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EU pledges €35m in aid to Burma

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Staff Reporter
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Oct 21, 2009 (DVB), The European Union is set to channel €35 million to non-governmental organisations in Burma in what appears to signal a shift towards greater engagement with the country.

The pledge coincides with a visit to Burma by Sweden's ambassador to Thailand, Lennart Linner, and EU regional ambassador David Lipman.

Speaking to DVB today, Suvi Seppalainen, press officer for Lipman, said that the five-day visit was linked to the aid pledge, but that the trip also had "a political aspect" to it.

She said that Lipman "held meetings with various stakeholders" and discussed future EU policy to Burma.

"The EU is considering opening up dialogue with Burmese officials so it was partly a fact-finding mission," she said.

Burma's state-run Myanmar Ahlin newspaper reported today that both Lipman and Linner met with the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA).

According to the article, the USDA secretary general, Htay Oo, "explained about the USDA, its engagement in national and rural development work and about the genuine situation in Burma".

Harn Yawnghwe, from the Brussels-based Euro-Burma Office, said that the EU "is making diplomatic moves to meet with everyone in the country, and possibly the [government]."

He added however that the meeting with the USDA was unlikely to be constructive, but just "a formality".

The EU money will go to the new Livelihoods and Food Security Trust (LIFT) fund, which is then set to channel the money through various non-governmental organizations (NGOs). EU policy dictates that aid cannot go straight to the Burmese government.

Seppalainen said that the EU would be "putting out adverts and announcements in the public sphere [in Burma] and inviting NGOs to come forward".

Following the extension of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest in August, the EU expanded its sanctions on Burma to include members of the judiciary responsible for Suu Kyi's sentencing.

The bloc has been criticized however for not including a ban on oil and gas companies operating in Burma.

French oil giant Total was accused last month by environmental group EarthRights International (ERI) of contributing billions of dollars to the Burmese junta from its involvement in the Yadana gas project.

The French foreign minister said in October that sanctions were "useless" and advocated direct engagement with the regime.

The EU has however provided more than half of all post-cyclone Nargis recovery funding channeled into Burma since May last year.

Reporting by Francis Wade

Burma drops in press freedom index

By
Staff Reporter
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9

Oct 20, 2009 (DVB), The sentencing of Burmese journalists and bloggers in September last year has pushed the country another spot lower in an annual press freedom index.

Burma has ranked 171 out of 175 countries in the World Press Freedom Index 2009, released today by Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF).

Vincent Brossel, from the RSF Asia desk, told DVB today that there had been no evolution in Burma's media environment over the past year, with journalists still facing similar levels of intimidation, imprisonment and censorship.

"It's quite worrying because we are just one year before the elections and there is no positive improvement," he said. "Apart from the voting system, getting access to media so that people can campaign is the most important thing for us."

He said however that reports published yesterday by DVB that revealed that several interviews with the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party had been printed in weekly journals inside Burma was "an intriguing development".

Another brief interlude in the restrictions came earlier this year when foreign journalists, along with domestic reporters, were allowed inside the Rangoon prison courtroom where opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was standing trial.

Brossel said however that the coverage inside Burma was ineffective because reporters "were mainly giving the government version" of proceedings.

Burma is subject to draconian censorship regulations, and all printed material is required to pass through the government's Censorship Board before publication.

The public airing of opposition views is a rare occurrence, and can often lead to harassment of both the publisher and the interviewee.

The news followed shortly after Suu Kyi was granted a rare meeting with foreign diplomats, perhaps signaling a shift in policy from a notoriously intransigent government.

The ruling junta appears to have warmed to the idea of dialogue between itself and opposition groups, as well as what could turn out to be unprecedented engagement between itself and the United States following a recent review of US policy to Burma.

Brossel said that a signal of positive change from US engagement would be for the junta to issue foreign journalists with visas "so they don't have to go in like tourists, which is the only way they can now work in Burma".

The four countries that ranked below Burma in the idex were Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.

Reporting by Francis Wade

China and Burma pledge border stability

By
Staff Reporter
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Oct 20, 2009 (DVB), China and Burma have agreed to work together to strengthen border stability following an outbreak of fighting in August that strained relations between the two countries.

The pledge was made yesterday during a meeting in southern China between the Burmese government's first secretary, Tin Aung Myint Oo, and Chinese vice premier, Li Keqiang.

"China and Myanmar [Burma] should make efforts together to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, as well as safeguard stability on the border areas for the sake of the fundamental interests of the two peoples," the Xinhua news agency quoted Li as saying.

Tin Aung Myint Oo reportedly replied that Burma "is willing to further deepen mutually-beneficial cooperation and stabilize border areas for the long-term ties with China".

Heavy fighting in August between Burmese government troops and an ethnic rebel army in the Kokang region of Burma's northeastern Shan state, which border's China, forced up to 37,000 people across the border into China.

The Chinese foreign ministry issued a rare admonishment to Burma on 28 August, urging it to "properly deal with its domestic issue to safeguard the regional stability in the China-Myanmar border area".

Professor Ian Holliday, an expert on China-Burma relations at the University of Hong Kong, said that the current situation on the border is a "fragile peace" and that instability continued to underlie efforts by both countries to stabilise the region.

"I think there has to be some kind of political settlement that's acceptable not only to those two powers but also to the local militias," he said.

He added however that Beijing would likely be reluctant to become party to negotiations between the Burmese government and armed ethnic groups along the border.

"I don't think China is too keen to get dragged into something like that , they don't really want to hold the ring between the ceasefire groups and the Burmese but I think that's where they might be heading," he said.

China's criticism of Burma in August signaled a rare dip in relations between the two countries. Burma relies on China for much of its economic and political support, and China has on several occasions blocked UN resolutions condemning the Burmese regime.

China is believed to be providing funding and weaponry to Burma's largest ceasefire group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the majority of whom are ethnic Chinese. Troops from the UWSA reportedly backed the Kokang group during the offensive in August.

Reporting by Francis Wade

Kachin group sends troops for border guard training

By
Staff Reporter
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0

Oct 20, 2009 (DVB), A Kachin ceasefire group in northern Burma has sent a number of cadets to train with the Burmese army in lieu of becoming a border guard force, a former spokesperson said.

The National Democratic Army-Kachin (NDAK) in June accepted a government proposal to transform into a border militia, one of the first ceasefire groups to do so.

A former NDAK spokesperson, Nguyen Tawnghawng, said that 10 cadets had been sent to the Kachin state capital, Myitkyina, to receive officer training at a Burmese army base.

He said the NDAK is preparing to set up three battalions for its border guard force and aims to initiate the transformation before the end of this year.

Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has been urging ceasefire groups to transform in border guards and re-enter what it calls the "legal fold" prior to the elections next year.

The government hopes this will consolidate support for it from the country's numerous ceasefire groups, many of whom hold tenuous truces with the regime.

Many of the larger groups have however rejected the proposal, claiming the transformation will significantly weaken them and bring them under direct control of the government.

Burma's biggest ceasefire group, the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA) yesterday reiterated its stance that it would only negotiate with a civilian government elected next year.

A UWSA official told DVB that members of the group met with government representatives in the Pangshang region of Shan state last week.

"It's been about five or six days since we told [the government] that, but no response has been made so far," he said, adding that government troops in the Wa region had been "restless" since the group first made clear its stance.

The region was the scene of fierce fighting earlier this year between Burmese troops and an ethnic Kokang armed group, rumoured to have been supported by the UWSA.

Reporting by Aye Nai and Htet Aung Kyaw

Rival armed Karen groups hold rare talks

By
Staff Reporter
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Oct 20, 2009 (DVB), Two major armed Karen groups who were engaged in fierce fighting earlier this year have held talks for the first time since 1994, according to sources close to the groups.

The talks follow a letter sent last month by an influential monk to both the opposition Karen National Union (KNU) and pro-junta Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) urging a cessation to conflict in the region.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that KNU officials from Karen state's Duplaya district and their counterparts from the DKBA have been in talks since 16 October, although specific details of the discussions are unknown.

The DKBA officials have been led by their patron monk, U Thuzana, who wrote a letter urging both sides to "take lessons from past consequences".

The two sides should "achieve reunion and cooperation by the time of [Karen] New Year", in December, he said.

The DKBA was formed in 1994 from an armed faction that split from the KNU, allegedly citing religious persecution by the predominantly Christian Karen group.

Troops from the DKBA played a key supporting role during a government army offensive against the KNU earlier this year, which forced around 4,000 Karen civilians into neighbouring Thailand.

A report released last week by the Karen Human Rights Group said that the conflict was a major contributing factor to what it now calls a "severe" food crisis in Karen state.

An official from the DKBA told DVB last week that it had moved one step closer towards transforming itself into a border guard force.

The Burmese government has been urging all ceasefire groups to transform and re-enter what it calls the "legal fold", prior to elections scheduled for next year.

Many have so far refused, although the DKBA last week presented a list to the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) detailing battalions that would become border guards.

Reporting by DVB

Eastern Burma facing ‘severe’ food crisis

By
Staff Reporter
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1

Oct 19, 2009 (DVB), Armed conflict has contributed to what could be the worst food security problem in Burma's eastern Karen state in over a decade, a report by Karen rights group has warned.

Multiple factors, including recent conflict, abnormal rainfall and pest infestation, have hit Karen state in recent month and laid the groundwork for one of the lowest yielding seasons in recent memory.

The region was the scene of fierce fighting in June this year between government troops and the opposition Karen National Union (KNU) that forced some 4,000 refugees into Thailand.

A report by the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), 'Starving them out', pointed to increased activity by the Burmese army as a major factor in the food shortage.

Since 2006 the government has pursued a policy aimed at eradicating the food production abilities of the Karen people in an attempt to "significantly undermine food security," the report states. It is hoped this tactic will undercut local civilian support for the KNU.

An official at the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), Saw Steve, echoed the report's findings.

"The target is to destroy the food supply of the villagers, not only paddy crops but long term crops like mangosteen, jackfruit, beetle nut and other fruits and vegetables from cultivation," he said.

The tactic marks a departure from past strategies used by the Burmese army, who until 2006 only carried out sporadic offensives against the KNU, usually commencing during the cold and hot seasons and halting in the wet season.

This break in fighting traditionally allowed local farmers the chance to harvest their crops, ensuring a stable food supply for the following months.

According to Saw Steve, government troops often launch mortars and other artillery into paddy fields, meaning farmers "dare not work in the paddy fields full time." He added that during the harvest season farmers now only work up to 20 days a month.

Inability to tend to fields has meant that crops are now more susceptible to pest infestations and disease, and the overrunning of crops by other animals.

But the surge of military activity in the area is not the only contributing factor to this season's drastically low yield.

Abnormal weather patterns have led to higher than average rainfall, meaning important 'slash and burn' farming practices cannot be carried out.

The KHRG predicts that as the Burmese army continues to "consolidate control" in Karen state, the negative effects on the food supply will be cumulative.

The report asserts that the lower quantities of available land, paired with larger populations of internally displaced people (IDPs), disease, continually interrupted agricultural cycles and unpredictable weather, have left some villages in the region "on the brink of starvation."

Reporting by Matthew Cunningham

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