News & Articles on Burma-Thursday, 07 April, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Thursday, 07 April, 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------
An aye for sanctions
A parliament, but not as you know it
Shan rebels on offensive defense
Chinese army waiting on other side
Than Shwe Continues to Control Burma's Military
US Concerned Over Burma’s Role in Weapons Proliferation
Burmese Authorities Crack Down on VoIP Calls
Time for Refugees to Go Home?
China offers ‘hospitals-for-oil’ deal
Bangladesh seeks Burmese gas
President told of farmers’ abuse
Burma needs to erase the dictatorial traditions
---------------------------------------------------------------------------




The Economist online
Aung San Suu Kyi
An aye for sanctions
Feb 8th 2011, 16:09 by R.C. | JAKARTA

EVER since national elections in early November and then the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the pro-democracy opposition, from something close to 20 years' in detention, Myanmar-watchers have been waiting with bated breath to see which way she and her party would jump on the tricky issue of sanctions. At last, it seems, we have something of an answer.

Maintaining Western countries’ sanctions against Myanmar and its military regime were for many years a rallying cry for human-rights activists and opposition groups. Recently though there have been calls from within that community to reassess the policy in the light of what some see as progress towards greater freedom and democracy—such as the elections, the meeting of a first parliament in 20 years, to say nothing of the release of Ms Suu Kyi herself. The pressure has been mounting. The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has called several times for sanctions to be lifted. More pertinently perhaps, five of Myanmar’s “ethnic-based” opposition parties recently argued for the same.

On February 7th Miss Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), issued a statement to the effect that—after a lot of consultation and discussion—they have decided that sanctions should stay. At least for the moment. The length of time it took for the NLD to say this reflects the fact that the issue has become a subject of live debate within the party. Nonetheless, the NLD was quite clear about the fact that the progress that others have claimed to see is in fact a sham; the regime, they say, should not be rewarded for doing so very little.

The NLD rebutted the charge that the sanctions serve only to impoverish the ordinary people of Myanmar—the very people that the NLD professes to represent—rather than to penalise the regime. One NLD official, Tin Oo, was quoted as saying that after extensive research the party had found “that sanctions affect only the leaders of the regime and their close business associates, not the majority of the people.” So, that would appear to be that, then.

But not quite, I think. The NLD must be aware that it will have disappointed many policymakers and business interests in the West who have been hoping to return, if only to offer some counterweight to China and Thailand in their accelerating exploitation of Myanmar’s natural resources. Accordingly, the NLD has given itself some wiggle room. Spokesmen say that the party is keen to “listen” to the people who argue that sanctions ought be lifted, and to have more discussions. We haven’t seen the last of this matter.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2011/02/aung_san_suu_kyi
----------------------------------------------------
A parliament, but not as you know it
A far cry from real representation

Jan 27th 2011 | Singapore | from the print edition

IN THE sprawling new capital of Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s enormous showcase parliament building awaits its first legislators. After a general election in November, the military government hopes that the opening of the bicameral parliament on January 31st, amid suitable pomp, will appear to usher in a new democratic era. Its first job will be to form an electoral college to choose a fresh president and two vice-presidents.

Also awaiting the legislators will be the new laws and rules governing their conduct, published with rather less fanfare on January 11th and running to 17 bound volumes. These give a better guide to what might be expected of the new parliament than any pronouncements by the regime. According to those who have seen the rules, MPs may not, for example, simply ask a question. They first have to submit the question to the director-general of the lower house ten days before a parliamentary session, after which it will be vetted to ensure that it does not reveal state secrets, trouble international relations, or undermine the “interests” of the state. Should the poor, defenceless question survive that mangle, the speaker of the lower house still has the right to reject it, with no appeal.

Members themselves have been warned not to bring “cameras, radios, cassette players, computers, hand phones, and any kinds of voice-transmission or recording devices” into parliament on opening day. And no citizen should even think of turning up to sample the cut and thrust of parliamentary debate. Without the direct permission of the speaker, such an enormity would warrant at least a year in prison or a hefty fine.

Both the lower and upper houses will be dominated by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a proxy for the military government. The USDP won an overwhelming majority of seats at the election, in part because of a boycott by the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, released in November from house arrest. The NLD won the previous free election in 1990.

In both houses the USDP has nearly four-fifths of the contested seats. Meanwhile, the army has a reserved quota of a quarter of all seats in both chambers, as well as in the regional state parliaments. A military-controlled parliament therefore has the means to keep dissent to a minimum. The dictator, Than Shwe, could easily win the presidency should he want it. He may, however, prefer to stay in the background and pull strings.

Parliamentary opposition, such as it is, will come from two sources, the National Democratic Force (NDF) and the so-called ethnic parties, 17 of which won at least one seat, representing Myanmar’s diverse ethnic patchwork. The NDF is made up mostly of former members of the NLD who disagreed with Miss Suu Kyi’s call to boycott the election. They won a mere 16 seats, but have been talking a good game in the run-up to parliament’s opening. Khin Maung Shwe, a senior NDF official, argues that “although we have small numbers, we have a chance to use our voice on behalf of the people.” He says that the NDF will table three motions: an amnesty for political prisoners, a new competition law for business and a new law concerning rights to agricultural land.

Still, given the numerical and procedural odds against it, the opposition will struggle to make headway. Indeed, by taking part in a democratic charade, the NDF might merely provide a figleaf for the dictatorship. As it is, ASEAN, the ten-nation Association of South-East Asian Nations, is using the opening of parliament to argue for the lifting of longstanding Western sanctions on the grounds that the country has reformed itself. Mr Khin Maung Shwe rebuffs his party’s critics, arguing that the NDF is “neither a military puppet nor on a confrontational line”.

More might be expected of the ethnic parties, as they at least have sizeable minorities in the seven state legislatures (out of 14) to which they were elected. Nonetheless, it is certain that the central government will want to keep a tight control over these assemblies too. The state parliaments will not sit in their regional capitals, as you might imagine, but in the parliament building at Naypyidaw.

The NLD, for its part, dismisses the parliament as a sham. Win Tin, a party official who was jailed for 19 years before being released in 2008, says that “the parliament is nothing. Whether inside parliament or outside, the situation is almost the same. You have no freedom of expression.”

Instead, Mr Win Tin says, the NLD can act “as a second government”. Although the NLD is still fighting in the courts to regain its legal status as a political party, forfeited because of last year’s election boycott, it realises it needs to be more creative in its opposition. One idea is to use the internet to create a sort of “online parliament”, where issues can be debated among those in opposition, both inside and outside the country. This week Miss Suu Kyi got her first internet connection. She has also been spending a lot of time visiting welfare and other programmes run by her party to try to rebuild it from the grassroots.

Despite government hopes that parliamentary sittings will sideline Miss Suu Kyi, evidence suggests that she remains as popular in Myanmar as ever. Indeed, the real test of the regime’s claims to be heading in a new democratic direction will come not in parliament but when Ms Suu Kyi tries to travel out of Yangon, taking her message to the rest of the country. That is when the regime has clamped down hard before, forcing Miss Suu Kyi to endure years of house arrest. Will it dare to do so again?
http://www.economist.com/node/18014087
-----------------------------------------------
Shan rebels on offensive defense
Wednesday, 06 April 2011 12:40 S.H.A.N.

This morning a Burma Army unit in Wanhsaw in the gemland of Monghsu was attacked by the ceasefire group Shan State Army (SSA) North whose territory was under siege by the Burma Army since early March, according to a source from the Thai-Burma border who had called up his relatives in the area.

“Explosions of shells could be heard on the phone,” he said.

Wanhsaw is only six miles east of Wanhai, until March the main base of SSA North. “It is now almost deserted,” said a Shan rebel officer. “The Burma Army can take it any time they want. We are now off to greener pastures.”

On 28 March, Palaung and other sources reported a clash took place in Namhsan as well as Namtu townships, north of the Mandalay-Lashio highway. Later on 1 April, the non-ceasefire SSA South leader Lt-Gen Yawdserk announced that the two sides had joined hands together in a fight against Burma Army forces in Mongmit township.

“When your enemy calls on you (meaning attack you),” remarked the late Khun Sa, leader of the now defunct Mong Tai Army (MTA), “it is only fair to return the favor.”

The SSA North officer, who wishes to remain anonymous for the time being, however told SHAN areas north of the Mandalay-Lashio highway were under its sway until 2005 when it had pulled out “due to the desire to preserve peace with the junta”, but it had now decided to returned to its old stamping grounds “since the ceasefire pact has been violated by the junta”.

Townships north of the highway where the SSA North is reported active are Mongmit, Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Namhsan, Namtu and Lashio.

These areas have been surveyed by Chinese firms responsible for the planned construction of the oil and gas pipelines coming from Arakan.

Other related news include arrival of more than 20 Burma Army casualties in Tangyan on 4 April. “Those critically wounded were forwarded to Lashio,” reported a local this morning.

The SSA North, that controls Tangyan, Mongyai, Monghsu and Kehsi townships, has been under attack since 13 March. Its principal ally the United Wa State Army (UWSA)s had refused to come to the aid thereby inadvertently facilitating closer relations between it and the non-ceasefire SSA South. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3587:shan-rebels-on-offensive-defense&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
----------------------------------------------
Chinese army waiting on other side
Wednesday, 06 April 2011 22:17 KNG

China is ready to deploy troops from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on the China-Burma border, near Mongko Township, in Northern Shan State, Eastern Burma, as construction of a military camp in the area nears completion, according to a resident.

“All major buildings have been completed and only a small amount of construction is left to finish. Then Chinese troops will be deployed there,” residents from Mongko Township said.
china_army_pla“From the military camp they can clearly see into Burma,” said the resident.

The PLA camp is located 20 miles from the Kachin Independence Army’s (KIA) Brigade 4 camp, based in Shan State. However, it is on the road used by KIA troops to communicate with their headquarters in Kachin State.

And, the road is also strategically important for other ethnic armed groups, such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and Shan State Army (SSA).

The Burmese Military warned KIA Brigade 4 to avoid moving around near the China-Burma border in February.

China sent the fourth highest ranking official from the ruling Communist Party, Jia Qinglin, to meet with President Thein Sein, the leader of Burma’s new government, formerly the junta’s Prime Minister.

“We hope new Burmese government will try hard for stability and peace in the border areas,” Jia Qinglin is quoted as saying in the Chinese state run media.

“It is possible the PLA’s military camp was built on the front line to watch for instability on the border. Especially watching carefully when the UWSA and KIA refuse to follow the instructions of the Burmese military government,” said Bum Htoi, the former Captain of the Burmese Communist Party from Mongko. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/1882-chinese-army-waiting-on-other-side.html
-------------------------------------------
Than Shwe Continues to Control Burma's Military
By THE IRRAWADDY Thursday, April 7, 2011

Despite dissolving the State Peace and Development Council and officially transferring the commander-in-chief post, Snr-Gen Than Shwe has apparently retained his grip on Burma’s military, the country's most powerful institution, said sources at the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Napyidaw.

The MoD sources said the most recent evidence that Than Shwe is still in charge of the military is that the War Office in Naypyidaw was still sending reports marked “secret” and “confidential” to Than Shwe during the week following the announcement that the commander-in-chief position had been transferred to Gen Min Aung Hlaing.

“Actually, the War Office does not need to send any reports to a retired general. But the War Office is still sending reports that are addressed to Snr-Gen Than Shwe,” said a military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Even though Snr-Gen Than Shwe does not have an office at the War Office in the Zayar Thiri area of Naypyidaw, we can read into the fact that we are still sending him reports that he is still controlling the military and still has power.”

The MoD sources added that Than Shwe remains in the senior general position and his general staff officers, Maj-Gen Nay Win, Brig-Gen Soe Shein and Col Myint Kyi, remain at their positions as assistants to Than Shwe.

Another military source said that although Min Aung Hlaing is authorized to handle a minor military reshuffle of regional military commands, light infantry divisions, regional operation commands and military operation commands, Than Shwe is still the one who will be in charge of any major military reshuffle.

Meanwhile, Lt-Gen Myint Hein, the commander-in-chief of the Air Force, and Vice Admiral Nyan Tun, the commander-in-chief of the Navy, have reportedly been promoted to general and admiral, respectively.

Following their promotion, there are now three four-star generals in Burma alongside Min Aung Hlaing. In making this move, Than Shwe apparently wanted to shift the power balance between the Amy, Navy and Air Force, said military sources.

According to government staff at ministries, Than Shwe’s portrait still remains on the walls of government offices as Burma’s top general.

“The senior general’s pictures are still at all government offices. No one told us to remove the picture,” said a staffer with the Ministry of Finances and Revenues in Naypyidaw. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21095
------------------------------------------
US Concerned Over Burma’s Role in Weapons Proliferation
By LALIT K JHA Thursday, April 7, 2011

WASHINGTON — A top Pentagon official has expressed concern over the increasing role of the Burmese military junta in regional weapons proliferation.

“Of increasing concern is Burma’s role in regional weapons proliferation, evidenced by increasing defense cooperation and procurement from the North Korea, in violation of several UNSCRs [United Nations Security Council Resolutions],” Admiral Robert Willard, the commander of the US Pacific command, told lawmakers.

Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Willard said Burma presents a number of challenges to regional security. Prominent among these include: violence between Burma's government forces and various domestic ethnic armies which sparks significant refugee flows into Thailand; a maritime border dispute with Bangladesh; narcotics and human trafficking; and the potential for rapid spread of pandemic disease.

“In addition, Burma's government continues to rule without respect for democracy or basic human rights,” the Pentagon commander said. “The US-Burma military-to-military relationship remains suspended as a matter of US policy and public law.”

Willard said that focused efforts by the US president, defense secretary and secretary of state have set the conditions for increased security cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Accordingly, the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) now actively seeks opportunities to support Asean initiatives that complement developing coordinated, multilateral approaches to maintaining regional security, he said.

Asean and USPACOM have several convergent interests that include humanitarian assistance/ disaster relief, maritime security, terrorism and peacekeeping. “With an evolved scope and influence, Asean and its offshoots—Asean Regional Forum, Asean Defense Ministers Meeting Plus, and the East Asia Summit—offer a framework to guide regional efforts to secure the commons and underpin cooperation across governmental institutions,” Willard said in an April 6 statement.

“I think the assertions made last year by the United States, in particular (Defense) Secretary (Robert) Gates and Secretary (of State, Hillary) Clinton's very strong statements, within Asean and the Shangri La dialogue series, had an effect,” he said in response to a question.

Willard said the US has extensive interests across the rest of Southeast Asia, and USPACOM seeks to continue maturing military relations with Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei and Timor-Leste.

“Malaysia maintains a strong leadership role in the region, especially combating terrorism and enhancing maritime security,” he said.

“Military relations with Vietnam continue to grow in areas such as disaster management, conflict resolution, personnel recovery, medical capability, and trafficking in persons. Cambodia is emerging as a strong supporter of US policy in the region, and activities with Laos, Brunei and Timor-Leste have expanded over the past year,” Willard said. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21091
----------------------------------------------
Burmese Authorities Crack Down on VoIP Calls
By NAYEE LIN LATT Thursday, April 7, 2011

Authorities in Rangoon on Monday raided cyber cafes to check if they still provide customers with overseas communication service through banned VoIP (Voice-over Internet Protocol) calls, according to sources.

Private Internet shop owners told The Irrawaddy that authorities from the Bureau of Special Investigation came to their cyber cafes in Kyauktada, North Okkalapa and Tamwe townships to see if the VoIP service was available.

The Myanmar Posts and Telecommunication (MPT) last month issued an official warning to Public Access Centers (PACs) and cyber cafes to stop providing VoIP services to the public. It said the increasing use of the VoIP overseas calls via Internet services such as Skype, Google Talk, Pfingo and VZO provided by PACs and cyber cafés have caused official overseas calls through the government's communication services to decline, affecting state revenue.

“Authorities in civilian clothes came to my shop on Monday and told me not to provide Internet phone call service to customers. They said legal action will be taken against me if someone is found using this service in my cafe. They said it is illegal under existing law, but they didn't specify so I don't know which law they were talking about,” said the owner of an Internet cafe near Sule Pagoda in downtown Rangoon.

“Gtalk and VZO are free services, so no matter what the MPT warns people will continue to use them. The MPT wanted to stop these services by saying that because of them the state revenue from overseas calls will be reduced. Most of the cafes exist with VoIP services, so they have continued those services although they are not allowed to do so,” said the Internet cafe owner.

Cafe owners, however, reportedly had to take down advertisements for overseas calls via VoIP services following the MPT instruction.

“When we were told to install CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras in our shops we merely followed the directive because it would affect our business if our customers were not comfortable with those cameras. Owners and customers are the victims of whatever nonsense things they [authorities] do. We can survive only if we have customers. Currently, I have taken out Pfingo shortcuts from computer desktops,” said a staff member of an Internet cafe in North Okkalapa.

He said most of the cyber cafes inside Burma have two main services—overseas communication through VoIP calls and regular Internet usage.

“We continue to provide customers with Pfingo and Skype services, depending on the situation. If people have to use a normal phone to call overseas they will become paupers since calling rates are very expensive. An Internet phone call is the easiest and cheapest way to communicate between those who are working abroad and living inside the country. There can be many problems if they are more restricted and cannot make such phone calls any longer,” added the staff member.

Internet cafes have reportedly charged people 50 kyat [US $0.06] per minute for calls to Singapore, Malaysia and other Asian countries, 200 kyat [$0.23] to the US and 400 kyat [$0.46] to South Africa.

The MPT, however, has reportedly fixed rates for overseas calls using its telephone lines at $1.75 per minute to Singapore, $1.40 to Thailand and $4.50 to the US.

A source close to Myanmar Info-Tech Co. Ltd., the public company responsible for issuing licenses to open Internet cafés across the country, told The Irrawaddy that the MPT's instruction is just an attempt to squeeze public access to the Internet.

“People have to use proxies to access Facebook. They may have the same experience in accessing Gtalk in the future. It is just the MPT's attempt to slow down the Internet speed so that people cannot use the Internet or have access to it easily,” said the source.

“It is hard to follow because they [the authorities] have changed systems from one to another quite often. Nothing has taken shape soundly due to such changes. They allowed Myanmar Info-Tech to issue licenses for PACs before, but have now revoked permission to do so after finding out that such licenses can be very beneficial to them,” the source said.

The MPT reportedly acquired the PAC licenses issuing permit from Myanmar Info-Tech in early April.

“Even though the MPT has taken over PAC licensing, Myanmar Info-Tech still has to take care of what it has issued. I am not sure if it will be allowed to continue to be involved in this process because of policy changes under the new government,” said a technician close to Myanmar Info-Tech.

“Shareholders at Myanmar Info-Tech are certainly not satisfied with the withdrawal of PAC licenses,” added the technician.

A total of 802 PACs across the country reportedly registered at Myanmar Info-Tech on February 28, including 557 in Rangoon. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21092
-------------------------------------------
Time for Refugees to Go Home?
By SAW YAN NAING Thursday, April 7, 2011

The governor of Thailand’s Tak Province, Samart Loifah, said it is time to consider repatriating voluntarily the Burmese refugees along the Thai-Burmese border, according to a report by Reuters' AlertNet.

Tak Province hosts thousands of Burmese refugees and many more migrants live and work in the province's main town, Mae Sot.

His comment came just a few days after Burmese dictator Snr-Gen Than Shwe announced the dissolution of the State Peace and Development Council, the ruling regime in Burma since it seized power in a military coup in 1988.

Burma's notorious military junta officially transferred power to a new civilian government on March 30 led by ex-Gen Thein Sein who is the chairman of the junta’s proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party.

According to AlertNet, Loifah said Burma is no longer violent, and “we should start considering asking them [the refugees] to return voluntarily.”

He also urged international donors to reduce funding to the refugee camps to encourage people to leave Thailand, said the report.

There are around 145,000 people in nine Burmese camps along the Thai-Burmese border. The international aid group that supplies the camps, Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), said about 50,000 of the refugees have not been screened and are not registered with the Thai authorities.

Loifah reportedly said he would be happy to work with the European Union (EU) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) if they began decreasing funding on their assistance to the camps to persuade Burmese citizens to leave Thailand.

Loifah was quoted as saying: “Ideally, the province [Tak] would like to be able to set a deadline for closing these camps, but realistically it’s hard to do so because of international organizations.”

Sally Thompson, the deputy director of the TBBC, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that repatriation has always been considered by the Thai authorities as one of the solutions for the refugees, but the TBBC has not been given any indication that any repatriations are likely to happen in the near future.

She said that the TBBC has been told many times by the Thai authorities—including Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya—that there will be no forced repatriation to Burma, and that any repatriations will only be carried out voluntarily and in accordance with international standards.

“We have not being informed of any change to Thai policy on Burmese refugees,” said Thompson. “We have been encouraged to provide more livelihood training in the camps to better protect refugees for the day they are ready to return to Burma.”

The Tak governor has rejected international requests that Thailand restart an abandoned screening process to determine which persons are genuine refugees, as opposed to economic migrants.

Aid agencies and donors have asked Thailand to restart its refugee screening and registration process at the camps which they say has been dormant since 2005.

The UNHCR’s regional spokeswoman, Kitty McKinsey, said that repatriations are unlikely to happen at this moment even though many of the refugees wanted to return home.

McKinsey said that she has spoken to Burmese refugees about the issue, many of whom said they wanted to return home only when Burma becomes a democratic country.

The European Commission, UNHCR and the TBBC have pressed the Thai government to loosen restrictions on the movement of residents and allow them to work outside the camps so they become more socially integrated in Thailand.

Last month, an EU delegation visited the largest refugee camp at the border, Mae La, which has a population of between 45,000 and 50,000 refugees. Following the visit, the delegation said it will provide funds for career training to Burmese refugees on the Thai-Burmese border to empower them to support themselves, but that it must reduce annual aid and supplies to the displaced.

The project aims to help Mae La refugees make enough income to support themselves, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva told camp committees.

According to the TBBC, some 65,000 refugees have been resettled in third countries in the past five years, mainly in the US. The camp populations, however, remain about the same, partly due to births but also due to new arrivals.

During his trip to Mae La in October, Kasit said the Thai authorities will not send the refugees back by force, but will only repatriate them if the political situation in Burma improves. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21094
-------------------------------------------
China offers ‘hospitals-for-oil’ deal
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 7 April 2011

Burma's Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo attends the opening ceremony of a children's hospital in Rangoon, 13 March (Reuters)

Beijing has reportedly offered sweeteners to Burma in the form of hospitals if it speeds up work on oil and gas pipelines destined for Yunnan province.

Through the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Burma could receive $US6 million to build new hospitals and improve its woeful healthcare facilities, the Times of India reported. The deal was mooted during the recent visit to Burma by top Chinese official Jia Qinglin.

Qinglin’s visit was the first by a senior ranking Chinese politician since Premier Wen Jiabao was there in June last year. Observers say it is a statement of Beijing’s outright support for the new Burmese government, as well as an attempt to further boost economic ties between the two countries that saw China inject nearly $US10 billion into the Burmese economy last year alone.

The trans-Burma Shwe pipeline project is one of the country’s largest foreign-funded ventures, and will pump some 15 million cubic metres of gas daily from blocks in the Bay of Bengal to China’s developing Yunnan province.

But China has in the past signalled a lack of confidence in the Burmese authorities’ ability to manage such a massive venture. In December last year it gave $US2.4 billion in loans to its southern neighbour, with speculation that it was aimed largely at speeding up construction of the pipelines. The recent offer of further aid may be an indication that the project is still not going smoothly.

Developments of this magnitude in Burma face a number of hurdles, not least the poor infrastructure and transport routes brought about by decades of economic mismanagement and government incompetence.

There is also the added issue of the volatility of certain parts of the pipeline’s route, most notably the final section in Shan state which runs close territory controlled by the opposition Shan State Army.

How the new government reacts to the offer of aid remains to be seen, given the historic lack of interest with which the country’s rulers have shown in the healthcare sector: Burma’s is ranked among the worst in the world, and the new budget announced last month does little to improve its prospects, allocating healthcare only 1.3 percent of total annual spending.

Critics of both China and Burma may also cry foul of hypocrisy, given allegations by rights groups that the Shwe project has led to the exploitation and abuse of civilians living nearby, as well as forced displacement on a large scale.

A recent report by EarthRights International documented several cases of human rights abuses along the pipeline route, and “numerous instances of land confiscation without adequate compensation”.

The pipeline also remains key to the government’s grip on power, with somewhere in the region of $US30 billion expected to be generated over the three decades after it comes online in 2013.
http://www.dvb.no/news/china-offers-%E2%80%98hospitals-for-oil%E2%80%99-deal/15213
----------------------------------------
Bangladesh seeks Burmese gas
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 7 April 2011

Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina has sought to build closer ties with Burma (Reuters)

Bangladesh is reportedly holding talks with the Burmese regime to secure gas after a official from Dhaka described his country’s reserves as “limited”.

“New scientific calculations have shown that there is limited gas reserve,” said the deputy High Commissioner to India, Mustafizur Rahman. “We are planning to import gas from Malaysia and Indonesia,” adding that Bangladesh was also “in talks with the Myanmarese [Burmese] government for importing gas”.

If a deal is done it will be a major boost to bilateral relations between the two countries, which had in the past soured after Bangladesh alleged Burma was encroaching on its maritime territory. This lead to a naval stand-off in 2009.

In 2008, the energy advisor to the then-Bangladeshi military government, Dr. M Tamim, said that “Lun Thi [Burma's energy minister] informed us that Myanmar does not have enough gas now for supply to Bangladesh as it has made agreements with China and Thailand for gas supply from the exiting reserve.”

Both the interim military government in Bangladesh and the current government of Sheik Hasina has sought to build ties with its eastern neighbour, but the energy-starved nation will be sorely disappointed that its search for gas in the Bay of Bengal has not been more fruitful.

Bangladesh has also been looking into the possibility of importing hydro-electric power from Burma, mirroring Chinese projects in the country that have similarly looked to exploit the potential of Burma’s rivers.

The warming of relations between Bangladesh and Burma was evidenced by the recent commencement of work on a rail link connecting the two countries, with the opening ceremony attended by Prime Minister Hasina.

Bangladesh meanwhile has also looked into importing hydro-electricity from Bhutan through India to meet its energy shortfall, with electricity supply some 1800 megawatts short of demand.
http://www.dvb.no/news/bangladesh-seeks-burmese-gas/15222
----------------------------------------
President told of farmers’ abuse
By AYE NAI
Published: 7 April 2011

More than 130 farmers in central Burma have filed a complaint directly to President Thein Sein in which they call for action on cases of abuses and land confiscation.

The group of farmers, from Sisayan village in Magwe division, claim that five of them had their land confiscated in January by the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings (UMEH). One farmer, Than Oo, also recounted an incident on 21 March in which he was beaten by a group of unknown men.

Now the UMEH is attempting to sue the five men, alleging they themselves are guilty of physical and verbal assault, and trespassing on the land confiscated from them.

The letter, which was also sent to Burma’s head attorney and chief justice, describes how their land was seized by the UMEH, as well as Htoo Trading Company, to build a caustic soda factory. One subsequent lawsuit filed by the farmers against the confiscation was rejected by a local Magwe court.

Furthermore, Rangoon-based legal consultant Aung Thein, who has been following the case, claims that after Than Oo’s beating he was dragged into a portable cabin on the factory construction site. The assailants then called authorities and claimed Than Oo had stoned the office building, injuring one person.

Such reversals of accusations are common in Burma, where farmers have few legal aids to resort to and often become the victim land grabs as the government looks to aggressively expand infrastructural projects. Rampant corruption also allows state-backed enterprises to ignore flimsy laws surrounding land confiscation.

A court session was held in Kanma township on Tuesday to hear the UMEH’s prosecution case, but judges have reportedly referred it to a more senior-level court Upper Minhla township for “security reasons”, although specific details are not known.

Aung Thein said that it is hard to predict how the new government will deal with cases such as these. Ironically, Thein Sein said in a speech last week that he would improve the livelihood of farmers in Burma, where around 60 percent of the population is reliant on agriculture as a chief source of income.
http://www.dvb.no/news/president-told-of-farmers%E2%80%99-abuse/15205
--------------------------------------------
Burma needs to erase the dictatorial traditions
Thu, 2011-04-07 00:10 — editor

By Zin Linn

Burma's military regime has been publicly dissolved, according to state televisions and newspapers, after the country swore in a new president on 30 March.

Referring to an order signed by junta’s chief Than Shwe, said “The State Peace and Development Council will be disbanded after the swearing-in ceremony for the new government and parliaments."

Besides, the new president also made a speech to his members of Union Government, heads of Union level organizations at a ceremony to take heed of presidential address on 31 March.

In his speech, President Thein Sein underlined that the newly formed Union Government “to be a clean government.”

He said, “To be a clean government, we must abstain from corruption and bribery, which tarnishes the image of the nation and the people. Therefore, we have not only refrain from it, but also ensure that the organizations stay away from it. What is very important is that we must not abuse the mandate in the interest of our friends and relatives. Only then, can our government be recognized as a clean government.”

But all the governmental practices are still continuing the same as under the SPDC. Even the township and village level administrations remain the status quo. Corruptions and briberies are at large constantly.

On 5 April, An alliance of democratic political parties - Friends of Democratic Parties - pushed for the new President Thein Sein’s government to start putting into practice the words made in his inauguration speeches without delay.

The 10-party alliance - including Democratic Party of Myanmar (DPM), National Democratic Force (NDF) and five ethnic parties - released a statement urging the Thein Sein Government to carry out the objectives mentioned by him in his speeches on March 30 and 31 concerning the reconstruction of the nation and starting of national reconciliation.

The eight-point statement signed by party leaders called for a general amnesty for political prisoners in the country and the convening of an all-inclusive union conference looking for reconciliation, as said by Democratic Voice of Burma.

The statement says, “In order to implement the objectives practically, we are calling for endorsement of a general amnesty decree for all political prisoners in the country and all those who are in exile for their different political opinions. And we call for the new government to sponsor organizing of all-inclusive union convention, with everyone involved in the over six-decade long civil war. By that mean, the government should find a solution to end the conflict, said the statement.”

The 10-party alliance suggests the new government to do the job as early as possible proving its true benevolence toward genuine national reconciliation.

Although the junta officially transferred power to the Thein Sein government, corruption, forced-labour and land-confiscation cases are going on throughout the country. Chairman of Democratic Party of Myanmar Thu Wei recommended that governmental institutions should take the president’s speeches seriously, while political parties need to be constantly reminding them.

All government departments such as administration and judicial bodies should follow these words precisely for the country, said Thu Wei.

According to Thu Wei, corruption is one of the issues mainly impeding the people. So, political parties need to keep reminding the new government about such wrongdoing until action is taken. Political parties should not just depend on the government; they need to criticize them simultaneously.

He also urged the Affair Committees in the Parliament to take responsibilities, scrutinizing the president’s promises and responsibilities to push for implementation of his pledge. Some of its members said, the 10-party alliance will keep an eye on the new government’s measures to find out whether the president takes adequate measures’ to implement his promises or not.

The key question is that the president or the government has not enough decision-making powers. It is under the control of the National Defense and Security Council in which the military faction is the majority and the commander-in-chief has the supreme authority.

So, people cannot enjoy freedom of information, freedom of association and freedom of communication at all. The new government cannot start practicing of power sharing among the respective admin departments. Even a department head or a high-court judge daren’t to make a decision by themselves rather than waiting an instruction from a high-ranking official.

Most of the government officials and employees are used to obey the instructions of the military officers. They also believe that taking bribe is a birthright opportunity for government officials.

It is obvious; Burma’s new government has new civilian clothes but it still keeping on the old inexcusable practices. Burma may not change straightforwardly into a democratic society without erasing the dictatorial traditions.

- Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/04/06/burma-needs-erase-dictatorial-traditions

Read More...

Collapse...

News & Articles on Burma-Wednesday, 06 April, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Wednesday, 06 April, 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------
US keeps Myanmar sanctions
The Dirty Dollars
Myanmar calls on public to be aware of insurgents
Burma, China agree to build petroleum refining plant in Burma
Exploited, in More Ways Than One
Multi-party alliance urges new govt to keep promises
China Discusses Border Security with Thein Sein
Still a pariah despite dogged declarations of change
------------------------------------------------




Apr 6, 2011
US keeps Myanmar sanctions

US Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said Washington would not lift sanctions against Myanmar despite the country's transition to civilian leadership last month. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

SINGAPORE - THE United States will maintain sanctions against Myanmar while attempting to engage its new leadership, and is concerned about China's crackdown on dissidents, a senior US official said on Wednesday.

US Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said Washington would not lift sanctions against Myanmar despite the country's transition to civilian leadership last month.

'Our general stance in the current environment is, we think it would be inappropriate for the United States to lift sanctions,' he told reporters in Singapore.

'We're watching and waiting to see how the government is established and whether it will be possible to engage in a productive dialogue with the leadership.' Pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi was also supportive of US efforts in attempting to engage Myanmar's new leaders, Mr Campbell said.

'She has encouraged us to attempt to engage and we intend to do so,' said Campbell, who is in Singapore as part of an Asian trip that also includes India and China.

Myanmar's military junta - which had ruled the country for almost half a century - ceded power to a nominally civilian government last week after widely-panned elections in November last year marred by accusations of intimidation and cheating. -- AFP
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_653734.html
-------------------------------------------
The Dirty Dollars
Eyewitness April 06, 2011 1:57 PM
James Cheyne, freelance journalist in Rangoon, Burma

Mid Afternoon. I stepped from a seriously old and battered Toyota into Pazunduang Township, Rangoon, Burma. A sticky 35 Celsius, I felt like I’d just landed on Mars. Fittingly some of the locals looked at me like I’d just come from there. White western tourists are still very few and far between.

I’d organized a place to stay. $15 for a double room. Not the best price ever but not bad. I handed the lady a $20 bill. She immediately gave it straight back to me. “Do you have another?” She asked. “Why what’s wrong with this one?” “It’s broken” she replied, pointing to a tiny tear near the top right hand corner. I dug out a second but to no avail. “It’s dirty” she gestured to an ink stain on the edge which hadn’t seemed important back at Bangkok airport. After a bit more back and forth it emerged around a third of my budget for the week was unuseable. “Where’s the nearest ATM to here?” I asked with slight but rising panic. You might already have guessed her answer … Bangkok Airport.

And so began the battle to get rid of my dirty dollars. Which I did through the black market and by swapping with other departing westerners. They weren’t acceptable because of that very fact, there’s no banks here – at least none accessible to ordinary Burmese. Ordinary Burmese instead hand their dollars to the boss who hands them to a broker who gets them out of the country – often through the hands of people who deal in drugs and weapons as well – people who insist on crisp, clean, smooth notes. They, at the top of the chain, have the power of refusal; those at the bottom have no choice but to comply.

It’s a depressing, frustrating situation, made worse by the fact that when you use some of the local currency, The Kyat, the notes come tattered, torn, faded and held together with tape – another offshoot of having no banks of course, few new ones are ever printed.

A constantly shifting exchange rate between the two currencies can leave you ripped off or clutching huge piles of notes, depending on what hour you head down the local market and who you ask for help. Fifteen years ago there were some U.S. forgeries bearing serial numbers beginning CB, find yourself stuck with a real hundred dollar bill like this and it also becomes useless.

This system seems insane but it’s by no means the biggest financial problem the country has faced. The old President Ne Win, had a habit of declaring certain banknotes officially useless, no longer legal tender. His random decisions would wipe out people’s savings overnight and he’d then introduce new bills with bizarre numbers. He dreamed up a 75 Kyat note on is 75th birthday and a 90 Kyat note because he was obsessed with the number 9. I know this is true because I managed to track a couple of these notes down, buy them for well over their value then break the rules by taking them out of the country.

Many Burmese people are poor, many are hungry. Here in Pazunduang Township many of their children run around the backstreets naked and dirty with little future to speak of right now. Being forced to turn down a sale from a comparatively rich westerner because of a tiny tear in a dollar bill seems to add a pointless layer of sadness to the tragic situation they face. It seems to bring a whole new meaning to our beloved phrase ‘financial crisis.’ It just seems wrong.
-----------------------------------------
Myanmar calls on public to be aware of insurgents
16:47, April 06, 2011

Myanmar officials concerned called on the public to be aware of insurgents in any disguise, the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

They also warned that the destructive elements and insurgents at home and abroad are planning to make constant bomb attacks to undermine the rule of law and to cause public panic.

A hand-made time bomb, made of no strange things and the explosion is planned to attack officials and civilians, has been cleared by the Myanmar Police Force near the bus stop on Sule Pagoda Road last Sunday, leaving no casualty, according to the official sources.

On March 21 this year, a mine, planted by Wamhing group, believed to be remnant members of the Shan State Army (SSA), broke a bridge on Mongshu-Mongnawng road in Mongshu township, destroying iron bars from railings on the bridge, while another mine, planted by the same group, destroyed a bridge on Mongyai-Seinkyawt- Hsaungkye road in Hsipaw township on the same day.

The main group of SSA, led by U Say Htin, returned to the government's legal fold in 1989 and was resettled in Shan state ( north) special region-3.

On Feb. 19 this year, four farmers were killed and three others wounded by heavy weapon, fired by the anti-government ethnic armed group of Kayin National Union (KNU) in Myanmar's Bago region.

The authorities charged the KNU with undermining peace of the state, tranquillity of community and prevalence of law and order and committing destructive acts.

KNU is the largest anti-government ethnic armed group operating on the Myanmar-Thai border for over five decades and has not ceased fire with the government.

The government said a total of 17 main anti-government armed groups and over 20 small groups have so far made peace with the government, returning to the legal fold under respective cease- fire agreements since 1989.

Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7342138.html
-----------------------------------------------
Burma, China agree to build petroleum refining plant in Burma
Wednesday, 06 April 2011 16:00 Ko Wild

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL), controlled by the Burmese army, and China on Monday extended a Memorandum of Understanding to build a petroleum refining plant in Burma capable of processing about five million tons of crude oil a year.

The chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Jia Qinglin signs the guest book at the Shwedagon Pagoda during his visit to Rangoon on April 4, 2011. Qinglin is on an official visit to Burma a few days after Myanmar's military made way for a nominally civilian government after almost half a century in power. AFP PHOTO/Soe Than Win

The chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Jia Qinglin signs the guest book at the Shwedagon Pagoda during his visit to Rangoon on April 4, 2011. Qinglin is on an official visit to Burma a few days after Myanmar's military made way for a nominally civilian government after almost half a century in power. AFP PHOTO/Soe Than Win
During a visit of Jia Qinglin, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, UMEHL’s new chairman, Brigadier General Zarni Win, and Guandong Zhenrong Energy chairman Xiong Shohui signed the contract in Naypyitaw.

Jia Qinglin was the first foreign diplomatic visitor after the state power of Burma was transferred to the new government led by President Thein Sein. He is fourth most important person in the Chinese political structure.

The state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar said on Tuesday that Managing Director U Nyi Phyu Hla of the Myanma Foreign Trade Bank under the Ministry of Finance and Revenue and President Li Ruogu of the Export-Import Bank of China signed the First Tranche Facility Agreement authorising Chinese RMB (Yuan) 30 billion credits from the Export-Import Bank of China to Myanma Foreign Trade Bank.

Moreover, China and Burma also signed a production sharing contract involving the Sabetaung, Sabetaung (South) and Kyisintaung copper mines.

China has invested US $8 billion in Burma including hydropower projects ($5 billion) and oil and gas projects ($2 billion).

Jia Qinglin also met with President Thein Sein, Lower House Speaker Thura Shwe Mann, Union Assembly Speaker Khin Aung Myint and ministers in Naypyitaw.

Talks also included Sino-Burmese border security affairs issues, according to Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Sino-Burmese border -based political analyst.http://www.mizzima.com/business/5122-burma-china-agree-to-build-petroleum-refining-plant-in-burma.html
--------------------------------------------
Exploited, in More Ways Than One
By LINN THANT Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The recruitment of child soldiers in Burma is nothing new to those who know about the country's deplorable human rights record, but there is one facet of this issue that has yet to receive much attention: the abuse that child soldiers jailed for desertion face inside Burma's prisons.

Of the estimated 400,000 soldiers in Burma's army, not one is female, and so there have been no reported incidents of young girls being conscripted. But during my two decades in prison as a political prisoner until 2009, it was not unusual to hear someone talking about making someone into a “girl soldier.”

Late one evening while in prison, I heard the wailing cry of a young man, aged around 16, coming from a punishment cell adjacent to my own cell. The boy later told me that his name was Thaw Zin, and that he was a former child soldier from the Burmese army.

He was one of several child soldiers I had met during my time in jail, serving one- to three-year prison sentences for fleeing from the army. In tears, he said that he had been in jail for just five weeks when he was taken to the punishment cell for breaking a prison rule.

At first, he was reluctant to discuss his “crime,” but when I asked him what had happened to him, he continued crying for a while and then finally told me his heart-wrenching story.

Thaw Zin said that he had been sentenced to a year in prison for breaking Section 65 of the Criminal Code—army desertion. Having been out of contact with his parents since he was recruited as a solider when he was young, he could not hope to receive any visits from his family.

During his first week in prison, he was forced to wash the toilet bowls of prisoners with his bare hands. He said he detested every moment of that work and while he was trying to break free from that ordeal, a hardcore criminal prisoner named Kyaw Gyi approached him, calling him “son.”

“Kyaw Gyi gave me a bath like I was his son. I never had a good bath before I met him. He also bought me medicines for my skin diseases. I thought my own parents were not as kind as he was to me,” Thaw Zin said.

Within a matter of days, Kyaw Gyi, a notorious criminal, became a great benefactor to Thaw Zin and arranged for the latter to be able to come and live with him in the same prison ward. Also through Kyaw Gyi's prison network, Thaw Zin was liberated from his job of washing toilet bowls.

One night, Thaw Zin said Kyaw Gyi asked him for sex. He said that at first he tried to brush off Kyaw Gyi's sexual advances, thinking he had once been a soldier. But when he thought about his first weeks in prison before meeting Kyaw Gyi—doing toilet-bowl duty, and not having enough food or proper clothing or a chance to take a proper bath—he said he was finally compelled to submit to Kyaw Gyi's will.

For several nights, he appeased Kyaw Gyi's desires, but at around ten o' clock on the night before he was taken to the cell next to mine, some other prisoners became aware of what was going on. After that, he was beaten by both guards and prisoners, who started calling him a “girl soldier.”

He was then shackled and taken to the punishment cell. He said he was crying because he feared that his parents and other family members would somehow learn of his “affair” in prison.

In fact, Thaw Zin was just one of many child soldiers and young prisoners who were sexually molested by hardcore criminals who bribed prison authorities so that they could get away with their dirty acts.

According to Human Rights Watch, the vast majority of new recruits in Burma are forcibly conscripted, and there may be as many as 70,000 soldiers—including some from armed opposition groups—under the age of 18, with some as young as just 11 years of age.

In Thaw Zin's case, he said he was deceived by a broker and conscripted into the army at the age of 14. According to his account, he came from a village in Pyawbwe Township and was a student at a state high school at the time he was recruited. But because his parents were very poor peasants working on a plantation, he often missed classes so he could help them with their work.

One day, on his way back home from school, he was approached by a middle-aged man who gave him some snacks and some pocket money. A few days later, together with another boy from the village younger than him, he went along with the man to an army unit in the town.

He said that when he received his military training, he met many other boys as young as 10 and 11, and some boys were even shorter than the guns they were trained to shoot. Besides weapons training, Thaw Zin said he and other fellow child soldiers had to do various chores—ranging from doing laundry to firewood-cutting to fetching water—at the homes of military officers and others of senior rank. Sometimes they also had to pave roads, grow trees, herd cattle owned by the army and do other hard labor.

After four months of military training, during which he received no pay except pocket money, Thaw Zin became an infantry soldier and had to go to border areas in Mon and Shan states. After a few months, he ran away from the army to escape the hardships he experienced, and but was later caught and jailed.

It is certain that there are many other child soldiers in the army who would like to get out but have not yet been able to. Among those who have escaped are many who are arrested and sexually abused in jail. But some of the child soldiers I spoke to in prison told me that they were sexually abused while they were still in the army.

This may need to be corroborated, but I think the sexual abuse of child soldiers in prison also stems from public hatred of the army. Prison inmates are sometimes used as army porters and human shields in the war zones. Those prisoners who attempted to flee away during fighting were severely flogged and punished. Such stories abound in prison, perhaps prompting some prisoners to exact revenge on child soldiers who became prisoners themselves.

As the number of deserters continues to grow, the Burmese army has launched a special recruitment campaign since 2008, according to army sources, who said that each recruitment unit now has to take in as many as 150 child soldiers every month to meet their quota requirement.

An activist in Shan State working on the issue said that child soldiers have even become victims of human trafficking. In the past, the army paid private brokers who specialized in recruiting child soldiers around 30,000 kyat (US $35) for each new recruit, but now pays around 45,000 to 50,000 kyat ($52-58), he said.

Many of these brokers are relatives of soldiers, reserve members of fire-fighting units and members of the state-sponsored Union Solidarity and Development Association, which last year was transformed into a political party that now dominates Burma's newly formed Parliament.

The recruitment targets include juveniles in poor neighborhoods, orphans and teenage beggars wandering in the streets or hanging around parks, bus stops and train stations.

Army deserters like Thaw Zin told me that bullying is rampant in the army and that there is no system to provide proper education or welfare for soldiers, resulting in a dramatic increase in the numbers of deserters in recent years. Army observers said at least 30 to 35 soldiers desert from 500 army units across the country each month.

Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21086
-----------------------------------------
Multi-party alliance urges new govt to keep promises
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 6 April 2011

An alliance of political parties known as the Group of Democratic Party Friends (GDPF) yesterday urged the new government led by president Thein Sein to immediately start implementing the objectives made in his inauguration speeches.

The GDPF consists of 10 political parties, including Democratic Party Myanmar (DPM), National Democratic Force (NDF) and five ethnic parties. On April 5 they released a statement urging the new government to implement as soon as possible the objectives mentioned by Thein Sein in his speeches on March 30 and 31 regarding politics, economy, defence sectors and a national reconciliation.

The eight-point statement signed by party leaders called for a general amnesty for political prisoners in the country and the convening of an all-inclusive union conference looking for reconciliation.

“In order to practically implement [the objectives], we call to enact a general amnesty law for all political prisoners in the country, and all those who are outside the country for their different political opinions. And we call for the new government to organise and lead an all-inclusive union conference, with everyone involved in the over 60 year long civil armed conflict taking part, looking to find a solution to end the conflict,” said the statement.

“We would like to suggest [the new government] make this happen as early as possible, in order to show their true good will and a wish for national reconciliation.”

On March 30, the junta which has ruled Burma for past 23 years officially handed power to the new government led by Thein Sein. However, corruption by government authorities, forced-labour and land-confiscation cases continue to occur across the country a week into the new government’s rule.

DPM’s chairman Thu Wei said, to stop these abuses from happening, low-level government administrations should take the president’s remarks seriously, while parties need to be constantly reminding them.

“All government departments such as administration and judicial bodies should follow these words precisely – we wish this for the country,” said Thu Wei.

“For example, corruption is one of the issues hampering the people the most and we need to keep reminding [the new government] about this until action is taken. We just can’t depend on [the new government], we need to push, depend on and criticise them at the same time.”

He also urged the affair committees in the parliament tasked with scrutinising the president’s promises and responsibilities to push for implementation of promises.

Some GDPF members say the alliance will monitor the new government’s procedures in order to learn whether the president’s promises are truly being implemented.

The GDPF previously made a call to end international sanctions on Burma.
http://www.dvb.no/news/parties-alliance-urges-new-govt-to-keep-promises/15189
--------------------------------------------------
China Discusses Border Security with Thein Sein
By WAI MOE Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Burma’s closest ally China marked its support for the Southeast Asian nation's new government by sending the Chinese Communist Party's fourth highest ranking Politburo official to meet President Thein Sein.

According to China’s state Xinhua press agency, Beijing's top political adviser Jia Qinglin, the chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, raised the two countries' relationship to “a new high” by meeting with Thein Sein in Naypyitaw on Monday.

He pledged to maintain the peace and stability of the 2,200km Sino-Burmese border while supporting Burma’s “development mode”.

“China is ready to make joint efforts with Myanmar [Burma] to push our good-neighborly and friendly ties to a new high,” Jia Qinglin was quoted by Xinhua.

“Jia expressed the belief that Myanmar’s new government will make the utmost effort to safeguard the peace and stability in the border area and create a stable environment for Myanmar’s economic development,” the agency added.

The Chinese media reported that Thein Sein assured Jia Qinglin that Napyidaw’s policy in relation with Beijing “remains unchanged” after the new government was formed.

“Myanmar will maintain friendly exchanges with China and push toward the implementation of major economic cooperation projects,” Thein Sein told the Chinese delegation.

However, the state-run Myanmar News Agency (MNA) report on the visit contrasted slightly with the Chinese version, in particular reference to the Sino-Burmese border issues. “China will mutually cooperate with Myanmar to maintain the stability of border regions, and China opposes any acts that can hinder the stability and development of Myanmar,” MNA reported.

It seems that although Beijing is Napyidaw’s closest ally politically and economically, there could at least remain some different views on the issue of Burma’s ethnic minorities along the two nations’ border.

“Yes, our border issue is a big headache for the Chinese. But they must have mentioned it casually in passing. We want to have their support which they do not want to give. They want us to manage on our own,” said a senior Burmese official in Naypyidaw who spoke on condition of anonymity. He added that ethnic armed groups on the border—such as the United Wa State Army—are closer to Beijing than Naypyidaw.

Burma’s border instability affected China in August 2009 when as many as 37,000 Kokang- Chinese refugees fled to China following a snap offensive by the Burmese army. The Tatmadaw was targetting the pro-Beijing ethnic armed group of the Kokang Army—as also known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army—in northeastern Burma. At the time Beijing expressed concern about border stability in the region.

The incident came after the Kokang Army and other ethnic armed groups on the Sino-Burmese border rejected Naypyidaw’s plan to put all ethnic ceasefire armed groups under the command of the Burma army through the Border Guard Force proposal.

Also present in Thein Sein’s meeting with the Chinese delegation was Vice-President ex-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, Vice-President Sai Mauk Kham and Foreign Minister Wanna Maung Lwin.

Jia Qinglin also separately met other high ranking Burmese officials—including Lower House Speaker ex-Gen Shwe Mann, Tin Aung Myint Oo, who is also chairman of the Trade Policy Council, and Upper House Speaker ex-Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint—as part of his four-day visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

MNA reported Jia Qinglin pledged relief supplies in response to the powerful earthquake in Burma’s eastern Shan State to Tin Aung Myint Oo during two nations’ business agreement signing ceremony.

On Monday, China and Burma signed five business agreements in Naypyidaw including Chinese’s “First Tranche Facility Agreement” involving a 30 billion yuan soft loan to Burma. The agreement involves economic and technical cooperation between Chinese and Burmese government departments and a mining contract with the Burmese military’s Myanmar Economic Holding Ltd company.

Jia Qinglin was invited to the capital by Shwe Mann as a part of his three nations tour of Burma, Australia and Samoa. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21082
---------------------------------------------
Still a pariah despite dogged declarations of change

Published: 6/04/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

If you read The New Light of Myanmar hoping to find signs of change in Burma, you can be forgiven for feeling a bit despondent. Retired general Thein Sein's inaugural speech as the country's newly minted president gave no indication that his government sworn-in on March 30, has any intention of breaking with the policies of the past two decades.

The new wolves of respectability: Newly appointed President Thein Sein is flanked by his vice presidents Tin Aung Myint Oo (left) and Sai Mauk Khan Maung (right), in this picture distributed by the Burmese government in Naypyidaw on April Fools’ Day.

The central message was clear: the army remains in charge, and real reform, if it ever comes, will only be at a pace that Burma's entrenched military rulers approve of.

Among other things, President Thein Sein laid out his foreign policy in his address to Parliament. Vowing to stand firm as a respected member of the global community, he invited nations wishing to see "democracy flourish" in Burma to cooperate with his government. To this end, he called on foreign governments to end "various forms" of pressure on Burma, "including assistance and encouragement to the anti-government groups and economic manipulations".

But Thein Sein, a staunch loyalist of strongman Than Shwe, head of the now-dissolved State Peace and Development Council, is not likely to get his wish.

Shortly after his speech, the US State Department's acting deputy spokesman Mark Toner dismissed the nominal transfer of authority in Burma from military to civilian figures as "immaterial". Military leaders are still in control, he said, meaning that sanctions would remain in place, even as the Obama administration continues to try to engage the Burmese authorities.

Mr Toner told Voice of America that the United States urges the Burmese authorities to release all political prisoners, recognise the legitimacy of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party, and enter into a genuine, inclusive dialogue with all democratic and ethnic-based opposition groups "as a first step toward reconciliation". He also said that Burma remained politically oppressive.

There was nothing in Thein Sein's speech to suggest that any of this would happen anytime in the foreseeable future. So Burma's longstanding pariah status in the international community looks set to continue.

It's doubtful that Thein Sein will ever exercise his executive power to free Burma's more than 2,000 prisoners of conscience, grant an amnesty for political dissidents, recognise the existence of opposition parties that decided not to contest in the 2010 election and order an end to the army's aggression toward ethnic groups.

Even if he wanted to do any of these things, it really isn't in his power to do anything without the approval of his boss, (retired Senior General) Than Shwe.

Although Than Shwe has slipped into the shadows and is no longer the face of the ruling military clique, it is clear that he is still very much in command. As the de facto leader, he will continue to steer the country along the same course as he has since first taking the helm in 1992.

Most Burmese are now thoroughly convinced that the country's military supremo, Than Shwe, has indeed handed over power _ from his right hand to his left hand. That is the joke now circulating inside Burma, and for most observers, it comes much closer to the truth than the more laughable claims coming from some quarters that real change is afoot in the country.

In the months since last year's bogus elections, Than Shwe has systematically consolidated his hold on power. His long-time loyalist Thein Sein has been named president, and military hardliner Tin Aung Myint Oo has assumed one of two vice-presidential positions _ the other going to a token ethnic Shan candidate from the junta's proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party.

Prior to the first session of Burma's new parliament, Than Shwe signed a law that gives the commander-in-chief of the military _ the position he held until recently _ absolute authority to use unlimited "Special Funds" in performing duties of protecting the constitution and preserving national sovereignty. These funds, which are in addition to a US$2 billion budget for military, will be permanently at the military's disposal to ensure that it need never worry about losing its half-century-old grip on Burma. What this means in concrete terms is that there will be no compromise with the West. Instead, China will continue to exercise growing influence over Burma as its rulers look to Beijing as their chief source of foreign support. To underline this fact, Jia Qinglin, the fourth highest-ranking leader in the Chinese politburo hierarchy, visited Burma and met with country's new president and senior government officials. China is the first country to meet Burma's new president and his cabinet members.

Chinese President Hu Jintao also sent a congratulatory message to the new government in Burma. China has also praised the new government for promoting democracy and denounced other countries for criticising Burma's new administration.

Offering China's congratulations to the new Burma government, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu was quick to warn other countries not to meddle in its neighbour's internal affairs. China, Burma's close political ally and largest investor, has already invested heavily in Burma's "transition" by endorsing the outcome of last year's bogus elections, so it should come as no surprise that it is eager to lend as much legitimacy as it can to Thein Sein's puppet government.

So where does this leave Western policy-makers, particularly in Washington, which has taken the lead in imposing tough penalties on the Burmese regime?

Having already ruled out the possibility of lifting sanctions under the current circumstances, the US may now consider even more stringent measures, including more targeted sanctions. This could happen even if blanket sanctions are eventually lifted.

The US will soon appoint a full-time special representative and policy coordinator on Burma, as authorised by the 2008 JADE Act. President Barack Obama will soon appoint the first US special envoy on Burma: Derek Mitchell, a veteran policy-maker on Asia who now serves at the Pentagon, will be nominated for the position. The appointment will signal a renewed effort to pry open the nation after its much-criticised political transition.

Such a move would show that Washington is serious about making democratic reform in Burma a foreign policy priority, including allegations of Burma's nuclear ambitions, and could add impetus to its efforts to engage the Burmese authorities and opposition members. It is expected that the special US envoy will actively engage regional players including Asean nations and China.

Political observers in Washington predicted that the expected appointment would give momentum to Burma policy provided that the administration gives him enough space to manoeuvre.

After Mr Obama took office in January 2009, his administration initiated a dialogue with the regime in Burma after reviewing the policy on Burma. But US officials were disappointed after seeing no political progress in Burma and felt that the regime had failed to take opportunity of the US' engagement policy and failed to repair the relationship with Washington.

Thus, political pundits and opposition members believe that the US could take a more multilateral approach, including stepping up its efforts to win more support for a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into the military regime's war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Although Burma's military rulers have already granted themselves immunity from prosecution under the 2008 Constitution, it is important to remind them that they are still accountable under international law for any atrocities they committed while in power. This would send a strong message to Naypyidaw that simply swearing in a new government is not going to wipe the slate clean, much less convince anybody that democracy has returned to Burma.

In any case, whatever the West decides to do about Burma, it will be up to the country's rulers to decide for themselves if they can afford to remain pariahs forever.

If Thein Sein truly wants Burma to take its place in the community of nations, he will have to do more than tell the rest of the world to change their policies.

Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine . http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/230557/still-a-pariah-despite-dogged-declarations-of-change


__._,_.___

Read More...

Collapse...

ဘုရားစူးပါ့ေစ တကယ့္အျဖစ္ေလး-ELDERS LIFE IN BURMA

ဘုရားစူးပါ့ေစ တကယ့္အျဖစ္ေလး
Posted by admin on January 10, 2011 56 Comments

http://www.egyptsearch.com

အခုတေလာ သတင္းေတြမွာ ပင္စင္စားေတြ အသံကို ၾကားေနရပါတယ္။ တကယ္ကေတာ့
ပင္စင္ရေငြကို တိုးေပးသင့္ တာ အေတာ္ၾကာေနပါၿပီ။ ျမန္မာျပည္မွာ ေငြတန္ဖိုး
အဆမတန္ ေဖာင္းပြေနတာက ေတာ္ေတာ္ ၾကာေနပါၿပီ။ ေငြတ ရာ၊ ေငြႏွစ္ရာ ဆိုတာက
ကေလးမုန္႔ဖိုးပဲရွိပါတယ္။

က်မအဖိုးက သြင္းကုန္ထုတ္ကုန္လုပ္ငန္းက ညြန္မွဴးရာထူးနဲ႔ ၁၉၈၂ ေလာက္က
ပင္စင္ယူခဲ့ပါတယ္။ အဲဒီ အခ်ိန္က အဖိုးရဲ႕ ပင္စင္လစာက ၃၀၀
ေက်ာ္ေလာက္ရတယ္တဲ့။ အဖြားက ျပည္တြင္းအခြန္ကေန ပင္စင္ယူလိုက္ေတာ့ ပင္စင္
လစာ ၂၀၀ နီးပါးရပါတယ္။ အဖိုးနဲ႔ အဖြားက ပင္စင္စားေတြအျဖစ္
ဘယ္သားသမီးဆီကမွ လက္ျဖန္႔စရာ မလိုဘဲ သူ တို႔ဖာသာ
ေနထိုင္စားေသာက္ႏိုင္ပါတယ္။ အဲဒီေခတ္က ေန႔စားတေယာက္ကို ၃ က်ပ္ ၈၅ ျပား
ေပးတဲ့ေခတ္ပါ။ သား သမီးေတြက သိတတ္လို႔ ကန္ေတာ့ရင္ေတာ့ ေငြပိုေငြလ်ံအျဖစ္
လွဴႏိုင္တန္းႏိုင္ပါတယ္။

က်မ ဘႀကီး ဘဏ္လုပ္ငန္းကေန ပင္စင္ယူေတာ့ ၁၉၉၁ ခုႏွစ္မွာပါ။ သူရတဲ့
ပင္စင္လစာ ေငြ ၆၀၀ ရာက သံုးမ ေလာက္ေတာ့ သူ႔ဇနီး စုေဆာင္းထားတဲ့ ေငြေလးကို
အရင္းအႏွီးျပဳၿပီး အတိုးအမ်ားႀကီးမယူဘဲ ႏွစ္ဦး ႏွစ္ဖက္ အလုပ္ ျဖစ္ယံု
ေစ်းသည္ေတြကို ေငြတိုးခ်ရသတဲ့။ အဒီအခ်ိန္က ဆန္တျပည္ကို ၂၅
က်ပ္ေလာက္ျဖစ္ေနပါၿပီ။ ထမင္းစားခ်ိန္ ဧည့္သည္လာရင္ ထမင္းစားေခၚဖို႔
ဝန္မေလးၾကေသးပါဘူး။ က်မ အဖြား အျမဲေျပာေျပာေနတတ္တာက ကမၻာမွာ ျမန္
မာလူမ်ဳိးက ဧည့္ဝတ္ေက်တဲ့ လူမ်ဳိးေတြတဲ့။

က်မအေဖ ပင္စင္ယူေတာ့ ၁၉၉၄ ခုႏွစ္မွာပါ။ က်မေက်ာင္းၿပီးတဲ့ ႏွစ္မွာ အေဖ
ပင္စင္ယူလိုက္ပါတယ္။ အေဖ့ ပင္စင္ ေငြ ၆၀၀ က်ပ္နဲ႔ ဘယ္လိုမွ
မရပ္တည္ႏိုင္ေတာ့ပါဘူး။ က်မ လည္းက်ဴရွင္သင္၊ အေဖ လည္းက်ဴရွင္သင္ေတာ့မွ
ေက်ာင္းေနဆဲ ေမာင္နဲ႔ ညီမ အဆင္ေျပပါတယ္။ လက္ဖက္ရည္ တခြက္ကို ၃ က်ပ္ေလာက္
ျဖစ္ေနၿပီဆိုေတာ့ လက္ ဖက္ရည္ အရမ္းႀကိဳက္တဲ့ က်မ အေမ
လက္ဖက္ရည္ေလ်ာ့ေသာက္ေနရပါၿပီ။

၁၉၉၅ ကေန ၂၀၀၁ အထိ က်မက ႏိုင္ငံေရးအက်ဥ္းသား အျဖစ္ေထာင္ထဲမွာ ရွိေနစဥ္
၁၉၉၆ မွာ က်မ အေဖဆံုးပါး သြားပါတယ္။ ဆက္လက္ခံစားပိုင္ခြင့္အျဖစ္ က်မ အေမက
လစဥ္ ေငြ ၃၀၀ က်ပ္ ရရွိပါတယ္။ အေမကံေကာင္းတာက က်မရဲ႕ေမာင္ေရာ၊ ညီမေရာ၊
အမကပါ၊ တဦးတည္း က်န္ေသာမိခင္ကို ေစာင့္ေရွာက္ၾကေလေတာ့ အေမ မ်က္ႏွာ မ
ငယ္ရေပမဲ့၊ အကယ္၍ အေဖ့ ပင္စင္ေငြ ၃၀၀ က်ပ္နဲ႔သာ အေမရပ္တည္ရမယ္ဆိုရင္
ဘယ္လိုမွ ရပ္တည္ႏိုင္မွာ မ ဟုတ္ပါဘူး။ ဆန္တျပည္ကို ၅၀ က်ပ္နဲ႔ ၆၀ က်ပ္
ၾကားထဲမွာ ရွိပါတယ္။ ကက အငွားယာဥ္ေတြေပၚကာစျဖစ္လို႔ ခရီး စနဲ႔
ခရီးဆံုးကို ေငြ၂၀၀ က်ပ္ က်သင့္တဲ့အခ်ိန္ပါ။

၂၀၀၃ မွာ က်မ အေမဆံုးေတာ့ အေမမထုတ္ျဖစ္တဲ့ ပင္စင္လစာ ၆ လစာ က်န္ခဲ့ပါတယ္။
တကယ္လို႔သြားထုတ္မယ္ ဆိုရင္ ေထာက္ခံစာ ယူရမယ္၊ ေသစာရင္း
အိမ္ေထာင္စုစာရင္း ဘာညာလိုအပ္တာေတြနဲ႔ မကာမိလို႔ က်မတို႔ ညီအမ ေတြလဲ
ဒီအတိုင္းပဲ ထားလိုက္ပါတယ္။ အဲဒါက က်မတို႔ မိသားစု ရင္ဆိုင္ဘူးတဲ့
ပင္စင္စား ဘဝေတြပါ။ အဲဒီ အခ်ိန္ ေရာက္ေတာ့ ဆန္တျပည္ေတာင္ ၅၀၀
ေက်ာ္ေလာက္ရွိပါတယ္။ အေမရတဲ့ ေငြ ၃၀၀ ဟာ ကေလးမုန္႔ဖိုးသာသာ ပါ ပဲ။

၂၀၀၈ ခုႏွစ္ က်မတို႔ မိသားစုလိုက္ ေျမာက္ဒဂံုဘက္ကို ေျပာင္းေရြ႕
ေနထိုင္ခဲ့ ရပါတယ္။ မႏၲေလး လမ္းေစ်းမွာ က်မ ၾကံဳခဲ့ဘူးတဲ့ အေၾကာင္း
ေျပာျပခ်င္မိလို႔ပါ။ မႏၲေလးလမ္းထိပ္မွာ မနက္ ၉ နာရီနဲ႔ ၁၀ နာရီ
ၾကားဆိုရင္ အသားခပ္လတ္ လတ္ အဝတ္အစားႏြမ္းပါးေပမဲ့ သန္႔သန္႔ရွင္းရွင္းနဲ႔
အဖြားႀကီးတေယာက္ ဒန္ဖလား ေျပာင္ေျပာင္ေလး ေရွ႕ခ်ၿပီး ထို္င္ ေနေလ့
ရွိပါတယ္။ တျခားေတာင္းစားသူေတြလို တဂ်ီဂ်ီနဲ႔ ေတာင္းတာမ်ဳိးမဟုတ္ဘဲ
ၿငိမ္ၿငိမ္သက္သက္ ထိုင္ေနတာပါ။ ၁၀ နာရီေက်ာ္လာရင္ စစ္ကိုင္းလမ္းမွာရွိတဲ့
က်မရဲ႕ဆိုင္ဘက္ကို အျမဲလမ္းေလ်ာက္ လာတတ္ပါတယ္။ တခါကေတာ့ က်မဆိုင္ထဲ
ဝင္လာၿပီး မုန္႔ဟင္းခါး ၂၀၀ ဖိုး ေရာင္းပါလို႔ သူက ေျပာပါတယ္။ က်မဆိုင္က
အလုပ္သမားေတြက တပြဲ ၃၀၀ ေရာင္းလို႔ ၂၀၀ ဖိုးဆိုရင္ မေရာင္းရဲဘူးလို႔
ေျပာပါတယ္။ က်မ ေဈးကျပန္လာတာနဲ႔တိုးလို႔ က်မက ေရာင္းေပး လိုက္ပါေျပာမွ
ဆိုင္က ကေလးေတြက ေရာင္းေပးလိုက္ပါတယ္။

သူက မုန္႔ဟင္းဖတ္ မပါလဲရတယ္၊ မုန္႔ဟင္းရည္ ပိုထဲ့ပါလို႔ ေျပာပါတယ္။ က်မက
အဲဒီ အဖြားႀကီးကို စိတ္ဝင္စား ေန တာ ၾကာၿပီမို႔လို႔ အဖြားခဏ ထိုင္ပါလို႔
ေျပာၿပီး ေမးလိုက္ပါတယ္ “အဖြားက အိမ္မွာ ထမင္းနဲ႔စားမလို႔လား” ဆိုေတာ့
အဖြားႀကီးက ေခါင္းညိတ္ အေျဖေပးပါတယ္။ က်မကလဲ စိတ္ထဲမွာ အလွဴလုပ္ခ်င္စိတ္
ေပၚလာလို႔ ဒီမွာ အဝစားသြား ပါလားလို႔ ေျပာလိုက္ပါတယ္။ အဖြားက ေခါင္းခါ
ျငင္းဆန္ၿပီး အိမ္မွာအဖိုးႀကီး ဆာေနလိမ့္မယ္တဲ့။ က်မလဲ ဆိုင္က
ေကာင္မေလးေတြကို ပိုထည့္ခိုင္းလိုက္ပါတယ္။ အဲဒီ တုန္းက ဆန္တျပည္ကို
အညံ့ဆံုး ဆိုရင္ေတာင္ ၉၀၀ ေလာက္ ေပးရပါတယ္။

တရက္မွာေတာ့ အဖြားႀကီးက သူဗိုက္ဆာလြန္းလို႔ မုန္႔ဟင္းခါး
အေႂကြးေရာင္းဖို႔ ေျပာပါတယ္။ က်မလဲ သနားလို႔ သူ႔ ကို ထည့္ေပးလိုက္ပါတယ္။
ပိုက္ဆံ ျပန္ရဖို႔ က်မ မေမ်ာ္လင့္ပါဘူး။ ဒါေပမဲ့ ေနာက္ေန႔မွာ သူက
ရာတန္အႏြမ္းေလး ၂ ရြက္ လာေပးပါတယ္။ က်မက ျပန္လွဴလိုက္လို႔ က်မကို ဆုေတြ
တသီခ်ည္းေပးပါတယ္။ လူေတာ္ေတာ္ မ်ားမ်ားက အ ေႂကြးယူသြားရင္ေတာင္းမွ
ေပးပါတယ္။ အဲဒီလို လူမ်ဳိးထဲ အဖြားမပါ ပါဘူး။

သူ႔ကို က်မေန႔တိုင္းေတြ႔ပါတယ္။ က်မဆီမွာ သူဘယ္ေတာ့မွ အလကားမစားပါဘူး။ ၂၀၀
က်ပ္ေတာ့ သူက ေပးပါ တယ္၊ က်မဆိုင္မွာ ရပ္ကြက္လူႀကီးနဲ႔ သူ႔ကေတာ္က မၾကာခဏ
အလကားအားေပးေပမဲ့ အဖြားကေတာ့ ေငြ ၂၀၀ က်ပ္ကို ေပးသြားတတ္ပါတယ္။

က်မရဲ႕ ဆိုင္နားမွာဘပဲ အသက္ ၇၆ ႏွစ္ ရွိေနၿပီျဖစ္တဲ့ တပ္မေတာ္က
အနားယူထားတဲ့ အဖိုးႀကီးလဲ ရွိပါတယ္။ သူက ပါလီမန္ဒီမိုကေရစီ ေခတ္ကိုလဲ
မွီတဲ့လူပါ။ ေဗဒင္ေဟာစားပါတယ္။ အဖိုးက ေသြးတိုးေၾကာက္လို႔
မုန္႔ဟင္းခါးမစားပါ ဘူး၊ သက္ႀကီးရြယ္အိုဆိုေတာ့ ေရေႏြးလိုခ်င္လို႔
လာဝယ္တာပါ။ က်မက ေရေႏြး အလကားေပးေနၾကပါ။ အဖိုးက ကိုယ္ခ်င္းစာ
စကားေျပာရွာပါတယ္။ ညီး ေလာင္စာဖိုး ကုန္မွာေပါ့တဲ့။ အဖိုးမွာ သားတေယာက္
ရွိတယ္တဲ့။ သူ႔သားက တလကို ေငြ ၂ ေသာင္း ေထာက္ပံတယ္တဲ့။ အဖိုးက
သူ႔ပိုင္တဲ့အိမ္ကို တျခမ္းျခမ္းၿပီး ငွားထားတယ္တဲ့။ အဲဒီကေန တလကို ေငြ ၂
ေသာင္းရတယ္။ ေဗဒင္ေဟာတာက သိပ္မ်ားမ်ားစားစား မရပါဘူး။

အဖိုးက ေနမေကာင္းရင္ ေဆးခန္းမျပဘူး။ ကြမ္းယာဆိုင္မွာေရာင္းတဲ့ ေဆးတြဲပဲ
ဝယ္ေသာက္တယ္။ က်မ ကြမ္းယာ ဆိုင္မွာ မုန္႔သြားတယ္တုန္း အဖိုးနဲ႔ေတြ႔ေတာ့
က်မက အဖိုးေနမေကာင္းဘူးလား လို႔ေမးလိုက္ေတာ့ အဖိုးက ေသြးတိုး ေနလို႔တဲ့၊
က်မက ေဆးခန္းျပပါလားလို႔ေျပာေတာ့ အဖိုးက “ေဆးခန္းတခါ သြားရင္ ေငြ
၁၅၀၀၊၂၀၀၀ ေလာက္ ကုန္ တာ သမီးရဲ႕ ေသြးတိုးတိုင္း ေဆးခန္းေျပးရရင္ အဖိုး
ထမင္းေတာင္ စားရမွာ မဟုတ္ဘူးတဲ့။ ပင္စင္စားေတြရဲ႕ ဘဝ ဟာ အေတာ္ကို
ေအာက္က်ေနာက္က် ႏိုင္ၾကပါတယ္။ တေယာက္ထဲေနတဲ့ အဖိုးက ထမင္းလခ တလကို ၂
ေသာင္း ၅ ေထာင္ ေပးေနရပါတယ္။ ေခၽြတာတဲ့ အေနနဲ႔ ေန႔တိုင္းလက္ဖက္ရည္
မေသာက္ဘဲ တထုပ္ ၇၅ က်ပ္တန္ ေကာ္ဖီမစ္ ကိုပဲ အိမ္မွာ ဝယ္ေသာက္ပါတယ္။
လက္ဖက္ရည္ တခြက္ကို ၂၅၀-၃၀၀ ေလာက္ေပးရပါတယ္။

ဒီလိုနဲ႔ က်မဟာ အျမဲတန္း ဂရုစိုက္ေနမိတဲ့ လူ ၂ ေယာက္ ရွိလာခဲ့ပါတယ္။
အခုတေလာ က်မဆိုင္ေရွ႕က အဖြားျဖတ္ မသြားတာ သတိျပဳ ေနမိပါတယ္။ က်မ ရင္ထဲမွာ
စိတ္ပူေနမိတာ အမွန္ပါဘဲ။ ဒီလိုနဲ႔ အဲဒီရက္ေတြ အတြင္းမွာပဲ က်မ ရဲ႕
ကိစၥတခုရွိလို႔ ေတာင္ဒဂံုဘက္ကို သြားရပါတယ္။ အေတာ္ တိုက္ဆိုင္တယ္လို႔ေျပာ
ရမွာပါ။ က်မသြားတဲ့ လမ္းထဲ က တဲအိမ္တလံုးရဲ႕ အိမ္ေရွ႕ မ်က္ႏွာစာမွာ
ထိုင္ေနတဲ့ အဖြားကိုေတြ႔ပါတယ္။ က်မ ထိတ္ကနဲ ဝမ္းသာသြားပါတယ္။ ဒါေၾကာင့္
အဲဒီ ရပ္ကြက္ထဲက အမကို ေမးလိုက္မိပါတယ္။

အမက ညီမ… ဖြားမိနဲ႔ သိလားတဲ့၊ က်မက သိတယ္လို႔ ေျပာေတာ့ အမက “ဖြားမိက
သနားဖို႔ေကာငး္တယ္တဲ့၊ သူ႔ ေယာက္က်ားက ေတာေက်ာင္းဆရာ၊ သူတို႔ေခတ္က ၇
တန္းေအာင္ရင္ ေတာပိုင္းမွာ မူလတန္းဆရာလုပ္လို႔ ရတယ ္ေလ။
ပင္စင္စားႀကီးေပါ့၊ သားေထာက္သမီးခံလဲမရွိဘူး၊ ဖြားမိက ပညာမတတ္ ရွာဘူး။
သူ႔ခင္ပြန္းကိုပဲ မွီခိုေနရတာ။ အဖိုးႀကီး အိပ္ရာထဲ လဲေနတာ၂ ႏွစ္
နီးပါးၾကာေနၿပီ။ ပင္စင္လခေတြက မေလာက္မငွဆိုေတာ့ ေနေကာင္းေနတုန္း ကဆိုရင္
အဖိုးဂ်ာနယ္ေလးဘာေလး ေရာင္းတယ္ေလ။ အခုေတာ့ ဖြားမိဘဲ လုပ္ကိုင္ေကၽြးေမြး
ေနရတာတဲ့၊ အသက္ ႀကီးမွ ပင္ပင္ပန္းပန္း လုပ္ေနရတယ္တဲ့။ အဲဒီ အမက
ဖြားမိလုပ္တဲ့ အလုပ္ကို ေသခ်ာသိပံုမရလို႔ က်မလဲ ေျပာမျပခဲ့ ပါဘူး။

က်မ ျပန္ခါနီးေတာ့ ဖြားမိအိမ္ကို ဝင္လိုက္ပါတယ္။ အိမ္ေလးက
ယိုင္ယိုင္နဲ႔နဲ႔ေလးပါ။ အိမ္မိုးထားတဲ့ ဓနိေတြလဲ ေပါက္ ျပဲ ေနပါတယ္။
ထရံေတြလဲ ေဆြးေျမ့ ေနပါတယ္။ အိမ္မွ တကဲ့ကို အိမ္ျဖစ္တယ္ဆိုရံုေလးပါပဲ။
အဖြား ဘာျဖစ္လို႔ ဆို္င္ဘက္ မလာတာလဲလို႔ က်မက ေမးေတာ့ အဖြားက
“ေနမေကာင္းဘူး သမီးရယ္တဲ့၊ က်မ အိမ္ထဲကို လွမ္းၾကည့္ လိုက္ေတာ့ အိမ္ထဲက
အိပ္ယာေလးေပၚမွာ ပိန္ပိန္လွီလွီ အဖိုးတေယာက္ အိပ္ေနပါတယ္။ က်မ အိမ္ထဲကို
လွမ္း ၾကည့္တာကို အဖြားက သိသြားေတာ့ “အဲဒါ အိမ္သားေလ၊ သူေနမေကာင္းတာ
ၾကာၿပီ၊ အရင္ကေတာ့ ေဆးခန္းမွန္ မွန္သြားႏိုင္တယ္ အခုေတာ့ ဆရာဝန္
မျပႏိုင္တာေတာင္ ၾကာသြားၿပီ” တဲ့ ။ က်မက ဘာေရာဂါလဲေမးေတာ့ ေက်ာင္း ဆရာ
ဘဝတုန္းက ရွဴခဲ့ရတဲ့ ေျမျဖဴမွဳန္႔ေတြေၾကာင့္ေရာ၊ ဂ်ာနယ္ေရာင္းတုန္းက
မနက္ေစာေစာထ ဂ်ာနယ္တိုက္မွာ ဂ်ာနယ္သြားယူရေတာ့ ပင္ပန္းတာေတြေရာ
ေပါင္းသြားတာေပါ့ေလ။ ေသြးတိုး၊ႏုလံုး၊ ရင္က်ပ္၊ အို…အစံုဘဲ။ ပိုက္ဆံ
ခ်မ္းသာရင္ေတာ့ သက္သက္သာသာ ေနႏိုင္မွာေပါ့။ အင္း အခုေတာ့ သူလဲ
ခံစားရတာမသက္သာ၊ အဖြားလဲ သူ႔ကို ျမင္ရတာ မသက္သာဘူး သမီးရယ္တဲ့။

က်မ လည္း တတ္ႏိုင္သေလာက္ ေငြေလးကို အဖြားလက္ထဲ ထည့္ေပးေတာ့
အဖြားမ်က္လံုးမွာ မ်က္ရည္ေတြ ဝဲေနပါ တယ္။ က်မလဲ ခ်မ္းသာတာ မဟုတ္ေလေတာ့
အမ်ားႀကီး မေပးႏိုင္ေပမဲ့ က်မ မိဘေတြသာဆိုရင္ ဆိုတဲ့ အေတြး ေၾကာင့္ က်မ
ေပးခဲ့မိပါတယ္။ ဒီေငြဟာ သူ႔တို႔အတြက္ တညေနစာ
အဟာရကိုသံုးေဆာင္ႏိုင္မယ္လို႔ က်မ ထင္မိပါ တယ္။ ဒါဆို က်မ အိုမင္းလို႔
မစြမ္းႏိုင္သူေတြကို လွဴရက်ဳိးနပ္ပါတယ္။ လက္ဖက္ရည္ဖိုးကိုေတာ့
ေလ်ာ့ရမွာေပ့ါ။ က်မ လဖက္ရည္ မေသာက္ရတာက ျပႆနာတခု မဟုတ္ဘူးေလ။

အခုေတာ့ က်မရဲ႕ အဖိုးနဲ႔ အဖြားလဲ ပင္စင္လခနဲ႔ အသက္ရွင္ဖို႔ မျဖစ္ႏိုင္တဲ့
အခါမွာ သားသမီး ေျမးျမစ္ေတြကို မွီခို ေန ရပါတယ္။ တခါတေလေတာ့ သားသမီး
ေျမးျမစ္ေတြနဲ႔ တစံုတရာ သေဘာထားကြဲလြဲခဲ့ရင္ ကိုယ့္အခန္းထဲမွာ ကိုယ့္ဖာ
သာပဲ ဝမ္းနည္းေနၾကရတဲ့ အိုမင္းမစြမ္းေတြ ျဖစ္ေနပါၿပီ။ ငယ္ဘဝ
အေတြ႔အၾကံဳေတြကို စားျမံဳျပန္ရင္း ရေသ့ စိတ္ေျဖ ေနၾကရတဲ့ ဘဝေတြပါ။

က်မရဲ႕ ဘႀကီးေတြ ႀကီးေဒၚေတြလည္း ကိုယ္ဖာသာကိုယ္ မရပ္တည္ႏိုင္ၾကေတာ့
သားသမီး ေျမးျမစ္ေတြကိုပဲ အား ကိုး ေနၾကပါတယ္။ က်မရဲ႕ ႀကီးေဒၚကေျပာပါတယ္
“ အသက္ရွည္တယ္ဆိုတာ လူေတြ လိုခ်င္ တမ္းတ တဲ့ အရာျဖစ္ ေပမဲ့ ျမန္မာျပည္က
အသက္ႀကီးရြယ္အိုေတြ ဆိုတာက ဝဋ္ဒုကၡႀကီးတဲ့ လူေတြပဲ ျဖစ္ရမယ္တဲ့ေလ။
ကိုယ္တိုင္လဲ မ ခ်မ္းသာ၊ သားသမီးေျမးျမစ္ေတြကိုလည္း ဝန္ထုပ္ဝန္ပိုး
ျဖစ္ေစပါတယ္။

ႀကီးေဒၚရဲ႕ အယူအဆ အတိုင္းဆိုရင္ေတာ့ အသက္ ၅၈ ႏွစ္နဲ႔ လူ႔ေလာက
ကိုေက်ာခိုင္းခဲ့တဲ့ က်မရဲ႕ အေဖနဲ႔အေမ က ဝဋ္ဒုကၡနည္းသူေတြမ်ားလား
ဆိုတဲ့အေတြးနဲ႔ က်မရင္ထဲမွာ မတင္မက် ခံစားရပါတယ္။

ခင္ၿငိမ္းသစ္

လက္ဆင့္ကမ္းျဖန္႔ေဝရန္

Read More...

Collapse...

JAPAN MOURNS UNIDENTIFIED VICTIMS

Read More...

Collapse...

Defiant Japanese boat captain rode out tsunami

Oshima, Japan (CNN) -- Susumu Sugawara looks bemused and a little embarrassed at all the attention he's getting.

The 64 year old has become a local hero on the Japanese island of Oshima. Smashed boats adorn the coastline of this once-idyllic tourist spot, but Sugawara's pride and joy, "Sunflower" is intact and working overtime transporting people and aid to and from the island. It can hold around 20 people at a time.

When the tsunami came, everyone ran to the hills. But Sugawara ran to his boat and steered it into deeper waters. "I knew if I didn't save my boat, my island would be isolated and in trouble," he tells CNN.

As he passed his other boats, used for fishing abalone, he said goodbye to them, apologizing that he could not save them all.



Impact of Japanese disaster

Searching for Japan's missing

Japan mourns unidentified victims

30 ft wall couldn't stop second tsunami
RELATED TOPICS
2011 Japan Disaster
Tsunamis
Then the first wave came. Sugawara says he is used to seeing waves up to 5 meters high but this was four-times that size.

"My feeling at this moment is indescribable," he says with glistening eyes. "I talked to my boat and said you've been with me 42 years. If we live or die, then we'll be together, then I pushed on full throttle."

"Here was my boat and here was the wave," he says, holding one hand low and the other stretched high above his head. "I climbed the wave like a mountain. When I thought I had got to the top, the wave got even bigger."

Sugawara's arms flail wildly as he describes the top of the wave crashing down repeatedly onto his boat. "I closed my eyes and felt dizzy. When I opened them, I could see the horizon again, so I knew I'd made it."

Then the next wave came. Sugawara can't remember if there were four or five waves, but he says he did not feel afraid, he was just focused on steering his boat.

Suddenly the sea was completely calm and he knew he had beaten the tsunami. Sugawara stayed at sea until dark, pumping water from the boat's engine room. He believed his island had been destroyed by the wave. He says he didn't cry but felt angry and utterly helpless. He didn't know if his family had survived.

Trying to get back to Oshima, he had to navigate carefully past wrecked houses, boats and other debris that floated past him. The island of Oshima was in complete darkness; the only way he could find his way was with the guide of raging fires at Kesunnuma -- 5 kilometers (3 miles) away.

For twenty days, he has been making hourly trips to the mainland. For the first two weeks at least he provided almost the only connection with it. Without Sugawara and the Sunflower, the island would have been completely cut off.

He doesn't ask passengers for money if they have none. Those that can, pay just 300 yen (US$3.5) towards fuel.

Oshima is an island of just 3,500 people. Locals say 35 of them are confirmed dead and some are still missing, though they don't know how many. Others are believed to have taken their boats out to sea and tried to ride the tsunami like Sugawara but didn't make it.

The supermarket owner, Tadaomi Sasahara, tells me he gave all of his food away for free after the disaster. Many islanders then brought their food from their homes and shared it out.

He adds, "Everyone used to look out for themselves on this island, but after this, the whole community is now helping each other."

With his supermarket shelves empty, he now helps Sugawara with his hourly trips to the mainland.

Sugawara risked his life for his boat and his island -- one of the very few to ride a tsunami and to live to tell the tale.

Read More...

Collapse...

Status report: Reactor-by-reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) -- Since March 11, the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been in various states of disrepair after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck the area.

.

Here is the latest on each reactor and efforts to prevent further releases of radioactive material.

.

Reactor No. 1

.

Early Sunday afternoon, the electricity source used to power the No. 1 unit's cooling systems was switched from a temporary diesel generator to a more permanent, external power supply, the International Atomic Energy Agency noted on its website.

.

In addition, some (but not all) lighting has been restored in the No. 1 unit's turbine building, where large amounts of pooled, highly radioactive water had been found in the basement.




.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, an official with Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency, said Sunday that the parameters appear stable in the No. 1 reactor. Temperatures are gradually going down, he added.

.

This is in sharp contrast to earlier in the crisis, when temperatures in the No. 1 reactor once topped 2,700 Celsius (4,800 Fahrenheit), according to an estimate from Areva, one of the world's top nuclear energy companies based in France. In such intense heat, much of the water used to cool the reactor's nuclear fuel rods may have boiled away, contributing to the full or partial exposure of the fuel rods (and little to cool them) and the significant release of radioactive vapor.

.

The No. 1 reactor is considered to be in shutdown mode, according to its owner, the Tokyo Electric Power Company.

.

Radioactive water that had been pumped out of the No. 1 unit's turbine building into a condenser was emptied on Sunday afternoon into a storage tank, reports Tokyo Electric.

.

Nitrogen is slated to be injected into the No. 1 reactor, an attempt to minimize the possibility of the dangerous buildup of hydrogen, after Tuesday. A hydrogen explosion -- an indicator of possible core damage -- blew the roof and upper walls off the building housing the reactor on March 12.

.

A camera was installed Sunday in the exposed maintenance tunnel leading to the No. 1 unit's turbine building, where highly radioactive water had been found last week. The goal is to pinpoint how water got into the tunnel, which had been used for electrical cables but wasn't supposed to contain liquid.

.

Nishiyama on Saturday knocked down a claim made a day earlier by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu that 70% of the No. 1 reactor's core has suffered severe damage. Noting that sensors have been unreliable, Chu said the calculation was based on the fact that radiation levels have been too high for workers to get inside. But Nishiyama said that Japanese authorities' data indicates only 3% damage to the unit.

.

Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Company that runs the nuclear power plant, said last Wednesday, "Looking at current conditions ... there are no options other than decommissioning" the No. 1 reactor, as well as Nos. 2, 3 and 4 units. This would mean that the reactor would never be used to produce electricity again.

.

This reactor's core has been damaged, but its containment vessel was not, according to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, an industry trade group that tracks information from government and Tokyo Electric officials. The containment vessel is a concrete and steel structure that keeps radioactive material inside the reactor.

.

Lighting has been restored to the No. 1 and No. 2 units' control room, though the overall power supply in both is subpar.

.

Reactor No. 2

.

Tests from Saturday on water in the concrete pit outside the No. 2 unit's turbine building -- the same spot where water is rushing directly into the Pacific Ocean through a roughly 20-centimeter (8-inch) crack -- showed radiation levels 7.5 million times the regulatory limit, a Tokyo Electric official said. More recent findings showed a slight drop to 5 million times the norm.

.

But the utility company also noted Tuesday that the radiation levels diminished sharply as one moved away from the leak, consistent with their assessment that the spill might have a minimal effect on sealife.

.

For 2.5 hours on Monday, water was injected into the No. 2 unit's nuclear spent fuel pool, Tokyo Electric reported Tuesday on its website. That water cooling process was powered by what the utility called "a temporary, motor-driven pump."

.

Attempts failed Saturday and again Sunday to plus the cracked concrete shaft outside the No. 2 reactor's turbine building. Pictures showed highly radioactive water gushing through the crack and directly into the ocean.

.

Plan C is to install a silt fence along a damaged sea wall surrounding the plant, Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency said Monday. This will take several days to complete, a Tokyo Electric official said Tuesday.

The aim of this screening, which is usually used to halt erosion at construction sites, is to prohibit the spread of radioactive particles into the sea. Workers also have injected a dye tracer into the water to help them track the dispersal of such particles.

.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Monday that authorities opted to dump 11,500 tons of that's collected in and around the Nos. 3 and 4 units for the "safety" of the No. 2 reactor. He called the decision "unavoidable," saying that while the Nos. 3 and 4 units' is radioactive, these levels are nowhere near as high or as dangerous that from the No. 2 unit.

.

As of Sunday afternoon, an external power source was being used for the No. 2 unit's cooling system. This replaces the temporary diesel generator in use in recent days.

.

Cameras have been set up monitor areas in and around the No. 2 unit's turbine building, an attempt to get more information about water levels and potential leaks, said Nishiyama, the nuclear safety official, on Sunday

.

Conditions in the No. 2 reactor core appear to be stable, he added.

.

Areva estimates that the temperature in the No. 2 reactor core at one point in the crisis soared as high as 1,800 Celsius (3,200 Fahreinheit).

.

The No. 2 reactor is officially shut down, reports Tokyo Electric.

.

As with the Nos. 1 and 3 units, there is a plan to inject nitrogen into the No. 2 reactor in order to prevent a buildup of hydrogen that might cause an explosion. One such blast occurred at the No. 2 unit on March 15.

A Tokyo Electric executive said last week that, "looking at current conditions," the No. 2 reactor and three others would be decommissioned -- meaning it would never be used to produce electricity again.

.

Lighting has been restored to the No. 1 and No. 2 units' control room, though the overall power supply in both is subpar.

.

Reactor No. 3

.

The level of water in the No. 3 unit's turbine building as well as in an exposed maintenance tunnel is high, a Tokyo Electric official said Tuesday.

.

On its website, the utility company claimed that the water level in the tunnel had increased by 15 centimeters on Sunday. The theory is that water from the No. 4 unit's turbine building was somehow reaching the No. 3 unit's trench. The water level stabilized by Monday, after workers stopped transferring water in the No. 4 unit's turbine building.

.

From 5 a.m. to after 7 p.m. Monday, water was sprayed using a concrete pumping truck to cool down nuclear fuel at the No. 3 unit, Tokyo Electric reported Tuesday.

.

Loose water found in and around the No. 3 complex has shown high levels of radiation, but nowhere as high as that in the No. 2 unit, said Edano.

.

Recent data on key parameters, such as pressure levels and temperature, suggest that the No. 3 reactor is relatively stable, the nuclear safety official Nishiyama said Sunday.

.

An outside, more permanent electricity supply began powering the cooling system used to cool nuclear fuel in the No. 3 reactor on Sunday afternoon, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

.

This cooling system -- including back-up and primary power sources -- had broken down earlier in the crisis. At one point, temperatures reached as high as 1,800 Celsius (3,200 Fahreinheit) in the No. 3 reactors, according to an analysis from Areva.

.

Tokyo Electric said Monday on its website that the No. 3 reactor is considered to be in shutdown mode.

.

On Sunday, workers were in the process of setting up a monitor in the exposed maintenance tunnel outside the No. 3 unit's turbine building, into which radioactive water had been leaking.

.

Japan's nuclear safety agency earlier announced plans to pump in nitrogen -- a non-flammable substance -- into the No. 2 reactor and two others in a bid to prevent an explosion caused by the buildup of hydrogen. Eleven people were injured on March 14 when one such explosion occurred at the No. 2 unit.

.

Like the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 reactors, the No. 3 reactor is likely to be put out of service permanently even after the crisis resolves, Katsumata said Wednesday. Among other issues, the use of seawater in the post-crisis response has corroded the reactor, experts have said.

.

The No. 3 reactor had been of particular concern because it is the only one to use mixed-oxide fuel that contains a small percentage of plutonium, which is also a byproduct in other reactors. A small amount of plutonium was detected in soil samples on the plant grounds last week, Tokyo Electric reported Monday. Edano said last week that it was "likely" the plutonium came from this reactor.

.

The cooling pool where spent fuel is stored may also have been damaged, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum reports.

.

Freshwater has been injected into the No. 3 reactor core in order to prevent overheating of nuclear fuel inside.

.

The No. 3 reactor is believed to have suffered core damage, and a hydrogen explosion did extensive damage to the building surrounding the reactor March 14.

.

Reactor No. 4

.

The level of water in the No. 4 unit's turbine building as well as in an exposed maintenance tunnel is high, a Tokyo Electric official said Tuesday.

.

For five hours Sunday night, freshwater was sprayed from a concrete pumping vehicle into the No. 4 unit's spent nuclear fuel pool, according to details on Tokyo Electric's website.

.

The utility company announced Sunday that two workers, ages 21 and 24, had been found dead in the No. 4 unit's turbine building. The men, who suffered multiple traumatic injuries, had been missing since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Their bodies were found Wednesday, though Tokyo Electric said it waited several days to notify the public in order to let the victims' families know first.

.

Some lights in the No. 4 unit's turbine building were turned on for the first time Thursday since the natural disaster.

.

This reactor was offline in a scheduled outage when the earthquake hit. Still, it has had several major problems since then, including a March 15 fire that damaged the building that houses the reactor.

.

The nuclear fuel rods were in the unit's spent fuel pool, but not in the reactor itself. The reactor's pool of spent nuclear fuel was "possibly damaged," which is why authorities have made repeated efforts to pour water onto the structure.

.

Reactors Nos. 5 and 6

.

Water has pooled up in the basements of the Nos. 5 and 6 units' turbine buildings, Edano said Monday.

.

Tokyo Electric reports on its website that this amounts to about 1,500 tons of this water.

.

The radiation level of this discharged water is about .6 millisieverts per year, according to Tokyo Electric. For reference, a person in a developed country is naturally exposed to 3 millisieverts per year.

.

Beginning Monday night, that water was pumped out and dumped directly into the Pacific Ocean. The cabinet minister said there was "no choice" but to dump such water into the sea, rather than putting it in storage tanks, because that space was needed for more highly contaminated water from around the No. 2 unit.

.

While those reactors' remained stable, Edano said this water had to be pumped out soon because it threatened to derail the electricity that is being used to power the systems' cooling the fuel rods in the Nos. 5 and 6 units' spent nuclear fuel pools.

.

These two reactors were not in operation at the time of the earthquake and had been in "cold shutdown," Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency reports.

.

The reactors were shut down for a scheduled outage when the quake hit and there are no major issues with the reactors and cores themselves. The cooling systems in the pools of spent nuclear fuel are thought to be functioning, though there are continued concerns about keeping power running to the systems.

.

Three holes were punched in each building earlier to relieve pressure and prevent a feared hydrogen explosion.

Read More...

Collapse...

IMPACT OF JAPANESE DISASTER

Read More...

Collapse...

CHINA'S EMPLYOMENT PINCH-CNN

Read More...

Collapse...

30 FEET WALL COULDN'T STOP SECOND TSUNAMI-JAPAN

Read More...

Collapse...

Radioactive water dumped into Pacific -JAPAN

Read More...

Collapse...

INSIDE THE MIND OF SAIF KADDAFI

Read More...

Collapse...

News & Articles on Burma-Tuesday, 05 April, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Tuesday, 05 April, 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Role of the Third Force in the Junta's Diplomatic Offensive
NDF leaders at loggerheads, party splits
Ex-army captain arrested, interrogated
Refugees trapped on Myanmar Border
High-ranking Chinese Communist official 1st VIP guest of new Myanmar president
------------------------------------------------




CONTRIBUTOR
The Role of the Third Force in the Junta's Diplomatic Offensive
By AUNG LYNN HTUT Tuesday, April 5, 2011

After listening to a commentary about Burma's election and new Parliament written by Dr Thant Myint-U, the grandson of the late UN Secretary-General U Thant, on the Voice of America, I was reminded of a comment given by Snr-Gen Than Shwe when I was serving at the Burmese Embassy in Washington, D.C. The junta chief, who used to be part of the military regime's Psychological Warfare Department, said, “Your organizing efforts should target family members of prominent people in order to compare with that woman.” “That woman” was, of course, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Linn Myaing, the then Burmese ambassador to the US, through his brother Kyaw Myaing and a female professor who emigrated to the US, was able to get in touch with U Thant's family members and sons of a minister who served for a previous government led by the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League in the 1950s. He could also contact Aung San Oo, Suu Kyi's elder brother, and his wife living in San Diego, California. The regime has used them in launching its diplomatic offensive against the international community and psychological warfare against Suu Kyi.

The senior general knew that those aforementioned people might not have forgotten their golden age in Burma, and so he brought them and their family members to Rangoon and treated them well. In return, the generals gained even more support from them than they expected. We smiled at them because they did not know they were being lured by the regime, which made them think that they were actual heroes who could save the country.

I would like to touch on the subject of how those family members were exploited by the regime at the UN. Actually, the regime's leaders did not understand much about international relations until 2000. They just did whatever they wanted in their county and didn't care what anyone else thought. They didn't pay attention to the international community or the image of their government in the international arena.

Than Shwe, whose way of thinking about such matters was particularly crazy, often pushed his fellow generals into tight corners. There were a number of cases in which regime officials were put in an awkward situation because of his lack of international knowledge. Than Shwe did not understand that the recruitment of child soldiers, forced labor and forced relocation of villages were prohibited by international conventions. He did not know which UN treaties the successive Burmese governments had signed and/or ratified. The then foreign minister, who was aware of those treaties, tried to explain these things to him, but he did refused to listen.

Since around 1997, Burma's human rights situation has attracted increasing attention at the UN. It was around this time that the senior general also started to think about how to tackle this problem. Consequently, a strategy for a diplomatic offensive was developed with advice from Joseph Verner Reed, a famous US politician and senior official, in order to garner support within the international community.

According to the plan, prominent Burmese people living abroad became major targets of the regime, followed by young Burmese intellectuals and non-Burmese scholars with an interest in Burma.

Family members of U Thant were considered the first target of the offensive. At the beginning, the regime was worried that it would not be welcomed easily by U Thant's family because they had actively worked for pro-democracy activists following the nationwide pro-democracy uprising in Burma in 1988, and the army had killed innocent civilians when U Thant's funeral turned into an uprising known as the “U Thant Affair.” The regime, however, did not face much difficulties in dealing with the family of the late UN secretary-general.

After the regime complimented members of U Thant's family on their significance in Burmese politics and in the pursuit of democracy, each of them reportedly visited Burma as guests of the state. It seemed that the regime thoroughly won them over, because on their return they did not appear to have any hatred towards the army. Indeed, ever since then, they have been speaking for the regime almost as if they have become its overseas representatives.

Following Reed's advice, since around 1997, Burmese ambassadors to the US, UK, Canada, Switzerland and France have been spending several months each year in New York, lobbying foreign diplomats on behalf of the regime during the UN General Assembly period from August to November.

However, there was a suggestion that lobby efforts for a government by non-government actors could be more effective, so the regime began to establish a “third force” around 2002 by combining its first, second and third targets.

Using U Thant's name was beneficial to the regime in its diplomatic offensive and advocacy efforts. Likewise, his family members were very useful for the regime in international relations.

The efforts of the so-called third force stopped temporarily following the purge of Gen Khin Nyunt, the former Burmese prime minister and military intelligence chief, in October 2004. Later, Than Shwe allowed the elements of the third force within and outside the country to resume their work after U Thaung, a former Burmese ambassador to the US, told him that the regime should lobby the administration of US President Barack Obama.

One third force group that has steadily taken shape since the ouster of Khin Nyunt is Myanmar Egress. In early 2000, an ambassador from a Western country in Burma played a key role in the emergence of the third force in the country.

The stance of the third force was questioned by domestic and exiled pro-democracy groups because they openly lent their support to last year's November election. The meeting between Htay Oo, the general secretary of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, and Thant Myint-U in Bangkok was reportedly co-organized by Myanmar Egress.

When Vijay Nambiar, the special envoy of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, visited Burma for two days in November last year, members of the third force reportedly managed to meet with him and share their views on different situations.

Before Ibrahim Gambari, the former UN special envoy to Burma, made his first trip to the country in May 2006, there was a secret meeting on Burma held at the UN office in New York. Most of those present were non-Burmese so-called “Burma experts” and UN officials. Thant Myint-U also joined the meeting. The significance of the meeting was that some participants urged others to forget the role of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burmese politics. The UN envoy, however, reportedly said at last that it was impossible to do so.

The military regime has changed its approach a bit. It held the election and now wants international recognition of its new Parliament and government. One thing that hasn't changed, however, is that the regime still attacks Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy, and continues to oppose economic sanctions. And everyone is still dancing to Than Shwe's tune.

What I would like to request of the members of the third force, both within and outside Burma, is that they, as intellectuals and respected people, should be very careful about being exploited by Than Shwe. They should listen to the views of ordinary civil and military personnel, instead of what high-ranking officers and wealthy people are saying. If they really love Burma, they should be brave enough to criticize not only the democracy forces, but also the regime. If they just speak for the regime, I will say they are only making trouble for the country.

Aung Lynn Htut is a former major who served as a counter-intelligence officer and deputy head of mission at the Burmese embassy in Washington, D.C. He sought political asylum in the US in 2005.

Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org

http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=21077
--------------------------------------------
NDF leaders at loggerheads, party splits
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 5 April 2011

The opposition National Democratic Force has announced it has split into two factions following months of acrimony amongst senior party leaders.

The party born out of Burma’s iconic National League for Democracy (NLD) had been in existence for only nine months before yesterday’s decision to break apart. One faction will now be led by deputy chairman Thein Nyunt, and the other by Khin Maung Swe, the party leader.

Relations between the two had soured following the elections last year after the NDF requested permission from the Union Election Commission to dismiss Thein Nyunt as a member. The party alleged that he had shared sensitive policy details with the media.

Thein Nyunt appears to have spearheaded the split, and has rebranded his faction as the Thingangyun NDF after the Rangoon township that he won a parliamentary seat in. His group contains five NDF members who were victorious in the November 2010 elections.

He told DVB that the new group would “work separately” to Khin Maung Swe’s but held back on more specific details, saying only that the announcement was made after fellow MPs questioned the status of the party in parliament.

The split appears to have been far from amicable, with Thein Nyunt asserting that “in no way will we get back together with them, personally, organisational-wise or politically”.

But Khin Maung Swe was more affable. He said that the splinter group “had the right to make their own choice” and wasn’t attempting to stop them.

“They are free to take part in politics and set up the party of their preference. However, they should not forget they were [elected] as representatives in the People’s Parliament under the Hkamaut [bamboo hat] flag,” Khin Maung Swe said, referring to the NDF’s symbol.

He added that his faction would “happily forgive” Thein Nyunt’s.

Following the NDF’s criticism of Thein Nyunt last year, the deputy leader responded that the party had failed to carry out a financial audit it had promised. Khin Maung Swe said at the time that he had also accused the party of using foreign funding, a practice that is illegal under Burmese law.

Thein Nyunt’s future in the party was then put to a vote, with 12 out of 15 NDF leaders deciding he should be expelled.

The NDF broke away from the NLD in May 2010 following the latter’s decision to boycott the polls. It fielded nearly 80 candidates in the 7 November vote, winning 16 seats.
http://www.dvb.no/news/ndf-leaders-at-loggerheads-party-splits/15165
-----------------------------------------
Ex-army captain arrested, interrogated
By AYE NAI
Published: 5 April 2011

A former Burmese army captain who turned his attention towards social work was arrested at the weekend and is now likely being held in an interrogation centre on the outskirts of Rangoon.

The reasons for Nay Myo Zin’s arrest remain unclear. A co-worker at the Rangoon blood donation group he volunteered at told DVB that they had spoken prior to his arrest.

“He phoned me around 4pm on Saturday and said he was being picked up by local [Special Branch] police sergeant Myint Swe to go to Aungthabyay interrogation centre for some questioning,” said Nyi Nyi.

“I told the [police] they could talk to me instead if they want to know about the blood donation but it seemed like they just wanted him. When I got there, they were already gone.”

The blood group was started in 2009 by Nyi Nyi, a member of the National League for Democracy, which until its dissolution last year was the Burmese junta’s strongest foe.

Groups such as these that operate outside state-run initiatives are often viewed with suspicion by the government, which has been known in the past to jail civilian relief and charity workers.

Nay Myo Zin’s mother, Khin Thi, told DVB today that a Defence Services sergeant arrived at their house earlier and asked for details about the 36-year-old.

“I told him that [Nay Myo Zin] was first posted in Swar [in Pegu division] and then later transferred to Taunggyi, and was there for six years before leaving the service.”

His mother said that he had left the army on his own volition because “he didn’t enjoy it there… I also said he is a morally strong kid who is very devoted to charity work but that he had no involvement in politics”.

She added that the sergeant was vague when asked where Nay Myo Zin was being held, saying only that he may be at the home affairs ministry, a common location for people to be questioned. The sergeant also refused to answer why he had been arrested.

Nyi Nyi said that the detainee should be allowed to see his family. “We are under a civilian government now so procedures should be done according to the law.

“We will make a [formal] request to let him see his parent after 24 hours [of detention] and he must be released after the interrogation. If the interrogation was not enough, authorities have to seek a remand from court and get a [court hearing] appointment from judges.”

Nay Myo Zin was allowed to speak to his family on Sunday, and the belongings confiscated by police have now been returned.
http://www.dvb.no/news/ex-army-captain-arrested-interrogated/15183
------------------------------------------

Refugees trapped on Myanmar Border
Tuesday, 05 April 2011 10:15 Al Jazeera

Aljazeera English - Asia-pacific

Refugees trapped on Myanmar border - Some have spent decades in Thai camps despite foreign aid totaling $66m a year.

Thousands of Myanmarese people fleeing military rule have settled in refugee camps across the border in Thailand.

Some have lived there for over 20 years. However, many lack official papers, leaving them vulnerable to abuse.

Al Jazeera's Aela Callan reports from the Thai-Myanmar border.

Source: Al Jazeera http://english.aljazeera.net/video/asia-pacific/2011/04/201144104524893687.html
--------------------------------------
High-ranking Chinese Communist official 1st VIP guest of new Myanmar president

By Associated Press, Tuesday, April 5, 6:36 AM

YANGON, Myanmar — A top official of China’s ruling Communist Party has become the first high-ranking foreign visitor to meet with Myanmar’s new president since a civilian government took office.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that Jia Qinglin, the Communist Party’s fourth-highest ranking official, met with newly sworn-in President Thein Sein and pledged cooperation for political and economic development. Jia arrived Saturday for a four-day visit.

China has been the main ally of Myanmar, which is shunned by the West for its poor record on human rights and democracy. Critics claim that last November’s general election was unfair and meant to perpetuate military rule behind a democratic facade. The new, nominally civilian government was sworn in March 30.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/high-ranking-chinese-communist-official-1st-vip-guest-of-new-myanmar-president/2011/04/05/AFbTmAiC_story.html
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read More...

Collapse...