News and Articles on Burma-Sunday, 27 November 2011-uzl

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