eGov Monitor
January 22, 2008
British Government and the Indian Government
1. The India-UK annual Summit was held in Delhi on January 21, 2008. The delegation from the United Kingdom was led by Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown MP and that from India was led by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
India-UK Strategic Partnership
2. India and the UK share a Strategic Partnership. The two Sides underscored their commitment to the Strategic Partnership launched in 2004 and reaffirmed their shared conviction in the values of democracy, fundamental freedoms, pluralism, rule of law, respect for human rights and multilateralism in the international political and financial architecture as the means to tackle global challenges effectively. The close bilateral relationship has already led to growing cooperation in global affairs and substantial expansion in the bilateral engagement in multiple fields. Building on the achievements of the ‘New Delhi Declaration’ (2002) and ‘India-UK Joint Declaration’ (2004), the two Sides commit themselves to strengthening and deepening the comprehensive Strategic Partnership that exists between the two countries, which is underpinned by growing economic ties and the presence of a large Indian Diaspora in the UK.
Economic & Commercial
3. Bilateral economic linkages are strengthening through increased trade and investment flows. The UK is the third largest cumulative investor in India. India has emerged as one of the largest investors in the UK, including several major acquisitions, reflecting the maturing nature of the bilateral economic partnership. The UK is among India’s important global trading partners. The two Sides acknowledged the potential for greater collaboration especially in hi-tech (ICT, life sciences, nano-technology etc.), research, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, healthcare, agricultural products and processed foods, higher education and other service sectors.
4. Both sides took note of the outcome of the 4th meeting of the India-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) held in London on 13 December 2007. This meeting reviewed various aspects of bilateral trade and received valuable feedback from businesses on both sides on measures that could further enhance bilateral trade and investment flows. India and the United Kingdom agreed to cooperate in developing collaboration between Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. The Prime Ministers welcomed the meeting of a CEOs’ Round Table and Entrepreneurs’ Summit of Indian and UK business leaders in Delhi. In the light of the rapidly growing trade and economic relations and the rapidly evolving pattern of international competitive advantage, both governments acknowledged the considerable potential for bilateral trade, investment and services. They noted the importance of improving market access through liberalization and facilitating movement of professionals across a broad range of sectors of interest to both sides.
5. Both sides took note of the large opportunities in the infrastructure sector, in the context of the massive infrastructure development programme being undertaken in India. Facilitating the flow of information on the infrastructure projects being undertaken would encourage business partnerships. Both sides agreed to take forward proposals for the establishment of a capacity building programme in India for public-private partnership in infrastructure with UK support.
6. India and the United Kingdom noted the role played by people of Indian origin in Britain. Through their hard work, dynamism and entrepreneurial talents they have made an enormous contribution to the strengthening of bilateral ties.
Education
7. The two Sides noted the traditionally close ties between the two knowledge societies in the field of Higher Education. They recognised that the UK-India Education & Research Initiative (UKIERI), launched in April 2006, was playing an important role in fostering such contacts. They further noted the huge expansion planned in the Indian Higher Education sector which would increase the gross enrolment ratio by 5 percentage points and include the establishment of a range of central government institutions of excellence including 8 new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), 7 new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), 5 Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research and 30 new Central Universities. It was agreed that both sides would forge a closer partnership in the field of Higher Education, for further developing education and skills to the mutual advantage of the students and faculty of both countries. While exploring new avenues of collaboration to further deepen the cooperation, the two Sides agreed to initiate specific measures to collaborate in the field of higher education. In particular they agreed: to establish an Education Forum to work towards an early conclusion of an Education Partnership Agreement;
to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding on an India-UK Higher Education Leadership Development Programme to develop leadership skills in Indian and UK universities; to establish a Programme, under UKIERI, to support faculty development in key Indian universities with participation of leading UK academics; to develop further student and faculty exchange programmes and partnerships with a commitment of further funding from the UK government; and to promote pro-actively links between British Universities and the premier educational institutions in India including collaborating for the establishment of at least one new Indian Institute of Technology, one new Indian Institute of Science Education and Research and one Central University proposed in the XI Five Year Plan. The latter would be taken forward through a meeting between a British delegation, including Vice Chancellors and their Indian counterparts later in the year. They further agreed to work towards mutual recognition of degrees, diplomas and other academic qualifications supported through greater co-operation between the relevant UK and Indian authorities. The two Sides agreed to the further development of UK/India collaboration on English Language Training. The two Governments recognize the strong interest of higher educational institutions of both countries to work together to further their global educational objectives.
Research, Science & Technology
8. India and the UK see considerable potential for growth in Research, Science and Technology collaboration. They share the vision for further strengthening their partnership through new and existing initiatives and agree to widen discussion to all research funding bodies in both countries through the India-UK Science and Innovation Council mechanism. The UK’s proposal to establish a Research Councils UK (RCUK) office in India is a welcome development that would lead to enhanced collaboration between the two countries. Underlining the importance for further developing Research and S&T cooperation, India and the UK shall establish a Science Bridges Initiative to build institution to institution relationships on equal partnership with joint funding under the principle of parity. RCUK will contribute £ 4 million with a matching grant from Department of Science and Technology (DST) India to promote this initiative. The UK and India also agree to support a further round of UKIERI awards designed to establish networking links between Indian and UK education and research institutions with the UK committing £ 2 million over 3 years and DST agreeing to match this funding on a parity basis. DST and the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) UK also agreed to collaborate on the initial phase of development of major projects in select research areas.
Civil Nuclear Cooperation
9. The two Sides strongly emphasised the potential of civil nuclear energy to be a safe, sustainable and non-polluting source of energy, which could make a significant contribution to meeting the global challenge of achieving energy security, sustainable development, economic growth, and limiting climate change. The UK supports the India-US civil nuclear co-operation initiative with all its elements, including an appropriate India specific exemption to the Nuclear Suppliers Group Guidelines. As two countries with advanced nuclear technology, India and the UK agree to promote co-operation in civil nuclear energy and will work expeditiously towards a bilateral agreement for this purpose, in line with their strong commitment to non-proliferation. The two Sides will also continue to encourage their scientists to develop closer links and to co-operate in research in this field. The two Sides also welcome the opportunity for their scientists to work together in the context of ITER.
Climate Change
10. India and the UK recognise the need to find effective and practical solutions to address concerns regarding climate change and its implications for human kind. These would include mitigation and adaptation strategies in a manner that supports further economic and social development in particular of developing countries. Long-term convergence of per capita emission rates is an important and equitable principle that should be seriously considered in the context of international climate change negotiations. They expressed satisfaction over the successful outcome at Bali that reaffirmed the relevance of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including its provision and principles, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. The process established under the Bali Road Map should aim for enhanced implementation of the UNFCCC and give due weight to issues of concern to developing countries, in particular those relating to addressing adaptation, technology, and financing arrangements. In the field of bilateral cooperation on climate change, the two Sides expressed satisfaction over the announcement of a UK-India Agreement on the second phase of UK-India Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Study.
The UK and India are convinced that development of the international carbon market is important for the future and wish to explore new approaches to market related investment that offer the potential to drive technology transfer. The two Sides shall work towards the success of the second Phase of a project aimed at identifying the barriers to low carbon technology transfer. They will also collaborate on a project piloting implementation of programmatic CDM in India this year to jointly explore the potential of this to facilitate up-scaling of carbon market investment in accordance with India’s future development priorities. Both sides recognised the importance of Research and Development collaboration on low carbon energy technologies and welcomed the broadening dialogue between the two countries on clean coal technologies and other power generation technologies.
MDGs
11. The two Sides agreed that an urgent global effort is required to meet the MDGs. India and the UK agreed to enhance efforts to achieve the MDGs and reduce global poverty. The two parties launched a new Partnership to Achieve the MDGs Globally. The two countries committed to harness their combined knowledge, experience and resources towards this goal including through third country cooperation. India and the UK will start by scoping opportunities to collaborate in third countries where both parties have a development interest. India and the UK would jointly consider ways and means to reform the international institutions. While noting the establishment of the mechanism for this purpose under the Commonwealth at the Kampala CHOGM 2007, the two Prime Ministers agreed that India and the UK should exchange views bilaterally on this important agenda. They agreed the importance of continued exchange of experiences and future cooperation on international policies on major global public goods that impact on the global achievement of the MDGs.
WTO
12. India and the UK strongly support an early, fair and ambitious outcome of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations. A successful conclusion of the Doha Agenda must focus on the development dimension. Existing differences amongst members have to be overcome for the benefit of all. Close cooperation between India and the UK will make a significant contribution to achieve a balanced and comprehensive agreement.
India-EU
13. India and the UK noted with satisfaction the growing partnership between India and the EU. They welcomed the progress made in the negotiations between India and the EU for a broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement and expressed their commitment for an early and mutually beneficial conclusion of the negotiations for such an agreement. They noted with satisfaction the success of the 8th India-EU Summit held in New Delhi on November 30, 2007.
International
14. The two Sides discussed a range of other international issues, and agreed on the importance of more representative and effective international institutions to address global challenges. The two Sides agreed that a reformed UN Security Council that better reflected the realities of the 21st century would enhance global cooperation and security. The UK reaffirmed its firm support for India’s candidature for a permanent membership in an expanded UNSC.
15. They reaffirmed their sustained commitment to supporting the Afghan government in the stabilisation and rebuilding of Afghanistan, and reiterated the importance of coherent international efforts to address the development needs of Afghanistan. They urged Iran to co-operate fully with the IAEA and fulfil the requirements of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, to address international concerns about its nuclear programme. In this regard, they underlined the importance of continued dialogue with Iran. The leaders emphasised the urgent need for a comprehensive, just and durable peace in the Middle East/West Asia. They reaffirmed their support for a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on existing agreements, including relevant UNSC Resolutions, the Roadmap, and the Arab League Resolution (Beirut 2002), and urged the parties to work toward this end. The UK and India are committed to contributing to peace and prosperity in Africa. They reiterated their firm belief in the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, a key framework for socio-economic development. Both sides recognised the importance of enhancing efforts to support peace and security in Africa, and the UK paid particular tribute to India’s contribution to UN Peace Keeping Operations. India and the UK will work with international partners to support implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan. They will support AU-UN efforts to reach a lasting political settlement for Darfur, underpinned by an effective peacekeeping force. They called on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease all hostilities and commit themselves to a sustained and permanent ceasefire.
16. The two Sides shared the hope that Pakistan would see an early return to stability and prosperity and recognised the importance of free and fair Parliamentary elections on 18 February. They agreed that the process of national reconciliation and political reform in Burma/Myanmar should be inclusive, broad-based and taken forward expeditiously, so as to bring about genuine reconciliation and progress towards democracy. They expressed their strong support for the ongoing good offices of the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy, and their shared hope that he be able to visit Burma/Myanmar again as soon as possible. They welcomed the announcement of elections in Nepal on 10 April and urged all parties to cooperate and maintain the declared date to ensure a free and fair process, open to all without intimidation. It is for the people of Nepal to decide their own future. Both sides would like to see a peaceful, stable and democratic Bangladesh, where the people of Bangladesh will be able to exercise their will through free and fair elections. They agreed that there is no military solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka, and urged the Sri Lankan government to put forward a credible devolution package as a key contribution to finding a political settlement acceptable to all communities within the framework of a united Sri Lanka.
Counter Terrorism
17. Terrorism is a global threat requiring a global response. Both sides underline the importance of joint international efforts in countering terrorism which is not justified under any circumstances. They agree to intensify mutual exchange of views, experiences and practical cooperation in the fight against terrorism, both through bilateral channels and in multilateral forums. They shall strengthen cooperation through the Indo-UK Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism. Multilaterally, the two countries remain committed to pursuing as soon as possible agreement in the UN on the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism. Bilaterally, the UK and India agreed to build on existing co-operation including in the protection of critical national infrastructure, mass transit systems and the security of major sporting events/UK, and expand it further in the fields of Civil Aviation security and crisis management. In addition, it was agreed to establish a new bilateral dialogue on Terrorist Financing. The UK reiterated its support for India’s full membership of the Financial Action Task Force.
Wednesday 23 January 2008
ThinkBIG shows film on sex trade
January 22, 2008
Joanna Xu
Stanford Daily
Screening prepares for Feb. conference on womens issues
Zuzu, a prostitute in Burma, recounted her forced abortion in last night’s screening of “Anonymously Yours.”
“My mother pressed stones on my stomach,” the sex-trafficked Burmese girl said in the documentary. “The next day, my stomach hurt on the bus. I told the bus driver to go faster. When I got off the bus, it was coming out. I collected myself and went onto the side to push the rest out. Then, I went home. I was very bloody. But my mother was happy because I could work again.”
Last night’s presentation of “Anonymously Yours” addressed the topic of reproductive health as the third of five films to be featured in the thinkBIG film festival. Together, the films address the four topics of thinkBIG, which also include women and HIV/AIDS; education; and violence against women.
“The purpose of the films is to introduce people to the issues before the actual thinkBIG conference,” said Ciara Segura ‘10, the thinkBIG film festival coordinator. “They put the topics of the conference in [the] perspective of the world.”
Organized by the student group thinkBIG, the film festival is leading up to the thinkBIG conference, which will deal with the issues of international women’s health and human rights. The conference, to be held Feb. 1 through 3, will consist of four panels, each with a keynote speaker and four panelists. The lineup of speakers includes notable individuals including former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.
ThinkBIG’s focus on women’s rights issues is reflected in the film selection process.
“Because of the large number of documentaries dealing with these issues, we narrowed the search by selecting movies with female directors,” Segura said.
Last night’s film, which was filmed clandestinely in the closed-off Southeast Asian state of Burma (Myanmar), portrayed the sex-trafficking and prostitution scene in the region through the stories of four Burmese women.
The film did not hold back in illustrating the severity of the situation, providing statistics that included the fact that 36 percent of girls sold into prostitution are sold by their parents in order to pay off a debt.
Furthermore, trafficked girls have almost no chance of escaping the system due to familial pressure and economic circumstances. One of the women featured in the film opened a center to assist trafficked girls in leaving prostitution but ultimately most of them were forced back, including Zuzu.
The film is only one stage in the complex promotion scheme leading up to the upcoming thinkBIG conference.
“Right now we have over 700 people registered for the conference,” said Laura Carwile ‘08, thinkBIG program director. “This is going to be the biggest student-run conference in Stanford history.”
“This is definitely a once-in-a-Stanford-career opportunity,” Carwile added.
Registration for the conference ends on Jan. 30.
Joanna Xu
Stanford Daily
Screening prepares for Feb. conference on womens issues
Zuzu, a prostitute in Burma, recounted her forced abortion in last night’s screening of “Anonymously Yours.”
“My mother pressed stones on my stomach,” the sex-trafficked Burmese girl said in the documentary. “The next day, my stomach hurt on the bus. I told the bus driver to go faster. When I got off the bus, it was coming out. I collected myself and went onto the side to push the rest out. Then, I went home. I was very bloody. But my mother was happy because I could work again.”
Last night’s presentation of “Anonymously Yours” addressed the topic of reproductive health as the third of five films to be featured in the thinkBIG film festival. Together, the films address the four topics of thinkBIG, which also include women and HIV/AIDS; education; and violence against women.
“The purpose of the films is to introduce people to the issues before the actual thinkBIG conference,” said Ciara Segura ‘10, the thinkBIG film festival coordinator. “They put the topics of the conference in [the] perspective of the world.”
Organized by the student group thinkBIG, the film festival is leading up to the thinkBIG conference, which will deal with the issues of international women’s health and human rights. The conference, to be held Feb. 1 through 3, will consist of four panels, each with a keynote speaker and four panelists. The lineup of speakers includes notable individuals including former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.
ThinkBIG’s focus on women’s rights issues is reflected in the film selection process.
“Because of the large number of documentaries dealing with these issues, we narrowed the search by selecting movies with female directors,” Segura said.
Last night’s film, which was filmed clandestinely in the closed-off Southeast Asian state of Burma (Myanmar), portrayed the sex-trafficking and prostitution scene in the region through the stories of four Burmese women.
The film did not hold back in illustrating the severity of the situation, providing statistics that included the fact that 36 percent of girls sold into prostitution are sold by their parents in order to pay off a debt.
Furthermore, trafficked girls have almost no chance of escaping the system due to familial pressure and economic circumstances. One of the women featured in the film opened a center to assist trafficked girls in leaving prostitution but ultimately most of them were forced back, including Zuzu.
The film is only one stage in the complex promotion scheme leading up to the upcoming thinkBIG conference.
“Right now we have over 700 people registered for the conference,” said Laura Carwile ‘08, thinkBIG program director. “This is going to be the biggest student-run conference in Stanford history.”
“This is definitely a once-in-a-Stanford-career opportunity,” Carwile added.
Registration for the conference ends on Jan. 30.
The Whole World Was Watching
Sarah Stillman
Truth Dig
January 22, 2008
Hundreds of Buddhist monks march through Rangoon in late September 2007 in the days before the Burmese military junta’s brutal crackdown.
When the youths of Burma chanted “The whole world is watching!” through clouds of tear gas last September, it was—for once—an understatement. Cell phone footage of the junta’s violent crackdown made the rounds from Beijing to St. Petersburg. Rebellious monks graced the front page of The New York Times (twice!), and global leaders cheered them on: Desmond Tutu, Laura Bush, the Dalai Lama, Gordon Brown. Everywhere you turned—from late-night TV talk shows to political newsweeklies—the Saffron Revolution was hot.
But then came winter, with new battlegrounds de jour: Kenya, Gaza, Pakistan. In October, CNN’s Anderson Cooper may have pledged his journalistic fidelity to Burma’s 100,000-odd protesters—“We’ll continue to cover this story, no matter how long it takes”—but a mere three months later, while hundreds of monks still languished in Rangoon’s infamous Insein Prison and others continued to flee down the Moei River in inner tubes at night, Cooper had moved on to San Francisco, covering a death-by-tiger at the city zoo.
If only Burma’s junta had the short attention span of U.S. media moguls. To the contrary, the military regime ranks among the world’s most durable autocracies, with a 46-year-long rap sheet of endemic torture, forced labor and extrajudicial executions. If it takes endurance to transform an oil-rich nation of beaches and gemstones into one of the world’s most impoverished states, the Burmese junta has it in spades—along with an uncanny knack for natural-resource trafficking and diplomatic subterfuge. In the 1990s, Burma sold more heroin than any other country on the planet. Elbowed out of the market by Afghanistan, the regime now deals in more hoity-toity cargo—rubies, teak and assorted hydrocarbons—the last of which has been skillfully doled out by Gen. Than Shwe in exchange for more than $2 billion in military equipment from China and India.
But Burma’s democracy movement also has its masterminds. Allow me to introduce Maung Maung. In 1988, the Burmese trade unionist survived the front lines of a violent rally suppression that killed at least 3,000 of his peers. Two decades later, he remains an agitator-in-exile, helping to coordinate last fall’s nonviolent demos from the Thai frontier town of Mae Sot. As secretary-general of the National Council of the Union of Burma, an umbrella group for exiled politicians and ethnic leaders, Maung Maung shuttles revolutionary spores across the border like the Johnny Appleseed of Burmese democracy—everything from educational materials to digital cameras.
I recently caught up with Maung Maung over coffee in Washington, D.C. He’d flown some 17,000 miles to Capitol Hill for another crusade of sorts, testifying before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on the need for toothier U.S. sanctions against the junta. At present, he says, corporations like Chevron can slip through various loopholes in U.S. protocol, funneling millions into—and out of—Burma’s natural gas pipelines. American consumers, too, play a role in funding the regime, thanks to our taste for Burmese gemstones. In 2006 alone, the state-controlled Myanmar Gems Enterprise lapped up almost $300 million from the global ruby and jade trade, a revenue increase of 45 percent from the previous year.
What follows are Maung Maung’s observations from inside the Saffron Revolution—about the regime’s penchant for trafficking in dirty stones and child soldiers; about the democracy movement’s love affair with Gmail and satellite phones; and, most of all, about the future prospects for a regime-crippled nation with so much to gain from revolt.
Sarah Stillman: Back in September, the whole world had its eyes on Burma. When the junta began clubbing students and shooting monks, the international community reacted with collective outrage and calls to action. But as we enter 2008, that flurry of attention has subsided ... although, of course, the torture and arbitrary arrests have not. What do you think will happen next within Burma? Do you anticipate a new wave of protests, or is the opposition within Burma in a period of consolidation and reassessment?
Maung Maung: There have been countless activities taking place that haven’t made it into the international news—much of it is happening secretly. Our main focus at the moment is getting the endangered monks and activists into safe homes, moving the resistance leaders out of harm’s way. Many of them are still in situations where they could be arrested at any moment by the regime.
There are also brave groups of young people who are getting together at roadside cafes to tear up copies of The New Light of Myanmar, the regime’s newspaper. They rip it up, throw it on the ground and stomp on it, saying, “We don’t believe this propaganda anymore!” They also held a small protest on Nov. 26, with a group of about 300 people.
So, yes, there is action—quite a lot of action, in fact—but there is not much reporting by the international media. Mostly silence.
Stillman: It’s interesting to hear about these roadside gatherings—I guess young people have always played an important part in telling the regime it has no clothes. ... Can you talk more about the role that students have played in the movement, from its origins until today?
Maung Maung: Well, students have always been more mobile and flexible in their activism—they don’t have to fear losing their jobs or being unable to feed their families. That’s one reason they’ve always played such a large role.
The last wave of protests in Burma—the movement that I came out of—took place more than two decades ago now. Young people who were born after that ’88 uprising weren’t tuned in to the injustices of the regime, at least not in the same ways as those of us who lived through it. And so the younger people often fell for the propaganda of the regime more easily.
But last August and September, the protests let them see with their own eyes what this regime is really about. And so a new breed of activists is rising up and radicalizing. It’s a very hopeful sign.
The regime tried hard to prevent this; they opened karaoke bars and restaurants and things like that, trying to divert young people away from politics and claimed that “democratization” was finally happening.
But they couldn’t cover up all the hardships. And now, after the recent protests, the younger generation is finally asking, “Hmm ... what’s really going on here?” So, it’s a regime that we have to thank for showing a new generation of students, “Hey, this is how bad we really are.” We should thank them for their own stupidity.
Stillman: Let’s talk about the shifts between the 1988 protests and the current unrest. Clearly, one key change has been the rise of new forms of media—cell phones, digital cameras, blogging. ... What kind of impact have these technologies had on dissident culture in Burma? What are the other similarities and differences between the recent protests and ’88?
Maung Maung: In ’88, the movement was very different: There were more protesters from all parts of the country and all walks of life. It was much more diverse, in terms of participation. This time, the protests were more confined to the capital city of Rangoon, and monks played a more prominent role than ever before.
But, having said that, there is also the media difference you mention between now and ’88. When ’88 took place, very few people knew about it—the news slowly trickled out as we started telling people, and then more people, and then more people all around the world. This time, you’re right, the graphic images could come out right away with the help of new technologies. The activists inside the country have started to use the available technologies to their advantage—the Internet, the cell phone, the satellite phone. We’ve trained more than 200 activists to transmit images from the front lines of the demonstrations, using satellite phones and digital cameras.
Even more incredible, there were live chats coming from inside the country. There are about 50 Internet cafes all over Burma, and young people were able to log into GTalk and say to the rest of the world, “Here’s what is happening on this corner; here’s what is happening on that corner.” Quite a lot of young activists have been trained in how to use Gmail. It is extremely helpful to the movement.
Stillman: But how much was the regime able to crack down on this activity in September? I read that they tried to cut off cell phone reception and Internet connectivity. ...
Maung Maung: Well, if you look at the number of bloody images from the protests, you can see that the activists found their way around the regime. In the beginning, the junta didn’t know what the hell was happening. Young people were running around with their hand-held mobile phones and passing on photographs to people outside the country. They were two steps ahead.
The regime controlled the gateway to the Internet—it was really more of an Intra-net than an Internet—and they tried to shut it down, but the young people were breaking out for themselves, using their brains to get around the regime’s barriers.
Stillman: I’d like to get your take on some U.S. legislative issues. Last month, Congress passed legislation authored by Rep. Tom Lantos that would cut off tax deductions for business activities in Burma by U.S. companies, such as Chevron. The bill will also block the current laundering of Burmese gemstones, particularly rubies, through third countries before they are sold here. If these new measures get signed by President Bush and become law, how big a blow will they be to the military regime?
Maung Maung: Well, the regime wants the world to think that Burma is a free and open economy, but if you scrutinize it, you’ll see that there are only two or three real monopolies controlling everything. The first is the UMEH. [Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings], which is owned by the military. The second is owned by a business tycoon named Tay Za, and he’s the son-in-law of the regime’s top general. The third is a guy named Steven Law [who is alleged to have links to Burma’s drug trade].
If you want to do mining for gems or jade in Burma, you have to buy permission from the military’s own holdings company, so your very first investment in the project, even before you start digging, goes directly to the government. You also have to give a certain percentage of your profits to the government once you sell the gems, along with an export tax. So to get a single ruby into the global marketplace, you have to feed money to the government at least three times.
That’s why it’s so important that Burma’s gem and jade business be shut down. A long time ago, before I became an activist, I was a gemologist. I worked for the Burmese government for 12 years, so I know the business well, and I know that Burma has the best gems in the world. In order to get around the sanctions that were placed on Burmese gems [in 2003], they are bought by the Thai traders, recut in Thailand, and resold as “Thai” exports.
But any gemologist can look at a collector’s piece and see immediately that it’s come from Burma. You can’t lie about what we call “internal inclusions,” which are always unique to the site of mining: air bubbles, gas bubbles, rubies within rubies. A gem that is mined in, say, Dupont Circle, would be very different from a gem that is mined in Rockville. So you can identify the origins of a gem, if you bother to try.
Although the Thai exporters will continue to claim that their rubies are coming from Thailand, most of the top-quality gemstones are still coming from Burma, and we need to close up these legal loopholes. I think this new piece of legislation is just the beginning.
Stillman: China has significant influence with the Burmese military regime, given its extensive trade and military ties to the junta. And China has blocked meaningful actions by the U.N. Security Council on Burma. What would you like to see done to pressure China on Burma? Some have urged a boycott of the Olympic Games this summer. ....
Maung Maung: We’re not calling for a boycott of the Olympics. First of all, the Olympics are time-bound. They come and they go in 2008. Second of all, the athletes have spent their whole lives preparing for this event, and we want to respect that.
Having said that, what we need is to inform China that a stable Burma is good for everybody. We are not looking to kick up China’s investments in Burma; we’re looking at a system that would allow democratic participation for everybody in Burma’s politics and economics, and, therefore, greater stability.
Stillman: And what about India? It, too, could have an impact on the regime, and while China is repressive in its own right, India is a democracy that ought to play a constructive role but hasn’t—due to its energy interests, it seems.
Maung Maung: Being a large democracy, India is a very bulky animal to move around—the bureaucracy is so big that it’s hard to tell what’s going on. They were supportive of the pro-democracy movement earlier, but we don’t know what shifts have taken place. It seems like energy and gas availability from Burma has made India more willing to get comfortable with the regime.
Once again, we need to emphasize: Democracy in Burma is the best way to ensure that the raw energy that Indian needs comes from a stable and reliable source.
Stillman: How effective do you think the various targeted sanctions by the U.S. are on the regime’s top leaders: the ban on travel visas, restrictions on bank accounts and so on?
Maung Maung: It’s making the regime go crazy. I must point out that, except from the U.S., there have been no sanctions from anybody. Some people say that sanctions haven’t worked, but I want to challenge them: Excuse me, but can you tell me who has even tried to place forceful sanctions on Burma? Europeans, mostly, have not. European countries have visa bans, but nothing to strike at the heart of the economic issues. It’s only the United States that has done anything substantive. We have to thank the U.S. customs people and other authorities for following up on [presidential] executive orders.
As small as they are, the financial sanctions are making a huge economic impact. The man I mentioned earlier—Tay Za—owned an airline called Air Bagan. It flew to Singapore and Thailand, and the military generals were very proud of it. But then the financial scrutiny hit Tay Za, and the banks in Singapore refused to handle his money. The French, too, stopped servicing his planes, and Tay Za eventually had to give up the enterprise.
The business community in Singapore is scrutinizing Burmese accounts more harshly than ever before. There have been complaints from Burmese merchants about it. We know it’s making a big difference.
Stillman: The U.N. has reported on “grave child rights violations,” including the forced recruiting of children into the army. Apparently there’s pressure to accelerate army recruitment rates, and brokers are said to be paid $30 and a bag of rice for each child soldier recruited. The U.N. also found that some children who desert from the Burmese military are given prison terms of up to five years. What is the state of the military. ... Is the regime so desperate that it has to recruit kids?
Maung Maung: Yes, the regime is having serious problems recruiting. The military used to be a respected entity, but this is no longer true. Although the top generals are filthy rich, many of their soldiers face great economic hardships. They don’t even have basic footwear—many of them go around in sandals or barefoot. It’s just not impressive! When a soldier doesn’t have any shoes, it not only makes it hard to fight, but it also shakes his faith in his superiors.
We have a database of how many individuals are deserting the military, and it shows that more and more men at the senior levels of the military are defecting. This is due mostly to the hardships that their families face. It’s a sad fact, but many of the soldiers’ wives and daughters have become prostitutes to cope with the poverty. Reasons like this explain why the military is having a hard time recruiting.
And so what have they done? The regime is forcibly taking children, especially high school kids hanging out at the theater or wherever. The army truck pulls up and the kids are forced into the back of the truck and taken to the police station, where they are left to sleep overnight. The next morning, the sergeant shows up and tells them that they’ve committed a crime and that the only way to avoid jail is to join the military.
Stillman: How would you describe the role of the trade union movement in the Burmese opposition? You’re a union leader, as are many of the key people who play pivotal roles in charting the next steps for this struggle. How did labor people come to play such a vital role?
Maung Maung: Well, I wouldn’t say we’re necessarily prominent. But the real key is that the trade unionists are the only unit of activists inside Burma who have unique experience with international organizations. We know exactly how to link up with trade union movements around the world to get basic training materials, and also to get references on the techniques used by other countries in other struggles in history.
We also have people who are well trained in organizing skills, unlike most of the movement’s student activists. I can ask any union person to come and offer training to our activists for two weeks, and they’ll come—we get tremendous help from the ILO [International Labor Organization], the ITUC [International Trade Union Confederation,] the SEIU [Service Employees International Union] and other groups. The ILO even has an office in Rangoon, working on international monitoring issues and providing protection for us. This isn’t true with the students or political organizations, who have a big handicap on the international front. They often lack basic organizing skills.
Stillman: You mention learning from other countries. When the street demonstrations were going on, Bishop Tutu of South Africa strongly backed the monks and other protesters, saying, “It is so like the rolling mass actions that eventually toppled apartheid.” Certainly there are many differences, but do you see parallels from the success of the anti-apartheid movement?
Maung Maung: Well, different countries, different struggles. I’d say that the overall similarity is that the international effort must be coordinated. We need a wide array of governments to support the United Nation’s initiatives in a coordinated way. The U.S. is doing it, and the UK is, too. France is starting to wake up, and Italy.
But we’re been having big problems with the Germans, who’ve been a pain in the neck. They want to have their own approach. We need unity. Most countries are slowly moving towards working together, with the U.N. at the helm. Even China is starting to think like that. Coordination, like in South Africa, is the most important thing.
Stillman: What do you think is the most constructive role that American advocates can play in the pro-democracy struggle? What forms of action or protest would be most helpful?
Maung Maung: There has been a huge amount of moral support from American politicians, but the U.S. government hasn’t fully delivered. Sure, Congress has done a lot, and there is even support from Laura Bush, but we have huge problems with logistics and implementation.
What it really comes down to is money: We need simple things like bicycles and satellite phones. People may laugh, but the movement really needs bicycles. In Burma, fuel is very expensive, so bicycles allow organizers to go around and speak with individuals in different areas.
We also need money for video cameras, digital cameras and cell phones—these things are transforming our movement. It’s by bringing the eyes of the world back to the brutality of the regime that we can win out.
Truth Dig
January 22, 2008
Hundreds of Buddhist monks march through Rangoon in late September 2007 in the days before the Burmese military junta’s brutal crackdown.
When the youths of Burma chanted “The whole world is watching!” through clouds of tear gas last September, it was—for once—an understatement. Cell phone footage of the junta’s violent crackdown made the rounds from Beijing to St. Petersburg. Rebellious monks graced the front page of The New York Times (twice!), and global leaders cheered them on: Desmond Tutu, Laura Bush, the Dalai Lama, Gordon Brown. Everywhere you turned—from late-night TV talk shows to political newsweeklies—the Saffron Revolution was hot.
But then came winter, with new battlegrounds de jour: Kenya, Gaza, Pakistan. In October, CNN’s Anderson Cooper may have pledged his journalistic fidelity to Burma’s 100,000-odd protesters—“We’ll continue to cover this story, no matter how long it takes”—but a mere three months later, while hundreds of monks still languished in Rangoon’s infamous Insein Prison and others continued to flee down the Moei River in inner tubes at night, Cooper had moved on to San Francisco, covering a death-by-tiger at the city zoo.
If only Burma’s junta had the short attention span of U.S. media moguls. To the contrary, the military regime ranks among the world’s most durable autocracies, with a 46-year-long rap sheet of endemic torture, forced labor and extrajudicial executions. If it takes endurance to transform an oil-rich nation of beaches and gemstones into one of the world’s most impoverished states, the Burmese junta has it in spades—along with an uncanny knack for natural-resource trafficking and diplomatic subterfuge. In the 1990s, Burma sold more heroin than any other country on the planet. Elbowed out of the market by Afghanistan, the regime now deals in more hoity-toity cargo—rubies, teak and assorted hydrocarbons—the last of which has been skillfully doled out by Gen. Than Shwe in exchange for more than $2 billion in military equipment from China and India.
But Burma’s democracy movement also has its masterminds. Allow me to introduce Maung Maung. In 1988, the Burmese trade unionist survived the front lines of a violent rally suppression that killed at least 3,000 of his peers. Two decades later, he remains an agitator-in-exile, helping to coordinate last fall’s nonviolent demos from the Thai frontier town of Mae Sot. As secretary-general of the National Council of the Union of Burma, an umbrella group for exiled politicians and ethnic leaders, Maung Maung shuttles revolutionary spores across the border like the Johnny Appleseed of Burmese democracy—everything from educational materials to digital cameras.
I recently caught up with Maung Maung over coffee in Washington, D.C. He’d flown some 17,000 miles to Capitol Hill for another crusade of sorts, testifying before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on the need for toothier U.S. sanctions against the junta. At present, he says, corporations like Chevron can slip through various loopholes in U.S. protocol, funneling millions into—and out of—Burma’s natural gas pipelines. American consumers, too, play a role in funding the regime, thanks to our taste for Burmese gemstones. In 2006 alone, the state-controlled Myanmar Gems Enterprise lapped up almost $300 million from the global ruby and jade trade, a revenue increase of 45 percent from the previous year.
What follows are Maung Maung’s observations from inside the Saffron Revolution—about the regime’s penchant for trafficking in dirty stones and child soldiers; about the democracy movement’s love affair with Gmail and satellite phones; and, most of all, about the future prospects for a regime-crippled nation with so much to gain from revolt.
Sarah Stillman: Back in September, the whole world had its eyes on Burma. When the junta began clubbing students and shooting monks, the international community reacted with collective outrage and calls to action. But as we enter 2008, that flurry of attention has subsided ... although, of course, the torture and arbitrary arrests have not. What do you think will happen next within Burma? Do you anticipate a new wave of protests, or is the opposition within Burma in a period of consolidation and reassessment?
Maung Maung: There have been countless activities taking place that haven’t made it into the international news—much of it is happening secretly. Our main focus at the moment is getting the endangered monks and activists into safe homes, moving the resistance leaders out of harm’s way. Many of them are still in situations where they could be arrested at any moment by the regime.
There are also brave groups of young people who are getting together at roadside cafes to tear up copies of The New Light of Myanmar, the regime’s newspaper. They rip it up, throw it on the ground and stomp on it, saying, “We don’t believe this propaganda anymore!” They also held a small protest on Nov. 26, with a group of about 300 people.
So, yes, there is action—quite a lot of action, in fact—but there is not much reporting by the international media. Mostly silence.
Stillman: It’s interesting to hear about these roadside gatherings—I guess young people have always played an important part in telling the regime it has no clothes. ... Can you talk more about the role that students have played in the movement, from its origins until today?
Maung Maung: Well, students have always been more mobile and flexible in their activism—they don’t have to fear losing their jobs or being unable to feed their families. That’s one reason they’ve always played such a large role.
The last wave of protests in Burma—the movement that I came out of—took place more than two decades ago now. Young people who were born after that ’88 uprising weren’t tuned in to the injustices of the regime, at least not in the same ways as those of us who lived through it. And so the younger people often fell for the propaganda of the regime more easily.
But last August and September, the protests let them see with their own eyes what this regime is really about. And so a new breed of activists is rising up and radicalizing. It’s a very hopeful sign.
The regime tried hard to prevent this; they opened karaoke bars and restaurants and things like that, trying to divert young people away from politics and claimed that “democratization” was finally happening.
But they couldn’t cover up all the hardships. And now, after the recent protests, the younger generation is finally asking, “Hmm ... what’s really going on here?” So, it’s a regime that we have to thank for showing a new generation of students, “Hey, this is how bad we really are.” We should thank them for their own stupidity.
Stillman: Let’s talk about the shifts between the 1988 protests and the current unrest. Clearly, one key change has been the rise of new forms of media—cell phones, digital cameras, blogging. ... What kind of impact have these technologies had on dissident culture in Burma? What are the other similarities and differences between the recent protests and ’88?
Maung Maung: In ’88, the movement was very different: There were more protesters from all parts of the country and all walks of life. It was much more diverse, in terms of participation. This time, the protests were more confined to the capital city of Rangoon, and monks played a more prominent role than ever before.
But, having said that, there is also the media difference you mention between now and ’88. When ’88 took place, very few people knew about it—the news slowly trickled out as we started telling people, and then more people, and then more people all around the world. This time, you’re right, the graphic images could come out right away with the help of new technologies. The activists inside the country have started to use the available technologies to their advantage—the Internet, the cell phone, the satellite phone. We’ve trained more than 200 activists to transmit images from the front lines of the demonstrations, using satellite phones and digital cameras.
Even more incredible, there were live chats coming from inside the country. There are about 50 Internet cafes all over Burma, and young people were able to log into GTalk and say to the rest of the world, “Here’s what is happening on this corner; here’s what is happening on that corner.” Quite a lot of young activists have been trained in how to use Gmail. It is extremely helpful to the movement.
Stillman: But how much was the regime able to crack down on this activity in September? I read that they tried to cut off cell phone reception and Internet connectivity. ...
Maung Maung: Well, if you look at the number of bloody images from the protests, you can see that the activists found their way around the regime. In the beginning, the junta didn’t know what the hell was happening. Young people were running around with their hand-held mobile phones and passing on photographs to people outside the country. They were two steps ahead.
The regime controlled the gateway to the Internet—it was really more of an Intra-net than an Internet—and they tried to shut it down, but the young people were breaking out for themselves, using their brains to get around the regime’s barriers.
Stillman: I’d like to get your take on some U.S. legislative issues. Last month, Congress passed legislation authored by Rep. Tom Lantos that would cut off tax deductions for business activities in Burma by U.S. companies, such as Chevron. The bill will also block the current laundering of Burmese gemstones, particularly rubies, through third countries before they are sold here. If these new measures get signed by President Bush and become law, how big a blow will they be to the military regime?
Maung Maung: Well, the regime wants the world to think that Burma is a free and open economy, but if you scrutinize it, you’ll see that there are only two or three real monopolies controlling everything. The first is the UMEH. [Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings], which is owned by the military. The second is owned by a business tycoon named Tay Za, and he’s the son-in-law of the regime’s top general. The third is a guy named Steven Law [who is alleged to have links to Burma’s drug trade].
If you want to do mining for gems or jade in Burma, you have to buy permission from the military’s own holdings company, so your very first investment in the project, even before you start digging, goes directly to the government. You also have to give a certain percentage of your profits to the government once you sell the gems, along with an export tax. So to get a single ruby into the global marketplace, you have to feed money to the government at least three times.
That’s why it’s so important that Burma’s gem and jade business be shut down. A long time ago, before I became an activist, I was a gemologist. I worked for the Burmese government for 12 years, so I know the business well, and I know that Burma has the best gems in the world. In order to get around the sanctions that were placed on Burmese gems [in 2003], they are bought by the Thai traders, recut in Thailand, and resold as “Thai” exports.
But any gemologist can look at a collector’s piece and see immediately that it’s come from Burma. You can’t lie about what we call “internal inclusions,” which are always unique to the site of mining: air bubbles, gas bubbles, rubies within rubies. A gem that is mined in, say, Dupont Circle, would be very different from a gem that is mined in Rockville. So you can identify the origins of a gem, if you bother to try.
Although the Thai exporters will continue to claim that their rubies are coming from Thailand, most of the top-quality gemstones are still coming from Burma, and we need to close up these legal loopholes. I think this new piece of legislation is just the beginning.
Stillman: China has significant influence with the Burmese military regime, given its extensive trade and military ties to the junta. And China has blocked meaningful actions by the U.N. Security Council on Burma. What would you like to see done to pressure China on Burma? Some have urged a boycott of the Olympic Games this summer. ....
Maung Maung: We’re not calling for a boycott of the Olympics. First of all, the Olympics are time-bound. They come and they go in 2008. Second of all, the athletes have spent their whole lives preparing for this event, and we want to respect that.
Having said that, what we need is to inform China that a stable Burma is good for everybody. We are not looking to kick up China’s investments in Burma; we’re looking at a system that would allow democratic participation for everybody in Burma’s politics and economics, and, therefore, greater stability.
Stillman: And what about India? It, too, could have an impact on the regime, and while China is repressive in its own right, India is a democracy that ought to play a constructive role but hasn’t—due to its energy interests, it seems.
Maung Maung: Being a large democracy, India is a very bulky animal to move around—the bureaucracy is so big that it’s hard to tell what’s going on. They were supportive of the pro-democracy movement earlier, but we don’t know what shifts have taken place. It seems like energy and gas availability from Burma has made India more willing to get comfortable with the regime.
Once again, we need to emphasize: Democracy in Burma is the best way to ensure that the raw energy that Indian needs comes from a stable and reliable source.
Stillman: How effective do you think the various targeted sanctions by the U.S. are on the regime’s top leaders: the ban on travel visas, restrictions on bank accounts and so on?
Maung Maung: It’s making the regime go crazy. I must point out that, except from the U.S., there have been no sanctions from anybody. Some people say that sanctions haven’t worked, but I want to challenge them: Excuse me, but can you tell me who has even tried to place forceful sanctions on Burma? Europeans, mostly, have not. European countries have visa bans, but nothing to strike at the heart of the economic issues. It’s only the United States that has done anything substantive. We have to thank the U.S. customs people and other authorities for following up on [presidential] executive orders.
As small as they are, the financial sanctions are making a huge economic impact. The man I mentioned earlier—Tay Za—owned an airline called Air Bagan. It flew to Singapore and Thailand, and the military generals were very proud of it. But then the financial scrutiny hit Tay Za, and the banks in Singapore refused to handle his money. The French, too, stopped servicing his planes, and Tay Za eventually had to give up the enterprise.
The business community in Singapore is scrutinizing Burmese accounts more harshly than ever before. There have been complaints from Burmese merchants about it. We know it’s making a big difference.
Stillman: The U.N. has reported on “grave child rights violations,” including the forced recruiting of children into the army. Apparently there’s pressure to accelerate army recruitment rates, and brokers are said to be paid $30 and a bag of rice for each child soldier recruited. The U.N. also found that some children who desert from the Burmese military are given prison terms of up to five years. What is the state of the military. ... Is the regime so desperate that it has to recruit kids?
Maung Maung: Yes, the regime is having serious problems recruiting. The military used to be a respected entity, but this is no longer true. Although the top generals are filthy rich, many of their soldiers face great economic hardships. They don’t even have basic footwear—many of them go around in sandals or barefoot. It’s just not impressive! When a soldier doesn’t have any shoes, it not only makes it hard to fight, but it also shakes his faith in his superiors.
We have a database of how many individuals are deserting the military, and it shows that more and more men at the senior levels of the military are defecting. This is due mostly to the hardships that their families face. It’s a sad fact, but many of the soldiers’ wives and daughters have become prostitutes to cope with the poverty. Reasons like this explain why the military is having a hard time recruiting.
And so what have they done? The regime is forcibly taking children, especially high school kids hanging out at the theater or wherever. The army truck pulls up and the kids are forced into the back of the truck and taken to the police station, where they are left to sleep overnight. The next morning, the sergeant shows up and tells them that they’ve committed a crime and that the only way to avoid jail is to join the military.
Stillman: How would you describe the role of the trade union movement in the Burmese opposition? You’re a union leader, as are many of the key people who play pivotal roles in charting the next steps for this struggle. How did labor people come to play such a vital role?
Maung Maung: Well, I wouldn’t say we’re necessarily prominent. But the real key is that the trade unionists are the only unit of activists inside Burma who have unique experience with international organizations. We know exactly how to link up with trade union movements around the world to get basic training materials, and also to get references on the techniques used by other countries in other struggles in history.
We also have people who are well trained in organizing skills, unlike most of the movement’s student activists. I can ask any union person to come and offer training to our activists for two weeks, and they’ll come—we get tremendous help from the ILO [International Labor Organization], the ITUC [International Trade Union Confederation,] the SEIU [Service Employees International Union] and other groups. The ILO even has an office in Rangoon, working on international monitoring issues and providing protection for us. This isn’t true with the students or political organizations, who have a big handicap on the international front. They often lack basic organizing skills.
Stillman: You mention learning from other countries. When the street demonstrations were going on, Bishop Tutu of South Africa strongly backed the monks and other protesters, saying, “It is so like the rolling mass actions that eventually toppled apartheid.” Certainly there are many differences, but do you see parallels from the success of the anti-apartheid movement?
Maung Maung: Well, different countries, different struggles. I’d say that the overall similarity is that the international effort must be coordinated. We need a wide array of governments to support the United Nation’s initiatives in a coordinated way. The U.S. is doing it, and the UK is, too. France is starting to wake up, and Italy.
But we’re been having big problems with the Germans, who’ve been a pain in the neck. They want to have their own approach. We need unity. Most countries are slowly moving towards working together, with the U.N. at the helm. Even China is starting to think like that. Coordination, like in South Africa, is the most important thing.
Stillman: What do you think is the most constructive role that American advocates can play in the pro-democracy struggle? What forms of action or protest would be most helpful?
Maung Maung: There has been a huge amount of moral support from American politicians, but the U.S. government hasn’t fully delivered. Sure, Congress has done a lot, and there is even support from Laura Bush, but we have huge problems with logistics and implementation.
What it really comes down to is money: We need simple things like bicycles and satellite phones. People may laugh, but the movement really needs bicycles. In Burma, fuel is very expensive, so bicycles allow organizers to go around and speak with individuals in different areas.
We also need money for video cameras, digital cameras and cell phones—these things are transforming our movement. It’s by bringing the eyes of the world back to the brutality of the regime that we can win out.
Myanmar elects Stephen Than Myint Oo as Primate and Bishop of Rangoon
Episcopal Life Org - News Service
January 22, 2008
The Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma) elected Stephen Than Myint Oo as its Primate and Bishop of Rangoon out of a field of five nominees on January 15 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Yangon, Myanmar.
Myint, 50, has served as Bishop of Hpa'an since 2005. He will be consecrated and enthroned as Bishop of Rangoon and Myanmar's sixth Anglican Primate on February 17 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Yangon.
From 1993-2004, Myint served Holy Cross Theological College in Yangon as a librarian, lecturer, and dean of Studies. He has also served as an assistant priest and priest-in-charge of two Myanmar churches. He received his M.Th from Trinity Theological College in Singapore, where he continues his study for a D.Th.
Myint is married to Nan Myint Yi and they have three sons: Sa Sai Naw Aye, Sa Sai Luker and Michael Wyne Myat San.
According to colonial church tradition held within the Constitution of Myanmar's Anglican Church, the Bishop of Rangoon simultaneously serves as the Archbishop of the Province. There are six dioceses in the province: Rangoon, which is the former seat of the national government, Hpa'an, Toungoo, Mandalay, Myitkyina, and Sittwe.
Anglican chaplains and missionaries worked in Burma in the early and mid-nineteenth century. The Province of Myanmar was formed in 1970, nine years after the declaration of Buddhism as the state religion and four years after all foreign missionaries were forced to leave.
January 22, 2008
The Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma) elected Stephen Than Myint Oo as its Primate and Bishop of Rangoon out of a field of five nominees on January 15 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Yangon, Myanmar.
Myint, 50, has served as Bishop of Hpa'an since 2005. He will be consecrated and enthroned as Bishop of Rangoon and Myanmar's sixth Anglican Primate on February 17 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Yangon.
From 1993-2004, Myint served Holy Cross Theological College in Yangon as a librarian, lecturer, and dean of Studies. He has also served as an assistant priest and priest-in-charge of two Myanmar churches. He received his M.Th from Trinity Theological College in Singapore, where he continues his study for a D.Th.
Myint is married to Nan Myint Yi and they have three sons: Sa Sai Naw Aye, Sa Sai Luker and Michael Wyne Myat San.
According to colonial church tradition held within the Constitution of Myanmar's Anglican Church, the Bishop of Rangoon simultaneously serves as the Archbishop of the Province. There are six dioceses in the province: Rangoon, which is the former seat of the national government, Hpa'an, Toungoo, Mandalay, Myitkyina, and Sittwe.
Anglican chaplains and missionaries worked in Burma in the early and mid-nineteenth century. The Province of Myanmar was formed in 1970, nine years after the declaration of Buddhism as the state religion and four years after all foreign missionaries were forced to leave.
Art exhibition aims to help ‘Displaced Burma’
TV3 News
January 22, 2008
An exhibition in Wellington is raising the profile of a country half a world away.
For over forty years Burma has been governed by a strict military dictatorship, notorious for ethnic cleansing, torture and the daily destruction of rural villages.
They changed the country's name to Myanmar in 1989.
The exhibition hopes to show the plight of the Burmese and raise money for those who need it most.
''Displaced Burma" is an exhibition giving a voice to people who don't have one.
“The generals and the military don't allow them that freedom, so we need to give them a voice. As friends we need to raise awareness of what is really going on in their country,” says Shelly Mansfield, the exhibition organiser, from Children on the Edge.
The exhibition features 30 works by Burmese artist Saw Cu Cil, who like one and a half million others fled to neighbouring Thailand desperate to escape persecution in Burma, where accounts of forced labour, destruction of villages and torture, are common.
“Probably one of the most horrific is using them as human mine sweepers to track the mines, and the way in which they do that, of course, is by standing on them,” says Mansfield.
Burma, renamed "the union of Myanmar'' in 1989 has been under strict military rule since 1962.
Opposition groups refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the ruling government, and won't adopt the new name.
The country's tumultuous past came to a head last year when monks led pro-democracy demonstrations, now known as "the saffron revolution," and many died for the cause.
Sher Nay Moo and her family are Burmese refugees.
They have been in New Zealand for eight months.
“I miss my mum,” cries Sher Nay Moo, a Burmese Refugee, as she looks at a painting by Saw Cu Cil of a bridge in Burma.
She used to cross the very same bridge every day to visit her mother, who is still in Burma.
The image is a bitter sweet reminder of her homeland.
Displacement is a way of life there...
“You will also see pictures of the internally displaced running and that is literally what they have to do. Their villages are attacked and burnt down and the people run and hide in the jungle,” says Mansfield.
In the last week the exhibition has raised around $16,000.
The money will help create a safe environment for the children of Burma and facilitate the most basic human right - a chance at life.
For more information or to buy prints or make a donation go to www.childrenontheedge.org.nz
January 22, 2008
An exhibition in Wellington is raising the profile of a country half a world away.
For over forty years Burma has been governed by a strict military dictatorship, notorious for ethnic cleansing, torture and the daily destruction of rural villages.
They changed the country's name to Myanmar in 1989.
The exhibition hopes to show the plight of the Burmese and raise money for those who need it most.
''Displaced Burma" is an exhibition giving a voice to people who don't have one.
“The generals and the military don't allow them that freedom, so we need to give them a voice. As friends we need to raise awareness of what is really going on in their country,” says Shelly Mansfield, the exhibition organiser, from Children on the Edge.
The exhibition features 30 works by Burmese artist Saw Cu Cil, who like one and a half million others fled to neighbouring Thailand desperate to escape persecution in Burma, where accounts of forced labour, destruction of villages and torture, are common.
“Probably one of the most horrific is using them as human mine sweepers to track the mines, and the way in which they do that, of course, is by standing on them,” says Mansfield.
Burma, renamed "the union of Myanmar'' in 1989 has been under strict military rule since 1962.
Opposition groups refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the ruling government, and won't adopt the new name.
The country's tumultuous past came to a head last year when monks led pro-democracy demonstrations, now known as "the saffron revolution," and many died for the cause.
Sher Nay Moo and her family are Burmese refugees.
They have been in New Zealand for eight months.
“I miss my mum,” cries Sher Nay Moo, a Burmese Refugee, as she looks at a painting by Saw Cu Cil of a bridge in Burma.
She used to cross the very same bridge every day to visit her mother, who is still in Burma.
The image is a bitter sweet reminder of her homeland.
Displacement is a way of life there...
“You will also see pictures of the internally displaced running and that is literally what they have to do. Their villages are attacked and burnt down and the people run and hide in the jungle,” says Mansfield.
In the last week the exhibition has raised around $16,000.
The money will help create a safe environment for the children of Burma and facilitate the most basic human right - a chance at life.
For more information or to buy prints or make a donation go to www.childrenontheedge.org.nz
‘ASEAN massage parlor’
John Nery
Philippine Daily Inquirer
January 22, 2008
BANGKOK -- Surin Pitsuwan, the new ASEAN secretary-general, is an academic and a diplomat, but it may be for his skills as a politician that he was chosen to lead the regional grouping’s permanent secretariat. The Ph.D. from Harvard and former foreign minister of Thailand was elected to parliament nine times in the last 20-odd years. Now, as ASEAN’s fourth secretary-general, he has the opportunity to lead the association into a new era of community-building.
First things first. “They would like a stronger secretariat,” he said at a journalists’ forum in Bangkok on Sunday. He was referring to ASEAN’s 10 heads of government, and their expansive idea of his job description. It is true, he said, that he is the first politician to assume the Jakarta-based post.
“What would be the difference in the running of that nerve center [in Jakarta]?” He answered his own question: “I will do what politicians do best: energize, create a sense of belonging.” And promote a sense of the possible.
He drew a vivid picture of what he said will become “a network secretariat” during his term, “reaching out, roping in and working with” anyone who understands the role ASEAN can play in Asia.
But while Surin talks a good game (he is quite eloquent when it comes to vision-setting), the reality is that much of the agenda he will face in his five-year term (it ends in 2012) has already been set.
Case in point: His first official trip as secretary-general was a ministerial meeting in Naypyidaw, the capital-in-the-making of Burma (Myanmar). Despite all the talk of community-building, brutal, repressive Burma remains ASEAN’s odd man out. One truth of politics: There is a limit to everything, even constructive engagement.
* * *
On Burma, Surin waxes and wanes. He is optimistic that, with ASEAN in its current state of evolution, “there is a very, very strong spirit of democracy in the system already.” He is sanguine about the prospects of a consolidating ASEAN, through the use of the proposed Charter (a document which Singapore has signed, but which the Philippines has threatened to reject, because of Aung San Suu Kyi’s continuing detention). He even offers a timetable for greater consolidation. “We want to do it by 2015, seven years from now.”
At the same time, he is realistic about the difficulty ASEAN finds itself in. “We ran into a stalemate,” he said, referring to the ultimately failed efforts to avert and then to mitigate Burma’s violent crackdown on protest actions late last year.
He spoke of a recent meeting with the Sultan of Brunei, where the Burma problem was discussed and his proposals were sought. His reply: “Your Majesty, I don’t know my role in this issue.”
“I’m still trying to find out my space,” he told the journalists gathered in Bangkok. “Is the secretary-general expected to play that role [of engaging Burma]?”
Ever the politician, he makes or rather suggests a prediction about the eventual resolution of ASEAN’s Burma problem: “I think it will come [down] to [the use of] regional mechanisms.”
* * *
A sense of humor is one of Surin’s winning points. He spoke about how, after he was appointed secretary-general, he became more conscious of everything ASEAN. Once, somewhere in Pattaya, he saw a sign that began with “ASEAN.” Back up, he told his driver. I want to know what the sign says. Well, he certainly found out. The sign read: “ASEAN massage parlor.”
Philippine Daily Inquirer
January 22, 2008
BANGKOK -- Surin Pitsuwan, the new ASEAN secretary-general, is an academic and a diplomat, but it may be for his skills as a politician that he was chosen to lead the regional grouping’s permanent secretariat. The Ph.D. from Harvard and former foreign minister of Thailand was elected to parliament nine times in the last 20-odd years. Now, as ASEAN’s fourth secretary-general, he has the opportunity to lead the association into a new era of community-building.
First things first. “They would like a stronger secretariat,” he said at a journalists’ forum in Bangkok on Sunday. He was referring to ASEAN’s 10 heads of government, and their expansive idea of his job description. It is true, he said, that he is the first politician to assume the Jakarta-based post.
“What would be the difference in the running of that nerve center [in Jakarta]?” He answered his own question: “I will do what politicians do best: energize, create a sense of belonging.” And promote a sense of the possible.
He drew a vivid picture of what he said will become “a network secretariat” during his term, “reaching out, roping in and working with” anyone who understands the role ASEAN can play in Asia.
But while Surin talks a good game (he is quite eloquent when it comes to vision-setting), the reality is that much of the agenda he will face in his five-year term (it ends in 2012) has already been set.
Case in point: His first official trip as secretary-general was a ministerial meeting in Naypyidaw, the capital-in-the-making of Burma (Myanmar). Despite all the talk of community-building, brutal, repressive Burma remains ASEAN’s odd man out. One truth of politics: There is a limit to everything, even constructive engagement.
* * *
On Burma, Surin waxes and wanes. He is optimistic that, with ASEAN in its current state of evolution, “there is a very, very strong spirit of democracy in the system already.” He is sanguine about the prospects of a consolidating ASEAN, through the use of the proposed Charter (a document which Singapore has signed, but which the Philippines has threatened to reject, because of Aung San Suu Kyi’s continuing detention). He even offers a timetable for greater consolidation. “We want to do it by 2015, seven years from now.”
At the same time, he is realistic about the difficulty ASEAN finds itself in. “We ran into a stalemate,” he said, referring to the ultimately failed efforts to avert and then to mitigate Burma’s violent crackdown on protest actions late last year.
He spoke of a recent meeting with the Sultan of Brunei, where the Burma problem was discussed and his proposals were sought. His reply: “Your Majesty, I don’t know my role in this issue.”
“I’m still trying to find out my space,” he told the journalists gathered in Bangkok. “Is the secretary-general expected to play that role [of engaging Burma]?”
Ever the politician, he makes or rather suggests a prediction about the eventual resolution of ASEAN’s Burma problem: “I think it will come [down] to [the use of] regional mechanisms.”
* * *
A sense of humor is one of Surin’s winning points. He spoke about how, after he was appointed secretary-general, he became more conscious of everything ASEAN. Once, somewhere in Pattaya, he saw a sign that began with “ASEAN.” Back up, he told his driver. I want to know what the sign says. Well, he certainly found out. The sign read: “ASEAN massage parlor.”
Who Can Rescue Nilar Thein? [Commentary]
Kyaw Zwa Moe
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
January 22, 2008
Who remembers her now? Actually, she was well-known about four months ago. But today few seem to remember her. Four months is a long time in today’s fast-moving world.
Nilar Thein is a fugitive with a price on her head. She has been hiding in different locations in Rangoon since September when Burma’s military authorities began hunting down activists who led demonstrations in August and September.
If that’s not reason enough to feel sorry for the 35-year-old activist, her whole family is also suffering along with her.
Her husband Kyaw Min Yu, known as Jimmy, is in the notorious Insein Prison. A prominent activist since 1988 and a leading member of the 88 Generation Students group, he played a prominent role in the first street demonstrations in Rangoon in August.
Nilar Thein’s 9-month-old daughter, Nay Kyi Min Yu, has been living with her grandparents. Her grandparents say she is doing well, but she doesn’t experience the protective, loving kindness of her parents.
The daughter is taken to the prison occasionally to visit her father. But she hasn’t touched her mother in the past months.
If that’s not enough, Nilar Thein spent eight years in jail from 1996 to 2003 for her political activity. Her husband spent 16 years in prison after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.
Nilar Thein told The Irrawaddy in a conversation from where her hiding place, “I love my daughter like any mother. I had to leave her, but I believe she will later understand why.”
Her husband is likely to receive another long prison sentence, as Nilar Thein continues to try to evade the security forces.
Can you imagine a beautiful end to this sad story?
Do you believe the ruling generals will stop their oppression? Do you believe the United Nations can achieve change in Burma? Do you believe Burma’s neighbors will truly seek change in Burma?
The UN Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, said in a recent interview with Newsweek magazine, “I don’t have the instruments to change the regime.”
Yes, true regime change is hard to imagine. “The UN is not in the business of changing regimes,” Gambari said. Yes that’s true.
So what about one, single issue: the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi?
Gambari attempted that, but again, with no success.
“The release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the other political prisoners is long overdue,” the envoy said in the interview.
But the junta hasn’t budged, sticking closely to its “seven-step road map,” which is intended to install the military institution legally as the legitimate government of Burma.
Can you imagine political reconciliation? “It’s long overdue,” said Gambari. Opposition groups and the international community have called for reconciliation since the junta took power 20 years ago, especially after Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, won the 1990 election by a landslide.
Can you imagine a true dialogue between the junta and the opposition?
Gambari said, “If they [talks] were combined with real engagement and with some incentives at the appropriate time, they could work.” To try to achieve dialogue, sanctions have been imposed by the United States and the European Union since the mid-1990s. Still, it’s hard to imagine sanctions working because Burma’s two biggest neighbors, China and India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations remain opposed.
How about the world’s super power, the US? In a recent trip to Hanoi, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scott Marciel said Burma is going “downhill on all fronts.”
“The economy is going downhill, the education system is getting ruined,” he said. “The health care system isn’t functioning…you’re getting more and more cases of resistant strains of tuberculosis and malaria out of Burma. You’ve got refugee flows out of Burma. It’s just a whole series of problems.”
The US is the strongest critic of the Burmese regime and recently it imposed new sanctions targeted at the generals, their family and business cronies. But it doesn’t have any real means to change the regime or open its prisons or get the generals to sit down and talk to opposition and ethnic leaders. It might be another story if Burma were in Middle East, perhaps.
So, how can Nilar Thein, and the Burmese people be saved?
You can imagine only one person who could save Nilar Thein—Rambo.
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
January 22, 2008
Who remembers her now? Actually, she was well-known about four months ago. But today few seem to remember her. Four months is a long time in today’s fast-moving world.
Nilar Thein is a fugitive with a price on her head. She has been hiding in different locations in Rangoon since September when Burma’s military authorities began hunting down activists who led demonstrations in August and September.
If that’s not reason enough to feel sorry for the 35-year-old activist, her whole family is also suffering along with her.
Her husband Kyaw Min Yu, known as Jimmy, is in the notorious Insein Prison. A prominent activist since 1988 and a leading member of the 88 Generation Students group, he played a prominent role in the first street demonstrations in Rangoon in August.
Nilar Thein’s 9-month-old daughter, Nay Kyi Min Yu, has been living with her grandparents. Her grandparents say she is doing well, but she doesn’t experience the protective, loving kindness of her parents.
The daughter is taken to the prison occasionally to visit her father. But she hasn’t touched her mother in the past months.
If that’s not enough, Nilar Thein spent eight years in jail from 1996 to 2003 for her political activity. Her husband spent 16 years in prison after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.
Nilar Thein told The Irrawaddy in a conversation from where her hiding place, “I love my daughter like any mother. I had to leave her, but I believe she will later understand why.”
Her husband is likely to receive another long prison sentence, as Nilar Thein continues to try to evade the security forces.
Can you imagine a beautiful end to this sad story?
Do you believe the ruling generals will stop their oppression? Do you believe the United Nations can achieve change in Burma? Do you believe Burma’s neighbors will truly seek change in Burma?
The UN Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, said in a recent interview with Newsweek magazine, “I don’t have the instruments to change the regime.”
Yes, true regime change is hard to imagine. “The UN is not in the business of changing regimes,” Gambari said. Yes that’s true.
So what about one, single issue: the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi?
Gambari attempted that, but again, with no success.
“The release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the other political prisoners is long overdue,” the envoy said in the interview.
But the junta hasn’t budged, sticking closely to its “seven-step road map,” which is intended to install the military institution legally as the legitimate government of Burma.
Can you imagine political reconciliation? “It’s long overdue,” said Gambari. Opposition groups and the international community have called for reconciliation since the junta took power 20 years ago, especially after Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, won the 1990 election by a landslide.
Can you imagine a true dialogue between the junta and the opposition?
Gambari said, “If they [talks] were combined with real engagement and with some incentives at the appropriate time, they could work.” To try to achieve dialogue, sanctions have been imposed by the United States and the European Union since the mid-1990s. Still, it’s hard to imagine sanctions working because Burma’s two biggest neighbors, China and India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations remain opposed.
How about the world’s super power, the US? In a recent trip to Hanoi, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scott Marciel said Burma is going “downhill on all fronts.”
“The economy is going downhill, the education system is getting ruined,” he said. “The health care system isn’t functioning…you’re getting more and more cases of resistant strains of tuberculosis and malaria out of Burma. You’ve got refugee flows out of Burma. It’s just a whole series of problems.”
The US is the strongest critic of the Burmese regime and recently it imposed new sanctions targeted at the generals, their family and business cronies. But it doesn’t have any real means to change the regime or open its prisons or get the generals to sit down and talk to opposition and ethnic leaders. It might be another story if Burma were in Middle East, perhaps.
So, how can Nilar Thein, and the Burmese people be saved?
You can imagine only one person who could save Nilar Thein—Rambo.
China Urges Burma to Set Date for Gambari
Lindsay Beck and
Aung Hla Tun/Reuters Writers
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
January 22, 2008
China, one of the Burma's few friends, urged the ruling generals on Tuesday to allow UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari back soon to promote a genuine dialogue between the junta and opposition.
Gambari said last week the regime was trying to delay his third visit since a September crackdown on protests, which he hoped would be this month, until April.
"We support UN Special Envoy Gambari and his efforts," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference.
"We hope Mr Gambari and Myanmar [Burma] can, through communications, set a timetable for Mr Gambari's visit to Myanmar."
The comments followed talks on Monday in Beijing between Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan and Burma Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint, who was sent as a special envoy of Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein.
The 15-member UN Security Council, including China, criticized Burma last week for dragging its feet on the release of political prisoners and substantive talks with the opposition.
But China, which has interests in the former Burma's natural gas and timber, repeated its position on Tuesday that it would not back sanctions as a means to force the generals into reform.
"The international community should give an objective view of the efforts made by the Myanmar government and give constructive help to Myanmar," Jiang said.
"I don't think sanctions and applying pressure are helpful to the resolution of the issues."
Gambari, who has said he wants to see concrete action from countries which have economic clout with Burma, is set to visit China and India this month.
Jiang also defended China's trade ties with Burma, whose leadership cracked down last September on pro-democracy protests that were spearheaded by Buddhist monks.
"Our cooperation is on the basis of equality and mutual benefit and is not related with the interests of any third party," she said.
Burma's official media have said nothing about Maung Myint's trip, but diplomats said they did not expect a great deal from it.
"You can't expect any country, including China, to play that big a role in this country," a Southeast Asian diplomat said. "Chinese influence on the regime is limited. All they can do is make suggestions and offer some help".
Burma's military rulers ignored an overwhelming election win by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize winner has spent most of her time in detention since then.
Aung Hla Tun/Reuters Writers
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
January 22, 2008
China, one of the Burma's few friends, urged the ruling generals on Tuesday to allow UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari back soon to promote a genuine dialogue between the junta and opposition.
Gambari said last week the regime was trying to delay his third visit since a September crackdown on protests, which he hoped would be this month, until April.
"We support UN Special Envoy Gambari and his efforts," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference.
"We hope Mr Gambari and Myanmar [Burma] can, through communications, set a timetable for Mr Gambari's visit to Myanmar."
The comments followed talks on Monday in Beijing between Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan and Burma Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint, who was sent as a special envoy of Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein.
The 15-member UN Security Council, including China, criticized Burma last week for dragging its feet on the release of political prisoners and substantive talks with the opposition.
But China, which has interests in the former Burma's natural gas and timber, repeated its position on Tuesday that it would not back sanctions as a means to force the generals into reform.
"The international community should give an objective view of the efforts made by the Myanmar government and give constructive help to Myanmar," Jiang said.
"I don't think sanctions and applying pressure are helpful to the resolution of the issues."
Gambari, who has said he wants to see concrete action from countries which have economic clout with Burma, is set to visit China and India this month.
Jiang also defended China's trade ties with Burma, whose leadership cracked down last September on pro-democracy protests that were spearheaded by Buddhist monks.
"Our cooperation is on the basis of equality and mutual benefit and is not related with the interests of any third party," she said.
Burma's official media have said nothing about Maung Myint's trip, but diplomats said they did not expect a great deal from it.
"You can't expect any country, including China, to play that big a role in this country," a Southeast Asian diplomat said. "Chinese influence on the regime is limited. All they can do is make suggestions and offer some help".
Burma's military rulers ignored an overwhelming election win by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize winner has spent most of her time in detention since then.
US Pacific Command Issues Damning Report on Burma
Wai Moe
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
January 22, 2008
Burma’s economy is in shambles and the future is bleak, according to a report by the US Armed Forces’ Pacific Command, based in Hawaii. The military junta’s oppression and mismanagement has broken what was once a prosperous nation with a wealth of natural resources and a lot of potential for growth, says the report, Asia-Pacific Economic Update 2007.
The report, published annually, says the Burmese people are caught in a quagmire between the idealistic zeal of Western governments and the military junta’s subjugation. It maintains that the military regime is not really affected by western sanctions, especially when neighboring countries such as China, Russia, Thailand, Singapore and India continue to engage and trade with Burma.
“Burma’s richness in natural resources and its strategically significant geographic location at the mouth of the Straits of Malacca (a vital waterway for global seaborne trade) are irresistible to these emerging economic giants,” the report says.
It suggests that Western nations should adopt a different tactic to influence the military junta to make progress towards democracy and national reconciliation. Noting that the regime’s “roadmap” towards democracy has arrived at a dead-end, the report says a change in strategy and approach is now needed to break the current stagnation. A solution may be difficult to cultivate, however, the report adds.
“Dramatic changes [in Burma] are unlikely, due to continued support from major regional powers such as India, Russia, and China in particular,” it says.
On Burma’s economy, the report says the country’s export revenue remains buoyant because of the oil and gas sectors, the only areas of significant economic growth.
Exports of natural gas to Thailand support Burma’s sales in the energy industry, while a strong demand for Burma’s mining, energy, agriculture and forestry products comes from China and India, the report notes.
Burma’s main sources of imports in 2005 were China (29.3 percent), Thailand (22.2 percent), Singapore (18.7 percent) and Australia (1 percent). Foreign investment comes primarily from China, Singapore, South Korea, India and Thailand. India is the major market for Burma’s pulses.
The report puts Burma’s estimated gross domestic product at 2.9 percent, lower than any other country in the Great Mekong sub-region. The Burmese are falling further behind as the forces of globalization speed forward in the rest of the region, the report says—pointing out that Burma is one of the world’s poorest nations, suffering from decades of stagnation, mismanagement and isolation.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Burma averaged US $217.1 million annually in the years 2000-2004, aside from gas and oil. Few sectors are now attracting any fresh FDI approvals, and the FDI dropped to $35.7 million in the first 11 months of the financial year 2005-2006.
According to the report, Burma produced only 1,775 megawatts of power for its 53 million people in 2006, compared to 26,000 megawatts for 63 million people in neighboring Thailand. As a result, the people of Burma suffer chronic power shortages.
Lack of investment in education and the repeated closure of universities in recent years have reduced the number of skilled workers. Political repression and a stagnating economy have driven a huge number of nationals overseas in search of work, added the report.
Burma’s education is hit by lack of funding; the regime spent only 1.3 percent of its 2002 budget in that sector. In 2005, only about 40 percent of all children were enrolled in secondary schools, compared with an average of 71 percent for East Asia and the Pacific.
The junta devotes only 0.1 percent of its annual budget to public health. Most Burmese have no access to basic health care and life expectancy was 60.8 years in 2004, compared with 70.3 years in East Asia and the Pacific. Migrant workers, human trafficking, and refugees play a role in exporting and spreading diseases to neighboring countries, according to the report.
The full report is available on the Web site http://www.asia-studies.com/
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
January 22, 2008
Burma’s economy is in shambles and the future is bleak, according to a report by the US Armed Forces’ Pacific Command, based in Hawaii. The military junta’s oppression and mismanagement has broken what was once a prosperous nation with a wealth of natural resources and a lot of potential for growth, says the report, Asia-Pacific Economic Update 2007.
The report, published annually, says the Burmese people are caught in a quagmire between the idealistic zeal of Western governments and the military junta’s subjugation. It maintains that the military regime is not really affected by western sanctions, especially when neighboring countries such as China, Russia, Thailand, Singapore and India continue to engage and trade with Burma.
“Burma’s richness in natural resources and its strategically significant geographic location at the mouth of the Straits of Malacca (a vital waterway for global seaborne trade) are irresistible to these emerging economic giants,” the report says.
It suggests that Western nations should adopt a different tactic to influence the military junta to make progress towards democracy and national reconciliation. Noting that the regime’s “roadmap” towards democracy has arrived at a dead-end, the report says a change in strategy and approach is now needed to break the current stagnation. A solution may be difficult to cultivate, however, the report adds.
“Dramatic changes [in Burma] are unlikely, due to continued support from major regional powers such as India, Russia, and China in particular,” it says.
On Burma’s economy, the report says the country’s export revenue remains buoyant because of the oil and gas sectors, the only areas of significant economic growth.
Exports of natural gas to Thailand support Burma’s sales in the energy industry, while a strong demand for Burma’s mining, energy, agriculture and forestry products comes from China and India, the report notes.
Burma’s main sources of imports in 2005 were China (29.3 percent), Thailand (22.2 percent), Singapore (18.7 percent) and Australia (1 percent). Foreign investment comes primarily from China, Singapore, South Korea, India and Thailand. India is the major market for Burma’s pulses.
The report puts Burma’s estimated gross domestic product at 2.9 percent, lower than any other country in the Great Mekong sub-region. The Burmese are falling further behind as the forces of globalization speed forward in the rest of the region, the report says—pointing out that Burma is one of the world’s poorest nations, suffering from decades of stagnation, mismanagement and isolation.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Burma averaged US $217.1 million annually in the years 2000-2004, aside from gas and oil. Few sectors are now attracting any fresh FDI approvals, and the FDI dropped to $35.7 million in the first 11 months of the financial year 2005-2006.
According to the report, Burma produced only 1,775 megawatts of power for its 53 million people in 2006, compared to 26,000 megawatts for 63 million people in neighboring Thailand. As a result, the people of Burma suffer chronic power shortages.
Lack of investment in education and the repeated closure of universities in recent years have reduced the number of skilled workers. Political repression and a stagnating economy have driven a huge number of nationals overseas in search of work, added the report.
Burma’s education is hit by lack of funding; the regime spent only 1.3 percent of its 2002 budget in that sector. In 2005, only about 40 percent of all children were enrolled in secondary schools, compared with an average of 71 percent for East Asia and the Pacific.
The junta devotes only 0.1 percent of its annual budget to public health. Most Burmese have no access to basic health care and life expectancy was 60.8 years in 2004, compared with 70.3 years in East Asia and the Pacific. Migrant workers, human trafficking, and refugees play a role in exporting and spreading diseases to neighboring countries, according to the report.
The full report is available on the Web site http://www.asia-studies.com/
Asia Religious Leaders Tackle HIV/AIDS
Jaime Lim/IPS Writer/Bangkok
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
January 22, 2008
The Korean superstar RAIN was roped in by the Christian relief group World Vision last year to help promote awareness of HIV and AIDS, especially among the youth. Over in Fiji, people living with HIV can get internship opportunities at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the Pacific.
These are just two examples of how faith-based groups are increasingly addressing social issues like HIV and AIDS, which were often thought of -- and are still viewed by some -- as a curse that befalls ‘bad’ people.
This engagement in social issues was the theme that ran through a conference held here this week, called ‘Inter-Faith Consultation on Children and HIV’, organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific, and attended by more than 80 religious leaders and participants.
Despite fundamental differences, Buddhist monks, Christian ministers and Muslim clerics agreed that their involvement in efforts to fight the pandemic is a key part of their ties with their communities. After all, religion shapes culture and values for many in this region.
In the case of the WCC’s internship programme in Suva, council executive secretary Fe’iloakitau Kaho Tevi said: "This sends out a strong message that positive people can be good workers and that you don’t have to be afraid of working with them."
HIV and AIDS are not just health crises, but have social and moral elements as well. "This is where religious leaders can be powerful agents of change with their enormous influence in reducing stigma and discrimination," reckoned Simone Charnley, regional coordinator of the Bangkok-based Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN).
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), some 4.9 million people were living with HIV in Asia in 2007. Of these, 440,000 became infected that year. Some 300,000 people also died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2007.
In the Asia-Pacific, four countries have a generalized HIV epidemic—Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Papua New Guinea.
In Cambodia, where the adult HIV prevalence rate now stands at 1.6 percent, Buddhist monks are quite involved in supporting those living with HIV and AIDS. Apart from two hotline numbers run by Buddhist monks to answer queries on the pandemic, there is also access to healthcare, the provision of income generating activities and food, shelter and school materials to children, as well as meditation and counseling services.
According to the Buddhist Leadership Initiative, almost 30 percent of monks in China, Cambodia and Laos have received training on HIV and AIDS. These programmes help them in promoting greater involvement in society of those living with the pandemic, giving them a sense of normalcy and addressing stigma and discrimination in society.
At the same time, Captain John Kerari of the Salvation Army Papua New Guinea Church Partnership Programme stressed that HIV and AIDS programmes by faith-based programmes are by themselves inadequate—that governments need to be proactive and lead in managing the pandemic. Papua New Guinea registers the highest adult HIV prevalence of 1.8 percent in Asia and the Pacific, according to UNAIDS.
For his part, Lawrence Maund of The Sangha Metta Project, which engages Buddhist monks in HIV and AIDS prevention and care, says that particular focus must be given to young people and educating them about behaviour needed to prevent HIV and AIDS. In line with this, he questioned the absence of youth leaders at the UNICEF conference, which was supposed to focus on children.
He encouraged others to explore the potential of youth leaders in reaching out to their peers. "Young people will talk to you, but they might not open up to you. They were not born during the HIV/AIDS crisis (mid-eighties), but were born into a time of complacency," he remarked.
Datuk A Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, vice president of the Malaysian AIDS Council and former president of the Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism, says he sees a lack of programmes for Hindus living with HIV and AIDS outside of India, and called for greater involvement of Hindu-based groups in addressing the pandemic.
Tevi, a WCC member from Fiji, voiced his concern about the effectiveness of responses by different religious groups to HIV and AIDS. "My fear is that we have become a ‘band aid organization’. We recognize the effects of HIV/AIDS, but do not address the root cause of the problem," he said.
Maund says that giving HIV and AIDS a public face does make a difference. During the Loy Krathong festival in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai in November 2007, he says, the beauty queen on the float that weaved through the city streets was HIV-positive and used the occasion to assert her rights. She was part of the Chiang Mai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS.
Maund recalls that seeing this, "this man (from the crowd) approached one of the paraders and asked if they were really HIV/AIDS positive. He said, ‘I have HIV too, can I join you?’ That was the first time this man came out of his shell."
The Korean superstar RAIN was roped in by the Christian relief group World Vision last year to help promote awareness of HIV and AIDS, especially among the youth. Over in Fiji, people living with HIV can get internship opportunities at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the Pacific.
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
January 22, 2008
The Korean superstar RAIN was roped in by the Christian relief group World Vision last year to help promote awareness of HIV and AIDS, especially among the youth. Over in Fiji, people living with HIV can get internship opportunities at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the Pacific.
These are just two examples of how faith-based groups are increasingly addressing social issues like HIV and AIDS, which were often thought of -- and are still viewed by some -- as a curse that befalls ‘bad’ people.
This engagement in social issues was the theme that ran through a conference held here this week, called ‘Inter-Faith Consultation on Children and HIV’, organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific, and attended by more than 80 religious leaders and participants.
Despite fundamental differences, Buddhist monks, Christian ministers and Muslim clerics agreed that their involvement in efforts to fight the pandemic is a key part of their ties with their communities. After all, religion shapes culture and values for many in this region.
In the case of the WCC’s internship programme in Suva, council executive secretary Fe’iloakitau Kaho Tevi said: "This sends out a strong message that positive people can be good workers and that you don’t have to be afraid of working with them."
HIV and AIDS are not just health crises, but have social and moral elements as well. "This is where religious leaders can be powerful agents of change with their enormous influence in reducing stigma and discrimination," reckoned Simone Charnley, regional coordinator of the Bangkok-based Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN).
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), some 4.9 million people were living with HIV in Asia in 2007. Of these, 440,000 became infected that year. Some 300,000 people also died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2007.
In the Asia-Pacific, four countries have a generalized HIV epidemic—Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Papua New Guinea.
In Cambodia, where the adult HIV prevalence rate now stands at 1.6 percent, Buddhist monks are quite involved in supporting those living with HIV and AIDS. Apart from two hotline numbers run by Buddhist monks to answer queries on the pandemic, there is also access to healthcare, the provision of income generating activities and food, shelter and school materials to children, as well as meditation and counseling services.
According to the Buddhist Leadership Initiative, almost 30 percent of monks in China, Cambodia and Laos have received training on HIV and AIDS. These programmes help them in promoting greater involvement in society of those living with the pandemic, giving them a sense of normalcy and addressing stigma and discrimination in society.
At the same time, Captain John Kerari of the Salvation Army Papua New Guinea Church Partnership Programme stressed that HIV and AIDS programmes by faith-based programmes are by themselves inadequate—that governments need to be proactive and lead in managing the pandemic. Papua New Guinea registers the highest adult HIV prevalence of 1.8 percent in Asia and the Pacific, according to UNAIDS.
For his part, Lawrence Maund of The Sangha Metta Project, which engages Buddhist monks in HIV and AIDS prevention and care, says that particular focus must be given to young people and educating them about behaviour needed to prevent HIV and AIDS. In line with this, he questioned the absence of youth leaders at the UNICEF conference, which was supposed to focus on children.
He encouraged others to explore the potential of youth leaders in reaching out to their peers. "Young people will talk to you, but they might not open up to you. They were not born during the HIV/AIDS crisis (mid-eighties), but were born into a time of complacency," he remarked.
Datuk A Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, vice president of the Malaysian AIDS Council and former president of the Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism, says he sees a lack of programmes for Hindus living with HIV and AIDS outside of India, and called for greater involvement of Hindu-based groups in addressing the pandemic.
Tevi, a WCC member from Fiji, voiced his concern about the effectiveness of responses by different religious groups to HIV and AIDS. "My fear is that we have become a ‘band aid organization’. We recognize the effects of HIV/AIDS, but do not address the root cause of the problem," he said.
Maund says that giving HIV and AIDS a public face does make a difference. During the Loy Krathong festival in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai in November 2007, he says, the beauty queen on the float that weaved through the city streets was HIV-positive and used the occasion to assert her rights. She was part of the Chiang Mai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS.
Maund recalls that seeing this, "this man (from the crowd) approached one of the paraders and asked if they were really HIV/AIDS positive. He said, ‘I have HIV too, can I join you?’ That was the first time this man came out of his shell."
The Korean superstar RAIN was roped in by the Christian relief group World Vision last year to help promote awareness of HIV and AIDS, especially among the youth. Over in Fiji, people living with HIV can get internship opportunities at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the Pacific.
Kachin villages told to relocate for Chibwe hydropower project
Kachin News Group
January 22, 2008
Thousands of villagers are on the verge of despair threatened as they are of being displaced by the Burmese ruling junta's second largest hydroelectric power project site in Kachin State in Northern Burma. The construction company has issued notices to the people and are pressurizing them to relocate, local sources said.
The villages in Washapa and upper Nyawngmawpa valley near Chibwe hydroelectric power project site in N'mai Hka River also called May Kha River are being pressurized to relocate away from the project site by the Asia World Company since December, last year, villagers said.
There are thousands of Kachins in Washapa and Nyawngmawpa valleys which are in under the control of the main Kachin ceasefire group, Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and are situated west of N'mai Hka in the Triangle Area, said villagers.
However, no village in those areas has moved yet, the villagers said.
January 22, 2008
Thousands of villagers are on the verge of despair threatened as they are of being displaced by the Burmese ruling junta's second largest hydroelectric power project site in Kachin State in Northern Burma. The construction company has issued notices to the people and are pressurizing them to relocate, local sources said.
The villages in Washapa and upper Nyawngmawpa valley near Chibwe hydroelectric power project site in N'mai Hka River also called May Kha River are being pressurized to relocate away from the project site by the Asia World Company since December, last year, villagers said.
There are thousands of Kachins in Washapa and Nyawngmawpa valleys which are in under the control of the main Kachin ceasefire group, Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and are situated west of N'mai Hka in the Triangle Area, said villagers.
However, no village in those areas has moved yet, the villagers said.
Insein Prison News : Older Nuns and Monks In Bad Health Conditions
Original Source: U Thar Nyunt Oo - Voice Of America
January 19, 2008
Translation: Nay Chi U - Who is Who in Burma
January 21, 2008
After the last September crackdown of the 'Golden Colour Revolution', many monasteries and nunneries were raided and monks and nuns arrested by authorities acting for the Junta.
One of the monasteries raided was Thisa Tharapu School House in Arthar Wati Monastery Estate in North Okkala, Rangoon. Nuns and monks, some of them middle aged and some elderly have been arrested, and prosecuted for 'bringing religion into disrepute', and derobed. However the noble monks and nuns insist that they have been wrongly accused and carried on with their religious duties, while in custody, eventhough their robes were forcefully ripped off.
U Po Phyu, the solicitor who is representing them at court, explained to VOA that these nuns and monks are suffering from poor and deteriorating health condition as some of them are elderly and furthermore, Thisa Tharapu School House is just an ordinary monastery, serving the poor community of the surrounding area.
"There are 7 nuns and 7 monks altogether: Daw Pyanya Theingi 54, Daw Setta Ti 32, Daw Tay Ri 70, Daw Wonna 67, Daw Ponna Mi 80, Daw Theingi 64 and Daw Thila Nandi 48. The monks are U Arnan Da 61, U Wiimala 66, U Panya Nanda, U Kuthala 63, U Narawara 69, U Withuti 53 and U Pyanya Tharmi 53,"
"U Arnan Da and U Narawara both have had strokes and the two oldest nuns Daw Tay Ri and Daw Ponna Mi have been unwell. They were forced to appear before court and over the 10 court hearings, only one prosecuting witness appeared. Although they have been poorly, and suffering from deteriorating health, they have not received any treatment. Only yesterday, I decided to accept their case," said U Po Phyu.
VOA : What ever have they done to be accused of 'bringing religion into disrepute'?
"There have been quite a few charges: such as receiving cash for admission into the school house, for holding forged certificates, and junior monks pretending to be senior monks, etc,. Moreover, the prosecutions claimed that they confiscated uncensored and pornographic videos. When I asked the monks about them, they had no idea even of their existence and pointed out that they had no video player with which to view videos of any kind. I went to investigate their school house and can confirm that it is truly a very poor monastery and lacking all modern facilities - not a place that you can imagine someone watching any kind of videos."
VOA : What are the charges for the nuns?
"Obviously, they were all charged under the same sections and put together in the same case with the monks. There is no other separate collection of evidence."
VOA : Where and when were they arrested?
"On 29 September, during the September 'revolution'. The authorities acting for the Junta, decided to raid the school house on suspicion, hoping to find lots of politically active young and healthy monks. There was however, only this ageing group resident there but nevertheless they were arrested."
VOA : Did they actually protest during September?
"When I asked if they participated in the protests, they replied that they didn't even go out as they were rather shaken by it all and also some of them were poorly."
VOA : How about the prosecution witnesses and evidence?
"At the moment, the arrest warrant states that there is one forged certificate (monks' qualification) and also several pornographic videos. We can only find out about where they come from during the trial, which has not started yet."
VOA : Are they all detained in Insein prison? Have they been allowed family visits?
"Yes, all of them are in Insein prison. Families can't afford to visit so they only have some donors from N Okkala occasionally, bringing small offerings. The donors themselves are poor so it is just a very sad situation. They have been taken to court 10 or 11 times now and we only found out about it recently. We decided to try our best to represent them and managed to apply for general power only yesterday."
January 19, 2008
Translation: Nay Chi U - Who is Who in Burma
January 21, 2008
After the last September crackdown of the 'Golden Colour Revolution', many monasteries and nunneries were raided and monks and nuns arrested by authorities acting for the Junta.
One of the monasteries raided was Thisa Tharapu School House in Arthar Wati Monastery Estate in North Okkala, Rangoon. Nuns and monks, some of them middle aged and some elderly have been arrested, and prosecuted for 'bringing religion into disrepute', and derobed. However the noble monks and nuns insist that they have been wrongly accused and carried on with their religious duties, while in custody, eventhough their robes were forcefully ripped off.
U Po Phyu, the solicitor who is representing them at court, explained to VOA that these nuns and monks are suffering from poor and deteriorating health condition as some of them are elderly and furthermore, Thisa Tharapu School House is just an ordinary monastery, serving the poor community of the surrounding area.
"There are 7 nuns and 7 monks altogether: Daw Pyanya Theingi 54, Daw Setta Ti 32, Daw Tay Ri 70, Daw Wonna 67, Daw Ponna Mi 80, Daw Theingi 64 and Daw Thila Nandi 48. The monks are U Arnan Da 61, U Wiimala 66, U Panya Nanda, U Kuthala 63, U Narawara 69, U Withuti 53 and U Pyanya Tharmi 53,"
"U Arnan Da and U Narawara both have had strokes and the two oldest nuns Daw Tay Ri and Daw Ponna Mi have been unwell. They were forced to appear before court and over the 10 court hearings, only one prosecuting witness appeared. Although they have been poorly, and suffering from deteriorating health, they have not received any treatment. Only yesterday, I decided to accept their case," said U Po Phyu.
VOA : What ever have they done to be accused of 'bringing religion into disrepute'?
"There have been quite a few charges: such as receiving cash for admission into the school house, for holding forged certificates, and junior monks pretending to be senior monks, etc,. Moreover, the prosecutions claimed that they confiscated uncensored and pornographic videos. When I asked the monks about them, they had no idea even of their existence and pointed out that they had no video player with which to view videos of any kind. I went to investigate their school house and can confirm that it is truly a very poor monastery and lacking all modern facilities - not a place that you can imagine someone watching any kind of videos."
VOA : What are the charges for the nuns?
"Obviously, they were all charged under the same sections and put together in the same case with the monks. There is no other separate collection of evidence."
VOA : Where and when were they arrested?
"On 29 September, during the September 'revolution'. The authorities acting for the Junta, decided to raid the school house on suspicion, hoping to find lots of politically active young and healthy monks. There was however, only this ageing group resident there but nevertheless they were arrested."
VOA : Did they actually protest during September?
"When I asked if they participated in the protests, they replied that they didn't even go out as they were rather shaken by it all and also some of them were poorly."
VOA : How about the prosecution witnesses and evidence?
"At the moment, the arrest warrant states that there is one forged certificate (monks' qualification) and also several pornographic videos. We can only find out about where they come from during the trial, which has not started yet."
VOA : Are they all detained in Insein prison? Have they been allowed family visits?
"Yes, all of them are in Insein prison. Families can't afford to visit so they only have some donors from N Okkala occasionally, bringing small offerings. The donors themselves are poor so it is just a very sad situation. They have been taken to court 10 or 11 times now and we only found out about it recently. We decided to try our best to represent them and managed to apply for general power only yesterday."
70 Year Old MP In Mandalay Prison Needs Eye Treatment
Original Source: Maung Too - Democratic Voice of Burma
Translated: Nay Chi U - Who is Who in Burma
January 20, 2008
U Than Lwin, Member of Parliament, Mattaya, Mandalay, who had been punched with a 'knuckleduster', is developing cataract in the injured eye while being detained in O Bo prison, according to his wife.
"He can't see very well in that eye now and thinks he has a cataract. He is also suffering from a heart condition," said Daw Khin Thi, his wife
U Than Lwin, 70, was walking home after attending a prayer meeting for the release of the political prisoners, when he was attacked by an unknown thug, who punched him in the face with iron knuckles, last June. He suffered a broken nose and an injured eye. In the typical style of the Junta, he was then arrested while he was still receiving hospital treatment, and that was one of the reasons he eye condition was getting worse, explained Daw Khin Thi.
"His eye ached and wept continuously and it was in a serious condition. He was eventually allowed to receive some medication so it has improved although still can't eat properly and is physically very weak."
He was arrested in connection with September protests. Daw Khin Thi pleads for his release, not only because he did not commit any crime but also his deteriorating health, which needs proper medical treatment.
"He is not so young and also committed no crime. He only went to a prayers' meeting after which he was violently attacked then arrested before his wounds were healed. Now he should be released as it is quite clear that he did nothing and he needs urgent medical treatment."
The unknown junta-sponsored thug, who punched U Than Lwin was seen running into the office of local USDA (Union solidarity and Development Association), the government junta's so-called 'social welfare' organization. When a group of civilians demanded his identity and arrest, they were prosecuted for threatening behaviour and sent to prison for up to 7 years. The unknown thug however is, predictably, still at large.
Translated: Nay Chi U - Who is Who in Burma
January 20, 2008
U Than Lwin, Member of Parliament, Mattaya, Mandalay, who had been punched with a 'knuckleduster', is developing cataract in the injured eye while being detained in O Bo prison, according to his wife.
"He can't see very well in that eye now and thinks he has a cataract. He is also suffering from a heart condition," said Daw Khin Thi, his wife
U Than Lwin, 70, was walking home after attending a prayer meeting for the release of the political prisoners, when he was attacked by an unknown thug, who punched him in the face with iron knuckles, last June. He suffered a broken nose and an injured eye. In the typical style of the Junta, he was then arrested while he was still receiving hospital treatment, and that was one of the reasons he eye condition was getting worse, explained Daw Khin Thi.
"His eye ached and wept continuously and it was in a serious condition. He was eventually allowed to receive some medication so it has improved although still can't eat properly and is physically very weak."
He was arrested in connection with September protests. Daw Khin Thi pleads for his release, not only because he did not commit any crime but also his deteriorating health, which needs proper medical treatment.
"He is not so young and also committed no crime. He only went to a prayers' meeting after which he was violently attacked then arrested before his wounds were healed. Now he should be released as it is quite clear that he did nothing and he needs urgent medical treatment."
The unknown junta-sponsored thug, who punched U Than Lwin was seen running into the office of local USDA (Union solidarity and Development Association), the government junta's so-called 'social welfare' organization. When a group of civilians demanded his identity and arrest, they were prosecuted for threatening behaviour and sent to prison for up to 7 years. The unknown thug however is, predictably, still at large.
Paranoid 'Authorities' Send More 'Security' In Taunggok
Original Source: Naw Say Paw - Democratic Voice of Burma
Translated: Nay Chi U - Who is Who in Burma
January 21, 2008
After openly and bravely announcing that there will be more uprisings in 2008, unless positive changes are made, residents from the most courageous town on earth, unsurprisingly found themselves under the microscopic scrutiny of unquestionably the most paranoid and sadistic military junta in the world. According to the locals, there is an significant increase in the numbers of armed junta security forces as well as plain-clothes 'strangers'.
Instead of listening to what its people need or want, the junta-followers in Taunggok simply squashed peaceful demonstrations and tightened up the security, while closely watching every movement of any members of National League for Democracy Party.
Deputy Chair U Than Pe, Taunggok NLD said his house is under surveillance within the 30 yards surrounding and every visitor to the house is being recorded.
"Sometimes, they come into the house and have a chat with me for a couple of hours. If I need to go to town, then they said they would give me a lift."
Residents in and around Taunggok were planning to express their feelings towards the miserable economic conditions and the forced labour which has been imposed upon them, and to hold peaceful demonstrations in the town on 17 January. News of their plan leaked to the junta, and before they could stage any demonstrations the entire town was shut down for a day ! Since then, security has been dramatically tightened.
Despite the increase in the level of repressive armed security, locals have nevertheless spotted political activity in the recent new graffiti on Taunggok - Um main road.
The local people in the area are more openly discussing what they think of the bullying they have received from the juntas authorities, compared with last year, according to U Than Pe.
"For example, we managed to sign the petition, against the forced fire-guard duties, and sent them off to all the relevant organisations. Everyone was actively involved and actually fighting for a place to sign! They knew it(the forced labour)was terribly wrong and they wanted to let the junta know that they will not accept it."
"Today, people are beginning to believe and feel strongly that they must have the right to say clearly that something done by force is wrong. They wouldn't have thought about it last year. They are seeing, hearing and learning from long and bitter experience; this unending misery of repression which can only result in rebellion against the terrible injustices suffered."
The repressive military government however is not only famous for its paranoia and brutality towards any sign of protest, but is also at the same time leaving the weary public with no alternative but to support the demonstrations expressing their disgust at the unending misrule and progressive destruction of their country.
Translated: Nay Chi U - Who is Who in Burma
January 21, 2008
After openly and bravely announcing that there will be more uprisings in 2008, unless positive changes are made, residents from the most courageous town on earth, unsurprisingly found themselves under the microscopic scrutiny of unquestionably the most paranoid and sadistic military junta in the world. According to the locals, there is an significant increase in the numbers of armed junta security forces as well as plain-clothes 'strangers'.
Instead of listening to what its people need or want, the junta-followers in Taunggok simply squashed peaceful demonstrations and tightened up the security, while closely watching every movement of any members of National League for Democracy Party.
Deputy Chair U Than Pe, Taunggok NLD said his house is under surveillance within the 30 yards surrounding and every visitor to the house is being recorded.
"Sometimes, they come into the house and have a chat with me for a couple of hours. If I need to go to town, then they said they would give me a lift."
Residents in and around Taunggok were planning to express their feelings towards the miserable economic conditions and the forced labour which has been imposed upon them, and to hold peaceful demonstrations in the town on 17 January. News of their plan leaked to the junta, and before they could stage any demonstrations the entire town was shut down for a day ! Since then, security has been dramatically tightened.
Despite the increase in the level of repressive armed security, locals have nevertheless spotted political activity in the recent new graffiti on Taunggok - Um main road.
The local people in the area are more openly discussing what they think of the bullying they have received from the juntas authorities, compared with last year, according to U Than Pe.
"For example, we managed to sign the petition, against the forced fire-guard duties, and sent them off to all the relevant organisations. Everyone was actively involved and actually fighting for a place to sign! They knew it(the forced labour)was terribly wrong and they wanted to let the junta know that they will not accept it."
"Today, people are beginning to believe and feel strongly that they must have the right to say clearly that something done by force is wrong. They wouldn't have thought about it last year. They are seeing, hearing and learning from long and bitter experience; this unending misery of repression which can only result in rebellion against the terrible injustices suffered."
The repressive military government however is not only famous for its paranoia and brutality towards any sign of protest, but is also at the same time leaving the weary public with no alternative but to support the demonstrations expressing their disgust at the unending misrule and progressive destruction of their country.
Taunggok: 2 NLD Youths Arrested
Press Release
Original Source: Aye Nai - Democratic Voice of Burma
Translated: Nay Chi U - Who is Who in Burma
January 22, 2008
Ko Soe Min Oo and Ko Kalar Shay, both members of NLD Youth, Taunggok have been arrested and are being detained at the local police station as they were shouting democracy freedom slogans, it is reported.
Despite 24 hours of heavy and intimidating security surveillance, the two NLD youth members shouted,"Gaining Democratic Freedom is our affair!", "The Release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is our affair!", as they cycled along the roads.
On 17 January, the gathering of peaceful protests was forcefully dispersed by junta authorities.
Original Source: Aye Nai - Democratic Voice of Burma
Translated: Nay Chi U - Who is Who in Burma
January 22, 2008
Ko Soe Min Oo and Ko Kalar Shay, both members of NLD Youth, Taunggok have been arrested and are being detained at the local police station as they were shouting democracy freedom slogans, it is reported.
Despite 24 hours of heavy and intimidating security surveillance, the two NLD youth members shouted,"Gaining Democratic Freedom is our affair!", "The Release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is our affair!", as they cycled along the roads.
On 17 January, the gathering of peaceful protests was forcefully dispersed by junta authorities.
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