BurmaNet News, February 7, 2008

[Editor]

February 7, 2008 Issue # 3397

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Ethnic groups welcome NLD's invitation for talks
Mizzima News: Blogger charged with Emergency Provision Act
Irrawaddy: Shan are silenced, as Burma’s Chinese celebrate
Irrawaddy: Indian Foreign Secretary visits Burma
Irrawaddy: Non-Chinese getting on the dragon bandwagon
DVB: Land seized for rubber plantation
The Independent: Why the people of Burma are risking jail to catch a
glimpse of Rambo

ON THE BORDER
Narinjara News: Authorities hunt exiled monks
Mizzima News: Shan representative office inaugurated to mark 61st National
Day
Mizzima News: Three Burmese fishermen rescued after three months at sea

BUSINESS / TRADE
The Economist: Our friends in the north
AFP: S'pore resident targeted in US Myanmar sanctions

HEALTH / AIDS
UPI Asia Online: Six bucks, the value of a life in Burma

DRUGS
Narinjara News: Burmese yaba continues flowing into Bangladesh
Reuters: Thailand to revive controversial war on drugs

REGIONAL
Reuters: No change in Myanmar policy for new Thai government
Irrawaddy: Will Thailand create a friendly Burma policy?

INTERNATIONAL
Canada’s Foreign Policy Newsweekly: Impact of Burma sanctions

OPINION / OTHER
Asian Tribune: The golden alternative, not abrupt regime change but
negotiated settlement - Gamanii
Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs: Muslim minority Rohingyas
among opponents to Burmese military regime

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 7, Mizzima News
Ethnic groups welcome NLD's invitation for talks – Than Htike Oo and Phanida

Several ethnic organizations at home and abroad welcomed the invitation of
the National League for Democracy (NLD) to all ethnic organizations in
Burma, including ceasefire groups, to come and discuss differences in
policy matters.

The main opposition for the first time, opened up discussions with ethnic
organizations on February 5. The meetings are to focus on any differences
between the NLD and ethnic communities regarding a statement issued on
November 8, 2007, by NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Previously, the Pa-O National Organization, Union Pa-O National League,
United Wa State Army, Shan State Special Region (4) Mongla, Kokang, Kachin
Defence Army and Shan State Army (North), all ceasefire groups, issued
statements saying they did not support Suu Kyi's earlier statement.

"Some ethnic organizations issued statements in state-run newspapers
saying they disagreed with this statement. We agree with their statements
as they are issued under democratic principles. Similarly, face to face
dialogue is also a democratic practice. So we have invited these ethnic
organizations, which have different viewpoints on policy from those of the
NLD, to come for talks", spokesman Nyan Win said.

But as of yet, no organizations have accepted the invitation, he said.

Some ceasefire groups reportedly said that their statements were issued
under pressure and at the behest of the junta. They reportedly were
instructed to simply sign pre-prepared statements.

United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) spokesman Pu Sian Tshing Thang said,
referring to those organizations that submitted statements opposed to that
of Suu Kyi, "I wonder why they protested against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's
statement? Maybe it was not clear what Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said or maybe
they acted under pressure of the regime? I think the NLD wants them to
clarify their positions. If they have actual differences with the NLD, the
NLD would like them to come and discuss those differences with them. This
is how I see their statement."

"National reconciliation through dialogue is the best way. Otherwise any
resolution through other means will give our country bad results rather
than good results. This is my view", Nai Ngwe Thein, Vice-Chairman of the
New Mon State Party (NMSP) said. The NMSP has issued public support for
Suu Kyi's position.

Meanwhile other groups have yet to respond to Suu Kyi's November statement.

"We haven't yet discussed it, as we were preoccupied with the KIO
Revolution Day celebration," said a spokesperson for the Kachin
Independence Organization (KIO), referring to Suu Kyi's original
statement. "We haven't discussed anything yet on the matter and as of yet
have no official position. We'll discuss it later when we have a meeting."
The KIO is another of the ceasefire groups. Revolution Day is honored on
February 5.

Dr. Salai Lian Hmung Sakhong, General Secretary of the Ethnic Nationality
Council (Burma), which supported Suu Kyi's earlier statement, welcomed the
most recent NLD statement and urged ethnic organizations inside Burma to
accept the invitation and discuss any differences they have with the NLD.

In all, twelve ethnic organizations, including the Shan Nationalities
League for Democracy (SNLD), Zomi National Congress (ZNC) and Mon National
Democracy, previously announced their support for Suu Kyi's statement

____________________________________

February 7, Mizzima News
Blogger charged with Emergency Provision Act - Nem Davies

Police in Rangoon have charged a Burmese blogger, Nay Phone Latt, who is
believed to be in detention, under an emergency act, according to a close
friend.

Nay Phone Latt, age 28, who went missing on January 29, has been charged
with article 5 (J), Emergency Provision Act, at the Dagon Police station
in Rangoon, said the close friend, who wished not to be named.

The Burmese military junta has widely used Article 5 (J), which could land
an offender up to seven years of imprisonment, as a tool in suppressing
dissidents and political activists.

"He was charged on February 3 at Dagon police station. We knew of the
charges through police officer Soe Thein, who was among those that
arrested him," the friend said.

Though Nay Phone Latt is reportedly charged and being detained at the
Ministry of Home Affairs, so far there is no date for a trial. Family and
friends told Mizzima they are preparing to confront the charges through
legal avenues once the trial starts.

"We are still waiting and we will wait for about a month, and if necessary
we will seek legal aid from lawyers," a family friend of Nay Phone Latt
told Mizzima.

Meanwhile, a close friend of Nay Phone Latt's family said, the police have
reportedly returned the Jeep, which Nay Phone Latt was reportedly driving
when he was arrested, on Thursday afternoon.

____________________________________

February 7, Irrawaddy
Shan are silenced, as Burma’s Chinese celebrate – Saw Yan Naing

The Shan National Day and Chinese New Year fall on the same day in Burma
this year. But while the country’s Chinese residents are celebrating on
Thursday, the native Shan are officially barred from publicly marking the
occasion.

The regime banned the Shan festival, also known as Shan State Day, in
2001, apparently because it was worried about growing political awareness
among the Shan.

The festival commemorates the day when the Shan nation adopted its own
flag and national anthem on February 7, 1947.

A resident of the Shan capital, Taunggyi, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday
that no celebration of the Shan festival was being held there. Many
Chinese residents were gathering to celebrate Chinese New Year, she said.

The woman, a member of the opposition National League for Democracy, said
the official ban on the Shan celebration was a further indication of how
the regime was suppressing the Shan people.

Low-key ceremonies were being held in some locations, however.

In Rangoon, alms were offered to monks at a Shan monastery in the city’s
Mayangone Township. The organizer of the ceremony, Nang Boe Seng, said:
“We are celebrating so that our [Shan] people do not forget our culture,
tradition and religious customs. We also want the young generation to love
and uphold our culture.”

The day’s program included dance and music on Thursday evening by Shan
performers, including the famous Shan singers Sai Htee Saing and Sai Khan
Lait and Burmese singer Zaw Paing.

The Shan National Day was also being observed on Thursday in celebrations
in Loi Taileng, headquarters of Shan State Army—(South).

Outside Burma, Shan migrants working and living in Chiang Mai, northern
Thailand, also celebrated the festival.

Despite the ban on Shan National Day observances in Burma, the regime
permitted celebrations of the Shan New Year festival in Taunggyi in
December.

____________________________________

February 7, Irrawaddy
Indian Foreign Secretary visits Burma – Violet Cho

Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon flies to Burma today for talks
with the military government. However, exiled Burmese pro-democracy
leaders dismissed the move as an attempt to secure natural resources in
Burma.

The visit comes one week since UN Special Envoy for Burma Ibrahim Gambari
visited India, during which time he presented the Indian government with a
list of demands to be met with regard to Burma.

Menon is thought to be tasked with convincing the Burmese junta to accept
another round of talks with the UN envoy who last week said he hoped that
“India would do more than what it has been doing so far.”

Gambari also called on the Indian government to “work on Myanmar [Burma]
to make the diplomatic process more inclusive and dialogue with the
opposition parties more dialogue-oriented.”

Gambari added that he was impressed with India’s “growing influence” on
Burma and suggested that India use its influence to become “a trustworthy
and effective instrument” in engaging with the Burmese regime.

According to a source close to the Indian foreign ministry, Menon will
meet Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win in Rangoon and his visit will
mainly focus on bilateral issues, such as the Kaladan transport project
which is due to be verified when Burma’s military general Maung Aye visits
New Delhi in April.

Another area of interest is the port of Sittwe in western Burma, which is
being developed by India at a cost of US $120 million.

However, M. Kim, a spokesperson for the Burmese pro-democracy movement
based in India, said that India would barely mention the subject of the
Burmese regime’s acceleration of political reforms and national
reconciliation.

He charged that economic and military ties between Burma and India have
been strong in recent years, noting that even during September’s brutal
crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations, India’s state-run Oil and
Natural Gas Corporation signed a production-sharing contract with the
Burmese regime.

Dr Tint Swe, an elected Member of Parliament and senior minister in the
exiled government, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
(NCGUB), said: “I have my doubts about India’s sincerity in its support
for democracy in Burma. If India seriously pushed, the Burmese regime
would not dare delaying the calls for change.”

Under its policy of “quiet diplomacy,” India put a temporary hold on arms
sales to the Burmese junta after the September crackdown for about two
months without an official announcement. However, much of the information
regarding arms sales is unconfirmed.

“It is difficult to find out about India’s arms dealings with Burma,” said
Tint Swe. “But we recently received news from the India-Burma border about
trucks carrying arms from India through Burmese border areas.”

Until September 2007, Indian and Burmese military forces conducted joint
operations and the two governments discussed a deal to supply Burma with
helicopters.

In 2007, Amnesty International reported that the helicopters were “highly
likely to contain components, technology and munitions” from European
Union nations and the United States, countries which already have arms
embargoes on Burma.

Burma was also invited to participate in the Defexpo Arms Fair organized
by the Indian Ministry of Defense from February 16 to 19, 2008, in Pragati
Maidan, New Delhi.

Tint Swe said that China and India are the most important countries that
can push Burma toward democracy, but that the two countries are constantly
competing to secure energy resources in Burma.

“What they can do is stop competing with each other and put pressure on
Burma,” he said. “They will only gain economically after there is
democracy in Burma.”

____________________________________

February 7, Irrawaddy
Non-Chinese getting on the dragon bandwagon – Min Lwin

Like a Burmese boy in the photo last year, many other Burmese and Indian
youths in Rangoon also participate the traditional dance in the Chinese
New Year

Members of Rangoon’s Chinese community say that performers in the
traditional lion and dragon dances—part of the colorful festivities which
mark the lunar New Year—are more likely to be unemployed Burmese or Indian
youths than Chinese these days.

“All of the participants are Burmese and Indian boys, not Chinese,” said
Kyaw Kyaw, a Rangoon resident of Chinese ancestry. “Only the management
team, which collects the money, is Chinese.”

“There are not many Chinese dragons left, just Burmese and Indian
dragons,” he said, adding that young Chinese are not interested in
dancing.

Aung Win Oo, 16, an ethnic Indian boy from Tarmway Township in Rangoon,
belongs to a 40-member troupe that will go from house to house performing
the dragon dance, which is believed to bring luck to those who pay for the
performance.

Along with many other Burmese or Indian youths, he has been practicing the
dance in a Chinese temple, which serves as a sort of community center for
local Chinese residents, since the beginning of the month.

After learning how to dance to the accompaniment of traditional Chinese
music played on drums and cymbals, Aung Win Oo said he hopes earn 1,500
kyat (around US $1.20) a day, plus meals, for the duration of the New
Year’s period.

Chinese New Year’s Day falls at the end of the first week of February this
year, and festivities are expected to last around five days. It is a busy
time of year for Chinese people in Burma, and increasingly for non-Chinese
who see it as an opportunity to earn some extra income.

In the past, lion and dragon dances were held for fun and to raise money
for the maintenance of Chinese temples. Now, however, they are run more
like business operations by investors in the Chinese community.

Local Chinese businessmen are said to pay around 1.5 million kyat ($1,225)
on costumes and equipment for a lion-dancing troupe, while dragon dancers
can be outfitted for just one million kyat ($816).

Even after paying for dancers, these troupes can expect to make a handsome
profit. “They will earn at least 50 million kyat (more than $40,000) after
5 to 7 days of performing,” said Aung Myo, a resident of Rangoon’s
Chinatown.

The money comes from Chinese who pay from 12,000 to 100,000 kyat ($10-80)
or more to have the dancers perform in front of their homes.

____________________________________

February 7, Democratic Voice of Burma
Land seized for rubber plantation

Three thousand acres of privately-owned land has been seized from Ngwe
Saung township farmers by family members of a State Peace and Development
Council general, according to locals.

Nyaw Hnaung Khin Maung Than and Min Zeya Hlaing, the daughter and
son-in-law of SPDC general Khin Maung Than, seized the land from farmers
in Ngwe Saung township in Irrawaddy division in February 2007, giving them
no compensation.

One of the previous owners said that the land was to be used for a rubber
plantation.

“Three thousand acres of land owned by local residents along the highway
to Ngwe Saung beach resort was seized without compensation for a rubber
plantation,” he said.

“So far they have cultivated around 500 acres of land.”

A cashew nut farmer said that the cashew trees he had been growing on his
land for decades have now been cleared.

“They should compensate us 4 million kyat, and they said they would pay
us, but it hasn’t happened so far,” the farmer said.

The seized lands have now been walled in and a sign posted up warning
people not to trespass, which has caused difficulties for local farmers
who need to cross the land to take their cattle to pasture.

Another plantation owner said that the new owners were demanding wheat or
labour from anyone seeking to cross their land.

“We’ve been asked to pay half a ton of wheat if we want to take two
buffalo cattle to graze, and one ton for cows,” the plantation owner said.

“If you just want to go yourself, then you have to cut 100 bamboo stalks.
So you don’t have to pay, but you have to contribute labour.”

Carpenters who want to cut through the area have to give 20 blocks of wood
to the owners.

Local residents said they have reported the case to the village Peace and
Development Council, but they have taken no action, and so they intend to
take their case further.

____________________________________

February 7, The Independent
Why the people of Burma are risking jail to catch a glimpse of Rambo –
Andrew Buncombe

Rambo star Sly Stallone may not be to everyone’s taste. But on the streets
of Rangoon, people are willing to risk jail just to catch a glimpse of the
ageing action hero as he takes on the junta.

Despite efforts by the Burmese authorities to ban the Stallone’s recently
released movie, Rambo 4, reports suggest there an underground trade in
downloaded versions of the film in which he rescues missionaries from the
clutches of the military.

While cinemas are prevented from showing the film, the downloaded version
- burned onto DVDs - is being passed around by groups of trusted friends.
“Some of the video rental shops have put up a sign that reads ‘ We don't
have a copy of Rambo 4 released in USA on January 25’, as many people
continue to ask for it,” one Rangoon resident told the Indian-based
website Mizzima.

Stallone’s fourth adventure as the action hero was shot along the
Thai-Burmese border and features the Vietnam War veteran coming out of
retirement to rescue Christian missionaries abducted by the authorities
while supplying supplies to the ethnic Karen, who have long been the
victims of clashes and attacks from government troops.

While political activists both inside and outside of Burma have celebrated
the film for revealing the brutality of the junta, the Rangoon resident
said that many people were confused as to whether the film was fictional
or portrayed genuine events.

Either way, the 61-year-old actor, who first portrayed the mentally
unstable veteran John J Rambo in 1982, recently claimed the film was
inspiring people to take action against the Burmese regime and had
prompted a backlash from the government. He also said that two of the
film’s Burmese-born actors had told him that members of their families had
been arrested in apparent retribution for their participation in the
movie.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 7, Narinjara News
Authorities hunt exiled monks

Burmese military authorities have been searching for two monks who
recently escaped to Bangladesh in their native village in Irrawaddy
Division of Burma's delta region, said U Painya Dissa.

The authorities searched the village one week after the two monks had
arrived in Bangladesh in their escape from Burma and the junta.

U Painya Dissa said, "Officials from the military intelligence unit first
went to Mula Mingun monastery in the town of Pyapon on 29 January to
search for me, because I usually visit the monastery on 29 or 30 January
every year to meet with my senior abbot there."

U Painya Dissa was living in the Mula Mingun monastery several years ago
and was initiated as a monk there.

"Afterward, the authorities went to my village to look for me. The
officials searched my village monastery and my houses, and asked several
questions of my family, but did not arrest any of my relatives," said the
monk.

U Painya Dissa's native village is Wradan Shay located in Bokalay Township
of Irrawaddy Division, where his family remains.

U Painya Dissa and one other monk, U Thawa Ra, escaped to Bangladesh from
Burma in the third week of January 2008 as they feared the authority would
arrest them.

The two monks were involved in leading the recent monk protests in the
Saffron Revolution, and they are still executive members of the monk
delegation unit that was formed by monks from the seven states and seven
divisions of Burma.

The two monks are now staying at Rakhine monasteries in Bangladesh and the
UNHCR Dhaka office has also issued a certificate to them for security
purposes.

____________________________________

February 7, Mizzima News
Shan representative office inaugurated to mark 61st National Day – Solomon
& Phanida

In commemoration of the 61st National Day and in order to highlight the
struggle of ethnic Shans for freedom, equality, democracy and human
rights, a Shan representative office was inaugurated today in Germany.

Spearheaded by a volunteer, Nicholas Ganz, the representative office will
act as a liaison office for Shans and highlight the sufferings and
struggles of Shans in Burma.

Nicholas Ganz, in an interview with Mizzima said, the representative
office, which he named "Shan Embassy" will mainly deal with Public
Relations in regard to the Shan people's political struggle and will
represent the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS).

"The main purpose of the embassy [liaison office] is to represent the
Restoration Council of the Shan State in Europe and in other countries
politically," Ganz told Mizzima news.

Ganz, who will be heading the office said, the office came into being
after discussions with leaders of RCSS, a political wing formed in 1998,
and several visits to the Thai-Burma border, where thousands of Shan
refugees continue to suffer as refugees and migrants after fleeing their
homes in war-torn Shan state.

"The situation in Shan State is really one of despair because the whole
Shan state is occupied by the ruling Burma Army and it has unleashed real
war on them so the people are really suffering a lot," said Ganz.

In his statement on the inauguration of the Shan representative office
released on Wednesday, Ganz said, "Now it is time, to transform some of
the bullets into words and spread the words around the world. Words, that
speak about the desire for freedom, equality, democracy and
self-determination and the culture of the Shan people."

Ganz said the office will also act as a source of aid that will raise
funds and donate to Shan people who are suffering such as refugees, orphan
and farmers.

The office was inaugurated on the 61st Shan National Day to make a
difference in the history of the struggle of the Shan people, Ganz said.

Meanwhile, Shans in Thailand and other countries today held separate
ceremonies in commemoration of the National Day, which symbolizes the
unity of the people of Shan State.

On February 7, 1947, four days prior to the Unions Day of Burma, the
leaders of different ethnic groups living in Shan State came together to
adopt a common flag and national anthem as a symbol unity as a nation.

"This is a significant day in the history of the people of Shan State.
Wherever we are, we will always maintain the same spirit and observe this
day," a Shan youth told Mizzima on the sidelines of the National Day
ceremony in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Along with ethnic Chin and Kachin, the people of Shan on February 12, 1947
joined hands with ethnic Burmans, represented by General Aung San, and
signed the historic Pang Long agreement, which eventually led Burma to
independence from British colonial rulers.

However, the people of Shan state were among the earliest ethnic groups
that rose against the Rangoon regime, when the spirit of the Pang Long
agreement was violated after the death of General Aung San, who is
regarded as the Independence father of Burma.
____________________________________

February 7, Mizzima News
Three Burmese fishermen rescued after three months at sea – Mungpi

Three Burmese fishermen, rescued by Indian fishermen after being adrift in
the sea on a bamboo raft for over three months, said they look forward to
help from the Burmese Embassy.

Zaw Oo, one of the fishermen during an interview with Mizzima, said while
they are getting help and protection from the Gopalpur police station in
the East coast of India's Orissa state, they are looking to the Burmese
Embassy in New Delhi for assistance in returning to Burma.

The three Burmese fishermen, who identified themselves as Zaw Oo, Zaw Lwin
and Ko Linn are residents of Burma's coastal village of Phya Pone in
Irrawaddy Division. They said they were rescued by Indian fishermen and
brought to Gopalpur police station in Orissa on Wednesday.

Zaw Oo said they embarked on a fishing trip on a bamboo raft on November
11, 2007. They were caught in a heavy cyclone and started drifting in the
Bay of Bengal.

"We were adrift on the sea for three months. We mainly depended on dry
fish and turtles for food but we remained without food for nearly two
months after all our dry fish stocks ran out," Zaw Oo said.

While miraculously surviving the storm and months in the sea without
proper food and water, Zaw Oo said they suffered severe stomach problems
because they were forced to drink sea water in the absence of fresh water.

"For nearly two months we drank sea water and we suffered severe stomach
problems. But later we learnt how to boil the water," Zaw Oo added.

He added that the Indian police as well as local residents have been very
kind to them and had provided food and shelter.

"An Indian man told us that he would take our case to the Burmese Embassy
so that we can be sent back home immediately," said Zaw Oo adding that "We
are already lucky to be alive. It is like returning to life from death."

While the police officer in-charge in Gopalpur was unavailable for
comment, due to an on-duty trip, Purna Chandra Sethy, a local Indian said
he will help the trio in submitting their case to the Burmese Embassy in
New Delhi.

Sethy, however, said the case is unlikely to be processed as quickly as
the fishermen might want and is likely to take at least half a year before
they can return to Burma given the bureaucratic red tape.

"Meanwhile, I have planned to take the three of them to my house until
they can return. Today I was about to take them but since the [police]
officer in-charge is not available I could not take them," Sethy said.

Sethy added that the three fishermen's case, though unusual, is not the
first. He said, in 1993, nine Burmese fishermen were washed ashore in the
eastern coast of India.

"I kept them in my house for one whole year until their case could be
processed by the [Burmese] Embassy. Finally I personally took them to New
Delhi and discussed their matter with the secretary of the embassy," Sethy
said.

The nine fishermen were finally deported to Burma by air from Kolkata in
1994, he added.

The Burmese Embassy in New Delhi, however, could not be contacted for
comment on the case of the three Burmese fishermen.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 7, The Economist
Our friends in the north – Kyauk Phyu

Shunned by the West, Myanmar is developing ever closer commercial links
with its neighbours, especially China

MOST locals, who are lucky if they enjoy two hours of electricity an
evening, are unaware of their region's bounty: South-East Asia's biggest
proven gas reserve lies in the Shwe field, just off the coast of Ramree
Island. This year work will begin on a pipeline to carry these riches to
China. From perhaps as early as late 2009, a parallel pipe will carry
Middle Eastern and African oil from a new deep-water harbour at Kyaukphyu,
bypassing the Strait of Malacca and fuelling the economy of China's
south-west.

The site of the harbour, like the former fishing grounds where the gas
lies, is now strictly out of bounds to locals. Despite a small poster
campaign by underground activists, few people here know much about it.
Those who do are worried. According to one, farmers fear losing their
land. They have good reason for concern, judging from the mass
dispossessions and human-rights abuses that surrounded the construction of
earlier pipelines from the south to Thailand. Residents of nearby Baday
Island have already been told that they must leave.

China is not the only country in the region nervous about its “energy
security” and thus hungry for Myanmar's energy resources. India also hoped
to buy the Shwe (“golden”) gas, offering the government soft loans and
other inducements. In August India signed a $150m contract for gas
exploration further south in the Gulf of Martaban. One day India hopes to
build its own pipeline into its poor, remote, insurgency-ridden
north-eastern states.

Until the Shwe gas comes on stream, Myanmar's biggest export market will
remain Thailand. In purchases worth $2 billion a year, Thailand's
electricity authority imports gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields. But
China offers the Burmese junta particular advantages. As a permanent
member of the United Nations Security Council, it can veto threatening
resolutions, as it did a year ago (just three days before it secured
exploration rights to three more offshore blocks near Ramree).

There are even reports that Myanmar may soon start conducting all its
Chinese trade in the Chinese currency, the yuan. This sounds odd, since it
is not fully convertible and Myanmar expects soon to have a large trade
surplus. The rationale would be to avoid Western banking sanctions.
American measures introduced after the crushing of monk-led protests last
September hurt Burmese financial interests in Singapore. This week,
America tightened sanctions on the ruling junta's families.

Chinese trade extends beyond energy. The new pipelines will follow the
route of the old British-built Burma Road, which still carries timber,
gold, gemstones and other Burmese raw materials north to China and brings
in cheap manufactures. Around 20 Chinese companies are working in Myanmar
on scores of projects including hydropower, mining and road-building as
well as oil and gas. Ruili, the main border-crossing between northern
Myanmar and China's province of Yunnan, has become a seedy boomtown.

Under construction, and soon to eclipse the Burma Road is a new “Southern
Silk Road”, linking India to China across northern Myanmar. Parts of the
long-derelict route were first opened by the Allies during the second
world war to supply Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese army in its war with the
Japanese. Today it gels neatly both with India's determination to develop
the north-east and with China's plans to close the gap between its booming
east coast and the laggardly western interior. Yunnan needs energy
supplies and markets, and its businesses and officials are little bothered
by the human-rights concerns that have led some Western governments to
impose limited sanctions.

____________________________________

February 7, Agence France Presse:
S'pore resident targeted in US Myanmar sanctions

A Singapore resident is among those targeted under new US sanctions aimed
at an alleged 'henchman' and arms dealer for the Myanmar junta.

U Kyaw Thein, 60, was named on Tuesday as the United States imposed
sanctions against individuals and businesses linked to Tay Za, citing
continuing human rights violations and political repression by the Myanmar
regime.

A Singaporean company, Pavo Aircraft Leasing Pte Ltd, was also named.

'We are tightening financial sanctions against Tay Za, an arms dealer and
financial henchman of Burma's repressive junta,' said Adam Szubin,
director of the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC).

An OFAC notice identifies U Kyaw Thein as a citizen of Burma who is a
permanent resident of Singapore with an identity card issued in 2005.

A resident of U Kyaw Thein's Singapore apartment told AFP by phone
Thursday that he had gone overseas and could not be reached.

'He's gone for some trip,' said the man, who would not give his name.

Pavo Aircraft Leasing is the latest Singapore firm to be hit by the US
sanctions.

After Myanmar's deadly suppression of Buddhist-led protests in September,
President George W. Bush named three firms with offices in Singapore as
among those targeted.

They were Pavo Trading Pte Ltd, Air Bagan Holdings Pte Ltd and Htoo Wood
Products Pte Ltd, which is also listed as being from Myanmar's main city,
Yangon.

Pavo Aircraft Leasing is listed at the same office where the other three
blacklisted firms were based.

The US action freezes any assets they may have under US jurisdiction and
bars Americans from conducting business with them at the risk of heavy
fines and prison sentences.

Singapore led regional criticism of the junta's September crackdown, but
rights activists have accused the city-state of not taking economic action
against the regime.

Singapore strongly denies allegations that it allows banks based here to
keep illicit funds on behalf of Myanmar's secretive generals.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

February 7, UPI Asia Online
Six bucks, the value of a life in Burma – Awzar Thi

For anyone grappling with the thorny problem of assigning a financial
value to human life, help is at hand. Insurance companies of the world,
rejoice: Burma's Defense Ministry has definitively established that one
life is worth a bit less than six US dollars.

In November 2006 a low-ranking army officer came to the suburban Rangoon
home of a young mother. He told her that her husband had died of malaria
in a mountainous border region some three months before, while serving an
infantry battalion.

How Htun Htun Naing got there in the first place is unclear. He was not a
soldier. The 31-year-old had been arrested and imprisoned for gambling.
Apparently he had been taken from jail and sent to carry materials for the
military in the rugged war-ravaged east.

The government of Burma openly uses prisoners on labor projects. Home
Ministry publications include accounts and photographs of farms and
quarries where the workforce consists of inmates. Corrections Department
signboards dot roads around the countryside and criminal sentences are
typically for rigorous imprisonment.

However, the government has persistently denied that it uses convicts as
army porters, despite numerous reports to the contrary. Human rights
defenders claim that the number of prisoners used to carry supplies has
increased in recent years as the number of local villagers forcibly
conscripted to work has decreased. The videotaped testimonies and wounds
of escaped inmates are compelling evidence.

In any event, the officer visiting Htun Htun Naing's family advised them
that they should go to the concerned battalion's headquarters to look into
the matter. He collected some personal documents with which to process the
case but left them with nothing: neither a doctor's report nor a medical
certificate to verify his account.

Htun Htun Naing's wife, struggling to raise her three small children, was
in no position to travel to an army camp halfway across the country. She
continued her work as usual and waited to hear more.

So it was until the following year, when the family received a letter. The
form inside, dated Jan. 30 and issued by the ministry accounts office,
acknowledged the death/injury of U Htun Htun Naing, son of U Myint Shwe,
in the service of Infantry Battalion 250 based at Loikaw. It informed the
family that in accordance with an instruction from operation headquarters,
the amount of 7,200 kyat had been cleared for payment as compensation by
the Myanmar Economic Bank within the financial year.

How did the ministry do its math? No criteria were given, nor supporting
documents affixed. The family still has not received anything to prove
that Htun Htun Naing really died as they have been told, let alone details
of how he ended up working for IB 250 in the first place. All they have is
this scrap of paper granting them a miserable 7,200 kyat.

Their experience is very far removed from the global standards on
satisfactory redress for victims of rights abuses.

According to the United Nations principles on remedies and reparations,
adopted by the General Assembly in 2005, these should be "adequate,
effective, prompt and appropriate." Compensation should be "proportional
to the gravity of the ... harm suffered."

Gabriela Echeverria, a legal adviser to the group REDRESS, has written
that the principles "have been used as the basis for new remedies in
national and international fora" and have become "a standard for
governments when implementing administrative measures."

While this may be true of some countries in Europe, and perhaps
increasingly in the Americas, the notion that persons who have suffered
some wrongdoing at the hands of the state deserve appropriate recompense,
in addition to other remedies, is still remote to most parts of Asia.

The government of Thailand offered the equivalent of around US$7,500 to
each of the families of 92 dead and missing at the hands of the army after
the infamous Tak Bai incident of 2004; not one officer has ever been
prosecuted, despite overwhelming evidence of systemic negligence.

In Nepal, the maximum amount that can be awarded to a torture victim is a
bit over US$1,000, no matter how serious the injuries suffered. And
whereas the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka had previously ordered that victims
of torture there be paid highly, in recent years it has reduced the sums
ordered to barely a few hundred dollars.

There are of course many opinions about the meaning of words like
"adequate" and "appropriate" when it comes to the pecuniary losses of
human rights abuse victims, but by any standards the payments to those in
Asia are paltry at best, and the payments to those in Burma, if
forthcoming at all, are evidently intended only to add insult to injury.

Htun Htun Naing's family has made a complaint anyhow. They have not dared
to ask for justice or even more details of how he died. Just for a review
of the case and a little more money, please. So far they have heard
nothing. There seems little chance that they will. They may not have proof
of his death, but they have ample proof that in Burma life really is
cheap; perhaps even more so than anyone had imagined.

(Awzar Thi is the pen name of a member of the Asian Human Rights
Commission with over 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights
and the rule of law in Thailand and Burma. His Rule of Lords blog can be
read at http://ratchasima.net)

____________________________________
DRUGS

February 7, Narinjara News
Burmese yaba continues flowing into Bangladesh

Yaba is still being widely smuggled into Bangladesh, despite the
Bangladesh authorities' crackdown on yaba trafficking along the Burmese
border, says an analyst from Maungdaw.

He said, "With the recent arrest of yaba traffickers in the border area,
we can easily see that yaba stimulant tablets are still getting into
Bangladesh."

The border authority of Bangladesh arrested a Burmese man with 205 yaba
tablets in his possession on Tuesday in a raid on a border village.

The Burmese man was identified as Mr. Mohamad Alir, and was arrested while
he was staying in Zaliya Village in the border town of Teknaf, opposite
Burma's Maungdaw.

In recent months, Bangladesh authorities have arrested many Burmese along
the border for smuggling yaba tablets into Bangladesh.

"I don't think this kind of smuggling will be stopped by Bangladesh
authorities in a short period because the activity is related to poverty,"
the analyst said.

"Many Burmese people are now unemployed in western Arakan State and they
are having difficulty maintaining their daily survival due to the high
price of commodities. So the people are involved in the drug business just
to stay alive," he added.

Many people who are living in the western Burmese border area realize that
the Bangladesh government has been cracking down on drug smuggling, but
they are not afraid and continue to smuggle yaba to Bangladesh through
many points along the border.

A source from Maungdaw said that the business of yaba requires little
effort compared to other smuggling trades, but the profit can be very
high. Many people, including government employees in Maungdaw, are
involved in the yaba trade.

____________________________________

February 7, Reuters
Thailand to revive controversial war on drugs

Thailand's new government will revive a controversial war on drugs in
which more than 2,500 alleged dealers were killed, Interior Minister
Chalerm Yubamrung said on Thursday.

"Narcotics must be lessened in 90 days, although they can't be wiped out,"
said Chalerm, a former police captain whose son was acquitted of charges
of killing a policeman in a bar for lack of evidence.

The fight against drugs was one of his top three priorities and he would
spend time along the border with Myanmar, the source of most drugs now
entering Thailand, seeking to defeat trafficking networks, Chalerm told
reporters.

The war on drugs launched by ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2003
was praised by many rural Thais whose villages were rife with drugs but
fiercely attacked by rights activists for giving police a "licence to
kill".

A military-appointed government, set up after the generals ousted Thaksin
in a bloodless 2006 coup, investigated Thaksin's war and called it a
"crime against humanity", but failed to link Thaksin to extrajudicial
killings.

Thaksin, now living in exile in Hong Kong, won a second landslide election
victory two years after the war on drug was launched, largely on the back
of support in the countryside.

At the time, Thailand, once a major supplier of heroin from the Golden
Triangle where it meets Myanmar and Laos, was awash with methamphetamines
made across the border in the former Burma.

The war on drugs cut supply and pushed up prices for a while, but business
returned to normal after the campaign petered out, anti-drug agencies say.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 7, Reuters
No change in Myanmar policy for new Thai government

Thailand's new government will not change the country's policy on Myanmar
of non-interference and working with Southeast Asia to push the junta
towards democracy, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said on Thursday.

"Non-interference in others' internal affairs remains the thrust of our
diplomacy," said Noppadon, a former lawyer and spokesman for ex-Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

Noppadon, an Oxford graduate, said democracy and human rights were
internal affairs of the former Burma, ruled by the military since 1962 and
the focus of international opprobrium since crushing pro-democracy
protests in September.

Thailand would rely on the 10-member Association of South East Asian
Nations, one of the few international groups willing to have Myanmar as a
member, to bring change about, Noppadon told a news conference.

"We will work under the ASEAN framework to make democracy in Myanmar
prosper and a bring better standard of living to the people," said
Noppadon of a country now one of the poorest in the region. The United
States and the European Union have intensified sanctions on Myanmar after
the junta crushed the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years in
September, killing at least 31 people.

____________________________________

February 7, Irrawaddy
Will Thailand create a friendly Burma policy? – Wai Moe

Does the appointment of Thaksin Shinawatra’s former lawyer, Noppadon
Pattama, as the new foreign minister of Thailand mean a new foreign policy
that favors the generals in Naypyidaw?

Thailand's new foreign minister Noppadon Pattama (Photo: Reuters)
Before he joined the Thai Rak Thai Party, Nappadon, a member of the
Democrat Party, served as secretary to former Foreign Minister Surin
Pitsuwan from 1997 to 2001.

He later joined the Thai Rak Thai Party and served as an assistant
minister in the ministry of natural resources and environment for 89 days
before the coup that toppled Thaksin in September 2006.

Noppadon told reporters on Thursday that democracy in Burma was “an
internal affair.”

“We are not a headmaster who can tell Myanmar [Burma] what they should do.
We have to respect their sovereignty,” he said, according to Agence
France-Presse.

Kavi Chongkittavorn, an editor with The Nation newspaper in Bangkok, wrote
in a commentary article on February 4: “For Noppadon, his top priority is
very clear. He must show in sustained and tangible ways that he is the
spokesman of Thai foreign policy, not Thaksin’s personal policy.”

A spokesperson for Burma’s opposition party, the National League for
Democracy, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday the NLD hopes Thailand’s newly
elected government will work jointly with the international community to
strengthen Burma’s democracy movement.

“The establishment of an elected government is important in
democratization,” said Nyan Win.

Nyo Ohn Myint, the NLD (Liberated Area) head of foreign affairs in exile,
said a new Thai foreign policy should follow the international community’s
position on Burma, particularly the UN.

He said the new government may follow Thaksin’s so-called “business-based
diplomacy” and other people-based internal policies, but Thailand’s Burma
policy should not be the same as before, because of the Burmese
government’s lack of democracy and its abuse of human rights.

“Based on what I hear from the diplomatic community, the Thai new foreign
ministry will not be proactive in relations with the Burmese junta,” he
said.

After the 2006 coup, Noppadon was well-known as the Shinawatra family’s
legal adviser who defended Thaksin and his family against corruption
charges.

Shortly his appointment as foreign minister, Noppadon said Thaksin’s
diplomatic passport should be returned. The passport was cancelled last
year after a Thai court charged Thaksin with misusing the power of his
office.

“Due to the rule of law and as long as other former prime ministers can
keep their diplomatic passports, Khun Thaksin should get back his
diplomatic passport,” Noppadon said on Thursday.

Columnist Kavi Chongkittavorn wrote that a new Thai foreign policy team is
crucial to restoring the country’s international standing and any attempt
to revive Thaksin’s “bruising diplomatic style of leadership,” especially
towards Asean and Burma, could spell disaster from the beginning.

“While the international community has welcomed the newly elected
government, it is also closely monitoring Thailand’s policy towards
Burma,” he wrote. “If Bangkok chooses to follow the same shameful Burmese
policy of the Thaksin years, Thailand’s recovery from the long years of
condemnation and despair will be fruitless.”

Thailand’s new Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said during the election
campaign in December that Thailand should host an international summit to
try to resolve the Burma crisis. He suggested a conference modeled after
the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear crisis.

“Let’s talk,” Samak said. “Let them [the Burmese junta] know that they
can’t live like that in the world.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 7, Canada’s Foreign Policy Newsweekly
Impact of Burma sanctions – Lee Berthiaume

The government's tougher sanctions against Burma last fall will have some
impact on existing Canadian investments in the Southeast Asian country,
senior Foreign Affairs officials told the Standing Committee on Foreign
Affairs and International Development on Jan. 30.

"I can say that the measure that is in place does address new investments,
but that can't be taken only in isolation," Randolph Mank, director
general of DFAIT's Asia and Pacific Bureau, said to NDP Foreign Affairs
critic Paul Dewar. "There is also the ban on provision of financial
services and on certain transactions, which will obviously have bearing on
ongoing investment, just to put it in some context how the measure
operates as it now stands.

"If one is to extract profit from investment, and that's what investment
is intended for, then, presumably, this aspect of the new economic
measures will have some effect in that area. This is something that was
certainly thought through and considered, and we are as concerned about
ongoing investments as you are."

However, Mr. Dewar worried some firms could exploit loopholes in the
restrictions.

"There are concerns about Total Oil, and you'll know that there's Canadian
companies, Power Corporation, to be specific, who have investments in
Total Oil," Mr. Dewar said. "Would they be captured... by the measures
that have been brought forward by the government?"

"It's hard to discuss this specific instance, but what I can say is that
you're right," said John Hannaford, director general and deputy legal
adviser at DFAIT. "The way the measure works, it is a ban on indirect
investment which amounts to a controlling interest in an entity that then
would be operating in Burma. That is intended to be the trigger. It's
partially for practical reasons that it becomes extremely challenging to
have a look at situations where you're looking at Burma."

Mr. Mank also said that Canada has been working with the UN and
Association of Southeast Asian Nations to push for reform in Burma, which
is controlled by a military junta.

However, he said Canada does not have a dedicated aid program to the country.

He added that the government is "always looking for new things to do and
we will continue on Burma to see what next we can do to increase the
pressure and I'm sure the government will be considering other options in
the future."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 7, Asian Tribune
The golden alternative, not abrupt regime change but negotiated settlement
- Gamanii

As Burma gets into world spotlight with the Saffron Revolution, lots of
arguments against democratization are surprisingly heard from many
quarter-¬politicians, statesmen, scholars, so-called Burma experts and
even some Burmese in exile who have never set foot on the native soil or
who have been out of touch with reality for decades¬ absurdly claiming
that the substitute for the military junta will be, out of all things, the
devil's alternative. One argument is the likelihood of lawlessness, chaos
and 'Balkanization' if the junta is gone. So what's the situation now?
Isn't there lawlessness already in Burma? There has to be a negotiated
settlement and no quick fixes.

The killing of the highest spiritual leaders of the society is the
expression of most severe form of lawlessness. On the other hand, the
leaders of the Saffron Revolution, the monks, have shown the highest and
unrivalled form of discipline and order in the world. Buddhism is renowned
for its peace-loving and love-radiating attributes and Burmese monks and
the demonstrating people led by them have again proved it. Drug cartels
and crime syndicates flourish most under egomaniac despotism. There is no
rule of law in Burma; only the words of selfish generals. This is the best
culture for crime and chaos.

The self-seeking military junta is the sole cause of chaos and civil war.
Incompetent junta's militarization of the country has brought it to 'Least
Developed Country' Status in 1987 and, twenty years later, unprecedented
chaos, mismanagement and social conflict matched only by few failed states
on earth. Now it is trying to implement a so-called Road Map which will
without doubt further the degeneration and polarization, producing a
military dynasty like Duvalier's Haiti, Kim Il-Sung's North Korea or
Assad's Syria after Than Shwe's demise or when the present generation of
generals have gone.

On the opposition side, all the main groups have more or less the same
major demands or visions. Democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of
the National League for Democracy (NLD) and ethnic forces led by the Union
Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD) or United Nationalities Alliance
(UNA) are united in the Committee Representing People's Parliament (CRPP)
formed in 1998 by major parties elected in 1990. The bond was first
brought about through Bo Aung Kyaw Street Declaration in 1990 August. The
ceasefire groups are also linked to the UNA and through it to the CRPP
which was openly supported by four armed ceasefire groups in 1998. One of
the reasons behind the detentions of Khun Tun Oo, leader of the strongest
legal Shan political party, and Gen. Hso Ten, leader of the strongest
armed Shan (ceasefire) force, in 2005 is that they are the principal
influential links between the ethnic ceasefire groups and the CRPP.

In 1990 elections the NLD and the UNLD won 95% of parliamentary seats. The
NLD also won in many ethnic areas. During Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's tours in
2003 the largest turnout of support occurred in ethnic states. This is one
reason behind the junta's infamous Depayin attack on her. The NLD had also
won in military cantonment areas in 1990. The president and vice-president
of the NLD are former military generals in addition to many 'enlightened'
ex-commanders and soldiers who are now serving in the country's biggest
opposition party. So it is evident that democratization will unify rather
than balkanize the country.

Underground opposition groups have also achieved important accords in 1992
July through Manerplaw Agreement and in 1997 January through Maethrawhta
Agreement which was hailed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a right step towards
peace and harmony in future Burma. These pacts are also significant for
their agreement to solve any differences among democratic or armed ethnic
groups by means of peaceful negotiations and concept of equality.

Almost all the underground ethnic and democratic forces are united inside
the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) which comprises of 10
armed ethnic groups, 5 unarmed ethnic or minority groups and 13 democratic
or civil society groups (including the exiled-NLD and Students' Army) as
well as 34 exiled parliamentarians from the NLD, the pro-military National
Unity Party (NUP) and seven ethnic parties elected in 1990. Ethnic groups
and democratic or civil society groups outside the NCUB are linked to or
interrelated with the latter through exiled-UNLD, Ethnic Nationalities
Council (ENC), Five-Party Military Alliance and Forum for Democracy in
Burma (FDB).

To bring order during the transitional period the National League for
Democracy has a provisional Constitution based to some extent on 1947
Constitution in addition to plans for a second Panglong Conference of all
ethnic groups including the Burman majority. The first Panglong Agreement
of 1947 had brought understanding among ethnic nationalities of Burma and
founded the present Union though not much in essence. The opposition
forces in exile are also working on future constitutions through a highly
inclusive and broad-based Federal Constitution Drafting and Co-ordination
Committee (FCDCC) and various State Constitutions Drafting Committees
(SCDCs), extensively smoothing out potential divergences and conflicts.

Unlike Yugoslavia or African countries, more than 2000-year old civilized
Burma's history bore no precedence of Balkanization. Bloody religious or
racial conflicts common to Yugoslavia or African countries were unheard
of. Past wars were caused mainly by feudal monarchs annexing adjacent
territories just like feudal rulers of any country in ancient times. Pre-
and Post-Independence communal riots were the hangover of colonialist era
'divide and rule' policy. The junta's disinformation on the meaning of
federalism has failed among the Burmese people. Burmans who usually turned
out victors through military might have now realized the futility of
denying other ethnic peoples their rights in accordance with universal
norms; the only remaining obstacle being the military junta.

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted in
September 2007 will give a great boost to democratic and ethnic issue in
Burma. Another thing to take note is that there are no 135 races in Burma
as the junta claims; the true figure is around sixty with most of them
less than 50,000 each.

Of course, as in Quebec, Scotland or Flanders, there is and will always be
a few who desire secession but majority of each ethnic population only
cares for equal rights. Besides, there are no practical means or situation
to carry out secession by those who desire it. Even under Prime Minister U
Nu in 1958, when ethnics could utilize the Article 140 of the 1947
Constitution to secede legally, no attempt was made but only demands for
more rights within the Union framework were presented peacefully and
democratically that were but turned down by Ne Win's military junta using
brute force.

Armed ethnic groups, particularly ceasefire armies and the people in their
territories are basically war-weary. That's why the SPDC is able to coerce
and manipulate them. In 1998 September, when some ceasefire groups backed
the CRPP in defiance of the junta, local civilian pressure and senior
ethnic officers' war-fatigue prompted the groups to back down from war.
The concept of non-violence and effects of media which have dominated the
world since the end of Cold War have been influencing the armed ethnic
groups more than its worth. In Burma, (tripartite) dialogue and
non-violence rather than warring are the buzz words.

Balkanization is not the only option in the world; Czechoslovakia had
experienced a peaceful 'velvet separation'. Balkanization and anarchy can
only be brought about by a freely failing junta which could break apart
into multiple rivaling fiefdoms controlled separately by warlord-turned
junta generals or Burma army's regional commanders as in post-Siad Barre
Somalia, post-Najibullah Afghanistan or post-Mobutu Congo. Unlike them,
Burma fortunately has a legitimate and popular democratic leadership
well-prepared and highly competent to take over.

Burma's opposition leaders both democratic and ethnic are undoubtedly more
competent, qualified and broad-minded than the junta chiefs. Unlike Iraq
or Afghanistan, all the atrocities and terror in Burma are work of the
SPDC. Tthere are no extremists or terrorists among the opposition. Hence
merely checking and removing the SPDC will prevent any further bloodshed.

Presently, junta's senseless or paranoid economic policies are making
everyone broke except the generals. Even Singapore's senior statesman Mr.
Lee Kuan-yew has dubbed them 'dumb' with regard to economics. No
globalization beneficial to the country's people, local businessmen or
foreign investors could take hold in Burma. In contrast, the National
League for Democracy has been upgrading its leaders and rank-and-file with
world level capacity in all issues, anticipating to ride the globalization
surf like China and Vietnam. Exiled democratic and ethnic forces are also
versed in international efficiencies of peaceful nature after years of
training and studying abroad.

The important thing is that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD are not
calling for abrupt 'regime change' but rather a negotiated settlement
taking into account the Burmese military's role, and finally replacing it
definitely in not too distant future. In 2006 February, the NLD offered a
transition plan which would recognize the military junta as a de jure
government for a transition period that would be legitimized by the
parliament elected in 1990. Also in August, 2007, ninety-two elected
members of parliament proposed an alternative Road Map offering the SPDC a
considerable role in Constitution-drafting and transition processes along
with elected NLD and ethnic members of parliament. "Everything is
negotiable," Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said.

The army is to be retained but the military dictatorship must go, this is
the opposition's consensus. The pigheaded generals simply turned down all
the proposals. These meaningful proposals are far from those clamors for
pointless 'gradual change' advocated by unwitting apologists of the
obstinate military junta who has been claiming they are executing gradual
change for nineteen years which has only resulted in the massacre of
Buddhist monks. The junta's gradual change is in fact no change at all but
more bloodshed only.

Engagement with the junta has also been called or initiated by many
countries including ASEAN, China and Japan who only got its reporter Mr.
Nagai killed from close range gunshot during the Saffron Revolution. There
has been the Chilston Park seminar in the UK favoring engagement as well.
All these has resulted in more deadly militarization with more refugees
and more migrants to neighboring countries not to say of diseases, forced
labor, rape and more IDPs in the country.

So what can you expect from shoring up a junta that is prepared to kill
the most revered section of the nation at the country's holiest shrine on
a full-moon day which is regarded as a holy day in Buddhism? Will it be
moral or feasible to maintain the status quo or engage with this kind of
junta to prevent an imaginary and improbable Balkanization and chaos? To
prevent such a scenario there is no other way rather than to replace the
regime with the opposition who has people's mandate, through the road map
initiated by the latter.

Gamanii is a former student activist and political prisoner of 1974-1975
and then joined ethnic armed groups and spent twenty years in the jungle
fighting the military regime. Now, he is working for Burma's exiled
government (NCGUB). He has written many articles on Burma. He is an
Inthar, an ethnic minority group in Shan State of Burma.

____________________________________

February 7, Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs
Muslim minority Rohingyas among opponents to Burmese military regime –
John Gee

I HOPE I MIGHT be forgiven, at the start of a new year, for recalling a
few recent topics that otherwise might be too easily forgotten.

It seems impossible to find any saving grace in the military regime in
Burma (redubbed Myanmar by its present rulers). At independence, the
country seemed to enjoy good prospects: not very densely populated, and
with agricultural produce, teak and precious stones among its export
goods, it appeared to have a better future than neighboring India.
Instead, it has lived the past 45 years under military rulers who devote a
considerable part of the country’s income to keeping the army loyal, while
accumulating private fortunes.

The regime’s sordid character and the extent of popular opposition was
brought to the world’s attention in 2007 when monks led countrywide
protests after the regime raised fuel prices by over 400 percent in
August. The move was made after the government had relocated from Yangon,
the former capital, to newly built Naypidaw, in the center of the country,
where the fearful junta feels more insulated from popular dissent.

The role played by the Buddhist monks and the location of the most
publicized protests in the Burman-inhabited areas might easily have led
some observers to overlook the other forces in the country opposed to the
current regime. They include such different national minorities as
Buddhist Shans and Christian Karens, in Burma’s east.

Among those most fervently hoping for an end to the military regime are a
Muslim minority known as the Rohingyas, whose home territory is on the
western coast of Burma. Their language is similar to that of the people of
the neighboring Chittagong area of Bangladesh—which the military regime
has used to support its claim that they were Bengali immigrants with no
right to Burmese citizenship. In fact, when the British occupied the area
in 1825, they found that half the population of the Arakan area were
Muslims.

In 1992, the Burmese army combed the Rohingya areas of the Arakan region,
driving the alleged “foreigners” from their homes. Some fled to other
parts of Burma, but 250,000 crossed the border into Bangladesh. They were
officially regarded as “undocumented people” rather than refugees. Poor,
densely populated Bangladesh took a helpful attitude at first, but soon
wearied of the Rohingyas’ presence. It mounted pressure on Burma to allow
their return and on the refugees to leave. The majority were readmitted to
Burma, but a smaller wave arrived in Bangladesh in 1996-97.

Those who remained in Burma or returned there are still denied
citizenship, refused the right to own property and discriminated against.
During military campaigns, they have been forced to labor on projects for
the army. Rohingyas are at the bottom of the economic pile in a country
that, in 2006, had a per capita GDP of $1,800, compared to $2,300 in
Bangladesh. No wonder they supported the movement of protest against the
military authorities.

Collateral Damage
After 23 Korean Christians were seized in Afghanistan by the Taliban, it
took six weeks to secure the release of the 21 who survived after two of
their number were slain by their captors. Upon their return home they came
in for strong criticism. Many said that they had exposed themselves to
danger needlessly and, by doing so, had presented their captors with the
chance to make money and political capital from their release. What seems
to have been widely overlooked is the impact activities such as theirs can
have upon the work of other foreigners working in similar environments.

Western-based humanitarian organizations often face suspicion when they
begin to operate in areas that are very different from their home bases in
terms of culture and religion. In many parts of Africa and Asia, there are
still bitter memories of the colonial era, when European governments
frequently gave free rein to organizations that believed they were doing
good work by trying to convert indigenous populations to their own
cultural values. Coupled as such efforts often were with the denigration
and suppression of local traditional beliefs and customs, they came to be
much resented. This hurdle has become easier to overcome with the passing
of time and the establishment in recent times of a proven track record by
the major international humanitarian relief and development organizations.

Old suspicions can be revived, however. This is particularly true in
places where contemporary conflicts pit a potential recipient population’s
sympathies against those of a humanitarian organization’s country of
origin.

Workers with U.S.-based humanitarian organizations working in the Arab
world, such as World Vision, know what it means to encounter the suspicion
that they are there to promote their government’s unpopular foreign
policy. It can take considerable dedication and patience, sometimes
involving personal risk, for them to prove that they are, in fact, on the
humanitarian mission that they claim to be.

This difficulty is all the greater when a humanitarian body is associated
with Christian beliefs and wishes to operate in Muslim countries, as do
the long-established UK-based charities Christian Aid and Catholic Agency
for Overseas Development. They are careful to assure their hosts that
whatever aid they provide comes to recipients on a humanitarian basis;
that it may be the donors’ Christian values that inspire the act of
giving, but the assistance is not linked to a program of religious
preaching and conversion. Such an attitude tends to win respect and trust,
allowing charities such as these to work harmoniously with local people to
meet pressing relief and development needs.

This approach, generally adopted by experienced and well-established
humanitarian bodies, was essential to the non-governmental organizations’
contribution to relief work in Aceh following the catastrophic tsunami in
2004; it allowed a variety of non-Muslim organizations to provide
much-needed assistance with a minimum of friction. Attempts by some Muslim
and Christian groups to promote their own narrow agendas were quickly
rebuffed.

Most evangelical Christian groups believe that they have a mission to
spread their faith across the world, and see the conversion of Muslims to
Christianity as the ultimate challenge; they have their mirror image among
Muslims. As open preaching of their faith is prohibited or severely
restricted in predominantly Muslim countries, they consider themselves
justified in using humanitarian work as a cover for proselytizing
activities. This was evidently what the Korean Christians of the Saemmul
Community Church were doing when taken hostage by the Taliban.

Unfortunately, by adopting this tactic, groups such as these jeopardize
the good work done by others. When their real agenda comes to light, every
foreign humanitarian body working in the same area comes under renewed
scrutiny. Political and religious extremists who are hostile to any
institution that does not conform to their own narrow vision of the world
leap at the chance to point an accusing finger at them. The lives of those
who work with these organizations, as well as years of constructive work,
in some cases, are threatened.

It is one thing for people to risk their own lives for a cause in which
they believe: that may be seen as admirable, if not necessarily wise. It
is quite another to put in jeopardy the lives and welfare of others who do
not share a belief in that cause. The greatest harm is often done by
people who firmly believe that they are doing what is right. The action of
sending a group of foreigners with little understanding of the cultural
environment into which they are going on a proselytizing mission in a war
zone under the guise of performing humanitarian work is a case in point.

John Gee is a free-lance journalist based in Southeast Asia, and the
author of Unequal Enemies: The Palestinians and Israel, available from the
AET Book Club.