BurmaNet News, December 21, 2006

[Editor]

December 21, 2006 Issue # 3111


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Racketeers prey on Burmese job-seekers

REGIONAL
Jakarta Post: Washington seeks RI cooperation at Security Council
Mizzima: India to impart training to Burmese officials

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: New US House foreign affairs chief vows to "listen" to Asia
Straits Times (Singapore): Democrats on Asia: Bluster or real change?
Edmonton Journal: One woman's resistance shows the cracks in a repressive
regime

OPINION / OTHER
Jakarta Post: ASEAN human rights

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 21, Irrawaddy
Racketeers prey on Burmese job-seekers - Khun Sam

A hopeful Burmese migrant worker from Sagaing Division who paid a foreign
employment agency to fly him to a job and a new life in Malaysia found
himself still in Burma when he stepped from the plane. “Welcome to Nyaung
Oo Airport,” read the sign that told him he was in Pagan, the Burmese
tourist town, a long way from Malaysia.

Other job-seekers were told they had paid only for tickets “without seat”
and that only payment of a further 50,000 kyat (US $40) guaranteed a place
on the plane.

The hard-luck stories were reported by the Rangoon-based weekly Khit
Myanmar, and illustrate the extent of racketeering by shady employment
agencies, both within Burma and based outside the country. Up to 200
employment agencies are reported to be operating in Burma, handling a
flood of applications from job-seekers encouraged by a relaxation of
passport and travel formalities.

One employment agency, PM Company, owned by a retired military official
and which also operates as an export-import enterprise, is named in a
joint complaint by 51 job-seekers who say they paid the firm a total of 70
million kyats ($ 56,680) for jobs in Japan that never materialized. Their
letter of complaint—a copy of which was obtained by The Irrawaddy—was
filed with the Ministry of Home Affairs, and charges that six months after
parting with their money the promised jobs remain just that—promises.

A PM Company official confirmed to The Irrawaddy that complaints had been
filed, but said 20 of the complainants had been refunded their money and
efforts were still being made to place the others in jobs in Japan.

A Khit Myanmar staff member, requesting anonymity, told The Irrawaddy that
similar cases were commonplace in Burma, with most victims being promised
jobs in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, but official censorship prevented
investigative reporting of racketeering.

The official Burmese regime standpoint is to claim success with its
employment policies. Deputy Minister for Labor Maj-Gen Aung Kyi told a
press conference on December 17 that “employment opportunities” had more
than doubled since 1988-89.

Aung Kyi told reporters Burma’s workforce had increased in the current
year to more than 34.7 million. At the same time, licenses had been
granted to 70 overseas employment agencies, resulting in 28,689 job
vacancies in14 countries.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 21, The Jakarta Post
Washington seeks RI cooperation at Security Council - Abdul Khalik

The United States wants to cooperate closely with  Indonesia when it takes
its seat on the United Nations Security Council next year, especially on
international issues  like the Palestine-Israel conflict, the Iraq war,
the Iranian nuclear controversy and Myanmar, an official says.

The U.S. State Department's principal deputy assistant secretary at the
Bureau of International Organization  Affairs, James B. Warlick, said he
was in the country to meet with officials, people from the private sector,
and  academics to sound out how Indonesia would likely address
international issues at the council
"I am here to learn about what your views are on many of the issues at the
Security Council, and discuss how we   can work together effectively in
the council," Warlick said Tuesday.

He has also extended an invitation for an Indonesian delegation to come to
Washington for talks
He said the U.S. expected that Indonesia, as a leader in the region, would
have valuable perspectives on the issues  discussed on the council.

Warlick said former foreign minister Ali Alatas told him the U.S. did not
have to "worry" about Indonesia  on the council because the two countries
shared many values.

"That means a lot. That means we can work with you even though we don't
always agree on peace and security.  As a democracy, a leader in the
region and a respected voice in the international community, I think you
will bring a  lot to the council and countries currently sitting in the
council will look up to Indonesia for these reasons," he said.

On the Israel-Palestine conflict, Warlick said the UN would put a focus on
solving Middle East conflicts through the Quartet -- the United States,
Russia, the European Union and the United Nations
With Indonesia sitting on the council, he said, the country would have an
important role in addressing some of the most difficult issues in the
region.

The United States, Warlick said, wanted Palestinian political party Hamas
to become a responsible player in the region by accepting the Quartet
principle, the roadmap and the two-state solution in which it recognized
Israel's right to exist.

"It's very difficult for us to understand why Hamas can't accept that,
while the rest of the world has. If we're going to move ahead, we need a
Palestinian authority that recognizes a two-state solution ... It would be
very difficult for the United Nations and the Quartet to make a progress
on problems if it didn't accept the Quartet," he said.

Warlick urged countries in the United Nations and the Security Council to
use the organization to solve the conflict, instead of isolating and
embarrassing Israel and the U.S.

On Iraq, Warlick said his trip to Indonesia was also to seek details about
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's "triple-track" proposal for resolving
Iraq's problems.

"We'd like to learn more from him (Yudhoyono) ... because Indonesia has
some unique abilities to help in this regard. So, we're interested in
hearing more about the proposal, so that we can seriously consider it," he
said.

On Iranian nuclear issue, Warlick said, the U.S. was prepared to talk with
the country if it stopped its nuclear enrichment program.

"Iran will be one of the issues that will be a big challenge for Indonesia
on the council. This week, the council will make a resolution on Iran," he
said.

Warlick said Myanmar would be the first high-profile case Indonesia had to
face on the council.

"We put Burma (Myanmar) on the agenda of the Security Council because it
is not just an internal issue for the Burmese but it is an issue of peace
and security to the region...And it's getting worse by the day."  "We have
a resolution on Burma to make the current Burmese government accountable
for its actions. We hope we can adopt it early next month.

We believe that the Indonesian government can be very helpful. We have
shared the text of the resolution and hope Indonesia can suggest how it
can be improved," he said.

In August, the country was elected a non-permanent member on the council
for the 2007-2008 term.

____________________________________

December 21, Mizzima News
India to impart training to Burmese officials - Mungpi

India's Union Home Minister Mr. Shivraj Patil today agreed to arrange for
training and capacity building of Burmese officials during Home Minister
level talks in New Delhi, Indian Home Ministry sources said.

At the one-day bilateral talks, Mr. Patil, assured his Burmese counterpart
Maj. Gen. Maung Oo, "of all possible assistance in the field of training
and capacity-building of Myanmar Home Ministry officials," Onkar Kedia of
Media & Communication Department of the Indian Home Ministry told Mizzima.

The two ministers discussed various issues of mutual interest and concerns
of India and Burma. Mr. Patil wanted his counterpart to effectively manage
the border.

India has long utilized such meetings to reiterate its call to Burma to
effectively manage the border and in particular flush out Indian insurgent
groups operating from Burmese soil.

While Maung Oo agreed to extend full cooperation to India with regard to
security, drug trafficking and effective border management, he wanted
India to provide training for Burmese officials to handle the task.

Maung Oo, who is in India since December 17 at the invitation of Mr.
Patil, also visited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) at Bangalore, the National Police Academy
and the software development facility of a leading firm in Hyderabad.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 21, Agence France Presse
New US House foreign affairs chief vows to "listen" to Asia - P. Parameswaran

Washington: The incoming head of the US House of Representatives' top
foreign affairs panel has vowed to pursue a "more diplomatic, respectful
and listening posture" with Asia in a bid to enhance ties with the region.

But lawmaker Tom Lantos of the Democratic party, which wrests control of
Congress from President George W. Bush's Republicans in January, said he
would not waver in upholding human rights in the region, where China,
North Korea and Myanmar notably have come under the spotlight for alleged
abuses.

Lantos, who takes over from retiring Republican Henry Hyde as chairman of
the House international relations committee, said he planned to make his
third visit to North Korea in the first half of 2007 as part of a bid to
emphasize to the Bush administration that direct talks was essential to
woo the reclusive state to abandon its nuclear weapons drive.

The United States, which has no diplomatic relations with North Korea,
only talks to North Korea within the context of the China-hosted
multilateral dialogue aimed at disbanding Pyongyang's atomic program.

"In general, to whatever extent the chairman of the international
relations committee has impact on foreign policy, I personally will look
forward to promoting a more multilateral foreign policy, a foreign policy
which listens to our Asian friends and allies with respect and an open
mind," he said.

"None of us has a monopoly on virtue or wisdown and I'm always convinced,
everytime I go to Asia, that I learn a great deal from my Asian friends
and interlocutors," said the 78-year old Lantos, who is set to enter his
26th year as Congressman.

"So, I hope the posture will be a more diplomatic, respectful and
listening posture," he said, adding "the tone and tenure of US foreign
policy to whatever extent I can influence will improve vis-a-vis Asia."

Lantos, a key architect of the landmark legislation passed this month to
launch nuclear commerce with India, plans to travel to the region this
year aside from his trip to North Korea.

His previous trips covered China, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan,
Indonesia and Japan.

Lantos said he had held talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
on various foreign policy issues, including North Korea.

Asked whether he expected any changes in the Bush administration's policy,
he would only say, "When we see a change, we will see it together."

Lantos had been pushing for the top US negotiator in the six-party nuclear
talks, Christopher Hill, to visit North Korea.

"(The visit is) not as alternative to the six-party talks but as a
compliment to the six-party talks," he said referring to the
three-year-old forum involving the United States, the two Koreas, China,
Japan and Russia aimed at disbanding Pyongyang's atomic program.

Lantos, born in Hungary and the only survivor of the Holocaust ever
elected to the US Congress, also pledged to work actively to end rights
abuses in Asia but cautioned against any quick successes.

"The achievement of human rights goals almost invariably is a very long
process," he said. "We would like to have a magic wand to bring human
rights improvements everywhere. But we need to have some patience in
dealing with these issues... and we must learn this principally from
Asians."

Lantos also said it would be in "Japan's best interest to put the past
behind it," referring to prime ministerial visits to the Yasukuni shrine,
which honours top war criminals among the dead of the World War II.

The visits had angered Asian neighbours.

To underline his human rights concerns in Vietnam, Lantos twice voted
against a bill recently to normalize trade relations with the communist
state. Congress finally passed it in early December by a close margin.

In addition, he goes to the Myanmar embassy in Washington nearly every
year to deliver birthday cards for Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu
Kyi, who is under house arrest in Yangon.

____________________________________

December 21, The Straits Times (Singapore)
Democrats on Asia: Bluster or real change? - Derwin Pereira

Washington - The new year will see a handful of seasoned Democrats
championing democracy, human rights and protectionism, shaping
congressional opinion on Asia.

China, Indonesia and Myanmar in particular will be in their sights when
the new Congress opens in January.

But with foreign policy still the sole prerogative of President George W.
Bush - and the Democrat camp deeply divided - expect little change in the
immediate future but plenty of bluster and populist rhetoric.

Clearly, the Democrats, led by opinionated and often confrontational
leaders such as incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry
Reid, will press for change in a partisan atmosphere charged by the
looming presidential election of 2008.

Beijing, in particular, should brace itself for cold winds blowing in its
direction from Capitol Hill.

Washington might be seized with Iraq and the Middle East, but China will
figure prominently too. Indeed, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
predicts a 'civil war' in American politics over the massive US trade
deficit with China.

The key player on the China front will undoubtedly be Ms Pelosi. She has
been Beijing's harshest critic on its human rights record and trade
practices for years and calls America's trade relationship with China a
disaster.

There are concerns in the White House that a Pelosi-led,
Democrat-controlled House could seize on China issues to bash the Bush
administration.

Ms Pelosi's California district includes San Francisco's Chinatown, which
has traditionally taken an anti-Beijing stance. Her aides were quoted by
the Washington Post as saying she would allow tough China legislation to
come to a full vote in the House, instead of keeping the Bills bottled up
in committees, as previous speakers have done.

The Senate, with Mr Reid as majority leader, also seems poised to play
hard ball with Beijing. Four other senators will play a critical role.

Messrs Max Baucus, Charles E. Schumer, Lindsey Graham and Charles Grassley
are drafting legislation that would apply pressure on China, in the form
of sanctions on imports.

Mr Baucus will head the Finance Committee. He and the others will pressure
Beijing to allow a freer float of the yuan.

In the House, representative Sander Levin of the influential Ways and
Means Committee supports a hardline American stance on trade issues.

Mr Thomas Lantos, who will head the House Committee on International
Relations, is also someone to watch. He has a long record of vocal
opposition to alleged human rights abuses in China.

While Congress will have its prominent China bashers, their views are at
odds with the outlook of a large number of other Democrats.

Dr Robert Sutter, a seasoned China watcher at Georgetown University,
points out that many of these other Democrats joined working groups aimed
at fostering a more pragmatic US policy on Beijing.

Such groups moderate the congressional tendency to bash China.

Dr Sutter noted the bruising fight among Democrats leading to the
selection of Representative Steny Hoyer as House Majority Leader against
the wishes of Ms Pelosi. It was an indication that they might not
necessarily toe her line.

'Even if Speaker Pelosi wanted to push House Democrats to follow her past
leanings to be tough in relations with China and on other Asian issues
regarding human rights and trade, the make-up of the Democrat caucus and
likely committee leadership strongly suggests less than uniform support,'
he said.

A similar dynamic might be in place for Indonesia.

Jakarta is watching with some trepidation the appointment of Senator
Patrick Leahy as chairman of the Foreign Operations Appropriations
Sub-Committee, which disburses funds for foreign and military aid.

Mr Leahy, after all, was the author of legislation tying military aid to
human rights violations by the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) following
violence in East Timor in 1999.

In November last year, military ties were restored. The concern now is
that he will use his new position to block funds for the TNI.

In the same camp is Mr Tim Reischer, chief-of-staff of the Foreign
Operations Appropriations Sub-Committee.

Congressional sources highlight three other prominent faces who could take
a tough line.

One is Democrat Russell Feingold, who worked with Mr Leahy in the late
1990s to tighten the screws on the TNI.

Another is Mr Eni Faleomavaega, a leading candidate for the Asia and
Pacific Sub-Committee in the House Foreign Relations Committee, hails from
Samoa and is a staunch supporter of Papuan independence from Indonesia.

And the third is Ms Nina Lowey, who will be Mr Leahy's counterpart in the
House Foreign Operations Appropriations Sub-Committee.

But among the Democrats, there are also those who appear friendly towards
Jakarta and supportive of reform efforts by the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
administration. They include Mr Robert Wexler of the Indonesia Caucus and
rising star Senator Barack Obama who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee.

Mr Obama, whose stepfather is Indonesian, lived in Jakarta for four years
as a teenager.

A senior Indonesian official told The Straits Times: 'Leahy's position is
decisive for Indonesia because he controls the purse strings. We expect a
lot of hot air from him. But we believe that if there is a vote in
Congress against any detrimental legislation he might introduce against
Indonesia, we will have our fair share of supporters.'

In the case of Myanmar, however, there appears to be unity not only within
the Democratic Party but also with Republicans, and it is a deep-seated
hostility towards the military junta.

Dr Sutter, for one, is expecting sound and fury in the new Congress, but
not a whole lot more given that in the end, the President calls the shots.

He said: 'Although a US economic recession - or a massive government
crackdown, military confrontation, or other unanticipated development in
Asia - could substantially change US policy, prevailing circumstances
argue for only modest change.'

Democrats to watch

ON CHINA
Ms Nancy Pelosi, Mr Harry Reid, Mr Tom Lantos, Mr Charles Schumer, Mr
Lindsey Graham, Mr Max Baucus, Mr Charles Grassley, and Mr Sander Levin.

ON INDONESIA
Mr Patrick Leahy, Mr Russell Feingold, Mr Eni Faleomavaega, Ms Nina Lowey

ON MYANMAR
Ms Nancy Pelosi, Mr Tom Lantos

____________________________________

December 21, Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
One woman's resistance shows the cracks in a repressive regime:
International pressure can actually accomplish something in Burma - Kate
Heartfield, CanWest News Service

Ottawa: There is good news out of Burma. It may not sound like it, but
trust me: It's good news.
A young woman with a heart condition only had to serve nine months in
prison for refusing to work for no pay.

Su Su Nway is just one of many ordinary people fighting one of the world's
worst regimes. Sometimes, the ordinary people win.

The ruling junta in Burma (officially, Myanmar) demands many things of its
citizens: their food, their freedom, their bodies, their acquiescence. One
of the most constant and harmful demands is for forced labour.

Villages must supply workers -- including children and old people --
whenever the government decides it needs a road, or a military camp, or a
pointless fence in the middle of nowhere. The army can also force
villagers to act as porters.

These people are temporary slaves. They don't get paid. If they need to
bargain their way out of a job, they pay what little they have. If they
don't bargain their way out of it, they lose the ability, for days at a
time, to earn a living or tend crops.

Su Su Nway decided she wasn't going to repair a road for no pay. She went
to court. Forced labour is technically illegal in Burma, thanks to a
campaign by the International Labour Organization that pushed the junta to
declare it so.

Somehow, Su Su Nway got a judge to side with her and sentence two of the
junta's local officials to eight months in jail.

But Su Su Nway was then charged with defaming the local administration and
sentenced to 18 months. After nine months, she was released; Su Su Nway
told me, in written answers to my questions, that she owes that release to
international pressure. She also said the two officials didn't serve their
eight-month sentences, and the judge was moved to another township.

Rights and Democracy, an independent advocacy group created by Canada's
Parliament, gave its annual John Humphrey Freedom Award to Su Su Nway on
Dec. 6.

She couldn't travel here to accept the award, but Burma's prime minister
in exile and other dignitaries and activists were in Ottawa to celebrate
her achievement, participate in a seminar on forced labour and see the
launch of Canada's Parliamentary Friends of Burma, a group of MPs and
senators working to improve human rights in that country.

At the seminar, I spoke with Kevin Heppner, a Canadian who has lived on or
near the border between Thailand and Burma for 15 years. He described Su
Su Nway's achievement as "a crack in the impunity."

His organization, the Karen Human Rights Group, has started encouraging
villagers to stand up in small ways, because people like Su Su Nway show
that non-co-operation can work.

"In Burma you have this regime that on the surface appears to have
absolute power, but very few people co-operate with it, and because of
that it's actually very weak in a lot of ways," he said.

"They can't get their roads built, they can't get their military
infrastructure that they'd like because people aren't doing everything
they're told. Someone like Su Su Nway is just one particular example of
that."

Something exactly like Su Su Nway's victory is unlikely to happen again,
Heppner told me, but there are other methods of non-co-operation that can
work.

Village heads stall and resist when they get the orders to supply workers.
Many villages are appointing old women as village heads, because old women
are held in high regard in Burma's culture. The young soldiers who are
supposed to force the village heads to comply at gunpoint take one look at
these old "mothers" and, in Heppner's words, "turn to Jell-O."

Every person who gets away with refusing to work undermines the regime
just a little.

"In Burma, word spreads like wildfire," Heppner says.

Burma often seems like a permanent blot on the political map of the world.
Change, though, is possible.

In the story I've just told, the junta bent to international pressure
twice: once to ban forced labour, once to free Su Su Nway.

"You can see that there's a lot of things you can accomplish without
having to change the regime," said Heppner. He added: "Of course, changing
the regime is the objective."

Canada can help create both incremental and radical change.

"I really feel we need to think about Burma as we did about South Africa,"
said Gerry Barr of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation at
the seminar. "There needs to be a no-go zone there for Canadian
companies."

If Su Su Nway can refuse to co-operate with the junta, so can Canadian
business and Canadian politicians.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 21, The Jakarta Post
ASEAN human rights

Indonesian Foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda was correct when he said
earlier this week that the establishment of a regional human rights
commission was inevitable.

"We can't become the ASEAN Community that we have envisioned ourselves to
be until and unless the promotion and protection of human rights is
pervasive in our region," he said during a roundtable discussion on human
rights   at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

There can be no doubt that ASEAN is lagging behind other regional groups
in addressing human rights concerns, with  African, American, and European
countries already having long-established rights commissions.

We welcome the Foreign Ministry's renewed commitment to human rights as
part of the diplomatic agenda.

As the world's third greatest democracy -- in size, not quality -- the
values which are now the defining pillars of this society should become a
platform of the nation's diplomacy.

We have detected such a trend in our diplomatic rhetoric particularly over
the past year.

The foreign minister has decried the lack of democratic progress in
ASEAN's "problem child", Myanmar,   and expressed regret at the
undemocratic change of leadership in Thailand.

While we believe the Foreign Ministry still sits on the fence on many
issues related to human rights, it is starting   to lean in the right
direction.

It is now the duty of civil society to compel them to get off the fence.
This evolution cannot be left to the slow machinery of bureaucracy and
stodgy diplomatic propriety.

Efforts to establish a regional human rights mechanism have failed for 13
years. Even Hassan continues to insist that a gradual approach is best.

We fully comprehend the limitations faced by Indonesian diplomats working
within the rigid protocols of ASEAN.

But how much more gradual can ASEAN be when after 13 years, there is
little to show in terms of progress toward a  rights mechanism? Education
and promotion of human rights is an important element, but protection is
just as integral. At present, regional efforts on the former are scarce,
and on the latter nonexistent.

We understand that values do not change overnight, but it is also an
inalienable fact that human rights promotion and protection are integrally
packaged. One cannot begin to engage in the first and delay the other to
some point when it is deemed politically viable.

Hence, while the Foreign Ministry sees fit to follow the winding track of
ASEANism, conducting studies and forming committees and a working group on
this issue, it should also be blunt in its bilateral dialog. This is
especially the case with fellow ASEAN members. As neighbors and friends
living in a community we should be able to be more open with each other.

There has to be a breakthrough in the coming year which will show that
Indonesia is committed beyond the flurry of headlines and big speeches.

A breakthrough which does not have to upset the carefully constructed
framework of cooperation within ASEAN, but with enough grit to indicate
this country is serious about the issue.

The Indonesian people are striving and struggling, and some are dying, so
we that can firmly establish a system in which the dignity and rights of
citizens are paramount.

Without imposing our views, we should ask what is the point of such an
effort if we continue to condone, and in some ways support, contrary
practices by our closest friends and neighbors.

No one would be friends with someone who was openly abusing his or her
family. Should the state not live by equal principles? If Indonesian
officials refuse to be more decisive with countries like Myanmar, for
example, they should not shy away from engaging in dialog with opposition
groups within that country.

Such a move does not imply support, but it does show recognition that in a
democratic system there is a respect for alternative voices in society.

We implore our officials to at least begin concerted efforts such as these
that would infuse some dignity into the foreign policy of a democratic
state.

Without that, our democratic credentials and human rights rhetoric will
plunge into embarrassment -- the kind of embarrassment which leads people
to brush aside statements about regional human rights concerns.

That would strengthen the skepticism which perceives these concerns as a
public diplomacy ploy and an afterthought.  Especially since a planned
dialog to comment on the human rights proposals to be submitted to ASEAN
heads of state was only held after the original summit was canceled.