Who Gives a Dam About Arakan? AHRDO!

admin October 9, 2011 0

Published October 09, 2011 | By Damien and Peter

Arakan State is situated in western Burma, alongside the Bay of Bengal. The state is blessed with an ancient history and a cornucopia of natural resources, however, ever since Burma’s military rule began (1962), its people have suffered. Its strategic location between China, South and Southeast Asia and rich resources have proved to be more of a curse than a blessing.

Arakan Human Rights Development Organisation (AHRDO) is a grassroots, not for profit organisation, formed by exiled Arakanese, and is officially launched today in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burma border.

Aung Marm Oo, Executive Director of this new organisation, explains,

“There is a lot of talk about progress in Burma, but we have seen little improvement in Arakan State where the majority of the population continues to live in poverty. We have established the AHRDO to help give our people a voice.”

Between a Rock and a hard Place

Burma is situated between the world’s two most populous and energy-craving countries, India and China. These states not only rely heavily on hydrocarbon imports for their energy needs, but have also initiated the construction of transportation routes to and from Burma for purposes of trade.

Regional power politics have made Burma the rope in a “tug-of-war” between China and India with neither wishing the other to exert too much influence. Countering China’s increasing influence in Burma and the Indian Ocean is what lies behind India’s “Look East” policy and, in particular, its interest in Burma.

The Best Laid Plans for (Under) Development

Arakan’s natural gas reserves have been explored, produced and will soon be exported while nearly three quarters of people in Arakan remain without electricity. The oil and gas sector generate more foreign currency in Burma than any other sector of the economy. Meanwhile, the people in Arakan remain trapped in a state of subsistence, excluded from the decision-making process regarding resource policies.

The construction of a 4,000 km gas pipeline from Arakan to China’s Yunnan Province and an oil pipeline to transport oil mainly from the Middle East and Africa to the backdoor of China has caused tremendous hardship to the villages where these pipelines pass through: due to the gas fields and pipelines in their vicinity, the rights of Arakanese people to fish or grow crops in their own waters and backyards have been severely curtailed by an increasing military presence. Furthermore, land confiscation is an ever present risk under the guise of security corridors and to provide food for the local army personnel. Last but not least, the pipelines will destroy a considerable area of forests and the transport of natural gas carries its own risks such as leakage into the sea or on land and blowouts.

A similar picture emerges in respect of the other development projects being undertaken in Arakan State. Multi-transport projects and hydropower dams pollute Arakan’s rivers, destroying vital ecosystems as well as many of the fishing businesses so crucial to the local economy. People are forced from their homes without any form of compensation to make way for the infrastructure necessary for such projects and forced labour is widely used to clear construction sites in order to minimise construction costs.

Additionally, dams cause methane emissions generated by flooded rotting plants which are greater than the emissions from oil or gas power plants. Extensive areas of mangroves forests are also being destroyed to make way for these dams. Mangroves are not only a vital part of the local sealife’s ecosystem, but also a natural defence against cyclones and storm surges.

AHRDO’s vision is to see development in Arakan State which actually benefits the local people. Their three point mission is to raise awareness of the situation in Arakan State, train local activists in lobbying and advocacy techniques and to form networks with other human rights organisations to ensure their message can reach as many people as possible.

Eye of the Storm

Arakan State is especially susceptible to tropical storms and cyclones, due to its situation by the Bay of Bengal and on the shores of the Andaman Sea. The most recent example was Cyclone Giri, which struck Arakan State on 22 October 2010, causing widespread death and destruction. When they should have been overseeing the provision of relief supplies to those struggling to survive, Burma’s rulers instead focused on campaigning for the general election held just 16 days after Giri struck. Government representatives used the provision of relief supplies, and more pertinently, the threat of the withdrawal of such supplies, as a bargaining chip to buy votes in the election.  Local people and relief workers also told of relief supplies being confiscated and even being sold for profit on the black market.

AHRDO’s first project will be the Giri report. It is to be published on 22 October 2011, the anniversary of when the cyclone made landfall in Arakan, detailing the callous indifference with which the Burmese Government treated a section of its own citizens when they were at their most vulnerable and in need of assistance.

Talk the talk, walk the walk.

U Thein Sein, Burma’s President, called on 30 September 2011 for a suspension of the construction of the multi billion Chinese-backed Myitsone hydropower dam. In 2010 Reporters Without Borders called Burma “a censor’s paradise” and ranked it 171 out of 175 countries as one of the countries with the strictest press censorship in the world. In the first week of October 2011, Thin Shwe, the director of the Press Scrutiny and Registration Department, told Radio Free Asia: “Press censorship is not in harmony with democratic practices and should be abolished in the near future.”

On the new Burmese government the jury is still out.

In Arakan deeds speak louder than words: AHRDO walks the walk and gives a dam.

 http://arakanhrdo.org/2011/10/09/who-gives-a-dam-about-arakan-ahrdo/