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Title: Karen Heritage Yearbook 2007
Date of publication: 09 April 2008
Description/subject: Karen History and Culture Preservation Society Yearbooks contain articles gathered from a number of international sources that relate to the ethnic Karen people of Burma. They are published to aid research and promote a greater understanding of the Karen situation. Format: ebook (.pdf) A4, 80 pages Colour and B/W Photos, Maps and Tables.
Author/creator: KHCPS
Language: English
Source/publisher: KHCPS
Format/size: .pdf (20.1 mb)
Date of entry/update: 09 May 2008
ML > Non-Burman and non-Buddhist groups > Ethnic groups in Burma (cultural, political) > Single Groups > Karen (cultural, historical, political) > Karen Heritage


Title: Suffering in Silence: The Human Rights Nightmare of the Karen People of Burma
Date of publication: 2000
Description/subject: "...This book presents the voices of ethnic Karen villagers to give an idea of what it is like to be a rural villager in Burma: the brutal and constant shifts of forced labor for the Army, the intimidation tactics, the systematic extortion and looting by Army and State authorities, the constant fear of arbitrary arrest, rape, torture, and summary execution, the forced relocation and burning of hundreds of civilian villages and the systematic uprooting of their crops. Three detailed reports produced by the Karen Human Rights Group in 1999 are used to give the reader a sampling of the life of Karen villagers, both in areas where there is armed resistance to the rule of the SPDC junta and in areas where the junta is fully in control. ..."
Author/creator: Claudio O. Delang, Kevin Heppner
Language: English
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group
Format/size: html
Alternate URLs: http://books.google.com/books?id=HmxvcEgWap4C
Date of entry/update: 09 May 2008
ML > Human Rights > Discrimination > Ethnicity: Discrimination based on > Ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations > Ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against specific groups > Discrimination against the Karen


Title: "The New Light of Myanmar" 9 May 2008
Date of publication: 09 May 2008
Description/subject: THE CYCLONE. HEADLINES: Prime Minister comforts storm victims in Kungyangon, Kyauktan townships; Relief supplies sent to storm-hit delta; Service personnel and staff clear fallen billboards in Yangon; Clearance works performed in Yangon; Lt-Gen Myint Swe meets with entrepreneurs, traders; Officials and people urged to assist storm victims with goodwill; Helicopters transport relief supplies to storm-hit areas in Ayeyawady Division; Commander presents aid to relief camps in Kyimyindine; Minister and deputy minister meet entrepreneurs at Hlinethaya Industrial Zone; Downed trees on Yangon- Pyay road cleaned; USDA members clear fallen trees; Volunteers remove fallen trees in Yangon; Myanmar thanks international community and organizations for their emergency aids; Relief teams of Shan State (South) arrive in Yangon; Wellwishers may donate cash and kind to storm victims; Navy takes part in relief works; Air Force participates in evacuation in storm-hit areas; Repairing of power lines, supply of electricity inspected; Energy Minister provides relief aids to storm victims in Kawhmu, Kungyangon, Dedaye; SWRR Minister accepts cash and kind from wellwishers; Communication station in Hainggyikyun reopened; Some wards in Dagon Myothit (South) Tsp have access to electricity; Latest casualty figures in cyclonic storm “Nargis”; Myanmar receiving emergency relief provisions, making strenuous efforts to transport them without delay to affected areas; YCDC supplies water to townships; Plane-loads of foreign emergency aid arriving in Yangon; Relief aids shipped to Nargis-hit areas in Ayeyawady Division.... PHOTO CAPTIONS: Prime Minister General Thein Sein inspects a relief camp in Kyauktan; Relief items being sent to the storm-hit areas; Buses and cars running along the Merchant Street in Yangon; Lt-Gen Myint Swe briefs on emergency works in storm-hit areas in Ayeyawady and Yangon Divisions; Members of the Tatmadaw, Myanmar Police Force and social organizations remove trees on Strand Road in Yangon; Prime Minister General Thein Sein speaks at the meeting of National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee; Emergency aid for storm victims in Ayeyawady Division being loaded onto a helicopter; Minister Brig-Gen Maung Maung Thein and Deputy Minister Brig-Gen Myint Thein view clearance of debris on a road in Yangon; Tatmadawmen unloading relief aids for storm victims in Kyauktan Township; USDA members clearing downed trees on Kaba Aye Pagoda Road; Members of the Tatmadaw unloading Thai-donated bottles of drinking water, candles, hammers and dry noodles from a plane at Yangon International Airport; Medicines and boxes of chocolate sent from Singapore arrives at Yangon International Airport; Members of the Tatmadaw unloading mosquito nets, tarpaulin, plastic, medicines and food worth US $ 300,000 donated by Italy; Tatmadawmen unloading relief aids from India at Yangon International Airport; Tatmadawmen loading trucks with relief aids airlifted from Bangladesh; Tatmadawmen loading a helicopter with relief aids to be transported to storm hit-areas in Ayeyawady Division; A lay person hands over foreign exchange donated by Sayadaw Bhaddanta Kusala for the storm victims to Minister Maj-Gen Maung Maung Swe; An emergency patient from Ayeyawady Division is being conveyed to Yangon by helicopter; Health personnel are being helicoptered to storm-hit areas in Ayeyawady Division to provide health care to victims; Prime Minister General Thein Sein comforts storm victims in Kungyangon Township; Prime Minister General Thein Sein accepts sacks of rice, medicines and blankets from donors; Water being pumped out from a tank to supply to residents in Yangon; Aircraft carrying relief supplies arrive at Yangon International Airport; Vessels carrying relief items for the storm victims leave Yangon for Ayeyawady Division...THE CONSTITUTION: The most appropriate constitution (3)... "PERSPECTIVES": "For entire people to follow public health care notices"
Language: English
Source/publisher: SPDC (News and Periodical Enterprise, Ministry of Information, Union of Myanmar)
Format/size: pdf (7.9MB)
Date of entry/update: 09 May 2008
RR > Print and broadcast media produced by the SLORC/SPDC > "The New Light of Myanmar" (full text with slogans; pictures; exhortations; ads; domestic, foreign and sports news; TV programmes; weather etc. - From 2MB to 10MB per issue) > "The New Light of Myanmar" 2008


Title: Bushs versteckte Burma-Agenda
Date of publication: 09 May 2008
Description/subject: Die USA präsentieren sich in der Burma-Katastrophe als unbürokratischer Krisenhelfer. Doch tatsächlich versucht die Regierung Bush, das Drama politisch auszuschlachten. Diese Strategie macht die Militärjunta so extrem misstrauisch - Hilfsorganisationen sind empört; USA-Burma Beziehungen; Amerikanische Hilfsprogramme; USA-Burma relations; US Aid Programme;
Author/creator: Marc Pitzke
Language: German, Deutsch
Source/publisher: Spiegel Online
Format/size: Html (91 kb)
Date of entry/update: 09 May 2008
ML > The Cyclone > Individual documents
Foreign Relations > USA-Burma relations


Title: Birmania Por La Paz
Description/subject: Website and blog...Birmania por la paz es un proyecto de GANDHIJI CULTURAL, entidad sin ánimo de lucro inscrita en el Registro de organizaciones no gubernamentales para el desarrollo, con el número 170 de la Agéncia Catalana de Cooperació al Desenvolupament de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Inscrita legalmente en el Registro de Entidades Jurídicas de la Generalitat de Catalunya con el número 27469. GANDHIJI está inspirada en el profundo sentido de la paz, la noviolencia, la justicia, la libertad, la democracia y el respecto a los derechos humanos. La defensa de estos principios constituye nuestro principal patrimonio, fortaleciendo e inspirando todas nuestras misiones, actuaciones o proyectos, siendo nuestra motivación y existencia fundamental la lucha por la paz, la libertad y los derechos humanos. Los objetivos de BIRMANIA POR LA PAZ, son: * Trabajar por la restauración de los derechos humanos y la democracia en Birmania, mediante acciones que conduzcan a impedir inversiones económicas y turísticas ( incluyendo presiones para sanciones). * Informar y sensibilizar a la opinión publica, sobre asuntos relativos a Birmania. * Ejercer presión internacional, estatal, autonómica, europea, Sudeste asiático(ASEAN) y Naciones Unidas. * Prestar ayuda humanitaria y cooperación
Language: Espanol
Source/publisher: Birmania Por La Paz
Format/size: html
Alternate URLs: http://birmaniaporlapaz.blogspot.com/
Date of entry/update: 08 May 2008
ML > Activism (groups from Burma, solidarity groups, campaigns, publications) > Burma Action Groups, Expatriate Groups, Round Tables etc.


Title: Myanmar / Burma. Aktuelle Kriege 2006
Date of publication: 02 December 2007
Description/subject: Das Berichtsjahr in dem weltweit am längsten durchgehend andauernden kriegerischen Konflikt wurde von verschiedenen Nichtregierungsorganisationen als das blutigste seit 1997 bezeichnet. Dabei stellten die beiden größten verbliebenen Rebellengruppen, die Karen National Union (KNU) und die Shan State Army - South (SSA-S) militärisch schon lange keine Bedrohung für den Staat mehr dar. Eine bestehende informelle Waffenruhe zwischen KNU und Militärregierung wurde von letzterer aufgekündigt und sowohl KNU und SSA-S waren verstärkt das Ziel von Angriffen, die vor allem die Zivilbevölkerung in Mitleidenschaft zogen; Ursachen und Verlauf des Konfliktes; Entwicklungen von 1998-2006; roots and history of the conflict; development from 1998 - 2006
Author/creator: Cord-Hinrich Wiehemayer
Language: German, Deutsch
Source/publisher: Universität Hamburg
Format/size: Html (28kb)
Date of entry/update: 08 May 2008
ML > Civil War > The Civil War in Burma > Civil war in Burma, strategic and general


Title: Die Karen - Völkermord in Burma
Date of publication: October 2006
Description/subject: Karen? Tja, bis vor kurzem wusste ich gar nicht, dass dieses Volk existiert. Die Karen sind eine ethnische Gruppe in Myanmar/Burma, Nachbarstaat von Thailand. Ja, Thailand, dem beliebten Urlaubsland. Doch was wir sehen ist nicht das, was die Menschen dort vor Ort sehen; Geschichte der Karen; Geschichte des Krieges der Karen; Staudämme; history of the Karen; history of the Karen civil war; water dams;
Language: German, Deutsch
Source/publisher: Reggae Magazin Revolution
Format/size: Html (45 kb)
Date of entry/update: 08 May 2008
ML > Non-Burman and non-Buddhist groups > Ethnic groups in Burma (cultural, political) > Single Groups > Karen (cultural, historical, political) > Karen (cultural, historical, political)


Title: Burma Diaspora
Date of publication: 2005
Description/subject: Burma Diaspora ist ein Dokumentar-Spielfilm, der 2005 während eines 6-monatigen Aufenthaltes in den Karen-Gebieten realisiert wurde. Die Seite enthält viele Bilder, Videos und Hintergrundinformationen zu der Situation der Karen; documentary on the situation of the Karen; the site contains many pictures, videos and background information;
Language: German, Deutsch
Format/size: Html
Date of entry/update: 08 May 2008
ML > Activism (groups from Burma, solidarity groups, campaigns, publications) > Online publications by Burma solidarity groups
Activism (groups from Burma, solidarity groups, campaigns, publications) > Internet activism and resources
Non-Burman and non-Buddhist groups > Ethnic groups in Burma (cultural, political) > Single Groups > Karen (cultural, historical, political) > Karen (cultural, historical, political)


Title: "The New Light of Myanmar" 8 May 2008
Date of publication: 08 May 2008
Description/subject: p1: CYCLONE NEWS: Prime Minister General Thein Sein inspects Nargis-hit areas, provides relief supplies to storm victims... Photo caption: "Prime Minister General Thein Sein and party assist loading of relief supplies onto a helicopter for storm victims"..p2: Electric Power No 2 Minister inspects power line connection; Vessels transport relief supplies to Nargis-hit areas...Photo captions: "Staff of Myanma Electric Power Enterprise repair a damaged lamp post caused by storm on Maha Bandoola Street"; "Volunteers loading a ship with relief aids to distribute them to storm-hit areas in Ayeyawady Division"...p4: Lt-Gen Myint Swe provides foodstuff to storm victims in Twantay, Kungyangon; Relief aids for victims in Dedaye; Kanbawza Bank presents aid; USDA Secretariat Member provides rice and cash for storm victims; Regular water transport to delta region resumes...Photo captions: "Lt-Gen Myint Swe of the Ministry of Defence meeting with the victims in Kungyangon Township"; "Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan meets storm victims in Mingala Taungnyunt Township"; "Ferries are now transporting passengers from Pansodan Jetty in Yangon"...p5: Wellwishers donate over K 1358.1 million to storm victims; Cash and kind donated to storm victims; Rail services return to normal; Wellwishers may donate cash, kind to victims...Photo captions: "Lt-Gen Myint Swe accepts assistance provided by a wellwisher at the donation ceremony for the victims"; "Trains have started regular runs from Yangon Railway Station"; "Soldiers remove a fallen tree beside the road in Yangon"...p7: Mayor supervises water supply facilities in downtown Yangon; Minister distributes relief aid to storm victims...Photo caption: "Ministry of Transport supplying drinking water to the people"...p8: International emergency aid arrives in Yangon; Humanitarian aids of foreign countries being distributed to victims through fastest means...Photo captions: "Servicemen unloading foodstuff donated by Laos from a plane in Yangon International Airport."; "Water proof and generators donated by Japan arrive at Yangon International Airport"; "Medicines, dried potatos, clothes and tarpaulins donated by Bangladesh arrive at Yangon International Airport"; "Relief supplies donated by foreign countries seen at Yangon International Airport"...p9: Yangon returning to normal as collective debris clearing work goes on; Staff and local people clear fallen trees; Blocked roads cleared...Photo captions: "Tatmadawmen clearing fallen trees on a road in Yangon"; "Tatmadawmen and service personnel removing trees with the use of heavy mechinery on a road in Yangon"; "Smooth transportation services in downtown Yangon"; "Tatmadawmen remove downed trees on a road in Yangon"...p10: Photo captions: "Prime Minister General Thein Sein inspects loading of relief supplies onto the helicopters for storm victims in Ayeyawady Division"; "Prime Minister General Thein Sein comforts storm victims at a relief camp in Labutta Township"; "Prime Minister General Thein Sein observes health conditions of patients at General Hospital (Pathein)"...p11: SWRR Minister accepts cash and kind for storm victims; Republic of India donates foodstuff, medicines, general products to storm victims...Photo captions: "Tatmadawmen unloading supplies from India from a ship"; "Minister Maj-Gen Maung Maung Swe meets UNDP Resident Representative Mr Daniel B Baker and party"; "Volunteers loading relief supplies for storm victims in Ayeyawady Division onto a ship"...p12: Relief aid distributed in Mawlamyinegyun, Bogale Tsps; Commerce Minister provides relief items in Kyaiklat; Relief supplies sent to delta region; Minister inspects banking services; Hospitals in Kawhmu, Kungyangon inspected; Medicines donated for health care; MWAF officials comfort storm victims; Latest casualty figures in cyclonic storm Nargis...Photo captions: "Prime Minister General Thein Sein presents TV and DVD sets and satellite receivers to Commander Brig-Gen Kyaw Swe"; "USDA and social organizations members provide foodstuff to storm victims"...p16: Prime Minister General Thein Sein inspects loading of relief supplies for victims in Ayeyawady Division; Planes carrying relief supplies from foreign countries arrive at Yangon...Photo captions: "National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee Chairman Prime Minister General Thein Sein inspects loading of bags of rice onto a ship for storm victims in Ayeyawady Divison"; "Loading of relief supplies donated by India onto a truck in progress"...CONSTITUTION: "The most appropriate constitution (2)"... "PERSPECTIVES": "Take part in the tasks for relief and resettlement"
Language: English
Source/publisher: SPDC (News and Periodical Enterprise, Ministry of Information, Union of Myanmar)
Format/size: pdf (8.2MB)
Date of entry/update: 08 May 2008
RR > Print and broadcast media produced by the SLORC/SPDC > "The New Light of Myanmar" (full text with slogans; pictures; exhortations; ads; domestic, foreign and sports news; TV programmes; weather etc. - From 2MB to 10MB per issue) > "The New Light of Myanmar" 2008


Title: Burma nach dem Zyklon „Nargis“: Militär blockiert Einreise von Rettungskräften
Date of publication: 07 May 2008
Description/subject: Die Militärregierung in Burma hat die Bevölkerung trotz Alarmhinweisen aus Indien nicht vor dem Wirbelsturm „Nargis“ gewarnt und behindert die internationale Hilfe. Ein Team aus fünf Fachleuten warte vier Tage nach dem Sturm noch auf die Einreisegenehmigung, sagte die Sprecherin des UN-Büros für die Koordination humanitärer Einsätze; Zyklon; Taifun; internationale Hilfe; cyclone; typhoon; international aid;
Language: German, Deutsch
Source/publisher: AFP, FAZ
Format/size: html (62 kb)
Date of entry/update: 07 May 2008
ML > The Cyclone > Individual documents


Title: Growing up under militarisation: Abuse and agency of children in Karen State
Date of publication: 30 April 2008
Description/subject: "As the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military junta currently ruling Burma, works to extend and consolidate its control over all areas of Karen State, local children, their families and communities confront regular, often violent, abuses at the hands of the regime's officers, soldiers and civilian officials. While the increasing international media attention on the human rights situation in Burma has occasionally addressed the plight of children, such reporting has been almost entirely incident-based, and focused on specific, particularly emotive issues, such as child soldiers. Although incident-based reporting is relevant, it misses the far greater problems of structural violence, caused by the oppressive social, economic and political systems commensurate with militarisation, and the combined effects of a variety of abuses, which negatively affect a far larger number of children in Karen State. Furthermore, focusing on specific, emotive issues sensationalises the abuses committed against children and masks the complexities of the situation. In reports on children and armed conflict in Karen State and elsewhere, individual children's agency, efforts to resist abuse and capacity to deal with the situations they live in, as well as the efforts made by their families and communities to provide for and protect them, tend to be marginalised and ignored. Drawing on over 160 interviews with local children, their families and communities, this report seeks to provide a forum for these people to explain in their own words the wider context of abuse and their own responses to attempts at denying children their rights. With additional background provided by official SPDC press statements and order documents, international media sources, reports by international aid agencies, as well as academic studies, this report argues that only by listening to local voices regarding the situation of abuse in which they live and taking as a starting point for advocacy and action local conceptions of rights and violations can external actors avoid the further marginalisation of children living in these areas and begin to build on villagers' own strategies for resisting abuse and claiming their rights..."
Language: English
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2008-01)
Format/size: pdf (4.3MB), html
Alternate URLs: http://www.khrg.org/khrg2008/khrg0801.html
Date of entry/update: 07 May 2008
ML > Human Rights > Children's Rights > Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma > Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against individual ethnic groups > Childrens's rights in Karen State - reports of violations


Title: 'Natural' Disasters as Catalysts of Political Action
Date of publication: January 2006
Description/subject: "Anecdotal evidence suggests that the socio-political and cultural dynamics put into motion at the time of catastrophic 'natural' disasters create the conditions for potential political change - often at the hands of a discontented civil society. A state's incapacity to respond adequately to a disaster can create a temporary power vacuum, and potentially a watershed moment in historical trajectories. This generates (albeit temporarily) a window of opportunity for novel socio-political action at local and national levels. Interventions may include manoeuvres to entrench or destabilize current power-holders, change power-sharing relationships within recognized sectors, or to legitimise or de-legitimise new sectors. This briefing note presents initial findings of a study reviewing historical data on the political outcomes of disaster at the level of the nation state and below. It draws on academic papers, practitioner and media reports of large natural disaster events from 1899 to 2005..."
Author/creator: Mark Pelling and Kathleen Dill, (King's College London)
Language: English
Source/publisher: Chatham House (ISP/NSC Briefing Paper 06/01)
Format/size: pdf (44K)
Alternate URLs: http://www.disasterdiplomacy.org/PellingDillBrief0601.rtf
Date of entry/update: 07 May 2008
ML > The Cyclone > Individual documents


Title: Indien warnte Birma vor Zyklon
Date of publication: 07 May 2008
Description/subject: Die indische Meteorologiebehörde (IMD) hat eigenen Angaben zufolge die zuständigen Regierungsstellen in Birma zwei Tage vor dem Eintreffen von "Nargis"vor dem schweren Zyklon gewarnt. Der IMD-Abteilungsleiter für Zyklone, M. Mahapatra, sagte am Mittwoch in Neu Delhi: "Es gab hinreichend Zeit, Vorsichtsmaßnahmen zu treffen, um Leben zu retten; Internationale Hilfsprogramme; warnings from India; international aid programmes
Language: German, Deutsch
Source/publisher: Fränkische Rundschau
Format/size: Html (68 kb)
Date of entry/update: 07 May 2008
ML > The Cyclone > Individual documents


Title: Mächtiger Chef der Junta gegen Mönche
Date of publication: 27 September 2007
Description/subject: Er hat sie alle unter sich: die Streitkräfte, die Regierung. Er weiß, wie man herrscht, foltert, unterdrückt. In psychologischer Kriegsführung ist er in jungen Jahren profund ausgebildet worden, als es Ende der 1950er-Jahre darum ging, gegen die Minderheit der Karen zu kämpfen; Aufstieg Than Shwes seit 1988; Politik Than Shwes; politics of Than Shwe since 1988
Language: German, Deutsch
Source/publisher: Der Standard
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 07 May 2008
ML > Politics and Government > Prominent Figures > General Than Shwe


Title: "The New Light of Myanmar" 3&4 May 2008
Date of publication: 04 May 2008
Description/subject: The issues of "The New Light of Myanmar for 3 and 4 May were not published online (probably not published in any form) on account of the cyclone.
Source/publisher: SPDC (News and Periodical Enterprise, Ministry of Information, Union of Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 07 May 2008
RR > Print and broadcast media produced by the SLORC/SPDC > "The New Light of Myanmar" (full text with slogans; pictures; exhortations; ads; domestic, foreign and sports news; TV programmes; weather etc. - From 2MB to 10MB per issue) > "The New Light of Myanmar" 2008


Title: "The New Light of Myanmar" 5 May 2008
Date of publication: 05 May 2008
Description/subject: Government of the Union of Myanmar issues Announcement No 1/2008...CYCLONE NEWS: Relief measures taken in Nargis-hit areas...Photo caption (p1): "Prime Minister General Thein Sein surveys the damage caused by the cyclonic storm Nargis"; ...Cyclone Nargis weakens...No severe strong wind and another storm in Yangon and neighbouring areas...Photo captions (p2): "Members of the Tatmadaw, MPF, social organizations and YCDC staff remove the fallen trees"; "Motor vehicles running on the crossroad of Sule Pagoda Road and Anawrahta Road in Yangon"; "Members of the Tatmadaw, MPF, social organizations and YCDC staff remove the fallen trees"; "Damaged wharf at Botahtaung jetty"...Two Ministers provide cash and kind to storm victims of Mawlamyinegyun...Roads re-cope with vehicles...Relief aids arrive in Hainggyi...Measures coordinated for normalcy of communication services...Photo captions (p7): "Yangon returns to normaly after clearing of debris caused by cyclone Nargis"; "Heavy machnery (sic) at work to clear fallen trees"; "Tatmadaw and MPF members and local people take part in clearing debris";... Z-crafts of IWT resumed...Photo captions (p8): "Prime Minister General Thein Sein inspects the damage caused by the cyclonic storm in Yangon Division"; "Motor vehicles running in front of Bogyoke Aung San Market"; "Members of the Tatmadaw, MPF, social organizations and YCDC staff remove the fallen trees"; "Members of the Tatmadaw, MPF, social organizations and YCDC staff remove the fallen tree (sic): ...Storm news...Death toll after storm Nargis; Commander provides victims in disaster-hit areas with food and medical supplies; External and domestic flights will operate regularly beginning 5 May... Photo captions (p9): "Motor vehicles running in the centre of Yangon"; "Tatmadaw and MPF members remove fallen trees"; "YCDC staff remove fallen trees"; "Travelling people on the road in Yangon"...Photo captions (p10): "Collective efforts are being made in clearing fallen trees"; "Clearing of debris under way in Myenigon, Yangon"; "Members of a debris-clearing team in action"; "Maha Bandoola Street crowded with cars and people"; ...Prime Minister supervises relief works in Yangon Division...Provision of relief aids under way...Photo captions (p10): "Prime Minister General Thein Sein visits cyclone victims in Dagon Myothit (North)"; "Prime Minister General Thein Sein presenting relief aid to cyclone victims in Yangon."... PERSPECTIVES: "Work in accordance with announcements to prevent against loss of crops".
Language: English
Source/publisher: SPDC (News and Periodical Enterprise, Ministry of InfoPhoto captions, (22): ation, Union of Myanmar)
Format/size: pdf (8.6MB)
Date of entry/update: 07 May 2008
RR > Print and broadcast media produced by the SLORC/SPDC > "The New Light of Myanmar" (full text with slogans; pictures; exhortations; ads; domestic, foreign and sports news; TV programmes; weather etc. - From 2MB to 10MB per issue) > "The New Light of Myanmar" 2008


Title: "The New Light of Myanmar" 6 May 2008
Date of publication: 06 May 2008
Description/subject: CYCLONE NEWS: (p1): Prime Minister consoles cyclone victims in Ayeyawady Division; Prime Minister General Thein Sein was at cyclonehit areas to render necessary assistance for victims; Photoi caption: "Prime Minister General Thein Sein cordially greets storm victims in Labutta Township"...(p2): Relief goods provided to victims in Bogale, Mawlamyinegyun Townships; Yangon International Airport reopens to regular int’l, domestic flights; Photo captions: "Ministers Maj-Gen Maung Maung Swe and Brig-Gen Maung Maung Thein provide assistance to the storm victims in Mawlamyinegyun Township"; "External and domestic flights start operations at Yangon International Airport"...(p6): Diplomats briefed on situation of the areas hit by Nargis; Relief works supervised in Yangon...Photo captions: "Minister U Nyan Win briefs diplomats and representatives of UN Agencies on situation of the areas hit by Nargis"; USDAs at all levels and other donors provide clean water in Yangon"... (p7): Lt-Gen Myint Swe presents relief aid to storm victims in Yangon South District; Emergency aid for victims in Kyauktan and Kungyangon Townships...Photo captions: "Lt-Gen Myint Swe of Ministry of Defence gives relief aid to a storm victim in Kyauktan Township"; "Commander Maj-Gen Hla Htay Win presents personal goods to a storm victim in Kungyangon Townhsip"...(p8): Traffic returns to normal in Yangon; Cash and relief goods being accepted; Minister meets storm victims, provides cash...Photo captions: "Motor vehicles driving along Mahabandoola Street in Yangon"; "Staff members of CPT and Tatmadawmen repairing auto telephone lines in Yangon"; "Members of Tatmadaw and residents repairing a fallen lamp-post caused by storm"...(p9): Public Notice: "Do not believe rumours and do not rely on news stories that are not stated or aired in the newspapers, and on radio and TV"; IDD calls available now; Loss and casualties caused by cyclonic storm Nargis in Yangon, Ayeyawady Divsions; Photo captions: "Minister Brig-Gen Thein Zaw accepts cash donated by Kachin State USDA to set up satellite phone"; "Public Calling Office being carried out by CPT to ensure communication services in Yangon"; "Tatmadawmen, MPF, Fire Brigade, residents and YCDC staff cleaning the falling trees along Kandawgyi ring road"; "Vehicles running along the road in downtown Yangon"...(p10): Five injured victims sent to hospital...Photo captions: "Prime Minister General Thein Sein views provision of medical treatment to storm victims at No 1 BEHS in Bogale Township"; "Prime Minister General Thein Sein consoles a patient receiving medical treatment at Bogale Hospital"; "An emergency patient of Bogale Township carried by Tatmadaw helicopter arrives at the Headquarters of Mingaladon Airbase"...(p11): Relief aid arrives in Kyaikhto, Bilin, Thaton; Storm victims in Bago Div get relief aid; Medicines and provisions presented to storm victims in Pyapon...Photo captions: "Maj-Gen Tha Aye presents relief aid to a storm victim in Bilin Township"; "An emergency patient arrives at Mingaladon Airbase by air from Bogale Township"...(p16): Prime Minister inspects losses and damages in and around Nargis-hit Yangon; Commander-in-Chief (Navy) Vice-Admiral Soe Thein, Adjutant-General Maj-Gen Thura Myint Aung and party provide relief aid to cyclone victims...Photo captions: "Members of the Tatmadaw, MPF, Fire Brigade, townselders, YCDC staff and residents removing fallen trees caused by storm on U Wizara Road"; "Motor vehicles running along the Phonegyi Street in Yangon". "PERSPECTIVES": "Carry out relief and resettlement works with altruism".
Language: English
Source/publisher: SPDC (News and Periodical Enterprise, Ministry of Information, Union of Myanmar)
Format/size: pdf (7.2MB)
Date of entry/update: 07 May 2008
RR > Print and broadcast media produced by the SLORC/SPDC > "The New Light of Myanmar" (full text with slogans; pictures; exhortations; ads; domestic, foreign and sports news; TV programmes; weather etc. - From 2MB to 10MB per issue) > "The New Light of Myanmar" 2008


Title: "The New Light of Myanmar" 7 May 2008
Date of publication: 07 May 2008
Description/subject: (p1) Union of Myanmar Commission for Holding Referendum Announcement No 8/2008... CYCLONE NEWS: Union of Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (Announcement No 5/2008) 2nd Waxing of Kason 1370 ME (6 May 2008) 1. The State Peace and Development Council announced the following regions as disaster-hit regions that were struck by the cyclonic storm Nargis under Announcement No 4/2008 dated on 3 May 2008. (a) Ayeyawady Division (b) Yangon Division (c) Bago Division (d) Mon State (e) Kayin State...(p2): Disaster victims in Hlinethaya Township provided with rice and cash... Photo caption: "Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan meeting with storm victims at No 2 BEHS in Hlinethaya Township"...(p4): Relief and rehabilitation works under way in Kayin State; Storm victims consoled and provided with relief aids; Medicines and food sent to Ayeyawady Division...Photo captions: "Commander Brig-Gen Kyaw Swe distributing food and medicines donated by Royal Thai Armed Forces to a storm victim in Labutta"; "Minister Maj-Gen Htay Oo distributes food and medicines donated by Royal Thai Armed Forces to a victim in Labutta"...(p5): Minister inspects power supply tasks in Hlinethaya, Mingaladon, Hmawby; Regular rail services resume; Clean water for Yangonites; Water available in six townships in downtown Yangon...Photo captions: "Minister Brig-Gen Thein Aung inspects unloading of goods and medicines donated by Royal Thai Armed Forces from a helicopter in Bogale"; "Staff of Myanma Railways remove trees fallen on railroads"; "Mayor Brig-Gen Aung Thein Lin inspects supply of drinking water to residents in Latha Township"...(p6): Steps being taken in two phases for regular power supply - Press conference on ‘relief measures’ held; Photo captions: "Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan briefs on condition of relief works in areas hit by cyclonic storm ‘Nargis’"; "Tatmadawmen, Red Cross members and volunteers unloading food and medicines donated by Royal Thai Armed Forces from a helicopter in Mawlamyinegyun"...(p7): Photo cqptions: "Food and medicines donated by Royal Thai Armed Forces arrive at Yangon International Airport"; "Members of the Tatmadaw remove trees on U Wizara Road in Yangon"...(p8): International organizations donate medicines, foods, cash and relief items to storm victims in Myanmar; Wellwishers may donate cash and kind to storm victims; Yangon International Airport serves regular international and domestic flights; Deputy Minister inspects Medical Universities...Photo captions: "General Songkitti Jakkabatr hands over food and medicines donated by Royal Thai Armed Forces to Lt-Gen Myint Swe"; "Tatmadawmen remove trees on a road in Yangon"; "helicopter with food and medicines donated by Royal Thai Armed Forces to distribute to storm victims being unloaded"...(p9): Relief aids donated to storm victims; MWAF presents supplies in Ayeyawady Division; Vice-Mayor comforts storm victims; Latest casualty figures in cyclonic storm ‘Nargis’...Photo captions: "Red Cross members and volunteers unloading food and medicines from a helicopter in Bogale, Ayeyawady Division"; "A ceremony to donate relief aids to storm victims organized by MWAF in progress"; "Red Cross members and volunteers unloading food and medicines donated by Royal Thai Armed Forces in Labutta Township"...(p10): Unscrupulous persons manufacturing rumours in some townships of Yangon Division People urged not to believe rumours and slanderous news, help expose rumourmongers, inform immediately to authorities if they hear rumours; Minister discusses rehabilitation tasks in Kyaikto Township; BBC journalist holding tourist visa deported...Photo captions: "An emergency patient arrives at Yangon by air from Ayeyawady Division"; "Members of the Tatmadaw removing fallen trees caused by storm on U Wizara Road"...(p16): Nargis victims in Ayeyawady Division receiving emergency aid; Royal Thai Armed Forces donates food, medicines to storm victims...Photo captions: "Volunteers carry a patient airlifted from Ayeyawady Division by helicopter at Yangon International Airport"; "Tatmadawmen and volunteers unloading food and medicines donated by Royal Thai Armed Forces from a plane in Yangon International Airport"...CONSTITUTION (p11): "The most appropriate constitution" by Soe Mya Kyaw... "PERSPECTIVES": "Rehabilitation tasks being carried out for the people of storm-hit areas".
Language: English
Source/publisher: SPDC (News and Periodical Enterprise, Ministry of Information, Union of Myanmar)
Format/size: pdf (6.8MB)
Date of entry/update: 07 May 2008
RR > Print and broadcast media produced by the SLORC/SPDC > "The New Light of Myanmar" (full text with slogans; pictures; exhortations; ads; domestic, foreign and sports news; TV programmes; weather etc. - From 2MB to 10MB per issue) > "The New Light of Myanmar" 2008


Title: Myanmars Waffenstillstände und die Rolle der internationalen Gemeinschaft
Date of publication: August 2007
Description/subject: Ein interessanter Artikel zu dem Zusammenhang von Waffenstillständen, der Nationalversammlung und der Roadmap to Democracy. Weiterhin werde die Interesssen der einzelnen Parteien (ethnsiche Minderheiten, Regierung, internationale Gemeinschaft) dargelegt und Handlungsempfehlungen für die internationale Gemeinschaft abgeleitet; ceasefires, national convention and roadmap to democracy; interests of ethnic minorities, government and international community; recommendations for the international community
Author/creator: Jasmin Lorch; Dr. Paul Pasch
Language: German, Deutsch
Source/publisher: FES
Format/size: PDF
Date of entry/update: 06 May 2008
ML > Dialogue/Transition > Roadmaps/National Convention
Civil War > The Civil War in Burma > Ceasefires and ceasefire talks
Foreign Relations > Multilateral Relations


Title: Problemstaat Myanmar: Zum schwierigen Umgang mit dem Militärregime
Date of publication: November 2007
Description/subject: Eine Analyse über den Charakter und die Geschichte des Militärregimes, die Rolle der intnernationalen Gemeinschaft, der EU, USA und China und die Wirkung von Sanktionen, insbesondere nach den Aufständen 2007. Möglichkeiten und Grenzen eines UN-Engagements; character and history of the military regime, international community, USA, EU, China; impact of sanctions, uprisings 2007, UN-Engagement
Author/creator: Marco Buente
Language: German, Deutsch
Source/publisher: http://www.giga-hamburg.de/dl/download.php?d=/content/publikationen/pdf/gf_asien_0711.pdf
Format/size: PDF
Date of entry/update: 06 May 2008
ML > Foreign Relations > Multilateral Relations
Foreign Relations > Sanctions > Formal Sanctions
Politics and Government > Analysis (Burma)


Title: Die ASEAN als Impulsgeber ostasiatischer Integration
Date of publication: February 2006
Description/subject: Eine Analyse des 11. ASEAN-Gipfels 2005, der Sonderrolle Burmas, das Prinzip der Nicht-Einmischung und das "konstruktive Engagement"; ASEAN-summit No. 11 in 2005, role of Burma/Myanmar; non-engagement; constructive engagement
Author/creator: Howard Loewen
Language: German, Deutsch
Source/publisher: GIGA Hamburg
Format/size: Pdf
Date of entry/update: 06 May 2008
ML > Foreign Relations > ASEAN-Burma relations
Activism (groups from Burma, solidarity groups, campaigns, publications)


Title: BURMA: No place for profiteering, referendum amid devastation
Date of publication: 06 May 2008
Description/subject: "...The reports that the government has accepted assistance from abroad are good, but it must not hesitate to open its doors in order to alleviate the needs of its people, and allow for independent monitoring of the delivery of this emergency aid. Clearly, the authorities in Burma are completely incapable of responding to a tragedy of this scale and will be heavily dependent on outside help to avert an even bigger tragedy of starvation and disease caused by a lack of safe drinking water. At this stage, local councils, which play an important role in basic administration, are likely to be non-functioning in many areas and still at a loss for what to do in others. They cannot be expected to take up the task of addressing this disaster but so too must they and other agencies not obstruct the work of outside groups coming to render assistance, or try to profit from others' nightmare. ...it is patently obvious that to hold the planned constitutional referendum at this time would be an adventure into the utmost absurdity. The affected areas are among the most populated in the country and perhaps as many as one in four of the enrolled voters will have in some way been affected by the storm. To attempt to conduct the poll under such circumstances would go far beyond the description of a farce that had already been attached to it, and into the realm of the unreal. To expend the energy of government officers on that exercise rather than the needs of the populace at this critical time would do nothing but demonstrate to the entire world the implausibility of the country's government and everything upon which it pretends to stand. The Asian Human Rights Commission thus joins with those others around the world that have rightly called for the referendum to be put off, and get on with the job of restoring some basic security and dignity to the lives of millions."
Language: Engl
Source/publisher: Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC-STM-121-2008)
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 06 May 2008
ML > The Cyclone > Individual documents


Title: THE CHETTIARS IN BURMA
Date of publication: July 2005
Description/subject: ABSTRACT: "In the history of Burma's political economy, few groups have been so roundly vilified as the Chettiars. A community of moneylenders indigenous to Chettinad, Tamil Nadu, the Chettiars operated throughout the Southeast Asian territories of the British Empire. They played a particularly prominent role in Burma where, alas, they were typically demonised as rapacious usurers, responsible for all manner of vices concomitant with the colonial economy. Not least of these was the chronic land alienation of the Burmese cultivator. The purpose of this paper is to reappraise the role of the Chettiars in Burma. Finding that their role was crucial in the dramatic growth in Burma's agricultural output during the colonial era, the paper disputes the moneylender stereotype so often used against them. Employing modern economic theory to the issue, the paper finds that the success of the Chettiars in Burma lay less in the high interest rates they charged, than it did to patterns of internal organisation that provided solutions to the inherent problems faced by financial intermediaries. A proper functioning financial system could have provided better solutions perhaps for Burma's long-term development, but Burma did not have such a system, then or now. Easy scapegoats for what went wrong, the Chettiars merit history's better judgement."
Author/creator: Sean Turnell
Language: English
Source/publisher: Macquarie Economics Research Papers, July 2005, no.12/2005.
Format/size: pdf (169K)
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
ML > History > Economic history > Economic History -- Money-lending and Banking


Title: Central Banking at the Periphery of the British Empire: Colonial Burma, 1886-1937
Date of publication: July 2005
Description/subject: Abstract: "The purpose of this paper is to bring to light the efforts to fashion a central bank in Burma during the years in which the country was a province of British India. Throughout this period, which lasted from 1886 to 1937, questions of money and finance in Burma were mostly the preserve of the Raj in Calcutta and New Delhi. And, yet, it is a little-known fact that plans to establish a central bank for Burma were promoted throughout the colonial years by a succession of imperial officials. These plans, which reached their apogee in the ‘monetary reform’ advocacy that followed the Great Depression, were never realised in the colonial era. They were, however, indicative of a political economy discourse in colonial Burma that was more vigorous, and theoretically sophisticated, than is commonly supposed."
Author/creator: Sean Turnell
Language: English
Source/publisher: Macquarie Economics Research Papers, July 2005, no.11/2005.
Format/size: pdf (116K)
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
ML > History > Economic history > Economic History -- Money-lending and Banking


Title: The Rise and Fall of Cooperative Credit in Colonial Burma
Date of publication: June 2005
Description/subject: ABSTRACT: "Cooperative credit was the British Empire's all-purpose answer to problems of rural poverty and indebtedness, usury, and land alienation. Originating in the idealism of the 'Rochedale Pioneers' and in schemes from rural Germany, cooperative credit was imported into India with an evangelical zeal to solve all manner of perceived economic and social ills. With only slightly less moral fervour it was transplanted from India into Burma in the first decade of the Twentieth Century, and by 1920 several thousand cooperative credit societies had mushroomed across the country. The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of cooperative credit in Burma from these promising beginnings, until the near collapse of the movement on the eve of the Great Depression. The paper explores the way in which cooperative credit was seen by the imperial authorities as a device to limit the role of Indian money-lenders in Burma, and as the basis for the establishment of formal rural credit markets. The paper concludes that poor implementation, on top of official myopia as to the cultural, historical and economic differences between India, Burma and Europe, brought about the demise of a movement that promised much."
Author/creator: Sean Turnell
Language: English
Source/publisher: Macquarie Economics Research Papers, June 2005, no.9/2005.
Format/size: pdf (118K)
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
ML > History > Economic history > Economic History -- Money-lending and Banking


Title: Economic History
Language: English
Source/publisher: Online Burma/Myanmar Library
Format/size: html, pdf
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
ML > Economy > Economic History


Title: KAOWAO NEWS No. 139
Date of publication: 14 March 2008
Description/subject: Newsletter for social justice and freedom in Burma... February 17 - March 14, 2008... Disappearance of Army Chief of the New Mon State Party; The examination of 2 subjects in a day at southern Mon State' town; Dam Repairs May Disrupt and Destroy; Ministry of Education running fake diploma mill; The Celebration of Mon National Day Worldwide is Over: But our dreams are still strong and much work remains to be done; Destruction of more farmland by Burma Army; Mon National Day kicks off worldwide; Changes to Travel Document Requirements; Summer Paddy Cultivation Ordered in Mon State; Traffic police in festivals to extort motorbikes owners; Announcement of Mon National Council on the SPDC’s Constitutional Referendum.
Language: English
Source/publisher: Kao Wao News Group
Format/size: pdf (57K)
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
ML > Non-Burman and non-Buddhist groups > Ethnic groups in Burma (cultural, political) > Single Groups > Mon newsletters and news services > "Kao Wao News"


Title: Burma and the Karens
Date of publication: 1928
Description/subject: "THE object of this book is to present and to explain to the reading public, and to those who are in authority, the condition of the Karens, the position they occupy, and their aspirations as a nation second in importance of the indigenous races of the province of Burma. It is their desire to have a country of their own, where they may progress as a race and find the contentment they seek. It is this contentment which gives a man or a nation that satisfaction and good-will and creates that patriotic feeling so essential to the well-being of the nation. Self-respect in a nation begets respect from other nations and races. What a grand thing the achievement of their ambition will be for the Karens, and what praises and blessing will be showered upon those who shall have made it possible. The Karens will then be in a position to show sincere respect to other races, especially to the Burmese, with whom they have been at variance, and in turn the Burmese will find them worthy of respect and esteem..."
Author/creator: Dr. San C. Po C.B.E.
Language: English
Source/publisher: Elliott Stock (Publisher)
Format/size: html (188K)
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
ML > History > Karen history
Non-Burman and non-Buddhist groups > Ethnic groups in Burma (cultural, political) > Single Groups > Karen (cultural, historical, political) > Karen (cultural, historical, political)


Title: Burmese Days
Date of publication: 1934
Description/subject: "U Po Kyin, Sub-divisional Magistrate of Kyauktada, in Upper Burma, was sitting in his veranda. It was only half past eight, but the month was April, and there was a closeness in the air, a threat of the long, stifling midday hours. Occasional faint breaths of wind, seeming cool by contrast, stirred the newly drenched orchids that hung from the eaves. Beyond the orchids one could see the dusty, curved trunk of a palm tree, and then the blazing ultramarine sky. Up in the zenith, so high that it dazzled one to look at them, a few vultures circled without the quiver of a wing..."
Author/creator: George Orwell
Language: English
Source/publisher: Project Gutenberg, Australia
Format/size: html (547K)
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
ML > History > Historical periods > British Colonial Period [1824-1948] > British colonial period - novels


Title: Project Gutenberg Australia
Description/subject: Search for Burma, Burmah, Burmese etc. The search results are a bit confusing and you may have to click on each item to see what's there...Plain text. No illustrations.
Language: English
Source/publisher: Project Gutenberg Australia
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
RR > Sources of online full-text books, articles etc. on Burma/Myanmar


Title: Project Gutenberg
Description/subject: Some Burma-related texts...Use the Advanced Search.
Language: English
Source/publisher: Project Gutenberg
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
RR > Sources of online full-text books, articles etc. on Burma/Myanmar


Title: "Rhododendron News" Volume XI, No. II, March-April 2008
Date of publication: April 2008
Description/subject: Table of Contents:- Editorial: • Double Jeopardy: When Global Food Shortage Meets Local Crisis... Situations in Chinland: • More Communities Flee Famine Affected Areas; • Government-backed Opium-Growing on the Increase in Chin State; • SPDC Army Forced Villagers for Porters; • Gospel Baptist Church’s Silver Jubilee Postponed; • Efforts to Help Victims of Famine Underway; • Fears for Famine-Hit Chin Grow as Corruption in Local Authorities Rules... Statements & Press Release: • Critical Point: Humanitarian Disaster in the Making in Western Burma; • Food Relief Hampered for Famine Victims in Western Burma; • Chin Famine Emergency Relief Committee (CFERC) Formed; • Asylum Seeking Mother and Children at Risk... Referendum: • Thura Aung Ko campaigns for referendum in western Burma; • Professor Dr. Salai Tun Than To Stage Hunger Strike; • Referendum Failed in Chin State: Mock Poll Suggests; • Go To The Poll, Cast Your Vote With Clear Conscience... News & Events: • Global Day of Prayer for Burma Held In London; • CNF Marks 20th Anniversary of Chin National Revolution Day... Opinion & Commentary: • The UN and Burma: the UN Good Offices Mission May Need Alteration; • Back Cover Poem; • The People And The Nation.
Language: English
Source/publisher: Chin Human Rights Organization
Format/size: pdf (67K), html
Alternate URLs: http://eng.chro.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=191&Itemid=15
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
ML > Human Rights > Discrimination > Ethnicity: Discrimination based on > Ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations > Ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against specific groups > Discrimination against the Chin (Zo) > Discrimination agains the Chin (Zo) magazines > "Rhododendron" (magazine of the Chin Human Rights Organization)


Title: Sources of information on the Burma cyclone
Language: English
Source/publisher: Internet
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 05 May 2008
ML > The Cyclone > Sources of information on the Burma cyclone


Title: How They See The Lady
Date of publication: April 2007
Description/subject: The Irrawaddy asked ethnic leaders how they view Aung San Suu Kyi and her leadership in the country’s almost two-decade long pro-democracy movement... “We ethnic members have studied her from the very beginning. Having listened to her speech at the Shwedagon rally in 1988 and met with her o­n several occasions, we have come to believe that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is a person, and a leader, who will accept reality. “But we’ve never expected a political leader who is completely flawless. Since the popular uprising in 1988, there have been weaknesses among politicians who have played a leading role in Burma’s politics—including me. As we have weaknesses, we are still failing to achieve a democratic nation. So, should we blame her alone for the failure? We all are responsible for that.”... —Aye Thar Aung, secretary of the Arakan League for Democracy party, based in Rangoon; —Shwe Ohn, a leader of the banned United Nationalities League for Democracy, who attended the 1947 Panglong conference, based in Rangoon; —Cin Siang Thang, chairman of the ethnic Zomi National Congress party, based in Rangoon; —Mahn Sha, secretary of Burma’s oldest and strongest rebel group, the Karen National Union
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 4
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Aung San Suu Kyi > About Aung San Suu Kyi


Title: The Lady Fights On
Date of publication: April 2007
Description/subject: While Burma’s generals deny Aung San Suu Kyi’s influence, she still remains a relevant and uniting political force... " ...Suu Kyi is still alive and remains spiritually strong, but the fight for democracy in Burma has not been an easy or happy o­ne. Whatever hope remains is focused o­n her iron resolve in standing true to her principles..."
Author/creator: Aung Zaw
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 4
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Aung San Suu Kyi > About Aung San Suu Kyi


Title: Meetings with Aung San Suu Kyi
Date of publication: April 2007
Description/subject: Former UN Special Envoy Razali Ismail sought to negotiate between the opposition party and the military regime from 2000 until 2005. He recalls his meetings with Burma’s most famous prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Author/creator: Razali Ismail
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 4
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Aung San Suu Kyi > About Aung San Suu Kyi


Title: Shame of the Forgotten Refugees
Date of publication: April 2007
Description/subject: Tens of thousands of Burmese Chin lead a shadowy existence in India's remote Mizoram State..."...Tens of thousands of Chin live in Mizoram illegally, slipping easily through a long, porous border. They cross over to earn money to send back home, or to escape poverty or persecution by the Burmese military. But without legal status and proper permits, the Chin usually get the lowest-paid jobs, in road and construction work, markets, restaurants or as domestics. As porters they carry produce to the market in huge cone-shaped baskets fixed by straps to their foreheads. Others sell goods spread out o­n the ground. The Chin lacking proper documentation generally face deportation if they are arrested by police and cannot afford the usual bribe of 200 to 500 rupees (US $4.50 to $11). Weavers among the Chin tend to fare better. They are skilled laborers in an important sector of the local economy, and this usually spares them harassment..."
Author/creator: Tamara Terziana
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 4
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Refugees > Burmese refugees in India


Title: The ‘Great Guest’ of Burmese Literature
Date of publication: April 2007
Description/subject: Burma’s best-loved poet Tin Moe passed away in California. Until his last breath, poetry was his love and life... "Tin Moe served five years in prison for daring to write about Burma’s democracy movement—something that earned him the adoration of the Burmese people and the hatred of the country’s ruling military dictatorship.
Author/creator: Khin Maung Sok
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 4
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Society and Culture > Literature > Poetry


Title: Gandhian Links to the Struggle in Burma - a review of "Myanmar’s Nationalist Movement (1906-1948) and India,"
Date of publication: April 2007
Description/subject: "Myanmar’s Nationalist Movement" (1906-1948) and India, by Rajshekhar. South Asia Publishers, New Delhi, Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan 2006. P128... Gandhi and Indian Congress Party had influence over Burma’s nationalist movement.
Author/creator: Yeshua Moser Puangsuwan
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 4
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > History > Historical periods > British Colonial Period [1824-1948] > Pre-Independence - books, reports and articles


Title: The Control of Political Economy - a review of "State Dominance in Myanmar"
Date of publication: April 2007
Description/subject: State Dominance in Myanmar, by Tin Maung Maung Than. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, P472... Burma’s economic development reflects the history of failed dictatorships... "The Political Economy of Industrialization,’ the subtitle of Dr Tin Maung Maung Than’s recently released State Dominance in Myanmar, may be perplexing to those who perceive industrialization as modernization, impersonal bureaucratization and the welfare state formation of the West over the past two centuries. Is there such a thing as industrialization in Burma? Tin Maung Maung Than’s answer is an unequivocal “Yes.” He defines industry, following the late American economist Simon Kuznets, as “encompassing manufacturing and processing of agricultural, forest, marine and mineral products as well as electricity production.” The first few chapters will convince the reader that the tradition of planned economy in Burma is deeply rooted in “the negative experience of laissez-faire economy” for the locals under colonial rule. It had also emerged from the leftist ideas and “lingering notions” of the nationalist leaders, led by Gen Aung San..."
Author/creator: Ko Ko Thett
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 4
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > History > Economic history > Economic History - general


Title: Dirty Hands Can’t Clean Up Government
Date of publication: March 2007
Description/subject: Burma’s military regime is busy tidying up its house with a “clean government” program to fight corruption and achieve good governance. It’s certainly a welcome initiative—provided it’s sincere.
Author/creator: Editorial
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 3
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Economy > Illegal Economy > Corruption


Title: Malaysia Malaise
Date of publication: March 2007
Description/subject: Burmese migrants battle bureaucracy and exploitation in their search for a new life... "When he came to Malaysia 10 years ago, Tun Min Naing was full of hope. The 21-year-old even broke off his further education as a third-year student at a Rangoon university. His goal was to help his family survive in crisis-ridden Burma. But Tun Min Naing’s Malaysian journey ended behind bars at the Semenyih detention camp outside Kuala Lumpur, where about 1,000 illegal immigrants wait for deportation or, in rare cases, recognition as bona fide refugees. Several hundred are Burmese, many of them registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees..."
Author/creator: Kyaw Zwa Moe
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 3
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Migration > Migration from Burma > Migrant Workers > Migrant workers from Burma : general and mixed articles and reports


Title: Lion City Lament
Date of publication: March 2007
Description/subject: Burmese professionals earn good money in Singapore but still miss home... "I feel I am nothing,” said Bo Bo Win—a statement that’s hard to believe in view of his successful life in Singapore. Although he holds down a well-paid job as a senior engineer, with degrees from Burma’s best technical university and Singapore’s National University, Bo Bo Win is not a happy man. “It’s so sad that we cannot contribute to the country where we were born and were first educated,” he says. “There’s nothing here.” Bo Bo Win, who is in his thirties, is o­ne of an estimated 50,000 Burmese working in the city-state, most of them educated and skilled people who have joined a brain drain that puts additional strains o­n Burma’s weak economy. The loss of so many young professionals also weakens the country’s middle class, which is best equipped to help reduce poverty and strengthen the economy..."
Author/creator: Kyaw Zwa Moe
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 3
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Migration > Migration from Burma > Migrant Workers > Migrant workers from Burma : general and mixed articles and reports


Title: A House Divided
Date of publication: March 2007
Description/subject: Infighting and unsanctioned peace overtures with Burma’s ruling regime have left many wondering about the fate of the KNU, Burma’s oldest ethnic opposition group... "As its 60th year of armed insurrection approaches, the Karen National Union is spending more of its time o­n internal skirmishes than in armed rebellion against its historic foe, Burma’s ruling military government..."
Author/creator: Shah Paung
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 3
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Non-Burman and non-Buddhist groups > Ethnic groups in Burma (cultural, political) > Single Groups > Karen (cultural, historical, political) > Karen National Union (KNU)


Title: Rethinking KNU Principles
Date of publication: March 2007
Description/subject: “Until the Karen go to Rangoon and surrender, the Karen revolution will never disappear”——Ba U Gyi... "Less than a month before he was killed in a Burmese army ambush in August 1950, Ba U Gyi, a former colonial-era Burmese cabinet minister and then leader of the Karen resistance, gave the above admonition to a gathering of Karen leaders from Papun District. As the father of the Karen liberation movement, Ba U Gyi outlined four basic tenets of the resistance, which he urged his fighters and followers to adhere to resolutely. He said: “Surrender is out of the question;” “We shall retain our arms;” “Recognition of Karen State must be complete;” and “We shall decide our own political destiny.” The Karen National Union, the mainstream Karen resistance group o­nce led by Ba U Gyi, adopted these maxims as the guiding principles of their fight for autonomy from the Burman-dominated military and government..."
Author/creator: Aung Naing Oo
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 3
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Non-Burman and non-Buddhist groups > Ethnic groups in Burma (cultural, political) > Single Groups > Karen (cultural, historical, political) > Karen National Union (KNU)


Title: An Unfinished Painting
Date of publication: March 2007
Description/subject: How prison life honed Htein Lin’s skills as a performance artist... "Silence enveloped the room as about 30 people watched a man in a white robe meditating before them. Beside him, tubes of oil paint lay o­n a mat. The man looked around and raised his hands as if he were a captive touching an invisible wall. He then began to pour red paint o­n the mat, his movements becoming faster and more forceful. Green paint followed the red, and his movements became calmer. Using his hands and feet, he painted the mat, finally taking off his outer robe and laying himself o­n it, o­n the colored surface. The painted mat, the robe and the artist himself were fused into o­ne—in a creation called “Love and Anger” by Htein Lin, a pioneer of performance art in Burma..."
Author/creator: Ampika Jirat
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 3
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Society and Culture > Performance Art


Title: A Shan Kaleidoscope - a review of "The Shan: Culture, Art and Crafts"
Date of publication: March 2007
Description/subject: The Shan: Culture, Art and Crafts, by Susan Conway. River Books, Bangkok, 2006. P212... Factual errors fail to mar a beautiful book about a Burmese ethnic minority culture... "This is the ideal book for anyone interested in Shan textiles, paintings and architecture. It also contains a wealth of unique historical photographs, many taken at the turn of the last century. Susan Conway, a research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, has done a wonderful job presenting traditional Shan art and culture, and the outcome is a beautiful, coffee-table-style book, which in many ways is the first of its kind about the Shan peoples of upper and northeastern Burma. The book covers Shan history, princes and palaces, arts, crafts and even trade, and it contains detailed descriptions of Shan male and female dress and textile patterns..."
Author/creator: Bertil Lintner
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 3
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Society and Culture > Crafts
Non-Burman and non-Buddhist groups > Ethnic groups in Burma (cultural, political) > Single Groups > Shan (cultural, political, historical) > Shan (cultural, historical, political) articles


Title: Heroes and Villains
Date of publication: March 2007
Description/subject: "When the soldiers of the Burma Independence Army, led by the Thirty Comrades, infiltrated Burma from neighboring Thailand in a brave action to oust the British, the modern history of the Burmese armed forces was born. The fragile, inexperienced and ill-equipped army had faced many ups and downs in Burma’s often turbulent political history. A year before independence in 1948, Aung San, the founder of the BIA and Burma’s independence hero, was gunned down by rivals, aided by British army officers. The country descended into turmoil and civil war. The legendary Thirty Comrades were also divided, dominated by two political factions. Gen Ne Win led and united the army, while his comrades went into hiding in the jungle, joining “multi-color insurgent groups” aiming to topple the government. Ne Win, also a prominent member of the Thirty Comrades, o­nce proudly said that the Burmese army was founded by farmers, workers and other people of Burma, not by mercenaries. But he later fell victim of his own words, when he quelled street protests and dissent in the country by ordering troops to shoot and kill just to prolong his rule. So it’s no surprise to hear Burmese people saying that the armed forces were Ne Win’s pocket army. When the country was rocked by nationwide protests in 1988, Ne Win warned the nation in a state television address: “If in future there are mob disturbances, if the army shoots, it hits—there is no firing into the air to scare.” Historians note that Ne Win and Aung San had entirely different views o­n the army, with the latter wanting to steer it away from politics. Thus, throughout the history of the army, we have learned that things are not black and white. There are military leaders who adhered to the wishes of the people and sided with them. Burmese will definitely remember and admire them. In this issue, we have singled out a number of the country’s fine, professional soldiers who were admired by the people. There are many more unnamed and unknown heroes who sacrificed themselves for the country and its people—too many for us to name all. We have also chosen some military leaders who have stubbornly stuck to their guns, driving the country into limbo. They definitely fall into the category of the villainous. However, all in all, we hope you will enjoy this special feature, marking the 62nd anniversary of Burma’s Resistance Day, now officially called Armed Forces Day..."
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 3
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Military (Tatmadaw), Military Intelligence and police > History of the Tatmadaw
History > Military History


Title: Shopping for
Date of publication: July 2001
Description/subject: An illegal trade in live ammunition is thriving in Burma, where soldiers—often traded like commodities themselves—are selling anything they can to supplement their meager incomes... "Sergeant Hla Maung wanders cautiously into Mingaladon market and walks toward a small shop run by a friend of his. His friend smiles at him when he stops in front of the shop, and the sergeant gives him an inquiring look. On display in the shop is a mass of military equipment, such as uniforms and boots, stored in a big dirty showcase..."
Author/creator: Maung Maung Oo
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol 9. No. 6
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Military (Tatmadaw), Military Intelligence and police > Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc)


Title: Training: For Whose Sake?
Date of publication: July 2001
Description/subject: "Over the past thirteen years, many Burmese exiles based in Thailand, India and other neighboring countries have received training in various fields. In most cases, trainers from Western countries have come to border areas to teach Burmese about political defiance, human rights, diplomacy, international law, health, women’s issues, environmental issues, and so on. Sometimes, exiles are sent abroad to receive training. Training is indeed helpful for Burmese who plan to one day return to their homeland and contribute their expertise to the development of a free and democratic Burma. It is a reasonable idea to encourage exiles, who are usually forced to remain within small, marginalized communities, to attend training programs where they can learn new ideas and share their views with others. As with all forms of assistance, however, it is worthwhile to occasionally examine the effectiveness of such programs, and to consider whether there have been any problems that need to be addressed..."
Author/creator: Editorial
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol 9. No. 6
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Education > Education of Burmese in Thailand


Title: The Aid Debate Rages On
Date of publication: July 2001
Description/subject: A letter written by representatives of United Nations agencies in Rangoon has brought the debate over giving aid to Burma back into the international spotlight... "The debate over humanitarian assistance to military-ruled Burma has been around ever since the army seized power after gunning down students and pro-democracy activists over a decade ago. The issue is a very sensitive one. And every time it has surfaced, the international community—United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, labor and human rights groups, as well as the exiled community—remained as divided as ever on the matter. A recent controversial letter calling for more aid, signed by all nine UN representatives in Rangoon, is a case in point. In the letter, the nine UN representatives collectively called on their respective headquarters and the international community for a "dramatic overhaul of the budget allocations" for Burma because the country is "on the brink of a humanitarian crisis". The letter, dated June 30, 2001, and distributed to the agencies’ heads throughout the world, was leaked to the press in early August..."
Author/creator: Don Pathan
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol 9. No. 6
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > International Assistance to Burma > Humanitarian assistance > The debate on humanitarian assistance to Burma


Title: The First Perfection: Charity in Buddhism and Burmese Culture
Date of publication: July 2001
Description/subject: "Charity, one of the Buddhist perfections, has long been an integral part of Burmese culture. But history—and habit—have obscured its real social and spiritual value. "If you knew what I know about dana (generosity), you would not let one meal go by without sharing it," the Buddha once said. Dana is the Pali term for giving, generosity and charity, and it is an integral part of the Buddhist ethos. It includes giving of material support to those in need; giving of spiritual knowledge to those in despair; giving of love to those who are abandoned; and giving of protection to those who are threatened. Having given away something with the intention of making life easier for another being, one immediately feels a happiness that fills one’s heart and mind. The Venerable Ashin Thittila of Burma explains the benefits of dana thus: "The object in giving is to eliminate the craving that lies dormant within oneself; apart from which there are the attendant blessings of generosity such as the joy of service, the ensuing happiness and consolation, and the alleviation of suffering." The main idea concerning generosity or any of the ten parami (or "perfections", of which dana is the first and foremost) is that there should be no strings attached. The Buddha urged his followers to give without any expectation of personal reward. Basically, the ultimate aim of generosity practice is the transformation of the individual from a self-centered, greed-driven existence to one that is other-centered and greed-free. Giving is literally a practice in letting go—one that increasingly flies in the face of the acquisitive tendencies that drive modern society. However, even in societies that are not completely consumerist in orientation, true generosity faces serious social pressures. In Burma, for instance, dana has been misinterpreted by successive reigns and regimes to serve the interests of the ruling elite, who profess to promote the values espoused by Buddhism..."
Author/creator: Min Zin
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol 9. No. 6
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Society and Culture > Religion > Buddhism > Buddhism and Society > Burmese Buddhism and Society


Title: Monastic schools play important role [in education]
Date of publication: 09 March 2008
Description/subject: "U KAUNG, the late Commissioner of Education and an expert in Myanmar education, once said the monastic education system created morality and enshrined Myanmar culture in students.... Traditionally, monastic students were from a variety of backgrounds; monasteries were the only places rich and poor, royals and commoners attended together. They learned the “three Rs” of reading, writing and arithmetic as well as ethics and the Buddhist way of life. Monks have been both the spiritual teachers of the people and responsible for the basic literacy of laypersons – although they are not technically supposed to take on this second role. The monastic education tradition emerged from Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar in the 11th century and has been an integral part of Myanmar culture since. Monasteries played such a significant role in Myanmar education that British people who visited Myanmar in the 19th century observed Myanmar’s literacy rate was higher than Britain’s at that time..."
Author/creator: Nyunt Win
Language: English
Source/publisher: "The Myanmar Times" (Special Feature on education)
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Education > Monastic education


Title: Borderline Women's Collective
Description/subject: Borderline Women's Collective, Gallery and Tea Garden, located in Mae Sot, Thailand began with three women's organisations seeking to establish a shared marketing space for women from Burma and living along the Thai-Burma border to sell their hand made items. The women's groups also hoped that by having a collectively managed market they would build their capacity for running income generation projects with the communities with which they work. In May 2004, the Borderline Women's Collective opened... As of May 2008, the members of the Collective are: KWO (Karen Women's Organization); TBCAF (Tak Border Child Assistance Foundation); KWAT (Kachin Women's Association of Thailand); LWO (Lahu Women's Organisation); MWO (Mon Women's Organisation); WDG (Women's Development Group); CWG (Chin Women's Group); CFSG (Community Forest Support Group) and ESC (English Speaking Course - Nu Po Camp).
Language: English
Source/publisher: Borderline Women's Collective
Format/size: html
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Women > Burmese women's organisations


Title: The Saffron Revolution -
Language: English
Source/publisher: Online Burma/Myanmar Library
Format/size: html, pdf
Date of entry/update: 04 May 2008
ML > Activism (groups from Burma, solidarity groups, campaigns, publications) > The Saffron Revolution


Title: Kein Ende der Zwangsarbeit in Burma
Date of publication: 07 September 2007
Description/subject: Trotz des seit Ende Februar 2007 offiziellen Verbots von Zwangsarbeit in Burma (Myanmar), gibt es unaufhörlich Berichte über neue Fälle – ganz besonders in den Grenzgebieten, zu denen Ausländer keinen Zugang haben und wo Minderheiten wie die Karen verfolgt werden. Burmesische Gewerkschafter legten Anfang Juni einen Bericht vor, in dem 3.400 Vorwürfe der Zwangsarbeit dokumentiert sind. Ein von der ILO (Internationale Arbeitsorganisation) im März eingerichtetes Beschwerdeorgan für Zwangsarbeit in Burma registrierte von März bis Juni nur 23 Fälle. Forced labour in ethnic minority areas
Language: German, Deutsch
Source/publisher: Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker
Date of entry/update: 03 May 2008
ML > Human Rights > Labour Rights > Labour rights: reports of violations in Burma > Forced Labour > Non-ILO Reports on Forced Labour in Burma


Title: Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women (Mekong subregion)
Description/subject: Active site with lots of documents..."As a United Nations specialized agency, and a leader in the fight against the worst forms of child labour and exploitation, the ILO is playing a major role in the fight against human trafficking. In 2003, following a three-year pilot phase, and through the work of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), the ILO launched phase II of a five-year project to prevent trafficking in children and women in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS). The Mekong Sub-Regional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women (TICW) works with, and alongside, other UN Agencies, Save the Children UK, other NGOs, Governments, employers' and workers' groups, to help equip Governments and civil society to deal with migration, the growing threat of human trafficking and resulting exploitative labour. Much of the work is carried out at source -- in villages and rural areas where ill-prepared, uninformed migration begins, and at destination -- the towns and cities where most of the exploitation takes place. From small villages in Cambodia, China's Yunnan Province, Lao PDR and Viet Nam, to major urban centres like Bangkok, Thailand, the project is mobilizing communities. It is working with and through children to improve their quality of life.