Thursday, January 30, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Swire speech moved from Rangoon University campus

Posted: 30 Jan 2014 06:02 AM PST

A public address by visiting British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire, scheduled to be held at Rangoon University on Thursday, was moved to a last-minute closed-door session at the British Council in Rangoon "for reasons beyond our control."

The British Embassy received word late Wednesday evening that the university's Diamond Jubilee Hall was no longer being made available for the address, forcing the organisers to find another venue and denying students the ability to hear the minister's speech in person.

"I hope that one day people like me will be able to give speeches there, at the university, that provoke and give cause for debate," Swire said. "This is, after all, the first duty… of any university."

Rangoon University has historically been a hotbed for activism and anti-government agitation, playing a crucial role in the country's struggle for independence and the ill-fated 1988 anti-government uprising. Despite recent reforms, students still face significant restrictions on their ability to engage in political activities.

Swire concluded a three-day visit to Burma on Thursday afternoon, his second to the country in fourteen months. On Tuesday, he met with Aung San Suu Kyi and "senior Burmese government figures" in Naypyidaw, before traveling to Myitkina the following day, where he visited a camp for internally displaced persons and met with NGOs, UN agencies, and the KIO's technical advisory team. He subsequently flew to Chiang Mai, where he will meet with representatives of ethnic armed groups involved in negotiations with the government to implement a nationwide ceasefire.

Burma's reform process faces many challenges, Swire noted, but he identified two areas as being of particular concern: democratic reforms and the future of Burma's fragile peace process.

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Constitutional reform will be prerequisite to any further democratic reform, Swire said. He singled out section 59(f) of the constitution, which bars Aung San Suu Kyi from the Presidency owing to the British citizenship of her two sons, as being a "very simple and very important" amendment that needs to be made.

"The 2008 Constitution is perhaps unique. I can think of no other constitution that makes an individual citizen's eligibility to become President conditional on the nationality of their adult children," he said. "As Prime Minister David Cameron has made clear, it is time for this restriction to be removed. It is a hangover from a very different era. It is fundamentally undemocratic. And it is fundamentally wrong."

The UK government has brought a cross-section of Burmese political and civil society leaders to Belfast over the past year – "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Minister U Aung Min, the United Nationalities Federation Council, the Karen National Union, and the 88 Generation" – to learn from the successes and failures of the peace process in Northern Ireland. Swire was himself Minister for Northern Ireland before joining the Foreign Office.

"The international community today fully recognises the importance of the peace process, and its centrality to this country's future," he said. "Without a fair and equitable peace settlement that reflects the aspirations of its diverse communities, the potential to become a prosperous, stable and democratic country will never be realised."

On his first official visit to the country in December 2013, Swire became the first European minister to visit Arakan State. He stated today that "there has been little progress in addressing either the humanitarian situation or underlying intercommunal relations" since his first visit. In recent weeks, credible reports that dozens of Rohingya Muslims were killed in northern Arakan have surfaced. The government disputes the accuracy of these claims.

“The fact that we are engaging with the Tatmadaw does not mean we will shy away from raising very real and continued concerns.” – Hugo Swire, British Foreign Office Minister

The UK controversially revived military links with the Tatmadaw (Burmese armed forces) last year, appointing a defence attaché after a 20-year absence. "We made these moves after consultation with opposition, ethnic and civil society leaders, the vast majority of whom firmly supported cautious and calibrated engagement," said Swire.

A training course for Burmese officers, provided by lecturers from the UK Defence Academy "covering topics including the role of the military in a democracy, security sector reform, governance, accountability, and the rule of law," recently concluded in Naypyidaw. The UK and the United States have both established limited military ties with Burma over the past year; the Tatmadaw observed the US-led Cobra Gold exercises, held annually in Thailand, for the first time last year.

But the prospect of revived links with the Tatmadaw has provoked criticism of Britain's engagement with Naypyidaw, despite the training program's ostensible focus on promoting more democratic and accountable practices. In a report released this month, Burma Campaign UK, a London-based activist group, claims the British government "has been unable to explain how the training will achieve these goals. It has admitted in Parliament it is not possible to monitor whether the training actually leads to any improvements."

The organization accuses Swire and other ministers of dodging tough questions in Parliament, claiming "the [UK] government is increasingly resorting to avoiding giving a straight and clear answer to questions, probably in order to avoid proper scrutiny of its policies."

Swire dismissed concerns that the UK's engagement with the Tatmadaw will make it any less critical of the abuses perpetrated by it. "The fact that we are engaging with the Tatmadaw does not mean we will shy away from raising very real and continued concerns," he said. "I am convinced that cautious engagement with the Tatmadaw is the right thing to be doing, and that now is the right time to be doing it."

US refugee resettlement programme draws to a close

Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:26 AM PST

The United States resettlement programme for Burma's refugees living in Thailand has officially ended, said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday.

Last Friday marked the final deadline for refugees living in nine temporary shelters along the Thailand-Burma border to apply for permanent placement in the US, as "UNHCR received the final expressions of interest from eligible Myanmar [Burma] refugees."

The programme's pending termination was announced early in 2013 in Mae La, the largest of Thailand's border camps, home to an estimated population of 43,000 people. Programme closure was rolled out independently at each camp, where the announcement was followed by a three month deadline to submit an application.

"Almost 90,000 people have been re-settled in several countries since 2005, and those who are still in the system will be processed accordingly," said Mike Bruce of The Border Consortium (TBC), a Thailand-based NGO that offers development and administrative support to refugee camps along the border.

"Those who are still in acute or urgent need can be considered on a case by case basis," he confirmed.

The US resettlement programme is among the largest to have served Burma's refugees in Thailand; since its start in 2005, more than 73,000 people from Burma were resettled in the US, far outnumbering other host nations like Australia and Canada.  

Since the announcement of the programme's termination, about 6,500 resettlement applications were filed, a 2,500 count increase from previous years, according to UNHCR figures.

In mid 2013 the UNHCR, in collaboration with the Royal Thai government and administered by Thai NGO Mae Fah Luang Foundation, surveyed refugees living in Mae La Camp to obtain more information about camp demographics and to gauge refugees' preferences for alternatives to camp life.

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Vivian Tan, spokeswoman for UNHCR, told DVB that "The majority of the respondents said they preferred either resettlement to a third country or to stay in Thailand." Tan added, however, that more than half of those who preferred not to return to Burma were unregistered refugees, hence they would be ineligible to apply for resettlement regardless.

Thailand is not party to the 1951 UN Convention on the Rights and Status of Refugees, which guarantees legal status and protection to asylum seekers. Those who fled from civil war and persecution, largely from southeastern Burma, are casually permitted to remain in Thailand. The UNHRC then registers refugees and oversees subsequent applications to third-country resettlement programs.

Nearly half of the population in Mae La is not UNHCR verified, and the registration of new refugees ceased completely in 2006, leaving the option of resettlement unavailable to many who have fled in recent years.

Termination of resettlement programmes begs the question of eventual repatriation, which at the moment has no clear timeframe, according to Tan.

Less than ten percent of refugees surveyed last year said that they prefered to return to Burma, citing such reasons as "a lack of trust in the current cessation of hostilities, a perceived lack of status or citizenship" and "access to land," which makes the prospect of 'voluntary return' seem a distant goal.

Based on this assessment from the refugees themselves, coupled with a general evaluation of Burma's in-country progress, Tan said that, "at this point the conditions in southeast Myanmar are not yet conducive for organised returns to be promoted. Some of the key safeguards are not in place to ensure a safe, dignified and sustainable return. In particular, there is no permanent cease-fire in most places of return."

As the possibility of landing a new life abroad dwindles for those left along Thailand's western boundaries, opinion seems unanimous that while they can't move on, returning to Burma is not likely imminent.

"We agree with the UNHCR, the government of Myanmar and Thailand, and our international partners," said TBC's Bruce, "that now is not the time to return."

An estimated 120,000 refugees from Burma remain in nine border camps, according to the UNHCR.

DVB talks to CEO of Ooredoo Myanmar Ross Cormack

Posted: 30 Jan 2014 03:09 AM PST

Qatar's Ooredoo and Norway’s Telenor received the first ever operating licenses for the development of telecoms systems in Burma on Thursday as both companies penned agreements with Burma’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Naypyidaw.

The hotly contested bidding process took place last year, drawing more than 92 letters of interest from companies around the globe. Since the announcement of winning bids, Burma's Parliament has approved its first Telecoms Law. This final step allows the companies to begin rolling out operations in the country.

“Ooredoo firmly believes in the transformative power of mobile communications services and we have committed to making next-generation mobile technology available and accessible to as many people as possible in Myanmar,” said Ooredoo Group CEO Nasser Marafih in a company statement.

DVB Interview International recently spoke with Ooredoo Myanmar CEO Ross Cormack about the company's future in Burma's frontier tech market.

"I think it's fantastic," said Cormack, "telecommunications is key to growing economies."

With an estimated population of 60 million, only about ten percent of people in Burma have cellular telephone service. Internet penetration is thought to be around one percent, among the world's least connected. Cormack said that Ooredoo has pledged to eventually offer mobile coverage to 97 percent of the country.

"I've touched on telecoms reaching out to nearly everybody in the country and this will give people the opportunity to stay in touch and have human communications," he said. "But even more importantly it will get them more opportunities for work, and to speed up the development of other industries.”

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Ooredoo has promised to begin rollout within six months, starting with increasing urban coverage, and eventually moving out to rural areas, which comprise about 70 percent of Burma's land mass. Cormack said that the expansion of telecoms could bring great opportunities to rural populations, like useful applications for farmers.

"There'll be products for the agricultural sector as well as we go out into the rural areas," said Cormack. "Just as we've launched in Indonesia for example, so people can see what crop prices are and when to plant."

As Ooredoo begins to implement the rapid overhaul of Burma's communications infrastructure, they have partnered with Yoma Strategic Holdings, Ltd, a Burmese company owned by Serge Pun, to build towers in the country's as yet inaccessible regions.

"We are going to be ensuring that we have the best possible services delivered in an ethical and clean and proper manner. We will reach out to local communities to help us distribute, to help us operate and maintain the towers and so forth," said Cormack.

Nationwide ceasefire draft submitted to govt peace team

Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:49 AM PST

The nationwide ceasefire agreement drafted by the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) has been submitted to the Burmese government's peace negotiator Aung Min.

The NCCT, a committee of ethnic armed group representatives, met with the government's Internal Peace Making Committee (IPMC) on Wednesday in Chiang Mai, Thailand. While submitting the draft is an important step in Burma's protracted peace process, no agreement has yet been reached between the two sides.

"The Minister was in Chiang Mai for pre-negotiation, so there was no decision made in the meeting," said Kwe Htoo Win, general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU) and deputy chair of the NCCT.

The agreement was written during a conference of ethnic leaders in KNU headquarters Lawkheela (Lay Wah), Karen State, last week. The conference was attended by representatives of 17 of Burma's ethnic armies.

A proposed nationwide ceasefire has been in the works since the first historic gathering of ethnic leaders was held in Laiza, Kachin State, in late October 2013. The group has since met several times to arrive at the current draft, containing 11 points approved by 16 of the 17 Lawkheela conference participants. The only leaders present who have yet to sign are the Shan State Army – South.

Ethnic leaders will reconvene next month in Karen State capital Hpa-an, where members of the IPMC will meet with them and attempt to reach agreement on the long-awaited pact.

The Hpa-an conference will be the next in an ongoing series of peace talks geared towards ending the sporadic civil conflict that has plagued Burma for nearly six decades. While most of the country's ethnic militias have signed bilateral peace pacts with the central government, the current peace process aims to secure ceasefires across the nation and establish a working plan for political reconciliation.

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