From editor at burmanet.org Thu Nov 5 18:28:34 2009 From: editor at burmanet.org (Editor) Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 18:28:34 -0500 (EST) Subject: BurmaNet News, November 4, 2009 Message-ID: <58661.63.173.78.131.1257463714.squirrel@webmail6.pair.com> November 5, 2009 Issue #3834 INSIDE BURMA Financial Times (via WP): Results of U.S.-Burma meeting are unclear NLM: US Assistant Secretary of State for Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs meetings Irrawaddy: Junta continues crackdown ON THE BORDER IHT: A Rebel stronghold in Myanmar on alert Kaladan Press: More Rohingyas pushed back to Burma Mizzima: Raids continue in KNU members' homes BUSINESS / TRADE Xinhua: Myanmar PM leaves for first Mekong-Japan summit in Tokyo ENVIRONMENT VOA: Minority communities say Burma development projects lead to abuses REGIONAL VOA: Burmese 'Trafficked' To Thailand INTERNATIONAL Financial Times: US warns Burma on election credibility OPINION / OTHER BEWG: Report highlights impacts of military-led development strategies Amnesty International: EU and India must work together at UN to protect human rights ____________________________________ INSIDE BURMA November 5, Financial Times via Washington Post Results of U.S.-Burma meeting are unclear - Tim Johnston Bangkok - After a rare trip by high-level U.S. diplomats to Burma, there is was little indication from either nation Thursday about how the Obama administration's overture of engagement had been received. Burmese state media merely noted that Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel had met Prime Minister Thein Sein during the visit on Tuesday and Wednesday. The pair are the highest-level officials to visit Burma, also known as Myanmar, in 14 years. Marciel declined to say how the government, the opposition or Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader whom they also met with, had received their visit. "The main purpose of the visit was to explain to the key parties there -- the government, political parties, the opposition, ethnic minorities -- the context of our recently completed policy review, but also to hear from them their views and their ideas," Marciel told a seminar on his return to Thailand. The policy review left U.S. sanctions in place while promoting engagement with the prospect that progress toward democratic principles would be rewarded. But it is a high-stakes game at a time when the administration's commitment to re-engaging with other previously outcast regimes, such as Iran, is coming under increasing scrutiny. "There's a danger that the junta thinks that a bit of lip service will get them through this, and that would leave the administration with a real problem," said Michael Green, who served on President George W. Bush's National Security Council. He said that although engagement was vital, the State Department had to make clear that a lack of progress would come at a cost to the military junta, which has remained remarkably resilient to outside pressure in the past. The thrust of this week's visit was to encourage the generals who run the country to talk to Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but was never allowed to take office, and the myriad marginalized ethnic groups. "The is a lot of talk about elections, there is a lot of talks about sanctions, but fundamentally the main problem there is the lack of an inclusive political process, and we think a dialogue among the key players is the way forward," Marciel said. ____________________________________ November 5, The New Light of Myanmar (Myanmar Alin) US Assistant Secretary of State for Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and party meet with social organizations, National Convention Convening Commission, Commission for Holding Referendum, TCG and Spoke Authoritative Team of SPDC, national race groups before leaving Nay Pyi Taw for Yangon Nay Pti Taw - The delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State for Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Mr. Kurt Michael Campbell of the United States of America arrived here by air at 10.30 am yesterday. Mr. Kurt Michael Campbell and party met responsible persons of the Union Solidarity and Development Association led by Secretary-General U Htay Oo, and Secretary Dr Thet Thet Zin and responsible persons of the Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation at the hall of USDA in Nay Pyi Taw Dekkhinathiri at 11 am; responsible persons of the National Convention Convening Commission and the Commission for Holding Referendum led by Chief Justice U Aung Toe at the hall of Office No. 22 in Nay Pyi Taw at 1.30 pm; responsible persons of the Tripartite Core Group led by Chairman of Tripartite Core Group Chairman of Civil Service Selection and Training Board U Kyaw Thu at the hall of CSSTB, here, at 2.30 pm; the Spoke Authoritative Team of the State Peace and Development Council led by Minister for Information Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan at the meeting hall of the Ministry of Information, here, at 3.40 pm; the chairman, the vice-chairman and leaders of NDKA group of Kachin State Special Region (1), KDA group of Shan State (North) Special Region (5), PNO group of Shan State Special Region (6), Ka La La Ta group of Kayah State Special Region (1), Phayagon Special Region Peace Group and DKBA group at Myat Taw Win Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw Hotel Zone at 5.30 pm; and Minister for Science and Technology U Thaung at Myat Taw Win Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw Hotel Zone at 6.10 pm. At 7.50 pm, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs U Maung Myint hosted a dinner to Mr. Kurt Michael Campbell and party at Myat Taw Win Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw Hotel Zone. At 10 am today, Mr. Kurt Michael Campbell and party left Nay Pyi Taw for Yangon by air. They were seen off at Nay Pyi Taw Airport by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On arrival at Yangon International Airport, Mr. Kurt Michael Campbell and party were welcomed by the director-general of the Training, Research and Language Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and party. Next, Mr. Kurt Michael Campbell and party met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at Inya Lake Hotel at 11.40 am. The arrangements have been made for the US Assistant Secretary and party to meet with Central Executive Committee members at the office of National League for Democracy and the CEC members of National Unity Party at the NUP Headquarters. Moreover, arrangements have been made for the US Assistant Secretary and party to meet with representatives of the remaining legally registered political parties at the hotel. In accordance with the request of Mr. Kurt Michael Campbell, the Government made plans to arrange a meeting between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD CEC members before meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. At 3.30 pm on 2 November, an official informed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi about arrangements for a meeting with the CEC members except U Tin Oo and asked her the desired time of the meeting. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi replied that she did not want to meet them because not all CEC members were included; but she expressed thanks, all the same. Although the Government took heed of the request of Mr. Kurt Michael Campbell and acceded to the requests with positive attitude with the aims of promoting bilateral relations between the two countries and improving the local political situations, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi refused it. Therefore, the meeting between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and CEC members had not taken place. ____________________________________ November 5, Irrawaddy Junta Continues Crackdown ? Lawi Weng Forty-one people, including journalists, artists and relief workers, have been arrested by the Burmese authorities in Rangoon in October and are being held in unknown locations, according to the rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners?Burma (AAPP). Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Thailand-based group, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday, ?We got confirmation that 41 people were arrested on October, but we don?t know all of them or where they have been taken. We don?t even know the reason they were arrested. We also have information that there are more people in hiding.? The detainees include Khant Min Htet, a writer; Paing Soe Oo, a freelance journalist; Thant Zin Soe, and Nyi Nyi Tun, editors; Min Satta, a songwriter; and Nyi Paing, a singer, according to the AAPP. The families of the detained are trying to locate their loved ones. The mother of a detainee, Khant Min Htet, said, ?They took my son two weeks ago, and I don?t have any information about where he is. I?m really worried because he was sick a lot when he was at home.? She said when the authorities took her son from her house, they told her he would be questioned, and then released. Bo Kyi said, ?They [Burmese authorities] don?t treat people accordingly to the rule of law when they are arrested. They don?t inform the detainees? families. They take them to some interrogation camp where they beat and torture them in order to get the confession they want.? According to AAPP, 2,119 political prisoners are being held in prisons across the country. Meanwhile, Ni Mo Hlaing, a member of the National League for Democracy, has been hospitalized in Thayet Prison, according to her family. Ni Mo Hlaing?s sister told The Irrawaddy that Ni Mo Hlaing is very ill, and she is not eating properly. Her sister said they cried together when she visited her last month. ?Her face is very pale. She is skinny and has lost weight,? she said. Ni Mo Hlaing was arrested in 2008 following the demonstrations and was sentenced to 7 and one-half years in prison. According to the AAPP, 138 political prisoners have died in Burmese prisons since 1988 and at least 115 are currently in poor health. ____________________________________ ON THE BORDER November 6, International Herald Tribune A Rebel Stronghold in Myanmar on Alert Mong Hpen, Myanmar ? Conquering armies of centuries past avoided this remote, mountainous area along the present-day border with China, a place once described by a British colonial official as ?an unpenetrated enclave of savage hills.? Inhabited by the Wa, an ethnic group once notorious for headhunting, neither the British colonial overlords nor the Burmese kings who preceded them saw much point in controlling the area. But to Myanmar?s military government this rebel region is an irritating piece of unfinished business and an impediment to the long-cherished goal of national unity. Myanmar?s generals are demanding that the Wa disband their substantial army here and fully subjugate themselves to the central government, a call that has so far gone unheeded. Both sides are bracing for potential conflict. The tensions here might be glossed over by outsiders as yet another arcane dispute in strife-ridden Myanmar between the government and a mistrustful minority, except that the Wa have a well-equipped army of at least 20,000 full-time soldiers ? about twice the size of Ireland?s armed forces ? and are considered by the United States government as hosts to one of the world?s largest illicit drug operations. Conflict in the Wa-controlled areas, if it is not averted, could cause a ramping up of drug trafficking across Asia and beyond as the Wa government and other militias seek cash to buy weapons. Northern Myanmar is very much a world apart, both lawless and heavily militarized, a medieval-style patchwork of obscure ethnic armies, borderland casinos, brothels and the walled compounds of drug lords. Many rounds of negotiations between Myanmar?s generals and the ethnic groups arrayed like an arc across the northern reaches of the country have yielded nothing but delay for what many analysts believe is a likely showdown. Wa soldiers have been put on standby. ?We were told to be ready and to keep a careful watch,? said Ai Yee, a soldier from the Wa ethnic group who is based in Pangshang, the headquarters of the United Wa State Army. ?We are on the lookout for anyone coming in ? 24 hours a day.? Mr. Ai spoke cautiously and reluctantly. Few outsiders visit the areas under Wa control, except Chinese businessmen, drug traffickers and the occasional official from the United Nations. The Wa are the most heavily armed of about a dozen groups opposing calls by Myanmar?s military government to become border guards in time for the introduction of a new constitution next year. The generals who lead this country, formerly known as Burma, consider the constitution and the elections that will accompany it a milestone that will bring the national consolidation that has long eluded them. Myanmar?s top two commanders, Senior Gen. Than Shwe and Vice Senior Gen.Maung Aye, now in their 70s, appear eager to finally bring the ethnic groups to heel. But the ferocity of the Wa, their apparent lack of fear and their talent for silent, nighttime attacks remain embedded in the memories of the generals, who fought and lost many bloody battles against them in the decades after independence from Britain in 1948. The potential scale of conflict is daunting. The Wa have a significant arsenal, including about 300 shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles, antitank weapons and ample assault rifles and ammunition, said Col. Peeranate Katetem of the Thai Army, who has spent a decade tracking the Wa. Including reserve soldiers, Colonel Peeranate estimates the total troop strength of the Wa, who control two noncontiguous territories, at around 50,000 soldiers. The Wa?s fearsome reputation comes partly from their harvest rituals involving the severed heads of rival tribe members, a practice that ceased sometime after World War II. Early foreign visitors, many of them missionaries, found ?skull groves? in the jungles outside villages. Today the mystique of the Wa persists. Young children in Myanmar are told to come home before dark lest they be grabbed by the Wa. These are outdated images. Here in Mong Hpen, a stronghold of the United Wa State Army, Wa children play games at a downtown Internet cafe close to the market, which is dominated by Chinese merchants. There are reminders in Mong Hpen of what the Wa stand to lose if they capitulate to the demands of Myanmar?s rulers: Like many other ethnic groups, the Wa have their own schools, hospitals, electricity grid and phone services. The Internet here is fast and free of censorship by the Myanmar government. The handful of foreign analysts who have studied the Wa, some of whom cannot be identified because of the sensitivity of their work with foreign militaries or law enforcement agencies, say the Wa are a disciplined and militaristic society. Those who do not fall into line are severely dealt with. Municipal work in Mong Hpen is partly carried out by chain gangs: prisoners in clanking leg irons hack away at the embankment of the main road near the local jail. Older soldiers in Myanmar are inured to warfare. Fighting between the central government and Chinese-backed Communist forces, which included Wa soldiers, flared for decades until a series of cease-fire agreements beginning in 1989. All males in Wa territory are required to enter the army, and many, if not most, never leave, often pursuing dual careers as soldiers and farmers. Almost all households in the Wa and a neighboring allied fief known as Mong La include at least one man in uniform. ?We are not afraid to fight,? said Chai Saam, a soldier from the Shan ethnic group who has been in the Mong La army for 35 years and who fought frequently against the central government in the first half of his military career. ?But we are afraid the air force will burn our villages.? He added: ?We are afraid they will steal treasure from our villages. We are afraid the Burmese soldiers will rape women.? Even with their significant forces the Wa and other ethnic groups would be vastly outnumbered by the Myanmar Army, which has about 450,000 soldiers and advanced weaponry. The Wa have built a series of underground bunkers in Pangshang, according to Bertil Lintner, an expert on ethnic groups in Myanmar who is based in Thailand. But hiding might simply postpone defeat. If they are attacked, the crucial question for all the ethnic groups in northern Myanmar is what stance China would take. ?I don?t think the Wa can sustain a prolonged campaign unless they get supplies from China ? at the very least food and fuel,? Mr. Lintner said. China has divided loyalties in Myanmar. In recent years it has supported Myanmar?s central government as a geostrategic ally, coveting the country?s reserves of oil and gas and access to the Indian Ocean. But China also has long-standing ties with all the armed ethnic groups along the border, and many ethnic Chinese live, work and have businesses inside Myanmar. Almost all the ethnic groups ? the Akha, Lahu, Kachin, Shan and Wa among them ? straddle the border between Myanmar and China, and many travel across as if there were no border. Beijing has reportedly sought assurances from Thein Sein, the Myanmar prime minister, that peace will prevail along the border. After a recent meeting of Asian leaders in Thailand, China?s state-run news agency, Xinhua, quoted Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China as saying that Myanmar ?could properly handle problems and safeguard peace and stability in the China-Myanmar border region.? China has been especially concerned about the situation since attacks in August by the Myanmar military against the Kokang, a small ethnic Chinese group. That campaign, combined with another attack by government proxies against Karen rebels in June, seems to suggest that the Myanmar junta?s demands that ethnic groups yield to its control are not idle threats. The Kokang attack caused panic among wealthy ethnic Chinese families, and many fled the Wa region, according to the Shan Herald Agency for News, an online outlet devoted to news from northern Myanmar. The northern reaches of Myanmar are playgrounds of vice for Chinese tourists and businessmen who stream across the border. The territory of Mong La is run by Lin Mingxian, a former Red Guard during China?s Cultural Revolution who today has a private army of about 3,000 men, separate from but allied with the Wa forces. During daylight hours the town appears sleepy. But when night falls hundreds of prostitutes line up in orderly queues waiting for patrons who arrive in taxis. More entrepreneurial prostitutes hand out calling cards at outdoor restaurants. Hotels charge by the hour. Casinos in the nearby town of Mong Ma lure Chinese gamblers. At a morning market hawkers sell exotic animals from inland jungles ? both live and skinned. The steep hills in northern Myanmar are lined with rubber plantations that feed Chinese factories? demand for latex. There is extreme poverty ? thatch huts and farmers tending fields with buffalo ? but also much unexplained wealth: modern, walled compounds and the frequent passage of Mitsubishi Pajeros and Toyota Prado Land Cruisers, vehicles that cost well upward of $100,000 in southern Myanmar because of onerous import duties. (Residents of rebel-held areas in northern Myanmar avoid the taxes because cars are imported through Laos or China and bear license plates issued either by the Wa or Mong La governments.) United States and Thai counternarcotic officials believe that most of the Wa wealth comes from selling methamphetamine and heroin, both of which have been pouring across the border with Thailand in recent months in unusually large quantities as the Wa and other groups seek cash to buy weapons. The kingpin of the Wa drug operations is Wei Hsueh-kang, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. He is one of 19 Wa leaders sought by the American authorities. The United States is offering $2 million to anyone who helps arrest Mr. Wei, who was born in China but has held leadership positions in the Wa government over the past decade. Given their isolation it seems unlikely that the Wa leadership will be arrested anytime soon. But American counternarcotics officials argue that the indictments have limited the leaders? ability to travel and run businesses outside of their territory. ?We have shrunk their cage ? immobilized them to some degree,? said Pamela Brown, an agent for the D.E.A. based in northern Thailand. ?If at some point they travel into a country with whom the United States has an extradition treaty we are poised to extradite them.? The situation in northern Myanmar presents a dilemma for the United States, which has made overtures toward Myanmar?s generals in recent months after having only very limited contact for the past two decades. The United States would like to see a crackdown on drug lords and their protectors. But military campaigns by the Myanmar government have frequently been accompanied by widespread atrocities, including the burning of villages, the use of child soldiers and rapes. ?We?re opposed to drug trafficking, but certainly we don?t want the military to go in and attack people and create human rights violations as they have in the past,? Scot Marciel, the State Department official charged with policy for Southeast Asia, said in Bangkok Thursday. ?It?s very complicated.? To the outside world, especially countries in Asia struggling to cope with heroin and methamphetamine addictions, a critical question is how a conflict would affect the supply of illicit drugs. Mr. Lintner is pessimistic. Even if Myanmar?s military prevails against the ethnic groups, drug trafficking will not be eradicated, he said. Much of the opium harvested today in Myanmar is grown in areas currently controlled, officially at least, by the central government, he said. ?Local militias would probably persist ? and with them the drug trade,? he said. ?These areas would remain lawless.? ____________________________________ November 5, Kaladan Press More Rohingyas pushed back to Burma | Cox?s Bazaar, Bangladesh: More Rohingyas, including women and children were arrested by police and handed over to the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR). They were pushed back to Burma by BDR yesterday night, according to our correspondent. Yesterday night, 56 Rohingyas were pushed back to Burma by the BDR from Sacc Dalar border points. They were arrested from Bandarban Hill Tract, especially from Roma, Alikodom, Lama and Rohanchari, he added. The arrested have been living in these areas for over 5 to 10 years, one of the relatives of the arrested said. The BDR took the arrested Rohingyas to the Bangladesh-Burma border by vehicles and set them free on the zero line. Some Rohingyas re-entered Bangladesh and some were arrested by Nasaka (Burma?s border security force) and the Burmese Army. Those arrested by Nasaka or army have been sent to jail. On November 2, nine (all male) of the 26 Rohingyas were arrested by Nasaka after they had been pushed back by BDR from Ghoondon point, on the Bangladesh-Burma border. The fate of the arrested by Nasaka is still not known, said one of the refugees who had been pushed back by BDR. Besides, on September 25, fourteen Rohingyas were pushed back to Burma by BDR. Of them 11 including women and children were arrested by the Burmese Army and later they were sent to Buthidaung jail, said a local on the border, who declined to be named. They crossed the Burma-Bangladesh border because of persecution by the Burmese authorities such as--- the Army, Nasaka (Burma?s border security force), Military Intelligence (Sarapa) and police, according to sources. It is learnt that two girls among the arrested have been missing from the border since October 3, but there is no confirmation, said a refugee from an undisclosed location. The Bangladesh government is increasingly pushing back Rohingya people to Burma to stop infiltration to Bangladesh. But, Rohingya people are still coming though the BDR has been watching the border areas and are on red alert. Rohingya people are a burden for the Bangladesh government, said a local elder from the border area. Described by UN officials as one of the most persecuted minorities on earth, the Rohingya are not even recognized as citizens by the Myanmar junta. They have no legal right to own land and are forbidden from marrying or traveling without permission, said AFP recently. Bangladesh says it is unable to handle the continued influx of Rohingyas and the spread of the unofficial camp has escalated local tension. Despite the squalor and alienation, many Rohingya still feel they are better off in Bangladesh than back in Burma. Here, at this camp there are days when they don?t have any food. But, at least they can live freely. In Burma, Rohingyas live a dog's life. The junta does not even allow Rohingyas to wear clean shirts or travel outside their village, said a refugee from the unofficial Kutupalong camp. ____________________________________ November 5, Mizzima News Raids continue in KNU members' homes - Kyaw Kha Chiang Mai ? Thai security agencies continued surprise raids and search of houses of those suspected of being connected with the 'Karen National Union' (KNU) yesterday. A total of over 100 personnel led by Tak province commander Col. Nong Pathong, Border Security Force and People's Militia, searched three houses in Naung Bwa village in Thar Saung Yan Township. An eyewitness said that the search was conducted from 6 a.m. to over 1 p.m. today at Naung Bwa village, 80 miles south of Mae Sot. The raid was mainly to find hidden arms. But nothing was found, he added. Over 1,000 Karen war refugees are currently sheltered near Naung Bwa village. They fled from their villages after combined forces of the Burmese Army and DKBA launched offensives against KNU?s 7th Brigade five months ago. Similarly on 27 October, the Thai Army searched the houses of top KNU leaders living in Mae Sot, Tak Province. (Edited by Ko Wild) ____________________________________ BUSINESS / TRADE November 5, Xinhua Myanmar PM leaves for first Mekong-Japan summit in Tokyo Yangon, -- Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein left Nay Pyi Taw Thursday to attend the first Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo, Japan, official sources from the new capital said. Thein Sein's trip to Tokyo is made at the invitation of the government of Japan. Myanmar is a member of the six-country Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)-Economic Cooperation. The others sharing the Mekong River are China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The GMS has designated the year 2009-2010 as GMS tourism year as part of its economic cooperation in the sub-region. In February this year, a Japan-Mekong exchange year was launched in Myanmar's former capital of Yangon to showcase the cooperation and friendship between Japan and Myanmar and the event was marked with joint performance by Japanese and Myanmar artists. In June this year, Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae visited Myanmar, bringing their bilateral relations closer. Myanmar and Japan have been cooperating in a number of sectors and Japan traditionally stands as Myanmar's biggest donor country. Japan's investment in Myanmar, according to figures, so far amounted to 216.76 million U.S. dollars in 23 projects since 1988. The bilateral trade between Myanmar and Japan stood 341.8 million dollars in the 2008-09 fiscal year, of which Myanmar's export to Japan amounted to 179.6 million dollars with Japan ranking the 6th in Myanmar's exporting countries line-up. Myanmar's import from Japan took 162.2 million dollars. Editor: Xiong Tong ____________________________________ ENVIRONMENT November 5, Voice of America Minority Communities Say Burma Development Projects Lead to Abuses, Environmental Damage - Ron Corben Bangkok - Minority communities in Burma say the exploitation of the country's natural resources is damaging the environment and increasing the military presence in their areas. The activists say greater public participation is necessary in the development process to ensure that communities benefit. The Burma Environmental Group says the government's development policies and efforts to extract natural resources have destroyed the homes of thousands of people in border areas and is increasing hunger among ethnic minority groups. On Thursday, the group released a report saying there are more troops in minority areas and environmental damage is spreading. The group includes representatives from the Kachin, Karen, Lahu, and Shan ethnic communities in Burma. Most of these communities live in Burma's border areas. Saw Paul Sein Twa is the director of the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network. He says development projects have displaced half a million people because their livelihoods are disrupted. Thousands of them have fled to Thailand. "So the path that the military government is taking us is to environmental problems, lead us to crisis and will further marginalize our ethnic people who are in the rural areas," he said. "So you can see that many people are in refugee camps, as I said, more than 8,000 people in one area are facing starvation." The report accuses the Burmese military of human rights abuses against local communities, including beatings, killings, and sexual violence, as it protects economic projects. The group and other rights organizations have called on the Chinese government to halt its investment in an offshore oil and gas project, and seeks a halt in several dam projects. Saw Paul Sein Twa says the groups do not oppose development in general but say public participation and is needed before projects go ahead. "The fundamental question is development for whom? [This] needs to be addressed," he said. "The local people have to benefit from any development project and number two is people participation in this development process must be assured that people participate. Before you start an environmental impact statement must be done." The report says as long as Burma remains under military rule and communities can not take part in decision-making, increased development in the border region will accelerate environmental destruction and lead to unsustainable and inequitable development. ____________________________________ REGIONAL November 4, Voice of America Burmese 'Trafficked' To Thailand Bangkok - Burmese migrant workers in Thailand have described paying large fees to human traffickers who promised them jobs in the southeast Asian kingdom, only to sell them into forced labor on arrival. One Burmese migrant from Myawaddy currently in the care of social services in Bangkok said he had been promised passage to Thailand and a job in the construction industry by a Burmese named Ko Sein Aung. "He was the carrier who handed us over to the person taking us across to Thailand along the illegal route. We had to pay him for that. It was 2,000 baht (U.S. $60)," the worker said. "He told us we would get a job in construction. He said we would earn 195 baht (U.S. $6) a day. We were all sold off including me for 22,000 baht (U.S. $658) each to the fishing industry." He said people in charge of the boats locked up the workers every night, before taking them back to the boats the next morning. They were not paid for their work. "Every day when the boat we were working on reached the jetty and after we had unloaded the fish at night we were taken to our rooms and kept there, and the door locked from the outside," he said. "That was how we were detained. The next day only when the fishing boat is due to leave were we sent to the boat." Forced to migrate Currently, Thailand is home to an estimated 2 million Burmese migrant workers, of whom only around half are there legally. Burmese workers are highly visible in and around Bangkok and near the Central World Plaza, and Burmese children under 10 years old can be seen selling food on street stalls. Many of the migrants say they were forced to move because of extreme poverty back home. An ethnic Karen migrant from the troubled border area between Thailand and Burma said some of the trafficking was being carried out by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which recently made a ceasefire agreement with Burma's military government. "It was Ko Than Win from the DKBA who told us that he would find us work in Thailand. We had to pay him 15,000 kyat (U.S. $2,304)," the Karen migrant said. "He took us to Bangkok. He said he would give us a good job in the shrimp industry. We had to wait 10 days along the way," he said. "We were hungry. We were just given plain rice with nothing else." Help for refugees Some of the migrants are being taken care of by social services in Thailand after reporting beatings and other physical abuse after being sold off as slave labor, Thai officials said. "There are a total of 47 Burmese nationals with us here," an official at the Patuhtani social welfare and rehabilitation department of the Thai government identified as Mr. Suwan said. "We have arranged food and accommodations for them and are helping them with their rights and claims for damages," he added. The group included men, women, and three 15-year-old children, according to a Thai lawyer surnamed Sriwun who is helping the refugees. "Our lawyers? group is helping refugees who have been treated unjustly, no matter what nationality they are," he said. He said the Thai authorities had arrested a Burmese woman and two Thai nationals in connection with the allegations of human trafficking. According to Mr. Suwan, the case could take up to 18 months to bring to trial. The Myawaddy migrant said he was discovered by an aid group while working on the fishing boat. He had already been beaten following on escape attempt, he added. "After we were caught they put me back in my room and beat me," he said. "A woman beat me with a two-yard pipe that she always carried. She beat me continuously. She also threatened to kill my father." Trafficking hub According to the U.S. State Department's latest Trafficking in Persons Report, Thailand is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. "Women and children are trafficked from Burma, Cambodia, Laos, the People?s Republic of China, Vietnam, Russia, and Uzbekistan for commercial sexual exploitation in Thailand," the report said, saying the trafficking victims were usually from poorer rural areas who were attracted by the kingdom's relative prosperity. But it lauded efforts by the Thai government to address the problem, including the expansion of a network of temporary shelters for trafficking victims from 99 to 138, with at least one temporary shelter in each Thai province. The Thai government refers victims of trafficking to one of eight longer-stay regional shelters run by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS), where they receive psychological counseling, food, board, and medical care, the report said. In 2008, Thai government shelters provided protection and social services for at least 102 repatriated Thai victims and 520 foreigners trafficked to Thailand. ____________________________________ INTERNATIONAL November 5, Financial Times US warns Burma on election credibility Bangkok - It would be ?very hard? for next year?s elections in Burma to be legitimate without the involvement of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a senior United States official said on Thursday. Deputy Assistant Secretary Scot Marciel, returning from a landmark two-day visit to the army-ruled country, said the release of the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader and other political detainees was critical for the polls to be considered fair and credible. ?I think an election without Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD, would be very hard to see that as credible,? Mr Marciel told reporters in Bangkok. The NLD, denied the chance to rule after a landslide win in the last elections in 1990, has yet to confirm whether it will participate in the polls. ?In the end, it?s up to Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD to make that call,? Marciel said. Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner held captive for 14 of the last 20 years, was offered a rare chance to meet NLD committee members on Wednesday, but declined because its detained vice-chairman, Tin Oo, was excluded, state television reported. Mr Marciel declined comment on that development. He stated repeatedly during a one-hour forum that Washington?s objective was to encourage dialogue between the various camps inside Burma. ?I frankly cannot see how there can be a credible election that brings legitimacy without inclusive participation and I don?t see how that can happen without a dialogue,? he said. The U.S. visit, the first of its kind in 14 years, comes as part of a new policy of engagement by the Obama administration and was described as an ?exploratory mission? by Washington. Mr Marciel reiterated that the US had no immediate plans to lift wide-ranging sanctions on Burma but said the embargoes would be reviewed, depending on reforms. ?A policy that relies heavily on sanctions without dialogue has not succeeded but sanctions are still a useful tool,? he said. ?We do not think it is appropriate or wise to lift sanctions now in the absence of progress, but we certainly would be looking at them if there is progress ... The purpose of sanctions is to achieve an end.? The delegation met senior junta officials, ethnic groups, the NLD and Ms Suu Kyi during the visit. Mr Marciel did not elaborate on what was discussed, or why they failed to meet junta supremo Than Shwe, saying only: ?It?s early in the process.? Mr Marciel urged the military, which has ruled the former Burma since a 1962 coup, to be more inclusive and not to fear the prospect of democratic reform. ?This is a country moving steadily backwards for a long time. There is a way ahead, but it will involve change and there cannot be progress without change,? he said. He urged the international community to judge burma on results, not on pledges, adding the United States was taking a ?pragmatic approach? and did not expect immediate progress. ?We?re going into this with eyes wide open, we?re not under any illusions and we?re aware that success is far from guaranteed,? he said. ?We will proceed for a while and if it doesn?t work, we will try something new. ?We should be very humble and not assume we have the answers until we have results.? ____________________________________ OPINION / OTHER Press Release 5 November 2009 Burma Environment Working Group (BEWG): New Report Highlights Impacts of Military-led Development Strategies in Burma and Urges Reevaluation of Community-based Natural Resource Management A group of organizations concerned about the ongoing rapid destruction of Burma's natural environment has published a new report which challenges the direction Burma is taking with regard to national development and argues that alternative resource management systems should be considered. The report "Accessible Alternatives: Ethnic Communities' Contribution to Social Development and Environmental Conservation in Burma" by the Burma Environment Working Group consists of nine case studies that describe a variety of issues related to natural resource management in different parts of Burma, including Arakan, Kachin, Karen and Shan States. Through this report, the Burma Environment Working Group exposes the harsh impacts that are inflicted on the environment and the livelihoods of ethnic people by the current development path that Burma's military regime is taking. Ethnic peoples in Burma have long used traditional natural resource management systems that sustain the environment and on which they depend for their livelihoods. In recent years, however, militarization, large-scale resource extraction, and infrastructure development have been destroying the natural environment and threatening these local natural resource management systems. Many local people have had to abandon their homes and livelihoods without compensation and are struggling to survive. The report also describes positive cases in which community-based projects supported by member organizations of the Burma Environment Working Group have helped revive the natural environment through restoration of traditional natural resource management systems. "We wanted to draw attention to the knowledge and practices of ethnic communities that ensure sustainable natural resource management," said Saw Paul Sein Twa, a spokesperson of the Burma Environment Working Group. "If we want to preserve Burma's rich environment for our children, the value of traditional natural resource management methods should be recognized widely, and serious efforts should be made now to restore them where they have been destroyed." For more information, contact: Saw Paul Sein Twa (Mobile: +66-817247093, email: pseintwa at yahoo.com) Saw Frankie Abreu (Mobile: +66-899553106, email: franktheera at yahoo.com) Download "Accessible Alternatives: Ethnic Communities' Contribution to Social Development and Environmental Conservation in Burma" http://www.kesan.asia/Resources/bewg_report.pdf About the Burma Environment Working Group (BEWG) The Burma Environment Working Group (BEWG) is a coalition of environmental organizations and activists with the common goals of protecting Burma's landscape and natural resources from further degradation; safeguarding traditional livelihoods and indigenous resource management methods; promoting local conservation projects; educating the public of the negative consequences of large-scale development and natural resource extraction projects; and advocating sensible, sustainable, and humane development policies and strong, enforceable environmental laws for Burma's post-transition period. The members of the BEWG include EarthRights International, Kachin Development Networking Group, Karen Environmental and Social Action Network, Lahu National Development Organization, Network for Environmental and Economic Development, Pan Kachin Development Society and Shan Sapawa Environmental Organization. Although not a member of BEWG, Arakan Oil Watch contributed to the re port "Accessible Alternatives: Ethnic Communities' Contribution to Social Development and Environmental Conservation in Burma." ____________________________________ EU and India must work together at UN to protect human rights 5 November 2009 The European Union (EU) and India should work together at the United Nations (UN) to protect human rights in places of crisis, Amnesty International has said. The call came in a letter sent on Tuesday to the Swedish Presidency of the EU, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, ahead of the EU India summit in New Delhi on Friday. Amnesty International addressed the EU's handling of the displacement crisis in the wake of the internal armed conflict in Sri Lanka, human rights violations in Myanmar, corporate accountability over the Bhopal gas leak disaster and India's use of the death penalty. As global actors, both the EU and India have a responsibility to play an active role in the protection of human rights internationally, regionally, and at home, Amnesty International said. "On the world stage the voice of the UN is particularly important in the promotion and protection of international human rights; both the EU and the Indian government should ensure that they support the UN in this role as effectively as possible." The UN's poor handling of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka during the internal armed conflict, particularly at its end, was cited by Amnesty International as a recent example of the need for principled co-operation between global actors on crisis situations. The organization said that while the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka had "long been foreseeable" earlier this year there were "few signs of co-operation between the European Union and India to address the human rights situation in Sri Lanka at the UN." Amnesty International expressed its disappointment with the resolution on Sri Lanka adopted at the end of the UN Human Rights Council's special session on 27 May, which "praised the Sri Lankan government, entirely ignored the human rights violations committed by the government, and disregarded the need to establish accountability." Pointing out that the UN Human Rights council had failed to create an international fact-finding mission for Sri Lanka, similar to the one in Gaza, Amnesty International went on to say that the "UN handling of the situation in Sri Lanka and the outcome of the special session was very damaging to the credibility of the UN human rights political bodies." The EU was urged to use its discussions with India to strongly engage with Myanmar to end "serious and systematic human rights violations, including detention of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, often in appalling and sometimes isolated conditions." On the subject of corporate accountability, Amnesty International said that the EU needs to demonstrate its leadership to ensure that multinational companies (headquartered in the home states like the EU) respect human rights in their operations in the host states (where the human rights impact of these companies? operations is felt, like India). The EU and India have a particular responsibility in ensuring protection of human rights in those affected communities. Both preventive mechanisms and remedies are needed in order to close the gap. With that in mind, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas leak disaster, Amnesty International urged the Swedish Presidency to use the EU India summit to "call on the Government of India to take urgent and decisive action to address to the long-term impacts of the Bhopal gas leak disaster, including proper clean-up and remediation of the factory site, adequate medical care, regular supply of safe water for the affected communities and economic rehabilitation. In line with the EU's commitment to the worldwide abolition of the death penalty, Amnesty International also said that EU should use its discussions with India, "to call for India to take a positive approach in the lead up to the debate and resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty at the General Assembly in November 2010." India had no executions since 2004, but voted against the UNGA moratorium on death penalty in December 2008.