BI Weekly No. 351

August 5th - 11th, 2008

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

Inside Burma

Border

International

Rangoon residents wear black on 20ths of ’88 uprising

Many Rangoon residents donned black clothing to mark Friday’s 20th anniversary of 1988 uprising, and noticeably more police and plainclothes security personnel were seen on city streets.

Members of Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy held a commemorative rally in Yenangyaung Township, Magwe Division, and food offerings were made at eight of the city’s monasteries to mark the occasion. Offerings were also made at monasteries in Rangoon.

In a statement marking the anniversary, the 88 Generation Students Group urged the Burmese military government to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic leaders and to begin talks with Suu
Kyi. The statement repeated the group’s rejection of the regime’s plan to hold a general election in 2010.

In several cities around the world, including in such Asia countries as
Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, anti-regime protesters held anniversary demonstrations in front of Burmese and Chinese embassies.

“Many in Rangoon wear black on 8.8.88 anniversary” Irrawaddy, August 8, 2008

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the '8.8.88' uprising, at least 20 youths in Taungup town in Burma's Arakan state were arrested after they took to the streets and began marching in protest.

The protesters, mainly youths from Nat Maw village, were whisked away by the police as they marched across Taungup township police station, sources said.

Thein Naing, Joint Secretary of the Taungup Township National League for
Democracy, Burma's main opposition party, told Mizzima that about 25 people from Nat Maw village on Friday marched along the streets of Taungup town.

On Thursday, about 200 villagers of Nat Maw held a commemoration service on the eve of the 20th anniversary of '8.8.88' protests at two Buddhist monasteries and held a brief demonstration in front of the monasteries.

“Protests in Arakan state's Taungup, 20 arrested” Mizzima News, August 8, 2008 

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Food scarcity in Chin State focused in WFP meeting

The severe food crisis in Chin state of Burma was the focus of the meeting of international and domestic non government organizations held at the World Food Program's (WFP) head-office in Rangoon yesterday. All present agreed on the acuteness of the crisis and expressed fears about imminent famine in Chin state.

The director of Country Agency for Rural Development (CAD), Joseph Win Hlaing Oo says in e-mail, " Many news agencies are broadcasting there is famine in Chin state; so far famine has not started,  but there is certainly a serious food crisis."

Participants of the meeting agreed rat infestation and draught have badly affected villagers in Chin state.

The WFP approved CAD's proposal of free distribution of food and implementation of the food for work program. CAD believes these would help people in affected areas.

The food crisis which is about to assume proportions of a famine (local known as Mautam) follows the flowering of bamboo plants. It is said to have started in 2006 and plagued several parts of Chin state and caused food shortage in the region.

Rats multiply after eating bamboo flowers and damage paddy and other crops, which is the main food of the Chin people. The rats attack even the barns where paddy stocks are kept.

“Severe food shortages in Chin state focus of WFP meeting” Khonumthung News, August 7, 2008

The two remaining cyclone refugee camps in Laputta are to close on August 10, according to residents.

The 1,015 families in the camps, named 5-Mile and 3-Mile, have been told to return to their villages in Laputta Township, which bore the brunt of the May 2-3 cyclone.

An army officer in the region told The Irrawaddy by telephone that no families were being forced to return. “They can return if they wish,” he said.

Forced relocation was suspended after Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein
Sein visited cyclone-hit areas in late July, but one Laputta resident said the local authorities had resumed “pushing” refugees to return to their villages.

“Laputta’s last two refugee camps to close” Irrawaddy, August 6, 2008 

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Burma’s consumer price index rises up to 33%

Burma's consumer price index rose nearly 33 percent in the 2007-2008 financial years, according to official statistics.

The increase of 32.93 was higher than that for 2006-2007, when the CPI registered a 26.33 increase, according to the figures from the Central Statistical Organization of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development.

Rising consumer costs sparked protests last year that turned into the biggest anti-government demonstrations in almost two decades. The demonstrations were violently quashed by the military government.

The statistics also break down the change by sector. The food index, which includes rice, oil, fish, meat and eggs, registered a 33.13 percent increase compared to same period last year, the figures showed.

The financial year end begins on April 1 and ends March 31 the following year.

“Myanmar CPI up 33% for past year” Associated Press, August 6, 2008

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According to the recent Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA), [http://www.asean.org/21765.pdf] 42 percent of all food stocks were destroyed and 55 percent of families only had stocks for one day or less.

Moreover, 924,000 people will need food assistance until the November harvest this year, while around 300,000 will need relief until April 2009.

In June, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that about 200,000 hectares, or 16 percent, of the delta's total 1.36 million hectares of agricultural land had been severely damaged in the cyclone and would "not be available for planting this season".

More than 12 weeks after the cyclone hit, leaving 140,000 people dead or missing, many farmers continue to lack the necessary tools or machinery to till the soil after the loss of thousands of plough animals.

The FAO reported that upwards of 75 percent of farmers in the area lacked sufficient seeds. Also, More than 21,000 hectares of aquaculture ponds were destroyed and more than 2,000 larger mechanized fishing boats lost.

Since small-scale fishing is the mainstay activity for so many cyclone survivors - providing the main source of diet and household income – many storm-affected families have found it virtually impossible to continue.

With 89 percent of PONJA respondents describing food as their highest priority expenditure, many now find themselves having to make particularly difficult decisions.

Food assistance from donors and the government notwithstanding, many survivors complain they simply cannot get by on what they receive and are concerned about where their next meal will come from.

“Myanmar: Food shortages "significant"” Integrated Regional Information Networks, August 5, 2008

Refugees of Mae Lah camp appealed on August 7 to US first lady Laura Bush to help them resettle in the West.

Mrs Bush promised them to do all she could as she toured the Mae Lah camp near the Thai border town of Mae Sot. Around 40,000 refugees live in Mae Lah, the biggest refugee camp in Thailand.

The refugee community gave Mrs Bush and her daughter Barbara a warm welcome, performing traditional Karen dances and showing them the camp’s schoolrooms.

In one classroom, a student had written on the blackboard: “My life in refugee camp is better than Burma but I do not have opportunities to go outside of my camp.”

The vice camp leader, Mahn Htun Htun, appealed directly to Mrs Bush to help more Burmese refugees resettle in the US.

“We are refugees and our dream is to go back home,” he said, “We have no peace in Burma now the possibility for us is to go to third countries.”

Mahn Htun Htun drew attention to the plight of 13,000 newly-arrived refugees who, he said, lacked adequate food and shelter.

Mrs Bush later visited the Mae Tao clinic, the Burmese migrant health care center founded by Dr Cynthia Maung, who said she hoped the first lady would raise in the US the humanitarian problems in the border area.

“Mrs Bush Visits Mae Lah Refugee Camp”, Irrawaddy, August 7, 2008 

The economic slump in Burma coupled with human rights violations by the
Burmese military regime has led to Burmese women being trafficked to
neighbouring countries like China. The trafficking is increasing by the year, said a Kachin women's group.

A new report "Eastward Bound" launched by the Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT) said about two-thirds of the women and children from Kachin State and about one-third from northern Shan State were trafficked to China.

About 25 per cent of trafficked women were under 18 while most girls were as young as 14. The majority of the women and girls are from poor quarters of larger towns such as Myitkyina, Waingmaw (Waimaw), Bhamo (Manmaw) in Kachin State and Kutkai in Northeast Shan State, the new report added.

According to the report, women and girls were trafficked when they sought work to support their families. Most women were trafficked to provide wives for Chinese men.

The new report released by KWAT documented trafficking cases which occurred between 2004 and mid ­ 2007 involving 163 women and girls.

“Increase in Kachin women trafficking to China: KWAT” Kachin News Group, August 5, 2008

UN Human Rights envoy meets opposition groups in Rangoon

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights on
August 6 met senior members of Burma's main opposition party - National
League for Democracy - and another major party - National Unity Party
(NUP), sources said.

During the meeting, NLD leaders briefed the UN envoy on the recent national constitutional referendum, their demand for the release of party leader Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, and explained their objection to the forcible entry into the party headquarters by government-backed civil organizations including Union Solidarity and Development Association and Swan Arrshin.

NLD leaders also brief about the unlawful arrest of NLD party members and explained in details of the Junta's human rights violations during the crackdown against monk-led protests in September 2007, party.

Quintana also met religious leaders, and cyclone victims in Irrawaddy
Division on August 4, and long serving political prisoners including renowned journalist Win Tin, Ashin Gambira, a Buddhist monk who led the Saffron Revolution last year, labor rights activist Suu Suu Nwe and two other political prisoners during his visit to Insein prison on August 5.

“UN envoy in Burma meets opposition parties” Mizzima News, August 6, 2008

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Philippines drops stance on Burma for ASEAN charter

Malacanang is pressing the Senate to ratify the proposed charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by November in an effort to dispel concerns that the country could become a stumbling block in providing the regional group a legal personality.

Full ratification of the ASEAN charter by all 10 member-nations will enable the ASEAN to evolve from what critics describe as “a mere talk shop” into an intergovernmental-organization that is based on rules and accountability.

Vidal E. Querol, Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia, said in an interview the Philippines had nothing against the ratification of the ASEAN charter.

Querol’s disclosure appears to be a turnaround from President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo’s statement to fellow ASEAN leaders in November 2007, when she said Congress would find “extreme difficulty in ratifying the charter” until military-ruled Myanmar (Burma) freed Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

So far, seven of the 10 ASEAN members have ratified the charter, the latest among them Myanmar (Burma). Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam had earlier ratified the document.

The two others who have yet to ratify the charter are Indonesia and
Thailand, which like the Philippines, are original members of this group that marked its 41st anniversary yesterday.

ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said it was just natural for the last three countries to take the longest time to ratify the charter “because their processes are the most participatory” among the 10 members.

The ASEAN’s target for full ratification is by end of 2008 but Querol said
Malacanang hoped the Senate would have made a decision by November, in time for the 14th ASEAN Summit to be held in Bangkok.

“RP drops anti-Myanmar stance for ASEAN charter” Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 8, 2008

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Bush talks with Burmese activists in Bangkok

US President George W Bush traded ideas about US economic sanctions on Burma, humanitarian aid after Cyclone Nargis and Chinese foreign policy during a private lunch with nine Burmese activists in Bangkok on August 7.

 “On China’s Burma policy, Bush said although the two countries cooperate with each other on many issues, the US and China has different interests in Burma,” said Win Min, a Burmese political analyst.

Bo Kyi, a joint-founder of the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners-Burma, said, “He understands Burma and Asia. He also talked about his concern for political prisoners in Burma.”

The hour-long lunch included Burmese exiles Aung Zaw, the editor of The
Irrawaddy and a former student activist; Kyaw Kyaw of the Political
Defense Committee; and Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political analyst.

Michael W. Charney of the School of Oriental and African Studies of the
University of London, asked to assess the meeting, said while it was a genuine expression of Bush’s commitment, it probably would lead to little change, partly because of his limited time in office.

“Certainly, it will help to keep some attention on Burma and to do so from within Thailand, which has of late been favorable toward the military regime in Naypyidaw. It helps to make the latter’s position a little more uncomfortable,” he said.  It would be more meaningful if the dissidents had been talking to presidential hopefuls Barack Obama or John McCain, he said.

Analysts said the meeting was probably intended in part to balance out negative impressions from Bush’s participation in the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, which will be held on Friday.

“Bush warm, knowledgeable on Burma, say activists” Irrawaddy, August 7, 2008

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Burma is making increased efforts to penetrate the Middle East market with its marine products by making use of Kuwait as a transit point, the local Flower News reported.
To boost its marine product exports to the region, Burma has coordinated with a Kuwaiti economic delegation, who accompanied Prime Minister Sheik Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in the latter’s recent visit to Burma.
On that occasion, the two countries signed three accords including two agreements on encouragement and reciprocal investment protection, and economic and technical cooperation, and a memorandum of understanding on establishing consultation between the two foreign ministries.
According to the report, Burma exported 43,640 tons of such products to the Middle East in 2007-08 which ended in March, gaining 50.99 million U.S. dollars.
 “Myanmar to export more marine products to Middle East” Xinhua, August 11, 2008.

Denmark’s Minister criticizes sanction policy toward Burma

Denmark’s minister for development ecooperation said in a recent interview with a Danish newspaper that economic sanctions on Burma and a tourism boycott of the country are counterproductive.
According to a report in Politiken, one of Denmark’s leading newspapers, minister Ulla Tørnæs of the ruling Liberal Party said Burma would benefit from more tourists and trade with the world.
Meanwhile, there have been unconfirmed reports among nongovernmental workers and diplomats that the European Union developmental agency might be in the process of undergoing a reevaluation of its views on economic sanctions on Burma.
Ulla Tørnæs said she planned to raise the issue with the EU and ask it to reconsider its position on Burma.
Some analysts said the Danish minister’s views are a sign of a potential EU policy shift in the near future.
Tourism and trade are positive for the country’s development, said minister Ulla Tørnæs. She said economic sanctions may have a place in some situations, if they can be shown to achieve their desired effect, but, “Burma is isolated and closed.”
Change is more likely to come in Burma from internal pressure on the military government, she said.
The EU has passed annual sanctions against the Burmese junta for years. Recently, the EU adopted tighter sanctions, including an embargo on the import of gemstones, timber and metal, and a wider visa ban against members of the Burmese military government following the suppression of pro-democracy protests in September 2007.
“Danish Minister slams Burma boycott, sanctions” Irrawaddy, August 11, 2008 

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