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HEADLINES
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AFP - Hopes for Suu Kyi release fade at ASEAN meet
AFP - ASEAN demands action on soaring commodity prices
AP - Myanmar cyclone damage estimated at $4 billion
AP - Myanmar appeals for more foreign aid to help victims of Cyclone Nargis, but gives no figure
AP - ASEAN issues strong rebuke against Myanmar ahead of regional security meeting
Reuters - ASEAN tackles border spat, rights and Myanmar
Reuters - Myanmar cyclone recovery cost tops $1 bln
IANS - Myanmar vows to uphold Asean ideals
Bernama - Myanmar becomes seventh Asean member to ratify charter
Bkk Post - Freedom for Suu Kyi unlikely in 2008, Burma says
EARTHtimes.org - UN welcomes Myanmar's post-cyclone recovery plan
Philippine Daily Inquirer - Observers doubt Myanmar on ASEAN charter pledges
Canada.com - Canadian group helps farmers after Myanmar cyclone
The Star - Ng: Hiring maids from China and Myanmar not the answer
View London - Stop Burma aid, government urged
Irrawaddy - Farmers Dispute Official ‘Back to Normal’ Claims
Mizzima News - Critics skeptical of Burma's ratification of ASEAN Charter
DVB News - Political prisoner dies in Mandalay prison
DVB News - Seven NLD members released after Martyrs' Day

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Hopes for Suu Kyi release fade at ASEAN meet
AFP - Monday, July 21

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Hopes for the release of Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi were raised and then quickly faded at a meeting of Southeast Asian ministers, as officials said Monday that comments indicating she could be freed within months had been misinterpreted.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers have told their Myanmar counterpart they were "deeply disappointed" over the junta's recent decision to extend the opposition leader's house arrest by another year.

But Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said Sunday that the regime's foreign minister Nyan Win had suggested she could be freed within six months under a technical deadline set in Myanmar law.

Asked Monday whether Aung San Suu Kyi could be released then, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said: "That's our hope."

But Yeo said Monday that Nyan Win had been misunderstood, and that the legal limit of the detention period would only be reached "six months from May 2009" when the one-year extension expires.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest at her home in the country's main city Yangon, with the most recent spell beginning in May 2003.

Trevor Wilson, a former Australian ambassador to Myanmar, said he expected the democracy leader to be kept in detention until elections billed for 2010.

"I don't think there's any evidence that the government is ready to release her," he told AFP.

David Mathieson, a consultant on Myanmar for US-based Human Rights Watch, said the military regime's claims to be abiding by national laws were farcical.

When the six-year limit expires "they'll probably just come back up with another excuse and bank on people's short memories" he said.

Mathieson urged ASEAN to push for Aung San Suu Kyi's immediate release, and to ensure she was freed without conditions and was permitted to travel the country and participate in the elections.

"It's a slow way of making her irrelevant, and that's the real crime," he said.

Myanmar's treatment of its democratic opposition is a perennial embarrassment for the bloc, comprised of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

On Monday it formally ratified ASEAN's new charter, but observers said they doubted the regime would live up to the document's ideals on democracy and human rights.

The ASEAN meetings will culminate in a gathering on Thursday of the 27-nation ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's top security meeting which includes the United States -- Myanmar's most vocal critic.

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ASEAN demands action on soaring commodity prices
by Jason Gutierrez
Mon Jul 21, 9:59 AM ET

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Southeast Asian foreign ministers called for action Monday to reduce soaring commodity prices and urged Myanmar's junta to immediately release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- a region of more than 500 million people including some of the world's poorest -- said soaring food and fuel prices pose a "serious challenge to our peoples' welfare as well as our countries' continued economic development. "

The call came at the end of annual talks between foreign ministers in Singapore which covered a multitude of issues concerning the bloc.

"On the issue of food security, we affirmed that access to adequate and reliable supply of staples, and stable prices were fundamental to the region's economic and social well-being," they said in a joint communique.

"We encouraged all countries to do away with price-distorting export subsidies and other protectionist policies, and to provide market access to competitive food exports."

The ministers also said they expected all 10 member states to ratify an EU-style charter -- envisaging the creation of an EU-type free trade zone by 2015 -- before a full regional summit in Bangkok in December.

Surging food prices, particularly key local staples such as rice and soy beans, and the spectacular spike in global oil prices has hit growth across the region and forced countries to raise interest rates to stem inflation.

ASEAN states such as Indonesia and Malaysia have had to hike subsidised fuel prices in recent months as the cost of crude passed 140 dollars a barrel, leading to street protests and social unrest.

On rogue member Myanmar, the ministers "took note" of a referendum which passed a new constitution in May in the aftermath of killer Cyclone Nargis, a vote widely condemned as a sham to perpetuate the military's grip on power.

They urged the junta to take "bolder steps" to hold free and fair elections by 2010 and release "all political detainees, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, to pave the way for meaningful dialogue."

But the communique dropped the language of an earlier chairman's statement which said the ministers were "deeply disappointed" by the junta's recent extension of Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest by a year.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest.

The junta meanwhile ratified the new ASEAN charter, binding it to ideals of democracy and human rights. Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win spoke of the junta's desire to create a "caring and sharing community."

Analysts were sceptical about the regime's intentions of observing the treaty, which contains no provisions for punishing rights violators.

The bloc has been criticised for its policy of "constructive engagement" toward Myanmar's secretive junta, which is under European Union and United States sanctions over its long record of human rights abuses.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

On Thursday the 27-nation ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Asia's top security and political grouping which includes the United States, China and the European Union, is due to meet.

A highlight is expected to be an unprecedented meeting between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-Chun at an informal gathering of representatives of the six countries negotiating Pyongyang's denuclearisation.

ASEAN ministers, who also discussed climate change, said they had received assurances that Thailand and Cambodia would show "utmost restraint" to avoid armed conflict over a disputed part of the border amid a troop build-up on both sides.

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Myanmar cyclone damage estimated at $4 billion
By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer
AP - Monday, July 21
 
SINGAPORE - Myanmar needs at least $1 billion over the next three years to put the survivors of Cyclone Nargis back on their feet, a U.N.-led report said Monday in the first comprehensive assessment of damage caused by the disaster that killed more than 84,000 people.

The May 2-3 cyclone caused damage estimated at $4 billion, said the report prepared by the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the military junta that governs Myanmar. Damage to assets was determined to be about $1.7 billion and loss of income was estimated at $2.3 billion.

The cyclone devastated large swathes of the Irrawaddy delta and the Yangon region, killing at least 84,537 people and leaving 53,836 missing and presumed dead.

ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan told a news conference the three parties involved in the report are seeking at least $1 billion in international aid for humanitarian relief efforts alone over the next three years to deal with "a tragedy of immense proportions. "

"The task ahead is clearly enormous and will take a lot of time, a lot of effort," Surin said, flanked by the foreign ministers of ASEAN's 10 members and the United Nations' humanitarian chief, John Holmes. Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win was also on the panel.

Despite the grim statistics, the report makes no mention of the junta's limited action in the first week of the disaster, which drew worldwide criticism.

The junta initially refused to allow foreign relief workers in and pictures of bodies floating in the water amid reports that soldiers were standing by idly horrified people around the world. The junta was also slammed for failing to accept international aid quickly and even physically preventing them from going to the hardest hit areas.

The military government had also insisted on full access to international relief, holding up delivery for weeks while survivors waited in desperate conditions. ASEAN helped facilitate exchanges between international donors and Myanmar's governing military junta.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo, who chaired the news conference to release the report, refused to allow an Associated Press reporter's question to Myanmar's foreign minister about whether the junta felt that many lives could have been saved had it acted differently.

Yeo said that while "political questions" are relevant, the news conference was only about the assessment report.

Nyan Win said the junta hoped the international community will provide increased assistance.

"Even if we do not receive adequate assistance, we are determined to proceed with our limited resources," he said.

Members of ASEAN, the region's main bloc, usually stick to a policy of not interfering in each other's domestic affairs. But the group opened its annual meeting in Singapore Monday after issuing its strongest rebuke ever to Myanmar over the junta's failure to make progress on political reform.

ASEAN experts said the worst is still not over and the cyclone hit area remains in a state of emergency.

"People live in a very precarious condition now. If we fail to sustain the recovery efforts, they may face a second emergency," said Puji Pujiono, a recovery assessment specialist in the ASEAN team.

At a donor conference after the cyclone, participants demanded full access to storm-hit areas and an independent assessment of aid to ensure it was not being wasted or stolen.

"Both of those things are in place," Holmes said.

"It is important to have a report of this quality so that donors are sure their resources are being well spent," Holmes said, appealing to donors to "continue to be generous."

He said the U.N. had appealed for $482 million in immediate assistance but is still short $300 million.

The report paints a dismal picture of the devastation caused by the cyclone, saying it is expected to wipe out about 2.7 percent of Myanmar's projected gross domestic product in 2008. Myanmar is one of the world's 20 poorest countries with some 32 percent of its 54 million people living below the poverty line -- meaning they don't earn enough to eat two meals a day.

The wall of water destroyed 450,000 homes and damaged 350,000. About 75 percent of health facilities were damaged, as were 4,000 or more schools.
About 1.5 million acres of farmlands and 60 percent of agricultural implements were destroyed. In mid-June, 55 percent of survivors had rations enough for only one day or less.

"We have tried to wipe some tears, soothe some aching hearts ... but not all," Surin said. Failure to provide them aid over the long term "will be detrimental to the very survival of the victims."

At the ASEAN meeting, foreign ministers issued a statement expressing "deep disappointment" that Myanmar's junta had extended the detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by another year, the sixth straight year that she has remained under house arrest in her dilapidated villa.

The joint statement was an unprecedented criticism of Myanmar.

Myanmar's foreign minister had earlier held out a glimmer of hope that Suu Kyi would be freed within six months at the end of the maximum six-year period that a political detainee can be held by law, Singapore's foreign minister said.

ASEAN's statements reflect its deep frustrations with Myanmar's junta, which has kept Suu Kyi in detention for 12 of the last 18 years at varying times. ASEAN is also fed up with the criticism it faces from the international community for not putting enough pressure on Myanmar.

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Myanmar appeals for more foreign aid to help victims of Cyclone Nargis, but gives no figure
Mon Jul 21, 6:27 AM ET

SINGAPORE (AP) - Myanmar is appealing for more foreign aid to help victims of Cyclone Nargis.

Foreign Minister Nyan Win said more assistance would shorten his nation's recovery time, but didn't say how much money was needed.

Myanmar would push ahead with its own limited resources if additional help was not forthcoming, Nyan Win told reporters in Singapore on Monday following the release of a report assessing relief efforts compiled by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

ASEAN has helped facilitate exchanges between Myanmar's governing military junta and international donors, who have demanded full access to storm-hit areas and an independent assessment of aid to ensure it was not being wasted or stolen.

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ASEAN issues strong rebuke against Myanmar ahead of regional security meeting
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN,Associated Press Writer
AP - Monday, July 21

SINGAPORE - Southeast Asian nations on Monday demanded Myanmar's ruling junta release a pro-democracy leader and other political prisoners while urging Thailand and Cambodia to prevent their border dispute from escalating.

The demand for prisoner releases is a further sign of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' growing impatience with its fellow member over the generals' refusal to respond to calls for political dialogue and reform.

A joint statement issued after formal meetings Monday called on Myanmar to release all political detainees, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose detention was extended by another year, the sixth straight year she has remained under house arrest.

"We urged Myanmar to take bolder steps toward a peaceful transition to democracy in the near future," the statement said.

The ten members of ASEAN, the region's main bloc, usually avoid interference in each other's domestic affairs, although that appears to be changing in a bid to give the group greater relevance.

ASEAN's statements reflect its deep frustrations with Myanmar's junta, which has kept Suu Kyi in detention for 12 of the last 18 years. ASEAN is also fed up with criticism from the international community for not putting enough pressure on Myanmar.

On Sunday, ASEAN foreign ministers issued their strongest rebuke yet, expressing "deep disappointment" that Myanmar's junta had extended Suu Kyi's detention.

Commenting on the border feud between Thailand and Cambodia, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned that ASEAN "could not stand idly by without damaging its credibility. "

"The situation has escalated dangerously, " Lee said.

The two countries are disputing an area near an ancient temple in Cambodia that was recently designated a World Heritage Site. Both countries have sent troops to the area and talks on Monday failed to resolve the dispute. Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh said progress was made but he acknowledged that tensions remain high.

In their statement Sunday, the ASEAN ministers urged the two nations to "exercise utmost restraint" in the dispute.

Other topics expected to be discussed at the five-day enclave in Singapore include North Korea's nuclear program, inflation and cooperation in disaster relief.

Asia may be a much more stable and peaceful region than before, but its "long-standing tensions and rivalries" give ASEAN an opportunity to play a useful role as "a neutral platform" for mediation, Lee said in his opening remarks.

"ASEAN is no longer just a talk shop, but a maturing community of nations," he said.

The ministerial conference of ASEAN will be followed by a series of meetings with counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

It will culminate Thursday with the ASEAN Regional Forum, the premier security dialogue of Asia-Pacific between ASEAN and 16 other countries plus the European Union. It includes the United States and Russia.

On the sidelines of the forum will be the most keenly watched event: a meeting of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun and their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia _ the participants in six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program.

It will be the highest-level meeting in the six-country negotiations, which began in 2003 with the aim of convincing North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program.

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ASEAN tackles border spat, rights and Myanmar
By Manny Mogato
Mon Jul 21, 2:37 AM ET

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Southeast Asian ministers urged Cambodia and Thailand on Monday to show restraint over a military standoff on their border and took steps to create a regional human rights body.

The 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations were also tackling spiraling food and fuel prices at their annual meeting on Monday, as worsening inflation adds to political turbulence in the region.

The group, seeking to create a European Union-style community encompassing a half-billion people with a combined GDP of $1.2 trillion, was set to again express profound disappointment with junta-ruled Myanmar, its most problematic member, according to a draft communique.

With Thailand and Cambodia holding high-level talks on Monday aimed at resolving the dispute over a 900-year-old temple on their border, ASEAN ministers offered to help mediate.

"The situation has escalated dangerously, with troops from both sides faced off on disputed territory near the Preah Vihear temple," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a speech opening the ASEAN meeting. "ASEAN could not stand idly by without damaging its credibility. "

ASEAN's diplomacy on the issue "reflects a growing sense that ASEAN is no longer just a 'talk-shop', but a maturing community of nations prepared to act to advance its collective interests," the prime minister said.

After a week of diplomatic sparring and a build-up of troops, expectations for a breakthrough were low, but both sides said they wanted to ease tensions.

Analysts say domestic politics in Thailand, where the temple is known as Khao Pra Viharn, have played a key role in fuelling the border dispute.

HUMAN RIGHTS BODY

The foreign ministers, representing countries that include a kingdom, a junta, communist states and democracies, are expected to agree a framework for a landmark human rights body.

"It's going to be tough negotiations, " said an official nominated to the high-level panel that will negotiate on the functions and powers of the proposed human rights body.

"The member states remained deeply divided on the actual form and substance of the body."

The foreign ministers are discussing "the growing challenge posed by rising oil and food prices ... to our people's welfare as well as our countries' continued economic development, " the draft joint communique says.

The high-growth economies of Southeast Asia are worried global financial turmoil could lead to the kind of chain reactions that destabilized them in the "Asian contagion" financial crisis of 1997-98, one Philippines official said.

spiraling prices contributed to unprecedented opposition gains in Malaysia's general election last March and are stoking political turmoil elsewhere in the region, including food riots and protests in some countries and export restrictions in others.

ASEAN aims to sign a landmark charter at its annual summit in December that would create an EU-style community among its members, although three countries -- Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines -- have yet to ratify the document.

"ASEAN has decided to press on with the charter's implementation without waiting for all 10 member states to ratify," Lee said in his speech.

"ASEAN cannot take its continued relevance for granted. If our efforts to achieve faster and deeper integration falter, ASEAN may well be sidelined," he said.

ASEAN's inability to get Myanmar's junta to reform has been a major stumbling block in its ambition to exert economic and diplomatic muscle.

But on Sunday, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo offered a rare ray of optimism about ASEAN's problem child, saying the generals could release detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in about half a year.

Suu Kyi has been confined for nearly 13 of the past 19 years. The draft declaration expressed "deep disappointment" Suu Kyi's detention under house arrest had been extended in May and called for her release and that of all political detainees.

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Myanmar cyclone recovery cost tops $1 bln
Mon Jul 21, 8:21 AM ET

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Recovery from a cyclone that tore into Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta in May, leaving at least 138,000 dead or missing, will cost more than $1 billion, a report by the United Nations and Southeast Asian nations concluded.

The estimate, released on Monday at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), covers the most urgent needs such as food, agriculture and housing for the next three years.

"It's a relief to confirm there is no mass starvation, or outbreaks of epidemics," Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo told a news briefing. "But there is a need for help -- we need money, we need assistance."

He said the country would need everything from clean water and building works to boats, fishing nets and buffaloes.

The United Nations appealed earlier this month for more than $300 million in additional aid for the former Burma, on top of $178 million already provided by donors.

"While significant progress has been made to date, we are still in the relief phase for this aid operation," John Holmes, U.N. under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters.

Holmes is due to visit Myanmar for three days this week to check on aid delivery to the isolated country that initially shut out foreign relief workers after the deadly cyclone.

Myanmar's secretive military government lifted restrictions on foreign aid workers after a visit in late May by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"We wish to express our gratitude to the international community," Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win said at the briefing.

He said that the destruction had been so immense the country alone could not cope with relief. "The response from the international community was quite overwhelming."

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Myanmar vows to uphold Asean ideals
IANS
Mon, Jul 21 06:46 PM

Singapore, July 21 (DPA) Myanmar ratified the charter of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) Monday and vowed to uphold its democratic ideals, but dashed hopes of releasing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi within the next six months.

The country, vilified for its dictatorial government and human rights abuses, became the seventh of the 10-member regional grouping to ratify the document, which was signed by the leaders in November last year.

'Myanmar's ratification of the charter demonstrates our strong commitment to embrace the common values and aspirations of the peoples of Asean,' Foreign Minister Nyan Win said.

'It is my honest hope that with the growing momentum of ratification, our common goal and commitment to complete ratification of the charter by all-member states will be realized at the time of our leaders' summit in Bangkok' in December, he added.

While foreign ministers attending the 41st Asean Ministers Meeting watched, Nyan Win handed over the document to Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan, to the applause of observers.

Shortly afterwards, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo said Nyan Win had clarified that Suu Kyi would not be released in the next six months as expected earlier, but after six months from May 2009, the expiry date of the existing one-year detention order.

Yeo, who is also Asean chairman, and other foreign ministers 'misunderstood the point made by the Myanmar foreign minister on the limit of the detention period,' a statement said.

The 'clarification' was made at the ministers' meeting Monday afternoon.

Suu Kyi has spent 13 years in detention since 1989. Her house arrest was recently extended.

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Myanmar becomes seventh Asean member to ratify charter
Bernama - Tuesday, July 22

SINGAPORE, July 21 (Bernama) -- Myanmar today officially became the seventh Asean member to ratify the Asean Charter designed to transform the organisation from a loose association into a rule-based coalition.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win deposited the instrument of ratification for the charter to Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan in a ceremony held on the sidelines of the 41st Asean Ministerial Meeting here today.

Apart from Myanmar, six other members of the 10-member Asean grouping that have ratified the charter are Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Singapore and Vietnam.

Three members that are still dragging their feet in making Asean an official and fully-tuned international body are Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

The Asean Charter was signed by the Asean leaders when they met at the 13th Asean Summit here in November last year.

AEAN-MYANMAR 2 SINGAPORE

At the ceremony, Surin said he was optimistic that the three Asean members that had yet to ratify the charter would do so very soon.

He said the charter would come into force on the 30th day after the 10th member deposited its instrument.

Surin said the ratification process was on course and believed it was in time for Asean to celebrate the full ratification of the charter by the 14th Asean Summit in Bangkok at the end of this year.

He said Bangkok had already planned an elaborate ceremony to commemorate the full ratification of the Asean Charter.

"Even the host has found the original table that the founding five members sat and signed the Bangkok Declaration that brought Asean into being on Aug 8, 1967.

"Of course this time, ten of them will have to squeeze around the table," he added.

ASEAN-MYANMAR 3 (LAST) SINGAPORE

He said when the charter was fully ratified, it would "complete the historic journey of Asean becoming a legal personality in the international arena".

The charter would help Asean build a community that all could be proud of, Surin said, adding that the charter had already generated tremendous excitement around the world.

He said the international community was expecting so much from Asean and with the full ratification of the charter, the grouping would really be a new Asean worthy of full respect, cooperation and interaction with.

Meanwhile, Nyan Win said Myanmar was pleased to become the seventh member of Asean to ratify the milestone charter.

He said it demonstrated Myanmar's strong commitment to embracing the common values and aspirations of Asean to bridge the community in the region.

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Freedom for Suu Kyi unlikely in 2008, Burma says
Bangkok Post - Monday July 21, 2008

Singapore (dpa) - Burma has indicated that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be freed in six months, or they will have to change current laws which limit her maximum detention period to six years, news reports said Monday.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said that his Burmese counterpart, Nyan Win, said that Suu Kyi has "about half a year's time left," according to The Straits Times.

When asked if this meant that the opposition leader and Nobel Prize winner would be released, Yeo said, "I think that is not an inaccurate inference."

Suu Kyi has spent 13 years in detention since 1989.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers called Sunday on the Burmese junta to release Suu Kyi and other political detainees.

On the eve of the formal start of the 41st Asean ministerial meetings in Singapore, the ministers of the 10-member regional bloc expressed disappointment over Suu Kyi's continued detention.

"The foreign ministers expressed their deep disappointment that Aung San Suu Kyi's detention under house arrest had been extended by the Myanmar (Burmese) government," Yeo told reporters after the officials met over dinner.

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UN welcomes Myanmar's post-cyclone recovery plan
EARTHtimes.org -
Posted : Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:30:14 GMT

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed an assessment for future international humanitarian assistance to Myanmar following the devastation by cyclone Nargis in May. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) presented the assessment for medium-term recovery needs in Myanmar at a meeting in in Singapore on Monday, attended by John Holmes, the chief UN humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

The cyclone left 140,000 people dead or still missing while an estimated 2.4 million people were in need of relief assistance. International relief groups have been able to reach 1.3 million people since the cyclone struck in early May.

The UN last week renewed an appeal for a total of 482 million dollars needed to provide aid to victims of the natural disaster through April 2009.

"The report (by ASEAN) offers a comprehensive, credible assessment of the humanitarian and medium-term recovery needs in the affected areas," Ban said in a statement, praising the effective partnership between ASEAN, the UN and Myanmar in rebuilding the country.

Holmes was scheduled to visit Myanmar on Tuesday to study progress in relief efforts in that country. He first visited Myanmar in late May with Ban after the military government there allowed international relief workers greater access to areas affected by the cyclone in the southern delta.

He said in Singapore that the ASEAN assessment will be used to "not only identify the needs of the vulnerable, but also as a tool to judge the effectiveness of our joint response in meeting those needs."

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Observers doubt Myanmar on ASEAN charter pledges
Philippine Daily Inquirer -
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 19:37:00 07/21/2008

SINGAPORE -- Military-ruled Myanmar on Monday formally ratified the ASEAN Charter but observers doubted the junta will live up to the document's ideals on democracy and human rights.

Foreign Minister Nyan Win presented his country's ratification during an annual meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In the charter, ASEAN members commit "to strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms."

ASEAN has been widely criticized for its policy of "constructive engagement" regarding member Myanmar, which is under European Union and United States sanctions over its human rights record.

Myanmar was also severely criticized 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 belatedly allowed aid workers to enter under an arrangement with ASEAN and the United Nations.

"Myanmar's ratification of the charter today demonstrates our strong commitment to embrace the common values and aspirations of the people of ASEAN to build the ASEAN community, one that's together in partnership in a caring and sharing community," said the junta's foreign minister Nyan Win.

But Egoy Bans, a Filipino activist pushing for democratization in Myanmar, said he "does not believe that there is sincerity" by the junta to go through democratic change.

He said ASEAN must work toward "concrete reforms" inside Myanmar, as implied by the charter.

"I know it's sort of a challenge for ASEAN to really stand by its charter," said Bans, of the Free Burma Coalition group of independent democracy advocates.

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 detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, held under house arrest for most of the past 18 years, dismissed the referendum outcome as a "sham."

Trevor Wilson, a former Australian ambassador to Myanmar, noted there are differing definitions of democracy, good governance and human rights.

He said Myanmar knows that other ASEAN countries also have similar difficulties conforming to outside standards.

"They're not going to take the view that they have to change their approach to 'disciplined democracy'," he said of Myanmar.

Wilson, now a visiting fellow at the Australian National University, said that despite its pledge to strengthen democracy and the rule of law, the charter "doesn't have the same force or meaning... that in Western countries we would expect it to have."

The charter aims to give ASEAN a legal framework and sets out principles and rules for members.

It also transforms ASEAN, established in 1967, into a legal entity, a move that will give the group greater clout in international negotiations.

The charter resulted from a long and controversial drafting process that saw some of the strong recommendations from ASEAN elder statesmen watered down or dropped, including provisions on sanctions and expulsion.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the document will come into force on the 30th day after the 10th member ratifies.

Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are the remaining members of the 10-nation ASEAN which must still ratify the document, although Manila has said it will not do so until Myanmar improves its human rights record.

But Surin said he was "very optimistic" all members would ratify the charter in time for the ASEAN summit in Bangkok later this year.

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Canadian group helps farmers after Myanmar cyclone
Canada.com -
Carol Sanders ,  Winnipeg Free Press
Published: Sunday, July 20, 2008

WINNIPEG - Months after cyclone Nargis killed 133,000 people and left more than two million others devastated in Myanmar, a Winnipeg-based organization is helping farmers there get a rice crop in so they can feed themselves and get back on their feet.

"There's the potential for significant amounts of rice in the coming season," said Stuart Taylor, executive director of International Development Enterprises Canada. "If they get that activated and off the ground, that would ease the burden in October, when the rice harvest would normally be expected."

While much of the cyclone-damaged infrastructure in the capital, Yangon, has been restored since the May storm, the Irrawaddy delta remains severely affected by flooding and food shortages, according to Canada's Foreign Affairs Department.

Seasonal rains in the region are contributing to the already difficult situation.

International Development Enterprises has been working with the farmers in Myanmar for several years and is one of the few organizations with the permission and capacity to operate in the most affected areas.

It's equipping farmers in the strip of delta about 80 kilometres inland that hasn't been inundated with saltwater from tidal surges and can support crops, Taylor said.

"Once the rice is harvested this fall, farmers can plant higher-value crops like vegetables in their rice fields."

The challenge is equipping the farmers with tools lost in the cyclone and its aftermath, he said.

"Farmers have lost so many of the animals they use in cultivation, they can't till the soil. Rice seed was lost or ruined in the aftermath of the storm.

By June, the charitable organization had helped 22,500 farmers get their rice crops seeded, with a goal of helping 45,000 in total in time for the August deadline, he said.

"(International Development Enterprises) has been sourcing mechanical tillers. It's the quickest and easiest way of getting land prepared for the rice crop. We have accessed diesel supplies to run the tillers and are sourcing rice seed using local retailers."

Relief teams in Myanmar have distributed more than 4,000 clean-water kits and storage containers providing clean water to approximately 120,000 families. Another 60,000 families have received emergency shelter through International Development Enterprises' s relief effort.

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Ng: Hiring maids from China and Myanmar not the answer
The Star Online - Monday July 21, 2008

PETALING JAYA: Hiring maids from Myanmar and China will not solve the problem of rising costs of taking in foreign help, says Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen.

“The answer is not looking outwards; the answer is looking inwards. It’s how to develop more home-based care.

“My stand is that we are not ready to have maids from China until we see a drastic decline in social issues which arise because of foreign women coming in,” she told the press after the official opening of the National Council of Senior Citizens Organisations Malaysia (Nacscom) Old Folks Home in Kota Damansara here on Saturday.

She said her ministry was working with the Human Resources Ministry to develop home-based domestic and childcare management programmes.

“There are many single mothers here who can do part-time homecare,” she said.

Last month, the Association of Foreign Housemaids Recruitment Agencies urged the Government to consider allowing maids from China and Myanmar as recruitment agencies in Indonesia had pushed the fees so high that they may reach RM8,000 soon.

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View London - Stop Burma aid, government urged
21 July 2008

The government has been told it should freeze humanitarian aid to Burma if it continues to be abused by the country's military rulers.

An influential committee of MPs claims further use of funds for anything other than relief by the Burmese junta should lead ministers to consider invoking their "responsibility to protect" to the south-east Asian country's population.

The warning comes almost three months after Cyclone Nargis struck Burma, killing 138,000 people and leaving a further 2.5 million displaced.

Its military rulers came under intense pressure to permit international aid, but the flow of supplies and experienced personnel into the country was painfully slow.

There have also been accusations aid was being diverted towards the army and away from the hundreds of thousands of people in dire need of relief in the devastated Irrawaddy Delta region.

The UK has sent £45 million-worth of aid to Burma since the May 2nd storm, more than any other single international donor.

But in their response to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's annual human rights report, the foreign affairs committee urges the government to consider its policies.

Noting the "reprehensible" abuse of human rights and civil liberties in Burma, its members write: "We recommend that the government should put in place very strict measures to ensure that its aid cannot be misused by the regime, and inform us of these measures in its response to this report.

"We further recommend that, in principle, the government should not rule out invoking the 'responsibility to protect' in situations such as Burma, but that this should be guided by a practical assessment of the situation on the ground, and the likely wider consequences of such intervention. "

Aid workers have warned however of the devastating effect of cutting off aid to Burma, one of the world's poorest countries.

Save the Children told inthenews.co. uk Burma was "one of the most under-funded, not-on-the-radar emergencies in the world" even prior to Cyclone Nargis.

A spokesperson said the charity had managed to reach 650,000 people in Burma through its 1,000 strong group of mostly-Burmese workers.

"We've been working in Burma for 30 years; we've proven that aid can be effective," the representative explained.

"We base our decisions purely on need on who needs it and the people of Burma need help."

Save the Children is calling on world leaders "not to turn their backs" on the children of Burma, comparing the impact of Cyclone Nargis to the devastation wrought by the Boxing Day tsunami.

Cyclone Nargis was not the first time the notoriously secret Burmese junta had been thrust on to the global news agenda in the past 12 months.

Last autumn a wave of popular protests were witnessed in the country's largest cities in the greatest challenge to military rule since the crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988.

The protests, which were led by Buddhist monks, were sparked by a 500 per cent increase in the price of natural gas, announced by the government in August last year.

Support for the junta, which assumed power in 1962, is now at an all-time low following its limited response to the cyclone.

But regional experts have told inthenews.co. uk it could take decades for any challenge to the senior generals to materialise.

In its annual human rights report, the FCO noted the junta's persistent violations were at the heart of the country's political, economic and social problems.

"The Burmese regime may continue to be indifferent to the suffering of the Burmese people, but the UK, and the world, remain concerned," the report states.

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Farmers Dispute Official ‘Back to Normal’ Claims
The Irrawaddy - Monday, July 21, 2008
By AUNG THET WINE

LAPUTTA, Burma — Despite official assurances that rice production in the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta has fully resumed, farmers throughout the region are complaining of continuing difficulties in working their fields.

The difficulties range from inadequate supplies of seed, livestock, machinery and fuel to corruption within local administrations.

Even when government-provided supplies are available, local administration officials are reportedly demanding money for the aid.

“You have to bribe the village head if you want to use the tillers [to work the paddy fields],” said one farmer in Ka Nyin Gone village, in Laputta Township. “If you want to receive a tin (about 15 kg) of government-provided paddy seeds you have to pay about 1,000 to 1,500 kyat (90 US Cents-$1.30) to the village authorities. Diesel costs 1,000 kyat per gallon.”

The charges are delaying a start to the monsoon season rice production, according to Laputta sources. Some farmers will be unable to work their fields this year, they say.

An official at the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement in Naypyidaw, speaking anonymously, said the ministry was receiving telephoned complaints “all the time.” Most of the complaints were allegations of corruption at village administration level.

There were bureaucratic problems in dealing with the complaints, the official admitted.

“Being just a social welfare department, we cannot handle these cases directly. The cases are reported to the division, district and township authorities, and it is up to them to take action or not.”

Poor quality seeds are also hindering farmers in their work. Seeds provided by the government were unsuitable for planting in the Irrawaddy delta and their yield was low, said a farmer in Mi Gyaung Ai village.

“The types of seeds we used before were all destroyed by the cyclone,” said a farmer in Tha Byu Gone village. “We cannot go back to farming for this season,”

Fifteen farmers in villages in Laputta Township confirmed that the types of seeds provided by government could not be planted successfully in more than half the township’s fields.

“They are not compatible with the type of soil here,” said one long-time farmer in Myit Pout village.

Farmers are also struggling to make do with unreliable Chinese-made tractors which are being sold by the government on an installment plan. “Most of the 42 tractors our village got are no good,” complained a farmer in Kha Nyin Gone.

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Critics skeptical of Burma's ratification of ASEAN Charter
Mizzima News - Monday, 21 July 2008 21:07
Mungpi

New Delh - The Burmese military junta on Monday signed a new charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) but observers and critics were skeptical about the regime living up to the document's ideals of democracy and human rights.

Burma's foreign minister Nyan Win, during an annual meeting of foreign ministers of ASEAN on Monday, presented his country's ratification as the seventh nation to have ratified the groupings new charter, which include a human rights body.

David Scott Mathieson, Burma consultant of the Human Rights Watch said, Burma's signing the charter is 'technically' significant but cannot be 'congratulated' until it lives up to the document's human rights standard.

"Signing [of the charter] is a tiny bit… though it's a significant step that they [the junta] signed the mechanism, but that does not call for congratulation, they actually have to abide by the principles," Mathieson said.

Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN during the signing ceremony thanked the Burmese foreign minister saying, "I believe the ASEAN Charter will help us build an ASEAN Community that we can all be proud of."

We have generated tremendous excitement around the world and they are expecting so much out of ASEAN and they believe with the completion of the ratification of the Charter, we will really be a new ASEAN worthy of full respect, cooperation and interaction, Surin added.

But Mathieson said by accepting Burma as a member, ASEAN has reduced its credibility and ASEAN as an association must hold Burma's military rulers accountable.

"Burma being a member of ASEAN in the past has weakened ASEAN," Mathieson said.

Debbie Stothard, coordinator of Alternative ASEAN network on Burma, a group lobbying for human rights and democracy in Burma, said the Burmese junta's late response to the recent Cyclone Nargis has violated most of the principle and spirits of the ASEAN charter.

"So when they ratify the charter it's an insult to ASEAN and it's degrading the charter," Stothard said.

Signing the charter easily, Stothard said, proves that the Burmese junta has not given any thought to the Charter itself and has no intention to abide by the ideals of the document.

In order to make the Burmese junta accountable, Stothard said ASEAN must "pressurise now, especially at this time, they [ASEAN] must increase its pressure on the SPDC."

Both Stothard and Mathieson, said they see the Burmese junta's signing of the ASEAN charter as another diplomatic move that the junta has made to ease pressure on them.

"It is very clear that the SPDC [junta] uses international diplomacy as a tool of manipulation, and they have broken promises frequently in the past," Mathieson said.

Stothard said, Burma's military regime had signed several agreements without seriously thinking about what they are doing and have never actually thought of abiding by the principles they have committed to.

"But this one should not be the same in technical terms," Mathieson said, "ASEAN as an association has to make sure that they are accountable, if they don't, then the mechanism itself is weakened."

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Political prisoner dies in Mandalay prison

Jul 21, 2008 (DVB)–Political prisoner Ko Khin Maung Tint has died aged 46 in Mandalay prison after suffering from tuberculosis, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Khin Maung Tint, also known as Htate Tin Maung Maung Yar Pyae and Yar Pyae, died on 18 July.

AAPP offered its condolences to his family in a statement and said that Khin Maung Tint was the second political prisoner to die in prison this year, and the 137th since 1988.

According to AAPP, Khin Maung Tint joined the pro-democracy movement around the time of the 1988 uprising and later joined the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (North).

After being mistakenly accused by the ABSDF (North) of being a government spy and being detained and tortured, he escaped back to Mandalay.

He continued to fight for human rights and democracy, and in 1998 was arrested and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for sedition.

U Myo Naing, a member of Mandalay NLD organising wing, said Khin Maung Tint had been ill for some time.

"Before Ko Khin Maung Tint's death, we heard news from his colleagues who were serving time in the same prison that he had been in the prison hospital for quite a while," U Myo Naing said.

"He was suffering from lung and liver diseases and he needed to take medication which would cost around 65,000 kyat,” he went on.

“After we learned that, we raised money for him and ordered the medicine from Germany on 9 July. He had a chance to take the medicine but died on 18 July,” he said.

“We can only hope that he didn't suffer a lot before he died because he had taken the medicine."

U Myo Naing, who spent time in prison with Ko Khin Maung Tint, said he was from the royal blood line of the Burmese monarchy and his full formal name was Htate Tin Maung Maung Yar Pyae.

Ko Khin Maung Tint is survived by his wife Ma Htay Htay Yee, a son and a daughter.

Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet

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Seven NLD members released after Martyrs' Day

Jul 21, 2008 (DVB)–Seven National League for Democracy members who were arrested prior to Martyrs' Day have been released now that the day has passed, according to one of those held.

Five of the members – Rangoon NLD social welfare member Ko Myint Htay, Shwe Pyi township member Ma Htet Htet Oo Wei, New Dagon township youth wing member Ko The Han and social welfare member U Thein Myint Htun and Khayan township youth wing member Ko Win Myint Maung – were released on Sunday afternoon, three days after they were taken in by authorities, who detained them in the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Two other members – private tutor U Aung Pe of Ton Tay township and South Okkalapa NLD member Ko Kyaw Zeya – who were detained on Friday evening, were released on Saturday evening.

Despite the timing of the arrests, immediately prior to Martyrs’ Day on 19 July, Ko The Han said that the officials’ questions had not focused on political activities.

"While we were in detention, each of us was interrogated separately by unknown government officials – the session I went through lasted for the whole night,” Ko The Han said.

“They asked me nothing about my political activities – just about my personal life, such as my family members' personal details and my business."

Ko The Han said his interrogators had also asked him questions about drugs.

"They asked me if I had seen anyone who trades or uses drugs in my ward and also if I had taken any of those amphetamine pills myself. I told them I was only a political activist and that I didn't even smoke cigarettes," he said.

"Then they said they were only trying to get us to cooperate with them in fighting drugs in the community. The session finished early in the morning, before 7am."

Ko The Han said the interrogation team was from the Western Rangoon Special Narcotic Force.

Reporting by DVB

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