Briefer 7th – 21st July
Cyclone Nargis, UN & ASEAN:
The UN more than doubled its appeal to member nations to fund humanitarian relief work in the cyclone-afflicted regions. It is urging donors to give a further US$ 280 million in addition to the US$ 201 million requested on 9th May. The new total of US$ 481 million is earmarked for 103 projects submitted by 13 UN agencies and 23 NGOs. The greatest increases in the appeal are in the agricultural and early recovery sectors (UNIC Yangon, UN News Center - Myanamar, ASEAN).
Ibrahim Gambari, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General to Myanmar, met with ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan to express his appreciation for the leadership ASEAN has provided in the humanitarian mission in Burma (ASEAN). ASEAN stated its commitment to further cooperation with the UN and its agencies in the ongoing relief efforts (ASEAN).
A UN spokesperson announced on 15th July that Gambari will travel to Burma in mid-August, after several postponements. The visit has sparked an internal debate within the UN as to how effective Gambari can be in spurring on dialogue. Burmese opposition actors also expressed their mounting frustration over Gambari’s lack of progress (Irrawaddy News).
UNICEF claimed that disaster recovery and relief efforts are progressing well in cyclone-afflicted areas, despite logistical difficulties (Yahoo News). It further announced that out of 428 children separated from their parents, 15 were reunited with their families (Monsters and Critics). Monks in the Irrawaddy delta and Rangoon reported that many children orphaned by the cyclone are being employed in low-paid jobs. While they prefer to stay in their own communities, many have been forced to migrate to the cities to find work (Irrawaddy News).
Burma’s state media announced that 1,670 visa have been granted to international aid workers and foreign officials (Irrawaddy News).
The families of Zarganar, Zaw That Htyaw and ABFSU members detained while collecting bodies of cyclone victims reported that they have received no information on their relatives (DVB).
Authorities in Maungdaw Township are allegedly borrowing rice and medicine from local traders in order to make a show of large-scale donations to the Nargis relief effort. One resident reported, “I heard the authorities want to record the goods on video and camera as Nargis relief in front of the new Western Command commander to propagate the news story in state-run media” (Narinjara News).
New reports emerged that the regime may be skimming as much as 20% off the top of incoming aid money designated for Nargis relief efforts. The regime currently forces INGOs and UN agencies to convert incoming funds into the regime’s special Foreign Exchange Currency (FEC), which is supposed to be on parity with the US$. However, the FEC has weakened in recent months, partly due to the regime’s excessive printing of the currency, which means that the regime receives hard US$ while agencies get a weaker FEC in return. The UN’s head humanitarian affairs officer, John Holmes, promised to look into the allegations (Irrawaddy News).
In a move probably intended to tighten their grip on the dissemination of information regarding the aftermath of the cyclone, Burmese authorities asked the UN to hold their weekly press conferences in Rangoon rather than in Bangkok (Irrawaddy News). John Holmes announced that the Bangkok press conferences would continue (Irrawaddy News). Holmes also announced on 17th July that he would travel to Burma next week for a three-day visit. He will fly to Burma after attending a joint UN- ASEAN meeting in Singapore on post-cyclone relief efforts. His itinerary has not been announced (Irrawaddy News).
Singapore’s Foreign Minister, George Yeo, gave ASEAN a “C” rating for it’s response to cyclone Nargis in Burma (Bangkok Post).
Burma ratified ASEAN’s new charter, which sets some ground rules for the regional grouping on human rights and democracy. Burma vowed to uphold the charter’s democratic ideals (Burma Net).
On 21st July ASEAN issued a rebuke of the Burmese regime from its annual meeting in Singapore. The regional organization called for “meaningful dialogue” between the regime and opposition forces. At the meeting, Burma’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win hinted that Aung San Suu Kyi could be released within the next 6 months, but then quickly took back the statement (BBC).
The Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report, produced by the United Nations, ASEAN, and the Burmese military government, was released on 21st July at the Asean foreign ministers meeting in Singapore. The report claims that cyclone Nargis caused $4 billion in damage, left 84,537 dead and 53,836 missing and impacted the lives of 2.4 million people out of a population of 7.35 million living in the affected townships. The report states that Burma will need an additional US$ 1 billion for relief and reconstruction efforts (ASEAN).
On 11th July, the state-run New Light of Myanmar published a commentary criticising unnamed Western politicians of acquiring political gain from the cyclone. It further accused the western media of fabricating stories and criticized the amount of aid donated by countries engaged in military offensives in Iraq and Afghanistan (Irrawaddy News).
Prisoners of Conscience:
Activist Su Su Nway has been kept in solitary confinement since 5th June after arguing with Insein prison officials (DVB). She is suffering from a heart condition and is said to have hit her head against a wall following a quarrel.
The families of 88 Generation student leaders Ko Myo Yan Naung Thein and Ko Ko Gyi are increasingly concerned about the deteriorating health of their relatives being held in Insein prison. On 8th July, Ko Myo Yan Naung Thein was brought into court on a stretcher. Ko Ko Gyi is battling digestive and liver problems, although recent tests revealed that his hepatitis B infection had not recurred (DVB). Ko Ko Gyi has been hit with new charges designed to prolong his detention (Irrawaddy News).
Author and blogger Nay Phone Latt had the charges against him changed again (Mizzima News). He appeared before court on 8th July and faces his next court hearing in the next two weeks (DVB, Mizzima News).
Poet Saw Wai, arrested in January following the publication of his poem “February 14th”, appeared in court for the third time on 8th July. His poem was deemed to carry an anti-government message and he is charged with distributing information that could incite offences against the public tranquillity. He is suffering from a hernia and has been in the prison hospital several times (DVB).
Reporters San Frontieres, calling for the release of Nay Phone Latt and Saw Wai, stated that their trials “show that the country’s judges intend to prolong the detention of those who dare to express their views in Burma” (RSF).
Despite his failing health, journalist and dissident U Win Tin, Burma’s longest-running political prisoner, remains steadfast in his refusal to deny his principles in exchange for freedom (Irrawaddy News).
The International Labour Organisation condemned the Burmese Supreme Court’s decision to deny the appeal of the six May Day activists as “extremely disappointing” (DVB).
G-8 leaders, meeting in Japan, urged the Burmese authorities to release all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and to ‘foster a transition to a legitimate, democratic, civilian government’ (Mizzima News).
Fourteen members of the NLD who were arrested outside the Rangoon NLD office on Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday, 19th June, were formally charged on 16th July under Criminal Code section 505(b), for inducing people to break public tranquillity and under section 143, for unlawful assembly. The accused will fight the charges against them at a court hearing scheduled for 25th July (Mizzima News).
Inside Burma:
The National League for Democracy (NLD) was challenged by the junta to form a political party to contest in the 2010 elections. An article in the regime’s mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar dubbed the NLD victory ‘illegal’ because the recent referendum ‘results’ mean that it “it has been ditched by the entire people who are desirous of the emergence of a new, modern, developed democratic nation”. The NLD does not recognise the referendum results (Irrawaddy News, VOA News).
The military regime is pressuring ethnic ceasefire groups to disarm and form political parties to stand in the 2010 elections. Most groups remain undecided, according to reports (Irrawaddy News).
The Mon National Democratic Front will not form a new political party and will not take part in the 2010 elections because the party did not accept the ‘approved’ constitution (IMNA).
Meanwhile, clashes between the Burma Army and Karenni armed groups have displaced an estimated 4,000 Karenni people. The IDPs are thought to be hiding in the jungle south of the Karenni State capital Loikaw. It is believed that they are trying to reach the Thai-Burma border, but fear further attacks by the Burma Army (Irrawaddy News).
7th July marked the 46th anniversary of student protest against the military regime lead by General Ne Win following his coup in March 1962. Security was tightened in Rangoon in anticipation of demonstrations on that day. The All Burma Federation of Student Union (ABFSU) launched a poster campaign on university campuses calling for the junta to release all political prisoners and enter into dialogue with the opposition (Mizzima News). The group simultaneously called on the authorities to allow students from cyclone-afflicted areas to register late for the coming academic year (DVB).
The SPDC regime’s Road Transport Administration Department announced that all unlicensed motorbikes across Burma must be registered by the end of October. Registered motorbike owners will not, however, be able to buy fuel from the government – a restriction that one economist has warned may spark further fuel crises in the country (DVB).
Landslides wrecked the only motor road connecting Bangladesh to Burma. Border trade has come to a standstill and commodity prices have skyrocketed. It is feared that the road may take a year to repair (Narinjara News). It has been reported that many people are being forced to work on the reconstruction of the road without payment (Narinjara News). The Western Command commander dubbed the forced labour a ‘manpower donation’ (Narinjara News). Burma’s border security force is said to be engaging in a highly lucrative exploitation of the situation – Nasaka personnel are carrying passengers the 5km on their motorcycles and charging 10,000 kyat/head (BNI).
The Chin Human Rights Organisation warned that as many as 200 villages in Chin State, an estimated 100,000 people, are facing starvation due to food shortages (Chinland Guardian).
Major-General Ohn Myint, the former Northern or Kachin State Commander, has destroyed all financial and other important documents pertaining to his tenure, sources report. His four predecessors did the same (KNG).
Violent resistance to the military dictatorship in Burma is growing more likely inside Burma, according to new reports. The Guardian (UK) newspaper interviewed monks and activists involved in the Saffron Revolution who now support armed resistance (The Guardian). Noted American intellectual Noam Chomsky was also quoted in the Bangkok Post as saying that armed resistance in Burma was morally justified (Bangkok Post).
Martyr’s Day was held on 19th July to commemorate the 1947 assassinations of General Aung San and other independence leaders. Despite tight security, the NLD held an event at its headquarters in Rangoon. Over 400 people gathered at the office to take part in the event. More than a thousand junta-affiliated militia personnel reportedly surrounded the HQ complex during the commemoration (Mizzima News).
International:
A report published on 2nd July strongly condemned the Chinese government’s support of the Burmese military regime ahead of the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony – on 8th August, the same date as the 20th anniversary of the 1988 uprising (8888 for Burma, Irrawaddy News).
The US House of Representatives on 15th July unanimously passed the Block Burmese Jade Act, a law that would place additional financial and trade sanctions on the Burmese military regime. If passed by the Senate and signed by the president, the bill will ban the import of Burmese jadeite and rubies into the US, a major revenue source for the country's military regime. Aung Din, co-founder of the US Campaign for Burma, which pushed for the bill, said, "This legislation sends a strong signal to Burma's military regime that the US stands firmly on the side of my country's democracy movement" (USCB).
A Burmese opposition umbrella group, the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), launched a campaign on 14th July that seeks to challenge the regime’s credentials at the United Nations. The NCUB will submit a challenge to the UN’s credentials committee, which annually affirms the right of a government to represent its country, based on the regime’s human rights record and its refusal to honour the results of the 1990 elections that would have brought an end to military rule in Burma (NCUB).
Thailand and Southeast Asia:
Thailand hopes to establish a cyclone early warning network system in Burma. Thai delegates met their Burmese counterparts to seek their cooperation on 8th July (Relief Web).
Burmese visa seekers are apparently experiencing greater difficulty in obtaining Thai-tourist visas. According to recent accounts in Rangoon, applicants must declare all of their assets to prove that they have at least $1,525 in assets. According to the Irrawaddy Magazine visa-seekers apparently needed only $600 in assets before (Irrawaddy News).
It has been reported that almost one third of the Burmese who entered Thailand through the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sot this year did not return to Burma. Illegal immigrants continue to flood into the country due to the economic and political problems in Burma (Bangkok Post). Thailand has introduced a new anti-trafficking law to tackle the problem, but it is argued that without addressing the underlying problems and providing a legal and safe alternative, trafficking will remain inevitable (DVB).
Eleven Kayan people, so-called ‘long-neck’ Padaung, disappeared from the Mae Hong Song village in which they live. The Padaung are forced to rely on revenue from their status as a tourist attraction, leading some to criticise the Thai authorities for contriving a ‘human zoo’. The flow of tourism has decreased and the group is believed to have left in search of sufficient income (BNI).
Events:
A delegation of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, including Nobel Laureate Jody Williams and actor/activist Mia Farrow, is in Thailand this week and will visit the Thai-Burma border. Among their objectives is to “promote effective resolutions to the political crisis facing Burma” (Nobel Women's Initiative). The group will hold a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok on 25th July at 11 am (FCC Thai).
Burma Partnership Secretariat
July 24, 2008
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