BurmaNet News January 7, 2005

[Editor]

January 7, 2005, Issue # 2631

INSIDE BURMA
BBC Monitor: Burmese military reportedly attack Karenni base
BBC Monitor: Chinese organizations in Burma donate money for tsunami victims
Irrawaddy: Independent Confirmation of Burmese Tsunami Toll

ON THE BORDER
Sun Network:  Quake jolts Myanmar-India border areas

REGIONAL
AP: Thailand deporting hundreds of Burmese accused of tsunami looting
Irrawaddy: Burmese Workers in S. Thailand Hit Doubly Hard

INTERNATIONAL
Financial Times: European Union supports vulnerable populations in and
from Burma/Myanmar
Financial Times: European Commission provides additional 8.1 million in
humanitarian assistance for victims of the crisis in Burma/Myanmar
Times Colonist: Summit shy of commitment: Solidarity with disaster victims
pledged but funding gaps are a reality

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: In the Aftermath of the Tsunami

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 7, BBC Monitor
Burmese military reportedly attack Karenni base

Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 6 January

Dear Listeners: SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) military
columns have been launching offensives to seize Nyamu hill which is the
base camp of the KNPP (Karenni National Progressive Party). This evening,
the SPDC units arrived at the base of the camp and started firing heavy
weapons. Due to the clashes, Karenni refugees are very concerned for their
safety. DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) Correspondent Maung Tu filed a
report about this.

(Maung Tu) KNPP Secretary-General U Raymond Htoo has this to say:

(Raymond Htoo) They started firing heavy weapons at the base camp at 1730
this evening. SPDC military units No 134 and 135 and their allied
cease-fire units, that had once attacked another large KNPP base camp,
launched the attack. Four clashes took place within the last two days and
10 SPDC soldiers have been killed. Today, we ambushed one of their
vehicles used to carry injured soldiers. This year, they have said that
they would implement development tasks in our region. That is why they
would like clear out our entire base camps which is in the east of the
region.

(Maung Tu) There has also been reports that the SPDC units would attack a
nearby Karenni refugee camp. To learn more about this, I contacted Ko
Alexander, secretary of the refugee camp's committee.

(Alexander) We do not have confirmed information saying that the refugee
camp would be attacked by the SPDC, but the camp was attacked once in
1996. Thus, the camp committee has taken the precaution of deploying Thai
military units with a large numbers of police in the camp. They have been
guarding the camp day and night.

(Maung Tu) It has been learned that despite this safeguard, Karenni
refugees are concerned and scared. When I contacted a refugee woman
through the committee, she said:

(Unidentified female Karenni refugee) We could not even sleep because of
this.

(Maung Tu) Moreover, four SPDC porters managed to flee to the border
during the clashes. According to them, the SPDC military units attacking
the KNPP base camp have about 2,000 soldiers in total.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 6 Jan 05
_____________________________________

January 7, BBC Monitor
Chinese organizations in Burma donate money for tsunami victims

 Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New
China News Agency)

Yangon Rangoon , 7 January: Chinese diplomatic personnel and some Chinese
business companies based in Myanmar Burma on Friday donated over 6m kyats
(about 7,000 US dollars) for victims in tsunami-hit areas of the country.

The donations of the Chinese embassy, the Chinese consulate-general in
Mandalay and Chinese companies in Yangon were handed over to the Ministry
of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement (MSWRR).

Chinese ambassador Li Jinjun and Myanmar Social Welfare, Relief and
Resettlement Minister Maj-Gen Sein Htwa attended the donation ceremony.

Previously, the Chinese government and the Chinese Red Cross Society had
respectively donated 200,000 US dollars and 20,000 US dollars in cash to
Myanmar for the victims.

According to latest official figures, 64 people were killed, 56 injured
and 29 villages destroyed, leaving 3,460 people homeless in Myanmar by
aftershocks of a powerful Indian Ocean earthquake which triggered a
tsunami on 26 December last year.

____________________________________

January 7, Irrawaddy
Independent Confirmation of Burmese Tsunami Toll - Kyaw Zaw Moe

Independent assessments of the tsunami death toll in Burma tend to confirm
the Rangoon government figures, despite continuing skepticism.

More than 15 UN and NGO organizations collated their statistics at a
meeting in Rangoon Thursday and put the death toll at between 60 and 80.

This figure compares with the official government death toll of 59. The
government figures list 43 people injured, nearly 600 houses destroyed and
3,205 homeless.

The UN and NGO organizations—which include the International Federation of
the Red Cross, UNICEF, MSF and World Vision—say between 10,000 and 15,000
people were affected by the tsunami.

The figures are given in a report concluding that “Myanmar [Burma] has
been largely spared from the destructive forces of the earthquake and
subsequent tsunami.”

The report said that, compared to neighboring countries, the force of the
tsunami was very much reduced when it reached the coast of Burma.

“The particular topography of the southern and delta coastlines, as well
as the rocky nature of the islands, provided physical protection for the
population,” the report explained.

The international organizations have been undertaking assessment and
verification missions in the Irrawaddy delta, western Arakan coast and
southern Tenasserim Division, including the most populated islands of
Mergui archipelago.

They couldn’t make any assessment of the situation on the Coco islands
because they are a military base and off-limits.

Many observers believe the Coco islands would have been hit since they are
located in the Andaman Sea, about 400-km southwest of Rangoon. The
government, however, says the islands weren’t much affected by the
tsunami.

Burmese Prime Minister Lt-Gen Soe Win told an international donors’
conference in Jakarta Thursday that Burma could cope with the post-tsunami
situation alone and didn’t need outside help.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 7, Sun Network
Quake jolts Myanmar-India border areas

New Delhi, Jan 07 - An earthquake jolted the bordering areas of Myanmar
and India today, less than 14 hours after a temblor of similar intensity
shook the region.

The "slight intensity" quake, measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale, was felt
at 0923 IST, the Met department said here. Its epicentre was at 23.5
degree North latitude and 94.7 degree East longitude in Myanmar.

A 4.6 intensity quake had been recorded in the region at 1950 IST
yesterday. It was not known whether any damage had been caused by the
quakes.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

January 7, Associated Press
Thailand deporting hundreds of Burmese accused of tsunami looting

More than 500 migrant workers from Myanmar are being deported for
allegedly looting tsunami-damaged buildings in Thailand's hard-hit Phang
Nga province, police said Friday.

"We have already rounded up more than 500 on Friday, and we will be
deploying more police officers to guard areas hit by the tsunami after we
learned that an army of Burmese workers are on a stealing spree there,"
police Maj. Vachara Sangvorayothin said.

The detainees are to be deported via Victoria Point to their homeland, he
said.

More than 1 million Burmese are working as low-paid laborers in Thailand.
Thousands commute across the border along Thailand's Ranong province, many
working in fisheries, farming and construction.

Phang Nga also borders Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.

_____________________________________

January 7, Irrawaddy
Burmese Workers in S. Thailand Hit Doubly Hard

Many Burmese working in southern Thailand when the tsunami hit the region
on December 26 are suffering a doubly hard fate.

Those working illegally in Thailand are reluctant to collect the aid being
handed out by the Thai authorities, fearing repatriation if discovered.
Others, legally resident in Thailand, lost identity papers and work
permits in the tsunami chaos, and are now concerned they risk a similar
fate.

“Although the Thai authorities are providing help to all victims the
Burmese don’t dare to go and receive aid,” said Aung Myo Min, director of
the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, or HREIB.

The HREIB is working hard to help Burmese migrant workers in their
dilemma, and on Friday collections were being taken in factories employing
Burmese migrants in the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sot. Collectors were
also out in Mae Sot’s market.

“At the moment, my team is managing to help all the Burmese tsunami
victims we have traced,” Aung Myo Min said.

“If they want to go back home we will arrange for their safe return and
(make sure) they are not arrested by Thai police. If they want to stay
here and work we will find out how they can replace work permits lost in
the disaster.”

About 500 Burmese are still in Phangnga province, Aung Myo Min reported.
The HREIB had received the names of more than 150 Burmese who had died in
the tsunami, he said.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

Jan 7, Financial Times
European Union supports vulnerable populations in and from Burma/Myanmar

The European Union (EU) has announced funding worth 9.5 million for five
projects to help vulnerable populations within Burma/Myanmar as well as
those living on the border areas with Thailand.

International Organisations and NGOs operating within Burma/Myanmar and on
the Thai/Burmese border will carry out the projects.

Speaking at a signing ceremony for three of the projects held in Bangkok
today, Ambassador Klauspeter Schmallenbach, Head of the Delegation of the
European Commission to Thailand and Burma/Myanmar recalled that the EU was
by far the world's biggest donor in humanitarian aid.

In particular, such EU-aid covers basic needs: health, education and water
supply. The European Commission uses its specialised branch, called ECHO
(European Commission Humanitarian Office) to deliver emergency aid. The EU
will continue to support refugees and displaced persons from
Burma/Myanmar, Ambassador Schmallenbach said.

The three projects signed today take place in the Thai/Burmese border region.

The EU will provide 510,000 to a health initiative implemented by the
International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Some 20,000 displaced
ethnic Shan will benefit. Working in cooperation with the Ministry of
Public Health the project will improve the overall health conditions of
displaced persons and help make primary health care available to migrant
people from Burma/Myanmar.

Funding worth 1.2 million will be provided to a United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) initiative to improve the quality of
education for Karen refugees in Thailand.

The NGO Burmese Border Consortium (BBC) will receive 4 million to provide
basic foodstuffs to alleviate malnutrition and food insecurity for two
Karen Refugee camps in Mae Hong Son Province (Mae Khong Kha and Mae Ra Ma
Luang Camps). BBC will also supply building materials to all nine refugee
camps inside Thailand.

Two other projects taking place in Burma/Myanmar will be signed in the
near future.

The UNHCR will receive 1,780,000 to provide reintegration assistance to
returnees from Bangladesh and Thailand in Burma/Myanmar. This will focus
on ensuring the sustainable integration of vulnerable returnees in
Northern Rakhine State and on the Eastern border of Burma/Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) will be given 2 million to
provide food security to returnees and vulnerable groups in North Rakhine
State, particularly during periods of severe food deficit.

_____________________________________

January 7, Financial Times
European Commission provides additional 8.1 million in humanitarian
assistance for victims of the crisis in Burma/Myanmar

The European Commission has adopted two humanitarian aid decisions worth a
total of 8.1 million to assist victims of the ongoing and largely
forgotten crisis in Burma/Myanmar. The decisions will provide much-needed
assistance to vulnerable people facing extreme hardship. Support will
include access to primary health care and clean water and sanitation,
assistance to mine victims and child protection. The humanitarian aid will
be targeting Burmese refugees in Thailand as well as vulnerable
populations inside Burma/Myanmar.

A first decision, worth 4.65 million, will support Burmese refugees in
Thailand. An estimated 140,000 refugees are living in and around nine
camps located close to the Burma/Myanmar border. This is a large increase
from the 92,000 refugees in the camps in 1995. These refugees remain
completely dependent on international aid. Under this new decision, ECHO
will fund the provision of: key foodstuffs and cooking fuel for some
60,000 refugees in two camps; safe water, sanitation and basic healthcare
for a further 60,000 uprooted people along the border; assistance to mine
victims and refugees suffering from serious physical handicaps, together
with mine awareness activities for refugee communities.

The second decision, for 3.42 million, focuses on vulnerable populations
inside Burma/Myanmar. Complementing existing ECHO activities, the funds
will provide targeted support to rural people in the most remote regions
who have no access to basic social services. The funding will cover: -
Health activities, notably malaria treatment and care for mothers and
children, targeting an estimated 560,000 direct beneficiaries.

- Water and sanitation improvements benefiting more than 40,000 people.

- Child protection with an emphasis on improving the living conditions of
the most vulnerable groups living in special centres (orphans, former
street children, children in detention).

Over the past two years, ECHO has allocated more than 20.5 million for
relief activities inside Burma/Myanmar and along the Thai-Burma/Myanmar
border.

According to the terms of the Common Position, which was renewed on 26
April 2004, the EU provides only humanitarian assistance.

_____________________________________

January 7, Times Colonist
Summit shy of commitment: Solidarity with disaster victims pledged but
funding gaps are a reality

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- After a day when the countries of South Asia and
their foreign partners, including Canada, demonstrated solidarity with the
victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami, leaders and ministers produced a
declaration that was heavy on aspirations and light on commitments.

Nothing more profound was possible in a one-day meeting where there are
significant differences between governments on central issues like debt
reduction for the countries affected by the earthquake-spawned waves and
installation of an early warning system to protect against future
tsunamis.

The hastily called summit did, however, allow the 10 countries of the
Association of South East Asian Nations and supportive non-regional
governments such as Canada, the United States, Japan, China, Australia and
the European Union to voice their grief for those lost to the massive
waves.

The emphasis, though, was on immediate aid and long-term reconstruction
help for the estimated five million people whose lives have been
disrupted.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called the tsunami an
"unprecedented global catastrophe" and pledged his organization would
spearhead both immediate relief efforts and a medium-term emergency
program.

Annan launched an appeal to raise nearly $1 billion US so the UN can
embark on a six-month crash program of rehabilitation of the coastal
regions in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Bangladesh, India, Sri
Lanka, the Maldives and even Somalia on Africa's east coast.

Countries worldwide have pledged more than $4 billion to the relief and
reconstruction effort. Individual donors and corporations have offered
hundreds of millions more.

Annan's more modest appeal reflects a harsh reality. Money promised in the
passion of the moment of disaster often does not come through when the
pictures fade.

Annan was asked if pledging aid to the stricken region had descended into
a "beauty contest" between nations as governments appeared to be daily
trying to outdo each other with their largesse.

"For the moment, the world has come together," Annan said. "The spirit in
the (meeting) room and my discussions lead me to believe there is
solidarity. I am encouraged. It's not a beauty contest. All the leaders
are genuinely concerned."

But he was more reserved when it was pointed out that his previous
appeals, such as for the people caught up in civil war and famine in
Darfur in western Sudan, either failed to win international support or
pledges failed to materialize.

"That is a dilemma," Annan said. "This crisis has generated an incredible,
generous response while other crises don't get the response we need. In
some cases, where we have made appeals we have only got as little as 14
per cent of what we need."

Annan said there have been many occasions when there have been gaps
between what governments have promised and what they have finally
delivered.

"I hope governments will make their contributions real as quickly as
possible," he said. "And I look to you in the media to keep governments to
their commitments."

More than 165,000 people in 11 countries died after a Boxing Day
earthquake at sea caused massive waves and flooding, including 113,000 in
Indonesia, 30,527 in Sri Lanka and and 15,693 in India.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says five Canadians are confirmed dead
and 146 are still missing.

In New York on Thursday, UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Jan Egeland said
global efforts to assist victims are closing in on isolated parts of
Sumatra, where roads had been washed out.

The meeting's communique estimated response to the disaster "would entail
efforts in emergency relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction that may
take five to 10 years."

It also urged support for Annan's so-called "Flash Appeal." This program
envisages spending $229 million on food and rehabilitation of agriculture,
$122 million on health care, $61 million on water and sanitation, $222
million on housing and $110 million to restore jobs, all within six
months.

Annan said that as many of the people affected depend on fishing for their
livelihoods, grants for the repair of fishing boats and nets will be a
priority.

On rehabilitation and reconstruction, the meeting's final document was vague.

It called for international support for a "seamless" shift from relief aid
to reconstruction.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 7, Irrawaddy
In the Aftermath of the Tsunami - Aung Zaw

To some skeptics this is the time of the “tsunami auction”. Many nations
have pledged huge amounts to help victims in Southeast and South Asia. It
seems no government wants to be left out of the charity role call.

To date, the tally is around US $3.6 billion dollars. The most generous
donors, as might be expected, are the Australia, EU members, Japan and the
US. But there have been some surprises: North Korea pledged $150,000 (real
rather than counterfeit bills we hope); impoverished Mozambique also said
it would donate money.

At the emergency conference held Jakarta this week, UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan made it clear that the aid should come in cash and that the UN
immediately needed US$ 977 million to help tsunami survivors and rebuild
infrastructure.

As the one-day conference concluded it appeared that the UN was to assume
control of aid delivery logistics and the coordination of relief efforts.
But it was the US, not the UN that was first to the scene.

The complaints that Washington was slow to react are unjustified. By
December 29, only three days after the disaster, the US Air Force
relocated a number of Okinawa-based C130 cargo transport planes to
Thailand. The next day, they commenced flying round-the-clock relief
missions to Phuket, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. With the transport
infrastructures in parts of Sumatra and Sri Lanka knocked out, 46 US
military helicopters are ferrying supplies to relief camps (another 44
helicopters are on the way). Outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell
and Florida governor Jeb Bush, a brother of the American President,
traveled to the region ahead of Kofi Annan.

The US government pledged $350 million in cash to affected countries
(another $200 million has so far been pledged in private American
donations), significantly less than Japan, Australia or Germany. But the
size and cost of the ongoing American relief mission dwarfs the
contribution of any other donor in comparison. It involves thousand of US
military personnel and equipment operating from bases in Hawaii, Guam,
Japan, South Korea and Diego Garcia using the Royal Thai Air Force’s
Utapao Air Base as a hub. The US is the only country with the logistical
capability to run such a large-scale operation.

If the tsunami has demonstrated the effectiveness of America in dealing
with natural catastrophes, it has cast doubt on the capability of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, to handle a regional
emergency. One might be forgiven for assuming that the grouping’s policy
of non-interference in member nations’ internal affairs extends even to
disaster prevention and humanitarian crises.

At the Jakarta conference, Thai foreign minister Surakiat Sathirathai
belatedly proposed the forming of an Asian Disaster Preparedness Center to
develop an early warning system and logistical tools for Asia. While the
tsunami was the worst natural disaster in living memory, it certainly
wasn’t the first. Why wasn’t a regional disaster center in place years
ago?

_____________________________________

January 7, The West Australian
'Competitive compassion' is the UN's term for aid one-upmanship

Cynics among the diplomats who filed into the Jakarta Hilton yesterday
wryly called it a bidding war.

But in the face of unfathomable human tragedy, that kind of cynicism
rightly went down like a lead balloon. The United Nations officially tags
it competitive compassion.

Whether world leaders have been trying to outdo each other with aid
pledges is probably less relevant than whether they make good on their
promises.

And that is not as ridiculous as it sounds. Although UN chief Kofi Annan
praised global generosity in responding to the tsunami disaster, aid
agencies have warned that in past disasters pledges have not always been
honoured.

Just over a year ago Iran was promised more than $1 billion in aid for the
Bam earthquake disaster but claims only $17.5 million arrived.

It was clearly with this in mind that Mr Annan walked into the conference
media room and urged journalists from all countries to keep an eye on
their governments.

He said bluntly that they needed to make sure that their leaders weren't
just paying lip service in the wake of the tragedy. More than 30 countries
have donated about $US3 billion so far.

As the conference opened, the monumental task ahead and the urgent need
for money was made painfully clear as mind-numbing statistics were read
out for more than an hour. One by one, each country hit by the greatest
natural disaster in living memory gave a gut-wrenching presentation of
their losses.

First it was Indonesia. Then Burma, Malaysia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka,
India and finally Thailand.

With each speaker, the numbers increased. More than 95,000 dead in
Indonesia and about 70 per cent of the affected region's buildings and
infrastructure destroyed.

Sometimes there was an emotional and gruesome video presentation. Other
times it was just a catalogue of the destruction. India would only make a
statement, saying it didn't want to waste anyone's time. The destruction
was obvious and the need brutally clear.