BurmaNet News, November 23, 2005

[Editor]

November 23, 2005 Issue # 2851

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Landmine use in Burma increases
Asia Times: SPDC's leaders take to the hills
Mizzima: Burma's electricity ministry delays move to Pyinmana due to lack
of power, resources
SHAN: Shan party not invited to constitutional meet
DVB: EU delegation meets Burmese political groups
IMNA: Oil price hike affects government employees
AFP: Myanmar postpones staffing new administrative capital

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Burmese tsunami bodies caught in red tape
Narinjara: 600 Burmese prisoners languish in Bangladesh
Khonumthung: Increasing entry of traders worries Mizoram
Mizzima: Thai Labour Office awards compensation to Burmese worker

ASEAN
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: ASEAN delegates hold brainstorming session on
fighting drug

OPINION
Mizzima: Beyond a verbal stand

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 23, Irrawaddy
Landmine use in Burma increases

The use of antipersonnel mines in Burma has consistently increased in the
last five years, while global use of the deadly devices has decreased,
according to a report released yesterday by the International Campaign to
Ban Landmines.

The “Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World” is the
seventh in a series of annual reports which document global compliance
with the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

“Globally, the landmine ban movement has made a difference, and it’s a
positive story,” said Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, a Bangkok-based Burma
researcher with Landmine Monitor. “But Burma goes against this global
trend.”

According to Moser-Puangsuwan, Burma is one of the only countries who both
produce and deploy antipersonnel mines—Russia is another.

The ICBL report alleges that Burma’s State Peace and Development Council,
as well as more than 30 Burmese armed ethnic groups, regularly use
landmines to compensate for shortages in other conventional munitions.

“There was increased military action in Karen, Karenni and Shan states,
with allegations of mine use by all combatants, and thousands of Karen and
Shan people were forced into internal displacement due to SPDC
operations,” the report states.

Several armed ethnic opposition groups in Burma possess the capability of
building a variety of mines, including blast, fragmentation,
Claymore-style and anti-handling fuse devices.

“Landmine use is inevitable because of our small troop numbers and lack of
weapons in comparison to the strength of the SPDC,” said Manh Sha, general
secretary of the Karen National Union. He added that the KNU will stop
using landmines when Burma’s military regime collapses.

“We don’t want to use landmines, but if the international community wants
the KNU to stop using them, they should stop the regime from attacking
us.”

The KNU has used landmines for more than 40 years, but they claim to
deploy them where they pose little risk to non-combatants, post signs to
mark mined areas and warn local villagers by letter or in person.

Such measures, however, have not eliminated the threat of injury and death
to local residents. The Prosthetics Foundation of Thailand fitted some 300
artificial limbs to 180 people from Tachilek in Burma’s Shan State in
2004, most of which were victims of landmines.

Burma’s border regions with Thailand and Bangladesh—where many of Burma’s
armed ethnic rebels operate—are heavily littered with landmines, as well
as other regions such as the site of the Lawpita hydroelectric dam in
Loikaw, Karenni State, and the gem mines in Lashio, Shan State.

“Our soldiers never leave behind landmines that they have planted because
they use them only for self-defense,” said Khu Oo Reh, foreign minister
for the Karenni National Progressive Party, adding that mines are
generally only used to protect soldiers’ headquarters and camps.

“Karenni soldiers use mines differently than the SPDC, who deploy them in
public areas and trails.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross reported in 2004 that Burma
received the second-highest number of prosthetic devices for landmine
victims in the world. The ICRC currently supports 11 hospitals and 250
medical staffers in conflict zones throughout Burma.

____________________________________

November 23, Asia Times
SPDC's leaders take to the hills - Larry Jagan

Burma's new capital at Pyinmana by all accounts is up and running despite
officials unhappy with the strange move into the country's central hills.

Since dawn November 6, at a moment deemed astrologically auspicious,
convoys laden with government paraphernalia and personnel have been
rolling out of Rangoon for Pyinmana, some 400 kilometers to the north.

"Due to changed circumstances, in which Burma is trying to develop a
modern nation, a more centrally located government seat has become a
necessity," was the official explanation for the massive relocation.

All of Burma's government administration will be moved to Pyinmana by
year-end and be ready for workers' families as well. Each ministry will
have a school attached, a local businessman involved in the construction
of the complex told Inter Press Service.

"Administrative and office buildings, as well as living quarters for more
than 5,000 people have been completed," he said.

But thousands of civil servants are, for now, separated from their
families for lack of amenities and staff are reported to be virtually held
prisoner within a fortress-like campus.

The first bureaucrats to arrive at the new administrative center were
dismayed. "There's no water, no electricity and no windows or doors fitted
in the living quarters," a senior government official told his family in
Rangoon over the telephone. "I have to sleep in my office."

"There is nothing to eat, drink and nothing to buy. Just nothing," another
civil servant told his wife. "My boss even told me that he now understands
what hell is."

Several senior civil servants have taken early retirement in the past few
months, including the director general of the Labor Ministry and senior
members of the Foreign Ministry. Many more are now expected to try and
retire or resign, but they may not be allowed to, a Western diplomat in
Rangoon said.

And the government has issued a warning that civil servants who try to
abscond will be hunted down and treated in the same manner as army
deserters, an Interior Ministry source said.

Privately, many are worried for the fate of the side businesses and small
dealings they had built up in Rangoon, using their contacts in government.

Meanwhile, vast sums of money have been channeled into building what top
General Than Shwe, the driving force behind the relocation idea, has named
"nay pyi daw" or place of the king.

More than 30 building companies have been taking part in the massive
construction effort, with each given a specific project within the overall
plan, said a construction contractor who is building a residential block.

The whole project is costing millions of dollars, another contractor said.
"It's an open budget - no expense is being spared," he said.

A sergeant in charge of overseeing a part of the construction can
commission work worth a 100 million kyat (US$10,000), without referring it
to his superiors, he added.

Some buildings have been torn down and rebuilt at least three times
because a commander was not happy with the finished work. "These people
are so ignorant they cannot read the architectural plans; they can only
decide when they see it constructed," the builder said.

Mansions for senior generals, government offices and national headquarters
for the country's ethnic groups and the powerful Union Solidarity and
Development Association (a pro-government, social and political
organization founded in 1993 by the State Law and Order Restoration
Council) are also being built.

Bunkers, tunnels, a large military hospital, apartments, airstrips and a
golf course also are being built, eyewitnesses say. And two luxury hotels
and two large supermarkets are being constructed, an architect involved in
the project said.

At the end of the mass relocation, government administration and military
headquarters will have been shifted to the 100 square kilometer complex at
Pyinmana. Plans for the move have been in the pipeline for years and
building started more than two years ago.

"This is typical of Than Shwe's pretensions to be the new Burmese
monarch," said Win Min, a senior Burma analyst who lives in Thailand.
"Like all the Burmese kings before him, he is building a new
palace-capital for posterity."

Ironically, Pyinmana served as the hideout from where Aung San, father of
incarcerated, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, led a resistance
movement against the Japanese Army, which occupied Burma during World War
II.

For months, Rangoon had been rife with rumors that the country's military
rulers were planning to retreat to the hills because of fears of a foreign
invasion from the sea. "The planned retreat is essentially strategic,"
said an Asian diplomat who regularly deals with Rangoon.

The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 reinforced the top general's fear that
Washington might attack Burma, analysts say. Burma's military strategists
have long argued that the country's defenses were vulnerable to an attack
from the sea.

"Than Shwe has a bunker mentality," said Win Min. "But the motive behind
this move is to make sure the military is in a better strategic position
to control the regional commanders, the ethnic rebel groups in the border
areas, the future parliament and combat social unrest throughout the
country."

Foreign embassies are likely to have to follow Burma's government into the
hills. For now, they have been asked to fax all communications to
Pyinmana, although a liaison office will continue to function in Rangoon.

Ministers have been dismayed at the lack of consultation and the
suddenness of the shift to Pyinmana. "Nobody agreed to this move, I don't
think even Gen Maung Aye [slated to succeed Than Shwe] [knew] but we all
just shut our mouths," a senior military officer said.

There is acute confusion with citizens waiting to pick up their passports
suddenly finding the concerned office shifted 400 kilometers away. Prices
of consumer goods, already soaring because of the recent ten-fold increase
in petrol prices, are set to increase further.

"The whole thing is absurd," said a Burma businessman. "The generals have
made another major blunder."

____________________________________

November 23, Mizzima News
Burma's Electricity ministry delays move to Pyinmana due to lack of power,
resources

Burma's Ministry of Electric Power has delayed its official move to the
new military capital in Pyinmana until March next year as electricity
supplies and living facilities are not yet acceptable.

The decision to postpone the move was made after an inspection found the
new office site unready for more staff and their families.

There are only two dormitories and five toilets available for the 70 staff
of the department and with no adequate schooling facilities and
intermittent electricity, workers are unhappy about the move.

The heads of departments under the Ministry of Electric Power told their
staff if they did not want to move they would be permitted to resign or
retire early if they were 58. But workers from the short-staffed
department of Hydro Power were told they were not allowed to quit.

Staff who make the move to Pyinmana are forced to agree to stay at least
two years.

The Myanmar Broadcasting Service and Myanmar Radio and Television have
also delayed their relocation as the technical facilities in their new
buildings are not ready.

Government workers are also unhappy about their travel arrangements after
a car-load of staff were in an accident on their way north early this
month.

The government is providing a rail service between Rangoon and Pyinmana at
Ks. 900 for ordinary class and Ks. 1,800 for upper class. But workers are
being forced to pay Ks. 2,500 for standard tickets through brokers.

They are also forced to pay a Ks. 300 bus fare from Pyinmana to Kyat Pyay
and another Ks. 500 for a tractor drawn trailer from Kyat Pyay to their
offices.

____________________________________

November 23, Shan Herald Agency for News
Shan party not invited to constitutional meet

The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, whose top leaders are in jail
in remote areas of Burma, has not been invited to the upcoming session of
the National Convention due to resume on 5 December, say SNLD insiders.

This is the second time the party as well as its ally National League for
Democracy (NLD) of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi who has been under
house arrest since May 2003 have been left out by the organizers of the
military-sponsored Convention. "We have not invited them because they did
not attend the previous season (17 May-9 July 2004)," Information minister
Kyaw Hsan told the press briefing held on 1 February.

Rangoon however has made an exception to the Shan State Kokang Democratic
Party of Yang Kyin Maw, who had also boycotted the May-July 2004 session.
The Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma reported on 16 November that
his branch office in Lashio was visited by army officials who suggested
that he makes a choice between attendance of the Convention and
dissolution of the party.

"It does not mean that we will be attending the NC (National Convention)
if we are invited," said one of the remaining senior members of the SNLD.
"But if we are to reconsider our 2004 resolution, we need our leaders
back."

The National Convention Convening Commissions has time and again
reaffirmed that the Six Objectives and the 104 Constitutional Principles
all of which guarantee the leading role of the military in Burmese
politics will remain unchanged. "It will be nothing more than a chameleon
democracy," a delegate had commented in March. The chameleon is commonly
known in Burma for its habitual head-nodding.

Asked about the likely fate of the imprisoned leaders, a member on the
Thai-Burma border replies, "What will and will not happen rests solely
with the generals, because the law in Burma is not what's been written but
only what comes out of their mouths."
____________________________________

November 22, Democratic Voice of Burma
EU delegation meets Burmese political groups

A team of European Union representatives visiting Burma is to officially
meet with Burmese political organisations including the National League
for Democracy (NLD) and student leaders on 23 November.

NLD leaders, renowned student leaders including Min Ko Naing, the
secretary of Committee for Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP) Aye
Thar Aung and ethnic national leaders also attended a welcoming party held
in honour of the EU representatives held at the residence of the British
ambassador on 21 November.

The chairman of Zomi National Congress (ZNC), Pu Cin Sian Thang who
attended the event told DVB that the Australian ambassador and staff from
the German embassy also came to the party, and guests were invited to the
come to the same place on 23 November and attend a meeting for discussion.

When asked about his opinion on the visit of EU representatives, Pu Cin
Sian Thang said:

“I don’t know about the details. But my guess is they came to support the
action of Desmond Tutu and the like (Vaclav Havel) and I think that they
came here to support the EU which is supporting this. We are a little bit
encouraged by it as we heard and suspected that England is sponsoring it.
But I don’t know what will happen in reality.”

____________________________________

November 22, IMNA
Oil price hike affects government employees

The oil price hike has severely compromised local military government
employees from towns having to work in rural areas. They face problems
daily because of the price rise.
Teachers and employees of different government departments, appointed to
work in villages, far from towns claim that the bus fare or a car ride
cost they incur was higher than their salaries.

Teachers and employees receive around 10,000 Kyat per month and their
transportation cost per day is at least 500 Kyat. "If you get the "Hondy"
bus, it is cheap. Otherwise we have to spend a thousand Kyat a day," a
teacher from Mudon town, teaching in a village said. Hondy buses are run
by "Retired Military Government Veterans."

In southern Burma, bus fares started going up over the last three months
and the fares touched 1000 Kyat for one way to a town. Before the fuel
price rise, the bus fare was only 150 Kyat to 200 Kyat.

"I sympathise with these teachers. When they meet a kind bus driver they
are taken in. Some buses do not carry teachers or employee because they
cannot pay the amount of fare claimed," Ko Myat Kyaw said.

Teachers are seriously affected and some have started giving tuitions or
teach overtime in schools and demand money from students. "My baby's
school demanded 150 Kyat from each student to meet the needs of teachers.
I am afraid my son will not pass his examinations if I do not pay," a
Kamarwat villager said.

According to sources close to teachers in the area, teachers demand 150
Kyat per student in primary schools and 200 Kyats from those in middle
school for covering their travelling costs.

People are shocked at the oil price hike and they claim oil prices are
increasing by the day. Currently the oil price is 4000 Kayt per gallon.
Two month ago oil prices were only around 1500 Kyat per gallon.

____________________________________

November 23, Agence France Presse
Myanmar postpones staffing new administrative capital

Myanmar has postponed sending the second batch of civil servants to its
new administrative capital Pyinmanar because staff accommodation is not
ready, a source close to the military said Wednesday.

There has been widespread discontent among officials over being uprooted.

"The authorities have had to face the fact that nothing is ready there, so
the relocation process has had to be temporarily halted," said the source.

The relocation of Myanmar's administrative seat from Yangon has been under
preparation for several months.

The junta says it is moving the government to Pyinmanar, a mountain town
320 kilometers (200 miles) north of Yangon, because it is more centrally
located with easy access to highways and railways.

The move began suddenly on November 7, when Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan,
Myanmar's information minister, told diplomats and journalists about it.
Government workers were given just one day to pack.

The halt gives a temporary reprieve to government workers facing
separation from their families, who are not allowed at the new government
complex.

"I can spend more time with my family if the government postpones this
shift for awhile," said an official with the post and telecommunications
ministry, while others said the move has come as no surprise.

"Of course, we knew that there was not enough infrastructure.... But
things will come step by step. We have to be patient as we are government
staff," said an information ministry official.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

November 23, Irrawaddy
Burmese tsunami bodies caught in red tape - Sai Silp

The Thai and Burmese governments are being urged to find a solution to the
problem of identifying and repatriating the bodies of Burmese migrant
workers killed in Thailand during the December 2004 tsunami.

Burmese authorities have yet to confirm the nationalities of up to 60
bodies that have been successfully identified as being Burmese, meaning
they can not be returned to their relatives.

Pol Col Khemmarin Hassasiri of Thailand Tsunami Victim Identification
said: “I understand the Burmese government, because most of victims [are
known by] just their first name, no surname or other details. So, it’s
difficult to confirm that they are Burmese.”

“We cannot return any bodies at this time. We have to discuss [the
situation with] the Burmese authorities again,” Khemmarin said. “They have
asked us to send a name list, but the problem is we don’t have enough
details about the victims. So they [are unable] to confirm their
nationality.”

“Recently, some bodies have been identified by relatives,” said Nassir
Achwin, coordinator of the Bangkok-based Thai Action Committee for
Democracy of Burma. Achwin added that many of those identified had been
registered with the Foreign Labor Department, and families were now just
waiting for authorization to claim the bodies.

A forum comprising NGO representatives and Thai officials will meet in
Bangkok tomorrow to try to speed up the identification and repatriation
process.

____________________________________

November 23, Narinjara News
600 Burmese prisoners languish in Bangladesh

Over 600 Burmese prisoners including some recognized refugees are
languishing in different jails in Bangladesh, said a report by a
Bangladesh human rights organization.

According to its report, in the Cox’s Bazar jail alone there are
reportedly about 500 Burmese nationals. Out of these individuals, 200 are
released prisoners, while 350 are under trail prisoners (UTP) and 50 are
convicted individuals.

There are reportedly 130 refugees, mostly Burmese nationals, in Cox’s
Bazar and Bandarban jails. Most of the Burmese nationals are from Arakan
state who came here over the years because their human rights were being
violated and they feared persecution by the Burmese military government,
the report said.

Official and other relevant sources said that many of them have been in
jails for more than two years. There are even instances of some “
released” prisoners who have been detained for over five years.

According to report, the prisoners who have completed sentences are not
released for two reasons: the foreign missions or government concerned are
not interested in their release and repatriation, and the person concerned
is not willing to return back to their home land, fearing oppression or
persecution from the authorities. Most of Burmese national are in the same
situations and now are in Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, Chittagong and Commila.

The Burmese nationals were accused of crimes in several cases by
Bangladeshi law enforcements, including illegal entry into the country,
robbery, the smuggling of arms and drugs and other crimes.

The report said that it was difficult for journalists or human right
activists to ascertain figure of foreign prisoners in Bangladesh jails.
However, according to reliable sources there are about 600 Burmese
nationals, 200 Indian nationals and 70 Thai nationals in different
Bangladeshi jails. Others are from Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa,
Tanzania and Saudi Arabia

____________________________________

November 23, Khonumthung News
Increasing entry of traders worries Mizoram

With Christmas approaching, Mizoram is thronged by traders and travelers
from Chin state, without inner-line permits. The Mizoram state government
is concerned about this influx, reports Mizoram local papers. The traders
and travelers from Chin state avoid the Indo-Burma trade route No. II as
the Mizoram authorities charge Rs 100 as entry fees, the papers said.
Traders from Chin state told Khonumthung, "As it is Christmas season, more
people from Chin state cross the border to sell goods and also shop for
their necessities. Things are cheaper in the Christmas season and
everybody waits for this chance."

The people of Chin state reportedly bring their agriculture produce or
domestic animals for sale in Mizoram. Some cross the border through the
border's check gate while some avoid the gates and steer clear of entry
fee payments. A Thantlang resident told KNG in Lunglei, "We had no money
when we left our village, we cannot afford to pay Rs. 100, equivalent to
2600 kyats, at the gate. So, we avoid the gate and the entry fee."

The Indo-Burma trade route in Champhai is strictly monitored while the
states connecting routes in Southern Mizoram - Saiha and Champhai
districts are loosely monitored. There is an entry point, where Rs. 100
has to be paid, in southern Mizoram too but the inadequate police strength
allows easier entry for the people from Chin state. The commercial goods
and cattle smuggled are sold in Lunglei and Lawngtlai, Mizoram.

Mizoram state authorities are concerned over the possible smuggling of
prohibited goods, along with other goods. The state authority also
expressed its concern over the possible entry of illegal traders and
travelers which doubles the record of the daily entry of thirty to forty
people a day.

The influx of traders and travelers from Chin state to Mizoram increased
after the Champhai Young Mizo Association (YMA) lifted its border road
blockade. Increased influx of traders and travelers from Chin state to
Mizoram is reported every year in Christmas season.

____________________________________

November 23, Mizzima News
Thai Labour Office awards compensation to Burmese worker - Han Pai

The Mae Sot Thai Labour Rights Protection Office awarded compensation
today to a Burmese migrant worker injured on the job who has complained
the amount he was given was dismal.

Zaw Lin worked at the Pau Si Yan cargo handling company in Mae Sot. He was
injured last month after being hit by an overhead power cable. Both his
hands were broken and he sought compensation from his employer with the
assistance of Labour rights organisations and the Thai Labour Rights
Protection Office.

"I will be re-employed in my work. They gave me only Baht 5,000 as
compensation. I don't understand all these paper works and afraid of the
officials. I have to accept this little amount, I have no choice", Zaw Lin
said.

After the accident he was sent to hospital but as both his hands were
broken he was unable to feed himself. He had to wait for help, which he
said came only once a day.


He then decided to return to his home town Meiktila, central Burma or
further treatment and asked his employer to maintain his salary while he
was incapacitated.  His employer gave him 1500 baht of his usual 2000-baht
salary.

He approached the Joint Action Committee for Burmese, the Thai Labour Law
Clinic and the Thai Labour Rights Protection Office and lodged a complaint
for compensation last month.

A Burmese housemaid was beaten by her employer last week and received just
200 baht in compensation from the labour office.

____________________________________
ASEAN

November 23, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
ASEAN delegates hold brainstorming session on fighting drug abuse

Delegates from the ASEAN countries held a brainstorming session in
Singapore Wednesday that focused on fighting drug abuse by helping each
other.

"The war on drugs cannot be fought individually," Singapore's Home Affairs
Senior Parliamentary Secretary Mohamad Maidin told the 110 delegates.

Countries in the Southeast Asian region have to work "hand-in-hand" to
formulate effective prevention measures, he added.

Participants from Malaysia said abusers are using inhalants such as glue
and then progress to other drugs.

An outreach programme focuses on schools and the family.

"At the parental level, they can tell when their children are taking
drugs," said Kamilia Ibrahim, secretary-general of the National
Association for the Prevention of Drugs.

The message to parents is "take care of your children, look after them and
see what are their activities, who their friends are, where they are in
the day and at night," the delegate said.

Singapore has waged a campaign against heroin and recently against
synthetic drugs.

"Certain programmes that work can also be applicable to other countries,"
said Poh Geok Ek, president of the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association.

"Eventually we will learn how the drug problem is spread, how it can be
fought and prevented," he said.

ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, includes Singapore,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos,
Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma).

____________________________________
OPINION

November 23, Mizzima News
Beyond a verbal stand - Kyaw Lin Oo

US President, George W. Bush, as leader of a democratic superpower,
pressed his Asian counterparts on Burma during his tour of the region last
week. He pointed out the Burmese junta's failure to pass democratic
reforms.

US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice also urged Burma's neighbours at
meetings in Busin, South Korea, to condemn the Burmese regime for its
human rights violations and foot-dragging on reforms. The joint comments
were the loudest made by the US on the Burma issue to date.

The US stand on Burma has been clear since Bush senior was President. In
1997, under democratic president Bill Clinton, the US enforced the first
round of sanctions on new investment in Burma. In 2003, President Bush
signed the Executive Degree for Burma Democracy and Freedom Act 2003,
banning imports from the country.

Despite its geographical distance from Burma, the US has supported the
democracy movement since 1988, withdrawing their ambassador. No other
superpower showed as much interest in Burma at the time.

In the early 1990s, the cold war ended and US foreign policy focused on
democracy and human rights around the world. But distracted by pressing
issues in the Middle East, US politicians did not set their sights on
Burma until 1997.

In 2003, the State Peace and Development Council, showed its colours by
attacking a convoy of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's most well-known democracy
icon. Since then she has remained largely under house arrest and the world
has woken up to the disaster that is modern Burma.

But international pressure, from the US and EU, has been relatively
fruitless and still the military have not made moves to introduce a
democratic system. The government's public relations campaigns and
international image suffered a further blow with the ousting of former
prime and spy chief, Khin Nyint, who was viewed by some as a reformist.

On December 5, the regime will restart the National Convention before
drafting a constitution in line with their 'road map' to democracy. The
opposition and the international community, including UN General Secretary
Kofi Annan, have criticised the regime for excluding the National League
for Democracy from the process. The regime has promised it will allow
civilian rule after the completion of the road map but has never specified
a time frame.

No one believes the regime will allow change because international and US
pressure is ineffective. Similar to any dictatorship the Burmese regime
will only understand cohesive action from the international community.

Although the US promised it would initiate UN Security Council discussions
on Burma no one is holding their breath for a resolution. As a result,
freedom and democracy for Burmese people seems as far away as ever.
Political suppression and economic difficulties discourage civilian
involvement in politics.

Therefore, the collective action of a group of nations is the best
strategy for initiating political change in Burma. People-power will do
little in Burma and we need the help of strong international players.

Action through the UN is unlikely and the world's leading democracies need
to take a chance and act on Burma so its peoples may finally experience
peace and freedom.

Kyaw Lin Oo studied International Relations at Webster University and is a
popular Burmese political commentator.