News & Articles on Burma Friday, 09 December 2011 -------------------------------------------- More Kachin Refugees Increase, Int'l NGOs Denied Access No humanitarian aid, no peaceful solution in Burma's Kachin state Open, stable Myanmar beneficial to China Humanitarian crisis brewing in Myanmar's Kachin - group Kachin Conflict Set to Intensify: Refugee Advocate Myanmar still 'true friend' of China: Top official Myanmar denies working with North Korea on atomic weapons Myanmar capital to get its first embassy Gas pipeline victims get pay-off Burma fourth top jailer of journalists Burma: How Real Is The Change? ---------------------------------------------- More Kachin Refugees Increase, Int'l NGOs Denied Access By BA KAUNG Thursday, December 8, 2011 The Burmese government continues to deny the UN and international aid organizations access to war refugees in conflict zones in Kachin State, northern Burma, where thousands of local villagers have been displaced by fierce fighting between government troops and Kachin rebels. Local relief workers estimate that there are more than 34,000 war refugees in the town of Laiza, which hosts the headquarters of the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the militia that has engaged the Burmese army for the past six months. At least 7,000 local civilians were displaced in the first week of December from 30 villages in the townships of Momauk, Waimaw and Bamaw, all of which are close to the Sino-Burmese border, as clashes intensify between the two sides, according to local aid groups. "No international aid has arrived in those areas," said La Rip, an official with the Kachin Development Group, speaking by phone from Laiza on Thursday. "I don't understand why the government is blocking aid for these refugees. As far as I know, the KIA has said it will guarantee the security of aid officials if they come here." His organization and other local Christian aid groups have been assisting the refugees in the region since hostilities broke out in June after the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire between the Burmese army and the KIA, a nationalist Kachin militia that has demanded autonomy for predominantly Christian Kachin State for decades. Nearly two months ago, Naypyidaw permitted the World Food Program (WFP) and Oxfam to distribute food to refugees in government-controlled areas of Kachin State. WFP has so far delivered food assistance to about 10,000 displaced people in Kachin State---250 tons of food making up three-month family rations, according to Marcus Prior, the organization's Asia spokesman in an interview with The Irrawaddy. "Should access improve for assessments and distributions, WFP is preparing for the possibility of an increased level of assistance," he said, but also revealed that without new funding WFP is facing a break in its food supplies for its Burma operation in February which would negatively impact its ability to respond to the situations in Kachin and southern Chin State. The Burmese government is yet to give broader access to these international organizations to attend to refugees in KIA-controlled areas. "We cook rice with bamboo shoots during the rainy season," a refugee was quoted as saying in Thursday's Eleven Weekly journal. "But now that the rains are gone and bamboo shoots are no longer available, we are living on the bark of young bamboo trees. But still, shelter and clothing are what we most need." The report also quoted a local aid volunteer in Bamaw Township as saying: "New refugee camps in the jungles were built just a few days ago. But there is still not enough space for all the refugees. Some camps have no roofs at all while some have their roofs made only with leaves." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who recently visited Burma, stressed to the Burmese government leadership the importance of giving aid groups access to the conflict zones. On the other hand, there are also accusations from locals that the international aid organizations are not doing enough in this crisis. "These groups are more concerned about their relations with the Burmese government than helping and advocating for the refugees," complained a local resident in Kachin State, highlighting the difficult position of international aid groups in the country which attempt to implement their projects in a non-confrontational mode and are mostly obliged to turn a blind eye to any sensitive issue, even though it may beg humanitarian urgency. "The most effective approach appears to be through exploring needs and issues together with officials, with no confrontation and no blame, just looking for ways to meet needs together," said an interviewee who explained the relation of NGOs with the Burmese government in a 2010 research conducted by Daekin University in Australia. The situation has remained much unchanged despite the country's recent tentative political and economic reforms. And the future of the refugees looks bleak because of the ongoing armed clashes in this strategic region near the China border, and the growing numbers of displaced persons affected by the conflict. Col. Zau Raw, a KIA official in Laiza, confirmed on Thursday that fierce fighting against government units continues to date in several areas of Kachin State and northeastern Shan State. "There have been 50 armed clashes in the past week alone, and heavy fighting is still going on in Momauk Township and Sadong area in Waingmaw Township," he said. Describing the latest conflict situation, a source close to the front-line battle area wrote in an email that "Three Burma army columns comprising over 600 soldiers that have been maneuvering in the Sadong and Hkambati areas [in Kachin State] have been engaged by the KIA. Two of the columns were decimated with hundreds of casualties, and they are now retreating in complete disarray." The clashes continued despite the fact that both sides had their fourth round of peace talks late last month. Zau Raw is one of the KIA's high-ranking officials who participated in those negotiations face-to-face in China's border town of Ruili with a delegation of Burmese government ministers led by Aung Min, the minister of railways and special representative of President Thein Sein. The Naypyidaw delegation laid out a list of promises in Riuli, including economic development in Kachin State, allowing the KIA to re-establish liaison offices in urban areas, and conducting further political talks. However, Zau Raw said the promise of political dialogue is nothing other than an attempt to bring the KIA's political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization, into the fold of the military-dominated national parliament. They did not refer to the question of autonomy, Zau Raw said. However, he said that the ministers---who were all army generals before being elected for the nominally civilian government in November last year---appear to no longer enjoy substantial influence over the commanders waging the war on the ground in northern Burma. "The government army has suffered a lot of casualties in Kachin State, but does not wish to stop fighting yet, I think," Zau Raw said. "We do not know when the government ministers will talk with us again." http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22623&page=2 ------------------------------------------------------- Burmese Migrants Sent for Deportation Trafficked in Thailand By LAWI WENG Friday, December 9, 2011 Four Burmese migrant workers who were among 39 persons trafficked in Thailand while being sent for deportation were released from captivity this week when police and human rights activists raided a shrimp factory in southern Thailand. Sompong Sakaew, the director of the Labor Rights Protection Network, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the four women were rescued following a tip-off from the victims during a 3 pm raid of the shrimp factory by local police and human rights activists on December 7. "The four women will be deported soon. Now they are at the ITC (Immigration Detention Center) in Bangkok," he said. Poe Kwor, a member of the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma who was involved in the raid on the shrimp factory, said that 39 people were detained in Kamphaeng Phet province in October for illegally entering Thailand. They were detained in prison for 24 days, then for another 8 days in a Chonburi jail before being sent to the Thai-Burmese for deportation. The 39 Burmese migrants were allegedly trafficked by the Thai police and a prison car driver from Chonburi province while being transported to the border post in Mae Sot, Thailand for deportation to Myawaddy, Burma. The victims informed the human right activists that the prison car stopped at an unknown location in Chonburi Province, where four cars picked them up for trafficking. "They told us that they were divided into different groups and the police threatened them by pointing his gun, told them to get out of the prison car and forced them to get in the human trafficking agents cars," said Poe Kwor. The victims reported that the broker, an alleged trafficker who said her name was Ma Maw, is an ethnic Mon from Chonburi Province. The four women were from Rangoon and Moulmein and the broker trafficked each woman to the shrimp factory in Mahachai, Samut Sakhon Province for 11,000 baht. Of the 39 people in the prison car, 15 men were trafficked to Thai-run fishing boats in Chonburi Province, six women were trafficked to the shrimp factory in Mahachai and the fate of the other 18 persons is not yet known. The human rights activists reported that they knew where the 15 men were trafficked, but not the location of where they are currently working. They also said that two of the six women trafficked to the shrimp factory were released before the raid because their relatives paid money to the owner. The Thai anti-human trafficking group in Mahachai intends to take action against the Chonburi police officers and prison car driver who trafficked the migrants and will continue to investigate what happened to the 15 men who were sold to fishing boats and forced to work at the sea, as well as the other 18 people who have not yet been located. Human trafficking often occurs in Mahachai in southern Thailand, where there is a large fishing industry. Many Burmese migrants who have come to work in the area have been trafficked to fishing boats and forced to work at sea. According to a US report, the Thai government "reported 18 convictions in trafficking-related cases in 2010---an increase from eight known convictions during the previous year; as of May 2011, only five of the 18 convictions reported by the government could be confirmed to be for trafficking offenses." http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22631 -------------------------------------------- No humanitarian aid, no peaceful solution in Burma's Kachin state By Zin Linn Dec 09, 2011 11:24PM UTC Burma's namesake civilian government has been maneuvering war against the Kachin rebels incessantly, even though there are heavy casualties on its side. Starting from 9 June, the six-month long civil war claimed more than a thousand lives of government soldiers. The President Thein Sein government used to say that it has been trying to build a peaceful and developed country; in contrast the momentum of civil war is getting higher. So, the tongue of the government is not in harmony with the work of its armed forces. What is the government's goal launching the war against the Kachin rebels? Although, President Thein Sein has been speaking seriously about the national unity for several times, the wars against various ethnic groups carry on increasingly. If these wars go on in this way, the government's promises of building good governance as well as poverty alleviation seem to be in vain. Refugees International (RI), an independent humanitarian advocacy organization based in Washington, DC, recently completed an assessment of the impact of the Burma's political reform on various ethnic communities. The RI team traveled to Kachin, Karen and Mon states to meet primarily with local civil-society organizations, as well as with UN and INGO officials. The Refugees International's Lynn Yoshikawa said that during a two-week study tour in Myitkyina (Kachin state), Pa-an (Karen state) and Maw-la-myaing (Mon state) it has come across evidence of widespread human rights abuses especially in Kachin State, where the government armed forces has been fighting the Kachin Independence Organization for the last six months. The group's report appeared Friday at a press panel of Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok, while international optimism on Burma's promise to political reforms has been rising. "Refugees International is really worried over the security of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), thousands of those are living in insufficient camps in KIO-controlled areas where the sanctuaries are sandwiched between the Tatmadaw (the government armed forces) and the KIO positions," said Lynn Yoshikawa, Refugees International's southeast Asia advocate. "The conflict zones in Kachin State seriously need both urgent humanitarian assistance and long-standing aid," she informed at a press conference in Bangkok, after a recent visit to Burma including Kachin state capital Myitkyina. Local sources on the ground in the Kachin state say that during past week the Kachin resistance has inflicted a large number of casualties on poorly trained Burmese government conscript troops, as the central government's offensive against the Kachin Independence Organization enters its seventh month. Reports from the frontline indicate that the Burmese army suffered significant losses in the Wuhtau Bum area, home to the headquarters of the KIA's Battalion No. 3. Reached by phone KIA officers in Wuhtau Bum claim their forces have strongly resisted the government's advance in the area, which is located in the Kachin Independence Army's Brigade No. 5. Quoting a Kachin resident in Sadung village under the control of KIA Battalion No. 3, the Kachin News Group said on Thursday that over a hundred government soldiers from Kalaw-based Light Infantry Division (LID) No. 55 were killed in skirmishing and several dozens wounded in the last 24 hours. He said that earlier in the week many more soldiers from the Magway-based Light Infantry Division No. 88 were killed in the same area, he estimated that at least two hundred Burmese soldiers had been killed in the area during the past week. Several soldiers from Kachin militia groups loyal to Burmese government were also among the dead, the villager added. As KIA has made use of guerrilla tactics, it suffered a few losses thus far. Last month representatives of President Thein Sein government and the KIO met twice for talks which have yet failed to reach a truce. The Burmese army continues sending troops to the area that seems the government wants to bring about a solution by means of military might. Aid workers in Kachin State estimated at least 30,000 people have escaped the fighting and are living in shelters with little access to international humanitarian assistance. It's a tragic that China has been unwilling to allow refugees or to let cross-border relief items to the Kachin area. According to Yoshikawa, international donors are disinclined to supply aid for cross-border operations due to the absence of the UN agencies in the area. After US Secretary of State Hillary Canton's extraordinary trip to Burma (Myanmar), observers and analysts are eager to know about how the nation will reconcile its greatest challenge to make peace with the armed ethnic groups. Recently, one ceasefire deal has been signed with the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), commonly known as the SSA South which has never beforehand held a ceasefire treaty with the Burmese regime. But there are many things to be done so as to build a peaceful union of Burma and the way ahead is vague and blurred, especially in the Kachin state. http://asiancorrespondent.com/71675/no-humanitarian-aid-no-peaceful-solution-in-burmas-kachin-state/ -------------------------------------------- Open, stable Myanmar beneficial to China By Maria Siow | Posted: 09 December 2011 1643 hrs BEIJING: The improvement in ties between the United States and Myanmar has raised concerns among many in China about a potential swing in regional power dynamics. The United States is cozying up to Myanmar like never before. And many in Beijing have described this as an attempt to limit and contain China's influence in Myanmar. Others said that improved ties between the US and Myanmar would come at the expense of China's traditional close ties with its Southeast Asian neighbour. But others disagree, arguing that Myanmar's attempt to end its isolation, and its gradual and stable transformation, are in China's interest. For instance, Myanmar's reconciliation with ethnic rebels would ensure stability along the Chinese borders. Dr. Guo Xiangang, vice-president, China Institute of International Studies, said: "We shouldn't have a cold war mentality where good relations between two countries would necessarily be bad for a third party. This is no longer that sort of era. "It isn't in line with China's new security posture. China hopes to see good relations among other countries. China's deepening relations with other countries should not affect these countries from developing good relations with others." Dr Guo is also confident that China will play an even bigger economic role in Myanmar. He said: "If Myanmar opens up its economy and develops comprehensively, it will require investments and technical expertise. "China has ample funds and is seeking to invest more in other countries. As neighbors with a long history of cooperation, it's only natural that Chinese investments in Myanmar would increase." China is one of the most important sources of consumer and capital goods, and development assistance for Myanmar. It is also Myanmar's second largest foreign investor, having put in more than US$6.4 billion in the country. The investments are mainly in hydropower, oil, gas and mining, or what are generally seen as strategic sectors. China also hopes to build oil and gas pipelines across Myanmar, a move which non-government organizations say would threaten Myanmar's economic security. The construction of the pipeline would also displace thousands of people and damage the livelihoods of fishermen and farmers. It's clear that relations between China and Myanmar haven't always been trouble-free. In September this year, Myanmar suddenly stopped the construction of a Chinese-invested dam, citing environmental concerns. While in October, 13 Chinese sailors were murdered along the upper reaches of the Mekong River, prompting China to step up patrols along the river. But these incidents, according to Chinese analysts, would not fundamentally alter the long pattern of cooperation between the two countries. - CNA/ck http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/1170392/1/.html --------------------------------------------- Humanitarian crisis brewing in Myanmar's Kachin - group ReutersReuters -- 1 hour 17 minutes ago BANGKOK (Reuters) - Myanmar's continued military offensive against ethnic Kachin rebels in the north has sent tens of thousands fleeing their home and threatens a humanitarian crisis, a campaign group said on Friday. Recent ceasefire talks between the nominally civilian government that took office in March and at least two ethnic armed groups have had some success, but tension with the Kachin Independence Army has increased to "boiling point", Refugees International said. Fighting in the decades-old conflict flared up in June in pockets of the jungle in the northern state of Kachin controlled by the KIA and its political wing, the Kachin Independence Organisation, after a 17-year ceasefire broke down. "Refugees International is extremely concerned for the safety of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) that are living in various camps in KIO-controlled areas whose shelters and camps are right in between the Tatmadaw (the army) and the KIO bases," said Lynn Yoshikawa, Refugees International's southeast Asia advocate. "The conflict in Kachin State requires both immediate humanitarian assistance and long-term assistance," she told a news conference in Bangkok, after a recent visit to Myitkyina, the state capital, and other ethnic areas. Aid agencies and sources in the area estimate between 30,000 and 40,000 people are living in makeshift jungle camps in KIO-controlled areas not accessible to many aid organisations, including the United Nations. Assistance is only possible through neighbouring China, which has publicly stated its unwillingness to host a huge number of IDPs, Yoshikawa said, urging donors to provide funds for local Kachin groups that are supporting the displaced. FIGHTING INTENSIFIED Fighting has intensified in the past week and refugee camps have swollen, sources from Kachin told Reuters. "It's like an exodus," said an ethnic Kachin woman who works closely with aid workers and did not want to be identified. "New camps are being created every day. Many are not recorded," she said in Yangon, showing detailed lists of numbers of IDPs that she and colleagues had collated. A Myitkyina resident who declined to be named because she feared for the safety of her family and herself said a gun battle had been heard in the town on the night of December 6. "We hear bombs every night. We are used to it. But not gunfire," said the woman, who described herself as a freelance relief worker. She said checkpoints dotted the city of about 100,000 people and although there was no official curfew, "nobody dares go out after 5.30 or 6 p.m. We keep hearing about arrests for no reason." Yoshikawa said it was not clear what was behind the fighting or who was ordering the army to go on the offensive. "But it is not a promising sign for ethnic peace throughout the area," she said. Hillary Clinton, who last week became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years, has urged the country to take further steps to release political prisoners and end ethnic conflicts. (Editing by Alan Raybould and Jonathan Thatcher) http://in.news.yahoo.com/humanitarian-crisis-brewing-myanmars-kachin-group-122354704.html ---------------------------------------- Kachin Conflict Set to Intensify: Refugee Advocate By SIMON ROUGHNEEN Friday, December 9, 2011 As armed clashes intensify, many more locals in Kachin State become refugees. BANGKOK --- The conflict in Kachin State is set to get worse after already displacing tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom rely on support from local aid groups desperately in need of international assistance, according to a leading advocacy group for refugees. "Tensions between the government and KIO [Kachin Independence Organization] have reached boiling point," said Lynn Yoshikawa of the US-based Refugees International (RI), who recently concluded a fact-finding trip to the war-torn state. Yoshigawa, who said that the Burmese Army appears likely to attack the KIO's headquarters in Laiza, near the Sino-Burmese border, estimated that around 30,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been caught in the crossfire. "Most of the IDPs do not want to flee, and generally wait until the last minute to leave their homes," she said. While the Burmese government has relaxed restrictions on aid agencies and NGOs operating inside the country as part of its recent reforms, the World Food Program has so far only been granted access to government-controlled areas. The KIO and local aid groups are the main source of assistance to Kachin refugees living outside government-held territory, and RI said that international aid should be provided via these Kachin organizations, given government restrictions on aid to conflict zones in the state. Yoshigawa noted that despite being "pleasantly surprised" when Burma's President Thein Sein suspended the controversial Chinese-backed Myitsone dam project in Kachin State in September, "the impact of the suspension has been diluted" by the ongoing Burmese Army offensive. Fighting in Kachin State started on June 9, ending a 17-year-old ceasefire between the Burmese military and the Kachin Independence Army, the armed wing of the KIO. "There is a real sense of grievance among ordinary Kachin," said Yoshikawa, "Many people are asking 'why now?'" RI recently conducted fact-finding visits to Kachin, Karen and Mon states to assess the impact of recent political reforms on relations between the Burmese government and ethnic minorities. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22630 --------------------------------------------- Myanmar still 'true friend' of China: Top official Published on Dec 9, 2011 YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's new army-backed government reassured China on Friday that its recent diplomatic overtures to the United States (US) would not affect relations with its traditional ally. 'Myanmar is a good neighbour of China. We are also a true friend,' lower house speaker Shwe Mann told Ambassador Li Junhua in Yangon after China donated computers for Myanmar's new parliament. 'The People's Republic of China gave much advice and assistance to Myanmar when we did not have a regular relationship with the US. China also truly stood by Myanmar's side in the international community,' added the former general, considered one of the most powerful members of the current regime. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar last week in the highest-level US visit in more than half a century - a trip seen as part of Washington's efforts to counter China's growing influence in the region. http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_743133.html ------------------------------------ Myanmar denies working with North Korea on atomic weapons December 9, 2011 4:54pm YANGON - Myanmar denied it had been cooperating with North Korea on nuclear weapons technology, the first time it has commented on speculation that the two internationally ostracized states might be working together to build atomic weapons. The denial follows a landmark visit just over a week ago by Hillary Clinton in the first trip by a U.S. Secretary of State to the country in 55 years, setting the stage for rapprochement with Myanmar after decades of isolation from the West. The weekly Pyi Myanmar quoted parliament speaker Thura Shwe Mann as telling reporters after he met Clinton last week that Myanmar did not have any cooperation with North Korea on nuclear technology. It was the first time a top official has publicly commented on the issue. "During my visit to North Korea as a general, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperating between the two armed forces. It was not on nuclear cooperation as is being alleged," the weekly quoted the 64-year-old Shwe Mann as saying. "We studied their air defence system, weapons factories, aircrafts and ships. Their armed forces are quite strong so we just agreed to cooperate with them if necessary," said Shwe Mann, who had been number three in the former military government. He is thought to have led a high-level delegation to North Korea in late 2008. Exile media published documents and pictures relating to the visit in 2009. During her brief visit, Clinton urged Myanmar's new leaders to end illicit contacts with North Korea, which has long been trying to build a nuclear arsenal and for which it had been heavily sanctioned by the international community. --- Reuters http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/241222/news/world/myanmar-denies-working-with-north-korea-on-atomic-weapons --------------------------------------------- Myanmar capital to get its first embassy Published: Dec. 9, 2011 at 6:28 AM YANGON, Myanmar, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Bangladesh will be the first country to move its embassy from Yangon to the new city and capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar's official newspaper said. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on an official three-day visit to Myanmar, formerly called Burma, unveiled the foundation stone at the site chosen for the construction of the embassy, the New Light of Myanmar reported. The country's junta pronounced Naypyitaw, around 200 miles north of Yangon, as the capital in November 2005, although the site wasn't given an official name until March 2006. The planned inner city with its wide, and mostly empty boulevards, is still being constructed and is home to many of the former ruling military leaders. The surrounding countryside and its towns and villages that make up Naypyitaw have a population of around just less than 1 million, a 2009 report said. In August, Russian media announced that a Russian firm had won a contract to construct 30 mile of subway lines, the first for the Asian country. The expansive layout of the inner city has enabled military leaders to present large military parades. However, the diplomatic corps has been slow to move from Yangon, formerly called Rangoon and a historic port city. An official from Naypyitaw Municipality told The Irrawaddy news Web site this month that 120 sections of land have been reserved for foreign embassies. The official said China, India, Saudi Arabia and Russia will be moving their embassies from Yangon. Hasina's visit to Myanmar is the first by a Bangladeshi prime minister in eight years and she reportedly discussed increased trade, including the purchase of natural gas, with Myanmar officials. Trade between Myanmar and Bangladesh was $137 million this year. Bangladeshi and Myanmar ministers said they want to boost that to around $500 million annually within the next several years, the Irrawaddy report said. But the two countries also must resolve the issue of 220,000 Rohingya people, Muslims from Myanmar, sheltering in refugee camps in Bangladesh. They fled rebel fighting with Myanmar's army and also ethnic discrimination in their native Arakan state in Myanmar. A report in the Daily Star newspaper in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, said an agreement had been reached between Myanmar President Thein Sein and Hasina for Myanmar to repatriate the refugees. The agreement depends on verification of refugee status by third parties, including the U.N. High Commission for Refugees that has been monitoring the Rohingya situation. No date for repatriations to start was given in the Daily Star report. Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/12/09/Myanmar-capital-to-get-its-first-embassy/UPI-51011323430080/#ixzz1fxnxG5Su ------------------------------------------ Gas pipeline victims get pay-off By FRANCIS WADE Published: 9 December 2011 Government authorities in Shan state have begun a compensation scheme for locals forced off their land to make way for the highly lucrative, albeit controversial, trans-Burma Shwe gas pipeline that will cut through the state before entering China. Up to 86 households in villages close to Namkham township near the China border have received the first batch of payments, according to the Shan Herald Agency for News, which reported that one acre of confiscated farmland near to the town could earn as much as $US18,500 in compensation. The figure appears an usually healthy one for Burma, but the cost for number of closed factories and a severance package for redundant workers may be included. The scheme is being mirrored over the border in China, locals claim, although Chinese authorities are offering substitute land as well as a four-figure sum. The pipeline is key to China's future energy needs, particularly its southwestern Yunnan province which has lagged behind the rest of the country in terms of development. Oil and gas uploaded in the town of Kyaukphyu on Burma's western coast, and which are set to account for six percent of China's total energy needs when the project comes online in 2013, are destined for a refinery in Kunming. Consistent with the majority of major energy projects in Burma, huge controversy has surrounding the pipeline. The Shwe Gas Movement, which has campaigned against the project, estimates that around 15,000 people in 20 townships along the route will be directly affected. On Maday Island, where a ceremony was held amid great pomp to mark the start of construction in 2009, around 2,900 people have or will be evicted from their homes. Resentment of the project is also high among civilians: a report in March by EarthRights International (ERI) found that from a pool of 100 men and women interviewed clandestinely in Shan state, not a single one was in favour of the development. South of Namkham lies the township of Hsipaw, also through which the pipeline will travel. Heavy fighting erupted in the region in March as Burmese troops attempted to drive out Shan rebels resistant to the pipeline. Shortly after fighting ceased, trucks laden with pipeline parts were seen leaving the Chinese border town of Jegao towards Hsipaw. China is desperate for the passage through Burma that the Shwe pipelines provide, given its traditional route for oil cargoes from Africa and the Middle East runs through the Straits of Malacca, a congested strip of water beneath Singapore that is heavily patrolled by US warships. Its energy demands are rising at nine percent each year and it will soon exhaust its own oil supplies, meaning speedy construction of the project is crucial. In April Beijing offered the Burmese government $US6 million to build hospitals in towns along the pipeline route in return for Burmese authorities upping the pace on finishing the venture. http://www.dvb.no/news/gas-pipeline-victims-get-pay-off/19121 ------------------------------------------ Burma fourth top jailer of journalists By NAY THWIN Published: 9 December 2011 Despite tentative signs that Burma's media environment is opening up, the criminalisation of independent media is ongoing, and the government remains one of the world's top jailers of journalists, a recent report warns. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists had warned prior to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit last week that heaping praise on the President Thein Sein administration was undeserved in light of the continued incarceration of journalists like Sithu Zeya, a young reporter for DVB who is serving an 18-year sentence. "Sithu's sentencing underscores the many contradictions between Thein Sein's recent reform rhetoric and the still harsh on-the-ground reality for Burma's independent reporters," its senior Southeast Asia representative, Shawn Crispin, wrote. "While his civilianized government has talked up the need for more openness and press freedom, his regime still oversees one of the most repressive media environments in the world." CPJ lists Burma is having 12 journalists behind bars, although that figure does not include the eight DVB reporters whose name has been withheld by the organisation. Iran leads the table with 42 in detention, followed by Eritrea with 28 and China with 27. The CPJ count places Burma in the fourth spot. "The message they are trying to give is that journalists can follow news but only up to a certain point, and once that line is crossed, they will be severely punished," says Toe Zaw Latt, Thailand Bureau Chief for DVB. He said that the government would have a hard time convincing its critics that it is reforming unless media workers are freed. With several amendments to media laws having been enacted in recent months, the time would ripe to release them, he added. Crispin warned however that the loosening of draconian restrictions on the media is "easily reversible", particularly the lifting of a blockade on independent news websites. He said "the concession is at best marginal considering less than 1% of the population has access to the Internet". Moreover, it comes at a time when surveillance of internet users has been expanded, "including the installation of closed-circuit cameras, screen-capture programs and keystroke logging software, in public Internet cafes across the country". The head of the Rangoon-based Yangon Media Group, Ko Ko, has similar feelings. He believes that although "the situation is much improved", a lot more needs to be done to ensure a free media. He said a promising sign was that no journalists had yet been arrested by the new government, although Sithu Zeya's sentence was extended by a decade in September, well into Thein Sein's tenure as president. http://www.dvb.no/news/burma-fourth-top-jailer-of-journalists/19117 ------------------------------------- Burma: How Real Is The Change? AnalysisWritten by: IPCS December 9, 2011 By Medha Chaturvedi A section within the international community believes there has been a series of positive changes in every plausible field in Myanmar. Is the government in Myanmar finally having a change of heart? What are these changes and how far will they succeed in repairing Myanmars reputation internationally? Will they bring any positive changes to the economy of the country? Are these changes just perception due to a freer media in Myanmar? Most importantly, will the people of Myanmar gain from these changes? President Thein Sein, with his efforts to make Myanmar more liberal and bring much needed political and social reforms to the country, is now being seen as a catalyst for a brighter future. The new liberal policies are aimed at not only drawing out the country politically and socially, but also improving its situation economically. What are the economic developments? An interesting development has been the acceptance of Myanmars candidature for the Chair of ASEAN in 2014 by all member countries. This brings the hope for a new surge of liberal reforms in rejuvenating Myanmars economy which is presently hanging on tenterhooks. A leadership role in a regional grouping which includes the two regional giants, India and China, can be a big plus for Myanmars foreign policy as well. Myanmars Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is almost US$ 43 billion, and is growing at the rate of 2.9 per cent. This is the lowest growth rate in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region and in sharp contrast to its post independence prospects when Myanmar was the largest rice exporter in the world and produced 75 per cent of the worlds total teak production. Myanmars economy started dwindling after the military takeover by Gen Ne Win in 1962 and his subsequent policy of Burmanization which led to a near-closed economy. However, in recent months, there has been an upward swing in Myanmars overall economic situation with its currency, the Kyat, becoming 25 per cent stronger due to capital inflows since the beginning of 2010. It is likely to become even stronger with the relaxation of economic restrictions on the country in the coming few months. Foreign investments to the country have also increased substantially since 2009, and with more trading partners and less trade restrictions to and from Myanmar, commerce is expected to improve. Moreover, President Seins government has been taking steps to reach a compromise on the decades-long ethnic conflict in the most mineral and natural resource-rich areas of the country. This signals the coming of a better security environment for protection of vital investment establishments. A sign of better economic conditions and banking reforms can also be judged by the installation of modern ATMs in the cities of the country at a rapid pace. Also, under the incumbent government, Myanmars factory workers can now form unions. This is the first time that such an allowance has been made to them since 1962 and has been widely welcomed. This would give them a chance to liaise with the senior management of the industries and put forward their demands, thereby assisting in the improvement of their wage structure and standard of living. Freedom of speech and expression? On the freedom of speech and expression, there are indications of a freer media. In fact, Ko Ko Hlaing, chief political adviser to President Thein Sein, was quoted in a Reuters article saying that a new media law is in the making which will replace the indiscriminate censoring of every song, book, cartoon and planned piece of art. He further added that the new law will reflect guaranteed freedom of expression, so, no censorship, but, there will be a more open monitoring system in place for censoring objectionable cultural and religious matter. Restrictions on some important news websites and channels have also been lifted, which were banned in 2007 at the time of the Buddhist monks protests in Yangon. Even parliamentary proceedings are now being recorded and some portions are being aired on the national network. Aung San Suu Kyi herself hosted a film festival in Yangon, titled Films of Freedom and was interviewed by a leading business magazine which was carried as a two-page special. It was not censored much and was widely circulated. The government has also set up a Human Rights Commission, and the parliament has approved a law giving people the right to protest in a controlled environment. The positive attitude of the civilian government in Myanmar appears to be the harbinger of political, social and economic upliftment, and there is sufficient optimism to see these developments as credible because they are being initiated from within the country. Myanmars media is opening up, giving way to more detailed reports emerging from even the frontier regions. As a result, the international community is able to see and analyze the developing situation in Myanmar more accurately. With the economy also looking up, the countrys prospects may be improving. The isolation that Myanmar has faced for decades may be on its way out, giving way to the hope for a stable, democratic system. Medha Chaturvedi Research Officer, IPCS email: medha@ipcs.org http://www.eurasiareview.com/09122011-burma-how-real-is-the-change-analysis/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eurasiareview%2FVsnE+%28Eurasia+Review%29
Saturday, December 10, 2011
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