Invitation to participate in demonstration in front of the White House in Washington D.C with the members of the International Burmese Monks Organization.

Dear all,
Attached please find the invitation to participate in demonstration in front of the White House in Washington D.C with the members of the International Burmese Monks Organization.

Where : In front of the White House, Washington D.C
When : 12 noon to 3 pm, June 20th Saturday, 2009

The expense for the bus to and from Washington D.C will be sponsored by the International Burmese Monks Organization. For more information, please contact Ashin Nayaka (347) 665 5323, U Wilatha (917) 686 1738, Ashin Candobhasa (716) 512 3801.

—
Help Us Change Burma
International Burmese Monks Organization
www.burmesemonks.org

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Fifty thousand portraits have been distributed so far in Rangoon, Mandalay, Pegu and Magway Divisions. Twenty thousand went in one day in more than 20 Mandalay townships.

Big Demand for Suu Kyi Birthday Portrait

Thousands of portraits of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi are being snapped up in a “Free Suu Kyi” campaign launched in Burma ahead of her 64th birthday on June 19.

Fifty thousand portraits have been distributed so far in Rangoon, Mandalay, Pegu and Magway Divisions. Twenty thousand went in one day in more than 20 Mandalay townships.

“There’s been a big demand, from students to housewives, from workers to monks,” said a Mandalay activist.

Tee shirts bearing the word “Free” and a rose are also being distributed in some townships. A rose has come to be a symbol of Aung San Suu Kyi, and Burma’s censorship board sometimes bans its use in printed articles and verse.

The authorities have done nothing so far to hinder the distribution of the portraits and tee shirts, however.

Suu Kyi has spent most of her birthdays over the past 19 years in house detention. She is currently on trial in Rangoon’s Insein Prison, charged with giving shelter to an unauthorized visitor, an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home.
Irrawaddy

The Burmese army fired six mortar rounds on Thursday morning, at least 19 rounds on Wednesday and about 30 rounds on Tuesday, sources said.

Joint Forces Concentrate on Mortar Attacks against KNU

Burmese and Democratic Karen Buddhist troops (DKBA) have fired more than 200 mortar rounds in clashes with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 7 in Pa-an District in southern Karen State since early June, according to Karen sources.

The Burmese army fired six mortar rounds on Thursday morning, at least 19 rounds on Wednesday and about 30 rounds on Tuesday, sources said. About 100 soldiers from joint Burmese and DKBA forces have been killed or injured in the fighting while two soldiers from the KNLA were injured, according to a Karen relief group. The KNLA is the military wing of the Karen National Union (KNU).
David Takapaw, the vice chairman of the KNU, said that about 20 soldiers from the joint force have been killed and about 40 injured. “The more they [DKBA soldiers] come, the more they die. The Burmese army is just firing mortar rounds,” he said.

Sources said the joint force has not launched ground attacks because of extensive KNL landmines around their positions.

Poe Shen, a field director for Karen Human Rights Group, said dead and injured soldiers from the joint force were mostly DKBA soldiers forced to fight in the frontline positions while the Burmese army stays behind and fires mortars.

About 10 Burmese battalions—numbering about 2,000 soldiers—under Military Operation Command 4 based in Rangoon Division’s Phugyi recently arrived in southern Karen Sate as reinforcements, according to Burmese military sources.

One Karen source close to the DKBA said that more troops from the Burmese army are coming. He said DKBA soldiers have arrested civilians traveling along the Moei River near the combat zone and forced them to serve as porters and soldiers.

The mortar attack is designed to weaken KNLA forces and will likely be followed by a ground attack, said a source close to the DKBA.

The joint force plans to attack KNLA Brigade 7 until it has removed it from the area it controls. One source said the joint force is prepared to lose 500 soldiers in the operation before it seizes the KNLA area.

Due to the clashes, an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 Karen villagers have been displaced, with many arriving in Thailand as refugees. Many villagers are also hiding in the jungle in Karen State, according to Karen relief groups.

JOINT STATEMENT of Migrants from Burma Working In Thailand and Malaysia June 9th 2009

We, migrants from Burma, live in a perpetual state of crisis and the global economic crisis is further adding to our difficult and sometimes desperate situation.

We, migrants from Burma and migrant support groups, trade union leaders and human rights activists and lawyers from Thailand and Malaysia, met and discussed the impact of the global economic crisis on Burmese migrant workers at the 2nd Two Destinations One Origin Conference organized jointly by MAP Foundation (Thailand), Workers Hub for Change (WH4C) and Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM). We are concerned that Burmese migrants live in a perpetual state of crisis and that the global economic crisis is further adding to their difficult and sometimes desperate situation. We therefore appeal to the governments of Malaysia, Thailand and the ASEAN on the following issues.

We are concerned that Thailand and Malaysia governments’ response to the situation of workers affected by the economic crisis has not been comprehensive and does not provide adequate protection for workers. Migrant workers are not even included in these programs and are thus expected to deal with the impact of the economic crisis by themselves.

We call on the Malaysian government to immediately stop the unjust, discriminatory and unconstitutional policy and practice, known as ‘Foreign Workers First Out’ (FWFO) principle. According to this policy migrant workers lose their jobs before local workers regardless of length of time in the job.

We call on Malaysia and Thailand to demand that all employers fulfill their contractual agreements with regard to all workers, including foreign workers. Employers must not use the economic crisis as an excuse to dismiss workers or close down factories without adequate notice to the workers. Mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that employers pay workers adequate and just compensation for any early termination of employment agreement.

The social protections provided during these times of economic crisis to retrenched workers which include payment of 50% of salary for six months in Thailand and re-training and new job placements in Malaysia should be extended to cover all workers including migrant workers.

Burmese Migrant Workers Arrested in Malaysian Crackdown

Malaysian authorities have arrested about 100 Burmese migrant workers in their latest crackdown on foreign labor.

The arrested migrants include 50 Mon, according to Roi Mon, joint chairman of the Mon Refugee Organization. Twenty Karen are among the arrested Burmese, said Mahn Sein Than, chairman of the Karen Refugee Organization.

Hundreds of other Burmese migrants who escaped arrest have cut their working hours drastically because of fears of new raids. The current crackdown began on June 1.

About 1,000 Burmese migrants work in restaurants and other businesses in one area alone of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, in Petaling Street.

Malaysian authorities have reportedly threatened restaurant owners in Petaling Street that their licenses will be cancelled if they are found to employ foreign workers. “There are longer any Burmese working in the restaurants there,” said Roi Mon.

One Burmese woman, War Yu, said: Two of my friends had to return to Burma last week because they were laid off.”

Myanmar: Ban reports on children and armed conflict-Video

Free Daw Suu Fax Campaign Instruction – Jun 11 09

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Rainy season fire brigade training thought to be used for other purposes-also be used to organize the people for the upcoming 2010 election

Rainy season fire brigade training thought to be used for other purposes
Wed 10 Jun 2009, Kon Hadae, IMNA
Local authorities will force representatives from every village in Mudon Township without existent firemen to take part in the upcoming trainings.

Over the last 10 days, the village headmen were contacted and informed that 10 people from each village must attend the fire brigade training.

The Mudon Town Peace and Development Council (TPDC) has decided that the training will take place either in Kamarwatt and Hnin Padoe village. The village headmen have not yet had to announce which villagers will attend.

According to one village headman, villagers will have to provide everything for the training, including food and their uniform; the uniform itself costs around 7,000 kyat per person.

“They [the TPDC] will not provide anything for the training. We have to give everything,” he said.

The TPDC has explained that the training is for the good of the village and to increase security. But the village headmen who spoke to IMNA opined that it was to make [the villagers] their servants.

If villagers become servants, said the interviewed village headmen, they could also be used to organize the people for the upcoming 2010 election, part of the regime’s roadmap to “disciplined democracy”.

Added one village headman, “it is already raining…if we need to attend the training, why not do it in the summer season? I do not think the authorities care about the security of the village really. I think, they just care about the 2010 election.”

Burmese maid was shot in the kitchen of her Thai house owner.

Burmese House Maid Found Dead
Wednesday, 10 June 2009 10:25
According to the Thairat and Daily News newspapers, a Burmese maid was shot in the kitchen of her Thai house owner. Ma Tin, the 17 year old victim, was working at 4376, Laphalaun 101, Bankapi, Bangkok when she was shot and killed at around 11 pm on the 7th of June.
The house guard heard the gun shot and ran to ring the house bell. Karnananukit, the 56-year old female host, came out and they went into the kitchen together, where they then found her dead body with a 2 mm pistol, three bullet shells.
Karnan said to the police, “I didn’t hear the gun shot because I was in the bathroom. We gave her the gun so that she can protect herself in case of emergency and we are away.” The husband of Karnan was a retired officer from the Thai army. Wan Chai, the criminal investigator, said, “We’re trying to find out the truth here.”
According to the Thairat article, Ma Tin had been working at Karnan’s house for six years, but the Daily News said that she worked at her employer’s house for only two years. The body has already been sent to the hospital for further investigation. A human rights organization is also looking into the case in order to find out the victim’s address in Burma and any other useful infomation to help solve the case.
A similar situation occurred in June 2002, another Burmese maid by the name of Ma Soe, was burnt and killed by her Thai employer. The crime took two years to solve, but eventually her employer was arrested. Many Burmese women who come and work as house maids in Thailand, are often faced with grave dangers of sexual and other forms of abuse, violence, exploitation, and are often totally isolated from the outside world.
http://www.ghre.org/en/

Burmese shells land on Thai soil

Artillery shells fired by the Burmese army in its ongoing offensive against the Karen National Union have reportedly landed on Thai soil, as fighting steps up near to the border.

The Burmese army, backed up by the junta-allied Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), began their offensive against the Karen National Union’s (KNU) armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), on 2 June.
Around 6000 Karen villagers have fled across the Thai border since fighting began, with some holed-up in remote caves.
A KNLA lieutenant Seth John told DVB that three artillery shells fired by the Burmese army landed in Mae Thari village in Thailand with no reported injuries.
According to the KNLA, around 40 government troops have been injured so far, while the DKBA claim 10 fighters from the KNLA have been injured.
Pho Alsho, a resident from Mae The village in Burma said that every villager had fled into Thailand since the fight started.
“There were about 100 households in our village; everyone is now in Thailand as we fear the Burmese army was using us as porters for their offence,” said Pho Alsho.