TCG Chairman Kyaw Thu Transferred

By THE IRRAWADDY

The Burmese military government has surprised humanitarian agencies and diplomats by transferring Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Kyaw Thu, who is chairman of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) for the Cyclone Nargis disaster, to become chairman of the Civil Service Selection and Training Board.

The new position is a minister-level appointment in military-ruled Burma but is considered an inactive post.

Officials at the foreign ministry announced the move to diplomats.

The move was seen as a snub to UN agencies and INGOs who were encouraged to see more humanitarian missions being allowed to work in Burma after the deadly cyclone slammed into Burma’s Irrawaddy delta.

The former deputy minister had been helpful to UN agencies and INGOs operating in Burma. He recently traveled to Asean-member nations to meet with ministers and attend TCG meetings and conferences to garner more assistance for Burma.

The TCG is a grouping of the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the Burmese regime with a mission to respond to the Cyclone Nargis disaster which killed at least 124,000 in the Irrawaddy delta.

According to a January 22 report in the Danish newspaper Politiken, the TCG projects for cyclone victims will expire in June.

A TCG donor conference will be held in February in Bangkok, Thailand. The extension of the TCG is likely to be decided in the Bangkok conference.

During Gambari’s recent seventh visit to Burma, Kyaw Thu accompanied UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to the delta.

It is not known whether the regime’s leaders are unhappy with Kyaw Thu, who had been closely working with the UN and Asean nations. It is unknown who will replace Kyaw Thu as chairman of the TCG.

Kyaw Thu served as commander of 22nd Light Infantry Division and served as an ambassador to South Africa and India. His father was the late president and scholar Dr Maung Maung.