************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
HEADLINES
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
AFP - One killed, one injured in Myanmar bus blast
AFP - Bush praises Dalai Lama's 'courage'
AP - Agencies seek to protect Myanmar cyclone orphans
EARTHtimes.org - Myanmar invites UN envoy for talks on democratic reform
Bernama - Myanmar Exposes 192 Drug-related Cases In June
NDTV.com - China tops in Myanmar trafficking: Reports
UCAN - MYANMAR Catholics In Mixed Marriages Face Difficulties
Retail Solutions Online - Myanmar's Cyclone-Damaged Rice Production Regions Monitored With GIS
Monsters and Critics - Missing Indonesian fishermen reportedly imprisoned in Myanmar
BP - Myanmar relief focuses on Southeast Asia partnership
Mizzima News - British MPs call on Govt. to investigation Mahn Sha's assassination
The Irrawaddy - Gambari’s Burma Visit Postponed
The Irrawaddy - Refugee Accommodation Booming in Rangoon
The Irrawaddy - COMMENTARY: A Call to Arms?
DVB News - Martyrs’ day invitations withdrawn
DVB News - CNF threatens assassinations if development obstructed

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
One killed, one injured in Myanmar bus blast
AFP - Tuesday, July 15

YANGON (AFP) - - One man was killed and another injured when a bomb went off aboard a passenger bus headed to Myanmar's main city, state-run media reported on Tuesday.

The explosion took place at 8:50 am (0220 GMT) on Monday, en route to the country's economic hub Yangon, according to the official The New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

"One passenger died and another was injured in an explosion on a bus en-route from Kyaukkyi to Yangon," the paper said, noting that authorities are investigating the blast.

The man who died was a 55-year-old named Khant, it said. A 46-year-old man named Pa Pa received a stomach injury in the blast which took place near Daik Oo town, 85 miles (135 kilometres) northeast of Yangon.

Authorities immediately blamed insurgents for the bombing.

"Insurgents have committed destructive acts to jeopardize the stability of the state, community peace and prevalence of law and order to cause panic among the people," the paper said.

The bus journey started in Kyaukkyi near the border of Karen state where ethnic rebels have battled for decades against the military regime, who have run Myanmar since 1962, for autonomy in their region.

Earlier this month a small bomb exploded at the offices of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association on the outskirts of Yangon, causing no injuries but blowing a hole in the wall of the building.

Myanmar faces scores of organised resistance groups. Such small explosions are usually blamed on ethnic rebels or exiled dissident groups.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
Bush praises Dalai Lama's 'courage'
AFP - Tuesday, July 15

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Monday paid tribute to "the courage of the Dalai Lama and the Buddhists in Tibet," less than one month before heading to China for the Beijing Olympics opening gala.

Bush also reported that he told Chinese President Hu Jintao when they met last week in Japan: "So long as there are those who want to fight for their liberty, the United States stands with them."

The US president, who has drawn fire for his decision to attend the August 8 opening ceremony for the Games, was speaking at a White House ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of a US law aimed at promoting global religious freedom.

"We remember those seeking religious freedom in China, and we honor those who press for their liberties, people like the Uighur Muslims," said Bush.

"I also had the honor of meeting those who attend underground churches in China. And we also honor the courage of the Dalai Lama and the Buddhists in Tibet," he said.

Bush cited "some hopeful progress during the last couple of years" in places like Turkmenistan and Vietnam but underlined that it was important to "remember the many people who have yet to secure this precious liberty."

He cited Iran, "where the regime's anti-Semitism has provoked global outrage," Eritrea, Sudanese attacks on Christians, and North Korean punishment of "those caught practicing faiths other than the state ideology."

He also cited "brutal raids" by Myanmar authorities on Buddhist monks, past repression of religious minorities in Uzbekistan, and expressed hope that promised Saudi reforms "can bring real change."

"Today, we urge the leaders of all these countries to immediately end their abuses of religious freedom. We urge these leaders to respect the rights of those who seek only to worship their god as they see fit," said Bush.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
Agencies seek to protect Myanmar cyclone orphans
AP - Monday, July 14

TOE, Myanmar (AP) — Now, 12-year-old Twe Zin Win must try to play the role of mother. Every night, she lulls her little twin sisters to sleep with a soothing lullaby their mother once sang them — before the storm swept away her parents forever.

"Every night I dream about them coming back," says Twe Zin Win, huddled in a tiny thatch hut the orphans share with grandparents, who eke out a hand-to-mouth existence while she cares for her siblings rather than going to school.

The three children are among a still unknown number of orphans coping with hardships — physical and mental — more than two months after Cyclone Nargis raged through Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta, leaving a trail of flattened villages and broken lives.

In an impoverished, military-ruled country with a threadbare social safety net, aid workers are also warning that these orphans of the storm are targets of exploitation, including recruitment into Myanmar's army which has been accused by the U.N., the U.S. and human rights groups of inducting thousands of child soldiers.

"As I have seen from many other countries, including those in Asia and Africa, being orphans simply increases their vulnerability to becoming child soldiers, forced laborers, being trafficked or involved in sex work," says Ashley Clements, a spokesman for the U.S.-based aid group World Vision.

Because of such fears, agencies like World Vision working in the cyclone-devastated region are advocating placement of orphans with surviving relatives, like the grandparents in Twe Zin Win's case, rather than in orphanages.

"The goal is to put in place a mechanism to protect children from neglect, violence, abuse and exploitation, " says a statement from the U.N. Children's Fund, which is supporting 51, community-based "child-friendly spaces" to provide education, recreation and other aid to children storm survivors, including orphans.

But orphans like Twe Zin Win have so far had access to neither help nor games from foreign aid groups or Myanmar government agencies.

"Every day my grandmother and I cook for them, wash their clothes, play with them, give them showers and send them to bed," she says of her tasks as a full-time keeper of the 2-year-old siblings, which have forced her to drop out of school.

A few miles away in Thome Gwe village, another 12-year-old girl, Su Myat Swe Yu, remains traumatized by the loss of her parents, a brother, sister and three close relatives on one disastrous night. She and two brothers who also were spared now struggle for survival with their grandfather, a rice farmer who lost his house and livestock — "everything we owned," he said — to the cyclone.

Both families have been approached by strangers from urban areas offering to adopt the children — and both have refused.

"I don't want to give them away. They are my son's children. I have also heard stories about children being bought and sold. My only goal in life now is taking care of my grandchildren, " said Su Myat Swe Yu's grandfather, Khim Maung Than.

To deter child trafficking, the government has forbidden adoption of storm orphans. While there have been no reports of children survivors being forced into the military, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch last year detailed the recruitment of thousands of boys as young as 10 to fill shortages in army ranks.

These and similar accusations have been denied by the regime, which says it is trying to stop all human trafficking.

State media said that in mid-June authorities rescued 80 women and children, all cyclone victims, from traffickers scheming to smuggle them into a neighboring country, apparently Thailand.

Disguised as aid workers, the traffickers reportedly took the survivors from the Irrawaddy Delta, where most of the storm's nearly 140,000 dead or missing had lived.

International aid agencies estimate about half the 84,500 officially listed as dead were youngsters but only partial information has been collected on the number of orphans as the Department of Social Welfare and foreign groups continue tracing victims.

UNICEF spokesman Zafrin Chowdhury said the agency has identified 428 separated and unaccompanied children among survivors by the end of June. Clements said that in one village, three of out 10 children he spoke to had lost their parents.

"I don't think this number represents the whole picture, but I have been to different villages in the delta, where a lot of children have lost their fathers, mothers or both," Clements said.

With one of the world's worst health care systems and few social services, Myanmar's government orphanages offer minimal care, and the regime, which exercises tight control over the population, restricts and sometimes punishes private humanitarian efforts.

The one saving grace is an abiding tradition of the closely knit, extended family in which orphans like Twe Zin Win and her sisters are lovingly taken into the homes of relatives.

"My lost daughter has left me her children and I will try to take care of them," said Twe Zin Win's grandmother. And in turn the 12-year-old sacrifices to help her sisters.

"Usually when I sing the song that my mother used to sing they fall asleep more easily," she says. "The song starts with `Oh my children, fall into sleep. Whoever you will become, you must always be brave.' At night they only sleep if I sing that song."

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
Myanmar invites UN envoy for talks on democratic reform
EARTHtimes.org -
Posted : Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:36:02 GMT

New York - Myanmar on Tuesday invited UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari for a return visit to continue discussions on implementing the democratic process in that country. Myanmar, formerly Burma, said Gambari's scheduled visit in May could not take place because of the widespread devastation inflicted by Cyclone Nargis, which killed an estimated 140,000 people.

Gambari was requested to visit in mid-August "to continue the good offices role of the (UN) secretary general mandated by the UN General Assembly," said the letter of invitation by Myanmar's UN Ambassador Kyaw Tint Swe. It would be Gambari's fourth visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

Kyaw said Gambari has been implementing his mandate "very ably."

The UN has been urging Myanmar's military regime to democratize its institutions, hold political and national dialogue with the opposition and free political prisoners, including the head of the main opposition party, Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League for Democracy.

Having recently pushed through a constitution that will assure the military's control over any elected government, Myanmar's ruling junta has promised to hold polls sometime in 2010.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The government has one of the world's worst records in human rights and labour rights abuses.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
Myanmar Exposes 192 Drug-related Cases In June

YANGON, July 15 (Bernama) -- Myanmar exposed 192 drug-related cases in the month of June this year, punishing 329 people including 64 women, Xinhua news agency quoted the anti-drug authorities as saying Tuesday.

In the connection with the cases, 97.7 kilogram (kg) of opium, 2.5 kg of heroin, 2.3 kg of marijuana and 5.9 kg of ice as well as over 16,000 stimulant tablets were jointly seized by the armed forces, police force and customs department during the month, the sources said.

In 2007, Myanmar exposed a total of 2,462 drug-related cases, taking action against 3,298 offenders, official figures showed.

During the year, the authorities seized 68.37 kilogrammes (kg) heroin, 1.2 tonnes opium, 530 kg ephedrine, 104.27 kg marijuana and 1.12 tonnes morphine as well as 1.6 million tablets of methamphetamine.

The figures also show that in the 2007-08 poppy cultivation season, 4,821 hectares of poppy plantations in the country were destroyed, preventing the production of 52.39 tonnes of opium.

According to the Home Ministry, the opium cultivation in Myanmar dramatically decreased from 140,000 hectares to 27,700 hectares in a decade ending 2007.

The number of drug users in Myanmar had also decreased from 61,455 in 2005 to 54,709 in January 2008, the ministry's figures show.

Meanwhile, according to the UN Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), for the six years period from 2001 to 2006, poppy cultivation in Myanmar decreased by 79 percent to 21,500 hectares and opium production by 71 percent to 315 tonnes in 2006 from 105,000 hectares and 1,097 tonnes in 2001 respectively.

However, in 2007, there was an increase in poppy cultivation by 29 percent to 27,700 hectares and opium production by 46 percent to 460 tonnes, the UNODC figures show.

Myanmar drug official clarified that monitoring of poppy cultivation and opium production with the cooperation of China however reveal that there was a drop in these aspects.

Myanmar has been implementing a 15-year plan (1999-2014) to totally eradicate poppy in three phases, each running for five years, and it has reached the 4th year of the second five-year plan (2004-09).

So far, Myanmar has declared three regions namely Mongla, Kokang and Wa as poppy-free zones in 1997, 2003 and 2005 respectively.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
China tops in Myanmar trafficking: Reports
NDTV.com -
Agence France-Presse
Monday, July 14, 2008 (Yangon)

Myanmar police have rescued more than 450 victims of human trafficking since 2005, a private weekly magazine said, adding that most of them were being smuggled to neighbouring China.

Police have arrested 480 people accused of trying to smuggle people out of the country since September 2005, when a new law took effect banning the practice, the journal said, citing police reports.

Of the total 471 people rescued, ''eighty percent of the victims were headed to China, 15 percent to Thailand, and five percent were being trafficked within the country,'' the journal said.

The journal's story included arrests made till December 2007.
In the wake of deadly Cyclone Nargis, police told local media that they had rescued 80 storm victims, mainly women and children at border checkpoints where they were being lured overseas with the promise of aid and better jobs.

The cyclone had left 138,000 dead or missing after it pounded into the country on May 2. About 2.4 million people are in need of aid.

Despite the ban on human trafficking, the United States said in an annual report last year that Myanmar's military regime was complicit in the smuggling of people to Bangladesh, China, Malaysia and Thailand.

Among the reasons were sexual exploitation, domestic service and forced labour. Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
MYANMAR Catholics In Mixed Marriages Face Difficulties
Union of Catholic Asian News -
July 14, 2008

MANDALAY, Myanmar (UCAN) -- It is an open secret that Peter Tin Myint has been "living in sin," as he puts it, for 30 years.

The 60-year-old Catholic is a regular churchgoer at St. Joseph's Church in Mandalay, 580 kilometers north of Yangon, but that does not solve the problem.

Three decades ago, Tin Myint married a Buddhist in a Buddhist wedding rite. Because they did not marry in the Catholic Church, he was regarded as "living in sin," and could not receive Communion.

Entering his twilight years and fearful that he "will not receive a Catholic burial," Tin Myint has finally obtained his wife's consent to "get married" in a Catholic rite. Technically, they will not be remarried at St. Joseph's Church but rather will have their marriage rectified.

"Mixed marriage is like a cart with only one wheel rolling," he told UCA News on June 27, referring to the many local Catholics married to Buddhists and the difficulty these couples face trying to satisfy both religions.

Father John Mg San, parish priest of neighboring St. Michael's Church, acknowledges the problem is not limited to only a few people. He told UCA News mixed marriages are "on the rise." Catholics number 23,506 among a largely Buddhist population of 15 million in Mandalay archdiocese.

The priest claims 50 percent of married churchgoers in his parish are married to non-Catholics. Although he would prefer not to marry spouses of different religions, Catholics not married in a Catholic ceremony "will live in sin," he said. So when he can, he marries them.

Like Tin Myint, several other married regular churchgoers are unable to receive Communion because of their marital status.

"Mixed marriage is a mistake for most people because of the hardship one faces due to religious differences, " Tin Myint claimed, saying he cannot practice his religion alongside his spouse. "I feel sad when I think about the state of my life, not being able to receive Communion or participate fully, especially at Christmas and Easter."

Sometimes he fears his wife is encouraging him to change his religion and worries his life is "on the wrong path."

Father Mg San understands the minority Catholic community and shows some flexibility within the stipulations of canon law.

"The only advice I can give is to Catholic partners, advising them to practice their religion well and not force the other party to join his or her religion, to have respect for the other party's religion," he said.

If the Catholic party shows a good example, the wife or husband will respect his or her religion.

The Catholic party must do her or his best to raise the couple's children according to Catholic teachings, he added.

If a Catholic like Tin Myint wants to get married in church, Father Mg San said, they must accept penance given by the parish priest, such as saying the rosary or attending Sunday Mass for a period of time. After this their marriage can be rectified and accepted by the Church.

Ronald Naing Toe, 31, from St. Michael Parish, who married a Buddhist three years ago, told UCA News he and his wife wanted to be married in a Catholic church but his wife's Buddhist family would not allow it.

"Until now, there is no misunderstanding about religion between us," he said. "We follow our religious views freely and my wife reminds me to attend Mass." But he worries about the future and the consequences should their marriage break up someday.

Father Mg San said he too worries that partners may not keep promises they make before marriage to respect each other's religion and to allow the spouse or their children to practice their religion.

Parishioner Paul Tun Lwin, 40, who was married in the Catholic Church and whose children are baptized, told UCA News his wife now does not permit their children to attend church.

"When the children grow up," he said, "they can choose whichever religion they wish to follow."

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
Myanmar's Cyclone-Damaged Rice Production Regions
Retail Solutions Online - Monitored With GIS
July 15, 2008

Subsequent to Cyclone Nargis, a category 3 tropical storm that struck the low-lying and heavily populated coastline of Myanmar on May 2, 2008, the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began producing a series of geographic information system (GIS)-based maps of the damaged agricultural areas to accompany its commodity intelligence reports. Published on the FAS Web site, these maps are created using geospatial data and the technology found in ESRI's ArcGIS Desktop software.

The mission of FAS is to improve foreign market access to U.S. agricultural products, build new markets, improve the competitive position of U.S. agriculture in the global marketplace, and provide food aid and technical assistance to foreign countries. FAS achieves a part of this mission by analyzing global crop production capacity with remote-sensing and GIS tools and by issuing commodity intelligence reports highlighting current international crop conditions. GIS-based maps, available in PDF format, provide a visualization of the analysis performed and often serve as each report's basis. The commodity intelligence reports issued for the country formerly known as Burma focus on Myanmar's major rice-producing areas, which have suffered saltwater flooding and heavy rainfall as a result of the cyclone.

The project included satellite imagery obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration' s (NASA) moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite to delineate the postcyclone flooding region. This imagery was combined with rice land-cover classification data from the Landsat satellite program. FAS used ArcGIS to perform spatial analysis and create maps of the damaged rice production regions of Myanmar.

These maps revealed the cyclone's effect on cropland and livestock, the severity of flooding, and the rate of cropland recovery. The United Nations and nongovernmental organizations (NGO) are using the maps to evaluate the scope of the cyclone's impact. The information is also been of great interest to the international agriculture industry for determining market impacts.

"Our GIS maps and flood classification data show that the areas originally inundated by the storm account for approximately 1.7 million hectares of rice, 24 percent of the national rice area, or roughly 2.5 million tons of rice production on a milled basis," says FAS international crop assessment analyst Michael Shean. "The core region most severely damaged by the tidal wave and high winds, however, accounted for approximately 900,000 hectares of rice land, 13 percent of the national rice area, and roughly 1.35 million tons of milled rice production. In addition, field reports from inside the affected region indicate that within these rice production areas, large numbers of villages were destroyed along with much of their food stocks, livestock, and farming supplies."

A commodity intelligence report and maps issued June 10, 2008, demonstrate that approximately 80 percent of the original inundated rice production area is still affected by some degree of flooding, though conditions in the core damage zone had improved considerably, with only 418,000 hectares, or 46 percent of the original area, still showing flood effects. FAS will continue to produce reports and maps and perform analysis of Myanmar's rice production regions as new data becomes available.

As a complete GIS, ArcGIS allows organizations such as USDA to author data, maps, globes, and models on the desktop; serve them to a GIS server; and use them through Web, desktop, and mobile clients. The ArcGIS family of products includes desktop, server, mobile, and online GIS as well as ESRI data.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
Missing Indonesian fishermen reportedly imprisoned in Myanmar
Asia-Pacific News
Monsters and Critics -
Jul 14, 2008, 7:15 GMT

Jakarta - Indonesia's foreign ministry said Monday it was seeking more detailed information on the condition of 10 Sumatran fishermen reportedly detained in Myanmar in February for violating territorial waters.

'We have a directorate of protection in the Indonesian embassy in Myanmar that will follow up any information on Indonesian citizens being detained in Myanmar,' ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.

The Aceh Fishermen's Association called on the ministry to provide legal aid for its members who face two-year jail sentences, the Jakarta Post reported.

The fishermen were among the 15 Acehnese on board two fishing vessels, KM Rahmad and KM Melois, who went missing in Indonesian waters bordering Myanmar in February. The whereabouts of the other five were still unknown, the report said.

Association chief Adli Abdullah said one crew member sent a fax to his brother on July 11, informing that they were detained in Myeik prison in Myanmar and facing two-year jail sentences. The message stated they had been arrested on February 8.

Abdullah said the crew did not have any navigational devices and were unaware that they had trespassed into Myanmarese territory, the newspaper reported.

Faizasyah said the foreign ministry could not respond until it had more information.

Aceh province occupies the extreme north-western tip of Sumatra island. Its waters border Indian, Malaysian, Sri Lankan and Myanmar territories, and many Aceh fishermen have been arrested for violating boundaries in the past.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
Myanmar relief focuses on Southeast Asia partnership
Monday, July 14, 2008
By Mark Kelly / Baptist Press

YANGON, Myanmar (BP)--In spite of obstacles that prevented a traditional disaster relief response, Southern Baptists have found creative ways to help victims of Cyclone Nargis in the two months since the storm unleashed its fury on Myanmar.

Perhaps a million people were left homeless by the storm, which roared across the Southeast Asian country May 3 with winds of up to 120 mph. An estimated 134,000 people are dead or missing. Perhaps 1.5 million were believed to be at risk for serious health problems in the storm's aftermath. Myanmar's military government tightly restricted the flow of relief supplies and aid workers into the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta.

"We quickly saw that visas for volunteers to go into Myanmar were going to be very difficult, if not impossible, to get," said Francis Horton, who directs work in Central and South Asia for Baptist Global Response, a Southern Baptist international relief and development organization. "We then looked for other ways to assist in the effort and found several avenues to get help to the affected population in Myanmar."

The Southern Baptist relief initiatives have focused on partnerships with Myanmar believers and Christian organizations based in Southeast Asia that had less difficulty with access in Myanmar, Horton said.

"We discovered a cross-denominationa l coalition forming in Myanmar that was pooling the resources of the Christian community to achieve the greatest help possible to people in need," Horton said. "The Myanmar Christian Coalition for Cyclone Relief represents the major denominations and ministries inside Myanmar working in partnership on the relief effort. With their coordination, we should be able to see a systematic and cohesive long-term response to the disaster that will maximize resources in helping the victims and also result in a stronger standing for the Christian community in Myanmar."

Myanmar's Christian community rose to the challenge of ministry in the storm's aftermath, in spite of the suffering they were enduring themselves, Horton said.

"The churches in Myanmar did all they could from the very first day. Even though a number of churches themselves were destroyed, they began mobilizing their members to pack and distribute food-packets and other urgently required supplies to the victims," he said. "Much of this was concentrated in Yangon, but gradually they have been able to help in the coastal and delta areas as well, especially through their church networks of branch and outreach churches."

The initial Southern Baptist response included dispatching a team of "initial responders" who trained approximately 100 Christians from Myanmar in basic disaster response, water and sanitation, shelter and spiritual care, Horton recounted. Many of those believers returned to the delta to implement what they learned.

Southern Baptists also were able to allocate money from their World Hunger Fund to provide food packets for 10,000 people, ceramic water filters for 5,000 families and 150,000 water purification tablets.

Horton said the MCCCR group now has outlined a six-facet master plan to address the range of recovery and development needs in the country:

1) Reconstructing church buildings
2) Seven months of food kits for 110,000 families
3) Repairing and replacing houses
4) Providing family kits that include bedding, kitchen ware, some clothing and sanitary items
5) Helping children get back in school by providing supplies and uniforms
6) Assisting farmers and small business people in rebuilding their livelihoods.

The plan is broken down into projects to allow individuals and congregations in the United States to focus their attention on specific ways of helping Myanmar's people put their lives back together, Horton said.

"For example, Baptist Global Response is working closely with MCCCR to provide food packets for 500 families at a cost of $100 per month for seven months," he said. "A livelihood project will provide six tractors, at a cost of $1,800 each, that will benefit 1,000 families in 12 villages. Two acres of rice paddy seeds can be supplied for $50. Diesel fuel for the tractors can be provided for $18 per acre."

Baptist Global Response has not yet determined which, if any, of the other aspects of the MCCCR response plan it will be able to address, but those other aspects include:
-- Assisting one child in primary school, $26.80 (total number of children: 300,000)
-- Assisting one child in middle school or high school, $37 (200,000 children)
-- Food for a family of four for one month, $100 (110,000 families)
-- Cooking utensils, clothing, toiletries, etc. for a family of four, $86 (110,000 families)
-- Assist a fisherman in rebuilding his livelihood, $350 (30,000 fishermen)
-- Helping a small business get started, $150 (20,000 small businessmen)
-- Materials for rebuilding one house, $300 (total number not yet available)
-- Materials for reconstructing a church building, $13,400 (440 churches)

The total amount of Southern Baptist world hunger and relief funds committed to Myanmar exceeds $1 million.

A Baptist Global Response team is on the ground in Southeast Asia until mid-July to assess progress on these projects, identify additional initiatives that may be needed and encouraging the local congregations in their ministry to cyclone survivors.

Mark Kelly is an assistant editor with Baptist Press. Baptist Global Response is located on the Internet at gobgr.org.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
British MPs call on Govt. to investigation Mahn Sha's assassination
Mizzima News - Tuesday, 15 July 2008 21:36

New Delhi - Nearly 60 British parliamentarians have signed a petition, 'Early Day Motion', urging for the UK government to investigate and expose the assassins of Burma's ethnic rebel leader Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan.

In absence of no official investigation on the assassination of the General Secretary of Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic armed rebel group, the British parliamentarians call on the UK government to conduct a direct investigation and expose the culprit.

"We welcome this move by the British parliamentarians because it is not only a moral support but is a fight against injustice," Zoya Phan, daughter of Mahn Sha, who is currently in UK, told Mizzima.

Mahn Sha was assassinated on February 14, by two unknown gunmen at his residence in the Thai-Burmese border town of Maesot. However, five months on, the culprit behind the murder is still unknown.

Zoya said, "Though we know that it is the work of the Burmese military junta, there has been no official announcement and we are sad about it."

The British MPs also condemn the Burmese military junta for its terrorist act in organising the assassination, and call on the British government to take action to stop attacks on the Karen and other ethnic civilians.

In loving memories of their father and in order to continue his works, Zoya said she along with her two brothers and a sister had established the 'Phan Foundation'.

"Through this foundation, we aim to preserve the Karen culture and also help Karen people in their education," Zoya said.

Mahn Sha elected as general secretary in December 2006 of the KNU, which has been fighting for self-determination for over half a century.

Majoring in history at the Rangoon University in 1962, he joined the Karen movement in the jungle soon after he complete his studies.

A highly respected figure among both ethnic and Burman allies the Burmese military regime also see Manh Sha as a strong leader in the KNU.

He was 64 years old at the time of his death.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
Gambari’s Burma Visit Postponed
The Irrawaddy -
By LALIT K JHA / UNITED NATIONS Tuesday, July 15, 2008

UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari’s visit to Burma in July has been postponed, apparently because the UN is cautious over what the mission might accomplish in the way of tangible results.
 
Gambari was scheduled to visit Burma sometime this month to revive his efforts towards achieving the UN’s goal of political reconciliation and democracy in Burma and the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

Based on a number of factors, including the limited power of the UN, sources privy to the decision-making process at UN headquarters in New York told The Irrawaddy that the trip has been postponed, at least for now.

Officials said one factor was that at a time when the UN and Asean are busy coordinating humanitarian relief work in the cyclone-hit area of the Irrawaddy delta, the UN does not want to risk another mission with little to show in the way of tangible progress.

The UN's top humanitarian official, John Holms, will continue to lead UN efforts in Burma.

The Burmese military government completed its constitutional referendum, with claims it was supported by 92 percent of the voters, in June. National elections are scheduled in 2010.

Other factors may have included political events in the Sudan, Zimbabwe and the Middle East, which are taking much of the time and attention of the world body.

It was only last year when the Burmese people, led by monks, publicly demonstrated against the military junta, pushing Burma to become a focus of the Security Council and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Diplomatic sources in the UN said the world body would continue to give top priority to its humanitarian relief work in Burma and wait for an appropriate time to revive its political mission when it feels that there is possibility of achieving concrete results.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
Refugee Accommodation Booming in Rangoon
The Irrawaddy -
By VIOLET CHO Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Residents of Rangoon’s suburbs are enjoying the financial benefits of renting their houses to the substantial influx of refugees from cyclone-devastated areas in the Irrawaddy delta.

According to locals in Hlaing Tharyar Township, the most popular method of bringing in extra income for those living in the suburbs of the Rangoon Industrial Zone is to rent out their houses.

Zaw Win, a resident of Hlaing Tharyar Township said that he is renting his small wooden house to a refugee family who recently arrived from Laputta. “My house is located a bit far from the Industrial Zone, but an agent brought people to me, so I now have one family renting my house.

“Renting houses to outsiders is our main source of income, so every person who owns apartments or houses around here will definitely rent their houses out,” he said. “I charge 15,000 kyat (US $13) per month and I have to give the first month’s rent to the agent who brought over the customer.”

According to the US State Department, the majority of Burmese citizens manage to survive on an annual income of less than $200. Presently, inflation has caused a shortfall on spending and the eroding value of the local currency has reduced living standards.

According to Zaw Win, more than 100 families from Laputta Township and Irrawaddy Division have recently arrived in Hlaing Tharyar Township and are now temporarily living there, looking for work.

Since the May 2-3 cyclone ravaged the Irrawaddy delta, many refugees who lost their homes and possessions have left their villages and headed to urban areas with the hope of finding a job and some regular income.

However, according to several members of the refugee community in Hlaing Tharyar, there are some jobs for men in Rangoon but very few for women.

“I used to own several plots of land for growing rice, but now I have nothing,” said Myint Soe, a refugee from Laputta. “I don’t want to borrow money from other people, so I brought my family to Rangoon to work here.”

Myint Soe said he lost his youngest daughter in the storm and now he and his son are working as makeshift cargo loaders at Bayintnaung wholesale center in Rangoon.

“We get some money if trucks come with raw materials that we can carry down to the warehouse, but we get nothing if no trucks come. They already have contracted loaders at the wholesale center, so we only get to work if they are not able to do everything,” he said.

According to a Rangoon-based journalist, all the rental houses and apartments near the Industrial Zone are overcrowded as more and more migrants have come from the delta and other rural areas.

“There are so many young jobless women from cyclone-affected areas waiting to get jobs in sweatshop factories in the industrial zone,” Myint Soe said. “The majority of rural women who are living here work at factories in the daytime and at night they work in karaoke bars to earn extra money.”

Due to the economic crisis in the Irrawaddy delta, many people are not only leaving their villages and migrating to cities like Rangoon, but also to neighboring countries such as Thailand, he added.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
A Call to Arms?
The Irrawaddy - COMMENTARY:
By KYAW ZWA MOE Tuesday, July 15, 2008

“Nothing can defeat Burma’s military regime—at least to date.” I wrote those words in a commentary after the monk-led uprising was crushed by the junta last year. “All attempts at peaceful or violent means, including armed struggle, people’s uprisings, international sanctions and political engagement, have failed.”

But I missed one thing: a natural disaster. 

The destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis has tested the military regime. It clearly exposed again how restrictive, unreasonable and brutal the generals are, but it couldn’t change the generals’ mindset—even to fully collaborate with the international community to help their own people.

People expected that the monks uprising in September 2007 would have led to something positive for the country. Again in May this year, many people had hopes that an unreasonable response by the junta to the cyclone disaster might create a positive scenario for humanitarian intervention. But hopes were dashed when the generals largely shunned the international community’s effort to provide quick, effective relief aid.

The generals have proved they can handle mass uprising and natural disasters on their own terms, regardless of what others think and feel.

A people’s uprising is unlikely to happen again in the near future. Any uprising, if it happened, would be brutally crushed.

Likewise, economic sanctions imposed by Western countries, led by United States, have caused some disruption and inconvenience among the junta’s senior leaders and business cronies, but they lack real power to bring about democratic change.

After 20 years, diplomacy has proven to be a failure. Burmese people now realize more than ever that they can’t count on the United Nations or the international community to make meaningful change within the country. The generals will continue to do whatever they wish.

The UN is actually useful to the generals—when they want to use it as a political card—but useless for the people.

Perhaps, there is one option left: armed struggle. More Burmese people have been talking about armed struggle in recent months. In fact, armed struggles are nothing new in Burma.

When asked if there is a moral justification for an armed uprising by the people of Burma, Noam Chomsky, the well-known political critic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in an interview with Thailand’s Bangkok Post newspaper: “There certainly is, in my view, with one qualification: An armed uprising would have to evaluate with care the likely consequences for the people who are suffering.”

He said, “I think it’s appropriate for people to rise up, but it’s not for me to tell people to risk mass murder. As for assassinating leaders, the question is very much like asking whether it is appropriate to kill murderers. They should be apprehended by non-violent means, if possible. If they pull a gun and start shooting, it’s legitimate to kill them in self-defense, if there is no lesser option.”

Burma has had various forms of armed struggles going on for the past six decades, following the country’s independence from Britain. After 1988, ethnic armed groups along the border were reinforced by groups of student activists who fled the country after their movement was crushed by government troops.

In 1989, the once powerful Community Party of Burma split into smaller groups after it faced a mutiny within the party. In the 1990s, about 17 armed ethnic groups gained ceasefire agreements with the military regime. They abandoned their fight, focusing on business concessions offered by the government.

The All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), founded by students in 1988, gradually began to lose its momentum after 1991 following a split in the leadership. ABSDF was very popular among the public. It appears that its armed struggle is all but finished.

Today, a few armed groups, including the oldest rebel group, the Karen National Union, haven’t reached ceasefire agreements, but their military strength is only a tiny fraction of the regime’s 400,000 troops. It has been a long time since armed groups staged large battles against government troops. Brief skirmishes are now the norm.

Armed struggles have had an impact on Burmese politics in the past—positively and negatively.

If an armed uprising could be sustained—one which focused on the freedom of people—it could put pressure on the junta to some extent. It might even move the country’s political scenario into a more positive, productive path. If there is a moral justification for an armed uprising of suffering people as Chomsky said, the question is now: Is it time for a new armed uprising?

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
Martyrs’ day invitations withdrawn

Jul 15, 2008 (DVB)–Foreign embassies and diplomats in Rangoon have been notified that invitations they received from the military regime inviting them to a martyr’s day commemoration event on 19 July have been withdrawn.

The Burmese regime sent out a second batch of letters to the embassies to cancel the invitations.

It is not clear whether the event will still go ahead without the presence of foreign embassy personnel.

A diplomat told DVB that no reason had been given for the regime’s decision.

“We don’t know the reason behind the cancellation of the invitations or whether or not the commemoration is still being held,” the diplomat said.

“The Martyrs’ Day commemoration is organised by the government’s Cultural Ministry every year,” he went on.

“All we can say at the moment is that there will be no foreign diplomats attending it this year.”

Martyrs’ day commemorates the day in 1947 when nine people, including general Aung San and other independence leaders, were assassinated.

Burma holds an annual ceremony to mark the day at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum in Bahan township, Rangoon.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *
CNF threatens assassinations if development obstructed

Jul 15, 2008 (DVB)–The Chin National Front has vowed to carry out sniper attacks on government and Union Solidarity and Development Association officials if they obstruct the group’s efforts to boost development in Chin state.

The CNF said they have started an operation named People Power 20, or PP20, to encourage development in Chin state in cooperation with the Chin people.

According to the CNF’s guidelines, the operation aims to promote regional, education and health development, and prohibits hunting in the Chin forests and using explosives to catch fish in rivers.

CNF military coordinator Pu Solomon said the armed group has also formed special operations squads to conduct assassinations of government officials who disrupt their operation.

"First, we will give notorious military officials and USDA personnel a warning that we will take their lives in sniper attacks," said Pu Solomon.

"If they ignore the warning then we will take real action against them," the coordinator said.

"We have conducted special training for sharpshooters in our group for the sniper operations."

Pu Shwe Kha, joint-secretary of the CNF, said the group has also decided to cut taxes collected from the Chin people to the bare minimum.

"Before, we used to collect 3000 kyat annual tax from every household – but now we have reduced that to 10 kyat," said Pu Shwe Kha.

"Our operation aims to help the people in Chin state to deal with their struggles," he said.

"We will accept the 10 kyat tax from the people just to show them our appreciation of their contribution to the revolution."

The CNF previously held talks on a ceasefire agreement with the government military officials in March 2007 but these ended without an effective resolution except for an agreement on both sides to resume talks at a later date.

"We believe we will resume the talks in future – we are studying the strengths and weaknesses of the ceasefire groups and we will find a peaceful answer for our country's political situation," said Pu Shwe Kha.

The CNF was formed by fighters in Chin state after the 8888 uprising and it is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation.

Reporting by Khin Maung Soe Min

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *