At least 50 youths hailing from central Burma?s Mandalay division were forcibly enlisted on June 1 by the Burmese Army to work as porters to carry military material such as rations and equipment,  local villagers said.

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - At least 50 youths hailing from central Burma?s Mandalay division were forcibly enlisted on June 1 by the Burmese Army to work as porters to carry military material such as rations and equipment,  local villagers said.

Youths, from at least seven villages in Mandalay division?s Thabeikkyin region, known for its gold mines, were forcibly enlisted to work as porters to carry army paraphernalia on the evening of June 1.

?The youths were whisked away in five army trucks. The young men here use to relax at night in teashops. The troops arrived suddenly and took them away,? a local told Mizzima over telephone.

Another local resident revealed, ?We have never seen anything like this here in Thabeikkyin town. This is the first time such a thing has happened. But people said those taken away came back by shelling out 100,000 kyat (USD 100) each. About five have reportedly come back.?

While it is still not clear which battalion of the army had taken them away to wok as porters, locals believe that it could the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 148, based near Kyuak Hlebe village in Thabeikkyin Township.

Thabiekkyin Township is well known for gold mining activity and it attracts businessmen as well as people from other townships including Wutlet, Ayardaw and Thantse.  Many come and work in the mines.

Twenty-one Burmese activists were briefly detained by Bangladesh police on Monday for holding a demonstration in front of the Indian Embassy in Dhaka demanding the immediate,..

New Delhi (Mizzima) ? Twenty-one Burmese activists were briefly detained by Bangladesh police on Monday for holding a demonstration in front of the Indian Embassy in Dhaka demanding the immediate release of 34 Burmese rebels currently lodged in an Indian jail and facing trial.

The activists, who were later released in the evening, call on the Indian government to immediately release the 34 ethnic Karen and Arakanese rebels as they are ?Freedom Fighters? and not insurgents or gun-runners.

?We were calling for the release of the 34 Burmese Freedom Fighters in front of the Indian Embassy. We were shouting slogans but the police came and took us away,? Kan Myint, Secretary 2 of the All Arakan Student and Youth Congress (AASYC), the group organising the protest, told Mizzima from the police station.

The protest rally was conducted as part of the ?Global Day of Action? for the release of the 34 Burmese rebels, who were arrested by Indian authorities in February 1998. As part of the campaign, activists held demonstrations in Thailand, Bangladesh, Australia, Germany, Sweden and the UK.

The 34 Burmese rebels, members of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and National Unity Party of Arakan (NUPA), armed groups fighting against the Burmese junta, were arrested on Landfall Island of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by Indian authorities during a joint military exercise known as ?Operation Leech? in February 1998.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), acting as the prosecution, has charged the rebels for gun-running, but the rebels say they were tricked by an Indian intelligence officer who promised them a base in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in return for monitoring Chinese naval activities.

They were subsequently detained on Andaman Island for more than eight years without any legal charge-sheet filed. But in October 2006, after an appeal by human rights lawyer Nandita Haksar, the Supreme Court ordered a transfer to Kolkata and the conduct of a day-to-day trial.

On Monday, the court in Kolkata was supposed to have resumed the trial but Akshya Kumar Sharma, one of the defense counsels, said the judge instead adjourned court and fixed the next hearing for August 3.

According to the defense team, the 34 rebels, if found guilty, could be further detained and face deportation. Moreover, even if they are proved innocent, since they are foreigners they are still vulnerable to deportation unless granted asylum under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and accepted by a third country for protection.

Activists and campaigners have expressed concern that if they are deported to Burma it would be like sending them to the gallows to meet their end, and call on the Indian government to immediately release them and allow them to resettle in a third country.

?This global day of action is to call on the Indian government to end the trial, release the freedom fighters and allow them to resettle in a third country,? May Pearl Tun of the Karen Community Association UK said in a statement.

?Laws concerning terrorists should not be used against these people who have engaged only for their right of freedom for their country. This case is damaging India?s reputation. Today?s day of action is the start of a new global campaign for justice,? said the letter submitted by activists to Indian Embassies in six countries.

The Czech Republic and East Timor previously expressed their willingness to accept the freedom fighters into their countries.   

Additional information contributed by Salai Pi Pi & Niang Boi

Burma?s opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has thanked the thousands of people both at home and abroad who wished her a ?Happy 64th Birthday?,...
Chiang Mai (mizzima) - Burma?s opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has thanked the thousands of people both at home and abroad who wished her a ?Happy 64th Birthday? on June 19, which she spent confined in Rangoon's Insein Prison.

The Burmese pro-democracy leader, during a meeting with her lawyers on Monday, conveyed her sincere gratitude to all supporters and well-wishers for remembering her on her birthday and wishing her good health.

Nyan Win, one of her lawyers as well as her party?s spokesperson, relayed the following message on her behalf, ?As I am in no place to personally reply to all those who wish me well on my birthday, please convey my gratitude to all on my behalf.?

On Friday, June 19, as the Burma?s democracy icon turned 64, supporters, activists and well-wishers both inside Burma and abroad held various activities to mark her birthday and to call for her release. Birthday activities ranged from simple protests rallies to solidarity concerts and internet messaging.

World leaders including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as well as celebrities including David Beckham and Julia Roberts sent a 64-word birthday message through the website 64wordsforsuu.com, created explicitly for the occasion.

The birthday wishes and activities calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi came as the Burmese opposition leader is facing trial in Insein prison under charges of breaching her detention law, which could find her spending another five years under detention if convicted.

On Monday, her legal team of four lawyers ? Nyan Win, Kyi Win, Hla Myo Myint and Daw Khin Htay Kywe ? was allowed a meeting with her in Insein Prison for about three hours to discuss the case and ongoing trial.

Nyan Win, however, declined to explain further details of their discussion.

Last week, the High Court accepted an appeal by her lawyers to review an earlier ruling to bar two out of the four defense witnesses. Arguments for the inclusion of all defense witnesses are scheduled to be heard tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the case against Aung San Suu Kyi is currently set to reconvene on Friday with the testimony of the second defense.

Authorities in Thailand are allegedly encouraging ethnic Karen refugees recently arrived in the wake of fresh fighting in eastern Burma to return to their homes, according to,...
New Delhi (mizzima) - Authorities in Thailand are allegedly encouraging ethnic Karen refugees recently arrived in the wake of fresh fighting in eastern Burma to return to their homes, according to humanitarian aid workers along the Thai-Burma border.

Iris, Coordinator of the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), a group working to help internally displaced persons inside Burma, told Mizzima on Monday that Thailand?s border security forces have urged Karen refugees to return to their homes, assuming the fighting to be over.

?The authorities are urging the refugees to go back but the situation back home is not yet conducive with the fighting still unabated. Nobody is daring to go back home, because their lives are not safe there,? explained Iris.

She said in June the Burmese Army killed three internally displaced persons in Karen State, a pregnant woman and two teenage girls as they were hiding in the forest.

?They [refugees] face a danger to their lives,? reiterated Iris.

Since early June, the Burmese Army and its military ally the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) have launched a military offensive against the Karen National Liberation Army, Burma?s longest surviving ethnic armed resistance group and the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU).

The fresh conflict has forced thousands of Karen villagers to flee their homes and cross into Thailand seeking refuge.

According to the CIDKP list, thus far 3,447 refugees have fled to Thailand and more than 1,000 have entered refugee camps, while over 2,000 remain waiting outside the camps.

?At this moment the safest place for them [refugees] is the camps,? said Iris.

David Thaw, a central committee member of the KNU, confirmed that Thai border security personnel have been attempting to persuade refugees to return home as they believe the fighting has ceased.

?They [Thai authorities] said since the fighting is over, it would be safe for the refugees to return home. But it is not a strong pressure, rather it is like a suggestion, as the refugees have no proper accommodation in which to live [along the border],? David Thaw told Mizzima.

According to him, while some refugees are squeezed into existing camps, the rest are left to live outside the camps where there is no proper shelter or regular food supply.

Thailand?s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday told Mizzima that they are not aware of any government order to repatriate the Karen refugees and directed Mizzima to contact the Ministry of Defense, which was not immediately available for comment.

However, Zoya Phan, International Coordinator for Burma Campaign UK (BCUK), said since June 16th at least three families have been forced back into Burma by Thai authorities.

?They [refugees] fear for their lives if they return home. They cannot stay there until the military operations stop,? said Zoya Phan.

?We urge the Thai government to accept these refugees, and allow them to stay in their country and help them,? she added.

Meanwhile, David Takarpaw, Vice-Chairman of the KNU, said to date minor battles continue across the border in Karen State.

Last week, the Burmese Army and the DKBA overran one of the KNU?s strongest outposts, the 7th Brigade.

He said civilians were compelled to flee because they fear not only the Burmese Army but also the DKBA, who force people into military service and collect money from them if they refuse.

?They fear both the DKBA and Burmese Army, so they have no choice but to flee,? emphasized Takarpaw.

Warning that the global recession could lead to more failed states, the 2009 Failed States Index lists Burma as in critical danger of state collapse due, primarily, to the misuse of...
Chiang Mai (mizzima) - Warning that the global recession could lead to more failed states, the 2009 Failed States Index lists Burma as in critical danger of state collapse due, primarily, to the misuse of power by the country's ruling military government.

Though holding steady at number 13 in the global rankings, Burma's cumulative 2009 score deteriorated by an additional 1.2 percent from a year previously, according to the latest rankings released earlier this week.

The study, a joint undertaking by Washington D.C.-based Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace, argues Burma is failing "because their government is strong enough to choke the life out of their society."

Meanwhile, the Fund for Peace classifies each of five critical indicators ? leadership, military, judiciary, civil service and police ? as "poor" in the case of Burma.

The architects of the findings contend that few countries fail by chance, though admitting that foreign intervention, such as through the supply of arms, can contribute to a state's instability. Presently, there is concern that a North Korean ship laden with arms and possible missile technology is en route to a Burmese port.

Burma's worst categorical scores came in "Uneven Development" and "Delegitimization of the State", while the best of the poor scores were achieved in the areas of "Human Flight" and "External Intervention". The findings point to an isolated state decaying from within.

However, the report's authors contend it will be impossible for the world's stable governments to come to the assistance of all countries in danger of state collapse, arguing that the final decision on which nations to help will be based on geopolitical implications.

Specifically, the question "Which failed states are global security threats and which are simply tragedies for their own people?" is said to lie at the center of a country's assessment when determining where to focus a nation's limited resources in assisting states on the brink of failure.

If the report is in any way indicative of the approach to be taken by the United States government, the Middle East and West Asia will draw the most attention from Washington regarding combating the prospect of failed states.

Additionally, drawing on the impact of global warming, the study warns that cataclysmic flooding in Bangladesh could force tens of thousands of Bengalis to seek refuge in Burma. Bangladesh, like Burma, is on the Fund for Peace "alert" list.

Of Asian countries west of the Urals, only Mongolia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia are said to not at least be in "danger" of state failure.

Fellow ASEAN members the Philippines, Laos and Cambodia join Burma in the bottom 60 in the index.

At the top of the list for the second straight year is Somalia, which is defined as "too failed even for al-Qaeda".

The study has been published annually since 2005.

A North Korean ship suspected of carrying illicit weapons and possibly en route to Burma was plying the waters off Shanghai on Tuesday morning, as regional military officials and...
Chiang Mai (mizzima) - A North Korean ship suspected of carrying illicit weapons and possibly en route to Burma was plying the waters off Shanghai on Tuesday morning, as regional military officials and a U.S. destroyer continued to keep a close eye on the vessel's movements.

South Korea's YTN said the ship was travelling in waters 200 nautical miles (230 miles, 370 kilometers) southeast of Shanghai at a speed of about 10 knots per hour.

However there is still uncertainty regarding the final destination of the ship and its cargo. Pyongyang is thought to have previously sold ballistic missiles, and perhaps nuclear technology, to Syria and Iran, and some observers are concerned a stopover in Burma could signal a similar delivery.

The Kang Nam is the first North Korean vessel monitored under new U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at punishing Pyongyang for last month's nuclear test.

The resolution calls on U.N. member states to inspect North Korean vessels if they have "reasonable grounds" to believe that its cargo contains banned weapons or materials. But it must first get the consent of the North Korean ship.

Failing permission, under the terms of the resolution, the U.S. warship is supposed to attempt and direct the intercepted ship to a nearby port without the threat or use of force.

With North Korea unlikely to allow any boarding of the Kang Nam, inspection on the high seas seems unlikely, according to Hong Hyun-ik, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a think-tank outside Seoul. U.S. officials also acknowledge that they are largely powerless to stop and search the Kang Nam.

Singapore is the largest maritime service and refuelling port in the world, situated as it is at a crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. If the Kang Nam needs fuel it would probably stop in the Lion City.

"Singapore takes seriously the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), their means of delivery and related materials," a spokesman for the Singaporean Foreign Affairs Ministry said Tuesday on condition of anonymity according to ministry policy. "If the allegation is true, Singapore will act appropriately."

According to the Associated Press, Senator John McCain, who lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack Obama, said Sunday that the U.S. should board the Kang Nam even without North Korean permission if hard evidence shows it is carrying missiles or other cargo in violation of U.N. resolutions.

"I think we should board it. It's going to contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to rogue nations that pose a direct threat to the United States," McCain is reported to have said on CBS' 'Face the Nation'.

On Monday, a spokesperson from the United States State Department told reporters in Washington that there was no new information available on whether or not the United States would seek to board the Kang Nam.

The office in-charge of the Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association (MWJA), Myint Lwin, committed suicide on Tuesday by jumping off the three-storey office building,... 
Chiang Mai (mizzima) - The office in-charge of the Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association (MWJA), Myint Lwin, committed suicide on Tuesday by jumping off the three-storey office building, colleagues said.

Myint Lwin, (65) a resident of North Okklapa Township jumped out of the window of the MWJA office in downtown Rangoon?s Merchant Street in Kyauktada Township on Tuesday morning. He died instantly.

?He arrived in the office at about 10 a.m. (local time) and was arranging seats and tables for a regular meeting. After finishing what he was doing he got up and jumped out of the window,? a colleague, who attended the meeting, told Mizzima.

Another colleague, who also requested anonymity said, ?He [Myint Lwin] left a note on the table, which read -- ?I am responsible for failing to maintain and for the loss of public property?.?

?He left a wrist watch, a ball point-pen, two currency notes of Kyat 500 and took off his sandals,? added the colleague.

An official at the MWJA office, when contacted by Mizzima, refused to make an official statement saying, ?Please do not ask me. We are now in a meeting. I have no right to answer your questions. Please do not ask me about it, I request you not to ask.?

The Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association is a group formed under the aegis of the Burmese military junta?s Ministry of information.

Myint Lwin?s body was taken to Rangoon General Hospital for autopsy.

He leaves behind a son, a daughter and his wife.

While urging the regime to conduct a fair trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Sunday said the issue is an internal affair and does not warrant the attention of the UN Security Council.

New Delhi (Mizzima) ? While urging the regime to conduct a fair trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Sunday said the issue is an internal affair and does not warrant the attention of the UN Security Council.

The Russian Foreign Ministry?s information and press department on Sunday said it rejects any attempts to bring the Burma issue to the United Nations Security Council saying it is an internal affair and does not pose a threat to peace and security of the region and the world community, according a report by Moscow-based the ITAR-TASS News Agency.

?Moscow opposes attempts to internationalize the internal situation in Myanmar [Burma], because it does not endanger peace and security in the region and the world at large,? the report quoted Kremlin?s Information and Press department as saying.

While the press department said, ?We see no reason why the UN Security Council should discuss Myanmar [Burma],? it also urges the Burmese generals for greater openness and cooperation with the international community, including the mission of Ibrahim Gambari, the UN Secretary General?s Special envoy to Burma.

Russia also expresses its expectations of a fair trial of the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently facing trial at Rangoon?s notorious Insein prison on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest by ?harbouring? an uninvited US man, John William Yettaw, to her lakeside home in early May.

?Russia hopes that the trial of Myanmar [Burma] Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be unbiased, strictly comply with national laws and humanitarian standards, and take into account the international opinion,? the Foreign Ministry added.

Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese observer based in Thailand pointed out that Russian?s call to the junta to conduct a fair trial of the Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is unusual.

?It is a little surprising that Russia is talking about Burma?s political issue for the first time. It is also interesting,? he said.

But he said he is not optimistic that the Burmese regime will pay any heed to the call made by Russia, one of the junta?s major supporters.

?There is no effective and pragmatic work plan in Russia?s statement. For the Burmese regime to act, talks are not enough,? he added.

Nyo Ohn Myint, in-charge of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National League for Democracy ? Liberated Area (NLD-LA) in exile said, the Russian call probably came after the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) pressurized the Burmese junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and to restore democracy in Burma.

?Russia seems to have made the call after ASEAN urged Burma to release Aung San Suu Kyi,? Nyo Ohn Myint said.

Following the junta?s charge and trial of democracy icon, activists across the world have condemned the junta and called on neighbouring countries as well as Russia to pressurize the junta.

Russia along with China had vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution on Burma, sponsored by US and UK, in 2007.

?In our opinion, the political and economic pressure on that country [Burma] is counterproductive, as it enhances isolationist feelings of the Myanmar [Burma] military and exacerbates the socioeconomic position of citizens,? Russia said.

?We are confident that this negotiating mechanism is useful in building mutual understanding and confidence between Myanmar [Burma] and the world,? added the department.

Moreover, Russia has agreed to build a nuclear research centre, which includes a 10MW light-water reactor and facilities for processing and storing nuclear waste in Burma.

?Because of its economic connections and increased diplomatic ties, I don?t think Russia will press the Burmese regime to make political changes in the country,? Aung Naing Oo remarks.