Chinese Blood on Burmese Soil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, September 14, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peng Jiasheng is the Kokang leader whose residence was raided by government troops on August 8, setting off a regime offensive and leading to the loss of the Kokang region to junta troops. He was interviewed by The Irrawaddy on the reasons for the offensive, the role of China, the allegations of illegal drug trafficking, the borders guard force and the future of ethnic minorities in Burma.
Question: How would you describe the current situation in the Kokang region?
Answer: The incident on August 8 was the junta’s excuse. It wanted to do away with the local ethnic minority army a long time ago. A larger nationality wants to eliminate a smaller one. This is typical nationalistic chauvinism. This was a massacre.
Peng Jiasheng (Photo: Tom Kramer)
In order to avoid further harm to the Kokang people, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) retreated. This is not what we wanted and also it is not what the people in the international community who support our people would like to see.
Now the situation in Kokang is even more complicated. Currently, the situation is very bad. The government troops took over the Kokang area for about 10 days, but there were many reported cases where their soldiers committed robbery, rape and killed civilians. Many people are still afraid to go back home. Most of the shops owned by Chinese businessmen were either destroyed or robbed. This is a calamity. The prosperous environment of Kokang of only a few months ago no longer exists. People are living in deep distress.
This conflict has brought great trauma to the Kokang people. The war will be long. It will be impossible to end soon.
Q: The ceasefire agreement you signed with the regime in 1989 has collapsed. What do you believe was the motive behind the offensive and the regime’s attempt to arrest you?
A: In March 1989, the Kokang people agreed to peace and development. In the same year, 17 other local ethnic armed forces also started peace talks with the junta. This brought to an end the large scale of armed conflict in the country.
The alliance army is also one of the legal ethnic armed forces that were recognized by the military government. Over the past 20 years of peace and development, the Kokang was the first group in the country to promise the international community that we would stop drug production. We enforced the ban on poppy cultivation in 2002 in our area. The anti-drug production effort and success were recognized by the UN and the international communities. With help from the World Food Programme, the Chinese government and other international aid agencies, we implemented a lot of poppy substitution projects, mainly to grow sugar crane, tea, walnuts and other crops. We achieved very good progress in the poppy substitution.
Step by step, the people in our area began to work their way up from poverty. This can be seen by everybody. However, as the military government wants to achieve their goal of controlling the whole country, it felt it needed to take action against the peace and the ceasefire groups.
Q: Soon after the government troops captured Laogai, the state-run-media repeatedly accused you of involvement in illegal arms factories and drugs. How do you respond to those allegations?
A: Burma is still a country without a real government. The army cannot represent the government. After the election in 1990, the junta usurped power in the country. Ever since then, there has been no proper government in our country. The international community has never officially acknowledged them as the government. Burma is currently a country managed by a temporary council that was set up by the junta. It was called the State Law and Order Restoration Council and was later changed to the State Peace and Development Council. The government army is also an ethnic armed force, so it can not represent this country.
In 1989, for the sake of the peace and welfare of the country, the Kokang people took the initiative to approach the junta-controlled council. This was to protect peace in the country, and to let the people live in peace. Over the past 20 years, we trusted the junta and have been respectful of them. Our political proposition is always the same: support the central government, take the road to peace and development, maintain nationality unification, guard national unity and strive for the autonomous rights of the Kokang people. We never wanted to separate from the country; we only wanted a recognized position for the Kokang people among all of Burma’s nationalities.
Q: How many people were killed in the latest conflict?
A: In this conflict, the Kokang people suffered great loss. We had 14 alliance army soldiers killed in battle, but what we do not know is the number of civilians killed. For example, some na?ve young people joined with the traitor Bai Suocheng and his army. In the battles, they were to be used by the government troops to fight against us. These young people refused because they were Kokang and could not kill their own people. The government troops took their weapons away and shot them with machine guns. On Aug. 27, 27 Kokang youth were killed together.
Q: Why did the junta decide to single out your group? Was there any reason other than the regime’s allegation of your involvement in opium and illegal drugs?
A: A lot of things happened over the past month that we never thought could happen. The Kokang alliance army is one of the legal armed forces in the country. All our weapons are old and the ammunition is left over from the days of the Burmese Communist Party. Many of these weapons are in need of repair. It is reasonable to have a factory to repair weapons. This factory is well known by all the SPDC officials in Kokang. They have visited it before. But now they used it as an excuse to take action against us.
The motivation behind this is obvious. They want to eliminate the Kokang and other ethnic armed forces and achieve their goal of a junta-managed “unified” country. It goes without saying that the junta will not stop with the Kokang. They will take the war to other groups with all kinds of excuses. If you want to condemn something, you can always find a charge. The government army is the strongest in the country. It can crack down on whichever ethnic groups it wishes. It can accuse any ceasefire group of drugs, or weapons…anything. The current situation on drugs, for example, in the four special regions in Shan State is that there is no poppy cultivation, according to investigations by the international agencies. However, in SPDC-controlled areas, there is more than 250,000 mu [Chinese land unit: 667 square meters] of poppy cultivation. This is the work of the junta, and this is how it behaves.
Q: Several ethnic ceasefire groups including the MNDAA rejected the junta's proposal for a Border Guard Force (BGF). Why did you reject the BGF plan?
A: We are not really against the idea of transferring the army to a BGF, but the terms and conditions were too rigorous. For example, all the officers above 50 would be forced to retire and find their own livelihood. The key leaders of the local government and the commanders of the army would also be appointed by the junta. These proposals are not acceptable to any of the ceasefire groups. It is also not acceptable to the local people. Our requirements were simple: we want to have a high level of national autonomy to protect the interests of the Kokang people.
Q: The Kokang and other ethnic groups are unhappy with the 2008 constitution. What do you see as its faults?
A: Regarding the constitution proposed by the junta in 2008, it is all about the power and interest of the junta. We do not believe that any rights and interests of the minorities are ensured in the constitution. How can we accept such a constitution that does not represent the people of the country? on the approval of this constitution, there are things that happened that few people know about. For example, in some of the Kokang villages, the junta sent people to vote in the referendum. The local people did not want to participate, so the junta officials themselves wrote [out] all the votes. There were villages where about 100 people voted No, but on their ballots it was reported that more than 3,000 people voted Yes. This is how it was approved.
Q: You merged with the CPB in the past and led the successful mutiny in 1989. You went to Beijing and you were closely associated with Chinese officials in the past. Today, China is the closest ally of the regime as well as a good friend of ethnic groups along the Sino-Burmese border. What was China's role in the recent conflict in the Kokang region?
A: During the Aug. 8 incident planned by the junta and the armed conflict afterwards, the Chinese government did not give us assistance. We could not talk to the Chinese government about protection and asylum. However, as the Kokang are in fact Chinese, when the refugees fled to China the local authorities took very good care of them. That we really appreciate.
Q: What is your message to Chinese leaders who plan to build a gas pipeline through the Kokang region?
A: What I want to say here is no matter what happens in Burma, we are ethnic Chinese and our roots are in China. This we will never forget. For the sake of the rights and position of the Chinese in Burma, we will continue our struggle.
Q: How do you see the future of Burma and the ethnic minorities?
A: Regarding the future of the ethnic minorities in Burma, this is a complicated issue. If Burma does not set up a democratic government that is elected by the people and therefore really represents the people, the future of the minorities in Burma will get worse.
Q: Did you receive any political backing or military support from other ethnic groups along the border? Are they united in their goals?
A: All the minority ceasefire groups along the China-Burma border areas have good relations with each other and have supported each other over a long period of time. Our fate and experiences are the same. But due to certain difficulties, our alliance is not as strong as it should be. Therefore the junta had its opportunity, and now the Kokang area is under junta control.
Q: Are you worried about losing your personal property and your businesses in Burma and China?
A: Currently, all my personal property has been confiscated by the junta. My property in China was also taken away by the relevant department of the Chinese government. This is a problem that I can not solve by worrying about it.
Q: Please describe the refugee situation. There were reports of government officials and soldiers attacking Chinese nationals? Was the recent attack designed to demonstrate that the government is not a puppet of China?
A: I think the reason why the junta attacked the Kokang is because of the following:
First, the junta wanted to develop better relationships with America, India and some Western authorities, in particular with America. In order to improve the relationship with America, the junta is eager to prove that the junta is not a puppet government supported by the Chinese government. That is why the junta chose the Kokang to fight against.
They also wanted to test the response of the Chinese government. The Kokang and the Chinese have a blood relationship. The Kokang people are basically Chinese; they are part of the Chinese family. The Chinese in Burma were not officially recognized by the Burmese and therefore for centuries they lived in a very low economic and social position. Only after the meeting in Ninakan in 1947, after the national government’s recognition, were the Chinese living in these areas called Kokang. But as a matter of fact, the Kokang people are Chinese. We are the descendants of the Yellow emperor. The anti-Chinese movement in 1967 in Burma feels like yesterday.
Even today, many Chinese living in Burma still do not dare to declare that they are Chinese. In 1989, when the Kokang Alliance Army was established, all the Chinese in Burma looked at the Chinese armed forces as the “lighthouse.” Now the ‘”lighthouse” has gone off.
The second reason I think is that the SPDC forces were already in Kokang for more than 10 years, and they understood the situation in Kokang, including the relationships among the Kokang leaders.
They therefore bought off the traitors Bai Suocheng and Wei Chaoren. This resulted in an internal split in Kokang before the war broke out. Bai Suocheng and Wei Chaoren betrayed their people and surrendered to the junta.
Now the junta has taken over the Kokang area, and it is clear about the response of the Chinese government. So their next step will be to reinforce the policy of cracking down on other minority groups along the border. The junta will act recklessly and become more unbridled.
Q: Where are you living now?
A: For many years, I worked in Kokang. I never had a chance to travel to the big cities in Burma. Now that I have more time, I am travelling in the big cities in Burma. I really feel that my country is beautiful, and it deserves a government that can represent the people by building and developing the country. I currently have no plans to go back to Kokang.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Chinese Blood on Burmese Soil
Beijing’s Influence on Junta ‘Overstated’: ICG
Beijing’s Influence on Junta ‘Overstated’: ICG
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By WAI MOE Monday, September 14, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A leading political think tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG), said on Monday that although many believe China is the key to pushing the Burmese junta toward political reform, its influence is overstated.
In a new report covering Sino-Burmese relations, the Brussels-based NGO said that Beijing’s influence on the Burmese junta is clearly limited, a fact highlighted by the Burmese government forces’ invasion of the Kokang region, an act that caused some 37,000 refugees to flee to China.
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, left, holds a welcoming ceremony in honor of Gen Maung Aye, right, vice-chairman of Burma’s ruling junta at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 16, 2009. (Photo: www.english.cpc.people.com.cn)
Titled “China’s Myanmar Dilemma,” the ICG report was written by ICG staffers in Beijing, Jakarta and Brussels.
“Simply calling on Beijing to apply more pressure is unlikely to result in change,” the ICG report said. “The insular and nationalistic leaders in the military government do not take orders from anyone, including Beijing.”
It said that “after two decades of failed international approaches to Myanmar [Burma], Western countries and China must find better ways to work together to push for change in the military-ruled nation.”
The Kokang conflict highlighted the complexity of China’s relationship with Burma, and that Beijing was unable to dissuade the Burmese generals from launching their bloody campaign, said the report.
It also noted that the relation between Beijing and Naypyidaw is “best characterized as a marriage of convenience rather than a love match.”
ICG, which is frequently contracted to advise world bodies such as the UN, the EU and the World Bank, said that while China sees major problems with the status quo [in Burma], particularly with regard to economic policy and ethnic issues, Beijing’s preferred solution is a gradual adjustment of policy by a strong central government, not federalism or liberal democracy, and certainly not regime change.
The ICG noted in its report that unstable Burmese factors on the Chinese border, such insurgency, drugs and diseases, affect China’s interests in the country.
It said that Beijing’s interest in Burma was mainly economic.
However, to highlight the close ties, the report said that from 2003 to June 2009, leaders of the Chinese government and the Burmese junta met 30 times, 15 of which were after the Burmese regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in September 2007.
ICG has published two reports regarding Burma within the last two months. A report titled, “Myanmar: Towards the Elections” was released on August 20. It said the 2010 elections are likely to create opportunities for generational and institutional changes despite major shortcomings.
However, it questioned whether the elections could solve the conflict in Burma, including the clashes at the Sino-Burmese border.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
က်မနဲ ့စကားအေျခအတင္ နွင့္ နိုင္ငံေရးစစ္ေရးပညာရွင္မ်ား--ဟူသည္
ကၽြန္ေတာ္ ဒီေဆာင္းပါးကို ေလးစားစြာနဲ ့ကူးယူေဖာ္ျပလိုက္ပါတယ္။
ဘုန္းလိႈင္
က်မနဲ ့စကားအေျခအတင္ နွင့္ နိုင္ငံေရးစစ္ေရးပညာရွင္မ်ား--ဟူသည္
Friday, August 28, 2009
က်မ လြန္ခဲ့တဲ့နွစ္ရက္ေလာက္က အေမရိကန္ က က်မတို ့ရဲ့ရဲေဘာ္တစ္ဦးနဲ ့စကားအေျခအတင္ေျပာ ျဖစ္ခဲ့ႀက ပါတယ္။သူနဲ့က်မလူျခင္းခုမွေတြ ့ဖူးေပမဲ့ က်မတို့တေတြကလူရင္း ေတြပဲေပါ့ နင္ဘာလုပ္ခဲ့လဲငါဘာလုပ္ခဲ့လဲလို့ ေမးခြန္းနွစ္ခုႀကားမွာပဲ လူရင္းေတြျဖစ္သြားပါတယ္ ၈-၈-၈၈ထဲက ခင္လာခဲ့တဲ့သူေတြပမာေပါ့ ဒါဟာဒီမိုကေရစီ အေရးပံုကာလမွာ တိုက္ပြဲ၀င္ရဲေဘာ္အားလံုးရဲ့ ေသြးကစကားေတြ လို ့ေျပာလို ့ရပါတယ္။
ဒါေပမဲ့ ျဖတ္သန္းခဲ့တဲ့ပံုစံျခင္းျခားနားတဲ့အေပၚမွာက်မကို အဲဒီ့ရဲေဘာ္က ေစတနာေစာဒက ေတြနဲ ့နင္နိင္ငံျခား
ကိုသြား ///သြားသင့္တယ္ လို ့စတင္တိုက္တြန္းေတာ့တာပါပဲ ။ သူကိုယ္တိုင္က ျမန္မာျပည္မွာ ဦးေဆာင္ခဲ့တဲ့
ေက်ာင္းသားေခါင္းေဆာင္ေတြထဲကတစ္ဦးအပါအ၀င္ျဖစ္သလို ေတာထဲေတာင္ထဲမွာလည္းေသနတ္ဆြဲျပီးငတ္
ခဲ့သူေပပဲဆိုေတာ့ သူ ့ေစတနာစကား က်မလက္ခံနားႀကားနိုင္ပါေသးတယ္။ဒီေနရာမွာ အာပလာလို ့က်မေျပာ
ေလ့ရွိတဲ့ နိုင္ငံေရးအတုအေယာင္ ၊ခိုလံုခြင့္အတြက္နိုင္ငံေရးဟန္ျပ၊ဘ၀ရပ္တည္ေရးအတြက္ နိုင္ငံေရးလို ့ေႀကြး ေက်ာ္သူကမ်ား လာေျပာရင္ ျဖင့္ က်မ ပါးစပ္ေပါက္ နဲ ့ ေတြ ့ဦးမွာ --ေတြ ့ကို ေတြ ့ဦးမွာ --ေပါ့
အေႀကအလည္ ေဆြးေႏြးခဲ့ရပံုမ်ားကျဖင့္ သူေျပာတာ'' ငါတို ့ေတြ နိုင္ငံျခားမထြက္ခင္က ငါတို ့ကိုယ္င့တို ့သိတ္
ဟုတ္လွခ်ည္ ထင္ခဲ့တာဟ ဟိုလည္းေရာက္ေရာ ငါ တို ့သိထားတက္ထားတာေတြ ဘာမွမဟုတ္မွန္း သိေတာ့
တယ္။ နင္တို ့လည္း ကိုယ္ထင္ထားတဲ့ ကိုယ္ျမင္တဲ့ ျခံဳပုတ္ေလးေလာက္ ကိုႀကီးတယ္ထင္မေနနဲ ့ သြား နိုင္ငံ
ျခား တိုင္ျပည္တခုခု သူတို ့ဘာသာစကားေတြ မသင္ရတဲ့ အေမရိကန္ ကေနဒါ လို မ်ိဳး နိုင္ငံေတြ သြားစမ္းပါ
နင့္သမီးေတြ ခုခ်ိန္ ထက္ထက္ျမတ္ျမတ္နဲ ့ပညာ သင္ေနရမဲ့အရြယ္ ''--- တဲ့
"က်မ ျပန္ေျပာျဖစ္ပါတယ္ နိုင္ငံျခား ဆိုတာက်မလည္းမက္ပါတယ္ တိုးတက္မယ္ ေခတ္မွီမယ္ က်မမွာ မရွိတဲ့
ပညာရပ္ေတြလည္းရမယ္ က်မသမီးေလးေတြလည္း ဖြံ ့ ျဖိဳးတိုးတက္မွဳပိုမယ္ ဆိုတာကိုေပါ . ဒါေပမဲ့ က်မငယ္
စဥ္ကတည္း က ဒီ ဒီမိုကေရစီဆိုတဲ့ လမ္း ကိုေလ်ာက္ခဲ့တယ္ နိုင္ငံေရးဆိုတာသိျခင္း နားလည္ျခင္းမရွိပဲကိုယ့္
ေရွ့လူေတြ အတံုးအရံုးေသတာေတြ ေတြ ့ ျပီး မခံခ်င္စိတ္ျဖစ္ခဲ့ရာက ခု ထိက်မမွာမျပီးေသးတဲ့တာ၀န ္ေတြအ
လားခံစားေနရတုန္းပဲ -က်မ လိုပဲ ရဲေဘာ္အသီးသီးကဖြံ ့ျဖိဳးတိုးတက္ဖို ့နိုင္ငံျခားသြားသူေတြ ႀကည့္ပဲ ဆိုရင္?''
အဲဒီ့မွာ သူက ထပ္ေျပာပါတယ္ ''ညီမတို ့မွာ CAPACITY & EDUCATION အမ်ားႀကီးလိုေသးတယ္ အကို
တို ့တိုင္းျပည္အတြက္ ဒါေတြ အေရးႀကီးတာ သူမ်ားနိုင္ငံေတြ ႀကည့္အကိုတို ့ေတြ သိတ္ကိုေနာက္က်ေနတာ''
ဆိုျပီး က်မ ကို တိုးတက္ေစ့ခ်င္တဲ့ေစတနာ ထပ္ေျပာျပန္ပါတယ္
က်မ ကေနာက္ထပ္ ထပ္ျပီးအေႀကာင္းျပခ်က္ေပးပါတယ္ "က်မတို ့ရဲ့ရည္ရြယ္ခ်က္ဟာဒီမိုကေရစီရဖို ့ရည္ရြယ္ခဲ့တာပါ ပညာရွင္ႀကီးျဖစ္ရမယ္ ငါတို ့ဘ၀ေတြ တိုးတက္ျမင့္မားရမယ္ ဆိုတဲ့ရည္ရြယ္ခ်က္နဲ ့
ဒီလမ္းကိုေလ်ာက္ခဲ့တာမဟုတ္ပါဘူး" က်မသမီးေတြ ပညာေရး သူတို ့ဖာသာႀကိဳးစားရပါလိမ့္မယ္ အႀကီး
ကိုလည္းက်မအသိေတြေပးထားတယ္ အငယ္ ကို လည္း ဒီနိုင္ငံမွာပဲျပဳစုပ်ိဳးေထာင္ပါမယ္ အလင္းမ၀င္ လက္
နက္မခ်ရတဲ့နည္း နဲ ့ ျပန္၀င္ရမယ္ ဆို ျမန္မာျပည္ပဲျပန္မွာပါ ။ ၂၀၁၀ ကို မဆိုလိုပါဘူး က်မတို ့ျပန္ရမဲ့ေန ့ရွိ
လာဦးမွာပါလို ့ က်မ ယံုႀကည္ပါတယ္ ဘာ့ေႀကာင့္လဲ ဆိုရင္ ျမန္မာျပည္ က ကိုယ္ျပည္ ကိုး ဒါ့အျပင္တဆက္
တည္ း စကားကြ်ံျခင္းမျဖစ္ရေအာင္ ေနလို ့ရသေရြ ့ အႀကပ္အတည္းမႀကီးမားသေရြ့ က်မ ေနေနဦးမွာပါ လို ့
ေျပာျဖစ္ခဲ့ပါတယ္ ။အဲဒီ့လို့ေျပာတဲ့ အခါ သူလက္ေလ်ာ့ သြားတယ္ထင္ပါတယ္ က်မ ကအယူအဆ နဲ့ေျပာေန
တာ မဟုတ္ပါဘူ း ယံုႀကည္ခ်က္နဲ ့ေျပာေနတာပါ ။
ဒါကေတာ့က်မယံုႀကည္ခ်က္ထဲက ျပည္ပနိုင္ငံတစ္ခု ကိုထြက္သြားျပီး က်မကိုယ္ကိုယ္ျဖည့္ဖို ့ထက္ေတာ္လွန္
ေရးအျပီးသတ္ဖို ့သာ ပို လို အပ္တယ္ဆိုတဲ့ တစ္ခ်က္ေပါ့ ။ေနမရလို ့ရပ္တည္ဖို ့မေျပလည္လို ့နိုင္ငံျခားထြက္
ရသူေတြ ကို စာနာနားလည္ေပးနိုင္ေပမဲ့ ငါတို ့ေတာ္လွန္ေရးေ၀းေသးပါတယ္ကြာ မျပီးနိုင္ေသးပါဘူး ဒီေတာ့
တို ့ပညာေရးနဲ့ ဘ၀ျမင့္ေရးအဓိက လို ့ ေျပာလာမဲ့ / တဲ့ သူေတြ အတြက္ေတာ့ အားေတာ့နာပါတယ္ --
တိုင္းျပည္ကိုျပန္မလာတာအေကာင္းဆံုးပါပဲ ။ အဲဒီ့ရဲေဘာ္တစ္ဦး နဲ့ေဆြးေႏြးခန္း ကေတာ့ ဒီမွာပဲျပီးပါတယ္ ။။
သူလည္းက်မ ရဲ့ပြင့္လင္းမွဳကိုေလးစားသလို သူ ့ရဲ့ ရပ္တည္ခ်က္နဲ့ ယေန ့တာ၀န္ယူမွဳတခ်ိဳ ့ကိုလည္းသိထား
တဲ့အတြက္ ေလးစားျပီးသားပါ။
က်မဆက္ျပီးတင္ျပခ်င္တာက ဒီကိစၥ နဲ့ ဆက္ -ဆက္ ေနတဲ ့ ပညာရွင္မ်ားရဲ့ အေတြးအေခၚပိုင္း ဆိုင္ရာပါ ။။
က်မတို ့တိုင္းျပည္ဟာ ပညာမတက္သူေတြ အုပ္စိုး လို ့ ခြ်တ္ျခံဳက်တယ္ပညာတက္ေတြ နဲ့ပဲ ေခတ္မွီ တဲ့နိုင္ငံ
ေတာ္သစ္တည္ေဆာက္ရ မယ္ ဆိုတာ ျငင္းမရတဲ့ ၀ိေသသ ပါ အဲ --ျငင္းလို ့ရတဲ့ အရာကေတာ့ ေတာ္လွန္
ေရးတစ္ခုေအာင္ျမင္ဖို ့ဒီဘ၀မွာပညာရွင္ ျဖစ္ကာမွရမယ္ဆိုတဲ့ အယူအဆကေတာ့က်မျပတ္ျပတ္ သားသား
ျငင္းျပလိုက္ခ်င္တာပါပဲ ။ ပညာတက္ဆိုရာမွာ ခု ေတာ္လွန္ေရးအင္အားစုမ်ား ေျပာေနတဲ့ PHD ဘြဲ ့မ်ား ကို
ဆိုလိုတာပါ ျမန္မာျပည္က ရိုက္သတ္လို ့မကုန္တဲ့ သာမာန္ အတန္းရ ဘြဲ ့ရ ေတြ ကိုမဆိုလိုပါဘူး။ ပညာဆို
တာ လူခိုးလို ့မရတာေႀကာင့္ ကိုယ့္ဆီမွာခိုင္မာတယ္ ပညာေရႊအိုးလူမခိုးလို ့ေရွးကစာဆိုရွင္မ်ား မိန့္ခဲ့တာပါ။
က်မလည္းပညာတက္ ဘြဲ ့ရ ပညာရွင္ႀကီးျဖစ္ခ်င္တာေပါ့ ဘယ္သူမျဖစ္ခ်င္ပဲရွိပါ့မလဲ ဒါေပမဲ့ ေတာ္လွန္ေရး
တခုမွာေတာ့ ကိုယ့္ကိုယ္ကိုယ္တည္ေဆာက္မယ္ဆိုတဲ့ အတၱသတ္သတ္ႀကည့္နဲ့ေတာ့ ပညာရွင္ ေတြဖက္ခုန္
မကူးသြားႀကပါနဲ ့။ ေတြးေခၚေမ်ာ္ျမင္မွဳ နဲ့ နိုင္ငံတကာစံနွဳန္းေတြ ဟာေလ့လာက်တ္မွတ္ရင္ရနိုင္ပါတယ္ ။
ဒါကို အစြန္းေရာက္ျပီး ေတာ္လွန္ေရး ကိုေက်ာခိုင္းသြားမယ္ ဆို ဘယ္လို ပညာရွင္ႀကီးေတြ ျဖစ္သြားပါေစ
ေတာ္လွန္ေရး ရဲ့ ဒဏ္ခတ္တာေတာ့ခံရပါလိမ္ ့မယ္ ။
က်မႀကားေနသိေနရပါတယ္ အေရးေတာ္ပံုႀကီး မွာဘယ္တုန္းကမွာဘယ္ေနရာမွာမွ မေတြ ့ဘူး မႀကားဖူးတဲ့
သူေတြ က တစ္ခါတစ္ရံ အမ်ိဳးသားဒီမိုကေရစီအဖြဲ ့ခ်ဳပ္ကိုမ်ားေ၀ဖန္လိုက္ရင္ျဖင့္ စာထဲကသင္ရိုး ညြန္းတန္းေတြအတိုင္းပါပဲ ဘာတဲ့ နိုင္ငံေရးသိပၸံ ဆိုသည္ကမ်ား က်မ ကတစ္ခါတစ္ရံ ဟား တိုက္
မိပါတယ္ စစ္ေရးကြ်မ္းက်င္သူ နိုင္ငံေရး ကြ်မ္းက်င္သူ ဘယ့္နွယ့္ သူ ့တို ့ေနာက္က ဘြဲ ့တက္လည္း
တက္နိုင္ရိုးရဲ့ သူတို ့သာတကယ္က်ြမ္းရင္ ျမန္မာျပည္ဒီမိုကေရစီရတာႀကာပါပေကာ --
ေတာ္လွန္ေရးမွာ ေနာက္မွပဲပါပါ ေရွ့ကပဲပါပါ ေတာ္လွန္ေရးမွာ ပါ၀င္လာျပီဆိုကတည္းကတိုင္းျပည္အတြက္
ေပးဆပ္မဲ့ တိုင္းျပည္အက်ိဳးကို ေဆာင္ရြက္မဲ့ ပုဂိုလ္ႀကည့္ ပါပဲ သတိထားရမွာက အေတြ ့အႀကံဳနဲ့ ေက်ာ္ျဖတ္
မွဳအားေကာင္းသူသာလွ်င္ ေတာ္လွန္ေရးရဲ့ အားနည္းခ်က္ အားသာခ်က္ကို ပံုေဖာ္ သံုးသပ္ နိုင္တာပါ ။ပညာ
ရွင္ေတြ ကေတာ့ စာအုပ္ထဲကအတိုင္း အျခားနိုင္ငံေတြ ရဲ့ျဖစ္စဥ္ေတြ အတိုင္းသံုးသပ္မယ္ဆိုရင္ အဲဒီ့သူေတြ
မွာရွိတဲ့ပညာရပ္ေတြ ကို ပိုက္ထားျပီး အေတြ ့အႀကံုေတြ ကို ေက်ာ္ျဖတ္ ဖို ့လို ့အပ္ပါတယ္ ။ ဒါ့ေႀကာင့္ တိုင္း
ျပည္ျပန္လည္တည္ေဆာက္ေရးမွာ နည္းနာေကာင္းတဲ့ နိုင္ငံႀကီးေတြ ၇ဲ့ စံနမူနာကိုယူျပီး ပညာရွင္ေတြ နဲ့ေပါင္း
ျပီး တိုငး္ျပည္တည္ေဆာက္ရမွာ ျဖစ္ေပမဲ့ ေတာ္လွန္ေရးကာလ မွာေတာ့ သတၱိရွိရွိ ျပတ္ျပတ္သားသား တိုက္
ရဲတဲ့ ေစတနာမွန္တဲ့ ေတာ္လွန္ေရးသမား ေတြ မ်ားမ်ားရွိေနဖို ့ သာအဓိက က်တယ္ ဆိုတဲ ့ က်မအယူအဆ
ကို တင္ျပလိုက္ပါတယ္ ။
Posted by ေမအိခင္ (လယ္ေ၀း) at 10:37 AM
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
In search of a Burmese rebel leader
Friday, 11 September 2009 01:03 UK
In search of a Burmese rebel leader
By Ko Ko Aung
BBC Burmese Service
Fighter from the PAO ethnic group in Burma
The Pao say they must fight to keep their own cultural identity
After flying half-way across the world I finally arrived at a rebel camp on the Thai-Burmese border on my quest to track down the elusive leader of the Pao National Liberation Army, Khun Thurein.
It took months of planning to meet the man, who with his force of just 100 men, is taking on the might of the Burmese military.
The men who follow him are all from a small ethnic minority group called the Pao. They have their own language, music, customs and traditional dress.
But they say the Burmese government is trying to destroy their culture. That's why two years ago Khun Thurein and his men dusted off their arms and began fighting once again.
In one recent ambush, Khun Thurein's men say they killed 12 Burmese soldiers.
The Pao are one of more than 100 different ethnic minorities in Burma. Most of them negotiated a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government more than two decades ago.
Despite the Pao's own ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government in 1994, the Pao feel their culture is gradually disappearing.
As I waited to meet the elusive Khun Thurein, I decided to visit some rebel outposts inside Burma.
At one of the Pao rebel camps high in the mountains, I came across Khun Tun Kyaw.
He said he witnessed his dad being brutally murdered by Burmese soldiers and pro-government militias in 1993.
He vividly described how his father was "hanged from a tree, his stomach was cut open, his genitals were severed and stuffed into his mouth, and two bullets were pushed into each of his ears".
It's not the first time I've heard of such atrocities, but on this occasion I was lost for words.
Refugees
Many Pao felt they had no choice but to flee across the border to Thailand.
Many of them have ended up at the Ban Nai Soi refugee camp which was a couple hours drive away.
Some people have been living there for 15 years or longer, but several told me that they still missed Burma.
They might eventually find their way to another country, but it seems they will not find their way back to Burma where they really belong - simply because it is not safe, even in areas where the ceasefire still holds.
During my visit to the camp I met Ma San Thu, who explained why she joined Khun Thurein's army as a medic.
She told me about a nine-year-old girl who she treated who had been raped by a Burmese government soldier.
She said: "We complained but our leaders stopped us from speaking out. So the resentment just grew. This kind of thing happens very often, so we started to think why can't we defend our people."
The rebel leader
By this time I had received my long-awaited summons to meet the man himself - Khun Thurein.
His jungle headquarters was just on the other side of the border inside Burma.
The Burmese government is a fraction of the strength of the British Empire. So I believe that we can beat them
Khun Thurein
I was the first journalist to be invited into Khun Thurein's camp, and he was anxious to take me on a tour.
As we headed out he explained that the Burmese government has been trying to establish a "Burmese mono-culture" in the country.
"Our leaders wanted peace and democracy. They wanted to sort out the political problems by political means. We never had a chance to sort the problems politically, so I thought the Burmese government would eliminate us."
Khun Thurein told me that he was well aware of the risk he was taking.
"We were under British colonial rule for 100 years. We fought them to reclaim our independence. The Burmese government [is a] fraction of the strength of the British Empire. So I believe that we can beat them."
Khun Thurein's wife admitted that she was very worried, and didn't know what would happen.
After all, it would take just one successful strike to wipe out Khun Thurein's entire force of just 100 men.
But, he said, "I would rather die fighting than bowing down to the pressure of the Burmese military regime to lay down arms without a political solution." http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/asia- pacific/8247084. stm
Deadline for Chinese to leave ceasefire areas over
Deadline for Chinese to leave ceasefire areas over
News - Shan Herald Agency for News
Friday, 11 September 2009 10:35
The deadline set by Chinese authorities for all Chinese citizens to leave ceasefire areas in Burma ended yesterday.
In the aftermath of the armed conflict between the Burmese Army and the Kokan Army in northern Shan State at the end of August, Chinese authorities fixed a deadline for September 8 for all Chinese to leave the UWSA and NDAA controlled areas.
In terms of topography, the armed conflict area was in territories controlled by these two ceasefire groups.
A source close to Chinese authorities said that "China had set a deadline for September 8 for all Chinese citizens to leave Wa and Mongla areas. The deadline is over but we have to wait and see what happens in this area."
On September 5, UWSA released a statement relating to the people who live in their controlled areas. The statement declared that they would continue to allow people on duty from international organizations to stay. But Chinese people, who had set up business ventures in their areas, would have to go back to China.
"Chinese businessmen and state employees have left Pang Sang, controlled by UWSA, Mongla, and NDAA," a source close to ceasefire groups said.
"Chinese businessmen left Mongla and Pang Sang. They took their belongings in cars. Casinos have been closed in Mongla."
Some Chinese people have gone to the Sino-Burma town of Ruili, an eyewitness said.
"The Chinese from Wa and Mongla arrived in Ruili. Some of them have bought and rented shops for starting business afresh. They said they had moved to carry on their business because the situation had worsened on the Burma border."
According to analysts, the main reason behind the Chinese people leaving the area was that the Burmese Army could launch military offensives against the remaining ceasefire groups.
In a contradiction junta’s puppet media said that people, who fled the area following clashes in the Kokang area, have been coming back home and the situation in the area had normalized but Chinese businessmen have left UWSA and NDAA controlled areas. http://www.bnionlin e.net/news/ shan/7016- deadline- for-chinese- to-leave- ceasefire- areas-over. html
>
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Report: Pipeline pumps billions in Myanmar junta's pockets
Report: Pipeline pumps billions in Myanmar junta's pockets - Summary
Posted : Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:59:32 GMT
Author : DPA
Print this article email this article Comment on this article
Bangkok - Myanmar's ruling junta is hiding billions of dollars in revenue from natural gas sales in two Singapore banks, a Washington-based human rights group claimed Thursday. EarthRights International (ERI) said international pressure would not work against the military government as long as it has vast sums of easily funds and the world community needs to put pressure on the banks in question.
ERI claims in a report released in Bangkok, "confidential and reliable" sources said Singapore's Overseas Chinese Development Banking Corporation (OCBC) and DBS Group are "offshore repositories of Yadana gas pipeline revenues."
Since commercial production started on the Yadana gas pipeline in 2000, Myanmar's government has earned about 4.83 billion dollars from the sale of natural gas to Thailand, ERI said.
Through using an old exchange rate of 6 kyat to the dollar, instead of the current value for Myanmar's currency of nearly 1,000 kyat to the dollar, only 28 million dollars of that revenue made it into Myanmar's national budget. The remaining roughly 4.8 billion dollars has been deposited in accounts in the two Singapore banks, the 110-page report said.
The two banks in question have so far declined to comment. A DBS spokesman told the German Press Agency
Copyright, respective author or news agency http://www.earthtim es.org/articles/ show/285098, report-pipeline- pumps-billions- in-myanmar- juntas-pockets- -summary. html
============ ========= ========
Myanmar junta siphons gas revenue offshore-report
Thu Sep 10, 2009 7:01am EDT
BANGKOK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military has transferred billions of dollars from a gas project into two banks operating in Singapore, contributing to "high-level corruption", a U.S.-based environmental group said on Thursday.
A report by non-profit Earth Rights International (ERI) said the junta had transferred $4.83 billion since 2000 from a gas pipeline, money that was kept off the national budget and stored in the banks operating in the city-state.
"Rather than contribute to Burma's economic development, the billion dollar revenues from the project have instead contributed to high-level corruption," the report said. The money, it said, came from the controversial Yadana gas project involving energy companies Chevron Corp (CVX.N) of the United States, France's Total (TOTF.PA) and Thailand's PTTEP (PTTE.BK).
The two banks and the Singaporean government were informed of the group's findings last week, ERI said. All had yet to respond.
"As long as Myanmar's regime has easy access to these funds we feel it will have little incentive to change," Matthew Smith, one of the report's authors, told a news conference.
"We urge the international community to use this as leverage to help the people of (Myanmar). We fully expect the Singapore government and the banks to do the right thing."
Despite a broad range of sanctions placed on Myanmar by the United States and the European Union because of political repression, its vast reserves of natural gas have been a financial lifeline for the regime. (For a factbox on sanctions on Myanmar click on [ID:nLD673386] )
ERI estimated the military government had received 75 percent of the revenue generated by the Yadana pipeline, which runs from the Andaman Sea to western Thailand.
ERI said the junta managed to keep the $4.83 billion off its national budget accounts by using a 30-year-old exchange rate from dollars to the local kyat currency, which produced a sum in kyat far smaller than the real amount generated.
"Singapore has very tight laws regarding corruption and misappropriation of public funds," Smith said. "These accounts should be red-flagged until the banks have the opportunity to cooperate with the authorities."
China's largest oil and gas producer, the China National Petroleum Corporation, is due to start construction of nearly 4,000 km (2,485 miles) of dual pipelines from Myanmar's western Arakan State to China's Yunnan province next month. [ID:nBKK40759] .
The deal is expected to provide the government, which has ruled the country since a 1962 coup, with at least $29 billion over 30 years. (Reporting by Bangkok Newsroom; Editing by Alan Raybould and Nick Macfie)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved http://www.reuters. com/article/ fundsFundsNews/ idUSBKK356607200 90910?rpc= 401 &
============ ========= ====
China tip-off 'sparked' fighting
Myanmar said information about the arms cache came during a meeting on transnational crime [Reuters]
A senior Myanmar official has said that last month's clashes in the northeast of the country were sparked after a Beijing tipped them off about the location of an illegal arms factory.
Up to 30,000 people fled across the border from Kokang into northern China during the fighting which followed the raid on the arms factory in the mainly ethnic Chinese region.
An estimated 37,000 refugees streamed across the border from Myanmar into China's Yunnan province, but many of them have reportedly returned home in recent days.
Myanmar officials showed a number of diplomats and journalists around the site of the purported factory, which was raided by troops on August 8.
During the visit, Brigadier Phone Swe, Myanmar's deputy home affairs minister, said that Chinese officials informed them about the factory during a ministerial meeting on combating transnational crime.
Phone Swe's comments appeared to be an attempt to show that relations with close China remained on a steady keel, after a rare public request from Beijing that Myanmar calm the situation which had led to the influx of refugees.
Economic ties
China has maintained close economic and diplomatic ties with Myanmar's military government, largely estranged from the West, ensuring China's access to its mineral wealth.
Michael Vatikiotis, the regional director for the centre of humanitarian dialogue, said that the area had become a strategic concerns for China.
"They [China] have made it very clear to the Myanmar authorities that the want to see stability"
Michael Vatikiotis, regional analyst
"One of the reasons for their concern is that they have just signed and prepared for the construction of oil pipelines that run from the coast of Myanmar up to the border and across to Yunnan," he told Al Jazeera from Singapore.
"They have made it very clear to the Myanmar authorities that the want to see stability."
However, Vatikiotis said that Beijing was unlikely to throw its weight behind the ethnic Chinese over the border in Myanmar.
"I think that is not very much in character with China which is a great respecter of sovereignty, I think what they have been supporting until now is the status quo."
Earlier, the Myanmar government had said that the fighting had begun after ethnic Chinese raided a police checkpoint and took 39 police officers hostage.
Full-scale fighting broke out after 15 of the hostages were killed, and according to state media in Myanmar the clash left 11 soldiers and eight ethnic Chinese rebels dead.
Myanmar officials have claimed that calm has been restored in Kokang but many refugees remain unconvinced.
Election agreement
Meanwhile, the new leader of an ethnic Chinese political group said he would participate in general elections next year, the first in nearly two decades.
The issue of whether to take part in elections has been a point of contention among ethnic groups, which are being asked to put down their weapons and join the government-controll ed border guards.
Fighting has forced some 30,000 refugees to flee across the border into China [AFP]
Phe Sauk Chen, the head of the new Kokang Region Provisional Leading Committee, which was formed after other local leaders fled, told reporters during Tuesday's trip that his group also agreed to join the government's border security guards.
So far the larger ethnic groups, including the Kachin and the Wa, which has a militia estimated at more than 20,000 fighters, have refused to take part in elections.
But the issue caused division and led to the resignation of five senior leaders from the Kachin Independence Organisation earlier this month.
Aung Din, executive director of the US Campaign for Burma [the country's former name], said the leaders planned to take part in the polls.
Critics have called the scheduled elections a sham designed to cement the military's grip on power. The Kokang were the first among 17 armed ethnic groups to reach a peace agreement with the government in March 1989. http://english. aljazeera. net/news/ asia-pacific/ 2009/09/20099106 237748444. html
============ ========= ========
Junta Gas Profits Stashed in Singapore Banks: ERI
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN Thursday, September 10, 2009
At a Bangkok press conference on Thursday, Earthrights International (ERI) launched two reports alleging that oil giants Total and Chevron are linked to “forced labor, killings, high-level corruption and authoritarianism” in Burma.
The reports, titled “Total Impact” and “Getting it Wrong,” examine how revenue from the Yadana gas project sustains military rule in Burma and undermines Western sanctions.
The NGO also said that two Singapore-based banks—Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and DBS Group—function as “offshore repositories” for junta revenues accruing from the Yadana gas project.
Security guards gesture to photographers to stop taking photos of the DBS Group bank in Singapore in April. The bank is accused of laundering the Burmese junta’s siphoned gas profits. (Photo: Reuters)
The report said that Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council has earned almost US $5 billion from the gas pipeline project.
By using an outdated exchange rate, the junta declares a fraction of the revenues to the State budget, enabling it to siphon the rest off. The junta calculates revenue at just 6 kyat to the dollar when the de facto rate is closer to 1,000.
According to a confidential International Monetary Fund (IMF) report obtained by ERI, revenue "contributed less than 1 percent of total budget revenue in 2007/08, but would have contributed about 57 percent if valued at the market exchange rate."
The report says these rates allow the regime to list a mere $29 million of the Yadana earnings, leaving around $4.8 billion unaccounted for, which ERI believes to be lodged in the Singapore banks.
ERI’s Matthew Smith said that the information about offshore accounts in Singapore comes “from confidential and reliable sources,” but could not go into more detail.
“We expect the Singapore government and banks to do the right thing based on Singaporean law relating to money laundering, which prohibits any such transactions and requires banks to report these,” he added.
According to Smith, the two banks were informed in writing during the past week about the content of the reports, but ERI has yet to receive a response.
ERI is an environmental NGO based in the US, but was founded by Ka Hsaw Wa, an ethnic Karen and former Burmese student activist in exile since his involvement in the 1988 demonstrations against military rule.
ERI says that Total, Chevron and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand Export and Production (PTTEP)—the other non-Burmese company involved in Yadana—have earned a combined $1.3 billion since commercial production started in 2000.
The gas is piped into Thailand where it generates electricity for the Bangkok area, and in total makes up 60 percent of Burma's gas exports to Thailand. Total has been a major investor in the Yadana project since 1992, holding a 31.24 percent stake, with Chevron on 28 percent.
In a recent Newsweek interview, Total CEO Christophe de Margerie said that critics of the company's operations in Burma can “go to hell,” adding that the gas imports into Thailand have helped reduce air pollution in Bangkok.
In a June 26 letter to ERI published in the “Total Impact” report, Vice-President Jean-Francois Lasalle refused to answer a number of questions sent to Total by ERI. According to the letter, this was because ERI “presents allegations as facts,” and is “more interested in harassing our companies, in line with a divestment agenda, than in a real dialogue about how to improve people's lives.”
Total has cited its socioeconomic work in the pipeline area, and the “overall improvement in living conditions for the 50,000 people” who live in the pipeline area. Total refers ERI to a report by US-based CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, which gave the findings of a 20-day impact assessment of the oil company's operations related to the Yadana project.
However, the positive CDA report was dismissed as a whitewash by ERI, with report author Naing Htoo saying CDA’s methodology was deeply flawed, given that CDA lacked autonomy after being hired by Total to do the impact assessment.
ERI accuses Total and Chevron of complicity in human rights abuses throughout the history of the project. While the oil companies claim abuses have ceased, Naing Htoo says that this is “simply untrue.”
The authors quote locals living in the pipeline area, and the report’s authors say that “forced labor, killings and other abuses are being committed by Total and Chevron's security forces while the companies mislead and lie to the international community about their impacts.”
ERI said it believes that the impact of the CDA assessments is troubling, as these could be taken at face value by other oil companies and policymakers, in turn potentially having an impact on the issue of sanctions and engagement with the Burmese junta, based on false or flawed premises.
ERI said that the gas revenue windfall insulates the country's military rulers from the impact of international sanctions, which were tightened after the August 11 verdict returning Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest.
Total and Chevron have operations in Burma that pre-date the introduction of US and EU sanctions, so are not bound by those. In any case, EU sanctions against Burma currently only cover arms exports, wood, minerals, gems and metals, thereby exempting Total.
Elf, a former French oil company now part of Total, was complicit in numerous corruption scandals involving shady deals with African petro-states, before three senior Elf executives were jailed and the company merged with Total.
“As long as the regime has access to such vast revenue it has little incentive to reform or change,” Smith said. “The elites are hiding billions of dollars of the people's revenue in Singapore, while the country needlessly suffers under the lowest social spending in Asia.”
As well as long-standing rumors about Burma’s resource revenue being stashed in Singapore, the ill-gotten gains of elites in North Korea and Zimbabwe are also thought to be held in the city-state.
US financial giant Merrill Lynch estimates a third of Singapore's 60,000-odd millionaires are Indonesian, whereby Jakarta's wealthy beneficiaries of corruption and cronyism have moved their holdings away from the anti-corruption efforts undertaken by President Yudhoyono.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy. org
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 16762
============ ========= ====
Junta Media Highlights North Korean Anniversary
By WAI MOE Thursday, September 10, 2009
Burma’s state-controlled media reported on North Korea’s 61st anniversary celebration on the front page of The New Light of Myanmar on Thursday, reflecting the junta’s close relationship with Pyongyang.
The paper reported that Lt-Gen Tin Aye, the chief of Military Ordnance and head of the Union of Myanmar Economic Holding Ltd, attended the anniversary celebration of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea held in a hotel in Rangoon on Wednesday.
Rangoon Mayor Brig-Gen Aung Thein Lin also attended the North Korean party. Both Tin Aye and Aung Thein Lin have traveled to the Communist country for arms deals between two states.
North Korea and Burma officially reestablished diplomatic ties in April 2007. Burma cut relations with North Korea in 1983 following a bomb attack by North Korean agents on a visiting South Korean delegation led by then President Chun Doo Hwan. Chun Doo Hwan narrowly escaped death or injury, but four South Korean cabinet ministers and 13 other officials were killed by the blast.
Renewed North Korea-Burma ties have been highlighted in international media recently because of reports that said North Korea has provided arms and technology to the Burmese military.
The state-run newspaper ran the North Korean anniversary story on the front page. The Korean Central News Agency did not report on the Rangoon event.
Burma and North Korea both give priority to the role of the military in their country’s affairs.
Since 1994, the North Korean People’s Army was granted the “supreme repository of power.” Since 1962, the Burmese army has played the leading role in governing the Union of Burma.
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 16759
============ ========= =====
US Embassy investigates arrest of American citizen in Burma
Dear Netizens,
We need to write letters to the US government and Senator Jim Webb about Kyaw Zaw Lwin case. John Yettaw who broke the law by entering Daw Suu house was released. Kyaw Zaw Lwin also is an American citizen. We need to ask US government to demand the Burmese authorities to release Kyaw Zaw Lwin unconditionally. Senator Jim Webb needs to help Kyaw Zaw Lwin as he did for Yettaw.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin deserve the same rights like Yettaw. I am worry that he definitely is getting severe torture from the regime. We need to speak out and help to free Kyaw Zaw Lwin. His sister was sentenced to 65 years and his mother was sentenced to 5 years. His family do not deserve such a tragedy.
Regards
Htun Aung Gyaw
--- On Wed, 9/9/09, Shan-EU
From: Shan-EU
Subject: [SYCB] US Embassy investigates arrest of American citizen in Burma
To: "Shan-EUgroup"
Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 11:18 AM
US Embassy investigates arrest of American citizen in Burma
by Mungpi
Wednesday, 09 September 2009 18:52
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The United States Embassy in Rangoon said it is talking to the Burmese government regarding an American, arrested at the Yangon International Airport on September 3.
Burma born American citizen, Kyaw Zaw Lwin a.k.a Nyi Nyi Aung, was arrested at the Mingalardon International Airport on September 3, on arrival from Bangkok on a TG flight.
An embassy official told Mizzima on Wednesday that they are talking to Burmese authorities on Kyaw Zaw Lwin’s arrest but refused to provide further details, citing diplomatic protocol.
“We are aware of Kyaw Zaw Lwin’s arrest. We are investigating the case,” the official said adding that “Our priority is to provide assistance to American citizens, so, yes we are reaching out to the government here.”
Kyaw Zaw Lwin was a student activist during Burma’s 1988 popular uprising and fled to Thailand to escape the military crackdown on protesters. Later he was resettled in US and has been living in Washington DC, where he was neutralized as a US citizen.
According to a letter of request sent to Collin P. Furst, Consul of the US Embassy in Rangoon, by his friends, Kyaw Zaw Lwin had a valid social visit Visa obtained from the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok.
The embassy official said they do not have any information so far on the whereabouts of Kyaw Zaw Lwin.
The Burmese-born US citizen’s sister and mother are serving a jail term for their role in the ‘Saffron Revolution’, in which monks led thousands of protesters on the streets of Rangoon in September 2007.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin’s sister, Thet Thet Aung (35), was sentenced to 65 years in prison, while his mother is serving a five-year prison term.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Junta into diversionary tactics
Junta into diversionary tactics
News - Shan Herald Agency for News
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 13:04
In what seems to be tactics to divert attention, the Burmese Army has been deploying and redeploying troops and armour in Kachin State, Shan State North and Shan State East, but its next target after Kokang is so far anybody’s guess.
In northern Shan State, one tactical command of the Sagaing-based Light Infantry Division No. 33, deployed in Kokang last month, has been ordered to move to Kachin State further north, according to a border source. A tactical command from the Kalaw-based LID No. 55 is due to replace it. (One tactical command comprises three infantry battalions)
In eastern Shan State, more troops and heavy weapons are arriving in Mongkhark and Monyang, facing the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and its southeastern ally the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA).
However, a representative from Naypyitaw, Col Kyaw Kyaw, who used to be commander of the Infantry Battalion No. 279 based in Mongyang, told the local people on September 4, “There is no way the government is going to attack either the Wa or Mongla.” He therefore urged the people to recall their relatives who have fled the area.
“Which is contrary to exhortations by local TV channels in neighbouring Yunnan to all Chinese nationals working on the Burmese side of the border to return to their homeland for their safety and welfare,” said a source close to the Mongla authorities.
On the Thai-Burma border, a Lahu militia source claimed yesterday that his unit was instructed to do everything it could to provoke the Wa soldiers to shoot first. “My boss told me that the idea is for the Burmese Army to have an excuse to attack the Wa, as it did in Kokang,” he explained.
Areas of the Kokang, a ceasefire group north of Wa, were overrun three days after an advancing police column was fired upon by the defenders on August 27.
The Burmese Army has also reinforced its troops at Namzarm, the village east of Monghsat, where the road branches off to the Wa strongholds in Mongyawn, opposite Thailand’s Mae Ai district. “There used to be only the LIB (Light Infantry Battalion) 333,” said a local. “But now we are seeing at least 200 more troops, with 10 armoured cars.”
West of the Salween in southern Shan State, all units have been ordered to requisition both civilian trucks and porters and be ready to move in 24 hours. “Even in Taunggyi and Kalaw, where requisition of trucks and porters were unheard of in the past, are not being spared,” a local source said “Each unit has to have at least 10 trucks and 100 porters at its disposal.”
Bewildered, many people are consulting local spirits through known mediums, he added.
Shan State Army leader Sao Yawdserk has predicted that Naypyitaw’s next target would be Mongla, followed by Kachin, Wa and then the SSA.
“The Burmese Army is in a high state of readiness,” commented a Thai security official. “What it needs is a good excuse (to attack the ceasefire groups).” http://www.bnionlin e.net/news/ shan/6993- junta-into- diversionary- tactics.html
An 'Election' Burma's People Don't Need
An 'Election' Burma's People Don't Need
By U Win Tin
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Much attention has been focused on Sen. James Webb's recent visit to my country and his meetings with Senior Gen. Than Shwe and incarcerated Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. I understand Webb's desire to seek a meaningful dialogue with the Burmese ruling authorities. Unfortunately, his efforts have been damaging to our democracy movement and focus on the wrong issue -- the potential for an "election" that Webb wants us to consider participating in next year as part of a long-term political strategy. But the showcase election planned by the military regime makes a mockery of the freedom sought by our people and would make military dictatorship permanent.
In our last free election, the Burmese people rejected military rule in a landslide, awarding our National League for Democracy party more than 80 percent of the seats in parliament. Yet the military has refused to allow the NLD to form a government. In the 19 years since that election, Burmese democracy activists have faced imprisonment, intimidation, torture and death as they have peacefully voiced demands for justice, individual and ethnic rights, and a democratic form of government that is representative of all Burma's people.
While never ending our struggle for democracy, the NLD has continually sought to engage the regime and open a dialogue -- based on peace and mutual respect -- that could address Burma's critical political as well as social problems. Make no mistake -- these two issues are linked. Burma was once the rice bowl of Asia. Today, because of the regime's destructive economic policies and its use of oppression to maintain military rule, Burma is a shattered, poverty-stricken country.
ad_icon
The regime is seeking to place a veneer of legitimacy on itself through showcase "elections" and claiming that "disciplined democracy" will be instituted next year. Yet in May 2008, just days after a massive cyclone devastated Burma and killed more than 100,000 people, the regime used a farcical process to claim that 93 percent of voters chose to adopt a constitution that permanently enshrines military rule and prevents those with undefined "foreign ties" from holding public office -- catch-all provisions that would bar Suu Kyi and democracy activists from seeking office.
Some international observers view next year's planned elections as an opportunity. But under the circumstances imposed by the military's constitution, the election will be a sham. We will not sacrifice the democratic principles for which many millions of Burmese have marched, been arrested, been tortured and died to participate in a process that holds no hope whatsoever for bringing freedom to our country.
The demands of the NLD are reasonable. In April we issued another declaration to encourage engagement with the military that called for the release of all political prisoners, a full review of the constitution, reopening of all NLD offices and the right to freely organize. The regime's answer is the continued jailing of Suu Kyi and 2,000 other activists, massive military offensives against ethnic groups and the enforcement of rules to gag democracy.
How can the international community play a meaningful role? First, officials such as Webb should stop fear-mongering about China. His language about containing China, and working with Burma's regime to do so, is based on an outdated and unrealistic thesis. Suu Kyi rejected such notions by informing Webb that "we will not deal with anyone with fear and insecurity. We will deal with anyone, China, America, India, equally and friendly. As we can't choose our neighbors, we understand that we need to have a good relationship with China." Second, the NLD encourages other countries and international organizations to engage with Burma's military leaders to persuade them to engage with us and Burma's ethnic groups. The United States and many other nations have imposed sanctions on Burma. That is their decision and in keeping with their justified solidarity with the democratic values that we all hold so dear. If the regime genuinely engages with the NLD and ethnic representatives, releases political prisoners, ceases attacks against ethnic minorities and takes additional steps to build a true democratic state, these sanctions will be repealed at the right time.
In the meantime, let no one doubt our resolve. The NLD is a reflection of Burmese society. We will not be cowed or coerced into participating in a fatally flawed political process that robs the Burmese people of the freedom for which we struggle. We stand ready to engage, but we are more than willing to continue our struggle for the democratic values that so many have given their lives and their freedom to achieve.
U Win Tin is a member of the Central Executive Committee and a founder of Burma's National League for Democracy party. He was a political prisoner from 1989 to 2008.
http://www.washingt onpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/ article/2009/ 09/08/AR20090908 02959.html
============ ========= ======
Win Tin Speaks Out
Win Tin Speaks Out
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
In an article published in the Washington Post on Wednesday, Win Tin hit out at the Burmese regime’s planned election in 2010.
Win Tin has spent 19 years in prison for his political beliefs and is considered to be the country’s most prominent contemporary politicians.
The senior leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) wrote: “Some international observers view next year's planned elections as an opportunity. But under the circumstances imposed by the military's constitution, the election will be a sham.”
He stated in his article that his party will not sacrifice the democratic principles for which many millions of Burmese have marched, been arrested, been tortured and died to participate in a process that holds no hope whatsoever for bringing freedom to Burma.
And he reinforced the NLD’s demands that all political prisoners are released, a full review of the constitution is granted and that the opposition be allowed to reopen its offices and have the right to associate and organize.
The former journalist and editor of the well-known Hanthawaddy newspaper wrote: “The regime's answer is the continued jailing of [Aung San] Suu Kyi and 2,000 other activists, massive military offensives against ethnic groups and the enforcement of rules to gag democracy.”
He also criticized US Sen James Webb’s recent and controversial visit to Burma.
Win Tin said that he understands Webb's desire to seek a meaningful dialogue with the Burmese ruling authorities. But, he said, “Unfortunately, his efforts have been damaging to our democracy movement and focus on the wrong issue—the potential for an "election" that Webb wants us to consider participating in next year as part of a long-term political strategy. But the showcase election planned by the military regime makes a mockery of the freedom sought by our people and would make military dictatorship permanent.”
Webb’s visit received mixed reviews among Burmese and international observers. Burma’s military leaders, including junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, received Webb during his visit and allowed the US senator to meet detained democracy leader Suu Kyi.
Many ordinary Burmese in Burma mistakenly thought Webb represented the US government. Therefore, they assumed the US had dramatically shifting its policy on Burma by embracing the repressive regime.
The US government’s policy on Burma is under review and it is believed that the new policy will be a mixture of carrots and sticks.
During a recent visit to Asia, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that neither sanctions nor engagement work with Burma’s military dictatorship.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy. org
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 16751
[info_ngo_hrn] HRNより新政権への総合的政策提言発表・国連人権理事会にむけて
ヒューマンライツ・ナウ メールマガジン購読者のみなさまへ
いつも大変お世話になります。
ヒューマンライツ・ナウでは、新しく民主党を中心とする政権が発足するのを前に、
人権を中心とする外交への転換および国内の人権課題の改善に関する総合的な
提言をとりまとめ、公表いたしました。以下をご確認ください。
http://hrn.or.jp/activity/advocacy.jpgobt2009.pdf
(これをクリックしてください)
提言では、今後の国際貢献・外交の中心として、人権促進を位置づけ、
アジア地域での人権機構の設立へのイニシアティブや、援助政策に
おける人権・ジェンダーの主流化などを進めることを求めています。
また、国内人権政策については、政府から独立した人権擁護機関の設置、
冤罪を生まない刑事司法の改革、人権条約の選択議定書の批准により
個人が人権条約機関に救済申し立てをできるようにすること、従軍慰安婦
など戦後補償の解決などを求め、今後も政策提言や人権政策の前進にHRN
として貢献していく姿勢を述べています。
これまでも、折にふれてHRNとしての政策提言をしてまいりましたが、
今回これまでの提言をとりまとめ、HRNとしての総合的な提案として公表した
ものです。今後その実現にむけて鋭意取り組む予定です。
HRNでは、国際的な人権課題に多く取り組んできましたが、日本における
人権政策の大きな転換の実現に貢献するため、今後、提言書に重要課題として
あげた日本の人権課題について、活動を強化する予定ですので、
皆様からのこの点でのご支援・ご協力もぜひよろしくお願いいたします。
なお、ヒューマンライツ・ナウでは、9月14日の人権理事会の12会期開催にあたり、
1 カンボジアの人権特別報告者の再任
2 パレスチナ、ガザ攻撃に関する真相究明
3 ビルマにおける人権状況の改善
を求めて現地でロビー活動を展開する予定でおります。
カンボジアに関連して以下の要請書を日本政府におくり申し入れを行いました。
http://hrn.or.jp/activity/topic/surya-prasad-subedi/
ビルマに関しては、以下の声明を発表しています。
http://hrn.or.jp/activity/product/statement/post-38/
パレスチナに関しては、国連の独立調査団の報告発表を受けて意見表明をする
予定でいます。ガザの国連施設に対する国連調査団の報告書を入手し
和訳して公表いたしましたので、ご活用いただければ幸いです。
http://hrn.or.jp/activity/area/cat69/200812272009119/
ヒューマンライツ・ナウでは、ガザ地区に対する攻撃が国際人権・人道法に対する
重大な違反がある可能性が極めて高いと考え、今後も国連調査の動向を
フォローアップしていく予定です。
今期、HRNは国内外の課題についていっそうの役割を果たしていきたいと考えていますので、
今後ともなにとぞよろしくお願いいたします。
ヒューマンライツ・ナウ事務局長 伊藤和子
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
War Is Not Answer: Wa Leader
War Is Not Answer: Wa Leader
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By WAI MOE Monday, September 7, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking in an interview on China’s Phoenix TV broadcast on Monday, Bao You-Xiang, the leader of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), said, “We absolutely do not want fighting to break out in Wa State [Wa Special Region]. Only peaceful negotiations can defuse the tension.
“The Wa State hopes to become a democratic self-ruled autonomous region within a Burmese federal republic. Only peaceful means can solve the problem, not the use of force,” he said.
United Wa State Army leader Bao You-Xiang appears on China's Phoenix TV.
Phoenix TV pictures clearly showed pictures of Gen Aung San, the founder of the Burmese army, and Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the leader of the Burmese junta on the wall of the Wa leader’s office.
Tension has risen dramatically on the Sino-Burmese border after the UWSA, the Kachin Independence Army, the Kokang armed group known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDDA) and the Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army(NDAA) refused to transform their militias into border guard forces as ordered by the Burmese junta in April.
The armed ethnic groups rejected the plan saying it ignores ethnic minority rights. By transforming their troops into border guard forces, the armed ethnic ceasefire groups would effectively put their troops under control of the Burmese army. The junta has set October as the deadline to begin training and forming the border guard force.
Lt-Gen Ye Myint, the head of Military Affairs Security [Burmese military intelligence] and the secretary of the Transformation Committee for the Border Guard Force repeatedly said in a letter to the UWSA that the Tatmadaw [Burmese armed forces] would not attack Wa troops.
With an estimated 25,000 soldiers, the UWSA is the biggest ethnic ceasefire group in military-ruled Burma. It signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese junta in 1989 after the MNDDA agreed to a ceasefire with the Burmese army.
The US Congressional Research Service describes the UWSA as “the largest of the organized criminal groups in the region,” due to its involvement in the drug trade.
The status of the Burmese military junta’s ceasefire agreements with 17 ethnic armed groups has been uncertain after Burmese government troops seized the Kokang capital, Laogai, on August 24.
After the fall of Laogai, there were skirmishes between government forces and MNDDA troops. At least 30 people, including Chinese citizens, were killed and more than 30,000 people fled to China.
The Kokang’s resistance to the junta’s troops ended abruptly after more than 1,500 Kokang fighters crossed the Sino-Burmese border and surrendered their arms to Chinese officials on August 29.
After the collapse of the MNDAA, observers have been openly wondering who the next target for the Burmese army will be. Many say the UWSA is the Burma army’s main target among the ceasefire groups because it is the leading group resisting junta plans to neutralize the armed militias.
Observers on the ongoing ethnic conflict in Shan State said Beijing would play an important role in maintaining stability along the Sino-Burmese border through negotiations with both sides as the Sino-Burmese overland oil and gas pipelines are scheduled to start this month.
The Chinese government is a close ally of the Burmese regime and is influential with the ethnic armed groups along the border.
During a meeting with Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye in June, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made it clear that the Chinese favor pushing forward the democratic process in Burma to achieve national reconciliation, safeguard national stability and promote economic development.
“What the Chinese do is paramount,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a former Communist fighter who is monitoring the situation from the Chinese border town of Ruili.
“However, the junta’s No1 Snr-Gen Than Shwe, No 2 Maung Aye and Secretary 1 Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo have paranoia over Beijing’s relationship with the ethnic groups along the Sino-Burmese border,” he said. “They fought against communist troops backed by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. These troops became the militias of the UWSA, MNDAA and NDAA.”
On Sunday, a report about Burmese politics in a popular Chinese language news website, news.qq.com, said: “The Burmese people have been promised an improvement in their lives after the elections [in 2010]. However, analysts believe that if the new government fails to meet peoples’ needs, then this could lead to popular discontent.”
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Prelude to a Civil War?
CONTRIBUTOR
Prelude to a Civil War?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By HARN YAWNGHWE Monday, September 7, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many were surprised by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) attack against the Kokang forces.
Some had been so preoccupied with the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi that they were not even aware of the impending crisis. Others could not understand why the Burmese military would turn against their allies who have had a cease-fire agreement for more than 20 years.
Yet others thought that the Burma Army would never dare to incur the wrath of China. After all, had the Chinese not, in June, requested Vice-Snr-Gen Maung Aye to maintain stability on the border? This development was especially surprising to those who were convinced that Burma is a client state of China.
This failure to anticipate events underscores the weakness of the Burmese democracy movement, in particular, and the international community, in general.
We have often failed to understand the strategy and plans of the ruling military government. We have looked at their actions through our own prisms and misinterpreted their intentions. We have tended to see SPDC pronouncements as propaganda and have not paid enough attention to what it is planning to do.
Nobody is happy with military rule in Burma so we dismiss the SPDC “road map” to democracy and its constitution. But how many of us have actually studied the constitution in detail, not to criticize it, but to see how the military actually plans to implement its “road map” policies and how we can use its plans to our advantage?
In 2004, the SPDC announced the “road map,” and last year it announced plans for an election in 2010. We were outraged when the referendum was held two weeks after Cyclone Nargis had devastated the delta and Rangoon. We would not have been surprised had we realized that Snr-Gen Than Shwe takes the “road map” seriously.
He will not allow anything to stand in its way. A series of recent events has also taken some of us unaware—he release of U Win Tin; the first ever post-1990 congress of the National League for Democracy (NLD); Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial, the unseasonable attack on the Karen National Union; the attack on Kokang and now possibly an attack on the Wa.
These seem to be the random acts of a paranoid and unpredictable leader—he image we like to portray of Snr-Gen Than Shwe. But in reality, all these events have a common goal: the success of the 2010 elections. They are the rational outworking of a well-calculated and orchestrated operation plan of the SPDC.
The proposal to the ethnic cease-fire groups to transform themselves into Border Guard Forces (BGF) under the control of the Burma army is also an attempt to clear the decks before the 2010 elections. It was meant to either provoke the cease-fire groups to reject the proposal and be destroyed or frighten them into submission and acceptance of the SPDC road map.
It is clear that the BGF proposal was a provocation. This is because during the past 20 years, nothing of this matter was ever discussed with the cease-fire groups. They were told they could keep their arms and could negotiate with the newly elected government on the political terms they wanted.
Suddenly, in April they were told they had until October 2009 to decide. Analyzing the ceasefires, it is clear that the SPDC never meant to negotiate. The plan was to stop hostile action, provide incentives to entice individual commanders to split from the main groups and slowly weaken the ethnic groups to the point where they could be easily eliminated.
The cease-fire groups cannot accept the BGF because it is actually a plan to destroy the groups by attrition. But if they refuse to accept the proposal, they will be destroyed now, before the elections. The Kokang (MNDAA), the Wa (UWSA) and the Mongla (NDAA) groups rejected the BGF proposal and also refused to accept the SPDC’s road map and constitution. They do not want any changes. Therefore, if nothing changes, the SPDC will move against the UWSA and the NDAA. Which group will be attacked first will depend on the tactical advantage.
What about China? Is the SPDC not beholden to China? The short answer is—no. Whatever we may think about the SPDC, the Burma Army is very proud of the fact that it is “patriotic.” The SPDC has never danced to the tune of a foreign power. It has, rather, made foreign powers big and small dance to its tune. Since the SPDC has been largely ostracized internationally, it has had to depend on China.
But it was never happy about it. When Burma was discussed at the UN Security Council and it had to depend even more on China, the SPDC began to cultivate Russia, so that it would not be at China’s mercy. But Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s problem was solved when John Yettaw decided to take a swim. He enabled the SPDC to ensure that Aung San Suu Kyi would have no role in the election, and he also enabled Than Shwe to raise the stakes and create a direct link with the Obama administration.
This in turn gave Than Shwe the card he needed to ignore China’s wishes and move against the Kokang and Wa.
If Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s calculations are correct, the SPDC will be able to wipe out the Wa and Mongla groups, and the 2010 elections can be held on a less contentious playing field according to schedule.
The unpredictable factor, of course, is how much resistance the Wa army will offer. And what the reaction of the other cease-fire groups will be. Some like the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the New Mon State Party (NMSP) are in the process of negotiating with the SPDC over the BGF issue.
Other groups like the KNU and the Shan State Army (South) are watching closely to see how the battle develops. If Than Shwe’s calculations are wrong, Burma could face a period of serious instability and the 2010 elections will be jeopardized.
But on the other hand, the SPDC may have decided that the elections could actually lead to democratization, and it is trying to create a pretext to postpone the elections indefinitely.
Harn Yawnghwe is executive director of the Brussels-based Euro-Burma Office.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Danger of border skirmishes escalating
Danger of border skirmishes escalating
Editorial Desk
The Nation (Thailand)
Publication Date: 08-09-2009
It has always been said that China is Burma's closest ally. Given the fact that the junta doesn't have many friends, one like China will always stand out. But the not-so-honorific label of "closest ally" should be understood in its proper context. For the Burmese, Chinese friendship doesn't mean the world.
Nonetheless, such a friend could very well come in handy, especially when the international community and the United Nations are constantly looking to clobber the generals with sanctions and criticism.
For the Burmese regime, survival is everything. Where it positions its troops and weapons, and the type of legislation and reconciliation process that it proposes, reinforce the very idea that it is here to stay whether the world likes it or not.
For as long as anybody can remember, China has been a factor whenever a Burma policy and strategy is drafted by the international community. Over a decade ago, when Rangoon's membership of Asean was on the table, members of the regional grouping whispered among themselves about the Chinese factor. Keeping the Burmese out of the regional loop would push the junta further into the arms of the Chinese, they said.
But for the Burmese, Asean membership was not seen as a privilege but a right - simply because the country happens to be in the same geographical region. There was no "thank you" to Asean for letting the country become a member.
A handful of Thai diplomats thought a free ride for Burma in Asean would deny the regional grouping the only card it had to play against the junta. Their concerns were largely ignored by most of the other Asean members, who really didn't give a hoot about the atrocities committed by the junta, or the political baggage that comes with Burma's membership. And when Asean came under an unwanted spotlight or was at loggerheads with the international community, such as the European Union, over Burma's participation, all the Burmese generals could do was shrug their shoulders. They just couldn't care less.
And so when the Burmese unleashed their troops against one of the minority cease-fire groups within the country, namely the Kokang, forcing tens of thousands people - including Yunnanese Chinese who have more or less seized northern Burma over the last few years - to flee for China, Beijing was jolted.
Thai military officials with direct experience of the Chinese often called them "masters of two-track diplomacy". They pointed to China's relations with the bloody Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, up until that regime's dying days, and its historical ties with the ethnic armies that operate independently along Burma's northern border.
Attacking the Kokang and turning their guns towards the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA) afterwards was a rude awakening for the Chinese. If anything, the junta was telling its so-called "closest ally" that it is charting its own course. One could say that the Chinese finally got a taste of their own medicine.
For decades, Burma has given China access to its ample natural resources, and the Indian Ocean, in exchange for political support. Moreover, Chinese companies are set to start construction on a US$2.5 billion oil-and-natural- gas pipeline project that will run from the Indian Ocean to Yunnan's capital of Kunming. But if one thinks that Burma is a Chinese lackey, think again.
It is clear that the two-decade-old ceasefire with the ethnic armies no longer serves Burmese purposes. From the generals' perspective, a normal country shouldn't have small armies operating independently on its soil, especially if those armies are proxies of a powerful neighbour.
Beijing expressed its concern back in June, and the ruling Burmese State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) said that it did not want to see disturbances along the Sino-Burmese border. But in the end, for the junta, domestic matters overtook any diplomatic concerns.
For too long Beijing turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed inside Burma, telling the world to stay out of Burma's domestic matters. Self-serving interest has always been China's political attitude towards Burma.
It's different now, however, as China is directly affected by this so-called domestic matter.
If Beijing thinks it has a big headache with the 30,000 refugees fleeing the Burmese attack against the Kokang, then wait until the junta turns its guns on the UWSA. It could very well have a ripple effect, turning Burma's entire northern border into a full-blown war zone if other cease-fire groups like the Chin, Kachin and Shan join the fight to keep their patches of real estate given to them two decades ago.
http://www.asianews net.net/news. php?id=7678&sec=3
The Politics of Building a Gas Pipeline
The Politics of Building a Gas Pipeline
By J J KIM Tuesday, September 8, 2009
While the Western world continues to debate whether economic sanctions can make change in Burma, the sale of gas to China from the offshore Shwe gas fields in Arakan State threatens to raise the junta’s revenue from foreign investment to new heights and strengthen business ties throughout Asia.
Furthermore, the parallel gas and oil pipelines, which are reportedly starting construction this month from Arakan State to Yunnan Province, China, via Magwe Division, Mandalay Division and Shan State, have been criticised by human rights groups as a major contributing factor to the recent conflict in northern Shan State.
According to a report titled “Corridor of Power” released by the Shwe Gas Movement (SGM), the pipeline will make the junta at least US $29 billion over the next 30 years. Much of this is expected to be spent on military expansion, despite the current famine in Arakan State and poverty across the country.
Source: Shwe Gas Movement
Moreover, the report claims, construction of the pipelines, which are being built primarily by the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC), is likely to lead to human rights abuse across the country and a “re-ignition of fighting between the regime and ceasefire armies stationed along the pipeline.”
According to Khur Hseng from Shan Sapawa, who has been researching the impact of the pipeline in Shan State since 2007, these fears were confirmed during the armed confrontation between the military government and the ethnic Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in late August. The fighting took place just 50 km from the proposed pipeline route, killing 200 people and leading to a mass exodus of up to 30,000 civilians to China.
“The main objective of the SPDC is to clear all opposing forces from the area for development projects, including the Shwe Gas pipeline,” said Khur Hseng. “They are trying to clear the people who will be against the plans and control the area so the true information about the project can’t get out. China needs this as well because they limit their media too.”
According to Wong Aung, the international coordinator of SGM, despite reports from the Chinese media about the project’s commencement, in fact the risk of local opposition and conflict is too great for the project to make much progress this year.
“It is impossible to start now; maybe just some foundations in Arakan State or Magwe. Before they start they will have to clear out all political, ethnic and conflict issues on the border. They will have to deploy propagation in so many places along the pipeline first, to ensure security.”
The sale of gas and oil is currently the junta’s biggest earner, bringing in almost US $3.5 billion annually. According to the report, from 2013 onwards the Shwe Gas Project, which is headed by the South Korean company Daewoo International, will bring in close to another US $1 billion.
This has raised concerns among pro-democracy campaigners and analysts, who say the deal will entrench military rule in the country by financing the regime and strengthening their political clout in the region.
Wong Aung said “It will harm the democratic process if the regime continues to receive the revenue from this sector… . The regime is receiving that money and creating conflicts in the ethnic areas. Basically, institutional investors and companies who are supporting the regime's projects are damaging the stability of the region.”
According to Larry Jagan, a long-term observer of Sino-Burmese relations, “One of China's main concerns is natural resources, so any major project is important to them from an economic point of view.”
This is of particular significance with the pipeline agreement as it offers China an alternative trade route for oil and gas from Africa and the Middle East too. Until now, such imports have had to pass through the US-Navy controlled Malacca Strait taking seven days longer than they would through Burma.
“One thing that is apparent [from the recent conflict in northern Shan State] is that Burma holds the cards. The opposition thinks that China could influence Burma if they want to, but these projects give Burma the upper hand”
“Although economically important to China, Burma is also strategically crucial to China as it is its staunchest ally in Southeast Asia [and] opposed to US interests in the region.”
“There is no doubt that Chinese investment and Burma’s trade with the rest of Asia reduces the impact of Western sanctions,” Larry said.
Experience from past gas and oil developments in Burma have led SGM to believe that the pipelines will cause “forced labour, forced relocation, land confiscation and a host of abuses by soldiers deployed in the area.” According to SGM's report, there are currently an estimated 13,200 soldiers stationed along the pipeline route, mostly in areas that haven’t seen significant armed conflict for decades.
According to Naing Win of Kyauk Phyu Township in Arakan State, where the pipeline will begin, “Most people depend on fishing for survival, but they are prohibited by the navy to fish within 10km of the gas fields. The Navy often steal their fish and gas and oil and [harass] them outrageously.” Because of this, local people find it difficult to survive and provide an education for their children.
Another major concern is the threat of forced relocation of civilian families to make way for the pipeline and other related infrastructure. Stretching around 1,000 km in Burma, the pipeline will cut through many densely populated areas. According to Khur Hseng, “Thousands of people will be forced to leave their homes in Shan State alone.” Recent projects in the region, such as the Tasang Dam, have forced hundreds of thousand of men, women and children into the jungle and to other countries to start a new life.
As the report highlights, while the regime’s profits from the export of electricity and fossil fuels become increasingly lucrative, civilian energy needs are persistently neglected. The national per capita energy consumption currently amounts to less than 5 percent of that in Thailand or China. Arakan State, the source of the gas, is not connected to the national grid and over 90 percent of the population still use candles for light and firewood for cooking.
While the junta continues to make war in ethnic regions and display no regard for civilian needs, many campaigners feel that change can only come when all foreign companies and financial institutions halt investment in such projects. Despite sanctions and Western rhetoric, both CNPC and Petrochina, who will distribute the gas in China, have received significant financial backing from the West in recent years, from banks such as Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.
According to Wong Aung “The USA and EU need to re-impose stronger sanctions and consider a practical way to get a positive outcome because the regime has so many channels to oppose the sanctions compared with 10 years ago. While locally registered companies continue to gain financial backing from the USA and EU, sanctions are becoming just a notion for these governments.”
“I would like to raise this issue among foreign governments, companies and the various institutional investors involved in this project: they should support the democratic process for Burma,” he said.
JJ Kim is a freelance writer based in Thailand.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy. org
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 16740
China's troubles: A vast nation faces unrest in many directions
China's troubles: A vast nation faces unrest in many directions
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Strife between Uighurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang province, refugees pouring into China from Myanmar and heightening tensions with India are examples of problems that face China on its edges.
Sprawled across Asia from its borders with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan on the east to the sea on the west, and from Russia in the north to Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, to the south, China not only has difficult neighbors but also contains a complicated quilt of ethnicities.
By comparison, the United States -- with the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Canadian and Mexican borders, and regional and ethnic politics -- seem blessedly simple, even counting Texas and Alaska.
In Urumqi, in the Xinjiang region, Han Chinese, brought there by Beijing to water down the Muslim, independent- thinking Uighurs, claim that Uighurs are attacking them in the streets with hypodermic needles filled with HIV virus, and complain that the government isn't doing enough to protect them. Street disturbances have lasted for days.
The government of Myanmar, allegedly in advance of elections scheduled for next year, clamped down militarily on separatists in Kokang region, which borders China. The result was a flood of refugees into China, to the great displeasure of Beijing, which has to deal with them. China is otherwise the Myanmar government's best friend and greatest protector.
The third problem is a heating of tensions between China and the other Asian giant, India, in the Tawang region, part of long-standing wrangling between the two giants over their 2,521-mile border zone. Both sides have added to the danger of an outbreak of fighting by building up their military forces in the area.
Two points emerge from this prickly situation. The first is that it is difficult being China. The second is a hope that China and India, both of which will be at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, will take that opportunity to soothe relations.
First published on September 8, 2009 at 12:00 am
Read more: http://www.post- gazette.com/ pg/09251/ 996249-192. stm#ixzz0QW9d2UJ X
[info_ngo_hrn] 9/13「NGOまつりin上野2009」を丸幸ビルにて開催！
ヒューマンライツ・ナウ メールマガジン購読者のみなさま
今年もこの季節がやってまいりました。
9月13日、東上野の丸幸ビル（通称NGOビル）に事務所を構える10団体が集結し、
「NGOまつりin上野2009」を開催します！！
http://ngomatsuri2009.blog88.fc2.com/
今年のテーマは『アナタが気付けば セカイが動く～』
ヒューマンライツ・ナウも、団体企画、全体企画と多数のイベントを
皆様にお届けいたします。
【ヒューマンライツ・ナウ企画】
（丸幸ビル3F、HRN事務所内にて行います）
11：00-12：00 在日ビルマ難民の方のお話
スピーカー：チョチョアイさん（ビルマ女性連盟）
軍事政権化のビルマの実情を、ご自身の体験から語っていただきます。
14：00-15：00 「若手弁護士とボランティアが語るHRN」
団体立ち上げから関わる鈴木麻子弁護士と、活動に積極的に関わる
インターン・ボランティアスタッフがヒューマンライツ・ナウの活動や、
自分たちの想いを語ります。
16：00-17：00 在日ビルマ難民の方のお話
スピーカー：チョチョアイさん（ビルマ女性連盟）
軍事政権化のビルマの実情を、ご自身の体験から語っていただきます。
17：10-18：00 みらいの法律家学校「ピースローアカデミー」を尋ねて
HRNが支援をしている、タイ・ビルマ国境にある法律学校訪問の
報告会を行います。
ビルマ国内では学べない「人権」「国際法」を、国の未来のために学ぶ
若者達のことをぜひ聞きにきてください。
※当日HRNでは、ビルマのお茶と揚げ春巻きの販売をします！
【NGO祭り全体企画】
15：30-17：00 アナタが気付けばセカイが動く～セカイを動かす小さなヒント～
様々なバックグラウンドを持つ３人のNGO職員が、
私たちの身近にある国際協力について語ります。（丸幸ビル5階）
日本国際ボランティアセンター（JVC） ラオス事務所スタッフ グレンハント
アフリカ日本協議会（AJF） 斉藤龍一郎事務局長
ヒューマン・ライツナウ（HRN） 鈴木麻子弁護士
18：00～19：30 キャンドルナイト（丸幸ビル屋上）
・NGOに聞きたいこんなこと！(展示)
他にも各フロアーでいろんなイベントが目白押しです。
ぜひ、足をお運びください。
**********************************************
特定非営利活動法人ヒューマンライツ・ナウ
〒110-8605 東京都台東区東上野1-20-6 丸幸ビル3F
電話 03-3835-2110 Fax 03-3834-2406
連絡先 info@ngo-hrn.org
ウェブサイト http://hrn.or.jp/
**********************************************
[info_ngo_hrn] 【ご案内】９月12日（土）HRNこどもの権利プロジェクト学習会
ヒューマンライツ・ナウメルマガご講読のみなさま
・・・・・ご案内・・・・・
HRN子どもの権利プロジェクト学習会
「アジアにおける人身売買の現状と私たちにできること」
HRN子どもの権利プロジェクトでは、
アジアにおける人身売買をなくすための
取り組みをはじめていますが、
アジアにおける人身売買の現状と、
日本における人身売買の防止に向けた取り組みについて
理解を深めるため
下記の学習会を企画いたしました。
ぜひ、みなさまにも一緒に学んでいただけましたら幸いです。
【日時】 ２００９年９月12日（土） １５：３０～１８：００
【主催】 （特活）ヒューマンライツ・ナウ
【会場】 青山学院大学 総研ビル３階１０会議室
JR山手線、東急線、京王井の頭線「渋谷駅」宮益坂方面の出口より徒歩約10分
地下鉄「表参道駅」B1出口より徒歩約5分
http://www.aoyama.ac.jp/other/access/aoyama.html
一階には「青山学院大学人権研究会」の表示が出ます。
【講師】
森田明彦さん 「人身売買法の制定への課題」
橋本直子さん 「日本とアジア地域における人身売買の現状と防止に向けた取
り組み」
【資料代】 ５００円
【講師紹介】
□森田明彦（もりたあきひこ）さん
外務省、国際連合開発計画、財団法人日本ユニセフ協会広報室長等を経て、2006
年4月より東京工業大学特任教授。そのかたわら、国際的な子どもの権利NGOであ
るセーブザチルドレン・ジャパンのシニア・アドバイザー、フリーザチルドレン
・ジャパン理事等を務める。
□橋本直子（はしもとなおこ）さん
日本政府外務省在ニューヨーク国連代表部・人権人道問題専門調査員、
国連難民高等弁務官事務所（ＵＮＨＣＲ）北部スリランカ（ワウニヤ）事務
所・准法務官などを経て、０７年８月より、国際移住機関（ＩＯＭ）駐日事務所にて
プログラム・マネージャー
として勤務。日本における人身取引被害者など脆弱な立場にある移民の保護・支
援を行う傍ら、日本の移民政策に関するアドバイス等を行なう。
**********************************************
特定非営利活動法人ヒューマンライツ・ナウ
〒110-8605 東京都台東区東上野1-20-6 丸幸ビル3F
電話 03-3835-2110 Fax 03-3834-2406
連絡先 info@ngo-hrn.org
ウェブサイト http://hrn.or.jp/
**********************************************
Monday, September 7, 2009
Ethnic challenge for Myanmar
========= =====
Sep 6, 2009
Ethnic challenge for Myanmar
BANGKOK - MYANMAR'S military junta may have taken Aung San Suu Kyi out of the picture ahead of elections next year, but it could face an even greater challenge from rising ethnic unrest, analysts said.
The regime has recently stepped up its decades-long campaign against minority groups, with offensives against ethnic Chinese rebels in the northeast in August and Christian Karen insurgents near the Thai border in June.
Civil war has wracked the country since independence in 1948, and while most rebel groups have reached ceasefire deals with the junta, analysts say the army is determined to crush the rest before the 2010 polls.
The offensives have mirrored the ruling generals' efforts to take Ms Suu Kyi off the political stage by sentencing her to another 18 months' house arrest after a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside home.
The Nobel Laureate's lawyers launched an appeal against her conviction last week, but with the country's pliant courts likely to do the junta's bidding, the ethnic problem is the next real hurdle for the regime, analysts said.
'This is a very complicated issue. After Aung San Suu Kyi's case, the next big issue is the issue of ethnic minorities,' Aung Naing Oo, an independent Myanmar analyst based in Thailand, told AFP.
Military ruler Than Shwe has long made the struggle for the 'stability of the state' the main justification for the army's continued dominance over the Southeast Asian nation.
In recent years the regime has been able to reach peace pacts with key ethnic groups, co-opting some to become junta-backed border forces that have taken on their former rebel brothers-in- arms.
But August's outbreak of fighting in Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state, showed the tensions near the surface and earned a rare rebuke from Beijing, usually Myanmar's closest ally.
The offensive was a warning to other minority groups thinking of causing disruption before the polls, said Win Min, a Myanmar expert at Payap University in the northern Thai city of Chaing Mai. -- AFP
Critics have denounced the elections as a sham aimed at legitimising the junta's grip on power, but the influential International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank said recently that the polls could be an opportunity for change.
'These things are happening in the context of the 2010 elections. The Burmese military are showing ceasefire groups that if they don't agree with their plans they are going to fight,' Win Min said, using the country's former name.
The new constitution - pushed through in a referendum in 2008 just days after a cyclone ravaged southern Myanmar - does not provide the autonomy many groups had hoped for, Mr Win Min added.
'The groups signed ceasefires but in the hope that they would get greater autonomy. But they have been mostly rejected. They would like to wait until after there is a new government to negotiate greater autonomy,' he said.
Compounding the problem is the fact that many of the groups, especially the powerful Wa in northern Myanmar, are heavily involved in the drugs trade, often with the tacit assent of the government, analysts said.
'But now the government is using it (the narcotics issue) as a pretext to put pressure on the ethnic groups who don't want to join Burmese security forces,' Mr Win Min said.
The ethnic problems could end up with the effective 'Balkanisation' of Myanmar, a European diplomat in the region said on condition of anonymity.
'We've never been closer to this than we are now,' the diplomat said. 'If no political solution is found for these ethnic groups the whole situation is going to implode.' The diplomat said it was 'not at all the case' that Myanmar's political problems are just about the situation between Ms Suu Kyi and the regime.
'There are so many questions before 2010, so much that's to be done. I'm sure Than Shwe has no clue how to tie up loose ends.' But the Brussels-based ICG said in a report last month that some ethnic groups which had made ceasefire deals were endorsing political parties that would take part in the polls.
'These groups take a negative view of the constitution but feel that there may be some limited opening of political space, particularly at the regional level, and that they should position themselves to take advantage of this,' it said.
'There are increased tensions, however, as the regime is pushing these groups to transform into border guard forces partially under the command of the national army.' -- AFP http://www.straitst imes.com/ Breaking% 2BNews/SE% 2BAsia/Story/ STIStory_ 426174.html
============ ========= ========
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Shwe Ohn and ‘Third Force’ to ally
Shwe Ohn and ‘Third Force’ to ally
by Nem Davies
Friday, 04 September 2009 22:25
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The veteran ethnic Shan politician Shwe Ohn, who will contest the forthcoming 2010 general elections, said that he would forge an alliance with a group of persons known as the Third Force.
His group the ‘Union Democracy Alliance’ formed in 2008 will have an alliance with the five-member group popularly known in Burma as the ‘Third Force’, which has adopted a policy of equidistance from both the military regime and the main opposition party the ‘National League for Democracy’. The new alliance group is now drafting and formulating its electoral policy.
“Yes, we will form it when the election law is enacted and announced. In future, it will be very difficult for us to work separately. We must amalgamate with the broad minded and cooperate,” Shwe Ohn who attended the historic Panlong Conference told Mizzima.
Those who join this new alliance are members of independent candidates’ network Nay Myo Wei, Htay Oo, Thein Tin Aung, Than Min Soe and Thaung Win.
“Now it’s 99 per cent sure. It’s difficult to contest as a lone party. There are only few people who dare speak and stand alone. So we decided to form an alliance,” Nay Myo Wei said.
“We do not have much difference with them in terms of policy. Anyone can join this alliance if the basic policy is the same as it allows a broad policy window. We have no plans to seize the top position as the founder. We are ready to follow any powerful leader who will join us,” Shwe Ohn said. Despite joining the alliance, he will maintain his own organization, he added.
The so-called Third Force accepts the junta’s 2008 constitution and believes that only a peaceful and smooth transition from military rule to civilian rule is viable and practical.
“We do not hope to get executive power. It’s impossible. But we hope to get into the legislative. We will get into the Parliament as Member of Parliament,” Thein Tin Aung from the five-member group said.
“Some parties have idealistic hopes of having the Prime Minister’s post. This is just an ideal. It’s impossible,” he added.
Their position is not to be stooges of the army and they will not oppose the regime either. They will also not follow the NLD. Neither will they slander it, they said.
The NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 general elections but the ruling junta, which grabbed power in a coup, is still refusing to transfer power to the party.
Shwe Ohn (86) wrote a book titled ‘Let’s build unbreakable Union’ which has 17 chapters with 311 pages. He wrote on the migration route of ethnic nationalities in Burma, emergence of Bagan Kingdom, the landmark Panlong agreement and his views on the constitutions of Burma in the book.
The book was widely circulated among political activists in 2008 but the censor board has not yet given permission for publication of the book.
He also wrote a book titled ‘How about the Third Union’ in 1993. In the same year he was arrested and sentenced to one year in prison for submitting the ‘8-States Union’ paper at the National Convention.
Former air force officer sentenced to two years
Former air force officer sentenced to two years
by Phanida
Friday, 04 September 2009 22:35
Chaing Mai (Mizzima) – A retired air force Captain Zaw Nyunt, who demonstrated alone demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, while she was on trial, was sentenced to two years in prison by the Insein township court.
Zaw Nyunt (56) held aloft a poster saying "Saving Suu is Saving Burma" in front of Insein prison on May 28. He was sentenced today under Act No. 505 (B) of for agitating to destablise the country.
"The reading of the final verdict took about 20 minutes. It concluded at 11:45 a.m., said defence lawyer Maung Maung Latt.
In the trial, four police lieutenants from Insein Township and two ordinary civilians were produced as witnesses by the prosecutor.
"They said he frightened the public. They arrested him in two minutes flat. After arresting him at the back of the bazaar he shouted "Free Aung San Suu Kyi" only once. Many even didn’t realise what was happening. So, how did he destablise the country?" asked Maung Maung Latt.
A close associate who met Zaw Nyunt during the trial told Mizzima that two of his teeth were broken because of the beating he received from the police.
Zaw Nyunt, an English language teacher following retirement participated in the 1988 people’s movement and founded the Worker’s Solidarity Organization but the organization later was banned by the military junta.
Similarly, Htwe Thein, a member of NLD living in Shwepyithar Township, who was arrested while DASSK was facing tria, was sentenced to two years by the court on August 10.
The Thailand based Association of Assistance for Political Prisoners (AAPP) released a statement today saying that there are 2,211 political prisoners in Burma's prisons.
Friday, September 4, 2009
The Irrawaddy - A Child of Rubbish
The Irrawaddy - A Child of Rubbish
By SOE LWIN, Thursday, September 3, 2009
RANGOON—Twelve-year- old Maung Chan Thar has only known poverty despite having a name that means “master of wealth.”
His parents gave him the name in the belief that it would bring good fortune to their eldest son.
With a meager household income, Maung Chan Thar's family of eight has to struggle to put enough food on the table each day, let alone buy clothes or things needed for school by his three younger brothers and two younger sisters.
Four years ago, when Maung Chan Thar was just eight, his parents sent him onto the streets to earn money because they could no longer afford to keep him at school.
Carrying a sack on his back, he has been working in the streets ever since, looking through the piles of rubbish on the streets, roaming the railway tracks, collecting empty water bottles, plastic bags—whatever he can resell.
The piles of rubbish at the markets and railway stations are his sources of income. On a good day, he can make the equivalent of more than US $1, but normally Maung Chan Thar only earns about 70 or 80 cents.
“I am so happy to see my mother smile when I put cash in her hands,” he said.
Maung Chan Thar is the second income earner in his family after his father, who makes about $1.50 a day pedaling a trishaw.
Though he is an important source of income for his family, his parents cannot take care of him.
Like tens of thousands of other street children in big cities such as Rangoon and Mandalay, Maung Chan Thar’s clothes are filthy and in tatters. His hair has not been washed for months, and his nails are long and dirty.
Maung Chan Thar thinks things are alright, however. He knows that in his job what matters is collecting as much recyclable material as possible.
"I hate seeing my younger brothers and sisters crying in hunger, so I work hard," he said, sifting through a pile of garbage near Kyimyindaing Railway Station. “I don’t want them to ever do work like this. I want them to keep going to school.”
When he started on the street, he was often bullied by stronger street children, who would sometimes steal what he made.
"I will never forget when three larger boys beat me up and took all my money,” Maung Chan Thar said. “When I got back home, my father beat me up again for being so weak."
Maung Chan Thar has learned how to avoid such incidents, and he has many friends who will come to his help him if someone picks on him.
His worries are far from over, however. The municipal police and staff from the Yangon [Rangoon] City Development Committee are constantly making arrests.
The risk of arrest is higher when he sleeps at railway stations or bus stops in the downtown area, he said. Since his home is located in Shwepyithar in the outskirts of Rangoon, he often sleeps downtown with his friends if it is too late to go back.
“I’ve never been arrested,” he said. “I’m good at avoiding the police.
“People look down on street children like us, thinking we are thieves,” he said. “When we go around below large buildings picking up plastic bags, residents sometimes threaten us. We have to switch collecting sites quickly when that happens.
“I don’t understand why they look down on us like that,” Maung Chan Thar said, adding that he always followed his mother’s advice.
“My mother always told me never to steal or beg, but to work hard and be honest,” he said.
Though Maung Chan Thar seems destined to keep doing his lowly job, he firmly believes he will be rich one day.
“Every night my mother has this dream in which I am a rich man,” he said, squatting on the rubbish.
“Perhaps I will find something very precious in this rubbish one
The Japan Times - Sanctions don't impoverish Burma
The Japan Times - Sanctions don't impoverish Burma
By DONALD M. SEEKINS
Motobu, Okinawa
In his Aug. 29 article, "U.S. should engage Burma," Brahma Chellaney makes some good points concerning U.S. sanctions against the military regime in Burma: that these sanctions have failed in their stated purpose to promote democracy and human rights; that they have increased China's already large influence inside the country; and that they reflect a double standard — why trade with China, but not with Burma?
But he is mistaken to assume that it is "U.S.-led sanctions" that have made Burma's people among the poorest in Asia. Responsibility for that rests squarely with Than Shwe and his fellow generals, who have squandered funds on new weapons purchased abroad and on the costly new capital city at Naypyidaw, rather than investing in health, education and other improvements in the people's standard of living. Their management of the economy has been grossly incompetent, including a complex and counterproductive system of multiple currency exchange rates and a complete lack of the rule of law in business as well as in other spheres of life.
By contrast, after it adopted liberalization policies in 1986, communist Vietnam did very well for itself despite a U.S. embargo that wasn't lifted until 1994. Washington should take modest first steps in opening up to the regime: perhaps appointing an ambassador to its embassy, still in Rangoon — there hasn't been one since the early 1990s — cutting back on often hypocritical rhetoric about human rights, and continuing to pursue dialogue with Burma's leaders.
Humanitarian aid should be dramatically increased. Washington should adopt a "wait and see" attitude concerning the general election next year. But it is premature to drop all economic sanctions as long as the junta persecutes ethnic minorities like the Karens and Shans and holds more than 2,000 political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
Posts
