BurmaNet News, August 7, 2007

[Editor]

August 7, 2007 Issue # 3262

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Jailed May Day activists’ lawyers quit
Mizzima News: Burmese people need humanitarian aid: Veteran Burmese
politician
KNG: KIO awaits NC outcome to react
Irrawaddy: Tensions rise between Burmese military, ethnic Wa

ON THE BORDER
DVB: Bomb rocks market on Burma-India border
Irrawaddy: Ailing pigs bring pork sales down on China-Burma border
Irrawaddy: Undocumented refugees urged to return to Burma

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: One-day loans popular in Rangoon
Xinhua: Vietnam seeks to trade with Myanmar through East-West economic
corridor

DRUGS
DPA: Forty million methamphetamine pills seized in Asia last year

REGIONAL
AP: Activists urge China, India, and Russia to cut Burma support

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: UN special adviser on Burma to consult with SE Asia

OPINION / OTHER
The Nation: Asean's Future: Top-down, bottom-up or something in between -
Kavi Chongkittavorn

PRESS RELEASE
BCUK: UK MPs demand release of MPs imprisoned in Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 7, Democratic Voice of Burma
Jailed May Day activists’ lawyers quit

Two lawyers representing the jailed May Day activists quit on Friday after
officials at a special court in Insein Prison subjected them to
‘inappropriate’ body searches.

U Aung Thein and U Khin Maung Shein, hired to represent six activists
arrested after attending May Day celebrations at the American Centre,
reportedly quit after court officials repeatedly and thoroughly searched
them.

“Normally we just have to show guards our IDs and we can go inside the
court room. But since we started working on this case, they have carried
out thorough and specific searches on our bodies,” U Aung Thein told DVB.

“It has happened three or four times now. We found it inappropriate so we
resigned,” he said.

Ma Sandar Aung, the sister of defendant Ko Thurein Aung, said that the two
lawyers told the activists they had resigned to avoid causing further
problems for the men in court. She also said the U Aung Thein and U Khin
Maung Shein had agreed to represent the men if they appealed their coming
sentences.

“When I visited my brother and brought him food he told me that they were
going to have to represent themselves against the government’s judges from
that day on,” Ma Sanday Aung said.

Ko Thurein Aung, Ko Wai Linn, Ko Nyi Nyi Zaw, Ko Kyaw Kyaw, Ko Kyaw Min
and Ko Myo Min were charged last month with discrediting the government,
violating immigration laws and engaging with unlawful organisations.

____________________________________

August 7, Mizzima News
Burmese people need humanitarian aid: Veteran Burmese politician

Veteran Burmese politician and self-styled nationalist, Amyotharye U Win
Naing, has urged humanitarian and aid groups, including individuals to
come to the rescue of the poor and the needy in Burma.

In a unique move, U Win Naing and his family on August 3 and 4, launched a
new movement of distributing humanitarian assistance to the poor living in
townships around Burma's former capital Rangoon.

The veteran politician distributed rice and edible oil to the poor and the
needy, who according to him are living below the poverty line and
struggling to acquire two square meals a day, in townships around Rangoon
division.

He claimed there are over 100,000 people living in– North Okkalappa,
Dagon, and Thingan Kyun – townships of Rangoon who need aid from
humanitarian and aid groups.

"There are more than 100,000 people who are facing extreme poverty with no
food to eat. These people have no employment and no one to help them out
of an extremely difficult situation," U Win Naing told Mizzima over
telephone.

The poor in Rangoon division are just an instance of the number of poverty
stricken and helpless people in Burma, he said.

With the economic situation deteriorating in Burma over 90 percent of
Burmese people live below the poverty line with less than Kyat 300,000
(approximately US $ 230), according to a United Nations survey.

"If I have enough support, I want to distribute rice, edible oil and money
and give it to the people myself. It is my passion to help to those who
are in need," U Win Naing said.

While providing a small amount relief to the suffering people, U Win Naing
said he hopes that others including non-governmental organizations and
humanitarian groups will join him in this project.

Burma, under successive military rule since 1962, has suffered severe
economic deterioration with the authorities declaring lots of currency
notes defunct at least twice during the past four decades.

Critics said Burma 's shaky economy has worsened following the economic
sanction imposed by western countries since 1988.

____________________________________

August 7, Kachin News Group
KIO awaits NC outcome to react

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) is awaiting the outcome of the
final session of the National Convention (NC) and bracing itself for
increased political, military and economic pressure from Burma's ruling
junta, said a KIO official.

The KIO may break the 13-year-old ceasefire agreement and react
politically or militarily against the ruling junta but the reaction will
depend totally on whether the ruling junta considers giving autonomy to
Kachin State at its constitution drafting convention in Nyaung Napyin,
according to KIO officials.

The junta has avoided holding a discussion on the KIO's demand for
autonomy of Kachin State in the ongoing final session of the NC being held
in Nyaung Napyin, Rangoon since July 18, a KIO official told KNG today.

"We have reiterated our demand to the junta to consider autonomy for
Kachin State in the on-going NC.  Now, we are waiting to see the result of
the junta's NC before reacting or taking a decision, he told KNG.

The KIO is not only repeatedly being given pressure to surrender weapons
but also to handover its popular military bases and business centres on
the Sino-Burma border in Laiza nad Maija Yang to the junta, KIO sources
added.

In Kachin State, local members of Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA) backed by the junta, have sent letters of opposition to
the KIO's demand for autonomy to the Township and State USDA Offices in
Myitkyina on the instructions of Kachin State Commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint,
said residents.

However the junta has not held any discussions on the KIO's proposal. Five
KIO delegates led by Dr. Manam Tu Ja will continue to attend the Nyaung
Napyin National Convention till the conclusion, added a KIO official.

Meanwhile, the junta is making fresh recruitments for the military in
Hopin, in the villages between Myitkyina-Mandalay Railway station, Putao,
Phakant jade mining areas and outskirts of major townships in Kachin
State, said local residents.

In May, the KIO concluded the biggest military training with over one
thousand young people in Laisin Bum Headquarters. The KIO  too has stepped
up fresh recruitment near their military bases around Kachin State and
northern Shan State.

People of Kachin State are watching the changed relation between the junta
and KIO and the impact it has on the local population after the conclusion
of the National Convention.

The KIO is the strongest Kachin armed group in northern Burma and signed a
ceasefire agreement with the Burma's ruling junta in 1994.

____________________________________

August 7, Irrawaddy
Tensions rise between Burmese military, ethnic Wa - Saw Yan Naing

An order for relocation sent to the United Wa State Army by Burma’s ruling
junta in July has stirred hostility among the group, say sources close the
Wa, who add that the two sides are preparing for battle.

Sai Lao Hseng, a spokesperson for the Shan State Army-South told The
Irrawaddy on Tuesday that more than 40 transport vehicles carrying Burma’s
soldiers have moved from Tachilek in eastern Shan State to the border of
the Wa Special Region three days ago.
Sai Lao Hseng added that the UWSA has begun preparing rations, ammunition
and reinforcements to bolster their outposts and that he has seen evidence
of Wa troops training and preparing to be deployed.

Members of the UWSA living near the Thai-Burmese border were given a
deadline of July 31 by Burma’s ruling junta to return to their
headquarters in Panghsang on the Sino-Burma border, according to sources
close to the Wa army. However, none of the UWSA units have relocated.

Some observers have said that Burma’s military government gave the order
in order to control a growing Wa influence in areas along the Thai-Burmese
border.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese analyst living near the Chinese border in Burma
said the UWSA has started collecting supplies and building additional
armed outposts. He added that Burmese troops would probably not attack
yet, but could begin operations against the Wa in the next few months.

Despite the junta’s efforts to relocate the UWSA, Wa soldiers are likely
to remain where they are because they’ve lived there for years and their
jobs and families are there, said Aung Kyaw Zaw.

According to local sources, there are about 4,000 Wa soldiers and an
estimated 60,000 to 120,000 Wa villagers living in areas of lower Shan
State.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

Suggest 7, Democratic Voice of Burma
Bomb rocks market on Burma-India border

A bomb exploded in the Nanphalong market on the India-Burma border on
Saturday, damaging property and prompting security crackdowns in both
Moreh and Tamu.

Eyewitnesses from Tamu told DVB that a large number of shops in the market
were damaged in the blast but that there were no reports of casualties.

“The Indian side picked up on the incident immediately since Moreh is only
a few feet away from the market but since Tamu is about three miles away,
not a lot of people there know what happened,” the eyewitness said on
condition of anonymity.

The border crossing between Moreh and Tamu was quickly closed on Saturday
but reopened on Sunday. Analysts based on the India-Burma border said this
week that the Burmese authorities were believed to have asked for Indian
help in identifying the people behind the attack.

Police officers in Tamu refused to comment on the incident this week when
contacted by DVB.

Bombings and armed attacks are not uncommon in the Nanphalong market. An
explosion just outside the trading area injured a number of people in May
while in January a bomb went off in a nearby teashop, killing two men and
injuring almost 30 others.

The market, which is a hub for black-market trade between Burma and India,
closed for the first time just months after opening in 1997 when an
unidentified group of armed men burnt it down.

____________________________________

August 7, Irrawaddy
Ailing pigs bring pork sales down on China-Burma border - Khun Sam

Burmese living along the China-Burma border have stopped eating pork in
the last few months due to an outbreak of what is known as “blue-ear” pig
disease in areas of northeastern Burma and western China, according to
sources in the area.

Areas affected by the spreading illness include Muse and Nam Hkam in
northern Shan State and Bhamo and Laiza in southeastern Kachin State. Both
areas border China’s Yunnan Province.

“People do not eat pork anymore in Bhamo because of the disease and
because pigs are dying in China,” a businessman who runs a grocery store
in Bhamo told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

“Instead of pork, people are buying other items, particularly fish and
eggs,” he said. The price of fish and eggs, as well as other meat items,
has reportedly increased.

The grocery store owner said that pork has not been on sale in markets in
Bhamo and Laiza for almost two months. “The demand and the cost for fish
and eggs, particularly eggs, have increased after news spread about the
pig disease. one egg which sold for between 50 and 70 kyat (about .04 US
cents) is now selling for 100 to 150 kyat (about 10 US cents),” he said.

The outbreak of “blue-ear” pig disease has spread across 25 provinces and
regions of China and has led to the death or slaughter of about 90,000
pigs in the country, as of July 22.


>From January to July this year, about 165,144 pigs were infected with the

disease and 45,546 died, while another 42,728 have been slaughtered,
China’s official People’s Daily quoted Li Jinxiang, an official from
China’s Ministry of Agriculture, as saying. The ministry developed a
vaccine for the disease and has started delivering it to area farmers.

Pork prices have remained steady in China, but officials are concerned
about possible rising prices in the coming weeks. Recent news reports
suggest that some farmers in China have given up raising pigs for fear of
their being stricken by the disease.

Sources in the Yunnan Province of China, the world’s largest consumer of
pork, have stopped eating pork dishes.

“My family is afraid to eat pork, and many others are not eating it,” one
Chinese merchant in Yunnan’s border town of Jiang Hkong said. “Many pigs,
including some owned by my relatives, have died here after becoming sick
with sores on their bodies.”

According to the merchant, pork has rarely been seen in markets over the
last two months, but a few sellers have started carrying it. “In the past,
about 10 pigs were slaughtered each day in the Jiang Hkong market, but
o­nly o­ne or two are on sale now. Some people still eat it because pork
is very popular in China, but they cook it very carefully.”

Meanwhile, in Vietnam two people have reportedly died from eating pork
from diseased pigs, and another 40 have fallen ill since January, though
Vietnamese officials claim the “blue ear” pig disease poses no threat to
humans.

“There is no scientific evidence to suggest that people can catch blue ear
disease from pigs,” Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development Bui Ba Bong said during a meeting on livestock disease in
Hanoi last week.

No human cases of the disease have yet been reported in China.

____________________________________

August 7, Irrawaddy
Undocumented refugees urged to return to Burma - Saw Yan Naing and Sai Silp

More than 5,000 Burmese refugees who are not registered with the UNHCR in
Mae La Camp near Mae Sot on the Thailand border have been urged by Thai
officials to voluntarily return to Burma, according to the Karen Refugee
Committee.

Robert Htwe, the chairman of the Karen Refugee Committee, told The
Irrawaddy on Tuesday, “There are more than 5,000 unregistered refugees in
there [Mae La], and they all likely will have to go back.” The refugee
population in the Mae La camp is more than 40,000.

He said no date of return has been announced.

Than Htun, a refugee in the camp, said Thai authorities called new
refugees together for a meeting at the football field and announced the
policy.

Than Htun said, “They [Thai authorities] said they cannot provide food to
unregistered refugees and can’t house them as well.” Most refugees are
opposed to returning to Burma, he said.

Akkaraphan Phusiri, the district official responsible for the Mae La Camp,
said the government has no policy to open a new round of registration or
open a new camp.

Unregistered refugees hiding in the Mae La Camp could be arrested by the
military, he said.

In July, more than 100 unregistered refugees in the camp were arrested.
About 20 people were deported through a temporary checkpoint in
Thasongyang District.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 7, Irrawaddy
One-day loans popular in Rangoon

National identity cards are popular collateral in some townships in
Rangoon where poor residents have to hand over their cards to creditors
for a one-day loan, say township residents.

“People come and borrow money from me for the cost of their one-day trip
to downtown [Rangoon] to find casual jobs,” said a creditor from Hlaing
Thar Yar Township. “I give a loan of 2,000 kyat (US $1.50) and take their
identity cards for collateral.”

The creditor added: “However, the borrower will only get 1,700 kyat
($1.30) and the creditor takes 300 kyat ($0.20) in advance for the
interest on the loan.”

A casual worker in Mayangone Township said, "When I come back from work, I
have to pay back exactly 2,000 kyat ($1.50) on the loan from the
creditors."

A woman in Kyeemyindaing Township who sells vegetables in the Thiri
Mingalar Market, however, said she depended o­n such loans to stock her
small business.

“I usually borrow 10,000 kyat ($7.80) in the morning to sell vegetables in
the market,” she said.

Many poor township residents at first give household material to their
creditors, such as blankets, nets, dishes and cooking apparatus, as
collateral.

In recent months, basic commodity prices have been rapidly rising in the
former capital, according to a Rangoon resident.

____________________________________

August 7, Xinhua General News Service
Vietnam seeks to trade with Myanmar through East-West economic corridor

Vietnam is seeking to develop transit trade with Myanmar through the
East-West Economic Corridor Highway covered by the Greater Mekong
Subregion (GMS)- Economic Cooperation Program, according to local media
report Tuesday.

A Vietnamese trade delegation recently paid a visit to Myanmar' s border
town of Myawaddy linking Thailand to study trade and investment there as
part of its trip to four countries along the East-West Economic Corridor
Highway, said the Weekly Eleven News.

The four GMS countries lying on the East-West corridor highway are
Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.

In fact, the senior-official-level Vietnamese border trade delegation were
collecting data of border trade status as well as studying taxation with
such trade in the GMS countries lying on the corridor highway for
discussions with the respective countries on economic and trade
cooperation, the report said.

The East-West economic corridor under the GMS program, links the South
China Sea to the Bay of Bengal, that is from Vietnam's Danang Port in the
East to Myanmar's Mawlamyine in the West.

Mawlamyine-Danang land route will take only 1,000 km whereas the sea route
which passes through the Malacca Straits takes 4,000 km, experts said.

The deep seaport project at Mawlamyine in Myanmar's southern Mon state,
which will contribute to the development of the East- West corridor in
terms of regional cross-border transportation and trade, has been
underway.

On completion of the project, Myanmar will become a key seaport in the GMS
region and will benefit from being lying in the corridor.

The development of the East-West economic corridor constitutes part of the
strategic program for the current decade starting 2002 of the six GMS
countries -- China, Cambodia. Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

The GMS economic cooperation program was initiated by the Asian
Development Bank in 1992.

Meanwhile, the Asian highway sections also play an important role in
connecting the East-West Economic Corridor Highway.

Connecting Thailand's Maesot, the Asian highway Myanmar section stretches
as Myawaddy-Thingan Nyinaung-Kawkareik-Mawlamyine with a total length of
about 1,400 kilometers. Of the Myanmar section, the construction of 18-km
Myawaddy-Thingan Nyinaung section has been completed and that of the 40-km
Thingan Nyinaung-Kawkareik section is to be continued by Thailand, other
local reports said.

Once the remaining 1,360-km section from Kawkareik to Mawlamyine, where a
planned deep-sea port locates, is further built, it will provide a link to
Europe through Asia's China, India and Thailand.

The Asian highway was planned according to an inter- governmental
agreement endorsed in Shanghai, China, in April 2004 between 26 out of 32
member countries of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The Asian highway constitutes a network of 140,000 km of roads
criss-crossing the continent and linking up to Europe. The network, which
will signify promotion of regional integration and cooperation, is
expected to be completed by 2010.

The highway plan was initiated by ESCAP in 1959.

____________________________________
DRUGS

August: Deutsche Presse Agentur
Forty million methamphetamine pills seized in Asia last year

Some 40 million methamphetamine pills were seized and 100 clandestine
methamphetamine labs raided last year in Asia, where 60 per cent of the
world's 25 million abusers of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) reside,
the United Nations revealed Tuesday.

Last year's increase in seizures of methamphetamine tablets and labs,
while encouraging, demonstrates the rising menace of ATS in the Asian
region where opium and heroin are fast becoming "out-dated," according to
the latest regional drug report released by the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

"Recent clandestine drug laboratory seizures indicate that methamphetamine
is produced on an industrial scale here" said Jeremy Douglas, regional
project coordinator for the UNODC's East Asia and Pacific region.

Seizures of more than 100 clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were
reported last year with half occurring in China, but other "super-labs"
were raided in Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma and Cambodia, some of them
targetting the export market.

While Burma remains the region's main producer of methamphetamines, China
and Cambodia are moving into crystal methamphetamine, also known as ice or
shabu shabu.

"Ice is very lucrative because of its purity. You can cut it later," said
Douglas.

The Philippines is deemed the largest market in Asia for crystal
methamphetmine, but shabu is also increasingly popular in Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Japan.

Ordinary methamphetamines, also called yaa baa or "crazy drug," remain the
main ATS sold in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Burma.

Of the 40 million yaa baa tablets seized by authorities last year, some
19.5 million were seized by Myanmar authorities, according to the UNODC
figures.

"The 19.5 million seizure was the result of a very big sting operation in
the Golden Triangle," said Douglas, referring to the tri-border area
between Burma, Thailand and Laos which was once the world's main source of
opium and heroin.

He claimed that the 19.5 million tablets were destined for the export
market, most likely to neighbouring Thailand.

Burma is also the region's main source of opium and its derivative,
heroin, but production has been cut drastically over the past decade.

"The hectares under opium cultivation in Burma have been reduced
significantly over the last decade, which has coincided with an increase
in ATS production," said Douglas.

Many anti-narcotics agents say Burma, while cracking down on opium and
heroin production in their country, has turned a blind eye to the booming
methamphetamine industry.

Meanwhile, a new generation of drug abusers has emerged in Asia.

"Heroin users tend to be older, while methamphetamines is really sweeping
in top Asia's youth culture," Douglas said.

In Asia, the countries that still reported heroin as their number one drug
abuse problem last year were China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma and
Vietnam, according to the UNODC.

Elsewhere in Asia, methamphetamines have replaced heroin as the chief
source of concern, the report concluded.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 7, Associated Press
Activists urge China, India, and Russia to cut Burma support

Dozens of Burmese activists rallied in Malaysia on Tuesday, urging China,
India and Russia to cut support for the military-ruled country until
democracy is restored.

Some 100 protesters, wearing red bandanas and armbands, carried banners
that read "We want peace and justice in Myanmar" and "No military junta"
as they demonstrated outside the Chinese Embassy under the watch of
anti-riot police.

The activists later marched to the nearby Russian Embassy to continue
their protest, marking the 19th anniversary of the junta's crushing of a
pro-democracy movement led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and seizure of power on
August 8, 1988.

The group, which said it is the Malaysian branch of the opposition
National League for Democracy, accused the junta of trying to fool the
international community by holding what it described as a sham national
convention tasked with drawing up guidelines for a new constitution.

"Human rights abuses are worsening with hundreds of political activists
languishing in jail, while the wealth gap in Burma is widening and public
necessities are scarce," the activists said in a statement.

"We request that China, India and Russia, the most powerful nations who
support the stability of the military junta, to stop their business and
political friendship with the military," the group said.

The group also urged China and Russia not to use their veto privilege to
block UN Security Council measures that seek to keep a spotlight on the
junta's abuses.

The two countries in January objected to a US proposal to put Burma on the
agenda of the Security Council, which would allow the actions of the
military junta to be discussed formally.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 7, Irrawaddy
UN special adviser on Burma to consult with SE Asia - Htet Aung

As part of a marathon global diplomatic trip to consult with key nations
on the Burma issue, the United Nations secretary-general's special adviser
on Burma started a four-nation trip to Singapore on Monday before a final
trip to Burma, according to a UN statement.

Ibrahim Gambari will also visit Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, key
players in the Asean regional bloc, where he is scheduled to meet with
senior government officials in each country, the statement said.

The Philippines handed over the chairmanship of the Asean Standing
Committee to Singapore at the closing ceremony of the 40th Asean
Ministerial Meeting in Manila o­n August 2.

Myint Thein, a spokesperson for Burma's opposition National League for
Democracy, said, “We [the NLD] do not want to give any comment on
Gambari’s trips at the present. We want to wait for the results.”

In July, the Gambari toured China, India, Japan, Russia and several
European countries to consult on how to bring about “national
reconciliation, the restoration of democracy and the protection of human
rights” in Burma.

The trips started after UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki-moon appointed Gambari as his
special adviser on Burma in late May.

Gambari, as the UN under secretary-general for political affairs, has
visited Burma twice—in May and November 2006—and met both the top leaders
of the military regime and the opposition leaders of the National League
for Democracy, including the NLD's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been
detained under house arrest since May 2003.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 7, The Nation
Asean's Future: Top-down, bottom-up or something in between - Kavi
Chongkittavorn

Asean was founded in 1967 in Bangkok at Thai Foreign Ministry offices
during a tumultuous time in the region. Mainland and archipelagic
Southeast Asian region were divided into three different regions. The
first group comprised the communist countries of Indochina - Laos,
Vietnam, and Cambodia. Then, there was an opposing group of non-communist
countries - Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines -
that formed the core group of Asean. Burma, a country that has been
standing alone for much of its history since its independence in 1948, was
the sole country in the third group. Today, amazingly, despite its
membership in Asean, Rangoon still sees itself as a unique and
self-reliant nation.

Asean's Future: Top-down, bottom-up or something in between
It was only after the end of the third Indochina War in 1975 that the
three different groups gradually came together under one roof. But the
process of regional integration was cut short by Vietnam's invasion of
Cambodia on Christmas Eve, 1978. It would take another 14 years before the
rift was healed. Brunei joined Asean in 1984 right after its independence
- a good move for a rich oil state the size of Phuket Island. But it took
Vietnam almost another two decades to join Asean in 1995. Vietnam had to
weigh the pros and cons of becoming Asean's seventh member, as there had
been lots of historical baggage between Asean and Vietnam for the past
five decades.

Before Vietnam decided to join Asean, Hanoi had tons of questions to ask
concerning every aspect of Asean. It was natural for Asean to take in its
former enemy. After all, Vietnam was a big power within Indochina and it
has the region's second largest population (currently 84 million). Hanoi
also wanted to know what benefits Vietnam would receive as a member? How
much of a membership fee would it have to pay?

Ironically, it was Asean's war of attrition with Vietnam over its
occupation of Cambodia that made the grouping famous on the global stage.
As a rookie journalist in 1980, I had to report on Asean diplomatic
efforts, which started in 1979, each and every year for the following 13
years. Asean had to convince the UN to continuously condemn Vietnam and
its occupation of Cambodia at the UN General Assembly in New York. UN
members continued to support Asean by recognising the coalition government
of Cambodia, which consisted of the Khmer Rouge, Funcipec (under Prince
Norodom Ranariddh) and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (under
former Prime Minister Son Sann).


>From 1979 to 1992, Asean acted as one voice; there was none of the

bickering among its members that happens now. Asean ambassadors spoke
strongly every year at UN general assemblies against the foreign
occupation of Cambodia. Each year, Asean dispatched teams of diplomats
travelling around the world, especially to Africa and Latin America, to
lobby for support at the UN. All members united to help Thailand as a
frontline state against Vietnam and subsequently succeeded in forcing
Vietnamese troops out of Cambodia. When a hard-won peace came to Cambodia,
everybody thought that Asean as an organisation would die for good, as it
had no reason to go on. In other words, it would become a victim of its
own success. The Cambodian conflict had been Asean's raison d'etre for all
these years.

Two years after Vietnam joined Asean in 1995, Burma became the seventh
member. What followed for the next 10 years would be considered disastrous
for Asean as a whole. Admitting Burma turned out to be the biggest mistake
the group has ever made. Back in 1997, the Burmese situation was
politicised as an East-West issue. Asean wanted Burma in the grouping
while the West argued that it would damage Asean's reputation and impact
on the grouping's relations with dialogue partners. In more ways than one,
Asean leaders still have a difficult time admitting that Burma's
membership has divided and tarnished Asean. The logic at the time was that
it would be better to incorporate the rest of Southeast Asia, instead of
leaving them alone. After all, Burma is located at a strategic crossroads,
which allows China to have access to two oceans, the Indian and Pacific.
At the time, Asean thought that Burma's inclusion into Asean would check
China's growing influence inside the country and mainland Southeast Asia.
It was a miscalculation because today China is not only the most
influential foreign country inside Burma, its influence increases by the
day.

After Asean began to grow, its members turned their focus to economic
cooperation. In 1992, at the Singapore summit, Asean leaders got together
and pledged to create a regional free-trade area that would rival the
European Union. It was a brave move to jumpstart Asean on much needed
economic cooperation measures otherwise there would be economic gaps. But
Asean economic integration immediately faced difficulties because of the
group's expansion after Vietnam, Burma, Laos and Cambodia joined Asean.
With less developed economies, Asean has to divide the free trade area
into two groups, one for the old members and the other for the new members
with different deadlines. In fact, today, most goods passed among the six
core Asean countries are duty free. New members have to wait for 2015 for
this to be the case with them.

When Laos and Cambodia joined Asean in 1999 it was the dream of Asean's
founding fathers to create one Southeast Asia under one roof. Credit must
be given to Asean for accomplishing this objective. However, it comes at
great price. A bigger Asean means bigger problems; more members means more
diversity. In Asean, the common motto is "diversity in unity".

Top-down organisation
Asean is a top-down organisation. It is a place for elite members who do
not get bored with having to meet their peers dozens of times every year.
On the average, there are around 750 Asean meetings at all levels each
year. So, on the average, there are more than two meetings on any given
day on Asean activities in any Asean country or with dialogue partners.
Asean officials love to meet and these meetings often consist of them
playing golf, singing karaoke and enjoying durian, the stinky fruit of
Thailand.

Asean leaders respond well to crisis. Without a crisis, they seldom work
closely together. Preventive practices are not the best practice in Asean.
For instance, when the region faced the Sars back in 2003, Asean leaders
met in Bangkok with their East Asian colleagues to come out with measures
to prevent the disease from spreading.

Again, when Apec members were about to agree on a tariff cut at their
meeting in Shanghai in 2001, Asean leaders decided to accelerate the
realisation of their free-trade area among core members. So, there is a
pattern there that suggests Asean responds better in times of crisis. When
"clear and present danger" is involved, Asean acts. So, it is a very
top-down organisation.

Asean is a very proud organisation because it claims that its members have
never fought in a war with one another while part of the group, which is
true. But in recent years, Thailand and Burma have fought border wars with
one another. Burmese patrol boats shot at Thai fishing boats. That did not
count because it was not all out war.

Asean often talks a lot of the grouping's solidarity and commonality. But
recent squabbling between member groups - Malaysia and Singapore over the
price of water, Indonesia and Singapore over the sale of sand, as well as
Thailand and Singapore over telecom deals - shows that business
transactions among Asean countries should be more transparent and received
broad-based backing instead of being based on the decision of leaders
alone. This has been a bit embarrassing for Asean as it comes ahead of the
organisation's 40th anniversary.

Bottom-up Asean?
In 1995, when Thailand proposed the idea of setting up the Asean People's
Council, other Asean countries were shocked because they believed such an
assembly would be a marketplace for non-government officials, activists
and human- rights advocates who would propose radical ideas. Vietnam,
Singapore and Brunei immediately shot down the proposal.

It was not until the year 2000, when academic communities from Asean
think-tanks, which is known as track two, got together and thought that
the time has come to form the Asean People's Assembly as a forum to
exchange views among non-government sectors. They hoped that their views
and resolutions would serve as inputs for the leaders. They were wrong
because for many years, Asean leaders refused to take any thing from them.

In the past few years, Asean leaders gradually have become more humble and
expressed the wish to hear more from Asean civil society organisations
(CSO) and grassroots groups. At the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur in 2005,
leaders met for the first time with CSO representatives. But it did not
last very long. The CSO representatives were carefully selected by the
host country. In many Asean members there are no non-governmental
organisations or any activists - just government-sponsored social units or
volunteer groups.

In the upcoming summit in Singapore, CSO representatives will have a
private session with Asean leaders as they did in Malaysia and the
Philippines. The host is trying to have multiple meetings among Asean CSO,
mostly outside Singapore. The Asean People's Assembly will meet in Manila
at the end of October, while Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacy (SAPA)
wants to meet in Singapore. But the problem is, SAPA wants a guarantee
from the host that nobody would be turned down.

Asean still remains a top-down organisation with leaders making all the
decisions. Attempts have been made to shake the top but to no avail. It is
hopeful that in the future Asean leaders will feel more comfortable with
CSO representatives and consult more with them either officially or
informally. As leaders, they often think they know the problems of their
countries better than the CSO communities. But history has shown that
leaders alone do not often have the kind of intimate knowledge of issues
and problems that CSO people have been working on.

Although Asean members agreed in 1993 in Bangkok to establish a regional
human-rights mechanism, nothing has happened since then - enough for the
so-called Asean promise. Asia remains the only region in the world that
does not have such a mechanism. It is very sad. But there was good news
last week in Manila when Asean foreign ministers agreed that there should
be a human-rights body to promote and protect human rights in the Asean
Charter. Of course, senior officials have to work on terms of reference,
which could mean another battle among Asean members.

Without a regional tool, human-rights violations will continue in member
countries. A common regional approach would help if member states were
willing to comply. People-oriented Asean can be a reality if the basic
human rights of ordinary Asean citizens are guaranteed and the rule of law
is strictly observed.

Something in between
Asean is drafting its charter. The first rough draft has been completed
and now is being vetted by the foreign ministers, who will have more to
say when they meet again in New York late September on the sidelines of
their participation in the UN. The charter is an important document
because it is a law-binding document which will turn Asean into a
rule-based organisation. In the past, Asean has not had a mechanism to
enforce compliance with agreements or regulations. When any member refuses
to comply, nobody can say anything, let alone reprimand that member.

One should not expect too much of the Asean Charter. It will not be an
earth-shaking charter because half of Asean's members are still governed
by undemocratic countries. It is not surprising that all principles of
non-interference will be there and remain unchanged. What has changed is
the tone and the increased willingness to be more assertive in case
members do not comply with Asean objectives. But of course to reach the
level of having a unified voice, members must reach a consensus. The Asean
charter did mention about measures to punish members who fail to comply
with Asean objectives. But these are very mild, there is no expulsion as
there would be in other regional groupings. The drafters refused to take
in any recommendation from the Eminent Persons Group for the Asean
charter.

For the past four decades, Asean has made all its decisions by consensus.
Any member can block a decision. So, the decision is usually based on the
lowest common denominator. Before the expansion, Indonesia was seen as the
key barrier for intra-Asean cooperation related to the economy and trade.
Since 1998, the grouping's largest country has come a democracy, albeit
fragile.

It is a big boost for Asean. Now Jakarta has become a major driving force
to push for openness in Asean and democratic development.

Asean should learn from the best practices of other regional organisations
including the EU and the African Union (AU). In the case of the AU, the
African leaders believe that their conflicts must be settled by
themselves. They have set up peacekeeping forces to cope with several
conflicts and crises. The African leaders are different from their Asean
colleagues in that they believe in intervening in conflicts.

In the future, Asean with its 10 members could expand further. East Timor
will certainly become the 11th member of Asean. But it will take some time
before the world's newest country can join the grouping. Asean has allowed
officials from East Timor to attend functions and meetings in Asean to
prepare for the country's eventual membership. Furthermore, Papua New
Guinea, which has been an observer of Asean since 1986, has expressed a
desire to join Asean. This would create a huge headache for Asean, as
Papua New Guinea is in the South Pacific. Who knows, in decades ahead,
Asean could be expanded to encompass the whole of Asia, known as the Asian
Community.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 7, Burma Campaign UK
UK MPs demand release of MPs imprisoned in Burma

More than 50 British MPs have joined forces to call for the release of 12
MPs from Burma who have been imprisoned by the dictatorship ruling the
country. The MPs are demanding that the UN Special Envoy to Burma and the
British government step up efforts to release these MPs, and all political
prisoners in Burma.

The MPs have signed an Early Day Motion ­ a parliamentary petition ­ that
was put down by Chris McCafferty MP. They draw particular attention to
Khun Tun Oo, an MP from the Shan National League for Democracy, who is
reported to be unwell and denied proper medical treatment.

³As a former political prisoner, I am very pleased to see so many British
MPs supporting our colleagues still suffering in prison,² said Myo Thein,
Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK. ³I hope that the British
government will step up its work to secure the release of political
prisoners.²

Full text of the Early Day Motion follows:
That this House expresses deep concern about the 12 members of the Burmese
Parliament currently in detention in Burma; calls for the immediate
release of Aung Soe Myint, Khin Maung Swe, Khun Tun Oo, Khin Maung Win,
Kyaw Khin, Kyaw Min, Kyaw San, Dr May Win Myint, Saw Hlaing, Dr Than
Nyein, Zaw Myint Maung and Saw Naing Naing; expresses particular concern
about the condition of Khun Tun Oo, the Shan National League for Democracy
member, who is in ill-health and is being denied proper medical attention;
and calls on the Government to increase efforts to secure the release of
these MPs and on the UN Special Envoy to Burma immediately to press the
regime in Burma to release these MPs and all political prisoners in Burma.

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=33836&SESSION=885
For more information contact Myo Thein on 020 7324 4720, mobile 07877882386.