BurmaNet News, February 6, 2009

[Editor]

February 6, 2009, Issue #3647

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Thirteen 88 student activists transferred to new prisons
Mizzima News: NLD welcomes UN Chief's call for dialogue
DVB: Generation Wave launches new campaign
Jakarta Globe: Plague of rats makes food even harder to find in Burma
SHAN: Relations between Burma army and Shan ceasefire groups begin to
deteriorate

ON THE BORDER
AFP: Jolie, Pitt visit Myanmar refugees in Thai camp

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Weekly business roundup

REGIONAL
AFP: Thai PM vows accountability on migrants

INTERNATIONAL
The Hindu via Press Trust of India: Ban asks Myanmar, opposition to resume
substantive talks
Mizzima News: European Parliament urges junta to restore citizenship
rights to Rohingya

OPINION / OTHER
Asian Tribune: UN Envoy returns home frustrated – Nehginpao Kipgen
Newstrack (India): India should advocate for democracy in Burma – Nava
Thakuria


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 6, Irrawaddy
Thirteen 88 student activists transferred to new prisons – Wai Moe

Thirteen political prisoners who are connected to the dissident group, the
88 Generation Students, have been transferred from Insein Prison in
Rangoon to prisons in distant areas of the country, according to Burmese
prison officials.

Insein Prison sources said 13 political prisoners were transferred on
Friday morning.

Two female activists, Lay Lay Mon and Nobel Aye, also known as Hnin May
Aung, were transferred to Shwe Bo Prison and Monywa prisons in Sagaing
Division.

Thein Than Tun, also known as Ko Ko Gyi, was sent to Thandwe Prison and
Zaw Htet Ko Ko was sent to Kyaukpyu Prison in Arakan State.

Kyaw Zin Tun was transferred to Yamaethin Prison; Aung Theik Htwe was sent
to Madalay Prison; and San San Tin, a female activist, was sent to
Meiktila Prison in Mandalay Division.

Chit Ko Lin was transferred to Pakokku Prison in Magway Division.

Kyi Than was moved to Pyapon Prison; two female dissidents, Nwe Hnin Yee,
also know as Noe Noe, and Aye Thida were sent to Maubin Prison and
Hinthada prisons in Irrawaddy Division

Saw Myo Min Naing was sent to Thaton Prison in Mon State.

Another female activist, Tharapyi Theint Theint Tun, was moved to Prome
Prison in Pegu Division.

According to dissident sources in Rangoon, 36 people connected to the 88
Generation Students were charged and sentenced to up to 65 years
imprisonment at the end of last year. Prominent student activists Min Ko
Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Htay Kyawe and Pyone Cho were among the 36.

Each of the 36 activists was sent to a different prison. The transfers
were completed on Friday.

Transferring political prisoners to distant prisons is one of the tactics
to further punish prisoners and increase the burden on their families and
friends. The current military junta has used the tactic since 1990,
according to human rights groups.

As result, many families of prisoners cannot afford to visit their loved
ones, since some may be 1,000 miles away from a prisoner’s hometown.

____________________________________

February 6, Mizzima News
NLD welcomes UN Chief's call for dialogue – Solomon

Burma's main opposition party - National League for Democracy - has
welcomed the United Nations' Secretary-General's call for the Burmese
government and the opposition parties to immediately resume talks to
resolve the political deadlock in Burma.

Nyan Win, spokesperson of the NLD told Mizzima that they welcomed the call
and were ready to hold dialogues with the ruling military government.

"This is good advice, from our side we are always ready to begin a
dialogue," Nyan Win said. He, however, added that the junta should be
ready as well.

Michele Montas, Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson, during a press briefing
yesterday, called on "the Government [of Burma] and the opposition to
resume substantive dialogue without preconditions and without further
delay."

The statement came following a briefing by UN special envoy Ibrahim
Gambari, who concluded a visit to Burma on February 3, to Ban Ki-moon in
New Delhi.

Both the UN chief and his special envoy met in New Delhi on Thursday. Ban
Ki-moon was in New Delhi to address the 'Delhi Sustainable Development
2009' programme.

"The Secretary-General looks forward to building on this visit with a view
to further promoting national dialogue and reconciliation through his good
offices," Montas added.

During his four day visit, Gambari met several ministers including Prime
Minister Thein Sein and detained opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and central executive members of the NLD.

The NLD said, they had not seen any progress after Gambari's latest visit
and could not call it a success, but would like to request the UN not to
give up on Burma, but to continue with its mission.

"We have not seen any development, but we always appreciate the UN's
attempts," said Nyan Win.

"We urged the UN to continue to carry on its goodwill mission and do
whatever they could," Nyan Win added.

____________________________________

February 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
Generation Wave launches new campaign – Naw Say Phaw

Underground youth activist group Generation Wave began a new campaign in
Rangoon yesterday, spraying graffiti and distributing posters and leaflets
calling for a new government.

The group called their campaign Change New Government, which shares the
initials CNG with the compressed natural gas stickers the authorities have
put on cars.

Generation Wave spokesperson Moe Thway said group members had distributed
leaflets in crowded places and put up posters on walls in South Okkalapa,
Yankin and Kaba Aye.

"We did it early in the morning, at Dagon-1 high school, on the bridge
near the Yuzana Garden Hotel and on the walls of diplomatic residences,
and we sprayed paint near the zoo and the armoured carriers battalion
base," he said.

Moe Thway said the project was intended in part to make fun of the
government.

"The military government put CNG stickers on cars; they forced people to
change from petrol to CNG,” he said.

“This is a way of raising awareness by using their own brand, and changing
the meaning to make people think that they need a new government whenever
they see the CNG sign."

Moe Thway said that the new generation in Burma wanted to bring about
change and a better future.

Generation Wave was formed on 9 October 2007 and is made up of the younger
generation of students and artists.

Twenty members of the group are currently in prison, including hip-hop
artist Zayar Thaw of the band Acid.

____________________________________

February 6, Jakarta Globe
Plague of rats makes food even harder to find in Burma

 Food insecurity in Burma’s remote and impoverished Chin State, in
northwestern Burma, has worsened following a major infestation of rats.

“It has been well documented that food insecurity in Chin is chronic,”
Chris Kaye, country representative for the UN’s World Food Program, said
from Yangon, the former Burmese capital.

“The rat infestation has made this acute in several areas and this acute
situation remains, particularly among communities in Madupi and Paletwa
[townships],” he said.

According to WFP, farmers are now struggling to meet day-to-day food needs
and resorting to edibles gathered from the forests.

Others are migrating to border areas inside India in search of work.

“We are doing what we can to address these needs through an interagency
effort and progress is being made,” Kaye said. “However, ongoing
information collection and reports from the field suggest that we have a
long way to go before we can say the situation is in any way improving.”

Food insecurity in Burma, much less Chin State — wedged along the
northwestern border between India and Bangladesh, and undoubtedly the
least developed area of the country — is far from new.

According to a 2005 UN Development Program household survey, one-third of
Burma’s population lives below the poverty line.

Some 70 percent of Chin State’s 500,000 people, comprised of 10 highland
townships, live below the poverty line and 40 percent are without adequate
food sources, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Jan. 28.

Some 85 percent of Chins rely on rotational, slash-and-burn farming for
their livelihoods, but steep mountains and deep gorges mean farms are
prone to soil erosion, and soil exhaustion is also common due to a lack of
viable farmland, the report said.

Few international organizations or nongovernmental organizations are on
the ground, due largely to issues of access and strict government
guidelines governing humanitarian presence.

Only a few villages are easily accessible by road during the rainy season,
making transport of food and other commodities particularly difficult.

There are reportedly only 1,700 kilometers of vehicle-accessible roads,
and parts of southern Chin State remain inaccessible from the north, while
much of the almost 14,000 square kilometer area has no electricity or
reliable communications system.

“As a result, many Chin are largely isolated from each other and the
outside world,” the HRW report said.

While WFP and its partners have been providing food aid through
food-for-work programs since 2005, levels of assistance have been limited.

Most farmers continue to struggle, relying on local church networks in the
largely Christian area.

Since late 2007, such coping mechanisms have been sorely tested following
a serious rat infestation and the resultant decimation of crops in
northern and western parts of the state.

According to a July report by the Chin Human Rights Organization, based in
Canada, more than 100,000 people — 20 percent of the population — are now
affected by food shortages.

Attracted to an indigenous variety of bamboo that flowers every 50 years,
the rats feed on the fruit and seeds of the flowering bamboo and multiply
rapidly.

Once the fruit supply is exhausted, the marauding rats then turn to nearby
farms where they destroy standing crops and stored grain.

The overall impact of the rat infestation will probably last for the next
two to three years, experts say. Previous infestations have led to food
shortages and famine-like conditions

“While food assistance is reaching some of the most acutely vulnerable
communities, we remain very concerned and will continue to do what we can
to engage collaboratively with partners and the authorities to bring
broader support to the affected communities,” the WFP’s Kaye said.

To combat the rat crisis, in January WFP launched a “Food plus Cash for
Work” program in six severely affected townships ­— Tonzang, Tiddim,
Htantlang, Madupi, Paletwa and Hakha — with the aim of increasing
community assets while offering livelihood opportunities to acquire food.

Activities focus on improving productive assets that will increase the
area’s food security, such as agricultural land development, road
construction and projects identified by the communities themselves.

The cash component is designed to meet additional food needs, and help
those in debt.

More than 6,000 households in 50 villages will benefit from the program,
which is expected to run till June 2009.

____________________________________

February 6, Shan Herald Agency for News
Relations between Burma army and Shan ceasefire groups begin to deteriorate

Relations between the Burmese Army, Mueng Lar groups and the United Wa
State Army are increasingly becoming strained, after the Wa army did not
allow carrying of artillery weapons to Pang Sang on January 19, while
Director of Military Affairs Security (MAS), Lieutenant General Ye Myint
toured Pang Sang. According to a Sino-Burmese news source, both sides have
been practicing further military actions as preparation, and tightening
security.

A trader from Kengtung, aged 40, said, "according to the Military Tactical
Commander and MAS officials, they have decreased touring the Mueng Lar
area. Relations between them are becoming quite strained. The situation is
worse in the northern Wa region."

In the northern Wa region, security checking has been tightened at gates
for ordinary Burmese villagers. In the past, they were only 4-5 soldiers
guarding the gate. Now there are 20-30 soldiers, taking sentry duty at the
gate, a vehicle driver from Kung Lon-Hopan said.

There has been tightening of security within and in nearby areas of
Brigade 369 of NDAA (National Democracy Alliance Army) of the Mueng Lar
group, Brigade 468 of UWSA Pang Sang and Burmese Army controlled areas
since mid January. Patrolling at night has also been started in these
areas.

A Kengtung driver, middle aged, said, "The situation seems to be quiet
between the Burmese army and a ceasefire Mueng Lar group. But it has been
learnt that they are secretly doing military preparation. The ceasefire
group issued AK-47s and new M-20 pistols to their militia last month. At
the same time, it has been seen that the Burma Army has strengthened its
army units in Maw Hpha and Meung Hket Township."

A lieutenant rank UWSA officer said since the Burmese junta has been
preparing for the 2010 elections; it has put pressure on ceasefire groups
to disarm and exist under the junta's Defence Ministry.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 6, Agence France Presse
Jolie, Pitt visit Myanmar refugees in Thai camp

Hollywood star couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt visited Myanmar
refugees in a Thai camp, including one woman who had been there for more
than two decades, the UN said Friday.

Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency, spent Wednesday in
Thailand with Pitt, meeting refugees at the northern Ban Mai Nai Soi camp.

"I was saddened to meet a 21-year-old woman who was born in a refugee
camp, who has never even been out of the camp and is now raising her own
child in a camp," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported Jolie as
saying.

The camp, three kilometres (two miles) from the Myanmar border, is home to
more than 18,000 mainly ethnic Karen refugees who have no freedom of
movement and are not allowed outside to seek work or higher education.

They fled crackdowns on ethnic rebel armies in military-ruled Myanmar.

"With no foreseeable chance that these refugees will soon be able to
return to Burma, we must find some way to help them work and become self
reliant," Jolie said, referring to Myanmar by its previous name.

Jolie previously visited the camp in 2004 and wanted to return to show her
partner Pitt, UNHCR spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey said.

Ban Mai Nai Soi is the third largest of nine refugee camps in northern
Thailand housing a total of 111,000 registered refugees.

Most refugees are from Myanmar's ethnic groups, including many Christians
from the Karen minority.

Jolie urged Thai authorities to speed up the processing of 5,000 migrants
who arrived in Mae Hong Son province in 2006 and 2007 after fighting
across the border in Myanmar's Kayah state.

Her visit comes with Thailand in the spotlight for its treatment of ethnic
Rohingya migrants arriving on its southern shores from Myanmar's north.

The Thai military is accused of pushing hundreds of the migrants back to
sea in rickety boats without adequate food and water -- a charge it
categorically denies.

Jolie said the fair treatment of refugees in the northern camps "makes me
hope that Thailand will be just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who
are now arriving on their shores."

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 6, Irrawaddy
Weekly business roundup – William Boot

40 Hydro Dams Scheduled for Burma’s Rivers

China heads a list of countries with companies engaged in building 40
hydro dams on Burma’s rivers, according to a recent survey.

The dams will provide thousands of megawatts of electricity generating
capability, but most of the energy will be transported out of the country
and bring limited benefit to Burmese, says Burma Rivers Network.

The network is a coalition of NGOs concerned with human rights and
environmental issues associated with the dams.

The survey notes that China has 24 companies, virtually all state-owned or
controlled, working on dam projects.

Thailand comes a distant second with three firms engaged in dam work.

The report also identifies companies from seven other countries, plus the
Asian Development Bank.

“The dams are causing displacement, militarization, human rights abuses,
and irreversible environmental damage, threatening the livelihoods and
food security of millions,” says a statement by the network on its new
Internet Web site (www.burmariversnetwork.org).

“The power and revenues generated are going to the military regime and
neighboring countries,” according to the statement.

The survey pinpoints the location of 40 dam projects and is the most
comprehensive yet undertaken of commercial efforts to harness Burma’s
rivers.


Thailand-Burma Gas Deal Nearly Complete

Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas explorer PTTEP is finalizing the terms
of an agreement with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise to tap and
transport gas from a big new field in the Gulf of Martaban.

PTTEP says it hopes to eventually pump 300 million cubic feet per day from
the M9 project—and 80 percent of it will be piped to Thailand.

The Bangkok-based operator has already indicated that the M9 site holds at
least 1.76 trillion cubic feet and will require at least US $1 billion
investment to be fully exploited.


Top-Level Indian Delegation Targets More Deals

Business deals lie at the heart of a four-day official visit to Burma now
under way by India’s Vice President Hamid Ansari.

Several agreements are expected to be signed by Ansari relating to energy,
transport and telecommunications, according to India media, but perhaps
the most significant will be a truck assembly factory.

The Indian vice president is leading a “strong business delegation” said
The Financial Express, including executives of the National Hydro Power
Corporation, Tata Motors and oil and gas developers onGC Videsh, GAIL, and
Essar.

The two countries are expected to sign an MoU for Tata Motors to establish
a truck manufacturing factory and also to create an industrial training
center in Burma.

The vehicle plant is being backed by a US $20 million credit payment by
India, says Zee News.

Yet another planned agreement is for an English-language teaching center
to “equip students, civil servants, businessmen and professionals with
language skills,” according to Zee.

India’s defense minister V. Pallam Raju is also reportedly in the Ansari
delegation.

The vice president is scheduled to have talks with Burma’s Gen. Maung Aye
and also to meet with junta leader Than Shwe.


$500,000 Cyclone ‘Gift’ Raises Questions in Nigeria

In the wake of UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s latest visit to Burma, a
human rights group in his home country of Nigeria is asking questions
about a “gift” of US $500,000 given to the Burmese regime by the Nigerian
government.

The money, in the form of a check and supposedly for post Cyclone Nargis
assistance, was handed directly to Burma’s UN ambassador by the Nigerian
ambassador at the end of December, the New York-based transparency
campaign group Inner City Press reported.

Instead of channeling the donation along with other UN-collected funds to
aid post cyclone survivors, “Nigeria's Permanent Representative Joy Ogwu
handed her counterpart from Myanmar, Kyaw Tint Shwe, a check for $500,000
with no strings attached,” said ICP.

Nigeria’s Human Rights Writers’ Association has since called for an
inquiry of what it says was a breach of Nigeria’s constitution.

Ambassador Ogwu is on record at the UN of declaring Nigeria's “unflinching
support for the government” of Burma.

ICP says it believes the unusually channeled donation is linked to warming
relations between the two countries’ governments.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 6, Agence France Presse
Thai PM vows accountability on migrants – Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva pledged Friday to hold accountable
any security forces who abused Muslim migrants from Myanmar after hundreds
of boat people were found adrift.

He made the promise on a visit to Japan, where he tried to assure
Thailand's biggest investor that the kingdom was "back on track" after
months of intense political turmoil.

"If facts emerge that there have been abuses by our officials, they will
have to be held accountable," Abhisit told a news conference here.

"Whether it's refugees, whether it's illegal migrant workers, my
government intends to respect humanitarian principles and human rights,"
he added.

The fledgling government has been under fire after hundreds of migrants
from Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority were rescued in Indian and
Indonesian waters in recent weeks, some covered with welts.

They have said they were detained and beaten before being set adrift with
few supplies by Thai security forces. Rights groups fear scores may have
perished. A photograph apparently showing the Thai army towing refugees
out to sea has been published in the media.

But the British-born premier insisted there was no proof of wrongdoing.

The migrants are "clearly young men seeking economic opportunities trying
to enter Thailand illegally," he said.

"The reports of abuse are solely based on accounts given by these people
and nothing more," he added, while urging neighbouring countries to
cooperate in handling the issue.

Indonesia Friday said it would consider granting refugee status to them,
overturning the government's previous line that they were economic
migrants.

The Oxford-educated Abhisit, who took office in December, was on a
three-day visit to Tokyo accompanied by six ministers in a bid to reassure
investors. He later met with Prime Minister Taro Aso.

"I stand before you to reassure you that at this time Thailand is back on
track," he earlier told a group of business leaders.

"The difference between now and two months ago was that you had a barely
functioning government then but now we have a government that is moving
forward on all fronts," he said.

Protesters blockaded Bangkok's airports for more than a week late last
year, stranding tourists -- including many Japanese -- in a bid to force
out a government linked to influential former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The country's central bank estimates the blockade cost the kingdom more
than eight billion dollars.

However, Abhisit's government has also faced street protests -- this time
from supporters of Thaksin, a populist tycoon with a powerbase in the Thai
countryside.

While Abhisit admitted that political divisions and street protests are
unlikely to disappear, he said: "The government itself will not escalate
any kind of conflict with the opponents."

Japan is Thailand's largest trading partner and the two countries have
close diplomatic ties, including warm relations between their royal
families.

Thailand and Japan signed a free-trade deal in 2007 aimed at breaking down
trade barriers and boosting trade and investment.

Under that agreement, about 97 percent of Japanese exports to Thailand and
92 percent of Thai exports to Japan will be tariff-free within 10 years.

But amid the global economic crisis, Japanese investment in Thailand fell
more than 50 percent last year from 68.30 billion baht (1.95 billion
dollars) in 2007, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation said in a report.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 6, The Hindu via Press Trust of India
Ban asks Myanmar, opposition to resume substantive talks

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the government and the
opposition in Myanmar to resume substantive talks for national
reconciliation, after being briefed by his Special Adviser on the outcome
of his latest visit to the South-East Asian nation.

Ibrahim Gambari briefed Ban on the visit, which took place from January 31
to February 3, during a meeting in New Delhi, the last stop on the
Secretary-General's two-week travels through Europe, Africa and Asia.

"The Secretary-General took note that his Special Adviser was able to
continue his consultations with both the Government of Myanmar, including
Prime Minister Thein Sein, and key members of the opposition, including
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as other relevant interlocutors," UN
spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York.

She said Ban looks forward to building on this visit with a view to
further promoting national dialogue and reconciliation through his good
offices, and "calls on the Government and opposition to resume substantive
dialogue without preconditions and without further delay."

____________________________________

February 6, Mizzima News
European Parliament urges junta to restore citizenship rights to Rohingya
– Mungpi

The European Parliament on Thursday called on Burma's military rulers to
restore citizenship rights to Rohingya Muslim minorities living in Western
Burma's Arakan State, and urged Thailand not to repatriate the Rohingya
migrants, who have been arrested for illegally entering the country, as
they would face repression at home.

In a Parliamentary Resolution voted on February 5, the Members of the
European Parliament urged Thailand to ensure that the Rohingya refugees,
who had landed on their coast, were treated in keeping with humanitarian
standards.

The MEPs also condemned the Burmese military regime for their continuous
persecution of ethnic groups and demanded that the junta restore the
Burmese citizenship of Rohingya Muslims.

Categorically denying the presence of Rohingya as an ethnic race in the
country, the Burmese government in its state-run newspaper declared that
Rohingya were not included among the over 100 national races in Burma.

The MEPs also "Condemns the Burmese SPDC's continuous violations of human
rights; demands that Burmese citizenship be restored to the Rohingya
,"
the Resolution posted on the European Parliament website said, referring
to the junta with its official name – State Peace and Development Council.

"
 and that all restrictions on their right to education and freedom of
movement be lifted immediately; demands a halt to religious persecution
and the cessation of all human rights violations across the country,"
added the Resolution.

The Resolution came in the wake of at least 1,000 Rohingya refugees, who
are sailing in the Andaman Sea, landing on the coasts of Andaman Island in
India, Thailand, and in Indonesia.

More than 400 Rohingya migrants, have been rescued from the Sabang Island
in Indonesia and hundreds more were rescued from the Andaman Islands in
India and from Thailand.

Thailand has clearly indicated that it will not allow a refugee camp to be
opened for the migrants in its territory, while authorities in Indonesia
told Mizzima that they were still assessing the situation of the refugees.

Indian authorities in Andaman Island, earlier this week, told Mizzima that
it was planning to deport the refugees back to Bangladesh, from where they
had originally boarded the boats.

Glenys Kinnock, an MEP, in a statement called on the Thai government not
to deport the Rohingya refugees to Burma, but in turn to grant them asylum
and protection.

Kinnock said, the Rohingya have long suffered abuse at the hands of
Burma's brutal military dictatorship. In desperation they have been driven
to the sea only to be met with yet more cruelty and suffering.

"This situation serves to underline the urgent need for recognition,
protection and asylum for the Rohingya," he added. He also called on the
Thai government to investigate the conduct of the Thai military in this
case, to ensure that no other vulnerable refugees were put at risk.

Meanwhile, Thailand-based People's Empowerment, a civil society, called on
the Government of Thailand to initiate a regional approach to solve the
problems of the people travelling through the sea route.

The group's Programme Manager told Mizzima on Friday that the migrants
were part of the problems associated with human trafficking and was a
seasonal problem, which would occur again and again unless there was a
joint effort to solve the problem.

The Group suggested that Thailand, as the current chair of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), should take up the issue at the ASEAN
Summit.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 6, Asian Tribune
UN Envoy returns home frustrated – Nehginpao Kipgen

Just a day before he began his seventh visit to the military-ruled Burma,
since his assignment as the U.N. secretary-general’s special advisor in
2006, I authored an analytical piece entitled "Go Gambari, But Don’t
Expect Much" discussing the possible outcome of the mission.

As expected, the envoy was allowed to meet the National League for
Democracy (NLD) general secretary Aung San Suu Kyi and a number of the
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) cabinet ministers, including
the Prime Minister Thein Sein, among others.
The military chief Than Shwe refused to meet the visiting envoy again.
Gambari met Aung San Suu Kyi but to listen to her frustration. Suu Kyi
said, "she was ready and willing to meet anyone, but could not accept
having meetings without achieving any outcome."

Prior to his 4-day trip which began on 31 January, confirmed by the U.N.
only a day earlier, Gambari outlined his objectives: to urge the junta to
free political prisoners, discuss the country’s ailing economy and revive
a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi.
The fundamental demands from Suu Kyi and NLD were that: the government
release all political prisoners, review the new constitution passed by a
referendum in May 2007, and recognize the results of 1990 election that
the NLD won by a landslide.

The basic demands of the U.N. and NLD fall on the same line. They both
asked the military junta to release all political prisoners and start a
serious dialogue with the opposition.

However, the U.N. appears to be shying away from some other key demands of
the NLD, such as reviewing the military-drafted constitution and
recognizing the 1990 general election results. In this regard, the U.N.
seems to leave the matter to the Burmese themselves.

The NLD is not wrong at all on reiterating its consistent demands. If the
international community were to let the military proceed with its
seven-step "road map," it will lead to a general election in 2010 which
will eventually install a new military-dominated "disciplined democracy"
leaving the 1990 election result a bygone history.

The special envoy’s visit was also a preliminary survey whether the U.N.
chief should go himself. Ban Ki-moon asked his advisor “to continue his
consultations with the government and other relevant parties and looks
forward to meaningful discussions with all concerned on all the points
raised during his last visit."

The nature of Burma’s military regime is a one-man show. It is Than Shwe
who steers the wheel. The U.N. must understand that Than Shwe will not be
easily moved by visits and appeals. He worries three things to happen:
popular uprising supported by elements in the military; a powerful binding
resolution from the U.N. Security Council, and a unilateral military
action from the big powers.

After a series of setbacks, the U.N. needs to equip itself with new
strategies. Neither engagement nor sanctions alone will yield a democratic
society in the Union of Burma. It needs a coordinated and collective
international action that sends a clear message to the intransigent
military generals.

A “carrot and stick” strategy should be used by working together with key
international players - one similar to the North Korean six-party talks’
model. The office of the secretary-general should also push the Obama
administration to confirm a special envoy for Burma, which the Bush
administration initiated in 2008.

Gambari returns home frustrated, and with little progress to report.
However even if Ban Ki-moon were to go today, he could not be much better
yielding with the kind of support he has from the U.N. Security Council
and the international community.

Hearing the voice of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party’s political stand was
one notable development of the just concluded U.N. mission.

Nehginpao Kipgen is the General Secretary of US-based Kuki International
Forum (www.kukiforum.com) and a researcher on the rise of political
conflicts in modern Burma (1947-2004).
____________________________________

February 6, Newstrack (India)
India should advocate for democracy in Burma – Nava Thakuria

While the Indian vice-president has left for Burma (Myanmar) with a
four-day official visit to the military-ruled country, the civil society
groups of India have come forward for the cause of democracy in the
Southeast Asian country.

A memorandum has been prepared for submission to the Indian Prime Minister
Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday, where it is observed that India being the
largest democracy 'needs to look beyond' the bilateral relations and
'bring in the values of peace, justice and human rights in Burma'.

Mentionable that the vice-president M. Hamid Ansari had arrived in
Rangoon, the former capital of Burma on February 5 with a delegation
representing Indian diplomats and businessmen. The first Indian high-level
official to visit Burma in 2009, Hamid Ansari had already gone for wide
range of discussion with his counterpart Senior General Maung Aye in the
context of increasing engagement between two neighbouring countries.

Various Indian civil society groups welcome the goodwill trip of Hamid
Ansari to Burma in the perspective of the long standing historic and
cultural relationship between the two countries. The role of India in
promoting and restoring peace, harmony, fraternity and stability in the
region is also appreciated by the groups in the memorandum.

"We are aware that Burma is one of India's critical strategic partner and
biggest neighbour which shares 1650 kms border. And we appreciate the
present relations of the two governments which have reached to the utmost
level since a Treaty of Friendship was signed in 1951," said in the
memorandum.

New Delhi's decision to promote Burmese people's capacity, knowledge, and
experience and technology know-how by signing series of bilateral MoUs was
meant for the development of bilateral and regional relations, it added.
Forwarded by Burma Centre Delhi, the memorandum is supposed to be
submitted to the President and the External Affairs minister of India too.

Meanwhile, in an official statement during a banquet hosted by the Burmese
Vice Senior General Maung Aye in Rangoon on February 5, Hamid Ansari had
declared that the economic engagement between the two countries had
expanded to embrace both the public and private sectors. Several positive
developments had taken place recently in the areas of trade, investment,
power, oil and natural gas, manufacturing, IT and the vocational training
sectors, he added.

The memorandum stated that the people of India feel disturbed that New
Delhi 'being the world's largest democracy and a country that continually
believes in the virtue of ethics, democracy, equality and human rights'
had ignored its initiative 'to promote its own ideologies to the Burmese
people' who had been desperately yearning for their goal for more than two
decades.

The memorandum concluded urging New Delhi 'to bring in Indian humanism and
democracy system to the people of Burma and assist them in their struggle
for restoration of peace, human rights and democracy. It also appealed the
union government to review the foreign policy in favour of peaceful
transition of Burma in to a democratic state.