KAOWAO NEWS NO.
126
Newsletter for social justice and freedom in
April 12 –
Readers Front
Flow of migration increases
despite tight border controls
Monland Restoration Council (
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
Unity a priority: NMSP leaders plan strategic meeting
The 4th international trade union conference on Burma
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Dear readers,
We invite comments and
suggestions on improvements to Kaowao newsletter.
With your help, we hope that Kaowao News will continue
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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:
Migrant workers enter the
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
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
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,
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Media Release
Coverage on demonstrations in
front of UN Headquarters and Burmese embassy
Monland Restoration Council (
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
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,
Date:
Time:
Location II
In front of Burmese Embassy,
Washington D.C
Date:
Times:
Sincerely yours,
Email: honsawatoi@aol.
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New Year gathering motivates building
of Mon Temple
Kaowao:
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
The Songkrant
gathering was organized by the
“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
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Kaowao:
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
According to an organizer, Aung
Nan, it was the first activity for the Mon activists and youths to celebrate in
the
The
Following last year’s objectives,
they answered an appeal for children’s needs back home in
Back home in
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:
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
The well known professor of Faculty of Medicine,
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
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
In 2004, the
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MRO calls
for the safety of Mon detainees in
Kaowao:
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
“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
“If these Mon people are deported to
Since human rights violations continue in southern
Only a handful of Mon asylum seekers have been recognized
as refugees in
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
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:
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
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
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:
The 4th international trade union conference on
The conference was held in
“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
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
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,
Largely sidelined at the
international arena, State Peace and Development Council and Democratic
People’s
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.
Unsurprisingly, Chinese foreign
spokesman Liu Jianchao said, “
The
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."
The UN Security Council members
have demanded that
Two significant points can be
drawn from this latest development. First, the bombing that severed bilateral
ties between the two countries happened in
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
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Around the globe
By JORGE RUEDA, AP:
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
Chavez said he wanted to formalize
Chavez made the announcement a day after telling a meeting of allied leaders
that
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
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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