Global Actions Calling for an End to the Humanitarian Crisis in Kachin State

On 9 June it will have been a full year since the fighting in Kachin State began. While the current government of Burma is engaging in ceasefires negotiations with some ethnic groups, the people of Kachin State are left in distress and urgent need of aid. Human rights violations committed by Burma Army soldiers against civilians living in the conflict area are commonplace and have shown no signs of abating. Fighting occurs every day and has recently intensified. There are currently around 75,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) with no access to assistance from local or international aid organizations.

To ensure that the international attention given to recent changes doesn’t overshadow and marginalize the urgent need to support and help the Kachin people, Kachin groups and communities around the world invite you to take the following actions to urge President Thein Sein to immediately put an end to the humanitarian crisis, raise awareness within the international community and express support for the Kachin people. Kachin groups worldwide will focus their actions during the week of 7 – 14 June, while people inside Burma will be organizing solidarity events throughout the month.

Click here to see details of events being organized around the world and how you can take action.

Curb Your Burma Enthusiasm

Economic development without political protections will damage the fragile human rights situation.

By Khin Ohmar

The giddy promise of investment and re-engagement with Burma is blinding the West, as well as its Asian neighbors, to the realities of the once-pariah nation.

For many Burmese, the concept of development has long been associated with corruption, human rights abuses, a lack of local ownership and environmental degradation. Before the world hurries to participate in the imminent gold rush in this resource-rich country, impartial observers need to be sure that impediments to sound, ethical development have been eradicated. But I fear that it is too late […]

Burma Has Two Faces, One for the International Community and One for the Ethnic People

“Suu Kyi represents hope for so many people. There’s going to be huge crowd of people who will come to see her. It’s going to be an exciting day for us,” said Saw Tun Tun, chairman of Mae La Refugee Camp Committee, ahead of Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s visit. And it was an exciting day. On Saturday thousands of people gathered in Mae La camp on the Thai-Burma border to welcome “The Lady.” In Mae Sot, the city of activists and exiles from Burma, her pictures are usually everywhere in restaurants, teashops, houses. Saturday, her pictures were on the streets as people gathered along the roads to welcome her and get a chance to get a glimpse at “Mother Suu.”

Daw Suu’s visit is hugely symbolic and was a rare occasion to put Burma migrant workers and refugees in the spotlight. Her visit conveyed lots of hope as Win Aung, a migrant worker who lost his hand in an accident at a Thai-run shoe factory said, “She can’t force the Thai government to do anything, but she can speak on our behalf better than anybody else.”

Daw Suu’s first trip abroad in 24 years was also an occasion for her to address the international community at the World Economic Forum in Bangkok and to remind the leaders of the world that Burma’s so-called transition is still very fragile. “These days I am coming across what I call reckless optimism. A little bit of healthy skepticism I think is in order,” said Daw Suu at the forum […]

Parallel Battles for Burma and Asean’s Human Rights Commission

The Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) will meet in Rangoon starting this Sunday to finalize the draft of the long-awaited Asean Human Rights Declaration (AHRD). Held in a country that has for the past year made headlines in the international media for its reforms, this event might be seen by some as evidence of a “new” Asean and a “new” Burma. However, looking at it as an Asean citizen and a longtime activist for democracy and human rights in Burma, I see something entirely different.

While the AICHR will be discussing a human rights document that is supposed to protect our fundamental rights, I will be thinking of my Kachin brothers and sisters. For the past year, they’ve seen their villages burnt, fathers and brothers tortured or killed, and had mothers, sisters and daughters raped by Burma Army soldiers.

I will also be thinking of my colleagues still languishing in prisons for the simple reason that they decided to speak up for people’s rights and for a better Burma. There are still hundreds of them behind bars, forgotten by the international community.

That Burma is changing is hard to deny, but for activists, ethnic people or myself, Burma is still a long way from being a country where people’s human rights can be respected and protected […]

Protests Demanding Increased Power Supply Illustrates Burma’s Unpreparedness for Influx of Foreign Investment

Last week saw various inspiring actions bravely undertaken by the people against injustice and the government’s irresponsibility in fulfilling their daily needs such as electricity. There were actions against land confiscations, low wages, violations of labor rights, and, largest of all, against the significant shortage of power in various areas across Burma.

During the past few weeks there have been worker strikes in as many as 20 different factories. These include the 25 people on hunger strike that continued into its second day on Saturday at Yangon Crown Steel factory in Hmawbi, Yangon Division, where almost 400 workers have been on strike since May 20. Despite the number of worker strikes, only a few have had successful negotiations with factory owners. Many have suggested that this is due to the lack of a government policy outlining a minimum wage and laws that protect the rights of workers. This is a reminder again of how the government is unprepared to accommodate foreign investment and manage the type of development it will bring […]

International Community Neglects to Take a Stand as Humanitarian Crisis Deepens in Kachin State

In a week where the US has significantly eased sanctions against Burma, the plight of the Kachin people remains perilous as the humanitarian situation caused by Burma Army attacks worsens.

The Chairman of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, urging him to do more to help the tens of thousands of Kachin refugees who are suffering from the conflict. The letter speaks of “ethnic cleansing” by the Burma Army and appeals to take action to prevent the situation becoming more “complex.” The Chairman encourages Ban Ki-moon to “facilitate visits by UN personnel to conflict zones and IDP camps in Kachin State, so that appropriate assistance can be arranged and provided to the IDPs.”

With this appeal it is apparent the people of Kachin State are in a dire situation. Human rights abuses such as torture, forced labour and abductions are commonplace while the Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand (KWAT) issued a press release documenting an example of such atrocities whereby an ethnic Kachin woman, a 48 year old mother of twelve, was gang-raped by Burma Army soldiers earlier this month. According to KWAT, “About ten troops beat her with rifle butts, stabbed her with knives, stripped her naked and gang-raped her over a period of three days in the church.” As hundreds of cases have been well documented and reported by women organizations from Burma, the Burma Army uses rape as a weapon of war in its offensives against various ethnic resistance groups over the years. Over 60 cases have been documented since the conflict started in Kachin State nearly one year ago […]

New Peace Committee Offers Little Hope to Ethnic People

Last week, the Thein Sein government formed its new union-level peace committee comprised of a central committee and a working committee. Although the formation of the committee looks very encouraging to investors and gives another reason for Western countries to further lift sanctions, it gives little hope to the people of Kachin State who have lost both their homes and their faith in the President after he unsuccessfully and repeatedly ordered the Burma Army to halt offensives in Kachin State.

As with most of the reforms announced, much secrecy surrounds the new peace committee. There is little transparency regarding the process of its establishment and mandate. Apart from names of the central committee members, disclosed by an unofficial source, there is no other official information available about the central and working committees. The central committee headed by President Thein Sein and the 52-member working committee includes the Vice-Presidents, heads of States and Divisions, Members of Parliament, Ministers and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces […]

Ban Ki-moon Highlights the Plight of Kachin People as Fighting Intensifies

Last week saw the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, visit Burma and become the first overseas dignitary to speak at the Parliament. He also took the time to consult with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein regarding the nascent changes over the last twelve months. While he was full of praise of recent developments it is important not to lose sight the actual situation for most people in Burma. As Naw May Oo Mutraw, a Karen National Union negotiator, pointed out to journalists in Bangkok last week, “The current reform process is not yet irreversible” and yet the “international community displays its excitement beyond measure.”

An issue of grave concern to Ban Ki-moon, and one in which the international community certainly should not be excited about, is the on-going conflict in Kachin State, which he states is “inconsistent with the successful conclusion of ceasefire agreements with all other major groups.” This inconsistency has manifested itself in around 70,000 refugees, numerous cases of rape, forced labor, child soldiers being forcibly recruited, torture, and the burning of villages in Kachin State by the Burma Army […]

World Press Freedom Day, Not Yet a Day of Celebration for Burma’s Journalists

This week, on 3 May, the world will celebrate World Press Freedom Day, giving the occasion to look closely at recent developments that appear on the surface to be an easing of media restrictions in Burma.

This year, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) exempted publications covering the themes of health, kids, technology, crime, education and sports from pre-publication censorship. Despite this, a recent International Media Support report found that Burma’s censorship board still orders the removal of approximately 20 to 25% of articles submitted by newspapers and magazines.

For instance, while massive presence of international media was allowed inside Burma at the time of the by-elections, local media were facing harsh restrictions. The International Press Institute reported that ahead of the elections, the PSRD issued a list of “Do’s and don’ts for the media covering the by-elections.” A local reporter explained that the PSRD warned editors that “action will be taken” against publications that don’t abide by the board’s guidelines […]

Lifting Of Sanctions Premature, No Substantive Changes Yet

This week has seen the Thein Sein government awarded for their tentative steps towards a democratic Burma. Many countries such as the UK, Norway, Australia, and the US have announced an easing of sanctions while the EU will make a decision today although it seems a forgone conclusion that they will lift many sanctions. While these steps should be rewarded it must be noted that the fundamental conditions for which the sanctions were imposed in the first place remain and the steps taken by the government are tiny.

Catherine Ashton, EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security identified the three key areas in which EU policy towards sanctions against Burma will hinge on: national reconciliation, the release of political prisoners, and resolving ethnic conflict. If we take these three in turn, it is evident that these issues have not been resolved […]