BurmaNet News, June 22, 2007

[Editor]

June 22, 2007 Issue # 3232

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Detained Shan leader to ceasefire leaders: Say no to Convention
Irrawaddy: Local residents oppose dam on Irrawaddy confluence
IMNA: Failed students in grade eight and nine to be re-examined

ON THE BORDER
Kantarawaddy Times: Ten Karenni refugees arrested to send back by Thai
authority

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Timber factories at Three Pagoda Pass facing hard times
Xinhua: Myanmar warns against misconduct in exporting fish

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: Rangoon’s rubbish makes a stink
Irrawaddy: Burmese migrants vulnerable to tuberculosis

DRUGS
AFP: Myanmar arrests 352 suspected drug dealers in May

REGIONAL
SHAN: Activists believe Thailand continues involvement with Salween dam
projects
Taipei Times: Taiwan helps Burmese

INTERNATIONAL
VOA: US urges democratic progress in Burma
European Parliament: Human rights: Burma
BosNewsLife: Burma military government prepares massive arrests
Christians, report suggest
Kaisernetwork.org: Global challenges | Humanitarian crisis imminent in
Myanmar unless efforts taken to tackle 'acute humanitarian need,'
including response to HIV/AIDS, official says

PRESS RELEASE
NCGUB: NCGUB urges protection for civilians affected by civil war

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 22, Irrawaddy
Detained Shan leader to ceasefire leaders: Say no to Convention

Members of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) who recently
visited the border have confirmed that Hkun Htoon Oo, their leader who is
being detained in Kachin State's Putao prison, is firmly opposed to the
ceasefire group's further attendance of the junta-organized National
Convention.

"What do you expect?" he was quoted as saying. "Your proposals (in 2004)
have all been turned down".
He also urged them to stick to their principles of democracy and
self-determination. "I have no guns", he said. "But I wasn't afraid,
because I was working to restore the Union not to destroy it. You have
guns. Why should you be afraid?"

With the Shan State Army "North" of Maj-Gen Loimao and Col Gaifah, he had
pleaded that the two do not choose to become "another Tun Aye and Kyaw
Zaw", two Shan politicians who were appointed respectively as chairman and
member of Shan State Executive Council by Gen Ne Win following their
declaration of support to the 1962 coup.

According to Mizzima News, 21 June, several Sino-Burma border based armed
groups that have concluded a ceasefire agreement with Pyinmana, the new
Burmese capital, are preparing to resist junta pressure to surrender arms
following conclusion of the National Convention to be reconvened on 18
July.

13 ceasefire groups had on 9 June 2004 presented a wide range of power
sharing proposals to the National Convention, which, among others,
included separate constitution, concurrent legislative power, residuary
power and a defense force for each state.

The SNLD was the second largest winning party in the 1990 elections. It
had won the most seats, 23, in Shan State.

____________________________________

June 22, Irrawaddy
Local residents oppose dam on Irrawaddy confluence - Khun Sam

Local residents in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, have recently
urged the Burmese military government to stop its planned hydropower
project o­n the Irrawaddy River confluence.

In late May, about 30 people, including former ethnic Kachin politicians
and church leaders, discussed the regime’s hydropower projects which will
be built o­n the Irrawaddy River and its tributaries, the Mayhka and
Malihka rivers in Kachin State.

State-run The New Light of Myanmar reported o­n May 5 that seven
hydropower projects are designed to generate a combined 13,360 MW. The
report said that the largest dam will be a 3,600 MW structure to be built
o­n the Irrawaddy confluence about 26 miles north of Myitkyina.

A staffer for the Kachin Consultative Assembly said that a letter of
complaint has been given to the government asking it not to build a dam
o­n the Irrawaddy confluence.

“We respectfully demanded the project o­n the Irrawaddy confluence be
stopped, because it is a terrible thing to build here, near Myitkyina,”
the staffer, who wanted to remain anonymous, told The Irrawaddy o­n
Friday.

“About nine villages, including Tanghpare and N’Jang Yang villages, will
be underwater if the dam is built. Tanghpare alone has 178 households and
more than 1,000 residents, o­ne primary school and o­ne high school,” he
said.

The letter said the dam would destroy the lives and property of local
people, damage natural resources and cause the loss of irreplaceable
natural habitat. The government has not responded to the letter, he said.

The Irrawaddy River is the largest and longest free-flowing river in
Burma. The hydropower projects are being implemented under an agreement
signed late last year with China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) and
Burma’s Ministry of Electric Power No 1.

On April 30, the government started construction of a 65 MW hydropower
plant o­n Chebwe Creek in Kachin State, The New Light of Myanmar reported.

Naw La, a Kachin environmentalist from the Thailand-based Kachin
Environmental Organization, said the military government should not build
a dam o­n the Irrawaddy confluence “because it will have a bad impact o­n
the local people."

"Besides this, the Irrawaddy confluence is o­ne of the most valuable
habitats for the Kachin people," he said. "It is a famous tourist site and
o­ne of the most beautiful areas of Kachin State. Building a dam there
means destroying the culture and natural beauty of Kachin State.”

Burma is currently cooperating with China and Thailand o­n several
hydropower projects across the country. It expects hydropower projects to
double production of electricity in the military-ruled country by 2009.

However, Naw La said, “The military government is building the hydropower
projects without considering the desires and participation of the local
people in the affected area. They don’t give citizens a chance to
participate in making a decision o­n these projects.”

____________________________________

June 22, Independent Mon News Agency
Failed students in grade eight and nine to be re-examined - Mi Malay Chan

The Burmese military regime has issued a directive to 8th and 9th standard
students, who failed in the 2006-2007 academic year, to sit for an
examination again because the government plans to have a new curriculum
for the 9th grade.

The examination is to be held on June 25, 26 and 27 by the State Education
Department and the students have to sit for examinations in two subjects a
day.

“As far as I know, the government is going to change to a new system for
the 9th standard. The other reason is they are worried that the students
at this level will not continue their studies any more given the
increasing number of failures. These examinations are aimed at increasing
the rate of students accessing education,” explained a High School
Headmaster.

“The students from these levels who dropped out many years ago also have a
chance to sit for the examination,” he added.

Teachers have been directed to coach the students for two weeks to help
them prepare for the examination. Some parents are very happy for their
children who dropped out of school because they are now getting a chance
to carry on with their studies, disrupted mid-way.

After the examination school teachers will check the answer scripts and
will announce the results on July 2, 2007.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 21, Kantarawaddy Times
Ten Karenni refugees arrested to send back by Thai authority

Ten Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who arrived in Karenni refugee
camp I were arrested on the morning of June 15 by local Thai authorities
who are going to deport them.

According to a Karenni refugee camp I committee member, the IDPs entered
the camp without the permission of the Thai authorities. They were
detained and produced in court in Mae Hong Song. They have been charged
with illegal entry.

"They are in jail and we contacted UNHCR. Thai authorities had planned to
deport 33 people who were arrested earlier. Later however, police allowed
them to stay in the camp because it was a big group," the camp committee
member said.

The 10 arrested IDPs will be jailed for 30 days as punishment.

Among the ten, are three children aged 13, three and five years. All of
them are from Shar Taw Township, Karenni State. The area has been
witnessing frequent fire fights between the Karenni Army and the Burma
Army.

Khu Pho Reh, chairman of Karenni refugee camp I said that the Thai
authorities do not allow new IDPs to enter the camp. If they enter they
will be arrested and produced in court.

"The Thai authorities in keeping with their policy will put the IDPs in
jail and deport them. We have talked to UNHCR to allow them to stay but
they cannot take any responsibility. Thai authorities have also been
recording names and photographing migrants. It is not possible to hide
them in the camp," Khu Pho Reh said.

The camp committee urged the UNHCR to ensure their safety.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

June 22, Irrawaddy
Timber factories at Three Pagoda Pass facing hard times - Lawi Weng

Noisy timber factories in Three Pagoda Pass o­n the Thailand-Burma border
have been quiet since the border was closed in March. Residents in the
town have anxiously been waiting for the day when the border re-opens, and
they can go back to work.

Thousands of people have lost their jobs since the border closed. A local
ethnic Mon man said some families who have no work can't afford to send
their children to school.

Six big timber factories have been built in the town at a cost of millions
of baht.

Nai Pau, an ethnic Mon who owns o­ne of the timber factories, said he
invested 1.5 million baht (US $46,000) in his business but hasn't made a
profit during the past year.

The local timber business has been declining every year, he said, and will
end o­ne day if extended border closures continue.

Thousands of local people work in the timber industry producing various
kinds of furniture, which are sold in Three Pagoda Pass and other
provinces across Thailand. There are 80 furniture and 200 handicraft
household businesses in the town.

One shop owner said very few visitors come to the town these days. “There
are less people coming to buy things at the market,” she said.

The border was closed when soldiers of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army,
a ceasefire group in alliance with Burma’s military government, kidnapped
two Thai border police in March o­n the border near Sangkhlaburi District.

Though they were released days later, the border o­n the Burmese side
still remains closed. The border o­n the Thai side was re-opened after the
two policemen were released.

Previously, Thai and Burmese businessmen worked together in the furniture
trade, but the relationship has been disrupted because of the border
closure. Thai businesses that previously placed orders for timber must now
wait for the timber which is held up o­n the Burmese side.

Burmese businessmen are dissatisfied because after having invested large
sums transporting timber to the border, Thai businesses will not allow
payment until the timber has crossed the border.

Last week, the Burmese authorities at Three Pagoda Pass temporarily
allowed timber trucks to cross to the Thai side, following a request from
businessmen.

Timber trucks exported hundreds of tons across the border over four days
and nights. Town residents said the trucks bypassed the official Thai
border crossing point to enter Thailand.

____________________________________

June 22, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar warns against misconduct in exporting fish

The Myanmar fishery authorities have warned against misconduct of
injecting water into fishes for export and preventive measures are being
taken against such malpractice to ensure a sound export market, a local
news journal reported Friday.

It was exposed that some misbehaved business brokers were committing such
acts for the seek of their self-interest by raising the weight and volume
of exporting fishes through such injection, disrupting the export market
and tarnishing the image of the country, the local-language Myanmar Times
said, citing some instances which happened in some two fishery wholesale
markets in Yangon.

Water, if not purified and injected into fishes, may carry bacteria which
harms the health of the people, the authorities warned, urging the people
to cooperate with them to expose such cases in order that the country's
fishery export would not be affected.

Myanmar's marine exports hit over 234 million U.S. dollars in the fiscal
year 2006-07 which ended in March, up 14 percent from 2005-06's 205
million dollars, according to local reports.

Meanwhile, the country is striving to increase the export value sharply in
the present fiscal year of 2007-08 in the light of rising foreign market
demand for the products, the Ministry of Commerce said.

Of the line-up of Myanmar's top-10 marine exporting countries, China has
stood first for the past eight consecutive years since 1998-99, replacing
Singapore which held the status previously.

According to official statistics, Myanmar's fishery sector stands the
fourth largest contributor to the gross domestic product and also the
fourth largest source of foreign exchange earning in the past five years.

To promote the development of the fishery sector, Myanmar encouraged the
establishment of more fishery companies to produce and export fishery
products especially through border trade with neighboring China and
Thailand.

The country also urged exporting of quality products to the international
fish and prawn market for market competition.

With a long coastline of over 2,800 km and a total area of 500, 000
hectares of swamps along the coast, the country has an estimated
sustainable yield of marine products at over one million tons a year.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

June 22, Irrawaddy
Rangoon’s rubbish makes a stink - Aye Lae

Poorly managed garbage collection in Rangoon and an aging sewer system
have made a mess of some townships and created possible health hazards,
according to residents of the former capital.

“Garbage trucks used to come to my street o­nce every two or three weeks,”
said a university student living in Sanchaung Township in Rangoon. “We are
now forced to get rid of our garbage o­n roadsides or wherever we can.”

Residents in some townships said that the sewer system is o­ne of the few
places they can find to throw their garbage.

This temporary solution, however, creates a much larger problem,
particularly during the rainy season. Residents say the garbage blocks
waterways and sewers during heavy rains and flows freely in the streets,
where it collects in pools and becomes a breeding ground for
disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Rangoon’s sewers are also a favorite dumping ground for waste materials
from construction sites, further contributing to hazardous pollution in
urban areas.

“We have introduced a contract system in some townships to collect garbage
daily that is produced by the city’s residents,” an official from the
Yangon [Rangoon] City Development Committee told The Irrawaddy by phone
from Rangoon. “We can’t arrange regular garbage collection because trucks
are often being repaired.”

The official, who asked not to be named, added that if residents contact
the YCDC for collecting garbage from their homes, they can arrange to send
a garbage truck at a cost of 20,000 kyat (US $15.9), not including the
cost for drivers and fuel for the truck.

“Now in my ward, children in the outer areas have begun collecting garbage
with pushcarts and [bamboo] porters,” said the university student in
Sanchaung Township. “I have to spend 100 kyat (8 cents) to have the
children pick up o­ne plastic bag.”

The YCDC, which is responsible for maintaining Rangoon’s water and
sanitation departments, charges 900 kyat (72 cents) for three months of
garbage collection per household, said another Rangoon resident.

Burma has no systematic recycling program that allows residents to
separate paper, plastics and glass from other garbage. A Chiang Mai-based
environmentalist known as Green Steve suggested that a recycling program
in Burma would reduce the amount of garbage produced daily in the country
as well as create potential jobs.

Rangoon has an estimated population of some 5 million residents, and the
city produces about 400 tons of garbage each day, according to a YDCD
official quoted in a report from the Burmese weekly Snapshot News Journal.

____________________________________

June 22, Irrawaddy
Burmese migrants vulnerable to tuberculosis - Violet Cho

My chest is very painful when I breathe” said Paw Baw, clutching her chest
while lying o­n a wood bed at a clinic in Mae Sot, Thailand’s border town
with Burma.

“If I had followed the advice of the doctor (taking a drug treatment for
six months), my disease would be cured now,” she said, regretfully, lying
down o­n the bed of the Mae Tao Clinic.

Paw Baw, a 37-year-old ethnic Karen, is o­ne of a growing number of
tuberculosis (TB) patients diagnosed in the border area since last year.
This is her second round of treatment.

“I felt better after I had taken medicine for several months,” she said.
“Then I heard my eldest son was lured away to become a Karen soldier. I
was so worried that I ran away from the hospital to find my son without
finishing my treatment."

Thawat Sunthrajarn, the Thai Health Ministry’s director of disease
control, said 58,000 tuberculosis cases have been reported so far this
year in Thailand.

Two patients were confirmed with XDR-TB, a drug-resistant form, in the Mae
Sot community along the border earlier this month. TB cases are likely to
increase this year, according to officials.

Manoon Leechawengwong, the chairman of the Drug Resistant TB Research Fund
at Bangkok’s Siriraj Foundation, said researchers started studying the
drug-resistant form of TB in 2001 and had found 13 cases identified as
XDR-TB, according to The Nation, an English language newspaper in Bangkok.

Burmese migrants are more vulnerable to outbreaks of tuberculosis than
other nationalities and less likely to undergo full treatments, according
to researchers.

Voravit Suwanvanichkij, a public health researcher at Johns Hopkins
University, said “since migrants (Burmese) are often impoverished,
illiterate, discriminated against, fearful of arrest—since most are
undocumented— they consistently have a far higher default rate compared to
Thais.”

Voravit said XDR-TB usually arises when patients get inappropriate
medicines or fail to complete their treatment courses.

Burmese patients who fail to complete treatment regularly appear at the
Mae Tao Clinic, said Mu Ni, a TB specialist at the clinic.

“We always have cross-border migrant TB patients who come back to get
treatment at the clinic,” Mu Ni said. But, because of the obstacles, “this
community will be the group which carries the most resistance cases in the
coming year.”

Last year, the Mae Tao Clinic sent about 600 suspected TB patients to the
French aid agency, Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) in Mae Sot, to be
tested. About half of the patients were confirmed to have TB.

Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is
the world's leading independent organization for medical aid. MSF
presently treats TB patients in 39 projects in 19 countries, including
Thailand.

____________________________________
DRUGS

June 22, Agence France Presse
Myanmar arrests 352 suspected drug dealers in May

Myanmar, the world's second-largest opium producer after Afghanistan,
arrested 352 suspected drug dealers and seized more than 90 kilograms (200
pounds) of opium in May, state media said Friday.

Of those arrested in the military-run nation, some 20 percent were women,
the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said, citing police figures.

The junta also seized more than 630,000 stimulant tablets last month, the
paper said. It gave no comparative data.

Myanmar regularly burns hauls of narcotics in a bid to convince the world
that it is cracking down on rampant drug production.

But the United States, a vocal critic of the junta, has said soaring
amphetamine production in Myanmar is one of the most serious problems
facing the region.

The country has been ruled by the military since 1962.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

June 22, Shan Herald Agency for News
Activists believe Thailand continues involvement with Salween dam projects
- Christa M. Thorpe

A report that Thailand is not looking to Burma for energy needs is
receiving skeptical reactions from Salween Watch activists, who assert
that companies from Thailand have already signed agreements with Burma for
the joint development of a 7,110 MW dam at Tasang, which carries grave
implications for peoples of Shan State.

Thai Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand stated recently that the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) has not signed
contracts with Burma, and that Thailand’s present government is instead
looking to neighboring Laos for power supply needs, according to Malaysian
National News Agency Bernama.

A report published by Shan Sapawa Environmental Organization lists two
official agreements, a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by MDX
groups from Thailand with Burma’s Ministry of Energy (20 Dec 2002), and a
Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between MDX and the Burmese Department of
Hydroelectric Power, with signing witnessed by EGAT (3 April 2006).

The amiable business relations between Burma and the previous Thai
government under Thaksin Shinawatra were strongly criticized by various
human rights groups, who remain unconvinced that Thailand will now drop
the incentives for hydro-electricity purchases from Burma.

The Tasang dam, whose site is only about 140 km North of the Chiang Mai
border is to be 228 meters high (the tallest in Southeast Asia), flooding
870 square kilometers of fertile forest and farmland, will cost at least
US$6 billion to construct, and is projected to produce 7,110 MW most of
which is planned to be sold to Thailand.

Activists warn that Thailand’s continuing involvement in the projects on
the Salween River contributes to the appalling human rights abuses and
forced relocation of hill tribe people in Shan State.

____________________________________

June 22, Taipei Times
Taiwan helps Burmese

June 19 was the 62nd birthday of Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu
Kyi, and many in the international community demanded that she be freed
this year.

In Asia alone, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand
planned action to support Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy in Myanmar,
formerly called Burma.

Taiwan on Monday hosted a concert to promote democracy and human rights in
Myanmar.

Taiwan is the first Asian country to make a peaceful switch to democracy.
The nation's progress in human rights and its economic achievements are
well-known.

Although most countries do not have official diplomatic relations with
Taipei, including Myanmar, Taiwan should continue participating in the
international community through non-governmental activities.

Taiwan's NGOs often cooperate with other countries in need, especially in
Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, East Timor and
Vietnam.

Four Taiwanese NGOs promoted the plight of the Burmese on June 19 last
year and declared this day as "Burma Democracy Day." These NGOs include
the Taiwan Labor Front, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the
Awakening Foundation and the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan.

This year they continue their work for democracy and human rights in
Myanmar, together with other NGOs in Taiwan. The new participants include
Taiwan Youth Democracy in Asia and Taiwanese Friends of Tibet.

This alliance planned the rock concert for freedom and democracy in Burma
before Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday.

A Burmese student band was scheduled to perform in the concert to express
their frustration over the situation in their home country.

The Taipei Overseas Peace Service (TOPS), another NGO, has dedicated funds
and human resources for a long-term humanitarian project on the
Thai-Burmese border.

TOPS is the only Taiwanese NGO that has worked on the border for more than
10 years.

TOPS provides preschool education and study grants to Burmese children and
youths at a refugee camp.

On the whole, although Taiwan has no official relationship with Myanmar,
Taiwan must share its experience and lend support to the Burmese as they
seek democracy and struggle against the military junta regime.

Taiwan is a very important indicator country for democracy and only by
sharing their experience with other Asia countries will the region realize
peace and stability.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 22, Voice of America
US urges democratic progress in Burma

The U.S. State Department says Burma's military regime and its policies
may pose increasing risks to the region if it fails to make genuine
progress toward democracy and national reconciliation.

A spokesman Kurtis Cooper for the State Department Thursday said U.S.
officials remain concerned about the political and human rights crisis in
Burma. He said the United States will continue to call for the release of
all political prisoners in Burma, as well as for dialogue between the
government and leaders of the democracy movement.

The spokesman said UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari met with
several U.S. State Department officials in Washington earlier this week.

Gambari's talks focused on promoting a political dialogue that includes
Burma's democratic reform groups and ethnic minorities.

Gambari, of Nigeria, was previously the UN undersecretary for political
affairs before being named UN special envoy for Burma in May of this year.

____________________________________

June 21, European Parliament
Human rights: Burma

In the debates on human rights and democracy which wound up the plenary
session, Parliament urged EU Member States to stick to their agreed line
on Cuba, called on Ethiopia to release 38 opposition leaders who may face
the death penalty and highlighted once again the continuing repression of
the Burmese people.

In a resolution on Burma adopted by 73 votes to 1 with 2 abstentions, MEPs
condemn the regime's oppression of the Burmese people and call for the
release of political prisoners.  They also urge outside actors, such as
the EU, ASEAN, China, India and the business world, to each play their
part in improving the situation.

The resolution first demands "the immediate and unconditional release of
Aung San Suu Kyi", the leader of the National League for Democracy and
winner of the EP's Sakharov Prize, who has spent 11 of the last 17 years
under house arrest.  On 25 May 2007 the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) extended her detention for another year.

Parliament then "condemns the SPDC's unremitting oppression of the Burmese
people and its persistent persecution and imprisonment of pro-democracy
activists" and "draws particular attention to the case of U Win Tin, a
77-year old journalist detained as a political prisoner for almost two
decades now for writing a letter to the UN on the ill-treatment of
political prisoners".  It insists on "the immediate release of U Win Tin
and all political prisoners – estimated to number over 1200".

What should outsiders do?

The resolution welcomes a statement by ASEAN leaders in which they
"encouraged Myanmar to make greater progress towards national
reconciliation" but regrets that the ASEAN has not yet opted for "more
robust measures against the military junta in Burma" and also that "the
Burmese Foreign Minister, Nyan Win, was permitted to attend the eighth
ASEM Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Germany this year".

China and India are urged "to use their considerable economic and
political leverage with the Burmese regime in order to bring about
substantial improvements in the country and, in any case, to cease the
supply of weaponry and other strategic resources".

Businesses which invest in Burma are asked "to ensure that, in carrying
out their projects, human rights are genuinely respected".

EU action

The renewal of EU targeted sanctions is welcomed but it is recognised that
they have failed to achieve the desired impact. MEPs therefore call on the
Council "to expand the scope of the sanctions and to enlarge the list of
those targeted".  Meanwhile, the Council must "ensure that all Member
States rigorously apply existing restrictive measures".  Under the EU
Common Position on Burma, "support is limited to humanitarian aid and
assistance for those most in need".  MEPs believe "all aid destined for
Burma must be delivered through genuine NGOs", with a focus on women's
groups and ethnic minorities.

____________________________________

June 22, BosNewsLife
Burma military government prepares massive arrests Christians, report
suggests

Christian rights workers warned Wednesday, June 20, that the military
government in Burma is preparing a major assault on individual believers,
missionary workers and church leaders by compiling a list of Christians in
the country and threatening a publisher with years of imprisonment.

Release International, a major advocacy and aid group, said it has learned
from local Christians in Burma, also known as Myanmar, that the Burmese
military is "pulling together details of children's homes, assemblies,
pastors, leaders, church members and even Christian families."

The "junta has declared that to be Burmese is to be Buddhist" and "concern
is growing about what the government will do with the list it is compiling
of Christians in the country," the group said.

The developments came shortly after a Christian publisher was reportedly
warned by authorities to "stop publishing" or face 12 years imprisonment.
"They tried to stop me to publish any Christian book," said the man on
condition that his real name will not be released. The publisher, who
claimed he was already three times detained before, said however that he
would continue "publishing whatever we can, because we need to work for
the Lord."

"Not afraid"

He reportedly said he was not "afraid of any sentence or any action" as
"God will take care of me." The publisher claimed that  Buddhists love to
read John's Gospel of the Bible, but added that Bibles are in short supply
as part of the authorities' attempts to "drive out every religion from
Burma" except Buddhism.

Reports of persecution of Burmese Christians came after hundreds of
protestors demanded the release of pro-democracy activist and Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent her fifth
consecutive birthday under house arrest this week.

Suu Kyi, who turned 62, on Tuesday, June 19, has spent more than 11 of the
last 17 years in detention, mostly under house arrest, as the government
considers the  slender lady "a threat to public order." Her detention was
extended last month for one more year.

Crushing democracy

The military took power in 1988 after crushing vast pro-democracy
demonstrations in Myanmar, then known as Burma. When Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy party won a general election by a landslide on May
27, 1990, junta leaders refused to hand over power, insisting the country
first needed a new constitution.

American First Lady, Laura Bush, told The Wall Street Journal newspaper
this week that Suu Kyi's name is "synonymous with courage the world over"
and expressed hope she can celebrate her next birthday in freedom. "Her
only well-wishers are armed guards who hide her from the rest of the
world," she was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

However Burmese officials have denied reports of persecution and human
rights abuses and have warned Asia against "American propaganda" and the
allegedly growing influence of the United States in Asia.

____________________________________

June 21, Kaisernetwork.org
Global challenges | Humanitarian crisis imminent in Myanmar unless efforts
taken to tackle 'acute humanitarian need,' including response to HIV/AIDS,
official says

A humanitarian crisis is imminent in Myanmar unless efforts are taken to
tackle specific areas of "acute humanitarian need," including a response
to HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, Charles Petrie, head of the United
Nations Development Programme in the country, said on Tuesday, the
AP/International Herald Tribune reports (AP/International Herald Tribune,
6/20). UNAIDS estimates that 620,000 people in Myanmar ages 15 to 49 are
HIV-positive, and about 80% of HIV-positive people in the country do not
know their status. An increasing number of international organizations and
health workers have stopped offering HIV/AIDS services in Myanmar because
of pressure from the country's military government (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS
Report, 3/6).

According to Petrie, since he arrived in 2003, the United Nations has been
able "to start addressing some very difficult issues" in Myanmar,
including reducing the stigma of HIV/AIDS in the country's military.
However, the United Nations is concerned about some specific areas of
acute humanitarian need, such as addressing HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB in
the general population, Petrie said, adding, "We are seeing evolutions of
these three diseases that is very worrying."

Petrie said the organization is concerned that if there is no "effort to
try to and address the three diseases" and "address the issues of acute
poverty that are emerging," then the situation will be "push[ed] ...
towards a serious humanitarian crisis." He added that resources are needed
from outside donors (AP/International Herald Tribune, 6/20).

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

June 21, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
NCGUB urges protection for civilians affected by civil war

An irrefutable fact about armed conflicts is that it is the unarmed
civilians who bear the brunt and suffer the most.  It is in this light
that the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)
welcomes the debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict which
will be taking place at the UN Security Council on 22 June.

The NCGUB looks forward to the UN Security Council coming up with
practical measures that will respond to the cries of anguish of tens of
millions of people caught in the conflict zones around the world,
including the women and children who are in the conflict areas of eastern
Burma.

It was for this very reason that Mr. Ibrahim Gambari, Special Envoy of the
UN Secretary-General for Burma, had raised the issue of urgent protection
of civilians and provision of humanitarian assistance to the displaced
populations during his visits to Burma last year.  But, to this day, the
Burmese military regime has ignored the recommendations of the UN official
and refused to end the targeting of civilians to achieve its military
objectives.

The 'Four Cuts' or 'Four Deprivations' Strategy aimed to deprive the
resistance groups of food, funds, recruits and information has uprooted
villagers and left them desolate and helpless.  The strategy targets
civilian populations and implements programs like massive forced
relocation of population to strategic hamlets, destruction of food, crops,
and livestock and restrictions on the transport of foods and medicines. 
Since 1996, more than 3,000 villages have been destroyed and over a
million people have been displaced in eastern Burma.  During the past year
alone, 82,000 people were forced to leave their homes as a result of, or
in order to avoid, the effects of armed conflict and human rights abuses. 
The "State of Terror" report published by the Karen Women Union exposed
the alarming high numbers of women and girls raped by the military.

Children suffered most without access to food and medical care and
mortality rate for children under five in internally displaced population
was as high as 221 per 1,000 live births in 2004, comparable to the
situation in Sierra Leone, Angola, and Niger.  Humanitarian catastrophe
caused by the civil war was exacerbated by the restrictions imposed on the
UN agencies and international humanitarian NGOs.  ICRC and MSF (France)
which had limited access to the conflict areas ceased their operations in
2006 as the restricted environment made them difficult to operate.  Local
volunteer groups who are trying to provide emergency food aid and medical
care are subject to arrest, torture or being killed by the army.  On April
10, 2007, a relief team member -- Saw Lee Reh Kyaw -- was executed by the
Burma Army while providing humanitarian assistance to Karenni villagers. 
Seven medics and one midwife from the Backpacked Medic Program have been
killed by landmines or the Burma Army.

As increasing number of troops is being deployed in ethnic minority areas,
new recruitment drives to bring children into the military are underway. 
In poor neighborhoods or rural areas, recruiters use persuasion, threat,
or coercion to force children or youths traveling alone or in a group into
joining the army.  On many occasions, family members get to meet their
child soldiers only when they are sent back to the Central Military
Hospital in Rangoon to treat the wounds suffered during battles.

Dr. Thaung Htun, representative of the NCGUB for UN Affairs said, "The
gravity of human suffering inflicted by civil war in the eastern part of
Burma remains 'unseen' even though the seriousness is not less than the
events of Darfur or Congo.  The situation deserves the protection and
assistance from the international community."

The NCGUB appeals to the international community to take the six decades
of suffering of the people in eastern Burma into consideration when
addressing the protection of civilians in armed conflicts.  The situation
has already turned into acute emergency with rapidly deteriorating
humanitarian conditions threatening the lives of innocent people. Ways
must be found to stop the hostilities and extend emergency assistance to
the displaced people in Burma.