Librarian's Choice

Librarian's Choice

expand all
collapse all
Title: Zagana's Beggars' National Convention (video)
Source/publisher: Zar Ga Nar via DVB via Youtube
Date of publication: 2006-00-00
Description: 5 sections follow each other automatically...Zagana, a famous Burmese comedian, and his team performed in 1990. Represented from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) in 2006. www.dvb.no
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-10
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese
more
Title: Burma?s Coco Islands: rumours and realities in the Indian Ocean
Source/publisher: City University of Hong Kong, SEARC Working Paper Series No. 101
Date of publication: 2008-11-00
Description: Conclusion: "Over the past 20 years, a number of myths have arisen about the Coco Islands. Despite repeated warnings from some Burma-watchers, and attempts by a few scholars to set the record straight in academic publications, these myths have proven remarkably resilient. There are a number of reasons for this. One is simply the lack of verifiable information about the islands, a problem exacerbated by the unreliability of official statements issued by both the Burmese and Chinese governments. The issue has been greatly complicated, however, by credulous reporting in the news media and the efforts of activists and others to pursue their own policy agendas. There are several groups of different nationalities which stand to benefit from continuing international concerns about perceived Chinese military expansion into Burma and the Indian Ocean. The historical record is sketchy, and reliable data is still scarce, but an accurate and balanced assessment of developments in the region is critical for an understanding of Burma?s security, and its influence on the strategic environment. Serious consideration of these issues demands careful research and objective analysis, not a reliance on rumours and other ‘marvellous tales?."
Creator/author: Andrew Selth
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-06
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Videos on Burma/Myanmar - speech, music, parades, demonstrations etc. on Youtube
Source/publisher: Youtube
Description: 85,200 results for Burma, 82,000 for Burma OR Myanmar, 66,000 for Myanmar, 48,500 for Burmese (February 2012)...53,500 results for "Burma OR Myanmar" (December 2009) (30,000 in January 2009).Video clips, generally below 10 minutes in length. Use multi-term searches, including dates. Searches that brought many results: "Aung San Suu Kyi", "Than Shwe?s Daughter?s Wedding" "Zar Ga Nar", "Moustache brothers", Nargis, Burmese music etc.
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-02
Type: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: Burmese, English and many other languages
more
Title: Dictatorship, Disorder and Decline in Myanmar
Source/publisher: 2007 Myanmar/Burma Update conference via Australian National University
Date of publication: 2008-12-00
Description: Contents: * Preliminary Pages * Editors� note * Contributors * 1: Overview * Political Update * 2: The dramatic events of 2007 in Myanmar: domestic and international implications * 3: Internal dynamics of the Burmese military: before, during and after the 2007 demonstrations * Economic Update * 4: Myanmar�s GDP growth and investment: lessons from a historical perspective * 5: Migrant-worker remittances and Burma: an economic analysis of survey results * 6: Myanmar�s economic relations with China: who benefits and who pays? * Education and Health Update * 7: Myanmar education: challenges, prospects and options * 8: Evolving education in Myanmar: the interplay of state, business and the community * 9: The (re)-emergence of civil society in areas of state weakness: the case of education in Burma/Myanmar * 10: Islamic education in Myanmar: a case study * 11: Contemporary medical pluralism in Burma * 12: Health security among internally displaced and vulnerable populations in eastern Burma * Index
Creator/author: Monique Skidmore, Trevor Wilson (eds)
Date of entry/update: 2008-12-30
Type: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.11 MB
more
Title: The Chinese Connection: Cross-border Drug Trafficking between Myanmar and China
Source/publisher: The United States Department of Justice
Date of publication: 2007-04-00
Description: Executive Summary: This report presents findings from a two-year field study of drug trafficking activities between Myanmar (formerly Burma) and China. Interviews were conducted with law enforcement officials, community contacts and informants, incarcerated drug traffickers, active street drug dealers, drug addicts, as well as with other researchers in the field. Observations were made both inside the Golden Triangle and the surrounding regions. People of diverse backgrounds participate in the business of drug trafficking and distribution. Our data showed that most drug traffickers are poorly educated, with few employable skills or alternatives to make a living comparable to their aspirations. Drug traffickers in general do not belong to street gangs, organized crime groups, or terrorist organizations. Most are simply bold risk takers who work with family members, or form alliances with friends or other social contacts whom they come to trust. Drug trafficking operations are carefully planned with ingenious disguises and strategies to evade law enforcement activities. The business of drug trafficking, although dominated by groups of entrepreneurs, resembles a ?learning” organism surprisingly adaptive to law enforcement interventions and market uncertainties. Traffickers continue to develop ingenious concealment and transportation schemes to stay ahead of the authorities. As a result, most drug seizures as reported by government news releases or the media are not the result of checkpoint stops or random inspections but of careful cultivation of intelligence from informants. Trafficking is mainly considered a way to make money, although earnings vary tremendously according to the roles individuals play in trafficking operations. We do not believe that, based on our data, large criminal organizations or terrorist groups are systematically involved in the drug trafficking business. Nor did we find signs of turf wars or competition among trafficking groups or street dealers. Drug trafficking and street dealing in China as well as in most parts of Southeast Asia appear to remain entrepreneurial in nature and fragmented in practice. Over the past few decades, drug trafficking between Myanmar and China has evolved in several directions. Shipments of drugs in large quantities have largely disappeared (or perhaps are better concealed) and most drugs are moved in small quantities by large numbers of individuals, or ?mules,” who know little about the organizers behind the scene. Between drug manufacturers and end users are multiple and often overlapping layers of transportation and distribution networks, each involving only a few people. These groups of ?mules” and their organizers work much like ants moving the contraband piece by piece successively from one location to another. The vast majority of our subjects were involved in heroin transportation. Therefore, our observations and conclusions were mostly based on heroin traffickers, although there is no reason to believe that traffickers of other illicit drugs were much different organizationally and operationally. Harsh punishment and the totalitarian political regimes appear to have hindered the development of large trafficking organizations in China and Myanmar. International pressure and China?s draconian anti-drug policy have also significantly reduced the scale of opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar, making any sustained supply of heroin in the future doubtful. By official and addicts? accounts, heroin trafficking and use have been on a steady but slow decline for years. The street price of heroin has skyrocketed in the past decade or so in China and other parts of the Golden Triangle, making heroin the least affordable illicit substance on the market. This suggests that heroin supply has become scarce. However, the production of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) such as ice and ketamine has increased rapidly in recent years, suggesting changes in the makeup of the addict population as well as changing market demand in the Golden Triangle region. Countries in the Golden Triangle region have all reported widespread availability of ATS, with those made in Myanmar commanding the highest price. Many factors may have contributed to the decline of heroin production and trafficking as well as the sharp rise of ATS in the region. The U.S. and other international involvement in the regional anti-narcotics efforts appear to have produced measurable impact in reducing opium poppy cultivation and heroin manufacturing. Findings from this study underscore the importance of continued collaboration and mutual assistance in international efforts. However, counter-narcotic efforts in the region in recent years have either stalled or been disrupted due to Myanmar?s political situation, despite the recent progress. The United States? near total cessation of involvement in Myanmar?s anti-drug effort has not produced any intended political outcomes, but has served to diminish whatever influence the U.S. may have had from its past efforts. Continued financial as well as technical assistance through third country programs should be explored for the United States to remain engaged and monitor regional illicit drug manufacturing and distribution activities. Ample intelligence suggests that Southeast Asia is well on its way to become a major ATS supply source in the world. If one thinks the red-hot Asian economy has flooded North America with cheap consumer goods, wait till Asian drug manufacturers and traffickers show off their entrepreneurial prowess. It will happen in due time.
Creator/author: Ko-lin Chin, Sheldon X. Zhang
Date of entry/update: 2008-12-28
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Post-Nargis Periodic Review I
Source/publisher: Tripartite Core Group (SPDC, ASEAN, UN+humanitarian agencies)
Date of publication: 2008-12-19
Description: Executive Summary: When Cyclone Nargis struck the coast of Myanmar in May 2008, an estimated 140,000 lives were lost. Similar to other recent natural disasters, such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, the sheer scale of this disaster requires ongoing relief and recovery assistance for the affected population. Half a year after the disaster and the provision of aid and assistance, the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) commenced a series of periodic reviews to assess the needs of people and communities, and progress towards recovery. This is the first report of this effort. Over the next nine months, the Periodic Review process will seek to inform humanitarian assistance strategies and programme change to benefit the people affected by Cyclone Nargis. By providing relevant data on the situation and needs of the affected people, coordination may be strengthened across sectors and between international and domestic actors. The comprehensive geographic and multi-sectoral coverage of the Review pioneers a new approach to post-disaster needs assessment and monitoring. This report does not seek to evaluate in detail the success of the assistance provided or to make policy recommendations. Instead, it presents findings from analysis of data collected from 2,376 households in 108 communities spread across the area of Myanmar worst affected by Cyclone Nargis. The findings of the first round of the Periodic Review process are presented here by sector and take into account cross-cutting issues. They provide a snapshot of the situation for communities living in the Cyclone-affected areas. It is important to note that the areas covered by the survey were affected to different degrees and that the situation of the surveyed communities was not homogenous prior to the Cyclone. Subsequently, it is not possible to attribute all of the results presented in this report directly or exclusively to the Cyclone, or to subsequent relief efforts. Indicators for the health sector reveal good results for access to health care and outreach into communities. However, the findings raise concerns around the functioning of the health system as only one third of households reported that medicine was available at local clinics all or most of the time. In addition, the prevalence of fever and diarrhoea in communities suggests problems with infectious disease in the centre and west of the Delta and north of Yangon. Findings for nutrition and food security are interlinked with health outcomes, as nutrition reflects the health status and food availability for a population. The proportion of children suffering undernurtition is highest around Yangon (over 15 per cent) and may represent a chronic problem, rather than being directly related to the impact of Cyclone Nargis. By contrast, inappropriate treatment of diarrhoea is most common in the Delta. Food aid had reached every surveyed community along the path of the Cyclone. However, food insecurity persists in the southwest and around Yangon and food consumption is poor across the west. Again, this may reflect chronic problems as well as the impact of Cyclone Nargis. Across the survey area, the majority of households are either using an improved (safe) water source, or treating their water effectively, with the exception of a small area south of Yangon. The percentage of households using chlorine tablets is low, less than three per cent. With the end of the Monsoon season, households are using less rainwater (down from 30 per cent reported in the Village Tract Assessment (VTA) in June to around 20 per cent) and more surface water, from ponds for example. There is concern that increased dependence on surface water and the salination of ponds caused by the storm surge may result in water shortages as the dry season continues. By contrast, the use of unsanitary practices almost halved since the VTA. High proportions of households remain in inadequate shelters that are often overcrowded and offer little protection from the heat and rain. In only around 10 per cent of communities surveyed did every household report adequate living conditions, the same or better than before the Cyclone. Of particular concern is the very high proportion of households using plastic or canvas for their roofs or walls in the area of the southern delta where the storm surge struck. These are temporary repairs, not rebuilding, and occur in around 30 per cent of villages surveyed. Post-Nargis Periodic Review I 2 Education is widely available and the main barrier to school attendance are the costs associated, such as for the school uniform. For older children, needing to work, either to earn income or as a carer in the home, is also an important factor. There is good awareness of Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), which were mobilised to assist with reconstruction of schools, and areas of low PTA participation are correlated with areas where school attendance rates are lower. Livelihoods have been disrupted across the affected area as fishing, livestock rearing and agriculture all suffered heavy losses. Along the path of the Cyclone, communities are a long way from fully recovering these losses, for example in poultry stocks, arable land, buffalo for ploughing, fishing nets and boats. Recovery will take several years both because of the types of loss suffered (salinated land and fallen trees) and the breadth of need (the very large numbers of livestock and fishing equipment that need to be replaced). Social structures around employment and access to credit have been disrupted with both lack of access and more unfavourable terms observed. People also lost assets and savings, which has reduced their capacity for self recovery and increased indebtedness. While the assistance that has been delivered is making an impact, the depth and geographic coverage is not yet sufficient to meet all needs. In particular, assistance is not reaching the western delta and some of the larger towns and periurban areas as effectively as the eastern delta. The persistence of need, even in areas that received substantial aid, means that the depth of that assistance is not yet sufficient and greater efforts are required if these needs are to be met. Many of the issues facing the Cyclone-affected communities are interlinked and cut across sectors. These include: the interaction of the health system, nutrition, food, shelter and sanitation for improved health outcomes; and the need for recovery in livelihoods to improve food security. Others, such as increasing concerns over water availability through the dry season, will have knock on effects in other sectors. The needs of people vary between and within communities according to the nature and extent of the damage caused by the Cyclone and the vulnerability of members of communities. Meeting the needs of those traditionally considered most vulnerable in a sustainable way requires rehabilitating the communities in which they live. In order to effectively address the complexity in interdependence of issues identified in this report, greater coordination and horizontal integration of programming may be required. As peoples? immediate needs are met, and the shift from relief to recovery begins, it is important that assistance to communities addresses the diversity of needs in the community and works with existing social and economic structures. The diversity of needs between and within communities means that ongoing relief as well as recovery assistance is required. Review and reform of programme modalities may be required to meet these evolving needs. Some people remain dependent on emergency assistance to meet their daily needs. While for others, what is required is an opportunity to re-establish and secure their livelihoods.
Date of entry/update: 2008-12-22
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 10.4 MB
more
Title: The 2008 Myanmar Constitution: Analysis and Assessment
Source/publisher: Yash Ghai
Date of publication: 2008-12-00
Description: Contents: I Purposes of constitutions and constitution making processes . 1 II Context of Constitutional Reform .. 4 III Process .. 6 Process for the preparation of the Constitution .. 7 IV Constitution. 11 Objectives and Basic Principles of the Constitution 11 Overview of the structure of the Constitution .. 12 Electoral system ... 16 Legislative bodies 20 State and Regional legislatures 22 Union territory legislature 22 Self-administered zone or division legislature . 23 Executives and Presidency ... 23 Constituting the Union government . 24 Powers and responsibilities of the President 25 Accountability of the President 26 Tatmadaw and Commander in Chief ... 26 Judiciary ... 28 Constitutional Tribunal 29 The relationship between the Union, States and Regions, and Self-Administered Areas . 31 Compatibility of laws ... 32 Finance and resources: relations between the Union and State, Regions and Self-Administered Areas . 33 Executive: relations between the Union and State, Regions and Self-Administered Areas 33 Emergency Powers... 34 Amendment Procedure. 36 Transitional Provisions 36 V Assessment ... 37
Creator/author: Yash Ghai
Date of entry/update: 2008-12-19
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 216.74 KB
more
Title: Invisible in Thailand - Documenting the need for international protection for Burmese
Source/publisher: International Rescue Committee, Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Date of publication: 2008-04-00
Description: Tufts-International Rescue Committee Survey of Burmese Migrants in Thailand..."FIC researcher Karen Jacobsen helped IRC design a survey that documented the experiences of Burmese people living in border areas of Thailand, and explored whether their experience in Burma might mean that they merited international protection as refugees. The data reveals significant differences in the demographic and socioeconomic makeup of the three sites, as well as differences in the reasons the respondents left Burma. Our findings suggest that a great number of currently unprotected Burmese in Thailand, possibly as many as fifty percent, merit further investigation as to their refugee status; and that only a small number of Burmese who warrant refugee status and attendant services actually receive any aid or protection either from the Thai government or from international aid agencies."
Creator/author: Margaret Green-Rauerhorst, Karen Jacobsen, Sandee Pyne with the International Rescue Committee
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-30
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Migrant Worker Remittances and Burma: An Economic Analysis of Survey Results
Source/publisher: Burma Economic Watch/Economics Department Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Date of publication: 2008-00-00
Description: Abstract" In recent years great interest has awakened in the question of migrant remittances. A phenomenon hitherto regarded as of little consequence, the potential for remittances to act as a means for poverty alleviation and economic development has increasingly come to enjoy a broad consensus. In the light of this, and the recognition that for many developing countries remittances constitute a larger and more stable source of foreign exchange than either trade, investment or aid, a vast and growing literature on the topic has emerged. However, and notwithstanding this broad interest, there is yet to appear any major study with respect to the question of migrant remittances to Burma. This paper seeks to at least partially redress this void by examining the extent, nature and pattern of remittances made by Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. Drawing upon a survey of such workers conducted by the authors, we find that remittances to Burma are large, disproportionately used to ensure simple survival, and are overwhelmingly realised via informal mechanisms. The latter attributes are a direct consequence of Burma?s dysfunctional economy, which sadly also severely limits the gains to the country that remittances might otherwise bring..... JEL Classification: O16, P34, Q14..... Keywords: Remittances, Burma, Migration, Development Finance.
Creator/author: Sean Turnell, Alison Vicary, Wylie Bradford
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-28
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Burma?s Economy 2008: Current Situation and Prospects for Reform
Source/publisher: Burma Economic Watch/Economics Department Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Date of publication: 2008-05-00
Description: "...This paper will present the current state of Burma?s economy, and explore the reforms that will be necessary should sudden political change take place. Such proposed reforms are limited to those required in a short to medium term horizon to stabilize the macroeconomy and lay the foundations for future growth. Longer term structural changes are also necessary if Burma is to begin to ‘catch up? to the relative prosperity of its neighbours and erstwhile peers, but these are noted simply in passing. Nevertheless, and even according to this shorter horizon, profound changes to Burma?s political economy will be necessary for any real gains in the socio-economic circumstances of its people. It will also be apparent from what follows that economic reform in Burma will require changes that are not limited to macroeconomic policies (fiscal consolidation, exchange rate unification, interest rate liberalization, and so on), but which also includes fundamental institutional reform that will embrace the application of: - effective property rights; - basic freedoms (including at least an approximation of the rule of law);1 - basic functioning infrastructure; - government policy-making that is rational, consistent and informed by a reasonably honest and efficient civil service; - market opening policies, including the removal of remaining restrictions on private enterprise; - openness to foreign trade and investment. It is scarcely conceivable that such elements will be adopted by Burma?s current leaders, which as a consequence raises the question of the country?s political trajectory. The restrictions on enterprise imposed by Burma?s ruling junta, the self-styled ‘State Peace and Development Council? (SPDC), are precisely the means of its economic power and, unreconstructed, it is unlikely to ‘do a China? by relaxing economic control while maintaining its grip on political power. Accordingly, there is a presumption in this paper that the reforms outlined will be those applied by a new government in Burma, ideally democratically elected, but at the very least one that is interested in pursuing genuine economic development in its truest sense..."
Creator/author: Sean Turnell
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-28
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: A preventable fate: The failure of ART scale-up in Myanmar
Source/publisher: Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
Date of publication: 2008-11-00
Description: Executive Summary: The situation for many people living with HIV in Myanmar is critical due to a severe lack of lifesaving antiretroviral treatment (ART). MSF currently provides ART to more than 11,000 people. That is the majority of all available treatment countrywide but only a small fraction of what is urgently needed. For five years MSF has continually developed its HIV/AIDS programme to respond to the extensive needs, whilst the response of both the Government of Myanmar and the international community has remained minimal. MSF should not bear the main responsibility for one of Asia?s most serious HIV/AIDS epidemics. Pushed to its limit by the lack of other services providing ART, MSF has had to make the painful decision to restrict the number of new patients it can treat. With few options to refer new patients for treatment elsewhere, the situation is dire. An estimated 240,000 people are currently infected with HIV in Myanmar. 76,000 of these people are in urgent need of ART, yet less than 20 % of them receive it through the combined efforts of MSF, other international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Government of Myanmar. For the remaining people the private market offers little assistance as the most commonly used first-line treatment costs the equivalent of a month?s average wage. The lack of accessible treatment resulted in 25,000 AIDS related deaths in 2007 and a similar number of people are expected to suffer the same fate this year, unless HIV/AIDS services - most importantly the provision of ART - are urgently scaled-up. The Government of Myanmar and the International Community need to mobilize quickly in order to address this situation. Currently, the Government spends a mere 0.3% of the gross domestic product on health, the lowest amount worldwide4, a small portion of which goes to HIV/AIDS. Likewise, overseas development aid for Myanmar is the second lowest per capita worldwide and few of the big international donors provide any resources to the country. Yet, 189 member states of the United Nations, including Myanmar, endorsed the Millennium Development Goals, including the aim to ?Achieve universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it, by 2010”. As it stands, this remains a far cry from becoming a reality in Myanmar. As an MSF ART patient in Myanmar stated, ?All people must have a spirit of humanity in helping HIV patients regardless of nation, organization or government. We are all human beings so we must help each other”. Unable to continue shouldering the primary responsibility for responding to one of Asia?s worst HIV crises, MSF insists that the Government of Myanmar and international organizations urgently and rapidly scale-up ART provision. A vast gulf exists between the needs related to HIV/AIDS and the services provided. Unless ART provision is rapidly scaled-up many more people will needlessly suffer and die.
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-27
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 735.15 KB
more
Title: Village Agency: Rural rights and resistance in a militarized Karen State
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2008-11-25
Description: "With a disproportionate emphasis on isolated incidents of particularly emotive violent abuses in rural areas and a concurrent neglect of the many ways villagers have sought to resist such abuse, international journalism and advocacy around Burma has often contributed to portrayals of rural villagers as helpless victims passively terrorised by the Burma Army. By marginalising the agency of rural villagers in this way, such portrayals have perpetuated the exclusion of these individuals from the ongoing political processes which affect them. Citing the personal testimonies of over 110 villagers living in Karen State, this report seeks to challenge such portrayals and provide a forum for these individuals to speak for themselves about the context of abuse in which they live and their own efforts to resist this abuse. By highlighting the resistance strategies and political agency of villagers in rural Karen State, this report argues that the voices of these individuals can, and indeed should, be heard and incorporated into the many ongoing political processes that affect them."
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-27
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: The Findings in the Open Heart Letter Campaign in January 2007
Source/publisher: Burma Fund/88 Generation Students
Date of publication: 2008-11-22
Description: "Profiles of '88 Generation Students: The '88 Generation Students group is comprised of Burma's most prominent human rights activists after Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. After Burma's military regime drastically raised the price of fuel in August 2007, the '88 Generation Students organized a non-violent protest walk in which they were joined by hundreds of everyday Burmese people. The '88 students were immediately arrested and have been held ever since. Anger at the arrests and the Burmese regime's treatment of Buddhist monks spiraled into last September's "Saffron Revolution" that saw hundreds of thousands of Buddhist monks marching peacefully for change. In late August 2008, in a blunt rejection of the United Nations Security Council and just days after two UN envoys traveled to Burma seeking democratic change and improvements in human rights, the country's military regime hauled dozens of the '88 Generation Students from prison cells into court in order to begin "sham" trials that will likely result in over 150 years of incarceration. List of '88 Generation Students..." "The Burma Fund published this report on 22 November, 2008 — the 88th Anniversary of the first historic boycott against British colonial rule by Rangoon University students (The day is now designated as the National Day of Burma). This report honors all members of the 88 Generation Students Group who had already served long prison terms but are once again being detained by the Burmese military regime since August 2007. It salutes these modern heroines and heroes for their selfless struggle for democracy and human rights and for their courage in upholding the legacy of those who had staged the historic University Boycott of 1920 as well as the ?Spirit of the Fighting Peacock” to bring an end to the unjust military rule in Burma."
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-27
Type: Individual Documents
Category: Campaigns
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.96 MB
more
Title: Archive 1994-2007 of the Burma Human Rights Yearbooks
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Description: This is a collection of all the Burma Human Rights Yearbooks from 1994-2007 (the date refers to events of that year, though the Yearbook is published a year or so later). This collection complements the individual Yearbooks included in this section of OBL. It contains better layout and graphics than the earlier versions, and provides a choice between html and pdf. However, apart from the 2007 Yearbook, the individual chapters are not hyperlinked, and thus have no separate URLs. For this feature, which users may need to extract or link to particular chapters, use the individual Yearbooks.
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-26
Type: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
Format : html
Size: 13.88 KB
Local URL: HTML icon archive.html
more
Title: GA 2008 (63rd Session): Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar (Russian)
Source/publisher: United Nations (A/63/356)
Date of publication: 2008-09-17
Description: Summary: The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 62/222. On 22 May 2007, the Secretary-General designated his Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Political Issues and former Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari, to continue to pursue the good offices on his behalf. During the reporting period, from 23 October 2007 to 5 September 2008, the Special Adviser visited Myanmar three times at the invitation of the Government, in November 2007, March 2008 and August 2008. On each visit, the Special Adviser was able to engage with representatives of both the Government of Myanmar and the opposition. During his visits and in all his discussions with representatives of the Government, opposition and other stakeholders, the Special Adviser continued his efforts on behalf of the Secretary-General to promote national reconciliation, the restoration of democracy and respect for human rights in Myanmar, in accordance with the objectives of relevant General Assembly resolutions. To that end, the Special Adviser focused on the following five key areas of concern to the United Nations and the international community, as endorsed by the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General and in the Security Council: (a) the release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; (b) the need for an enhanced, substantive and time-bound dialogue between the Government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; (c) the need for an inclusive and credible political transition process to civilian and democratic government; (d) avenues for improving socio-economic conditions, including through a broad-based national mechanism; and (e) ways to regularize the process of mutual engagement and cooperation through the good offices process. In consultations with Member States, the Secretary-General and the Special Adviser also reiterated four guiding principles for the implementation of the Secretary-General?s good offices mandate, namely: (a) the good offices are a process, not an event, and require sustained engagement through regular visits and consultations with all concerned; (b) the situation in Myanmar requires comprehensive engagement on a broad range of political, human rights, humanitarian and socio-economic issues; (c) engagement cannot be an end in itself, but must yield concrete results; and (d) the international community needs to continue to work together constructively in support of the goals of the good offices. Following the designation, on 8 October 2007, of the Minister for Relations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, they both met together five times between November 2007 and January 2008. This marked the first attempt at a dialogue between the Government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi since 2003. In addition, for the first time in four years, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to meet twice with the Central Executive Committee of the National League for Democracy (NLD). On 9 February 2008, the Government of Myanmar for the first time made public a time frame for the next steps in its political ?road map? process towards the establishment of a civilian and democratic government, announcing that a national referendum on a draft constitution would be held in May 2008, followed by multiparty elections in 2010. On 2 May 2008, cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, leaving an estimated 140,000 people dead or missing, and an estimated 2.4 million people severely affected. In response to the cyclone, the Secretary-General visited Myanmar on 22 and 23 May 2008, marking the first visit to that country by a Secretary-General of the United Nations in 44 years. Following the Secretary-General?s discussions with State Peace and Development Council Chairman Senior General Than Shwe, access for international aid workers was facilitated, and a Tripartite Core Group coordination mechanism was set up between the Government of Myanmar, the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to facilitate an effective largescale humanitarian response. On 25 May 2008, the Secretary-General returned to Myanmar to co-chair a joint high-level pledging conference in Yangon with the Government of Myanmar and ASEAN. On 10 May 2008, the Government of Myanmar held a constitutional referendum as planned, despite the Secretary-General?s call to it to dedicate all available resources to the emergency humanitarian response as a matter of priority. Voting was postponed to 24 May 2008 in the 47 townships most affected by the cyclone. On 29 May 2008, the Government announced that the draft constitution had been formally adopted, with a reported 92.48 per cent approval and 98.12 per cent turnout of voters. On 27 May 2008, the Government of Myanmar extended the house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. In a statement issued on the same day, the Secretary- General expressed his disappointment at the Government?s decision and stressed that the release and ability of all political prisoners to take part in the political process remained at the forefront of discussions with the Government of Myanmar in the context of his good offices. From 4 to 7 August 2008, the new Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Tom?s Ojea Quintana, made his first visit to Myanmar at the invitation of the Government. This followed a visit by his predecessor, Paulo S?rgio Pinheiro, in November 2007, at the behest of the Special Adviser, after four years without being granted access to the country. It also followed the adoption, on 28 March and 18 June 2008, by the Human Rights Council, of two resolutions (7/31 and 8/14) urging Myanmar, inter alia, to cooperate with the Special Adviser. Following the official announcement of the adoption of a new Constitution, the Government of Myanmar has expressed its determination to proceed with multiparty elections by 2010, the fifth step in its seven-step road map. At the same time, a number of key stakeholders, including NLD, have formally stated their rejection of the new Constitution and the process by which it was adopted. Thus, despite the Government?s efforts in implementing its road map process, the political situation in Myanmar has become even more complex and challenging, drawing increased attention from the international community. The Secretary-General and his Special Adviser have consistently emphasized that only a credible and inclusive political process — based on mutual understanding and compromise by all stakeholders — can help to advance the prospects of durable peace, national reconciliation, democracy and respect for human rights in Myanmar. In this regard, the support of the international community, including countries in the region, for the good offices of the Secretary-General and the work of his Special Adviser continue to be essential to the continuation of those efforts. The Secretary- General welcomes and encourages the constructive role played by Myanmar?s neighbours and ASEAN member States in support of his good offices and the work of his Special Adviser. He further welcomes the April 2008 conclusion by the European Council on Myanmar and the July 2008 statements by ASEAN, the Group of Eight, the East Asian Summit, and the ASEAN Regional Forum, which all expressed support for his good offices and for the continued efforts of his Special Adviser. While the spirit of cooperation between Myanmar and the United Nations has been marked by improvement in recent months, including through the visits of the Secretary-General and of his Special Adviser, it remains a source of frustration that meaningful steps with tangible results have yet to be taken by the Myanmar authorities in response to the concerns and expectations of the United Nations and the international community in the context of the good offices process. Ultimately, the future of Myanmar rests with the Government and people of Myanmar. The role of the United
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-25
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Russian
Format : pdf
Size: 313.34 KB
more
Title: Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies [Delhi]
Source/publisher: Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IDSA)
Description: One of the Delhi-based think tanks with the greatest interest in India-Burma/Myanmar relations. A search for "Myanmar" on this site produced 168 articles and 796 news items (November 2008).
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-24
Type: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
Title: CEDAW 2008: Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Myanmar
Source/publisher: United Nations (CEDAW/C/MMR/CO/3)
Date of publication: 2008-11-07
Description: 1. The Committee considered the combined second and third report of Myanmar (CEDAW/C/MMR/3) at its 864th and 865th meetings, on 3 November 2008 (see CEDAW/C/SR.864 and 865). The Committee?s list of issues and questions is contained in CEDAW/C/MMR/Q/3 and the responses of Myanmar are contained in CEDAW/C/MMR/Q/3/Add.1.
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-23
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 90.29 KB
more
Title: GA 2008 (63rd session): Resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
Source/publisher: United Nations (A/RES/63/245 -- Draft resolution A/C.3/63/L.33)
Date of publication: 2008-11-21
Description: Adopted by the 3rd Committee by recorded vote...See 3rd alternate URL for summary of the debate and voting record.
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-22
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 52.61 KB 44.57 KB
more
Title: ‘Sickening? Film on Plight of Burmese Migrant Fishermen
Source/publisher: International Transportworkers? Federation via "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 16, No. 11
Date of publication: 2008-11-00
Description: A documentary film showing how Burmese seamen aboard Thai fishing boats are abused, beaten and even murdered is now available for viewing on the Internet... "The 10-minute film, titled ?Abandoned, not Forgotten,” was released on the official Web site of the International Transport Workers? Federation (ITWF), whose General Secretary, David Cockcroft, described it as ?a sometimes sickening but very necessary addition to the evidence that many Burmese citizens forced to flee their country are being appallingly treated.”..."
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-16
Type: Individual Documents
Category: Fishery workers
Language: English
more
Title: Building a Nation
Source/publisher: The Atlantic
Date of publication: 1958-02-00
Description: "Today a whole new nation is being built in Burma — politically, socially, and economically. Part of the task is physical: to repair war damage and create enough industrial capacity to improve living standards and make out country self-sustaining; an even greater part is social and psychological: to educate a people long held down by colonialism in the ways of democracy and self-development. Because there is very little private capital in Burma, the major responsibility has inevitably fallen upon the Government. Its greatest efforts are now being applied to such fields as these..."
Creator/author: U Thant
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-15
Type: Individual Documents
Category: U Thant
Language: English
more
Title: Saffron Revolution Imprisoned, law demented
Source/publisher: Article 2 (Vol. 7, No. 3)
Date of publication: 2008-09-00
Description: Contents: SPECIAL EDITION: SAFFRON REVOLUTION IMPRISONED, LAW DEMENTED... Foreword: Dual policy approach needed on Burma Basil Fernando... Introduction: Saffron Revolution imprisoned, law demented Editorial board, article 2... Ne Win, Maung Maung and how to drive a legal system crazy in two short decades, Burma desk, Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong... Ten case studies in illegal arrest and imprisonment..... APPENDIX: Nargis: World?s worst response to a natural disaster, Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong.
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-15
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Burma: A Special Supplement
Source/publisher: The Atlantic
Date of publication: 1958-02-00
Description: A look back at a 70-page supplement on Burma—covering arts, culture, politics, and more—written mostly by Burmese and published by The Atlantic in 1958.... Burma An introduction by The Honorable U Kyaw Nyein, Deputy Prime Minister of the Union of Burma... Building a Nation Goals for the future by The Honorable U Thant... Burma's Socialist Democracy Some problems of practical politics by U Law Yone... Continuity in Burma The survival of historic forces by U Kyaw Thet... People of the Golden Land Burmese character and customs by Daw Mi Mi Khaing... Burmese Names A guide by Daw Mi Mi Khaing... The Public Weal Excerpts from speeches by the honorable U Nu, Prime Minister of the Union of Burma by Daw Mi Mi Khaing... The Women of Burma A tradition of hard work and independence by Daw Mya Sein... Burmese Music A partnership in melodic sounds by U Khin Zaw... Burmese Entertainment Drama, dance, and film by U Myo Min... The Early Art of Burma Surviving traditions from pagan and Mandalay by Thaw Ka... Contemporary Burmese Art A modern perspective by U Thein Han... Burma's Economy An eye toward growth by U Tun Thin... Indians and Chinese in Burma Notes on immigration by U Myay Kyaw... Modern Burmese Literature Its background in the independence movement by U On Pe... The Burmese Language An overview by U Wun... The Meaning of Buddhism Fundamental principles of the Theravada doctrine by Bhikkhu U Thittila... Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism Alchemy, spirits, and ancient rituals by Maung Htin Aung... The Concept of Neutralism What lies behind Burma's foreign policy by James Barrington... The Concept of Neutralism What lies behind Burma's foreign policy by James Barrington... The 13-Carat Diamond A story by Daw Khin Myo Chit... The Prince of the Prison A story by Dagon Shwe Hmyar.
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-12
Type: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
Title: "Health Messenger" Issue No. 39 (2) -- Technical cards (Vol. 2)
Source/publisher: Aide Medicale Internationale (AMI)
Date of publication: 2008-09-00
Description: A technical card is practical course intended to assist a medical or paramedical personnel to operate a basic, specific and clearly identified type of health care. We already received much positive feedbacks from our readers, and as a result, we have been much enthusiastic to continue working on the similar medico- technical procedures as an additional volume to our previous health messenger issue. But this time, we have introduced some more specific clinical procedures on dental, orthopaedic, obstetric and gynaecological fields. In each and every article, our article countributors present step by step instruction for those common procedures and documentations, with many clear and easy-tounderstand illustrations to enhance comprehension of our readers. Some procedures may be unfamiliar with our medic readers, but we would like to keep them in this issue as our aim is to alleviate the medical knowledge as well as to widen the scope of our camp-based medical personnel. We hope this issue will help our medical personnel fulfill their responsible duties properly and systmatically. Moreover, we would like to thank all our contributors and readers for these two consecutive volumes.......I Medical Part: General Physical Examination... Management in Airway Obstruction... Supra-pubic catheterisation... Digital Per rectal Examination...... II - Obstetric and Gynaecological Part: Vaginal or Pelvic Examination... Management in Breech Presentation... Instrumental Delivery- forceps and vacuum... Suture of Perineal tears and Episiotomies...... III - Dental Part: Tooth Extraction... Scaling Teeth... Cement filling for tooth cavities...... IV - Orthopaedic Part: Management in Shoulder joint dislocation... Management in Temporo-Mandibular joint dislocation...... Quizz...... Quizz Answer...... Glossary.
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-07
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese, English
Format : pdf
Size: 3.47 MB
more
Title: "Health Messenger" Magazine No. 39 (1) -- Technical cards (Vol. 1)
Source/publisher: Aide Medicale Internationale (AMI)
Date of publication: 2008-03-00
Description: A technical card is a practical course intended to assist medical or paramedical personnel to operate a basic, specific and clearly identified type of care. Medico-technical procedures are potentially high-risk situations, particularly when physicians are novice/inexperienced or if they have not performed the procedure recently. The objectives of this HM issue 39 are:- • For medical practitioners to master the technical skills in basic medical procedures • To minimize the risk of medical errors and clinical complications • To educate and support practitioner about how to prepare and infrom the patient before each procedure. In this issue, indications, contraindications, and complications are explained in an easy-to-understand fashion. Patient positioning, anatomical landmarks and procedural techniques are demonstrated in a systematic approach, for better understanding both for the medical personnel conducting the procedure as well as the patient. We believe that our technical cards will make positive contributions to the quality of health care inside the camps....... Part I - Nursing Part: Injection Techniques... Infusion Care... Administration of Drugs by Spacer Inhaler... Basic Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (Adult and Child)... Burns Management... Naso-Gastric Tube Insertion... Catheterisation...... Part II - Medic Part: Fracture Management... Minor Injuries/Wound Care... Incision and Drainage of Abscess... Thoracocentesis (Pleural fluid Aspiration)... Peritoneal Paracentesis or Ascitic Tab... Lumbar Puncture...... Quizz...... Quizz Answer...... Glossary.
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-07
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 3.77 MB
more
Title: In the Shadow of the Junta - CEDAW Shadow Report by women of Burma (English, Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Source/publisher: Women?s League of Burma
Date of publication: 2008-10-27
Description: (Press Release, 27 October 2008): CEDAW shadow report reveals systemic gender discrimination in Burma... "Women?s organizations are today launching a shadow report revealing systemic gender discrimination in Burma, which will be used to review Burma at the 42nd Session of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee in Geneva on November 3, 2008. The Women?s League of Burma, together with other community-based organizations around Burma?s borders, has compiled extensive data in the report on how the regime?s failed policies have impacted women and girls, particularly in the areas of education, health, rural development, and violence against women. The findings strongly contradict the claims in the country report by the ruling military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), that women in Burma ?enjoy their rights even before they are born.” The report exposes how the regime is profiting from the sale of the country?s natural resources to build up the military and its GONGOs, and how systematic militarization and prioritization of military expenditure has reinforced the existing patriarchal system. It analyzes how the regime?s new constitution not only fails to effectively promote gender equality, but guarantees that the armed forces, an almost exclusively male institution, will control a quarter of seats in the government. The report states: ?The face of public life in Burma is male, because the culture of Burma today is profoundly militarized. The military presence pervades every village, town and city, every branch and level of its administration, and every situation involving power and status.” The report exposes how national women?s organizations are merely for show. They are led by wives of SPDC commanders, who promote the regime?s policies and abuse their power at every level. The report reiterates that there can be no advancement of the lives of women and girls in Burma, and no protection and promotion of their rights while the military and its proxy organizations remain in power. ?The regime?s road map to disciplined democracy is simply a road-map to further patriarchy,” said Nang Yain (General Secretary of the Women?s League of Burma) ?We need genuine political reform to work for gender equality in Burma.”"
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-05
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 2.69 MB 4.1 MB
more
Title: Burma: Mapping the Challenges and Opportunities for Dialogue and Reconciliation
Source/publisher: Crisis Management Initiative: Martti Ahtisaari Rapid Reaction Facility
Date of publication: 2008-10-31
Description: The Union of Myanmar (Burma) has suffered political and ethnic conflict for more than half a century, which continues to hamper the country's social, political and economic development. The present report, prepared by the Crisis Management Initiative for the European Commission, seeks to map the conflict landscape, including its history, the actors involved, and the main obstacles and opportunities for dialogue and reconciliation. It assesses the change processes currently underway in the country and considers relevant comparative experiences from similar transitions elsewhere in the world. The final section contains specific recommendations to the EU and its member states, with particular attention to the possible role for a private (track-2) facilitator.....CONTENTS: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY... II. INTRODUCTION... A. Background... B. CMI and Its Mandate... C. The Report... III. OVERVIEW OF THE CONFLICTS... A. General Overview... 1. Types of Conflict... 2. Patterns of Conflict... 3. Consequences of conflict... B. The History of the Main Conflicts... 1. The Struggle over Democracy and Human Rights... 2. The Struggle over Ethnic Autonomy and Equal Rights... 3. Inter-linkages between the Two Struggles... IV. CONFLICT ACTORS... A. The Military Regime... 1. Leadership... 2. Regime structures... 3. Political Agenda ... 4. Underlying values and interests... B. The Democracy Movement... 1. The NLD... 2. Popular activism... 3. Border politics... 4. Exile groups... 5. Challenges for the democracy movement... 6. Facing the challenges: The "new opposition"... C. The Ethnic Nationalist Movement... 1. Ethnic organisations... 2. Ethnic grievances and aspirations... 3. Strategies for change... 4. Recent Trends... 5. Comparing constitutions... V. CONFLICT DIAGNOSIS... A. Obstacles to Reconciliation... 1. Complexity... 2. Mutually exclusive solutions... 3. Institutionalisation of the conflicts... 4. Asymmetric power (and conflict trends)... B. Opportunities for Reconciliation... 1. The search for legitimacy... 2. Institutional reform... 3. Generational change... 4. Burmese views and hopes... VI. PEACE AND THE NEED FOR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT... A. The State... B. Civil society... VII. EU BURMA POLICY IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE: GLOBAL LESSONS FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT TO DEMOCRATISATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION... A . European Objectives of Economic Pressure and Support of Democracy and Conflict Prevention... B. International Influence and Domestic Power Settings in Democratising Nations... C. Successful Strategy of Sanctions... 1. How to Make Sanctions Work?... D. Can Positive Means of Supporting Conflict Management Supplement Economic Pressure? ... 1. Burma's ethnic conflict structures... 2. Conflict Resolution in Burma ... E. Can Economic Pressure Be Complemented by Positive Means of Building Good Governance?... F. How Should Positive Work for Democracy Complement Economic Pressure?... VIII. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS... A. How to Prevent Violence in Burma?... B. Conflict Resolution... 1. Sanctions and beyond ... 2. Positive European Contribution for Conflict Resolution ... C. Could Europe Help the Transformation of Structures of Conflict in Burma?... LIST OF REFERENCES... Annex 1: The procedure for invoking Article 96 (consultation article) of the Cotonou Agreement... Annex 2: 20 Most Dramatic Processes of Democratization Since 1900.
Creator/author: Timo Kivimäki & Morten B. Pedersen
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-03
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2 MB
more
Title: GA 2008 (63rd Session): Report by the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar (English)
Source/publisher: United Nations (A/63/341)
Date of publication: 2008-09-05
Description: Summary: "In its resolution 1992/58, the Commission on Human Rights established the mandate on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, which was then extended by the Human Rights Council in its decision 1/102 and resolution 5/1. In March 2008, by its resolution 7/32, the Council extended the mandate for one year. On 26 March 2008, Tomás Ojea Quintana (Argentina) was appointed as the new Special Rapporteur, and he officially assumed the function on 1 May 2008. Following a request for a visit from 3 to 13 August 2008, on 9 July the Special Rapporteur received a positive response from the Government of Myanmar to undertake a mission to that country from 3 to 7 August 2008. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank the Government of Myanmar for its hospitality and the cooperation he received during his first mission to the country. This visit was mainly aimed at establishing working relations with the authorities, to meet with civil society and also with those who do not enjoy their fundamental rights. The programme of the visit is annexed to the report. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 62/222. The first part focuses on the activities and programme of work of the Special Rapporteur. The second part of the report concentrates on substantive issues and elaborates on those related to the protection of human rights in the context of the new Constitution; and the question of participation in the democratic process and organization of the 2010 elections; the right to assembly and right to freedom of opinion and expression and their formulation in the new Constitution; and the question of international humanitarian law and protection of civilians, as well as the situation of specific groups such as ethnic groups, women and children. The Special Rapporteur further elaborates on the mechanisms in place to ensure maximum protection in the context of natural disaster cyclone Nargis, and the living conditions, sustenance and its human rights implications. Finally, the Special Rapporteur discusses developments that have taken place in international cooperation and that relate to human rights issues pertinent to his mandate and the environment for a strengthened cooperation on the promotion and protection of human rights in the country. In his recommendations, the Special Rapporteur includes four core human rights elements for paving the road to democracy in Myanmar."
Creator/author: Tomás Ojea Quintana
Date of entry/update: 2008-10-31
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 102.21 KB
more
Title: Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (2008) - English
Source/publisher: State Peace and Development Council
Date of publication: 2008-09-00
Description: The official English version. The date given here is the date of printing. The date of adoption of the Constitution is 29 May 2008
Date of entry/update: 2008-10-26
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 748.41 KB
more
Title: Internal Displacement and International Law in Eastern Burma
Source/publisher: Thailand Burma Border Consortium
Date of publication: 2008-10-00
Description: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "Twenty years after the Burmese junta gunned down pro-democracy protesters, violations of human rights and humanitarian law in eastern Burma are more widespread and systematic than ever. Ten years after the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement were submitted, the international response in eastern Burma remains largely ineffective in dealing with a predatory governing regime. The Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) has been collaborating with ethnic community-based organisations to document the characteristics of internal displacement in eastern Burma since 2002. During this period there has been increasing debate about whether violations of human rights and humanitarian law in eastern Burma constitute an international crime. So aside from updating information about the scale and distribution of internal displacement, this year?s survey compiles abuses reported during 2008 in relation to the legal framework for crimes against humanity.Conflict-induced displacement remains most concentrated in the northern Karen areas, where armed skirmishes between the Burmese Army and the Karen National Union continued in the first six months of 2008. While the wet season was previously a time of respite from Burmese Army patrols, intensified troop deployments during the past couple of years mean that the occupation is now sustained all year. This has led to the displacement of 27,000 villagers in the four affected townships during the past year. The prevalence of military attacks targeting civilians has slightly decreased since the junta?s offensive in 2006. However, the harassment of villagers perceived as sympathetic to the armed opposition is unrelenting. The four townships surrounding Laikha in southern Shan State are also of particular concern. Armed skirmishes and Burmese Army deployments have escalated in this area since a former battalion commander with the Shan State Army - South surrendered in 2006. The Burmese Army is attempting to assert its supremacy in the area by breaking communication links between the armed opposition to the south and ceasefire groups to the north. Over 13,000 civilians are estimated to have been displaced from their homes in this area during the past twelve months. TBBC has previously reported that more than 3,200 settlements were destroyed, forcibly relocated or otherwise abandoned in eastern Burma between 1996 and 2007. Such field reports have been corroborated by high resolution commercial satellite imagery of villages before and after the displacement occurred. During the past year, community organisations have documented the forced displacement of a further 142 villages and hiding sites. However, displacement is more commonly caused by coercive factors at the household level. The imposition of forced labour, extortion, land confiscation, agricultural production quotas, and restrictions on access to fields and markets has a devastating effect on household incomes and a destabilising impact on populations. During the past year, the prevalence of these factors has been exacerbated by hydro-electric projects in Shan and Karen States, mining projects in Shan and Karenni States and Pegu Division, the gas pipeline in Mon State as well as commercial agriculture and road construction in general.While the total number of internally displaced persons in eastern Burma is likely to be well over half a million people, at least 451,000 people have been estimated in the rural areas alone. The population includes approximately 224,000 people currently in the temporary settlements of ceasefire areas administered by ethnic nationalities. However, the most vulnerable group is an estimated 101,000 civilians who are hiding in areas most affected by military skirmishes, followed by approximately 126,000 villagers who have been forcibly evicted by the Burmese Army into designated relocation sites. An estimated 66,000 people were forced to leave their homes as a result of, or in order to avoid, the effects of armed conflict and human rights abuses during the past year alone. Despite concessions made in the Irrawaddy Delta after Cyclone Nargis, the junta?s restrictions on humanitarian access continue to obstruct aid workers elsewhere in Burma, particularly in conflict-affected areas. The large scale of displacement and the obstruction of relief efforts are indicative of ongoing violations of human rights and humanitarian law in eastern Burma. International law recognises crimes against humanity as acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population. Attacks on civilians refer not only to military assaults but also to the multiple commission of acts such as murder, enslavement, forcible transfer of population, torture and rape when related to a State policy. This definition reflects customary international law binding on all states, including Burma. The evidence cited in this report appears to strengthen Amnesty International?s recent assessment that the violations in eastern Burma meet the legal threshold to constitute crimes against humanity. Skeptics argue that raising allegations about crimes against humanity will merely frustrate the promotion of political dialogue. However, just as the provision of humanitarian assistance should not be dependent upon political reform, humanitarian protection and the administration of justice should not be sacrificed to expedite political dialogue. The reality is that the authorities have consistently refused to enter into a serious discussion of these abuses with a view to putting a stop to them. The threat of prosecution may actually increase the leverage of the diplomatic community and provide an incentive for the governing regime to end the climate of impunity. Given the impunity with which violations have been committed, and the Burmese junta?s failure to implement recommendations formulated by relevant United Nations? bodies, the responsibility to protect shifts to the international community. The challenge remaining for the international community is to operationalise this responsibility in Burma and hold the junta to account."
Date of entry/update: 2008-10-25
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), Thai
more
Title: SAFFRON REVOLUTION A YEAR LATER: IT?S NOT OVER
Source/publisher: ALTSEAN-Burma
Date of publication: 2008-09-22
Description: "On 26 September, one year will have passed since Burma?s military regime began its bloody crackdown on the Saffron Revolution. The spirit of the monk-led Saffron Revolution that moved hundreds of thousands of people to hold protests throughout Burma and inspired hundreds of solidarity events around the globe lives on. This briefer details what has happened in Burma since: repression has intensified, the SPDC has exacerbated another humanitarian crisis, persisted with its gross economic mismanagement and refused to deliver the actual reforms it has been promising for years. Despite this, monks and ordinary people have persevered in their defiance of the SPDC."
Date of entry/update: 2008-09-26
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2007
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication: 2008-09-00
Description: Use the main link to access a version containing hyperlinks to individual chapters.... PREFACE: "The year 2007 represented a turbulent year in the history of Burma. It was a year in which we witnessed people from all walks of life coming together in the largest public display of dissatisfaction with the military regime in almost 20 years. Regrettably, it was also a year in which we witnessed the brutal and bloody crackdown on those peaceful protests, including the unforgivable and unforgettable attacks on and killings of Buddhist monks. In reference to the colour of the robes worn by the monks, the international media named this peaceful mass movement the ?Saffron Revolution”. These protests represented the biggest demonstrations conducted in Burma since the popular democratic uprising of 8.8.88.... Responding to the brutality visited upon the protestors and dedicated to the memory of the monks and laypersons who lost their lives during the Saffron Revolution, late in the year, the Human Rights Documentation Unit (HRDU) commenced work on a report documenting the events leading up to, during, and following the September protests. This comprehensive report, entitled: Bullets in the Alms Bowl: An Analysis of the Brutal SPDC Suppression of the September 2007 Saffron Revolution, was based on over 50 eyewitness testimonies to the protests who had fled the country following the crackdowns as well as information gathered by a team of researchers working clandestinely within Burma. The situation of human rights in Burma largely disappeared from the international limelight for about a year during the transition from UN Human Rights Commission into UN Human Rights Council in 2006. Meanwhile, human rights violations in Burma continued unabated without the notice of the new UN Human Rights Council. It was not until images of the brutality visited upon the participants of the Saffron Revolution were broadcast worldwide by local and international media that the Council was compelled to act and convened a Special Session on 2 October 2007, thus bringing the human rights situation in Burma back onto agenda again.... The year 2007 also witnessed the first time in almost four years in which the regime had permitted the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation on Human Rights in Burma, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, to return to the country. However, by his own admission, little was accomplished in what was to become his final visit to the country in his role in the mandate. Professor Pinheiro resigned as the Special Rapporteur on Burma in early 2008. Perhaps reflecting some of the frustration associated with the mandate, in his final report to the UN Human Rights Council, Pinheiro stated that the systematic and widespread human rights violations that have continued to be committed in Burma ?are not simply isolated acts of individual misconduct by middle- or low-ranking officers, but rather the result of a system under which individuals and groups have been allowed to breach the law and violate human rights without being called to account”.... The consistent non-compliance of the Burmese military regime to the 30 consecutive resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council (previously Commission) undermines the credibility of the UN system and the prevalence of international law. However, since the international community bore witness to the ruthless crackdown on the September 2007 Saffron Revolution, we have heard the voices of increasingly more of the world?s respectable citizens and leading human rights advocates advocating for international intervention from the perspective of the Responsibility to Protect principle.... The systematic and widespread perpetration of rape and sexual violence against women, enslavement (forced labour), religious persecution and torture in combination of the litany of other human rights abuses being committed in Burma with near complete impunity constitute crimes against humanity according to Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court....The Burmese Generals should no longer be permitted to hide behind the wall of national sovereignty as they have done so for years. It is time for the United Nations and the international community to draw the legal conclusion that the human rights violations being committed in Burma are tantamount to crimes against humanity and that the SPDC?s leaders must be held to account for these crimes...."
Date of entry/update: 2008-09-09
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 8.01 MB
Local URL: PDF icon HRDU2007.pdf
more
Title: China's New Dictatorship Diplomacy - Is Beijing Parting With Pariahs?
Source/publisher: "Foreign Affairs", January/February 2008
Date of publication: 2008-02-00
Description: Summary: Beijing has recently stepped back from its unconditional support for pariah states, such as Burma, North Korea, and Sudan. This means China may now be more likely to help the West manage the problems such states pose -- but only up to a point, because at heart China still favors nonintervention as a general policy....."...China's patience with the Burmese junta has been wearing thin recently. For several years, Beijing encouraged it to undertake Chinese-style economic and political reforms in order to help the regime consolidate its rule, ensure stability, and regain international acceptability. It supported former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, whom it considered a Deng-style reformist -- only to see him ousted in 2004. As the Burmese regime hardened further, China's confidence in the junta's capacity or willingness to reform faded. But Beijing moved from providing encouragement to exerting pressure on the regime only after its support for the regime was exposed in the UN Security Council. In mid-2006, the United States circulated a resolution in the Security Council demanding the release of political prisoners, condemning Burma's human rights practices, and calling for the establishment of a political process that would lead to a genuine democratic transition. China twice managed to prevent the measure from being considered, and when the United States and the United Kingdom finally brought it to a vote, last January, China vetoed it (as did Russia) -- the first time since 1973 that Beijing vetoed any matter unrelated to Taiwan. At the same time, however, Beijing called on the regime to "listen to the call of its own people . . . and speed up the process of dialogues and reforms... Shifts in China's policy toward pariah states have been experimental, tentative, and incremental -- and are likely to remain so in the near future. But the strength of China's position with respect to many pariah states is a reality -- and an opportunity. Although there is little reason to believe that China is moving toward full alignment with Western policy, it may be prepared to distance itself from the worst autocracies and rogue states. Even if Beijing's list of such states is likely to remain short, it is bound to include a number of states that pose important security and humanitarian problems to the United States. In just two years, China has moved from outright obstructionism and a defensive insistence on solidarity with the developing world to an attempt to balance its material needs with its acknowledged responsibilities as a major power. And so when Washington and its allies formulate their policies toward pariah states, they should assume that China, although in some respects an obstacle, is now also a critical partner."
Creator/author: Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, Andrew Small
Date of entry/update: 2008-08-17
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Campaign Kit for 8-8-88 20th anniversary:: (4) UPDATE: BURMA?S POLITICAL PRISONERS
Source/publisher: ALTSEAN-Burma
Date of publication: 2008-08-02
Description: • 267 - Number of arbitrary arrests in 2008... • 107 - NLD members arrested... • 127 - Individuals arrested for opposing the constitutional referendum... • 17 - Activists arrested for delivering aid to cyclone Nargis survivors... • 12 - Journalist, writers, and artists arrested... • 11 - Monks arrested... • 2 - Political prisoners who died in custody... • 55 - Dissidents sentenced to jail since the ?Saffron Revolution”... • 1,900 - Current number of political prisoners in Burma... • 65.2% - Increase in political prisoners over the past year..."
Date of entry/update: 2008-08-08
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Campaign Kit for 8-8-88 20th anniversary: (3) AUGUST 8, 2008: WHAT CAN THE WORLD DO?
Source/publisher: ALTSEAN-Burma
Date of publication: 2008-08-02
Description: "Twenty years after the 8888 national uprising, the international community must realize that unconditional engagement, discreet diplomacy, and ASEAN?s so-called constructive engagement has failed. While sanctions are a useful source of pressure and an effective signal to the regime that it will not be rewarded for brutality, these strategies have been undermined by governments that refuse to be pro-active. Such apathy and lack of political will has enabled the regime to perpetuate conditions that harm the people of Burma and intensify threats to regional security. The international community must stand united and deny the regime the means ? weapons, money, and diplomatic protection - to continue oppressing and killing civilians, and causing increasing threats to human security. A strong, united position will ensure that the regime has no choice but to engage in genuine political and economic reforms. Such reforms must begin with: 1. The unconditional release all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. 2. The cessation of repression and hostilities against ethnic groups. 3. The commencement of tripartite dialogue..."
Date of entry/update: 2008-08-08
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Campaign Kit for 8-8-88 20th anniversary: (2) ?WE WON'T FORGET, WE WON'T GIVE UP!"
Source/publisher: ALTSEAN-Burma
Date of publication: 2008-08-02
Description: AUGUST 8, 1988: Young people in Burma launched massive nationwide rallies, calling for an end to military rule and the establishment of a democratic government... Military response : 3,000 people killed, mostly students and monks. Thousands jailed... The ?8888 generation” has bravely continued work - from prison, in exile, and ?inside”. Since 1988, the movement has grown & diversified. Groups work together across sectors to” * improve situation of communities, * foster reconciliation, and * develop capacity & common frameworks for Burma?s future..."
Date of entry/update: 2008-08-08
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Campaign Kit for 8-8-88 20th anniversary: (1) BURMA 20 YEARS ON: HUNGRY AS EVER FOR DEMOCRACY
Source/publisher: ALTSEAN-Burma
Date of publication: 2008-08-02
Description: "Twenty years after brutally suppressing the inspiring 8888 uprising, Burma?s military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has run the country?s infrastructure into the ground and squandered its natural resources. Instead of investing in the development of Burma, the regime has focused national resources almost entirely on the military, doubling the size of the army and undertaking a spending spree on weapons. Even while the regime pursued its fake ?roadmap to democracy”, it oversaw sharp increases in drug production, displacement, disease, and other threats to human security in Burma and Asia... In September 2007, the people of Burma took to the streets to call for the end of brutal repression, economic exploitation, and the impoverishment of a country gifted with natural wealth and talented peoples. The regime?s sham constitutional referendum, meant to consolidate its hold on power, cannot camouflage the steep decline in economic and social conditions... Burma?s neighbors, and the international community, must work with genuine commitment to support concrete solutions that involve all key stakeholders. Governments of Asia and the world must no longer allow their goodwill to be manipulated by the regime. Burma?s descent into greater instability must no longer be tolerated, for the sake of its people and the people of this region..."
Date of entry/update: 2008-08-08
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Eastward Bound
Source/publisher: Kachin Women?s Association, Thailand (KWAT)
Date of publication: 2008-08-05
Description: Summary of key findings: The report documents 133 verified and suspected trafficking cases, involving 163 women and girls, which occurred between 2004 and mid-2007 . As political and economic conditions inside Burma continue to deteriorate, more and more Kachin women are migrating to China in search of work, and are ending up as forced brides of Chinese men. . Most of the forced brides were transported across China to marry men in the eastern provinces, particularly Shandong Province. Women described being shown to many men, sometimes in marketplaces, before being chosen. The husbands, predominantly farmers, paid an average of US$1,900 for their brides. . About a quarter of those trafficked were under 18, with girls as young as 14 forced to be brides. Several cases involved traffickers attempting to buy babies. . The continuing high incidence of trafficking indicates that the regime?s new anti-trafficking law, passed in September 2005, is failing to have any impact in curbing the problem. Provisions in the regime?s new law to protect the rights of trafficking victims are not being adhered to. Women are also being falsely accused of trafficking under the new law. . Women report that Chinese police have been helpful in assisting them to return to Burma, but have sometimes demanded compensation from Burma border officials for repatriating trafficking victims...... Growing numbers of Kachin women trafficked as brides across China Forced by deteriorating political and economic conditions in Burma to migrate to China, ethnic Kachin women are increasingly ending up as forced brides, according to a new report by an indigenous women ?s group. ?Eastward Bound ? by the Kachin Women ?s Association Thailand (KWAT), documents the trafficking of 163 women and girls between 2004 and mid-2007, almost all to China. While 40% of the women have simply disappeared, most of the rest were forced to marry men in provinces across eastern China. About a quarter of those trafficked were under 18. Most of these girls, as young as 14, were sold as brides for an average of about USD 2,000, usually to farmers. The report highlights how the Burmese regime ?s new anti-trafficking law, passed in September 2005, is failing not only to curb trafficking, but also to protect the rights of trafficked women. Victims have been refused assistance by the Burmese Embassy in Beijing, denied entry back to Burma, and falsely accused of trafficking themselves. One woman accused of trafficking was raped in detention by a local official. ?Anti-trafficking laws are meaningless under a regime that systematically violates people ?s rights, and whose policies are driving citizens to migrate, ? said Gum Khong, a researcher for the report. While international agencies have raised the alert about increased trafficking in Burma following Cyclone Nargis, KWAT cautions against indirectly endorsing the regime ?s heavy-handed attempts to control migration. ?International agencies must look holistically at the trafficking problem, and not be complicit in any efforts by the regime to further abuse people ?s rights under the guise of preventing trafficking ? said KWAT spokesperson Shirley Seng. KWAT first exposed the trafficking of Kachin women on the China-Burma border in their 2005 report ?Driven Away. ? The new report can be viewed at http://www.womenofburma.org For hard copies of the report, please contact: [email protected] For further information contact: Gum Khong +66 84 616 5245 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +66 84 616 5245 end_of_the_skype_highlighting Shirley Seng +66 84 485 7252
Date of entry/update: 2008-08-04
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.74 MB
Local URL: PDF icon Eastward-Bound.pdf
more
Title: Rats and Kyats: Bamboo Flowering Causes a Hunger Belt in Chin State, Burma
Source/publisher: Project Maje
Date of publication: 2008-07-30
Description: "The bamboo species Melocanna baccifera blossoms approximately every 48 years. This type of bamboo grows throughout a large area of Northeast India (primarily in Mizoram and Manipur States) as well as regions of Burma (mainly Chin State) and Bangladesh (Hill Tracts.) It densely covers valleys and hillsides in the rugged terrain of the region. The blossoming bamboo produces fruit, then dies off. During the fruiting stage of the cycle, forest rats feed on the bamboo fruits/seeds. Once the population of rats has stripped the forest of bamboo fruit/seeds, rat swarms invade farms and villages to devour crops and stored rice. This phenomenon, known as the Mautam, has historically resulted in mass starvation among indigenous peoples of the region where Melocanna baccifera bamboo grows. While the current Mautam bamboo/rat cycle as it affects Northeast India has been covered by journalists, and food aid is being provided there and in the Bangladesh Hill Tracts, the Mautam crisis across the borders in Burma is less well known. In Burma?s Chin State, local groups are attempting to provide aid, but there is not yet a large scale organized relief effort in the Mautam affected areas. The Project Maje resource report, "Rats and Kyats" is intended for journalists, aid workers and other researchers who may become interested in the bamboo/rat cycle as it affects Burma. News stories and documents are reproduced or linked in it, and there is also a links list of background information on the bamboo/rat cycle as it affects Mizoram, Manipur and Bangladesh."
Date of entry/update: 2008-07-30
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Title: An Alternative Assessment of the Humanitarian Assistance in the Irrawaddy Delta - Situation after 60 days
Source/publisher: Ko Shwe
Date of publication: 2008-07-23
Description: I. INTRODUCTION: "After the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon met with General Than Shwe, the government officially announced that the country would open its door to any relief support for Cyclone Nargis victims. Since then, there is a daily announcement in the government newspaper ?New Light of Myanmar,” saying that ?any donor from any area may go down to any storm-hit areas of their choice, and can provide any assistance to any person in any area”. However in reality, 60 days after the Cyclone Nargis hit, the government has still failed to provide assistance to most of the villages in Irrawaddy delta. There are also a lot of limitations on the UN agencies, international agencies, local NGOs and social groups who are providing relief in the storm-hit areas. Almost everyday at Rangoon International Airport you can see planes landing and bringing relief supplies to the Nargis victims. And, everyday on the government's pro MRTV 4, announces that they have provided food and other necessities to the victims and have announced that the relief phase is over and that it is now time for recovery and reconstruction. However, questions have to be asked: how is the support provided and who actually receives the support? and why has the affected population in further delta areas not been given enough support to meet their basic needs? This report aims to answer these questions based on research in Ngeputaw and Laputta townships in June 2008, and also outlines the major problems that need to be addressed such as access to land and ownership issues, health care, water, sanitation, education, orphans, and other social problems..."
Creator/author: Ko Shwe
Date of entry/update: 2008-07-23
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 273.12 KB
more
Title: Critical Point - Food Scarcity and Hunger in Burma?s Chin State _ 2008 (Special Reports)
Source/publisher: Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO)
Date of publication: 2008-07-00
Description: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "The military regime of Burma has been consistent in their inability and unwillingness to protect and provide for the people of Burma. Burma?s human rights record provides testimony of decades of widespread violations and abuses perpetrated largely at the hands of Burma?s military rulers and their agents against the Burmese people. Dissent is regularly silenced and opponents brutalized. In a country once known as the ?rice-bowl of Asia,” Burma is now one of the poorest countries of Asia due to steady economic deterioration driven by the regime?s mismanagement. Many in Burma live without access to proper schools, healthcare facilities, reliable electricity, safe drinking water, and stable food supplies. Cowed by policies of extreme oppression and tactics of intimidation, life for much of the population in Burma is a struggle for daily survival. Add to that a natural disaster- and survival in Burma reaches a critical point. Western Burma?s Chin State is at such a point. Since 2006, the region has been plagued by a severe food crisis following a steep reduction in the local harvest and food production. The year 2006 marked the beginning of a new cycle of bamboo flowering, which occurs about every 50 years in the region, triggering an explosion in the population of rats and resulting in the destruction of crops. This has caused a severe shortage of food for local communities primarily dependent on subsistence farming through shifting cultivation. The phenomenon has been documented three times since 1862, and each past event ended in a disastrous famine for the communities in the area. Compounding the impending food crisis in Chin State due to the bamboo flowering is the continuation of severe human rights violations and repressive economic policies of the military regime, which serve to further undermine the livelihoods and food security of the Chin people. The use of unpaid civilian forced labour is widespread throughout Chin State, which consumes the time and energy of local farmers and reduces their crop yields. The regime also forcibly orders farmers to substitute their staple crops for other cash crops, and has confiscated thousands of acres of farmland from local farmers for tea and jatropha plantations. Meanwhile, arbitrary taxes and mandatory ?donations” collected from Chin households by the Burmese authorities total up to as much 200,000 Kyats a year in major towns.2 This includes the unofficial collection of money from the Chin public by officials in various government departments at the local level to support such programs as tea and bio-fuel plantations; and extortion and confiscation of money, properties, and livestock by military units stationed at 33 locations across the state. The rising cost of living and skyrocketing food prices is also adding to the already dire humanitarian situation in Chin State. In the last four years, the price of rice has quintupled from 6,000 Kyats a bag in 2004 to as much as 30,000 Kyats today, an amount equivalent to the monthly salary of entry level public servants. The humanitarian consequences stemming from the dying bamboo and exacerbated by conditions imposed by the regime are enormous, and there are clear indications that unless urgent action is taken to address the crisis, the situation could soon turn into a large-scale catastrophe affecting all parts of Chin State. The hardest hit areas are in the southern townships of Matupi and Paletwa where bamboo grows heavily, but reports suggest that severe food shortages are a state-wide phenomenon with many villages in the northern townships of Tonzang and Thantlang, for example, having already run out of food supplies. Based on the latest field surveys conducted in the affected areas, Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) estimates that as many as 200 villages may be directly affected by severe food shortages associated with the bamboo flowering, and no less than 100, 000 people or 20 percent of the entire population of Chin State may be in need of immediate food aid.3 Food scarcity is more severe in remote areas, where families are being reduced to one meal a day or have nothing left to eat at all. CHRO recently visited four border villages in India?s Mizoram State where it found 93 families from 22 villages in Paletwa Township, Chin State who fled across the border in search of food. To date, Burma?s State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has done nothing positive to counter the food scarcity, nor has the SPDC provided any kind of help to communities affected by the food crisis. Repeated requests by affected communities for food aid were denied, even as 100,000 metric tonnes of rice was exported to Sri Lanka.4 Rather, Burma Army soldiers have seized food aid donated by private donors and church groups.5 In contrast to the situation in Burma, India?s Mizoram and Manipur States, both adjacent to Chin State, are facing a similar food crisis related to the bamboo flowering, and have received millions of dollars in aid from the central government as well as international aid agencies, including USAID of the United States government, to support emergency programs to combat and manage the food crisis.6 In early May, when Cyclone Nargis ripped through lower Burma and the Irrawaddy delta destroying entire regions of land and leaving thousands homeless, hungry, and helpless, the regime clearly demonstrated their complete indifference to the plight of the Burmese people. In response to this natural disaster, they did shamefully little to ease the suffering of the victims and much to hamper relief efforts. As a result, the people of Burma paid a heavy price in the loss of life and continue to struggle under a regime that fails to protect or provide for its people. As another natural disaster unfolds in western Burma without hope of internal protections or provisions, the Chin people, like the cyclone victims, will be sure to pay a heavy toll unless action is taken immediately. The critical point for action is now."
Date of entry/update: 2008-07-09
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 640.23 KB
Local URL: PDF icon Critical_Point.pdf
more

Pages