BurmaNet News, June 25 - 26, 2009

[Editor]

June 25-26, 2009 Issue # 3741


INSIDE BURMA
Reuters: U.N. envoy arrives in Myanmar to discuss Ban visit
DVB: ‘Lawyers of the government’ steering Suu Kyi trial
AP: Myanmar says American main culprit in Suu Kyi case
Mizzima: Ashin Gambira’s prison term reduced by five years
DVB: Six villages relocated for Arakan hydropower plant

ON THE BORDER
DVB: Thai education reform to benefit Burmese migrants

DRUGS
DVB: Opium poppy cultivation in Burma rises
Irrawaddy: More than half of Myitkyina university students addicted: KNG

INTERNATIONAL
BBC News: Burma denies link to N Korea ship
Kaladan News: Rohingya participates in 45th standing committee meeting of
UNHCR

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: One step forward, two steps back – Kyaw Zwa Moe
New York Times: Don't moon over Burma – Marie Doezema
Economist: On the run – Editorial



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 26, Reuters
U.N. envoy arrives in Myanmar to discuss Ban visit – Aung Hla Tun

United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari arrived in military-ruled
Myanmar Friday to explore the possibility of a visit next month by U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Gambari, making his eighth visit to the former Burma, left Yangon by car
to travel 240 miles (385 km) to the country's new capital Naypyidaw, a
diplomat said.

The Nigerian was expected to meet Foreign Minister Nyan Win. It was not
known if Gambari would see opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is on
trial in Yangon for breaching terms of her house arrest by allowing an
American intruder to stay at her home last month.

"Gambari will meet with the foreign minister later this afternoon about
the possibility of the visit of Ban Ki-moon," the diplomat told Reuters.

"He's spending tonight in Naypyidaw but we don't know his further plans
yet. We're not sure whether he will get a chance to see Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi."

Suu Kyi's trial, which sparked anger around the world, was adjourned
Friday until July 3, when the court will hear the testimony of legal
expert Khin Moe Moe, her lawyer Nyan Win said.

A higher court is yet to rule on an appeal against bans on two of Suu
Kyi's other defence witnesses, senior National League for Democracy (NLD)
member Win Tin and the party's detained vice-chairman, Tin Oo.

Critics have dismissed the case as a "show trial" aimed at keeping Suu Kyi
out of planned multi-party elections next year.

She faces three to five years in prison if found guilty of violating a
security law protecting the state from "subversive elements."

Nyan Win said Suu Kyi was in good health but knew nothing of Gambari's trip.

"She had not known about the visit of Gambari until we told her," he told
reporters.

Western diplomats at the United Nations said last week the junta had
invited Ban, who has expressed a desire to meet the generals to press for
democratic reform and the release of Suu Kyi and other political
prisoners.

However, the diplomats, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Ban
was concerned the regime would use the visit for propaganda purposes to
try to legitimise Suu Kyi's trial.

(Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Alex Richardson)

____________________________________

June 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
‘Lawyers of the government’ steering Suu Kyi trial – Khin Hnin Htet

A witness disqualified from testifying in the defense of Burma’s Aung San
Suu Kyi said yesterday following his appeal that it was not “ordinary
lawyers” making key decisions in the trial but government cronies.

Suu Kyi’s defense team yesterday appealed to Burma’s supreme court to
admit two witnesses who were disqualified last month by judges from
testifying.

One of Suu Kyi’s lawyers said that the decision was not in accordance with
Burmese law. One of the witnesses, U Tin Oo, is currently under house
arrest, while U Win Tin has been criticized by the junta for giving
interviews about the trial to foreign media.

Both are senior members of the opposition National League for Democracy
party, which Suu Kyi leads.

“I argued that there is no law there that says that [someone under house
arrest]
can't testify,” said lawyer Nyan Win.

“I argued that there is nowhere in the law that says that someone who
doesn't agree with the government can't testify, with regards to U Win
Tin."

Three of Suu Kyi’s four witnesses were initially barred, although one was
later readmitted. The prosecution team was permitted 14 witnesses,
although only nine eventually testified.

Win Tin said yesterday that it was clear what the government’s attitude
towards Suu Kyi’s team is.

“The people who put forward the [witness disqualification] argument are
people from the central lawyers’ office
the lawyers of the government,” he
said.

“I feel as if they are giving me a sign that they want to trap me legally,
and sue me or intimidate me."

Rumours have been circulating in Rangoon that Win Tin could be charged by
judges for refusing to return his prisoner uniform, which he has been
wearing since he was released last year from a 19 year sentence.

On the subject of UN envoy Gambari’s visit to Burma, which began this
morning, Win Tin said that dialogue must be sought.

"When Mr. Gambari comes, he must meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi - that
must be his priority,” he said.

“If he can't do that
his trip has no meaning and has no value.”

Gambari’s trip could pave the way for a visit by UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon, who was invited by the government to visit in July, although he
has not confirmed whether the trip will go ahead.

“The main thing Mr Ban Ki-moon has to do is to try to arrange a meeting
between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Senior General Than Shwe,” Win Tin said.

____________________________________

June 26, Associated Press
Myanmar says American main culprit in Suu Kyi case

Myanmar's national police chief said Thursday that the American man who
swam uninvited to the home of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was the
"main culprit" in the case filed against her.

The comment that could signal a less aggressive stance against the Nobel
Peace laureate, who is being tried for violating the terms of her house
arrest when John William Yettaw entered her closely guarded lakeside home
last month and stayed two days. Yettaw and Suu Kyi's two women companions
are also charged.

If convicted, the 64-year-old faces up to five years in prison. She has
been under house arrest for more than 13 of the last 19 years.

Her supporters say the government is almost certain to convict her and
claim the regime is using the incident to keep the pro-democracy leader
detained through next year's elections.

Brig. Gen. Khin Yi's comments at a news conference Thursday marked the
first time the government has shifted the spotlight from Suu Kyi. Khin Yi
faulted the democracy leader for her lack of cooperation with the security
personnel at her home, but alleged that Yettaw was mostly to blame for the
incident and that he may have been backed by some groups.

He declined to identify which groups, but noted Yettaw had met many exiled
dissidents in neighboring Thailand.

"There could be some individuals and organizations that had supported or
directed John William Yettaw, but it is undeniable that Mr. Yettaw is the
main culprit who has broken the existing law," he said.

The briefing, which was attended by lawyers and diplomats, came a day
before the scheduled visit of U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, which
may presage a trip by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon early next month.

Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, has pleaded not guilty, and explained in
court that he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had
gone to warn her. Family and friends have said that he was working on a
book and wished to interview Suu Kyi.

Khin Yi noted that Yettaw was apprehended in May while returning from Suu
Kyi's house along a longer route than the one he had taken during a
previous secret visit in November.

"Only Mr. Yettaw and his accomplices will know why he didn't use the
shorter route. Can it be assumed that he deliberately did it to create
problems?" said Khin Yi.

He described the American as "an intelligent man and not an unsound person
as alleged by some opposition groups."
____________________________________

June 26, Mizzima
Ashin Gambira’s prison term reduced by five years – Phanida

Monk Ashin Gambira, arrested and sentenced to 68 years in prison for his
lead role in anti-junta protests in September 2007 has had his prison term
reduced by five years by a  district court in Insein prison on Thursday.

The western district court reduced the sentence of Gambira, leader of the
All Burma Buddhist Monks Association by five years. He was charged under
the Electronics Act. The reverend monk, who was charged on 16 counts, will
now have to serve 63 years in prison.

The Electronics Act 33 (a) stipulates that using the internet without the
permission of the authorities is an offence and is punishable. The law
became a tool for the authorities to sentence the reverend monk, who took
a lead role in the September 2007 monk-led protests.

Lawyers of the monk, who is 29, and is currently detained in a prison in
Kalemyo in Sagaing division, have appealed to the district court. The
court said the appeals were late and rejected appeals for seven counts.

The legal counsels have now, submitted appeals on the other nine counts,
and the court has scheduled a session on June 29.

Ashin Gambira, however, denied appealing but the lawyers have been acting
on the request of his parents.

Authorities have also arrested the monk’s elder brother Aung Kyaw Kyaw and
sentenced him to 14 years in prison. He is currently detained in Tuaggyi
prison in Shan state. Similarly, his younger brother Aung Ko Ko Lwin and
brother-in-law Moe Htet Lian were also arrested and sentenced to five
years each and are respectively in Kyuak Pyu prison in Arakan state and
Moulmein prison in Mon state.

____________________________________

June 25, Democratic Voice of Burma
Six villages relocated for Arakan hydropower plant – Daniella Nayu

Six villages located near the proposed site of a hydropower plant in
Burma’s western Arakan state have been displaced by Burmese military, with
added concerns that civilians nearby will be forced to help build the
plant.

The villages, near to Buthidaung township, are home to the Khami ethnic
group, whose numbers are reportedly “very low already”, according to the
All Arakan Student and Youth Congress (AASYC), who have been monitoring
the plant’s impact on the local area.

This is one of several times that the project has been attempted at the
area close to the Sai Dan waterfall, and given the influx of army troops
and construction materials, villagers reportedly are confident that this
one will go ahead.

Original plans for the plant date back to 1959, but any initial attempts
at construction were thwarted by the murder of a Japanese construction
worker by the then ruling Burmese Communist Party.

According to Kim Weistrich, from the AASYC’s Anti-River Development
Campaign, further forced relocation of Khami away from their land will
means that “it is quite likely that a lot of the cultural heritage will be
lost”.

Concerns about locals being forced to help build the plant stem from the
construction last year of the nearby Zee Chaung dam on the Kaladan river,
which reportedly involved the use of 150 unpaid labourers per day,
including children.

“We strongly expect that to happen with the Sai Dan plant as well” Kim
Wiestrich said.

Cases of forced labour and other such human rights abuses are commonly
documented during construction projects in Burma.

International watchdogs monitoring the development of a gas pipeline to
China, which will begin its course in Arakan state, say that intense
militarization along the pipeline contribute to cases of forced labour and
land confiscation.

"Overall, I think there's a consistent pattern that local people are not
regarded as stakeholders in these projects, they are regarded as
obstacles,” said Matthew Smith of advocacy group EarthRights International
(ERI).

“For other projects, there seems to be a consistent pattern; the military
moves in and there is forced labour, forced relocation, land confiscation,
no compensation, and local villages lose their land.”

It is rumoured that the Burmese military has also banned the use of bamboo
in forests surrounding the Sai Dan waterfall which local villagers are
dependent on.

“It’s particularly dangerous at this time of year because it’s the rainy
season” said AASCY, relating to the use of bamboo by locals to support
their homes during heavy rains.

The military has apparently claimed that the power produced will be used
in Arakan state, although there are doubts to whether this is true.

"There are definitely reasons to be concerned, especially when we're
talking about revenues which are generated from the people's natural
resources," said Smith.

Kim Wiestrich said it was “quite likely” that the majority of the income
will be used for military means.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
Thai education reform to benefit Burmese migrants – Rosalie Smith

Burmese migrants and refugees living on the periphery of Thai society
could benefit from the Thai government’s new plans to strengthen its
education policy for migrant and stateless children in the country.

Thailand hosts some 3.5 million stateless persons, the majority of which
are Burmese who have fled conflict in the country or who come to Thailand
to find employment. Around 80 per cent of labour migrants are Burmese.

Currently all children, except those living in refugee camps, are
ostensibly entitled to be educated in Thai schools regardless of their
nationality.

The cost of schooling and transportation can often prevent migrant
children from attending, and poses particular problems for the estimated
500,000 children born to Burmese parents in Thailand.

Speaking on the World Day Against Child Labour earlier this month,
Thailand’s deputy education minister, Chaiwut Bannawat, spoke of the
government’s plan to improve its ‘education for all’ policy to better
include migrant and stateless children.

Problems with the feasibility for migrant children attending school are
compounded by the transient lifestyle of their parents, who often move
from place to place in search of work.

“Some migrant communities are very mobile; construction site workers don’t
stay in one place, they work on a construction site for three months and
then move to another area, so it is difficult for the families to put the
children to school, ” said Jackie Pollock, director of the Migrant
Assistance Programme (MAP) Foundation.

“Many migrant parents are afraid to put children on a school bus or
something, because they have heard about trafficking and they are scared
they won’t see their children again.”

In areas of northern Thailand, such as Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Sot,
active NGO’s and departments of education mean migrant children have a
good chance of accessing education.

In Bangkok, however, where only an estimated 200 registered migrant
children are studying, the problem becomes more worrying.

“There are areas where thousands and thousands of children are falling
through this system,” said Pollock.

It remains unclear what exactly the government is planning to do, but,
said Pollock, officials may look into giving some legal status to the
migrant learning centers while improving the current system for migrant
children in Thai schools.

____________________________________
DRUGS

June 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
Opium poppy cultivation in Burma rises – Francis Wade

Burma remains the world’s second largest source of opium, according to a
UN report released yesterday that found a slight rise in opium poppy
cultivation across Burma but decreasing levels worldwide.

While global markets for most illicit are either steady or in decline, the
World Drug Report 2009 reported an increase in production and use of
synthetic drugs in the developing world.

Burma remains the world’s second biggest producer of opium behind
Afghanistan. While levels of poppy cultivation for opium are a fraction of
those of a decade ago, the market is still healthy.

Globally, there are thought to be around 189,000 hectares for cultivation,
with 28,500 of those in Burma. Media reports of opium production in
Afghanistan often link the trade to the presence of Taliban units, despite
there being an increase in production since the US-led invasion to topple
the Taliban in 2001.

In Burma, opium production, last year measured at around 4000 metric tons,
is often tied to increasing militarization throughout the country, most
notably in the country’s eastern Shan state.

In the past decade the government has lumped the army with a self-reliance
policy, in which troops must be responsible for their own equipment and
food, despite receiving meager wages.

Lower-ranking soldiers are often required to contribute up to 10,000 kyat
($US10) to their unit, despite being on a salary of around 30,000 kyat
($US30) a month.

“This has forced the army units to get involved in all sorts of illegal
trade business, including drugs,” said an expert on Burma’s opium trade,
Khuensai Jaiyen.

Burma’s aggressive expansion of its military, coupled with the
self-reliance policy, compounds a problem for once self-sufficient
villagers in Shan state who now are forced to provide food for troops.

The increase from 25 battalions in Shan state a decade ago to over 160 has
“caused great burden on the population
 [making] it difficult to survive
and difficult to feed the family,” said Khuensai Jaiyen.

“If we don’t grow opium, how can we get enough food? If I don’t want to
grow opium, I have to come into Thailand and send money back to my family
to feed itself for a whole year but also the army.”

Although cultivation of poppies may have increased in recent years, output
of opium has decreased. Khuensai Jaiyen warns, however, to exercise
caution about praising the ruling State Peace and Development Council’s
(SPDC) alleged eradication programmes.

“Some people might congratulate the SPDC; you had better congratulate the
weather instead of the SPDC. Last year the downpour had destroyed, in some
places, 60 percent of the fields,” he said.

____________________________________

June 26, Irrawaddy
More than half of Myitkyina university students addicted: KNG – Lawi Weng

Addiction to heroin and other drugs has in recent years become widespread
among students at Myitkyina University in Kachin State, according to a
Kachin News Agency (KNG) report published on Friday.

The KNG report was released on the same day that the Burmese military
regime was holding a ceremony to burn seized drugs to mark World Anti-Drug
Day. This year’s ceremony took place in Kengtung Township in Shan State.

The eight-page report paints an alarming picture of drug use, and in
particular the use of heroin, which has infiltrated the northernmost
Burmese state dramatically in recent years. The report also details the
endemic use of drugs among workers in the jade mines of Hpakant in Kachin
State and the complicity of company bosses and the military authorities in
the region.

“Myitkyina University has become a haven for heroin,” he said.

The disturbing report outlines the increase in drug use among university
students in the Kachin capital since 2003 and says that both male and
female students “are fearless about taking drugs” and that they “shoot up
in the classrooms and in the toilet openly.”

It says that heroin is commonly sold to students and other young people in
tiny penicillin vial lids at a price of about 1,500 kyat (US $1.50) per
cap, although first-time users are often given free samples to get them
hooked.

The report says that Myitkyina University has become so notorious for
soaring levels of drug addiction among its students that it has become a
“source of shame and bitterness for the local community.”

The KNG report also notes that there are thousands of workers in jade
mines in Kachin State that line up like they were at “a festival” to buy
drugs and often spend more money on drugs than they are able to earn.

The report quotes a jade mine manager as saying: “When the laopan (Chinese
company bosses) invite you to their houses, they teat you with opium. All
of the jade brokers get addicted.”

Although day laborers earn as little as 1,000 kyat ($1) per day, the
report says that a pipe of opium costs at least 3—4,000 kyat ($3-4) while
a methamphetamine pill goes for about 6,500 kyat ($6.50).

The report also accuses the Burmese authorities of ignoring the drug
problem that is threatening the Kachin community and, in many cases, of
being involved with it.

Burma’s state-run media has reported that the country has been successful
in eliminating illegal drugs with a decline of 11 percent in drug
production in 2007-2008.

The New Light of Myanmar reported that the Burmese authorities had
destroyed 312,700 hectares of poppy within the last two years and that
Burma has been successful in the first five-year phase of its 15-year
narcotic drugs eradication program that began in 1999-2000.

However, according to the 2008 World Drug Report by the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), opium cultivation increased 29 percent
during that period, though it noted that most of this amount originated on
poppy farms in the Wa region of Shan State.

Khuensai Jaiyen, editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News, based in
Chiang Mai, Thailand, said it will be difficult to eliminate illegal drugs
in northern Burma because the political situation is unstable and many
people in Shan State have to rely on income from poppy farms.

Even the ceasefire groups in Shan State have to rely on income from the
opium poppy trade, he added.

Of a total of 27,700 hectares (68,419 acres) of opium poppy cultivation in
all Burma, Shan State alone accounted for as much as 25,400 hectares
(62,738 acres), according to the UNODC report. It is estimated that as
many as 150,000 households in Shan State are involved in opium poppy
cultivation—an increase of 24 percent from previous years.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 25, BBC News
Burma denies link to N Korea ship – Jonathan Head

Burma has denied any link with a North Korean ship in the South China Sea.

US officials have said they believe the Kang Nam 1 could be heading to
Burma, carrying weapons in defiance of a United Nations embargo.

Burma and North Korea ended diplomatic relations in 1983 after a bungled
assassination attempt by North Korean agents killed 20 people in Burma.

But in recent years they are believed to be co-operating in a number of
areas, including weapons supplies.

Singapore's dilemma

For the past week the Kang Nam 1 has made steady progress down the coast
of China, closely shadowed by a US Navy destroyer.

Now the Burmese government has issued a statement denying that the Kang
Nam 1 is heading there, although it also said it was expecting another
North Korean ship to arrive with a cargo of rice this weekend.

Burma is believed to have bought significant quantities of conventional
weapons from North Korea in the past few years.

Burma is also to believed be getting help in building a sophisticated
complex of tunnels and bunkers for its military rulers.

A new UN resolution passed in the wake of North Korea's recent nuclear
test empowers member states to inspect any North Korean ships - but the US
Navy has so far not attempted to intercept the Kang Nam 1 on the high
seas.

However the ship may be forced to refuel in Singapore - in which case the
Singaporean authorities would face a dilemma over whether to try to
inspect its cargo - a move North Korea has warned it would view as an act
of war.
____________________________________

June 26, Kaladan News
Rohingya participates in 45th standing committee meeting of UNHCR

Dr. Kamal Hussein, representative of Burmese Rohingya Community in
Australia (BRCA), presented a statement (drafted) on behalf of NGOs across
the world at the 45th Standing Committee meeting of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on June 23 in Geneva, Switzerland, U
Kyaw Maung, the President of BRCA from Australia said.

The grand opening speech of June 23 meeting was chaired by the Ambassador
of Costa Rica who visited Malaysia and Thailand to visit refugees quite
recently and gave a speech on the Burmese refugee situation in Asia and
then in other countries, according to Dr. Kamal from Geneva.

It is a great honor for me, for BRCA, the Rohingya community and also for
the Australian team as I have been given the chance to present a statement
(drafted) on behalf of NGOs across the world," said Dr. Kamal.

After attending the meeting, Dr. Kamal told Kaladan News, We need at least
three steps of lobbying for Rohingyas or for any oppressed group in the
world, such as meetings and explaining to the policy makers, politicians ,
NGOs and UN agencies, about what is happening in the community such as
oppression, human rights violation etc; we need to go through media and
researches to write about what is happening to the community and need to
participate for taking action, practical decision and policy drafting: and
pursue Governments and United Nations.

We sent our representative Dr. Kamal Hussein to participate in UNHCRs
Geneva meetings to raise awareness about the plight of hundreds of
thousands of Rohingya refugees across Asia, according to U Kyaw Maung, the
President of BRCA in Australia.

BRCA works tirelessly with the cooperation of Refugee Council of Australia
and the Centre for Refugee Research UNSW and Amnesty international of
Australia to provide stronger support from national and international
levels for the Rohingya refugees, U Kyaw Maung more said.

I would like to thank Caritas Australia for helping us, he added.

We, at the BRCA worked hard with the concerned authorities from Australia
for resettling Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh in 2008-2009 and are
hoping more Rohingya refugees will be settled in future, he more added.

I hope the participation and presentation will help Rohingyas and Burma
not only in the NGO forum but also in the government forum. Now here in
the UN, the practical action of the Rohingyas plight is about to be
decided for the next year and also for the next five years, said Dr.
Kamal.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is currently made up of 70
member States. The Executive Committee (ExCom) meets in Geneva annually to
review and approve UNHCR's programs and the budget, offer advice on
international protection, and discuss a wide range of other issues with
UNHCR and its intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.

NGOs are present at these meetings and offer statements on each of the
agenda items. RCUSA members are actively involved in the drafting of these
statements.The International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), founded
in 1962, is a global network that brings together human rights,
humanitarian, and development NGOs as an advocacy alliance for
humanitarian action. Focusing on humanitarian and refugee policy issues,
ICVA draws upon the work of its members at the field level and brings
their experiences to international decision-making forums.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

June 26, Irrawaddy
One step forward, two steps back – Kyaw Zwa Moe

The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi is an unofficial step in the ruling junta’s
seven-step road map. It is an essential one for the generals as they look
ahead to the fifth step—the upcoming election in 2010.

The generals must now see, however, that by putting Suu Kyi on trial they
took one step forward and two steps back.

The regime had no alternative as it prepared for the upcoming election.
For the generals, the election is not only a step towards politcal
legitimacy, but also the apparatus with which they can legalize the role
of the military within the country’s political system.

The road map has three more steps—the election, the convening of a
parliamentary assembly and the construction of “a modern, developed and
democratic nation.” That’s the generals’ political aim.

In order to complete the whole process, the junta faced one big problem:
Suu Kyi, who should have been freed on May 27 after serving six years of
house arrest. Her release would have come at least seven months, probably
longer, before the planned election.

Free at last, Suu Kyi would have been regarded as a potential troublemaker
by the generals, whose political exit strategy would have been closed.

By arresting her and putting her on trial, the junta forestalled that
danger, at least for the time being. It was a risky ploy that has
unleashed an international outcry that must have surprised the regime.

Once begun, the trial had to continue, with only one verdict in sight:
guilty. Suu Kyi will be sentenced to up to five more years of
incarceration—and the regime will have taken two big steps backwards.

Unlike its past persecution of Suu Kyi, however, the regime cannot expect
to return to “business as usual” this time.

Judging by the volume of international condemnation unleashed by the
trial, Suu Kyi’s imprisonment would undoubtedly bring criticism from
governments and organizations that have largely ignored past abuses by the
regime. Concern about events in Burma is voiced now not only in Washington
and other Western capitals.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which has
traditionally protected the Burmese regime, recently took the unusual step
of issuing a statement condemning the trial and calling for Suu Kyi’s
release. The statement was formally issued by the Asean chair, Thailand,
once a staunch supporter of strong ties to Burma.

During a visit to Burma in early June, Singapore’s Senior Minister Goh
Chok Tong urged Burma’s junta leaders not to allow the trial of the
pro-democracy leader to affect the national reconciliation process, and to
ensure that next year’s general election is free and fair.

Goh emphasized that the elections must be inclusive and that the
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Suu Kyi, must be
part of the process of national reconciliation.

The Burmese junta was also told by Goh—probably much to its chagrin—that
Singapore investors were likely to wait until after the 2010 election
before pouring any more money into the country.

The Asean statement and Goh’s outspoken appeals indicate that the members
of the regional grouping are running out of patience with their
out-of-step associate.

As international pressure on the regime mounted, the junta’s No 2, Snr-Gen
Maung Aye, rushed to China for talks with leaders of Burma’s closest ally.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reportedly told him that China hoped the junta
would promote democracy in Burma.

Although it was natural for the regime to consult at this critical time
with a government whose support it so badly needs at the UN, the Burmese
junta never allows any country, including China, to dictate its internal
politics.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was expected to visit Burma in early July
following UN calls for the release of Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other
political prisoners, as well as an assurance that the 2010 election will
be all-inclusive. The junta has never heeded such calls from the UN or the
international community, however.

There is little chance, anyway, that the election will be all-inclusive,
since the NLD is expected to take its own step backwards and boycott the
poll unless Suu Kyi is freed. Before the trial, there was a chance that
the NLD would agree to participate.

A change of heart by the regime is highly unlikely, and the decision to
keep Suu Kyi safely out of the political arena has surely already been
taken. She will probably be sentenced to a further three years or so of
loss of freedom and be returned to her home to serve it there.

But the regime’s headaches don’t end there. Suu Kyi’s trial is turning out
to be the most intractable problem it has faced in the 20 years it has
held power.

The above article will appear in the July 2009 issue of The Irrawaddy
magazine.

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June 26, New York Times
Don't moon over Burma – Marie Doezema

It doesn’t take a trip to Myanmar to see that measures taken by the
international community against the Burmese junta are not working. Recent
headlines and the trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi indicate that Myanmar
continues to be mired in repression.

I recently took a trip there nonetheless. I have friends there, Burmese
and foreigners, and I wanted to visit them in their country, a place they
described as both beautiful and tragic.

Two days into the trip, I found myself eating fried tadpoles and drinking
Champagne with Tay Za, one of country’s most powerful businessmen and a
close ally of the military junta.

My friends and I had been en route to Putao, a mountainous region in the
far north sandwiched between China and India. Abundant in wildlife and
natural resources, the area is unreachable by road and visits require
government permits. We took three flights to get there from Yangon. The
owner of the airline, Tay Za, was on board with us.

As he exited the plane, Tay Za invited us to his lavish tourist lodge the
following day. It felt less like an invitation than a summons. We had the
feeling that he wanted to size us up.

At dinner the next evening, the normally elusive Tay Za was effusive,
giving us a crash course on how things work in Myanmar.

On international sanctions: Who cares? Why bother with Europe and the U.S.
when China and India are right next door?

He described his plans for Putao, which include developing infrastructure
and another luxury resort. What this will mean for the region isn’t yet
clear.

Once our trekking trip got underway, we spent days hiking through clouds,
drinking from mountain streams, staying in small villages, sleeping in
elevated huts woven from rattan. The night air wafted in through the
cracks, mingling with smoke from the fire.

The forests were tangles of mushrooms, wild strawberries and orchids. We
met hunters and gatherers who spent their days in the woods. In the last
village we visited, mail came three times a year.

One night, we met with a village elder and a medicine man. Every year,
they said, ice on the nearby mountains recedes farther into the distance.
We talked about the plans to build a road to the village.

Tay Za loomed large over this part of the country, and we had the sense
that his name would follow us everywhere. A few days earlier, back at his
lodge, he had talked of his hopes for the road. For him, a road would mean
easier access to a region he’s hungry to develop. For the locals, it would
make life easier, but could also bring changes that threaten traditional
resources and livelihoods.

If development brings catastrophe, locals will do what the birds do, the
village elder told us: “We’ll fly away if we have to, go deeper into the
forest until it’s safe.”

After the trekking trip, I also visited the ancient city of Bagan, home to
thousands of rust-colored pagodas. Here, too, Tay Za had left his mark — a
garish tower among the temples: a cocktail lounge with a view.

The town was eerily empty. Guesthouses were all but vacant and rows of
restaurants were deserted. Horse carts lined the sides of the roads,
waiting for passengers who never seemed to come.

A few kids peddled postcards, others begged for money, food, or anything
that might be of value. Anti-child prostitution signs hung on trees and
buildings around town. “Our children are not for sale,” they read.

I also visited Mandalay but missed most of the city. The trekking trip had
left me covered in bites from leeches and insects, and my body was swollen
and feverish. Instead of visiting sites, I searched for a pharmacy. Having
been warned of the dangers of counterfeit meds, I wasn’t sure where to go.

Looking for medicine that night felt like the situation in Myanmar. You
don’t know what’s real and what’s not; who to trust, who to avoid. You’re
stuck in a limbo of justified paranoia.

At the end of the trip, I returned to Yangon. I visited some of the places
that had been special to a Burmese friend who now lives abroad. He left
almost two decades ago and hasn’t returned. Most of his family is still
there.

After years abroad, my friend manages to maintain optimism rather than
bitterness. As he wrote to me before I left, “I hope you will still see
the amicable smiles of our people. We always find something to lighten our
gloomy lives worth living.”

Marie Doezema is a freelance writer.

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June 25, Economist
On the run – Editorial

GOVERNMENT troops advance. Terrorised villagers flee. Rebels fight back.
For six decades this has been the rhythm of warfare in eastern Myanmar,
where ethnic-Karen insurgents fight the ruling junta. The latest offensive
by Myanmar’s army began in June and is unusual not in its ferocity but in
its timing, in the wet season. The army, backed by a breakaway Karen
militia, has managed to overrun several bases of the Karen National
Liberation Army (KNLA). Since June 2nd some 4,000 civilians have fled the
fighting and crossed the border into Thailand. There is talk of the
rebels’ Alamo moment.

The reasons for the junta’s sudden haste are typically murky. It is
preparing for parliamentary elections next year, the first since an
annulled 1990 poll, and wants around 17 ethnic rebel groups that have
signed ceasefires to take part. The Karen National Union (KNU), the
movement’s political wing, is a holdout. The generals, who want to
consolidate power and neutralise armed threats, have proposed turning
ethnic insurgents into border guards, under their command. They may reckon
that the KNU can be similarly corralled. But a crushing military defeat
would do just fine.

The offensive also appears timed to divert attention from the trial of
Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained opposition leader. Thailand’s foreign
minister, Kasit Piromya, has been more strident than most in publicly
dressing down the junta about this farce, which is due to resume on June
26th. Thai diplomats suspect that its prickly neighbour is stirring
trouble on the border as a poke in the eye.

The KNLA serves as a useful buffer for Thailand’s army. But Thai support
for the Karens’ lonely struggle may be waning. So far, villagers fleeing
Myanmar’s marauding troops have not been turned back. However, a wider
collapse of the KNLA might well trigger a larger exodus into Thailand.
Some 140,000 refugees, mostly Karens and Karennis, another ethnic group,
are already confined to Thai camps built in the 1980s which have a
depressing air of permanence. Some activists are critical of the
faction-ridden KNU and its pandering to Christian aid groups. Certainly,
bibles and workshops have not freed the Karen from Myanmar’s yoke. It is
hard to see what could.