Weekly Diary, No. 331 (6 – 12 December 2008)

• DETAINED SHAN LEADER HONORED!
• CHINA BUILDING NEW GREAT WALL?
• MORE MIGRANT WORKERS RETURNING HOME!
• JUNTA COMMITTING GENOCIDE?

Cartoon
Tips for the Senior General
 

Think Piece
If there are plenty of jobs for people in Burma, why have millions left Burma to work abroad?

_{Moe Swe, Yaung Chi Oo Burmese Workers Association, in response to 2 December statement by PM Thein Sein that there are jobs available for migrant workers if they are forced to return home, Irrawaddy, 9 December 2008}

The World
6 December 2008
Fatal police killing of a 15 year old boy in Athens ignites riots in Greece. (Agencies)
 
9 December 2008
Cancer is on pace to supplant heart disease as the # 1 cause of death worldwide in 2010, says World Health Organization:
                        Diagnosed                   Die
2008                12.4million                  7.6 million
(Reuters)
 
10 December 2008
_{Benazir Bhutto}
Slain Benazir Bhutto posthumously honored by the UN General Assembly on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Her son Bilawai, 20, accepts the prize on her behalf. (Reuters)

International Relations
5 December 2008
Following consultation with “Group of Friends on Burma,” UN boss says he is committed to pursuing national reconciliation in Burma but rules out a return visit to the country in the near future. (AFP)
 
5 December 2008
_{Laura Bush}
Michigan-based Christian Freedom International (CPI) presents First Lady Laura Bush with 2008 Freedom Award for her efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Burma. (Christian Post)
 
6-8 December 2008
118 Burmese workers sent back to Burma after their companies cut back on staff, according to Ye Min Tun, Secretary of Malaysia-based Burma Workers Rights Protection Commmittee (BWRPC). There are about 4 million Burmese working abroad, predominantly in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea, according to Maesod-based Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association. (Irrawaddy)
 
8 December 2008
Chinese authorities started constructing “The Great Wall of China” along the border with Burma near Laiza and Ruli-Ziegao. In some places it is as high as a person. (DVB) No walls and fences are seen in Wa and Mongla front – Editor
 
8 December 2008
_{William Cohen and Madeleine Albright}
Preventing Genocide, released today in Washington D.C, and compiled by a distinguished task force headed by Madeleine Albright and William Cohen, appeals the upcoming Obama administration to prioritize combating genocide around the globe. Genocide Prevention Network has identified Burma as a region of concern. (Mizzima)
 
10 December 2008
Washington is planning to provide $ 5 million more in disaster relief to Nargis victims, says US First Lady Laura Bush. (Reuters)
 
12 December 2008
_{U Thant}
UN Postal Administration (UNPA) will be releasing on 6 February 2009 U Thant stamps, commemorating his 100th birthday, 22 January 1909. (Irrawaddy)

Thai-Burma Relations
10 December 2008
7 Day News reports opening of Myawaddy trade zone, second largest to the Muse 105th mile trade zone with China, was reset for March this year but was reset for 7 December. But due to the situation in Thailand, it has been put off again for the third time. (Xinhua)
 
12 December 2008
More than 2,000 Chins facing with food shortage have illegally entered Thailand through Three Pagodas Pass in recent months. Some 60,000 Chins now live in Malaysia or India. (Irrawaddy)

Politics/ Inside Burma
4 December 2008
_{Win Tin}
Win Tin and Khin Maung Swe, freed on 23 September, included in the Central Committee of Committee Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP) formed in 1998. (Mizzima)
 
8 December 2008
Kemmendine township court in Rangoon sentences three people following their report to the ILO about A21 soap factory cutting off its worker’s salaries last year:

• Khin Maung Cho                    19 years
• Nyo Win                                 5 years
• Kan Myint                               10 years

(DVB)
 
9 December 2008
8 ministers plus Rangoon’s mayor will resign from their current positions in preparation to contest the upcoming 2010 elections, according to a military source at Nay Pyi Taw:
Thein Aung                 Forestry
Saw Tun                      Construction
Saw Lwin                    Immigration and Population
Maung Maung Thein   Livestock Breeding and Fisheries
Thein Swe                   Transport
Aung Thaung              Industry No.1
Htay Oo                      Agriculture and Irrigation
Thein Zaw                   Communications, Posts and Telegraphs
Aung Thein Linn         Mayor
(Mizzima)
 
9 December 2008
_{Aung San Suu Kyi}
Special Branch summons lawyer Kyi Win and tells him his request for permission for a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi tomorrow has been denied as her appeal on 19 October is being under consideration. (DVB)
 
11 December 2008
Ohn Kyaing, 64, detained 8 weeks earlier for his role in the Nargis relief efforts, released. (AP)

Shans/ Shan State
9 December 2008
_{Hkun Tun Oo}
Hkun Tun Oo, detained leader of Shan State’s largest winning party in 1990, awarded honorary citizenship by Monza, a town near Milan. It was accepted by Euro Burma Office secretary Bodie Zaw Min. (SHAN)

Economy/ Business
3 December 2008
_Tayza
Tycoon Tayza tells senior executives of his company that global recession is severely affecting the country’s business climate. GDP would be falling from $ 3.6 billion in 2007 to 2.6 billion in 2008, due to decline in falling foreign demand for its exports – natural gas, forest products, minerals, seafood and agricultural products. (Irrawaddy)
 
10 December 2008
Several Russian firms have been doing business in Burma since about 8 years ago:

• Russian Oil and Natural Gas
• Silver Wave Sputnik Petroleum
• Victorious Glory International
• Technoprom Exports

Technoprom Export’s steel manufacturing facility project is nearly complete in Pingpet near Taunggyi. (Mizzima)
 
12 December 2008
_{Sean Turnell}
Nay Pyi Taw increased petrol price to K 2,500 on 1 December. Gas prices have crept closer to K 5,000 per gallon. The regime seems to be short of cash, says Sean Turnell, economics professor at Australia’s Macquarie University. (IMNA)

Human Rights
27 November 2008
A new church under construction in Kalemyo township demolished by authorities. (Khonumthung)
 
8 December 2008
108 Arakanese, many of them Muslims, arrested at Rangoon’s Thilawa port as they were being transported from Arakan. Each had paid K 60,000 for the journey. (DVB)
 
10 December 2008
Two men Hideo Kobune, 69, and Izumi Omori, 58, together with accomplice a Burmese woman under arrest for smuggling 5 women from Burma. (Minichi)

Environment
10 December 2008
FAO is to donate 80,000 chickens and ducks and WFP 9,000 more tons of rice to cyclone victims, reports Yangon Times. (Xinhua)

Drugs
11 December 2008
Rise on drug addiction among state officials in Loije, Bhamo district. They are being regularly supplied with ATS by drug dealers, says a Loije resident. (Kachin News Group)

War
9 December 2008
The United Wa State Army (UWSA) has been engaging in military exercises on the border in Mongyawn, opposite Chiangmai’s Mae Ai district. (SHAN)