BurmaNet News, September 23, 2005

[Editor]

September 23, 2005 Issue # 2809

"The AIPMC resolves to call for the suspension of Myanmar from ASEAN if it
fails to bring democratic reforms in the country in the next 12 months."
- Teresa Kok, secretary of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus
(AIPMC), as quoted in Reuters, September 23, 2005

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Junta restrictions cause food shortages among Rohingyas
Khonumthung News: Military authorities in Chin state initiate written
order with no seal
SHAN: Kachin feud outcome rests on KIA
Xinhua: US to offer scholarship for Myanmar students

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: India-Burma may launch offensive against ULFA

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Myanmar, Bangladesh to hold talks on border trade
Mizzima: China bans imports of some goods from Burma

ASEAN
Reuters: Group of ASEAN MPs call for Myanmar junta ejection

OPINION / OTHER
Nation: Action on Burma is long overdue
Irrawaddy: Heat turned up on Burma as UN General Assembly meets

PRESS RELEASE
National League for Democracy: Special statement regarding UNSC action

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 23, Irrawaddy
Junta restrictions cause food shortages among Rohingyas - Clive Parker

Claims by an ethnic Rohingya organization that restrictions from the
Rangoon government are causing food shortages in Arakan State were
confirmed by the head of the World Food Programme in Burma today.

Bhim Udas, the head of WFP’s operations in Burma, said his organization
had had to wait more than three months for a permit to transport food aid
to Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung, three predominantly Rohingya
townships in Arakan State.

WFP has been operating in Arakan State for the past 11 years, providing
food for an estimated 300,000 people. Despite this, the Burmese
authorities have given no explanation for the recent delay in granting
access, Udas said. Rangoon’s Department of Relief and Social Welfare was
unavailable for comment.

The Arakan Rohingya National Organization said today the situation in
these three townships is grave, claiming a 5-year-old girl died this month
from starvation and that others are on the brink. “The Rohingya villagers
are in [a] famine-like situation,” a statement said.

A late monsoon this year has delayed the rice harvest, Udas said, while
food aid has been disappearing across the border into Bangladesh recently,
exacerbating food shortages.

Udas explained the junta is practicing what it calls a “limited supply” of
food aid to the Rohingya population as it is fearful supplies will
continue to move across Arakan’s border with Bangladesh in the future.

However, Udas told The Irrawaddy that WFP had not witnessed any signs of
starvation in northern Arakan State during the latest food shortages.

Having this month finally received the necessary permit to transport rice
and food aid from Rangoon to Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, the WFP
says that two weeks ago it was able to offer some supplies to vulnerable
groups including young children.

“There is progress,” Udas said. “When our food starts moving from Sittwe
to Northern Rakhine [Arakan] State [and then] to the three townships in
which we are working— Maungdaw, Buthidaung and some parts of
Rathedaung—and at least in those three areas
 I can say that the food
situation will improve and the prices will go down.”

More than 200,000 tonnes of food has already reached Sittwe, Udas added.

ARNO has accused the Burmese military of controlling the rice market in
Rohingya areas and forcing the price up to nearly four times that in the
capital of Sittwe. It also cites examples of Burmese military personnel
arresting those trying to transport rice or offer it to hungry Rohingyas.

This latest example of restrictions on WFP efforts to offer food aid in
Burma follows a call by the head of the organization, James Morris, during
a trip last month to Rangoon, for the junta to change its ways.

Following the visit, Morris issued a statement in Bangkok saying: “Current
agricultural and marketing policies, and restrictions on the movement of
people, make it very difficult for many of those at risk to merely
subsist.”

Muslim Rohingyas are unable to move freely and are denied Burmese
citizenship by the junta, making it difficult for them to secure sources
of food from outside their villages.

____________________________________

September 23, Khonumthung News
Military authorities in Chin state initiate written order with no seal

The military authorities recently issued a written order without official
seal to the local people of Chin state for force labor.

In a bid to prevent the villagers to pass the written order with seal of
regiment, which conscript them to involve in force labors such as road
construction, military camp construction and renovation, building bridge
and tea plantation etc., to Chin democracy activists along Indo-Burma
border area, the regime begin to adopt a new strategy.

"They (the military regime) seemed to realized that the villagers, engaged
in force labor, used to hand over the written order with stamped seal to
the media and human right activists of democracy parties operating along
the border. So they changed the previous system to hide their misdeeds." a
villager (name withheld for security reason) told our reporter.

The Column Commander and the Supervisor of the camp of Light Infantry
Battalion (LIB) 304 introduced a written order without the official seal
to Leshin, Lailente, Lailenpi, Sabongte, Darlin village and Razua town of
Matupi Township. The LIB 304 was newly posted in this region early this
year.

Recently, the column commander captain Tan Htun Soe stationed at Darlin
Village, did not stamped seal on written the order which engaged villagers
from 10 villages in his commandeering region for camp renovation labor.

The concern authorities also warned the villagers that the original copies
of written order issued to them should be return to the military camps
immediately, failure to comply with the instruction will be severely
punish. The military authorities previously used delay method to pass
written order to each village councils in the region whenever they need
contribute labour.

The villagers from Chin state corporate the rights activist groups in
Indo-Burma border area by providing information of Human Right abuses with
strong evident such as photo and written order with official stamped seal.

____________________________________

September 23, Shan Herald Agency for News
Kachin feud outcome rests on KIA

According to Shan ceasefire leaders who are monitoring the intra-party
strife that began on 14 September on the Sino-Kachin border between the
two factions of the National Democratic Army- Kachin, the outcome will to
a certain extent depend on what its rival group, the Kachin Independence
Army/Organization will do.

"It is unlikely to become another Mongkoe," an officer from the Shan State
Army-North hopefully says.

He is referring to a similar coup in Shan State's Mongkoe Defense Army in
2000, where the MDA's two warring factions fought for supremacy for a
month, 24 October- 24 November, when both were wiped out by the Burma Army
forces, whom each was turning for assistance.

Burmese units are reportedly closely monitoring the events in the NDA-K's
Hpimaw in the North and Pangwah in the south.

The KIA is said to be supporting the mutineers, according to the Shans.

Asked what the quarrel is about, he said, "We cannot pinpoint it exactly,
but Sakhong Ting Ring (the ousted leader) being Lashi (one of the main
branches of Kachin) and the coup leaders being Maru is something we cannot
touch lightly upon."

Kachin or Wunpawng is a general term covering Jingpo, Maru, Rawang, Lashi,
Atsi and Lisu, according to a recent paper published by the New Era
Journal.

Others have pointed out to a conflict of business interests and the
deposed leader's penchant for surrounding himself with Chinese security
guards.

The NDA-K was formed by former KIA commanders, Sakhong Ting Ring and
Zalum, who defected to the Communist Party of Burma in 1968. Their
territory became 101 War Zone under the CPB. After the fall of the CPB in
1989, the group renamed itself the NDA-K and concluded a ceasefire pact
with Rangoon.

____________________________________

September 23, Xinhua General News Service
US to offer scholarship for Myanmar students

Yangon: The United States will offer a one- year scholarship for
university students in Myanmar to study in that country, a local weekly
reported Friday.

The Humphery Scholarship will be presented to students attending
universities and graduates who are required to have five- year experiences
in their related fields applied, a recent announcement of the US
Information Service in Yangon was quoted by the Khit Myanmar as saying.

Applicants who have completed the course with the scholarship shall return
to Myanmar to disseminate knowledge obtained from the study, the
announcement said.

The program of the Humphery, which would not confer any degree and diploma
title, is just a fellowship one, it added.

Under the program, four Myanmar university students had won such
scholarship previously.

Meanwhile, Thailand is also cooperating with Myanmar on higher education,
offering scholarship for qualified Myanmar students to study in Thai
universities.

A number of Thai institutions, agencies and organizations including 16
public and six private universities as well as ASEAN University Network
have links with its Myanmar counterparts.

Since 2000, six Myanmar faculties and students have received exchange
grants to come to Thailand, while two Thais received grants to exchange
with Myanmar universities.

The Thai move helps globalization educationally and will also help Myanmar
students keep pace with the international education standard.

Under a memorandum of understanding between Myanmar and Thailand, the
bilateral university linkage provides Myanmar students to study university
degree courses of Bachelor and Master of Business Administration.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 23, Mizzima News
India-Burma may launch offensive against ULFA - Hrishikesh Saikia

The Government of India has not ruled out the possibility of embarking on
a joint operation with Burma (Myanmar) against ULFA militants taking
refuge in the bordering jungles of the two countries.

"It is the prerogative of those countries. Every country is sovereign, and
therefore, it has to be a joint decision." Indian Defence Minister Pranab
Mukherjee said on Thursday when asked if the Centre was considering a
joint drive with Burma and Bangladesh against militants of the North-east
sheltered in these countries.

The minister said this at the conclusion of his three-day tour of the
North-east.

Meanwhile, the Defence Minister's assertion that there would be no let-up
in Army operations against the ULFA militants holed up in the
Dibru-Saikhowa National Park bordering Arunachal Pradesh and also close in
proximity to the Indo-Burma (Myanmar) border, has put the outfit in a
tight spot.

The Defence Minister's hard-talk comes in the wake of repeated pleas from
various quarters, including the newly-formed ULFA-nominated People's
Consultative Group (PCG), to stall military operations against the outfit,
as they believe that it would jeopardize whatever chances there are to
engage the outfit in formal talks with the Government.

It is worth mentioning that the Army has laid a virtual siege on the
340-sq km Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, a biodiversity hotspot situated on
the easternmost tip of Assam.
It is believed that a 200-strong platoon of the ULFA's 28th battalion has
been camping for a long time in the jungles. The militants have with them
a huge cache of sophisticated arms and ammunition including rocket
launchers.
According to intelligence sources, of late the national park has emerged
as a safe haven for the militants because of its closeness to Arunachal
Pradesh and Burma borders. Moreover, Dibru-Saikhowa being the least known
and least visited national parks in Assam; it has served the purpose of
the outfit.

The Defence Minister, however, was categorical in his statement. "There is
no question of a unilateral ceasefire by the Army unless the ground rules
for it are determined and both sides agree to a ceasefire," he said.

Meanwhile, with the Army giving no leeway to the militants and blocking
all routes to and from the national park for nearly two weeks now, the
militants are finding the going tough. A few cadres including a top leader
have already died in the Army offensive.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

September 23, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar, Bangladesh to hold talks on border trade

Dhaka: A 32-member Myanmar delegation will arrive in Dhaka Saturday to
discuss resumption of full-fledged border trade, which came to a near halt
early this month following seizure of huge arms in the southeastern region
of Bangladesh in August and September.

Bangladesh nearly suspended border trade with Myanmar following the
seizure of arms from southeastern Bangarban jungles bordering Myanmar.

Dhaka had asked Yangon to take care of its militants inside Bangladesh
territory, the Financial Express reported Friday.

The delegates, headed by Myanmar's Commerce Minister Major General Tin
Naing Thein, will include more than two dozens of military officials. They
are expected to discuss illegal movement of militants and arms issue that
are straining bilateral economic and diplomatic relations.

Bangladesh's export to Myanmar stands at around 1.5 million US dollars a
year as against Myanmar's export of around 8 million dollars.

According to Bangladesh-Myanmar Chamber of Commerce President Rashed
Maksud Khan, the main hindrance to trade is non-enforcement of a cargo
shipping agreement between the two countries. As a result, Myanmar
products, such as timber and onion, destined for Chittagong are being
routed via Singapore, causing substantial increase in the cost of
business.

A Bangladeshi team will also visit Yangon during Sept. 25-27 for talks on
construction of Ramu-Gundom road, a part of Asian Highway that will link
Bangladesh with China, Thailand and other East Asian countries, the report
said.

_____________________________

September 23, Mizzima News
China bans imports of some goods from Burma - Myo Gyi

The People's Republic of China has banned some imported Burmese goods
under its Quarantine Law. The ban affects all borders with Thailand,
Vietnam and Laos. This is said to be a preventive measure by China to
control the spread of contagious diseases such as cholera, influenza,
malaria and intestinal bacteria.

The Chinese health department officials have been distributing leaflets on
the quarantine notice in Chinese and Burmese over the last 15 days in the
special border trade zones of Jie Gong, Ruili and Wan Deng along the
Sino-Burma border, a Burmese trader told Mizzima.

In the leaflet, they have mentioned the banned goods --fruits, chilli,
tomato, brinjal, eggs, hides, meat, milk and milk products, aquatic
products and haematology products from Burma.

But traders can export these products after they are examined by the
concerned health departments and given 'fit to consume certificate.'
Because of this administrative measure, the trading of pulses and beans,
herbal medicines have been sluggish in the border markets.

Mizzima contacted a trader who runs a business in Laiza in Kachin State of
Burma for further details. She said, "They (the Chinese) are not allowing
all kinds of fruits to be brought into China now. All goods are being
examined on all the border trading posts. Even a gift amount of "Tanyin"
(most common edible fruit in Burmese cuisine) is not being allowed. The
restriction is so tight."

Similarly a youth trader on Muse-Ruili trade post said, "They have banned
even drinking water. It has made drinking water costlier than before by
RMB 1.5, up from RMB 2.5 to 4 now."

The Chinese government has tightened border security along the Muse-Jie
Gong route, and there have been many arrests of those violating rules
related to crossing the border. They have deployed more forces on other
unofficial border-crossing points to curb illegal crossing, which was
usually done earlier to evade customs duty.

Any violation of the Quarantine Law will invite a fine of up to RMB 5,000
(USD 625). The more serious violations will be treated as criminal cases,
the leaflet warned.

____________________________________
ASEAN

September 23, Reuters
Group of ASEAN MPs call for Myanmar junta ejection

Bangkok: A group of Southeast Asian politicians called on Friday for
Myanmar's military junta to be kicked out of the ASEAN regional political
bloc within a year unless it gets serious about democratic reform.

"We cannot tolerate this any more," outspoken Thai senator Kraisak
Choonhavan -- an old friend of detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi -- told a news conference. "We need our respective governments in
Asia to do more."

Claiming some of the credit for the junta's decision to skip its turn as
chairman of ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations) in 2006,
the MPs said the international community should not ease the pressure on
Yangon's generals.

Teresa Kok, secretary of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus
(AIPMC), said: "The AIPMC resolves to call for the suspension of Myanmar
from ASEAN if it fails to bring democratic reforms in the country in the
next 12 months."

They also backed a call from retired South African archbishop Desmond Tutu
and former Czech president Vaclav Havel -- both of whom, like Suu Kyi, are
Nobel Laureates -- to have Myanmar referred to the United Nations Security
Council.

"The deteriorating situation in Myanmar is affecting not only those within
the country, but people outside its borders as well," AIPMC said in a
statement.

"Quite apart from its truly disgraceful human rights record, Myanmar's
troubles, ranging from ethnic conflicts and refugee outflows to drugs and
the unchecked spread of HIV/AIDS, have become a serious cause for concern
for ASEAN and the international community."

Myanmar, or Burma as it was called, has been under military rule since
1962. The current junta, which seized power in 1988 and ignored a crushing
defeat in 1990 elections, says it is restoring civilian rule via a
seven-step "roadmap to democracy".

Nearly all foreign officials consider the plan a sham, especially while
Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.

ASEAN admitted Myanmar in 1997 in the hope of teasing out democratic
reform. So far, that effort has failed and the generals' pariah status has
damaged the group's credibility.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 23, Nation
Action on Burma is long overdue

The UN Security Council should take note of a new report on human rights
abuses and finally address the crisis. All the world, and especially
members of the UN Security Council, should pay serious attention to the
report commissioned by Nobel peace prize winners Vaclav Havel and Desmond
Tutu that was released on Tuesday. It details the atrocities committed
against the people of Burma by the country’s junta.

Over the last 14 years, the UN General Assembly has debated on the
appalling human rights violations in Burma. And over the last 13 years,
special envoys from the UN have monitored the situation. Yet nothing has
improved. So what else can be done?

The two laureates are asking the UNSC to call for an urgent, new and
multilateral diplomatic approach to end the political deadlock in Burma,
as a step towards promoting better human rights in the country.

The comprehensive 70-page report, prepared by global law firm DLA Pipe
Rudnick Gray Cary, also details the situation in Sierra Leone, Congo,
Sudan, Haiti, Afghanistan and Liberia in which the Security Council has
intervened in internal conflicts due to domestic conditions.

Indeed, the report says that conditions in Burma are in fact even more
deserving of intervention from the Security Council. This excellent
chronology of abuse details the deterioration that has occurred in Burma
since the 1988 military coup, including the aftermath of the 1990
election.

The Burmese people were so excited about the country’s democratic
potential. Alas, after it was known that the National League for Democracy
party led by Aung San Suu Kyi had won in a landslide, garnering more than
80 per cent of the seats in the parliament, the junta’s leaders decided to
annul the outcome and continue their dictatorship. Since then, the world
of Burmese politics has been turned upside down. Every day, the world
community learns more about the misfortune of the Burmese people and the
cruelty of their unelected leaders.

In light of the obvious fact that the Burmese regime has never heeded the
UN’s recommendations to fix the country’s glaring problems, it is
important that the UNSC take up the challenge and address the situation in
a more direct manner.

For too long, action has been stalled due to the gridlock between those
advocating implementing sanctions targeting the regime, and those who say
sanctions would do more harm than good and that instead want to send more
humanitarian aid to Burma. The latter group has taken a more humanitarian
approach to the complex problem, and is especially concerned about saving
the lives of Burmese suffering from the spread of contagious diseases,
especially HIV/Aids.

The report has done a good job in bringing this too-long ignored problem
to the political front burner, and makes the case that more multilateral
action is desperately needed. Of course, the UNSC, the world’s most
authoritative body, is the right forum. Fear was expressed earlier that
both Russia and China would veto any meaningful resolution on promoting
change in Burma. But many UN members believe that these two countries
might support a motion that would be acceptable to the majority of UNSC
members. It is in the interest of China and Russia to support multilateral
action through the good offices of the UN secretary-general.

Asean, which has pressured Burma to bow out of hosting next year’s
leaders’ summit, should find that the report and its recommendations augur
well with the interests of the group. The Caucus on Burma initiated by MPs
from core Asean countries has continued its campaign to make Burma become
more democratic and open. Asean has said that when Burma is ready, it can
resume the chairmanship.

The timing of the release of this report so soon after the UN summit is
significant. The UN recently adopted a doctrine supporting intervention
when needed to protect human rights.

But will the UNSC be up to the challenge to act with regard to Burma?

_____________________________________

September 23, The Irrawaddy
Heat turned up on Burma as UN General Assembly meets

The heat was turned up on Burma as more than 100 world leaders gathered in
New York this week for the 60th anniversary session of the UN General
Assembly.

The meeting pledged to consider reforms of the world body and address
pressing issues, such as threats to international peace and security. One
the eve of the summit, the UN Under Secretary-General, Ibrahim Gambari,
stressed that the UN would be “closely following” the Burma question.

The UN really needs to direct its attention on Burma, where scores of
political prisoners are still held, hundreds of refugees and internally
displaced people are stuck in neighboring countries and HIV/AIDS is
rampant.

This week, the former Czech president Vaclav Havel and Nobel Peace
Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa jointly called for the UN
Security Council to take immediate action against Burma. “For 15 years the
government of Burma has refused to implement recommendations made by the
UN, and the situation is getting worse,” Havel said.

The call was echoed by the US State Department at a congressional hearing
in Washington and welcomed by Burma’s opposition National League for
Democracy. Burmese opposition groups in exile have collected 40,000
petition letters appealing to the UN Security Council to address the
problem of Burma.

Although the engagement of opposition groups for stronger UN measures is
nothing new, prominent figures joined the cause this time around, clearly
reflecting frustration over the UN’s previous attempts to secure reform in
Burma. The US, in particular, appears to be losing patience with the
generals in Rangoon.

Although the UN may not acknowledge that its resolutions over the past 14
years have achieved very little, the fact is that they have failed to
bring reform to the unhappy country. In addition, two UN envoys on Burma,
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and the Secretary
General’s own special envoy, Razali Ismail, have been effectively barred
from visiting the country.

Compared to the global poverty problem, the conflict in western Darfur and
North Korea’s nuclear threat, the Burma issue occupies only a sub-folder
in world politics. Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN turned down the
US-led proposal to put Burma on the Security Council agenda, saying the
Council is occupied by “matters of international peace and security”.

A recent report commissioned by two Nobel laureates, however, argues that
the problem of Burma is “far worse” than in countries where the Council
had previously intervened. The situation in the country is “a threat to
the peace,” the report maintained.

UNAIDS estimated last year that between 170 000 and 610 000 people are
infected with HIV-AIDS in Burma. On the economic front, The Economist
magazine suggests Burma will struggle to achieve one percent growth this
year.

Faced with these health and economic problems, Burmese are desperate for
change. If the UN is serious about Burma, it must take effective action.
We don’t doubt the good intentions of UN actions in the past, but from now
on more effective and consistent planning is necessary. At the same time,
the UN should signal to Burma’s neighbors and Association of Southeast
Asian Nations partners the need for a sterner approach towards the regime
in Rangoon.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

September 23, National League for Democracy
Special statement regarding UNSC action

National League for Democracy
67B West Shwegondine Road,
Bahan Township, Yangon

1. The National League for Democracy states its views regarding the call
by former President of Czech Republic Vaclav Havel and Nobel Peace
Laureate Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu for Security Council intervention in
Burma.

2. The cardinal objective of the National League for Democracy is to
create and establish democracy and human rights in Burma. It has always
welcomed any and every effort or process that will bring about political
change which in turn will work for the solution of the dire problems that
Burma is now experiencing.

3. The National League for Democracy is therefore grateful to the former
Czech president and the Archbishop for the detailed and accurate report
they have submitted. We believe that the report has been prepared out of
genuine and sincere motives.

4. Moreover, in their report, these two outstanding and respected world
figures have not in anyway cast a slur or blemish on any organization or
country. The report focuses on Burma s problems and its needs and the way
to solve them. For theses reasons we are convinced that this is the
outcome of genuine goodwill.

5. When this subject is brought before the Security Council we urge and
solicit all members to unite and cooperate and work together for a
successful outcome and to refrain from exercising their veto powers.

In accordance with the resolution taken at the Central Executive Committee
Meeting of the National League for Democracy on the 21 September 2005.

Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy