BurmaNet News, June 26, 2008

[Editor]

June 26, 2008 Issue #3500

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar journalist arrested for burying cyclone dead: watchdog
AFP: Myanmar confirms detention of 14 Suu Kyi supporters
Financial Times: Burma cyclone survivors suffer food shortage
BBC: Burma blocks emergency telecoms
Xinhua: Myanmar stresses prompt repair of cyclone-ravaged jetties in Yangon
Irrawaddy: Thousands in Delta told to relocate
DVB: New curriculum excludes general Aung San
DVB: Authorities collect money and paddy for rice cultivation

DRUGS
Mizzima News: Junta's drug control claim irrelevant to ground
situation-Research

REGIONAL
Reuters: Bangladesh seeks Myanmar farm land on lease

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Bush discusses Burma with UN Ambassadors
Times Online: Flash mob for Burma hits London

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 26, Agence France-Presse
Myanmar journalist arrested for burying cyclone dead: watchdog

A Myanmar editor has been arrested and his magazine closed after he
travelled to the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta to help bury people killed in
the storm, media rights watchdogs said Thursday.

Aung Kyaw San, editor of the Myanmar Tribune, was arrested on June 15
along with 16 other people who had volunteered to help bury the cyclone
dead, Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association said in a
statement.

His group of volunteers had buried more than 400 bodies, following Red
Cross procedures, but were arrested as they returned to the main city of
Yangon to collect more burial sacks, the groups said.

Five of them, including Aung Kyaw San, are being held in the notorious
Insein Prison north of Yangon, the statement added.

"It is now essential to get the junta to stop preventing civil society,
including the press, from participating in the relief effort," the groups
said.

At least 10 journalists and a blogger are now detained in Myanmar, they
added.
More than 138,000 people are dead or missing after Cyclone Nargis hit the
country nearly eight weeks ago. The United Nations estimates 2.4 million
people need humanitarian aid.

In a report released Wednesday, experts from the UN and Southeast Asia
said that only 45 percent of survivors are receiving humanitarian aid,
leaving most to fend for themselves or seek help from local donors.

Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma
since 1962, sparked global outrage in the weeks after the storm by
refusing to allow a major international relief effort.

____________________________________

June 26, Agence France-Presse
Myanmar confirms detention of 14 Suu Kyi supporters

Myanmar's police chief Thursday confirmed that 14 supporters of democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been detained for nearly one month after
protesting against the extension of her house arrest.

Brigadier General Khin Yee, the police chief, also told AFP that six
journalists had been deported for entering the country on tourist visas to
report on deadly Cyclone Nargis. He did not identify the journalists.

The activists were detained on May 27 after leading a small protest
against the military's decision to confine the Nobel Peace Prize winner
for another year.
She has already spent more than 12 years inside her Yangon home, where she
is kept in total isolation.

The group tried to march from the headquarters of her political party, the
National League for Democracy (NLD), but were stopped just minutes after
beginning their protest.
"We told them they can hold a ceremony without harming the state's peace
and tranquility," Khin Yee told AFP on the sidelines of a ceremony in the
capital Naypyidaw, marking the UN's international day against drugs.

"But their act harmed the peace and tranquility, even though we prohibited
it," he said. "That's why we are questioning them about why they did it.
They were not arrested. They are just being questioned."

His remarks were the first official confirmation of the arrests.

Khin Yee also said the military regime had deported six journalists for
entering the country on tourist visas to report on the cyclone that left
more than 138,000 dead or missing when it struck southwestern Myanmar
nearly eight weeks ago.

"Some people enter the country with tourist visas and don't act like
tourists," the police chief said.

"Some people overstep the boundaries by working as journalists. Those who
overstep the boundaries were deported. Actually, we should take legal
action against them, but we didn't do anything to them," he said.

"About six people were deported because they overstepped the boundaries,"
he added.
Myanmar maintains tight control over all media in the country and has only
granted journalist visas to a handful of reporters covering events
attended by international officials, such as last month's trip by UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

____________________________________

June 25, Financial Times
Burma cyclone survivors suffer food shortage - Amy Kazmin

Bangkok - Burmese survivors of cyc¬lone Nargis are trying to rebuild their
battered lives but their situation remains precarious, with many families
struggling to get enough to eat each day, according to a new international
study.

Almost a third of households in the cyclone-hit Irra¬waddy delta say they
have no food stocks, while a further fifth say they have just enough for a
day, highlighting the urgent need for continuing food aid.

The widespread shortage of food is one of the crucial findings to emerge
from the first systematic assessment of conditions in the region since
cyclone Nargis struck nearly two months ago.

More than 300 foreign and Burmese staffers of the United Nations, the
Association of South-East Asian Nations, the Burmese government, the World
Bank and the Asian Development Bank, along with civil society volunteers,
spent 10 days talking to rural villagers about their lives before and
after Nargis.

While the data are still being tabulated and analysed, early results
indicate that about 60 per cent of households lack adequate access to
clean water and 22 per cent are experiencing psychological stress. Three
out of five villages say they do not have enough seeds to plant rice in
the forthcoming monsoon season.

“The findings tell a story of a shaken rural economy,” Richard Blewitt, a
project manager for the assessment, told the Financial Times. “People are
living precariously. It’s not famine, but they are on the edge and there
is a need for continued relief.”

When completed, the assessment – whose preliminary findings were obtained
by the FT – is intended to give aid agencies and donors an independent
picture of conditions on the ground. It also aims to serve as a common
reference point for discussions between Burma’s military rulers and the
international community.

So far, fundraising for the relief effort has been sluggish, with just 66
per cent of the UN’s emergency appeal funded. The World Food Programme has
warned it could be forced to ground 10 helicopters ferrying food into the
delta unless it receives more money within days.

International aid agencies’ fears of a “second wave” of deaths from
disease have not been realised, despite the Burmese military’s resistance
to the initial relief effort. But while Burmese villagers are coping with
the aftermath of the disaster, Mr Blewitt said, they still faced severe
hardships.

Although many families have rebuilt shelters, the new structures are less
sturdy than the wooden homes destroyed in the storm. Mr Blewitt said diets
had also changed, with people eating less protein.

International agencies are also concerned that rural families might be
forced to borrow from moneylenders at high interest rates to buy rice
seeds for planting and other supplies. About 78 per cent of households
reported they had no access to credit.

____________________________________

June 25, BBC News Science and technology reporter
Burma blocks emergency telecoms - Jonathan Fildes

Two teams of foreign aid workers dedicated to delivering emergency
telecoms in disaster areas have been forced to leave cyclone-hit Burma.

The members of Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) left the country after
attempts to reach affected areas were blocked.

The charity, which described the situation as "unprecedented", said it had
no other choice but to leave.

TSF finally reached Burma on 1 June after waiting nearly a month to be
granted visas to enter the country.

"The frustration is that we were allowed into the country but not allowed
to deploy," TSF spokesman Oisin Walton told BBC News.

Many international charities were allowed into Burma following a visit to
the area by UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon.

But repeated attempts to get the necessary authorisation to visit affected
areas such as the Irrawaddy Delta, were met with a wall of silence.

"We got no reply at all," said Mr Walton.

Time lags

TSF is a specialist agency which works with the UN to provide
communication support to aid agencies and local people. Its presence was
requested by Unicef following Cyclone Nargis on 2 May.

TSF KITLIST
BGan satellite link (data and voice: 496kbps). Primary connection
Gan M4 satellite link (data and voice: 64kbps). Used as backup
Large VSAT satellite dish for long term deployments
At least two satellite phones including a mobile device
Mobile phones and local sim cards if GSM infrastructure intact
Routers and access points for communication centre
Wireless relays to extend coverage
PCs, printer and scanner
GPS
Power packs including car batteries and solar panels

But despite being granted visas to enter the country - one month after the
event - the teams were held in Rangoon.

In the meantime other charities were given the go ahead to deploy to the
worst affected regions.

Mr Walton believes that TSF was blocked because of the nature of its work.

"They obviously didn't want us in the affected areas with
telecommunications equipment," said Mr Walton.

Some charities have had communications equipment held at the border, he
said. Limited facilities are currently being provided by Unicef and the
World Food Programme (WFP).

"Aid agencies are doing a wonderful job but the government is not
helping," he said.

Had the charity reached the disaster, teams would have set up
communications centres for other charities and organisations.

These contain all the telecoms and IT equipment found in a normal office -
including printers, scanners, laptops and phones - housed in a tent or
temporary shelter.

Connections are made via satellite links.

In addition, it offers "welfare" calls to affected people, allowing them
to make contact with friends and family.

The charity has a commitment to the UN to deploy within 48 hours but is
generally in the field within just 24 hours.

"We are an emergency response NGO," said Mr Walton. "But it's not really
an emergency response two months after the event."
____________________________________

June 26, Xinhua
Myanmar stresses prompt repair of cyclone-ravaged jetties in Yangon

The Myanmar authorities have stressed the prompt repair of remaining
cyclone-ravaged jetties in Yangon to ensure speedy and normal inflow of
commodities from other parts of the country, the official newspaper New
light of Myanmar reported Thursday.

According to the report, the Myanmar Port Authority has completed the
repair of six jetties, removal of two damaged ones and salvage of 73
vessels that sank or grounded in Yangon and Bago Rivers.

Trawlers are now in normal function on the two rivers bringing daily
150,000 tons of fresh water fish to Yangon from the cyclone-hard-hit
Ayeyawaddy delta region, especially lobsters and prawns from the
hardest-hit Laputta and Bogalay townships, the report added.

Meanwhile, the Association of Dalla Port Watercrafts said earlier that
over 200 powered watercrafts which berthed at the Yangon Port were totally
destroyed by the storm. Search for such sunk vessels in the Yangon River
is still underway in the aftermath of the cyclone storm.

Deadly cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five
divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on last
May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest
casualties and massive infrastructure damage.

The storm has killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359
injured according to the latest official figure. 　
____________________________________
June 26, Irrawaddy
Thousands in Delta told to relocate – Saw Yan Naing

Thousands of villagers in the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy delta townships of
Bogalay and Laputta are being told by local authorities to relocate to new
sites, according to local residents in both regions.

Local villagers from more than 30 villages in Bogalay Township said they
had received warning letters from the Department of Forestry on June 17.
The authorities said that the villagers were staying on national park
land.

Authorities asked the villagers to move from the land as soon as possible.
However, the deadline and information about the sites for relocation were
not given and the villagers have not yet started to move, said a recipient
of the letter on Wednesday.
Another villager in Bogalay, Bar Ku, said, “Before, the protected area in
the national park was 33,440 acres. Now the authorities have extended it
to 58,447 acres. Farmers and villagers who live there are to be kicked
out.

“If the villagers are forcefully pressured to leave, they will complain to
the authorities,” Bar Ku said.

In Laputta Township, thousands of cyclone survivors who have taken
temporary shelter in five refugee camps in Laputta town will be asked to
relocate because local authorities are planning to start reconstruction in
the town, said residents.

One source in Laputta, Aye Kyu, said that Laputta Township is being
incorporated into new boundaries as “Laputta Province.” The province will
be comprised of five townships—Pyin Sa Lu, Old Laputta town, New Laputta
town, Mawlamyaing Gyun and Hainggyi Island.

An estimated 7,000 refugees who are presently sheltering in temporary
camps in Laputta town will be sent to “New” Laputta town where the offices
of Laputta Province will be rebuilt. New Laputta town is being located
about 7 miles (11 kilometers) from what is currently Laputta town.

Aye Kyu said, “The new Laputta town is built in a large clearing, but it
is a wild and uninhabited area. Nobody has lived there before. Water could
be a major problem in the dry season. Villagers would have to search for
water in other places.”

Refugees in Laputta town were asked to return to their homes and villages.
Those who could not, or would not, go home were to be sent to “new”
Laputta town. Due to the difficulties and trauma of rebuilding their
lives, most refugees in Laputta do not want to return to their devastated
homes, said Aye Kyu.

About 400 cyclone survivors who were earlier forcibly sent back to their
villages by local authorities have returned to Laputta town to seek
shelter in local monasteries, he added.
In total, there are about 10,000 refugees currently sheltering in the five
refugee camps in Laputta town.

____________________________________

June 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
New curriculum excludes general Aung San - Naw Say Phaw

The military regime in Burma has removed a speech and writings by the late
independence hero general Aung San and peace architect Thakhin Kodaw
Hmaing from this year’s basic high school curriculum.

‘People’s Assembly’, an excerpt from a speech by general Aung San, and
‘The elders and the young’ and ‘When Thabyay sprouts’, an essay and a poem
written by Thakhin Kodaw Hmaing, will no longer be studied on the 10th
standard curriculum this academic year.

A Rangoon high school student told DVB that teachers had not explained to
students why these texts had been taken out.

“My teacher told me about the changes in the curriculum but she didn’t say
what the reason was,” said the student.

“I think the curriculum should include something about general Aung San
who brought independence to our country so students will be able to learn
about him in their classrooms.”

General Aung San, the father of pro-democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
is widely respected in Burma to this day for his role in bringing about
independence.
A retired teacher from Rangoon said that she disagreed with the regime’s
move because she thought history could not be eliminated and younger
generations should be aware of their past heroes.

“General Aung San is the father of Burma’s independence. I don’t think his
speech should be taken out,” the teacher said.

“I don’t think the writing of anyone who helped bring independence to us
should be removed from the curriculum either,” she went on.

“I want the younger generations to understand what patriotism is since
they don’t seem to care about it much.”

The authorities say the curriculum has been changed in order to reach
international standards.

But a former lecturer at Rangoon University’s Burmese Department, Daw
Nyein Khet Khet, claimed that there were political motives behind the
recent changes.

Daw Nyein Khet Khet, better known as the author May Nyein, said she
thought the intention of the military regime was to diminish the influence
of Burma’s independence fighters and diminish political sentiments among
young people.

“Both general Aung San and Thakhin Kodaw Hmaing’s words are about
patriotism, nationalism, freedom, democracy and rights,” the author said.
“I think they particularly want to get rid of the general’s speech because
he gave guidance to young people on what to do in his articles,” she said.

“By removing the valuable words of these past heroes, I think they are
trying to wipe out the political will among the younger generations.”

____________________________________

June 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
Authorities collect money and paddy for rice cultivation - Khin Hnin Htet

On the pretext of helping cyclone-affected farmers resume their rice
cultivation, authorities have been collecting money and paddy in Irrawaddy
division and other areas, locals said.

A resident of Ain Mae township told DVB that township Peace and
Development Council chairperson Thein Win was collecting money and paddy
from farmers living in 97 village tracts and 5 wards.

“Chairperson Thein Win ordered each village tract to give 100 tin of paddy
(approximately 6,400 kg) and a buffalo for cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy
farmers,” said the resident.
“According to that directive, village PDC chairpersons are collecting 2
tin of paddy and 5,000 kyat from each farmer and 7,000 kyat from
non-farmer,” he continued.

A farmer from Thanatpin township in Bago division said that authorities
there were also collecting money from local farmers for the same reason by
making deductions from agricultural loans.

“The subtraction varied based of the number of households in village and
the size of paddy field farmers possessed. Some villages had
100,000–200,000 kyat deducted,” said the Thanapin farmer.

“In terms of paddy land, some farmers has 200–400 kyat deducted for each
acre while some has 2–3,000 kyat subtracted no matter how many acres of
paddy they were growing,” explained the farmer.

Another resident from Thanapin added that authorities had also collected
money from businessmen and domestic buses.

“Some of the shops have to pay 10,000–20,000 kyat but others only have to
pay 5,000,” the resident said.

“In Kamarsae, a boat owner has to pay 5,000 kyat. In Thanapin, domestic
bus owners have to pay as much as 10,000 kyat, otherwise they are not
allowed to take passengers,” he went on.

Based on the type of business they own some have to pay 3–400,000 kyat.”

____________________________________
DRUGS

June 26, Mizzima News
Junta's drug control claim irrelevant to ground situation: Researcher -
Mungpi

The Burmese military junta has claimed that its drug eradication campaign
has brought about a drastic decline in opium cultivation in the country.
It has decreased from 140,000 hectares to 27,700 hectares within a decade.

Burma's Minister for Home Affairs and Chairman of the Central Committee
for Drug Abuse Control, Maj-Gen Maung Oo, on Thursday said the drug
eradication programme has effectively brought down cultivation of opium in
Burma, regarded as the second largest producer after Afghanistan by the
United Nation.

"Thanks to the drug elimination efforts, opium cultivation has
dramatically decreased from 140,000 hectares to 27,700 hectares in a
decade ending 2007 and won praise from the world," Maung Oo said during a
commemorative function of 'International Day Against Drug', on Thursday.

While Burma's ruling junta claims that the Drug Elimination Programme,
initiated in 1998 by the UN Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), has yielded
good result in bringing down the volume of opium cultivation in Burma,
independent researchers said Burma has not really made progress in the
over all drug production and consumption scenario.

Khunsai, an editor of the Thailand based Shan Herald Agency for News
(S.H.A.N), who independently conducted research on drug production said
Burma has not made any progress in the over all production of drugs and
cultivation of opium poppy.

"Our research showed that while in a few areas, people have stopped
cultivating opium poppy, these people have just shifted to other parts
where the Drug Elimination Programme does not focus," Khunsai told
Mizzima.

S.H.A.N has independently published several reports on the situation of
poppy cultivation and drug production in Burma's Shan state, which is one
of the major state's that produces and cultivates opium poppy.

Khunsai said, while the remarkable decrease in the number of people
involved in cultivating poppy does not indicate the over all decline, it
shows that a new system of monopolizing the cultivation has emerged in
areas, which the Burmese junta has targeted.

According to him, the junta's failure is mainly because of the political
instability and administrative corruption in the military.

While several villagers, who earn their living by cultivating poppy, have
given up cultivation, another emerging threat is an increase in the
clandestine production of Amphetamine and Methamphetamine pills.

"Lately, since 2005, there is a remarkable increase in the production of
Yaba (Amphetamine and Methamphetamine)," said Khunsai, adding that the
failure to provide efficient substitution for the livelihood of former
cultivators has given rise to the increase in producing such pills.

Meanwhile, the Transnational Institute (TNI), a non-governmental research
institute on drug policy, said the UNODC is rewriting history in its 2008
World Drug Report to hide its failure to curb increasing drug production
and cultivation.

The world is not any closer to achieving the 10-year target set by the
1998 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs, instead global
production of opium and cocaine has significantly increased over the last
ten years, TNI said in a press statement on Thursday.

"There is overwhelming evidence that the current approach to drug control
has failed," Martin Jelsma, coordinator of the TNI Drugs & Democracy
Programme said in the statement.

"Instead of setting unrealistic targets, we need to introduce a more
rational, pragmatic and humane approach to the drugs phenomenon," added
Jelsma.

While acknowledging that there is useful information in the World Drug
Report, TNI's coordinator said, "Drug control policies should be based on
evidence, fully respect human rights and take a harm reduction approach."

"Otherwise we will see another ten years of failure." Jelsma added.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

June 26, Reuters
Bangladesh seeks Myanmar farm land on lease

Bangladesh urged Myanmar on Thursday to lease it farm land near the border
for rice cultivation to meet its growing food demand, an official said.

Vast lands have been left untilled in Myanmar's Rakhine state, bordering
Bangladesh's Cox's Bazaar district, as Myanmar produces enough rice to
feed its 54 million people, officials in Bangladesh said.

On Thursday, Fakhruddin Ahmed, head of the country's military-backed
interim government formally made the request during a farewell call by
Myanmar's ambassador Nyan Lynn.

"We are interested to sign an agreement with Myanmar on farming as soon as
possible," a spokesman for Fakhruddin quoted him as telling the envoy.

But no details were given.

Bangladesh, which has a population of nearly 150 million people, produces
some 30 million tonnes of rice annually, but it often faces scarcity due
to natural calamities.

The country lost around 3 million tonnes of its main staple rice due to
flooding between July and September last year and from Cyclone Sidr in
November which killed around 4,500 people, displaced millions and damaged
infrastructure worth billions of dollars.
(Reporting by Nizam Ahmed; Editing by Anis Ahmed and Sanjeev Miglani)

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 26, Irrawaddy
Bush discusses Burma with UN Ambassadors – Lalit K Jha

US President George W Bush, in a meeting with the ambassadors of the
permanent members of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, discussed the
Burmese junta, the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the political stalemate
on the restoration of democracy in the country.

Few details were available about what was discussed at the meeting. The
political stand off in Zimbabwe is said to have dominated the proceedings.

"We talked about the UN Security Council role for Darfur and Burma," Bush
told reporters at the White House following the meeting.

It is well-known that the Bush administration along with France and
Britain has called for a stronger effort by the Security Council towards
the restoration of democracy in Burma. However, China and Russia have been
resistant to stronger actions by the Security Council.

The Bush administration has placed the Burmese generals and many of their
business cronies under a series of economic sanctions. During the past
year, the first lady, Laura Bush, has been very outspoken on the Burma
issue.

Recently, statements coming from top Bush administration officials,
including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have reflected frustration
with the role of the Security Council on Burma.

In a recent interview on CNN, Rice said the US would like to see the
Security Council play a more active role, but because of China and “some
other countries,” she said: "We were never able to get a strong resolution
to deal with it."

____________________________________

June 25, Times Online (UK)
Flash mob for Burma hits London - Joanna Sugden

A “flash mob” for Burma will hit London tonight as campaigners urge
commuters to remember victims of the cyclone and decades of human rights
abuses in the country.
Fifty-three days after cyclone Nargis tore through Burma, a British human
rights organisation is gathering crowds to watch a video, beamed onto
Waterloo station, that highlights the plight of the victims trapped in the
dictatorship.

The Burma Campaign UK will use slick advertising with celebrity
endorsement to focus attention on the junta’s appalling human rights
record, which it says led to thousands of deaths after the cyclone.

Johnny Chatterton, of the campaign said: “The crisis in Burma has been
going on for decades. It comes as no surprise that the regime denied aid
to the victims, they have routinely denied aid in the country.”

He added that tonight’s “flash mob”, a spontaneous gathering of people
arranged via the internet, was hastily organised but would be high impact
and include videos and posters, designed by ad giants Ogilvy.

The animated advert features the voice of actor and comedian Ricky Gervais
who tells viewers “In Burma there are no fairy tale endings, because the
government is a military dictatorship that tortures and kills people.
Please use your freedom to gain theirs.”

A giant video of it will be projected onto Waterloo station in London at
9.45pm tonight, when it is dark enough for it to be seen.

The campaign’s slogan, “The real disaster in Burma is the government”,
focuses on a character called Khin Mar a five-year-old girl victim of the
junta’s apathy to the cyclone and abuse of human rights.

Mr Chatterton said: “If the Burmese regime cared about its people they
wouldn’t leave storm victims to die, shoot at peaceful protestors and rape
5 year-old-girls, like Khin Mar.

“The regime in Burma turned a natural disaster into a man-made
catastrophe, even as victims were dying in the Irrawaddy Delta the Burmese
army were continuing their atrocities in Eastern Burma, burning villages
and raping women.”