Critics dismiss Asean plan for free movement of labor...

"DESPITE the high-minded ideals of the Asean Vision 2020 plan launched more than a decade ago by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), cynics continue to dismiss its aim of labor mobility in a “community of caring societies” as just so much humbug.

ODI’s Humanitarian Policy Group held an event to explore the role that land issues have played in the current crisis in Kenya. The HPG Policy Brief released to coincide with the event argues that it is essential that humanitarian actors understand land issues as they seek to assist displaced populations and facilitate the process of return or resettlement.

In the face of continuing grave violations of human rights
by the Burmese government against its own civilians, it is
imperative that the international community start to
respond to Burma in terms of the Responsibility to Protect
(R2P) principle...

Burma/Myanmar has suffered
from two decades of mine
warfare by both the State Peace
and Development Council and
ethnic-based insurgents. There
are no humanitarian demining
programmes within the country.
It is no surprise that those states
in Burma/Myanmar with the most
mine pollution are the highest
IDP- and refugee-producing
states. Antipersonnel mines
planted by both government
forces and ethnic armed groups
injure and kill not only enemy
combatants but also their own

Much of what is happening in the conflict zones of
eastern Burma is difficult to capture with photos, video
and reports. It is a slow and insidious strangulation of the
population rather than an all-out effort to crush them...

The population of Yangon has experienced coercive
resettlement on a truly massive scale under military rule..."With its ‘huts to
apartments’ scheme, the SPDC claims
to have placed many squatters in
new multi-storey housing on the site
of or near their former dwellings.
However, forced relocation in Yangon,
Mandalay and other cities in central
Burma continues today; victims of
fires, for example, are not allowed
to rebuild their old neighbourhoods
and residential areas are cleared to

Most Burmese people fleeing their homes do so for a combination of reasons. The root causes for leaving, however,
determine which ‘category’ they belong to: ‘internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) or ‘economic migrants’. There is
some discussion as to whether people leaving their homes due to exhaustion of livelihoods options are IDPs
according to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement1 – or not. Ashley South and Andrew Bosson present
their views below...

The feature section on Burma includes 29 articles exploring the extent of the displacement crisis, factors affecting displaced people and the search for solutions. The issue also includes 19 articles on other aspects of forced migration.....
Forced displacement of Burmese people,
Inge Brees...
Burma: in urgent need of change,
Douglas Alexander...
The international community's Responsibility to Protect,
Kavita Shukla... .
Landmines: reason for flight, obstacle to return,
Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan....

Illegal logging and its associated trade remains a serious threat to forests and people in Southeast Asia. However, despite having caught the attention of the international community more than a decade ago, the illegal timber trade still accounts for a significant portion of wood and wood products from this region.

Conclusion: "Most relevant reports and surveys I have been able to access state essentially that people from all parts of Burma leave home either in obedience to a direct relocation order from the military or civil authorities or as a result of a process whereby coercive measures imposed by the authorities play a major role in forcing down household incomes to the point where the family cannot survive. At this point, leaving home may seem to be the only option.

Abstract:
"Decades of neglect and abuses by the Burmese government have decimated the health of the
peoples of Burma, particularly along her eastern frontiers, overwhelmingly populated by
ethnic minorities such as the Shan. Vast areas of traditional Shan homelands have been
systematically depopulated by the Burmese military regime as part of its counter-insurgency
policy, which also employs widespread abuses of civilians by Burmese soldiers, including
rape, torture, and extrajudicial executions. These abuses, coupled with Burmese government

Executive Summary: "The people of Karenni State are living ghosts. Their daily survival is an
achievement; however, it also signifies their further descent into poverty and a
spiralling system of repression. Whilst this report documents the deteriorating
situation in Karenni State over the past six years, this is nothing new for the
ethnically diverse population of this geographically small area. They have been
living in a protracted conflict zone for over 50 years with no respite from decades