. President Barack Obama announced Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would visit Myanmar, citing "flickers of progress". (Editing by Jason Szep and Nick Macfie) http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/24/idINIndia-60712520111124 ------------------------------------------------ Japan in talks to resume Myanmar aid Posted: 24 November 2011 1430 hrs TOKYO: Japan and Myanmar will hold a meeting in Naypyidaw next week to discuss resuming Tokyo's official development aid, a foreign ministry official said Thursday. The move is the latest in a series of international overtures that appear to be designed to welcome the isolated nation in from the diplomatic cold. Tokyo has continued to provide humanitarian and emergency aid to the country, but halted regular economic assistance in 2003 following the arrest and subsequent detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi was freed in November last year after seven years of house arrest, and her party has said it would return to Myanmar's official political arena after years of marginalisation under military rule. "There has been some development in the political situation in Myanmar since Suu Kyi's release last year," said a Japanese foreign ministry official. At the meeting to be held on Monday, the first since 2003, officials from the two countries will discuss resuming Japan's aid to Myanmar to the level before the suspension, the official said. "One thing they are expected to discuss is the reasonability of resuming the construction work on a hydropower plant," the official said on the customary condition of anonymity. "Japan has told Myanmar that we are ready to restart the work, but on-the-ground research would be necessary because of the time that has elapsed since the work was stopped." Unlike major Western nations, Japan has maintained trade ties and dialogue with Myanmar, warning that a hard line approach could push it closer to neighbouring China, its main political supporter and commercial partner. The international community has begun in recent months to re-engage with the country. Last week Myanmar won approval from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to chair the 10-nation bloc in 2014 -- despite some concerns that such a diplomatic prize was premature. US President Barack Obama said Friday that Hillary Clinton would next month become the first US secretary of state to visit Myanmar for 50 years. He said the trip was designed to stoke "flickers" of democratic reform in a country that for decades has been blighted by military rule and international isolation. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Saturday he would also visit Myanmar as soon as possible to encourage reforms. - AFP/ck http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1167369/1/.html ----------------------------------------------- Myanmar parliament passes law allowing protests Thu Nov 24, 2011 1:20pm GMT By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's parliament has passed a bill allowing citizens to stage peaceful protests, a lawmaker said on Thursday, the latest in a string of reforms pulling the pariah state out of isolation. The "Peaceful Assembly and Procession Bill" requires advance permission for would-be demonstrators but represents a major step in a country where just four years ago the army opened fire on peaceful mass protests led by Buddhist monks. "This bill allows peaceful assembly and procession by holding flags with prior permission from the authorities five days in advance," said Aye Maung, an upper house delegate and chairman of Rakhine Nationalities' Development Party. "Monks are also citizens so I think they can also join," he told Reuters. The bill was passed on Tuesday and requires the ratification by President Thein Sein to become law, he said. In recent months, Myanmar's new army-dominated parliament and government have surprised critics by introducing the most sweeping reforms in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup. They have included freeing more than 200 political prisoners and letting the media cover heretofore taboo topics like politics and crime. In October, Thein Sein enacted a new Labour Law under which Myanmar's workers are entitled to stage protests and set up labour unions, both of which were banned under the junta that ruled the country with an iron fist until ceding power to parliament following elections last year. Japan said on Wednesday it would hold working-level talks with Myanmar next week to discuss aid projects, another step in growing international involvement as the country moves tentatively towards democracy. Last week, Myanmar won a powerful endorsement when U.S. President Barack Obama announced Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would visit Myanmar, citing "flickers of progress." (Editing by Jason Szep and Nick Macfie) http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE7AN0VA20111124 ---------------------------------------------- Burma Finds Company as Layer of Landmines By SAW YAN NAING Thursday, November 24, 2011 After being named the only country laying new landmines last year, Burma has been joined in 2011 by three other countries—Israel, Libya and Syria—as part of the exclusive club of nations still actively employing the deadly explosives, according to a new report by anti-landmine campaigners. The report, by the Geneva-based International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), cites civil unrest in the Arab world as a key reason for this year's spike in landmine use, which has reached a seven-year high. “Thousands, if not tens of thousands, were laid by the Gaddafi regime,” said Mary Wareham, the editor of the annual report, The Landmine Monitor 2011, speaking at its launch in Bangkok on Wednesday. Landmines, which have long been used in conflicts in many parts of the world, have become the target of a campaign to end their use because they continue to take a deadly toll for years after fighting has ended, and often claim casualties among civilians and other innocent victims. “Not only humans, but also animals like elephants, are affected by landmines,” said Suthikiet Sopanik, the secretary of the Thailand Campaign to Ban Landmines, speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday. “There are a lot of ethnic minority conflicts in Myanmar [Burma]. They use many landmines to protect and defend their territories. Many civilians, including children, are injured by landmines,” said Sopanik. The ICBL report said that in Burma, both the government and non-state armed groups continue to use anti-personnel landmines, despite the country's move to civilian rule earlier this year. Ethnic armed groups mostly use homemade devices, while Burma mass-produces landmines for use in conflict zones. Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, a Landmine Monitor researcher who visited ethnic areas in Burma, said in a statement, “On the ground, there is not much change in how antipersonnel mines are used by the government or militias.” Noting that talks were held between several armed groups and Burmese government state authorities this week, Yeshua said the ICBL will lobby for a ban on landmines to be included in any ceasefire agreement. According to the report, only 12 manufacturers of anti-personnel mines were recorded—the same as in 2010—with just three countries believed to be actively producing: India, Burma and Pakistan. The ICBL report said that there were 4,191 new landmine casualties in 2010, although the actual number could be as high as 6,000, with many cases unreported. The ICBL's data is provided by a variety of sources, including researchers, governments, armed forces and charities. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22530 ----------------------------------------------- Child Beggars on the Mean Streets of Mae Sot By SAI ZOM HSENG Thursday, November 24, 2011 Small, determined bodies make their way through the hustle and bustle of the night market in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, looking for likely targets. When they find one—a kind-looking stranger, a foreigner who might not mind sparing a few coins—they lift their tiny hands, and, if that is not enough, tug on a sleeve or touch a bare arm. More often than not, they are ignored. These are the child beggars of Mae Sot—children who have become such a common sight in the thriving town on the Thai-Burmese border that they are almost invisible to residents who would rather not see them at all. Even in the glare of the night market's fluorescent lights, it's easy not to see these children, unless one becomes the unwilling object of their attention. Then the easiest thing to do is just to give them the coins they silently plead for and hope they go on their way. “Usually, they try to find one-baht coins. If they don't have any, they'll give us a five- or 10-baht coin,” said Nyo Nyo, a 10-year-old Burmese girl who has been in Thailand since she was an infant, describing those who grudgingly part with a little money just to be left in peace. White people are usually the most generous, she said, although they don't always give something. But when they do, it's usually more than she can get from any of the locals. Like Nyo Nyo, all of the children begging in the streets of Mae Sot are from Burma. They are controlled by Burmese gangs who force them to keep begging until they bring back 200 baht (US $6.40) a day—about the same as a day's wages for an unskilled laborer in Thailand. The local authorities used to crack down on beggars, saying they hurt the town's image. But these days, they seem more inclined to look the other way—because, say some residents, of bribes paid to officials to allow the lucrative “business” to continue. Wearing a dirty white blouse and with her hair in a ponytail, Nyo Nyo explains the deal that her own parents made with the gang that now serves as her family. “My parents told me to stay with these people, who would give them some money and also take care of me. They give me food and a place to stay, and they tell me what to do. They tell us to stay out until we get 200 baht, but sometimes it's okay if we come back with just 150 baht,” she said. She said that the people now taking care of her are friends of her parents, who work in the Mae Sot market. She added that her father sometimes worked as a coolie, carrying goods back and forth across the border. Nyo Nyo said that she has been punished several times—beaten and deprived of sleep—for failing to earn her keep. It was hard, she said, because she felt shy about asking people for money. “I wish I didn't come to stay with them,” she says of her new “guardians”. Nyo Nyo now lives in a house in Mae Sot with more than a dozen other children, all of whom spend their days and nights in crowded public places—in the night market, near the Friendship Bridge, in the park—hoping to meet kind strangers, but mostly being treated with disdain. Not everyone regards them as a nuisance, however. Some in the local Burmese community view them with a mix of shame and pity. “It's a disgrace that Burmese people are exploiting them that way,” said Naw Eh Wah, a Mae Sot resident. “I’m so worried about their future.” For most of these children, dreams of the future are a thing of the past. Pho Thar, a 12-year-old boy from Mon State, said that he used to study in Burma before his parents migrated to Thailand. “Whenever I see Thai children going to school in their uniforms, it reminds me of life in my village,” he said. Children are not just used as beggars. In fact, they are often targeted by human traffickers because they are easy to transport across borders and easy to exploit. “The traffickers put the children to work in many fields, such as general labor, sex work and begging,” said Mingkwan Weerachart, the head of the Chiang Mai Shelter for Children and Families. “The traffickers have no trouble controlling them, because they are easily intimidated.” She added that the number of Burmese children being transferred to her shelter has increased steadily in recent years. Last year, the shelter received 26 Burmese children, up from 14 the year before, and 11 the year before that. Almost all of them, she said, were trafficked. According to the website of World Vision, an international relief agency that operates in Thailand, Burmese people are trafficked to a number of Asian countries, including China, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Korea and Macao, but the primary destination is Thailand. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22528 -------------------------------------------------- Than Shwe Retires … From Front Pages By THE IRRAWADDY Thursday, November 24, 2011 Burma's former dictator and military junta supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe has been referred to as “retired” by the state media for the first time since the official abolishment of the State Peace and Development Council, and the ascension of the new government on March 30. Both Myanma Alin and The Mirror reported on Thursday that “Snr-Gen Than Shwe (retired) and Daw Kyaing Kyaing's family donated US $1,300, 11 rubies, a pearl and a golden ring with 61 diamonds, which is valued at kyat 488,000, toward the Scared Buddha Tooth Relic from China, which is now being exhibited in Rangoon.” The fact that Than Shwe's name was preceded with the honorific mention, “retired,” raised many eyebrows in Rangoon. Burma watchers also noted that Myanma Alin ran the story on page eight, that Than Shwe was simply listed alongside several other donors and that his name did not appear in the headline. For years Burmese state-run media has reflected the hierarchy of the military junta in its front pages with lead stories invariably carrying all but the most mundane actions of the ruling generals. While head of the junta, Than Shwe and his family enjoyed privileged status on the front pages of almost every state-run journal and newspaper on a near-daily basis. On Friday, Than Shwe reportedly made a rare trip outside of his home to visit a Buddhist pagoda in Naypyidaw. According to several official sources and relatives, Than Shwe now mostly lives quietly in the remote capital of Naypyidaw, although sometimes he travels to Rangoon to visit his children. However, as Larry Jagan—a freelance journalist and former BBC news and current affairs editor for Asia and the Pacific—pointed out in an interview broadcast by Australia’s ABC Radio National, a regulation passed by Than Shwe’s junta just before the November 2010 election states that any senior military officer may return to his original military post within 5 years of retiring. “[President] Thein Sein is constantly being told by the hardliners in the ministry, ‘Don’t do things too far, too fast, otherwise the old man [Than Shwe] will come back and take power,’” said Jagan. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22532 -------------------------------------------- Clinton Visit Set for Nov 30 By LALIT K JHA / WASHINGTON Thursday, November 24, 2011 Leading a high-power delegation, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to make her historic visit to Burma on Nov. 30, during which time she will reiterate the Obama administration’s policy of principled engagement and direct dialogue, US officials say. “Secretary Clinton will travel to Naypyidaw and Rangoon, Burma, from November 30 to December 2. This historic trip will mark the first visit to Burma by a US Secretary of State in over a half a century,” the State Department spokesperson, Mark Toner, said. “Clinton will underscore the US commitment to a policy of principled engagement and direct dialogue as part of our dual-track approach. She will register support for reforms that we have witnessed in recent months and discuss further reforms in key areas, as well as steps the US can take to reinforce progress,” he said. During her trip, Clinton will consult with a broad and diverse group of civil society and ethnic minority leaders to gain their perspectives on developments in the country, he added. Counselor Cheryl Mills, Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary Michael Posner, Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma Derek Mitchell, and Policy Planning Director Jake Sullivan will accompany her. Last week, Obama announced in Bali, Indonesia—on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit—his decision to send Clinton to Burma. Obama’s announcement followed a telephone conversation with Aung San Suu Kyi—the first between a US president and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Toner said Obama’s decision to send Clinton to Burma is based on what he termed as “flickers of progress that we’ve seen” over the past month or so in Burma, and that he feels that it’s an appropriate time to send the Secretary of State there. “She will be the first Secretary of State to visit that country in over half a century, so that alone is very significant. But our goal remains a Burma that is both responsive to the will and needs of its people,” he said. “But again, this is an opportunity that we believe has presented itself to go there, obviously talk with the opposition, talk with Aung San Suu Kyi, and also discuss with the government ways that we can move this process forward,” he added. However, he said a lot more has to be done in Burma. “We’ve seen a dialogue between the government and Aung San Suu Kyi that’s begun. We also have seen the release of some political prisoners, and we’ve seen the relaxation of some of the media restrictions. And also, there’s legislation that’s been approved that we believe could open the political environment even more,” he said. “What we want to see is the release of all political prisoners, and we want to see amended electoral laws. We want to see an opening of the political system … that allows for free and fair elections, that’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking for an opening up of the political space,” Toner said. None of these are particularly new items on US’s agenda with Burma, he asserted. “So they’re well aware of what we’re looking to see … We want to see a Burma that’s responsive to the needs of its people,” he said. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22529 --------------------------------------------- Deported Burmese Await ‘January Solution’ to Return to Thailand By SIMON ROUGHNEEN Thursday, November 24, 2011 BANGKOK—Tens of thousands of Burmese migrants who fled Thailand's floods are in danger of trafficking and extortion unless both Thailand and Burma's governments come up with a plan to facilitate a safe return, say activists. This comes after tens of thousands of Burmese migrant workers were deported from Thailand after homes and workplaces were flooded in the recent disaster, which left over 600 people dead in Thailand. From September to November 2011, almost 100,000 Burmese migrant workers returned to their homeland via Mae Sot, a town on the Thailand-Burma border that serves as the main land connection between the two countries. Of these, according to data from the Mae Sot immigration office, 39,841 of the returnees held temporary passports—meaning that they could legally cross back to Burma and can subsequently return to Thailand to resume work at their flooded employment locations. However, the majority of those fleeing Thailand for Burma during the floods—given as 58,369 at time of writing—did not have passports. Some of this cohort likely held work permits, which only allow the holder to remain in the province of his/her employment. By attempting to cross back to Burma via Mae Sot, the workers invalidated their permit and therefore could be expelled from Thailand. Migrant rights groups say that they lobbied the Thailand government to implement a temporary amnesty for undocumented migrant flood victims, or those lacking passports, who sought to return home. However, tens of thousands of Burmese flood victims were deported amid numerous allegations of extortion and trafficking along the Mae Sot border area. Various recent news reports feature Burmese migrants saying they were forced to pay additional fees to cross back to Burma, often to Burmese militias controlling checkpoints on the Burmese side. Burmese migrants make up an estimated 5-10 percent of Thailand's labor force and number between 2 and 3 million. Of these, around 1.5 million have registered to work in Thailand. However, for those migrants who were deported or invalidated their permits, trying to return to Thailand to resume employment will be challenging. According to Claudio Natali of the International Organization Migration (IOM), “There is a gap in the system now, effectively, until there is some process in place for those who went back to Burma but do not have passports to come back.” The alternative, says Andy Hall, a migrant rights analyst at Bangkok's Mahidol University, is “for people to try to smuggle themselves back into Thailand.” That in turn renders people trying to re-enter Thailand as vulnerable to extortion and trafficking, a long-running threat to migrant workers in Thailand. According to a leaked 2009 US diplomatic cable from the Bangkok embassy, the Thailand government “recognizes the seriousness of the (trafficking) problem.” Thailand is currently on the US State Department’s human trafficking watch list, still a notch better than Burma, which the same list deems to be among the countries “whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.” Hall recently visited the Burmese capital Naypyidaw, where he discussed the situation facing Burmese living in Thailand with Burmese officials. He said that, “The Myanmar authorities insisted to me during my visit that the protection of migrant workers is now a key policy for their government, both as a development strategy but also as a poverty reduction strategy.” With Burma's economy floundering, millions of Burmese live abroad, with remittances sent home a vital source of income for families living in Burma. The Burmese government is said to envisage a longer-term Philippines-style policy where emigration is supported as a means of compensating for a stagnant or underperforming domestic economy. A tenth of Filipinos live overseas, and money that “OFWs” (overseas Filipino workers) remit makes up approximately the same percentage of the country's economy. For now, the Thailand and Burmese authorities are discussing a joint plan—to come into effect on January 1 20102—to enable those Burmese who were deported to return to their jobs in Thailand, without having to run the notorious broker and trafficking gauntlet along the two countries' common border. Jackie Pollock, the Director of the MAP Foundation, an organization that assists Burmese workers in Thailand, said that there needs to be some temporary system implemented on the border to enable migrants who lack passports to cross back to Thailand, and to facilitate employers and business owners who want to “re-hire” Burmese migrants who fled the flooding. “This was done after the 2004 tsunami, so something similar should be possible this time around,” she said. But whether or not Burmese migrants will be made aware of any joint plan to facilitate their safe return to Thailand remains unclear, with officials seen as slow to disseminate information. According to Claudia Natali, “The majority of migrants do not hear about such policy developments, and if they do, it is long after implementation”. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22531
Saturday, November 19, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Saturday, 19 November 2011-uzl
News & Articles on Burma Saturday, 19 November 2011 ------------------------------------------- Obstacles lie ahead in Burma's bid for reform KIA pushes back Burmese Army troops from Laiza headquarters UN's Ban says he will visit Myanmar, urges reforms EU Hails Myanmar Moves, Reviewing Policy Key US senators hail Clinton Burma trip Gillard warns Burma has a lot more to do Clinton to visit Burma for fact-finding U.S. sees Burma reforms as strategic opening to support democracy Suu Kyi party to register for election Myanmar dissident returns to politics US sanctions on Myanmar to continue Analysis: US overtures may lure Myanmar from China Myanmar regime loosens its grip on elections Suu Kyi's party decides to enter legal politics for democratization in Burma --------------------------------------------- 19 November 2011 Last updated at 12:45 GMT Obstacles lie ahead in Burma's bid for reform By David Loyn BBC News, Naypyidaw, Burma Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has announced she is ready to re-enter politics, but many obstacles still lie ahead for a country still coming to terms with reform. Driving through the Burmese countryside, I passed a Land Rover that must have been half a century old, four monks clinging to its green frame, as they rattled through the countryside, saffron robes blowing in the breeze. Women with their faces daubed in sandalwood paste under conical straw hats glanced up as we passed. Behind them, a man stood under an awning rhythmically treading a water pump to irrigate the paddy fields as they worked. Our destination could not have been more different from this timeless scene. The neat lawns in the strange fantasy-land of the new capital Naypyidaw, carved out of the jungle, where everything is on a gargantuan scale. When it was built, civil servants were told to move north overnight from Rangoon - disrupting families and lives. Suicide rates in this weird place are said to be very high. There are tens of thousands of hotel rooms, empty most of the year, except during a gem fair, when Chinese buyers descend on Naypyidaw to deal in Burma's mineral wealth. The presidential palace with its vast air-conditioned spaces, and chandeliers sparkling with thousands of lights, seem more than incongruous in a country where state spending on health per person is less than $1 (?0.70) per year. The new town exists in a fantasy economy. As it is a capital city, foreign diplomats will be expected to move here, and areas have been marked out for them already. But one Western embassy worked out that the way the sites are being financed, it would cost $70m over 30 years if they took up the offer. But in a military state, normal economics have been turned on their head for a long time. There are several exchange rates for the Burmese currency, as black market money flows in and out of the country. In the wings The real power here lies in the hands of men who are called "cronies" in normal conversation. Like Russian oligarchs, the cronies in Burma are the men behind the scenes, close to China and outside democratic control as they profit from monopolies in timber, gems and gas. Continue reading the main story Start Quote In a sequence of carefully choreographed moves, the government is easing its relationship towards this iconic figure End Quote They are watching in the wings, as a government with reform on its mind moves steadily away from the corruption and repression of a world that, in the past, suited them well. Change means that recently released prisoners can write in dissident newspapers that are no longer censored and are distributed openly. Until only a few months ago there were daily attacks on the BBC in Burma's main newspaper. Aung San Suu Kyi said that one of the biggest signals of change was that she, for the first time, had been able to talk openly to the BBC in Rangoon, after I was given an unprecedented visa. The political impact of all this is seismic. Bumping along in the back of a van on our way to see a school opened in the last year by Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters, Myo Yan Naung Thein, the leader of the last major student protest back in 1996, told me in clear and stark terms that protest is over. He and his comrades - who made new alliances in jail - have formed a loose network of pro-democracy groups, backing Aung San Suu Kyi, and working within the system for the first time. He said: "If you can't beat them, join them." In a graphic image, the former student leader said that if Burmese people were willing to line up, 10 by 10 by 10 in front of soldiers shooting, then revolution would be possible, as they would wear out the will of the army after thousands had died. "But," he concluded, "we don't have enough blood to shed". In calling off protests, the pro-democracy activists are putting all their trust in secret conversations that the new President Thein Sein has had with Aung San Suu Kyi. In a sequence of carefully choreographed moves, the government is easing its relationship towards this iconic figure - not unlike the way white South Africa changed course and opened Nelson Mandela's prison doors. Posters of Aung San Suu Kyi are openly for sale on the streets, and she will run for parliament, probably next year. But Aung San Suu Kyi has not brought all of her party with her in her decision to compromise with the regime. There was another protest by Buddhist monks in Mandalay this week. Small demos like these are a distraction. More widespread protests though could destabilise the confidence built between Aung San Suu Kyi and the reformist president and his allies. And it would strengthen the hand of hard-liners opposed to reform in the strange fantasy capital. Formidable obstacles to reform remain and high hopes rest on the slender figure of Aung San Suu Kyi. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15798106 -------------------------------------------- KIA pushes back Burmese Army troops from Laiza headquarters Kachin News Group The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) troops pushed back Burmese Army soldiers from its Laiza headquarters on Thursday, seizing many arms and field artillery, said frontline sources. Almost all government military columns in the N'tap Bum mountain range, about 8 miles southwest of Laiza headquarters in eastern Kachin State were pushed back to the mountainsides, said KIA officers from the headquarters. According to KIA officers on the frontline, Burmese soldiers are fleeing from the strategic mountain range discarding their arms and artillery. A KIA officer on the frontline told Kachin News Group, "We can push most Burmese troops out of the mountain range today. We seized weapons from the Burmese Army but small numbers of soldiers remain in the mountain range". A resident of Laiza said on Thursday afternoon, that people in the KIA headquarters relaxed from 24-hours monitoring when they heard that the Burmese troops in the strategic mountain range close to the headquarters had been pushed away from the mountain. ntapbumKIA officers on the frontlines said they seized the largest number of weapons from government troops in the mountain range in the five-month war. A resident of Laiza said he saw some mortar rounds and small arms in Laiza today morning, which were brought back to Laiza from the mountain by KIA troops. About 1,000 Burmese troops arrived on the N'Tap Bum since mid-October in order to capture Laiza headquarters. The Burmese Army has been using an unidentified chemical weapon (or poison gas) in their offensive against the Kachin troops. Dozens of Kachin soldiers became unconsciousness, were given to bouts of vomiting and weakness after they breathed in the poisonous gas when mortar rounds loaded with it were fired. KIA officers in Laiza said government troops tried to control the military strategic mountain range thrice but failed every time. If government troops control the mountain range, it may pave the way to capture Laiza, according to KIA officers. http://kachinnews.com/news/2156-kia-pushes-back-burmese-army-troops-from-laiza-headquarters.html ------------------------------------------- UN's Ban says he will visit Myanmar, urges reforms AFP United Nations leader Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday he planned to visit Myanmar "as soon as possible", after talks with President Thein Sein where he urged progress on nascent reforms. "I am also planning to visit Myanmar as soon as possible -- he invited me so I accepted his invitation," Ban told a press conference after the meeting with Thein Sein. "I strongly urged him it is not necessary to wait 'til 2014 but even before that they should take all the political reforms," he said, referring to the date when Myanmar will host the Southeast Asian bloc's annual summit. "I told him that there will be huge expectations... and he should meet the expectations of the the international community." UN envoy to Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, said that Ban's visit had not been finalised but would take place "in the next few months". Myanmar's new nominally civilian government has called for the lifting of punishing sanctions imposed by the United States and other nations during its decades of military rule. "I think there is a movement now to consider looking at these issues again," Nambiar said of the sanctions, adding that the decision was "for the countries concerned" to make. "I think it is important that the people, the livelihoods of the people... are developed. All actions should be taken in order to reach that goal," he said. http://news.yahoo.com/uns-ban-says-visit-myanmar-urges-reforms-075622994.html -------------------------------------------- EU Hails Myanmar Moves, Reviewing Policy 19 Nov 2011 The European Union on Friday welcomed Myanmar allowing the party of democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi to take part in upcoming by-elections, and was looking at whether such reforms could justify the bloc further easing its sanctions, reports Reuters. The EU said positive moves by Mynamar's civilian government since elections last year had exceeded expectations, but it urged the reclusive Asian country to release more dissidents. "The EU has always stated that it will respond to positive events in the country. The restrictive measures have already been partly modified this year," EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton said in a statement. "A more substantial review of EU policy is already under way." The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Suu Kyi, said on Friday it would contest the forthcoming by-elections, after the government amended its law on registration of political parties. The party boycotted last year's national election, and Friday's move was seen as further sign of political rapprochement. "The continuing positive developments in Myanmar are a source of great hope and encouragement," Ashton said. "I look forward to them continuing, including a further substantial release of political prisoners." Ashton said "the European Union will want to accompany Myanmar on the path it is taking, both with political and economic engagement." However, she stressed that "fair and transparent elections leading to a wider representation of the people" would be a key factor in making national reconciliation a reality. The EU comments came after U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday he saw "flickers of progress" and would be sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a historic visit that could help Myanmar emerge from a half century of isolation. Clinton's December 1 visit would be the first by a U.S. secretary of state since a 1962 military coup ushered in decades of military rule that ended in March, when a nominally civilian parliament was established. Some Western governments believe the military remains in charge. Ashton said she looked forward to talking directly to interlocutors in Myanmar and a spokesman said the EU was working on plans to send a top EU official to Myanmar, but no dates had been set. Ashton sent her top foreign policy adviser to Myanmar earlier this year, and the EU, in a move to encourage reform, slightly eased sanctions in April by ending travel bans and asset freezes on 24 civilian government officials. "A year ago, most were sceptical about transition," an EU official said. "Six months ago, most began to realize reforms were kicking in. Today, there is a different climate in the country." The new government has called for peace with minority groups, displayed some tolerance of criticism, suspended an unpopular Chinese-funded dam project, freed about 230 political prisoners and improved relations with Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate who was released from house arrest in 2010. However, large numbers of political prisoners remain and EU officials have said they would wait to see how many were actually freed when judging the government's sincerity. "We are cautiously optimistic. Without a doubt, positive steps have been taken, but there is also much that remains," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said. "It is good to have a diplomatic engagement policy of trying to influence (matters)." http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/eu-hails-myanmar-moves-reviewing-policy/103168/ ----------------------------------------------- Key US senators hail Clinton Burma trip AFP November 19, 2011, 8:53 am AP Enlarge photo Key US senators have hailed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's planned visit to Burma next month, expressing hopes it would spur greater democratic reforms in the formerly military-ruled country. "Burma is moving in the right direction, but actions still speak louder than words," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat sometimes mentioned as a possible successor to Clinton as the top US diplomat. Kerry praised Burma's new political reforms but said its government must "unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience" and halt "atrocities" in battling ethnic minority rebels along its border with Thailand. "To help keep the Burmese government on the right track, President Obama and Secretary Clinton are implementing a forward-leaning approach that combines principled engagement and energetic pressure," he said. News of Clinton's trip - the first by a US secretary of state in 50 years - came as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party said it would return to Burma's official political arena after years of marginalisation under military rule. Clinton's trip would be the most significant US policy move on the country in many years, after decades of using sanctions to isolate the country over human rights abuses by generals who refused to shift to democracy. However, since elections a year ago, the new nominally civilian government has surprised observers by holding direct talks with Suu Kyi, freeing 200 dissidents and freezing work on an unpopular mega-dam. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy announced Friday it would re-register as a political party and take part in upcoming by-elections, after years of being sidelined and repressed. The party, which won 1990 polls in a landslide but was never allowed to take power, refused to participate in the country's first vote in 20 years because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members. Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, hailed Suu Kyi's return, saying "Burma has reached an important milestone today on its path to a more democratic system." "This is an important step toward greater political reconciliation in Burma, and I think Secretary Clinton's decision to visit the country sends the right signal of America's support for the ongoing process of change," he said. Like Kerry, McCain called on Burma to release "prisoners of conscience", cease attacks against ethnic minorities and move forward with "dialogue and reconciliation". "A lot remains to be done in order for the Burmese people to enjoy the greater freedom and democracy that they both desire and deserve," he said. Democratic Senator Jim Webb, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations East Asian and Pacific affairs subcommittee, said Clinton's trip will help determine how serious Burma is about democratic reforms. "I am hopeful that Secretary Clinton's visit will provide an opportunity to closely examine any substantive improvements in our relations during this transitional period," said Webb, who has long called for greater US engagement with Burma. Webb also called for Washington "to take advantage of all of the tools at our disposal to facilitate Burmese economic development, political reconciliation, and ultimately greater progress toward democratic governance." In 2009, Webb became the first US lawmaker to visit Burma in more than a decade and the only US official to meet with its former junta leader, Than Shwe. "Burma is now in the midst of a key transitional period that has yielded greater opportunities for interaction with government leaders and civil society, and restructuring of government and military institutions," said Webb. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/11824451/key-us-senators-hail-clinton-burma-trip/ --------------------------------------------- Gillard warns Burma has a lot more to do Karlis Salna, AAP South-East Asia Correspondent, AAP November 19, 2011, 10:19 pm Prime Minister Julia Gillard has not ruled out a boycott of the 2014 East Asia Summit if Burma fails to make good on its stated commitment to democratic and human rights reform. Since holding elections a year ago following almost four decades of military rule, Burma has been ushered back into the broader international political arena. It was last week given the green light to chair the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and consequently the East Asia Summit, in 2014 after making further commitments to economic and political reform. But Ms Gillard, who spoke with Burma's President Thein Sein on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Bali on Saturday night, has warned that Australia's support for the new government and any review of current sanctions would carry strict conditions. While Australia does not have any direct economic sanctions against Burma, it does have financial and travel sanctions against individual members of the new regime who were part of the former military junta. "I made the point to him that Australia welcomes the progress that has been made in Burma," Ms Gillard told reporters in Bali on Saturday. "We're welcoming the developments; the developments are happening rapidly. We will obviously calibrate issues about sanctions against change as it occurs." "But I do want to be very, very clear. There is a lot more to do in Burma." The new government in Burma has won approval for recently holding direct talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as freeing 200 political prisoners. As many as 2000 dissidents, however, remain imprisoned in Burma, while there are also concerns about ongoing conflicts with and treatment of ethnic minorities. "There is a lot more to do, a lot more to do in Burma in releasing political prisoners, in ensuring that there is proper democratic structures and that there is proper responses for human rights and I made that point directly to the president," Ms Gillard said. Ms Gillard also refused to rule out a boycott of the East Asia Summit if Burma failed to make good on its commitment to political and human rights reform. "Any decision about attending the summit in 2014 would be taken in 2014," she said. "The bigger point that I am making is that of course East Asia Summit nations would want to see continued progress between now and 2014." Ms Gillard's comments come after Kevin Rudd became the first Australian foreign minister to visit Burma in almost a decade. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, will now also visit Burma to examine whether its military-backed leadership is committed to political and economic reform. Mrs Clinton, whose visit early next month will be the first by a US secretary of state in 50 years, said the trip is aimed at testing new government's "true intentions". "We're hoping, most certainly for the people of Burma, that this is real. But if it is, the United States will support and encourage it," she said in an interview with CNN. "We'd like to see more political prisoners released. We would like to see a real political process and real elections. We'd like to see an end to the conflicts, particularly the terrible conflicts with ethnic minorities," she said. "But we think there's an opportunity and we want to test it." http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/11832318/gillard-warns-burma-has-a-lot-more-to-do/ ------------------------------------------- Clinton to visit Burma for fact-finding 19 November 2011 | 10:44:53 AM | Source: AFP US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday her trip to Burma is to find out whether the military-backed leadership there is committed to both political and economic reform. "One of the reasons that I'm going is to test what the true intentions are and whether there is a commitment to both economic and political reform," Clinton said in an interview with CNN television. Her historic visit to Burma, announced by President Barack Obama, follows several visits made by US special envoy Derek Mitchell as well as conversations Clinton and Obama have had with Burma's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. "And there certainly does seem to be an opening," Clinton said during the interview with the US network on the Indonesian island of Bali, the venue for a regional summit she and Obama are to attend. "Now how real it is, how far it goes, we're going to have to make sure we have a better understanding than we do right now. But at least there has been some forward movement," Clinton said. "And in this part of the world, we have examples of countries that did finally get on a democratic path after authoritarian regimes, military dictatorships, all of the problems that have been around for a long time," she said. "So we're hoping, most certainly for the people of Burma, that this is real. But if it is, the United States will support and encourage it," the chief US diplomat said, referring to Myanmar by its former name. In another interview with Fox News, Clinton said there were specific steps she expected from Myanmar. "We'd like to see more political prisoners released. We would like to see a real political process and real elections. We'd like to see an end to the conflicts, particularly the terrible conflicts with ethnic minorities," she said. "But we think there's an opportunity and we want to test it." Obama said Friday he would send Clinton to Burma on December 1-2, the first visit there by a US secretary of state for 50 years, to encourage democratic reform. The announcement came as Suu Kyi's party said it would return to Myanmar's official political arena after years of marginalisation under military rule. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1606307/Clinton-to-visit-Burma-for-fact-finding ---------------------------------------------- U.S. sees Burma reforms as strategic opening to support democracy By David Nakamura and William Wan, Saturday, November 19, 10:09 AM BALI, Indonesia --- Burma seemed poised for a historic shift Friday as dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi ended her long boycott of the country's authoritarian political system and President Obama announced plans to send the U.S. secretary of state there for the first time in half a century. The back-to-back announcements were the clearest sign yet of how seriously the Obama administration and Suu Kyi --- the standard-bearer of Burma's long- persecuted democracy movement --- are taking the political changes instituted by the country's leaders. "After years of darkness, we've seen flickers of progress," Obama said from Indonesia, where he was attending a summit with Asian leaders, who anointed Burma the next chair of their regional grouping. The nominally civilian government of President Thein Sein --- who, like many members of the leadership, is a former military officer --- has released some political prisoners, allowed greater freedom for the media and outlined an agenda of political and economic opening. The shifts this year come as the leaders of Burma, also known as Myanmar, seem to be reevaluating their regional allegiances. As they make overtures to the United States, they are showing increasing concern about the power and assertiveness of longtime ally China. China issued a veiled warning after Obama's announcement that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton would visit Burma on Dec. 1 and 2. "We are willing to see the U.S. and other Western countries improve contacts with Myanmar and make better relations," said Liu Weimin, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing. "At the same time, we hope that both the domestic and foreign policies of Myanmar are conducive for the peace and stability of Myanmar." In making his decision, Obama consulted with Suu Kyi during a 20-minute phone call while en route to Indonesia --- the first conversation between them. According to senior administration officials, the two compared thoughts on the new leadership's commitment to reform in a country that has seen five decades of repressive military rule, isolation from the West and ethnic violence. A gamble by Suu Kyi For Suu Kyi, a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the decision to work with the government is a gamble fraught with national and personal consequences. Burma seemed similarly poised for reform two decades ago when her party decisively won a 1990 general election. Instead, the ruling military junta barred Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy from power and kept her under house arrest for most of the next two decades. In an interview Thursday with the Telegraph, a British newspaper, Suu Kyi voiced optimism about the measures undertaken by the new government. "There has been change, not sufficient yet but we'll get there," she said. "I hope it will come along steadily and at a fast enough pace to make it credible. With the right kind of institutions, starting with the rule of law, Burma could progress very quickly." In her conversation with Obama, Suu Kyi endorsed his intention to send Clinton to Burma as a way to encourage the government to build on its actions. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-sees-burma-reforms-as-strategic-opening-to-support-democracy/2011/11/18/gIQA22gwZN_story.html?wprss=rss_world --------------------------------------------- Suu Kyi party to register for election Updated: 18:55, Saturday November 19, 2011 Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition announced its return to Burma's political arena on Friday, as the country's reforms received a dramatic seal of approval from the United States. After speaking directly to Nobel laureate Suu Kyi for the first time, in a call from Air Force One, US President Barack Obama said Hillary Clinton would next month become the first US secretary of state to visit Burma for 50 years. ' Attending an Asian summit in Indonesia, Obama said Clinton's December 1-2 trip was designed to stoke 'flickers' of democratic reform in a country that for decades has been blighted by military rule and international isolation. In rare elections a year ago, Burma's military rulers gave way to a nominally civilian administration which released Suu Kyi from years of house arrest and has since made a surprising series of conciliatory gestures. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) said it would re-register as a political party and contest coming by-elections after boycotting last year's poll -- paving the way for the 66-year-old democracy heroine to run for office. She told her party on Friday that they should rejoin the mainstream political process and contest all 48 seats available in upcoming by-elections. 'Why? The NLD has not worked as a political party for a long time so we need to practise as a political party again,' she said to party delegates in Rangoon, before their official decision to re-register was announced. The NLD won a landslide victory in polls in 1990 but the then-ruling junta never allowed the party to take power. Suu Kyi, although a figurehead for the campaign, was under house arrest throughout. Burma's next election was not held until November last year, and the NLD boycotted it -- mainly because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members. Suu Kyi was again under house arrest. EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton welcomed the 'courageous' return of the NLD to the political arena as another sign of 'great hope' in the military-dominated nation. 'This is a courageous and welcome decision. Fair and transparent elections leading to a wider representation of the people in the Burmese parliament will be a key step towards making national reconciliation a reality,' she said. After spending 15 of the past 22 years in detention, Suu Kyi hinted to her party on Friday that she would stand for office herself in the by-elections. No polling dates have yet been set. 'If I think I should take part in the election, I will. Some people are worried that taking part could harm my dignity. Frankly, if you do politics, you should not be thinking about your dignity,' she said. 'I stand for the re-registration of the NLD party. I would like to work effectively towards amending the constitution. So we have to do what we need to do.' Party spokesman Nyan Win said the group would re-register as soon as they could, possibly next week. Asked whether Suu Kyi would stand, he said: 'I believe she will.' Burma's 2010 election, widely discredited by outside observers, brought the army's political proxies to power after decades of outright military rule, but the new government has surprised critics with its recent reformist moves. It has held direct talks with Suu Kyi, freed about 200 dissidents from jail, frozen work on an unpopular mega-dam and passed a law giving workers the right to strike. As a reward for its conciliatory moves, Burma has won South-East Asia's backing to chair the region's ASEAN bloc in 2014, despite concerns the move was premature. Analysts say the return of the NLD would add to the legitimacy of the army-backed government, which is seeking to end its global isolation by loosening political shackles -- but would also increase the relevance of the popular but long-excluded Suu Kyi. Renaud Egreteau, Burma expert at Hong Kong University, said Suu Kyi had been led 'back to the game' by Prime Minister Thein Sein. 'It is he and his entourage who have brought Aung San Suu Kyi back to the front of the stage because they need her,' he told AFP. http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=686941&vId=2858927&cId=World --------------------------------------------- Myanmar dissident returns to politics BALI, INDONESIA November 18, 2011 Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's most prominent democracy campaigner, announced Friday that she would rejoin the political system of the military-backed government that persecuted her for more than two decades. Her announcement came shortly after U.S. President Barack Obama disclosed that he was sending Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on a visit there next month, the first by a U.S. secretary of state in more than 50 years. The re-entry of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party into formal politics was seen as a milestone in reconciliation efforts between the military leadership and the country's democracy movement, whose members were jailed and repressed during years of authoritarian rule. The party's decision was unanimous, according to a statement. (c) Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Myanmar+dissident+returns+politics/5737223/story.html --------------------------------------------- US sanctions on Myanmar to continue Last Updated: Saturday, November 19, 2011, 12:41 US sanctions on Myanmar to continue Washington: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has ruled out lifting sanctions on Myanmar, arguing that more concrete steps need to be taken by the new government in the Asian country. "We're not ending sanctions. We are not making any abrupt changes," Hillary told the Fox news in an interview. President Barack Obama said in Indonesia that he is sending Hillary to Myanmar to hold talks with the government and the pro-democracy leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi. Scheduled to travel to Myanmar on December 01, Hillary would be the first US Secretary of State to travel to Myanmar in 50 years. Justifying the decision, she said a wind of change is blowing in Myanmar, but more still needs to be done. "Part of why I'm going is to make my own evaluation as to how serious and sincere they are. We are encouraged by some of the steps that they've taken, but they have to do more. And we've consistently said that," Hillary told the MSNBC. "They have to release all political prisoners. I mean, that just is a condition. They need to begin to look at how they resolve these ethnic conflicts that have driven tens of thousands of Burmese of different ethnicities into refugee status. They have to have a real electoral system with an open door to political parties and free expression. I mean, this is about whether they are on a path to democracy," Hillary said. "There is still a lot to be done and it has to be tested, but I'm going to go and meet with, obviously, Aung San Suu Kyi, but the highest levels of the government, civil society, other members of the opposition, and just convey that the United States is prepared to support a peaceful institutionalisation of democracy," she told Fox news. "We'd like to see more political prisoners released. We would like to see a real political process and real elections. We'd like to see an end to the conflicts, particularly the terrible conflicts with ethnic minorities. But we think there's an opportunity and we want to test it," she said. In another interview to the CNN, Hillary said she is going to Myanmar to test the waters there. "One of the reasons that I'm going is to test what the true intentions are and whether there is a commitment to both economic and political reform," she said. "We have followed the situation very closely. We had the first-ever special envoy to Burma, created by the Congress, appointed by the Administration, over the last several months, has been there several times. I've talked to Aung San Suu Kyi; the President has. We've had many interactions with her through top officials, along with others. And there certainly does seem to be an opening," Hillary said. "Now how real it is, how far it goes, we're going to have to make sure we have a better understanding than we do right now. But at least there has been some forward movement... So we're hoping, most certainly for the people of Burma, that this is real. But if it is, the United States will support and encourage it," she added. PTI http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/us-sanctions-on-myanmar-to-continue_742641.html ------------------------------------------- November 19, 2011 3:21 AM Analysis: US overtures may lure Myanmar from China (AP) WASHINGTON --- The first visit to Myanmar in a half-century by the top U.S. diplomat opens a door for that nation's military-dominated government to reduce its international isolation and dependence on a staunch but mistrusted ally: China. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Myanmar, also known as Burma, on Dec. 1-2, to meet with government and opposition leaders. It is the culmination of a two-year effort to engage with a repressive regime the U.S. had long shunned. Washington hopes to encourage further democratic reform rose after Myanmar staged elections last year that ushered in a government of civilians, albeit dominated by a military structure that had directly ruled the country since 1962. The new government also freed and began high-level talks with Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Obama administration's diplomatic overtures have a strategic intent, too, of seeking to expand U.S. ties in economically vibrant Southeast Asia as a counter to the growing influence of China. China has been an all-weather friend to its southern neighbor, Myanmar, and its ruling generals. After a bloody 1988 crackdown on democracy protesters that heralded Myanmar's descent into pariah status, China provided diplomatic support, investment and weaponry, while Western nations imposed tough economic, trade and political sanctions. Despite that backing, Myanmar's fiercely nationalistic leaders have an ingrained suspicion of China and are wary of becoming in thrall to another power. They have sought to balance China's influence by building ties with a neighbor to the west, India. "Burma has always been uncomfortable with both of those relationships and wants to balance them with others," said Priscilla Clapp, who served as the top U.S. diplomat in the country between 1999 and 2002. "That's the choice they are making now." She said that many of the older generation of army officers that now hold senior positions in the government first gained their military experience fighting insurgents who once controlled large tracts of the vast country's north, backed by China under then-ruler Mao Zedong. China has long since ended that support. And its economic footprint has grown in the past two decades, particularly in the north of the country, through investments and exploitation of natural resources, such as oil, gas, minerals and timber. The Chinese influence has bred resentment among the wider population, said Aung Din, a former political prisoner in Myanmar and now executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma. Probably the single most significant decision made by the new government of President Thein Sein has been to suspend work on a massive, China-backed hydropower dam in northern Kachin State that would have yielded major revenues from electricity exports. Thein Sein said the project, which would have flooded an extensive area and disrupted the flow of the nation's main Irrawaddy River, was against the will of the people. His decision also sent a powerful signal at a time the U.S. was making energetic efforts to engage Thein Sein's government: Myanmar was not beholden to China. Myanmar will have to do more to get what it really wants from Washington: the lifting of sanctions. That would require the approval of Congress, where some influential lawmakers have strong personal interest in restoring democracy to Myanmar. The country will first need to fully reconcile with Suu Kyi, release its political prisoners and make peace with ethnic insurgents. In the meantime, the Obama administration can reward progress with significant gestures. Clinton's visit, the first by a U.S. secretary of state since John Foster Dulles in 1955, is a diplomatic boost to Thein Sein and rewards the tentative reforms he has initiated so far that could yet face resistance from hard-liners in the military establishment. Clinton's visit also should strengthen the hand of Suu Kyi, who gave her green light for the trip and whose approval will be key to further U.S. steps to deepen ties with the government. Even if Myanmar's government unclenches its fist to meet the extended hand that the Obama administration says it is offering, do not expect lightning political change. Washington has welcomed the decision of Suu Kyi's party to contest coming by-elections after unfair regulations were amended. But even if it should fare well, her party will have limited leverage. The military-proxy party controls nearly 80 percent of the seats. ____ EDITOR'S NOTE --- Matthew Pennington covers U.S.-Asian affairs for The Associated Press. WASHINGTON (AP) --- The first visit to Myanmar in a half-century by the top U.S. diplomat opens a door for that nation's military-dominated government to reduce its international isolation and dependence on a staunch but mistrusted ally: China. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Myanmar, also known as Burma, on Dec. 1-2, to meet with government and opposition leaders. It is the culmination of a two-year effort to engage with a repressive regime the U.S. had long shunned. Washington hopes to encourage further democratic reform rose after Myanmar staged elections last year that ushered in a government of civilians, albeit dominated by a military structure that had directly ruled the country since 1962. The new government also freed and began high-level talks with Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Obama administration's diplomatic overtures have a strategic intent, too, of seeking to expand U.S. ties in economically vibrant Southeast Asia as a counter to the growing influence of China. China has been an all-weather friend to its southern neighbor, Myanmar, and its ruling generals. After a bloody 1988 crackdown on democracy protesters that heralded Myanmar's descent into pariah status, China provided diplomatic support, investment and weaponry, while Western nations imposed tough economic, trade and political sanctions. Despite that backing, Myanmar's fiercely nationalistic leaders have an ingrained suspicion of China and are wary of becoming in thrall to another power. They have sought to balance China's influence by building ties with a neighbor to the west, India. "Burma has always been uncomfortable with both of those relationships and wants to balance them with others," said Priscilla Clapp, who served as the top U.S. diplomat in the country between 1999 and 2002. "That's the choice they are making now." She said that many of the older generation of army officers that now hold senior positions in the government first gained their military experience fighting insurgents who once controlled large tracts of the vast country's north, backed by China under then-ruler Mao Zedong. China has long since ended that support. And its economic footprint has grown in the past two decades, particularly in the north of the country, through investments and exploitation of natural resources, such as oil, gas, minerals and timber. The Chinese influence has bred resentment among the wider population, said Aung Din, a former political prisoner in Myanmar and now executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma. Probably the single most significant decision made by the new government of President Thein Sein has been to suspend work on a massive, China-backed hydropower dam in northern Kachin State that would have yielded major revenues from electricity exports. Thein Sein said the project, which would have flooded an extensive area and disrupted the flow of the nation's main Irrawaddy River, was against the will of the people. His decision also sent a powerful signal at a time the U.S. was making energetic efforts to engage Thein Sein's government: Myanmar was not beholden to China. Myanmar will have to do more to get what it really wants from Washington: the lifting of sanctions. That would require the approval of Congress, where some influential lawmakers have strong personal interest in restoring democracy to Myanmar. The country will first need to fully reconcile with Suu Kyi, release its political prisoners and make peace with ethnic insurgents. In the meantime, the Obama administration can reward progress with significant gestures. Clinton's visit, the first by a U.S. secretary of state since John Foster Dulles in 1955, is a diplomatic boost to Thein Sein and rewards the tentative reforms he has initiated so far that could yet face resistance from hard-liners in the military establishment. Clinton's visit also should strengthen the hand of Suu Kyi, who gave her green light for the trip and whose approval will be key to further U.S. steps to deepen ties with the government. Even if Myanmar's government unclenches its fist to meet the extended hand that the Obama administration says it is offering, do not expect lightning political change. Washington has welcomed the decision of Suu Kyi's party to contest coming by-elections after unfair regulations were amended. But even if it should fare well, her party will have limited leverage. The military-proxy party controls nearly 80 percent of the seats. ____ EDITOR'S NOTE --- Matthew Pennington covers U.S.-Asian affairs for The Associated Press. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-215_162-57328112/analysis-us-overtures-may-lure-myanmar-from-china/ ---------------------------------------- Myanmar regime loosens its grip on elections Party of imprisoned opposition leader Suu Kyi to contest upcoming vote By Damien McElroy And Alex Spillius, Daily Telegraph, With Files From Reuters November 19, 2011 3:08 AM Hillary Clinton next month will become the most senior Western official to visit Myanmar in decades as Washington intensifies its effort to encourage what it called "flickers of progress" from the military regime. U.S. President Barack Obama telephoned Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner, from Air Force One to get her blessing for a visit by the U.S. Secretary of State, the first in more than 50 years. In a conversation that was unthinkable just six months ago, U.S. officials said that "the president was very struck by both her substantive observations and her warmth. They reviewed the progress that has been made in Burma [which the regime calls Myanmar], including her release, her dialogue with the government, the release of some political prisoners, and legislation that could open the political system further." En route to a summit in Indonesia, where he will encounter Thein Sein, Myanmar's military-backed president, Obama said: "For decades Americans have been deeply concerned about the denial of basic human rights for the Burmese people." He said that the current environment in Myanmar was a rare opening that could help millions of people "and that possibility is too important to ignore." "After years of darkness, we've seen flickers of progress in these last several weeks," he added. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) announced Friday it would re-register as a political party and contest coming byelections after boycotting an election last year. "The NLD has not worked as a political party for a long time so we need to practice as a political party again," Suu Kyi said. The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990, but the ruling junta never allowed the party to take power. Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest, a sentence that would last for 20 years. Myanmar's next election was not held until November last year, and the NLD boycotted it, mainly because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members. Myanmar recently amended the political party law removing the clause barring anyone convicted of a crime from joining a party or taking part in an election, paving the way for those who had served a prison term, including Suu Kyi, to contest the polls. The decision to amend the party laws was widely seen as a move to bring the NLD into Myanmar's new legislative apparatus, which has operated more freely than expected and allowed the kind of public debate that was forbidden under the military. Now aged 66, Suu Kyi hinted that she would contest one of the 48 by-election seats available. No polling dates have been announced. "If I think I should take part in the election, I will," she told senior party members in Rangoon. "Some people are worried that taking part could harm my dignity. Frankly, if you do politics, you should not be thinking about your dignity." Ko Ko Hlaing, a senior adviser to Sein, said the NLD's decision was a "significant step". "[Suu Kyi's] party will be a formidable opposition force in the parliament. That is a very good formula for the democratic system," he said. ? Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Myanmar+regime+loosens+grip+elections/5737953/story.html#ixzz1e9nFHgi5 ---------------------------------------- Suu Kyi's party decides to enter legal politics for democratization in Burma By Zin Linn Nov 19, 2011 12:16AM UTC The National League for Democracy party (NLD), led by Burma's Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has decided to re-register officially so as to take part in upcoming elections. Out of 116 central committee members of the party, 106 representatives join in Friday meeting to make a historic decision. The NLD declined to register as a party ahead of 2010 polls because of a restriction that prevented Aung San Suu Kyi and several politicians under detention from running in the polls. Mainstream of the representatives supported in favor of re-registering as a legal party, after the government amended some clauses of the party registration law. The government also showed some soft stances including release of some political prisoners and reducing some media limitations in recent months, some sources said. The NLD's Friday decision indicates that it has confidence in government's recent political reforms by the military-backed government which took office after the controversial elections in November 2010. On Thursday, the National League for Democracy party welcomed the approval of Burma's bid to chair Southeast Asia's regional bloc in 2014, saying it would boost political change in the inaccessible nation. Many democracy-supporters in the country and members of the National League for Democracy back up the idea of re-entering the NLD to play in the national politics. In its Friday statement, the party said the "NLD has unanimously decided to re-register as a political party... and will run in the elections". Most Burma watchers believe the participation of some NLD legislators including Suu Kyi in the existing parliament would definitely improve the military-dominated government's image and legitimacy. According some analysts, Suu Kyi's decision seems to be originated in a negotiation with President Thein Sein in August, in Nay Pyi Taw. To amend party registration law and to free political prisoners seem to be part of the said compromise consequently. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama declared in Bali today that he will send Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Burma next month---for the first visit to the country by a US secretary of state since military rule was first imposed nearly 50 years ago. In his official statement, Obama said, "Last night, I spoke to Aung San Suu Kyi, directly, and confirmed that she supports American engagement to move this process forward. So today, I've asked Secretary Hillary Clinton to go to Burma. She will be the first American Secretary of State to travel to the country in over half a century, and she will explore whether the United States can empower a positive transition in Burma and begin a new chapter between our countries." "That possibility will depend upon the Burmese government taking more concrete action. If Burma fails to move down the path of reform, it will continue to face sanctions and isolation. But if it seizes this moment, then reconciliation can prevail, and millions of people may get the chance to live with a greater measure of freedom, prosperity, and dignity. And that possibility is too important to ignore." So, some observers believe that NLD's today decision seems to be interconnected with international encouragement by the US and other Western democracies. The international community including the UN has been pushing Burma (Myanmar) to free the remaining political prisoners as well as to give a political space for the NLD. Furthermore, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations are also asked the regime to stop warring against ethnic rebel groups and open a meaningful political dialogue with the ethnic groups who launched armed struggles for their self-determination for more than fifty years. If those ethnic rebellions were not resolved within a few months, the task to create reconciliation between government and the ethnic groups would likely be taken care by the NLD following the expected bi-elections in the near future. Hence, after a tough decision of reregistering, the NLD headed by Suu Kyi has to face many more struggles including the constitutional issues on the road to democratization of the nation. http://asiancorrespondent.com/69935/suu-kyi%E2%80%99s-party-decides-to-enter-legal-politics-for-democratization-in-burma/ __._,_.___
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