Letter to Carina

Dear Carina,

I had a strange feeling past weeks ...I knew it was a birthday I was forgetting but the answer did not come ...this morning I told my mother I wanted to write you ...and tonight I find a gift ... I found your stories ...

Earlier today I was chatting with my Burmese refugee friends from Thailand. B2 (a young guy of 25) is still in prison, sentenced for 37 years and hard labour, he was about to get engaged just before he was arrested. His 'mistake' was organising education to the young people of his remote area ... I have been in his village, met his colleague who is living in the forest since a few months ...My friends are suffering from malaria, have little money to buy food and don't have opportunities to study, work or walk freely on the streets without the fear of getting arrested ...Nobody knows my feelings ...

Last month my article about Burma was published in Belgium ...I could not share my feelings ...and felt sad.

I am months behind with my stories of my journey ...this letter to you feels as I am starting to write again since I have stopped ...

I realise again how our roads are really our roads ... I could not travel yours, you could not travel mine ... I thank you for telling us about your road. I sense your happiness without neglecting your hardships ... It is like seeing coming true your dream I knew deep inside ..I am not surprised, it is like I knew your dream and your road ... We also have no goodbyes! I write with tears in my eyes. I miss you! Last weekend I went for a hike, took sandwishes and tea, enjoyed the views, the sun, the cold on my face, the sound of the leaves ... Jonas was with me, a German friend ...I told him it looked a bit like Estonia ... It was Belgium ...

Every person who saw me the past two months saw I am happy, myself included ... I found the energy of doing really many things ...I am living with an energy doing things so opposite from my past year ... I listened to some voices from deep inside and was given answers before I had the time to question ...

...I followed a dream to study again and I am at University now, taking classes, studying, making homework, meeting new friends and stimulating my hunger for knowledge and skills ...

If there was one thing I missed on the road? You know this question being asked .. I used to say a danceclass of my sister ... it is like somebody has counted the times I missed it (starting from the year 2000 when I left Antwerp) and is giving me a second chance now ... I am dancing up to 4 or 5 times a week sometimes, performing in churches, on marketplaces and soon in schools and theaters.
Just before leaving in June 2007 a friend and I had an idea about boxes ...about working with other young people to explore the boxes we live in, to break out of the boxes and enlarge our 'watchboxes' ... In August 2008 we met again, looked at each other and said "we still have ten days before the deadline of the Council of Europe to submit our project proposal". Today we are setting up our own organisation and in February the international training course Challenge to Change will take place in Antwerp. On September 1st I also went to work again ... enabling me to give.

... I ask myself now: "Am I living my dream?" Yes again I am realizing some of my dreams ...and I still have many and I trust that I will make them come true ...but you should not have asked me in July where I would be in the end of October ...The bridge between my road in Asia and my life in Europe was tough, very tough ... I tried to fix a plan and it simply did not work. A lesson again. The day I stopped trying to make a sound plan I smiled again ... I finally felt I was were I was ... I think I arrived in Belgium one and a half month later than I fysically did ... You might also remember I received a ticket to New Zealand, I even had a Japanese woman and a house waiting to welcome me ...I should have known that this is NOT a sign from the road ...certainty is not part of the road! I think I told you how my road suddenly brought me back to Belgium ...and there I was ... I had no clue were I had to head to ... I puzzled and puzzled to plan my way to get back where I left, get through Australia and to arrive in New Zealand 'on time' ... It just didn't make sense. I received a sad letter about another door closed in New Zealand ...I remembered my lessons from the road and just lived ...let things develop and unroll ...and so here I am now, smiling at the beauty of Antwerp and spending time with friends and family ... I notice that the ticket to New Zealand might not be used in the end (it is still valid till 7th of December) ...

If there is one thing I miss these days...it is the road but I know I can't do both at the same time and I made a promise to myself to make my dreams come true ...I receive daily the energy to do so ...I read your stories and remember mine but I now also recognise my story here ...My days on the road are limited, I have reached to 158 rides ...last time I camped I slept on the streets of a city in the Netherlands ...Next time I will be in a new country, a new language it will be with a returnticket for a plane together with my colleagues ...In the meanwhile other kind of stories are unfolding and surprising me greatly ...In May no thought came to me predicting that I would be in Europe again ...

For almost everybody it might look I dropped my travelplans and made some new ones ...studying, working etc. ...with the exeption of me. My only guide is my heart ...je suis mon reve ...I continue living my dream ...just like you ...that is why we are connected!

See you at the crossroads!

New Old Roads

Cobblestoned streets, Dutch signs, I understand what people say and most things feel familiar. I talk for hours with my friends, old friends, friends I know since long. Hitchhiking goes easy because I know the way …
I came to Belgium in the beginning of July. Because of many things …but the road, the way just continues …

They need help!

Dear Sue

How are u? Where have u been? Still in Indonesia?For me I am busy with my two kids and packing the cloth for Cyclone victim.Our country never get a chance to remove this regime I think.Nobody can help us.What a disappointed for us.This regime is getting worse and worse.I think we don't have a chance of going back home instead of living in foreign country for our life.We still hoping from God.At least we can rest our mind.Our mind are fill with sorrow.When we hope from God He will make our mind peace and comfort.when u have time send email and keep in tough.

with love

urs

Tha mie

One message among the many I receive daily from my friends in Burma ...

The USA has withdrawn the saving soldiers from the Burmese coast, the UN won't send saviors, ... indeed nobody sends help. Material does not speak up for political change and without political change there is no life for the people of Burma.
If anybody has some good information or training how to overthrow a regime, please let me know. I believe the people from Burma are the only legitimate ones to do so but they need help! We have to protect the sovereignty of the people not of some crazy generals! Our governments don't do much so let's take our responsibility to use our freedom to fight for the freedom of my friends!

Please send me your thoughts and ideas what to do. I need a team! They need a team!

Another piece of writing in Dutch on the Mo* website

Disasters

I am in Banda Aceh in the north of Sumatra, Indonesia. The biggest part of this city is new, rebuilt after the Tsunami came on the 26th of December 2004. It is easy to go around without witnessing its past. As an outsider I see a façade. The buildings don’t look so new. Everything looks normal.
My friends who work and live here take me behind the façade. It is a very big backstage. I get lost and hardly understand the signs on the walls, the reason of the curtains or the feelings the loud voices coming from high towers awaken among the many actors.
Aceh is a place recovering from a natural disaster and from an armed conflict. An enormous amount of money, foreign aid workers and compromises with Jakarta (Indonesia’s capital) have shaped today’s environment. Close to unbelievably beautiful beaches for example the Turkish constructed houses. They are basic simple and build in a structured order, marked with a Turkish flag. Many of them are empty. Lieselotte explains how some donors gave a house for every tsunami victim. Children, bachelors, widows, everybody got one house. Many Acehnese however don’t want to live near the sea anymore. Other areas were rebuilt by different donors. Different policies resulted in Tsunami victims who lost everything living in different houses than people who had some minor damages. Some Tsunami victims still haven’t received a new house while others who were not a victim (depending whose categorization you use) did. Clearly there were some misunderstandings with the lists of victims. The quality and size of the houses differ significantly and feed resentments.
A research revealed that the tsunami money was five times bigger than the Marshall help per capita. Often it is said that there is too much money here. The unemployment however is big and for sure things can be improved but ‘left-over’ donor money goes to ‘easy’ infrastructure projects or luxurious accommodation during NGO trainings. This is more a result of the stringent guidelines of donors than of the project implementers.
Banda Aceh is not an easy place. It is not an easy place to live neither to understand. The city is not half empty because former conflict refugees returned. Islamic oriented rules refrain people from saving money and leave them a choice between investing and donating to the poor. Alcohol is prohibited but marihuana is mixed in wedding dishes. Watching others and commanding respect through materialistic status symbols is activity number one among the ‘lazy’Acehnese. Employers who want a more reliable workforce hire Javanese.
The conflict goes back to the independence struggle against the Dutch, the discovery of oil and gas by Exxon Mobile, its ‘military protected’ profits going to Jakarta, a dictatorship oppressing freedom, including religious and cultural freedom and a lack of local leadership when the central power collapsed.
I can’t help it but thinking of Burma. When will the survivors have houses? Will this continuous disastrous attitude of the Junta lead to its collapse? Could the financial and reconstruction aid for the Nargis victims be handled better than the Tsunami money? Could it also provide homes for all those internally displaced people whose villages were burned by the military? Who will provide houses for all those million refugees living abroad? In Aceh evidence of human rights abuses was lost when Tsunami victims were dumped in previously existing mass graves. Will the Junta blame Nargis for all the poverty and abuses? Can the foreigners break through the wall? Will foreigners finally also know that a promise from the military regime doesn’t mean anything? When will the people of Burma know what is happening in their own country? When will my friends be free?

New Horizons

One month ago I left Mae Sot, I left the house of my Burmese friends, my brothers and sisters, and travelled non-stop to the south to cross into Malaysia on the day my visa expired. I arrived in Buttersworth where a man gave me two options: a train to Kuala Lumpur or a ferry to Penang. The latter brought me to Georgetown, the capital of the Island. I was back on the road without the daily delicious fresh Burmese food, the talks with my friends and their Burmese songs I so much loved. Four months had been about Burma and suddenly I found myself roaming through a totally new environment. Loud Indian music accompanied my stroll along the colorful sari shops and food stalls. Calls from the mosque, the strong smell of incense at the beautiful old Chinese temples and the Indians in their own unique clothes welcomed me in this peaceful multicultural country. I knew that also this time route indicators would become visible and along the way this country will show itself to me. I would leave again with a hunger to know more, with addresses and memories.

I stayed a few days in Georgetown before heading to a small fisherman village where I met Ahwy Lim, a Chinese-Malay in his forties. I spent 6 days on the fish farm his younger brother Amin rebuild after the Tsunami destroyed most of it in December 2004. It was my first time to see the remnants of this storm and to talk to its victims. It was exactly when cyclone Nargis hit Burma. Sai, 24 from Rangoon, lives also on the fish farm, earning money for his family in Burma with the water sport facilities Amin runs on Monkey beach. He has been hiding from the police both under the fish farm and in the jungle behind the beach. He left his family in 2005, speaks fluent Malay, plans to apply for a passport, to officially exchange his Buddhist believes to become a Muslim and marry a local girl he fell in love with. Or going back! His heart is torn. Only 5 days after the devastating storm he was able to contact his sister. Sai became part of the family Lim, just like me during that week. We would visit father Lim at his house near the harbour, 5 minutes by boat from our floating fish farm, who cooked for us the most delicious fish I have ever eaten. Also Ahwy has friends in Burma, in the northern Shan state. His Chinese-Malay friend runs a rubber plantation after he quit dealing in opium and amphetamines. Ahwy spent 7 years in jail and miraculously was not executed like his friends. Counselors have brought him from a very destructive and wrong path to who he is today, a kind man who knows and values life. We became good friends and talked for hours. He builds houses and refuses new offers of his mafia bosses. I woke up every morning witnessing amazing sunrises from my hammock on the fish farm, during the days I reflected. I was welcome to stay as long as I wanted but an Estonian friend in Singapore awaited me.

It’s late in the evening when I buy samosa ‘at the corner’ back in Georgetown; “Where do you come from? How old are you? What do you do tomorrow?” In Asia you get used to these questions, I answer with my usual: “No plans”. “Do you want to go for dinner tomorrow?” “Fine”. I met Kamal the next day at 20.00 ‘at the corner’. He takes me for Tandoori Chicken but doesn’t eat himself. Kamal is a skater who used to attend world competitions, he sells his fantasy drawings for local media and has just written a 400 pages thesis to get his master degree in sociology. A diploma that will give him a better position at the United Overseas Bank where he worked after his bachelor studies in business administration. His interest in politics and sociology on the other hand led to a meeting via his uncle to talk about a position as a university lecturer. Kamal had lost his girlfriend when he went for drinks on the Batak Ferringi beach. This was on December 26th in 2004. Another evening I ran into Kamal’s friends Darsh and Fadzil ‘at the corner’. We talk about religion, values, life and dreams. Darsh shows me the jewelry stall he runs every evening with a friend in front of the old Indian theatre. Many Asians make their living with many small things but Malaysia also has its shiny shopping centers, big roads and modern buildings which surprise me a lot. I went to the movies, which felt like home, found a Body Shop and realized I also finally had entered a space where our alphabet is used.

On the morning I set of for Singapore I meet Matt ‘at the corner’. Matt is Australian and we had spent some time together in February in Mae Sot. I delay my departure and we set off for a tour around the Island. We investigate the World War from Malaysian perspective at a museum and enjoy the tropical nature. Funny little world, “See you in Australia”, I shout.

Even after the theatre of wealth I saw in Penang I could not help it and stared at Singapore, its buildings, people, shops and attitudes. Annika, my Estonian friend who lives in this city state, and I talked and talked until we suddenly left for Sumatra, another new world, with new people, stories and views along the roads. We entered into the world of a group of young guys whose lives turn around lake Toba, fish, deep family roots, few tourists, frustrations, palm wine and dreams of Bali and education. Pung found us at the harbour in Parapat and brought us to Juan’s guesthouse. We were the only and first guests. Another place that was hard to leave.

With the help of Mardinal, an old man from the tourist information at Medan airport, I reached Banda Aceh where I met Lieselotte and Guido from the Netherlands. I know Lieselotte from a training on development in Prague in September 2005. Many things I hear, read or see I relate to Burma. I am interested in learning about the special autonomy Aceh got after the conflict ended with the tsunami and about Indonesia’s transition to democracy. At the same time news from my Burmese friends in jail and others hiding in the jungle, the suffering of the cyclone victims and the result of the referendum make me feel … I don’t know how to describe it. I am curious what Indonesia will show me more. My visa expires on the 15th of June. Yesterday for example we drank beer from a can that was covered with a coca cola can. I am in an extreme Islamic place under the rule of the sharia law, the locals however are not so fanatic as Jakarta told them to be.

My friend arrested in Burma

Saturday evening one of my very good friends inside Burma was arrested by the SPDC (the brutal inhuman army). His dream to be free seems further than ever before. As one of the most active youth leaders in the region he was a hope for many, helping hundreds of young people with education. The latter is what the regime did not want him to do.
His friends don’t know what to do. We can only hope he stays alive.
I feel very sad

Tragedies wake up the masses! Burma hit once more!

Please read more:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/cyclonenargis.php

http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/PDFs/Cyclone%20Nargis%20Update%2005%2005%202008.pdf

I am currently in Malaysia and everything is about FISH. (A story to be told later ...)

550 people in the jungle, 40 orphans and 10 young people thank you very much

My friends and family made it possible to support some of the Burmese people most in need. In Eastern Burma many people have fled to the jungle after threats or repressions of the military. Today I could hand over 165.000 Thai Baht or 3333 Euro to Saw Hla Henry, director of CIDKP, an organization that reaches out to those people. With your contribution they can buy enough rice for 550 people for one month.


When I went inside Burma I was able to donate 10.000 Thai Baht or 200 Euro to two orphanages I visited in the mountains. This small amount really means a lot for the children who have nothing more than a small cardboard box with some old clothes. They eat mostly only some rice and if lucky they have eggs.

Thirdly you connected at least 10 young ambitious people to the world and to their friends through bringing ADSL internet to the office of a youth organisation. I lived among them for one month in their house in Mae Sot, they live all without documents. It is a very dangerous and depressing situation but for many the only option to get education and stand up for peace and development. For 8000 Thai Baht or 160 Euro we connected 4 computers and can pay the connection fee for 8 months. This connection helps them to stay in touch with their communities and to send out vital news to and from their region. They daily improve their English and computer skills and discover the world which was closed to them for so long.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

The Burmese referendum: a sheer example of manipulation

On May 10th Burma will decide whether to accept the continuation of the brutal military regime or take a risk and vote no during the referendum on the constitution. The proposed constitution is finally available for the public for 1 USD, for many unaffordable. The government also issued guidelines for the officers of the polling booths but up till today most of the people do not know how the voting will be organised.

Since the referendum was announced on February 9th, those no longer able to suppress their anger and disapproval of the regime started to deal with the difficult question of how to campaign in a country where this is absolutely prohibited. Since a few weeks people for example wear T-shirts with a big NO and a small smoking.

Most of the content of the draft constitution was known among the people but few had really read or analysed a previously available older version.
Some argue that having a constitution is better than having nothing. So this raises the question if once this proposal is accepted what can be changed? The final version states that any amendments would need the approval of all eligible voters. This effectively rules out any future changes to the constitution. The exclusion of all people who have ever been imprisoned from participation in political parties sheds a light on the promised democratic elections in 2010.

They continue to arrest whoever might be(come) a threat to the regime. For example Ko Aung Htun youth coordinator of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Thingangyun township, Rangoon, is held in an unknown place since April 1st. With more and more campaigns being launched together with the start of the Water Festival on April 13th, the celebration of the Buddhist New Year, the amount of arrests rises.

The military government and the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a kind of government-ngo with mostly involuntary members simultaneously reinforce their YES campaign. The referendum law does not allow prisoners to vote however information leaked from the Insein prison that prisoners will be released when they vote yes. In remote areas villagers are warned by armed soldiers for punishments like burning their houses and prosecution of their families when they don’t vote pro-junta. Students with bad results for their matriculation examinations can still pass through accepting a USDA membership and a promise to vote yes. A membership that anyway gives 16 extra points to students.

Next to the YES campaign and the crackdown of the NO campaigns the government uses more indirect measures and has carefully compiled the referendum law to enable them to manipulate the results.

The inhabitants of Rangoon and Magwe divisions for example complain about more power restrictions and have no electricity except for a few unexpected short moments. Access to Internet is easily reduced in this way. The printed media received strict instructions from the state censor board on how the referendum should be reported.

The organisation of the referendum has created a momentum for the people to raise their voices but it brings a lot of dangers! Some critics referred to the 1990 elections as a smart move of the government to identify and dismantle the opposition.
Campaigning goes together with obligatory registrations and restrictions. I also guess that it is probably not cheap. Trying to stay invisible under the eyes of Big Brother is anyway very difficult with the omnipresence of informers.

Also on the day of the referendum the people will have to take a risk. Most of the polling booths will only serve 1000 people and lists with the names of those who did not come, and as such did not vote in favour of the military junta, will be collected by the election commission. U Aung Htoo of the Burma Lawyer Council said the guidelines on the organization of the referendum were inadequate and would not ensure a fair vote. “The weak point of the handbook is that it doesn’t say how many people are allowed to vote in the referendum,” Polling booths having 10% extra ballot papers than the expected electorate is as such a potential dangerous rule.
As far as I know it is also still unknown what is the required minimum turn-out of the electorate in order for the result of the referendum to be considered valid.

The voting rolls will be made public at least seven days in advance. A very short time for people to find out if and where they have the right to vote. It might bring a lot of confusion as the referendum law is very vague about the registration of people on those voting rolls. Difficulties can be expected for those who don’t reside at their permanent address like students or migrant workers. Transportation to polling booths on the other hand, especially with recent rise in the fuel prices, is for many unaffordable. Government officials already told the media that they will have to vote at the office. Many people as such will be deprived of their right to vote.

Already since the beginning of the preparations of this referendum, actually starting in 1990, the process has been confusing and unfair. In the run-up to the referendum many people were able to obtain an identity card. In different regions in Burma I heard different prices ranging from 0,25 to 10 USD and people reported changes in their names and ethnicity. I visited a remote area were the people estimated that only 10% of the people managed to make an identity card and as such have a right to vote. Without any warning General Than E arrived in the beginning of March to the village and ordered the village heads of nine surrounding villages to mobilise their inhabitants to come the next day. For some village leaders this meant walking three hours in the night and many villagers could not leave their work on the farms the following day. Information about the referendum given was minimal. I guess in the areas out of government control, the liberated areas, even fewer people have a new identity card. Those issued before 1989 are not valid.

This referendum and the signs of manipulation make me look back what happened with the multi-party democracy general elections on May 27th 1990.
Several times I read that one of the reasons why the representatives elected in 1990 never convened the parliament was that a constitution needed to be approved first. I remain confused as the opposition claims that their right to convene the parliament in 1990 was violated and the military government announced new elections after the constitution is approved. In 1990 this next step of new elections was seemingly not announced.

In The New light of Myanmar, the English government newspaper of February 29th, the author refers to the government announcement 1/90 on July 27th 1990 stating clearly that the representatives elected by the people would be responsible for drawing a constitution and gaining the power according to this constitution. This announcement however came two months after the elections, won by the opposition (NLD). The author of the article does not remind its readers to this detail.

In the endnotes of the Legal Issues on Burma Journal, April 2004, I find information about the Peoples Assembly Election Law (No 14/89) published by the regime in May 1989, one year before the elections, stating that the parliament shall be formed with the representatives elected according to this law (art. 3).And during its 43rd news conference in June 1989 the military stated, “The elected representatives can form a government, and we will transfer power to the government formed by them”.

The above mentioned article in the New Light of Myanmar however states that everybody knew before the elections that the task of the elected representatives would only be to write a constitution. Furthermore the author says the NLD refused this task and refers as well to terrorist organisations, saboteurs and riots upon which the government took initiative in 1992 to draw the constitution. They finished this task after 16 years.
I haven’t found yet the Election Law of 1989!


A dutch version is available on the MO* website.

Mae Sot’s street rebels

Armed gangs of youngsters drive through the streets in their pick ups. You can’t pass any of the many new checkpoints along the roads without being stopped and facing their one policy for all in the name of ‘protection against the enemy’. People are powerless and prepare themselves by putting their belongings in plastic bags. The enemy attacks have reached new heights so the rebel’s interference, even when mobilizing many children, is justified and accepted by the people. Umbrellas no longer protect us from the heat so the water attacks launched from guns and buckets are ‘refreshingly’ welcome. The Water Festival has started!

This morning after waking up very early for the fourth day in a row with the sound of Thai music and speeches I discovered the ‘sound device’ attached to an electricity pole eight meters away from my window. I hope it is related to the festival which will end on Wednesday!

Later today six new people arrived to our house and bring the news that one of my friends from inside will marry soon, likely this means partly giving up her freedom. I still hope one day she can become a minister. But Burma will have to change a lot and very fast for this to be socially and politically possible.

morning thoughts

I woke up with the sound of what seemed an endless and boring Thai speech coming through a bad quality speaker, I guess attached on a pick-up. You see them regularly in Thailand but now it was not even 7 am. I feed the leftovers to the chicken (of the neighbours) and think of chicken kept behind fences and fed with special expensive chicken food. I smile when I look at our outside ‘kitchen’. Not so much later I witness a cockfight next to our house. It was my first time to see the two animals in a struggle to measure their power. Peter and I wonder why. “There are no people who make them do this, nobody had put a bet. It must be about the hens!” They are bleeding but finally give up and both retreat defeated and exhausted. I think of them as a symbol of the struggle between the military regime and the people of Burma. There is pain, blood and exhaustion on both sides but no result yet.

At the same time one of my ‘brothers’ continues his work on a campaign project to convince his people in the mountains of Burma to go and vote against a constitution that keeps the military regime in place. It will be a dangerous project. If one of them gets caught with the pamphlets and T-shirts or with the cameras that will be used to report about their observation of the referendum, …. I don’t want to think about it. Fear does not change anything.

Yesterday I was one of the many guests at the house of one of the parliamentarians elected in 1990. The neighbouring house was a newly build place hosting four young woman who set up a Kayan Women Organisation. Several English diplomas of successful participation in training courses decorate the wall. The girl who received them hardly speaks English but proudly shows me pictures of her meeting with Pinheiro, the special rapporteur to the UN Human Rights Council, in 2005. The next house is the house of Padoh Mahn Sha, the man who was murdered there on the 14^th of February. It was the house where my Estonian friends and I were warmly welcomed on the 14^th of January. I feel an indescribable discomfort.

Among the many people were mothers and sons who had not met for eight years or people who had made it to the promised land to become so involved in their work as computer programmers or cashiers in the supermarket lacking time to follow what happens in their homeland. There were fathers who had not attended the wedding of their sons or who had not seen their daughters for three years or more. The group of ten guests arrived on Monday with a one day visa. “Yes, the fine (bribe) for overstaying your visa is pretty expensive but we traveled three days from Phekhon to Mae Sot, to see our family and friends!” A 21-year old boy is excited and tells me about his plan to stay, find a job, study and go to America. Another one, I think. He also asks me advice about what to do with girlfriends and tells me he never saw a computer. I show him the office helping migrant workers in Mae Sot and urge him to go and ask a lot.

I think about the road I walked since nine months and where I am headed. I don’t know. Yesterday I felt a bit lost, disappointed and desperate. I hope today brings me hope. Hope for my friends.

On the Reality and the Future of Burma

On the first day I arrived in Burma the dean of a religious establishment who received me in his very humble house in a poor neighborhood, said this would have brought him in jail just a few years ago. Back in Thailand a friend tells me about how ‘They’ can hear everything you say, even from inside a house across the street. Both in- and outside Burma the sayings go: “The walls have ears! They will follow you! They know what you are doing!” I was sometimes worried. I did not stay in guest houses every evening and more against the likings of the military regime I talked a lot about politics and visited places I was not allowed to go. Would they know and would this mean danger for the people whom I spoke and who helped making this possible? I was afraid to leave the country with my camera and my notebooks. I was cautious and happy that the guard of the security check in the airport smiled at me and told me: “Two bananas”.

I know (still little) about the oppression of the people of Burma but above all I could also hardly see it. No wonder an ignorant outsider thinks everything is fine! Tourists might go back home and speak about the beauty of the country. Some have got a glimpse or a sense something is wrong or at least strange about this country that seemed to be frozen in time, but going beyond the façade is very difficult.

The people in Burma build their own societies without any support from the military government while the government builds its own world with the money it takes from the people and likes to destroy what is not theirs. Later during my first day in Burma I write in my notebook that I feel both the people and the government are building their lives next to each other. They both have their very delicate Truman Show, like the movie were reality consists of staged scenes. The pro-government demonstrations Gambari got to see on an earlier visit for example are forced and are illusions. The smiles of the people are also part of their script, they control their real anger and disagreement.

The people seem to ‘just live their lives’ but they know they are trapped, that the newspapers are full of lies and that their reality is being controlled through the treat of torture, imprisonment and more commonly named as ‘trouble to the people’. The generals on the other hand are mostly deceiving themselves, and unfortunately often also the outside world, by believing their own lies.

Nothing is what it seems and so many books and researches reveal this. Many actors keep up a ‘fake reality’. An opposition group for example sends their request for amendments of the proposed constitution to the ‘officials’ but admit that it is just to ‘show’ the people (in this case their own ethnic group) that they think about them, or using a frequently heard saying: “that they are doing for the people”. Even without receiving an answer they know their requests will be ‘not accepted’.

Researching about future political parties and the activities of another strange group called the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), stated to be a government –operated NGO, I ask if somebody can confirm my feeling that they might become a political party. Some said vaguely to know something about this being announced. This morning I find a study from 2006 titled: The white shirts. How the USDA will become the new face of Burma’s dictatorship. It again is all planned! Reading more about the seven-step roadmap of the government supports this hypothesis.

The second book I find is Secret Histories. Finding George Orwell in a Burmese Teashop. Orwell is sometimes said to be the prophet of Burma and people joke he did not only wrote his first novel about their country but that with Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four they form a trilogy describing Burma’s cruel reality. Burma is often called to be ‘Orwellian’.

In a country full of fortune tellers, prophecy newspapers and where ‘official’ decisions are often based on horoscopes, the future ‘seems’ more uncertain than almost anywhere else. Nobody knows what will really happen tomorrow. Some however did make some plans!

Will the ‘secret’ plan of the military top continue to be implemented at all costs? It reminds me of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), a think thank that contributed to the strategic planning of the Iraq invasion that took place years later.

Even without being part of the ‘military plot’ against the people of Burma, one can reveal parts of its strategy by reading between the lines.

The future of Burma is maybe only uncertain when the people take the power! That is likely why many people of Burma and some neighboring countries are so afraid of this real change.

We can support the people in Burma with money but we can also do a lot with priceless willpower!

I can no longer believe in big international institutions who fail to do what they preach. So many international agreements and obligations exist and institutions claim to work, with tax-payers money, for the good cause. Burma is obliged to protect and promote human rights by so many international conventions but is not adequately punished by any of those who proudly state to be a signatory of those international instruments.

An expulsion of Burma from those conventions and international organisations would be a strong, clear and just message of support for the people in Burma. If being a member of those organisations makes real positive differences a democratic Burmese government should be able to regain membership!

At national level it is all about diplomatic relations and much more about trade relations. A country like Estonia for example, that has neither of them, is in theory free to speak up. But likely it has to admit to be afraid of countries like Germany and the UK. Both are among the biggest foreign investors in Burma and simultaneously speaking loudly in the European Parliament about economic sanctions that don't hurt them too much (UK) or acting bravely and refraining from publicly signing profitable energy deals (Germany). So did Estonia, being part of the EU, de facto gave up its right to take a stand in international relations?

The EU, in my eyes, voluntarily paralyses itself in its bureaucracy but still proclaims to use all its energy and effort to support the people of Burma. When will the EU look for new tools to deal with dictatorships? The sanctions work maybe partly but the negative consequences being for example China jumping into investment vacuums likely surpass the positive effects. And by know the EU should know that the generals don't listen to friendly demands. EU officials are also educated enough to read the extensive documentation on the situation in the country, from opposition, government and international sources, to identify incoherences and valid evidence and to make conclusions.

The people of Burma have the willpower to develop their own country. They don't ask for money but they ask for the truth to be known. The main (only) obstacle for development is its military regime, to overcome this obstacle they need protection! Are their any institutions providing People-protectors? Could 100.000 foreigners act as a human shield from the guns of the Burmese army? Can we send 55 million bulletproof vests? Can we do something?

But of course who will be WE?

Internal struggles

Regardless of the slogans used by all sides (government, political opposition groups or even the Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot) stating to be United in Diversity, I noticed a strong emphasis on differences in ethnic background and religion coinciding unfortunately with a lot of strong statements and judgements.
Discrimination seems to run through all levels of the society. Karen government teachers gave up their jobs facing unfair lack of any chance to be promoted compared to their colleagues. A Muslim man with his five year old son tells me he is a retired government official. I later read that the members of the Muslim minority are excluded from living and working in the new capital Naypyidaw, literally meaning royal bellies. Also in Yangon the few Muslim schools can only be found at the outskirts. My trishaw driver in Mandalay described a job interview as starting (and ending) with the question about the profession of his father. And the bilingual (Burmese/Chinese) schools in Myanmar only allow Chinese descendants. Of course the biggest difference remains between those who have money and those who don't, between those who wear the uniform and those who don't.

Many people in Myanmar feel very inferior but similarly always seem to find another group to pity and speak bad about. Being shy is considered (teached) to be polite and asking questions is discouraged. In an environment where one is socially and brutally oppressed from expressing ones opinion and feelings or where being different and breaking social codes, traditions or norms is not accepted, the toughest struggle is not the one for food but the internal one. Dreams, hopes and traumas are kept in mind and hearts.

Other struggles take place within an among the many opposition groups. Some are without doubt aroused by the SPDC in the framework of its divide and rule policy inherited from the British. These struggles however are far less secret than the internal distrust existing within the SPDC. The biggest and by some also expressed as the only hope for the people is exactly a fatal or self-destroying split in the army. The dictator himself Than Shwe is over seventy and very ill. Other top leaders are already fighting among each who will take over. Signs of fear and disagreement were also visible when three years ago they put the former prime minister who was a bit too progressive under house arrest. While the top of the military is losing its unity due to greed and mismanagement, simple soldiers go through hardships that might soon be too much for them. Most of them did not become a soldier out of free will. My trishaw-driver in Mandalay told me how the soldiers approach young village boys upon arrival to the city , mostly in search of work, with two choices: the army or prison. Family would find out maybe three years later what happened to their son. Once in the army one cant leave legally without passing through prison for at least three years. Soldiers farm, sleep in houses sometimes worse then those in the refugee camps and don't have great food or equipment. But they do have guns and are still better off than many of their fellow countrymen. The recent atrocities against the monks were also intolerable for many Buddhist soldiers and increased oppressed anger. Some escape while for example five soldiers recently choose the camp of an armed opposition group, the KNU (Karen National Union), due to injustice among the soldiers.

'Going inside'

The first time since I left Europe in the beginning of July I take an airplane. Even with only one hour flying the difference between the place of departure, the busy brand new Bangkok airport, and the place of arrival being the almost empty airport in Yangon (Myanmar/Burma) is huge. Only a couple of minutes before landing I saw asphalt roads and a few cars. I spoke with more than sixty people, whose real names I don’t include for security reasons, and I am enormously grateful for their effort and support to show me their country, lives and for taking me to places foreigners normally cannot go.

One of the hardest things for me about Myanmar is to measure the hope and assess the fear and danger among the people living under a cruel dictatorship.

Secondly I still do not know how to call this land. I asked many but most people inside seem to use Myanmar instead of Burma used by outside support groups. Burma is the name given by the British and strongly related to the name of majority of ethnic Burmans, and their language Burmese. Myanmar, literally meaning ‘quick strong’, is the name chosen by an illegal brutal military government disliked by most of the citizens, however more inclusive according to some members of the minorities. Equally confusing is that people define themselves as being ‘Myanmar’ but easily use words like Burmese food or Burmese army. Forgive me to use both.

Gambari and Sue visit Yangon

Before I wonder why the people did not move and why the police gathered near Sule Pagoda in the centre of Yangon (former Rangoon) I hear the name Gambari, the United Nations envoy for Myanmar. Soon some pick-ups with armed soldiers and a black car pass by after which the passers-by resumed their doings without showing any feelings.

“He comes and goes without bringing hope for the people” said the two priests I spoke on 5th of March. Next evening sister Cecilia, showing me the newspaper The New Light of Myanmar, says: “Gambari is here but no news about the content of the discussions, just a picture and the shedule of his meetings”. Some others tell me there is a rumour or a joke that he received some rubies.

In my hotel there is again no Internet connection. “Because of Gambari” the staff and clients whisper. The country’s two Internet servers are controlled by the military government. Access to the world wide web is scarce, especially outside the big cities, the connection sometimes (often) does not work or is extremely slow and if you manage to open your mailbox you are warned about ‘spies’ watching what you read and what you send through the servers. I do have access to the BBC TV-news reporting that Gambari is accused of being biased and of conspiring with Aung San Suu Kyi. The Generals also informed Gambari that no changes would be made to the proposed (unpublished) constitution.

The majority of the population in Myanmar struggles daily to survive and does not question politics to openly, exactly what the military regime wants. But those who had, often abroad, access to ‘higher’ and ‘more free’ education are very concerned about the plight of the people. “We try to inform the people about issues like AIDS, human trafficking but also about the dangers of the proposed constitution. But it is difficult, the people don’t understand” said the Sister. The Priests and Sisters emphasised their (obligatory) non-political role but they do share the wish for change.

The proposed constitution equals the prolongation of the military dominance for example by reserving 25% of parliamentary seats for the army. Opposition- and minority groups have little hope to get representatives elected due to regulations for establishing political parties and also Aung San Suu Kyi is excluded because of her marriage with a foreigner. The military government, The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), warned the people in The New Light of Myanmar of March 5th that a 100% democracy is not possible and refers to the United States of America were the Black did not have the right to vote until 200 years after independence. Restrictions ought not to be questioned! As such there is no right to vote in the upcoming referendum for members of religious orders. In the words of the referendum law encompassing: Buddhist monks, novices, religious laymen and nuns and in the case of Christians, persons who have been recognized and ordained or assigned duties by the relevant Churches as an individual who has dedicated himself mainly to serving the Christian religious order, persons included in the group of individuals or organization which of their own volition have submitted to the control of the respective head according to the religion professed as organized by religious discipline or vow; in case of Hindus, Sanyazi, Mahant or Hindu priest. I wonder if a widow voluntarily living and helping at the convent is deprived of her right to vote or how a Buddhist religious layman is identified.

The people mostly speculate about the way the referendum will be organized and some mention forced mass demonstrations. The Referendum Law for the Approval of the Draft Constitution (3,5 pages) was however published in the newspaper of February 27th in Burmese and February 28th in English. Repeatedly people told me newspapers are no longer read because “too many lies”. Unfortunately some activists miss out on some useful information this way. It is for example also possible to purchase a preliminary version of the constitution published in September 2007 in Burmese for 350 kyats (20 euro cent), a fact only known by a few. But it is true that the no final version, neither the date of the referendum or the list of who is allowed to caste their vote at which polling booth area is made public. It is also unknown what will be the amount of casted votes to declare the referendum eligible. The Referendum Law is confusing enough to deprive people of their right to vote and the responsible commissions will be formed by the SPDC and will exist of the necessary amount of suitable citizens. After the referendum the Commission will have a list of those people who did cast their vote, postponing the referendum is easily possible as is replacing members of the commissions.

There is a lack of public debate and citizens can only discuss secretly the content of the constitution. Criticism can be punished with imprisonment up to three years. The owner of an Internet cafe was forced to close his business because he allowed clients to print a ‘political’ document. The government anyway causes enormous disruptions for people to communicate by controlling and shutting down the Internet and access to electricity. During and after the September protests also mobile phone connections were cut off.

The demonstrations in August and September and the short international media attention gave hope but simultaneously increased both anger and fear. The ‘silent’ activists remain realistic: “We know no country will interfere without served self-interest and we know we still have a long way ahead”. The people have no way how to protect themselves from the guns of the army but they crave for change. Opposition- and student leaders are almost all arrested or killed and everything is dangerous not only for the people directly involved but for family and neighbours as well. People told me about the shared desire expressed by the applause given in theatres and the mumbling in the tea shops. The latter I would witness many times across Myanmar. I spoke about new demonstrations, involvement from foreign countries and international organisations and about splits in the army. Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow but expectations for ‘something’ increase with an approaching Thingyan Water Festival in the middle of April, a referendum in May and with the 20th anniversary of the ‘second struggle for independence’ on 08.08.2008, strangely coinciding with the opening of the Olympic Games in China, the main supporter of the oppressive regime.

Non-violence remains the wish of the people but the military government has repeatedly made clear not to be willing to hand over the power. “They are soldiers, they fight till they die”, my friend said followed by a painful silence filled with despair.

This post was also published in Dutch on the website of the Belgian magazine MO*.

Old news from border town Mae Sot, a prologue to my Birma trip!

The new Rambo movie, in the cinema’s across Europe since January but not in Thailand, is widely discussed. Sylvester Stallone is fighting and killing enemies in the area across the Salween river which marks the border here between Thailand and Myanmar! In the long lasting conflict of the Karen minority he fights against the Burmese army. Reviews on the Internet do not really link the movie with the reality. A reality that is not less cruel but maybe not that ‘Hollywoodish’. The real Burma does not have a saving hero yet! Some activists welcome the fact that this movie does bring attention to the situation.

On Valentine’s Day the leader of the Karen National Union is murdered in his house. Later in the evening the police stop passers-by on the main road to hand out roses! Padoh Mahn Sha was a wise and good man and he represented hope to many. I met him and his daughter during my visit with the Burma Campaign UK in January. A US Congressman, Joe Pitts, in a statement said the assassination should draw world attention to the ongoing persecution of the Karen and other ethnic minorities by the Burma regime. "For too long, the plight of the people of Burma has either been ignored or discussed ad nauseam with little or no action on behalf of the people," said Pitts.

The world attention, if going to Burma at all, went instead to the news announced on February 9th about an upcoming referendum on the new constitution in May 2008 and a promise for general elections in 2010.

When a regime guilty of genocide and oppression of opposition groups and citizens is regains credibility among the international community due to this announcement, I believe it only shows how irresponsible the creditor is. Only somebody who consciously chooses to believe words instead of looking at the deeds and extensive proof can be so foolish to believe a liar.

As for the word-game the military junta became a winner. With the US, Canada, Australia and the European Union threatening with new sanctions without visible improvements the generals answered timely, and possible upon the advice of China, with the next step in their seven-road-map to democracy, a step that took more than ten years. They declared: “We have been successful in bringing peace and stability to the country and are ready for a transition to democracy”.

In reality the proposed constitution ensures the continuation of military rule with 25% of the parliamentary seats reserved for appointed officers and veto powers for decisions of the parliament. The proposal is not meant to be discussed and criticism may lead to imprisonment. Arrests of activists have not stopped and ethnic cleansing increases in Eastern Burma. The popular belief is that the military will anyway find a way to win the referendum.

The European Council reacted to the announcement on the 18th of February with deep concern and demands for the release of all political prisoners, an open dialogue and respect for human rights. The Council stated that only with full participation of the opposition and minority groups, stability and reconciliation can be reached. Determined to assist the people of Burma the EU said to be ready to review, amend or reinforce its measures in the light of the developments. The EU will review its common position on Burma in April.

Here in Mae Sot the border was closed for illegal crossings on Wednesday 20th after an explosion at a waste dump. Later on order in town was maintained by a ban on drinking and buying alcohol in the light of local elections from February 23rd to 25th. The ban existed only on paper. The daily random arrests of Burmese people continued. The Thai police would keep them in a big cage, receive money from Bangkok meant to feed them and send them with sometimes false declarations of the immigration office across the border into the arms of the Burmese military. A Thai police officer told me about their duty to pay for visiting high officials, including the costs of the prostitutes, being a heavy burden on their small salaries.

At the end of the month my friend asked me to visit his country, I would meet his friends soon and the journey would be meaningful.

Hometown: Mae Sot

“It would be nice if I can go to the waste dump today” Manou said to me this morning sharing our breakfast and morning coffee. Manou had been there before to play with the children in the Sky Blue school which is basically located on the waste dump, a place where some 200 Burmese refugees try to survive. When she calls to Hannah, another Farang, to arrange a new meeting the answer is: “After the bomb explosion on 24th of February foreigners no longer go there”.

Mae Sot is a special place, a crossroads of cultures. Never before I faced so much suffering but also never before I felt such courage, endurance and friendship. I live here now since one month after my five day visit with the delegation in January.

“Everyday is an adventure” is what Black Town, a Burmese friend told me. I can say the same but our adventures are very different. Black Town is here illegal; he works for the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), every time he leaves his room he is afraid to be arrested, possibly leading to an unhappy ending. For me the adventures are the stories I hear everyday and even more the meetings I have. These adventures open my eyes to the world. Mae Sot is maybe the best school I ever attended. I was never more aware of the luck accompanying me already 28 years. I never felt my freedom so deep inside. Often I am frustrated because I want big changes. However everyday I see the benefit of small things like talking to youngsters or editing an English document and smile again. I learn so much!

Yesterday I drove with my bicycle towards a big red evening sun, I pass a clothe shop where the lady smiles at me. The aerobic lesson is about to start but I tell her I don’t join tonight “I have a meeting”. I wanted to meet with the sun so it was not a real lie I told myself. Two minutes later I stop at Joe’s little house. Joe works everyday with his old sewing machine he brought to live again five years ago. Saying hello and smiling to Joe became my favorite part of my trip to the other side of town where I work. One day I brought him the pants I ruined with the chain of a bike in Burma. We became friends. Yesterday he said something about dinner. “Yes, let’s go” I said, “I have no plans”. His friend Em passes and recommends us to take the motorbike and drive up the mountain to the lake. A beautiful evening with the silence of nature, the red sky and the burning fields. I was at the Lake Manou and I tried to find on Sunday but with the help of the nice people from what we call ‘the nice-people-internet-place’ we ended up at a swimming pool. “Yes, with nature” they had said. Joe had repaired my pants very nice and asked 0,20 euro, the rent of his house is 16 euro a month. Most of the days he does not earn the minimum wage which is about 3 euro in Thailand.

The smiles are plenty here and each one has its own story. The woman selling every evening some fruits or nuts which she carries on her head, the man from a very small bike repair shop/eating place who I asked for help already five times. As a Farang you receive many smiles and I often wonder what would happen if people in Europe would smile to all those who look a bit different.

I feel at home in Mae Sot.

Excuse me, where can I find the number of The International Community?

My friend, a refugee from Burma in Mae Sot told me about the Belgian arms he saw being used in the jungle. Even before talking about the 'involvement' of other countries in Burma I think one should admit that the oppressive dictatorship with it's unlimited human rights abuses is a concern and responsibility of all nations and people how far away Burma they physically might be.

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on governments to take the responsibility to protect when it comes to people suffering from avoidable catastrophe -mass murder and rape, ethnic cleansing by forcible expulsion and terror, and deliberate starvation and exposure to disease. He mentions that there is a growing acceptance that while sovereign governments have the primary responsibility to protect their own citizens from such catastrophes, when they are unable or unwilling to do so responsibility should be taken up by the wider international community. This would involve prevention, response to violence, if necessary, and rebuilding societies.

I remember my professor recalling the quote of Henry Kissinger "Who do I call if I want to call Europe?" Did the people of Burma call to the wrong 'International Community' for more then 40 years?

In Belgium the call was responded for example with statements of Karel De Gucht at the UN General Assembly: "The recent demonstrations show the degree of impatience of the population. These demonstrations should finally incite the government to initiate an inclusive dialogue with a view to restore democracy in Myanmar. Use of violence will not be tolerated." A call to the people of Burma to resolve their own problems?

No Belgium has done more since the crisis began (talking about August -September 2007). It has taken steps at the European, international (UN) and regional levels. Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht was very clear about this: "Right from the outset, Belgium stressed the importance of the EU swiftly assuming an active role. The EU has had a system of sanctions in place against the regime in Burma since 1996. In the light of recent events, Belgium forcefully advocated that those sanctions be extended and new ones imposed. However, these sanctions mustn't impact negatively on the population of Burma or adversely affect the humanitarian situation".

Internationally Belgium has urged that the matter be debated at a special meeting of the UN Security Council which took place on second of October 2007. Furthermore Belgium expressed support to the mission undertaken by the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari and actively helped to draft the statement by the Presidency of the UN Security Council that called on the regime to release Burma's political prisoners and confirm the need to launch a truly inclusive political process, especially with Aung San Suu Kyi.

The EU did respond with stronger sanctions against Burma including a longer list of people not allowed to enter the EU, a freeze of assets, and an extension of the ban on investments in Burmese state-owned companies. The EU prohibits the export to Burma of equipment and technology destined for enterprises engaged in logging, timber and the mining of metals and minerals, precious or semi-precious stones, as well as related technical and financial assistance. It also prohibits the import into the Community of round logs, timber and timber products, metals and minerals, as well as precious and semi-precious stones. Moreover, new investments in enterprises in Burma that are engaged in these industries are prohibited as well. The existing sanctions in place since October 1996 include bans on provision of non-humanitarian aid, arms sales, high-level meetings between EU and Burma officials and entry visas for members of the junta.

The US has quite similar sanctions; some also influence for example simple tourists by banning the import of almost all goods from Burma into the United States. This ban includes Burmese-origin products such as gifts, souvenirs, and items for personal use, even if carried in personal luggage.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) did not answer the calls before 2006! Lately it tried with a draft resolution calling on Burma to release all political prisoners, begin widespread dialogue and end its military attacks and human rights abuses against ethnic minorities. The resolution was blocked on January 12th 2007 by a veto from Russia and China.
More recently on January 17th 2008 the UNSC has come up with a statement that Burma's military rulers had done too little to meet demands (non-binding and toned down by China) it laid out in October for release of political prisoners and a genuine dialogue with the opposition following a crackdown on protesters.

Unfortunately all these 'wordily' efforts have been pretty much in vain! And Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK is probably right when saying that sanctions haven't been tried yet.

The Generals do not like to travel much anyway, imports via third countries are not banned by the EU, and the weapons from Belgium are in Burma. But more important the sanctions are not worldwide! China, Thailand and India are Burma's mayor trade partners. Countries that are happy not to compete with Western investors! China also remains clear in its position towards UN measures. It does not support sanctions and will not pressure the Junta. Like Russia, China beliefs the issue should not be dealt with by the Security Council and that the problems are internal affairs. "The Burma issue should be fundamentally and properly resolved with the efforts of Burma's government and people themselves and through consultation," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao in October.

The role of China is widely discussed. While the 'West' hopes to pressure the ASEAN countries the ASEAN leaders themselves just hope the situation in Burma will stabilise and that the Military Junta would change a bit or at least release political prisoners so they can show their human rights friendly masks.
Trade between China and Burma increased significantly in 2007. China became Burma's second largest trading partner due to a new deep friendship and geographical links according to Tang Hai, economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Burma.
On the question of the role of China a member of the NCUB (National Council of the Union of Burma) answered similarly that China has interest in stability to ensure economic profit but no interest in regime change unless it is a pro-Chinese one. The relationship is however not that friendly as commonly thought. The generals are as suspicious of the Chinese as the Chinese are of 'western' influence in the region. China is also supporting the opposition and as such seems to apply a divide and rule approach. As for the NCUB, they want to be pro-Burma! That China is not sure yet about its political position towards its neighbour is also expressed by Bertil Lintner. He says a shift of power among the Generals in Burma might influence bilateral relationships.

In terms of bloody economical arms deals not only China but also Russia, India, Singapore, North Korea, Serbia and Ukraine are to blame. Those arms sales may be widely criticized for helping the regime stay in power, but they don't clearly violate any laws, treaties or international agreements according a Swedish research. Organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch therefore call for a comprehensive international arms embargo. Amnesty reports as well how the EU embargo fails to prevent European arms components being incorporated in military equipment sold by Ukraine. The Ukrainian government seems to have forgotten how it got the power. I can't believe the people of the Orange revolution do not support their brothers and sisters in their Saffron revolution for democracy.

Several analysts also point to the strategic importance of Burma both for China and India who wish to have a mayor influence. Dr. Tin Swe, elected Member of Parliament living in exile, blames Indian politicians of lacking the will to join hands with the West on human rights and democracy issues. What both countries do not lack is their interest in Burma's energy resources. The same hunger can be found in France. French oil giant TOTAL Oil is the fourth largest oil company in the world and one of the biggest foreign investors in Burma. It is in a joint venture with Burma’s dictatorship in the Yadana gas project in southern Burma. The gas project, started in 1992, earns the regime hundreds of millions of dollars every year. It is said that these dollars helped to reinstall the power of the military regime after the demonstrations in 1988 and the following national elections which it lost. Sarkozy did call on its private companies to show greatest restraint in their investments in Burma and not to make new ones. The EU sanctions seem not to have real power! And France is not the only one. Germany might with Merkel show a genuine interest in human rights but that does not mean it refrains from investing in Burma. Head of a German business delegation to Burma in 2006 does not disguise German interest in Burma: “We all have to respect political issues and political guidelines. But on the other hand, this is for us to investigate and make up our mind about economic potentials. Therefore we are here. What we find here is interesting and we see business potential,” he said.

Within the world's political domain, the West holds positions of power as well as key economic positions. In practice, the combination of these two factors periodically lead to the former being used to maintain the latter. We should not neglect this when looking at it's - at first sight at least - undoubtedly noble aim: to help bring peace and prosperity to the world.

More diplomacy, more global public actions, real measures and more support are needed!

The people of Burma are waiting for a real answer of The International Community!

PS: I choose to use consequently Burma instead of Myanmar even when using quotes not to confuse the reader. Different sources however use either Burma or Myanmar or both like the EU. I prefer not to use the name invented by the Military Junta.

In Thailand I found Burma

The first thing I found in Thailand was a book about Aung San Suu Kyi. Reading in the nights on my way to Bangkok I was still unaware that I would meet some of the people I read about.

Last week I joined a delegation led by Burma Campaign UK on a field trip to the border area in northern Thailand. What I saw, heard and and learned is impossible to forget. When we approached a new camp of internally displaced people on the Burmese side of the Salaween river on 15th of January I felt I was going somewhere, a one way trip bound to mark my soul.

Border tourism
Here in Chiang Mai too many tourist agencies also offer trips. "Long Neck & Elephant Riding" you read on their pamphlets. Or you get to see "Long Ears" but the Long Necks are especially popular. Far away from here you might think it is another exotic animal to ride. Unfortunately you did not guess too wrong. I haven't seen them myself but according to what the tour-sellers tell me it is a visit to a Karen tribe village where you pay an entrance fee of 5.50 euro. The fee is of course for the benefit of the village. Yes, sorry we are not talking about animals but about hill tribes that still live in the past (poor living conditions) and managed to preserve their cultures! The tourist agencies and guesthouses aim to please tourists who are interested in experiencing real traditional cultures. Tourists though can not be that ignorant and think they will ride a "Long Neck". Postcards sold or pictures trying to attract possible trip-buyers show the Karen women with their necks chained and as such prolonged to 20 or 30 cm. A rarity!

Lonely Planet offers a bit more information and gives answers most the tour-vendors could not. "If you pay an entrance fee, does it mean the village is closed? Who collects the fees and for what use?" One tour operator told me: "It is like a Zoo but especially Japanese and Koreans like it. The fee is collected by a Thai organisation but they give rice to the people." According to her you even pay 11 euro if you visit individually. In an older version of Lonely Planet you read that those Karen people have arrived here from Burma 14 years ago. The 2007 version is more realistic. Speaking of Padaung refugees, Padaung being a subgroup of the Karen, whose custom to wear brass rings was dying out but got reinvigorated by money from tourism. No evidence that this deformation damages their health. The business is controlled by the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), an insurgent group wanting to establish an independent state in eastern Burma. The women receive a small portion of the fees but also get income from selling handicrafts. As such the Thai authorities speak of Nai Soi, the biggest village, as a self-sustaining refugee camp and the fees are actually collected by the nice sounding 'Karenni Culture Department'.
What about responsible tourism? It is always a debate with arguments pro and contra. You can for example find some listed here.
An Australian article however gives some other sides of the stories of the villages. A refugee camp is like a prison. Everything is controlled and it is really hard to get an exit permission shows the story of a young girl who is not allowed to go to New Zealand. The article speaks about problems with refugee status and about resettlement to third countries by UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). This brings me to my own experiences when I visited two camps on Burmese soil (IDP camps -internally displaced people is the term used to describe people who flee to another place but remain inside the country) and Mae La refugee camp in Thailand.

Seeking refuge
Refugees, emigrants and immigrants are often subject of intense debates and victims of tough times with bureaucracies. It is for those people that basic human rights and freedom are out of reach. People like you and me who just want to live. People who have done nothing wrong!

For two hours we went upstream the Salaween. Nature and a few people on both the Thai and the Burma shore. The Thai border post let us pass as 'missionaries'. Only one group of 'true' missionaries had visited the new IDP camp before to set up the school. It was the first time journalists or members of parliament arrived. The camp is hidden in the hills and exists of nothing else than some bamboo huts. The area is small and most houses are build on the slopes. There is hardly space for new huts but Saw Peter who provides the camp with as much help he can tells us about 70 more people on the way currently stuck in the jungle. He and his friends already look for more places to provide shelter for his fellow countrymen. The camp is not safe from attacks by the Burmese government forces (Tatmadaw). Saw Peter was proud to mention that they now have two boats to escape if needed. Insufficient of course. This camp has nothing. Everything has to come with the same long boat trip we did. But for all the people fleeing the brutal ethnic cleansing of the government this camp is the best option among bad options. The Thai authorities closed the borders already long ago. Many of those who manage to cross the border are repatriated via Mae Sot to Mawlamyine or to the IDP camps in Burma. For the IDP's there is no official registration as refugee by UNHCR, no access to basic health care, almost no access to food or clean water. Just a few hours before we arrived one woman had given birth in her hut without any assistance other then her husband. With the child in her arms she stood with grace and smiled. The school, a big bamboo hut was filled with children between 5 and 16. An old man an a young woman who had never been teachers before gave advice on health. The 400 people living here had travelled for weeks through the jungle after their villages had been attacked by the military. Their lives being the only thing they could save loosing ill and loved ones along the tough road. The hospital is an empty bamboo hut visited from time to time by health care workers from across the border. The people receive food aid, meaning small portions of rice, fish paste, beans, cooking oil and salt. This is what Burmese refugees eat for years, every day. Except from what they find in the forest or the little they can grow they are fully dependent on foreign aid. Saw Peter had to tell us that unfortunately the food aid will be reduced after March. The rice is too expensive. There is not enough money! For many more people hiding in the jungle support arrives only seldom. Saw Hla Henry, the Secretary of the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People, shows me his current funding applications. They explain the causes of the food shortages: attacks by the Burma army, forced relocations, forced labour, etc.. The part describing the distribution of the relief assistance mentions trips taking four to six weeks. With the money he asks they will buy rice in a nearby township. The problem he explains is that he hardly can get the funds and every week his team finds new people in need of help.

Being a Backpacker in Burma
Seeing so much suffering moves you more then words and images quickly passing in newspapers and on television. But also the courage of people taking care of each other in places where the government simply does the opposite is breathtaking! The situation in eastern Burma is one of Chronic Emergency, the title of a report of the Back Packers Medical Health Team (BPHWT). I refer to the words of professional journalists for the reasons. The people I met from the BPHWT walk for weeks through the dangerous jungle filled with landmines and soldiers to bring some basic medicine to the displaced people. On our question if they cross the Thai-Burma border illegally they smile and say:"No, it is legal! We go to our own villages. The government of Burma is illegal!" The group laughs.

More thoughts on politics, the international community and foreign aid are upcoming ...