BurmaNet News, May 2 - 4, 2009

[Editor]

May 2 – 4, 2009, Issue #3703


INSIDE BURMA
CNN: Burma tops list of worst places to be a blogger
Irrawaddy: Junta censors Nargis anniversary reports
DVB: Intelligence chief meets with ceasefire groups
Xinhua: 27,000 cyclone-survived children receive care, protection in Myanmar

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Armed ceasefire groups to be ‘border guard force’
Mizzima News: Rights group calls for equal rights for workers

HEALTH / AIDS
Mizzima News: Weak public health care, invitation to disaster: Medical expert

ASEAN
Xinhua: ASEAN appeals for more int'l assistance for Myanmar cyclone survivors

OPINION / OTHER
Independent (UK): Denial of aid is as effective a way of killing my people
as a bullet – Zoya Phan
Al Jazeera: Revisiting the Irrawaddy delta – Kathleen McCaul
Toronto Star (Canada): Hope among the ruins of Burma – Olivia Ward

STATEMENT
EU-Japan Summit on Burma: Excerpts of joint press statement
New Light of Myanmar: Senior General Than Shwe sends Workers Day message




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 4, CNN
Burma tops list of worst places to be a blogger

Bloggers in Burma, Iran and Syria work under some of the most repressive
conditions in the world, facing tactics such as regulation, intimidation
and even imprisonment, according to a report from the Committee to Protect
Journalists.

The organization released a list of the "10 worst countries to be a
blogger" to call attention to online oppression in connection with World
Press Freedom Day, which was observed Sunday.

"Bloggers are at the vanguard of the information revolution, and their
numbers are expanding rapidly," the group's executive director, Joel
Simon, said in a report posted on the organization's Web site. "But
governments are quickly learning how to turn technology against bloggers
by censoring and filtering the Internet, restricting online access and
mining personal data.

"When all else fails, the authorities simply jail a few bloggers to
intimidate the rest of the online community into silence or
self-censorship."

Burma -- also known as Myanmar -- is the worst place in the world to be a
blogger, Simon's organization says. A military government restricts Web
access and throws people into jail for posting critical material.

Burmese authorities have the capability to monitor e-mail and other
communication methods and can block users from viewing the Web sites of
political opposition parties, the organization says, citing research group
OpenNet Initiative.

One Burmese blogger, Maung Thura, is serving a 59-year prison term for
circulating video footage after Cyclone Nargis in 2008, the Committee to
Protect Journalists says.

Number two on the list is Iran, whose authorities, the group says,
regularly detain and harass bloggers who dare to criticize religious or
political figures, the Islamic revolution or its symbols.

Third is the Syrian government, which the committee says detains bloggers
for posting content deemed detrimental to "national unity." Cuba is next
on the "dishonor roll." Its government now hold in jail 21 writers who led
online journalism in the early part of the decade, the organization says.

In Saudi Arabia an estimated 400,000 sites are blocked, the committee
says, and in Vietnam the Orwellian-sounding Ministry of Information and
Communication has created an agency tasked with monitoring the Internet.

Tunisia and Turkmenistan, nations where the Internet is heavily
restricted, also find a place on the list.

So, too, does China, which maintains the most comprehensive online
censorship program in the world, the organization says.

Chinese authorities, it says, rely on service providers to filter
searches, block critical Web sites, delete objectionable content and
monitor e-mail traffic. The committee said its research shows at least 24
online writers are in prison in the country.

Egypt rounds out the list at number 10. Local press freedom groups in the
country documented the detention of more than 100 bloggers in 2008 alone,
the organization says. Most reported mistreatment, and a number were
tortured, it says.

"The governments on the list are trying to roll back the information
revolution, and, for now, they are having success," Simon said in the
report. "Freedom of expression groups, concerned governments, the online
community, and technology companies need to come together to defend the
rights of bloggers around the world."

____________________________________

May 4, Irrawaddy
Junta censors Nargis anniversary reports – Min Lwin

Burma’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) has severely
restricted Rangoon weekly journals publishing reports marking the
anniversary of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the southwest of the
country on May 2-3 last year, leaving about 140,000 people dead in its
wake.

According to several editors and reporters, the notoriously draconian
censorship board did not allow reports to carry any criticism of the
Nargis recovery effort by the military government, United Nations’
organizations, International NGOs and local NGOs.
“More than a third of Nargis stories were prohibited from being
published,” said a Rangoon-based journalist. “Burmese reporters have no
right to investigate a story freely.”

He claimed that, currently, the PSRD will only allow journals to publish
articles that portray positive aspects of the Burmese military
authorities, even if the stories are untrue.

In the weeks after the deadly cyclone struck Burma last year, 21 volunteer
aid workers, including journalists, were arrested for assisting victims of
the cyclone.

More recently, two journalists—Myat Tun and Ko Khin Maung—of the exiled
media group Narinjara Independent Arakan News Agency, were arrested in
Arakan State, according to Thailand-based Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP). At least 50 Burmese journalists
currently languish in Burmese prisons, according to AAPP.

The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a press
release on April 30 that Burma is the worst place in the world to be a
blogger because the military authorities severely restricts Internet
access and imposes harsh prison sentences on persons who post material
critical of the government.

Meanwhile, in Washington on Sunday, US President Barack Obama said that,
each year, hundreds of journalists around the world face intimidation,
censorship and arbitrary arrest, although they “are guilty of nothing more
than a passion for truth and a tenacious belief that a free society
depends on an informed citizenry.

“In every corner of the globe, there are journalists in jail or being
actively harassed: from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe, Burma to Uzbekistan, Cuba
to Eritrea,” he said.
____________________________________

May 4, Democratic Voice of Burma
Intelligence chief meets with ceasefire groups – Htet Aung Kyaw

Senior Burmese intelligence officials last week met with six ceasefire
groups to discuss their participation in next year’s elections and the
possibility that the groups will disarm, say observers.

Although no concrete information has been given about the talks, a member
of the Kachin Independence Organisation, Major Gun Maw, who met with a
commander from the government’s Northern Military Command on 28 April,
said discussions centered on the elections, and paved the way for further
dialogue with the government.

"The main thing is that in 2010 there will be elections, and a new
government will emerge,” he said.

“As for the military government, it will have to hand over power
and have
the responsibility to explain to the upcoming civilian government about
the [ceasefire] groups.”

Six groups in total, the Kachin Independence Organisation, New Democratic
Army (Kachin), United Wa State Army, Shan State Army (North), Kokang
group, and Mong La groups, met individually with the State Peace and
Development Council’s intelligence chief, Major General Ye Myint.

Gun Maw said that further talks will take place in the last week of May,
although he refused to comment both on whether the KIO will be
participating in the elections and whether they have plans to disarm.

“We will
discuss what we will do with our armed forces,” he said.

“I hope that we will start to talk about this when the two sides meet at
the end of May.”

The KIO, who were established in 1961, declared a ceasefire with the
government in 1994, although their relationship remains tense.

The government has stated that all ceasefire groups must disarm and form
political parties if they are to contest the elections.

____________________________________

May 4, Xinhua
27,000 cyclone-survived children receive care, protection in Myanmar

A total of 27,000 cyclone-survived children in Myanmar have received care
and protection in the post- Nargis period under the country's child
protection program, sources with the Social Welfare, Relief and
Resettlement Department said on Monday.

The child protection program involved the aid extended by Myanmar's
Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Myanmar Red Cross,
the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children, World
Vision (Myanmar), Energy Management and Global Health (EMGH) and Young
Women Christians Association (YMCA).

The 27,000 protected children from 13 cyclone-affected townships were
provided with health care education and livelihood support, the sources
said.

Moreover, 124 Child Friendly Spaces have also been established with the
cooperation of local residents and 15,189 kids are being taken care at the
spaces, the sources added.

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

The storm killed 84,537 people, injured 19,359 others and left 53,836
missing, according to the official statistics.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 4, Irrawaddy
Armed ceasefire groups to be ‘border guard force’

The Burmese military plans to incorporate armed ethnic ceasefire troops
into the Tatmadaw (armed forces) to provide security along the border
after the 2010 general election.

The plan would give greater control of the armed ceasefire groups to the
Burmese military, according to observers.

Armed ethnic ceasefire groups first heard details of the plan during
meetings with Burmese military officers on April 28.

Under the plan, one border guard battalion would have 326 troops including
18 officers. There would be three commanders with the rank of major. Each
battalion would have two majors drawn from ceasefire groups and one major
drawn from the Tatmadaw in charge of administration.

Each battalion would have a general staff officer and quartermaster
officer with the rank of captain drawn from the Tatmadaw. Company
commanders in each battalion would be drawn from ceasefire groups.

Twenty-seven soldiers in other ranks, such as company sergeant majors,
sergeant clerks, nurses, etc., would be drawn from Tatmadaw forces.

Representatives of the Burmese junta told ceasefire group officials at
various meetings that discussions on troop mobilization will be held at a
later date. Salary and benefits for troops in the border forces would be
the same as soldiers in the Tatmadaw.
In the plan’s outline, it was noted that border guard troops could only be
mobilized in areas within their own territory.

The Tatmadaw will command border guard forces during the “beginning
period,” according to the plan.

Ceasefire groups, including the United Wa State Army with an estimated
200,000 troops, have made no official statements in regard to the plan of
incorporation.

Sources said that the military plans to form three committees to
coordinate the transition of the ceasefire groups.

The Transition Policy Committee will be chaired by the commander-in-chief
and the deputy commander-in-chief will be vice-chairman, and committee
members will include the coordinator of special operations for the army,
navy and air force, the prime minister, secretary 1, members of the junta,
the State Peace and Development Council; the secretary of the committee
will be the chief of Military Affairs Security and the joint-secretary
will be the director of the Office of Public Relations and Border Troops.

The Transitional Working Committee will be chaired by the chief of
Military Affairs Security; and made up of commanders of the Tatmadaw’s
regional commands along with the deputy chief of Military Training, the
vice-adjutant general and the vice-quartermaster general, the director of
the People’s Militias and Psychological Warfare, the director-general of
Central Military Accounts, and general staff officer 1 of the Burmese
army. The director of the Public Relations and Border Troops will be the
secretary of the working committee, and the general staff officer 1 from
the Military Affairs Security will be joint-secretary.

Various Regional Level Transition Working Committees will be chaired by
Tatmadaw regional commanders.

The current policy is related to the 2008 Constitution, which was created
by the junta.

The constitution provides that in ceasefire group controlled areas,
referred to as self-administered divisions or self-administered zones, the
local administrative bodies can legislate for civil issues such as urban
and rural projects; construction and maintenance of roads and bridges;
public health; developmental affairs; prevention of fire hazards;
maintenance of pastures; conservation and preservation of forests;
preservation of the natural environment; water and electricity issues; and
market matters relating to towns and villages.

Under the constitution, the military, dominated by the commander-in-chief,
can assign duties relating to security and border affairs in
self-administered zones (ceasefire areas).

One-quarter of the administrators of self-administered zones (ceasefire
areas) will be made up of military officers appointed by the
commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw.

____________________________________

May 4, Mizzima News
Rights group calls for equal rights for workers – Usa Pichai

On May 1, International Labour Day, labour rights activists in Thailand
called for equal rights and protection of the dignity of workers and to
abolish all forms of discrimination based on races.

The Action Network for Migrants, a network of migrant labour
organizations, based in Thailand, in a press statement on Friday said they
would not accept discrimination based on race, which the government has
used to suppress the rights of workers.

The statement noted that the government and the business sector have been
using a divide and rule policy among workers in order to weaken the power
of labourers when negotiating. The government has been dividing the
workers into smaller groups such as workers in the formal sector and
informal sector with different labour rights by law.

Domestic workers have been placed in the “informal sector” and they are
not included in the social welfare system.

The group noted that the government also divides workers by their
nationality as Thai and migrant workers, which is an attempt to use
nationalism to separate the workers.

“But in reality we all are workers,” said the group.

The group called on the stakeholders to realize the importance of workers
in every sector and protect their rights, particularly in the present
economic turmoil.

On May Day, several labour groups led by Thai Labour Solidarity Committee
and State Enterprise Worker’s Relation Confederation, including migrant
workers’ organizations gathered in Bangkok and held demonstrations outside
the government house.

The group called on the government to follow up on the problems faced by
labourers, which have been raised previously, such as worker’s rights
protection, social welfare for workers in informal sectors, migrant
worker’s protection and to provide more job opportunities for people who
live with HIV/AIDs.

The group also protested the expansion of transnational companies which
would rake in benefits from developing countries. The government should
solve problems of corruption in government and state-enterprises which add
to the economic problem.

The representatives of the labour group had a discussion with the Thai
Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva at the government house. The Thai Prime
Minister accepted that currently, an estimated 15,000 entrepreneurs in
Thailand have been affected due to the economic meltdown.

“However, the government will expedite the recovery of the country’s
economy and try to help affected people, mainly workers,” he said,
according to the Thai government website.

The Thai PM has accepted the labour representative’s appeal and would
speed up things to provide more services and welfare to workers.

According to Thailand’s Ministry of Labour, currently, about 600 companies
are shut down or had partly laid off employees, while more than 50,000
workers were retrenched across the country, since the crisis started last
year.

The Ministry also expected that the unemployed Thai population would reach
two million, which is higher than that during the previous economic crisis
in 1997-1999 at 1.5 million.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

May 4, Mizzima News
Weak public health care, invitation to disaster: Medical expert – Mungpi

Military-ruled Burma has set up medical checkpoints in its international
airports to prevent travellers transmitting the deadly swine flu virus
into the country.

Burma’s state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, on Sunday and
Monday carried photographs of medical staff carrying out checks on
travellers in Rangoon and Mandalay International Airports.

Following an outbreak of the deadly swine flu in Mexico and parts of the
United States, Burma’s health ministry sources told Mizzima that it is
releasing a warning and getting ready to carry out medical checks in the
country’s International airports.

Despite the government’s response, Dr. Voravit Suwanvanichkij, a research
associate at the Centre for Public Health & Human Rights at the John
Hopkins School of Public Health, said preventive measures at the airports
alone are insufficient as the disease could still find its way into the
country through other entry points.

Movement from and into Burma, which has at least two million of its
citizens in neighbouring Thailand as migrant workers, are often not
through airports alone. The country also shares porous boundaries with
China, India, Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand.

Dr. Voravit, who is based in Thailand, said having checkpoints at
international airports cannot effectively assure that no travellers would
come in with influenza. It requires a proper public health care system,
which can immediately detect an outbreak of disease and prevent it fast.

“Public health care system is almost non-existent in Burma,” said Dr.
Voravit, who has visited the country a number of times and has been
closely following Burma’s health care system, adding that it could be
disastrous if the flu finds its way into the country.

He, however, said the likelihood of swine flu reaching Burma are slim as
there is a low level of travel from the countries that has an outbreak to
Burma.

“But the flip side is that Burma does not have a health care system, so if
there is an outbreak of this sort of thing in Burma, it is likely to be
quite extensive and quite late before it can be noticed,” Dr. Voravit
said.

Swine flu, technically known as A/H1N1, has symptoms similar to many other
diseases and is non-specific. In order to detect them it requires
laboratories and diagnosis, which Burma does not have, Dr. Voravit said.

He said, with the level of health among the public being low it would take
sometime even before the medical staff could recognize any kind of disease
outbreak in Burma.

He said swine flu or influenza is a big concern as it could cost a lot but
Burma should also focus on preventable diseases such as Malaria and
Tuberculosis that claims thousands of lives every year.

“We can focus on swine flu or influenza but at the end of the day Burma’s
health care system can’t even cope with preventable diseases that has been
plaguing Burma for decades,” he said.

Though there is low direct contacts with Burma and the countries that have
an outbreak of swine flu, it is not impossible for the disease to reach
Burma as there have been reports of detection of the disease in Asia.

He said the likelihood of swine flu spreading to other countries in
Southeast Asia is much bigger than Burma, because many countries,
including Thailand and Singapore, in the region are much more connected to
the international community.

“In this regard Burma is a little shielded from that [swine flu]. But on
the other hand, once it [swine flu] gets established in this region and if
we find this disease entering Asean, then Burma can be vulnerable,” said
Dr. Voravit, referring to the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean), of which Burma is a member.

“Of course once it [swine flu] gets to Burma, the disease spinning out of
control is very big, given that the public health system is marginal,” he
added.

According to the United Nations World Health Organisation, on Monday there
is an estimated 1,003 cases of H1N1 virus found in 20 countries across the
globe.

____________________________________
ASEAN

May 2, Xinhua
ASEAN appeals for more int'l assistance for Myanmar cyclone survivors

A high-ranking ASEAN official has urged the international community to
continue support and fulfill the humanitarian needs for the
cyclone-affected survivors.

Dr. Soeung Rathchavy, Deputy Secretary-General of the Association of the
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for Socio-Cultural Community, made the
remarks during her commemorative visit to Myanmar cyclone-hit Ayeyarwaddy
delta on Saturday, according to a press release here Sunday.

She stressed the important role of the ASEAN-Myanmar-UN Tripartite Core
Group (TCG) for a close and effective partnership within the group,
particularly as the recovery phase has started.

It is heartening to see that relief and early recovery assistance has
reached the people affected by Cyclone Nargis," she said, calling for
intensification of relief and recovery efforts, especially when the
monsoon is approaching.

To ensure the villagers have access to permanent shelter, drinking water
and sanitation and to restore their livelihoods, another ASEAN volunteer
project will be implemented in Laputta Township this month, she disclosed.

During the trip, she met with the cyclone survivors in the delta and
donated school bags and T-shirts for the school children and villagers in
cyclone-hard hit Bogalay, Phyapon and Kungyangon townships.

Together with TCG members, she also donated 70 fishing boats to villagers
in Tha Htay Gone Village of Bogalay township and inaugurated a
newly-reconstructed bridge which was destroyed during the storm in Tha
Leik Gyi Village of Phyapon township.

Meanwhile, The ASEAN and TCG are currently conducting the second periodic
review to monitor humanitarian needs on the ground and implementing
three-year Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan which aims to
restore productive, healthy and protected lives for Cyclone Nargis
survivors.

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

The storm killed 84,537 people, left 53,836 missing and 19,359 others
injured according to official figures.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 2, Independent (UK)
Denial of aid is as effective a way of killing my people as a bullet –
Zoya Phan

Burma's generals probably can't believe their luck.

A year ago they failed to warn their population that a cyclone was on its
way. Then they blocked international rescue efforts and arrested people
for delivering aid. They eventually relented in the face of outside
pressure but the human rights abuses continued. The generals forced
orphaned children to join the army; they used cyclone victims as forced
labour for construction projects; and they confiscated fertile farmland.

The response from the UN and Western governments has not been outrage.
There have been no attempts to hold Burma's generals accountable for their
actions.

Instead, there is a kind of pathetic gratitude to the generals for the
limited opening of humanitarian access in the Delta. But that humanitarian
space is shrinking. The international community fears that if they
challenge the generals, they will lose what little access they have. They
think gentle persuasion is the way forward.

This is the same approach they have taken to the political problems of
Burma, and it is failing on the humanitarian front just as it failed on
the political front.

The international community must also accept its share of responsibility
for the generals blocking aid after the cyclone.

For decades they have stood by and watched while the dictatorship blocked
humanitarian aid, especially to ethnic areas. In Karen state, in the east,
where I grew up, the junta blocked all aid as part of its campaign of
ethnic cleansing against my people.
The denial of aid is as effective at killing my people as a bullet, and
the UN and world governments, including the British, have shamefully
failed to challenge these restrictions.

A lesson that should be learnt from Cyclone Nargis is that the generals
are not immune to pressure. Faced with growing condemnation, and
high-level diplomacy, including from the UN secretary general himself, the
generals backed down and let foreign aid workers in.

Instead of learning from this, applying pressure for humanitarian access
to all the people of Burma and putting similar high-level pressure on the
generals for political reform, the international community has fallen
silent again.

It is time to end the policy of appeasement.

The author is an international co-ordinator for Burma Campaign UK. Her
autobiography, 'Little Daughter', is out now.

____________________________________

May 2, Al Jazeera
Revisiting the Irrawaddy delta – Kathleen McCaul

Save the Children CEO Jasmine Whitbread meets villagers in the Irrawaddy
delta [Piers Benatar]

Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar's southern Irrawaddy delta in May 2008,
leaving at least 138,000 people dead and destroying homes and farmland.

A year on, Myanmar's military rulers have ignored the anniversary of the
event, but aid agencies continue to highlight the suffering of the people
whose lives were devastated by it.

Aid workers say that the most pressing problem people face is the return
of the monsoon rains. Thousands are still living in emergency tents and
flimsy shacks that could easily be washed away.

Vulnerable children

Forty per cent of the homeless are children and they are particularly
vulnerable to the malaria and pneumonia that the wet and windy weather
conditions can cause.

"We are most worried about accommodation - people are living in structures
made of weeds and re-salvaged wood," Jasmine Whitbread, CEO of charity
Save the Children, told Al Jazeera on her return from Myanmar.

"There aren't four walls on these shelters, just one or two. Most of these
wouldn't stand a chance in a storm, even in a heavy rain people would
struggle not to get wet."

The onset of the monsoon has evoked troubling memories of last year's
tragedy, when 200km per hour winds struck the Irrawaddy delta, driving a
12ft wall of water through tightly packed villages.

"You can see the pain etched on their [the children's] faces, the fear and
trauma running through them a year on," Dan Collinson, Save the Children's
director of emergencies, said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Collinson, who has been living in Myanmar and
working in the Irrawaddy delta for the past year, said: "I visited one
school which had 82 children before the cyclone. The school was swept away
and there are now only 25 children left. They have lessons in a tent - a
small one because a third of their class has died. You just don't know
what's going on in their minds."

Families were torn apart by the storm and many children saw their parents
die.

One young girl, Aye Hwate, held tightly to her mother's leg as they fought
against the flood waters, but she let go when she saw her mother was dead.
Then she watched the body of her brother float past her.

Save the Children is now helping Aye Hwate and others come to terms with
what they saw.

Families are slowly coming to terms with the tragedy "When I visited just
after the cyclone children had stopped talking. This time when we were
walking around villages children were talking and in some places playing,"
said Jasmine.

"When we go into disaster areas we create child friendly play areas and
encourage children to draw pictures.

"Soon after the cyclone these pictures were very disturbing – of the storm
or 'my friend's dead body', Now they are drawing their house and palm
trees - much like children all over the world. But there is no doubt that
these children are still recovering."

Aid agencies like Save the Children have pushed for children to return to
school, believing that can help them recover.

"Most schools were destroyed and a big part of our work is helping repair
schools – it's really important to get kids to school right away," said
Jasime.

"Every day a child is out of school in a disaster they are more likely to
drop out altogether. Families come to rely on children at home.

"Many children in Myanmar are being used for water carrying as this has
become a very time consuming activity since the cyclone. Villages collect
their freshwater from ponds and many of these have filled with sea water
and are unusable," said Jasmine.

Back to school

Save the Children have begun building schools in the delta and helping
filter water for drinking.

The charity is also holding workshops to teach children how to survive any
future storms - to spots signs of an upcoming storm and find a safe place
to shelter.

"Helping people understand what to do can help them get over their fear,"
Jasmine said.

She says she is confident that Myanmar's children will recover.

"I am much more optimistic then I was a year ago. Children are incredibly
resilient - they do recover," Jasmine said.

"I met one boy who lost both his parents and told me he thinks about them
every day. But now he is talking about becoming a schoolteacher. So there
is hope, as long as the world does not forget about Myanmar.

"Despite initial concerns about access for aid agencies, donations have
been widely used and the relief effort was a success. Now the real task
begins - reconstruction - which needs funding. Now is not the time to look
or walk away from Myanmar."

BURMANET EDITOR’S NOTE: For a special on-air report by Veronica Pedrosa,
visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcMErkXcu2M

____________________________________

May 2, Toronto Star (Canada)
Hope among the ruins of Burma – Olivia Ward

Nway was in her uncle's bamboo hut in Burma's Irrawaddy Delta when the
cyclone struck. As it gained terrifying force, they fled to the village
chief's sturdier home and huddled there as the screaming winds passed
over.

When it was all over, the 8-year-old's parents and three siblings were
dead, bodies of friends and neighbours floated in the salty, flooding
waters and the village's farming and fishing economy was drowned – along
with its hopes for the future.

On this weekend's one-year anniversary of Cyclone Nargis – one of the
deadliest storms in world history – the little girl and her surviving
relatives are fighting back against poverty, hunger, trauma and the fear
that comes with the onset of the yearly monsoon that can take as well as
give life to the community.

"The ghosts of the storm still linger," says Canadian Pamela Sitko, who
made a recent trip to Burma (also known as Myanmar) as a relief
communications officer for World Vision. "It's been a terrifying
experience, and it's in the back of everyone's mind when the wind howls."

The massive destruction wreaked by Nargis also lingers.

Although villages in the low-lying Pyapon region where Nway lives are
showing new signs of life through the resilience of the residents and the
efforts of international aid groups, the devastation has not disappeared.

More than 1 million Burmese are still living in tumbledown shacks, over
2.4 million are struggling to rebuild their lives, 138,000 are dead or
missing, and at least one-third of a $477 million UN appeal is unfunded. A
global appeal for a longer term recovery plan has had disappointing
response.

"The biggest concern is continued international assistance," says
Edmonton-born Sitko, who is based in Bangkok.

"Survivors still need tractors, boats, fertilizer, livestock. Women, who
weren't the primary breadwinners, need to build up their skills to earn an
income. But with the global financial crisis, and now swine flu, how do we
keep up the momentum?"

It's a life-or-death issue for those marking the bitter anniversary in
Burma, ruled by an iron-fisted military junta whose paranoia made it
difficult for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of desperate people in
the crucial early days of the disaster.

Now, aid groups say, access has improved. Humanitarian shipments from all
over the world are accepted, and the number of international aid groups
has doubled over the past year.

They even see glimmers of hope that the training and counselling local
people have received to upgrade teaching, medical, and other social
service skills are making small inroads into the monolithic government
control that has held Burma in its grip for more than four decades.

But, warns Khin Maung Win, of the Democratic Voice of Burma, "it would be
premature to speak of real change," and he says that could happen only if
international aid can go directly to community groups, building
self-sufficiency, an effort opposed by the government, which fears ceding
any form of power.

Since the cyclone, he points out, repression has deepened for ordinary
people, including those who came from other parts of the country to help
cyclone victims.

The most famous, the comedian Zarganar, was sentenced to 59 years for the
"crime" of distributing aid to his countrymen – a life sentence for the
48-year-old. He and others have been transferred to remote prisons where
their families are forbidden to see them.

"Zarganar is now near the China border," said Win. "When his family
finally arrived there, a few weeks ago, they were refused a visit. And
that's not a unique case. It's a form of moral torture."

Human Rights Watch says the political crackdown has worsened since Cyclone
Nargis, and hundreds have been slapped with long jail terms. The fate of
thousands of monks who were targeted by the government after leading
demonstrations in 2007 is unknown.

"Many of them were from outside Rangoon, and we think the government
forced them to go back to where they came from," said Win, a Burmese exile
based in Norway. "They went missing on the way. No more than 100 escaped
to Thailand. But hundreds of thousands are still there, and we don't know
what has happened to them."

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose house was damaged by the
cyclone, is still under house arrest, although her lawyer is appealing an
extension of her sentence. Government critics say she will likely be kept
under guard until after an election which may be held next year.

In the destitute Irrawaddy Delta, politics is far from the cyclone
survivors' minds.

The monsoon that should irrigate this year's crops is due, and Burma,
known as Asia's rice-bowl, depends on it. But many are living in perilous
conditions, receiving aid for daily necessities, and praying that the
rains will not lash away their fragile recovery.

Still, the killer epidemics predicted a year ago have not materialized.
Schools have opened and household repairs have been made. Signs, Sitko
says, of progress.

"When World Vision (workers) met Nway after the cyclone, she wouldn't talk
and she just clung to her aunt. This time she was putting powder on her
face for our visit and singing out that a tray of fruit was on the way. A
year later, she has really changed."

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

May 4, EU-Japan Summit on Burma
Excerpts of joint press statement


1.       Mr Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic , assisted by
High Representative Dr Javier Solana, and Mr José Manuel Barroso,
President of the European Commission, and Mr Taro Aso, Prime Minister of
Japan, met in Prague on 4 May 2009 for the 18th Summit between the
European Union (EU) and Japan .

(...)

21.      Summit leaders expressed their hope that the Government of
Myanmar tackles the country’s severe political, structural and economic
problems and fosters a peaceful transition to a legitimate, democratic and
civilian government without delay. They pointed out that elections planned
for 2010 could be welcomed by the international community if they were
based on an inclusive dialogue among all the stakeholders in Myanmar . In
this context, they called on Myanmar to release political prisoners and
detainees, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and to lift all restrictions
imposed on political parties immediately. They expressed their readiness
to respond positively to substantive political progress and steps towards
respect for human rights undertaken by Myanmar . Summit leaders reaffirmed
their full support for the UN Secretary General’s Mission of Good Offices
and UN Special Rapporteur on situation of human rights in Myanmar and
called on the Government of Myanmar to cooperate fully with them. They
recalled their determination to help the Government and the people of
Myanmar achieve stability and prosperity in democratic freedom.

____________________________________

May 1, New Light of Myanmar
Senior General Than Shwe sends Workers Day message

Government guarantees fundamental rights of workers: security of workers,
worksite safety, correct solutions to trade disputes, and improvement of
their living standard

The following is a translation of the Workers Day message sent by Chairman
of the State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than Shwe.

On the Workers Day that falls on 1 May 2009, I send this message in
recognition of the brilliant performances the mass of workers give for
transforming the Union of Myanmar into a modem, developed nation and
improving the living standard of the people.

In Myanmar, the government, the people and the Tatmadaw remain harmonious
in pursuing the prudent objectives, and that has resulted in consolidated
national unity, fine economic infrastructure, and fine social
infrastructure that amounts to greater longevity and higher education
standard of the people.

Today, the government is implementing the Project for Development of
Border Areas and National Races, the 24-Special Region Development Project
the Rural Development Project for equitable development of all parts of
the nation. In that regard, thanks to the active participation of the mass
of workers, the people are now in a position to enjoy the fruitful results
of the projects.

The government is seeking ways and means to harmonize the State sector and
private sector in pursuance of the goal of building an industrialized
nation with economic growth resulting from development in the agricultural
sector.

In its bid to industrialize the nation, the government has established
many industrial zones across the nation, and so the contribution (If the
private-owned industries to the industrial sector is growing considerably.
The ratio of the industrial sector contribution to the GDP is on the
increase year by year thanks to growing local and foreign investments and
establishment of more and more State-owned heavy industries.

So, the government has been able to generate a large number of job
opportunities. Now, the government is nurturing and training the workers
into human resources.

In recognition of the important role of the workers in the nation-building
tasks, the government guarantees the fundamental rights of workers such as
security of workers, worksite safety, correct solutions to trade disputes,
and improvement of their living standard.

Now, the State constitution drawn with the basic principles at the
National Convention by the delegates including the delegates of workers,
has been approved with the votes of the great Majority of the voters at
the referendum.

In accordance with the new constitution, elections will be held in 2010 to
form hluttaws (parliaments).

It is, therefore, required of the workers to work hard hand in hand with
the people, employing the knowledge and experiences gained throughout the
successive periods and evaluating the objective conditions for successful
completion of the State's seven-step Road Map designed to build a
peaceful, modem and developed nation.

On such an auspicious occasion of the Workers Day, I wish the entire
workers, blue collar and white collar, a success in serving the national
interest, working harder than ever in production and services sectors with
physical and mental wellbeing. — MNA