The mayor of Rangoon has confirmed that security will be heightened in the former capital in the coming weeks, as Burma approaches another sensitive anniversary, this time marking last year’s monk-led uprising against military rule.
Speaking to local journalists on August 13, Rangoon mayor Brig-Gen Aung Thein Linn said that the number of security forces in Burma’s largest city would be increased in response to reports of a terrorist threat.
The military presence in Rangoon has been noticeably greater since late July, according to local residents, who said that soldiers and riot police in full uniform had been deployed around the city center in advance of the 20th anniversary of the “Four Eights” uprising of August 8, 1988.
“The soldiers and police that have been deployed since the end of July are still in sight,” said one Rangoon resident. “It looks like the tightened security will continue because the anniversary of the monks’ uprising is coming.”
In addition to barricades and security forces wielding batons or assault rifles, residents have reported seeing plainclothes agents near university campuses, monasteries, pagodas and other public areas that have traditionally served as focal points for protests.
“The security around Shwedagon, Kabar Aye and Kyaik Ka San is very tight right now, with soldiers and riot police everywhere,” said another local resident, naming three pagodas that were at the center of last year’s demonstrations, the largest since 1988.
Meanwhile, four Buddhist monasteries in Pakokku, where harsh handling of protesting monks last August fueled much larger demonstrations the following month in Rangoon, are also being closely watched by local military authorities.
According to an abbot at one of these monasteries, monks have continued to refuse alms from military leaders and their families since the army crushed last year’s uprising. More than 3,000 protesters were arrested and at least 31 people killed in the crackdown, according to UN estimates.
In Rangoon, pictures of four alleged terrorists, along with an offer of a 2.5 million kyat reward for information leading to their arrest, have been posted to alert residents of the threat to their security.
However, most observers believed that the scare tactics were little more than a pretext for increasing the military presence in Rangoon ahead of the sensitive anniversary.
“Terrorists are coming, so everyone must be on high alert,” said a skeptical Rangoon-based lawyer, noting that Burma’s military rulers have used such tactics many times in the past since seizing power in 1962.
Speaking to local journalists on August 13, Rangoon mayor Brig-Gen Aung Thein Linn said that the number of security forces in Burma’s largest city would be increased in response to reports of a terrorist threat.
The military presence in Rangoon has been noticeably greater since late July, according to local residents, who said that soldiers and riot police in full uniform had been deployed around the city center in advance of the 20th anniversary of the “Four Eights” uprising of August 8, 1988.
“The soldiers and police that have been deployed since the end of July are still in sight,” said one Rangoon resident. “It looks like the tightened security will continue because the anniversary of the monks’ uprising is coming.”
In addition to barricades and security forces wielding batons or assault rifles, residents have reported seeing plainclothes agents near university campuses, monasteries, pagodas and other public areas that have traditionally served as focal points for protests.
“The security around Shwedagon, Kabar Aye and Kyaik Ka San is very tight right now, with soldiers and riot police everywhere,” said another local resident, naming three pagodas that were at the center of last year’s demonstrations, the largest since 1988.
Meanwhile, four Buddhist monasteries in Pakokku, where harsh handling of protesting monks last August fueled much larger demonstrations the following month in Rangoon, are also being closely watched by local military authorities.
According to an abbot at one of these monasteries, monks have continued to refuse alms from military leaders and their families since the army crushed last year’s uprising. More than 3,000 protesters were arrested and at least 31 people killed in the crackdown, according to UN estimates.
In Rangoon, pictures of four alleged terrorists, along with an offer of a 2.5 million kyat reward for information leading to their arrest, have been posted to alert residents of the threat to their security.
However, most observers believed that the scare tactics were little more than a pretext for increasing the military presence in Rangoon ahead of the sensitive anniversary.
“Terrorists are coming, so everyone must be on high alert,” said a skeptical Rangoon-based lawyer, noting that Burma’s military rulers have used such tactics many times in the past since seizing power in 1962.
UN estimates $1.56m of cyclone aid lost in Myanmar
The United Nations Thursday acknowledged that over the past three months some 1.56 million dollars in aid for the victims of Cyclone Nargis has been lost to Myanmar's odd foreign exchange regulations.
"The loss in value due to foreign exchange for the Cyclone Nargis international humanitarian aid during the last three months has been about 1.56 million dollars," said Daniel Baker, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar.
"We are not getting the full value of dollars donated for emergency relief, and donors are extremely worried and keen to see that this issue is resolved," said Baker, in the latest UN update on relief efforts for Cyclone Nargis.
UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes had raised concerns about the loss during his first visit to the country last month.
Under Myanmar's foreign exchange controls, all foreign agencies must convert their dollars in to Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) at government banks before making local purchases.
A sharp devaluation of the FECs against the dollar between May to July meant the UN and various non-governmental organisations providing relief to victims of Cyclone Nargis, were losing up to 20 to 25 per cent on the FEC exchange rate.
Myanmar's military government has apparently refused to drop its foreign exchange requirements, which have been in place for decades, but recommended that UN agencies and NGOs make direct dollar transfers when making purchases in the country, as a means of skirting the FEC use.
The FEC system was put in place to assure that official transactions put dollars in the state banking system and got them out of the ubiquitous black market.
Attracting international aid for the relief effort for Cyclone Nargis, which smashed into central Myanmar on May 2-3 leaving about 140,000 people dead or missing, has already been complicated by the government's initial reluctance to allow supplies in to the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta and its refusal to grant visas to foreign aid workers.
The refusal to lift its foreign exchange requirements of monetary aid was deemed another barrier to donations for the Cyclone Nargis effort.
"The loss in value due to foreign exchange for the Cyclone Nargis international humanitarian aid during the last three months has been about 1.56 million dollars," said Daniel Baker, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar.
"We are not getting the full value of dollars donated for emergency relief, and donors are extremely worried and keen to see that this issue is resolved," said Baker, in the latest UN update on relief efforts for Cyclone Nargis.
UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes had raised concerns about the loss during his first visit to the country last month.
Under Myanmar's foreign exchange controls, all foreign agencies must convert their dollars in to Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) at government banks before making local purchases.
A sharp devaluation of the FECs against the dollar between May to July meant the UN and various non-governmental organisations providing relief to victims of Cyclone Nargis, were losing up to 20 to 25 per cent on the FEC exchange rate.
Myanmar's military government has apparently refused to drop its foreign exchange requirements, which have been in place for decades, but recommended that UN agencies and NGOs make direct dollar transfers when making purchases in the country, as a means of skirting the FEC use.
The FEC system was put in place to assure that official transactions put dollars in the state banking system and got them out of the ubiquitous black market.
Attracting international aid for the relief effort for Cyclone Nargis, which smashed into central Myanmar on May 2-3 leaving about 140,000 people dead or missing, has already been complicated by the government's initial reluctance to allow supplies in to the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta and its refusal to grant visas to foreign aid workers.
The refusal to lift its foreign exchange requirements of monetary aid was deemed another barrier to donations for the Cyclone Nargis effort.
Myanmar dissidents stay out of sight
A student opposition movement in Myanmar is leaving its trademark red cross in public places but is otherwise keeping a low profile, its members say.
The crosses -- spray-painted on walls and traffic signals -- have been appearing more frequently, the German magazine Der Spiegel reports. Students who go out at night with cans of paint have adopted the name "Red Campaign" for their movement.
The campaign operates deep undercover, with members organized into groups of five. In one recent case, when posters that said "Remember 88" were pasted on a university wall, soldiers were sent to remove them.
"The government has seldom been so hated as it is now," a teacher who is a leader in another group, "88 New Generation," said.
The 88 refers to Aug. 8, 1988, when 1 million people participated in non-violent protests against the former dictator, Ne Win. Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a leader in 1988 and has been under house arrest for most of the time since.
On the 20th anniversary last week, demonstrations were held around the world against the military junta, except in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, where a silent march ended in about 50 arrests.
The crosses -- spray-painted on walls and traffic signals -- have been appearing more frequently, the German magazine Der Spiegel reports. Students who go out at night with cans of paint have adopted the name "Red Campaign" for their movement.
The campaign operates deep undercover, with members organized into groups of five. In one recent case, when posters that said "Remember 88" were pasted on a university wall, soldiers were sent to remove them.
"The government has seldom been so hated as it is now," a teacher who is a leader in another group, "88 New Generation," said.
The 88 refers to Aug. 8, 1988, when 1 million people participated in non-violent protests against the former dictator, Ne Win. Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a leader in 1988 and has been under house arrest for most of the time since.
On the 20th anniversary last week, demonstrations were held around the world against the military junta, except in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, where a silent march ended in about 50 arrests.
No comments:
Post a Comment