News Update!

From BBC, this just in! (Thanks to Christie for seeing this!

Is Burma softening its stance?

Also, AU's Student Campaign for Burma has a blog (http://auburma.blogspot.com/) which regularly has news updates-- I know, I get to do them. But obviously I can't look everywhere and see everything. So if y'all ever find anything interesting online or in a print article or wherever, let me know and I'll post it here!

Anne

Unrelated and too late, but...

If y'all are interested, this is kind of related to what we're doing here, and this group is planning to keep meeting while working towards becoming 'official.'

Interested in Buddhism? Ever wonder why AU doesn't have a student organization for Buddhists? Whether you are a religious Buddhist, a philosophical Buddhist, or just curious about Buddhism, come to Kay Lounge today, October 28, 9:15 p.m., for a short period to assess student interest and discuss what a nonsectarian Buddhist youth group would look like. Contact Anne Lynch at al3281a@student.american.edu or Christine Gettings at gettings@american.edu for more information.

Sunday fundraising

Hey everybody,

I set up a car wash with the Getty gas station at 5151 River Road on Sunday November 8th.  The manager would like us there at 11am to 3pm (or however long we want to stay in that time frame). We will need two signs, and two people to hold them by the road, and minimally 5 people to soap, wash, and dry the cars. It's best to have more people though.

Please email me if you can attend.

-Brianna

P.S. Is anyone AUTO certified to drive us there, or would people be willing to drive us in their own cars? It's less than 3 miles away.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Washington&1s=DC&1a=4400+Massachusetts+Ave+Nw&2c=Bethesda&2s=MD&2a=5151+River+Road

Minorities in Burma

I.               Overview

a.     Best estimates: 135 different minority groups in Burma

                                               i.     Caused by 2000+ years of mingling due to Burma’s position between China, India, and Thailand

                                              ii.     Burman Majority is about 2/3 of population

                                            iii.     Seven states in Burma represent minority populations, but those aren’t homogenous

II.             History

a.     1947 – Aung San negotiated for independence, convinced minority groups to join the Union of Burma

b.     1947- Panglong Agreement outlines Aung San’s comittment to minority rights, gives Shan and Karenni people right to secede 10 years after independence

c.      1947 – Aung San and his cabinet are assassinated in July

d.     1948 – Karen and Mon people, who were not part of agreement, express frustration at new government’s failure to give ethnic minorities self-determination and autonomy, take up arms against new government w/ Communist Party of Burma

e.     1962 – Coup by Burma Socialist Program Party sees death of popular movement for minority rights.  Crackdown on minorities and democracy advocates in ethnic border regions sparks cycle of conflict which continues to this day.

III.           Major Minority Groups

a.     Shan

                                               i.     3-4 million (9%), Largest group

                                              ii.     Live in state of Shan, also Kachin to the North

                                            iii.     Mostly Buddhists, speak language related to Thai and Lao

                                            iv.     The Shan State Army-South still fights w/ government, full slew of abuses (extrajudicial killing, rape, conscription) follows.

                                              v.     Many have been displaced by conflict and fled to refugee camps in Thailand

b.     Karen

                                               i.     Refers to a number of groups, totaling 7 million

                                              ii.     Live in South Burma and along border w/ Thailand in Karen State (also Kayin state) This is where Mae Sot is!

                                            iii.     Buddhists and 1/3 Christian, speak a family of languages known as Karenic

                                            iv.     Have suffered the worst from atrocities such as extrajudicial killings and human minesweeping, also discrimination based on language and access to education

c.      Mon

                                               i.     Less than 1 million (state department) 4 million (Mon leaders)

                                              ii.     Live primarily in Mon State in East

                                            iii.     Therevada Buddhists, speak Mon, but its usage has declined

                                            iv.     Has negotiated a cease-fire, however the Mon State remains highly militarized, limiting access for IDPs and the UN.  Also, occasional raids continue

d.     Kachin

                                               i.     Again, a variety of smaller groups, estimates say over 1 million

                                              ii.     Live in North in Kachin State

                                            iii.     Speak various dialects which belong to the Tibeto-Burman family, only 10% Christian

                                            iv.     Are pressured to convert to Buddhism, state remains highly militarized, human rights abuses continue, ethnic Burmans dominate government, and locals are marginalized by large mining and dam projects

e.     Rohingya and Muslims

                                               i.     Over 2 million Muslims

                                              ii.     Live mostly in Rahkine state: Those who live in north are called Rohingya, those who live in other parts called Arkanese Muslims

                                            iii.     Primarily Sunni, Rohingya Muslims speak Royhingya, whereas Arakanese speak the local language, which is a dialect of Burmese

                                            iv.     Citizenship restrictions, delayed marriage permits, need to travel passes, additionally forced labor and land confiscation

f.      Chin

                                               i.     Name encompasses 40 different ethnic groups of Burman descent.  Roughly 1.5 million.

                                              ii.     Live in Western Burma in the mountain ranges, Chin State

                                            iii.     40 different Burman dialects, 80% Christian

                                            iv.     Discriminated against for access to education, land is confiscated for tea and jatropha plantation

g.     Karenni

                                               i.     A dozen Karen-related groups (Red Karen) about 250,000

                                              ii.     Live in Kayah State (formerly Karenni State)

                                            iii.     Majority Christian, also speak Karennic family of languages

                                            iv.     Smallest and most impoverished state, militarized, people displaced for projects, also denied benefits of projects (such as the Lawpita hydro-electricity dam)

IV.            Current Situation

a.     Many groups have signed cease-fires, but a number of ethnic minority parties have refused to sign: the Karen National Union, the Shan State Army-South, the Karenni National Progressive Party, the Chin National Front, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland and various Rohingya groups

b.     Counter-insurgency operations are marked by the excessive use of force by government

c.      National convention to make new constitution started in 93 by SPDC.  National League for Democracy, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi agreed, as did many other ethnic parties.  Political activists and leaders were arrested so that by 2006, most ethnic groups and parties had withdrawn from the process.  Ended in Sept of 2007, started again in October 2007 with hand picked writers.  The National Convention is now seen as an attempt to legitimize military rule for another generation.

V.              Human Rights Abuses

a.     1996-2006 saw 1 million IDPs and 150,000 refugees, which the government denies access by relief agencies to.

b.     Civilians are relocated to militarized villages where their rights are abused.  Abuses include extra-judicial killings, human minesweeping, torture, and confiscation of minority lands.

c.      Additionally, minorities can be relocated into forced labor, which violates the International Labor Organization Convention 29 concerning Forced or Compulsory Labor, which Burma signed

d.     Sexual violence also occurs, notably in the Chin and Karen State

e.     Muslim minority in North Rakine State isn’t even recognized as an ethnic group, and is denied equal citizenship rights, unable to access medical and educational services because they are so restricted in their movement

f.      Christian minorities also face discrimination, but to a lesser extent

Lauren's Presentation: Women’s issues in Thailand

Trafficking

·      Many people in Burma believe that Thailand provides not only refuge but also economic opportunities.

o   This makes it relatively easy to traffic women across borders.

o   These women are forced into sex work.

o   Human rights watch has accused Thailand of being complicit to this practice.

§  Lack of enforcement

§  Many Thai police officers utilize the brothels

§  Brothel operators pay bribes to law enforcement, depending on number of women

·      In many cases, women are approached by traffickers who promise them jobs in Thailand and offer cash to their families.

o   After crossing the border, women are forced into sex work to “pay back” the intermediary who brought her over the border.

o   Women are subject to 12 or 14 hour work days.

o   Subject to rape, physical abuse, and illegal confinement

·      Burmese women and girls are routinely picked up by police, detained without charge, and abused before being deported back to Burma

·      Few women have had any formal education, let alone the knowledge to prevent the transfer of STDs or HIV.

o   If these infected girls try to return home, they are often rejected.

o   %50-%70 of women who return to Burma are HIV positive

o   Due to the lack of domestic human rights organizations inside Burma, little is known about girl’s lives after they return

·      Thai NGOs predict that over 20,000 Burmese women and girls are currently working in Thai brothels

o   10,000 new recruits per year

Abuse from Military Regime (“License to Rape”)

·      In 2002, women’s rights networks began issuing reports of systematic rape of women by the military as a tool of counter-insurgency

o   %25 of  rapes result in death

o   %61 were gang rapes

·      Rape is an officially sanctioned “strategy of war” in Burma\

o   316 reported incidences in 5 years

o   Hard to report numbers due to threats of death and torture

·      Women are unable to do day to day work due to threat of assault from military

Thai Exploitation

·      In addition to their complicity in the issue of human trafficking, Thailand has also been condemned by UNHCR for its detention of Burmese refugees in a “human zoo” on the border

o   “Giraffe women” are a tourist attraction (Kayan)

o   Thai government refuses to let them leave despite firm offers to resettle the women in New Zealand or Finland

Official Flight Itinerary!

Okay, so let's check out the official itinerary that's going to get us all to Thailand and back! I'm not sure what everything is per-se, but I think we can get a general idea:

AA 4456 26DEC DCA-JFK HK15 8:25P 9:40P
MU 588 27DEC JFK-PVG HK15 12:45A 5:00A 28DEC 
MU 541 28DEC PVG-BKK HK15 1:50P 5:15P 

MU 548 10JAN BKK-PVG HK15 2:00A 7:00A 
MU 587 10JAN PVG-JFK HK15 6:30P 7:45P 
AA 4461 10JAN JFK-DCA HK15 10:35P 11:55p

So we leave DC on the evening of December 26 and return at basically midnight January 10, the night before classes. 

Thomas's Notes: Children of Burma

·      In Burma the Tatmadaw (Army) exercises absolute power of life and death over every civilian, including children.

·       Soldiers act with complete impunity, particularly in rural areas, and are not answerable to any laws which exist on paper in Rangoon.

·       Children are often shot on sight in free-fire zones, tortured or executed as "suspected rebels", used for forced labour, forcibly conscripted into the Army and otherwise subject to direct abuse.

·       They also suffer from the destruction of the village environment and the economy under SLORC policies, which are leading to widespread malnutrition and the death of children, the lack of educational opportunities, and other factors which rob them of a childhood.

Forced Labour

·       The most prevalent form of human rights abuse in Burma is forced labor.

·       There are several forms of forced labor that children participate in.

·       Military Labor, which involves standing sentry, building and maintaining Army camps, and going out as human mine-sweepers)

·       There’s also infrastructure labor, which entails building and maintaining supply roads, rail ways, hydro-dams, etcetera

·       There’s also forced labor growing cash crops and logging for the military]

·       Usually as soon as a child is old enough to carry a basket, he or she optimal for labor.

·       The youngest children, usually aged between 8 to 10, are taken for road and railway building.

·       12 year old boys and 14 year old girls are taken for heavy portering duties.

·       Conditions for porters are especially brutal; they’re forced to march over mountains with heavy loads and are given only a handfuls of rice per day or else they’re forced to bring their own food

·       Many kids are beaten for going too slow and left to die if they get sick or weak.

·       The smaller children are generally given light loads but they’re often placed at the front of the military column to serve as human minesweepers and shields

·       Many children die after they get back home, after contracting diseases or just from sheer exhaustion

·       SLORC battalions generally prefer male porters, but they also deliberately demand or capture women porters in order to rape them at night

·       SLORC soldiers generally select unmarried girls under the age 18

·       Many of these girls turn out to be pregnant upon returning home and attempt to abort using primitive methods, and sometimes die in the process

·       Girls go through this trouble because they fear that if the village finds out that a girl has been raped, no one will want to marry her

Forced Conscription

·       Before 1988, the Tatmadaw (Army) was mainly a volunteer force; however, since then, SLORC has pushed to increase its military force and does so through conscription (draft, enrollment) and coercion

·       Most townships are assigned a quota of one or two new recruits every month

·       Usually, boys from 14 to 16 are drawn in village lotteries, and they have no choice but to go

·       Families are often coerced into cooperating after being told that they will be free of forced labor duties if they give the Army their son

·       Officers and NCO’s are also offered cash awards of 500 Kyats for any recruits that they bring in

·       The funny thing is young boys are oftentimes willing to join the army; they’re offered a chance at adventure, a snappy uniform, a gun, and a high-sounding salary of 750 kyats a month.

·       Boys also think that this is the only legitimate way of supporting their families instead of simply being a burden to them.

·       Any orphans or unclaimed children are automatically taken in by the Army

·       Once you’re in the Army, there’s essentially no more contact with your family back home.

·       In the end, the family usually still has to provide forced labor; most of the boy’s pay is either stolen by his officers every month or used to buy his own uniforms, rations, or medication

·       The boys are ordered to round up civilians for forced labor, and threatened with a beating and other punishments if they don’t bring back a specific number of laborers.

·       In battle situations, boy soldiers are often forced to drink alcohol and take drugs, which makes them mindless, sleepless, and aggressive

·       They’re never given leave, no matter what the reason; and when their enlistment time is up after 5 years, the boy is generally told that he can’t leave, so he gets automatically re-enlisted

Education

·       Children can’t afford to school because they’re needed at home to help with the family

·       In SLORC schools, all teachings must be in Burmese and follows a strict SLORC curriculum

·       Teachers, parents, and children have to sign forms promising to not do or say anything against the State or otherwise be subject to arrest

Breakdown of the Village

·       Children in Burma are suffering severely and often dying because of the disintegration of social structures such as the family and the village

·       With SLORC soldiers constantly raiding villages and driving the people out, children are oftentimes malnourished and sick from commonly treatable diseases while they’re on the run; adults and children are usually shot upon sight.

·       Small children in urban areas are sent by their families to go out into the streets and beg

·       Many families in rural areas often hand over their children in return for a 5,000 kyat down-payment with the promise of their child having a good job later down the road in Thailand or elsewhere.

·       However, these kids usually end up being sold into bonded labor, such as Thai brothels or factory sweatshops.

Ben's History of Burma Notes!

Ancient History

- region has been inhabited for about 11,000 years

- the last independent dynasty was the Konbaung, who unify Burma by 1758 and came to border British India by 1819

Colonization

- First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-6) is instigated by cross-border raiding and cripples the Konbaung dynasty

- Burma becomes a province of British India in 1886 following gradual annexation

- Burmese economy grows due to new agricultural demand from opening the Suez canal (1869), but wealth generally remains with the British and Indian mirants. (roots of economic strife)

- Unlike most British territories, the civil service and military are staffed almost entirely by Anglo-Burmese and Indians rather than natives (problems w/ rule of law)

Nationalism

- Begins in early 1900s with Young Men's Buddhist Associations by Burmese leaders educated in Britain

- In 1920s, constitution is reformed to create a limited legislature, more autonomy from India, and greater Burmese representation in the Civil Service (grudging devolution?)

- 1920s: strike and protests against British begin, led by monks and university students

- 1937 Britain separates Burma from India and creates fully elected assembly

- Communist Party of Burma founded in 1939 by Aung San

- Communists initially support Japanese invasion in 1942 in hopes of gaining independence, but 1944 unite with socialist groups to form Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League and fight with British

Independence

- Postwar, Burma is reoccupied by the British, but the largely socialist AFPFL retains significant power and opposes the colonial government

- Burmese Executive Council, with AFPFL representation, negotiates for independence in 1947; conservative and communist branches of AFPFL are dissatisfied

- AFPFL, led by a moderated Aung San and the socialists, wins overwhelmingly in national elections 1947 in 197

- U Saw, conservative colonial prime minister (1940 to 1942) orders Aung San and other cabinet members assasinated

- Formal independence occurs on January 4, 1948; U Nu is first prime minister

Post-Independence

- By 1958, U NU's AFPFL begins to splinter.

- After barely surviving no confidence vote U Nu invites Army Chief of Staff General Ne Win to take over a caretaker govt from 1958-60

-new elections return U Nu's AFPFL faction to power in 1960

Overthrow

- March 2 1962: Ne Win and other senior military officers overthrow U Nu and put him in "protective custody"

- U Nu is released from prison 1966; forms Parliamentary Democracy Party in exile

- Ne Win founds Burmese Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) in July, with the ideology of the "Burmese Way to Socialism"

- Burmese Way To Socialism distinguishes itself from both communists and social democrats: "an amalgam of Buddhist and Marxist illogic"

- Pursues disastrous economic policies: nationalizes industries; incorporates severe autarky

- Opposition parties are banned 1964; requires indoctrination training for civil servants and includes mandatory youth wing.

- Military selectorate within communist chairman/central committee/central executive committee structure

- periodic uprising occur, most notably in 1974 over inflation, food shortages, and the death of former U Nu advisor U Thant

the value of banknotes not divisible by 9 in 1987, eliminating people's savings

- United Nations gives Burma Least Developed Country status 1987, prompting governments to require farmers to sell produce below market price

8888 Uprising

- Halting economic reforms characterize 1987-8 after UN gives Burma Least Developed Country Status (consistent with revolutions)

- Ne Win destabilizes economy by canceling banknotes and requiring farmers to sell below market price

- March 1988, democracy protests begin at Rangoon Institute of Technology with protests over favorable treatment of the son of a BSPP official arrested in a fight; protests spread and universities are closed

- Protests continue through July 1988, when Ne Win resigns, promises multiparty democracy, and appints Sein Lwin to head new government

- Nationwide protests occur starting august 1st; martial law is imposed; general strike begins August 8, particularly in Rangoon (chaos reigns) and Mandalay (organized protests by elites); military responds with lethal force (certainty)

- Sein Lwin resigns August 12 and is replaced with a civilian, Maung Maung, who briefly placates protestors,

- Aung San Suu Kyi addresses a large crow on August 26, encouraging peaceful rather than violent means towards change.

- BSPP delegates approve multiparty system of government in September, but protests resume after it insists on conducting the election itself

- On September 18, the BSPP is overthrown by General Saw Maung and the State Law and Order Restoration Council

Current Government

- SLORC kills protestors en masse, suspend 1974 constitution

- SLORC intiailly continues economic reforms and revises constitution, announcing elections to be held in 1990

- NLD  wins elections over the National Unity Party (successor to BSPP), but SLORC does not acknowledge results

- U Nu, Aung San Suu Kyi, and others are imprisoned

- Than Shwe replaces Saw Maung 1992 - cosmetic change does not effect institutionalized norms

- After negotiations with NLD over new constitution collapse in 1995-6, goernment cracks down on NLD

- State Peace and Development Council replaces SLORC 1998; consists of 11-member military junta but does not change policy

- Relocates capital from Yangon to Naypidaw in 2005 to avoid protests

- In February 2008, SPDC announces that elections will be held by 2010, and holds constitutional referendum in 2008

Recent Activities

- August 2007: protests caused by removal of government fuel subsidies, "Saffron Revolution", lead by Buddhist monks and dealt with harshly after initial tolerance

- Cyclone Nargis (May 2008): government refuses international relief efforts