Burma: catch all thread

[tequila]

There is small community of Burmese exiles in my apartment building and surrounding area. From conversations with them in the past few days, I have little faith that this will end well. Hopefully they are wrong.

[sgmgrumpy]

Video advocates BURMA ISSUES travel deep into the jungles of eastern Burma to document one of the world's most urgent and most forgotten emergencies. The Burmese military has embarked on one of the worst offensives in its 30 year campaign to destabilize the lives of rural ethnic minorities. Half a million live driven from their homes. (Co produced with WITNESS) INTERNATIONAL ACTION IS NEEDED! To learn more and ACT NOW: www.witness.org/shootonsight

Shoot on Sight part I

Shoot on Sight part II

[Jedburgh]

Transcripts from 17 Oct 07 hearing on Crisis in Burma: Can the U.S. Bring about a Peaceful Resolution? before the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs:

Scot Marciel, Dpty Asst Secretary of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs

Lisa Chiles, Dpty Asst Administrator, Bureau for Asia and the Near East, USAID

Jeremy Woodrum, Co-Founder and Director US Campaign for Burma

Bridget Welsh, Asst Professor Southeast Asia Studies, Johns Hopkins University

[Jedburgh]

The Economist, 30 Jan 08: Kawthoolei Diary

...I have arrived at the camp at an opportune time. The new recruits, numbering about 90 and coming from all over Myanmar, are wrapping up their training. I am there to see them take their final exams, so to speak, which begin with a simulated mission into an “SPDC-targeted village”.

The instructors have set up an impressive makeshift town in the middle of camp, building huts and enlisting local volunteers to populate them. The recruits enter, gather information and dispense relief supplies. It is all going well until an explosion rocks the woods behind us, echoing off the trees.

Suddenly a wave of men in black shirts appears at the edge of the camp. They are carrying machine guns and advancing quickly on our location. All hell breaks loose as the recruits scatter, desperately trying to drag villagers with them. Some are left behind and pounced on by the armed men, who eagerly set fire to a row of huts. Amid the smoke I see one straggling villager being furiously questioned by a man with a pistol. They disappear behind a cloud of dust. When the air finally settles the villager is lying motionless on the ground.

It is all part of the simulation, of course, but the attack looks disturbingly real. One recruit, whose family was killed in a similar assault, runs off, unwilling to relive the experience. The others are hiding out, planning a counterattack. The Rangers do not look to confront the SPDC—recruits are told to retreat in the face of an attack—but the group refuses to leave any villagers behind. So after several minutes and with a sustained battle cry, the recruits storm back into the village and retake their position.....

[Jedburgh]

ICG, 31 Jan 08: Burma: After the Crackdown

.....While most countries in Asia have made significant progress in securing peace, establishing effective governance, expanding political freedoms and growing their economies, Myanmar has atrophied. It has more in common today with Sudan or Afghanistan than with its neighbours. The recent cycle of protest and repression underscored the urgency of fundamental political and economic reforms but also the continuance of deep-seated structural obstacles.....

[Jedburgh]

HRW, 25 Sep 08: Crackdown: Repression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma

....This report, based on more than 100 in-depth interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch researchers with eyewitnesses to the events in Rangoon, offers a detailed account of the protests and the brutal crackdown and mass arrest campaign that followed. It is based on interviews with monks and ordinary citizens who participated in the protests, as well as leading monks, protest organizers and international officials. Our report focuses on the events in Rangoon. It leaves out many deadly incidents and abuses that were reported, but for which — because of government restrictions and the risks involved — we were unable to find eyewitnesses. It is thus not the last word—more investigation is needed to uncover the stories, identify all incidents and victims, and trace the broader consequences of the crackdown.

Despite these limitations, this report provides the most detailed account of the crackdown and its aftermath available to date. The first-hand accounts in this report demonstrate that many more people were killed than the Burmese authorities are willing to admit, and sheds new light on the authorities’ systematic, often violent pursuit of monks, students, and other peaceful advocates of reform in the weeks and months after the protests.....

[Jedburgh]

Chatham House, 23 Nov 09: Ethnic Conflict and the 2010 Elections in Burma

Summary

• Ethnic conflict in Burma pre-dates independence. With preparations for the 2010 elections underway, there is a need for a renewed focus on the complex political and ethnic divisions within the country. Whilst many do not believe that the election will be a true reflection of the people’s wishes, there are areas in which the junta have made political and peaceful gains. Critics of the regime, however, believe that the election will only further the government’s hardline stance towards dissenting groups.

• Despite on-going conflicts, 18 armed ceasefires have been agreed. The ceasefires have allowed for improvements but have created new problems in Burma’s border areas. However, these agreements serve as potential models for wider peace agreements and reconciliation.

• In the autumn of 2009 some of the ceasefires broke down and there was renewed instability on the Burma China border as clashes broke out between the Kokang and the Tatmadaw (Burmese armed forces) resulting in refugees fleeing to China.

• The Tatmadaw (the Burmese military) is trying to force ethnic minority militias to become a border guard force prior to the 2010 elections. This is being resisted by a number of ethnic militia groups such as the Kachin and the Wa. However any further break down of these ceasefire agreements will bring renewed instability to Burma.

• Involvement and pressure from Burma’s allies and critics have had little noticeable effect on conflict resolution as the drivers of the ethnic conflict are ultimately internal.