BurmaNet News, April 17, 2008

[Editor]

April 17, 2008 Issue # 3446


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar monks pray for democracy
SHAN: SSA denies throwing bomb
Kachin News Group: Junta collects list of supporters of referendum
IPS: New constitution gives impunity to military
Khonumthung News: Village heads to monitor polling booths
Khonumthung News: National ID card registration stopped till June

ON THE BORDER
Bangkok Post: Death-truck survivors 'mistreated'
Kaladan Press: Sarapa arrests five traders in Maungdaw Town
UPI: India, Myanmar discuss security

BUSINESS / TRADE
The Hindu: Seaways to launch cargo vessels to Myanmar
Irrawaddy: Illegal rice import boom at Three Pagodas Pass

REGIONAL
Arab News: Burmese don’t need passports to open bank accounts
Irrawaddy: Burmese Embassy in Singapore prepares for absentee referendum
voting
The Nation (Thailand): Burmese PM to visit Thailand this month

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Exile, Canadian-style

OPINION / OTHER
Bangkok Post: The injustice migrant workers face
Kaowao News Group: Referendum; Crisis continues?
Taipei Times: ‘Burma’ vs ‘Myanmar’

PRESS RELEASE
Global Justice Center: International lawyers denounce attempt by Myanmar
regime to give themselves immunity from criminal prosecutions and renew
call for criminal investigation


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 17, Associated Press
Myanmar monks pray for democracy

Monks who helped lead last year's protests against Myanmar's junta urged
the country to mark the traditional New Year on Thursday with prayers for
democracy.

The All Burma Monks Alliance, a coalition of activist monks in Myanmar,
denounced the country's military leaders for having "mistreated and abused
the religion and Buddhist monks" during its crackdown on peaceful
protests.

In a statement, the alliance called on the devoutly Buddhist country to
pray "for the success of the democratic movement and to pray that those
who committed sins against the religion ... face retribution."

The alliance was instrumental in organizing last September's pro-democracy
protests. Most of its leaders were arrested or are in hiding. The
statement with the group's seal was sent by e-mail from the same address
it has used in the past.

Calls for democratic reforms in Myanmar intensified after the junta
quashed the protests. The United Nations estimates at least 31 people were
killed and thousands more detained during the crackdown.

____________________________________

April 17, Shan Herald Agency for News
SSA denies throwing bomb – Lieng Lern

The Shan State Army (SSA) South has denied throwing a bomb that reportedly
injured 5 people, including one woman, last Sunday.

"It is not our policy to kill innocent people. The SPDC is accusing us to
get more support from people for the upcoming referendum. They are
twisting facts to mislead the people, to make them misunderstand us as
terrorists," said the spokesperson of Restoration Council of Shan State
(RCSS) Maj Lao Hseng.

On 13 April, at 00:30 a bomb exploded in Wanpang village, Laikha Township,
89 miles east of the Shan State capital Taunggyi, while people were
preparing for the traditional Thingyan (Songkran) festival.

The Myanmar Ahli newspaper said five people were injured. U Nyan Aung, U
Pai Aung Kham, U Myint Thein, U Own Pe and Nang Tin when a man, whom the
paper claimed was a member of the Shan State Army (SSA) rebel group,
tossed the bomb into a gathering early Sunday.

However, according to a local source, it was an old homemade bomb that
exploded because of the heat. "No one threw a hand grenade," he claimed.

Wanpang is a village under the control of a pro-junta militia group led by
Mongzeun, a fugitive from the SSA South.

SSA South is said to be the strongest among the rebel groups that have
been opposing the SPDC. The others are the Karen National Union (KNU) and
Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).

____________________________________

April 17, Kachin News Group
Junta collects list of supporters of referendum

The Burmese military junta authorities in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin
state in northern Burma is meticulously collecting the exact list of those
who will support the draft constitution in the ensuing referendum on May
10, a resident said.

Earlier, the authorities made national identity cards and the family unit
(Ing-Htaung-Su) for residents of Ra Da Kaung village in Tatkone quarter.
Now it is collecting the exact list of residents who will cast the 'Yes'
vote in the referendum, the resident added.

"The reason to recheck the list is to ensure that voters go to the polling
booths to support the constitutional referendum and check whether the
voters are at home," said a voter. The authorities are marking the exact
list of voters, he added.

However, in some quarters in the township, residents who have come from
abroad have not been included in the voter's list even if they have come
with the intention of voting in the referendum, said a resident who has
just come back from abroad.

The military regime has been constructing polling booths in the township
and is continuing to collect the list of supporters of the referendum at
the same time.

On Monday and Tuesday this week, a poster campaign was launched against
the regime's constitutional referendum on May 10. The posters were pasted
in three major townships in Kachin State-- Myitkyina, Waingmaw and Bhamo
jointly by civilians and student leaders of the All Kachin Students Union
(AKSU).

In Myitkyina, vote 'No' campaign posters were pasted and distributed on
A-4 size papers. Big 'No' letters were painted on the walls and on the
main roads, Naw Awng, an AKSU student leader said.

Eyewitnesses in Myitkyina told KNG, that the township authorities
yesterday white washed the big green letters reading 'No' which were
sprayed on the road opposite the Kachin Traditional Manau Park and at the
entrance to the Myitkyina University in black.
____________________________________

April 17, Inter-Press Service
New constitution gives impunity to military – Marwaan Macan-Markar

Burma’s military regime is coming under fire for the language n a new
constitution to be approved at a national referendum on May 10. The full
text of the charter was made public only a month ahead of the plebiscite.

Articles that have aroused anger deal with attempts by the junta to
legitimise its role as the supreme political authority in the troubled
South-east Asian country. Such clauses make the constitution’s promise of
seeking to usher a new democratic landscape meaningless, say critics.

Article No 445 tops the list of concerns for the Burma Lawyers’ Council
(BLC) and groups like the U.S-based Global Justice Centre (GJC). ‘’No
legal action shall be taken against those (either individuals or groups
who are members of SLORC and SPDC) who officially carried out their duties
according to their responsibilities,’’ states this article.

SLORC (the State Law and Order Restoration Council) and SPDC (State Peace
and Development Council) are the official names the governing arm of the
regime has been known by since military leaders staged a coup in 1988 to
grab power. The regime that it overthrew was itself a military one that
had come to power following a 1962 coup.

‘’That clause is to provide immunity to the junta for all the human rights
violations it has committed since 1988,’’ says Aung Htoo, general
secretary of the BLC. ‘’The new constitution will be meaningless if the
perpetrators of violence can enjoy immunity after it is approved. What is
the difference for the people, who are the victims? Nothing.’’

It also undermines the hope of Burma transforming from a dictatorship to a
democracy, he explained in an interview. ‘’A constitution for a
post-conflict society has to give justice and genuine national
reconciliation a priority. That is what happened in South Africa. But the
new constitution offers little to move Burma away from its current
conflicts.’’

On Monday, the BLC and GJC issued a statement denouncing the military
regime of Myanmar, as Burma is also known, for trying to evade ‘’criminal
prosecution’’ through the constitution. ‘’There is ample evidence that the
military regime has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and
potentially even genocide through forced relocations, torture, rape,
enforced disappearance and extermination,’’ they said.

Leaders of the Burma’s ethnic communities are as perturbed after
discovering that the junta’s much vaunted promise to create regional
assemblies through the constitution amounts to legislative bodies without
teeth. The new charter is set to create 14 assemblies in areas that are
home to the major ethnic groups, marking a first offer of political space
to the non-Burman minorities since the country gained independence from
the British in 1948.

‘’The regional assemblies will be under the junta, which has the power to
appoint a fourth of the members and the chief minister for the region,’’
says David Taw, joint general secretary of the Ethnic Nationalities
Council (ENC), an umbrella body for the seven major ethnic groups. ‘’Most
of the people would like to choose their own chief minister through a
ballot.’’

The space for economic activity to meet the needs of the ethnic
communities is also restrained, Taw added in an interview. ‘’The local
people will not be able to pursue their economic activity freely. It is a
set back to our hope of achieving a federal system of government.’’

The unresolved question of genuine political space for Burma’s ethnic
communities has dogged the country since independence, resulting in bloody
separatist conflicts that have lasted over six decades. ‘’The attempt to
adopt a constitution to lengthen the military dictatorship will (create)
more problems,’’ the ENC declared in a recent statement. ‘’It will also
lengthen the 60 year long civil war caused by breaching the
self-determination rights of the ethnic nationalities.’’

The current constitution has taken 15 years in the making, a record
created by the junta to stall the country’s democratic parties, led by the
detained Aung San Suu Kyi, claiming a stake in running the country. The
junta refused to recognise the outcome of a parliamentary election in
1990, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a
landslide. Instead, the military created a national convention soon after
to draft a new constitution.

The current charter is Burma’s third, following the 1947 document, which
was drafted by the country’s resistance fighters ahead of independence
from British colonialism, and the 1974 document, which was shaped by the
military dictator at the time, Gen. Ne Win.

The second constitution, which established a one-party state to promote a
socialist agenda for Burma, was torn up in 1988 by the current military
regime. Consequently, the SLORC and SPDC governed without constitutional
authority and were seen as bodies lacking political legitimacy by a
domestic and a growing international constituency.

The only advance the new constitution has made over the 1974 document is
its promise to create a multi-party democracy. But the prospect of such
inclusive features have been undermined by the junta limiting the drafting
of the charter to military-appointed delegates and imposing harsh
restrictions on public discussion of the document.

‘’The military has made sure that any amendments to the constitution
introduced by political parties in the future will be harder to be
approved,’’ says Aung Naing Oo, an independent Burmese political analyst
living in exile in Thailand. ‘’The conflict in the country will go on
without the prospect of change and improvement.’’

And the likelihood of the constitution adding to the political fires
already burning in Burma arises from the deep divisions that plague the
country. ‘’Burma is a different country today than it was in 1974. When
the constitution was passed then, we were not so divided,’’ Aung Naing Oo
added in an interview. ‘’Now it is different, and now the entire world is
also watching.’’

The junta, for its part, appears confident that it has drafted the best
constitution for Burma. ‘’Approving the constitution is the responsibility
of all citizens in the country. All who support our national interests
must vote in favour,’’ declared the page-one headline of a state-run
newspaper on the week the referendum campaign was officially launched.

____________________________________

April 17, Khonumthung News
Village heads to monitor polling booths

The Burmese military junta has forcibly assigned village heads in Chin
state, Burma to monitor polling booths for the referendum to approve the
constitution to be held on May 10.

U Kyaw Ze Ya, Chairman of the Township Peace and Development Council of
Paletwa Township in Chin state on March 24 organized a training programme
related to the referendum to approve the draft constitution. Over 100
village heads from Paletwa Township were summoned to attend the training.

In the invitation letter for the training programme, the authorities were
also said to have mentioned the penalty in the event of failing to be
present at the training programme, said a village head who requested
anonymity for reasons of security.

On April 1, the local authorities forced all trainees to sign the approval
agreeing to accept the draft constitution. The trainees were assigned to
monitor polling booths during the voting to approve the constitution at
the referendum, said a village head.

The village heads were also assigned to persuade the people, by whatever
means, to cast the "Yes" vote.

Military officials from the battalion based in the area will accompany the
village heads who will start campaigning among the locals soon to cast the
"Yes" vote during the referendum.

The village heads were told to prevent any campaigning for casting the
'No' vote in the referendum by any organization in their respective areas.
In case, there is any anti-referendum campaign in the area, the village
heads will have to inform the concerned authorities immediately.

Meanwhile, most people in Chin state are ready to cast the 'No' vote if
the referendum is held freely and fairly.

"I will vote 'No' if we can cast the vote freely without any vendetta from
the authorities. Most of the people in Chin state are ready to oppose the
draft constitution. If they force and threaten us to vote 'Yes', the
people are likely to vote 'Yes'," a local from Chin state said.

A delegate from Nay Pi Daw, the new capital of Burma, is likely to visit
Chin state in the last week of April to oversee the situation in the
region.

____________________________________

April 17, Khonumthung News
National ID card registration stopped till June

Given the pressure and work schedule to prepare for the referendum to have
the constitution approved, Burmese military junta authorities have
recently stopped the process of national identity card registration for
citizens.

The stoppage of the registration for national identity cards is likely to
last till the first week of June 2008, said a local in Kalay town in
Sagaing Division, northwest Burma.

"When we went to the immigration office in order to get identity cards,
they told us that it would be done only in June", said a local in Kalay
Town.

The local junta authorities from top to bottom in Kalay Town have stepped
up its campaign among the locals to cast the 'Yes' vote in the
constitutional referendum. Therefore, the ID card registration process has
been stopped temporarily.

Meanwhile, the junta has also assigned block leaders to collect the lists
of family members in Kalay. Consequently, those will be 18 before May
cannot travel to distance places because the ID registration process has
been halted.

The junta has announced holding of the referendum on May 10 to approve the
constitution drafted by its hand-picked delegates across the nation. The
referendum will be followed by so called multi party elections in 2010.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 17, Bangkok Post
Death-truck survivors 'mistreated' – King-Oua Laohong & Wimol Nukaew

The 67 illegal job seekers who survived last week's tragedy in which 54
other Burmese suffocated in the back of a truck have been shoddily
treated, the National Human Rights Commission says. Rights commissioner
Sunee Chaiyarose said the migrant workers had been exploited and abused by
a transnational human trafficking ring.

It was not right to fine them 2,000 baht, put them in jail for 10 days and
send them back to Burma.

They would soon manage to sneak back to Thailand, she said.

Instead, the government should provide them with the protection and the
humanitarian assistance they deserve.

''The government should take this opportunity to ask them for information
about how they got involved in the racket and who the job brokers are,''
Ms Sunee said.

The NHRC, the Lawyers Council and human rights advocates will tomorrow
visit the Burmese workers, who are detained at the immigration office in
Ranong, and seek ways to help them.

''They had no choice but to become illegal workers. We want to talk with
them and see if the commission and the Lawyers Council can do anything to
help them,'' Ms Sunee said.

Adisorn Kerdmongkol of the Campaign for Democracy in Burma said last year
alone saw a total of 503,000 displaced people from Burma cross into
Thailand.

They remain hidden along the border between the two countries.

The displacement of migrant workers was partly the result of internal
political conflict in Burma and of massive infrastructure development
projects with Thai involvement, such as a gas pipeline project, the
planned Salween dam construction and a contract farming project.

Mr Adisorn said Burmese troops had stepped in to ensure the work went
ahead in areas where ethnic minorities lived, even if they opposed the
projects.

These troops had been accused of human rights abuses of ethnics in Burma,
particularly of women who were targets of sexual abuse, he said.

These people were forced to migrate across the border to seek jobs in
Thailand.

Over the last two years, there have been repeated reports of migrant
workers from neighbouring countries sneaking into Thailand.

At least 106 of them were known to have died while trying to cross into
the country, 149 suffered injuries and 15 are still missing.

Most of them were Karenni and Mon people from Burma, and others Vietnamese
and Lao.

They often migrated during the dry season, Mr Adisorn said.

Thai labour brokers were responsible for bringing the migrant workers into
the country, either by boat or by land.

Early this year, seven bodies of illegal migrants from Burma were found in
the reservoir of Sri Nakharin dam in Kanchanaburi, he said.

Authorities assumed that the workers tried to enter the country by
waterways to avoid immigration checkpoints on land routes.

Usually, the workers travel on foot or by car, making their way through
Sangkhla Buri or Thong Pha Phum districts in Kanchanaburi.

With tight immigration measures in place, they were forced to take a boat
and travel through the dam instead.

''Similar tragedies have often occurred. They either died due to lack of
air or drowned because the boat capsized.

''A lot of them died but did not make news headlines,'' Mr Adisorn said.

In Ranong, police yesterday took Suchon Bunplong, the driver of the cold-
storage delivery truck in which the 54 workers suffocated back to 21
places to re-enact the smuggling operation.

Provincial police chief Apirak Hongthong was confident of getting solid
evidence against the suspects in the case.

Mr Suchon surrendered to authorities.

Jirawat Sophapanworagul, the owner of the Choke Charoen fishing pier where
the workers boarded the truck, and truck owner Damrong Phussadee were
arrested.

Pol Maj-Gen Apirak said there were at least seven suspects in the case,
although the names of the others could not be revealed.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat's Sichon district, another 21 illegal Burmese job
seekers have been arrested off the coast while on their way to the
province on board a fishing trawler.

Sanya Iadbangyee, the boat's navigator, was charged with human smuggling.

____________________________________

April 17, Kaladan Press
Sarapa arrests five traders in Maungdaw Town

The Military Intelligence (Sarapa) in Burma arrested five traders in
Maungdaw Town on April 9 and 10, on the allegation that they communicate
with Bangladeshi people for business purposes.

The arrested traders have been identified as Maulana Haroon (40) from
Darga Dill in Maungdaw Township, Md Akber (60), from ward No. 5 in
Maungdaw Town, Lukman Hakim (60) from ward No. 5, Zahir Ahmed (30) from
Shidar Para (Myoma Ka Nyin Tan) in Maungdaw Township and Shaffi Rahaman
(55) who belongs to ward No. 5 in Maungdaw Town, according to a relative
of those arrested.

On April 9 and 10, Sarapa personnel led by sergeant Myint Maung  went to
their shops and arrested them after alleging that they have ties with
Bangladeshi people into business in Bangladesh. Among them, Zahir Ahamed
was tortured severely by Sarapa after arrest.

One of the relatives of the arrested said, "By torturing Zahir Ahamed
severely they are passing a message to the others that they will also be
tortured if they do not pay money that the (Sarapa) will demand."

However, on April 10, in the evening, they were released after paying up.

 "If the arrested are guilty, they should have been punished. Why were
they released after paying money?" a local leader asked.

____________________________________

April 17, United Press International
India, Myanmar discuss security

India said it discussed issues relating to security, intelligence-sharing
and arms-smuggling with neighboring Myanmar.

Junior Interior Minister V. Radhika Selvi said in a statement Wednesday an
Interior Secretary-level meeting between the two countries was held March
7-10 in New Delhi.

"At this meeting, various issues relating to security, intelligence
sharing, arms smuggling, drug trafficking, border management, border
trade, cross border projects, release of Myanmar fishermen arrested in
India and Indian fishermen lodged in Myanmar jails and other issues were
discussed," she said in response to a question in Indian Parliament.

She said both sides agreed to work closely in these areas and toward peace
along the border.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 17, The Hindu
Seaways to launch cargo vessels to Myanmar

Maxicon Container Line Pvt. Ltd, a division of Hyderabad-based Seaways
Group, will be launching a direct Myanmar-India-Bangladesh service, the
first vessel MV Marina Star 2, with 852 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent
units). The embarking on the first voyage will be on April 21 from Yangon
to Chennai. The next vessel of 1118 TEU,

MV Emirates Gondwana, planned for the first week of May 2008, will connect
Yangon directly to Nhava Sheva (Mumbai) and touch Colombo and Chittagong
on the return voyage.

‘Just the beginning’
Chairman and Managing Director of Seaways Group P.V.K. Mohan said here on
Wednesday that the connectivity by the two vessels between Myanmar and
East and West coasts of India was just a beginning in the trade ties
entered into by India and Myanmar.

To accelerate business
The movement of cargo vessels would accelerate the business between the
two countries, especially in the wake of Sittwe Port in Myanmar being
developed by India at a cost of Rs. 480 crore.

Regular service
This would reduce transit time for the movement of consignment and provide
a regular service to the East and West coasts of India. While Marina Star
2 would connect the East Coast thrice, the Emirates Gondwana would connect
the West Coast twice a month.

Exports
Myanmar exports apparel, food, wood products and precious stones and
imports machinery, transport equipment, construction material, food
products, textile fabrics and petroleum products from India.
____________________________________

April 17, Irrawaddy
Illegal rice import boom at Three Pagodas Pass – Lawi Weng/Sangkhlaburi

Thai traders imported tens of thousands of bags of Burmese rice recently
in Three Pagodas Pass, a Thai town at the Thai-Burmese border, said a
local source.

Beginning last week, Burmese rice was being bought up by Thai traders at a
rate of 300 sacks every day, according to Burmese rice traders in the
town.

Local observers said that with the influx of Burmese rice to the region,
concerns were growing over the possibility of a severe increase in the
price of rice in the Three Pagodas Pass area.

The price in the border town has already increased from 700 Baht for a
60-kilogram sack in March to 820 baht in April.

The world's largest exporter of rice, Thailand, is unaccustomed to
importing such quantities. Many consumers are worried that this new law of
supply and demand will stretch their budgets.

Thai and Burmese border personnel have made an unofficial rice trade
agreement allowing the transport of rice from Burma to Thailand. This
agreement allows for a bypass of usual trade routes; although technically
the Thai-Burmese border at Three Pagodas Pass has been closed for more
than a year, the rice trade has been carried out via a new unofficial
crossing, said a rice bag carrier.

According to a Burmese border guard who wished to remain anonymous, to
pass through the new crossing a tax bribe of 5 baht per sack of rice must
be paid to the Burmese border guards.

Officially, the Burmese junta does not allow rice to be traded at the
border, except where an understanding has been made between commercial
traders in the border town, where limited stocks were permitted for the
town only, said a trader at Three Pagodas Pass.

There are several major commercial rice traders at Three Pagodas Pass.
According to local buyers, some traders currently have rice stores
estimated at up to 3,000 kg, or three metric tonnes, stored in 60-kilogram
sacks. However this is not available for purchase, as with the secret
agreement in place, these stores are intended for future Thai commercial
sales.

Depending on the demand from Thailand and the extent of the rice shortage
crisis, rice from the Burmese side of the border will continue to be
transported illegally, said a trade observer from the border town.

At this stage it is not known whether this style of illegal rice trade
activity is continuing the length of the Thai-Burmese border, or if it is
confined to the Three Pagodas Pass area.


____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 17, Arab News
Burmese don’t need passports to open bank accounts

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) has allowed Burmese residents in
the Kingdom to open bank accounts without the need to present copies of
their passport.

“Burmese nationals will be allowed to conduct all banking transactions,
including opening of current, fixed and investment accounts as long as
they hold valid resident permits,” SAMA said in a statement. “They don’t
need to submit copies of their passports as is the case for other foreign
nationals,” said the statement quoted in Al-Eqtisadiah.

However, SAMA urged Burmese residents intending to open bank accounts to
give an undertaking that they would present copies of their passports
after receiving them from their embassies.

“In order to renew their accounts, they should produce their passports, or
a letter from the Interior Ministry, or the Passport Department,” the
agency said. SAMA has also instructed banks to register the Burmese’s
place of stay in the Kingdom. Applicants must bring an introduction letter
from their employers, attested by the chambers of commerce and industry
and other authorities.

SAMA said unemployed Burmese should bring an introductory letter from
their Umda (chief of a residential district), attested by the police
station in the area. They should also provide clear addresses, including
phone numbers, places of residence and post boxes, if there is one.

An estimated 500,000 Burmese, most of them Rohingya Muslims, reside in the
Makkah region. Most do not have contact with their mother country and have
special residential status in the Kingdom.

Rohingyas, who form four percent of Burma’s population, are an indigenous
people of Arakan, the western province of Burma bordering Bangladesh. Due
to persecution, about 1.5 million Rohingyas have either been expelled or
left Burma since 1948.

____________________________________

April 17, Irrawaddy
Burmese Embassy in Singapore prepares for absentee referendum voting – Min
Lwin

The Burmese Embassy in Singapore has sent a letter to Burmese citizens
urging them to vote absentee in the constitutional referendum from April
25 to 29, while an anonymous telephone message is urging people to vote
“No.”

“We the Burmese people can vote “No” at the Myanmar [Burma] embassy
.
Please pass this message to all your friends and take this exercise
seriously for our freedom,” says the telephone message, which is being
widely distributed in the Burmese community.

The embassy letter sent to Burmese citizens was dated April 10, urging
them to bring their Burmese passport or citizen documents as
identification. An estimated 50,000 Burmese citizens live in Singapore.

“The letter was signed by Kyaw Swe Tint, the Burmese counselor,” said a
Burmese man from Tuas South on the outskirts of Singapore, who received a
letter on Thursday.

He said the letter was sent by air mail to Burmese citizens who paid their
income tax at the embassy.

Ko Hla, an information technology engineer in Singapore, said Burmese
citizens are likely to vote “No” on the referendum or to not vote.

“I haven’t heard of anyone who will give a ‘Yes’ vote,” Ko Hla told The
Irrawaddy on Thursday.

“As a Burmese citizen, the constitutional referendum is important for me
to vote,” said Myo Htet a construction engineer in Singapore. “Even the
people inside Burma will vote ‘No.’ Why can’t I vote ‘No’ too?”

A worker at a Singapore shipping yard said he will not go to the embassy
to vote.
“I get no leave from my boss, so I can’t,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Burmese Embassy in the United States of America is
collecting names of people eligible to vote based on an income tax list.

Millions of migrants live outside of Burma, but the Burmese regime has not
yet announced whether they all will be allowed to vote in the referendum.
More than one million Burmese migrants live in Thailand.

____________________________________

April 17, The Nation (Thailand)
Burmese PM to visit Thailand this month

The prime ministers and cabinets of both countries will meet on April 30
to strengthen the relations, particularly development projects along the
border, Noppadon said.

The discussion will include cooperation on many areas including energy,
deep sea ports as well as anti-narcotic suppressions.

Both countries are looking forward to strengthening cooperation on
transportation network including East-West Corridor projects.

The prime ministers will ink an agreement on Contact Farming, Noppadon said.

Also high on the agenda was how to tackle problems of increasing number of
Burmese illegally working in Thailand. Recently 54 Burmese job seekers
suffocated in a closed container of a truck after being smuggled into
Thailand and were on their way to to Phuket province.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 17, Irrawaddy
Exile, Canadian-style – Aung Zaw

Myo Min pointed to the on-board computer in his police patrol car. “This
is how we track down the bad guys,” he boasted, clearly relishing his
newfound role as a high-tech crime fighter.

But this is Canada, and bureaucracy soon stood in the way of his desire to
show off. He couldn’t let me into the vehicle, he said, without getting
permission from his supervisor at least 48 hours in advance. I did,
however, notice that he was playing a song by Burmese rock star Zaw Win
Htut in the car’s cassette player.

It was a brutally cold night, and Myo Win was on duty patrolling the
streets of Ottawa, doing his bit to keep the Canadian capital safe from
drug traffickers and drunk drivers and free of domestic violence and
illegal weapons.

Stopping by the apartment where I was staying with a friend, he adjusted
his bulletproof vest and started telling me about his journey from the
jungles of the Thai-Burmese border to Canada. Every few minutes, our
conversation was interrupted by radio communication from his
walkie-talkie.

Twenty years ago, Myo Min was one of thousands of young Burmese who left
their country to resist a regime that had just seized power in a bloody
coup. He joined the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), a
student army formed in the jungles of eastern Burma, but after several
years, he grew disillusioned with the armed struggle and factional
infighting within the students’ army. He left for resettlement in Canada
in 1997.

In 2003, he joined the police force in Ottawa. These days, he doesn’t talk
much about bringing down the regime in Burma. But like many former
activists living abroad, he still dreams of returning to his homeland
someday.

According to Kevin McLeod, an active member of Canadian Friends of Burma
(CFOB) and self-described “unemployed student,” many Burmese asylum
seekers in Canada are struggling to keep their heads above water in their
new country.

 “They have emotional stress and frustration and suffer from depression,”
he said of some of his many Burmese friends and acquaintances.

He noted that Burmese who migrated to Canada in the 1960s were better
educated and more financially secure than those who migrated after fleeing
political persecution in 1988. Most of these later immigrants came with
nothing and have had to rebuild their lives from scratch, making
integration much more difficult for them.

McLeod is perhaps uniquely sympathetic to the difficulties faced by
Burmese living in Canada. His Burmese friends jokingly call him a
“Canadian refugee,” because like many former student activists from Burma,
he hasn’t completed his university studies and is often broke. But he is
an avid student of Burmese affairs, reading many books on the country and
spending countless hours talking with Burmese friends, on whose couches he
often finds himself spending the night.

In some cases, the failure to adapt to life in Canada has ended in
tragedy. Several years ago, a young activist named Aung Ko jumped off
Niagara Falls. Close friends said that he suffered from depression and may
have had a drug-abuse problem. Later, another young Burmese activist hung
himself in his room in Toronto.

But all is not doom and gloom for Burmese living in Canada. Tin Maung
Htoo, the current executive director of CFOB, said that Canada offers
great opportunities to Burmese.

As former members of Burma’s clandestine high-school student union, Tin
Maung Htoo and his close friend and fellow CFOB member Toe Kyi have
followed a familiar trajectory from student activism inside Burma to
eventual third-country resettlement. But in their case, they managed to
avoid imprisonment in Burma—a common fate among activists—only to end up
spending three years in the Special Detention Center in Bangkok for
attempting to protest against the Salween dam project in 1993.

The Thai authorities refused to release Tin Maung Htoo and Toe Kyi onto
Thai soil, so the two friends finally agreed to go to Canada. They were
taken directly from the detention center to the airport.

Tin Maung Htoo, who studied at the University of Western ontario, said
that he especially appreciates the educational opportunities in Canada,
both for himself and his children. He also thinks he is lucky because he
has been able to continue his involvement in the Burmese pro-democracy
movement. These days, he said, he can go to Parliament to meet politicians
and senior foreign ministry officials to discuss Burma and Canadian
foreign policy. Several years ago, he said, this would have been
impossible. “Doors were closed and we were blocked.” But under Tin Maung
Htoo, CFOB has become an effective lobby group.

But Tin Maung Htoo’s friend, Toe Kyi, was more skeptical about how well
Canadians and Burmese really understand each other. He recounted how the
pastor at the church where he stayed when he first arrived in Canada
attempted to convert him to Christianity. When it came time for the
baptism, the pastor asked Toe Kyi if he could forgive his enemies,
including the military leaders in Burma. He shook his head to indicate
that he would never forgive the generals who had ruined his country, and
the ceremony came to an abrupt end. He added, with a touch of chagrin,
that he saw many other Burmese activists convert to Christianity in
Thailand or Canada just to ensure their survival.

Today, Toe Kyi and his Burmese wife and child enjoy their life in Canada,
where his political interests have expanded over the years. In their
living room, Toe Kyi and his wife are watching CBC news coverage of the US
presidential election campaign—they are both big fans of Hillary Clinton.
He is also a supporter of the Dalai Lama, who held formal talks with
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a visit to Ottawa last
November.

When US President George W. Bush made an official visit to Canada in 2004,
Toe Kyi joined protests against the immensely unpopular American leader.
He said that he and fellow protestors braved baton-wielding police and
tear gas to show their opposition to US foreign policy. I joked that the
experience probably made him nostalgic for his days as an activist during
the 1988 uprising against military rule in Burma.

Toe Kyi, who now works for CompuCorps Mentoring in Ottawa, a non-profit
organization that donates hundreds of used computers to African countries,
hasn’t forgotten about his country and his people. He recently arranged a
donation of over 100 computers for refugees recently arrived from the
Thai-Burmese border. He said that he wants to set up a voluntary service
inside Burma to do community development work.

The best thing about Canada, he said, is its respect for the rule of law
and democratic values. Despite this, however, he only reluctantly became a
Canadian citizen after several years of living in the country.

Many Burmese are deeply ambivalent about life in Canada, noted Kevin
McLeod from CFOB, who attributed this to their strong attachment to the
Burmese pro-democracy struggle. “They are very devoted,” he said.

Though Burmese enjoy life in a democratic country, they haven’t learned to
be united and democratic, according to another Canadian observer married
to a former student activist. After years of working on the Thai-Burmese
border, she returned to live in Vancouver, where she said that many of the
Burmese she met seemed like lost souls.

Not all Burmese are completely directionless, however. In fact, most have
simply moved on, finding jobs and trying to get ahead in life. Some have
even joined the Canadian Armed Forces. Zaw Latt, a former member of the
Burmese high school student union, is now a Canadian soldier assigned to
Afghanistan. His friends joke that he really wishes he had been sent to
Naypyidaw to fight.

Many activists want Canada to do more on Burma. CFOB is asking Canada to
support Burma groups along the Thai-Burmese border and take a tougher
stance toward the regime. Many Burmese activists think Canada’s recent
comprehensive sanctions on the junta were a good start, but others say
that Canada has yet to show much commitment to Burmese issues.

The Canadian government recently held a one-day Burma conference in Quebec
City, with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari as a keynote speaker. At the
gathering, some NGOs and activists expressed concern that Ottawa seems
more interested in supporting the UN’s fruitless missions and providing
humanitarian assistance inside Burma than in addressing Burma’s political
impasse more directly.

Most Burmese in Canada would like to see Ottawa send a stronger message to
the regime in Naypyidaw. Even Burmese who have been hurt by the sanctions
that are now in place say that they support punitive measures against the
junta.

Zaw Win Aung, a former ABSDF member and owner of the Golden Burma grocery
store in Toronto, and Aung Tin, another grocery store owner and member of
the National League for Democracy, said that the sanctions made it harder
for them to import goods such as betel nuts from Burma. But, said Zaw Win
Aung with a smile, “It is good” that Canada has taken action against the
regime.

As I spoke with Zaw Win Aung, some newly arrived Karen refugees walked
into his store to buy some betel nut. Outside, the weather was bitterly
cold. Suddenly, a BMW 318 with the words “Free Burma” painted on it and
with photographs of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and monks
in the rear windows pulled over in front of the shop. A window rolled down
and a familiar face smiled and said hello to his friends and the new
arrivals. He was Si Thu, a former ABSDF member who arrived in Canada in
the early 1990s.

For a moment, the Karen family from the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand
looked at the car and its owner with admiration, recognizing both familiar
images from their homeland and a symbol of success in their new country.
But after a few moments, they returned to their own reality—far from the
struggle in Burma, and equally distant from any sense of belonging in
Canada—and walked back to their small apartment.



____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 17, Bangkok Post
The injustice migrant workers face – Sanitsuda Ekachai

Imagine yourself one of the 121 migrant workers crammed in a container
truck, struggling for air. You keep beating the wall of the truck to fight
for your life. But no one hears you. What will be your last thoughts? Who
will you be thinking of?

Now the whole world knows about the mass suffocation of 54 migrant workers
in the container truck. The tragedy in Ranong province has ignited
migration policy recommendations from various labour rights organisations.
They all make sense. Indeed, Thailand needs to improve migrant management
policy and open up its migrant registration system so that smugglers can
no longer prey on migrant workers.

Indeed, the survivors need to be treated as victims of human trafficking,
not as criminals for illegally entering the country. Indeed, they should
receive legal assistance so that we can catch the big fish in this human
smuggling racket.

Unfortunately, these recommendations will not become reality unless we
Thais start putting ourselves in the migrant workers' shoes.

We must ask not only how we would feel if we were one of the migrant
workers toiling in slave-like work conditions yet being treated by the
authorities as criminals. We must also ask why these people fled their
homeland in the first place.

We cannot go wrong in pointing our finger at the migrant registration
system and the human smuggling racket. But the real culprit is the
atrocious Burmese junta and its faithful accomplice, the greedy Thai
government - and our very own heartless society.
Economic disparity is not the only reason for mass migration across
borders. The infamous junta has not only plunged Burma into deep poverty,
it has also turned its every nook and cranny into a war zone.

Ethnic minorities are subjected to heavy taxation and forced relocation.
Horrifying stories abound about rape, torture, slave labour, detention and
murder. Not even monks can escape their brutality.

Successive Thai governments have kept mum throughout all this because they
do not want to lose the big bucks from Burma's timber, gems and energy
businesses.

Our hunger for Burma's natural resources has caused the locals much
suffering. To make the gas pipelines and the Salween Dam mega-projects
possible, for example, we need the Burmese troops to clear the areas,
leading to various forms of state violence on the indigenous and an
increasing influx of migration across the border into Thai territory. This
is why migrant workers are overwhelmingly ethnic minorities from Burma.

Money is not the only thing they want. More than anything, they want
peace, a chance to work, to have a family and to keep their cultural way
of life, as we all do.

Yet we refuse to listen to their plight because our mind is heavily
clouded by fear and mistrust as a result of the brain-washing nationalist
history which makes us see neighbouring countries if not as rivals, then
as national security threats.

This is why we could not care less when the authorities refuse to take the
smugglers to task in order to keep the big bucks coming.

According to labour activist Adisorn Kerdmongkol, there have in the past
two years been at least 14 fatal accidents during the transportation
process that killed 106 migrant workers, injured 149, while 15 people
remain missing.

The authorities' standard practice is to deport the survivors immediately
to save the smugglers. The April 9 tragedy in Ranong is expected to be no
different.

The immigration authorities and the local police insist on processing the
case as illegal migration, not human trafficking. They refuse to allow
human rights activists to meet the survivors. Meanwhile, the mainstream
media have treated this mass suffocation tragedy as a one-shot crime story
that must give way to the Songkran fun.

The survivors will be soon deported. With on-going violence in Burma, many
will soon return despite the risk, the exploitation and the injustice they
may encounter. This is because people live on hope. And in Burma, there is
no hope left.

Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor

____________________________________

April 17, Kaowao News Group
Referendum; Crisis continues? – Lawi Weng

Burma and Thailand are different in the way they hold their referendums.
Previously when a referendum was held in Thailand, the Thai government
allowed the people to read for the proposed new constitution for three
months before asking for their vote. Burma has not followed suit, instead
only recently allowing some political organizations in Rangoon to review
the latest draft constitution.

Some Burmese people wanted to read the new constitution, and tried to buy
it from the market in Rangoon. But they were unable to find it. The state
government has attempted for many decades to blind the people’s eyes, not
allowing or encouraging knowledge of their political movements.  Further,
the junta has allowed only one percent of the country’s development budget
towards education and health care.

According to one local source, many people did not know what the junta was
going to do with their new family list, which they were forced to pay
10,000 Kyat for. Some people did not know why the junta stamped house
numbers, which cost each family 500 Kyat. At no stage did the junta
explain to the people why the new list or house stamp was required.

Burma is one of the poorest countries in the world. The country has
widespread corruption amongst Burmese officers who abuse their power. The
people always have to think how to survive daily, with little time spared
for political thought. Some Burmese political analysts said this is the
junta policy to make people’s lives so filled with trouble they are slaves
to the economy and subsequently do not involve themselves with politics.

Unlike the 1990 election the Burmese junta may believe this time they will
not lose the election said a political analyst from inside. The junta
refused to handover power to the NLD after the last, failed, election; the
political crisis continued to worsen and grow more unstable until last
September when monks protested across the country.

The NLD proposed to the people to vote no against the junta’s referendum
recently. In some places, Burmese activists used spray to write, ‘no for
vote’ on the wall in order to encourage the people. In other places the
people distributed pamphlet declaring, ‘vote no’. This is what the people
can do to oppose the junta’s referendum next month.

Most recently a man who arrived on the Thai-Burma border said every day
four to six trucks filled with Mon people leave for work to Thailand from
Kalawthut village, Mudon township. According to this source, the people
were not interested in the new constitution and referendum. They wanted a
better life and were able to find this living in other countries.

Teenagers who are able to work tend to leave Burma to seek out a better
life, and earn money in neighboring countries.  Millions of Burmese people
migrated to other countries where they work illegally, receiving low pay
and working hard under bad conditions.

Burma’s political competition will be similar to Zimbabwe in Africa. The
Burma opposition groups believe that they will win in the referendum, but
so too for the ruling Junta believe they will hold power. Each group uses
campaign tools throughout the country in different ways.

Recently Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe lost the election in his country
and wanted to hold another. The country’s political situation was
complicated, and many people including those in the international
community, became worried that political conflict would start soon. Some
of the political observers in Zimbabwe urged the international community
to get involved in the political crisis in the country.

The Burmese junta’s ideas may be similar to Mugabe’s. Some Burmese
political analysts said Zimbabwe’s situation will become a good example
for Burma. The junta will cancel their referendum or election if they
lose.  Or, like in 1990, they may refuse to handle power to the rightful
winner.

Most recently, the SPDC ran a field campaign urging people to vote for
them in Burma. They did not allow people to shoot photo, nor did they
document the campaigns with photographs.  In the campaign, they talked
about their constitution and they encouraged people to vote yes for them.
They did not allow the people to ask questions or give feedback to them.
They simply told the people to vote for them in order to improve the
country’s political situation, or face another fifteen years of political
crisis in Burma.

____________________________________

April 17, Taipei Times
‘Burma’ vs ‘Myanmar’ – Roger Lee Huang

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell
as sweet” (Romeo and Juliet).

In a recent article I wrote to the editor (Letters, April 14, page 8) I
was dismayed to find that the Taipei Times took the liberty of changing
the name “Burma” to “Myanmar.”

Indeed, what is in a name? A name ensured a tragic end to the famous young
lovers Romeo and Juliet in their quest for love.

A difference in opinion over the name of “Macedonia” guaranteed ongoing
disputes between Macedonia and Greece.

A “minority”-like name promised a lifetime of discrimination for thousands
of Blacks, Irish and Jews throughout the US and Europe up until the early
20th century (and even today in certain areas).

Enforced name changes saw the humiliation and cultural genocide of
Aborigines everywhere, and the “wrong” names linked to a certain caste or
class guaranteed a lifetime of suffering in much of South Asia.

In the case of Taiwan, the name that is selected for the country impacts
on its right to participate in international organizations and its very
right to existence as an independent, sovereign state.

The recent name change of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to today’s
National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall certainly saw plenty of
controversy.

The official name of Burma today is the “Union of Myanmar.” This was
passed in 1989 by the current Burmese junta, a political act intended to
justify its rule and its xenophobic, anti-West attitude.

Though many of its allies recognize this name change, some of the world’s
more prominent states such as the US and the UK continue to use the name
“Burma.” Even today, the US embassy on University Road in Rangoon/Yangon
proudly refers to itself as the Embassy of the United States, Union of
Burma.

Many non-governmental organizations and pressure groups, as well as human
rights and democracy activists, also choose to recognize “Burma” and not
“Myanmar.”

This is an important issue, as referring to the state as Burma guaranteed
the recognition of the sovereignty and independence of the Burmese state,
but not of its repressive, backward and shameful military junta.

Just as the term “Chinese Taipei” is derogatory to the 23 million people
of Taiwan, and just as vice president-elect Vincent Siew’s attendance at
the recent Boao Forum in his capacity as a civilian chairman of the
Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation was a very conscious but misguided
choice, the Taipei Times’ changing of “Burma” to “Myanmar” is a
disappointing, misguided and political action, which I believe is
unwarranted and beyond the scope of its “reservations to edit, change, or
condense” for the benefit of the paper.

For a paper dedicated to progressive, democratic ideals, I truly hope the
Taipei Times will at least respect the rights of its readers when
publishing their letters.

____________________________________

April 17, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Sanctions undercut opportunity in Myanmar – Harvey Mackay

My wife, Carol Ann, and I recently visited Myanmar, formerly called Burma.
Our trip included CEOs and spouses from Australia to Italy.

Myanmar is not a Third World nation; it's a Fourth World nation, one where
scalpels are sterilized in rice cookers -- if you're lucky.

Before its independence in 1948, Burma was the crown jewel of British
colonial Asia and had it all. Jewel is no metaphor. This land was and is
still knee-deep in sapphires, jade and rubies -- almost 90 percent of the
world's harvest, especially the prized blood rubies. It also has oil. And
it has great potential for rice from a delta that has perhaps the most
fertile land in the world.

Burma also was a World War II front line. After its independence, Burma
hobbled along. A military coup quashed democracy in 1962, thousands died
in a bloody uprising in 1988. In 1990, the National League for Democracy,
led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won more than 80 percent of the seats in
Parliament, humiliating the generals, who refused to relinquish power.
Winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, Suu Kyi now endures a cumulative
12th year of house arrest.

Suu Kyi has a vision, but the power barons are doing their best to make
sure she doesn't share it. I talked with more than 50 people -- from
entrepreneurs to educators to workers -- but not one could tell me where
Myanmar is headed. While this country with a population of 55 million
fields the world's 12th-largest standing military, its per-capita income
is 150th.

We saw and spoke with many wonderful people. One forum was unforgettable
-- standing room only for some of the 125 students I had the privilege to
address. Starved for knowledge from the outside world, their questions
about the U.S. presence in Iraq were grade-school level. Impossible to
e-mail, these students still tap into the Internet in the middle of the
night.

Everywhere we went they loved the United States.

What didn't we see on our trip? Not a single American tourist.

Nor did we see the capital. In 2005, the military began moving the capital
from Yangon (formerly Rangoon), to Naypyidaw, a boondocks more than 200
miles away.

Nor did we see the travesty of Myanmar at work. Forced labor, child labor
and human trafficking remain common. The government is despotic,
repressive and provides no services for the people.

Nor did we see the illicit drug factories. A corner of the Golden Triangle
with Thailand and Laos, Myanmar is abloom with poppies. Economic sanctions
have helped drive out legitimate businesses.

One unexpected benefit of the stalled economic growth: Dense forests cover
much of the country. Could you find a better setting for ecotourism?

Some of my CEO colleagues and I believe sanctions are a policy gone bust.
The people of Myanmar love America. Little groups like ours lift their
hopes.

Mackay's Moral: Unwise sanctions can undercut a forest of opportunity.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

April 17, Global Justice Center
International lawyers denounce attempt by Myanmar regime to give
themselves immunity from criminal prosecutions and renew call for criminal
investigation

The Myanmar regime, guilty of the most serious crimes of concern to the
international community, has revealed that it is seeking to give itself
constitutional immunity from prosecution for those crimes. The Burma
Lawyers' Council, the Global Justice Center and the Burma Justice
Committee denounce this attempt by the regime to avoid accountability. The
recently distributed final version of the Constitution being put to a
"referendum" on May 10th, 2008 now includes in Chapter XIV "Transitory
Provisions," Article No. 445, stating, "No legal action shall be taken
against those (either individuals or groups who are members of SLORC and
SPDC) who officially carried out their duties according to their
responsibilities." This immunity is invalid under international law and
cannot be accepted by the international community.

There is ample evidence that the military regime has committed war crimes,
crimes against humanity and potentially even genocide through forced
relocation, torture, rape, enforced disappearances and extermination.
Perpetrators of these, the most serious of crimes, are not eligible for
amnesty under international law. Moreover, the global community has a
commitment under the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine, Security Council
Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security and Resolution 1674 on the
protection of civilians in armed conflict, to hold the regime accountable
for the crimes committed against the people of Burma. In seeking an
amnesty, the military regime recognizes that it has committed serious
crimes and needs amnesty for what it has done and is doing. The regime
cannot, however, simply give itself immunity as it is seeking to do.

The constitutional amnesty is another example of how the regime abuses the
law as it seeks to solidify the military's rule of oppression through a
façade of legality. As stated by U Aung Htoo, Secretary General of the
Burma Lawyers' Council "Rule of law must replace military might. This
Constitution and its illegal amnesty provision cannot bring sustainable
peace to Burma."

The Burma Lawyers' Council, Global Justice Center and Burma Justice
Committee therefore today make clear:

The military regime must immediately desist from committing further crimes
against the people of Burma;

The military regime's constitutional process and intended amnesty fails to
comply with any of the applicable international legal norms and will not
have any force as a matter of law either internationally or for the future
within Burma; and
As a matter of international law, the U.N. Security Council should create
an Independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate the crimes and pursue
criminal accountability of those members of the military regime who have
committed international crimes.


For further information contact:
Janet Benshoof, President, Global Justice Center, 212-725-6530 x202,
jbenshoof at globaljusticecenter.net
U Aung Htoo, General Secretary, Burma Lawyers' Council, 66-(0)
81-533-0605, blcsan at ksc.th.com
Sappho Dias, Chairman, Burma Justice Committee, 44-78-81-826373