CPTC2

Four Rangoon Lawyers Reportedly Blacklisted
for Forging Documents
By Min Lwin January 3, 2008

Four well-known Rangoon lawyers reportedly have been blacklisted by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower and other governmental bodies for forging documents, according to sources in Singapore and Rangoon.
One of the lawyers, Kyaw Tun Aung, when contacted by The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, confirmed that he had been blacklisted by the Ministry of Manpower, but declined to say on what grounds.
The other three lawyers could not be reached for comment.
According to sources who have used the four lawyers, their signatures are not accepted on documents by various Singapore and Burmese governmental entities and other governmental bodies. The sources said the lawyers used forged documents, which they notarized as authentic.
Observers believe the use of forged documents by notaries is widespread.
Many people in Burma are without work and seek jobs abroad.With no technical skills or education, they often apply for immigration or worker documents using forged background material.
A Burmese woman in Singapore who applied for an S-pass in December said her application was rejected because one of the three lawyers who can not be named forged an education certificate.
According to Kyaw Myo, a Burmese worker in Singapore, “Some workers have no certificates showing their education, so they use fake certificates to apply for the S-pass.” The S-pass is given to mid-level, technical workers who can earn 1,800 Singapore dollars a month, allowing them to live and work in Singapore.
A source close to the second lawyer, who formerly worked in the Burmese government’s Advocate Office, said the lawyer has been blacklisted by the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for forging material.
According to Soe Than, a general manager of an employment agency in Rangoon, the third lawyer’s notary signature is not accepted at the Japanese embassy in Rangoon.
He said many Burmese workers in Singapore have used fake documents to apply for the S-pass. Myo Myint Maung, a Burmese political activist in Singapore. said, “Workers, visitors and students who prepare to go abroad to Singapore, Japan or the United States need a notary to translate the Burmese language to English.”
A young worker in Rangoon, who would like to go to Singapore, told The Irrawaddy, “some people looking for jobs who did not graduate use forged certificates to apply for jobs abroad.” He said one of the unnamed lawyers will notarize documents without questions, while others are more strict and expensive.
“So I don’t want to waste my time, and I want to save money,” he said, explaining why he used forged documents.
An average one-page translation from Burmese to English costs about 1,500 kyat (US $1). A forged document can cost up to 20,000 kyat ($16) or more, according to the worker.
Singapore is a popular destination for Burmese seeking jobs as skilled workers. There are reportedly about 50,000 Burmese working in the Singapore.

India Urges Burma to Adopt Political Reform
By Violet Cho January 3, 2008
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told visiting Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win on Wednesday that it had become increasingly urgent to bring about “political reform and national reconciliation” in Burma.
Singh said this process should be “broad-based” and include opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic groups, according to an official account of the meeting by Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna.
Nyan Win, who is on a three-day visit to India, described “recent initiatives” he said the Burmese government had taken to advance this process.
Burmese critics of the Naypyidaw regime expressed skepticism about the visit and the true motives of the Indian government.
Tint Swe, head of the National League for Democracy [Liberated Area-India], told The Irrawaddy on Thursday he felt the Indian government's policy on Burma was “weak.”
Words without actions couldn’t make any impact on the Burmese government, he said.
Soe Myint, editor of the India-based Mizzima News, said Indian appeals to Burma to seek reconciliation were based on Indian “interests.”
“The military regime doesn’t seem to listen to India” he said. The Burmese regime would “continue ignoring its neighbor’s calls and carry on with what it wants to do.”
Diplomatic, economic and military ties between Burma and India were strong in recent years, but after the September crackdown New Delhi put a temporary hold on arms deals.
Until September, Indian and Burmese military forces conducted joint operations, and the two governments discussed a deal to supply Burma with helicopters that Amnesty International claimed were “highly likely to contain components, technology and munitions” originating from EU nations and the US, undermining embargoes by those countries.
Michael J Green, a former top adviser on Asia to President Bush and now on the staff of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Washington Post last week that Southeast Asian neighbors of Burma had complained to the US president about India's strengthening military ties with Burma.
Green described India's freeze on arms sales to Burma as “a big deal for US-India relations. I think they are shifting.”
India, an important regional ally of the US, signed a nuclear cooperation deal with the Bush administration in July, 2007.
During his current visit to India, Nyan Win has also had wide-ranging talks with India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The Hindustan Times, India’s second largest newspaper, reported on Wednesday that their talks covered all areas of mutual interest. Mukherjee expressed his satisfaction over the recent conclusion of discussions relating to the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport project, and hoped for its early signing and implementation.
The project includes the construction of a waterway, roads and development of the Sitwe port linking Burma with Mizoram in India by way of the Kaladan River.
India and China are among Burma's few allies and trading partners and are seen as Asian powers who could pressure the military regime to reform. Like Beijing, however, New Delhi hesitates at taking a tougher line on Burma and opposes sanctions.
At the same time, India is trying to counter Chinese influence in Burma and is competing for its gas resources.
India strongly backed the Burmese pro-democracy movement in the early 1990s. But India’s foreign policy on Burma took a U-turn when the Indian government created a new policy, “Look East” in 1992, based on economic ties with Southeast Asian nations.