Burma Related News - Dec 25-29, 2009.
TIN KYI
BURMA RELATED NEWS - DECEMBER 25- 29, 2009
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AP - US citizen in solitary confinement in Myanmar
Reuters - INTERVIEW-Bangladesh to import power, gas from Myanmar
Bloomberg - ONGC to Lend $857 Million to Unit for Myanmar Project
UPI - India eyes stake in Chinese gas pipeline
New York Times - In Southeast Asia, Unease Over Free Trade Zone
Straits Times - Myanmar frees 130 fishermen
Xinhua - Moderate earthquake hits Myanmar NW division
Xinhua - Myanmar agrees to take back 9,000 of its nationals from
Bangladesh
Korea Times - Asian Monetary Fund to Debut in March
bdnews24 - Myanmar deputy minister arrives for talks
The Nation - PTT can sign natural-gas MoU with Burma
Mizzima News - Burmese-American charged with another case
The Irrawaddy - Will DKBA Join Border Guard Force?
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US citizen in solitary confinement in Myanmar
Tue Dec 29, 3:48 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – An American jailed in Myanmar was placed in
solitary confinement after ending a 12-day hunger strike, prompting
the U.S. Embassy to request his return to a standard prison cell, an
embassy official said Tuesday.
Myanmar-born Kyaw Zaw Lwin was arrested Sept. 3 when he arrived at
Yangon airport and has been jailed since without facing formal
charges.
He started a hunger strike on Dec. 4 to protest conditions of
political prisoners in Myanmar, according to human rights groups.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin told a consular officer, who visited Monday, that he
ended his hunger strike Dec. 15 and was subsequently placed in
solitary confinement, said embassy spokesman Richard Mei.
Mei said the embassy sent a diplomatic note to authorities in the
military-ruled country asking "to have him returned to a normal prison
cell."
Kyaw Zaw Lwin, who is also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, said he was
receiving regular medical care, Mei said. The U.S. Embassy was last
granted consular access on Dec. 3.
"His health has improved and he looks much better than he did at our
last meeting," said lawyer Nyan Win, who said the court based inside
the notorious Insein Prison would decide Jan. 1 whether to charge him.
Insein is known for holding political prisoners, including Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was tried in the prison's court
earlier this year and sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest.
When Kyaw Zaw Win made a court appearance in court on Dec. 18, lawyers
said he looked thin and weak.
Kyaw Zaw Win was initially accused of trying to stir up unrest — which
he has denied. Prosecutors later asked the court to charge him with
forgery and violating the foreign currency exchange act.
Under Myanmar's legal system, defense and prosecution spend initial
sessions presenting their case so the judges can determine whether to
formally charge the defendant and proceed with the trial. Nine
prosecution witnesses have testified so far.
His mother is serving a five-year prison term for political activities
and his sister was sentenced to 65 years in prison for her role in the
2007 pro-democracy protests, activist groups and family members said.
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INTERVIEW-Bangladesh to import power, gas from Myanmar
Sun Dec 27, 2009 5:36pm IST
By Serajul Islam Quadir
DHAKA, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Bangladesh intends to import gas and
electricity from Myanmar, a senior government official said, as it
looks to boost energy supplies to help spur faster economic growth.
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes said the issue
would be a focal point of two days of secretary-level bilateral talks
starting in Dhaka on Tuesday.
"They will include Dhaka's plans to import natural gas and power --
which Myanmar has in excess and is ready to sell -- to meet our
growing demand," Quayes told Reuters in an interview.
"We will discuss establishing a hydroelectric plant in Myanmar to
import power from there ...
"We will also discuss ways to send back Myanmar Muslim refugees
huddled in and outside camps in Bangladesh, who are proving to be a
formidable burden on this poor and crowded country."
More than 28,000 Myanmar Rohingya Muslims have been living in two
UNHCR-run camps in Bangladesh's south-eastern Cox's Bazar district.
Officials and experts have said Bangladesh needs to increase power and
gas supplies from sources within and outside the country to spur
development, fight poverty and push economic growth beyond a figure of
around 6 percent.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government, which took office in
January vowing to address these issues, is hopeful of substantially
adding power to the national grid over the coming years.
Bangladesh now produces up to 3,800 megawatts (MW) of electricity
daily, leaving a shortfall of between 1,200 and 1,500 MW, energy
officials said.
Bangladesh has 7.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven gas and 5.5 tcf
probable gas reserves, which will be exhausted over the next few
years, they said.
Some 250,000 Rohingya who fled across the border from Myanmar in early
1992 trying to escape alleged persecution by Yangon military junta,
but majority of them had been repatriated by the UNCHCR late that
year. The others refused to go back.
Cox's Bazar officials say around 300,000 Rohingyas are also living
illegally outside the camps -- often mingling with local Muslims and
competing with them for a meagre supply of jobs.
"The Rohingyas will be a major issue in the discussion (on Tuesday-
Wednesday)," Quayes said, giving no details.
Dhaka and Yangon will also discuss ways to eliminate problems relating
to business visas and about introducing direct letters of credit for
augmentation of trade.
Trade volumes between the two countries are currently very low.
Myanmar and Bangladesh share about 320 kilometres (200 miles) of
border, partly demarcated by the Naf river.
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ONGC to Lend $857 Million to Unit for Myanmar Project
By Rakteem Katakey
Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Oil & Natural Gas Corp. will lend 40 billion
rupees ($857 million) to its overseas unit investing in a gas project
off Myanmar’s coast as India’s biggest explorer seeks to meet rising
fuel demand at home.
“For us it makes more sense to invest in assets through ONGC Videsh
Ltd. than put the money in banks,” ONGC Chairman and Managing Director
R.S. Sharma said in a telephone interview today. The interest-free
loan has no maturity date, Sharma said.
ONGC, the New Delhi-based producer of almost 25 percent of the crude
oil used by Asia’s third-largest energy-consuming nation, is seeking
to diversify its supplies and keep pace with India’s growing fuel
needs. The company plans to get the equivalent of 60 million metric
tons of oil, or more than double its output in India, from overseas
fields by 2025.
“There are limited number of opportunities at home,” said Apurva Shah,
head of research at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. in Mumbai. “Given that
there is going to be some serious growth in domestic demand in the
years to come, ONGC needs to get its hands on whatever assets it can
get.”
India is competing with China for energy assets worldwide as output
from domestic fields declines. ONGC bought Imperial Energy Plc for 1.4
billion pounds ($2.2 billion) this year to gain access to oilfields in
Russia. Chinese companies have announced plans to spend at least $16
billion on oil and gas fields in Africa.
ONGC declined 1.3 percent to close at 1,181.55 rupees in Mumbai
trading, compared with a 0.2 percent gain in the benchmark Sensitive
Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock has climbed 77 percent
this year.
Myanmar Gas
ONGC has a 17 percent stake in the Shwe, Shwe-Phu and Mya areas in the
A-1 and A-3 blocks in Myanmar, estimated to hold between 4.5 trillion
and 7.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Daewoo International Corp. is the leader of the group that’s
developing the fields and owns a 51 percent stake. Myanmar Oil & Gas
Enterprise holds a 15 percent share, while GAIL India Ltd. and Korea
Gas Corp. have 8.5 percent each.
The group will supply 500 million cubic feet of gas a day from the
fields to China National Petroleum Corp., Daewoo International said on
Aug. 25. The venture plans to start deliveries in May 2013.
“ONGC Videsh will start repaying the loan when they start generating
cash from the project,” Sharma said. The loan requires the approval of
the Cabinet, he said.
Project Infrastructure
The group is in talks with China National Petroleum to build an 825-
kilometer (513-mile) overland pipeline to transport the cleaner-
burning fuel to the world’s fastest-growing major economy. ONGC has
the “option” to buy a share in the pipeline, R.S. Butola, managing
director of ONGC Videsh, said on Oct. 6.
Daewoo International awarded a $1.4 billion contract to Hyundai Heavy
Industries Co. to build an offshore production platform, offshore
pipelines and a land terminal at the Myanmar fields by 2012, the South
Korean company said on Nov. 2.
Proven reserves in the country formerly known as Burma reached 17.5
trillion cubic feet at the end of last year, equivalent to a fifth of
Australia’s reserves, according to the BP Statistical Review.
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India eyes stake in Chinese gas pipeline
Published: Dec. 29, 2009 at 11:17 AM
NEW DELHI, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas
Corp. and Gas Authority of India Ltd. could take a 12.5-percent stake
in a Chinese gas pipeline in the Bay of Bengal.
Government officials are said to be considering a $251 million
investment for GAIL and ONGC Videsh, the overseas division of ONGC,
for the 540-mile gas pipeline planned by the China Petroleum Corp.
CNCP is considering the pipeline in Myanmar to supply natural gas from
offshore blocks in the Bay of Bengal, The Economic Times of India
reported.
Daewoo recently doled out a $1.4 billion contract to develop pipelines
and onshore infrastructure at the Myanmar fields.
CNPC is offering a 49.9 percent stake in the pipeline to developers of
two gas fields in the region, the Times said.
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New York Times - In Southeast Asia, Unease Over Free Trade Zone
By LIZ GOOCH
Published: December 28, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR — When the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve,
China and 10 Southeast Asian nations will usher in the world’s third-
largest free trade area. While many industries are eager for tariffs
to fall on everything from textiles and rubber to vegetable oils and
steel, a few are nervously waiting to see whether the agreement will
mean boom or bust for their businesses.
Trade between China and the 10 states that make up the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations has soared in recent years, to $192.5 billion
in 2008, from $59.6 billion in 2003. The new free trade zone, which
will remove tariffs on 90 percent of traded goods, is expected to
increase that commerce still more.
The zone will rank behind only the European Economic Area and the
North American Free Trade Area in trade volume. It will encompass 1.9
billion people. The free trade area is expected to help Asean
countries increase exports, particularly those with commodities that
resource-hungry China desperately wants.
The China-Asean free trade area has faced less vocal opposition than
the European and North American zones, perhaps because existing
tariffs were already low and because it is unlikely to alter commerce
patterns radically, analysts say.
However, some manufacturers in Southeast Asia are concerned that cheap
Chinese goods may flood their markets, once import taxes are removed,
making it more difficult for them to retain or increase their local
market shares. Indonesia is so worried that it plans to ask for a
delay in removing tariffs from some items like steel products,
textiles, petrochemicals and electronics.
“Not everyone in Asean sees this F.T.A. as a plus,” said Sothirak Pou,
a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies in Singapore.
Asean and China have gradually reduced many tariffs in recent years.
However, under the free trade agreement — which was signed in 2002 —
China, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and
Brunei will have to remove almost all tariffs in 2010.
Asean’s newest members — Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar — will
gradually reduce tariffs in coming years and must eliminate them
entirely by 2015.
Most of the goods that will become tariff-free in January — including
manufactured items — are currently subject to import taxes of about 5
percent. Some agricultural products and parts for motor vehicles and
heavy machinery will still face tariffs in 2010, but those will
gradually be phased out.
In recent years, China has overtaken the United States to become
Asean’s third-largest trading partner after Japan and the European
Union. The overall trade balance has shifted slightly in China’s
favor, although there are significant differences among Southeast
Asian countries’ trade balances, said Thomas Kaegi, head of
macroeconomic research for the Asia-Pacific region at UBS Wealth
Management Research.
Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have only small trade deficits with
China, while Vietnam’s has grown substantially in recent years. In
2008, Vietnam exported items worth $4.5 billion to China but imported
about $15.7 billion worth of Chinese goods.
In Indonesia, the textile and steel industries are particularly
nervous about the lifting of tariffs, prompting the government to say
that it would ask for a delay on some provisions. No time frame for
submitting the request was given, but the Asean secretariat said it
had not yet received an official request.
While competing with more Chinese imports may pose new challenges for
Asean manufacturers, analysts say increasing their access to the 1.3
billion people of China could produce significant benefits.
Rodolfo Severino, who was secretary general of Asean from 1998 to
2002, identified Malaysia — which already exports palm oil, rubber and
natural gas to China — as one of the countries that might benefit most
from the removal of tariffs.
But nations like Vietnam that focus on the production of cheap
consumer goods are more likely to be hurt, said Mr. Severino, head of
the Asean Studies Center at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
in Singapore.
Those countries may need to look for new export products and identify
new niche markets, he said: “This is the nature of competition.”
Song Hong, an economist, expects that China will import more
agricultural goods, like tropical fruit, from countries like Thailand,
Malaysia and Vietnam when the trade area takes effect. That could hurt
Chinese farmers in southern provinces like Guangxi and Yunnan, said
Mr. Song, director of the trade research division at the Institute of
World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
in Beijing.
Mr. Sothirak, who was Cambodia’s minister of industry, mines and
energy from 1993 to 1998, said the removal of tariffs might help
increase Cambodia’s agricultural exports to China. Cambodia needs to
diversify its export markets because its exports to the United States
and Europe have declined, he said.
While he does not hold much hope that Cambodian textile exports would
be able to compete with China’s highly developed garment industry, he
said he believed the free trade area might entice more Chinese garment
factories to set up operations in Cambodia, where production costs and
labor are cheaper.
Pushpanathan Sundram, deputy secretary general of Asean for Asean
Economic Community, acknowledged that there would be “some costs
involved” for some countries when the free trade area took effect, but
he said he believed China and Asean would “mutually benefit.”
Despite the expectations for increasing trade, Mr. Severino predicted
that the introduction of the trade zone would not be a “breakthrough
event” setting off a dramatic surge in commerce come January.
“There are many factors that traders and investors consider, and the
trend has been going this way anyway,” he said. “What this does is to
send out good signals and show the determination of governments to
make things easier.”
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Dec 29, 2009
Straits Times - Myanmar frees 130 fishermen
YANGON - MILITARY-RULED Myanmar has released 130 foreign fishermen who
were jailed last month following their arrest for illegal fishing, a
prison official told AFP on Tuesday.
The group, which was held in Yangon's notorious Insein jail, was made
up mostly of Indonesians and included 14 Filipinos, one Chinese and
four Taiwanese nationals, the official told AFP on condition of
anonymity.
Taiwan's foreign ministry confirmed on Monday that an unspecified fine
had to be paid before its four nationals could leave, but the prison
official did not reveal the conditions for the release of the other
foreigners.
The group were arrested last month from 10 illegal fishing vessels and
sent to Insein prison for poaching in Myanmar's waters - the country's
largest arrest for illegal fishing in decades, officials said. They
were later charged with violating immigration laws.
The official said the Indonesians were still waiting at the prison 'as
their embassy has to arrange air tickets for them'. Seven Myanmar
nationals who were arrested with the group were also being released,
he said.
An Indonesian embassy source confirmed that they were planning to send
the 111 Indonesian fisherman back home soon.
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Moderate earthquake hits Myanmar NW division
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-29 19:21:57
YANGON, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter
scale struck Myanmar's northwestern Sagaing division Tuesday
afternoon, according to the Meteorology and Hydrology Department.
The earthquake, which occurred at 3:34:12 p.m. local time (about 0904
GMT) was centered at 24.4 degrees north latitude and 94.858 degrees
east longitude, about 8 kilometers northeast of Paungbyin township and
56 km south of Homemalin township.
No further report about the casualties is immediately available.
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Myanmar agrees to take back 9,000 of its nationals from Bangladesh
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-29 19:44:00
DHAKA, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar Tuesday agreed to take back soon
around 9,000 of its nationals out of 28,000 who are staying in two
camps as registered refugees in Bangladesh's southeastern district of
Cox's Bazar, 391 kms southeast of capital Dhaka.
Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint who held talks with
Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Misarul Quayes in Dhaka agreed to
repatriate the refugees soon as Bangladesh side handed over a list of
28,000 Myanmar nationals registered by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as refugees.
Briefing reporters on the outcome of the 4th Foreign Secretary level
consultations, Quayes said remaining registered refugees will also be
repatriated after verification by the Myanmar government about their
nationality.
Quayes said apart from 28,000 registered refugees, many Myanmar
nationals sneaked into Bangladesh on economic reasons and are staying
in makeshift camps in Cox's Bazar as undocumented refugees.
The Foreign Secretary said they raised the matter during the talks and
the Myanmar side agreed to repatriate them back after verification.
The refugees, popularly known as Rohingyas, from Myanmar started
entering Bangladesh since early 1990s. So far 236,000 refugees were
sent back over the decades with the help of the UNHCR.
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12-28-2009 16:31
Korea Times - Asian Monetary Fund to Debut in March
By Yoon Ja-young, Staff Reporter
Korea will join in the creation of an Asian version of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) next March by teaming up with with
ASEAN member countries and China and Japan, the Ministry of Strategy
and Finance said Monday.
The fund based on the Chiang Mai Initiative is expected to enhance
member countries' ability to cope with short-term foreign currency
volatility triggered by external shocks..
Finance ministers and central bank governors of the ASEAN member
states and Korea, China and Japan announced the signing of the Chiang
Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) Agreement, Monday.
The multilateral financial support program, which will make an
official debut on March 24, includes the 10 member countries of ASEAN
- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - and three Northeast
Asian countries of Korea, China and Japan.
It is based on the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI), in which the countries
in Asia agreed to support each other with dollar liquidity in times of
crisis. The need for the safety net especially increased following the
Asian financial crisis, which also hit Korea in 1997.
While the CMI was a Bilateral Swap Arrangement between Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, and Myanmar, and Korea, China and Japan, the
agreement this time is a multilateral one between the 13 countries.
"At this time, we reiterate the importance of the CMIM in
strengthening the region's capacity to safeguard against increased
risks and challenges in the global economy," the ministers and central
governors of the member countries said in a joint statement.
"The CMIM, with the total size of $120 billion, will provide financial
support through currency swap transactions to CMIM parties facing
balance of payments and short-term liquidity difficulties," they added
in the announcement.
If a member country seeks support, central banks of other member
countries will provide dollars, while the recipient country will give
its domestic currency in exchange.
For the $120 billion fund, Korea contributed 16 percent or $19.2
billion, while China and Japan provided 32 percent, each. Indonesia,
Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore gave 3.97 percent, while the Philippines
gave 3.07 percent. Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam
accounted for less than 1 percent of the fund.
When Korea suffers a dollar shortage, it can seek up to $19.2 billion
in support from the fund.
"Korea took a bigger share in the fund compared to its economic size,
setting up ground to expand its influence within the region," the
ministry said.
Among ASEAN plus three, Korea accounts for 8 percent of total GDP, and
6.4 percent of the region's total foreign exchange reserves.
"The launch of the CMIM is an important accomplishment upgrading
intraregional financial cooperation, including the capability to cope
with a short-term liquidity crisis," the ministry added.
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Bangladesh News 24 hours
Myanmar deputy minister arrives for talks
Mon, Dec 28th, 2009 9:14 pm BdST
Dhaka, Dec 28 (bdnews24.com)—Myanmar deputy foreign minister Maung
Myint arrived in city on Monday to lead his country's delegation at
foreign secretary-level talks, which are likely to feature the thorny
issue of Rohingya refugees entering Bangladesh from the neighbouring
state.
The two-day talks between Bangladesh and Myanmar starts on Tuesday at
foreign ministry.
"Deputy foreign minister Maung Myint and two officials of Myanmar have
already arrived," Saida Muna Tasneem, a foreign ministry director
general (external publicity), told bdnews24.com Monday.
She said foreign secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes will lead Bangladesh
side while Myint, who holds the status of foreign secretary, will head
the five-member team of his side.
Quayes recently told journalists that Bangladesh would press its
neighbour to stop pushing Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh
territory.
Myanmar's Muslim people from the Northern Rakhain state have been
crossing into Bangladesh in large number since 1991 to escape
persecution by the rulers there.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees set up camps in
Bangladesh to repatriate the Rohingya people.
Some 28,000 out of 500,000 Rohingya refugees registered in 1992 have
been living in the refugee camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district.
But many of those repatriated under the UNHCR returned into Bangladesh
and now mingle with local people for fear of repression in their
homeland.
Local officials say almost all of the repatriated Rohingyas have
intruded into Bangladesh again and have been creating social
problems.
According to international law, host country cannot force repatriation
of refugees.
The foreign secretary also said the discussion will also feature
introduction of banking facilities between Bangladesh and Myanmar to
increase business activities between the two counties.
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The Nation - PTT can sign natural-gas MoU with Burma
By Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul
Published on December 29, 2009
The PTT Group has received permission to sign a memorandum of
understanding to purchase natural gas from Burma's Zotica Block, as
part of Thailand's natural-gas supply plan.
The block can produce 300 million cubic feet per day. Of that, 240
million cubic feet will be supplied to Thailand and the rest used in
Burma.
The MoU is worth more than US$1 billion (Bt33.29 billion) and will see
a supply of gas for 25-30 years starting in 2013, said Energy Minister
Wannarat Charnnukul.
Wannarat yesterday chaired a meeting of the National Energy Policy
Committee, which endorsed a five-year supply plan. Demand is expected
to increase to 5.142 billion cfpd by 2015.
The plan will help alleviate the Kingdom's electricity consumption of
6,890 megawatts, as per a second revision of the 2007 power-
development plan (PDP).
Natural-gas demand is forecast to grow 6 per cent a year overall, with
annual demand from power plants to expand 3.3 per cent, the industrial
sector 11 per cent and the transportation sector 23 per cent.
The natural-gas supply plan is scheduled to be ready early next year.
The committee yesterday also approved a tariff MoU between the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) and Laos, aimed at
purchasing electricity from the Nam Nguem 3 power plant in that
country.
"We plan to collect a fee of Bt2.65 per unit of electricity, but Egat
must negotiate the MoU with all of the stakeholders again," Wannarat
said.
The Nam Nguem 3 project has a capacity of 440MW and will start
operations in 2017. There are four stakeholders: GMS Laos (27 per
cent), Marubeni (25 per cent), Ratchaburi Electricity Generating
Holding (25 per cent) and the Lao government (23 per cent).
The PTT Group will have to shoulder a Bt20-billion burden for
liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas for vehicles next year.
Of that amount, Bt15 billion will be spent on imports of LPG and the
rest for the loss incurred in maintaining the retail NGV price at
Bt8.50 a kilogram.
President and CEO Prasert Bunsumpun yesterday said domestic demand for
LPG was expected to increase next year in line with the Kingdom's
economic growth, or 3 per cent.
"Isn't it about time the government considered adjusting fuel prices
to reflect the real cost?" said Prasert, adding that crude oil was
expected to be quoted at US$70 to $80 (Bt2,300 to Bt2,700) per barrel
next year.
Oil demand will increase to 1 million barrels per day, or 90 per cent
of the Kingdom's refinery capacity.
The 3-per-cent rise in LPG consumption will have to be met by imports.
The petrochemical industry uses 100,000bpd of oil, the export sector
100,000-200,000bpd and domestic consumption 700,000bpd.
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Burmese-American charged with another case
Tuesday, 29 December 2009 20:11 Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) – US citizen Nyi Nyi Aung standing trial in Insein
Prison was charged with yet another case today, this time by the
Immigration Department, his lawyer said.
He is facing trial in three cases in Rangoon South District court
sitting inside Insein prison. During today’s hearing the Botataung
Township Immigration Department filed another case against him.
“Another case was filed against him today under section 6(3) of the
1949 Immigration Act, for making a wrong statement and entering with
his ID. The Botataung Township Immigration Department Officer lodged a
direct complaint in court. The court will pronounce its views on this
complaint on 1 January 2010,” his lawyer Nyan Win said.
The defence lawyers argued on the first three cases today on behalf of
their client Nyi Nyi Aung a.k.a. Kyaw Zaw Lwin (40) on whether he
should be formally charged by the court as the public prosecutor had
accused in the indictment or the charges dropped. Today’s trial was
attended by the Vice-Consul from the US Embassy in Rangoon.
The former student activist fled to the Thai-Burma border after the
army staged a coup in 1988. He resettled in the US later. He was
alleged to have entered Burma eight times. Intelligence personnel
arrested him when he arrived at the Rangoon Mingaladon airport via
Bangkok on 3 September this year.
First he was charged under section 420 (fraud), 468 (forgery of
national ID) of the Penal Code and under section 24 of the Foreign
Exchange Regulation Act. Now the Immigration Department has filed
another case against him today under section 6(3) of the Immigration
Act.
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The Irrawaddy - Will DKBA Join Border Guard Force?
By SAW YAN NAING - Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Burmese regime's main ally in eastern Burma, the Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army (DKBA), was the first armed ethnic group to announce its
support for the military government's plan to order all cease-fire
groups to join a united border guard force under Burmese army command.
However, since its enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal, the DKBA
has shied away from official statements regarding its stance, while
other armed ethnic cease-fire groups, such as the New Democratic Army-
Kachin and the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front, were
officially received at ceremonies in November marking their
participation in the border guard force plan.
The DKBA has been strongly allied with the Tatmadaw––the Burmese name
for the country's armed forces—since it signed a cease-fire agreement
with the junta in 1995 following a split from its mother organization,
the Karen National Union (KNU).
But now that other ethnic armies, such as the United Wa State Army
(UWSA) and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), have rejected
the junta's plan, the DKBA is under pressure to define its terms of
allegiance to the Tatmadaw.
Burma analysts and observers who spoke to The Irrawaddy were divided
on whether the DKBA would agree to the border guard scheme with
several predicting that splits in the ranks will force the DKBA to
rethink its policy.
General secretary of the KNU Zipporah Sein said that some DKBA
battalions will become border guard forces under the Tatmadaw, but
others will return to the KNU.
Several hundred DKBA members have defected to the KNU since April,
reportedly in disagreement with the leadership's acceptance of the
border guard plan, a move they see as submitting to the junta, their
traditional enemy.
Sources close to the DKBA said the leadership aims to expand the
number of the militia's troops from 6,000 to 9,000 in preparation for
a transfer to border guard force units.
Under the border guard order, each battalion would be made up of 326
troops, including 18 officers, many of whom would be installed from
the Tatmadaw's regional command.
Hsa Paw, a DKBA soldier who defected recently to the KNU, said that
even though their leaders agreed to become border guard forces, many
DKBA soldiers did not agree with the order. Many refuse to wear the
insignia of the Burmese government army, he added.
Hsa Paw said that most of his friends who remained in the DKBA had
told him that they would also defect to the KNU if forced to become
border guard forces.
Karen sources in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese border agreed that many
DKBA soldiers wanted to return to the KNU, but feared arrest or
execution if caught deserting.
“I think it is difficult for them to return en masse,” said a Karen
reporter in Mae Sot. “They will likely return a few at a time.”
Sources said disagreements are growing among the DKBA leaders over
whether to accede to the junta's order.
Paw Kay, the editor of the Karen Information Center, said DKBA
hardliner Col Chit Thu has previously stated that his organization is
not “clever” at political maneuvering, but has agreed to serve as a
border guard force commander with the aim of the DKBA controlling the
entire Karen State, as promised by Naypyidaw.
Observers said cease-fire groups like the KIO, the UWSA and others
have shown their hands on the issue, while the DKBA appears to lack
any clear vision of whether to launch a military or political stand
against the junta.
One DKBA source close to the leadership said the DKBA's political
wing, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Organization (DKBO), will not
contest the general election in 2010.
If the DKBA become border guard forces, the name of their organization
will be changed by the junta and their monthly salaries will be
provided by the Burmese government, according to Karen sources. Trade
in DKBA areas will be controlled by the central government and the
DKBA troops will generally only be assigned to border guard duties.
The Burmese regime, for its part, appears to be willing to allow the
DKBA time to come round to its way of thinking. Naypyidaw is currently
engaged in negotiations with cease-fire groups in northeastern Burma,
such as the UWSA, to persuade them to become border guard forces. Many
observers expect the UWSA and its allies to refuse the order, and a
military confrontation to be ignited.
The same observers generally concur that the Burmese regime must
concentrate on facing down the Wa and its allies in the north before
turning its attention to the DKBA.
The DKBA leaders may therefore have a window of opportunity to
persuade their commanders to accept the border guard proposal, but
many sources doubt they can successfully convince enough troops to
work and fight under the Burmese army's flag.
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