Monday July 30, 07:30 PM

Burma agrees on SE Asia rights body

Southeast Asian foreign ministers overcame differences on setting up a human rights commission after military-ruled Burma dropped objections to the plan, participants said.

The issue had created a rift within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and threatened to divert attention from the group's efforts at economic integration.

"We have agreed to create the human rights body," Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo told reporters after the first session of an ASEAN ministerial meeting in the Philippine capital.

"At the ministers' level we have a consensus. Myanmar (Burma) had a positive attitude towards all of this."

He said the ministers had yet to decide on terms of reference and other specifics, but would do so soon.

The human rights commission is an integral part of a landmark charter that ASEAN is trying to complete before a leaders' summit in November.

Until Sunday, diplomats had said Burma and some other countries had blocked the establishment of the commission.

But other problems confront ASEAN over Burma.

The European Union, which ASEAN hopes to emulate, and the United States have criticised the Asian group for failing to bring enough pressure on Burma to restore democracy and free Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Earlier on Monday, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called for unity in the region and a focus on its goal of economic integration by 2015.

"An ASEAN community is going to be anchored first and foremost on economic integration, with a focus on social justice and raising the standard of living in the region," she said while inaugurating the meeting.

"It is about creating a dynamic force in Asia to maximise the benefit of globalisation. Too much has been made of our diversity as a barrier. Our diversity is a strength and not a barrier to an East Asian union."

ASEAN is also divided on whether it should abandon its time-honoured way of resolving issues by consensus or put them to a vote.

It has also to take a decision on how to penalise members who violate the charter.

Yeo, the Singaporean minister, said these issues would be left for the leaders' summit to decide.

Analysts however say the idea of an ASEAN human rights code will be difficult to achieve given the differing interpretations of the term within the group and stricter anti-terrorism laws across the region.

"The best that ASEAN can achieve in its landmark charter is a best-efforts pledge to work for adherence to human rights," said columnist Ana Marie Pamintuan in the Philippine Star newspaper.

"The charter provision will have to be vaguely worded or several laws used to fight terrorism could be considered violations."

ASEAN ministers take up Myanmar

30/07/2007

ASEAN ministers take up Myanmar

By Raju Gopalakrishnan

MANILA (Reuters) - Southeast Asian foreign ministers began a meeting on Monday that will focus on how to deal with military-ruled Myanmar, whose dismal human rights record is diverting attention from the bloc's efforts at economic integration.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inaugurated the annual ministerial meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) but did not specifically mention Myanmar or human rights, an issue that has divided the group.

"An ASEAN community is going to be anchored first and foremost on economic integration, with a focus on social justice and raising the standard of living in the region," she said. "It is about creating a dynamic force in Asia to maximise the benefit of globalisation."

ASEAN's goal is to achieve economic integration among its 10 members by 2015 but the task looks difficult with nations at differing stages of development. Singapore for example is one of the richest nations in Asia while Laos is among the poorest.

The bloc is also under a cloud over Myanmar and its military regime. The European Union, which ASEAN hopes to emulate, and the United States have criticised the Asian group for failing to bring enough pressure on Myanmar to restore democracy and free Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

That, however, may be changing. At an informal dinner on Sunday, many of the ASEAN ministers sharply criticised Myanmar.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said the host nation was joined by several other countries in calling for the restoration of democracy in the former Burma and the release of Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May 2003.

IMPATIENCE

"I sense there is impatience, there is frustration," Romulo told reporters. "So we urged Myanmar in the spirit of ASEAN that they should accelerate the process of the roadmap to democracy.

"This will not only benefit the people of Myanmar, but our own credibility as ASEAN will be enhanced."

It was a major departure from tradition for ASEAN, which usually avoids commenting on the internal affairs of member states.

ASEAN diplomats have also blamed Myanmar for blocking an attempt by the group to set up a human rights commission under a landmark charter that it is preparing.

A task force drafting the charter has completed the first version but left out a provision creating a human rights body. The issue will now be decided by the foreign ministers, the diplomats said.

The first draft, a copy of which was shown to Reuters, agreed to maintain the bloc's traditional way of deciding issues through a consensus and made no mention of sanctions for member states guilty of serious violations of the charter.

These issues have polarised ASEAN, with the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia among those pushing for a human rights body and for a departure from ASEAN's time-honoured consensus diplomacy.

Myanmar is among those blocking the moves, while Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, which all have one-party governments, are also not comfortable with the ideas, diplomats have said.

Singapore and Brunei make up the rest of the grouping.

Analysts however say that the idea of an ASEAN human rights code will be difficult to achieve given the differing interpretations of the term within the group and stricter anti-terrorism laws across the region.

"The best that ASEAN can achieve in its landmark charter is a best-efforts pledge to work for adherence to human rights," said columnist Ana Marie Pamintuan in the Philippine Star newspaper.

"The charter provision will have to be vaguely worded or several laws used to fight terrorism could be considered violations."

(Additional reporting by Manny Mogato)

http://www.mirror. co.uk/news/ latest/2007/ 07/30/asean- ministers- take-up-myanmar- 89520-19540538/

Dr. Surin competes for top Asean post

During the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) annual meeting next week, Thailand will propose former foreign minister Surin Phitsuwan to compete for the position of ASEAN Secretary General. The meeting will officially open Monday with both Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivering speeches, as Thailand will propose Dr Surin as the candidacy for the 12th ASEAN secretary general. If successful, Dr Surin will succeed Singapore's Ong Keng Yong who completes his term at the end of this year. Given a five-year term, the new ASEAN chief will assume the post from January 1, 2008 until the end of 2012. Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram was scheduled to leave Bangkok Sunday for Manila to attend a meeting with ASEAN counterparts on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone late in the day. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo has said earlier that ASEAN wanted to ensure that member countries pursuing nuclear energy programs did not allow the export of certain materials which could lead to the development of nuclear power other than for peaceful purposes. Other major issues which Thailand plans to submit at the meeting -- which also marks the 40th anniversary of ASEAN -- are the setting up of an ASEAN human rights commission to serve as a mechanism to protect human rights within the region, and a plan to establish an ASEAN television which will serve as a center in exchanging news and information. If Dr Surin wins the contest, he will become second Thai to assume this position. The first Thai ASEAN Secretary General was Mr. Phan Wannamathee who served as ASEAN chief in 1984. Dr Surin earned a Ph.D. at Harvard University in the United States and lectured on political science subjects at Thammasat University before he entered the political arena, and became an MP of the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. (TNA)

Ashamed to be an ASEAN

Kanbawza Win

Providence has destined us to be born as an ASEAN, but still one can chose to drop its ASEAN characteristics, adopt a new citizenship outside of Southeast Asia and chose a country of his choice reside and die there. This is what the majority of the Burmese in Diaspora are doing for it is a disgrace to continue to survive as a Southeast Asian, because the national character of this regional grouping is so low that no democrat desire to identify with Southeast Asia any longer. The ASEAN values initiated by the core leaders of ASEAN especially Lew Kuan Yew (Harry) of Singapore and Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia, is such abasement in the international community that the international community has come to the rescue often. Its hypocritical Constructive Engagement policy towards the Burmese Military Junta clearly paints the national character of ASEAN countries. But, this does not come as a surprise to the people of Burma because the national character of the core leaders of this regional grouping can be measured in dollars and cents. It has reached to such a level that the former U.N. chief Kofi Annan urged Southeast urged the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations must not use its noninterference policy as "an excuse to stay out and not get involved" in helping Burma to improve its human rights record and encourage to be more bold and aggressive in prodding military-ruled Burma to democratize. "All other regional organizations which started the same way of noninterference now realize that crises do not remain internal or geographically limited for long. It tends to spread and they have been much more active in intervening whether it is the African Union, the European Union ... they have been very active in trying to assist their neighbors to get things right and I think ASEAN should be able to do that." Kofi Annan also said that ASEAN must be more "politically courageous to promote good governance in the region for political oppression and human rights abuse often send citizens across borders as refugees, which could poison the whole neighborhood as a whole." Human rights issues appear to be a low priority in this part of the world. Democracy is just part of the lip service, there are many classic examples e.g. how was Dr Chee treated in Singapore, languishing in jail just because he practice democracy by questioning the authorities, how about the case former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, not to mention the average man. These core countries have loudly professed democracy not to mention the Indo Chinese country that are on the verge of going from the command economy to the market economy and are inching from totalitarian to command democracy. The Burmese saying is “Shwe Htwet Yin A Mae Na Phu Pauk Sein Hnin Pauk Mae” meaning these Southeast Asian leaders will not hesitate to hack the brow of their mother, if golden coins were to come out of it. They are out and out to exploit the unfortunate Burmese people and country. Their main aim is they want access to Burma 's giant off-shore gas fields, and to its natural resources - timber and minerals a classic example being that neighboring Thailand has signed hydro-electric deals. Such is their morality as far as Burma is concerned July 23, 2007—July marked the 10th anniversary of Burma ’s admission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. “Constructive Engagement” policy, designed to convince the world that bringing the junta to the table was better than further marginalizing it, has proven to be a disastrous approach and totally wrong. The policy was, in reality, neither constructive nor engaging, but merely served to legitimize Burma ’s brutal regime with the blessing of ASEAN. Burmese Junta’s reluctance to push for democratic reform and the continued imprisonment of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have severely damaged the credibility of ASEAN as a block in the eyes of the world Ten years o­n, the group needs to seriously reassess Burma’s membership and its own failure in pressuring the Junta to implement democratic reform. The simple logical questions of how Burma ’s participation as a member had contributed to the future of the organization need to be asked. It is plain to see that the success of these Burmese liars, making numerous promises to the organization o­nce it gained membership was able continue to defy regional and international pressure to change its political course is because of its abundant natural resources, which the group enjoys and continue to provide a protective shield against an increasingly outraged international community. A decade has passed and ASEAN has not managed to come up with a strategy o­n Burma nor a mechanism, if the latter continues to challenge its credibility and as such ASEAN is being dismissed by the international community as irrelevant. What more prove is wanted when ASEAN’S anticipation of Burma becoming the chairmanship, would provide a more responsible member was shattered, when Burma blithely gave up the rotating chairmanship. The regional bloc’s long-term goal of establishing an ASEAN community by 2015 and of launching an ASEAN Charter has become a mockery. The most difficult task for ASEAN will be to convince Burma ’s two giant neighbors, the necessity of putting human rights before strategic interests as they themselves did not practice what they preach. The forthcoming ASEAN charter will decide at last whether Burma is worth protecting or whether it is simply dead weight for the organization for not only there was a lack of change for democracy but there is a lack of respect for human rights. Singaporean Ong Keng Yong, Secretary General of ASEAN, has hinted that ASEAN Charter will "stress responsibility and obligation of membership." By codifying the rules by which member states are to conduct themselves, the Charter is seen as strengthening regulations and better defining the necessary and acceptable behavior of countries in the ten nation bloc. Will this be a paper tiger or prod Naypyidaw's generals to political reform is still yet to be seen because the intended charter remain mute to the punitive actions of a fail member state to meet the criteria. Even if it does what will happen, when former Thailand Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan take over the reins of ASEAN? In the meantime US President George W Bush recently canceled a meeting with ASEAN leaders in Singapore during a scheduled Asia trip. Soon after, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that she too would skip the ASEAN Regional Forum, in Manila . As Burma ’s economy has become more reliant on ASEAN goods and markets, some political analysts suggest the grouping has more political leverage over the regime than it has exercised. That economic integration is expected to increase, because all ASEAN members have committed to reduce tariffs to below 5% by the end of 2010, as part of the new ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement. Beijing 's willingness to overlook Burma ’s poor rights records prompted the regime in favor of China . A new $1 billion gas pipeline linking Akyab, to Kunming signed when Beijing vetoed a US-led United Nations Security Council resolution against Myanmar 's rights record in January. Already it seems the Burmese Junta’s is in denial about the new charter's actual commitments. In a May editorial run in the government mouthpiece New Light of Burma, Myat Thu, a member of the Myanmar delegation involved in charter discussions in Manila, was quoted saying, "The meeting chairman explained ... the charter would not feature human rights and the discussions would not focus on matters on termination of charter member countries." In fact news has just release that Burma has objected officially to a proposal to create a regional human rights body that calls for respect of fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights and the promotion of social justice. One would recollect that Indonesia has proposed the idea since 2003 but ASEAN has failed to reach a consensus on it. This is the second attempt and we are quite positive that Burma with a good record of egregious human rights violations will strongly object and if beaten will quit the grouping. The game is up and the notorious “Constructive Engagement” will go to the grave. We could not comprehend of why these ASEAN leaders are not ashamed. The country is run by an utterly illegitimate government that spends 50 per cent of its budget on the military and less than a $1 per head on the health and education of its own citizens. The thugs and impostors who rule the roost practice some of the most egregious human rights abuses known to mankind. Rape as a weapon of war, extra-judicial killings, water torture, mass displacement, compulsory relocation, forced labor, incarceration of political prisoners, religious and ethnic cleansing, and the daily destruction of rural villages are all part of the story of savagery which the ASEAN countries overlooked. People lack access to food, water, sanitation and the most basic health and education provision. Over 500,000 are internally displaced people in eastern Burma and the 100,000 living in refugee camps in Thailand . Harrowing accounts of children dying from malnutrition, women perishing in childbirth and people succumbing to HIV, malaria and tuberculosis are just some of the pictures. According to the British MPs that visited Burma very lately the most shocking of all was the experience of meeting children who told them that they had seen their parents shot dead and parents who were forced to watch their children's summary execution. Even though the universal standard rule of business always overruling conscience, our Asian moral always pales much viz a viz Western civilization. Perhaps it is because of the birth place of religions. India with a huge Hindu beliefs and China Confucianism has demonstrated their moral character by the supporting the Burmese Junta and the irony is that ASEAN with a most densely populated population of half a billion with all sorts of religious adherents (Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Muslims, Singapore Confucianism, Philippines Christian, while Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand were Buddhist) is far worst than other groupings. Isn’t it a high time for the ASEAN to consider the punitive actions of Burma ? Simon Fraser University Vancouver , BC

Burma - Another Darfur? Ask Weiner and Larmett in Honolulu Star-Bulletin Op-Ed

U.S. Burma Policy Only White Papers and Weak Sanctions

WASHINGTON, July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The former Public Affairs Director for the White House Office of National Drug Policy under President Clinton, Robert Weiner, and a former foreign affairs legislative assistant to Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) and Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), in an op-ed in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, claim Burma is becoming another Darfur and the U.S. is ignoring it. "Despite world leading methamphetamine distribution, 1-1/2 million refugees, and a military junta jailing the country's elected political leaders, the U.S. Burma policy is only occasional white papers and weak sanctions," assert Weiner and Larmett in the piece, "Burma-Another Darfur?"

Weiner and Larmett point out, "In a little noticed State Department report in March, Burma was re-branded from the center of the 'Golden Triangle' to the 'Ice Triangle', with drug money funding the junta. Hawaii, an entry point for Asian methamphetamine, has become the "'Ice Capital' of the nation." "Ice" is crystal methamphetamine.

Burma produces over a billion methamphetamine pills each year for distribution, not just to its neighbors in Asia, but also to the United States -- largely in and through Hawaii and California. "The drug's human toll is devastating," the authors say, citing DEA, "on the Hawaiian economy and family structure, increased street violence and property crimes."

Weiner and Larmett point out that "Burma has one of the most repressive governments in the world with forced labor for army units, rape of women and girls, and military conscription of boys, now 70,000+ (35-45% ages 11-14). Mortality rates in Eastern Burma are at the levels of the worst conflict zones in Africa. Brutal treatment by the Burmese military have caused over 500,000 internally displaced and homeless civilians whose villages have been destroyed and 1-1/2 million refugees."

Yet "The policy of the administration toward Burma is complacency. President Bush and Congress must speak and act against the human rights violations, bloodletting, and drug-funded junta in Burma before it becomes another Darfur. It is clearly in U.S. national security interest to take action."

Link to article: http://starbulletin.com/print/2005.php?fr=/2007/07/29/editorial/special2.html

Contact: Bob Weiner or John Larmett 301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700

DATASOURCE: Robert Weiner Associates

CONTACT: Bob Weiner or John Larmett of Robert Weiner Associates,

+1-301-283-0821, +1-202-329-1700

MP backs calls for action over Burma

By Paddy McGuffin

Comment | Read Comments (2)

A cross party group of MPs - including Bradford Labour MP Marsha Singh - is calling the international community to act over atrocities in Burma.

Mr Singh and and the rest of the group visited Burmese refugees in camps on the Thai border earlier this year.

The Asian country has been ruled by a military dictatorship for 20 years. Rape, torture and forced labour by government forces are commonplace.

On his return to Bradford Mr Singh said: "Our group of MPs have published a report on international development and aid efforts to assist refugees from Burma.

"Many of these refugees are in make shift camps in Thailand. We visited these camps and saw conditions for ourselves."

Conservative MP John Bercow, writing in a national newspaper on Thursday, said: "The thugs and impostors who rule the roost in Burma practice some of the most egregious human rights abuses known to mankind."

Mr Singh said: "There is no doubt Burma has slipped off the international agenda.

"I give credit to John Bercow for his relentless work on this issue.

"I feel the UK must work with India, China and Russia to impose pressure on the military regime in Burma. Alone, British efforts would be ineffectual. We must work with other countries to address this issue.

"There is no doubt the Burmese regime is despotic, but the difficulty is getting monitors in on the ground. They have just expelled the international Red Cross.

"The refugee camps are a serious problem. The Thai government seems to see them as temporary but there are people who have been stuck there for 20 years. There is a lot more that can, and needs, to be done."

Ateeq Saddique, of the Bradford Immigration Advisory Service, has first hand experience of dealing with Burmese nationals fleeing the despotic regime.

He said: "Burma is run by a dictatorship responsible for horrific human rights abuses. They use any opportunity to crack down on the opposition and a lot of people are trying to flee the country, but these people are stuck in limbo. If they try and return it is seen as treason and they will be subject to torture.

"One of the problems is that it is hard to objectively verify conditions there and this is the flaw in our system. Most of the asylum seekers we have seen have been linked to opposition political parties and they or family members have been detained and ill-treated.

"The situation there is terrible but we do not get exposed to the full effects here as most of those who try and flee don't make it this far, they end up in squalid refugee camps."

Perhaps the most famous Burmese dissident is Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the Democratic Opposition movement, who has spent 12 years under house arrest. In 2003 up to 100 of her supporters were beaten to death when government forces attacked her convoy.

10:04am today

Posted by: Derek Tonkin, Guildford on 12:37pm today

Unfortunately, much of the pressure from these MPs is to switch a planned increase in humanitarian aid out of Burma proper to support the less than 5% of Burmese who can be reached at or across the border. Additional aid to the border is certainly needed, but too much could act as a magnet and bolster the Karen insurgency by bringing in more recruits. The MPs concerned might either be blissfully unaware of the implications of what they are suggesting, or might have hidden agendas, such as regime change by force. China, Russia and India are highly suspicious of western motives - China and India are immediate neighbours of Burma - but have shown that they are are willing to use their political clout, though not economic sanctions, to move the junta in the right direction. A good way to protect the Burmese inside the country would be to encourage tens of thousands of responsible, inquisitive and compassionate British travellers, particularly younger people, to flood into Burma, because most of the country is now open for travel without restriction or surveillance.

Unfortunately, much of the pressure from these MPs is to switch a planned increase in humanitarian aid out of Burma proper to support the less than 5% of Burmese who can be reached at or across the border. Additional aid to the border is certainly needed, but too much could act as a magnet and bolster the Karen insurgency by bringing in more recruits. The MPs concerned might either be blissfully unaware of the implications of what they are suggesting, or might have hidden agendas, such as regime change by force. China, Russia and India are highly suspicious of western motives - China and India are immediate neighbours of Burma - but have shown that they are are willing to use their political clout, though not economic sanctions, to move the junta in the right direction. A good way to protect the Burmese inside the country would be to encourage tens of thousands of responsible, inquisitive and compassionate British travellers, particularly younger people, to flood into Burma, because most of the country is now open for travel without restriction or surveillance.

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Posted by: Pete, Bradford on 2:19pm today

Here we go again. Marsh acts on what is happening in Burma. However it makes a change from Kashmir. What about Bradford issues Marsha. I wait daily to read of you doing something for your constituents. Must get rid of you Marsha at the next election. You're no good for Bradford.

Here we go again. Marsh acts on what is happening in Burma. However it makes a change from Kashmir. What about Bradford issues Marsha. I wait daily to read of you doing something for your constituents. Must get rid of you Marsha at the next election. You're no good for Bradford.

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Human rights, voting issues hobble ASEAN charter draft By Girlie Linao, dpa

Manila - Disagreements over the creation of a human rights body and decision-making by voting have hobbled the drafting of a proposed charter of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), officials said.

A high-level task force making the first draft worked overtime on Saturday to settle differences on the charter, which was expected to be submitted to ASEAN foreign ministers during their meeting on Monday. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, who would chair the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, said he was optimistic that the disagreements would be resolved. "I've been told that 90 per cent (of the first draft) has been agreed upon and that the 10 per cent is the portion that they probably have to work out," he told a news conference. "I am optimistic that at the end, we will all agree." Romulo said the creation of a human rights body and decision- making by voting were the top issues that still have to be resolved. According to diplomats, some ASEAN members, such as Myanmar, have objected to the inclusion of a human rights commission in the landmark charter. The Philippines has led more liberal members in pushing for the commission, stressing that ASEAN must take steps to show the international community that it was dealing with human rights concerns. "To the world it's a universal desire that there must be a human rights commission and I believe that the ASEAN can do no less," Romulo said. Diplomats have noted that some ASEAN members were wary of any mention of a human rights commission in the proposed charter as it would open up the doors for intervention on internal matters, violating the group's cardinal policy of non-interference. Another long-time principle of the ASEAN that is under scrutiny is its policy of consensus, which has become tedious and has hampered fast decision-making by the group. ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Founded in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War and Cold War, the regional bloc provided newly independent states in South-East Asia a forum to engage each other and to deal with other powers as a single entity. ASEAN played a key role strengthening the trust among the highly diverse people and governments in the region, as well strengthened cultural, economic and economic ties. Its non-interference policy to internal affairs of member countries and consensus-based approach worked well in maintaining the cohesiveness of the organization during the Cold War. But in January, ASEAN leaders signed a blueprint for a charter that would transform it into a rules-based organization, improve its decision-making process and set up a legal framework to restructure its existing mechanism. Romulo said the ASEAN foreign ministers intend to submit a final draft of the proposed charter to ASEAN leaders during their 13th summit in Singapore in November. Analysts have said that the adoption of a legally binding charter will make the ASEAN more effective and efficient in terms of delivering its decision on key issues. Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos, a member of the Eminent Persons Group that developed the blueprint for the proposed ASEAN charter, had warned that unless ASEAN takes bold changes in its traditional ways, its relevance might be diminished. "Although ASEAN is one of the most successful regional organizations today, there is no guarantee that it can maintain its relevance in the coming decades and remain an driving force in regional cooperation," he said.

Bangladesh, Myanmar sign agreement on direct road link

Dhaka, July 27: Bangladesh and Myanmar today signed an agreement to establish a direct road link between the two neighbours to boost trade and tourism. The proposed "Friendship Road" is also designed to connect Kunming, a growing Chinese economic hub under tri-nation road connectivity. The road will also give Bangladesh an access to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and to the Asian Highway. Myanmar Construction Minister Maj Gen Saw Tun and Bangladesh Communications Advisor Major Gen (Retd) MA Matin signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments. Under the agreement, Bangladesh will provide the fund for construction of 25-km road, 2 km from Gundum of southeastern Cox's Bazar district inside Bangladesh and 23 km up to Bawli Bazar inside Myanmar at a cost of 141 crore Taka . "This is going to be a milestone in our bilateral relations," Communication Advisor Matin told reporters after the signing the agreement. Asked about the tri-nation road connectivity involving Bangladesh, Myanmar and China, the Myanmar Construction Minister said it would depend on the future negotiation with Chinese government. The Bangladesh Communications Advisor however said Bangladesh had already discussed the matter with the Chinese authorities and had got positive response from them. Advisor Matin said a car rally will be held in March next year between Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar. The rally will start from Myanmar when the issue of tri-nation road link could be raised before the Chinese authorities. However, they could not say when the construction of 25-km road will start and the time period for completion of the project as the two sides still need time for completing official formalities and for further consultations about inviting tender for the project.

--- UNI

Court: Russia to Pay Chechens

AP

Posted: 2007-07-27 05:28:53

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Court of Human Rights ordered the Russian government to pay damages of $196,000 to the family members of 11 Chechen civilians killed by Russian soldiers in 2000. The court, in a Thursday ruling, suggested that by not bringing the soldiers to justice, Russian prosecutors had implicitly accepted the massacre in Novye Aldi, when security forces rampaged through the town, setting fire to houses and killing at least 50 civilians. "The astonishing ineffectiveness of the prosecuting authorities in this case can only be qualified as acquiescence in the events," the court said in its decision. Moscow has denied that its security forces are guilty of atrocities in the southern Muslim republic of Chechnya, where two wars have been fought to re-establish Russian control following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. But relatives of Chechen victims have recently been seeking reparations from the Strasbourg-based human rights court - and winning. Russia said last week that it wanted to restrict the flow of appeals to the court by allowing its citizens to file human rights cases against the state in Russian courts - something they cannot do now. Chechens have opposed this move, saying they fear the government wants to deprive them of their only hope for justice. The court has issued more than 10 verdicts against Russia in the past few months in cases concerning the Chechen wars. Some 200 are still pending.

Bangladesh Burma road link agreed

Bangladesh and Burma have signed a deal to construct the first major road between the two countries.

Officials hope that the 25km road, most of which will be inside Burma, will form part of an Asian super highway to boost trade.

Bangladesh has agreed to fund the road building project.

The Burmese Minister for construction who signed the deal in Delhi said he hoped the project would eventually connect India, Thailand and China.

Most of the road connecting the area of Maricha in Bangladesh to Bawlibazar in Burma, will be inside Burma, with only about 2km in Bangladesh.

"This is going to be a milestone in our bilateral relations," Bangladesh Communications Adviser Maj-Gen MA Matin told reporters after the signing of the agreement.

He said that Bangladesh had earlier discussed Chinese involvement in the project and had got a positive response from them.

Myanmar opposes human rights body in Southeast Asia, diplomats say

AP

Posted: 2007-07-27 02:52:39

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Myanmar has objected to a proposal to create a regional human rights body under a landmark charter being drafted by Southeast Asian countries, two diplomats said Friday. The proposal, backed by more liberal countries such as the Philippines, is among the few remaining contentious issues holding up completion of a charter for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the diplomats said. The Southeast Asian diplomats, who were helping draft the charter, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. ASEAN, formed in 1967, has decided to draft a charter to become a more rules-based organization with better bargaining power in international negotiations. It hopes the charter can be signed at an annual ASEAN leaders' summit in November. A high-level ASEAN task force has completed about 95 percent of the work and plans to submit a final draft to the region's foreign ministers at a meeting in Manila on Monday. "We're working on it," ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said. Enshrining human rights protection in the charter has been a touchy issue because some ASEAN countries have spotty rights records, such as military-ruled Myanmar. Diplomats have agreed to guarantee the protection of human rights in the current draft charter, but Myanmar rejected a proposal to specifically mention creation of a rights commission, the two diplomats said. A draft of the charter, seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday, calls for the "respect of fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights and the promotion of social justice" but made no mention of a human rights body. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Thursday his government wanted the creation of such a body guaranteed by the charter to give ASEAN "more credibility in the international community." Aside from the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia have raised the need for such a rights body in the past but other ASEAN members have opposed it. Some ASEAN members fear such a commission could allow scrutiny of rights conditions in one country, possibly violating the group's cardinal policy of noninterference in each other's affairs. Human rights groups complain that ASEAN's noninterference principle has fostered undemocratic regimes in the region. ASEAN consists of fledgling democracies, communist countries, authoritarian capitalist states, a military dictatorship and a monarchy. Indonesia proposed a regional rights commission with investigative powers in 2003 but ASEAN failed to reach a consensus on it. Two years later, ASEAN agreed to set up panels to protect the rights of women, children and migrant workers and to promote human rights education pending establishment of a commission. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It admitted Myanmar in 1997 despite strong opposition from Western nations.

U.S. diplomat says China's role in Southeast Asia often unproductive Thurs July 26, 4:33 PM WASHINGTON (AP) _ A senior U.S. diplomat said Thursday that China's growing influence in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos has often been unhelpful and has contributed to flourishing corruption. China has worked to increase its economic and political presence throughout Southeast Asia, analysts say, and has pumped in large amounts of money meant to help build roads and other infrastructure to encourage Chinese trade and businesses in the region. But Eric John, a deputy assistant secretary of state, said that China does not do enough to link its aid with pressure for the countries to improve human rights, corruption and other issues of worry. ``We certainly wouldn't want China not to be involved, but, in many ways, its influence can be unproductive, '' John said at the Heritage Foundation think tank. ``It's a country that has allowed, for example, corruption to flourish with its assistance.' ' In communist-led Laos, a country of about 6.5 million people with long borders with Thailand and Vietnam and shorter ones with Myanmar, China and Cambodia, John spoke of vast Chinese economic influence. ``That leads to political influence and it makes it a tough country to crack for other countries to be able to positively influence them,'' he said. Separately, John said that Myanmar continued to suffer under the military, which has ruled since the early 1960s. ``It's continuing to get worse,'' he said. In a recent and rare meeting in Beijing, John pressed senior representatives of Myanmar's government to free imprisoned Nobel laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 11 of the past 18 years in detention. In Cambodia, John said there had been ``a lot of quiet improvements' ' and a steady boost in U.S.-Cambodian ties, in religious tolerance and in military cooperation with Washington. But Cambodia still has huge corruption problems and is still ``a country that, to put it mildly, heavily leans toward the executive branch in how it gover

Senators link Burma and Israel issues

News - Mizzima News

Thursday, 26 July 2007

United States Senators are holding up Burma as an example of a country that should draw international attention regarding human rights abuses, as opposed to Israel, in their continuing opposition to the United Nations Human Rights Council. "The truth is that members of the Council are too busy trying to protect themselves from criticism for their own human rights abuses and taking political shots at Israel," said Republican Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota on Wednesday. "You've got countries like North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe where you have state-sponsored brutality, and what we have is deafening silence." Sen. Coleman, along with Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, sits as a Congressional Delegate to the United Nations. Sen. Boxer joins Sen. Coleman in condemnation of the Council's work and in advocating that the United States government deny financial support to the Council. The State Department has also released statements pointing to Burma as one of the "worst of the worst" cases for state-sponsored human rights abuses, while claiming that the Council's energies are unnecessarily drained by focusing on Israel. Supporters of withholding funds for the Human Rights Council acknowledge that the absence of 3 million dollars in funds is unlikely to have any significant impact on the workings of the Council, serving instead as a political gesture highlighting the United States position regarding the workings of the Council. Neither the United States nor Burma is party to the Council. The House of Representatives has already passed similar legislation.

Burma: A plight we can ignore no longer

The people of Burma endure human rights abuses on an unimaginable scale. Rape, torture and forced labour are facts of their lives. So why does the world refuse to act? A cross-party group of MPs has returned shocked by what they discovered there

By John Bercow, MP

Published: 26 July 2007

Burma suffers a political, human rights and humanitarian situation as grim as any in the world today. The country is run by an utterly illegitimate government that spends 50 per cent of its budget on the military and less than a $1 (50p) per head on the health and education of its own citizens.

The thugs and impostors who rule the roost practise some of the most egregious human rights abuses known to mankind. Rape as a weapon of war, extra-judicial killings, water torture, mass displacement, compulsory relocation, forced labour, incarceration of political prisoners, religious and ethnic persecution, and the daily destruction of rural villages are all part of the story of savagery that has disfigured Burma.

People lack access to food, water, sanitation and the most basic health and education provision. Twice over the past three years, I have met just a handful of the 500,000 internally displaced people in eastern Burma and the 100,000 living in refugee camps in Thailand, victims of the wanton savagery of the Burmese Army.

Harrowing accounts of children dying from malnutrition, women perishing in childbirth and people succumbing to HIV, malaria and tuberculosis will remain indelibly imprinted upon my mind if I live to be 100. Most shocking of all was the experience of meeting children who told me they had seen their parents shot dead and parents who were forced to watch their children's summary execution.

Infectious diseases are approaching epidemic levels and 71 per cent of the population are at risk of malaria. A 2006 estimate of the child mortality rate in eastern Burma was 221 per 1000, compared to 205 in the DRC. Health spending is the lowest in the world (0.5 per cent of GDP) and 60 per cent of households have no education at all.

Yet Burma receives the lowest aid of all Least Developed Countries. The DfID's current budget of £8.8m is paltry compared to countries with similar poverty levels and human rights records. It amounts to just a quarter of the budget for Zimbabwe.

DfID has long prioritised working in-country, despite the draconian access restrictions imposed by the regime. By contrast, it has spurned the opportunity to support cross-border assistance which alone is capable of meeting the needs of some of the most vulnerable and destitute. It was only after concerted pressure earlier this year that DfID even allowed its funds to be spent on cross-border work. Yet this belated shift of policy was itself an empty gesture as it offered not a penny extra for the purpose.

Our Committee visited refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border and was astonished to hear DfID visits them so infrequently. We were deeply dismayed that DfID plans to relocate all its staff to Rangoon, despite the importance of working with exile groups on the Thai border and the limitations of working with the regime in Rangoon.

DfID policy needs to change at once. First, it should quadruple its budget for Burma by 2013.

Secondly, its programme must include complementary in-country and cross-border approaches to ensure even coverage of the most vulnerable people across the country.

Thirdly, it should begin appropriate funding for exile groups, such as trade unions and women's organisations, to support them in raising awareness, giving assistance to IDPs and building capacity to prepare for transition to democracy.

Good work is undoubtedly done in Burma by dedicated international public servants and experienced NGOs. Yet the blunt truth is that we are failing the people of Burma. Co-ordination is abysmal, communication with border groups and exile organisations is pitiful and the policy response to the continuing humanitarian crisis is frankly dysfunctional.

Douglas Alexander is nobody's fool and he clearly relishes his new job. I urge him to see the weakness of current policy and to heed the International Development Select Committee's advice to change it decisively for the benefit of millions of people in Burma who have suffered too much for too long with too little done to alleviate their plight.

MPs who went to Burma

Malcolm Bruce, Chairman, Gordon Liberal Democrats; John Battle, Leeds West, Labour; Hugh Bayley, City of York Labour; Mr John Bercow, Buckingham, Conservative; Richard Burden, Birmingham, Northfield Labour; Mr Quentin Davies, Grantham and Stamford, Labour; James Duddridge, Rochford and Southend East, Conservative; Ann McKechin, Glasgow North, Labour; Joan Ruddock, Lewisham, Deptford, Labour; Mr Marsha Singh, Bradford West, Labour; Sir Robert Smith, Aberdeenshire West and Kincardine, Liberal Democrat

Myanmar Times staff interrogated for hidden advertisement

Mizzima News (www.mizzima. com)

July 25, 2007 - An ostensibly innocuous advertisement in the Myanmar Times, a semi-official English-language journal in Burma, has raised a storm with editors and staff members being interrogated by the Special Branch of the Rangoon police.

At least 10 staff members of the production and marketing department of the Myanmar Times were interrogated on Tuesday over the advertisement, which allegedly contained hidden political satire in its latest issue.

The advertisement, which seems like an invitation to Scandinavian tourists to visit Burma, was placed by a Danish group of artists known as Surrend group in Monday's edition of the Myanmar Times.

The bottom of the advertisement has a Danish looking word -- "Ewhsnahtrellik" . When read backwards, it reads "Killer Than Shwe". The ad also has a popular poem, when the initial letters are added up --it reads "Freedom".

Sources close to the journal told Mizzima, that following the advertisement; Rangoon 's Special Branch police on Tuesday interrogated at least 10 editors and staff members of the production and marketing department.

However, no action has been taken, said the source.

Refusing to provide detailed information on the interrogation, an official at the Myanmar Times told Mizzima, "It is still too early to comment."

Meanwhile, reports said copies of the Myanmar Times, which carried the advertisement, were rapidly sold out with the price of the journal, in the black market, rising to Kyat 2,000 (approximately US $ 1.5). And photo copies of the advertisement were also made available.

Press Releases

Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616

For Immediate Release 07/23/2007

Pelosi Statement in Support of Renewing U.S. Import Restrictions on Burma

Washington, D.C.: Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the passage of H.J. Res. 44, sponsored by Congressman Tom Lantos of California, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, to renew the U.S. import restrictions on the Burmese government until substantial progress is made to promote democracy and end human rights abuses. The joint resolution was agreed to by a voice vote this afternoon.

“Today’s vote to renew U.S. import restrictions on the military regime in Burma sends a clear message that those fighting for democracy and human rights in Burma do not stand alone in their struggle.

“According to the U.S. State Department and non-governmental organizations, the human rights situation in Burma continues to worsen with the deplorably familiar pattern of government-sanctioned murder, torture, rape, arbitrary arrest, and forced labor.

“Last month, Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, was forced to celebrate another birthday under house arrest in Burma. She has made every conceivable sacrifice to win freedom for her people. She has seen her supporters beaten, tortured, and killed, yet she never responded to hatred and violence in kind.

“The passage of this resolution shows that the American people will continue to stand with Aung San Suu Kyi and the freedom-seeking people of Burma in their just cause.”

Lantos Legislation Extending Burma Sanctions Approved

Brutal regime continues to flout international community, abuse basic human rights

Washington, DC – The House today passed legislation by Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, to extend by one year a set of tough sanctions against the brutal ruling military junta of Burma, which continues to terrorize the Burmese people, suppress free expression and to arbitrarily detain political prisoners. One such prisoner, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi, recently marked her 62nd birthday, the 17th birthday she has been forced to spend under house arrest. “The authoritarian regime in Burma continues to trample on even the most basic principles of human rights and to flout the will of the international community,” Lantos said. “This is a regime that terrorizes innocent villagers, continually thwarts the democratic will of its people and unjustifiably imprisons political activists like the courageous freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi. By renewing the sanctions under the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, the United States has demonstrated its resolve to stand against these horrific actions for as long as it takes to bring democracy, freedom and basic rights to the people of Burma.” The Lantos legislation (H. J. Res. 44), a one-year extension of the import sanctions portion of the law that he co-authored in 2003, continues to prohibit the importation into the United States of any item produced in Burma. The President may waive these sanctions once of series of human rights, democracy and counter-narcotics requirements have been met. The White House has indicated that the President will sign the extension of the sanctions into law. In a speech on the House floor advocating approval of the sanctions legislation, Lantos noted that U.S. sanctions have spurred other countries to place pressure on the Burmese regime for reforms, including the leading member-nations of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), but that “too many other nations – India and China in particular – continue to prop up the government through shockingly direct deals, including arms trading, with this cruel junta.” “As we renew our import sanctions, we aim both to pressure directly the military junta in Burma and to influence those in the international community who are currently asleep at the wheel of justice and human rights,” Lantos added. “Oppressive power can only be de-legitimized when it is fully isolated.” Human rights abuses in Burma have been well documented, with Amnesty International reporting that 1,200 political prisoners have been locked away and Human Rights Watch calculating that up to 70,000 child soldiers have been forced into the regime's army, more than any other country in the world. The U.S. State Department has noted serious abuses, including extrajudicial killings, custodial deaths, disappearances, rape, and torture. In addition to these egregious abuses, the regime has detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi continuously since May 30, 2003, extending her captivity by a year most recently on May 27, 2006. Suu Kyi has dedicated her life to peacefully bringing democracy and freedom to the Burmese people, and led her political party to win 82% of the seats in parliament in Burma's last election, which the military regime subsequently annulled. “Aung San Suu Kyi remains imprisoned. So do the people of Burma,” said Lantos, the founding co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. “Even out of power and out of sight, she remains a symbol – and therefore a leader – of the plight of some 50 million people in her native land of Burma. We must do our part to carry her torch.”

A Comment on Analysis of Burma Politics for the First 6 Months of 2007

After returning from Japan last week, I was copied a translated copy of a Burmese essay dealing with last six months of Burma's politics as the author U Win Naing saw it. The piece was apparently circulated among students and/or faculties of various western institutions. I want to share below what I had written there on the topic of danger of xenophobia, as it pervades Burma .

==============

Thanks to Aung Bar Say for translating U Win Naing's thoughtful article. It has many good points. One thing for all those who care about Burma is to realize that racism runs very deep in Burma/Myanmar, something that has been exploited by military regimes to put one community against another while solidifying its nasty grip over the entire land from one end to another. Racism and xenophobia are curses to a nation, esp. when it is a hybrid/'artificial' nation - made up of some 140 races/ethnicity, etc. Unless the people in Burma realize that racism and xenophobia are bad, and is unacceptable - from any angle - moral, ethical, political, social, economic - there is no way to defeat these monsters. Democracy alone cannot keep Burma together, but it is the respect for human dignity, away from racism and xenophobia, which must take precedence to keep Burma together.

When a Burman will respect another minority, say, a Rohingya, Karen, Mon, Shan, Rakhaing, etc. at equal level in spite of differences of religion, ethnicity, language, etc., without trying to impose his racist and exclusionary Myanmarism, and the same respect is reciprocated by a minority to others, including the majority Burman race, only then there is hope for sustainability of Union of Burma. Otherwise, democracy would only be a hogwash! Mere replacement of military with a racist, democratic force that does not care about minorities is no solution. It will tear the society apart, each trying to secede and impose its Draconian measures against its own minorities. What a disaster! It would be like going from a lion to a hungry tiger!

Is the Democratic Movement, and its leadership willing to embrace such republicanism, giving same rights of citizenship, energizing all minorities to feel like an inclusive, necessary element of the society? Are they willing to shun racism against minorities and any other race, religion, ethnicity? If the answer is yes, we have hope.

Instead, what has sadly happened with Burma is that while these so-called Democracy leaders talk about democracy, they are not willing to give citizenship rights to some minorities, behaving like a person who is afraid of being infected by a TB infected patient, while he himself is a worse case. It is pure hypocrisy! Are they any better than the current SPDC thugs that rule Burma?

Funny thing is that the author of the controversial 1982 Citizenship Act that has effectively made millions 'stateless' within Burma has no problem claiming citizenship in the USA while he has not been here in this country for half a century. He became a naturalized citizen in the USA. But this racist and xenophobic academic requires proof of citizenship from inhabitants of Burma to pre-1822 era, a clear way of discriminating minorities like the Rohingya and many other smaller groups, while the same litmus test is not applied to him or his ancestry on the basis of religion. How comical, and what a waste of talent! Unless hypocrites like these, who are oddly viewed very positively by some 'Democracy' and yet racist-at-heart leaders, recount their immoral, untenable, unethical and hypocritical stand on Citizenship, setting themselves at par with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there is little hope for Burma and all the talks around Constitutional Reform. These racist academics, the brain behind xenophobia in Burma, need to be exposed and reprimanded for the harm that they have caused for Federalism in Burma. Why are they shy about speaking out against 1982 Citizenship Act? In their silence, don't we smell compliance and agreement? While they want democracy, they truly want tyranny of the majority over the minority. Pure and simple!

Last week, there was a Tokyo Conference that was hosted by Arakan-Burma Research Institue that dealt with the subject of xenophobia and problems with democratic development in Burma. You may like to read the declaration from the conference in the link: http://www.newagebd.com/2007/jul/24/oped.html

Best regards,

Dr. Habib Siddiqui

Burma holds six for attending US talk

July 24, 2007 - 10:50PM

Myanmar's military junta has put six rights activists who attended a US embassy May Day talk on trial for sedition, which is punishable by life imprisonment, their lawyer said.

The men, who are all in their late twenties and early thirties, are being tried at a closed military court inside Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, lawyer Aung Thein told Reuters.

Families of the accused were allowed to see them before the trial but they were not allowed into the hearing, which has been adjourned until July 31.

All six activists are former members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party of Nobel peace laureate and opposition figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest or in prison for more than 11 of the last 17 years.

The US embassy's cultural centre in the former Burma's commercial capital is something of a focal point for disaffected Yangon residents, who value its internet access and library.

At the May 1 meeting, which was primarily designed to discuss worker rights, the men were accused of voicing criticism of the junta that has ruled the former British colony for the last 45 years.

US officials were not immediately available for comment.

© 2007 Reuters, Click for Restrictions

ASEAN Charter to pressure junta

Mizzima News (www.mizzima. com)

July 24, 2007 - Ahead of its unveiling at this weekend's ASEAN Ministerial meeting in Manila, ASEAN's top diplomat has promised that the organization' s Charter will increase pressure on Burma to undertake political reform.

Singaporean Ong Keng Yong, Secretary General of ASEAN, on Monday told reporters in Singapore that the much awaited ASEAN Charter will "stress responsibility and obligation of membership." This, it is hoped, will prod Naypyidaw's generals to political reform.

By codifying the rules by which member states are to conduct themselves, the Charter is seen as strengthening regulations and better defining the necessary and acceptable behaviour of countries in the ten nation bloc.

However, though political reform in Burma is a hoped for side effect, the stated priority of the Charter continues to be regional economic integration.

While the Charter will remain mute on the question of formal punishments for member states that fail to meet criteria stipulated in the Charter, Ong did state that there will be compliance measures embedded in the text. The compliance measures are aimed to have a similar effect as would the imposition of sanctions.

Further questions regarding the role of ASEAN concerning Burma will arise when Thai politician Surin Pitsuwan is expected to take over the organization' s top post at the end of the year. Pitsuwan has long been an advocate of a policy of engagement with the junta while championing the cause of democracy.

ASEAN consists of Singapore, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Myanmar: UNHCR promotes first significant steps towards citizenship for disenfranchised minority

SIN OH ALEL HAMLET, Myanmar, 23 July (UNHCR) – It's been a good day for 19-year-old Noor Hakim. He's just secured a government identity document, vital for doing almost anything in a country focused on formal papers.

"Now I can travel," said Noor Hakim, a Muslim student. "It can also be useful to apply for marriage permission," he added, holding the laminated Temporary Registration Certificate (TRC) he had just received from a government official in this hamlet in northern Rakhine state.

Providing identity documents to an initial 35,000 Rohingyas – with more to follow – is the culmination of a five-year effort by UNHCR to ameliorate the effects of statelessness for the region's Muslims, who are known to the outside world as Rohingyas.

Most have never had any official ID card. "We have been waiting 15 or 16 years for it," said one man in this hamlet. "For the older people, the wait has been even longer." About 200,000 persons in the area are estimated to need identity documents.

With a U.S. contribution of $689,000, UNHCR is providing logistical support to the operation, as well as a photographer and photocopy and lamination machines to aid in the laborious process of hand-writing thousands of TRCs. The government declined the UN refugee agency's offer to produce hi-tech cards with biometrics and security features because its ordinary ID cards issued to other citizens do not live up to that standard. Importantly, UNHCR managed to persuade village authorities to issue the TRCs free of charge.

Although Muslims make up 76 percent of the population of northern Rakhine state, the Myanmar government does not consider them citizens, and prefers to call them "residents of Rakhine state." It even rejects the terminology "residents of Myanmar," because it does not want to imply they have the right to live anywhere in the country.

Denial of citizenship to the Muslim minority" has seriously curtailed the full exercise of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and led to various discriminatory practices," the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, said in an April statement signed by five other UN human rights experts. It cited severe restrictions on freedom of movement; various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation and forced evictions; restricted access to medical care, food and adequate housing; forced labour; and restrictions on marriages.

UNHCR has been present in northern Rakhine state for the past 13 years, monitoring the welfare of more than 230,000 Muslim former refugees who returned from next-door Bangladesh from 1992 onwards. They had originally fled Myanmar in 1991, and some 26,000 remain in UNHCR-run camps in Bangladesh.

"In addition to monitoring returnees in northern Rakhine state, we have increasingly become involved with the larger stateless population as part of UNHCR's mandate to prevent and end statelessness around the world," said Jean-Francois Durieux, the refugee agency's Representative in Yangon.

"In Myanmar we have the largest UNHCR program of assistance to stateless persons," he said. "In this context, the issuance of TRCs could be an important step towards a clear legal identity, and eventually acquiring full citizenship."

What is clear is that government documents reign supreme in northern Rakhine state, where a vast number of written and unwritten discriminatory rules govern the lives of Muslim residents.

The region's Muslims must apply for written permission to travel out of their home villages, and another permission document to sleep overnight in another village.

Marrying without permission – and permission is often denied or delayed – can bring hefty fines and prison sentences and turns children of such "illegal" marriages into stateless non-persons. For the poverty-stricken Muslims of Rakhine state, complying with the myriad restrictions requires an onerous and mostly unofficial payment every step of the way.

The Temporary Registration Certificate – a document issued under the citizenship law – will help the Muslims of at least eight village tracts (where the first TRCs are being issued) comply with regulations. "We hope this is a first step towards mainstreaming the area's residents into Myanmar society," said Durieux.

"The more papers they have to prove their identity, the more it will help them in the long run," added Jayshree Jayanand, acting head of the UNHCR office in Maungdaw, who observed the distribution of TRCs in this hamlet.

The UN refugee agency is taking steps on another front to try to end statelessness here by funding Myanmar language classes. They give Rohingyas a leg up because speaking Myanmar is a precondition to naturalization under the citizenship law.

Shanuwar Begom, an 18-year-old graduate of a UNHCR-funded Myanmar language course, said "it helped a lot because now I know how to read and write my name and my family's name and I can read some written papers. It will help a lot in dealing with the authorities." She is, she added, the only one of the 11 people in her extended family who can read or write at all, because the Rohingyas' local dialect has no script.

By Kitty McKinsey In northern Rakhine state

House votes to renew Myanmar sanctions

        WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress moved Monday to extend import sanctions on
Myanmar for another year, citing the Asian country's suppression of political
dissent and human rights.
   The House voted by voice to renew the ban on imports, imposed under a 2003
law, for another year. The Senate Finance Committee was scheduled to approve an
identical resolution later in the day.
   "The controlling junta continues to have total disregard for its own people
and their basic rights," Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., said of the military
government that has held power in Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1988.
   He said the military leaders continue to arrest and torture political
activists and refuse to release Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the
pro-democracy leader who has been detained by the government for 12 of the past
18 years.
   The United States also restricts exports and financial transactions with
Myanmar, and imposes an arms embargo with what House Foreign Relations Committee
Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif., called "one of the most repressive regimes on the
planet."
   Lantos acknowledged that unilateral sanctions were of limited effect when
other countries -- he mentioned China and India -- had active commercial
relations with Myanmar. But he said European nations are imposing sanctions and
he hoped the U.S. stance would "influence those in the international community
who are currently asleep at the wheel of justice and human rights."
  
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