KAO WAO NEWS
No. 48
An electronic
newsletter for social justice and freedom in
June
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READERS'
FRONT
MON LEADER
CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION
DISPLACED
PEOPLE BEYOND THE BORDER
CIVILIANS
LOOTED AND KILLED BY ARMED GROUPS
POPULATION
TRANSFER INTO
LAND
CONFISCATION STRIKES FEAR IN FARMERS
BOMB EXPLODES
IN
EXILED
GOVERNMENT WELCOMES
NON-PROFIT
EDUCATION IN
EXILED ARAKAN
LEADER PASSES
DIASPORA
NEEDS DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP: BY KANBAWZA WIN
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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
Regards,
Editor
kaowao@hotmail.com
http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1215&lo=d&sl=0
_________________________________________________________
Dear Editor,
Regarding KaoWao 47 about
Mon farmers being forced to find rice and sell it to the government at low
prices. The
1. If the Mon farmers obey with the unfair demands,
they will go broke and slowly starve to death. Then the govt. will take their
land.
2. If they get angry and fight back against the
govt., then the SPDC soldier will have an excuse to burn down their villages,
and kill them all. Then the govt. will
take their land.
3. If they give up and flee to
Thus it appears that this is just a way to commit
genocide, forced expulsion, and annexation of all Mon lands.
Dr. D Law
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Dear Editor,
I had lived in Thaton and Kyaikhto
and would love to read anything about those two towns. It would be great if you
and your staff could feed us news about people and places in those two towns.
Thanks,
Aung Myint
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Dear Editor,
I just came from Paung
(northern
Nai Parla
(
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Reaction
after May 30 ambush attack on Aung San Suu Kyi and her entourage
MON LEADER
CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION
(Kao-Wao,
A leader of a Mon umbrella organization calls for
international intervention to solve the crisis in
The General Secretary of the Mon Unity League, Nai Sunthorn said, “the political situation cannot be solved by the Burmese
people, the international community must step in and intervene, otherwise there
never will be change”.
“I believe we should approach the UN and the
international community, the developed nations, to change the military
government in
“National reconciliation will be impossible because
of the ruling junta’s continual brutal action and attacks against the
democratic groups. This has happened since Aung San Suu Kyi and her party was
voted in. The recent attack on May 30th, the killing of NLD members and the
detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD members highlights the urgency of
the situation and of the regime’s indifference to political reform”, he said.
Since New Mon State Party cut contact with the Thai
Mon community, as per the cease-fire agreement with the military regime in
1995, it caused misunderstandings with the Thai Mon community that sparked
disunity within the community, the MUL leader added.
He pointed out that economic sanctions may affect
the living standards of a small group of people, however, the economic and
financial assistance from the world community in the past had little or no
advantage for the majority of the civilian population, he told Kao-Wao during an interview. A small number of people will be
affected by the sanctions, including the aid from
The MUL was formed at a Mon national affairs
seminar in 1995 at the Thai-Burma border soon after the New Mon State Party
signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese junta in
Some MUL members are international diplomats in
foreign affairs, working abroad for the cause of the Mon in their struggle for
self-determination and for the establishment of a federal union of
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News
Report:
DISPLACED
PEOPLE BEYOND THE BORDER
(Kao-Wao: Three Pagodas
Pass Border,
Over ten thousand displaced people live at the Thai
border in the black areas of southern
Local farmers in Ye township, the southern part of
Mon State and local people in Ye Phyu Areas in
Tenasserim Division fled to Cheoh Dide
village during the earlier rainy season after their farms were confiscated by
the Burmese Army.
According to Rot Rot,
Coordinator of Mon National Relief and Development Committee, people in Ye Phyu, Ye and Kya Inn Sein Kyi areas escaped from their
native villages because they can no longer endure the ongoing conflict and its
related forms of human rights violations.
“The people are in a desperate situation, they flee
from their villages, many are victims of the conflict going on there, being
forced to porter and rounded up for slave labor projects, and many are
suffering from extreme hardship.” Rot Rot said.
Local farmers have been imposed with an official
“Pass” from the BA officials and must have it with them to visit their farms
and gardens. If they stray from their village and gardens they risk being
accused as “rebel supporters” and will be shot on sight if found without a
pass, said a source from the Mon Relief Committee.
The Relief Committee is providing a month supply of
rice to the newly displaced people arriving at Cheoh Dide camp. The
displaced were able to endure the harsh journey through the dense jungle, but
many others are unable to reach the border due to the lack of food for feeding
their families, the very young and older members of the family and the
disabled.
The relief workers said the displaced people leave
their homes because they cannot go out freely to fish, or farm, during the day
and night. Many local Mon farmers in Ye and Ye Phyu depend on their farms and fishing to sustain their
basic survival needs. Searching for food leads some into the “black areas” (war
zone) defined by the military government.
For the last three years the BA has confiscated over
8,000 acres of land in
The Mon National Liberation Army and its mother
organization New Mon State Party agreed to a ceasefire with the Burmese
military government in 1995. No benefit
to the majority has been achieved, repression continues and the number of displaced
people has increased in Halockhanee Camp, PaLaing
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CIVILIANS
LOOTED AND KILLED BY ARMED GROUPS
(Kao-Wao,
Human rights violations by both the Burmese Army
and armed insurgent groups against unarmed civilians continue in the black
area, southern
According to local sources, the BA launched a
military operation against the insurgent groups in southern Ye
and Ye Phyu townships five months ago, looting has
occurred continuously during the offensives.
The opposition-armed group in the area also commits
kidnappings and executions.
Recently a Mon splinter group killed a village headman
of Yaen Rae.
Independent Mon News Agency reported that a 43-year-old victim, Nai Krak (Nai
Tay) was killed by the Mon guerrillas on July 15.
“We have no idea the reason for the killing, it may
be a failure to support them with taxes or having contact with the Burmese
Army,” said Nai Shein from Yaen Rae.
The splinter group has been cut off from many
resources during the operation, they kidnapped 12 villagers from Wae Baing in eastern Ye last month for a ransom of 3 millions Kyat (Burmese
currency).
The Mon splinter group led by Nai
Hloin and Nai Bin broke
away from the New Mon State Party after the Party reached a cease-fire
agreement with the military regime in 1995, and continues to operate in the
area.
In early July, local sources reported that new
Burmese battalions with artillery are being deployed in the southern part of
Troop deployment started on July 1 and is stationed
along the motor road between Thanbyu Zayat and Ye Town in
Along the stretch of the motor road, the BA deploys
50 to 200 soldiers to loot villagers’ livestock such as pigs, cattle, chickens
and ducks, say the villagers.
“The soldiers do not ask us, they just shoot and
help themselves to the livestock, at whatever they see. When we complain to
their commanders, the officers do not take any notice or deal with the
soldiers,” said a villager from JomSai.
The villagers in Yebyu
and southern Ye areas are ordered not to stay in their farms at night and those
between the ages of 15 to 40 must apply for a special travel allowance card
issued by the BA battalion to go their farms during the day.
According to the source, the ID cards are signed by
the military officer and stamped with the name of their battalion. If the villagers are arrested outside of
their village without holding these cards and supporting letters from the
village headmen, they may be fined, beaten or shot. The card specifies the name and age, they
must present the cards to a soldier when they go to their paddy farms or go
fishing in the sea.
Many people from Southern Ye fled from their homes
to avoid taxation and armed conflict between the BA and the Mon guerrillas in
the war torn area.
********************************************************************************************
POPULATION
TRANSFER INTO
(By Bop Htaw / Monland,
The State Peace and Development Council, the
current ruling military junta in
The Mon political community and members of New Mon
State Party (NMSP) now realize the ceasefire agreement process between the NMSP
and the Burmese Army has not brought any political solution or any benefits for
the people. The Burmanization policy proves the
motives of the ruling Burmese junta to exercise complete control over the Mon
and other ethnic nationalities, aptly referred to as the “Population Transfer
Program”.
The Burmese Military Operation Command No (19)
based in Ye Town has formed local militia groups, “Counter Insurgent Force” in Ye and Ye Phyu areas. A Mon
politician in Ye said there are over 600 members of a militia group in the grey
and black areas.
According to the source, the SPDC, led by Senior
General Than Shwe has aggressively expanded ten new
military regiments in Ye and Than Phyu-Zayat after
1995, the year the ceasefire agreement came into being.
The Military Operation Command No (19) recruited
local “Security Guards”: native retiree Burmans from the pool of military
personnel in rural Mon villages. Many
local Mon politicians have the capacity to take the job but are refused and
rejected of any positions. The villagers
prefer their Village Chief (Headman) for the position, someone who speaks the
Mon language and who is from the area.
“We know it to be what it is: simply discrimination
against us, they take their men over ours due to the Burmanization
policy”, said Win Thein, a senior politician in Ye. The local Village Chief who works under an
order of the BA is assigned the job, while he earns no single Kyat (local
currency) from the State; but he has the power to extract fees from the local
population to pay him cash on hand with special instructions.
Some areas of Ye and Ye Phyu Townships, southern
According to a source from the New Mon State Party,
a military base in Mhokanin village, northern Ye, was built for the prime purpose of relocating retired
military personnel and disabled war veterans to the camp. The military camp is near to local Mon
villages where the Burman soldiers have free time to engage in social
activities and mix with the local girls and women in the community, while many
of the Mon men have left their homes due to human rights violation and economic
destitution.
“It is clear that they (Burmese army) confiscated
over 8,000 acres of land and built military bases, it is only for the purpose
of population transfer”, the NMSP members in Ye said.
Many Burmese troops have been stationed after 1995
in Ye and Ye Phyu
areas. Senior members of New Mon State
Party who remain in the thick jungle in the Ye area have serious concerns over
the policy of Burmainzation in its former controlled
areas.
New Mon State Party and its armed wing Mon National
Liberation Army reached a ceasefire agreement with the current Burmese regime
in 1995 but no political settlement has been reached for the Mon people.
********************************************************************************************
Life in
LAND
CONFISCATION STRIKES FEAR IN FARMERS
(Kao-Wao and IMNA:
Farmers in Mon and Karen states fear their land
will be taken after a recent field survey by the SPDC authorities.
Local sources reported farmers are growing more
alarmed after the State Peace and Development Council’s authorities in the
areas measured their land. The Burmese Army continues land confiscation in
Kawkareik Township of Karen State, after a visit of an army senior official.
The Independent Mon News Agency reported Maj. Gen.
Maung Bo, Ministry of Defense; recently visited the site to deploy a new
military battalion in
The proposed confiscated land is located near Kaw-Bein Mon village, the site is
close to a stronghold area of New Mon State Party where Party’s Thaton District
has its Headquarters.
The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
authorities ordered the villagers to collect bamboo for making a fence around
the occupied land, said the source. The villagers
nearby are forced to bring the required amount of bamboo after the field visit
made by the SPDC leader on July 4.
A villager said, “Land confiscation happens after
Maung Bo’s visit. He came to examine the
Kaw-Bein–Kyone-Doe road
construction, on how many miles have been completed and how much was destroyed
by the flood. He ordered to abandon the
previous construction and to find a new route again. Followed by his orders, the authorities
confiscate new land to deploy a military battalion for the security of the
road.”
In southern
They authorities came to the hills (planted gardens
of betel nut, rubber and tropical fruits) and surveyed the land. Since they have already taken the lands at AruTong and Mawkanin (northern Ye), we will become the next victims said the landowner from
western Ye.
Since the survey continues, villagers have no idea
whose land will be taken and how many acres of land will be confiscated. The villagers from Ye
and Kawkareik townships are worried for the potential loss of their lands.
The BA, Southeast Command, has constructed a 15
mile long Kaw-Bein-Kyone-Doe road by forced labour
since March, some parts of the embankment collapsed from heavy flooding in June
and early July.
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BOMB EXPLODES
IN
(Kao-Wao and DVB:
A bomb exploded in the capital city of
The
According to a local resident of
The SPDC’s paper, on July 11, reported that the
explosion was an act of an ‘unknown’ insurgent wanting to blow up the
Nai Lwin, a local businessman
said the explosion coincidently occurred on the anniversary of the 7th
July, when the Army, led by General Ne Win, exploded the Student Union Building
of Rangoon University while students were holding a demonstration.
The bomber can be any one, the opposition, the
military itself or many who are upset with government repression, he added.
****************************************************************************
International
pressure
(Cited from AFP)
The Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003,
passed in the Senate Wednesday by a vote of 94-1, authorizes
Bush to aid
A White House statement said Bush looked forward to
signing the bill.
"This legislation sends a clear message to the
Burmese regime that their continued detention of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi and their assaults on freedom cannot stand," said Scott McClellan.
The legislation seeks to punish the ruling junta
for its recent crackdown on pro-democracy groups and its detention on May 30 of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The author of the bill, Senator Mitch
McConnell, applauded the US Congress for the legislation's speedy passage and
said he hoped it would trigger the start of the dictatorship's demise.
"Democracy and the rule of law will prevail in
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD) won 1990 elections in a landslide victory but was never been allowed to
rule.
Shortly after the Senate vote, UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan emerged from a meeting with
"I have given him a message for General Than
Shwe, basically telling him I would expect them to release Aung San Suu Kyi as
soon as possible and that they are responsible for the protection and safety of
Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her party," Annan told reporters. The Senate vote came one day after the US
House of Representatives voted 418-2 to approve the measures.
The regime in
"Sanctions, in short, are imposed on target
countries by the rich and powerful nations mainly with the intention to create
havoc and bring hardship on the mass population," he said. Last week the junta sent Bush a petition
signed by 350,000 textile workers appealing against the ban, which the Myanmar
Times say would threaten annual exports worth 356 million dollars, mostly in
the textile sector.
Both
An official with the Washington-based Free Burma
coalition called the Senate vote "a huge step in the right direction and
that direction is regime change in
********************************************************************************************
EXILED
GOVERNMENT WELCOMES
(Kao-Wao:
The National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma, the Burmese government in exile, welcomes the passage of US sanctions on
“Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003" was passed by the US House of Representatives with an
overwhelming majority vote of 418-2 on
In its statement, the NCGUB stated the Act serves
as a clear and strong response from the
option for their survival is to
start national reconciliation and the democratization process in
The NCGUB Prime Minister Dr Sein Win said, "By
passing this act the
The National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma also supports calls by the
********************************************************************************************
Feature
NON-PROFIT
EDUCATION IN
(By Banya Hongsar,
Local students in
A trend of education in the country has emerged in
which the new generation is keen to learn English and hope to find classes in
town both at the private and non-profit institutions. Many young students
struggle for a better education and employment, while the Burmese officials
engage in a competitive power struggle for Public Office.
Nai Soe Than, a former high
school teacher from Mon State who now serves as the 2nd Chief of Mon National
Education Committee has campaigned for years for a non-profit educational
system in the community, especially in the urban area of Mon State, after
traveling inside the country. He has had access to other areas of the country
after the ceasefire agreement between New Mon State Party and State Peace and
Development Council, the current ruling military junta.
“They (Burmese army officials) know what we are doing
because it does not involve politics. So they say nothing, instead they allow
their children to come to learn the English Language class,” Mr Than said in a recent meeting on the Thai-Burma border
area.
A leading Mon academic “Ajar JaNu”
works with his colleagues in running a non-profit English Language Class in the
Mon Community Hall at the hill in
His colleague Mr Than Nyunt, a former headmaster of a High School, also
opened similar classes at Thanbyu Zayat
city. Over 600 students completed a sufficient level of English language
classes in that city under an English Language Teaching (ELT) program run by Mr Nyunt. He also manages ELT programs for both spoken and
written English at Pa Nga, Kroke
Pi, Hnit Kayin villages.
“I raised the issue to a few aid agencies in the
border area and they donated small cash allotments with their good will for
volunteers,” Mr Soe Than added. “You know, it is a
way to gain merit,” he said.
It is a noble job for these scholars in the
community after they were refused employment in government-run schools. They
were accused of participating in pro-democracy campaigns during 1988 and now
are unable to pursue a career in the department of the Education Ministry.
“It is such a relief for them to earn cash for
their family,” Mr Than said in an interview recently.
For over ten years, these educators were banned to work at the government schools,
many fled as a result to the border area and to
A non-profit English Language Teaching programs
continues throughout the day until the sun sets over the highest mountain in
“I told him to leave teaching and just manage the
program, but he refuses,” Mr Than repeated. “He is a
man with professional skills, fluent in Mon, Burmese and English, he is keen to
contribute his experience and teach the younger generation until he steps into
the grave”, Mr. Than proudly said.
The world community knows that
As a former Director of Basic Education Department
of Burma, Aja Janu
transferred his educational vision and strategies in a paper to the “Seminar of
Mon National Affairs” in the 2001 educational reform in
“What will be our future without proper education
in this country,” he recently told KaoWao in
************************************************************************
EXILED ARAKAN
LEADER PASSES
(Kao-Wao:
A prominent Arakanese leader passed away in a
northern city in
According to the Head Office of Arakan League
for Democracy (ALD-exile), its General Secretary Khaing
Myo Khaing passed away at the Chiang Mai hospital on
July 18 at
Khaing Myo Khaing
also known as Ko Tun Tha, 55 years old, was elected as the general secretary of
the ALD (exile) at the third conference in 2001 and also became an active
leader of the United Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD) in exile.
Khaing who leaves one daughter
behind was admitted to the hospital and given medical treatment for
several days to treat complications resulting from a long-suffering battle with
leukemia.
Khaing Myo Khaing,
the eldest son of 7 was born in 1948 at Kyauk Taw,
The Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) won 11 seats
in
********************************************************************************************
Opinion
DIASPORA
NEEDS DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP: BY KANBAWZA WIN
Now that the NLD has been decapitated with Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and senior NLD leaders are under lock and key, the pro democracy
movement inside the country has been more or less paralyzed. It seems that
Burmese people might as well bite the bullet. One and a half decades of non
violent struggle had produced little or no effect somewhat quite similar to
Nazi Hitler where there is no place for non violence.
But hope springs eternal in human breast and a drowning man will catch a straw.
Some of the focus has now shifted to the three million plus Burmese in Diaspora
couple with those who continue to fight bravely in the peripherals of
U Tin Maung Win, the main architect of amalgamating
the causes of the ethnic nationalities with those of the pro democracy groups
has met with an untimely dead and there is a dearth of leadership outside the
country. The Burmese provisional government better known as National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), label “Na Gote”
meaning a bull in Burmese, had been unable to show any substantial result for
the entire one and a half decades. It just echoes the initiatives of the others
without any innovation, incentive or vision and thus has been fittingly named
“Na Gote”
because it just follows the lead of others. The Burmese exiles have
completely lost faith in them.
A thorough shake up is necessary that will in co
operate the activist, intelligentsia and young patriots both Burman and ethnic
nationalities which will be able to synchronize with those inside the country.
This is a MUST. The justification that a provisional government must be made up
of those elected members who manage to escape from the clutches of the Junta
and deliberately leave out the activist and the intelligentsia is long gone. It
should consider a more pragmatic approach instead of working as a clique
dominated by the
The whole idea of the Burmese problem in nutshell
must not be lost that there are two major problems, the pro democracy struggle
and the ethnic nationality autonomy. The very fact that “Na Gote”
cannot only organize the Karenni and the Shan into their fold but even the
existing members such as the Kachin, the Mon and other smaller groups have
break away from them and enter cease fire with the Junta reveals its impotency.
This also indicates that that the provisional government even on paper does not
represent a Pyidaungsu (
The international community is looking at the
Burmese community in Diaspora of how
Now “Na Gote” exists only
in name with their members airing some media outlet off and on. Residing in the
comforts of the Western world they have no vision whatsoever as their
intellectual and moral bankruptcy can be compared to that of the Junta. The
ousting of Sao Harn Yaungshwe,
a think tank from the “Na Gote” comes out open in the
media itself reveal that something is very, very wrong with the Burmese
provisional government. It is high time that it should be replaced by some
tangible leaders so abundant in the nationalities. We were appalled to learn
that none of the “Na Gote” members have ever
contacted the members of the Polit-Bureau of the
Chinese Communist Party nor ever met the Indian leaders and members of the
Central Policy Analyst, the Indian think tank policy makers. Thus the idea of
playing in the international relations is completely lost e.g. giving bait to
India vis a vis Pakistan
(that is selling arms to the Junta) or contacting North Korea vis a vis South Korea (whose companies
are having a big business in Burma). This explicitly means that “Na Gote” has little or no contact with the major international
players in the Burmese politics that are so influential on the Junta. So how
can it make a move?
At this crucial period when the international
community is about to take drastic actions nothing was done by “Na Gote”. We have learnt that
It is lamentable that “Na Gote”
had concentrates only on the Western countries and even then did not know how to
lobby in the
The views expressed here
are solely the opinion of the author. (Kao-Wao
Editor)
*************************************
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