BurmaNet News, February 3, 2009

[Editor]

February 3, 2009, Issue #3644


INSIDE BURMA
AP: If UN wants stability, drop sanctions
AFP: Suu Kyi refuses to meet liaison minister: state media
Irrawaddy: Than Shwe again shuns meeting with Gambari
Mizzima News: Junta builds weapons factory in central Burma
DVB: Authorities restrict permits for internet cafe

BUSINESS / TRADE
DVB: Farmers pressured to repay state loans

DRUGS
Irrawaddy: Prominent businessman’s associates arrested in drugs raids

REGIONAL
New York Times: Burmese refugees rescued at sea
Bangkok Post: White slavers behind Rohingya, finds panel Local groups
oppose allowing sanctuary

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Burma’s drugs trade unaffected by global slowdown – Yeni
The Nation (Thailand): Asean must pressure Burma over refugees – Chanchai
Prasertson
Inner City Press (US): With UN's Gambari in Myanmar, Than Shwe and his
money not questioned – Matthew Russell Lee



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 3, Associated Press
Myanmar: If UN wants stability, drop sanctions

A leader of Myanmar's military regime gave the U.N.'s visiting envoy a
cold reception Tuesday, telling him the world body should lift economic
sanctions and visa bans if it wants to see political stability, state
television reported.

Special envoy Ibrahim Gambari met with Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein
before ending his four-day visit with no public comment — and no sign of
progress on promoting democracy and political reconciliation.

Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country since 1962, when it was
known as Burma, tolerates virtually no dissent.

Western nations, including the United States, impose economic and
political sanctions on Myanmar because of its poor human rights record and
failure to restore democracy.

Gambari reportedly asked Thein Sein to release more political prisoners,
to consider a dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and to make the military-guided political process inclusive for all.

"If the U.N. wants to see economic development and political stability,
the U.N. should first try to remove economic sanctions and visa bans," was
the prime minister's response, according to state television reported.

Thein Sein said economic sanctions amount to human rights violations,
affecting health, economic and social conditions.

On Monday, Gambari met with Suu Kyi, a minor breakthrough because she had
refused to see him on his previous visit in August last year. She has
expressed disappointment with the U.N.'s failure to persuade the ruling
junta to give up its monopoly on power.
Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, has been detained more than 13 of the
past 19 years.

Gambari did not meet with junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe during this
week's visit, as he did on his previous three trips.

The United Nations largely failed to nudge the military regime toward
talks with the opposition, hoping the top generals would respond to
international pressure to embrace national reconciliation following its
violent suppression of protests in 2007.

Human rights groups say Myanmar now holds more than 2,100 political
prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 before the mass pro-democracy
demonstrations in 2007.

Myanmar's current military leadership came to power in 1988 after crushing
a nationwide pro-democracy movement. It held elections in 1990 but refused
to honor the results after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory.

____________________________________

February 3, Agence France Presse
Suu Kyi refuses to meet liaison minister: state media

Myanmar's detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has refused to meet
with the minister assigned to organise the junta's contacts with her, the
government announced in state media Tuesday.

In a television broadcast hours after United Nations special envoy Ibrahim
Gambari left the military-ruled nation, the regime accused the democracy
icon and her party of setting impossible conditions for dialogue with the
generals.

"After your previous visit, we proposed two times for dialogue between
relations minister Aung Kyi and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but she did not
accept it," a broadcaster quoted information minister Kyaw Hsan as telling
Gambari.

"Regarding to the dialogue between the government and Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, our side is always opening the door for dialogue," the broadcaster
said, using the honorific "Daw" to refer to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Aung Kyi's appointment to coordinate junta contacts with Aung San Suu Kyi
in October 2007 was seen as a major sop to the West after the violent
suppression of massive anti-junta demonstrations in September that year.

But their last meeting was in January 2008, and Aung San Suu Kyi said soon
after she was "not satisfied" with the way the dialogue was progressing.

Instead, the junta has forged ahead with its own "Roadmap to Democracy"
which its says will lead to multi-party elections in 2010 but which
dissidents deride as a sham as it does not include Aung San Suu Kyi.

Gambari met with the Nobel peace laureate on Monday. She refused to meet
the Nigerian diplomat on his previous visit to Myanmar in August 2008,
apparently after he failed to secure any concrete reform pledges from the
regime.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party said soon
after her meeting with Gambari on Monday that she was frustrated with the
lack of progress in Myanmar toward genuine dialogue between the junta and
opposition.

The NLD also reiterated that the party -- which won 1990 elections
subsequently ignored by the junta -- would only sit down for dialogue if
all political prisoners were released and the 1990 election results were
honoured.

Kyaw Hsan accused the NLD of being unrealistic.

"(Dialogue) cannot succeed by asking for the impossible without standing
on the reality," he was quoted as saying.

"If she abandons these demands, even the head of state himself will meet
directly with her ... dialogue cannot be done by only one side."

He also defended the harsh jail sentences handed down to at least 270
democracy activists at the end of 2008, most in connection with the
September 2007 protests led by Buddhist monks.

"Regarding those who were imprisoned, it was done in accordance with the
law. Those who were sentenced have the right to appeal according to the
existing laws," state TV quoted him as saying.

Human rights groups have decried the jails terms -- some as long as 104
years -- as an effort by the junta to suppress any dissenting voices ahead
of their much-trumpeted 2010 elections.

Gambari left Myanmar on Tuesday after a four-day visit during which he
failed to meet any of the senior junta leadership including head of state
Senior General Than Shwe, despite his aim to foster dialogue.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been kept under house arrest for most of the last 19
years, enraging Western governments which have imposed sanctions on the
regime.

____________________________________

February 3, Irrawaddy
Than Shwe again shuns meeting with Gambari

UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari leaves Rangoon on Tuesday at the end of a
three-day visit during which he had one meeting with opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi but failed to meet junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

Gambari, on his seventh visit to Burma in a long-running UN mission to try
and achieve political reconciliation there, met government officials and
pro-junta politicians before leaving Rangoon.

The UN envoy met Suu Kyi on Monday, and she reportedly aired her
frustration at the UN’s failure to achieve political change in Burma and
charged that the country lacked rule of law.

Nyan Win, spokesman of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD),
said Suu Kyi drew Gambari’s attention to the   lengthy prison sentences
given recently to political prisoners and the arrest of defense lawyers.

Gambari was reportedly surprised to learn that Suu Kyi was well-informed
about the country’s prevailing political situation.

“She is very much aware of the situation,” said a Western diplomat in
Rangoon, adding that the Nobel Peace Laureate is healthy and regularly
listens to news broadcasts from foreign radio stations.

The regime recently handed down heavy prison sentences to political
activists and some local humanitarian workers who had worked in the
cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta region.

Human rights groups report that more than 2,100 political prisoners are
held in prisons throughout the country.

The regime barred activists from having defense lawyers, who were
harassed, arrested and also given harsh prison sentences.

Monday’s meeting with Gambari was also attended by several NLD members,
including party Chairman Aung Shwe and senior members Nyunt Wai, Than
Htun, Hla Pe and Soe Myint.

A UN statement said: “Since his arrival, Mr Gambari has met extensively
with government counterparts, members of the opposition and other
political parties, as well as other interlocutors.”

Aside from Suu Kyi and government officials, the UN envoy also met with
representatives of the Shan National League for Democracy.

No reason was given for Gambari’s failure to meet Than Shwe, who has also
avoided the envoy on several previous visits. The two last met in October
2007.

____________________________________

February 3, Mizzima News
Junta builds weapons factory in central Burma – Zarni

Burma's ruling military junta has completed construction of nearly half of
a new factory that will produce military weapons and tanks, sources said.

The source, close to the construction company, said the new weapons
factory was being built in central Burma's Magwe division in Seatottaryar
Township, by the 'Chan Aye' construction company.

"The construction has been going on for about two years, and about half of
the factory has been completed so far. As far as I know, the factory will
produce weapons as well as tanks," the source, who declined to be named
for fear of reprisal, told Mizzima.

The Chan Aye Construction Company is a joint venture between several
ex-military servicemen and is engaged in various military constructions.

Reportedly, local residents near the area of the factory construction said
several acres of their farm lands, had been seized by the government,
without providing any compensation.

"I had about 20 acres of land in the area and cultivated beans and other
vegetables on it. But, the authorities destroyed my crops with a bulldozer
and cleared my land for construction," a local resident told Mizzima.

____________________________________

February 3, Democratic Voice of Burma
Authorities restrict permits for internet cafes – Ahunt Phone Myat

Residents of Shan state's Kalaw township have complained that local
authorities have refused to grant permits for new internet cafes, leaving
the owner of the sole internet shop with a monopoly on prices.

A Kalaw resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, told DVB the only
internet cafe in town was located in the government’s Defence Services
Command and General Staff College compounds and was run by a man with
close ties to the authorities.

"We don't get permits for internet cafes in Kalaw because that guy who
owns the only shop is friends with the head of the university," he said.

"It costs 2000 kyat [to use the internet]. Can you believe it?"

He said five town residents had applied for permits to open internet cafes
since late last year and had paid all the necessary fees but the permits
had still not been granted.

"They want to keep the business for themselves so they won't give anyone
permits," the resident said.

The Myanma Post and Telecommunications department was unavailable for
comment.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 3, Democratic Voice of Burma
Farmers pressured to repay state loans – Naw Say Phaw

Farmers in lower Burma, who have been finding it difficult to pay back
agricultural loans due to low yields and falling prices, are coming under
pressure from the authorities to make the repayments.

The loans were taken out at the onset of the monsoon season in May/June
from the Myanmar agricultural bank, and were set to be paid back
nationwide at the end of January.

Farmers in Rangoon division's Thonegwa township have come under pressure
from agricultural bank manager Su Su Maw, one farmer said.

"Farmers only have rice but the price is low and the market is not open,
so we lose money when we sell rice,” the farmer said.

“We do not get money straight away either when we sell rice and they are
pressuring us to pay back the loans within the appointed time. We have to
sell what we have," he said.

"In the past, we had to repay in February. Now farmers are finding it hard
to pay back the loans as the bean crops are not ready yet and rice is not
selling well."

In nearby Bago division, farmers are also finding it hard to repay the
loans, a farmer from Tharawaddy said.

"The rice yield is down, the price is down so we make no money from the
sale,” the farmer said.

“So we can't pay back the loans."

"We had to take out advance loans for the beans and we have had to pay
that back too, so there is no money left for us."

A farmer from Nyaunlebin said farmers in his township had been unable to
pay back the loans and were facing mounting pressure.

Some have resorting to killing the working animals they use for ploughing
the fields to make ends meet, the farmer said.

____________________________________
DRUGS

February 3, Irrawaddy
Prominent businessman’s associates arrested in drugs raids – Min Lwin

A Burmese special drugs squad has arrested several associates of the
influential businessman Aik Hawk, also known as Hsiao Haw, following the
seizure of heroin in a series of raids in Rangoon, according to
well-informed sources.

Aik Hawk, who is in his 40s, is the son-in-law of Bao Youxiang, the
chairman of one of the largest armed groups in Burma, the United Wa State
Army (UWSA), which is heavily involved in the drugs trade.

Aik Hawk has been accused of handling money laundering operations for the
UWSA.
“He has played a key role in the UWSA’s financial connections with high
profile businessmen and senior military officials,” said one Rangoon
business source.

“He also runs Yangon Airways, hotels, logging, foreign currency exchanges
and the estate agent Yangon Holdings,” he said.

Rangoon sources said Aik Hawk was implicated in a drugs squad raid in
which heroin was discovered in a container on the ship Kota Tegap.

Saeng Juen, an assistant editor at the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency
for News, said Aik Hawk was born in Longlin in China’s Yunnan Province and
moved as a teenager to Ta Moengngen in Kutkhai Township, Northern Shan
State.

“As far as I know, he holds two passports, Burmese and Chinese,” Saeng
Juen said.

According to the Shan Herald Agency for News, Aik Hawk is the principal
shareholder in Mong Mau Co., one of some 30 subsidiaries of the now
defunct Hongpang Co. He is said to be handling money-laundering operations
for both Bao Youxiang and Bao’s brother, Wei Hsueh-kang, and to be working
closely with Jadeland Co. Of Kachin State.

Rangoon sources say Aik Hawk was a key player in the Myanmar Mayflower
Bank, which was closed down in 2003 because of links to drug trafficking
organizations.

Meanwhile, the International Herald Tribune reported on Monday that the
UN's anti-drugs agency recorded a 3 percent increase in 2008 in the area
of Burma cultivated for opium production. It was the second consecutive
increase and appeared to signal
a reversal of years of declining opium production in the so-called Golden
Triangle.

According to the newspaper report, Gary Lewis, the representative for East
Asia of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, told a news
conference on Monday: "Containment of the problem is under threat."

Lewis said: "Opium prices are rising in this region. It's going to be an
incentive for farmers to plant more."

The Golden Triangle, the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos and
Burma meet, once produced two-thirds of the world's opium, most of it
refined into heroin. But pressure by the Chinese government to eradicate
opium in Burma helped lead to steep declines, with a low point of 21,500
hectares, or 53,000 acres, of poppies planted in Burma in 2006.

Since then, the area under opium cultivation has increased by around 33
percent, to 28,500 hectares last year.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 3, New York Times
Burmese refugees rescued at sea – Peter Gelling and Thomas Fuller

Dozens of refugees from Myanmar, rescued by the Indonesian Navy after
drifting aboard a wooden boat at sea for almost three weeks, are receiving
treatment at a hospital in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra,
Indonesian officials said Tuesday.

About 200 refugees, all men, were found by a local fisherman on Monday
afternoon. It was the second boatload of refugees from Myanmar to land in
Aceh in the last month.

Interviews by Indonesian Navy personnel indicated the men are all part of
the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar who had fled to Thailand in
December.

Survivors from the first boat, which was found in early January and was
also carrying about 200 men, told Indonesian authorities that they had
been rounded up by the Thai military after escaping Myanmar, and then were
beaten, towed out to sea and abandoned.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand denied the claims.

The survivors rescued Monday told Navy personnel a similar story, adding
that originally there was a flotilla of nine motorless boats that had been
led out to sea by the Thais, containing about 1,200 people.

“Based on interviews with some of the survivors there were originally 220
people on the most recent boat, but 22 people died at sea,” Tedi Sutardi,
a naval commander in East Aceh, said in an a telephone interview. “We know
that nine ships originally left Thailand, so we will monitor the waters
around Aceh for the possibility of finding any remaining boats.”

About 850 Rohingya have been rescued in the last month. Three boats were
discovered by Indian authorities and another was found near Thailand. The
other three boats are still missing.

The United Nations calculates that there are about 723,000 Rohingya living
in Myanmar. Rohingya, who are Muslim, are officially considered foreigners
in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar and are not entitled to own land or hold
passports.

Illegal migrants from other parts of Myanmar typically travel across
Thailand’s porous borders and either stay in Thailand or transit to
Malaysia, where they work in restaurants, construction sites or factories.

But the Rohingya have followed different paths: over the past decade many
traveled through Bangladesh to Middle Eastern countries to find work. That
changed in 2006 when the Bangladeshi government made it more difficult for
the Rohingya to get travel documents, according to Chris Lewa, an expert
on the Rohingya who heads a human rights group called the Arakan Project.

Last week, a spokesperson at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry indicated the
first boatload of migrants would be repatriated to Myanmar, saying they
were economic migrants, not political refugees. The decision angered human
rights organizations as well as Indonesian Muslim groups.

Almost 90 percent of Indonesians are Muslim and many believe the
government should be reaching out to the Rohingya.

The Indonesian government has so far denied human rights groups, the
foreign media and the United Nations access to any of the refugees.

Peter Gelling reported from Jakarta, Indonesia, and Thomas Fuller from
Bangkok.

____________________________________

February 3, Bangkok Post
White slavers behind Rohingya, finds panel Local groups oppose allowing
sanctuary – Manop Thip-Osod and Amnart Thongdee

International human traffickers, possibly operating from Thailand, are
behind the influx of Rohingya boat people, the House committee on security
says.

Committee chairman Jehraming Tohtayong said his panel had discovered
networks of traffickers had been involved in scams to bring Rohingya
people onto Thai soil before taking them to a third country.

It seemed likely some of those traffickers ran their trade from Thailand,
Mr Jehraming said.

The House committee on Saturday visited 78 Rohingya people rounded up in
Phangnga and detained in Ranong.

Police found some of the Rohingya had phone numbers, and Mr Jehraming said
they might have been planning to contact fellow Rohingya already settled
in Thailand, particularly in Ranong and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces.

The committee is assessing the situation and will present its report soon
to Suthep Thaugsuban, the deputy prime minister for security.

Mr Jehraming said the government would consult other Asean member states
on the Rohingya problem at their summit late this month.

The committee said the root cause of the problems must be addressed by
countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

The Thai government should encourage the United Nations refugee agency to
help improve the Rohingya's living conditions and make sure their basic
rights were protected in their homeland of Burma, Mr Jehraming said.

The committee also wanted the government to devise a national strategy on
Rohingya issues. More importantly, law enforcement officers should take
action against human trafficking networks in Thailand.

In Chumphon's Tha Sae district yesterday, a group of 30 Thai-Burmese
border security volunteers issued a statement opposing the Rohingya's
migration to Thailand.

The group, led by Suparp Kepkiatwai, a village headman, handed its
statement to Tha Sae district chief Sompit Hannarong.

The statement said the group would not allow the Rohingya to enter their
communities but if they did, they would be treated humanely while their
deportation was handled as expeditiously as possible.

They said they would not allow shelters to be set up in their communities
and they would help round up any illegal migrants and pass them on to
organisations or countries that wanted to take care of them.

The group members said they were ready to rally to make their position on
the Rohingya heard by the government and world community.

Mr Suparp said all village headmen and kamnans in Tha Sae district would
declare their united position today during their monthly meeting at Tha
Sae city hall.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 3, Irrawaddy
Burma’s drugs trade unaffected by global slowdown – Yeni

A series of recent raids in Rangoon has again thrown the spotlight on the
narcotics trade and the roles played by high profile businessmen and
members of the Burmese military regime.

In one raid, two weeks ago, at least 28 kilograms of heroin were found in
a container on the Singaporean-flagged ship Kota Tegap, which was docked
at Rangoon's Asia World Port Terminal.

The terminal is owned by Tun Myint Naing, the son of former drug kingpin
and militia leader Lo Hsing Han, whose name is on the US Treasury
Department sanctions list. The container, which was bound for Singapore,
is reportedly owned by the Myanmar Timber Enterprise, a government-owned
business that is also on the US sanctions list.

Sources in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy that in a subsequent sting
operation, the anti-narcotics police force also discovered another large
cache of heroin in FMI City, an upscale residential area in the city’s
Hlaing Tharyar Township, and arrested Kyaw Kyaw Min, a crab exporter in
Bogalay Township, Irrawaddy Division, for attempting to smuggle 32
kilograms of heroin out of the country aboard a container ship.

The police special intelligence department, known as the Special Branch,
is now questioning the port employees, high-ranking government officials
and prominent businessmen in connection with the case.

Unconfirmed reports said that the owner of Rangoon's popular club BME, a
Kachin-Chinese businessman, known as Hsaio Haw, who has close links with
leaders of the infamous United Wa State Army, is implicated, together with
some family members of the Burmese ruling generals.

The case follows the leveling of charges against Maung Weik, one of the
richest men in Burma and a powerful friend of the country’s ruling
military elite, and his associate, Aung Zaw Ye Myint, son of the chief of
the Bureau of Special Operations No. 1, Lt- Gen Ye Myint, for drug abuse
and involvement in trafficking.

Burma uses the occasion of the annual International Day against Drug Abuse
and Illicit Trafficking to announce drug seizure statistics and to expose
offenders. But high-profile cases are never publicized.

At the governmental level, Burma emphasizes its engagement with such
neighbors as China, India and Thailand in efforts to control drug
trafficking, and its implementation of a 15-year plan (1999-2014) to
totally eradicate poppy growing in three phases, each running for five
years.

The drugs, however, continue to flow across Burma’s borders in all
directions. Tough suppression campaigns by neighboring countries such as
Thailand and China have led to drug traffickers turning increasingly to
maritime routes to smuggle drugs out of Burma.

According to a report by Washington-based Radio Free Asia, Interpol in
Singapore asked the Burmese police to seize the Singapore-flagged ship at
the Asia World Port Terminal. Without the intervention of Interpol, it’s
unlikely that the authorities would deal effectively with the problem.

At a news conference last year, the US Assistant Secretary of State for
International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, David Johnson,
charged that the military government has done little to deal with what has
become Asia’s largest illegal drug industry.

“Their efforts to reduce demand, interdict drug shipments and combat
corruption and money laundering continue to be lackluster,” he said.

In their book "Merchants of Madness," Bertil Lintner, one of the
most-respected analysts of Burma's drugs trade, and Michael Black, a
security writer with Jane's Intelligence Review, have also noted that
Burma's production of illicit drugs such as methamphetamines and heroin
could not proceed without at least the involvement, if not active
participation, of the Burmese military rulers.

It’s a bitter irony—while Burma’s exports such as rice, teak, beans,
rubber and palm oil have obviously suffered from the falloff in trade due
to the global economic slowdown, the demand for Burmese-produced drugs, an
export that doesn’t figure in the national income accounting, is still
buoyant.

____________________________________

February 3, The Nation (Thailand)
Asean must pressure Burma over refugees – Chanchai Prasertson

Sai Wansai's informative and perceptive letter ("Rogue state creates
refugee crisis in Asia", Letters, February 3) quite correctly points to
the problem of the alienated Rohingya Muslims as the tip of the iceberg.
The much larger submerged base shows and tells of senseless
irresponsibility by neglectfully ignoring the diverse wants and needs of
Mon, Karen and Shan second-class (non) citizens who constantly face
genocide, biased oppression and inhumane rights violations.

The abscessed root cause of illegal migration and forced repatriation must
be attributed to the myopic, failed socio-economic policies of the misled,
bully-ragging Burmese military junta.

Since this urgent matter of concern directly involves Burma, Thailand,
Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan and India, regional cooperation rather than
confrontation is required in seeking and finding a more acceptable
transnational, multilateral solution.

A collaborative action plan should be addressed as a top priority at the
Asean summit of regional nations to be held from February 27 to March 1 in
Hua Hin. It is also hoped that proud blue-collar and white-collar Thais
will join together by putting aside red or yellow political differences to
unite in backing such affirmative action.

____________________________________

February 3, Inner City Press (US)
With UN's Gambari in Myanmar, Than Shwe and his money not questioned –
Matthew Russell Lee

While UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari met with Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar on
Sunday, the UN in New York declined to confirm reports that she told him
that Ban Ki-moon should not come until she and other dissidents are
released. Inner City Press asked if Ban will consider going before these
conditions are met, but his Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe did not answer
this question. Video here, from Minute 16:01.  She said that Ban will meet
Gambari in Asia later in the week, and decisions will be made.

Gambari has met with ministers but not Senior Leader Than Shwe. It is not
clear if he has questioned the 2008 Constitution, pushed through in the
wake of Cyclone Nargis, or if he has looked into the UN's acceptance of
currency losses by accepting Than Shwe's exchange rate between dollars and
Foreign Exchange Certificates. In response to Inner City Press' December
2008 story about Nigeria, which Gambari used to represent as UN
Ambassador, giving $500,000 with no strings attached to the Than Shwe
government, Gambari said he had nothing to do with it.


. Footnote: at UN headquarters last week during a press conference on the
Responsibility to Protect - Engaging Civil Society project, Inner City
Press asked a speaker from Mindanao in the Philippines about the
application of "R2P" to Myanmar. He said he favored it; another speaker
said that a natural disaster should not be used as a pretext. Click here
for video of that press conference, here for a January 28 Inner City Press
debate about R2P including in Myanmar.