KAOWAO NEWS NO. 112

KAOWAO NEWS NO. 112



News letter for social justice and freedom in Burma

June 16-July 3, 2006



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Readers' Front

World Cup gambling enthusiasts undaunted by threats of arrest

Malaria on the rise in Three Pagodas Pass

Barriers to education for poor families in Southern Burma

Villagers forced to guard MOGE gas pipeline

Canadian lawmakers call for UNSC action on Burma

World Cup 2006: Burma under their feet

Open and close door policy on a Free Market Economy

Are the Asians morally inferior than the West?

Population transfer threatens Mon community

Discussion on Population Transfer



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Readers' front



Dear readers,



We invite comments and suggestions on improvements to Kaowao
newsletter. With your help, we hope that Kaowao News will continue to
grow to serve better the needs of those seeking social justice in
Burma. And we hope that it will become an important forum for
discussion and debate and help readers to keep abreast of issues and
news. We reserve the right to edit and reject articles without prior
notification. You can use a pseudonym but we encourage you to include
your full name and address.



Regards,

Editor

Kaowao News

kaowao@xxxxxxxxxxx, www.kaowao.org



__________________________________________



World Cup gambling enthusiasts undaunted by threats of arrest

(Kaowao, July 3, 2006)



People betting on the World Cup Soccer matches in Mon State can do so
only if they are university students or successful at paying bribes to
the local police, according to residents.



Police Major Hla Than of Thanbyu Zayut Town raided the houses which
hosted the soccer gambling at the beginning of the World Cup, but ended
up accepting bribes for 50,000 Kyats from the small dealers and 100,000
Kyats from the big dealers, reported Nai Ban from the town.



In Moulmein, the capital city of Mon State, there is no report on
betting since the local authority warned the gamblers will be arrested,
with satellite owners serving up to three years in jail and having
their satellite dish confiscated. However, the Moulmein University
students can watch and bet on the games because authorities do not want
to provoke a student riot, said a second year university student.



Million of Kyats were bet in Thanbyu Zayat and Ye Townships. Most
gambling enthusiasts are male from 16 to 50 years old.



As Thailand prohibits gambling, people from the Thai side cross the
Three Pagodas Pass border to bet on the game inside Burma. The main
gambling venue at the Thai Burma border town is hosted by a member of
the cease-fire group, the DKBA, a huge amount of money is betted during
the World Cup with many losing their life's savings.



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Malaria on the rise in Three Pagodas Pass

(Kaowao: July 3, 2006)



Two third of patients along the Sangkhalaburi Thai Burma border are
suffering from malaria during this raining season, according to medical
workers.



Many refugees and internally displaced persons including New Mon State
Party leaders have contracted malaria," said a medic from the
Halockhanee Mon resettlement camp.



"About 65 per cent of 700 patients in the Arrowjan Hospital, Wine and
Jaytanar Clinics have malaria. The PF and PV malaria diseases are
common in this area. The PF is the most dangerous and is difficult to
recover from. Patients who suffer from malaria are mostly children and
women," he added.



"Because of mosquitoes that thrive in this region during the rainy
season, a high number of people crossing the border, the lack of
mosquito nets and proper anti-malarial drugs, there have been more
patients than in previous years. When Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
was in this area, malaria treatment was much better," commented a
social worker from Waeng Ka Mon village. They could get access to
people inside Burma heading to the border.



Following the withdrawal of the MSF, Mon medical workers working in
refugee camps and rural areas in Tavoy, Yebyu, Ye and Three Pagoda
Townships face difficulties due to lack of support and technical
assistance. They are worried that they will not have enough medicine
to treat the high number of patients and the incidence of malaria will
increase as a result. The MSF provided treatment for the Mon refugees
in southern Burma, but stopped its operation in March of this year due
to restrictions imposed by the Burmese authorities. MSF had been
working on the Thai Burma border since 2001.



The malaria warning was issued to tourists planning to visit the
Burmese-Thai border area near Mae Sot in Thailand's Tak province.



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Barriers to education for poor families in Southern Burma

(Kaowao: June 26, 2006)



Even with the support of the Total Oil Company, school tuition fees
around the Yadana gas pipeline have increased with families having
difficulties paying for their children's education.



Nai Ong from northern Yebyu reported that higher tuition fees were
introduced for the school year 2006-7 at 13 villages around the Yadana
pipeline area in Kanbauk, Klein Aung and Yebyu Townships.



The financial burden of paying for school repairs and additional
building falls upon children and their families. The principal of Paung
Taw Joint High School, Ms. Cho Cho, collected 15,000 Kyats from each
middle school student and 17,000 kyat (US$17-20.00) from high school
students. The fees will go toward a bag of cement 6,000 Kyats, 200
bricks 2,000, chairs 4,500, and a bookshelf 10,000 Kyats.



The principal reasoned that the school had not received enough funds
from the government for school repairs and the construction of new
buildings. The local community is faced with extremely expensive costs
in maintaining the running of the schools.



Many poor Tavoyans and Mon families are not able to pay for these costs
and schools have turned these children away who are unable to pay. In
addition to informal costs, other additional fees of keeping their
children out of school are books, uniforms, supplies, food and
transportation. According to the local villagers, they are happy due
to additional support for community development provided by the Total
Company. Special teachers from the YMCA and medical doctors are hired
from Rangoon and the living standard in these villages is reportedly
higher than other rural villages. It also attracts other villagers to
the area who bring their children to attend the school there. However,
the government teachers take full advantage and open private tutoring
to collect money on the side, charging 300,000 Kyats per year.



There are 2 government run high schools and 2 joint-high schools
(government recognized self-supported school) in the gas pipeline area.




At the Three Pagodas Pass border town of the Thai Burma border, the
tuition fee has also increased from 200 to 320 baht for elementary
school and from 330 to 550 Baht for middle school.



In the rural areas, Mon children are learning their basic education in
self-supported Mon national schools run by MNEC (Mon National Education
Committee). These Mon national schools are regarded as illegal
institutions and are shut down often due to threats from the Burmese
authorities.



Although the Burmese authorities claim 90 per cent enrollment for
education in the country, UNICEF says it's more likely 55 per cent
enrollment.



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Villagers forced to guard MOGE gas pipeline

(Kaowao: June 20, 2006)



The Burmese Army in Mudon Township have continued to conscript local
villagers to guard the Kan Bauk - Myaingkalay gas pipeline which passes
through their area.



According to the local sources, every village adjacent to the pipeline
has to provide five persons each to guard the pipeline and those who
fail to do so must pay the guard 3,000 Kyats in fines to the Burmese
army.



A farmer from Klot Sort village, who does not want to be named, said
some children and women have to go on duty if their household fails to
provide the people. They have to remain at the guard hut and wait
until the Burmese troops arrive to check their patrol. The BA also
punishes the local militia if they cannot find the quota from their
village.



An explosion close to the Kan Bauk - Myaingkalay gas pipeline occurred
near Kwan Hlar village central Mon State in February 2006. About a
hundred people including village headmen from the village were rounded
up and subsequently questioned after the explosion and the SPDC
authorities forced the villagers to guard the pipeline.



The pipeline transports gas from the Yadana Gas offshore field in
Tenasserim to a cement factory in Myaingkalay village in Karen State.
A series of explosions have occurred in Mon State starting in 2002,
three times in Mudon, one time in Thanbyu Zayat and one time in Ye
townships, 2 of which were ruptures that released gas throughout the
local area causing fires and environmental damage.



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Canadian lawmakers call for UNSC action on Burma

(Kaowao: June 28, 2006)



Fifty Members of Parliament call for United Nations Security Council
action on Burma, addressing to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and 15
members of UN Security Council yesterday.



The Canadian MPs urged UN chief and members of Security Council, by
signing and adding their names on a letter, to put the situation in
Burma on the formal agenda of the UNSC and to pass a binding resolution
requiring the restoration of democracy to Burma.



According to a statement from the CFOB (Canadian Friends of Burma)
based in Ottawa, the Parliamentarians noted that the UNSC briefings
were only a first step and increasingly unstable situation in Burma
represents a threat not only to the people of Burma, but also to
international peace and security. The UNSC has rendered two briefings
on Burma in December 2005 and in May 2006.



"Canada's support in this effort is very significant, given
enlisting of 50 MPs which we haven't seen in Canada," said Tin
Maung Htoo, Coordinator of CFOB. "This parliamentarians' support
strengthens the position of the Government of Canada that has already
expressed the need to have an UNSC action on Burma," he added.



Recently, Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay issued a statement
calling on UN Security Council to tackle Burma issue, an explicit call
made after the United States.



Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) lobbied MPs to support this letter in
Canada, as part of international effort that drew more than 562
parliamentarians support from 35 countries including Burma's
neighbors and member countries of UN Security Council.



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World Cup 2006: Burma under their feet

(Kaowao, June 20, 2006)



Even though the SPDC authorities ban the World Cup 2006 from betting,
people in Mon State enjoy watching the game at a risk of losing their
life savings.



Kaowao has learned that millions of Kyat (Burmese currency) was placed
in bets on World Cup Soccer matches in Germany 2006 in Ye township.
Gambling enthusiasts are mostly male from 16 to 30 years old hoping to
win big. Children, women and Buddhist monks, give full intention and
gather in homes with a TV satellite by paying entrance fees that varies
on whether it is a private video house or a theatre. In some privately
own theatre, the audience can watch the game with a glass of beer or
soft drink.



The price of satellites has jumped to 150-175% prior to the world cup
season, from its normal price. "A 200,000 satellite dish was 300,000
or 350,000 in early June. My children know all the soccer stars such
as Rooney, Ronaldhino and Beckham," said Nai Phu from Durae.



Mr. Shwe Nan Tin, a member of the cease-fire DKBA, hosts the main
gambling venue of the Three Pagodas Pass Thai Burma border town.
Gamblers from around the region come to place a huge amount of money on
their winning teams.



A Mon community leader from Moulmein said, "People have no other
entertainment and job opportunities. Having the authorities threatening
people with arrest and satellite owners getting up to three years in
jail plus having their satellite confiscated, does not stop the heavy
gamblers."



The Burma soccer team was once famous in Southeast Asia, but military
rule has stifled growth of the much-loved sport that needs strong
community involvement and money. Burma back in the 1960s and early
1970s was part of a professional league winning two Asian Games
championships in 1966 and 1970, four Southeast Asian Peninsular Games
titles and numerous other soccer awards.



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Local Perspective on ASEAN



Open and close door policy on a Free Market Economy



(By Banya Hongsar and Lita Davidson)





The Union of Myanmar needs the protection of the Association of
Southeast Asia Nations to cover up its deplorable treatment of human
beings, while ASEAN needs the United Nations to shirk its duty to
provide the Southeast Asian region with a secure working environment
based on human development, the foundation for a thriving economy.
Since 1967, ASEAN has opened its borders to economic integration, but
has a hands off policy to develop tolerance and freedom to address
human suffering within its regions. The stage is set, but there are no
actors to promote a free market economy in Myanmar.



While having set up a Security Community to be established by 2020,
there has been little incentive to develop protocols to deal with human
security given its stance on its so-called non-interference policy. In
particular, it does not acknowledge the rights of people, address
international reports on human rights violations, such as rape as a
weapon of war, and turns it back away from thousands of refugees and
the rights of migrant workers residing within their borders.



The Joint Communiqué of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting held in New York
on the 13 September 2005 states that ASEAN Socio-cultural Community is
a community of caring societies, diverse in culture yet with a
distinctive regional identity. But the regional body turns away from
the rights of domestic workers rights in Singapore and Burmese migrant
workers in Malaysia who have fled wide-spread and a well publicized
international humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, with thousands of
refugees flooding across their borders and thousands more displaced
within the jungles of Myanmar, one of its member nations.



Socio-economic integration is at the core of ASEAN policy. But does
ASEAN have the wherewithal to develop Myanmar according to its policy
of trade and investment? The very people who are needed to promote a
free market economy are thwarted from doing so due to abuses from its
members' governments. How can it carry out its policies on peace and
stability when it comes to Myanmar? Will Thailand and Malaysia develop
a more humane and socially integrated approach in dealing with illegal
migrants, the Burmese pro-democratic forces, and the many-armed ethnic
groups based along the Thai Burma border and the ever-growing menace of
the drug trade that now threatens its stability? The Security Community
was formed to address these very problems of peace when it admitted to
the fact that social development is at the core of economic success.
But many observers say that reaching a consensus will be difficult
given its position on non-interference and non-intervention.



ASEAN Protocols should be encouraged to acknowledge these people's
rights from Myanmar and the western governments must make a stronger
case for championing human rights in this part of the world. Burmese
workers must share social and cultural rights equally with local
residents. Whose responsibility is it to promote these peoples'
rights? Will it be up to the United Nations? Are the religious groups
responsible for their people? After all, ASEAN extols the diversity of
the many religious groups within its grouping, should then the
religious groups promote their followers' rights within the framework
of ASEAN?



According to a media release (6 March 2006) of the Families and Friends
for Drug Law Reform of ACT, Australia, the production of opium in
Myanmar in metric tons in 2004 was between 300-400 tons. This press
release showed that Myanmar had produced up to 1,800 in 1993-1995.
ASEAN did not raise these important stability issues publicly in its
ministerial forum for some years. It only recognizes the avian bird flu
or rising oil prices and expresses outrage at terrorists' attacks,
while many thousands have been killed, face starvation, and are subject
to a range of human rights abuse within their borders. By doing so, one
has to question whether this would threaten its image of harmony,
stability and strength. These inherent social problems are never
formally recognized or considered important enough to correct in
achieving economic success it so often proclaims it wants to achieve.



ASEAN members who want to lead their nations into a globalized world
economy need to start promoting freedom and liberty if they want
economic development on a much broader scale. But there is a tendency
for Asian leaders, for example, Lee Kwan Yew, former Prime Minister of
Singapore, to argue that authoritarian governments are much better at
leading their people to economic success. With Thailand and the
Philippines now struggling to develop a democratic system, one may
conclude that this view is once again gaining ground. But if anything,
these countries have shown, especially with respect to India, that
having an open environment based on freedom of expression, political
and civil rights are more conducive to economic growth. During and
after the 1988 uprising that demonstrated a nationwide protest against
authoritarian rule by a strong civil society, no measurable assistance
toward Myanmar was ever provided by ASEAN. It accepted Union of Myanmar
as its member in 1997 and at once started to exploit the country for
its gas and oil.



ASEAN neglects its core values by sticking to its non-interference
policy. Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand implicitly condone the
uneconomic behavior of Myanmar, while benefiting enormously from cheap
and illegal labour for the last 30-40 years. Currently, there are over
100,000 illegal Burmese migrants in Malaysia, 20,000 in Singapore, and
over a million in Thailand.



Without cheap labour from Myanmar, many construction projects, food
processing factories, tourist industries in Thailand, Malaysia,
Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea would not have been completed,
saving these governments billions of dollars on their march to economic
success. A Burmese illegal worker, depending on the country, earns
anywhere from $10-35 per day and often undergoes a range of abuse to
get those earnings. Migrant workers have contributed significantly to
the economies of these countries, but governments are loathe to
recognize that cheap labour has built their countries from the bottom,
just as many western countries did during the first decades of
industrialization. ASEAN leaders should take a few lessons from the
western governments in promoting equal rights for their workers, after
all it took many decades for the western government to recognize their
Asian workers and now many governments have apologized for their
inhumane treatment of Chinese labourers.



The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the current government
of the Union of Myanmar does not represent the welfare of its citizens
that number over a million migrant workers. But only seeks ways to
benefit from the labour of these people, as demonstrated recently in
arguing for migrant worker processing centres to be set up in Myanmar
and not in Thailand.



Former Czech President Vaclav Harvel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Archbishop Desmond Tutu called for the UN Security Council to take
immediate action against Myanmar for failing to protect human rights
committed by its troops in September 2005. ASEAN however had little to
say to these international condemnations. Most of the governments in
ASEAN are autocratic and its business partners, even for example South
Korea, one of ASEAN biggest business partners, censors the press to
refrain from printing anything negative about social problems. How can
we expect them criticize others when they refuse to admit their own
problems, as so often is the case in Asia?



ASEAN has provided aid to these countries as part of their lip service,
but alleviating poverty alone will not eradicate the many social
problems Southeast Asia faces in its mandate to accelerate the
economies in the region. It has yet to fully realize that investing in
free speech and building a stronger civil society that is able to
demand appropriate public action is the key to economic success. Within
Myanmar, only a number of people have access to the Internet where
there is no freedom of expression. How can people operate in such a
restrictive environment? When China and South Korea invests millions of
dollars in Information Technology in Myanmar does it ever cross their
minds that most Burmese don't have a computer, let alone electricity
to start it with and if they did would be arrested for using the
Internet.



Furthermore, there is no support from ASEAN allowing people to have
access to instruments of expressions in a modern economy. For example,
radio and TV programs are offered by the west, such as BBC world
services and ABC. Over 80% of the population has to rely on BBC and RFA
radio to listen to daily news on local and international issues. Where
is ASEAN? If it is committed to peace and stability, why doesn't it
provide people with better access to exercise their economic and
political rights to achieve peace? The ASEAN leaders have to think
again what is an open market economy, so the people have accurate
information about their government's daily business at home. Reading
newspaper published by a democratic group from Bangkok can be jailed
for seven years in Myanmar.



ASEAN is now in a position to tackle these social problems, but the
regional body lacks the commitment and the teeth to defend human
development or human rights in its own countries.



Marwaan Macan-Markar reported on IPS September 2005 that Myanmar's
economy had grown in the light of the fact that the country has the
second highest prevalence rate of HIV in South-east Asia with an
estimated 170,000-620,000 people living with the killer disease,
according to a UN agency.



The regional body's only objective is to engage with Myanmar on
issues that have an impact on investment and trading in the region. A
much greater role must be promoted for civil society and local
development groups if it ever wants compete globally. However,
regarding Myanmar, no development can be achieved in armed conflict
zones. No projects can be implemented when domestic politics is in
chaos. No one with civil and political rights can speak freely against
the wrongdoings of the military or the socialist or communist political
systems.



The ASEAN Secretary-General Mr Ong keng Young told, ACB Asia Pacific
program on 2 June "we are trying our best to work with the Myanmar
people on what we call capacity building and bringing them more and
more into the open market". Myanmar was ranked third from the bottom
in a new survey monitoring global economic freedom, with researchers
reporting a small improvement in the country's business environment
over the past 12 months. Local farmers and general workers earn roughly
Kyat 200-300 per day ($5-7), the price of an egg is Kyat Kyat 60-70 in
local market. So an individual must work for one day just to buy a meal
for the whole family.



The political elite of the ASEAN sends their children overseas to study
new technology and advanced education. The SPDC sends their children to
Thailand and Singapore for Information Technology degrees and other
Business Degree studies. Locally, the Mon children have no access to
public schools, while the Burmese government shuts down locally run
schools paid for by the local community groups. In this respect,
competition from the ethnic groups is suppressed, as the Burmans want
complete access to land, people, and resources.



An open economy is anathema to the Burmese government, as it will not
tolerate any competition from the ethnic groups. Over 2000 Mon teachers
and 40,000 children were eligible for aid from Thailand from local
charity groups to support the Mon language. This is an example of what
ASEAN has to think about to promote its policy initiative on Myanmar
and economic security.



Lack of political progress at the national or state levels has resulted
in frustration within the nationalist communities. Since signing
truces with Rangoon, the KIO and NMSP in particular have made repeated
calls for political engagement with the military government, according
to Ashley South who wrote in September 2004 in Irrawaddy magazine.
After 10 years of cease-fire talks, over 3 million Mon people have not
received social and cultural rights from the government.



For example, over 1,000 Mon nurses, 2,000 Mon national teachers and
40,000 Mon children are not protected by the Government of Union of
Myanmar, this is a question for the regional leaders to clarify within
SPDC administration. If 6-7 million people of the Karen and Mon
populations in southern of Burma have no educational access, how is it
possible to promote a free market economy with an illiterate
population? Having an educated population is the main pillar of a
successful market economy in the modern world.



ASEAN plans to move towards greater economic integration, emphasizing
sustainable and equitable growth, according to its policy papers. If
this is the case, corruption would be targeted and the private sector
would be developed in Myanmar. Farmers, workers and labourers would be
allowed to form unions.



The ICRC, Rangoon based report in 2004, stated that 57,109 detainees
were held in 64 detentions centres around the country. These detainees
are registered prisoners, but there are more detained in armed conflict
zones in the other seven ethnic states, demonstrating that the
political dominance of the Burman government is so strong that a free
market economy would be difficult if not impossible to be established
by civil society groups, a prerequisite for economic growth.



The H.E. Secretary-General Ong Keng Young addresses to ASEAN-EC
Symposium in November 2005 said that the state creates a conducive
political and legal environment for a market economy. The private
sector generates jobs and income and civil society is mobilized and
political and social interactions are allowed. The SPDC itself and the
Myanmar government have little courage to apply this norm. The SPDC
itself is unable to manage its public education and health sectors.



In July 2004, the 13 cease-fire groups submitted proposals at the
National Convention, which has been in recess while demanding
self-determination for their own territories, but the military
authorities of Burma have rejected all of them, the BBC reported. Over
the last two years, these leaders were pressured to lay down their arms
and surrender to the government. The National Convention produced no
popular constitution to complete its 7-point road map to democracy in
Burma.



Human Rights Foundation of Monland reported from 1998-2006, that over
40 local civilian were killed by the government troops, in which there
was no legal action allowed to be taken by the victims family against
the SPDC authority. Instead, they were all accused of supporting
anti-SDPC troops in Ye township in Mon State.



ASEAN lacks the political will to develop its regions. The majority of
its members are ruled by a one party system in which military personnel
are above the law. Myanmar can never hope to achieve ASEAN's goal of
socio-economic integration policy unless they grant autonomy to its
non-Burma seven States and a democratic government is restored with the
National League for Democracy led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi governing the
country based on freedom and equality.



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Asian Values in the Burmese Context



Are the Asians Morally Inferior Than the West?



(By Kanbawza Win)



"There would be a euphoria in the Japanese leadership with the news
that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is hospitalized," commented the man in the
street. I enquire why, and he replied that Daw Suu, is not only a thorn
to the Junta but also to the Asians and he reasoned that the Burmese
army was founded in Japan and the Japanese leaders has all the time
supported them, as even now they prevented Burma from putting in the
UNSC agenda, lest the former would take action and the Burmese army
would be no where. He sadly added that the inhuman cruel ways, which
the Japanese Kampeti had taught to the Burmese army during the Second
World War was being brush up and augmented by the Burmese tatmadaw
(armed forces) up to this day. He lamented that these sons of the Sun
would not be able to comprehend of how the tatmadaw can mechanize an
assassination that look like an accident, such as putting lead water
(which can lead to slow death, that has been practices so much on the
political prisoners inside jails) in the water pipe line that flows
into Daw Suu's residence.



As an average man his hypothesis seems to be strong and I dared not
defend the Asian morality now that both giant neighbors like China and
India, not to mention ASEAN countries, have come out strongly on the
side of the Burmese Junta vis a vis the Burmese Democracy Movement. The
last nail in the coffin being what the Indian leaders (the biggest
democratic country in the world) said, that they could not export
democracy to Burma. Knowing full well that the world would be a far
better place if democracy spreads, the Indian leaders seems to shudder
at the thought that they would not be able to sell arms to Burma, if
democracy flourish in that country. May be one version of Asian values
similar to the Constructive Engagement.



There are more intriguing issues to explore within this context of
Asian values. How can the region of Asia, comprising of some many
different cultures and customs be grouped together to form the "Asian
values", to represent the combine image of Asian society? Do "Asian
values" exist as something definably different from the hegemonic
culture of "Western values"? Can we explain this phenomenon in the
concepts of the clash of civilizations? What is the significance of the
concepts of social structure in explaining human behavior that varies
within the societies, over time and according to circumstances? Asia is
a region with a kaleidoscopic panorama of racial, languages, religions,
cultures, history and political systems. In the early 1990s, the
concept of Asian values was created by the elites to advocate stability
and enforce social cohesion in a heterogeneous society, and it later
becomes internationalized as a fundamental core by the leading exponent
of the concept.



Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir pointed that Asian nations
have highly varying historical and religious backgrounds; Malaysia is a
predominantly Muslim country, Japan is somewhat Confucian (as is South
Korea) with Shintoism and Buddhist playing a role too, and Thailand is
Hinayana Buddhist, while Philippine is a Christian country. However,
there exist a stratum of common values and beliefs that most Asians
follow as a guide through the world; these formed the concept of Asian
Values. But how did it reflect in the Burmese dictatorial concepts?
Asian value system emphasizes the importance of the community and
family. Fulfilling individual responsibility towards family and
community is prioritized over the consideration for individual interest
and privileges. Asian values also include respect for authority, which
are seen to guarantee stability for the entire society; and placed
importance on hardworking attitude in pursuing progress and harmony in
the global economic world.



From the Burmese scene, we can see that disparity exists in the
priority of social values given by the Asian and Western groups. Even
though both the Asians and Western emphasized the importance of new
ideas and public accountability, Asian prioritized order, harmony and
respect for authority while the Western placed more value on the rights
of the individual and the need for open debate. In short the long
custody of Daw Suu, supported by the great Asian countries of China,
India and Japan has become a mockery of the Asian values in the world.
Questioning the universality of basic civil and political rights, the
idea of the clash of values between the "East" and "West"
enjoys influence amongst academics, politicians, journalists and others
interested in the implications of Asia's changing position in the
global political economy. The false monoliths that are being depicted
in the notion of "Asian Values" versus "Western Liberalism"
conceal major and unresolved political and ideological disputes within
Asia and the West as Daw Suu's case. Indeed, it is the universality of
these disputes that accounts for the extensive interest outside Asia in
the idea of "Asian values" with conservative ideology and
philosophy.



Leaders of some of the Asia countries criticized the West for refusing
to accept the legitimacy of Asian values because it cannot accept that
East Asia is becoming a centre of World power and that a psychological
revolution is taking place in East Asia as Asians recover from their
colonial past and are discovering that they can do things as good as,
or even better than the West. However, they refuse to sees that the
Asian region as benefiting from and strengthened by the fusion of the
best practices and values from many rich civilizations, Asian and
Western; that many Asian values should obviously be destroyed,
including feudalism, excessive anti-materialism and excessive deference
to authority; that no one should be allowed to hide behind the cloak of
cultural relativism or dictatorial.



Dr Mahathir called for "mutual respect" among nations; as many in
the West deemed that their values and beliefs were universal while the
advocates and champions of Asian values were condemned as merely there
to justify oppression, dictatorship and uncivilized behavior as what
the Burmese Junta is doing on its own ethnic nationality. Perhaps,
Asian Values is a concept to encourage Asian people to free themselves
from their own low esteem, the legacy of years of Western colonization.
The perception that "West is the Best and Superior" still pervades in
the culture of many ex colonial countries, in the name of globalization
and the entire Burmese believe in it due to the attitude of the great
Asian nations of China, India and Japan. The expansion of the right of
the individual to behave or misbehave as he pleases has come to the
expense of orderly society as in the case of Senior General Than Shwe
of Burma, to have a well-orderly society, so that everybody can have
maximum enjoyment of his freedoms can only exist in an ordered state
and not in natural state of contention and anarchy.



Notions of rationality and progress are defined in the West; while the
East was mired in religion and despotic, patrimonial political systems
susceptible to constant internecine struggles and incapable of
progress. Inversely, the people accused that the Asian values is being
used to justify the undemocratic and hypocrisy of the authority to
confine the human rights. Western leader, scholars and media always
claimed that Asian's authority is ignoring the human rights,
particularly in China and Burma. Samuel Huttington's " The clash of
Civilizations and the remaking of world order" argued that the world
appeared to be heading towards conflicts, not between countries, but
between whole civilizations as Osama bin laden has proved to be true.
Asian values have become the ideology of a range of regimes, which
combine an organic statist variant of political conservatism with
market economies. It is in the context of a fundamental, although
ongoing, contest between organic statist, liberal and social democratic
variants of capitalism. Inevitably the current Burmese regime is a
classic example of the bad Asian values to justify their abuses of
power and the inequities of their societies.



Daw Suu's argument that development can and must occur in a democratic
"culture of peace" has not moved Burma's Asian neighbours beyond the
mentality of domestic jurisdiction and non-interference, which
characterizes the region. In a developmental context it has been
possible to argue that stability and basic welfare are the priorities;
strong government and a curtailment of some political rights are thus
necessary in the interests of society. The collective goals are clear
so the government's responsibility of upholding these should not be
unduly hampered by democratic checks and balances seems to be the
rationale of the Chinese, Japanese and Indian leaders.



It is populism, rather than democratic theory, which explains the
nature of the new Asian politics.

Most Burmese view the US and the West as the "land of opportunity" and
liberty, of friendly and generous people, of volunteerism, a country on
the cutting edge of innovation and creativity in the arts, sciences and
commerce are also part of the picture. while the "dark" side of America
may not be far "off-screen" in many Asian homes, respondents reported
that there is still a deep admiration, especially among the better read
and travel, for American ideals and openness; and a sense that despite
its serious problems, the United States remains enormously resourceful,
resilient and wealthy, still at the pinnacle of both "hard" and "soft"
power in the world. Masakazu Yamazaki asserts that "the only thing
Asian countries share together is modernity" "Asian values" and "Asian
democracy", found considerable skepticism in the region. to see if one
can separate human rights from democracy. Democracy, that is rule by
the people, can - and has - trampled on the rights of some citizens in
history. And some rather authoritarian leaders have been successful at
advancing important economic human rights. Rulers, however they may be
chosen, believe they are promoting the common good. But who defines
that common good? Is it General Than Shwe for the people of Burma?



Human rights questions have been on and off the agenda of world
politics since the end of the Second World War. The holocaust in Europe
and Japanese atrocities in Asia generated political momentum in the
immediate post-war years for the establishment of an international
human rights protection system. The adoption of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 was a testimony to the
international commitment to human rights protection. International
pressure on East Asian states over human rights has been interpreted as
an attempt to undermine their political position and therefore a threat
to regime survival. Human rights differences between the Western world
and East Asian countries can therefore be a major source of friction,
creating problems for the Asia-Pacific region's search for a post-Cold
War regional security structure and better regional economic co-
operation.



The post-Cold War international debates on human rights have been
referred to as a clash between the post-colonial approach and the
neo-colonial approach. The post-colonial approach, developing from the
liberal tradition, emphasizes the interdependence of states and the
triumph of the liberal democracies over authoritarianism. remarkable
economic success of a number of East Asian countries since the
mid-1960s The East Asian challenge can be seen in cultural, economic
and political terms. Culturally, they assert that the Western approach
ignores the specific cultural traditions and historical circumstances
of Asian societies, whose interpretations of human rights are different
from the Western tradition. Economically, they maintain that the
priority of developing Asian societies has to be the eradication of
poverty: the right to survival must come first. Therefore, political
stability under the capable leadership of good government is essential.
They also question the motives of the West by accusing the Western
countries of having double standards and using human rights merely as
an instrument for advancing Western economic or security interests. In
some ways the East Asian reaction to Western pressure on the human
rights question can be characterized as a realist response: Western
human rights policy has been seen as "power politics in disguise" - an
instrument for advancing Western political and economic interests. As
human rights issues return to the international agenda, the records of
East Asian countries has been subjected to critical scrutiny by the
international community. While there may be some scope for interpreting
human rights differently and perhaps even assigning different
priorities to specific human rights according to the region's special
circumstances, East Asian states are on the defensive, e.g. China,
Japan and South Korea's Daewoo in Arakan state.



The importance of economic and social developments in measuring human
rights conditions is widely accepted throughout the human rights
community. A study commissioned by the United Nations Centre for Human
Rights identified poverty as a key obstacle to the advancement of human
rights. As the report suggests, worldwide poverty and increasing
disparity between the North and the South "is endangering the ethical
foundation of our Planet". But in the case of Burma, the military
regime is deliberately making the country poor so that it could be in
power forever. While Asian governments' emphasis on development needs
and cultural differences are not entirely groundless, they have failed
to justify their policies in the suppression of human rights or in
claiming that they are the only representatives of their societies and
thereby the only adjudicators of human rights standards. As many human
rights activists have observed, while development is a legitimate human
rights concern in the developing world, all too often state development
policies in such countries become a source of human rights violations
when people are forced to leave their homes for development projects or
are deprived of their means of livelihood as the case of the oil pipe
lines and the up coming Salween dam.



In spite of the growing importance of human rights issues in world
politics, Asian states prefer to deal with human rights within their
own domestic jurisdiction, resisting international monitoring. They are
reluctant to sign major instruments of international human rights
protection. Countries such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and
Thailand are not signatories to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights. Since the end of the Cold War many East Asian states
have continued to adopt an uncompromising attitude towards human rights
differences with the West, and deny human rights NGO activities at
home. They are often ruthless in dealing with political dissidents,
considering them as a threat to regime stability. But external pressure
has clearly played a part in shaping government policies and the human
rights agenda in the region. The Japanese government, for example,
clearly found it necessary to adopt a tougher posture towards China
after the Tiananmen tragedy in 1989 as a result of Western pressure,
despite its intuitive tendency for a friendly political relationship
with its giant neighbour. Even hard line states like China find it
difficult to ignore human rights issues, making a significant policy
shift in encouraging scholarly research on human rights. The state
sponsorship of scholarly human rights study in the PRC was largely a
direct response to Western condemnation of the human rights conditions
in China following the Tiananmen incident in 1989.The role of
international intervention in human rights problems is controversial.
The international community clearly has a role to play in assisting
countries, which suffer in conditions of natural disasters or war when
individual rights are transgressed by warring groups or governments.
The need for humanitarian assistance clearly supports the argument that
a more flexible view of sovereignty should be accepted. In fact states
which respect human rights and promote human welfare are more likely to
be stable members of the international community. Asian states, which
highlight Asian values, are reluctant to tolerate international
involvement in human rights protection in the region, rejecting it as a
Western attempt to impose a set of standards which are not consistent
with Asian traditions and realities. Yet they have not produced a
convincing alternative approach. International relations in the
Asia-Pacific region are not as institutionalized as in Europe, and
region-wide fora for discussing human rights issues are therefore
limited.



It was shocking to the Burmese people when Japanese apposed the Burmese
case in the agenda of the UN Security Council, although it is
understandable that China and Russia objected being themselves
dictatorial regimes, but Japan is supposed to encourage democracy. One
can judge Japan by reading their school text books. It tells us that
the Japanese manage but cannot lead. Their leaders avoid conflict,
favoring consensus and cooperation. They conspire, but do not inspire.
And, while there have been many powerful Shoguns, it has been ages
since Japan produced the equivalent of a Churchill or a de Gaulle. But
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, was hardly a major force in Japanese
politics when he became prime minister in 2001. Once in office,
moreover, he never received lavish praise from the news media, which
commonly referred to him as selfish, single- minded and bull-headed.
Even former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori muttered that his protégé was
"a weirdo."



But In the post war period he is the only Japanese Prime Minister that
sent Japanese naval tankers to the Indian Ocean to support US and
British forces operating in Afghanistan. Soon thereafter he went even
further, putting Japanese boots on Iraqi soil during wartime. In so
doing, Koizumi transformed the U.S.-Japan alliance into one with global
reach - without generating any of the opposition that earlier would
have paralyzed Japanese political life. But how does he handle the
Burmese case?



Last week, in a brilliant parting shot, Koizumi announced the
withdrawal of Japanese troops from Iraq and introduced legislation to
elevate the Japan Defense Agency to full ministry status. Koizumi had
created a more muscular Japan with more security options than at any
time since the 1940s. Even great leaders make strategic mistakes,
however. Koizumi's biggest error has been his unnecessary provocation
of Japan's Asian neighbors, especially China, now Japan's largest
trading partner. Again with the objection of putting Burma on the UNSC
he had earned the wrath of the Burmese people.



He had poked a sharp stick in his neighbors' eyes by visiting the
controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where Class A war criminals and
a revisionist version of the Pacific War are enshrined. Japan has been
an extraordinarily good to the Burmese military regimes for more than
half a century. Its economic aid and foreign investment helped much.
But it takes a very long period of good behavior and insistent effort
to overcome the distrust of other states.



Japan's unwillingness or inability to confront its history squarely -
and to demand that its Asian do the same - is undoubtedly the largest
single constraint on its diplomacy. For all his other very considerable
accomplishments, Koizumi's unnecessary (even if tacit) endorsement of
revisionist history will be a blot on his otherwise extraordinary
legacy. By the Japanese action it proves beyond doubt that we Asian
need to catch up with the West as far as democracy, human rights,
morality and responsibility is concerned.



Vancouver



**********************************************



Population transfer threatens Mon community



(By Cham Toik)



Palean is a Mon village community of extended families located in
western Ye of Mon State and was a good representation of Mon culture.
This way of life formed the basis of Theravada Buddhism in Southeast
Asia that delivered a message of peace transmitted from generation to
generation in not only the Mon culture but also was adopted by the
Burman and Thai cultures.



The Palean community is a perfect example of how people can live within
self-sustained communities on fertile and productive land according to
a traditional life style. The people enjoyed a peaceful life and felt
no fear and left their doors unlocked at night, their farms were
un-fenced, and the women hung their day's laundry outside. Following
Mon rural culture, a visitor dropping by is always offered fruit or
vegetables, fresh water to drink or betel nut to chew and a wholesome
dessert.



The whole village helps to ensure that a 'Haeng' is built behind
their homes for the long-term storage of rice paddy for the coming
year, enough to feed family members and visitors. The women go to the
Haeng only when paddy is needed where it is pounded by hand to remove
the rice husks, a long and labour intensive process that makes the most
delicious and nutritious rice. This has been their way of life since
Mon language was first recorded in 500 A.D. and which verifies Mon's
existence as a people. Mon culture was born from the village community
and is the foundation of a unique language and has been since the
advent of sedentary rice agriculture in Southeast Asia for at least two
thousand years.



Today throughout the area, the Palean community faces the loss of their
traditional way of life brought on not only by the demands of the
global economy in which Mon leave to Thailand, but to the ever
increasing threat of Burman domination.



Day after day, villagers have reported their rice and their clothing
being stolen and indiscriminate attacks by Burmese migrants. Human
rights violations such as murder, loss of land and disruption of
agriculture practices, cultural repression and the continued migration
of young Mon to neighboring countries add to the growing threats of the
Mon culture. However it may be regarded elsewhere, the political
crisis in Burma, it is fair to say, has been devastating for the ethnic
peoples.



Increased crime



On May 6, 2006, a passenger on his way from Azin to Ye stabbed and
killed a Mon taxi motorcyclist from behind and along with his gang
stole the victim's motorcycle. In another similar incident, a
motorcyclist on his way to Zobbu town from northern Ye was beaten by a
passenger. The passenger, a Burman worker with his gang, thought the
owner of the motorcycle was dead and took the motorcycle.



Burman robbers attacked, robbed, and beat Ms. Mi Hla, aged 43, on her
way back from her farm in Durae. Another lady from Lamine sub-town said
she is scared of the Burmese migrants who come around as a gang
intruding her farm at night stealing anything they can get their hands
on leaving scattered debris in their wake. "They don't respect
local laws and our way of life, we don't dare complain because they
will destroy our garden plots. Some of our gardens were burned down
after we complained," said the villager.



A border trader says more migrants have moved into her community and
comments on the loss of peace in the village, "In the past we could
leave our belongings outside, now everything is stolen."



The village headman of Andaeng who organizes festivals said petty
crimes such as pick pocketing and looting often occur and children have
their jewelry stolen when they walk around in public gatherings. Most
of the criminals are Burmese speaking men and women and no efforts on
part of the Burmese government to address these crimes and its threat
to Mon culture have been made.



New settlers and migrants to the Ye area have committed several crimes
these days. Many believe the main cause for these crimes is due to
poverty and lawlessness, but Mon political leaders, as well as local
people, say that the population transfer from the north is the main
factor behind the high crime rate.



In need of a labour force



Faced with a rapid loss of labourers after thousands of Mon left to
Thailand to escape human rights violations and economic poverty by the
Burmese military, the local communities rely on internal migrant
workers from upper Burma and Kyaik Hto of northern Mon State to come to
southern Mon State to work on farms, rice fields, and rubber
plantations.



Nai Khin, a local businessman from Durae told Kaowao that he was quite
happy about having a migrant housemaid in his house to do the work.
Young people including boys and girls from his village have left to
Thailand where they can earn more money than they do in Mon State.



The daily wages for a farm laborer are about 3000 Kyat a day (about 2.5
US dollars) in Ye Township, while wages in the north are considerably
lower at 1000 Kyat per day in upper Burma. With such economic
disparity as well as milder weather in Mon State, many adults and young
people from other areas flock down south to work in the fishing and
agriculture industries.



"They are hard working people and much easier to deal with. Even
though I was advised by a monk to hire local workers, it is impossible
to find anyone nowadays," said Nai Dut from Mawkanin.



Tighter government control



While the military regime regularly checks the household registration
in the remote areas, its sole purpose is to monitor the movement of
opposition groups. No information related to the internal immigration
has been released to the general public in Mon State and no
consultation with the local people has ever been put on the table.



The Burmese Army classifies the remote areas as black, brown and white
in its war on controlling the ethnic population. The black area is
where most of the non-Burman people live and is under the
opposition-armed group's control. The brown area falls within both
government and rebel control depending upon influence, while white is
under the government control. The black and brown areas have seen the
worst human rights violations including forced labour, execution, rape
and extortion.



Particularly in southern Mon State, the brown area has become the major
goal for the SPDC government. If it controls the rural area, through
displacement and land confiscation, it can undermine the political
leadership of the ethnic peoples and hence be well on its way to
control the whole country.



The ceasefire between the military government and the New Mon State
Party was to produce political stability and a future of peace, but all
it did was open the doors to more abuse of power including land
confiscation and the relocation of civilians from the north. The
ceasefire agreement proved to be a hidden motive of assimilation policy
by the ruling Burmese junta to exercise complete control over land
previously held by the Mon and other ethnic nationalities, aptly
referred to as the "Population Transfer Policy."



"There is no fighting and we don't have to flee but slowly many
outsiders have arrived, this is different from the past," said Nai
Zin, a betel nut gardener from Andaeng, northern Ye.



The Burmese Army confiscated thousands of acres of land in Mon State
without paying compensation. In total about 10,000 acres of land had
been taken out of farming production and turned into land used to
develop for the government projects, and as claimed by the authorities,
to promote economic prosperity. Forcing to give up their land,
thousands of farmers have been made destitute or migrated to Thailand.
In the mean time, the Burmese government has launched an undeclared
population transfer policy, moving in its own people, for example,
retired military officers, their families and friends into the black
areas of southern Mon State to live and work in the projects run by the
Burmese Army on confiscated land.



Nyan Saik, of Mon Environmental Group, reported that the Burma Army
operates 3 brick factories on confiscated land in Ye Township and about
300 Burmans are employed with a wage paying 2000 Kyats per day.
According to a local source from Zobbu, "the BA is coloring it white
and needs Burmans to speak the same language or who understand Burmese
for military instruction during security patrol."



The source from the New Mon State Party said a military base in Mokanin
village, northern Ye, was built for the sole purpose of relocating
retired military personnel and disabled war veterans. The military
camp is near local Mon villages where the Burman soldiers are free to
engage in social activities and mix with the local girls and women in
the community, while many Mon farmers have left their homes to escape
human rights violations perpetuated by these people and economic
impoverishment brought on through land confiscation.



"We are powerless and will soon become the minority in our land. The
Burmese authorities favor those (Burmese migrants) for the well paying
jobs and use them in their divide and rule tactics. Many strangers are
appointed as militia and some have become the village headmen and
interfere in our daily affairs," said a leader of Mon Youth
Association.



Community concern



Nine years ago at the 50th Golden Anniversary of Mon National Day
sponsored by the Palean community in 1997, a Mon community leader Nai
Sadao Htow said that villagers should stay close to their homeland to
live a traditional way of life rather than leaving their homes to seek
jobs in Thailand. He delivered a speech in front of 10,000
participants on the auspicious occasion. Not many people were worried
about population transfer at that time since only a handful of
outsiders were working in their community and were warmly welcomed.



The situation rapidly changed within nine years with a significant
increase of Burman settlers into the area. Most villages in southern
Mon State are now filled with Burmese migrant workers or strangers due
to lack of human resources in their community.



In local teashops, their morning gathering place, Burmese conversation
controls the crowd. Some villages have a Burmese abbot in their
monastery. This situation has alarmed Mon nationalists and Rehmonya
Nikaya Buddhist monks in examining the increase of non-native people
mixing in their villages. They say the concern now is not only with
increasing crime, but also the threat of loosing their traditional way
of life, an issue that may take on negative consequences and which is a
matter of concern for all. They share the general feeling that the
ceasefire agreement between the NMSP and the Burmese military
government, land confiscation and population transfer are connected to
each other and that it may create problems with Mon and Burman alike.



The serious threat for the Mon led to disturbances between the Mon and
Burmese and, unfortunately, resulted in a negative aspect in the
community. Being accused as robbers, some Burman migrants were killed
by a Mon armed group last year. As a result, the Burman are often
looked down upon by the local community.



During the 3rd Mon National Conference held in Nyisar hosted by the New
Mon State Party (NMSP) in April this year, the delegates discussed a
policy paper prepared by overseas Mon organization regarding the
population transfer into Mon State. Nevertheless, there is as yet no
clear resolution on how to deal with this issue and many feel that
instability and crime are likely to get worse unless some action plans
by the government and local people are drawn up to establish a
political dialogue to work together in mutual respect.



Population transfer as a global issue



Population transfer for the Mon community is a case for international
human right's law. While travelling around the world during the past
ten years raising awareness about the plight of the Mon, this writer
was extremely shocked to learn about the obstacles faced by other
indigenous peoples in their struggles for peace and justice. I was
able to participate in several meetings related to the rights of
minority people and indigenous populations including the United Nations
Draft Declaration on Indigenous Peoples and Working Group on Indigenous
Populations. During these occasions, indigenous friends raised the
issue of the population transfer and reports were sent to the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland.



The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, which serves the
interests of unrepresented indigenous peoples and minorities (UNPO) in
which the Mon people are members, held a Conference on Human Rights of
Population Dimension of Population Transfer in Tallinn, Estonia in 1992
that sought to raise concern on the problems of population transfer
faced by its members around the world.



The population transfer is defined as the movement of people as a
consequence of political or economic processes in which the State
government or State authorized agencies participate. The International
Law, in Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 states,
"The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own
civilian population into the territory it occupies" and Article 85,
paragraph 4 of the Additional Protocol 1 80 states, "... the
following shall be regarded as grave breaches of this protocol, when
committed willfully and in violation of the Convention or Protocol: (a)
the transfer by the occupying power of its own civilian population into
the territory it occupies... in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth
Convention".



While the state organizes the population transfer policy, the local
people fall under the hand of the majority people in all spheres of
economic, social and political life that will undermine and displace
our way of life.



Interestingly, the British colonial rule had at least some degree of
protection for the minority people or the population transfer. Article
52 of the Chittagong Hill Tracts protected the Jumma people in
Bangladesh and 1900 Regulation prohibits settlement of "non-hill
men" or outsiders.



However, the situation changed under independent Bangladesh rule, the
military administrators transferred an estimated half a million plain
settlers by providing inducements between 1979 and 1983. In the first
week of June 2005, the government of Bangladesh placed a proposal to
continue to provide "free food rations" to Muslim plain settler
families. These settler families were brought under the government
sponsored transmigration programmes and the government has been
providing free food rations to these plain settlers. In five years,
the military governments settled an estimated 500,000 plain settlers by
providing inducements in order to make indigenous Jumma people a
minority in their own land.



According to Mr. Suhas Chakma, Director of Asian Centre for Human
Rights, if the present population transfer programmes are carried out,
the populations in the CHTs will increase by over 25% the total
population of the CHTs and all of them are mainstream plains people.
This will destroy the distinct identity of indigenous peoples.
Similarly, the issue on transmigration of Indonesia's Javanese people
to West Papua, Moluccas and Aceh is raised by indigenous peoples on its
threat to their way of life.



In the case of Tibet, China has transferred its population into Tibet
since the invasion in 1949. According to the report of the Tibet
Government in Exile, there are over 7.5 million non-Tibetan settlers of
Chinese and Hui Muslims while Tibetans inside Tibet comprise only 6
million. The increasing Chinese population transfer into Tibet has also
reduced the Tibetan people to a minority group in their own land.



A new era of Burman domination



The new global economy has been the other driver behind diverse
populations moving across borders to seek secure employment and the Mon
have constituted the biggest population to journey across the southern
Thai Burma border. However, Burmese settlers and the military
government have again challenged the Mon's existence as a people.



For over two hundred years, the Mon people have migrated from and into
Thailand to escape famine, disease, war and Burman domination from the
north and have survived. Some of the inhabitants, of the Thai Mon
villages in central Thailand and Sangkhlaburi on the Thai Burma border,
are the descendents of Mon who sought exile, refuge and economic
security in Thailand.



Since Burma gained independence from Britain, the centralization of the
Burmese government has continually threatened the lives and cultures of
all peoples. The non-Burman communities are systematically targeted
and have been deprived of their birthright to teach in their own
languages and prevented from producing creative literature to preserve
their cultural heritage.



The military repression of the entire population has taken a heavy toll
on the people who suffer continually from economic poverty, from forced
labour and armed conflict. The Burmese Army has intensified its
military offensive over the past decade in the ethnic nationalities
areas forcing thousands to flee to neighbouring countries to maintain
its grip on power. As a consequence, Arakanese, Karen, Shan, Mon and
others have left their villages. Sooner or later, the Burmese Army
with its administrative staff and their families will relocate to these
areas and Burmese settlers from central Burma will fill the vacuum in
these areas.



The relocation of the Burmese population to the ethnic areas today is
done with little thought to the consequences and is carried out within
the context of greed, ignorance, mismanagement and lack of a political
will. Unless the SPDC makes an effort to work with the ethnic
nationalities and democratic forces to solve the country's political
crisis, the cultures of the ethnic nationalities will disintegrate and
the diversity of Burma's peoples will be lost forever.



*********************************************************



Discussion on Population transfer threatens Mon community: By Cham Toik




Thank you for this article. It reports details about what's going on in
Mon State. It is a part of systematic invasion and part of the
strategy of SPDC regime.


mks (Canada)

______________________________________



Thanks for pointing out a very important issue, population transfer of
Burmese migrants into Mon areas and threatening our Mon communities.
The writer closed the well written article with "Unless the SPDC makes
an effort to work with the ethnic nationalities and democratic forces
to solve the country's political crisis, the cultures of the ethnic
nationalities will disintegrate and the diversity of Burma's peoples
will be lost forever." I afraid that this is the only thing SPDC really
want it to happen, to kick all non-Burman people out of the country and
reserve the vacant land for Burman, if not to assimilate them all. And
I don't believe that SPDC will do anything to stop population transfer,
because it intends to do so.



What we can do about it? Let's put it into few practical steps;



1. Stop complaining about it and do something. You and I know very well
that there is strength in unity, it is high time that the Mon get
together and unite, but we have got to have a clear plan on how we can
build unity among us and really implement the plans.



2. Ask NMSP to reconsider its unsigned ceasefire agreement. You and I
also know very well that the ceasefire agreement was never signed, it
is just a trick of Burmese Junta to fool NMSP and Mon people, why the
hell do we have to keep it?



3. Form a Mon National Government, because the Burmese Junta will never
protect our population, why don't we form our own government to protect
our own people instead?



4. Get the UN Security Council to really act. Why don't we put our
heart and soul into getting the UNSC to solve the problems in Burma?
You and I also know very well that one of the reasons for Burmese Junta
to move its capital from Yangon to Pyinmana was to avoid the risks of
being attack by US-led UN forces. UNSC is our only hope, but Burmese
Junta's only fear.



5. Talk to our Burmese friends that they are not our enemy and that
they can help us for the benefit of all people in Burma. They have to
pay the debts of their ancestors' bad deeds. The Burmese have got to
take the responsibility if Burman is to survive as a race.



With these 5 simple steps, I believe that the situation will positively
change. These ideas are just basic strategies; we can work together to
have a more effective one.



In unity and solidarity,

Sumit

Thailand

______________________________________



I am very impressed with Cham Toik's well written article "Population
Transfer Threatens Mon Community" itself, and with responses and
comments made by Mon patriots around the globe. It is very encouraging
to see that everyone is aware and concerned about the issues that could
threaten the survival and the very existence of our Mon even though
there are differing views on this issue.



Yes, as the author mentioned in his article, population transfer is an
important issue and, frequently used by many governments as a strategy
to dominate ethnic minorities areas and territories. As a consequence,
an article on this issue has been drafted and ratified in the Internal
Law. The article 49 of International law prevents a large scale and
systematic transfer of civilian population by the states and
governments. If this happened to any ethnic nationalities inclusive of
our Mon, all measures have to be taken in order to stop it. However,
regarding population transfer to our Mon state, there is still
differing views whether it is a "Population Transfer" or, "Population
Movement". In its very definition, population transfer is the large
scale transfer of civilian population conducted by the governments in
order to dominate politically, economically and socially.


With regard to our Mon State, my personal view is that of "population
movement" not in a state of "population transfer" yet. Even though
increasing numbers of battalion and infantry are sent to our Mon
states, it is hard to say that there is a large scale transfer of
civilian population into our Mon areas. In addition, in making a large
scale population transfer into our Mon state in order to dominate us,
the Burmese military government has to have a stronger support, control
and cooperation from its own Burmese people. In current political
situation, even Burmese people themselves are against Burmese military
government and it has no control and cooperation whatsoever from its
own people.



Even the Burmese military government has to move and try to secure its
power base from Rangoon to Pyinmanar for afraid of revolt by its own
people. So, I would rather put that it is an economic migration and a
population movement based on economic conditions. In this age of
globalization and global economy, there is a population movement across
territories and borders of nation states. For instance, Mon from Mon
states move to Thailand, Thai people move to Singapore, and Singaporean
move to more developed nations in search of a better pays and working
conditions. At the same time, people from upper Burma and other states
and divisions move to our Mon state in search of works.



These movements are temporary and cannot be categorized as permanent
population transfer as Mon will come back to Mon State, Thais will come
back to Thailand and Singaporean will come back to Singapore after the
termination of employments. However, it will affect, one way or
another, our ways of life in our Mon states or else by the presence of
people from different cultures and people from other states and
countries. We used to hear complaints frequently made by Thais local
peoples and Thai authority by the presence of our Mon economic migrants
in Thailand. However, as the Thai cannot prevent and stop our Mon
economic migrants, they have alternatively to find a solution to
register and control it.


So, in our Mon case too, we better find a realistic and a practical
solution to tackle the issue of population movement in our Mon state.
It does not necessarily mean that it is not an important issue and we
do not need to worry and be concerned about a threat to our Mon
national identity as a result of the presence of other nationalities in
our land. As Mon, we all have to constantly keep it in mind and prepare
how to deal with it if it happen to us. However, we should separate our
worry from the reality. Worry is based on subjective analysis, our
assumption and our feeling. The reality is based on the unbiased
situation analysis and then make an informed decision. It should be
realistic and practical. The major concern among us are about the
domination on our Mon by Burmese or others culturally, socially,
economically and politically. So in order to prevent the domination of
other people on our Mon, we better build a stronger Mon civil society
and encourage the awareness of, and attachment to our Mon culture and
Mon identity. We all are well aware that national identity cannot be
overwhelmed by the other nationalities as long as we are aware and
strongly attached to our national identity. National identity and
national culture are not confined to a geographic location or a
territory.



Population movement across borders of nation states is very common in
this age of globalization. So we have to strengthen our national unity,
national awareness and attachment to our national identity wherever we
are. As long as we can manage to strengthen the awareness and
attachments to our Mon national culture and identity no matter whether
we are in our Mon state, in Karen state, Rangoon division or abroad we
can maintain our Mon national identity and can survive as Mon in the
world.


Siri Mon Chan

(Canberra, Australia)

_______________________________



Dear Editor,



I really enjoy reading your article and agree that the SPDC's
population transfer is a threat for the Mons and other ethnic. Burma
is a diverse and complex state, population transfer is not only between
the Burman and non-Burman; as I have heard Wa people in northern Shan
State are brought to the south. Even though the SPDC may not directly
involve in the larger scales, all of these chaos are due to the
SPDC's centralization policy.



Min Min (UK)


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