BI Weekly No. 347

July 8th - 14th, 2008

The BI Weekly archive is available on our website: www.burmaissues.org

Inside Burma

Border

International

Most Burmese people not care Junta’s constitution: Mizzima survey

Many Rangoon residents said they had no clue about the contents of the recently approved constitution, drafted by the ruling military government, though they voted in its favour.

Despite the junta's claim that its draft constitution has been overwhelmingly supported by 92.48 per cent of all eligible voters, a random survey conducted among residents of Rangoon, showed most respondents are unaware of the contents of the constitution that will determine their future.

Of the 50 respondents, in a random telephone survey conducted by Mizzima, only one person, a businessman, said he understood the contents of the constitution and accepted it as he believes it is suitable for the Burmese people. But the rest of the respondents or 49 people said they have no idea of the contents of the constitution.

A politically aware youth in Rangoon said most people in Rangoon, where about six million or more than 10 per cent of Burma's population reside, are struggling for their daily bread and the people do not care what the constitution is all about.

“Poll reveals most Burmese ignorant about constitution” Mizzima News, July 14, 2008

U Aye Thar Aung of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament has said CRPP members have no interest in participating in the 2010 election announced by the junta.

He was speaking in response to a call in the state-run New Light of Myanmar for the National League for Democracy to “join hands with the people and then stand for the 2010 election in line with the laws instead of longing for the result of the 1990 election”.

Aye Thar Aung said the regime had not directly approached CRPP members about contesting the election. But the CRPP secretary said he did not believe the military regime was going the right way about bringing democracy to Burma.

"We are not interested in the elections because we do not see either the recent referendum or the upcoming elections as the necessary procedures for Burma,” Aye Thar Aung said.
As well as, the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) insist not to contest the 2010 general election because the party did not accept the approved constitution which drafted for the army to retain power in the country and it will not benefit people.

MNDF was founded in 1988 and it won five seats in the 1990 election. But the party was abolished by the Burmese military junta in 1992 with other ethnic pro-democracy parties.

“CRPP rejects junta’s election challenge”, Democratic Voice of Burma, July 10, 2008
“MNDF will not contest 2010 election” Independent Mon News Agency, July 10, 2008

Many ceasefire groups undecided to join 2010 election

Despite government pressure, most ethnic ceasefire groups are undecided on whether to disarm and form political parties to contest the Burmese general election scheduled for 2010, according to sources close to the ceasefire groups.

For one month now, Burmese military authorities have been urging the ceasefire groups to surrender—in effect, lay down their weapons—and form political parties. An alternative option for the ceasefire groups could be to enlist their troops as special combat police, said the sources.

Two ethnic ceasefire groups—the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Shan
State Army-North (SSA-N)—have not yet responded to the request of the Burmese authorities, according to sources in Shan State.

Other ethnic ceasefire groups that are undecided to disarm and involve in the 2010 election includes; the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State, also known as the Mongla group, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA).

However, an ethnic Kachin ceasefire group, the New Democratic Army-Kachin
(NDA-K) and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) will participate in the 2010 election.

“Most ceasefire groups undecided on 2010 election” Irrawaddy, July 8, 2008

Sixteen private construction companies in Burma will build over 6,000 low-cost houses for homeless cyclone victims at seven disaster-affected areas, the country's weekly Flower News reported.

The 16 companies, including Asia World, Htoo, FMI, MAX, Shwe Thanlwin, will construct 5,700 low-cost houses in 23 villages in Irrawaddy division's six townships and 350 in Rangoon division's Kungyankon Township alone, the report said.

Earlier, the government's National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee assigned a total of 30 private companies to undertake reconstruction work in 17 disaster-affected areas.

Burma is reclaiming land plots in the cyclone-hit areas and planning to build up to 100,000 low-cost provisional houses for homeless storm victims.

“Myanmar's private companies to build over 6,000 low-cost houses for cyclone victims” Xinhua, July 14, 2008

UNICEF concerns on healthcare for women and children

When cyclone Nargis tore through Rangoon and Irrawaddy divisions on May 2 and 3, many healthcare specialists feared that the affected areas might face disease epidemics that could increase the already massive death toll.

More than two months later, however, these fears have failed to materialise. Mr Ramesh M Shrestha, the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Burma, said last week that there have been no major outbreaks of diarrhoea or dysentery in the storm-hit delta region, although there have been more cases than normal.

He added that more work needed to be done to prevent future outbreaks because it would “take a long time before the hundreds of thousands of displaced families are fully settled”.

Mr Shrestha said UNICEF has been working closely with the ‘Ministry of Health’ (MOH), ‘Myanmar Red Cross Society’ and local nongovernmental organisations such as the ‘Myanmar Nurse and Midwife Association’ in looking after the health of cyclone victims.

He said UNICEF has provided pharmaceuticals and medical kits to hospitals and healthcare centres in the delta, and has helped MOH in its efforts to immunise children under 10 years of age against measles in the region.

Another major concern for UNICEF is the health of pregnant women, including making sure they have a constant supply of nutritious food.

“Healthcare for delta women and children a priority for UNICEF” Myanmar Times, July 8-13, 2008

An increasing food shortage is gripping Chin State, Burma amid fears that as many as 200 severely affected villages are facing starvation and in 'a critical point', Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO) warned.

The situation which is due to the cyclical flowering and dying of bamboos leading to the massive influx of crop-destroying rats in the areas has been worsened by the continuation of severe human rights violations and repressive economic policies by Burma’s military regime.

Fears are mounting that the ongoing food crisis could immediately lead an estimated 100,000 people or 20 percent of the entire population of Chin State to high rates of starvation, malnutrition and rapid deterioration of people's health. The report also claimed that more than 600 people have fled across the Indian-Burma border to Mizoram State in search of food security.

Last month, a trio of Chin delegation and a British photographer, Benny Manser who slipped across the India-Burma border into the affected areas in Chin State visited the UK, raising the awareness of food crisis and other issues affecting the Chin people such as forced labour, refugees, child soldiers and rape victims. The team also called on the British government and international organisations for immediate actions.

“Severe food shortage looms over Burma's Chin State” Chinland Guardian, July 9, 2008

An estimated 4,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are currently hiding in the jungle near Hpasawng Township, about 94 kilometers south of the Karenni State capital Loikaw. The villagers had fled their homes fearing attacks by the Burmese army, according to a Karenni relief group, Karenni Social Welfare and Development Center (KSWDC).

The Burmese army’s Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 427, 428 and 337 patrol the area around Hpasawng and have clashed with Karenni rebels in the area six times so far this year.

Poe Byar Shay Reh, chairman of the Karenni Refugee Committee, said that more than 160 IDPs have arrived at Karenni refugee camps in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province since the beginning of 2008.

Burmese military operations forced around 6,000 Karenni villagers to become IDPs in 2007, according to a survey conducted by KSWDC.

More than 20,000 Karenni refugees are staying in two camps in Mae Hong Son Province, according to the Thailand-Burma Border Consortium and the Karenni Refugee Committee.

“Thousands of Karenni IDPs hide in jungle” Irrawaddy , July 9, 2008

While praising the cooperation of the Burmese junta in allowing the international community to carry out relief work in the Irrawaddy delta, Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan said now is time to speed up the humanitarian relief effort.

"I think more coordination and more support for the NGOs and the international organizations to even expand their activities would be helpful," Pitsuwan told The Irrawaddy in an interview.

Preparing for the Asean foreign minister's meeting in Singapore on Burma's humanitarian crisis, Pitsuwan said he was satisfied with the progress of the relief effort and praised the Burmese military government.

At the same time, he said: "Some [relief work] would have to be repeated and that is what we are working on. Part of the revised appeal is to sustain the humanitarian assistance that has been going on."

He said Asean foreign ministers meeting in Singapore will have to decide in what form and for how long Asean will remain engaged. "This is a very, very important undertaking for us," he said.

“More relief effort needed: Asean Secretary-General”, Irrawaddy , July 14, 2008

No plan for financial support to Junta: World Bank

The World Bank does not have any plans to provide the military regime in Burma with financial assistance, according to Dr Win Naing, a member of the National League for Democracy Information Committee.

Dr Win Naing told DVB that a delegation from the World Bank met with five leaders from the pro-democracy party in Rangoon last week to explain about the financial institution’s current policy on Burma.

“They said they still stood firm on their policy of not giving any financial loans to the regime,” said Dr Win Naing. “They also told us that they had been involved in the cyclone assessment process together with UN agencies.”

In May this year, the World Bank’s executive director Juan Jose Daboub told journalists that it currently did not have any plans to give financial support to Burma, which had lost USD 10 billion since Cyclone Nargis hit the country, because the junta had not paid off the previous debts it owed to the institution.

According to AFP, Burma’s military regime has not repaid loans borrowed from the World Bank since 1988.

“World Bank will not support junta, says NLD” Democratic Voice of Burma , July 9, 2008

Armed uprising against Burma is “likely consequence”: Chomsky

Noam Chomsky, one of the most well-known political and social critics in the world, said an armed uprising against Burma’s military regime is a “likely consequence” for the hardships inflicted upon the Burmese people.

Chomsky, in an interview with the Bangkok Post published on Monday, said, “An armed uprising would have to evaluate with care the likely consequences for the people who are suffering.”

Asked if a popular uprising could be successful in Burma, he said it would be a massacre. “Mass non-violent protests are predicated on the humanity of the oppressor. Quite often it doesn’t work. Sometimes it does, in unexpected ways,” he said.

A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chomsky said it’s appropriate for people to rise up against a brutal government, but it’s not for him to tell people what to do.

“As for assassinating leaders, the question is very much like asking whether it is appropriate to kill murderers,” said Chomsky.

“They should be apprehended by non-violent means, if possible. If they pull a gun and start shooting, it’s legitimate to kill them in self-defense, if there is no lesser option.”

The choice of a non-violent uprising depends on an intimate knowledge of a society and its various constituents, he said.

For the full interview, see the Bangkok Post:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/140708_Outlook/14Jul2008_out47.php

“Armed Burmese uprising “likely consequence”: Chomsky” Irrawaddy, July 14, 2008

UN appeal for more $300 million aid for Burma

The United Nations appealed for more than $300 million in additional aid for Burma to cope with the effects of a cyclone.

Although much aid had already been supplied to some 2.4 million people seriously affected, "there are many who still remain in need of basic assistance and urgent support," U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes said.

Many areas affected by Cyclone Nargis, which struck the Irrawaddy Delta region on May 2-3, had still not received the level of assistance they needed, he said.

In the wake of the cyclone, the United Nations appealed for $201 million. Some $178 million of that has so far been provided, U.N. figures show.

The money would be spent on more than 100 projects designed to supply water, sanitation, education, health, food, shelter, agriculture, telecommunications and logistics.

Meanwhile, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is appealing for $72.5 million to support a three-year emergency and recovery program for victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma.  The Red Cross says hundreds of thousands of poor people who lived on the edge before the cyclone struck are weaker and more vulnerable.

“U.N. seeks $300 mln more cyclone aid for Myanmar”, Reuters, July 11, 2008
“Red Cross issues multi-million dollar appeal for Cyclone Nargis victims” Voice of America, July 10, 2008

Gambari meets UN General Assembly President

UN Special Envoy on Burma Ibrahim Gambari met with the UN General Assembly President to discuss the current political situation in Burma and the humanitarian response to Cyclone Nargis.

Gambari, who is scheduled to visit Burma later this month, met with Srgjan
Kerim of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, who was elected president of the assembly in 2007, to serve a one-year term.

Gambari’s mandate comes from the General Assembly, not from the UN Security Council or the UN secretary-general.

They discussed the Burmese government’s progress in moving toward democracy and the humanitarian cooperation between Burma, the UN and Asean countries, in response to the devastation caused by the cyclone, according to a spokesperson.

“Gambari meets UN General Assembly President”, Irrawaddy, July 11, 2008

World’s press calls for release of Burmese journalist U Win Tin

The World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum have asked the government of Burma to release the country’s longest serving political prisoner, journalist U Win Tin, on the anniversary of his imprisonment 19 years ago.

U Win Tin, 78, is suffering from lung problems and severe asthma. He has suffered two heart attacks and has high blood pressure, diabetes and a prostate gland disorder.

“The continued imprisonment of U Win Tin constitutes a deep blemish on the international standing of Myanmar (Burma) which can only be erased by his release,” WAN and WEF said in a letter to General Than Shwe, leader of the ruling junta.

U Win Tin, former editor-in-chief of the Hanthawaddy newspaper, co-founder of the National League of Democracy and winner of WAN’s 2001 Golden Pen of Freedom, was imprisoned on 4 July 1989. He was tried in a closed military court and originally sentenced to 14 years of prison for allegedly being a member of the banned Communist Party. The sentence has since been increased to 21 years. He is currently serving a seven-year sentence for sending testimony to the United Nations about the human rights violations of political prisoners.

(The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups.)

“World’s press calls for release of Burmese journalist” World Association of Newspapers, July 10, 2008