Democratic Voice of Burma

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• NLD delegation departs for China
• Burma enjoys dream start to SEA Games
• IMF chief pledges support for Burma’s banking sector
• Thai PM pledges help on Rohingya trafficking investigation
• A first New Year’s festival at the Shan camp

NLD delegation departs for China Posted: 07 Dec 2013 11:35 PM PST Ten members of National League for Democracy (NLD) left for a goodwill visit to China on Sunday, 8 December, at the invitation of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to an NLD spokesman. Spokesman Nyan Win, who will lead the delegation, said this is the first invitation Burma's main opposition party has received from the Chinese government. Economist Myo Myint, Kyi Kyi Win and several NLD youth members will accompany him. According to a press release from the Chinese embassy in Rangoon, during their stay in Beijing the NLD delegation will meet senior officials from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, and the China NGO Network for International Exchanges. The delegation will also visit Shanghai Municipality and Yunnan Province on this visit, the statement said. Related Stories 'We are bound to the constitution and only the constitution': Ye Htut Govt rejection of quadripartite meeting 'unacceptable': NLD Govt rejects NLD proposal for quadripartite meeting China has long been seen as a broker for the military junta in Burma. Despite congratulating the NLD on its general election victory in 1990, Beijing continued to do business with the military government long after most Western nations had imposed sanctions. Since NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in 2010, it has been reported that officials from the Chinese embassy have paid her visits. As head of the parliamentary committee looking into the China-backed Latpadaung copper mine project in Sagaing division, Suu Kyi approved the continuation of the copper mine, and spoke out about how Burma must be prepared to honour its pre-existing contracts with China.

Burma enjoys dream start to SEA Games Posted: 07 Dec 2013 09:29 PM PST Hosts Burma have already won six gold medals and one silver – and the opening ceremony of the SEA Games is still three days away. Due to a cramped schedule, several sports are being held ahead of the official opening of the games, one of which, chinlone, is Burma's national sport. Burma has won four gold medals in the event, two each for both the men's and women's teams. Burmese athletes also collected two golds and a silver from wushu's Taolu event to lead the medal tally on Saturday. Thailand is second with two golds, a silver and a bronze; Vietnam is third with a medal in each color. Related Stories Ready for battle – Burma women's football team Burma strikes first gold Burma looks to capture hearts and medals with chinlone The highly anticipated men's football matches kicked off on Saturday in Rangoon where Thailand beat Timor Leste 3-1 before Burma made a strong start to their qualifying group with a hard-fought 3-0 win over Cambodia. Zaw Min Tun opened the scoring in the 16th minute for Burma before Kyaw Ko Ko scored twice to secure the victory. Burma's next match is against Timor Leste on Monday evening.   In addition to the ongoing football, wushu and water polo events, the basketball and boxing tournaments begin in Naypyidaw on Sunday.

IMF chief pledges support for Burma’s banking sector Posted: 07 Dec 2013 09:03 PM PST International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde has urged Burma to urgently prioritise tackling widespread poverty while pledging assistance to the country's nascent banking sector. "As Myanmar [Burma] opens up and expands, it needs the structural foundations of a modern economy. This is an urgent priority,” she said in a speech to students at the Yangon Institute of Economics. Lagarde was in Rangoon on Saturday on her first official trip to the country where she met with a range of government officials and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "Three-quarters of the population have no access to electricity… only 1 percent of the population uses the internet," she said. High annual growth rates and a large, untapped domestic market in Burma have triggered a surge of interest from foreign investors, but Lagarde pointed out that 26 percent of the country’s population still lives below the poverty line. “The next step is to build on these gains and take the path of sustained, strong, and inclusive growth to lower poverty and lift the prospects of everyone in Myanmar,” she said. “Clearly, too many people are not yet equipped for the economy of tomorrow,” she added. She highlighted the importance of agriculture to the country’s economy, pointing out it accounted for over a third of GDP and more than half of all employment. “More than that, over two-thirds of the population depends on the land for their livelihood. So it is important to raise the productivity of agriculture, to boost the income of farmers and all who depend on them,” she said. She also urged the government to boost spending on health and education which account for, respectively, just 1.5 percent and 1.7 percent of GDP – the lowest in the ASEAN region. Lagarde said the IMF was going to ramp up assistance to the country, adding more staff to its team in 2014, but warned there was “a lot of groundwork to do”. She also warned Burma not to rush into opening up its banking sector to international competition. Related Stories Business Weekly Lagarde, Suu Kyi head line-up at women’s forum in Rangoon Crawling, walking, but not yet running – ATMs in Burma 'It’s most suitable for Myanmar to use the ‘no haste, no waste’ way for opening up its banking sector,” said the IMF chief. Lagarde pledged that the IMF will provide technical assistance to the Burmese Central Bank in monitoring the country's nascent banking system. "Myanmar must stabilize its banking system with strong monetary policy, directed by an independent central bank and a bank monitoring system with the help of IMF,” Lagarde said. The IMF has forecast that Burma’s economy will grow 6.75 percent in the fiscal year 2013-14, ending in March. The IMF and other international lenders such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) only returned to Burma last year, after ending their activities in the formerly junta-run state in the wake of an army crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 1988. Burma has one of the least developed banking systems in Asia, according to the ADB. Meanwhile, a 5 December report by Reuters said that Burma will allow some foreign banks to begin offering limited financial services next year, citing a senior central bank official. No less than 34 international banks have representative offices in the country, but none are allowed to open branches or conduct money transactions in the country until now. The Burmese government is reportedly encouraging foreign banks to form joint ventures with domestic banks before allowing them to open independent branches. The senior official is quoted saying that the central bank is now formulating a plan to speed up the process by letting a select number of foreign banks begin operating in 2014 in “certain areas of banking services”, which he did not define. Central Bank officials will reportedly meet soon with the heads of all local private banks to prepare them for the development.

Thai PM pledges help on Rohingya trafficking investigation Posted: 07 Dec 2013 08:32 PM PST Thailand has pledged to help with any investigation into a report that Thai immigration officials moved Burmese refugees into human-trafficking rings. However, aides to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra declined to comment directly on the allegations contained in the investigation by the Reuters news agency. The United Nations and the United States called on Friday for an investigation into the report, published on Thursday and based on a two-month investigation in three countries. Reuters correspondents detailed a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thai immigration detention centres and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea. Prime Minister Yingluck, who chairs a government committee on human trafficking, declined to comment on the findings when asked about her reaction. “I cannot comment on the Rohingya issue and reaction as this is the responsibility of the Foreign Ministry to handle,” she said in a comment delivered through an aide. “The ministry will liaise with the United States and the UN to help with any investigation they need.” Related Stories Thai authorities implicated in Rohingya smuggling operation 14 Rohingyas sentenced for killing Buddhists in Indonesia Burmese embassy warns migrants to avoid Bangkok protests Tens of thousands of stateless Rohingya have fled violence in Burma by boat and many arrive off southwestern Thailand. After being delivered to human traffickers at sea, the Rohingya are transported across southern Thailand and held hostage in camps hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay ransoms to release them, according to the Reuters report. Some are beaten and some are killed. “These allegations need to be investigated urgently,” UN refugee agency spokeswoman Vivian Tan said in a statement. “We urge the Thai government to conduct a serious and transparent investigation into the matter,” said US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf. Pol Maj General Chatchawal Suksomjit of the Royal Thai Police was quoted in the Reuters report as saying that there was an unofficial policy to deport the Rohingya to Burma. He called this “a natural way or option two”. But he said the Rohingya signed statements in which they agree they want to return to Burma. These statements, however, were at times produced in the absence of a Rohingya-language translator, Reuters found. Nine people have been arrested in Thailand in relation to Rohingya smuggling in 2013, including two government officials, according to police data. None of the arrests have led to convictions. This article first appeared in the Bangkok Post on 7 December 2013.

A first New Year’s festival at the Shan camp Posted: 07 Dec 2013 07:36 PM PST Koung Jor refugee camp, located in the hills of northern Thailand along the Burmese border, is home to about 600 Shan people who have fled conflict in Burma. Some of them have been living across the border for decades. Koung Jor camp was set up in 2002 and exists unofficially since it's not recognized by the UN refugee agency or the Thai government. Each year in December, the nearby village of Piang Luang organizes popular Shan New Year celebrations. But this year it was cancelled. So the refugees of Koung Jor decided to lay on their own festival for the first time inside the camp. Special guest was well-known Shan singer Sai Lab Sing who is visually impaired, and learned playing music from famous artist Sai Htee Saing. "The festival is really important and all of us should celebrate in unity", he said. "I want to emphasise – if we don't cooperate on occasions like this, our traditions will disappear one day." "Historically, nobody has ever enslaved us, but because of military rule many people left Shan state to settle in Thailand. The New Year festival reminds us of how we are united and love each other." The New year celebrations featured Shan dancing and traditional songs. A rock band, playing popular Shan tunes, brings back memories of the home country. "Some people work in Bangkok or Chiang Mai but they come back here to meet their families and celebrate together", said Hseng Lake who was watching the band. "It makes us remember our homeland, and inspires us to keep our culture – and our traditional new year – alive." Related Stories Burma to count Thailand refugees in 2014 census Time to go home? Australia to deport over 100 Rohingya asylum-seekers The next morning the festivities are over – the stage is taken down and the instruments are packed away. Naing Ying lives in the camp and is happy with how the night turned out. "I enjoyed the New Year's festival very much because we got the chance to celebrate the festival in the camp for the first time. I feel very happy. I think it's important that the next generation learns about our Shan culture. Because Koung Jor isn't recognised as a refugee camp, the Thai government are keen to repatriate the villagers back to Burma. But Naing Ying has mixed feelings about her home country. Even though she misses Burma, she feels safer staying in the camp. "I feel happy living here but I worry because I don't know when the Thai authorities will force us to go back." The people living here say they have been kept out of discussions about repatriation. Their children have grown up on the Thai side of the border and many don't know how to speak Burmese. "The children have no experience at all of Burma and are happy here", said Naing Ying. "If we moved to a new place, I don't know what the future would bring. That makes us afraid. Many families in Koung Jor are worried they will be forced to go back to areas where fighting continues between Shan rebels and Burmese government forces. They hope the first New Year's celebration in the camp won't be the last.

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