BurmaNet News, May 22, 2008

[Editor]

May 22, 2008 Issue #3473


INSIDE BURMA
The Times (UK): UN chief brings 'message of hope' to Burma
Irrawaddy: Junta wants $11 billion in aid
Irrawaddy: NLD members arrested
BBC News: Trauma risk for Burma aid workers
Mizzima News: Nine Burmese journalists released after interrogation
DVB: Refugees moved out to make way for polling station

BUSINESS / TRADE
DVB: Economist says junta flouts World Bank rules
AFP: Chevron executive grilled in US Congress over Myanmar venture

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: No serious outbreaks of infectious diseases

ASEAN
Bangkok Post: Asean must be effective gatekeeper for victims

REGIONAL
Reuters: Myanmar junta stance on foreign aid a crime – monks

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Laura Bush to Myanmar: 'Let people of US help'
AP: Myanmar appears to nix US Navy help, saying "strings attached"

OPINION / OTHER
IHT: The Burma dilemma
Irrawaddy: Save the people; don’t protect generals
The Guardian (UK): We have a responsibility to protect the people of
Burma. But how?

STATEMENT
NLD: Special Statement 12/05/08

PRESS RELEASE
Freedom Now demands the release of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi

OBITUARY
Irrawaddy: KNU Chairman dies



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 22, The Times (UK)
UN chief brings 'message of hope' to Burma

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon set off on a helicopter tour of
Burma's Irawaddy Delta today after a direct appeal to the country's
military junta to stop blocking international aid for the victims of
Cyclone Nargis.

The cyclone struck three weeks ago, leaving at least 134,000 dead or
missing. Aid workers say the real death toll may be higher than the 78,000
officially acknowledged.

Burma's ruling generals have allowed in some aid flights but are refusing
to allow a full-scale international relief effort. The United Nations says
that at least two million Burmese need urgent assistance but only a
quarter of those have yet received any aid from abroad.

Making the first trip to Burma by a UN leader in more than four decades,
Mr Ban said that he had come bearing a “message of hope” after the
tragedy.

“I’m quite confident we will be able to overcome this tragedy. I’ve tried
to bring a message of hope to your people,” he said as he made an offering
at the country’s holiest Buddhist shrine, the Shwedagon Pagoda.

“At the same time, I hope your people and government can coordinate the
flow of aid, so the aid work can be done in a more systematic and
organised way. The UN and the whole international community stand ready to
help you overcome this tragedy."

Mr Ban then left on an inspection tour of the Irawaddy Delta, which bore
the brunt of Burma's worst natural disaster. Burmese officials said that
Mr Ban would stop stop in the towns of Bogalay and Labutta, both hard hit
by the storm.

Tomorrow he is scheduled to meet Senior General Than Shwe, the country’s
isolationist military ruler. The general refused to take Ban’s phone calls
or to respond to his letters in the days after the disaster.

Although the UN has been critical of Myanmar’s human rights record, Mr Ban
has insisted the aid effort should not be politicised. The impoverished
nation has accepted tonnes of donations from around the world, and has
allowed US military planes to airlift supplies into Rangoon airport.

But it said aid from US naval ships nearby came with “strings attached”
and could not be accepted. Four US military vessels have been waiting at
sea outside the Irawaddy Delta since May 13, carrying 1,000 Marines, 14
helicopters, and 15,000 water containers and purifying kits that can
provide tens of thousands of gallons of drinking water per day.

A spokesman for the US embassy in Bangkok said today that the ships would
remain on standby off the Burmese coast in case the junta changed their
minds.

Meanwhile, the UN's World Food Programme said that the first of 10
helicopters approved by the junta to work in the country had arrived
today. “It’s very good news,” a spokesman said. “We’ve got barges in
Rangoon, lots of boats, trucks and now helicopters. We’re confident that
we’ll be able to move what we have."

____________________________________

May 22, Irrawaddy
Junta wants $11 billion in aid – Wai Moe

Asean and the UN will co-chair an international aid pledging conference in
Rangoon on Sunday, both organizations announced in separate press
releases.

“The ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference will support efforts to
alleviate the devastating impact of Cyclone Nargis on the country and
widespread suffering caused to the people of Myanmar [Burma],” said the UN
statement.

Both organizations said the meeting was called “in recognition of the
outpouring of international solidarity and support.”

However, critics say the main agenda of the ruling Burmese generals at the
conference will be securing US $11 billion for aid and reconstruction,
which is the amount the junta is calling for, according to Asean
Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, who visited Burma on May 20-21.

A potential dilemma that could arise at the conference is the chasm in
concept between the donors and the military regime. While donors,
particularly in Western countries, insist on transparency and
accountability within a relief mission, the junta strives mainly to
control foreign relief workers and to line their own pockets, say critics.

Richard Horsey, the spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs in Bangkok, said, “The donor conference will be a
good opportunity for a detailed discussion between the Burmese regime and
Asean leaders, as well as the UN, on what is needed right now for relief
efforts—what the obstacles are, how to overcome those obstacles—which
means not only financial pledges.”

He also said that the recovery would be focused on aspects such as the
rehabilitation of the agriculture sector in the delta, which was totally
destroyed by Cyclone Nargis on May 2-3.

The main thing about the donor conference is for the international
community to see the Burma’s relief needs are met in the short, the medium
and the long terms, said Larry Jagan, a British journalist in Bangkok who
specializes on Burma.

Expected at the conference is United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, who arrived in Rangoon on Thursday. He is due to travel to the
areas worst hit by Cyclone Nargis before meeting the head of the Burmese
junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, on Friday.

“Aid in Myanmar should not be politicized. Our focus now is on saving
lives,” said Ban.

The UN’s highest ranking humanitarian officer, John Holmes, said on
Wednesday that the Burmese regime must either say “yes” or “no” to the
relief mission. “The scene is set to move in the directions we have spoken
about, but we need to see that happening on the ground before we can be
absolutely certain about it,” he said.

UN agencies estimate as many as 100,000 people died or missing and at
least 2.5 million people have been affected by the tropical cyclone
Nargis.

Ahead of Ban Ki-moon trip to Burma, the main opposition National League
for Democracy (NLD) said in the May 21 statement that it welcomed the UN
secretary-general to Burma.

Asean foreign ministers, including Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win, held
a special meeting on Burma’s crisis on May 19 in Singapore. During the
meeting, ministers agreed to establish a task force that will closely work
with the UN as well as a central coordinating body to be set up by the
Burmese regime.

The task force would also “realize the Asean-led mechanism.” At the same
time, the regional body called on the Burmese junta to allow more
international relief workers into the stricken areas.

However, Debbie Stothard, coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network
(Altsean), said that the big problem is getting a commitment of aid,
because everyone knows the Burmese regime is the one of the most corrupt
one in the world.

“The latest report by Transparency International said Burma and Somalia
are the most corrupt countries in the world,” she said.

Stothard said Asean may not be able to do everything, but it must assume
leadership and then the rest of the international community could
participate.

“Asean’s role is to make sure the aid goes to where is needed”, she said.
“If not, the donor conference in Rangoon on Sunday will be only a nice tea
party without an outcome.”

____________________________________

May 22, Irrawaddy
NLD members arrested – Min Lwin

About a dozen people, most of them members of Burma’s main opposition
party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were arrested on Thursday
morning, according to family members.

Relatives said that local police arrested 11 NLD members at their homes,
including the NLD’s Sanchaung Township chairman Thet Wai and leading youth
members Khin Tun and Tun Zaw Zaw. Three of the arrested are former
political prisoners who have spent years in detention.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win, speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, confirmed
the arrests, but could not provide any explanation for the action taken by
the authorities.

Thet Wai was arrested by local authorities and police from Rangoon’s
Sanchaung Township at 5 a.m. Thursday, while Khin Tun was taken into
custody at 3 a.m., according to a family member.

Colleagues of two of the arrested NLD members, Ma Cho and Lay Lwin, said
that the authorities accused them of trying to cause unrest among
survivors of Cyclone Nargis at a relief camp in South Dagon Township,
located in the outskirts of Rangoon. They didn’t elaborate.

At least one other person who does not belong to the NLD was arrested.

____________________________________

May 22, BBC News
Trauma risk for Burma aid workers – Chris Hogg

For the aid agencies who have struggled for more than two weeks to get
relief supplies to the victims of Cyclone Nargis, there is now a new
factor that could compromise their ability to operate effectively.

Their staff are exhausted.

What makes this disaster different from others before is the fact that
those trying to deal with this emergency have had to rely so heavily on
local staff.

Burma's initial decision not to allow foreign relief workers in, and to
prevent foreigners already in Burma from entering the Irrawaddy Delta,
meant the international relief organisations were forced to tear up the
rulebook and instead do the best they could with the resources they
already had in place in the country.

Many of these Burmese staff are experienced operators who know the area
well, but the pressure on them has been relentless.

One Burmese relief worker working with Christian Aid said she has been
working non-stop since the cyclone.

"How can we take a day off when we know how many of our fellow citizens
our suffering?" she asked.

The charity says its local staff feel all the responsibility is on their
shoulders. Another relief worker lost his wife and three sons in the
cyclone.

"He has not stopped working since the cyclone struck," his colleague said.
"He has thrown himself into helping others as a way of coping with his
grief."

'Shocked and numb'

Experience from other disasters suggests that people who identify more
readily with the victims are at greater risk of developing psychological
problems.

Local staff, likely to identify more readily with the victims than those
from overseas, are more likely to have higher rates of Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder.

Those who deal with traumatic events like handling dead bodies also have a
higher likelihood of developing psychological problems.

Research into the aftermath of the Kosovo war in 1999 suggests two groups
of relief workers are most at risk of developing stress-related problems.

First time volunteers who may be wholly unprepared for the job, who do not
know what to expect or who have unrealistic expectations of their ability
to make an impact are the most at risk.

The other group is the more experienced experts from overseas, who travel
from disaster to disaster and who as a result may have built up cumulative
amounts of stress.

Doctors say those facing extremes of stress often change their behaviour
in an effort to find a new internal equilibrium.

"People feel shocked and numb, fearful and anxious, sometimes helpless and
hopeless," said Professor Richard Williams from the University of
Glamorgan in South Wales. "They feel guilty. Sometimes they feel angry."

As well as emotional reactions, there are psychological reactions to look
out for, like poor concentration or poor memory.

Some lose confidence. Others feel they have to be over-vigilant. People
regress into less mature patterns of behaviour.

"The key here is not that you have bad reactions, it's how quickly you get
over them," the professor said. "If these feelings persist for a few weeks
then it's worth taking much greater notice of them."

Although there has been a fair amount of research in recent years into the
effects of severe stress on expatriate relief workers in disaster zones,
there has been less work done on how local staff are affected.

Other studies have suggested that in Asia stress often triggers
psychosomatic disorders - people start to display physical symptoms.

"We will need to look out for this when trying to help staff working in
Myanmar [Burma]," said Dr Peter Salama, Chief of Health at Unicef.

"The symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in one society might be
quite different from those in other cultures who might express stress
differently."

'Watchful waiting'

The Australian charity CARE International is already looking at how to
support those of its staff who have been working in the delta for the last
two weeks without a break.

Its representative in Rangoon, Peter Newson, says they are aware these
people will need a lot of psycho-social support.

"We have to be very careful, though, to tailor that support to the Myanmar
[Burmese] culture in order to make it effective," he says.

That means encouraging them to talk to monks, to their families and to
each other. In some cases writing down their experiences too.

"And that's not only important for our staff," Mr Newson said. "It will be
important for the survivors in the delta too."

Dr Salama says when it comes to trying to reduce the stress on the front
line staff, there are "common sense responses".

These include making telecommunications equipment available so it is
easier to call home, setting up peer to peer networks so people can
discuss with others what they have been through, teaching stress
management techniques and creating a culture where people can talk more
readily.

The doctors agree it is not unusual to experience some or all of the
symptoms of severe or acute psychiatric trauma after dealing with a
disaster like this.

But these days, according to Professor Williams, the approach that is
often taken is to undertake what he calls "a month of watchful waiting or
psychological first aid".

"We give people a lot of support, help them to return to a more normal set
of arrangements as quickly as possible," he said.

"With that, most people will soon begin to recover and their stress levels
will start to come down. If after a month they are still highly stressed
then that is something to be taken more seriously."

As Burma agrees to allow more outside experts in from neighbouring
countries, the pressure on the aid agencies' local staff should begin to
ease.

But such is the scale of the disaster and the size of the task still to be
done, the stress on front line staff and others will still be considerable
for many weeks and months to come, making it all the more important that
agencies have plans in place to recognise and deal with the problem.

____________________________________

May 22, Mizzima News
Nine Burmese journalists released after interrogation – Nem Davies

Burmese military junta authorities on Sunday released nine Burmese
journalists, who were in the Irrawaddy delta to cover the devastation
wrought by Cyclone Nargis. They were detained briefly and interrogated.

The journalists from four different Weekly journals in Rangoon were
rounded up by local authorities while they were inside a house of a local
resident in Hlaine Bone Kyi village, in Maw Gyun Township, Irrawaddy
Division on Saturday night, sources in Rangoon said.

"They were picked up from a local resident's home not from a hotel, a few
hours after they arrived in the village but were released after being
interrogated briefly. They were made to sign a pledge agreeing 'not to
come back to the village again'," said an editor from a Rangoon based
weekly journal, who did not want to be named.

The authorities accused the group of not reporting their trip to the
village to local authorities.

"They [authorities] asked who they were, the purpose of coming to the
place, and which organization they belonged to and asked to leave on
Sunday morning," the editor added.

"They reached on Saturday evening and were called by military officials
the same night and were asked to leave on Sunday morning after signing an
agreement," the editor said.

The Burmese Media Association (BMA), a Burmese media freedom watchdog,
lambasted the government for imposing restrictions on local journalists in
covering the devastated delta region, saying it not only violates freedom
of journalists but also violates freedom of expression.

"By restricting journalists from visiting cyclone hit places, the
authorities are trying to hide the actual situation, which is unnatural,"
said Son Moe Wai, Secretary of the Burma Media Association (BMA).

"The government should rather hold press conferences, and release
statements on the real situation of the cyclone victims and shortage of
relief material in rural areas in the delta, instead of unnecessarily
restricting journalists," he added.

The Burmese junta had announced on May 9 that it would allow aid supplies
from the international community to the cyclone affected regions, but
imposed restrictions on foreigners or persons without permits to enter the
Irrawaddy delta and Rangoon Division.

The Burmese Prime Minister has also reportedly told private companies
which are assigned to do the reconstruction work in the cyclone affected
Irrawaddy and Rangoon divisions that no one will be allowed to carry
cameras.

____________________________________

May 22, Democratic Voice of Burma
Refugees moved out to make way for polling station – Aye Nai

Cyclone victims sheltering in a community hall in South Dagon township,
Rangoon, were forced to move by local authorities so that the hall could
be used as a polling station.

The hall in South Dagon’s ward 26 is to be used for voting in the
postponed constitutional referendum on 24 May.

One of the cyclone victims said there were around 90 people taking refuge
in the hall.

“There are many families and we have nowhere to shelter and can’t move
out,” she said.

“But they told us we had to go, and said they couldn’t make any
arrangements for us.”

The group asked to stay in a small adjoining kitchen, but the authorities
refused permission.

The refugee said the people in the hall had to find food for themselves as
they were no longer receiving any assistance.

“We have to find food on our own initiative as no one comes to give it to
us,” the refugee said.

“As soon as the dawn breaks, we leave our children behind and go out to
find food where we can,” she said.

“They gave us four cups of rice and a piece of fish in the beginning, now
they don’t give us anything.”

State television broadcasts showed 40 tents for refugees when military
leaders came to inspect camps in South Dagon’s ward 17 and in Hlaing
Tharyar township, but thousands are living on the roadsides, in
monasteries and in communal halls.


____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

May 22, Democratic Voice of Burma
Economist says junta flouts World Bank rules – Khin Hnin Htet

Burmese economist Zaw Oo says the reason the World Bank will not provide
Burma with financial assistance is simply because Burma has violated the
rules and regulations of the international financial institution.

World Bank executive director Juan Jose Daboub recently told journalists
that it currently had no plans to financially support Burma, which lost
USD 10 billion when Cyclone Nargis hit the country, since the country had
not paid off the previous debts it owed to the institution.

According to AFP, Burma’s military regime has not repaid any of the loans
they have had from the World Bank since 1988.

Zaw Oo said the Burmese government had not followed the regulations set
out by the World Bank.

“Apart from obligation to repay loans, members of the World Bank have to
pledge to follow its rules and regulations,” said Zaw Oo.

“Normally, the World Bank lends money to a particular member state only
after it has consulted with the government of that state on a Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers, a programme to be implemented in that country,”
he said.

“Burma hasn’t repaid its previous loans and still doesn’t have a PRSP, and
that’s why I think the World Bank has decided not give any loans.”

Despite the military regime’s restrictions on international aid, an
international donors’ conference will be held in Rangoon this coming
Sunday to explore ways to raise funds to cover needs in the post-cyclone
period.

Zaw Oo told DVB that it would be difficult to receive sufficient aid from
the international community unless the junta knew the rules and
regulations of international relief agencies and submitted a comprehensive
plan to tackle the current crisis that required cooperation with domestic
and international experts.

When asked the impact of the cyclone on Burma’s economy Zaw Oo stressed
that the economic situation would worsen if systematic measures to
implement the current relief operation with the help of the international
community were not put in place.

____________________________________

May 22, Agence France Presse
Chevron executive grilled in US Congress over Myanmar venture

A top executive of US energy giant Chevron was grilled in Congress
Wednesday over the firm's investment in Myanmar, where military rulers
have restricted international aid for cyclone victims.

The military junta has refused to allow US ships laden with emergency
supplies to sail near Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta, the worst hit by a
cyclone more than two weeks ago that left 133,000 dead or missing.

The United Nations estimates that only 500,000 of the 2.4 million people
affected by the storm are receiving international aid.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer pressed Chevron's vice-chairman Peter
Robertson at a congressional hearing Wednesday over the firm's stake in a
Myanmar natural gas pipeline project that he said enriched the country's
military rulers accused of human rights and other violations.

Congress had launched legislation to end tax write-offs enjoyed by Chevron
on revenues earned from Myanmar following the junta's deadly crackdown on
pro-democracy protests in September.

"In the last few weeks, many American have gotten a glimpse into the
insular and oppressive world of Burma," Schumer said, using Myanmar's
previous name.

"As we all watched the woefully inadequate response to the disaster by the
repressive and violent military junta that runs the country, many have
been shocked to learn that Chevron continues to operate in Burma," Schumer
said.

"American taxpayers should not have to subsidize Chevron's presence in
Myanmar, which only helps to prop up a brutal, despotic regime. It's time
to close the loophole that allows Chevron to operate free of sanctions in
Myanmar," he said.

Robertson defended Chevron's investment in Myanmar and said that the
company had already committed two million dollars to helping the cyclone
victims.

"Our plan is to stay in Burma. I've been there and I've seen the people
that live in the area where we operate along our pipeline system. I know
for a fact that they are better off by us being there than by anybody else
being there," he said.

Schumer backs legislation that would eliminate millions of dollars in US
tax breaks Chevron enjoys in the Yadana natural gas project, in which it
holds a 28 percent minority share.

Chevron will also be barred from making any payments to the junta from its
joint venture project under the legislation, in the final stages of being
framed after initial bills were passed by both wings of Congress.


____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

May 22, Irrawaddy
No serious outbreaks of infectious diseases – Sai Slip

The Thai medical team now treating survivors of Cyclone Nargis in the
Irrawaddy delta says it has encountered no serious outbreaks of infectious
diseases.

Most patients suffer from colds, diarrhea or non-life-threatening wounds,
said Dr Kamnuan Ungchusak, the director of the Bureau of Epidemiology,
Department of Disease Control in the Ministry of Public Health.

“Forty percent of patients have respiratory disease because of the rain
and crowded living conditions, but they do not have serious infectious
diseases,” he said, according to a report by Thai News Agency.

The Burmese government issued the Thai team two-week visas, which expire
on May 29.

So far, more than 1,300 patients from 27 temporary shelters in Myaungmya
and Laputta townships have received treatment from Thai medical personnel.
The Thai team, sponsored by Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, arrived in
Burma on Monday.

The team was the first foreign medical staff to enter Burma after the
cyclone. Experts say many more survivors await help in remote areas where
the junta will not allow foreigners to enter.

On Thursday, the Thai government established a donation center for Nargis
victims at government house in Bangkok.

His Holiness Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara, the supreme patriarch of Thailand,
donated 1 million baht (US $33,000), food and supplies to be transported
to Burma by the Thai Air Force.

On Tuesday, the Thai Sangha Supreme Council Committee donated 800, 000
baht ($26,000) for monks and novices in the cyclone affected area.

On Wednesday, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, the secretary-general of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, met with Burma's Prime Minister Thein Sein to
try to speed up relief efforts. Cyclone Nargis swept over the central
coast on May 2-3, leaving 133,000 people dead or missing.


____________________________________
ASEAN

May 22, Bangkok Post
Asean must be effective gatekeeper for victims – Thitinan Pongsudhirak

After more than a fortnight of apathy by Burma's ruling military junta and
dithering by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), limited
headway in the relief and recovery of the victims and areas affected by
the devastating Cyclone Nargis appears in the offing. UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon and his Asean equivalent, Surin Pitsuwan, have swung into
action. An Asean-UN conference to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis
later this week has raised the stakes for all parties concerned.

At issue for the UN is its efficacy as the world's quasi-governing body.
For Asean, its credibility and ''face'' in the eyes of the world are on
the line, especially as Southeast Asia's premier regional body endeavours
to ratify its ambitious charter this year. For Burma's countless dead
victims and survivors, it is the need to take account and care of the lost
victims and repair the lives and sustain the livelihoods of those who
remain.

Asean's past two weeks of inadequacies can be remedied by significant
progress and peer pressure on Burma's State Peace and Development Council
in the coming weeks. The 10-member organisation's ability to eke out
concessions and compliance from Burma's SPDC is imperative.

For a vast humanitarian crisis of this proportion involving a likely death
toll of more than 100,000 and internal displacements of more than two
million, Asean has appeared lame and tamed. Its role in the immediate
aftermath of the cyclone was relatively muted. Newspaper headlines were
dominated by intended efforts and expressions of moral outrage by the
international community, particularly the US and leading members of the
European Union.

When Asean's senior officials held a brainstorming session with a
consortium of the region's think-tanks in Singapore on May 7, just four
days after the cyclone, they neither mourned nor even mentioned the
victims of Nargis until an academic raised the issue. Asean now will be
tempted to trumpet its global relevance after its foreign ministers were
able to agree to the upcoming aid-pledging conference. As the SPDC has
agreed to let in assessment and medical teams from Asean members while
constraining those from the international community, Asean has effectively
become the gatekeeper of international aid and relief for the cyclone
victims.

The SPDC is shrewdly using Asean as a buffer to insulate and filter
international calls for a more effective response. International relief
workers, equipment and supplies are thereby beholden to Asean's ability to
gain access and persuade Burma's recalcitrant generals to allow outsiders
in to help their own people. That the SPDC has prioritised its
controversial constitutional referendum over aid and relief of its
citizens in recent weeks suggests Asean will have an uphill task. The
junta's insularity and apparent xenophobia render Asean's challenge that
much more daunting.

What Asean must not do is to fall back on the convenience of its bedrock
''non-interference'' principle. While the SPDC uses Asean for legitimacy
and insulation from abroad, Asean must likewise push and maximise
concessions from the generals to bolster its credibility. Otherwise Asean
and Burma will look like convenient bedfellows, exchanging global
relevance for a semblance of international legitimacy. This is a chance
for Asean's leading members to show their mettle. If the Asean charter and
its grand objective of establishing an Asean Community by 2015 are to be
more than another hollow pipe dream, swift and effective concessions from
the SPDC will be needed. For Mr Surin, in particular, a relative success
over the next fortnight could set a promising tenor for his remaining
years in office.

Beyond Asean, Mr Ban has much riding on his trip and the conference
outcomes. He has millions of lives depending on what the UN, with the
ready assistance of key countries such as the EU members and the US, can
deliver. The SPDC's mishandling and mismanagement of the cyclone aftermath
have been so deplorable that expectations on Mr Ban will be fairly low, as
few are expected to make a difference with the generals. Yet Mr Ban also
has a deficit to make up. He is arriving on the scene very late in the
equation where many lives have been lost unnecessarily in the interim.

It is critical for Mr Ban to work in tandem with Mr Surin, casting the UN
and Asean in a mutually reinforcing relationship in responses to the
post-Nargis months to come. As with Mr Surin, Mr Ban faces an early test
in his leadership of the UN. A relatively successful trip to Rangoon for
Mr Ban would bode well for his tenure in New York City.

Asean's and the UN's interests in Burma at this time are symbiotic if both
can work hand-in-glove. If petty conflicts get in the way and the UN and
Mr Ban are turned away, the cyclone victims will be the ultimate losers.

Whatever transpires, Mr Ban should be cognisant of his limited leverage
because Burma at the end of the day will still be an Asean member. That is
how the SPDC will likely play it. But in working with Asean, Mr Ban should
also be willing to wield the international ''Responsibility to Protect''
doctrine to remind Asean that forced humanitarian assistance from outside
the region can be justified if the SPDC knowingly let hundreds of
thousands of the Burmese people perish in the shadow of Asean's impotence.

In this context, it is crucial for Mr Ban to let Mr Surin and Asean be the
front leg in these diplomatic and relief efforts. The UN should be the
hind leg, ready to step forward with the necessary aid and supplies.
Movements of personnel and relief workers should be left to Asean to
obtain the SPDC's sufficient comfort level. This is how Asean works, falls
short, or simply fails. Yet it is the best way forward to effect relief
and recovery in the ravaged areas and among the afflicted victims.

The writer is Director of the Institute of Security and International
Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University.


____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 22, Reuters
Myanmar junta stance on foreign aid a crime - monks

Myanmar's military rulers have committed crimes against humanity by
delaying the entry of international workers to help cyclone victims,
exiled Buddhist monks said on Thursday.

The monks, who are in Jakarta as part of an international tour to rally
opposition against Myanmar's generals, urged Indonesia to back a U.N.
resolution on unfettered entry of aid shipments and workers.

The appeal came as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was touring Myanmar,
taking "a message of hope" to victims of Cyclone Nargis that has left
nearly 134,000 dead or missing.

"The situation is very terrible. Over 200,000 have died and over two
million people are at risk of starvation," said Ashin Nayaka, a monk from
Myanmar who lives in the United States.

"By delaying international aid, the junta is committing crimes against
humanity," the maroon-robed monk told Reuters, adding that a single day's
delay in aid cost hundreds of lives.

The Myanmar junta, deeply suspicious of outsiders, agreed on Monday to
allow aid workers from Southeast Asian neighbours after being heavily
criticised for refusing to admit foreign aid workers.

Another monk, U Awbata, said he had fled Myanmar after the government's
bloody crackdown on monk-led protests in September in which at least 31
people were killed.

"I saw three monks killed by the soldiers in front of me at Shwedagon
Pagoda," said Awbata, who now lives in Sri Lanka, referring to Myanmar's
holiest site.

"I saw soldiers kick the heads of monks. In Buddhism it's a very
unthinkable, unimaginable crime," he said.

New York-based monk Ashin Nayaka said about 10,000 monks were arrested
during the crackdown.

"The problem is we don't know many monks have been killed, we don't know
how many monks are missing. What we know is thousands of monks are
suffering in interrogation centres and forced labour camps across the
country," he said.

During a meeting with the foreign affairs commission of the Indonesian
parliament on Thursday, the exiled Myanmarese delegation urged Jakarta to
push for a U.N. resolution allowing free access to aid workers to the
former Burma.

Indonesia is the largest member of the 10-member Association of the
Southeast Asian Nations, to which Myanmar belongs, and a non-permanent
member of the U.N. Security Council.

"Indonesia has more responsibility to help the Burmese people," said Ashin
Nayaka, who took part in a 1988 uprising, which was also suppressed by a
crackdown in which an estimated 3,000 people were killed.

"We don't need the junta's permission because the military regime is not a
legitimate government," he said. (Reporting by Ahmad Pathoni, Editing by
Ed Davies and Valerie Lee)


____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 22, Agence France Presse
Laura Bush to Myanmar: 'Let people of US help'

First Lady Laura Bush implored Myanmar Wednesday to "let the people of the
United States help" with emergency cyclone aid after the military junta
barred US navy ships from providing relief supplies.

The wife of President George W. Bush refuted charges by the Myanmar state
media that there were "strings attached" to the navy aid, and said it was
vital for the reclusive government to allow the US ships laden with
emergency supplies to sail near the worst-hit regions of Myanmar's
Irrawaddy Delta.

"No, there would be absolutely no strings attached with this aid," Laura
Bush said in an interview with the Voice of America, a US Congress-funded
broadcaster that has a Burmese language service which can be heard in
Myanmar.

She stressed that while official media has said the navy ships would not
get permission to approach the Myanmar coast, "we have not heard that
officially.

"And so I still want to urge the military rulers to let the United States,
let the people of the United States help, because we can help in such a
very successful way because of the equipment that we have that's
available."

The United Nations estimates that only 500,000 of the 2.4 million affected
by the storm are receiving international aid, more than two weeks after
Cyclone Nargis left 133,000 dead or missing.

At least 40 US aid flights into Myanmar have brought critical disaster
relief supplies into the country, Bush said, up from 31 as of Monday.

Myanmar's military government remains willing to accept more US aid
flights, the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

When asked about reports from aid organizations that some of the aid was
siphoned off by the military, Bush said "Well, we just don't know that."

"I just want to urge the government of Burma to make sure people get this
help," she said, calling the country by its former name.

The New Light dismissed reports that survivors were not receiving adequate
aid as "rumor storms created by certain western countries and national
traitors ... who are showing negative attitude to our nation and people."

Bush last week renewed sanctions on the junta because of its "repression
of the democratic opposition" in Myanmar, but stressed the move did not
affect aid bound for cyclone victims.

____________________________________

May 22, Associated Press
Myanmar appears to nix US Navy help, saying "strings attached"

With their history of xenophobia, no one expected Myanmar's generals to
welcome with open arms an uninvited flotilla of U.S. warships trying to
help bring relief to millions severely affected by Cyclone Nargis.

But on Wednesday, the situation grew even bleaker as state-run media said
the ships — a major force in relief efforts after the 2004 tsunami — would
not be allowed in, appearing to dash what few hopes remained of the
helicopter-equipped flotilla joining the relief operation.

Instead, Myanmar gave a go-ahead for a far smaller operation of 10
helicopters from the U.N.'s World Food Program — which must be chartered,
flown in on cargo planes and reassembled in Bangkok.

"The strings attached to the relief supplies carried by warships and
military helicopters are not acceptable to the Myanmar people," said the
New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece for the ruling junta.

The announcement did not say exactly what strings were attached, and U.S.
military officials have repeatedly said that there were none.

"This is purely a humanitarian mission," said Lt. Col. Douglas Powell, a
spokesman for the stalled Operation Caring Response. "We have no ulterior
motive other than to assist the Burmese people."

Myanmar is also known as Burma.

The media report hinted that Myanmar's real fear is that the U.S. would
use the disaster as a pretext to invade and take control of Myanmar's oil
reserves.

The junta appears to be particularly afraid of allowing U.S. helicopters
to buzz around the hardest-hit areas because they might be hard to control
and would highlight the positives of the U.S. effort directly to the
common people, who have been taught to see the U.S. as a hostile
aggressor.

So instead of utilizing the U.S. military's assets, Myanmar has agreed to
allow a relief operation focused more on the use of the helicopters
operated by the World Food Program. It has also been more open to aid from
neighboring countries such as Thailand and India.

"We are doing everything we can to get them in as soon as possible," WFP
official Marcus Prior said.

He said the first WFP-chartered helicopter should begin its runs on
Thursday, but the fleet had to be contracted, disassembled and put on
cargo flights before being put back together in Bangkok. The helicopters
can carry 3 tons of aid, he said, and will be allowed to take it directly
to the delta region.

While flatly denied by U.S. officials, the fear of invasion is so deep
that Myanmar's generals abandoned the previous capital in Yangon, in the
south, in 2005 and built a bunker-laden operation in the dusty, less
populated north to prepare for it — or so goes the popular belief.

The cyclone-ravished Irrawaddy Delta is especially sensitive because that
is where Myanmar's rulers fear an invasion would likely come from.

The U.S., along with the British and French, have assembled a huge
response force off of Myanmar's shores.

The U.S. force is led by the USS Essex, an aircraft-carrier-like flattop
ship that carries more than a dozen helicopters, amphibious landing craft
and about 1,000 U.S. Marines. The Essex, joined by three other ships, has
been waiting almost within sight range of Myanmar's coast.

The French amphibious assault vessel Mistral and the British frigate HMS
Westminister were also in the area ready to respond.

Aboard the Essex, officers refused to comment directly on the latest
Myanmar setback, saying only that they stand ready.

"We intend to stand by with our significant lift and water production
capability as long as the government of the United States believes we may
have an opportunity to assist the people of Burma in the wake of this
natural disaster," said Lt. Denver Applehans.

In the meantime, U.S. military airlifts from Thailand continued and
Myanmar state media reports said they are welcome.

More than 40 flights, most of them U.S. Marine C-130s, have landed in
Myanmar with more than 817,000 pounds of emergency supplies, Powell said.

But the Marines are required to hand the aid to Myanmar authorities upon
landing in Yangon, from which it is a difficult journey to the Irrawaddy
Delta.


____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 22, International Herald Tribune
The Burma dilemma – Thant Myint-U

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon arrives in Yangon on Thursday at the
invitation of Myanmar's ruling generals, the first official visit by a UN
chief in over 40 years. He will tour the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy
River delta and work to persuade the government to allow greater
international access to the hundreds of thousands of people in need of
life-saving assistance.

But he will not just be visiting a country reeling from its worst natural
disaster ever. He will be in a country only now emerging from decades of
armed conflict, where aid has long been politicized and where the urgent
tasks of emergency relief may soon be coupled with the immeasurably more
complex challenges of recovery and reconstruction.

As early at 1990, Rolf Carriere, then Unicef director in Yangon argued
that there was a desperate need for humanitarian and development aid in
Myanmar, and that it could not wait for democratic change.

His call went largely unheeded. The military government pleaded for
assistance, especially from the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund, to reform the economy. But Western governments had just begun to
impose sanctions in the hope of nudging the junta towards democracy, and
nearly all aid - including through the UN - was cut off.

Only in the last several years have things begun to change. Several UN
agencies and international charities have tried hard to expand help to the
country's most vulnerable people, with support from a few governments like
Britain and Norway. But it's hardly been enough.

Myanmar is one of the poorest nations in the world, with millions living
in extreme poverty. But the average Myanmar citizen receives less than $2
a year in international aid - about a 10th of per capita aid to Vietnam
and a 20th of per capita aid to Laos and Cambodia. Thousands, mainly
children, die every year from treatable diseases like malaria.

Though the government had once looked forward to aid, it eventually became
suspicious, especially when allegations of a humanitarian crisis in
Myanmar were used to press for UN Security Council action. The government
worried that humanitarian issues would serve as camouflage for a
"regime-change" agenda and that aid workers themselves were a "fifth
column." They knew that foreign funds were also helping pro-democracy
dissidents both at home and abroad, and feared that aid programs were part
of a conspiracy to unseat them.

Many of the regime's opponents were also suspicious, believing that any
aid would further entrench the status quo. They pointed to the
government's long record of economic mismanagement. A fierce debate
ensued. At the very time the UN was trying to scale up assistance,
Myanmar's authorities began to tighten restrictions.

Cyclone Nargis struck at a time of particularly sensitive relations
between the junta and the aid community.

The outrage felt at the lack of international access is more than
understandable. Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake. But the
actions of the generals should also come as no surprise.

Myanmar's ruling junta is not simply a military government. At its core is
a security machine developed over a half- century of civil war and foreign
intervention. Everything is viewed through a security lens.

The idea of throwing open the country's borders to international aid teams
goes against the most basic instincts of the men in power. It will never
happen.

If the diplomacy around securing access seems tough, the dilemmas around
any future recovery may be thornier still. Once the immediate crisis is
over, the Irrawaddy delta will require a gargantuan reconstruction effort,
lasting months if not years. Entire towns have been wrecked, millions
displaced, livelihoods ruined. With rice prices sky-high, the lives of
millions more could become untenable.

Should the United Nations and others only provide emergency humanitarian
aid and then leave? Or can the world help revive the Irrawaddy delta, once
Asia's greatest rice exporter? Can there be any logic to maintaining
sweeping U.S. and European economic sanctions on aid, trade and investment
while also trying to rebuild the devastated areas?

And what of the rest of the country? The delta is obviously the priority,
but huge numbers of other people live in terrible poverty. Should not aid
be increased for them as well? The north and the east - especially the
uplands inhabited by Myanmar's many ethnic minorities - have suffered from
decades of war, with enormous humanitarian challenges of their own.

Can any rehabilitation of the delta's economy be possible without a more
general vision of Myanmar's economic development? What sorts of reforms
are needed and what kind of economic dialogue is possible with the ruling
junta?

There are of course political challenges as well, until recently the
nearly sole focus of international attention. Myanmar's generals will want
to push ahead with their new constitution, one that ensures the military a
dominant position, like past constitutions in Indonesia and Thailand.
Dozens of ethnic-based insurgent armies have agreed to ceasefires with the
Myanmar army, but there is no permanent peace and moves towards
disarmament and demobilization are just beginning.

Can the UN both push for political change and be the institution working
on humanitarian and development issues? As Rolf Carriere questioned years
ago, does help for the poorest have to wait for democracy? Does a policy
of further isolation make sense?

Ban will need to concentrate on the job at hand - getting aid to the
victims of Cyclone Nargis. But he will also need to be mindful of a
difficult past and of how the UN can best position itself for the
difficult challenges to come.

Thant Myint-U is the author of "The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal
History of Burma."

____________________________________

May 22, Irrawaddy
Save the people; don’t protect generals – Kyaw Zwa Moe

The first wave of frustration following Cyclone Nargis was the irrational,
foot-dragging and draconian aid restrictions imposed by the Burmese junta
on the international relief effort to help the survivors. The second wave
of frustration is the ineffective, timid approach of Asean and the UN to
try to coax the stubborn generals into effective action.

The junta has no redeeming qualities: It’s bad at government, economics,
social welfare, education—you name it. Of course, there are some people
who flatter the generals, and they are called sycophants and apologists.

All members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the UN are
not sycophants and apologists, but history shows that they bear
responsibility for protecting the ruthless and undemocratic regime.

After the current junta staged a bloody coup in 1988, UN envoys to Burma
under different missions made more than three dozen trips to Burma in
attempts to help solve the country’s decades-long political deadlock.

Frequently, the UN announcements talked about “turning a new page,” or
“things are moving” or “breakthroughs.” Their words didn’t reflect reality
and, in a way, protected the generals.

Now comes UN General-Secretary Ban Ki-moon who arrived in Rangoon on
Thursday to try to convince the generals to let more international aid and
relief workers into the country. For the past three weeks, the regime has
allowed only very limited international aid to reach the needy and banned
all external foreign relief workers, save for a few dozen Asian medical
staff.

Ban has expressed his personnel frustration with the junta’s restrictions.
On the other hand, the Burmese people are frustrated with the history of
UN missions for the past 20 years.

It’s now three weeks after the cyclone, and the UN chief is just now
arriving in the country to talk to the generals. The cyclone victims want
relief supplies. They don’t want to hear more positive-sounding or
appeasing words like those in the past. They don’t need crocodile tears.

And, how about Asean, of which Burma is a member? Its emergency meeting in
Singapore came two weeks after the cyclone. Asean has never had the
courage to confront the generals. Since 1997 when Burma became a member,
Asean has never dared to ruffle the generals’ feathers.

At the Asean foreign ministers meeting on Monday, they agreed to set up a
task force, headed by Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, which will
closely work with the UN as well as the junta. The statement said “this
Asean-led approach was the best way forward,” and the issue should not be
politicized.

In its statement, Asean said Burma “should allow more international relief
workers into the stricken areas, as the need is most urgent, given the
unprecedented scale of the humanitarian disaster.” Positive-sounding
words.

But, the facts are clear. This “best way forward” is another example of
appeasing the cynical, hard-hearted generals. Even if Asean had a real
intention to take charge and deal with the disaster, the grouping has no
capacity to handle such a natural disaster.

Sadly and shamefully, both Asean and the UN have agreed to let the
generals’ determine the rules so far. If they really want to help the
survivors, they must show the courage to initiate a new approach.

If Ban can’t get real concessions during this trip, there is no approach
ahead other than the UN’s “responsibility to protect” concept which, while
not exactly written for events such as natural disasters, would
nevertheless be justified. The junta is clearly committing a crime against
humanity, which this concept is meant to address.

In fact, relief supplies and relief workers are not far from Burma. Five
naval ships of the US, France and UK with humanitarian supplies have been
waiting off Burma’s coast for a green light to help the victims. An
article in the junta-run New Light of Myanmar on Wednesday said aid from
those countries was unacceptable to the people of Burma.

We have entered what could be the final wave of frustration. The US,
France and the UK are clearly waiting to see what the UN and Asean can
accomplish. This is the last act.

The most frustrating outcome would be if the UN and Asean fail to find an
effective way to aid the people, and Western countries that have voiced
the strongest criticism of the junta fail to act unilaterally to aid the
survivors.

For years to come there will be enough blame and guilt to go around for
all concerned.

____________________________________

May 22, The Guardian (UK)
We have a responsibility to protect the people of Burma. But how? –
Timothy Garton Ash

This weekend, unless Burma's generals rediscover in their shrivelled souls
some remnant of human decency, there will take place in the Irrawaddy
delta one of the most grotesque events in the political history of the
modern world. While dead children still lie face-down in muddy flood
waters after a devastating cyclone, while survivors become sick with
life-threatening diarrhoea, while international aid workers are prevented
by the military regime from bringing in supplies that could save them,
Burmese citizens will be herded into makeshift polling stations to approve
by plebiscite a constitution that is designed to prevent the results of a
democratic election held 18 years ago ever being respected. The results of
the referendum will be falsified, of course, as they already have been in
other parts of the country, where 93% of voters were said to have been in
favour, on a turnout of more than 99%. Down in the Irrawaddy delta, you
can be sure the dead will vote early and vote often.

This from a junta that last year brutally crushed mass protests - led by
Buddhist monks in their crimson and saffron robes - which were much more
purely non-violent than those in nearby Tibet. This from a regime which,
over decades, has reduced what was historically one of the more prosperous
places in southeast Asia to one of the poorest and most oppressed. If ever
a country needed regime change, it is Burma.

So what should we do about it? The French foreign minister, Bernard
Kouchner, has led the debate on this, invoking the notion of an
international "responsibility to protect" (R2P) which was cautiously
blessed by the United Nations in 2005. Although it was mainly intended for
other purposes (for instance, stopping genocide and ethnic cleansing, as
in Rwanda and Bosnia) R2P is a useful way in which to think about what we
can do for Burma, starting with the fact that the R stands for
responsibility (to protect), not right (to invade).

The Canadian-backed international commission that produced the seminal
report on R2P in 2001 deliberately made this shift in emphasis. When is
that responsibility triggered, and what is the threshold that justifies
intervention, up to and including the use of force? The commission updated
some time-honoured thinking about "just war" to identify six criteria:
just cause, right intention, last resort, proportional means, reasonable
prospects and right authority. Among the conditions that would give just
cause for intervention it listed "overwhelming natural or environmental
catastrophes, where the state concerned is either unwilling or unable to
cope, or call for assistance, and significant loss of life is occurring or
threatened". Well, here we are.

I have no doubt that we have a responsibility to act in this case, and
that we have just cause to do so without the explicit consent of Burma's
illegitimate rulers, who are letting their people die rather than letting
in international aid. Unlike over Iraq, I would credit even George W Bush
with right intention here. I suppose you could Noam-Chomskyishly argue
that the interests of the west might be served by gaining influence over a
buffer state between India and China (and, yes, Burma does have oil), but
I don't think that's why a US ship is standing off the delta with
helicopters and supplies. Proportional means? Yes, air drops and a "sea
bridge" for aid would seem proportionate to save the lives of certainly
tens of thousands, and potentially hundreds of thousands, of men, women
and children.

With the other three principles, things get more complicated. Right
authority should mean, ideally, a UN security council resolution. Kouchner
rapidly discovered that we won't get this. That leaves something like the
legitimation of the Kosovo intervention, pithily described as "illegal but
legitimate". But whereas action over Kosovo was supported by a majority of
its neighbours and of the world's democracies, this one would not be
(starting with the world's largest democracy, neighbouring India).

Last resort means you've tried all other ways. That's tough in this case,
because while you are trying, people are dying. But can we really say
we've exhausted all other possibilities? The fact is, thanks to visits
like those of the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and British Foreign
Office minister Mark Malloch Brown, and thanks to some (although not
enough) pressure from China and other Asian neighbours, the regime has now
agreed to let in more aid under the flag of Asean. There are charities
working on the ground in the delta, including British outfits such as Save
the Children and Merlin, using local employees. If we keep our elbow to
the door, are ingenious as well as persistent, and work closely with
China, India and Thailand, it seems we may be able to get more of the
western, rich countries' aid in under - so to speak - an Asian umbrella.
Perhaps a "sea bridge" could even be built using Indian ships, or simply
boats flying an Asian flag of convenience, to transport the supplies from
the waiting British, American and French ships. Too little, too late, but
what's the alternative?

Asking that question brings us to one of the most important criteria:
reasonable prospects - of success, that is. Consider the likely
consequences of military-protected unilateral air drops and "sea bridges"
from those American, British and French ships. I am told that these would
have little chance of getting what is really needed - now mainly
sanitation, clean water, medical supplies and care, as well as food and
shelter - to those who mainly need it, often in remote, cut-off
settlements. For that, you need light local transport and trained medical
and aid workers on the spot.

Some observers scoff: "You don't seriously think the regime's pitiful
forces would try to stop it?" Well, I do, because they already have. As of
last weekend, they had only allowed three - three! - foreign aid workers
into the delta. NGOs locally express the fear that such an action would
lead to an immediate suspension of other aid supplies. The generals'
indifference to the fate of their own people is matched only by their
selfishness, cynicism and loss of contact with reality. Could they be so
stupid? They could be so stupid.

The responsibility to protect has to be exercised responsibly: that is,
with a careful, informed calculation of the likely consequences. I
conclude that we should use every means except that of military-backed
unilateral - or western "coalition of the willing" - action, which has few
reasonable prospects, is arguably not the last resort, and would not have
right authority. This does not mean we do nothing. We have a
responsibility to act by every other means available, and there are many
forms of "intervention' short of the military. (For us ordinary citizens,
that includes ensuring the charities that do operate there have sufficient
funds. In Britain, one good way to do that is through the multi-charity
Disasters Emergency Committee, dec.org.uk.)

As for those criminal generals, who, believe it or not, consider
themselves to be good Buddhists, I will say only this: they have already
produced so much bad karma that, if there is any justice in the great
cycle of things, they will all come back as rats.
Timothygartonash.com

____________________________________
STATEMENT

May 22, National League for Democracy
Special Statement 12/05/08

The National League for Democracy warmly, welcomes the upcoming visit of
the Secretary General of the United Nations in order to assist in
relieving the devastation caused by the unprecedented severe cyclonic
storm "Nargis" Which is now the national crisis.

It is observed that the relief and rehabilitation works in the areas where
there have been incredible loss of lives and property could not have been
preformed competently effectively or in timely manner. Because of the
insufficiency of financial material and human resources, the difficulty of
transportation and the impending monsoon, millions of people, majority of
them children are like waiting for the end of their lives to be caused by
highly probable epidemic within days as a consequence of the storm.

I furthermore, storm hit areas happen to be the main production regions of
rice and marine products which are the life blood of the country. the
relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction of those regions up to the
normalcy by the international community including the United Nations are
now vital for the future of Burma.

Since the work to rescue the lives and salvage the properties of millions
of people and also to save the future of Burma is a formidable task, it
cannot be accomplished by single person or one organization or one country
or one regional organization.

Therefore the National League for Democracy solemnly requests the
international community including the United Nation to assist, with love
and sympathy, in preventing further economic and social calamities,
epidemics and other scourges with full financial to assist the people of
Burma who are in a great trouble.

As per the resolution of the Central Executive Committee meeting held on
20-5-08.

CEC


____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

May 22, Freedom Now
Freedom Now demands the release of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Under Burmese law, she must be released from house arrest in Rangoon at
midnight, the beginning of Sunday May 25, 2008.

Today, Freedom Now has demanded the release of the world’s only imprisoned
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma. Retained in 2006 by
a member of her family, Freedom Now attorneys Jared Genser and Meghan
Barron successfully obtained Opinion No. 2/2007 on May 8, 2007 from the UN
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Ms. Suu Kyi’s ongoing detention
under house arrest was a clear violation of international law and engaged
in other advocacy activities on her behalf. As explained in the enclosed
legal memorandum, her ordeal should be coming to an end.

Under Article 10(b) of Burma’s State Protection Law 1975, a person in
Burma who is deemed a “threat to the sovereignty and security of the State
and the peace of the people” may be detained for up to a maximum of five
years through a restrictive order, renewable one year at a time. Initially
detained after the Depayin massacre in May 2003, Ms. Suu Kyi’s house
arrest was last extended on May 25, 2007. Therefore, her fifth and final
year of house arrest allowable under Burmese law (though found to be in
violation of international law) will expire at the end of the day on May
24, 2008.

“The timing couldn’t be better,” remarked Freedom Now President Jared
Genser. “If the Burmese junta abides by its own law, Aung San Suu Kyi will
be able to attend the international aid conference scheduled for Sunday
May 25th in person. And if General Than Shwe refuses to release her, it
will be a slap in the face to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the
ASEAN diplomats who will be on hand to hear the junta’s request for $11
billion of international assistance,” he added.

Previously, the Working Group issued three other opinions – 8/1992,
2/2002, and 9/2004 – that Ms. Suu Kyi’s prior terms of house arrest were
also in violation of international law. After Ms. Suu Kyi’s political
party and its allies won the 1990 parliamentary elections in Burma with
more than 80% of the vote, she has spent more than 12 of the last 18 years
under house arrest, and continuously since May 2003.

___________________________________
OBITUARY

May 22, Irrawaddy
KNU Chairman dies – Saw Yan Naing

The chairman of the Karen National Union ethnic rebel group, Saw Ba Thin
Sein, died Thursday morning.

Saw Ba Thin Sein, 82, died at about 2 am in Pa-an District in southern
Karen State. He suffered from diabetes, asthma and heart disease.

He joined the KNU in 1949, became general secretary in 1984 and was
appointed chairman in 2000.

He will be succeeded by Tamla Baw, vice-chairman of the KNU and the former
chief commander of the KNU’s military wing, the Karen National Liberation
Army, according to a statement by the KNU headquarters on Thursday.

David Takapaw, a KNU spokesperson, said the death of Saw Ba Thin Sein was
a great loss for the Karen people, who have been fighting for autonomy for
more than 50 years, but it will not affect KNU policies.

Naw Khine Mar Kyaw Zaw, a KNU member who worked closely with Saw Ba Thin
Sein, said, “He joined the Karen revolution because of seeing the Karen
people oppressed by the Burmese army.”

She said Saw Ba Thin Sein struggled with divisions among the Karen people
and particularly the breakaway armed group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army.

“He said our people support us. But, we [the leaders] have different
political viewpoints, and we are not united. Some leaders have radical
ideas about religion.”

After the DKBA split from the KNU, Saw Ba Thin Sein always urged Karen to
be united, saying disarray among the people and divisions between leaders
would only prolong the independence struggle.

“He wanted Karen people to live in unity,” she said. “He didn’t like
injustices. He was an industrious revolutionary. He also had deep empathy
for other ethnic nationalities.”

Saw Ba Thin Sein was born in 1927 in Henzada in Irrawaddy Division. He
studied at the American Baptist Mission High School in Henzada. He worked
as a clerk at the war office in Rangoon until 1946. He became a member of
the KNU central committee in 1963 and was appointed education minister.

He is survived by his wife, Naw Ohn Myaing, three daughters and one son.

A memorial service will be held at the KNLA’s 7th Brigade in Pa-an
District in Karen State at a date to be announced.