BurmaNet News, May 12, 2009

[Editor]

May 12, 2009, Issue #3708


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Suu Kyi health improving, party says
AP: Detained American visited Suu Kyi before
Irrawaddy: Internet users face more restrictions

ON THE BORDER
New Age (Bangladesh): Bangladesh prepares to approach UN over maritime
dispute with India, Burma

HEALTH / AIDS
DVB: Lethal dengue fever hits Irrawaddy

REGIONAL
Financial Times (UK): Burmese lose foreign jobs

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: Monsoon rains threaten Myanmar cyclone survivors-UN
AP: Slow aid workers' visa process

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Threatening Suu Kyi’s health – Kyaw Zwa Moe
The Seoul Times: Is Burma junta learning from Nargis! – Nava Thakuria

PRESS RELEASE
AIPMC: ASEAN must ensure Myanmar’s democracy leader is healthy and free
Asian Human Rights Commission: Imprisoned Burmese prodemocracy activist is
awarded 2009 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Award



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 12, Associated Press
Suu Kyi health improving, party says

The political party of detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi says her health has improved after she suffered dehydration and low
blood pressure last week.

National League for Democracy spokesman Nyan Win said Tuesday that one of
the Nobel laureate's medics, Dr. Pyone Moe Ei, was allowed to visit Suu
Kyi Monday afternoon at her lakeside home and reported that her condition
has improved.

Suu Kyi's chief doctor, Tin Myo Win, was detained for questioning last
Thursday after an American man was arrested for allegedly sneaking into
her closely guarded home early last week.

Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 13 of the last 19 years under house
arrest, is allowed virtually no visitors aside from her doctor. Myanmar
has been under military rule since 1962.

____________________________________

May 12, Associated Press
Detained American visited Suu Kyi before – Grant Peck

An American accused of swimming across a lake to sneak into the home of
detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi may have made another
secret visit to her last year.

Last week's incident initially thought to be the first case of someone
creeping unnoticed into Suu Kyi's closely guarded compound has raised
fears that the Nobel Peace laureate may have been ensnared in activities
that could put her in further legal trouble.

Authorities on Tuesday tightened security in the back of Suu Kyi's
lakeside home. Workers rolled barbed wire along the water's edge, where a
newly erected fence was built of tall wooden poles, according to witnesses
who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

A news report in a Myanmar-language Web site published two photos said to
have been found in the digital camera of the visitor, identified by the
U.S. Embassy as John William Yettaw. One photo shows a heavyset,
middle-aged man posing for a self-portrait in front of a mirror. The
report says Yettaw is from Falcon, Missouri.

The Web site, tharkinwe.com, seems to be close to the country's
military-ruled government and hostile to Suu Kyi's democracy movement.

Pro-democracy activists and diplomats in Yangon have voiced suspicions
that the incident may have been concocted by the government. There has
been no government comment beyond the original report in the state-run
press.

Suu Kyi has already spent more than 13 of the last 19 years including the
past six in detention without trial for her nonviolent promotion of
democracy, despite international pressure for her release. She has
recently been ill, suffering from dehydration and low blood pressure. Dr.
Pyone Moe Ei was allowed to see her on Monday afternoon, and Nyan Win, a
spokesman for Suu Kyi's party, said Tuesday that her medical condition had
improved after the doctor administered an IV drip.

Her usual doctor, Tin Myo Win, was detained last week for questioning
after the swimming incident.

Her house is a restricted zone, she has no telephone, and she cannot be
contacted for comment.
Myanmar's state-run newspapers reported last week that Yettaw swam about 1
1/4 miles (2 kilometers) on the night of May 3 to the lakeside home of the
63-year-old Suu Kyi and left the same way on the night of May 5, before
being arrested the next morning.

The reports said the man was found with an empty 1.3-gallon (5-liter)
plastic water jug presumably used as a floatation device as well as a U.S.
passport, a flashlight, pliers, a camera, two $100 bills and some local
currency.

Aside from the number of his passport and the claim that the man arrived
in Yangon on May 2 and spent two full days inside Suu Kyi's compound, no
other details were given. The authorities were said to be investigating
his motives.

The U.S. Embassy has requested access to the detained man, which as of
Tuesday had still not been granted, embassy spokesman Richard Mei said. He
confirmed that Yettaw had made a previous visit to Myanmar, and said his
family had been told of his arrest.
Mei said the embassy did not know about Yettaw's activities.

The most surprising assertion on the tharkinwe.com Web site was that
Yettaw had confessed to swimming to Suu Kyi's house during his earlier
visit to Myanmar in late 2008 and staying there for a longer period. It
cited him saying he scouted his swimming route using the Google Earth web
service.

The Web site's report also said on arrival last week at Suu Kyi's house,
Yettaw first met her two female assistants a mother and daughter who are
her sole allowed companions and told them he was tired and hungry after
the swim and has diabetes. The two women, supporters of Suu Kyi's party,
were said to have given him food.

One of many strict rules the junta imposes on citizens is that they must
notify local officials about any overnight visitor who is not a family
member. The law also states that foreigners are not allowed to spend the
night at a local's home.

Some members of Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, have
been jailed for about two weeks for violating that law.

"I'm not really concerned she could be penalized for this break-in because
she didn't invite him in," said Nyan Win, adding that it was worrisome how
easily the man accessed her home. "My main concern is her security."

Suu Kyi is not allowed visitors, aside from her doctor. On infrequent
occasions, she is allowed out under tight guard to meet with fellow party
leaders and visiting U.N. representatives.

Associated Press Writer Maria Fisher in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed
to this report.

____________________________________

May 12, Irrawaddy
Internet users face more restrictions – Arkar Moe

Internet users in Burma are finding it more difficult to register new
G-mail accounts while the military authorities have warned Internet café
owners not to assist customers in opening email accounts, according to
several Internet café owners and users in Rangoon.

“I had to contact my friends abroad and ask them to open a G-mail account
for me as I couldn’t do it over here,” said a student at Dagon University.

She added that most Internet users have faced similar difficulties since
March.

Yahoo and Hotmail are banned in the military-run country. G-mail can be
accessed through proxy servers although it is also banned.

The Burmese military government is notorious for controlling the flow of
information into and out of the country.

“Burma leads the dishonor roll,” said the New York-based Committee to
Protect Journalists (CPJ), a leading media watchdog, in its April report.
CPJ named Burma as the worst violator of Internet freedom in the world.

Internet cafés which get caught helping customers open G-mail accounts by
running bypass programs are to be closed down, said the owner of an
Internet café in Mayangone Township in Rangoon.

“Our café only helps people we know when we are asked to open an email
account,” he said. “We don’t help strangers because we will be in trouble
if the authorities find out.”

The military regime has blocked the well-known Google research engine and
its Google mail service since June 2006.

The regime has been constructing a “silicon valley,” called Yadanabon
Cyber City, in Maymyo in Mandalay Division since June 2006. According to
state-run newspapers, the facility is intended to serve as the sole
nationwide Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Burma.

One computer technician said, “The Cyber City will likely be used to
control Internet users and the flow of information.

“The government is losing its cyber battle because of Google high
technology, but it has kept trying to block access to popular e-mail
services, including G-mail,” he said, adding that the government can’t
eradicate e-mail completely, but can slow it down and shut it down
temporarily.

“It is believed that the junta is concentrating on Yadanabon Cyber City in
preparation for controlling and monitoring the flow of information before
the 2010 election,” he added.

Burma currently has three ISPs: state-run Myanmar Posts and
Telecommunications (MPT), which operates Myanmar Info-tech;
semi-government-owned Myanmar Teleport (formerly Bagan Net); and
Hanthawaddy National Gateway.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy in September, a senior member of the Myanmar
Computer Professionals Association said that Hanthawaddy National
Gateway—Burma’s newest ISP, which was launched in July 2008—is expected to
become the largest ISP in the country.

He said it receives technical assistance from Alcatel Shanghai Bell
Company, which is represented in Burma by Tay Za, a wealthy tycoon and
close associate of senior leaders of Burma’s military junta.

Hanthawaddy National Gateway is to be linked to the Yadanabon teleport in
Mandalay and will provide access to subscribers in every state and
division except Rangoon Division. It is currently only available to
military officials, he said.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 12, New Age (Bangladesh)
Bangladesh prepares to approach UN over maritime dispute with India, Burma

Dhaka is set to raise its objection at the United Nations [UN] shortly to
India and Myanmar's [Burma's] claims over certain areas in the Bay of
Bengal which has led to disputes over delimitation of maritime boundaries.

Bangladesh is preparing its case for extraction of marine resources,
especially gas exploration, in the Bay of Bengal but has not been able to
invite tenders for block bidding as its maritime boundary has not been
demarcated as yet.

'We are taking preparations to put forward our objection at the UN by June
to Myanmar's claim and by November to India's claim in the Bay of Bengal,'
an official involved with the process told New Age on Monday [11 May].

Myanmar has already submitted its claim on maritime delimitation to the
Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a UN body to deal with
the law of the sea, last December while India is set to submit its claim
today [12 May].

According to the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, Bangladesh
must demarcate its sea boundaries by July 27, 2011, India by June 29, 2009
and Myanmar by May 21, 2009.

About the latest developments over the issue, retired commodore Khorshed
Alam, an additional secretary to the foreign ministry, told New Age that
according to the UN provision, claims submitted by any country would not
be taken for final consideration before settling the objection raised by a
neighbouring country which might have overlapping claims.

The former navy official, assigned for handling the issue, said that
Bangladesh was well preparing to lay its claims at the United Nations
before the deadline.

Dhaka resumed negotiations with India and Myanmar last year, during the
regime of the military-controlled interim government, after a lapse of
almost three decades.

Dhaka opted to go for the negotiations as India and Myanmar recently
opposed Bangladesh's offshore block bidding for exploration of oil and gas
even within its territorial waters as Dhaka did not have an
internationally accepted exclusive economic zone.

Bangladesh has problems with India and Myanmar on the issue of 'starting
point' on how to mark the coastlines from the exclusive economic zone that
has apparently overlapped claims of the three neighbouring countries due
to the funnel-like shape of the Bay of Bengal.

A country is supposed to enjoy its right to fish and extract and explore
other marine resources in its exclusive economic zone, an area of 200
nautical miles into an adjacent sea, according to international maritime
law.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

May 12, Democratic Voice of Burma
Lethal dengue fever hits Irrawaddy – Naw Say Phaw

A lethal strain of dengue fever has hit Burma’s southern Irrawaddy
division, and left hospitals struggling to cope with the influx of
patients, many of whom are under seven-years-old.

A resident of Irrawaddy’s Henzada town said that the local hospital was
running out of beds in its children's ward.

“The hospital staff now have to use chairs as makeshift beds for all the
child patients in the town and from nearby small townships,” said the
resident.

“Recently, two children have died of the fever and the hospital is asking
help from sympathisers to donate as many beds as they can.”

He added that local clinics were also being crowded with children who
suffered from the fever.

Hemorrhagic dengue fever is passed through the bite of a mosquito, and is
common in Burma around the onset of the monsoon season.

Another resident from Henzada’s Yongyi ward said that locals in his area
were also suffering from chicken pox and an outbreak of dysentery.

Henzada township hospital and the Township Peace and Development Council
were unavailable for comment.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 12, Financial Times (UK)
Burmese lose foreign jobs – Amy Kazmin

For six years Soe Lin sold insurance in Singapore, sending half the $2,700
she earned each month back to Burma to help her parents, whose combined
salaries were just a fraction of hers.

But as the global financial crisis hit Singapore last year, insurance
sales plummeted and Soe Lin’s employer sacked many of her co-workers.
Fearful she could be next, Soe Lin, 36, found what she thought would be a
more secure job as a logistics manager for a German electrical components
company.

Then in February, three months after she joined, the German company cut
many of its senior executives, including Soe Lin. Today she is back in
Rangoon, jobless and worried about how she will support her parents, a
senior civil servant and a university professor who are both nearing
retirement. Her younger brother, an engineer, has also just returned from
Singapore, where he was laid off by a tool assembly plant.

“If I stay in Singapore it costs $600 [€430, £400] per month for basic
living, so I decided to come back and stay with my parents for free and
wait for opportunity to come,” she says. “A lot of my friends there are
losing jobs.”

Chafing under military rule, Burma may appear cut off from the global
economic turmoil. Yet millions of Burmese families are dependent on
remittances from relatives working overseas.

Already there are signs that this financial lifeline could dry up as
countries including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have been affected by
the global crisis – and cut their foreign workers loose. While no firm
figures are available, anecdotal evidence, including flights from
south-east Asian capitals crowded with young Burmese on their way home,
suggests a significant inflow of returning workers.

“Our people outside are losing their jobs and that’s going to hurt,” says
a Rangoon-based economist.

More than 2m Burmese have fanned out across south-east Asia, seeking
refuge from a dysfunctional economy that is unable to provide work for the
large number of young people who join the workforce each year.

Educated Burmese are engaged as engineers, sales staff and hotel managers
in Singapore, while those with lower skills fill factories, construction
sites, restaurants and other labour-intensive jobs across the region. Tens
of thousands of Burmese work on the high seas as cargo seamen. Nearly all
workers send a good portion of their salaries home.

No reliable statistics chart Burmese remittance flows, in part because
most bypass the formal banking system. Yet there is little doubt that
their combined value far exceeds Burma’s meagre foreign aid inflows,
excluding those stemming from the devastating May 2008 landing of cyclone
Nargis.

Now many Burmese families are braced for straitened circumstances. Aung
Kyaw, an articulate 22-year-old, has just completed a two-year tourism
management course in Singapore. He was supported by his parents – small
traders who saved to pay the $13,500 tuition and living costs.

Aung Kyaw’s intense two-month job search has turned up nothing, forcing
him to return to Rangoon and a $50 a month translation job at a private
news journal. “I feel quite disappointed, and my parents are quite
depressed,” he says. “But there is nothing I can do.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 12, Reuters
Monsoon rains threaten Myanmar cyclone survivors-UN – Jonathan Lynn

One year after Cyclone Nargis devastated a swathe of Myanmar, and with the
monsoon rains setting in once more, survivors need increased international
aid to prevent more deaths, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Cyclone Nargis swept across Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta and southern Yangon
on May 2, 2008, killing nearly 140,000 people and displacing 2.4 million.

"With the monsoon coming we are facing the humanitarian crisis again,"
Mariko Sato, rapid response coordinator for the U.N. human settlements
programme UN-HABITAT, told a media conference.

"Tarpaulins and thatch are being torn and dilapidated and destroyed so
that needs to be replaced immediately before the monsoon comes," she said.

The world community donated $315 million to the army-ruled former Burma in
the aftermath of the disaster, said Bishow Parajuli, U.N. resident and
humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar. That money went on food, livelihood
assistance, shelter, agriculture, medical care and schools.

But with rice paddy fields inundated with sea water and many people still
living in temporary shelter, more is needed.

The U.N., Myanmar and its southeast Asian neighbours launched a three-year
$691 million recovery plan in February.

So far about $100 million has come in, he said.

Following the cyclone, Myanmar families received $23 on average to repair
thatched roofs, Sato said. That compares with an average of $10,000 per
family in Sri Lanka for shelter after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

As a result, many survivors are still living in poorly covered shelters
vulnerable to bad weather.

Because many countries impose sanctions on Myanmar in protest at its
military junta's policies, the country receives the lowest level per head
of overseas development aid -- $2.88 -- of any country, Parajuli said.

"If you visit the people of Myanmar and look into the various development
and humanitarian challenges I think it is important that the level of
support is increased," he said.

Parajuli said the U.N. was working with Myanmar authorities to help the
government contribute more to recovery and was encouraging them to
reinstate a recently cancelled fast-track visa programme to let aid
workers into the country more quickly.

Parajuli denied reports that aid was being diverted, and said the
authorities were allowing the 17-18 U.N. agencies and more than 50
non-governmental organisations working in the country to deliver it
directly to communities.

"Aid can be delivered, and aid is being delivered, and it is absolutely
fully accounted for, and there is a very transparent mechanism," Parajuli
said. "What is the problem is that we have the lowest level of aid coming
in."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in February that sanctions
had not worked and new ways to sway the regime must be found. (Editing by
Louise Ireland) (For more information on humanitarian crises and issues
visit www.alertnet.org)

____________________________________

May 12, Associated Press
Slow aid workers' visa process

A UN representative in Myanmar says he is concerned at the government's
decision to cancel fast-track visa issuing for foreign aid workers.

Bishow Parajuli says the decision will slow the arrival of new aid workers
before the cyclone season.

Cyclone Nargis last year caused devastation in many parts of the country,
killing 140,000 and leaving many more homeless.

The UN says half a million vulnerable people still need permanent shelter.

Mr Parajuli told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the UN is urging the
military-led government of Myanmar to learn from past experience that has
shown the fast-track system was crucial to getting large numbers of aid
workers into the country quickly.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 12, Irrawaddy
Threatening Suu Kyi’s health – Kyaw Zwa Moe

Here’s a relevant question that no one has raised yet: is the Burmese
junta deliberately manipulating events in hope that Aung San Suu Kyi will
die from natural causes, which—in this case—would not be natural at all?

That’s not possible, you say? The ruling generals in Naypyidaw see the
63-year-old pro-democracy movement leader as an “enemy of the state.” They
believe she’s the No 1 enemy, the leader of the “destructive elements”
that threaten their rule and who have sabotaged “the peace and stability
of the country.”

So, is it out of the question that the generals would be happy if Suu Kyi
died by natural causes or was physically impaired? They can’t assassinate
her because of the counterproductive reaction from the international
community, even from such loyal allies as China and Russia. But they can
ensure that her medical treatment is lacking or dispensed at a minimum
level.

You can judge for yourself regarding the incidents that unfolded last week
at her lakeside house at No 54 University Avenue. Actually, the house is
not a real home for the Nobel peace laureate. For 13 years, it’s been her
prison.

Suu Kyi now has low blood pressure; she is dehydrated; she has difficulty
eating. In short, she is ill again, but on Thursday her primary physician
was barred from visiting her for a routine medical checkup and detained
for questioning.

Another doctor treated her with an intravenous drip on Friday. Following
her request and demands by the National League for Democracy (NLD), she
was allowed to return on Saturday and Monday.

"We are worried about Daw Suu's health,” said NLD spokesman Nyan Win last
week.
“Authorities should allow free access of her doctor to give Daw Suu the
required medical treatment."

If you look at these and earlier incidents in light of basic humanity, law
and human rights you can see a pattern of willful negligence by the
regime. Of course, in Burma the local population is used to neglect.

The fact is that Suu Kyi has been detained illegally for 13 years, with no
just cause and only the minimum of proper medical treatment, which could
lead to an early death or a premature loss of physical strength.

This month is more critical than ever for the junta. Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Kyi
Win, said that according to the law, she should be released on May 27, the
date marking six years since May 2003 when her NLD motorcade was attacked
by a junta-backed mob in upper Burma and she was detained.

Suu Kyi’s lawyer is right, but the generals redo their own rules and laws,
using them like a rubber band—to stretch and shrink at will.

For example, Suu Kyi was detained for the first time in 1989 under 10 (b)
of the State Provision Act, under which a person could be detained under
house arrest for a maximum of three years under the existing law. But one
year later, the government changed the law to a maximum of five years. Suu
Kyi was detained at that time until 1995, a total of six years.

This is a critical moment for the generals, since they plan to hold a
national election in 2010. If Suu Kyi is free, it greatly complicates the
election. In 1990, the junta held an election while Suu Kyi was under
house arrest, believing the state-backed National Unity Party, formed by
former members of the dictator Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Programme Party,
could win the election. Instead, Suu Kyi’s NLD party won by landslide.

If a healthy Suu Kyi is free prior to the 2010 election her most loyal
supporters and the general public will return to the political activism of
1995 and 2002 when she was free.

In light of that, you should expect the generals to find a way not to
release Suu Kyi, in spite of their own law.

So what now? Several options could play out during the course of the next
year.

The junta’s rubber-band law could find a way to keep her under house
arrest. Or perhaps Suu Kyi does develop a serious illness, effectively
limiting her leadership ability.

Or, if the regime does release her—somehow seeing a political gain in that
act—it could always fabricate a new reason for her arrest, as it did in
2003.

____________________________________

May 12, The Seoul Times
Is Burma junta learning from Nargis! – Nava Thakuria

It is one year now, since the devastating tropical cyclone that struck
Burma (officially known as Myanmar). The deadly cyclone hit the Burmese
land in the first week of May last year and left a trail of devastation in
the entire Irrawaddy and Rangoon (Yangon) divisions of the country.

Originated from the Bay of Bengal, Nargis also partially destroyed the
areas under the Bago, Mon and Kayin region. With human casualties, the
cyclone added to the damage of social infrastructures, killing of
thousands of livestock and also causing flood, wiping out paddy fields,
which were made ready for the country's primary crops rice.

Nargis hit the country on the night of May 2 and continued its devastation
till the next morning. Over 80,000 Sq Km areas with high population
density were under the slam of the cyclone that claimed nearly 140,000
people. Another few hundred thousand people went on missing.

The United Nations estimated that Nargis affected 2.4 million people and
rendered thousands families homeless. The UN Food and Agriculture
Organization estimated the loss of nearly 300,000 water buffalo and cows,
7,500 goats, 65,000 pigs, 1.5 million chicken and ducks. It also destroyed
the fish ponds, hatcheries and shrimp farms in the localities.

Moreover, nearly 10,00,000 acres of farmland in Irrawaddy and 3,00,000
acres in Rangoon division were destroyed. Similarly Nargis damaged over
800 000 houses, including schools and hospitals.

Of course, the military government reported the final death toll as only
84,537 only. The government-run daily newspaper ‘The New Light of
Myanmar', revealed that the storm left 53,836 missing and 19,359 people
injured. Burma has neither independent media nor easy internet access
through out the country.

In fact, Nargis helped exposing the State Peace and DevelopmentCouncil,
which rules Burma, to the world communities. The military junta not only
wanted to hide the statistics of casualty, but also prevented initially
the international aid workers to enter the country. International agencies
and local donors were stopped from entering the affected areas and also
delivering aid, which was meant for hundreds of thousands of people in
jeopardy.

The military regime at its new capital Naypyidaw, which is north of
Rangoon, had an apprehension that the massive flow of foreign aid workers
to their country might create trouble for them in the coming days. Even
the SPDC chief senior general Than Shwe got time to visit those victims
only after international criticism came out in a bigger way.

The military rulers were softened only after the personal visit of the UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the middle of May. Slowly the
communication between Naypyidaw and the international agencies got
improved. Visas and travel permits were made little easier and faster for
the foreign aid workers.

India, which maintains strategic relationship with Burma, was one of early
supplier of aid to the cyclone victims. New Delhi launched Operation
Sahayata to deliver more than 175 tonnes of relief materials including
food supplies, tents and medicines. Moreover, the Indian government
successfully pursued with the junta to accept the international aid. Later
a team of 50 medical personnel was also sent by India to the Irrawaddy
delta.

After 12 months of the disaster, the situation remained almost same. Now
there are no refuges in the camps, as the military dismantled those nearly
six months back. But the affected people are still living with acute
shortage of pure drinking water and food, not to speak of proper shelter.
More over most of the victims, who survived Nargis, are facing unending
trauma.

"The humanitarian situation in Burma remains desperate even a year after
Nargis," said a young Burmese writer Zoya Phan. The author of 'Little
Daughter', while talking to the London based Sky News, revealed that the
poor Burmese were still struggling to rebuild their lives. Zoya, 28, also
added, "Those who survived had their attempts to recover hindered by the
country's military rulers, who obstructed the access of vital aid supplies
in the aftermath of the cyclone."

Tyaza Thuria, a Burmese exile living in Europe, claimed that nearly two
million people, mostly farmers and their families, were still living in
horrible situations. Talking to this writer, Tyaza expressed his anger
that the military regime had done nothing for the rehabilitation for the
cyclone victims.

"They are only interested in retaining the political power. So they went
ahead with their plans for referendum (only to forcefully approve the
pro-military constitution) and finally to install a puppet civilian regime
after the 2010 polls," he asserted.

Meanwhile, the UN has highlighted urgent needs for the cyclone affected
people. Addressing a donor meeting in Rangoon during the first week of
April, Bishow Parajuli, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator,
emphasized that there was still an imminent need for sustainable shelter
and agricultural support ahead of the monsoon season.

"Whilst steadily recovering from cyclone Nargis affected areas remains
high on the agenda, the UN also addresses needs for funding to other parts
of the country, where immense humanitarian and development challenges
exists," Parajuli added.

Organized by the UN, the meting was attended by around 70participants,
including the Heads of Diplomatic missions, UN Agenciesand National and
International Non Governmental Organizations. Speaking to this writer from
Rangoon, Astrid Sehl, the communication officer of United Nations in
Myanmar, admitted that the level of humanitarian assistance that currently
being provided in Burma was much lower than the actual needs of the
people. She also revealed that there were no cyclone affected people
living in the camps at his moment, as those were dismantled last year.

The donors have so far reportedly contributed $US 310 million. The UN, the
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the Burmese government
have already finalized a recovery plan with the budget of another $US 691
million for restoring livelihood and housing through grants and
microfinance. It is understood that the initiative might
take three more years.

The cyclone, as it hit Burma in the beginning of the harvesting season,
made significant impact to the rice production. Primarily because of
salinity in the water, poor quality seeds, lack of draught animals and
also agricultural labours, production suffered.

A recent report of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the
World Food Programme revealed that at least 10 % people (out of 50
million) in Burma were forced to live below the food poverty line. The
report on the crop and food security assessment mission to Burma disclosed
that over five million people were finding it difficult to access to
nutritious food in Burma after the cyclone Nargis ravaged the delta region
last year.

But amidst all negative aspects, there are some positive outcomes that
emerged out from the post-Nargis humanitarian activities. The natural
disaster had finally opened up the country to the international
communities to some extent. The situation compelled the junta to join
hands with the ASEAN and the UN. The international exposure to the
alienated Burmese, who have been living under military rule for over four
decades, seems to play the role of a catalyst for a change in the coming
days.

The ASEAN secretary general Surin Pitsuwan expressed optimism that the
Burmese government and the people have gained a higher degree of
confidence after the Nargis relief and rehabilitation exercise, as they
had the opportunity to work with the international community and donors.

In fact, Pitsuwan, who served Thailand as a Foreign Minister yearsback, is
credited to break the ice in initiating for a Tripartite Core Group
comprising the representatives from the ASEAN, the UN and the Burmese
government. The forum was officially declared on May 31 last to pave way
for continuing the mission to support the Nargis victims. Win Naing (name
changed), a pro-democracy activist said that though the aid was one time
effort with no political influences, it should play an important role in
the changing political and diplomatic equation.

Speaking to this writer from an Indo-Burma border area, Win Naing added,
"We are aware of that only aid to the Nargis survivors will not bring the
change we are talking about; neither it would herald democracy for us. But
the new found link between the Burmese and the world communities is
expected to enhance the confidence of those poverty stricken people of our
country. It has the potential to influence the military rulers in the long
run for improving the human rights record in Burma.'

____________________________________
STATEMENT

May 12, ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus
ASEAN must ensure Myanmar’s democracy leader is healthy and free

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) is gravely concerned
about the lack of proper medical monitoring, attention and care given to
the health condition of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by the country’s military
regime.

The organisation repeats its call for constant and adequate medical
attention to be given to her especially following recent reports
indicating that she had suffered from low blood pressure and dehydration
and has had difficulty eating.

Parliamentarians from the ASEAN region strongly call on ASEAN Heads of
State and its foreign missions to immediately intervene and make necessary
efforts in ensuring the regime complies with basic human rights
principles, as subscribed to in the ASEAN Charter, and adequately tend to
Daw Aung Suu Kyi’s situation.

Despite latest reports indicating that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s health is
improving, from the grave condition in which it was a few days ago,
leaders of ASEAN member states should act immediately to show their
disapproval of the military junta’s actions in mismanaging the medical
care of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

AIPMC is further concerned with reports that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s
personal doctor, Dr. Tin Myo Win, was detained by authorities and
prevented from seeing his patient, at a crucial time. AIPMC is concerned
for the safety and security of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s chief physician and
the impact that this would have on health.

AIPMC urges the military junta to immediately allow Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
to be assessed, treated and monitored by her personal doctor, Dr. Tin Myo
Win.

Additionally, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s current term of detention is set to
expire at the end of May. She has been under house arrest continuously for
the past six years. The junta has not yet indicated whether it will again
extend her detention. Further detention would be in violation of national
laws and continued deprival of justice.

AIPMC supports all international calls for her release and further
urgently calls on world leaders and the United Nations Secretary General
to use all available means to ensure that the junta does not extend Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention.

Ensuring her freedom is especially urgent in light of her declining health.

Signed by: Committee of the AIPMC. The AIPMC is an organisation comprising
Parliamentarians from various ASEAN member-states.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

May 12, Asian Human Rights Commission
Imprisoned Burmese prodemocracy activist is awarded 2009 Gwangju Prize for
Human Rights Award

The AHRC congratulates Mr. Min ko Naing, who is presently serving a prison
sentence in Burma for fighting for democracy for this country on receipt
of the 2009 Gwangju Human Rights Award. We reproduce below the
announcement of the May 18 Foundation on his being awarded the prize.

*****

The situation regarding democracy and human rights in Myanmar/Burma
remains dire. At this very moment, many pro-democracy activists are locked
up in freezing cold cells. The international community has put pressure on
Burma's military junta, taking consistent interest in the nation's
pro-democracy movement. Despite its efforts, some countries around the
world have turned a deaf ear to the issue due to conflicts of interest.
After the military junta crushed the "Saffron Revolution" with brutal
force, the UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari visited Burma, meeting with
Aung San Suu Kyi, a democratic leader of the country, in 2008. However,
such efforts to demonstrate the international community's commitment to
the region have been to no avail, and have only led to further
disappointment with Burma.

Born in the Burmese capital of Yangon in 1962, Min Ko Naing organized the
All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), a nationwide student
union, in 1988. Later, he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for
triggering the "8888 Uprising". After being imprisoned for 15 years, he
was released from prison and continued his pro-democracy resistance.
Finally he was re-arrested and sentenced to 65 years imprisonment for
organizing a demonstration which gave rise to the Saffron Uprising. He is
currently serving this sentence.

According to an international human rights watchdog, the number of
prisoners of conscience who, like Min Ko Naing, have been arrested and
imprisoned for engaging in protests and anti-government activities,
amounts to about 2,000. In the aftermath of the devastating natural
disaster which hit Burma in May, 2007, the international community tried
to reach out to the afflicted country. Burma's military junta, however,
decided to reject this helping hand. To make matters worse, the
authoritarian regime arrested and detained protesters, killing at least
several hundred people, including foreign journalists, involved in the
nationwide demonstration driven by saffron-robed Buddhist monks.

The 2009 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Committee has therefore chosen Min
Ko Naing to be this year's prizewinner. Min Ko Naing and his colleagues
have devoted themselves to Burma's democratization, and it is their
devotion that we hope to remember and share as we commemorate the May 18
Gwangju Uprising. The committee sincerely desires that Min Ko Naing and
other political prisoners be released as soon as possible, and hopes that
democracy will truly take root in this country.

2009 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Committee

Chairperson:
Moon Young-hee, Vice President of Korea Democracy Foundation

Committee Members:
Kim Chil-jun, Secretary-General of National Human Rights Commission
Yoon Gwang-jang, Chairman of the May 18 Memorial Foundation
Lee Jung-hyun, Korea National Assembly
Cha Sung-hwan, Director of Pusan Democratic Memorial Association

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues
in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.