Zin Linn

Asian Correspondent

August 4, 2013

Burma’s quasi-civilian government headed by President Thein Sein has taken office in March 2011 and declaring itself as a reformist administration since then. Now, it has to meet head-on a major challenge in order to show its true color concerning constitutional revision which has been calling by various oppositions.

As the demands for constitutional amendment increases gradually, the Union Parliament of Burma has accepted a proposal forming a 109-member Joint Committee to Review the 2008 Constitution on 25 July with the intention of probing indispensable changes.

The deputy speaker of the Union Parliament has to act as chairman of the committee along with the deputy speaker of the Lower House and the deputy speaker of the Upper House reserved for vice chairman. The committee was formed with members of parliament, members of political parties, military MPs and individuals.

The political competition seems looking for resolution to the boiling constitution issue on the agenda for the 2015 general election. Parliamentarians from Burma’s ruling party on March 15 took the first step towards the possible revision of the constitution which was drawn up under the previous military junta and intentionally vetoes the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency.

On the other hand, the three-day Ethnic Conference organized by the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) that ended on 31 July in Chiang Mai had unanimously rejected the military-sponsored 2008 constitution, after a quite longer debate. A total of 122 delegates appeared at the conference: representing the UNFC-member organizations, 18 resistance organizations, the United Nationality Alliance, 4 political parties of ethnic nationalities, academics and active individuals.

After three-day conference, the ethnic nationalities delegates held meetings on 1 August with representatives from eight democratic forces from inside and abroad and agreed to jointly carry out the common programs.

As reported by Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.) on 18 July, the remaining Working Group for Ethnic Coordination (WGEC) members, particularly the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), upon receiving reports that the UNFC had already called for an ‘Ethnic Conference for Peace and Reconciliation’, said a parallel conference would only serve confusion the people both at home and abroad.

An unconfirmed report said the WGEC may be planning to hold a conference inside Burma.

An ethnic outcry said that a nationwide ceasefire agreement without adequate guarantees of a political dialogue and monitoring mechanisms is unacceptable. There is a constant demand from the country’s ethnic groups to enjoy equal political, social and economic rights. The Constitution must guarantee the rights of self-determination and of equal representation for every ethnic group in the Parliament.

The new charter itself emerged in the course of a charade referendum (May 2008) which held unfairly after a week of the Nargis cyclone that caused more than 138,000 dead and millions homeless. The bill was ratified by the parliament in January 2011. The biggest flaw in the constitution is the privileged 25 percent of the seats in the parliament are set aside for the soldiers who are basically appointed to the legislative body by the commander-in-chief.

Moreover, the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won a landslide in the polls which declared seizing 882 out of 1154 seats in parliaments. Remarkably, 77 percent of the parliamentary seats have been seized by the military-backed USDP in the 2010 polls which were distinguished for vote-rigging show.

Aung San Suu Kyi has affirmed her readiness serving as president her Burma and her party’s target to amend the undemocratic clauses in the constitution in every way. Suu Kyi said it is her duty as leader of her National League for Democracy to be willing to take the executive office if that is what the people want. She said a clause in the constitution effectively barring her from the job is one of several her party seeks to change.

Several analysts believe the 15-chapter and 194-page constitution drawn under the close guidance of the retired Sen. Gen. Than Shwe to protect the legacy of military autocracy that refuses self-determination of ethnic peoples.

TamilNet

August 3, 2013

“The United States will boost military ties with Burma later this month to encourage greater professionalism and more civilian oversight over the Southeast Asian country’s armed forces,” news portal The Irrawaddy said on Friday, citing the Myanmar Times. This engagement happens despite a steadily growing Buddhist extremism in the country and the state-supported persecution of ethnic Kachins and the Rohingya Muslims. US ambassador Derek Mitchell has said that through the military engagement, the US was not planning to sell arms but only to focus on humanitarian issues. US officials have also called for amendments to the military-written constitution of Burma, Irrawaddy reported. Critics however look at these steps as a ‘carrot and stick’ approach to bring Burma into the US ambit, while ignoring the structural problems in the country. 

Earlier in July, in an article on the Huffington Post, Kachin writed Nang Seng, appealing to the US to not forget their Kachin “allies”, lamented “The Kachin people of Burma have watched in disbelief as at the same time as their villages are burned, their wives raped and their husbands shot while farming in the fields, the international community, including the USA, has hailed Thein Sein as a courageous reformer.”

Despite the much talked about ‘pro-reform’ policies of President Thein Sein, a former military commander, Buddhist extremism has been steadily on the rise in the country. Observers claim that such extremists are given state patronage. 

Time Magazine’s July 1st edition had run a detailed cover story on the “Buddhist terror” unleashed by the 969 Movement led by the monk A. Wirathu against Muslims in Burma.

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims were killed by Burmese state-sanctioned Buddhist violence last year in the Rakhine region.

In February 2013 UN Special Rapporteur to Burma Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana had criticized in the large military presence in Kachin areas and had also expressed concern over the plight of the Rohingya displaced persons.

Bill O'Toole

Myanmar Times

August 2, 2013

A report on the conflict in Rakhine State that advocates for 800,000 Muslims to be expelled to Bangladesh generated heated debate at its launch on August 1, with some dismissing it as “rubbish” and others warning it could inflame tensions.

The Arakan Human Rights and Development Organization released the “Conflict and Violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar” report at Central Hotel in Yangon on August 1.

The report says the Muslims of Rakhine State should be denied citizenship and advocates for what it calls a “population exchange” to resolve communal conflict that has left almost 200 people dead.

The exchange would see Rakhine State’s 800,000 Rohingya, or Bengali, residents sent to Bangladesh in exchange for an equivalent number of Buddhists.

No Rohingya appear to have been interviewed during the research or writing of the report and its lead author, Rick Heizman, faced some angry comments during a discussion session after the launch.

“We should dismiss this report for the rubbish that it is,” a PhD student in Southeast Asian history declared at the launch.

“The exchange of people from Arakan to Bangladesh does not make sense. Are you also going to exchange African Americans like [US President Barack] Obama back to Africa?” asked one Myanmar aid worker. “I think co-existence and peaceful dialogue is better – not the hatred you spread in press conferences.”

A diplomat from the German embassy said the report was “very dangerous ... It’s not a report we can take seriously”.

“I just want to underline: Listening to you and reading the report I get the impression that your report is one-sided and over-simplifies the problem in Rakhine to a conflict between Buddhists and Muslims,” she said.

U Aung Marm Oo, an executive director of the organisation, agreed during the question and answer session that the report was one-sided – but in a positive way. “It's the Rakhine side of the story that has been ignored,” he said.

Mr Heizman also faced numerous questions about his academic credentials but dismissed these by saying that it “doesn't matter right now”. When pressed after his presentation, he said: “My credentials are that I've been here many times.”

The questions were likely prompted by what biographical details are available online. An interview with Mr Heizman on the website Thingsasian.com says he is from New York City but lives in the San Francisco Bay area and holds a Bachelor of Arts in music composition and guitar from San Jose State.

“Rick feels that Burma is a great country, people and culture to be concerned about, and the government there needs to be disposed of. On his yearly visits there, he maintains ties with cherished friends and is discreetly involved with the political opposition,” the article said.

As of this year he maintained a profile on Baymusic.com, where musicians wanting to play weddings and corporate functions can post their contact details.

Despite the criticism, the views expressed in the report reflect those of at least some officials in the Rakhine State government. In a recent interview with The Myanmar Times, government spokesman U Win Myaing described the Rohingya population as “illegal Bengalis” who should be forced from the state.

Like Mr Heizman, U Win Myaing talked at length about the bias against Rakhine people in Western media and in the aid community, singling out the United Nations and Human Rights Watch. “They have a pro-Muslim bias,” he said.

He said that reports of police and military brutality and squalid conditions in camps for Muslims displaced by conflict had been fabricated by Islamic extremists.

He also suggested that most of the Muslims displaced by last year's violence had burned their own houses down in order to both damage Rakhine homes in the area and get nicer homes from UN agencies.

Phil Robertson, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch, described these claims as “ludicrous and without merit”.

“He's just repeating extremist Rakhine canards that have been put out by the government and community leaders ever since the violence in June last year. No one believes these claims, and repeating them just make him look foolish,” Mr Robertson said.

“Any comparison ... will show that [the Rohingya] have hardly gained by being confined to IDP camps without livelihoods and deprived of access to education, health and other basic services,” he said.

“Human Rights Watch has no bias whatsoever against the Rakhine people. U Win Myaing is playing 'shoot the messenger' because he has so few facts on his side and doesn't like the fact that we have proven ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity were committed last year in Rakhine state.”

Chris Lewa, head of the Rohingya advocacy group The Arakan Project, declined comment directly on U Win Myaing's comments, calling them “too ludicrous to respond to”.

“This kind of denial in the face of the truth,” she said, “will only make peace in Rakhine harder to achieve.”

Eduard Kovacs

Softpedia

August 2, 2013

The official website of the Myanmar President’s Office (president-office.gov.mm) has been disrupted by Anonymous hackers as part of the campaign dubbed OpMyanmar.

The hacktivists announced their intentions of targeting the president’s website on Thursday. The distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack against the site started around 14 hours ago.

“Our demand is clear, namely removing sites archive Indonesia, if wants peace (sic),” one hacker wrote on Twitter.

He added, “If our demands are not carried out by the Myanmar, then we will continue assault on myanmar presidential sites.”

Currently, president-office.gov.mm is still down. In the meantime, hacktivists are provided with DDOS tools and encouraged to join the attack against the website of the President’s Office.

This is not the first time when Myanmar government websites are targeted by hacktivists. Back in late May, several government sites – including the ones of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and Department of Civil Aviation – were disrupted in protest against anti-Muslim violence.

Vivian Tan
UNHCR
August 2, 2013

By Robert Elhose

August 1, 2013

Saffron revolution leading monk in 2007 got marry with an Australian web-designer on August 1 gave shock to many of the Burmese natives around the world.

U Gambira (alias) Nyi Nyi Lwin and his bride Maria France tried to register their marriage certificate at the Mandalay district court but which was rejected for unknown reason, said a human right lawyer U Thein Than Tun on his facebook page who finally made the bond legal on August 1 at his office in Mandalay.

31 years old Ashin Gambira who led All-Burma Monks' Alliance, a group which helped lead the 2007 protests against Burma's military government that is well known as the Saffron Revolution.

Following the protests, he went into hiding and published two editorials critical of the Burmese government in the Washington Post and The Guardian on 4 November 2007. He was arrested the same day.

In October 2008, he was sentenced to 68 years in prison, including 12 years hard labor; the sentence was reduced to 65 years on appeal.

Gambira was released during a mass pardon of prisoners on 13 January 2012 as part of the 2011–2012 Burmese political reforms. He ceased to be a monk in April 2012, stating that he had been unable to find a monastery to join due to his status as a former prisoner.

Maria France, an Australian computer web-designer from Brisbane, got a relationship with Gambira online and finally tied a knot, the lawyer's facebook page revealed on August 1.

RB News 

August 2, 2013 

Maungdaw, Arakan – Maulana Abdul Rashid, a Rohingya from Maung Tola village, Aley Than Kyaw, Maungdaw Township, Arakan State had his house set on fire by unidentified Rakhine assailants, July 30, 2013 at 11 pm. 

On July 30, 2013 at 11 pm, Maulana Abdul Rashid’s house was set on fire by unknown Rakhine assailans, but fortunately the villagers and family were able to control the blaze and only the kitchen was destroyed by the fire. The authorities came and brought Abdul Awal, son of Maulana Abdul Rashid, to the police station. 

“The unknown Rakhine extremist group set fired the house of Maulana Abdul Rashid at 11 pm. As the villagers and the family members could control the fire, the kitchen only burned down. The authorities found four petrol gallons beside the house when they came for investigation. It seems they set the fire and left the petrol.” a villager told RB News. 

It was reported to authorities that the arson attack of the Rohingya's house in Arakan was by Rakhine extremists. Although eye witnesses were available the police said they wouldn't investigate if the attack was perpetrated by Rakhines without photographic evidence. Reportedly the police pressured the victim to state that the arson attack was done by Rohingyas. When the victim refused flatly to make false accusations the police demanded 500,000 Kyat as extortion to close the case. 

On top of this the victim had to pay 300,000 Kyat to the police, 100,000 Kyat to the village administrator Maung Thet Naing and 100,000 Kyat to SaRaPha (Military) and the investigation was closed as though the fire was a normal occurrence.

Clothes and rice distribution to Rohingya people at Pahang Rohingya Language School by Dr. Wan Mohd Azizi bin Wan Sulaiman and his delegation from Surau Tajul Akbar

Z.M. Babar

RB News

August 1, 2013

On 28th July, 2013 (Sunday), at 2:30 pm, Dr. Wan Mohd Azizi bin Wan Sulaiman (Asst. Prof, Basic Medical Science Department, Kulliyyah of Pharmacy, IIUM) and his team have arrived to the premise of Pahang Rohingya Language School (P.R.L.S) at Jalan Gambang, Kg. Belukar, Batu 3, 25150 Kuantan with three full loaded vans of clothes for women, men and children including 30 packets of sugar 1 kg in each, 30 packets of nutritious biscuits for the aged and 30 pieces of ‘Telekung’, a pair of white clothes use to cover the body of a woman during a prayer and many dozens of books for the school library. It was estimated that about ten thousands (RM 10,000) worth clothes alone were distributed to the Rohingya people living in Kuantan for promoting their standards of living.

Based on the schedule of the program, an opening speech was given by Mr. Mohammed Rafique Shah (the Chairman of the newly founded organization, Rohingya Social & Welfare Association, Pahang) for 10 minutes and Dr. Wan Mohd Azizi bin Wan Sulaiman (the Chairman of Surau Tajul Akbar, Indera Mahkota 14, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang) for 10 minutes on the importance of the holy month of Ramadhan and the plight of Rohingya people. Dr. Wan and his delegation shared the sorrows and happiness of the Rohingya people at the same time before leaving the school. The program was continued until Ifta’ar so that everyone could get a chance for getting the clothes of his/ her choice from three piles of Men, Women and Children. There were even some Rohingya families who came later after having an Ifta’ar. All the clothes were piled accordingly by our school volunteers and allowed to choose the colour, design and sizes of their own. 

It was a very delightful program for the entire Rohingya community living in Kuantan for having such big donation program in the first and only Rohingyalish School in Malaysia. Dr. Wan and his team have also scheduled to make the second distribution program on this weekend at Kg. Selamat and Balok under the banner of Rohingya Social & Welfare Association, Pahang (RSWAP). Dr Wan and his team have invited the EC members of RSWAP and school management committee to their Ifta’ar program at Tajul Akbar mosque on Thursday (1st Aug, 2013) evening.

On behalf of Rohingya Social & Welfare Association, Pahang, I’d like to thank Dr. Wan Mohd Azizi bin Wan Sulaiman and his entire team for their outstanding work in upgrading the lives of Rohingya people through such type of social services for the sake of Allah, peace and communal harmony.

Myanmar's President Thein Sein has called for a line to be drawn between politics and religion in the country. In his regular monthly radio address to the nation, the president warned of the danger of mixing the two, and the possible long-term detrimental impact on society.

SITTWE, Myanmar: Myanmar's President Thein Sein has called for a line to be drawn between politics and religion in the country. In his regular monthly radio address to the nation, the president warned of the danger of mixing the two, and the possible long-term detrimental impact on society.

His comments come amid simmering ethnic and religious tensions in some parts of the country.

In 2012, sectarian violence engulfed the capital city of Sittwe and the city remains a patchwork of religiously segregated zones.

In Rakhine state, the country's second poorest which borders Bangladesh, Buddhist-Muslim violence is a dangerous flashpoint in a country making great strides.

Muslims make up five per cent of Myanmar's population of 60 million, and not all of them are the same. The Muslim population who call themselves Rohingya are the main targets -- they are not a recognised ethnic minority and are accused by some in Rakhine of being separatists.

Government officials openly describe them in a derogatory manner.

Win Nying, an information officer in Rakhine, said: "As their population explodes, they don't observe proper hygiene. We provide drinking water, but they don't use it. Instead they drink water from the side of the road. We give them soap, but they don't use it. They don't care about personal hygiene. This is one of the reasons they die in the hospital. It is not the hospital's fault."

More generalised anti-Muslim rhetoric is beginning to take the shape of a popular movement with dark undertones. A recent TIME magazine cover describes U Wiratu, a popular monk in Mandalay who delivers explicitly anti-Muslim sermons, as "the new face of Buddhist terror". This has angered many in the country.

Monks, who hold the highest moral authority among Myanmar's majority Buddhist population, said that some Muslim practices such as polygamy and lack of higher education for girls make them unwelcome in the country.

Shin Ngana, a monk and Buddhist youth group leader, said: "In my opinion and other Rakhines' opinion, the (Rohingya) should belong in their own place. For instance, if they came from Bangladesh, they should go back there. If they want to stay in this country, they should respect and follow the values of this country. Then, there will be no problem."

The United Nations has helped tens of thousands of people displaced by the violence and has offered even more assistance.

Hans ten Feld, the Myanmar country representative with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said: "We have experiences from elsewhere. It's not the first time that we work in a situation like this. We could try and bring in our expertise to try and help bring communities together."

But in something of a first, NGOs, including the UN, have come under fire and been accused of helping only the Muslim community. There was even a t-shirt campaign launched in protest.

A local resident said: "The UN and NGOs don't respect and support the Rakhine people who are the natives of this region. But they supported the Bengali who are illegal re-settlers and who have made their homes in this region."

Under military rule, when sectarian troubles flared, they were quickly clamped down and any dissent forbidden.

The streets of Sittwe are calm for now, but separating communities by checkpoints and razor wire is not a sustainable solution.

August 1, 2013

Speech by Speaker of the House of Commons Rt Hon John Bercow, entitled "British Democracy and Parliament", Rangoon University, Burma Originally given at Burma. This is a transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered.

It is an enormous privilege and honour, and a personal joy, for me to be with you here today. I come not only as Speaker of the House of Commons in the British Parliament, but perhaps more significantly as a friend of the people of this country, to salute those who have struggled for so long at great cost for the cause of freedom, democracy, human rights and peace; to encourage those who are working for change; and to offer whatever practical assistance we can to all those who wish to build a better future for this beautiful country. 

In the past two years, President Thein Sein and his Government have introduced measures which have changed the atmosphere significantly, and opened the way for a transition to democracy and freedom after decades of brutal military rule. It is absolutely right that the international community should recognise the changes that have been implemented, applaud the reforms, welcome the positive steps and encourage all parties engaged in the reform process to continue further along this path. When dictators unclench their fists, they should be met with outstretched hands. 

And so today, both on behalf of the British Parliament and as a long-time friend of this country personally, I join others in welcoming the changes that have been introduced: the release of most political prisoners, greater freedom of expression for the media, increased space for civil society, greater participation in the political process by opposition parties, and the establishment of preliminary ceasefires with most of the ethnic nationalities. 

DASSK is a heroine for humanity and, alongside Nelson Mandela, the greatest freedom fighter in the world today. The fact that Daw Suu, for so many years the international symbol of your struggle, now sits in Parliament rather than under house arrest, symbolises the fact that your country is changing. The fact that alongside her in Parliament are 42 of her colleagues from the National League for Democracy, many of whom spent years in prison, is remarkable. The fact that the leaders of the 88 Generation, whom I had the privilege of meeting in London last month, are not only released from decades-long jail terms but are engaging so openly, actively and admirably in the political and civil life of this country once again is another important sign that the political atmosphere of the country has changed in an extraordinary way. And the fact that I am able to be here today speaking in these terms is yet more evidence of the first steps towards the development of a freer and more open society. 

But I am under no illusions whatsoever about the challenges ahead. These changes, these signs of openness, these glimmers of hope, represent a welcome change of atmosphere, but they need to go much further and deeper if there is to be a fundamental change of system. There is, as you will know far better than me, a very very long way still to go. You are just at the very beginning of the path towards democracy and peace – and the international community must remember that. We must welcome positive steps when they occur; we must encourage deeper reform; but we must be vigilant in guarding against premature euphoria which is as misplaced as it is desperately dangerous. 

I know that there are still political prisoners in jail today. If democracy is to be truly established, and secured, there must be no political prisoners at all. As Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said, one political prisoner is one too many. There can be no place in an open and democratic society for arbitrary arrests, repressive laws that attempt to curtail or silence dissent, or the imprisonment of people simply for daring to criticise the Government or express an alternative opinion. Freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom belief and freedom of expression, including the freedom to protest, are the bedrock of a democratic and open society. So I hope that the President and the Government will release, and release unconditionally, all remaining political prisoners as a matter of urgency, and in so doing, signal their seriousness about real, lasting, irreversible reform. 

In addition to releasing unconditionally remaining political prisoners, there is a need for a thorough review of legislation, and the repeal of all repressive laws. I hope the Government, and the Parliament, will work with the international community to ensure that legislation is in accordance with international human rights standards, and if Britain and our Parliament can offer any assistance to help your Parliament develop skills and capacity needed for drafting laws and other aspects of law-making, we would be delighted to do so. 

However, even if political prisoners are freed and repressive legislation repealed, if the Constitution itself hinders democracy, a meaningful transition will be hindered. So there is an urgent need for amendments to the Constitution, including the clauses relating to the eligibility of candidates for the presidency, and the system of governance for the ethnic states, if the reform process is to be genuinely inclusive and legitimate. Of course the Burmese parliament will elect who it chooses as its next president. However, any constitutional change which did not allow Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to be a candidate would be regarded in my country, and surely across the international community as a joke in very poor taste. 

None of these steps, however, will deliver true freedom and democracy if there is not a genuine peace in the country, and it is here that I wish to speak most frankly and personally. 

Just over nine years ago, I travelled to Burma for the first time. The differences between that visit and this one are stark. On that occasion, I did not enter the country on a visa, or visit the cities. I did not meet with Government officials. Instead, I visited internally displaced Karen peoples in the jungles across the border from Thailand, and Karen and Karenni refugees on the Thai side of the border. I met people who had fled attacks by the Tatmadaw, sometimes multiple times – people whose homes had been burned down, crops destroyed, loved ones killed. I met children who had seen their parents shot dead in front of them; and parents who had seen their children killed in front of them. I met women who had been raped, and men who had been taken for forced labour. I heard appalling stories of excruciating torture. Indeed the testimonies I heard were to some of the most egregious abuses of human rights that can have been practised anywhere by anyone at any time. 

That visit was the beginning of my own personal commitment to your country. I returned to the Thai border with colleagues from the House of Commons three years later in May 2007. In September 2007 I travelled to the India border, to visit the Chin people, where I heard further stories of forced labour, rape, torture and religious persecution. I did what I could, as a Member of Parliament before I was elected Speaker, to raise the plight of the ethnic nationalities, as well as the wider struggle for freedom and democracy, regularly in Parliament, because such barbaric and gross violations of human rights cannot and must not be tolerated. Between November 2003 and June 2009, I tabled 343 written questions, 29 oral questions and interventions, and 5 speeches about Burma and mentioned your country in no fewer than 46 question times and debates in parliament. I did so for the good reason that the subject of the fight for democracy in Burma needed to be raised again and again and again. For as Martin Luther King once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. 

I welcome the Government’s efforts to engage in talks with the ethnic armed groups, and I welcome the establishment of ceasefires with many of the armed groups. But just as the political changes I have witnessed and described mark merely the very beginning of the process of democratisation, so too the fragile preliminary ceasefires must lead to something more substantial if they are to result in a genuine peace. As one Karen activist told me, “ceasefires are about just pressing the pause button – we need to press the stop button” to end more than 65 years of civil war. So I wish to encourage the Government to go further and engage in a genuine nationwide peace process, involving a political dialogue with the ethnic nationalities. 

Without a political solution, the root causes of conflict will not be addressed and peace will not be achieved. The desire of the ethnic nationalities, as is well known, is for a federal system, in which they are granted some autonomy, and in which equal rights are respected for all. The cultures and languages of the different ethnic nationalities must be protected and respected. This is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation, and that diversity is what makes it so rich and beautiful. Diversity should be celebrated. Only with a true application of the principle ‘unity in diversity’ can peace be achieved. I welcome the remarks by several very senior leaders in Government and Parliament, displaying an openness to consider the idea of federalism. I hope that such openness will translate into a real dialogue process. I know in the past that ‘federalism’ has been a word viewed with alarm by some in this country, but it would appear it has been misunderstood. I hope policy-makers will now have the opportunity to study different models of federalism from different parts of the world, and see that, far from leading to the fragmentation of a country, federalism can provide a way of strengthening and uniting the country. Some of the world’s most successful economies and democracies are federal systems – the United States, Germany, Switzerland, India and Australia, to name just five. 

A free, peaceful and democratic future for your country can be built on these foundations – the release of political prisoners, legislative and constitutional reform, a nationwide peace process involving a political dialogue leading to a federal system in which equal rights are protected and diversity is celebrated. There is, however, one further element without which peace and democracy cannot be achieved: respect for human rights, including religious freedom, justice and the rule of law. 

The stories I have heard from the conflict in Kachin State over the past two years are deeply disturbing. They are very similar to the testimonies I heard myself from the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Chin people in the past. In the past two years, it is reported that at least 100,000 Kachin civilians have been displaced; more than 200 villages destroyed, including at least 66 churches; rape, forced labour, torture and killing of civilians are all still happening. 

These acts of violence, these abuses which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, must stop. The culture of impunity must end. If the President’s reforms are to be believed, there must be a concerted, unremitting and transparent effort to change the behaviour of the Tatmadaw, to end these widespread and systematic abuses which result in so much injustice and loss of life. 

Today, I say clearly and unambiguously to the President, the Government and the military, as a friend of this country and its people: stop the war; stop the killings; stop the torture; stop the rapes; stop forced labour. Only then can the people of this beautiful but benighted country – whether in Kachin State or in other parts of the country – begin to rebuild their lives, not only physically but spiritually as well, to reconcile, and to build a better future for all. 

In this multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation – home to Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Animists – respect for religious diversity and freedom is essential. I understand that in Buddhism you have two principles, ‘Metta’ (loving kindness) and ‘Karuna’ (compassion). I hope that the appalling violence we have seen over the past year – in Rakhine State, and in Meikhtila, Oakkan, Lashio and other towns and cities – will cease, and that the country and all its people, of whatever religion, will be filled with a new spirit of Metta and Karuna. For the spirit of Metta and Karuna is not limited to Buddhism. All the great religions have similar teachings to these. These are the teachings that unite us, people of different races and religions, for they are the teachings of humanity – and they are fundamental to democracy. 

If such violence and hatred continue, they threaten to undermine all that has been achieved in the past two years, and to snatch from you the freedom and democracy for which you have struggled so long just when they appear at last to be in sight. 

A country in which one particular religious or racial minority is made to feel they do not belong; a country in which a particular religious or racial minority is subjected to campaigns of hatred and violence; a country in which, despite being born in the country, people from one particular racial group are denied citizenship and rendered stateless – can never be a country free and at peace. So it is vital that everyone who desires true freedom, democracy and peace for this country should unite to oppose intolerance and hatred. Voices of peace and justice from all religious and political groups must work together to oppose the intolerant minority. I urge the Government to ensure that the police and security forces act swiftly and effectively to prevent further violence, protect vulnerable communities and bring the perpetrators of such hatred and violence to justice. I call upon the Government, and Parliament, urgently to review and revise the 1982 Citizenship Law, to bring it in line with international human rights norms. I call for a genuinely independent analysis of the Rohingya people’s history in Burma, so that misunderstandings can be corrected, misinformation countered and prejudices addressed. I call on the Government and civil society to invest in initiatives for inter-religious and inter-racial dialogue and reconciliation. And I applaud religious, political and civil society leaders who are already beginning this vital work. 

But I am not here just to tell the Government what we expect of them. I am also here, along with my colleagues, to offer our assistance. Just over a year ago, I had the privilege – one of the greatest privileges of my professional life – of introducing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as she addressed our Parliament in Westminster Hall. During her address she specifically requested support from us to help strengthen your own Parliament. She asked Britain as “one of the oldest parliamentary democracies” in the world “to consider what it can do to help build the sound institutions needed to support a nascent parliamentary democracy”. Since then, in addition to groups of UK MPs visiting Burma, I have been pleased to welcome two delegations of Burmese parliamentarians in December 2012 and April 2013. The Bills committee and the Public Accounts Committee came to engage with us on the issues of law-making and legislative scrutiny. 

As this country develops the institutions of democracy, strengthening the role of Parliament is vital. Parliament exists in a democratic society to represent the people, to scrutinise the executive, to ensure not only the rule of law but good law, and to hold those who govern to account. In our Parliament in Britain – known as the ‘Mother of Parliaments’ – we do not claim to get it all right. On the contrary, we make plenty of mistakes. But we have the advantage of experience and history, of lessons learned from our mistakes. We would never presume to suggest that our system is the only model for parliamentary democracy, nor the best, nor the model that you should emulate. But if there is knowledge, experience, expertise and ideas that we may be able to share, that – adapted to your own context, culture and customs – could help Parliamentarians in Naypyidaw strengthen their role, and ensure greater scrutiny, better laws, more transparency and accountability, and better government of, by and for the people, if there is a contribution we can make, then as friends of this country and its people, we would be delighted to be of service. 

There is an Asian saying to the effect that a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. You have embarked on a new path in your journey towards freedom, democracy, justice and peace. It is a journey that you have been pursuing for decades, with a struggle for independence from colonial rule, a struggle against Japanese occupation, a struggle for ethnic rights, a struggle for democracy. Many of your people have engaged in that struggle with heroism and courage, and sacrifice, which deserve our deep respect. Some of us in Britain have tried, in our own small ways, to walk with you for at least some of that journey. And today I want to assure you that we will continue to do so. To do so until you reach the destination to which you have been journeying for so long. To do so until you achieve the freedom, democracy, justice, respect for human rights and peace which we in Britain have so long enjoyed and which you have too long been denied. 

Thank you.

This speech transcript copied from GOV.UK website.

RB News 

July 31, 2013 

Maungdaw, Arakan – Six Rohingyas from Zaw Matet village, in the Southern Maungdaw Township of Arakan State, were arrested by Hlun Htaine. According to locals, the police extorted 450,000 Kyat from them. 

The Six Rohingya men were heading back to their homes from work on July 28, 2013. They were arrested by four Hlun Htaine police, from the Zaw Matet Bridge check post. The police entered the village and accused them of being in violation of Curfew Act 144. 

The curfew act forbids Rohingya from leaving their houses from 10 pm to 5 am. The men were arrested at 9:40 pm. They were almost home. The arrests by the Hlun Htaine police was simply a means to extort money. This is the same tactic that was used by the Nasaka. 

The profiles of six Rohingya men are: 

(1) Einus, son of Kader (50-years-old) 

(2) Molvi Kabir, son of Abul Hashim (26-years-old) 

(3) Mohammed Fahad, son of Salim Ullah (24-years-old) 

(4) Mohammed Rafique, son of Azam Ali (25-years-old) 

(5) Noor Alam, son of Noor Mohammed (30-years-old) 

(6) Amin Ullah, son of Zafar Ahmed (18-years-old) 

A villager told RB News that among the arrested, Mohammed Fahad can speak Burmese language fluently. He was released the same night after paying the amount of 200,000 Kyat to the Hlun Htaine police. The remaining five Rohingya men were released the following day after paying 50,000 Kyat.

Xinhua

July 31, 2013

U Shwe Mann, speaker of Myanmar's House of Representative (Lower House), took over the alternate seat of Speaker of the two-House Union Parliament from U Khin Aung Myint Wednesday, parliament source said.

U Khin Aung Myint's term of two and a half years in the post expired on the day according to the constitution. But he will retain as speaker of the House of Nationalities (Upper House).

USwe Mann, who is also chairman of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), will run for the remaining two and a half years' term for the current five-year tenure of U Thein Sein's government elected through 2010 general election.

The handover ceremony was attended by President U Thein Sein and two Vice Presidents Sai Mauk Kham and U Nyan Tun, Commander-in- Chief of the Defense Services Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing and ministers.

The current seventh regular session of the Union Parliament began in Nay Pyi Taw on July 1 along with the separate sessions of the two Houses.

The session has so far adopted, among others, a proposal to form a 109-member Constitution Review Joint Committee, represented proportionally by parliament members of both Houses, political parties, military MPs and individuals, to make necessary amendment to the 2008 State Constitution.

The parliament also sought admission to the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property as well as admission to the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency- MIGS Convention.

In addition, the parliament endorsed the government's appointment of the governor and vice governors of the central bank of Myanmar.

Associated Press

July 31, 2013

MEDAN, Indonesia - A group of 14 Muslim asylum seekers from Myanmar went on trial Wednesday after a deadly brawl at an Indonesian detention centre left eight Buddhist fishermen from their country dead.

The violence occurred April 5 in North Sumatra province, where more than 100 ethnic Rohingya asylum seekers — most intercepted off Indonesia's coast after fleeing Myanmar in rickety boats — and 11 Buddhists from Myanmar accused of illegal fishing were being housed together.

Eight Buddhists were killed, and 15 Muslim Rohingya were injured. Three other Buddhists escaped unharmed.

The Rohingya men are being tried at Medan district court in North Sumatra province. Prosecutors charged them with collective assault and torturing, which carry a maximum sentence of 12 years.

Police and the detention chief say the clash began after a Rohingya Muslim cleric and a fisherman got into a heated debate about religious violence that had erupted a few weeks earlier in central Myanmar.

However, prosecutors told the court that the Rohingya were angered when a female asylum seeker was sexually harassed by the fishermen.

Early this month the same court acquitted three Rohingya teenagers due to a lack of evidence of involvement in the violence.

Boatloads of Rohingya have been arriving on Indonesia's shores following a wave of religious violence in Myanmar, where they are considered illegal settlers from neighbouring Bangladesh. Hundreds have been killed and more than 100,000 left homeless in clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.

The tensions have tested Myanmar's reformist government as it attempts to institute political and economic liberalization after nearly half a century of harsh military rule.

Grant Bayldon

Dominion Post

July 31, 2013

As Australia closes the door on desperate boat arrivals, Amnesty International New Zealand head Grant Bayldon thinks it's time for New Zealand to increase the number of refugees it takes. 

I'm not told the name of the well-dressed, 30-something-year-old man I'm introduced to in Bangkok, and I know not to ask. 

He shows me the outside of his red Myanmar passport. It wouldn't seem worth much to me - there's not many countries a Myanmar passport will get you into - but he holds it like gold dust. 

It's hard to place a value on belonging to a country - any country - until you meet people who don't. The fact that this man even has a passport is surprising, for he is Rohingya, an ethnic minority group in Myanmar that has been described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted in the world. 

Over the centuries, Myanmar - also known as Burma - has repeatedly turned on the Rohingya like a body whose immune system attacks itself. 

Denied equal access to citizenship in their own country, the catalogue of abuses against this Muslim minority also includes restrictions on freedom of movement, property ownership, marriage, number of children, work and religious practice. And if that weren't bad enough, since last year murderous rampages between Buddhist and Muslim communities have caused many Rohingya to flee for their lives. 

This man is one of the lucky ones. He had a successful business until death threats forced him to abandon it. So he has some choices - unlike all those who have fled by boat hoping to make it to Thailand or Bangladesh. Many never did. 

He can overstay his visitor visa to Thailand, but he could not legally work and he and his family would spend the rest of their lives in fear of arrest or deportation back to Myanmar. 

He can return to Myanmar from where he fled just a week before and risk the lives of his family. 

Or he can go to Indonesia as a visitor and risk getting on a boat to Australia. 

So I'm not really surprised that he is planning on taking the Australia boat option. 

I try to warn him of the dangers of the crossing - that many people drown and that even if his family makes it, they would face years of offshore detention before the Australian Government would even begin to process their asylum claim. Not much of a choice really. He shrugs his shoulders and both our eyes mist up. 

This was a few weeks ago. If I met this man now, I would need to tell him that choice has also been taken away. 

If he decides to risk the dangerous boat journey he won't ever find himself one day resettled in Australia. Because the Australian Government has now announced that it will refuse to resettle asylum seekers who arrive by boat. Instead, they will be permanently deported to Papua New Guinea, a country where people already face significant human rights issues. 

I think the guilt I felt at being able to jump on a plane back to New Zealand a couple of days later - or to pretty much anywhere really - probably showed. I wanted to tell him New Zealand was a choice, because it is a country where he wouldn't face death and persecution simply for the ethnic group he was born into. That his young children would learn English quickly and that he would be free to set up his business here again. 

But I didn't say it, because his chances of ever getting accepted into New Zealand on our refugee programme are slim. 

We like to think we're doing our bit, but the sad fact is that while the quality of our refugee resettlement programme is very good, our total intake of refugees and asylum seekers each year is small - tiny really - by world standards. 

Each year New Zealand takes 750 people from the United Nations refugee programme, as well as accepting on average 150 asylum seekers who claim protection once they arrive here. 

While the Government has made the welcome announcement that it will refurbish its resettlement centre, it has also said it won't be increasing the quota. In comparison, Australia accepts a total of 20,000 refugees each year and is seeking to increase it to 27,000. 

That's already five times as many per capita as New Zealand. And even the Australian intake is small compared to the hundreds of thousands who continue to flee to Syria's neighbouring countries, or the 2 million Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan. 

When we think of our small effort on the world stage, the recent calls to double our refugee quota are modest to say the least. 

We don't want the issue to become a political football in New Zealand like it has in Australia and yes, we'd need a corresponding increase in the support required to resettle refugees well. 

But right now we're punching well below our weight. 

New Zealand should be stepping up and making a genuine commitment to participating in a regional solution - part of which is increasing the New Zealand quota and the resources that go along with that. And if ever there were a time for this to happen, it is now. Worldwide the number of people who have fled their homes as a result of conflict and persecution, according to the United Nations, is the highest since the mid-1990s. 

RB News 

July 30, 2013 

Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Dhaka Tribune

July 30, 2013

ABC Australia

July 30, 2013

East Timor's foreign minister says a boatload of asylum seekers en route to Australia was not forcibly pushed away from his country in early July.

The group of 95 mostly Rohingyas from Myanmar arrived on East Timor's south coast from Indonesia, having managed to get close to Darwin before their damaged boat drifted north.

They have claimed repeatedly to have sought asylum and assistance from East Timor, which was denied.

It is a claim Foreign Minister Jose Luis Guterres told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific is not correct.

"I was in Australia when this incident happened and I was informed by the secretary of state for security that, in fact, the government of Timor-Leste helped them fix their boat and we haven't received any requests for asylum from nobody," he said.

"And once the engines were repaired, we all agreed with them to go back to place of their origin."

The country of origin is considered to be Indonesia, and they were sent to nearby Wetar Island on July 11 and to even smaller Liran on July 14.

It is now believed they have been returned to Sulawesi in Indonesia.

In an interview on Radio Australia on the July 22, and via a written statement, the group's spokesman Zaw Win claims to have asked for asylum for the Rohingyas on three occasions and was, at times, threatened by police.

"We have sympathy, we have solidarity for all those that have been persecuted in their countries because of religion or because of political options," Mr Guterres said.

"But I have to say to you that no one has requested political asylum in Timor-Leste."

Foreign Minister Guterres says East Timor honours its commitments under international law.

"We have to proceed according to the laws and the convention on refugees," he said.

"Our own constitution guarantees and recognises that for people that are persecuted, the state can give them political asylum."

Aid groups claim access denied

Calls to the Red Cross and the UN's International Organisation for Migration in Dili 10 days ago confirmed reports that the group was kept in isolation in East Timor and aid organisations were denied access. 

When the group moved to Indonesia, the IOM and the UNHCR in Jakarta did not return calls.

Sisto de Santos from the East Timor NGO Human Rights Law and Justice, or HAK, confirms he was unable to access the refugees.

"The local police in East Timor refused us to meet directly with the people and be confident they didn't violate these conventions," he said.

Foreign Minister Guterres acknowledges East Timor is obliged under the refugee convention to assist asylum seekers, and says the group was never detained.

"So I don't know why they complain about being granted access, because these people have been free all the time," he said.

Former president Jose Ramos Horta felt strongly enough about the issue to write an article in which he said he was very saddened by the incident.

Mr Ramos Horta raised the issue with the foreign minister on a recent trip to Africa.

"Yes, the former president asked me if it's true that we refused asylum to them and I said 'no, no-one requested asylum from us and we did according to our means'," Mr Guterres said.

"I do support the initiatives of Prime Minister Rudd and the president of Indonesia to convey international confidence in dealing with this issue.

"No-one wants to have children or women or men dying in the high seas just because they want to look for a better life, or they are persecuted, and they want to go to Australia."

The latest unconfirmed report is that the group was bound to arrive in Sulawesi late Monday night, possibly with the assistance of UN migration organisation, the IOM.