BurmaNet News, June 30-July 2, 2007

[Editor]

June 30–July 2, 2007 Issue # 3238

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Junta pressures ceasefire groups to lay down arms
Xinhua: Myanmar encourages publication of journals in English version
SHAN: SSA welcomes former ceasefire group
KNG: Junta confiscates over 40 unlicensed cars in Myitkyina
DVB: DKBA claim civilian deaths in latest clash
Khonumthung News: Villagers detained for complaining to Sr Gen Than Shwe

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Thais turn back 400 Karenni refugees

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Tax changes in southern Burma killing fishing businesses
Narinjara news: Private Burmese company to build deep sea port in Arakan
Irrawaddy: Third Chinese airline opens flights to Burma

HEALTH / AIDS
DVB: Deadly fever kills record numbers of Rangoon children
Mizzima News: Indian traders to organize free medical camp in Burma

ASEAN
Malaysia General News: Myanmar still on Asean's mind, says Syed Hamid

REGIONAL
Khonumthung News: Malaysia cracks down on Burmese migrants
The Economist: Unlikely sanctuary; Myanmar's Muslims

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima News: Myanmar: Search for new strategy:  B. Raman
Irrawaddy: A brave, caring woman now also needs help - Naomi Mann/Rangoon

OBITUARY
Irrawaddy: Thakin Khin Nyunt dead at 94

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 2, Irrawaddy
Junta pressures ceasefire groups to lay down arms - Saw Yan Naing

As the National Convention enters its final stages, Burma's military
government is pressuring ethnic ceasefire groups to lay down their
weapons, according to the Shan State Nationalities Peoples' Organization.

The SNPLO, which recently moved into an area controlled by the Karenni
National Progressive Party, vowed at a press conference on Monday to fight
Burma’s military government, in coordination with other armed ethnic
groups. The press conference was held in a KNPP controlled area near
Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province.

The SNPLO was founded in 1968 and reached a ceasefire agreement with the
military junta in 1994.

Col Khun Thurein, a secretary of the SNPLO, told The Irrawaddy on Monday,
“We will fight back against the government for a chance to have democracy
and real a federal union in Burma.”

He said there was no way for ethnic groups to better their situation
through negotiations or other agreements with the junta.

"There is no way to win against the government except through armed
revolution," he said.  "So, we will fight using arms.”

The SNPLO group, numbering about 100 members, recently joined with the
Karenni National Progressive Party.

Nai Pan Nyunt, a leader of the ethnic Mon breakaway group, the Monland
Restoration Party, was quoted by the Independent Mon News Agency as saying
that the military government has launched an operation to remove ethnic
rebels in Tenasserin Division. An estimated 500 Burmese soldiers have been
sent to southern Ye Township where Mon breakaway groups, the Karen
National Union army and other armed rebels have been operating.

____________________________________

July 2, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar encourages publication of journals in English version

The Myanmar Information Ministry is encouraging local media to publish
their journals and magazines in English language version also for the
development of the media sector, local media said on Monday.

Quoting the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board (PSRB) under the
ministry, the media reports said through such efforts, it will help bring
development of news and periodicals by distributing them abroad and let
more world people know more about Myanmar.
The authorities are inviting fresh applications for such new move from the
media circle, according to the reports.

The authorities have been granting more and more private publications for
circulation in recent years, bringing the total number of private
magazines and journals being sold in the domestic markets to about 250 and
200 respectively as of the end of last year, figures of the PSRB show.

Among the journals granted over the past more than two years, sports
journals dominated in number, followed by news journals which carry
domestic and international news, news related to arts, children, health
and crime.

Myanmar has readjusted its press scrutiny and registration policy by
lifting some restrictions previously imposed upon news writing by journals
and magazines with the aim of enhancing the development of press society.

According to the ministry which has taken over the duties of the press
scrutiny and registration from the Ministry of Home Affairs since February
2005, the publication and distribution of journals and magazines are being
continuously granted as long as it conforms to the prescribed policy.

The ministry outlined seven-point press policy for writers to adhere to,
which include opening up to reporters of journals and magazines on writing
about government departments but be constructive; permitting of writing on
domestic and international news quoting foreign media but be in the
interest of the nation or be rejected if harming the nation.

The policy permits carrier of translated international news and comments
in local media but with assurance that it does not cause disturbances
among the nations.

The number of journals covering domestic news has grown over the past
eight years in Myanmar, thanks to market demand and the emergence of more
such journals also contributes to the development of journalism, readers
said.

Leading news journals include Kumudra, Flower News, Yangon Times, Weekly
Eleven News, Myanmar Times, Newsweek, Pyi Myanmar, 7- Day News,
International Eleven, Voice, 24/7 News, Zaygwet, Internet, Snap Shot and
Popular.

Meanwhile, the New Light of Myanmar, both Myanmar and English language
version, as well as the Mirror remain as the country's three major
state-run dailies acting as the government's mouthpieces.

Other official statistics show that there were a total of over 5,000
printing houses and 759 publishers in Myanmar as of 2005. More than 9,700
titles of books on various topics were also published.

Meanwhile, the ministry is also encouraging writers and literati in the
country to write in the journals and magazines designed to serve the
interest of the nation, disclosing that in 2006 alone, more than 10,000
publications of various genres were published and their circulation
reached more than 30 million.

____________________________________

July 2, Shan Herald Agency for News
SSA welcomes former ceasefire group

Even before the press conference to be held on the border today by leaders
of the faction from the Shan State Nationalities People's Organization
(SNPLO), the anti-government Shan State Army (SSA) leader Col Yawdserk has
extended a warm welcome to the group.

The 100-odd group led by Ti Hsawng and Majors Thurein and Aung Kyaw, who
broke away from the Hkun Chit Maung led faction, which chose to remain
within "the legal fold" of Burma's military regime, has taken refuge with
the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), one of SSA's closest
allies. "The SNPLO's operational area is closer to the KNPP's than ours,"
Yawdserk explained. "We are deeply appreciative of the warm reception
given to the group."

The SSA chief also expressed his desire to meet the former ceasefire
leaders. "We are from the same country (state)," he said. "It is our duty
to meet and talk about our country's future."

Another former ceasefire group, the Shan State National Army (SSNA),
joined the SSA, commonly known as SSA 'South', in 2005.

Founded in 1968, the SNPLO, made peace with Burma 's military rulers in
1994. The group split into two factions, following the emergence of Hkun
Chit Maung as its new leader in place of the ageing Takley.

According to a copy of the SNPLO document with S.H.A.N., Ti Hsawng,
Thurein and Aung Kyaw were elected Vice Chairman, General Secretary and
Member of the group's Central Executive Committee respectively in 2005.

____________________________________

July 2, Kachin News Group
Junta confiscates over 40 unlicensed cars in Myitkyina

Over 40 unlicensed cars were seized last week in Myitkyina, capital of
Kachin State in northern Burma on the orders of the Commander Maj-Gen Ohn
Myint, local sources said.

The unlicensed cars are owned by civilians and the two Kachin ceasefire
groups- the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the New Democratic
Army- Kachin (NDA-K), said a resident whose car was confiscated.

All unlicensed cars are being seized on the road by the police. Car owners
are being forced to sign special receipts, which says: "I myself agree to
donate the car willingly for the country's fund", according to sources.

In Bhamo, the second largest city in Kachin State, unlicensed cars are
being kept in car workshops by the authorities, said a resident.

The authorities have targeted the confiscation of unlicensed cars only
from civilians and the Kachin ceasefire groups. Not many unlicensed cars
are owned by Burma military officers in Myitkyina, sources said.

In Burma, the junta has been strictly controlling issuing licenses to cars
so that the total cost of a brand new or a second-hand car is three to six
times more expensive than the original price of the vehicle, said local
car owners.

Currently, buyers have to pay at least Kyat 30 million (about US $ 23,700)
to the authorities in order to get a license for a car priced at Kyat 5
million (about US $ 3,900). The price for a brand new or a second-hand
Japanese car like – the Toyota Surf, Mitsubishi Pajero, Toyota Prado and
Toyota Landcruiser is Kyat 100 to 400 million (about US $ 79,000 to
316,200), according to car owners.

Confiscation of unlicensed cars started last Tuesday a day after Maj-Gen
Ohn Myint, Commander of Kachin State arrived at the Myitkyina's Northern
Command headquarters, residents said.

The authorities never give back the unlicensed cars to the owners and
there is no legal compromise or compensation. The cars are distributed to
military officers in Kachin State and Naypyidaw, the new capital of Burma,
locals said.

Civilians, Kachin ceasefire groups and the Burmese military are using
unlicensed Japanese and Chinese cars for their transportation in Kachin
State, locals added.

____________________________________

July 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
DKBA claim civilian deaths in latest clash

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army said on the weekend that two civilians,
including a 10-year-old child, had been killed last Thursday during a
clash with Karen National Union special forces.

According to the DKBA, the civilians were caught in cross fire when the
Karen National Liberation Army’s brigade six led by Hla Min attacked DKBA
troops in Myanyanigone village, west of the Thai-Burma border town of
Myawaddy, at about 6pm.

“There were no casualties among our troops but two villagers were killed
when the KNU fired rounds into a grocery story,” an officer with the DKBA
told DVB on condition of anonymity.

But KNU information officer colonel Saw Hla Ngwe said that KNLA troops
reportedly only one civilian casualty as a result of the shootout.

“The area has a mixed population of the DKBA and villagers. The sixth
brigade has outposts there but the DKBA is trying to dominate the area by
stationing their troops in villages . . . So whenever there is a fight,
there are always civilian casualties,” Saw Hla Ngwe said.

____________________________________

June 30, Khonumthung News
Villagers detained for complaining to Sr Gen Than Shwe

A letter of complaint on the killing of a villager by army personnel in
Chin state, written to Burmese military supreme Senior General Than Shwe,
has invited the wrath of local military authorities. The six complainants
from Matupi Township in southern Chin state were arrested by the
authorities.

On June 25, Burmese Army authorities of the Light Infantry Battalion (274)
detained and interrogated the six locals from Sanset village in Matupi
Township.

In February this year, accusing villagers of maintaining contact with the
Chin National Army (CNA), Colonel San Aung, second tactical commander,
ordered the arrest of 17 villagers from Sanset village. Army men arrested
and took the villagers to Matupi. But on the way, U Tin Ceu was killed by
the soldiers.

On May 30, U Pa Tung Lian wrote a letter of complaint to Senior General
Than Shwe detailing the killing of U Tin Ceu. Instead of redressal, the
authorities arrested six complainants for reporting the murder to the army
brass.

The copies of the complaint letter on the murder were also addressed to
the members of State Peace and Development Council such as Lieutenant
General Ye Myint, North Western commander Major General Ta Aye and
Brigadier Hueng Ngai, said a local in Matupi.

The complaint letter was stated to have mentioned that military personnel
led by Major Ye Myint Oo of LIB (140) arrested 17 villagers including U
Tin Cue (33) for suspected links with the Chin rebel group and took them
to Matupi on February 24. When they arrived in Lotaw village on February
26, soldiers took U Tin Ceu to another place and killed him, a villager in
Matupi said.

"There were lot of injures on the body of U Tin Ceu. Though it has been
quite a few months since the killing, we haven't heard of any action being
taken for the murder which was committed without any reason", said a
relative of U Tin Ceu.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 2, Irrawaddy
Thais turn back 400 Karenni refugees - Khun Sam and Sai Silp

Thai authorities have barred about 400 Karenni refugees from crossing from
Burma to Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, a spokesman for the Karenni
National Progressive Party reported on Monday.

Raymond Htoo, who is also KNPP general-secretary, told The Irrawaddy entry
had been denied the Karenni because Thai authorities ruled they were not
refugees from fighting in Burma’s border region. Raymond Htoo said the
displaced Karenni wanted to escape the harsh conditions of life in a new
village set up for them by Burmese authorities and the Karenni National
People's Liberation Front.

The village was established at a former base of the KNPP. “Living
conditions there are very bad,” he said.

About 20,000 Karenni refugees from fighting between the ethnic armed group
and the Burmese army are currently living in camps in Mae Hong Son
province, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Thai authorities have stepped up patrols in the area to prevent a possible
influx of further Karenni refugees. They are keeping a special watch out
for drug traffickers and ethnic armed groups.

Burmese and Thai delegations met at the weekend in a session of the
Thai-Burma Township Border Committee, with security cooperation and
cross-border trade promotion on the agenda. The two-day meeting took place
in the Mae Jae border district of Burma, near Thailand’s Mae Sariang
district.

The Burmese delegation at the meeting urged Thai officials to act against
ethnic armed groups operating in Burma’s border area. Thai officials
assured the Burmese they would adopt strict measures against border
incursions, according to the public relations department of Mae Hong Son
province.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 2, Irrawaddy
Tax changes in southern Burma killing fishing businesses - Saw Yan Naing

New tax regulations imposed by the government in Burma’s southernmost
Tenassarim Division have driven as many as 20 small fishing companies out
of business, according to local business people.

Since May 2007, Burmese officials have ordered local fishing companies in
Kawthaung, opposite Ranong in Thailand, to pay taxes in US dollars rather
than Burma’s official currency, the kyat.

“They [Burmese government] want the companies to pay taxes in dollars
because they can get much more revenue than before,” Maung Tu, a local
businessman, told The Irrawaddy.

Fishing companies in Kawthaung are required to pay a ten percent tax to
continue operating.

“[Burmese authorities] have asked companies to open a bank account to
which they can pay their taxes directly with US dollars,” said another
businessman in Kawthaung. “Companies need to open their account in
Rangoon. Those that can’t do so must close their business.”

The businessman said the new regulation has greatly increased revenues
collected by the government. In April, before the regulation went into
effect, his company paid US $6,000 (78 million kyat) in tax per month. In
May, he was forced to pay $100,000 (130 million kyat).

The previous unofficial exchange rate for dollars and kyat was 1 dollar to
1,225 kyat. The local black-market rate in Kawthaung is 1 dollar to 1,300
kyat, while Burma’s official rate is 1 dollar to 6 kyat.

The businessman said that small fishing companies could previously operate
on an investment of about 50,000 kyat ($38). Under the new regulation,
companies need to invest at least $5,000 (65 million kyat) in order to
cover operation costs and taxes.

“If they don’t invest this much, they can’t run their companies,” said the
businessman.

The change in taxation has primarily affected small fishing business
owners. Larger companies in the area have budgets of as much as $100,000
(130 million kyat) to $200,000 (260 million kyat).

“The regulations don’t create big problems for the larger companies, but
it is not possible for smaller o­nes to survive,” said Maung Tu. “We just
don’t have that kind of money to invest.”

According to Maung Tu, only eight large companies have survived the shift
in tax regulations, while about 20 smaller ones have already stopped
operating.

Those that have closed their doors are owned exclusively by Burmese. Of
the eight larger companies unaffected by the new tax regulation, six are
owned by Thai companies.

____________________________________

July 2, Narinjara news
Private Burmese company to build deep sea port in Arakan

The privately owned Burmese company Asia World has plans to build a deep
sea port in Kyauk Pru on Rambree Island, Arakan State, to promote trade
with neighboring countries.

A local source said Asia World managing director, Tun Myint Naing,
accompanied the junta's deputy energy minister during a visit to Ma Dae
Island near Kyauk Pru on 22 June to investigate the potential for a sea
port on the island.

On the trip to Ma Dae Island, some Chinese engineers also reportedly went
with U Tun Myint Naing to survey the anticipated project site there.

Ma Dae Island is located 10 miles from Kyauk Pru, which has a water depth
of 20 meters. The sea port is expected to be capable of accommodating
4,000 TEU container vessels, and expert said.

The sea port is intended to connect with China's Yunnan Province via a
road that will run about 1,943 kilometers between Yunnan's Kunming and
Arakan's Kyauk Pru.

Burma is expected to benefit from the transit trade by generating revenue
from goods exported to China and the creation of job opportunities in the
region, if the Ma Dae sea port is built, experts report.

A source said the Kunming-Sittwe development road plan was discussed at
workshops held in Mandalay and Kunming in 2002; workshops which were also
attended by experts from Germany and India.

According to experts, the planned Kyauk Pru deep sea port will serve as a
transit trade center for goods destined for the port cities of Chittagong,
Rangoon, and Kolkata. Kyauk Pru also sits on a proposed land route
connecting southwestern China's Kunming City and Burma's Sittwe via
Mandalay.

____________________________________

July 2, Irrawaddy
Third Chinese airline opens flights to Burma - Shah Paung

China Southern Airlines opened new direct flights between Rangoon and
Guangzhou on Monday aimed to promote travel and economic exchanges between
the two countries.

The airline has scheduled flights on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday,
departing from Guangzhou, China, a CSA staff member in the Bangkok sales
office told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

China Southern Airlines is the third Chinese airline to offer flights to
Burma. The other two airlines are China Air, departing from Taiwan to
Rangoon, and Air China, departing from Kunming, the capital of China’s
Yunnan province, to Mandalay in central Burma. The two airlines offer four
flights a week on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

The Weekly Journal, a Rangoon-based Burmese language journal, reported on
June 27 that the CSA flight will depart Rangoon at 8:50 a.m. for
Guangzhou.

The airline will also carry cargo, including such items as exotic fish and
shrimp, the journal said. Transporting cargo by land takes around 46 hours
to travel from Rangoon to Shweli a China-Burma border town.

The Xinhua news agency reported on Monday that there are more than 10
airlines, including Myanmar Airways International and nine foreign
airlines, offering flights to Rangoon. More than 80 flights per week fly
between Rangoon and eight international destinations, including Bangkok;
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Singapore; and Kuala Lumpur, the capital of
Malaysia.

Burma has three domestic airlines: the state-run Myanmar Airways, and two
state-private joint ventures, Air Mandalay and Yangon Airways. A privately
run airline, Air Bagan, recently added its first international flight from
Rangoon to Bangkok in mid-May and it has announced plans to add more
international flights to other countries, including China and Singapore,
according to Xinhua.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

July 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
Deadly fever kills record numbers of Rangoon children

An outbreak of hemorrhagic dengue fever is claiming the lives of almost
five Rangoon children a day, according to doctors from the city’s main
children’s hospital.

“Between 150 and 200 children are arriving at the hospital with the
disease every day . . . We do not have enough doctors here to do check ups
on all of them,” a doctor on duty at Rangoon Children's Hospital told DVB
during the weekend.

Doctors at the hospital said many parents were not bringing their children
for treatment until the disease had entered a critical phase, during which
patients can go into severe shock and die.

Hemorrhagic dengue fever can occur when a patient already infected with
one strain of the more common dengue virus is then infected with another,
different strain of the disease through a mosquito bite. The incidence
rates of the disease usually rise during the monsoon season as the number
of mosquitoes increases.

Dr Than Win, who works in North Okkalapa township, told DVB that the
strain of the disease prevalent in patients this rainy season appeared to
be stronger than those in previous years and that the numbers of children
dying were unprecedented.

“We have poor drainage systems here and flooding encourages mosquitoes.
The most important thing is to tackle the number of mosquitoes . . . The
local authorities need to work on this,” Dr Than Win said.

Doctors from the Rangoon Children’s Hospital said that shortages of
doctors, medical equipment, beds and medicine were also making it
impossible to tackle the outbreak of the virus.

____________________________________

July 2, Mizzima News
Indian traders to organize free medical camp in Burma - Subhaschandra M

A free medical camp is being sponsored by traders of northeastern Indian
state Manipur this month for health check ups of people in border villages
and towns of Burma.

The Burmese Embassy in New Delhi has approved the opening of the camp in
July, Yumnamcha Dilipkumar, President of the Indo-Myanmar Border Traders'
Union (IMBTU) told Mizzima.

Given the inadequate health facilities in Myanmar's border villages and
towns, the Indian traders had initially planned to sponsor the free
medical camp on May 21.

However, the turmoil in the Indian border town Moreh resulted in the
closure of all border gates, leading to the postponement of the camp.

The Union of Myanmar Trade Chamber of Commerce led by its President U Hla
Maung during a visit to India in February had approached the IMBTU to
organise a camp in Tamu Township in Burma's Saigang division.

"We need to have a joint meeting with Burmese traders for the proposed
camp" Dilipkumar said. The joint meeting would be held as soon as possible
to organise the in July, he added.

Earlier, the Shija Hospital and Research Institute, a private hospital
with world class facilities near Manipur's state capital, announced that
it would conduct surgery on cleft lip or palate patients in Myanmar free
of cost.

The IMBTU, in an effort to boost bilateral trade between the two countries
has also proposed an International Trade Fair to be held either in Imphal,
capital of Manipur or Moreh, this year.

However, the Manipur government in its recommendation to the Indian
Commerce Ministry has proposed that the fair be held in Myanmar's Tamu
town.

"It's good that the fair is being organised, but we want it to be held
either in Imphal or Moreh" Dilipkuma said.

____________________________________
ASEAN

June 30, Malaysia General News
Myanmar still on Asean's mind, says Syed Hamid

Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said Asean had not
forgotten the issue of Myanmar and hoped the coming final session of its
15-year-old National Convention would lead to an election.

He said although there was not much discussions and comments by Asean
leaders on Myanmar in the newspapers recently, it did not mean the
regional grouping had forgotten the issue or are not encouraging their
friends in Myanmar to change.

"They are still a member of Asean. Doesn't mean that if we don't read in
newspapers (matters about Myanmar), we have forgotten them. We don't talk
everyday (about Myanmar), that is the nature of government," he said in an
interview after the 10th Malaysia-Thai Joint Commission Meeting here
today.

Syed Hamid said no matter what Asean or others wanted Myanmar to do, the
country cannot be forced into it as Myanmar also wanted to make sure its
sovereignity was not jeorpardised or affected.

"There is a lot of pride in protecting sovereignity. And we also have the
principle of non-interference in Asean," he said.

On the same note, Syed Hamid said it was good that Myanmar still engaged
with the international community, especially with Ibrahim Gambari, a
special adviser to the United Nations secretary-general, who visited
Myanmar twice last year.

"Myanmar prefers to deal with the United Nations, that is good...but
Myanmar is not a security issue. We tried to do something, but I don't
think so Asean has it, they are more comfortable with the UN," he added.

During his visits, Gambari was allowed by Myanmar's military junta rare
meetings with National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
who is under house arrest.

On the National Convention scheduled to start on July 18, Syed Hamid said
Malaysia hoped that Myanmar would be able to complete the constitution
drafting process, get it approved and hold an election.

"Then they will be seen as fullfilling their move towards democracy.
National reconciliation must be seen to be happening," Syed Hamid said.

The National Convention process was initiated by the military in 1992
after the 1990 general election won by the NLD but the party was not
allowed to take power.

The constitution drafting process stalled in 1995 and restarted in 2004,
with the last session held at the end of last year.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

June 30, The Economist
Unlikely sanctuary; Myanmar's Muslims

Myanmar's Muslims thrive in China, Huddled masses, yearning to be free and
going to China. At first glance, Yunnan would seem the sort of place a
pious Muslim should avoid. AIDS is rampant in this province in
south-western China and Beijing's efforts have failed to curb the drugs
and prostitution that spread the disease. Moreover China has an appalling
record of suppressing religious freedom, including that of Muslims. In its
western region of Xinjiang some have taken up arms.

Yet Muslims from neighbouring Myanmar flock to Yunnan. In cities such as
Jinghong and Liuku, they sell Burmese gems in shops decorated with Arabic
calligraphy and pictures of Mecca. A jeweller in Jinghong, who has lived
here for six years, says that in Myanmar "the Buddhists fight us Muslims
and don't let us work. The government is very evil. Here in China you can
work in peace."

No one knows how many Burmese live in Yunnan. Many enter illegally.
Official statistics suggest that Muslims make up about 4% of Myanmar's
population of around 47m, but that is almost certainly an underestimate.
The ruling junta has a history of discrimination against Muslims,
particularly the Rohingya ethnic group, more than 250,000 of whom fled
from Arakan province into neighbouring Bangladesh in the early 1990s.

Mosques and schools in Myanmar are shut down arbitrarily. Many Muslims
find their movements restricted unless they pay hefty bribes; others
languish in detention after officially instigated clashes with Buddhists.
It does not help that their political sympathies often lie with the
democratic opposition, whose leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains in
detention.

In China, in contrast, the Burmese find that, as long as they make no
trouble, their faith is immaterial. Compared with other countries of
refuge, such as Bangladesh, China offers relative stability. Even America
is not as enticing a prospect. The jeweller frets that, as a Muslim, he
would risk jail there. Business in China is booming, too; jewellers can
make as much as 30,000 yuan ($3,900) per month.

The local population gives them a mixed reception. The Hui—ethnic-Chinese
Muslims many of whom have family in Myanmar—are friendly to their
co-religionists. Burmese men here boast of taking Hui mistresses and
wives. But Yunnan, like much of China, remains plagued by vast income
inequality; the wealthy jewellers live beside subsistence farmers. Some
resent the better-educated, wealthier Burmese immigrants. Undercurrents of
racism do exist, as do reports of Burmese trafficking guns and drugs.

If the resentment flares into violence, many Chinese Hui might side with
the Burmese. As heroin and AIDS have already shown, Myanmar's internal
affairs are not just internal. Despite this, China helps prop up its
repellent regime even as it offers some of its victims sanctuary.

____________________________________

July 2, Khonumthung News
Malaysia cracks down on Burmese migrants

Malaysia has stepped up its crackdown against illegal migrants from Burma.
Malaysia's volunteer corps, the RELA rounded up 200 Burmese nationals
hailing from Chin state in a fresh crackdown which began on June 28.

During the operation, RELA allegedly arrested 165 Chin refugees, UNHCR
card holders and undocumented Chin migrants. They are being detained in
Semenyih immigration detention camp in Kuala Lampur in Malaysia.

The RELA later released 15 UNHCR card holders enlisted for a resettlement
programme in USA and Australia. But when the rest of the detainees will be
freed is uncertain.

Most Myanmar nationals from Chin state being detained in the immigration
detention camp in Malaysia were said to be trying to procure UNHCR cards.

Chin refugees in Malaysia said that Myanmar nationals in Malaysia live in
constant fear because RELA keeps tracking down undocumented migrants from
Myanmar.

"The condition is very bad as they (RELA) keep hunting us. Some are hiding
in forests. No one dares to go out", said Chin refugee in Kuala Lampur.

The crack down on documented refugees clearly indicates RELA is
consistently disregarding the UNHCR, he added.

Malaysia's immigration and volunteer corps launched the operation against
illegal migrants in 2006. The penalty to detainees range between two to
six months in prison while some are caned.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 1, Mizzima News
Myanmar: Search for new strategy:  B. Raman

1. The National Convention of Myanmar, set up by its military junta for
drawing up guidelines for a new Constitution for the country, is to hold
its last session from July 18, 2007. The National Convention is viewed by
the pro-democracy elements as a charade by the Junta to give the
impression of moving forward on the road to democracy while continuing to
maintain the absolute supremacy of the Armed Forces in the governance of
the country.

2. The Myanmarese Army continues to view itself as the only credible
upholder of national interests and national security and is not prepared
to have its responsibility in these matters diluted----either by
transferring them to an elected political leadership or at least by
sharing them with it, while maintaining the military's decisive say in the
matter. It does envisage eventually associating political leaders, elected
under a system to be laid down by it, with the governance of the country,
but under the watchful eyes of the military. Democracy in Myanmarese
colours----with the olive green predominating---is its objective.

3.Aung San Suu Kyi, the heroic political leader who continues to be under
house arrest with no way of communicating with her domestic followers and
international supporters, does not figure in the scheme of things as
envisaged by the Junta.It is prepared to accommodate her National League
for Democracy (NLD), but not Aung San Suu Kyi herself. The Myanmarese
Armed Forces, which have a very strong streak of anti-Americanism, look
upon her as propped up by the West and particularly by the US. They see
her as Washington's Trojan Horse.

4. The efforts undertaken by the ASEAN countries and the United
Nations---- separately as well as in tandem--- to make the Junta more
sensitive to international opinion and to associate her with the search
for a democratic dispensation in the country have reached a dead-end. The
Junta is adamant in its opposition to any future political role for her.
It is equally adamant that the nature of the democracy that Myanmar should
have and the pace of the progress on the road to democracy would be
determined by Myanmar and not by outside forces.

5. The economic sanctions imposed by the Western countries and the
political isolation of Myanmar in the global arena outside Asia have
failed to make the Junta see reason either. The Junta is prepared to make
Myanmar and its people face the consequences of the sanctions and
isolation rather than succumb to the Western pressure.

6. The Junta's ability to resist international pressure has been
strengthened by the continued flow of economic and military assistance
from the countries of the region as well as from China, India and Russia.
China has been the most important beneficiary of the Western boycott of
Myanmar. Its economic and military presence in Myanmar, already
considerable, continues to increase further. While India's too has been
increasing, it is no match to China's. Moreover, the fact that China has
resisted US pressure to vote for international sanctions against Myanmar
in the UN Security Council, has added to its influence with the Junta.
While India has been assisting Myanmar in various fields, it has refrained
from articulating any views on the US attempts to have Myanmar isolated.

7. In the light of the dead-end confronting them, the ASEAN as well as the
Western countries have started an examination of possible alternate
strategies. There is a frank recognition in the ASEAN countries that they
have reached the end of their influence and that there is nothing further
they might be able to do. They would now like both China and India to use
their clout to persuade the Junta to hasten the progress on the road to
democracy. Neither China nor India seem to be inclined to take up this
role. They look upon the search for a new Constitution in Myanmar as an
internal matter of the country in which they would not like to meddle.

8. There has been a debate in Western diplomatic circles too on this
matter. Some diplomats have started questioning the wisdom of the policy
of putting all the eggs in the Aung San Suu Kyi basket. There is a
realisation that the Western boycott of the Junta is only driving it more
hardline in addition to indirectly helping China increase its influence
and try to corner a major share of Myanmar's oil and gas resources. The US
oil companies are worried over their inability to counter the Chinese
presence in this sector.

9. There is a creeping recognition that democracy in Myanmar is not for
tomorrow, that the Western pressure on the Junta has started proving
counter-productive and that the immediate objective of the West should
have been the economic opening-up of Myanmar and a new political
dispensation based on a comfortable relationship between the military and
the traditional political forces of the country.

10. Some Western diplomats are also saying that instead of seeing China as
a hindrance to Western objectives, the West should view China as a
country, which could play a benign role in persuading the Junta to be
responsive to international opinion. They refer to the US seeking the
Chinese assistance for persuading North Korea---- through the mechanism of
the six-party talks--- to give up its military nuclear capability and say
that the West should explore the possibility of making a similar use of
China to break the deadlock relating to Myanmar.

11. It is interesting to note that while India figures as a possible role
player--- on equal terms with China--- in ASEAN discussions on a possible
new strategy, it does not in the Western discussions. There seems to be a
reluctance in Western circles to consider associating India with any new
strategy, lest it evoke negative vibrations in Beijing.

12. In the light of these developments, the time has come for Aung San Suu
Kyi and her colleagues too to examine whether they too should look for a
new strategy. It is important for her to break out of the Junta-created
image of her being an American prop-up. After the military refused to
recognise the results of the 1988 elections, which she and her party won
overwhelmingly, she has refused to leave Myanmar and lead the life of a
political exile. Instead, she chose to suffer long years of imprisonment
and house arrest by the Junta in the hope that the shocked international
community would force the junta to restore democracy. This has not
happened.

13. By choosing to stay under detention in Myanmar, she has denied herself
an opportunity of leading internationally the movement against the Junta
and influencing the debate on the future of Myanmar. Would it be advisable
for her to emulate the examples of Pakistani political leaders such as
Altaf Hussain, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who have been trying to
influence domestic and international opinion from political exile instead
of staying on in Pakistan and giving the Army an opportunity to neutralise
them and silence their voice? This question needs to be seriously examined
by her and her advisers.

(The writer is Addtional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of
India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies,
Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies.
E-mail: itschen36 at gmail.com)

____________________________________

July 2, Irrawaddy
A brave, caring woman now also needs help - Naomi Mann/Rangoon

It’s 9 a.m.—the time for Phyu Phyu Thin to visit the next boarding house
for HIV/AIDS patients that she and other members of Burma’s National
League for Democracy have established in Rangoon. Unlike many aid
organizations here, she doesn’t have the luxury of a 4WD Pajero. Instead
she has to squeeze into a local bus. Much of her long day is spent
traveling between hostels and hospitals, time she could better spend
helping the patients.

The hostels themselves are little more than holding pens. There is no
electricity, no running water—not even beds. The 15 or so patients they
normally house sleep side by side o­n reed mats. Food is cooked on
charcoal braziers, although this often proves unaffordable and so
pre-cooked meals have to be brought in from outside.

As Phyu Phyu Thin gives out the medicine she has brought, she tries to
reassure the patients, raise them from their apathy, comfort the
homesickness of those from remote rural areas where health care is
non-existent.

Her voice exudes a benign authority that inspires both confidence and
consolation. Shifting from their mats, they huddle around her like
children around a storyteller. She does this day after day without
respite—even her own house has become a refuge.

Phyu Phyu Thin has been an active member of the NLD since the popular
uprising of 1988. Like so many other activists, she has also suffered
imprisonment and torture at the hands of the ruling junta.

In September 2000, she was among a group of party members who had gathered
outside Rangoon railway station to wave goodbye to their leader, Aung San
Suu Kyi, who had been freed from house arrest and was on her way to upper
Burma. The ‘special police’ intervened and took the group away in masks in
the back of a small van for interrogation. The group was later imprisoned
in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison.

“I was with two other women”, she told me. “For three days, we were kept
in separate windowless rooms, there was no light of any kind so we never
knew the time of day. There was no toilet and we had to lie in our own
excrement. Without warning, we would be pulled out and questioned.”

She was arraigned at a mock trial and sentenced to a prison term of
indeterminate length. She shared a cell with several other female
prisoners. “We survived by creating a routine—exercise in the morning,
followed by chanting of Buddhist prayers, which we would then discuss. Our
hopes were kept alive by rumors of a visit by the ICRC [International
Committee of the Red Cross]. It was our only chance of communication with
the outside world, but it never happened.” She was released after four
months and four days.

Her dedication, since that time, bears testimony to the commitment felt by
members of the NLD toward those most at risk from the deepening
humanitarian crisis that has engulfed Burma for well over a decade.

During the 1990s, the junta were in a state of denial, either that the
problem of HIV existed or that it was important. Before 1993, it was
illegal to carry a condom and until recently anyone found with one was
considered to be a prostitute.

The generals resolutely stuck to the line “Myanmar’s population does not
take part in pre-marital sex or sex outside of marriage.” As the number of
victims began to mount, they were forced to rethink this attitude and a
number of foreign NGOs were allowed to establish themselves in Rangoon.
Some reports say that this openness o­nly occurred after close family
members of the ruling elite had themselves been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

The NLD established its own HIV care and prevention section in 2002, after
receiving a three week training from the UN, the only one it has ever been
permitted.

With its rust colored gates and concrete floors, the small NLD office on
Shwegondaing road looks more like a garage than the headquarters of an
elected government. The dim and dusty interior is a clutter of old wooden
furniture, without a computer in sight.

On one wall, hangs a colorful portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi, looking
youthful and energetic, in stark contrast to the rather gaunt and tired
looking figure I had briefly shaken hands with in 2003, a few days prior
to the Depayin massacre, immediately after which she was rearrested. The
office is often a hive of activity and it’s a squeeze to maneuver through
it to find Phyu Phyu Thin.

The HIV/AIDS section comprises just one cupboard and a rickety table at
which we sit to talk. Given such meager resources, it’s hard to imagine
how any kind of organized effort can be made to help the growing number of
HIV/AIDS patients who daily come for help at NLD offices up and down the
country.

For most, the NLD is their only source of hope, since health care outside
Rangoon is minimal, international organizations few and far between and
family members and friends more likely to recoil in fear at the appearance
of AIDS than lend a helping hand. Indeed, Phyu Phyu Thin explains, one of
the greatest tasks she faces is to educate a largely illiterate and
uneducated population about the realities of the disease.

The NLD’s volunteer program for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS
involves either taking people for blood tests or helping those already
diagnosed to obtain free anti retroviral treatment at one of five clinics
run by Medecins sans Frontieres in Hlaing Thayer, Insein and Thaketa.
These are three of Rangoon’s poorest townships where seven out of 10
people who come to be tested are diagnosed positive. When we met, she was
meeting more than 10 patients a day.

Enormous obstacles are put in her path by a regime apparently bent on
sabotaging every initiative she tries to make. The regime stifles any
humanitarian endeavor the NLD attempts to engage in, making it illegal to
receive funding and prohibiting contact with any other aid agencies. To
accomplish this they employ a “divide and rule” strategy where aid
organizations are forced to sign a “memorandum of understanding” stating
that they will not work with the democratic opposition. Failure to comply
is threatened with expulsion from Burma.

The memorandum has sown the seeds of distrust and suspicion on both sides.
Certain agencies have accused the NLD of incompetence, claiming the
medicines they manage to procure are often of dubious quality. For its
part, NLD youth activists accuse these same organizations of wastefulness
and corruption. They cite the example of condoms, supposed to be delivered
at affordable prices, regularly being sold at higher prices—the proceeds
pocketed by unscrupulous employees.

Even more worrisome, despite promises to the contrary, they allege that
MSF Holland, the largest provider of free treatment in Burma, is actually
cutting back. Since Christmas 2006, according to Phyu Phyu Thin, 10
patients she and her colleagues have referred to the MSF clinics for help
have died after being refused treatment. No adequate explanation has yet
been offered.

These reports and denials point to the rift that currently exists between
the NLD and the larger aid community, a situation directly caused by the
junta’s unwillingness either to allow NGOs to work freely or admit a role
for the NLD in the humanitarian crisis. This is despite the fact that the
party possesses a country-wide network of offices and representatives
capable of responding directly to local needs. Furthermore, as an elected
government, it has a mandate to provide health care.

Phyu Phyu Thin takes me to one of the MSF clinics, which turns out to be a
bamboo hut on the edge of nowhere. There are pigs rooting beneath the
floor and it is uncomfortably hot. Before us in a line, a dozen or so
emaciated figures, some held by family members, others propped against
posts, are waiting to be seen.
A piece of blue plastic material strung over the roof is our o­nly
protection against the sun and everything is bathed in a surreal
aquamarine. This is Burma’s “front line” in the battle against HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS activists aligned with the NLD are routinely followed by
undercover policemen. Phyu Phyu Thin said activists who were recently
arrested were accused of forming a terrorist cell to train suicide
bombers. Last year, several activists wearing red ribbons of solidarity
were arrested after peacefully holding a memorial service for a recently
deceased colleague. The arresting officers told them the red ribbon was in
fact a Muslim shawl and the regalia of insurgents.

Some of these same policemen reportedly turn secretly to the NLD for
advice when worried that they might have contracted HIV.

Foreign governments find themselves treading a tightrope in their dealings
with the NLD. on the o­ne hand, they need the support of the opposition to
add legitimacy to their aid efforts. on the other hand, some diplomats
appear to doubt the motives of opposition activists and accuse them of
politicizing an otherwise humanitarian issue.

Both the NLD and the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma have made their position on foreign aid clear, saying that
international agencies have an obligation to work in close cooperation and
consultation with the elected NLD leadership and the ethnic minorities.

The ill-fated Global Fund claimed to have taken special care to ensure
that the NLD had a strong say in where funds should be allocated, o­ne
reason perhaps why its activities were monitored so closely. The British
Department for International Development’s country plan 2004 clearly
states that “programs and projects should, as far as possible, be defined,
monitored, run and evaluated in consultation with civil society and all
democratic groups, including the National League for Democracy.”

One of the most important tasks the NLD can perform is making certain that
valuable funds do not fall into the hands of the many so-called “GONGOs”—
Government Organized Non Governmental Organizations.)

Phyu Phyu Thin has little time to concern herself with the politics of
aid. “The situation is worse now than ever before,” she says. “I get 40 to
50 new cases a month of people urgently in need of treatment and there’s
nowhere for them to go, not even in Rangoon.” In her opinion, “there’s too
much emphasis on education and not enough on treatment; treatment should
come first”.

There are an estimated 600,000 people with HIV in Burma, and Phyu Phyu
Thin worries that the stream of migrants with the virus and seeking
treatment in Rangoon may soon become a flood. Her young coworker, Ko Ye,
interrupts, “but more marriages”. We look at him quizzically. “Under the
MSF scheme, married spouses get the same free treatment. Now everyone’s
marrying”.

____________________________________
OBITUARY

July 2, Irrawaddy
Thakin Khin Nyunt dead at 94 - Htet Aung

Thakin Khin Nyunt, a veteran Burmese politician and member of the
parliament-elect in the 1990 elections, died of natural causes Sunday
evening in Rangoon at the age of 94.

“My father was devoted to democracy and wanted a better life for the
people of Burma,” said Khin Than Hla, Khin Nyunt’s eldest daughter and
o­ne of ten children. “He was detained three times in the 1990s and spent
months in jail when he was over 80 years old.”

Khin Nyunt, a member of the main opposition National League for Democracy,
was elected from Yenangyaung constituency-2 and remained loyal to the
democracy movement and to the people from his constituency until his
death, despite constant pressure by Burma’s ruling military on
parliament-elect members to resign from the party.

“Thakin Khin Nyunt is the oldest member of the NLD as well as the
strongest in devotion to democracy and his party,” said Myint Thein, a
spokesman of the NLD. Khin Nyunt traveled frequently by bus to NLD
headquarters.

Active in Burmese politics since his youth, Khin Nyunt became joint
secretary of Dobama Asiayone, usually translated “Our Burmese
Association,” in Yenangyaung Township in 1933, during the struggle for
independence from the British.

The founder of a successful bookstore and publishing house Sarpay Lawka
(Book World), Khin Nyunt began with a mobile bookshop run from his car in
1956 before expanding over the years to seven franchises in Rangoon.