BurmaNet News, July 20, 2010

[Editor]

July 20, 2010 Issue #4003


INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima: Minister’s stance on Kachin party groundless, Dr. Tuja says
SHAN: Township voters ordered to vote PM’s party

ON THE BORDER
AFP: Burma shuts major border checkpoint

BUSINESS / TRADE
DVB: New oil potential in southern Burma
DVB: Burma rice exports plummet 60%

ASEAN
Reuters: Myanmar neighbours concerned over fairness of polls
DPA: ASEAN leaders unsure about Myanmar's nuclear ambitions
Bernama (Malaysia): Plan for Asean observer for Myanmar election

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: More fall out from USDA property transfer to USDP
Denver Post (US): Burmese refugees' search for peace ends in Greeley


OPINION / OTHER
Jakarta Post: Please avoid legitimizing Myanmar’s military regime – Aung Din
Independent (UK): Delhi risks finding itself on the wrong side of history
– Benedict Rogers
Irrawaddy: The trouble with the EU and EC – Editorial



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 19, Mizzima News
Minister’s stance on Kachin party groundless, Dr. Tuja says – Phanida

Chiang Mai – Kachin State Progressive Party chairman has called
“groundless” recent claims made by Burmese junta minister Aung Thaung that
the party was ineligible to register with the electoral watchdog over its
connections to the Kachin Independence Organisation.

Dr. Tuja, the Kachin State Progressive Party (KSPP) chairman, was
responding to comments made by Minister of Industry No.1 Aung Thaung to
Kachin leaders and elders in Myitkyina last week. He told the gathering on
July 12 that the Union Election Commission (UEC) would approve the KSPP’s
registration as a political party only if Dr. Tuja resigned as party
chairman and instead took the role of patron.

“These remarks are groundless. We are not listening to them. What we are
doing is in accordance with [UEC] procedure. First I resigned from the
KIO, then I joined the KSPP. There is no infringement of any law”, Dr.
Tuja told Mizzima.

The KSPP leader found fault in the minister’s interference in party
matters over appointments, also implying the minister’s stance was
arbitrary and based on a whim.

“They said what they want to happen. The change of chairman in our party
is not in accordance with the [our] procedure 
 So we absolutely reject
it”, Dr. Tuja said.

Aung Thaung commented on Dr. Tuja’s role in the meeting he and
Communications Minister Thein Zaw – whose brother is on the central
executive committee of a rival Kachin party – had with the Kachin
Consultative Group in Myitkyina on July 12.

The KIO had also confirmed Dr. Tuja’s resignation from that group.

Dr. Tuja attended the 14-year long National Convention to draft the
constitution and he is known as a liberal-minded leader.

Thai-based Burma analyst and observer Aung Thu Nyein said that the junta’s
refusal to accept such a man as a party chairman was connected with the
Border Guard Force (BGF) issue, whereby the junta was forcing all
ceasefire groups to accept their deal to bring their militia under junta
control within the Burmese Army.

“The SPDC [junta] is playing a dirty game. They used Dr. Tuja 
 to [help]
draft the constitution. Dr. Tuja handed over the draft constitution to
them on the completion of the National Convention,” he said. “They didn’t
say anything at that time and didn’t complain about his membership of the
KIO. No they raise the KIO issues.”

“It is very shameful for all Burmans and also it is very dangerous for the
unity of all ethnic people”, he added.

The KIO has rejected the junta’s BGF offer, which meant its troops would
have been placed under the direct control of the commander-in-chief of the
junta’s army.

However, UEC Chairman Thein Soe told a high-level five-member KSPP
delegation led by Dr. Tuja to the UEC offices in Naypyidaw on Friday that
the party could continue its activities while awaiting permission from the
commission.

Coincidentally, Kachin elders in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina said
that UEC chairman Thein Soe would visit Myitkyina and Tanaing in person to
investigate a “complaint letter” it had received against the KSPP.

The complaint reportedly claimed KSPP was connected with ceasefire group KIO.

Among the four ethnic Kachin political parties that applied to the UEC for
registration, only the Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State (UDPKS)
has received permission. The UDPKS was formed by former pro-junta Union
Solidarity and Development Association members.

The remaining three parties were still awaiting a response from the
commission despite having submitted their applications at least three
months ago.

UDPKS party chairman Khet Htein Nan said: “Our party will work for the
development of education, health and agriculture. And we will also work
for the eradication of narcotic drugs phase by phase besides on our
[Burmese] literature, language and culture.”

Its 15-member central executive committee includes vice-chairman (1) Khin
Maung Hla, sibling and older brother of Communications Minister Thein Zaw;
vice-chairman (2), Shan nationality member Sai Aye Kyaw; and secretary
Phau La Gam Phan.

The party was still drafting its constitution, policies and rules and it
had yet to start start its organisational work, he said.
____________________________________

July 20, Shan Herald Agency for News
Township voters ordered to vote PM’s party – Hseng Khio Fah

Applying pressure on voters, people on the outskirts of Shan State South’s
Kunhing Township have been directed to vote only for the Union Solidarity
and Development Party (USDP), led by Prime Minister Thein Sein, in the
forthcoming general elections, local sources said.

An analyst on Burmese affairs on the border argues that the party’s
practice is in contravention of the recently drafted Election Commission’s
directive No.2/2010, dated 21 June 2010, Subject: Enlisting the strength
of political parties.

According to the Directive, S.11 (f) states that:

(f) creating literary works, giving talks or taking organizing measures
that can spark disputes on racial affairs or religious affairs or
individuals or others, and that can harm dignity and morality,

USDP members in the Kunhing branch office have reportedly been conducting
a campaign to woo voters in rural areas of the town since early July. The
campaign, which flouts the regulation, is being spearheaded by Sai Nu
(45), secretary of the Kunhing branch office and also secretary of the
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), the parent
organization of the USDP, which claimed it had more than 24 million
members nationwide, and a Central Panel of Patrons including Snr-Gen Than
Shwe, Prime Minister Thein Sein, and was dissolved on 6 July according to
USDA spokesman, Thura Myint Oo.

Local reports indicated, the USDP members have ordered people to vote for
them and not the other parties, saying that theirs is the only party that
has the skills and resources to develop the country.

“They told us, other parties don’t have money, skill, ability and
experience in leading the party,” said a local resident who wanted to
remain anonymous.

They have also inferred that the USDP will be the only party able to
provide protection and ensure conflict resolution for the villagers in the
event of disturbances.  Because the party has been formed by the
authorities in Burma, holding it accountable to the directive will prove
difficult due to the power wielded by it already.  Critics of its practice
feel they have little option but to voice their opinions anonymously.

The parties that will contest in Shan State South are so far: Kayan
National Party (KNP), Shan National Democratic Party (SNDP), Pa-O National
Organization (PNO), Inn National Development Party (INDP), Union
Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and National Unity Party (NUP),
National Democratic Force (NDF), Union Democracy Party (UDP) and Union of
Myanmar Federation of National Politics (UMFNP).

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 20, Agence France Presse
Burma shuts major border checkpoint

Burma has completely shut a major border checkpoint with Thailand amid a
dispute over construction of a river dyke, Thai officials said on Tuesday.

Burma had already prevented vehicles using the Friendship Bridge linking
the town of Mae Sot in northwest Thailand with Myawaddy in eastern Burma,
and since the weekend has also stopped people crossing on foot.

"Burma has completely sealed off the checkpoint since Sunday," Mae Sot
district chief Kittisak Tomornsak told AFP by telephone. "Now we have
stopped building the dyke."

The closure has affected traders using the bridge, although many Burma
migrants cross the porous border illegally.

Burma is believed to be unhappy with the construction of embankments on
the Thai side of the Moei River because they can cause erosion on its
side.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had planned a visit to Burma in
early August but the trip has been postponed, government spokesman Panitan
Watanayagorn said, adding that the delay was not connected to the border
issue.

"It's possible that the visit might be delayed beyond August because Burma
has not yet set the exact date," he said, adding that Thailand had
complied with international standards in the construction of the
artificial riverbank.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 20, Democratic Voice of Burma
New oil potential in southern Burma – Joseph Allchin

Burma’s energy ministry has reported “progress” in tests on a potential
new oil field close to Rangoon.

Maubin lies less than 50 kilometres from Burma’s economic hub at a site
where natural gas was discovered in 2008. The New Light of Myanmar
newspaper said today that energy minister Lun Thi visited the site
yesterday afternoon and said that the “region had potential for a new oil
field”.

The discovery will provide further encouragement for Burma’s buoyant, yet
controversial, oil and gas sector, and follows reports today that Burma is
now the world’s 13th largest exporter of natural gas, with 46 contracts in
place with foreign companies.

This however contrasts greatly to the CIA World Factbook’s estimation
that, as of 2008, Burma was the 22nd largest exporter of natural gas and,
as of January 2009, had only the 41st largest proven reserves on earth,
with 283.2 billion cubic metres. Its oil reserves are comparatively
meagre, and place Burma 77th on an index of proven reserves.

The discrepancy may be due to a projection that when the lucrative Shwe
gas pipeline to China comes ‘online’ in 2012, Burma will rise rapidly up
the list of gas exporters. This would also apply to onshore blocks such as
the potential reserves in northwestern Sagaing division that have
interested Korean and Russian investors.

Burma’s gas sector has regularly been dogged by discrepancies, with
allegations surfacing that the military government shields gas revenues
from the public purse by listing sales at the official exchange rate of
six kyat to the dollar, rather than a market rate that hovers around 1,000
kyat to the dollar.

Rights groups, such as EarthRight International, then claim that this
money is hidden in Singaporean bank accounts where it is spent exclusively
at the whim of the generals.

During Lun Thi’s visit to Maubin yesterday, which included an inspection
of the Nyaungdon natural gas compressor, he reportedly called on workers
to minimise wastage, perhaps a reference to the biggest environmental
disaster in US history as oil spills into the Gulf of Mexico from a burst
BP oil well.

This concern is shared by Wong Aung, of the Shwe Gas Movement (SGM), who
said that “foreign companies need to integrate policies, have more revenue
transparency and have greater control over human rights and environmental
policy”.

Korean and Chinese companies are heavily involved in the Shwe pipeline
project, which could eventually net the regime around US$30 billion
dollars but which campaign groups such as SGM warn could be to the
detriment of local populations.

“This kind of industry never creates big employment opportunities, with
big, negative impacts on the local community,” Wong Aung said. “The
extractive industries are damaging the entire region because they are
damaging its financial integrity [due to] undemocratic practices like
‘back-handers’ and corruption.”

Burma’s expansion of its natural gas sector has coincided with rising
usage in Asian cities in particular, which are converting vast fleets of
public transport vehicles to the fuel. But it only became in vogue
recently following the testing environmental concerns that petroleum from
crude oil presented – when combusted, natural gas emits less carbon
dioxide, a dangerous gas blamed for climate change.
____________________________________

July 20, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma rice exports plummet 60% - Francis Wade

Rice exports for the first half of this year were just over a third of the
figure exported in the same period last year, marking a significant drop
for the once-billed ‘ricebowl of Asia’.

Figures released by the Burmese government’s Central Statistical
Organisation (CSO) show that exports fell from 750,000 tonnes in the first
six months of 2009 to just over 270,000 this year.

It comes at a time when both global demand for rice is rising and
predicted global exports are also increasing: the US Department of
Agriculture puts global rice export projections for 2010/11 at 31.4
million tonnes, a six percent increase from the previous year.

The cause of Burma’s fall however can be largely attributed to
mismanagement on the part of the military government, with 2009’s
comparatively healthy figures following on the heels of cyclone Nargis in
May 2008, which destroyed an estimated 1.75 million hectares of farmland,
or 30 percent of the wet season rice area for Burma.

In the six months following the cyclone, Burma exported 105,000 tonnes of
rice, but the government was heavily criticised by rights groups who
alleged that millions were still going hungry in the Irrawaddy delta area.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned that it could take up to three
years before the economy recovers from the cyclone.

One rice trader told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the nosedive
in exports this year was a result of administrative failures in the
country.

“Frankly, we traders have abundant rice in stock but there were some
problems, including unreasonable delays in processing export licences
during the peak export season, that is, the first six months of the year,”
he said.

With current global rice supply exceeding demand, Thailand and Vietnam,
the world’s largest and second-largest rice exporters respectively, have
been forced to slash their prices. Thailand still managed to export 8.57
million tonnes in 2009, against Burma’s total exports for that year of
1.09 million tonnes.

Before military rule took a hammer to Burma’s economy and infrastructure,
the country had been the world’s leading source of rice, exporting 3.4
million tonnes during its peak year in 1934.

The director of the Myanmar Rice Traders Association (MRTA), Dr Myo Aung
Kyaw, predicted in November last year that Burma would soon match
Vietnam’s rice output, which reached six million tonnes in 2009, but
warned that the country still lags behind competing exporters in terms of
modern equipment and maintenance systems.

____________________________________
ASEAN

July 20, Reuters
Myanmar neighbours concerned over fairness of polls – Ambika Ahuja and
John Ruwitch

Hanoi – Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbours have told the military
government they are concerned over whether elections this year will be
free and fair, a senior regional diplomat said on Tuesday.

The United States and Britain have said the general election would be
illegitimate if the junta denies a role to thousands of political
opponents now in prison. Southeast Asia's top regional bloc, which follows
a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states, has
been less critical in public.

But Surin Pitsuwan, chairman of the 10-member Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) which includes Myanmar, said concern was expressed
at a regional security meeting in Hanoi.

"Myanmar, I think, got an earful last night," Surin told reporters on the
sidelines of an ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting. "ASEAN is very much
concerned."

That contrasts with upbeat comments expressed by Asian leaders in October
after talks with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein during a summit of 16
Asia-Pacific nations.

Several Asian leaders emerged from those meetings saying they were given
assurances by Myanmar its elections would be fair, and they expressed hope
political prisoners would be freed, including detained pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 21 years in
detention.

Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, while more than 2,000 political
prisoners are behind bars.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo told reporters the elections will
help to open up Myanmar's economy.

"Once the generals take off the uniforms and they've got to win votes and
kiss babies, and attend to local needs, the behaviour will change, the
economy will gradually open up and this will be an important change in
Myanmar," he said.

"We don't see a sharp break from what it is today but we see an important
turning which will lead Myanmar into a different situation -- a
constitutional government and one which will have a more open economy," he
added.

Suu Kyi, daughter of the hero of the country's campaign for independence
from British rule, was first detained in 1989, a year after she emerged as
a champion of political reform during an unsuccessful student-led uprising
for democracy.

Her party won a landslide election victory in 1990, only to be denied
power by the military.

This year's election will be the first since then, but critics have
already denounced it as a sham that will leave real power with the
military. No date has been given for the poll but it is expected between
October and December.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who arrives in Hanoi on Thursday
for the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's largest security dialogue, will raise
U.S. doubts about election preparations in Myanmar, said a U.S. official
in Washington.

Southeast Asia has been divided over the issue. Early last year some
countries urged ASEAN to take a tougher stand with a public appeal calling
on the junta to give Suu Kyi an amnesty.

But the proposal collapsed after several nations rejected it, saying it
contravened the bloc's non-interference policy.

(Writing by Jason Szep. Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in
Washington; editing by Andrew Marshall and Alex Richardson)

____________________________________

July 20, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
ASEAN leaders unsure about Myanmar's nuclear ambitions

Hanoi - ASEAN leaders are unsure about Myanmar's nuclear  ambitions, a
regional foreign policy  expert said Tuesday.

A documentary produced by Burmese journalists alleged in June that
Myanmar, a member of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), is developing nuclear weapons.

Myanmar could be purchasing nuclear weapon technology from North Korea,
said Tim Huxley, executive director of the Singapore branch of the
London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, but ASEAN
members are reluctant to comment on that in "strong terms."

"ASEAN countries aren't sure how to deal with" Myanmar's alleged nuclear
ambitions, Huxley said. "If they confront Myanmar, Myanmar will just say
they have a right to develop nuclear energy for civil purposes, and they
would simply deny any links to North Korea."

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told the German PressAgency
dpa that nuclear weapons would not be on the agenda of his bilateral
meeting with Myanmar officials Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan told reporters
in Hanoi that there was no consensus among member nations about Myanmar's
nuclear ambitions.

"But there is certainly the ASEAN charter and the (South-East Asia Nuclear
Weapon-Free Zone) treaty, which requires that South-East Asia be free of
nuclear weapons," Pitsuwan said.

The 1997 treaty binds ASEAN countries to a pledge against the use,
manufacture or transport of nuclear weapons. They also promised not allow
other countries to develop or manufacture nuclear weapons inside their
borders.

A spokesman for US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said last
week that the United States was concerned about a lack of transparency
surrounding Myanmar's "commercial interactions" with North Korea. Clinton
plans to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi on Thursday and Friday.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines,
Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

____________________________________

July 20, Bernama (Malaysia)
Plan for Asean observer for Myanmar election – Jamaluddin Muhammad

Hanoi – Asean foreign ministers on Tuesday proposed to send the grouping
observer to monitor the Myanmar election towards being fair, free and
inclusive.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said the foreign ministers made
the proposal to Myanmar during the Asean Ministerial Meeting (AMM) retreat
session.

"We are saying Myanmar should look, not only into its interest but also
Asean's interest...because in this respect, we are talking about
credibility," he told Malaysian journalists after attending the AMM
retreat session at the National Convention Centre here.

In calling for free and fair election, he said, therefore it was better if
Asean was involved as an observer.

Asean would then discuss how to elect one or two observers from within
Asean if the proposal was accepted by Myanmar.

Myanmar is expected to hold elections this year after the last election
was held 20 years ago. Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the
National League for democracy, won the 1990 election but the result was
not recognised by the junta.

"Asean stand on the issue (election) is the same and very consistent that
the election must be fair, free and inclusive," said Anifah. Apart from
the proposal, Asean would also offer its assistance for Myanmar in running
its election, he said. He said Myanmar told the meeting that it would
inform Asean, once it had fixed the date for the election and to date, 38
parties were registered to take part in the election.

Touching on the 2nd Asean-United States Leaders Meeting to be held in
Washington D.C by year-end, Anifah said Tuesday's meeting agreed that no
Asean member state should be excluded from participation.

All Asean leaders must be invited for the meeting, he added. (It appears
that Asean foreign ministers made the stand, following the US' cold
approaches towards Myanmar).

On the regional architecture, he said the meeting welcomed the US and
Russia joining the East Asia Summit (EAS), and emphasied the need to
maintain Asean centrality in the evolving regional architecture.

If accepted by the Asean Summit in October here, the proposal from the
foreign ministers on the inclusion of the US and Russia in the EAS would
pave the way for the expansion of EAS, from l6 countries to 18.

EAS is a forum held annually by leaders from 16 East Asian countries - the
10 Asean member countries, together with Japan, China, South Korea, India,
New Zealand and Australia.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 20, Irrawaddy
More fall out from USDA property transfer to USDP – Ko Htwe

The transformation of the Union Solidarity and Development Association
(USDA) into the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is clear
evidence that Burma’s military regime does not intend to hold a legitimate
2010 election, according to Human Right Watch (HRW).

The New York-based NGO released a report on Monday, after USDA spokesman
Myint Oo announced that the USDA no longer exists and has been replaced by
the USDP, which has  received all USDA property.

HRW Asia director, Elaine Pearson, said, "The morphing of Burma's largest
mass-based organization into the military's political party is a brazen if
predictable distortion of the electoral process."

The report also noted that the military government has long used the USDA
for partisan political purpose.

“For nearly two decades, Burma's military has carefully manipulated
society by creating a social organization to ensure extensive local
coercive capacity ahead of the 2010 polls,” Pearson said. "The new USDP
behemoth can now marginalize any semblance of an opposition, making
participation by other parties and opposition figures even more
difficult."

China, India and Russia are “dumbstruck by the shameless manipulation of
these elections,” the report said.

“Staying mute as this mockery of democracy proceeds will only damage their
international reputations," Person said.

The USDA transfer of assets has drawn the attention of various political
parties which plan to contest in the elections.

Phyo Min Thein, the chairman of the Union Democratic Party (UDP), told The
Irrawaddy, “Their act is not in accord with electoral laws, and they
cannot transfer propety like that. The USDA is a national organization
that uses state assets.”

The Political Parties Registration Law clearly prohibits political parties
from receiving state funds or state-owned properties.

The USDA has engaged in numerous public activities including including
paving roads and granting small loans to low-income people.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, Khin Maung Swe, the leader of the
National Democratic Force (NDF), said, “We will object that it is not in
accordance to the Electoral Law. We have to abide by the Electoral Law,
and we need to be equal.”

On April 29, Prime Minister Thein Sein and 26 ministers and senior
officials formed the USDP, which the Election Commission officially
recognized as a political party on June 8.

The military junta organized the USDA as a social organization in 1993,
and its major patron is military chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe. Most government
personnel and students are forced to become members of association, which
claims to have 24 million members nationwide.

Thu Wai, the chairman of the Democratic Party, told the The Irrawaddy on
Tuesday: “I heard that USDA members don’t know the association has been
abolished.” He also raised the question of whether USDA members would be
expected to become USDP members.

In 1988, the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), formed by the late
Burmese dictator Ne Win, was transformed into the National Unity Party
(NUP) to compete in the 1990 election.

Han Swe, a member of the NUP central cxecutive committee, said, “The
transformation of the BSPP into the NUP was in accordance with the law. It
is hard to tell about the USDA and USDP because I don't know what the
bylaws of the USDA and USDP would say on the matter.”

____________________________________

July 20, The Denver Post (US)
Burmese refugees' search for peace ends in Greeley – Monte Whaley

Greeley, Colorado — BeBe offered a gap-toothed grin when she described how
she and 17 other Burmese refugees got lost in Greeley.

"I rode a long time," said BeBe, the mother of four and somewhat of a
matriarch to the small but growing Burmese community at the Pines
apartment complex in south Greeley.

"The first time, I went along with them on a bus just to show them how to
get around," said Maria Sanchez, who is helping to integrate BeBe, who
said this was her full name, and other Burmese into the community. "The
second time, they all scattered, and we had to run around and find them.

"This getting used to another country and way of life . . . is going to
take baby steps."

There are nearly 500 Burmese in Greeley. Most work in local meatpacking
plants. Many are religious and political refugees, who fled the military
dictatorship ruling the southeast Asian country now called Myanmar.

Most are from farming villages, and most have never seen a computer, said
Christine Gylling, 23, who came from Myanmar with her family 10 years ago.

Gylling was helping Sanchez instruct about 50 to 60 families at the Pines
on how to prepare their children for American schools. Most of the
refugees — who were aided by Lutheran Family Services in finding homes in
Greeley — don't speak much English and aren't well-versed in other parts
of the culture, said Gylling.

"This is definitely a shock to them," said Gylling, a pre-med major at the
University of Northern Colorado. "Most have nothing. Most sleep on the
floor. And for many, the most high-tech thing they own is a book and a
pencil."

Also daunting are the language barriers. Burma has about 14 tribes with
several dialects, Gylling said.

But, said Sanchez, the Burmese are willing to learn and become Americans.
"They want to be part of our culture so badly," she said.

Sanchez — director of the Realizing Our Community program at UNC that has
been helping the Burmese — said many are enrolled in a Right to Read
course and are getting tutoring in other aspects of American life.

Twice a month, they get lessons on subjects such as dental hygiene,
applying for jobs and putting on makeup. "Many want shiny, black hair like
American women," Sanchez said.

On Tuesday, the Burmese families were told they need to present Social
Security numbers, proof of residency and inoculation records to officials
at Centennial Elementary School before their children can enroll.

Their children will also have to wear the Centennial uniform. Jan Jervis,
principal at Centennial, said there are already 90 Burmese refugees at the
school as well as several from east Africa.

"There is so much for them to learn, so much for them to do," said Jervis.

But they are grateful for the opportunity, said Hlaing Moe Than, a
physicist who fled Myanmar two years ago.

Because he protested the treatment of Buddhist monks by the military, Than
was imprisoned for 10 years. He finally got his refugee status and came to
Greeley from New York to work.

"This country is amazing," Than said. "Back home, it is very dangerous.
This is peaceful here."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 20, Jakarta Post
Please avoid legitimizing Myanmar’s military regime – Aung Din

Washington, D.C. – The military regime’s plan to hold an election in
Myanmar in 2010 has attracted the international community’s attention.
Many hope that this election will be a small step towards democracy and
positive change. For those who live in pluralist societies, an election
sounds encouraging.

This will not be the first election the regime held.  After taking over
power through bloodshed in September 1988, the regime held an election in
1990 to place its favored party, the National Unity Party (NUP), into
power. To secure the NUP’s victory, the regime jailed democracy icon Aung
San Suu Kyi and other senior leaders of her party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD).

However, to the surprise of the regime, the NLD won a landslide victory,
securing 82 percent of the parliamentary seats. As the election result was
not in their favor, the regime refused to transfer power.

Instead, many elected representatives were arrested, tortured, imprisoned
and driven out of the country.

Now the regime has called for an election again after twenty brutal years.
This time, the regime is prepared not to have history repeat itself.  Its
2008 Constitution, the product of a 13-year-long process grants supreme
power to the military.

A set of unfair and unjust electoral laws are in place. The regime’s
handpicked election commission is up and running. Restrictions on
political parties are overwhelming, including forcing them to expel party
members who are in prison for their political activity.

The regime’s prime minister has formed a new party, the Union Solidarity
and Development Party (USDP), and declared to secure the victory. The
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), the regime’s rough
equivalent of Hitler’s Brown Shirt, is campaigning for the USDP and
preparing to control all polling stations.

The USDA’s involvement in the assassination attempt on Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi and its violent attack against anyone challenging the regime’s rule
are well documented.  Any candidates not anointed by the regime will face
severe scrutiny over their campaign funds and any connections with foreign
organizations. The commission is ready to declare their victory void if
they win.

The NLD and its ethnic allies made the right decision not to participate
in this corrupted process. This election is designed to legitimize and
legalize military rule in Myanmar. This election will produce only the
façade of a civilian government comprised of former and current generals,
who will govern the country under the command of the Commander-in-Chief.
The international community should follow the NLD in not recognizing this
electoral farce. However, some are buying into this sham.

Even before the NLD made the decision, some diplomats and foreign
observers were peddling the storyline that this election is “the only game
in town” and they wanted the NLD to play in it. When the NLD decided not
to join, they said the NLD was wrong. After the NLD passed the deadline to
re-register the party at the election commission, they assumed that the
NLD has been disbanded. Now, some are beginning to say that “there are
democrats other than Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD”. They believe the NLD
has quit politics, and they have to support other democrats who will
contest in the elections.

Despite being forced to disband, the NLD has not quit from politics. It
quit playing the regime’s game.

The NLD continues to exist as a political force regardless of whether the
regime recognizes it or not.

The NLD continues to serve the interests of the people of Myanmar, make
efforts to improve their lives, strengthen and solidify their support, and
educate them not to vote.

The NLD still believes meaningful political dialogue between the military,
democracy forces and ethnic representatives is the only means to solve the
Myanmar’s wrenching problems peacefully.

There may be other democrats. But they do not represent the majority of
the people of Myanmar, like the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi. Her popularity
remains unchanged as the one and only national figure who can bring real
national reconciliation to Myanmar. Any political process without her will
never be successful.

Discounting Aung San Suu Kyi is like removing Martin Luther King Jr. from
the American civil rights movement or Nelson Mandela from South Africa’s
anti-apartheid movement or Vaclav Havel from Czech’s “Velvet Revolution”.
Without Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD, this election will void of
legitimacy.

The international community should denounce it and pressure the regime to
establish a meaningful political dialogue without further delay.

We expect and implore the international community will stand firmly on the
side of truth, justice and democracy. Supporting this election will only
provide the regime with the legitimacy it seeks while undermining
Myanmar’s democracy movement.

Discounting Aung San Suu Kyi is like removing Martin Luther King Jr. from
the American civil rights movement.


The writer served over four years in prison as a political prisoner due to
his leading role in the nationwide pro-democracy uprising in Myanmar in
1988. He is now the executive director of the Washington, DC-based US
campaign for Myanmar.

____________________________________

July 20. The Independent (UK)
Delhi risks finding itself on the wrong side of history – Benedict Rogers

That General Than Shwe, one of the world's most brutal dictators, is
visiting the world's largest democracy, India, is ironic but unsurprising.
Over the past two decades, Than Shwe has carefully developed relations
with his neighbour.

Than Shwe is a master of manipulation, playing rivals off each other and
ensuring he doesn't place all his eggs in one basket. While China is his
big protector, providing an economic lifeline, arms supplies and
diplomatic cover, Than Shwe is avoiding becoming solely dependent on
Beijing.

In 2004, after deposing his Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, favoured by China,
Than Shwe immediately visited Delhi, sending both India and China the
message that he would broaden his alliances. The same year, Burma agreed
to sell India 80 per cent of the power generated from a dam in Sagaing
Division in return for Indian construction assistance.

India's policy on Burma has changed completely. When democracy protests
were crushed in 1988 and Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as Burma's democracy
leader, Rajiv Gandhi's government was one of her movement's most active
supporters. In recent years, however, India has provided arms and military
training to Burma's regime, and stayed shamefully silent at the UN. In
November 2009, India joined Belarus, China, Iran, Libya, North Korea,
Sudan and Zimbabwe in opposing a resolution on Burma's human rights
violations at the General Assembly.

India has three reasons for befriending Than Shwe's regime. First,
economic, as part of its "Look East" policy. Second, a desire for Burma's
help in crushing India's own insurgencies. Third, to counterbalance
China's influence.

Yet, ultimately, India's policy is short-sighted. Despite kow-towing to
the junta, India cannot compete with China's influence. China's annual
bilateral trade is already one-and-a-half times India's, and as a
permanent member of the Security Council, China can offer Burma more
diplomatic protection. Burma's assistance in helping India deal with
insurgencies has been negligible, and the regime has instead used India's
arms to crush its own people.

Than Shwe's plan to begin his visit meditating in the Buddhist centre of
Bodhgaya is designed to depict himself as a devout Buddhist. Yet this is
the man who three years ago ordered a crackdown on peaceful protests which
resulted in the beating, torture, imprisonment and murder of Buddhist
monks. He presides over a regime accused of crimes against humanity.

India should reconsider its strategy, because it is not making the
short-term gains it had hoped for: if it continues to side with Than Shwe,
it may lose out when Burma is free. Burma's democrats will remember their
friends, and India could find itself on the wrong side of history.

Benedict Rogers works for the human rights organisation Christian
Solidarity Worldwide and is author of 'Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma's
Tyrant'

____________________________________

July 20, Irrawaddy
The trouble with the EU and EC – Editorial

Last month, a European Union delegation canceled its planned trip to Burma
after the Burmese regime refused to allow it to meet detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, several informed EU sources suggested that some of the
community's member states are still interested in visiting Naypyidaw for
talks with Burmese officials even if the request to meet Suu Kyi is not
granted.

The Irrawaddy has also learned that several EU officials who belong to the
“engagement camp” are also pushing the policy of greater engagement with
the regime.

Piero Fassino, the EU’s special envoy on Burma, is clearly in favor of
visiting the country again. Recent requests by Fassino to visit Burma have
been rejected by the junta, however, while missions he was able to
undertake in the past failed miserably.

Fassino is known to have little knowledge of Burma and its political
situation. So why would he want to revisit the country?

Engaging the regime in Burma is fine as long as the regime has the
political will and engagement produces a tangible outcome. But the EU's
engagement policy has produced nothing positive so far.

Burma campaign groups previously expressed concern that the EU envoy on
Burma has on occasion appeared to publicly and privately undermine the
“very common position” which he is mandated to advocate with Asian
countries.

Indeed, the EU common policy is to maintain or increase sanctions against
the regime and support political dialogue and national reconciliation
between the opposition and the regime. It can also increase pressure if
necessary, including imposing an arms embargo on Burma.

Yet the EU has still failed to employ its full economic and political
pressure to produce a positive outcome in military-ruled Burma.

The complexity of the EU cannot be denied—but, alarmingly, some member
states don’t stick to the community's common policy, resulting in tension
and confusion within the grouping.

The trouble is that the EU’s Burma policy sends mixed signals to Burmese
democratic forces inside and outside Burma.

The Irrawaddy has learned that detained democracy leader Suu Kyi herself
and senior members of the now-banned NLD have recently expressed concern
over the EU’s policy.

It is believed that the UK, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark
and the Netherlands want to maintain the EU’s common policy but some other
member countries, especially Germany and Spain, are pushing more of a
pro-engagement line if not openly supporting the regime’s sham election
and some controversial and shady figures belonging to a “third force”
inside Burma.

Unlike European Parliament members, bureaucrats at the European Commission
(EC) have supported a dialogue with the junta and increased its
cooperation with some shady allies of the junta and the “third force”
while cutting funding for refugees on the Thai-Burmese border.

Cooperation with a “third force” and some shady figures supporting the
regime’s sham election and undermining the main opposition parties and
activists and civil society groups inside and outside Burma is
questionable.

What is interesting is that some EC officials have covertly supported the
“third force” inside the country in the creation of a civil society. Do EC
bureaucrats really believe that these half-baked “third force” people, who
are merely spokesmen of the regime, can create a civil society in Burma?

No wonder Burmese inside and outside the country see EC bureaucrats as
part of the problem in Burma’s complicated political landscape. They
appear to support a controversial “third force” inside Burma and the
regime’s sham election instead of increasing targeted sanctions against
the regime and its cronies or supporting the UN human rights envoy’s
commission of inquiry on crimes against humanity.

In March, the UN Special Rapporteur on Burma stated that human rights
abuses in Burma are very serious and that the UN should consider
establishing a commission of inquiry into possible war crimes and crimes
against humanity. So far, the EU is silent on this issue, as if the regime
has committed no crimes at all.

Sadly, on the Thai-Burmese border, the EC’s decision to cut funding for
relief work on the Thai-Burmese border sent a shock wave through the area
as the EU is one of the major donors there.

Refugee agencies on the Thai-Burmese border said they are concerned that a
cut in funds could hurt medical programs for Burmese refugees.

According to London-based Burma campaign UK: “The European Commission has
consistently refused to fund such aid, and has failed to provide an
adequate explanation as to why, instead making vague statements about
accountability and monitoring. This argument is not credible, as the
British government and other EU members with strict monitoring
requirements are satisfied with monitoring of cross-border aid.”

Burma Campaign UK also said: “There are around 100,000 Internally
Displaced People in Eastern Burma who are in need of cross-border aid, and
around 2.5 million people in Eastern Burma for whom cross-border
assistance is the only or easiest way to deliver aid. Cross-border aid is
also needed in other states in Burma.”

On May 20, the European Parliament called on the EC “to reverse cuts in
funding for refugees on the Thailand-Burma border and immediately start
funding cross-border aid, especially medical assistance.”

However, after Thailand's foreign minister said in June that the Bangkok
government hoped to send Burmese refugees home after the elections a EU
official told The Irrawaddy: “The EU does not expect that the elections in
Myanmar [Burma] in 2010 will create conditions conducive to an immediate
return of the predominantly Karen to eastern Burma, particularly since a
ceasefire between SPDC [the Burmese government] and the Karen leadership
seems unlikely to materialize and armed conflict persists to this day.”

So just what do the EU and EC currently stand for?

EU observers believe that internal confusion and rifts within the
community have also compounded its Burma position and its very reputation.

The Irrawaddy has recently learned that some EC officials and bureaucrats 
take personal positions that go against not only EU common policy but also
democratic principles.

They are said to be highly critical of Suu Kyi and her party's decision
not to contest the coming election. Moreover, these EC officials and
bureaucrats also see civil society groups, campaigners on the border and
ethnic campaign movements as troublemakers.

If this is true, the integrity and dignity of the EU and its democratic
principles have to be questioned. We assume these officials and
bureaucrats were born in a democratic society. The irony is that they have
expressed a dislike of civil society and campaign groups working for a
better Burma.

The regime keeps over 2,000 political prisoners in gulags, soldiers
continue to commit human rights abuses in the ethnic regions and refugees
and displaced persons are stranded along the border. A climate of fear
pervades the country.

However, the EU is sending conflicting signals to Burma and the
pro-democracy movement—a shameful state of affairs, which has contributed
to
deep unhappiness among Burmese inside and outside Burma when discussing EU
policy.

In a recent letter to EU foreign ministers, European-based Burma lobby
groups said they were “deeply concerned that European Commission staff
openly and publicly advocate against the agreed Common Position of EU
member states and against the positions taken by the European Parliament
in its resolutions. We believe that it is unacceptable that Commission
officials who have no democratic mandate undermine the official position
of democratically accountable member states and the European Parliament."

The EU and EC should now officially clarify the issues outlined above—and
Burmese democratic forces, campaign groups and exiled news groups  should
investigate more thoroughly EU and EC Burma policies, in order to make
those organizations more accountable in this critical time for Burma.