Junta Chiefs Resign in Military Reshuffle
 

Burma’s Snr-Gen Than Shwe, left, walks with Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye at a ceremonial dinner to mark the country’s Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw in 2007. (Photo: AFP)

Thai PM: Extradition of Bout can’t be rushed

Alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout is escorted by security guards following his trial at the Criminal Court in Bangkok on Aug. 11. (Photo: AFP)

Suu Kyi Urges Supporters to Monitor Election Closely

In a message transmitted by her lawyer, Burma’s detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said that although the National League for Democracy (NLD) will boycott the upcoming election, NLD members should monitor it closely and watch for voting irregularities. Suu Kyi, whose current sentence is due to expire a week after the Nov. 7 polling day, said the election is unlikely to be free and fair because political parties will not have enough time to campaign.

Visa Restrictions Tightened Ahead of Election

Foreigners will have a harder time entering or remaining in Burma after the country’s military rulers moved to tighten immigration rules in the lead-up to the election on Nov. 7. The regime announced that it was suspending tourist visas on arrival from Sept. 1, just months after the new system was introduced. Earlier, the junta stopped expediting visas for foreign relief workers in the Irrawaddy delta, saying that “the recovery period is now over” in the cyclone-stricken region. Meanwhile, in an update of its travel advisory for Burma, the US State Department said that the regime had warned that it will detain, and not just deport, foreigners arrested for engaging in political activities.

Burmese Working on Moei River Embankment

Four leading construction companies in Burma have won contracts for work on the Moei River embankment on the Burmese side. The river marks the border between Thailand and Burma. The embankment project, which is 3,300-feet long, is divided into four parts and is expected to be complete within one month. Myawaddy Township has 15,300 feet of river front embankment and the Burmese government has completed work on 7,765 feet. Thailand and Burma have been at odds since July 8, when the Burmese regime closed the border crossing in protest of the Thai government’s construction work on the river to prevent erosion on the Thai side.

DKBA to Join Junta’s Border Guards

The Burmese government welcomed troops of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) into the border guard force in an August ceremony held at the DKBA headquarters in Karen State. Several large businesses along the Thai-Burmese border in Karen State, such as logging, zinc and tin mining, as well as the border trade through Myawaddy Towship, are currently controlled by the DKBA. Observers predict the DKBA will lose control of many of its strongholds where it operates large businesses when the militia becomes a border guard force paid and dominated by Burmese commanders. 

Trafficking Victims Become Traffickers

Some human trafficking victims in Burma have become traffickers themselves, perhaps due to insufficient support in rehabilitation or a lack of jobs, according to Pol. Col. Sit Aye, the head of the Department against Transnational Crime. Speaking at an anti-trafficking workshop in August, Pol. Col. Ralian Hmong of the Committee on Combating Trafficking in Persons (CCTP) said that when police arrested hundreds of traffickers over the past few years, they found more than 100 people acting as traffickers who had themselves once been trafficked into China or Thailand. He added that some trafficking victims take up the business because they know how it works. According to CCTP statistics, of the 534 trafficking cases investigated between 2006 and 2010, approximately 80 percent took place in China; nine percent in Thailand; 0.6 percent in Malaysia; and 11 percent in Burma.

Growing Food Shortage in Central Burma: UN

One in 10 people in Burma—more than 5 million people—go hungry every day, according to the UN. People in the country’s hot, central dry zone could face a food shortage after the  Burmese government imposed restrictions on access to the area by the World Food Program (WFP). A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization and WFP said that of the 324 townships in Burma, 52 townships are classified as highly vulnerable in terms of food. Among the 52 townships, 29  are located in Shan State. All townships in Chin State and two-thirds of the townships in Kachin State were also reported to be highly vulnerable. People in need are also concentrated in the Irrawaddy and Rangoon divisions and in Arakan and Chin states.

Burma Triples Size of Northern Tiger Reserve

Burma has tripled the size of the world’s largest tiger reserve in an effort to save the big cats. The entire Hukaung Valley—a remote area of northern Burma about half the size of Switzerland—is now a protected tiger area, the government announced. The government designated 2,500 square miles (6,475 square kilometers) of the valley as a wildlife sanctuary in 2004, and the recent increase brings it to about 8,450 square miles (21,885 square kilometers). Illegal hunting in the Hukaung Valley as well as gold mining and large-scale agriculture have decimated wildlife, and as few as 50 of the big cats remain in the area, the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society said, noting the valley had the potential to hold several hundred tigers.

Vietnam, US Hold First Ever Defense Talks

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, and Vietnam’s Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh shake hands before their bilateral meeting during the Shangri-La Dialogue A sia Security Summit in Singapore on June 4. (Photo: Reuters)

Indonesia’s Coral Reefs Dying at Alarming Rate

Coral that survived the 2004 tsunami is now dying at one of the fastest rates ever recorded because of a dramatic rise in water temperatures off northwestern Indonesia, conservationists say, warning that the threat extends to other reefs across Asia. Teams from the Wildlife Conservation Society were deployed in Aceh Province, on the tip of Sumatra island, in May when surface waters in the Andaman Sea peaked at 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius)—a 7 degree Fahrenheit (4 degree Celsius) rise over long-term averages. They discovered massive bleaching, which occurs when algae living inside coral tissue are expelled. Subsequent surveys carried out together with Australia’s James Cook University and Indonesia’s Syiah Kuala University showed 80 percent of those corals have since died.

Thailand and Cambodia Restore Ambassadors

Thailand and Cambodia sent their ambassadors back to their posts in August in hopes of easing a nine-month diplomatic spat between the neighbors. The step to normalizing ties came after Thailand’s divisive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra quit his job as an adviser to the Cambodian government, citing time constraints. Bangkok was angered by Thaksin’s appointment in November because the deposed leader is a fugitive from justice.  Cambodia’s relations with Thailand have been contentious for years, with the focus most recently on a border dispute. In recent years, the neighbors have had a series of small but sometimes deadly skirmishes over the demarcation of the border near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.