BurmaNet News, August 31, 2006

[Editor]

August 31, 2006 Issue # 3037


INSIDE BURMA
Xinhua: Myanmar charges two western embassies with interfering in internal
affairs
DVB: Rangoon Division NLD hold annual meeting
Irrawaddy: Rangoon university students protest expulsions
Irrawaddy: Venezuelan envoy makes rare trip to Burma

ON THE BORDER
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Thailand agrees to new "vision" on refugee situation
Thai Press Reports: Myanmar (Burma) to issue temporary passports of is
nationals illegally working in Thailand

REGIONAL
Khonumthung News: Registration for 900 and UNHCR cards for 700 Chin
refugees in Malaysia

INTERNATIONAL
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: US bends the rules for Karen refugees in Thailand
AP: Myanmar refugees prepare for new lives in the U.S. after years in
border camps
ABC News: Top five least known and most oppressive leaders

PRESS RELEASE
Rights and Democracy: Burmese villager wins 2006 John Humphrey Freedom Award

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 31, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar charges two western embassies with interfering in internal affairs

Government-run newspaper the New Light of Myanmar Thursday charged the
U.S. Embassy and the British Embassy with interfering in Myanmar's
internal affairs through conducting courses. The newspaper considered some
courses such as the English proficiency course, international relations
course and the global information course conducted by the two western
embassies as illegal ones.

In the two embassies' English proficiency courses conducted between 2002
and 2006, lectures were respectively given on trafficking in persons,
documents on workers of the International Labor Organization, excerpts
from human rights, points on the federal principle, spoken English,
assassination of General Aung San who was Myanmar's independence hero,
corruption in various nations of the world, internet news, world trade
system, human rights violation and lawlessness in weak nations, the
newspaper said.

The newspaper accused the lectures of being sugar-coated medicines which
it said can be called poison for the media. Charging the courses with
comprising discussions on Myanmar's current economic, education, health
and social aspects, the newspaper criticized that "the courses did not
bring about the improvement of spoken English."

The newspaper also charged the two embassies with opening the courses in
cooperation with the main political party -- the National League for
Democracy (NLD), saying that "officials from NLD made contact with the two
embassies and an agreement was reached between them that NLD members could
take the course free of charge." The newspaper cited comments among the
private media as saying that the "opening of illegal courses by the
embassies in cooperation with the NLD is a blatant interference in
Myanmar's internal affairs violating the diplomatic ethics." So far, the
two embassies have not made any response over the charge.

____________________________________

August 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
Rangoon Division NLD hold annual meeting

Rangoon Division National League for Democracy (NLD) memers have been
holding a 4-day long annual meeting in order to consolidate unity within
the party, receive new members and make preparations for the coming NLD
national meeting.

"In order to have the internal party unity, we are planning not to lose
contacts with organisations at every level, to dutifully carry out duties
assigned and to openly discuss what is in the heart regarding relationship
between the grassroot and the top," Rangoon Division NLD secreatry Dr. Win
Naing told DVB.

"Mainly, we are trying to strengthen the forces within Rangoon Division.

>From there, we used to have to have ward and village organising groups.

But because of the oppression, control and restrictions, ward and village
organisations are quite quite weak. But we still have ward and village
organising members."

____________________________________

August 31, Irrawaddy
Rangoon university students protest expulsions

A recent spate of expulsions in Burma’s University of Computer Studies
outside Rangoon has led to growing hostility within the student body,
according to student activists in the former capital. Some 300 students
were expelled last week for having poor attendance records. Students are
required to maintain a 75 percent attendance rate.

Names of the dismissed students were posted on campus, leading some on the
list to break windows on the campus in protest. Some students claimed that
university authorities were simply trying to drive them out, and that many
students with much poorer attendance records were not included on the
expulsion list.

Observers in Rangoon have suggested that the expulsions may be part of a
tightening of restrictions in recent months imposed by Education Minister
Chan Nyein, which includes new legislation that prohibits teachers from
offering private instruction. The unrest on campus comes at a time when
students across the country are being pressured to join the pro-military
Union Solidarity and Development Association.

____________________________________

August 31, Irrawaddy
Venezuelan envoy makes rare trip to Burma

Vladimir Villegas, a special envoy of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,
has made a rare diplomatic visit to Burma on behalf of the South American
country, meeting with Prime Minister Soe Win and Foreign Minister Nyan Win
in Naypyidaw, state-run The New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday.

Villegas continued on to Rangoon and was due to leave Burma on Friday,
sources said. He was unavailable for comment on the visit, as was the
Burmese Foreign Ministry. The substance of discussions between both sides
is not known. The visit represents a rare diplomatic interaction between
Burma and Venezuela. Neither country maintains an embassy in the other.
Venezuela also has no mission in neighboring Thailand.

In May, Chavez was questioned on alleged links between Venezuela and Burma
by UK daily newspaper The Guardian, to which he replied: “That is the
first time I have heard about Burma—they say I support [Osama] Bin Laden
or ETA (the Basque separatists group), but never Burma,” he said, adding
that such stories were usually designed to undermine him.

A well-known critic of the US, Chavez has famously met many of the leaders
of countries labeled “outposts of tyranny” by Washington—including Cuba,
Belarus and Iran—as part of his quest to build an alliance against what he
deems imperialist actions by the US and its allies. Villegas has been
similarly controversial in the eyes of Washington.

Last year he was expelled from Mexico as the then ambassador following a
diplomatic row between the two countries after Chavez accused conservative
Mexican President Vicente Fox of being under the control of the Bush
administration.

_____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 31, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Thailand agrees to new "vision" on refugee situation

Thailand, which has offered asylum to millions of refugees from its
less-well-off neighbours over the past three decades, agreed on Thursday
to a "new vision" that would see its refugee population closely
incorporated into the economy.

"I think this is a major step forward," said United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres, after winding up talks
with the Thai government, including with caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra.

Thailand has been a magnet for millions of refugees fleeing from its less
stable neighbours - Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma) - since
the mid-1970s, and even today continues to host 150,000 refugees from
Myanmar's Karen ethnic group in nine camps along the border.

Thailand's refugee hub status has often earned it criticism from
international agencies and humanitarian groups for past governments'
interference with aid programmes and occasional threats to repatriate
refugees when resettlement options dry up.

Now the Thai government has made a major concession in allowing existing
refugee populations to be granted IDs, paving the way for them to seek
local employment, said Guterres.

"There was clear commitment from the government that every person living
in Thailand will receive in the near future an ID card, including the
refugees in the camps," Guterres told a press conference.

The ID cards, which the UNHCR hopes to be available by year-end, would
provide the 150,000 Karen refugees semi-legal status and allow them the
chance to legally seek jobs in Thailand.

"This corresponds to a new vision ... a vision in which the presence of
refugees in Thailand is considered an element that can not only contribute
to the better fulfillment of their lives, but can also give an important
contribution to the economy and the society," said Guterres.

He added that Thaksin had also agreed to consider allowing refugees to
benefit from Thailand's national HIV/AIDS programme, which provides free
anti-viral drugs to the needy.

Guterres was in Thailand to launch a new resettlement scheme for the Karen
refugees, some of whom have lingered in Thai camps for the past ten years,
but the UNHCR chief acknowledged that even when underway the programme
would only resettle about 6,000 refugees a year.

Thai government in the past have often complained that while international
agencies criticize them for mistreating refugee populations, they have
often fallen short in achieving their resettlement promises.

The estimated 150,000 ethnic Karens living in temporary camps along the
Thai-Myannar (Burmese) border have sought refuge from military offensives
by the Myanmar army to wipe out their five-decade struggle for the
autonomy of the Karen State.

_____________________________________

August 31, Thai Press Reports
Myanmar (Burma) to issue temporary passports of is nationals illegally
working in Thailand

Myanmar (Burma) has agreed to issue "temporary passports" for citizens
working illegally in Thailand, Thai National Security Council chief
General Winai Pattiyakul said on August 28, The Nation reports.

Burmese workers who wanted to apply for the passport could submit their
documents at Tachilek town, opposite Mae Sai in Chiang Rai; Myawaddy,
opposite Mae Sot, Tak; and Koh Song opposite Ranong.

The decision was reached during a meeting between visiting Burmese Deputy
Foreign Minister Maung Win and Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai
Vanasatidya.Gen Winai told reporters it would be up to the Burmese to
decide when the issuance of the temporary passports could begin.

"It's a good start for both sides to tackle the increasing number of
illegal immigrants in the country," Winai said adding that the Thai side
had also agreed to reduce visa fees for Burmese workers.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 31, Khonumthung News
Regsitration for 900 and UNHCR cards for 700 Chin refugees in Malaysia

Among Chin refugees settled illegally in Camaron Highland (CHL), about 30
miles from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 900 have got registration and 700 the
UNHCR card.

A Malaysian Chin refugee committee member, Salai San said that the
committee had taken necessary action for Chin refugees staying in CHL.

First of all the committee reported their condition to Malaysian NGO, ACTS
after which they received medical treatment. The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offered the refugee status cards soon
after that.

Two members from Director of Kompulan Acts visited the Chin refugee camp
at CHL on August 21.They provided medical treatment and admitted one
patient to the hospital in Tanarah. From then onwards the Malaysian UNHCR
recognized them as refugees and gave the registrations.

“Their condition is very bad, that’s why we reported it to ACTS and UNHCR”
said Salai San.

It is learnt that, the members of CRC also known as Chin Refugee
Committee, visited those staying as refugees at CHL on August 11 to study
their condition and reported it to the UNHCR.

According to the report of the CRC, they received medical treatment and
registration from ACTS and UNHCR.

However, Malaysia UNHCR has not yet recognized about 400 to 500 Chin
refugees. Salai San said that UNHCR will observe the condition of Chin
refugees and process cards and take other necessary action.

This is the first time that registration has been given to a group of
refugees by UNHCR after the Malaysian Government arrested foreigners in
2005.

In Malaysia, now there are over 15,000 Chin people as refugees since 1988.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 31, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
US bends the rules for Karen refugees in Thailand

A waiver in the US's tough anti-terrorist legislation will allow
tens-of-thousands of Karen refugees in Thailand to become eligible for
resettlement in the US in coming years, a senior US official said on
Thursday.

"There will be no cap (for the Karens)," said Ellen Sauerbrey, US
Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration.

There are an estimated 150,000 ethnic Karens living in temporary camps
along the Thai-Myannar (Burmese) border, where they have sought refuge
from military offensives by the Myanmar army to wipe out their
five-decades old struggle for the autonomy of the Karen State.

Although the US State Department last year agreed to start accepting Karen
refugees for resettlement, the programme was stalled by tough
anti-terrorist legislation voted in in the aftermath of the September 11,
2001, terrorist attacks.

Anti-terrorist legislation essentially bars refugees who have "provided
material support" to a resistance group abroad from seeking resettlement
in the US.

Sauberbrey has spent her first eight months in office trying to get around
the legislation in order to allow the US's resettlement programme to
function.

"This issue has threatened to seriously derail our entire resettlement
programme because, just by nature, many people who are refugees are people
who have fled and perhaps given resistance to a government," Sauberbrey
told a press conference after visiting the Tham Hin refugee camp in
Thailand's Ratchaburi province which borders Myanmar.

The 9,500 Karens in Tham Hin were the first refugee population to benefit
from a waiver to the Homeland Security Act stipulations pushed through by
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last year.

"This last week, Secretary Rice expanded the provision to cover the other
camps in Thailand that are majority Karen," said Sauberbrey.

Many of the Karen refugees living in Thailand are either former members or
related to members of the Karen National Union (KNU), a rebel group
founded in 1948 that is dedicated to seeking the autonomy of the Karen
State in eastern Myanmar through military means.

Having pushed through a waiver for the Karen refugees, many of whom
profess to be Christians, Sauberbrey was hopeful; that similar waivers
would be forthcoming for other ethnic minority groups fleeing Myanmar's
military regime.

"We began with the Karen. We're working on a similar waiver for the Chin
in Malaysia," said Sauberbrey.

US Presdident George Bush has set a resettlement quota of 70,000 refugees
to the US next year, compared with the 53,000 who were allowed entry in
2005.

Sauberbrey estimated that up to 15,000 to 20,000 of next year's eligible
refugees would come from Asia, with Karens accounting for up to half.

_____________________________________

July 31, Associated Press
Myanmar refugees prepare for new lives in the U.S. after years in border
camps - Rungrawee C. Pinyorat

As he prepared for a new life in the United States, A Ngar Nyunt was a
little disappointed to learn he would have to give up chewing betel nuts,
a traditional habit in his native Myanmar. The teeth-staining nuts aren't
available in America one of the things the 38-year-old refugee learned in
a course about his homeland-to-be. But A Ngar Nyunt said it was a small
sacrifice for getting his wife and 8-year-old son out of the overcrowded
camp where they have lived for years. The goldsmith is among 2,600 Myanmar
refugees scheduled for resettlement under a U.N. program to alleviate the
hardships of mostly ethnic minorities who fled persecution only to
languish in fetid camps just over the Thailand border.

Before leaving, the new immigrants are required to spend months learning
basic English and becoming acquainted with American culture. They are
taught how to flush a modern toilet, how Americans greet each other and
how to use a toothbrush. "I feel happy and content," said A Ngar Nyunt
before leaving the Tham Hin Refugee Camp for California on Tuesday. In
California, he will receive temporary housing, a stipend, English classes
and vocational training to help him adjust and find a new livelihood.

The U.S. plans to take thousands more from camps along the border, home to
about 140,000 refugees who have fled Myanmar's military dictatorship. In
May, the State Department waived provisions of the Patriot Act to consider
the asylum applications of 9,300 ethnic Karen, who had been barred from
entering the U.S. because of their association with a rebel group trying
to overthrow a government. More waivers may come in the future. "We
welcome you with open arms,"

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey told dozens of refugees
in a bamboo-made meeting hall during a visit to Tham Hin with U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres. The UNHCR is working with
other countries to accept others refugees, including Australia, Britain
and Canada. "We encourage people to return to the country of origin when
the conditions are there for them to return with safety and dignity,"
Guterres told the refugees. That prospect seems distant in Myanmar, whose
military has ruled since 1962 and often brutally represses ethnic
minorities.

A Ngar Nyunt, an ethnic Mon, fled after troops attacked his village. Most
of the refugees are Karen, one of many ethnic minority groups who live in
remote areas and have a radically different culture and traditions from
the Burman majority. The junta rulers launched one of their biggest
offensives against the rebel Karen National Union this year a campaign
refugees and aid groups say involves torture, killings, forced relocation,
land mines and destruction of food supplies.

The ruling generals say they have a duty to prevent rebels from shattering
Myanmar's unity and deny violating the rights of ethnic minorities. Those
who escape usually find themselves in camps like Tham Hin, about seven
miles from the Thai-Myanmar border and about 140 miles west of Bangkok.
Home to 9,500 refugees, the camp is so overcrowded that bamboo roofs
almost overlap each other. Thai authorities prohibit refugees from leaving
the camp without permission.

Refugees earn some income through farming, sewing, weaving and other
trades, but rely mostly on food handouts. Lincoln Kya, an 86-year-old
teacher, is among 1,000 refugees whose asylum applications have been
suspended under U.S. anti-terrorism laws. But he says his involvement in
the Karen insurgency was limited to six months of military training in
1974. The teacher fled to Thailand in 1997 after junta troops burned down
his village. If the U.S. rejects his application, Lincoln Kya said he
would consider going to Australia. All he knows is that remaining in Tham
Hin is not an option." I have been kept here like a prisoner," he said.

_____________________________________

August 24, ABC News
Top five least known and most oppressive leaders - Dan Beckmann

They may not be household names, but they exact a world of pain

There are some leaders whose names have become nearly synonymous with
tyranny: Kim Jong Il, Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosovic, just to name
three. Yet there are other leaders not as well known who are just as
oppressive, if not more, than these notorious leaders.

ABCNEWS.com, in partnership with Human Rights Watch, has composed a list
of five of the world's least known, most oppressive heads of state,
highlighting their most horrific actions:

Myanmar — Than Shwe

Shwe is overseeing a large-scale ethnic cleansing of minority groups
living in his country's border areas. Several hundred thousand people have
been sent from their homes — quite a few have been murdered and raped.
More than 1,500 political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner
Aung San Sui Kyi, have been taken and are often subject to torture.

Equatorial Guinea — Obiang Nguema

Nguema came to power 25 years ago by killing his own father. This happened
after he became known as the country's "torturer-in-chief." Equatorial
Guinea is a very small African country, but has a lot of oil. Its per
capita income puts it near Greece and Portugal in terms of wealth, yet
most people live on a dollar a day. Nguema's government, Human Rights
Watch says, is stealing most of the money.

Turkmenistan — Saparmurat Niyazov

Niyazov, perhaps the most eccentric leader on the list, engages in what is
known as a "cult of personality" — making his likeness larger than life in
every aspect of his country's life. The education system of Turkmenistan
is dedicated first and foremost to advocating Niyazov's writing and
ideology in the minds of the school children. They are forced to read his
"Book of Soul" as if it were a religious text.

Niyazov renamed the months of the year after his relatives and banned
opera and ballet because he considered them foreign. But beyond the
eccentricity of those kinds of decrees, he has also committed what human
rights say are atrocities against his people, such as his order to close
down hospitals in every part of the country apart from the capital.

Uzbekistan — Islam Karimov

Uzbekistan used to be an ally of the United States until the country
ordered all U.S. military off its soil last year after the White House
criticized Karimov's human rights record. Just last spring, the Uzbek
milatry mowed down several hundred unarmed protestors with machine guns in
the city of Andajan — a Tianamen Square-style massacre that has received
little international attention. Since then Karimov's government has
launched a massive crackdown against dissenters, staging show trials
showcasing confessions that appear to have been forced, just to remind
people who's in charge.

Zimbabwe — Robert Mugabe

Robert Mugabe stole an election and during his reign, he has brought
Zimbabwe — a once prosperous country — to its knees. His food reform
program has been accused of using food as a weapon — sending food aid to
people who are loyal to him and denying it to people who are not. Zimbabwe
under Mugabe is reported to be the closest thing in the world to a country
being destroyed by one man.

In compiling this list, ABC News interviewed Tom Malinowski, the
Washington director of Human Rights Watch. His organization monitors human
rights violations throughout the world in an effort to gain more attention
for actions of these and many other oppressive regimes to try induce
change. Here is a transcript of part of our discussion:

Why are these leaders so oppressive?

Malinowski: Some people are tempted by power 
 there are other people who
are attracted to money. These are people who are addicted to power and
they have no moral compunction with using ruthless means for power.

You've been in the room with oppressive leaders before, is the feeling you
get sitting next to these people that much different than the people
you're sitting next to right now — do they bother you?

Malinowski: Yes it does bother me — I think most Americans would feel
uncomfortable sitting in a room with Jeffrey Dahmer. When American
officials meet with people on the list 
 I think [they] should be
uncomfortable sitting in a room with someone who has killed his own people
with his bare hands. Somehow [these oppressive leaders] have an aura of
greater respectability than the common criminal.

What's it like to live under a repressive regime?

Malinowski: If you're living in one of the ethnic minority areas of Burma
[Myanmar], you're dealing with military people coming to your village,
burning your homes and raping your women. In some of the other places
where you don't have violence day to day 
 the common thread is that you
are treated arbitrarily by people in positions on authority — you can be
harassed, discriminated against, you can be tortured, you can be killed
often for no reason and there's nothing you can do about it.

How do people in these countries get by day to day — is there anything at
all that they can enjoy?

Malinowski: I think in every place in the world, even when there are
terrible things going on, they still find a way to raise families, they
still fall in love, they still pursue interests, but the effects of a
truly oppressive government can be very pervasive in their lives.

_____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 31, Rights and Democracy
Burmese villager wins 2006 John Humphrey Freedom Award

Montreal: Burma 's Su Su Nway, who courageously challenged the ruling
military junta's use of forced labour and won a historic court ruling
against the regime last year, is the winner of Rights & Democracy's 2006
John Humphrey Freedom Award.

Su Su Nway, 34, came to the world's attention last year for her inspiring
individual efforts to see the junta's representatives in her village
brought to justice for forcing her and her neighbours to repair a road
without pay. Conscious of the dangers inherent to confronting Burma's
military authorities, Su Su Nway's determination paid off last year when a
judge sentenced the village Chairman and a deputy to eight months in
prison under an untested law passed in 1999 that bans compulsory labour.
The verdict was the first ever against the military regime's long-standing
practice of forced labour.

Su Su Nway's legal victory, however, was met a few months later with
charges that she had defamed the village's replacement Chairman. Tried for
“insulting and disrupting a government official on duty,” she was
sentenced last October to 18-months in Insein Prison, a jail infamous for
its horrific conditions. Su Su Nway, who suffers from a heart condition,
endured nine months in Insein before authorities finally bowed to
international pressure and released her on June 6, 2006.

“I am fine but I don't feel happy or sad about my release because forced
labour in Burma still exists,” she told the Democratic Voice of Burma upon
her release from prison. “I took my prison uniform with me because I know
that I will have to come back to prison until Burma gains democracy.”

Su Su Nway's defiant struggle for human rights and dignity has made her a
symbol of resilience and courage to the people of Burma, who now honour
her with the title, “Courageous Su Su Nway.”

“Su Su Nway's story moved us profoundly and represents the selfless
commitment to justice that the John Humphrey Freedom Award was established
to honour,” said Wayne MacKay, Vice-Chair of Rights & Democracy's Board of
Directors and a member of the committee that selected Su Su Nway from more
than 100 nominations. “What she has accomplished is a powerful tribute to
the human spirit that we hope Canadians and the international community
will join us in celebrating.”

Rights & Democracy presents the John Humphrey Freedom Award each year to
an organization or individual from any country or region of the world,
including Canada, for exceptional achievement in the promotion of human
rights and democratic development. Named in honour of John Peters
Humphrey, a McGill University law professor who prepared the first draft
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Award includes a
speaking tour of Canadian cities to help increase awareness of the
recipient's human rights work.

For More Information

Louis Moubarak (ext 261) or Steve Smith (ext 255) at Rights & Democracy,
514-283-6073.