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Myanmar should release political detainees: SEAsian officials
Families hang onto hope for Myanmar's cyclone missing
UN to end Myanmar aid flights on Aug. 10
Recent Burma News (18-07-08)

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Myanmar should release political detainees: SEAsian officials
AFP
by Jason Gutierrez / 18 July 2008

Myanmar should release all political detainees, senior Southeast Asian officials said Friday in a recommendation to their foreign ministers ahead of a two-day meeting next week.

If endorsed, the recommendation would signal a toughening of the bloc's attitude and would be included in a joint statement to be issued after the meeting of ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) starting Sunday.

The proposals on Myanmar, an ASEAN member, also call on the junta "to take bolder steps in what they're doing to move along the roadmap to democracy," a senior official said.

ASEAN operates according to a longstanding policy of non-interference in its members' internal affairs and has been widely criticised for its policy of "constructive engagement" regarding Myanmar, which is under European Union and US sanctions over its human rights record.

"We felt we should say a little bit more than usual, unlike before, when we just take whatever they say," the official said.

He said the Myanmar officials did not want any political developments mentioned in the draft, but as everybody else did they had no choice.

Myanmar's detainees include democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest for most of the past 18 years.

Myanmar was also criticised internationally for its delay in allowing foreign aid into the country after a May 2-3 cyclone that left 138,000 people dead or missing.

It subsequently allowed aid workers to enter under an arrangement with ASEAN and the United Nations.

Military-ruled Myanmar will accede next week to the ASEAN Charter, which commits Southeast Asian nations to notions of democracy and human rights, Singapore's foreign minister said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

The charter commits ASEAN members "to strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms."

Myanmar's foreign minister is expected to brief his peers about recent political developments in his country as well as the continuing post-cyclone efforts, a Southeast Asian diplomat told AFP.

Just seven days after the cyclone, Myanmar insisted on holding a referendum on a military-backed constitution.

It said that despite the devastation, 98 percent of voters turned out for the ballot and more than 92 percent endorsed their constitution.

The opposition party of Aung San Suu Kyi dismissed the referendum outcome as a "sham."

Myanmar says the constitution will clear the way for democratic elections in two years, but critics say it will only enshrine military rule.

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Families hang onto hope for Myanmar's cyclone missing
AFP
by Hla Hla Htay / Fri Jul 18, 9:35 AM ET

Khin Nyo San dashes from her tent to the nearby shack serving as a school, splashing down a muddy path in the desperate hope that a visitor from Yangon might have news of her missing child.

"Please help me find my daughter, I beg you. She is five years old and a very clever girl. She can easily tell you where she lives," the 39-year-old mother whispered to a visiting AFP reporter.

"If you write about her, people from the rescue camp would tell me if they saw my daughter. Her name is Aye Myat Thu," she said.

The missing child is just one of almost 54,000 people still unaccounted for more than two months after cyclone Nargis tore into Myanmar.

More than 84,000 are confirmed dead, but for people like Khin Nyo San, who have not been able to find the bodies of their loved ones, every passing day is a torment of dread that they may eventually have to give up hope.

When the cyclone sent floodwaters surging through their village of Ohnpinsu in the Irrawaddy Delta, their home was washed away, said Khin Nyo San, and she clung to her daughter with one arm and her three-month-old son with the other, battling against the current to keep them from drowning.

She eventually found a relative in a small boat and hoisted her daughter aboard.

The rest of her memories from that night are a swirl of darkness and fatigue. She never saw the boat or her daughter again.

"If she had stayed in my arms, she would have survived. My three-month-old son survived in my arms. Now I have no idea where she is," Khin Nyo San said in tears.

The Red Cross and the military government are using state radio to broadcast the names of children and others separated from their families.

For thousands of people these broadcasts are a beacon of hope for reuniting with their families, but in Ohnpinsu, which was nearly wiped off the map by the storm, radios are now a luxury enjoyed by few people.

Ohnpinsu is reachable only by a 30-minute boat ride from the nearest town of Labutta. While the village is only 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Myanmar's main city Yangon, reaching here takes more than a day of arduous travel.

Any visitor is a source of news, and residents gather round to ask if their loved ones' names have been heard on the radio.

"Some people said they heard my mother's name on the radio news. That's why I'm still looking for her," said vendor Khin Hlaing, 47.

"I pray to Buddha every day that I will be able to see my mother," she said.

-- Denial the only way to cope --

Khin Hlaing's father survived the storm, but when the family couldn't find her mother as they sifted through the debris, he fell into a depression and stopped eating. He died nine days later.

"I was able to hold a funeral for my father but I haven't heard anything about my mother. I didn't think she could have survived after two months, but hope came back after I heard that her name was announced on the radio," she said, weeping openly.

But even if her mother did make it into a shelter, and was identified by officials, Khin Hlaing has no money or transport to go and collect her from the emergency camp.

Others here freely admit that denial is the only way they can cope with their loss.

"I know that my mum couldn't survive after two months," said Maung Htwe, 18, as he cooked rice for the rest of the family in the shack they cobbled together from storm debris.

"My mother cannot swim and she was afraid whenever a strong wind came. But I pretend nothing happened to me because I can see others who lost their entire families. Many people suffered worse than me," he said.

"Now I just believe that she's travelling somewhere," he added.

The United Nations estimates that 22 percent of the 2.4 million severely affected by cyclone Nargis are suffering from post-traumatic stress.

"We are counselling them as much as we can. Their stress would ease if we could ensure that they will have enough food tomorrow, if we could help them re-start their businesses," said Zaw Soe Hteik, a 23-year-old medical doctor who came from the central city of Mandalay to help storm victims.

Some in the village even said they would feel better if they had life jackets.

"I want the government to give us life boats, even life jackets. Then we could survive if there is another storm," said Kyaw Hlain, a 57-year-old fisherman.

When the floodwaters destroyed his home, he held onto his daughter for 30 minutes as they swam for their lives, he said.

"I can still hear my daughter begging, 'Dad, please save me'. She died while I carried her on my shoulder, when the third wave hit her."

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UN to end Myanmar aid flights on Aug. 10
AP
By ELIZA BATES, Associated Press WriterFri Jul 18, 7:31 AM ET

A United Nations decision to end aid flights to Myanmar next month could hurt relief efforts already struggling to reach millions of survivors with adequate food and water, humanitarian groups said Friday.

The U.N. plans to stop aid flights between Thailand's Don Muang airport and Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon, on Aug. 10 and withdraw the last five U.N. helicopters that have been ferrying relief supplies to the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta. Five other helicopters have already stopped flying.

Without the helicopters, relief groups will be forced to depend on boats and trucks to get supplies to the delta. The cargo at Don Muang will be transported by sea.

"It is a bit of a blow not to have the helicopters guaranteed," World Vision emergency coordination specialist Ashley Clements said by telephone from Myanmar.

"We're already dealing with a load that we didn't have enough helicopters for, so now the pressure will be compounded even more," he said. "If we have to go by road it means that supplies will be delayed."

Christine Kahmann, a spokeswoman for Action Against Hunger, agreed that ending the flights would hurt the relief effort.

The U.N. World Food Program's Paul Risley said the move to end the flights is a routine step as relief efforts in Myanmar shift to reconstruction following the May 2-3 cyclone that killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 more missing, according to the government.

The U.N. helicopters have allowed relief workers to reach remote stretches of the flooded delta that were cut off when the cyclone hit.

U.N. officials and aid groups have criticized Myanmar's military junta for its slow response to the disaster and for restricting access to the delta, saying it prevented enough food, water and shelter from reaching survivors.

The U.N. says many survivors still lack adequate food and water.

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said last week that one out of two families in Myanmar have food supplies of only about one day or less and some 60,000 children are at risk of malnutrition. He said the cyclone wiped out 42 percent of the nation's overall food stocks.

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Recent Burma News (18-07-08)

UN triples aid appeal for Myanmar farmers
Today, July 18, 2008, 7 hours ago
(2 hrs ago) The United Nations food agency tripled its aid appeal for farmers in Myanmar’s rice-producing region devastated by Cyclone Nargis, saying three-quarters of them are short of seeds needed...

UN appeals for $33.5 million for Myanmar
Today, July 18, 2008, 11 hours ago
ROME (AP) - A U.N. food agency is appealing for $33.5 million to help small farmers and fishermen in cyclone-hit Myanmar. The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said that 75% of farmers in ...

Burmese opposition ready to escalate pro-democracy fight
Today, July 18, 2008, 11 hours ago
Burma ‘s battered and disparate opposition are growing disillusioned with the old methods of the pro-democracy movement and are seeking ways to escalate their armed struggle with the help of covert we...

UN Food Agency Issues Appeal for Burma
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
A United Nations food agency is appealing for more money to help fishermen and farmers in Burma who were hard hit by Cyclone Nargis.The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization issued an appeal ...

Burmese junta profiting from aid funds - Mungpi
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
Even as cyclone victims reel under the devastating impact of Nargis, the military rulers are lining their pockets from the aid funds donated by the international community including the UN. The money ...

Charges of forced labor emerge in cyclone-hit areas - Saw Yan Naing
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
Thousands of people in hundreds of villages are being forced to labor for free under a military-led reconstruction effort in the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta, according to sources in the area.

School classes held in temporary shelters - Naw Say Phaw
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
Private donor who is providing assistance in the area said that classes were currently being held in makeshift huts. “The schools have reopened, but there are no school buildings,” the do...

Low expectations for Gambari visit - Htet Aung Kyaw
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
Opposition figures and a political analyst have expressed doubts over whether the planned visit of United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma in mid-August will bring about any positive out...

UNICEF to set up amusement centers for Myanmar children
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) plans to set up at least 100 amusement centers for survived children in Myanmar’s two cyclone-hard- hit divisions, the local-language weekly Myan...

Thai Army pushes back Karen refugees
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
Thai army on Thursday pushed back 58 Karens, mostly women and children, displaced by fighting between Burmese government troops and rebel soldiers from Karen National Union, according to a border sour...

Junta officials, two teak traders killed over unequal division of loot - Hseng Khio Fah
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
Two junta officials and two Chinese teak traders from Taunggyi were killed by each other in Kholam, Namzang township, after quarreling over the division of the proceeds from teak trading, according to...

UN Humanitarian Chief to visit Burma next week - Lalit K Jha
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
The United Nations’ top humanitarian relief official, John Holmes said on Wednesday that he would visit Burma next week to assess the progress of humanitarian relief work in cyclone-affected areas of ...

Cronyism; unhealthy competition in media market - Htet Win and Hset Linn
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
Despite the military government’s healthier attitude to local private media development in recent years amid private sector’s intense struggle to surge up in a still unfair field of operat...

To go or not to go - Ruth Padel
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
In Rangoon the monsoon broke. The swirling streets were ankle-deep. I talked to writers about how British poetry had been revived in the 1970s by translations from eastern European poets struggling wi...

The Irrawaddy Delta redux - Aung Thet Wine
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
I visited Kaing Thaung, Kanyin Kone, Ywe and Pyin Salu villages, where I witnessed a lot of forced labor incidents in the name of “reconstruction.” I was told the soldiers said, “We. ..

ASEAN finally gets something right on Myanmar - Peter Janssen
Today, July 18, 2008, 14 hours ago
Myanmar, also known as Burma, joined the club in 1997 and has been a constant embarrassment since, to the extent of raising serious questions about the relevance of ASEAN as a regional-problem sol...

Indonesia Holds Up ASEAN Charter Ratification for Burma
Today, July 18, 2008, 18 hours ago
Half a dozen countries have approved the new Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) charter, and two others are getting closer to ratifying it. Only Indonesia stands in its way. Legislators in...

Aid sought for fishermen and farmers in Myanmar
Today, July 18, 2008, 19 hours ago
The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation said that 75 per cent of farmers in the country’s main food-producing region lack sufficient seed, with little time left before the end of the planting...

Cyclone victims harness rainwater to survive
Today, July 18, 2008, 19 hours ago
PAWIN, 17 July 2008 (IRIN) - Viewed as a curse by those who lost their homes and loved ones to Cyclone Nargis, heavy rain in recent weeks is proving a saviour of sorts to thousands of cyclone survivor...

Myanmar court charges 14 for Suu Kyi protest
Today, July 18, 2008, 20 hours ago
A Myanmar court has charged 14 people for causing “public offence” during a protest marking the birthday of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a defence lawyer said. The group, ar...

Malaysian Opposition Leader Freed on Bail
Yesterday, July 17, 2008, 9:07:47 PM
Police freed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on bail Thursday after holding him overnight in connection with a sodomy accusation that abruptly snagged his campaign to unseat the government.

Chin Face Food Shortages
Yesterday, July 17, 2008, 9:07:44 PM
Some 70,000 people in Chin State are facing severe food shortages after a plague of rats destroyed their entire rice crop earlier this year, according to sources from the Chin community in India and T...

Cambodia, Thailand to Hold Talks Next Week
Yesterday, July 17, 2008, 9:07:41 PM
Cambodia and Thailand escalated their troop buildup Thursday at disputed territory near a historic border temple despite moves to hold talks next week to defuse the flare-up in tensions, a Cambodian g...

Thailand-Cambodia Temple Rift Continues
Yesterday, July 17, 2008, 9:07:36 PM
The Thai Air Force chief warned the public on Wednesday of the presence of live landmines in the disputed area around Preah Vihear temple on the Thai-Cambodian border, amid continuing tensions between...

Police incompetence; multiple murderers still at large
Yesterday, July 17, 2008, 9:07:10 PM
Even three months after the cold blooded multiple murders in Rangoon the culprits have not been brought to justice. Moreover, a suspect died in police custody during interrogation. All those responsib...

US lawmakers ease pressure on Chevron in Myanmar
Yesterday, July 17, 2008, 7:08:25 PM
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US lawmakers have dropped plans to impose sanctions that would have pressured US energy giant Chevron to pull out from a gas project in military-ruled Myanmar, congressional aides ...

Myanmar invites UN envoy
Yesterday, July 17, 2008, 7:08:24 PM
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written a...
PowerGrid Corp transmission network to light up Myanmar
Yesterday, July 17, 2008, 7:08:13 PM
The state-run PowerGrid Corporation of India has embarked upon a plan to set up transmission line in Myanmar. The power ministry and PowerGrid Corporation, which is a central transmission utility in I...

India plans to import 1 MT of pulses from Myanmar
Yesterday, July 17, 2008, 7:08:10 PM
India has taken up the issue of importing about 1 million tonne of pulses from Myanmar for partially meeting domestic demand due to shortfall in production. Union minister of state for commerce Jairam...

House votes to punish ruling junta in Myanmar
Yesterday, July 17, 2008, 7:08:09 PM
WASHINGTON - The House voted Tuesday to punish Myanmar’s brutal ruling regime “where it hurts - in the wallet,” by freezing assets of political and military leaders there and banning the importat...

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