BurmaNet News, August 17, 2007

[Editor]

August 17, 2007 Issue # 3269

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Activists threaten unrest over gas prices
Irrawaddy: IDPs attacked by Burmese troops in N Karen State
DVB: Activist accuses military of stealing flood aid
Irrawaddy: SPDC commander, top Kachin leaders meet at North Command HQ
DVB: Man arrested for stealing noodles dies in custody
KNG: Than Shwe urged to stop land grab in Hukawng Valley tiger reserve
Mizzima News: Civilians forced into night sentry duty in Burma's eastern
Shan state

ON THE BORDER
Kaladan News: Law and order training for Burmese refugees

BUSINESS / TRADE
DPA: Bus fares and some commodity prices double in Yangon
IMNA: 'Military corruption in fuel exposed following hike in price
Mizzima News: Commotion after sudden fuel price hike in Burma

DRUGS
Kaladan News: Drug distributor arrested in Buthidaung

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Thai police raids net more than 500 illegal Burmese migrants
Irrawaddy: One year in S. Korean detention center unfair, says Burmese woman

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Canada denies visas to Burmese groups

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 17, Democratic Voice of Burma
Activists threaten unrest over gas prices

A group of activists, including Ko Htin Kyaw, released a formal statement
today warning the government to reduce gas prices by August 22 or face
widespread public protests.

The group’s statement said that the gas price rises would push thousands
of people over the poverty threshold, leaving them nothing to lose in the
fight against the military’s policies.

“The State Peace and Development Council know that the people of Burma are
already struggling to feed themselves on a daily basis. The gas price
hikes are going to cause many people to starve,” the statement said.

“Rather than sitting in our houses waiting to die from starvation, we will
go out and face death on the street. The government has treated us
inhumanely and we will express our bitterness by staging peaceful,
nonviolent protests and sacrificing our lives,” the activists said.

Ko Htin Kyaw and a number of other activists were arrested on April 22
after staging a protest against high commodity prices outside Thingangyun
township’s San Pya market. They were held in police detention without
charge for more than two months before being released in late July.

“We are going back out onto the street to protest in a non-violent way and
show the world that Burmese people are polite, honest and starving,” the
group’s statement said.

“We will stop the protests as soon as the government withdraws their
decision to increase the gas prices.”

____________________________________

August 17, Irrawaddy
IDPs attacked by Burmese troops in N Karen State - Saw Yan Naing

A group of more than 100 IDPs that has been evading Burmese troops since
their village was attacked in 2006 again came under fire on Wednesday in
northern Karen State, according to residents near the area.

Khu Oo Reh, the joint-secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party,
told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the IDPs were discovered by Burmese
troops near Leh Kee in the Papun district of Karen State and that their
temporary huts were burned to the ground.

A front-line Karenni commander of the KNPP near the location of the
attacks said the IDPs came under attack on Wednesday in Leh Kee, a
temporary shelter for IDPs near the border between Karen and Karenni
states.

“Burmese troops entered two sections of Leh Kee village and burned it,
forcing nearly 200 villagers to flee,” the commander said. “About 28
Karenni IDPs were included in the group.”

The IDPs are now said to be moving toward the Thai border with the
assistance of the Karen National Liberation Army.

The Karenni commander added that shortly after the Burmese attack on Leh
Kee, two skirmishes broke out between junta troops and a combined force of
Karen and Karenni opposition guerrilla forces.

The IDPs had fled from their villages near Leh Kee following previous
attacks by the Burmese army dating back to 2006, and had been moving
frequently in northern Karen State and western Karenni State to avoid
junta troops.

Five other villages in Papun district were attacked and burned earlier
this month by Burmese forces, according to Saw Steve, a leader of the
Committee for Internally Displaced Karen Persons, who said that Burmese
troops fired mortars into some villages in the area.

Several Burmese army battalions are known to be operating in northern
Karen State near Leh Kee village and Mawchi Township in Karenni State.

Mahn Sha, the general secretary of the Karen National Union, said the
Burmese army controlled major roads and reinforced its troops in Papun
district.

More than 30,000 people in northern Karen State have been displaced in
attacks by Burmese forces since the beginning of February 2006, according
to the Free Burma Rangers, a relief team that operates in Karen and
Karenni states.

____________________________________

August 17, Democratic Voice of Burma
Activist accuses military of stealing flood aid

Activist Su Su Nway accused the government yesterday of stealing clothes
donated to flood victims on the outskirts of Rangoon this month.

Su Su Nway said that a number of activists had donated clothes to almost
300 victims of the recent flooding in Hlaing Tharyar township but that
ward authorities from the township had later stolen the garments.

“Three policemen . . . waited for some of the female victims on their way
back to their homes and stole the clothes,” Su Su Nway told DVB.

“They also warned the women that anyone accepting aid from us would be
punished. About 100 people affected by the floods had the donated clothes
taken from them,” she said.

Su Su Nway alleged that the officials involved included a ward peace and
development council chairman and lieutenant Aung Kyaw Win of the police.
She slammed the government for not only failing to provide state aid to
people affected by the flood but also of interfering in relief efforts.

“I am going to talk to the people who had their clothes taken and then I
will go to the people responsible and demand that they return them. Since
I was one of the people who donated them, it is my responsibility to help
get them back,” Su Su Nway said.

____________________________________

August 17, Irrawaddy
SPDC commander, top Kachin leaders meet at North Command HQ- Khun Sam

Maj-Gen Ohn Myint, head of Burma’s North Command on Friday met top leaders
of the ethnic ceasefire group Kachin Independence Organization at the
Burmese army’s North Command headquarters in Myitkyina, according to a KIO
official.

The Kachin leaders included KIO Chairman Lanyaw Zawng Hra, Vice Chairman
Nban La and General Secretary Dr Lahkyen La Ja, while the Burmese side was
represented by Ohn Myint and other high-ranking officials.

An official from the KIO’s Myitkyina-based liaison office told The
Irrawaddy on Friday that the meeting would focus on a range of issues
relating to the KIO’s proposed amendment to some of the basic
constitutional principles being drafted by Burma’s National Convention, as
well as opposition from the local Shan population.

“The meeting is still ongoing so we don’t want to comment too much on it
yet,” the official said.

The meeting was called at a time when relations between the two sides have
become tense, following reports that the junta’s northern commander was
behind a letter campaign by Shan residents of Kachin State, known as Red
Shan, that expressed opposition to the proposed KIO amendments.

Ohn Myint is also believed to be behind efforts to convince local Burmese
authorities to encourage public opposition to the proposed amendments,
which were submitted to the National Convention when its latest and final
session opened on July 19.

The KIO proposal—a six-page document containing 19 articles, complained
that the centralized system governing the drafting of constitutional
guidelines promotes a “unitary system” instead of a federal one, giving
one constituent state sole control over the affairs of constituent states.

Meanwhile, a KIO official based in Chiang Mai said Ohn Myint has also made
moves to disrupt the ceasefire group’s gold mining operations in Hugawng
Valley in western Kachin State by blocking trade routes, and barring the
transport of commodities such as oil, gas and rice from central Kachin
State.

____________________________________

August 17, Democratic Voice of Burma
Man arrested for stealing noodles dies in custody

A man from Sagaing division’s Inn Taw township died in police custody on
August 8 after being arrested for stealing several packets of instant
noodles and a soft drink one day earlier.

Ko Maung Htun, 30, was arrested by railway police while he worked at the
Nabar train station at about 11pm on August 7 and was taken into custody.
A source close to his family said they were informed of his death the
following evening.

“His father, U Htun Ya, visited his son at the police station in the
morning of the 8th and he said he looked well. But soon after he arrived
home in the evening he was told by the police that his son had died,” a
friend of Ko Maung Htun’s family said.

U Htun Ya reportedly viewed his son’s body before it was cremated on
August 10 and said he saw severe bruising across Ko Maung Htun’s back.
Doctors at the Inn Taw hospital said that Ko Maung Htun was brought in for
treatment shortly before he died, but refused to comment on the nature of
his injuries.

“He was still alive when he arrived at the hospital at about 3:15pm but he
was started to lose consciousness. He died at about 4:45pm,” one doctor
told DVB.

Police from the Inn Taw station yesterday blamed Ko Maung Htun’s death on
alcohol abuse. “He died from his own disease. He drank too much,” one
officer who refused to give his name told DVB.

____________________________________

August 17, Kachin News Group
Than Shwe urged to stop land grab in Hukawng Valley tiger reserve

Alarmed over encroachment and land grabbing, which is resulting in serious
environmental and ecological disbalance, residents living around the
world's largest tiger reserve in Hukawng Valley in Kachin State, Burma
have appealed to  Burma's junta supremo, Snr-Gen Than Shwe to intervene
into the land grabbing by the Yuzana Company in the vicinity of the
reserve.

The letter sent to Snr-Gen Than Shwe on June 26 was signed by 19
representatives and over 800 farmers in villages along Ledo Road- Nawng
Mi, Warazup, Tingkawk, Kawng Ra and Danai Town, a resident who put his
signature told KNG today.

The copies of the letter were also sent to junta's Kachin State Commander
Maj-Gen Ohn Myint, Brig-Gen. Thien Zaw  Minister of Communication, Post
and Telegraph, Yuzana Company, Regional Command Headquarters-Danai
(Tanai), Kachin Nationals Consultative Assembly (KNCA), Kachin
Independence Organization (KIO), Ministry of Forestry and Ministry of
Agriculture and Irrigation.

The letter stated that the historic land of the Kachins have been under
the occupation of Rangoon-based Yuzana Company chaired by U Htay Myint who
lacks knowledge to protect their land legally because of the lack of 
official land ownership grants from the ruling junta.

The letter also mentioned that the farmers in Hukawng valley lost their
paddy fields, orchards and natural habitation because of the Yazana
Company's land grabbing with muscle power, money power and modern farm
machinery.

Again, domestic and wild animals have been killed by unknown chemical
agents used by the company. Now there is scarcity of wood and bamboo for
locally-styled house construction and existing social conflict between the
local people and the company's workers, the letter added.

The letter urged Snr-Gen Than Shwe led ruling junta to intervene into the
Yuzana Company's land occupation in Hukawng Valley of Kachin State, fairly
and justly.

The letter of appeal against land grabbing in Hukawng Valley (also Hugawng
Valley) was organised by a locally based independent Hukawng Valley
Development and Agricultural Planning Organization.

The pro-junta Yuzana Company has grabbed over 200,000 acres of land in
Hukawng Valley around the world's largest tiger reserve in Kachin State
with the help of Burma's ruling junta since last year.

____________________________________

August 17, Mizzima News
Civilians forced into night sentry duty in Burma's eastern Shan state -
Myo Gyi

Residents are being forced into night sentry duty by the Burmese
authorities in eastern Shan state's Muse town on the plea that rebels are
in operation.

Four residents in each village of Muse town and surrounding villages are
doing sentry duty in rotation each night in their respective areas or
wards.

The order came from Muse Township Peace and Development Council Chairman,
U Nyunt Han, during a meeting with village and ward chairmen on August 10,
following information that a rebel group of the Shan State Army is
operating in the towns.

Similar orders directing local residents to be on guard duty was also
issued in Hnam Kham township by township chairman, Capt. Aung Min Latt,
through the village and ward chairmen including township police officers
on August 7, local residents said.

"Those on guard duty must use a club or stick and attack if Shan rebels
are spotted. However, the village chairmen asked 'what if the rebels come
with guns'. To which the Township chairman replied 'then you pretend to be
dead,'" a local resident told Mizzima.

Authorities have ordered residents in Muse District to report about guests
staying overnight and to immediately inform authorities in case of
spotting any suspicious persons or the Shan rebels. They have been warned
that they would be punished heavily if they fail to report such cases.

In order to keep people from staying in the paddy fields, authorities have
ordered destruction of huts in the fields.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 17, Kaladan News
Law and order training for Burmese refugees

Teknaf, Bangladesh: Two Burmese refugee camps were made to go through a
law and order training from August 15 to16 by Bangladesh authorities, said
a Majee from the Nayapara camp.

The training was organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees   (UNHCR) and was held in Nayapara camp at around 11 a.m. on
August 16 and was concluded at 2 p.m. But the training was concluded in
Kutupalong refugee camp on August 15.

Fifty refugees including men and women from the Nayapara camp participated
while 15 people attended from government departments.

The Camp-in-Charge of Nayapara and Kutupalong, the protection officer of
the UNHCR, the doctor from Medecins Sans Forntieres (MSF Holland), seven
Imams of the Nayapara camp, six male and nine female schoolteachers and
five garment workers of the camp participated in the training. The
assistant officer of UNHCR Rofique, the field officer of UNHCR Salim,
field coordinator of TAI (Technical Assistance Incorporate) and TAI
special worker Promey also participated.

The additional judge of Cox's Bazaar, Assistant Superintendent of Police
(ASP) of Cox's Bazaar, the two Camp-in-Charge and the protection officer
of UNHCR Mr. Loo imparted the training.

Mr Loo talked about the earlier cases of arrest by the police from the
camps. He has been trying for their release and also discussed the matter
with the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Cox's Bazaar.

The judge delivered a lecture about the law relating to rape and murder
cases, theft, robbery, harassment, beatings, and narcotic among others. He
explained in detail about the cases and the criminals and the jail terms.

Those in charge of the camps said, "We will not provide shelter to those
new arrivals with a criminal bent of mind. Neither do we support early
marriage."  They two talked about the law and order situation in the
camps, and especially asked wives and husbands not to quarrel and neither
should there be wife beating.

The Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Cox's Bazaar talked about
the kind of people the police would arrest and what the people have to do.

One of those undergoing the training told the ASP that when an incident
occurs the police go to the spot and randomly arrest some people. After
that police ask others whether the detainees are guilty or not. If some
people say that the people are criminals, the arrestees are tortured and
jailed after filing cases against them. It is very important to
investigate properly otherwise, some innocent people will be punished. To
this the ASP said, "In future, we will not arrest indiscriminately."

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 17, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Bus fares and some commodity prices double in Yangon

Bus fares have doubled in Yangon in response to a 100 per cent hike in
fuel prices earlier this week, and commodity prices at markets are also on
the rise, sources said Friday.

Myanmar's military regime doubled benzine and diesel prices at state-run
petrol stations on Wednesday, and hiked the price for compressed natural
gas by 200 per cent.

The surprise fuel hike forced about 60 per cent of the city buses, reliant
on compressed natural gas, to stop operations on Wednesday.

Most buses were back on the road on Thursday and Friday after they doubled
fares from 50 kyat (0.04 dollars) to 100 kyat (0.08 dollars), passengers
said.

Inevitably, the fuel price hikes have affected commodity prices at Yangon
markets.

Shoppers said the price of rice, the food staple in Myanmar, had risen by
16 per cent, while vegetable and fruit prices had doubled by Friday.

As of Friday there were no reports of protests against the sudden fuel
price hike, believed to be nationwide.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962, when General Ne Win
staged a coup against elected prime minister U Nu and launched the country
along the disastrous "Burmese Way to Socialism."

Mass anti-military demonstrations in 1988, sparked by the country's dire
economic circumstances, forced the leadership to scuttle it socialist
platform and open the economy up to foreign investment and market forces.

But a brutal military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in the same
year cut Myanmar off from all forms of international aid and discouraged
foreign investments in the pariah state.

The military's decision to stage a general election in 1990, and then to
ignore the outcome after the opposition National League for Democracy
Party led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory, solidified
Myanmar's pariah status in the world community.

Myanmar has been suffering double-digit inflation since 2005 after the
government increased civil servants pay to placate their discontent over
being forced to move from Yangon to the new capital of Naypyitaw, 350
kilometres to the north.

____________________________________

August 17, Independent Mon News Agency
'Military corruption in fuel exposed following hike in price - Banyol Kin

The sudden hike in prices of fuel by 500 percent this week by the Burmese
military junta in the country has created a strange conflict of interest
in Mon State because people used to buy fuel hoarded by the Southeast
Military Command at a lower price, a source said.

Army officers of the Southeast Command are known to stock up on fuel
collected from the government energy department for use in the barracks.
But instead of using the fuel in the barrack they used to sell it to the
people, said a source close to the army.
The Southeast Command has been at this racket for a long time with out any
hitches.  Now because of the sudden rise in fuel prices, the army command
is in a jam, he added.

"We gave them 300,000 kyat (about US $ 240) as part payment in advance for
10 barrels of fuel before the price went up but now they cannot sell to us
and are also unable to give back 300,000 kyat they took as advance", said
the source in Moulmein .

Many people in Moulmein (Mawlamyine) Town paid a deposit to Southeast
Command for buying fuel and are now unable to get back the money or get
the fuel. They are also unable to complain to the Southeast Command.

Not only is Southeast Command selling fuel but also many energy
departments like the shipping department and the government petrol
stations in Mon State are selling fuel to people illegally.

At government stations petrol prices jumped from 1,500 Kyat a gallon to
2,500 Kyat (US $ 1.17 to 1.95). Diesel prices jumped from 1,500 Kyat to
3,000 Kyat. In the market the prices have doubled to 8,000 Kyat for diesel
and petrol.

People who have licensed cars and motor cycles are allowed to buy fuel
from government stations at a lower price. For example, a motorbike owner
is allowed buying two gallons of fuel from the government stations.

____________________________________

August 16, Mizzima News
Commotion after sudden fuel price hike in Burma

The sudden increase in fuel prices in Burma on Tuesday night has thrown
the transport sector in Rangoon into disarray. Commuters are bearing the
brunt of the inconvenience caused, given that fares have skyrocketed.

Residents in Rangoon said bus operators have been forced to raise the
fares, and conductors have pasted the new fares in the buses, to avoid
complaints from commuters.

On August 14 night, the Burmese junta raised the prices of fuel – petrol
and diesel from Kyat 1500 per gallon to Kyat 2500 (US$ 2) and Kyat 3000
(US$ 2.3) respectively and Compressed Natural Gas from Kyat 54 to Kyat 273
per kilogram.

"Conductors continue to shout and remind passengers of the new fares.
Yesterday was terrible with passengers getting off the bus and complaining
while paying the fares. So today the conductors have stuck the new fare
rates in their buses," a Rangoon resident told Mizzima.

Bus fares shot up at least three times. Passengers have to pay Kyat 150
(11 cents) for what was previously Kyat 50 (3 cents). While the fare from
downtown to rural areas rose to Kyat 300 kyat (23 cents), from a minimum
of Kyat 100 (7 cents) charged for two to three bus stops, a resident said.

Those who cannot afford to pay the new fares have opted to travel by local
trains, where the fares are only Kyat 10 per station. However, with the
sudden increase in travellers, the local trains are reportedly
overcrowded.

"People rushed for local trains as the fares are much lower. And some
buses have stopped plying totally with operators waiting for the situation
to improve. Yesterday's situation was bad when many buses suddenly stopped
plying. So, those plying were overcrowded," said another local resident.

He added that despite the fare hike, buses are overcrowded, particularly
during office hours. With more buses plying once again after bus
conductors were able to fix the new fares today, communication has resumed
though it is not as smooth as before, said the resident.

"But there are a lot of complaints from the people because everybody knows
that once the fares are increased it will never come down. The daily wage
earners are the hardest hit because though fares have increased their
wages have not gone up. So, there is a lot of resentment among the
people," a government employee told Mizzima.

According to rumours and unconfirmed reports, the sudden hike in fuel
price including the price of CNG came after Nay Pyi Daw issued a direct
order on Tuesday night.

Ko Pandeik Tun, an 88 generation student leader said, "There is a lot of
natural gas in Burma, but the junta is exporting it at cheap prices in
order to get dollars but prices are hiked inside Burma. The junta in their
craze for foreign currency are fleecing and heaping hardship on its
people."

"The other things is that by raising the prices of commodities including
fuel, travel becomes difficult and life is worse, so the people will
understand who is behind the causes," he added.

____________________________________
DRUGS

August 17, Kaladan News
Drug distributor arrested in Buthidaung

Buthidaung, Arakan State: The tea shop owner from Rakhine state was
arrested on August 14 by the Special Drugs Enforcement team in Buthidaung
Township in Rakhine state, Burma for distributing and selling drugs from
his shop.

U Hla Pru Aung from Buthidaung hails from Number 3 Block in Buthidaung
Township.

On a tip off from its sources the Special Drugs Enforcement team
unexpectedly entered the teashop of U Hla Pru Aung and searched the shop
and found 54 Horse tablets, one kilogram of fake Heroin No.4 and around
one hundred million Kyat worth of amphetamine tablets from the Golden
Triangle. The drugs were seized at about 5:30 p.m. when the teashop was
full of customers, said a source close to the Special Drugs Enforcement
team.

The shop was sealed and U Hla Pru Aung was arrested.

Following interrogation, U Hla Pru Aung told the Special Drugs Enforcement
team that all the drugs and amphetamine tablets were supplied from central
Burma by a former police officer who had served in the Buthidaung Police
Station as Sub-Inspector in 2005, said sources.

Former police officer Htun Htun hails from Pakokku in Magway Division of
Burma.

“We sell the amphetamine tablets to young people who came to our teashop.
It is easy to deal with people who need the drugs and distribute the drugs
in Maungdaw and Bangladesh ,” U Hla Pru Aung confessed.

But, the authorities did not reveal the names of other people who are
dealing in drugs in Maungdaw in Burma and Bangladesh.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 17, Irrawaddy
Thai police raids net more than 500 illegal Burmese migrants - Shah Paung
and Sai Silp

Police raids on seafood factories in the Mahachai district of Samut Sakhon
in Thailand have led to the arrest of more than 500 illegal Burmese
migrant workers, according to a police official in Samut Sakhon’s Muang
District Police Station.

Police Sub-Lieutenant Tirasakorn Tinnakornwaranont in Samut Sakhon who is
in charge of the case told The Irrawaddy on Friday that officials from the
Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok and local police on Thursday
arrested about 570 illegal migrant workers in two seafood processing
factories in Mahachai.

Some of the illegal migrant workers—130 men and 440 women—held valid
employment documents but were working in areas and in jobs that were not
permitted by their documents. Most of the detained workers held no
documents at all. The Crime Suppression Division is currently
investigating the documents.

The factory owners were not present during the raids, and authorities have
not yet released details about what charges the detained migrant workers
might face.

But according to the Mahachai-based Burma Fisheries Worker Union, members
of which visited some of the detained migrant workers, authorities told
them that some of the illegal workers will be sent back to Burma. The
workers are currently being detained at the Samut Sakhon provincial court.

There are an estimated 100,000 Burmese migrant workers in Mahachai district.

In early May, Thai immigration authorities and border police conducted
similar raids in Mae Sot in Tak Province, arresting nearly 800 Burmese
migrant workers. Some workers who had no employment documents were sent
back to Burma.

____________________________________

August 17, Irrawaddy
One year in S. Korean detention center unfair, says Burmese woman - Violet
Cho

An ethnic Chin woman, named Esther, is the latest in a long line of
Burmese women who dream of improving their life only to find themselves in
a legal limbo in a foreign country.

“I felt hopeless and afraid when I heard that the government [South Korea]
may deport me to India,” Esther said. "If I am deported to India, the
Indian government will definitely deport me again to Burma."

Esther was interviewed by The Irrawaddy on Friday in Hwaseong Immigration
Detention Center in Seoul, where she has spent the past year.

The Women League of Chinland, based in India, is preparing a publicity
campaign to convince the South Korean government to send her to a third
country or grant her asylum.

Cheery Zahau, the chairwoman of the women's league, told The Irrawaddy,
“We are really concerned about her case because she is a Chin ethnic woman
who used to be one of our members as well."

If she is returned to Burma, the women's league says Esther could be
subjected to danger and harm.

Esther is one of many Burmese caught up in the vicious cycle of the search
for a better life only to be confronted by abusive foreign employers.
According to the Burma Association in South Korea, half of the more than
2,000 Burmese workers there do not have legal documents.

In many cases, their passports and travel documents were confiscated by
employers. They are then cast adrift in a legal limbo.

Esther's story is typical. In 2005, she and some friends, with the help of
a South Korean pastor, departed India to find work in South Korea. She
said she worked with the pastor, but left her job because of abusive
working conditions. Her passport and travel documents were kept by her
employer.

After living and working in South Korea for a year, she was arrested by
the Korean immigration department in August 2006.

“I can not imagine how my life will be, if I am sent back to Burma again."
she said. "I do not know any of my relatives in Chin State [western
Burma]."

Esther lived in Mizoram, India, with her mother when she was young. Her
father is dead, she said, and the last she heard, her mother had been
arrested by immigration police in 2003 and deported to Burma.

Esther case is under appeal, requesting she not be deported to India,
where she could be deported to Burma, and she desperately hopes she can
apply for asylum.

Esther's case has been brought to the attention of Amnesty International
and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees office in South Korea.

"I have become illegal, but the circumstances were such that it was not my
own mistake," Esther said. "This is something that happened beyond my
control so I feel innocent, and I should not be detained this long.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 17, Irrawaddy
Canada denies visas to Burmese groups

Burmese living in Bangladesh, Japan, India and Thailand are facing
difficulties obtaining temporary visas to attend a Burmese policy
conference in Ottawa, according to the conference organizer.

The Burma policy consultation conference which will be held August 29 to
30 in Ottawa is in jeopardy as many Burmese working on human rights,
democracy, labor and women's issues in countries in Asia were invited to
attend but might be denied entry to the country.

Around 25 prominent Burmese working to restore democracy in Burma were
invited. Two Burmese who are former members of the Communist Party of
Burma and who now reside in China were also invited. It is unknown whether
they will be allowed to leave China.

The conference organizer told The Irrawaddy that Canadian members of
parliament, officials from Foreign Affairs Canada, ambassadors to Canada,
representatives of Canadian civil society organizations, representatives
from Canadian Burmese communities and pro-democracy organizations in
Canada will also attend the conference.

Conference organizers have sent appeal letters to Canadian officials to
intervene. So far only two Burmese have been granted visa.

Tin Maung Htoo, the conference organizer and executive director of
Canadian Friends of Burma based in Ottawa, told The Irrawaddy that
Canada’s visa application process is extremely inflexible and difficult.

The process is "unreasonably stringent for some applicants, in this case
Burmese citizens and other citizens we invited," he said. "Even compared
to the United States, Australia and European countries."

"This is very unfortunate and an apparent contradiction to what Canada
proudly claims to be strong support of the Burmese democratic movement.”

Canadian aid organizations such as Canada Fund and the Canadian
International Development Agency support Burmese refugees and Burmese
groups along the Thai-Burmese border.

Last year, Dr Cynthia Maung, a Karen doctor who has won international
humanitarian awards and was featured as an "Asia Hero" in Time magazine,
was denied a visa at the Canadian embassy in America. Thanks to the
intervention of Canada’s immigration minister, she was finally allowed in.
Her Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot receives assistance from CIDA.

According to Tin Maung Htoo, when Burmese applied for visas at Canadian
embassies in Asia, a number of impolite incidents occurred.

He said that he sent an appeal letter to Stockwell Day, the minister for
public safety in Canada, on August 15.

In the letter obtained by The Irrawaddy, he said: “A number of our guests’
visa applications have been turned down by Canadian embassies in Thailand,
Japan and Bangladesh. Such decisions made by immigration officers in
Bangkok, Dhaka and Tokyo are in contradiction to the Government of
Canada's stance in support of the Burmese democratic movement since 1988.
Immigration officers do not seem to understand the complexity of the
ongoing people’s struggle in Burma, as well as Canada’s staunch support.”

Similar appeals and requests for intervention were also sent to Diane
Finley, Canada’s minister for immigration and citizenship.

According to senior members of CFOB and Burmese who were not granted visas
in the past, Canadian immigration officials have stated that visas could
not be issued to an individual who lived in another country without lawful
permission. It is considered too high of a risk for Canada to issue visas
to such applicants.

Tin Maung Htoo’s said the incident has offended the applicants. He said
the CFOB repeatedly assured the embassies that the applicants' expenses
and return tickets were taken care of, but the embassy staffs did not take
the assurances seriously.

A CFOB member said Canadian immigration officials are concerned that
Burmese who visit Canada will overstay in the country and won’t return to
Burma or the countries where they are currently living.

A Burmese activist who lives in Mae Sot said he did not want to complain
about the visa restrictions. However, he felt that his rights were
violated.

“They (immigration officers) were not satisfied with many things,
including my financial status and my travel history and background," he
said.

In a related issue, an international women's conference scheduled to meet
in September in Montreal has invited Burmese and Karen women to attend.
They are also having problems obtaining visas.