BurmaNet News, February 13, 2009

[Editor]

February 13, 2009, Issue #3652


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar extends detention of opposition leader
DVB: Two elected MPs jailed for 15 years
Xinhua: Regional assessment center for natural disaster to be set up in
Myanmar
Xinhua: Myanmar's largest gems museum opens to public in new capital

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Mahn Sha’s spirit lives on
DVB: Legal diploma course begins in Mae Sot
Mizzima News: Mizzima's correspondent released
Japan Economic Newswire: 1st Kenji Nagai award to be presented to Myanmar
female journalist

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Weekly business roundup

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: Burma’s rice exports soar, while millions remain malnourished

DRUGS
Reuters: Myanmar reports huge heroin haul in January

REGIONAL
Bangkok Post: Govt 'being pressured' on Rohingya
Antara News (Indonesia): Indonesia urged not to deport Rohingya refugees
Kachin News Group: Kachin refugee status seekers increase in Burma's
neighbouring countries

INTERNATIONAL
UN News Centre: UN human rights expert to visit Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
The Nation (Thailand): No sanctuary: Trafficking of Burmese people at the
ThaiMalay border – Elaine Pearson
Irrawaddy: The UN has failed Burma again – Editorial



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 13, Associated Press
Myanmar extends detention of opposition leader

Myanmar's military government on Friday extended the house arrest of the
deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party, despite recent
calls from the United Nations for the release of political prisoners.

Several policemen were seen visiting Tin Oo's house to inform him that the
restrictions had been extended, according to a neighbor who asked not to
be named for fear of government reprisal.

The extension was for one year, said a government official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release such
information. Myanmar's junta tightly controls the release of all news.

Tin Oo, 82, the vice chairman of the National League for Democracy, was
arrested with Suu Kyi in May 2003, when a pro-government mob attacked
their motorcade as they were making a political tour of northern Myanmar.
Both party leaders have been in either prison or under house arrest since
then.

The extension came less than two weeks after an official visit by the
U.N.'s visiting envoy earlier this month in an effort to promote political
reform in the military-ruled country.

Special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who met with Prime Minister Gen. Thein
Sein, reportedly asked Myanmar's junta to release more political
prisoners, to consider a dialogue with Suu Kyi and to make the
military-guided political process inclusive for all. But since the visit,
there have been no signs of progress on promoting democracy and political
reconciliation.

Tin Oo's detention had been extended several times since 2005. He is not
allowed to receive visitors but has been allowed a medical checkup.

The junta took power in 1988 after violently suppressing mass
pro-democracy protests. It held a general election in 1990, but refused to
recognize the results after a landslide victory by Suu Kyi's party.

The extension had been expected, since the military government has shown
no signs of wishing to talk with Suu Kyi's party to resolve the country's
political deadlock. Tin Oo was one of the party's founders in 1988.

Human rights groups say Myanmar now holds more than 2,100 political
prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 before mass pro-democracy
demonstrations in 2007.

____________________________________

February 13, Democratic Voice of Burma
Two elected MPs jailed for 15 years – Aye Nai

Elected members of parliament Dr Tin Min Htut and Nyi Pu were sentenced to
15 years’ imprisonment today by Insein prison court, according to Dr Tin
Min Htut’s son.

Khaing Win Hlaing, son of Dr Tin Min Htut, said his father and Nyi Pu were
sentenced at 4.40pm this afternoon.

Kyaw Hoe, the lawyer for the two MPs-elect, was barred from attending the
court proceedings right up until the sentencing.

Nyi Pu is the elected representative for Gwa township and an Arakan
National League for Democracy organising committee member, while Dr Tin
Min Htut is an elected MP from Panatanaw township in Irrawaddy division.

Khaing Win Hlaing said he expected to find out more details when he visits
his father tomorrow.

The two men were among five elected MPs who signed a letter to United
Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon at the end of July last year, along
with Pu Cin Sian Thaung, Thein Pe and Dr Myint Naing.

In the letter, the five declared their opposition to the 2010 elections
and called for the 1990 election result to be honoured and for tripartite
dialogue.

Dr Tin Min Htut and Nyi Pu were arrested by police special branch soon
after the letter was sent, in the early hours of 12 August.

They were charged with disrupting the national convention, causing a
public disturbance and offences under the electronic communication law.

____________________________________

February 13, Xinhua
Regional assessment center for natural disaster to be set up in Myanmar

A regional assessment center for natural disaster will be established in
Myanmar's former capital of Yangon to reinforce the country's
seismological facilities, a local weekly quoted Myanmar Meteorology and
Hydrology Department (MHD) as reporting Friday.

With Myanmar's joining in the establishment initiated by the
Thailand-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), the number of
countries taking part in the move has come to 14, the report said.

With expected joining by 12 more countries in the future including China
and India, the organization will have 26-strong members, the report
estimated.

According to earlier report, in cooperation with the ADPC and China
Earthquake Administration, Myanmar has set up seismographs in western
coastal Rakhine state's Sittwe, northeastern Shan state's Namhsan and
northernmost Kachin state's Myitkyina respectively.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is also cooperating with more Thai organizations in
promoting Myanmar's weather forecasting and rehabilitation work in
cyclone-hit areas. These organizations are International Development
Cooperation Agency, National Institute of Emergency Medicine Service
System and Weather Forecast Bureau.

Promotion of capacity building of Myanmar's MHD, national multi-hazard
early warning system and the rehabilitation work on cyclone-affected areas
related to agriculture, health, social and education sectors, disaster
preparedness plan and joint work procedure are covered by the cooperation
project, the earlier report said.

In July last year, two months after cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, Thailand
started to seek ways of establishing in Myanmar an early warning network
system against cyclone and a delegation, led by Minister of Information,
Communication and Technology Mun Patanotai, visited the country then,
meeting with its Myanmar counterpart and the ASEAN-Myanmar-United Nations
Tripartite Core Group.

Deadly cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon,
Bago, Mon and Kayin -- on May 2-3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and
Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructure
damage.

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

February 13, Xinhua
Myanmar's largest gems museum opens to public in new capital

Newly-built Myanmar's largest gems museum in the new capital of Nay Pyi
Taw has opened to the public after seven month's construction, the
official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Friday.

The new gem museum, standing the second of its kind next to Yangon's, was
inaugurated on Thursday for a week-long public visit until next Wednesday.

With an area of 12.5 acres (5.06 hectares), the three-storey museum,
decorated with jade, displays Myanmar's world famous gems, jade, pearl and
jewelry.

Among them are a 6.2 centimeter-long and 3 centimeter-high world's largest
natural pearl weighing 45.06 mommes (845 carats or929.5 rati) decorated
with three female celestial beings, a valuable Myanmar cultured pearl
weighing 9.8 mommes (104.39 carats), a valuable Myanmar jade stone
weighing 69 kilograms, Myanmar orchestra and ornaments made of jade, the
largest Myanmar ruby weighing 21,450 carats and other ornaments made of
ruby, the report said.

Besides, Myamnar gold and silver wares, jewelry and uncut Mogokgemstones
and granite stones are also on display, the report added.

In Yangon, there is a gem mart, attached with the first gem museum, as
well as a convention center where Myanmar holds its gemsale all year round
on different occasions. The gem mart displays a variety of the quality
items for sale on the basis of competitive bidding and tender systems.

Myanmar started to hold gem shows annually in 1964, introducing the
mid-year one in 1992 and the special one in 2004.

The gem traders mostly came from China, China's Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (SAR) and Thailand.

There are six mining areas in Myanmar under gem and jade exploration,
namely, Mogok, Mongshu, Lonkin/Phakant, Khamhti, Moenyin and Namyar.

Myanmar, a well-known producer of gems in the world, boasts ruby, diamond,
cat's eye, emerald, topaz, pearl, sapphire, coral and a variety of garnet
tinged with yellow.

The authorities designated the proceeds from the sale of gems at these
emporiums as legal export earning to encourage the private sector in the
development of the gem industry.

Of Myanmar's 6.043 billion U.S. dollars' exports in 2007-08, gem products
stood the third after natural gas and agricultural produces with 647.53
million dollars, according to official statistics.

The government's Central Statistical Organization also revealed that in
the fiscal year 2007-08, Myanmar produced 20,235 tons of jade and 22.668
million carats of gems which include ruby, sapphire, spinel and peridot,
as well as 225,611 mommes (846 kilograms) of pearl.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 13, Irrawaddy
Mahn Sha’s spirit lives on – Saw Yan Naing

On February 14 last year, two unknown men pulled up in a pick-up truck
outside Mahn Sha’s house in Mae Sot. He was upstairs resting on the
balcony at the time, family members say. The men walked into the house
armed with shotguns. They marched up the stairs and a series of loud
gunshots was heard. The gunmen ran downstairs and escaped. The Karen
National Union (KNU) general-secretary lay dead in a pool of blood.

On Saturday, Karen people around the world, Burmese opposition leaders,
international Burma watchers  and exiled Burmese will pay respects to Mahn
Sha, considered a visionary Karen leader—a man respected by all,
especially his adversaries.

Ceremonies of remembrance to Mahn Shah, who was 64 when he died, will be
held on Saturday in Norway and other countries around the world.

Mahn Sha was born in Irrawaddy Division on July 5, 1944. After majoring in
history at Rangoon University in 1962, he joined the Karen movement at its
jungle headquarters, Manerplaw, on the Thai-Burmese border.

He was involved in ceasefire talks with the Burmese military regime, which
came to see him as a strong leader who repeatedly called for genuine
political dialogue. He was regarded by many as one of the leading lights
in the KNU and was being groomed to take over the troubled KNU leadership.

In its six-decade war for autonomy, the KNU never signed a ceasefire
agreement with the Burmese armed forces and, in recent years, had to
contend with the splinter Karen group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army,
as an enemy too.

With so many enemies, it has never been confirmed who ordered the Karen
leader’s assassination.

Brig-Gen Johnny, commander of the Karen National Liberation Army’s Brigade
7, said that Karen youth should look at Mahn Sha’s example and the way he
sacrificed his life for the Karen people.

Brig-Gen Johnny said, “Mahn Sha didn’t work for his own family. He worked
for his people. He didn’t even possess any belongings of worth when he
died.”

The current general-secretary of the KNU, Zipporah Sein, said she
encouraged Karen youths to learn from Mahn Sha as he was the one who
always supported education and politics, and even prompted youngsters to
get involved in the democracy movement.

Burmese opposition leaders in exile also spoke out in support of Mahn
Sha’s vision. Most agreed that the death of Mahn Sha was a huge loss for
the Burmese democracy movement as no one in the KNU leadership could
substitute for him.

Aung Moe Zaw, the chairman of the Thailand-based Democratic Party for a
New Society, said that Mahn Sha was an ethnic leader who spoke for the
whole Burmese democracy movement, including ethnic people and the Burmese
opposition.

The secretary-general of the Forum for Democracy in Burma, Naing Aung,
agreed that Mahn Sha was a strong ethnic leader who knew and understood
the history of the Burmese opposition alliance and who dealt harmoniously
with the Burmese opposition groups.
In Norway on Saturday, a posthumous award will be presented to Mahn Sha as
well as four other ethnic leaders for their efforts toward national
reconciliation in Burma.

The four others are Khun Htun Oo, Aye Tha Aung, Cin Sian Thang and Nai
Ngwe Thein.

Mahn Sha’s daughter, Zoya Phan, will receive the award on her father’s
behalf.

____________________________________

February 13, Democratic Voice of Burma
Legal diploma course begins in Mae Sot – Ko Ko Thet

A two-year law programme is being run on the Thai-Burma border to provide
training in international and domestic law to 25 students from Burma,
according to Myint Thein of the Burma Lawyers’ Council.

Twenty-five students have enrolled on the course, which is being held in
the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

Myint Thein, joint secretary-1 of the BLC, said the diploma programme
would cover legal issues relevant to Burma’s future.

"There will be lectures on legal issues that could help in the building of
the union and to help consolidate the new nation,” he said.

“We are looking at bringing future benefits to the country. We should have
more of this kind of course."

The course is named the Union Legal Academy and it is the second time the
training programme has been held.

The first programme was held in 2006 and was also attended by 25 trainees.

During the two-year course, students will be taught Burmese legal
procedures and international law by experienced BLC lawyers and professors
of international law.

____________________________________

February 13, Mizzima News
Mizzima's correspondent released – Nem Davies

Mizzima's Bangladesh-based journalist was released on Wednesday, after
being detained for a year and four months in a jail in Kolkata city.

Kyaw Moe, who was arrested in September 2007, under the Foreigners Act and
detained at Dum Dum jail, has been finally acquitted. He was deported to
the Bangladesh border, from where he had originally crossed the border
into India.

"Two days ago, the jail authorities told me that Kyaw Moe would be
released within two-three days. I was called on Wednesday and told that he
was being deported to Bangladesh," Anil Sharma, Defense Counsel of Kyaw
Moe, told Mizzima.

Kyaw Moe, alias Nyein Chan, a Burmese journalist based in Bangladesh's
capital Dhaka, is a news stringer for Mizzima News, a Burmese independent
news agency based in New Delhi. He was arrested by the Indian Border
Security Force near the Indo-Bangladesh border, while returning from
Kolkata after a journalism training course, organized by Mizzima in
September 2007.

On May 26, 2008, after pleading guilty to the terms of the Foreigners Act,
Kyaw Moe was sentenced to a term of 250 days in prison.

Despite being a recognized refugee by the Bangladeshi office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), he was charged under the
Foreigners Act for illegally crossing the border.

The Solidarity Committee for Burma's Freedom Fighters, a committee formed
to advocate on behalf of the 34 Burmese rebels arrested in February 1998
by Indian authorities at Andaman and Nicobar Islands, took up the case of
Kyaw Moe and appealed for his early release.

Despite efforts by Mizzima, activists and the UNHCR, Indian authorities
continued to detain him and a request by Mizzima for his bail was also
turned down.

Although he had completed his jail term, the West Bengal government,
however, did not deport him to Burma, where he would face a distinct
threat of persecution if he was deported, but sent him back to Bangladesh
as requested by the UNHCR, Mizzima and activists.

The activist cum journalist was finally reunited with his wife and three
children yesterday, after being separated for over one year.

"I feel like a person, who has won a lottery," Kyaw Moe's excited wife
told Mizzima.

____________________________________

February 13, Japan Economic Newswire
1st Kenji Nagai award to be presented to Myanmar female journalist

The first award commemorating slain Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai
will be presented later this month to a female reporter from Myanmar who
reported about an area of the country that was devastated by a cyclone
last year, the Burma Media Association said Friday.

Eint Khaing Oo, 24, was detained while interviewing the disaster's victims
last year and is now in prison serving a two-year term with hard labor
after being found guilty of allegedly causing confusion in the country by
reporting or passing on rumors, according to the Oslo-based association
and Tokyo-based news agency APF News Inc.

The association of Myanmar's journalists founded the award in honor of
Nagai, who was shot dead while videotaping antigovernment demonstrations
in Myanmar in October 2007, to recognize those who have reported the truth
about the junta-ruled country.

A friend of Eint Khaing Oo's will attend the award ceremony to be held in
Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Feb. 21 as the journalist is in jail, and will
deliver the cash prize and commemorative gift to her family.

Last October, the media association made a proposal to set up the memorial
award to Nagai's parents through APF News -- with which the Japanese
journalist had a contract -- and the parents gave their consent to the
idea.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 13, Irrawaddy
Weekly business roundup – William Boot

Bangladesh Appears Ready to Boost Offshore Gas Production

Foreign companies are producing record quantities of gas in Bangladesh
amid new reports of border tensions with Burma linked to offshore
territorial disputes.

The companies operating in Bangladesh are now averaging combined
production of more than 900 million cubic feet per day, says the industry
magazine Upstream.

That’s about 51 percent of total output, making the state Petrobangla
company a minority producer.

But the recently elected government in Dhaka is planning to give
PetroBangla around US $450 million to invest in new developments to boost
its output—possibly setting the scene for fresh conflict with Burma, says
industry observers.

News of the gas boost comes as Bangladesh and Burma are reported to be
again strengthening military deployments on their common land border and
sending naval vessels into dispute coastal waters.

Negotiations on the offshore territorial dispute resumed in 2008 after
years of inaction. They were prompted by Petrobangla seeking international
bids for a tranche of offshore exploration blocks—until Burma allowed
South Korea’s Daewoo to enter the zone and sink an exploratory well, which
sparked a gunboat confrontation.

The dispute remains deadlocked in stalled negotiations.

“Bangladesh is like Burma suffering from electricity shortages and gas is
its best known natural resource to fuel power stations,” power industries
analyst Sar Watana in Bangkok told The Irrawaddy.

“Both countries’ state energy development agencies, Petrobangla and
Myanmar Oil and gas Enterprise, are keen to probe the potential offshore.
It’s a recipe for trouble.”


India Telecoms Aid Burma’s ‘Abysmally Low’ IT

A new cross-border telecommunications link has begun operating between
Burma and India.

The fiber optic link, built by Indian state companies, adds thousands of
extra lines for telephone, fax and e-mail.

The multimillion dollar link runs from India’s northeast Manipur State
through to Burma’s second largest city, Mandalay.

It was opened by India’s Vice President Hamid Ansari last week during a
four-day business-oriented visit.

Ansari and Burmese officials signed an agreement for Indian government
firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to provide the telecommunications
services, said the New Delhi-based Asian News International.

The agency quotes Burma’s Minister for Communications, Posts and
Telegraphs, Brigadier General Thein Zaw saying the new link would help
“development of Myanmar IT and telecom industry.”

The Burmese junta has been repeatedly accused by outside rights groups of
limiting telecommunications and restricting access to the Internet.

The ANI agency described Burma’s IT standards as “abysmally low” compared
with its neighbors.


Burma to Appear at German Tourism Fair

A Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board is listed as having booked a place at a
major international travel fair in the German capital.

The ITB—Internationale Tourismus Boerse—in Berlin bills itself as the
world’s biggest business-to-business travel trade show.

ITB organizers say the March 11-15 event will feature more than 10,000
exhibitors and expects more than 100,000 trade visitors.

The Burma stand, managed by the junta government-controlled Myanmar
Marketing Committee, is expected to include representatives from the
country’s main airlines, hotels and travel agents, including Yangon
Airways.

Human rights groups seeking to isolate Burma’s military government to
pressure it to reform have campaigned against tourism to Burma.

The Burma Campaign UK runs an “I’m Not Going to Burma” petition to
pressure travel companies not to do business there.

ITB host Germany is a supporter of European Union sanctions against the
Burmese government.


Cheap Burmese Rice Finds Eager Markets in Africa

Less than a year after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma’s main rice-growing
delta, the country is exporting large quantities of rice at cut-price
rates.

Agricultural experts predicted that Burma’s rice production would be
severely limited for perhaps two growing seasons after the cyclone, but
Singapore’s Straits Times quotes rice wholesalers in the city-state saying
large volumes are being exported again already, mainly to Africa.

The paper quotes wholesalers saying that hundreds of thousands of metric
tons have been shipped abroad since the Burmese government lifted a ban on
exports last July.

One Singapore report said 400,000 tons had been sold since January alone,
but the figure could not be verified.

The Straits Times says most new Burmese exports are selling to Africa,
which will accept Burma’s poorly milled and broken rice.

It quotes a trader saying 25 percent broken Burmese rice is being sold at
up to US $80 a ton cheaper than its nearest competitor, Vietnam.

African importers in particular have been looking for alternative
suppliers after major producers Thailand and Vietnam pushed up prices
during a shortage scare.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

February 13, Irrawaddy
Burma’s rice exports soar, while millions remain malnourished – Min Lwin

Driven by strong demand from Africa and Bangladesh, Burma’s rice exports
have increased rapidly since the beginning of this year, according to
traders in Rangoon, who say that sales in January have already nearly
quadrupled the total for the first half of the current fiscal year.

“Exports to Africa, Mauritius and Bangladesh have gone way up,” said a
rice exporter from Rangoon, adding that export prices remain unusually
low, while domestic prices are continuing to rise.

“The increase in rice exports is having an impact, making rice more
expensive locally,” he said.

According to a Reuters report, Burma has exported around 400,000 tons of
rice so far this year. A Burmese agricultural official told The Irrawaddy
on Friday that the country’s exports over the period from April to
September 2008 amounted to around 100,000 tons.

One reason for the strong sales has been the cheap price of Burmese rice
on the international market. Burma is selling 25 percent broken rice at US
$270-$280 per ton, compared with $348-US$353 quoted for a similar
Vietnamese variety.

Speaking early last December, Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein said that
Burmese rice exports could reach as high as three million tons in 2009.
“Myanmar is to strive for ensuring local self-sufficiency in rice and
[exports of] about three million tons of rice annually,” he was quoted in
the state-run media as saying.

However, some Burmese agricultural experts said they didn’t expect the
country’s rice surplus to exceed two million tons, far short of the three
million projected by the government.

A senior official from the Myanmar Rice Traders Association said that rice
production would likely decrease as a result of lower prices, as farmers
say they could end up selling at a loss because of the high price of
inputs.

“Fertilizer, seeds, pesticides and equipment such as pumps and ploughs are
all very expensive,” he said, adding that the impact of Cyclone Nargis,
which hit Irrawaddy and Rangoon divisions last May, would also be felt for
some time.

“Total rice production was about 18 million tons last year, including
summer paddy,” he said. “In the coming fiscal year, rice production will
fall at least 20 percent.”

Meanwhile, a joint report by the World Food Program and the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization, released on January 22, said that there are more
than five million people below the food poverty line in Burma.

The report also said that two divisions and five states were found to be a
priority for emergency food assistance, requiring 186,000 tons of food
aid.

The report pointed out that after Cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy
delta—an area known as the “Rice Bowl” of Burma—last May, rice harvests in
the affected townships fell by about a third.

In Chin State, near Burma’s border with India, at least 30 children were
reported to have died as a result of a famine caused by a plague of rats
that has been devouring rice stocks since December 2007. According to
exiled Chin rights groups, at least 100,000 ethnic Chin, or 20 percent of
the state’s population, has been affected by the food emergency.

____________________________________
DRUGS

February 13, Reuters
Myanmar reports huge heroin haul in January

Law enforcement officers in Myanmar seized more than 148 kg (326 lb) of
heroin in January, state media reported on Friday, and police sources said
the bulk of it came from a raid on a single cargo ship.

The haul for January compares with 2.33 kg seized in December and 68.37 kg
in the whole of 2007. Official figures for all of 2008 have not been
published.

Police sources said the ship was raided after a tip-off from Interpol and
Chinese officials as it prepared to leave a Yangon port. A huge amount of
heroin was found among its cargo of logs.

The sources did not say exactly how much heroin was discovered on the
ship, which is owned by a Singapore-based company.

"It's confirmed that a large amount of heroin was seized from that ship,"
a Home Ministry official said, asking for anonymity.

"I can't give you any further information at present but I can say it
could be the biggest single haul in Yangon," he added.

Myanmar is considered the world's second-largest producer of heroin after
Afghanistan. Its heroin goes mainly to China and Pacific Rim countries
such as Australia.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 13, Bangkok Post
Govt 'being pressured' on Rohingya

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Friday there is a move to pressure
the Thai government to accept Rohingya boat people as refugees and give
them shelter.

"Those who have accused Thailand are trying to pressure the Thai
government to change the status of the Rohingya people,'' he said.

There are also moves, backed by some Thais and foreigners, to help
Rohingya people to settle in Thailand, said Mr Abhisit.

The prime minister reiterated that the Rohingya are economic migrants, not
refugees.

If any western countries want to accommodate the Rohingya, the Thai
government is ready to help, he said.

Mr Abhisit said his government is sticking to international laws and human
rights principles, but at the same time it must assert its right to
protect national security.

He hoped there will be talks among Thailand, Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia
to find a solution to the Rohingya problem at the 14th Asean summit to be
held in Cha-am in Phetchaburi province late this month.

____________________________________

February 13, Antara News (Indonesia)
Indonesia urged not to deport Rohingya refugees

The Indonesian government has been urged not to deport Rohingya asylum
seekers who were stranded in Aceh Province recently.

"The foreign affairs minister should not deport the Rohingya Muslim
refugees and should not categorized them as `economic migrants`," dr.
Djoko Wiyono, head of the Ukhuwah Jama`ah Muslimin (Hizbullah), said here
on Friday.

Wiyono also urged the Indonesian government to form an independent fact
finding team to investigate factors forcing the Rohingya Muslims to flee
their country, Myanmar.

He called on the Indonesian government and the Aceh provincial
administration to give the refugees protection, clothes, food, medicines
and other assistance especially for children and elders.

Hizbullah, according to Wiyono, has provided the Rohingya Muslims being
given shelter at Kuala Idi, East Aceh District, with some assistance
consisting of medicines, clothes and Al-Qur`an copies.

The Muslim organization also protested and condemned the Myanmar military
regime for prosecuting the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

He said that the Rohingya Muslims had been intimidated, tortured,
kidnapped, raped and even killed. Such ill-treatments were crimes against
humanity, he said.

"Those actions are against the Human Rights and have hurt the feeling of
the Muslims throughout the world," he said.

Hizbullah urged the international world to pressure the Myanmar government
to give the Rohingyas the rights to live and treat them well.

Wiyono said that the health condition of the Rohingya refugees in East
Aceh has improved and a number of Islamic boarding schools have expressed
their willingness to accommodate the Myanmar Muslims.

Over the past one month, Aceh Province has received nearly 400 Rohingya
refugees. Some 193 Rohingya boat people got stranded in Sabang, Aceh on
January 7, 2008, and another 198 Rohingyas reached the coast of East Aceh
after 21 days at sea, with some of them in a critical condition on
February 3, 2008.
____________________________________

February 13, Kachin News Group
Kachin refugee status seekers increase in Burma's neighbouring countries

The number of ethnic Kachin in Burma seeking refugee status has gradually
increased in the two neighboring countries --- Malaysia and Thailand since
2005, said Kachin refugees in the two countries.

Till date over 3,000 Kachin refugees and refugee/asylum seekers have
arrived in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur and in the three refugee camps
(Mae La, Nu Po and Umpiem) along the Thailand-Burma border, said Kachin
refugees.

There are fewer Kachin refugees and those seeking refugee statuses in
Malaysia and Thailand when compared with thousands of refugees from Burma
in these countries, said Kachin refugees in the two countries.

According to Kuala Lumpur based Kachin Refugee Committee (KRC), the number
of Kachin people seeking refugee status has now risen to nearly 3,000 from
some 500 till 2003 in Malaysia.  During 2003-2008, over 300 Kachin
refugees in Malaysia departed to third countries like Canada, United
States of America, Denmark, New Zealand and Norway.

On the other hand, there were no Kachin refugees or those seeking refugee
status in refugee camps along the Thailand-Burma border before the year
2000, but there are now over 40 Kachin refugees and some 500 refugees
status seekers in these camps, said a Kachin refugee called Lamung Brang
Gam who is waiting to leave for a third country for 10 years in Nu Po
camp.

About a dozen Kachin refugees from the camps along Thailand-Burma departed
to third countries during the past four years, added Lamung Brang Gam.

Most Kachin refugee status seekers in these countries have economic
problems in their areas in Burma rather than political problems with
Burma's ruling junta, added refugees.

Refugee and refugee status seekers live an unsafe life in Malaysia and
Thailand because the two countries do not recognize the 1951 Geneva
Convention related to the Status of Refugees.

In Malaysia, refugees and refugee status seekers have to live and work and
hide from being sent to jail and are expelled by Malaysian authorities
whereas refugees and refugee status seekers on the Thailand-Burma border
have to live only in refugee camps, added refugees in the two countries.

For the first time, Kachin refugees started to resettle in third countries
Europe and North America after the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO)
signed a ceasefire agreement with Burma's ruling junta in February 24,
1994.

During the civil war from 1961 to 1994 between the KIO and the ruling
junta in Kachin state and Northeast Shan state, thousands of Kachin people
had their homes burnt and lost their live stock when the Burmese Army
launched operations but they had to hide within the states.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 13, UN News Centre
UN human rights expert to visit Myanmar

The independent United Nations expert on the situation of human rights in
Myanmar will begin a six-day visit beginning tomorrow to assess
developments in the South-East Asian nation since his previous mission
last year.

Special Rapporteur Tomás Ojea Quintana, who was appointed to his post in
May 2008 by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, made his first visit
to Myanmar last August.

In a report issued following that visit, Mr. Quintana proposed that four
core human rights elements be implemented: the revision of domestic laws
that limit fundamental rights, the progressive release of the estimated
2,000 prisoners of conscience still in detention, the reform and training
of the military so that it conforms with human rights, and changes to the
judiciary so that it is fully independent.

These four elements must be completed before national elections are held
in 2010, he added.

The Special Rapporteur will discuss the implementation of these four
elements with relevant officials during his 14-19 February mission.

He has requested to meet in private with a number of prisoners of
conscience as well as leaders of political parties, and also intends to
travel to Rakhine, Kayin and Kachin states.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 13, The Nation (Thailand)
No sanctuary: Trafficking of Burmese people at the ThaiMalay border –
Elaine Pearson

THAILAND made headlines last week as photographs emerged of its navy
towing boats filled with hundreds of Rohingya people from Burma out to
sea, leaving them to wash ashore elsewhere or perish. Unfortunately, such
callous treatment of asylum seekers is nothing new. In the late 1970s, the
Malaysian navy towed boatloads of Vietnamese refugees out to sea, telling
them to head to Indonesia.

Malaysia may have changed its tactics, but it continues to endanger
Burmese refugees who reach its territory. Rather than towing undocumented
Rohingyas out to sea, Malaysia dumps them at the border with Thailand,
reportedly into the hands of human traffickers.

Last year, Human Rights Watch interviewed two dozen undocumented Burmese,
including Rohingya, who described how Malaysian officials apprehended them
during raids, kept them in detention centres, and then dumped them at the
Thai border, often directly into the hands of waiting criminal gangs. Many
of the Burmese I spoke with said that Malaysian immigration officials
accompanying the deportees called the gangs en route to arrange where and
when to deposit their human cargo.

Deportees with money can pay smugglers to return them to Malaysia
undetected. But those without money usually fall into the hands of
traffickers. One Burmese woman told me, "If we don't pay we will be
killed, or sold, or forced to marry unknown men."

A Burmese man described how he was deported to the border with 50 other
Burmese. Only 10 could pay their way out. Traffickers sold the rest: "The
gang said they will send you to work on fishing boats or rubber
plantations. Some who tried to escape were shot and killed." Local
activists call it a "revolving door of abuse".

Local organisations have reported on these problems for years and called
repeatedly for Malaysian authorities to investigate these claims and the
allegations that officials are directly involved in trafficking rackets.

The Malaysian government denies outright all allegations of human
trafficking. The home minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, has dismissed
the reports as "wild accusations", and so far refuses to mount an
impartial and transparent investigation. But now the US Senate Foreign
Relations Committee is examining these claims and the stonewalling may not
work. Too many people have provided detailed testimony that is strikingly
similar in nature to dismiss this evidence of collusion.

As for Thailand, at best its authorities are turning a blind eye to what
is happening on the border, but in a number of cases it appears that its
officials are similarly complicit in the trafficking of deported migrants.

Human Rights Watch has interviewed Burmese migrants in Thailand who
confirm the trafficking allegations. They said that others working
alongside them on fishing boats have been trafficked by gangs working on
the Malaysian border. Other Burmese had been in Thai police lock-ups, but
brokers had paid police to release them, then sold them to fishing-boat
captains.

The collusion of the authorities on both sides of the border is a common
theme in these allegations.

Last week, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva vowed that Thailand would
uphold the law and increase efforts to address human trafficking with
neighbouring countries. Both Malaysia and Thailand recently adopted new
laws to counter human trafficking. It remains to be seen whether these
laws will be enforced so that those prosecuted are not only members of
criminal gangs but also government officials involved with them.

Beyond a criminal justice approach, it's time both countries recognised
refugees and asylum-seekers within their borders, and did more to treat
all migrants humanely. This means only deporting undocumented migrants
safely, and respecting their basic rights. Before deportations take place,
authorities should screen to identify victims of trafficking and allow the
UN refugee agency to screen for refugees.

Victims of trafficking need protection and access to justice. Undocumented
Burmese may be asylum seekers or simply economic migrants seeking a better
life, but those fleeing persecution have a right to protection under
international law. Refugees should be offered asylum or resettlement in
third countries.

Thai and Malaysian leaders should also pressure Burma's generals to end
the abuses from which the Rohingya and others are fleeing. A welcome first
step is Thailand's offer to host a regional conference on the Rohingya
issue. The Burmese government's denial of citizenship to the Rohingya,
forced labour, arbitrary confiscation of property, and denial of freedom
of movement are among the reasons why the Rohingya flee, and why they need
protection.

Addressing human rights abuses at the source will curb the flow of asylum
seekers. Dumping Burmese people at sea or on the border just puts them in
yet another dangerous situation.

Elaine Pearson is deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

____________________________________

February 13, Irrawaddy
The UN has failed Burma again – Editorial

Last week, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was briefed by his
special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, on the outcome of his latest
visit to the country, which ended ten days ago. Ban said nothing of
substance about what the trip accomplished, but through a spokesperson,
reiterated a familiar diplomatic refrain: “I would again call on the
government and opposition to resume substantive dialogue without
preconditions and without further delay.”

Sadly, Ban’s statement demonstrates that his understanding of the
situation in Burma has not improved at all. The conditions for a
resumption of dialogue are completely absent in Burma, despite countless
trips to the country by successive UN special envoys over the past two
decades.

The reason that real political dialogue remains as remote as ever is that
Burma’s jackbooted rulers have no interest in listening to anyone who
doesn’t unconditionally accept their absolute right to hold on to power
indefinitely. And yet, Ban’s statement seems to suggest that both the
Burmese junta and the democratic opposition both need to do something to
break the stalemate, as if they were on a level playing field. But with
thousands of dissidents, including many of Burma’s leading pro-democracy
activists, imprisoned or under house arrest, it is meaningless to suggest
that the opposition is not doing enough to move the country forward.

If the UN’s Burma policy is premised on the fallacy that both sides are
somehow equally guilty of stonewalling, it’s no wonder that its efforts to
broker reconciliation talks have repeatedly ended in failure. What is the
point of telling shackled opposition leaders that they must be prepared to
come to the negotiating table when their jailers are calling all the
shots?

Diplomatic observers suggest that Gambari’s latest visit was a non-event
because it was merely intended to test the waters for his boss. The UN
chief has shown an interest in returning to Burma as a follow-up to his
visit last May, when he helped to persuade the junta to allow
international aid workers into the country to assist in the Cyclone Nargis
relief effort.

But Ban is reluctant to make another trip unless he feels it is likely to
achieve something. And the Burmese regime, for its part, also seems less
than enthusiastic about the prospect of meeting him again. When Snr-Gen
Than Shwe, the junta’s paramount leader, met Ban in Naypyidaw last May,
political issues were completely off the table—at the time, the urgent
need to get aid into the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta trumped everything
else. Now, however, there can be no excuse for not tackling Burma’s
political problems head on.

Than Shwe doesn’t suffer international interference in Burma’s internal
affairs lightly, so even if Ban made up his mind to return to the country,
there is no guarantee that the top general would even deign to meet him.
The most sensitive issue, of course, is the UN’s demands for the release
of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Ironically,
however, it is widely believed that Than Shwe will release the iconic
leaders of Burma’s democracy movement sometime before elections slated to
take place next year. But he is not about to make such a move—intended to
lend the far-from-free elections an air of legitimacy—before it makes good
tactical sense, and certainly not at the behest of a foreign leader.

The simple fact is that Than Shwe doesn’t want to be seen as giving in to
the demands of the international community. He has been especially
disdainful of Gambari’s feeble attempts to voice the concerns of countries
appalled by the situation in Burma. He has repeatedly refused to meet the
UN envoy, whose four-day visit last week—his seventh since taking on the
role of special envoy in 2006—was eclipsed on the senior general’s busy
schedule of ceremonial duties by his courteous reception of three new
ambassadors from the friendly neighboring nations of China, Vietnam and
Laos.

Meanwhile, back at the UN headquarters in New York, Ban continued to mouth
the same empty words that have gotten Burma precisely nowhere, saying he
“looks forward to building on the talks to re-establish democracy and the
protection of human rights in Burma.”

Referring to the briefing he received from Gambari in New Delhi shortly
after the latter’s visit to Burma, Ban added euphemistically: “He had good
discussions there, even though one may not be totally satisfied.”

It may not be very diplomatic to say so, but these words, if stripped of
their niceties and seen in the light of what was actually accomplished,
can mean only one thing: Gambari has failed once again to justify his
pointless mission, which has served only as an excuse to avoid real action
by the UN Security Council.