News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 13 January, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 13 January, 2011
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Than Shwe Chooses Next President—Himself
Ethnics Seek Vice-President Nomination
Burma Army to set up more battalions on the Thai-Burma border
Burmese Bank Rumored on Verge of Bankruptcy
Security Tightened in Search for Militants, Dissidents
Escaped prisoners say Burmese Army using them as human mine sweepers
The Show in Burma is coming up
Burma to privatise 90% of its companies - report
The Suu Kyi effect: A new age of quiet defiance
Suu Kyi fights for party’s existence
MYANMAR: Addicted to poppy farming
SNLD: Insurrections in Burma is junta creation
Burma’s first parliamentary assembly and the question of self-determination
Release of Suu Kyi May Boost Tourism
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Than Shwe Chooses Next President—Himself
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, January 14, 2011

Burma's military junta strongman, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, has reportedly drawn up a draft outlining his lineup of the future ruling hierarchy, some two weeks ahead of the opening session of Parliament on Jan. 31, according to sources in Burma’s administrative capital, Naypyidaw.

Than Shwe has reportedly penciled himself in as President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

However, the junta’s No.2, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, is reportedly set to retire from office for reasons of ill-health.

The military regime's Secretary-1 ex-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo is reported to be one of two vice presidents. The junta’s No.3, ex-Gen Shwe Mann is to be appointed as the Chairman of the Union Hluttaw [parliament], one of the most powerful posts under the 2008 Constitution.

And Prime Minister Thein Sein, who is also the chairman of the junta’s proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), will hold onto the party leadership position, the sources said.

Lt-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the current Joint-Chief of Staff (Army, Navy, Air Force) is reportedly set to become the Commander-in-Chief, while Maj-Gen Soe Win, the Chief of the Bureau of Special Operations-6, is to be appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief.

Lt-Gen Myint Aung, who was reportedly in line to be Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, will now take the position of Minister of Defense, while Lt-Gen Ko Ko, who was said to be in line to be Deputy Commander-in-Chief, is now set to become the Minister of Home Affairs.

Despite the authenticity of the leaked information and the reliability of its sources, The Irrawaddy cautions that any speculation of the divisions of power in Burma is very difficult to ascertain as every and any decision can be taken, modified or reversed at any time by one man, the dictator Than Shwe.

In late August, an extensive military reshuffle took place when several older military generals were replaced with younger ones, starting with the military’s third-highest ranking position of Joint-Chief of Staff. At that time, the junta’s top two generals, Than Shwe and Maung Aye, reportedly resigned from the military. Later, they appeared in public still in military dress and addressed as Commander-in-Chief and Deputy-Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces.

However, military sources in Naypyidaw said Than Shwe reportedly told his spiritual leaders and close friends and relatives in July that he wanted to take a rest from leading the country. His wife Kyaing Kyaing disagreed that he should retire and argued that he still had “a lot of work to do for the country.”

“What we know is that he is not fit and needs to rest,” said a military source. “But his family won't let him—especially his wife, his daughters and his favorite grandson. They simply can't face losing power.”

The official added: “You have to understand that our leadership prides himself on being unpredictable.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20528
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Ethnics Seek Vice-President Nomination
By KO HTWE Friday, January 14, 2011

Six ethnic political parties that won seats in November's general election will meet on Saturday in Rangoon with a view to establishing a unified approach in calling for equality and self-determination in the new Parliament.

The parties will also discuss a proposal to nominate an ethnic representative as vice president in both or either of the houses to be submitted to the Electoral College, according to several ethnic party leaders.

“Our nomination will be in line with the rules of the Constitution,” said Aye Maung, the chairman of the Rakhine National Democratic Party (RNDP). “We would like to propose an ethnic representative to be Minister of State, but that simply won't happen.”

The six parties that will meet include the All Mon Regions Democracy Party, the Chin National Party, the RNDP and the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), said Sai Saung See, the vice-chairman of the SNDP.

He said the ethnic parties wish to nominate one representative that will stand before each House—the Pyithu Hluttaw (Peoples' Assembly) and Amyotha Hluttaw (Nationalities Assembly)—which each hold a duty to elect one vice-president as two of the three members of the Electoral collage.

The other Electoral College vice-president will be selected by the 25 percent of Parliamentary seats held by military appointees.

“We believe the chief ministers of each state should appoint a representative from the ethnic minorities,” said Saung See.

Some of the 14 regional and state chief ministers have already been selected, and the six parties will discuss a nomination for the position of Chief Minister of State, he added.

However, said Aye Maung, it seems the chief ministers will be representatives with an ethnic background appointed from the Union Solidarity and Development Party.

Although representative from the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party cannot attend the meeting, they have said they will stand by the decision made by the parties on Saturday, said the party chairman, Khin Maung Myint.

Burma’s Parliament will convene on Jan. 31 for the first time in 22 years. Both the Upper and Lower Houses (the Amyotha Hluttaw and the Pyithu Hluttaw), as well as the 14 regional and state parliaments, will commence sessions at 8:55 am in Naypyidaw, according to state media reports. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20527
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Burma Army to set up more battalions on the Thai-Burma border
Friday, 14 January 2011 13:43 Hseng Khio Fah

The Burma Army is reportedly going to set up a new town and 3 more battalions in Shan State East's Mongton Township bordering with Thailand's Chiangmai province, where the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Shan State Army (SSA) 'South' are active, according to local sources.

The location of the new town will be at Monghta village tract, west of Mongton, 44 kilometers north of Chiangmai's Wiang Haeng district. This project was announced when Brig-Gen Than Htun Oo, Commander of the Triangle Region Command, visited the areas recently, said Mongton residents.

"He [the commander] told that Monghta village will be developed into a town and will place at least 3 permanent battalions there and urge people to relocate there," a resident said. "No one gave him [the commander] any response on that day 12 January."

According to him, a plot of land will be sold at Kyat 45,000 (U $ 50). The commander was reported to have arrived in the area since 11 January and was still said to be touring in their bases along the Thai-Burma border until yesterday.

A Thai-Burma border watcher analyst on the subject of the planned project that the military junta is likely to block the route of the UWSA fighters because Monghta, where the project will taken place, is positioned between operational areas of UWSA's 778th Brigade and 772nd Brigade and also serves as the gateway to the anti-Naypyitaw Shan State Army (SSA) 'South" base Loi Taileng.

"It will be easy for them [the junta] to watch over all the movements not only of the Wa but also the SSA fighters if they can hold this point plus Thai army activities," he said.

A similar project was also reported to be constructed in Shan State South's areas between the Shan State Army (SSA) North bases in the west and United Wa State Army (UWSA) bases in the east, in December. It was the installation of artillery and infantry units in areas where the two groups [SSA 'North' and Wa] that are at loggerheads with the junta are active.

Currently, the number of reports of the Burma Army's expansion in the ethnic states, especially in armed groups controlled areas, has increased.
Nevertheless, many think that there as yet any sign of a major operation, but believe it will be after a new government is installed. The first session of Burma's new parliament will be convened on 31 January. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3411:burma-army-to-set-up-more-battalions-on-the-thai-burma-border&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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Burmese Bank Rumored on Verge of Bankruptcy
By YENI Friday, January 14, 2011

Cooperative Bank, Burma's second-largest privately owned financial institution, is fighting for its survival as depositors rush to withdraw their savings amid rumors that the bank's owner is involved in a business dispute with a crony of one of the ruling regime's most powerful generals.

According to Rangoon-based business sources, the bank's reserves have dwindled to almost nothing, and its chairman, Khin Maung Aye, is struggling to secure credit from other banks to stay afloat.

Among the banks that Khin Maung Aye has turned to are Kanbawza Bank, owned by Aung Ko Win, a close associate of Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, the Burmese junta's second in command, and Myawaddy Bank, owned by the military-run Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited.

“None of them will lend him anything. We are very concerned that Cooperative Bank is on the verge of collapse because of its extremely weak financial position,” said a source close to the banks.

However, there have also been reports that some of Burma's senior leaders have stepped in to prevent the failure of the bank. Specifically, former Gen Thein Sein, the country's prime minister, and former Maj-Gen Tin Htut, the minister of the Co-operatives and patron of the Cooperative Bank , who are said to be close to Khin Maung Aye, are believed to have intervened on the bank's behalf.

The same reports added, however, that Khin Maung Aye remains under pressure, with some other leading generals pushing for his resignation as the bank's chairman and as the secretary general of the Myanmar Bank Association.

According to Burma's Central Bank, Cooperative Bank held around 35 billion kyat (US $42 million) in deposits before the crisis. However, sources said that depositors began quietly withdrawing their money from the bank in mid-December after it was rumored that Khin Maung Aye was on bad terms with former Lt-Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, the regime's secretary 1 and Trade Council chairman.

Sources said that Khin Maung Aye's troubles started when he complained late last year about Tin Aung Myint Oo's decision to give licenses to Asia World, a company owned by his business associate Tun Myint Naing (aka Steven Law), the son of former drug lord Lo Hsing Han, to operate ground handling and passenger services at the country's two international airports in Rangoon and Mandalay.

Tin Aung Myint Oo has also recently awarded several other major contracts to Asia World, including for construction of hydro-power plants, jetties in Rangoon port, airports, and roads and bridges.

“Khin Maung Aye openly asked Tin Aung Myint Oo to give the ground handling and passenger services licenses to MAI [Myanmar Airways International], which is partly owned by Cooperative Bank,” a source said, adding that this prompted the regime's secretary 1 to urge some action against Khin Maung Aye in meetings with other top generals in Napyidaw.

According to business sources, the Trade Council has been pushing Khin Maung Aye to sell Cooperative Bank's shares in MAI and hand control of the airline to Kanbawza Bank, which bought the former national airline early last year in partnership with Cooperative Bank and Tun Foundation Bank. Meanwhile, Khin Maung Aye's construction company, Kaung Myanmar Associates Construction, has also lost contracts to build state guest houses in Naypyidaw.

As Khin Maung Aye's fortunes continue to plummet, business people are watching the market closely to see what impact all of this is having.

One effect so far, according to business sources in Rangoon, has been a rise in demand for gold, as businessmen who have withdrawn their money from Cooperative Bank buy the precious metal for safekeeping.

“Demand has immediately jumped up,” said the owner of a gold shop in Rangoon. “When I ask the customers, I found that many were businessmen who had withdrawn their money from Cooperative Bank.”

The price of gold in the Rangoon market on Friday was 634,500 kyat ($761.70) per kyat-thar (0.036 ounce).

Another reason for the increased demand for gold, said some observers, was that many business people are buying it as a hedge against a further decline in the value of the US dollar against the kyat. One US dollar is currently selling for 833 kyat.

Yan Pai and Aung Thet Wine also contributed this article.
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20526
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Security Tightened in Search for Militants, Dissidents
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, January 14, 2011

The Burmese authorities have tightened security at border checkpoints and increased nighttime screening of households in the former capital Rangoon in an attempt to track down dissidents and militant anti-government activists.

At least 10 police checkpoints have been set up on the road from the restive border town of Myawaddy in Karen State to the country's largest city, Rangoon. Sources said that at no less than four of these checkpoints, passengers were ordered off buses, searched and questioned by a combined force of police, military intelligence and immigration officials.

The number of checkpoints has also increased in Chin, Kachin and Shan states on roads to border-crossings to India and China, according to local sources.

“Passengers coming from the Indian and Chinese borders were mostly checked for illicit drugs,” said a bus driver. “Those coming from the Thai border were checked to see whether they were political dissidents or members of armed groups, or just migrant workers.”

Rangoon residents reported that nighttime checks of households, family members and guests have recently increased.

“No one dares to receive a guest without a national identity card. The guest must be registered at the local quarter authorities,” said a Rangoon resident, adding that he heard that the military government has a plan to digitize national identity cards to make it easier for the security forces to track down dissidents.

Those heading by road to the capital, Naypyidaw, were checked at least once and their national identity cards were scrutinized, military sources said. Even relatives visiting family members at the military headquarters in Naypyidaw were checked en route, they said.

“The security forces have been provided with a list and photographs of those wanted by military intelligence,” said a member of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, a militant group blamed by the Burmese regime for a deadly bombing campaign conducted during last April's water festival in Rangoon.

The group has neither claimed responsibility nor rejected the regime's allegations. In a recent interview with The Irrawaddy, the senior member of the group said that it will increase attacks against the Burmese military government in the form of urban warfare.

In a related development, an anti-personnel land mine exploded in Kawkareik Township in Karen State on Friday, seriously injuring at least 15 bus passengers, including four military personnel. The renegade Brigade 5 of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army is suspected of planting the device on the road. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20525
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NEWKERALA.COM
Escaped prisoners say Burmese Army using them as human mine sweepers

London, Jan 14 : Three prisoners who managed to escape from the clutches of the Burmese Army have claimed that military junta in Myanmar is using about 600 prisoners as human mine sweepers along the country's border with Thailand.

The Telegraph quoted the three prisoners, as saying that as prisoners did not possess money to bribe their jailers to avoid forced military service, they were being sent to the frontier to act as 'porters carrying ammunition'.

"We had to carry ammunition, equipment and food for the soldiers. The worst thing is that they used prisoners to clear minefields ahead of their advance. There were many prisoners who were injured by the landmines after they were forced to walk ahead of the soldiers. We ran away because we didn''t want the same thing to happen to us," one of the escaped prisoners said.

According to a human rights group, these prisoners suffered serious injuries as they were forced to walk ahead of troops across mined land.

The Burmese military regime regularly tortures its opponents, attacks rebel villages and uses rape as a weapon of war, reports said.

--ANI http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-124134.html
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The Show in Burma is coming up
By Dr. Tint Swe

The Burmese military regime has recently announced on 4th November, the enactment of a law under which all males between 18 and 45 and all females between 18 and 35 years of age can be drafted into the armed forces. While there is no doubt of a shortage of volunteers to join the Army, nobody knows why such a law was kept away from the public for two months. It is also strange that it was enacted on the eve of the Parliament session that is scheduled to convene on January 31, 2011.

The bill would not have been rejected by the parliament as the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has 259 out of 330 seats i.e. 78.48% in the Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives) and 129 out of 168 seats i.e. 76.79% in the Amyotha Hluttaw (House of Nationalities). In addition there are 25% selected army parliamentarians. What was the hurry then?

Even earlier, the National Service in Military (NSM) was in practice but enforced only for medical doctors. Out of the fresh MBBS and BDS degree holders some of them were inducted into military service for three years. They had to undergo a month-long basic military training at the Medical Corps Center. Regrettably it was found that the majority of recruited doctors showed no signs of interest in army and 90% of them left after the term. Moreover the Tatmadaw (Army) had been short of physicians and dental surgeons because all Universities and schools were repeatedly shut down following the 8888 student-led uprising. Then the military regime started the Defense Services Medical Academy in 1992 providing stipends and exclusive facilities for them.

According to the Human Rights Watch, Burma has the largest number of child soldiers in the world. In 2002 there was a report named “My Gun was as Tall as Me: Child Soldiers in Burma” and in 2007 a new report was titled “Sold to be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma’ appeared.

In October 2006 the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) was handed over a list of 17 complaints of child recruitment by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In March 2007 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Burma, expressing grave concern at the continuing recruitment and use of child soldiers and strongly urging the regime to put an immediate end to the practice. In April 2007 the UN Security Council working group on children and armed conflict placed the situation of children affected by armed conflict in Myanmar on its agenda.

In February 2007 a Supplementary Understanding was signed by the SPDC and the International Labor Organization (ILO), which has been monitoring rampant forced labor practice in Burma. It provides for a complaint mechanism which allows the citizens to bring cases of forced labor under ILO Convention 29 Concerning Forced Labor to the ILO liaison office in Yangon. Since then ILO office in Rangoon is busy.

Hence the new law will help to recruit soldiers at will. But for what purpose! The observers predict that more young Burmese will be leaving the country to escape from five years imprisonment if they fail to serve in the armed forces. They will do so because they dislike military service as the regime has severely damaged the integrity of once reputed Burma Army. They also do not think it is right when no possible foreign aggression is perceived and conflict will be only internal, with the possibility of ethnic groups rising against the regime particularly after the recent elections.

Five million Burmese are living or working in other countries. Twenty years ago before this military junta seized the power, for Burmese citizens going abroad was a luxury and only political dissidents crossed the borders with Thailand, India, Bangladesh and China to seek shelter. The prediction that the election held on 7th November 2010 would not halt or stop refugee and migrant workers outflow is proved correct and a new group of refugees evading the mandatory conscription is bound to grow.

The parliaments will meet at 8:55 AM on 31st January 2011 as per an official broadcast on 10th January. On 11 January the booklets on Rules and Regulations for parliaments were also sold but an elected representative failed to buy a copy even after standing for 45 minutes in a long queue.

Apart from the USDP, other parties have not received any official communication on the date for parliaments. he list of military representatives is yet to be announced.

Those who will be in the Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives) and in the Amyotha Hluttaw (House of Nationalities) can correctly guess that they will have to go Naypyitaw. But Region and State parliament representatives have no idea of the location where they have to make debates and laws.

One parliamentarian who was also elected in 1990 election said, “We have waited for two decades to make our demands through the parliament. Now that the parliament is going to be convened, I hope I will be able to work for the good of the people and the country from within the system.” He is from the National Democratic Force (NDF).

Many observers continue making the mistake that NDF which won only 8 seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw, 4 seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw and 4 seats in the Regions and States Parliament is the sister party of the National League for Democracy (NLD) which did not contest in the election held in 2010. The NDF is totally different from the Party for National Democracy (PND) which was purposely formed before the 1990 election for fear of dissolution of the NLD. When Aung San Suu Kyi received the leaders of NDF on 30th December, it was more social or personal and no politics was discussed during that meeting.

Optimists, who hoped for better life and conditions after the election, have seen no release of prisoners, no relaxation and on the contrary, experience more censorship after the much-criticized election. So they have to look forward to convening the parliament and formation of the new government. Will they be lucky?

The restrictions for parliamentary conduct have been made known. Any protest staged within parliament is liable to two years of imprisonment. It is meant particularly for non-USDP representatives: 66 in the Pyithu Hluttaw, 107 in the Amyotha Hluttaw, 886 in the Regions and State Parliaments and 29 ethnic representatives.

Some observers consider that USDP is a pro-junta party. In fact it is more than a sister party but identical twins. So all policies and practices will be exactly the same as those of the SPDC era. The Burmese people cannot expect any improved livelihood and the neighbors cannot hope for enhanced cross-border relations.

To sum up, a new stage has been set in Burma to perform the old drama.

Dr. Tin Swe is an elected member of Parliament from Burma from the NLD now living in F-15, Vikas Puri, New Delhi and can be reached at his mobile- 981-000-3286, e-mail drswe01@gmail.com http://www.eurasiareview.com/analysis/the-show-in-burma-is-coming-up-13012011/
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14 January 2011 Last updated at 04:06 GMT
Burma to privatise 90% of its companies - report
By Mark Gregory BBC News

The Burmese government may be planning a dramatic change in the way the country's economy is managed.

According to a report in local news media, the government intends to privatise 90% of state-owned enterprises by the end of this year.

If true, it would mark a major shift in policy for the country, which recently held its first election in 20 years.

Until fairly recently it has been the most rigidly state-dominated economy in Asia after North Korea.

So is the report credible? Hard information on economic policy in Burma is almost impossible to obtain.

The notoriously secretive government rarely speaks to Western media.

But within that context, the latest report appears reasonably well sourced.

The reputable Burmese business news magazine Biweekly Eleven quotes the deputy minister for industry, U Khin Kyaw, as saying the government plans to sell most state enterprises into private hands within the next few months.
Politics

Observers say the main motivation for this dramatic policy shift would be political not economic.

Burma recently had a general election - the first in two decades - which, while by no standard free or fair, is leading to a change of generation in the leadership.

One theory is the privatisation programme provides a kind of golden parachute for those exiting power.

This suggests that most of the privatised assets will be acquired at knock-down prices by people who have had positions in government, and by their families and friends.

"I think what's really going on is there's going to be a bit of a firesale, if you like, of these assets to people closely connected to the current regime," said Sean Turnell, a professor of economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

"And really the motivation for them is making sure this wealth remains in their hands, regardless of what happens to the political situation," Mr Turnell said.

In fact Burma has already moved towards liberalising what has been one of the most state-dominated economies in Asia.

More than 100 government-owned enterprises, including petrol stations and port facilities, were sold off within the last 12 months.

China has emerged as the main buyer for Burma's plentiful exports of gas, gems and other natural resources in recent years.

But observers say sensitivities about national sovereignty make it unlikely that the Burmese authorities would allow Chinese firms to acquire outright ownership of privatised assets.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12188585
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The Suu Kyi effect: A new age of quiet defiance

Two months after her release, Burma's most famous dissident is inspiring a shift among protesters
By Phoebe Kennedy in Rangoon
Friday, 14 January 2011

Aung San Suu Kyi, centre, opens the National League for Democracy's HQ in Rangoon

Her release brought joy and a rare glimpse of hope to the long-suffering people of Burma. Now, two months after democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest, the euphoria has faded, but hope remains.

On the surface, little has changed. After a November election boycotted by Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party and decried as rigged by other opposition politicians, the Burmese junta is pressing ahead with its plans to create a "discipline-flourishing democracy".

A new parliament will convene at the end of January with the ruling generals firmly in control. A quarter of the seats in the two-house Union Parliament are reserved for military nominees. Of the seats contested in the election, 80 per cent went to the junta's proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-suu-kyi-effect-a-new-age-of-quiet-defiance-2184290.html
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Suu Kyi fights for party’s existence
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 14 January 2011

Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi appealed to Burma’s Supreme Court Thursday, the latest in a string of legal wranglings over the dissolution of her political party before last year’s elections.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner’s National League for Democracy (NLD) was disbanded for boycotting the military-ruled country’s first election in 20 years in response to rules that seemed designed to bar her from taking part.

“We submitted our special appeal to the Supreme Court in [the capital] Naypyidaw this afternoon. We are waiting for their reply,” said Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi’s lawyers and a party spokesman.

Suu Kyi, a co-founder of the NLD, was released from more than seven years in detention on 13 November, a few days after the rare election in which the junta-backed party claimed overwhelming victory.

Shortly after her release, the court refused to hear her lawsuit against the junta for dissolving the NLD. She had unsuccessfully filed an earlier suit with the Supreme Court aimed at preventing its abolition.

Court verdicts in the military-ruled country rarely favour opposition activists, and a series of appeals by Suu Kyi against her house arrest – before it expired in November – were rejected.

The NLD was founded in 1988 after a popular uprising against the military junta that left thousands dead. Two years later the party won elections in a landslide but the results were never recognised by the regime.
http://www.dvb.no/news/suu-kyi-fights-for-partys-existence/13707
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MYANMAR: Addicted to poppy farming
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Date: 13 Jan 2011

SHAN STATE, 13 January 2011 (IRIN) - Poverty and lucrative profits make poppy cultivation increasingly attractive to farmers who would otherwise produce legal crops to feed their families and make a living, say experts.

"More of the rural poor continue to be drawn into participating in the illicit drug trade as a last means of finding money to feed their families," Jason Eligh, Country Representative for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Myanmar, told IRIN.

Shan State, 400km north of the capital, Yangon, between Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, produces more than 90 percent of all opium in Myanmar, an estimated 35,000 tons in 2010, according to UNODC.

UNODC is the only international agency directly involved in supporting different crops in poppy cultivation areas, with three agriculture projects in southern Shan State trying to reach 100,000 people. However, much more needs to be done to stop farmers from reverting to opium production, said Eligh.

"UNODC wants to see a strong alternative development response, one that includes market access, community mobilization, access to credit, improved technology and better overall infrastructure in rural areas."

Cash crop

In 2010, a higher proportion of farmers' income came from poppies than in previous years, reversing a trend of steady decline in the past six years.

Between 2003 and 2009, the proportion of total household income from poppies fell from 70 to 20 percent, according to a December 2010 UNODC report. [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91358 ]

In 2010, however, high prices paid for poppy in Myanmar and low food security throughout the country meant income from the seed contributed to 43 percent of total household income in Shan State, the report stated. About a quarter of the state's population was involved, estimate aid agencies.

Though prices at source (farm-gate) for poppy fell marginally in 2010 from 2009, opium overall remained lucrative at US$305 per kilo. Poppy farmers can earn 13 times more money cultivating poppies than rice, making poppies the cash crop of choice for most, based on the UNODC report.

Farmers forced out of poppy cultivation are having problems growing other food to survive. "I grow enough vegetables to keep my family going, but that is all," U Tin Kyi told IRIN.

U Tin Kyi grew poppy seeds to supplement his income until authorities destroyed his fields two years ago. Like many of his neighbours in this hilltop village, U Tin Kyi has little extra income. "The fuel cost to get to the market outweighs any profit I would make from selling vegetables," he told IRIN.

Eradication efforts

Poppy cultivation continued to rise in Myanmar in 2010, despite an official 15-year drug elimination plan developed in the late 1990s. In 2009, the authorities initiated the final five-year phase of this plan.

Government figures claim 8,268 hectares of poppy-cultivating land were eradicated in 2010, a 102 percent increase on the previous year.

But other groups calculate that Myanmar's poppy cultivation area and yield actually increased during this period.

"In 2010 we estimate that there [was] 20 percent more area under opium poppy cultivation, a 46 percent increase in average opium yield, and a 17 percent increase in the number of households involved in domestic opium poppy cultivation," said Eligh of UNODC.

In northern Shan State, in 2008, government figures showed 25 percent of poppy fields were destroyed, but a 2010 report [ http://www.womenofburma.org/Report/PoisonedHillsFinal.pdf ] by Palaung Women's Organization (PWO), an NGO based in Mae Sot along the Thai-Myanmar border, stated only 11 percent of poppy fields had been eradicated.

Government anti-drug teams were only destroying easily visible poppy fields and filing false eradication data to the police headquarters, the report said. At the same time, farmers were forced to pay taxes to continue growing poppies.

In Mantong village in northern Shan State, PWO estimated the government collected approximately $37,000 in poppy taxes in 2008. A selection of IRIN reports are posted on ReliefWeb. Find more IRIN news and analysis at http://www.irinnews.org

Une sélection d'articles d'IRIN sont publiés sur ReliefWeb. Trouvez d'autres articles et analyses d'IRIN sur http://www.irinnews.org

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. Refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use.

Cet article ne reflète pas nécessairement les vues des Nations Unies. Voir IRIN droits d'auteur pour les conditions d'utilisation.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/JDUN-8D49AW?OpenDocument
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SNLD: Insurrections in Burma is junta creation
Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:52 Hseng Khio Fah

Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) met with Paul Grove, the senior Republican aide on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee for foreign operations to stress the fact that insurrections in Burma, which have taken place for over six decades now, is intentionally created by the ruling military junta. They constitute one of its ways to keep and expand its power, according to the party’s spokesperson, Sai Leik.

“We explained to him [Mr Grove] about Burma’s problems and asked him to help us,” Sai Leik said.

In its meeting on 11 January, SNLD explained to Senator Grove that the reason Burma’s problem cannot be solved is not due to problems between Burmese people and ethnic nationalities, as the ruling junta wants the international community to believe.

“The reason is it [the military junta] doesn’t want to hand over its power to a people-elected government. It then finds ways to make people unhappy with them [the military junta] until the people could not bear it and resisted,” said Sai Leik. “This is why insurrections have not ended yet.”

Without the uprisings, the junta would not have a proper reason to show the international community why it keeps controlling the country. For instance, it claims that ethnic areas have no peace and stability even though the junta contributes to this lack of peace and stability.

“They are taking advantage of the situation to control the country. In order to end the instability, there must be a tripartite dialogue,” a SNLD secretary told Mr Grove.

To make the tripartite dialogue a reality, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and National League for Democracy (NLD) must propagate the principles of democracy and federalism among the people, which the non-Burma ethnic parties will have to propagate each among its own people. Both must then propagate them among the military until its lower ranks and officers push the top brass to open dialogue with the democratic and ethnic movements, he said.http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3410:snld-insurrections-in-burma-is-junta-creation&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Burma’s first parliamentary assembly and the question of self-determination
Fri, 2011-01-14 01:53 — editor

* Article

By - Zin Linn

Burma’s new legislative body is to convene for the first time on January 31, nearly two months after the military-ruled nation held a widely denounced election, the military junta’s media announced on last Monday. The new parliament, it is expected, will honor the final steps of its so-called seven-step roadmap to democracy.

The two-chamber national parliament will meet in the capital Naypyidaw, while new regional legislatures too will convene at the same time, government-controlled television reported, quoting an order from junta chief Senior General Than Shwe.

The new parliament was elected in polls held last November, which was criticized as sham by the opposition parties, including the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was recently freed from house arrest. The vote was widely alleged by democracy activists and Western governments as of fraud and bullying as well as barred the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party from participating.

According to a brief announcement by junta’s media, the country’s 1,154 lawmakers will assemble in a gigantic new building in the remote capital of Naypyitaw. It will be the first parliamentary session since a 1988 assembly in the old capital of Rangoon (Yangon).

The ruling junta’s military-backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), claimed more than 76 percent of seats in the two-house of the Union Parliament in November 7 polls, the country’s first in two decades.

According to new laws announced by head of the junta in November, members of parliaments will not be permitted the freedom of expression if their presentations jeopardize national security or the unity of the country. Any protest inside the parliament is carrying a punishment of up to two years imprisonment. Anyone apart from lawmakers that enters parliament while it is in session has to face a one-year prison term.

The election results give surety that the military, which has ruled Burma since 1962, will continue to exercise power.

A quarter of the seats in parliament were already reserved for the armed forces, which together with its political proxy USDP will have a happy majority for passing laws and electing the president. Under the junta’s 2008 constitution, parliament need not meet more than once a year. Dissatisfaction is spreading all through the society due to the flawed electoral process.

Up to now, it is unclear what function Than Shwe plans to play for his role.

The country’s last elections in 1990 were overwhelmingly won by the opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The military refused to hand over of power and locked up Aung San Suu Kyi for most of the past 21 years, and released her a week after the controversial elections. Her Party has been disbanded and has not been allowed sitting in the proposed new parliament. She was under detention for more than a decade and a half and was freed on 13 November, 2010.

Simultaneously, the three ceasefire armed groups have challenged Burma Army that pressured them to transform into Border Guard Forces (BGFs). For that reason, the groups have come around declining BGF plan in order to avoid Burmese junta’s oppressive strategies. The UWSA, the NDAA, and the Shan State Army-North are along with the other armed ethnic groups which are defying the military regime’s demands on them to join its Border Guard Force (BGF). Actually, the junta’s BGF program intended to win over the ceasefire groups by laying down their arms.

Coincidentally, the United Wa State Army (UWSA)’s political wing United Wa State Party (UWSP) has drawn another contradictive proposal which includes a point to demand for a state with the Right of Self Determination from the new government, quoting UWSP sources Shan Herald Agency for News said. The said proposal was drawn at the UWSP’s 5th annual district level party congress which is being held in Mongmai, 170 km north of its main base Panghsang from 20 to 29 December.

The UWSP’s new proposal which is to be presented to the new parliamentary government planned to be held on 31 January, 2011. In the proposal, UWSP says that their armed force will remain in the Wa State to defend their independence. Although they will not secede from the Union, they will steadfastly demand for a state with the Right of Self Determination from the upcoming government, upholding a policy of non-alignment and neutrality.

Subsequently, at the meeting of the 3rd Central Standing Committee (CSC) of the 14th KNU Congress was successfully held from December 14 to 19, 2010, according to the Karen National Union (Supreme Headquarters) source. KNU adopted the four guiding principles delineated by the late heroic leader Saw Ba U Gyi. The four principles are “Surrender is out of the question”, “We shall retain our arms”, “Recognition of Karen State must be complete” and “We shall decide our own political destiny.”

KNU says in its statement dated 23 December 2010: “As the parliament and government that would come into being according to the SPDC Road Map were for realization of the 2008 Constitution, the meeting adopted the view that instead of resolving the problems faced by Burma, it would create more insecurity and conflicts, especially in the political and military fields.”

As the self-styled new civilian government is the rebirth of the same military itself, the ethnic autonomy seems to be out of question. Correspondingly, national reconciliation proposal by Burma’s Nobel laureate has also to be faced the same destiny. Thus, people of Burma have to continue struggle for national reconciliation plus self-determination.

Obviously, Burma’s military dictators have held the recent polls, not to restore freedom, justice and equality, but to resume the military dictatorial power and to monopolize the country’s all-out economic opportunities.

However, the first issue the new government has to decide the question of self-determination. The ethnic parties are not only representing in parliament they also demand for autonomy even outside the parliament.

- Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/01/13/burma%E2%80%99s-first-parliamentary-assembly-and-question-self-determination
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Release of Suu Kyi May Boost Tourism
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Friday, January 14, 2011

INLE LAKE, Shan State — The boatman turns off the engine and lets his long boat glide along Burma's Inle Lake, as foreign tourists soak in the stunning scenery of villages built on stilts dotting the shorelines of the massive freshwater lake ringed with picturesque mountain ranges.

Ngae Ni, 35, graduated as a chemist more than a decade ago but he became a boatman because he could not get a better job in Southeast Asia's only military-ruled nation and one of its poorest. He earns up to $250 a month ferrying foreigners around the lake.

Sunset in Inle lake. (Photo: David Townsend)
"I hope that ... more tourists will come here. They should really see the poverty in our country with their own eyes," he said during a recent trip, flashing a smile with his betel nut-stained teeth.

He may get his wish. The release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest in November appears to be opening the way for more tourists by easing concerns that visiting the country is a signal of support for Burma's military dictatorship.

Suu Kyi herself, in an interview with The Associated Press shortly after her release, said large group tourism wasn't encouraged, but "individuals coming in to see, to study the situation in the country might be a good idea."

International activist groups, which have long called for a tourism boycott, have followed Suu Kyi's lead and softened their stance, now only asking that tourists snub package tours and cruise ships, which are often operated by government cronies.

Colorado-based Asia Transpacific Journeys, which specializes in custom journeys and small group trips to Asia, said bookings to Burma have surged 150 percent since November compared to a year ago, as more travelers now feel more comfortable visiting the country.

Even before Suu Kyi's release, the tourism issue long divided activists both inside and outside Burma.

Supporters of a boycott believed tourism dollars sent the wrong signal and helped fund a government that still holds some 2,000 political prisoners. But others argued that tourism gave the isolated Burmese a rare opportunity to connect with the outside world, and that visitors give moral and sometimes even financial support to communities in need.

Also, the government is less involved in tourism than in the past, with many state-owned hotels and other tourism assets sold to private investors in the past decade.

Burma, however, remains a relatively remote destination for most, and no one expects an overnight tourism boom.

Suu Kyi's release isn't likely to draw Americans in large numbers, partly because Asia isn't high on their travel list and many consider the country dangerous following the military's violent crackdown on in 2007, said Douglas Shachnow, head of the Florida chapter of the Pacific-Asia Travel Association.

"The release is just not a big issue," he said. "There are other more long-standing factors that will ... (limit tourism to) all but the most interested, inquisitive, open-minded travelers with the financial wherewithal."

Still, tourism has been growing for several years, if from a small base.

Arrivals to Burma surged 34 percent to 212,500 in the first nine months of last year and may hit a record of 300,000 for all of 2010, according to the Bangkok-based Pacific-Asia Travel Association. Asians make up about two-thirds of the arrivals, Europeans 22 percent and Americans only 8 percent.

The total is a far cry from the 14 million who visit neighboring Thailand every year, the 4 million who go to nearby Vietnam, and the 2 million each to Cambodia and Laos.

Burma tourism revenue hit $196 million in 2009, almost double what it was in 2002, the Pacific travel association said. Tourism isn't a main revenue earner for the government, compared to the billions the junta makes from natural resources such as timber, jewels, oil and natural gas.

Some of the country's tour operators are hoping for a bumper year with new hotels set to open this year. Burma also joined with Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos last year in a campaign to encourage tours combining their countries.

The sector is hampered by a string of issues including poor infrastructure, limited tourism facilities and difficulty in getting visas. Many areas, especially along the country's border, are closed to tourists. The Internet is unreliable and credit cards are useless due to international sanctions, making it a hard-cash country.

In December, travel operators preparing for the busiest time of the year were dealt a blow when the government suspended the operations of private airline Yangon Airways in a move seen as politically motivated. The carrier's owner is linked to a fractious ethnic minority group.

Despite the impediments, Burma appeals to travelers with its spectacular landscape and wide offerings from ancient Buddhist monuments to jungle trekking, bucolic villages and beach holidays.

One of its key attraction is Bagan, one of the world's most remarkable archaeological sites where more than 2,000 ancient Buddhist temples and stupas dot the vast dusty plain. Others include Inle Lake, home to Ngae Ni's Intha tribe, famed for their unique one-leg rowing technique and floating vegetable gardens.

Bernard Dufour, 62, from Reunion Island off the coast of Madagascar, said he had skipped Burma in the past but decided to visit in November with his wife on friends' recommendations. He said he made sure to support local residents and avoid state-run facilities.

"It's a beautiful country. I don't feel it's wrong to visit as long as I am not supporting the government," he said as he sat cross-legged on the dusty floor of a small meditation cave nestled in a hillock near Inle Lake during a jungle trek.

According to government data, there are some 6,000 licensed tour guides and companies as well as more than 600 hotels and accommodation across the country. But in a country where a third of the population lives below the poverty line, many villagers are increasingly depending on tourism to supplement their income.

Many young people learn English and other foreign languages to become part-time tourist guides. Children as young as 6 are often seen at major tourist spots, hawking souvenirs to foreigners.

Jan Zalewski, analyst with London-based research house IHS Global Insight, said Burma is much more open today than it was two decades ago, suggesting that further engagement—including investment in tourism—could lead to a further opening-up.

"By supporting private ventures such as small guesthouses, as well as a fair degree of exposure to the Burmese people, such tourism could indeed contribute to the development of a population which might be able to provide stronger checks and balances to the policies of the government," Zalewski said.

Foreign travelers have engaged and touched many poor communities along the way.

A new one-story school block opened in a village nearby the meditation cave in late 2009, sponsored by a Japanese couple. Some 100 tribal children now no longer need to trek for an hour to school.

In their former school, teachers appeal for donation. The names "Mama Oo and Mama Judy from Australia" were scrawled on a small new whiteboard that contrasted with the bare crumbling facilities, reminding the children to thank their benefactors who had donated books, pencils and rice.

About two dozen children, ages 6 to 10, dutifully perform a medley of English nursery rhymes and local songs for foreign visitors, swaying their hips and clapping their hands as they dance while standing on old wooden chairs.

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Aung San Suu Kyi Seeks to Revive Her Party

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RANGOON — Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is seeking to revive her political party in military-run Burma by launching an appeal to the Supreme Court of a ruling that upheld its banning, her lawyers said Thursday.

Suu Kyi, who freed from house arrest in November, has sent her team of lawyers to the capital of Naypyitaw to submit the appeal, said one of the lawyers, Nyan Win.

The legal move appears to be largely symbolic, since Burma's courts invariably adhere to the junta's policies, especially on political matters. Previous appeals by Suu Kyi to the courts, on matters such as her detention, have been shunted aside or dismissed.

A similar appeal in November to restore the National League for Democracy was dismissed. The party lost its legal status because it failed to reregister in order to take part in general elections that month, claiming the balloting would be neither free nor fair.

The elections were swept by a party close to the ruling military junta, and the opening session of the new Parliament is scheduled for Jan. 31.

Nyan Win told earlier told reporters that the state Election Commission does not have the authority to dissolve the NLD, which was registered under a previous party registration law. Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in the last election in 1990, but was not allowed to take power by the military.

The 65-year old Nobel prize laureate has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest. Her last period of detention lasted seven years.
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