BurmaNet News, October 28, 2008

[Editor]

October 28, 2008, Issue # 3586

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar man held after bomb threat: report
Kaladan Press Network: Labourers repair bridge in the midst of junta
officer visit
Mizzima News: Burmese brides for sale

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Burmese women smuggled into China arrested
IMNA: Increased abuses in southern Mon State and northern Tenasserim
causing villagers to flee

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: US enforces law barring Myanmar gems

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Burmese join US presidencial debate

OPINION / OTHER
Guardian (UK): Don't defend the junta - Benedict Rogers
Irrawaddy: Burma’s wasted intellectual potential - Sai Soe Win Latt
Irrawaddy: The new KNU? Let’s wait and see - Saw Yan Naing
DVB: Where are Burma’s women? - Yaysin

INTERVIEW
Radio Australia: Burma's opposition-in-exile call for democracy timeframe


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 28, Agence France Presse
Myanmar man held after bomb threat: report

A man has been arrested in Myanmar after making a phone call threatening
to blow up government offices, state media said Tuesday, as security
remained high after a string of blasts in Yangon.

Tin Myint, 41, was held on Friday, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper
reported, three hours after he allegedly threatened to blow up the offices
of a pro-junta organisation and a local police station in downtown Yangon.

The paper did not mention his motive for the threats.

Tin Myint's arrest came after a suspected bombmaker accidentally blew
himself up on October 19 at his home in Yangon in the latest in a spate of
blasts in the military-ruled nation.

Myanmar saw four bomb blasts last month, one of which killed two people
and wounded 10 at a video cafe northeast of Yangon. Authorities later
arrested an ethnic Karen rebel fighter in connection with the bombing.

The ruling junta has in the past blamed explosions on armed exile groups
or ethnic rebels who have been battling the military rulers for decades,
but the regime has also started pointing the finger at democracy
activists.

State-run media in September accused two members of detained democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) of bombing
pro-government offices in July.

The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but the junta never
allowed it to take office and Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest
almost constantly since.

____________________________________

October 28, Kaladan Press Network
Labourers repair bridge in the midst of junta officer visit

A high level junta officer, Major General Khin Zaw, visited Yawchang
Bridge, which was built by forced labourers from Mrauk U and Minbya
Townships on October 22, 2008, said sources.

The bridge is on the highway road of Mrauk U and Minbya and near the
Nankyar village tract, which was destroyed by rainfall during the last
rainy season.

The people from the village of Mrauk U are engaged in repairing the Mrauk
U - Minbya road through Minbow, which was destroyed by rainfall during the
last rainy season. The locals have been repairing the road since October
10, 2008, source added.

Beside the road, there are so many villages, that the Rohingya Muslim
villagers have to pay for more work force than any other community, said a
local from Mrauk U.

Every day, more than 200 villagers have to work on the roadside with their
own food.

The Muslim villages are Tarain, Pauktaw and Hlamaa villages, which are
most affected as most of the villagers are daily labourers and farmers,
said a student from Hlamaa.

"Recently, the junta had rebuilt the road, which is connecting the Akyab
to proper Burma. Perhaps it would also be connecting the friendship road
of Bangladesh as the junta is now aiming to build the road," a school
teacher from Akyab said.

"Most of the high level officers from junta visit frequently to our place
and giving speech for development of the border town, Taungbro as a modern
town with all facility; but, the junta from other side ordered to
confiscate lands for those development from our Rohingya community and
will relocate villages when they will build the road for modern town to
Maungdaw and friendship road of Bangladesh. It will be push the villagers
to flee from the area to Bangladesh for their safety as force labor for
development, rape and tight security which will become more restriction of
movement, religious persecution like destroying the Mosque and Madarasa,"
said  a politician from Maungdaw.

____________________________________

October 28, Mizzima News
Burmese brides for sale - Way Yan

Ma Phyu was a familiar figure in the Burmese community of Ruili, China,
commonly found passing the time by munching betel along the streets. But
then one day she was no longer there, and two weeks afterward the truth
was found out – Ma Phyu was part of a human trafficking operation that
specialized in selling young Burmese women as brides to Chinese men.

With the arrest of Ma Phyu, in her thirties, and her accomplices, a
grizzly story of the trafficking of over twenty young Burmese women to
China as forced sexual partners gradually came to light.

Nabbing the human traffickers, it would transpire, was linked to a rape
and murder case a Chinese police force cracked. About 18-years old and
hailing from Syriam, Burma – the same native town as Ma Phyu – Wah Wah was
one of the women that Ma Phyu and her gang had sold into slavery.

Wah Wah was sold to a Chinese man living in Sandong, near Beijing, at the
price tag of Chinese RMB 20,000 (approximately US$ 2,900). A few weeks
later, Wah Wah managed to flee from the clutches of her buyer and made her
way back to Ruili earlier this month.

The hapless young lady had nowhere else to go but to return back to her
perpetrators, and Ma Phyu was happy when her commodity arrived back in her
hands for resale. However, when she tried to sell her to another Chinese
man, Wah Wah vehemently refused.

But the traffickers, having already struck a deal and received some
advance money, tried to force Wah Wah to accept her newest companion.

As dusk fell over Ruili on that fateful day, Wah Wah was taken by taxi
along the road to Namkhan, Burma, a few miles away. Accompanying her in
the vehicle were several members of the human trafficker's family.

Eventually, they stopped the taxi next to a paddy field beside the highway
in the vicinity of Man Heiro, still in Burmese territory and about 20
miles from Ruili.

"Before leaving Ruili, they were drunk with beer. She was taken to a paddy
field near the highway. Then Kyaw Swa started raping her. After that, Bo
Bo stabbed her repeatedly. She died from five stab wounds. Then her corpse
was left in the nearby drainage," recalls a source from the Chinese police
investigation team of the incident.

Local Shan people found her corpse the next day and informed Chinese
police by phone. At first, Chinese authorities only investigated the local
habitual offenders.

But fortunately, another victim of this human trafficking gang, Shwe Shwe,
managed to flee from her Chinese buyer and also return to Ruili. She was
given assistance by the local Burmese people living there and provided
details vital to tracing down the human trafficking gang, leading to the
arrest of 12 people, including Ma Phyu.

Of these culprits, Kyaw Swa and his wife, Bo Bo and Aung Thu Soe are still
in the hands of Chinese authorities and are to be dealt with in accordance
to Chinese law. The remaining eight traffickers, including Kyaw Tun, Ma
Phyu and her 13-year old daughter, were transferred to the hands of the
Burma's Muse Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force on the 14th of this
month.

Yet the existence of the Muse Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force is
itself a sad commentary on the current status of the Burmese state.

The government-supported organization, part of a five year human
trafficking eradication program, is poorly funded, and locals frequently
complain of their ineffectiveness and incompetence in preventing human
trafficking, the existence of which is a well known fact among local
residents. In contrast, people see and hear of the successes of Chinese
authorities in preventing the same crime.

Deprived of adequate funds, the Muse Task Force has to collect money from
businessmen to feed victims when they arrive back to their homeland.
Moreover, to provide clothing, female colleagues are forced to share their
uniforms with the victims. And on occasion, victims have to wait for about
six months to accumulate the transport fare necessary for them to get back
to their hometowns.

Under the pressure of abject poverty in Burma, young Burmese women become
easy and vulnerable targets for traffickers, as many future brides for
sale are seeking greener pastures and better economic opportunities by
leaving their native homes.

Among the many victims of Ma Phyu and her gang were also two Mandalay
University students, who were included in the six victims transferred to
Burmese authorities by Chinese authorities on the 21st of this month.

"Most victims are in an age group from18 to 22 years old. They were
persuaded and cheated by traffickers through the promise of a good paying
job. They cheated educated girls with computer and English language skills
by promising them jobs paying 100,000-150,000 kyat per month
(approximately US$ 85 to 130)," an eyewitness from Muse said.

The two university students were taken by highway from Lashio to
Chinshwehaw and then sold to a Chinese citizen hailing from the province
of Anhui in northern China at the price of RMB 20,000. They proceeded to
change hands from one owner to another like a common commodity for about
three months.

After three months, a bridegroom was sent for each of them; one a mute and
blind and the other over 60 years old. They had no choice and could not
expect help from any quarters. They had to spend a total of about six
miserable months with these husbands.

Both faced a lot of hardships in living with their husbands in a place
that experiences harsh weather and maintains a different social
environment with a different staple of food – flour instead of rice.

The one who had to sleep with the elderly groom was persecuted every night
for not giving her consent to consummate the relationship. The old man
burnt her entire back with a cigarette and injured her head in two places.
Moreover, this old groom defaced her by cutting her hair in a bad way.

Yet the removal of Ma Phyu and company from the scene does not spell the
end to human trafficking at the Ruili border crossing, let alone to other
avenues through which traffickers ply their trade.

Amid the tight pre-Olympic security clampdown, Chinese authorities
discovered over 100 Burmese human trafficking victims; among whom were the
two university students.

The pre-Olympic security screening also identified and rescued 18 Burmese
women from 18 to 30 years of age who were sold to fishermen in Fujian
Province. These 18 ladies have also now arrived back on the Burmese border
and will shortly be transferred to the Muse Human Trafficking Prevention
Task Force.

But, just how long the recent returnees to the border will have to remain
there before finding their way home is unfortunately just one of the many
questions that remain hanging and unanswered regarding the continued
trafficking of Burmese women.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 28, Irrawaddy
Burmese women smuggled into China arrested – Lawi Weng

About 200 Burmese women have been arrested in China, after they were
smuggled into the country under pretext of finding work, said a source on
the border.

Aung Kyaw Zwa, a Burmese businessman on the China-Burma border, told The
Irrawaddy that 200 Burmese women, who said they had entered the country
illegally through the help of human traffickers, are being held in Chinese
jails.

Twenty-four Burmese women were deported two days ago, he said. The others
remain in jail where they will serve a three-month sentence for violating
Chinese immigration laws, he said.

One young woman who was deported on Monday told a story about being
“married” to a Chinese man about 60 years old. She said the man broke two
of her teeth and cut her long hair, because he worried that other men
would try to take her away from him.

The woman said she was told that if she agreed to be smuggled into China,
she could earn 150,000 kyat monthly (US $121).

“They come here, and it is very risky,” said the source. “They hope for
some good luck but most of them are unlucky.”

Earlier this month, the businessman said an18-year-old Burmese woman who
was in China illegally returned to her smuggler’s home to seek help after
experiencing difficulties. The smuggler refused to help her, and she was
reportedly raped and killed.

The Thailand-based Kachin Women's Association of Thailand (KWAT) released
a human trafficking report in August, titled “Eastward Bound,” based on
interviews with 163 human trafficking victims from 2004 to 2007. The
report said 37 percent of the women ended up as “wives” of Chinese men and
about 4 percent worked as housemaids or in the sex industry.

After Cyclone Nagris, Burma’s economy has suffered and increasing numbers
of women from Rangoon, Mandalay and the Irrawaddy delta have migrated to
towns on the Chinese border in hope of finding a better life.

Burmese men, women and children are smuggled into Thailand, the People’s
Republic of China, Malaysia, Bangladesh, South Korea, Macau and Pakistan.

____________________________________

October 28, Independent Mon News Agency
Increased abuses in southern Mon State and northern Tenasserim causing
villagers to flee, say 12 IDPs interviewed on the Thai-Burma border

Abuse by Burmese army battalions in southern Mon State and neighboring
Tenasserim division is driving away residents, say a group of twelve
displaced people who recently arrived in Sangkhlaburi, Thailand. At least
one of the sources’ home villages has become seriously depopulated, with
abuses in the last four years driving away 70 of 150 households in Amae
village, Yebyu Township.

The displaced people, interviewed by IMNA on October 28th, said soldiers
were assaulting residents, heavily restricting their movements, forcing
them to purchase travel permission and conscripting them into forced labor
as well as standing sentry and going on patrols.

The sources IMNA interviewed hailed from Kabya Wa and Magyi villages,
Khawza Sub-township, Ye Township, Mon State and Amae village, Yebyu
Township, Tennassarim Division. They identified Infantry Battalions (IB)
No. 273 and 282 as the perpetrators in Yebyu Township. No battalion
numbers were identified in Khawza, but IB No. 31 controls the area.

In Khawza and Yebyu, the army has heavily restricted movement. Permission
to relocate must be purchased. “I had to pay 50,000 kyat to the army
battalion so my family would be allowed to leave the village,” Nai Tun
San, who fled from Kabya Wa. Ironically, residents of other villages
wishing to move to Kabya Wa have to pay 30,000 kyat, Nai Tun San added.

“I would like to stay in a peaceful place. We are afraid of their
torturing, land confiscation, extortion, and abuse. That’s why I lied to
the army and left and left village,” said Nai Tun San. According to Nai
Tun San, he did not dare to tell the army he was fleeing to Thailand, and
told soldiers instead that he would be visiting family elsewhere in
Khawza.

Nai Pae, from Magyi village, said he did not have the money to purchase
permission for his family to leave. Instead, he lied to the army and said
he would only be going to a nearby village to fish for one month. Nai Pae
arrived in Thailand with his wife and daughter. His elder daughter, 18,
remains in Magyi. Repercussions for misleading the army are not
consistent, but remaining relatives run the risk of being punished for the
transgressions of an absent family member.

Daily movement is also restricted in the area, the sources told IMNA. In
Kabya Wa, visiting a neighboring village requires notifying the army of
the trip’s purpose and duration. In Magyi, visits to nearby villages, as
well access to plantations and farms must be purchased from the army.
Permission to leave the village for one day costs 1,000 kyat, Nai Pae, 38,
told IMNA. Permission to host guests must also be purchased in Magyi at
3,000 kyat per week.

If rebels are thought to be active in the area, these restrictions are
tightened and residents are prohibited from leaving the villages; those
found outside will be shot, the IMNA sources said. At least three armed
rebel groups are operating in the area, including the Monland Restoration
Party, which split from the New Mon State Party (NMSP) in 2001.

Villagers from Amae interviewed by IMNA said their travel is not under as
strict control. But they did report having to work as laborers and guards
for the army. People from Amae were required to cut and haul coconut trees
to the battalion headquarters, where they are used for fortifications. The
area around Amae is now devoid of coconut trees, the villagers said.

Rotating groups of villagers are also required to stand sentry and patrol
the area around the village. “The army forces about 20 villagers per day
to work as guards, watching to see if the rebel group came. They’ll let us
die first and they make us build cover them,” said Nai Chain, 38, from
Amae.

Villagers face reprisals if they do not inform the army that strangers
have been cited in the area. In a cruel twist, highlighting the impunity
with which the soldiers abuse residents of Amae, Nai Chan told IMNA that
sentries are sometimes beaten for being the bearers of bad news. “The
soldiers beat village sentries when they told them the rebels came into
the village. But the villagers are abused again if they do not tell about
strangers coming into the village.”

Nai Pakao Ong, also from Amae, added that even ex-soldiers of the NMSP,
which has been abiding by a ceasefire for over a decade, are targeted.
“The army will kill veterans if they are seen in the area.” Nai Pakao Ong
added that he did not know where he would be going in Thailand, but said
that he just wants to live peacefully.

Residents of Magyi said they are similarly required to perform tasks for
the army. According to Nai Pae, the army’s requirements are so demanding
that no one will volunteer to be village headman for fear of carrying out
army orders. Assuming the leadership role of village headman is typically
an honor. In Magyi, it is a mandatory position filled via a weekly
rotation.

Every morning, the headman must present himself at the battalion
headquarters, where he receives orders for the day. He must then return to
the village with the unenviable task of assigning often arduous and unpaid
work to residents. “The village headman becomes the ‘porter’ for the
army,” said Nai Pae, drawing an analogy between the treatment of the
headmen and the way the army frequently forces civilians to carry heavy
loads of ammunition and supplies. Headmen, in other words, must bear the
burden of carrying out army orders in the same way civilians must
sometimes carry supplies. Fear of acting as liaison between the village
and the army is compounded by language differences. Most villagers in
Magyi speak Mon, with only limited Burmese abilities. Soldiers of the
ethnic-Burman dominated army typically speak only Burmese.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 28, Agence France Presse
US enforces law barring Myanmar gems

The United States said it began enforcing Monday a law seeking to tighten
an import ban on gems from military-ruled Myanmar in a bid to deprive the
junta of precious revenue.

The Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act was approved unanimously by Congress
and signed into law by President George W. Bush in July but the US Customs
and Border Protection provided a grace period for the jewelry industry to
adapt to the new rules.

The period expired on Sunday and the authorities on Monday began enforcing
the law that aims to keep Myanmar's rubies and jade from entering US
markets via third-party countries, officials said.

"After the grace period expired on Oct 26, 2008, CBP (Customs and Border
Protection) will begin enforced compliance," the agency's spokesman, Jaime
Castillo, told AFP.

Despite a longstanding ban on all Myanmar imports, gems from the
impoverished country have entered the United States via third nations such
as Thailand, China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore, rights groups say.

The new law closes a loophole that allowed into the United States gems cut
or polished in third countries, officials said.

The gems trade is one of the most lucrative sources of profit for the
military rulers, accused of blatant human rights abuses and stifling
democratic opposition.

New York-based Human Rights Watch called on US consumers to refuse buying
from jewelers unless they ensured their gems were not from Myanmar,
previously known as Burma.

"For years many American jewelry retailers have bought Burmese rubies and
jade that help finance the military junta's brutality," said Arvind
Ganesan, the group's director of the business and human rights program.

"Now it is illegal to support that trade."

In addition to the import ban, the US Treasury Department has put in place
targeted sanctions on a number of Myanmar companies involved in the gem
business.
____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 28, Irrawaddy
Burmese join US presidency debate – Wai Moe

The United States presidential election is just one week away, and Burmese
both at home and in the US are watching closely to decide for themselves
who is more likely to have a positive impact on Burma’s future.

Both presidential candidates are seen as having similar positions on
Burma, in keeping with the tradition of bipartisan support for democratic
reform in the Southeast Asian country. But each candidate has some
specific appeal for different members of the Burmese public.

Some believe, for instance, that Republican hopeful John McCain will take
a greater interest in Burma because he has visited the country. Supporters
of the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, on the other hand, say that he
is a strong advocate of human rights who will do more to press for
improvement of Burma’s horrific record on this issue.

Not surprisingly, the debate has been most vocal among Burmese living in
the US.

While some US-based Burmese lobby groups note that American trade unions
support both Obama and Burma’s pro-democracy movement, providing a natural
link between them, some activists still favor McCain because he has been
more outspoken in his criticism of Burma’s military rulers.

“He [McCain] is very interested in Burma,” said Moe Thee Zun, a former
Burmese student leader now living in the US. “He has been to the country
and he is one of the leading senators who have backed sanctions against
the Burmese junta.”

McCain, who visited Burma in the 1990s, was especially impressed with the
country’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whom he described at the
time as “the greatest person I have ever met in my life.”

Even Cindy McCain, the Republican candidate’s wife, has expressed strong
views on Burma’s rulers.

“It’s just a terrible group of people that rule [Burma], and the
frightening part is that their own people are dying of disease and
starvation and everything else and it doesn’t matter,” she said during a
trip to Vietnam in June, describing the regime’s response to the
humanitarian crisis caused by Cyclone Nargis in early May.

For some Burmese living in the US, however, there are other concerns
besides Burma which have persuaded them to throw their support behind
Obama.

“When I migrated to the US during the Clinton administration, I got a job
easily. But then George W Bush won the election and 9/11 happened, and now
I have to struggle harder than before,” said Ko Shwe, a Burmese with US
citizenship living in New York.

“After two terms of a Republican presidency, the economy has gotten worse.
Now it affects everybody in the US,” he added.

Ko Shwe also expressed doubt about how much McCain could do to end tyranny
in Burma, even if he did win the election.

Maung Yit, a Burmese who lives in California, cited Obama’s age as a key
reason he has decided to support the Democrat.

“He is the same age as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was twenty year ago,” he said,
suggesting that Obama’s relative youth would put him in a position to
transform his country’s political scene in the same way that Suu Kyi
consolidated Burma’s pro-democracy movement two decades ago.

While Burmese immigrants in the US try to decide who will do a better job
of leading their adoptive country, interest is also strong in Burma, where
privately owned newspapers and journals have given extensive coverage to
the US election.

Local publications have tended to emphasize news that shows a more
favorable outlook for Obama. The Burmese version of The Myanmar Times, for
instance, recently highlighted poll results that gave Obama a nine-point
lead over his Republican rival, while a report in the popular Weekly
Eleven suggested that the Democrat’s strong showing in the last
presidential debate practically guaranteed his victory on November 4.

Another leading weekly, The Voice, looked elsewhere for evidence that
Obama was sure to win: In a report published this week, the Rangoon-based
weekly said that the Russian government expected Obama to become the next
president of the US.

Some local supporters of McCain have even echoed the complaints of US
conservatives, who have long accused the media of a “liberal bias.”

“All the Burmese journals are covering the US presidential election and
most of them favor Obama for the presidency,” said a businessman in
Rangoon who said he would prefer a McCain presidency.

Ironically, some people say they support McCain because he belongs to the
same party as the incumbent, President George W Bush—a deeply unpopular
leader who McCain has taken pains to distance himself from.

Bush’s tough stance on sanctions against Burma’s ruling junta has earned
him a great deal of respect among ordinary Burmese. Between 2003 and 2008,
Bush issued three executive orders targeting the ruling generals and their
cronies.

But like many people around the world, some Burmese have been captivated
by the image of Obama as a new and exciting figure on the world stage.

“I prefer Obama because he is young and he will be the first black
president of the world’s superpower,” said Maung Aung Min, who works with
a UN agency.

Ma Swe, a travel agent in Rangoon, said she supported Obama because he is
“young and dynamic.”

Meanwhile, analysts said that whoever wins the presidency, Burma policy is
likely to remain unchanged, since both sides seem to fundamentally agree
on how to deal with the country. They cite the bipartisan support for the
Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act 2008 as evidence of their common
position on Burmese issues.

“I don’t think it matters for the Burmese democracy movement who wins,
because they have the same view of the country,” said Bo Kyi, secretary of
the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma, based on the
Thai-Burmese border.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 28, Guardian (UK)
Don't defend the junta – Benedict Rogers

Burma is ruled by one of the world's most brutal regimes, guilty not only
of suppressing democracy but of causing one of the world's worst
humanitarian crises. In response, the International Crisis Group (ICG) has
lost the plot.

Earlier this year, Cyclone Nargis hit Burma. Unlike almost any other
government in response to a natural disaster, the junta in Burma initially
refused, and then restricted and diverted international aid efforts. Aid
was stolen by the regime (pdf). Burmese people who tried to help deliver
aid were arrested. The little aid that was officially distributed was
given for propaganda purposes and often taken back when the photocalls
were over. At least 140,000 people died and 2.5 million left homeless in
the wake of the regime's deliberate neglect.

Following the cyclone another humanitarian crisis has unfolded, this time
in western Burma (pdf). Chin State (pdf) has been hit by a famine caused
by a plague of rats who multiply due to flowering of bamboo, a natural
phenomenon that occurs every 50 years. True to form, the regime did
nothing to prepare the people for the anticipated famine and has actively
obstructed aid efforts. Officials took the World Food Programme to the
wrong area, causing them to declare there was no famine. Since then, the
WFP has revised its view – but the regime continues to block attempts to
help the starving Chin people.

Burma's military is continuing an offensive against ethnic peoples in
eastern Burma, causing further humanitarian misery. Since 1996, more than
3,200 villages have been destroyed, and a million people displaced.
Civilians are shot at point-blank range, or raped, taken for forced labour
or used as human minesweepers. Children are taken off the streets and
forced to join the Burmese army, which has the highest number of child
soldiers in the world. Over 2,100 political prisoners languish in jail,
double the number of last year, subjected to horrific torture, and Aung
San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate, marked 13
years in house arrest last week.

The International Crisis Group says this is all our fault. In one of the
most extraordinary reports ever produced by a responsible and until-now
respected organisation, ICG provides a subtle defence of the junta and
blames the international community for focusing too much on "the political
struggle". It was understandable, ICG suggests, that the regime "hesitated
to provide full, unfettered access for anyone claiming to be doing relief
work", because the west has been putting the junta under so much pressure
to stop killing its people. Western media is at fault too, according to
ICG, for showing images of dead bodies being dumped by regime officials in
the river – something that was "very embarrassing" for the poor generals.

While grudgingly conceding that the root causes of the crisis are
political, ICG appears to reject the notion that the solutions are
therefore political too. The report rightly calls for more aid to Burma,
and support for civil society projects, and warns that the country is on
the verge of a major humanitarian crisis. I agree. The stories and
statistics speak for themselves. But ICG goes on to perpetuate the lie
that pro-democracy activists oppose aid. In reality, it is campaign groups
that have called for more aid.

It was the Burma Campaign UK and Christian Solidarity Worldwide that led
the effort last year to get the UK government to increase aid to Burma –
with success. We have been calling for more funding for civil society and
democracy groups, for cross-border humanitarian relief and for UN
engagement for years (PDF). Much of our time has been spent on getting the
generals to talk with the UN, the democracy movement and the ethnic groups
(PDF). What we have opposed is ICG's call for money to go into the pockets
of the regime – for the simple reason that the junta will use such finance
to expand their army, buy more guns and kill more people. I thought ICG
was about conflict prevention. Now it seems they are about regime
protection.

Benedict Rogers is advocacy officer for south Asia at Christian Solidarity
Worldwide and the author of A Land Without Evil: Stopping the Genocide of
Burma's Karen People. He also serves as deputy chairman of the
Conservative Party Human Rights Commission. He has visited Burma and its
borderlands more than 24 times and is now working on two new books about
the country.

____________________________________

October 28, Irrawaddy
Burma’s wasted intellectual potential – Sai Soe Win Latt

As Burma’s economy continues to shrink year by year, the domestic labor
market cannot keep pace with the country’s growing population or its
expanding number of university graduates. As a result, thousands of
graduates leave the country every year for the sake of their future.

The loss of an educated labor force to foreign countries is not a problem
unique to Burma. The “brain drain” phenomenon is common one in most
underdeveloped countries.

After a recent conversation with several old high school friends who are
now working in Singapore, however, I realized that Burma’s youthful
university graduates are finding it especially difficult to find a place
to use their skills. Both the regime that rules at home and the exile
groups that operate abroad have failed to fully appreciate their value.

Many of my friends living both inside Burma and overseas seem to have lost
their childhood dreams because of the country’s failing education system.
I recall that many of them were among the top 40-45 students out 4-500
students for each grade—very promising young people who had the potential
to succeed in high-status professions such as medicine or engineering.

But over past ten years since we all graduated from high school, their
aspirations have been beset by a host of problems. The frequent closure of
universities in the late nineties was one obstacle; the government’s
decision to move campuses to remote, out-of-the-way locations was another.
The emergence of information technology drew some of them away from their
earlier aspirations of becoming doctors or engineers. Some got Bachelor’s
degrees and either married and settled down in Burma or moved overseas to
join the migrant workforce.

There are some who went abroad soon after graduating from high school to
study in foreign universities. But even these people ended up studying
subjects that would enable them to make a living as typical immigrants,
instead of pursuing their original dreams.

In Singapore, many Burmese immigrants are university graduates and skilled
laborers. They are engineers, computer technicians and managerial
staff—the sort of people that commercial and industrial economies are
after. But all seven of the people I spoke to complained about
exploitation by Singaporean employers who refused to give them the
official minimum wage and forced them to work overtime for little or no
extra pay. They also said that they were experiencing financial and social
distress and even occasional racism in the workplace.

Working in such diverse fields as computer science, engineering, hotel
management and accounting, these people could have made an important
contribution to the Burmese economy if the opportunities had been there
for them. They would have been leaders, decision-makers, bureaucrats,
high-end professionals, technicians and university faculty, rather than
immigrants in countries that exploit their skills and labor for cheaper
wages.

But the Burmese regime is not alone in undervaluing the skills of these
young people; pro-democracy groups have also failed to give them the
opportunities they need to help them improve both their own and their
country’s prospects.

Burma’s pro-democracy groups seem to be reluctant to recruit younger
people. Instead of making scholarships available to them—and creating a
future talent pool for their organizations—most democracy groups have
shown little interest in cultivating the skills of the young. Some groups
have had scholarship programs, but they fell far short of the hopes of
young people who were prepared to make a commitment to the democracy
movement. When opportunities for further study opened up in the late 1990s
and early 2000s, they were quickly claimed by older members of the leading
organizations.

These groups have failed not only to create new opportunities for study,
they have also done little or nothing to make use of the skills of
hundreds of students from opposition backgrounds or from border areas who
have received an education in Asian or Western countries (not to mention
those who came out of Burma directly).

Meanwhile, the Burmese government is recruiting technicians and
administrators to support its military bureaucracy by sending them off to
colleges and universities in Russia, Singapore and some other countries.
But the exile groups are failing to offer any opportunities to those who
have taken the initiative in seeking a university education either on very
limited scholarship money or by financing themselves.

There have been instances of university graduates being recruited as
“assistants” by some exiled organizations. Usually, however, they end up
working as general office staff, while their upgraded skills and knowledge
go unused. “Assisting” the aging leaders of such organizations seems to be
the highest available positions for well-educated young people.

Countries like Canada, the US and other developed nations, on the other
hand, are quick to take advantage of the skills of educated people to
maintain their superior position in the global order. For example, the
Canadian immigration system, which is based on a point system, attracts
thousands of educated and skilled people each year by offering permanent
residency and citizenship.

Some Burmese graduates in these countries have already been recruited as
policy advisors, researchers and junior officers by host governments and
government-funded institutions. Some have entered the private sector as
technicians as well.

These countries can’t be faulted for recruiting talented young Burmese;
they are simply making use of the human resources that are available to
them. If Burma wants to retain its best and brightest, both the government
and opposition groups need to do more to recognize the need for new minds
with fresh ideas.

Sai Soe Win Latt is a Ph.D. student of geography at Simon Fraser
University in Burnaby, Canada.

____________________________________

October 28, Irrawaddy
The new KNU? Let’s wait and see - Saw Yan Naing

Burma’s oldest ethnic rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU),
concluded its 14th congress in Karen State on October 18, with 11 new
appointed executive members, including the first woman general-secretary.

Some Karens and observers welcomed the appointments, while others
criticized the KNU leadership as being too old and inactive.

Eighty-eight-year-old Gen Tamla Baw was named chairman of the KNU and his
daughter, Zipporah Sein, was appointed general-secretary at the congress.

Maj Hla Ngwe was appointed joint secretary (1) and Saw Daw Lay Mu was
appointed joint secretary (2). The other executive committee members
appointed were David Htaw, Roger Khin, Mutu Say Poe, Arr Toe, Lah Say and
Kay Hser and Vice-Chairman David Takapaw.

As the first woman leader to serve as the KNU’s general-secretary,
Zipporah Sein assumes the position of the politically experienced and
influential former KNU general-secretary, Mahn Sha, who was assassinated
on February 14, 2008, by two gunmen allegedly hired by Karen breakaway
group members.

Some observers are confident that Zipporah Sein has enough experience and
knowledge to take on the role. However, others do not expect her to
perform as effectively as Mahn Sha.

Zipporah Sein currently serves as general-secretary of the Karen Women’s
Organization (KWO), which is actively involved in social activities and
the human rights movement, compiling data on human rights abuses committed
by the Burmese junta’s soldiers against ethnic Karen.

In June 2007, she received the Perdita Huston Human Rights Award for her
work to aid women’s struggle for freedom, democracy and equality in Burma.
She was also nominated by an international women’s organization for the
Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

A member of the KWO said, “As a Karen woman, I am very proud that Zipporah
has been appointed general-secretary of the KNU and I believe she will be
the best leader for all of the Karen.”

The general-secretary of the Women’s League of Burma, Nang Yain, also
voiced support. “This is an acknowledgement that the KNU recognizes the
role of women in the political movement,” she said.

Zipporah Sein’s father, Gen Tamla Baw, was appointed chairman at the
congress.  Tamla Baw previously served as head of the KNU’s military wing,
the Karen National Liberation Army. He was a close colleague of the late
Gen Bo Mya.

However, several analysts and observers have questioned whether he is up
to the task of leading the KNU.

“It would be better if someone who is more active and aware of both
politics and the armed struggle took over the position,” said one Burma
observer. “But, if he stayed on as an adviser that would be fine.”

Several Burma observers remain optimistic and point out that it is not
only the KNU, but also the main opposition party in Burma, the National
League for Democracy, and the Burmese military government that retain an
aged leadership.

“We can say the KNU passed its leadership to the hands of a new
generation,” said Aung Thu Nyein, a political analyst on a Burmese blog
and former senior leader of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front.
“Except for Gen Tamla Baw, the rest of the leaders are young.”

Speaking to The Irrawaddy from Australia, a young Karen woman who has
resettled said, “I think people in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)
areas or border areas are not interested in the KNU nowadays. Most people
want to go to a third country. They don't believe and don’t trust the KNU
leadership any more.”

The KNU is one of the oldest surviving rebel groups in Southeast Asia and
has been fighting for autonomy since 1949. It has never signed a ceasefire
agreement with the Burmese government.

However, in 1995, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army split from the KNU
and reached a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese regime.

Then, in early 2007, another splinter group, the KNU/ KNLA Peace Council,
led by former KNLA Brigade 7 leader Maj-Gen Htain Maung, also signed a
ceasefire agreement with the junta.

Since the KNU/ KNLA Peace Council split from the KNU, assassinations
between the KNU and its breakaway groups have occurred frequently. The
latest major assassination was former KNU general-secretary Mahn Sha.

Mahn Sha was respected not only by ethnic Karens, but by most Burmese
democratic alliance groups and individuals who have participated in the
pro-democracy movement for Burma.

“It is necessary for the new KNU leadership to quickly stop the
assassinations and divisions among Karen people,” said Aung Thu Nyein. “It
is time for the KNU to reestablish unity among the Karen people.”

Joint Secretary (1) Maj Hla Ngwe admitted that the KNU had been cleverly
manipulated by the Burmese military regime.

“We have had weaknesses and divisions in the past,” Hla Ngwe said. “That
is natural. It can happen in any party or organization. But, we should
learn from these events and ensure it doesn’t happen in the future.”

Meanwhile, the newly appointed vice-chairman of the KNU, David Takapaw,
said that political conflicts in Burma should be solved by political
means, but the KNU would continue the armed struggle in self-defense.

David Takapaw also said that the KNU would still welcome negotiations with
the Burmese government and would consider a ceasefire agreement under
certain conditions, such as a Burmese troop withdrawal from Karen State
and the release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

“If the Burmese authorities really want to negotiate with us, we are ready
to sit at the table,” said David Takapaw.

In 2004, former KNU Chairman Gen Bo Mya visited Rangoon for peace talks
with Burma’s former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt. The result was the
so-called “gentlemen’s agreement.”

However, in early 2006, Burmese troops launched major military offensives
against Karen civilians in northern Karen State and forced an estimated
30,000 Karen villagers to flee into the countryside as well as to seek
refuge across the Thai-Burmese border.

In February 2007, the KNU broke off all contact with the Burmese regime
when Maj-Gen Htain Maung and some 300 KNU soldiers defected to the Burmese
army.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, a Karen religious leader in Rangoon
said that the KNU leaders have good points, but they also have weak
points. He called on the new KNU leaders to think maturely when making
decisions.

However, he said that it was still too early to comment about the KNU’s
new leadership.

“Let’s wait and see,” he said.

____________________________________

October 28, Democratic Voice of Burma
Where are Burma’s women? - Yaysin

If the Burmese government is to live up to its international
responsibilities on women’s rights, it must allow women to participate
fully in the political life of the country.

The State Peace and Development Council signed the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1997. In
September 2007, they submitted their latest report to the committee.

In the SPDC’s report, they have tried to show that the provide equal
opportunities to men and women without any discrimination, as required by
article 7 of the convention on equality in political and public life.

The laws look good on paper – under the constitution, special protection
is given to mothers, children and pregnant women and women are granted
equal opportunities and rights. But it is a different matter in practice.

In its report to the CEDAW committee, the SPDC highlights section 154,
subsection (a) of the constitution as providing that women are entitled to
benefit from political, economic, social and cultural rights equally.

The regime also notes that section 6 of the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law
“provides that anyone is entitled to vote at the election irrespective of
sex and religion”, while section 8 of the same law grants the right to be
elected irrespective of sex and religion.

These laws, the regime argues, are evidence of equality between men and
women as set out in the constitution. But section 154, subsection (a) is
from the 1974 constitution. Until this year, the regime had ruled Burma
since 1990 without any valid constitution.

The Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law was enacted in 1989, the year before the
1990 election. The SPDC still points to this law as evidence of equality
even though they refused to accept the result of the election held
according to this law. The election laws are meaningless unless the regime
respects the desires expressed by the voters.

There were only 67 women among the 1013 representatives that participated
in the SPDC’s national convention and no female representatives from the
political parties attended the national convention in 2006. Is this
evidence that women have equal opportunities and rights with men?

While women are highly active in politics and decision making around the
world, the Burmese regime proudly states that Burmese women have equal
rights and opportunities without having any women in positions of power.

Inside Burma, it is very rare to see women at the decision making level in
politics. Why? Is it because women are not capable of taking up these
positions?

We can see many women working in areas of social services, as teachers or
in nursing, because of the expectation in Burmese culture that women
should be responsible for taking care of the family and raising children,
and must be gentle and kind – not skills that are valued in politics.

There are some women’s organisations inside Burma, such as the Myanmar
Women’s Affairs Federation. While it is nominally a non-governmental
organisation, in reality it has little independence from the government.

When general Khin Nyunt was in power, his wife was the head of the
organisation; when he was dismissed from his position, the head of the
women’s organisation was also changed.

What kind of activities have the women’s organisations in Burma mostly
done so far? Beauty pageants! Is this really important for women? They
have also carried out some good activities, but these are very few in
number compared with the beauty pageants.

Most of the time, the women’s organisations which are dominated by the
generals’ wives activities are not helpful for women from rural areas.

When my mother was inside Burma, MWAF was trying to recruit all over the
country. But the problem is that women who apply to join MWAF have to fill
in the application form and donate 300 kyat to MWAF funds.

But people from our village were poor – they had to work all day just to
earn enough money for food. How could they afford to give away 300 kyat?
For ordinary women, it is difficult to take part in these activities.

In spite of this, women from inside Burma are working hard to bring about
real change in Burma even though they might not have be able to gain a
full understanding about women's rights or gender equality due to the
SPDC's strict controls.

There is no evidence that the SPDC is implementing any programmes to raise
the status of women. Prominent women activists such as Nilar Thein, Sue
Sue Nwe, Mee Mee are arrested for expressing their political beliefs,
while many other women such as Phyu Phyu Thin and Naw Ohn Hla are
threatened for their activities.

Furthermore, the SPDC even uses the government-controlled women’s
organisations as political tool to crack down on the women's movement
inside and outside Burma.

There are some people who would like to do activities which are genuinely
helpful for women. The problem is that they are not independent from the
SPDC's control.

Burma is notorious for its mismanagement of health and education and its
poor governance. If the SPDC would allow women’s organisations to operate
freely, they could work to protect women and improve their situation.

So I ask the SPDC: please try to be a good government to your own people
and respect your duties within the international and regional community. A
country is like a family; be good parents to your children. We would like
to be proud to say we come from Burma.

____________________________________
INTERVIEW

October 28, Radio Australia
Burma's opposition-in-exile call for democracy timeframe

Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Dr Thaung Htun, Burma's pro-democracy representative for UN affairs

Sen Lam: Dr Thaung Htun, the Opposition Coalition has opposed a new
initiative. Can you tell us more about this?

Dr. Thaung Htun: The new initiative we propose is related to active
involvement of region affairs and finding a solution for political crisis
in Burma. ASEAN and other neighbouring countries like China and Japan, the
tradition of their involvement and finding a solution in times of crisis,
you know in that case, these regional players actively cooperate with UN
and other Western counterparts by hosting conferences, you know, in their
capitals like in Jakarta and Bangkok. We propose the same thing. We
already have good start by the formation of UN friends of Burma group.
That group's meetings should be continuously organised in regional
capitals with active involvement of regional players and they should
discuss to set clear benchmarks and particular time frames to implement
steps for a peaceful democratic transition in Burma.

Sen Lam: Dr Thaung Htun, you speak of regional players, what about
countries like China, India and Thailand who all have trade deals with the
Burmese generals and in one way or another support the Junta. Might they
be a huge obstacle to your plans?

Dr. Thaung Htun: Of course. The trade and business relations as well as
the diplomatic tradition provided by these players like China or India,
the United Nations, it's in contradiction with the statement made by the
recently - made by Asia Europe meeting which agreed on the need to take
for the military positive reforms for democratic transition. They should
review their policy and look at long-term interests of the country because
in a smooth transition - Burma is also for the best interests of the
region. They should withdraw their protection, for example, at the
Security Council. They should apply their economic leverage to post the
regime to take positive steps.

Sen Lam: What do you think is the mood of the generals in Burma? Have you
made any attempt to reopen dialogue with them?

Dr. Thaung Htun: We have been repeatedly calling for a dialogue. We are
for a dialogue negotiation and compromise since 1988, but so far they have
ignored our call for dialogue. So now they are having, you know, trying
to, you know, organise a new election without any implementation of the
1990 election. What we are calling for is a kind of transition which can
be played by all the stakeholders including the military. It is a win-win
situation. We need to step up more pressure on the regime to go to the
negotiation table.

Sen Lam: Well, Burma, of course, is under US and European economic
sanctions over human rights and its failure to reform, do you think those
sanctions have worked?

Dr. Thaung Htun: Sanctions worked to the extent that it is the expression
of this approval of the behaviour of the regime. Of course, these
sanctions were imposed because of their human rights violations committed
by the regime and lack of progress and democratisation. But on the other
hand, you know, there is the loophole because the Western democratic
countries have imposed sanctions. Our neighbouring countries like India,
China and ASEAN rushed to Burma to exploit natural resources so there
should be more coordination between the Western players and our
neighbouring countries because, you know, Burma should not be looking at
only international affairs. We have already seen spill over effects from
Burma to the region. So if the situation remains unchecked, it will become
a sort of regional implication.

Sen Lam: OK, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you very much for your time.

Dr. Thaung Htun: Thank you.