Thursday, June 13, 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Foreigners struggle to find housing in Rangoon

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 02:23 AM PDT

By ALI FOWLE

Foreigners settling in Rangoon are struggling to find places to live due to archaic laws still in place in the country.

As Burma opens up to international businesses, more and more foreigners are moving to Rangoon to work and live.

But strict housing laws regarding registration of non-citizens that date back to colonial times mean renting out property is a complicated process and some property owners are reluctant to face the risks that come with it.

Burma readmitted to EU trade scheme

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 02:05 AM PDT

The European Union on Wednesday readmitted Burma to its trade preference scheme, saying it wanted to support reform in the once pariah state through economic development.

Burma’s membership of the scheme was withdrawn in 1997 due to concerns over the use of forced labour under the then-military junta.

But the EU said the International Labour Organisation had last year reported “necessary improvements” to labour practices in Burma, which was formerly known as Burma.

The Irish presidency of the EU and the president of the European parliament signed legislation on Wednesday confirming Burma’s readmission.

“Given the positive developments in Myanmar/Burma in the recent past, it is important that the EU supports this by facilitating economic growth and development opportunities,” said Irish jobs and enterprise minister Richard Bruton.

The EU scheme grants developing nations preferential access to the 27-nation bloc for several products in the form of lower tariffs.

In London, Justine Greening, the International Development Secretary, welcomed the news.

“We have been calling for the EU to recognise that Burma’s standards are improving and this is great news,” she said.

“Boosting trade and exports is vital if Burma is to develop its economy and escape years of poverty.”

The EU in April agreed to lift the last of the bloc’s trade, economic and individual sanctions against Burma in response to the military’s progressive ceding of power to civilians.

Shan political party, armed group push for political dialogue

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 01:17 AM PDT

Leading members of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) party and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) discussed ways they could collectively urge the central government to open a political dialogue with Burma's myriad ethnic armed groups during their first official meeting in Rangoon on Wednesday.

According to SNLD spokesperson Sai Lek, the two sides agreed that the current ceasefire signed by the SSA-S would remain tentative if the political causes that led to the conflict were not addressed.

"The ceasefire would not be sustainable without implementing a political dialogue since there will be no mutual trust," said Sai Lek.

"Once the dialogue begins, the level of trust between the two sides will increase – allowing for a more substantial peace [process]."

The talks between the groups comes on the heels of the SSA-S's historic sit down with President Thein Sein in the country's capital on Monday, where the two sides discussed ways to increase mutual trust.

The SNLD party's chairman Khun Htun Oo, deputy-chair Saw Aung and secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin were in attendance at yesterday's meeting alongside the armed group's commander Yawd Serk and advisor Khunsai Jaiyen.

"This is the first meeting between the [SSA-S] and the SNLD. Although we employ different procedures; as one is an armed group and the other a political party, we both have a very similar political motive which is to develop a genuine federal union," said Sai Lek.

During the meeting, the two sides also talked about ways to support Shan displaced inside Burma and those living abroad as refugees.

"We discussed assisting Shan people living abroad to return home for the nationwide census in 2014 and get registered, as well as to grant ID cards for those who don't have them yet, and to bring freedom for all prisoners jailed on political grounds."

There are currently 36 SSA-S troops and four Shan State Army-North soldiers incarcerated in Burmese prisons, according to the spokesperson.

Under Thein Sein's quasi-civilian rule, the government has succeeded in signing ceasefires with 11 of the country's major armed groups. However, analysts say the deals will remain fragile until the government commences a political dialogue and offers Burma's ethnic minorities greater autonomy.

During peace talks with the Kachin Independence Army in late May, President's Office Minister Aung Min hinted that Thein Sein was planning to hold a conference with the country's armed groups in the next couple of months to begin addressing the political issues at the heart of the country's myriad civil wars.

Monks hold conference to address deadly religious unrest

Posted: 12 Jun 2013 09:41 PM PDT

Buddhist monks from across Burma will gather today for talks about the religious violence that has shaken the country, after some of them were implicated in attacks on Muslims.

Deadly unrest – mostly targeting Muslims – has laid bare deep divides in the Buddhist-majority country and clouded major political reforms since military rule ended two years ago.

Around 200 Buddhist clerics have been invited to the meeting at a monastery outside Rangoon to explore ways to ease tensions, according to Dhammapiya, a monk acting as a spokesman for the event.

“Foreigners think that the violence in Myanmar (Burma) is being led by Buddhist monks,” he told AFP on Wednesday, adding that while several monks had taken part in attacks, many more were mistaken for perpetrators as they tried to intervene to halt the mob violence.

“Monks collectively will discuss how to stop people committing violence and how to help the government solve the problem,” he said.

Wirathu, a monk from Mandalay whose anti-Muslim remarks have come under recent scrutiny, is among those due to attend, he said.

In central Burma, where dozens of people were killed in March and thousands of homes set blaze, AFP journalists saw some people in monk robes wielding sticks and knives during the unrest.

Monks – once at the forefront of the country’s pro-democracy movement – have also spearheaded a campaign to shun shops owned by Muslims and only to visit stores run by Buddhists.

Dhammapiya denied that the campaign known as “969″ was responsible for several episodes of violence around the country this year, most recently in Shan state in May.

A Muslim man was sentenced to 26 years in prison on Tuesday for an attack on a Buddhist woman that triggered the clashes in eastern state.

Communal unrest last year in Arakan state left about 200 people dead and 140,000 displaced, mainly Rohingya Muslims.

Muslim leaders welcomed the monks’ planned talks, saying they hoped the clerics would help to change Buddhists’ perceptions of them.

“It’s much better if Buddhist monks tell people that their views of Muslims are wrong, rather than us trying to explain,” Aye Lwin, chief convener of the Islamic Center of Myanmar, told AFP.
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