BurmaNet News, October 13, 2010

[Editor]

October 13, 2010 Issue #4061


INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima: Ethnic leaders join NLD vote-boycott roadshow
Irrawaddy: USDP vote buying begins

BUSINESS / TRADE
Bangkok Post: Burma says border will reopen soon
DVB: Kachin court clears Yuzana tycoon

ASEAN
VOA: ASEAN Secretary-General hopes Burma's elections mark new stage

REGIONAL
Mizzima: Burmese at Thai factory hold out for pay today

INTERNATIONAL
DPA: New Zealand parliament calls on Myanmar to free prisoners
UPI: U.S. hopes for change in Myanmar
Minneapolis Star Tribune (US): Refugees speak the language of teamwork

OPINION / OTHER
DVB: Thailand’s labour flashpoint – Joseph Allchin
Catholic.net: Building up the church in Myanmar




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 13, Mizzima News
Ethnic leaders join NLD vote-boycott roadshow – Myint Maung

New Delhi – Ethnic leaders from the group made up of ethnic political
parties that contested in the 1990 general election, have joined the
National League for Democracy’s “no vote” campaign ahead of elections on
November 7.

The main opposition NLD party left Rangoon yesterday for Kachin State on
week-long roadshow trip organisational trip accompanied by Arakan League
for Democracy (ALD) party leader and Committee Representing the People’s
Parliament (CRPP) secretary Aye Thar Aung. They briefed NLD township, ward
and village level organising committee members from 11 townships in
Mandalay Division.

“I am glad and encouraged at meeting organising committee members from
townships, wards and villages for the first time after the authority
dissolved NLD,” Aye Thar Aung said.

NLD central executive committee member Ohn Kyaing, NLD women’s wing
members Phyu Phyu Thin, Hla Hla Moe, Aye Aye Mar, NLD youth wing member
Myo Nyunt and Aye Thar Aung met organisers from Mogok, Singu, Madaya,
Thapeikkyin, Patheingyi, Tadaoo, Amrapura, Singai and Pyinoolwin townships
and exchanged their views on boycotting this year’s national elections.

Fellow ethnic minority and CRPP leader, Zomi National Congress (ZNC)
chairman Pu Cing Tsian Thang, joined NLD leaders in a similar trip to
southern Shan State and Soe Win from the National Democracy Party joined
NLD leaders in their trip to western Pegu Division.

Upon reaching Kachin State, Aye Thar Aung said he would pass on some of
the motions passed at the CRPP meeting held on September 3 month including
a resolution not to vote in upcoming polls.

The group resolved to boycott 2010 general election, to discuss issues and
difficulties being faced by ethnic people including concerns over the
building possibility that a new wave of civil war would break out amid
growing tension between junta forces and armed ethnic groups under
ceasefire that have rejected the junta’s Border Guard Force (BGF) demand.

They also decided to discuss the 2008 constitution and to tell people in
ethnic areas that building a genuine federal union and national unity
could only be achieved through enacting a constitution based on the
Panlong spirit that would entrench democratic and ethnic rights.

“The Kachin [Independence Organisation’s armed wing] said that they would
not need to bear arms if the Union [of Burma] was based on the Panlong
agreement. And the CRPP has reached a resolution on how to build a Union
in future based on that agreement. We will discuss these matters with the
people during this trip. Another topic will be on the current situation of
distrust of the SPDC [junta] by armed ethnic groups and their delay in
disarming themselves,” Aye Thar Aung said.

The junta’s electoral watchdog, the Union Election Commission (UEC),
issued a notice mid-last month that claimed five old political parties
including the NLD were automatically dissolved as they had failed to
re-register with the UEC during the stipulated time. The NLD has since
conducted roadshows to explain to the public their no-vote policy. They
have completed trips to almost 10 of the states and divisions.

“Party members are more consolidated and the party is stronger after these
meetings. We can say this is a significant and progressive result of
survival and revival. Party members abide by our policy of non-voting in
the election. If some of them go and cast their vote this time, they will
never be free from fear. But we can say how many people didn’t vote only
after the election,” Ohn Kyaing told Mizzima.

The CRPP was established on September 16, 1998 by the NLD, which won more
than 80 per cent of seats in the 1990 general election and ethnic parties
that also won seats, to call on the junta to convene the Hluttaw
(parliament)

Member parties are the ALD, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy,
the Shan State Kokang Democratic Party, the Mon Nationality Democratic
Front, the ZNC and Union Nationalities League for Democracy.

____________________________________

October 13, Irrawaddy
USDP vote buying begins

The junta's proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), has
started buying votes and intimidating voters in collaboration with
government authorities in several parts of the country, according to local
sources.

With less than three weeks before the country's first parliamentary
election in 20 years, USDP members are now going door to door in townships
in Rangoon, Irrawaddy Division and Arakan State, asking people for
advanced votes with offers of money and other opportunities in return, say
local sources.

Residents in those areas reported the presence of local authorities among
the USDA members.

“On Tuesday, the USDP members and authorities asked us if there were any
eligible voter in the house. And then they told us to cast an advanced
vote for the USDP in return for some financial support,” said a resident
of  North Dagon Township in Rangoon.

“We don't know how much money they would give to people who agreed to vote
for the USDP in advance,” he said. “But they left with a list of voters'
names.”

Residents living in blocks 46, 47 and 50 in the township also reported
similar USDP tactics in their areas, saying that the accompanying
authorities were led by the chairman of the township authority and his
deputy.

A Rangoon-based opposition party, the Democratic Party (Myanmar), has sent
a  complaint to the the regime-appointed election commission about the
USDP activities, which it said violated the election law.

According to the election law, anyone who is found to be guilty of
threatening, bribing or imposing undue influence on voters can face either
a one-year jail sentence or a  100,000 kyat (US $100) fine, or both.

Observers say it is unlikely that the commission would take any action
against the USDP, which is led by incumbent Prime Minister Thein Sein.

“These were mere complaints. They would go nowhere because the USDP, the
local authorities and the election commission are all the same,” said Than
Zaw Aung, a Democratic Party (Myanmar) candidate who is contesting for a
seat in North Dagon Township.

In other townships in Rangoon, such as South Dagon, East Dagon and Dawbon,
local residents said that USDP members and authorities made an offer of
10,000 kyat (US $10) for a single advanced vote.

“They asked us to give an advance vote to them if we don't plan to go and
vote on the polling day,” said a resident of South Dagon Township. “I was
upset. So I replied that I would vote for nobody.”

On Sept. 11, authorities in Gwa Township in Arakan State also asked
residents to appear in their office and tried to persuade them to vote for
the USDP, said local sources.

“We were openly told that we would receive a financial loan if we voted
for the USDP,” said a resident in Gwa Township, adding that some local
people were also offered free National Registration Cards since many
people in Arakan State still do not have legal  registration cards and use
temporary IDs.

Similar incidents were reported in Chaung Gyi village in Irrawaddy
Division. Villagers said that the authorities showed them some names and
photos of USDP candidates and asked them to vote for those candidates.

Some villagers said a local official threatened them, saying, “Don't bang
your head against the wall. Vote for the people we suggest. You know what
will happen if you don't listen to us, because we'll know who you vote
for.”

Sources in Rangoon said the USDP election campaigns are now in full swing.
Posters bearing the names of its candidates are now seen in the former
capital and its campaign ads have appeared in local journals.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 13, Bangkok Post
Burma says border will reopen soon – Anucha Charoenpo and Subin Kheunkaew

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has received an assurance from his
Burmese counterpart that the border adjoining Mae Sot will open to trade
again soon.

Burma said it closed its Myawaddy side of the border because of internal
security problems but it was possible it would reopen sooner than
expected, deputy government spokesman Supachai Jaisamut quoted Mr Abhisit
as saying yesterday.

Mr Supachai said the prime minister did not give an exact date for when
the border would open again.

The prime minister made the statement after returning from an official
one-day visit to Burma on Monday where he met Prime Minister Thein Sein.

He told the cabinet yesterday he had ordered the Commerce Ministry to hold
talks with Burma to seek the relaxing of a ban on 50 Thai export items, Mr
Supachai said.

Mr Abhisit said the two countries also agreed to jointly develop a
deep-sea port at Dawei (formerly Tavoy) in southern Burma.

Burmese authorities and Thai private sector firms are conducting a joint
study of the mega-project, he said.

Mr Abhisit said the development of the deep-sea port in Dawei and some new
industrial zones to be set up would help solve the problems of
cross-border and transnational crime, including illegal workers and drug
trafficking.

Meanwhile, loud explosions from the Burmese side of the border have been
heard in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district starting about 6am on Sunday.

The Chiang Mai-based Shan Herald Agency for News quoted Burmese witnesses
as saying at least two ammunition depots located in the compound of
Burmese ordnance battalion 642 exploded on Sunday morning. The explosions
continued for almost an hour, they said.

The ordnance unit is about a kilometre from the town of Mong Hsat, which
is 50-60 kilometres from Mae Ai district.

"Flames engulfed the buildings storing weapons," witnesses were quoted as
saying.

____________________________________

October 13, Democratic Voice of Burma
Kachin court clears Yuzana tycoon – Nang Kham Kaew

The owner of the powerful Yuzana construction company who became the
subject of a lawsuit filed by aggrieved farmers in Kachin state has been
absolved of any wrongdoing.

Farmers had claimed that Htay Myint, who is also standing as a candidate
for the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in
elections next month, had orchestrated the illegal confiscation up to
200,000 acres of farmland in Burma’s northern Kachin state.

Yuzana took over swathes of land in the Hukawng Valley, which was recently
declared the world’s largest tiger reserve, for the planting of sugar
cane. Locals there said that bulldozers had been sent in to flatten
villages in preparation for the plantations. Recent reports also claim
that employees have been given weapons training.

Instead the courtroom in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin state, cleared Htay
Myint and pointed the finger at the coordinator of the Hukawng project, Pu
Kyi, who happens to be Htay Myint’s brother.

“The judge said the coordinator can compensate for the farmers’ loss and
decided that the trial may go on with the coordinator but not
U Htay
Myint, who is currently working on projects and lives in Rangoon,” said
Bauk Ja, who has been assisting in the lawsuit.

The prosecution has protested that Pu Kyi was only following orders, and
that it should be Htay Myint who is in the dock. I knew that [the court
decision] was to save the owners’ name,” Bauk Ja said.

Around 600 farmers in five villages in the area have been affected by the
land grab, which began in 2007. They were moved to a newly built village
and given 80,000 kyat (US$80) per acre of land normally valued at 300,000
kyat (US$300).

The 17 farmers who filed the lawsuit had rejected the compensation. Twenty
more later filed for more compensation, and their trial will be held on 15
October. DVB has learnt that 50 more farmers are also seeking more
compensation.

____________________________________
ASEAN

October 13, Voice of America
ASEAN Secretary-General hopes Burma's elections mark new stage – Ron Corben

Bangkok – The secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations has called on Burma's government to ensure the coming elections
help lead to national reconciliation. Surin Pitsuwan hopes Burma's
conflicts with the international community over its human rights record
may also be resolved after the vote.

When Burma - also known as Myanmar - became a member of the Association of
Southeast Asian nations in 1997, many countries criticized ASEAN leaders
because of Burma's questionable human rights record.

Burma has even created divisions within ASEAN, because some members, such
as the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, have pressed the military
government for political reforms. Other members, particularly Laos and
Cambodia, disagreed.

After years of prodding, Burma is holding parliamentary elections on
November 7th, the first in 20 years.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan Wednesday said he hopes the
elections will offer a chance for national reconciliation and help end
Burma's international isolation.

"Myanmar has been a major issue for ASEAN in its cooperation, interaction
with the global community," he said. "We would like to see this issue
behind us. And the only way that that can be done is to make sure that
this election is going to be a relatively effective mechanism for national
reconciliation."

In a news conference in Bangkok, Surin also said the elections need to be
accepted as legitimate by a majority of Burmese.

Human rights groups and several Western countries call the vote a sham
aimed at ensuring continued military rule. The armed forces are guaranteed
a quarter of the seats in the new parliament.

Strict election laws meant that several political parties, including the
leading opposition group, the National League for Democracy, could not
take part in the vote. The laws required parties to expel members under
detention, including the NLD's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under
house arrest. The NLD refused to do so, and the government ordered it
disbanded.

The government also will not set up polling stations in several border
regions that are under the control of ethnic militias.

Surin says the aim should be that the elections produce a government
acceptable to the international community.

"Now the date is set everybody is anticipating - with a sense of relief -
that it is coming, real, definite," he said. "We hope that it will be
accepted and it will function effectively, and after that recognition. All
these things are in anticipation is just have to wait for the real result
coming but all of us hope that Myanmar will cease to be an issue of
irritation between ASEAN and the rest of the international community."

Several countries, including the United States have imposed economic
sanctions on Burma's government because of its poor human rights record.
The U.S., the European Union and several nations have long called on ASEAN
to push Burma to make reforms. But there have been few changes. Rights
groups say Burma holds more than 2,000 political prisoners and continues
to repress free speech and use forced labor to keep the population in
line.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

October 13, Mizzima News
Burmese at Thai factory hold out for pay today – Thea Forbes

Chiang Mai – Burmese migrant workers expect to be paid today in a
months-long dispute with a factory in Thailand that has included violence
and intimidation by the employer over work and legal documents and denied
salaries, a workers’ leader said.

The employees of the Dechapanich Fishing Net Factory in the Thai province
of Khon Kaen had on Friday still not received all of their legal documents
from their employer, worker leader Min Maung said.

Map Foundation, an NGO advocacy for Burmese workers in Thailand, told
Mizzima that the workers delivered a letter to their former employer on
Friday declaring that when they had received all documents and salaries
for September at the factory – not at the local Thai immigration office –
in accordance with Thai labour law, they would leave the area.

Min Maung also told Mizzima yesterday: “We hope that we will receive our
salaries tomorrow [today]. We want to receive salaries in front of
witnesses.”

Map told Mizzima the employer at Dechapanich had spoken with a lawyer from
the Lawyers’ Council of Thailand, who stated that the workers would be
paid today at the factory gates.

Min Maung told Mizzima that, “the employer had agreed to return all of our
documents in front of MAP Foundation 
  and Lawyers’ Council
[representatives]. But the employer broke that agreement,” he said.

“So, tomorrow [today] we will demand salaries and our documents from the
employer in front of the organisations that will accompany us.”

He added that the workers would refuse to leave the factory premises
tomorrow if management failed to produce their salaries.

The workers were harassed by motorcyclists wielding guns late on Saturday
night, Min Maung said. They had managed to seize one of the motorcycles,
and it had since been retrieved by police.

Dechapanich management had refused to give up the workers’ documents,
including travel and work permits, which they needed to find work
elsewhere, Min Maung said. “Without those documents, we can’t get new
jobs. If you were an employer, you would not employ us because we don’t
have all of the required documents.”

Map staff told Mizzima that the employer had become increasingly
unyielding over the situation in the past week. It had received reports
that other prospective employers had approached Dechapanich offering to
re-employ all of the workers, but that the previous employer would not
agree to the transfer.

Tensions grew last week after the workers were threatened with
deportation, Min Maung said.
Early on Thursday, a notice was posted on their dormitories and gun shots
were heard outside. They were awake discussing progress of their situation
when it happened, he said, adding, “
 we won’t give in to their demands
[coercion]”.

“After they [management] posted the deportation notice, we stayed in our
dormitory the whole night without going to bed 
 The senior-most security
guard fired the shots. Moreover, the chairman and secretary of the
supervisory body overseeing the more than 2,000 Burmese workers were also
bearing arms and intimidated us,” he said.

The chairman and secretary have been named as Maung Htoo and Naing Oo.

Vans were found near the dormitories apparently waiting to take the
workers to immigration, but the drivers were absent, Min Maung added.

Dechapanich’s owner was flouting his influence by attempting to
orchestrate the workers’ next destination, and also by charging a huge
employment “transfer fee” of up to 10,000 baht (US$335) per worker, Map
staff said.

The NGO said: “The current employer does not have the right to choose the
next employer or to create barriers for the workers getting jobs. Since
the workers have maintained all the legal paperwork, this situation does
not require the attention of [the Thai] immigration [department], and MAP
hopes the Department of Employment will become involved.”

The Department of Employment in Thailand maintained information on which
employers had requested quotas for migrant workers and were in the
position to facilitate a smooth process and ensure that the rights of the
migrants were protected, Map staff said.
Min Maung said: “We can’t accept that they can do whatever they want to
our passports, which are issued under the agreement of two countries.”

He also alluded to his former employer having links to authorities in high
positions.

Mizzima reported late last month that when some of the workers labour
cards were returned by the employer, it was evident they had been tampered
with. With regard to the remaining documents, Min Maung said. “We cannot
leave here without them.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 13, Deustche Press Agentur
New Zealand parliament calls on Myanmar to free prisoners

Wellington – The New Zealand Parliament unanimously passed a motion
Wednesday calling on Myanmar's military junta to 'release all political
prisoners arrested for their peaceful opposition to the regime.'

A former prisoner, Aung Khaing Min, who has been brought to New Zealand by
Amnesty International to speak about his experiences and the fight for
democracy in the Asian country, was in the public gallery when the motion
was passed.

The motion, moved by the main opposition Labour Party but supported by all
other parties, called on the authorities in Myanmar, also known as Burma,
to guarantee freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

Aung Khaing Min will appear before parliament's Foreign Affairs, Defence
and Trade select committee on Thursday, 14 October.

'His presence and his story will increase awareness in New Zealand of the
plight of the Burmese people, both in Burma and in exile,' Labour foreign
affairs spokeswoman Maryan Street said in a statement.

____________________________________

October 13, United Press International
U.S. hopes for change in Myanmar

Washington, D.C. – Washington hopes that whatever government emerges from
general elections in Myanmar will proceed along a new path, a U.S. State
Department spokesman said.

Myanmar has general elections in November that military authorities said
moves the country along the path toward civilian leadership. The military
junta was criticized, however, for a decision last month to disband 10
political parties, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy.

The military junta is guaranteed 20 percent of the seats in the next
parliament.

P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington
has "great concern" about developments in Myanmar.

"We've expressed our concerns about the upcoming electoral process, which
we do not believe will be free or fair," he said.

European lawmakers said it "would be a mistake" to put any faith in the
upcoming general election.

Military leaders said they would release Suu Kyi from her 15-year house
arrest before the election, though world leaders doubt the claim.

____________________________________

October 13, Minneapolis Star Tribune (US)
Refugees speak the language of teamwork – Jon Telvin

They came from the far corners of the Earth, from poverty and gunfire and
constant fear, from squalid camps and makeshift huts to a very different
place where today the sun is shining and there is the smell of fallen
leaves and freshly cut grass.

They play tag, scrambling around the soccer field to let the nervous
energy out, shouting and laughing. There is the rhythm of foreign
languages and hesitant, awkward shouts in English.

"No bounce. No bounce."

Myat Aye gets a pass from Abdi Mohamud near the goal and takes a shot. It
is blocked by the goalkeeper, Tin Tun Naing, who booms the ball back down
the field.

Less than eight months ago, Aye was living in a camp in Thailand with
thousands of Karen refugees who also fled the chaos and violence of
Myanmar.

About two years ago, Naing was living in a bamboo hut his family built
after they also fled the country. The military government of Myanmar, long
known as Burma, had taken his family's rice farm, and they were desperate.

Mohamud came to this country in 2006 from Somalia's civil strife.

Because they are all still learning English, they don't know all the
details of each other's stories.

"I just know the Karen people came here to get away from war," said
Mohamud. "Like me."

Soccer is now their common denominator, a couple hours of something
familiar in a place where the food, language and culture is often
confounding. Somehow, they all ended up on this field at Humboldt High
School in St. Paul.

While most schools have immigrants on their soccer teams, 16 of Humboldt's
17 varsity team members are from other countries, most of them are
political refugees who fled turmoil and ended up in St. Paul.

There are as many as 3,000 Karen refugees in Minnesota, many sponsored by
a St. Paul Baptist church. Thirteen of them have ended up on Humboldt's
soccer field, due mostly to the efforts of Naing, who recruits them
through the Karen community, where he is active.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
Thailand’s labour flashpoint – Joseph Allchin

Last month some 500 Burmese migrant workers went on strike at the Ditchar
Phannic fishing net factory in Khon Kaen, in northeastern Thailand. The
dispute on 5 September has opened up broader issues of labour rights in
the Kingdom, with violent flashpoints that characterise the struggle that
migrant labourers face in many countries.

Amongst the migrants’ complaints was the perennial issues of their wages,
which are below the minimum wage, while in this instance there was the
added issue of being forced to work an hour and a half each day,
apparently to pay off their work permits. But what started the dispute,
according to Jackie Pollock of the Thailand-based Migrant Assistance
Program (MAP) Foundation, was the dismissal of five workers – someone from
the factory had scribbled “cancelled” on their visa.

At the time, the manager at Ditchar Phannic, whom workers knew only as Pyi
Yut, kept their documents; a common practice with migrant workers in
Thailand to deny them the basic right of freedom of movement.

“We need to show those [documents] and the official resignation letters to
our new employers to get jobs with them. Now the current employers’ are
going to kick us out without paying our wages”, says Maung San, one of the
workers involved in the industrial action.

So on 6 September, as a result of their strike, the manager posted a
notification saying that they had to leave and that they could collect
their salaries at the Thai government immigration office. Moe Swe of the
Yaung Chi Oo Worker’s Association (YCOWA) in Thailand’s Mae Sot suspects
however that this was merely a ruse to be rid of the workers, as the
immigration authorities would simply ship them off to Mae Sot given that
they had no work in Khon Kaen, and without work their work permits would
quickly become invalid.

So the workers stayed in place in their accommodation in the isolated
factory compound in Khon Kaen.

Payment at the immigration office was beyond protocol and contrary to Thai
law. “They have to be paid on the work site”, confirms Pollock. So the
workers stayed and demanded their rights, as they remain to this day,
despite several demands that they leave. And with a hint of the slave
auction, they were told that if they wanted to change work they had to
find a new employer, who needed to come and meet the old employer.

Moe Swe alleges that the old employer, in spite and to prevent future
industrial action, told the potential new employer from Bangkok that he
would need to pay him 10,000 baht (US$330) per worker. “The reason he is
trying to annoy the workers is that he wants to teach a lesson to the
other workers. If he lets them go easily other workers will also resign
when they finish their contracts,” he said. This was subsequently denied
by the Pyi Yunt when approached by the workers’ representative.

There is considerable confusion about industrial relations, and the role
of the labour protection office appears negligible. And over the weekend,
things took a turn for the worse.

“The factory has two separate quarters located at some distance from each
other,” says Aung Aung, one of the striking workers. “The lower quarters
are a bit close to a forest nearby. Our employers armed some men with guns
and that forced the workers to lay patrols along the road to the lower
quarters at night.”

“Around 11pm on 8 October, four people arrived on two motorbikes and fired
some gun shots,” he continues. “After firing the shots, they became
surrounded by the workers and two of them escaped on their bike. The other
two, unable to start their motorbike, left it and escaped on foot. It was
a red Suzuki motorbike and because we can’t read Thai, we only recognised
the numbers 259 on the license plate.

“We called the police. [The police], without even investigating the scene,
insisted they will take the bike. We refused to give it to them so they
left without even taking a photo of it. Yesterday [10 October], we handed
the bike to the police station to avoid having to take responsibility for
it.”

MAP said they helped the workers contact the police to account for the
bike and protect the workers from accusations of theft. Today, workers
informed DVB that 350 of them were told that some of their documents were
being transferred to Thailand’s labour ministry office.

MAP has been informed that the workers will get paid at the factory gates
on Wednesday. Whether they receive their documents as well is another
matter, and their plight is highly uncertain.

“The issue is that they have handed in their resignation but the issue is
how to find new work,” Pollock said. ”It’s a problem of what happens next.
Where in the system does anyone go? In this situation it’s not just this
employer, it’s not addressed by policy. If you change your employer
there’s a limited time they can keep their work permit.”

The system by which Burmese migrant workers are ‘allowed’ access to
Thailand and the jobs they so desperately need seems to be a causal factor
in such disputes, with workers highly dependent upon their employers, and
their good will.

So as documents are kept by employers, and given that their legal status
in Thailand is linked through their work permit to their employers, means
they have limited freedom of movement and choice in a job market, a market
which heavily favours employers, or as one migrant worker telling told
DVB, “work owners”. Indeed when a worker is not free to leave, has no
ability to negotiate wages and conditions for themselves, it may well be
more accurate to strip the veneer of language – they are not free agents
in an open economy, and the reality is little removed from modern day
slavery.

____________________________________

October 12, Catholic.net
Building up the church in Myanmar

Rome – It's been three years since Myanmar made daily headlines with the
ruling junta's violent repression of pro-democracy protests led by
Buddhist monks.

Now the nation is preparing for rare national elections next month, though
the international community is hardly expecting a crowning moment of
democracy.

It is in such a context that Sister Veronica Nwe Ni Moe and her Salesian
sisters are building up the Church, one child at a time.

In this interview given to the television program "Where God Weeps" of the
Catholic Radio and Television Network (CRTN) in cooperation with Aid to
the Church in Need, Sister Veronica speaks of the work of the Salesians in
Myanmar, as well as her own efforts to further her education in Rome.

Q: Sister you are working a lot with young people. You are studying in
Rome and your focus is education. What are the challenges facing the young
people in Myanmar?

Sister Veronica: I’m a Salesian sister. We see many young girls coming to
us. We have a training center for young girls from ages 15 to 25 who come
from the various parishes. They are usually from the various ethnic
groups. They have no future and no guidance.

Q: The center of the country is much more Buddhist. The border regions are
much more Catholic. How is it that your family is Catholic in a more
Buddhist region?

Sister Veronica: This is my opinion. My mom is from the Karen tribe from
the border regions and in Myanmar, "the tribals" as we are called are
predominantly Catholics.

Q: Maybe you could explain the situations in the border regions?

Sister Veronica: We do not know the real motive of the government in
waging war against the tribes. What I could say is that the innocent
people, particularly the young who are caught in the crossfire, are
suffering. They are forced to carry food and weapons and are constantly on
the move. There is no stability and education is non-existent, or is not a
priority.

Most of the girls are also exploited or abused by different people
especially in the border regions. So there is no future for these young
girls, and also boys, despite their varied talents. The girls who come to
us -- we teach them and they are able to use their creativity. When I
became a sister I stayed with the girls for three years. While staying
with them I realized that I too learned so many things from them.

Q: For example?

Sister Veronica: To be simple. To be content with what you have. Happiness
does not lie in material things that you possess but rather with life
lived. A life of commitment and honesty, which gives them this joy.

Q: It must be painful for you to witness this suffering of the young people?

Sister Veronica: Sure. I suffer. We are educators and our congregation
worldwide is able to own their own schools, youth centers, oratories and
we are free -- but not in Myanmar. What I do is, first of all, pray for
them and then I commit myself wholeheartedly to them by educating them and
teaching them to be good Christian mothers so that they can transmit their
faith to their children.

Q: Is it possible to open schools, even small village schools in these areas?

Sister Veronica: We have a kindergarten with 100 children and most of them
are Buddhist. Working with the Buddhists is not difficult because they are
very peaceful and they [the parents] appreciate our work. It is easy to
work in collaboration with the parents.

Q: But you have only opened one kindergarten so far. What is preventing
you from doing more? Is it the war?

Sister Veronica: First of all, it’s the number of Salesian sisters in
Burma. There are only 21 of us at the moment and still growing. We now
have 16 to 17 aspirants, eight postulants and nine novices; we are
growing. This number hinders us also because we want to give 100% of
ourselves. And to do it well! We have four houses in Myanmar and the 21
sisters are distributed among these houses.

Q: What is the day to day relationship between the Catholics and Buddhists?

Sister Veronica: It is very peaceful. For example, in the village where I
was born, of the 800 families, eight are Catholics and they’re all my
relatives. So all my friends are mostly Buddhist. We live peacefully and
this is the norm. The Buddhist monks are kind and compassionate.

Q: Sister, there are, as part of evangelization in the Church, young
people called “Zetemans." Can you tell us about the “Zeteman” and what
they do?

Sister Veronica: They are young Catholic missionaries, aged 18 and above;
so they are very young. They dedicate their lives and give their services
to their dioceses for three years. They go to the remote places --
mountains, forests within their dioceses -- to serve. Their main goal is
to serve and do charitable work in education, health care, for the
elderly. They do not catechize but if the people ask about Jesus and the
faith then they share their faith. They do this service and sometimes risk
their own lives; they often succumb to sickness, often times from their
travels through the jungles. It is a very important service they provide
because, often times, the religious and priests cannot visit these places.

Q: How long are they [young people] gone and how long does it take them to
reach a village in the mountains?

Sister Veronica: Two of our Salesian sisters did that service before
becoming sisters; so their Salesian vocation was born from this “Zeteman”
service. And what I know is that they travel to distant places, for
example, even traveling by car, it would take them three days to reach
their destination, often visiting very poor villages and often times
without food. They often live with the villagers.

Q: Sister, can you tell us a little bit about your vocation?

Sister Veronica: When I was young I never thought about becoming a sister.
My ambition was to become a doctor to care for the sick. I did try to
study very hard because in my country to be a doctor requires hard work.
In my 10th year I also wanted to study computers and English. My father,
at this time in the year 1997-1998, became acquainted with the Salesian
missionary sisters. He met two Salesian sisters and was struck by their
joy and welcoming attitude. He asked me, after coming back home from the
city, if I would like to study under them. I said yes and he accompanied
me there.

During my stay with them, I started to ask myself and witnessed their joy
despite the difficulties. I was 17-18 years old at this time and searching
for the real happiness in life. I often questioned why they were always
happy while I was not always and afterward, I realized that their true
happiness was in loving God and serving one’s neighbors. This I now know.
To search for real happiness was what made me follow the Salesian way; to
be joyful in serving and helping to educate these young people.

Q: Sister, you are here studying in Rome. What brought you here?

Sister Veronica: Firstly it was out of obedience to my superior. I was
asked to study and to prepare for my future mission. The other thing is
that my superior informed me that she received a scholarship from Aid to
the Church in Need. ACN provided a scholarship for five years. I have been
very grateful to ACN. I’ve also prayed for all those who have supported me
in my studies, my formation, and I always remind myself, and I’m very
convinced, that if I do not know anything I cannot share anything. I can
only share what I know and what I’ve learned. The most important thing I
can share when I go back is the love of God. This is more precious than
anything else and we are in much need of it.

Q: And now you feel as if your fruits are being used: your education, your
languages, you’re now here in Rome, you’re completing your studies in
education and you’ll be going back soon to Myanmar, yes? Sister, what is
your hope for the Church in Myanmar?

Sister Veronica: I’m very hopeful. I see a very good future for the
Catholic Church in Burma. First of all there is an increase in the number
of young people who are very generous of themselves. The other fact is the
Catholic Church is well known for her charity, and very close to the poor.
We want to continue on this strength and mandate -- joy, poverty and
service to the poor. I also believe in God’s grace. God is working in and
through us and with our dedication to the faithful. We will grow.

* * *

This interview was conducted for "Where God Weeps," a weekly television
and radio show produced by Catholic Radio and Television Network in
conjunction with the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in
Need.