BurmaNet News, November 4, 2009

[Editor]

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.