BurmaNet News, April 17, 2009

[Editor]

April 17, 2009, Issue #3692


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Cyclone warning for Myanmar's west coast
Irrawaddy: UWSA leader calls for ‘solid, united’ Wa State

ON THE BORDER
AP: Cyclone hits Bangladesh; thousands ordered out

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Chinese, Myanmar premiers meet on bilateral ties
Irrawaddy: Burma’s economic growth to slow in 2009: ADB
Mizzima News: Burma to reconsider restrictions on energy exploration

ASEAN
AFP: Philippine leader calls on Myanmar to release Suu Kyi

REGIONAL
New York Times: Boat people from Myanmar face an uncertain future in
Indonesia camps

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Mahn Sha’s daughter writes her autobiography



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 17, Agence France Presse
Cyclone warning for Myanmar's west coast

Myanmar weather officials issued a cyclone warning Friday, urging
residents in the western coastal region to stay away from the sea for two
days until the storm passed.

The military-run government's meteorological department issued the advice
on its website following updates from the United Nations' weather
monitoring centre.

"All vessels... in Myanmar waters along the Rakhine coast are advised to
take precautionary measures by navigating away from the area exposed to
the threat from rough seas and strong winds until 18 April 2009," it said.

The UN World Meteorological Organisation said that Cyclone Bijli was
currently located over the Bay of Bengal "and is likely to intensify
further."

"The current forecast indicates that the tropical depression will
seriously affect the coasts of India, Bangladesh and northern Myanmar," it
warned.

A Myanmar radio report said tidal surges six to eight feet (about two
metres) high were expected and put the threat from the cyclone at
"orange," which is medium-level.

"When the cyclone crosses, the surface wind speed could reach 60 to 75
miles per hour and the sea will be rough," the radio announcer said.

Myanmar was hit by a severe cyclone one year ago that left an estimated
138,000 people dead or missing and affected some 2.4 million people,
mostly in the southwest delta region.

But despite a huge international relief push, the secretive ruling junta
stalled on issuing visas to foreign aid workers and blocked some
humanitarian supplies from entering the country, drawing worldwide
condemnation.
____________________________________

April 17, Irrawaddy
UWSA leader calls for ‘solid, united’ Wa State – Wai Moe

The leader of Burma’s largest armed ethnic group, the United Wa State Army
(UWSA), vowed to strengthen Wa State as thousands of Wa people celebrated
the 20th Anniversary of the coup against the Communist Party of Burma
(CPB) on Friday at Panghsang in northeastern Burma.

Bao You-Xiang, a UWSA commander and the chairman of its political wing,
the United Wa State Party (UWSP), said in his speech before thousands of
Wa supporters that he would build a more solid and united Wa State,
according to sources on the Sino-Burmese border.

However, Bao said that while the UWSA would create a more solid and united
Wa State, they would negotiate peacefully on any matters of disagreement
with the Burmese junta.

The anniversary event was held at the UWSA headquarters in Panghsang, a
Sino-Burmese border town in northeastern Burma. Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese
analyst who was present for the celebrations, estimated that nearly 20,000
people attended the ceremony.

April 17, 1989, is celebrated by the UWSA as the date when Wa soldiers
revolted against the CPB who had been masters of the Wa troops within the
Communist party since the late 1960s.

On Friday, the UWSA marked the anniversary of the revolt as 20 years of
“peace building.”

Aung Kyaw Zaw said that Bao You-Xiang also talked about community
development in the Wa region (also known as Special Region 2).

The Wa leader also spoke of his appreciation of the Wa’s allies that had
helped in the development of Wa State during the past 20 years, including
Chinese officials. He also thanked the United Nations for development
projects in the Wa area.

About 2,400 Wa State soldiers participated in a military parade as part of
the ceremony, the Burmese analyst said.

Col Khine Zaw, along with Lt-Col Min Hein and Lt-Col Thein Tun Than,
attended the Wa ceremony as representatives of the Burmese junta.

However, observers said that the attendance of relatively low-ranking
Burmese officers at the event reflected the strained relations between the
UWSA and the junta. At previous Wa ceremonies, high-ranking Burmese
generals represented the regime, particularly before Gen Khin Nyunt was
ousted from power in 2003.

In recent months, tension between the Burmese army and the UWSA has
increased as the junta pushes the Wa to disarm its troops and to withdrew
from strategic positions in southern Shan State, along the Thai-Burmese
border.

In late 2008, there were reports of clashes between Burmese and Wa troops
near a Wa town, Mong Hsat, in southern Shan State.

The UWSA has begun using the term “government” to refer to itself since
2008. In the invitations sent out for its 20th anniversary celebrations,
the Wa leaders referred to themselves as the “Wa State Government of
Burma’s Special Region 2.”

Hundreds of delegates from other ceasefire groups— such as the Kokang
group of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the
National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), the Kachin Independent
Organization and the Shan State Army (North)— attended the ceremony in
Panghsang on Friday.

Sources said that former CPB members who were comrades of the Wa leaders
during the 1970s- 80s also attended the celebrations, as well as
authorities from China’s Yunnan Province.

The UWSA signed a ceasefire agreement with the ruling military junta after
the collapse of the CPB in 1989. Observers say the UWSA has an estimated
20,000-strong army.

The US State Department has named the UWSA as “the dominant heroin
trafficking group in Southeast Asia, and possibly worldwide” and has
offered a US $2 million reward for information leading to the arrest or
conviction of Wei Hsueh-Kang, a UWSA leader who reportedly attended the
celebration in Panghsang on Friday.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 17, Associated Press
Cyclone hits Bangladesh; thousands ordered out

The outer edge of Cyclone Bijli began lashing southern Bangladesh on
Friday night, officials said, as the government ordered the evacuation of
tens of thousands of residents from the country's low-lying coast.
Neighboring Myanmar was also bracing for the storm.

Asadur Rahman, a weather official in the southeastern Bangladeshi city of
Chittagong, said the storm was packing winds of 55 miles per hour (90
kilometers per hour). Accuweather.com said its center was about 150 mph
(240 kph) from Calcutta, India, and moving northeast Friday night. It said
the cyclone was slowly picking up steam and was expected to make landfall
near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border late Saturday.

Officials throughout the region said they did not expect it to cause
significant damage with some even saying the storm appeared to be
weakening. But Accuweather.com warned it could still dump as much as 10
inches (25 centimeters) of rain on the region, and winds could reach 90
mph (145 kph). Rainfall at those levels could be devastating for
Bangladesh a low-lying delta nation.

Rahman said Bijli hit some islands in the Bay of Bengal on Friday night as
high winds and heavy downpours also began across the southern coastal
districts of Cox's Bazar and Chittagong.

Cox's Bazar is 185 miles (296 kilometers) south of the capital, Dhaka.

The storm warnings came two weeks before the first anniversary of Cyclone
Nargis, which exploded onto Myanmar's coast on May 2 and cut a swath of
destruction through the country's main rice-growing area, leaving nearly
140,000 people dead or missing. The government issued warnings Friday and
told boats in the bay to seek shelter. But Accuweather.com said Bijli was
on track to hit a hillier area of the country than Nargis.

Arif Ahmed, chief government administrator in Moheshkhali island, said
they evacuated thousands of islanders to schools, mosques, government
offices and 80 cyclone shelters concrete boxes on pillars. Some 350,000
people live in Moheshkhali.

Feroz Khan, a local government official in Saint Martins island, said they
evacuated thousands more.

In the coastal district of Bhola, which is 65 miles (104 kilometers) south
of the capital, Dhaka, several thousands of people were evacuated, said
the area's chief government administrator, Mesbaul Islam.

Cyclones and tropical storms are common in the region. In 2007, Cyclone
Sidr killed at least 3,500 people in Bangladesh.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 17, Xinhua
Chinese, Myanmar premiers meet on bilateral ties

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met here on Friday with his Myanmar counterpart
Thein Sein in south China's Hainan Province, calling on closer bilateral
cooperation in the areas of energy and transportation network
construction.

Hailing the achievements of bilateral ties over the years, Wen said China
supports Myanmar's sustainable development, and is committed to helping
the country to get over the difficulties brought by global financial
crisis.

China sincerely hopes for Myanmar's political stability, economic
development and national reconciliation, Wen said.

He called on both countries to enhance cooperation in energy and
transportation network building, to provide sound infrastructure for
bilateral trade and investment.

Thein Sein, who is here to attend the 2009 meeting of the Boao Forum for
Asia (BFA), expressed appreciation for China's assistance for Myanmar's
economic and social development.

He spoke highly of China's proposals and measures in coping with the
international financial crisis, especially, China's appeal for
safeguarding the rights of developing countries.

Myanmar will seriously implement bilateral agreements and promote
bilateral cooperation, he said, calling on China's continuous
participation in the country's economic construction.

____________________________________

April 17, Irrawaddy
Burma’s economic growth to slow in 2009: ADB – Wai Moe

Military-ruled Burma’s economic growth will be diminished in 2009 because
of the weaker performances of the country’s major partners, said the Asia
Development Bank (ADB) in its Asian Development Outlook 2009 report that
was launched on Friday.

The ADB said in the report that weaker economic performances of Burma’s
major trading partners—the People's Republic of China, India and Thailand—
is “likely to put downward pressure on export prices of gas and
agricultural products” that will diminish Burma’s economic growth.

“It is also likely to reduce remittances from Myanmar workers [in those
countries]” the ADB noted in the report.

The ADB predicted Burma’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to slow in
the fiscal years 2008 and 2009.

“The current account is expected to remain in surplus, supported by the
planned inflows of foreign aid,” the ADB reported, noting that
international donors are to fund a US $690 million recovery program for
Cyclone Nargis survivors.

According to the ADB, although official statistics indicate growth in
excess of 10 percent since 2000, nonofficial estimates put Burma’s GDP
growth at less than half the official figure.

The ADB said that Burma’s dominant sector remains agriculture,
contributing to 44 percent of GDP, while the industry sector, including
the natural gas export segment, shares 20 percent, and the services sector
contributes to 36 percent.

However, the ADB report said that in recent years, Burma’s gross
international reserves have risen to an estimated $3.4 billion by raising
export income from natural gas.
____________________________________

April 17, Mizzima News
Burma to reconsider restrictions on energy exploration – Moe Thu

Oil and gas exploration and production companies in Burma are hoping for a
forthcoming easing in restrictions on the current ban related to the
selling and transferring of stakes in the country’s natural resources.

“Transferring and selling stakes is an important option, which is
internationally practiced, in such a risky business as oil and gas
exploration, in order both to offset risks and to sustain operations,”
said a source with a foreign oil company active in the Burma.

The military government’s Ministry of Energy last September released a
directive banning the sale of stakes in both offshore and onshore blocks.

Sources said the measure has resulted in the reduction of expenditure in
exploration, a costly undertaking in which companies typically share
expenses or exchange shares in exploring and drilling, sources added.

“As the industry is capital and technological intensive in nature, the
country has no other option but to rely on foreign firms, which is why the
government is expected to reconsider the ban,” commented one expert.

The drilling of a single exploratory well costs approximately U.S. 25 to
30 million dollars, with success never assured despite preliminary
geological surveys.

The energy expert added that the continued prevention of share transfers
would likely result in a further decrease in exploration and a
corresponding loss in the discovery of new resources and company revenue.

He said the Production Sharing Contract (PSC), widely used
internationally, allows for the selling or exchanging of stakes between
foreign oil companies.

However, because of the ban on swaps in Burma, Thailand’s PTT Exploration
and Production (PTTEP) said in a statement released in February of this
year that it was forced to cancel an interest swap deal with China
National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

Other foreign energy companies active in Burma include South Korea’s
Daewoo International, France’s Total, Chevron of the United States,
Japan’s Nippon Oil and Malaysia’s Petronas.

Burma earned US$2.16 billion from the export of natural gas to Thailand
alone during the 2006-07 financial year – a figure expected to double once
deposits off the cost of Rakhine and Mottama become available for export
in 2009 and 2011, respectively.

____________________________________
ASEAN

April 17, Agence France Presse
Philippine leader calls on Myanmar to release Suu Kyi

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo called on Myanmar to release detained
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a recent meeting with Prime
Minister Thein Sein, the foreign department said Friday.

Arroyo asked Myanmar?s ruling junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi once the
extension of her house arrest expires next month, urging it to reach out
to political opponents for the sake of national unity.

The foreign department said Arroyo made her appeal when she met with the
Myanmar leader on the sidelines of the planned ASEAN summit in Pattaya,
Thailand, on April 10 at the request of Thein Sein.

Releasing Aung San Suu Kyi would result in "tremendous goodwill for
Myanmar from the international community," the department quoted Arroyo as
saying.

"We only have your country and your people's welfare at heart. This is the
single, most concrete piece of advice and experience I can share with
you," Arroyo said.

In response, Thein Sein expressed "appreciation for the president's
valuable suggestions and said that his government would take them into
account," the department added.

He also reiterated his government's firm commitment to take steps towards
democratisation and reconciliation through the adoption of a new
constitution and the holding of general elections in 2010.

He added that Myanmar "considers its cooperation with the United Nations
as the cornerstone of its foreign policy, along with the desire to improve
relations with the United States under the Obama administration."

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a landslide victory
in 1990 elections, but the junta never allowed it to take office. She has
been under house arrest for most of the past 19 years.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, groups Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 17, New York Times
Boat people from Myanmar face an uncertain future in Indonesia camps –
Peter Gelling

The only solace for the almost 200 men living in a squalid refugee camp
here is the freedom they now have to pray.

“In Myanmar, if we pray we are killed,” said Alam Shah, 38, a member of
the Rohingya Muslim minority who fled predominantly Buddhist Myanmar last
year. “I’m scared they will send us back there. It is a very, very
dangerous country.”

The Rohingya here were found floating at sea Feb. 2 after three weeks
aboard a small wooden boat with no motor, no food and no water. When they
were found by an Indonesian fisherman off the coast of Aceh, Indonesia’s
northernmost province, many were close to death.

A few months before, another boat loaded with about 200 Rohingya refugees
landed in Sabang, on the northern tip of Aceh, where they are now being
held at a Navy station. Several more boats were found by the Indian coast
guard carrying almost 400 Rohingya.
Research by nongovernment organizations suggests that all the refugees had
passed through detention camps on islands just off the coast of Thailand.
According to interviews with the refugees, the Thai military towed and
abandoned at least six boats at sea between November and January, when the
international media picked up the story and the so-called “push-backs”
were halted.

The expulsions reversed a policy in which Thailand had allowed thousands
of Rohingya to land in recent years, mostly on their way to seek work in
Malaysia. The Thai military had denied accusations of pushing the refugees
out to sea but Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand said in
February that some boats had been towed out to sea and that he intended to
investigate.

About 1,200 men are known to have been pushed out to sea, more than 300 of
whom drowned, according to the Arakan Project, a private human rights
group. There are fears, however, that many more Rohingya from Bangladesh
and Myanmar were originally abandoned by the Thais and are still missing.

“It is difficult to say what the exact numbers are. But based on the
interviews we have done with refugees that have ended up in India and
Indonesia, we think there were many more push backs than have been
confirmed,” said Chris Lewa, an expert on Rohingya issues who heads the
Arakan Project. Researchers for the Arakan Project have managed to
interview refugees from five of the six boats rescued.

“What does seem clear, what is consistent among all the interviews we have
done with the refugees, is that they were detained on islands off the
coast of Thailand before being towed out to sea and set adrift by the Thai
military,” she said.

This week, after months of delays, the United Nations has begun the
process of “status determination” for the 391 men being held in Idi Rayeuk
and Sabang. The process, a series of interviews with individual refugees,
will determine if they are in need of protection and can stay in
Indonesia, or if they are economic migrants who should be returned to
Myanmar.

At the same time, on the resort island of Bali, leaders from around
Southeast Asia, including from Myanmar, are beginning discussions about
regional migrants, which will include discussions on the plight of the
Rohingya.

Indonesia, which analysts have praised for taking a leadership role with
issues like human rights, disaster reconstruction and other issues
involving Myanmar, fears a flood of thousands of Rohingya to its shores if
the men in Aceh are allowed to stay.

The United Nations estimates that about 723,000 Rohingya live in Myanmar,
where the military regime considers them foreigners and denies them
citizenship, passports or the right to own land. There are also hundreds
of thousands of Rohingya living in Bangladesh.

The Rohingya in Myanmar live mostly in the northern Rahkine State and in
the past fled through bordering Bangladesh and into the Middle East. But
new travel restrictions imposed by the Bangladesh government have forced
the Rohingya to find alternative destinations like Thailand, Malaysia and
Indonesia.

The Rohingya of Myanmar are one of the most vulnerable minorities in a
severely impoverished country.

“Indonesia is trying to play a leadership role in this situation,” said
Lilianne Fan, a humanitarian worker who has worked in Aceh and Myanmar and
is now advising the Acehnese governor.

“Compared to other regional governments, the Indonesians have responded
very well, especially since they have engaged international
organizations,” she said.

The whole process of status determination and the subsequent negotiations
that will need to take place between Myanmar and Indonesia could take many
more months. Meanwhile, the few aid organizations working in Idi Rayeuk
are concerned that the camp is not equipped to house the refugees for that
long.

The men were greeted generously by the local Acehnese, many of whom live
in abject poverty themselves but can relate to the Rohingya’s situation.
Many Acehnese here have family members who were forced to flee a
separatist conflict that raged in Aceh for 30 years until a peace
agreement was reached in 2005. Idi Rayeuk, in fact, was once a central
launching point for Acehnese trying to flee the country.

“The support has been unreal and an inspiration for the rest of the
world,” said Sara Henderson, president of the Building Bridges to the
Future Foundation, one of the only international nongovernment
organizations working with the Rohingya refugees in Aceh. “They are still
giving free fish to the camp when they have barely enough to eat
themselves.”

But the generosity of the local Acehnese and the local government is
nowhere near enough, Ms. Henderson said. The men still live in tents and
are forced to walk around wet, muddy ground. Sanitation, food and water
remain basic and security is almost non-existent. Seven men, in fact, fled
the camp early Monday morning but were all later apprehended by the
Indonesian military.

“The ones who tried to escape said that they were frightened they were
going to be deported,” said Ms. Henderson. “We have many times verbally
and in writing brought up the lack of security, but it has gotten us
nowhere.”

Ms. Fan added that the Rohingya here were in danger of “falling through
the cracks” and that a lack of interpreters has created an atmosphere of
confusion and fear that probably led the seven men to try and escape.

The Building Bridges to the Future Foundation, which was founded in
response to the 2005 tsunami in Aceh, has been pressing for donations to
help coordinate the camp and provide necessary logistics. The local
government has offered to provide a larger plot of land if money can be
raised for necessities like temporary barracks, sanitation and food.

“The local community and the government do not have the funds to support a
refugee camp of 198 men,” Ms. Henderson said.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 17, Irrawaddy
Mahn Sha’s daughter writes her autobiography

An autobiography of Zoya Phan, a daughter of Mahn Sha, the respected Karen
leader who was assassinated by unknown gunmen in a Thai border town last
year, is to be launched next week in London.

"My father marked the day of my birth with a traditional animist
ceremony,” wrote Zoya, who is now 28 and lives in London, working for the
human rights organization Burma Campaign UK.

“He buried my umbilical cord under an ancient giant of a tree, and then he
prayed for his Little Daughter. He prayed to the tree spirit on the
mountaintop, because it is high and has vision and can see into the
future. He prayed that when I grew up I would be strong, and that I would
help my country and my people."

Zoya was born in the remote jungle territory of the ethnic Karen, who have
been resisting Burmese government oppression for more than 60 years. Her
mother was a guerrilla soldier, her father a freedom activist.

Zoya lived in a bamboo hut on stilts by the Moei River, on the
Burmese-Thai border. In her autobiography, she recalls hunting for edible
mushrooms with her much-loved adopted brother, Say Say.

Many Karen are Christian or Buddhist, but Zoya's parents were animist,
venerating the spirits of the forest, river and moon.

Her early years were blissfully removed from the war, but when she was 14
her world was shattered by a Burmese army attack on her village. With
their house in flames, Zoya and her family fled.

So began two terrible years of running from guns, as Zoya joined thousands
of refugees hiding in the jungle. Her family scattered and Zoya sought
sanctuary across the border in a Thai refugee camp.

She lived as a refugee on the Thai-Burmese border for many years and spent
her teens in the camps. She was a gifted pupil and was eventually able to
escape camp life, first to Bangkok and then, in 2004, fleeing to Britain,
where she claimed asylum.

The following year, at a “free Burma” march, she was plucked from the
crowd to appear on the BBC, the first of countless interviews with the
world's media. She became the face of a nation enslaved, rubbing shoulders
with presidents and film stars.

Her autobiography, titled “Little Daughter,” is described as an uplifting,
tragic and entirely gripping true story of a girl from the jungle who
became an icon of a suffering land.

"Little Daughter" will be published on April 20 by London-based Simon &
Schuster, Inc., one of the four largest English language publishers,
alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins.