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HEADLINES
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AP - Myanmar dissident enjoys just 17 hours of freedom
AP - Report: Myanmar police defused 2nd bomb in Yangon
AFP - Rights group says Myanmar repression continues year after crackdown
AFP - Frightened Myanmar protesters stay away for anniversary
AFP - Tight security prevents repeat of Myanmar protests: opposition
Reuters - Year after crackdown, Myanmar junta flexes muscles
Los Angeles Times - In Myanmar, cyclone continues to take a toll
Asia Times - False dawn in Myanmar
Bangkok Post - Junta's election road map: political amnesty
Radio Netherlands - Trouble brewing again in Myanmar's monasteries
Swissinfo - Sanctions on Myanmar rulers tightened
IRIN - MYANMAR: Cyclone-hit farmers battle snails
UN - UNICEF supports education at relief camps for cyclone-affected families in Myanmar
Earthtimes - Philippine activists remember violent Myanmar protests
Mainichi Daily News - 100,000 signatures submitted to Myanmar Embassy over murder of Japanese journalist
Mizzima News - Junta's secret plan: Closer relationship with China
Mizzima News - 35 NLD members march to detained party leader's residence
The Irrawaddy - Release Aung San Suu Kyi: Laura Bush
DVB News - Boy of 13 forced to join army

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Myanmar dissident enjoys just 17 hours of freedom
AP - Saturday, September 27

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A former aide to Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was re-arrested less than 24 hours after being freed by the military government in a mass amnesty, an opposition spokesman said Friday.

Win Htein, 64, who had been in prison since 1996, was among seven members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party released Tuesday in an amnesty granted to 9,002 prisoners around the country.

Party spokesman Nyan Win, citing Win Htein's family, said he was arrested 17 hours after being released from Kathar prison in northern Myanmar.

The family said authorities did not give any reason for re-arresting him.

Family members had traveled to Mandalay, halfway to where he was imprisoned, to meet him, but he did not show up. Prison authorities later told the family that Win Htein had spent the night at a guest house in Kathar and was then taken back to the prison there, said Nyan Win.

"This is cruel and should not happen," Nyan Win commented. "This is mental torture."

Win Htein had been serving a 14-year sentence on charges of providing false information to the foreign press, according to the U.S. Campaign for Burma, which lobbies against aid to the military regime.

A former army officer, Win Htein joined Suu Kyi's party when it was formed in 1988 and served as a personal assistant and senior adviser to Suu Kyi and her deputy Tin Oo.

According to the U.S. Campaign for Burma, Win Htein was arrested briefly in early 1989 and tortured, then arrested again in 1989 and held until 1995.

Myanmar holds about 2,000 political prisoners, according to the United Nations and Amnesty International. The most prominent is Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in Yangon and has been in detention for about 13 of the past 19 years.

Tuesday's amnesty was granted to prisoners around the country who exhibited good "moral behavior," the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper reported.

Another prominent member of Suu Kyi's party, journalist Win Tin, was also released in the amnesty. He remains free despite public statements reaffirming his commitment to fight for democracy. International rights groups said he was the nation's longest serving political prisoner, held for 19 years.

Myanma Ahlin said the prisoners were released "so they could participate in the fair elections to be held in 2010."

The elections are part of the junta's long-announced "road map to democracy," which will give voters the first chance to cast ballots since 1990.

Critics say the road map is a sham designed to cement the military's power. A military-backed constitution was approved by a national referendum in May this year, but the opposition charges that the vote was unfair.

The terms of the charter perpetuate the military's influence over politics and bar Suu Kyi from public office.

Before he was re-arrested on Wednesday, Win Htein gave an interview to the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based shortwave radio station and Web site that is run by exiled Myanmar dissidents. He said he could not accept the new constitution but that "if we oppose or go against the constitution, we will be sent back to prison."

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Report: Myanmar police defused 2nd bomb in Yangon
Fri Sep 26, 1:51 AM ET

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Police defused a bomb just five minutes before it was set to explode in Myanmar's main city near the site of another blast that wounded seven people, a state-controlled newspaper reported Friday.

Thursday's explosion occurred at a bus stop near City Hall, a site that was central to street protests led by Buddhist monks a year ago against the impoverished country's military rulers.

The second device was set to go off at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, but police defused it at 11:40 a.m., the Myanma Ahlin daily reported. It was discovered just 10 feet from the site of the earlier bomb, the report said.

The unexploded bomb was attached to a cassette player, the newspaper said, without elaborating.

At least 31 people were killed when troops fired on protesters Sept. 26-27, 2007, violently crushing the peaceful uprising and sparking global outrage. The anti-government protests were the biggest demonstrations in Myanmar in 20 years. The junta has been in power since 1962.

Terrorism is relatively rare in the authoritarian state. On Sept. 9, an explosion on a passenger bus in Yangon injured three people, and several small-scale bombings have occurred in recent years.

The government often blames the attacks on opponents of the regime or ethnic rebel groups seeking autonomy.

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Rights group says Myanmar repression continues year after crackdown
Fri Sep 26, 12:08 AM ET

BANGKOK (AFP) - A leading international rights group has denounced "continued repression" by the Myanmar military a year after a crackdown on massive street protests left at least 31 dead.

New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the ruling junta to implement promised democratic reforms and urged the United Nations to do more to enforce them.

"Last September, the Burmese people courageously challenged their military rulers, and they were answered with violence and contempt," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, on Friday.

"The repression continues... . Rather than let Burma's rulers continue to engage in fruitless dialogue, the international community should demand real action," she said in a statement.

More than 100,000 anti-junta protestors led by Buddhist monks flooded the streets of Yangon a year ago. Sporadic protests first broke out in late August 2007 over a hike in fuel prices, and slowly escalated.

The military regime finally launched a crackdown on September 26, opening fire on the crowds.

The United Nations has said that 31 people were killed in the crackdown, while 74 people remain missing and thousands were arrested.

Political activists continue to be arrested -- 39 in August and September alone according to Human Rights Watch -- bringing the total number of political prisoners to more than 2,100, it says.

Despite the release of 9,000 prisoners including seven political activists in an amnesty on Tuesday, one man has since been rearrested.

The UN's special advisor on Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, has failed to effect real change despite visiting the country four times, Pearson said.

Promises to hold a free and fair constitutional referendum in May, reopen dialogue with detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and make steps towards democracy have failed to materialise, she said.

"Despite an array of promises to the United Nations, the Burmese military government has not made good on any of them," she said.

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Frightened Myanmar protesters stay away for anniversary
AFP - Saturday, September 27

YANGON (AFP) - Armed police in trucks patrolled Myanmar's main city Friday as frightened protesters stayed home on the anniversary of last year's brutal military crackdown on mass anti-government protests.

Few worshippers turned out to pray at the famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, a rallying point for the protests that saw thousands of people led by Buddhist monks march against the military junta in the biggest uprising since 1988.

A spokesman for Myanmar's pro-democracy party said people were too scared to take to the streets this year to commemorate the uprising, amid tightened security over the past month in the run-up to the anniversary.

"My feeling on the anniversary is that I saw people completely show their desire last year, but because of the tight security this year people cannot demonstrate like this," National League of Democracy's (NLD) Nyan Win told AFP.

A small bomb hurt seven people on Thursday and another was defused in front of Yangon's City Hall, another site of last year's protests, state media and police reported.

"People are frightened now because of the bomb blast yesterday. I do not think protests like last year will happen again because of the security," a taxi driver said.

The protests began sporadically in August 2007 over a hike in fuel prices, and slowly escalated, with 100,000 people led by the revered monks eventually staging what was dubbed the "Saffron Revolution," because of the colour of the robes of the spiritual leaders.

The military regime launched a crackdown on September 26, opening fire on the crowds and killing 31 people, according to the United Nations, including a Japanese journalist who was shot at close range.

Another 74 people remain missing and thousands more were arrested.

Security has been tightened around Yangon, with army trucks and police posted at intersections across the city and night patrols outside monasteries.

Witnesses said security had been reinforced on the road up to detained NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi's lakeside Yangon home.

More police officers have been deployed and barbed wire has been stretched to create roadblocks on the route leading up to her home.

Some ten armed police trucks carrying about 200 police were also deployed Friday, circling near the Shwedagon Pagoda's eastern gate.

"People are frightened. I'm praying that nothing will happen," said a shopkeeper near the pagoda.

Political repression by the junta has also increased in the past year and international diplomacy has failed to bring about change, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

While the United Nations Special Advisor on Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, has visited the country four times, he has won only "fruitless dialogue," it said.

On Tuesday, Myanmar authorities freed seven political prisoners and members of the NLD, including the well-known journalist Win Tin, 79, who had been imprisoned since 1989.

But a day later, one activist was rearrested according to Myanmar exiles in Thailand. "I also heard he was rearrested. We still do not know the reason," said the NLD's Nyan Win.

HRW said 39 political arrests had been made in August and September alone, bringing the total number of political prisoners to more than 2,100.

On Thursday, the national police chief, Khin Yee, met for the first time with six members of the NLD's executive committee to ask for a retraction of their latest statement, Nyan Win said, adding that the request was refused.

The statement called for a review of the junta's new constitution, which was issued after a referendum held in May.

Myanmar's junta, which has ruled the country since 1962, was criticised for holding the referendum just days after a cyclone left 138,000 people dead or missing across the country.

Pro-democracy activists said the vote was neither free nor fair, but the military says the new constitution has paved the way for multi-party elections to be held in 2010.

The rules render Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi ineligible to stand for election. Her NLD party won elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take power.

Her party will meet at noon on Saturday at their headquarters in Yangon to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

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Tight security prevents repeat of Myanmar protests: opposition
Fri Sep 26, 2:24 AM ET

YANGON (AFP) - Thousands of anti-government protesters who thronged Myanmar's streets a year ago still want change but fear a repeat of the crackdown that left at least 31 dead, according to a spokesman for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party.

On the first anniversary of the junta's suppression of mass demonstrations led by Buddhist monks, Nyan Win of the National League for Democracy said tight security measures prevented any new protests taking place.

"My feeling on the anniversary is that I have seen people completely show their desire last year but because of the tight security this year people cannot demonstrate like this," Nyan Win told AFP on Friday. "Human rights were violated here," he said.

Meanwhile, a leading international rights group has denounced "continued repression" by the Myanmar military a year after crackdown on the massive street protests.

New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the ruling junta to implement promised democratic reforms and urged the United Nations to do more to enforce them.

"Last September, the Burmese people courageously challenged their military rulers, and they were answered with violence and contempt," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, on Friday.

"The repression continues... . Rather than let Burma's rulers continue to engage in fruitless dialogue, the international community should demand real action," she said in a statement.

The protests began sporadically in late August 2007 over a hike in fuel prices, and slowly escalated.

The military regime finally launched a crackdown on September 26, opening fire on the crowds.

The United Nations has said that 31 people were killed in the crackdown, while 74 people remain missing and thousands were arrested.

Security has been tightened around Yangon over the past month, with army trucks and police posted at intersections across the city and night patrols outside monasteries.

State media and police reported a small bomb exploded Thursday outside a park in front of Yangon's City Hall, a scene of last year's protests, injuring seven people.

The NLD, led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take power.
Myanmar has been run by the military since 1962.

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Year after crackdown, Myanmar junta flexes muscles
By Aung Hla Tun
Fri Sep 26, 4:04 AM ET

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta put armed police and barbed wire barricades on the streets of its main city Friday, the first anniversary of a bloody military crackdown on major anti-government protests.

Security was especially tight near the house of detained opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and in front of City Hall, where a small bomb exploded Thursday, wounding seven people.

Official papers said none of the victims were seriously hurt, and urged public vigilance against the "bombers and terrorists in disguise." No group was blamed for the blast.

Normally in the aftermath of such incidents, the junta immediately points the finger at underground democracy activists or the ethnic guerrilla groups that have fought against the Burmese majority almost since independence from Britain in 1948.

"The authorities concerned are conducting investigation into the case to expose the saboteurs and explosives," said the New Light of Myanmar, the junta's primary mouthpiece.

The paper also said bomb squad officers found and defused a second device left near the site of the first explosion and timed to detonate an hour afterwards.

Even though it is impossible to say who might have been behind the bombs -- one diplomat suggested it could even be the military trying to justify its heavy security presence in Yangon -- the timing was significant.

Exactly a year ago, the junta ordered troops into central Yangon to end a week of massive demonstrations led by Buddhist monks calling for the removal of 45 years of army rule.

At least 31 people were killed when soldiers opened fire on crowds across the former capital, the United Nations estimates. Western governments say the real toll is probably higher. A Japanese journalist was among those shot dead.

A further 3,000 people were rounded up in a sweep of dissidents and democracy activists that is still under way and makes any repeat of the 2007 demonstrations extremely unlikely.

Earlier this month, female activist Nilar Thein, a student leader in a brutally crushed democracy uprising in 1988 and an organizer of last year's protests, was detained after a year on the run.

She went into hiding, abandoning her four-month-old daughter, when her husband was arrested in August for helping stage the small fuel and food price demonstrations that snowballed into the monk-led marches a month later.

The junta says all but a handful of those detained have been freed, although rights groups say 700 are still behind bars.

Myanmar's longest-serving political prisoner, 79-year-old journalist Win Tin, was freed this week after 19 years in prison.

However, another senior member of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) was rearrested only 24 hours after being released from a prison in Katha, 1,000 km (650 miles) north of Yangon, NLD spokesman Nyan Win said.

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In Myanmar, cyclone continues to take a toll
From a Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times - September 26, 2008

 

Five months later, more than 2 million survivors still live on food aid and other assistance, the U.N. says, many still in makeshift shelters. Farmers struggle to regain their livelihood.

TU KA WADDY, MYANMAR -- Beaten down by a ruthless storm, unscrupulous money lenders and their own government, farmers in Myanmar's rice bowl are long past being angry. They are too hungry, too tired and too fearful of what lies ahead.

Nearly five months ago, Tropical Cyclone Nargis tore through southern Myanmar, killing at least 85,000 people. Thousands still are missing, probably washed out to sea. The death toll is estimated to be 110,000, making it the second-deadliest named cyclone on record.

Those who survived lost what is usually their biggest harvest of the year. The next one is due in November, but farmers are struggling with a late start, bad seedlings and high fuel prices.

The country's economic mismanagement has left people dependent on rice for a larger share of their diet, but military rulers still are exporting it even as they put up obstacles to international aid. Total production this year could be down anywhere from 20% to 70%. The shortages and high prices could pose a threat to the military regime, which has ruled since the early 1960s.

Kow Win Hlaing's eight acres were flooded with seawater during the storm, and he was a month late replanting. He got free seedlings from a Buddhist monastery and from other donors, but many are of such poor quality that they don't grow properly, he said.

Making matters worse, he had to go into hock to buy diesel for his tiller and fertilizer. He expects the harvest from his paddies, located a two-hour riverboat ride south of Bogalay, to be about 60% smaller than last year. The $840 the farmer borrowed from a local money lender is more than three times the amount he expects to earn this year.

His face creased with worry and fatigue far beyond his 37 years, Kow Win Hlaing is ready to give up.

"I lost all my savings for the last 10 years to Nargis," he said. "I don't want to be a farmer anymore."

More than 2.1 million survivors still depend on food aid and other assistance, according to the United Nations. Most live in makeshift shelters cobbled out of bamboo poles and blue and orange tarps that strain under the weight of torrential monsoon rains.

 

Large white tents emblazoned with UNICEF in blue letters serve as schools for thousands of children, some of whom show signs of malnutrition.

Farmers were bringing in the summer harvest as the cyclone bore down on the delta, driving a towering storm surge that wiped out their granaries and flooded their paddies with saltwater. About 90% of the May harvest was lost, said Shin Imai, who runs the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’ s operations in Myanmar, which also is known as Burma.

It was a crushing loss because most farmers plow any profits from the spring harvest back into their paddies, hoping to maximize output from the later, monsoon crop.

The military government tightly restricts access to the delta and has set up more than a dozen checkpoints to try to catch foreign journalists who travel by boat to avoid roadblocks on the main route over land from Yangon. But it's still possible to slip through and speak with survivors. They bitterly shrug off the ruling generals' rosy promises of a bumper harvest.

Imai said it was too early to make a firm estimate but that total rice production might be down 20% to 25% this year. But farmers say it will be much worse.

Cyclone survivors blame official restrictions on relief operations as well as corruption and the money squeeze for delaying replanting by weeks, even months, and draining what little funds they have left.

Many have taken risky loans to pay for seedlings, fertilizer and other essentials. With the next harvest just weeks away, they are bracing for another sharp drop in income, and a further fall into debt.

On the global market, rice hit about $1,000 a ton this year, but has slipped to about $750, Imai said. The price here, however, has only fallen slightly. It is at least 25% higher than last year, and if the November harvest is as bad as many farmers expect, it could go higher still.

Myanmar's government does not allow seed imports, so relief agencies had to scramble to find supplies from in the country and then overcome enormous logistical problems to distribute them.

When Imai flew over the delta by helicopter in early July, he estimated less than a quarter of the farmland had been replanted. After an intense aid effort, that figure is now 98%, he said.

The cyclone also killed 137,000 water buffaloes, leaving many farmers without draft animals to prepare their fields, Imai said. In addition, 92,000 cattle perished, devastating local milk production.

The Food and Agriculture Organization and other agencies supplied 2,700 buffaloes to farmers, who shared the animals. Others relied on 275 power tillers that aid workers distributed, said Imai.

But farmers say they have to buy fuel for the machines at black-market rates and that bad quality or lack of fertilizer is stunting the crop.

Ko Myo Myint Aung, 34, was traveling with a boatload of farmers recently to Bogalay to plead with United Nations Development Program staff for more help. Local lenders are charging 10% interest, he said, so farmers are wary of borrowing to buy the fertilizer they need.

Another farmer on the trip, Myint Aung, said he lost 27,600 pounds of rice in the storm. Only the poorest and the wealthiest, well-connected farmers got free aid, he said; he got enough to replant less than 1% of his 12 acres. Even that was no good, he said.

He tried planting half if it, and nothing grew. He and his family ate the rest, he said. It wasn't any good for that, either.

"It's like food for pigs," he scoffed. So he paid inflated prices for as much seed as he could. He couldn't afford to plant all of his land, and he expected this harvest to be down 70% compared with a year ago.

Like many here, Myint Aung is afraid help will be even harder to find when winter sets in. He expects to face the next crisis alone.

"People in the government only take care of themselves," he said. "Aid for farmers like me has been super slow. There's no hope, no future for us. Just worries over what happens next."

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False dawn in Myanmar
Asia Times - Sep 27, 2008
By Larry Jagan

BANGKOK - Myanmar's military junta claims its recent release of several political detainees and about 9,000 other prisoners marks the dawn of a new political era and another milestone in its roadmap to "disciplined democracy”, but analysts say it is merely part of a masterplan to dominate the next election.

The mass amnesty appears to be timed to coincide with the first anniversary of last year's 'Saffron Revolution' when police and soldiers brutally suppressed monk-led anti-government protests against spiraling inflation and a dramatic fuel price hike, leaving possibly hundreds dead and many more injured.

But the release also probably signals the start of preparations for the national elections in 2010, said Win Min, an independent Myanmar academic based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. "The regime knows it must find ways of controlling the outcome without looking too draconian ... [it] never does anything that is not part of a bigger game plan."

The elections are part of the country's roadmap to what the regime has referred to as "disciplined, flourishing democracy'', according to Myanmar military sources. There is no word yet if opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), or other opposition parties, will be allowed to field candidates.

The mass release of prisoners has come as a surprise to diplomats and residents in Yangon, as while the regime frequently grants amnesties to mark important occasions, such as Armed Forces day or National Day, these are usually petty criminals, albeit with a handful of political prisoners.

Among those freed was Win Tin, reportedly aged 79, the country's longest serving political prisoner and a veteran journalist and political activist. At least four other prominent former members of the NLD were also released. Suu Kyi, however, remains under house arrest in the Yangon residence where she has spent more than 13 of the last 19 years, with no sign she will be freed any time soon.

"I will be happy only when all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, are released," Win Tin told local journalists shortly after his release. Two other NLD members were also released along with five other NLD politicians. One of them, Win Htain, was Suu Kyi's private assistant before he was detained in 1996 and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

"The release of these political activists, particularly those who were very close to Aung San Suu Kyi, must be seen as an olive branch to the pro-democracy leader on the part of the [Myanmar] leaders," a Yangon-based Asian diplomat told Inter Press Service. "It may not be an offer of dialogue, but it may represent a softening of the regime's hardened position towards the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Win Tin served as a close aide to Suu Kyi and helped found the NLD with her in 1988. He was arrested on July 4, 1989 - days before the opposition leader was detained. He was initially sentenced to 14 years in prison in a military court for allegedly being a member of the banned Communist Party of Burma.

In 1996, he was sentenced to an additional seven years for writing to the United Nations about prison conditions and for writing and circulating anti-government pamphlets in prison.

A long-time editor, journalist and poet, Win Tin refused to allow prison to silence him. "He would write poems on the walls of his cell with ink made of brick powder and water," Zin Linn, a former political prisoner and close colleague of Win Tin, said.

Immediately after he was released, Win Tin vowed to continue fighting until Myanmar was a democratic nation. "I will keep fighting until the emergence of democracy in this country," he told journalists gathered outside his house in Yangon.

The international community has welcomed the releases - especially that of Win Tin. But most analysts and diplomats in Yangon do not believe this is the start of a mass amnesty for the country's remaining political prisoners. British-based human rights group Amnesty International estimates that there are more than 2,100 political prisoners still languishing in Myanmar's jails.

"While the release of U Win Tin and his fellow prisoners is certainly the best news to come out of Myanmar for a long time, unfortunately they represent less than 1% of the political prisoners there," Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International' s Myanmar researcher said from London in a phone interview. "These handful of people should never have been imprisoned in the first place, and there are many, many more still in prison."

The regime recently announced through state-run media that thousands of prisoners would be released in the run-up to the elections because of good behavior and to allow them to serve the nation, with Myanmar's current leader, Senior General Than Shwe, attempting to paint the mass release as the start of a new era.

The amnesty is not without its precedents. More than 20,000 prisoners, including hundreds of political prisoners, were released over several months in 1992 to mark Than Shwe's becoming head of state and the start of the constitutional drafting process.

Similarly, more than 10,000 prisoners were freed after former prime minister and military intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt was ousted in November 2004, including many of the 1988 student generation such as Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and others who had been imprisoned for 14 years. However, most were re-arrested for involvement in the 'Saffron Revolution' last year.

There are likely to be many changes in Myanmar's political scene in the weeks ahead as the regime gears up for the elections, but even though it has already begun to describe itself as a transitional authority, most of the these are likely to be cosmetic.

 

Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, told UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari when they met in Yangon last month that the transitional government would "oppose and wipe out those who attempt to jeopardize or harm the constitution" .

This can only mean the military authorities will continue ruthlessly to suppress dissent, while there is little hope of the forthcoming elections being free and fair. “The military will not make the same mistake it did last time,” said Win Min, referring to the landslide victory the NLD won against the junta in 1990, which was ignored by the regime.
Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the British Broadcasting Corp. He is currently a freelance journalist based in Bangkok.

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Junta's election road map: political amnesty
Bangkok Post - Friday September 26, 2008
LARRY JAGAN

Burma's military leaders have released several key political prisoners on the eve of the anniversary of last September's brutal crackdown on the monk-led demonstrations in Rangoon.

The political activists were part of a massive amnesty for more than 9,000 prisoners, mostly petty criminals, which anyalsts believe is part of the regime's preparation for the planned elections in two years' time.

Among those freed was the country's longest-serving political prisoner, the veteran journalist and political activist, Win Tin, 79. At least four other prominent MPs from the National League for Democracy (NLD) were also released. But party leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest in her Rangoon residence, where she has spent more than 13 of the last 19 years.

Win Tin has spent the last 19 years in jail on subversion charges. Immediately after he was released he vowed to continue fighting until Burma became a democratic nation - a battle he took up in 1988, when mass pro-democracy demonstrations brought the country to a standstill for months before the army intervened and seized power in a bloody coup. "I will keep fighting until the emergence of democracy in this country," he told journalists gathered outside his house in Rangoon.

Many analysts believe these particular releases are timed to help deflect criticism and pressure from the international community at this year's UN General Assembly, which has just got under way in New York. Only last week, the UN envoy for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, appealed to the Burmese leaders to release the country's political prisoners. It would seem the regime is trying to make concessions to the international community for fear that the UN Security Council might resume efforts to get international sanctions imposed against Rangoon. The releases were planned to help reduce international pressure, according to Bo Kyi, who runs an organisation for Burmese political prisoners, based in Thailand. "It is meant primarily to serve as a weapon for its allies China, India, Russia and Asean, in order to defend Burma at the UN," he said.

The international community has welcomed the releases, especially that of Win Tin. But most analysts and diplomats in Rangoon do not believe this is the start of a mass amnesty for the country's remaining political prisoners. While the release of Win Tin and his fellow prisoners is certainly the best news to come out of Burma in a long time, they represent less than 1% of the political prisoners there, said Benjamin Zawacki of Amnesty International. "These handful of people should never have been imprisoned in the first place, and there are many, many more."

The releases came as a complete surprise, as in the past few weeks the regime has sentenced several students and NLD activists to prison terms. During this month alone, the regime arrested 37 political activists, including the renowned student activist of the 88 Group, Ni Lar Thein.

The sentencing of the young labour activist Thet Way to two years' hard labour earlier this month drew sharp criticism from international organisations, especially the International Labour Organisation. Thet Way had been helping people, especially child soldiers, to file complaints against the government for forced labour. In a statement issued last week, the ILO said it was concerned and disappointed about Thet Way's sentence, and has been in contact with the military government about the case at a senior level.

Only last week, Lu Tin Win was sentenced to two years' in jail on charges of "disrespectful acts towards the state", according to opposition sources. Lu Tin Win was originally detained in 1999 and was released in 2007. He was re-arrested almost exactly a year ago at a checkpoint, where a police search found he was carrying a copy of the book Opinion of 88 Generation Students.

"This is the junta's strategy: release political prisoners, especially when their sentences finish, and re-arrest them when it is feared they are becoming a threat to the regime," said Mr Bo Kyi. Others feel that the regime's larger strategy for the future may be behind the recent release of these political prisoners; that it signals the start of a process of preparations for the planned elections, "the outcome of which the regime knows it must find ways of controlling without looking too draconian", according to Burmese academic Win Min.

The elections, which are part of the country's road map to "disciplined democracy", are scheduled to be held in the early part of 2010, according to Burmese military sources. As yet there is no concrete information as to which parties will be allowed to field candidates, and it is unclear whether the NLD will be permitted to compete.

The regime recently announced through state-run media that thousands of prisoners would be released in the run-up to the elections "because of their good behaviour and to allow them to serve the nation". The junta has already begun releasing the 9,002 prisoners in a gesture of "loving kindness and goodwill", the state-censored independent weekly Myanmar Times reported.

Amnesty International estimates there are still more than 2,100 political prisoners languishing in Burma's jails.

The government often releases prisoners to mark important occaisions, like Armed Forces Day or National Day, but these are usually petty criminals, although it sometimes includes a handful of political prisoners.

Junta leader Senior General Than Shwe has used the mass release of political prisoners as a way of signifying the start of a new era. More than 20,000 prisoners, including hundreds of political prisoners, were released over a period of several months in 1992, to mark his becoming the head of state and the start of the constitutional drafting process, with the preparations for the National Convention.

Again in November 2004, after the prime minister and military intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt was ousted, more than 10,000 prisoners were freed, including many of the 88 Student Generation such as Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and others, who had been in prison for 14 years. They were re-arrested a year ago because of their involvement in the Saffron Revolution.

In the weeks ahead there is likely to be many cosmetic changes to Burma's political scene. The regime has already begun to describe itself as a "transitional authority".
Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan told Mr Gambari when they met in Rangoon last month, that the "transitional government will oppose and wipe out those who attempt to jeopardise or harm the Constitution" . This can only mean the junta will continue to ruthlessly suppress dissent. And there is little likelihood of the forthcoming elections being free and fair. "The military will not make the mistake it did in 1990, when it allowed a free and fair election [which the NLD convincingly won]," Mr Win Min said.

What the junta fears most is another uprising in the streets and Win Tin's release may also be intended to dampen the anger against the regime in a country that is becoming more vociferous by the day.

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Trouble brewing again in Myanmar's monasteries*
Radio Netherlands - By our correspondent*
26-09-2008

A year after the monks' protests were crushed it seems peaceful in Myanmar, formerly Burma. A Radio Netherlands Worldwide reporter visited a number of monasteries and witnessed increasing disquiet.

The hubbub of the streets of Mandalay in northern Myanmar dies away inside the monastery. Instead the incessant muttering of hundreds of student monks can be heard. Swathes of dark red habits hang on wash lines.

However, behind this serene façade, trouble is brewing again just over a year after the crushing of protests against poverty and oppression led by monks. "Every day, we say that something must be done, but we don't know what, how or when," says one 38-year-old monk who has lived in the monastery for 16 years. A student monk nods in agreement.

The monks and their supporters have worldly interests. Each day, they listen to Burmese-language radio broadcasts from abroad and discuss how dictatorships were done away with in foreign countries.

Religious boycott

This monastery has a tradition of activism. The monks joined in demonstrations against the military regime in 1988. Two years later, they again protested at arrests and other attempts to bring the monasteries to heel.

They paced the streets, their begging bowls turned towards the ground, stopped carrying out their duties and held protest sit-ins. They imposed a religious boycott of the military and their families. Some were killed when security forces fired on demonstrating crowds. Dozens of monasteries were raided by police and hundreds of monks were arrested.

After the iron fist came the velvet glove. The monastic leadership was courted with gifts, and restoration work was done on pagodas. This ‘hearts and minds' campaign led to a schism in the monastic community or Sangha, which persists to this day. However, more monks than ever took to the streets last year to demonstrate against the junta. The protests were crushed and there followed reprisals against the monasteries, with monks complaining of the widespread infiltration of informers.

Myanmar has about the same number of monks as soldiers, between 400,000 and 500,000. It is estimated that 10 percent of monks are politically active. They draw inspiration from the fact that monks were among the leaders of Burma's independence struggle against the British.

Alms

Like most of his colleagues in the monastery, our monk returned to his home last year to escape arrest. More than 100 monks, including 27-year-old U Gambira, the leader of the All Burma Monks' Alliance, were incarcerated and defrocked. Nearly all the rest have now returned to their monasteries. In Mandalay, they walk through the streets in long lines in the early morning to receive the traditional alms. "People don't have nearly enough to eat," he complains angrily. "We see it with our own eyes as we do our morning rounds. How can we ignore it?"

He rejects the idea put forward by the junta and by a number of senior monks that the monastic community should only concern itself with spiritual matters. "For centuries, the monks mediated between the people and their royal masters in times of crisis. He pulls out The Teachings of the Buddha and points out some passages, demonstrating that rulers have a moral obligation to take care of their people. This shows the Buddha took an interest in people's welfare.

Typhoon

Since Typhoon Nargis struck Myanmar's southern delta region on the night of 2 May, the monks have become more active in the community than ever. In the first weeks after the storm, while the regime was busy stopping foreign aid from entering the country, lorries rolled out of countless monasteries bringing supplies and manpower to the disaster area. Local monasteries acted as nerve centres for the relief operations. "Many people were killed, but the disaster did give us the opportunity to strengthen our ties as monks to the people. We were able to demonstrate our sympathy and commitment, while the government frittered away its chance of doing something good," says a monk from Sagaing, whose many monasteries makes it a centre for meditation.

However, he is not optimistic for the future. He suspects the junta will use the elections scheduled for 2010 to legitimise its rule. "Political change will take a long time, and we'll have to become far cleverer."

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Sanctions on Myanmar rulers tightened
Swissinfo - September 26, 2008 - 12:03 PM

Switzerland is further tightening economic sanctions against Myanmar introduced in the wake of the military rulers crackdown against pro-democracy protestors a year ago.

Import of timber, wood products, coal, some metals and precious stones are banned in line with similar measures taken by the European Union earlier this year.

At the same time financial sanctions were extended to people working in the timber and metal industries.

The economics ministry said the move is aimed at forcing the Myanmar government to respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

Not affected will be aid deliveries for the victims of a cyclone that hit southeast Asia in May.

In 2007 Switzerland imported goods worth about SFr900,000 ($828,300) from Myanmar, while exports stood at SFr2.9 million.

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MYANMAR: Cyclone-hit farmers battle snails

THONEGWA, 26 September 2008 (IRIN) - An unidentified freshwater snail has left scores of paddy farmers in southern Myanmar reeling.

In the wake of Cyclone Nargis - which left nearly 140,000 people dead or missing in May - farmers cite an increase in the invasive species.
Experts believe the snails were washed up by the sea’s tidal surge when it submerged more than 783,000ha of rice paddy fields or 63 percent of paddy land in the affected areas.

The snails devastate rice fields by feeding on the base of paddy seedlings, as well as on plant leaves and stems, say specialists, and are capable of consuming the young plants overnight.
They prefer young plant parts that are soft because the snails feed by scraping the plant surface with their rough tongue, the experts add.

"We coped with the few snails and sea crabs that appeared before. We simply collected them and destroyed them," said Tint Naing, a paddy farmer from Thonegwa Village, Kunchangone Township, in Myanmar's cyclone-affected Yangon Division, collecting a handful of the pests in his hand.

But according to specialists, it is unlikely that the freshwater Malaysian Trumpet Snail (Melanoides Tuberculata) in his hands, commonly found in aquariums, is the culprit.

“It seems to me quite strange and even quite impossible that this species was responsible for the damage observed in the rice fields,” one leading snail expert in France told IRIN.

Such snails feed on minute particles or organic waste and reportedly never feed on aquatic plants, he explained. And though an increase in their numbers in the aftermath of Nargis was possible, a more likely suspect would be the Golden Apple Snail (GAS) (Pomacea Canaliculata) , a freshwater snail commonly found in Asia, with a voracious appetite for water plants including lotus, water chestnut, taro and rice, he said.

Major rice pest

Originally from South America, the GAS is described as one of the world’s 100 worst invasive species by the Global Invasive Species Database, which aims to increase awareness about invasive alien species and to facilitate effective prevention measures.

Its invasiveness is related to its inherent characteristics: a high reproductive rate, adaptability to harsh environmental conditions, ability to invade diverse habitats through multiple pathways, a wide range and voracious appetite, and an ability to compete with native species and native fauna, stated a report by Revindra Joshi of the Department of Agriculture- Philippine Rice Research Institute.

Once the GAS has established its presence, controlling it is difficult.

According to the  institute, managing problem snails is only possible once there is a clear understanding of the identity and biology of the pest species.

Growing numbers

Meanwhile, for farmers on the ground the prospects look grim. Many lost everything to Nargis and are struggling to rebuild their lives.

The rural economy is based on agriculture, primarily rice, and approximately 50 to 60 percent of families in the Ayeyarwady Delta are engaged in agriculture, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

"We have never seen so many. They have destroyed our fields," said 30-year-old Tint Naing.

"We're observing how big this issue [snails] is in the delta and will help [farmers] solve it," said Rene Suter, head of the emergency and rehabilitation coordination unit for the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Yangon, the former capital.

Yet for many hard-hit farmers it is already too late - many of the snails have already eaten their way through this year's crop. 

Dangerous pesticides

Lacking government or international assistance to deal with the menace, many farmers resorted to pesticide, only to have it kill everything else at the same time, including fish.

"We don't know the name of it or its active ingredients, but it really kills the crabs though it cannot kill the snails," said one exasperated farmer in Pyapon.

Agricultural specialists are cautioning farmers to be better aware of the pesticides they use.

"They [farmers] should check what kind of pesticide it is and its active ingredient ... They should also check whether it is registered or not," warned one agricultural expert from the Pioneer Post Harvest Development Group, a semi-governmental organisation.

If the ingredient of a pesticide remains active for long time, it could be harmful to humans, the specialist said.

Others offer a more conventional solution to the problem. "We would like to recommend mechanical control to get rid of snails and crabs," Aung Kyi, an agricultural expert within FAO's Emergency & Rehabilitation Coordination Unit in Myanmar, said.

Traditionally, collecting the snails is easier for the farmers than using pesticides, Aung Kyi said.

“Currently, there is only one solution. Simply pick them up by hand and dispose of them. It's unknown what kind of [pesticide] could destroy them because there has not been any test on it,” one researcher at Myanmar’s Yangon University told IRIN.

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UN - UNICEF supports education at relief camps for cyclone-affected families in Myanmar
By Anna Stechert

BOGALAY, Myanmar, 26 September 2008 – In an area heavily affected by Cyclone Nargis in May, it was a special day at Auk Paing Primary School in Bogalay. All 619 students were to receive new UNICEF backpacks filled with learning materials, including notebooks, pens, pencils, a ruler, a sharpener and an eraser.

These simple tools help to restore the daily rhythm of school and jumpstart the recovery process after a natural disaster.

Together with their parents, the students lined up outside the teacher’s office, waiting their turn. Once the bags were distributed, the proud and smiling students unzipped them, showing the contents to their parents and to each other.

“I am very happy to have this bag,” said Cheery Soe Min, 8, as she removed a box of crayons before playfully kissing it. “My hobby is drawing, and I will draw pictures of fish, busses and apples!”

Delivering essential supplies

This UNICEF support is crucial in an area that was already poor before the cyclone hit. Because of the disaster, many families have lost what little they had, including their homes and livelihoods, making it difficult for them to afford school materials for their children.

UNICEF’s support in the cyclone-affected Irrawaddy Delta includes repair of 832 schools and distribution of more than 175,000 essential learning packages to children. The organization has also provided roofing sheets, school furniture, blackboards, ‘School-in-a- Box’ and recreation kits, and box libraries for schools.

“I cannot afford to buy my children these materials,” said Pa-le Oo, a 39-year-old mother, “so I am more than grateful to UNICEF.”

Many needs still unfulfilled

The impact of the cyclone will be felt for years to come. Even before the disaster, the Auk Paing school had been struggling to provide a quality learning environment for its students. The cyclone made this task even more difficult.

There has been no electricity in the school since Cyclone Nargis struck, and its classrooms are dark. The three working toilets are not enough for the large number of students. And the school lacks a sports facility, so when it does not rain, the teachers take their classes outside for some exercise.

During the monsoon season, which lasts six months here, physical education classes are cancelled.

Restoring a sense of normalcy

Auk Paing Principal Daw Nu Yin has seen the strain on his students since May.

“In the first few weeks, kids started crying when a storm was approaching or the wind was blowing,” she said. “Their parents would come and pick them up because they were so scared.”

Teachers, too, were in a constant state of fear, listening to the weather forecast again and again and looking repeatedly out the window, checking for any signs of another disaster.

The principal has been trying to restore some sense of normalcy and structure for her students. “In most families, both parents are working hard to get enough food on the table, and there is just no time for watching the children or studying with them,” she said. And knowing their children are safe in school gives parents and families the time they need to rebuild their lives.

In any community school is central to children’s lives and it is even more critical after a devastating natural disaster. The students now have a place that will provide stability and hope for a better future.

“I am really grateful to UNICEF,” Daw Nu Yin said, grabbing the arm of a local UNICEF field monitor. “It is still very hard, but your support is helping us a lot.”

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Philippine activists remember violent Myanmar protests
Earthtimes - Posted : Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:12:17 GMT
Author : DPA

Manila - Filipino activists held on Friday a silent protest in front of the Myanmar Embassy in the Philippine capital to remember the first anniversary of a bloody crackdown by the military junta against pro-democracy protesters in Yangon. The protesters donned crimson sashes and lighted incense sticks to offer solidarity and support to the Myanmar people in their fight for democratic reforms.

An estimated 100 people, including a Japanese journalist, were killed when Myanmar soldiers opened fire at more than 100,000 protesters in the streets of Yangon on September 26-27 last year. More than 3,000 people have been arrested in the subsequent crackdown.

Egoy Bans, leader of the Free Burma Coalition-Philippin es, said the repression in Myanmar continues and the military has been arresting pro-democracy advocates.

Bans said that in August at least 39 activists were arrested in Burma and in the first 10 days of September 18 members of the opposition party were also detained.

"The crackdown has not ended," Bans said. "The junta is not just unable but is likewise unwilling to learn from the lessons of the Saffron Revolution. Instead of addressing the issues of the people of Burma, the junta stepped up its campaign to silence the legitimate dissent of the people."

Bans said that monks, who led the pro-democracy protests a year ago, were under surveillance and some monasteries have been raided ahead of the anniversary of the bloody protests.

"The strength of the Burmese junta comes from its army and armory, but history will tell us that no amount of guns and cannons can stop the people calling for democratic change," he said.

The protesters called on the international community, particularly the United Nations and the Association of South-East Asian Nations, to increase the pressure to force the Myanmar junta to institute democratic reforms.

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100,000 signatures submitted to Myanmar Embassy over murder of Japanese journalist
Mainichi Daily News - September 27, 2008

A group of protesters submitted a 100,000-signature petition to the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo on Thursday prior to the first anniversary of the death of a Japanese journalist who was murdered by a soldier in the country.

The 50-year-old journalist, Kenji Nagai, was shot to death by a Myanmarese soldier in Yangon on Sept. 27 last year, while he was filming anti-government demonstrations.

Along with submitting the signatures, the "Group Protesting the Murder of Mr. Nagai by the Army of Myanmar" also asked for the return of the video camera that Nagai had when he was killed. The group has also handed in the signatures to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

The group led by Kota Kinoshita, who was a close friend of Nagai, had collected 100,000 signatures by Aug. 27 this year, which was Nagai's birthday. Fifteen members of the group including Kinoshita and Noriko Ogawa -- Nagai's 48-year-old younger sister -- dropped the signatures into the post box at the entrance of the embassy on Thursday after embassy officials refused to meet them.

A memorial ceremony for the first anniversary of Nagai's death will be held at Shinjoin in the Yotsuya district of Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, from 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

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Junta's secret plan: Closer relationship with China
Mizzima News - Zarni
Saturday, 27 September 2008 00:00

Chiang Mai - The secretly distributed minutes of a meeting chaired by the Burmese Ministry of Home Affairs indicate that the Burmese junta, which has ruled the country for over four decades, will seek a closer relationship with China in the face of growing, U.S.-led, international pressure.

The minutes of the meeting, dated July 6, 2008, state that in order to defend the country against U.S. influence, Burma cannot stand alone without any alliances and, therefore, needs the backing of China and other like-minded countries.

The minutes, a copy of which is in Mizzima's possession, say the junta's policy of stepping up relations with China is in both countries' favor and is not to the junta's benefit alone.

With the U.S. vigorously implementing its "China Containment Policy", the minutes say Burma is one of only a few neighboring countries of China that can still fend off U.S. influence.

The minutes list India, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Korea and Mongolia, as well as others, as neighbors of China that are fully or partially influenced by the U.S., leaving Burma and a few other countries such as North Korea free of the Western influence.

"For this purpose, the gas pipeline has been built and Kyaukthu Port has been developed, so that China can get direct access to the sea from Burma," the Home Minister was quoted as saying in the minutes.

China, a veto wielding country in the U.N. Security Council, has openly defended Burma in the U.N. as well as in other international arenas. In January 2007, China along with Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Burma that urged the release of detained pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and an improvement in the country's human rights situation.

The minutes also depict the U.S. as failing to influence many nations, including Burma, through its economic, diplomatic, human rights and democracy stance, requiring Washington to turn to the U.N. to further its influence.

The minutes, which apparently accuse the U.S. of masterminding the various resolutions passed by the U.N. against Burma, say the U.S. is seeking to exploit the various councils of the world body, including the Human Rights Council and the International Labor Organization.

Interestingly, the minutes add that with the continuous pressure of the world body and international community, the junta can no longer turn a deaf ear to the outside world but is instead forced to implement at least some changes.

However, the document states that despite growing international community demands, the government will not alter its policy regarding its roadmap to democracy. 

But, in the case of renewed anti-government movements and riots, the minutes iterate that such occurrences will be handled by the police and not the army, in an effort to mitigate international criticism.

The minutes determine that while there is no need to worry about growing external pressure, it is important that members of the Ministry work hard and prove themselves excellent in their respective works.

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35 NLD members march to detained party leader's residence   
Mizzima News - Friday, 26 September 2008 11:40

At least 35 members of Burma's Opposition party the National League or Democracy have begun marching towards detained party leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi', residence at 9:30 a.m (local time), sources said.

Though Burmese Army soldiers have blocked the Kokkai Street, NLD members were able to make it to University Avenue Street, where detained Suu Kyi's home is located, according to an earlier information received by Mizzima.

The 35 members include 20 youths as well as 15 elderly members of the NLD.

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Release Aung San Suu Kyi: Laura Bush
The Irrawaddy - By LALIT K JHA / UNITED NATIONS
Friday, September 26, 2008

The US first lady Laura Bush on Thursday again urged the Burmese military junta to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners.

"The United States reiterates our long-standing call for the Burmese regime to engage in a genuine dialogue with all democratic and ethnic minority leaders, with the goal of making a credible transition to civilian, democratic government," Laura Bush said in a statement.

The first lady said that the Burmese military regime has ignored the entreaties of the international community.

"It has treated the United Nations special envoy with disregard," she said. "Through its actions, the regime has reaffirmed its disdain for the will and the well-being of the people of Burma. The military leaders carried out a sham constitutional referendum, extended Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest and continued to arrest political activists."

Referring to the Saffron Revolution in 2007, she said tens of thousands of Burmese monks and ordinary citizens took to the streets to demonstrate for freedom, economic progress and basic human rights.

"The world watched in horror as Than Shwe ordered his military to begin a brutal crackdown.  Soldiers sprayed bullets into unarmed crowds.  They imprisoned thousands in cramped cells," she said.

"Monks who led the protests were beaten, arrested, and killed—and their monasteries were raided in nighttime attacks.  In response, international organizations and governments around the world condemned Burma's military regime, called for the release of all political prisoners and demanded a genuine dialogue on transition to a democratic government," she said.

Laura Bush said the United States will continue to work with the international community to hold the regime accountable for its actions and to intensify pressure on the regime to meet these basic requirements.

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Boy of 13 forced to join army

Sep 26, 2008 (DVB)–A 13-year-old pupil at the No. 1 State High School in Sittwe, Arakan state, was taken from his home on 21 September and forced to join the army, according to a neighbour.

Maung Tun Khaing Win, who lives with his mother Daw Khin Khin Win in civil servants’ ward (1), was taken from his home by a soldier at knifepoint while his mother was out hawking food.

A neighbour said the boy had managed to write a note before he left which was read by neighbours and the boy’s mother.

“He wrote that someone had told him that if he didn’t go with him, he would kill him,” the neighbour said.

Daw Khin Khin Win found her son and other child soldiers on 24 September at a military recruitment base in Utyinthaya ward near Letweh-taloneto pagoda.

But when she tried to take him home, an army officer told her that she would have to go through official procedures before he could leave.

Daw Khin Khin Win went to seek help from her son’s teacher Daw Saw Khin and headteacher U Maung Soe Thein, but when they returned to the army base they could not find Maung Tun Khaing Win.

Daw Khin Win has now gone to Myauk Oo, where Maung Tun Khaing Win’s teacher had heard he had been taken, to find her son and bring him home.

Sittwe residents said that the practice of forcing underage children into the army has become increasingly common in the township.

One such incident occurred in March, when 14-year-old Maung Maung (also known as Kyaw Than Htay), the son of U Maung Aye and Daw Aye Phyu Che of Minkan ward (3), was taken to an army recruitment camp and was not released until a payment of 30,000 kyat was made.

Locals also reported a recent case in which a 15-year-old child from Kyaingphyu village was forcibly recruited into the army.

Reporting by Nan Kham Kaew

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