BurmaNet News, November 5, 2008

[Editor]

November 5, 2008, Issue # 2592

INSIDE BURMA
Christian Today: Hundreds flee Karen state after Burma army killings
Irrawaddy: Lawyers for activists harassed, arrested
Reuters: Farmers in cyclone-hit delta face bleak future
Mizzima: Burmese censors outline news management plan
SHAN: Imprisoned Shan politician in need of health treatment
IMNA: Army training school seizes, resells monastery land in northern Mon
State
DVB: Authorities plan to move trials of activist to Insein jail

ON THE BORDER
AFP: Bangladeshi diplomats head to Myanmar for energy row talks

REGIONAL
Reuters India: Bangladesh asks China for help in Myanmar sea row
Zee News (India): North Korean jet, stopping in Burma, denied permission
to cross Indian airspace

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima: Barack Obama's message of change for Burma
Irrawaddy: Big Burmese interest in result of US presidential election

OPINION / OTHER
The Telegraph (India): The absent neighbor - Krishnan Srinivasan

PRESS RELEASE
One World US: Burma 'still hampering cyclone aid'


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 5, Christian Today
Hundreds flee Karen state after Burma army killings

More than 200 Karen villagers have been forcibly displaced and three
others have been killed along with a Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)
soldier, following attacks by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)
and the Burma Army in Dooplaya District, Southern Karen State, reports
Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

This violence comes only one month before UN Secretary General, Ban
Ki-Moon is due to visit the country for discussions over the political
crisis. According to Free Burma Rangers, the DKBA and Burma Army began
targeting villagers at the beginning of October in a bid to control the
population and gain access to coal, zinc mines, rubber and teak trees.

These attacks spilled over from Pa-an District into the Dooplaya District
of Karen State at the end of October. Families have since been forced to
flee their villages and set up temporary camps in Thailand, 50 miles south
of Mae Sot.

A field researcher from Karen Human Rights Group reported that the DKBA
initially issued documents to villagers across the Pa-an District
informing them of their intention to attack.

These letters outlined plans to target the Karen National Liberation Army
after the Karen National Union (KNU) refused to agree to the construction
of pagodas in Pa-an District. DKBA forbade villagers from staying in farm
field huts during night time and warned them not to contact or support the
KNU or KNLA on threat of injury.

A villager, who remains unnamed for his own safety, said: “They shot
everywhere before they entered the village.If they capture you they will
kill you
We dare not stay there, so we fled. They said they will kill
everyone that would like to be friends with the KNU. We do not want to
live under their control because they force us to do many things for them.
We do not have time to work in our farm.”

The DKBA burnt houses in Ker Law Lu and Htee Per Kee villages and four
villagers were injured by newly planted landmines. Families from these
villages have fled to a hiding site for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)
in Karen State. They are now without food and in urgent need of safe
drinking water, medicine, plastic sheets, blankets, mats, mosquito nets
and warm clothes. There is a high risk of malaria, diarrhoea, dysentery,
respiratory and urinary tract infections.

CSW’s Advocacy Officer for Burma, Benedict Rogers said: “CSW strongly
condemns these killings and the forcible displacement of so many innocent
Karen villagers. We once again welcome the landmark visit planned by Ban
Ki-Moon this December and call on the United Nations to set out specific
benchmarks for progress, such as the release of political prisoners.

"We call on the UN Security Council to impose a universal arms embargo on
the regime in Burma and to refer a case against Burma’s Army Generals to
the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

"It is now time to secure real and lasting change for the Karen people and
all the peoples of Burma."”

____________________________________

November 5, Irrawaddy
Lawyers for activists harassed, arrested – Min Lwin

Lawyers defending detained political activists in Burma are facing
increased intimidation from the country’s military government, according
to sources close to the lawyers.

In the latest sign that the Burmese regime is intent on preventing
dissidents from receiving fair trials, on Wednesday a lawyer representing
members of the 88 Generation Students group was denied permission to
attend a court hearing at Rangoon’s Insein Prison.

“The lawyer Kyaw Hoe was supposed to appear at a hearing by the Rangoon
Southern District Court to defend Thein Than Tun and 13 other members of
the 88 Generation Students group, but he was denied permission to enter
the courtroom without any official explanation,” said a source close to
the lawyer.

“Kyaw Hoe asked the prison authorities why he was not allowed to enter the
court, but they just replied that they didn’t know where the orders came
from,” the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A number of other lawyers representing detained dissidents have faced
various forms of obstruction, including arrest, since late October.

Khin Maung Shein, a lawyer representing several political activists, said
that he and another lawyer, Aung Thein, were charged recently in Hlaing
Township Court with violating Section 3 of the Contempt of Court Act.

“There will be a hearing on the charges against us at the High Court on
Thursday,” said Khin Maung Shein.

On October 30, another lawyer, Nyi Nyi Htwe, received a six-month prison
sentence under Section 228 of the Penal Code, which prohibits any
expression of disrespect toward a “public servant sitting in any state of
a judicial proceeding.”

“The more the government bans political activists’ lawyers from appearing
in court, the more unjust their trials will be,” said a former political
prisoner.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners (Burma), there are currently 13 lawyers defending pro-democracy
activists in the country’s courts.

____________________________________

November 5, Reuters
Farmers in cyclone-hit delta face bleak future

Tens of thousands of farmers in the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta face the
prospect of a thin rice harvest this monsoon season and uncertainty over
whether they will be able to plant the vital summer crop.

"We cultivated the fields quite late this year and we did not have enough
livestock to help us either," said one farmer in a small village near
Labutta, one of the delta towns hardest hit by the May 2 cyclone.

Some of the seeds received from the former Burma's military government had
failed to sprout and he had managed to plant only 70 per cent of his land,
the farmer said, his mouth stained red by betel nut.

"We're working so that we will have enough to feed ourselves and won't die
of hunger," he said quietly.

Six months after Cyclone Nargis slammed in the delta, killing more than
130,000 people and leaving 2.4 million destitute, farmers in Asia's
one-time 'rice bowl' say they expect to produce between 30 and 50 percent
less rice than normal.

The shortfall is likely to put pressure on the precarious food security
situation in what was the world's largest rice exporter before World War
Two.

With less rice to sell as a surplus, many farmers worry about being able
to afford the seed stock and fertilizer for the crucial "summer crop",
whose yield is normally two to three times higher than the monsoon season
crop just harvested.

The cyclone killed around 200,000 farm animals, 120,000 of which were used
by farmers to plough fields in the former Burma's "rice bowl."

The military government and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) have made replacing these draught animals a top priority, but it has
been slow going.

As of late October, some 3,900 buffaloes and cattle were given to affected
families in Irrawaddy and Yangon divisions, representing only 1.7 percent
of lost animals.

If they are not replaced soon, the FAO said planting on 122,000 hectares
of rice paddy would be affected, "resulting in significantly lower
yields."

Aside from killing farm animals, the cyclone also swept away water pumps,
further hampering irrigation.

"We only have one-third of the all the machinery and resources we need,"
said Soe Oo, who has three children.

Farmers say they hope aid agencies will support them for at least one more
season so they can get their lives back on track.

Most people have been surviving on cyclone-damaged rice, and some villages
say they no longer receive food aid from the World Food Programme, the
United Nations food agency.

"With help, we can get back to normal in three years. Otherwise, it will
take five or six years at least," said a singlet-clad farmer near Labutta.
"No one can support us forever. We should work hard now, so we can be
self-sufficient."

____________________________________

November 5, Mizzima News
Burmese censors outline news management plan

Mizzima recently got hold of a copy of a confidential document detailing
the plan of the Burmese junta's information minister to improve the
dissemination of information from various government agencies.

The following is an excerpt of a circular issued by the Information
Ministry to all government ministries on the management of news and other
sensitive information.

"
2. In this IT age, tactful 'pre-emptive' action taken by governmental
departments in releasing their news is better than the total control and
blackout of the said news


"
3. The private media conducts its coverage of the government departments
by gathering information by all possible means and writing commentaries
and features when they cannot get official news from the departments
concerned. In these cases, the departments concerned frequently issued
objections, elaborations and clarifications. Sometimes they have to take
action against the media in such instances...

"
(a) In the press censorship policy adopted, positive writing on
government departmental news has been allowed. Thus, the government
departments should understand this situation to some extent and should
cooperate with the private media for the benefit of their respective
departments


"
(b) Since the people want to know the progress of work being performed
by the government departments, they should form an information committee
for the occasional release of official news on the work being conducted by
them for the benefit of state and people. In this way, the people can get
in-depth information on what work is being done for the long-term benefit
of the state and people, their progress, their future plans, etc. By doing
these, the people will cooperate more with the government departments. The
people will appreciate the transparency of the state whenever they see
this occasional news released officially by the government departments. It
will also deter rumors being circulated among the people. Government
departments can release this official news either by inviting media
themselves or through our Information Ministry. At present, the Yangon
(Rangoon) City Development Committee (YCDC) and People's Police Force
(PPF) have established their own press committees for the release of
official news through these committees. Thus, the media can easily get the
official, confirmed news from them and cover this news in their media.
This system is found to be successful and functioning smoothly


"
(c) If the departments concerned have some news which is to be withheld,
concealed, and censored and not to be circulated publicly to the people,
they should send a written request to the Information Ministry ahead of
time. The ministry will then control the release of this news in desired
form by using appropriate means. Therefore, the ministries should
coordinate with us in releasing information from time to time in
accordance with their needs


"
(d) Moreover, the ministries should have 'contact points' concerning the
media for the verification, confirmation and clarification of official
news released by the ministries and departments."

____________________________________

November 5, Shan Herald News Agency
Imprisoned Shan politician in need of health treatment - Hseng Khio Fah

A member of New Generation Shan State (NGSS) U Tun Nyo, who was sentenced
to 79 year jail on 3 November 2005 along with other elected Shan leaders
in desperately in need of health treatment, according to reliable sources.

On 24 October, a niece of U Tun Nyo, visited him due to his poor health
conditions. He has been suffering from heart attack and hypertension.

“His mouth and face have turned black. He also can’t speak too much,” said
a source.

The family applied to the jail warden to have him treated, but properly
was denied. “The doctor comes regularly to him,” a source quoted jail
warden as saying.

Sources said, he did not receive any medicine and injection from the doctor.

However, the family will apply to the authorities again to have his
treatment at outside, said the source.

U Tun Nyo was arrested with the other Shan leaders for defamation of the
state, association with illegal parties and conspiracy against the state.
He was sentenced at Buthidaung prison, Araken State.

____________________________________

November 5, Independent Mon News Agency
Army training school seizes, resells monastery land in northern Mon State

The Burmese Military Training School in Thanpyuzayart Township, Mon State
is selling land confiscated from a nearby monastery, say local sources.

According to a layman at the monastery, Training School (TS) No. 4, based
in Wekali village, seized about 140 acres last week. At least 100 acres
have already been resold at 500,000 kyat per acre.

TS No. 4 promised to give the monastery 100,000 kyat for each acre sold,
but the monastery has yet to receive any the money.

According to a monk from the monastery, the abbot is unhappy because he
could not stop the seizure and resale. The officer in charge of the
training school came to the monastery to discuss things with the abbot,
the monk said, but was going to sell the land regardless of whether he
left with an agreement.

Over twenty years ago, the abbot made the land an animal sanctuary on
which hunting and logging was prohibited. “Mon and Karen armed groups
never dared to take this land,” the Monk said. The Burmese army does not
appear to have shared these reservations, and had even been using the
sanctuary for training exercises prior to the seizure.

Unfortunately, the monastery’s land was not officially registered with the
government. The army contended that the monastery was only permitted five
acres, and any extra land could be confiscated.

Gaining official permission for a monastery to own land requires
navigating a long and complicated process that includes negotiations with
the Village Peace and Development Council (PDC), Township PDC,
Land-surveying Department, District PDC, all before the proposal can reach
the State level. After which the state reports to the central of Religious
Affair Department in Kabaraye.

Elsewhere in Thanpyuzayart, the Khonekaroat village monastery has been
trying to gain official control of their land for over a year. In spite of
paying significant bribes, the process is still not complete.

____________________________________

November 5, Democratic Voice of Burma
Authorities plan to move trials of activist to Insein jail - Naw Say Phaw

Authorities have been taking steps to move the trials of a political
activist, currently held at relevant township courts in Rangoon, to courts
inside Insein prison, a lawyer told DVB.

Ko Nyi Nyi Hlaing, the lawyer of activist De Nyein Linn, said he was
summoned to Rangoon's joint divisional court-2 by the authorities on
Monday and told that the trials of his client will be relocated to Insein
prison.

"Court officials told me that the prosecutor of my client, Sanchaung
[township] police chief Kyaw Kyaw, stated there is a security risk in
local courts and that he made a request to move the trials to Insein
prison," said Ko Nyi Nyi Hlaing.

"I contended that it was wrong to make such a move as nothing had ever
gone wrong at the local courts before."

De Nyein Linn has been tried at three different township courts in
Rangoon; Dagon, Sanchaung and Htantapin.

Ko Nyi Nyi Hlaing said he would plea against the prosecutor's request
during the impending court hearing on 11 November.

"According to the regulations on court hearings, a trial must be held
openly in front of the public and the families of those involved," he
said.

"It's our job as pleaders to plead for our clients and if I am accused of
contempt of court for doing so, I will go to prison if I have to. This is
my job."

Recently, defence lawyer Nyi Nyi Htwe and three of his clients were
sentenced to six months' imprisonment each for 'interrupting court
proceedings'.

De Nyein Linn, a final-year geology student, was studying at Rangoon
Western University and had taken exams in September 2007 before being
arrested later that month for his involvement in public demonstrations.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

November 5, Associated Foreign Press
Bangladeshi diplomats head to Myanmar for energy row talks

Bangladeshi diplomats headed to Yangon on Wednesday to try and smooth
tensions over gas exploration in disputed waters, as a Myanmar official
implied the United States had a hand in the row.

Bangladesh earlier this week deployed four warships to the Bay of Bengal
close to the border between the two countries after accusing Myanmar of
carrying out gas exploration in a disputed stretch of sea.

Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Bangladesh's foreign minister, said a
three-member team led by foreign secretary Touhid Hossain had left for
Yangon.

"I hope there is a diplomatic solution to this issue and the relevant
authorities would dismantle the installation in disputed territorial
waters," Chowdhury told AFP.

He also warned of possible military action, should Myanmar continue with
its exploration work.

"Our intention has always been peaceful. But we have to let them know that
Bangladesh will defend her territorial sovereignty in every way possible,"
he said.

A senior official from Myanmar's military government said they were open
to talks, but insisted that oil and gas companies were operating inside
their territory and far away from the disputed sea boundary.

"We will try to solve this peacefully, but we are also ready to protect
our country if needed ... we will not tolerate being insulted, although we
do want good will. We will continue with exploration," he told AFP.

The official, who refused to be named as he was not authorised to speak to
the media, claimed that other countries were meddling in the spat, and
implied that the United States had a hand in the dispute.

"The acts of Bangladesh have the signs of instigation by outsiders," he
said. "A US warship is now in Bangladesh doing joint exercises. Bangladesh
threatened us with no reason."

A spokesman at the American embassy in Dhaka said that a US Navy salvage
ship had arrived last week in the southeastern Bangladesh port of
Chittagong, but said it was there for a salvage and diving operation.

"This exercise has nothing to do with (the) Bangladesh-Myanmar dispute.
This is unrelated and the US ship is nowhere near the disputed waters," he
said.

Another Myanmar official confirmed that the delegation from Bangladesh had
arrived, and said they would travel to the new capital Naypyidaw on
Thursday before returning home on Friday.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, and is under economic
sanctions by the United States and Europe over the long-running detention
of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and human rights abuses.

The United States has been Myanmar's harshest critic, pushing for UN
Security Council resolutions against the isolated nation, which has
responded by accusing US leaders of plotting to overthrow the government.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, has put its navy on high alert, deploying four
warships close to the exploration rig -- owned by a South Korean firm --
in the disputed waters of the Bay of Bengal.

"All the ships are ready with arms and ammunition," said one naval official.

Myanmar has discovered huge reserves of natural gas in the Bay of Bengal
and has made it clear it intends to explore further in an area also
claimed by Bangladesh. The two countries have held a series of meetings in
the past year aimed at resolving the dispute over their maritime boundary.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 5, Reuters India
Bangladesh asks China for help in Myanmar sea row - Nizam Ahmed and Masud
Karim

Bangladesh asked China on Wednesday to help it resolve a row with Myanmar
over oil and gas exploration in deep-sea blocks in disputed waters in the
Bay of Bengal, foreign ministry officials said.

Bangladesh sent a naval patrol to the area on Sunday after Myanmar began
exploration in the blocks, thought to be rich in gas reserves. The two
have been holding talks for years to demarcate their border in the Bay of
Bengal.

"I have explained our peaceful intentions to our Chinese friends and hope
that Myanmar stops activities on the disputed waters," foreign minister
Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told reporters after meeting Chinese ambassador
Zheng Qingdian.

Earlier, Iftekhar said Bangladesh would do everything needed to protect
its sovereignty and assert what Dhaka says are its rightful claims in the
Bay of Bengal.

Myanmar said on Tuesday it would go ahead with the exploration of the
deep-sea blocks. Yangon summoned the Bangladesh ambassador on Sunday to
complain after Dhaka sent navy ships to the area.

Bangladesh also sent a diplomatic team to Yangon on Tuesday in a bid to
resolve the standoff, saying it wanted a diplomatic solution to avoid any
confrontation.

Technical delegations from both sides were scheduled to meet in Dhaka on
Nov. 16 and 17 to discuss maritime boundary demarcation, officials said.

Bangladesh said last year some offshore blocks that Myanmar had been
trying to explore in cooperation with India were in its waters.

____________________________________

November 5, Zee News (India)
North Korean jet, stopping in Burma, denied permission to cross Indian
airspace

The Indian government, about three months ago, had denied permission to a
North Korean plane suspected to be carrying sophisticated missile
shipments to Iran to cross its airspace on United States' persuasion,
media reports said.

The US officials suspected that the state-owned carriers' jet,
Ilyushin-62, was carrying sophisticated ballistic missile parts that could
be used in a programme for weapons of mass destruction.

"The jet stopped in Burma on August 7 and sought permission to cross
Indian airspace to reach Iran. India is not part of the US-led
Proliferation Security Initiative, but officials in New Delhi agreed to a
US request to deny access," a US official was reported as saying.

About two months later, the United States removed Pyongyang from its
terrorism blacklist after North Korea agreed to the steps to verify its
nuclear disarmament and save the landmark negotiations from potential
collapse, the report said.

A senior US official, who spoke to the newspaper on the condition of
anonymity as the incident involved US intelligence, termed it "very, very
important."

It was frankly a success that we stopped North Korea from doing this
(shipping the sophisticated technology to Iran), he said.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 5, Mizzima News
Barack Obama's message of change for Burma - Zo Tum Hmung

Barack Obama won an historic presidential election. He became the 44th
U.S. President just four years after he won a seat in the United States
Senate from the State of Illinois. Throughout his quest for the
presidency, his campaign has focused on one word – change. Between 2004
and 2008, President-elect Barack Obama had two opportunities to deliver
his message of change for Burma, and he did deliver it.

The first opportunity was during the Saffron Revolution. In September,
2007, Obama issued a strong statement condemning the Burmese military
regime's inhumane attacks on peaceful demonstrators in his capacity as a
U.S. Senator. In his statement, he called on the regime to release Aung
San Suu Kyi and to begin national reconciliation.

The second was in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. He called the tragedy in
Burma heartbreaking. In May 2008, he joined Senator John Kerry for a
Senate resolution on calling for humanitarian aid for Cyclone Nargis'
victims.

In addition, Vice President-elect Joe Biden has been a longtime supporter
of Burma's democracy movement. In July 2008, Congress passed the Tom
Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act under his
leadership. Biden said, "I look forward to the day when a democratic,
peaceful Burma will be fully integrated into the community of nations."As
Vice President, Biden will strengthen Obama's message for change in Burma.

The voters who elected Obama, however, were far more focused on the
economy than on foreign affairs.

The financial meltdown as well as a rise in unemployment has given him a
chance to take the U.S. in a new direction. The Obama administration must
immediately launch a plan for economic recovery in the first 100 days
after his inauguration on January 20, 2009. It appears the 44th
president's domestic agenda, such as energy independence, health care,
education and more, will significantly occupy his four years in the White
House, much as was the case with former President Bill Clinton. If he does
well, the chance for reelection in 2012 is promising. Despite these
efforts, President Obama will also have to deal significantly on the
international scene as well.

In fact, the Obama administration will try to end the war in Iraq, and
continue to pursue al-Qaeda. These will be his main foreign policy
priorities. As such, human rights and promoting democracy may not even
rise to be a mid-level agenda during his first term at 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue. However, it appears likely that he will want to deal with the
genocide in Darfur that has touched his mind and heart since 2005. In this
scenario, the new administration will have to talk to China, a key ally of
Sudan. If that is the case, the White House could also raise the issue of
Burma at the same time. Obama will be able to kill two birds with one
stone.

Samantha Power, Obama's former foreign policy adviser, doesn't believe the
current UN approach towards Burma will produce a tangible result. In
October 2007, she wrote in the Time that "history has shown that envoys
rarely succeed unless the Security Council is united behind them." She
further suggested a multilateral approach towards China.

Obama, Biden, and Power share the same policy: Multilateralism.

Obama has supported economic sanctions against Burma He has backed
President Bush's actions as well as his rhetoric on Burma. However, he has
a fundamental difference with the Bush administration on how to approach
Burma itself. He sees Bush's approach as one of unilateralism. This
difference in foreign policy approach was reflected by Obama's opposition
to the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq in 2003. Instead, Obama will
likely pursue a multilateral approach; that is working together with
ASEAN, the European Union, Japan, India, and China. Indeed, Obama suggests
the United States should lead these key international players on Burma in
a multilateral effort.

President-elect Obama has a clear message of change for Burma's opposition
groups too. His statement in September was that change must come from
within Burma.

Unless change begins from within Burma, it appears likely that Obama's
hands might be too tied to act. While he believes in change for Burma, it
is up to the people of Burma to create the opportunity for him to act.

____________________________________

November 5, Irrawaddy
Big Burmese interest in result of US presidential election – Wai Moe

A crowd of about 600, most of them young people, packed the US Embassy’s
American Center in Rangoon on Wednesday morning to watch Barack Obama
sweep to victory in the US presidential election.

The city’s teashops were also crowded with customers watching the historic
event on satellite TV.

The US Embassy’s American Center held an “Election Watch.” People gathered
there from 9 a.m.—“Most of them are young people,” an American Center
official told The Irrawaddy.

An American Center student, Ko Ye, said: “I support Obama. I think he will
bring change to the world. As a young man, Obama can act dynamically.”

A young staffer with a UN agency in Rangoon said the election had also
commanded big interest in his office.

A Rangoon journalist told The Irrawaddy that colleagues and civil servants
kept each other informed on cell phones about Obama’s election to the
White House.

He said the election had been followed in Burma more closely than any
previous one because the Burmese people, encouraged by the removal of
Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, were hoping the US would act to end the tyrannical
rule of Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his junta.

Thakin Chun Tun, a veteran politician and diplomat, said:  “Obama’s
victory shows how leadership skill is more important than skin color and
race.”

Burmese living abroad also followed the election intensely. Ko Jay, who
lives in New York, said he agreed with the general view that history had
been made by Barack Obama.

Moe Thee Zun, a former student leader now living in the US, said that
although he had supported Republican contender John McCain because of his
Burma policy, Obama’s victory showed liberalism winning over conservatism
and youth over old politics. “We should appreciate Americans who fight for
what they want to be,” he said.

Some of those American citizens are Burmese who have won US citizenship—Ko
Shwe, for instance. Voting in New York in his first election ever, he
chose Obama.

“The first vote in my life puts me on the winning side,” he said.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 5, The Telegraph (India)
The absent neighbor: China looms large in every aspect of India’s Myanmar
policy - Krishnan Srinivasan

In the vast number of publications on India’s foreign relations, Myanmar
is a neighbour that has remained mainly absent. In part, this is is
because of the reclusive nature of that regime, and partly because Myanmar
is not regarded as an important international player; but mainly because
relations between the two countries were virtually non-existent in the
three decades between the military coup that deposed U Nu in 1962 and the
mid-Nineties.

Burma was the largest province in British India, and only in 1937 was it
acknowledged as an independent entity within the British Empire. Indians
were drafted in large numbers into the colonial army during the three
Anglo-Burma wars of the 19th century, and about 4 lakh Indians were sent
there to run several public services. Added to these were the immigrant,
Tamil-speaking Chettiars and agricultural workers. The persons of Indian
origin on the eve of the Japanese invasion numbered 1.1 million, mainly in
urban centres. These people became a bone of contention, being treated as
resident aliens and discriminated against, though they had lived in Burma
for generations. Despite these privations, the Indian government estimates
— mainly guesswork — that there are nearly three million persons of Indian
origin in Myanmar today, and in contrast with most such communities living
abroad, this one is neither well-off nor well regarded.

In the late Eighties, India supported the pro-democracy uprising and
offered sanctuary to Burmese dissidents. But a few years later, New Delhi
switched to constructive engagement with the military regime in Yangon as
part of its ‘look east’ policy, to counter growing Chinese influence, and
the desire for closer ties with the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations. The need for new sources of energy played its part, and a
powerful ingredient in India’s thinking was the imperative to develop the
Northeast without the disruption of insurgencies.

The first border trade agreement was signed with Myanmar in 1994,
involving points in Manipur and Mizoram and, the next year, a joint
military operation against insurgents took place. High-level
military-to-military contacts began in 2000. Heads of state visited each
other, and accords were concluded on security, culture, hydro-electricity,
petroleum, remote-sensing, and Buddhist studies. Indian loans of $40
million were offered to Yangon.

The rationale for India’s policy to befriend Myanmar despite that regime’s
ill-treatment of people of Indian origin and repression of its own
citizens is understandable, but the lack of beneficial results from the
new orientation is harder to comprehend. The new strategy has failed even
partially to open a closed polity, and insurgency in the Indian Northeast
has not diminished because India and Myanmar have varying types of
problems with different sets of insurgents and do not share the same
priorities in addressing them. Cooperation against the cross-border
militants has tailed off. It was hoped that greater border trade with
Myanmar would introduce regeneration in our Northeast and help to quell
narcotic and arms trafficking and AIDS. But only one of the two proposed
border posts is open, for which India blames Myanmar, the road on the
Indian side to Moreh is sub-standard, two-way trade is constrained by the
small list of tradable goods, excessive regulation and restrictions, and
is negligible compared to trade across the Myanmar borders with China and
Thailand. Our Northeast is swamped by goods of Chinese origin, but there
is hardly any movement of Indian exports in the opposite direction. The
benefits of economic prosperity seen in other parts of India have not yet
touched the region.

India interacts with Myanmar in several economic fora — the Bay of Bengal
Initiative, the Kunming Initiative, and the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation
Initiative. Apart from China, Myanmar is the only one of India’s
neighbours that exports more to India than it imports, and India does not
even rank among Myanmar’s top five import sources. Trade is hampered by
both countries not accepting direct payment methods such as telegraphic
transfers or letters of credit, forcing the involvement of third parties,
such as Singapore. Transaction costs are high and the disparity between
the real and official rates of exchange is another disincentive, as is the
difficulty in obtaining export credit and insurance. Many Indian companies
are even disinclined to reveal they are operating in Myanmar.

India has given $100 million credit for Myanmar infrastructure, while $ 57
million has been offered to upgrade Burmese railways. A further $27
million in grants has been pledged for road and rail projects, but there
is little yet to show for this approach in terms of concrete benefit. The
Tamu-Kalemayo 160 kilometre road in Myanmar has been built by India, and
India and China are planning to rebuild the Stillwell Road, on which the
Chinese work has already started. The Kaladan river project to link a
newly constructed Sittwe port to the Indian Northeast involves dredging
the river to create a trans-shipment terminal and will take several years.
A proposed railway from Hanoi to Imphal and a 1,500 km Trans-Asian highway
from India to Bangkok are still being talked about. The Oil and Natural
Gas Corporation is working three offshore blocks off the Rakhine coast,
but the debate continues on whether the energy extracted would be
transported to India by pipeline or as liquefied natural gas, while
Bangladesh blows hot and cold on the use of its territory for transit.
Meanwhile, China has predictably moved faster. It is building pipelines to
Yunnan, a deep-sea port at Kyaw Phuy, and a road linking that port with
Kunming.

China looms large in every aspect of India’s Myanmar policy, but after the
barren years since the Sixties, India has to play catch-up with a weak
hand. India’s desire to regenerate the Northeast is matched by China’s
wish to develop Yunnan and Sichuan and to integrate the economies of
autonomous Burmese border regions with southern China’s economy. Large
numbers of Chinese investors and traders and the large Chinese diaspora in
Myanmar, estimated at 2 million, are assisting actively in this process.

New Delhi takes some comfort from the view that Myanmar wishes to balance
the preponderance of China with relations with India and the Asean, but in
the jostling for influence in the spaces along India’s frontiers, India is
faltering in Myanmar with adverse consequences for the ‘look east’ and
Northeast strategies. Departments in our capital blame one another for the
loss of momentum, and no one is prepared to drive forward the agenda
without a clearer directive of priority from the political leadership,

India’s maritime strategy focuses on threats in the Indian Ocean. New
Delhi is not reassured by Burmese promises that its territory would not be
used for military purposes against any third party, and the Indian
military is concerned about China modernizing naval bases at Hanggyi,
Cocos, Akyab, Mergui and the port at Kyauk Phuy. This has become an
unequal triangular relationship where one party seems to be reaping all
the benefits. New Delhi was reluctant to condemn Myanmar during the
monk-led fuel-and-food protests of 2007 and quick to send relief after the
recent cyclone. But while this was noted positively in the new capital of
Naypyitaw, a realistic assessment is that if India had not responded in
the way it did, there would have been a negative fall-out. The outcomes of
the energies expended by India over the past two decades have been
negligible. The situation calls for a re-appraisal designed to turn the
tide more in our favour.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

November 5, One World US
Burma 'still hampering cyclone aid'

Six months after Cyclone Nargis caused massive devastation in Burma
Christian Aid says the country will require assistance for the foreseeable
future. There is still a need for more permanent housing and disaster
preparedness training; access to clean drinking water in the upcoming dry
season is also a major concern.

‘Cyclone Nargis made it easier for humanitarian agencies such as Christian
Aid which has a longstanding partnership with local organisations to work
in Burma. We have been able to deliver assistance in an effective and
accountable way,’ says Ray Hasan, Christian Aid’s head of programme policy
for the region.

‘But despite concessions made in the Irrawaddy Delta after the cyclone,
the junta's restrictions on humanitarian access continue to obstruct aid
workers in Burma,’ continues Mr Hasan.

Christian Aid partners say that the majority of the people affected are
still unable to start the process of rebuilding their lives. Resources
remain limited and restrictions on freedom of movement are still in place.

To date Christian Aid has spent more than one million pounds in Burma on
emergency aid and improved conditions for a quarter of a million people.

Immediately following the cyclone partner organisations provided water
containers and purifiers, food rations, emergency shelter, household items
and clothing, and basic medicines.

Work is now proceeding with recovery work. A Christian Aid partner is
providing 12 villages with goats and pigs and support to the fishing
industry.

Boats and nets are being distributed and 50 permanent shelters are being
constructed.

‘The progress is surprising, everyone seems to be employed in constructing
houses,’ says an engineers working with one partner organisation. ‘We
don’t need to motivate the people here. They like to work together and
they are looking after each other.’

Christian Aid has made disaster reduction training a priority; learning
how to respond to disasters is essential to avoid the massive damages
suffered by Burma from the cyclone in May.

‘In June we sent two engineers to visit our partner organisation in
Orissa, India to learn about disaster response training,’ says Mr Hasan.
‘Our work in Orissa in training communities and building cyclone–resistant
shelters has saved thousands of lives there.’

An engineer who travelled to India said: ‘We have brought back blueprints
of designs which we have adapted for our local situation.

'We need to modify these designs further. The priority right now is to
meet the urgent needs for rebuilding peoples’ lives, both in terms of
providing shelter but more importantly the spirit of community in the face
of disaster.’

Christian Aid says pressure must be maintained on the regime to ensure
unrestricted access to the affected areas and that the needs ofthe most
vulnerable communities affected by Nargis are prioritised.

‘But it is also imperative that the donor community recognises the role of
civil society in Burma and ensures local organisations are adequately
funded. Thus far they have been most effective in responding to the crisis
and they are crucial to the future development of Burma, ’says Mr Hasan.