China Silent on Burmese Refugees
By MICHAEL WINES
Published: September 1, 2009
BEIJING — Chinese officials imposed an information blackout Tuesday on the situation along its border with Myanmar and began taking down tents that had sheltered some of the estimated 30,000 people who fled into China to escape the recent fighting between Myanmar’s military and ethnic rebels.
But news reports stated that many thousands of refugees remained in China, unwilling or unable to return to Myanmar, formerly called Burma, and it was not clear how the Chinese government intended to address their plight.
The Chinese authorities withheld comment on the border situation Tuesday, aside from saying, in a Foreign Ministry briefing, that “necessary humanitarian assistance” was being provided. And they began ordering foreign journalists to leave the area around Nansan and Genma, Chinese towns on the mountainous border where the refugees have been housed in seven separate camps.
While about 4,000 refugees had returned to Myanmar on Monday, the day after the fighting ended, the pace has since slowed dramatically. Only about 30 people crossed the border into Myanmar in a half-hour period on Tuesday morning, The Associated Press reported.
“It seems to be slowing down,” one foreigner near Nansan said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “There’s still a large number of refugees in and around Nansan, both in the camps and hanging around.” The foreigner, who refused to be identified, said Chinese Army troops had stepped up patrols in the area.
An unknown number of those who fled to China during the fighting are Chinese citizens who have been conducting business in Myanmar, where China is building dams and other projects and has extensive mining ventures. They are unlikely to return soon.
China has insisted that northern Myanmar’s Kokang region is safe and stable after the fighting last week, in which hundreds of government troops overwhelmed an armed ethnic group, breaking a cease-fire that had prevailed for two decades. Human rights groups and others have warned that the junta’s actions could ignite a wider conflict in the area, where other, better armed ethnic groups also are resisting government control.
Both Thai newspapers and The Irrawaddy, an independent magazine that focuses on Myanmar, have reported that the government is sending fresh troops into the northern state of Shan in an attempt to consolidate its control there. The army wants the rebels to disarm and join a government border patrol force, as required under a new constitution. Most of the rebels have resisted the order, which would effectively place them under government control.
Myanmar’s military junta apparently seeks to take control of the region before elections, the first in almost 20 years, that are scheduled for next year. Outside monitors accuse the military junta of brutal human rights violations as part of its effort to stay in power. The Myanmar government has said that 26 of its soldiers and at least 8 rebels died in three days of battles.
The Myanmar conflict has thrust the Chinese government, one of the government’s only staunch backers, into an awkward situation. China has provided diplomatic support to the junta in exchange for access to its considerable mineral wealth and cooperation in efforts to suppress a growing cross-border trade in heroin and other illicit drugs. The flood of refugees prompted the Chinese to issue muted criticism of the junta, calling on Friday for it to secure Myanmar’s borders.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
China Silent on Burmese Refugees
China, Myanmar share responsibility to maintain border stability: FM
China, Myanmar share responsibility to maintain border stability: FM
www.chinaview. cn 2009-09-01 19:13:52 Print
BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Foreign Ministry Tuesday said it was the common responsibility of China and Myanmar to safeguard the stability of their common border.
"Safeguarding the stability of the China-Myanmar border is in line with the vital interests of both people and is the shared responsibility of both governments, " said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.
Referring to recent unrest in Myanmar's Shan province, Jiang said: "We hope the situation will calm down as soon as possible and Myanmar border inhabitants who fled to China can return to their homeland at an early date," Jiang said. She said some of those who had crossed the border into China's Yunnan Province had already returned to their homes in Myanmar.
About 37,000 border inhabitants crossed the border into China after armed conflict broke out last week in Myanmar.
Jiang said China and Myanmar were friendly neighbors and China hoped Myanmar would maintain peace and stability.
"Based on humanitarian principles, China took active rescue and relief measures to help Myanmar border inhabitants settle down," Jiang said,
"We hope Myanmar can resolve its domestic issues and take all necessary measures to restore order and stability in the border area," she said.
The situation originated from a standoff between Myanmar army troops stationed in Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang region, and ethnic minority forces in the area, on Aug. 8. Armed conflicts triggered a large outflow of border inhabitants into neighboring Yunnan Province's Nansan area.
Editor: Li Xianzhi http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-09/01/ content_11979578 .htm
Friday, June 26, 2009
KNU Headquarters Overrun: Now What?
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=16188
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By SAW YAN NAING Thursday, June 25, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a long offensive, the Burmese army and its ceasefire militia, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), has overrun the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 7 headquarters.
The question now is: What’s next?
Karen sources and analysts said the fighting will continue as the joint Burmese army and DKBA troops focus their attacks toward the KNLA Brigade 6 area.
Analysts said powerful business interests are supporting the offensive.
Enlarge Image
(Graphic:
The Irrawaddy)
The Burmese regime’s goal is to control all of central Karen State, where the Karen National Union’s KNLA Brigade 7 and 6 are now located, in order to dominate the business and border trade activity with Thailand, said one DKBA businessman who asked for anonymity.
Once dominated, many industries, companies and infrastructure will be improved and supported by the Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the businessman.
Important activities will include logging and mining natural resources, including zinc, he said.
He said the Burmese authorities and DKBA troops will construct roads to connect between army headquarters in Myaing Gyi Ngu and border areas.
Once the clashes end, the relationship between the DKBA and local Thai authorities and businessmen in Mae Sot will expand when compared to the past, businessmen said.
During the recent fighting, a KNU leader said two DKBA leaders were spotted in a car traveling with Thai police near the border where Karen refugees have sought shelter in Tha Song Yang District in Tak Province.
Analysts also said the situation will be more dangerous for the KNU and Burmese opposition groups in exile when the border area is controlled by DKBA troops.
Maj Hla Ngwe, the joint secretary (1) of the KNU, said the loss of KNLA Brigade 7 headquarters could affect the work of Burmese opposition organizations based in Mae Sot.
“The opposition movement will be limited. They might not launch campaigns as they did before,” said Hla Ngwe.
Border sources also say more assassinations could be expected in the border area, where many Burmese and ethnic opposition groups are based.
In February 2008, the KNU’s late general secretary, Mahn Sha, was gun down by two DKBA members at his home near the center of Mae Sot. Many sources claimed the assassination also involved Thai border police.
Border sources said that DKBA members will have easy access to Mae Sot once the relationship between the DKBA and Thai border authorities is established.
A sign of the evolving transition in the power center, said the businessman, is that DKBA soldiers are now receiving medical care in Mae Sot. What’s happening is “very obvious,” he said.
The DKBA plans to expand its troops from 6,000 to 9,000 in preparation for its transformation to become a border guard force under the Burmese army. The DKBA split from it mother organization, the KNU, and signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese regime in 1995.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Karen Pushed Over Thai Border by Burmese Troops
Nearly 4,000 ethnic Karen are said to have abandoned a camp and villages in eastern Burma to seek refuge in Thailand following attacks on Karen guerrillas by government troops.
Burmese troops were shelling and attempting to advance on five encampments of Karen insurgents as villagers continued to flee in one of the largest movements of refugees across the border in a decade, Karen spokesman David Thaw said.
Thai troops have been deployed along the frontier to keep fighting from spilling over.
June 09, 2009
The ethnic group’s Karen National Union has been fighting for more than 60 years for greater autonomy from Burma’s junta, but its strength has dwindled over the past decade due to army offensives and divisions within its ranks.
Human rights groups and the United Nations have accused Burma’s government of torture, killings and rape of Karen civilians in their attempts to stamp out the insurgency. But this appears to have had no effect and the military regime has denied the charges.
“Once again, the international community is looking the other way while my people are attacked and forced to run for their lives,” Zoya Phan, a Karen with the Burma Campaign UK, said in a statement. “Why hasn’t a single government called for an end to these attacks?”
Some 100,000 mostly ethnic Karen refugees already shelter in camps in Thailand after fleeing counterinsurgency operations, while aid agencies say nearly half a million others are internally displaced inside eastern Burma.
Thaw said a camp in Burma that sheltered internal refugees had been abandoned, and that the government and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army were trying to overrun five Karen positions nearby.
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army split from the predominantly Christian Karen National Union in 1995.
About 25 opposing troops have been killed or wounded since the fighting began over the weekend, the spokesman said. He said he had no information about Karen casualties.
Thailand doesn’t allow the refugees to enter established camps in the country, so they are relying on Buddhist monasteries near the border, Thaw said. AP
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Dhaka to take its maritime boundary row with India and Myanmar to UN
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-36717.html
Dhaka, May 12 : Bangladesh is preparing to take to the UN its maritime boundary row with India and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal.
"We are making preparations to put forward our objection at the UN by June to Myanmar's claim and by November to India's claim in the Bay of Bengal," an official told New Age newspaper Monday.
Bangladesh is preparing its case for extraction of marine resources, especially gas exploration, in the upper reaches of Bay of Bengal but has not been able to invite tenders for block bidding as its maritime boundary has not been demarcated as yet.
Myanmar has submitted its claim on maritime delimitation to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a UN body, to deal with the law of the sea last December while India is set to submit its claim Tuesday.
According to the UN Convention on Law of the Sea, Bangladesh must demarcate its sea boundaries by July 27, 2011, India by June 29, 2009 and Myanmar by May 21, 2009.
Retired commodore Khorshed Alam, an additional secretary at the foreign ministry, told New Age that according to the UN provision, claims submitted by any country would not be taken for final consideration before settling the objection raised by a neighbouring country which might have overlapping claims.
The former navy official said that Bangladesh was well prepared to lay its claims at the UN before the deadline.
Dhaka resumed negotiations on the issue with India and Myanmar last year after a lapse of almost three decades. It proved to be a non-starter with each side sticking to its position.
Bangladesh opted to go for the negotiations as India and Myanmar recently opposed its offshore block bidding for exploration of oil and gas even within its territorial waters as Dhaka did not have an internationally accepted exclusive economic zone.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
China, Burma to build cross border gas pipeline
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/1906-china-burma-to-build-cross-border-gas-pipeline.html
by Mungpi
Friday, 27 March 2009 21:09
New Delhi (Mizzima) - China and Burma on Thursday signed four contracts, which included the construction of a cross border oil and gas pipeline, Burma’s state-run media said.
The New Light of Myanmar, Burma’s official newspaper on Friday reported that the Burmese Energy Minister Brig-Gen Lun Thi and Head of China’s National Energy Administration, Mr. Zhang Guobao signed a cooperation agreement on the Sino-Burma Oil and Gas pipeline.
The other contracts include a framework agreement on Development of Hydropower Resources in Burma by China, a Memorandum of Understanding on Buyer’s Credit for Construction Projects between the Export-Import Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance and Revenue of Burma. Both China and Burma also agreed on Economic and Technical Cooperation between the two countries.
The contracts were signed between Burmese and Chinese officials, who accompanied Li Changchung, member of the politburo of the central committee of Communist Party of China (CPC), during his visit to military-ruled Burma.
According to the Chinese central government website, the Sino-Burma cross border gas pipeline is designed to link a port city in Burma with Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.
According to a Reuters report, Yunnan is to start construction of the pipeline in the first half as part of its 72 billion Yuan (S$15.9 billion) worth of energy projects this year.
The pipeline, according to a Sino-Burmese analyst Aung Kyaw Zaw, is strategically important for China as it could cut down on the detour of oil cargoes through the congested Malacca Strait and also strengthen China's access to Burma’s rich energy reserves.
Burma in December awarded China the right to buy oil from its offshore block–A gas field in the Bay of Bengal for a period of 30 years.
Aung Kyaw Zaw said Li’s visit to Burma, which is part of a four-nation tour, could also be to push Burma to implement the agreement.
“China is worried that Burma is delaying work on the gas pipeline construction,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw.
Li, during his visit to Burma, met several officials including the junta supremo Snr. Gen Than Shwe, and exchanged views on developing good-neighbourly and friendly ties between China and Burma, according to the Burmese state-run paper.
Western nations particularly the United States and the European Union have imposed stringent economic sanctions on Burma, restricting its companies from investing in the country.
But China, which has raised its voice against western sanctions on Burma, has been investing in Burma and has signed several contracts for business deals.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Backpack doctors risk Burma's wrath
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/21/MNG216DFEU.DTL
(03-22) 04:00 PDT Mergui-Tavoy District, Burma -- Eh Dah Zu, a petite, 24-year-old woman, peeled back layers of white plastic and cloth wrapped around a sugarcane stalk - a prop simulating bone, muscle and skin - before cutting it with a thin cable saw to simulate an amputation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Images
View Larger Images
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More News
Agency votes to raise NYC subway fares to $2.50 03.25.09
Administration seeks action on financial overhaul 03.25.09
Man slain in Union City garage 03.25.09
NZ charges Samoan woman after in-flight birth 03.25.09
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The exercise, part of a trauma skills workshop in eastern Burma, was a stark reminder that there are no doctors or hospitals in this war-ravaged sliver of mountainous jungle near Thailand, where ethnic minorities have resisted the Burmese army for 60 years. The country's military junta provides little health care, or access to international humanitarian groups for an estimated 500,000 displaced villagers, many of whom suffer from rampant malaria, malnutrition and one of the world's highest rates of land-mine injuries.
In response, Burmese refugees in Thailand developed a unique program, effectively sneaking health care into their own country: A network of tiny mobile clinics now dot eastern Burma, where medics like Eh Dah Zu carry medical supplies in backpacks, walk for weeks through remote jungles and risk capture and injury to reach patients.
Essential health services
"It's extraordinary, and one of the only examples that exists in the world where refugees and displaced persons themselves are going back into their country to provide essential health services in a situation of clear state failure," said Dr. Chris Beyrer, professor of epidemiology and director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The military junta, known officially as the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC, likens this health program to aiding the enemy. Since 1998, seven medics and one midwife have been killed by soldiers or land mines, dozens more have been captured and beaten, and their families threatened, according to human rights reports.
Aye Chan, a 28-year-old medic, has been chased and shot at. Four years ago, soldiers detained his father, demanding seven buffalo and $400 in exchange for his life. He paid them and then fled his village. Aye Chan has not seen him since. Like other health workers, he depends on villagers and armed guards for information to escape capture.
"If the SPDC is close, my heart beats fast, knees shake," Aye Chan said. "We are fleeing, so there's no time to feel scared. What I am afraid of is losing my backpack. Then I have no supplies, no way to treat patients."
Once considered the rice basket of Asia, decades of military rule in Burma, which is also known as Myanmar, have taken a blunt toll. The junta's top generals have reaped profits from mining, natural gas and logging, while reducing the resource-rich country to one of the world's poorest: Burma ranked 135 out of 179 countries in the United Nations' 2008 Human Development Index, and is tied with Iraq as the second most corrupt country in the world, according to Transparency International's 2008 rankings.
Exodus of Burmese
Politics and economics have pushed more than 1 million Burmese into neighboring countries over the past two decades, with another 1 million undocumented migrants in Thailand alone.
Pro-democracy activists, along with the country's numerous ethnic minority groups, have long been at odds with the government, and none longer than the Karen. Shortly after Burma's independence from Britain in 1948, the Karen National Liberation Army launched a war for autonomy now entering its sixth decade - the oldest civil conflict in the world.
A government counterinsurgency campaign in eastern Burma has demolished thousands of Karen homes, destroyed crops and conscripted civilians as slave laborers, human rights groups say. As a result, the region has one of the world's highest maternal and child mortality rates.
Training medics is key
Medic Eh Dah Zu spent four months hiking through the jungle before returning to the Thailand-Burma border region to attend training sessions, deliver patient data, and pick up supplies for her next stint. She earns $20 a month, which covers little more than the rice, chili oil, and seasonings she carries along with a medical kit containing a knife, malaria medicine, antibiotics, intravenous solution, gloves, sutures and anesthetic.
"The villagers are in a bad situation," Eh Dah Zu said. "I feel good, that this is helping my people."
But she has had her share of close calls. Last year, she pretended to be a villager's daughter after soldiers abruptly appeared.
But such risks seem to be no deterrent in recruiting staff for the backpack doctor program.
At a trauma workshop held last month at a village called Tee Moo Kee, Dr. Larry Stock, 47, clinical professor at UCLA medical school, and a member of Berkeley's Planet Care/Global Health Access Program; and Frank Tyler, 43, a paramedic and director of operations with Australian Aid International - ran through a gamut of trauma skills, from basic emergency first aid to surgical procedures.
"If they pick up 10 percent of the material, that's fine," said Stock, who trekked to the jungle training site in a region off-limits to foreigners. Such sessions can teach students how to stop bleeding, create an airway, saw through bone - skills that helped Eh Dah Zu save the life of a villager in 2007 after his left foot and ankle were blown off by a land mine.
"There's no backup out here. They can't refer a patient," Stock said. "These medics are it."
Mobile medics
In 1998, with spiraling mortality and disease in eastern Burma, refugee leaders in Thailand created the Backpack Health Worker Team. The organization is the backbone of a mobile health system capable of operating in a region where government troops and ethnic minority rebels have waged war for decades.
China's "barefoot doctors" of the 1960s provided the inspiration. But while Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution celebrated its rural health corps, Burma's military junta considers it aiding the enemy.
With technical support and funding from a dozen international relief groups, the backpack health program has trained and equipped more than 1,700 medics, health workers, midwives and village volunteers. These health workers provide free emergency, primary and preventive care to an estimated 270,000 impoverished villagers in eastern Burma, the Backpack Health Worker Team says.
For more information: Planet Care/Global Health Access Program: ghap.org; Mae Tao Clinic: maetaoclinic.org; Backpack Health Worker Team: www.geocities.com/maesothtml/bphwt - Janet Wells
E-mail Janet Wells at foreign@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page A - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, March 20, 2009
Burma to Fence Border with Bangladesh
http://www.narinjara.com/details.asp?id=2088
Maungdaw: The Burmese military government is now preparing to fence its border with Bangladesh to prevent human trafficking between the two countries, said an official from Maungdaw on the condition of anonymity.
"Many soldiers arrived in northern Maungdaw bringing a lot of barbed wire fence to the western Burmese border with Bangladesh. I think the project will be implemented very soon," the official said.
Over 200 soldiers arrived at Kyin Chaung Village in northern Maungdaw Township to implement the project. At the same time, a large amount of barbed wire has been transported to Maungdaw from Sittwe on cargo ships to use in the construction of the fence.
A townsperson from Maungdaw said, "I saw much barbed wire piled up at the Kyin Gan Byin Jetty in Maungdaw that was brought there by four cargo ships. Large amounts of barbed wire is being transported to Maungdaw by cargo ships."
The barbed wire has been transported and distributed from the jetty to Nasaka Areas 1 and 2, which are very close to Bangladesh in the north of Maungdaw.
"Our government will fence its lands from Maungdaw Township to Paletwa township near the triangle area among Burma, Bangladesh, and India," the official said.
Even though the Burmese military government is preparing to fence its border with barbed wire to prevent human trafficking, the authorities have yet to officially make any announcements about the project.
Many people are traveling across the Burma - Bangladesh border without permission, and the Burmese authorities intend to curb such unauthorized movements with the barbed wire fence on the border.
Bangladesh-Myanmar Border Tense Over Fencing
http://news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=31820090211
(RTTNews) - Tension along the 200-km. Bangladesh-Myanmar border has risen after Yangon reportedly mobilized extra troops, and started erecting a barbed-wire fence on the frontline, media say.
Myanmar's move has forced authorities in Dhaka to ask its Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) paramilitary border guard force to stay alert on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, as reports said panic had gripped frontier villages.
The border tensions came soon after a stand-off between the maritime forces of the two countries in the Bay of Bengal a few months ago over the exploration of offshore oil.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni merely said:"I do not like to voice any opinion now. We will firm up our stance after considering the situation."
However, Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder, acknowledged that Myanmar had pushed reinforcements of its paramilitary forces across the river Naaf, and started the construction of infrastructure for them near the frontier, but Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain said that Bangladesh had no problem if Myanmar erected a fence on its side of the territory.
For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com
Copyright(c) 2009 RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved
More troops for Myanmar border
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=279388&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24
Bangladesh has deployed more troopers of its border guards after Myanmar moved men and material for erecting a barbed wire fence along a 200km border between the two countries.
The move indicates fresh tension after the stand-off in the Bay of Bengal between the two neighbours in November last year, New Age newspaper said yesterday.
Dhaka has made diplomatic moves and has refrained from saying anything provocative.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni refused to comment. “I do not like to voice any opinion now. We will firm up our stance after considering the situation,” she told the media on Tuesday.
Foreign secretary Mohammed Touhid Hossain and home secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder told New Age that they had not received any information about Myanmar’s move to erect a fence along the border.
Home secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder said that the Bangladesh Coast Guard and the deputy commissioner of Cox’s Bazar in south-eastern region had told him that a fresh contingent of troops had been mobilised across the Naaf river that forms the international border at some points.
Myanmar was starting construction of infrastructure for them, not erecting a fence, the official said. IANS
Friday, February 27, 2009
Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime dispute
http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/02/27/news0879.htm
Mungpi
Burma's military generals in a secret meeting warned commanders and officers to beware of Bangladesh in the wake of a maritime dispute between the two countries in November.
Maj-Gen Soe Win, commander of the Northern Military Command, during a meeting held recently said that Burma considers Bangladesh a hostile neighbour, and warned commanders and officers to keep an eye on Bangladesh's military movements.
The minutes of the meeting held in Naypyitaw, a copy of which is in Mizzima's possession, said while Burma was exploring for gas in its territorial waters and in its economic zone, Bangladesh had strongly opposed the activity that led Burma to withdraw.
"In other words," Soe Win said, "Bangladesh is provoking us." Soe Win also accused the United States, which has imposed financial sanctions on the generals, of backing and inciting Bangladesh to oppose the exploration.
Besides, Soe Win, voicing the general's paranoia, said the army has received information of movements of US Navy fleets using Thai and Bangladesh waters as a base.
"Therefore, all must understand that there is a likelihood of foreign invasion and we must carefully observe military movements," Soe Win added.
During the meeting, attended by several field officers and commanders, Soe Win reminded them of the need to maintain vigilance along the border areas as a preparation for any possible intrusion from foreign countries.
Though there seems to be no other verification for Soe Win's fears, the Generals, however, are reportedly intensifying military presence in Arakan state, which borders Bangladesh.
According to a Bangladesh-Burma border based Burmese journalist, the junta is stepping up its military presence, particularly the artillery battalion in the border township of Maungdaw in Burma's western Arakan state.
"The junta is shifting several of its battalions to a new military base in Maungdaw. Particularly the artillery battalion," the journalist, who requested not to be named, told Mizzima.
The journalist, citing local sources in the area said the Burmese Army is being stationed in a long stretch of valley behind the cover of mountains to conceal their presence.
"It looks to me that the army is preparing for an impending war or some kind of conflict. But we don't know against whom," he added.
Similarly, an Editor of the Dhaka based Burmese News Agency Narinjara told Mizzima that in recent months, at least 13 battalions of the Burmese Army have moved up to northern Arakan state in Maungdaw Township.
"We also can confirmed that the army is building an airbase in Maungdaw Township," Narinjara's editor Khaing Mrat Kyaw said.
He added that Burma's military leaders including Vice Snr. Gen. Maung Aye, the junta's second strongman, and Prime Minister Thein Sein have paid visits to Arakan state in recent weeks to check on the progress.
"Obviously it is some kind of preparation. And I think the junta wants to make a come back in the Bay of Bengal to continue the gas exploration," Khaing Mrat Kyaw said.
"They seem to be really sore with Bangladesh over the last dispute," Khaing Mrat Kyaw remarked.
In early November, Bangladesh and Burma had a face off, when Bangladesh objected to the exploration work of a South Korean company Daewoo, which was accompanied by Burmese naval vessels in the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh said the block in which the Burmese vessel and Daewoo were test drilling comes under its maritime boundary and immediately sent two Navy vessels to the spot.
Burmese generals, though saying that the area belongs to the Burmese economic zone, later moved out of the area.
During the stand off Bangladesh deployed two naval vessels in the Bay of Bengal and reinforced its border security, but Burma was unable to bring in timely reinforcements, Khaing Mrat Kyaw said.
"I think that's why they are now building their bases and even constructing roads and railways, so that they can move their army anytime quickly," Khaing Mrat Kyaw observed.
(Source: Agencies)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Mongla runs dry
by admin — last modified 2009-02-19 07:46
Business in Mongla, the headquarters of Sai Leun-led ceasefire group, opposite China’s Daluo, has gone slack since early January after Chinese authorities ordered indefinite closure of the border checkpoint, according to travelers returning from eastern Shan State.
By SHAN
19 February 2009
South of Mongla at Wan Hsio, where several casinos are located, there are few big spenders from China and many have been forced to close shop.
At Mongla itself, many restaurants and hotels are suffering from loss of custom. “At the hotel where I stay, there were only two other guests,” said a visitor from Thailand who requested anonymity. “I also visited a few discotheques and pubs in the evening but found only a handful of clients.”
As the checkpoint on the Lam was closed to outsiders (natives are given only one-day passes), many have resorted to crossing the border illegally from other points. “That involves some risks too,” said a local, “because there are Chinese patrols and if you are caught, you’ll be fined Yuan 1,000-1,500 ($151.5-227) . That’s a huge sum for farmers like us.”
Border checkpoint in Mongla Former casino now hotel
The reasons for the closure, as explained by both friendly officials and locals, were as follows:
Frequent seizures of drugs along the route
The Chinese attempt to connect with Thailand through Mongla-Kengtung- Maesai highway being thwarted by Mongla leaders’ lack of cooperation
Burmese customs’ request for a 30% share in the cross border revenue was turned down by the Mongla authorities thereby incurring the wrath of the Burmese authorities who had notified their counterparts in China to close the border checkpoint
Rumors that Mongla will be taken over by the Burma Army in 2010 had thrown so much panic among the populace that some of those who have prospered are moving out to China and other places
The fear was intensified by the military build-up by both the Burma Army and the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS) along the Lwe that roughly serves as a boundary between the two sides. “On 7 February, our troops were digging trenches near Taping on the Lwe,” said an NDAA-ESS officer. “The Burma Army unit nearby saw what we were doing and protested. We had a heated argument, but we refused to give in, because if it was okay for them to reinforce themselves, why should it be wrong for us to do the same thing.”
The same officer nevertheless was frank in admitting that the group’s non-compliance to the junta’s demand to disarm depended much on the United Wa State Army (UWSA) its stronger ally next door. “Without the Wa, it’ll be difficult for us to go against the Burma Army’s continued pressure.”
The group, officially known as Shan State Special Region #4, has 3 brigades: Central, 369th (mostly Shan) and 911st (mostly Akha). Estimated strength is 4,500.
Thai travelers who were there last week said they saw a lot of trucks with NW (Northern Wa) number plates, but very few armed Wa fighters in Mongla. “Of course, Wa troops, if they are in Mongla territory, will be stationed well outside the town, not inside,” said one.
Another traveler who met a visitor from Panghsang said he saw the Wa army selecting and clearing sites along the way. “I heard that they have been marked as temporary holding centers for refugees if war breaks out.”
Both the UWSA and the NDAA-ESS are under heavy pressure to “exchange arms for peace,” an official term for surrender. However the Shan State Army (SSA) North, their remain ally in the west, appears to have been given better treatment by the junta who told them the question whether to surrender or become part of Burma’s armed forces would be put on a back burner until the new government emerges.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.shanland. org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts
