News & Articles on Burma
Monday 27 June, 2011
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Aung San Suu Kyi's idea of freedom offers a radical message for the west
Landslides Brings Border Trade to a Standstill
Violence Erupts in Mandalay over Jade Deal
Press Censors Issue Warning to Rangoon Editors
Aung San Suu Kyi's revolution of the spirit
Asean Foundation Spurs Human Resource Development
Russia ‘satisfied’ as Shwe Mann visits Moscow
US Urges Burma to Stop Violence in Kachin State
MP bids for stronger anti-drugs policy
Australian foreign minister to visit Burma
PTT wary of Dawei
Burmese, Chinese traders fight in Mandalay
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Aung San Suu Kyi's idea of freedom offers a radical message for the west
The Burmese heroine's Reith lectures expose our patronising attitudes to Buddhism, and injects fresh meaning into a concept we have abused
On the wall by my desk, there's a spread of photos of Aung San Suu Kyi which appeared in the Guardian a year ago. It's a kind of family photo album with snaps of engagement, babies, university, chilly British family picnics and travels. It's a strikingly poignant illustration of everything Aung San Suu Kyi has sacrificed over 15 years of imprisonment in her struggle for Burmese democracy. Every time it catches my eye, it is both humbling and gives me hope: a reminder of what the human spirit is capable of.
Krauze 27/06/2011 Illustration by Andrzej Krauze
Much has been made of her remarkable biography – catapulted by circumstance from family life in Oxford into the violent repressive politics of Burma in 1988; missing the illness and death of her husband and the raising of her children to pursue the cause. What makes her Reith lectures so fascinating is they represent a statement of the ideals and mindset which have steeled her resolve and inspired her courage. The first lecture addresses the universal human desire for freedom, the second considers her fight in Burma to achieve it. She is taking her stand on an ideal to which the west has a tendency to claim copyright in the Enlightenment. What's more, freedom is an ideal which has been bastardised in recent years by the rhetoric of two disastrous American wars. Deftly, she lays out an understanding of freedom which owes more to Buddhism than western philosophy and, in so doing, injects a radical new meaning into an abused ideal. She is simultaneously quietly challenging western hubris and offering her global audience a new interpretation.
She does this not by expounding on obscure Buddhist philosophy – there is only one explicit mention of Buddhism – but by translating her spiritual tradition into a wide range of western thinkers, poets and writers: Vaclav Havel, the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, Ratushinskaya, Henley, Kipling and Isaiah Berlin. What is far more important to her than a sales pitch for a much misunderstood religion/philosophy is that her global audience connect to what she is saying and she helps by giving plenty of familiar reference points, slipping the unfamiliar in alongside. She weaves in Christian metaphors and concepts with the Buddhism, Russian poetry and the eastern European dissident tradition. It is a unique synthesis of east and west, only possible in someone deeply versed in both.
Many of her western admirers will immediately grasp the language of human rights. It is the Buddhism which may be less comprehensible; for instance she recounts an anecdote in which people ask how it felt to be free after each period of house arrest, to which she replied "my mind had always been free". Or, in another passage, she says "Buddhism teaches that the ultimate liberation is liberation from all desire". Perhaps these are the points where western minds shift uncomfortably at the proximity of spiritual faith to politics. But the most crucial fact about Aung San Suu Kyi's politics is how it is rooted in her Buddhism.
For her, freedom is not only a set of institutions, laws and political processes, it is also a quest of the individual spirit, the struggle to free oneself from greed, fear and hatred and how they drive one's own behaviour. That is why she always talks of a "revolution of the spirit". You cannot have one without the other, both are part of transformational change; the individual and personal is inextricably bound up with the political, as she made clear in her interviews with the American Buddhist, Alan Clements, in Voice of Hope. Clements shared a Buddhist teacher with her and he told me that the meditational practices she is known to pursue are vital to cultivate the courage and insight for her political battles. When asked by Clements what her greatest struggle was, she replied: "It's always a matter of developing more and more awareness, not only day to day but moment to moment. It's a battle which will go on the whole of my life." Her greatest aim, she told him, was "purity of mind".
It is the awareness which enables her to perceive the fear that lies behind the violence of the Burmese junta and to insist on offering them dialogue. The practice of metta – "loving kindness" – is not passive, she says, and points to the Buddha himself, who went to stand between two warring parties to protect them both at the risk of his own safety.
This is a radical message for western politics steeped in a technocratic managerialism and obsession with presentation: that the personal spiritual struggle cannot be stripped out of politics. But perhaps what gets overlooked is how revolutionary her message also is to her own Buddhist tradition. Not only is she a woman, she is a lay woman in a faith tradition dominated by male monasticism. Across Asia, those monastic institutions have frequently become complicit in state structures – in Burma, spiritual preoccupations have often been an excuse for disengagement. In her Reith lecture she picks her words carefully. "There is certainly a danger that the acceptance of spiritual freedom as a satisfactory substitute for all other freedoms could lead to passivity and resignation.
But an inner sense of freedom can reinforce a practical drive for the more fundamental freedoms in the form of human rights and the rule of law." She points to the monks who led the 2007 saffron revolution as acting out of "loving kindness" for the people suffering from sharp rises in food prices. She is putting herself at the forefront of the reforming movements in Buddhism in Asia, gently insisting on the interrelationship between practical action and private spiritual discipline.
Lastly, Aung San Suu Kyi's Buddhism is challenging one of the most persistent orientalist myths. Just as Islam was characterised as violent by Christian imperialists, Buddhism was scorned for its quietism, and self-absorbed fatalism: both were treated with comparable contempt under colonialism. Theistic Christians found Buddhism incomprehensible. That legacy persists; the current pope has described Buddhism as "self-indulgent eroticism". Bizarrely, Buddha statuary end up as a staple of garden centres, the Buddha as the consumer's symbol of calm and detachment. In a television interview the Beckhams once appeared in their sitting room alongside a near-lifesize gilt Buddha. The popular perception is of Buddhism as a form of calming therapy, much like a massage oil.
That is to emasculate the force of a powerful philosophy with radical political implications. Aung San Suu Kyi knows all too well how Buddhism has played a major political role throughout Asia, both for good and bad. Its adherents are growing fast in both India and China, as well as in the west. Like the Dalai Lama and the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, she is playing a vital role in communicating through her words and her life a Buddhism that speaks to the deepest human needs.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jun/26/aungsansuukyi-spiritual-struggle-lesson
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Landslides Brings Border Trade to a Standstill
By THE IRRAWADDY Monday, June 27, 2011
Trade and transportation across the Thai-Burmese border at Mae Sot-Myawaddy have come to a complete halt over the past three days due to a series of landslides that have closed the Myawaddy-Kawkareik road, the main route connecting eastern Karen State to Rangoon.
Continuous heavy rain has caused at least 10 landslides along the road since Friday, bringing traffic to a standstill and stranding around 400 vehicles, including transport trucks, according local sources.
Burmese traders who import fruits and other perishable goods from Thailand are facing losses due to the disruption. A fruit merchant said that apples, durians, oranges and other fruits destined for Rangoon had to be shipped back to Myawaddy, opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
“If the road remains blocked, the fruit will become overripe and we will lose about 10 million kyat (US $12,500),” said the fruit merchant.
A motorbike taxi driver said that some people who couldn't get through by car were using motorcycles to reach their destinations.
“Just when they nearly finished clearing the road, it started raining again, triggering another mudslide. So motorcycles are the only way to get through now. The trip costs 10,000 kyat ($12.60) per person, or 15,000 kyats ($19) if the passenger has a lot of luggage,” said the motorbike taxi driver.
Seafood exported from Burma to Thailand is also in danger of spoiling, said a trader who sells crabs.
Although official trade at the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border crossing has been suspended since last July for security reasons, the area still has a booming illegal trade between the two countries. Traders estimated that imports from Thailand are worth about 700 million baht ($22.7 million) per month, while Burmese exports are valued at around 400 million baht ($13 million).
A government worker in Myawaddy said that a lack of heavy machinery in Burma meant that it could take days to clear the road. “If this had happened in Mae Sot or anywhere else in Thailand, it would have taken just a few hours to reopen traffic. But this is Burma, so we have to be patient.”
This is the second time this month that the road has been closed due to landslides. On June 11, border trade stopped for two days because of a road closure. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21580
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Violence Erupts in Mandalay over Jade Deal
By THE IRRAWADDY Monday, June 27, 2011
Police have surrounded an angry mob of dozens of Burmese residents who had gathered to launch an attack on five Chinese gems buyers in Mandalay on Monday after a dispute at a jewelry store.
The trouble started on Monday morning at around 9 am after the Chinese had allegedly agreed to buy a jade gemstone from a jewelry shop owned by a Burmese resident in Maha Aung Myay Township.
The buyers from China reportedly agreed a price of 4 million kyat (US $5,000) for the jade, but when they returned to collect the item, the vendor told them that he had sold it to another customer.
Infuriated, the Chinese allegedly swore at the jade dealer and physically assaulted him.
The Chinese then phoned the police station to lodge a complaint. Hearing about the disturbance, local Burmese residents gathered at the jewelry store and began singing the Burmese national anthem. Police arrived and surrounded the crowd, and a tense standoff ensued.
Police have taken the five Chinese into custody.
By 2 pm it was reported to The Irrawaddy that at least seven police trucks with an estimated 100 policemen have been deployed at the jewelry shop where the dispute began. The jade market has been ordered to close for three days for security reasons. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21575
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Press Censors Issue Warning to Rangoon Editors
By THE IRRAWADDY Monday, June 27, 2011
Burma’s notoriously draconian censorship board, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), has issued a warning to several Rangoon-based journals not to try to take advantage of the PSRD's new “post-publishing” censorship regulation.
Editors at several weekly journals have been ordered to sign statements promising not to violate press regulations either in print or in photography.
Several publications were sent warning letters last Wednesday, including Modern Times, Health Care, First Line Up, Soccer, and Mobile Guide.
“At least six journal signed the pledge the first day,” said a Rangoon-based sports journal editor. “The regulations vary from journal to journal, depending on their content.”
Beginning on June 10, publishers were permitted to run stories on sports, entertainment, technology, health and children's literature without PSRD approval. However, they were instructed that they still have to follow rules protecting the “Three National Causes”—the basic principles espoused by Burma's military rulers—and avoid any writing that damages “state instability.”
The news suddenly became that little bit fresher, said Win Nyein, the chief editor of The Ray of Light, an entertainment journal. “We need to be more careful, so now we don't dare to publish international news as we did before.”
“In July, the censorship board did not allow us to publish a photo of Aung San Suu Kyi offering robes to novices,” said Moe Tun, the editor in charge of Dhamma Yeik magazine. “But they didn't give any reason.”
Many Rangoon-based editors and publishers have expressed doubts about any improvements in the freedom of media following the swearing in of a new government in March.
“Things are quite different what they [the PSRD] said at the previous meeting,” said another editor. “They said that they will not take action if there are no complaints. We wee told we would be able to write what we want in accordance with the new regulations.” http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21579
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Aung San Suu Kyi's revolution of the spirit
MADELEINE BUNTING
Jun 27 2011 06:18
On the wall by my desk, there's a spread of photos of Aung San Suu Kyi which appeared in the Guardian a year ago. It's a kind of family photo album with snaps of engagement, babies, university, chilly British family picnics and travels. It's a strikingly poignant illustration of everything Aung San Suu Kyi has sacrificed over 15 years of imprisonment in her struggle for Burmese democracy. Every time it catches my eye, it is both humbling and gives me hope: a reminder of what the human spirit is capable of.
Much has been made of her remarkable biography -- catapulted by circumstance from family life in Oxford into the violent repressive politics of Burma in 1988; missing the illness and death of her husband and the raising of her children to pursue the cause. What makes her Reith lectures so fascinating is they represent a statement of the ideals and mindset which have steeled her resolve and inspired her courage. The first lecture addresses the universal human desire for freedom, the second considers her fight in Burma to achieve it. She is taking her stand on an ideal to which the West has a tendency to claim copyright in the Enlightenment. What's more, freedom is an ideal which has been bastardised in recent years by the rhetoric of two disastrous American wars. Deftly, she lays out an understanding of freedom which owes more to Buddhism than Western philosophy and, in so doing, injects a radical new meaning into an abused ideal. She is simultaneously quietly challenging western hubris and offering her global audience a new interpretation.
She does this not by expounding on obscure Buddhist philosophy -- there is only one explicit mention of Buddhism -- but by translating her spiritual tradition into a wide range of Western thinkers, poets and writers: Vaclav Havel, the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, Ratushinskaya, Henley, Kipling and Isaiah Berlin. What is far more important to her than a sales pitch for a much misunderstood religion/philosophy is that her global audience connect to what she is saying and she helps by giving plenty of familiar reference points, slipping the unfamiliar in alongside. She weaves in Christian metaphors and concepts with the Buddhism, Russian poetry and the Eastern European dissident tradition. It is a unique synthesis of East and West, only possible in someone deeply versed in both.
Many of her Western admirers will immediately grasp the language of human rights. It is the Buddhism which may be less comprehensible; for instance she recounts an anecdote in which people ask how it felt to be free after each period of house arrest, to which she replied "my mind had always been free". Or, in another passage, she says "Buddhism teaches that the ultimate liberation is liberation from all desire". Perhaps these are the points where Western minds shift uncomfortably at the proximity of spiritual faith to politics. But the most crucial fact about Aung San Suu Kyi's politics is how it is rooted in her Buddhism.
Political battles
For her, freedom is not only a set of institutions, laws and political processes, it is also a quest of the individual spirit, the struggle to free oneself from greed, fear and hatred and how they drive one's own behaviour. That is why she always talks of a "revolution of the spirit". You cannot have one without the other, both are part of transformational change; the individual and personal is inextricably bound up with the political, as she made clear in her interviews with the American Buddhist, Alan Clements, in Voice of Hope. Clements shared a Buddhist teacher with her and he told me that the meditational practices she is known to pursue are vital to cultivate the courage and insight for her political battles. When asked by Clements what her greatest struggle was, she replied: "It's always a matter of developing more and more awareness, not only day to day but moment to moment. It's a battle which will go on the whole of my life." Her greatest aim, she told him, was "purity of mind".
It is the awareness which enables her to perceive the fear that lies behind the violence of the Burmese junta and to insist on offering them dialogue. The practice of metta -- "loving kindness" -- is not passive, she says, and points to the Buddha himself, who went to stand between two warring parties to protect them both at the risk of his own safety.
This is a radical message for Western politics steeped in a technocratic managerialism and obsession with presentation: that the personal spiritual struggle cannot be stripped out of politics. But perhaps what gets overlooked is how revolutionary her message also is to her own Buddhist tradition. Not only is she a woman, she is a lay woman in a faith tradition dominated by male monasticism. Across Asia, those monastic institutions have frequently become complicit in state structures -- in Burma, spiritual preoccupations have often been an excuse for disengagement. In her Reith lecture she picks her words carefully. "There is certainly a danger that the acceptance of spiritual freedom as a satisfactory substitute for all other freedoms could lead to passivity and resignation.
But an inner sense of freedom can reinforce a practical drive for the more fundamental freedoms in the form of human rights and the rule of law."
She points to the monks who led the 2007 saffron revolution as acting out of "loving kindness" for the people suffering from sharp rises in food prices. She is putting herself at the forefront of the reforming movements in Buddhism in Asia, gently insisting on the interrelationship between practical action and private spiritual discipline.
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-27-aung-san-suu-kyis-revolution-of-the-spirit/
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June 27, 2011 12:16 PM
Asean Foundation Spurs Human Resource Development
JAKARTA, June 27 (Bernama) -- The Jakarta-based Asean Foundation is working on the second phase of a scholarship programme for postgraduate studies in Laos Cambodia and Myanmar, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.
The first phase of the programme has been implemented in other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Dr Makarim Wibisono, the foundation's Managing Director, said the fund has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with UP Los Ba'os University (UPLB) of the Philippines and worked with Thabaya educational network of Thailand on the improvement of postgraduate education for Asean member countries.
The move is aimed at raising the programme's effectiveness, boosting human resources development in the region and contributing to the region's peace and security, he said.
Dr Wibisono stressed that the cooperation is completely in conformity with Asean Foundation missions - participating and partnering with the private sector to support the development of the Asean community by heightening public awareness of Asean identity, boosting exchanges among people in the bloc and further tightening the cooperation in business, civil society and institutes.
Established in 1909, UPLB is one of leading training centres in Southeast Asia in science, technology, agriculture, forestry, veterinary and other areas of research.
-- BERNAMA http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=596933
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Russia ‘satisfied’ as Shwe Mann visits Moscow
By DVB
Published: 27 June 2011
A senior Burmese delegation led by the powerful House speaker Shwe Mann arrived in Moscow on Saturday for what state media billed a ‘fact finding’ mission to assess Russia’s parliamentary model.
The trip prompted the Medvedev administration’s first public acknowledgement of the new Burmese government, which came to power in March. A foreign ministry statement at the weekend noted that Russian officials “expressed satisfaction with the program for political reforms … and transition to civilian rule” in Burma.
Also in the delegation were Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint and Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo. Shwe Mann said on Friday that the visit was part of an attempt to build the capacity of Burmese government officials through “self-study, discussions and workshops”, that included a trip to Cambodia in April.
It is not the first time Shwe Mann has visited Moscow – in 2006, during his tenure as joint chief of staff of the Burmese army, he made a secretive trip there with then Vice-Senior General Maung Aye to bid for assistance in the development of a nuclear reactor and heavy weaponry.
Russia is known to have provided training programmes for Burmese military technicians and scientists, and is a leading arms supplier to Naypyidaw, having in the past provided surface-to-air missiles.
But it is also a leading proponent of the ‘disciplined democracy’ model that Burmese officials have occasionally used to clarify questions about their so-called transition to civilian rule.
The foreign ministry statement talked of “possibilities of intensifying the political dialogue” between the two countries with suggestions that Russia is looking to develop a stronger security presence in Southeast Asia.
“In the context of discussions on the international agenda special attention was paid to the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and coordination of positions on topical problems of the world, above all – to building there a new security architecture based on multilateral approaches to deepening cooperation between Russia and the Association of South-East Asian Nations,” it said.
http://www.dvb.no/news/russia-%E2%80%98satisfied%E2%80%99-as-shwe-mann-visits-moscow/16303
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US Urges Burma to Stop Violence in Kachin State
By LALIT K JHA Monday, June 27, 2011
WASHINGTON — Expressing strong concern at the ongoing violence in Kachin State, the US has urged the new Burmese government to immediately put an end to hostilities in the region.
“We're quite concerned about the ongoing violence in northern Kachin and other regions of the country. We are calling for halts to the hostilities,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters.
“We urge all appropriate authorities to ensure, in line with international standards, adequate support, safety, and protection for those persons fleeing conflict along Burma’s borders,” Nuland said in a statement later.
This recent violence underscores the need for an inclusive dialogue between the government of Burma and opposition and ethnic minority groups to begin a process of genuine national reconciliation, she said.
Nuland said the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) began fighting on June 9 and have continued over the past three weeks.
The US is particularly concerned by the reports of human rights abuses in the area, including reports of casualties, rape and displacement of thousands of local residents. “There have also been reports of clashes in Karen and Shan states,” she said.
Last week, Chris Beyrer, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights, said at a congressional briefing that after the fighting broke out in the Kachin State after a 17-year ceasefire, some 10,000 civilians are reported to have fled. “Burmese military forces are reported to be using rape as a weapon of war,” he alleged.
“The Kachin Women's Association in Thailand has reported at least 18 Kachin women and girls have been raped by soldiers since June 9. Four were killed after being raped,” he said.
“The news of clashes in Burma's Kachin [State] between government troops and ethnic minorities, which has been the heaviest fighting in 17 years, adds further evidence to the argument that the situation in Burma has not changed,” said Congressman Donald Manzullo.
Meanwhile, the US is consulting its close allies and member countries of the United Nations on the issue of the UN establishing a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity by the Burmese military junta.
“The United States is committed to seeking accountability for the human rights violations that have occurred in Burma by working to establish an international Commission of Inquiry,” Nuland said.
“We are consulting closely with our friends, allies, and other partners at the United Nations,” Nuland said in response to a question over the weekend.
Last week, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a rare video testimony before a congressional committee, urged the US to support in the establishment of investigations by the United Nations into the alleged human rights violations in Burma.
“I would simply like to use this occasion to request that you do whatever you can to help us implement the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution, because that will open up the real road to democracy for all of us,” she said.
Testifying before the same congressional committee, Beyrer said he also supported calls for a CoI to investigate crimes against humanity in Burma. “The treatment of political prisoners in detention in Burma should be part of this Commission of Inquiry, for that, too, may represent crimes against humanity,” Beyrer said in his appearance before the committee last week.
“The UN Special Rapporteur Quintana has called for that; so has the US ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission, Eileen Donahoe, and so has Secretary of State [Hillary] Clinton,” he said.
“But the US really needs to exercise vigorous leadership on this effort, and the State Department I think really, really needs to carry the water on this. And this effort could be led by recently appointed special representative and policy coordinator for Burma, Derek Mitchell, and we really look forward to his confirmation and leadership in this effort,” he said.
Mitchell will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing later this week.
It is understood that countries like China have been opposing the move to establish a CoI. The US and several other countries, besides human rights organizations and pro-democracy leaders from Burma, have been urging the world body to establish such a commission.
“I would like to request you to do whatever you can to ensure that the requests and demands of the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution are met as broadly, as sincerely and as quickly as possible by the present government of Burma,” Suu Kyi said in her video message. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21571
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MP bids for stronger anti-drugs policy
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 27 June 2011
A display of seized drugs shortly befire they are destroyed during the 2010 drugs' burning ceremony in Mandalay (DVB)
Recent findings by the UN that production of opium in Burma has increased by 20 percent should prompt the government into taking tougher action against the trade, an MP has said.
As well as a rise in opium, Burmese authorities hauled a record 15.8 tons of methamphetamine pills in 2009, the latest year for available figures, up by more than one third from 2008.
Dr Sai Kyaw Ohn, a parliamentary representative of Shan state’s Namhkam township, labelled it a ‘frontline issue’ for the new government, which has maintained the former junta’s pledge to eliminate Burma’s lucrative drugs industry by 2014. “We will have to discuss in parliament ways to eradicate or cut down [production],” he told DVB.
The government reacted to the UN report in state media by highlighting “concerted efforts” in driving eradication efforts. “Measures are being taken with added momentum to destroy poppy plantations and prevent drug trafficking. In 2010, opium, heroin, opium oil, low-grade opium, marijuana, stimulant pills and various kinds of chemicals were confiscated and legal action was taken against 3465 culprits in 2630 cases,” said an article in the New Light of Myanmar.
Promises of eradication have been met with doubt, however, not least due to evidence of the government’s hand in the trade – a report by the Thailand-based Shan Drug Watch in 2010 claimed that government-backed militias had taken over ethnic armies as Burma’s main drugs’ producers.
Reports emerged last month that army officials were also taking bribes of up to $US90 per acre from farmers in exchange for being allowed to grow poppies for opium. During peak season, a poppy farmer can earn $US12 a day, a huge incentive in a country where average annual wages hover at just over a dollar a day.
Crop substitution has also been an area of concern, with opium production vastly more lucrative, and suited to environmental conditions in the mountainous Shan state where the majority of drugs are growing, than the alternatives offered by the government.
“Business opportunities should be created for civilians, then we should be able to lower [drugs’ production],” said Dr Sai Kyaw Ohn. “But for now, the population in the mountains has nothing else worthwhile to grow.”
US State Department has consistently chastised the government’s anti-drugs efforts, claiming in a report last year that Burma had “failed demonstrably” to eradicate narcotics.
With a decline in Afghanistan’s output, Burma’s share of global opium production has risen from five percent in 2007 to 12 percent last year, the UN report said.
http://www.dvb.no/news/mp-bids-for-stronger-anti-drugs-policy/16307
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THE NATION
Australian foreign minister to visit Burma
Australian Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd is scheduled to visit Burma from 30 June to 2 July.
He will travel to both Rangoon and Nay Phi Daw to meet members of the new Burmese Government and leaders across the political spectrum, including Aung San Suu Kyi.
During the meetings, he will reiterate Australia's long-standing calls for genuine progress towards national reconciliation and democratic reform. His trip will further assist Australia in making informed assessments on how it can best support reform and economic development in Burma.
Australian overseas development assistance to Burma has significantly increased in the past two years - from $29.1 million in 2009-10 to $47.6 million in 2011-12, and is on track to reach $50 million by 2012-13. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Australian-foreign-minister-to-visit-Burma-30158826.html
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PTT wary of Dawei
Incentives, security among concerns
Published: 27/06/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business
PTT Plc, Thailand's energy flagship, remains reluctant to invest in Burma's Dawei project, citing unclear investment incentives and security concerns in the neighbouring country.
Chainoi Puankosoom, an adviser to PTT, said the Thai government needed to reassure businesses about security before they invest in Dawei.
Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD), the country's largest contractor, has a 10-year contract to develop infrastructure and an industrial complex in Dawei on the western coast of Burma. The Thai government is encouraging businesses to tap the potential of a new, shorter trade route that will emerge as the huge development progresses.
PTT is among the potential Thai partners ITD hopes to recruit for joint investments.
Mr Chainoi said PTT was still in the very early stages of studying potential investments in Dawei.
"So far Thailand's bilateral relations with Burma have been smooth, but we still have some concerns and remain cautious about the future," he said.
"Investment risks are normal but I think the private sector needs some kind of guarantee that their investments in Dawei are secure," said Mr Chainoi, who is also vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries.
Border conflicts flare up from time to time and force Burmese refugees into Thailand, straining relations between the two countries.
PTT has looked at investing in refineries, petrochemicals and power plants, but there is no clear information about investment incentives, land ownership, labour regulations, and taxes for imported raw materials, he said.
Gas from Burma's Gulf of Martaban is not suitable for using as a feedstock for petrochemical plants, he added.
Mr Chainoi advised the government to look at ways to fully utilise the capacity of Map Ta Phut industrial complex in Rayong, which has been plagued by environmental concerns.
"The planned power plant in Dawei is going to supply Thailand. What will happen if the demand from industries here is not growing?" he asked.
The government should also look at the southern seaboard project, which has the potential to house light industries such as food processing, which are less harmful to the environment, said Mr Chainoi.
PTT recently held an investor roadshow in Los Angeles with other companies such as Siam Cement Group and Bangkok Bank. The executives faced questions about Thai politics and fuel price subsidies.
"Too much market distortion through subsidies is not good," said Mr Chainoi, a former CEO of PTT Aromatics and Refining.
Global oil prices could moderate because of Greek debt concerns, but will certainly rebound with strong demand from China and India, he noted.
Instead of fuel subsidies, he said, the government should focus on improving mass transit and logistics. http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/244142/ptt-wary-of-dawei
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Burmese, Chinese traders fight in Mandalay
By DVB
Published: 27 June 2011
A gem market in Burma’s second city of Mandalay was shut down this morning after fighting broke out between Chinese and Burmese merchants over a deal that turned sour.
Police arrived at the scene and detained five Chinese, one of whom punched a rival Burmese gem seller, an eye-witness told DVB. The argument was sparked by accusations from Chinese merchants that Burmese traders had broken a deal worth $US5,300.
“Other Burmese traders nearby got involved and they surrounded the Chinese merchants’ office for about one hour,” said a resident of Mandalay’s Mahaaungmyay township, where the incident took place. “About 100 police and security forces arrived and took them to the police station.”
A police official at the local station however denied the men were being held there. “Our senior officials are currently informing higher level authorities. We don’t know what the situation is at the moment,” he said.
It mirrors an incident last month at the same market when a Burmese trader punched a Chinese man and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Mandalay is heavily populated with Chinese, who now dominate the town’s hotel and small business sector. Some estimates put the proportion of Chinese at half of the town’s population.
http://www.dvb.no/news/burmese-chinese-traders-fight-in-mandalay/16321
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Monday 27 June, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Sunday 26 June, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Sunday 26 June, 2011
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Myanmar-Thailand bilateral trade doubled in five years
Myanmar burns $62 million of seized drugs
US throws weight behind UN probe
'India's neighbours in "most failed states" list'
Actor helps Myanmar poor on final journey
Myanmar parliamentarian delegation in Russia on study tour
Strong Chinese presence
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Myanmar-Thailand bilateral trade doubled in five years
Posted: 2010/09/07
From: Mathaba
Bilateral trade between Myanmar and Thailand amounted to 3.577 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2009-10.
YANGON, Sept. 7 (mathaba) -- In 2005-06, the bilateral trade was 1.593 billion dollars ,the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( UMFCCI) was quoted as saying.
Myanmar and Thai entrepreneurs had met for promoting bilateral trade cooperation this month.
Besides the normal trade, border trade has also been improving comparing the two fiscal years' Myanmar-Thai bilateral trade, according to vice chairman of UMFCCI U Tun Aung who added that the border trade at Tachilek, Myawady, Kawthaung and Myeik hit 199 million dollars in 2005-06 and rose to 295 million dollars in 2009- 10.
Thailand stood first in Myanmar's normal foreign trade partner line-up, followed by Singapore, China, India, China's Hong Kong region, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.
But it stood the second in border trade with neighboring countries.
Thailand exports to Myanmar textile, shoes, marine products, rice, rubber, jewelry, motor cars, computer and electronic accessories and vice versa, while importing from Myanmar forestry products, marine products, agricultural produces and natural gas.
Meanwhile, Thailand is leading in the Myanmar's foreign investment which is followed by the United Kingdom and Singapore.
Thailand injected 7.41 billion dollars into Myanmar during the 21 years' period from 1988 to 2009, of which 81.7 percent went to electric power, while 8.33 percent and 3.1 percent in manufacturing and hotel and tourism sectors respectively.
(Mathaba and Agencies) # http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=624607?rss
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Jun 26, 2011
Myanmar burns $62 million of seized drugs
NAYPYIDAW - MYANMAR burned opium and other illegal drugs with an estimated value of about $50 million (S$62 million) on Sunday to mark the UN International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
'We need to step up efforts to eradicate narcotic drugs by any means,' Lieutenant General Ko Ko, the home affairs minister, said at a ceremony in the capital Naypyidaw.
The seized drugs included about 4,500kg of opium and 146kg of heroin, along with various other types of drugs.
'Myanmar's new military-backed government 'will keep up the war against this problem until its roots are removed from our soil,' said Mr Ko Ko.
Myanmar, the world's second-largest opium producer after Afghanistan, has said it aims to eradicate illegal drugs by 2014.
Opium cultivation in the army-dominated nation rose by 20 per cent in 2010, with its share of global production up from five percent in 2007 to 12 per cent last year, the UN anti-narcotics agency said last week. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_684212.html
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US throws weight behind UN probe
By AFP
Published: 26 June 2011
US throws weight behind UN probe thumbnail
The Obama administration launched a policy of dialogue with the Burmese regime in 2009 but has been frustrated by lack of progress (Reuters)
The United States said on Saturday it is prepared to support a UN-backed human rights probe in Burma, after opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi urged such an investigation.
The United States “is committed to seeking accountability for the human rights violations that have occurred in Burma by working to establish an international commission of inquiry,’ said the State Department.
“We are consulting closely with our friends, allies, and other partners at the United Nations,” US officials said in the statement.
Suu Kyi, who was released in November after spending most of the past two decades under house arrest, spoke by video on Wednesday in a first-ever message to the US Congress, a stronghold of support for the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
She asked lawmakers to do “whatever you can” to support the work of the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma and assured that a so-called commission of inquiry would not be a tribunal.
The United States has publicly supported a UN-led probe – a longstanding demand of activists. But it has done little to make it a reality, worrying its efforts would be futile so long as Asian countries – particularly China – are opposed
Tags: burma, myanmar, obama, UN, US, war crimes http://www.dvb.no/news/us-throws-weight-behind-un-probe/16300
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'India's neighbours in "most failed states" list'
Press Trust Of India
New York, June 21, 2011
Other countries in the top 10 are Chad, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan Central African Republic and Iraq.
On Pakistan, the report said, "Pakistan has long been dubbed the world's most dangerous country in Washington policy circles" and "yet Pakistan isn't just dangerous for the West - it's often a danger to its own people."
On Bangladesh, the report said, two of five Bangladeshis live under the poverty line. Any improvements will also be fighting the environmental clock. If sea levels rise just by 1 metre, scientists warn, 17% of the country could be submerged.
"Nepal is the poorest country in South Asia, according to the United Nations, and that's unlikely to change until the peace process is implemented and security restored. There are signs that the Maoists may be losing patience - and thinking about going back to the trenches to fight for more," the report said.
On Sri Lanka, it said, "The government's final push against the rebels relied on the shelling of civilians and other atrocities, according to a 2010 report by the International Crisis Group.
"The most recent statistics from last year indicate that some 327,000 are still displaced from the conflict."
"Despite the pronounced fractures still lingering, the Sinhalese-dominated government in Colombo seems eager to forget the past," it added. http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/americas/India-s-neighbours-in-most-failed-states-list/Article1-711970.aspx
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Actor helps Myanmar poor on final journey
June 26, 2011, 4:16 pmAFP
Founder of the Free Funeral Services Society (FFSS) Kyaw Thu, seen here consoling a relative of a boy during a funeral ceremony in Yangon. In the decade since Kyaw Thu founded the Free Funeral Services Society, the organisation has helped more than 100,000 families pay their last respects to late relatives, without charging a single kyat.
YANGON (AFP) - He's the star of hundreds of films in military-dominated Myanmar, but these days Kyaw Thu is more likely to be found carrying coffins or driving a hearse at funerals for the poor.
In the decade since he founded the Free Funeral Services Society, the organisation has helped more than 100,000 families pay their last respects to late relatives, without charging a single kyat.
"I want someone's final journey to be good enough," said the 51-year-old, who with his long silver hair and moustache still retains some of the movie star looks that helped to propel him onto the silver screen.
With 80 paid employees and 115 volunteers, his group provides free services at about 50 funerals a day using 18 hearses and two boats to transport the deceased and relatives, relying on local and overseas donations.
It is one of a growing number of local civil society groups that have sprung up during almost half a century of military rule to fill the void left by an underfunded public sector and a relatively low inflow of foreign aid.
Despite abundant natural resources, Myanmar remains one of the world's least developed countries, with nearly a third of the population living below the poverty line, according to World Bank figures.
Rampant inflation has made it even harder for people to scrape by.
When 12-year-old Pyae Phyo Tun drowned in a lake his parents could not afford the funeral costs, so they turned to Kyaw Thu for help.
"You are our saviour. Without your help, my son's last journey could not be smooth," his 33-year-old mother Aye Maw told the one-time movie star at her son's funeral in Myanmar's main city of Yangon.
Funeral ceremonies are steeped in tradition in the country, also known as Burma, where the majority Buddhists believe that the journey to the next life should be smooth and without delay.
It is typical for relatives to build a temporary pavilion that stands for a week in front of the family home for people to gather in.
Usually on the third day mourners go to the cemetery where monks chant sutras before the body is cremated. Those who can afford to do so buy land at the cemetery for a grave.
A few days later a memorial service is held at which mourners and monks are invited to pray for the deceased to help guide them to the next life.
But for many families it is a struggle to organise such an elaborate final send-off, and these are busy days for Kyaw Thu.
"I feel both happy and sorry. My son didn't cause us trouble even though he's dead because the Free Funeral Service Society helped us to cremate him without any cost. We have many difficulties for his funeral," said Aye Maw, her voice trembling and tears running down her cheeks.
Her husband Zaw Tun, a 34-year-old construction worker, said it would be impossible for them to pay for their son's funeral themselves.
The cremation alone can cost more than 35,000 kyats (about $43), about 10 times time his daily wage -- when he can find work.
"I have borrowed 45,000 kyats at a 15 percent interest rate as I needed the money when I sent my son to hospital and to hire a boat for the funeral," Zaw Tun said sorrowfully after he returned from the cemetery.
"Our neighbours cannot help us because they are also casual labourers."
Although Kyaw Thu's group is not the only organisation offering such services for poor people, its activities have brought it under the scrutiny of the authorities in Myanmar, where power was handed to a nominally civilian government in March following the first election in 20 years.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party, the military's political proxies who swept a November election marred by complaints of cheating and intimidation, has also been competing by offering its own funeral services.
The one-time film star has briefly been detained twice by the authorities because of his activities in student and monk-led uprisings in 1988 and 2007.
"I'm not interested in politics. But the people rely on us and believe in us because of our activities. They donate to us. It might worry the authorities," Kyaw Thu said, adding that he and his group have been under the watch.
He gave up acting as his work was banned after his release from his most recent spell in detention.
Kyaw Thu said he will continue providing free funeral services while fighting old-fashioned beliefs related to death, which have led some of his former friends to shun him.
"I'm lonely compared with an actor's life. But if I think of myself as social worker Kyaw Thu, I have many more friends now. Not only living people, but also ghosts," he said.
http://nz.entertainment.yahoo.com/news/article/-/9710890/actor-helps-myanmar-poor-on-final-journey/
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Myanmar parliamentarian delegation in Russia on study tour
Jun 26, 2011, 10:29 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar's newly elected House Speaker has led a delegation to Russia to study its parliamentary system as part of a 'capacity building' exercise for the pro-military government.
People's Parliament speaker Shwe Mann led a delegation in a visit to the Russian parliament on Saturday at the invitation of B.V Gryzlov, chairman of the Duma federal assembly of Russian Federation, the New Light of Myanmar reported.
'The Hluttaw (Parliament) representatives are trying to build their capacity,' Shwe Mann told parliament representatives in Yangon on Friday, the day before his departure to Russia.
'In this regard, measures are being taken to conduct self-study, hold discussions and workshops and exchange visits between Hluttaw representatives and MPs of other nations,' said the former general.
Shwe Mann is one of the leading figures in Myanmar's new government, which came of office on March 30 following the general election on November 7.
The election was won by the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which is packed with former generals and high-ranking miliary men who doffed their uniforms to take up civilian posts.
The election, which excluded opposition leader Aung Sann Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party, was criticized as a 'sham' but most western democracies.
'The Hluttaws must accept criticism of the people and assessment of the international community,' Shwe Mann said, before departing for a study course in parliamentary democracy in Russia.
Myanmar has three houses of parliament, a lower house, upper house and a third house representing the separate regions.
All three houses include 25 per cent appointees by the military, assuring them veto power over any legislation.
Myanmar was ruled by military dictatorships between 1962 to 2010, and is now under a military-managed elected government.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1647653.php/Myanmar-parliamentarian-delegation-in-Russia-on-study-tour
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Strong Chinese presence
By N.C. Bipindra, Yangon, June 26 : What strikes the most about present-day Myanmar is the all-pervading Chinese influence.
China has presence in most of Myanmar's infrastructure projects including the construction of Nay Pyi Taw's palace-sized government buildings, parliament house and the international airport. More constructions in the new capital, that has come up within five years, is progressing at a rapid pace, mostly by Chinese firms.
Chinese goods -- clothing, electronic gadgets, electrical appliances, toys and food items -- are flooding the Myanmarese consumer market, including the shopping malls in both Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw.
--IANS http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-15186.html
Sunday, June 26, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Saturday 25 June, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Saturday 25 June, 2011
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Chinese-Burmese military officers meet in Mangshi on KIA
US will support UN-backed Myanmar rights probe
Kevin Rudd to visit Burma
Myanmar-Thailand bilateral trade doubled in five years
Rudd to be pressed on Burma inquiry
U.S. concerned over violence, human rights abuses in Burma
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Chinese-Burmese military officers meet in Mangshi on KIA
Saturday, 25 June 2011 21:05 KNG
Two high ranking military officers from China and Burma met secretly in Mangshi on June 23 night in China’s southwest Yunnan province, bordering Burma for talks on capturing Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), said Mangshi sources.
At the meeting the Burmese Army officer asked China to permit crossing of the border by Burmese troops and its allies to attack and capture Laiza, said sources.
The meeting was joined by regional Chinese military officials and Burmese military officials from Naypyidaw and Lashio-based Northeastern Regional Command including officers from Konghka militia group, formerly known as Kachin Defense Army (KDA), said sources close to the meeting.
Laiza, the Capital of KIO/KIA near China border in eastern Kachin State, Northern Burma.
Permission was sought to allow Burmese troops to cross the Chinese border marching from Ruili (Shweli) River from the Burmese side to the Chinese side to attack the KIA’s Brigade 3 based near the China border, added sources.
China was also informed in the meeting by the Burmese military officer that the joint forces of Burmese troops and Konghka militia group (KDA) led by Mahtu Naw, which split from KIA in 1990, will launch the military operation to capture KIA’s Laiza headquarters and 3rd brigade, said sources among Chinese border authorities.
The Burmese military officer also explained to the Chinese the need to use some Kachin troops of the former KDA in the military mission for two reasons--- avoid racism and to look for an opportunity for negotiations. Only Burmese troops in the military mission to capture KIA’s Laiza headquarters may seem like a form of racism and make negotiations difficult.
China declined to comment on the war with KIA, but granted permission to cross the border to Burmese troops and the Konghka militia (KDA) during military operations, said sources among Chinese authorities.
Sources close to Konghka militia group said the group has over 800 military personnel and they are going to march to the frontline today to capture KIA’s Laiza headquarters and the 3rd brigade.
The renewed civil war started in Kachin State and Northern Shan State when the military-dominated Burmese government launched an offensive against the KIA at Sang Gang in N’mawk (Momauk) Township in Manmaw district in Kachin State on June 9.
Over 20,000 Kachin refugees from Burmese government controlled areas have fled to KIA’s territories near China border but China has refused to accept them into its territories, according to KIA officials.
The main reason for the refugees fleeing to KIA areas is fear of torture, interrogation and use as porters by government troops, said refugees. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/1988-chinese-burmese-military-officers-meet-in-mangshi-on-kia.html
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STRAITS TIMES: Jun 25, 2011
US will support UN-backed Myanmar rights probe
WASHINGTON - THE United States said on Saturday it is prepared to support a UN-backed human rights probe in Myanmar, after opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi urged such an investigation.
The United States 'is committed to seeking accountability for the human rights violations that have occurred in Burma by working to establish an international commission of inquiry,' said the State Department, using the older term for the South-east Asian country.
'We are consulting closely with our friends, allies, and other partners at the United Nations,' US officials said in the statement.
Ms Suu Kyi, who was released in November after spending most of the past two decades under house arrest, spoke by video on Wednesday in a first-ever message to the US Congress, a stronghold of support for the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
She asked lawmakers to do 'whatever you can' to support the work of the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar and assured that a so-called commission of inquiry would not be a tribunal.
The United States has publicly supported a UN-led probe - a longstanding demand of activists. But it has done little to make it a reality, worrying its efforts would be futile so long as Asian countries - particularly China - are opposed. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_683976.html
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Kevin Rudd to visit Burma
By THE IRRAWADDY Saturday, June 25, 2011
Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudd will visit Burma next week and he will meet Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and government leaders.
During the visit, Mr Rudd will have discussions with members of Burma's new government and opposition figures including Suu Kyi.
“I will use these meetings to reiterate Australia's long-standing calls for genuine progress towards national reconciliation and democratic reform,” Mr Rudd said in a media release. “This visit comes at a critical juncture in Burma's history and will allow the Australian government to assess how it can best support reform and economic development.”
In 2002, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer visited Burma. Mr Rudd’s visit will be the first high-ranking official visit since 2002.
Opposition members say that Suu Kyi is likely to press Canberra to take a more active role in the setting up of a United Nations commission of inquiry into human rights in Burma. Australia supported calls by the UN's Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights situation in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, for an independent commission into rights abuses in Burma.
This week, Suu Kyi urged US lawmakers to support the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) by the United Nations into alleged human rights violations in Burma. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21568
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Myanmar-Thailand bilateral trade doubled in five years
Posted: 2010/09/07
YANGON, Sept. 7 (mathaba) -- In 2005-06, the bilateral trade was 1.593 billion dollars ,the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( UMFCCI) was quoted as saying.
Myanmar and Thai entrepreneurs had met for promoting bilateral trade cooperation this month.
Besides the normal trade, border trade has also been improving comparing the two fiscal years' Myanmar-Thai bilateral trade, according to vice chairman of UMFCCI U Tun Aung who added that the border trade at Tachilek, Myawady, Kawthaung and Myeik hit 199 million dollars in 2005-06 and rose to 295 million dollars in 2009- 10.
Thailand stood first in Myanmar's normal foreign trade partner line-up, followed by Singapore, China, India, China's Hong Kong region, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.
But it stood the second in border trade with neighboring countries.
Thailand exports to Myanmar textile, shoes, marine products, rice, rubber, jewelry, motor cars, computer and electronic accessories and vice versa, while importing from Myanmar forestry products, marine products, agricultural produces and natural gas.
Meanwhile, Thailand is leading in the Myanmar's foreign investment which is followed by the United Kingdom and Singapore.
Thailand injected 7.41 billion dollars into Myanmar during the 21 years' period from 1988 to 2009, of which 81.7 percent went to electric power, while 8.33 percent and 3.1 percent in manufacturing and hotel and tourism sectors respectively.
(Mathaba and Agencies) # http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=624607?rss
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Rudd to be pressed on Burma inquiry
June 25, 2011 - 2:00PM
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Burma's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is likely to press Australia to take a more active role in the setting up of a United Nations commission of inquiry into human rights in Burma, rights groups say.
The call by Ms Suu Kyi is set to take place during talks with Australia's Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd during an official visit to Burma next week.
Mr Rudd, who yesterday announced plans to go to Burma, said the visit, the first by an Australian foreign minister since 2002, came at a "critical juncture in Burma's history".
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/rudd-to-be-pressed-on-burma-inquiry-20110625-1gkeo.html#ixzz1QIgAO7D8
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U.S. concerned over violence, human rights abuses in Burma
Politics 6/25/2011 9:14:00 AM
WASHINGTON, June 25 (KUNA) -- The U.S. voiced here late Friday its concern over the ongoing violence in Burma, in addition to reports of human rights abuses in that country.
State Department Spokesman Victoria Nuland said in a statement "the United States is concerned by on-going violence in Burma's northern Kachin State and other regions of the country and calls for a halt to hostilities." She indicated that the Burmese Army and the Kachin Independence Army began fighting on June 9 and have continued over the past three weeks. "We are particularly concerned by the reports of human rights abuses in the area, including reports of casualties, rape, and displacement of thousands of local residents. There have also been reports of clashes in Karen and Shan state," she stressed.
Nuland noted "we urge all appropriate authorities to ensure, in line with international standards, adequate support, safety, and protection for those persons fleeing conflict along Burma's borders." She affirmed "this recent violence underscores the need for an inclusive dialogue between the Government of Burma and opposition and ethnic minority groups to begin a process of genuine national reconciliation." (end) si.nfm KUNA 250914 Jun 11NNNN http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2176172&Language=en
Saturday, June 25, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Friday 24 June, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Friday 24 June, 2011
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Burma: Blasts strike three towns and cities
ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials Meeting held in Myanmar capital
Moscow's Nuclear Envoy Visits Burma
Japan envoy to meet Suu Kyi, Myanmar government
Burma’s ‘lady’ is free, but her country still in chains
House Speaker Warns Against 'Arab Spring'
Explosions rock three Myanmar cities
Bomb blasts rattle two Burma cities
Explosions rock Myanmar's capital
Blasts rock three Burmese cities
Bomb blasts rattle three Myanmar cities
Rising demand of heroin propelling more opium acreage
Burma’s poppy fields increase as permit given in elections period
Burma’s war against ethnic Kachin produces more refugees
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BBC NEWS
Burma: Blasts strike three towns and cities
People take picture of a damaged car after a blast in Mandalay The first blast occurred in Mandalay, destroying a car and shattering windows
Several near-simultaneous blasts have hit three towns and cities in Burma.
The explosions, thought to have been caused by bombs, struck the capital Naypyitaw, Mandalay and the garrison town of Pyin Oo Lwin.
At least three people are reported to have been hurt but there are no reports of deaths. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks.
Burma's military-backed government has blamed similar attacks on ethnic armed groups fighting for more autonomy.
The first blast destroyed a car and shattered windows near the main market in Burma's second-biggest city, Mandalay late in the morning, according to reports citing government officials.
Local residents told the BBC that three people were wounded.
Another explosion followed soon after in a disused building in the capital, Naypyitaw, close to the main market. There were no reports of casualties.
A third blast hit Pyin Oo Lwin in central Burma, where there is a military training academy.
The blasts come amid an armed conflict near the border with China between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army, Burma's second largest ethnic armed group.
The government blamed a bomb attack in Naypyitaw earlier this month on ethnic Karen rebels. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13901513
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ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials Meeting held in Myanmar capital
15:17, June 24, 2011
The 8th ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) has been held in Myanmar's capital of Nay Pyi Taw, attended by representatives and senior officials from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Russian Federation, official media reported Friday.
Co-chaired by visiting Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei N. Borodavkin and Director-General of ASEAN Affairs Department of the Myanmar Foreign Ministry U Tint Swai, the meeting on Thursday discussed development of ASEAN-Russia cooperation and exchanged views on regional and international issue, said the New Light of Myanmar.
The meeting reviewed ASEAN-Russia dialogue relations and discussed issues concerning future direction including implementation of ASEAN-Russia energy cooperation work plan, cooperation in countering terrorism, working on emergency management, implementation of comprehensive program of action plan 2005-2015 to promote cooperation between ASEAN and Russia Federation, road map of trade and economic cooperation and interaction in field of science and technology, the report added.
The meeting agreed to hold the next ASEAN-Russia SOM in Russia in 2012.
Myanmar has been serving as the country coordinator of ASEAN- Russia dialogue relations for three years since 2009.
Myanmar hosted the 8th ASEAN-Russia Joint Coordination Committee Meeting, the 7th ASEAN-Russia Joint Planning and Management Committee Meeting, the 2nd ASEAN-Russia Working Group Meeting for 2nd ASEAN-Russia Summit in November 2009.
Meanwhile, foreign ministries of Myanmar and Russia held consultations on Wednesday on promotion of bilateral relations and enhancement of cooperation in regional and international organizations with the two delegations represented by Deputy Union Foreign Minister U Maung Myint and his Russian counterpart Borodavkin respectively.
The two deputy foreign ministers exchanged views on current international issues.
Borodavkin arrived in Nay Pyi Taw earlier on Wednesday for the 5th regular consultations between the two foreign ministries.
On the same day, Myanmar Vice President U Tin Aung Myint Oo and speaker of the House of Representatives U Shwe Mann met with Borodavkin.
Source:Xinhua http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7419986.html
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Moscow's Nuclear Envoy Visits Burma
By KO HTWE Friday, June 24, 2011
Moscow's nuclear envoy to North Korea Alexey Borodavkin (right) talks with a South Korean nuclear delegation in Seoul in January.
Russia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexey N. Borodavkin, who is also the country's nuclear envoy to North Korea, led a delegation to Naypyidaw on Wednesday to meet Burmese counterparts.
According to Burma's state-run The New Light of Myanmar, Borodavkin met with Burma's Vice-President Tin Aung Myint Oo, Minister for Foreign Affairs Wunna Maung Lwin, house speaker Shwe Mann, and Minister for Science and Technology Aye Myint.
Observers said the talks are expected to focus on weapons deals between the two countries. The foreign mission from Moscow follows hot on the heels of an upgrade in the strategic partnership between China and Burma.
Aung Naing Oo, a political analyst based in Thailand, said relations are close between Burma and Russia. While Burma sends students to Russia to study, Russia sells weapons to Burma.
If the Burmese authorities' relationship with China and India breaks down, they can always turn to Russia, he said.
Like China, Russia remains a staunch ally of Burma at the United Nations, frequently vetoing Western attempts at the Security Council to impose resolutions on the Burmese government. It also has a track record of selling weapons, including MiG-29 fighter jets, and conducting officer training regarding nuclear and missile technology.
According to previous reports, Russia had plans to build a “nuclear studies” center in Burma, which would include a 10-megawatt, light water-moderated nuclear reactor, but later the plan was canceled.
Beijing and Naypyidaw have enjoyed a marked upgrade in their strategic partnership since Burma's new president, Thein Sein, visited China in May. Other nations, including the US, India, the EU and now Russia have been quick to mobilize delegations to the southeast Asian country, which is recognized as rich in natural resources yet boasts one of the poorest economies in the world.
Thakhin Chan Tun, a former diplomat who previously served as Burma’s ambassador to North Korea, and the People’s Republic of China, said that the recent diplomatic missions from Russia and India helps to balanced the outside influences on Burma.
“Burma has to rely on Russia, China and India, because the European Union is leading a boycott,” he said. “India doesn't want Burma to side with China. They want to do what they can in terms of trade and commerce.”
In recent years Russian companies have been involved in Burma's mining sector.
A Russian-trained Burmese army defector and missiles expert, Maj Sai Thein Win, said that Russian companies were exploring for thorium in northern Burma. Thorium is a naturally occurring radioactive chemical element which can be used for nuclear power plants, and is highly sought for its safety benefits.
“Russia especially wants thorium from Burma,” he said. “However, China has been smuggling it out in the metal-rich sand and silt from the U Ru Hka stream in Kachin State since 2006.
He said the Burmese government only recently became aware that Chinese companies were secretly smuggling the riverine sand and extracting thorium from it.
Meanwhile, Russian company Dalmorneftegeophysica, or DMNG, which provides an extensive range of geophysical services for the petroleum industry worldwide, including surveys planning, data acquisition, processing, interpretation and hydrocarbon resource evaluation, opened an office in Rangoon on June 18, according to The Myanmar Times.
DMNG has 10 years experience working in Burma on oil and gas projects, and its exploration contract with Thai state company PTTEP expired in January, said the Rangoon journal. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21567
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STRAITS TIMES: Jun 24, 2011
Japan envoy to meet Suu Kyi, Myanmar government
Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi talks to reporters following a meeting with US Senator John McCain (not pictured), at her house in Yangon on June 2, 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO - JAPAN will send a senior diplomat to Myanmar next week to meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and hold talks with the government, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said on Friday.
Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Makiko Kikuta said she will discuss financial aid with Myanmar officials, although Tokyo believes more has to be done to fully democratise the country after recent polls.
She will be Japan's first senior official to meet Nobel Peace laureate Ms Suu Kyi in nine years. She will also meet Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin for the first senior-level talks since elections last year.
Myanmar's regime said the November 2010 poll was a step toward democracy, and it later handed over to nominally civilian rulers. But many outside observers say that the changes are purely cosmetic.
'I hope my visit will be the first step toward building a new relationship between the Japanese government and the new administration which is moving toward democratisation,' Ms Kikuta said.
Tokyo has suspended economic assistance since 2003, except for humanitarian and emergency aid, due to Ms Suu Kyi's arrest and long-term house arrest, and a crackdown on democracy advocates. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_683462.html
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Burma’s ‘lady’ is free, but her country still in chains
Published On Thu Jun 23 2011
By Olivia Ward Foreign Affairs Reporter
She’s directed Britain’s biggest summer festival, won applause from a Canadian conference and delivered a ringing human rights message to the U.S. Congress.
But seven months after her release from house arrest — and two decades of on-and-off detention — Burma’s iconic democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi spends most of her time in her cramped Rangoon office, and has yet to leave her authoritarian country for fear of permanent exile.
She has answered a flurry of international invitations with virtual, videotaped appearances that give her a global presence and polish her already glowing image as Burma’s face of principled resistance. And a new film on her life and career is attracting plaudits at festivals worldwide.
She has also met with international officials and visitors in Rangoon.
But opinion is sharply divided about the effectiveness of her stance in pushing Burma down the road to democracy. And she herself cast doubt on the progress the isolated country has made since its widely condemned elections last November, in which senior generals left their army posts to run as civilians.
If the government were sincere it would not be holding some 2,000 political prisoners, Suu Kyi told American lawmakers. And she called for a commission of enquiry into Burma’s many human rights abuses, but did not mention the sanctions that are a major bone of contention for policy makers.
“She’s still iconic, but the game has moved on,” says Justin Wintle, London-based author of her biography Perfect Hostage.
“The elections were obviously fixed, particularly with the generals leaving the army and becoming ‘civilians’ (in the new government). But there is a feeling that Suu Kyi’s party made a mistake in not contesting them, and it split the party. She has not played her political hand well.”
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was de-registered when it boycotted the polls, which were skewed in advance against the opposition.
Many Burmese, as well as international observers, are fiercely loyal to Suu Kyi and believe her firm stand on maintaining sanctions against Burma must continue until there are signs of real democracy.
But says Roberto Herrera-Lim of the Eurasia Group in Foreign Policy, the outcome may be deeper ties between Burma and Asian countries who are less interested in its democratic credentials than its gas and mineral reserves.
“No matter what the country’s politics, they want access to its natural resources,” he said.
Last month Suu Kyi said she was “saddened” by India’s “disappointing role” in tightening its ties with the Burmese regime.
Meanwhile, reports have surfaced about worsening human rights abuses against political prisoners, and in Burma’s restive border areas, where minority groups have been fighting for rights and autonomy for half a century. Suu Kyi, who is closely watched by the authorities, said she planned to travel upcountry, a move they are likely to block.
“I admire her greatly, but she has not addressed the question of the civil war,” says Ngun Cung Lian, assistant director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy at Indiana University, and a former Burmese freedom fighter. “There are about half a million people without homes because of it. That should be a priority for a leader.”
Last month Suu Kyi told a group of Danish students that “all this injustice” to minorities must stop, and that it was wrong for displaced people to be living in fear in their own country. “We must make them feel that they enjoy equal rights,” she said.
But Suu Kyi’s biggest tests lie ahead. She must not only strengthen her party, but convince younger activists who went through the brutally suppressed “saffron revolution” that gradual change is the best route to democracy.
And she must grapple with the fact that some Western countries, especially Europeans, believe that her release is reason to thaw relations with the out-of-uniform ruling Burmese generals. Yet if that fails to happen, the backlash from an embittered government may hit her directly, and her period of freedom be all too brief.http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1014175--burma-s-lady-is-free-but-her-country-still-in-chains
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House Speaker Warns Against 'Arab Spring'
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, June 24, 2011
The people of Burma should work together to help prevent an “Arab spring� that could damage the interests of the nation, Shwe Mann, the speaker of the Lower House of Burma’s Parliament, said at a meeting on Friday.
“As US Senator John McCain said when he visited Burma, we have to make sure that the kind of unrest that has happened in the Middle East doesn't happen here,� said Shwe Mann, speaking to members of the Rangoon regional Parliament.
At the meeting, he also said that an MP helped to ease tensions in Kachin State, where government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have been fighting since the second week of June.
Shwe Mann takes part in an Independence Day dinner in Naypyidaw on Jan. 4, 2011. (Photo: AP)
The MP, Thein Zaw, represents a constituency in Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital. On June 17, he sent a letter to the KIA telling them that Burmese commanders have given the order to stop fighting, and urging KIA leaders to do the same.
However, the KIA has rejected the letter's claims as “insincere,� and says it wants proof that the Burmese army has really ended its military operations against the group.
There were no clashes reported today, although more than 10,000 refugees remain sheltered in China as fears of a resumption of fighting persist.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21566
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Explosions rock three Myanmar cities
Reports indicate two people wounded after blasts in Mandalay, Naypyidaw and Pyin Oo Lwin.
Last Modified: 24 Jun 2011 10:45
Residents said two people were wounded in a blast which hit a vehicle in Mandalay [Reuters]
Near simultaneous bomb explosions in three Myanmar cities have wounded at least two people, the government and residents say.
The first explosion destroyed a car and shattered windows near the main market in the central city of Mandalay shortly before noon on Friday, a government official said.
There was no confirmation of the number of casualties, but residents said that two people had been wounded in the blast, with a government official saying that one of those injured was a traffic policeman.
The market was closed at the time of the blast.
Another explosion hit an abandoned home in the capital, Naypyidaw, a government official said.
"There was a bomb blast at an old house near the Thabyaykone market in Naypyidaw. There were no casualties," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
A third blast hit in the resort town of Pyin Oo Lwin, in the central part of the country, which is also home to a military training academy.
It was not immediately clear what kind of explosives were used in the attacks, nor who had carried them out.
Bombings have become increasingly common in Myanmar, where pro-democracy activists and various ethnic groups have been battling the military-backed government.
The government has blamed ethnic Karen rebels for a bombing in Naypyitaw earlier this month, and a train attack in May that killed two people and injured nine others.
Myanmar held its first elections in 20 years last November, formally ending the military rule which began in 1962.
The new government, however, comprises mostly retired army officers and critics say that the vote was arranged in order to keep power in military hands. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2011/06/2011624101344496681.html
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BANGKOK POST
Bomb blasts rattle two Burma cities
Published: 24/06/2011 at 03:32 PM
Online news: Asia
Two bombs exploded in Burma's capital and the central city of Mandalay on Friday, the latest in a series of blasts in the military-dominated country, an official said.
Two bombs exploded in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw and in the central city of Mandalay on Friday, the latest in a series of blasts in the military-dominated country, an official said.
The first explosion destroyed a car near Mandalay's main market shortly before noon, a government official said.
There was no confirmation of any casualties although local residents reported two people were wounded.
Soon afterwards an explosion occurred at a disused home in the capital Naypyidaw, said the official, who did not want to be named.
"There was a bomb blast at an old house near the Thabyaykone market in Naypyidaw. There were no casualties," he said.
It was unclear what type of explosive devices were used.
The military-dominated nation has been hit by several mostly minor bomb blasts in recent years, which the authorities have blamed on armed exile groups or ethnic minority rebels.
An explosion on a passenger train near the capital last month killed two people and wounded nine others, according to the authorities, who blamed Karen ethnic minority rebels.
Another bomb exploded at a Naypyidaw market on June 10, slightly injuring two people.
In April last year, in the worst attack in five years in Rangoon, a series of blasts left 10 people dead and about 170 wounded as thousands of people gathered for festivities to mark the Buddhist New Year.
Burma's military junta handed over power to a nominally civilian administration in March after nearly half a century of army rule, following an election marred by complaints of intimidation and fraud. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/243815/bomb-blasts-rattle-two-burma-cities
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Explosions rock Myanmar's capital
YANGON (Reuters) – Three explosions rocked Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, and two other towns within minutes of each other on Friday, residents said, adding several people were wounded but there were no reports of deaths.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility or response from the authorities on the apparent bombings, which Myanmar's government typically blames on ethnic separatists.
A suspected bomb exploded in a jeep in Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city after the former capital, Yangon, at about 12:10 p.m. (0540 GMT).
The incident happened near Zaygyo Market, a major shopping center in Mandalay, which is about 400 miles north of Yangon.
"We heard the car was badly damaged and four people were wounded," a Mandalay shopkeeper told Reuters by telephone, adding the market was closed, otherwise the number of casualties would have been higher.
A bomb was also blamed for the second explosion in an unoccupied house opposite a market in Naypyitaw, the new capital about 205 miles north of Yangon at about 12:20 p.m. (0550 GMT).
"It was very powerful. We all heard a very loud explosion," said a government official who had been in a bookshop near the market at the time.
"So far as I heard, there were no casualties. Security officials are now combing the area," said the official, who asked not to be named.
The third explosion hit Pyin Oo Lwin, a town about 45 miles north of Mandalay, at about 12:30 p.m. (0600 GMT), the Mandalay shopkeeper told Reuters after speaking with relatives living there.
Also known as May Myo, Pyin Oo Lwin is a garrison town as well as a hill resort, home to four military institutes including the elite Defense Services Academy.
There have been about half a dozen bomb blasts in Myanmar cities, including Naypyitaw and Kachin State capital Myitkyina, in the past few weeks.
On May 18 two passengers were killed and nine others wounded when a bomb exploded on a train near Naypyitaw.
The government normally blames ethnic armed groups that have been fighting successive central governments for greater autonomy since the country won independence in 1948.
A few weeks ago fierce battles broke out between Kachin separatist rebels and Myanmar's army in northeast Myanmar near the Chinese border.
(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Alan Raybould / Daniel Magnowski) http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110624/wl_nm/us_myanmar_blasts
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Blasts rock three Burmese cities
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 24 June 2011
The remains of a car are seen following the Mandalay explosion (Source: unknown)
A series of explosions on Friday struck several major cities in Burma, including Mandalay and the capital Naypyidaw.
Shortly after midday, a bomb detonated underneath a car in Mandalay, shattering windows of nearby buildings, including Zegyo Hotel, and injuring a bystander. A second explosion then occurred inside a disused home in the capital Naypyidaw.
“It was a powerful bomb,” said a Mandalay resident. “Shrapnel and a wheel from the car were blown away about 300 feet. Today the market is closed – normally there is a heavy traffic jam with a lot of motorbikes at the area. The whole town is now in panic.”
Confusion has surrounded the second explosion, with doubt over whether it came from a planted device.
An anonymous government official told AFP that there was a “bomb blast at an old house near the Thabyaykone market in Naypyidaw”, and that no casualties had been reported.
But a Naypyidaw resident told DVB: “It wasn’t a bomb – just a gas tank explosion from a refrigerator and air-conditioner repair shop. The whole town went into panic assuming it was a bomb explosion but it later turned out not to be.”
According to the Rangoon-based The Voice journal, an explosions occurred in Pyin Oo Lwin, close to Mandalay and the headquarters of the Burmese army’s top training academy.
The journal said that it occurred near to a park in Ward 3. Around 3pm, another suspicious device was removed by police on 84th street outside a jewellers shop, according to The Voice.
Images released from the scene of the Mandalay incident suggest that the device had been packed full of shrapnel.
Rumours are also circulating that an explosion has occurred in Rangoon, although there has been no confirmation of this.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110624/wl_nm/us_myanmar_blasts
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STRAITS TIMES: Jun 24, 2011
Bomb blasts rattle three Myanmar cities
YANGON - BOMBS exploded almost simultaneously in three cities across Myanmar on Friday, wounding at least two people but causing no fatalities, the government and residents said.
It was not immediately clear who carried out the attacks, but bombings have become increasingly frequent in Myanmar, where pro-democracy activists and ethnic groups are at odds with the military-backed regime.
A government official told The Associated Press that one blast hit near a market in the administrative capital, Naypyitaw, not far from a zone housing most of the new city's hotels.
Another explosion occurred around the same time near another market in the country's second-largest city, Mandalay. The blast destroyed a car and wounded two people, including a traffic policeman, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
About 20 miles (30km) to the north, a third explosion hit the town of Pyinoolwin, home to a defence academy, a resident reached by phone there said.
There was no claim of responsibility for Friday's violence. The government blamed ethnic Karen rebels for a bombing in Naypyitaw this month, as well as a May train attack near the town that killed two and injured nine. -- AP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_683460.html
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Rising demand of heroin propelling more opium acreage
Friday, 24 June 2011 12:41 S.H.A.N.
The price of raw opium has gone up to 45,000 baht ($1,500) per viss (1.6 kg) and is likely to go up as much as 50,000 baht ($1,600) by the end of the month due to increased demand, according to sources coming across the border.
“This is twice as much as the price during harvest time”, a young migrant worker returning from Shan State East told SHAN. “My friends were even saying I need not go to Thailand anymore, since income from opium is better.”
Another source confirmed the report adding he saw hundreds of people coming from as far as Taunggyi to work in the poppy fields in one of the townships of Shan State East.
The name of the township and locations have been withheld by request, as previous reports by SHAN had led to order from Naypyitaw to destroy them.
“The officials don’t want to, because they are getting tax from them,” one businessman had told SHAN in 2009. “The farmers are also worried because their fields might be destroyed despite having paid tax.”
[Poppy field in Langkher township, Shan State South, during harvest time in January 2011]
Poppy field in Langkher township, Shan State South, during harvest time in January 2011
Preliminary reports from Shan State South, across the Salween, also say the seeds for the first season of the year have been sown in several townships, including Namzang, Hopong, Hsihseng, Laikha and Mongkeung.
The first season is during the rainy season, the second and main season toward its end and the third during the dry season (grown mostly on the mountains where there is dew for irrigation).
The current price of heroin on the Golden Triangle, where Burma and Thailand meet Laos, is 310,000-320,000 baht ($10,330-10,660), up from $9,700 earlier.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the output from Afghanistan, #1 opium producer, was down during the last season. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3802:rising-demand-of-heroin-propelling-more-opium-acreage&catid=89:drugs&Itemid=286
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Burma’s poppy fields increase as permit given in elections period
Thursday, 23 June 2011 17:26 Hseng Khio Fah
The number of poppy fields has increased in every part of Shan State in the 2010-2011season, resulting in increasing output of opium. The reasons for these increases range from more preferable weather conditions, to less restriction by local authorities, according to local sources.
Shan Drug Watch Issue 3
The fields are mostly seen flourishing in areas in Shan State East and South, especially in the Burma Army run People’s Militia areas, and most particularly in areas that have elected militia leaders known for their heavy involvement in the drug business.
According to villagers, there are three reasons for the increase in poppy plantations. One reason is more preferable weather conditions compared to previous years, where large numbers of poppy fields were washed away by heavy rains, frost and drought.
“If the weather favors us, we hope to gain a good harvest the coming season,” said one of the farmers from Shan State South.
Another reason for increased poppy production was campaign promises by candidates from the junta-backed Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP), better known as the “Lion Party”, to allow people to cultivate the opium freely if they voted for the party, according to Shan Drug Watch report to be released after 26 June, world anti-Narcotics Day.
One of the villagers in Shan State South recalled one of the promises, “Vote for us and you’ll be free to grow poppies.”
Some of the candidates, who are dubbed as drug dealers among the local villagers like Liu Guoxi, from Kokang constituency, Ho Xiaochang from Kunlong, T. Hkun Myat from Kutkhai, Panhsay Kyaw Myint from Namkham, Kengmai from Muse, Bai Xuoqian from Laogai are now MPs in the parliament, the report said.
Accordingly, another saying that became popular among the villagers was “The Army gets (drug) taxes (and) The Lion gets votes”.
The third reason for increased production is local militia groups were given more authority than ceasefire groups to become involved in the drug trade as they are part of its regime’s anti-insurgency apparatus, the report added.
During the 2009-2010 poppy season, there were 46 out of 55 townships in Shan State growing opium. More were grown in northern Shan State, particularly in areas under the control of the Burmese Army. However, the Burmese regime could make only 32 out of 42 targeted townships “poppy free” in the first two phases of its drug elimination plan, between 1999 and 2009, the previous 2009-2010 report said.
One of the townships that have long disappeared from the “Not free” list, Kunggyan, one of the two townships in the now Kokang Self Administered Zone, has returned to the list, local sources said.
In 1999, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) embarked on a 15-year plan to eradicate the cultivation and production of all drugs in Burma by 2014. The total townships targeted were 51: 43 in Shan State, 4 in Kachin, 2 in Kayah or Karenni and 2 in Chin. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3799:burmas-poppy-fields-increase-as-permit-given-in-elections-period&catid=89:drugs&Itemid=286
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Burma’s war against ethnic Kachin produces more refugees
By Zin Linn Jun 24, 2011 12:19AM UTC
The Kachin Independence Organization and Army (KIO & KIA) has condemned the orchestrated propaganda by the Burma’s Thein Sein government which accused KIO of instigating recent armed conflict in the state, as reported by the New Light of Myanmar newspaper on June 18.
According to Kachin News Group (KNG), KIO’s information department: “It is totally false propaganda published by the government saying the ‘KIA started the war.”
The June 20-dated statement released by KIO said the military offensive was launched by the Burmese government on purpose. In fact, armed conflicts between the Burma armed forces and KIA has widened since the ethnic armed group refused to accept the junta’s new constitution which says Burma Army is the only military institution in the country.
KIA detained two officers and one Burmese soldier on June 8, who intruded into their area of control with weapons but later released them given the request from the Northern military commander of the Burmese Army. The Kachin armed group said they treat prisoners of war well in accordance with the international law and released them with their weapons.
On June 9, Burmese government’s Battalion 437 and 348 started firing on the KIA camp in Sang Gang village. They captured the KIA liaison officer Chang Ying at Sang Gang post and detained him.
The KIA pulled out its battalion 15 to Bum Sen post near Sang Gang village. To avoid widespread war, the KIA refrained from shooting back at Burmese soldiers. However, on June 9, Burmese armed forces marched and attacked the KIA camp in Bum Sen. Then, KIA had to shoot back in self defense, said the KIO’s statement.
Furthermore, the Burmese Army murdered KIA’s Lance Corporal Chang Ying in an act of brutish cruelty, who they abducted from the liaison office at Sang Gang post on June 9.
The Burmese Army lied about the death of Corporal Chang Ying, telling KIA that the officer died in action due to injuries during fighting. But when the KIA checked his body, several marks of injuries and signs of gruesome torture were found on the whole body, including stab wounds.
“They are lying. They killed him by torturing him severely, when we treated their soldiers well,” the KIO said in the statement.
On the contrary, “The only objective of the Burma Army in launching attacks on the KIA was to protect its members and import hydropower to the nation without any intention of aggression or oppression,” said the state run media the New Light of Myanmar.
If it was true that Burma’s army intended only to protect its members and the hydro-power site, who were the culprits of rapes and killings in the disputed area? Yet, sources from Kachin State said rapes, killings, tortures and recruitment of civilians as porters by Burmese soldiers are apparently happening all through the Kachin state.
According to the statement on June 17 by Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT), at least six women and girls have been raped by Burmese soldiers, and three were killed after rape.
The current civil war between in Kachin State has forced almost 20,000 Kachin refugees to flee to the Sino-Burma border fearing continuous clashes, said the KNG referring a doctor helping refugees. The number of refugees has reached 13,000 in five refugee camps in the area of the Laiza headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) on the China border said the doctor. The KIO is providing rice to the refugees, while locally based Non Government Organizations (NGO) are providing health care.
However, the refugees hiding in the forests are suffering from cholera and malaria in the rainy season. They have to endure heavy rainfall without proper shelter. Almost all refugees are from the villages on the road between Myitkyina, Manmaw (Bhamo) and Loije and more than 20,000 refugees have fled to KIO controlled areas since the war began on June 9. Some refugees are staying on the other side of Laiza in China, KNG reported.
The KIO/KIA has already said they are ready to end fighting. But first, they want a promise that any amnesty will be respected by Burmese military commanders.
President Thein Sein himself is violating his own promises that he has guaranteed in his inaugural speeches in March. If he wants to build peaceful Burma under good governance, he must sit together with key stakeholders including ethnic leaders .
Refusing political talks to address the political question will intensify the civil war so as to protect the reign of military might in the deprived country. http://asiancorrespondent.com/58150/burma%E2%80%99s-immoral-war-against-ethnic-kachin-produces-more-refugees/
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