BurmaNet News: November 3, 1994

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************************** BurmaNet ************************** 
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
************************************************************** 
BurmaNet News: Wednesday, November 3, 1994
Issue #51

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Contents:

BKK POST: US THREATENS MORE PRESSURE ON BURMA
AP: THAILAND TURNING BACK ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
S.C.B.: MEDICAL CONTACTS IN BURMA/THAILAND 
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL: AIR MANDALAY GROWS FLEET

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BKK POST: US THREATENS MORE PRESSURE ON BURMA
3 November 1994

THE United States will put more pressure on the Burmese Gov-
ernment if there is no improvement in the political and human
rights situations in Burma, a senior US State Department offi-
cial said yesterday.

US Deputy Assistance Secretary of State for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs Thomas Hubbard made the point on returning from a
two-day visit to Rangoon.

But Mr Hubbard declined to specify what pressure Washing ton
would apply.  "Perhaps I should leave it to you to guess what
other steps might be taken," he said, when asked to elaborate if
the US took those steps.  "We don't want to take those steps and
to outline it in great detail," he said.

Washington downgraded diplomatic relations with Burma to
charge d'affaires level in 1990, an continues to impose an arms
embargo and block financial aid from international financial
institutions to Rangoon.

Mr Hubbard was the first senior US official to visit Rangoon
since Burma's military leaders crushed a pro-democracy move- ment
in 1988.

The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) turned down
his request to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 30
political prisoners, citing that it did not fit in with his
schedule.

Mr Hubbard held three hours of talks on Tuesday with SLORC
Secretary Khin Nyunt, Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw and other au-
thorities.

Mr Hubbard was accompanied by officials of the National Secu-
rity Council and narcotics experts.

The senior State Department official quoted Lt gen Khin Nyunt as
telling him that the Burmese Government would continue
talking with Mrs Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
But the SLORC general did not make clear what role the mili- tary
junta had in mind for Mrs Suu Kyi.

Mr Hubbard said his mission was successful in conveying
Washington's position and concerns about Burma to SLORC
authorities.

"We think that we succeeded in our talk with Lt Gen Khin Nyunt
and the Burmese Foreign Minister," he said.

Washington's prime objectives on Burma are the end of human
rights abuses by Rangoon and the restoration of democratic
government including the release of Mrs Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners.

Washington also wants Burma to stop producing and exporting
heroin.

Mr Hubbard emphasised that the US wanted to see more progress in
Burma before making further moves the Rangoon government. He
stressed that the US had not changed its position toward Burma
but that his visit to Rangoon was intended to communicate
directly to SLORC Washington's concerns about the situation in
the country.

The visit was planned some time ago and formed part of
Washington's policy review, he said.

However, analysts viewed the talks between the US delegation and
SLORC authorities as a sign of shifting direction since Australia
and the European Union had turned to talk with SLORC instead of
isolating Rangoon. 


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AP: THAILAND TURNING BACK ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
Posted to the net by tun@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Nov 2, 1994 
By SHEILA McNULTY 
Associated Press Writer

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The Thai government that came to power
two years ago after popular protests unseated a military-backed
regime is under attack from some former supporters over human
rights.

Activists accuse the government of ignoring human rights abuses
in neighboring countries to avoid threatening relations and trade
ties.

In recent months, Thailand returned a leading Islamic militant to
Malaysia to face an indefinite jail term, harassed rights
activists who angered Indonesia, and forced refugees from Burma
to go home despite dangers they faced there.

Thailand also has done little to stop cross-border trade with the
Khmer Rouge, effectively propping up the fanatical guerrilla
group at the expense of the Cambodian government elected in a
U.N.-supervised election.

Poldej Worachatr, acting director of the Foreign Ministry's press
division, disputes the critics' view. He said the Thai government
wants to support human rights but is in a difficult position.

"It is not easy to do what people think you should do. We have to
live with our neighbors," he said.

Activists charge that Thailand is more interested in maintaining
lucrative trade with its neighbors than in promoting the freedom
of religion, speech and association.

Boonthan Verawongse, a member of the Coordinating Committee of
Human Rights Organizations in Thailand, contends the
administration of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai always sides with
the party it has the most to gain from.

When Malaysia in August banned a fundamentalist Islamic sect that
has flourished in the predominantly Muslim south of Thailand,
Thai authorities said they had no dispute with the group.

But within days, Malaysia revoked the passport of the Al-Arqam
sect's leader, Ashaari Muhammad, who had been living peacefully
in self-imposed exile in Thailand since 1988. Thai officials
promptly deported Ashaari tto be held indefinitely without trial.

He is being held under a law that allows Malaysia's government to
detain anyone regarded as subversive to the state or social
order. Malaysian leaders, who regard militant Muslims with great
suspicion, accused the sect of deviationist teachings, including
Ashaari's claim that he talked to the Prophet Mohammed, the
founder of Islam.

Thai authorities said Ashaari's visa had been invalidated by the
passport revocation and therefore he had no right to stay in
Thailand. But even Deputy Interior Minister Den Tohmeena, a
Muslim, questioned the speed with which the police deported
Ashaari to be detained under what he called a "thug's law."

Indonesia, apparently in the same spirit of solidarity sought by
the region's governments, barred the Al-Arqam sect in several of
its provinces.

Under pressure from Indonesia in July, Thailand disrupted an
international human rights forum on Indonesia's forcible
annexation of East Timor in 1976, a move that has not been
recognized by the United Nations.

The goverment deported three participants, declaring that
Thailand should not be used as a stage for attacks on Indonesia.
It harassed other participants and blocked several hotels from
providing space for the forum.

Sarawut Pratoomraj, a member of the committee that organized the
forum, said the forum had been held five times previously without
any objection from Thai authorities.

"We have the right to talk about human rights," Sarawut said in
an interview. "Human rights have no boundaries. They are not an
internal affair."

Thailand has also turned its back on refugees who for years took
sanctuary from Burma's military regime.

While Thailand was cementing a deal with the Burmese junta to
build a 430-mile pipeline to carry natural gas from Burma to
Thailand, it pressured 6,000 ethnic Mon refugees to return to
Burma on Sept. 8.

The Mon had fled into Thailand in July when Burmese soldiers
burned their camps and seized dozens of men. Aid workers say
operations against ethnic minorities are common in the repressive
state, and the refugees said they feared more attacks.

"We need their protection," Kasauh Mon of the Mon National Relief
Committee said of Thai authorities. "There is no safety inside
Burma."

People who led bloody, anti-military riots in 1992 that brought
elections say the Thai government has abandoned the principles
that protesters fought for.

"We had quite a lot of hope for this government," said Dr. Sant
Hathirat, chairman of the Confederation for Democracy.
"Everything is gone with the wind."

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S.C.B.: MEDICAL CONTACTS IN BURMA/THAILAND 
Posted by am@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Nov 2, 1994 

hello all,

I'm looking for anyone doing medical fieldwork in southeast asia
(Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, etc), who would be interested in
having a volunteer for a month or so in Spring of 1995. I'm in my
last year of medical school, going into surgery, and looking for
some interesting things to do before I begin my residency. If I
can be of some help to someone, all the better.

If anyone out there knows anyone involved in health care in
southeast asia, could you please e-mail me at
ami@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Many thanks,

ami 

ami@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

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FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL: AIR MANDALAY GROWS FLEET
19-25 October 1994

Posted to the s.c.b. by mandalayer@at aol.com
Nov  2, 1994
***

Myanmar's new joint-venture airline with Singapore, Air Mandalay,
plans to double its fleet, with the purchase of two more
ATR-72-210s, and to extend scheduled services to Thailand.

The airline is run jointly by Air Mandalay Holdings of Singapore
with a 60% stake, and the country's national carrier Myanmar
Airways, with 40%. Scheduled domestic flights were launched on 18
October between Myanmar's capital Yangon and the tourist
destinations of Mandalay, Heho, and Pagan.

Air Mandalay in early October took delivery of the first of two
ATR 72 turboprops ordered in February for $35 million.

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NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:

 AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
 AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
 AW: ASIAWEEK
 AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
 Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt.=US$1 (APPROX), 
 BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
 BI: BURMA ISSUES
 BIG: BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
 BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI
 BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
 CPPSM: C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND 
 FEER: FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW
 JIR: JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
 KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
 Kt. BURMESE KYAT; 110-120 KYAT=US$1 BLACK MARKET
                   6 KYAT=US$1 OFFICIAL
 NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-OWNED NEWSPAPER, RANGOON)
 S.C.B.:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP 
 S.C.T.:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
 SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
 USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
 XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY 
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