BurmaNet News, January 31 - February 2, 2009

[Editor]

January 31 – February 2, 2009, Issue #3643


INSIDE BURMA
BBC News: Suu Kyi demands prisoner release
Irrawaddy: Gambari meets NLD Executive Members, including Suu Kyi
DVB: Arrest warrants issued for six defence lawyers
DVB: Shan leader Shwe Ohn to contest 2010 election
Mizzima News: 29 children suffer from physic nut poisoning

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: South Korean company seeks investment in mineral exploration in
Myanmar
Xinhua: Indian Vice-President to visit Myanmar

DRUGS
IHT: UN reports more opium coming from Myanmar

REGIONAL
New Light of Myanmar: Myanmar departments concerned making contact with
departments of Thailand to take measures for Rohinja trying to illegally
enter Thailand from sea

INTERNATIONAL
New York Times: For refugees, recession makes hard times even harder
Kaladan Press: Rohingya groups condemn the SPDC's statement on Rohingya

OPINION / OTHER
The Nation (Thailand): Rogue state creates refugee crisis in Asia – Sai
Wansai
Malaysian Star: Learning haven – Sharmilla Ganesan
New Light of Myanmar: Bengalis from neighbouring country illegally
immigrated Rakhine region of Myanmar

PRESS RELEASE
AIPMC: Regional MPs to Gambari: Secure public address for Suu Kyi during
this visit, at least
ASEAN Secretariat: Timor-Leste donates $500,000 for humanitarian aid to
Cyclone Nargis survivors in Myanmar



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 2, BBC News
Suu Kyi demands prisoner release

Burma's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has told a UN envoy
the secretary general should not visit until political prisoners are
freed.

During their first meeting for nearly a year, Ms Suu Kyi told Ibrahim
Gambari there was no rule of law, citing harsh jail terms handed down to
activists.

Mr Gambari is trying to revive reconciliation talks between the military
government and the opposition.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 19 years under house arrest.

She snubbed Mr Gambari during his last visit in August because of his
failure to extract any meaningful concessions from Burma's military
rulers.

No defence

Members of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party (NLD) said she
told the envoy that "she was ready and willing to meet anyone, but she
could not accept having meetings without achieving any outcome".

NLD spokesman Nyan Win said she also warned that UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon should not visit Burma until after herself, the NLD's deputy
leader and other political prisoners were released.

The Nobel Prize winner also criticised the harsh prison sentences recently
given to more than 250 people.

"She pointed out that the long prison sentences, such as 65 or 100 years,
were handed down with no defence and no lawyers allowed - even lawyers
themselves were sentenced," Nyan Win said.

Mr Gambari, who arrived in Burma on Saturday for a four-day visit, has
held talks with the foreign minister but it is unclear whether he will be
allowed to meet the head of state, General Than Shwe.

The UN envoy told diplomats that his objectives were to urge the release
of political prisoners, discuss the country's ailing economy and revive
dialogue between Ms Suu Kyi and the junta.

Continuing crackdown

Mr Gambari's seventh trip to the country comes amid criticism that he has
failed to achieve Ms Suu Kyi's release or any other discernible progress
from his diplomacy.

BBC South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head says that even if Mr
Gambari managed to meet Than Shwe, it was unlikely anything could be
achieved.

The military is pushing ahead with a tightly-controlled election next
year, which is guaranteed to leave it holding most of the levers of power,
he says.

Burma's ruling generals have continued to suppress dissent since crushing
mass pro-democracy protests led by monks in September 2007.

Human rights groups say the number of political prisoners being held has
doubled to 2,100 since then.

The NLD won a general election in 1990 but the junta refused to allow the
party to assume power.

The junta says it will hold elections in 2010 under a revised
constitution, a process which the opposition sees as fundamentally flawed.

In recent months, the generals have further consolidated their grip on
power, pushing through a constitution which reserves 25% of the seats in
any future parliament for the military.

____________________________________

February 2, Irrawaddy
Gambari meets NLD Executive Members, including Suu Kyi – Saw Yan Naing

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with Ibrahim Gambari, the
United Nations special envoy to Burma, and executive members of her
National League for Democracy (NLD) at a government guest house today.

It was the first time that Suu Kyi, who habeen under arrest for 13 of the
past 19 years, was permitted to meet with members of her party’s Central
Executive Committee (CEC) during a visit by the UN envoy.

The meeting took place on Monday morning after Suu Kyi was taken from her
lakeside home on University Avenue to meet with Gambari and the NLD
members, including party chairman Aung Shwe and senior members Nyunt Wai,
Than Htun, Hla Pe and Soe Myint.

Details of the meeting were not available, but NLD spokesman Nyan Win
said: “The landscape of his [Gambari’s] current trip has changed. It is
the first time that the NLD CEC has held talks together with Gambari and
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.”

However, he cautioned that it was still too early to say if the visit
would yield any positive results. It is believed that Gambari and the NLD
executives discussed the arrest and detention of opposition members and
activists, as well as NLD demands for the release of all political
prisoners.

The meeting lasted about an hour and a half, said Nyan Win. During the
meeting, the opposition leaders told the UN envoy that his efforts to
broker reconciliation talks would yield tangible result only if all
political prisoners are released.

According to reports, Suu Kyi told Gambari that UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon should visit Burma only if she and other political prisoners are
released.

Ahead of Gambari’s visit, rumors that the ruling regime would release Suu
Kyi later this year intensified. Such a move has long been expected, as
the junta has often used prisoner releases as a means of deflecting
international criticism and to win support for its political agenda.

Gambari, who arrived in Rangoon on Saturday, is scheduled to fly to
Naypyidaw on Tuesday, said Nyan Win. It was unclear if he would be able to
meet the regime’s paramount leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

Some political analysts said that it was unlikely he would meet the senior
leader during his four-day trip, but in a statement, the UN said that
Gambari hoped to have “meaningful discussions with all concerned.”

Burma’s top leaders usually shun the UN special envoy. During his last
visit to the country in August, Gambari also failed to meet with Suu Kyi.
It is not known why she snubbed the UN envoy, but the move was widely
interpreted as an expression of frustration with the lack of progress in
UN-brokered talks.

On Sunday, Gambari met with Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan and
other members of the regime’s “Spokes Authoritative Team” in Rangoon.

The UN envoy also held talks with other senior officials, including Aung
Kyi, the junta’s liaison with the NLD, Foreign Minister Nyan Win, Culture
Minister Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint, Health Minister Kyaw Myint and Thaung
Nyunt, a member of the commission for holding the nationwide
constitutional referendum, as well as foreign diplomats.

Aung Naing Oo, a political analyst living in Thailand, said little
political progress could be expected from Monday’s talks, but they would
give Suu Kyi’s supporters a chance to hear her opinions, the news agency
Agence France-Presse reported.

“It’s good that they have met. At least the UN knows what she’s thinking
about, or what the NLD has been thinking about, because it has been a big
question mark for the past year,” he added.

This is Gambari’s seventh visit to Burma since he was appointed special
envoy in 2006.
Analysts believe that during the trip, he will also sound out the opinions
of regime leaders regarding a possible visit by UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who
last visited Burma in May 2008 after a deadly cyclone slammed the
country’s delta region.

During his visit, he met with Than Shwe. However, the trip was heavily
criticized as Ban did not raise the issue of political prisoners or
national reconciliation.

Gambari will reportedly also meet with members of the pro-junta National
Unity Party and the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament, a
group consisting of winners of the last election in 1990, which was won
overwhelmingly by the NLD.

Meanwhile, the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), based in Burma,
submitted a letter to Gambari suggesting that he broker talks between the
regime, the political opposition led by Suu Kyi and leaders of ethnic
minorities.

____________________________________

February 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
Arrest warrants issued for six defence lawyers – Khin Hnin Htet

Authorities have issued arrest warrants for six lawyers who have been
involved in cases defending political activists, according to a source
close to the lawyers.

The six lawyers are Kyaw Ho, Myint Thaung, Maung Maung Latt, Aung Than
Myint, Khin Htay Kywe, and Nyi Nyi Hlaing.

A Rangoon resident who is close to the lawyers said the authorities were
trying to intimidate lawyers into not taking political cases.

“The lawyers are from the National League for Democracy so they offer
their legal services in political cases,” the resident said.

“When they do so, they openly express their legal arguments as permitted
under the law,” he said.

“[Lawyers] U Aung Thein, U Khin Maung Shein, and Ko Pho Phyu were arrested
for that. The authorities want to scare lawyers away from people who are
involved in politics.”

The resident said the issuing of arrest warrants against the defence
lawyers was also likely to hurt political activists now in detention.

“Political activists who are currently being detained are bound to suffer
from the authorities' action against lawyers,” the resident said.

“Political activists have been oppressed for many years now and they are
serving long prison terms in distant prisons and their families are
suffering,” he said.

“The issuing of arrest warrants against their lawyers is meant to weaken
their resistance.”

Kyaw Ho said he had not heard anything about an arrest warrant being
issued against him.

This is the latest case of the authorities’ harassment of lawyers dealing
with political cases.

Lawyer Pho Phyu, who was taken into custody on 15 January, is still being
detained in a police cell in Magwe.

Three other lawyers who have defended political activists – Nyi Nyi Htwe
and Rangoon Supreme Court lawyers Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein – are
currently serving prison sentences.

____________________________________

February 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
Shan leader Shwe Ohn to contest 2010 election – Htet Aung Kyaw

Shan leader Shwe Ohn has said he will stand for election in 2010, despite
his opposition to the State Peace and Development Council’s national
convention and 2008 constitution.

Shwe Ohn, 87, said he had written to the chair of the State Peace and
Development Council, the Internal Affairs Ministry and the Electoral
Commission on 26 January to register his party, the Union Democracy
League, for the 2010 election.

"It's a bit new for people who have only just heard about the formation of
the political party,” Shwe Ohn said.

“I have been talking about it for six years now. I was not allowed to form
the party before."

Shwe Ohn said he had used the word ‘Union’ in the party name to include
the 135 national races of Burma and has been openly preparing the party
manifesto.

When asked whether his participation in the 2010 election undermined the
results of the 1990 election and minimised his imprisonment with Hkun Htun
Oo for opposing the national convention, Shwe Ohn said he felt he had to
work within the current system.

"I have said from the beginning that I don't like it, I don't support it.
But inevitably, I have to accept it,” Shwe Ohn said.

“Accepting it is different from supporting it. We shouted our opposition
to the referendum, but it was finished,” he said.

“We did not like the way it finished, but we did not have the strength to
destroy it.”

Shwe Ohn said now was the time to be pragmatic and make strategies for the
situation as it is and not as the opposition might like it to be.

"I think it will hurt us more if we keep on shouting when there is no
possibility [of success],” he said.

“It has nothing to do with whether we like what happened in the past. Even
if we do not like it we have to accept it if we can't dismantle it,” he
explained.

"That's what's called realpolitik. We can't keep on imagining things are
the way we want them to be, good and useful to people.”

Shwe Ohn is a member of the United Nationalities League for Democracy and
attended the Panglong conference in 1947 as a reporter.

____________________________________

February 2, Mizzima News
29 children suffer from physic nut poisoning – Phanida

Twenty-nine children from State Middle and Primary Schools from Thaketa
Township in Rangoon Division, suffered from food poisoning after eating
physic nut seeds, according to the Township Education Officer's Office.

Twenty nine students from the State Primary Schools No. 41, 22 and State
Middle Schools No. 1 and 7 ate dried physic nut seeds after school in the
evening on Jan 28. They picked these dried seeds from physic nut plants
grown in their school premises.

"There are 29 students and the rest are from outside. Most of the children
are students of State Primary Schools No. 41, 22 and State Middle School
No. 7. Most of the students are from SPS No. 41. They ate these dried nuts
after school. They suffered from uneasiness and vomiting. That's all," an
official from Thaketa Township Education Officer's Office said.

A student's mother told Mizzima that she saw the children suffering from
diarrhea, and when asked, they replied that they had eaten dried physic
nuts. Several children in the neighborhood ate those nuts on that day.

"We realized that the children from almost every household in our ward
were suffering from food poisoning, when many children visited the nearby
clinics. Their blood pressure was too low at 50/30 mm Hg when they reached
the clinic. The doctors put them on a drip in Thaketa and another 3
bottles of medicine were given to them in Rangoon Children's Hospital. Now
they are much better," she said.

The dried physic nuts are rich in taste and the children think they are
edible. They picked the dried seeds from the plants and ate together, a
4th Grader student said.

"We were given these seeds by our friends living in 1st Lane. We tasted it
and found it had rich taste. Then I picked a (polythene) bagful of the
nuts and shared them among our friends. Then we suffered from uneasiness
and vomiting," he said.

The children were admitted at local clinics and Thaketa Hospital. Some
critical patients were admitted at the Rangoon Children's Hospital on the
same night. Most of the children were admitted at the local Thaketa
Hospital and were discharged the next day.

"All the children were discharged from the hospital and are back home.
They are feeling much better. Those, who were admitted at Rangoon
Hospital, were also discharged. Our Director General himself visited them
on Sunday. Their condition has improved," an official from the Basic
Education Department said.

There are two types of toxins in physic nuts. The symptoms of physic nut
food poisoning are nausea, uneasiness, stomach pain, low blood pressure
and exhaustion with continuous diarrhea. The condition of such a patient
will normalize if proper treatment is given within 48 hours, a leading
doctor from Rangoon said.

Similarly, 2 students from SPS No. 38 suffered from physic nut food
poisoning in the end of last year. They had to take medical treatment for
two days.

There were 27 physic nut food poisoning cases in 2007 and 69% of them were
school children.

Under the fuel self-sufficiency scheme, the government has launched
nationwide physic nut plantation projects since December 2005.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 1, Xinhua
South Korean company seeks investment in mineral exploration in Myanmar

A South Korean leading private company is seeking investment in mineral
exploration in a major mine in Myanmar's northern Shan state, the local
weekly Yangon Times reported in this week's issue.

Confirmed by the South Korean Embassy here, the Korean HC Company has
coordinated with the Myanmar mining authorities to make investment in the
Yadanar Theinki mining block on a mutually-beneficial basis and a field
survey running for a period of up to one year will be conducted by Korean
experts soon.

The South Korean company's intentional investment in the mining sector
will be the first in Myanmar, the report said.

According to the journal's report, South Korea stands the fifth largest
foreign investor in Myanmar injecting 50 million U.S. dollars in the oil
and gas sector. Total Korean investment amounted to about 350 million
dollars in the fiscal year 2007-08.

 According to earlier official report, three S Korean companies-- Korea
Resources Corporation (KRC), Daewoo International Corporation and Taihan
Electric Wire joined the Canadian company of Ivanhoe in producing copper
in three blocks of Sabetaung, Letpadaung and Kyisintaung near Monywa in
Sagaing division under an agreement reached among them in January 2006.

 The copper mining activities have been undertaken by the Canadian company
since 1996 with 39,000 tons of copper producing annually.

Other firms engaged in mineral exploration in Myanmar include those from
Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the United
States.

Official statistics show that foreign contracted investment in Myanmar's
mining sector has amounted to about 534.19 million U.S. dollars as of the
end of 2007 since the country opened to such investment in late 1988,
accounting for 3.6 percent of 14.736 billion dollars' total foreign
investment and standing as the sixth largest sector.

____________________________________

February 2, Xinhua
Indian Vice-President to visit Myanmar

Indian Vice-President Shri M. Hamid Ansari will pay an official visit to
Myanmar in the near future, an official announcement from Nay Pyi Taw said
on Monday without specifying the date of his visit.

Ansari's Myanmar trip, which is a reciprocal one to that to India made by
Vice-Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Vice
Senior-General Maung Aye in April last year, will focus on economic
cooperation between the two countries, Indian sources said.

During Maung Aye's April New Delhi visit, three documents between the two
governments were signed -- a framework agreement on the construction and
operation of a multi-modal transit and transport facility on the Kaladan
River connecting the Sittway Port in Myanmar with the Indian state of
Mizoram; a memorandum of understanding on intelligence exchange to combat
transnational crime including terrorism; and an agreement on avoidance of
double taxation for investors from the two countries and prevention of
fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

The framework agreement includes upgrading of Sittway Port of Myanmar,
improvement tasks for running of vessels along the route of Kaladan from
Sittway Port to Sitpyitpyin and construction of roads from Sitpyitpyin to
the border region.

In June last year, Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Power Shri
Jairam Ramesh visited Nay Pyi Taw, during which four more economic
cooperation agreements were also inked.

In November of the year, Myanmar and India held its 9th round of
consultations between foreign offices of the two countries at deputy
minister level, agreeing to cooperate in a wide range of areas of mutual
interest and promptly implement the bilateral agreements inked during
Maung Aye's India visit.

____________________________________
DRUGS

February 2, International Herald Tribune
UN reports more opium coming from Myanmar – Thomas Fuller

Opium poppy cultivation inched up by 3 percent last year in Myanmar,
according to a United Nations report released Monday, the second
consecutive annual increase that appears to signal a reversal of years of
declining opium production in the so-called Golden Triangle.

"Containment of the problem is under threat," Gary Lewis, the
representative for East Asia of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime, said at a news conference Monday. "Opium prices are rising in this
region," he said. "It's going to be an incentive for farmers to plant
more."

The Golden Triangle, the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos and
Myanmar meet, once produced two-thirds of the world's opium, most of it
refined into heroin. But pressure by the Chinese government to eradicate
opium in Myanmar helped lead to steep declines, with a low point of 21,500
hectares, or 53,000 acres, of poppies planted in Myanmar in 2006.

Since then, opium cultivation has bounced back by around 33 percent, to
28,500 hectares last year.

UN officials warn that the global economic crisis may fuel an increase in
poppy production because falling prices for other crops may persuade
farmers to switch to opium.

Leik Boonwaat, the representative in Laos for the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime, said corn prices had fallen by half over the past year. The price
of opium, by contrast, has increased 26 percent in Laos and 15 percent in
Myanmar over the same period.

Farmers in the isolated highlands of the Golden Triangle are also hampered
by bad roads and difficulties getting their crops to market. They often
find that small parcels of opium are easier to carry across the rough
terrain.

Although opium is still grown in parts of Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, UN
officials say that about 94 percent of the region's opium comes from
Myanmar. Most of the Golden Triangle heroin is sold within the region,
Boonwaat said, but small amounts also reach the United States and
Australia. Recent seizures of heroin thought to come from the Golden
Triangle have been made on the Thai resort island of Phuket, Ho Chi Minh
City and Yangon, Myanmar's commercial capital.

The alarming spread of HIV by heroin users in southern China several years
ago persuaded the Chinese authorities to crack down on opium and heroin
trafficking. Western intelligence officials say Chinese spies are active
in anti-narcotics operations in Myanmar, especially in northern areas
where central government control is weak.

"There's strong collaboration with Chinese intelligence," Boonwaat said.

The UN report on opium poppy cultivation is based on surveys taken from
helicopters and on the ground. The United States relies more heavily on
satellite images to calculate opium cultivation, and its reports are
sometimes at odds with those of the United Nations.

The UN report did not cover methamphetamine production and distribution,
which among some criminal syndicates has displaced opium and heroin in the
region.

In Thailand, methamphetamines remain a problem but longstanding efforts by
the royal family to substitute opium production with vegetables, coffee
and macadamia nuts have virtually wiped out opium production among the
northern hill tribes.

Afghanistan remains the world's premier source of opium, producing more
than 90 percent of global supply.

Afghan soil is also remarkably more fertile than the rocky, unirrigated
opium fields in the Golden Triangle. The UN estimates in its 2008 report
that one hectare of land yielded an average of 14.4 kilograms, or 31.7
pounds, of opium in Myanmar but 48.8 kilograms in Afghanistan.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

January 31, New Light of Myanmar
Myanmar departments concerned making contact with departments of Thailand
to take measures for Rohinja trying to illegally enter Thailand from sea

The newspapers published today mentioned that some foreign media recently
reported and broadcast that some Rohinjas were attempting to illegally
enter Thailand in motorized boats from the sea; that some of them were
from Myanmar; that the Rohinja is not included in national races of the
Union of Myanmar; and that the departments concerned of the Government of
the Union of Myanmar will take necessary measures in connection with the
above matter.

Despite contacts with the departments concerned of Thailand to take
necessary measures of the above matters, the departments concerned of
Myanmar have not yet received any reply from them till today.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 31, New York Times
For refugees, recession makes hard times even harder – Erk Eckholm

After escaping violence in Burma and spending 27 years in the bamboo huts
of a United Nations camp in Thailand, Nyaw Paw, 33, arrived in the United
States last August to face the traumatic adjustment and cultural vertigo
known to every refugee.

But with high rents, lagging federal aid and now a recession that is
drying up entry-level work, the transition has become harder than ever,
refugee workers say. Overwhelming housing costs are its starkest symptom.
Many new arrivals spend 90 percent or more of their income on rent and
utilities, leaving them virtually no disposable income and creating
enormous hardships.

Ms. Nyaw Paw, who was placed in Salt Lake City with her two sons, ages 6
and 13, has scraped together the $600 rent on their one-bedroom apartment
from federal payments that ended in December. Now, her only income is a
welfare grant of about $500 a month; a private aid agency fills the gap.

Ms. Nyaw Paw has tried for traditional starter jobs, like motel
housekeeping, but no one is hiring here. Her life demands such frugality
that she washes the family clothes in the bathtub rather than feeding
quarters to the machine down the hall.

“I think about the rent every minute,” Ms. Nyaw Paw said through a
translator, “and I don’t know what I’ll do when the aid programs run out.”

Poor refugees — like low-income Americans — can apply for rent subsidies,
which require that recipients spend 30 percent of their income on rent,
with the federal government picking up the rest. But in Salt Lake City,
there is a two-year waiting list, and it is longer in many other cities.

Starting in February, in the first program of its kind, Utah plans to
soften the huge and growing burden of housing costs by providing rent
subsidies to recently arrived families for up to two years. The money is
being drawn from unspent federal welfare reserves. Under the welfare
reforms of 1996, states can use the federal grant flexibly for families
that already qualify for welfare, mainly single-parent families like Ms.
Nyaw Paw’s. For them, such help will make a world of difference.

Refugees arrive in the United States with a one-time State Department
grant of about $450 a person and temporary help from a private agency to
assist them toward economic self-sufficiency.

Apart from a number of Iraqis who arrive with professional degrees, most
refugees these days arrive from Africa and Asia with little education or
experience of Western life, and no relatives in this country to help.

Federal aid for refugee resettlement has not risen with the cost of
living, state welfare programs are skimpier than before and low-income
housing is ever scarcer. Meanwhile, the jobs that refugees have often
ridden to success, like working in warehouses and hotels, are disappearing
or being filled by people laid off from other jobs.

“People are hurting here, often spending 85 to 90 percent of their incomes
or more on rent, and they can hardly do anything else,” said Gerald Brown,
who was recently appointed Utah’s first director of refugee services.

Utah takes in about 1,000 refugees a year, and recently they included a
preponderance of Burmese, Nepali Bhutanese, Iraqis and Somalis. During
home visits to four families, Mr. Brown said, he found to his dismay that
none had the heat on, saving on utility bills in this chilly city among
snow-covered mountains; babies and grandparents alike wore heavy coats and
wool hats.

The International Rescue Committee, one of 10 private groups that the
State Department pays to usher refugees through their first months, has
provided some furniture, toys and basics like detergent. Food stamps
enable them to eat. But Ms. Nyaw Paw’s older boy has begged in vain for a
computer; other families with infants say they cannot afford diapers, and
many of the thousands of refugees living in Salt Lake City cannot even
think about going to a movie.

Utah will also use part of its welfare fund to enable the International
Rescue Committee and Catholic Community Services to provide advice and
emergency aid to families for two years, rather than the current six
months, which has proved too brief for many dislocated arrivals.

“The most vulnerable time for refugees is the first year or two,” said
Patrick Poulin, local resettlement director for the International Rescue
Committee. “A good number make it on their own over time, but these new
programs will accelerate that.”

The housing plan has drawn no significant opposition in Utah, which is
generally seen as friendly to refugees. But the size of the American
refugee program, which admitted about 60,000 people last year and is
widely regarded as advancing humanitarian and foreign policy goals, has
been questioned by some. Critics say the United States allows in too many
people who are surely going to require public aid yet have alternative
places to live — for example, Ms. Nyaw Paw, by this argument, could have
remained in Thailand.

“We are much too permissive about letting refugees in,” said Mark
Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a
research group that favors reducing immigration.

Refugee admissions, Mr. Krikorian said, should be held “to the very small
number of people who don’t have and won’t have any place else to go.”

Once people are admitted, he said, they should receive the necessary help,
and he had no problem with Utah’s new rental aid.

Lul Omar of Somalia, who keeps her head covered by a scarf and her
fingertips dark with henna, is scraping by in Salt Lake City. After seeing
her husband killed in their home, she fled to Saudi Arabia and then to a
United Nations camp in Egypt. She and her seven children, a lanky crew
ages 4 to 15, arrived here in October 2007.

The International Rescue Committee helped Ms. Omar find an older, small
four-bedroom house, which she has decorated with a few plastic flowers.
The monthly rent of $1,095, she said, “is the biggest problem I have.”

She works eight hours a day, at $6 an hour, putting price stickers on used
clothing at Deseret Industries, a Mormon Church version of Good Will
Industries. To get there from her home, she must take two buses and a
tram, more than an hour each way. She is grateful for the work, but her
slender earnings caused her welfare payment to drop, to $385 a month.

“We can’t buy clothing or even soap,” Ms. Omar said, explaining that she
relies on charity for such necessities.

“I feel so bad,” Ms. Omar said. “The kids are always asking me for a
little bit of money so they can buy a soda after school, but usually I
don’t have any.”

Ms. Nyaw Paw, an ethnic Karen who still wears blouses she embroidered in
the Thai camp, recently learned that the new rent-aid program could give
her a few hundred dollars more each month, reinforcing the reasons she
applied to come to the United States in the first place: to give her
children opportunities.

“If I got that extra money,” she said, “I’d save it in the bank, for the
kids when they get older.”

Acknowledging the forced drabness of life today, she added that the money
would provide a few comforts. “Maybe they’ll want to go out with friends,”
she said.
____________________________________

February 2, Kaladan Press
Rohingya groups condemn the SPDC's statement on Rohingya

Chittagong, Bangladesh: Rohingya groups released statements against the
State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC's statement on Rohingya as a
non citizen of Burma which issued on January 30, in New Light of Myanmar.

 "We strongly protest and condemn the SPDC for its lie in 'New Light of
Myanmar' dated 30th January 2009 that "Rohinja is not included in over
100 national races of the Union of Myanmar". This is an evil design to
deny us of our rights," Nurul Islam, ARNO President said.

 It is a baseless remark against the Rohingya minority group "The Rohingya
does not include in the list of 120 indigenous groups of Burma and that
those boat-people who recently reached to the shore of Thailand are not
from Burma" appeared in the military controlled Burmese newspaper dated
30/01/2009," U Hla Aung, President, National Democratic Party of Human
Rights or, NDPHR in exile-Paris said.

 "The Rohingya are a people characterized by objective criteria, such as
historical continuity, and subjective factors including
self-identification, which need to define an indigenous people. They are
a people having supporting history, separate culture, civilization,
language and literature, historically settled territory and reasonable
size of population and area
 in Arakan - they consider themselves distinct from other sector of the
society," the ARNO statement stated.

 The Rohingya have been participating in the National and local election
and been elected as Members of Parliament since 1936 in the time of
colonial rule up to that of 1990 election in the era of current military
junta according to the facts and evidence. There was Rohingya Minister
too in the Cabinet of U Nu, the first prime minister of Burma, according
to the statement of NDPHR.

 "Muslim Rohingyas have lived in Arakan for centuries; Muslim Rohingyas
are Burmese citizens; Muslim Rohingyas have the same rights and
privileges as other citizens of Burma regardless of their ethnic beliefs
or ethnic background," according to the National Coalition Government of
the Union of Burma or, NCGUB (exile government) submitted a "Position
Paper on Persecution of Muslims in Arakan State" to the United Nations on
September 24, 1992.


>From 15th of May 1961 to October 30, 1965, a programme was broadcasted in

the Rohingya language, twice a week from the Burmese Broadcasting Service
(BBS) under the program of "Indigenous groups".  (See: Page (71) "Voice of
Myanmar in (30) Years" written by U Kyaw Nyein, director of Ministry of
Information, Burma), but later stopped. The Rangoon University Rohingya
Students Association was one of the ethnic student associations that
functioned from 1959 to 1961 under the registration numbers 113/99
December 1959 and 7/60 September 1960 respectively, stated in both groups
of statements.

The first President of Burma Sao Shwe Theik stated: "Muslims of Arakan
certainly belong to one of the indigenous races of BurmaK.In fact, there
is no pure indigenous race in Burma, if they do not belong to indigenous
races of Burma, we also cannot be taken as indigenous races of Burma".

Under Article 3 of the Nu-Attlee Treaty of 17 October 1947, and under
Section 11(i)(ii)(iii) the Constitution of the Union of Burma
1947,effected 4 January 1948, the Rohingyas are citizens of Burma.

 Arakan was virtually ruled by Muslims from 1430 to 1531. The heyday of
Arakan began with the influence and spread of Muslim civilization in
Arakan. Coins and medallion were issued inscribing Kalema (the profession
of faith in Islam) in Arabic script. Besides, practice of Muslim
etiquettes and manners in the court of Arakan, the adoption of Muslim
titles by the kings of Arakan and system of governance, the Muslim Quazi
courts and literary activities, use of Bengali and Persian as court and
official languages, etc. are the evidences of Muslim rule in Arakan,
according to ARNO statement.

 The military regime affirmed in its official book "Sasana Ronwa
Htunzepho" published in 1997, "Islam spread and deeply rooted in Arakan
since 8th century from where it further spread into interior Burma".
"Myanmar Swezon Kyan" Vol.9, page 89/90 mention 75% of Mayu Frontier is
Rohingya. Francis Buchaman stated that he met Rohingya in 1795 at Ava,
ARNO statement also stated.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 2, The Nation (Thailand)
Rogue state creates refugee crisis in Asia – Sai Wansai

With Rohingya boat people washing up almost daily on Thai shores, it is
appropriate that the Thai government call for a conference involving all
concerned countries, including Burma, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and
India, to find solutions.

The heart of the rohingya problem is the Burmese military regime's denial
of its right to exist officially as an accepted ethnic group within Burma.
The bulk of the rohingya population, a Muslim ethnic group, resides in the
northern Arakan state of western Burma. It is believed that 800,000
rohingya in Burma have not been granted citizenship. Around a half-million
rohingya fled military crackdowns in 1978 and 1991. The majority moved to
Bangladesh, and many remain in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Thailand and Malaysia

While the rohingya problem has aroused willingness among concerned states
to look for a solution, it should also be noted that the woes of refugees
stemming the Shan, Karen, Karenni and Mon states bordering Thailand are
identical, where oppression, genocide and human rights abuses are
concerned. Thus, it is quite clear that illegal migration across the
region is fast becoming a transnational issue and that a multilateral
approach is the only way out.

But the root cause of this illegal migration is the Burmese military
regime's failed policies and entrenched racist mindset. In other words,
its failure to recognise that Burma is a multi-ethnic state. To achieve
its goal, the Burmese military goes along with its implementation of
protecting "national sovereignty" and "national unity" at all costs. This
gives way to open conflict resulting in more suppression and gross human
rights violations.

In short, the Burmese regime must realise its zero-sum plan of total
elimination of the opposition parties; racial supremacy implementation;
and gross human rights violations are not working to its advantage.

The concerned stakeholders should coax or persuade the ruling Burmese
generals to pave the way for positive change. Otherwise, the refugee
problem stemming from Burma, and affecting neighbouring countries, will
continue for a long time to come.

____________________________________

February 2, Malaysian Star
Learning haven – Sharmilla Ganesan

This is a school without desks or chairs, but the students are only too
happy to have access to some form of education

WALK down one of the rubbish-strewn lanes in the heart of Kuala Lumpur,
and you will come across the narrow entrance to a nondescript flat. Just
minutes away are some of the glitziest malls in the city, but here, the
atmosphere couldn’t be more different.
Small, messy stalls line the lane, and the people walking around, going
about their daily business, look distinctly non-local.

Inside the building, the stairwell is dim, grubby, and rather dank. Climb
up three flights of stairs and you will arrive at a cramped unit.
Clothes-lines hang right outside the flat’s narrow corridor, aflutter with
the day’s washing. With its shabby walls and linoleum-lined floors, this
unit looks no different from any of the others in the building.

Except for the large group of laughing, chattering children sitting
inside. Their eyes are on an adult who is pointing to a whiteboard and
speaking loudly. Surrounding them are piles of books and stationery; more
sit on the bookshelves lining one side of the room.

Hand-drawn posters and educational charts liven up the plain walls, and
two computers sit in a corner. These children are Myanmar refugees of Chin
ethnicity, forced to flee to Malaysia to escape religious persecution and
human rights violations.

The children do not wear uniforms, there are no desks or chairs, and
classrooms are simply different units on the same floor. Yet, for the 150
students who study here daily, this little flat is the closest thing to a
school they have in Malaysia. More significantly, it is their only hope
for some form of education as they wait for a solution to their problems.

The Chins, who hail from the Chin State in western Myanmar, are one of
eight major ethnic groups in the conflict-ridden country. The majority of
the Chins are Christians. Like other communities in the Buddhist-majority
nation, many Chins have been fleeing their homeland to escape the harsh
living conditions under the present military government.

As of November last year, there are some 44,000 refugees and asylum
seekers registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) in Malaysia. Of these, 39,000 are from Myanmar. The Chins make up
14,300 or 37%, of that number.

As Malaysia did not sign the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees are not
allowed to settle here permanently. They can be here on a temporary basis,
waiting either for resettlement by the UNHCR, or for the unrest in their
home countries to be resolved. The refugees’ uncertain status, however,
creates a host of complications.

They are not able to get formal employment, which leaves them not only
struggling for money, but also open to exploitation by unscrupulous
employers. Many of them cannot even afford the healthcare available at
government hospitals and clinics. Refugee children are also not able to
attend government schools, and most of them cannot afford private
education.

This is where schools such as the one described above play a key role.
Supported by local NGO Malaysian Care and UNHCR, this school is one of six
that are scattered in various locations in the Klang Valley. The classes
are run by the Chin Student Organisation (CSO), which was founded by a
group of Myanmar refugees in 2005. The organisation was started as a means
of providing Chin children access to education.

The importance of education to these children cannot be overstated. The
CSO views it as the means to a brighter future. With the majority of
parents struggling to find work or making do with menial labour jobs,
these classes are not only a way for the children to obtain some form of
learning, but also prepare them for the future that awaits them if and
when they are resettled.

“Our organisation’s motto is: ‘Hope for the future’,” says CSO secretary
Billy Bawi Cung, who is one of the nine teachers at the school. “Education
is our one chance (for a better future), both for our people and our
country. These children are our only hope, and through education, we wish
to give them a better life than the one we had back home.”

CSO chairman Cung Lian Thawng (who is known as Thawng) adds that due to
the unrest in their home country, some of the children don’t even know
what school is like. “Every child deserves to go to school, deserves to
learn. That is why we are doing this,” he says.

Besides being a teacher at the school, Thawng is also one of the founders
of the CSO. “Most of the children in our community here just stay at home,
because there is nothing for them to do,” says Thawng. “So we started
thinking about what we could do to help them, and that is how the idea for
CSO started.”

The school’s semester is from January to early December, and classes are
held from 10am to 2pm, Monday to Friday. The students range from three to
17 years of age, and are divided into five classes: pre-school,
kindergarten, and grades one to three. They are taught four subjects:
English, Mathematics, Science and Chin Literature.

The teaching of the Chin language and literature is an important aspect of
the school because, according to Billy and Thawng, the subject is no
longer taught in schools in Myanmar. “We were taught our language and
literature when we were younger, but it isn’t allowed anymore,” says
Billy. “It is sad, but the truth is, many of our children don’t know our
own language.”

Many of the children only started learning English through this school.
Billy proudly shares how three of their former students have gone on to
receive awards in their schools after being resettled in the United
States.

The teachers, who are all CSO members, go beyond the call of duty to
ensure that the school runs smoothly. Besides organising activities like
sing-alongs and games to keep the students entertained, the teachers even
cook meals for the children’s breaks. They also organise events like
indoor games, sports day, annual concerts and excursions for the children.

The teachers and CSO members are also involved in raising funds for the
school. They come up with a weekly newsletter on the local Chin community,
and sell it at their church every week. They also look for donations from
private donors.

Looking at the children, it is apparent that coming to school is one of
the day’s highlights. Bawi Hnem, 17, who has been in Malaysia for the past
four years, shyly shares that the school has improved her knowledge. “It
also makes life more enjoyable for us. We come to school, meet people and
make friends,” she says.

Elen, 14, agrees, saying that he could not speak a word of English before
coming to Malaysia a year ago. Now he can understand the language and
speak it a little. He adds that his favourite subject is Science.

Amidst all the difficulties these children are facing, the impact of
efforts like this is best summed up in the profound words of Ester Moe,
11: “I love coming here because I have a school now; I have a chance to
learn.”
____________________________________

January 31, New Light of Myanmar
Bengalis from neighbouring country illegally immigrated Rakhine region of
Myanmar

The government had to scrutinize illegal immigrants under national
necessity. The government keeps on preventing illegal immigrations.

Bengalis from the neighbouring country illegally immigrated to Rakhine
region of Myanmar. Around 1948, the illegal immigrants demanded that
Myanmar designate Buthidaung and Maungtaw as their province. In the
meantime, they launched armed insurgency against Myanmar through Mujahid
movement. So, the government had to suppress the armed insurgency.

With the aim of preventing illegal immigrants from entering the nation,
the government launched Operations "Kyeegan" and "Shwe Kyee" in Buthidaung
and Maungtaw regions in 1966, and Operation "Myat Mon" in Sittway and
Kyaukpyu districts from 1969 to 1971 and took the census of Bengalis.

Many Bengalis on the border of the neighbouring country and illegal
immigrants of Bengalis in Rakhine State merged together into Rohinja
National Liberation Organization and rose against the nation. So, the
government again had to suppress the movement.

Under the Operation "Nagar Min" in 1978, Bengalis illegally living in
Maungtaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Pauktaw, Kyauktaw, Sittway, MraukU and
Minbya townships in Rakhine State were scrutinized to find out whether
they were nationals or not. The majority of them dared not face the
scrutinization, and fled to their native neighbouring countries.

According to the agreement reached between the two countries, they were
received under Hintha Plan. In the process, 186,968 of them re-entered the
nation from 31 August 1978 to 19 December 1979.

In the late 1991 and early 1992, the government, under the national
necessity, had to scrutinize Bengalisit legally living in Maungtaw,
Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Pauktaw and Sittway townships in Rakhine State to
expose whether they were nationals or not. The majority of them left the
nation in fear of the scrutinization.

Under the talks held with the People's Republic of Bangladesh, and with
international organizations, the Union of Myanmar agreed to receive those
Bengalis who met the four requirements.

In 13 years, from 1992 to 2005, Myanmar received 46,933 households or
236,495persons. According to the lists, 1192 households or 6365 persons
have yet to re-enter Myanmar, but they have not come yet.

Now, the government is taking necessary measures under the national duty
to prevent such illegal immigration.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

January 31, ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus
Regional MPs to Gambari: Secure public address for Suu Kyi during this
visit, at least

REGIONAL MPs TO GAMBARI: SECURE PUBLIC ADDRESS FOR SUU KYI
DURING THIS VISIT, AT LEAST

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) strongly encourages the
UN Special Envoy to Myanmar Prof. Ibrahim Gambari to meet with Nobel Peace
Prize
Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi during his current visit to Myanmar.

To ensure that the UN mission has tangible outcomes, Prof Gambari’s agenda
must include a meeting with the Myanmar democracy movement leader followed
by an opportunity for her to make a public address, at the very least,
while mediating her release.

AIPMC asserts that the UN mission can only be deemed meaningful if Aung
San Suu Kyi is allowed her right to speak her views publicly on a wide
range of issues on Myanmar, including the UN process.

Prof. Gambari must also meet and discuss key-issues on democracy and human
rights with junta leader Senior-General Than Shwe.

Among the dire-issues that need addressing are the detention of political
prisoners, the handing down of unprecedented lengthy prison sentences to
human rights defenders and the need for a constitutional review with the
participation of all political parties, ethnic group representatives and
members of independent civil society organisations.

Further, Prof. Gambari must make it clear that any of the UN’s proposals
and deals with the military can only be offered when Aung San Suu Kyi and
all political prisoners are released immediately and key democratic
reforms are adopted.

In recent weeks, there has been an increase of migrants from Myanmar to
other ASEAN countries. Prof. Gambari must, during his mission, stress that
Myanmar and its neighbouring countries deal with the matter expediently
and effectively in the spirit of international conventions and practise.

AIPMC reiterates its commitment to assist the UN in whatever manner
necessary to ensure its mission is effective and stresses the need for the
Myanmar stalemate to be dealt with in all possible expediency.

The AIPMC is an organisation comprising Parliamentarians from various
ASEAN member-states.

For media contact or to facilitate an interview with Parliamentarians,
please call: Roshan Jason (AIPMC Executive Director) at +6-012-3750974 or
the numbers above.

____________________________________

February 2, ASEAN Secretariat
Timor-Leste donates $500,000 for humanitarian aid to Cyclone Nargis
survivors in Myanmar

Timor-Leste last Thursday announced in Dili its donation of US$500,000 for
the ASEAN led humanitarian operations to aid the survivors of Cyclone
Nargis in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Delta.

Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao made the announcement during a
ceremony in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to launch Timor-Leste’s “ASEAN
National Secretariat”, established to organise and coordinate the
country’s preparations to join ASEAN.

He said that the contribution is Timor-Leste’s show of “solidarity” with
the people of Myanmar suffering from Cyclone Nargis. “We in Timor-Leste
understand the pains and suffering caused by the cyclone. This modest
contribution is also Timor-Leste’s show of commitment to supporting the
ASEAN Community,” he added.

He also said the establishment of Timor-Leste’s “ASEAN National
Secretariat” is yet another special step towards obtaining the ASEAN
membership for his country at the earliest possible date.

President Dr Jose Ramos-Horta, National Parliament President Fernando
Lasama de Araujo, Foreign Minister Dr Zacarias Albano da Costa, Secretary
General Imron Cotan of Indonesia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, and Mr
Termsak Chalermpalanupap, Special Assistant to the Secretary-General of
ASEAN, among others, were at the ceremony.