By WAI MOE
CHA-AM, Thailand — Burmese issues were raised once again at the 14th Asean Summit in Cha-am, Thailand, this time at Saturday’s midday meeting between representatives of Southeast Asian civil society and the 10 heads of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
The meeting—termed “historic” by Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan because it was the first time Asean leaders had scheduled a face-to-face meeting with civil society groups—was threatened with a boycott by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Burmese premier Gen Thein Sein because they did not agree with the participation of certain members of the civil society grouping.
The matter was resolved at the 11th hour when two civil society representatives—including Burma’s Khin Ohmar of the Network for Democracy and Development—were barred from attending the meeting.
“This afternoon’s interface meeting between the 10 Asean leaders and civil society groups spread doubt whether the Asean is ready to make Article 1 of the Asean Charter on civil society participation come into reality,” said a press release by three civil society activists, including Khin Ohmar.
But the 20-minute meeting was most notable for the united stance by the civil society representatives against policies of the Burmese military government.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy after the meeting, Wathshlash G. Naidu of Malaysia-based International Women’s Rights Action Watch—Asia Pacific said, “We raised the issue of political participation [in Burma]. We raised the issue of the political [opposition] leadership in Burma being detained and we raised the issue of the illegal constitution.”
She said that the civic group had called for the release of all political prisoners in the country, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and had urged Asean members not to recognize the 2010 elections in Burma.
“We want Asean countries to really pay attention to these issues,” she said.
Naidu said that Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein had read a prepared statement at the meeting, but did not respond to criticisms.
According to Naidu, the Rohingya crisis was also highlighted by the civil society representatives at the interface meeting.
On Friday at a foreign ministers’ meeting, the Burmese government for the first time addressed the matter of the Rohingya, saying it would take back any boatpeople who were ascertained to have been born in Burma. However, Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win rejected the term “Rohingya” and would only refer to the ethnic group as “Bengalis.”
Analysts said that the question of semantics signaled the Burmese junta’s policy of rejecting the estimated 800,000 Rohingyas living in Arakan State as among Burma’s 135 ethnicities.
Earlier on Saturday, a small group of activists held a protest against the Burmese regime in Hua Hin, close to the venue of the Asean Summit. Calling the protest “Peace for Burma,” about 15 human rights activists, most of whom were Thai, held a cycling rally through the coastal town.
“We choose the Burma issue among others in Asean countries because Burma is the hottest issue in the Asean democratization process,” said a Thai female activist who joined the protest.
February 28, 2009
February 27, 2009
Thai PM Calls for All Sides to Participate in Burmese Elections
By WAI MOE
CHA-AM, Thailand — Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he has asked Burmese Premier Gen Thein Sein to encourage the opposition to compete in the forthcoming general election in Burma and expressed optimism that the military junta was making progress in its steps toward democracy.
Speaking to reporters at the 14th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Friday, the Thai premier said he had asked his Burmese counterpart “to encourage all sides to participate in the 2010 Burmese elections” and said that he could see “clear progress” in the military junta’s steps toward holding democratic elections next year.
Abhisit said he had held bilateral talks with the heads of state of Burma, Cambodia and Malaysia that day.
“We hope to see progress [in Burma]. We hope to see involvement, particularly from the UN. I also said that the process should be as inclusive as possible,” he told assembled reporters.
He added that Thailand’s policy toward Burma was “clearly one of engagement.”
However, the Thai prime minster, like most other delegates at the summit, found that his press conference became driven by reporters toward the sticky issue of Rohingya boatpeople.
Calling the Rohingya crisis a “complex and complicated issue;” Abhisit said Thailand will deport the migrants if it could ascertain their point of origin. In response to a question by The Irrawaddy regarding boatpeople whose point of origin could not be identified, the Thai premier was not specific, but reiterated that Thai policy was “to promote cooperation and consultation in the region, so that the problem will not recur.”
Five or six countries are involved in the Rohingya issue, he said, adding that the matter would be dealt with again at a Bali Process meeting iin Indonesia in April.
At an earlier press conference, the secretary-general of Asean, Surin Pitsuwan, said that the Burmese Prime Minister, Thein Sein, had confirmed a one-year extension (until July 2010) of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) for rebuilding and humanitarian projects in areas affected by Cyclone Nargis.
The TCG proposed a three-year rehabilitation plan for the cyclone victims at a conference in Bangkok on February 9.
CHA-AM, Thailand — Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he has asked Burmese Premier Gen Thein Sein to encourage the opposition to compete in the forthcoming general election in Burma and expressed optimism that the military junta was making progress in its steps toward democracy.
Speaking to reporters at the 14th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Friday, the Thai premier said he had asked his Burmese counterpart “to encourage all sides to participate in the 2010 Burmese elections” and said that he could see “clear progress” in the military junta’s steps toward holding democratic elections next year.
Abhisit said he had held bilateral talks with the heads of state of Burma, Cambodia and Malaysia that day.
“We hope to see progress [in Burma]. We hope to see involvement, particularly from the UN. I also said that the process should be as inclusive as possible,” he told assembled reporters.
He added that Thailand’s policy toward Burma was “clearly one of engagement.”
However, the Thai prime minster, like most other delegates at the summit, found that his press conference became driven by reporters toward the sticky issue of Rohingya boatpeople.
Calling the Rohingya crisis a “complex and complicated issue;” Abhisit said Thailand will deport the migrants if it could ascertain their point of origin. In response to a question by The Irrawaddy regarding boatpeople whose point of origin could not be identified, the Thai premier was not specific, but reiterated that Thai policy was “to promote cooperation and consultation in the region, so that the problem will not recur.”
Five or six countries are involved in the Rohingya issue, he said, adding that the matter would be dealt with again at a Bali Process meeting iin Indonesia in April.
At an earlier press conference, the secretary-general of Asean, Surin Pitsuwan, said that the Burmese Prime Minister, Thein Sein, had confirmed a one-year extension (until July 2010) of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) for rebuilding and humanitarian projects in areas affected by Cyclone Nargis.
The TCG proposed a three-year rehabilitation plan for the cyclone victims at a conference in Bangkok on February 9.
Burma Insists Rohingyas are ‘Bengalis’
By WAI MOE
CHA-AM — Burma is insisting at the Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) summit in southern Thailand that the boatpeople now fleeing Arakan State are not Rohingyas but Bengalis.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister, Kasit Piromiya, told a summit press conference that Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win told Asean colleagues at an informal dinner on Thursday that a reading of the region’s history would show the people now being described as Rohingyas were actually Bengalis and not members of any Burmese ethnic group.
The plight of refugees embarking in open boats from Burmese shores in the hopes of reaching Malaysia and Indonesia is being discussed on the sidelines of the summit.
Kasit told reporters that the Rohingya issue would be tackled by the so-called Bali Process, which is intended to help fight the problems of people smuggling, human trafficking and related transnational crimes in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. A Bali Process meeting would be held on April 14 and 15, he said.
Journalists noted that Kasit referred to the Rohingyas as Bengalis. Thailand, like Malaysia and Indonesia, cannot legally send boatpeople back to Burma if the Naypyidaw government does not accept them as Burmese.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, told the English-language daily Bangkok Post that his country and others had to be firm in dealing with the boatpeople. “If we cannot be firm we cannot deal with this problem,” he said. “We have to be firm at all borders. We have to turn them back."
Malaysia did not want to be “unkind,” Badawi said. “But the problem has been about people who come without permits."
A diplomat at Thursday’s dinner said there was general agreement that the problem was a regional one.
The Asean foreign ministers were due to meet on Friday to discuss the proposed establishment of a human rights body under Asean's new charter, in the face of widespread charges that it will be toothless because of the bloc's policy of non-interference.
The terms of reference for the new Asean Human Rights Body were nevertheless “in progress,” according to Thai government spokesman Panitan Watanayakorn.
Panitan told reporters that the new body should be “up and running” by October.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit said Asean delegates “should agree in principle today or tomorrow” on the terms of reference.
He said Thailand hoped to see the founding of the body—agreed to in principle in Article 14 of the Asean Charter—during his country’s tenure as chairman of Asean. He said Asean would have “a legal personality” when the human rights body was in place.
CHA-AM — Burma is insisting at the Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) summit in southern Thailand that the boatpeople now fleeing Arakan State are not Rohingyas but Bengalis.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister, Kasit Piromiya, told a summit press conference that Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win told Asean colleagues at an informal dinner on Thursday that a reading of the region’s history would show the people now being described as Rohingyas were actually Bengalis and not members of any Burmese ethnic group.
The plight of refugees embarking in open boats from Burmese shores in the hopes of reaching Malaysia and Indonesia is being discussed on the sidelines of the summit.
Kasit told reporters that the Rohingya issue would be tackled by the so-called Bali Process, which is intended to help fight the problems of people smuggling, human trafficking and related transnational crimes in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. A Bali Process meeting would be held on April 14 and 15, he said.
Journalists noted that Kasit referred to the Rohingyas as Bengalis. Thailand, like Malaysia and Indonesia, cannot legally send boatpeople back to Burma if the Naypyidaw government does not accept them as Burmese.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, told the English-language daily Bangkok Post that his country and others had to be firm in dealing with the boatpeople. “If we cannot be firm we cannot deal with this problem,” he said. “We have to be firm at all borders. We have to turn them back."
Malaysia did not want to be “unkind,” Badawi said. “But the problem has been about people who come without permits."
A diplomat at Thursday’s dinner said there was general agreement that the problem was a regional one.
The Asean foreign ministers were due to meet on Friday to discuss the proposed establishment of a human rights body under Asean's new charter, in the face of widespread charges that it will be toothless because of the bloc's policy of non-interference.
The terms of reference for the new Asean Human Rights Body were nevertheless “in progress,” according to Thai government spokesman Panitan Watanayakorn.
Panitan told reporters that the new body should be “up and running” by October.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit said Asean delegates “should agree in principle today or tomorrow” on the terms of reference.
He said Thailand hoped to see the founding of the body—agreed to in principle in Article 14 of the Asean Charter—during his country’s tenure as chairman of Asean. He said Asean would have “a legal personality” when the human rights body was in place.
New Report Slams Junta for Nargis ‘Crimes’
By NEIL LAWRENCE
In stark contrast to an earlier assessment of the Cyclone Nargis relief effort by Burma’s ruling junta and its international partners, a new report released today accuses the regime of widespread rights abuses that “may constitute crimes against humanity.”
The report, “After the Storm: Voices from the Delta,” is the first independent inquiry into the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma on May 2-3 last year, killing as many as 140,000 people.
Unlike the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report released last July by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of the junta, the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the new report does not shy away from the issue of human rights abuses by the Burmese regime.
“We did not prompt this. We asked a number of questions about relief efforts and agencies, and what kept coming out was people trying to struggle and negotiate their communities’ relationships with the junta,” said Dr Chris Beyrer, director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which released the report.
The report is based on interviews with 90 private relief workers and cyclone survivors conducted between June and November 2008. The interviews were carried out by the Emergency Assistance Team—Burma (EAT), a social organization based on the Thai-Burmese border and staffed by community aid workers from cyclone-affected areas.
The interviews detail a pattern of abuses by the military authorities, including the misappropriation of relief supplies, forced labor and harassment and arrest of local aid workers.
“After one month, they came to the village, saw my supplies and started asking—they sent my information to Yangon [Rangoon] to investigate me. They were asking why there were so many supplies. They think it was anti-government. So I left; I don’t like prison,” recounted one relief worker who was interviewed for the report.
The authors of the report say that such abuses “may constitute crimes against humanity through the creation of conditions whereby the basic survival needs of victims cannot be adequately met,” in violation of Article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
“These allegations, taken together, may amount to crimes against humanity and may need to be investigated,” said Beyrer, adding that the case could be referred to the UN Security Council for consideration.
The report also highlights the international relief effort’s failure to engage community-based groups, and calls for a more thorough assessment of the situation in the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta, including the junta’s role in obstructing aid.
“There are some [international] groups working directly with community organizations, but they have to be very careful about how they work together. It is very risky. That is why we want the UN and Asean to tell the government to allow the community-based organizations to work freely to do their humanitarian work,” said Dr Cynthia Maung, who serves as the chairperson of EAT.
“We would also like to recommend that the UN or the international community do a more thorough assessment,” she added. “Unless we get a proper assessment or report, it may be very hard to continue working to improve the situation [in the cyclone-affected area].”
The report was released as Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, speaking at the annual Asean summit being held in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin, revealed that the Burmese regime was set to extend the TCG’s role in the delta.
It is unclear how the regional grouping, which has generally closed ranks in defense of the Burmese junta in the past, will respond to the report.
“We hope that there is a positive and constructive response, not a response of denial or obfuscation, but rather that people will say, all right, these kinds of practices must cease and desist,” said Beyrer.
“These kinds of allegations simply cannot be ignored. The people of the Irrawaddy delta deserve to have a reconstruction effort that’s free of rights abuses,” he added.
In stark contrast to an earlier assessment of the Cyclone Nargis relief effort by Burma’s ruling junta and its international partners, a new report released today accuses the regime of widespread rights abuses that “may constitute crimes against humanity.”
The report, “After the Storm: Voices from the Delta,” is the first independent inquiry into the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma on May 2-3 last year, killing as many as 140,000 people.
Unlike the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report released last July by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of the junta, the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the new report does not shy away from the issue of human rights abuses by the Burmese regime.
“We did not prompt this. We asked a number of questions about relief efforts and agencies, and what kept coming out was people trying to struggle and negotiate their communities’ relationships with the junta,” said Dr Chris Beyrer, director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which released the report.
The report is based on interviews with 90 private relief workers and cyclone survivors conducted between June and November 2008. The interviews were carried out by the Emergency Assistance Team—Burma (EAT), a social organization based on the Thai-Burmese border and staffed by community aid workers from cyclone-affected areas.
The interviews detail a pattern of abuses by the military authorities, including the misappropriation of relief supplies, forced labor and harassment and arrest of local aid workers.
“After one month, they came to the village, saw my supplies and started asking—they sent my information to Yangon [Rangoon] to investigate me. They were asking why there were so many supplies. They think it was anti-government. So I left; I don’t like prison,” recounted one relief worker who was interviewed for the report.
The authors of the report say that such abuses “may constitute crimes against humanity through the creation of conditions whereby the basic survival needs of victims cannot be adequately met,” in violation of Article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
“These allegations, taken together, may amount to crimes against humanity and may need to be investigated,” said Beyrer, adding that the case could be referred to the UN Security Council for consideration.
The report also highlights the international relief effort’s failure to engage community-based groups, and calls for a more thorough assessment of the situation in the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta, including the junta’s role in obstructing aid.
“There are some [international] groups working directly with community organizations, but they have to be very careful about how they work together. It is very risky. That is why we want the UN and Asean to tell the government to allow the community-based organizations to work freely to do their humanitarian work,” said Dr Cynthia Maung, who serves as the chairperson of EAT.
“We would also like to recommend that the UN or the international community do a more thorough assessment,” she added. “Unless we get a proper assessment or report, it may be very hard to continue working to improve the situation [in the cyclone-affected area].”
The report was released as Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, speaking at the annual Asean summit being held in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin, revealed that the Burmese regime was set to extend the TCG’s role in the delta.
It is unclear how the regional grouping, which has generally closed ranks in defense of the Burmese junta in the past, will respond to the report.
“We hope that there is a positive and constructive response, not a response of denial or obfuscation, but rather that people will say, all right, these kinds of practices must cease and desist,” said Beyrer.
“These kinds of allegations simply cannot be ignored. The people of the Irrawaddy delta deserve to have a reconstruction effort that’s free of rights abuses,” he added.
New Report Slams Junta for Nargis ‘Crimes’
By NEIL LAWRENCE
In stark contrast to an earlier assessment of the Cyclone Nargis relief effort by Burma’s ruling junta and its international partners, a new report released today accuses the regime of widespread rights abuses that “may constitute crimes against humanity.”
The report, “After the Storm: Voices from the Delta,” is the first independent inquiry into the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma on May 2-3 last year, killing as many as 140,000 people.
Unlike the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report released last July by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of the junta, the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the new report does not shy away from the issue of human rights abuses by the Burmese regime.
“We did not prompt this. We asked a number of questions about relief efforts and agencies, and what kept coming out was people trying to struggle and negotiate their communities’ relationships with the junta,” said Dr Chris Beyrer, director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which released the report.
The report is based on interviews with 90 private relief workers and cyclone survivors conducted between June and November 2008. The interviews were carried out by the Emergency Assistance Team—Burma (EAT), a social organization based on the Thai-Burmese border and staffed by community aid workers from cyclone-affected areas.
The interviews detail a pattern of abuses by the military authorities, including the misappropriation of relief supplies, forced labor and harassment and arrest of local aid workers.
“After one month, they came to the village, saw my supplies and started asking—they sent my information to Yangon [Rangoon] to investigate me. They were asking why there were so many supplies. They think it was anti-government. So I left; I don’t like prison,” recounted one relief worker who was interviewed for the report.
The authors of the report say that such abuses “may constitute crimes against humanity through the creation of conditions whereby the basic survival needs of victims cannot be adequately met,” in violation of Article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
“These allegations, taken together, may amount to crimes against humanity and may need to be investigated,” said Beyrer, adding that the case could be referred to the UN Security Council for consideration.
The report also highlights the international relief effort’s failure to engage community-based groups, and calls for a more thorough assessment of the situation in the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta, including the junta’s role in obstructing aid.
“There are some [international] groups working directly with community organizations, but they have to be very careful about how they work together. It is very risky. That is why we want the UN and Asean to tell the government to allow the community-based organizations to work freely to do their humanitarian work,” said Dr Cynthia Maung, who serves as the chairperson of EAT.
“We would also like to recommend that the UN or the international community do a more thorough assessment,” she added. “Unless we get a proper assessment or report, it may be very hard to continue working to improve the situation [in the cyclone-affected area].”
The report was released as Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, speaking at the annual Asean summit being held in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin, revealed that the Burmese regime was set to extend the TCG’s role in the delta.
It is unclear how the regional grouping, which has generally closed ranks in defense of the Burmese junta in the past, will respond to the report.
“We hope that there is a positive and constructive response, not a response of denial or obfuscation, but rather that people will say, all right, these kinds of practices must cease and desist,” said Beyrer.
“These kinds of allegations simply cannot be ignored. The people of the Irrawaddy delta deserve to have a reconstruction effort that’s free of rights abuses,” he added.
In stark contrast to an earlier assessment of the Cyclone Nargis relief effort by Burma’s ruling junta and its international partners, a new report released today accuses the regime of widespread rights abuses that “may constitute crimes against humanity.”
The report, “After the Storm: Voices from the Delta,” is the first independent inquiry into the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma on May 2-3 last year, killing as many as 140,000 people.
Unlike the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report released last July by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of the junta, the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the new report does not shy away from the issue of human rights abuses by the Burmese regime.
“We did not prompt this. We asked a number of questions about relief efforts and agencies, and what kept coming out was people trying to struggle and negotiate their communities’ relationships with the junta,” said Dr Chris Beyrer, director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which released the report.
The report is based on interviews with 90 private relief workers and cyclone survivors conducted between June and November 2008. The interviews were carried out by the Emergency Assistance Team—Burma (EAT), a social organization based on the Thai-Burmese border and staffed by community aid workers from cyclone-affected areas.
The interviews detail a pattern of abuses by the military authorities, including the misappropriation of relief supplies, forced labor and harassment and arrest of local aid workers.
“After one month, they came to the village, saw my supplies and started asking—they sent my information to Yangon [Rangoon] to investigate me. They were asking why there were so many supplies. They think it was anti-government. So I left; I don’t like prison,” recounted one relief worker who was interviewed for the report.
The authors of the report say that such abuses “may constitute crimes against humanity through the creation of conditions whereby the basic survival needs of victims cannot be adequately met,” in violation of Article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
“These allegations, taken together, may amount to crimes against humanity and may need to be investigated,” said Beyrer, adding that the case could be referred to the UN Security Council for consideration.
The report also highlights the international relief effort’s failure to engage community-based groups, and calls for a more thorough assessment of the situation in the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta, including the junta’s role in obstructing aid.
“There are some [international] groups working directly with community organizations, but they have to be very careful about how they work together. It is very risky. That is why we want the UN and Asean to tell the government to allow the community-based organizations to work freely to do their humanitarian work,” said Dr Cynthia Maung, who serves as the chairperson of EAT.
“We would also like to recommend that the UN or the international community do a more thorough assessment,” she added. “Unless we get a proper assessment or report, it may be very hard to continue working to improve the situation [in the cyclone-affected area].”
The report was released as Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, speaking at the annual Asean summit being held in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin, revealed that the Burmese regime was set to extend the TCG’s role in the delta.
It is unclear how the regional grouping, which has generally closed ranks in defense of the Burmese junta in the past, will respond to the report.
“We hope that there is a positive and constructive response, not a response of denial or obfuscation, but rather that people will say, all right, these kinds of practices must cease and desist,” said Beyrer.
“These kinds of allegations simply cannot be ignored. The people of the Irrawaddy delta deserve to have a reconstruction effort that’s free of rights abuses,” he added.
Break the Broken Record
By KYAW ZWA MOE
The Burma issue is like a broken record: the same things are repeated over and over.
No 1: The junta routinely arrests political activists; it says economic sanctions should be repealed and blames the opposition party for it; it tries to sell its upcoming election in 2010, as part of its democracy roadmap.
No 2: The opposition parties, including the National League for Democracy (NLD), call for dialogue without any new, results-oriented strategies. They simply oppose whatever the government does.
No 3: All the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries are afraid directly confront the Burmese military leaders.
No 4: Without action, the international community calls for the release of all political prisoners and for dialogue between opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
No 5: The US remains the strongest vocal critic of the military leaders.
After hearing most of these positions repeated over and over for two decades, it’s not surprising that people are jaded and complacent. But things may be changing.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during her first trip to Asia: “We want to see a time when citizens of Burma and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi can live freely in their own country.”
The big question is when and how? During her trip, Clinton talked about Burma with Japan, Indonesia and China. She noted that US policy has failed to achieve positive results. “Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn’t influenced the Burmese junta.”
She noted the path taken by Burma’s neighboring countries, a “constructive engagement policy,” hasn’t influenced the military leaders either.
The new administration of US President Barack Obama can be expected to create a new approach to Burma, based on Obama’s track record of creative thinking and pragmatism.
In his inaugural address, his message was clear: "We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Definitely, his message was heard by Burma’s military leaders.
Two core political bargaining chips stand out: the release all political prisoners and the removal of economic sanctions.
The first is a key principle of the NLD; the second is a key principle of the junta.
These two issues are probably the keys to unlocking the status quo in Burma.
When UN Special envoy Ibrahim Gambari visited Burma recently, premier Gen Thein Sein told the envoy, “The UN should make an effort to lift economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar [Burma], if the organization wants to see a prosperous Myanmar with political stability.”
The prime minister said economic sanctions have hindered Burma’s efforts to alleviate poverty. He said the country is “like a person who is forced to run quickly while his legs are tied together.”
The prime minister sent a clear message to the Western world, especially the US, which has led the world effort to impose sanctions since 1997.
During her meeting with Gambari, Suu Kyi and senior NLD leaders emphasized the release of all political prisoners and a return to real dialogue.
President Obama and his secretary of state should make these two issues the focus of direct, or back channel, talks with the junta, and the sooner the better.
To drive home the message that direct talks are needed, the US administration should immediately name a special envoy to Burma, to carry the administration’s negotiating views directly to Than Shwe.
Last November, former President George W Bush appointed Michael Green as his special Burma policy coordinator with a rank of ambassador. But President Obama has yet to nominate him for the job.
With a special Burma envoy in place, the United States can get down to business, focusing on a basic quid pro quo: the release of all political prisoners for a lifting of economic sanctions.
If progress can be made on these two key issues, then the door is open for more change, and the old broken record will be broken.
The Burma issue is like a broken record: the same things are repeated over and over.
No 1: The junta routinely arrests political activists; it says economic sanctions should be repealed and blames the opposition party for it; it tries to sell its upcoming election in 2010, as part of its democracy roadmap.
No 2: The opposition parties, including the National League for Democracy (NLD), call for dialogue without any new, results-oriented strategies. They simply oppose whatever the government does.
No 3: All the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries are afraid directly confront the Burmese military leaders.
No 4: Without action, the international community calls for the release of all political prisoners and for dialogue between opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
No 5: The US remains the strongest vocal critic of the military leaders.
After hearing most of these positions repeated over and over for two decades, it’s not surprising that people are jaded and complacent. But things may be changing.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during her first trip to Asia: “We want to see a time when citizens of Burma and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi can live freely in their own country.”
The big question is when and how? During her trip, Clinton talked about Burma with Japan, Indonesia and China. She noted that US policy has failed to achieve positive results. “Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn’t influenced the Burmese junta.”
She noted the path taken by Burma’s neighboring countries, a “constructive engagement policy,” hasn’t influenced the military leaders either.
The new administration of US President Barack Obama can be expected to create a new approach to Burma, based on Obama’s track record of creative thinking and pragmatism.
In his inaugural address, his message was clear: "We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Definitely, his message was heard by Burma’s military leaders.
Two core political bargaining chips stand out: the release all political prisoners and the removal of economic sanctions.
The first is a key principle of the NLD; the second is a key principle of the junta.
These two issues are probably the keys to unlocking the status quo in Burma.
When UN Special envoy Ibrahim Gambari visited Burma recently, premier Gen Thein Sein told the envoy, “The UN should make an effort to lift economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar [Burma], if the organization wants to see a prosperous Myanmar with political stability.”
The prime minister said economic sanctions have hindered Burma’s efforts to alleviate poverty. He said the country is “like a person who is forced to run quickly while his legs are tied together.”
The prime minister sent a clear message to the Western world, especially the US, which has led the world effort to impose sanctions since 1997.
During her meeting with Gambari, Suu Kyi and senior NLD leaders emphasized the release of all political prisoners and a return to real dialogue.
President Obama and his secretary of state should make these two issues the focus of direct, or back channel, talks with the junta, and the sooner the better.
To drive home the message that direct talks are needed, the US administration should immediately name a special envoy to Burma, to carry the administration’s negotiating views directly to Than Shwe.
Last November, former President George W Bush appointed Michael Green as his special Burma policy coordinator with a rank of ambassador. But President Obama has yet to nominate him for the job.
With a special Burma envoy in place, the United States can get down to business, focusing on a basic quid pro quo: the release of all political prisoners for a lifting of economic sanctions.
If progress can be made on these two key issues, then the door is open for more change, and the old broken record will be broken.
Global Fund Discusses Possible Return to Burma
By THE IRRAWADDY
A visit to Burma this week by a Global Fund delegation could result in a resumption of the fund’s discontinued anti-AIDS program there, according to a report by the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The four-member Global Fund delegation led by William Paton, director of country programs, arrived in Burma on Tuesday for a four-day visit. It has since met 29 members of the Myanmar [Burma] Country Coordinating Mechanism (MCCM), headed by Health Minister Kyaw Myint, Xinhua was told by Sun Gang, country coordinator of UNAIDS in Burma.
The MCCM includes 10 representatives of government ministries, four UN agency members and four from international non-governmental organizations.
In August 2005, the Global Fund, the world's leading funder of programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, terminated its anti-AIDS program in Burma. The five year program would have cost more than US $98 million.
Global Fund announced that its decision to terminate projects in Burma was made in the light of “the [Burmese] government’s newly established clearance procedures restricting access of the principal recipient [the UN Development Programme], certain sub-recipients, as well as the staff of Global Fund and its agents, to grant-implementation areas.”
In 2006, the Global Fund was replaced by the Three-Diseases (3D) Fund—developed as a substitute by the European Commission, the British, Dutch and Norwegian governments and two anti-AIDS organization in Sweden and Australia.
A five-year 3-D Fund project to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria is projected to cost about $100 million. The 3-D Fund reported recently that it has provided nine non-governmental organizations in Burma this year with a total of $630,000.
Xinhua reported that if this week’s negotiations are successful, the Global Fund is expected to make a formal comeback by 2010.
A visit to Burma this week by a Global Fund delegation could result in a resumption of the fund’s discontinued anti-AIDS program there, according to a report by the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The four-member Global Fund delegation led by William Paton, director of country programs, arrived in Burma on Tuesday for a four-day visit. It has since met 29 members of the Myanmar [Burma] Country Coordinating Mechanism (MCCM), headed by Health Minister Kyaw Myint, Xinhua was told by Sun Gang, country coordinator of UNAIDS in Burma.
The MCCM includes 10 representatives of government ministries, four UN agency members and four from international non-governmental organizations.
In August 2005, the Global Fund, the world's leading funder of programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, terminated its anti-AIDS program in Burma. The five year program would have cost more than US $98 million.
Global Fund announced that its decision to terminate projects in Burma was made in the light of “the [Burmese] government’s newly established clearance procedures restricting access of the principal recipient [the UN Development Programme], certain sub-recipients, as well as the staff of Global Fund and its agents, to grant-implementation areas.”
In 2006, the Global Fund was replaced by the Three-Diseases (3D) Fund—developed as a substitute by the European Commission, the British, Dutch and Norwegian governments and two anti-AIDS organization in Sweden and Australia.
A five-year 3-D Fund project to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria is projected to cost about $100 million. The 3-D Fund reported recently that it has provided nine non-governmental organizations in Burma this year with a total of $630,000.
Xinhua reported that if this week’s negotiations are successful, the Global Fund is expected to make a formal comeback by 2010.
Wa Receive Permanent Identity Cards
By MIN LWIN
Local immigration officers in the Kengtaung District of Burma’s Eastern Shan State have been issuing permanent Burmese identity cards to ethnic Wa adults over the age of 18 since the beginning of February, Kengtaung Township sources report.
A source with the Township’s Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) said officials were replacing the temporary identity cards issued one year ago. The cards were issued to enable Wa and members of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) to participate in the May 2008 referendum.
UWSA soldiers are among those now receiving permanent identity cards.
The MRCS source said immigration officers and members of the pro-regime Union Solidarity and Development Association had been working on the replacement in the Wa region, Mong Yan, Mong Phan and Mong Pauk close to Panghsang, headquarters of the UWSA, near the China-Burma border.
Tension has meanwhile increased between the Burmese army and the UWSA because of the Wa army’s refusal to hand over accused drug trafficker Aik Hawk to the Burmese authorities. The authorities believe he is being protected by UWSA forces at their headquarters in Panghsang.
The Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News said the Burmese army had deployed an estimated 2,000 reinforcement troops since the middle of January in Mong Ping, Mong Hsnu, Tang Yan and Kunlong.
Local immigration officers in the Kengtaung District of Burma’s Eastern Shan State have been issuing permanent Burmese identity cards to ethnic Wa adults over the age of 18 since the beginning of February, Kengtaung Township sources report.
A source with the Township’s Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) said officials were replacing the temporary identity cards issued one year ago. The cards were issued to enable Wa and members of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) to participate in the May 2008 referendum.
UWSA soldiers are among those now receiving permanent identity cards.
The MRCS source said immigration officers and members of the pro-regime Union Solidarity and Development Association had been working on the replacement in the Wa region, Mong Yan, Mong Phan and Mong Pauk close to Panghsang, headquarters of the UWSA, near the China-Burma border.
Tension has meanwhile increased between the Burmese army and the UWSA because of the Wa army’s refusal to hand over accused drug trafficker Aik Hawk to the Burmese authorities. The authorities believe he is being protected by UWSA forces at their headquarters in Panghsang.
The Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News said the Burmese army had deployed an estimated 2,000 reinforcement troops since the middle of January in Mong Ping, Mong Hsnu, Tang Yan and Kunlong.
Weekly Business Roundup (February 27, 2009)
By WILLIAM BOOT
Thai-Chinese Oil, Gas Deals Voided by Junta Inaction
China’s steady expansion in Burma’s oil and gas reserves has suffered a setback—due to the military regime’s bureaucracy.
The Chinese state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation last year signed agreements with Thailand’s state oil explorer PTTEP to swap stakes in several exploration site licenses both on and offshore in Burma.
Some of these 20 percent swaps have now unraveled, timed out by the failure of the Burmese authorities to approve them, says PTTEP in a statement to Thai shareholders this week.
The agreements covered four offshore and onshore blocks still being explored by the companies.
They involved PTTEP giving a 20 percent stake in offshore gas blocks M3 and M4 in the Gulf of Martaban to CNOOC in exchange for a 20 percent share of the Chinese company’s A4 and C1 blocks.
The A-4 is also offshore but on the west coast. C-1 is onshore in the west coast region and covers more than 15,000 square kilometers where there is potential to strike oil.
PTTEP said in its statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, “The contract for participation interest swap has already expired before receiving an approval from the Myanmar government, which causes the contract to be invalid.”
But PTTEP made mention of the 20 percent stake it had separately agreed to sell to CNOOC in its big offshore M-9 gas field concession in the Gulf of Martaban.
PTTEP last year invited the Chinese into the M-9 field, where the Thais have confirmed discovery of at least 1.75 trillion cubic feet (50 billion cubic meters) of recoverable natural gas, to help share the estimated US $1 billion development costs.
Separately, PTTEP and its parent company PTT are still discussing the terms of letting CNOOC take a 20 percent development investment share in its currently 100 percent concession on the M-9 offshore block in Myanmar waters of the Gulf of Martaban.
Thai Gems Trade Faces Tougher Tests for Burmese Stones
The new Thai government of Democrat Abhisit Vejjajiva is telling several ministries to pressure the country’s gems industry to conform more to US sanctions against the Burmese military government.
A statement from the Ministry of Commerce says it is now working with
“state agencies and industry bodies to urge rough-gem traders to adhere to stricter standards.”
It says the action follows a tightening of rules in the US barring the import of stones sources from Burma and requiring stricter certification to verify origins.
The ministry said there is a need to persuade small and medium sized traders operating in Thailand—mainly Bangkok—to comply with US customs requirements.
The US has banned the import of rubies and jade-related products from Burma, including gems that were mined in Burma and processed, treated or manufactured into jewelry in third-party countries.
The ministry did not say what form the new action would take, but said it will work with officers from the ministry of finance as well as Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders Association.
Gems and jewelry are Thailand’s fourth-largest export industry in value, with exports valued in 2008 at more than US$8 billion, according to the Bangkok commerce ministry.
Junta to Lure Chinese Tourists with Easier Visas
In a bid to boost the flagging tourism industry, the Burmese military authorities are to give visa-on-arrival facilities to all Chinese arriving at the border near Myitkyina in northern Kachin State.
Until now, Chinese could cross only as far as Myitkyina unless they obtained a special visa from the Burmese consulate in the Yunnan Province capital of Kunming.
Now Chinese can get a visa at the border to visit a large part of Burma, including Rangoon, Mandalay and Bagan, reports the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The easier access follows the opening of a new airport at Teng Chong on February 16, which will give access to Burma for many more Chinese from much further afield.
Booming Vietnam Looks to Burma for Increased Trade
Trade between Asean member countries Burma and Vietnam grew by 11 percent last year to more than US $100 million, and the Vietnamese are keen to boost it still further this year despite the global recession.
Vietnam is still the strongest economy in Southeast Asia and last year chalked up growth of 8 percent.
Plans for expanding bilateral trade were discussed at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City this week attended by ministry officials and representatives from 50 companies from both countries, said the official Vietnam News Agency.
“The two countries still have great business potential to be tapped, especially in the sectors of agriculture and forestry, textiles and garments, electronics, electrical appliances, medical and pharmaceutical equipment and consumer goods,” the agency said, quoting Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade spokesman Phan Hao.
Thai-Chinese Oil, Gas Deals Voided by Junta Inaction
China’s steady expansion in Burma’s oil and gas reserves has suffered a setback—due to the military regime’s bureaucracy.
The Chinese state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation last year signed agreements with Thailand’s state oil explorer PTTEP to swap stakes in several exploration site licenses both on and offshore in Burma.
Some of these 20 percent swaps have now unraveled, timed out by the failure of the Burmese authorities to approve them, says PTTEP in a statement to Thai shareholders this week.
The agreements covered four offshore and onshore blocks still being explored by the companies.
They involved PTTEP giving a 20 percent stake in offshore gas blocks M3 and M4 in the Gulf of Martaban to CNOOC in exchange for a 20 percent share of the Chinese company’s A4 and C1 blocks.
The A-4 is also offshore but on the west coast. C-1 is onshore in the west coast region and covers more than 15,000 square kilometers where there is potential to strike oil.
PTTEP said in its statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, “The contract for participation interest swap has already expired before receiving an approval from the Myanmar government, which causes the contract to be invalid.”
But PTTEP made mention of the 20 percent stake it had separately agreed to sell to CNOOC in its big offshore M-9 gas field concession in the Gulf of Martaban.
PTTEP last year invited the Chinese into the M-9 field, where the Thais have confirmed discovery of at least 1.75 trillion cubic feet (50 billion cubic meters) of recoverable natural gas, to help share the estimated US $1 billion development costs.
Separately, PTTEP and its parent company PTT are still discussing the terms of letting CNOOC take a 20 percent development investment share in its currently 100 percent concession on the M-9 offshore block in Myanmar waters of the Gulf of Martaban.
Thai Gems Trade Faces Tougher Tests for Burmese Stones
The new Thai government of Democrat Abhisit Vejjajiva is telling several ministries to pressure the country’s gems industry to conform more to US sanctions against the Burmese military government.
A statement from the Ministry of Commerce says it is now working with
“state agencies and industry bodies to urge rough-gem traders to adhere to stricter standards.”
It says the action follows a tightening of rules in the US barring the import of stones sources from Burma and requiring stricter certification to verify origins.
The ministry said there is a need to persuade small and medium sized traders operating in Thailand—mainly Bangkok—to comply with US customs requirements.
The US has banned the import of rubies and jade-related products from Burma, including gems that were mined in Burma and processed, treated or manufactured into jewelry in third-party countries.
The ministry did not say what form the new action would take, but said it will work with officers from the ministry of finance as well as Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders Association.
Gems and jewelry are Thailand’s fourth-largest export industry in value, with exports valued in 2008 at more than US$8 billion, according to the Bangkok commerce ministry.
Junta to Lure Chinese Tourists with Easier Visas
In a bid to boost the flagging tourism industry, the Burmese military authorities are to give visa-on-arrival facilities to all Chinese arriving at the border near Myitkyina in northern Kachin State.
Until now, Chinese could cross only as far as Myitkyina unless they obtained a special visa from the Burmese consulate in the Yunnan Province capital of Kunming.
Now Chinese can get a visa at the border to visit a large part of Burma, including Rangoon, Mandalay and Bagan, reports the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The easier access follows the opening of a new airport at Teng Chong on February 16, which will give access to Burma for many more Chinese from much further afield.
Booming Vietnam Looks to Burma for Increased Trade
Trade between Asean member countries Burma and Vietnam grew by 11 percent last year to more than US $100 million, and the Vietnamese are keen to boost it still further this year despite the global recession.
Vietnam is still the strongest economy in Southeast Asia and last year chalked up growth of 8 percent.
Plans for expanding bilateral trade were discussed at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City this week attended by ministry officials and representatives from 50 companies from both countries, said the official Vietnam News Agency.
“The two countries still have great business potential to be tapped, especially in the sectors of agriculture and forestry, textiles and garments, electronics, electrical appliances, medical and pharmaceutical equipment and consumer goods,” the agency said, quoting Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade spokesman Phan Hao.
Will US Oil Companies Return to Burma?
By WILLIAM BOOT
BANGKOK — Burma watchers are wondering if US oil and gas developers might return to the country after the Barack Obama government announced it is reviewing its policy towards Burma’s military regime.
Statements by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that sanctions against
Burma’s military regime are not working came shortly before she also began urging China to try to influence change in the repressed Southeast Asian country.
China is seen by many, including evidently Clinton, as pivotal to any improvements in Burma.
While Western countries have continued to tighten economic sanctions against the Burma regime, China has increasingly engaged.
The result has been a big upsurge in Chinese access to Burma’s natural resources of oil, gas and river-fed hydroelectric dams.
China will this year begin building two 1,000-mile-plus pipelines to carry both gas and oil from Burma’s coastline up into Chinese Yunnan Province.
Chinese state companies have exclusively bought up the gas from two blocks of Burma’s biggest-to-date offshore field, the Shwe complex in the Bay of Bengal.
The Burmese military leadership is also allowing China to build a large crude oil transshipment port at a remote location on the central coast to transfer Middle East and African oil through the country into China.
All this has happened while the US and the European Union have pressured their oil companies to withdraw.
Chevron of the US and Total of France still remain to manage their pre-existing gas concessions in the Yadana and Yetagun fields of the Andaman Sea, but there has been no new Western investment in oil and gas for some years, apart from small activities by several Australian firms.
The Clinton-led US State Department has repeated old American calls for the release of political prisoners in Burma, but also underlined that under Clinton’s stewardship it is reviewing the sanctions policy “to figure out a way to better influence the behavior of the regime.”
This contrasts with the final months of the George W Bush presidency which saw a tightening of financial sanctions against the Burmese generals, and new pressure on Chevron to completely pull out.
Political observers have made much of Clinton’s high-level talks in Beijing in recent days in which human rights issues took a back seat in favor of economic issues.
The emphasis of her talks was on a US-China partnership to revive the world’s economies.
“Two things stand out really in this about-face scenario,” said a commercial attaché with an EU embassy in Bangkok, who spoke to Asia Oil & Gas Monitor on agreement of anonymity this week.
“First, White House policy in Asia is definitely changing to one of closer engagement. Bush was aloof to Asia, eight years in which China’s influence in particular has grown considerably, both politically and economically.
“Second, Clinton wants closer White House ties specifically with China.
“With regards to Myanmar [Burma], well, it will not have escaped the attention of Obama and Clinton, and their advisers, that the Chinese have dug in deep. Burma is now not only a rich source of raw essentials for China, it’s become an important geo-strategic client state giving Beijing access to the Indian Ocean.”
During her talks in Beijing, Clinton asked the Chinese government to try to use its influence to persuade the Burmese regime to talk with the political opposition, many of whom are jailed, with a view to democratic reform.
Clinton may have just been paying lip service here to human rights pressure groups. She must know that it is not really in Beijing’s interests to see a democratically elected government in Burma that might tell the Chinese to go home.
On the other hand, if regime change should occur, China would benefit from being seen as not supporting the regime in total disregard to the people’s interests.
Just what kind of policy change the White House has in mind on Burma remains to be seen, but given the current political and economic chill it would have to involve some form of engagement.
“Will it mean US oil giants queuing to get at Burma’s gas? There might be some carrot-and-stick economic diplomacy, but Burma’s generals already have plenty of that, from all its neighbors,” Bangkok-based energy industries consultant Collin Reynolds told AOGM. “There would have to be a lot of carrot.”
Clinton steered clear of Burma on her just-finished Asian tour but visited Indonesia, a key member of the Southeast Asian “club” Asean that Burma also belongs to, as well as two countries which have some economic sway in Burma—Japan and China.
Indonesia has been critical of the Burmese regime and has called for it to engage in political dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Sui Kyi.
The 10 member countries of Asean are holding a summit this weekend in Thailand with discussions on closer economic integration and closer trade ties with, among others, China.
But with the global financial crisis increasingly biting in Southeast Asian, the issue of Burma will likely receive a lower priority.
Thailand’s new government as current leader of Asean under the revolving chairmanship system has made clear it wants a happy and harmonious summit on its territory—after its own political chaos forced postponement last December.
BANGKOK — Burma watchers are wondering if US oil and gas developers might return to the country after the Barack Obama government announced it is reviewing its policy towards Burma’s military regime.
Statements by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that sanctions against
Burma’s military regime are not working came shortly before she also began urging China to try to influence change in the repressed Southeast Asian country.
China is seen by many, including evidently Clinton, as pivotal to any improvements in Burma.
While Western countries have continued to tighten economic sanctions against the Burma regime, China has increasingly engaged.
The result has been a big upsurge in Chinese access to Burma’s natural resources of oil, gas and river-fed hydroelectric dams.
China will this year begin building two 1,000-mile-plus pipelines to carry both gas and oil from Burma’s coastline up into Chinese Yunnan Province.
Chinese state companies have exclusively bought up the gas from two blocks of Burma’s biggest-to-date offshore field, the Shwe complex in the Bay of Bengal.
The Burmese military leadership is also allowing China to build a large crude oil transshipment port at a remote location on the central coast to transfer Middle East and African oil through the country into China.
All this has happened while the US and the European Union have pressured their oil companies to withdraw.
Chevron of the US and Total of France still remain to manage their pre-existing gas concessions in the Yadana and Yetagun fields of the Andaman Sea, but there has been no new Western investment in oil and gas for some years, apart from small activities by several Australian firms.
The Clinton-led US State Department has repeated old American calls for the release of political prisoners in Burma, but also underlined that under Clinton’s stewardship it is reviewing the sanctions policy “to figure out a way to better influence the behavior of the regime.”
This contrasts with the final months of the George W Bush presidency which saw a tightening of financial sanctions against the Burmese generals, and new pressure on Chevron to completely pull out.
Political observers have made much of Clinton’s high-level talks in Beijing in recent days in which human rights issues took a back seat in favor of economic issues.
The emphasis of her talks was on a US-China partnership to revive the world’s economies.
“Two things stand out really in this about-face scenario,” said a commercial attaché with an EU embassy in Bangkok, who spoke to Asia Oil & Gas Monitor on agreement of anonymity this week.
“First, White House policy in Asia is definitely changing to one of closer engagement. Bush was aloof to Asia, eight years in which China’s influence in particular has grown considerably, both politically and economically.
“Second, Clinton wants closer White House ties specifically with China.
“With regards to Myanmar [Burma], well, it will not have escaped the attention of Obama and Clinton, and their advisers, that the Chinese have dug in deep. Burma is now not only a rich source of raw essentials for China, it’s become an important geo-strategic client state giving Beijing access to the Indian Ocean.”
During her talks in Beijing, Clinton asked the Chinese government to try to use its influence to persuade the Burmese regime to talk with the political opposition, many of whom are jailed, with a view to democratic reform.
Clinton may have just been paying lip service here to human rights pressure groups. She must know that it is not really in Beijing’s interests to see a democratically elected government in Burma that might tell the Chinese to go home.
On the other hand, if regime change should occur, China would benefit from being seen as not supporting the regime in total disregard to the people’s interests.
Just what kind of policy change the White House has in mind on Burma remains to be seen, but given the current political and economic chill it would have to involve some form of engagement.
“Will it mean US oil giants queuing to get at Burma’s gas? There might be some carrot-and-stick economic diplomacy, but Burma’s generals already have plenty of that, from all its neighbors,” Bangkok-based energy industries consultant Collin Reynolds told AOGM. “There would have to be a lot of carrot.”
Clinton steered clear of Burma on her just-finished Asian tour but visited Indonesia, a key member of the Southeast Asian “club” Asean that Burma also belongs to, as well as two countries which have some economic sway in Burma—Japan and China.
Indonesia has been critical of the Burmese regime and has called for it to engage in political dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Sui Kyi.
The 10 member countries of Asean are holding a summit this weekend in Thailand with discussions on closer economic integration and closer trade ties with, among others, China.
But with the global financial crisis increasingly biting in Southeast Asian, the issue of Burma will likely receive a lower priority.
Thailand’s new government as current leader of Asean under the revolving chairmanship system has made clear it wants a happy and harmonious summit on its territory—after its own political chaos forced postponement last December.
Strong Kyat Hits China Border Trade
By MIN LWIN
Border trade between Burma and China has decreased significantly in the past three weeks because of the rise in the Burmese kyat, businessmen told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
The price of one dollar is around 1,015 to the kyat, and 142 kyat to the Chinese yuan. In late 2008, one yuan was about 176 kyat. The Burmese currency has shown great strength recently.
The businessman said the kyat gained more than 20 percent this week against the Chinese currency, and as a result, trade has suffered because Chinese buyers are forced to pay higher prices for Burmese goods.
“Border trade has decreased by nearly one half,” said a Burmese businessman in Ruili, China. “Businesses are struggling to obtain cash to pay workers and goods.”
Commodities are piling up on both sides of the border, waiting for buyers.
According to Burmese statistics, the border trade volume at Muse amounted to US $311 million in 2006, and $257 million in 2005.
Cross-border traders also complain that the Burmese authorities from the Na Sa Ka (Department of Border Trade) are making it more difficult to import Chinese goods to Burma.
“They are restricting the Chinese trade. They don’t allow very much from the China side,” said a cross-border trader in Muse Township.
“It is difficult to transport Chinese goods to Rangoon, because many checkpoints want to seize our goods,” she said.
The Burma-China border crossing at Muse was officially opened for trade in December 1988.
After a ceasefire agreement between the Burmese military and local ethnic opposition groups in the early 1990s, government officials on both sides of the Burma-China border played a key role in increasing both legal and illegal trade, according to local businessmen.
Border trade between Burma and China has decreased significantly in the past three weeks because of the rise in the Burmese kyat, businessmen told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
The price of one dollar is around 1,015 to the kyat, and 142 kyat to the Chinese yuan. In late 2008, one yuan was about 176 kyat. The Burmese currency has shown great strength recently.
The businessman said the kyat gained more than 20 percent this week against the Chinese currency, and as a result, trade has suffered because Chinese buyers are forced to pay higher prices for Burmese goods.
“Border trade has decreased by nearly one half,” said a Burmese businessman in Ruili, China. “Businesses are struggling to obtain cash to pay workers and goods.”
Commodities are piling up on both sides of the border, waiting for buyers.
According to Burmese statistics, the border trade volume at Muse amounted to US $311 million in 2006, and $257 million in 2005.
Cross-border traders also complain that the Burmese authorities from the Na Sa Ka (Department of Border Trade) are making it more difficult to import Chinese goods to Burma.
“They are restricting the Chinese trade. They don’t allow very much from the China side,” said a cross-border trader in Muse Township.
“It is difficult to transport Chinese goods to Rangoon, because many checkpoints want to seize our goods,” she said.
The Burma-China border crossing at Muse was officially opened for trade in December 1988.
After a ceasefire agreement between the Burmese military and local ethnic opposition groups in the early 1990s, government officials on both sides of the Burma-China border played a key role in increasing both legal and illegal trade, according to local businessmen.
February 26, 2009
Ramos-Horta Urges Obama to Ease Stance on Burma
By THE IRRAWADDY
East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta has called on the United States to use the “international goodwill” generated by Barack Obama’s historic presidency to help end Burma’s political crisis.
Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, Ramos-Horta said that the decades-long impasse in Burma would be “one of the easiest” in the world to resolve if the US ended its policy of isolating the ruling regime.
“I know that the junta in Burma is desperate for changes and this is a unique opportunity for the US to engage them,” he said.
Ramos-Horta, who has been meeting with senior US officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, since addressing the UN Security Council in New York on February 19, has long been an outspoken critic of Western sanctions on Burma.
In an interview with The Irrawaddy in February 2004, the Nobel Peace Prize winner described sanctions as “the moral equivalent of waging a war.”
“The difference is only that a war kills people immediately. Economic and financial sanctions often cause death, but it is invisible because it happens more slowly,” he said.
His latest statement echoed this sentiment.
“When you look at the situation in Myanmar [Burma] or Cuba, when you punish a country for the perceived sin of the regime, the consequence is that you also have collateral damage among the people,” he said on Wednesday.
Washington has indicated that it is looking at other ways to promote political reform in Burma. It remains unclear, however, if this means that it will ease sanctions on the junta for its human rights abuses and persecution of the country’s democratic opposition.
During a recent tour of Asia, Clinton said that the US was “looking at steps that might influence the current Burmese government, and we’re also looking for ways that we could more effectively help the Burmese people.”
But on the same day that Ramos-Horta made his comments in Washington, the US State Department released a report saying the junta was “brutally” suppressing its people.
East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta has called on the United States to use the “international goodwill” generated by Barack Obama’s historic presidency to help end Burma’s political crisis.
Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, Ramos-Horta said that the decades-long impasse in Burma would be “one of the easiest” in the world to resolve if the US ended its policy of isolating the ruling regime.
“I know that the junta in Burma is desperate for changes and this is a unique opportunity for the US to engage them,” he said.
Ramos-Horta, who has been meeting with senior US officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, since addressing the UN Security Council in New York on February 19, has long been an outspoken critic of Western sanctions on Burma.
In an interview with The Irrawaddy in February 2004, the Nobel Peace Prize winner described sanctions as “the moral equivalent of waging a war.”
“The difference is only that a war kills people immediately. Economic and financial sanctions often cause death, but it is invisible because it happens more slowly,” he said.
His latest statement echoed this sentiment.
“When you look at the situation in Myanmar [Burma] or Cuba, when you punish a country for the perceived sin of the regime, the consequence is that you also have collateral damage among the people,” he said on Wednesday.
Washington has indicated that it is looking at other ways to promote political reform in Burma. It remains unclear, however, if this means that it will ease sanctions on the junta for its human rights abuses and persecution of the country’s democratic opposition.
During a recent tour of Asia, Clinton said that the US was “looking at steps that might influence the current Burmese government, and we’re also looking for ways that we could more effectively help the Burmese people.”
But on the same day that Ramos-Horta made his comments in Washington, the US State Department released a report saying the junta was “brutally” suppressing its people.
Northern Thailand Chokes in Dangerous Smog
By THE IRRAWADDY
Residents of Thailand’s second largest city, Chiang Mai, have been advised by public health authorities to avoid outdoor exercise and to wear face masks as air pollution reaches dangerous levels.
Forest fires fuelled by a severe drought have contributed to the level of the injurious PM-10 dust particles hitting levels hazardous to health in Chiang Mai and the northern Thai cities of Lampang, Lamphun, Chiang Rai and Phayao.
PM-10 levels above 120 micrograms per cubic meter are judged to be harmful to health. On Wednesday, the levels in northern Thailand ranged from 129 in Chiang Mai to 201 in Lampang.
Also contributing to the pollution is smoke from fires set deliberately in their fields by villagers in the belief that the ashes will lead to a higher crop yield and stimulate wild mushroom growth.
The English-language daily Bangkok Post reported that in Lampang alone more than 3,000 people, most of them children and the elderly, had sought treatment for respiratory problems in the first three weeks of February. Local health authorities warned residents here, too, to avoid outside exercise and to wear face masks.
According to the state-run Thai News Agency, Chiang Mai's Forest Fire Control Operation Division chief Surapol Leelavaropas said 111 forest fires had broken out in the region since the beginning of the year.
Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported last week that the drought had spread to 19 provinces. Emergency centers had been set up throughout the country.
Somchai Baimoung, director of the Weather Forecast Bureau, warned that northern and northeastern provinces could expect very hot weather in April, with temperatures climbing to 42 degrees Celsius.
Residents of Thailand’s second largest city, Chiang Mai, have been advised by public health authorities to avoid outdoor exercise and to wear face masks as air pollution reaches dangerous levels.
Forest fires fuelled by a severe drought have contributed to the level of the injurious PM-10 dust particles hitting levels hazardous to health in Chiang Mai and the northern Thai cities of Lampang, Lamphun, Chiang Rai and Phayao.
PM-10 levels above 120 micrograms per cubic meter are judged to be harmful to health. On Wednesday, the levels in northern Thailand ranged from 129 in Chiang Mai to 201 in Lampang.
Also contributing to the pollution is smoke from fires set deliberately in their fields by villagers in the belief that the ashes will lead to a higher crop yield and stimulate wild mushroom growth.
The English-language daily Bangkok Post reported that in Lampang alone more than 3,000 people, most of them children and the elderly, had sought treatment for respiratory problems in the first three weeks of February. Local health authorities warned residents here, too, to avoid outside exercise and to wear face masks.
According to the state-run Thai News Agency, Chiang Mai's Forest Fire Control Operation Division chief Surapol Leelavaropas said 111 forest fires had broken out in the region since the beginning of the year.
Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported last week that the drought had spread to 19 provinces. Emergency centers had been set up throughout the country.
Somchai Baimoung, director of the Weather Forecast Bureau, warned that northern and northeastern provinces could expect very hot weather in April, with temperatures climbing to 42 degrees Celsius.
Mae Sot Raid Nets about 500 Migrant Workers
By LAWI WENG
About 500 Burmese migrant workers and their children were taken into custody in Mae Sot after Thai authorities raided their homes on Thursday, says a Burmese migrant rights group.
Myo Zaw, a member of Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association based in Mae Sot, said the crackdown took place at different locations in Mae Sot.
The migrant workers were rounded up by police and will be deported to Burma, he said.
Htay Oo, a Burmese migrant worker in Mae Sot, said police arrested most of the people, including children, in her neighborhood around 4 am.
She said most migrant families had information about the coming crackdown, but they didn’t leave to sleep outside of town to avoid arrest.
A Mon language teacher in Mae Sot said that one of his students was arrested, and he asked police to release him so he could go to school.
“But, they told me they will deport him to Burma soon, so he can come back to class [later],” he said.
Most migrants had been informed about the crackdown as early as Monday. Some Burmese political offices closed, fearing they too would be part of the raids.
Thai authorities tightened security in Mae Sot during the week. Police, immigration officers and Thai military intelligence were all involved in the crackdown.
The Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association says that there are about 100,000 Burmese migrant workers, most of them illegal migrants, awaiting new worker registration permits in the Mae Sot area. About 40,000 are legally registered.
About 3,000 Burmese workers were laid off recently due to the global financial crisis in Thailand and an estimated 500 returned home, according to the labor rights group.
Many migrant workers only earn enough money to provide for their daily food. If they
are arrested and sent back to Burma, they usually re-enter Thailand and resume working, many in the factories that surround Mae Sot.
There are an estimated 1.5 million legal and illegal Burmese migrant workers in Thailand.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has sent a letter to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) calling for member governments to respect international human rights norms to ensure that recruitment, employment and repatriation of migrants is handled fairly.
Some Asean countries continue to have inadequate and poorly enforced migrant regulations, the group said. It singled out Malaysia and Thailand for failing to adequately investigate allegations of collusion between government officials and trafficking gangs on the Malay-Thai border.
The rights group called for the end of unlawful restrictions that prevent freedom of movement and association among migrant workers, and the need to ensure migrant workers have access to justice.
It noted that Asean has declared it will address some of these issues, but many member countries have yet to implement concrete improvements on the ground.
About 500 Burmese migrant workers and their children were taken into custody in Mae Sot after Thai authorities raided their homes on Thursday, says a Burmese migrant rights group.
Myo Zaw, a member of Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association based in Mae Sot, said the crackdown took place at different locations in Mae Sot.
The migrant workers were rounded up by police and will be deported to Burma, he said.
Htay Oo, a Burmese migrant worker in Mae Sot, said police arrested most of the people, including children, in her neighborhood around 4 am.
She said most migrant families had information about the coming crackdown, but they didn’t leave to sleep outside of town to avoid arrest.
A Mon language teacher in Mae Sot said that one of his students was arrested, and he asked police to release him so he could go to school.
“But, they told me they will deport him to Burma soon, so he can come back to class [later],” he said.
Most migrants had been informed about the crackdown as early as Monday. Some Burmese political offices closed, fearing they too would be part of the raids.
Thai authorities tightened security in Mae Sot during the week. Police, immigration officers and Thai military intelligence were all involved in the crackdown.
The Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association says that there are about 100,000 Burmese migrant workers, most of them illegal migrants, awaiting new worker registration permits in the Mae Sot area. About 40,000 are legally registered.
About 3,000 Burmese workers were laid off recently due to the global financial crisis in Thailand and an estimated 500 returned home, according to the labor rights group.
Many migrant workers only earn enough money to provide for their daily food. If they
are arrested and sent back to Burma, they usually re-enter Thailand and resume working, many in the factories that surround Mae Sot.
There are an estimated 1.5 million legal and illegal Burmese migrant workers in Thailand.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has sent a letter to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) calling for member governments to respect international human rights norms to ensure that recruitment, employment and repatriation of migrants is handled fairly.
Some Asean countries continue to have inadequate and poorly enforced migrant regulations, the group said. It singled out Malaysia and Thailand for failing to adequately investigate allegations of collusion between government officials and trafficking gangs on the Malay-Thai border.
The rights group called for the end of unlawful restrictions that prevent freedom of movement and association among migrant workers, and the need to ensure migrant workers have access to justice.
It noted that Asean has declared it will address some of these issues, but many member countries have yet to implement concrete improvements on the ground.
Washington Forging New Burma Policy
By DENIS D GRAY / AP WRITER
BANGKOK — Reforming Burma's harsh military rule may not rank at the top of President Barack Obama's foreign policy goals, but it's one he will find among the most difficult to achieve.
For half a century, formidable forces—rebel armies, uprisings, economic sanctions, pressure by the United Nations—have attempted to dislodge or at least temper Burma's ruling junta. All have failed.
The Burmese ruling generals continue to crush popular protests with guns, commit atrocities against ethnic minorities and currently hold more than 2,000 political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest for more than 13 of the past 19 years.
So can any new approach by Obama effect meaningful change in Burma?
Options in his arsenal appear limited, but some will be tried, and they could prove important.
"If there is going to be any change in international policy which will make a difference, it's going to have to come from Washington. The US remains a key player," says Thant Myint-U, a Burmese historian and former UN official. "For the Burmese government, the US holds out what they want, which is international acceptability and respect, and an end to its pariah status."
A prominent Southeast Asian politician agreed.
"Obama could be a pivotal leader (on the issue) because of his high concern for democracy and human rights," Philippine senator and former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel told the Associated Press.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on her recent Asian swing, indicated Washington was "looking at what steps we might take that might influence the current Burmese government and we're also looking for ways that we could more effectively help the Burmese people."
Analysts foresee more carefully crafted US sanctions, greater cooperation with the United Nations and others to forge a common front on Burma, and trying to convince China to exert influence on its close ally. But employing a carrot and a stick, humanitarian aid may also be increased.
"Obama's approach to foreign policy, a stress on common action among allies and negotiation, will be more effective than Bush's unilateralism and moralistic hectoring," says Donald M. Seekins, a Burma expert at Japan's Meio University.
Obama's new UN Ambassador Susan E Rice has said there remained "scope for greater regional and international action to pressure Burma's dictators," including multilateral sanctions and getting Burma's Southeast Asian neighbors to support tougher action.
But she warned Burma may represent "one of the most intractable challenges for the global community."
In a country where many still regard the United States as a potential savior, there is skepticism that the new president can loosen the junta's grip on power—but also some hope.
Burma, under the military's grip since 1962, may be one of the few countries where many say they would welcome an invasion by the United States or at least a bombing of the junta's remote, bunker-like capital of Naypyitaw.
Although censors banned the publication of Obama's inauguration speech, many managed access and interpreted his remarks about the world's dictators as an open message to Burmese generals.
"President Obama was referring to Myanmar [Burma]. He is willing to help the Myanmar government if they are ready to accept American assistance, but also gave a strong signal that America will not tolerate corrupt regimes," said lawyer Maung Maung Gyi, citing Obama's warning to those "who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent," and Washington's readiness to assist those who would "unclench your fist."
Obama has come out in support of sanctions against the junta, and during the presidential campaign likened Suu Kyi to the late American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The sanctions, which have strong bipartisan backing, include a post-1997 ban on all US investments in Burma and the freezing of US assets of junta leaders.
In the past, Washington has also tried to exert some pressure through the United Nations and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Burma. But China, Russia and India—all with economic or strategic interests in Burma—have blocked such moves while Asean's policy of noninterference has hindered reform in Burma.
The annual summit of Asean leaders, hosted by Thailand later this week, is almost certainly to be another case of what the Burmese jokingly call "NATO"—No Action, Talk only—on the Burma issue.
But some Southeast Asian figures are pressing for both more Asean as well as US action on Burma.
"Asean has to flex its muscle more. Asean should be in the forefront of the struggle for human rights in Myanmar but probably the European Union and the United States can impose some measures that will compel Myanmar's military rulers to address the plight of its people," Pimentel said in Manila.
This history caused Clinton to lament: "It is an unfortunate fact that Burma seems impervious to influences from anyone. The path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the Burmese junta, but ... reaching out and trying to engage them has not influenced them either."
Washington currently applies political and economic sanctions against Burma because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
Thant Myint-U of Singapore's Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, said the sanctions would make sense "if the US was willing to make Burma it's No. 1 priority and use all its leverage with China and India to make them global—and that's not going to happen."
Washington instead should move ahead with direct talks and real engagement in an effort to influence the next generation of military leaders, he said, because they hold the key to change.
BANGKOK — Reforming Burma's harsh military rule may not rank at the top of President Barack Obama's foreign policy goals, but it's one he will find among the most difficult to achieve.
For half a century, formidable forces—rebel armies, uprisings, economic sanctions, pressure by the United Nations—have attempted to dislodge or at least temper Burma's ruling junta. All have failed.
The Burmese ruling generals continue to crush popular protests with guns, commit atrocities against ethnic minorities and currently hold more than 2,000 political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest for more than 13 of the past 19 years.
So can any new approach by Obama effect meaningful change in Burma?
Options in his arsenal appear limited, but some will be tried, and they could prove important.
"If there is going to be any change in international policy which will make a difference, it's going to have to come from Washington. The US remains a key player," says Thant Myint-U, a Burmese historian and former UN official. "For the Burmese government, the US holds out what they want, which is international acceptability and respect, and an end to its pariah status."
A prominent Southeast Asian politician agreed.
"Obama could be a pivotal leader (on the issue) because of his high concern for democracy and human rights," Philippine senator and former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel told the Associated Press.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on her recent Asian swing, indicated Washington was "looking at what steps we might take that might influence the current Burmese government and we're also looking for ways that we could more effectively help the Burmese people."
Analysts foresee more carefully crafted US sanctions, greater cooperation with the United Nations and others to forge a common front on Burma, and trying to convince China to exert influence on its close ally. But employing a carrot and a stick, humanitarian aid may also be increased.
"Obama's approach to foreign policy, a stress on common action among allies and negotiation, will be more effective than Bush's unilateralism and moralistic hectoring," says Donald M. Seekins, a Burma expert at Japan's Meio University.
Obama's new UN Ambassador Susan E Rice has said there remained "scope for greater regional and international action to pressure Burma's dictators," including multilateral sanctions and getting Burma's Southeast Asian neighbors to support tougher action.
But she warned Burma may represent "one of the most intractable challenges for the global community."
In a country where many still regard the United States as a potential savior, there is skepticism that the new president can loosen the junta's grip on power—but also some hope.
Burma, under the military's grip since 1962, may be one of the few countries where many say they would welcome an invasion by the United States or at least a bombing of the junta's remote, bunker-like capital of Naypyitaw.
Although censors banned the publication of Obama's inauguration speech, many managed access and interpreted his remarks about the world's dictators as an open message to Burmese generals.
"President Obama was referring to Myanmar [Burma]. He is willing to help the Myanmar government if they are ready to accept American assistance, but also gave a strong signal that America will not tolerate corrupt regimes," said lawyer Maung Maung Gyi, citing Obama's warning to those "who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent," and Washington's readiness to assist those who would "unclench your fist."
Obama has come out in support of sanctions against the junta, and during the presidential campaign likened Suu Kyi to the late American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The sanctions, which have strong bipartisan backing, include a post-1997 ban on all US investments in Burma and the freezing of US assets of junta leaders.
In the past, Washington has also tried to exert some pressure through the United Nations and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Burma. But China, Russia and India—all with economic or strategic interests in Burma—have blocked such moves while Asean's policy of noninterference has hindered reform in Burma.
The annual summit of Asean leaders, hosted by Thailand later this week, is almost certainly to be another case of what the Burmese jokingly call "NATO"—No Action, Talk only—on the Burma issue.
But some Southeast Asian figures are pressing for both more Asean as well as US action on Burma.
"Asean has to flex its muscle more. Asean should be in the forefront of the struggle for human rights in Myanmar but probably the European Union and the United States can impose some measures that will compel Myanmar's military rulers to address the plight of its people," Pimentel said in Manila.
This history caused Clinton to lament: "It is an unfortunate fact that Burma seems impervious to influences from anyone. The path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the Burmese junta, but ... reaching out and trying to engage them has not influenced them either."
Washington currently applies political and economic sanctions against Burma because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
Thant Myint-U of Singapore's Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, said the sanctions would make sense "if the US was willing to make Burma it's No. 1 priority and use all its leverage with China and India to make them global—and that's not going to happen."
Washington instead should move ahead with direct talks and real engagement in an effort to influence the next generation of military leaders, he said, because they hold the key to change.
NLD Must Own Up to its Policy Mistakes
By ZARNI
Burma’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has been sending conflicting messages about western sanctions.
Much is admirable about the NLD’s endurance in the uphill struggle to force the Burmese military to enter into dialogue with it as a political equal. However, the NLD leadership needs to come clean on the impact of sanctions on the country, and own up to the policy mess it has helped create over the past two decades.
In a February 24 article, Mizzima quoted NLD spokesman Nyan Win as saying: “We have nothing to withdraw, as the economic sanctions were not imposed by us but are only concerned with the country that imposed the sanctions. And we have not done anything that the junta accused us of doing.”
As a lead organizer who helped build the US sanctions and boycott campaign, I personally know for a fact that the top NLD leadership, most specifically Aung San Suu Kyi herself, was closely involved in the sanctions campaign after her release from her first period of house arrest in July 1995.
Our campaign “pigeons” based outside Burma slipped into Rangoon to deliver her our campaign slogans and policy advice. The NLD leader then personally modified and/or blessed these quotes and messages, which we subsequently disseminated in support of the sanctions, boycotts and media campaigns. She had moral authority and international appeal. We had campaigners’ zeal and strategic capacities.
In fact, as far back as June 4, 1989, the Bangkok Post reported on her public call for an international trade and economic boycott. Since then, she has not publicly shifted her position, despite the fact that domestic, regional and international realities are no longer conducive to the use of sanctions.
Originally our “targeted sanctions” campaign was aimed at hurting the generals through their pockets. Strategically, we had hoped to compel the regime to enter into dialogue with her, marrying her non-violent campaign inside Burma with international clamor for change in Burma through western sanctions, diplomatic isolation, media campaigns and other punitive measures at the United Nations.
These efforts were to be supplemented by the armed resistance along the Burmese-Thai borders. To any dispassionate analyst, this “inside-outside” strategy has clearly failed.
The Free Burma Coalition, which spearheaded the western consumer and tourism boycotts, sanctions lobby and media campaigns, was in part responsible for the blocking of the junta’s initial (limited) economic openings in the 1990s, and in consequence any political dividends which may have come from such openings.
Worse still, our well-meaning activism in the West drove, however indirectly, thousands of female workers from the country’s textile industry into economically vulnerable positions, including prostitution and cross-border migrant work.
In the 20 years since we hatched this campaign in the US—12,000 miles away from our country and her realities—the generals have only grown richer, further entrenched and more confident, thanks largely to the country’s strategic natural resources such as gas and oil, the global extractive industry, and the support and cooperation they received from the rising Asian powers, such as China and India.
The NLD, the flagship opposition party, no longer inspires the same degree of confidence among dissidents, neither does it continue to capture the hearts and minds of the bulk of the Burmese citizens. Western governments, the NLD’s greatest supporters, appear to be losing faith in the party’s strategic leadership.
During her Asian tour last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the US was reviewing its Burma sanctions policy and hinted at a possible policy shift.
In Washington, a cross-party consensus on sanctions is emerging, to the effect that they are not serving US interests. Republican Senator Richard Lugar, who chaired the
Senate Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee, has acknowledged the futility of 47 years of economic isolation against Cuba.
We know the ruling military government must be held responsible for the negative consequences of its policy and leadership failures since 1962, by virtue of the fact that it makes policy and political decisions unilaterally and undemocratically.
Principles of accountability and transparency should apply to tyrants and democrats alike. I call on the NLD leadership to reflect honestly on the failures of their policies and their impact on society at large, in order for the whole of the opposition movement, which takes cues from Suu Kyi, to move on spiritually and strategically.
The critics of the “constructive engagement” approach have pointed out that engagement with the regime has not worked either. They are right—“constructive engagement” only concerns the generals, rather than civil society.
It is the NGOs, professional associations, chambers of commerce, educational institutions, global citizens and civil society groups that are best positioned to help open up Burma—in all aspects.
Citizen participation in political and economic processes is the foundation for an open and tolerant society, without which no democracy can function. The development of an indigenous business and commercial sector must be seen as part of the change process.
We need to work to develop an open, tolerant society out of the existing conservative and militaristic society. An open society cannot be built at the policy gunpoint of sanctions, any more than instant national reconciliation and dialogue can be imposed by UN resolutions.
I am far less optimistic about high level engagement with the regime than engagement at the level of organizations, institutions and associations in technical fields, culture and art, higher and basic education, public health, agriculture, sports, travel, research, commerce, etc.
If the ultimate goal of democratization is the emergence of an open society which can sustain democratic processes, new policies need to be created to help open up Burmese society and institutions—including the military, exposing them all to the ways of the democratic world.
The NLD leadership can inject life into its politics by choosing to publicly acknowledge the need to adjust its own tried and failed policies and strategies.
Parties, governments and leaders all over the world make mistakes. There is no shame in acknowledging them. Even Burma’s national hero Aung San recognized his mistake in collaborating with Japanese Fascists to fight the British imperialists and he reversed his stance.
The NLD would do well to draw inspiration from his legacy, to save themselves from going down in history as principled but failed leaders whose policies have further impoverished and isolated the society that has been reeling from decades of isolation.
People’s well-being should be placed above the party’s principles or leaders’ “face” by practicing the policy accountability and transparency that they preach.
Even if one disagrees with the “middle class first, democracy second” view of many Asian leaders, one must not overlook the fact that democracy is not just a political process, but also an economic and cultural one, requiring change in all spheres.
We need to have dialogue, debate and formulate solutions for Burma in the genuine spirit of democracy, instead of stigmatizing anti-sanction views and analyses. It is not enough to call for dialogue between the two supreme leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi and Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
After all, democracy is not about the leaders, however brave, noble and admirable. It is about the people, their daily lives, needs and concerns.
Zarni is founder of the Free Burma Coalition and Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford University (2006-09).
Burma’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has been sending conflicting messages about western sanctions.
Much is admirable about the NLD’s endurance in the uphill struggle to force the Burmese military to enter into dialogue with it as a political equal. However, the NLD leadership needs to come clean on the impact of sanctions on the country, and own up to the policy mess it has helped create over the past two decades.
In a February 24 article, Mizzima quoted NLD spokesman Nyan Win as saying: “We have nothing to withdraw, as the economic sanctions were not imposed by us but are only concerned with the country that imposed the sanctions. And we have not done anything that the junta accused us of doing.”
As a lead organizer who helped build the US sanctions and boycott campaign, I personally know for a fact that the top NLD leadership, most specifically Aung San Suu Kyi herself, was closely involved in the sanctions campaign after her release from her first period of house arrest in July 1995.
Our campaign “pigeons” based outside Burma slipped into Rangoon to deliver her our campaign slogans and policy advice. The NLD leader then personally modified and/or blessed these quotes and messages, which we subsequently disseminated in support of the sanctions, boycotts and media campaigns. She had moral authority and international appeal. We had campaigners’ zeal and strategic capacities.
In fact, as far back as June 4, 1989, the Bangkok Post reported on her public call for an international trade and economic boycott. Since then, she has not publicly shifted her position, despite the fact that domestic, regional and international realities are no longer conducive to the use of sanctions.
Originally our “targeted sanctions” campaign was aimed at hurting the generals through their pockets. Strategically, we had hoped to compel the regime to enter into dialogue with her, marrying her non-violent campaign inside Burma with international clamor for change in Burma through western sanctions, diplomatic isolation, media campaigns and other punitive measures at the United Nations.
These efforts were to be supplemented by the armed resistance along the Burmese-Thai borders. To any dispassionate analyst, this “inside-outside” strategy has clearly failed.
The Free Burma Coalition, which spearheaded the western consumer and tourism boycotts, sanctions lobby and media campaigns, was in part responsible for the blocking of the junta’s initial (limited) economic openings in the 1990s, and in consequence any political dividends which may have come from such openings.
Worse still, our well-meaning activism in the West drove, however indirectly, thousands of female workers from the country’s textile industry into economically vulnerable positions, including prostitution and cross-border migrant work.
In the 20 years since we hatched this campaign in the US—12,000 miles away from our country and her realities—the generals have only grown richer, further entrenched and more confident, thanks largely to the country’s strategic natural resources such as gas and oil, the global extractive industry, and the support and cooperation they received from the rising Asian powers, such as China and India.
The NLD, the flagship opposition party, no longer inspires the same degree of confidence among dissidents, neither does it continue to capture the hearts and minds of the bulk of the Burmese citizens. Western governments, the NLD’s greatest supporters, appear to be losing faith in the party’s strategic leadership.
During her Asian tour last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the US was reviewing its Burma sanctions policy and hinted at a possible policy shift.
In Washington, a cross-party consensus on sanctions is emerging, to the effect that they are not serving US interests. Republican Senator Richard Lugar, who chaired the
Senate Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee, has acknowledged the futility of 47 years of economic isolation against Cuba.
We know the ruling military government must be held responsible for the negative consequences of its policy and leadership failures since 1962, by virtue of the fact that it makes policy and political decisions unilaterally and undemocratically.
Principles of accountability and transparency should apply to tyrants and democrats alike. I call on the NLD leadership to reflect honestly on the failures of their policies and their impact on society at large, in order for the whole of the opposition movement, which takes cues from Suu Kyi, to move on spiritually and strategically.
The critics of the “constructive engagement” approach have pointed out that engagement with the regime has not worked either. They are right—“constructive engagement” only concerns the generals, rather than civil society.
It is the NGOs, professional associations, chambers of commerce, educational institutions, global citizens and civil society groups that are best positioned to help open up Burma—in all aspects.
Citizen participation in political and economic processes is the foundation for an open and tolerant society, without which no democracy can function. The development of an indigenous business and commercial sector must be seen as part of the change process.
We need to work to develop an open, tolerant society out of the existing conservative and militaristic society. An open society cannot be built at the policy gunpoint of sanctions, any more than instant national reconciliation and dialogue can be imposed by UN resolutions.
I am far less optimistic about high level engagement with the regime than engagement at the level of organizations, institutions and associations in technical fields, culture and art, higher and basic education, public health, agriculture, sports, travel, research, commerce, etc.
If the ultimate goal of democratization is the emergence of an open society which can sustain democratic processes, new policies need to be created to help open up Burmese society and institutions—including the military, exposing them all to the ways of the democratic world.
The NLD leadership can inject life into its politics by choosing to publicly acknowledge the need to adjust its own tried and failed policies and strategies.
Parties, governments and leaders all over the world make mistakes. There is no shame in acknowledging them. Even Burma’s national hero Aung San recognized his mistake in collaborating with Japanese Fascists to fight the British imperialists and he reversed his stance.
The NLD would do well to draw inspiration from his legacy, to save themselves from going down in history as principled but failed leaders whose policies have further impoverished and isolated the society that has been reeling from decades of isolation.
People’s well-being should be placed above the party’s principles or leaders’ “face” by practicing the policy accountability and transparency that they preach.
Even if one disagrees with the “middle class first, democracy second” view of many Asian leaders, one must not overlook the fact that democracy is not just a political process, but also an economic and cultural one, requiring change in all spheres.
We need to have dialogue, debate and formulate solutions for Burma in the genuine spirit of democracy, instead of stigmatizing anti-sanction views and analyses. It is not enough to call for dialogue between the two supreme leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi and Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
After all, democracy is not about the leaders, however brave, noble and admirable. It is about the people, their daily lives, needs and concerns.
Zarni is founder of the Free Burma Coalition and Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford University (2006-09).
Rights Groups Call on Asean to Focus on Human Rights
By THE IRRAWADDY
International human rights advocacy groups have called on leaders attending the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Thailand to put human rights issues, including widespread abuses in Burma, at the top of their agenda.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urged the regional grouping to improve treatment of refugees and asylum seekers and strengthen protection for migrants through its new Asean human rights body, which is to be discussed at the summit taking place from February 27 to March 1 in Hua Hin, Thailand.
Burma was singled out as an area of special concern to rights groups, who accuse the country’s ruling military regime of committing some of the most egregious abuses in the region.
“One of the challenges facing a future Asean human rights body is the dire human rights situation in Myanmar [Burma],” said Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Deputy Director. “Violations in this Asean member state have been going on for decades, and include crimes against humanity. To be worthy of its name, the body must be empowered to effectively address human rights in Myanmar.”
Human Rights Watch pointed to the Thai navy’s alleged mistreatment of ethnic Rohingya boat people from Burma as proof of the need for regional solutions to Southeast Asia’s human rights problems.
Despite the attention this incident has received, however, the Rohingya issue, which was expected to be on the agenda during formal talks, will now be discussed only during informal bilateral meetings, according to Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan.
Discussions about the global financial crisis and its economic fallout in the region are likely to dominate the summit. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the summit would provide a forum to “discuss ways and means to mitigate the effects of the financial and economic crisis on the Asean community.”
In December, Asean signed a landmark charter which includes a commitment to human rights and humanitarian principles. The document made Asean a legal entity and moves it a step closer toward the goal of establishing a single market by 2015 and creating a European Union-like community.
Rights groups say they fear the global economic downturn will provide Asean with an excuse for putting sensitive rights issues on the back burner, at a time when the need to address these issues is more urgent than ever.
“Many migrants are deceived about their working conditions, cheated out of their wages, abused by their employers, and deported without access to redress,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The economic downturn places migrants at heightened risk—desperation and gaps in legal protections provide a recipe for exploitation.”
Millions of men and women from Southeast Asia work as migrants in both Asia and the Middle East, typically in domestic work, construction, manufacturing and agriculture. Trafficking within, and emanating from, Southeast Asia remains a serious problem, and harsh immigration enforcement measures have fueled additional abuses in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.
The recent crisis of the Rohingya boat people—Muslims from western Burma and Bangladesh—illustrates the regional dimension of human rights problems.
The Burmese junta rejects the claims of the Rohingya, who live in Arakan State in western Burma, that they are one of the country’s many ethnic groups. Bangladesh similarly denies them citizenship.
Their lack of any clear nationality makes the Rohingya particularly susceptible to exploitation by international human traffickers. Thailand’s House Committee on Security recently blamed the massive influx of Rohingya boat people into Thailand and other countries in the region on human smuggling rings.
However, rights groups were quick to reject any suggestion that governments were absolved of responsibility for the plight of the Rohingya.
“Both Malaysia and Thailand have failed to investigate allegations of collusion between government officials and trafficking gangs,” Pearson wrote in an open-letter to the Asean secretary-general.
International human rights advocacy groups have called on leaders attending the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Thailand to put human rights issues, including widespread abuses in Burma, at the top of their agenda.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urged the regional grouping to improve treatment of refugees and asylum seekers and strengthen protection for migrants through its new Asean human rights body, which is to be discussed at the summit taking place from February 27 to March 1 in Hua Hin, Thailand.
Burma was singled out as an area of special concern to rights groups, who accuse the country’s ruling military regime of committing some of the most egregious abuses in the region.
“One of the challenges facing a future Asean human rights body is the dire human rights situation in Myanmar [Burma],” said Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Deputy Director. “Violations in this Asean member state have been going on for decades, and include crimes against humanity. To be worthy of its name, the body must be empowered to effectively address human rights in Myanmar.”
Human Rights Watch pointed to the Thai navy’s alleged mistreatment of ethnic Rohingya boat people from Burma as proof of the need for regional solutions to Southeast Asia’s human rights problems.
Despite the attention this incident has received, however, the Rohingya issue, which was expected to be on the agenda during formal talks, will now be discussed only during informal bilateral meetings, according to Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan.
Discussions about the global financial crisis and its economic fallout in the region are likely to dominate the summit. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the summit would provide a forum to “discuss ways and means to mitigate the effects of the financial and economic crisis on the Asean community.”
In December, Asean signed a landmark charter which includes a commitment to human rights and humanitarian principles. The document made Asean a legal entity and moves it a step closer toward the goal of establishing a single market by 2015 and creating a European Union-like community.
Rights groups say they fear the global economic downturn will provide Asean with an excuse for putting sensitive rights issues on the back burner, at a time when the need to address these issues is more urgent than ever.
“Many migrants are deceived about their working conditions, cheated out of their wages, abused by their employers, and deported without access to redress,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The economic downturn places migrants at heightened risk—desperation and gaps in legal protections provide a recipe for exploitation.”
Millions of men and women from Southeast Asia work as migrants in both Asia and the Middle East, typically in domestic work, construction, manufacturing and agriculture. Trafficking within, and emanating from, Southeast Asia remains a serious problem, and harsh immigration enforcement measures have fueled additional abuses in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.
The recent crisis of the Rohingya boat people—Muslims from western Burma and Bangladesh—illustrates the regional dimension of human rights problems.
The Burmese junta rejects the claims of the Rohingya, who live in Arakan State in western Burma, that they are one of the country’s many ethnic groups. Bangladesh similarly denies them citizenship.
Their lack of any clear nationality makes the Rohingya particularly susceptible to exploitation by international human traffickers. Thailand’s House Committee on Security recently blamed the massive influx of Rohingya boat people into Thailand and other countries in the region on human smuggling rings.
However, rights groups were quick to reject any suggestion that governments were absolved of responsibility for the plight of the Rohingya.
“Both Malaysia and Thailand have failed to investigate allegations of collusion between government officials and trafficking gangs,” Pearson wrote in an open-letter to the Asean secretary-general.
Engaging with Democracy or Authoritarianism?
By HTET AUNG
The voices supporting engagement with the Burmese regime have been louder in some of the recent media coverage of the political crisis in Burma.
This new attempt to untangle a 20-year-old political knot seems to have coincided with the seventh visit of UN’s Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma on January 31 to February 3.
If we could point to any positive progress from this visit, it would be that it was the first time opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was able to meet the UN envoy together with her colleagues.
It is clear that the NLD are again urging the UN’s Good Offices to broker meaningful dialogue between the party and the regime. It is also clear that Gambari was aware that the NLD did not refer to the junta’s statement that “confrontation, utter devastation, economic sanctions and total isolation do not benefit the country or the people” in a manner that suggested the party concurred with the regime’s stance.
The NLD’s position was clarified in a Special Statement 2 issued on February 17, saying, “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi informed authorities through U Aung Kyi, Minister for Relations, that she was ready to cooperate and issue a joint communiqué to prevent these problems [misunderstandings] from happening.”
The NLD emphasized its position in an interview with The Irrawaddy. Spokesman Nyan Win said reiterated the party’s stand on “unconditional dialogue,” as well as emphasizing the NLD’s desire for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit the country.
The NLD, for its part, is ready to discuss and issue a joint statement on the country’s political problems, including the issue of economic and other sanctions. It is evident which party is avoiding meaningful dialogue.
During Gambari’s visit, Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein demanded that economic sanctions and visa bans be lifted if the UN wants to see stability in Burma.
The regime is playing a game of diplomatic ping-pong with the NLD and the UN in order to create a situation too complicated to be solved.
The generals have used—and will use—this same strategy time and again because they are confident they can manage the country without giving an inch to the opposition in any future political arena in Burma.
Meanwhile, a new US administration is reviewing its overall policy on Burma. The US, of course, is the main backer of economic and visa sanctions on the Burmese generals and their cohorts.
But before declaring a new policy on Burma, the Obama administration should consider this: will the Burmese regime really share space with the NLD in the future affairs of Burma?
Soldiers who are trained only to defeat their enemy will never sit down and talk with them as long as there is a possibility of winning the battle. Today, the regime sits confident that it is going to win the battle in 2010.
In recent days, a handful of foreign scholars and diplomats have issued pessimistic and critical statements regarding Suu Kyi’s political party. The opinions that popped up in the media showed an overall support for promoting engagement with the regime, and even went so far as criticizing the NLD as some breed of black sheep that is somehow blocking the country’s development.
The comments would not be surprising if Burmese politics were just another business, beholden to its shareholders and with a natural appetite for profits. But it is more than that. Activists, students, monks, journalists, writers, poets and even housewives—the entire spectrum of the pro-democracy movement—have been sacrificing their lives since 1988 in the belief that only democracy can bring about peace, freedom and prosperity, and most importantly, a life with dignity that each human being deserves from his or her community.
I believe that only an open democratic society can bring about economic development in Burma. We Burmese are struggling not to usurp power for the party we support, but to establish a functioning political system in the country.
If the international community wants to see Burma as a country governed by the rule of law, then it must get behind the democracy movement. If they want to see Burma as a stable nation in a prosperous region, the paramount task is to pressure the repressive military regime to come to its senses—to realize that a democratic system will ultimately alleviate the socio-economic crisis in Burma and lead to social stability within the society.
The author is a Bangkok-based independent researcher, graduating MA in International Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University.
The voices supporting engagement with the Burmese regime have been louder in some of the recent media coverage of the political crisis in Burma.
This new attempt to untangle a 20-year-old political knot seems to have coincided with the seventh visit of UN’s Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma on January 31 to February 3.
If we could point to any positive progress from this visit, it would be that it was the first time opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was able to meet the UN envoy together with her colleagues.
It is clear that the NLD are again urging the UN’s Good Offices to broker meaningful dialogue between the party and the regime. It is also clear that Gambari was aware that the NLD did not refer to the junta’s statement that “confrontation, utter devastation, economic sanctions and total isolation do not benefit the country or the people” in a manner that suggested the party concurred with the regime’s stance.
The NLD’s position was clarified in a Special Statement 2 issued on February 17, saying, “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi informed authorities through U Aung Kyi, Minister for Relations, that she was ready to cooperate and issue a joint communiqué to prevent these problems [misunderstandings] from happening.”
The NLD emphasized its position in an interview with The Irrawaddy. Spokesman Nyan Win said reiterated the party’s stand on “unconditional dialogue,” as well as emphasizing the NLD’s desire for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit the country.
The NLD, for its part, is ready to discuss and issue a joint statement on the country’s political problems, including the issue of economic and other sanctions. It is evident which party is avoiding meaningful dialogue.
During Gambari’s visit, Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein demanded that economic sanctions and visa bans be lifted if the UN wants to see stability in Burma.
The regime is playing a game of diplomatic ping-pong with the NLD and the UN in order to create a situation too complicated to be solved.
The generals have used—and will use—this same strategy time and again because they are confident they can manage the country without giving an inch to the opposition in any future political arena in Burma.
Meanwhile, a new US administration is reviewing its overall policy on Burma. The US, of course, is the main backer of economic and visa sanctions on the Burmese generals and their cohorts.
But before declaring a new policy on Burma, the Obama administration should consider this: will the Burmese regime really share space with the NLD in the future affairs of Burma?
Soldiers who are trained only to defeat their enemy will never sit down and talk with them as long as there is a possibility of winning the battle. Today, the regime sits confident that it is going to win the battle in 2010.
In recent days, a handful of foreign scholars and diplomats have issued pessimistic and critical statements regarding Suu Kyi’s political party. The opinions that popped up in the media showed an overall support for promoting engagement with the regime, and even went so far as criticizing the NLD as some breed of black sheep that is somehow blocking the country’s development.
The comments would not be surprising if Burmese politics were just another business, beholden to its shareholders and with a natural appetite for profits. But it is more than that. Activists, students, monks, journalists, writers, poets and even housewives—the entire spectrum of the pro-democracy movement—have been sacrificing their lives since 1988 in the belief that only democracy can bring about peace, freedom and prosperity, and most importantly, a life with dignity that each human being deserves from his or her community.
I believe that only an open democratic society can bring about economic development in Burma. We Burmese are struggling not to usurp power for the party we support, but to establish a functioning political system in the country.
If the international community wants to see Burma as a country governed by the rule of law, then it must get behind the democracy movement. If they want to see Burma as a stable nation in a prosperous region, the paramount task is to pressure the repressive military regime to come to its senses—to realize that a democratic system will ultimately alleviate the socio-economic crisis in Burma and lead to social stability within the society.
The author is a Bangkok-based independent researcher, graduating MA in International Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University.
Human Rights in Burma Appalling: US
By LALIT K JHA
WASHINGTON — The human rights situation in Burma remains grim as the military government continues to ignore basic rights and continues to jail political opponents using draconian laws, according to the annual human rights report of the US State Department.
“The military regime in Burma continued its oppressive methods, denying citizens the right to change their government and committing other severe human rights abuses,” said the 2008 Human Rights Report.
The report was released by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said, “Promotion of human rights is essential to our foreign policy.”
Responding to media queries, spokesperson Karen Stewart said the human rights situation has deteriorated.
The Burmese military junta in 2008 sentenced a large number of democracy activists to “draconian” prison terms. “And so, yes, there’s quite a significant increase in the number of prisoners and generally the government continues to control all the governmental organs,” Stewart said.
The Burma section of the report charges that the military regime brutally suppressed dissent using extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture.
“The regime continued to abridge the right of citizens to change their government and committed other severe human rights abuses,” the report said, adding the military detained civic activists indefinitely and without charges
“Human rights and prodemocracy activists were harassed, arbitrarily detained in large numbers, and sentenced up to 65 years of imprisonment. The regime held detainees and prisoners in life-threatening conditions,” according to the report.
As the army continued its attacks on ethnic minority areas, the report also said the regime routinely infringed on citizens' privacy and restricted freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, religion and movement.
“Violence and discrimination against women and ethnic minorities continued, as did trafficking in persons. Workers' rights were restricted and forced labor persisted,” the report said, adding that the government took no significant actions to prosecute or punish those responsible for such abuses.
“The regime showed contempt for the welfare of its own citizens when it persisted in conducting a fraudulent referendum in the immediate aftermath of a cyclone that killed tens of thousands and blocked and delayed international assistance that could have saved many lives,” the report said.
WASHINGTON — The human rights situation in Burma remains grim as the military government continues to ignore basic rights and continues to jail political opponents using draconian laws, according to the annual human rights report of the US State Department.
“The military regime in Burma continued its oppressive methods, denying citizens the right to change their government and committing other severe human rights abuses,” said the 2008 Human Rights Report.
The report was released by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said, “Promotion of human rights is essential to our foreign policy.”
Responding to media queries, spokesperson Karen Stewart said the human rights situation has deteriorated.
The Burmese military junta in 2008 sentenced a large number of democracy activists to “draconian” prison terms. “And so, yes, there’s quite a significant increase in the number of prisoners and generally the government continues to control all the governmental organs,” Stewart said.
The Burma section of the report charges that the military regime brutally suppressed dissent using extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture.
“The regime continued to abridge the right of citizens to change their government and committed other severe human rights abuses,” the report said, adding the military detained civic activists indefinitely and without charges
“Human rights and prodemocracy activists were harassed, arbitrarily detained in large numbers, and sentenced up to 65 years of imprisonment. The regime held detainees and prisoners in life-threatening conditions,” according to the report.
As the army continued its attacks on ethnic minority areas, the report also said the regime routinely infringed on citizens' privacy and restricted freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, religion and movement.
“Violence and discrimination against women and ethnic minorities continued, as did trafficking in persons. Workers' rights were restricted and forced labor persisted,” the report said, adding that the government took no significant actions to prosecute or punish those responsible for such abuses.
“The regime showed contempt for the welfare of its own citizens when it persisted in conducting a fraudulent referendum in the immediate aftermath of a cyclone that killed tens of thousands and blocked and delayed international assistance that could have saved many lives,” the report said.
February 25, 2009
VOA: UDP Leader Threatens to Sue The Irrawaddy
By WAI MOE
The leader of the Canada-based United Democratic Party of Myanmar (UDP), Kyaw Myint, also known as Michael Hua Hu, is threatening legal action against The Irrawaddy and its editor, Aung Zaw, according to an interview carried by the Burmese service of the Voice of America (VOA) on Wednesday.
Kyaw Myint, who also goes by the name of Michael Hua Kyaw Myint Hu, told VOA that the basis of his legal action was an article published in The Irrawaddy on December 26, 2008. The article quoted a report in the now defunct magazine Asiaweek accusing a company run by Kyaw Myint of laundering money for the United Wa State Army (UWSA), which is heavily involved in the drug trade.
The company, Kyone Yeom, was chaired by Kyaw Myint in the 1990s.
Kyaw Myint told VOA he was never involved in laundering drug money. “I am preparing documents for a lawsuit,” he said. The action would be lodged in a court in Thailand.
The Irrawaddy article also quoted a report that appeared in Jane’s Intelligence Review in November 1998 saying Kyone Yeom had been blacklisted by the Burmese regime because Kyaw Myint, who claimed to be a deputy minister of finance for the UWSA, openly and brazenly flouted Burmese business laws and regulations.
Jane’s Intelligence Review had reported in March 1998 that on December 11, 1997, an article in the state-run vernacular press announced the black-listing of Kyone Yeom by the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development for “submitting false accounts.”
The Jane’s report added: “However, following meetings between Wa leaders and junta chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, the minister responsible, technocrat Brigadier General David Abel was abruptly shunted to an inactive post.”
At the time, Kyaw Myint was under surveillance by US agencies. A US State Department “International Narcotics Control Strategy Report” in 1998 said that in February 1998, the Burmese regime effectively suspended the Kyone Yeom for violating the Myanmar [Burma] Company Act, although the government did not indicate that this was a counternarcotics action.
“The company's chairman, a former high-level United Wa State Army officer, was reportedly later sentenced to 9 years imprisonment,” the report said.
Kyaw Myint told VOA that he was arrested for political reasons and charged under State Emergency Act 5-J. He later escaped from prison and travelled first to the US and then Canada, reportedly with the help of the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military analyst and former member of the Burma Communist Party, said that Kyaw Mint “wasn’t prominent before the Wa separated from the Communist Party in 1989. After the Wa’s ceasefire with the junta, he became well-known for doing business for the Wa.”
Related stories:
UDP Leader Involved in Drugs, Money Laundering, Says Ex-agent
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15174
Canada-based Party Linked to Controversial Businessman
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14852
The leader of the Canada-based United Democratic Party of Myanmar (UDP), Kyaw Myint, also known as Michael Hua Hu, is threatening legal action against The Irrawaddy and its editor, Aung Zaw, according to an interview carried by the Burmese service of the Voice of America (VOA) on Wednesday.
Kyaw Myint, who also goes by the name of Michael Hua Kyaw Myint Hu, told VOA that the basis of his legal action was an article published in The Irrawaddy on December 26, 2008. The article quoted a report in the now defunct magazine Asiaweek accusing a company run by Kyaw Myint of laundering money for the United Wa State Army (UWSA), which is heavily involved in the drug trade.
The company, Kyone Yeom, was chaired by Kyaw Myint in the 1990s.
Kyaw Myint told VOA he was never involved in laundering drug money. “I am preparing documents for a lawsuit,” he said. The action would be lodged in a court in Thailand.
The Irrawaddy article also quoted a report that appeared in Jane’s Intelligence Review in November 1998 saying Kyone Yeom had been blacklisted by the Burmese regime because Kyaw Myint, who claimed to be a deputy minister of finance for the UWSA, openly and brazenly flouted Burmese business laws and regulations.
Jane’s Intelligence Review had reported in March 1998 that on December 11, 1997, an article in the state-run vernacular press announced the black-listing of Kyone Yeom by the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development for “submitting false accounts.”
The Jane’s report added: “However, following meetings between Wa leaders and junta chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, the minister responsible, technocrat Brigadier General David Abel was abruptly shunted to an inactive post.”
At the time, Kyaw Myint was under surveillance by US agencies. A US State Department “International Narcotics Control Strategy Report” in 1998 said that in February 1998, the Burmese regime effectively suspended the Kyone Yeom for violating the Myanmar [Burma] Company Act, although the government did not indicate that this was a counternarcotics action.
“The company's chairman, a former high-level United Wa State Army officer, was reportedly later sentenced to 9 years imprisonment,” the report said.
Kyaw Myint told VOA that he was arrested for political reasons and charged under State Emergency Act 5-J. He later escaped from prison and travelled first to the US and then Canada, reportedly with the help of the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military analyst and former member of the Burma Communist Party, said that Kyaw Mint “wasn’t prominent before the Wa separated from the Communist Party in 1989. After the Wa’s ceasefire with the junta, he became well-known for doing business for the Wa.”
Related stories:
UDP Leader Involved in Drugs, Money Laundering, Says Ex-agent
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15174
Canada-based Party Linked to Controversial Businessman
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14852
Burma Talks Security with Laos amid Ceasefire Tensions
By LAWI WENG
A leading member of Burma’s ruling junta traveled to Laos on Sunday to discuss cooperation on security in the volatile Golden Triangle region, where tensions are mounting between the Burmese regime and ceasefire groups.
Gen Thura Shwe Mann, Burma’s army chief of staff and the third-ranking general in the country’s military regime, held talks with Lao PDR President Choummaly Sayasone and Minister of National Defense Lt-Gen Duangchay Phichit during his two-day visit, the Vientiane Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.
At the top of their agenda was the continued exchange of border security delegations to prevent the illegal passage of people, goods and drugs across the two countries’ common border, the newspaper reported.
Some analysts said military cooperation between Burma and Laos was aimed at tightening restrictions on the activities of Burma-based ethnic armed ceasefire groups, including the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS).
Mai Aik Phone, an observer of the Wa situation, said that the Burmese military is trying to limit the UWSA’s ability to conduct cross-border activities in the Golden Triangle. He added, however, that the regime would not have much success because the Wa have full control over their own territory.
Tensions have been growing between the Burmese junta and the UWSA since January, after Lt-Gen Ye Myint, chief of the regime’s Military Affairs Security, asked the ceasefire group to serve as a militia under the command of the Burmese army. UWSA leaders rejected the request.
According a source close to the UWSA, the group has started conducting military training for Wa civilians in order to prepare for the possibility of war with the Burmese military.
“They warned their civilians to store enough food for this summer because they were worried that there could be a war,” the source said. “Some Wa parents have sent their children to other townships to avoid joining the military training.”
Relations between the Burmese military and the NDAA-ESS have also been tense since last week, when the ceasefire group refused to pay a 30 percent tax to a Burmese military detachment based in Mong La, according to Saeng Juen, assistant editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News.
The Burmese military reinforced its troops in the area in response to the show of defiance by the NDAA-ESS, prompting fears of a full-scale clash among local residents.
A leading member of Burma’s ruling junta traveled to Laos on Sunday to discuss cooperation on security in the volatile Golden Triangle region, where tensions are mounting between the Burmese regime and ceasefire groups.
Gen Thura Shwe Mann, Burma’s army chief of staff and the third-ranking general in the country’s military regime, held talks with Lao PDR President Choummaly Sayasone and Minister of National Defense Lt-Gen Duangchay Phichit during his two-day visit, the Vientiane Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.
At the top of their agenda was the continued exchange of border security delegations to prevent the illegal passage of people, goods and drugs across the two countries’ common border, the newspaper reported.
Some analysts said military cooperation between Burma and Laos was aimed at tightening restrictions on the activities of Burma-based ethnic armed ceasefire groups, including the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS).
Mai Aik Phone, an observer of the Wa situation, said that the Burmese military is trying to limit the UWSA’s ability to conduct cross-border activities in the Golden Triangle. He added, however, that the regime would not have much success because the Wa have full control over their own territory.
Tensions have been growing between the Burmese junta and the UWSA since January, after Lt-Gen Ye Myint, chief of the regime’s Military Affairs Security, asked the ceasefire group to serve as a militia under the command of the Burmese army. UWSA leaders rejected the request.
According a source close to the UWSA, the group has started conducting military training for Wa civilians in order to prepare for the possibility of war with the Burmese military.
“They warned their civilians to store enough food for this summer because they were worried that there could be a war,” the source said. “Some Wa parents have sent their children to other townships to avoid joining the military training.”
Relations between the Burmese military and the NDAA-ESS have also been tense since last week, when the ceasefire group refused to pay a 30 percent tax to a Burmese military detachment based in Mong La, according to Saeng Juen, assistant editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News.
The Burmese military reinforced its troops in the area in response to the show of defiance by the NDAA-ESS, prompting fears of a full-scale clash among local residents.
Authorities Threaten the Free Funeral Services Society
By MIN LWIN
A Rangoon-based social welfare organization, the Free Funeral Services Society (FFSS), has been ordered by the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) not to park hearses in Rangoon municipal areas.
The YCDC ordered the funeral services society to relocate from Rangoon to the outskirts of the city before February 28.
Kyaw Thu, a member of the FFSS, said the YCDC also ordered it not to park its hearses at Byamma Vihara Monastery in Thingangyun Township in Rangoon, and instead park in a government cemetery outside Rangoon. The FFSS offices are located at the monastery.
Kyaw Thu said 16 hearses carry more than 50 coffins to burial or cremation sites every day in Rangoon, the former capital of Burma.
The FFSS provides free burial or cremation services for people who can not afford to pay burial or cremation fees for family members.
The FFSS has asked the YCDC to provide an area where the society can build a garage to keep the hearses, said Kyaw Thu. The YCDC has yet to reply to the request.
Kyaw Thu told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, “If they don't respond, we will work as usual until they seize the hearses, punish us and stop the free funeral services.”
Residents in the area say the government has long worried about the influence and popularity the FSSS enjoys among the public. Founded in 2001, the FFSS is a nongovernmental, apolitical organization that relies on donations from inside and outside Burma. Most donations come from Burmese living in Japan, Taiwan, England and the United States.
Media coverage of the FFSS was banned by the military government after leading members of the FFSS were involved in the 2007 pro-democracy uprising.
“We will continue the free funeral services,” Kyaw Thu said. “It is not our own business. We will do for the people.”
A Rangoon-based social welfare organization, the Free Funeral Services Society (FFSS), has been ordered by the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) not to park hearses in Rangoon municipal areas.
The YCDC ordered the funeral services society to relocate from Rangoon to the outskirts of the city before February 28.
Kyaw Thu, a member of the FFSS, said the YCDC also ordered it not to park its hearses at Byamma Vihara Monastery in Thingangyun Township in Rangoon, and instead park in a government cemetery outside Rangoon. The FFSS offices are located at the monastery.
Kyaw Thu said 16 hearses carry more than 50 coffins to burial or cremation sites every day in Rangoon, the former capital of Burma.
The FFSS provides free burial or cremation services for people who can not afford to pay burial or cremation fees for family members.
The FFSS has asked the YCDC to provide an area where the society can build a garage to keep the hearses, said Kyaw Thu. The YCDC has yet to reply to the request.
Kyaw Thu told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, “If they don't respond, we will work as usual until they seize the hearses, punish us and stop the free funeral services.”
Residents in the area say the government has long worried about the influence and popularity the FSSS enjoys among the public. Founded in 2001, the FFSS is a nongovernmental, apolitical organization that relies on donations from inside and outside Burma. Most donations come from Burmese living in Japan, Taiwan, England and the United States.
Media coverage of the FFSS was banned by the military government after leading members of the FFSS were involved in the 2007 pro-democracy uprising.
“We will continue the free funeral services,” Kyaw Thu said. “It is not our own business. We will do for the people.”
Asean Must Now Face Up to Burma Issues
By AUNG ZAW
Reports of Rohingya boatpeople fleeing from the Burma-Bangladesh border region and the fate awaiting many of them when Thailand pushed them back to sea have captured international newspaper headlines.
Their plight will now be discussed at bilateral, informal meetings at this week’s summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), according to Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan.
The Rohingya issue is a pressing one. Yet the question does arise: what about the hundreds of thousands of Burmese and ethnic people who have also been fleeing persecution and civil war in Burma? What about the refugees living along the border with Thailand and the internally displaced people?
Although they didn’t take to sea in open boats, they are nonetheless victims of Burmese regime brutality, particularly in Shan, Karen and Mon States.
Over the past two decades, local and international human rights groups have documented hundreds of cases of extrajudicial killing, rape, forced labor, extrajudicial killings and other abuses committed by the Burmese army.
Moreover, Burma has more than 2,000 political prisoners languishing in its jails. Economic migrants are fleeing the country every day. The country is in a mess.
The Rohingya issue is just the tip of the iceberg. Surin and Asean need to look at the root cause of the problem if they can only summon up the political will to search for a solution. The irony is whether it will be difficult to wake up some one who has been pretending to be asleep?
Debbie Stohard of the Alternative Asean Network on Burma has said Asean needs to wake up and address the Burma issue before it’s too late. Burma’s problems are urgent.
A discussion of the Rohingya question might provide the opening for Asean to tackle other immediate Burmese issues, according to Stohard.
Burmese regime leaders are not likely to agree to discuss the Rohingya issue, however, since they claim that people of this Muslim minority do not come from Burma. Again, Asean’s track record shows that the regional grouping has little relevance and effectiveness.
But Asean now has a charter and claims to be constructing a people-centered community. Critics of Asean remain doubtful, however, about the grouping’s commitment to human rights and its engagement with civil society groups.
Surin has said that Asean can’t avoid discussing human rights issues, although “not in the context of condemning any country.”
Although admitting that Burma has been “a very difficult issue for Asean,” Surin believes there have been some positive changes since Burma joined the regional body.
Critics disagree here with Surin, claiming that since Burma became a member of Asean in 1997 the regime there has been able to hide within the grouping.
Surin has defended the Asean principle of non-interference in member states' domestic affairs, describing it as "necessary," while saying "we wish we could do more" about Burma.
This is not enough. Action to tackle the Burma issue is long overdue. Asean won’t be taken seriously until and unless Surin and Asean governments begin to think about how to bring about change in Burma and assist the oppressed Burmese people.
Reports of Rohingya boatpeople fleeing from the Burma-Bangladesh border region and the fate awaiting many of them when Thailand pushed them back to sea have captured international newspaper headlines.
Their plight will now be discussed at bilateral, informal meetings at this week’s summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), according to Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan.
The Rohingya issue is a pressing one. Yet the question does arise: what about the hundreds of thousands of Burmese and ethnic people who have also been fleeing persecution and civil war in Burma? What about the refugees living along the border with Thailand and the internally displaced people?
Although they didn’t take to sea in open boats, they are nonetheless victims of Burmese regime brutality, particularly in Shan, Karen and Mon States.
Over the past two decades, local and international human rights groups have documented hundreds of cases of extrajudicial killing, rape, forced labor, extrajudicial killings and other abuses committed by the Burmese army.
Moreover, Burma has more than 2,000 political prisoners languishing in its jails. Economic migrants are fleeing the country every day. The country is in a mess.
The Rohingya issue is just the tip of the iceberg. Surin and Asean need to look at the root cause of the problem if they can only summon up the political will to search for a solution. The irony is whether it will be difficult to wake up some one who has been pretending to be asleep?
Debbie Stohard of the Alternative Asean Network on Burma has said Asean needs to wake up and address the Burma issue before it’s too late. Burma’s problems are urgent.
A discussion of the Rohingya question might provide the opening for Asean to tackle other immediate Burmese issues, according to Stohard.
Burmese regime leaders are not likely to agree to discuss the Rohingya issue, however, since they claim that people of this Muslim minority do not come from Burma. Again, Asean’s track record shows that the regional grouping has little relevance and effectiveness.
But Asean now has a charter and claims to be constructing a people-centered community. Critics of Asean remain doubtful, however, about the grouping’s commitment to human rights and its engagement with civil society groups.
Surin has said that Asean can’t avoid discussing human rights issues, although “not in the context of condemning any country.”
Although admitting that Burma has been “a very difficult issue for Asean,” Surin believes there have been some positive changes since Burma joined the regional body.
Critics disagree here with Surin, claiming that since Burma became a member of Asean in 1997 the regime there has been able to hide within the grouping.
Surin has defended the Asean principle of non-interference in member states' domestic affairs, describing it as "necessary," while saying "we wish we could do more" about Burma.
This is not enough. Action to tackle the Burma issue is long overdue. Asean won’t be taken seriously until and unless Surin and Asean governments begin to think about how to bring about change in Burma and assist the oppressed Burmese people.
KNU Colonel Released by Thai Army
By MIN LWIN
Col Ner Dah Mya, the son of the late Gen Bo Mya of the Karen National Union (KNU), has reportedly been released on bail by the Thai army, according to the London-based British Broadcasting Corporation Burmese service. He was arrested in January.
The BBC quoted a Thai army officer as saying that Col Ner Dah Mya was arrested and charged with possessing illegal weapons and transporting Burmese migrants to Thailand.
A senior KNU official confirmed Col Ner Dah Mya had been arrested along the Thai-Burmese border, where, the official said, he was supporting KNLA battalions in Burma.
Observers in Mae Sot in Tak Province said Thai authorities have increased pressure on leaders of the KNU and its armed wing, the KNLA.
The KNLA has been fighting the Burmese government since 1948. Its headquarters was overrun in 1995, and KNLA military activities moved closer to the Burmese-Thai border.
The KNU has continued to wage war against the Burmese military, mainly by forming small units and basing themselves in temporary jungle camps along the Thai-Burmese border.
Col Ner Dah Mya, the son of the late Gen Bo Mya of the Karen National Union (KNU), has reportedly been released on bail by the Thai army, according to the London-based British Broadcasting Corporation Burmese service. He was arrested in January.
The BBC quoted a Thai army officer as saying that Col Ner Dah Mya was arrested and charged with possessing illegal weapons and transporting Burmese migrants to Thailand.
A senior KNU official confirmed Col Ner Dah Mya had been arrested along the Thai-Burmese border, where, the official said, he was supporting KNLA battalions in Burma.
Observers in Mae Sot in Tak Province said Thai authorities have increased pressure on leaders of the KNU and its armed wing, the KNLA.
The KNLA has been fighting the Burmese government since 1948. Its headquarters was overrun in 1995, and KNLA military activities moved closer to the Burmese-Thai border.
The KNU has continued to wage war against the Burmese military, mainly by forming small units and basing themselves in temporary jungle camps along the Thai-Burmese border.
Italian Decapitated after Jumping from Thai Bridge
By JOCELYN GECKER / AP WRITER
BANGKOK — Authorities said Wednesday that they have identified the body of an Italian tourist who apparently decapitated himself by jumping off a bridge with a noose around his neck.
Billed as the case of the headless foreigner, the mystery of the dead man enthralled the Thai media in recent days.
Clues had trickled in since Sunday's gruesome discovery of the 52-year-old man's head hanging by a rope from Rama VIII bridge in what is believed to be a suicide, Thai and Italian officials said.
His headless body, clad in a white shirt and black trousers, was found floating nearby in Bangkok's Chao Phraya river and authorities confirmed a match.
Forensics experts determined the body showed no sign of assault and that the "force of gravity" appeared to have separated the body and head, said deputy police commissioner Jongrak Jutanont.
"We have no evidence that suggested it was a murder," Jongrak said.
The unusual death near Bangkok's main backpacker district instantly became a front-page story in Thai newspapers. Media speculated that the death resembled a Russian mob-style execution.
The Italian Embassy said their investigation corroborated the suicide theory.
"The first impression that we got—an Italian head attached by a rope to a bridge—we thought it was a mafia-type warning," said Andrea Vitalone, the embassy's police commissioner.
"Our analysis confirms that it is possible that it was a suicide. We are still investigating," he said.
The man was identified as Tosadori Maurizio of Verona who was visiting Bangkok, said Vitalone, adding that he had no criminal record in Italy but appeared to be in financial trouble.
A number of clues helped police determine the man was an Italian national, including clothing by the Italian brand Puma and a bag bearing the name of an Italian hotel, Jongrak said.
A Bangkok guesthouse filed a missing persons report about an Italian visitor, which led police to his room. They found photos of a man resembling the victim, Jongrak said. Forensics experts linked the identity by a distinctive mole on the head that was also visible in the photographs.
BANGKOK — Authorities said Wednesday that they have identified the body of an Italian tourist who apparently decapitated himself by jumping off a bridge with a noose around his neck.
Billed as the case of the headless foreigner, the mystery of the dead man enthralled the Thai media in recent days.
Clues had trickled in since Sunday's gruesome discovery of the 52-year-old man's head hanging by a rope from Rama VIII bridge in what is believed to be a suicide, Thai and Italian officials said.
His headless body, clad in a white shirt and black trousers, was found floating nearby in Bangkok's Chao Phraya river and authorities confirmed a match.
Forensics experts determined the body showed no sign of assault and that the "force of gravity" appeared to have separated the body and head, said deputy police commissioner Jongrak Jutanont.
"We have no evidence that suggested it was a murder," Jongrak said.
The unusual death near Bangkok's main backpacker district instantly became a front-page story in Thai newspapers. Media speculated that the death resembled a Russian mob-style execution.
The Italian Embassy said their investigation corroborated the suicide theory.
"The first impression that we got—an Italian head attached by a rope to a bridge—we thought it was a mafia-type warning," said Andrea Vitalone, the embassy's police commissioner.
"Our analysis confirms that it is possible that it was a suicide. We are still investigating," he said.
The man was identified as Tosadori Maurizio of Verona who was visiting Bangkok, said Vitalone, adding that he had no criminal record in Italy but appeared to be in financial trouble.
A number of clues helped police determine the man was an Italian national, including clothing by the Italian brand Puma and a bag bearing the name of an Italian hotel, Jongrak said.
A Bangkok guesthouse filed a missing persons report about an Italian visitor, which led police to his room. They found photos of a man resembling the victim, Jongrak said. Forensics experts linked the identity by a distinctive mole on the head that was also visible in the photographs.
Asean Financial Gloom to Trump Rights Issues
By JOCELYN GECKER/ AP WRITER
BANGKOK — The prickly issue of human rights in Burma will take a back seat to the global financial meltdown as leaders of cash-strapped Southeast Asian countries meet this weekend for an annual summit.
Ducking the spotlight will be a relief for Burma's military junta, which has been busy locking up dissidents and has ignored UN demands to free its highest-profile political prisoner, the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
For the rest of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the financial crisis offers an opportunity to avoid the perennial dilemma of confronting its most troublesome member and other sensitive topics.
Thailand, which currently holds Asean's rotating chairmanship and is hosting the summit, bills the meeting as a turning point for the bloc that has long been criticized as a talk shop that forges agreements by consensus and steers away from confrontation.
It is the first time leaders will meet since the group signed a landmark charter in December. The document made Asean a legal entity and moves it a step closer toward the goal of establishing a single market by 2015 and becoming a European Union-like community.
"This summit will mark a new chapter for Asean," Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said recently. "We want to make Asean a more rule-based and effective organization according to the charter."
But the run-up to the summit has showcased some of the disarray in Asean, which groups more than 500 million people and includes fledgling democracies, a monarchy, a military dictatorship and two communist regimes.
Originally scheduled for December in Bangkok, the summit was postponed because of political upheaval in Thailand. Abhisit, who came to power that month on the back of protests, shifted the venue to the beach resort Hua Hin, 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of the capital, to escape lingering protests in Bangkok.
Senior officials start meeting on February 26 ahead of the weekend leaders' summit. Asean's 10 members include Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
In recent years, Asean summits have been followed by the so-called East Asia Summit, which includes the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. But Beijing couldn't make the new Feb meeting, forcing Thailand to call a second summit in April.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has decried the back-to-back meetings as "a waste of time," saying the absence this weekend of China, Japan and South Korea means Asean can't lobby Asia's economic powers for financial aid. The sharp-tongued Hun Sen has been particularly critical of Thailand since a border dispute last year sparked deadly clashes and brief concerns of war between the neighbors.
Philippine diplomats also say their interest in the summit has "really waned" without the three East Asian powers attending.
Southeast Asian countries are struggling to revive their export-driven economies amid rising employment and fears of recession. The economies of Thailand and Singapore have already shrunk while Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are grappling with rapidly slowing growth.
Asian finance ministers agreed last weekend to form a $120 billion pool of foreign-exchange reserves to protect falling currencies. Asean members will provide 20% of funding, with 80% from China, Japan and South Korea.
Among the key documents to be signed at the meeting are a free trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand and a roadmap for turning Asean into an EU-style bloc by 2015, as outlined by the new charter.
One of the charter's key pledges is to set up a regional human rights body, though critics doubt that members like Burma would allow it to have much clout.
Meanwhile, specific human rights issues—including the plight of the stateless Rohingya boat people who flee Burma and have recently washed up on the shores of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia—will be discussed on the sidelines but not as part of the summit's formal agenda.
Burma has come under vocal criticism by the United Nations for jailing hundreds of dissidents ahead of general elections promised for 2010—the first in 20 years. The junta holds more than 2,100 political detainees, including pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi. The 63-year-old Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention without trial.
But Asean has no intention of formally scolding Burma, Vitavas Srivihok, the director-general the Thai Foreign Ministry's Asean department told reporters earlier this week.
"We don't have any specific meetings regarding Myanmar (Burma) because it is sensitive," he said, "and we don't want to single out any country."
BANGKOK — The prickly issue of human rights in Burma will take a back seat to the global financial meltdown as leaders of cash-strapped Southeast Asian countries meet this weekend for an annual summit.
Ducking the spotlight will be a relief for Burma's military junta, which has been busy locking up dissidents and has ignored UN demands to free its highest-profile political prisoner, the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
For the rest of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the financial crisis offers an opportunity to avoid the perennial dilemma of confronting its most troublesome member and other sensitive topics.
Thailand, which currently holds Asean's rotating chairmanship and is hosting the summit, bills the meeting as a turning point for the bloc that has long been criticized as a talk shop that forges agreements by consensus and steers away from confrontation.
It is the first time leaders will meet since the group signed a landmark charter in December. The document made Asean a legal entity and moves it a step closer toward the goal of establishing a single market by 2015 and becoming a European Union-like community.
"This summit will mark a new chapter for Asean," Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said recently. "We want to make Asean a more rule-based and effective organization according to the charter."
But the run-up to the summit has showcased some of the disarray in Asean, which groups more than 500 million people and includes fledgling democracies, a monarchy, a military dictatorship and two communist regimes.
Originally scheduled for December in Bangkok, the summit was postponed because of political upheaval in Thailand. Abhisit, who came to power that month on the back of protests, shifted the venue to the beach resort Hua Hin, 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of the capital, to escape lingering protests in Bangkok.
Senior officials start meeting on February 26 ahead of the weekend leaders' summit. Asean's 10 members include Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
In recent years, Asean summits have been followed by the so-called East Asia Summit, which includes the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. But Beijing couldn't make the new Feb meeting, forcing Thailand to call a second summit in April.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has decried the back-to-back meetings as "a waste of time," saying the absence this weekend of China, Japan and South Korea means Asean can't lobby Asia's economic powers for financial aid. The sharp-tongued Hun Sen has been particularly critical of Thailand since a border dispute last year sparked deadly clashes and brief concerns of war between the neighbors.
Philippine diplomats also say their interest in the summit has "really waned" without the three East Asian powers attending.
Southeast Asian countries are struggling to revive their export-driven economies amid rising employment and fears of recession. The economies of Thailand and Singapore have already shrunk while Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are grappling with rapidly slowing growth.
Asian finance ministers agreed last weekend to form a $120 billion pool of foreign-exchange reserves to protect falling currencies. Asean members will provide 20% of funding, with 80% from China, Japan and South Korea.
Among the key documents to be signed at the meeting are a free trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand and a roadmap for turning Asean into an EU-style bloc by 2015, as outlined by the new charter.
One of the charter's key pledges is to set up a regional human rights body, though critics doubt that members like Burma would allow it to have much clout.
Meanwhile, specific human rights issues—including the plight of the stateless Rohingya boat people who flee Burma and have recently washed up on the shores of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia—will be discussed on the sidelines but not as part of the summit's formal agenda.
Burma has come under vocal criticism by the United Nations for jailing hundreds of dissidents ahead of general elections promised for 2010—the first in 20 years. The junta holds more than 2,100 political detainees, including pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi. The 63-year-old Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention without trial.
But Asean has no intention of formally scolding Burma, Vitavas Srivihok, the director-general the Thai Foreign Ministry's Asean department told reporters earlier this week.
"We don't have any specific meetings regarding Myanmar (Burma) because it is sensitive," he said, "and we don't want to single out any country."
February 24, 2009
Gas Discovery Reported Near Rangoon
By MIN LWIN
The Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) has located an inland gas deposit in Dagon Myothit Eastern Township near Rangoon, according to residents in the exploration area.
MOGE started drilling a test well on February 12 on land owned by a local farmer, Than Tun, near Laydaungkan Village, said a local farmer.
“The exploration group came into the bean fields to conduct seismic surveys in search of gas,” he said. He said drilling tests proved successful on February 14.
Another farmer from Laydaungkan Village said, “They destroyed the crops planted by Than Tun without compensation.” Than Tun was hospitalized because of stress associated with the drilling, he said.
MOGE, which operates under the Ministry of Energy, would not respond to queries from The Irrawaddy about the reported gas discovery. MOGE is the government’s exploration and production department for oil and gas in Burma.
At least 21 multinational oil and gas companies from China, Singapore, South Korea, India, Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, the United States, France, Japan and Australia have long-term contracts with MOGE. The Burmese military government began to allow foreign investments in energy production in 1988.
The military government has signed gas and oil contracts with multinationals such as Total of France; CNOOC and SNPC of China; Daewoo of South Korea; onGC of India; Danford Equities of Australia and PTTEP of Thailand.
According to the Rangoon-based Myanmar Times weekly journal, the Burmese energy sector, including hydropower, oil and gas, comprises 65 percent of Foreign Direct Investment, which is made up of 12 economic sectors that include power, energy, mining, manufacturing, hotels and tourism, livestock and fisheries, transportation and telecommunications.
The Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) has located an inland gas deposit in Dagon Myothit Eastern Township near Rangoon, according to residents in the exploration area.
MOGE started drilling a test well on February 12 on land owned by a local farmer, Than Tun, near Laydaungkan Village, said a local farmer.
“The exploration group came into the bean fields to conduct seismic surveys in search of gas,” he said. He said drilling tests proved successful on February 14.
Another farmer from Laydaungkan Village said, “They destroyed the crops planted by Than Tun without compensation.” Than Tun was hospitalized because of stress associated with the drilling, he said.
MOGE, which operates under the Ministry of Energy, would not respond to queries from The Irrawaddy about the reported gas discovery. MOGE is the government’s exploration and production department for oil and gas in Burma.
At least 21 multinational oil and gas companies from China, Singapore, South Korea, India, Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, the United States, France, Japan and Australia have long-term contracts with MOGE. The Burmese military government began to allow foreign investments in energy production in 1988.
The military government has signed gas and oil contracts with multinationals such as Total of France; CNOOC and SNPC of China; Daewoo of South Korea; onGC of India; Danford Equities of Australia and PTTEP of Thailand.
According to the Rangoon-based Myanmar Times weekly journal, the Burmese energy sector, including hydropower, oil and gas, comprises 65 percent of Foreign Direct Investment, which is made up of 12 economic sectors that include power, energy, mining, manufacturing, hotels and tourism, livestock and fisheries, transportation and telecommunications.
Lack of Proper Equipment Hampers Burma’s Firefighters
By THE IRRAWADDY
Lack of money and effective equipment is hampering Burmese local authorities tackle an increasing number of dry season fires.
The official government newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported a total of 96 serious fires had broken out in Burma in January.
Fires so far in February include a blaze on Tuesday that destroyed a plastics factory in Rangoon’s Dawbon Township and a disastrous one on February 22 that swept through Kyaut Oe village in Sagaing Division, destroying 85 homes. The 649 villagers left homeless by the blaze are being sheltered at the local monastery.
A forest fire that began last week in a northeastern border region of Burma has spread into neighboring Chinese Yunnan Province, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. More than 200 hectares were ablaze, the agency said.
More than 3,000 soldiers, armed police and villagers were marshaled to fight the fire in the border county of Tengchong. The firefighters dug a 10,000-meter ditch on Sunday to keep the blaze from spreading, but a combination of strong gales, dry weather and mountainous terrain made their work difficult, Xinhua said.
Of the 96 serious fires registered in January, 74 were caused by kitchen accidents and negligence, 14 by electrical short circuits and six by arson. There was one forest fire.
The New Light of Myanmar report did not say whether there had been casualties.
In 2008, more than 5,000 houses, 15 factories and workshops and 30 warehouses were destroyed by fire, according to official statistics. More than 17,000 people were made homeless.
Firefighters in Burma are hampered by a lack of such essential equipment as extension ladders and fireproof clothing, according to fire department officials.
The country has 217 fire stations. There are an additional 328 auxiliary fire stations, which rely on donations from local communities. “If you want the firemen to put out the fire, you have to give them money,” said one source.
Lack of money and effective equipment is hampering Burmese local authorities tackle an increasing number of dry season fires.
The official government newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported a total of 96 serious fires had broken out in Burma in January.
Fires so far in February include a blaze on Tuesday that destroyed a plastics factory in Rangoon’s Dawbon Township and a disastrous one on February 22 that swept through Kyaut Oe village in Sagaing Division, destroying 85 homes. The 649 villagers left homeless by the blaze are being sheltered at the local monastery.
A forest fire that began last week in a northeastern border region of Burma has spread into neighboring Chinese Yunnan Province, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. More than 200 hectares were ablaze, the agency said.
More than 3,000 soldiers, armed police and villagers were marshaled to fight the fire in the border county of Tengchong. The firefighters dug a 10,000-meter ditch on Sunday to keep the blaze from spreading, but a combination of strong gales, dry weather and mountainous terrain made their work difficult, Xinhua said.
Of the 96 serious fires registered in January, 74 were caused by kitchen accidents and negligence, 14 by electrical short circuits and six by arson. There was one forest fire.
The New Light of Myanmar report did not say whether there had been casualties.
In 2008, more than 5,000 houses, 15 factories and workshops and 30 warehouses were destroyed by fire, according to official statistics. More than 17,000 people were made homeless.
Firefighters in Burma are hampered by a lack of such essential equipment as extension ladders and fireproof clothing, according to fire department officials.
The country has 217 fire stations. There are an additional 328 auxiliary fire stations, which rely on donations from local communities. “If you want the firemen to put out the fire, you have to give them money,” said one source.
Burmese Prisoner Release a ‘Positive Step’: Japan
By WAI MOE
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the release of 6,313 prisoners in Burma over the weekend as “a positive step,” although it added that it would “take some time to get the whole picture of the release.”
In a brief statement in English, the ministry said that Tokyo expects the Burmese junta “to further promote its movement of releasing political prisoners in the future and promote the democratization process in a way that involves all parties concerned.”
A slightly longer version of the statement in Japanese added that, according to Burma’s state-run media, the prisoners were released for humanitarian reasons and to enable them “to participate in fair elections to be held in 2010.”
The Japanese-language version also included information about the party affiliation or other political involvement of 13 prisoners of conscience who were freed as part of the amnesty.
According to the latest figures from the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), so far 24 of the released detainees have been identified as political prisoners.
A Japanese researcher, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that it was significant that the Japanese government quoted Burma’s state-run media without any qualification.
Tokyo is widely seen as less critical of the Burmese regime than most Western governments.
Last week, Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), reacted angrily to a joint statement by Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari that appeared to endorse the Burmese junta’s plans for an election in 2010.
“Even though there are few positive moves by the Myanmar [Burmese] government, it’s a huge step for them to have announced that they would hold a general election in 2010, compared with two past decades of silence about its democratization process,” Nakasone said in the statement.
“If they take favorable action, the international community should react in a manner that encourages more positive actions,” Nakasone added.
The NLD said that the statement departed from resolutions by the UN General Assembly which honor the result of a 1990 election that the NLD won by a landslide. The NLD captured more than 80 percent of seats, but the ruling junta refused to respect its victory.
Japan has been one of Burma’s main aid donors for many years. By 2006, Burma’s debt to Japan had reached approximately US $2.5 billion.
Japan temporarily cut aid after a brutal attack by junta-backed thugs on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters in May 2003. It also suspended aid following a crackdown on demonstrators in September 2007, but resumed loans after just two months.
Unlike the US and other major developed nations, Japan has sought to promote democratization in Burma through engagement and dialogue with the regime, according to Jürgen Haacke, an expert in international relations.
“Given its less vocal and punitive position regarding Myanmar, Tokyo has thus, in theory, represented for the military an easier target [for aid requests] than its Western counterparts,” Haacke writes in his paper, “Myanmar's Foreign Policy: Domestic Influences and International Implications.”
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the release of 6,313 prisoners in Burma over the weekend as “a positive step,” although it added that it would “take some time to get the whole picture of the release.”
In a brief statement in English, the ministry said that Tokyo expects the Burmese junta “to further promote its movement of releasing political prisoners in the future and promote the democratization process in a way that involves all parties concerned.”
A slightly longer version of the statement in Japanese added that, according to Burma’s state-run media, the prisoners were released for humanitarian reasons and to enable them “to participate in fair elections to be held in 2010.”
The Japanese-language version also included information about the party affiliation or other political involvement of 13 prisoners of conscience who were freed as part of the amnesty.
According to the latest figures from the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), so far 24 of the released detainees have been identified as political prisoners.
A Japanese researcher, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that it was significant that the Japanese government quoted Burma’s state-run media without any qualification.
Tokyo is widely seen as less critical of the Burmese regime than most Western governments.
Last week, Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), reacted angrily to a joint statement by Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari that appeared to endorse the Burmese junta’s plans for an election in 2010.
“Even though there are few positive moves by the Myanmar [Burmese] government, it’s a huge step for them to have announced that they would hold a general election in 2010, compared with two past decades of silence about its democratization process,” Nakasone said in the statement.
“If they take favorable action, the international community should react in a manner that encourages more positive actions,” Nakasone added.
The NLD said that the statement departed from resolutions by the UN General Assembly which honor the result of a 1990 election that the NLD won by a landslide. The NLD captured more than 80 percent of seats, but the ruling junta refused to respect its victory.
Japan has been one of Burma’s main aid donors for many years. By 2006, Burma’s debt to Japan had reached approximately US $2.5 billion.
Japan temporarily cut aid after a brutal attack by junta-backed thugs on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters in May 2003. It also suspended aid following a crackdown on demonstrators in September 2007, but resumed loans after just two months.
Unlike the US and other major developed nations, Japan has sought to promote democratization in Burma through engagement and dialogue with the regime, according to Jürgen Haacke, an expert in international relations.
“Given its less vocal and punitive position regarding Myanmar, Tokyo has thus, in theory, represented for the military an easier target [for aid requests] than its Western counterparts,” Haacke writes in his paper, “Myanmar's Foreign Policy: Domestic Influences and International Implications.”
Thai Anti-govt Group Stages Protest
By AMBIKA AHUJA / AP WRITER
BANGKOK — Thousands of protesters surrounded the prime minister's office Tuesday demanding Thailand's Parliament be dissolved and new elections held.
The rally by demonstrators allied with exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra came three days before Thailand is to host the annual summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. About 7,000 people attended, police said.
One of the protest leaders, Jakrapob Penkair, said the demonstration was being staged this week to show Thailand's Southeast Asian neighbors that the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had no right to rule.
Abhisit became prime minister in December after a court ruling that ousted a government of Thaksin's allies—but only after the former leader's opponents spent much of last year demonstrating in the capital, occupying the prime minister's offices for three months and Bangkok's two airports for a week.
Abhisit's Democrat Party, which came in second in a December 2007 general election, cobbled together a ruling coalition from defecting supporters of the previous administration.
"This government is full of robbers. We did not vote for them. The majority of this country did not vote for them but somehow they are in power because the elite want them to be," said Jatuporn Phromphan, another protest leader, on top of a pickup truck amid loud cheers.
Abhisit's government held its weekly Cabinet meeting in Hua Hin, 90 miles (150 kilometers) southwest of Bangkok, instead of its usual venue at Government House, at which some 3,000 police in riot gear were deployed. Two-thousand army troops were on standby in the area, said police Lt-Gen Worapong Chiewpreecha.
"We will not use violence," Abhisit told reporters. "I am not concerned. I am ready to walk into (the Government House) as long as there are no weapons."
Jakrapob said the demonstrators would camp out there for at least two days to press their demands but would not break in as their political rivals had done.
The demonstrators also demanded the resignation of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who was a vocal supporter of the anti-Thaksin demonstrators who besieged the airports last year.
The Tuesday protest was organized by the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship — commonly known as the "red shirts" because of their attire, which contrasts with the yellow shirts worn by their rivals, the self-styled People's Alliance for Democracy. The DAAD is an eclectic mix of Thaksin loyalists, rural farmers and laborers, all of whom benefited from Thaksin's policies that reached out to the poor.
Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon, remains popular among the rural majority for introducing social welfare plans, including virtually free medical care. He now lives in self-imposed exile after being forced from office in a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and abuse of power.
BANGKOK — Thousands of protesters surrounded the prime minister's office Tuesday demanding Thailand's Parliament be dissolved and new elections held.
The rally by demonstrators allied with exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra came three days before Thailand is to host the annual summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. About 7,000 people attended, police said.
One of the protest leaders, Jakrapob Penkair, said the demonstration was being staged this week to show Thailand's Southeast Asian neighbors that the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had no right to rule.
Abhisit became prime minister in December after a court ruling that ousted a government of Thaksin's allies—but only after the former leader's opponents spent much of last year demonstrating in the capital, occupying the prime minister's offices for three months and Bangkok's two airports for a week.
Abhisit's Democrat Party, which came in second in a December 2007 general election, cobbled together a ruling coalition from defecting supporters of the previous administration.
"This government is full of robbers. We did not vote for them. The majority of this country did not vote for them but somehow they are in power because the elite want them to be," said Jatuporn Phromphan, another protest leader, on top of a pickup truck amid loud cheers.
Abhisit's government held its weekly Cabinet meeting in Hua Hin, 90 miles (150 kilometers) southwest of Bangkok, instead of its usual venue at Government House, at which some 3,000 police in riot gear were deployed. Two-thousand army troops were on standby in the area, said police Lt-Gen Worapong Chiewpreecha.
"We will not use violence," Abhisit told reporters. "I am not concerned. I am ready to walk into (the Government House) as long as there are no weapons."
Jakrapob said the demonstrators would camp out there for at least two days to press their demands but would not break in as their political rivals had done.
The demonstrators also demanded the resignation of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who was a vocal supporter of the anti-Thaksin demonstrators who besieged the airports last year.
The Tuesday protest was organized by the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship — commonly known as the "red shirts" because of their attire, which contrasts with the yellow shirts worn by their rivals, the self-styled People's Alliance for Democracy. The DAAD is an eclectic mix of Thaksin loyalists, rural farmers and laborers, all of whom benefited from Thaksin's policies that reached out to the poor.
Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon, remains popular among the rural majority for introducing social welfare plans, including virtually free medical care. He now lives in self-imposed exile after being forced from office in a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and abuse of power.
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