From the KNO

U Maran Bawk La passed away this morning the 23rd of January in Myitkyina, Kachin State at the age of sixty.

U Bawk La graduated from Rangoon University in 1973 with a B.A. and subsequently practiced law, completing his MA in 1979. He was a member of the Myitkyina Bar Association until his license was revoked in 1988.

Bawk La was a steadfast political activist throughout his life. In 1963 he joined the Kachin Independence Organization until he was arrested for his underground activities in 1965 and imprisoned for sixteen months. In 1971, he was again imprisoned for eleven months for his participation in the underground student union at Mandalay
University.   more »

Christian Solidarity Worldwide is set to release their new report, "Carrying the Cross: The military regime’s campaign of restriction, discrimination and persecution against Christians in Burma", on January 23rd. The report cites a document reportedly leaked either by the government or a government-backed group of Buddhist monks entitled, "Programme to destroy the Christian religion in Burma", and which states, "There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practised.......The Christian religion is very gentle – identify and utilise its weakness."   more »

Dr. Lian Hmung Sakhong, a prominent Chin community leader and academic, was awarded the Martin Luther King Prize for 2007. The Martin Luther King Prize was established by a coalition of Swedish peace groups in honor of the late civil rights activist in 2003. Dr. Lian Hmung Sakhong is the third recipient of the prize since its inception, and was presented the award in a ceremony on January 15 at the Swedish Parliament. In addition to the honor of winning, the prize brings with it US $25,000.   more »

By Salai Za Uk Ling
www.chinlandguardian.net

10 January 2007 - Kuala Lumpur: A Chin youth working as a construction worker earlier today fell to his death from a high rise building under construction. The victim has been identified as Hram Uk, a UNHCR-recognized refugee in his early 20s. He died instantly along with a Chinese worker, while eight other workers from India and Bangladesh escaped with minor injuries.

The bodies are now being taken to hospital for post-mortem. According to the Chin Refugee Committee, the victim was recently interviewed for resettlement in a third country, pending a final decision for relocation to the United States. The victim has an elder brother in Malaysia but is currently under detention in Semenyih camp after being arrested by Malaysian immigration authorities more than three months ago.

Hram Uk is the third Chin to die in Kuala Lumpur in less than two weeks. On New Year's eve, two Chin youths were brutally stabbed to death by attackers believed to be Burmans near a crowded area where thousands of Malaysians gathered for New Year celebrations. Malaysian police are yet to apprehend the killers.

Continued from Malaysia 12-06-06: Generals and Chickens

After leaving the CWO, Goi and I fetch a cab to go to the Arakanese Refugee Relief Center, which is located some ways outside the city. Although we had the address, finding it was no mean feat. Goi's English is not bad, but he has a unique way of communicating - with mumbled words and ambiguous grunts. I suspect this is a result of an ever-present wad of tobacco or other substance that remains well-hidden within with his cheeks. We found ourselves driving in circles looking for the right street, and I had to laugh to myself a little at the ensuing conversation of the driver's "Eh?!" and "La" peppered English, and Goi's mumbles and "uunnhs". This was punctuated by calls to the Arakanese office and a friend of the taxi driver, with further efforts to communicate directions between several people in at least three different languages.   more »

World’s largest tiger reserve being ravaged by Burmese junta’s greed for gold

Valley of Darkness, a new report by undercover local researchers, exposes how Burma’s military junta is promoting extensive gold-mining in the Hugawng Valley Tiger Reserve in northern Kachin State, devastating not only the environment but also local communities.

The junta has expanded control of the valley, confiscating farmlands and homes to accommodate its military infrastructure, and selling off vast tracts as gold-mining concessions. The valley’s forests and waterways are now being ravaged by over 100 hydraulic and pit mines using mechanized pumps and dredges and dumping mercury-contaminated tailings. Thousands of desperate migrants from all over Burma are working in squalid mining communities throughout the once pristine valley, where drug addiction and HIV/AIDS have become rampant.

“Under the regime’s increased control, the rich resources of Hugawng valley have turned out to be a curse.” said Tsa Ji, one of the authors of the report. “Only the junta and a handful of businessmen are benefiting from the gold while the local people suffer the consequences.”   more »

The 88 Generation Students group kicked off their new campaign, 'Open Heart', on January 4th, the 59th anniversary of Burma's independence from Britian. The campaign will run for one month, and will involve sending out letters and envelopes to the people of Burma - a letter from the 88 Generation Students to Than Shwe, and a message to the people, encouraging them to write their own letters expressing their feelings and troubles and returning them to the activist group in the envelopes to be sent on to the junta.   more »

It would seem I've fallen a bit behind on journaling my trip to Malaysia. I'm going to consider it a positive that I was too busy actually doing things to write about them in a timely fashion, and just forge ahead as if I'm not a month behind. I'm not big on end of year retrospectives or new year's resolutions, anyway.

December 6th started with breakfast with Simon's wife - Simon was the coordinator at the CRC last year who I'd spent so much time with, and who's now in Australia. Last year I had ijagwe and coffee with him every morning, so the plan was to call him so we could chat over breakfast again. Unfortunately, his new job on a farm somewhere around Adelaide pre-empted our conversation.

After breakfast Goi and I went to visit the Chin Women's Organization. They have a set of flats on the other side of the city and run their own projects, providing a safe house for women and children when necessary, running a few classes taught by foreign volunteers for women and children, and a new handicraft project. When we arrived, Zi, the director, led us up to the second flat, where she lives with her husband, and where they had a table set up with their handicraft products so I could look through them and pick some to bring back with me. There was also a teenage boy and an older man sitting quietly against the opposite wall - I've gotten used to there always being random people about, so I don't really pay much attention.   more »