BurmaNet News, October 20, 2006

[Editor]

October 20, 2006 Issue # 3070


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar pro-democracy activist sentenced to three years in prison
Irrawaddy: Delegates demand rights in Burma’s National Convention
DVB: Dream on: Burma junta prepares to repel US invasion
DVB: Rangoon UNDP solo protestors released
DVB: Another prisoner dies in Burma jail
Mizzima: Burmese Prime Minister likely to visit Beijing
DVB: Burma junta making preparations to vilify detained student leaders

HEALTH / AIDS
Mizzima: HIV/AIDS-refugees and migrants at high risk

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Myanmar to introduce global telecom system in data exchange
Global Insight: Thailand is top investor in Myanmar during 2005 as Chinese
investment falls

REGIONAL
AFP: Death toll from Thai, Myanmar floods reaches 127
Khonumthung News: Malaysian authorities arrest 500 Chin refugees

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: US opens its doors to Chin Refugees

PRESS RELEASE
Clear Path International: Eastern Burma is now one of the world’s worst
health disasters

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 20, Associated Press
Myanmar pro-democracy activist sentenced to three years in prison

An activist in a petition drive calling on Myanmar's military leaders to
release political prisoners was sentenced to three years in jail at a
trial where he was denied a lawyer and defense witnesses, a fellow
activist said Friday.

Win Ko, a pro-democracy activist and member of the youth wing of Aung San
Suu Kyi's opposition party, was sentenced by a court in Letpadan, 160
kilometers (100 miles) north of Yangon, said Arnt Bwe Kyaw, an activist
who tried to visit him in prison but was denied entry.
Pro-democracy groups denounced the trial as unfair.

Win Ko was arrested Oct. 6 at the Letpadan train station in possession of
some 400 signatures he had collected from residents in the area as part of
a signature drive demanding the release of Suu Kyi and detained political
prisoners.

He was approached by officers from the Union Solidarity and Development
Association, a government-sponsored body that calls itself a social
organization and wields enormous authority.
When the officers searched his bag and asked him to explain the petitions,
he declined. The officers also allegedly found illegal lottery tickets in
his possession, a charge that Win Ko vehemently denied.

The court in Letpadan sentenced him to two years in prison for obstructing
the work of a government officer and to another year in prison for
possession of illegal lottery tickets, Arnt Bwe said.

"Win Ko was arrested on trumped up charges," said Arnt Bwe. "He was not
allowed a defense lawyer and no defense witness was brought before the
court."

The ruling military tolerates little dissent, harassing or detaining
critics and political foes such as opposition leader Suu Kyi, and keeping
tight restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly. According to Amnesty
International, they hold more than 1,150 political prisoners.

The signature campaign a rare protest against the repressive regime was
launched Oct. 2 by an informal group of former student leaders who were
key players in the 1988 movement that sought to end military rule in
Myanmar, then called Burma.

The military junta took power after crushing the 1988 pro-democracy
movement. It refused to yield two years later when Suu Kyi's political
party won a landslide victory in general elections.
Suu Kyi has spent nearly 11 of the last 17 years in detention, mostly
under house arrest, despite worldwide calls for her freedom along with
hundreds of other political prisoners.

Mya Aye, one of the organizers of the signature campaign, denounced Win
Ko's trial as "unlawful."

"We demand that authorities allow him the right to defend himself and have
a fair trial," Mya Aye said.

Separately, Thet Wai, a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy,
was freed from Insein prison on Thursday after serving two years for
alleged links with a protester who staged a rally in front of the U.N.
office in Yangon in September 2004.

NLD spokesman Myint Thein said Thet Wai's release came 25 days after his
two year-term had expired.

____________________________________

October 20, Irrawaddy
Delegates demand rights in Burma’s National Convention - Khun Sam

Ethnic delegations in Burma’s latest session of the constitution-drafting
National Convention have insisted on being given equal rights, while
complaining that the regime has been entrusting itself with greater
powers, according to sources close to the ethnic delegations.

“Having learned of proposals about their rights being omitted from
discussion [at the convention], ethnic groups are dissatisfied about last
week’s progress,” Nai Ong Ma’Nge, a spokesperson for the New Mon State
Party, told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

Nai Ong Ma’Nge added that ethnic ceasefire groups have asked for
amendments to the 104 basic principles drawn up by the government prior to
the creation of the National Convention. These principles, which would be
enshrined in a new constitution, ensure that Burma’s armed forces would
assume a commanding role in future affairs of state, and lack any
substantial democratic reforms.

“They [ceasefire groups] want to supplement these principles, mainly by
dividing the ratifying legislative powers more equally between the states
and the central government,” a NMSP central committee member said.

Discussions at the latest session of the National Convention have focused
on the power given to the central government and the military, the
committee member added. The future of ethnic ceasefire groups remains
unknown.

The National Convention began in 1993 as the first of seven steps in the
ruling junta’s roadmap to democracy. Burma’s main opposition party, the
National League for Democracy, has boycotted the assembly and the
international community has largely dismissed it as a sham.

Dr Manam Tu Ja, leader of the Karen Independence Organization delegates,
complained to The Irrawaddy on Friday that most of his group’s proposals
have been ignored.

Officials at the convention warned participants at the opening of the
current session not to discuss any issues that have not been included in
previously approved proposals, according to ethnic sources. Some special
sessions have also been suspended, amid disputes between ethnic
participants, and replaced by group discussions.

The latest session of the National Convention opened on October 10,
shortly after the UN Security Council voted to put Burma on its formal
agenda. The military government subsequently pressured ethnic groups to
issue statements—appearing in state-run newspapers—condemning the
Council’s decision and the US efforts that led to it.

The NMSP and the KIO refused to issue statements and instead welcomed the
world body’s decision.

____________________________________

October 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Dream on: Burma junta prepares to repel US invasion

Burma’s military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is
planning to carry out joint military exercises for its infantry and navy
in the delta region of Irrawaddy Division in lower Burma, according to
sources close to War Office in the new capital Kyetpyay.

Locally based troops were reportedly ordered to look for rough,
uninhabited lands so that exercising troops could camp out, and the
regional military command was also assigned to procure necessary rations
(from civilians).

It is not known exactly as to why the junta is deciding to carry out the
exercises, but the same sources told DVB that the psychological warfare
department has been carrying out widespread propaganda campaign among
ordinary soldiers that an international coalition invasion of Burma led by
the United States could enter the country from the area.

But observers believe that the junta's latest effort is only an attempt to
divert the attention of the Burmese public and its soldiers from the
political situation and the real problems of the country.

____________________________________

October 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Rangoon UNDP solo protestors released

Ohn Than who was imprisoned for staging a solo protest outside the UNDP
office in Rangoon and Thet Wai who was implicated in the case, were
released today having served their times.

Rangoon Sanchaung Township National League for Democracy (NLD) chairman
Thet Wai, a.k.a., Pauksa was released from the notorious Insein Jail and
Ohn Than was released from Moulein Jail in lower Burma, according to
sources close to their families.

Both of them were each sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and they were
released because they served their times.

A friend of Thet Wai, Thandar told DVB that prison authorities unusually
took him to a hospital for medical check-ups and drove him home as his
health is poor. Ohn Than will be returning to Rangoon from Moulmein
tomorrow, she added.

Ohn Than staged a peaceful solo protest outside the United Nations
Development Programme office on 21 September 2004, demanding the immediate
release of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the intervention of UN
Security Council in the affairs of Burma. His latter demanded was
eventually and partially fulfilled by the Security Council when it decided
to include Burma in its agenda recently.

____________________________________

October 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Another prisoner dies in Burma jail

A former Burmese intelligence officer died in Paletwa jail, in southern
Chin State, on 16 October, after he was refused proper treatment for a
chronic disease, according to a report by Narinjara News.

The report said Warrant Officer Myo Khin, aged about 40 years, from
Intelligence Unit 8 died from heart and kidney disease while he was being
kept at the Paletwa Township hospital. He was moved to Paletwa jail from a
jail in Burma proper sometime last year.

Myo Khin was arrested along with several other intelligence officers after
his boss, former Military Intelligence Service (MIS) chief General Khin
Nyunt, was dismissed from his post as Prime Minister in 2004.

The report emerged not long after former student leader and political
prisoner Thet Win Aung died suddenly in Mandalay Jail on 16 October and
his family was forced to cremate his remains on the following day.

There are more than 1100 political prisoners languishing in jails
throughout Burma, living in sub-human condition.

____________________________________

October 20, Mizzima News
Burmese Prime Minister likely to visit Beijing

The Burmese Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Soe Win will in all likelihood be
visiting China at the end of this month, according to a source close to
the military.

Soe Win is slated to visit Beijing on October 28, and will be accompanied
by various departmental ministers and businessmen, according to sources.

During his visit, the Burmese Prime Minister is likely to sign a
Memorandum of Understanding with China for a US $ 200 million aid to
Burma, which was principally agreed to by both countries during Soe Win's
last visit in 2005.

Sources told Mizzima that some businessmen are preparing to go China ahead
of Soe Win.

____________________________________

October 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma junta making preparations to vilify detained student leaders

Three ministers of Burma’s military junta, the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), are making preparations to try five detained student
leaders with trumped up charges, according to an official of pro-junta
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA).

According to the official from Eastern Rangoon District USDA who doesn’t
want to named, the three main plotters are U Thaung and Aung Thaung who
are in charge of USDA and information minister Brig-Gen Kyaw San (Hsan).

During last week, the three ministers ordered their informers to urgently
write up reports containing untrue facts about the detained leaders of 88
Generation Students Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Htay Kywe, Min Zeya and Pyone
Cho. The informers were instructed to paint a vivid picture that the
student leaders were trying to form a domestic political front with the
monetary support from foreign countries, according to another ‘reporter’
of the USDA.

The reporter added that the draft report written by informers were revised
and retouched by two professional journalists ‘adopted’ by Kyaw Hsan.
Copies of the finished report were sent to the SPDC chairman Gen Than
Shwe, vice-chairman Gen Maung Aye and Sa-Ya-Pha HQs.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

October 20, Mizzima News
HIV/AIDS-refugees and migrants at high risk - Christopher Smith

Fringe populations, including refugees, estranged ethnic minority groups
and migratory workers, comprise a high risk group vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
Their degree of human security is incredibly low. Burma represents a
source for every one of these groups.

Refugee and migrant populations from Burma is by and large a product of
political and economic crisis in Burma, often in combination with a direct
threat to the physical security of the people concerned. Fleeing from
danger, these populations are then exposed to a new array of risks in
their new lives. One such risk is that of contracting HIV and suffering
from AIDS.

Reliable estimates and projections regarding refugee populations and the
prevalence of HIV/AIDS are no less difficult to come by than the
corresponding numbers for Burma as a whole. Aid organizations working with
refugee and migrant populations along Burma's borders caution that no
statistics can be referenced with any degree of certainty. Subsequently,
analysis of quantitative data must be made with caution.

However, for reasons that will be outlined below, most concur that these
populations are confronted with an increased risk of infection and often
cannot receive medicines needed. A study in the late 1990s by Sudthichitt
Chintayananda found that the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS infection in
Thailand occurred at cross-border points along the Burmese border.

As of August 2006, the Thailand Burma Border Consortium lists 151,391
persons living in refugee camps along the Thai/Burmese border. Of this
figure, 62 percent are listed as originating from Karen state in Burma.
Additionally, estimates on the number of illegal migrants in Thailand from
Burma typically range from 750,000 to one million.

Other significant refugee and/or migrant Burmese populations exist along
Burma's borders with both India and China.

In an interview with Burma Issues in July 2004, Doctors Without Borders
personnel stated that they feared an epidemic in Karen camps, but that no
data was available with which to substantiate the severity of the crisis.
Through voluntary testing they found 50 cases of HIV/AIDS in the Mae La, a
camp with a population of around 50,000. However, they hesitate to make a
claim on the prevalence of the disease throughout Mae La or Karen refugee
camps in general.

Aid workers have reported occasional resistance to HIV/AIDS education
among many Karen refugees due to the high prevalence of Christian and
Baptist followers residing in the camps. This religious obstacle makes
educational training, especially when espousing the preventative benefits
of condoms, difficult to undertake. There are reports detailing the
burning of condom supplies in protest.

Women are at particular risk as a result of the, often economically
determined, migratory status of the men – who venture in and out of the
camps and regional urban areas in search of work. Upon returning or
visiting home, the men then occasionally carry with them the HIV/AIDS
virus.

Additionally, a growing number of girls end up working in the sex
industry, which puts them in a situation of obvious enhanced risk to
infection.

In Ruili, China, opposite Muse, Burma, a majority of women working in the
sex industry are from Burma. Due to a combination of a lack of education
and economic necessity, as many as 65 percent of those working in the
trade claim to not regularly using a condom.

And for those that remain in refugee camps, the typical nature of a
refugee's life within a camp environment serves only to further exacerbate
the issue. As Doug Webb of Save the Children writes, "Furthermore, young
refugees are often left days on end without anything to do. Without proper
recreation, livelihood and vocational support, young displaced people and
refugees are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse."

A 1997 survey by Mahidol University of migrant women seeking medical
assistance at the Mae Sot hospital (Mae Sot being a major population
centre of migrant Karen and in proximity to many of the refugee camps),
found that 3.1 percent of women tested positive for HIV/AIDS. The
prevalence of HIV/AIDS for Burma as a whole, as measured by the Central
Intelligence Agency, is estimated to be around 1.2 percent.

A 1999 Parental Clinic Screening undertaken by Dr. Cynthia Maung at the
Mao Tao Clinic outside Mae Sot, revealed an infection rate of 0.8 percent.
Additionally, Dr. Maung reported an average of two to three persons a
month crossing over the border from Burma, afflicted with AIDS and unable
to find any medical treatment inside of the country.

The Mae Tao Clinic reported in their 2005 Annual Report that 0.9 percent
of new admissions were found to be living with HIV/AIDS. Additionally, the
report sited that 2.2 percent of women receiving antenatal care through
the Clinic suffer from HIV. Five years earlier the incidence was less than
one percent.

But Karen ethnic, refugee and migrant populations are not the only ones
faced with an increased risk.

Dr. Chris Beyrer of Johns Hopkins, who gave the alarmingly high estimate
of upwards to seven percent for the overall population of Burma, in the
same 2000 study estimated the incidence of HIV/AIDS in Shan state –
inclusive of internally displaced people and migrants – at 10 percent.

In a follow-up 2004 study, Dr. Beyrer concluded that in northern Shan
state, around Lashio, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS stood at a staggering 74
percent. Additionally, he found that along the Chinese border almost 93
percent of people were believed to be HIV positive or suffering from AIDS.
His numbers for Shan state as a whole stood at 42 percent.

However, a 1999 study by the French National Centre for Scientific
Research found that among Shan migrant workers in Chiang Mai Province, the
prevalence of HIV/AIDS stood at 4.9 percent – still a figure that would
merit the label of an epidemic.

Probably not of coincidence, both the Karen and the Shan have been waging
a protracted struggle against the ruling junta.

Additionally, due to the legal status of many Burmese migrants outside
Burma, they are hesitant to seek medical attention due to the potential
negative side effects, for example deportation and of being confronted by
government officials.

The classification of this population as economic and illegal migrants, as
opposed to the political refugees that can be found in the camps, in
addition to preventing the delivery of services available to legal
residents of Thailand, makes it prohibitively difficult for international
agencies and aid workers to be able to secure funds and work with the
migrant population.

As Dr. Maung points out, "If migrants are continually prevented from
seeking health care and counseling, their vulnerability will continue."

A Physicians for Human Rights report urges the government of Thailand to
crack down on crimes against migrants, including human trafficking, while
providing HIV/AIDS health services and programmes for Burmese migrants.
The organisation stresses that anti-retroviral therapy should be made
available to foreign resident migrants on an equal basis with the Thais.

Though estimates on the incidence of HIV/AIDS among the Burmese migrant
community are not available, UNAIDS has calculated a figure of ten percent
for the migrant community of Nepal. Nepalese migrants are confronted with
most of the same factors contributing to the high risk of contraction
within the Burmese migrant community.

If this figure in any way resembles the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among
Burmese migrants, then over a 100,000 Burmese migrants would be projected
as living with HIV/AIDS.

Yet, human rights discourse also stands as an obstacle to accurate
statistics regarding the magnitude of the epidemic, who in fact is
infected and how best to direct resources available.

Following an agreement by the governments of Burma and Thailand to enact
mandatory testing of migrants returning to Burma from Thailand and the
subsequent hospitalization of those who tested positive, Human Rights
Watch protested that the enforcement of such mandatory testing and
measures was a violation of rights and "in basic disagreement with
international standards."

In agreement with this position, Refugees International and the Open
Society Institute has referred to mandatory testing as "a human rights
abuse and against the UN HIV Principles and Guidelines adopted by member
states (including Thailand and Burma)."

However, Viroj Wiwanitkit and Weerachit Waenlor of Chulalongkorn
University in Bangkok disagree. They argue that the negligence of not
screening Burmese migrants in Thailand, whether they are repatriated or
not, puts the Thai population at unnecessary risk to exposure.

Clearly refugee and migrant populations stand at an increased risk to
HIV/AIDS due to the facts of their day to day lives. The reality of their
existence and the dangers they then face are compounded by limited
educational and economic opportunities, thereby often forcing or dictating
what lifestyle is led and what chances are taken.

While it is possible to at least try and direct attention and assistance
to these at risk groups, the cessation of refugee and migrant emigration,
and thus an overall improvement in their human security, can only be
realized with substantive change, politically and economically, inside
Burma itself.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 20, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to introduce global telecom system in data exchange

Myanmar will introduce an extra high-speed global telecommunication system
(GTS) in international weather forecast data exchange by the end of this
year, a local weekly journal reported Friday.

With a capacity of exchange of up to 30,000 words per second which is 600
times faster, the GTS will replace the current system which can exchange
only 50 words per second, the Khit Myanmar said.

The project is being assisted by the World Meteorology Organization and
the assistance stands the biggest in 20 years, the Myanmar Meteorology and
Hydrology Department (MHD) was quoted as saying.

According to the MHD, a company from South Africa has won the tender for
providing services in upgrading Myanmar's weather forecast services and an
expert from the company will be dispatched for the purpose in November.

Once the data exchange speed is raised, Myanmar's lowest status in world's
weather forecast data exchange will pick up to the international level, an
official of the MHD said.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is installing a national tsunami monitoring system in
the country's western coastal region with the help of international
organizations to receive flash data from the regional system installed in
the Indian Ocean.

Under the arrangement of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Government Ocenal
Graphic Commission (IOC), the tsunami wave build-up national monitoring
sys-tem is to be installed in Sittway or Kyaikhami in the coastal Rakhine
state which lies near the Indian Ocean.

Tsunami data from the regional early warning center already set up in the
Indian Ocean will be received by Myanmar's early warning center through
the GTS.

In early 2005, in a bid to strengthen its tsunami warning system, Myanmar
also set up a national committee for natural disaster prevention and
resettlement that involves many ministries.

____________________________________

October 20, Global Insight
Thailand is top investor in Myanmar during 2005 as Chinese investment
falls - Elizabeth Mills

Government statistics released yesterday reveal that Myanmar received its
highest-ever investment totals in the last fiscal year (FY). Reports
suggest that investment inflows totaled US$6.07 billion, up from just
US$158.28 million in the previous fiscal year.

The significant rise is largely the result of the Thai-funded US$6 billion
Ta Sang hydropower project, which is situated on the Salween river in Shan
state. The rest of the investment went into the oil, gas and mining
sectors, with India investing US$30.6 million, Thailand a further US$4.4
million and China US$700,000.

With Thai-land standing as Myanmar's largest investor in FY2005,
investment from China dropped off, falling from US$126.55 million in
FY2004 to US$700,000 in FY2005. In fact, the total number of foreign
companies investing in the country dropped dramatically from 15 in FY2004
to just five in the last fiscal year. These included one Chinese firm, two
Indian companies and two Thai firms.

Significance: The figures are interesting, although at this stage it is
too early to tell if they mark any particular trends. In this respect, the
sizeable drop in investment from China is significant and will need to be
watched.

It has long been argued that the activities of investors from countries
such as China and India have sorely undermined the sanctions regime
imposed by a number of Western nations. That said, the scramble for
natural resources in the region means it is difficult to see China and
India ending their pursuit of energy and mining interests in Myanmar.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

October 20, Agence France Presse
Death toll from Thai, Myanmar floods reaches 127

The death toll from severe flooding in Thailand and neighboring Myanmar
reached 127 as Thai weather authorities warned Friday of more heavy rains
over the weekend in the country's south.
At least 108 people have died in Thailand since severe flooding began in
late August in the country's central and northern provinces, the interior
ministry said in a statement.

The death toll soared overnight after the ministry confirmed that 25
people reported dead earlier were confirmed to be flood victims.

The water that inundated northern Thailand was slowly working its way
south, but 16 central provinces were still suffering from the floods, the
ministry said.

At its peak earlier in the month, the flooding, triggered by heavy rains
from Typhoon Xangsane, affected 46 of the nation's 76 provinces.

In neighboring Myanmar, 19 people died in floods across central and
eastern parts of the country, but in most places there, the water has
already subsided.

____________________________________

October 20, Khonumthung News
Malaysian authorities arrest 500 Chin refugees

Malaysian authorities have arrested and imprisoned around 500 Chin
refugees including seven women.

The authorities have been arresting illegal Chin immigrants and refugees
since the last week of July. The refugees have been imprisoned in four
cells, according to Chin refugees staying in Malaysia .

A CRC member Salai San said that among the 500 Chin refugees, 33 were sent
to the Thai-Malaysian border and till now the situation they are in,
cannot be ascertained by the association of Chin Refugees – CRC.

The authorities separated the group of arrested foreigners into two
categories -- as refugees and illegal immigrants. The refugees were hand
over to the Malaysian United Nation High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR).

It is learnt that the Malaysian authorities recognized those who were
handed over to the UNHCR as illegal Chin refugees.

If a person identifies himself as an illegal immigrant and not a refugee,
the authorities will take him to court and pass a sentence which ranges
between four months to a year in prison. Following which he will be sent
to the Thai-Malaysia border.

During the four month crackdown on illegal immigrants, Malaysian
authorities put all of them in camps in Sungai Buluh, Semuyih and
Lengeng,in Selangor State , Tanah Merah and Kalantan state. Most were
arrested from among workers in Jalan Sampeng, Putrajaya, Butu 9, and
Cheras Alam Jaya areas.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 20, Irrawaddy
US opens its doors to Chin Refugees - Shah Paung

Ethnic Chin refugees in Thailand, Malaysia and India are to be allowed to
resettle in the US as long as they meet all eligibility requirements, the
US State Department announced on Thursday.

Applications would be considered even if refugees had provided “material
support” to Chin rebel groups such as the Chin National Front and its
military wing, the Chin National Army, the announcement said.

One requirement for eligibility is that applicants pose no security threat
to the US. Welcoming the US announcement, Victor Khensang, an official of
the Chin Human Rights Organization, said refugees who were supporters of
the CNF or CNA posed no threat to the US.

Applications for resettlement will be screened by the US Department of
Homeland Security’s United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Victor Khensang said that although the US decision to open its doors to
Chin refugees represented no long-term solution it nonetheless would help
those in difficulty. “This process cannot solve the main problem, but it
can solve some part,” he said.

In June, an immigration judge in the US refused a resettlement request by
a Chin woman, resident in Texas, on the grounds that she had given support
to the CNF, which is involved in hostilities with the Burmese army along
Burma’s border with India.

In another development, Washington is to allow 2,700 ethnic Karen refugees
from Tham Hin camp in Thailand to resettle in the US. Some 1,100 have
arrived so far.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

October 19, Clear Path International
Eastern Burma is now one of the world’s worst health disasters

Clear Path International supports a group of medical technicians from the
Karen Handicap Welfare Association who go with members of the Back Pack
Health Workers Team to measure, deliver and fit prostheses for internally
displaced Karen landmine accident survivors inside Myanmar. This is the
backpackers' dire assessment of the general health conditions in which
their people live.

Eastern Burma is now one of the world’s worst health disasters

The report entitled “Chronic Emergency,” released by the Backpack Health
Worker Team (BPHWT), is the result of systematic surveys in communities of
internally displaced persons living in the eastern conflict zones of Burma
and provides the first glimpse of their health status.

The report shows that decades of civil war have decimated the health of
these populations, with standard health indicators ranking this area
amongst the worst in the world. The report also demonstrates that human
rights abuses such as forced relocation, violence, forced labor, and the
destruction of food and crops are common and serve as major drivers of the
health crisis.

Launching the report, Thai Senator Jon Ungphakorn, a member of the ASEAN
Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, blamed the Burmese regime for the
ongoing health crisis in eastern Burma.
“With abysmal statistics like these, it is no wonder the regime tries so
hard to hide them from the world. The Burmese military junta is the source
of the problem, not only through its abuses and neglect of the welfare of
the people, but also through increasing restrictions on humanitarian aid
efforts, particularly to ethnic minorities living in rural Burma.”

The BPHWT are a multi-ethnic group of mobile medical teams serving
displaced people in Eastern Burma. Dr Cynthia Maung, a founding member of
the BPHWT, recipient of the Magsaysay Award and a Nobel Peace Prize
nominee in 2005, says eastern Burma is a humanitarian disaster zone.

“One out of twelve women may lose their life giving birth. Displaced
people are 2.4 times more likely to have a child die than people not
displaced. Their children, if they do survive, are more likely to be
malnourished. Most of these deaths and illnesses are preventable.”

According to statistics from international agencies such as UNICEF,
Burma’s national figures for infant and child mortality already rank
amongst the worst in Southeast Asia. Adds Dr. Maung, “In eastern Burma it
is even worse, infant and child mortality is twice as high. In displaced
areas, one-in-five children will die before their fifth birthday and over
15 percent of children suffer from malnutrition.”

Despite the scale of the crisis, the junta has instead exacerbated the
situation, launching the biggest offensive in eastern Burma for a decade
in February of this year, displacing an additional 18,000 people.

The BPHWT report concludes that without addressing the factors which drive
this health crisis, such as the human rights abuses and inability to
access healthcare services, there can be no sustainable solution to this
chronic emergency.

For more information please contact:

 - Dr. Cynthia Maung ( phone. 09-9615054 )
  Note: ( 18:00 to 21:00 hrs Bangkok Local Time)

 - Mahn Mahn ( phone. 07-9438750 )

To see the full report please visit www.bphwt.org