BurmaNet News, December 12 - 14, 2009

[Editor]

December 12 – 14, 2009, Issue #3859

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Activists say Than Shwe’s future still uncertain
Irrawaddy: Burmese media lead with Than Shwe's favorites
AP: Jailed American in Myanmar in 'poor health'

ON THE BORDER
Bernama (Malaysia): Moderate earthquake hits Burma-Bangladesh border region

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Myanmar to auction 137 more nationalized buildings, land plots

DRUGS
New York Times: U.N. says opium trade is expanding in Myanmar

REGIONAL
AP: Thais probe destination for seized NKorean weapons
SHAN: China media urged to focus more on Mekong upstream condition

INTERNATIONAL
The Salt Lake Tribune (USA): Those lucky enough to get to America not so
lucky after all

OPINION / OTHER
DPA: Yearender: Myanmar gears up for an election junta-style



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 14, Agence France Presse
Activists say Than Shwe’s future still uncertain

As Burma gears up for rare elections due next year, eyes are turning to
the fate of the country's ageing military strongman, Than Shwe, and a
possible succession, exiled activists say.

Described by critics as reclusive, paranoid and deeply in thrall to
astrology, the 76-year-old “Senior General” has ruled the country with an
iron grip since 1992, but is now in the twilight of his career.

A new constitution approved in a widely criticized 2008 referendum says
that the State Peace and Development Council - the junta that Than Shwe
heads - must hand over power to a new national assembly after the
elections.

Than Shwe may take over the new presidential position provided for by the
constitution to maintain his hold on power, according to opposition
activists living in exile in Thailand.

But after constantly striving to increase his power, he now faces
underlying resentment from within the regime, the activists say.

When he eventually quits, “Than Shwe will make sure his future is safe,”
said Naing Aung, secretary general of the Forum for Democracy in Burma.

He added, however: “Than Shwe has only close circles with him. He is an
isolated man.”

Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political analyst in the northern Thai city of
Chiang Mai, predicted it would be “interesting to see how he leaves
politics because he cannot leave right away”.

“If he retains a formal position, it means he is not leaving. If he
doesn't, then he will be protected for quite some time” by keeping his
aides close to him, he said.

Than Shwe will be well aware of the fate of several previous leaders since
the military took control of Burma in 1962.

Ex-dictator Ne Win, who ruled the country between 1962 and 1988, died
under house arrest in 2002 and was not granted a state funeral, while
several members of his family were sent to jail. The official press hardly
mentioned his death.

Than Shwe himself presided over a purge of the military intelligence
service that ended with the sentencing of ex-prime minister Khin Nyunt to
44 years' house arrest in 1994.

“He may not want to retire, but under the constitution he may have to. He
will put someone he really trusts like his son,” said Win Min, an academic
at Chiang Mai university and pro-democracy activist.

Win Min said that until Than Shwe played his hand, it would be impossible
to predict successors in the largely opaque Burma military hierarchy.

“Unpredictability is his strategy. You don't know what he is going to do.
He is a control freak,” he said.

In 2005 Than Shwe moved the capital almost overnight from Rangoon to the
purpose-built city of Naypyidaw to satisfy his dreams of grandeur - and
also to protect himself against supposed threats to his rule.

The elections, meanwhile, have been tailored to favor the junta.

The constitution reserves a quarter of all seats for the military, while
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for most of the past
two decades since her National League for Democracy won the last polls in
1990.

Yet critics say that Than Shwe will still have to deal with some new
faces, even if they are just in the military.

“With a new constitution, whether you like it or not, you'll have new
leadership,” Aung Naing Oo said. “I don't think anyone can be as bad, as
manipulative as Than Shwe. The new system will open up a little bit.”

A complex power struggle is likely between Than Shwe's circle and the new
military officials who will be keen to use their electoral legitimacy,
analysts said.

But Than Shwe's fate will for the most part remain in his own hands.

“Than Shwe will be directing things from behind the curtain,” said
Khuensai Jaigen, exiled leader of the Shan Herald Agency for News, a news
service for the Shan ethnic minority.

Changes “will not come right away. People will not be in a hurry to change
things like Obama after Bush,” he said ironically.

“At first, the successor will be careful. He'll try to change things a bit
until he's sure he can be confident. Then there might be drastic changes.”

____________________________________

December 14, Irrawaddy
Burmese media lead with Than Shwe's favorites – Wai Moe

Burmese military strongman Snr-Gen Than Shwe traveled to Pyin Oo Lwin on
Friday to attend the graduation of the 52nd Intake of the Defense Services
Academy (DSA). As with previous graduations, he took along an entourage of
family members, including his favorite grandson, Nay Shwe Thway Aung.

The following day, a photograph of Than Shwe’s extended family appeared in
The New Light of Myanmar, the country's only state-run newspaper in
English. In the photo, Nay Shwe Thway Aung sits on a sofa alongside Than
Shwe's wife wearing sunglasses and a white Western suit.
Nay Shwe Thway Aung (white suit and sunglasses) sits alongside Than Shwe's
wife Kyaing Kyaing at the DSA graduation on Dec. 11, 2009.

Described quietly by ordinary people as “The Royal Family,” Than Shwe and
his kin regularly dominate the pictorial sections of state-run newspapers
with the following pages covering senior ranking generals in order of
favor or importance.

The New Light of Myanmar featured separate photos of Shwe Mann and Tin
Aung Myint Oo––who reportedly dislike each other––at the event. Whether
intentionally or not, Tin Aung Myint Oo, the No 4 general in the military
hierarchy and quartermaster-general of the armed forces, appeared ahead of
Shwe Mann’s photo in the newspaper. Such details are frequently said to
portray underlying messages, observers say.

The day before the military academy event, Than Shwe visited Yadanabon
Cyber City, the country's largest IT center, which is also in Pyin Oo
Lwin. Again, he was accompanied by his grandson who has developed a
reputation for gangster activities in recent years.

Pictures of Nay Shwe Thway Aung appeared again in the state-run
mouthpieces along with Than Shwe and other top generals. One photo showed
Than Shwe's grandson apparently telling a joke to military representatives
while touring the IT center.

The media reported that Than Shwe was met at Yadanabon Cyber City by Ne
Aung, a son of Industry-1 Minister ex- Lt Col Aung Thaung. One of the
richest businessmen in Burma and a close crony of the military elite, Ne
Aung is managing director of IGE Co Ltd, which has an outlet at the IT
center.

Ne Aung's brother, Pyi Aung, is the son-in-law of junta No 2 Deputy
Snr-Gen Maung Aye, and is also an executive of the IGE company, which is
registered in Singapore.
Snr-Gen Than Shwe (center) tours Yadanabon Cyber City on Dec. 10 with his
grandson, Nay Shwe Thway Aung (left), and Gen Shwe Mann (right) just
behind him.

One of Burma's most successful new companies, IGE was permitted by
government authorities to expand into agriculture, steel, chemicals,
electronics, and the oil and gas industries, including a stake in the
offshore natural gas project in Arakan State.

Another well-known business crony who met up with Than Shwe on his visit
to Yadanabon Cyber City was family friend Tay Za, whose vast range of
business interests include an airline, Air Bagan, logging, jade mining,
import/ export, and a retail outlet in the IT sector. Burma watchers have
speculated that Than Shwe's family has shares in many of Tay Za's
companies.

Both Tay Za and Ne Aung are on the blacklist of sanctioned Burmese
business cronies issued by the US, the EU and Australia.

“Burma is a patronized system,” said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political
analyst based in Thailand. “Therefore the way Information Minister
Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan directs the setting of photographs within the state
media reflects the ranking of officials from Than Shwe down.”

Apart from the political manipulations, he said, “as Burma is a military
dictatorship, family members of the ruling generals and their cronies get
business licenses before anyone else.”
____________________________________

December 12, Associated Press
Jailed American in Myanmar in 'poor health'

Yangon, Myanmar — A jailed U.S. citizen, on a protest hunger strike for
more than a week in military-ruled Myanmar, was not able to appear in
court because of poor health, his lawyers said Saturday.

Myanmar authorities have accused Myanmar-born Kyaw Zaw Lwin of entering
Myanmar to stir up protests by Buddhist monks, who led pro-democracy
demonstrations in 2007 that were brutally suppressed by the junta.

Arrested in September, he was charged with forgery and violating the
foreign currency exchange act.

One of his lawyers, Kyi Win, said he was told by the judge that his client
did not appear at a court session Friday because of "poor health." The
session was adjourned for a week.

The Washington D.C.-based law firm, Freedom Now, which has also taken up
his case, said in a release that Kyaw Zaw Lwin had been on a hunger strike
since Dec. 4 to protest conditions of political prisoners in Myanmar.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Mei said a consular official went to the
court Friday and was told about the postponement.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Friday that the
United States has contacted the ruling junta to express its concern and
make sure Kyaw Zaw Lwin was being well treated.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962.
Human rights groups say the regime holds more than 2,000 political
prisoners, including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

December 13, Bernama (Malaysia)
Moderate earthquake hits Burma-Bangladesh border region

Kuala Lumpur -- A moderate earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale
occurred near the Burma-Bangladesh border region at 10.42 on Sunday night.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department said in a statement that the
earthquake's epicentre was 172km northwest of Sittwe, Myanmar and 1,884km
northeast of Langkawi.

However, the earthquake did not pose any tsunami threat.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

December 14, Xinhua
Myanmar to auction 137 more nationalized buildings, land plots

Yangon – Myanmar will auction 137 more nationalized buildings and land
plots in 10 cities of the country, according to the Administration
Committee for Nationalized Properties Monday.

Most of the buildings and plots to be sold out are from Yangon and
Mandalay, while the rest are from Bago, Pyay, Tachilek, Pyin Oo Lwin,
Meiktila, Lashio, Twantay and Taungtwingyi, the report said, adding that
the auction will close on Dec. 31.

The auction is a follow-up of that of 38 similar ones in nine cities in
September.

According to the government's privatization commission, Myanmar has so far
privatized a total of 260 state-owned buildings, workshops and land plots
from the Ministry of Cooperatives and Ministry of Commerce during this
year as part of its privatization program.

In June 2007, the government formed another committee for auctioning some
state-owned buildings remained in the former capital of Yangon after the
administration was moved to the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw in 2005.

The privatization plan, covering those enterprises nationalized in the
1960s, was introduced in a bid to systematically turn them into more
effective enterprises, said the commission.

The plan is carried out by auctioning and leasing or establishing joint
ventures with local and foreign investors.

____________________________________
DRUGS

December 14, New York Times
U.N. says opium trade is expanding in Myanmar – Thomas Fuller

Bangkok — The United Nations warned on Monday that drug-control measures
were “unraveling” in Myanmar, with opium farming in the country expanding
for the third consecutive year.

An increase in the price of opium, which is used to make heroin; political
instability in the northernmost reaches of Myanmar; and the desire of
autonomous ethnic armies there to buy weapons all contributed to an
11-percent increase in the land used to cultivate opium, officials from
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said at a briefing in
Bangkok.

The increase contrasts with Afghanistan, by far the world’s largest
supplier of heroin, where the amount of land under opium poppy cultivation
has declined over the past three years.

Myanmar is the world’s second-largest opium supplier, accounting for about
20 percent of the total acreage worldwide. This translates to about 5
percent of global opium production because the soil is poor and farming
techniques are more primitive in Myanmar than in the fertile valleys of
Afghanistan.

A report released by the United Nations on Monday said opium poppy growers
in Myanmar have become even less efficient over the past year, with the
amount of opium harvested falling by 28 percent.

United Nations officials calculate that potential revenue for traffickers
will probably be 15 percent lower this year compared with 2008.

Political instability in both Afghanistan and Myanmar make it easier for
drug syndicates to manufacture drugs and transport them across poorly
guarded borders. Antinarcotics officials in recent months have reported a
surge in heroin and methamphetamine trafficking out of Myanmar as armed
ethnic groups and warlords in the northern reaches of the country
liquidate their stockpiles for cash and weapons.

These groups, including the Wa and Kachin, are resisting pressure from the
central government to disarm.

Since 2006, the total area under cultivation with opium poppies in Myanmar
has increased nearly 50 percent, to 78,300 acres — about five times the
area of Manhattan. But Myanmar is still well below its peak of more than
390,000 acres during the 1990s, when its Golden Triangle area near the
borders with Thailand and Laos was the world’s largest supplier of heroin.

The illegal drug trade in the triangle has long been dominated by ethnic
Chinese gangs, but United Nations officials said Monday that they are
seeing increased signs of globalization there: Members of Mexican
syndicates were arrested in the region smuggling chemicals used in the
production of methamphetamines, and East African gangs are now active in
Thailand and Laos.

“What we are seeing in the last 10 years is a dramatic increase in the
amount of networking that takes place between transnational crime
syndicates,” said Gary Lewis, the head of the East Asian operations of the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 14, Associated Press
Thais probe destination for seized NKorean weapons – Jocelyn Gecker

Bangkok — Thai authorities on Monday sought to unravel the mystery of the
ultimate destination of a plane that landed in Bangkok with a huge cache
of weapons from North Korea, exported in defiance of a U.N. embargo on
arms from the communist state.

Military analysts said the arms were likely destined for African rebel
groups or a rogue regime like Myanmar.

Thai officials impounded the Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane Saturday and
discovered what they said was 35 tons of explosives, rocket-propelled
grenades, components for surface-to-air missiles and other armaments.

The plane's manifest had described the cargo as oil-drilling equipment,
and the crew said the plane was supposed to deliver its cargo to Sri
Lanka.

The United States, which is particularly concerned about North Korea
selling weapons and nuclear technology in the Middle East, reportedly
tipped off Thai authorities to the illicit cargo, according to Thai media
reports that the government and U.S. Embassy declined to comment on.

Army Gen. Walter "Skip" Sharp, the top U.S. military commander in Korea,
said in Washington that he was "not going to give away any of the
intelligence as far as how we're watching to see what North Korea is doing
up there."

Impoverished North Korea is believed to earn hundreds of millions of
dollars every year by selling missiles, missile parts and other weapons to
countries such as Iran, Syria and Myanmar.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised the seizure, saying
it "shows that sanctions can prevent the proliferation of weapons and it
shows that the international community when it stands together can make a
very strong statement."

Experts in the illicit arms trade said circumstantial evidence suggested
the weapons were meant for Africa, which is a ready market rife with
conflict.

The flight plan turned over to Thai police said the plane was registered
to Air West, a cargo transport company in the former Soviet republic of
Georgia, said Somsak Saithong, a lawyer for the arrested crew members.

He said the men, four from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus, insisted they
were unaware they were transporting weapons. They were detained Sunday on
a charge of illegal arms possession, which carries a penalty of up to 10
years in prison. A Thai court on Monday allowed police to hold them for at
least 12 more days pending further investigation.

Giorgy Bokuchava, the head of Georgian transport administration, confirmed
the plane belongs to Air West but said it was leased last month to the SP
Trading, a company in Ukraine, another ex-Soviet nation.

A Russian deputy foreign minister, Alexei Borodavkin, praised the weapons
seizure when asked by a reporter in Moscow.

"As shown by this case with the plane, which was detained in Thailand,
these (United Nations) sanctions are working," Borodavkin said.

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the flight plan
indicated the aircraft was headed for the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

However, investigations into weapons trafficking shows that documentation
such as a flight plan "doesn't mean anything," said Siemon Wezeman, a
senior fellow for the Arms Transfers Project of the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute.

The types of arms reported to be on the aircraft — intended to add
firepower to defend against planes and tanks, which are usually in the
arsenal of government forces — were typical of those used by insurgent
movements, and raised suspicion that they could be headed for an African
rebel group, Wezeman said.

Christian LeMiere, editor of the London-based Jane's Intelligence Weekly,
said the range of the Il-76 and its apparent flight path suggested it may
have been headed to Africa, where there are groups ready to buy North
Korean weapons.

They included Sudan, which might pass the weapons to rebel groups in Chad,
and Eritrea, which might keep them for its own arsenal or pass them on to
warring factions in Somalia.

Wezeman doubted that Sri Lanka was the destination, because it already has
a huge amount of weaponry on hand after its recently ended civil war.

Iran, though it is willing to defy the international community on issues
of nuclear development, was an unlikely buyer because it makes its own
weapons of the type seized, he said. But he acknowledged it was possible
that the shipment was ordered by Iran for distribution to Hamas and
Hezbollah.

In August, the United Arab Emirates seized a Bahamas-flagged cargo ship
bound for Iran with a cache of banned rocket-propelled grenades and other
arms from North Korea, the first seizure since U.N. sanctions were ramped
up.

Myanmar, a pariah state known to have military links to North Korea, was
also a possible destination, Wezeman suggested.

In July, a North Korean ship believed to be bound for Myanmar and carrying
suspicious cargo, possibly illicit weapons, changed course and headed home
after it was monitored for more than a week by the U.S. Navy.

The U.N. sanctions — which ban North Korea from exporting any arms — were
imposed in June after the reclusive communist regime conducted a nuclear
test and test-fired missiles. They are aimed at derailing North Korea's
nuclear weapons program, but also ban North Korea's selling any
conventional arms.

Smuggling weapons into African combat zones became a booming business in
the 1990s, with warring groups funding their purchases through the sale of
rare minerals and gems, including so-called "blood diamonds."

One of the biggest alleged figures behind the illicit arms trade in Africa
is now in a Thai jail.

Russian national Viktor Bout was arrested in March 2008 in Bangkok after
U.S. agents posed as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, or FARC, which Washington classifies as a terrorist
organization. The United States is seeking his extradition for trial on
terrorism charges.

A Thai court in August rejected the extradition request, but Thai
prosecutors have appealed the ruling.

____________________________________

December 14, Shan Herald Agency for News
China media urged to focus more on Mekong upstream condition – Hseng Khio Fah

The Mekong media have strongly urged one of its partners, China media to
report more stories about the circumstances of the upstream region of the
Mekong River at a four- day long Mekong Media Forum held in Chiangmai,
Thailand from 9-12 December.

Media from the downstream countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and
Thailand said the China media indeed need to inform what is going to
happen on the upper region to downstream countries and to report more
about the government’s operation on dams.

In addition, they need to promote not only the Chinese government’s
awareness but also the people’s in order to understand what the bad
impacts might reach to the people along the downstream areas if they
continue to run mega projects on the river.

Most people see that the Chinese media do not report stories about what
their government is planning on the river such as dam constructions.

Currently, China is planning to construct eight dams on the river; one of
them would be the world’s tallest, at 292 m (958 feet). So far it has
completed three of dams: Manwan in 1993, Dachaoshan in 2002 and Jinghong
in June of 2008.

Due to the completed dam constructions, the lives of the downstream have
been threatened and have also been causing low flow of the water.

"Since the dams began constructing, water levels have gone up and down," a
participant from Cambodia said.

The Mekong region is comprised of China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Burma
and Thailand countries along the Mekong, one of the famous and important
rivers in the South-east Asia as millions people are relying on the river
to survive.

“China must feel sympathy for people who rely on the river,” said another
participant in the forum.

There were about over 200 participants in the forum including analysts,
media professionals, experts and environmentalists.
“The Chinese Media are responsible to bring and produce more stories of
people from downstream would be suffering from Chinese actions,” he said.

A senior journalist from China Daily said the China media are alike
Burmese media, all are controlled by the government.
Many news agencies were banned by the government because of reporting
about Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, according to him.

However he said, they will try their best to inform what is going to
happen  in the upstream regions and will also try to raise people
awareness in the upstream regions that how the people in the downstream
countries are suffering from the government’s actions.

Another Chinese journalist commented even the media was not aware of how
the downstream countries think of their country, not to mention the
general public.

 “If I don’t come to the forum I would never know that the downstream
people are dissatisfied with us Chinese people,” she said.

Nguyen Ngoc Tran, Journalism Professor, University of Social Sciences and
Humanities in Ho Ch Minh City of Vietnam said dam constructions on the
Mekong can create serious environmental problems and bad impacts to
downstream countries.

According to the professor, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has also
voiced his concerns with the dam constructions and initiated a study on
downstream impacts.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 13, The Salt Lake Tribune (USA)
Those lucky enough to get to America not so lucky after all – Julia Lyon


>From New York to Utah, refugees who can’t find a job, don’t have enough

food or feel abandoned by caseworkers look for help -- in Thailand.

And eight thousand miles away, at all hours, Blooming Night Zan’s phone
rings. Refugees know her as a spitfire advocate for the Burmese, both
those who have fled to camps in Thailand and those still living under
military rule in their home country.

But over the past two years, as large numbers of Burmese refugees have
been resettled to the U.S., a new cause has demanded her time: the
unexpected plight of those lucky enough to get to America.

The frustration she hears is echoing across the country, as criticism of
the U.S. refugee resettlement program grows. It’s fueled in part by the
arrival of thousands of articulate Iraqis who often speak English. Many
are highly educated, accustomed to a middle-class lifestyle -- but stunned
to find themselves unemployed, receiving only brief assistance and facing
poverty in America.

The White House has asked a task force to review how America treats its
refugees and it is expected to propose short-term fixes and larger reform
in coming months.

Some critics say the recession has exposed flaws that already existed.
Volunteers from Utah, Texas, Kentucky and elsewhere say they discover
refugee families who don’t have enough food or coats or towels. Children
in New Jersey have waited months to start school because no one has
arranged for immunizations.

“If top government officials who have the authority to change things truly
understood the suffering faced by refugees who have already endured so
much to seek safety in the United States, they would have increased
funding for resettlement substantially by now,” said Jen Smyers, who works
in Washington, D.C., on refugee policy issues for Church World Service.

The Obama administration acknowledges that the program may be facing
challenges beyond the economy.

“We have received growing numbers of reports about the challenges refugees
are facing after arrival in the U.S.,” a White House official said. “This
is partly due to the economic downturn, but it also has to do with the
fact the U.S. refugee resettlement process, especially on the domestic
side, has not been reviewed in many, many years.”

How it works. » The aim of the 1980 Refugee Act is to get refugees working
and self-sufficient as quickly as possible.

The federal government provides $900 per refugee to resettlement agencies,
such as the International Rescue Committee, to help get refugees
established in their first homes.

Agencies can use more than half for administrative costs. But at least
$425 must be spent on each refugee -- typically covering rent, utilities,
food and furniture. The money can easily disappear in the first month as
the agencies try to quickly find refugees jobs.

Though some refugees are highly educated, others can’t read in any
language and have no work experience. Their lives have been spent waiting
in refugee camps, dependent on international aid. Everything from
electricity to washing machines is new and confusing.

The unemployed may briefly receive refugee cash assistance; some turn to
welfare.

Answering their every question is an impossible task for caseworkers --
who are often young, inexperienced and paid little to manage dozens of
families, critics say.

Caseworkers may share no common language with a family. An interpreter may
be paired with a refugee from an opposing ethnic group or tribe. An ethnic
Burman and a Karen are from the same country, for example, but speak
different languages and have a history of conflict.

“There is a real lack of understanding of context by many resettlement
agencies of the people they are serving,” said Veronika Martin, executive
director of the Karen American Communities Foundation. “For many Karen,
the only experience they have had with a Burman person has been on the
other side of a gun.”

‘Immediate measures’ needed. » The federal government focuses on
monitoring employment, leaving many questions unanswered about how
refugees are faring.

But the new head of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, Ethiopian
refugee Eskinder Negash, points to the program’s overall achievement:
resettling more than 2 million people.
Click to enlarge

“This is about saving lives,” Negash said. “I’m not saying they’re not
struggling, but I’m afraid we can’t just look at it and say the system is
abandoning them.”

Shortly after his appointment this summer, he said he had “never met or
heard of a refugee going hungry” -- a claim volunteers challenge.

Resettlement agencies also generally defend their work, pointing to
refugee success stories and questioning the accuracy of criticism by
volunteers. But in June, the International Rescue Committee called for
reform.

“Immediate measures must be taken to ensure that Iraqis, as well as all
other refugees resettled in America, do not fall victim to homelessness
and poverty,” it warned.

The IRC’s report said Iraqis are grateful to be safe, but often filled
with anguish about their new life. Many are unable to find work;
professionals find their degrees are not recognized in many fields.
Families relying on welfare cannot even pay their rent, the IRC said.

The struggling economy has especially hurt refugees, said Charles Shipman,
refugee coordinator in Arizona.Typically, 90 percent were self-sufficient
within a few months, Shipman said, which meant they didn’t rely on
Arizona’s lean benefits for the poor or unemployed.

Now, just 50 to 60 percent of refugees have jobs soon after arrival, he
said. With minimal public assistance available, “it’s challenging.”

In Utah, where the economy has been considered resilient, 65 percent of
refugees were placed in full- or part-time jobs in fiscal 2008. This
fiscal year, 38 percent found work.

Next year, the state will track refugees’ success from housing to
education. It is assigning new refugees to caseworkers for two years,
instead of a handful of months.

“You have to keep track of folks until they’re well on their way to being
able to go it on their own,” said Gerald Brown, the director of the Utah
Refugee Services Office. “Dozens and dozens and hundreds of people were
falling through the cracks.”

‘Take responsibility.’ » Burmese refugee Andy Paw arrived in Utah about
two years ago, after living in a Thai refugee camp for 10 years. He rode
the bus two hours to get to his first job at Taco Bell. Most days he
didn’t get to take lunch during his shift. He didn’t have enough money to
pay his bills.

Frustrated, he called Zan -- who is his aunt -- for advice.

Zan was born under a tree in the rainy season in 1954, when the fighting
between the Burmese government and the Karen, her ethnic group, had
already begun. “I was a refugee since I was in my mother’s womb,” the
small woman says.

Her family eventually fled to Thailand, where she now leads the Karen
Women’s Organization, which has more than 40,000 members.

She told her nephew to push for help from resettlement workers, which he
says led to a better job at a beef processing plant in Hyrum. Zan urges
her distraught callers who speak English to do the same. She sometimes
alerts agencies, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, or e-mails resettlement staff in the U.S.

But she has a question for America: “If you don’t want to take
responsibility, why did you take this big number?”

Tribune reporter Kristen Moulton contributed to this story.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 14, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Yearender: Myanmar gears up for an election junta-style

Yangon – Myanmar's junta this year paved the way for their unique vision
of "discipline-flourishing democracy" by making sure that the country's
chief opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was safely under detention, if
not silenced.

In one of the most shameful of sham trials, Suu Kyi was found guilty on
August 11 of breaking the terms of her previous six years of house
detention by allowing a mentally unstable US Mormon to swim into her
compound-cum-prison by Yangon's Inya Lake.

The commuted sentence was another 18 months of house arrest, just enough
to guarantee the Nobel peace laureate was under the junta's thumb as it
prepares to hold a general election some time in 2010.

Predictably, the sentence sparked international outrage and renewed calls
for Suu Kyi's immediate release.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 64, whose name has become as synonymous with opposition
to Myanmar's military rule as Nelson Mandela's has with the anti-apartheid
movement in South Africa, has spent 14 of the past 20 years under
detention in her decaying Yangon family compound.

She was first placed under house arrest in 1989 for publicly criticizing
former military strongman General Ne Win.

Suu Kyi was under house arrest during the 1990 polls but, if anything, her
detention helped her National League for Democracy (NLD) party win that
election by a landslide.

How much more of an impact might she have if she were free during the 2010
polls?

"The military's main objective is to keep her out of the picture during
the election time which is absolutely critical to them," said Win Min, a
lecturer on Myanmar affairs at Thailand's Chiang Mai University.

"Even under house arrest she may say something about whom she supports - I
don't think they want that to happen," he said.

The junta has repeatedly said they will stage an election sometime in 2010
as a crucial step in their seven-point roadmap to democracy, but they have
yet to issue regulations covering party registration and the election
system.

Nor have they set a firm date for the polls.

Bets were previously on the election being held in May, the traditional
month for polls and referendums because farmers are free and the monsoon
rains have not yet started.

But with no election legislation yet in place, now Myanmar pundits are
predicting polls closer to the end of the year.

"I heard the election will be on 10-10-2010. Is that true?" asked one
Asian diplomat based in Yangon.

The number 10 is a symbol of completion according to Myanmar numerology
beliefs.

Few in Yangon think the junta will allow Suu Kyi and some 2,100 other
political prisoners to be freed before the polls, despite requests from US
President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, among others.

Obama, as part of his administration's new "engagement" policy with
Myanmar, has hinted at lifting economic sanctions if the junta agrees to
meet certain key conditions such as freeing Suu Kyi and opening a dialogue
with the opposition and other stakeholders before holding an election.

The junta is unlikely to play ball.

"They have been ruling Myanmar under economic sanctions for a long time
and have proven they can survive," said one Yangon-based political
observer who requested anonymity.

"I think they will not negotiate with the lady [Suu Kyi] just to avoid
sanctions for one year," he said. "For the military, the ethnic issue is
more important than the lady and the NLD."

Under the 2008 constitution, some 37 ethnic minority armies, which the
junta calls "ceasefire groups," must be turned into border guards as part
of the preparations for the election.

The ethnic minority groups are also encouraged to set up political parties
to contest the polls.

So far only only three groups have complied, and there are fears that some
of the largest groups, such as the Wa, will refuse and perhaps block
polling in their areas.

"It seems to me that both sides, the regime and ethnic groups, do not have
a clear plan for the next step," said Aung Din, director of the
Washington-based US Campaign For Burma.

"I am sure that the refusal of these ethnic groups to the border guard
plan is the main reason for the regime's delay in announcing the election
schedule," he said.