BNCE February 2010

NO.
1/10 FEBRUARY, 2010
CONTENTS
Politics ............................................................................................................................................................................... 1
International Relations ..................................................................................................................................................11
Human Rights ................................................................................................................................................................16
Refugees /IDPs/Migrant Workers/Illegal Immigrants ...............................................................................................19
Business.......................................................................................................................................................................... 23
Environment/ Natural Resources ................................................................................................................................25
Illegal Drugs.................................................................................................................................................................... 26
General............................................................................................................................................................................ 27
POLITICS
2010 Election /2008 Constitution

 The national elections planned for later this year are currently dominating everything else in Burma, despite the fact that
1
there has been no official announcement about when the polls will actually take place. (HIMAL 010210)
 In a vibrant region that has achieved significant economic development in recent decades, Burma could have done better ––
2
at least economically. It has not. (Irrawaddy 010210)
 Although there is as yet no election date set, campaigning by supporters of the junta is in full swing. “The New Light of
Myanmar is full of reports and photographs of government ministers inaugurating community and development projects,
shaking hands with local leaders and handing out financial assistance,” a western diplomat just back from Burma told
3
Mizzima. (Mizzima 010210)
 Aung San Suu Kyi may be freed during the national elections in Burma, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said on Tuesday,
4
predicting that the polls could be held during the second half of 2010. (AFP 020210)
 According to sources in the Burmese military, junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe will announce the election timetable and law
5
by the end of February. (Irrawaddy 020210)
 Given their fondness for astrology, it's certainly possible Burma’s generals consulted with their astrologers for advice on how
6
to draft the 2008 Constitution and when to hold the elections. (Irrawaddy 020210)
1
http://www.himalmag.com/A-yet-darkened-horizon_nw4191.html
2
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17713
3
http://www.mizzima.com/news/election-2010/3467-electoral-preparations-dominating-junta-actions.html
4
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/suu-kyi-may-be-freed-during-election-20100202-nb9d.html
5
6
http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=17724
February-2010 1
 Walking through the streets of Yangon this January, I saw the futility of U.S. sanctions on every corner. Commerce thrives on
steamy streets and markets, and billboards advertising Japanese, South Korean, and European brands are everywhere. (The
7
Seoul Time 100210)
 There are those in the international community who believe the elections will provide an opportunity for change. Even if
there was the chance for "free and fair" elections, the regime has guaranteed its hold on power through its self-crafted 2008
8
constitution. (The Nation 130210)
 SINGAPORE: Myanmar’s military ruler Than Shwe on Friday pledged to hold a free and fair poll soon in accordance with the
9
junta’s “roadmap” for political future. (The Hindu 130210)
 In separate commemorations of Burma's Union Day on Friday, junta chief Snr -Gen Than Shwe offered assurances that the
upcoming election would be free and fair, while the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD ) called for national
10
reconciliation through dialogue. (The Irrawaddy 120210)
 Myanmar top leader Senior-General Than Shwe Friday urged nationalities in the country to make concerted efforts for
11
successful accomplishment of the government's seven-step roadmap. (Xinhua 120210)
 Whether the country is ruled by brutal military dictators or democratically elected civilians, rebels who control this jungle
12
enclave have made one thing very clear: they want nothing to do with Myanmar. (Reuters 110210)
 In a significant decision, members of the Mandalay Division Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MDCCI) can now contest
13
elections with the 'free from politics' rule of the organization scrapped. (Mizzima 150210)
 Governmental elections are the foundation of democracy and government in modern world politics. The foundation of a
nation is in its upholding of a constitution that guarantees civil and political rights for its citizens. Each clause of the
14
constitution must guarantee these rights to all citizens. (IMNA 150210)
 We are already in the second month of 2010—the long promised election year when the people of Burma are expected to
be called on to vote for the first time in 20 years. But where are the election laws? When will the election be held?
15
(Irrawaddy 150210)
 Maungdaw :The Burmese military junta is allowing Muslims in Arakan to apply to join the Union Solidarity Development
Association, a government-backed organization, in order to gain support from the Muslim community for the 2010 election,
16
said one official from the USDA in Maungdaw. (Narinjara 150210)
 By repeating promises to hold a free and fair election in Burma this year, Snr-Gen Than Shwe has been playing a time game
by delaying the formation of an election commission in accordance to the 2008 Constitutio n, the promulgation of an
17
election law and the registration of political parties. (Irrawaddy 160210)
 The release of a leading dissident in Myanmar over the weekend has intensified questions about whether the military
regime will keep its promise to hold free and fair elections this year, and about what form the opposition will take. (The Wall
18
Street Journal 170210)
 The Burmese military rulers, who are trying to earn credibility from international communities after declaring the general
19
election sometime in October this year, has received a brickbat from the Amnesty International. (Scoop 220210)
 An election is a numbers game. You need to be skillful at counting numbers. You need to be careful about numbers, and play
20
according to the rules of the game. Every vote counts. Every volunteer and candidate plays a role. (Irrawaddy 220210)
 As occurred prior to the may 2008 constitutional referendum, local authorities are reportedly going door to door issuing
7
http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=9358
8
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/02/13/opinion/opinion_30122489.php
9
http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/13/stories/2010021352971300.htm
10
11
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6894523.html
12
http://ionglobaltrends.blogspot.com/2010/02/myanmar-ethnic-armies-spurn-
elections.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FzqKG+%28i+On+Global+Trends%29
13
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3536-burmas-chambers-of-commerce-members-free-to-be-in-politics.html
14
http://www.monnews-imna.com/commentaryupdate.php?ID=44
15
16
http://www.narinjara.com/details.asp?id=2485
17
18
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB40001424052748704804204575069022423482684.html#mod=todays_europe_page_one
19
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1002/S00499.htm
20
February-2010 2
temporary national IDs to adult Muslims in some townships in Burma's western Arakan State. Arakan is home to a large
Muslim Rohingya minority many of whom are denied Burmese citizenship despite having lived in Burma for generations.
21
(Mizzima 220210)
 When the Burmese military government said it would hold a general election in 2010, many Burmese strongly suspected
that the junta would find an excuse to keep pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in detention—perhaps until after
22
polling had taken place. (Irrawaddy 230210)
 As Myanmar plans for general elections this year, the country’s military rulers have announced their commitment to ASEAN
and the international community to conduct a truly democratic election and ensure a “free and fair” electoral process. (Asia
23
Tribune 260210)
 The United States' Chargé d'Affaires in Rangoon has met Central Executive Committee (CEC) members of the National
League for Democracy (NLD) to discuss the opposition party's political stance and whether it will participate in this year's
24
election. (Irrawaddy 250210)
 ASEAN’s Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan claimed today in an interview with the BBC program Hardtalk that Burma’s
upcoming 2010 election would be a “new beginning” for the country plagued by four decades of military misrule and
25
mismanagement. (Mizzima 250210)
 Two opposition politicians on Thursday urged Burmese political parties and organizations in exile to support the miltary
26
governement's election to be held late this year. (Irrawaddy 260210)
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi/Political Parties/88 Generations/Other Democracy Activists inside Burma
 Burma's military authorities have recently tried unsuccessfully to pressure jailed members of the 88 Generation Students
group into accepting the government's election process in return for their release, according to one of their colleagues.
27
(Irrawaddy 010210)
 The All Burma Monks Organization (ABMO) has declared Aung San Oo, brother of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi as unethical and rejected his association with Buddhism for not withdrawing a case filed against his detained younger
28
sister. (Mizzima 020210)
 District Court in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison has set February 15 for pronouncing the verdict of four women activists
29
including popular activist Naw Ohn Hla, who are supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi. (Mizzima 020210)
 The detained deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party in military -ruled Myanmar should be released next week
30
and is set to resume political activities, a party spokesman said Thursday. (AFP 040210)
 In the time she has spent detained in her crumbling Rangoon home, the Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has
31
endured isolation, frustration and grief. (The Independent 040210)
 A lawyer for Burma's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says a court in Rangoon will hear testimony next
week on a dispute between the detained opposition leader and her brother over efforts to renovate her lakeside home.
32
(Irrawaddy 050210)
 Detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi believes it is too early for her party to decide whether to take part in Burma's
33
national elections this year, her lawyer said Tuesday. (BKK 100210)
 Branches of the National League for Democracy from two divisions and one state have sent their nominees to be selected as
34
central committee members to the party headquarters in Rangoon, it is learnt. (NLD 090210)
21
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VVOS-82WNBT?OpenDocument
22
23
http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/02/26/fair-labour-rights-myanmar-benchmark-country%E2%80%99s-2010-elections
24
25
http://www.mizzima.com/news/election-2010/3579-asean-head-burma-election-is-new-beginning.html
26
27
28
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3475-monks-declared-boycottq-against-suu-kyis-brother.html
29
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3477-four-women-activists-awaits-court-verdict-.html
30
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1035267/1/.html
31
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/aung-san-suu-kyi-a-leaking-roof-and-the-brother-who-wont-let-her-fix-it-1889040.html
32
33
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/167980/too-early-for-decision-on-burma-election-says-suu-kyi
February-2010 3
 A senior member of the Shan political party that came second in the 1990 Burma elections is reportedly in declining health,
35
five years into a 79-year prison sentence. (DVB 090210)
 Senior representatives of Burma's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) have begun to arrive in Rangoon from all
36
over the country to participate in next week's expansion of the party's leadership. (The Irrawaddy 120210)
 The UN human rights special rapporteur for Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, has requested to meet with Burma's democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders during his third mission to the country from Saturday to Friday, accordin g
37
to a press release from the Geneva-based UN human rights group. (The Irrawaddy 120210)
 Burma is set to release the detained deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party when his house arrest term
38
expires on Saturday, an official told AFP Friday. (BKK 120210)
 Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says that the military-run country's upcoming elections cannot be
39
credible unless the government allows freedom of information, her party said on Wednesday. (Asian Tribune 110210)
 Discussions within the leadership of Burma's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) on selecting members for the
party's central committee began in Rangoon on Tuesday. At the end of the meeting, no candidates had yet been chosen,
40
party spokesman Khin Maung Swe announced. (Irrawaddy 160210)
 The release from detention of a close aide to Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday could presage the
41
same for the Nobel Peace Prize winner from her latest period of house arrest. (Time 160210 )
 A UN envoy will meet the freed deputy of Aung San Suu Kyi's party Thursday on a trip to military -ruled Burma to inspect
42
progress on human rights ahead of polls, the opposition said. (BKK 180210)
 A stall in the main market in Mandalay that belonged to National League for Democrac y (NLD) Mandalay Division member
43
Win Win Mya's family was sold in an action by local authorities on Wednesday. (Irrawaddy 180210)
 Burma's ruling military junta and the government-backed state monks committee plan to introduce new rules that will
44
further restrict the activities of monks in the country, according to reports in the state -run media. (Irrawaddy 200210)
 Dissident Burmese monks could face more repression from the regime that could resemble the 1980 crackdown under the
45
late dictator Ne Win’s campaign under the motto “Purification of Sasana [religion].” (Irrawaddy 230210)
 The National League for Democracy (NLD) yesterday initiated its Central Committee (CC) selection process at party
46
headquarters in Rangoon. (Mizzima 230210)
 Tin Oo the Vice-Chairman of the National League for Democracy was awarded for “bravery for national reconciliation” by
47
the UNA, a coalition of ethnic parties, and his colleagues on February 20. (Mizzima 230210)
 Aung San Suu Kyi, general secretary of the National League for Democracy has expressed her happiness with the
48
reorganization of the party Central Committee (CC). (Mizzima 250210)
 The highest court in military-ruled Myanmar dismissed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's latest bid for freedom Friday,
49
turning down an appeal to end 14 years of house arrest, her lawyer said. (AP 250210)
 The Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Burma today approved 100 members
50
of the new Central Committee (CC). (Mizzima 260210)
34
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3504-nominations-for-nld-central-committee.html
35
http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=3291
36
37
38
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/168241/burma-to-release-suu-kyi-party-deputy
39
http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/02/11/suu-kyi-doubts-credibility-upcoming-elections
40
41
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1964413,00.html?xid=rss-
world&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Fworld+%28TIME%3A+Top+World+Stories%29
42
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/168896/un-envoy-to-meet-freed-burma-opposition-aide
43
44
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=17857
45
46
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3565-nld-commences-central-committee-selection-process.html
47
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3567-nld-leader-tin-oo-awarded.html
48
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3577-aung-san-suu-kyi-happy-with-reorganization-of-nlds-cc.html
49
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_MYANMAR_OPPOSITION_LEADER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=201
0-02-25-09-49-08
February-2010 4
 Media persona both at home and abroad, have been exhorted to join the pro-democracy struggle in Burma, by veteran
51
journalist Ludu Sein Win and film director Win Pe. (Mizzima 250210)
Armed Resistance Groups/Political Opposition Groups/Other Democracy Activists in Exile

 Yet another ethnic Kachin armed group in northeast Burma, the Kachin Defense Army (KDA) has had to toe the Burmese
52
junta’s line and transform to a regime-controlled militia group on January 19, KDA sources said. (Kachin News 010210)
 With an offensive expected in northern Karen State this dry season and the possibility of renewed hostilities between the
junta and ceasefire armies in Shan State, there is a possibility of tens to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing to
53
Thailand this year. (Mizzima 020210)
 Two hundred Karen civilians and soldiers took part in ceremonies at 6th Brigade headquarters of the Karen National
54
Liberation Army to celebrate the 61st Karen Revolution Day this week. (Irrawaddy 020210)
 A New York-based Burmese activist, Myra Dahgaypaw, was awarded a prestigious Carl Wilkens Fellowship by the Genocide
55
Intervention Network on Wednesday. (Irrawaddy 030210)
 The National League for Democracy-Liberated Area (NLD-LA) Malaysia is currently in the midst of a cross-country
educational campaign targeted at Burmese migrant workers living in the country, regarding the upcoming 2010 Burmese
56
elections and the 2008 constitutional referendum. (IMNA 030210)
 An armed ethnic Karenni party has admitted to the recent bombing of two electricity towers in east ern Burma, but claimed
57
that it did not intend to disrupt civilians. (DVB 040210)
 Thai police raided the office of Karen journalists and the home of David Takapaw, the vice chairman of the Karen Nation
Union (KNU), in Mae Sot on Thursday, and issued a warning that they do not want anyone planning attacks on Burmese
58
government forces from Thailand. (Irrawaddy 040210)
 The UK-based Phan Foundation has awarded the 2009 Padoh Mahn Sha Young Leader Award to Saw Nyunt Win in
59
recognition of his continued efforts to help his people in the conflict zone in Karen State. (Irrawaddy 010210)
 The 76 year old Kya Bo Long of the Lahu Democratic Union was recently re -elected by winning 41% of the votes as the
Chairman of the Provisional Shan State Congress formed in December 2008 at Loi Taileng, opposite Maehongson. (SHAN
60
090210)
 THE INTERNATIONAL community should exert more pressure on Burma’s military junta to release opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners ahead of elections due to take place lat er this year, a representative of the
61
country’s self-proclaimed government-in-exile has said during a visit to Dublin. (The Irish Time 130210)
 The Burmese junta’s recent claim that the opposition Karen army had abducted four local villagers is part of an intensifying
62
propaganda campaign, a senior Karen official has said. (DVB 120210)
 A military parade was held at Loi Taileng, the Shan State Army (SSA) South’s main base, on 7 February, Shan National Day,
63
opposite Maehongson. (SHAN 110210)
 Zoya Phan is the International Coordinator for Burma Campaign UK. Her autobiography, Little Daughter: Memoir of Survival
in Burma and the West, tells of how she and her family were forced to flee their village following the Burmese Army’s
64
ongoing war against the ethnic Karen people. (Mizzima 100210)
50
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3584-nld-cec-approves-100-cc-members.html
51
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3578-media-persona-urged-to-join-pro-democracy-movement.html
52
http://www.kachinnews.com/News/KDA-transforms-to-Burma-junta-controlled-militia-group.html
53
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3473-tension-to-force-more-refugees-into-thailand.html
54
55
56
http://www.monnews-imna.com/newsupdate.php?ID=1658
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58
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60
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2909:lahu-re-elected-as-leader-of-shan-
state&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0213/1224264353609.html
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63
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2913:parade-in-loi-taileng&catid=110:visual-points&Itemid=305
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http://www.mizzima.com/edop/interview/3510-speaking-up-for-the-atrocities-in-eastern-burma.html
February-2010 5
 A Burmese Army soldier was killed when the Arakan Liberation Army (ALA) clashed with junta's forces in Paletwa Township,
65
Rakhine State, said an Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) statement on February 12. (Mizzima 150210)
 Horrifying abuses heaped on ethnic Karen women in Burma, who became village chiefs because male village heads were at
greater risk of being killed, has been revealed by an ethnic women’s organization in its latest report released on Thursday.
66
(Mizzima 250210)
 Chin National Day was observed in Aizawl city, Mizoram northeast state of India on 20 February 2010. It was organized by
67
the Chin National Council (CNC). (Khonumthung 250210)
 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday said he is ‘appalled and saddened’ th at Burma’s military government has
rejected an appeal filed by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers against her sentencing in August 2009. (Mizzima
68
280210)
 In military-ruled Burma’s Karen state, tradition and a male-dominated social order have long guaranteed men the role of
village chiefs. But this order is crumbling in the country’s eastern region, giving rise to the new phenomenon of women
69
village chiefs. (IPS 280210)
SPDC/Militias or/and Pro-Junta Groups

 Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics said it has dropped charges against members of another pro-junta group,
70
the Union Solidarity and Development Association, who attacked them last year. (DVB 202010)
 A Burmese junior officer has blamed government policy after deserting the army and fleeing t o a location on the Thai-
71
Burmese border. (DVB 010210)
 When Naypyitaw decided to raise salaries of low-paid employees in January, it also included those of the Tatmadaw’s
72
privates and non-commissioned officers, according to a report coming from the border. (SHAN 030210)
 Prime Minister General Thein Sein of the State Peace and Development Council, the official name for the Burmese military
73
junta, arrived in Chin State, western Burma this morning. (Khonumthung 030210)
 The Burmese military junta has been imparting civil militia training to 30 people from three villages in southern Matupi
74
Township, Chin state. The training began on 28 January and will end after a week. (Khonumthung 030210)
 The Burmese military junta has added three more townships in Arakan State in order to facilitate easier administration of
75
the areas by the authority, reports a government source. (Narinjara 120210)
 A man has been killed after stepping on a landmine in an area of Burma’s eastern Karen state flogged to foreign observers
76
last week as a ‘safe haven’ to return thousands of Karen refugees to. (DVB 110210)
 U Thuzana, abbot of Myaing Gyi Ngu monastery in Karen State and a co -founder of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
77
(DKBA), is being treated in a Bangkok hospital for an undisclosed lung problem. (Irrawaddy 150210)
 The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army says that the relations with the SPDC are to maintain a close working relationship that
78
“bears fruit”; however, things are not rosy as the SPDC and the DKBA would want them to be. (Kaowao 160210)
 Kya Pikoi, well known Naypyitaw-backed militia chief of Nakawngmu, a village in Mongton township, opposite Chiangmai,
has been officially promoted to a commander of the newly formed militia battalion, according to Thai and Shan sources on
79
the border. (SHAN 180210)
65
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3535-one-killed-in-clash-between-ala-and-burmese-army-.html
66
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3583-kwos-report-on-horrifying-abuse-of-women-village-chiefs.html
67
http://www.khonumthung.com/kng-news/09-news/chin-political-leaders-urge-people-to-restore-democracy-1/
68
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3590-suu-kyis-appeal-rejection-condemned.html
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http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50489
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71
72
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2899:enlisted-personnels-pay-also-
rises&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
73
http://www.khonumthung.com/prime-minister-thein-sein-arrives-in-chin-state-1/
74
http://www.khonumthung.com/junta-conducts-civil-militia-training/
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77
78
http://www.kaowao.org/2010news-feb-16.php
February-2010 6
 Sangkhlaburi –Burmese Army is stepping up militia strategy to replenish its forces by forcing the local people into militia
units (Pyi-Thu-Sit) to fight against the armed insurgent groups in southern Mon State and northern Tenasseri m Division.
80
(Kaowao 180210)
 This season, Mudon township villagers are struggling to pay demands for money from Peoples’ Militias after the previous
81
seasons exceptionally poor harvest. (IMNA 160210)
 The pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) will spend more than 12 billion kyat (US $12 million)
this year to implement public utilities and services in Rangoon, according to Rangoon mayor Brig -Gen Aung Thein Lin.
82
(Irrawaddy 220210)
 Recent waves of privatization by the Burmese military government includes not only state-owned enterprises but public
83
schools. I was shocked and felt sorry for the teachers, parents and students attending these schools. (Irrawaddy 230210)
 According to automobile owners and travelers from the region, both the police force and the people’s milita from Arbit
Village in southern Mudon Township, as well as a branch of the Thanphyuzayart Town police force, have each respectively
84
set up new checkpoints on the motorway between Three Pagodas Pass and Abit this January. (IMNA 220210)
Ceasefire Groups
 A meeting between Burmese Military Affairs Security Chief Lt-Gen Ye Myint and leaders of the Kachin Independence
Organization (KIO) in Myitkyina, the Kachin capital, on Friday failed to achieve a breakthrough in border g uard force
85
negotiations, said a Kachin source on the Sino-Burmese border. (Irrawaddy 010210)
 One day after the # 6 leader of Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) was shot down by an unknown
gunman, Maj Gen Kyaw Phyoe, Commander of Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command, reportedly told a meeting that
ceasefire armies that have been resisting junta pressure to become Burma Army run Border Guard Forces (BGFs) could be
86
beaten without fighting. (SHAN 010210)
 A bomb was discovered near the office of a major ceasefire group and defused last week – while plotters are still at large,
87
according to local sources. (DVB 010210)
 The NMSP, which is striving for ethnic rights for Mon people and rights of self-determination, arrived at a ceasefire
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agreement with the military junta in 1995. (Mizzima 010210)
 The unexpected killing of Mongla’s # 6 leader last week has served to steel the resolve of its ally Shan State Army (SSA)
“North” to stand united against Naypyitaw’s pressure to convert all armed grou ps that have ceasefire agreements with the
89
country’s military rulers, according to sources close to the leadership. (SHAN 020210)
 The Burmese military is intensifying the pressure on two armed ethnic groups in the northeast, by sending more troops to
90
the militarily strategic Kokang territory, according to local eyewitnesses. (KNG 020210)
 The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of a number of ethnic cease-fire groups under pressure to transform itself into a
border guard force under Burmese army command, is giving militia training to civilians in Mung Seng Yang, a military
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training center near the Sino-Burmese border, according to Kachin sources. (Irrawaddy 040210)
 Today, on the 49th anniversary of the Kachin Revolution Day, the day the Kachin Independenc e Army (KIA) was set up, the
Kachin leadership said it was keen to relive the Panglong Agreement for a genuine multiethnic federal Union of Burma. This
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http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2928:militia-chief-becomes-battalion-
commander&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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81
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84
85
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http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2895:junta-commander-let-ceasefire-armies-stew-in-their-own-
juice&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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http://www.mizzima.com/edop/interview/3469-why-nmsp-refuses-to-transform-to-bgf-.html
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http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2897:mongla-assassination-strengthening-unity-of-shan-armed-
group&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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http://www.kachinnews.com/News/Burma-junta-deploys-more-troops-to-Kokang-territory.html
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February-2010 7
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was reinforced in the anniversary day speech.
 Local civilians are facing more Burmese Army intrusions into the NMSP area that breach the 1995 NMSP ceasefire
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agreement, Kaowao has learned. (Kaowao 040210)
 In a major development the Burmese military junta has delivered an ultimatum to the Shan State Army (SSA) on February 6
to either respond to the Border Guard Force (BGF) issue by the end of this month or face military action, an observer said.
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(Mizzima 090210)
 The United Wa State Party (UWSP) Chairman Bao Yuxiang has again refused to meet with the junta's Military Affairs Security
(MAS) Chief Lt. Gen. Ye Myint to discuss the dictatorship's desire to turn the UWSP into a Border Guard Force (BGF).
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(Mizzima 090210)
 A new Kachin ethnic political party backed by major Kachin organizations yesterday mobilized women and students in its
96
party office in Kachin State’s capital Myitkyina with the elections in mind, said participants. (KNG 090210)
 The Burmese military junta called on ethnic cease-fire groups to join the Border Guard Force (BGF) by the end of February as
its top negotiator Lt-Gen Ye Myint traveled to the Northern Shan State city of Lashio to meet Shan and Wa leaders at the
97
weekend. (Irrawaddy 090210)
 A Wa fighter was shot to death by a Thai patrol last Friday, 5 February, while he with 2 companions was hunting on the Thai -
98
Burma border, according to Thai and Shan sources. (SHAN 100210)
 Wa leader Bao Yuxiang again refused to meet with Burma army’s security chief to discuss the latter’s plan of transforming
99
Wa army into border guard force. (DVB 150210)
 Visiting Kengtung, capital of Shan State East, that shares border with China, Laos and Thailand yesterday, Lt-Gen Min Aung
Hlaing, who oversees Shan and Kayah states, said Washington should have been assisting Burma’s ruling military junta in
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defeating the United Wa State Army (UWSA), 7 of whose top leaders are on its blacklist. (SHAN 150210)
 Two border passes opposite Chiangmai’s Chiangdao district have been ordered close since 5 February when a Wa fighter
who strayed across the borderline while hunting was killed by a Thai border security force, according to Thai and Shan
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sources. (SHAN 160210)
 Ethnic Kachin in Burma are wary of celebrating the 16th anniversary of the ceasefire with the ruling junta, without its go
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ahead. It was slated to be held late this month, said local sources. (KNG 160210)
 Bomb blasts that injured nine civilians in Laogai on Monday and Wednesday were the most recent indication that the ethnic
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Kokang capital remains unstable nearly six months after it was seized by Burmese government forces. (Irrawaddy 180210)
 A source close to Peng Jiasheng has categorically denied he and his troops were responsible for the bombings which took
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place in Laogai, the capital of Kokang in Shan State North, early in the week. (SHAN 180210)
 A senior Kachin ethnic leader from Burma’s northern Kachin State arrived in Singapore for a gall bladder surgery, said
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sources close to the patient. (KNG 180210)
 Approval by the Karen ceasefire group Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) of the regime's plan for a border guard
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force (BGF) has been stalled because of opposition from the DKBA's spiritual leader. (Irrawaddy 170210)
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http://www.kachinnews.com/News/Kachins-want-to-relive-Panglong-Agreement-for-genuine-Union-of-Burma.html
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3503-transform-to-peoples-militia-or-face-action-junta-to-ssa.html
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3502-wa-leader-again-refuses-to-meet-mas-chief.html
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http://www.kachinnews.com/News/Kachin-political-party-mobilizes-women-and-students-for-polls.html
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commander&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2924:wa-closes-two-border-passes-in-
protest&catid=93:general&Itemid=291
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http://www.kachinnews.com/News/Kachin-wary-of-celebrating-16th-ceasefire-agreement-without-junta-go-ahead.html
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http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2929:ousted-kokang-leader-denies-laogai-
bombings&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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http://www.kachinnews.com/News/KIO/KIA-vice-chairman-in-Singapore.html
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February-2010 8
 An emergency meeting was held by the Karen Peace Force in the capital of Mon state this week to discuss the appointment
of a new party leader and the transformation of its soldiers into a Border Guard Force, a source close to the KPF said to
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Kaowao requesting anonymity. (Kaowao 210210)
 They are the next generation of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and say they are not afraid to be the generation that
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fights in a civil war many fear may soon be upon them. (BBC 220210)
 Ethnic Kachins today began their four-day celebrations on the ceasefire with the ruling Burmese junta in Kachin State,
109
Northern Burma, said local participants. (KNG 230210)
 A delegation representing the United Wa State Army (UWSA) led by Bao Youxiang arrived in Tangyan, about 80 miles south
of northern Shan State capital Lashio, on Thursday at about 3 p.m. ahead of eleventh -hour negotiations with the Burmese
110
military junta on Friday, according to Wa sources. (Irrawaddy 250210)
 Beijing's importance to Burma's ruling regime was in the spotlight today, as state-run media gave extensive coverage to a
new Sino-Burmese hydropower project and Chinese military officials attended a meeting between Burmese negotiators and
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ethnic Wa leaders over the issue of forming border guard forces. (Irrawaddy 260210)
 The talks between the delegation from the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), based in
Mongla, opposite China’s Daluo, and the Triangle Region Command based in Kengtung, 160 km north of Maesai, yesterday
112
ended without any fresh results, according to a source close to the rebel leadership. (SHAN 260210)
 With neither side prepared to give way on key points, “the final meeting” yesterday between the United Wa State Army
(UWSA) and Naypyitaw, despite presence of Chinese representatives, failed to produce any desired results, according to
113
both Shan and Wa sources. (SHAN 270210)
 A decision on the thorny Border Guard Force issue will be taken by Burma’s ethnic Kachin armed group at a central
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committee meeting, in early March said the group’s sources. (KNG 270210)
 The situation in Kachin State, Northern Burma has been falsely portrayed in the state run media during Prime Minister
115
General Thein Sein’s visit to the state, local people said. (KNG 280210)
Political Prisoners
 The overseas Mon coordinating body has called for the release of a Mon Buddhist monk from a Burmese military
interrogation center in Yangon. Rev. Ajjae was arrested on January 7, 2010 in Thanbyuzayat town, Mon State, and accused
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of organizing an anti-election campaign. (Kaowao 010210)
 Three monks and two civilians in Burma have been handed lengthy prison sentences, some as much as nine years, for their
117
role in the September 2007 uprising, lawyers say. (DVB 030210)
 The Burmese-born US citizen detained in a Rangoon jail has declined food sent by his family, according to prison officials
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who spoke to a relative. (DVB 040210)
 At last count there were more than 2,100 political prisoners in Myanmar, according to human rights groups that track the
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opaque workings of the penal system in the military-run country. (NY Times 050210)
 A Myanmar court ordered a U.S. citizen on Wednesday to serve three years in prison for entering the military -ruled country
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with forged documents and undeclared foreign currency. (AP 100210)
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8528985.stm
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http://www.kachinnews.com/News/Kachins-begin-four-day-celebrations-on-ceasefire-agreement.html
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http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2943:mongla-gets-a-cool-reception&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2944:unhappy-conclusion-at-junta-wa-meet-
&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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http://www.kachinnews.com/News/KIO-to-thrash-out-BGF-issue-at-central-committee-meet.html
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http://www.kachinnews.com/News/Junta%E2%80%99s-false-propaganda-on-Kachin-State.html
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/world/asia/06myanmar.html?ref=global-home
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_MYANMAR_JAILED_AMERICAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-
02-10-00-37-18
February-2010 9
 Win Maw, a 47-year-old activist-rock musician, has won the 2009 Kenji Nagai Memorial Award for his commitment as a
freelance journalist in Burma. He is currently serving a total of 17-years imprisonment for his journalistic activities.
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(Irrawaddy 090210)
 A US official said on Thursday it will discuss the issue of sentencing Nyi Nyi Aung, a US citizen, by a Burmese court with the
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military junta in the dialogue process between the two countries. (The Irrawaddy 120210)
 IT TAKES great courage and commitment to translate for a foreign journalist in Myanmar. Two men who helped The
Economist after Cyclone Nargis, which killed some 140,000 people in 2008, were rounded up last September for opposing
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the ruling junta. (The Economist 110210)
 The Burmese military junta continues to be harsh to democracy activists in the run up to the general elections with four
women activists including Naw Ohn Hla, all supporters of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, sentenced to two years in prison each,
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today. (Mizzima 160210)
 Nyi Nyi Aung, alias Kyaw Zaw Lwin, the American recently sentenced to three years imprisonment, was transferred to Prome
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prison from Insein prison on the 11th of this month, according to his aunt Suu Suu Kyi. (Mizzima 140210)
 In a letter leaked ahead of a visit by the UN human rights envoy to Burma on Thursday, political prisoners at Rangoon's
notorious Insein Prison demanded improved conditions, including access to reading materials and better food and health
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care. (Irrawaddy 180210)
 The Washington-based organization Freedom Now has asked the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to investigate
the case of the Burmese-American Nyi Nyi Aung, who was sentenced by a Rangoon court last week to three years
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imprisonment. (Irrawaddy 170210)
 A Burmese prison court sentenced a Buddhist abbot to seven years in prison, an opposition source said, as a UN rights envoy
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wrapped up a visit to the military-ruled nation. (AAP 190210)
 THE fiancee of an American rights activist imprisoned by Myanmar said she felt betrayed by the US government and urged a
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more robust response to the military regime. (AFP 220210)
 Six Burmese political inmates in Rangoon’s infamous Insein prison are on hunger strike after complaining that authorities
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there are refusing to provide for “basic human requirements”. (DVB 230210)
 Eleven Burmese farmers whose controversial sentencing last year after a land dispute with the Burmese junta received
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widespread attention have been released from prison early. (DVB 230210)
 The United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana believes there that the country’s
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political prisoners will not be freed any time soon. (Mizzima 260210)
Other
 February 12, 2010 was the 63rd anniversary of Burma’s ‘Union Day’. It was this day in 1947 when 23 representatives from
the Shan states, the Kachin hills and the Chin hills, and Aung San, head of the interim Burmese government, signed an
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agreement in Panglong (in Shan state) to form the Union of Burma. (Asian Tribune 130210)
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http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15498377&fsrc=rss
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3537-naw-ohn-hla-three-others-get-two-years-in-prison-.html
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3530-burmese-american-activist-transferred-to-prome-prison.html
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http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1198301/Burma-jails-Buddhist-abbot:-opposition
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http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_493238.html
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3587-little-hope-for-burmas-political-prisoners.html
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http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/02/13/understanding-%E2%80%98union-day%E2%80%99-burma
February-2010 10
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Australia-Burma
 Burma's navy worked alongside a patrol boat from the Australian navy during a four -day naval war game exercise hosted by
India in the Indian Ocean, which ended on Monday. The Australian government on Monday also in creased its humanitarian
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aid to Burma by 40 percent. (Irrawaddy 090210)
 Australia's Green Party is questioning why the government sent a Navy patrol boat to take part in a military exercise with
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Burma, despite having military sanctions against the regime. (ABC 100210)
 Australia is to increase humanitarian aid to Burma to help the country to be ready for political change, Australia's foreign
136
minister has said. (BBC 080210)
 The Australian government will provide scholarships to post-graduate students in Myanmar to help develop the country's
137
human resources, China's Xinhua news agency cited a local daily as saying on Friday. (Bernama 120210)
 Speaking to The Irrawaddy by telephone, Australia's shadow foreign minister Julie Bishop said that she is “deeply
concerned” about Australia's participation alongside the Burmese regime in a multilateral naval exercise hosted by India.
The naval exercise was undertaken just as Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced a 40 percent increase in
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Australian humanitarian assistance to Burma. (Irrawaddy 110210)
Bangladesh-Burma
 The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has issued timeframes to Burma and Bangladesh for submission of
their respective reports regarding their maritime boundary dispute in the Bay of Bengal, according to a press release of the
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tribunal. (Narinjara 010210)
 The export of Burmese rice to Bangladesh has been increasing in the past few days as it garners fair prices and high demand
140
in Bangladesh markets, said a Burmese border trader. (Narinjara 020210)
 Eight Burmese nationals were arrested by Bangladeshi Coastguard from Shapuri Dip jetty in Bangladesh on February 12,
141
while their cargo boat was anchored, said a close aide of Bangladesh Rifles( BDR). (Kaladan 150210)
 Plagued by an increasing number of robberies along the Burma-Bangladesh border, villagers in Maungdaw Township,
northern Arakan State have been compelled to build guard posts and arrange for sentry duty, sources said. (Mizzima
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250210)
 Sixteen Bangladeshi nationals were sent back to their country by the Burmese authorities without any knowledge of the
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Bangladesh authorities on a trawler on February 23 after they completed their jail terms, sources said. (Kaladan 250210)
Canada-Burma
 The Canadian government said Friday it was "deeply disappointed" that Myanmar's Supreme Court had rejected an appeal
144
by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi against her extended house arrest. (AFP 260210)
China-Burma
 According to the Sino-Burmese Border Agreement, which was signed in Peking on Thursday last and released in Rangoon on
January 31, China has accepted Burma’s northern border according to the English map, along the McMahon line, adjoining
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http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201002/2815143.htm?desktop
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http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=475470
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2431:eight-burmese-nationals-arrested-from-
border&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3580-burma-bangla-border-safe-haven-for-robbers-.html
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2448:sixteen-bangladeshi-nationals-sent-back-after-
jail-term&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Canada+condemns+rejection+freedom/2618355/story.html
February-2010 11
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India. (The Hindu 010210)
 In the aftermath of Burma's 2007 "Saffron Revolution" and the military's subsequent crackdown, China has been
146
increasingly pressured to assume a larger role in helping to resolve Burma's crisis. (Irrawaddy 060210)
 Ambassador of China to Myanmar Ye Dabo and his wife held a reception at their residence here Tuesday evening to extend
147
new year greeting and blessing to the Chinese community. (Xinhua 090210)
EU-Burma
 The European Union (EU) will provide 4 million U.S. dollars' aid to Myanmar for environmental conservation and vo cational
resettlement projects in cyclone-hard- hit region, sources with the Myanmar Forest Resources Environmental Development
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Association (FREDA) said on Tuesday. (Xinhua 020210)
 Bulgaria's EU commissioner designate sailed through a tame parliamentary hearing on Wednesday (3 February), ensuring
149
that the vote on the investiture of the entire European Commission will take place next week. (EU Observer 030210)
 EU lawmakers urged China, India and Russia Thursday to use their might to pressure Myanmar to imp rove human rights and
150
called on them to stop supplying arms to the regime. (EUbusiness 110210)
French-Burma
 The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned Burma’s military rulers for the harsh sentencing of a journalist to 13
151
years in prison and urged the regime to respect freedom and fundamental rights of the people. (Mizzima 010210)
India-Burma
 The Army has cautioned the Mizoram Government that illegal immigration from Myanmar into the State needs to be
152
discouraged as it has security overtones. (The Hindu 060210)
 India has asked Myanmar to help capture or flush out the militants from the Northeast, in particular elusive Ulfa military
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chief Paresh Barua. (GUWAHATI 100210)
 In October 2004, when the Chairman of Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than Shwe
visited India, a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Non -Traditional Security Issues was signed
154
with a lot of fanfare. (Mizzima 060210)
 Myanmar's up and down relationship with neighboring India is on the up again with a new commitment for coordinated
155
counter-insurgency operations along their mutual border. (Asia Times 190210)
 India is mounting guard along its eastern borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh. The home ministry has decided that half of
the 29 Border Security Force (BSF) battalions — being raised over next four years — will be deployed along the riverine
156
areas of the Bangladesh border. (Hindustan Times 230210)
 Burma's Navy Chief, Vice Admiral Nyan Tun, started an official five-day visit to India on Saturday, meeting India's Defense
157
Minister on Tuesday. (Irrawaddy 230210)
 Burmese Navy Chief, Vice Admiral Nyan Tun’s five-day visit to India, is yet another instance of giving a leg up to bilateral
relationship between the two countries, particularly in areas of defence, a New Delhi based Burmese Member of Parliament
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in exile said. (Mizzima 250210)
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http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/02/02/4599959.htm
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http://euobserver.com/9/29402
150
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/myanmar-rights-un.2o1
151
http://www.mizzima.com/news/world/3470-france-condemns-burma-for-incarcerating-journalists-.html
152
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http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=India+prods+Myanmar+to+capture+Barua&artid=q2H55tbMpQc=
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http://www.mizzima.com/edop/commentary/3494-why-is-burma-hoodwinking-new-delhi-on-security-issues-.html
155
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LB19Df01.html
156
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/newdelhi/India-to-step-up-guard-along-eastern-border/Article1-511804.aspx
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3581-burma-india-boost-relations-with-naval-parley.html
February-2010 12
 The Government of India will make available Rs. 660 billion to construct a new road to link Mizoram state in northeast India
159
and western Myanmar. (Khonumthung 260210)
 India and Myanmar will conduct a 'coordinated operation' against northeast separatist outfits taking shelter and setting up
base camps in the neighbouring country, Union Home Secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai said in Imphal. (Hindustan Times
160
280210)
Indonesia-Burma
 Indonesia expects Myanmar to meet its promise to hold inclusive general elections this year, Ambassador Sebastianus
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Sumarsono said Saturday. (Jakarta Post 060210)
Japan-Burma

Malaysia-Burma
 Malaysia Tuesday called on military-run Burma to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of national elections it
162
expects to be held around October. (BKK 090210)
Nepal-Burma
 Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win called on Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal at the latter's official resident
163
Baluwatar on Tuesday morning. (The Himalayan 160210)
North Korea-Burma
 The many faces of bilateral diplomacy were on show last week as the Burmese junta lauded Kim Jong Il at a film screening to
164
mark the ‘Dear Leader’ of North Korea’s birthday. (DVB 090210)
 High-ranking Burmese military officials joined a ceremony to mark the 68th birthday of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il,
165
according to Burma's state-run media. (Irrawaddy 150210)
Philippines-Burma
 Burma is likely to hold elections around September but they are shaping up to be a "farce" with democracy icon Aung San
166
Suu Kyi unable to run, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Frid ay. (BKK 060210)
Singapore-Burma
 Singapore's Foreign Ministry has expressed disappointment that Myanmar's Supreme Court had rejected an appeal by Aung
167
San Suu Kyi against her extended house arrest. (CAN 270210)
Sri Lankan-Burma
 Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein issuing a congratulatory message on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's
168
election victory in the Presidential Election says: (Daily News 020210)
Thailand-Burma
 Former Thai foreign minister Dr Surakiart Sathirathai said that Thailand's relations with Burma have deteriorated since the
159
http://www.khonumthung.com/kng-news/09-news/india-to-spend-rs-660-billion-for-mizoram-myanmar-road/
160
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/imphal/India-Myanmar-to-jointly-fight-northeast-rebels/Article1-513939.aspx
161
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/02/06/myanmar-told-have-inclusive-elections.html
162
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/167941/malaysia-calls-on-burma-to-free-suu-kyi-ahead-of-polls
163
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Myanmar+Foreign+Minister+holds+bilateral+talks+with+PM&NewsID=227949
164
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/167638/philippines-sees-burma-vote-farce-in-september
167
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1040175/1/.html
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http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/02/02/news58.asp
February-2010 13
2006 military coup and the current government has been “putting more pressure on the Government of Myanmar [Burma],”
169
with the number of high-level meetings much reduced from the pre-coup era. (Irrawaddy 100210)
 It is in the interests of the ASEAN community to help Myanmar hold fair, free and transparent elections this year, to return
170
democracy and peace to the country, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya says. (The Jakarta Post 150210)
 This year Northern Thailand and parts of neighboring Burma are again suffering from a smoke filled haze caused by the
burning of forest and agricultural waste. Sumeth Saengnimnual, governor of Chiang Rai which borders the Burmese Tachilek
Township met Wednesday with Burmese officials to discuss several topics including the smoke problem which usually occurs
171
during the dry season. (Mizzima 180210)
 Burmese security authorities have approached the Thai military to help uncover clues to officers who disappeared following
172
a skirmish with drug traffickers near the Thai border. (BKK 220210)
 A low-interest loan to Burma by Thailand's state-owned Exim Bank was among the many items on a list of charges that
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ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was found guilty of yesterday. (Irrawaddy 270210)
UN-Burma
 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday praised U Thant, the third secretary-general of the United Nations, for
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steering the world body safely through a decade of change. (Irrawaddy 020210)
 The United Nations’ rights expert on Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, will pay a visit to western Burma’s Arakan State during
175
his five-day human rights mission to the military-ruled Burma from 15 to 20 February. (Narinjara 010210)
 Burma is not on the February agenda of the United Nations Security Council because no member has raised the issue,
according to Ambassador Gérard Araud of France, the country holding the council’s rotating pre sidency this month.
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(Irrawaddy 030210)
 A United Nations report on Burma's recovery from Cyclone Nargis says progress has been achieved in key areas such as child
177
development and health care. (VOA 090210)
 The release of a leading dissident in Myanmar has intensified questions about whether the military regime will keep its
promise to hold free and fair elections this year, and about what form the opposition will take. (The Wall Street Journal
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150210)
 The United Nations' special envoy to Myanmar has visited the country's western border as part of a human rights inspection
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ahead of national elections. (Aljazeera 160210)
 A UN rights envoy held talks in Burma's remote capital with senior members of the military regime Friday but was not
180
granted an audience with reclusive junta supremo Than Shwe, officials said. (BKK 190210)
 A VISIT by a UN rights envoy to Myanmar has yielded little progress ahead of elections, experts say, in the latest setback fo r
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the world body's efforts in the military-ruled nation. (AFP 210210)
 News journals in Burma have been barred from carrying news about the Feb.19 press conference of Tomas Ojea Quintana,
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the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (Burma), sources said. (Irrawaddy 220210)
 UN CHIEF Ban Ki Moon is 'disappointed' Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal against her extended house
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arrest was dismissed, his press office said on Friday. (Straits Times 270210)
169
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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/02/15/thailand-joins-ri-promoting-free-fair-elections-myanmar.html
171
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3553-thai-and-burmese-authority-to-combat-with-smoke-problem.html
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/33301/burma-seeks-clues-to-drug-battle-fiasco
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http://www.burmanet.org/news/2010/02/01/narinjara-united-nations-rights-expert-to-visit-arakan/
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http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/UN-Report-on-Burmas-Recovery-From-2008-Cyclone-Points-to-Progress-in-Key-Areas-
83881317.html
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703562404575067272266210204.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews
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http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/02/201021682942185801.html
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/168978/un-envoy-meets-burma-ministers-not-junta-chief
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February-2010 14
US-Burma
 The US has long been regarded as an enemy of the Myanmar’s ruling junta. However, that did not prevent the junta chief
Gen. Than Shwe and its cabinet members from giving a warm welcome to US Sen. James Webb, chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations’ Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, when Mr. Webb visited the country on August 15 -16 last
184
year. (The Seoul Times 010210)
 US President Barack Obama has earmarked $36.5 million in his 2011 budget to support democracy and humanitarian
185
programs for Burma and along the Thai-Burma border. (Irrawaddy 020210)
 There are increased suspicions about the nuclear ambitions of the Burmese regime which according to an American think
186
tank are building a reactor near Mandalay with the help of North Korea. (Asia News 010210)
 Burma's only provider of non-state television stations, has stopped broadcasting US-based news network CNN, possibly
187
because of its extensive coverage of US troops involved in the Haiti earthquake relief effort. (Irrawaddy 060210)
 SENATOR Jim Webb, who paid a rare visit to Myanmar last year, called on Thursday for the United States to keep engaging
188
the military regime after it handed a three-year sentence to a US citizen. (AFP 120210)
 A senior lawmaker called Wednesday for the United States to consider toughening sanctions on Myanmar for its jailing of an
189
American citizen whose fiancée appealed for his freedom. (AFP 100210)
 The United States has criticized Burma's Supreme Court for not releasing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from her
190
extended house arrest. (VOA 270210)
Vietnam-Burma
 National carrier Vietnam Airlines announced on Wednesday it would open direct flights from Hanoi to Myanmar’s Yang on
191
city, also known as Rangoon, beginning March 2. (Thanhnien News 120210)
Other
 Tolerance to artemisinin, the most effective anti-malarial drug available, is emerging in Myanmar and could pose a major
192
challenge to regional malaria control, says the World Health Organization (WHO). (IRIN 040210)
 During his trip to Asia in November, Barack Obama seemed strangely mute. Unlike Bill Clinton, who criticized China’s human
193
rights record in front of then-president Jiang Zemin, Obama largely avoided the topic of rights. (Boston 070210)
 Despite rumors that its United Nations ambassador was sacked for voting to support a Dec. 23 General Assembly resolution
condemning human rights abuses in Burma, the tiny Southeast Asian country of Timor -Leste says it continues to back reform
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in Burma. (Irrawaddy 130210)
 Amnesty International has released a major report on Burma and says violence against activists and ethnic minorities is
195
getting worse. (ABC News 160210)
 Chinese weapons in large numbers are finding their way to the north-eastern states through five major routes most of which
196
pass through Myanmar territory, a senior intelligence official said in Moreh. (Hindustantimes 210210)
 A Cameroonian man, yet to be identified, entered the French embassy compound today on Pyid aungsu Yeikthar Street, in
Rangoon's Dagon township. A group of about two dozen police and USDA waited in front of the embassy for him, according
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http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=9335
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186
http://www.speroforum.com/a/26565/America-suspects-nuclear-cooperation-between-Yangon-and-
Pyongyang?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+speroforum%2Fnroq+%28Spero+News%29
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188
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100210/pl_afp/myanmarusrightstrial
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http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/US-Condemns-Burma-on-Aung-San-Suu-Kyi-Decision.html
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http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/?catid=7&newsid=55154
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http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MGAE-82CH82?OpenDocument
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http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/02/07/dazzled_by_asia/
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/16/2821534.htm?section=justin
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http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/northeastindia/NE-militants-smuggle-Chinese-arms-into-India-through-Myanmar/Article1-
511247.aspx
February-2010 15
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to an eyewitness who spoke to Mizzima. (Mizzima 230210)
 Southeast Asian nations on Sunday said they are still aiming to set up a European Union -style economic community by 2015
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despite concerns that the global slump has led to a rise in trade protectionism. (ABC News 280210)
HUMAN RIGHTS
Extrajudicial Killing
 Nine Burmese job seekers were killed by unknown gunmen near the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot, Thai police
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reported. (Irrawaddy 010210)
 The staff of a Thai police station is being investigated in connection with the murder of nine Karen job seekers near the Tha i-
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Burmese border town of Mae Sot, according to a police spokesman. (Irrawaddy 020210)
 Sarapa (Military Intelligence) killed a Rohingya man after torturing him severely on January 4, in Maungdaw Town, Arakan
State, after calling him to their office, according to a close relative of the victim on condition of anonymity. (Kaladan Press
201
050210)
 Villagers after raising questions on paying illegal taxes at high rates to the militia force in Tenasserim Division have allegedly
202
been tortured with one being killed by the Burmese Army, the families of the victims said. (Kaowao 110210)
 At 6 pm on February 12th of this year, a 15 year-old Mon migrant worker named Mehm Banyar Seik was shot at his home in
quarter 15 of Narthapi Township, in Thailand’s Songkhala province . A member of the victim’s extended family agreed to be
203
interviewed by IMNA for this story. (IMNA 170210)
 After the shooting of a villager in Yebyu Township, area residents will not leave their village at night for fear of reprisal s from
204
the Burmese army battalion responsible for the shooting death. (IMNA 250210)
Child Soldier/ Forced Recruitment

 The army in Burma has released a 14-year-old boy it had forcibly recruited, after his mother appealed for his return on
205
international media. (BBC 010210)
 Two under-aged boys from Magwe division’s Taungdwingyi in central Burma recruited into army by force last month have
206
been returned to their parents. (DVB 020210)
 Seven villagers in central Burma remain in captivity after being abducted by the Burmese troops in December last year,
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while a neighbour claimed they had been forced into the army. (DVB 040210)
 Kyaw Min Htun’s is a story too often seen, but not told: the boy was plied with alcohol by troops in the small town of
208
Taungdwingyi in central Burma last month, before being abducted and taken to a nearby army base. (DVB 090210)
 The International Labour Organisation will begin circulating leaflets on forced labour and child solider recruitment across
209
Burma, but not before it is passed through the regime's notorious censor board. (DVB 120210)
 Burmese Army authorities based in Tamu town, Sagaing division detained 15 youths from a traditional concert in January for
210
recruitment in the military. (Khonumthung 110210)
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/breaking-and-news-brief/3570-junta-police-escort-cameroonian-from-french-embassy.html
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http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9970695
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2414:sarapa-kills-rohingya-man-in-maungdaw-
arakan&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/ASAZ-82LHAQ?OpenDocument
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http://www.khonumthung.com/army-detains-15-youths-for-recruitment/
February-2010 16
Land Confiscation/ Forced Relocation
 The Burmese military authority has plans to move 600 Burmese Buddhist families from Burma proper to Buthidaung
Township in Arakan to settle in model villages that are currently under construction in the area, reports a source close to t he
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authority. (Narinjara 010210)
 Houses in two villages on Madae Island in Kyaukpru Township were forcibly relocated and land was confiscated for
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construction of a gas pipeline and jetty on the island, said one villager. (Narinjara 090210)
 The Burmese military authority has confiscated thousands of acres of private land in Kyauktaw Township in Arakan State in
213
order to set up an artillery battalion in the area, said a farmer from the area. (Narinjara 020210)
 On January 26, the Maungdaw Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC), or MaYaKa (in Burmese) Chairman
ordered villagers of Maungdaw Township to pay Kyat 30,000 per acre of arable land, which were seized for Natala villagers
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in May 2009 by Nasaka, said a local farmer on condition of anonymity. (Kaladan 030210)
 Young lawyer Pho Phyu put in prison after taking up the case of farmers relating to farmland confiscation, is likely to be
215
released, lawyer Myint Thwin, fighting his case said. (Mizzima 040210)
 The future of Arakanese families who are currently living on Madae Island in Kyaukpru District in Arakan State are uncertain
after the military authority has begun confiscating land and relocating their homes to make way for a gas pipeline. (Narinjara
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180210)
 179 Burman families arrived in Buthidaung on 15 February to settle in two model villages that were recently constructed by
217
the Burmese junta. (Narinjara 200210)
 In yet another instance of high handedness by the Burmese military junta, over 260 households in Mudita Street, Ward No.
2 in North Okkalapa, Rangoon have been ordered to move from their current location, local residents alleged. (Mizzima
218
220210)
 Army units have seized nearly 300 acres of farmland owned by local farmers in Sittwe and Ponnakyun Townships in Arakan
219
State since the beginning of last month. (Mizzima 250210)
Forced Labor
 One ex-village chairman in Maungdaw Township has been using local people as forced labor on an illegal timber production
220
site with the help of Nasaka authorities, reports an educated Muslim youth from the area. (Narinjara 010210)
 Burma’s border security force - Nasaka of Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, has been using forced labour and collecting
money from local villagers since January 27 for erecting barbed wire fencing on the Burma Bangladesh border, said a local
221
elder on condition of anonymity. (Kaladan 010210)
 Residents of Senthang hill tract of Hakha district are being forced by the Chin State Peace and Development Council to
construct the motor road between Gangaw Township of Magwe Division, Surkhua village and Buzung village, s aid a local.
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(Khonumthung 010210)
 Burma’s border security force - Nasaka has been using forced labour of local villagers for renovation of a road since February
223
2. The road connects Maungdaw Town to Bassara village, said a local trader. (Kaladan 090210)
 The Burmese military junta has been using a new tactic for forced labor in Arakan State in order to avoid pressure from the
211
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2408:mayaka-demands-money-from-villagers-for-
seized-land&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3482-lawyer-pho-phyu-may-be-released.html
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3561-over-260-households-being-forcibly-relocated.html
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3575-army-seizes-farmlands-in-arakan-state.html
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2404:forced-labour-and-extortion-for-fence-building-in-
maungdaw-arakan-&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.khonumthung.com/kng-news/09-news/junta-forces-people-to-construct-hakha-gangaw-road/
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2419:forced-labour-for-road-renovation-in-
maungdaw&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
February-2010 17
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ILO and international community, said a teacher from Buthidaung. (Narinjara 220210)
Other
 Nasaka, Burma’s border security force seized two Ka Nyin (in Burmese) trees - a large tree yielding wood oil on January 25,
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for planks for construction of a jetty on the river. (Kaladan 010210)
 The Chairman of the Township Peace and Development Council, Kalaymyo, Sagaing Division in Western B urma issued an
order early this month saying self-supported road construction in the region will not be allowed unless a proper application
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is submitted to the authorities. (Khonumthung 010210)
 Burma’s border security force - Nasaka came up with an unfair judgment recently to two Arakanese Rohingya brothers of
227
Maungdaw Township of Arakan State who put up a case, said a close relative of the victim. (Kaladan 040210)
 The Bangladesh government has been harassing and oppressing Arakanese Rohingyas living alon g the border area since
228
January 2010, according to sources. (Kaladan 040210)
 An Arakanese Rohingya woman died after being given an overdose of medicine in the general hospital of Maungdaw, Arakan
229
state on January 30, according to eyewitness in the hospital. (Kaladan 040210)
 Burmese government authorities have banned ethnic literature and text from being donated to library collections in Paung
230
Township, Mon, despite the library’s being predominately funded and supported by area villagers. (IMNA 040210)
 While thousands of survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar are benefiting from better healthcare and nutrition, complete
231
recovery may be delayed unless livelihoods are restored, warns a survey released on 9 February. (IRIN 090210)
 Since January 5, Burma’s border security force - Nasaka in Maungdaw Township has ordered salt manufacturers in
Maungdaw Township to sell salt to Nasaka at prices lower than that of the open market, said a salt producer. (Kaladan
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090210)
 Burma’s border security force (Nasaka) has been harassing Arakanese Rohingya shopkeepers since February 7, in Maungdaw
Township. Major Sein Win, Nasaka Commander of area number 6, summoned the shopkeepers and forced them to borrow
233
money from him so as to get profit on a monthly basis from their business, said a local trader. (Kaladan 120210)
 Burmese military authorities have forced local villagers to pay hefty fees for updating family lists in Maungdaw District in
234
western Burma's Arakan State, said a villager from Thapraytaw Village on Sunday. (Narinjara 150210)
 Ten farmers, who were arrested and sent to Thayet prison after they complained to the International Labour Organization
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(ILO), regarding their cultivable land being seized, were released today. (Mizzima 170210)
 An Arakanese Rohingya woman was raped by sergeant Myo Naing and two soldiers from Military Operation Command
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(MOC)-15 of Buthidaung base on February 22 in Poenyoleak village, said a villager from said village. (Kaladan 260210)
224
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2403:nasaka-seizes-two-ka-nyin-trees-from-
villager&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.khonumthung.com/kng-news/09-news/permits-for-self-supported-construction-needed/
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2409:unfair-judgment-by-nasaka-in-north-arakan-
burma&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2410:arakanese-rohingyas-on-border-harassed-by-
bangladeshi-officials&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2412:overdose-kills-patient-in-maungdaw-
hospital&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=88045
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2420:salt-producers-forced-to-sell-to-nasaka-at-lower-
prices-&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2428:arakanese-rohingya-shopkeepers-harassed-by-
nasaka-in-maungdaw&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3548-ten-farmers-who-complained-to-ilo-released.html
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2450:arakanese-rohingya-woman-rape-in-
buthidaung&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
February-2010 18
REFUGEES /IDPS/MIGRANT WORKERS/ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
 More than 3,000 Karen refugees staying in Tha Song Yang in Thailand's Tak Province must return to their homes across the
237
border in a conflict zone in Burma by Feb 15, said Karen sources. (Irrawaddy 020210)
 A refugee of Leda unregistered camp was stabbed by local youths yesterday, at about 8 pm while he was returning to his
238
camp after marketing, said a close relative of the victim who did not mention his name. (Kaladan 020210)
 Japanese government officials are visiting Mae La refugee camp in northern Thailand today (Tuesday, 02 Feb.) to begin
239
interviewing refugees from Myanmar who have applied for resettlement to Japan. (UNHCR 020210)
 The Karen Women Organization issued a press release Tuesday demanding the government not to forcibly repatriate more
than 3,000 Karen refugees, the majority being women and children, who are currently living in Tha Song Yang district, in Tak
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province. (The Nation 030210)
 Migrant workers from Burma are still detained in an Australian refugee camp, after making a failed attempt to enter
Australia illegally last March. Migrant works chose to make the journey after being promised a better livelihood then in
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Malaysia or Thailand. (IMNA 020210)
 Officials from Japan's Justice Ministry on Wednesday began interviewing Myanmar asylum-seekers in Mae Sot, northern
242
Thailand, to determine if they are eligible to resettle in Japan. (Daily Yomiuri Online 040210)
 Thai authorities will start deporting 3,000 Karen refugees living in Tha Song Yang camp back to Burma on Fr iday. (Irrawaddy
243
040210)
 US lawmakers on Thursday implored Thailand not to deport thousands of ethnic Karen villagers back to military -ruled
244
Myanmar, saying they were at grave risk of human rights abuses. (AFP 050210)
 Human rights groups want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call a halt to a military plan to repatriate 161 Karen refugees
245
from Tak to Burma. (BKK 050210)
 A meeting is underway along the Thai-Burma border after Thailand yesterday suspended the forced return of some 3,000
246
Karen refugees back to Burma. (DVB 050210)
 A Thai paramilitary trooper taskforce here Friday repatriated 30 families of ethnic Karen refugees to Burma amid concerns of
247
their safety. (The Nation 050210)
 A group of ethnic Karen refugees sheltering in Thailand are at risk of torture, rape, or death if they are forcibly returned to
248
Myanmar, campaigners have warned. (Aljazeera 050210)
 Acting Thai government spokesperson Dr. Panitan Wattanayagorn has told The Irrawaddy that the Thai authorities have
been assured by their Burmese counterparts that the areas to which 3,000 Karen refugees are to be repatriated are clear of
249
landmines. (Irrawaddy 050210)
 Thailand’s attempt to repatriate over 3,000 ethnic Karens who fled the conflict in military-ruled Burma last year has
triggered strong local and international objections, including from 27 members of the United States Congress. (IPS
250
050210)
 The army is accused of sending a group of Karen refugees back to Burma, despite government assurances to the contrary.
251
(BKK 100210)
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2407:refugee-stabbed-by-locals-mobile-and-money-
looted&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/SKEA-82AHCX?OpenDocument
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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Government-must-halt-repatriation-of-refugees-from-30121680.html
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http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20100204TDY03102.htm
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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1035509/1/.html
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/32309/repatriation-condemned
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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/30121901/Thai-troops-repatriate-30-families-of-Karen-refuge
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http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/02/20102545845316106.html
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http://www.globalissues.org/news/2010/02/05/4436
February-2010 19
 Burmese refugee groups in Malaysia have given a cautious welcome to the announcement of a plan by the Kuala Lumpur
252
government to issue identity cards to refugees recognized by the UN. (Irrawaddy 020210)
 Burma is one of the world's most closed and internationally isolated states, and yet a steady stream of people and goods
253
make their way across the Thai-Burmese border each day. (BBC 090210)
 In Thailand, a 28 February deadline awaits for some two million migrant workers from Burma, Cambodia, and Laos to either
register through a complex “Nationality Verification” process, or leave the country. The Royal Thai Government’s Cabinet of
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Ministers issued this binding and unjust ultimatum on 19 January. (ICEM 080210)
 Saw Phad Klo spent a week trekking through the jungles of Burma's Karen State with his wife and children. Like many others
who take similar journeys, they weren’t sure where they were going but knew they had to leave and find a new place to live.
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(Irrawaddy 080210)
 There are an estimated 100,000-plus Burmese migrant workers in the border town of Mae Sot and more than 2.5 million in
256
all of Thailand. (Toronto Sun 060210)
 Thirteen unregistered Arakanese refugees have died of starvation in Kutuapalong makeshift camp because most were
unable to go outside the camp to work for fear of arrest by authorities in Bangladesh, said a refugee from the camp on
257
condition of anonymity. The deaths occurred between January 10 to 15, 2010. (Kaladan 090210)
 Eighteen Arakanese Rohingya refugees, who were pushed back by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on January 26, from Shapuri Dip
of Bangladesh were arrested by Burma’s border security force Nasaka and sent to Buthidaung jail on February 2, said a close
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relative from Maungdaw. (Kaladan 080210)
 Burmese government troops have stepped up their attacks on Karen civilians, burning down dozens of houses and a clinic
and forcing schools to close and around 2,000 Karen villagers to flee into the jungle, according to Karen relief
259
groups. (Irrawaddy 110210)
 The military and two other state agencies have insisted they did not forcibly repatriate Karen refugees from a camp in Tak to
260
Burma. (BKK 110210)
 Civic and refugee activist groups hope talks with the Thai government will ensure the safety of Karen refugees from Burma
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who face deportation. (VOA 100210)
 A woman refugee from the unofficial Kutupalong refugee camp was killed and her husband seriously injured by an elephant
on February 11, at about 2:30 p.m. The couple was returning to their camp from the forest after collecting firewood, said a
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refugee. (Kaladan 120210)
 The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) has raised concerns about Karen refugees returning to areas in eastern
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Burma where landmines may be planted. (Irrawaddy 150210)
 Thousands of undocumented migrants in Malaysia, many of whom are recognised refugees from Burma, are likely to be
264
arrested in coming weeks following heavy pressure from the US to eradicate human trafficking. (DVB 150210)
 The Thai government’s policy to deport millions of Burmese migrants from Thailand from March 1 has come under fire from
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labour rights groups and triggered protests. (Mizzima 160210)
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/32616/army-denies-haven-to-karen-refugees
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http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3602-Resistance-Builds-Against-Thai-Migrant-Worker-Expulsion
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http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2010/02/06/12773776.html
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2421:unregistered-arakanese-refugees-die-of-
starvation-in-makeshift-camp&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2417:eighteen-refugees-sent-to-jail-in-
burma&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/32675/military-denies-forcibly-repatriating-karen
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http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Thai-Government-UN-Civic-Groups-Look-to-Protect-Burma-Refugees-Avoid-Deportation-
84010452.html
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2429:elephant-kills-refugee-at-kutupalong-unofficial-
camp&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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February-2010 20
 A 12-member delegation from the European parliament visited two Burmese Muslim refugee camps in southern Bangladesh
266
on Monday to witness the current situation of refugees in the camps, said an official from UNHCR. (Narinjara 160210)
 Thai authorities say that despite protests by human rights groups they are proceeding with plans to deport up to 1.4 million
migrants who fail to complete national verification procedures by the end of February. About 80 percent of the migrants
267
threatened with repatriation are Burmese. (Irrawaddy 180210)
 Because of pressure from Thai authorities, more than 300 Karen refugees in Thailand have returned to heavily mined village
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areas in Burma, sources on the Thai-Burma border said on Thursday. (Irrawaddy 180210)
 Pressure is mounting on the Bangladesh Government to cease what European Parliamentarians and NGOs are calling “an
unprecedented crackdown” on Rohingya refugees now settled outside the two official camps in Cox's Bazaar District near
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the Burmese border. (Irrawaddy 180210)
 A round 2 million manual labourers from Burma, Cambodian and Laos currently work in Thailand. Many remain
underground. These ``migrants'' could well be seen to contribute greatly to the economy, and remain an untapped source of
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cultural and spiritual vitality that could enrich and diversify Thai society. (BKK 180210)
 The government of Thailand repatriated 28 boatpeople Bangladeshi boatpeople to Bangladesh on Feb ruary 16, who were
held along with 200 Arakanese Rohingya boatpeople from the sea by Thai authorities over a year ago, sources said. (Kaladan
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170210)
 A large number of migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos face the threat of deportation from Tha iland if the
Government goes ahead with its nationality verification process, an independent United Nations human rights expert
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warned today. (Scoop 190210)
 Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand have been given until the end of the month to register with au thorities or face
273
possible deportation, the English-language Myanmar Times reported Sunday. (DPA 210210)
 The Bangladesh authorities have cracked down on Burmese Muslim refugees seeking refuge from the brutal Burmese
military regime. The police operation has created a major humanitarian crisis according to an aid agency working in the area,
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Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF). (Mizzima 210210)
 The Bangladesh authorities have renewed arrests and pushback of Rohingya refugees in the days following the departure o f
275
a European parliamentary (MEP) delegation from the region bordering Burma. (Irrawaddy 220210)
 Up to one thousand detained migrants, mainly Burmese, in a Malaysian camp are on hunger strike and demanding access to
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the UN refugee agency amidst severe overcrowding. (DVB 220210)
 Dao, a migrant worker from Burma, is struggling to make a decision that could affect not only her but her family as well.
"There are many things to worry about," sighed the Shan state native who works in the northern Thai city of Ch iang Mai.
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(Irrawaddy 220210)
 An independent organization supporting migrants will provide language and cultural orientation for refugees from Myanmar
scheduled to arrive in Japan later this year on a resettlement program, officials of the International Or ganization for
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Migration said Monday. (Japan Today 230210)
 A New York-based rights group has again petitioned the Thai government over its demand that migrants in the country
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register in the scheme by the end of the month. (DVB 230210)
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3541-thai-deportation-policy-under-fire.html
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/168839/lost-faces-behind-another-migration-deadline
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2436:twenty-eight-bangladeshis-boatpeople-sent-back-
from-thailand-&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1002/S00423.htm
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http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1535312.php/Myanmar-and-Thailand-agree-on-registering-migrant-
workers
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3560-bangladesh-cracks-down-on-burmese-muslim-refugees.html
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http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/migrant-support-group-to-provide-orientation-for-myanmar-refugees
February-2010 21
 Speaking outside an International Labor Organisation (ILO) / Ministry of Labour meeting in Bangkok on Tuesday, Labour
Minister Phaithoon Kaethong said that the Feb. 28 deadline for migrant workers to apply for the controversial Nationality
280
Verification (NV) program stands. (Irrawaddy 230210)
 The Malaysian government is considering allowing its 80,000 refugees the opportunity to work while waiting to be resettled
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in third countries, according to a leading Malaysian news agency. (Irrawaddy 230210)
 The Thai government has extended to the end of March the deadline for Burmese migrant workers in the country to apply
282
for temporary passports. (DVB 250210)
 Three people were killed and five wounded on Thursday when Thai troops opened fire on a pickup truck smuggling Burmese
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migrants in a southwestern province bordering Myanmar, police said. (Reuters 250210)
 A phone call from a terrified person in the middle of the night often awakens Min Thant (not his real name). He dares not
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ignore the call out of fear that someone may lose their life. (Irrawaddy 250210)
 An internal document of the Thailand’s Ministry of Labor said Burmese migrants will have one more month extension to fill
in the nationality verification (NV) forms with his/her biographical information to submit to their home go vernments if
he/she agrees to go through the NV process by the original deadline, 28 February 2010, according to Human Rights and
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Development Foundation (HRDF). (SHAN 250210)
 Unregistered Arakanese Rohingya refugees of Kutupalong makeshift camp are under pressure from police and local villagers,
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according to refugees from Kutupalong camp. (Kaladan 250210)
 Thai soldiers have shot and killed three Burmese migrant children and wounded five more when they opened fire on a pick -
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up truck that sped through a border checkpoint. (DVB 260210)
 A village for internally displaced persons in eastern Burma has been shelled by Burmese troops, causing the death of a 15 -
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year-old boy. (DVB 260210)
 South Korea has suspended permits for Burmese migrant workers after Korean police discovered “illegal activity” being
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carried out by migrants, although it declined to say what these were. (DVB 260210)
 Thousands of migrant workers from Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar face possible deportation from Thailand unless they
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register their nationality this weekend. (IRIN 260210)
 Though the Thai government has extended the previous deadline of Feb. 28 to March 2 for migrant workers to go to local
employment departments and agree to go through the national verification process with their home countries, the system is
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in chaos, according to Andy Hall, director of the Migrant Justice Programme (MJP). (Irrawaddy 260210)
 A public health expert with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), just returned from witnessing the crisis of Burmese refugees
in Bangladesh, has documented the escalating persecution of the Rohingya people and is raising an alarm about acute
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malnutrition. (PHR 260210)
 The news that the Bangladeshi government is cracking down on Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar District has spread quickly
through the Rohingya community living in Mae Sot. Already enduring hardships, news of their fellow people's suffering is an
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added pain to their already difficult lives. (Irrawaddy 260210)
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http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-46472620100225?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=401
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http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2942:only-3-days-remain-for-burmese-migrants-
&catid=87:human-rights&Itemid=285
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http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2449:arakanese-refugees-under-pressure-from-police-
and-villagers&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=88244
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http://ionglobaltrends.blogspot.com/2010/02/burma-refugees-face-deeper-
crisis.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FzqKG+%28i+On+Global+Trends%29\
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February-2010 22
 Japan’s Supreme Court has thrown out an appeal by a woman from Myanmar seeking refugee status for fear that she will be
294
persecuted if she returns to the military-ruled country, sources familiar with the matter said Friday. (Japan Today 270210)
 An exhibition titled “Illegal, Temporary and Precarious States of Being—Migration,” at the Pridi Banomyong Institute in
Bangkok, offered a variety of responses and commentary on Thailand migration policies affecting migrant workers.
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(Irrawaddy 270210)
 Burmese Home Minister Maung Oo told Burmese migrant workers in Thailand today that they should register under the
Nationality Verification program and apply for temporary passports so they can remain in the country legally. (Irrawaddy
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270210)
 The Burmese cabinet has agreed to speed up the verification of Burmese workers' national identity in Ranong at the request
of the Thai government for their safety during the monsoon season, according to Burmese Interior Minister Maung Oo. (BKK
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280210)
BUSINESS
 According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, the number of international arrivals at Yangon International Airport
recorded approximately 111,000 in the first half of fiscal year 2009/10 (April to September 2009), reflecting a significant 34%
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increase from the previous year. (HVS International 010210)
 Procuring import licenses is taking inordinately long for traders on the Sino-Burmese border, traders at the105-mile border
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trade zone on Muse highway said. (Mizzima 010210)
 The Asian Development Bank has no immediate plans to provide fresh assistance to Burma, even as media reports suggest
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that the World Bank is considering the idea of providing assistance to the military-ruled country. (Mizzima 020210)
 The Myanmar Airways International (MAI) will be privatized and the ownership will be taken over by a giant private bank
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group for continued operation, the local 7-Day News reported Wednesday. (Xinhua 030210)
 The Myanmar authorities will privatize some port terminals’ handling business, designating at least three port terminals in
Yangon to be handed over to tender winning private enterprises for continued and effective operation, the local we ekly
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Voice reported Monday. (Xinhua 010210)
 The Myanmar telecommunication authorities will add 350,000 lines to Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 800 megahertz
fixed lines service being launched in two major cities of Yangon and Mandalay to provide bet ter telecommunication services,
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a senior official with the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) confirmed Monday. (Xinhua 010210)
 The military authority has built an industrial zone in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, for privately own ed industries, but
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has not supplied it with power or water yet, said one owner of an auto garage. (Narinjara 040210)
 Myanmar's privatization move has been getting momentum with the Privatization Commission announcing auctioning of
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110 more state enterprises this year under its privatization plan laid down 15 years ago. (Xinhua 050210)
 The sudden sale of Burma's state assets to regime-linked business people is being compared to the criminal carve up of
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Russia as the Soviet Union collapsed. (Irrawaddy 060210)
 Ghana's rejection last month of 15,000 bags of 'unwholesome' rice from Myanmar has sparked calls for improved quality
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controls for the commodity, one of the country's key export items, media reports said Sunday. (DPA 070210)
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http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/supreme-court-rejects-appeal-by-myanmar-woman-for-refugee-status
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/33651/burma-asked-to-speed-up-id-checks-on-its-workers-here
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http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_nshw.php?mwi=6909
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http://www.mizzima.com/business/3471-inordinate-delay-in-procuring-import-license-.html
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3478-adb-has-no-new-lending-plan-for-burma-.html
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http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90778/90858/90863/6886897.html
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http://www.burmanet.org/news/2010/02/01/xinhua-myanmar-to-privatize-port-terminals-handling-business/
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http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90778/90858/90863/6889189.html
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http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1531535.php/Ghana-rejects-unwholesome-Myanmar-rice
February-2010 23
 Myanmar Airways International (MAI), the country's main international carrier, is in the throes of another ownership
308
change. (ATI 100210)
 Burmese authorities have banned the sale of eggs in markets in Rangoon Division after the discovery of the A/H1N1 virus at
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a chicken farm, according to Rangoon sources. (Irrawaddy 090210)
 Three major Rangoon shipping ports handling 90 percent of Burma’s imports and exports are to be privatized, the latest in a
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major overhaul of Burmese industry, the ruling junta has announced. (DVB 090210)
 The Burmese junta is in the process of simultaneously conducting the privatization of many state -owned enterprises in
various sectors such as industry, commerce, hotels and tourism, cooperative society, information, livestock and fishery,
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energy, transportation and telecommunications. (Mizzima 050210)
 Traders acknowledge the progress made, but see years of hard work ahead if that dream is to be realised, and the head of
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the newly formed Myanmar Rice Industry Association (MRIA) agrees. (Reuters 120210)
 Viet Nam's ministry of industry and trade is likely to target Laos, Cambodia, Burma and East Timor this year as traditional
313
export markets. (ANN 110210)
 Faced with a shortage of small banknotes, people in Myanmar are resorting to bartering cigarettes, shampoo and other
314
items. (Reuters 100210)
 A spurt in demand for cement has sent prices soaring by over Kyat 1,000 in the past week, according to construction
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material suppliers in Rangoon. (Mizzima 100210)
 Myanmar Airways International (MAI), the country's main international carrier, is in the throes of another ownership
316
change. (Air Transport Intelligence news 100210)
 A leading European independent think-tank says the European Union's economic sanctions against Burma have been a
317
failure and may have actually strengthened the military government's position. (Irrawaddy 130210)
 The effort to rebrand Asean as "Southeast Asia" for tourism promotion is being closely watched by Burmese tourism
authorities, who say they will hold the Asean Tourism Association (Aseanta) responsible if the new marketing website is
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used for anti-Burma criticism. (BKK 150210)
 Businesses in Rangoon reliant upon the Internet in the conduct of their daily activity are facing increased hardship with the
319
slowing down of connection speeds since late last month. (Mizzima 180210)
 China is overtly anxious of losing its huge investments in neighbouring military-ruled Burma with civil war clouds looming
320
between the regime and ethnic armed groups, said sources close to Chinese officials. (KNG 170210)
 A flurry of privatizations of key state enterprises in Myanmar is raising speculation about whether the country's military
regime is planning more market reform or simply trying to cash out before an election expected later this year. (The Wall
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Stree Journal 190210)
 Myanmar's military government has invited offers from private companies to operate six major ports in the country's
322
commercial capital and build more in anticipation of a boost in exports. (Reuters 230210)
 Gia Lai Joint Stock Co (HAGL) will be among several Vietnamese companies to invest in Burma, chairman of the company's
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management board Doan Nguyen Duc has told local media. (ANN 220210)
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http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/02/10/338227/myanmars-mai-set-for-ownership-change-as-singaporeans.html
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http://www.mizzima.com/edop/editorial/3493-nepotism-and-cronyism-reaching-new-heights.html
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http://www.flex-news-food.com/console/PageViewer.aspx?page=28486&source=xml\
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http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?id=10032&sec=2
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100210/wl_nm/us_myanmar_currency
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http://www.mizzima.com/business/3507-cement-prices-soar.html
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http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/02/10/338227/myanmars-mai-set-for-ownership-change-as-singaporeans.html
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/tourism/32937/asean-campaign-could-yield-unwelcome-results
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http://www.mizzima.com/business/3551-slow-internet-speed-cripples-rangoon-businesses.html
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http://www.kachinnews.com/News/China-worried-over-losing-investments-in-Burma-in-event-of-civil-war.html
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB30001424052748704269004575073021237781744.html#mod=todays_asia_page_one
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http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/latest/story/0,4574,373742,00.html?
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http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?id=10271&sec=2
February-2010 24
 The state-run Myanmar [Burma] Port Authority (MPA) plans to privatize ports in Rangoon and offer port -building and other
port-related projects in the former capital city to private companies, according to government sources. (Irrawaddy
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260210)
325
 Foreign Exchange Certificate (FEC) prices have been falling over the past one month, traders said. (Mizzima 260210)
 Residents of Mogok, the center of Burma's gems industry, have been in a panic recently. Since last week, earth-movers and
326
other heavy equipment have begun appearing in the town's residential neighborhoods. (Irrawaddy 270210)
ENVIRONMENT/ NATURAL RESOURCES
 Several large companies are working “day and night” to mine for gold in areas that will soon be flooded by the infamous
327
Irrawaddy Myitsone dam project in Burma’s Kachin State. (Axis of logic 010210)
 Conservationists worry that the lack of reliable information regarding the natural habitat of tigers in Burma could negativel y
328
impact attempts to double the world’s tiger population. (Mizzima 010210)
 The pre-engineering survey for the Burma-China gas pipeline construction on the Arakan Coast began on Monday by Petrol
329
Myanmar and the Korean company Daewoo, states an official report. (Narinjara 020210)
 China will soon be burning oil and gas piped in through Myanm ar, but putting some of its energy security in the hands of a
330
pariah state beset by international sanctions and civil strife could be a risky gamble. (Reuters 030210)
 On the first morning of each New Year, hundreds of people come to pray on the banks of t he Irrawaddy River in northern
331
Burma. This year, they prayed that their villages, farms and churches would not be drowned. (Global Post 010210)
 In a surprise gesture, the Chinese Embassy in Singapore reverted to anti-Irrawaddy-Myitsone dam project activists yesterday
and informed them by email that it had forwarded their appeal letter demanding a halt to the construction in Burma’s
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Northern Kachin State, to relevant authorities in China. (KNG 030210)
 Myanmar has projected to build one more new bridge spanning the country's Ayeyawaddy River in addition to the on -going
Ayeyawaddy river-crossing bridge projects, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Monday. (Daily News
333
020210)
 As the World Bank embarks on its latest foray to protect Asian forests that are home to wild tigers, one of the continent’s
334
iconic predators, a visible trap looms in military-ruled Burma. (IPS 120210)
 The shutdown, for the installation of gas pipeline and equipment, will result in the missing of 1,000 million cubic fe et per
335
day. (The Nation 120210)
 Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul on Monday insisted that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has not yet ordered a delay
336
into the planned Hatgyi hydropower plant in Burma. (The Nation 150210)
 The Mekong spends about 120 miles flirting with Myanmar on the river's journey south — mostly as a border between
Myanmar and neighboring Laos. I saw almost all of it from the deck of a Chinese cargo boat laden with apples headed for
337
Thailand. (NPR 170210)
 India’s cabinet has approved fresh investment in Burmese oil and gas. This comes as the Shwe Gas Movement group
338
announced that as many as 10 villages will face forced relocation in Kyauk Phyu Township and Matay Island. (DVB 180210)
324
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http://www.mizzima.com/business/3588-fec-prices-show-downward-trend.html
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http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_58333.shtml
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http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3466-transparency-needed-to-save-burmas-tiger-population.html
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http://af.reuters.com/article/sudanNews/idAFTOE60D08W20100203?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=sudanNews&rpc=401
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http://www.burmanet.org/news/2010/02/01/globalpost-us-proposed-dam-to-flood-burma-while-powering-china-%E2%80%93-ryan-libre/
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http://www.kachinnews.com/News/Chinese-Embassy-reverts-to-anti-Irrawaddy-dam-activists.html
333
http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/02/02/wld06.asp
334
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50304
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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/02/12/business/business_30122465.php
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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/02/15/business/business_30122599.php
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123570472&ft=1&f=1001
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February-2010 25
 India Thursday approved investments by an Oil & Nat ural Gas Corp. unit and GAIL India Ltd. in gas field development
339
projects in Myanmar. (The Wall Street Journal 180210)
 Exports to China and Burma are expected to lift PTT's sales of lubricant products by 50% this year, says Rachadech
340
Khemthong, a vice-president of the country's biggest oil company. (BKK 190210)
 The government today approved investments of $1.33 billion by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and GAIL (India) Limited in
341
gas field development projects in Myanmar. Gas from the project will be shipped to China. (The Telegraph 180210)
 India's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA, has approved ONGC Videsh Ltd., and GAIL Ltd. to acquire a 12.53
percent stake in the China pipeline project, with an additional investment of over one billion USD i n the development of
342
offshore gas fields in western Burma's Arakan State, it was announced in a press release on Thursday. (Narinjara 200210)
 HYUNDAI Heavy Industries said it signed a US$1.4 billion (S$2 billion) deal on Tuesday with another South Korean firm to
343
develop a huge natural gasfield in military-ruled Myanmar. (AFP 230210)
ILLEGAL DRUGS
 A report exposing the spreading opium fields in the north-eastern corner of the military-ruled Burma has brought to light an
equally revealing story. It was produced by a team of ethnic women who risked their lives to document the heroin -filled
344
world they inhabit. (ISP 010210)
 Thai authorities are anticipating a massive influx of methamphetamines this month from neighboring Myanmar, where
insurgent groups are upping drug production to finance the purchase of new weaponry, media reports said Wednesday.
345
(Asia-Pacific news 030210)
 The poppy field was located 20 miles from Cikha sub-town in Tonzang township of Chin state. It was destroyed by the
346
Burmese police based in Cikha sub-town, a local said. (Khonumthung 010210)
 Business people on the border SHAN has interviewed confirmed that most of the drugs seized in Thailand originate in the
347
Burma Army controlled militia groups and not Wa as reported by several news agencies. (SHAN 040210)
 The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) seized nearly 1,100 Yaba tablets from the border area on February 12 and arrested a
348
Bangladeshi national involved in smuggling, according to a trader in Teknaf. (Kaladan 150210)
 The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the police seized nearly 400 Yaba tablets from different places on the border in a raid
on February 15 and arrested three Bangladeshi nationals including a Rohingya for smuggling, said a local from Teknaf.
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(Kaladan 170210)
 Fifteen Burmese anti-narcotics agents were killed near Tachilek after drug traffickers ambushed them on the Mekong River
350
on Saturday, according to a source at the local police department. (Irrawaddy 220210)
 “Godfather” Naw Kham who has been under “hot pursuit” by the Burma Arm y since February 2009, is reportedly fingered as
the mastermind of the recent attack on the Burmese police boats while they were returning from visiting a nearby village on
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the Mekong near the Golden Triangle, according to local sources from the border. (SHAN 220210)
339
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703315004575072781475168038.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/33137/exports-push-lube-sales
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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100219/jsp/business/story_12124759.jsp
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http://southasia.oneworld.net/todaysheadlines/opium-farming-surges-in-myanmar
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http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1530558.php/Thailand-expects-influx-of-drugs-from-Myanmar-
minority-groups
346
http://www.khonumthung.com/kng-news/09-news/poppy-field-in-chin-state-destroyed-by-burmese-police/
347
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2900:most-drugs-seized-in-thailand-come-from-the-burma-
army-businessmen&catid=89:drugs&Itemid=286
348
http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2430:bdr-seizes-huge-yaba-tablets-cache-in-
teknaf&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
349
http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2435:more-yaba-tablets-seized-in-
teknaf&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
350
351
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2935:druglord-suspected-for-saturday-mekong-
massacre&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
February-2010 26
 Burmese police and Thai authorities discussed on Monday how to cooperate effectively in combating the drugs trade in the
352
Golden Triangle area, following an attack by traffickers that killed at least 10 Burmese police officers. (Irrawaddy 230210)
 The eradication of drug production in Burma is contingent upon a reduction in the number of ethnic armed forces, stipulates
353
a United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC) report. (Mizzima 260210)
 The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) of Bangladesh seized nearly 435 Yaba tablets from Cox’s Bazar following a raid on February
354
26. A Bangladeshi national involved in smuggling was arrested, said a local from Teknaf. (Kaladan 270210)
GENERAL
Sports
 PETALING JAYA: Gavin Flint scored a commanding eight-stroke victory and claimed the Myanmar Masters winner’s purse of
355
US$15,000 at the Pun Hlaing Golf Club in Yangon yesterday. (The star 010210)
 The Myanmar Open will make a welcome return onto the Asian Tour Schedule after a four-year lapse following an
356
agreement between Air Bagan and the Asian Tour to revive the popular championship. (Yangon 020210)
 The Baron's Cup 2010 horse racing event, co-organized by the Myanmar Equestrian Federation (MEF) and Myanmar
Brewery Ltd, will be held this month to boost the country's equestrian sport, according to the MEF Friday. (Xinhua
357
120210)
 The Myanmar Football Federation has applied to host the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President's Cup 2 010
358
tournament. (Mizzima 180210)
 Myanmar defeated Sri Lanka four goals to nil in a one sided affair. Sri Lanka paid the penalty when they had to play almost
75 minutes with only 10 players as Imtiaz Raheem was sent off the field. His fault caused more pressure on the Lankans
359
throughout the game. (Daily News 170210)
Health
 Bird flu H5N1 has re-struck Myanmar with one case occurring in Yangon's Mayangong township in the beginning of this
month, according to a statement of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD) Saturday, Xinhua News
360
Agency informed. (Focus News Agency 060210)
 Eight more people have been found infected with influenza A/H1N1 in a suburban township of Myanmar' s largest city of
361
Yangon, the official daily New Light of Myanmar reported Monday. (Trend 080210)
 Naw Wah Wah didn't feel well. Worried that her fever, cough, headache and diarrhea was malaria—common during Karen
State's long monsoon season—she roused herself from her sick bed and trudged through thick, red mud during a pause in a
362
downpour, heading to the local clinic, an hour's walk away. (Irrawaddy 120210)
 Eleven more students were confirmed with A/H1N1 flu in Rangoon on Wednesday, and the spread of the virus has reached a
363
critical stage, a physician from the Ministry of Health said. (Irrawaddy 100210)
 After two decades, the ramshackle scrap-wood hut here that Cynthia Maung turned into a temporary clinic for destitute
364
refugees is still in use. (CS Monitor 080210)
365
 The potentially fatal avian flu has been detected on an army-run poultry farm in Rangoon. (Mizzima 080210)
352
353
http://www.mizzima.com/news/world/3586-pervasive-drug-production-linked-to-rebel-groups-unodc.html
354
http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2451:yaba-tablets-seized-in-coxs-
bazar&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
355
http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2010/2/1/sports/5587474&sec=sports
356
http://www.asiantour.com/news.aspx?sid=20100202725536727755
357
http://english.cctv.com/20100212/102859.shtml
358
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3554-burma-applies-to-host-afc-presidents-cup.html
359
http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/02/17/spo01.asp
360
http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n209245
361
http://en.trend.az/regions/world/ocountries/1634426.html
362
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/ADGO-82LSSK?OpenDocument
363
364
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0208/At-her-Thai-border-clinic-Cynthia-Maung-treats-victims-of-war-from-her-
native-Burma
February-2010 27
 A group of Chin youth who earlier this month made the long trip to Burma’s new capital Naypyidaw to participate in the
63rd anniversary celebration of Union day are now stranded because several members of the group showed symptoms of
366
the H1N1 influenza virus. (Mizzima 220210)
Other
 Bo Deving, 89, one of the heroes of the 1959 Tangyan battle, passed away at Nawng Kaw, Hsipaw township, northern Shan
367
State. (SHAN 020210)
 Four robbers, who looted a Burmese trader’s money and mobile phone on 20 January in Aizawl, Mizoram, northeast stat e of
368
India were arrested by the police. (Khonumthung 020210)
 The Maungdaw District authority on Friday summoned all carpenters, both businesses and individuals, in Buthidaung and
Maungdaw Townships to dispatch them to the model village construction sites, said an official from Maungdaw District.
369
(Narinjaja 020210)
 A documentary film capturing clashes between antigovernment demonstrators and the junta in Myanmar in 2007 was
nominated Tuesday as a contender for the 82nd Annual Academy Award for documentary feature, the Academy of Motion
370
Picture Arts and Science said. (Japan Today 030210)
 In the ongoing process of settling the homeless from across Burma, five more model villages are being set up with over 500
371
houses in Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State. (Mizzima 030210)
 A Sara Oo village house owner of Maungdaw Township was arrested and fined on January 28 by Burma’s border security
force – Nasaka for hosting a relative as a guest in his house, said a close relative of the victim on condition of anonymity .
372
(Kaladan 040210)
 Rangoon alone boasts between 3,000 to 3,500 illegal massage parlours, according to a senior police officer from the
373
Rangoon Division Police Commander’s Office. (Mizzima 050210)
 Internet connections have slowed down recently across Burma with the country's two providers, the Ministry of Post and
Telecommunications (MPT) and Myanmar Teleport, telling users that the Internet backbone is temporarily down. (Irrawaddy
374
020210)
 Lying 145km southwest of Mandalay in Myanmar is Bagan, a square of land filled with thousands of centuries-old pagodas,
375
once the seat of a powerful royal capital and the setting for invasions. (The Star 060210)
 Anders Ostergaard's "Burma VJ -- Reporting From a Closed Country" took the top prize at the 11th Mumbai Film F estival of
376
Documentary, Animation and Short Films, which wrapped Tuesday. (Variety 090210)
 Myanmar's military government deployed hundreds of armed riot police on Tuesday after more than 2,000 workers from
377
two factories went on strike over low pay. (Reuters 090210)
 An information and communication technology (ICT) exhibition will be held in the third weekend of next month at the
Tatmadaw Hall in Myanmar's former capital city of Yangon, aimed at empowering people with IT knowledge and enabling
378
them to get in close touch with modern IT equipment. (Xinhua 090210)
 Web users have abandoned Internet shops in Thanphyuzayart, after increased security crackdowns have heightened
365
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3495-avian-flu-detected-on-army-farm.html
366
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3563-h1n1-traps-chin-youths-in-naypyidaw.html
367
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2898:obituary-&catid=93:general&Itemid=291
368
http://www.khonumthung.com/four-robbers-arrested-in-aizawl/
369
370
http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/the-cove-myanmar-documentary-nominated-for-oscars
371
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3480-five-more-model-villages-coming-up-in-buthidaung.html
372
http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2413:house-owner-fined-for-hosting-guest-in-
maungdaw-arakan&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
373
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3491-rangoon-alone-boasts-over-3000-massage-parlours.html\
374
375
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2010/2/6/lifetravel/5590418&sec=lifetravel
376
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118014922.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2562&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_c
ampaign=Feed%3A+variety%2Fheadlines+%28Variety+-+Latest+News%29
377
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/9/worldupdates/2010-02-09T155941Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-460220-
1&sec=Worldupdates
378
February-2010 28
379
patrons’ fears of being affiliated with suspected political dissidence. (IMNA 090210)
 A motor schooner carrying 23 people capsized on the 5th of this month while traveling downstream on the Pachan River
along the Burma and Thailand border. Local residents said two female bodies believed to be from this capsized vessel were
380
recovered yesterday evening. (Mizzima 080210)
 Electricity supplies in Rangoon have been fickle for the past decade, with the exception of an annual 2 month -long period
during rainy season, when Burma is fueled by hydropower. Rangoon citizens say that the power scarcity wo rsened after
381
Burma’s capital was moved to Naypyidaw in 2005, and many fear the situation will continue to decline. (IMNA 050210)
 The "go-fever" of the late Victorian period was sponsored by new transport technologies, increased wealth and the Pax
382
Britannica which meant no country was closed to the inquisitive traveler. (The Guardian 130210)
 Burma says it will launch an English-language 24-hour television channel next month aimed at informing international
383
viewers about life in the country. (ABC 130210)
 Two brothers were arrested in Muzaffarnagar on Thursday. The police said that they are Myanmar nationals, who were
staying here on the basis of Indian documents like driving licences and voter identity cards. Investigations are on to establ ish
384
if the documents recovered from the two were genuine or not. (The Times of India 130210)
 The colonial buildings of this once-grand city are scattered about like tombstones in a neglected cemetery—unnoticed, and
385
often unwanted, relics of a lost era. (Wall Street Journal 120210)
 OSCAR nominees, as a rule, can put their names to their work and bask in the glory. But in the documentary section this
386
year, it is a different matter for one of the five contenders, Burma VJ. (The Age 110210)
 Prostitution has been increasing dramatically over the last year in Kyauk Pru, the second largest city in Arakan, after many
387
government projects have been implemented in the town, said one town elder. (Narinjara 120210)
 MYANMAR'S military government tightened security on Wednesday at an industrial zone in Yangon where factory workers
388
were staging a rare strike for better pay. (AP 100210)
 The Rangoon municipal body and a construction contractor have estimated that the loss from the Thingangyun fire may
reach hundreds of millions of Kyats. (Mizzima 150210)
 The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 500,000 people in Burma are still homeless after a devastating
cyclone swept across the southwest of the country nearly two years ago.
IOM spokesman Chris Lom says the affected people have not been able to buy supplies to rebuild their houses because they
389
need to spend the money on food. (Irrawaddy 160210)
 Residents living in upper floors in Rangoon Division are in a quandary, facing as they are severe water shortage due to
390
frequent power disruption and low voltage of electricity supplied. (Mizzima 160210)
 16 February 2010: Villagers of Paletwa Township southern Chin state are suffering the devastating effects of the famine
391
since 2007 in western Burma, a group of Chin relief workers said. (Khonumthung 160210)
 A Myanmar national was stabbed to death after a quarrel with two friends in a house at a squatter area near Jalan Peel
392
Tuesday. (Bernama 160210)
 After reaching an agreement with their employers today, striking workers from the South Korean owned Lion City garment
factory ended their illegal strike demanding better wages and working conditions. The poorly paid sweatshop workers
379
380
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3499-boat-capsizes-two-bodies-recovered.html
381
382
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/13/kipling-abroad-andrew-lycett-review
383
http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201002/2818652.htm?desktop
384
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Two-suspected-Bangla-nationals-held-in-Muzaffarnagar/articleshow/5566466.cms
385
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704140104575058462450749870.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines
386
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/film/acclaimed-images-grabbed-secretly-on-the-run/2010/02/10/1265477621474.html
387
388
389
390
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3544-rangoon-sans-lights-water.html
391
http://www.khonumthung.com/paletwa-villagers-still-reel-from-affects-of-famine/
392
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=475892
February-2010 29
staged a sit-in strike for three consecutive days and importantly only ended their strike when their e mployers agreed to
393
some of their key demands. (Mizzima 180210)
 Pirates killed four Arakanese Rohingyas on February 13, when they were out fishing in Bay of Bengal on Burmese territorial
394
waters, said a villager from Myient Hlut. (Kaladan 200210)
 71 foreign prisoners in the Buthidaung prison have taken up a hunger strike to protest the insufficient amount of food they
395
are given daily, after the UN rights envoy visited the prison, said a source close to the prison. (Narinjara 220210)
 The Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (PAPA) has urged the Government to consider recruiting maids from
396
Papua New Guinea, Myanmar and Timor Leste. (The Star 220210)
 A sectional union railroad between Katha (Sagaing division) and Moetagyi (Kachin state) in Myanmar's northwestern and
397
northern part has been put into service, a state- run daily reported Monday. (Xinhua 220210)
 The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry obtained the release of 637 Lankan fishermen who were held in custody in five
countries (India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar and Diego Garcia) in 2009 and also secured the release of 118 multiday
398
fishing boats that were captured along with the fishermen. (Daily News 230210)
 A Myanmar couple’s wedding reception was marred following a brawl between some of their guests and passers-by. (Daily
399
News 230210)
 Last week after three Thai soldiers were injured by landmines near the Thai Burma border, Tak Province authorities
launched an extensive search of the area and are presently removing lethal mines along the banks of the Moei River which
400
divides Burma from Thailand. (Mizzima 230210)
 A man's body with no head was found near Hlawga Park, east of San Pya village, Htauk Kyant, Mingaladon Township,
401
Rangoon Division, police said. (Mizzima 230210)
 The head of a Burmese media organization featured in an Oscar-nominated documentary says he hopes Academy Award
402
coverage will raise international awareness of human rights abuses in his country. (RFA 250210)
End of Report: Monday, 1st March, 2010
393
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3555-lion-city-strikers-reach-agreement-with-employers.html
394
http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2441:pirates-kill-four-arakanese-rohingyas-
&catid=117:february-2010&Itemid=2
395
396
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/22/nation/20100222190911&sec=nation
397
398
http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/02/23/news13.asp
399
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/23/nation/5723237&sec=nation
400
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3568-thai-authorities-clear-landmines-after-soldiers-injured.html
401
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3571-headless-body-found-near-rangoon-suburb-park.html
402
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/burma/oscar-02252010133622.html
February-2010 30

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NO.

1/10 FEBRUARY, 2010

2010 Election /2008 Constitution

Armed Resistance Groups/Political Opposition Groups/Other Democracy Activists in Exile

SPDC/Militias or/and Pro-Junta Groups

Child Soldier/ Forced Recruitment

ENVIRONMENT/ NATURAL RESOURCES

End of Report: Monday, 1st March, 2010

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