Burma Related News - Sep 08, 2005.
- From: "Tin Kyi" <maungtinkyi@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 06:57:24 +0000 (UTC)
***************************************************************
BURMA RELATED NEWS - SEPTEMBER 08, 2005.
***************************************************************
HEADLINES
***************************************************************
AFP - Tens of thousands in forced labor in Myanmar: Amnesty
Sudan Tribune - US?s Zoellick warns China against deals with Myanmar,
Iran, Sudan
Hindustan Times - Myanmar Airways suspends flight to New Delhi
Global Politician - The Aung San Family in Myanmar
Financial Express - Myanmar pipeline MoU likely in Nov
Kyodo News - Myanmar, Japan associations seek closer ties
Bkk Post - Karen in need of blessings
China Daily - China-ASEAN free trade zone future pillar of world
economy: official
Asian Tribune - UNICEF calls for international support to Improve
children and women nutrition in Myanmar
DVB News - New York: Burmese activists conclude freedom march
DVB News - NLD warns members to take care in dealing with other
organisations
BBC News - Students say they act to stop crisis
***************************************************************
Thursday September 8, 8:28 AM
Tens of thousands in forced labor in Myanmar: Amnesty
YANGON, AFP - Myanmar's military has forced tens of thousands of ethnic
minority people into labor, confiscated their land, destroyed their
homes and beaten them, Amnesty International said in a new report.
The London-based rights watchdog said more than 100 interviews with
people who had fled Myanmar for neighboring Thailand showed a pattern of
abuses aimed at crushing perceived support for ethnic rebels who have
battled Yangon for decades.
The military has driven tens of thousands of ethnic minority people from
their land, forced them into labor or required them to grow crops for
the army instead of growing their own food, the report said.
Soldiers then take the harvested crops for themselves, leaving little
food for civilians, it added.
Other civilians have been required to carry rice or other supplies for
soldiers, who sometimes beat or even kill those who cannot keep up with
the work, the report said.
The 23-page report said the situation has worsened since the junta
required the army to become self-sufficient, this led to an increase in
abuses such as stealing crops and livestock and extorting money from
civilians.
"In the last decade, hundreds of thousands of workers from Myanmar have
been forced to migrate to neighbouring countries as a result of the
widespread denial of their economic and political rights," Natalie Hill,
deputy director of Amnesty's Asia-Pacific program, said in a statement.
"The forced labour, mass evictions, land and food confiscation by the
military are a flagrant contravention of human rights as well as
international and domestic law."
International rights groups have for years documented cases of forced
labor, including the conscription of child soldiers, in Myanmar. The
country, one of the world's most isolated, has been ruled by the
military since 1962.
Although Myanmar's laws ban the use of forced labor, the UN's
International Labor Organization in May said the ban has not been
implemented and little progress had been made in ending the practice.
In February a high-level investigation team sent by the ILO cut short
its mission to Myanmar after failing to meet top generals to assess
their commitment to fighting forced labour.
The ILO is allowed to maintain a liaison office in Yangon but the junta
has sharply limited its activities.
Myanmar's military rulers are accused by rights groups and western
nations of a barrage of abuses, including forced labor, torture,
extrajudicial killings and massive forced displacements of civilians.
***************************************************************
Sudan Tribune
US?s Zoellick warns China against deals with Myanmar, Iran, Sudan
Thursday 8 September 2005 07:23.
Sept 8, 2005 (WASHIGTON) ? United States has warned China that deals
with Myanmar, Iran and Sudan may backfire from a broader foreign policy
perspective, Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick said.
He told reporters here Tuesday that his warning to Chinese officials was
made during his talks with them last month in Beijing, Kazinform.
"What advantage do you really gain over them if you are associated with
genocide and guys who are running their countries into the ground?"
Zoellick asked them.
Refering to North Korea which he termed as a "criminal state", he said
it was clear during his talks that the Chinese do not want a "collapsed
state" on the border.
In his talks, he said, he picked up a discussion on the Korean
Peninsula?s future that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice had initiated
during an earlier trip to Beijing.
"Part of what I was trying to explain to them," said Zoellick, that "we
would have to take defensive countermeasures of various types not only
against North Korea?s nuclear activities but counterfeiting and other
criminal activities."
The effort by Rice and himself, he said, was aimed at reducing the
anxiety of the Chinese over a possible reunification of North and South
Korea.
Zoellick also said that the US is interested in using the six-nation
talks involving the two Koreas, Russia, China and Japan as a springboard
for creating a multilateral security framework for northern Asia that
would mirror organizations in the southeastern part of the continent.
***************************************************************
HindustanTimes.com
Myanmar Airways suspends flight to New Delhi
Press Trust of India
Yangon, September 7, 2005|19:18 IST
Myanmar Airways International will suspend its direct flight to New
Delhi from September 15 because passengers have dwindled in the
off-season, a company official said today.
"We cannot say exactly when the flight will resume but we can confirm
that we will definitely resume the flight at the proper time," the
airline's public relations manager Win War Oo told AFP.
Myanmar Airways will arrange flights on other airlines for passengers
who already have bookings, she said.
The Myanmar Airways flight, which runs three times a week, is the only
direct link between the neighbouring countries.
***************************************************************
Global Politician
The Aung San Family in Myanmar
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/8/2005
Aung San Suu Kyi is a much revered opposition leader in Myanmar (Burma)
(born 1945). She has bravely resisted - and still does - the murderous
military regime in her homeland and has won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.
Her mother was ambassador to India in the 1960s. She is cherished by all
her countrymen.
Moreover, Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of an illustrious figure in
Burmese history, a national hero - Aung San, who was murdered in 1947.
Aung San may be a hero to the Burmese but he has collaborated with the
Japanese war-crime tainted military machine throughout the second world
war - though he conveniently switch allegiances to the winning side five
months before the Japanese capitulated.
Aung San raised a Burmese contingent - the "Burma Independence Army" -
to assist the Japanese in their invasion of Burma in 1942. He was
rewarded with the post of minister of defense in Ba Maw's puppet
government (1943-5).
In March 1945, in what amounted to a coup, he opportunistically
defected, together with the Burma National Army, to the Allies, and
worked closely with the British, whom he hitherto claimed to have been
fighting for independence.
When the war was over, he established a private militia, under his
commend - the People's Volunteer Organization. He proceeded to negotiate
Burma's independence from Britain and its first elections. He was
murdered - with his brother and four others - probably by a political
opponent, U Saw, in 1947.
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism
Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He served as
a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, Bellaonline, and
eBookWeb, a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business
Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe
categories in The Open Directory and Suite101.
***************************************************************
The Financial Express
Myanmar pipeline MoU likely in Nov
ANUPAMA AIRY Posted online:
Thursday, September 08, 2005 at 0104 hours IST
NEW DELHI, SEP 7: The petroleum ministry is hopeful of signing the
much-delayed trilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the
transnational gas pipeline project from Myanmar to India via Bangladesh
by November-end.
A senior ministry official said the government was favourably
considering Dhaka?s proposal on giving it duty free access to the Indian
markets as a least developed country (LDC).
Bangladesh?s economy being export-led, India?s support is seen as vital
for its economic growth. Currently, duty-free access has been given to
Dhaka for 90 items and the latter wants India to include ceramics,
textiles besides some other items.
The other two issues raised by Dhaka relating to transit rights and
power trade with Bhutan and Nepal are also being addressed at
appropriate levels. India has categorically told Dhaka that it should
not link any of these issues with that of the pipeline project.
?The recent visit of two senior ministers from India (external affairs
and petroleum ministry) clearly indicates the seriousness with which we
want to iron out the issues. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met petroleum
minister Mani Shankar Aiyar before his visit to Dhaka and asked him to
speed up the process of bringing gas from Myanmar to India,? the
official said.
Mr Aiyar during his visit made it clear that Bangladesh should not link
these issues with the pipeline project. ?More than the energy corridor
issue or the issue on trade rights, Dhaka is now insiting more on the $2
billion trade imbalance issue. The commerce ministry is already looking
into this issue and Mr Aiyar would also be writing to his commerce
ministry counterpart in this regard,? the official said.
At the same time, India has also made it clear that it will
simultaneously pursue other options in the event of Bangladesh not
joining the pipeline project as ?we are not willing to forego the gas
from Myanmar?, said the ministry official.
Gas from Myanmar is seen as vital for meeting India?s energy security.
Myanmar is keen to settle the issue of evacuation of gas from two fields
in the Arakan region where Indian companies hold 30% stakes. Myanmar has
been exerting pressure for an early decision, indicating there were
other buyers for the gas, which is expected to become available from
next year.
Keen to give some comfort level to Myanmar, Indian authorities are
mulling various options including setting up a power plant near the
border for transmission into the northeast and eastern parts of India.
***************************************************************
SOCCER
Myanmar, Japan associations seek closer ties
Thursday, September 8, 2005 at 07:22 JST
YANGON, Kyodo ? The Japan Football Association will invite a Myanmar
team to Japan to play friendlies with some Japanese teams before the
Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines in November, the weekly Myanmar
Times said in its latest issue.
The JFA's international committee member Ichiro Fujita told the weekly
that his association is planning to organize three friendlies for the
Myanmar team with some Japanese teams between Nov 6 to 12.
***************************************************************
Bangkok Post - Thursday 08 September 2005
Karen in need of blessings
Sanitsuda Ekachai
The young Karen girl in her late teens looked quite traditional in her
long dress of machine-woven cloth sporting a Karen design. But the
spaghetti straps would have left her mother horrified.
Back in her village home in Burma, her mother would never, never let the
girl leave home wearing such a dress which audaciously showed off her
glowing, youthful shoulders.
But like thousands of Karen migrant workers who gathered for their
annual spirit-calling ceremony in Nakhon Pathom recently, the teenage
girl had no time to worry about mum frowning. It was time to lighten up
and feel reassured that they were not all alone far from home.
Traditionally, the young Karen who left their villages to work would
return home to receive blessings from their elders in the full moon
night of the lunar month, when the elders would perform the wrist-tying
ceremony to strengthen the village boys' and girls' guardian spirits and
to shoo away bad luck.
The ceremony is common to ethnic Karen on both sides of the Thai-Burma
border. It is believed that when one is shocked or distressed, the bad
experience chases one's guardian spirit away, making one even more
vulnerable to bad luck. It is then important to perform a ceremony to
call the guardian spirit back to its seat on top of the head.
For those who cannot return home, attending the spirit-calling ceremony
in town is equally effective. When the Karen peasants who fled
persecution in Burma to toil in often slave-like work conditions in
Thailand, heard that the forest elders would preside at the sacred
ceremony in Nakhon Pathom, they travelled by the busload from factories
in various provinces for the much-needed blessings.
''It's the power of culture and ceremony,'' said Tiwa Kongnandee, a Thai
Karen who organised the event, now in its 13th year. ''After observing
their own traditions and having good fun at the festival with their
friends, they feel refreshed and strong enough to face life's
difficulties again.''
The ritual does not only boost morale, but also identity awareness.
Living and working in a hostile land where migrant workers are often
dehumanised, the ceremony reassures the ethnic Karen about who they are.
This renewed sense of belonging to a group makes them feel
psychologically safe.
That is why the migrant workers, all in their youth, proudly turned up
in their traditional-looking Karen outfits for the day. ''Being here has
made me feel secure in who I am,'' said Onee, 29, a worker in Samut
Songkram. The rapture magically helped them forget their misery for a
day. For the indigenous Karen on Thai soil, many suffer the lack of
citizenship which robs them of all basic legal rights while subjecting
them to constant deportation threats. Even for those with citizenship,
they are maliciously stereotyped as forest destroyers who must also be
evicted from their forest homes.
For the Karen migrant workers from Burma, many end up in sweat shops,
working in slave-like conditions. Forget minimum wage, overtime and work
safety. Forget making demands, because to be sacked means immediately
losing the right to work in Thailand legally.
Having no opportunities in life, many girls are lured or forced into the
flesh trade. Being young, financially independent, far from parents'
surveillance _ and lacking the power to negotiate for safe sex from
their partners, many end up becoming HIV-positive. Abortion is a common
tragedy, which takes many young mothers' lives.
Even a simple social activity such as attending the traditional
spirit-calling ceremony is a risky business. Since migrant workers are
not allowed to go outside their designated work neighbourhoods, they
could easily face arrest and extortion on their journeys.
When Thai workers were abused in Taiwan, they protested violently and
their voices were heard, said Tiwa. Migrant workers in Thailand don't
even have the right to have recreation with a sense of safety. For
Toleh, 19, a factory worker in Omnoi, Nakhon Pathom, such fears did not
stop him. ''Life is very tough here,'' he said. ''We need all the
blessings we can get.''
Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post.
***************************************************************
China Daily
China-ASEAN free trade zone future pillar of world economy: official
(Xinhua) Updated: 2005-09-08 12:48
XIAMEN -- The China-ASEAN free trade zone is expected to become one of
the three major pillars of the world economy after its establishment in
2010, a trade promotion official has said.
The China-ASEAN free trade zone, which will report a population of 2
billion, a combined GDP of 2 trillion US dollars and a total trade
volume of 1.2 trillion dollars, will exceed the North American free
trade zone in terms of trade volume upon its establishment, said Wang
Jinzhen, spokesperson of the China Council for the Promotion of
International Trade.
By 2020, it will top the European Union free trade zone with 4 trillion
US dollars of gross domestic product, Wang said at a roundtable on
international trade and economic cooperation in Xiamen, a port city in
east China's Fujian Province.
China, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand gave
tariff cuts to each other on 7,455 kinds of commodities as of July 20,
2005. The practice, in line with the Trade in Goods Agreement of a
Framework Agreement for Overall Economic Cooperation between China and
the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed last
November, paved the way for the establishment of a free trade zone, said
Wang.
Trade between China and the ASEAN reached 105.9 billion US dollars last
year, a rise of 35.3 percent over the 2003 volume. The ASEAN has been
China's fifth largest trade partner for 12 consecutive years.
Bilateral trade in the first six months of this year approximated 60
billion US dollars, according to statistics provided by China's General
Administration of Customs.
The ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos,
Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
***************************************************************
Asian Tribune - Date : 2005-09-08
UNICEF calls for international support to Improve children and women
nutrition in Myanmar
Yangon, 08 September, (Asiantribune.com): UNICEF in Myanmar has
underlined the urgent need for a greater international support to
improve and protect Myanmar?s children and women against malnutrition ?
particularly anemia.
In a press release at the end of the the 3rd annual Nutrition Promotion
Week comes to an end, it was revealed that a billion people suffer from
anemia worldwide, including approximately half of all pre-school aged
children and pregnant women in developing countries. It also said that
Anemia is even more prevalent amongst children and pregnant women in
Myanmar.
Anemic mothers die more often in childbirth, and are more likely to give
birth to underweight children. Anemic children are shorter and less
mentally agile than they otherwise would have been, and are more
vulnerable to debilitating and potentially deadly diseases, the press
release adds.
UNICEF pointed out that numerous factors can give rise to or aggravate
anemia, including insufficient consumption of iron-rich foods, food
insecurity, parasitic infections such as intestinal worms, and malaria.
?This wide range of causes requires a wide range of responses,? said
UNICEF Acting Representative in Myanmar, Elke Wisch .?UNICEF needs
additional funding to protect more children and mothers in Myanmar
against anemia and other causes of chronic malnutrition.?
Since parasitic infections are one major underlying cause of anemia in
Myanmar, UNICEF works with health personnel to provide deworming
medication to pregnant women and children two and nine years of age
throughout the country. Parasitic worm infestations are a major
underlying cause of anemia.
UNICEF is also working with rural health services to provide
approximately 70 million iron foliate tablets for 350,000 pregnant women
across the country this year, as well as 207,000 bottles of iron syrup
for children in target areas the press release reveals.
Anemia prevention is just one component of UNICEF?s larger effort to
improve the nutritional status of children and women in Myanmar.
In recent years, UNICEF and its partners have protected thousands of
children in Myanmar from infection and blindness by extending vitamin A
coverage nationwide. Significant strides have also been made in
combating iodine deficiency in Myanmar, primarily through the iodization
of table salt, which has spared thousands of children from mental
impairment.
?The progress made in curbing vitamin A deficiency and iodine deficiency
in Myanmar shows us that we can also significantly reduce anemia among
children and women with the right support and funding,? said Ms. Wisch.
?While Nutrition Promotion Week comes to an end today, our work to
protect children from iron deficiency will continue.?
***************************************************************
New York, New York: Burmese activists conclude freedom march
Sep 7, 2005 (DVB) - Pro-democracy Burmese activists in the USA on a long
march for the freedom of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma, are
scheduled to reach their destination at 13.00 hrs Eastern Time on 7
September outside the UN building in New York.
One of the leaders of the march, Han Lin told DVB that they started
their march in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Washington DC,
on the 17th anniversary of the famous Burma?s 8888 nationwide
pro-democracy uprising, 8 August.
?There were many difficulties at the beginning of the march. We overcame
many kinds of difficulties,? Han Lin told DVB. ?We are feeling very
happy, proud, content for having a chance to work for the people (of
Burma). It is a long march for our leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the
people of Burma who are being oppressed and whose human rights are being
violated.?
The marchers are planning to stage a 17-day long peaceful hunger strike
in front of the UN buildings. During that time, a famous Buddhist
scholar monk, Rev Kelasa who was a lecture of a Buddhist religious
university in Burma is teaching them how to meditate and provide them
with spiritual comforts.
***************************************************************
NLD warns members to take care in dealing with other organisations
Sep 7, 2005 (DVB) - Burma?s main opposition party, the National League
for Democracy (NLD), warned its members to be careful in dealing with
any other organisation.
In a ?social relation? directive issued on 6 September, NLD chairman
Aung Shwe told party members not to be exploited by other organisations,
and copies of the directive were sent to the party?s regional organising
chairmen throughout Burma, according to NLD information department
spokesman Myin Thein.
Moreover, the directive is part of a treatise on relationships with
friends and foes, which was issued on 27 September 2001. The treatise
insists that in politics there is no such thing as eternal friend or
enemy.
Myint Thein said that the directive advises members to take care in
relations within and without the party, especially not to be used by any
other organisation on the expense of the individuals or the NLD as a
whole.
When asked about the party?s relationships with local authorities and
organisations under the control of the ruling junta, State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), Myint Thein insisted that the NLD adopted
the policy close to the idea of 'forgive-and-forget', there could be no
problem in having good relationships with others.
But he admitted that at some regions NLD members are still being
persecuted and harassed by the local authorities.
***************************************************************
BBC news - 07 September, 2005
Students say they act to stop crisis
Former students leaders who urged the government and democracy activists
to cooperate in getting humanitarian aid said they acted to stop the
dire situation in the country.
They also denied the SPDC played any role in their statement.
In an interview with BBC Burmese, Min Ko Naing says, "We want to make
absolutely clear that we have not make any agreements with the
government."
The group, calling themselves the 88-generation student leaders, had
said on Tuesday only international assistance can resolve the health and
education crisis faced by the Burmese public.
National reconciliation still a priority
Min Ko Naing adds this does not mean they are giving up hope of a
political change in the country.
"We have talked about it since we come out (of the prison). We are not
going to let the aim of national reconciliation out of our sight."
But the current problems have reached national levels, he says, and is
worse in border areas and remote places, usually populated by ethnic
minorities.
While some observers are sceptical about the calls, Professor David
Steinberg from Georgetown University and an expert on Burma, says the
call is "significant" and "certainly needed."
"This breaks with what seems to have been established in the practices
of not cooperating with the military on (humanitarian assistance)."
It also runs counter to politicians and activists abroad, including the
NLD, which has supported economic sanctions.
Factionalised groups in Burma
Prof. Steinberg notes, "Both the government and the opposition and all
groups inside Burma are quite factionalised so anytime anybody does
anything that is slightly different from the established political line,
they are accused of all kinds of nefarious activities. That is
unfortunate."
For student leaders like Min Ko Naing, the first step is to create the
right environment within the country that will satisfy donor countries
and encourage them to come in.
Prof. Steinberg believes this is a good opportunity for the SPDC to
portray themselves in a good light. But he is not confident the offer
will be taken up.
"If the government is prepared to deal with international NGOs and with
other governments in the EU... I think this would be a positive step.
But I'm not sure the government is prepared to do this."
Unless the government takes advantage of the offer, the international
community will not come in, he says.
"I think in the interest of the Burmese people, something should be done
to try and open up the country to better health and education."
***************************************************************
--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG
.
- Prev by Date: ma kite phuu byo :: 2
- Next by Date: Mudon Township PDC demand money for annual football match
- Previous by thread: ma kite phuu byo :: 2
- Next by thread: Mudon Township PDC demand money for annual football match
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
|
