BurmaNet News, February 17, 2010

[Editor]

February 17, 2010, Issue #3898


INSIDE BURMA
AP: UN envoy visits political prisoners in Myanmar
Irrawaddy: Junta woos Rohingyas

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: NLD-ethnic groups share common center
Narinjara: Wa closes two border passes in protest
Kachin News Group: China worried over losing investments in Burma in event
of civil war

BUSINESS / TRADE
Mizzima News: Garment workers demonstrate for better wages

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Rights group takes Nyi Nyi Aung case to UN

OPINION / OTHER
Wall Street Journal: Myanmar dissident's release spurs questions
UPI: Myanmar kids put factories to test – Mon Mon Myat

INTERVIEW
DVB: Tin Oo's speaks after captivity




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 17, Associated Press
UN envoy visits political prisoners in Myanmar

Yangon – A United Nations human rights envoy, in Myanmar to evaluate
progress on reform, visited political prisoners in a northwestern state, a
government official said Wednesday.

Envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana met four prisoners in Rakhine on Tuesday, and
traveled to Buthidaung prison near the border with Bangladesh on
Wednesday, said the official on condition of anonymity, since he was not
authorized to speak to the press.

Quintana's third visit to military-ruled Myanmar follows the release from
almost seven years' detention of Tin Oo, the deputy leader of the
pro-democracy party led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar ruled by the military since 1962 still holds some 2,100 political
prisoners.

Quintana is expected to meet several key officials in the country's
administrative capital, Naypyitaw, and members of the opposition. He will
also visit Yangon's notorious Insein prison during his five-day trip.

Win Tin, one of the country's longest-serving former prisoners, called on
Quintana to "be decisive and perform his duties in the strictest manner
without falling prey to the lies of the government."

Win Tin said earlier visits made things more bearable for political
prisoners.

The envoy also has requested a meeting with Nobel Prize winner Suu Kyi,
who remains under house arrest. He was barred from seeing her on his
previous visits. Suu Kyi was sentenced last year to an additional 18
months of house arrest for briefly sheltering an uninvited American, in a
trial that drew global condemnation.

The U.N. envoy said last week he would press for the release of political
prisoners, review progress on reform within the armed forces, and check on
the revision of laws to ensure compliance with international human rights
standards.

____________________________________

February 17, Irrawaddy
Junta woos Rohingyas – Lawi Weng

The regime-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and
the National Unity Party (NUP), which are preparing to run in the 2010
election, have started campaigning for Rohingya support by issuing them
with temporary identity cards (IDs) in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships
in Burma's northwestern Arakan State.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, the Arakan Project's coordinator
Chris Lewa said, “They help people who are aged 18 and give them
application forms to apply for IDs. They also provide money to repair
mosques.”

About 60 percent of the 1 million Rohingya in Arakan State have got
temporary identity cards, according to Lewa.

She said USDA members organized the Muslim elite in Rangoon to conduct
election campaigns, adding that it is the first time the USDA has allowed
the Rohingya to be members of the group.

The authorities have similarly asked prominent pro-junta Muslim
businessmen to mobilize Rohingya support in Maungdaw for the NUP, the
party formed out of the former Burma Socialist Programme Party led by
former dictator Gen Ne Win.

Rohingya community leaders in Maungdaw have been summoned by Nasaka,
Burma's border security force, to pressure them into supporting the NUP,
according to the Bangladesh-based independent Arakanese news agency, the
Narinjara News, which refers to the ethnic group as Muslim rather than
Rohingya.

Tin Soe, an editor of the Bangladesh-based Kaladan Press Network, said
Burmese authorities have allowed the USDA and NUP to campaign, though the
election law has not been announced.

He said nine areas in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships started issuing
temporary IDs costing 3,500 kyat [US $3.50] each in January.

Lewa said the Burmese authorities allowed the USDA and NUP to campaign
because they fear many Arakanese people will vote against them and they
hope to gain support from the Rohingya.

In 2008, the Rohingya were allowed to vote in the referendum, and the
current temporary IDs will qualify them to vote in the election to be held
later this year.

Normally, Rohingya people are not recognized as citizens of Burma even
though many were born there and have lived in northwestern Arakan State
all their lives. In the past, they had to bribe Burmese authorities in
Arakan State to get ID cards.

Ye Myit Aung, a Burmese diplomat in Hong Kong, typified central Burmese
attitudes towards the Rohingya when he described them as very “dark brown”
and “ugly as ogres,” according to a report in the South China Morning Post
in February, 2009.

The Rohingya, a stateless minority people in Burma, face harsh treatment
by Burmese authorities. They are prohibited from traveling outside Arakan
State and are further marginalized by other discriminatory laws.

Many seek to escape economic hardship and restrictions by turning to
brokers to find work outside Arakan State. In 2008, more than 100 Rohingya
were sentenced to six months imprisonment after being arrested by Burmese
authorities while attempting to travel to Rangoon in search of work.

Many have fled to Bangladesh, where about 30,000 Rohingya stay at the
Kutupalong temporary camp in Cox's Bazar District in Bangladesh. The
Bangladesh government has increasingly cracked down on them, arresting
them and sending them back to Burma.

Last year, hundreds put to sea in leaky vessels and set sail for Malaysia,
but many ended up on Thailand's beaches or drowned in the stormy waters of
the Andaman Sea.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 17, Irrawaddy
NLD-ethnic groups share common center – Simon Roguhneen

Bangkok — The perceived divide between the “mainstream” Burmese opposition
led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) on the one hand, and groups
representing ethnic minorities on the other, is “artificial and
contrived,” according to an Amnesty International researcher.

Noting that the 2007 protests known as the “Saffron Revolution” were
started by monks in Rakhine, Benjamin Zawacki, a researcher on Amnesty's
Southeast Asia team, said that the presence of a substantial number of
ethnic minorities in the NLD suggests that the ethnic groups share many
common grievances with the Burmese opposition, and see common ground in
addressing these issues.

Ethnic Karen women leave a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border to return
to Burma. About 30,000 Karen entered Thailand in June 2009 to flee
fighting between rebel groups and the government.  (Photo: Reuters)
“While ethnic minorities have their own issues with the Myanmar [Burma]
government, a shared experience of oppression infuses links between the
opposition and ethnic groups,” Zawacki said.

Zawacki spoke at a press conference in Bangkok on Tuesday, to launcha new
Amnesty report “The Repression of Ethnic Minority Activists in Myanmar.”
The document is based on interviews with more than 700 representatives of
ethnic groups, with interviews taking place in Bangladesh, China, Thailand
and other countries neighboring Burma.

It focuses on the seven main ethnic groups in Burma, those identified as
making up a majority in their eponymous state, namely the Arakan, Chin,
Kachin, Shan, Karenni, Karen and Mon. Ethnic minorities make up between 35
to 40 percent of the country's population, with at least 135 ethnic groups
living inside Burma. Burmese make up the majority of the country's people.

Ten political parties have registered to participate in the upcoming
election in Burma, according to a junta. However, the NLD and the major
parties representing ethnic minorities have not indicated that they will
take part.
The junta has ordered that ethnic militias, many of which are linked to
political parties, stand down and become part of the state border force
prior to the elections.

Burma recently marked its Union Day, commemorating the signing of the
Panglong Agreement in 1947. Gen Aung San and leaders of some of the ethnic
minorities agreed to establish a form of federal union in which the
non-Burmese minorities would have substantial local autonomy. When the
military seized power in 1962, it justified the coup by dismissing the
Panglong agreement and the federation principle as code for ethnic groups
trying to separate from Burma.

The report also discussed the reaction by the Burmese regime to people
caught working with media groups. It recounted the 2008 shooting of a 17-
year-old Mon boy accused of passing information to exile media groups,
saying this type of draconian reaction affected both Burmese opposition
and minority groups.

Recalling the lack of information that characterized the 2008 Constitution
referendum, with the document published a mere weeks before the vote,
without any minority language translation, Zawacki said he doubted that
the 2010 elections would be free and fair: “International media and
observers must be given access, and the election laws and dates must be
published and disseminated widely, well in advance of the polling date,”
he said.

However, a lack of international will and monitoring mechanism could
stymie any hopes that the upcoming elections will be credible, or will
lead to a better relationship between the government and minority groups.

“The Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights has no
investigative power, but we request that it do everything within its
mandate to address violations of international human rights law in
Myanmar,” said Zawacki.

Southeast Asia and China should frame ethnic relations in Burma with
regard to regional stability. After six decades of on-off war between the
mainly military governments of Burma and ethnic groups, millions of
migrant workers and refugees have flooded into neighboring countries and
unless the internal conflicts are resolved, more of the same can be
expected.

After recent attempts by the Thai government to repatriate Karen refugees
who fled an attack by the junta backed-DKBA last June, Amnesty
International urged Bangkok to respect international human rights norms,
particularly the principle of non-refoulement. Like the majority of
southeast Asian countries, Thailand has not ratified the 1951 UN refugee
convention.

Asked by The Irrawaddy about the looming deadline for Nationality
Verification for an estimated 2 to 3 million migrant workers in Thailand,
the majority of whom are Burmese, Zawacki said that “it is a real concern
to have Burmese minorities go back to their country and register, before
they can be allowed to continue to work in Thailand.”

Separately, migrant workers, trade unionists and rights defenders marched
to Government House to submit an open letter of concern to Thai Prime
Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, signed by more than 60 domestic, regional and
international rights groups and trade unions. The letter demands an end to
threats of mass deportation for migrants and sweeping changes to the
government’s nationality verification policy.

____________________________________

February 17, Narinjara
Wa closes two border passes in protest

Two border passes opposite Chiangmai’s Chiangdao district have been
ordered closed since February 5 when a Wa soldier, who strayed across the
border,  while hunting was killed by a Thai border security force,
according to Thai and Shan sources.

The closure of Nawngwen-Muengna pass and BP1-Nong Ook (Arunothai) pass was
ordered by Yang Guojong, the 775th’s commander. “He called me up and just
let off steam,” said a Shan who lives in Thailand. “He spoke as though I
were the Thai officer who was responsible for the death of his man.”

The Wa soldier, who was unidentified, was from the 775th’s 303rd
Battalion, stationed at Nawng Wen, Mongton township. The Thai Army seized
one AK 47 automatic rifle and detained one of his two companions. The
other escaped back across the border. No drugs were found on their
persons. Both the weapon and the man are still under Thai custody,
according to a Thai source.

The two passes are the most used among the several mountain cross border
routes, due to their connection to the motor roads. “You pay 500 baht
($15) for transportation and 800 baht ($24) to the Burmese Army, Wa Army
and militias for each trip,” said a source who lives on the border. “It is
quite expensive of course, the distance being only 29 miles (46 km) from
Nakawngmu to the border. But it’s more convenient and faster than the
mountain trails.”

Despite the resulting tension between the Thai Army and the UWSA, one Thai
security official does not think it will result in any exchange of
hostilities. “The Wa should know they can’t have two enemies at the same
time,” he said. “If they choose to fight us, it’ll be the Burmese who will
win in the end.”

The UWSA had joined the Burmese Army in its military confrontations with
Thailand in 2001 and 2002, seven years before it was pressured last year
to exchange its independent status to junta-run militia status.
____________________________________

February 17, Kachin News Group
China worried over losing investments in Burma in event of civil war

China is overtly anxious of losing its huge investments in neighbouring
military-ruled Burma with civil war clouds looming between the regime and
ethnic armed groups, said sources close to Chinese officials.Sources close
to China’s southwestern Yunnan province government, said China’s current
investment in Burma is in the region of over 600 billion dollars. It is
the biggest foreign investor in Burma.

China has invested mainly in energy and mining sectors in Burma controlled
by the junta as well as in business interests of ethnic armed groups along
the border.

It stands to reason that China does not want strife along the Burma
border, contiguous to its Yunnan province between the junta and ethnic
armed groups, who have rejected the junta-proposed plans to disarm, Yunnan
government sources said.

China has advised the junta to avoid military conflicts as far as possible
with the border-based ethnic rebels-- Wa, Kachin and Shan, who rejected
transforming their armed-wings to the Burmese Army-controlled Border Guard
Force, border-based Chinese security sources added.

Major ethnic armed groups based on the border like the United Wa State
Army (UWSA), the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Mongla-based
National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), Shan State Army-North (SSA-N)
have rejected the contentious junta-proposed BGF.

Insiders from ethnic armed-groups’ said, the junta has come up with a
fresh deadline at the end of February, the third so far, for transforming
all ethnic armed groups to the Burmese Army controlled BGF.

Border-based Chinese security sources said, Burmese military leaders will
swiftly put into action, plans to disintegrate and breakup the ethnic
armed groups by pouring in huge amounts of money before the countrywide
elections this year.

On February 9, there was a departmental meeting of the Yunnan government,
which discussed war, which seems inevitable between the Burmese Army and
the two main ethnic armed groups—UWSA and KIO.

Ethnic armed groups are unlikely to start a war though the junta has
refused to resolve the political problems through a dialogue, said the
groups’ sources.

A border-based military analyst told Kachin News Group today, “China would
not like war on the border because it is keen to protect its 600 billion
US dollar investment in Burma. If the ethnic armed groups start a war with
the regime, China and the junta may jointly take the war to all
border-based ethnic armed groups”.

Previous lessons of the joint military plans of the two governments, saw
to the Kokang rebels, also called the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance
Army (MNDAA) being  divided and its territory  taken over by the junta in
August last year.

Border military analysts said China is more interested in its investments
in Burma rather than the political stability in the military-ruled
country.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 17, Mizzima News
Garment workers demonstrate for better wages

New Delhi - A strike by workers continues in a garment factory in Insein
Township with over 200 workers demanding an increase in wages since
yesterday.

Workers in Lion City at the Insein Yowma rice mill began demonstrating on
Tuesday at 5 p.m. with regime officials closely monitoring the situation,
fearing a spread in anti-government protests in the military-ruled
country, which is under the vice like grip of the junta.

“Ten riot police trucks are on standby. Police and fire-brigade are also
in position,” an eyewitness told Mizzima.

The junta has banned worker’s unions. But recently there has been a spurt
in demonstrations against low wages and for labour rights. The last
reported work stoppage was in Hlaingtharyar industrial zone on February 9,
where at least 2000 workers from three different factories ceased work.

The junta does not tolerate people gathering as a rule, unless it is
organized by the regime. However, workers protesting have not been
arrested so far.

Mizzima is following the situation.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 17, Irrawaddy
Rights group takes Nyi Nyi Aung case to UN – Lalit K Jha

The Washington-based organization Freedom Now has asked the UN Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention to investigate the case of the
Burmese-American Nyi Nyi Aung, who was sentenced by a Rangoon court last
week to three years imprisonment.

A 17-page petition was submitted to the UN panel on behalf of Nyi Nyi
Aung’s fiancée, Wa Wa Kyaw, who said: “I hope that the United Nations will
help the junta to see that they cannot continue to imprison people for
their political actions.”

Freedom Now President Jared Genser said: “We are deeply concerned about
Nyi Nyi’s health and welfare both because his three-year sentence includes
hard labor and because the junta has arbitrarily and permanently denied
him family visits; the primary way prisoners in Burma receive food,
vitamins, and medicine.”

Nyi Nyi Aung was convicted of carrying false identification and undeclared
currency and of failing to renounce his Burmese nationality when becoming
a US citizen in 2002.  Freedom Now charged in its petition that Nyi Nyi
Aung had been tried by a biased court and denied an impartial tribunal.

“In addition to not being able to adequately prepare a defense because he
was not provided access to his lawyers, the Burmese junta did not allow Mr
Aung to present defense witnesses under the same conditions that the
prosecution presented its witnesses,” the petition said.

 “Mr Aung was only allowed to present two witnesses on his behalf. The
government was allowed to present at least 16 witnesses,” Freedom Now
charged.

After his sentencing on February 20, Nyi Nyi Aung was transferred from
Rangoon's Insein Prison to a prison in Prome to begin serving his
sentence. Freedom Now said it believed he was transferred to a location
far from Rangoon to prevent information on his condition from leaking to
the media and to make regular visits difficult.

____________________________________

____________________________________

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 17, Wall Street Journal
Myanmar dissident's release spurs questions

The release of a leading dissident in Myanmar over the weekend has
intensified questions about whether the military regime will keep its
promise to hold free and fair elections this year, and about what form the
opposition will take.

The concerns deepened on Tuesday, amid reports that the government
sentenced four women activists to prison terms with hard labor and the
release of an Amnesty International study detailing cases of torture and
other abuses against activists in recent years. These developments cast a
shadow over a visit by United Nations envoy Tomás Ojea Quintana, who is
touring Myanmar to study the country's progress on human rights. Advocacy
groups have long accused Myanmar's regime of abuses including the
incarceration of more than 2,000 dissidents, notably famed Nobel laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi.
Journal Community

The regime has tried to appear more conciliatory recently. On Saturday, it
released a prominent dissident, Tin Oo, from house arrest, ending a period
of detention that began in 2003. Mr. Tin Oo helped found the country's
main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, along with Ms.
Suu Kyi in 1988. The NLD easily won elections two years later, but the
government ignored the results and eventually imprisoned many senior NLD
leaders, including Ms. Suu Kyi and Mr. Tin Oo, the organization's vice
chairman.

Ahead of the planned first national election since that 1990 one the NLD
won, the regime has also allowed Ms. Suu Kyi to meet with top officials of
her party. Analysts say the military wants to hold the vote to enhance its
legitimacy and needs some measure of opposition participation to lend
credibility to the process.

Although dissidents and exiles welcomed Mr. Tin Oo's release, they
questioned whether it represented significant progress, given that the
government hasn't released Ms. Suu Kyi from house arrest. Leaders in the
U.S. and elsewhere say Ms. Suu Kyi's release is a precondition to holding
a free and fair election.

Some dissidents said they suspect military officials released Mr. Tin Oo
because they may consider him to be too old, at age 82, to stir up serious
trouble.

"It is expected that the junta will launch such a charm offensive to
improve its image before the elections," said Soe Aung, a spokesman for
the Forum for Democracy in Burma, a Thailand-based dissident group. Still,
"the junta will make sure at all costs that the opposition will be
weakened if not paralyzed before the elections," he said.

Attempts to reach the Myanmar government, which rarely talks to foreign
journalists, were unsuccessful. Than Shwe, the country's reclusive senior
military leader, has in the past said the election will be "free and
fair." The regime said the vote will take place this year, but hasn't
announced a date.

It remained unclear what, if any, progress the U.N. special envoy can
achieve during his visit. He is expected to meet with government officials
but it remained uncertain whether he would be allowed to meet Ms. Suu Kyi.
He met with opposition leaders Monday and traveled to northwestern Rakhine
state Tuesday, where he was expected to visit a prison.

The Associated Press, citing an opposition spokesman, said that the four
women who were sentenced to two years of prison and hard labor on Monday
were arrested in October 2009 after being accused of offering to Buddhist
monks alms that included religious literature. The women used to hold
prayer services at Yangon's Shwedagon pagoda for Ms. Suu Kyi's release,
the AP said.

The Amnesty International report, which covered two years ending in August
2009, alleged that authorities targeted ethnic minority activists and in
some cases tortured or executed them. It called on the government to
release political prisoners, among other steps.

The government has denied accusations of human rights abuses in the past.

Rebuilding the opposition in the face of persecution from state
authorities remains a critical issue for Myanmar, a resource-rich country
whose troubles have long unnerved neighbors in the region. Despite
widespread concerns about the legitimacy of this year's vote, some
analysts are hopeful it will at least open the door to more open political
discourse, especially if more political prisoners are released in the
months ahead.

Over the past 15 years, the junta has dismantled the NLD's network of
regional offices across the country and subjected leaders who aren't in
prison to constant surveillance, according to human-rights groups. It has
also prohibited the NLD from holding major summits, though it allowed the
group to keep a headquarters in Yangon. Many senior opposition figures no
longer live in Myanmar, and most of the top ones who remain involved now
are in their 70s and 80s.

The NLD party has looked to regroup over the past year. It has expanded
its central leadership committee to bring in new blood.

But party members are still deeply divided over whether to participate in
the election. Some believe nothing short of a full boycott is acceptable
unless the junta frees Ms. Suu Kyi and takes other steps such as revising
the country's constitution, which reserves many government posts and 25%
of parliamentary seats for military officers. Younger opposition
members—including some in their 40s and 50s—are more willing to
participate, according to dissidents. These members are said to believe
that even if the vote is rigged, they could at least gain some positions
of influence, and that sitting out would only marginalize the group
further.

Mr. Tin Oo told followers that he planned to resume his political
activities as deputy leader of the NLD despite warnings to desist, Reuters
reported.

Details of his plans remained scant. A former army general who fell out
with military leaders, Mr. Tin Oo spent numerous years in prison in recent
decades. Authorities last detained him—along with Ms. Suu Kyi—in 2003
after a pro-government mob attacked their convoy during a tour of northern
Myanmar in which several people were killed. Government officials argued
the two represented a threat to national security.

Since then, the regime had extended Mr. Tin Oo's detention annually. His
latest term of detention expired on Saturday.
____________________________________

February 17, United Press International
Myanmar kids put factories to test – Mon Mon Myat

Yangon – Fifteen-year-old Cho Cho Thet knows little about the world
outside of the garments factory where she works.

Thet works 14 hours each day - from 7am to 9pm - seven days a week, but
receives a salary of only 35,000 kyat (US$35) a month. The factory owner
provides free accommodation and meals that include rice and vegetables.

"Working under a roof is better than working in the rice field under the
sun or the rain. I don't feel tired at all here," Thet told Inter Press
Service. The girl, after two years of working at the factory, was recently
promoted from helper to operator.

When she was in second grade, Thet was pulled out from school by her
mother so she could take care of her younger sister. After her mother died
and her father left home, Thet, the eldest in the family, had no choice
but to work.

"I had to work the whole day standing in the paddy field to grow rice
whether it was raining or sunny," she said, recalling her life in their
village, a three-hour drive from Yangon.

She was later able to convince her grandmother to send her to the factory
where her aunt was working. "I can't make enough money if I live in the
village. There is no regular income, no job except in the farming season,"
Thet said.

May Thu Aung, owner of the garments factory, refused to accept Thet
because the girl was too young then. Thet's grandmother left her to work
as a babysitter in Aung's house. Thet said she did not like the job
"because I did not even want to take care of my own sister". After a few
months, she was finally able to work in the factory.

"There are many young people applying for jobs in the factory, although we
try to reject underage children. If we reject them today, they will come
again next week with a new application in which they have changed their
age," Aung said.

Aung is one of several entrepreneurs who set up a garments factory in 1996
when the country moved towards being market-oriented. She started out with
150 workers, and this number has doubled in 14 years.

Aung's factory is in an industrial zone on the outskirts of east Yangon,
the former capital. It is one of the 21 industrial zones set up by the
military government after a coup in 1988. According to 2006 data, more
than 43,000 privately owned factories are engaged in textile
manufacturing, food processing, steel production, plastic and other
industrial production. About 98% of industries are private enterprises.

These have provided many job opportunities for people from the rural areas
who previously could not find work after the farming season. Many
youngsters work in the informal sector as well.

Working conditions in many factories do not comply with international
labor standards on health and safety, child labor, working hours and pay.
A recent labor dispute in a privately owned garments factory highlighted
this problem. The workers were calling for higher wages and better working
conditions.

"The government was placed in a situation where it had to play two roles,
which is a difficult position, and it is also not a good situation for the
workers," Steve Marshall, liaison officer of the International Labor
Organization (ILO) in Myanmar, said in an interview.

He suggested that the employer, workers and the government sit down and
negotiate a win-win situation for all those involved, in the manner of
usual negotiations in other societies. "They need to find out what can be
negotiated and resolved," Marshall said.

Although the ILO maintains a presence in Myanmar, it operates under a very
restricted mandate and only in the areas of forced labor, child soldiers
and freedom of association. When it comes to matters such as workplace
health and safety and child labor, Marshall said, the ILO "sees what is
happening and we have ... a lot of expertise where we could assist, but
under the legal situation we are simply not allowed to do so."

The global economic downturn is compounding Myanmar's problems on poor
working conditions and low pay. Many export-oriented factories were
affected by the recession, one of them Aung's, which is a sub-contractor
for clothing companies that export to Britain, Germany and Spain.

"Clothing orders decreased by 75% because we had no orders for eight
months in 2009," Aung said. "It is quite difficult for us to keep running
the factory with 300 workers because we can't afford such a big cost."

Last year, about 60 workers left Aung's factory to look for better jobs.

"There are many karaoke bars and massage parlors [in Yangon] where the
young girls can make more money than if they work in the factory. How can
I stop them?" Aung said. For Thet, however, working in the garments
factory where she has many friends is safer than working as an
entertainer. She said she could still play with the young workers in the
factory compound after they finished work at 9pm.

"We sometimes play hide-and-seek; sometimes we sing and dance," Thet said.
"What I enjoy most is when my boss shows movies in the compound," she
said, although she has to sacrifice sleep on these occasions.

"I'm a heavy sleeper. If I watch a movie till late at night, I wake up 15
minutes before [the start of my work], shower and go straight to work. I
miss breakfast that morning," Thet said.

The girl still dreams of going back to school, something she is constantly
reminded of when she sees other children outside the factory on their way
to their classes. "I miss my friends in school. I still want to study if I
don't need to work."

____________________________________
INTERVIEW

February 17, Democratic Voice of Burma
Tin Oo's speaks after captivity

DVB were one of the first to interview the National League for Democracy
(NLD) deputy, Tin Oo after his release from 6-years under house arrest.

In this exclusive interview the 83-year old discussed the proposed
election, the military, his hopes, and being released from incarceration.

Now that you have been released, how do you feel?

It doesn’t feel good as I’m the only one to be freed. There are still a
lot of political prisoners remaining and I want them to be freed too.
Actually, it can’t be considered that I’m free; I’m only being let out for
the time being.

Are you seeing any changes for when you went in?

I don’t see many significant changes. I haven’t been to many places yet
[after being released.] I was at the Shwedagon Pagoda [on Sunday] and
prayed for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Also I visited to [the
NLD] chairman [U Aung Shwe’s] house and met with him, U Lwin and U Lun
Tin*.

What do you wish for the most at the moment?

I wish for open negotiation, dialogue and peace for the people and the
country.

We learnt that you are keeping with the stance of the Shwegondine
Declaration**. But the government has said that it is impossible to meet
the demands of the declaration, such as revising the 2008 constitution.How
much hope are you keeping on this?

The NLD has kept with this stance so as to find answers to the problems
via dialogue and is continually making that call, as well as for the
release of political prisoners and such. But nothing has happened and we
are still firm on that stance. Regarding the 2010 elections, there has
been no details whatsoever released; such as the elections laws or
political party registry law. So just like Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said, it
is not yet time [to make any decision.]

As you know, the [military government] has appointed a large role for
itself in the basic constitution. As a former Defence Chief, how practical
do you think this is for the democratisation in Burma?

Having a government formed of only those who win the people’s vote is the
main essence of democracy. But now, [the military] will take up 25 percent
[of the parliamentary seats] as well as taking up its own space in
regional organisations and this is completely not democratic at all. If we
are to be a democratic nation, then we have to practice true democracy
measures such as allowing freedom of expression, freedom to discuss and
form organisations. But in reality, the military will have its members
take part everywhere, including [civilian organisations] so it will
[dominate] 100 percent of the power in the government even though the
constitution said there will be 75 percent civilians [in the government.]

So we can never expect to have a system in our country where the military
stays in its own place and does not engage in politics?

We can still hope. Why not? The army is merely a unique organisation among
the nation’s services. So it should have the same servant principles.
Changes will occur according to the will of the people. Changes take place
slowly, by finding answers step by step.

What was your view of politics when you were in the army as an official?

I looked to a peaceful nation, independently shared rule by the upper
house, the lower house and ethnic representatives in the parliament.

When you were Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, the military leaders
now were junior officials in the army. Are there suggestions you want to
make to them?

I would like to tell them to welcome ideas from the people and to pay them
respect. It would be a wonderful situation if the members of the Tattmadaw
treated people with due respect and did things aimed at the happiness of
the public.

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*NLD Central Executive Committee Members **The declaration at which the
NLD declared that they would not compete in the 2010 election because of
the 2008 constitution