BurmaNet News, June 24, 2008

[Editor]

June 24, 2008 Issue #3498


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Burma cyclone: 84,500 deaths
AFP: Myanmar launches 11-day gems auction: report
Irrawaddy: Burma drops new operating guidelines
Irrawaddy: Human smuggling crackdown hits Kawthaung
DVB: Status of Zarganar and Zaw Thet Htway unknown
DVB: Labourers forced to work on seized cyclone lands

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima News: Motorcycles selling like hot cakes on Sino-Burma border
Kaladan News: Rohingya youth jailed for 5.5 years for crossing
Burma-Bangladesh border

BUSINESS
Chosun.com: Daewoo to sell all Burma gas to China

ASEAN
Xinhua: Tripartite core group completes joint assessment on cyclone impact
on Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Sein Win seeks talks with China, India
CBC News (Canada): Donations for Chinese earthquake far surpass Burma
assistance
AFP: Japanese protest killing of journalist in Myanmar
Mizzima News: DFID objects to Save the Children's aid distribution mode

OPINION / OTHER
WSJ: The Bush doctrine is relevant again




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 24, Associated Press
Burma cyclone: 84,500 deaths

Burma said Tuesday that 84,500 people perished in last month's cyclone, up
from the last official announcement that 77,700 had died in the
devastating storm.
Meanwhile, a representative from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, the regional bloc that includes Burma, said a recent assessment
tour found the needs of the storm's survivors were being met.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu said in a speech that the official death
toll now stood at 84,537 dead, with 53,836 still missing. The update was
the first since May 17, when officials said 77,738 had died and 55,917
were missing.

The increased total represents victims of the storm itself rather then any
new casualties due to disease or starvation in the cyclone's aftermath, he
said, stating that the assessment found no such post-cyclone deaths.

"On the part of the government, there have been less and less requests for
emergency assistance coming from communities and local authorities," he
added. "Various reports indicate that the worst of the crisis may have
stabilized, although it is by no means over."

Cyclone Nargis on May 2-3 cut a swath of destruction through the delta and
the region around the country's largest city, Rangoon.

A major international effort is underway to aid some 2.4 million people
affected by the natural disaster, the worst in Burma's modern history.

This includes a special three-party task force that has completed an
assessment of the damage and needs of survivors.

A final report on its findings is due around the third week of July.

The report is widely expected to put an optimistic light on the crisis,
while presenting some criticism of the regime for hindering the
international aid effort.

Some 350 representatives of the United Nations, the Burma government and
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — ASEAN — have been traveling
to villages in the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta to accumulate information.

"Access was unlimited and unfettered. The basic needs of the victims are
being met for their early recovery," Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN
secretary-general and head of the bloc's humanitarian task force in Burma,
said at a meeting Tuesday in Rangoon.

Preliminary findings by the so-called Tripartite Core Group indicated that
45% of those affected are receiving food through humanitarian
distribution, said people who attended a survey presentation.

The findings also indicated that 42% of all food stocks were destroyed in
the 380 affected villages that were surveyed.

The survey's data on shelter, published on a U.N. website, indicated that
more than 83% of those people surveyed were now living in their own homes.
Many people had taken shelter at Buddhist temples and government- run
refugee camps in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone.

More than 90% of those surveyed said they still required assistance to
rebuild.

The collected data "will lead to a credible and independent damage
assessment report," said a press release from the tripartite group.

____________________________________

June 24, Agence France Presse
Myanmar launches 11-day gems auction: report

Military-run Myanmar on Tuesday launched an 11-day auction of precious
gems in Yangon, state media said, as the country struggles to recover from
last month's devastating cyclone.

The New Light of Myanmar announced that the sale of gems, jade and pearls
would run until July 4 in the economic hub, where some buildings remain in
ruins and fallen trees litter the roads seven weeks after Cyclone Nargis.

The junta-run daily gave no further details of the sale, but a staff
member at the Myanmar Convention Centre confirmed an auction opened there
this morning that was attended by both local and foreign dealers.

Myanmar auctioned off more than 7,700 lots of precious stones, which
officials valued at more than 100 million euros (153 million dollars), in
March.

Myanmar, one of the world's poorest countries, is the source of some of
the globe's most beautiful rubies. Each auction brings in more than 100
million dollars, making it a key source of revenue for the ruling junta.

The military regime has estimated it will need 10.7 billion dollars to
rebuild after the cyclone struck in early May, leaving more than 138,000
people dead or missing when it pummelled the southwest delta and Yangon.

An international donor conference in late May only garnered a small
proportion of those funds.

International donors have historically been reluctant to pump money into
Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962 and keeps
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.

The United States and Europe intensified economic sanctions on the regime
after a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last year, while
Washington and human rights groups have urged gem buyers to boycott the
sales.

Myanmar's two biggest customers, China and Thailand, have continued to
attend the frequent gem auctions despite an international outcry over the
bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests last September.

____________________________________

June 24, Irrawaddy
Burma drops new operating guidelines – Wai Moe

The United Nations agencies and international nongovernmental
organizations will return to the old operating guidelines in effect before
Burma issued new regulations on June 10, in agreement with the Burmese
authorities, a UN agency said on Monday.

According to a report by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, the Burmese military junta issued new operating
guidelines on June 10 for UN agencies and international nongovernmental
organizations.

But following a meeting of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) made up of the
Burmese regime, Asean and the UN, it was agreed to revert to the
regulations in effect before June 10.

Under the policy currently in place, all visa requests from UN agencies
and NGOs will be handled by the TCG and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Requests by UN agencies and NGOs for travel authorization will again be
handled by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

Meanwhile, Burma’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu informed a meeting of
government and foreign aid workers that that the official death toll now
stood at 84,537 dead, with 53,836 still missing.

As of June 19, more than 230 visas had been granted to UN international
staff in response to Cyclone Nargis, and more than 200 operational UN
staff had traveled to the affected areas, the report noted.

The report said the Asean roundtable group was scheduled to meet on
Tuesday in Rangoon to hear a Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) team
report based on data collected in 30 affected townships in the Irrawaddy
delta.

More than 1,000 schools are still in need of construction or repair,
although 256 primary schools in the Irrawaddy delta and 166 primary
schools in Rangoon had been repaired, the UN said in its report.

The report said 310,000 plastic sheets had been distributed to some of the
2.4 million people affected by Nargis.

“Accounting for distributions continues to be challenging with
distributions difficult to track in all areas,” the report said.
“Obtaining pipeline data from cluster agencies and keeping it up-to-date
remains critical.”

The embargo placed on local procurement of rice has required agencies to
obtain rice from outside of the country and is now a priority, the report
noted. Frequent population movements make the targeting of food assistance
challenging, although 9,197 metric tons of food aid had been distributed
to 729,000 beneficiaries.

The international sector had contributed US $30 million, including US $10
million from UNICEF; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, $3 million;
and Total Oil, $2 million.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) contributed
an additional $3 million to the World Food Program.

About 66 percent of the UN’s funding appeal for $201 million had been
received as of June 23, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the use of US military aircraft to airlift cyclone relief
supplies from Thailand to Burma ended on June 22, after 40 days of
operation. A military press release said the estimated cost of the
operation and the supplies was more than $13 million.

____________________________________

June 24, Irrawaddy
Human smuggling crackdown hits Kawthaung – Saw Yan Naing

About 200 Burmese job seekers in Kawthaung, a border town in southern
Burma, were arrested in the past five days following a human smuggling
crackdown by local authorities.

Those arrested were staying in hotels believed to be used by people
seeking to enter Thailand or Malaysia illegally. Nine people believed to
be involved in organizing human smuggling were also arrested, according to
sources in Kawthaung.

One hotel owner, his wife and a manager were reportedly arrested, along
with six other people believed to be involved in human smuggling.

A crackdown on human smuggling has been underway since the repatriation of
dozens of Burmese migrant workers who survived a human smuggling incident
in which 54 Burmese migrant workers suffocated when being transported to
work in Thailand, according to sources in Kawthaung.  Sixty-seven people
survived the incident.

The crackdown order was said to have come from Naypyidaw under the
direction of the Burmese premier, Gen Thein Sein, said one source.

Maung Tu, a local businessman who is close to Burmese authorities and the
business community, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, “The authorities are
cracking down on hotels at night. The owner of one hotel was arrested.
Some smugglers and traffickers are now running away to avoid arrests.”

Another resident in Kawthaung said, “The arrests are increasing. Speed
boats are also being prevented from crossing the border.”

Three hotels in Kawthaung are widely believed to be involved in human
smuggling operations, sources say.

Owners of hotels in Kawthaung have reportedly received a warning from Min
Aye Lwin, the chairman of the Province Peace and Development Council, not
to accept travelers who are seeking to enter countries illegally.

Kawthaung is a popular site used by Burmese migrant workers who try to
enter Thailand and Malaysia illegally. As many as 100 people a day are
believed to be illegally transported into Thailand and Malaysia from
Kawthaung.

Many local Burmese authorities are involved in human smuggling, say
Kawthaung residents.

____________________________________

June 24, Democratic Voice of Burma
Status of Zarganar and Zaw Thet Htway unknown

The whereabouts of detained prominent comedian and social activist
Zarganar and sports writer Zaw Thet Htway are still unknown, according to
their relatives.

Rangoon’s Western District police commissioner and other local officials
took Zarganar from his house on 4 June. The police chief said they would
hold him for two days to investigate if he had been involved in any
political activity but he has not returned home since.

“It has been over two weeks since my son was arrested but I still don’t
know where he is and why he was detained,” said Daw Kyin Oo, the
comedian’s mother.

Zaw Thet Htway was arrested in Minbu on 13 June while visiting his mother
who had suffered a stroke. On his arrival into town local authorities told
him to leave until he received further notice.

“My husband was only helping distribute aid to cyclone victims and
focusing on his own business,” said the writer’s wife May Zaw.

“He has never been involved in any political activity so I thought he
would be released within days. I am worried about him since I haven’t
heard anything from him.”

Houses belonging to Zarganar and Zaw Thet Htway were thoroughly searched
around the time of their arrests and authorities confiscated computers and
other documents.

The comedian and the writer were had been working on relief efforts for
cyclone-affected people in Rangoon and Irrawaddy divisions before they
were detained.

Daw Kyi Oo said the arrest of her son and other private donors had
disrupted the flow of aid to refugees.

“There is a shortage of supplies in warehouses and it has become difficult
to continue with relief work because of the arrest of Zarganar, Zaw Thet
Htway and others who were leading relief operations,” she said.

Despite assurances of free access by private donors to cyclone-devastated
areas of Burma, the military government continues to arrest individuals
taking aid to survivors of the May storm.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, ten
donors including Zarganar and Zaw Thet Htway have been arrested since the
beginning of June.

Reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw and Yee May Aung

____________________________________

June 24, Democratic Voice of Burma
Labourers forced to work on seized cyclone lands – Naw Say Phaw

Government authorities have forced unemployed people across Burma to work
for low pay cultivating farmlands seized from cyclone victims in the
Irrawaddy delta, according to locals.

A resident of Bogalay told DVB daily paid labourers from Mandalay had been
brought to the township in military trucks in recent days by people
wearing Union Solidarity and Development Association clothing to work on
farmlands seized by the authorities after their owners were killed during
the cyclone in May.

"Apparently the labourers were told they were to give assistance to
farmers in devastated areas," said the Bogalay resident.

"The people are from Mandalay – the authorities demanded one person from
each household in their neighbourhood."

He said government authorities had claimed ownership of farmlands left
without owners after the cyclone but they have also been seizing land
belonging to farmers who survived the cyclone.

"They were also seizing plots owned by farmers who are still alive, which
are located in between the ownerless lands," he said.

He added that more labourers had been brought into the area from Rangoon's
Hlaing Tharyar township with a promise of 10,000 kyat for a day's work,
but they were only given 1000 kyat a day after starting work on the
Bogalay farms.

"Between 400 and 500 labourers were seen this morning at the port area –
they said they had to sign agreement letters with the authorities and they
couldn’t leave until they finished all the work," he said.

"They want to go back to their homes now but they have no money to travel
and they don't get proper meals either – some even had their ID cards
taken away by the officials."

A resident of Hlaing Tharyar township said the local USDA had been
persuading people in the township to go and work in the Irrawaddy delta.

"A female USDA member in ward 14 told people here the labourers would be
paid 10,000 kyat a day for cleaning out shrimp breeding tanks in the
Irrawaddy delta," the resident said.

"Of the first group of about 100 people who went to work there, 90 people
have already come back here as they couldn't stand the rotting smell and
the presence of the spirits of lost souls."


____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 24, Mizzima News
Motorcycles selling like hot cakes on Sino-Burma border – Myo Gyi

There has been a 300 per cent rise in the sale of motorcycles in Jie Gao
on the Chinese border town due to a possible decision by the junta to
issue licenses to all two wheelers without license in Burma.

There is speculation that the Road Transportation Department is going to
allow registration of all motorbikes, locally known as "without" for not
having a license. Smugglers import motorbikes from neighbouring countries
such as China and Thailand without paying import tax and bribing local
authorities. Soon after the news of the license spread the sale of
motorbikes in Jie Gao rose from 300 bikes a day to 1,000 bikes a day.

"We heard that license will be issued to 'without' (license) bikes in
early July. " a member of Muse Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in
condition of anonymity.

The junta suspended issuing license in 2004 to these motorcycles smuggled
from neighbouring countries.

"The new motorcycle license will be issued from July 2 so many people are
going to the border to buy bikes," a bike dealer from Mandalay said.

Speculation suggest the license will be issued as the government wanting
to raise funds for Cyclone Nargis victims. But these new motorcycles
owners will not get rationed petrol like other bike owners do. Burma has
been selling gasoline and diesel under a rationing system since 1980.

The popular brand names of China manufactured bikes among the Burmese
people are 'Kenbo' and 'Luojia'. These motorcycles are selling like hot
cakes on the border and the buyers have to stand in queue.

The motorcycles selling in Jie Gao are specially made and manufactured for
the Burma market and are cheaper than the domestic ones and are selling at
RMB 2,500 (360 US$) to 2,800 (403 US$).

Meanwhile over 70 'without' motorcycles carried by smugglers were seized
and in Manshi in June. A smuggler was killed and two injured in Kutkai
when soldiers opened fire.

____________________________________

June 24, Kaladan News
Rohingya youth jailed for 5.5 years for crossing Burma-Bangladesh border

A Rohingya yoyth was sentenced to five and-a-half years in prison by a
Maungdaw court on June 13, on the orders of Burma's border security force,
on allegation of crossing the Burma-Bangladesh border, according to a
family member.

The man has been identified as Sayed Amin (20), son of Mohamed Ali. He
hails from Kyauk Pundhu village of Maungdaw Township.

He was arrested by local Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC)
Chairman Fazul Islam for crossing the Burma-Bangladesh border last week
and handed over to the Nasaka commander Kyaw Kyaw Tun of camp No.18 of Inn
Din village in Maungdaw Township.

The man was detained for four days in the Nasaka camp and was sent to the
Maungdaw police station and then to court. He appeared before the Maungdaw
Court on June 13, and was sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment.
Later, he was sent to Buthidaung jail, said a local village elder.

"It is a very long jail-term. As punishment for crossing the border a
maximum of six months in jail is enough," a friend of the Rohingya youth
said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS

June 24, Chosun.com
Daewoo to sell all Burma gas to China

Daewoo International said Monday it has signed a memorandum of
understanding with the China National Petroleum Corporation to sell all
the natural gas it extracts from Burma to CNPC.

Daewoo found a large gas field of 4.5 to 4.7 trillion cubic feet in the
A-1 and A-3 mining areas in Burma in 2004. It is the largest gas field
discovered by a Korean private firm, and enough to match the amount of
natural gas consumed in Korea for five years.

Daewoo leads the international consortium producing and selling the gas
with 51 percent of the share. Daewoo announced it may also participate in
building the pipeline between Burma and China and the gas transport
business. The deal package is expected to generate over US$10 billion of
profits over 25 years starting 2012, when gas production begins.


____________________________________
ASEAN

June 24, Xinhua
Tripartite core group completes joint assessment on cyclone impact on Myanmar

A tripartite core group involving the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), Myanmar and the United Nations claimed on Tuesday that
its post-Nargis joint assessment teams have successfully completed its
mission to Myanmar's cyclone-hit Ayeyawaddy delta and Yangon division.

A press release of the tripartite core group said the joint assessment
report will be published in Yangon and submitted to the ASEAN Foreign
Ministerial Meeting on July 20-21 in Singapore. The report will also
provide inputs to the U.N.'s revised humanitarian flash appeal in July in
New York for post-Nargis emergency and early recovery efforts.

According to the press release, 350 officials and volunteers from the
Myanmar government, ASEAN and U.N,, supported by the World Bank, Asian
Development Bank ADB) and both local and international non-governmental
organizations, were trained early this month in the established data
gathering templates of the village tract assessment used by the U.N. and
the damage and loss assessment used by the World Bank and the ADB.

The data collected by the assessment teams from 380 villages in Labutta
and Pyapon, two severely affected townships in the Ayeyawaddy delta, will
lead to a credible and independent damage assessment report, the press
release said. It will allow donors to fulfill their pledge commitments to
the cyclone victims and help in the recovery and reconstruction.

The tripartite core group has successfully completed some operational
tasks, for instance, requests for visas, visa extensions and permits to
travel are now channeled through to the group for facilitation and the
entry and deployment in Yangon and Ayeyawaddy divisions of 10 commercial
helicopters contracted by the World Food Program since early this month.

The core group has been working for 10 days from June 11 to 20 to make
joint assessment on the impact of cyclone Nargis that devastated Myanmar
in early May.

The Yangon-based tripartite core group was established at an ASEAN-U.N.
international pledging conference held in Yangon in late May as a working
mechanism for coordinating, facilitating and monitoring the flow of
international assistance into Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas.

The core group, along with ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan and the
ASEAN humanitarian task force, attended Tuesday's ASEAN roundtable on
post-Nargis joint assessment for response, recovery and reconstruction
held here.

Cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions
and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2-3, of which
Ayeyawaddy and Yangon suffered the heaviest casualties and massive
infrastructure damage.

The storm has killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359
injured according to official statistics.


____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 24, Irrawaddy
Sein Win seeks talks with China, India – Lalit K Jha

The Burmese prime minister in exile, Dr Sein Win, wants to visit leaders
in India and China to seek their help in resolving the current political
impasse in Burma.

The two countries—key allies of the military government—can play an
important role in finding a peaceful solution to the current political
crisis, Dr Sein Win told The Irrawaddy.

He has approached both India and China in this regard, but without any
success so far.

"We want solutions. We need help from China and India," he said.

"I want to travel to India and China and talk with their government
officials and meet their people and present our views," he said in an
interview.

"It’s very simple. Why can't we go there?" he asked, saying he has tried
to reach out to the Indian and Chinese governments so but so far without
any positive results.


Despite his efforts, he said, "They [India and China] are very elusive
because they are afraid any contact with us could jeopardize their
relationship with the military."

"We agree with China and India on many points," he said. "They want
stability; we want stability. They want prosperity; we also want
prosperity. They want dialogue; we also want dialogue. We can talk on
those topics."

"Since 1990, I could not go to China and India," said Sein Win, who in an
interview last year said he would like to have his government-in-exile
located in India, rather than in Washington DC.

A cousin of the Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, Dr Sein Win spends most
of his time in Washington.

Regarding the humanitarian situation in Burma in the aftermath of Cyclone
Nargis, he said he was dismayed that the junta discouraged people from
helping the refugees and arresting many volunteers who tried.

He said the military government is keeping the high quality rice donations
from the international community and selling poor quality rice, which was
stored for emergency purposes by the army.

He said the National League of Democracy would not participate in the 2010
election and refused to accept the results of the constitutional
referendum.

"We have not accepted the referendum,” he said. “We do not accept the
constitution. We do not accept the way the referendum has been conducted.
"
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice said China and other
neighboring countries of Burma are not putting enough pressure on the
military government to move quicker and more inclusively to a democratic
system.

In an interview on CNN, Secretary Rice said China has consistently blocked
resolutions on Burma at the UN Security Council.

"They [China] blocked the ability to get it [Burma] to the Security
Council,” she said. “We were never able to get a strong resolution to deal
with it."

However, the Chinese are not alone in helping the junta, she said. "Some
of Burma's other neighbors have not been willing to put the kind of
pressure on the Burmese regime that is needed.

However, she acknowledged a positive role played by China and other
neighbor countries during the cyclone disaster.

"I will say that I think the rather limited progress that we made was
because China and a couple of others did intercede with the junta to allow
some aid in," she said.

Expressing her frustration with the response of the international
community on issues related to Burma, she said: "The truth of the matter
is that the international community has not responded as it should have.
This is, sometimes, one of the frustrations with the Security Council."

When the UN General Assembly took up the issue of the responsibility to
protect principle a few years ago, she said the US was skeptical at that
time. That was, Rice said, "because we said if you take on something like
the responsibility to protect, and then you don't do it, what does it say
about the credibility of the Security Council in the international
community."

That’s precisely what's come true now in Burma, she said.

In another interview with the CNN editorial board, Rice said the
international community has not done a good job in the case of Burma, in
particular in the aftermath of the Cyclone Nargis which killed more than
130,000 people.

“I will tell you I think the international community has not done a good
job in this case because if the responsibility to protect is going to mean
anything, it will have meant something in this case. But we couldn't even
get Burma on the Security Council agenda because of China,” Rice said.

"Now, you can say the United States should have done it unilaterally, but
that has its costs. In this case, when you have a strong friend of
Burma—and not just China, by the way, but Asean and others
then it is very
hard to do," she said.

So, the US took of position of pressing China to use its influence to get
some aid in, she said. "Much of what you see and the ability to get some
aid in, is because a lot of representations and tough efforts were made
with the Burmese by their neighbors," Rice said.

____________________________________

June 24, CBC News (Canada)
Donations for Chinese earthquake far surpass Burma assistance

Canadians have flooded the Red Cross with donations for Chinese earthquake
relief, giving nearly $15 million more to that disaster relief fund than
to survivors of the Burmese cyclone.

The Canadian Red Cross has so far received $17.2 million in donations for
its earthquake fund, with $100,000 pouring in on the weekend, in
anticipation of the federal government's announcement that it would match
donations given to earthquake relief that arrived by Monday.

By comparison, the Red Cross's Burma fund, which fell under the Canadian
government's matching program as well, has so far received $2.76 million
from Canadians.

Christina Lopes, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Red Cross, said the
difference might be explained by Canada's large Chinese population, many
living in Vancouver, a city that is itself earthquake-prone.

In addition, the media were quick to relay the tragic stories of the
earthquake, which struck the central Sichuan province on May 12, killing
nearly 70,000 people and leaving millions homeless,

"The pictures from the earthquake were so emotional, they likely provoked
an incredible outpouring from people, from Canadians," Lopes said Tuesday.

Fears about relief reaching needy Burmese

In comparison to the Chinese disaster, many foreign journalists were
barred from entering Burma after the May 3 cyclone struck, devastating the
Irrawaddy Delta and the large city of Rangoon. More than 84,000 people
died in the disaster and 54,000 are still missing.

Lopes said Canadian donors may have hesitated to give to Burma because of
fears the ruling military junta in the impoverished country wasn't
allowing aid across its borders, and wasn't delivering foreign supplies
and money to the people who needed it most.

But Lopes noted that the Red Cross, which has a branch in Burma, has been
able to reach survivors directly, and has been getting airplanes with
humanitarian aid into the country every day.

Lopes also noted that there are far fewer people of Burmese descent living
in Canada than of Chinese descent, which might have added to the
difference in donation totals.

Atlantic Canadians donate while coping with own floods
Lopes said the Red Cross is grateful for Canadians' generosity. She noted
that about $100,000 was given from people in Atlantic Canada, who were
coping with their own floods in New Brunswick when the Burmese and Chinese
disasters occurred.

"It's really quite extraordinary how much people there gave," she said.

With the money they received, the Red Cross of Canada has, among other
things, managed to send 7,250 large tents to China to house families left
homeless. The organization has also sent 2,000 shelter kits containing
tools, tarps, ropes, shovels and other items to Burma.

The Red Cross hopes that Canadians will keep giving to the disaster funds,
even though the Canadian government is no longer matching donations. Lopes
said there is a great deal of rebuilding work to be done in both
countries.

"Now the real work begins, so we hope Canadians will continue to be
generous," Lopes said. "There is work to be done for years to come."

$12 million of China donations will be matched

The federal government's Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
offered to match all Chinese earthquake donations made by individuals by
June 23, the six-week anniversary of the quake. The government promised to
match all Burma donations until June 13, the six-week anniversary of that
disaster.

Individual donations represented about $12 million of the $17.2 million in
donations the Red Cross received for China, and those will all be matched,
Lopes said. The rest of $17.2 million came from corporations, the federal
government ($1 million) and from provincial governments ($2 million from
B.C. and $1 million from Ontario).

About $1.6 million of the Red Cross Burma donations will be matched, Lopes
added. The federal government gave about $500,000 to the Red Cross's Burma
fund.

World Vision Canada, by contrast, did not see a difference between its
Burma and China donations.

By the June 23 matching deadline for China, the charity said it had
received $4.4 million from Canadians. By comparison, when the June 13
deadline arrived for Burma, World Vision Canada had received $4.3 million
from Canadians.

Médecins Sans Frontières Canada, meanwhile, didn't earmark money for
relief efforts in China, although it does have a Burmese fund that
received $310,000 from Canadians. Fundraising director Rebecca Davies said
there was a spike in general donations to the organization once both the
China and Burma disasters hit.

____________________________________

June 24, Agence France Presse
Japanese protest killing of journalist in Myanmar

PROTESTERS against the killing of a Japanese journalist in Yangon last
year on Tuesday submitted a petition signed by 40,000 people to the
Myanmar embassy here calling for the return of his video camera.

The Myanmar embassy refused to admit a group of about 10 protesters,
including the sister of Kenji Nagai, who was killed in September while
filming a crackdown by Myanmar's junta on demonstrations led by Buddhist
monks.

'I am disappointed to see this insincere attitude after we came here to
bring the voices of many people who offered us support,' said Nagai's
sister Noriko Ogawa, 48, who was holding a photograph of the late
journalist.

Television footage showed Mr Nagai apparently being shot at close range by
security forces, although nobody has been charged in relation to his
death.

'Mr Nagai's videotape must show facts about the unrest in Myanmar that
everyone has the right to watch,' said Ryosai Kishino, one of the
protesters.

'We also demand the Myanmar government conduct a sincere investigation
into the case,' he said.

The protesters were forced to drop some of the signatures in a post box
and slip the rest under the embassy gate after trying in vain to persuade
officials to take them.

Some 10,000 signatures were already submitted last year, organisers said.

'We made a telephone call and sent a fax to you yesterday about this.

Please bring someone here who is responsible for the matter,' Mr Kishino
said at the embassy gate.

An autopsy by the Japanese police showed that Nagai, 50, was likely shot
dead from a close range of just within one metre.

____________________________________

June 24, Mizzima News
DFID objects to Save the Children's aid distribution mode – Solomon

An unseemly row has surfaced over distribution of aid to  Burma's cyclone
victims, with the United Kingdom's Department for International
Development (DFID) voicing its objection about an aid group channeling its
relief distribution through the Burmese military junta.

The DFID, which has provided donations to several aid groups to help
Burmese cyclone victims, objected to International Non Governmental
Organization, 'Save the Children' giving 9,000 plastic sheets to the
regime for distribution.

The DFID objection was in keeping with the written parliamentary statement
on Burma's Cyclone Nargis issued on June 3, which states "none of UK's
assistance will go through the Burmese regime," said a DFID spokesperson.

Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, in a
ministerial statement issued on June 18, said "The 9,000 sheets represent
around 0.25 per cent of the total of £ 27.5 million committed by the UK
for humanitarian assistance in Burma."

The DFID spokesperson on Tuesday told Mizzima, "The sheeting was not given
to the Burmese government, these were given to leading NGOs 'Save the
Children'," for distribution to the victims.

However, the spokesperson said, the DFID has no plans to curb its aid
efforts for cyclone victims but will request concerned aid groups to abide
by its rules in the future.

"We are looking at how aid is distributed and the change now has been made
to ensure that it is avoided in the future," the spokesperson said.

But Save the Children, one of the first INGOs to rush to the cyclone
affected areas in Burma's Irrawaddy and Rangoon division, was not
immediately available to clarify on the DFID's charge.

While it is still not clear whether Save the Children had really given
Burma's military authorities 9,000 plastic sheeting, an aid worker in
Rangoon told Mizzima that the government had earlier placed several
conditions on aid groups including private donors, poised to help cyclone
survivors.

The Burmese aid worker, who is working with an international aid agency,
said private donors have to bribe the local authorities for access to the
delta region.

"Many of these groups have to bribe local authorities heavily, and they do
not want to reveal this to the media as it will have an adverse impact on
their efforts to help cyclone victims," said the aid worker, who request
not to be named.

Meanwhile, the Burma Campaign UK, an advocacy group, expressed concern
over the allegation made against Save the Children.

"We are very concerned and very disappointed to learn that Save the
Children has given aid directly to the regime," Anna Roberts, Director of
Burma Campaign UK said.

However, the reason behind it could be the Burmese regime's imposition of
restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid and its desire to take
credit by delivering aid supplies.

"I think what we need to see now is aid agencies and the international
community actually challenging the restrictions on aid, and not actually
trying to work with them [the regime]," said Roberts.

Roberts said the international community should increase pressure on the
regime to slacken its restriction on aid distribution.

"We need to see Ban Ki–moon go to Burma again, and actually pressure the
regime for change," Roberts added.


____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

June 24, Wall Street Journal
The Bush doctrine is relevant again – Bret Stephens

Here's a prediction: Zimbabwe's Morgan Tsvangirai will win this year's
Nobel Peace Prize.  He would be its worthiest recipient since the prize
went to Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi (one of the prize's few worthy
recipients, period) in 1991. He deserves it for standing up – politically
as well as physically – to Robert Mugabe's goon-squad dictatorship for
over a decade; for organizing a democratic opposition and winning an
election hugely stacked against him; and for refusing to put his own
ambition ahead of his people's well-being when the run-off poll became, as
he put it last weekend, a "violent, illegitimate sham."

Here's another prediction: Mr. Tsvangirai's Nobel will have about as much
effect on the bloody course of Zimbabwe's politics as Aung San Suu Kyi's
has had on Burma's. Effectively, zero.

Zimbabwe is now another spot on the map of the civilized world's troubled
conscience. Burma is also there, along with Tibet and Darfur. (Question:
When will "Free Zimbabwe" bumper stickers become ubiquitous?) These are
uniquely nasty places, and not just because uniquely nasty things are
happening. They're nasty because the dissonance between the wider world's
professed concern and what it actually does is almost intolerable.

Look at the legislation that has been proposed or passed in the U.S.
Congress on Darfur. There is the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (H.R.
3127), signed by President Bush into law in 2006, which sanctions
officials identified as responsible for the genocide. There is House
Resolution 992, which urges the president to appoint a special envoy to
Sudan. (The president did appoint an envoy; care to remember his name?)

There is the 2007 Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act, which allows
(but does not require) U.S. states and municipalities to divest from
companies doing business in Sudan. There is Senate Resolution 559, urging
the president to enforce a no-fly zone over Darfur. There is the Clinton
Amendment, the Reid Amendment, the Menendez Amendment, the Durbin/Leahy
Amendment, the Jackson Amendment, the Lieberman Resolution, the Obama/Reid
Amendment and the Peace in Darfur Act.

This is a partial list. Meantime, here are the accumulating estimates of
the conflict's toll on Darfuri lives. September 2004: 50,000, according to
the World Health Organization. May 2005: between 63,000 and 146,000
"excess deaths," according to the Center for Research on the Epidemiology
of Disasters at Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain. March 2008:
200,000 deaths, according to U.N. officials. April 2008: The U.N.
acknowledges the previous month's estimate might have undercounted about
100,000 victims.

In a video clip for the Save Darfur coalition, Barack Obama offered that
the genocide is "a stain on our souls." His proposal for removing it?
"Ratcheting up sanctions" on the Sudanese government and making "firm
commitments in terms of the logistics, and the transport and the
equipping" of an international peacekeeping mission for Darfur. No word,
however, as to whether Mr. Obama would actually risk the lives of American
soldiers to stop the slaughter.

It's a similar story in Zimbabwe. The U.N. Security Council met yesterday
to discuss the crisis, while British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told
parliament "the world is of one view: that the status quo cannot
continue."

But, of course, the status quo will continue. Just possibly, Mr. Mugabe
and his senior ministers will no longer be allowed to travel to Europe,
though that does nothing for the people of Zimbabwe. Other sanctions will
have no effect: The regime is already busy expelling relief workers and
seizing food aid. Mr. Mugabe wants "his people" to die – it means fewer
mouths to feed, and fewer potential opposition supporters to jail, maim or
murder.

A solution for Zimbabwe's crisis isn't hard to come by: Someone – ideally
the British – must remove Mr. Mugabe by force, install Mr. Tsvangirai as
president, arm his supporters, prevent any rampages, and leave. "Saving
Darfur" is a somewhat different story, but it also involves applying
Western military force to whatever degree is necessary to get Khartoum to
come to terms with an independent or autonomous Darfur. Burma? Same deal.

International relations theorists, including prominent Obama adviser Susan
Rice, justify these sorts of interventions under the rubric of a
"Responsibility to Protect" – a concept that comes oddly close to
Kipling's White Man's Burden. So close, in fact, that its inherent
paternalism has hitherto inhibited many liberals from endorsing the kinds
of interventions toward which they are now tip-toeing, thousands of deaths
too late.

So let's by all means end the hand-wringing and embrace the responsibility
to protect, wherever necessary and feasible. Let's spare the thousands of
innocents, punish the wicked, oppose tyrants, and support democrats – both
in places where it is now fashionable to do so (Burma) and in places where
it is not (Iraq). If that turns out to be Mr. Obama's foreign policy, it
will be a worthy one. It does come oddly close to the Bush Doctrine.