More heavy rain hits N Korea, flooding buildings

This picture, taken by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on July 30, 2012 shows houses being flooded at Anju city in South Phongan province, caused by typhoon and downpour.

ANJU: UN staff planned to visit storm-pounded counties in North Korea on Tuesday, after two days of heavy rain submerged buildings, cut off power, flooded rice paddies and forced people and their livestock to climb onto rooftops for safety

The rain Sunday and Monday followed downpours earlier this month that killed nearly 90 people and left more than 60,000 homeless, officials said.

The floods also come on the heels of a severe drought, fueling renewed food worries about a country that already struggles to feed its people.

Two-thirds of North Korea’s 24 million people face chronic food shortages, a UN report said last month, while asking donors for $198 million in humanitarian aid for the country. South Korean analyst Kwon Tae-jin said the recent flooding, coming so soon after the dry spell, is likely to worsen the North’s food problems.

North Korea-based United Nations staff will visit the two hardest-hit counties to see what help the UN team in the country might provide, Christopher de Bono, Unicef’s chief of communications for East Asia and the Pacific, said Tuesday.

He had no other details.
On Sunday and Monday, rain hit the capital, Pyongyang, and other regions, with western coastal areas reporting heavy damage.

In Anju city in South Phyongan province, officials reported 1,000 houses and buildings were destroyed and 2,300 hectares of farmland were completely covered.

The Chongchon River in Anju city flooded on Monday, cutting communication lines and submerging rice paddies and other fields, said Kim Kwang Dok, vice chairman of the Anju City People’s Committee, who told The Associated Press that the disaster is the worst in the city’s history.

Boats made their way through the muddy water that covered the city’s streets Monday. Many residents sat on their homes’ roofs and walls, watching the rising water.

A young man wearing only underwear stood on a building’s roof with two pigs; four women sat on another rooftop with two dogs.

Helicopters flew to various areas to rescue flood victims, state media reported.

Casualties from the latest rains were not immediately reported.

If it rains again before the water drains, the damage will be greater, Kim said.

Earlier this year, North Korea mobilized soldiers and workers to pour buckets of water on parched fields, irrigate farms and repair wells as what officials described as the worst dry spell in a century gripped parts of both North and South Korea.

North Korea does not produce enough food to feed its people, and relies on limited purchases of food as well as outside donations to make up the shortfall. It also suffered a famine in the mid- and late 1990s, the FAO and World Food Program said in a special report late last year.

Pakistan Railways avoids service disruption, for now

LAHORE: The financially troubled Pakistan Railways managed to continue its passenger train operations on Monday as it received desperately needed supply of over 200,000 litres of oil at the eleventh hour.
The situation started deteriorating last week when the railways was running out of diesel. To continue its operations, the management purchased diesel from the open market instead of waiting for supplies from the Pakistan State Oil (PSO).
Railway officials stressed that there was no payment dispute with the PSO and said the delay in fuel consignments was only due to the long distance a train has to cover for providing oil to different sheds.
The Lahore Loco shed got about 210,000 liters of diesel at 12.30 pm on Monday, which will be enough for the next three to four days. The Lahore division needs 60,000 litres of oil daily to run 24 express and passenger trains.
Talking to Our Sources, a railway official said, "We have no clue what would happen after this fuel ends as there is no other PSO consignment in the pipeline."
Last week, he said, was very tough as the railways ran out of money required for the purchase of fuel from the open market, but the management of Business Express, which has been outsourced to a private firm, provided relief as it paid some of the outstanding amount.
"The railways purchases fuel from this amount as no train is running in profit. For the last couple of days, we were facing difficulties in buying oil from the open market because of rumours of a possible increase in prices of petroleum products," the official said.
The fuel shortage disturbed the railways' schedule. It cancelled the departure of Faisalabad-bound Ghauri Express while rest of the express trains ran late.
However, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Railways ruled out any fuel shortage, terming it propaganda. He also denied payment problems with the PSO, saying the railways was still very far from its credit limit.
"There are 15 sheds to which the train has to provide fuel. Lahore is the last destination and that causes delay. The sheds have been provided with some one million litres of oil, which will be enough for the next four days. After that, a fresh consignment will provide fuel to all the sheds as per schedule," he said.
The spokesperson stressed that no train service was cancelled, but some trains left the platform a little bit late.
Commenting on the purchase of diesel from the open market, the spokesperson said whenever the administration feared about the late arrival of consignments, they purchased oil from the open market to continue with its operations.

Taliban happy Pakistan reopened Nato supply line

Trucks containing Nato supplies. — Reuters Photo

KANDAHAR: As the United States trumpeted its success in persuading Pakistan to end its seven-month blockade of supplies for Nato troops in Afghanistan, another group privately cheered its good fortune: the Taliban.  
One of the Afghan war’s great ironies is that both Nato and the Taliban rely on the convoys to fuel their operations — a recipe for seemingly endless conflict.
The insurgents have earned millions of dollars from Afghan security firms that illegally paid them not to attack trucks making the perilous journey from Pakistan to coalition bases throughout Afghanistan — a practice the US has tried to crack down on but admits likely still occurs.
Militants often target the convoys in Pakistan as well, but there have been far fewer reports of trucking companies paying off the insurgents, possibly because the route there is less vulnerable to attack.
Pakistan’s decision to close its border to Nato supplies in November in retaliation for US air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani troops significantly reduced the flow of cash to militants operating in southern and eastern Afghanistan, where the convoys travel up from Pakistan, said Taliban commanders.
Pakistan reopened the supply route in early July after the US apologised for the deaths of the soldiers.
”Stopping these supplies caused us real trouble,” a Taliban commander who leads about 60 insurgents in eastern Ghazni province told The Associated Press in an interview.
”Earnings dropped down pretty badly. Therefore the rebellion was not as strong as we had planned.”
A second Taliban commander who controls several dozen fighters in southern Kandahar province said the money from security companies was a key source of financing for the insurgency, which uses it to pay fighters and buy weapons, ammunition and other supplies.
”We are able to make money in bundles,” the commander told the AP by telephone.
”Therefore, the Nato supply is very important for us.”
Both commanders spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by Nato or Afghan forces, and neither would specify exactly how much money they make off the convoys.
The US military estimated last year that $360 million in US tax dollars ended up in the hands of the Taliban, criminals and power brokers with ties to both. More than half the losses flowed through a $2.1 billion contract to truck huge amounts of food, water and fuel to American troops across Afghanistan.
The military said only a small percentage of the $360 million was funnelled to the Taliban and other insurgent groups. But even a small percentage would mean millions of dollars, and the militants, who rely on crude weaponry, require relatively little money to operate.
The military investigated one power broker who owned a private security company and was known to supply weapons to the Taliban.
The power broker, who was not named, received payments from a trucking contractor doing business with the US Over more than two years; the power broker funnelled $8.5 million to the owners of an unlicensed money exchange service used by insurgents.
A congressional report in 2010 called ”Warlord, Inc.” said trucking contractors pay tens of millions of dollars annually to local warlords across Afghanistan in exchange for guarding their supply convoys, some of which are suspected of paying off the Taliban.
The military instituted a new, roughly $1 billion trucking contract last September with a different set of companies that it claims has reduced the flow of money to insurgents by providing greater visibility of which subcontractors those firms hire, said Maj Gen Richard Longo, head of a US anti-corruption task force in Afghanistan.
But it’s very difficult to cut off the illegal transfers completely, he said.
”I think it would be naive on my part to suggest that no money is going to the enemy,” said Longo.
”I think there is still money flowing to criminals, and I think that the nexus between criminals and the insurgency is there.”
Rep John Tierney, the Democrat from Massachusetts who led the Warlord, Inc report, said the new contract has resulted in some increased contractor oversight and accountability, but ”the Department of Defense must take more aggressive steps to keep our military personnel safe and to protect taxpayer dollars from going to our enemies in Afghanistan.”
The US pushed Pakistan hard to reopen the Nato supply line through the country because it had been forced to use a longer route that runs into northern Afghanistan through Central Asia and costs an additional $100 million per month.
The Taliban commanders interviewed by the AP said the northern route was less lucrative for them because fewer trucks passed through southern and eastern Afghanistan, and contractors seemed to have less money to direct toward the insurgents. It’s unclear if that is a result of the new trucking contract implemented by the military.
But the commanders said they were determined to get their cut as the flow of trucks resumes from Pakistan — a process that has been slowed by bureaucratic delays, disputes over compensation and concerns about security.
“We charge these trucks as they pass through every area, and they are forced to pay,” said the commander operating in Ghazni. “If they don’t, the supplies never arrive, or they face the consequence of heavy attacks.”
Prior to the November attack, the US and other Nato countries shipped about 30 per cent of their non-lethal supplies from Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi through two main crossings on the Afghan border.
The route through Pakistan will become even more critical as the US seeks to withdraw most of its combat troops by the end of 2014, a process that will require tens of thousands of containers carrying equipment and supplies.
“We have had to wait these past seven months for the supply lines to reopen and our income to start again,” said the Taliban commander in Ghazni. “Now work is back to normal.”

Burmese Traders Urge China to Cut Border Tariffs

The Sino-Burmese border in Shan State’s Muse. (Photo: Renaud EGRETEAU) Burmese businessmen are complaining of increased import tariffs imposed by the Chinese authorities at the Sino-Burmese border that have slashed their profits.
Traders say taxes have been increased on Burmese exports while loans for firms seeking to trade with Burma have been made more difficult to acquire during China’s slowest economic growth in more than three years.
“The Chinese authorities changed their policy on Burma after the new government. They increased taxes on our products,” local exporters told The Irrawaddy. “The Chinese government has increased taxes on agricultural products, mining products, jade and jewelry, etc.”
Rice imports from Burma to China are subject to a whopping 65 percent tax and so such trade only usually takes place through illegal cross-border smuggling. Burmese rice is of such poor quality that it falls short of World Trade Organization standards making it privy to high penalties.
Every month over 70,000 metric tons of rice flows to China illicitly from Burma and local rice exporters are urging Naypyidaw to encourage Beijing to help legitimize the trade by imposing a reasonable level of tax.
“We will talk with ministries in China to trade our agricultural products legally. We will ask them to buy our rice,” said rice trader Win Myint during an industrial meeting in the Burmese capital Naypyidaw at the beginning of June.
Beijing also increased tax on Burmese jade from 15 to 33 percent and so reducing demand from Chinese dealers, claim traders attending a jade exhibition in Naypyidaw.
“We cannot sell our jade products to Western and European countries because of sanctions. Therefore we sell our jade to China and their jade traders had to pay 15 percent tax on jade materials to their government before,” a jade trader from Mandalay told The Irrawaddy.
“China can then make handicrafts and jade accessories from Burmese materials and sell these on to Western countries with a high profit. After the Chinese government increased the tax on jade materials bought from Burma, Chinese traders lost money in the jade business as they cannot get the same profit.”
If we can sell our jade as products and accessories, we wouldn’t sell to China but export directly to Western countries instead, he added. While the Asean-China Free Trade Area came into effect on Jan. 1, this does not apply for cross-border trade which remains subject to locally-set tariffs.
Currently the Chinese government also does not provide the same low interest loans to jade dealers as other businesses, claim local businessmen. When Burmese traders sell jade at the Sino-Burmese border, they have to pay 12 percent tax on the product’s value to Burma’s Ministry of Mining as well as 33 percent tax to the Chinese government.
The price of groundnut oil is also problematic because Chinese traders buy the raw material and manufacture oil over the border rather than purchasing the finished product from Burma at higher prices, said Khin Soe, owner of Ayeyarwaddy Peanut Oil Trading Company.
“Our government should ask China to accept edible oil from Burma instead of buying the groundnuts themselves and producing oil over the border,” he said. “We want to sell value-added products which can create job opportunities and develop of local industries at home.”
Burma’s fisheries sectors also face high taxes from China on imported seafood amounting to 13 percent.
“We can get free tax on our products from China as China also agrees to trade with Asean countries according to AFTA [Asean Free Trade Area],” said Tun Aye, chairman of the Myanmar Fishery Products Processors and Exporters Association.

Burma Rejects UN Criticism of Riot Response

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People shift through damaged buildings in Sittwe, capital of Rakhine state, western Burma, June 16, 2012.

Burmese officials have told a visiting U.N. human rights expert that security forces exercised "maximum restraint" in responding to deadly riots between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas in the country's west last month.

In a statement Monday, the Burmese foreign ministry said it "strongly rejects" accusations that authorities engaged in abuses and excessive force to end the violence that killed more than 70 people in Rakhine state. Burmese officials discussed the situation in Rakhine with U.N. expert Tomas Ojea Quintana on Monday.

Last week, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the Burmese government's response to the communal violence "may have turned into a crackdown targeting Muslims, in particular members of the Rohingya community."

Earlier this month, London-based rights group Amnesty International also said it has "credible reports" of Rakhine Buddhists and security forces targeting Rohingyas and other Rakhine Muslims with "physical abuse, rape, destruction of property and unlawful killings."

The Burmese foreign ministry said it "totally rejects" what it calls "attempts by some quarters to politicize and internationalize this situation as a religious issue." It said Burma is a multi-religious country where people of different faiths have lived together in peace for centuries.

Quintana said he plans to visit Rakhine on Tuesday.

The UNHCR has said last month's riots displaced about 80,000 people, with most living in camps or with host families in nearby villages. The Burmese government has said most of the refugees are Muslims.

The riots began after the rape and murder of a local Buddhist woman on May 28 and a subsequent revenge attack by Buddhists who killed 10 Muslims on June 3. Burma's government refuses to recognize the country's estimated 800,000 Rohingyas as an ethnic group and many Burmese consider them to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Also Monday, Quintana visited Rangoon's Insein Prison to meet with political prisoners, including Wai Phyo Aung, who is suffering from cancer. The detainee's wife Ma Htay Htay attended the meeting and said the U.N. expert promised to help.

“He said he has been calling for the release [of political prisoners] along with [the] international community, and told us that he will push further for the release of my husband as he is terminally ill," she said. "He also pledges that he will try to let the international community know how my husband’s health -- liver cancer and paralysis --  has deteriorated from a lack of proper medical care.”

Burma has released hundreds of political prisoners since last year, when a civilian government with close ties to the military came to power, ending decades of harsh military rule. But some rights groups say hundreds of prisoners-of-conscience remain in government detention and should be freed.

Opening for Investment, Burma Faces Human Rights Challenges

STATE DEPARTMENT — More foreign firms are moving into Burma with the easing of U.S. and European sanctions, following recent political reforms. But the Obama administration says it expects U.S. investors to lead by example in improving labor conditions, amid concerns that a more open Burma could worsen human trafficking.

U.S. and European sanctions hurt Burma's banking sector, making it harder for foreign firms to invest.

But with those sanctions eased, Google, Coca-Cola and General Motors are leading the charge into Burma. Meeting with corporate leaders before the largest-ever U.S. trade mission to the country, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she expects them to be agents of positive change by doing business responsibly.

Clinton has told Burmese President Thein Sein that Washington will respond to reforms on an action-for-action basis, as his government legalizes trade unions, eases media censorship, and frees political prisoners.

But with a 30 percent poverty rate, UNICEF's Burma representative Ramesh Shrestha says one of the biggest risks in Burma is child exploitation. "If government opens up as it said, democratically, then obviously it opens up for everything. That would mean the existing bad control of the situation might be loosened up. That would mean people would do what they want to do. This could be legal or illegal, all these things could happen," he said.

Jesse Eaves, the senior policy adviser for child protection at the aid group World Vision, says the important thing is that positive steps are being made. "We have seen countries like Burma starting to really take a look at what is happening in its own borders, what is happening to their citizens and trying to take the proper response to it," he said.

Eaves says World Vision is raising awareness about human trafficking and child exploitation in Burma by working with survivors to speak out. "It is amazing the change that you can see just by addressing the issue, by bringing it out in the open and shining a light on it," he said. "I think the biggest problem we see is that most people do not know what it is that they are looking at. They may just think, 'This is normal. This is what we have always done.'"

Lex Rieffel, an economic expert at the Brookings Institution, says the speed of Burma's economic reform could challenge welfare and development programs. "We have seen a pattern where countries that invest heavily in natural resources tend to under invest in human resources.  Experience tells us that it is the investment in human resources that pays off in the long term," he said.

But Britain's investment chief Nick Baird says foreign firms can make a big impact in Burma. "It is not just economic, but working together in an open and transparent and responsible business way, will actually help the stability of this country," he said.

The message is echoed by the new U.S. ambassador to Burma, Derek Mitchell, who says outside investment can move the country toward greater transparency and accountability.

Burma: The ignored genocide

I have been reluctant to write about Burma (Myanmar) and what is happening to Muslims there. Many readers have told me that I should. My answer was always that I needed to know more before I could give my opinion. I then started following what was being written and said in the international media, like NPR radio and BBC, and here in Saudi Gazette. I found particularly useful the articles of Tariq Almaeena and Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdy. I also read the responses of the Burmese readers of this paper.

According to Dr. Al-Ghamdy (a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs), Arakan (Rakhine) province of today’s Burma was an independent kingdom for much of its history. “A vast region stretching from western Burma to the Bengal region, Arakan was weakened when war broke out with the Mughal rulers in India, especially when it lost the Chittagong region to the Mughals. The region’s weaker position and instability led to its annexation to the Burmese state.”
The British invaded and controlled the state, but after the end of World War II, they granted the state its independence, in 1948. The Arakan people demanded their own independence. They did not accept the “self rule” awarded to them by the Socialist government under General Ne Win in 1974. Arakan Muslim “mujahideen” led an armed rebellion to create an Islamic state. However, they were a minority among the people of the region, who belonged to various sections of the pluralist Burmese society.

In retaliation, Muslims found their nationality abrogated and the majority Buddhists taking repressive measures against them with government support. Since the 1960s, they have been subjected to ethnic cleansing, and many have been driven to neighboring Bangladesh, where they live in refugee camps. Others fled to neighboring Thailand, and to Saudi Arabia. More followed, as frequent massacres continued.

This year on June 3, according to Wikipedia, “11 innocent Muslims were killed by the Burmese Army and Buddhist mobs after bringing them down from a bus. A vehement protest was carried out in the Muslim majority province of Arakan, but those protesting fell victim to the tyranny of the mobs and the army. More than 50 people were reported killed and millions of homes destroyed in fires as Muslim-ethnic Rohingya and Buddhist-ethnic Arakanese clashed in western Burma.”

Under intense economic and security pressure, the Bangladesh government decided to close its borders. World relief agencies, as well as UN and Islamic leaders and organizations, tried to convince them to reconsider, promising more aid and support. Among these were the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Asian Human Rights Commission.

However, with over half a million refugees already there, Bangladesh argued that the pressure should be on the Burmese government to stop the massacres and take back its own people. Allowing more refugees to enter Bangladesh, they pointed out, might create a misunderstanding in Myanmar.

To me, what is happening to the Rohingyas is similar to events in the Muslim south of the Philippines, Eastern China, Chechnya, Bosnia and Kosovo. In all these lands, Muslim states were overtaken by larger non-Muslim nations. When they sought independence, they were suppressed by the stronger majority. Massacres and deprivation of essential and national human rights led to genocide and ethnic cleansing.

The world stood watching while Russian, Serbian, Chinese and Filipino forces and militias exercised their “Final Solution” to the “Muslim Problem.” In Europe, they finally woke up as a result of coverage by the global media and public opinion pressure. Thanks to strong US leadership, the holocaust was finally put to an end, and Muslims were allowed to have their own states and live in peace.

Not so in Burma. Western media presence has been weak. UN focus has been even weaker. The US, the European Union, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as the Muslim world, seem to have left the massive task of resolving the issue to nongovernmental organizations and charities.

The Burmese government finally decided to interfere and sent the army and security forces to control the violence and to attempt to convince the refugees who escaped to neighboring provinces to return home. Fearing political interference, the military rulers allowed international help, albeit reluctantly, selectively and gradually. And the opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi finally spoke out.

Acknowledging that she might lose much of her popularity at home, she denounced the crimes committed against unnamed local communities. In her first statement to parliament, she called for laws to protect minority rights. “The majority of the people in a society should have sympathy for the minority,” she said. Some of her international fans expected her to take a stronger stand, but one should consider that she has to deal with the military junta ruling the country, and to consider her majority Buddhist constituency. There is an urgent need for immediate solutions, but in the long run much more is required. Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, and elsewhere, must be allowed to return home. Self rule should be given to Muslims in their own state. Help and guarantees from the Burmese government and international community must be granted to the the people in the affected areas of the country in support of resettlement and rebuilding efforts. After all that the world has gone through in the last century, we cannot afford to ignore genocides and holocausts.

Anti-Americanism handicaps U.S. aid in Pakistan

High levels of anti-Americanism in Pakistan have “handicapped” U.S. efforts to support development in the South Asian nation, according to a new study.


The Center for Global Development, in a report released Monday, urged the United States to work with the World Bank and other international aid agencies with programs in Pakistan.

Recent polls have found high levels of anti-Americanism among Pakistanis, fueled in part by U.S. drone strikes on terrorist suspects in the tribal border region with Afghanistan.

A survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project earlier this year found roughly three-in-four Pakistanis consider the United States an enemy.

Milan Vaishnav, a co-author of the report, said, “Because security concerns dominate U.S. policy towards Pakistan, there is no consensus across government agencies on the U.S. development strategy.”

Yet Pakistan is far too important for the United States to walk away from, the report said, recommending continued engagement and realistic expectations.

“We recommend a more clear and explicit commitment on the part of the administration and the Congress to strengthening the dialogue with Pakistani civilian counterparts on that country’s tremendous economic, social, and natural resource policy challenges,” Nancy Birdsall, the center president, said in the report.

The report recommends extending by five years U.S. non-military aid to Pakistan authorized by a law sponsored by Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democratic, Sen. Richard Lugar, Indiana Republican, and Rep. Howard Berman, California Democrat. The bill authorized $1.5 billion a year over five years.

Since the passage of the legislation in October 2009, the U.S. government has disbursed $2.8 billion in civilian assistance, including roughly $1 billion in emergency humanitarian assistance to Pakistan, according to the State Department.

“The problem is not just the tumultuous environment in Pakistan,” the report said.

“It is also a matter of self-inflicted wounds: unrealistic expectations associated with new money (more money, in retrospect, brought on more not fewer problems); the system-wide shortcomings of U.S. aid programs throughout the world; and the political difficulty of dealing with a reluctant Congress on new trade and private sector support programs for developing countries.”

Pakistan deaths in 'US drone strike'

A US drone attack has killed at least seven people in Pakistan, days before the country's intelligence chief's visit to Washington.


In Sunday's attack, the second in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, missiles struck a compound in Khushhali Turikhel village of the North Waziristan tribal district, which lies on the border with Afghanistan.

"US drones fired six missiles into a militant compound. At least seven militants were killed," a security official told AFP news agency. "It is not immediately clear if there was an important militant killed in the attack."

The toll might rise as fighters search for colleagues buried under the rubble of the compound, the official said, adding that missiles also hit and destroyed two vehicles. Local intelligence officials confirmed the attack and casualties.

Khushhali Turikhel lies around 35km east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan which is considered a stronghold of Islamist fighters.

Ten fighters were killed on Monday in a similar attack in Shawal area of North Waziristan.

In a drone attack at the start of July, six fighters were killed and an attack on June 4 killed 15 fighters, including senior Al-Qaeda figure Abu Yahya al-Libi.

Washington visit

There has been a dramatic increase in US drone strikes in Pakistan since May, when a NATO summit in Chicago could not strike a deal to end a six-month blockade on convoys transporting supplies to coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Washington regards Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwestern tribal belt as the main hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.

Drone strikes are likely to be a major issue discussed by Pakistan's spymaster, Lieutenant General Zaheer ul-Islam, and his CIA counterpart, when the former visits Washington on August 1-3.

Islam's trip on Wednesday marks the first Washington visit in a year by the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and signals a thaw in relations beset by crisis since US troops killed Osama bin Laden near Islamabad in May 2011.

On July 3 however, Islamabad agreed to end the blockade after the US apologised for the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers in botched air strikes last November.

In protest at US drone attacks, local Taliban and Pakistani warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur have banned vaccinations in North and South Waziristan, putting 240,000 children in the region at risk.

They have condemned the immunisation campaign as a cover for espionage. In May, a Pakistani doctor was jailed for 33 years after helping the CIA find bin Laden using a hepatitis vaccination programme as a cover.

2 NATO service members killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — The NATO military coalition on Sunday said two service members were killed in an insurgent attack in the west of the country.


The military alliance known as ISAF didn't provide further details. NATO also did not provide the nationalities of the dead. The deaths bring the number of international service members killed in Afghanistan so far this month to at least 44.

The latest casualties underscored the volatility of Afghanistan as NATO scales back its operations, planning to hand over security responsibility to local forces by the end of 2014.

The coalition also denied as "incorrect" Pakistani claims that its military had informed NATO 52 times in recent months that insurgents were crossing from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

"Whenever the Pakistani military has requested assistance, ISAF immediately dispatched the appropriate force to deal with the issue," the coalition said in a statement. "In the spirit of recent improving relations with the Pakistani military, ISAF will continue to take every Pakistani military report of cross-border movement very seriously and will assist whenever and wherever possible."

Pakistan's ambassador to the United States on Saturday claimed that Pakistan had reported 52 times to NATO in recent months when militants were spotted crossing into Afghan territory.

Sherry Rehman made the comments during the Aspen Security Forum being held in Colorado. She spoke via video teleconference.

The United States has criticized Pakistan for not doing enough to crack down on militants sheltering in safe havens in that country's lawless tribal areas, which border Afghanistan. They include the al-Qaida affiliated Haqqani network thought to be mostly in the North Waziristan region.

"We have many shared interests, including our respective commitments for coordinated action against the cross-border attacks of the Haqqani terrorists from North Waziristan who threaten Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the region,' the NATO statement said.

Earlier, Afghan officials said insurgents shot and killed a government official in eastern Afghanistan.

The Wardak province governor's office said in a statement that the head of volatile Chak district was driving to his office Sunday when gunmen overtook his car. They shot both Mohammad Ismail Wafa and his adult son. The son was wounded.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message. The Taliban regularly target Afghan government officials, whom they label collaborators with international forces.

100 peacocks die in Pakistan

Officials fear that an outbreak of Newcastle disease is to blame for the death of more than 100 wild peacocks. Birds suffering from Newcastle suffer from coughing, sneezing, diarrhea, loss of appetite and often death.


Officials on Monday confirmed the deaths of at least 60 peacocks in Thar desert, part of southern Sindh province, over the last week. Local reports say more than 100 of the exotic birds have died.


The wildlife ministry said tests were being done to diagnose the cause of death, but said the wild peacocks had been weakened by starvation, deforestation and a lack of safe drinking water blamed on delays to the annual monsoon rains.

"Wild peacocks have become susceptible to bacterial and fungal attack, which further suppressed the immunity of the birds that paved the room for viral attack," it said.

Experts are alarmed by the number of deaths, suspecting they may have been afflicted with Newcastle disease, known locally as ranikhet.
"We are vaccinating wild peacocks protectively for suspected viral disease, as in 2003 when a few peacocks died from the same symptoms that later proved to be ranikhet," said Lajpat Sharma, an official in the provincial wildlife ministry.

Tahir Qureshi of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) also told AFP that he suspected ranikhet was to blame.

Newcastle disease is a worldwide problem among birds and sporadic outbreaks can occur frequently. Affected birds suffer from loss of appetite, coughing, sneezing, diarrhea, and in severe outbreaks a high proportion die.

The wildlife ministry said it was supplying fresh water to peacocks in affected areas.
Sharma said there are at least 30,000 wild peacocks in the Thar desert, but Qureshi said the numbers were declining, because of poaching and lack of effective conservation.

Bad days in Burma

At last somebody in an official position has said something. United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay has called for an independent investigation into claims that Burmese security forces are systematically targeting the Rohingya, a Muslim minority community living in the Arakan region. Even the Burmese government says at least 78 Rohingya were murdered; their own community leaders say 650 have been killed.


Nobody disputes the fact that about 100,000 Rohingyas (out of a population of 800,000) are now internal refugees in Burma, while others have fled across the border into Bangladesh. As you would expect, the Buddhist monks of Burma have stood up to be counted. Unfortunately, this time they are standing on the wrong side.

This is perplexing. When the Pope lectures the world about morality, few non-Catholics pay attention. When Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran instructs the world about good and evil, most people who aren’t Shia Muslims just shrug. But Buddhist leaders are given more respect, because most people think that Buddhism really is a religion of tolerance and peace.

When the Dalai Lama speaks out about injustice, people listen. Most of them don’t share his beliefs, and they probably won’t act on his words, but they listen with respect. But he hasn’t said anything at all about what is happening to the Rohingyas — and neither has any other Buddhist leader of note.

To be fair, the Dalai Lama is Tibetan, not Burmese, but he is not usually so reserved in his judgements. As for Burma’s own Buddhist monks, they have been heroes in that nation’s long struggle against tyranny — so it’s disorienting to see them behaving like oppressors themselves.

Buddhist monks are standing outside the refugee camps in Arakan, turning away people who are trying to bring food and other aid to the Rohingya. Two important Buddhist organizations in the region, the Young Monks’ Association of Sittwe and the Mrauk U Monks’ Association, have urged locals to have no dealings with them. One pamphlet distributed by the monks says the Rohingya are "cruel by nature."

And Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the woman who spent two decades under house arrest for defying the generals — the woman who may one day be Burma’s first democratically elected prime minister — has declined to offer any support or comfort to the Rohingyas either.

Recently a foreign journalist asked her whether she regarded Rohingyas as citizens of Burma. "I do not know," she prevaricated. "We have to be very clear about what the laws of citizenship are and who are entitled to them."

If she were honest, she would have replied: "Of course the Rohingya are citizens, but I dare not say so. The military are finally giving up power, and I want to win the 2015 election. I won’t win any votes by defending the rights of Burmese Muslims."

Nelson Mandela, with whom she is often compared, would never have said anything like that, but it’s a failure of courage on her part that has nothing to do with her religion. Religious belief and moral behaviour don’t automatically go together, and nationalism often trumps both of them. So let’s stop being astonished that Buddhists behave badly and just consider what’s really happening in Burma.

The ancestors of the Rohingya settled in the Arakan region between the 14th and 18th centuries, long before the main wave of Indian immigrants arrived in Burma after it was conquered by the British empire during the 19th century. By the 1930s the new Indian arrivals were a majority in most big Burmese cities, and dominated the commercial sector of the economy. Burmese resentment, naturally, was intense.

The Japanese invasion of Burma during the Second World War drove out most of those Indian immigrants, but the Burmese fear and hatred of "foreigners" in their midst remained, and it then turned against the Rohingya. They were targeted mainly because they were perceived as "foreigners" but the fact that they were Muslims in an overwhelmingly Buddhist country made them seem even more alien.

The Rohingya of Arakan were poor farmers, just like their Buddhist neighbours, and their right to Burmese citizenship was unquestioned until the Burmese military seized power in 1962. The army attacked the Rohingya and drove some 200,000 of them across the border into Bangladesh in 1978, in a campaign marked by widespread killings, mass rape and the destruction of mosques.

The military dictator of the day, Ne Win, revoked the citizenship of all Rohingyas in 1982, and other new laws forbade them to travel without official permission, banned them from owning land, and required newly married couples to sign a commitment to have no more than two children. Another military campaign drove a further quarter-million Rohingyas into Bangladesh in 1990-91. And now this.

On Sunday former general Thein Sein, the transitional president of Burma, replied to UN human rights chief Navi Pillay: "We will take responsibilities for our ethnic people but it is impossible to accept the illegally entered Rohingyas who are not our ethnicity." Some other country must take them all, he said.

But the Rohingya did not "enter illegally" and there are a dozen "ethnicities" in Burma. What drives this policy is fear, greed and ignorance — exploited, as usual, by politicians pandering to nationalist passions and religious prejudice. Being Buddhist, it turns out, doesn’t stop you from falling for all that. Surprise.

Burmese refugees find new hope and work in the west

New opportunities … Burmese refugee Gay Htoo Paw, centre, moved his family from Sydney to Albany in search of work

MORE than a dozen Burmese refugees who failed to find steady work in Sydney have done what many other long-term unemployed refuse to do: go west.

After three years of unsuccessfully looking for steady work in Sydney, refugee Gay Htoo Paw from the Burmese Karen community travelled to Western Australia in search of work, first to Perth and then to Albany, where he landed a job at an abattoir owned by Fletcher International Exports.

Before moving to Australia, Mr Paw and his family spent 10 years in a refugee camp on the border of Thailand and Burma, struggling to find enough food to feed his family.

So when the Herald asked Mr Paw if the decision to move his family of six 3290 kilometres west in search of work, he shrugged it off. ''It was nothing,'' said Mr Paw.

Since Mr Paw made the move, another five Karen families have followed his lead, with more than a dozen young Karen men and women finding work at the abattoir.


Mr Paw and other members of the community paid for the move themselves.

In contrast, only 559 unemployed people out of a possible 4000 have taken advantage of the federal government's $29 million pilot scheme, Connecting People with Jobs. It provides a subsidy of as much as $9000 to help workers from areas of high unemployment to move to mining and agricultural areas which desperately need workers.

The Karen community has proved a surprising source of labour for the Albany abattoir's general manager, Greg Cross, who thought he'd tried everything over the years to recruit workers.

For a couple of years, labour shortages were so bad that the plant could only work one shift. Now he says skilled workers are being poached by industries who serve the mining industry.

When asked if he'd employ more Karen refugees like Mr Paw, Mr Cross said: ''Crikey, yeah, I've got to.''

Mr Cross said it was hard to get people to move. ''People say a lot of Australians won't get off their bums and have a go, but that's changed a bit,'' he said.

''I don't think it is as bad as it was two decades ago. But the hardest part is relocating. WA is a long way from the eastern states.''

The Karen workers were ''tremendous workers'', said Mr Cross, who said they'd integrated extremely well, quickly establishing community gardens in Albany.

Because most of the Karen are farmers, they were highly motivated to move from Sydney to towns where they could grow their traditional vegetables, said Gary Cachia, a community development officer at the NSW Service for the Treatment And Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors.

He said many found their lives in Sydney's south-west suburbs harder than when they were in refugee camps. They couldn't afford the rent, the cost of living was high, and they couldn't grow their own food.

BURMA: Police cover up abuse and murder of child domestic worker

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME


Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-136-2012

30 July 2012
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BURMA: Police cover up abuse and murder of child domestic worker

ISSUES: Administration of justice; police negligence; violence against women
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AHRC WEBSITE: BURMA PAGE

http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/burma
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained information about the case of a child worker whose killing by her employer in the middle of Rangoon the police have covered up. Ten-year-old Ma Thin Thin Myat's employers subjected her to constant abuse and forced her to work like a slave before one of them allegedly pushed her out of a sixth floor window. Afterwards, the police failed to investigate and the family had to pursue the case themselves. When they succeeded in getting some charges into court, the police and employer coerced a witness to change her testimony. The courts also refused to alter the charges against the accused to make them responsible for the girls death, and have dragged their heels on the case, which has been going on for over 18 months without any resolution to date.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Ma Thin Thin Myat began working in the apartment of U Hashin and Daw Baby in 2009 on payment to her father of the equivalent of around USD10, when she was just seven years old. The couple confined her in the apartment. Due to constant abuse that she suffered, she fled from the household four times previously, but on each occasion Daw Baby brought her back. The forms of abuse had included pulling of hair, beatings and kicking.

At 8.15am on 18 November 2010 Thin Thin Myat fell from the balcony of the sixth-floor apartment. She did not immediately die from her injuries but lay crying out on the sidewalk at the front of an adjacent teashop, where there were witnesses to her fall. Her employers then came downstairs and instead of sending her immediately to hospital, incredibly, they carried her back upstairs and into the apartment. Not until after 4pm on the same day did police together with the employers convey Thin Thin Myat to the Yangon General Hospital, where she was admitted to the cranial and spinal unit.

When hospital staff conducted a medical investigation of Thin Thin Myat they found not only that she had suffered injuries from her fall but also had other injuries corresponding to the allegations of her abuse at the house, including bruising to her genitalia, suggesting that the girl had been sexually abused.

When the aunt of the victim went to the police to open a case against the employers, the police said that she had to lodge it in court directly. The aunt then opened a case at court for the causing of hurt and unlawful confinement prior to Thin Thin Myat's fall from the apartment. At this time, the girl had not yet died but was in a critical condition in hospital.

The girl twice regained consciousness in hospital in the presence of her mother, aunt and other relatives and when asked if she had jumped or had fallen she said that U Hashin pushed her from a chair. Thereafter, she died on 2 January 2011.

Instead of arresting the employers of Thin Thin Myat for her murder, police threatened another girl working in slave-like conditions at the apartment. In her initial testimony, the girl said that on the day of the incident when she heard Thin Thin Myat's cries she looked towards the front of the apartment and saw U Hashin coming back inside from the balcony, and going into his bedroom. She went to the balcony and saw Thin Thin Myat crying out from the street below. She then ran to the bedroom door and hammered on it to have the employer come out.

She said that later in the day the employers took her to Hashin's mother's house and that after going to the hospital he came and claimed that he had brought her there so that "the police will not arrest you" and that he had paid the police to protect her, but that if she did not say as he told her then he would arrange for the police to arrest her instead. She also confirmed that both she and Thin Thin Myat had been beaten and sworn at by their employers, "sometimes a little, sometimes a lot". However, under threats from the employers and police she later retracted her testimony.

The aunt of the deceased girl lodged a case in the district court to have the charges against the two accused altered so that they would be held responsible for her death, but after a cursory examination of the case records a higher court refused her request. Subsequently, it has not yet sent the case files back to the lower court, and the examination of the case has been unable to proceed.

Additional details of the case are found in the sample letter below.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

This case is by no means isolated. All across Myanmar, children like Ma Thin Thin Myat are daily forced into modern forms of slavery: jobs for which they are paid insignificant amounts of money and are constantly subjected to heinous forms of abuse. The employers are often influential people with money and means to manipulate local authorities' behaviour and prevent any effective investigations of their crimes. Therefore, it is important that an example be set in this case so that other perpetrators of similar forms of abuse be made to understand that they can indeed be held to account for their crimes, in order that the incidence of such crimes be reduced as quickly as possible.

To browse hundreds of other Burma-related appeals issued by the AHRC, go to the appeals homepage and type "Burma" or "Myanmar" into the search box http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/.

The AHRC Burmese-language blog is updated constantly for Burmese-language readers, and covers the contents of urgent appeal cases, related news, and special analysis pieces.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the persons listed below to call for the investigation and prosecution of Ma Thin Thin Myat's employers, and for action to be taken against the police who conspired with them to cover up her killing. Please note that for the purposes of the letter Burma is referred to by its official name, Myanmar, and Rangoon, Yangon.

Please be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Myanmar; violence against women; contemporary forms of slavery, and on the sale of children, and the regional human rights office for Southeast Asia calling for interventions into this case.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

MYANMAR: Police protect employer from charges of killing of child domestic worker

Details of victim: Ma Thin Thin Myat, 10, working in house of U Hashin and Daw Baby, Kyauktada Township, Yangon, at time of death in 2010

Details of alleged perpetrators:

1. U Hashin, alias U Myat Soe, and Daw Baby, residing at 6th floor, No. 233, 35th Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon

2. Police Sergeant Tin Yu (Crime), Serial No. La/72104, and other officers of the Kyauktada Police Station, Yangon

Date of incident: 18 November 2010

Details of court cases:

1. Criminal Case No. 385/2010, Kyauktada Township Court, brought by the aunt of the victim, Daw Saw Thein, under sections 323/341 of the Penal Code, for causing hurt and unlawful confinement (trial ongoing)

2. Criminal Revision Case No. 259/2011, Yangon Western District Court, to request revision of charges (application rejected)

I am shocked to hear that the employers of a child domestic worker in Myanmar have escaped responsibility for her death, which was witnessed by many persons, due to the protection afforded them by officers of the Myanmar Police Force. I call for immediate action by the relevant authorities at higher levels to have action taken against them in accordance with law.

According to the information that I have received, Ma Thin Thin Myat began working in the apartment of U Hashin and Daw Baby in 2009 on payment to her father of 10,000 Kyat (around USD10), when she was just seven years old. The couple confined her in the apartment. Due to constant abuse that she suffered at their hands, she fled from the household four times previously, but on each occasion Daw Baby brought her back. The forms of abuse had included pulling of hair, beatings and kicking.

At 8.15am on 18 November 2010 Thin Thin Myat fell from the balcony of the sixth-floor apartment. She did not immediately die from her injuries but lay crying out on the sidewalk at the front of an adjacent teashop, where there were witnesses to her fall. Her employers then came downstairs and instead of sending her immediately to hospital, incredibly, they carried her back upstairs and into the apartment. Not until after 4pm on the same day did police together with the employers convey Thin Thin Myat to the Yangon General Hospital, where she was admitted to the cranial and spinal unit.

When hospital staff conducted a medical investigation of Thin Thin Myat they found not only that she had suffered injuries from her fall but also had other injuries corresponding to the allegations of her abuse at the house, including bruising to her genitalia, suggesting that the girl had been sexually abused.

When the aunt of the victim went to the Kyauktada Police Station to open a case against the employers, Police Sgt. Tin Yu recorded her complaint but the police said that it was not a police cognizable case under the Criminal Procedure Code, meaning that the complainant had to open it at the township court directly. The aunt then opened a case at court for the causing of hurt and unlawful confinement prior to Thin Thin Myat's fall from the apartment. At this time, she had not yet died but was in a critical condition in hospital.

According to the lower court record, the employers had told Thin Thin Myat's mother only around the middle of November 19 that the girl had fallen by accident and that they would have her treated so long as she did not tell anyone. Her mother said that the following day in the presence of her and other relatives the girl regained consciousness and that when she asked, "Daughter, what happened, did you jump?" Thin Thin Myat replied that, "I didn't jump, U Hashin pushed me."

Furthermore, Thin Thin Myat's grandfather testified that on November 24 the girl again temporarily regained consciousness when he was present and he asked her if she remembered who he was and what her father's name was. When she answered correctly and consciously, he asked her if she jumped from the sixth floor and she replied that she had been pushed from a chair. She died on 2 January 2011.

Instead of arresting the employers of Thin Thin Myat for her murder, police officers from Kyauktada Police Station started to come repeatedly to the residence of another domestic worker, a 13-year-old girl who had been in the house with Thin Thin Myat, to interrogate her and tutor her on how to testify so as to protect the perpetrators.

That girl first testified that on the day of the incident when she heard Thin Thin Myat's cries she looked towards the front of the apartment and saw U Hashin coming back inside from the balcony, and going into his bedroom. She went to the balcony and saw Thin Thin Myat crying out from the street below. She then ran to the bedroom door and hammered on it to have the employer come out.

She said that later in the day the employers took her to Hashin's mother's house and that after going to the hospital he came and claimed that he had brought her there so that "the police will not arrest you" and that he had paid the police 30,000 Kyat to protect her, but that if she did not say as he told her then he would arrange for the police to arrest her instead. She also confirmed that both she and Thin Thin Myat had been beaten and sworn at by their employers, "sometimes a little, sometimes a lot".

However, under threats from the employers and police she later reversed her testimony and said that Thin Thin Myat had fallen of her own accord and that she had given her previous testimony because the family of the victim had told her to testify like that. This assertion is preposterous, because the victim's family members are poor townsfolk with no knowledge of law, authority or money with which to influence her testimony, whereas all of these resources are on the side of the defendants and the police who are protecting them.

After Thin Thin Myat died, her aunt lodged a case in the district court for revision of the charges against the accused, to hold them responsible for her death; however, after cursory examination of the lower court records, the district court judge refused the application to revise the charges. Since rejecting the application, the case files have not yet been sent back to the township court, and so not only have the relatives of the young victim been frustrated in their efforts to get appropriate charges brought against her, but also the trial on the non-commensurate charges also has been delayed. These features of the case cause genuine concerns that not only the police but also members of the judiciary are colluding, perhaps on payment of money, to ensure that the perpetrators of this crime escape responsibility for their actions.

In view of the above, I call for a reopening of the investigation into the death of Ma Thin Thin Myat by a special investigation team from the Yangon region police headquarters or Criminal Investigation Department in order that the true facts of the case be brought out and the persons responsible for her abuse and death be prosecuted and punished in accordance with the law. I also call for a special investigation into the police officers involved in covering up the facts of the case, to establish the reasons that they failed to perform their duties as required and to take appropriate action against them once those facts also are revealed.

I am aware that this case is by no means isolated. All across Myanmar, children of tender ages like Ma Thin Thin Myat are daily forced into what are correctly described as "modern forms of slavery": jobs for which they are paid insignificant amounts of money and are constantly subjected to heinous forms of abuse. I am also aware that the persons responsible for these modern forms of slavery are invariably influential people with money and means to manipulate local authorities' behaviour and prevent any effective investigations of their crimes. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that an example be set in this case so that other perpetrators of similar forms of abuse be made to understand that they can indeed be held to account for their crimes, in order that the incidence of such crimes be reduced as quickly as possible.

Yours sincerely,
----------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. U Hla Min

Minister for Home Affairs

Ministry of Home Affairs

Office No. 10

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663

Fax: +95 67 412 439


2. U Thein Sein

President of Myanmar

President Office

Office No.18

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR


3. U Tun Tun Oo

Chief Justice

Office of the Supreme Court

Office No. 24

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: + 95 67 404 080/ 071/ 078/ 067 or + 95 1 372 145

Fax: + 95 67 404 059


4. Dr. Tun Shin

Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General

Office No. 25

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: +95 67 404 088/ 090/ 092/ 094/ 097

Fax: +95 67 404 146/ 106


5. U Kyaw Kyaw Htun

Director General

Myanmar Police Force

Ministry of Home Affairs

Office No. 10

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663

Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208


6.Thura U Aung Ko

Chairman

Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial and legislative Committee

Pythu Hluttaw Office

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR.


7.U Aung Nyain

Chairman

Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial and Legislative Committee

Committee for Public complain and appeals

Office of Amyotha Hluttaw

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR


8. U Win Mra

Chairman

Myanmar National Human Rights Commission

27 Pyay Road

Hlaing Township

Yangon

MYANMAR

Tel: +95-1-659668

Fax: +95-1-659668


9. Ko Ko Hlaing

Chief Political Advisor

Office of the President

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel-+951532501ext-605

Fax-+951 532500


Thank you.


Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Burmese president to meet with political parties

Members of the Kayin People's Party

Many of Burma’s political parties – including ethnic group parties – will meet with Burmese President Thein Sein in the next two weeks to discuss the government’s plans for countrywide reforms, the Kayin People’s Party (KPP) said on Monday.


Dr. Simon Tha, the KPP vice chairman, said the government will schedule a series of meetings with all the country’s political parties, according to an article on the Karen News website on Monday.

“We want to work together with civilians to build a countrywide peace, to unite and to rehabilitate the whole country–not only for the Karen,”he said.

On July 22, government officials held preliminary discussions with the various political organizations to schedule their participation in the country’s peace building process, he said.

Aung Min, one of the vice chairman of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee, attended the discussion, said Simon Tha.

“We must co-operate with each other for peace without highlighting our ethnicity, religion or skin color if we are to build the country up,” he said.

The KPP won five seats in the parliament during the 2010 national elections.

NGO Warns Of ‘Second Tragedy’ In Western Burma

An official from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) expressed concern that parts of Arakan state may face a “second tragedy” if medical personal are kept from providing aid to those in need.


The organisation was forced to withdrawal senior personnel on 17 July due to a backlash from rumours about the group’s funding and intentions that have been circulating by social media outlets and leaflets.

Vickie Hawkins, deputy head of mission in Burma from MSF-Holland, denied rumours that weapons were found in an MSF building and that funding for the organisation comes from Islamic financial backers.
 
“We reject the rumours,” said Hawkins. “They are totally untrue. The main concern for us is access to the people who have been displaced. They are the worst affected.”


Once such leaflet states that MSF is, “A Holland and French NGO that is importing arms for [Kalars] to occupy Rakhine state.” Kulars is a pejorative term used to describe people of South Asian descent in Burma.

The rumours arose last month following the outbreak of violence in Arakan state aimed at the area’s Muslim Rohingya population. MSF employee Kyaw Hla Aung was arrested on 13 June “under existing law.”

On 6 July, MSF confirmed that six local staff had been detained, with one later being released.

Hawkins refused to comment on the individual cases.

MSF premises in Arakan state have been searched multiple times by government officials according to Hawkins, however; none of the searches have turned up any weapons or evidence of them.

“The government has assured us that they are happy with us,” said Hawkins in reference to the searches.

The accusations of MSF’s funding being drawn from Islamic backers has also been deemed baseless and an attempt to undermine healthcare efforts.

According to MSF’s 2010 financial statements, the latest available, the organisation received donations from 5 million individuals and private institutions totaling 943 million euros that year. These donations accounted for 91 percent of total donations. Only seven percent was attributed to public institutional income and two percent was marked as “other income.”

The disruptions come at an unfortunate time. Burma’s rainy months mark the beginning of malaria season, where cases of the deadly virus peak.

Malaria is one of Burma’s leading killers and Arakan state is an area where infection rates are particularly high. In 2010, MSF tested more than 400,900 patients in Arakan and treated more than 122,380 individuals.

“We could see increased rates of malaria again. If it were to get to that stage it would put us back a lot,” said Hawkins.

The accusations leveled at MSF signal larger distrust of aid groups working in Arakan state. The same leaflet promises to describe, “how disgusting and terrifying the UN and NGOs are.”

“Not only Rakhine [Arakan] but also all the people know that [Kalars] have grown up thanks to UN and NGOs that have watered poisonous plants,” the leaflet states. “We recognize those, who work for the further development of [Kalars] by earning dollars, as traitors.”

On 5 July, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that some of its staff were being held for “questioning.” Reports from the Narinjara news website stated that three of the UN officials appeared in Maungdaw District Court on 10 July. One was identified as Cholaymar Khatoon.

The leaflet takes direct aim at a number of NGOs but has its harshest criticisms for the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP), threatening both with attack.

Representatives of human rights organisation Amnesty International have also emphasised the importance of providing displaced peoples with assistance at this time.

“The human rights and humanitarian needs of those affected by the violence depend on the presence of monitors and aid workers,” said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Burma Researcher in a statement issued by the organisation on 20 July.

On Wednesday, Aung San Suu Kyi used her first speech in parliament to call for greater recognition of minority rights, but failed to mention the Rohingya’s plight by name leading some to say that she is not going far enough in her calls for equality.

MSF has been working in Burma since 1992 in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, including in the areas of malaria and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

The organisation is the largest single provider of antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV/AIDS in Burma and provided 623 patients in Rakhine state with ART in 2011.

KT condemns killing of Burmese Muslims

LARKANA: July 30, 2012. (Nazir Siyal) Khaksar Tehrik Chief Dr. Sabiha Mashriqi has strongly condemned the killings of innocent Muslim Burmese in Burma and demanded the government of Pakistan that they have not submitted their strong protest against mass killings of Muslim Burmese.


Speaking to a gathering here in Larkana, Khaksar women leader also said that this genocide is unavoidable and all Human Rights organizations and Islamic Organization must condemned and protest on International forum, adding that we are being an Islamic state, Pakistan should raise voice along with all Muslim countries and International forums including UNO and other plate forms she said.

Pakistan and other Islamic countries should play their vital role to stop this genocide in Burma, she said its our religious duty to support our Muslim brothers and even brutality in the world, genocide of Muslim community in Burma and other parts of world will never be supported, so that the Khaksar Tehrik raise voice against this cruelity in history and protest against this tyranny she said.

Later, several Khaksar activists stood in line and shouted slogans against the brutality and raised voice for unity of Muslim Ummah and demanded of government to strong protest and they said a large number of Muslims have been killed or burned alive, and several villages have been destroyed.

Khaksar Terheek Sindh Leader Azm-e-Hyder, A. Q Mujahid, Manzoor Ali, G.H mrani, M. Yaseen, Sher Halipoto and others were present in the protest meeting

Fleeing Burmese land in City

Fleeing Burmese land in City postnoon
Suffering privation, hunger and humiliation, some 300 Burmese have taken shelter in Hyderabad. The Postnoon team meets them.

They don’t know how many have left their native villages in the Arakan region of Western Burma where they have been living since the 8th Century. Some 300 Burmese who were driven out following ethnic strife in the past few years are given shelter in the Royal Colony’s Balapur Dargah where a businessman, Syed Basheerudddin, has made available to them a building. Some others are staying in Hafibaba Nagar in the Old City.


There are youngsters, children, women and seniors. The able-bodied work as labourers. With the help of one among them, Arafat, a bilingual, Postnoon gathered their traumatic experience. “We are rendered stateless in Myanmar. We Rohingyas have been targeted by the ethnic Buddhists who are supported by the government,” he explained.

“They have taken our property and driven us out. Many were killed. We were asked to convert or leave. We preferred to leave because atrocities would continue anyway,” he said, Nearly seven lakh Rohingyas have run away. Of them some 2.5 lakh have fled to Bangladesh. The flow, it seems, continues. Hyderabad is seemingly attracting more from across the border. Praveen Akthar who reached on Friday says that the situation is turning from bad to worse.

The 300-odd Burmese camping here have not come on a particular day. They came in groups of three or five or 10 in different periods. One Mohd Jaleel among them said through the interpreter that he was among a few hundred who left in June and they walked for eight days and reached West Bengal. Fifty of them were caught by the police while others escaped. “Some viewed us with sympathy and let us proceed,” he adds.

“It was ethnic cleansing,” they chorused. “We have no hope of returning,” said Mohd Subair. They said that initially they faced resistance but people now treat us with sympathy. The locals in Balapur now knows they have cheaper labour, said a resident Rahmatulla, “They work for Rs.200 a day while the locals demand Rs.350. ”Seventy of them have acquired refugee cards.”

Incidentally, one Saif Ali Khan reports from Chittagong, Bangladesh, that there is opposition to Rohingyas in Bangladesh, which stems from reports that some Rohingya bosses are drug runners.

A free-for-all City?

Tragic as is the tale of the Burmese who fled their homes to save their lives, their status in Hyderabad remains mysterious. Neither the police nor the collectorate says anything. While Postnoon’s query to commissioner of police Anurag Sharma drew a blank, the joint collector E Sridhar said his office had no information. More worrisome is that to the MLA, D Sudheer Reddy, their presence was news. “I have no information. If they are refugees we will treat them sympathetically on humanitarian ground. I am away at the moment but the first thing I will do when I am back is to visit these people and gather information.”

The issue puzzles one more when the DCP South Zone, Akun Sabharwal, says his office had information about 30 Burmese families who have taken shelter in Hafizbaba Nagar since three years! “They have refugee cards which are valid up to 2015-16.” Does this mean the refugee flow continues to happen without the knowledge of the authorities? The immigration officials have a figure of 300 foreigners living in the City whose visa had expired or are staying in hiding. But they are not from Myanmar.

Some officials in the district administration said on condition of anonymity that a ruling party in the City is sheltering them and it has kept this issue under wraps.

Burmese melting pot

Myanmar’s ethnic-religious internecine war is driving thousands out to the neighbouring India, Chi­na and Bangladesh. In focus is the triangular conflict between Kachen (mostly Christian), Rohi­ng­ya (Muslims) and Rakhine (Buddhists). The flare up of ethnic strife last month in the western Arakan state has driven out another swathe of refugees to India and Bangladesh. Repo­rts say some 7,000 have fled to China, India and Bangladesh, said Lahkang May Li Awng, director of a local NGO.

But UN observers say that though the Rohingyas are branded ethnic Bangladeshis, the refugees fleeing on boats and on foot were driven back by the BDR. Only India continues to absorb the fleeing Rohingyas..

Writing about the conflict on June 20, the World Refugee Day, Angeline Loh, executive committee member of Aliran, Justice and Freedom solidarity noted, “The international community should be aware that the ongoing denial of human rights in Myanmar and the apparent singling out of minorities may raise the possibility of the start of religious and ethnic cleansing, akin to what happened in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s and the tragedies in Rwanda and Burundi in Africa.”

“Allegations that they originated from Bangladesh appear to have no basis, and the Bangladesh government has refused to accept them even as refugees. China is pressing for the return of the refugees while India is silent.” PK Surendran

US sanctions prevent garment industry growth

The US ban on imports from Burma is preventing job growth in the garment industry, rather than harming the interests of the corrupt elite it targets, according to a report by the International Crisis Group.


The think-tank warned that moves to extend the import ban could have a serious impact on Burma's economic recovery by hindering the growth of job-creating manufacturing industries.

The US has imposed an import ban on Burma (also known as Myanmar) since 2003, with the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act renewed on an annual basis in an effort to pressure the government to continue its political and economic reforms.

Last week, however, the US Senate failed to agree the sanctions - which are now set to expire temporarily next month - in a row over funding for the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which is part of the same bill.

But some reforms are underway, with financial and investment sanctions against the military regime in Burma having been eased by the US Obama administration to allow the first new US investment in the Asian country for nearly 15 years.

Before the Burma import ban was introduced, the largest exports to the US were garments, an industry that was providing employment to many people, the International Crisis Group report said.

It added the ban could skewer the oil-rich country's economy to potentially problematic extractive industries.

"At this stage in the reform process, it is indeed hard to see how retention by the US of its import ban could in any way serve the interests of the Myanmar people or assist the democratisation process," the report said.

Talking Burma

The problem of the Burmese Muslim that people in Pakistan seem to have woken up to is a historic issue, pertaining mainly to the Rohingya Muslims from the Arakan state in Myanmar, an area that borders the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. This is one of the four Muslim groups in the country. The other three — two groups of Burmese Muslims and Chinese Panthay — are better integrated with the Buddhist majority. The Rohingyas, which are the largest and the most persecuted of the approximately two million Muslims (five to six per cent of total population), are also the most troubled. Some of the Rohingyas claim their ancestry to the Arab merchants that came and stayed on during the 8th and 9th centuries AD. But the majority of the people were actually migrants from East Bengal after the British colonial takeover in 1886 that continued until 1948, when Burma became independent. There are three dimensions of the current ethnic problem in Myanmar: its historic nature, internal politics, and the peculiar internationalisation of the issue.

Although the Burmese state recognised Islam and Christianity as two religious cultures existing in the country, the nature of the state and society began to change due to communist influence and militarisation of the state after 1958. This is also the time when in 1961, Buddhism was declared the state religion, followed in 1962 by the establishment of the socialist party as the single party in the country. Clearly, the military-controlled state wanted greater unification, an idea that was constantly challenged by the presence of minority groups and assertiveness of the Rohingyas, who wanted to create a separate state with Muslim Rohingyas from what is now Bangladesh. Consequently, Rohingyas were persecuted by the military. In January 1950, about 30,000 refugees fled from Burma to the then East Pakistan. Rangoon has mostly viewed these people as outsiders. The 1953 population census report declared 45 per cent of the Rohingya population Pakistani in origin. Their links with the Bangladeshi Muslims allows them greater flexibility of moving between the two territories, but which also means greater suspicion by the state. In 1978, an agreement was signed between Dhaka and Rangoon, according to which, any Rohingya who could produce any documentary evidence of being Burmese could return. However, this did not solve the problem or stop the state-sponsored massacre in 1991.
The problem is not likely to be resolved due to the political influence of the Buddhist Monks. Even Aung San Suu Kyi is not likely to flag the minority issue due to her concern for losing support of the Monks, who were the largest force to stand up against the military. The Rohingya separatist tendencies make the Monks insecure about sovereignty of the Buddhist state. Things did not become easy when in 1978, the Palestinian militant leader Abdullah Azzam, who later became a member of al Qaeda, declared Burma one of the countries to be liberated from foreign rule.

However, it is also a fact that Muslim militant groups have not really had a huge influence on the Rohingya Muslims in Burma, which is primarily due to the fact that no other Muslim country, including next-door Bangladesh would intervene, and also because the majority belong to the Sufi school of thought. There is no real evidence that the majority of the Rohingyas are inclined towards external forces or violence despite pouring in of Saudi money and intellectual investment by groups such as the Harkatul Ansar, the Harkatul Mujahideen and the Harkatul Jihadul Islami, who have developed links with minor militant groups in Burma and are even trying to link up Burmese groups with others in Assam. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons that the Jamatud Dawa in Pakistan has started highlighting conditions of Muslims in both Myanmar and Assam on social media. The South Asian militant cadres also find Myanmar exciting because of the investments made in developing human resources. Reportedly, 350,000 Rohingyas were trained in the past couple of decades in madrassas in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The issue right now is what option will Rangoon consider in engaging with this population. Treating it through the lens of international terrorism is a dangerous possibility. The Burmese authorities seem to be tempted by this option considering the fact that they are trying to adopt the US as a new patron and the war against terror could attract resources. Although Myanmar has been a target of terrorism, it has mainly been carried out by Buddhist groups rather than by Muslims. This issue is like many other problems in the larger South Asian region where states have gone astray with a singular national vision in a multi-polar environment.

Pakistani media is supra-liberal: Talat Hussain

Disagreeing with the labelling of Pakistani media as right- leaning, veteran journalist Talat Hussain says that local media is almost entirely “supra-liberal”.
“The mention of a conservative opinion in a TV show or a column doesn’t mean the whole media is conservative. It is exaggeration,” he said.
Hussain stated that a glance at the top newspapers and broadcasters in Pakistan reveals that not a single outlet has a right-wing slant.
The senior journalist explained that there may be individuals in the media that have right-wing, extremist views but they are just a small fraction as compared to the majority.
Compelling conservatism 
Differentiating between extremist views which he condemned, and the conservative standpoint, Hussain said that conservative arguments are compelling.
“Conservative arguments have won elections in Egypt and in certain African countries,” he said, adding that the same right-wing, conservative view is also playing a major role in Europe and the United States.
He said that these opinions exist and they need to be heard.
“In a society where conservative groups are present, you cannot lock them out,” Hussain said.
Speaking about extremist groups, Hussain said they should be banned regardless of their religious affiliation but he said critics should also admit that most of the groups that did well politically in the Middle East were banned groups with militant wings.
“[Turkish Prime Minster Recep] Erdogan is very conservative, very right-wing but look what he has done for his country,” Talat said.

Pakistan likely to miss mango export target for second year

KARACHI: Pakistan is likely to miss export target of mango largely for second consecutive year as the country has only exported 73000 tons out of the target of 0.15 million tons of the fruit so far.
Exporters of mango, who faced multiple issues, hampering the already limited exports, could only export the fruit worth only $27 million in two months which is only 50 percent of the targeted 66 percent exports.
According to Waheed Ahmed, Co-chairman, Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchant Association (PFVA), only 25000 tons of exports are estimated during the remaining season of mango which be closed by September, reducing the exports at around 0.1 million tons against the target.
Citing reasons of the decline in mango exports, he said that the logistic issues at shipping companies and Pakistan International Airlines were the major hindrances the exporters faced the most this year which remained unresolved despite repeated and timely complains.
Non-availability of pallets and containers and Off-loadings at PIA have also caused reduction in exports by 30 percent. PIA flights offload consignments at various airports without any justification which also results in cancellation of orders.
PIA being the only national carrier is expected to be well equipped to facilitate the exporters of fresh agro produce but it’s quite disappointing to share that the Airline does not have enough pallets and aircraft containers to handle the cargo leading to in-ordinate delays in promptly getting the cargo on board.
Besides, 100 percent examination of consignments at ports by ANF also not only caused delay in shipment but also affected the quality of exportable fruits badly resulting cancellation of import orders.
Shipping companies left already booked consignments at ports for several times while a shipping firm even left for Masqat carrying huge quantity of fruits booked for Dubai port.
Beside the logistic issues, Pakistani exports of fruit has also lost a lucrative market of neighboring country Iran, where at least 30000 tons of mango were being exported previously, as a result of trade embargo imposed by United Nations on Tehran. With the loss of this market, exporters have faced almost $ 10 million worth exports of mango during the ongoing season.
Besides, no export of mango to other potential markets of Japan and United States has been recorded this year in absence of VHT plant and radiation facilities. The country could not start commercial trade despite the already obtained market access of US, Japan, Jordan, Mauritius, and South Korea.
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Brief history of Pakistan’s 10 Olympic medals in 64 years

LAHORE: Since their first-ever participation in the London Olympics in 1948, Pakistan have succeeded in winning just 10 medals in 64 years — a performance which can easily be dubbed shameful, disappointing and unacceptable by any measure and by any critic of sports anywhere on the planet.
 
Three of the 10 medals have been gold-plated and all were won in hockey.

As many as 515 Pakistani sportsmen have till date represented their country in the Olympics. While 83 Pakistani sportsmen had failed to win any medal at the 1948 London Olympics and at the 1952 Helsinki games, the 62-member national squad managed a silver medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where the hockey stars had gone into the finals against the triumphant Indians — who had ended up clinching the top honours with a 1-0 margin.

The 49-member Pakistani squad then went on to win its first-ever gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics by trampling all over their arch-rivals India under captain Abdul Hameed ‘Hameedi,’ who was an Army major.

Moreover, wrestler Mohammad Bashir had gone on to secure a third place and hence win a bronze medal in this particular event.

At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Pakistan had to settle for the second place after being trounced by old foes India, who had snatched a 1-0 win to claim their seventh Olympic gold medal.

The Pakistani sportsmen hence landed back home dejected from Japan with a solitary silver medal.

At the 1968 Mexico Olympics, Pakistan edged Australia by a 2-1 margin to win a gold medal. Just 20 Pakistani sportsmen had featured in this event.

Asad Malik and Abdul Rasheed scored the two goals, helping the Pakistanis hold their heads high in pride under captain Tariq Aziz, who had done his MSc in Animal Husbandry and had later joined the teaching faculty at the West Pakistan Agriculture University.

At the 1972 Munich Olympics, Pakistan hockey stars were defeated by hosts West Germany by a lone-goal margin in the final.

A 25-member Pakistani squad had participated in this particular event.

As poor and biased umpiring visibly cost Pakistan the match, all the 11 players in the final were suspended for a disorderly behaviour during the medal ceremony. Shahnaz Sheikh had reportedly taken off a shoe and swung his medal on that.

Not only was a perfect goal scored by Mudassar Asghar disallowed, but Germany was also awarded a controversial penalty corner from which they had scored in the 60th minute.

Pakistan Hockey Federation was suspended from international hockey for four years. A life ban was consequently imposed on the manager and the players involved.

However, the ban was revoked in 1974 only after an apology tendered by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the then Pakistani President, was accepted.

At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the 24-member Pakistani contingent was restricted to a bronze medal. Pakistan did not participate in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, along with 60 other nations in a US-led boycott, as a mark of protest against the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan.

The Green-shirts then won gold in Hockey at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics by defeating Germany in the final. Some 29 Pakistani sportsmen had participated at the Los Angeles Games.

At the 1988 Seoul games, boxer Syed Hussain Shah bagged a bronze medal. A 31-member Pakistani contingent had participated.

At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Pakistani hockey team clinched a bronze medal, courtesy Shahbaz Ahmed Senior, who was nicknamed ‘The man with the electric heels.’

A 27-member Pakistani contingent had participated in this event.

Not less than 98 Pakistani sportsmen taking part in the Atlanta games 1996, Sydney Olympics 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing Olympics 2008 then failed to win a single medal for Pakistan, though a few have pinned high hopes that the Pakistani squad representing the country in the ongoing London 2012 Olympics might salvage the lost pride of the country and save its blushes after having had four terrible medal-less events in a row.