BurmaNet News, May 24, 2006

[Editor]

May 24, 2006 Issue # 2969



INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima: NDA-K factions renew fighting
DVB: Detained NLD MP Than Nyein not allowed to receive medical treatment

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Burmese children born in Thailand denied citizenship
The Nation via Thai Press Reports: Thailand needs to do more than paying
lip service to removal of land mines

DRUGS
Irrawaddy: Burmese drugs still hurting Northeastern India

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Myanmar may be paving way for Aung San Suu Kyi's release: UN
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Myanmar's military appears ready to improve ties: UN

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Keep those fingers crossed - Aung Zaw

PRESS RELEASE
AIPMC: Statement by AIPMC calling for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate release
and on the recent visit to Burma by the United Nations envoy Ibrahim
Gambari

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 24, Mizzima News
NDA-K factions renew fighting

Fighting broke out between two factions of the New Democratic Army-Kachin
this morning in Kanpaite, Kachin State.

The fighting started when the faction led by Layawk Zelum launched a
surprise attack on Zehkung Tingying’s opposing faction this morning.

The NDA-K was a single entity until September last year when group
secretary Layawk Zelum staged a coup while chairman Zahkung Tingying was
in Rangoon.

The army was split into two groups after a two-week crisis with one
following Layawk Zelum and the other following Zahkung Tingying.

Layawk Zelum today attacked and seized Kanpaite, which was controlled by
Zahkung Tingying.

“The unsuccessful coup group reiterate again. Just small scale fighting
this morning but now Zehkung Tingying group are trying to get back their
area,” a local source told Mizzima.

“I believe Zehkung Tingying will use all of his forces,” he said.

While some residents said Kachin Independence Organisation troops had been
involved in the fighting, the KIO’s colonel Sumlut Gun Maw said the claims
were false.

Military sources told Mizzima Burmese battalions 74, 121 and 236 were on
their way to Kanpaite to tackle the situation.

Zekhung Tingying and Layawk Zelum are thought to control 300 and 200
troops respectively.

____________________________________

May 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Detained NLD MP Than Nyein not allowed to receive medical treatment

Detained elected representative (MP) of Rangoon Kyauktan Township, Dr.
Than Nyein is still not allowed to receive medical treatments.

Than Nyein, who is continued to be detained with Act-10A on five
consecutive occasions with 60 days each time, is suffering many types of
illness and it has been nearly 2 years since he was allowed to see
specialist doctors, according to his wife Khin Aye who went to see him at
Prome (Pyay) Prison in central Burma.

“When I went to see him this time, he said that they came to tell him with
(Act) 10A five times,” Khin Aye told DVB. “They came to stick a letter on
(the wall of) his cell saying five times, outside the door. I think that
is extraordinary. I didn’t hear 10A mentioned elsewhere.”

Khin Aye said that she was unable to discuss with her husband about the
letter as guards were with them when they saw one another. But she said
she is still hoping and praying that her husband will be released soon as
he has been detained beyond his release date for more than five times.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) lawyer, Nyan Win said he himself
is not sure as why the letter was stuck on the wall outside Than Nyein’s
cell.

“We don’t know who wrote the letter, which (department) signed it and the
like. Legally, if you punish someone or extend his sentence, you must
notify him. Now that they stuck/put up (the letter) on the wall, how could
we resume that it is notification? As I said before, if it an extension
(of the sentence), the person affected must know about it. As it is stuck
without the knowledge of the person affected, we don’t regard it as an
official letter.”

Nyan Win added that an appeal was submitted on behalf of Than Nyein on 28
March but there has been no response from the authorities concerned.

“The court of appeal must need to hear the appeal when it gets it
or else
it is not in accordance with the law.”

He added that Act-10A is different from other political laws.

“The working right is with the supervising organisation (government), not
the court. It is the appeal of (to?) the ruling power. There is only one
(chance of?) appeal, to the government. We are submitting the appeal to
the government for Dr. Than Nyein, with the address of the Prime
Minsiter.”

Than Nyein was arrested in 1997 and sentenced to 7 years in jail for
trying to form a NLD youth organisation for Rangoon Mayanggone Township.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 24, Irrawaddy
Burmese children born in Thailand denied citizenship - Shah Paung

Thousands of children born to Burmese refugees and migrants working in
Thailand are unable to claim Thai citizenship.

According to Aye Chan, general secretary of the Committee for Protection
and Promotion of Child Rights (Burma), more than 5,500 Burmese children
have birth certificates issued by Thai hospitals.

Aye Chan says even if they are migrants or refugees they are still born in
Thailand and should be given Thai citizenship. The CPPCR works together
with Mae Tao Clinic, the Back Pack Health Workers Team and the Burma
Medical Association on issues to do with migrant health.

Aye Chan explained the process involved in migrant children getting their
Thai citizenship. First, parents have to go to the village head and then
to the local Municipal office with their birth certificate within 15 days
after the babies are born.

For children born in Mae Sot's Mae Tao Clinic, they have to go to the
Municipal office with a clinic medic and a birth certificate issued by the
clinic.

According to Sophia, the manager of Mae Tao Clinic's Reproductive Health
Department, in the fifteen years from 1990 to 2005, more than 7,200
children have been born there.

Aye Chan says the process for migrant children to get Thai citizenship is
difficult and takes time. This is due to the Municipal office requiring
documents that include the parents’ work permits and a guarantee from
their employer that they are who they say they are.

For children born in refugee camps, the process is easier as international
NGO medical groups working in the camps can help.  The medical group takes
the birth record to a Thai district official who takes responsibility for
granting birth certificates.

Aye Chan says his own experience illustrates how difficult it is to get a
certificate for migrant or refugee children. “Eight days after my wife
gave birth, I went to the Municipal office together with the village head,
but they did not recognize my baby.”

Initially in some Thai provinces children get issued a restricted
temporary resident card but not a citizenship certificate. This is
upgraded to a yellow or pink card and than to agreen card. These cards do
not allow people to travel outside the province and has to be renewing
every five years.

“The Thai Health Department should advise the government about it's
citizenship program,” Aye Chan added.

Pranom Somwong from Chiang Mai-based Migrant Assistant Program said that
Thai citizenship for migrant workers’ children is not possible under
existing laws and the government should begin a birth registration system
for these children.

“Birth registration is very important for these children to use for
identifying their nationality in the future—besides that, the authorities
should record them in a census database for proving their right to
education and work,” she added.

Chamnan Chanrueng, a Thai legal expert, says Thai law denies these
children citizenship.

“Even though they live here legally, their status as ‘migrants or
refugees’ means they are regarded as living in Thailand temporarily.”

A 1992 law established that citizenship could be conferred on any child
born of a Thai father or mother. The right of citizenship, however, was
not extended to the children of migrant workers or immigrants.

Some Burmese children are issued with birth certificates, but many
hospitals later remove the birth records to prevent any claim to
citizenship in the future.

____________________________________

May 24, The Nation via Thai Press Reports
Thailand needs to do more than paying lip service to removal of land mines

Seven years have elapsed since Thailand signed the international treaty
banning land-mines.

At that time, like other enthusiastic signatories to the Mine Ban Treaty,
it promised to get rid of all land-mines within 10 years. So far, only a
minuscule 0.3 per cent of land-mines in the Kingdom have been cleared. If
this snail's pace is kept up, it will take approximately 2,000 years to
complete what the country has committed to do.

In the mid-1990s, Thailand was among a few liberal democracies in the
world that joined an international effort to promote the concept of human
security. It was an alien concept at that time to discuss freedom from
want and freedom from fear. A decade later, human security is a widely
accepted concept and countries work hard to implement what they understand
of it. Universally now, human security refers to seven types of security -
economic, food, health, environmental, personal, communal and political
security.

With human security very much in vogue currently, the Thai government has
been trying to promote the concept as well. On the first two days of June
Bangkok will host the 8th ministerial meeting of the Human Security
Network. In 1999, Thailand was a founding member of the network, along
with Norway, Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, Jordan, Mali, Chile Greece,
Slovenia, Costa Rica, Iceland and Austria (plus South Africa as an
observer).

Very few Thais know that their country was the first in the world to
establish a Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, to
highlight the importance of human security in the country's development.
But the record of Thaksin governments over the past five years shows that
they did not have a clue about this concept. Human security has been
promoted as rural development programmes.

That should not be surprising. The Thaksin government has focused on rural
development in other ways - through its village funds and cheap public
healthcare, which have been vote-winning strategies. Overall, however, the
human rights and human security situation has greatly deteriorated.
Indeed, these two foundations of human well-being have been totally
ignored by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose preoccupation has been
on cash give-aways and populist programmes. What is the benefit of having
the Bt30 healthcare scheme for villagers in Sa Kaew, on the country's
eastern flank, when it is also one of the most mine-laden provinces? They
could killed just walking or working in their fields.

There are land-mines in 27 of the country's 76 provinces, but the
Cambodian conflict starting in mid-1975 saw the Thai-Cambodian border
become the most protected, or most mined, area.

More than half a million Thais in 530 villages and 84 districts are still
affected by land-mines. Half of them live along the Thai-Cambodian border
while the rest are spread along the Thai-Burma and Thai-Lao borders.
Although the Thai-Malaysian frontier is considered free of land-mines,
there are still four villages in Yala affected by hundreds of mines
planted there during the communist insurgency.

A comprehensive study into the status of the Kingdom's land-mine problem -
the Thailand Land-mine Impact Survey, begun in May 1999 and concluded in
2001 - recorded 346 "recent" casualties and an overall total of 3,468
casualties, of which 1,497 people were killed and 1,971 injured. The
majority of these incidents occurred in the Thai-Cambodia border region,
and 80 per cent of the "recent" casualties were adult males - the
bread-winners in rural families.

So far, Thailand has paid lip service to its international pledge to rid
the country of land-mines. Indeed, its actions are contrary to the regular
public relations messages we hear that human security is one of the most
important pillars of the country's development policy.

The Defence Ministry last year allocated just Bt18 million - down from the
average Bt38 million annually, for de-mining operations. The amount is a
pittance considering the way the government has plundered the budget for
other purposes. For instance, Bt250 million wasted on the sloppy Thai
pavilion at the 2005 Expo in Japan. Worse, the Tourism Authority of
Thailand said it would not mind signing Tiger Woods for Bt250 million, to
promote the country. And, Bt120 million was spent promoting Bangkok
Fashion Week this year.

Just imagine what even the leftovers from these budgets would do for
de-mining operations. Those who work in the field have said that Thailand
could do a better job covering bigger areas if the authorities paid some
attention to this issue. Some even said that if operations received
sufficient funds, Thailand could be free of land-mines within a few years.

It is about time the government allocated more funds and priority to areas
most affected by mines and sets a clear, achievable timeframe for clearing
them. For instance, the area along the Thai-Cambodian border should be the
most urgent. Some 15 years after peace returned to this region, villagers
in Trat, Surin and Chanthaburi still can't farm certain parts of their
land.

Land-mines in provinces like Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai,
Prachuap Khiri Khan and Ratchaburi - adjacent to Burma - were laid to
deter guerrillas, and even drugs and arms smugglers from entering
Thailand. But often the villagers living in these areas have become mine
victims because of their lack of knowledge about the problem.

Better coordination between government agencies such as the Public
Relations Department, the Ministry of Social Development and Human
Security and the Ministry of Education is essential to educate rural
people about preventive measures.

Otherwise, the people living along our borders will never fully realise
the dividends of peace.

____________________________________
DRUGS

May 24, Irrawaddy
Burmese drugs still hurting Northeastern India - Clive Parker

Burma has again been linked to high instances of drug abuse and an
HIV/AIDS epidemic in northeastern India, in a new report by the UN Office
of Drugs and Crime released on Wednesday.

Burmese opium and heroin traffickers travel easily into neighboring
Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, the report said, plying seven identified
routes into these states where HIV/AIDS has made “significant inroads” in
both high-risk and low-risk groups, including pregnant women and children.

The UNODC found that areas distant from the India-Burma border had lower
rates of heroin injection and seizures by the authorities: “There is a
direct correlation between proximity to the border and drug abuse,” it
said.

Another worrying trend has been the recent appearance of amphetamines in
the area which have now reached “moderate levels.” The UNODC noted that
Burma has “a significant illicit amphetamine type substance (ATS)
manufacturing capacity.” In many cases precursor chemicals used to produce
amphetamines were smuggled from India to Burma, where production takes
place and the drug is sent back in the opposite direction, it added.

The report again points to the effect Burma’s drug problems are having on
its neighbors, despite a reported decline in opium production. The UNODC
admits, though, that tracking amphetamine production in Burma has been
much more difficult, as drug producers have switched from highly visible
poppy production, for opium, to mobile jungle laboratories producing
amphetamines.

The Burmese regime has also been strongly linked to the trade through its
proxy armies, including the National Democracy Alliance Army of Special
Region-4 and the United Wa State Army in Shan State—both have ceasefire
agreements with the junta.

The Chiang Mai-based Lahu National Development Organization said in its
report Undercurrents, published in 2005, that the NDAA had established a
free-fire zone around one such facility along the Nam Yawng River, between
the town of Mon Yawng and the Mekong River in Shan State.

But India’s Narcotics Control Department told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday
it did not consider the Burmese government complicit in the drug trade
reaching the northeast: “They appear to be serious about addressing their
drug problem,” deputy director-general Rajiv Walia said, adding that Burma
was the primary source of drugs in Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. He
declined to comment on whether Burma’s ceasefire groups were involved in
the drug trade.

Officially, Burma and India have signed a number of agreements aimed at
collaborating on fighting drugs along the border, the first of which was
in 1993.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 24, Agence France Presse
Myanmar may be paving way for Aung San Suu Kyi's release: UN

United Nations: UN Under Secretary General Ibrahim Gambari suggested here
Wednesday that Myanmar authorities may be preparing to release detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Briefing reporters on his visit to Myanmar and his surprise meeting with
the 60-year-old democracy icon in Yangon on Saturday, Gambari pointed to a
statement by an unnamed police chief that could be interpreted as
signaling a future release.

"The chief of police did make a statement that may be significant, to say
that her release would not necessarily lead to political instability," he
said.

Noting that the police official also claimed Aung San Suu Kyi was "losing
support in the country," Gambari said this "could also be a way to prepare
the ground" for her release.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD), has spent more than 10 of the past 17 years under house
arrest in Yangon, and the military was expected to extend her house arrest
later this week. She has also been barred from seeing foreigners for more
than two years.

Gambari confirmed that he pressed Yangon to release not only Aung San Suu
Kyi but also other NLD leaders.

"I can't say whether it will be done, but I certainly hope so," he added.

The surprise meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi followed Gambari's talks with
the Myanmar junta's reclusive leader, Senior General Than Shwe, at a
secret jungle compound outside the central town of Pyinmana on Saturday.

Gambari also said there "appears to be a willingness (on the part of
Myanmar leaders) to turn a new page in relations with the international
community."

He said the visit had enabled the UN to re-engage with Yangon after a
two-year estrangement and to create a "new basis for follow-up
discussions" led by Myanmar-based UN officials to enable the world body to
assist.

"On the political front, there was an agreement by the authorities and
endorsed by the NLD for the UN to play a role to promote common ground
between the government and the NLD so that the National Convention can
resume in a much more inclusive way," Gambari said.

The convention is to resume in October.

The military, which has ruled impoverished Myanmar since 1962, has been
accused of widespread human rights abuses.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 24, Irrawaddy
Keep those fingers crossed - Aung Zaw

Until last Friday people in Burma lived in a state of hopelessness, seeing
no light at end of the tunnel. But then news of a senior UN official’s
breakthrough meeting with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
brought some excitement and a rare sign of optimism to the country, even
though it may only last a few weeks.

While it’s somewhat premature to predict any dramatic event ahead, some
political observers think it’s good to preserve some hope, believing that
something dramatic is indeed brewing.

Firstly, the regime’s apparent change of heart is interesting. The
country’s ruler Snr-Gen Than Shwe met UN Under Secretary-General for
Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari and his delegation and allowed the
Nigerian diplomat to see Suu Kyi for 45 minutes at the government guest
house in Rangoon on Saturday.

According to a well-informed source, the visit by Gambari was planned at
least two months ahead. Gambari’s Burma schedule was drawn up by Kyaw Tint
Swe, permanent representative of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) to the
United Nations, who was also at the meetings with Than Shwe.

Interestingly, the schedule first mentioned a planned meeting with
opposition members, although Suu Kyi’s name was not mentioned, the source
said.

The National League for Democracy, Suu Kyi’s party, appeared in the first
line of the printed schedule.

There were more surprises: after a formal reception attended by the top
brass, in Burma’s new administrative capital, Naypyidaw, Than Shwe asked
for a one-on-one meeting with Gambari. He then invited his deputy, Deputy
Snr-Gen Maung Aye, to attend. “The exchange at the meeting (between
Gambari and Than Shwe) was not a monologue
it was rather frank and
lively,” the source added.

Burmese political observers who have been closely monitoring the power
struggle between the top leaders believe that Than Shwe’s decision to
include Maung Aye at the meeting with Gambari meant that the two men
struck a deal. Earlier this month, there were rumors that Maung Aye was
going to be effectively sidelined during the quarterly meeting, which saw
a shake-up in both the cabinet and in the country’s armed forces.

Moreover, an unpublicized visit by Maung Aye and unnamed officials to
China, undertaken before the quarterly meeting, was intriguing.

A Chinese source said that the junta’s number two man went to China in a
private capacity but added that talks he had with Chinese officials were
quite extensive and could have included bilateral military and political
issues. China, which is seen as Burma’s major political ally, is strongly
believed by political sources to have advised Burmese leaders to play a
soft diplomatic game with the international community, in particular with
the UN.

The Chinese source added that it would not be surprising if the two sides
discussed Burma’s problems, the detention of Suu Kyi, mounting
international pressure and the consideration of Burma issues by the UN
Security Council.

Suu Kyi is doubtless a thorn in the junta’s side. Yet this “irrelevant
person,” as the regime calls her in the official media, was allowed to
meet Gambari.   She was pleasantly surprised and pleased to see Gambari,
according to a well-informed source in Rangoon,

A western diplomat based in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy that the meeting is
a clear sign that Suu Kyi is in control and a force to reckon with. “The
generals cannot live in a state of denial that she is irrelevant,” the
diplomat said. Aside from this, Suu Kyi had an opportunity at the meeting
with Gambari to show her compromising stance and her readiness to
negotiate with the generals.

Suu Kyi is well-informed and in good health, Gambari told UN agencies and
foreign diplomats in Rangoon. She had expressed concern over the
unpredictability of her access to medical care, however—her personal
physician has been barred from visiting her for more than two months.

Now the question everyone asking is whether she will be released this
Saturday, when her latest term of house arrest expires.

Burma’s police chief, Maj-Gen Khin Yi, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur
recently that if the regime releases Suu Kyi he expects no trouble.

"I can handle every situation,” he said. “There will not be rallies and
riots in Myanmar (Burma) if Aung San Suu Kyi is released."

Nothing is certain, though, in Burma. Although the country is a normally a
safe betting ground, where pessimists prevail, there’s nothing wrong in
crossing fingers in these eventful days.


____________________________________

May 24, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Myanmar's military appears ready to improve ties: UN

New York: Myanmar's military government appears ready to "turn a new page"
to improve ties with the rest of the world, a UN envoy said Wednesday
after visiting the Southeast Asian nation.

UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari said he
specifically asked for the release of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, who has spent most of her past 16 years
under house arrest for demanding democracy. Gambari said he also asked for
the release of other political prisoners. Suu Kyi is head of the National
League for Democracy (NLD), the main opposition party.

He said he cannot assure that Suu Kyi would be released soon. But he said
that security officials in Myanmar were preparing that possibility by
hinting that her release would not cause instability in Myanmar, one of
the world's poorest nations. Suu Kyi is in good health and is very
informed about the UN and world politics, Gambari said.

"She is a very determined lady and very active," he said. "The government
appears to be willing to turn a new page with the international
community."

Gambari, who visited Myanmar for three days last week, attributed that
seemingly opening to the fact that Myanmar authorities now understand the
social and economic benefits they can reap if they cooperate with the UN.

He said it appeared that the NLD and the military have reached a "tacit
agreement" to cooperate with the UN. He called that significant because
past UN efforts had failed and Suu Kyi had not been allowed to receive
foreign visitors for years.

The UN has been urging the military regime to carry out democratic reforms
and respect human rights.

Gambari held up details on his talks with Myanmar's top military leaders
and ministers, including a message they sent to Secretary-General Kofi
Annan.

"We made our pitch, now we have to wait for the results," Gambari  told a
news conference.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

May 24, ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus
Statement by AIPMC calling for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate release and on
the recent visit to Burma by the United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari

Kuala Lumpur: The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) is
greatly concerned that Burma’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi will
not be released from house-arrest come May 27, 2006 when her detention
period is due to end.

The military government in Burma had, in November 2005, extended Suu Kyi’s
house-arrest period for a further six months and we fear that they would
again act no differently. We strongly call on the junta, especially its
leader Senior-General Than Shwe, to respect international practices of
human rights and justice by unconditionally releasing Suu Kyi when her
current house-arrest term expires.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Suu Kyi has been kept under detention for the
past three years. The de-facto Burmese authorities have not charged her
with a crime and have kept her a prisoner in her own home.

It is high time that the junta discontinues its harassment and
intimidation of the Burmese people’s chosen leader and takes concrete
measures in allowing her the right to live freely. AIPMC finds it is
extremely unacceptable that Suu Kyi has been detained for over 10 of the
past 16 years of her life for committing no apparent crime.

Her peaceful struggle to bring democracy and democratic reforms to her
land is no cause for the military regime to deny Suu Kyi her basic rights.
AIPMC vehemently calls on the junta to accord freedom to Burma’s symbol of
peace.

AIPMC also urges the United Nations (UN) to demand that the Burmese
Generals release Suu Kyi immediately. The United Nations Under-Secretary
General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari’s recent visit to Burma,
while well received, must be validated by concrete actions to address
Burma’s dire situation.

Gambari’s upcoming briefing of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on his trip
to Burma is timely and welcomed. We urge the UNSC to then act accordingly
by initiating concrete steps to resolve the political deadlock, as well as
the deteriorating social and economic conditions, in Burma.

On April 28 this year, the UNSC adopted resolution 1674 (2006), which was
its strongest condemnation yet of the violence committed by Burma's
military against civilians during armed conflict. We call on the Council
to substantiate that move by adopting a resolution on Burma that would
empower them to intervene in Burma’s crises. It is time for real action.
It is time for a new, democratic and peaceful Burma.

Zaid Ibrahim
AIPMC Chairperson and Member of Parliament for Kota Baru, Malaysia

For further media inquiries, please contact Zaid Ibrahim at +6012-2186699
http:// www.aseanmp.org
email:  info at aseanmp.org