BurmaNet News, April 24, 2008

[Editor]

April 24, 2008 Issue # 3451


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: No press freedom for Myanmar constitution vote: RSF
BBC News: Junta offers Burmese stark choice
BBC News: Burmese farmers face flood threat
Irrawaddy: Junta using threats to win referendum vote, says NLD
Irrawaddy: More harassment, attacks on opposition activists underway
Bangkok Post: Myanmar official says constitutional referendum will be free
and fair
KNG: Junta woos rural people with rice and salt in referendum campaign
IMNA: Polling stations in schools for May referendum
Xinhua: Myanmar to telecast live on referendum activities

ON THE BORDER
The Epoch Times: Canada asked to help Burmese refugees
Irrawaddy: Shorter stays proposed for Burmese visitors to S. Thailand
Mizzima News: Bengali-Burmese friendship soccer match for solidarity with
Burmese rebels

BUSINESS / TRADE
Christian Science Monitor: Burma's wealth gap breeds discontent
Irrawaddy: Burma’s neighbors line up for three port deals

REGIONAL
The Hindu: Indian, Myanmar armies review situation in border areas

INTERNATIONAL
VOA: EU official says 27-nation bloc to extend sanctions against Burma

OPINION / OTHER
Asian Tribune: Escape of people of Burma through the tunnels of death
Irrawaddy: UN disappoints many in Burma
Bangkok Post: Justice avoided

STATEMENTS
National League for Democracy: Special Statement No 7/14/ 08 (Unofficial
Translation)
RSF: Press forbidden to refer to campaign for a No vote in referendum on
new constitution



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 24, Agence France Presse
No press freedom for Myanmar constitution vote: RSF

Myanmar's junta has barred domestic media from reporting on opposition to
next month's referendum on a new constitution, media rights watchdog
Reporters Without Borders said Thursday.

RSF and the Burma Media Association said they were "outraged" by the
methods used by the junta to prevent reporting on opposition to the
charter, which pro-democracy activists say will allow the generals to
entrench their rule.

"The military government is stopping at nothing to rig a referendum that
looks as though it is going to be a sham rather than a free and
transparent election," the two organisations said in a joint statement.

"The supporters of a 'No' vote must be able to express themselves freely
in the media, and journalists must be allowed to report all viewpoints."

They said no Myanmar media had been allowed to publish the views of
supporters of a "No" vote in the May 10 referendum.

RSF also called on the authorities "to let the press do its work without
prior censorship and to allow foreign reporters to visit Burma freely.
This is a condition for the international community's recognition of the
validity of this election."

State media have been running extensive editorials and junta slogans
calling for a "Yes" vote but have not reported on opposition to the
charter.

"To approve the state constitution is a national duty of the entire people
today. Let us all cast 'Yes' vote in the national interest," the
English-language New Light of Myanmar said in a front-page banner on
Thursday.

The back page urged all those who are real patriots, and "loathe foreign
interference and manipulation" to "VOTE 'YES' for ratification of the
constitution."

The paper has also published daily poems and cartoons praising the
constitution and calling for a "Yes" vote.

Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy (NLD) has called on the public to vote "No" and said any
attempts to campaign against the constitution were being suppressed,
sometimes violently.

"An intimidating atmosphere for the people is created by physically
assaulting some of the members of (the) NLD," it said in a statement
earlier this month.

"For these reasons, it is now obvious that the forthcoming referendum
cannot be free and fair."

The European Union said Wednesday it hoped for a free vote but was
preparing to extend sanctions against the regime, while the United States
announced it would resubmit a draft statement in the UN Security Council
to insist on a "credible" referendum.

Washington's ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad cited "disturbing signs
that the process (in Myanmar) is not a credible process."

"It is very important that given the upcoming referendum and elections,
the council sends a strong message, a clear message that the process needs
to be credible," he added.

The referendum will be the first balloting in Myanmar since 1990, when
Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to a landslide victory that was never
recognised by the junta.

The generals say the referendum will pave the way for democratic elections
in 2010, but analysts say the constitution enshrines the role of the
military which has ruled since 1962 and leaves political parties with
little room to campaign.

____________________________________

April 24, BBC News
Junta offers Burmese stark choice – Michael Pan

Burma's military rulers have finally published a draft constitution -
after a 15-year delay. The results have not met with universal approval. 
"As soon as I got the book, I thoroughly checked it to see if any page was
missing," says Ko Moe.

Moe, in his early 40s, describes himself as a "student
activist-turned-businessman".

He says he is surprised that teenagers today are interested in the draft
constitution - which Burmese people are due to vote on in a referendum on
10 May.

"At the bookshop, I saw teenagers and those in their early 20s, probably
university students, buying the draft constitution," he says.

"I said to myself - they were also stung by the Saffron Revolution," he
says, referring to the protests led by Buddhist monks that were quickly
suppressed by the military regime last September.

Hopes of peace

Moe took part in pro-democracy demonstrations 20 years ago, and many of
his friends ended up in jail.

The protests were followed by general elections in 1990, but the military
rulers never handed over power to a civilian government.
Instead, they began the long drawn-out process to draw up a new constitution.

"I know that the majority of people do not like this constitution. Taxi
drivers, manual workers and even government employees will reject this
constitution," Moe says.

But he knows it may not turn out the way he wants.

The government-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar had a recent headline
entitled: "Let us all cast 'yes' vote in the national interest."

The military regime, after being in power for two decades, is not without
its supporters.

"I will support the constitution because it allows the military,
politicians and people to live peacefully," says Ohn Lwin from Rangoon.

Boycott calls

Although many Burmese people would favour a constitution of some sort,
there are lots of disagreements over this draft - and it presents a
conundrum for some.

Firstly the winners of the 1990 elections, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), have declared the constitutional process illegal.

They have insisted that the constitution must be drawn up by elected
representatives and are calling for a "no" vote.

Secondly the military has reserved substantial powers for itself in the
draft constitution.

For example, 25% of the seats in all assemblies are allocated to military
representatives, and the chief of armed forces can assume state power
under "emergency provisions".

Critics say this is not a democratic constitution and will ensure
continued military supremacy in Burma.

Thirdly, credibility of the outcome is also an issue, as the ruling
generals have rejected the UN's offer to monitor the referendum.

Moreover many ethnic groups fear that the constitution does not guarantee
their rights. Some ethnic groups are also calling for a boycott of the
referendum.

Prof Joseph Silverstein, a long-time Burma-watcher from Rutgers University
in the US, thinks the role of the Association of South East Asian Nations
(Asean) is key.

"If it were approved I think there would be protests and a lot of
demonstrations, there would be criticism from the UN, United States and
Western European countries," he says.

"But in the end it will stand, because the position of the Asean and the
world generally is that this is an internal matter."

The draft constitution stipulates that the document will be approved if
more than half of those turning out vote "yes". And a 50% turnout is
necessary to make the referendum valid.

In other words, the constitution could be approved by a "yes" vote from
just over 25% of eligible voters.

The regime has not said what would happen if the constitution was rejected.

"No" campaigners say that rejection of the constitution would deepen the
political crisis and force the regime to come to the negotiating table.

But many doubt that view.

It will certainly give the military more time to hold on to power, and
start another process which may stretch for many more years to come.

____________________________________

April 24, BBC News
Burmese farmers face flood threat – Nessa Tierney

With dense green forests on both banks, and a clear blue sky overhead, the
Salween River is peaceful when the motor of our long, narrow boat is
switched off.

This river is the main artery of Karen State in eastern Burma, and an
almost completely unspoilt, incredibly biodiverse environment.

We see little traffic on our journey; a couple of other wooden boats
carrying goods, and one with a cargo of buffalo that my guide says are
being smuggled from deep inside Burma for sale in Thailand.

The peace, however, is deceptive, as this area is essentially a war zone.

I have crossed into Burma illegally from Thailand because the repressive
Burmese regime does not grant visas to foreign journalists.

The authorities certainly do not want the outside world to have access to
Karen State, a division of Burma that borders Thailand.

Nature's role

The Karen opposition forces have been fighting for self-determination
against the government for almost 60 years.

They have few areas of control left; the Burmese military regularly launch
attacks on villages in an attempt to force people to relocate to
Burmese-controlled areas.

Estimates say hundreds of thousands of Karen have been displaced. Many
hide in the jungle; up to 200,000 have made their way across the border to
refugee camps in Thailand.

Others find relative and temporary safety in camps in Karen State set up
by the Karen National Union (KNU), the political wing of the opposition.

These displaced people bring reports of human rights abuses by the Burmese
army: rape, torture and forced labour.

I met Paw Wah in a refugee camp beside the Salween River.

"They tied my husband to a tree, with a rope," she told me, "then they
beat him. He is still vomiting blood.

"They said he was helping the KNU soldiers, but this wasn't true".

The area's natural environment plays an important role in the conflict.
The Karen have a unique way of managing their resources, especially their
forests.

They practise a form of rotational farming which involves burning areas of
forest for planting. They hunt wild animals and gather plants for food and
medicine.

Strong as a tree

Spiritual beliefs often have a strong link to sustainable land management.

When a Karen baby is born, the umbilical cord is hung on a tree in an area
of sacred forest.

They believe that not only will the child grow up to be strong like the
tree, but will always protect his or her own tree.

Large-scale logging by the Burmese government, and in the past by the
Karen leadership when they controlled more of the state, has damaged some
parts of the forests.

However, the indigenous conservation knowledge of the Karen people has
helped to preserve much of it intact.

As villagers flee to relatively safe areas controlled by the KNU, these
areas become too crowded, and the carefully balanced farming practices are
abandoned.

Local environmental groups like the Karen Environmental and Social Action
Network (KESAN), which is based in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, take
great risks going deep inside Karen State to work with villagers, helping
them retain their indigenous knowledge.

KESAN director Paul argues that protecting resources is crucial for the
survival of the Karen.

He adds that they can't wait for the civil war to end before taking
action: "If there are no forests, there will be no Karen."

Foreign interests

The forests are the only valuable natural resource here.

Gas and mineral deposits have also been exploited by the Burmese
authorities in the past.

Such projects have been controversial because of allegations of forced
labour and other abuses.

Currently, the "500lb gorilla in the room", as Thailand-based
environmentalist Jeff Rutherford describes it, is the plan to build four
hydropower dams on the Salween River, three of which will be on the
stretch of the river that runs through Karen State.
They are being built with funding from the Thai State Electricity company
(EGAT), along with the Burmese government and with investment from China.

Although very little has been said publicly about the plans, it is
understood that most the electricity produced will be sold to Thailand.

Local human rights and environmental groups are campaigning against the
building of the dams. They say this kind of large-scale development
project leads to increased militarisation, and the human rights abuses
that follow.


>From an environmental perspective, local experts say the loss would be

considerable.

"They are talking about building, between what they are doing in China and
in Burma, the biggest hydroelectric complex on Earth, in a biodiversity
Garden of Eden," Jeff Rutherford says.

The problem for campaigners is how to mobilise local people to oppose the
dams, given the insecurity in which they live.

Paul from KESAN told me: "People started to ask, 'OK, what can we do
because we have no power?'"

He says that although his group has no power either, they can at least
voice the concerns of local people.

____________________________________

April 24, Irrawaddy
Junta using threats to win referendum vote, says NLD – Wai Moe

Burmese civil servants have been told they face the sack if they fail to
vote in favor of the draft constitution in the May 10 referendum,
according to the opposition National League for Democracy.

An NLD statement on Thursday said that farmers who failed to vote in favor
of the proposed constitution would have their land nationalized and
students who voted “No” would be barred from continuing their studies.

NLD spokesman Thein Nyunt told The Irrawaddy that people across Burma had
informed the NLD of the intimidation. Civil servants and members of the
pro-government Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) were
being told to vote in advance, Thein Nyunt said.

Several government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
regime was planning to make school teachers, university lecturers and
civil servants vote in advance in the presence of senior military
officers.

“This is clear intimidation to vote “Yes,” said Win Min, a Burmese
political analyst living in Thailand. “It’s unacceptable, since it
violates the basic right to vote in secret. “It also shows that the
authorities are worried that these civil servants are likely to vote ‘No’
if they’re free to do so.”

The NLD statement repeated an earlier call on the electorate to reject the
draft constitution in the May referendum, calling it unfair.

The statement said that although the draft could be approved by a majority
of more than 50 per cent, any amendment would require more than 75 of
parliamentary representatives to become law.

Members of the referendum commission and sub-commission were immune from
disciplinary action if they interfered in the voting process, the NLD
said.

The referendum laws excluded independent observers from monitoring the
counting of the votes, and one sole individual, Aung Toe, leads the
committee of the national convention and the committee of the constitution
drafting, the NLD complained.

The NLD statement also complained that the electorate had not had enough
time to study the constitution draft, which had been available to the
public for only one month.

____________________________________

April 24, Irrawaddy
More harassment, attacks on opposition activists underway – Aye Lae

The homes of several members of the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) in Rangoon and Mandalay were raided by authorities and
attacked by vandals this week, according to local NLD members.

The homes of two senior members of the southwest and northwest townships
in Mandalay, Myint Soe and Aung Ko Ko, were pelted by rocks thrown from
motorcycles on April 20, said Ko Gyi, a senior NLD member in Mandalay.

“The attackers used catapults to throw rocks against the houses,” Ko Gyi
told The Irrawaddy from Mandalay. He said three motorcycles were involved
in the attack. Myint Soe and Aung Ko Ko could not be reached for comment.

Myint Soe filed a complaint at Police Station 7 in Maha Aung May Township,
Ko Gyi said.

Attacks against opposition arty members and other activists have increased
since the NLD launched its “Vote No” campaign in early April against the
junta’s constitutional referendum. The referendum is May 10.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy on Thursday, “Such
attacks clearly indicate that there is not law in the country.”

The spokesman said that several NLD members in Rangoon were similarly
harassed recently as they walked home from a bus stop in North Okkalapa
Township.

On April 22, Nyan Win said the homes of three NLD members who live in
South Dagon Myothit Township were raided at night by more than a dozen
police and unidentified officials. The homes of Lay Lwin, Ma Cho and Thin
Soe were thoroughly searched, he said, but no items were confiscated

In recent weeks, two more NLD members, Thi Han and Myint Hlaing, were
assaulted in Rangoon by unknown parties. Myint Hlaing, 72, was
hospitalized for injuries.

Other unconfirmed reports say NLD members in townships in Arakan State and
Irrawaddy Division have been harassed and assaulted for their political
activities.

____________________________________

April 24, Bangkok Post
Myanmar official says constitutional referendum will be free and fair

Voters will be allowed to watch ballot counting and other steps will be
taken to ensure fairness in a May referendum on Myanmar's proposed
constitution, an election official in the military-ruled country was
quoted as saying.

Measures have been taken to ensure that voting is free and fair according
to international standards, the government-controlled Myanmar Times
newspaper on Thursday quoted Hla Soe, chairman of Yangon's Referendum
Holding Commission, as saying.

Voters will be allowed to watch the ballot counting, Hla Soe said.

However, detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy party said the rules will not ensure a free or fair referendum.
The party reiterated its call for voters to reject the proposed
constitution.

The pro-democracy party's statement said the draft charter fails to
guarantee democratic rights and practices, and includes articles that
would make it virtually impossible to amend.

Critics say the constitution is a sham designed to perpetuate military
rule and to prevent Suu Kyi from running for office.

The junta announced in February that it will hold the referendum in May
and general elections in 2010 _ the first specific dates for steps in its
previously announced "roadmap to democracy."

The National League For Democracy has been trying to urge voters to reject
the draft constitution, but harassment of pro-democracy activists and
long-standing restrictions on freedom of speech have made it difficult for
the party to spread its message.

The government, meanwhile, has launched an aggressive campaign through
state media with songs, cartoons, articles and slogans urging people to
approve the constitution.

The Myanmar Times quoted Hla Soe as saying security officials will be
assigned to more than 2,500 polling booths across Yangon, the country's
biggest city, where at least 4 million people will be eligible to vote in
the May 10 referendum.

Myanmar has more than 56 million people. The total number of eligible
voters was not immediately available.

The draft constitution allots 25 percent of the seats in both houses of
Parliament to the military. It also empowers the president to transfer
legislative, executive and judicial powers to the military's commander in
chief for up to a year if the government declares a state of emergency.

The draft also bans anyone who has enjoyed the rights and privileges of a
foreign citizen from holding public office _ a rule that would keep Suu
Kyi out of government because her late husband was a Briton.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962. The current junta
seized power in 1988 and refused to honor the results of 1990 general
elections won by Suu Kyi's party.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi is under house arrest and has been in
detention without trial for more than 12 of the past 18 years.

The junta has been under strong international pressure to make democratic
reforms, especially since it crushed peaceful pro-democracy protests last
September. The U.N. estimates at least 31 people were killed and thousands
more were detained.

____________________________________

April 24, Kachin News Group
Junta woos rural people with rice and salt in referendum campaign

With the referendum to approve the constitution just over two weeks away
the Burmese military junta has been wooing rural people with rice and salt
in Northern Burma, a local said.

A special centre for rice and salt distribution for locals with
commodities made available at discounted prices has been opened by the
regime for nearly a week in Chibwe town in Kachin State, locals told KNG.

Local civilians and government servants can buy a sack of milled rice at
18,000 Kyat (US $ 16) and a package of salt for 250 Kyat. These are being
sold at 50 per cent discount, according to residents of Chibwe.

There are over 10,000 people in Chibwe town and the people rely on
government jobs and cultivation of paddy in the surrounding mountains, the
residents added.

Unlike other urban areas in Kachin State, the regime has prepared
ready-to-vote conditions for the constitutional referendum on May 10 in
all villages in Chibwe as well as the controlled areas of the main Kachin
ceasefire group, the Kahin Independence Organization (KIO) in the Triangle
Areas opposite Chibwe which is divided by the N'mai River, villagers in
the areas said.

According to KIO sources in the area, the KIO will be responsible for
security of all the polling stations in its controlled areas of Nyawng Maw
Pa and Washa Pa under Battalion (10) on the request of the junta.

A local NGO worker in Myitkyina Township, the capital of Kachin State who
came back last weekend from those areas told KNG, "Most residents of
Chibwe are government servants and they will cast the 'Yes' vote for the
regime' new constitution."

"Most residents do not have any knowledge of the new constitution. The
residents have less than ten radios per hundred people", the Ngo worker
added.

On the other hand, the Burmese military junta has assigned the KIO to
monitor the polling booths in Nyawng Maw Pa and Wa Sha Pa which are KIO
battalion (10) controlled areas.

Meanwhile, voting stations are being set up in the villages in KIO and
another Kachin ceasefire group, New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K)
controlled areas east of Kachin State outside Chibwe, the locals said.

The KIO and NDA-K have allowed setting up polling stations and collection
of voters' list in their controlled areas. However both groups have not
suggested to the people whether to cast 'Yes' or 'No' votes in the
referendum, according to insiders.

____________________________________

April 24, Independent Mon News Agency
Polling stations in schools for May referendum

Government schools in townships will be converted to polling stations for
the referendum. Orders have been issued to conduct remote teaching in Mon
summer schools held in government school precincts, according to the Mon
Literature and Culture Committee (MLCC) in southern Burma.

According to the MLCC, the local authorities in Ye township southern Mon
State ordered the MLCC not to teach students in Mon summer schools in
government school precincts because they will be converted into polling
stations.

An IMNA source said "last year, the MLCC taught students in its summer
schools in about ten schools in Ye town without being prohibited by local
authorities. But now they are not allowing teaching at these schools".

The MLCC said that they began holding summer schools in five monasteries
after the local authorities disallowed teaching at schools.

The summer schools opened in the monasteries today, but the number of
students have decreased because some monasteries are far from the homes of
students, said the source.

According to a government school administrator in Mon State, the polling
stations in May could be in some primary schools. The education department
staff members in the township were forcibly made to sign a pledge to
cooperate with the commission for holding the referendum to approve the
draft constitution when the people come to vote.

An IMNA source said the local authorities will announce the list of voters
in their offices before the poll day. The residents have to check for
their names at the local authorities' offices.

According to the authorities' people, monks, prisoners and those who have
illegally taken up jobs in neighbouring countries will not be allowed to
vote.

____________________________________

April 24, Xinhua
Myanmar to telecast live on referendum activities

The Myanmar Radio and Television under the Information Ministry will
launch live broadcast and telecast on the forthcoming constitutional
referendum scheduled for May 10, the local "Biweekly Eleven" reported
Thursday.

News coverage by media persons on the upcoming historic event will be
permitted to launch in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw and the former
capital of Yangon, the report quoted participants as saying.

The free news coverage activities, including taking photos, will be
granted outside the referendum areas but it is restricted to counting of
votes after the booths are closed, the participants said.

According to the already-enacted 2008 Republic of Union of Myanmar
Referendum Law, "the polling booth teams shall inspect the ballot boxes in
the presence of not less than 10 persons eligible to vote, open such
ballot boxes and count the votes".

According to one of its article, the constitution draft can be ratified
with over 50 percent of the votes-in-favor out of over 50percent of votes
cast by eligible voters.

Meanwhile, over 4 million up-to-age population in Yangon have been
declared as being eligible voters for the referendum, according to other
local media.

Yangon has a population of over 6 million out of Myanmar's total which is
56.5 million.

The Yangon Division Commission for Holding Nationwide Referendum said over
2,500 polling booths are being set up in the division to ensure 100 to
3,000 voters in each polling booth to secretly cast their ballots.

Voting rolls will be announced at least seven days ahead of the referendum
day, the commission noted, warning "a person who is entitled to vote shall
have the right to vote only once at the referendum".

The polling booths are set to open in the morning at 6 a.m. local times
and close in late afternoon at 4 p.m. local times.

The polling is said to be conducted in line with the international systems
to ensure that the referendum be free and fair.

All Myanmar state media, including daily newspapers and radio and
television, are campaigning on the upcoming May 10 constitutional
referendum, asking the country's people to cast vote-in-favor to ratify
the constitution draft written through the national convention.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 24, The Epoch Times
Canada asked to help Burmese refugees – Cindy Chan

Canadian Burmese activists are urging Canada to increase humanitarian aid
to Thailand's refugee camps where Burmese refugees are at risk from rising
food prices.

"The Thailand-Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), the main relief organization
providing food for the refugees in the nine camps along the
[Thailand-Burma] border, is under a very difficult financial crisis," said
Tin Maung Htoo, executive director of the Canadian Friends of Burma
(CFOB).

The TBBC provides food to 142,000 refugees in the camps. Over the last
three months the price of rice has more than doubled and is expected to
increase further, Maung Htoo said. The recent devaluation of the U.S.
dollar has compounded the situation. The TBBC currently has an approximate
budget shortfall of US $9 million.

"This price crisis is very widespread in Asia currently, especially in
those refugee camps because those organizations are running based on fixed
income support from different countries," he said.

In early March Maung Htoo visited the region and saw the deteriorating
conditions first-hand.

"When I was in Thailand I was very, very appalled to see the living
conditions of the refugees in the camps and on the border," he said. "I
visited the most crowded camp where more than 40,000 refugees are taking
shelter and I noticed more than 4,000 are living without food rations."

He described the conditions at the Mei Tao medical clinic in the city of
Mai Sot on the border, which serves hundreds of patients daily, including
migrant workers and refugees, many of whom are Burmese.

"The facility is very, very much below the standard. Some patients lie on
the ground, and some operations I feel are dangerous." These patients
include severely injured victims of land mine explosions.

"The environment is not safe. There are no proper accommodations," said
Maung Htoo.

The TBBC, which funds Mei Tao, recently notified the clinic that it is
experiencing difficulty continuing to provide food for the clinic's staff
and patients.

The majority of Mei Tao's budget comes from Canada, noted Maung Htoo, and
"under this situation Canada's support is very, very important."

TBBC's executive director Jack Dunford recently travelled to several
countries seeking emergency funding. So far, Spain, Ireland, and the
Netherlands have announced additional funds.

Dunford was in Ottawa last week and met with senior Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA) officials. However, he left empty handed without
any promise from the Canadian government to provide tangible help, Maung
Htoo said.

Canada is one of the smallest donors among 14 other countries providing
aid to Burmese refugees in Thailand. It contributes only two to three
percent of the costs of the refugee food program.

Maung Htoo pointed out that Canada gave up to $20 million in aid each year
to Burma before the democratic uprising in 1988, compared to today's $2
million annually. In contrast, Canada has been providing much more
substantial funding to other parts of the world such as Afghanistan and
Haiti.

He urged the Canadian government to increase humanitarian aid to the
Burmese refugees in Thailand. Canada is a key supporter of efforts working
toward democracy and human rights in Burma, he said.

"At the same time we should not forget the situation inside [Burma] and on
the border, and we should provide some concrete support." Otherwise these
refugees could face starvation, said Maung Htoo.

____________________________________

April 24, Irrawaddy
Shorter stays proposed for Burmese visitors to S. Thailand – Sai Silp and
Saw Yan Naing

In a move to stem the flow of illegal Burmese migrants into Thailand, Thai
officials have proposed that the amount of time visitors from Burma can
spend in Thailand after crossing the border at Ranong should be reduced
from one week to one day.

The proposal, raised at a meeting between Thai and Burmese officials,
follows the deaths of 54 Burmese illegal migrants who suffocated in a
truck carrying them through southern Thailand after they had landed in
Ranong, a port just across a river estuary from Kawthaung in southern
Burma.

Colonel Pornthep Vacharaphun, commander of the 29th infantry unit of
Surasee Task Force, said the restriction on the length of stay by Burmese
visitors could help prevent a similar tragedy occurring.

He also proposed that Burmese sent back after entering Thailand illegally
should be repatriated at Kawthaung.

The one day meeting was attended by Thai police officers and some 24
Burmese officials and policemen, including Col Kyaw Kyaw Oo, chairman of
the Border Committee in Kawthaung, and Ye Min, a senior police officer
from Naypyidaw, according to a source close to the Burmese authorities.

Burmese police officers from Kawthaung attending the meeting included Kyi
Lwin, Win Myint and Aung Myint Htun, the anonymous source said.

Border trade issues were also reportedly discussed at the meeting.

The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission, meanwhile, issued a
statement on Thursday urging the Thai government to conduct a transparent
investigation into the deaths of the 54 migrants.

“The Asian Human Rights Commission reiterates its call that top-level
investigators from Bangkok, be they from the Department of Special
Investigation or other agencies, be put in charge of this case and be
obliged to report to the highest levels of government and to the public on
what is being done to bring all the perpetrators of these deaths, not just
a few of the small people who were directly involved, to justice,” the
statement said.

Senior officers of the Thai Justice Ministry’s Department of Special
Investigation are quoted as saying a full special inquiry into the deaths
would not be held since they were not technically the result of human
trafficking. The migrants had not been forced to travel to Thailand but
had done so voluntarily, the officers reportedly said.

Fourteen of the 67 survivors are currently being held at Ranong’s
immigration office as witnesses.

___________________________________

April 24, Mizzima News
Bengali-Burmese friendship soccer match for solidarity with Burmese rebels
– Solomon

India's premier football club, East Bengal has said it will hold a
friendship tournament for the first time, with a Burmese football team, in
a show of solidarity with the Burmese people, who are struggling against
military dictatorship at home.

The Bengali-Burmese Friendship Football match will be played between
Kingfisher's East Bengal Football Club, representing the people of Bengal
and the Mizzima football team, representing the Burmese people, on April
26, the organizers said.

Somitra Lahiri, Public Relations Officer of West Bengal Sports Department,
which is co-organizing the soccer match said, "The purpose of organizing
this events is to expose to the people of Bengal about the dictatorship in
Burma and for the release of the 34 Burmese victims who are currently
detained in Presidency jail in Kolkata."

The soccer match is aimed at drawing the attention to the case of the 34
Burmese rebels, who were arrested in 1998 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
and who are currently languishing in the Presidency jail in Kolkata, added
Lahiri.

The 34 Burmese rebels, who are mostly from Arakan and Karen ethnic groups
of Burma, were arrested in early 1998 in the Nicobar Island by Indian
security forces. The rebels were accused of gun-running but were kept in
Port Blair with out a fair trial.

However, on appeals by Indian Human rights activists, the Supreme Court of
India ordered the rebels to be transferred to Kolkata in October 2006, and
issued an order to conduct a day-to-day trial.

Lahiri said the soccer match is aimed at highlighting the situation of the
Burmese rebels as well as promote awareness of the political situation in
Burma, which has been ruled by military dictators since 1962.

Swarup Das, coach of the U-19 of the Kingfisher's East Bengal team said,
the match will provide them their first chance to witness the Burmese
people's soccer talents and that a few senior players from the
Kingfisher's team will join them.

"We will play against the Burmese team on Saturday," said Das, adding that
the match will be an exciting experience as his team had never played
against a Burmese soccer team.

The Burmese team, which comprises Burmese journalists, students and
activists, said the soccer match will be their first against an Indian
team and will provide a chance to build a relationship with Indians.

Besides playing against the Kingfisher's East Bengal team, the Burmese
soccer team will also play a friendly match with Jadavpur University
students on April 27, added Lahiri.

The soccer match, which will be held at the East Bengal ground, will be
inaugurated by West Bengal's Left front Chairman Biman Bose and will be
graced by Ministers Subhas Chakraborty, Dr. Ashim Kr. Dasgupta, Kshiti
Goswami, Pratim Chatterjee, Nandagopal Bhattacharya and Naren Dey.


____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 24, Christian Science Monitor
Burma's wealth gap breeds discontent – Danna Harman

Tales of the junta's extravagances trickle down to average citizens, many
of whom lack basic items.  In a country where electricity is available
only a few hours a day and those with a job can barely afford the bus ride
to work, Burmese pack the teahouses here and gossip about the decadence of
the top brass.

"In Rangoon there is complete neglect, but in Naypyidaw everything is
good," Min, a construction worker, tells his friends. He asks that only
his first name be used for security reasons. Min is referring to the new
capital 250 miles north, to which the top generals and their families have
relocated and which cost between $122 million and $244 million to build,
according to the International Monetary Fund.

"They are building swimming pools and golf courses and very good roads,"
Min whispers to the others. "They have better Karaoke clubs too ... with
dancing girls!"

The gap between the haves and have-nots in Burma (Myanmar) is growing
every day. And it's this poverty and inequality, say observers, that fuels
the discontent here – perhaps more than any yearning for democracy.

"If [top leader, General] Than Shwe delivered on the economy," argues
Robert Rotberg, director of Harvard's Kennedy School Program on Intrastate
Conflict and Conflict Resolution, "[then] everyone would agree to wait for
democracy. But the junta robs and strips the economy.... Indeed, the junta
systematically loots."

Not that the regime seems eager to deliver political reform, either: Many
expect a constitutional referendum set for May 10 to further the junta's
control, and do little for individual freedoms.

"The key question is economic," agrees Zin Linn, a Burmese activist and
journalist who was jailed for seven years by the junta, and today lives in
exile in Thailand. "We are facing starvation because of the junta's
policies of mismanagement and selfishness."

Weeks' wages for rice

At independence 60 years ago, Burma was regarded as the Southeast Asian
nation "most likely to succeed" based on economic indicators at the time
compiled by ALTSEAN, a regional human rights lobby. The country is awash
with natural wealth, from extensive oil and gas reserves to world-renowned
rubies.

But the country today is aching with poverty. "This country is, how shall
I put it, a disaster. A disaster of many decades in the making,"
half-jokes comedian U Lu Zaw, a member of the famous anti-regime Moustache
Brothers comedy troupe in Mandalay.

Within the past five years, the price of cooking oil in Burma has risen
tenfold. One sack of the lowest quality rice here costs half of Min's
month's wages. The UN estimates that the average household spends more
than 70 percent of its income on food. The World Food Program recently
announced it would spend $51.7 million over the next three years in food
aid for up to 1.6 million vulnerable Burmese.

The World Health Organization routinely ranks Burma's overall healthcare
system among the worst in the world. Less than half of Burmese children go
to primary school, compared with 70 percent of children in Southeast Asia
who complete secondary school.

What's happening? To begin with, the regime spends about half of its
annual budget on its 400,000-strong military, shelling out billions of
dollars for everything from warships from China and tanks from Ukraine to
jet planes and a nuclear reactor from Russia. Less that 3 percent of the
budget is spent on health services, and just 1 percent on education.
Burmese officials blame economic sanctions by the United States and the
European Union. But analysts say the rest of the story is one of
mismanagement and corruption.

Even the employed here can't afford to buy a 10-cent newspaper on a
regular basis: According to the BBC World Service Trust, on average, a
single paper is read by 10 adults, meaning people are pooling resources to
buy them. Yet when the poor do open the papers, they find society pages
filled with displays of extravagance: champagne parties, mansions bought
and sold.

Diamonds for the general's daughter

In this environment, rumors breed freely. Few urbanites have not seen
bootleg DVD copies of General Shwe's daughter's extravagant wedding. Were
all those diamonds real? Was that tiara pure gold? And does Shwe's
grandson really take a private plane to Singapore for school every
morning?

No one knows, but increasingly people are convinced they are poor because
their leadership is stealing from them. "There are two different worlds in
Burma, and one comes at the expense of the other," says Min.

Many Burmese today are forced to buy generators or make do with candles.
Burma has sufficient energy, but the leadership is selling it abroad.
According to a 2007 report by the US Armed Forces' Pacific Command, Burma
produced only 1,775 megawatts of power for its 53 million people in 2006
but sold neighboring Thailand 26,000 megawatts for its 63 million people.
The monies from those sales have not been accounted for. It's a story that
repeats itself in sector after sector.

Bringing this up with the junta leads to stonewalling, or worse, as
Charles Petrie, the most recent UN director in Burma, discovered. "In this
potentially prosperous country basic human needs are not being met," Mr.
Petrie wrote last October. The junta's response? Petrie "has acted ...
beyond his capacity by issuing the statement which not only harms
[Burma's] reputation but also the reputation of the United Nations," they
retorted – and kicked him out of the country within months.

____________________________________


April 23, Irrawaddy
Burma’s neighbors line up for three port deals – William Boot

A successful bid by Thailand to develop a deep-sea port at Dawei on the
Andaman Sea coast would complete three development deals by Burma’s most
influential neighbors to upgrade the military junta’s seaways.

At the other end of Burma, the old rice port of Sittwe on the edge of the
Bay of Bengal is about to be redeveloped by India. And in between China is
working on a major new port construction at Kyauk Phyu on Ramree Island.

All three neighbors have been stepping up their business links with the
Burmese military regime at a time when Western countries are seeking to
isolate the generals.

The future of Dawei, also known as Tavoy, was raised by Thailand’s Prime
Minister Samak Sundaravej and Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama on recent
visits to the capital of Naypyidaw.

Few details of what the Thai government has in mind have emerged, but
analysts note that Dawei is close to the Thai border and only 300
kilometers from the markets of greater Bangkok and Thailand’s major
electricity generating plants.

“A port capable of handling ocean-going oil tankers and within easy reach
of the Bangkok region would be very convenient for the Thais,” Hong
Kong-based logistics expert Vince Lomax told The Irrawaddy.

“But that standard of port will take a lot of money to build, and would
also need to be able to handle TEUs [Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit
containers] and would need road upgrades and maybe a railroad link,” said
Lomax, an independent consultant involved in several major ports in East
Asia, including Hong Kong.

Ironically, Dawei was previously in India’s sights for development as part
of New Delhi’s oft-discussed “Look East” policy. The Indians were in
discussions with the Burmese generals in early 2005 on a plan to turn
Dawei into a sea gateway to Southeast Asia, shortcutting the long sea
route round the tip of Malaysia and the cluttered Malacca Strait.

At that time, New Delhi spoke about a feasibility study on Dawei. Nothing
more was heard of it.

Observers think China’s rising interest in the geography of Burma may have
had some influence on ending India’s ambitions beside the Andaman.

Not only is Beijing quietly developing a naval logistic presence round the
rim of the Indian Ocean, like the Indian navy, it sees in Burma both a
source of raw energy and gas and a conduit to transport Middle East oil
into Southwest China by a pipeline.

The same shortcut avoiding the Malacca Strait seems to have occurred to
the Chinese about the same time as the Indians.
China has settled on a far more strategic location on the Burmese coast
for its naval and economic plans—the isolated fishing port of Kyauk Phyu
on Ramree Island adjoining Arakan State.

But whereas Dawaei is handy for the Thais, Kyauk Phyu will necessitate a
1,500-kilometre highway and similar length pipeline to reach Kunming, the
capital of China’s bordering Yunnan Province.

Few details about Kyauk Phyu have emerged, but the Chinese government news
agency Xinhua has reported that the port will have a water depth of 20
meters. That would enable it to handle the biggest deep-draught container
vessels.

Even the port in Shanghai does not have such depth.
Chinese engineers and other skilled labor are involved in the Ramree
development, which is isolated from prying eyes. The leading construction
manager is Asia World, a multiple-activity Burmese company whose owners,
Lo Hsing-han and his son Steven Law, are close to the junta and
blacklisted by the US government.

Xinhua has said that Kyauk Phyu will also be linked by road with Sittwe,
the dilapidated British colonial-era port in the far west near the
Bangladesh border.

“You could say that Sittwe is India’s consolation prize,” said Erik
Lannson, an international freight manager in Bangkok. “They lost out on
the Shwe gas to China, who may have blocked their Dawei ambitions, but
they still get a kind of look-east seaside window even though it is a
smaller one.”

Indian state companies will spend US $120 million to renovate Sittwe and
dredge the Kaladan River which connects the port with the Indian northeast
state of Mizoram.

New Delhi now sees this as a key to opening up its landlocked northeast
states.

Sittwe seems certain to become important as a link port for the nearby
offshore Shwe gas field where more than 200 billion cubic meters of proven
reserves are waiting to be tapped.

No one should expect any early developments at Dawei. The Indian
government spent more than two years negotiating with the military before
a formal agreement was reached on Sittwe earlier this month—with a loan
sweetener of $10 million.


____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 24, The Hindu
Indian, Myanmar armies review situation in border areas

A 15-member team of Myanmar Army has discussed with their Indian
counterparts ways on further strengthening co-operation in areas of border
management to check trafficking of narcotics and arms and movements of
insurgents and anti-socials.

During the interaction on Wednesday, both sides reviewed progress made in
curtailing cross border insurgency, arms and narcotics smuggling and
maintenance of the sanctity of the international border, defence sources
said here.

The Myanmarese side was led by Brig Gen Tin Maung Ohn during the
deliberations at the Army's three Corps headquarter at Rangapahar near
Dimapur, held as part of the two-day biannual sectoral level liaison
meeting between the two sides.

The Indian side was led by Maj Gen T S Handa, GoC of Imphal based 57th
Mountain Division. The Myanmarese delegation also called on the GoC of 3
Corps Lt Gen M S Dadwal.

Such liaison meetings, held twice in a year in either country, helps
consolidating better understanding, promoting friendly relations between
the two neighbours and reducing menace of insurgency and trafficking of
arms and narcotics by joint efforts.

India and Myanmar share over 1,600 km-long border criss-crossing the north
eastern states of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

The thick jungles of northern Myanmar with poor physical infrastructure
are being used by insurgents from North Eastern states as safe hideouts
and ethnic rebel groups of the neighbouring country.

The Myanmar Army will leave for Kolkatta on Thursday. The next meeting
between the two sides will be held in Myanmar.


____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 24, Voice of America
EU official says 27-nation bloc to extend sanctions against Burma

A European Union official says the 27-nation bloc is preparing to extend
its political and economic sanctions against the military regime in Burma.

Slovenia's State Secretary for European Affairs, Janez Lenarcic, whose
country is the current EU president, said on Wednesday that EU ministers
will decide on a sanctions extension during a meeting next week in
Luxembourg.

He says he expects the sanctions will be extended by 12 months.

Lenarcic said the EU will urge Burma's authorities to pave the way for a
transition to a civilian government, release political prisoners and stop
the crackdown on the opposition.

Burma's referendum on a draft constitution is being conducted on May 10.

The opposition says the constitution, if approved, would only strengthen
the military regime.

The U.S. on Wednesday circulated a revised draft Security Council
statement, urging Burma to initiate dialog with pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since 2003. The non-binding
statement also calls for the regime to allow the Nobel Prize laureate and
other political actors to fully participate in the referendum.

The U.S. envoy to the U.N., Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters it is very
important that the council sends a strong and clear message that the
plebiscite must be credible. Council member China had rejected an earlier
draft.

The United States has also expressed concern over reports that Aung San
Suu Kyi has not been receiving required medical care since January.


____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 24, Asian Tribune
Escape of people of Burma through the tunnels of death – Ahmedur Rahman
Farooq

On April 10, 2008, fifty-four Burmese migrants suffocated to death in a
cold storage container while being smuggled to Thailand to escape
appalling conditions in Burma. The tragic deaths occurred in Ranong
Province on the west coast of Thailand when they were attempting to enter
Thailand illegally in a group of 121 migrants including fourteen children
being crammed into a sweltering container of 7 feet wide by 7 feet high
and 20 feet long. Among the victims, 36 were women and 17 men, all
apparently in their late teens or early 20s, and an eight-year-old child.
Sixty-seven migrants survived the ordeal. Twenty-one migrants were
hospitalized while the rest were detained by police for questioning.

On April 11,2008, the Thai police charged 50 of 67 survivors of the
disaster with the civil crime of committing illegal entry to the Kingdom
of Thailand and accordingly they were convicted by a Thai court at the
southern province of Ranong. The court ordered them to be deported to
Burma and fined them $32. Since they had no money, they were sentenced to
three days in jail.

Television reports showed police and volunteer rescue workers remove the
bodies from the back of the seafood van and images of the cargo-like
container empty except for a few pieces of clothing. The dead
migrants—many wearing little more than T-shirts, shorts and
flip-flops—were seen laid out on the floor at the storage facility of a
local charity. Most of the bodies were buried in Hindad Graveyard in
Ranong, while some others were taken away by their relatives for the
funeral elsewhere.

They sneaked into Ranong province from Burma's Victoria Point by fishing
boat at night and were then packed into the container truck for the trip.
Ranong province is about 460 kilometers south of Bangkok just across from
Burma's Victoria Point which is regarded as a major point of trade between
the two countries. Victoria Point is Burma's fishing port city and Ranong
shares a 170 km(105 mile) water and land border with Victoria Point.
Thailand shares a 2,400 km (1,490 miles) porous border with Burma.

On March 3,2008, the Sri Lankan navy rescued 71 people mostly the
Rohingyas of Burma on board a 50-feet vessel which was found drifting in
the Indian Ocean after its engine failed while the people were heading for
Malaysia or Thailand seeking employment. Twenty other people died on board
from a lack of water and food as the boat drifted for 12 days. The vessel
was about 170 miles away from the eastern coast when the navy found it
after being tipped off by fishermen.

However, the survivors of the disaster who witnessed the horror of how
their companions were dying one by one beside them inside a locked,
stifling and dark container said the tragedy had not discouraged them from
working in Thailand. They saw how horribly the hapless women, children and
men were screaming and gasping for air. But such a tragedy does not
discourage them to leave Thailand and to return to their near and dear
ones. This is a manifestation of how tough the life is in Burma.

Thailand is a country of 64 million people with an area of 513,115 sq km
with main exportable items of food including rice, seafood and live
animals, office equipment, textiles and clothing, rubber. Burma is a
country of 678,500 sq km and 57.6 million people with main exportable
items of teak, pulses and beans, prawns, fish, rice, opiates, gems,
metals, oil and gas and having many untapped natural resources. During the
46 years of unbroken despotic rule, the military regime has reduced Burma
into one of the poorest countries of Asia with its economy riddled with
corruption, stifling all dissent and wielding absolute power in the face
of international condemnation and sanctions. Today, the average per-capita
income of Burma is less than US$200 per annum and Thailand's average
per-capita income is $3,737.

Everyday, the people of Burma have been escaping to the neighboring
countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh in search of safety and
food. Fleeing the economic collapse at home, many people come to Thailand
in hope of finding work. They take menial and dangerous but low-paid jobs
in sectors including construction, textiles and fisheries which are
shunned by Thais. There are about 2 million migrants from Burma in
Thailand. Out of them 141,000 refugees live in the camps, about 500,000
are registered migrants and up to 1,350,000 are unregistered. In Thailand,
the migrant workers, legal or not, mostly earn about 3,000 baht ($100) a
month which is half the payment required by law for Thais.

However, in an effort to redress the shocks and grievances over the death
of so many people, the Thai police has beefed up its border checks and
started crackdown on the human-trafficking gang who smuggle the people of
Burma to Thailand, while there is no voice of the Thai government against
the reign of hunger and terror which the military regime has let loose in
Burma and which has been forcing these distressed people to flee to
Thailand. So, the tightening measures of the Thai Police to stop smuggling
is like cutting the head to remove the head ache - just closing the door
for the groaning people of Burma so that they can not see any light of
hope through the tunnel.

The Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is a staunch supporter of Burma's
military junta. Returning from a state visit to Burma recently, the Thai
Prime Minister said, " We want electricity. Burma has allowed us to build
a dam. We want to sell goods there. Burma will build a port. Is that not
good for Thailand?". Scolding the Western nations for picking on Burma's
military regime, the Thai Prime Minister said that Westerners are overly
critical of Burma and he has new found respect for the ruling junta after
learning that they meditate like good Buddhists should and also that the
country lives in peace, turning a blind eye to the series of atrocities
that the military regime has committed even against the revered monks who
are the dharma sons of Buddha. His such observations made headlines in the
world press and seiously shocked the international peace loving community.

In fact, the unstinted support of the Thai government together with China,
India and Russia has strengthened the repressive regime of Burma. The Thai
government has been acting like a marionette for the junta defending them
at all costs in an effort to boost ties and forge closer economic and
development cooperation with the regime.

However, the incident of the death of the migrants on their way to seek a
better life in Thailand, has drawn great attention of the international
community to the plight of the people of Burma who have been continuously
trying desperately to escape the economic collapse at home risking their
lives.

There is no denying the fact that the incident is not merely a tragic
accident but it is a consequence of the deepening crisis of Burma which
has stemmed from the multi-dimensional disarray in the socio-economic and
political fabric of Burma. Since the takeover of Gen Ne Win in 1962, the
military regime has turned the land into a cauldron leading to the
monopolization of the state power and adopting a policy of "total
elimination" toward all non-Burmese ethnic groups and the country's
democratic opposition as a whole.

Resultantly, gross violation of human-rights, conflicts, persecutions and
genocidal operations against the ethnic communities has forced several
millions of people to migrate within and outside Burma. The estimated
number of internally displaced people in eastern Burma in 2007 is at least
503,000; the number could, however, be more than a million. Refugee
International estimated that there are 236,500 stateless individuals and
an estimated 200,000 refugees scattered throughout the region. According
to human-rights groups, there are about 1,350 political prisoners in
Burma.

The "four-cuts strategy" of the junta in the ethnic areas - cutting off
food, funds, intelligence and recruits to the ethnic resistance armies,
have caused a havoc to the life and property of the ethnic communities
pushing them to an inferno through systematic rape, executions, forced
labour, forced relocation and the destruction of villages, crops and food
supplies as weapons to devastate and demoralize targeted groups.

However, by unilaterally holding a referendum on the pro-military
constitution on May 10,2008 defying the international outcries to restore
peace and democracy in Burma, the military regime is going to push the
country into an endless quagmire of socio-economic and political crisis.
Now, in the wake of the failure and frustration of the Gambari mission, it
is important for the international community to re-evaluate its approach
to Burma's ruling generals and also for the UN to review its Burma policy
in order to put an end to the crisis in Burma which can be a solution to
stop the people of Burma from their continuous escape through the tunnels
of death.

Ahmedur Rahman Farooq, Chairman, Rohingya Human Rights Council (RHRC).
Address: 2975, Vang i Valdres, Norway .

____________________________________

April 24, Irrawaddy
UN disappoints many in Burma – Aung Zaw

Burma's military rulers are going ahead with their national referendum
with no regard for the inclusive political and constitutional process
demanded by the UN, which has lost face and the trust of the Burmese
people.

Burma’s electorate and activists, within and outside the country, have
lost faith with UN attempts to solve the country’s crisis and with the
failed efforts of Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari. Demands are growing
louder for him to resign in order to demonstrate his honesty and
acceptance of failure.

On his last visit to Burma, top leaders even refused to meet him, and he
and his delegation were compelled to sit through a long lecture by
Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan on Burma's political process and
history. The top generals who wanted Gambari to endorse the upcoming
referendum and political road-map now shunned him.

Gambari is unconcerned, however, by the criticism he is receiving from
both sides, and he told The Irrawaddy:  "Maybe if I am criticized from
both sides, it means I am doing something right. I think these comments
come out of some frustration."

Frustration is certainly felt by campaign activists.

Debbie Stothard, of Thailand-based Alternative Asean, said: "In rating Mr
Gambari's performance, the lack of results on Burma speaks for itself.

"Mr Gambari's skills seem to be focused on prolonging his career. He has
gone along with the agenda of parties and governments that want to
maintain the status quo on Burma. We have seen more setbacks than success
at the UN level during his Burma assignment."

There is no shortage of governments and officials who continue to support
his mission, however. China, the US, the EU and Scandinavian countries
continue to back his mission. Other countries that are beginning to
question the mission and Gambari’s performance still support him in
public.

A western diplomat who closely studies Burma said he suspected that
Gambari and the UN want a greater UN presence in Burma, allowing the
organization’s “good offices” to play a more active role in delivering
humanitarian assistance and to have a liaison officer there.

After his last visit, Gambari told the 15-member UN Security Council in
New York: "Whereas each of my previous visits produced some results that
could be built upon, it is a source of disappointment that this latest
visit did not yield any immediate tangible outcome."

Some countries even believe Gambari’s missions are counterproductive.
Jeremy Woodrum, co-founder of the US Campaign for Burma, said: "Gambari
has played directly into the hands of those that do not want change in
Burma, such as China."

China, Burma's political consultant and major arms supplier, continues to
back Gambari, who often travels to Beijing. China has also played a role
in persuading Burmese leaders to issue entry visas for Gambari.

"By hiding behind Gambari's mission, China has invested Gambari with a
bully pulpit and authority, but Gambari doesn't seem to realize this and
hasn't used it to his advantage,” Woodrum said. “When China says it
supports Gambari's mission over and over again, Gambari has the chance to
move China. He has not done that."

Woodrum and many activists believe that Gambari has failed to read the
whole picture of Burma.

"Gambari's failure is that the content, tenor and tone of his reports
after his missions to Burma have summarily understated the severity of the
situation in Burma. These reports and public comments in the media—more
than anything else—have unwittingly supported China's position that the UN
Security Council should turn a blind eye."

Jeremy argued that Gambari rarely mentioned Burma’s political prisoners,
whose number had increased at the start of his mission and now stands at
nearly 2,000. The regime actually continued to arrest monks and activists
and raid monasteries while Gambari was visiting Burma.

"Moreover, the Burmese military regime has destroyed twice as many
villages as have been destroyed in Darfur [where the UN Security Council
has authorized up to 30,000 peacekeepers]. Yet Gambari never says this.

“He has simply not stated the facts that would drive international action,
and when he has said the right thing, he hasn't done it often enough."

Woodrum said that when pressed on these matters, Gambari reverts to
narrow, legalistic interpretations of his role, such as stating that he
only works for the UN Secretary General and that his mandate comes from
the UN General Assembly and not the Security Council.

"The entire democracy movement accepts these points. He is correct in all
of these points, but it is unfair for him to use these points to avoid
answering serious questions on Burma. His use of these points to avoid
answering serious questions undermines his own effort at building a
stronger international consensus."

Woodrum continued: "When asked by the media if it is useful for countries
to sell arms to the military regime, he should state ‘No, and I would like
for them to stop.’  When asked if the UN Security Council should do more
for Burma, he should say ‘While I work for the Council and I can not
decide for them, I do think it would be helpful if the Council passed a
binding resolution.’ Instead, he simply avoids these questions."

Gambari is acting no different than previous envoys, however. He, like
Razali [Ismail], is playing the same broken record over and over again.
Unless he changes tack, he (like Razali) will fail."

Some Western observers say that UN officials and Gambari are on the
defensive and quite sensitive to media criticism.

A long-time Burma observer, speaking anonymously, said: "He has achieved
very little but each time he visited Burma he came out and said different
things. It is time to have ‘Gambari Watch.’"

Win Min, a former Burmese activist who now studies military affairs in
Burma, said
the UN mechanism and its ineffectiveness are to blame for Gambari’s lack
of success. It was time for Gambari to review his mission, he said.

In a New York interview with The Irrawaddy, however, Gambari defended his
last mission and denied it was a failure.

"Contrary to what the press has generally reported, there were some
positive elements from this visit,” he said. “The fact that it occurred at
all [was an achievement]. You recall that I was invited [to visit Burma]
after the 15th of April. But it was moved up. At least the authorities
were sensitive to the need to engage earlier than their initial plan.
Secondly, they also extended the stay by one day. That may not seem a lot,
but the fact of the matter is that at least there is willingness on their
part to change their minds and to try to accommodate us as much as
possible."

This can hardly be viewed as a positive achievement. Observers say Gambari
and UN officials still want to continue with the mission and the Nigerian
diplomat seems determined to return to Burma. But there is not much he can
do.

Richard Horsey, former International Labour Organization officer in
Rangoon and now working for the UN, thinks Gambari is a skillful diplomat
and that he has achieved more than his predecessor, the Malaysian diplomat
Razali Ismail.

Unlike Razali, Gambari has the backing of Burma’s neighbors and the West
and he enjoys rare access to China and India, Horsey said.

But UN officials and diplomats sympathetic to Gambari say the envoy might
have misjudged his last mission.

 "He should not say that his mission was not a failure,” a Bangkok-based
Western diplomat told The Irrawaddy.  “He should not create false hope.
It is just distracting. I wonder whether he just wants to preserve his
job or wants to help the Burmese people."

____________________________________

April 24, Bangkok Post
Justice avoided – Sanitsuda Ekachai

Though the police cannot now feign blindness to the Ranong tragedy, it is
interesting to see how they have reacted in order to protect the hand that
feeds them. And no, that is not us taxpayers.

Fifty-four people have perished in a horrific example of human trafficking
in Ranong. But the police are refusing to touch the human smuggling ring.
Guess why? Harsh poverty and political oppression are not the only
principal factors for this endless influx of migrant workers from Burma.

Equally important are our internal ills. Guess what? Call it state
complicity. Call it systemic corruption. Call it heartlessness.

Whatever we call it, they are the reasons why this hideous modern slave
trade is thriving non-stop in our so-called Buddhist land. The Ranong
tragedy is a case in point. Had it not been for the fatal breakdown in the
ventilation system, the cold storage truck that was ferrying 121 workers
would have made a safe trip to its destination in Phuket, as it had done
countless times before. The local police would have been able to continue
pretending - as they always have - that they know nothing about the
blatant trade in human beings that is being carried out practically every
day right before their eyes.

Though the police cannot now feign blindness to the Ranong tragedy, it is
interesting to see how they have reacted in order to protect the hand that
feeds them. No, not us taxpayers. Guess who?

If a case is registered as human trafficking, the migrant workers must be
treated as victims entitled to state help and compensation. They must also
be protected as witnesses so that the authorities can go after the
masterminds and those involved in the human trade.

But the police fiercely insist that the Ranong tragedy is not a case of
human trafficking, because the workers had not been "lured or forced" to
come to Thailand. In addition, the workers were "on the way, without a
destination". Therefore they may not be defined as slave labour. As such,
the case can only be processed as one of illegal entry into the country,
which means these Burmese migrants must be arrested, fined and deported
immediately.

These excuses are maddening not only because they are absurd, but also
because they show how the police view us - as nothing less than perfect
fools.

How on earth can the police know that the workers were not lured or
forced? How does the police define consent?

According to the United Nations' definition, trafficking in persons covers
the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipts of
persons by different means, be it through threats, use of force, coercion,
abuse of power, or promise of future benefits. Consent is irrelevant when
money changes hands for the purpose of exploitation.

In the Ranong tragedy, the truck was headed for Phuket. How can the police
claim the lack of a destination? Money changed hands several times in the
transport of these workers, to feed the underground labour market run by
the local mafia. How can the police say this is not an organised crime of
human trafficking?

It is the police's narrow, self-serving definition of human trafficking
that has made Thailand a hub in the smuggling of humans in the region.

Thailand's promises to the international community to combat human
trafficking are empty because the police refuse to change their ways. And
why should they? Last month, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej suggested an
innovative way to discourage the migration of ethnic Muslims from Burma
into Thailand: round them up and leave them on a deserted island.

There have also been attempts to mislead the public into thinking that the
law against human trafficking is not yet in effect. This is not true. The
present anti-human trafficking law protects only women and children, so it
is being amended to cover male workers, too. The amendment will take
effect in June.

Of the 54 people who died of suffocation, 37 were women. There were also
children among those in the deadly container truck. Why didn't the police
use this law to go after the big fish in the human trade ring? We all know
the answer. That is why we cannot combat human trafficking - until we
start combating our own police.

Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor (Outlook), Bangkok Post.

____________________________________
STATEMENTS

April 24, National League for Democracy
Special Statement No 7/14/ 08 (Unofficial Translation)

The people will vote the “The Draft Constitution of the Republic of the
Union of Myanmar” in the upcoming referendum on May 10, 2008. From
studying it, the referendum law and related procedures, we found there is
no freedom and justice from the beginning.
1. Chapter XIV, Transitory Provision of the Draft Constitution of the
Republic of the Union of Myanmar 2008 states as follow;

“(441) This Constitution, which is adopted in a referendum by the
assenting votes of a majority of more than half of all the people who have
the right to vote, shall come into force throughout the Union from the
first day of the convening of the Pyihtaungsu Hlutttaw (Union
Parliament).”

According to this provision, the draft Constitution can be approved
easily. This provision is created to approve the draft Constitution
comfortably with the supporting votes of just more than 25% of all the
people who have the right to vote. However, to amend provisions from some
chapters of the Constitution, OVER 75 % of supporting votes in the
Parliament and over 50% of support of all the people who have the right to
vote in a referendum are required. This is purposely designed to make any
amendment difficult. While only over 25% support of all the people who
have the right to vote is required to adopt the draft Constitution, any
amendment can only be done with over 75% of the vote in the Parliament and
over 50% of the vote in a national referendum.

2. We also found that the Referendum Law and the detail procedures do not
met with (international) standards. While there are provisions to prohibit
the activities of the voters and penalties for those who violate any
prohibition, we found no provision to punish members of the Commission and
Sub-Commissions for Holding Referendum, if they violate their
responsibilities, duties, powers and principles. It is totally one-sided.

3.  After closing the polling booth, the polling booth team is to count
votes-in-favor, votes-against and cancelled votes and then prepares the
list in the presence of not less than ten persons eligible to vote.
However, people are not allowed to be present at the Commission and
Sub-Commissions at all administrative levels, Village-track, Ward,
Township, District, State and Division, which were formed by the
authorities with the persons they trust, when they count the total numbers
of votes-in-favor, votes-against and cancelled votes from the lists
submitted by polling booths. This lack of transparency may lead to the
opportunity to cheat.

4. Furthermore, the Chairman of the National Convention Working Committee,
the Commission to Draft the State Constitution, and the Commission for
Holding Referendum for the Approval of the Draft Constitution of the
Republic of the Union of Myanmar 2008 are the same person. This should not
happen for freedom and justice. Because, when the Chairman of the National
Convention Working Committee, which adopted the fundamental and detailed
principles for the Constitution, became the Chairman of the Commission to
Draft the State Constitution, he made the Draft Constitution almost
identical to the fundamental and detailed principles that he helped adopt.
Then when he became the Chairman of the Commission for Holding Referendum
for the Approval of the Draft Constitution of the Republic of the Union of
Myanmar 2008, he will surely try to get approval for the Draft
Constitution. And this Commission is not an independent one and serves for
the pleasure of the State Peace and Development Council.

5. The contents of the Draft Constitution are not widely publicized
through daily newspapers, radio and TV. People are not well aware of the
contents, as the authorities have not tried to explain their meaning. As
of today, the authorities have not widely distributed the Draft
Constitution, so the people have not had enough time to study it.

6. We also know that civil servants and factory workers, who will not be
away from their respective areas and who do not have plans to travel to
another region on the referendum day, are forced to cast their vote in
advance unnecessarily and in front of the authorities, so they can secure
their votes-in-favor. This is violation of the Referendum Law.

7. Despite the fact that there are no democratic principles and democratic
rights in the Draft Constitution, the authorities’ mouthpiece newspapers
are misleading the people, who are sincerely and actively demanding
democracy, by placing slogans such as “For the Emergence of Democracy,
Approve the Constitution”, “Democracy Can Be Achieved through the
Constitution”, with big headlines.

8. The State Peace and Development Council (the ruling military junta)
allows all of the state apparatuses from the top to the bottom and its
subordinate organizations to campaign freely and openly for the approval
of the Constitution. These organs apply pressure, and use intimidation,
cheating, misuse of power and the providing bribe to the people to get
their support. However, they act differently in regards to publications of
statements, appeals and facts that promote awareness of the conducts of
the referendum, issued by the National League for Democracy.

(A) The authorities from Daedaye Township, Irrawaddy Division, tried to
confiscate these literatures from the members of the NLD and interrogated
two NLD members.
(B) The authorities from Wakhema Township, Irrawaddy Division confiscated
these literatures and later returned only some of them. Township NLD
organizers were also summoned and interrogated.
(C) The authorities also confiscated NLD publications and statements in
Taung Twin Gyi Township in Magwe Division, Dala Township in Rangoon
Division, and Sittwe Township and Taung Gok Township in Arakan (Rakhine)
State. NLD members were also summoned, arrested and interrogated by the
authorities.

9. Furthermore, the authorities are threatening the people, saying that
they will know surely who votes against the Constitution, that those who
vote against will be revenged by expelling students from schools,
dismissing workers from work, confiscating lands from farmers, arresting
villagers from their village, etc. The authorities are trying every way to
make this referendum not free and fair.

Nevertheless, the referendum will be conducted by a secret ballot system,
and the referendum procedure stipulates that a person should make his or
her desire by making a (X) mark on the ballot paper if he or she does not
approve the draft constitution. For the people who have the right to vote,
we would like to encourage again all voters to go to polling booths and
make a (X) mark without fear, in order to create their own destiny and use
their rights effectively.


According to the decision made by the Central Executive Committee in the
meetings on 21 April 2008

Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy
97B West Shwegondaing Road
Bahan Township, Rangoon

____________________________________

April 24, Reporter Without Borders
Press forbidden to refer to campaign for a No vote in referendum on new
constitution

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association are outraged by
the methods being used by the military government to prevent the media
from freely covering the views and activities of the supporters of a No
vote in a 10 May referendum on a new constitution.

"The military government is stopping at nothing to rig a referendum that
looks as though it is going to be a sham rather a free and transparent
election," the two partner organisations said. "The supporters of a No
vote must be able to express themselves freely in the media, and
journalists must be allowed to report all viewpoints."

The organisation added: "We ask the Burmese authorities to let the press
do its work without prior censorship and to allow foreign reporters to
visit Burma freely. This is a condition for the international community’s
recognition of the validity of this election."

No Burmese media have been allowed to publish the views of the supporters
of No vote. The state and privately-owned media have instead been forced
to published articles drafted by official calling for a vote in favour of
the military government’s proposed new constitution. The election manuals
that have been distributed make no provision for press coverage of the
campaign and the polling.

The slogans being used in the military government’s propaganda are
"Approving the constitution is a duty for the entire population," "To
ratify the constitution, go and vote Yes," "We will always remain united
despite those who try to divide us - vote Yes" and "Democracy cannot be
attained through anarchy and violence, but through the constitution."

These slogans are constantly being broadcast by the government TV and
radio stations. Meanwhile, the Censorship Bureau is rejecting articles by
journalists such as Ludu Sein Win criticising the constitution. According
to sources in Rangoon, the intelligence services have drawn up a list of
34 journalists to be kept under surveillance in the run-up to the
referendum.

Pro-military journalists have been mobilised to explain the virtues of the
new constitution. For example, an article by Si Thu Aung entitled "New
Constitution and Union system" in The New Light of Myanmar daily on 1
April claimed that it was the only one capable of guaranteeing stability
and development in a country made up of minorities. The same newspaper is
also providing the campaign activities of government officials and the
pro-government USDA militia with extensive coverage.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), has called for a No vote and has described the proposed
constitution - which would endorse the army’s political role and guarantee
its impunity - as anti-democratic. The NLD insists that the No campaign
does not violate a recently-promulgated law providing for three-year
prison sentences for anyone caught distributing documents opposing the
referendum. The NLD’s views are being systematically censored by the
press. But the accredited correspondents of foreign news agencies have
been able to report on the tension surrounding the campaign.

Several dozen NLD members have been arrested for campaigning for a No
vote. In one case, six were arrested at their home in Rangoon on 31 March,
four days after organising a demonstration in the capital calling for No
vote.

At least 60 people were arrested in the northern state of Rakhine at the
start of April for wearing T-shirts calling for a No vote. Several of them
are reportedly still detained. According to Mizzima News, T-shirt vendors
in Rangoon stopped offering clothes displaying the Thai brand name Nobody
after young pro-democracy activists started using them in their No
campaign.

The Burmese rap singer Yan Yan Chan was meanwhile arrested in Monywa on 17
April, possibly because of lyrics in some of his songs referring to the
lack of press freedom.