BurmaNet News, April 11, 2008

[Editor]

April 11, 2008 Issue # 3442


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Climate of fear in Myanmar ahead of referendum: monks, activists
Mizzima News: Junta urges people to support constitution
DVB: Constitution “error” could prevent amendments
Narinjara News: NLD member arrested for statement
SHAN: Many townships forced to support the draft constitution
Kaladan Press Network: Junta authorities warn villagers not to cast “No” vote
Time Magazine: Burma plans its “democracy”

ON THE BORDER
AFP: Thai court jails Myanmar container survivors for three days
DPA: Myanmar deaths show immigrant labour system doesn't work, says ILO
Mizzima News: Chinese trucks to tow howitzer arrive on border
CNN: Orphan boy lives in garbage dump

BUSINESS / TRADE
Bangkok Post: Prosecutors examine Burma loan case
Irrawaddy: Suspended Yoma Bank to open again in Burma
Irrawaddy: Weekly business roundup

ASEAN
Irrawaddy: Burma savvy diplomat named US Envoy to Asean

REGIONAL
The Nation (Thailand): Thailand sends condolence over deaths of Burmese
job seekers
Bernama.com: Myanmar brothers jailed 36 years

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima News: New York rally to support Burmese democracy movement
CNN: For ex-Myanmar prisoner, art is a uniform exercise
VOA: Burmese tell US lawmakers about brutal crackdown

OPINION / OTHER
The Economist: Keeping the flame alight; China and Myanmar
South China Morning Post: The tragic consequences of misrule in Myanmar
Irrawaddy: Migrants’ deaths overshadow Burma’s New Year Festival


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 11, Agence France Presse
Climate of fear in Myanmar ahead of referendum: monks, activists – P
Parameswaran

Military-ruled Myanmar is gripped by a climate of fear ahead of a May 10
constitutional referendum, according to three Buddhist monks who led a
failed revolt against the junta and other activists.

"People are threatened, (some) brutally beaten by unknown assailants,"
said U Kovida, who was in the forefront of last September's "saffron
revolution" that was brutally suppressed by the military.

"The closer the May referendum is, the more scared and concerned the
people are about their safety and security," said Kovida, who fled to
neighbouring Thailand and was recently accepted as refugee in the United
States together with his two compatriots.

He testified at a Congressional hearing Thursday that he was informed by
his colleagues in Myanmar that security had been tightened with police and
security forces deployed in the main streets of the former capital Yangon.

Kovida, a leader of the "Monks Representative Group" which organized some
of the first demonstrations, suggested that the junta might not accept any
unfavorable referendum result.

He cited the military's refusal to accept 1990 election result in which
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi led the National League for Democracy
(NLD) to a landslide victory. She has spent more than 12 years under house
arrest.

"We cannot accept the constitutional referendum and planned general
election in 2010 organized by the military government which totally
ignored the results of the 1990 general elections," Kovida said. "We
should reject any effort by the military government to legitimize itself."

Aung Din, the executive director of the US Campaign for Burma, said he had
received information that the military had hired "thugs" to attack rebel
monks and other activists during a popular water festival next week. Burma
is the previous name of Myanmar.
The NLD's recent call to reject the constitution has raised prospects that
the charter would be defeated, he said.

"The situation is much stronger now even though the military regime is
using maximum efforts to block the people's choice," he said.

"Rejection of the constitution will be a big blow to the military because
they have portrayed it as a key component of their so called road map for
democracy," said Aung Din, a former political prisoner.

U Gawsita, former leader of the All-Burma Monks Alliance which also led
the September protests, said the group was now campaigning aggressively
against the charter.

"The alliance is very much alive although the lives of the monks are under
threat," said Gawsita, who had worked in a monastery which also functioned
as a sanctuary for HIV/AIDS victims.

Another student monk leader U Pannyar Thi Ri asked the United States to
push the UN Security Council to take action against the military generals
for their bloody crackdown of peaceful protests, which according to the UN
left at least 31 people killed and 74 missing.

The US House of Representatives is considering adopting a bipartisan
resolution condemning the "undemocratic constitution and the scheduled
sham referendum to legitimize the constitition," a congressional aide
said.

"We believe strongly that a handpicked cabal of regime insiders cannot
legitimately draft a constitution that excludes the Burmese people and
their democratic aspirations," Republican lawmaker Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and
Democratic legislator Rush Holt said in a statement.

____________________________________

April 11, Mizzima News
Junta urges people to support constitution – Mungpi

Burma's ruling junta on Friday publicly encouraged citizens to support its
draft constitution, for which it will seek approval on May 10.

In an open campaign, the junta, in its mouthpiece Myanma Ahlin Newspaper,
urged the people of Burma to support the constitution, saying, "Democracy
and freedom cannot be achieved through agitation and protests
But only
through supporting the constitution in the upcoming referendum in May."

For the first time the junta revealed that it has been conducting
comprehensive campaigns across the country in the form of conducting mock
elections and mass gatherings.

The paper said, "Those who love the country, those who love freedom, those
who love sovereignty, those who oppose foreign interference and those who
oppose foreign stooges – must support the constitution."

On Wednesday, the junta announced that it will hold the referendum on May
10, providing another milestone in its much prolonged 'roadmap to
democracy'.

In preparation for the referendum the junta also published its draft
constitution on Wednesday, putting it up for sale in bookstalls in
Rangoon. However, according to government distributors Sapay Biekman, only
10,000 copies were sent to them for further distribution.

Despite previous reports suggesting that the junta has been extensively
campaigning in rural areas, Friday's newspaper highlight is the first
nationwide public campaign that urges the people of Burma to support the
constitution.

Sources in eastern and northern Shan state report that local authorities
have conducted mock elections, teaching illiterate rural villagers how to
vote 'Yes' in the upcoming referendum.

According to the Asian Network for Free Election (ANFREL), a Bangkok-based
independent institution that monitors elections in Asia, "Mock elections
are a sign of the lack of free and fair elections."

The lack of freedom of speech and free debate on the constitution are
great flaws to the referendum process and decreases the credibility of the
result, ANFREL told Mizzima.

Adam Cooper of ANFREL added that, "The lack of a presence of independent
monitors is also a big flaw that makes the result dubious."

Meanwhile, Burma's main opposition party – National League for Democracy –
has called on the people of Burma to vote 'No', saying that confirming the
junta's one-sided constitution will only cement military rule in Burma.

Thursday, the NLD made fresh calls on the ruling junta to give equal
opportunity to opposition groups in campaigning before the referendum.

A NLD statement said the junta's referendum process is a sham, as
opposition groups are made to fight the battle on an uneven playing
surface. It also said that in recent days the junta has increased violence
targeted at its party members.

____________________________________

April 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
Constitution “error” could prevent amendments – Htet Aung Kyaw

A clause in the Burmese junta’s draft constitution requiring the agreement
of all voters for any amendments to be made has been blamed on a
typographical error by officials.

An earlier outline of the constitution stated that changes to the
constitution would need the support of 75 percent of parliament and more
than half of all voters, already making change unlikely without the
approval of the military, who are guaranteed 25 percent of parliamentary
seats under the charter.

The new wording, which states that any amendments would need the approval
of all eligible voters, effectively rule out any future changes to the
constitution.

Regime officials have blamed a typographical error for the wording of the
clause and claim it will be corrected in the final draft.

But opposition groups have questioned whether the government intentionally
included the controversial clause.

NLD special information officer U Thein Nyunt said it was surprising there
could be such a major error.

"It is very surprising that there is such a serious error in such a vital
paragraph of the draft constitution, which is a very important thing for
the country," he said.

“Actually there should be no mistakes in it, only changes that have been
made deliberately.”

Thein Nyunt also criticised the government for not making the text of the
draft constitution more accessible to the people of Burma.

"When Thailand held its election, their government distributed the
constitution text books free of charge to every household and let Thai
citizens and the media discuss it freely," he said.

"But in Burma, our country is selling the books for 1000 kyat which is
unaffordable for an average Burmese family."

The book containing the text of the draft constitution is now available at
book stands but it is still unclear whether the supposed error has been
corrected in the copies that have been on sale since yesterday.

The Burmese public will vote on the draft constitution in a referendum
planned for 10 May.

____________________________________

April 11, Narinjara News
NLD member arrested for statement

A member of the National League for Democracy from Rambree Township in
Arakan State was arrested on Sunday by the town's police force as he was
holding some statements on the upcoming referendum that were issued by the
NLD Rangoon headquarters, states an NLD report.

The NLD member was identified as Ko Thein Lwin from Ward One in Rambree,
located on Rambree Island in Arakan State. He was arrested during a raid
of his house that was conducted by police at 9 pm on the day.

A witness said the incident took place after Ko Thein Lwin brought some
statements from Rambree Township NLD Chairman U Ran Shwe to distribute
among the people in the town.

The statement was issued by the NLD headquarters to mobilize Burmese
people against the upcoming referendum.

In the statement, the party has urged people to vote 'no' on the draft
constitution being put to referendum.

A senior member from Rambree Township NLD said, "The NLD is a legal
political party and party members have the right to distribute party
statements among the people, but the police arrested out member against
the law of Burma as our member was distributing statements."

Ko Thein Lwin is being detained at the Rambree police station for
interrogation.

At the same time, three NLD members in Taungup Township in southern Arakan
State were arrested on 27 and 28 March and the authority is preparing
criminal charges against them.

____________________________________

April 11, Shan Herald Agency for News
Many townships forced to support the draft constitution – Hawkeye/Lieng Lern

Many townships in Shan State have been ordered to support the draft
military's constitution in the referendum in May with threats on those who
might say no to the draft with arrests by the military, according to local
sources.

At the end of the March 2008, Mongyai Township Peace and Development
Council (TPDC) Chairman U Nyunt Tin with Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA), Army and Policemen held meetings with 3 village
tracts, Wanpung, Panghai and Wanpai village tracts.

"At the 3 meetings, the villagers were threatened by the local authorities
to support the draft constitution. If they [local authorities] find out
who is against the draft constitution they will arrest him/ her," said the
source.

Every participant was forced to promise at the meetings that they would
support the draft constitution.

Since March 2008 Area Commander Lieutenant Colonel Gyi Myint held several
public meetings ordering civil servants and the local populace in Mongyai
to support the draft constitution. Any civil servant found to be against
the draft constitution would be fired, he said.

Since the beginning of this month, every village tract in Mongpiang
Township in eastern Shan State has also been threatened by the junta.

"The local authorities said that they didn't want to see any vote against.
All the votes must be in support of the draft constitution. The
immigration officials will then change their temporary cards to permanent
cards after the polling".

Junta TV announced on 9 April that the referendum would be held on 10 May.
Limited copies of the draft constitution have also been made available for
public review on the same day.

____________________________________

April 11, Kaladan Press Network
Junta authorities warn villagers not to cast “No” vote

The Burmese military junta authorities warned villagers of Taungbro
Sub-township in Maungdaw, Arakan State, yesterday not to cast the "No"
vote in the ensuing constitutional referendum to be held on May 10. If the
villagers cast votes against the regime the country will be overtaken by
hardships, they cautioned, said a source close to the police.

The warning comes in the wake of the ruling military junta's announcement
that the referendum would be held on May 10. Though the authorities are
mobilizing villagers to cast the "yes" vote, some village leaders are
urging voters secretly to reject the draft constitution. The village
leaders say that it will not bring democracy to the country, which has
been ruled by the military since 1962.

On April 9, the Maungdaw Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC)
members, United Solidarity Development Association (USDA) members, Village
Peace and Development Council (VPDC) members and members of People's
militia went to villages on the north of Maungdaw Town to mobilize
villagers to cast "yes" vote in the referendum.

The authorities held meetings summoning villagers and said to support the
draft constitution. All of the participants were forced to promise at the
meeting that they would support the draft. They also told that they didn’t
wish to see any vote against the draft   constitution and after the
referendum people will elect a suitable government. Don't believe
outsiders and the National League for Democracy (NLD) because they will
destroy the country.

Since 1962, people have been suffering at the hands of  the present ruling
junta, as a result, people are secretly determined  not to cast the "yes"
Vote" though the authorities are after the people, said a village elder
who did not want to be named.

Burma’s military government on 9 April set May 10 as the date for
referendum on a new constitution.

Taking no heed  to international outcries Burma’s ruling military junta
are going to carry out military supremacy in running to the country 
eternally through unilaterally holding  a referendum on May 10, said a 
schoolteacher from locality.

____________________________________

April 11, Time Magazine
Burma plans its “democracy” – Hannah Beech

The announcer on Burmese state television only had two sentences to offer,
but they were supposed to herald good news. On May 10th, he declared,
Burma would hold a constitutional referendum, giving citizens a rare
chance to participate in the political process. In the wake of global
condemnation of crushed protests last year, Burma's secretive junta had
apparently committed itself to a modicum of reform. Among the first steps
would be a plebiscite on the army-drafted charter. (The previous
constitution was torn up by the junta 18 years ago, and the country has
operated without a basic law since then.) Then would come multi-party
elections in 2010. The end result would be what Burma's generals refer to
as "discipline-flourishing democracy."

But, as you might expect from one of the world's most repressive regimes,
the Burmese junta's version of democracy comes with plenty of catches.
First, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition leader
who has spent more than a decade under house arrest, will be barred from
the 2010 elections because of a peculiar clause in the constitutional
draft that disqualifies candidates who have family members who are
foreigners. (Suu Kyi's husband, who died in 1999, was English, and her two
sons hold British passports.) Second, despite several mentions of the word
"democracy" — albeit always attached to the strange phrase
"discipline-flourishing" — the draft ensures that the military will
continue to exert great control over the nation. A quarter of all
parliamentary seats will be filled by military officers, while the
president must have a military background. And just in case a true
democracy manages to flourish despite all the clauses designed to hinder
it, the junta grants its members an amnesty from future prosecution.

Few Burmese will have the opportunity to peruse the 194-page charter
draft. Currently, official copies are available only at government-run
bookstores — and they must be purchased. Samizdat versions are available,
and some pro-democracy activists have been poring through the text to
publicize what they contend are the myriad ways in which the constitution
subverts true democratic principles. But even if the draft were widely
available, the majority of Burma's 53 million mostly impoverished
residents are hardly likely to sit down with a 15-chapter tome.

The country's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy,
has called for Burmese voters to reject the draft. But given that Burma's
generals (who prefer to call their country Myanmar) rejected a plea by the
United Nations to allow international monitoring of the referendum, no
outside observer will be able to indicate whether voting irregularities
take place. Furthermore, a February law has made criticizing the
referendum a crime punishable by imprisonment — hardly an ideal
environment for open debate on the charter draft. Amnesty International
estimates 700 political prisoners still crowd the country's jails as a
result of last year's protest movement.

And politics aside, most Burmese are mainly focused on filling their
bellies, as food prices keep climbing skyward. Hundreds of thousands of
Burmese have already fled the country for economic reasons, sometimes with
tragic consequences. On Wednesday, police in neighboring Thailand
discovered a cold-storage container mounted on a truck that was crammed
with 121 Burmese illegal immigrants who were hoping to find work as day
laborers. At least 54 of the passengers had suffocated to death. Even
though the incident highlights the dangers of illegal immigration, plenty
more Burmese will likely flood over the border. And there's little chance
that a constitutional referendum is going to stem that tide.

[NOTE: The junta that runs the country imposed a systematic name change
several years ago, decreeing that Burma was to be called Myanmar and the
capital Rangoon was to be Yangon. The opposition has never accepted these
changes; neither has the U.S. government. TIME continues to use Burma and
Rangoon.]

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 11, Agence France Press
Thai court jails Myanmar container survivors for three days

The survivors of a horrific people-smuggling accident which left 54 dead
were sentenced to three days in jail after a Thai court Friday convicted
them of illegal entry.

Fourteen children have already been handed over to immigration authorities
for repatriation, after surviving the deadly trip across the Thai border
in an airtight seafood container.

The 50 defendants were part of a group of 120 packed inside the container,
measuring just six metres (20 feet) long by 2.2 metres wide, as they fled
economic collapse at home in hope of finding work on the Thai resort
island of Phuket.

Two other survivors are being treated in hospital for dehydration and lack
of oxygen.

The deaths shocked Thailand and sparked calls for tougher measures to
protect the hundreds of thousands of desperate people who come to the
kingdom in search of jobs.

The court in the southern province of Ranong, where the migrants were
abandoned on a roadside with the dead, gave them a two-month suspended
sentence and a 1,000-baht (31-dollar) fine for illegal entry.

Since they have no money, they were sentenced to three days in jail, a
court official said.

Human Rights Watch researcher Dave Mathieson said the decision to separate
the survivors from their children and then prosecute them was
"depressingly standard."

"It certainly goes against the shock and outrage that you see around the
world, that something like this can happen," he said.

Police are still hunting for Suchon Boonplong, 38, the driver of the truck
carrying the fatal container, which he left open on a roadside after
discovering the deaths.

A 50,000 baht reward is on offer for information leading to his arrest,
provincial police commander Apirak Hongthong said.

The owner of the truck company has surrendered to police but denied any
involvement in the trafficking scheme, police said.

The Myanmar nationals had agreed to pay a Thai smuggling ring 5,000 baht
each for the journey from Ranong, on the Thailand-Myanmar border, to
Phuket.

But before they reached their final destination, 37 women and 17 men had
suffocated in the stifling box, which had a broken ventilation system.

Survivors said they beat on the walls of the container to tell the driver
that people were dying, but he told them to stop for fear of being
discovered by police.

The incident echoes a case in June 2000, when 58 Chinese immigrants were
found suffocated in similar conditions in Britain.

About 540,000 migrant workers are registered to work in Thailand, most of
them from Myanmar, labour ministry figures show, but as many as one
million undocumented workers are believed to be in the kingdom.

The UN's International Labour Office says many of the workers suffer
abuses at the hands of their Thai employers, and called on the government
to take action to protect them.

More than half of Thai employers in one survey said that locking up
migrant workers so they "couldn't escape" was appropriate, the ILO said,
noting that there remain signs of forced labour and child labour among
migrants in Thailand.

"The Royal Thai Government is obliged to prevent the exploitation of those
migrants inside Thailand, regardless of the documentation they may or may
not have," the ILO statement said.

Myanmar is one of the world's poorest countries, its economy battered by
decades of mismanagement under military rule and further hampered by
Western sanctions imposed over the junta's human rights record.

____________________________________


April 11, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Myanmar deaths show immigrant labour system doesn't work, says ILO

The deaths by suffocation of 54 Myanmar illegal workers have highlighted
the failure of Thailand's formal recruitment labour system, the
International Labour Organization (ILO) said Friday.

The mass suffocation of some 54 Myanmar nationals Wednesday night in
Ranong province, southern Thailand, as they were being secretly
transported in a seafood container truck, has drawn international
attention to the country's poor record in human-trafficking and abuse of
foreign labourers, said the ILO.

"It is clear that this occurrence is an indication, indeed a consequence,
of a much larger problem," said Bill Salter, ILO's Sub-regional Director
for East Asia.

He said the ILO would be investigating the incident, and watching to see
what happens to the culpable parties.

Although the Thai government has put in place a system for legalizing
migrant workers from neighbouring Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, the system
has proven inadequate to cover and protect the estimated 2 million foreign
labourers in the country. "The formal systems of recruitment are not
working," said Slater in a statement.

For almost a decade Thailand has registered foreign labourers usually
employed in the fisheries, construction, agricultural and domestics
sectors, allowing them to work in the country legally.

The great majority of the migrant workers are from neighbouring Myanmar,
also called Burma, a country notorious for its political, social and
economic woes.

The Thai government estimates that there are some 490,000 "identified"
Myanmar migrant workers, but the real number of these workers in the
country could exceed 2 million.

"These people are coming and they are going to come anyway, so rather than
crack down on them, and driving them further underground, there needs to
be a better labour migration management system," said Alan Dow,
representative of the ILO office in Bangkok.

The ILO has urged Thailand and neighbouring governments improve the
registration system to make it more comprehensive, noting that the current
system is "slow and expensive," and fails to allow labourers to change
employers "even if they suffer abuse."

According to the ILO's field research, more than half of the Thai
employers interviewed were of the view that locking up their migrant
employees so they "couldn't escape" was appropriate.

"The migrants are treated like a disposable workforce," said Dow. "Clearly
Thai employers want access to a flexible labour force but what the ILO is
saying is that they need to be treated fairly."

That means holding employers and recruiters accountable for the treatment
of migrants, legally registered to work or otherwise, and punishing those
employers, recruiters and sub-contractors who abuse both the system and
the migrants, he said.

"There is clearly a pressing need to develop a far-reaching, forward
looking labour migration policy that will benefit not just the economy but
people too - especially workers from other countries who, at the end of
the day, are doing their fair share of helping the
country grow," said Slater.

____________________________________

April 11, Mizzima News
Chinese trucks to tow howitzer arrive on border – Myo Gyi

Over 50 Chinese trucks to tow howitzers, which were transferred to Burma,
arrived on the Sino-Burma border town of Ruili on Friday morning,
eyewitnesses said.

Local residents in Ruili said they spotted the Chinese made howitzer
towing trucks being parked at a car wash.

"The trucks arrived this morning. There are more than 50 trucks. Many are
now in car washing service shops," a local resident from Ruili said.

The military trucks are said to have been produced by a Chinese company
called 'Dong Feng' (East Wind) and are equipped with three axles (six
wheels).

"These are not passenger trucks, they are designed to tow the howitzer and
can also be used to transport military supplies such as ammunition and
foodstuff," Aung Kyaw Zaw, a military analyst based on the Sino-Burma
border said.

Aung Kyaw Zaw added that these trucks are bigger than the previous FAW and
Dong Feng trucks and are tougher and sturdier. These are specially
designed to tow howitzers. They can tow both 105 mm and 155 mm howitzers.

A local resident on the Chinese border town of Jae Gao, opposite Burma's
Muse, said that the trucks were seen parked at the Jae Gao car park.

Since January, China has transferred about 1,000 trucks to Burma through
the Jae Gao-Muse route on the Sino-Burma border.

Some of the Chinese made trucks are painted with the colour and emblem of
the Burmese police force and were transferred to the Riot Police
battalions in different parts of Burma including to Kyatpay (Naypyitaw),
Rangoon and Mandalay last month, sources said.
____________________________________

April 11, CNN
Orphan boy lives in garbage dump – Dan Rivers

He doesn't know how old he is, but he thinks he's 7. His name is Khin Zaw
Lin. He's lived in a garbage dump virtually his entire life.

I find Lin walking in a festering landscape of rotting food, plastic bags
and junk at the Mae Sot garbage dump in Thailand near the Thai-Myanmar
border. His parents are long gone. His home is a makeshift shelter made
from salvaged bags, cloth and wood.

Lin is one of about 300 refugees in the dump who survive on other people's
trash. Many are children. Some are women with babies.

Their daily routine follows the same pattern: They mill about the dump,
waiting for the next truck to arrive, hoping for enough discarded food to
get them through the day.

Lin pokes through the rubbish with a machete. He says he collects bottles
and plastic for three cents a sack. He shows me his feet, which were
filthy and ribbed with cuts.

He tells me through an interpreter that he can't afford shoes. He walks
barefoot through the treacherous landscape.

My assistant told me about Lin's home while he was researching another
story on the border area in Myanmar, the country once known as Burma. I
found it hard to believe at first, but I was curious. I persuaded my
camera crew to make the six-hour drive from Bangkok.

When we arrive at the dump, people are afraid of us. We'd been told there
are orphans living at the dump, but people are wary. They think we are
there to take away the orphans or ask for bribes.

I tell them I want to help, and I am eventually directed to Lin. He greets
me with a soft, hoarse voice. But he's all energy and purpose when he
resumes plucking bottles from the mountain of trash.

A recycling firm offers the closest thing to steady employment for Lin and
his family. It buys what bottles and plastics Lin and others salvage.

Lin gives the money to his adopted mother, Tabblo. She tells me that Lin's
biological mother gave him to her in Myanmar when he was a baby because
she couldn't cope with the responsibility.

Life under the military junta in Myanmar can be brutal. The country's
economy is collapsing, and torture and rape under the country's military
regime is commonplace. Lin's new mother decided to flee to Thailand in
search of a better life. She found a garbage dump instead.

Still, Tabblo says scavenging for food in the dump is actually an
improvement on her previous life.

As I listen to Lin's story, a question keeps going through my mind: How
can a 7-year-old spend his entire childhood in this squalor?

Perhaps it's because Lin is invisible -- he doesn't have a passport or
papers. He is part of special group of refugees from Myanmar that don't
officially exist.

The United Nations established refugee camps in Thailand for those who
flee Myanmar, but the camps are reserved only for victims of political
persecution. Refugees like Tabblo fear if they enter a refugee camp,
they'll be classified as migrant workers and deported.

As a result, these refugees are trapped in the garbage dump -- not enough
money to go elsewhere and no prospects back home.

I thought I had become accustomed to the grinding poverty I had
encountered in parts of Asia. I've met my fair share of children who are
denied the luxury of hope. But Lin's story angers me. I feel close to
losing all objectivity.

Near the end of my meeting with Lin, I ask his adopted mother if she, and
Lin, would ever escape the rubbish dump.

Her answer is as hard as the world she and Lin inhabit.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 11, Bangkok Post
Prosecutors examine Burma loan case

A team of prosecutors is now considering the criminal charges brought
against Thaksin Shinawatra by the Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) for
alleged abuse of his authority over the Export-Import (Exim) Bank in the
granting of a four-billion-baht soft loan to Burma. The ASC yesterday
submitted eight files of documents and its 1,294 page inquiry report to
the Attorney-General's Office. The team examining the case is headed by
Deputy Attorney-General Waiyawut Lortrakul.

It is the same team that has considered the indictments in all cases
forwarded to prosecutors by the ASC, the attorney-general's spokesman
Thanapit Moolpruek said. The team has 30 days to decide whether to take
the case to court.

In its investigation report, the ASC accused Mr Thaksin of abusing his
position by promising the Burmese government that Thailand, through the
Exim Bank, would grant a soft loan to Burma. The former prime minister
also ordered the bank to increase the loan from three billion to four
billion baht.

The additional money was approved so Burma could develop
telecommunications facilities, including buying goods and services from
the satellite broadband and fibre-optic firm Shin Satellite Co, then owned
by Mr Thaksin's family.

____________________________________

April 11, Irrawaddy
Suspended Yoma Bank to open again in Burma

One of Burma’s largest private banks, Yoma, will resume full banking
operations again after a five-year suspension by the military government
for money laundering, according to a bank shareholder.

First Myanmar Investment Co.Ltd, the founder of  Yoma Bank, said the bank
will be fully operational again, following negotiations with the Ministry
of Finance and Revenue.
The bank is now waiting for a letter of permission from the government,
and the bank is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year,
the official said.

Shares of Yoma Bank, which has 41 branch offices, are held by relatives of
some of Burma’s top leaders, according to a business source in Rangoon.

The military government has provided a plot of land in Naypyidaw, the new
capital, for a Yoma Bank branch office.

“This is a good sign for Burma because Yoma bank has the largest number of
branch offices in Burma,” said a factory owner in the South Dagon
Industrial Zone in Rangoon.

In 2003, the military regime investigated Yoma Bank and other private
banks, including Asia Wealth Bank, the Myanmar Mayflower Bank and Myanmar
Universal Bank, for improper banking procedures and acquiring land through
illegal means. The banks were banned from conducting certain types of
financial transactions.

The US Treasury Department named the Mayflower Bank and Asia Wealth Bank
as “primary money laundering concerns” under the USA Patriot Act, which
was enacted to fight terrorism after September 11, 2001. The US said the
banks were linked to illegal narcotics trafficking organizations in
Southeast Asia.

Burmese drug officials have claimed in the past they don’t have enough
expertise to deal with money laundering and financial crimes.

____________________________________

April 11, Irrawaddy
Weekly business roundup – William Boot

Extortion Gangs Halt Trade on India’s Main ‘Look-East’ Route
India’s much talked about idea of accessing the markets of Southeast Asia
via a trans-Asia highway seemed farther away from reality this week as
rebel extortion gangs yet again brought commercial life to a halt at the
Moreh Indo-Burma border trade crossing.

All transport on the main road from the Indian Manipur State capital of
Imphal to Moreh was halted for a week after bus and truck operators
withdrew services.

They were protesting “huge monetary demands by over a dozen armed rebels
operating in the region,” said the main newspaper in Imphal, the Sangai
Express.

New Delhi is seeking to invest large sums in its remote northeast states
to improve trade and development, but the region is plagued with ethnic
rebel groups who appear to operate freely—and often cross the border into
Burma’s even more isolated territory to escape Indian army pursuit.

Some bus and truck operators plying the Imphal-Moreh route say they have
withdrawn services indefinitely until security is assured.

Imphal is the main urban link in the trade corridor between India and
Burma and is receiving development aid from the Asian Development Bank.
But the road link and the Moreh-Tamu border towns have suffered from
ethnic violence and travel-fee extorting gangs.

India has just signed a US $120 million agreement with the Burmese
government to develop another trade link between Mizoram State and the
Burmese port of Sittwe.


Stripping of Burma’s Forests Intensifies with Chinese Loggers

Logging of valuable Burmese primary forest timber for China has
intensified despite “official” bans on both sides of the border, say
observers in Kachin State.

As many as 150 truckloads a day are crossing from Kachin into Yunnan
“making a mockery of [China’s] own ruling banning timber imports from
northern Burma that it imposed in late 2005,” says a report by the Kachin
News Group.

The independent KNG says its observers have recently counted more than 100
trucks crossing at Laiza daily, and about 50 laden trucks a day moving
into Yunnan via China’s Nong Dao border point.

The loggers are mostly Chinese, felling teak and other high-value
hardwoods from forested areas west of the Irrawaddy River in the Bhamo
District and Sagaing Division.

The KNG says the Chinese are paying bribes in gold to the Kachin State
military commander, Maj-Gen Ohn Myint.

The report accuses a company called Awng Mai, controlled by Ohn Myint’s
family, of coordinating the logging.

These reports support allegations last year by several international
environmental NGOs, including Greenpeace, which tracked illegally logged
Burmese timber to furniture factories in China.


Mystery ‘Ruptures’ in Burma Pipeline Slow Gas to Thailand

The halt in gas transmissions from the Burmese offshore Yetagun field
because of a pipeline leak is likely to mean only a blip in rising fuel
exports to Thailand.

The Thai state-controlled oil and gas operator PTT says it lost 500
million cubic feet a day per day after the pipeline was shutdown
temporarily.

Thailand is the main buyer of gas produced by the Yetagun and Yadana
fields in Burmese waters of the Gulf of Martaban—a fact underlined by
record sales for 2007 just announced amounting to US $2.7 billion.

The main operator of the Yetagun site, Malaysia’s Petronas, described the
cut in supply as caused by pipeline “ruptures” at some point in the short
Burma onshore segment of the 480-kilometre pipeline before it crosses into
Thailand a Ban-E-Tong.

“Petronas is a very tightlipped state-controlled organization and said
only that it would take about five days to repair the ruptures,” industry
consultant Collin Reynolds in Bangkok told The Irrawaddy.

“What has not been explained by either Petronas or PTT is what caused the
ruptures.”

Construction of the Yetagun and Yadana pipelines through Burma was mired
in controversy over allegations that the Burmese military forced local
villagers to work on them at gunpoint without payment.

Burmese gas fuels 70 percent of Thailand’s electricity generation. After
initially denying that power output was affected by the leaks, PTT said
there had been some unspecified reduction at Ratchaburi power plants near
Bangkok.

____________________________________
ASEAN

April 11, Irrawaddy
Burma savvy diplomat named US Envoy to Asean – Wai Moe

The US government has named a top diplomat who is familiar with Burma as
its first envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Scot Marciel, currently deputy assistant secretary to the East Asia and
Pacific Bureau, said on Wednesday one of his first tasks will be to work
with Asean to establish a more effective Burma policy, according to a
report by Agence France-Presse.

Scot Marciel at the Washington Foreign Press Center Briefing
“One of my highest priorities, if confirmed, will be to work with Asean
and its member nations—to convince Burma’s rulers to end their brutal
repression and begin a genuine dialogue leading to a democratic
transition,” Marciel said.

Surin Pitsuwan, the Asean secretary-general, said in a press release that
Asean welcomed the appointment of Marciel “as a significant gesture of the
US in recognizing the importance of Asean.”

He added, “We will be ready to work with the United States on a broad list
of issues of mutual interest for the well-being, stability and security of
the region.”

The US State Department Web site says Marciel, a career member of the
Senior Foreign Service, joined the State Department in 1985. His most
recent assignments were director of the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia,
director of the Office of
Mainland Southeast Asia and director of the Office of Southeastern Europe.

He has also served in Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Brazil and
Turkey, as well as in the Economic Bureau’s Office of Monetary Affairs. He
grew up in Fremont, California. He graduated from the University of
California at Davis and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

After the Burma junta’s crackdown on the 2007 mass demonstrations, Marciel
gave a briefing to the US Senate and House foreign affairs committees on
the civil uprising.

He was also one of main speakers for a seminar “The Crisis in Burma: In
Search of a Unified International Response,” which was organized by the
Open Society Institute in New York on March 25.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 11, The Nation (Thailand)
Thailand sends condolence over deaths of Burmese job seekers

Thailand sent a message of condolence to Burma on Friday over the deaths
by suffocation of 54 Burmese workers in Ranong.

The country also called for Nay Pyi Taw government to sign a pact to
combat human trafficking.

Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama sent the letter of condolence to his
Burmese counterpart Nyan Win which said that the tragedy that killed the
Burmese illegal migrant workers underscored the need to have a cooperation
to fight against human trafficking.

"I hope that Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) will soon be able to finalize
and sign the Memorandum of Understanding on the Cooperation to Combat
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children," Noppadon said in
the letter.

Thailand has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in
the employment of workers since 2003 but the pact is in the process of
national verification for Burmese workers in Thailand.

The new MOU would add impetus to the cooperation between the two
countries, he said.

"Our joint efforts will undoubtedly contribute to preventing the
recurrence of such a tragic incident, which shocked the peoples of both
countries," Noppadon said.
____________________________________

April 11, Bernama.com
Myanmar brothers jailed 36 years

Three Myanmar brothers were sentenced to 36 years' jail by the Sessions
Court here today after they were found guilty of attempting to murder a
consular and committing mischief.

Abdul Fariyas Hardi, 46, and his brothers Mohd Salim, 42, and Muslim, 39,
were convicted of stabbing and hacking Myanmar Consular Khin Maung Lynn,
53, with intent to causing his death and committing mischief with intent
to causing damage to a building.

Both offences were committed at the Myanmar Embassy on Jalan Rhu off Jalan
Ampang Hilir here on April 7, 2004. The brothers were arrested the same
day.

Judge Akhtar Tahir sent them to 18 years behind bars for each offence and
ordered the jail terms to run consecutively from the day of their arrest.

At early stages of the trial, the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) office appointed two lawyers to represent the brothers but they
instructed the counsel to withdraw for allegedly not doing a good job.

They also refused the court's offer to appoint another attorney.

Before the judge handed down the sentence, he told the brothers to make a
plea of mitigation but they refused and maintained that they were innocent
despite the court having found them guilty.

They also refused to listen to an interpreter who tried to explain the
consequences of them not making a plea of mitigation following their
conviction.

Instead, they kept raising their voices in court despite attempts by the
judge and several police officers to calm them down.

"You have been detained for nearly four years but you have not shown any
remorse over the crimes you have committed," the judge said.

Prosecution Unit Head B. Sarala Pillai told the court that the brothers
planned the crime and gave precedence to their ideology without thinking.

"They are in the country to seek political asylum with the UNHCR and the
court should impose a heavy penalty as a lesson to other refugees in the
country," he said.

After the court delivered its decision, the three brothers still
maintained they were innocent and alleged their rights had been denied.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 11, Mizzima News
New York rally to support Burmese democracy movement

Over one thousand supporters of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and her calls for democracy in Burma are expected to rally today in front
of United Nations headquarters in New York.

The rally brings together activists from several human rights and Burmese
organizations with the specific aim of urging the release of all political
prisoners, inclusive of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, as well
as encouraging a stronger Security Council reaction to the Burmese junta's
continued intransigence regarding calls for reform.

Demonstrators are expected from Amnesty International, Burma Point, the
International Burmese Monks Organization, Columbia University's Burma 88
Coalition and members of the Burmese exile community.

A statement released today by Columbia University's Burma 88 Coalition in
coordination with the upcoming rally sharply criticized permanent United
Nations Security Council member China for its persistent and active
support of Burma's generals.

"It is appalling that Beijing has chosen to begin the Olympics on August
8, 2008, twenty years to the day after mass demonstrations in Burma led to
the slaughter of thousands.

China has a huge influence in Burma, but instead of using its clout to
apply pressure on the regime, it continues to finance and provide arms to
Burma." Burma activist Geoff Aung, co-founder of the Columbia Burma 88
Coalition, states.

The missive, referring to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Special Envoy to
Burma Ibrahim Gambari's mission as a failure, demands the Security Council
take a stronger stance with respect to its handling of Burma's military
rulers.

Regarding the upcoming May 10 constitutional referendum in Burma, the
activist group argues that the entire constitutional process is an attempt
by the junta to cover-up and divert attention from last year's violent
crackdown on the monk-led Saffron Revolution, which resulted in dozens of
deaths, prison sentences and arbitrary arrests.

Today's demonstration is part of Amnesty International's Get On The Bus
campaign, which is designed to raise awareness on the need for action
regarding several regions where human rights are or have been violated.
This year's campaign, in addition to Burma, will also focus on Darfur, Sri
Lanka, Libya and Bhopal, India.

2008 marks the 13th anniversary of the Get On The Bus event.

____________________________________

April 11, CNN
For ex-Myanmar prisoner, art is a uniform exercise – Elizabeth Yuan

In the 6½ years Htein Lin spent in Myanmar prisons between 1998 and 2004,
he produced an estimated 250 paintings. He credits prison guards with
helping to save most of his work.

They became his audience during his time in prison.

In what Htein Lin called "the smuggling painting project," he said eight
to 10 guards provided him with house paint, acrylics, or colored powder
from the prison factory where inmates made items. They were too scared to
provide a brush, however; so, Htein Lin improvised by resorting to his
fingers, hands, soap, sometimes his face. His canvases were his dinner
plate and white cotton prison uniforms.

It was while working on the cotton uniforms, the absorbency of which made
controlling lines difficult, that Htein Lin discovered monoprinting as a
useful technique. He would take his dinner plate, apply glue and color to
its backside, use his finger as a brush, and then press the finished image
against the cotton.

Htein Lin would show the prison guards his paintings, explain their
meaning and solicit their opinions: "How do you feel?" he'd ask. "One year
later, they appreciate my art," he said. The more paints they brought, the
more he painted, and this was how he was able to prove he was an artist,
not a politician, Htein Lin said.

Eventually, the guards would want to share the secret with their friends,
other guards. And this is how the "network" grew, Htein Lin said. These
men took a big risk, facing demotion or possible imprisonment themselves,
but their jobs were for a living, not for any particular belief, Htein Lin
explained. Moreover, there was some relish for the secrecy of "the game."

Today, most of those cloth paintings are housed in Amsterdam, Netherlands,
at the International Institute of Social History, a repository for
documents concerning the Myanmar opposition movements.

In the past year, Htein Lin, now 41, has rendered those same images onto
canvas, a dozen of which are winding up an exhibition at the Karin Weber
Gallery in Hong Kong, China. His work next heads to exhibition at the
Quest Gallery in Bath, England, from mid-May to early July.

His "The Cell" series shows the use of plate bottoms, his hands and blocks
-- the same tools he used while in prison. In "The Cell 6," a single white
line is used to trace the body of the prisoner as well as the walls of his
prison, while smaller blocks of prisoners surround it. Further inscribed
is a window with bars.

The original cloth "prison paintings" are not for sale, however.

Htein Lin was imprisoned for a month in Rangoon, two years at Mandalay
Prison, and 4½ years at Myaungmya Prison in the south. He was sentenced
after being charged on the basis of a letter by a "former comrade" listing
him as a potential recruit for Burmese opposition events in 1998, the
10-year anniversary of landmark democracy protests, according to Htein
Lin. Although he was involved in the 1988 democracy protests as a young
law student, his arrest occurred when he was not involved in politics, he
said in a follow-up e-mail.

"I was making a living as an artist and an actor."

"You are very nice. Why are you in prison?" he recalled the prisoner
guards as asking. They tended to be uneducated and had little knowledge of
politics much less art, Htein Lin said.

Some prison guards would ask, "Could you write a very lovely poem to my
girlfriend?" or "Can you do a design for my tattoo?" Htein Lin said. "So I
draw for them."

Htein Lin, who performed in the streets in Yangon before his arrest, would
also keep an eye out for prisoners about to be released; he wanted their
prison uniforms.

Many uniforms were used for portraits of other political prisoners, of
Aung San Suu Kyi, and of Htein Lin's father, who died while the son was
still in prison.

Eventually, Htein Lin had to get rid of the paintings he was accumulating
to avoid attracting attention from the prison superiors. The most he had
in his cell were 10. As he befriended his guards, beseeching them to
safeguard his paintings until his release, they would haul away the works
in bags that carried prisoners' scraps for the pets at home, Htein Lin
said. The cloth would be folded so as not to be dirtied.

In one instance, however, a sergeant who'd agreed to smuggle paintings out
of prison got very confused while looking at them and thought they
included a map of a prison, Htein Lin said. "He destroyed 20 of my
paintings."

In 2005, a year after Htein Lin's release from Myaungmya, one guard came
to Htein Lin's solo exhibition in Yangon featuring the cotton paintings he
did during his prison years. The guard felt pride, Htein Lin said. The
exhibition was called "00235," the prisoner number Htein Lin was assigned
by the International Committee of the Red Cross during its visits.

Just weeks ago, Htein Lin painted "Twenty Years On," which unites the
history of the 1988 pro-democracy movement and the pro-democracy protests
in August and September of last year. Rimming three borders of the
paintings are feathers of the "fighting peacock," the longtime symbol for
Burmese students later adopted for the flag of the National League for
Democracy, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi. The painting took him a couple
days.

Gallery owner Karin Weber said she offered him a solo exhibition right
after hearing him give a talk last year. "Clearly, his art is formed by
his prison experience. But what I like about him is his realization that
he needs to move away from this ... in order to develop as an artist," she
said.

Since moving to London, where he lives with his wife, former British
Ambassador to Myanmar Vicky Bowman, he's painted a series of three "How do
you find London" paintings in response to questions about his new city.

The series "How do you find Venice" was painted for the Venice Biennial in
which he participated last year. Other cities he's traveled to and roads
he's traveled on since he left Myanmar have been rendered in paint, an
activity he particularly enjoys while his wife is driving, Htein Lin said.

____________________________________

April 11, Voice of America
Burmese tell US lawmakers about brutal crackdown – Cindy Saine

Three monks who helped organize protests in Burma last September, and
eye-witnessesed the brutal crackdown by the military government, made
their first public remarks in the United States Wednesday. The three monks
spoke at a briefing of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in
Washington, where they also expressed their opposition to a national
referendum on the constitution, scheduled for May 10.

Six months ago, tens of thousands of students and monks demonstrated
against the military government in the streets of Rangoon. The mainly
peaceful protests, known as the "Saffron Revolution," were triggered by a
dramatic spike in fuel prices, caused by the cancellation of fuel
subsidies. Authorities responded by beating and jailing protesters and
raiding monasteries.

Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich says Burma's government is
threatening ordinary people's survival.

"In Burma, we saw in the last year a tremendous increase in the price of
gasoline, diesel fuel, natural gas, they are really trying to crush
people's ability to even survive, financially, you know, economically," he
said.

Three eyewitnesses to the events in Burma managed to flee the country and
have been permitted to resettle in the United States. U Kovida was an
organizer of the Monks Representative Group, which led the first
demonstration by monks in Rangoon before the crackdown. He fled to
Thailand, and became one of the first monks to tell the outside world of
the violence.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the people of Burma are not only suffering from
extreme poverty, hardship, substandard healthcare, education and social
services, but also facing oppression by the military government on a daily
basis," he said. "When monks in Burma understood, realized and felt the
hardship the people had to go through, we decided to protest peacefully
and everyone knows how we were dealt with."

Another monk, U Gawsita, was a member of the "All Burma Monk's Alliance",
and a major leader of the protests by monks in Rangoon.  He summed up the
results of the brutality.

"Nearly 200 monks and people were killed and seven thousand, over seven
thousand were arrested," he said. "I was also beaten on my head."

Estimates on the number of people killed vary widely. The three monks said
security in Rangoon is still tight, and troops are patrolling the streets
of the capital ahead of next month's planned referendum on the
constitution. All three rejected it, calling it a "sham". The proposed
constitution will guarantee 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the
military, and ban opposition leader San Suu Kyi from holding office,
because her late husband and sons are British.

The monks called on the U.S. Congress to ban the import of Burmese rubies
and jade into the United States and to freeze the assets of Burmese
political and military leaders.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 11, The Economist
Keeping the flame alight; China and Myanmar

WERE shooting oneself in the foot an Olympic event, China would surely be
well placed for a gold. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay, taking the
flame around the world before the games begin in August, was always a
risk. Of course the flame would draw protesters like moths. But the
suppression of riots and protests in Tibet has ensured the torch's
progress has graduated from minor diplomatic embarrassment to full-scale
public-relations disaster.

An exercise intended to flaunt the new, outward-looking and confident
China has displayed its dark side: nervous, repressive, prickly and
stubborn. That stubbornness may rule out the obvious remedy: calling the
whole farce off before someone is badly hurt. At least the International
Olympic Committee should have nothing more to do with it. Protests this
week in London, Paris and San Francisco were ill-tempered enough. The
passage through Delhi on April 17th could be uglier. India is home to some
100,000 Tibetans. The only stop on the torch's world tour sure to be
trouble-free is Pyongyang. As for its proposed procession through Tibet in
June, it is hard to imagine a more provocative or insensitive gesture.

To accuse China's critics of "politicising" a sporting event is nonsense.
What has the relay to do with sport? It is not some timeworn practice
integral to the games. Rather, the idea of a relay from Greece to the
Olympic venue was revived by the Nazis for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which
is hardly a precedent China wants to advertise. The first "global" relay
only took place for the most recent Olympics, in Athens in 2004. But that
was not such a circus. China's pride may preclude any concession, however
face-saving, on Tibet, or on human-rights abuses in general. But it is
also facing criticism for its foreign policy—its links with the
governments of Sudan and Myanmar in particular. Here, in theory, it can do
something to show that it is indeed a responsible international
"stakeholder", with diplomatic maturity as well as economic clout.

Take Myanmar. After the bloody quelling of the "saffron revolution" last
September, the ruling junta threw a few sops to international opinion. It
accepted visits from a United Nations envoy, opened talks with the
detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and gave a timetable for a
political transition. China deserves some credit for forcing the junta's
hand. Myanmar's generals are nobody's puppets. But China, with its big
commercial interests in the country, and its support in the UN Security
Council, is now the junta's best friend.

It is time to use that position again. Confident that the outside world's
focus on their misdeeds has shifted elsewhere, the generals have stalled
on dialogue both with their opponents at home and the UN's envoy. The
plight of their country remains desperate (see pages 27-29). The political
"process" has degenerated into a drive to impose a constitution
entrenching military rule. A referendum on this solution will be held on
May 10th in a climate of vicious intimidation.

Members of the Security Council are mulling a new statement, calling for
some of the minimum reforms needed for a credible vote—such as the release
of opposition leaders, including Miss Suu Kyi. The first thing China can
do is to allow the statement to be issued in the name of a united outside
world. More than that, China could help resolve the sterile debate that
has raged for two decades over "engagement" or "isolation". Isolation has
never worked, because China, India and South-East Asian countries see too
much commercial and strategic benefit in links with the junta. But nor has
"engagement", since Western countries have imposed sanctions of varying
severity, and the junta has little interest in engaging anyway.

Despite this, there is a broad consensus about the need for reform in
Myanmar. With anti-Chinese feeling mounting in Myanmar, it is not in
China's interests to be perceived as the prop that always holds up a
loathed regime. It could take the initiative in forming a contact group to
engage the junta in talks on economic co-operation and political reform.
Even if it excluded Europe and America, such a group, of China, India,
some South-East Asian countries and Japan, could help show the generals
that they cannot forever survive in the cracks of other countries'
disagreements. And it could help show that China is not always,
unequivocally, on the side of the thugs.

____________________________________

April 11, South China Morning Post
The tragic consequences of misrule in Myanmar

The death by suffocation of 54 illegal immigrants from Myanmar who were
seeking a new life in Thailand is a graphic reminder of the horrors which
can result from people smuggling. Those who died were among 121 people who
crammed into the back of a seafood truck at the Thai border in the hope
that a bright future lay ahead. Responsibility for their deaths must lie
with those who organised the ill-fated smuggling operation; they must be
found and punished. But the tragedy also highlights the serious problems
which have arisen from the misrule of Myanmar.

We would most likely not have heard of the immigrants again had the
cooling system in the vehicle not failed. If luck had been on their side,
they would have arrived at their promised destination and melted
inconspicuously into Thai society to search for work to support families
back home. About 2 million of their compatriots are in Thailand, at least
half of them illegally, and an unknown number are elsewhere. The incident
bears a striking resemblance to the deaths in 2001 of 58 Chinese migrants
trying to enter England illegally from mainland Europe. But there the
similarities end: while those from Myanmar may also be seen as economic
migrants, they are also fleeing political and social injustice.

Misguided economic policies are to blame for the poverty and food
shortages. The regime claims to own all the land and repressive ownership
laws have led to food shortfalls in a country where half the people are
farmers. Street protests that were violently put down last September were
sparked by dramatic increases in fuel prices; people already using 70 per
cent of their income for food were being squeezed by having to set aside
half their daily wages for transport.

The World Food Programme estimates that one-third of Myanmar's children
suffer from malnutrition. Rates of HIV/Aids and malaria are among the
highest in Asia. With wages in Thailand three times higher, despite the
jobs on offer often being dangerous or dirty, the temptation to cross the
border illegally is overwhelming.

Thailand is at least understanding of the situation. Matters will change
only if the junta steps aside for a democratically elected government.
Reforms it has announced, starting with a vote next month on a new
constitution, will change nothing. Until genuine reforms take place,
Myanmar's people will continue to flee. Nations to which they go have to
be welcoming, but they must also press the junta to change its ways.

____________________________________

April 11, Irrawaddy
Migrants’ deaths overshadow Burma’s New Year Festival

Thingyan, Burma's New Year water festival, takes place next week—an annual
national holiday that provides most Burmese an opportunity to have fun,
make merit and relax.

This year’s festival is overshadowed, however, by the tragic death of 54
Burmese illegal migrants who died from suffocation as they were being
smuggled into Thailand in a sealed truck.

The victims, along with 67 survivors, sneaked by night into Ranong
Province, opposite Burma's southerly Victoria Point, and were then packed
into a truck container measuring 2.2 meters by 6 meters.

The air conditioning of the container, which normally carried seafood,
appears to have failed or to have been switched off, at time when outside
temperatures climb towards 40 degrees Celsius.

One survivor, 30-year-old Saw Win, said that about 30 minutes into the
trip the occupants pounded from the inside of the truck, screamed for air
and used a mobile phone to call the driver, who briefly turned on the
air-conditioning. It later shut down, and they called the driver again 30
minutes later but his phone was off.

They continued pounding and screaming until he stopped the truck about an
hour later, unlocked the door and ran off when he saw the state of the
victims.

While some may characterize this as a tragic accident, or even criminal
negligence on the part of the driver of the truck, "it is clear that this
occurrence is an indication—indeed a consequence—of a much larger
problem," said Bill Salter, Director of the Sub-regional Office for East
Asia of the International Labour Organization.

Thailand is a magnet for millions of migrants from its poorer
neighbors—Cambodia, Laos and especially Burma. They take unhealthy,
unskilled and dangerous jobs avoided by Thai workers.

The US State Department, in a report on human trafficking last year, said
many are forced into "involuntary servitude in agricultural work,
factories, construction, commercial fisheries, domestic work, and
begging." However, the illegal workers lack legal protection and are often
brutally exploited by their employers.

Burmese leave their homeland because of political oppression and
socio-economic hardship, despite Thailand's attempts to formalize a system
of cross-border employment agreements with its neighbors.

The formal systems of recruitment in Thailand are not working, however,
the ILO claims. The reasons vary—a slow and expensive migrant registration
system, a breakdown in the ability of migrants’ countries to provide the
initial documentation required and the legitimate concerns of migrants,
worried that they will not be able to change employers, even if they
suffer abuse.

"Within such an environment, trafficking for labor exploitation is bound
to flourish," the ILO warned.

It’s time for the environment to be changed if tragedies like the needless
deaths of 54 Burmese migrants are to be avoided. Let's hope that this
particular incident is a wake up call to both Thailand and Burma to do
something about the lack of protection of migrant workers.