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ew Rakhine party to register with ECrsday, 01 April 2010 10:46 Salai Han Thar San

w Delhi (Mizzima) The Chairman of a new ethnic Rakhine party, Union of Myanmar National Political Fkhine State), has said the party will register with the Election Commission next month to contest the 201tion.

are planning to register our party before or after the Thingyan festival. We are still discussing the issue,irman Aye Kyaing told Mizzima.

Kyaing was a member of Kyaungtawthar, or The Study Group, prior to forming the UMNPF (Rakhine St

Study Group has been toeing the Burmese military juntas line while being critical of the main oppositioonal League for Democracy. It is alleged that The Study Group was receiving financial support from the j

Kyaing has been the Chairman of UMNPF (Rakhine State) since its inception in 2005, though the party legal. The Vice-Chairman of the party is San Tin from Myauk Oo, with Secretary Myint Zaw from Sittwe a

nt-Secretary Maung Ohn Tin from Kyauk Taw.

party has branch offices in 14 townships including Sittwe, Kyawk Taw and Myauk Oo out of a total of 17nships in Rakhine State. Party membership, according to Aye Kyaing, is over 240,000.

have done organizational work in all townships except Than Dwe (Sandoway), Gwa and Man Aung. We already mobilized 180 Rakhine people in Rangoon, he elaborated.

wever, Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) Chairman Aye Thar Aung said new Rakhine parties likely to elections cannot work for the benefit of Rakhine State as the 2008 Constitution ignores ethnic rights.

ere is no room for doing work for the people in Rakhine State under the 2008 Constitution and 2010 elec

s, he said.

he 1990 general elections, the ALD won 11 constituencies out of a total of 26 in Rakhine State. The NLD wnd largest winning party, taking nine constituencies.

me military officers believed to be representatives of the National Unity Party (NUP), a political party formmilitary junta, members of the Burma Socialist Program Party and the Union Solidarity and Developmenociation (USDA) are also conducting organizational work and touring Rakhine State, say local residents fwe.

me military officers visited our wards and asked what community development work we want done, such

airing roads or schools. They have never done this before, explained a Sittwe grocery store owner.

-junta parties such as the Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics, 88 Generation Student YouNational Unity Party have already registered with the Election Commission.

rce :http://mizzima.com/news/election-2010/3774-new-rakhine-party-to-register-with-ec.html

aren Party Applies for RegistrationKayin Peoples Party (KPP) applied to register as a political party on Wednesday to contest in the upcoming Bur

tion, according to party sources.

state-run newspaperNew Light of Myanmaron Wednesday ran a notice saying that the Karen group, based in
http://mizzima.com/news/election-2010/3774-new-rakhine-party-to-register-with-ec.htmlhttp://mizzima.com/news/election-2010/3774-new-rakhine-party-to-register-with-ec.pdfhttp://mizzima.com/news/election-2010/3774-new-rakhine-party-to-register-with-ec.html?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=http://mizzima.com/news/election-2010/3774-new-rakhine-party-to-register-with-ec.html

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goon, submitted an application to the Union Election Commission in Naypyidaw.

rty member said that after approval the party will launch a campaign in areas that are heavily populated with Kh as Irrawaddy Division, Rangoon Division and Pegu division as well as in Mon State.

said the party will seek to represent all Karen in Burma.

by Dr. Saw Simon Tha, a Karen physician in Rangoon, the party has 15 committee members. He is a well-knownotiator who has worked with both Karen rebel groups and the Burmese junta. In 2004, he arranged peace talks ingoon between the Karen National Union led by the late Gen Bo Mya and a Burmese government delegation led b

mer Burmese Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt.

ar, Karen cease-fire groups have said that they will not participate in the upcoming election, according to Karen

ces.re are seven Karen cease-fire groups based in Karen State including the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, the Kce Force led by Col Thu Mu Heh, the KNU/KNLA Peace Council led by Maj-Gen Htain Maung, the Peace Group o Aung San, and a group led by the late Gen Bo Mya's son, Nay Soe Mya.

ee Karen political parties were formed during the 1990 Burmese election: the Karen State National OrganizationNO), the Union Karen League and the Karen National Congress for Democracy. The KSNO won one constituencyen State.

rce :http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18179

Mon Decide to Field no Election Candidatesolitical alliance representing Burma's Mon community has decided not to take part in the planned generation.

decision, taken on March 30 at a meeting of a 15-member committee in the Mon State capital, Moulmeines the Mon with no representation in the election.

The alliance includes former meof the central committee of the NMon State Party (NMSP), an armgroup that signed a ceasefire

agreement with the junta in 1995members of the Mon NationalDemocratic Front (MNDF) and orespected Mon community leade

The MNDF announced last weekwill not contest the election becathe junta's election law is unjust

The NMSP announced last year iopposition to participation in theelection. The party has called forreview of the 2008 constitution,

oesn't protect ethnic or democratic rights.

ember of the political alliance's committee, speaking anonymously, toldThe Irrawaddy on Thursday, thority rejected the election law and decided not to contest the election.

was like the National League for Democracy decision, he said.

en the Mon political alliance formed in June last year it said it planned to take part in the election, althoumittee was divided on the issue. The promulgation of the election laws in March swung opinion againsticipation in the election.

meeting of the committee in March, one member, Nai Banya Aung Moe, told The Irrawaddy that the Mance could advance peace and democracy by taking part in the election.

need national reconciliation, peace, democracy and development, he said. I want to implement work o.

nk prays at the Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda, also known as the Golden Rock Pagoda, in Mon State. (Photo: Reuters)
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on monk in Rangoon said: They (regime) will not get one vote from our people if the Mon has a politicaicipating in the election.

monk said: If there is a Mon political party at the election, the Mon people will have a chance to vote fo people. We will be able to know what is going on inside parliament if we have representatives there. Wpeople in parliament, we know nothing about what is going on.

MNDF participated in the 1990 election, winning five seats. The junta then disbanded the party and senelected representatives to long prison terms.

party's military wing continues to bear arms, saying it will remained armed until the Mon people win fre


thnic council opposes junta electoral lawsEthnic Nationalities Council (ENC-Union of Burma), a coalition of ethnic political organizations, annouerday that the council would not accept the Burmas electoral laws as they were patently one sided laws dhe military junta for itself.

announcement was made after its five-day long meeting held from 27 to 31 March at an undisclosed placThai-Burma border. It was attended by 35 representatives from 7 ethnic states: Kachin, Karen, Karenni,kan, Chin, Mon and Shan states.

ording to the council resolutions, the group will oppose not only the electoral laws, but also the military j8 constitution which it says is undemocratic. At the same time, the group expressed its support for the Ngue for Democracy (NLD) on its decision on 29 March not to re-register as a political party.

the other hand, the council will not oppose or condemn ethnic organizations and individuals planning totest in the forthcoming elections, or the people who will vote in the elections even though its position doeport the elections.

newly elected Chairman Tu Tu Lay urged all state representatives to prevent discord among those who aicipating in the elections and those against the elections.

ording to a participant at the meeting, there are people, even though they are against the 2008 constitutihas decided to contest elections.

of them is veteran Shan politician Shwe Ohn, who formed a new party; Union Democratic Allianceanization (UDAO), last year saying if there are no opposition parties, the military juntas candidates will amation.

rmer member of the defunct Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), who also shared the same view, se militarys door is opening a little bit. We must try to pry it open wide with a few seats that we can win.

rmer resistance leader said that ethnic people have been fighting against the junta for more than half a cthey have yet to win, it is because they are fighting from the exterior lines. It is high time we fought themrior lines.

ENC was established in August 2001 as Ethnic Nationalities Solidarity and Cooperation Committee (EN004 it became ENC, a state based organization. Another ethnic alliance is the National Democratic FronF), formed in 1976, by armed ethnic movements.

rce :http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2988:ethnic-council-opposesa-electoral-laws&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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hailand to press Myanmar to open elections

2010, 6:59 p.m. EDTTH M. LEDERER

Associated Press ) NEW YORK - Thailand will be pressing Myanmar's military leaders in the coming week to open its firtions in two decades to all political opponents and ethnic minorities, the country's foreign minister said F

concerned about the national reconciliation and the inclusiveness of the whole new political process," K

mya said in an interview with The Associated Press.t week, opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, denounced thernment's newly announced laws guiding the election as undemocratic and recommended a boycott of thtion, expected later this year.

National League for Democracy, which swept the last vote in 1990 but was barred from taking power, denday to opt out of the election and now faces dissolution under the junta's laws.

it said Thailand has raised the issue of political inclusiveness with Myanmar and he will raise it again whts Myanmar's foreign minister in two days at a meeting of the Mekong River Regional Commission whichiland is hosting.

rce

p://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/international-28/127016482595080.xml&storylist=internati

apan Economic Newswire: Indonesia foreign ministerrges Myanmar to hold inclusive election

gon Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Thursday he told Myanmar Prime Minister Gin Sein that inclusivity, openness and transparency are important in the process of holding elections.Speporters in Yangon after their meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmars administrative capital, Natalegawa saidred Indonesias experience in making the transition to become the worlds third largest democracy, hopin

ld be useful for Myanmar in its own democratization process.said Indonesia wants to see Myanmar hold an election that is open, free, fair, credible and inclusive, ad

those are the same things that the Myanmar government itself has said in the past that it wants.

ey have said it and we hope it will be the case, he said.

alegawas remarks follow the recent announcement by Myanmars main opposition party, the National LeDemocracy led by detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, that it will boycott the upcoming genetion, which is to be held later this year for the first time in two decades.

are not in a position to say this was a good decision or bad decision, only they know better so we are notecond-guess it.

he said Indonesia hopes the election will be a problem-solving one in which everyone in the country whotribute to Myanmars development, stability and prosperity can participate.

are very keen to ensure that the election is inclusive, is participatory, and that the implementation of ths not exclude anyone, he said. All we are hoping for is the open commitments by Myanmar.

anmars military junta recently enacted election laws, one of which would require the NLD to prevent Suum participating in the election, a move which sparked harsh criticisms both from inside the country and a

alegawa, who arrived in Myanmar on Tuesday, also met with his Myanmar counterpart Nyan Win in NayWednesday.

rce :http://www.burmanet.org/news/2010/04/01/japan-economic-newswire-indonesia-foreign-ministees-myanmar-to-hold-inclusive-election/
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eutsche Presse-Agentur: Inter-Parliamentarynion urges Myanmar to change election lawsgkok The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on Thursday called on Myanmars junta to amend its recenmulgated election laws to ensure polls planned this year are inclusive, free and fair.With the electionswing to a close, time is running short, said Philippine Senator Aquilino Pimentel, president of the IPUs ts committee.

IPU, an organization which brings together the national parliaments of 143 countries, wound up its 122nmbly in Bangkok on Thursday.

anmars military junta last month passed a series of election-related legislation that appeared designed tomain opposition party the National League for Democracy (NLD) tocott the polls.

Party Registration Law, for instance, prohibits people currently serving prison terms from being partymbers. This would force the NLD to expel party leader Aung San Suu Kyi from their ranks before it is allotest this years election, a date for which has not yet been set. Suu Kyi is currently serving an 18-month hst sentence.

Monday, the NLD announced the party would not contest the polls.

NLD won Myanmars last general election in 1990, but has been blocked from power for the past two departy remains the strongest political opponent to the military institution that has ruled Myanmar, also c

ma, since 1962.

IPU human rights committee also examined the individual situations of 293 parliamentarians in 32 couuding Myanmar, Afghanistan and Malaysia.

ator Pimentel said that the parliamentary delegation from Afghanistan had agreed to close a case againsthan member of parliament Malalai Joya for a statement she had made, and would allow her to run in thetions in Afghanistan later this year.

said he hoped that in the few months between now and the elections, the Afghan Parliament will reinstaa.

the controversial case of Malaysian member of parliament and de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahims sodomy charges, Pimentel said, The investigation and the proceedings seem to suffer from the same fl

he previous sodomy case.

aysias Federal Court overturned the conviction in his earlier sodomy case and he was released from pris4.

rce :http://www.burmanet.org/news/2010/04/01/deutsche-presse-agentur-inter-parliamentary-union-uanmar-to-change-election-laws/

S senators seek tighter BurmaanctionsAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSshed: 1 April 2010

e US senators across the political spectrum are calling for tighter sanctionsBurmas military regime to persuade it not to hold elections that effectivelykey opposition leaders.

he letter to President Barack Obama released Tuesday, the senators agreedh the administration that election laws made a mockery of democracy but

ed for a more robust response. Senator McConnell has calletougher sanctions on Burma(Reuters)
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senators including Mitch McConnell, the chambers top Republican urged the Treasury Departmenta law that would crack down on US bank accounts linked to Burmas leaders and target foreign banks that

ness with the junta.

believe that exercising this authority represents one of the most powerful instruments at our disposal fosuring Burmas leaders to change course, they wrote.

y also called for Obama to appoint a special representative on Burma, a position required by law but vacaor State Department officials spearhead policy on the reclusive Southeast Asian nation.

Obama administration, which has made a signature policy of engaging US adversaries, last year initiatedogue with the junta, judging that a previous approach of isolating the regime had not borne fruit.

junta plans to hold elections later this year which most foreign observers believe are aimed at legitimizinof the regime, which never allows the opposition to take over after it won the last vote in 1990.

main opposition National League for Democracy has decided to boycott the election rather than give in tsure to oust its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate who is under house arrest.

des McConnell, the letter was also signed by 2008 presidential candidate John McCain along with fellowublicans Sam Brownback, Susan Collins and Judd Gregg.

as also signed by Democrats Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold and Dianne Feinstein and independent Joeberman.

rce :http://www.dvb.no/elections/us-senators-seek-tighter-burma-sanctions/

efugee woman kidnapped and raped by local goonsknaf, Bangladesh: A refugee woman was kidnapped and raped by local goons on March 24; from Leda egistered refugee camp where over 10,000 refugees live, said a relative of the victim.

victim is identified as Noor Begum (35), wife of late Moulvi Sayed Alam, mother of two children, Block-Ed # 237 of Leda camp.

victim was kidnapped by two local goons Abu Taher (32) and Md. Boshor of nearby Bangali village. Befokidnapped, Abu Taher proposed marriage but she refused. He is also a Burmese native who came to

gladesh earlier and married a Bangali girl.

ently, Muslim Aid provided her Taka 20,000 to support her family. But, this was known to Abu Taher, soposed marriage. Noor Begum knew that he only wanted to marry her for the money; therefore she did noept his proposal, said a woman refugee.

was kidnapped by the two local goons from the camp and was brought to the forest where she was kept fe days and raped. After three days later, she was brought to Baharsara and kept there. After some days, s

ught to the Leda camp after forced to marry.

r arrival at the camp, the victim told a local elder Nur Hussain. There is no administration from theernment side, and the camp is isolated from the village and situated near a mountain. But, the negotiatorsain took Taka 2,000 from the victim to settle the problem, but the problem is still unsolved, the womaned.

victim again complained to the concerned authority but she did not get redressal.

wever, the local goons are trying to kidnap her again from the camp. So, the victim is afraid. There is no she refugees in the camp.

refugees of Leda camp have also been facing drinking water crisis, so they have to carry water from the sr the mountain, about one mile from the camp or carry water from a nearby local village after paying Takpot. If the refugees do not take water from the local village, the pots of the refugees are broken by the vill

des, frequently, the women refugees are attacked by local youths or goons while they go to streams to carer. The women are raped and their ornaments are looted by local goons, said a refugee leader from the ca
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water in the local village and streams is not pure water, so, most of the refugees; especially children haveering from diarrhea and dysentery.

fugee woman named Nur Ayesha (32), from Leda camp, Block-C and Shed # 323 said, My daughter wasen up by local goons while she was carrying water from the stream. So instead I have to carry water for sons.

rce :http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2511:refugee-man-kidnapped-and-raped-by-local-goons&catid=119:april-2010&Itemid=2

omali Pirates Negotiate Ransom for Hijacked Vessowners of the UBT Ocean, a chemical tanker hijacked by Somali pirates in early March, are in the process of

otiating a ransom for the release of the vessel and 21 Burmese crew members, according to relatives of the hostag

Norwegian-owned ship was hijacked off the coast of Madagascar on March 6 en route to Tanzania from the Unib Emirates.

heard the pirates are demanding US $17 million from the company, which said it is now negotiating the ransomunt, a relative of one of the Burmese crew members told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

ship's owner, Singapore-based Nautictank Shipping Company, said all of the crew members are safe and healthyined to discuss the ransom negotiations when contacted byThe Irrawaddy.

e shipping company doesn't want us to talk about the situation on the vessel because it could be dangerous for thages, said one relative in Rangoon who requested anonymity.

is not the first time Burmese seamen have been held hostage by Somali pirates in recent years.

eptember 2008, 14 Burmese crew members aboard the South Korean-ownedMV Bright Ruby were held for ranlater released after the ship's owners paid an undisclosed amount to pirates who seized the ship off the coast ofalia.

ctober 2009, a Burmese marine engineer was aboard theMV Kota Wajar, owned by the Singapore-based Pacifirnational Lines, when it was was hijacked near the Gulf of Aden. The vessel and all 21 crew members were releasr 72 days in captivity when the company agreed to pay a ransom of more than $8 million.

ali pirates hijacked 68 ships in 2009 and extorted an estimated $60 million.re has been a dramatic increase in the number of hijacking incidents targeting ships passing through the Gulf of ajor shipping lane, since 2005. According to reports, ransoms are usually based on the size of the ship's crew ande of its cargo.


ndonesia Wants All-inclusive Election in Burmaonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told his Burmese counterpart, Nyan Win, in Naypyidaw on WednesJakarta expected the regime to uphold its commitment to have an election that allows all parties to take part.

karta Postreport that appeared before the meeting said Natalegawa would also discuss with Nyan Win the regimroversial party registration law, which has led to the opposition National League for Democracy's withdrawal frotion.

paper quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah saying: Indonesia will pose questions on the terelections to ensure that the country upholds its commitment to have an election that allows all parties to take pa

n official Burmese account of the meeting, the state-controlled dailyNew Light of Myanmarsaid Natalegawa ann Win had shared their views on mutual cooperation between their two nations and regional and international isonesia and Burma are both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

alegawa's itinerary in the Burmese capital included visits to a gems museum and other leading city sites and a died by Nyan Win, the paper said.

planned general election in Burma and the disputed election laws are expected to figure in discussions at an Aseign ministers' summit meeting in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, nest week.
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meetings have been scheduled with members of Asean civil society and youth representative, similar to suchounters last year in Thailand, according to the English language dailyBangkok Post.

han Jason, executive director of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), said Asean should dmake clear its views on Burma's upcoming elections, especially regarding the unfair laws and conditions set by tme which barred the full, free and fair participation of political parties and individual citizens.

id Scott Mathieson, a Burma expert with Human Rights Watch, said: They [the international and regionalmunity] need to come up with a united and strong message that the environment for the election is not inclusive

Singapore government said on Wednesday that the election law will be a greater challenge for a vital nationalnciliation in Burma that includes all stakeholders.

are disappointed that the new election laws have led to this result, said a Singapore Foreign Ministry spokesms will make it harder for national reconciliation to be achieved.

still not too late for the Burmese government to make the election inclusive, however, the spokesman said.

s would require the participation of the National League for Democracy and other political parties. It is still not for all parties to reach a compromise and we urge them to do so.


unta Turns Attention Back to the Junglowing a month of relative quiet at the Sino-Burmese border while the military regime focused on election laws atical situation in the country, attention turns once again to the border guard force (BGF) issue and the regime'smpts to bring the ethnic cease-fire groups under its command.

pyidaw's chief negotiator with the ethnic groups, Lt-Gen Ye Myint, is scheduled to meet on Thursday with an ethdelegation in Tangyan, a town in Shan State close to Wa territory, to discuss the military government's BGF proprding to sources close to the Wa.

The meeting is the first between the junta and thecountry's largest armed ethnic group, the United WArmy (UWSA), since February. At the previous meeChinese officials, including commanders from the PLiberation Army, accompanied the Wa delegation, w

was led by Bao Youxiang.Ye Myint, who is also chief of Burma's Military AffaSecurity, met on Sunday with representatives of theNational Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), knownMongla Group, a cease-fire group allied to the UWS

During the meeting, Ye Myint reportedly urged the delegation to respond positively to the BGF plan befApril 22 or face repercussions by April 28. Accordinethnic sources at the Sino-Burmese border, Ye Myina tougher line with the Mongla Group.

It is now one year since Naypyidaw proposed the BGto various ethnic cease-fire groups. The Burmesegovernment set the end of March as a further deadl

been unable to convince the main cease-fire groups in the regionthe UWSA, the Mongla Group and the Kachiependence Armyto agree to its terms.

ording to sources, the regime leaders suspended negotiations with the ethnic groups for a month while theycentrated their efforts on the election laws and marginalizing the NLD, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung S

March 28, just a few days after Suu Kyi announced that she did not support the NLD registering for the election,a resumed talks with the NDAA. The NLD announced its decision not to register for this year's election the folloon March 29, after a meeting of its executive committee in Rangoon.

s clear that the junta has turned its attention back to the cease-fire groups now that it believes it has strategicallykmated the NLD, said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese observer based on the Sino-Burmese border.

d soldiers from the United Wa State Army ride in a vehicle on a street in Namteuk, neighbouring China's border town of Mangka. (Photo: Reuters)
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nwhile, Burmas state-run media reported on Wednesday that Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming met Betary-1 Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo in Naypyidaw on Tuesday though it did not report on the officials' agenda.

wever, the Chinese delegation is expected to raise concerns about the Burmese regimes growing tensions with thic cease-fire groups along its border, as well as discussing bilateral economic ties.

nese Vice Commerce Minister Chen Jian visited Naypyidaw and spoke with Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein STin Aung Myint Oo on August 28 during the Burmese armys siege of the town of Laogai, which is the headquar

armed ethnic Kokang group known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.

following day, hundreds of Kokang fighters opposed to the BGF plan crossed the Sino-Burmese border and hantheir arms to Chinese officials.

ng the conflict, as many as 37,000 Kokang-Chinese villagers fled to China. Chinese businessmen lost an estimatn 280 million (US $40 million) in property and trade losses during the conflict and China subsequently called fopensation.

r negotiations, the Burmese authorities agreed to pay out, but only to Chinese companies that were operating legarea.lysts say the Burmese armys treatment of ethnic groups along the Sino-Burmese border in 2009 distressed Beijed it to rethink its Burma policy.

view of the unilateral action taken by Naypyidaw that inadvertently served to upset the order in the local commuhe Chinese border in the summer of 2009, Beijing may be compelled to conclude that when it comes to peace onrstep, the issues involved are not entirely 'internal' after all, wrote Xiaolin Guo, a Sino-Burmese affairs expert, icy brief in December.

arding ongoing ethnic issues, Burmese generals reportedly boasted they can conquer the armed ethnic groups eawever, Chinese experts on Sino-Burmese issues say resolving tension with force is not so easy.

henyang and Lye Liang Fook noted in their article, Chinas Policy towards Myanmar: a Successful Model for D the Myanmar Issue? that the Sino-Burmese border is an estimated 2,204 km long with more than 40,000 eth

tia fighters based there, but less than 300 km of the border is directly controlled by the military regime.

nyang and Fook said that ethnic groups along the border have pursued independence or greater autonomy for a , which has implications for the safety and stability of southwest China.

rce :http://irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=18178&page=1

ine hundred Karen refugees head homersday, 01 April 2010 22:12 Kyaw Kha

ang Mai (Mizzima) In what is ostensibly a voluntary action, 900 war refugees, who had stayed back in the two re

ps on the Thai-Burma border, are going back home today, despite the fear of landmine explosions.

official of one of the warring groups, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) has admitted on condition of

nymity that the danger of landmine explosions in the areas where the refugees hail from, is very much real. And they

ng their lives in going back home.

Karen Refugee Committee (KRC) said the return of 785 refugees from Uthu Tha camp and 108 refugees from No B

p in Thar Saung Yang Township, Tak province is on a voluntary basis.

e Thai Army escorted them till the river bank but there was no one to receive them. They came here because of war

s, not out of choice, KRC Secretary (1) Saya George said.

refugees are ethnic Karen people hailing from Pai Kyone and Hlaing Bwe townships in Pa-an District, Karen State

to the two refugee camps because of war between KNU and the joint forces of the Burmese Army and the KNU

kaway faction, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). The number of refugees in the camps was over 2,4

officer of the 999th Battalion of the DKBA, who wished to remain anonymous, admitted the danger of land mineosions in the villages where the refugees hail from.
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are aware of the return of the refugees and the landmines cannot be seen. Their lives are in their hands. Though thefellow ethnic Karen, under the circumstances, we cannot do anything for them, he said.

have to start our lives afresh but we cannot live in this crowded place, a refugee from Pa Nwe Pu village, Pai Kyonship, who is going back home today, told Mizzima.

e hardships and difficulties compelled us to flee from our homes. If there is peace and tranquility, we would like to

country. We have to flee from our homes again if war breaks out yet again. Our family has fled home three times, agee said.

e Thais wish them well on their return home. The refugees want to work on their farmlands again. But KNU cannotide any assistance to them, Karen National Union (KNU) Vice-Chairman David Tharkapaw said.

rce :http://mizzima.com/news/regional/3778-nine-hundred-karen-refugees-head-home.html

iving in a Dangerous Land

E SOT, ThailandIt was coming up to midday and the sun beat down through the still forest. Careful not to distuce, Saw Htoo crept through carrying his bow and arrow. He had spotted a bird suitable for eating, and was fast o.

denly, the forest sounds were disturbed by an explosion near Saw Htoos village, and the bird flew away. In a plare explosions can only be one thing, he raced towards the sound.

He saw his two grandchildren lying on the grounknew right away the younger boy, five years old, deadthe injuries were severe. His other grandcwas alive, and there was a chance to save him.

On a stretcher made of bamboo, he was carried tThailand and placed in the Mae Sot intensive car

where he now lies bruised, bandaged and semi-conscious.

I am so devastated that this has happened, but Ido anything to change the past,Saw Htoo told TIrrawaddy, as he watched over the boy lying in ahospital bed. I have lost one of my grandchildremust do everything I can now to look after my otone.

The two children had gone out to play when theyacross a metal object and did not recognize it as

tar shell.

knowing what it was, they hit it with sticks until the shell exploded.

Htoo, not his real name, and his family were part of the mass Karen exodus from the former KNU headquartersnth brigade. In June 2009, when DKBA troops, led by Col Chit Thu, prepared to attack, they fled to Thailand to fighting.

le the fighting continued, they sought refuge in Mae U Su temporary camp on Thai soil. Soon after the DKBA habrigade, Saw Htoo said he stopped receiving food rations and then the Thai army told him that he had to return e.

told the army that we didnt want to go back, and we were scared of landmines but they didnt listen. They just twar was over so we have to return, said Saw Htoo.

ugees were marched down to the river by Thai soldiers and ordered back. On the day he returned, Saw Htoo saidimmediately conscripted as a porter by the DKBA.

refugees walk along a road on the Thai-Burma border in 2009. (Photo: Getty Images)
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Monday, the same day his grandson was killed, the last of his refugee group left the three main temporary Karenps. Many have gone back to Burma, while some remain in Thailand.

Karen Human Rights Group reports that Noe Boh camp, which originally had 1,111 residents in November 2009ty. In Mae U Su, there were 1,573 residents last November. Now there are less than 20 households, who plan to week.

ebruary, the Thai government announced that it would repatriate all the Karen refugees to Burma because hostie stopped. The circumstance surrounding the return of the refugees has come under heavy criticism from local Nthe international community. The Thai government has been criticized for involuntarily returning the refugees tgerous area.

n interview on Tuesday, one Karen villager said no one wanted to return to Burma.

e people who went back yesterday, they didn't want to go back but the Thai soldiers always threaten them. So, wk that it is better to go back in our villages, said a man in Oo Thu Hta camp.

cal NGO worker who has monitored the situation closely said: Numerous families told us that they are scared totheir villages are not safe but they feel they have no other option and cannot stay in Thailand so they must go ba

ma. Everyone I spoke with in Noe Boh told me this, and it was the same for my colleague at Mae U Su.

mmenting on the repatriation of the refugees, Matthew Finch of KHRG, told The Irrawaddy that he believed it wntary, but rather the result of months of pressure on the refugees.

workers have all said the families that they have spoken with are scared to return to their villages, and they donk their villages are safe but they feel they have no option to remain in Thailand, so they left.

N refugee group interviewed a large number of the refugees before they left the camps and reported that they allted to return. The main reason that most the refugees gave was that they wanted to plant seeds before the seaso

nged.

en asked if she felt that the refugees were leaving because of pressure from the Thai authorities, Kitty McKensey,kesperson, said: It is possible that they felt under pressure, everybody knows that Thailand didnt want them to

said the return shouldnt be seen as one way trip, because they can come back to Thailand in the future. Some, have probably already come back and are staying in villages around Tha Song Yang.

wever, Saw Htoos grandson will not be returning to Thailand. He died because of what many of the refugees werming: that their home territory is full of danger, from unexploded shells, to mine fields, to forced conscription, tots between opposing armies.

ng outside the hospital bed where his injured grandson lies, Saw Htoo said the dead grandchild was buried righting lived a life on the run, they were worried they would have to flee before they had time to bury him. He said thno point waiting, because they couldnt afford to give him a proper burial.

membering his grandson, he said he was like a little monkey.

was always hunting for things and had such a creative mind. Even when they sent him to school, he would try toide to explore the world.

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unta officials meet Wa brass againrsday, 01 April 2010 22:06 Phanida

ang Mai (Mizzima) The United Wa State Army (UWSA), which is still steadfastly refusing to transform its army

a controlled Border Guard Force (BGF), met Military Affairs Security (MAS) chief Lt. Gen. Ye Myint today in a bi

the stalemate, it is learnt.

Wa delegation led by Bao Yo Yi, Vice-Chairman of the political wing, the United Wa State Party (UWSP) met

pyitaw's negotiating team led by Lt. Gen. Ye Myint in Tan Yang, northern Shan State today yet again.

ey (Wa) left at about 5 or 6 a.m., a source close to Wa said.
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junta has been desperately trying to convert the 30,000-strong force UWSA into the BGF under the direct control o

mese Army for about a year, but it has failed.

e regime refused to compromise on a proposal presented by Wa so the imbroglio persists. Either side needs to

promise, Sino-Burma border based military analyst Aung Kyaw Zaw told Mizzima.

Wa will stick to its 9-point proposal where it wants to form two military regions namely Wan Hon and Pan Kham b

attalions in their area, he added.

BGF makes it mandatory to have 326 personnel of which 30 officers will be from the Burmese Army.

last meeting between Lt. Gen. Ye Myint and UWSP Chairman Bao You Chang was held in Tan Yang on 25 Februar

pite the juntas attempt to convert the ceasefire groups which are struggling for self-determination rights, since 28 Ayear, like UWSA, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), New Mon State

MSP) and Eastern Shan State Special Region No. 4 or Meng La group are still refusing to accept juntas proposal. In

, junta officials have met Wa representatives at least 10 times and the KIO at least 12 times.

Gen. Ye Myint met Vice-Chairman U San Luu of the 3,000-strong Meng La group in Keng Tung, headquarters of th

ngle Command on 28 March and told them to accept the proposal by April 28 or else they would be declared an unl

ciation.

rce :http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3777-junta-officials-meet-wa-brass-again.html
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