Month: January 2009
Refugee camp under threat
by Daniel Pedersen
Saturday, 31 January 2009 18:32
Mae Sot (Mizzima) – As night closes in on Noe Poh refugee camp, about five hours south of Mae Sot in northern Thailand bordering town with Burma, the road that skirts its edge clears of people.
By 9 pm, should anyone be reckless enough to light a candle, Karen National Liberation Army, the armed-wing of Karen National Union, one of the longest running ethnic rebels in Asia against the military-ruled Burma, soldiers will quickly ensure it is extinguished.
By now though, after two weeks of bolstered security in the face of intrusions upon Thailand’s sovereignty by Burmese government-backed fighters, mostly no one would be foolish enough to dare light their surroundings.
No one moves from their ramshackle perches in the night, a strict curfew is policed by both Thai soldiers and KNLA foot patrols.
Two weeks ago the camp was shutting down at 8.45 sharp, but one inhabitant said the “situation has calmed down a lot now”.
Just weeks ago brazen sorties by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a break away Karen faction but aligned with the military junta, had everyone on edge.
DKBA “spies”, Karens not part of the camp population, were intercepted creeping around in the darkness four nights in a row.
So paranoid were camp security officers that, at the height of tensions in the area around the camp, one accused spy was arrested and executed.
“I don’t think he had a trial,” said Carl Browne, one of two foreign teachers working at the camp.
“They’ve caught nine or 10 so far,” he said, adding that a committee member of the school at which he teaches, the ESC (for English Speaking Course), came across three in one night.
The word “course” in the school’s name replaces college, because Thai authorities do not allow colleges, which would suggest permanency.
Serious fighting has come as close as 10 kilometres to Noe Poh camp.
The DKBA is pursuing remnants of the KNLA’s 103 Special Battalion, which early this year lost its base camp further north.
As the KNLA unit pulls back into ever-higher mountains in the south it lays landmines, creating a constant stream of DKBA casualties, the most serious of which are admitted to Umphang Hospital, run by the Thai government.
The base camp of 103 was one of the last two KNLA Sixth Brigade footprints in Karen State. Its loss means only Wah Lay Kee, further north, remains.
A foreign donor who helps humanitarian fund the Karen struggle for recognition said he felt KNLA commanders now accepted Wah Lay Kee would also be lost.
“I think, just strategically, because they’re so outnumbered, they figure it is better to keep the soldiers safe by keeping them on the move,” he said.
DKBA and SPDC troops have been poised to take Wah Lay Kee at their liberty for weeks now, but have not yet launched a final push.
But the Thais know Wah Lay Kee is bound to fall and vigilant patrols have sealed the border, waiting to deter any combatants or civilians fleeing the fighting from limping into Thai territory.
The foreign donor explained the apparent reticence of DKBA and SPDC troops thus: “They’re not keen to go in because they know the place will be booby-trapped and there won’t be anyone there.
“And they know they will take casualties.”
Benedict Rogers, author of “A Land Without Evil” lamented 103’s loss over coffee in Mae Sot.
“You know I come here two, maybe three times a year and every visit another bit of land is lost.
“I see that they [KNU/KNLA] are being ground further and further down,” he said, shaking his head.
On this visit Mr Rogers will meet with the KNU’s new leadership, filled with hope the orginization can revitalize its struggle against Burma’s State Peace and Development Council.
“You know since Mahn Sha’s death (the former KNU secretary-general who was assassinated at his home near Mae Sot on February 14, 2008) there’s not been any real leadership.
“He was a unifying figure who drew together different strands of opinion, religion and he maintained links with the various democracy groups. He saw the big picture.”
Mr Rogers said the SPDC’s latest offensives, which began in Karen State but have now pushed into Shan and Karenni States, are part of an outright bid to force rebels fighting for self-determination into submission before the 2010 elections.
Burman dissidents in Mae Sot agreed, saying the SPDC would pressure armed groups weakened by the current extreme military offensives to sign ceasefire deals before next year’s poll.
Mr Rogers said he feared the international community, irritated and embarrassed by the junta’s harsh and belligerent excesses, might be willing to accept a veneer of calm, no matter how artificial it might be.
“That’s particularly the case with Asian countries, they’re tired of it,” he said.
The “official” population of Noe Poh camp is about 14,000, but each week new arrivals bolster that figure, as Thai brokers deliver their quarry hidden in cars or trucks.
People living in the camp, which is largely forgotten by the constant stream of foreign volunteer teachers, Christian groups and non-governmental organisations that pour into more accessible camps during the dry season, say passage from Mae Sot to Noe Poh costs about 5000 baht.
Carl Browne, who until this week was the only foreign teacher at Noe Poh and has more than 600 students, says once fugitives make it to Noe Poh, they’re safe.
“The real issue is getting in,” he said.
“But because we’re so far away from Mae Sot, we sort of get forgotten, or left alone – we have internet cafes, we have shops.
“There’s more and more activists seeking refuge at Noe Poh, from Rangoon, former political prisoners, there’s more than in Mae La even.
“That’s why Noe Poh is really under pressure, the junta wants to clean up before next year,” he said.
People living at Noe Poh know full well the junta wants to destroy the camp.
“Hell, the DKBA even contacted the Thai camp commander and said ‘get your people out, we’re coming in to burn it down’,” said Mr. Browne.
“The camp commander said no.”
http://www.mizzima.com/
January 31 marks the 60th anniversary of one of Asia’s oldest rebel movements—the Karen National Union (KNU). It is a day commemorated by Karen people all around the world.
Forever at the Frontline
January 31 marks the 60th anniversary of one of Asia’s oldest rebel movements—the Karen National Union (KNU). It is a day commemorated by Karen people all around the world.
Since it declared war on the central government in 1949—shortly after Burma declared independence from Great Britain—the KNU has faced a great many ups and downs during its six-decade fight for autonomy.
It is undergone rifts and splits, and breakaway Karen groups have emerged. It suffered defeat at the hands of the Burmese army and in 1995 was forced to abandon its jungle fortress at Manerplaw on the Thai- Burmese border. Its aging leadership is fading away while the number of Karen refugees continues to grow. Discontent is high among the Karen population and thousands of families are currently resettling in Western countries under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR).
However, unlike so many other armed insurgent groups, the KNU has steadfastly refused to sign a ceasefire agreement with the Rangoon government.
When the KNU’s founding father, Saw Ba U Gyi, established the rebel movement in 1949, he unveiled his “Four Principles” of resistance: “There shall be no surrender; The recognition of the Karen State must be completed; We shall retain our arms; and We shall decide our own political destiny.”
The KNU has locked itself to those principles through thick and thin for 60 years.
In 1995, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) split from the KNU and joined forces with the Burmese army. Manerplaw fell soon after. The KNU, led by Gen Bo Mya, scattered while its civilian population joined the exodus into Thai border refugee camps. The KNU lost their only true sources of income: logging and taxation.
After fighting the Burmese army for 30 years, KNU commander Tha Mu He and hundreds of his followers surrendered to the regime in April 1997.
He told journalists and diplomats that he split from the KNU because of the failed peace talks between the Burmese junta and his mother organization in 1994 and the realization that the conflict would continue indefinitely.
Soldiers of the Karen National Liberation Army, the oldest rebel group, stand at parade arms at a base near the Thai-Burmese border. (Photo: Reuters)
However, unlike so many other armed insurgent groups, the KNU has steadfastly refused to sign a ceasefire agreement with the Rangoon government.
When the KNU’s founding father, Saw Ba U Gyi, established the rebel movement in 1949, he unveiled his “Four Principles” of resistance: “There shall be no surrender; The recognition of the Karen State must be completed; We shall retain our arms; and We shall decide our own political destiny.”
The KNU has locked itself to those principles through thick and thin for 60 years.
In 1995, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) split from the KNU and joined forces with the Burmese army. Manerplaw fell soon after. The KNU, led by Gen Bo Mya, scattered while its civilian population joined the exodus into Thai border refugee camps. The KNU lost their only true sources of income: logging and taxation.
After fighting the Burmese army for 30 years, KNU commander Tha Mu He and hundreds of his followers surrendered to the regime in April 1997.
He told journalists and diplomats that he split from the KNU because of the failed peace talks between the Burmese junta and his mother organization in 1994 and the realization that the conflict would continue indefinitely.
One year later, Phado Aung San, a central executive member of the KNU, and hundreds of his followers also surrendered to the Rangoon government. He gave the same reasons for laying down his weapons as Tha Mu He had.
Then in early 2007, another splinter group reached a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese regime. Known as the KNU/ KNLA Peace Council and led by Maj-Gen Htein Maung, it included around 300 defecting KNU soldiers.
Brig-Gen Johnny, head of KNLA Brigade 7, said that Karen breakaway leaders who had reached ceasefire agreements with the Burmese regime had betrayed their people and their comrades who had died for the Karen revolution.
“We have to carry on the unfinished duty for our people. If we give up, it is as if we were betraying our comrades and our leaders who have died for us,” said Brig-Gen Johnny.
“Our enemy [the Burmese military regime] is trying to divide us every day. We have to be united and always be careful,” he said.
Meanwhile, the DKBA has boasted that its forces will overrun the KNU’s military wing, the KNLA, by 2010.
The target of its operation would appear to be Kawkareik Township in southern Karen State, which is rich in gold, teak forest, antimony, zinc and tin. Sources from both the KNU and the DKBA circles have said that the DKBA seeks to control the regions that do business with the Thai authorities.
However, the KNU leadership, as always, remains resolute.
KNLA Battalion 201 Maj Bu Paw acknowledged recently that the DKBA would attack his battalion in Kawkareik and try to seize its military bases, but stated: “The DKBA can not defeat us.”
Assassinations among the KNU and the breakaways groups have increased since 2007.
On February 14 last year, KNU General-Secretary Mahn Shah was gunned down by two men at his home in Mae Sot, Thailand.
Mahn Sha had been widely respected, not only by ethnic Karen people, but by most democratic alliance groups and individuals who have participated in the pro-democracy movement for Burma.
Aung Thu Nyein, a Burmese political analyst and former senior leader of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front, blogged: “It is necessary for the new KNU leadership to quickly stop the assassinations and divisions among Karen people.
“It is time for the KNU to reestablish unity among the Karen people,” he said.
The newly appointed joint secretary (1), Maj Hla Ngwe, admitted the divisions among KNU leaders and said that the Burmese regime had cleverly manipulated the KNU.
“We have had weaknesses and divisions in the past. That is natural. It can happen in any party or organization. But, we should learn from these events and ensure it doesn’t happen in the future,” he said.
Brig-Gen Johnny agreed, but was more cynical. “It is not because our enemy is clever, it is because we are not clever,” he said.
Breakaway groups have been quick to criticizing their former patrons, claiming that they now enjoy improved living conditions.
DKBA Chairman Tha Htoo Kyaw once said that the KNU had been poor since 1949. He said that his followers who had settled in Myaing Gyi Ngu village, on the bank of the Salween River, enjoyed peace, an improving economy, proper education and a healthcare system since splitting from the KNU.
“The path we chose has been beneficial to the Karen in the area,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, several voices from the overseas Karen community have been vocal in criticizing the KNU leadership for its inactivity in both the political and military arenas.
Some claim that the KNU’s policy of self-defense is not enough to protect the Karen civilians and the impact on Karen civilians who are internally displaced in Karen State.
As the conflict between the Karen rebels and the Burmese army goes on, observers say the problem of internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees will continue unabated.
There are about 451,000 IDPs in Karen State, according to a 2008-released report by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC). The report stated that since 1996 about 3,300 villages in Karen State have been destroyed by the Burmese army and its allies.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Karen refugees from the nine refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border resettle every year in third countries. About 32,000 refugees went overseas in 2008, according to TBBC.
“We want to say to the world that we only want peace,” said Myat San, an IDP from Ei Tu Hta camp on the banks of the Salween River. “We want to live in peace. We want to urge the world to push for the fall of military rule in Burma and create peace for us.”
According to Brig-Gen Johnny, the KNU and all the pro-democracy forces inside and outside Burma, including Buddhists monks and students, should speed up the movement for democracy in 2009 and boycott the junta’s multi-party election in 2010.
“If the junta wins the election, we [the opposition] will continue to be under the boots of the Burmese army,” he said.
“But if every single person knows their role in the democracy movement, the goal of the revolution will not be far away.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=15037
Pictures 60.Karen Revolution Day
http://picasaweb.google.com/lunswe/60thKRD#
Thanks to Dr.Lun Swe
31 January (1947), Karen Revolutionary Day, Ba U Gyi laid down four basic principles: (1) Surrender is
out of the question, (2) We shall retain our arms, (3) Recognition of Karen State must be complete,
and (4) We shall decide our own political destiny.
5 February (1947), Founding Day of Karen National Union (KNU)
Message for Karen Revolution Anniversary by Free Burma Federation(Niknayman)
Thanks to niknayman
Gambari to test Burma’s political waters
By: LARRY JAGAN
Published: 31/01/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
The United Nation’s special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, arrives in Rangoon today on what may be his final effort to broker talks between the military government and detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. More important though, according to diplomats, Mr Gambari’s main task this time is to prepare the ground for a possible visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a few months’ time.
The other objective of his trip is to revive the UN’s process of mediation, through the offices of the secretary-general. Many diplomats saw Mr Gambari’s last visit as a complete failure, especially since he was unable to see either the country’s top military leader, Senior General Than Shwe, or Daw Suu Kyi. Since then there has been growing concern that the UN’s efforts to encourage change in Burma had collapsed, largely because of the regime’s intransigence.
“Mr Gambari’s efforts should not be judged on the results of a single visit,” said a senior UN official. “What he wants to do is revive the ‘process’ and he wants to try some shuttle diplomacy in the hope that this might give the UN a role in the country’s national reconciliation.”
Mr Gambari hopes to make a series of short visits to Burma in the coming months in the lead-up to the Asean summit with other Asian leaders in Thailand in April.
The envoy’s itinerary during his four-day visit is currently being finalised. “We are still working on the modalities of the visit,” Mr Gambari told the Bangkok Post before he left New York.
During this trip he expects to meet senior members of the military government, opposition leaders, including Daw Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest in Rangoon, and representatives of the country’s ethnic minorities, according to senior UN officials who declined to be identified. continue
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/10774/gambari-to-test-burma-political-waters
23.01. UN envoy to test waters in Burma’s political quagmire http://democracyforburma.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/un-envoy-to-test-waters-in-burmas-political-quagmire/
Myanmar (Burma)under fire over prison riots
Irish Sun
Friday 30th January, 2009
Guards at Myanmar’s Insein Prison beat scores of inmates following a disturbance nine months ago, according to sources who asked not to be named.
Nine of the prisoners later died from their injuries, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.
The beatings occurred during questioning aimed at identifying prisoners who rioted after the prison was damaged by Cyclone Nargis. After being beaten, the men were denied water for four days and food for 11 days.
“They told us they would give us food if we confessed,” a prisoner said. “But even after some confessed, we didn’t get any food. Then, 11 days later, we began to receive a spoonful of rice puree twice a day.”
Rioting at Insein Prison broke out after the prison was pummeled by Cyclone Nargis beginning around midnight on May 2. The storm tore zinc roofs off some of the prison’s colonial-era buildings and left prisoners exposed for several hours to heavy rains and wind, according to RFA’s Myanmar service.
Frustrated at the long delay in being moved, prisoners in storm-damaged Halls No. 3 and 4 threatened to break out of their cells. Then, as prisoners in the damaged buildings were being relocated, the assistant warden and more than 20 armed guards began to argue with the prisoners and fired gunshots into the air.
“One of the bullets hit an iron bar, ricocheted off the wall, and hit a prisoner named Thein San in the chest,” a prisoner said. “The rest of the prisoners tried to hide, and some of the younger prisoners in Hall No. 8 started a fire.”
Authorities then moved prisoners suspected of taking part in the disturbance to a central part of the prison, where they were questioned and beaten on their heads and backs, sources said.
Prisoners who were beaten included Wai Moe, Khin Kyaw, Soe Kyaw Kyaw, Tun Lin Aung, and Aye Min Oo, according to friends of the men’s families. Interrogations continued for several weeks and ended with 103 prisoners identified as rioters, with 41 identified as key leaders.
A little over two weeks ago, a special court inside Insein handed down sentences of two years each to 28 participants in the riot. Wai Moe and six others were given 12 years each for arson, damaging public property, and leading the riot, according to sources close to the trial and the prisoners.
But Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) spokesman Bo Kyi said that it is the prison authorities themselves who should have been charged with crimes.
“Under international conventions, beatings and other forms of torture should not be used as punishments in prison procedure,” he said.
“The perpetrators of such beatings should be convicted for their actions. If they are not, we must assume that torturing prisoners is state policy.”
http://story.irishsun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/id/460643/cs/1/
PIC- During a recent divisional level meeting, the Commander of the Northern Military Command Maj-Gen Soe Win warned military officials and fellow commanders that anti-government forces are taking root in every section of society.
A police vehicle in the compound of the Parliament building, which has been unused for nearly two decades. Photo – Mizzima
http://www.mizzima.com/gallery/photo-news/1499-photo-news-january-2009.html
democracy for burma 
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