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BurmaNet News: October 8, 1994




************************** BurmaNet **************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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BurmaNet News: Saturday, October 8, 1994
Issue #29

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Contents:

AFP: ARCHBISHOP ENDS SECOND PEACE MISSION TO KAREN
REUTERS: BURMA TEMPORARILY HALTS ROHINGYA RETURN OVER PLAGUE FEARS
NATION: UPPER MEKONG STATES MAKE PROGRESS ON TRANSPORT ISSUES
AFP: BURMA-INDONESIA ACCORD ON TRADE
BURMANET: KAREN LANGUAGE FONTS AVAILABLE VIA INTERNET
BURMANET: AUST PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE SEEKING INFORMATION ON BURMA

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AFP: ARCHBISHOP ENDS SECOND PEACE MISSION TO KAREN
8 October 1994

RANGOON - The head of Rangoon's Anglican church returned on Tuesday
to the capital from his latest meeting aimed at bringing about
peace with the leaders of ethnic Karen National Union (KNU).
Archbishop Andrew Mya Han described talks with the separatist
Karens on the Thai border as "fruitful" and said he hoped his
peace-making efforts would eventually succeed.

In an exclusive interview late on Thursday, the Archbishop said he
met KNU heads, including leader Gen Bo Mya, for the second time on
Sep 21 in Manerplaw, the KNU headquarters near the Thai border.
"The meeting was fruitful and I hope to go back again some time
during the first of November," said Mya Han.

The KNU, the most powerful of Burma's insurgent movements, has been
one of the last rebel groups to hold out on signing a ceasefire
agreement with the Burmese junta.

It is demanding political guarantees and say that any meetings must
take place on neutral ground and in the presence of an independent
observer.

The Slorc - the official name of the ruling Burmese regime - has
refused to meet the Karen leadership outside of the country. Slorc
also insists that talks should first focus on establishing a
ceasefire.

Slorc has given guarantees on the safety of any KNU representatives
attending peace talks, even if a meeting ends in disagreement.
A total of 12 other ethnic minority-led, anti-government groups
have already established ceasefires with Slorc.The archbishop said
that although the KNU leadership appeared "unhappy" at what it call
the lack of any concrete response from the Burmese military junta
to Karen demands, the insurgents have kept the door open for the
eventual dialogue.

"I have a feeling that the two parties will soon be meeting for
initial talks somewhere,"Mya Han said.

Recently, the KNU complained that Rangoon "has not made any real
change in attitude and policy, apart from some cosmetic change to
improve its international image."

A KNU statement that was received on Monday in Bangkok was open to
further approaches by the Anglican archbishop or others.


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REUTERS: BURMA TEMPORARILY HALTS ROHINGYA RETURN OVER PLAGUE FEARS
October 8, 1994

DHAKA-
Burma has temporarily halted the return of Muslim refugees from 
Bangladesh, citing efforts to keep the country free from plague 
as the reason, government officials said yesterday.

"Burmese authorities told us on Thursday they believed the
returning Rohingya citizens might be carrying plague or by any
means help spread of the disease," said Deputy Relief and
Repatriation Commissioner, Raqibuddin Ahmed.

"We are try to convince them that the fears are unfounded because
no one in Bangladesh proved to have contract at his office in Cox's
Bazaar. "But the Burmese side is adamant about enforcing a temporary
shut down on the repatriation process." 

Officials said more than 81,000 Rohingyas, who fled to southeastern
Bangladesh in early 1992 to escape alleged military persecution in
west Burma's Muslim-dominated Arakan state, have returned home so
far. Nearly 170,000 more were still waiting to go back when Rangoon
disrupted the process.

Bangladesh has closed all but seven border transit points with
India, where plague has killed at least 52 people.

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NATION: UPPER MEKONG STATES MAKE PROGRESS ON TRANSPORT ISSUES
October 8, 1994
Marisa Chimprabha

CHINA, Laos, Burma and Thailand yesterday began  a six-day meeting
on tourism and transport links to Laos, focusing on passenger and
cargo movements on the Mekong River.

They discussed a draft agreement of 25 points, prepared by the
Chinese, which is to be used as basis for development planning.
The meeting is the third on the subject. The second, in Kunming,
China, early this year, agree on navigation along the Mekong River,
dividing it into upper and lower regions.

Sources said the meeting yesterday endorsed the used of the Mekong
as a transport route between Simao, in China, and Luang Prabang, in
Laos. The route will pass through Jinhong, in China's Yunnan
Province, and the Chiang Saen district of Chiang Rai.

The source said the meeting has not yet discussed the possible
removal of rapids and rock outcrops in the Mekong River to help
navigation. They said removal of the rapids would be a delicate
subject requiring careful consideration by all six riparian
countries, including Cambodia and Vietnam.
"Any removal of them would certainly affect the lower riparian
countries and could change the boundary markers," one official
said.

The meeting is expected to conclude with agreement on merchant
shipping on the Mekong River.

It is expected the four countries will agree to open ports along
the Mekong to each other's vessels. Laos will allow the use of
ports at Ban Sai, Xiengkok, Mouang Mom, Houasay and Laung Prabang;
China at Konluey, Mouangham, Jinhong and Simao; Burma at Wanpoung
and Wanxieng; and Thailand at Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong.
Agreement is also expected on continuing the survey, design and
construction of roads to further tourism, including from Chaing Rai
to Houaysay and Luang Nam Tha in Laos, then on to China, and from
Chiang Rai's Mai Sai district to Kentung, in Burma.

It has been suggested that car rallies should be held from Chiang
Ra to Houaysay, and Luang Nam Tha to Kunming, to promote tourism.

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AFP: BURMA-INDONESIA ACCORD ON TRADE

RANGOON-
The Burmese government has agreed to increase trade and investment with
Indonesia, the state-run <Mirror> newspaper said yesterday.

It said the decision was taken on Thursday at a meeting attended by two vice
premiers and members of the cabinet, and followed a visit to Indonesia last
December by a member of the Burmese junta.


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BURMANET: KAREN LANGUAGE FONTS AVAILABLE VIA INTERNET
October 8, 1994

Karen language fonts are available for retrieval using FTP.  This site is
temporary so if it doesn't work, contact strider@xxxxxxxxxxx for an updated
location.  Burmese, Mon and Kachin language fonts should eventually be
available over the net as well.

To get the Karen language font via the Internet, you must be able to use FTP
[file transfer protocal].  Assuming that it is available on your system,
begin by typing:

     ftp 149.43.80.1

Log in as "anonymous" (don't type the quotation marks).  The password will be
your Internet address.  Once connected, type:     cd pub/fonts

To get the font, type: get kar3_0n.ttf

Also, to get the keyboard map that goes with the font, type: 

     get keymap3.gif

In order to return to your home computer after you finish, type: quit

INSTALLING KAREN & BURMESE FONTS ON WINDOWS
(You must have Windows running on your computer to install the fonts)
1.   Insert a floppy disk containing the font into the A: or B: drive on your
     computer.
2.   Start the Windows system, if it is not already running, and run
     the Control Panel program in the Main Group.
3.   Double click on the Fonts Icon which arises in the Control Panel
4.   Select Add in the Fonts Window.
5.   Select Drive A: or B: (whichever your disk is in) and the
     TrueType Font names should appear in the files window.
6.   Choose which fonts you wish to install.
7.   Select OK and the fonts should be added to the Windows directory.
8.   They may be used as any other TrueType font. In your editor simply
     go to the select font menu and select the desired font. WordPerfect 
     may need to be forced to reread the font directory. Changing printer
     setup will cause that to happen.


INSTALLING KAREN & BURMESE FONTS IN WORDPERFECT 6.0
(you must have WPFI.exe WPFI.fil WPFI.bin, the font installer program,
installed in WordPerfect. These files will be in WPC60DOS if they are already
installed.If not you must run the WP installation program to install them.
Also you must have the appropriate printer selected before you install the
fonts.)

1.   Using DOS copy the .ttf files. Command is a:\disk\*.ttf c:\wp60
2.   Start WP and choose Font Setup InstallFonts
3.   Choose the font type TTF
4.   Mark the fonts to install
5.   Continue
6.   Exit

After this simply Run WORDPERFECT and select the appropriate font from the 
font  command.  Once you have selected the font, of course, the characters
will be output simply by typing the appropriate key on the computer keyboard.
The assignment of characters to keys follows the Karen and Burmese standards.

[Special thanks to Prof. Tom Brackett of the Department of Computer Science
at Colgate University who designed the Karen font and made it available.  As
other fonts become available over the net, BurmaNet will provide pointers and
instructions for retrieval]
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BURMANET: AUST PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE SEEKING INFORMATION ON BURMA
October 8, 1994

The Human Rights Sub-committee fee the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign
Affairs, Defence and Trade of the Australian Parliament is about to conduct
an inquiry into the human rights situation in Burma.  They also appear to be
interested in the treatment of Burmese refugees by the countries of first-
asylum, especially Thailand.

Anyone who may be interested in making a submission on a relevant subject
should contact the committee.  By mail:

     Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
     Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600
     Australia

     By fax: (06) 277-4306

     By phone: (06) 277-2221

The chair of the committee is Senator S. Loosley.

The following advice on the preparation of submissions is provided by the
Parliamentary sub-committee:

ADVICE REGARDING THE PREPARATION OF SUBMISSIONS 

The following advice is offered to assist those preparing submissions for the
Committee's inquiry:

1    The submission should be addressed tot he Committee and signed by the
     author(s) either on his or her (or their) own behalf, or on behalf of
     the organisation.

2    There is no prescribed form of for the submission.  It may contain
     facts, opinions and argument.  It may also be accompanied by appendices
     and other supporting data.

3    The submission should be relevant to the terms of reference on the
     inquiry.  It may cover all the points raised in the Terms of Reference
     or just a selection of them.  The Terms of Reference provide a good
     framework for structuring the submission.

4    If the submission is lengthy, it should be prefaced by a brief summary.

5    The submission should be typed, preferably on A4 sized paper.  It is
     useful, though not necessary, if substantial submissions can be provided
     on a floppy disc as well as hard copy.  The Committee uses Wordperfect
     5.1 on IBM compatible pc's.  Either 5-1/4 or 3-1/2 inch disks are
     acceptable.

6    The purpose of the Committee's inquiry, unless otherwise decided, a
     submission is deemed by the Committee to be the giving of evidence and
     attracts Parliamentary Privilege.  A submission cannot be withdraw or
     altered without the knowledge and approval of the Committee, nor may it
     or any portion of it be published or disclosed to any other person until
     the Committee or either House of the Parliament authorises its
     publication.

7    There may be parts of the submission which the author would prefer not
     be made public.  In this case the author may request the submission, or
     part of it, be kept confidential.  This should be clearly indicated in
     the submission.  If only part of the submission is confidential, that
     part should be submitted separately.  The Committee will consider the
     request for confidentiality and if granted, it does have the power to
     publish such evidence at a later date.  Such publication though, is
     rarely exercised.

8    Authors of submission may be asked to give oral evidence before the
     Committee at a public hearing.  Witnesses are normally called when the
     Committee considers that the inquiry will benefit from questioning the
     witnesses.  Such questioning allows the witnesses to amplify the points
     made in the submission, or to provide additional information.

9    Should you require further information concerning the preparation of
     submissions, you should contact the Secretary of the Committee.

6 September, 1994.

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ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:

 AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
 AFP: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
 AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
 BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
 BI: BURMA ISSUES
 BIG: BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
 BKK POST: THE BANGKOK POST
 CPPSM: COMMITTEE FOR THE PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND
 FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
 NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)

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