KAO WAO NEWS No. 14
An electronic newsletter
for social justice and freedom in Burma
READERS'
FRONT
MON
WOMEN TO LEAD COORDINATING TEAM
OVERSEAS
MON URGE NEW MON STATE PARTY TO RECONCILE
NCUB
HOLDS SIXTH CONFERENCE
INFANTS
ARRESTED AS ILLEGAL LABOUR
SHAN
YOUTH NETWORK GROUP
MON
YOUTH JOINS DIPLOMACY TRAINING
CHIN
LEADER SUPPORTS NATIONAL RECONCILIATION PROGRAM
Note
by Editor: SUBMIT YOUR NEWS
READERS’ FRONT
Dear
Readers, We invite comments and suggestions on improvements to Kao-Wao newsletter. With your help, we hope that Kao-Wao News will continue to grow to serve better the needs of
those seeking social justice in
We
reserve the right to edit and reject articles without prior notification. You
can use a pseudonym but we encourage you to include your full name and address.
Regards,
Editor kaowao@hotmail.com
Dear
Kao Wao, Appreciate coverage on the situation in
Burma, however, I would like to see more reporting and analysis on the impact
of war and conflict on Burma’s communities, the civilian population
and their viewpoints, rather than the time and number of military ambushes of
the different ethnic armies, including the Burma military. Awareness of what is
happening in
Mara
(B.C,
Dear
Kaowao News group, I am deeply grateful to read your
interview conducted with Dr Emmauel Guillon. I strongly
hope it would benefit our struggle and looking forward to reading more interview again.
Banya Mon Mon Youth
Progressive Organization
Hello
KAO WAO NEWS GROUP, We like to request more reading about our Mon News and
other different news. We are living as a blind group, as there is no news to us
about the situation of our Mon people and the situation of our country.
Therefore,
if you do not want us to be a blind group, please compose us as much news as
you can.
Yours
truly, Mon Sangha,
MON WOMEN TO LEAD
COORDINATING TEAM
(Reported
by Gong Ong / Kao Wao, Sangkhalaburi,
Several
Mon NGOs recently converged in a liberated area near Three Pagodas Pass
Thai-Burma border town on
Highlights
of the meeting including assisting Mon people inside
Representatives
from Mon Unity League (MUL), Mon Youth Liberty Organization (MYLO), Mon Youth
Progressive Organization (MYPO), Mon Women Organization (MWO), Mon National
Education Committee, Mon Young Monks Union and Mon Youth Associations from Monland shared their views and activities to the selective
gathering.
MUL
Youth Nai Kun Yekha,
International Representative Nai Cham
Toik and Joint General Secretary Nai
Kasuah Mon chaired the meeting and explained the
position and activities of MUL, an umbrella organization comprised of member
organizations from inside Monland and
Mi
SarDar, the Chief of the MNEC Office, informed the
groups that even though Mon Education system is well established and is
currently running three High Schools in the strong hold areas with over 900
teachers, the committee is facing growing shortage of funds and difficulty in
recruiting new teachers. She explained
teachers are appointed on a voluntary basis and the Committee can only provide
basic stipends to all schools teachers.
Monk
and Youth leaders from Monland, including the newly
formed MYPO and MYLO, enthusiastically described their activities and
viewpoints on national development.
General Secretary of MUL, Nai Sunthorn Sripanngern, briefed the
gathering on the State Constitution, Federalism and his experience abroad on a
study tour to
The
groups decided to hold a Youth Conference for building a strong network of
support among the various Mon organizations in the near future. Mon
Women’s Organization was selected to head networking and information
sharing of the different organizations, the delegates are confident of MWO
selection in ensuring communication will be given top priority to achieve
future tasks.
MWO
was formed under the leadership of the New Mon State Party during the 1980s and
reorganized in 1994. The new Central
Executive Committee and Central Committee members were elected last November
2001 to carry out activities along the border and inside
OVERSEAS MON URGE NEW
MON STATE PARTY TO RECONCILE
(Kao-Wao,
From
Indiana, USA based Monland Restoration Council (MRC)
faxed an open letter to the New Mon State Party on March 21, 2002 urging NMSP
and HRP to avoid armed fighting at all costs and to work together to restore
peace and unity among the Mon.
The
MRC statement welcomed the Mon Unity League’s
Negotiation Mission to begin resolving the conflict between the New Mon State
Party and Hongsawatoi Restoration Party led by Col
Pan Nyunt. MRC (USA), comprised of
former Mon refugees from
Another
overseas Mon group, the Mon National Council from
The
worldwide response of Mon communities came about after the four-day Mon
National Affairs seminar organized by the NMSP from
All
seventy delegates from various groups who attended the seminar agreed
unanimously to give top priority to national unity and to end armed conflict,
feeling the situation serious enough to put the agenda of the State
Constitution and other political issues on hold until a solution is completed.
There has been growing concern over how the conflict has affected the civilian
population, with villagers being made to pay out more taxes, Mon refugees
forcibly moved, while detours have affected the migrant labourers
to leave to
Talking
to KaoWao from
NCUB HOLDS SIXTH
CONFERENCE
(KaoWao,
Despite
offensives launched by the
The
gathering of the main umbrella political body of
The
Conference elected the KNU leader Saw Bo Mya as Chairman, Saw Hswe Hsaing as Vice Chairman (1)
and Prime Minister of the NCGUB Government in exile, Dr. Sein Win as Vice
Chairman (2) while U Aung Moe Zaw of the Democracy Party for New Society was
elected as the General Secretary with Khine Soe Naing Aung as Joint Secretary (1), U than Htut as Joint Secretary (2), Koon
Marco Ban as Joint Secretary (3) and other members of the leading body.
After
the meeting, a collective statement was released by NCUB forcefully condemning
the SPDC’s genocide war in the ethnic
nationalities’ areas and demanding the immediate cessation of all
violations of war. NCUB urged the SPDC
to elevate the current talks with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to include ethnic
representatives to participate fully in solving the problems of the entire
country and demand a nation-wide cease-fire.
The gathering expressed its gratitude to the various countries which
have given support to the democracy movement in Burma, especially the
Scandinavians, the European Union, the United States and Canada.
Migrant Watch
INFANTS ARRESTED AS
ILLEGAL LABOUR
(
More
than 200,000 of the 500,000 registered alien workers failed to have their
six-month work permits renewed. The
one-month registration period ended on March 25.
Supat Kukhun, deputy
secretary general of the Alien Labour Management office, said the number of
alien workers who reported for work permit renewals between
February 24 - March 25 was only around 350,000. According to their employers,
many either returned to their countries or escaped to find new jobs. Most of the escapees were Burmese workers;
the ALP wants the law amended to make it easier to crack down on illegal alien
labour suppliers.
On
the other side of the crackdown it seems age is no barrier to being rounded up.
A local source reported infants were arrested along with their families in Phuket, southern
During
the crackdown, many workers who have no registration cards were arrested in the
working sites, on the farms, on the way to shopping or while en route to
traditional religious ceremonies. One
individual working at a construction site, witnessed about 100 migrants being
arrested at Wat Chalong,
There
are about 80,000 migrant workers in Phuket province
that work in the fishing, construction and farming sectors, 75 percent migrants
are of Mon nationality of Burma. Due to the crackdown many migrant labourers leave to return home to
SHAN YOUTH NETWORK GROUP
(Kao-Wao,
The
Third Conference of the Shan Youth Network Group (SYNG) successfully convened
in the liberated area on the Thai-Burmese border during
The
Conference selected Sai Mawn
as Chairperson, Sai Mon as Vice Chairperson and Sai Seng Merng
as the Secretary among the Sixteen Central Executive Committee members. The newly elected Chairperson, Sai Mawn informed Kao-Wao of the meeting held to discuss several aims of SYNG: to
be more cohesive and united, to motivate Shan youths to participate in the
developing process, to promote knowledge, education and democratic principles
among the youth, and to provide social assistance to refugees and information
to international communities.
MON YOUTH JOINS
DIPLOMACY TRAINING
ZAHAN
THE GREAT JOURNEYS TO
Zahan Ong, a popular Mon
community activist in
Human
Rights leaders, activists, academics, diplomats, and United Nations
professionals taught the participants about International Human Rights Law with
a particular focus on the Asia Pacific Region. Concepts explored were
universalism and the indivisibility of human rights and an overview of the
history of HR. Participants were asked to role play a situation of a corrupt
government. This helps them to understand more clearly the roles of civilians,
diplomats, reporters, and government actors.
Zahan also visited Mon monks living in Sri Lanka at a
Buddhist monastery who were happy to learn about the situation in Monland and were eager to sign up to the Mon Newsgroup Kao-Wao; most monasteries are now linked up to the Internet.
The Internet via email has contributed significantly to
CHIN LEADER SUPPORTS NATIONAL
RECONCILIATION PROGRAM
(CFIS,
A
visiting Chin leader has urged the Canadian Government to step up pressure on
the Burmese regime in bringing about a meaningful dialogue with the National
League for Democracy and inclusion of ethnic nationalities.
Zing
Cung, the Vice-Chairman of the Chin National Front
visited the Foreign Affairs Department of Canada in
He
also included in his statement the unprecedented efforts of the NRP (National
Reconciliation Program), composed of ethnic nationalities working toward
establishing a peaceful transition in Burma, and thanking the Canadian
government for its longstanding commitment in supporting democracy in Burma,
and supporting NRP and refugees in the border areas.
CNF
is struggling for the rights and self-determination of Chin people and striving
for a federal union in
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