Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Shan NGO blasts ‘militia monks’
• Burma Business Weekly – 15 Feb 2014
• 600 Burmese released from Thai prisons
• Burma’s rice industry faces growing pains
• Pegu farmers injured in police crackdown

Shan NGO blasts ‘militia monks’ Posted: 15 Feb 2014 12:17 AM PST It is wholly inappropriate for Buddhist monks to participate in militia training, said a spokesman for the Shan Ethnic Affairs Organisation (SEAO), speaking to DVB. His response came after a controversial photograph was published showing ethnic Red Shan monks receiving firearms training by men in military garb, at least one of whom was wearing an insignia of the Burmese army's Northern Regional Military Command. The monks in question have been widely criticised by Buddhist groups across Burma and abroad, with many commentators labelling them a "disgrace to their religion". Related Stories NLD cancels literary event after pressure over Muslim speakers Shan group defends training from Burma Armed Forces Fresh fighting in northeast Burma raises concern among ceasefire groups SEAO deputy-chair Sai Sang Wai confirmed that the Northern Regional Military Command had been providing militia training to local villagers in Kachin State, including members of the Shan community, for about two years, apparently to protect themselves from alleged forced recruitment drives by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) which is still at conflict with the central Burmese government. But Sai Sang Wai also sought to downplay the incident, saying that the monks in the picture appear to be young "temporary" monks – a common practice in Southeast Asia where laymen can enter the monkhood for a short period in order to gain good karma. "It was absolutely not military training for ordained monks," he said. "I assume they were just novices – temporary monks – and they are not from Talawgyi." Talawgyi is a small Red Shan village near state capital Myitkyina where the Burmese armed forces have conducted several firearms training exercises in the past. Sai San Wai said he and his group will be discussing the matter with local Buddhist monasteries to ensure such a scene is not repeated. He added that forced recruitment and extortion by the KIA have been significantly reduced in the village since the militia training began. He noted that the SEAO is considering the formation of an official militia unit in the Red Shan village and that he expected numbers of voluntary militiamen to increase if the KIA persisted with their forced recruitment campaign.

Burma Business Weekly – 15 Feb 2014 Posted: 14 Feb 2014 10:49 PM PST   Ups and downs The Burmese kyat is selling at 988 to the US dollar, that's one kyat less than last week. The buying rate is 982 kyat to the dollar. Gold in Rangoon is currently selling at 662,000 kyat per tical, that's 4,200 kyat up from a week ago. Fuel remains stable: petrol 820 kyat, diesel 950 kyat and octane 920 kyat per litre. High-quality Pawhsanmwe rice remains at 1,200- 1,300 kyat per basket at Rangoon markets, while low-quality Emata rice is still at 850-900 kyat.   Thilawa shares for sale Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holding Public Co Ltd, which has a 41 percent stake in Thilawa Special Economic Zone, is to sell two million shares, each of which will be sold at 10,000 kyat (USS$10), said Chairman of Thilawa SEZ Administrative Committee Set Aung who is also vice-chairman of Burma's Central Bank, speaking in Naypyidaw on Thursday. Thilawa SEZ is being implemented as joint venture of Japan (49 percent) and Burma (51 percent).   Myanma Airlines to lease 10 Boeing 737 planes State-owned Myanma Airlines has signed an agreement to lease 10 new Boeing 737 aircraft from American company GE Capital Aviation Services. The first of the new planes, worth US$96m each, will be delivered in 2015. Myanma Airlines currently focuses on domestic travel, relying on Fokker F28 jets and propeller-powered ATR Turboprops and Cessnas. The lease agreement will give Myanma Airlines the potential to introduce international services to Korea and Japan, transport minister Nyan Htun Aung said in a statement.   Germany Cancels $740m Burmese debt Berlin has agreed to write off half off Burma's debt to Germany, some US$741 million. The remaining $741 is to be repaid over the next 15 years at a the minimal interest rate of 3 percent with the first repayment installment delayed for another seven years, according to state-run media. The debt restructuring plan was agreed during a visit by German President Joachim Gauck and is part of a wider agreement reached between Burma and other countries of the so-called Paris Club to whom Naypyidaw owes money in order to help with resuscitating of the Burmese economy.   New 5-star hotel to open in Naypyidaw Pan Pacific Hotels Group has announced the opening of its second luxury hotel in Burma. The Parkroyal, located near the Myanmar International Convention Centre in Naypyidaw, will open its doors in April and is scheduled to host several upcoming international events in Naypyidaw as Burma exercises 2014 chairmanship of ASEAN.   US eyes mining opportunities in Burma Burmese Minister for Environmental Conservation and Forestry Win Tun received Robert Cekuta, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US State Department, on Wednesday morning when the pair discussed the development of Burma's mineral resources and renewable energy, water and food security and their sustainable development, according to state-run media. In addition to EITI membership, bilateral talks also reportedly covered "promoting the sectors of environmental conservation, energy, mines, forestry and human resources."   Burma moves to gold standard, red tape to be loosened In a move that will open the country's gold market to global investors, CCTV has reported that Burma will begin issuing gold bars under the international measurement standard—the gram—as opposed to national currency the kyat. Restrictions on how much gold foreigners can buy are to be scrapped. Plans are also in place to soften a 1994 law requiring the government receive a 70 percent profit share from foreign mines in the country. The announcement comes as Burma gears up for 2015 implementation of the ASEAN free-trade zone.   Offshore energy block bidders await announcement The Burmese government will pick the winners bidding for 30 new energy exploration offshore blocks this month. Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Plc is among the bidders alongside Petronas of Malaysia, Mitsui Oil of Japan and Shell of the Netherlands. However an official said contracts on production-sharing with the bid winners could take months before they are ready for signing. Burma has three offshore fields at the Yadana, Yetagun and Shwe sites, and most of the production is exported either to Thailand or China.   Burma's rice industry faces growing pains The Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) has stressed a need for tangible rice policies to keep abreast with industries in neighbouring countries. Ye Min Aung, general-secretary of the MRF, said adopting more comprehensive rice policies will allow foreign investors to make their own decisions freely on which areas to invest – such as seed production, rice milling or industrial farming. He said the MRF will cooperate with the government, international organisations and civil society groups to work out new rice policies. Read more: http://www.dvb.no/news/burmas-rice-industry-faces-growing-pains/37301

600 Burmese released from Thai prisons Posted: 14 Feb 2014 09:52 PM PST More than 600 Burmese prisoners have been released recently in Thailand, Burma's Deputy Home Affairs Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Zan Myint said in parliament on Friday. The deputy minister was speaking in response to a question by Thein Nyunt, MP of Thingangyun Township. "I had a chance to read out in parliament a letter sent by some of these prisoners," said Thein Nyunt. "Firstly, there are differences between the reality and what was said by the foreign minister and home minister in Parliament. "Firstly, according to their letter, Burmese prisoners have to work harder than Thai prisoners. Burmese prisoners are not fed as well as Thai prisoners in both quality and quantity. When doing exercise, Burmese prisoners get different rights from their Thai counterparts. And another thing is that Burmese prisoners do not get the same medical treatment as the Thais." Since Burma achieved independence in 1948, there have been no prisoner exchanges between the two neighbours. However, Thein Nyunt said that he was going to try to revive an agreement during this parliamentary term. Thein Nyunt said he had been told that there are about 10,000 Burmese currently detained on various charges in Thai prisons – 3,000 long-term and 7,000 short-term. Some Burmese prisoners were expected to be released in an amnesty on 5 December, the birthday of Thailand's king. However, due to the unstable political situation in the country, no amnesty was declared. Related Stories Burma's rice industry faces growing pains All 1,300 Rohingyas now deported to Burma, says Thai official DVB talks to UNODC’s Jason Eligh

Burma’s rice industry faces growing pains Posted: 14 Feb 2014 08:59 PM PST The Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) has stressed a need for tangible rice policies to keep abreast with industries in neighbouring countries. A longstanding ban on private rice exports was scrapped in 2010 under the former military junta, but the modernization needs of Burma's agricultural sector remain vast. The world's largest rice exporter from 1961 to 1963, Burma's output today lags vastly behind that of its neighbours. And unlike those neighbours – countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, India and China – Burma lacks a comprehensive set of rules governing foreign investment in agriculture and the export of the country's most important crop. Ye Min Aung, general-secretary of the MRF, said adopting more comprehensive rice policies will allow foreign investors to make their own decisions freely on which areas to invest – such as seed production, rice milling or industrial farming. "The policy, to ensure sufficient domestic production and export the surplus, is rather too general and we rice millers need more precise and strategic policies specifying roles of rice millers, traders, companies and farmers as well as the insurance system and many more," said Ye Min Aung. He said the MRF will cooperate with the government, international organisations and civil society groups to work out new rice policies. "A plan has been underway to draft new rice policies under supervision of the MRF which will be presented to the President and the public, as well as political parties and civil society organisations for their input and advice," he said. Related Stories Burma Business Weekly – 15 Feb 2014 600 Burmese released from Thai prisons All 1,300 Rohingyas now deported to Burma, says Thai official India – currently the world's largest rice exporter – shipped an estimated 10.15 million tons abroad in fiscal year 2012-13. Burma can barely keep up with domestic demand, producing an estimated 12.7 million tons over the same period, with consumption hovering at around 11.7 million tons. Soe Tun, chairman of the Farmers Association, said the new policies need to be inclusive and represent everyone in the rice sector in order to be successful. "We see that having the policy will contribute to development of the rice industry as we will be able to gauge where to focus knowing who's going where, and we would like to urge for the inclusion of representatives from all sectors and organisations in making a draft of the policy," said Soe Tun. In the short-term, Burmese rice exports face a competitive challenge from an old foe – Thailand. In October 2011, the Thai government, under current Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, launched a controversial "rice-pledging scheme" to raise rural incomes and win votes, offering farmers as much as 50 percent more than market rates for their crops. While agriculture subsidies are common across Southeast Asia, the Thai rice-pledging scheme came with a twist: in an effort to leverage the Kingdom's position at the time as the world's biggest rice exporter, Bangkok sought to limit exports and put the bulk of the country's production into strategic reserves. The policy was premised on the notion that the global price of rice would increase drastically without a steady supply of Thailand's finest, allowing the country to reap a windfall later on. It didn't work. Competing producer nations filled in the gap, keeping prices relatively stable. Thailand's pledging scheme is scheduled to expire next month, but owing to the election recently held and the Thai government's current "caretaker" status, it cannot finance the debts owed to farmers under the scheme by further borrowing. In an effort to recoup some of the estimated US$4.4 billion in losses incurred by the scheme, Bangkok is likely to dump excess stores on the international market in the near future, undercutting competitors and causing the global price of rice to plummet. While Yingluck enjoys widespread support in the country's agrarian heartland, the failure of the rice-pledging scheme may fatally weaken her embattled government if it fails to compensate farmers at agreed-upon rates. For Burma's rice industry, the rice-pledging scheme has been a mixed blessing. Anti-government protestors have claimed that low-quality rice from Burma and Cambodia has been smuggled across borders into Thailand in an effort to cash in on the subsidies. Smugglers along the Thai-Burmese border have benefited as well, earning a premium in Burma for rice siphoned from official stores in Thailand. The ASEAN economic community, or AEC, is scheduled to go into effect in 2015, marking the first tenuous steps to create an ASEAN-wide common market. Agriculture has historically been among the most protected sectors in the region, so it is unlikely that Burma's farmers will be overwhelmed by foreign producers right away. In 2008, the Shinawatra-linked prime minister of Thailand, Samak Sundaravej, proposed forming an ASEAN-wide "rice cartel", allowing Southeast Asian producers to demand better and more uniform prices for their rice on the international market. Such a scheme may eventually be incorporated into the AEC as efforts to remove barriers to regional trade progress.

Pegu farmers injured in police crackdown Posted: 14 Feb 2014 08:21 PM PST Three farmers were injured in Pegu on Friday when police broke up a protest site where about 100 locals from the town of Thegon had been demanding the return of their farmland which they say was confiscated by the army. More than 100 farmers from Thegon's Aungon village had been occupying a vacant lot in the centre of the town since 10 February, calling for the return of over 1,100 acres of farmland they claim was confiscated by the Burmese armed forces in 2000. At around 7am on Friday, some 60 policemen accompanied by over 100 citizens raided the camp, beating up protestors and dragging them into trucks before driving them back to their village. Thant Zin Htet, an activist helping the farmers, said many eye witnesses were shocked by the crackdown. Three protestors were reported injured – two of whom, both women, were hospitalised. "Around 60 policemen, led by township and district police superintendents, raided the camp this morning," said Thant Zin Htet, speaking to DVB on Friday. "Two women were hospitalised – one of them was hit by a rock the police threw, and the other lost pretty much all her clothing in the scuffle and was seriously traumatised." Related Stories Henzada protestors say no more to Article 18 NLD supporters in Mandalay rally for charter change Nine Latpadaung protestors freed The Prome (Pyay) District Police, under whose jurisdiction Thegon falls, said authorities went to the protest site on Friday morning to "implore" the protestors to suspend the rally and make way for a dharma speech by the renowned Buddhist monk Sitagu that was scheduled for the same location. "Local authorities implored the protestors to suspend their rally temporarily to make way for the Dharma Talk event," said an officer at the District Police Station. The Aungon villagers have vowed to resume the protest and continue demonstrating until they get their land back. "We are still standing by our original demands – the return of our confiscated land," said Pauk Sa, a protest leader. "We also demand mediation for various land disputes and compensation for the farmers for their losses." Thant Zin Htet and Pauk Sa, and two other protestors, Daw Nyo and Daw Win, have been charged by police under Article 18 of the Penal Code – the notorious Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law – for organising a public rally without official permission.

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