LAST MONTH IN BURMA FEBRUARY 2012 1) Cholera outbreak occurs in Kachin State camps and severely impacts children 2) ‘Serious challenges remain and must be addressed’, Tomás Ojea Quintana 3) EU Commissioner Piebalgs delivers aid package 4) Re-detention of the monk U Gambira 5) Restrictions on campaign messages return 6) World Bank returns to Burma to provide assistance but no loans 7) Peace agreements with ethnic states in jeopardy 8) European Union suspended travel bans on 87 regime officials 1) Cholera outbreak occurs in Kachin State camps and severely impacts children (2 February ) Cholera outbreaks have been reported in several refugee camps, affecting children and the elderly. Thirty children have contracted the disease at the Pajau Refugee Camp in Waimaw Township, resulting in the subsequent death of one child. It is estimated that over 44,000 IDP’s are living in refugee camps within Kachin State and China and do not always have access to clean drinking water. According to the Kachin refugees’ relief committee, there are 19 refugee camps in China for Kachin war refugees. In Kachin State, more than 40 refugee camps are located in townships including Laiza, Mansi, Mai Ja Yang, Lweje Waimaw and Manwingyi. 2) ‘Serious challenges remain and must be addressed’, Tomás Ojea Quintana (5 February ) UN Special Reporter on human rights in Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana concluded a six- day visit to the country. During his visit, Ojea Quintana met with numerous regime ministers and officials in Naypyidaw. In Rangoon, he held separate meetings with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of various political parties and ethnic groups. In addition, he met with three political prisoners in Insein prison as well as recently released dissidents. Ojea Quintana also traveled to Karen and Mon States where he met with the respective Chief Ministers as well as representatives of local administrations and ethnic political parties. Resulting from the assessment trip, Ojea Quintana made a statement, where he was commenting that “serious challenges” remained and must be addressed. The statement highlighted numerous areas of concern, including: - Ongoing allegations of serious human rights violations in conflict areas, including attacks against civilians, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, internal displacement, land confiscation, the use of human shields, the recruitment of child soldiers, and forced labor. - Monitoring of recently-released political prisoners by regime authorities. - Ongoing ill-treatment of prisoners by regime authorities, including their transfer to remote jails. - Lack of clarity and progress in the amendment of laws that fail to comply with international standards. Ojea Quintana urged the regime to immediately and unconditionally release all remaining political prisoners. He also called on the regime to consider the assistance of the international community in determining the exact number and identity of those jailed dissidents. 3) EU Commissioner Piebalgs delivers aid package (12 February ) EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs arrived in Rangoon on a three-day visit to Burma to assess the country’s latest developments. During his stay, Piebalgs met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President Thein Sein, People’s Assembly Speaker Shwe Mann, and various regime ministers. During his visit, Piebalgs confirmed that the EU would deliver a 150 million euro aid package to Burma for health, education, and job creation. Piebalgs described the upcoming 1 April by-elections as a ‘watershed’ and said that if the polls were ‘free and fair’ it was expected that the easing of sanctions would continue. 4) Re-detention of the monk U Gambira (13 February ) One of the most prominent monks of the Saffron revolution U Gambira (33), the leader of Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks, was released together with other political prisoners on 13 th January. Just shortly after his release, regime officials detained U Gambria and he was released on 10 Feb after having to undergo questioning. His re-release occurred after the US expressed concern for U Gambria’s wellbeing. The reports accused him of rejoining the religious order without requesting authorization after the Jan. 13 amnesty, of being in the Magin Monastery, which has been sealed by the government, and breaking the locks of two other monasteries. 5) Restrictions on campaign messages return (16 February ) Despite the fact that the Regime Election Commission announced to lift restrictive measures against campaigns of opposition parties, restrictions against parties running for the upcoming by-elections on 1 st April continue. The Regime Election Commission announced that each of the 17 political parties contesting the by-elections would be granted a 15-minute slot on state radio and TV to present their political platforms. However, parties must submit the transcript of their campaign message to the Commission for approval seven days before the broadcast date. The Commission can reject the transcript and take action against political parties that submit campaign messages ‘detrimental to security, prevalence of law and order and peace and tranquility’ or messages ‘undermining the constitution; tarnishing or harming the image of the State; and tarnishing the image of the Tatmadaw.’ A township administrative office chief in Chiang Mai has told village and quarter administrative chiefs that if the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) candidate does not win in the coming by- election, they will have to resign, according to village chiefs in Myaungmya Township. Township administrative office chief Ko Ko Latt made the remark to more than 100 village and quarter administrative chiefs in a meeting at Mya Shwe Wa Hall in 4th quarter in Myaungmya Township, Irrawaddy Region. 6) World Bank returns to Burma to provide assistance but no loans (16 February ) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a partial waiver of restrictions imposed on Burma. With the waiver, the US would now be able to support ‘assessment missions and limited technical assistance’ to Burma by international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank. Later on, World Bank announced that it would re-engage with Burma’s regime in order to support reforms and would send World Bank officials to analyze the country’s economic infrastructure, banking, and finance sectors. However, the Bank announced that it would not provide lending services to Burma until the regime repaid outstanding debts to international financial institutions, including USD 489 million to the Asian Development Bank and several hundred million dollars to the World Bank. Burma owes about USD 11 billion in foreign debt to several nations and institutions. 7) Peace agreements with ethnic states in jeopardy (17 February) Peace agreements between the regime and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S), the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Karen National Union (KNU) are in jeopardy as a result of renewed Tatmadaw aggression and troop deployment. This is stemming from recent happenings in Burma, where the Burma armed forced (Tatmadaw) clashed with the Shan State Army- South on at least 10 occasions and even tens of people were killed. Above that, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army declared an end to its peace agreement with the regime after raids of the Burmese armed forces in Karen area. Even though the peace agreements should stop from deploying other soldiers and armed forces, it has not happened in most of areas, where peace agreements have been concluded. Based on first- hand testimonies of killings of civilians, the situation in the area of human rights in certain ethnic areas has even been worsened. There is an evidence of tortures, killings, rape, and destruction of homes, churches and villages, especially in the Kachin and Northern Shan State. Despite the ongoing problems in ethnic areas, the regime continued to spin a positive outlook on its policy vis-à-vis the ethnic groups. The Minister of Rail Transportation Aung Min even said that the regime expected to sign ceasefire agreements with all ethnic armed groups within three months. The regime also continued to hold talks and pursue ‘initial peace agreements’ with ethnic armed groups. 8) European Union suspended travel bans on 87 regime officials (17 February) EU suspended its travel ban on 87 regime officials, including President Thein Sein, the two Vice-Presidents, cabinet ministers, the speakers of the two Houses of Parliament, and their families. However, the EU maintained the freeze on their assets. ‘We have seen historic changes in Burma and we strongly encourage the authorities to continue this process. I have launched a full review of our policy towards Burma, and today's decision to suspend certain restrictive measures is a reaction to the positive signs coming from the country. I will visit Burma in April after the by-elections, by which time I hope we will have had the chance to complete the review and to have made decisions at an EU level to respond to what I hope will be continued progress ,’ said Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. On 23 rd April, the Foreign Affairs Council will have a session, where the foreign ministers will decide on an extension of the EU sanction. A review of all EU restrictive measures on Burma is ongoing, since they are due to expire on 30 April 2012. .