This blog is dedicated to thousands of Burmese people who have been and are being imprisoned,tortured and excuted because they dare to speak the truth.
"Innovation is more important in Banking business" KBank has already provided Burmese language for ATM Machine in order to serve Burmese customers in Samutsakorn province. Only KBank developped this language.
တရုတ္အင္တာနက္သုံးစြဲသူမ်ားက ဂုိဂဲလ္ ကုမၸဏီ တရုတ္ႏုိင္ငံက ထြက္သြားၿခင္းဟာ တရုတ္ႏုိင္ငံ အေနၿဖင့္ ကမၻာၾကီးအၿပင္ကုိထြက္ခြာသြားတာနဲ႔တူတယ္လုိ႔ ၀မ္းနည္းစြာေ၀ဖန္ေၿပာဆုိေနေၾကာင္း သတင္းမ်ားတြင္ ေဖာ္ၿပထားပါသည္။ Rest of your post
EDITORIAL By The Nation Published on January 7, 2010
With no clear timeline for the planned election, the regime is working to preserve the status quo
Burma's strongman, General Than Shwe, was more than happy to confirm that there will be an election in his country this year. The problem is, and will remain for the foreseeable future, the lack of a clear timeline for when the election will be held. Furthermore, none of the necessary laws and measures to make the upcoming poll transparent, free and fair have not been enacted.
The US State Department has made these points clearly, saying: "We have not seen any meaningful steps by the regime to indicate it is putting in place measures that would lead to credible elections. Much of the opposition's leadership remains in prison, there is no space for political dissent or debate, and no freedom of the press. We continue to urge the Burmese government to address these issues and to engage [the main opposition leader] Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratic opposition, ethnic leaders and other stakeholders in a comprehensive dialogue on democratic reform. This would be a first step towards inclusive elections."
Despite such a strong international appeal, the military regime is still stubborn. Obviously, the junta wants to ensure victory in the election because it would be disastrous if it loses again. In May 1990, the junta cheated in the polls and won by a supposed landslide against the opposition National League for Democracy, led by Suu Kyi. So, the regime will not make the same mistakes again.
The reason for keeping a tight rein over the election date is purely tactical. The announcement will be made when the junta's handpicked cronies are ready to enter the race. The suspicion is that the election could be held late in the second half of the year, toward the third quarter. The contracts that international humanitarian and relief organisations have with the regime will end in June this year. Renewal of these contracts is not expected. It would take a few weeks for all of their representatives to leave the country. And this is what the junta wants. To hold an election under the watchful eyes of foreign representatives would be a catastrophe.
The regime wants to transform the international relief efforts into votes for it or its surrogates, especially in the area of the Irrawaddy Delta, which was hard-hit by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. This will not be easy, as these Burmese villagers are now more independent in helping themselves, with some direct assistance from abroad. The role of the burgeoning village-based civil groups, although they are still nascent, could be influential in determining the future of the Burmese junta. The regime is monitoring the activities of local community leaders to prevent any upheaval in the future.
The regime also wants to use the timing to disarm the opposition, including minority groups that have adopted plans to contest the poll. The National League for Democracy, for example, has complained that its representatives are not allowed to hold meetings. Suu Kyi informed top US diplomats of her political plight when they visited her in early November last year.
The regime must come clean on the election. The US and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member, have called for an inclusive election that will allow all stakeholders to partake in the political process. So far, the regime has been evasive in its response. It's the same old story of tactical delays.
Of course, after the election there could be dire consequences. After all, everybody can read the tea-leaves. The generals will likely behave as despicably as they always have, closing all loopholes that might jeopardise them in any way. The outcome could affect the Burmese people as never before. If there is obvious rigging of results, the people might not accept the outcome, and that could lead to the same kind of chaos as in 1988 and 1990. The people have been pushed too far already.
You have dedicated the whole of your life to the cause of democracy and freedom in Burma. You have selflessly highlighted the wider suffering of the Burmese people rather than dwelling on your own pain. And through that courage you have gained the respect of the entire international community not just for a person, but for a cause.
The world knows that as Burma approaches an historic year you will be as resolute as ever in approaching its challenges. If the scheduled elections proceed under a rigged constitution, with opposition leaders excluded and with no international oversight, the military rulers will be condemning Burma to more years of diplomatic isolation and economic stagnation.
But if the elections are genuinely inclusive, free and fair, then the whole of the international community is ready to stand with Burma, welcome her back into the community of nations, and contribute to rebuilding her future and prosperity. It is clear this is the only path which will lead to Burma’s future security, stability and progress for all her people.
Sadly, as the year turns, the signs do not look good. Your continuing detention is only the most visible evidence of the bad faith of a regime which has so far shown no signs of listening to regional or international calls for an end to its violent behaviour.
I continue to call upon the regime to engage with you and allow you further contact with diplomats in Rangoon, and to start a genuine dialogue that can give the Burmese people back their future and their hope.
You have asked us to use our freedom to secure the freedom of the Burmese people. I assure you that as we move into a new year and a new decade the United Kingdom will continue to do everything possible to advance positive change and genuine democracy in your country.
As you have said, there is so much that needs to be done in a Burma that cannot afford to wait.
We are immovably with you – and with the Burmese people.
Zaw Aung, 29, said he regularly crosses from Burma into China in search of work. Burmese women also are brought over for marriages with Chinese men -- some forced, some arranged through "matchmakers." (Keith B. Richburg/the Washington Post)
By Keith B. Richburg Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, December 26, 2009
This booming little border town in China's southwestern Yunnan province, where the economic prosperity of China is separated from the destitution of Burma by nothing more than a flimsy, rusted metal fence, has emerged as the new front line in the worldwide fight against human trafficking.
On any given afternoon, a steady stream of people scale the six-foot-high fence, unperturbed by the Chinese border guards posted just a hundred yards away. Amid the Burmese men looking for day labor, or women coming to sell their vegetables in the wealthier Chinese markets, is traffic far less benign:
Burmese women being brought over for marriages with Chinese men -- some forced, some voluntarily arranged through "matchmakers." Babies being brought into China to be sold. And Chinese women from poorer inland areas being moved in the opposite direction, often ending up in Southeast Asia's sex industry.
In the shadowy world of human trafficking, say government officials and advisers with foreign aid agencies, China has become a source country, a destination country and a transit country all at once.
"Some of the Yunnan women and girls think they'll get a better job in Thailand," said Kathleen Speake, chief technical adviser for the United Nations' International Labor Office in Beijing. Burmese "are coming into China. We're looking at being trafficked for adoption, and women being trafficked for marriage."
No firm numbers are available on the extent of trafficking. Kirsten di Martino, a project officer in Beijing for UNICEF, said that from 2000 to 2007, China's public security bureau investigated 44,000 cases of trafficking, rescuing about 130,000 women and children. But, she added, "this is just the tip of the iceberg."
China, she said, "is very big, and has a lot of border -- and has a whole lot of problems."
Here in Ruili, two criminal gangs were cracked and 14 women rescued in the first half of the year, said Meng Yilian, who works for the newly formed group China-Myanmar Cooperation Against Human Trafficking. Burma is also known as Myanmar. ad_icon
A legally suspect vocation
"In the villages bordering Myanmar, there are some people working as matchmakers, " she said. "And some of them are human traffickers. It's hard to tell who are the matchmakers and who are the traffickers."
Matchmaking, which falls into a legally murky terrain, is rooted in Chinese tradition, which allows a man to make a gift to a woman's family in exchange for marriage.
In this border area, matchmakers are not hard to find. From Ruili, a gravel road leads west, running parallel to the Burmese border and past ethnic Dai villagers working in paddy fields. In Mang Sai village, the matchmaker is a heavy-set 28-year-old woman who said she has been in the business seven or eight years and had "successfully made 20 matches," including two involving Chinese buyers and Burmese girls.
The matchmaker -- she requested that her name be withheld because her profession is legally suspect -- said a local Chinese girl will cost as much as 50,000 renminbi, about $7,300. But a girl from Burma, she said, costs just 20,000 renminbi, or just under $3,000.
WASHINGTON — If talks with Myanmar over democratic reforms fail, the Obama administration could tie up large amounts of money that the country's ruling generals stash in international banks from the sale of natural gas.
So far the administration has been hesitant to go that route.
But pressuring banks to avoid doing business with Myanmar's leaders could be a powerful economic weapon — one that already is being used elsewhere. It's an approach, for example, that has been used to try to push North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions.
Congress already has provided the power for the administration to go after the banks and some rights groups want President Barack Obama to use it right away, or at least if direct talks fail.
U.S. officials have just started face-to-face negotiations and want to give them more time to show results. Imposing the banking sanctions would be expensive and time-consuming, and Myanmar isn't a top priority on a crowded foreign policy agenda that includes Afghanistan and Iran.
Still, the administration has warned of tougher action if engagement breaks down with Myanmar, also known as Burma. And the mere threat could add force to the U.S. negotiating position.
"We will reserve the option of tightening sanctions on the regime and its supporters to respond to events in Burma," Obama's top diplomat for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, told lawmakers in September.
Myanmar has one of the most repressive governments in the world and has been controlled by the military since 1962. For years, the United States has used punishing sanctions to try to force change on the country, with little success. Former President George W. Bush's administration favored shunning Myanmar, and Bush's wife, Laura, and many in Congress were strong advocates of the nascent democracy movement there.
Now, the Obama administration has reversed the isolation policy in favor of engagement, which it hopes will persuade the generals to grant greater freedoms to opposition parties and minorities and to free political prisoners.
Myanmar has since made a few symbolic gestures of good will, letting detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi meet with Campbell, for instance, and releasing some political prisoners. At the same time, it has continued to persecute ethnic minorities, journalists and student activists.
Obama himself spoke of a possibly stronger position on Myanmar in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. There will be engagement and diplomacy with Myanmar, he said, "but there must be consequences when those things fail."
Activists say financial measures that hinder Myanmar's ruling generals' ability to access the international banking system might do what broader economic sanctions have failed to do.
"What the Burmese government values is not its commerce with the outside world but the financial proceeds of that commerce," said Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch. "Once the Burmese government deposits the checks in its bank accounts, there's a lot the United States government can do to prevent that money from being used in the international banking system."
Treasury officials have targeted 40 people and 44 entities since the Myanmar junta killed and arrested protesters during demonstrations in 2007. Being added to the sanctions list prevents people from making transactions in the banking system of the United States.
But a 2008 law grants the Treasury Department authority to impose conditions on banking relationships, meaning sanctions could affect activities of international banks.
Myanmar has lucrative natural gas deals with its neighbors and with some European and U.S. companies, with revenues going into foreign banks. Under its new authority, the U.S. can let these banks know it has concerns about their association with Myanmar that could hurt these banks' ability to work with U.S. financial institutions, said Jennifer Quigley, advocacy director for the U.S. Campaign for Burma.
Supporters of the banking sanctions often raise North Korea, saying that the United States effectively froze the North out of the international banking system in 2005, hurting leader Kim Jong Il.
For the moment, the Obama administration is urging patience as it pursues talks.
Next year's elections in Myanmar will provide a good look at the junta's intentions. A big question will be whether high-level U.S.-Myanmar talks lead to true participation by minorities and opposition groups or merely let the generals consolidate power.
အီရန္မွာ ဘာသာေရးေခါင္ေဆာင္ၾကီး စ်ာပန မွ အစုိးရကုိ ဆန္႔က်င္သည့္ ဆႏၵၿပပြဲသုိ႔ အသြင္ကူးေၿပာင္း We Support Iran's Democracy Movement for Freedom and Justice. We Express Our Solidarity With Iranian Opposition Protesters. You Are All Brave Men and Women Of Iran. Brave Iranians Continue Your Justified Fight Against Dictators. (WFWW) -WFWW(ဒူဘုိင္း)-
The Associated Press, Washington | Tue, 12/22/2009 7:46 AM | World
The Obama administration has ready a powerful economic weapon if talks with Myanmar fail to achieve democratic reforms: pressuring banks to avoid doing business with the country's ruling generals.
A similar approach has been used to push North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. In Myanmar's case, targeting international banks could effectively tie up the large amounts of money the generals get from selling natural gas.
The U.S. Congress has already provided the power to go after the banks; some rights groups want President Barack Obama to use it soon, or at least if direct talks fail.
So far, however, the administration has been hesitant. It has just started face-to-face negotiations and wants to give them more time to show results. Imposing the banking sanctions would be expensive and time-consuming, and Myanmar isn't a top priority on a crowded foreign policy agenda that includes Afghanistan and Iran.
Still, the administration has warned of tougher action if engagement breaks down with Myanmar, also known as Burma. And the mere threat could add force to the U.S. negotiating position.
"We will reserve the option of tightening sanctions on the regime and its supporters to respond to events in Burma," Obama's top diplomat for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, told lawmakers in September.
Myanmar has one of the most repressive governments in the world and has been controlled by the military since 1962. For years, the United States has used punishing sanctions to try to force change on the country, with little success. Former President George W. Bush's administration favored shunning Myanmar, and Bush's wife, Laura, and many in Congress were strong advocates of the nascent democracy movement there.
Now, the Obama administration has reversed the isolation policy in favor of engagement, which it hopes will persuade the generals to grant greater freedoms to opposition parties and minorities and to free political prisoners.
Myanmar has since made a few symbolic gestures of good will, letting detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi meet with Campbell, for instance, and releasing some political prisoners. At the same time, it has continued to persecute ethnic minorities, journalists and student activists.
Obama himself spoke of a possibly stronger position on Myanmar in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. There will be engagement and diplomacy with Myanmar, he said, "but there must be consequences when those things fail."
Activists say those consequences should include the application of a law that allows the United States to use financial measures to hinder Myanmar's ability to access the international banking system.
"What the Burmese government values is not its commerce with the outside world but the financial proceeds of that commerce," Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch said. "Once the Burmese government deposits the checks in its bank accounts, there's a lot the United States government can do to prevent that money from being used in the international banking system."
The United States already imposes many sanctions on Myanmar. Treasury officials have targeted 40 people and 44 entities since the junta killed and arrested protesters during demonstrations in 2007. Being added to the sanctions list prevents people from making transactions in the banking system of the United States, the world's largest economy.
A 2008 law, however, allows another level of sanctions that grants Treasury the authority to impose conditions on banking relationships. U.S. officials will not comment on future policy decisions, but Treasury says it is looking at all potential sanctions, including the banking provision, "to apply the tools best calibrated to address the threat presented."
The United States cannot easily block the lucrative natural gas deals Myanmar does with its neighbors and with European and U.S. companies. But the bank measure would let foreign banks know that the United States has worries about their association with Myanmar money and will be wary of their contact with U.S. financial institutions until those worries are cleared up, according to Jennifer Quigley, advocacy director for the U.S. Campaign for Burma.
Supporters of the banking sanctions often raise North Korea, saying that the United States effectively froze the North out of the international banking system, hurting leader Kim Jong Il.
For the moment, the Obama administration is urging patience as it pursues talks.
Next year's elections in Myanmar will provide a good look at the junta's intentions. A big question will be whether high-level U.S.-Myanmar talks lead to the junta's allowing true participation by minorities and opposition groups or merely let the generals consolidate power.
Press Release UNESCAP News Services Date: 3 December 2009 Note to Editor No: N/42/2009
Meeting government ministers at ESCAP development forum on 15 December
Bangkok (UN/ESCAP Information Services) -- Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz will visit Myanmar at the invitation of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to advise on development policies and poverty reduction, especially in the rural area.
Prof. Stiglitz will speak at a round table and development forum organized by ESCAP with Myanmar’s Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development and Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation on 15 December in the capital, Napyitaw. The forum will bring together the two Ministers from Myanmar, U Soe Tha and U Htay Oo, in a dialogue with Prof. Stiglitz and other eminent experts to discuss strategies for poverty reduction in light of Asia’s regional and sub-regional experiences.
The event, Economic Policies for Growth and Poverty Reduction: Lessons from the Region and Beyond, is part of a series launched by Noeleen Hezyer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, during her visit to Myanmar last July.
"Prof. Stiglitz will share his ideas on what kind of economic decision making is critical for growth in the rural economy and poverty reduction," says Dr. Heyzer. "I hope that this visit will be able to open up a new space in economic decision making and policy formulations. The focus is on how we reach the poorest people in Myanmar. We hope to bring the best thinking and lessons from the region and beyond." “Growth that does not benefit all of society is not ultimately sustainable,” Prof. Stiglitz says ahead of his visit. “It’s important that government take policy measures that include all sectors of the population, especially in rural areas.”
As chief economist of the World Bank (1997-2000), Prof. Stiglitz played a key role in the publication “Rethinking the Asian Miracle,” which examined the reasons behind the dramatic growth of eight Asian economies. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001.
The seminar on 15 December will be organized in two segments. The first segment will be devoted to expert discussions on different facets of enhancing the rural economy of Myanmar. The second segment will be a High-level Roundtable on effecting change in Myanmar’s rural economy. Senior officials and experts from Myanmar will engage in a conversation with eminent experts. The focus is on “Economic Policies and Decision-making for Poverty Reduction: Reaching the Bottom Half”.
For more information, please contact:
UN/ESCAP Information Services: unisbkk.unescap@un.org, or stiglitzpress@gmail.com * *** * Headquartered in Bangkok, United Nations ESCAP is the largest of the UN's five Regional Commissions in terms of its membership, population served and area covered. The only inter-governmental forum covering the entire Asia-Pacific region, ESCAP works to promote sustainable and inclusive economic and social progress. More information on ESCAP is available at www.unescap.org
The Figures The UN Human Development Report 2006 has ranked Burma in its Human Poverty Index table at 130 out of 177 countries, well below some other South East Asian countries such as Thailand (74) and Malaysia (61), though above Laos at 133 and close to Cambodia at 129. In 2004 the World Bank concluded that Burma is "trapped in abject poverty despite its rich resources base. Although there has been notable moderate growth in the economy, the trickle-down effect of this growth did not reach the poor. The country's poverty and development indicators have lagged behind those of its neighbours". An estimated 30 percent of the population ( or approximately 15 million people) live below the poverty line and inflation is running at a rate of between 30 and 40 percent a year.
We need your support for freedom of Burma. Your donation will be used to help our activists inside Burma and to strengthen our underground network. Please be aware that your donation will not be tax-deductible".
We are counting on your leadership and financial support. Please do all you can -- and act as quickly as possible.
ဓာတ္ပုံ- The Shwe Gas Movement
