KAOWAO NEWS NO. 116

 

Newsletter for social justice and freedom in Burma

September 9-23, 2006

 

NMSP debate matters of political division

Villagers flee USDA course by local authorities

KNU forced villagers to join guerrilla unit

Mon monks disrobed by Thai authorities

Border town on alert

Mon refugees released from detention in Malaysia

A senior leader of Karen ceasefire group under suspicion for drug dealing

Focus on ceasefire and war in Monland

Readers' Front

 

 

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NMSP debate matters of political division

(Kaowao: September 23, 2006)

 

Senior leaders of the NMSP called a Central Committee meeting at the party's General Headquarters today with the Mon public eagerly awaiting news on the outcome.

 

The main discussion would be whether the NMSP should attend the government sponsored National Convention, according to the source.   This will mark future relationships between the NMSP and SPDC.

 

Lately, the New Mon State Party has sought out public opinion on whether it should attend the National Convention in Nyaunghnapin.

 

"We sincerely want the public to understand our status quo and give feedback to better work together for the future.  It is crucial for the party to analyze what are the advantages and disadvantages if the NMSP is to join the NC in October," said Nai Ong Mangae before he left for Mon State from Sangkhalaburi, Thai-Burma border.

 

The leadership of the NMSP has faced challenges since the death of its founders Nai Shwe Kyin and Nai Htin, as well; its relationship with the SPDC has not improved since the purge of Khin Nyunt with limited communication between the two.   

 

A retired NMSP leader said, "The majority of Central Executive Committee (CEC) members favour a more forceful approach including armed struggle.   However, the CEC may face a tough debate with 18 members of Central Committee (CC) who play a key role in the party's operation.  Without consensus of its second leaders, the party's operation will not be active.   There is an ideology division among 27 leaders."

 

After the ceasefire agreement, NMSP benefited some business opportunities and received Kyat 4.1 million per month from the junta. But the junta stopped supporting the monthly allowance in November 2005 after NMSP refused to send representatives to the NC and only attended as observers.

 

The SPDC recently announced that the government would reopen the convention to draft the country's new constitution on October 10.   Delegates to the National Convention have to be at the meeting site at Nyaunghnapin, about 45 kilometers north of Yangon, by October 7. 

 

The convention was adjourned on January 31, with the government saying delegates needed to return to work and would resume before the end of the year after farmers finished their cultivation and harvest.


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Villagers flee USDA Course by local authorities

(Kaowao: September 23, 2006)

 

A group of villagers have fled to Mon refugee camps at the Thai-Burma border to avoid recruitment by the Union Solidarity and Development Association.

 

The villagers who arrived at the Halockhanee camp, a source reported, said the USDA had forced them to sign up to an Advanced Management Course last month and their village headmen was ordered to fill up the quotas from 30 to 90 trainees depending on the village size.

 

Nai Dut, on the condition of anonymity, who hails from Tong Pulut of Thanbyu Zayat, said, "The training was for fire fighting and basic militia training to prepare for a foreign invasion."   He, added, however, that he believed the selected trainees were to become a reserve force for the junta in the future with full benefits.  They would be deployed as militia or civil servants by January of next year.

 

The USDA claims that the rural people constitute over 70 per cent of Burma's population and is the backbone of the nation. The trainings are targeting civilians to become morally strong to form a skilled national force capable of serving the interests of the country.   The course will teach basic administration, politics, security, defense, and national development.

 

Other sources reported only some selected villages were targeted this time and other villages were not being called on for recruitment.

 

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KNU forces villagers to join guerrilla unit

(Kaowao: September 23, 2006)

 

Local villagers from Kawkareik reported that the Karen National Union has been recruiting them to join their guerrilla army units.

 

Ongkong village of about three hundred households were ordered to provide one person per household.

 

The village is comprised of multiethnic groups, including the Mon, Karen, Lao-Shan and Burmese, located near Kanee of Kawkareik in Karen State.  The Mon community is comprised of about 200 households.

 

A villager who arrived to the border said Commander Kyi Lin of KNU's No. 6 Brigade gave the order saying that households who could not provide the soldiers would be fined.   New recruits were working on the farms belong to the KNU officers.

 

The Karen National Union (KNU) is an armed group operating in the border area between Burma and Thailand.  The Karen has been fighting the Burmese government since 1948 through its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

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Mon monks disrobed by Thai authorities

(Kaowao: September 22, 2006)

 

The Thai authorities disrobed eight monks in a Mon temple for illegal entry into the kingdom today.

 

The local source reported the Thai police raid at the Buddhist monastery at Bangkadee, a large Thai-Mon community near Bangkok at 10 p.m. local time where they arrested and disrobed Mon monks.

 

"Even though the monks had their identity cards from the religious society, they were arrested due to illegal entry.   They asked for Thai ID cards or a Household Registration List and the monks including four novices did not have the Thai nationality ID cards," said a monk from the temple.

 

The majority of Mon Buddhist monks were ordained by one of the most revered monks, Rev. Uttama, Abbot of Wat Viwekaram in Sangkhlaburi.  

 

The source explained that the monks were sent to a detention centre and will be deported to Burma through Maesot, at the Thai Burma border.

 

According to Buddhist principles, monks are obligated to stay only in their temples during the three months of the rainy season and are not allowed to move or travel to other places during their stay in Thailand.    They are also obligated to practice learning, teaching, preaching and meditation during (Woh/Phan-Sar) months.

 

In 2003, the Thai authorities raided 189 monasteries in 9 districts for illegal entry to the kingdom.

 

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Border town on alert

(Kaowao: September 13, 2006)

 

Authorities at the Three Pagodas Pass border town order civilians to patrol during night time and the city is on alert according to town residents.

 

"The city is on alert and they order 5 to 6 persons from each Quarter (Bloc) to patrol at night.  They told us to watch any strangers and suspicious activities," said a trader from the Thai Burma border town.  However, the SPDC authority did not clarify the reason for tighten security but town residents were warned for possible bomb attack or explosion.

 

Other business community source commented the sudden security measure is to counter retaliation by the Karen ceasefire group since the arrest of their leader, Major Lay Way in Mudon three weeks ago.

 

The Karen Peace Force (KPF) leader, Major Lay Way disappeared from the public eye when he went to Mudon to negotiate with the SPDC authorities regarding the arrest of his daughter and son-in-law.  His daughter, Miss Mu La Phong and her husband were arrested in Mudon last month with 22,000 amphetamine tablets and some explosive materials in their possession, according to the local source.

 

Even though, the SPDC did not confirm the arrest of Major Lay Way, many believed that he could be arrested because he has not been seen in public since then.  The KPF leader was also under the anti drug police's close eye for involvement in drug trafficking.


The remaining KPF troop under his command in the
Three Pagodas Pass is on hold and the relationship with the BA is sour.  The town has been on alert this week with a rumour of retaliation by possible attack.

 

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Mon refugees released from detention in Malaysia

(Kaowao: September 12, 2006)

 

Four Mon refugees were released from detention after the UNHCR office heard their cases last week.
 
A Mon Refugee Organization reported that Nai Thein Soe, a 17-year-old from Kaw Kareik Township, and Nai San Chan, a 17-year-old from Pha An township of Karen State, have been released after being held for six months in Semenyih detention camp in Selangor.

 

Also released were Nai Tun Shein, a 50-year-old from Kyaikmayaw Township and Nai Zaw Myo Oo, a 34-year-old from Paung Township Both were held for two months in Kotabaru.
 
The four Mon asylum seekers will be permitted to register for Refugee Status Determination (RSD) in October 2006 by the UNHCR office. The Mon Refugee Organization in Kula Lumpur also provided temporary shelter and some humanitarian assistance.   

 
In August, Nai Myo Zaw, of Kaw Gom village near
Moulmein died of injuries he suffered in his attempt to escape immigration authorities. Nai Sein, an asylum seeker from Kawhlaing village of southern Ye, was also injured after jumping down from a two-storey building in his bid to escape.   
 
Recently, the Malaysian immigration authorities launched a crackdown on undocumented migrant workers and asylum seekers in the country.   According to migrant community sources, many arrested migrant workers were forcibly deported to the Thai-Malay border.

 
Several thousand villagers, mostly from southern
Mon State, have fled their homeland to escape massive repression and human-rights abuses by the Burmese military by land and sea.  Many of them chose Malaysia instead of Thailand for better protection.

 

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A senior leader of Karen ceasefire group under suspicion for drug dealing

(Kaowao: September 9, 2006)

 

A senior leader of a Karen ceasefire group is a suspected drug dealer after his daughter and her husband were arrested last month. Major Lay Way could be arrested in connection to amphetamine drug trafficking, a source from Mon state said who requested anonymity.

 

"The senior leader of the Karen ceasefire group had disappeared and may be arrested on his way to Mon state from Three Pagodas Pass border town," the source close to the ceasefire group, Karen Peace Force (KPF) said.

 

The source continued that he has not been seen in the public; however, it cannot confirm if he has been arrested.   Major Lay Way was not found in Mon state at the moment.   A few months ago, the SPDC anti drug police in Mon state had strongly warned him about his involvement in amphetamine trafficking, the source said.

 

His daughter Miss Mu La Phong and her husband were arrested for drug possession in central Mon State last month with possession of 10,000 amphetamine tablets.

 

The Karen troop movements under his command in Three Pagodas Pass are now on hold after news broke out of his impending arrest, the town residents said.   Over 50 years old, he has been in charge of TPP for a number of years.

 

The KPF is not well known like the DKBA who are high-level drug traffickers in Yaba (crazy medicine in Thai) in Mon and Karen states, sources from southern Karen state said. The DKBA are allies of the State Peace and Development Council and are the kingpins in organizing Yaba drug trafficking in these areas, whereas the KPF group is low level drug traffickers, the source said.

 

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Opinion

 

Focus on ceasefire and war in Monland

 

By Taing Taw

 

The critical time has come for the New Mon State Party to decide if it is to attend the upcoming National Convention in October as an observer or participant.   The New Mon State Party is finding it harder to maintain its ceasefire agreement with the SPDC and party leaders now debate on its relationship with the regime.  

 

The NMSP's' President General Htow Mon has pointed out the many shortcomings of the ceasefire and the government's reluctance to implement the peace process or renegotiate any part of it over the last few months, meanwhile, the Secretary General Nai Hongsar is seen as aligned with pro-exile groups and rarely travels inside Burma even though his party had reached a ceasefire with the SPDC.

 

The party sees the NC as bearing no fruit for national reconciliation that has prompted senior leaders from inside and outside of the country to meet in the heartland of Mon State to take stock of the situation and evaluate the ceasefire process. Mon people will be waiting to hear any decision taken by the party for Mon independence.

 

Neither maintaining the peace resistance nor fighting for independence is seen as bringing a solution to the political deadlock in Burma. But some political observers say that the breaking of the ceasefire is not the answer.   We have spent the last decade improving some services they say and point out two developments: education and health care. Life would become more difficult with the resumption of fighting and would adversely affect education and health care in the Mon areas. Young people would be the victims of civil war as they have in the Karen area where many young people bore the brunt of hostilities.

 

After the ceasefire in 1995 both the education and health departments run by the NMSP, with the help of some NGOs, became more efficient in development in Monland. The educational department has now over 1,000 teachers serving some 50,000 students with the majority in primary schools in remote areas under partial control of the NMSP.

 

With scarce resources and personnel, medics from the NMSP trained in malarial treatment are the only source of health care for villages in the rural areas and some urban areas. These services would be cut off if hostilities resume. Prior to the 1995 ceasefire, the health department accepted high school graduates with one-year medical school, after serving two years as volunteer. Now many party medics have opened clinics with four years of medical training. MSF was the main organization working with the health department and had contributed significantly in the health sector, but have pulled out now.

 

If war ignites the situation will further deteriorate; firstly, the burden of fighting will fall upon young people and spark an exodus of refugees across the border and refugee camps along the border will again be burnt down. Civilians will be caught in the crossfire and the SPDC, notorious for using rape as a weapon of war, will step up their repression. As well, students studying at the party schools will have to stop their education and hide in the jungle or flee from human rights violations. According to the ceasefire agreement, the Mon Education Department joined with SPDC's universities and nurse colleges and the education of many young Mon people improved significantly. According to a Mon now studying for his PhD in the United States, young people from his area in eastern Monland had no chance to attend high school before the ceasefire.

 

Yet for most people in the black areas, the lack of security, lawlessness, human rights abuses and the steady increase of land confiscations by the SPDC are daily occurrences.   Discontent is becoming more widespread with Mon villagers and farmers fleeing to Thailand and young people have to drop out of school due to lack of finances.

 

It seems that the government incited their commanders to take more land after the ceasefire so they would have a stronger hand in future negotiations, says an observer. Meanwhile people from these affected areas are frustrated with the party and the ceasefire. They complain that the ceasefire excluded them from the negotiations and did not address their concerns while pointing out that thousands of acres of land were confiscated after 1996 without compensation. They want NMSP to protect their land from the presence of SPDC troops who target them indiscriminately. Most land confiscations occur in Ye township which is still considered by SPDC as a black area or conflict zones due to the presence of Mon splinter groups who sometimes launch ambushes against SPDC troops.

 

The Bangkok Process called for a gradual transition in Burma, but it would have been better if the ethnic nationalities had been consulted and if Thaksin had no business interests in the country.   In fact that was the end of the game and the SPDC has further removed itself by creating a new capital. The move to Pyinmana is symbolic of the inflexible approach of future negotiations with the SPDC. Everyone is in agreement that the country now is in a desperate situation with the growing problems of AIDS, poverty, lack of education, human rights abuses, and human trafficking.

 

People are anxious for a change after the insincerity of the SPDC and its forced national reconciliation process. When the NMSP snubbed the NC invitation by sending observers instead of representatives, it further drove a wedge between the two groups. Furthermore, the SPDC's relations with all the ethnic groups have soured ever since the purge of former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt who had forged a truce between them in 1994.

 

The NMSP and others are divided on these issues, but most say given that there are plenty of obstacles there is no choice but to continue on with the struggle. The hope now is that the international community will exert more pressure on the Burmese government as they have done recently by bringing the Burma issue to the UN Security Council.

 

(The views expressed here are solely the opinion of the author. Kao-Wao Editor)

 

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Readers' front

 

Dear readers,

 

We invite comments and suggestions on improvements to Kaowao newsletter. With your help, we hope that Kaowao News will continue to grow to serve better the needs of those seeking social justice in Burma. And we hope that it will become an important forum for discussion and debate and help readers to keep abreast of issues and news.  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 News

kaowao@hotmail.com, www.kaowao.org

 

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Dear Editor,

 

As an OMCC representative, I would like to point out in your news on September 5 about NMSP and the SPDC's NC (in Mon version). In that news, you express that overseas Mon organizations have been giving a pressure to the NMSP to return arm struggle again. Regarding to that point, I would like to say this is not correct regarding our position on the SPDC's NC. As our statement on December 2005 regarding on the SPDC'NC, we, overseas orgs fully support the NMSP position for withdrawing from the NC as we see the NC would not give the benefit to our people.  Up to now, our position on the NC is the same. Please do not imply that withdrawing from the NC mean return fighting again. We are not urging the NMSP to return into arm struggle again. But we will support any NMSP's decision if there is a benefit of Mon people.

 

Sincerely

Banya Mon

Oslo, Norway

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Need A Burmese Surgeon By Kanbawza Win

 

Vicky Bowman is no longer British Ambassador to Myanmar, so even if Burma was still a British colony, it would be wrong to address her by that title, and in any case Britain sent Governors to its colonies, not Ambassadors. She was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary from the Court of St. James's (note the apostrophe - short for St. James's Palace). Ambassadors are not given the courtesy title of "Honourable". They are already Excellencies, which is even better. Her Majesty's Letters of Credence commending Vicky were addressed to the Head of State of the Union of Myanmar, however much we may like the sound of Burma, which I do immensely.

 

I see you want "swift Security Council action". Well, honestly, don't we all? But even the fiery Ambassador John Bolton said on 1 September 2006 that all he is at present aiming for is another discussion on Burma, this time formally in the Security Council Chamber, with another briefing by whoever (Mr Gambari again, I wonder?), but alas no Council Resolution. He'll probably get the 9 votes he needs - for a discussion only. Then Burma would be on the very long list of matters with which the Security Council is said to be "seized" - see UN document S/2006/10 of 1 March 2006: at the last annual review, updated weekly, there were 148 items on the permanent agenda. Until, that is, the Chinese and Russians pull the plug on the issue of the Council's competence to discuss "The Situation in Myanmar" at all.

 

John Bolton, tough as he is, is realistic. He knows the Chinese and Russians will veto anything but the mildest of Resolutions. He has been trying ever since the last Gambari briefing on 31 May 2006 to get an agreed text, but he has clearly failed. So he has gone for second best, which is another briefing. He is unfortunately caught between the rock of the US Congress and the hard place of Chinese and Russian intransigence. Driven by ideology to bring democracy to every nation on our planet, whether it is wanted or not, the US clearly needs a distraction from the appalling results of their policies in the Middle East and their abysmal human rights record (Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, "extraordinary rendition" and the rest), and Burma is the ideal distraction.

 

But don't expect any serious action. We can perhaps open a can of Heineken, Budweiser or Fosters, depending on where we all are, but I would keep the champagne on ice. The fact remains that 14 out of 15 members of the Security Council and 191 out of 192 members of the UN are not convinced that Burma is a "threat to the peace", however much you and the US may be. At the end of the day, "threat to the peace" is a purely subjective, political judgment by individual countries. The US may be going for Chapter VII language. The rest of the Council will be satisfied with Chapter VI, and provided John Bolton restrains his ebullient temperament, the Chinese and Russians might - I say only might - just play ball, but the solution, or should I say Resolution, will be nothing that you or Messrs Havel and Tutu would ever dare to imagine.

 

Vicky has now done Burma. She is probably already switched off, looking forward to exciting new challenges in her new appointment which concerns another part of the world for which she is eminently suited.

 

With warmest regards,

Derek Tonkin

 

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