[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Civi society for Burma!



Dear Friends,

Civil Society of Burma was successfully fromed on December 1997 with
fromer ABSDF members and Burmese who want to see the establishment of
democratic government in Burma.  Our web site is up.  The address is: 


http://www.csburma.org/


Solidarity

CSB





  <bold>CIVIL SOCIETY FOR BURMA

</bold>


President					Htun Aung Gyaw

General Secretary				Soe Nyunt

Treasurer					Kyaw Zin

General Auditor				Ei Ei May

Organizing Committee Secretary 		Nay Hlaing Oo



<bold>Board Members:</bold>		Victor Aw 	    (Chairperson, New York
Chapter)

				Khin Maw 	    (Chairperson, California Chapter)

				Maung Maung Soe   (Chairperson, Indiana Chapter)

				Ye Tun 	    (Chairperson, North Carolina Chapter)


Advisory Board


Dr. John Badgley 		(Burmese Expert, retired Curator, Cornell 
University)

Dr. Josef Silverstein 	(Burmese Expert, retired Professor, Rutgers
University)

Dr. Tun Kyaw Nyein 		(Professor, North Carolina Central University) 


<bold>CONTACTS</bold>	


Htun Aung Gyaw	426, Winthrop Drive, Apt.6, Ithaca, N.Y 14850

			Tel/Fax: (607) 266-8942, E-Mail: hag2@xxxxxxxxxxx


Victor Aw		2265 East 18th St., Brooklyn, New York, N.Y 11229

			Tel/Fax: (718) 615-1812, E-Mail: uainwann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


<bold>INTRODUCTION

</bold>

	Civil Society is that realm of organized social life that is voluntary,
self  generating,

(largely) self supporting, autonomous from the state and bound by a legal
order or a set of

shared rules.  In this context, citizens act collectively in a public
sphere to express their

interests, passions, and ideas, exchange information, achieve mutual
goals, make  demands

on the state and hold state offices.


    	 Civil Society protects the rights of the various social, political,
and economical

organizations under democratic regimes and helps to promote and encourage
the

formation of democratic institutions under authoritarian regimes.  There
is abundant

evidence in history and contemporary societies to support our belief that
Civil Society and

the vigorous associational skills it fosters are the bedrock of
democracy.


    	 Civil Society in the western sense has no equivalent in the Burmese
lexicon. Yet

there was free and voluntary associational life in Burma both during the
colonial period

and again during the brief democratic interlude, albeit centered around
religion and

politics. Unfortunately, four decades of authoritarian rule has wiped out
all vestiges of

Civil Society as it existed in the Burmese society.  Regimentation and
the pervasive use

of a state-sponsored network of spies and informers undermined the trust
and bonds of 

social fabric.

 

     It is our belief that promotion of the concept of Civil Society and
development of

associational skills among the citizenry is a sine qua non to successful
democratization in 

Burma.


<bold>MISSION STATEMENT

</bold> 	CSB seeks to foster and promote the understanding of the concept
of Civil Society

and facilitate the enhancement of associational skills among overseas and
inland Burmese

communities.


<bold>CONCEPT TOWARDS OTHER BURMESE ORGANIZATIONS

</bold>	CSB will help all Burmese pro-democracy groups in any way
possible.  Among 

the different  pro-democracy groups, CSB  will attempt to foster mutual
understanding

and unity.  This will be accomplished by exploring common ground for
cooperation and

promoting family spirit and loving kindness for the foundation of a
stable society.


<bold>SUMMARY

</bold>

To establish a Burmese Refugee Center in New York City and a joint office
in Bangkok, 

Thailand for providing educational and orientational services to Burmese
refugees waiting 

for departure to host countries. To assists those Burmese refugees whose
applications for 

resettlement in third countries have been rejected.


To campaign for the Student Union in Burma and assist student activists,
political 

prisoners and their families whose health conditions are deteriorating
and need 

medical assistance.

To establish a publication system for informing the Burmese communities
inside and 

outside Burma about Burma's present situation and engage them in the
political, 

economical and social matters of Burma.


 <bold>BACKGROUND

</bold>

 Condemned by the United Nations and other international bodies as one of
the most repressive

 regimes in the world, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has
intensified its assault

 on democracy activists and ethnic minorities. Offensives by the Burmese
military against ethnic

 Karenni, Karen, and Shan have resulted in an increased flow of refugees
into neighboring countries.

 New refugees arriving into both Thailand and Bangladesh prompted Refugee
International missions to

 these countries in 1996. Based on information received December 30th
1997, thousands of refugees

 living in the seven border districts of the northern province are to be
moved to four major camps

 deeper inside Thailand for security reasons. Mae Hong Son governor
Phakdi Chomphuming said on

 December 29th 1997 that the province had recently been given 1.5 million
baht from the Defence

 Ministry to evacuate some 30,000 refugees from areas prone to attacks.
The evacuation follows a

 series of attacks by members of the renegade Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army (DKBA) and illegal

 logging activities in Salween Wildlife Sanctuary. The province has
sought help from the Third Army

 Region to deploy extra troops along the border to ensure the safety of
the people living there. United

 Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also designated a new
category of Burmese

 refugees the "Border Case", which involves placing refugees in unsafe
border areas instead of the

 UNHCR recognized Burmese student safe camp. Most CSB members have
personal experience as

 refugees, and they are willing to help the Burmese refugees and willing
to solve the problems

 between Burmese and Thai communities.


 Concerning the student refugees under the military regime's socialist
educational system, students

 did not get an internationally competitive education even though they
were university graduates.

 Because they did not get a proper education they did not become
qualified for a profession. As a

 result, when they left Burma for foreign countries, they were only able
to get "under the table" jobs.

 Worse than this, many of the refugee students who had fled to the jungle
never finished their formal

 education. Because Burma was an isolated system for many years, it is
difficult for the young

 people to deal with foreigners. When students arrive in the USA they
need help with orientation,

 language training, professional skill training, moral support and at the
very least a warm welcome by

 having someone who listens to them.


 Moreover, the overseas Burmese people living in the USA face their own
problems owing to many

 factors such as cultural diversity, lack of language proficiency and
lack of information. CSB gives

 community assistance in various ways such as residence application,
educational assistance,

 employment counseling, and social problem solving. CSB will assist
overseas Burmese to integrate

 into the countries granting their residency.


 The Open Society Institute (OSI) has awarded some scholarships, but most
students and activists

 from the border do not fulfill the requirements of the OSI. Many OSI
scholarships have been awarded

 to educated people who left Burma for the USA holding Burmese passports,
so OSI is only of

 marginal value for refugee students and activists. CSB believes that it
is necessary to give

 scholarships to every Burmese citizen except to those who openly endorse
the military rule. CSB

 will assist OSI in identifying those students wanting higher education
and in facilitating the grant

 application process, because most students have little experience in
this area. CSB members have

 more expertise in these areas, we want to contribute our service to
activists in the US and in the

 border areas.


                                     <bold>PROJECT OBJECTIVES

</bold> To promote the emergence of strong Civil Society inside Burma

 To establish a Burmese Refugee Center in the USA and a joint office in
Thailand to assist Burmese

 refugees for departure to host countries.

 To solve the problems between Burmese and Thai communities.

 To find and assist those students who could qualify for OSI
scholarships.

 To establish the structure for solving the social problems of refugees
who have resettled in host

 countries.

 To encourage the foreign and domestic NGOs to work inside Burma.


                                 <bold>ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND

</bold>

CSB is headed U Htun Aung Gyaw (President). He holds a Master of Arts
degree in Asian Studies

from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Rangoon
Arts and Science

University, Burma. He was a prominent student leader in 1974-75. Also
Htun was a political prisoner

from 1975-80, and former Chairman and a founder of All Burma Students'
Democratic Front

(ABSDF). He has many followers in Burma and in the USA. Assisting Htun is
U Soe Nyunt, in

running CSB. He was a student leader and a Vice Chairman of the 1974 U
Thant uprising. He holds a Bachelor of Economics from Rangoon Institute
of Economics. He was elected as the Chairman of

ABSDF Wankha camp. He also served as the Chairman of Student Safe camp in
Ratchburi province

in Thailand. Additionally, former ABSDF members and activists work as
volunteers for CSB

activities.





          <bold>"Under military rule, Civil Society has diminished in
Burma. I strongly believe that a Civil Society is crucial not only for
achieving democracy in Burma but also to maintain it."

</bold>

          - Htun Aung Gyaw