Burmese refugees protest in front of UN office in Malaysia

by Myint Maung

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Nearly three hundred Burmese refugees on Wednesday demonstrated in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur, demanding recognition of refugee status and equal treatment among refugees.

The protestors, mainly Rohingyas from Burma's western Arakan state, said they were being treated differently and were not being granted equal status by the UN agency.

Nyi Nyi, a leader of the protestors, said they held a brief demonstration and submitted their demands in writing to an official from the agency.

"We are demanding recognition as refugees, equal treatment by the office and a cessation to official corruption in granting refugee recognition," Nyi Nyi said.

Nyi Nyi added that they were met by a protection officer from the UNHCR office, to whom they handed their demands.

The UNHCR, however, denied the allegation, saying they treat all refugees equally.

Yante Ismail, the UNHCR Kuala Lumpur office spokesperson, was quoted by the AFP as saying, "UNHCR's policies towards all refugee groups are nondiscriminatory. We do our utmost to assist and protect all refugees."

"The UNHCR will continue to engage different refugee communities to address their problems," she stipulated.

According to the UNHCR there are some 45,400 refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, of whom approximately 40,000 are from Burma – with the majority of the Burmese refugees reportedly Rohingya Muslims from Burma's Arakan state.

READ MORE---> Burmese refugees protest in front of UN office in Malaysia...

NLD member jailed for two years for disturbing officials - Thein Soe

by Ko Wild

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A member of the National League for Democracy, Burma's main opposition party, was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison on charges of disturbing officials carrying out their duty at the behest of the authorities of the Township Peace and Development Council of Rangoon's suburban township of South Dagon on Monday.

Thein Soe, an NLD member, was charged under article (189) of the criminal code, an offence for disturbing officials carrying out their duty, by the police in-charge of North Dagon police station. He was sentenced by justice Daw Htay Htay to two years in jail

Thein Soe's wife Khin Moe Moe told Mizzima that her husband had been actively monitoring the activities of township and police officials and would frequently intervene if he saw that the officials were corrupt and were out to suppress the people.

"He protested against the township authorities recruiting child soldiers and he knew all about the corrupt practices of the police. So, may be that is why they [the official] wanted to get rid of him," she said.

Thein Soe was informed that he had been charged for disturbing officials while carrying out their duty since October last year.

Thein Soe, an active member of the NLD, had served as one of the security and information officers into recording events during the detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's political tour in upper Burma in 2003.

READ MORE---> NLD member jailed for two years for disturbing officials - Thein Soe...

Burmese refugees protest in front of UN office in Malaysia

by Myint Maung

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Nearly three hundred Burmese refugees on Wednesday demonstrated in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur, demanding recognition of refugee status and equal treatment among refugees.

The protestors, mainly Rohingyas from Burma's western Arakan state, said they were being treated differently and were not being granted equal status by the UN agency.

Nyi Nyi, a leader of the protestors, said they held a brief demonstration and submitted their demands in writing to an official from the agency.

"We are demanding recognition as refugees, equal treatment by the office and a cessation to official corruption in granting refugee recognition," Nyi Nyi said.

Nyi Nyi added that they were met by a protection officer from the UNHCR office, to whom they handed their demands.

The UNHCR, however, denied the allegation, saying they treat all refugees equally.

Yante Ismail, the UNHCR Kuala Lumpur office spokesperson, was quoted by the AFP as saying, "UNHCR's policies towards all refugee groups are nondiscriminatory. We do our utmost to assist and protect all refugees."

"The UNHCR will continue to engage different refugee communities to address their problems," she stipulated.

According to the UNHCR there are some 45,400 refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, of whom approximately 40,000 are from Burma – with the majority of the Burmese refugees reportedly Rohingya Muslims from Burma's Arakan state.

READ MORE---> Burmese refugees protest in front of UN office in Malaysia...

Thai government to investigate Rohingya abuse claims

By Larry Jagan
Mizzima News

Thailand's government has promised to investigate claims that the country's military authorities abused hundreds of Rohingya by pushing them back out to sea to die. At the same time, the UN has appealed to Thai authorities to be given access to survivors of the incidents believed to be in custody in southern Thailand.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says Thailand will investigate allegations that the Thai navy cast members of the Muslim minority population from Burma adrift in the Andaman Sea in southwest Thailand last month. The country's Defense Minister will investigate the accusations and report back to the Prime Minister as soon as possible, according to Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban.

The premier also assured human rights activists who met him earlier this week that his government would not tolerate any violation of the rights of Burmese boat people.

"If any officials committed such inhumane acts against [the Rohingya refugees] they will be punished," he promised.

Thailand's Army chief, General Anupong Paochinda, later told journalists that the military was investigating the incident. However the army chief added that he was confident that no Thai officials used violence when dealing with migrant workers and refugees. "They all adhere to international standards and principles of human rights in dealing with illegal immigrants," he said.

However human rights activists based in Thailand fear that hundreds, if not thousands, of Rohingya are dead after being pushed back into the sea by Thai authorities. Up to 200 people are missing while more than 300 others are already known to have drowned after they were set adrift by Thai soldiers, some with their hands tied behind their backs in boats without engines, survivors and human rights activists told Mizzima.

The United Nation's refugee agency has already voiced its concern about these reports and urged the government to investigate the incidents. They are now calling for Thai authorities to give them access to some of the Burmese refugees, who are believed to be in Thai custody in southern Thailand somewhere near Ranong.

"We have asked the Thai government for access to two groups totaling 126 Rohingya boat people, who are in custody in southern Thailand, in order to assess their situation and determine whether any of them are in need of international protection," said a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson, Ron Redman.

The Rohingya in custody are in two groups, around 80 who are believed to have survived the ordeal of being cast adrift after they reached Thailand and a further 46 boat people who were detained by Thai naval authorities off the west coast of Thailand last Friday. But the actual whereabouts of these people is shrouded in mystery. Local Thai naval authorities deny that they are holding any migrant workers in custody.

"We continue to stress that the Thai government should take all measures to make sure the lives of the Rohingya boat people are not put at risk," the UNHCR spokesperson added.

The UNHCR's latest request follows their initial response last week to media reports of the Thai authorities' inhumane treatment of Burmese migrant workers and refugee seekers. "We request the Thai government to take all measures necessary to ensure that the lives of Rohingya are not at risk and they are treated in accordance with humanitarian standards," regional spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey said in Bangkok on Friday.

Yet so far there has been no official response to any of UNHCR's requests. The UN body cannot even confirm how many Burmese Muslims are being detained or their whereabouts.

"But what is needed now is not a knee-jerk response – to what is the tip of the iceberg – but a clear policy position and procedures for processing would be migrants and refugees in keeping with accepted international standards," Sunai Pasuk, a Thai-Burma specialist with the US-based Human Rights Watch told Mizzima.

"It's a real test for the [Thai] Democrat-led government. Will it maintain its integrity and really fulfill its promises to protect human rights and international laws or will it compromise its values in the interest of maintaining good relations with the country's top military brass," asked Sunai.

The Rohingya live in northern Arakan state, in western Burma, bordering Bangladesh. For decades, many have fled social and religious persecution by Burmese military authorities there. Most human rights activists believe that the abuses committed by the junta in the Muslim dominated areas of western Burma are worse than anywhere else in the country.

"Burma's Rohingya minority is subject to systematic persecution – they are effectively denied citizenship, they have their land confiscated, and many are regularly forced to work on government projects," Ben Zawacki, Amnesty International's Burma researcher told Mizzima.

"The regime creates conditions and circumstances that make it clear to the Rohingyas that they are not wanted or welcome in the country; so it's no surprise that they try to flee the country by the thousands," he added.

Since Burma's independence from Britain, there have been several successive surges of Muslim refugees fleeing the country, amounting to millions. The first massive wave was in the late 1970s, when tens of thousands fled to Bangladesh – though nearly all of them were later repatriated. Since the early nineties though, tens of thousands of Burmese Muslims have fled the increased social and religious repression and sought asylum and work abroad; most of them escaping to Bangladesh in the first instance.

Now many Burmese migrants are trying to get further afield – particularly to Indonesia and Malaysia. Their first stop though is Thailand, and thousands have been taking their chances and making the perilous two-week long voyage by sea from Bangladesh to southern Thailand on the first leg of their journey. The period from November to February is when most of the trips are made as the seas are generally not so rough.

But in the past few months thousands of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Burma have been rounded-up by Thai soldiers and transferred to an island off the coast of southern Thailand, near Ranong, before being allegedly put into boats without engines and set adrift.

"Nearly a thousand Burmese immigrants who were held on Koh Sai Daeng [or Red Island] were left drifting in international waters by Thai military authorities in the past few weeks, in at least two separate incidents," a local Burmese resident in Ranong told Mizzima on condition of anonymity.

In the first incident, around the 18th of December, 412 Burmese refugees were placed on board a large barge, hands tied behind their backs, and towed out to sea with little food or water, according to survivors from the boat. They originally had some five separate boats, but were transferred to an open-deck boat. "At first we refused to get into the boat, but then the guards threw at least four of us overboard, with their hands tied behind their backs," according to a survivor who declined to be identified.

"We were tied up and put into a boat without an engine," Zaw Min, one of the few survivors from the boat told Mizzima. "We were then towed into the high seas by a motor boat and set adrift," he said.

"The food and water ran out within a few days," said another survivor. "We were starving for nearly two weeks and feared we would never see dry land again," he added.

The boat drifted for more than ten days in the Andaman Sea, before being rescued by the Indian coast guard. The survivors are now being held in jail on Little Andaman Island. They were all severely dehydrated, according to a local medical official.

"The Thai authorities obviously wanted us to die on the boat," said Zaw Min.

Only 107 Burmese migrants survived the ordeal, according to refugee workers in contact with the group. There were also four dead bodies on board when the boat was beached. In all, more than 300 Burmese perished, according to researchers with a regional NGO, the Arakan Project. Most of those who died did so when they jumped overboard and tried to swim to safety when they saw land and lights on the island. The area is renowned for its rough seas and shark infested waters.

Just before the New Year, Thai authorities towed 580 Rohingyas out to sea in four boats, according to Arakan Project researchers monitoring Rohingya movements. They had arrived in Thai waters in five different boats. One of these boats ended up back near the Thai coast and 81 Burmese Muslims were rescued by a Thai fishing trawler and handed over to Thai authorities on January 6th. Originally they were detained once again on Koh Sai Daeng, but were recently moved to an unknown location, according to local residents. They comprise one of the two groups to which the UNHCR wants access.

The second boat beached on Sabang Island just off the Indonesian province of Aceh, on the 7th of January. The 193 Burmese Muslims on board were rescued and are now being held in police custody. The third boat was rescued by Indian authorities on Tillanchang Island in the Andamans and around 150 refugees transferred to a hospital for treatment, according to Indian authorities.

The fourth boat is still missing and more than 200 Burmese refugees on board are now feared dead.

However, Thai authorities dismiss these incidents as fantasy. "We never push them back to the sea," said one official, Lieutenant Colonel Tara Soranarak, an inspector in the Ranong immigration office.

"We have our procedure to deport the migrants to their home country after processing them through the Thai legal system," he added.

While this may have been the case in the past, many human rights activists believe there has recently been a change of policy. Instead of being handed over to police and immigration officials, they are now apparently taken into custody by the military.

"This change of policy is certainly for security reasons," said Amnesty's Ben Zawacki. "While the Rohingyas are not alone in being repatriated or turned back, other Burmese ethnic minorities – like the Karen, Karenni, Mon and Shan – are dealt with more sympathetically."

Privately, Thai officials have expressed concern that the Rohingya, who are Muslims, may be headed to join the rebellion in southern Thailand, where insurgents are seeking greater autonomy.

All the Burmese Muslims who have been detained and cast adrift originally set off from Cox's Bazaar, on Bangladesh's eastern coastline, which is also close to the border with Burma. "All of them paid 10,000 baht to traffickers in Bangladesh for the journey to Thailand," Chris Lewa, who heads the Arakan Project, told Mizzima. It costs a further 18,000 to 23,000 baht for Thai traffickers to transport them from Thailand to Malaysia.

Last year more than 5,000 Burmese refugees fleeing in boats from Bangladesh and Burma were detained by Thai authorities. Many others have successfully managed the dangerous journey to Malaysia and Indonesia. But many more may have perished en route to Southeast Asia, without anyone ever knowing. Hundreds of boats leave Bangladesh at this time of year, leading to hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths, according to Lewa.

In the past two years thousands of Burmese Muslim migrants have been tempted to head to Southeast Asia after the safer route to Saudi Arabia was blocked when it became impossible to get Bangladeshi papers permitting a direct flight.

But this latest tragedy has helped highlight the continuing problem fleeing Burmese Muslims face – repression and persecution in their own country, an uncertain future in Bangladesh and being left to the small mercies of human traffickers. The Thai response may be draconian, but all countries in Southeast Asia are likely to take a harder line against illegal immigrants in the future in the face of the international economic down-turn and credit crunch.

"What is needed is a regional solution" said Ben Zawacki. "There are at least five countries affected by this latest stream of refugees and migrant workers, so its time for Thailand to talk to Bangladesh, Burma, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, for starters. ASEAN may also be able to play a role in resolving this issue."

Most experts involved with the issue agree. "It's a regional issue," said Lewa. "Thailand cannot solve it alone, but should collaborate with the counties concerned and international agencies to find a solution to this problem."

The UNHCR is also endorsing this approach. "Because the plight of the Rohingyas is a regional problem, UNHCR is urgently seeking to discuss with the Thai government ways that all concerned countries can address the root causes that impel the Rohingya to put their lives at risk on such perilous journeys," said spokesperson Ron Readman.

While the Thai Foreign Minister is planning to raise the issue with his counterparts in neighboring countries, according to Thai diplomatic sources, there are so far no plans to call a summit. "Because of the increasing urgency of this issue and the increasing size of the problem, we will coordinate closely with the countries concerned and will also consider raising this issue in such forums as BIMSTEC," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement emailed to Mizzima.

As an initial step, the Thai government plans to invite the ambassadors from the concerned states to discuss the matter after it has more details from the Defence Ministry's investigation, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tharit Charungvat told journalists on Tuesday.

Many countries, and even the UN, have in the past tried to help resolve this problem; but efforts have thus far proved unsuccessful largely due to the intransigence of Burma's military rulers. Prophetically, during the height of the last mass exodus of Burmese Muslim refugees from Arakan more than fifteen years ago, the then Bangladeshi Foreign Minister, Mustifizur Rahman, told Mizzima the Rohingya problem can never be solved while the Generals are still in power in Burma.

READ MORE---> Thai government to investigate Rohingya abuse claims...

Is China's influence on Burmese generals eroding?

By Mungpi

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Though it may seem to many, including the international community, that China, Burma's strongest ally, is the only country that can influence the rogue military rulers of Burma, an analyst said, China is also currently facing a tough situation as the Burmese generals are stupid and stubborn and do not do what they are asked to by their elder brother – China.

Mya Maung a long time Sino-Burmese analyst based along the two countries' border in Ruili, during an interview with Mizzima said China is currently in a tight spot as the Burmese regime is stubbornly refusing to follow its suggestions.

Surprisingly, he said, China's suggestions to Burmese military rulers include implementing an inclusive political dialogue with opposition groups, as well as to reconsider the constitution, which the junta had claimed was approved during a referendum in May.

"But the problem is China has its own national interests to think of at and they are not in a position to put too much pressures on the junta," Mya Maung said.

According to him, among many economic ventures that China seeks in Burma, connecting a gas pipeline from Burma's western Arakan state to Yunnan province and using the Sittwe port as a sea gateway, are crucial.

"China may seem to be endorsing the junta's roadmap, but it is more concerned that there is some kind of stability in the country," Mya Maung said.

He said the Chinese government sees that the United Nations' initiative is ideal for Burma's political solution as it has strongly opposed the Western nations' way of pressuring the junta with economic sanctions.

China believes in engagement but would like a strong and stable government that would be accountable, Mya Maung said.

Currently, the United States and European Union has imposed economic sanctions on Burma's military rulers.

Complimenting Mya Maung's analysis, a secret document leaked to Mizzima reveals that China's ambassador to Burma Mr. Juan Mu urged the Burmese Foreign Minister, during one of their meetings in early last year, to cooperate with the UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari and follow his suggestions on political reforms.

The meetings minutes between Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win and Ambassador Juan Mu, reveals that the Chinese ambassador had urged Nyan Win to allow Gambari to play a greater role by allowing him a tripartite meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and liaison minister Aung Kyi, and to allow him multiple-entry Visa to Burma, and to open a liaison office in Rangoon.

Juan Mu also said, China is endorsing the United Nations initiative and would be ready to provide necessary support to the special envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

But Nyan Win, yet another puppet Foreign Minister of the Junta's paramount leader Senior General Than Shwe, refused the request saying a tripartite meeting between Gambari, Aung Kyi and Aung San Suu Kyi is impossible but assured meetings with junior junta officials.

Nyan Win, during the conversation with Juan Mu, also said Gambari cannot be given multiple entry Visa to Burma and the regime could not allow him to have a liaison office in Rangoon.

Juan Mu, representing the voice of China, however, told Nyan Win that China fully understood Burma's situation and would use its influence to convince the international community particularly the diplomatic community in Rangoon on the junta's planned roadmap.

Mya Maung said, though China wants to see a stable Burma, in recent days it has failed to influence the junta, led by Senior General Than Shwe, in many areas including its response to the deadly Cyclone Nargis.

"These are signs that China, though it may seem to be the only country with a lot of influence on Burma's military rulers, are having a tough time with the generals, as they are forced to consider their interest," Mya Maung concludes.

READ MORE---> Is China's influence on Burmese generals eroding?...

Leading Saffron Revolution monk on hunger strike

by Ko Wild

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Residents in Mandalay who have close contact with Mandalay's Obo prison say that Ashin Gambira, a leading monk during the Saffron Revolution, is on hunger strike.

He is reportedly staging a hunger strike in Mandalay's Obo prison while waiting to be transferred to Khamti prison in Sagaing Division, following a transfer order from higher authorities.

"Ashin Gambira, it is sure, has been on hunger strike since the 13th of this month. Now it's been seven days," a resident from Mandalay who has close contact with the prison told Mizzima.

However, for security reasons, the resident declined to reveal his source inside the prison.

Additionally, all political prisoners were previously allowed to fortnightly meet with family members. And family members of Ashin Gambira had met with him twice and were able to give him parcels. But on the 14th of this month, family members could neither meet with nor give parcels to the detained monk.

"They came last Wednesday to meet him but could not meet him or give him a parcel. The authorities didn't give any reason for their denial, just saying to come next Wednesday. That's all. His mother, worrying about her son, said, 'Something might happen to my son, all others except my son are allowed to meet their loved ones'," according to a resident from Mandalay.

However, despite the insistence of local residents who have close contacts with Obo prison, Mizzima has not yet been able to verify the news of the hunger strike with independent sources.

On the 19th of November last year, the Kemmendine Township court heard Ashin Gambira's case inside Insein prison and gave him a 12 year prison term for three offences, including 'insulting religion' and 'committing a crime against public tranquility'.

Then, two days later, the Kamayut and Ahlone Township courts handed down judgment on a total of 13 additional cases against him, eventually bringing his sentencing to a total of 68 years in detention.

Ashin Gambira (29) joined September 2007's Saffron Revolution as one of the leading monks while pursuing his 'Dhamasaria' religious studies.

After the Saffron Revolution he was on the run from arrest for over a month before finally being apprehended on the 4th of November 2007 in Singai Township, Mandalay Division.

In addition to Ashin Gambira, another political prisoner recently denied a meeting with family members is 88 generation student Ko Pyone Cho.

Ko Pyone Cho's father, U Win Maung, who has just returned from attempting to visit his son, said, "I arrived back here at about one a.m. last night. I could not meet my son. The authorities didn't give any clear reason. They just said it was by order of higher authority. When I asked if I could meet him at the end of this month, saying I would wait until that time, they replied that they could not make any guarantee. They said they must act in accordance with the order given by their higher authority. They also said they felt sorry, but could not do anything."

Ko Pyone Cho's wife was in the beginning of December allowed to meet with her detained husband. At that time, his health condition was good except for high blood pressure, and prison authorities gave him medicine as prescribed by the prison doctor, said U Win Maung.

He said "he got medicine. At that time, the weather was not yet so cold. Now, when I visited there, it's getting cold. Cold wind is blowing 24 hours a day. We gave warm clothes and blankets to prison authorities for my son when we visited him last time. We could give a parcel to him this time too through the prison authorities, but we could not meet him. The prison authorities apologized, but assured us they will give all the stuff left with them to my son," explained Ko Pyone Cho's father.

U Win Maung left Rangoon to meet his son on the 8th of this month.

He spent two days each in Mergui and Tavoy on the way to Kawthaung. Though on the way, he heard that authorities had barred political prisoners from meeting with family members, with a grim hoped that he might be allowed to meet his son, he proceeded to Kawthaung.

"I felt sorry and am still worrying about him. Though they said he is in good health, I cannot accept this good news without meeting my son myself. The weather is changing. I can only speak of the condition of his health, his progress and his morale when I can see him in person myself. I hope I will not experience this same situation again next time. I demanded they [prison authorities] let us meet with my son at the earliest possible time," U Win Maung said.

READ MORE---> Leading Saffron Revolution monk on hunger strike...