KAOWAO NEWS NO. 126


Newsletter for social justice and freedom in Burma

April 12 – May 1, 2007


Readers Front

Flow of migration increases despite tight border controls

Monland Restoration Council (USA): Media Release

New Year gathering motivates building of Mon Temple

Mon New Year in the U.K

Dr. Su-Ed Gajaseni: Thai Mon leader dies at 83

 

MRO calls for the safety of Mon detainees in Malaysia

 

Unity a priority: NMSP leaders plan strategic meeting

The 4th international trade union conference on Burma

Burma and North Korea: Desperate Reconciliation

Venezuela Pulls Out of IMF, World Bank

 

 

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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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Migrant Watch

 

Flow of migration increases despite tight border controls

Kaowao: May 1, 2007

 

Migrant workers enter the kingdom of Thailand before the rainy season starts, despite a tighter control at the Three Pagodas Pass Thai-Burma border.

 

Nai Ong, a local resident at the border town said that even though the Burmese authorities have closed the border, following the arrest of two Thai border police by the DKBA group, migrant workers are crossing the border to make their journey ahead of the rainy season.

 

"It's difficult to tell how many people are coming, but the border police at Nam Kate arrested about two hundred people and sent them back in a week," said a village headman from Gu Bao.

 

On April 21, about 30 people were arrested by the Border Patrol Police (BPP) when they were trekking in the bush to avoid the Sangkalia gate near Sangkhalaburi town.

 

Many migrant workers returned to Burma during Songkran holiday and they came back with friends and relatives.

 

A town resident, Nai Ein told a Kaowao reporter that migrants wait along the border to enter the Kingdom, where they negotiate a deal with local traffickers who work in cahoots with Thais, to get them across the border and into Thailand without being detected by the Thai police.

 

A Mon social worker from the Mae Sot border town reported that over a thousand people cross the border from different crossings near the town every day after the New Year.

 

Many thousands of Mon and Burmese migrants work for survival wages in the construction, tourism, and agriculture industries and some others work on large rubber plantations in Hadyai, Surat and Phuket Provinces.  There are no official estimates, but Burmese migrants leaving Burma over the past decade number in the millions. Many have chosen to stay in Thailand and neighbouring countries in order to lead a secure life.

 

 

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Media Release

 

Coverage on demonstrations in front of UN Headquarters and Burmese embassy 

Monland Restoration Council (USA): May 1, 2007

 

We, Monland Restoration Council, are informing you for the news coverage of demonstrations to be held on May 7, 2007 in front of United Nations Headquarters in New York City and  Burmese Embassy in Washington D.C. (2300 S Street. NW, Washington D.C).

 

According to lunar calendar, this May 8, 2007 will be the 250th anniversary of Mon Kingdom Hongsawatoi Fallen Day, the day on which Mon people lost their independence and the day on which thousands of innocent Mon people were brutally executed by Burmese ruler, Aung Zay Ya. On this memorial day; we, members of Monland Restoration Council in the United States will hold demonstrations in front of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City and Burmese embassy in Washington D.C. in order to raise awareness of human rights violations in Monland.

 

We, about (80) Mon people from Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, and  North Carolina will hold demonstrations as following date, times, and locations.

 

Location I

In front of United Nations Headquarters, New York City, NY

Date: May 7, 2007 (Monday)

Time: 10:00 AM-2:00PM

 

Location II

In front of Burmese Embassy, Washington D.C

Date: May 7, 2007 (Monday)

Times: 12:00-3:00PM

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Nai Pan Htaw (Event coordinator)

Email: honsawatoi@aol.com

 

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New Year gathering motivates building of Mon Temple

Kaowao: April 30, 2007

 

Calgary, Canada -- The Mon community in Canada is gearing up to begin raising more funds to build a temple after a visiting monk addressed the revellers during a New Year festival.

 

 

Traditionally, Buddhist monks, referred to collectively as ‘Sangha” take on the leading role in the Mon community giving advice and spiritual support.  Over the Songkrant festival held in Calgary, the participants enthusiastically agreed to revitalize their dream to build a Mon community temple in a third country and look seriously to setting some goals.

 

 

The Songkrant gathering was organized by the Mon Buddhist Temple and; attended by a Mon monk Rev. Vara and members of the Mon community.  Men and women, children and adults gathered to share food and bring in the New Year greeting one another.  The celebration included Dhamma chanting, offering of alms and donations of food items to the monks and all the participants.  To avoid an overlap with other groups from Asia, this year’s festival was celebrated on April 22, 2007.

 

“Even though we have raised over ten thousand dollars from fund raising and donation, our plan was postponed due to more expensive mortgage.  We have to seriously think about our own temple. Otherwise, our children will not understand the Mon culture and traditions,” said Ms. Anjalii Mon, Vice-President of the MBT.

 

Traditionally, temples are a place of refuge, but families are hoping to use these places as educational centers for their children, in addition to meeting places for meditation, social gathering and offering ceremonies to the monks.

 

The building of Buddhist temples has been on the rise not only in North America, but also in other parts of the world with the migration of Southeast Asians, particularly Thai, Cambodian, and Lao peoples. The Thai-Icelandic Association recently set up planning for a Theravadda temple in Iceland with the help of a Thai millionaire to serve the needs of not only the Thai, but to offer enlightenment to western followers. However on a more basic level, immigrant families are growing concerned about their children growing up in a western society.

 

The Mon Buddhist Temple (Canada) was formed in the traditional New Year gathering in 2003 headed by Nai Khaing Waeng and Nai Cham Toik.  There are 3 Buddhist temples in the United States and the Mon in Canada have yet to build one. For religious purposes, the Mon in Canada attend Burmese, Thai, Cambodian and Sinhalese temples in their local communities.

 

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Mon New Year in the U.K

Kaowao: April 30, 2007

 

London -- Mon immigrants in the United Kingdom (UK) celebrated a modest Thingyan Water Festival in London on Saturday, 21st of April.

 

It was held in a small garden at the back of someone’s flat with over 40 participants crammed into chairs sitting along the walls; DJ Thingyan music set the pace. After a dinner of Mon noodles and soup at 6 pm, Mon Thingyan Rice and Faluda started their dance routine with many guests joining in. Afterwards the participants socialized with each other until the early morning hours.

 

According to an organizer, Aung Nan, it was the first activity for the Mon activists and youths to celebrate in the UK. “It was unique because it was the first time, it winded up being a very friendly group,” he commented.

 

The Mons in the UK celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the Mon National Day in Greenford, London in February. The group carried out further incentives for their future sustainability and looking out for new objectives.

 

Following last year’s objectives, they answered an appeal for children’s needs back home in Burma, this year; they will be seeking additional finances for local education projects.

 

Back home in Burma, the Mon people annually celebrate the New Year and Water Festival in mid April.  During this period, the older people stay in the Buddhist temples. Monks also preach sermons of the Buddha to lay devotees and guide them in the practice of internal meditation for three days intensively.  Before noon, young people offer alms to monks and their parents who are staying (observing the precepts) at the Temple.  In these evenings, they go to the temples and pagodas to pay homage by lighting incense and candles to pray for their future.

 

Local Mons organize various activities such as making Sangkran food, entertaining with dance and Songkran songs and pouring water during or after the New Year.


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Dr. Su-Ed Gajaseni: Thai Mon leader dies at 83

Kaowao: April 28, 2007

 

Professor Dr. Su-Ed Gajaseni, former president of the Thai Raman Association and the sixth generation of the great Mon Commander Banyae Join died on April 27, 2007, Friday night.


The well known professor of Faculty of Medicine,
Siriraj Hospital and Mahidol University was born on October 17 of the Buddhist year 2467 from the generation of the great Commander Banyae Join who fought against the Burman's occupation after Monland (Honsawatoi) was occupied by Alaung Paya in 1757.


Dr. Su-Ed worked as a senior house officer at Siriraj Medical Department and was later chosen as a state scholar. He studied at Graduate School of Medicine and Episcopal Hospital in
Pennsylvania, USA.  The disciplined doctor also received a Diploma of Advanced Hindi from Benaras University in India and a Doctorate of Medicine from Mahidol University, Bangkok.


He was a founder and long time President of Thai Raman Association (TRA) and worked for preservation of Mon literature and culture for several years.  Even though he grew up in
Thailand he spoke Mon fluently, with plenty of old Mon vocabulary and grammar thrown in.


In 2004, the
Mons from two countries held a ceremony honouring Dr. Su-ed on his 80th birthday at the Headquarters of the Thai-Raman Association, Bangkadee Mon village in Bangkhunthian on October 16.

 

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MRO calls for the safety of Mon detainees in Malaysia

Kaowao: April 22, 2007


Mon Refugee Organization has sent letters of concern to the international community to urge for the safety of Mon asylum seekers who have been detained by the Malaysian authorities.


According to Nai Lawee Chan, leader of the MRO (MRO) based in
Kuala Lumpur, forty-four Mon refugees and asylum seekers were arrested for illegal entry or lack of proper documentation during raids by local authorities and RELA (Peoples' Volunteer Corps) in February and March of 2007.   They were detained in different camps, namely Kelakadah, Sedang, Patumouth, Puchong and Kotaraya.  Twelve have been released and two were taken to the Thai-Malaysia border where they may be forced into illegal bondage, while thirty Mons are being kept in the detention camps.


“The UNHCR office has not visited the detainees until now and may not be allowed to visit even though 10 refugees including the MRO leader Nai Mon Nyang have the UNHCR cards,” said Lawee Chan.


The MRO requests the international community for urgent intervention on behalf of Mon refugees who have been arrested in
Malaysia during recent months.


“If these Mon people are deported to Burma, as we fear, they could face arrest and be at grave risk to their personal security.  Civilians, especially in southern Mon State where Nai Mon Nyan fled from, continue to suffer various forms of oppression by the Burma Army who accuse them of supporting a Mon armed group that is active there.  Human rights abuses by the Burmese Army have intensified with many villagers abandoning the area to find refuge elsewhere,” read the appeal letter of the MRO.


Since human rights violations continue in southern
Burma, many Mon have fled to Malaysia as illegal immigrants and live under miserable conditions.


Only a handful of Mon asylum seekers have been recognized as refugees in
Malaysia despite increasing numbers there.


According to the latest data collects by the MRO, 5683 Mon asylum seekers have registered with the MRO and only 151 people have been able to gain an interview with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the past two years.  A handful of 38
Mons hold UN recognition cards and only 11 were able to resettle to the third countries.


Burmese refugees, even those with work permits or who have been recognized as refugees by the UNHCR, have been arrested and tortured by the RELA.  The Malaysian NGOs have condemned the actions of RELA and called on the Malaysian government to abolish it because it reportedly commits severe human rights violations by assaulting, kicking and beating refugees and migrants with batons while conducting raids.

 

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Unity a priority: NMSP leaders plan strategic meeting

 

Kaowao: April 22, 2007

 

Sangkhlaburi -- New Mon State Party is planning to call a follow up Central Committee that was wrapped up before the Songkrant traditional New Year.


“The situation is good. Most of our work plans were positively and enthusiastically passed,” said General Nai Htow Mon, the President of the NMSP.


However, the NMSP has not released a statement to the general public even though the Mon civilian are concern about a possible pressure to the cease-fire party during or after the National Convention sponsored by the military junta.  The Mon population has grown disillusioned with the SPDC's National Convention and its objective to disarm the cease-fire groups outright without reciprocal concessions.


Colonel Kaorot, a CC member said, “our intention is to replace the leaders of Mon National Liberation Army with younger generation.”


The previous meeting mainly focused on reforming the structure of the party and building solidarity among the party and army members rather on the other issues.


The meeting extended the Military Commission member comprised of younger commanders Major Ko Tar and Major Layeh Gakao.  One of a well known MNLA leader, General Aung Naing is on medical leave and the two senior officers were selected to serve the MNLA.


The CEC and CC meetings were held before the traditional New Year at the Headquarters of the NMSP, southern
Mon State, Burma.  During the meeting, the NMSP’s liaison office issued a statement denying a report by the BBC (Burmese Service) saying that the NMSP held a meeting in Rangoon with other cease-fire groups on the situation after the National Convention.


According to the NMSP source, the NMSP will not disarm the MNLA if any pressure is applied to do so by the junta.


The NMSP is one of the strongest ethnic ceasefire groups and occasionally speaks out in support of an open dialogue with the military regime.  It also supports the UN Security Council decision to include
Burma in the Security Council discussion to press for democratic reform.  The NMSP's stance is well supported by the communities including overseas Mons who had publicly criticized the views of the party after it reached a cease-fire with the ruling Burmese junta in 1995.


The NMSP is headed by nine CEC (Central Executive Committee) comprised of Nai Htaw Mon, Nai Rotsa, Nai Hongsar and Nai Chan Toi.

 

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The 4th international trade union conference on Burma

Kaowao: April 12, 2007


The 4th international trade union conference on
Burma has urged the SPDC to stop repression of trade union rights including the denial of freedom of association in law and in practice.


The conference was held in
Kathmandu, Nepal on April 3-4, 2007 attended by representatives of Federation of Trade Unions - Burma (FTUB), the Federation of Trade Unions - Kawthoolei (FTUK) the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), Global Union Federations, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and union leaders from Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America.


“I am impressed that the conference endorsed the green light to apply more pressure on the SPDC.  We condemn foreign direct investment especially in the oil, gas and mining industries,” said Nai Ong who attended the meeting with FTUB’s General Secretary, Maung Maung.  The military regime has attempted to brand the FTUB as a terrorist organisation, and to prevent Maung Maung from attending the International Labour Conference and engaging in other international travel.


The Burma Conference notes that conditions in Burma remain critical including trade union movement, widespread and systematic violations of human rights over many years.  It strongly supports the decisions of the ILO Governing Body and the Conclusions of the 2006 ILC Selection Committee to pursue a referral to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), relating to the violation of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (ILO Convention 29) by the Burmese military regime.


The Burma Conference calls on the governments to increase political, diplomatic, and economic pressure, including the application of effective economic sanctions on the regime and to promote dialogue within governments and inter-governmental bodies to convince the SPDC to engage in a political time-bound dialogue with all interested parties including the ethnic nationalities and the National League for Democracy.

 

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Commentary

 

Burma and North Korea: Desperate Reconciliation

By Nehginpao Kipgen

 

For many Burma watchers and political analysts, it was not surprising when the visiting North Korean vice foreign minister  Kim Yong Il and Burmese deputy foreign minister Kyaw Thu, on 26th April 2007, signed an agreement to normalize over two decades of shattered diplomatic relation between the two countries.

 

Amidst mounting international pressure, the two world’s most reclusive and repressive regimes see the timing necessary and significant. However, to many observers, this agreement emanates out of desperate rather than cordiality.

 

Simmering political situations on the ground is apparently preponderance to the October 1983 political havoc caused by catastrophic bombing that killed 21 people. South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan escaped the assassination attempt, but the political fallout between the two countries was severely impaired.

 

Among others, Burma and North Korea share four fundamental similarities: (1) Both are dictatorial regimes governed by military forces (2) Two least developed countries of the world (3) Good friends of communist China (4) Facing varying degrees of diplomatic and economic sanctions from the western world, more stringently by the United States government. Moreover, both countries are substantially - economically and politically - influenced by China and share borders with her.

 

Largely sidelined at the international arena, State Peace and Development Council and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are on the look out for friends. The former has been criticized for gross human rights violations on its own people and lack of democratic reforms, and the later on its nuclear enrichment program.

 

Although with different outcomes, the two governments have been scrutinized at the United Nations Security Council: Burma’s case was vetoed on January 12, 2007, and a resolution 1718 (2006) on North Korea was unanimously passed at the 5551st Security Council meeting on October 16, 2006.

 

International community’s response to the latest development is mixed. South Korea welcomes the move with its foreign ministry official said, “We hope this restoration will lead to the opening of North Korea and hope it will contribute to peace and stability within your country.”

 

Unsurprisingly, Chinese foreign spokesman Liu Jianchao said, “North Korea and Burma are both friendly neighbors of China. We are happy to see and welcome the improvement of their bilateral ties."

 

The U.S. state department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said, “I don't think that the establishment of diplomatic relations with either of these two countries has any profound impact on how we view them.”

 

Tom Casey also in his April 26 briefing added, “......the North Koreans are being encouraged to take those steps and do so as soon as possible. We need to get back to the important business at hand, which is the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."

 

 

U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, in January 2005, branded six countries - Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Burma, North Korea, and Zimbabwe – as "outposts of tyranny." On August 1, 2006, President Bush renewed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 and extended import restrictions against the regime.

 

The UN Security Council members have demanded that North Korea abandons its nuclear program and dismantle its nuclear reactor.

 

Burma and North Korea have chosen the path to heal their past wounds and seek alliances with like-minded countries. Kim Jong Ii has claimed he is a leader of nuclear power, and Than Shwe has a desire to develop.

 

Two significant points can be drawn from this latest development. First, the bombing that severed bilateral ties between the two countries happened in Rangoon and the reconciliation agreement is also reached in the same city. Second, it happens at a time when Nay Pyi Taw and Pyongyang desperately need friends and partners at the international politics.

 

This landmark peace deal could be a positive development to some observers, but for many, it is a serious concern to regional peace and a symbol of consolidating dictatorial regimes in the poverty-stricken countries. The vast majority of Burmese and North Koreans would be unenthusiastic to welcome such rapprochement at this juncture of history.

 

(Nehginpao Kipgen is the General Secretary of US-based Kuki International Forum and a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Burma, 1947-2004.  The views expressed here are solely the opinion of the author. Kao-Wao Editor)

 

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Around the globe

 

 

Venezuela Pulls Out of IMF, World Bank

By JORGE RUEDA, AP: April 30, 2007

 

CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez announced Monday he would formally pull Venezuela out of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, a largely symbolic move because the nation has already paid off its debts to the lending institutions.


"We will no longer have to go to
Washington nor to the IMF nor to the World Bank, not to anyone," said the leftist leader, who has long railed against the Washington-based lending institutions.


Chavez said he wanted to formalize
Venezuela's exit from the two bodies "tonight and ask them to return what they owe us."


Venezuela recently repaid its debts to the World Bank five years ahead of schedule, saving $8 million. It paid off all its debts to the IMF shortly after Chavez first took office in 1999. The IMF closed its offices in Venezuela late last year.


Chavez made the announcement a day after telling a meeting of allied leaders that
Latin America overall would be better off without the U.S.-backed World Bank or IMF. He has often blamed their lending policies for perpetuating poverty.


The leftist president also has repeatedly criticized past Venezuelan governments for signing structural adjustment agreements with the IMF that were blamed for contributing to racing inflation.


Under former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez in 1989, violent protests broke out in
Caracas in response to IMF austerity measures that brought a hike in subsidized gasoline prices and public transport fares.


Enraged people took over the streets in violence that killed at least 300 people - and possibly many more. The riots came to be known as the "Caracazo," and Chavez often refers to it as a rebellion against the status quo.

 

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ABOUT US


Kaowao Newsgroup is committed to social justice, peace, and democracy in
Burma. We hope to be able to provide more of an in-depth analysis that will help to promote lasting peace and change within Burma.  Editors, reporters, writers, and overseas volunteers are dedicated members of the Mon activist community based in Thailand.


Our motto is working together for change and lasting peace.