BurmaNet News, March 7 - 9, 2009

[Editor]

March 7-9, 2009, Issue #3667


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Eight people arrested after signature campaign
DVB: Activist arrested for supplying news
Xinhua: Cash-for-work program to benefit more cyclone-affected households
in Myanmar

ON THE BORDER
Kaowao News: Migrant workers heading back home to Burma
Thai Press Reports: Mae Sot gem traders try to revive business

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Myanmar elephant camp empty as tourists stay away

REGIONAL
Straits Times: UN refugee chief in Myanmar for Rohingya and aid talks

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: Marchers call for release of women political prisoners
Variety (US): 'Burma VJ' finds home

OPINION / OTHER
Washington Times: Yes, Buddhists can be bad; Burma's majority persecutes
Christians and Muslims alike – Heidi Kingston

PRESS RELEASE
CSW: Daughter of Burmese political prisoner: ‘I will never see my father
again
”


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 9, Democratic Voice of Burma
Eight people arrested after signature campaign – Khin Hnin Htet

Eight people were arrested in Rangoon’s Twantay township on charges of not
having valid guest passes after they carried out a signature campaign
calling for the release of all political prisoners.

Khin Zaw, a seafood dealer and owner of a teashop in Zaythit ward, was
arrested on 3 March along with seven of his employees and released two
days later.

Seventy people, including Zaythit ward authority chairman, Than Oo, and
the local police force, raided his house, according to Khin Zaw.

They were accompanied by Union Solidarity and Development Association
members and immigration department staff.

"The immigration officer confirmed that my census list was correct but the
ward chair said that my guest list was not valid,” he said.

“But the police deputy and immigration officer said that I was right and
returned the list and told me to go to bed."

Ten minutes later, however, the authorities returned again and arrested
his employees and detained them for two days before they were released on
bail.

They are scheduled to appear in court on 9 March.

"I collected signatures for the release of all political prisoners,
including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the monks," Khin Zaw said.

"They bear grudges against me for doing that and carried out the arrests
even though I did register my guests."

The authorities also came to check whether any NLD members were staying in
his house a week before the raid and arrests, Khin Zaw said.

Twantay township NLD youth member Yeh Htut said that party members will
continue to carry out the signature campaign despite harassments from
local authorities.

____________________________________

March 9, Democratic Voice of Burma
Activist arrested for supplying news – Maung Too

Human rights activist Thein Thein Yin was arrested on 11 February by
authorities for allegedly supplying news to foreign news agencies, her
relatives said.

The 27-year-old was arrested at her home in Mingan ward, Sittwe township,
in Arakan State.

"Thirteen policemen, including three female officers, came on three
motorcycles and one police van,” an eyewitness said.

“They arrested her and took her to army base in Ann."

Her six-year-old son Kyaw Myat Han was left in the care of his
grandparents as his father is working away from home.

____________________________________

March 9, Xinhua
Cash-for-work program to benefit more cyclone-affected households in Myanmar

The second phase of a cash-for-work program, initiated by Myanmar and
international red cross, will benefit 2,500 more Myanmar cyclone-affected
households, the local weekly journal Flower News reported Monday.

The 2,500 households in 69 villages of 11 townships in cyclone- hit
Ayeyawaddy and Yangon divisions will be provided with jobs in the regions'
rehabilitation work under the program, sponsored by the Myanmar Red Cross
and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC).

The second-phase program, which lasts from January to the end of March
this year, covers the townships of Kawmu, Twantay, Kungyangon, Dedaye,
Kyaiklatt, Phyapon, Bogalay, Mawlamyinegyun, Laputta, Haigyigyun and
Maubin.

The rehabilitation work include building roads in villages, dams, sluice
gates, wooden bridges, port terminals, cleaning of storm-destroyed ponds.

The first phase of the program started in November last year and ended in
January this year.

Myanmar is working to restore three major businesses of storm- hit areas
-- agricultural farming, fishing and salt industry, creating much jobs for
local survivors.

Meanwhile, various relief supplies, that the government, local and
international donors and servicemen have contributed so far, worth over
300 billion Kyats (300 million U.S. dollars), according to official media
report.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

March 9, Kaowao News
Migrant workers heading back home to Burma

The global financial crisis has begun to hit Thailand, forcing several
migrant workers to return home to Burma.

According to a Thai police source at the Three Pagodas Pass border town,
from 50 to 100 migrant workers are crossing over from this border check
point every day.  Many return trips are arranged by service agents who
issue permit letters from their employers and immigration authorities.

Migrant workers pay varying fees depending on their destination, those who
come from southern Thailand or Malaysia border pay about 4500 Baht, those
from Surat pay 3500 Baht and those who come from Maharchai or Bangkok pay
3000 Baht.

“Many employers do not want to hire us. The rubber price has gone down 40
Baht per pound from 90 Baht and the wages are much lower. Many migrant
workers living with their families on rubber plantation are often robbed
and killed by local Thai Muslim gangs,” says Nai Gone of Pong Join
village, Zobbu Township who came from southern Thailand.

“We suffer from discrimination by the local people and even the Thai media
reports negatively about us.  In this global downturn, the government
program is only for local Thais and we are being thrown out,” Chan Ong, a
migrant community leader from Bangkok said.

“The border area is busy with many people crossing back and forth. While
many migrants are heading back home, others are entering Thailand because
the situation is not good in Burma.  There are no employment opportunities
and human right violation continues,” said a villager from Halockanee Mon
refugee camp.

Most migrant workers from Burma work in the fishing, construction and
rubber plantation industries.  Thailand has just announced that 1 million
jobs are likely to be lost in the next 12 months adding that  500,000
foreign work visas and work permits would not be renewed for 2010.

According to a joint UN and ASEAN statement, on February 17, the effect of
the economic downturn was not limited to job losses for foreign workers.
It was also resulting in an increase in protectionist government policies
aimed at clamping down on illegal migration, making foreign workers
particularly vulnerable to exploitative work and unfair labour conditions
and limiting their ability to access health and legal services.
____________________________________

March 9, Thai Press Reports
Mae Sot gem traders try to revive business

Mae Sot's gems trade has been hit hard by a US law banning imports from
Burma but it's trying to make a comeback, the Bangkok Post reports.

Local efforts are being made to restore the sparkle and vibrancy to the
sluggish trade in gemstones in Mae Sot district.

Yupaporn Laohachai, the 31-year-old owner of Kangwan Sophon Gems shop,
displays a piece of jewellery adorned with quartz crystals at the recent
Super Sparkle jewellery fair in Tak's Mae Sot district.

The gem trade here has been hit by the economic slump while a US law
banning imports of gemstones from Burma has affected the circulation of
precious stones in the district.

Recently, an annual gems fair was organised from Feb 27 and March 1 to
give the local precious stones trade a much-needed boost.

The fair was a collaboration between local officials, the provincial
chamber of commerce and the provincial industrial council.

The fair was aimed at reinvigorating and promoting the gemstone market in
Mae Sot and boosting the skills of gem traders and gem manufacturers.

Tak governor Komsan Akechai said Mae Sot is well known as a gemstone
trading centre, given the fact that it borders Burma which is recognised
as a source of high-quality precious stones.

The market is teeming with Thais and foreigners shopping for gemstones at
shops on both sides of Prasatvithi road in downtown Mae Sot.

There are also a lot of "gem brokers" hired to buy and sell gemstones for
profit on behalf of others. The brokers include Thais, Burmese and
Nepalese.

Gemstones on the market include uncut lumps of stone varying in size and
price.

The Rim Moei gem market in Mae Sot is also popular among shoppers and
tourists. It is located near the Thai-Burmese Bridge in Ban Rim Moei in
Tambon Sai Luad.

The gem trade in Mae Sot is also linked to trade in Mae Sai in Chiang Rai
and Chanthaburi.

Tak governor Komsan Akechai takes a look at jewellery made with precious
stones.

Many gem traders from Chanthaburi have moved and now run gem businesses in
Mae Sot.

In the early days of the gem trade in the district, Burmese people brought
gemstones such as jade, rubies and blue sapphires for sale to merchants.
Most stones were in natural, uncut form while cut gems were mostly
cabachon - a gem that is polished but not given facets.

Later, when the gem trade began to flourish, new gem-cutting techniques
were developed and improved to add quality, sophistication and creativity
of design to the gemstones.

Uncut gemstones are sourced mainly from two gem mines in Burma - the Mogok
mine north of Mandalay and the Mong Hsu mine south of the Shan state.

The Mogok mine is famous for producing Pigeon's Blood - one of the world's
finest rubies.

Data from Burma's ministry of national planning and economic development
shows that Burma produces more than one million carats of rubies each
year. Between April 2004 and March 2005, the output tripled.

Panithi Tangpathi, chief adviser at the Tak chamber of commerce, said up
until 1980, gems were smuggled from Burma through Mae Sot and Mae Sai
districts and Chiang Mai.

Mr Panithi said the Burmese government at that time had a monopoly over
the gem trade and tried unsuccessfully to ban gem exports along its
borders.

In 1985, Burma and China inked a cross-border deal and set up a joint
border trade zone.

With the zone in place, the gem trade between the two countries boomed at
the expense of gem centres in border towns in Thailand.

Banpot Korkiatcharoen, chairman of the Tak chamber of commerce, said the
deal has allowed greater access of Burma's precious stones such as jade
and rubies to China.

China, in turn, can enjoy a larger share of Burmese gemstone imports than
Burma's other neighbouring countries, Mr Banpot said.

Most of the gems and jewellery that are available in major world markets
are currently exported through China, Mr Panithi said.

The United States last year passed the Jade Act of 2008 banning direct
imports of rubies, jade and any accessories decorated with stones
originating from Burma via other countries.

The law has had ripple effects throughout the international gem markets as
most uncut gems come from Burma.

A member of the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand examines gemstones
in a mobile lab.

Officials at the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT) said the law
is aimed at stemming the flow of money to the Burmese military junta.

GIT officials said gem traders have had to import uncut stones from
countries in Africa and from Costa Rica.

Gem traders in Rim Moei market have complained that customers have been
few and far between and that gem fairs and related events are needed to
turn around the quiet local trade.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

March 9, Agence France Presse
Myanmar elephant camp empty as tourists stay away

Curious elephant calf Wine Suu Khaing Thein should be the star attraction
of the Pho Kyar eco-reserve down a rocky road in an isolated mountain
range in central Myanmar.

The one-year-old is the youngest of about 80 elephants roaming the reserve
packed with decades-old teak trees and filled with bird song.

Yet despite the promise of elephant rides and jungle treks, the
eco-tourists the camp wants to attract are simply not coming to the
military-ruled nation, let alone making the bumpy ride to remote Pho Kyar.

Tourist arrivals to Myanmar have been dropping since a bloody 2007
crackdown on anti-junta protests, while last year's cyclone and pressure
from pro-democracy groups overseas to boycott the country also deter
holiday-makers.

"We have very few visitors now," said a manager of Asia Green Travels and
Tours Company, which arranges tours of Pho Kyar park, who asked not to be
named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

"It is not because of difficult transportation to this place but because
of tourist arrivals declining these past months."

On the day AFP visited, there were no foreign or local visitors at the
20-acre (eight-hectare) Pho Kyar in the Bago mountain range, despite it
being the height of the tourist season, which runs from October to April.

Instead, the only attention Wine Suu Khaing Thein gets is a beating with a
bamboo stick by one of the elephant handlers, known as mahouts.

"You shouldn't run here and there. Stay beside your mother," the man
shouts, herding the calf back to her family as they wait for a check-up
from the vet.

The reserve is about 200 miles (320 kilometres) away from the commercial
and transport hub Yangon, closer to the military regime's new capital
Naypyidaw, a sprawling, hidden-away city that tourists are not allowed to
visit.

Myanmar has been ruled by various military juntas since 1962, and
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been locked away and kept under
house arrest for most of the last two decades.

She once urged foreigners to stay away from Myanmar -- formally known as
Burma -- to deny the military rulers revenue from tourism, although as she
is mostly kept silent by the junta it is unclear if her views have
changed.

Whether to explore Myanmar's ancient temples, crumbling cities and remote
jungles remains a heated debate among travellers, with the Rough Guide
travel series not even publishing a book on the nation out of protest.

Moral arguments aside, the global economic downturn and recent events in
Myanmar have hammered the industry just as it was finding its feet.

Images of Buddhist monks fleeing gunfire on Yangon's streets during
protests in September 2007 and of bloated corpses littering paddy fields
in the southern delta after Cyclone Nargis last May did not inspire
tourists' confidence.

The government's hotel and tourism department has said that 177,018
foreigners arrived at Yangon International Airport in 2008, nearly 25 per
cent down from the 231,587 foreigners who came in 2007.

"Tourist arrivals have declined because of Cyclone Nargis. Tourists think
that we have a very bad situation and dare not visit for relaxation," said
Khin, a manager of a Yangon tour company.

Exactly how many people make it to Pho Kyar elephant camp, which was set
up 20 years ago, is unclear as the reserve does not keep records.

More than half the elephants at the camp are working animals still used by
the Myanma Timber Enterprise in the logging industry, and spend the dry
season heaving felled trees through the jungle.

Come the rainy season -- or if the elephant is too old to work -- the
pachyderms return to the reserve to amuse any tourists who do show up.

"Pho Kyar elephant camp is the best one in the country," said a vet from
the forestry ministry who did not want to be named. "We always take care
of the elephants."

Myanmar has the largest elephant population in Southeast Asia, with an
estimated 4,000 to 5,000 animals, said a recent report by wildlife group
TRAFFIC that warned the animal is threatened by poaching.

Environmentalists in the country have also said that as Myanmar's junta
expands logging in the teak forests, wild elephants are being captured and
trained for clear-cutting operations that destroy their own habitats.

Managers at Pho Kyar camp hope that they can help educate visitors on
preserving Myanmar's elephants, if only the holiday-makers would turn up.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 9, Straits Times
UN refugee chief in Myanmar for Rohingya and aid talks – Normal Ghosh

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres is
in Myanmar for talks with the ruling junta on humanitarian aid - with the
Rohingya problem on the agenda as well.

Mr Guterres met Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya on Saturday before
flying to Yangon and Naypyidaw, to discuss how the UNHCR could contribute
to resolving the Rohingya problem.

He told journalists after the meeting that his mission in Myanmar was to
expand 'humanitarian space' and create better living conditions to
discourage migration.

Mr Kasit said Thai agencies would introduce a 'handbook' for officials to
help them screen Rohingya and determine which among them were Bengalis.

The Rohingya controversy has brought some pressure on Myanmar, as Rohingya
fleeing severe discrimination turn up in fellow Asean countries such as
Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

At the Asean summit in Thailand two weekends ago, Myanmar agreed to 'take
back' Bengalis. Mr Kasit told journalists he had asked the UNHCR to help
in separating Bengalis from Rohingya.

The choice of phrase was significant - Myanmar does not recognise the term
'Rohingya' and claims most are Bengalis who settled in Rakhine state,
which borders Bangladesh, during the colonial period.

The Rohingya - who are Muslims - do not figure in Myanmar's official list
of minorities, and are denied citizenship.

But the regime, mindful of relations with Bangladesh, isalso careful not
to call the Rohingya Bangladeshis. Bangladesh does not recognise them as
Bengalis, and struggles to cope with tens of thousands living mostly in
squalor in a few organised camps near the Myanmar border.

Bangladesh also wants the UNHCR to do more to assist the Rohingya on its
territory to take the burden off the state.

But Myanmar's regime is also concerned at the state of affairs in Rakhine
state for political reasons, and has recently sent several ministers to
the area. The concern centres on potential unrest ahead of next year's
"election"- the first in nearly 20 years. Unrest in Rakhine state may mar
the election.

The regime may both accommodate the concerns of Asean to some degree, and
continue to intimidate the Rohingya, analysts say.

The UNHCR chief's visit is also significant in terms of extending
humanitarian aid to the rest of the country, from the current focus on the
Irrawaddy delta where the relief and rehabilitation efforts in the wake of
last year's deadly cyclone Nargis continue.

As debate re-emerges over international sanctions against the regime -
against the background of policy reviews by the United States and the
European Union - some see expanded humanitarian aid and official
development assistance as a way to remain engaged with Myanmar, allowing
the international community to gradually build real relationships with the
generals.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

March 9, Democratic Voice of Burma
Marchers call for release of women political prisoners – Yee May Aung

Exiled Burmese women’s activist group, the Women’s League of Burma, have
marked International Women’s Day by calling for the release of all women
political prisoners in Burma.

The WLB in India, Bangladesh and Thailand yesterday organised social
gatherings, discussion forums and marches to show solidarity for
imprisoned women activists.

Saw Mya Yazar Linn, a board member of the WLB, said that about 50 people
attended the Women’s Day discussion forum organised by the group in Dhaka,
Bangladesh.

“In the forum, we mainly discussed the government’s upcoming elections in
2010, which was based on a constitution which won’t do anything good for
the people of Burma,” he said.

“We call for the release of all women political prisoners in Burma,
including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Ma Nilar Thein, Mee Mee and Su Su Nway.

“We also call for the release of Ni Ni Myint who is being detained and
tortured in Arakan’s Butheetaung prison, and Ma Pan Pan Yin who is also
detained in Arakan state,” he added.

Thin Thin Aung, joint secretary of the WLB, who was in India yesterday,
said Burmese woman groups in capital New Delhi and Mizoram state’s Aizawl
gathered up to mark the Women’s Day in discussion forums.

“We invited Burmese women migrants to the forum in Aizawl and lectured
them about the Women’s Day: how it started, about the women’s rights
movements around the world and on how Burmese and other women around the
world were being discriminated,” he said.

WLB’s other joint-secretary, Tin Tin Nwe, said the group, along with
several other women and NGOs in Chiang Mai, Thailand, organised a march to
show support for the Burmese women activists under detention.

“The WLB cooperated with the Migrant Assistance Program foundation and the
Empower group to organise the march together,” said Tin Tin Nwe.

“During the march, we called for a release of all women political
prisoners in Burma, and also for a round table dialogue which involves all
the political groups.”

Dr. Myint Cho, of Australia-Burma council in Sydney, Australia, said
Burmese women living there also joined together in a protest.

____________________________________

March 9, Variety (US)
'Burma VJ' finds home – Dave McNary

Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired U.S. rights to "Burma VJ," Anders
Ostergaard's documentary about the 2007 uprising in Myanmar, and plans to
release the film this spring.
"Burma VJ" is centered on the Democratic Voice of Burma, a collective of
30 anonymous and underground video journalists who recorded the events on
handycams and smuggled the footage out of the country.

The Magic Hour Films' production won the world documentary editing award
at Sundance and the Intl. Human Rights Award at Berlin.

Oscilloscope said "Burma" will open in New York on May 20. HBO has
broadcast rights.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

March 9, Washington Times
Yes, Buddhists can be bad; Burma's majority persecutes Christians and
Muslims alike – Heidi Kingston

The Rohingyas may be among the most miserable refugee populations on
Earth, relief workers say. Every so often the tragedy of these outcasts
from militarily ruled Burma pushes itself to the forefront of
international consciousness.

Most recently, Thai authorities have forced hundreds of desperate men out
to sea in open boats and left them there to die. When 220 of these former
Burmese refugees were discovered, and Angelina Jolie, the Hollywood star
and United Nations Refugee Agency's goodwill ambassador, talked about
their plight, it focused the spotlight on them again, if only briefly.

Then the story disappeared, but not their impossible circumstances. These
persecuted and displaced refugees lived in Burma for many generations, yet
are stateless. The government refuses to recognize these Muslims as
citizens of the largely Buddhist country. Instead, the government makes
the lives of this minority intolerable. By doing so, the government hopes
the million or so who remain will follow the other 250,000 who have
slipped over the border into the eastern part of Bangladesh. (For a report
on the plight of Burma's Christians, see The Washington Times, March 6, p.
A-12).

The Rohingyas and the Bangladeshis of the Chittigong region speak a
similar language, are physically alike, and practice the same religion.
Over the last two decades, they have fled in successive waves, looking for
sanctuary.

But Bangladesh has enough of its own problems. It is desperately poor,
prone to natural disasters, with more than 150 million people crammed
together on low-lying land with few resources to feed and house its own
people, let alone absorb the Rohingyas.

The border between the two countries, while guarded, can be crossed in
certain places either by boat or simply by foot. The life the Rohingyas
seek in Bangladesh is hardly paradise.

The Rohingya refugees break down into four categories - the first are
official and registered - 23,620 are housed, fed, and looked after by the
U.N. Refugee Agency. Another miserable 5,000 are the "self-settled" and
have built shelters on the outskirts of the camps. They have nothing and
are entitled to nothing.

The third type, of which there could be as many as 200,000, have melted
into the host community. Many, though, are lured back to the U.N. camp by
the guarantee of regular supplies. This is a major source of concern for
the government in a country where food insecurity is the normal state of
affairs and between 50 percent and 60 percent of the general population
suffers malnutrition.

The fourth kind of refugees are also unregistered, but now have shelter,
sanitation, health care and water provided by the British-based charity
Islamic Relief - but no regular food supply. These 500 families lived in
inhuman conditions, in the open air, in makeshift shacks flooded twice
daily by the tidal Naf River, the natural border between Burma and
Bangladesh. They were prohibited from moving any further inland by the
government, lest by recognizing them it would have to accept
responsibility for them.

In July, Islamic Relief was given the go-ahead to rehouse these 10,000
refugees. Since then, the numbers on the Leda site have swelled to 13,000,
bringing new worries.

While most Rohingyas consider themselves Burmese, they have no desire to
return. Men are often taken by the army and used as forced labor. Many
die. Once the men go, the women are stranded. Land is routinely
confiscated. The women are subjected to numerous impossible restrictions.
They are not allowed to leave the village without permission, which also
means they cannot sell goods at market. They cannot get married without
state authority. Women are subjected to sexual violence. With no schools,
they remain at the bottom of the pile. The government of Burma tells the
Rohingyas they are Bangladeshi, the Bangladeshis tell them they are
Burmese.

"At the root of the problem, it's a political issue," says Islamic
Relief's country director, Dr. Ahmed Nasr, "which needs international
support. Some sort of pressure should be used, and Bangladesh also needs
some incentives, maybe more aid."

Meanwhile, the United Nations is making the case for the Rohingyas to stay
in Bangladesh until the conditions in Burma are conducive to their return.
That might mean forever. The Bangladesh government theoretically opposes
integration of the refugees, but the United Nations advocates fulfilling
the refugees' basic rights.

In Leda camp, people talked to me about the food shortage. The government
allows Islamic Relief to provide sanitation, housing and health care, but
not food or education. The charity wants them to be self-reliant, urging
them to work in nearby salt fields or as rickshaw wallahs. Members of the
equally poor host community resent the desperate Rohingyas for
economically undercutting them.

Kabizatul Kubra, a Bangladeshi woman from the local community, says she
has sympathy with their plight. "We're sad they lost so much, but they
should go back." She worries that if food is not provided, they will turn
to "thieving."

Leda may be a well-managed camp, clean and orderly, but in the end it is a
refugee camp. It has a small market. Runner beans grow on the roofs. Five
doctors are on call. The camp has a mental health clinic and a therapeutic
feeding center, and all are equally accessible to the host community.

A midwife, herself a refugee, said as we walked around the camp, "We are
just floating here." They suffer between being unable to start a new life
and unable to forget the old one.

Heidi Kingstone is a freelance journalist living in London and has
reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and South Asia for a number of
international publications.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

March 9, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Daughter of Burmese political prisoner: ‘I will never see my father again
”

A twenty year old Burmese woman; Wai Hnin Pwint Thon told one hundred and
fifty delegates attending the Global Day of Prayer for Burma on Saturday
7March; “Unless the situation in Burma changes, I will never see my father
again.”

Wai Hnin Pwint Thon’s father Mya Aye is currently serving a 65 year prison
sentence for peacefully protesting against Burma’s brutal military regime.
He is suffering from a severe heart condition and is likely to die in
prison. Fearing her own arrest, Wai Hnin told Premier Christian Radio’s
Cindy Kent that she came to the UK in 2005 and now volunteers at the Burma
Campaign UK, assisting their work in releasing Burma’s many political
prisoners. Her eight year old sister still lives with her mother in
Rangoon. Wai Hnin’s refugee status means she is unable to visit them. Wai
Hnin’s moving story formed part of the annual day hosted by Christian
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) together with Karen Aid and Partners Relief and
Development.

Baroness Caroline Cox and CSW’s East Asia’s Team Leader Benedict Rogers,
author of A Land Without Evil: Stopping the Genocide of Burma’s Karen
People, joined a panel of notable speakers to present the plight of
Burma’s ethnic minorities at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster. Benedict
Rogers gave an informative overview of the current humanitarian, political
and human rights issues in Burma, including the persecution of ethnic
minorities such as the Karen, Karenni, Shan Kachin, Chin and Rohingyas,
while Baroness Cox, Chief Executive of the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust
(HART), presented first-hand evidence of the famine sweeping Chin State,
and of the plight of the Shan people. A short film depicting CSW’s most
recent fact-finding visit to the Thai-Burmese border, gave delegates yet
more evidence of human rights violations in Karen State.

The Global Day of Prayer for Burma was first initiated in 1997 by
Christians Concerned for Burma at the request of Burma’s democracy leader,
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It has since become an
internationally recognised event, attended by representatives from nearly
all Burma’s persecuted ethnic minorities.

Benedict Rogers, CSW’s East Asia Team Leader said: “CSW would like to
thank each and every individual who participated in the Global Day of
Prayer for Burma. We are greatly encouraged by the support shown for
Burma’s persecuted people. This year‘s event was particularly important in
light of the forthcoming 2010 elections currently being planned by Burma’s
military regime, the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis, and also the
Chin famine. We are now urging all our supporters to join us in urging the
UN Secretary General to intensify his efforts to facilitate a process of
meaningful dialogue between Burma’s military regime, the democracy
movement and the ethnic nationalities. Concrete action must be taken
without further delay”.

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Theresa
Malinowska, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on email
theresamalinowska at csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

CSW is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom,
works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and
promotes religious liberty for all.

1.      CSW launched a joint campaign with Partners Relief and Development
last year, to highlight human rights violations in Burma. The Change for
Burma! campaign includes calls for a case to be brought to the
International Criminal Court. Details can be found at
www.changeforburma.org

2.      For more information on Partners Relief and Development please
click here

3.      For photographs of Wai Hnin and the day, please download the
attachments, or contact CSW’s press office.