BurmaNet News, August 19, 2008

[Editor]

August 19, 2008 Issue #3537

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Is Suu Kyi trying to get the message out?
Irrawaddy: Gambari has gig agenda during visit
DVB: U Gambira charged with 10 offences
DVB: Voters and officials punished for ‘No’ votes
Mizzima News: Not enough cash grant for cyclone victims

ON THE BORDER
DVB: 2000 Khami Chin flee to India due to food crisis
SHAN: Junta commander: Thailand violating Burmese sovereignty

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: International insurance companies leave Burma
AP: Myanmar natural gas sales up 25 percent

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: Junta benefits from regional economic tug-of-war

INTERNATIONAL
Asia Times: Myanmar exchange scam fleeces UN
Relief Web: Myanmar: IOM gets new backing from UK, UN, extends cyclone
Nargis response

OPINION / OTHER
Wall Street Journal: A new breed of monk rises in Myanmar
Bangkok Post: Charity fund-raiser

STATEMENT
Burma Campaign UK: Insuring repression - blow the whistle

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 19, Irrawaddy
Is Suu Kyi trying to get the message out?

Neighbors of the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said a new message
appeared last month on a large outdoor signboard in her compound, saying,
“All martyrs must finish their mission.”

The message appeared on July 19, Burma’s Martyr Day. The signboard, about
10 X 4-feet, is located on Suu Kyi’s property and can be read from the
street in front of her home, where she has been under house arrest for 13
of the past 19 years.

A neighbor who asked not to be identified said the Nobel Peace Prize
winner frequently changes the signboard message, using it as a way to
communicate with the public.

Suu Kyi is expected to receive a visit this week by UN Special Envoy to
Burma Ibrahim Gambari, who is in the country for a five-day visit to try
to move the military government toward more concrete steps to national
reconciliation. Observers hope she will release a new public statement
through Gambari.

In addition, Suu Kyi recently received visits from her family doctor and
her lawyer.

Kyi Win, a lawyer who met with Suu Kyi twice in ten days, told The
Irrawaddy he went to her home on University Avenue on Sunday morning, and
they discussed technical legal issues surrounding her house arrest.

“I also met with her on August 8,” he said. “She talked about several
issues related to her house arrest. She was well and in good spirits.”

Among the issues discussed was the exact nature of the law the junta used
to detain her under house arrest. She asked her attorney to research Act
10/B to determine if it was lawful.

She also asked him to look into the freedom of movement restrictions that
are placed on two women who live with Suu Kyi in the compound. She noted
that they have not been charged or convicted of any offense and to
restrict their movement is illegal, her lawyer said.

Burma analysts and the international community would like to hear more
from Suu Kyi, who has been largely silent following the devastation caused
by Cyclone Nargis.

In November, she sent a message to the world through Gambari about the
meetings that had taken place between her and the junta’s laison officer,
Minister Maj-Gen Aung Kyi.

“I expect that this phase of preliminary consultations will conclude soon
so that a meaningful and time bound dialogue with the SPDC leadership can
start as early as possible,” she said in the statement.

She said that "in the interest of the nation” she was ready to cooperate
with the military in order to make progress in reconciliation efforts and
she welcomed the necessary good offices role of the United Nations to
facilitate talks between her and the junta.

While noting that she is leader of the National League for Democracy, she
said national reconciliation must include discussions with a broad
spectrum of society.

“It is my duty to give constant and serious considerations to the
interests and opinions of as broad a range of political organizations and
forces as possible, in particular those of our ethnic nationality races,”
she said.

Perhaps as a result of Gambari’s role in releasing her public message, he
faced criticism from the junta and was denied meetings with senior
generals and the junta’s leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe when he returned in
March.

He was relegated to meetings with Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan,
Foreign Minister Nyan Win and Culture Minister Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint.

 Kyaw Hsan told Gambari the regime was uncomfortable with Suu Kyi’s public
statement, according to The New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper.

“Sadly, you went beyond your mandate,” he said, according to sources
familiar with the meeting. “Some even believe that you prepared the
statement in advance and released it after coordinating with Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi.”

Kyaw Hsan accused the UN envoy of trying to “frame a pattern [message]
desired by Western countries.”

Win Min, a Burmese political observer in Thailand, told The Irrawaddy on
Tuesday, “Gambari won’t dare to take Suu Kyi’s statement again. He
experienced the generals’ anger during his last trip in March.”

____________________________________

August 19, Irrawaddy
Gambari has gig agenda during visit - Saw Yan Naing

Burmese dissidents called for UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari to
call for tripartite talks with opposition groups, the release of political
prisoners and to deliver frank accounts of his meetings with opposition
groups and Burmese officials.

Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of the Thailand-based Assistance Association
for Political Prisoners (Burma), said, “He [Gambari] must do what he
should do. After meeting with Burmese officials and the opposition, he
should give frank accounts to the public.”

“For example, if the junta is stubborn and doesn’t want to negotiate, he
must frankly report that so the UN can clearly understand the issues,”
said Bo Kyi.

Han Thar Myhint, a National League for Democracy spokesperson, said the
party’s office was told by authorities to prepare for a meeting with the
UN envoy, but did not indicate the day or time of the meeting.

The UN envoy met with Burma’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win on Monday in hope
of continuing the stalled talks between the junta and pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.

He also met with representatives of the diplomatic corps, the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN Tripartite Core
Group and was briefed by the UN country team, according to a UN report.

Cin Sian Thang, the chairman of the Zomi National Congress in Rangoon,
said ethnic leaders have had little input into Gambari’s past trips to
Burma and knew little about his current five-day visit.

“We only knew that Gambari came to Burma and went back,” he said. “We
don’t know whether he would like a chance to meet with us or not,” said
Cin Sian Thang.

“We heard that he will meet with opposition leaders and ethnic leaders.
So, we are hoping to meet him, and we are ready to discuss issues with him
as well. We are now waiting for him, but we haven’t heard whether he will
meet us.”

On Tuesday, Gambari visited Kungyangone Township in southern Rangoon, one
of areas most affected by Cyclone Nargis which struck on May 2-3 and left
more than 140,000 dead and missing. Gambari met with Information Minister
Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan in Rangoon, according to a spokesperson with the UN
Information Center in Rangoon.

Lian H Sakhong, the secretary-general of the Thailand-based Ethnic
Nationalities Council, on Tuesday urged Gambari to try to persuade the
military regime to create a tripartite dialogue that includes the
government, opposition leaders and ethnic leaders.

Meanwhile, the Burma Campaign UK on Monday urged Gambari to make the
release of political prisoners a top priority during his visit.

“The release of political prisoners will be the benchmark by which Gambari
and Ban Ki-moon will be judged,” Wai Hnin, a political prisoners advocate
at Burma Campaign UK, said in a statement.

“It’s a normal, first step when a country enters into political reform,”
he said. “If the regime is genuine about their claims, they will reform.
They should release all political prisoners immediately.”

The statement said conditions in Burma’s prisons are deteriorating as
authorities deny medical treatment to political detainees including
leaders of the 88 Generation Students group such as Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko
Gyi, Mya Aye as well as Myo Yan Naung Thein, a student activist, who are
all in Insein Prison.

“The United Nations Security Council has said the political prisoners
should be released, and Gambari and Ban Ki-Moon must make that happen,” he
said. “We have had 20 years of envoys going back and forth with nothing to
show for it. It is time they delivered concrete results.”

____________________________________

August 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
U Gambira charged with 10 offences

Eleven people detained in connection with last September’s public
demonstrations, including prominent monk U Gambira, have appeared before
Insein prison court to hear charges against them, said family members.

U Gambira's sister Ma Khin Thu Htay said the monk was charged with 10
different violations at his first court appearance yesterday.

The charges included violations of article 13/1 of the Illegal Border
Crossing Act, 17/1 of the Unlawful Association Act and 5(j) of the
Emergency Protection Act, as well as inciting a riot, causing public
alarm, bringing the Sasana into disrepute and violating the press law.

"We weren't informed of the court hearing – we only heard about it from a
friend so we went," said Khin Thu Htay.

She said the next court hearings were scheduled for 20, 27 and 28 August
and 1 September.

The other defendants were identified as U Gambira's brother Ko Aung Kyaw
Kyaw, Maggin abbot U Eindria, Ko Than Naing of Taung Twin Gyi, Ko Kyaw
Kyaw Naing of Myit Che, monk U Kaylatha of Mandalay, monk U Thumana, U
Shwe Maung, Ko Wunna Maung from Mandalay and one unknown person.

They faced up to five charges each and will appear at their next court
hearing on 27 August.

____________________________________

August 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Voters and officials punished for ‘No’ votes

Local officials in charge of areas that voted No in the constitutional
referendum in May have been dismissed, while No voters have also faced
retaliation from the authorities, local residents told DVB.

Officials in charges of some wards and villages in Katha, Sagaing
division, where residents voted overwhelmingly against the military
regime’s proposed constitution, have been removed from their posts in the
last month, according to local residents.

In Yenangyaung in Magwe Division, the authorities cut off the electricity
supply and street lights in wards whose residents had voted against the
constitution, while wards inhabited by the authorities and the pro-junta
Union and Solidarity and Development Association members have been given
24-hour electricity.

Authorities have also been collecting lists of those who voted No to the
referendum in other states and divisions.

The Burmese military government enacted its new constitution after
referendums on 10 and 24 May which were marred by reports of intimidation,
corruption and vote-rigging.

The regime claimed the constitution was approved by over 92 percent of
voters, but is has been dismissed as a “sham” by pro-democracy groups and
international commentators.

____________________________________

August 19, Mizzima News
Not enough cash grant for cyclone victims Solomon

Coming to the aid of farmers in cyclone-hit regions to help them in
planting paddy and to rebuild their lives, the United Nations Development
Programme has begun providing cash grants of up to 200,000 kyat (USD 170).

"UNDP is giving cash grants as part of its community works programme to
farmers to hire casual labour to plant their crops," Nick Keyes,
communication advisor of UNDP Burma said.

He said, come harvest time, the farmer is expected to repay this amount –
either in cash or in rice – to a community rice bank or to a village
committee set up with the help of the agency to facilitate recovery
efforts.

"The farmer is not expected to repay the amount to UNDP, and there is no
interest charged at any time," said Keyes.

Keyes added that the UNDP has been engaged in granting money and helping
in other community works including rebuilding infrastructure such as
schools, water tanks, paths, jetties, in at least 250 communities in five
townships of the cyclone affected areas of Laputta, Bogale,
Mawlamyinegyun, Kyaiklat and Ngapudaw.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Cyclone Nargis that
lashed Burma in early May left at least 100,000 households  in Burma's
Irrawaddy delta landless and over 50,000 farmers needing help to be able
to cultivate during the monsoon.

However, a volunteer in Bogale Township said the aid from UNDP or any
other agencies are not enough with many farmers still left without any
support.

"My brothers, sisters and relatives are farmers but none of them got any
support from any organization or from the government," the volunteer
added.

He said though he saw several power tillers at Bogale donated by the UNDP,
his relatives and several farmers did not receive any of them.

"I don't know to which areas and to which farmers these grants [money] or
power tillers go," the volunteer said.

Several farmers from nearly 100 villages in the northeastern, western and
Eastern regions of Bogale Township said they face shortage of paddy seeds,
the volunteer, who recently visited nearly 80 villages said.

Despite the UNDP's monetary grant, he added, several farmers will not have
anything to harvest as they lack assistance to grow rice and many farmers
who planted, had to contend with failed crops.

A volunteer in Bogale town, who recently visited nearly 80 villages said,
farmers complained that many of the paddy seeds failed to yield though
they are not sure why.

"I am sure less then 50 per cent of the paddy fields will be ready for
harvest this year," the volunteer said.

A Christian pastor from Rangoon, who has just returned from a visit to
Bogale and Laputta townships, said though most of the victims have
received aid, the amount is no where near sustainable for victims.

"It will not be right to say victims did not receive any aid, but it is
also difficult to say they have received much because the amount they got
is too little," the pastor said.

He added that many of them just received a few kilograms of rice and other
material, which according to him will sustain them for only a few days.

"I could understand when they [victims] said they have not received any
aid, because even if they have got it, the amount they received is too
little to sustain them," the pastor added.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
2000 Khami Chin flee to India due to food crisis

Around 2000 Khami people from Palatwa township in Chin state have been
forced by food shortages to migrate to Saiha and Lawngtlai provinces in
India’s Mizoram state.

The mass flowering of bamboo in Chin state which occurs every 50 years has
had a devastating impact, causing an infestation of rodents and
diminishing food stores.

The newly-arrived Khami, a sub-group of the Chin ethnic group, were
surviving by working as general labourers on local farms and as porters in
the border trading zone.

The Chin Famine Emergency Relief Committee, formed by Chin people living
abroad and in India's Mizoram state to provide assistance to the food
crisis victims, said they had no plans yet to provide help to the Khami
Chin.

CFERC general secretary Pu Tehya said the committee had to prioritise
other refugees in Mizoram in greater need, as the Khami people had
relatives who had settled in Saiha and Lawngtlai.

"They have not had so much difficulty surviving as they have their
relatives here," he said.

____________________________________

August 19, Shan Herald Agency for News
Junta commander: Thailand violating Burmese sovereignty

In a public speech delivered to local officials and people yesterday at a
location in Shan State's Mongton township, opposite Chiangmai, the Burmese
Army commander of the Triangle Region Command had charged Thailand of
"violating the territorial integrity" of Burma, according to sources on
the border.

Maj-Gen Kyaw Phyoe, who was appointed to his new post in June, succeeding
the outgoing Min Aung Hlaing, added, "Just as they (Thailand) have
unilaterally taken possession of the Cambodian territory, they are doing
the same at Loilang (the 32 square kilometer disputed area between Burma's
Monghsat and Thailand's Mae Ai). The time will come when we'll have to
deal with the issue properly."

The general, a graduate of legal affairs from India and military affairs
from UK, according to him, was referring to the ongoing border dispute
over the Preah Vihear temple area between Thailand and Cambodia.

Kyaw Phyoe had been on an inspection trip on the Thai-Burma border since
August 16

He also charged the kingdom of employing the anti-junta Shan State Army
(SSA) South of Col Yawdserk as a buffer against the Burmese Army.

"As for Yawdserk, we are open to talks with him anytime he's ready," he
said. "But there is only one condition for him: he has to exchange arms
for peace (a euphemism for surrender)."

Kyaw Phyoe left for Mongton, 53 miles from the border, at 18:00.

The SSA South has five main bases along the Thai-Burma border:

    * Loi Wa Her                 opposite           Maehongson
    * Loi Taileng                  opposite           Maehongson
    * Loi Lam                      opposite           Chiangmai
    * Loi Hsarmsip               opposite           Chiangmai
    * Loi Gawwan               opposite           Chiangrai

Loilang, under the now defunct Mong Tai Army (MTA)'s control since 1982,
was taken over by the Thai Army in 1987.

The issue, after reportedly debating at length at the Regional Border
Committee (RBC) No. 25 meeting in Chiangrai, August 6 to 8, has now been
forwarded to the respective governments for resolution, according to
Bangkok Post. The Burmese side, which included Kyaw Phyoe, had demanded
"full rights" over the disputed territory.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 19, Irrawaddy
International insurance companies leave Burma - Violet Cho

Two international insurance companies have announced they will stop doing
business in Burma following public campaigns highlighting their business
services in the military-run country.

The insurance companies, XL of Britain, and Chubb of the United States,
announced their intentions to pull out of Burma shortly after Burma
Campaign UK published a report, “Insuring Repression,” that highlighted
how global insurance companies help to facilitate business in the country
run by a military dictatorship that is routinely accused of human rights
violations.

In the report published in July, the activist group said international
insurance companies in Britain, Japan and Singapore, a total of 16
companies, including Lloyd’s of London, Hannover Re, Catlin, Atrium, XL,
Tokio Marine, Sompo Japan and Mitsui Sumitomo and their affiliates offered
insurance to various businesses and industries in Burma, such as airlines,
ports and shipping services.

“The company now has a policy that it will no longer seek to insure Burma
companies or operations of companies in Burma,” stated XL capital Ltd.

XL Capital Ltd is a UK financial services company which has more than
3,500 employees and offices on Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North
America and South America. Its main lines of business are casualty and
property insurance and reinsurance.

Chubb Corporation announced it will order its member companies to close
offices in Burma.
Chubb Corp is the 10th largest property and casualty insurer in the United
States.

Johnny Chatterton, a campaigns officer at the Burma Campaign UK, said,
“This is a major embarrassment to Lloyd’s of London; they have never taken
this issue seriously and don’t see any problem with helping to finance
Burma’s brutal dictatorship.”

After the release of the report by Burma’s Campaign UK, Lloyd’s of London
issued a statement saying, “A very small amount of reinsurance is written
at Lloyd’s in Burmese shipping and aviation. We are unaware of any
businesses at Lloyd’s defying international sanctions. If we discovered
any underwriters breaching sanctions we would take action immediately.”

Burmese opposition groups welcomed the announcements by XL and Chubb.

Maung Maung, the general-secretary of the Federation of Trade Union Burma,
said, “Insurance companies are facilitating trade and investment in Burma,
filling the pockets of the generals. We strongly condemn all insurers that
remain involved in our junta-run country. They help keep the generals in
power and condemn Burma’s 50 million people to lives of poverty and fear.”

____________________________________

August 19, Associated Press
Myanmar natural gas sales up 25 percent

Myanmar's natural gas sales soared nearly 25 percent to US$2.5 billion in
the financial year through March, official statistics seen Tuesday said.

That's up from US$2.03 billion, the data from the Ministry of National
Planning and Economic Development showed.

The ministry said natural gas sales constituted 40 percent of Myanmar's
total commodities export revenue of US$6.4 billion in 2007-2008, with
neighboring Thailand being the primary market.

Myanmar has exported natural gas since 1998 from its two major offshore
gas fields in the Gulf of Martaban. Thailand uses the natural gas mainly
to produce electricity.

Myanmar exported 515,689 million cubic feet (14,604 million cubic meters)
of natural gas in 2007-2008 compared to 460,087 million cubic feet (13,029
cubic meters) the previous year.

Myanmar, ruled by the military government in 1988, faces economic
sanctions by the United States and the European Union which hope to
pressure the regime into improving its poor human rights record and hand
over power to a democratically elected government.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 19, Mizzima News
Junta benefits from regional economic tug-of-war

India and ASEAN have announced that talks on services and investment are
set to commence next month ahead of a comprehensive free trade agreement
(FTA) to be signed later this year, according to Indian officials.

This latest step in deepening regional economic integration, with an
Indian-ASEAN FTA hopefully to be finalized this December at ASEAN's
Bangkok summit, is further evidence of an ever expanding matrix of
competing regional economic interests, of which Burma finds itself at the
heart of.

ASEAN, India and China are all working toward an expanded and
interconnected web of economic relations – bilateral as well as
multilateral – to be set in place by the first half of the next decade.

The agreement to undertake talks on services and investment between India
and ASEAN comes two months after the signing of four additional economic
pacts between the two entities, including the Bilateral Investment
Promotion Agreement, and indicates India has little desire to stray from
its Look East Policy.

China, India's regional hegemonic neighbor and rival, had previously
reached an understanding with ASEAN over the services industry in January
of 2007. China and ASEAN hope to have the world's largest FTA in working
order by 2010 – though ASEAN's less developed countries, including Burma,
are not slated to join till two years later.

While India and China continue to compete for favoritism with ASEAN as a
bloc, they are also vying for supremacy in the arena of bilateral
relations with members of the ten nation bloc.

Both India and China are pursuing plans to construct infrastructure
linking India's northeast and China's Yunnan Province, respectively, with
port facilities on Burma's west coast.

For ASEAN's part, in conjunction with further economic integration with
the world's two most populist countries, it continues to strive for a FTA
within the Southeast Asian consortium; the goal being the establishment of
an ASEAN economic community by 2015.

The further entrenchment of the Burmese economy with that of its regional
neighbors and partners continues to spoil the effectiveness of a United
States led sanctions policy vis-à-vis the business interests of Burma's
generals.

Fiscal Year 2006/2007 saw Burma generate eight billion dollars in foreign
trade, the largest such figure since the countrywide unrest of the late
1980s.

ASEAN, China and India are Burma's three leading trading partners, with
ASEAN accounting for over half of all foreign trade and transactions
within Asia totaling over 90 percent of Burma's sum exchange.

However, despite the record eight billion dollars in foreign exchange for
2006/2007, it is still estimated that a third of Burma's citizens exist
below the poverty line.

The initial ASEAN-India summit was held in 2002.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 19, Asia Times
Myanmar exchange scam fleeces UN - Brian McCartan

Myanmar's military junta has in recent months used a dual exchange rate
regime to divert funds away from the humanitarian efforts overseen by the
United Nations and other international aid agencies for the Cyclone Nargis
disaster that struck the country in May.

The system valued the local currency, the kyat, at 20% to 25% less than
the prevailing market rate, resulting in currency exchange losses that
have ended up in the military regime's coffers.

The UN has suffered losses of at least US$1.56 million to the distorted
exchange rate regime, while one senior UN official earlier estimated as
much as $10 million had been lost. While the junta on Monday appeared to
relax the system after news reports

spotlighted the diversion of funds meant for victims, the concession will
likely fail to overcome donor concerns about the lack of transparency
surrounding the humanitarian effort and increases the likelihood they will
decline to come up with the $1 billion the UN, Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Myanmar government jointly estimated will be
needed to rebuild devastated areas.

As the focus of the relief effort shifts from emergency aid to
reconstruction, the UN and other aid agencies face the moral dilemma of
how long they should continue working with a regime that is reviled in
much of the world for its poor human rights record and negligence of the
well-being of its own people. Unless the UN plans to source all of its
rebuilding materials from abroad, it will soon become necessary for it to
work hand-in-hand with government-approved businesses, many of which are
known to bankroll the regime and some of which are under US and European
economic and financial sanctions.

The UN is renowned for its ability to respond to disasters and coordinate
relief efforts. Its agencies have similarly become notorious for their
lack of oversight and controls that should ensure integrity of those same
operations, blind spots that have already come to light with the dual
exchange rate system and that will be a constant concern in working with a
government Transparency International ranked last year as tied with
Somalia as the world's most corrupt.

The Tripartite Core Group made up of the UN, ASEAN and the Myanmar
government issued its post-cyclone needs assessment on July 21 at an ASEAN
foreign ministers meeting in Singapore. The report estimated total damage
from the cyclone at $4 billion and appealed to foreign donors for $1
billion for relief and reconstruction over a three-year period.

The report followed a second flash appeal to donors by the UN launched in
New York on July 10, which called for $481 million for emergency relief
and reconstruction. An additional $280 million was requested on top of the
original $201 million earmarked to cover the first year of operations,
including financial support for 13 UN agencies and 23 international
non-governmental organizations involved in the effort.

The ruling generals, on the other hand, have contributed very little to
the relief and reconstruction efforts. At the first flash appeal to
foreign donors held in Yangon in late May, around three weeks after the
disaster first hit, the junta requested $11.7 billion without a proper
needs assessment. Critics claim this demand was simply based on the amount
of foreign money Indonesia's Aceh received in the wake of the 2004
tsunami.

Since the first days after the May 2 cyclone, locals and analysts have
noted an almost complete lack of assistance from the military apart from
clearing major roads and, of course, for security. Aid sent from Thailand
was shown disingenuously on state-run television relabeled as having come
from senior generals themselves.

UN and regional dignitaries were taken on tours of model refugee camps,
while thousands of other survivors received little or no relief. After two
weeks of official inaction, the junta declared the relief phase over and
began a mass relocation of people back to their villages in a cynical
attempt to show the world that they had the situation under control.

See no evil
The UN has meanwhile downplayed the difficulties and restrictions its
staffers have faced and continues to laud the junta for its collaborative
spirit. UN officials have repeatedly announced their hopes the two sides
can build on the current goodwill and expand into other future areas of
cooperation. John Holmes, the UN's chief humanitarian relief official,
estimated after his July trip to the worst-hit Irrawaddy Delta region that
the relief effort would continue for another six months and the
reconstruction period would likely last until April 2009.

Donors, including the US and United Kingdom, have, however, remained
reluctant to pay the UN's bill and UN officials have complained they now
face a funding crunch for their cyclone relief operations. An August 14
report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA)
said that only $196.3 million had been received of the $1 billion appeal.
That shortfall has resulted in curbs on activities.

The UN's World Food Program (WFP) announced in July that aid flights from
Bangkok's Don Muang airport would be discontinued from August 10, citing
that its three-month "rapid response" period ended on that date. The
relief agency also withdrew two of five helicopters from Myanmar and said
the remaining two would be pulled out in mid-November because of the
expense. The WFP said restored water and roadways could now be used to
move supplies, though some see this as spin-doctoring of the funding
crunch that has dictated their scaled-back operations.

Countries with trade and financial sanctions against the junta, including
the US and UK, are currently among the major aid providers, but this is
expected to change when the relief phase ends and reconstruction begins.
Once Myanmar is deemed able to domestically support its own
reconstruction, the waivers now in place on transfers of funds and
materials to Myanmar will likely be rescinded, especially as questions
mount about how foreign funds have been funneled so far.

Donor concerns intensified with revelations in late July about the large
windfall the junta had received through its grossly distorted dual
exchange rate mechanism, where the official fixed exchange rate is around
6.4 kyat to the US dollar while the black market rate hovers around 1,100
kyat. Under Myanmar's foreign exchange rules, US dollars that enter the
country must first be deposited in the state-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade
Bank. Funds may then be withdrawn as Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs),
which are calculated at yet another rate of around 880 kyat to the dollar,
and must be exchanged for kyat before they may be used.

The Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank is used by the UN, international NGOs and
Burmese overseas remitting money back home. On his return from Myanmar in
July, the UN's Holmes admitted that the relief effort was losing millions
of dollars as a result of the regime's foreign exchange controls. "This is
an extraordinary exchange loss, and where the gain goes, I'm not sure," he
told reporters.

He went on to say that the issue had been raised in meetings on July 24
with the generals as a "significant problem". Prior to the May 2 cyclone,
the kyat-to-FEC rate hovered between 960 or 980, but by late July that
rate rose to 880 kyat while the kyat-US dollar black market rate was
around 1,180. The FEC-dollar rate is stipulated by the government, and by
forcing the UN and other aid agencies to exchange dollars for FECs before
they may buy kyat the generals collect 220 kyat per dollar exchanged. That
market distortion translated to a loss of 20%-25% on the FEC to kyat rate.

Passing mention
The issue was raised obliquely by the Tripartite Core Group in its July 18
assessment report, where it devoted a special box on page 23 to describe
the dual exchange rate policy as it applied to the assessment of damages.
The report noted that the official rate of 6.4 kyat to the dollar was used
by the government and state-owned enterprises "primarily for accounting
purposes" and that a market-determined rate was used for FECs.

It also noted a "parallel market" exists for exchanging US dollars into
kyat and that the 1,100 kyat to the US dollar market rate was used to
determine the damages accounted for in the report. However the analysis
neatly passed over the government-mandated conversion to FECs by which the
military regime collects a tidy 20%-25% premium over the market exchange
rate. While the revelation is new to the international media and has the
potential to upset donors, the system has been in place for over 15 years.

FECs were initially introduced by the government in 1993 to counter the
higher rates offered by black market money changers over the government
fixed rate used at banks and to take advantage of what the regime hoped
would be a foreign currency windfall as more tourists traveled to the
country. In the latest UN update on Cyclone Nargis relief efforts, Baker
acknowledged that the UN had lost $1.56 million to the foreign exchange
conversion system.

Losses incurred by the exchange controls should be qualified, however,
since, according to Baker, much of the relief supplies are purchased
overseas. He said, "We are not getting the full value of dollars donated
for emergency relief, and donors are extremely worried and keen to see
that this issue is resolved."

In apparent damage-control mode, an August 13 press release by the
Tripartite Core Group announced that "humanitarian agencies are now
invited to transfer payments to US dollar accounts of vendors for supplies
and services". Myanmar Minister for National Planning and Economic
Development U Soe Tha indicated that vendors would be under no obligation
to convert dollars into FECs or the local currency. He went on to say that
there was no obligation for international organizations to commission
particular local vendors.

Despite these missteps and money lost, the UN continues to portray its
relationship with the generals as one of increasing cooperation. On his
return from Myanmar on July 24, Holmes said he was optimistic about the
continuing relief effort. "We hope that the dialogue and cooperation built
up in the last couple of months over the Cyclone Nargis response can be
continued and improved, and in the future extended to other humanitarian
issues as well," he said.

The Tripartite Core Group report significantly made no mention of the
junta's slow response to the disaster, which was widely lamented as
inadequate and callous by the international community. While the UN and
international agencies are undoubtedly providing much needed assistance,
reports from the Irrawaddy Delta indicate that there is still much room
for improvement. While all cyclone-affected areas have by now received
some assistance, the distribution has been highly uneven.

A small donor who returned from the region early last week noted that some
remote villages he visited had only just received aid in the past week or
two, nearly three months after the storm first hit on May 2. While
Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted 369 visas to foreign aid
workers, obstacles remain in the form of time limits placed on visits to
the delta and the necessity of seeking government permission to travel.
Local Myanmar volunteers continue to be harassed and arrested for their
relief activities.

Myanmar is estimated to have $3.5 billion in foreign reserves and receives
an estimated $150 million per month from gas export revenues alone,
according to a July 23 Human Rights Watch press release. Very little, if
any, of this money appears to have gone towards relief and reconstruction.
Instead the regime has squirreled away for itself at least $1.56 million
through its distorted exchange rate system.

Meanwhile, affected farmers and local volunteers complain that officials
now charge far above prevailing market rates for government supplies of
seed and petrol. Fertilizers, pesticides and other farming inputs are
often sold through businesses with strong ties to local government
officials or the military, to which they often pay a concession to
operate.

Larger companies with known links to the regime, including several that
have been targeted by recent US sanctions, such as the Htoo Company and
the Maung Weik Company, have already been contracted for reconstruction
activities. Analysts suspect that they have accepted small-scale
rehabilitation schemes in order to gain concessions for subsequent
big-ticket infrastructure and property development projects the junta
still hopes the donor community will finance.

Brian McCartan is a Chiang Mai-based freelance journalist. He may be
reached at brianpm at comcast.net

____________________________________

August 19, Relief Web
Myanmar: IOM gets new backing from UK, UN, extends cyclone Nargis response

New funding from the UK's Department of International Development (DFID)
and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will allow IOM's
emergency response to Cyclone Nargis, which struck the Irrawaddy Delta in
May, to continue through January 2009.

The new pledges of $932,000 from DFID and $650,000 from CERF for shelter
and non food relief items will underpin IOM's operations in the Delta,
where it has helped cyclone survivors with medical aid, the delivery of
emergency relief goods and reconstruction over the past three months.

IOM's cyclone response effort now comprises over 100 staff working from
three sub-offices in the Delta townships of Bogale, Pyapon and
Mawlamyinegyun. Another 200 IOM staff continue to work on pre-cyclone
programming in Mon State and Yangon.

IOM mobile medical teams continue to deliver medical aid and distribute
medical supplies to cyclone victims and affected communities in remote
areas, often only accessible by boat. As of early August, the teams had
treated some 31,000 patients in over 400 villages.

Five temporary, tented health clinics set up by IOM in remote areas where
medical facilities were destroyed by the cyclone are also expected to be
fully operational by the end of August.

IOM has also distributed non-food relief items, including shelter kits,
mosquito nets, jerry cans, water purifiers, waterproofs and blankets to
more than 30,000 cyclone-affected households. IOM's warehouses in Bogale,
Pyapon and Mawlamyinegyun are now also open to partner agencies to support
their ongoing distribution of non-food and shelter items to cyclone
survivors.

As the emergency response phase moves towards reconstruction IOM has now
also launched a $3 million shelter reconstruction project funded by the
Government of Japan focusing on urban and semi-urban areas.

The project will provide roofing, construction materials, tools, technical
support and advice on how to build back better to some 6,000 highly
vulnerable households in affected Delta townships over the next five
months.

This project is being implemented in close cooperation with the Myanmar
Ministry of Social Welfare, Relocation & Resettlement, the Ministry of
Construction, township local authorities and affected communities, who
will help IOM to select vulnerable households most in need, according to
IOM emergency Coordinator Federico Soda.

"We are also working with the Japanese NGO Humanitarian Medical Assistance
(HUMA) and township medical authorities to rehabilitate seriously damaged
health centres in the worst affected areas," he adds.

IOM's Cyclone Nargis response budget now stands at $7.5 million. Donors
include the UN CERF, Japan, UK (DFID), USA (USAID / OFDA), Switzerland
(SDC), Denmark, AmeriCares Foundation, International Medical Corps (IMC),
Humanitarian Medical Assistance (HUMA) and Chevron Corporation.

Under the Revised UN Flash Appeal, IOM is still seeking some $9 million
for projects designed to rebuild destroyed bamboo housing, repair primary
health care and maternity centres, improve health care delivery and mental
health services, combat HIV and evaluate severely damaged communities in
the worst affected Delta townships.

For more information please contact Chris Lom at IOM's regional office in
Bangkok; Tel: +66.819275215; Email: clom at iom.int

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/LSGZ-7HNC84?OpenDocument

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 19, Wall Street Journal
A new breed of monk rises in Myanmar

Sagaing, Myanmar -- Sitagu Sayadaw sits on a raised platform, three
visitors kneeling below him, and explains the source of his power as a
Buddhist monk. "I don't have any guns but I have very strong weapons:
love, kindness and compassion," he says, as two novice monks massage his
feet.

He also possesses two traits that have propelled him to the equivalent of
monastic superstardom in this Buddhist but military-run country: a knack
for self-promotion and a keen sense of self-preservation.

Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw represents a new breed of monk who eschews traditional
asceticism in favor of tactics more familiar to televangelism. Wherever he
goes, a camera crew follows, recording material for the videos of him that
are available on the street in major cities. He travels widely in Asia,
the U.S. and Europe to lecture and raise funds and is building a
multimillion-dollar convention center here along the Irrawaddy River.

Yet his teachings and actions are carefully calibrated so he can co-exist
with the junta that has ruled Myanmar since 1962. Though he is, on
occasion, a fierce government critic, he counts military top brass among
his followers. Last year, the wife of Senior General Than Shwe, the
country's supreme leader, paid homage to him at his monastery here.

So when Cyclone Nargis struck in early May, leaving at least 138,000 dead
or missing, Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw was an obvious and willing choice for
foreign donors looking for a way past the government's resistance to
outside aid.

As his own monks spread out to help victims, he agreed to distribute what
he says is almost $1 million in foreign donations so far to areas where
the military kept foreigners out. Among the donors: British doctors, the
King of Thailand and -- most sensitively -- the Catholic Church, which
feared the dangers of acting alone because of the junta's decades-long
persecution of Christians.

"For me, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, it's all the same," the rotund
71-year-old says in an interview at his Sitagu International Buddhist
Academy.

The money went toward fixing up seven hospitals badly damaged by the
cyclone -- at a cost of $50,000 each -- and repairing schools, among other
projects. Those efforts have given Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw's profile and
popularity yet another boost. "If he ran in an election today, he would
win," says Win Min, a Burmese academic based at Payap University in Chiang
Mai, Thailand.

Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw was born in 1937 in a small town in central Myanmar,
then known as Burma. At age seven, he entered the local monastery to
study, and by 20 years old became a Buddhist monk, taking the formal name
Ashin Nanissara. He later studied Pali scripture, in which he is
considered an expert, at Mandalay University.

At first, Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw followed the usual path for Burmese monks: He
spent three years in the 1970s meditating in a secluded forest. But soon
after setting up his own monastery in Sagaing in 1979, he began to do
major social projects, like building a water-supply system for the town.
In 1987, he started construction of a 100-bed hospital and offered
low-cost medicine for poor people.

He became politically active in 1988, taking part in large-scale
pro-democracy demonstrations. In a speech, he criticized the government of
Ne Win, the former dictator. In the ensuing crackdown, in which 3,000
people were killed by the military, Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw fled to Nashville,
Tenn., where he studied world religions, says Nyo Ohn Myint, a U.S.-based
Myanmar opposition activist who met him during that period.

Returning to Myanmar during a political thaw in the mid-1990s, Mr. Sitagu
Sayadaw set up his academy in Sagaing -- a historic Buddhist town that is
home to about 10,000 monks. He also opened a monastery in Austin, Texas,
with the help of American friends.

This time around, Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw tried to cultivate government
contacts to help promote his education and health projects. He became
close to Maung Aye, the country's No. 2-ranking general, say people who
know the monk. "Pro-democracy groups claimed he was a puppet of the
regime," Mr. Nyo Ohn Myint says.

Still, Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw's popularity began to grow, aided by his social
work and popular videotaped sermons. "This is the age of the charismatic
monk," says one U.S. student who has studied Buddhism in Myanmar. "He's
reaching people he couldn't reach before."

When new pro-democracy protests, led by Buddhist monks, erupted last fall,
Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw acted very differently this time around. He locked the
gates of his monastery and forbade monks to take part in the protests,
fearing reprisals, say a number of people who know him.

But he also criticized the government in speeches and refused a government
request for him to calm the Burmese people, who were angry about rising
food and fuel prices.

When the cyclone crashed ashore in May, Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw and some of his
100 monastic students collected rice and zinc roof sheets and traveled by
car or boat to the worst-hit areas.

As news of the devastation spread, the Catholic Church started looking for
a way to disburse some of the tens of thousands of dollars donated by
Catholic aid groups and churchgoers in Europe and the U.S.

But Myanmar's military government is very suspicious of the church. Many
Burmese Christians -- converted by American missionaries in the 19th
century -- are from minority ethnic groups that the government accuses of
fomenting separatist movements. Christians complain of frequent abuse and
discrimination. In the 1960s, the government forced the nation's Catholic
missionary schools to close.

The Catholic Church reached Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw through a Burmese Buddhist
man who works with a Catholic-run organization in Thailand. Mr. Sitagu
Sayadaw flew to Bangkok and met with the archbishop of Thailand, where he
agreed to be a conduit for their aid.

"This was an effective way of being able to avoid too much visibility,"
says Ben Mendoza, who works with the Catholic Office for Emergency Relief
and Refugees in Bangkok.

The Church chose Sister Flora, a nun from the Yangon-based Sisters of St.
Joseph of the Apparition who is originally from the Irrawaddy River delta,
to liaise with Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw. Sister Flora says she remembers the
military officers in the delta -- who were stopping many private
Buddhist-organized aid convoys -- bowing at Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw's feet in a
sign of respect during a recent tour to survey damage.

Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw's "followers are very famous people," says Sister Ann
Shwe, another nun involved in the relief effort. "They usually have a good
relationship with the government."

As the relief work winds down, Mr. Sitagu Sayadaw has started talking of
his next project. He is interested in building a nationwide network of
Sitagu-branded schools and colleges. And he's eager for more outside help.

"Hey Mr. England," he asked a foreigner during a recent visit to Sagaing.
"Can you get me £1 million?"

____________________________________

August 19, Bangkok Post
Charity fund-raiser

This is a charity cause that will help both the recipient and the giver.
The Phuttika Network, a coalition of socially engaged Buddhists in
Thailand, is raising funds to support the poor children of Burma.

After almost fifty years of military dictatorship, the situations in our
neighbouring country have become more aggravated than ever. According to
the Central Intelligence Agency's World Fact Book web site, 32.7 per cent
of the population in 2007 lived below the poverty line. Despite its rich
resources, less than 10 per cent of Burma's national budget has been spent
on education (whereas up to 30 per cent was allocated to the military).

Children are among the worst affected. It is estimated there are up to
70,000 child soldiers in Burma, making it the world's highest figure.
One-sixth of children under five were found to suffer from severe
malnutrition. About 35 per cent of all children have spent less than five
years in school. A large number have become orphans, after their parents
were killed during the government's suppression of ethnic minority groups,
or turned into forced labour on state's development projects. These
children, if neglected, are likely to end up as cheap migrant workers
(most probably sent to Thailand) or worse, exploited by human trafficking
rings.

As the majority of the people in Burma are Buddhists, temples have thus
played a crucial role serving as both schools and orphanages for the
destitute youths. The Phuttika Network estimates there are more than 1,400
temples across Burma, which provide help and with very little support from
the government (especially after the peaceful demonstration by monks last
year). In Rangoon alone there are over 160 temple schools, each of which
houses 300 to 500 children of both Burmese and other ethnic origins. Some
even accommodate as many as a couple of thousands.

The Fund for Education of Poor Children in Burma, initiated by the
Phuttika Network, is aimed at alleviating hardships faced by these
temples. Recently, donations from the locals have fallen sharply due to
the dire economy and calamitous Cyclone Nargis, which prompted thousands
of the victims in the Irrawaddy delta to seek refuge at the monastic
sanctuaries.

The raised money may not seem large for Thais, but it will be of pivotal
importance to the people of Burma, says Phra Paisan Visalo, chair of the
Phuttika Network.

"True compassion," he said, "transcends any race, language, or
geographical boundaries. For above it all, every human is related as
brothers and sisters. A heart full of compassion will be so big that
'they' become part of 'us', or even better, that there will be neither
'us' nor 'them'.

"In the past, Thailand used to receive help from other richer countries,
and millions of Thai children have been relieved from malnutrition, and
can enjoy better health and education. Today, we are in a position to help
others, especially those in the neighbouring countries, who are much
poorer than us. The offer of our generosity will thus not only bring the
feeling of joy to the givers themselves, but can also inspire hope for a
better future for these children."

Donations made through the Children's Foundation at PO Box Krutumlom
73220, or at Siam Commercial Bank, Phetkasem Soi 114 branch; savings
account 115-2-14733-0. A Buddhist ceremony will be held on August 24 at
Wat Thong Nopphakhun to coincide with the charitable project. Call
02-883-0592, 02-886-9881, or 08-6300-5458.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/190808_Outlook/19Aug2008_out63.php

____________________________________
STATEMENT

August 19, Burma Campaign UK
Insuring repression - blow the whistle

Tell us who is insuring companies in Burma!
Tell us who is helping to fund Burma's Brutal regime.
Tell us who is helping the regime make billions of dollars a year for
their campaigns of ethnic cleansing.
Our report, Insuring Repression
(http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/insurance.php), has exposed some of the
insurance companies that are helping to fund Burma's brutal dictatorship.
These companies are helping to entrench the rule of a regime that rules
through fear, shooting peaceful protestors and using rape as a weapon of
war against its own citizens.

Insurance companies help the regime to make billions of dollars a year,
these billions don't help the people of Burma, they help the regime to
fund their campaigns of repression and ethnic cleansing.

We suspect there are many other insurers still providing insurance
services to companies in Burma - but we need proof.

Our report would not have been people without help and tip offs from
people working inside the industry.

If you know of an insurer, reinsurer or insurance broker that is providing
any sort of insurance services to companies in Burma please get in touch
in confidence and let us know.

You can get in touch anonymously via:
Phone: +44 (0) 20 724 4714
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7324 4717
Email: whistle at burmacampaign.org.uk
Post: Campaigns, The Burma Campaign UK, 28 Charles Square, London, N1 6HT,
United Kingdom