By webadmin

A recent pilot survey of thousands of Burmese refugees in Thailand could play a key role in gauging possible large-scale repatriation.

“The whole idea is to get a sense of refugee sentiment about their future beyond living in the camps,” Vivian Tan, regional spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), told IRIN in Bangkok.

According to The Border Consortium (TBC), an umbrella group of NGOs working along the 1,800km Thai-Myanmar border, there are close to 130,000 refugees from various ethnic groups in nine Thai government-run camps in the area, many of whom have been in the country for decades.

Author: Naw Hser Kler (KIC)

Villagers in Htantabin Township witnessed the Burma Army putting up placards claiming their land that was confiscated under the former military regime.

Villagers said that the Burma Army put up the placards on the disputed land on July 20. Villagers said the original landowners are currently in negotiations to get back their confiscated farmlands returned to them through the government’s Land Acquisition Investigative Commission.

In its first few months of operation the Land Acquisition Investigative Commission was swamped with land confiscated cases from villagers. Within months of opening its doors it had received more than 2,000 land-conflict cases.

by Andrew Selth

Andrew Selth is a Research Fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute. Part 1 of this post here.

The initiatives for closer ties between the West and Burma’s police and armed forces summarised in the previous post have aroused the ire of the activist community, which has been quick to remind everyone that the armed forces still dominate politics in Burma. The Tatmadaw is also engaged in counter-insurgency campaigns against armed ethnic groups and has been guilty of crimes against Muslim Rohingyas. The MPF too has been accused of corruption and human rights abuses.

Another criticism has been that assistance to Burma’s security forces helps them maintain their grip on Burmese society by increasing their coercive capabilities. Also, formal recognition is seen as giving them a legitimacy they do not deserve. Even the US Senate has warned that there is the potential for ‘well-intended engagement misdirected towards a negative result’.

Xinhua

Myanmar on Saturday denied the existence of severe religious and racial discrimination in the country which saw a series of communal riots in the past year.

The government stressed the need for all communities to preserve mutual respects, understanding, sympathy and patience, oppose hostilities of religious extremism and stand against those who are instigating the escalation of religious divergence and instability.

“Today, although stability has been restored in Myanmar, certain organizations both at home and abroad are portraying as if there exists severe religious and racial discrimination. All should be cognizant of the fact that such fabrications will further complicate the situation,” the statement warned.

By LIN THANT / THE IRRAWADDY

Burma and China will likely enhance military ties, according to state media reports.

Burma’s President Thein Sein met on Tuesday with Gen Fan Changlong, deputy chairman of the Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC), at his residence in Naypyidaw, according to a report by the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) network. Their conversation included a discussion about enhancing relations between the two countries’ armed forces and maintaining positive relations between governments, MRTV said.

The Burmese president also told the Chinese military leader that his administration would continue to promote warming relations with other countries in the region and in the West, the broadcaster added.

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of Burma’s armed forces, also met with the CMC deputy chairman on Tuesday morning, prior to his meeting with the president, according to state-run newspapers.

Shan Herald Agency for News

There couldn’t be a greater blow to all ethnic nationalities than when Britain offered to train the Burmese dictatorial army; and hearing the news that The British government has approved arms export licenses worth over US$5 million (£3.3 million) to Burma, even though it is considered a country of “serious human rights” concern and continues to be the subject of an EU arms embargo.

By following and studying the behavior and mentality of members of the Burmese military/political Institution for many decades, can anyone blame me if I am skeptical of the promises made by any of these members? Bertil Lintner wrote in his article, “The Military’s still in Charge”: “It is too often forgotten that Thein Sein came to power through the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the name for Burma’s military regime. —.” His positions included General in the Burmese army, First Secretary of SPDC, and later Prime Minister (a position he held up until he became president).