BurmaNet News, July 31, 2007

[Editor]

July 31, 2007 Issue # 3257

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: 88 students complain of increased harassment
DVB: Rights campaigner gets three years in jail
Irrawaddy: Moderate earthquake shakes near Burma’s new capital
Mizzima News: CRPP questions legitimacy of junta's convention

BUSINESS / TRADE
DPA: Myanmar has 1 million digital phones, half of them mobiles

HEALTH / AIDS
DVB: More people turning to NLD for HIV treatment
Mizzima News: Manipur bird flu suspected to have come from Burma

ASEAN
DPA: ASEAN sees tough times in setting up human rights body
Irrawaddy: Skepticism expressed over creation of Asean human rights
commission

REGIONAL
TP: Thailand / Myanmar (Burma) Thammasat University to commemorate
suppression of people's uprising in Myanmar (Burma)

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Australia urges China, India to pressure Myanmar to end abuses

PRESS RELEASE
CHRO: More Chin refugees rounded up in Malaysia immigration raids

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 31, Democratic Voice of Burma
88 students complain of increased harassment - Maung Too

The 88 Generation Students group today complained of increased harassment
at the hands of the government, claiming that members were regularly
followed by intelligence officials on motorbikes.

Former student leader Ko Ko Gyi told DVB that two women with the group, Ma
Thin Thin Aye and Ma Lay Lay Mon, had been followed by five men on
motorbikes who circled them at slow speeds and taunted them.

“We reported the incident to the peace and development council in
Thingangyun township,” Ko Ko Gyi said.

“But the harassment didn’t stop and the motorbike incidents got worse to
the point where they became ridiculous public displays,” he said.

The 88 Generation Students said that they had already approached both the
Military Security Forces and the Special Police’s Information Force and
told them that if they had a problem with the group, they should start
constructive dialogue.

“This situation was not created by us. It has gotten to the point where it
is difficult for us to even visit our families because they drive back and
forth past our houses making loud noises,” Ko Ko Gyi said.

“We conduct our activities out in the open. Next time it happens in public
we will stop what we are doing and inform everyone around us of what they
are doing,” he warned.

____________________________________

July 31, Democratic Voice of Burma
Rights campaigner gets three years in jail - Khin Hnin Htet

Former teacher Ko Min Min, who was arrested in Bago on July 10 for
conducting a human rights workshop, was sentenced to three years in prison
and fined 30,000 kyat by a Prome court yesterday.

Sources close to Ko Min Min told DVB that more than 100 of his former
students and rights activists attended his sentence hearing yesterday to
offer him moral support. One man who was present during the sentencing
said that Ko Min Min had officially been jailed for teaching without a
license.

“This is completely unfair. A lot of people burst into tears at the court
after they heard his sentence,” the former student of Ko Min Min said on
condition of anonymity.

Since the start of this year, Ko Min Min had stopped giving private
tuition to high school students and had started holding rights awareness
workshops. U Myint Aye, a member of the Human Rights Defenders and
Promoters activist group told DVB that it was widely assumed that Ko Min
Min had been detained because the government considered him a risk.

“He hadn’t been teaching as a private tutor for some time . . . the real
reason they punished him was because of his human rights activites,” U
Myint Aye said.

____________________________________

July 31, Irrawaddy
Moderate Earthquake Shakes near Burma’s New Capital

A moderate earthquake shook in central Burma on early Tuesday but no
injuries or damage were reported, according to the department of
meteorology and hydrology in Ministry of Transport.

The 5.7 magnitude quake occurred at 5:12 a.m. (local time). Its epicenter
was 290 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of Rangoon, Director General of
the department Htun Lwin told The Irrawaddy in Tuesday morning.

The director added that the epicenter was just 65 km (40 miles) away from
Naypyidaw.

Some residents in Naypyidaw said that they felt the earthquake for 3
minutes. The Associated Press reported that residents in Rangoon also felt
the quake.

____________________________________

 July 31, Mizzima News
CRPP questions legitimacy of junta's convention

The legitimacy of the Burmese junta's ongoing constitution drafting
national convention has been questioned by the Committee Representing the
Peoples' Parliament. The Committee is an umbrella Burmese opposition
group, and members of parliament elected during Burma's last election in
1990.

In a press release today the CRPP said, while Burma needs a functional
constitution, it requires the participation of members of parliament and
representatives of ethnic nationalities.

"Any constitution drawn up in the absence of such representatives will not
be acceptable as a legitimate constitution of Burma," the joint statement
said.

The ruling junta, with over 1,000 handpicked delegates, is currently into
the final session of the more than 14-year old constitution drafting
convention in Nyaung Hna Pin camp, in Hmawbe Township, about 25 miles
north of Rangoon.

The junta's convention convening commission chairman, Lt-Gen Thein Sein,
earlier declared that the final session of the convention will be followed
by a referendum and general elections as part of the junta's roadmap to
democracy.

Burma's last general election was in 1990. However, the current military
junta, which assumed power in September 1988, refused to honour the
election results, where the detained Burmese democracy icon Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi led National League for Democracy won a landslide victory
garnering over 80 percent of the parliamentary seats.

While the junta claims that over 1,000 delegates of the ongoing national
convention includes representatives from all walks of life and ethnic
nationalities, Burma's largest opposition political party NLD has
boycotted the talks.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE
July 30, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Myanmar has 1 million digital phones, half of them mobiles
Yangon - Myanmar currently has about 1 million digital phones, half of
them mobiles, for its 47 million population, the telecommunications
minister disclosed on Monday.
Myanmar has 1 million digital phones, half of them mobiles
'In the country there are 890 digital exchanges involving 500,000 auto
phones and 500,000 mobile phones totaling one million lines,' Minister
Brigadier General Thein Zaw said.
Addressing a seminar in Yangon on information technology, Thein Zaw noted
that Myanmar's ruling junta had invested not only in microwave stations,
but also residential cable networks, ISDN and ADSL systems and MPT
Satellite Terminal including e-mail and internet.
Although Myanmar's military regime has loosened restrictions on
telecommunications in recent years, it continues to try to limit links
abroad. For instance, access to both Yahoo and Hotmail are blocked in
Myanmar.
Digital phones, including mobile sets, are reportedly monitored by
authorities.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962, when General Ne Win
overthrew the civilian government of the country's first elected prime
minister, U Nu, who launched the economy along its disastrous Burmese Road
to Socialism.
It has been under martial law since 1988, when the army cracked down on a
mass anti-military movement that left more than 3,000 people dead.
____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

July 31, Democratic Voice of Burma
More people turning to NLD for HIV treatment - Maung Too

High-profile activist and HIV awareness campaigner Phyu Phyu Thin said
yesterday that the number of people seeking antiretroviral (ARV) treatment
from a small National League for Democracy clinic had doubled in the past
month.
Phyu Phyu Thin, an NLD member, was released by the Burmese authorities on
July 3 after being held for more than a month without charge. She told DVB
that since her release, the number of people seeking help from the small
clinic she runs had risen from 30 to 60.
“The HIV and AIDS situation in Burma has always been bad but now the
number of patients arriving at our clinic is increasing because most of
the hospitals and clinics are telling them to come to us for help,” Phyu
Phyu Thin said.
“Before I was arrested we had 30 regular patients and now there are about
60 people waiting outside the door of our clinic each morning,” she said.
Phyu Phyu Thin also told DVB that the number of people in the country in
need of the life-saving ARV treatment was about ten times higher than the
number actually receiving the medicine.
She said her clinic was faced with a serious shortage of the drugs and
that they were only able to afford to help the patients they had.
____________________________________

July 31, Mizzima News
Manipur bird flu suspected to have come from Burma – Subhaschandra M
Fingers are being pointed at Burma for the outbreak of bird flu to have
crossed the border to the Indian state of Manipur.
Indian officials and traders suspect that the bird flu virus has come from
Burma last week.
The fresh outbreak of the epidemic in southern Burma might be connected
with the outbreak in Manipur for 'free-chicken trade' prevails along this
sector of the Indo-Burma international border.
Manipur's situation is getting worst by the day. Indian officials here are
yet to find the source of the outbreak though the deadly H5N1 virus struck
the Chingmeirong Ira Poultry farm in Manipur's Imphal east district on
July 25 killing 132 chickens reared by Sagolsem Irananda, a poultry
farmer.
Dr Th. Dorendra, Director, Veterinary and Animal Husbandry department who
is supervising culling at least 1.5 lakh birds in a five kilometer radius
in Imphal, suspects that the virus came from Burma. He told reporters here
that the bird flu most likely came through the porous Indo-Burma border.
But the first bird flu affected family of the region rejected the
allegation that they might have imported chickens from Burma when the
country was hit by avian influenza in March.
Traders also believe that the virus might have come across the border as
hundreds of chickens along with eggs were brought in from Burma
'routinely' to Manipur every month.
"Despite the ban, many traders smuggle hundred of chickens and 40 to 50
cartons of eggs in every day. Even before the outbreak in June, chickens
from Burma used to arrive here because the rates are comparatively
cheaper," a poultry trader told Mizzima.
The turnover of Manipur's poultry sector is more than Rs. 30 million. It
employs more than 4,000 people as India is the world's fourth-largest
producer of eggs and fifth in chicken broilers. It produced 43 billion
eggs and 1.7 billion broilers in 2005, according to industry estimates.
Meanwhile the report of fresh outbreak of bird flu in two poultry farms in
Thanbyuzayat, Mon State, southeastern Burma forced tightening of the
Indian border trade points, according to agency sources.
The report said that authorities have adopted measures to check the
outbreak, culling more than 300 chickens in two poultry farms where the
H5N1 virus was identified.
This fresh outbreak comes a month after a case occurred in a privately
owned chicken farm in Pegu Division, 80 kilometres north of Rangoon in
June. Earlier outbreaks in Burma were identified in February and April.
Manipur's bird flu control wing took immediate precautionary measures to
monitor movement of the livestock through the State's important transit
points at its borders including Moreh town, Mao hill station and Jiribam
town.
Since the outbreak of bird flu in Manipur on July 25, Chingmeirong, a
typical locality in Imphal east district of Manipur is now in the news.
"We're ruined, all chicks are gone" said Irananda whose family is
dependent on the poultry farm which has no insurance cover.
The State Veterinary Department culled 1.3 lakh chickens, including 5,000
ducks in the last five years. Amidst this Manipur health Minister Ph
Parijat announced that there are no cases of bird flu among humans in the
state so far, and the situation is well under control. Medical teams have
checked altogether 2,35,161 residents in the areas within a five-kiolmetre
radius of Chingmeirong, and so far not one case of infection in human
beings has been reported.
____________________________________
ASEAN

July 31, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
ASEAN sees tough times in setting up human rights body

ASEAN sees tough times in setting up human rights body Girlie Linao, dpa
Adds comments from head of task force drafting charter Manila South-East
Asian nations face tough negotiations on the timeframe, scope and other
details of a regional human rights
body they agreed to form under a proposed charter, Malaysia's foreign
minister said Tuesday.

Foreign ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
agreed Monday to form the agency despite initial objections by Myanmar,
which has been highly criticized for its dismal human rights record.

But the 10-member regional bloc has not reached consensus on when the body
would be formed, what scope of work it would have and other details on the
setting up of the mechanism.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said he does not expect
discussions for the setting up of the commission to be easy, but stressed
that ASEAN has already taken an important first step.

"From the start, we thought it's going to be a very thorny issue, a
difficult issue," he told a press conference in Manila where annual ASEAN
ministerial meetings are being held. "But ASEAN has to move to the new
world. It cannot stay at the old line and keep on putting barriers and
obstacles and excuses.

"This is the first step," he added. "The next step is getting it formed.
Let us cross the bridge when we come to it. I'm not saying that it is
easy."

Albar said that despite initial objections by Myanmar, the foreign
ministers agreed that ASEAN had to include an enabling provision in its
proposed charter for the creation of a human rights body to boost its
credibility.

"At the end of the day, we must be seen not to be allergic or not
supportive of human rights," he said. "If for any reason, the human rights
provision is not in the charter, then people will think ASEAN is not
pro-human rights and that is nonsense."

"We are for human rights, we are for civil liberties, we want to see
democracy, we want to see rule of law, we want to see good governance," he
added.

Albar noted that while everyone in ASEAN supports the protection of human
rights, "there are some fears" that the issue is "being used as a
political instrument. We need to allay those fears about how it should
be."

The enabling provision of the human rights body has been the most
controversial issue in the proposed charter of the ASEAN, which groups
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Rosario Manalo, head of the high-level task force drafting the charter,
said she expects the work on the document to be done as early as September
to give the foreign ministers time to review the draft for submission to
the ASEAN leaders.

"The charter will strengthen ASEAN by making it more effective and
responsive," she told reporters. "It will strengthen, streamline and
coordinate ASEAN's institutions and decision-making process. It will
render ASEAN a rules-based organization, it will make ASEAN a
people-centred organization.

"It creates a culture of honouring obligations by the member states and
being held responsible for their commitments," she added.

Manalo, however, noted that the charter will not contain provisions on
sanctions against members who might fail to comply with key commitments or
dictate a decision-making process on contentious issues.

"The general principle adopted in the charter is that issues that cannot
be resolved on levels lower than the heads of states have to be brought to
the heads of states," she said. "Heads of states are free to decide the
form, and manner in which they will decide."

She added that since ASEAN was working towards building a regional
community, it would be inconsistent for ASEAN to impose sanctions such as
expulsion or suspension as earlier proposed, even against Myanmar.

"You may run out of patience with Myanmar, but the ASEAN state members
will not run out of patience," she said. "That's the meaning of
consultations and consensus. We will work together and see how we can help
Myanmar."

Democracy activists welcomed ASEAN's decision to form a human rights body,
but urged the group to start monitoring violations in Myanmar even before
the body is constituted.
"While the ASEAN charter has yet to be passed, and the human rights body
constituted, we challenge ASEAN member governments to start setting up
monitoring mechanisms and push for Myanmar junta's transparency and
openness to monitoring," the Free Burma Coalition-Philippines said.

"We also urge ASEAN to put Burma as the first agenda in the human rights
body," it added.

Albar said the target for the completion of the draft of the charter was
in November at the 13th leaders' summit in Singapore.

"Our target is the November meeting as the date when the leaders will
approve the charter," he said. "There is a lot of hope and expectation
that we should be able to complete it. The rest of it is just a question
of formulation and semantics."

ASEAN foreign ministers have also endorsed a former colleague, Thailand's
Surin Pitsuwan, as the new secretary general of the association.

Surin's appointment will be formally announced by leaders in Singapore in
November, an ASEAN statement said.

According to the statement, Surin has pledged to focus on resolving
problems of economic disparities among ASEAN member states and setting up
an East Asia Community that will also include Japan, South Korea and
China.

____________________________________

July 31, Irrawaddy
Skepticism Expressed over Creation of Asean Human Rights Commission

Members of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar [Burma] Caucus cautiously
welcomed the Asean foreign ministers’ agreement to create a regional human
rights commission, but expressed doubt on Tuesday about the impact such a
body might have on human rights in Burma.

Asean foreign ministers agreed on the establishment of a regional human
rights body on Monday, which will be included in the Asean Charter to be
finalized in November.

Burma has long been an embarrassment to most Asean members because of its
poor human rights record and lack of progress in moving toward
democratization. The lack of a strong Asean policy o­n Burma has affected
its relations with the US and EU.

“If what we have in mind is a meaningful human rights mechanism, then it
should have a minimum of powers to ensure that all Asean governments
uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Lim Kit Siang, the
chairman of the Malaysian opposition Democratic Action Party and a member
of the Malaysian Parliament, told The Irrawaddy. “Unless such human rights
law can be upheld, then the human rights mechanism for Asean would not be
meaningful.”

“We have to be vigilant to ensure that the HR mechanism will not be
diluted and lose its meaning,” he said.

At present, the proposed policy does not provide for any censure or
restriction mechanism, and continues the former Asean policy of
non-interference in members' internal affairs.

Lim Kit Siang said it is too early to tell whether the Asean charter will
be formulated in a manner in which it's possible to push forward a
democratization process in Burma. He called the proposed mechanism a step
in the right direction.

Teresa Kok, also a member of the Malyasian Parliament and the secretary of
AIPMC, said, “I don't think that Myanmar [Burma] can improve its human
rights situation, but I do hope that Asean heads of states will discuss
human rights issues and the situation in Burma."

“When Asean says it's going to set up a human rights organisation, what
type of function and structure is it going to be?” Teresa Kok asked. “And
will this help to elevate or improve the human rights condition in the
Asean region?”

She expressed concern that the Asean human rights body might end up like
the Malaysian Human Rights Commission which has no executive power and
serves only as an advisory body.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

July 31, Thai Press
Thailand / Myanmar (Burma) Thammasat University to commemorate suppression
of people's uprising in Myanmar (Burma)

The 19th anniversary of the Burmese military's brutal suppression of a
people's uprising on August 8, 1988, will be commemorated this Sunday by
Thai academics, writers, students and artists, plus Burmese political
activists, representatives of ethnic groups, artists and migrant workers,
The Nation reports.

The event, called "Burma in Diversity", will discuss the developments in
the country since the military's crackdown on the nationwide pro-democracy
protests, now widely known as 8-8-88.

"The people of Burma from all walks of life, including soldiers and
policemen, marched through the streets of the country to demand political
and economic changes and an end to the one-party or totalitarian rule,"
said Zin Linn of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
(NCGUB).

Assoc Prof Thanet Aphorn-suvan, director of the Southeast Asian Studies
Programme (SEA Programme) at Tham-masat University's Faculty of Liberal
Arts, said this year's commemoration is unique in that Thailand is
increasingly resembling Burma as it is also under the yoke of a military
junta.

"Burma and Thailand are in the same paradox of democratic and
constitutional development. Therefore, the lessons learnt will enable us
to see the [Thai] problem from different dimensions," Thanet said.

The SEA Programme is playing a key role in this year's commemoration, in
cooperation with Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (TACDB) and
alliances working to promote peace and democracy in Burma.

"We do hope that civil society for Burma is growing and a constitution is
developed for the time to come," said Dr Laddawan Tantivitayapitak,
president of TACDB.

The event will also provide an introduction to Burmese culture and offer
discussions on comparative constitutional studies of the two nations.

Nipatporn Pengkhaw, editor of the Thai translation of the book "Twilight
over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess", will share her thoughts about her
work from a cultural perspective.

"I do believe that people hate or dislike one another because they don't
know each other. I've been doing many studies about Burma, its people and
cultures, and I believe these dimensions cannot be separated from
politics.

"I hope that my work will help Thais from all social strata to have better
understanding about people from Burma and their fate," she said.

Kanjana Hongthong, author of "Miengmong Muang Mong" (Burma at a Glance),
said Burma's political problems might create a negative image of the
country and its people, but those she had met during her visits there were
different.

"Burma is a place in my own seven wonders [of the world], as well as its
people," she said.

The commemoration will be held from 1pm to 7pm at the building of the
Faculty of Liberal Arts at Thammasat's Tha Phrachan campus.

Students of the SEA Programme and Burmese migrant workers will stage
cultural performances and a special musical performance.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 31, Associated Press
Australia urges China, India to pressure Myanmar to end abuses

Australia called on China and India on Tuesday to pressure Myanmar to end
rights abuses and democratize faster, saying efforts by Southeast Asia and
the West have failed to move Yangon's "insensitive" leaders.

Military-ruled Myanmar, also called Burma, has been the target of stinging
criticism at this week's annual gathering in Manila of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations' foreign ministers and their dialogue partners,
including Australia.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Western sanctions and
threats as well as ASEAN's approach of "constructive engagement" have
failed to convince Myanmar's military junta to end years of rights abuses
and make significant progress along a "roadmap" to democracy.

"I hate to say this but it seems to me that nothing has worked," Downer
told reporters on the sidelines of the Manila meetings.

Myanmar's "leadership seems completely insensitive to and impervious to
the views of the outside world," he said.

 Downer said China and India, which have important economic ties with
Myanmar, should make its ruling junta realize that current political
conditions there jeopardize the small Southeast Asian nation's future.

Diplomats from Malaysia and the Philippines said ASEAN would continue to
engage Myanmar.

"ASEAN state members as partners ... will not" run out of patience,
Filipino diplomat Rosario Manalo said.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said ASEAN knows "we need to
keep pushing."

Downer said he displayed his exasperation when he met his Myanmar
counterpart, Nyan Win, in a meeting in Manila.

Downer told him that in more than a decade of meetings with Myanmar's top
diplomats, he has repeatedly asked when the junta would undertake
democratic reforms or release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from
house arrest.

"I said to the foreign minister, 'I suppose, this time next year, if I'm
back again, you'll just give me the same answer — constitutional reform
still under way,'" he said. "It's been under way for more than a decade."

Asked what was the best approach toward Myanmar, Downer said governments
have no choice but to persistently demand change.

ASEAN has repeatedly said it hopes to encourage democratic reforms in
Myanmar through "constructive engagement" with the junta, but has made
little progress.

ASEAN foreign ministers expressed concern to Myanmar on Monday about its
slow pace of change and urged it to "show tangible progress that would
lead to a peaceful transition to democracy in the near future."

"We continue to express concern on the detention of all political
detainees and reiterate our calls for their early release," they said in a
statement.

Syed Hamid said the group specifically mentioned opposition leader Suu
Kyi, but that Myanmar did not promise to free her.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

July 31, Chin Human Rights Organization
More Chin refugees rounded up in Malaysia immigration raids

About 60 refugees and asylum seekers from Burma’s Chin State are now
behind bars in Malaysia awaiting an uncertain future after immigration
raids yesterday in Kuala Lumpur’s Jalan Lokeyew neighborhood. About 20
women and children and 25 UNHCR-recognized refugees are among those
rounded up during the raid.

Almost half of those arrested yesterday morning are recognized refugees
with valid UNHCR documents. Many are in the final stages of a long process
to be resettled to a third country, with some scheduled to depart within
the next couple weeks. Instead of boarding an airplane to begin a new life
abroad, they now face the possibility of being loaded onto a lorry bound
for the Thai border.

The raid began in the early hours of the morning yesterday in Kuala
Lumpur’s Jalan Lokeyew neighborhood, where a large number of refugees and
asylum seekers from Burma’s Chin State reside. This neighborhood was
targeted just one month ago in a similarly-styled raid, which resulted in
the arrest and detention of mostly women and young children.

The raid was conducted by Malaysia’s controversial RELA or the People’s
Volunteer Corps, an untrained, volunteer civilian unit endowed with
considerable enforcement powers. This year RELA has come under increasing
criticism for its member’s reckless conduct and abusive actions during
raids, not only by international human rights groups but also by
organization’s within Malaysia’s civil society. In March, the Malaysian
Bar joined the Malaysia-based human rights group SUARAM in calling for
RELA’s immediate disbandment following repeated complaints of torture and
other human rights violations.

Despite continued condemnation by members of the international community
and human rights organizations, yesterday’s raid is one of a mounting
number of recently conducted raids targeting the refugee and undocumented
migrant community in Malaysia. Since the beginning of this year, several
hundreds of refugees and undocumented migrants have been caught up in
similar immigration raids.

Malaysia refuses to recognize or give any protections to refugees or
asylum seekers living within its borders. Rather, Malaysia has been
conducting operations to target undocumented migrants as well as refugees
and asylum seekers since March 2005. In February of this year, Malaysia’s
Home Affairs Minister, Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad reaffirmed the
government’s intolerance for the refugee population by criticizing the
UNHCR for getting in the way of the operations of agencies such as RELA
and the Immigration Department. The Minister further indicated that
Malaysia “accepts UNHCR’s presence, but not their powers.”

Hundreds of thousands of Chins have been forced to leave their homes in
Burma to escape severe ethnic and religious persecution committed by the
military regime of Burma. They arrive in Malaysia in search of some sense
of security. Currently, there are over 23,000 Chin asylum seekers and
refugees living in Malaysia. Instead of finding safety, the Chin people
are the constant target of harassment, arrest, detention, and deportation
by the Malaysian authorities. In addition, they are unable to work,
receive an education, access healthcare services, or find acceptable
living accommodations. With the UNHCR registration process closed since
July 2005, obtaining refugee status or any protective documents from the
UNHCR is difficult. As a result, life for the Chins in Malaysia is full of
abuses and uncertainties.

For more information on the Chin and their situation in Malaysia, please
visit Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) on the web at www.chro.org or
contact Amy Alexander at amyalex_thailand at yahoo.com.