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BurmaNet News 12th May #171
------------------------- BurmaNet ---------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: 12th May 1995
Issue #171
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Contents:
NATION: EVIDENCE OF SLORC GAS ATTACK MOUNTS
BKK POST: THAI COUPLE FREED AFTER 2 MONTHS IN BURMESE DETENTION
BKK POST: PREMIER WARNS THAIS NOT TO BE SWAYED BY BURMESE ALLEGATIONS
BKK POST: SANAN TO BE QUESTIONED OVER BORDER OPENING
BKK POST: NORTHERN TROOPS SENT REINFORCE BURMESE BORDER
BKK POST: INDIA PAYS TRIBUTE TO SUU KYI BY HONOURING HER WITH AWARD
NATION: SLORC MISRULE SENDS FLOOD OF ILLEGALS OVER THAI BORDER
NATION: SLORC INTENT ON SWITCHING OFF THE FLICKERING LIGHTS OF MYANMAR
NATION: BORDER PANEL'S ABILITY TO HOLD TALKS WEIGHED
BKK POST: US COMPANY FACES BOYCOTT IN ROW OVER `LINKS' TO JUNTA
NATION: SLORC ACCUSED OF JOINING DKBA TO ATTACK KAREN REFUGEES HERE
NATION: CHATICHAI STUDIES BORDER PROBLEMS, FUTURE ARMY ROLE
NATION: THAILAND SUBMITS THIRD OFFICIAL PROTEST TO BURMA ABOUT RAIDS
BKK POST: STILL WATERS RUN DEEP
BURMA FORUM: SLAVES CLEAR LAND FOR UNOCAL IN BURMA
ADELAIDE VOICES: SOME ARTICLES ON REFUGEES
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===== item =====
EVIDENCE OF SLORC GAS ATTACK MOUNTS
12 May 1995
Claims that Burmese government troops used chemical weapons in
their February offensive against the Karen guerrilla
stronghold of Kawmoora were initially greeted with scepticism.
But the allegations which were brushed off as an unprobable
excuse for the loss of the border camp were treated more
seriously after many of the defenders of the base came down
with mysterious ailments.
Equally surprising was the reluctance of the Burmese troops to
seize the mountaintop base even after it and been abandoned by
the Karen National Union. Instead, Burmese government troops
continued their fierce artillery barrage of the base for
another days, leading the Karens to speculate they were trying
to destroy the last remnants of the chemical attack.
KNU official sited the use of chemical weapons, which are
banned under the Geneva conventions, as one of the main
reasons for the defeat at kawmoora. The base had withstood
repeated Burmese assaults since 1984. Other reasons for its
fall on Feb 20 were the deployment of huge "siege mortars"
obtained from China and defections by Buddhist soldiers.
KNU sources say the decision to use the chemical weapons,
which caused ugly seeping wounded on the victims, was taken
after a visit to the front line by junta strongman Lt Gen Khin
Nyunt on Feb 14. A high ranking Burmeses officer later
confirmed the attack in an interview with the Thai language
Daily News.
"We use it because it is necessary to use it," he said of the
chemical weapons attack. (TN)
===== item =====
THAI COUPLE FREED AFTER 2 MONTHS IN BURMESE DETENTION
12 May 1995
A Thai couple, who had been detained in Burma for two months,
were yesterday released in Burma's Myawaddy town opposite Mae
Sot District of this northern province.
The two were arrested by Burmese troops at the border on
charges of carrying weapons in a restricted area, trafficking
in narcotics and illegal logging in Burmese territory. Task
Force 34 deputy commander Col Yuthapong Puangthong led a group
of Thai officials to pick up the couple, 34-year-old Somyos
Sarnjum and his wife Sunate, 33, from Lt-Col Myo Kyin,
commander of Light Infantry Regiment 355, in Myawaddy. They
were taken to the Task Force 34 headquarters for questioning
and later to a hospital for medical check-up before they were
sent home.
The couple, who are residents of Ban Huay Pong in Mae Ramat
District, went missing on the Thai border in Ban Wangpa on
March 12.
Burmese troops from Ye Gyaw Camp reportedly seized the two
while they were washing clothes on the bank of the Moei River
near their field.
Only their motorcycle was found abandoned on the scene of the
capture.
After learning of the incident, the local Thai-Burmese Border
Committee in Mae Sot wrote to the Burmese authorities in
Myawaddy to seek the couple's release.
Third Army Commander Surachet Dechatiwong also helped push for
their release at the 11th meeting of the Regional Thai-Burmese
Border Committee held in Phitsanulok Province last month.
Southeastern Force Commander Maj Gen Ket Sein, who represented
Burma at the meeting, had promised that the couple would be
released soon.
On May 10, Lt_Col Surachet, Maj-Gen Ket Sein and other Burmese
officials had another round of talks on the matter in
Myawaddy, which led to the release of the Thai couple
yesterday.
Commenting on the incident, Col Yuthapong said the Burmese
troops had been hunting seven suspected members of the rebel
Karen National Union who had illegally felled trees near the
Ye Gyaw Camp and fled across the river to the Thai side.
The pursuing Burmese ran into the Thai couple on the river
bank. (BP)
===== item =====
PREMIER WARNS THAIS NOT TO BE SWAYED BY BURMESE ALLEGATIONS
12 May 1995
Thais should not be swayed by Burma's accusations that
Thailand supports minority groups fighting Rangoon. The
problems on the border are strictly Burma's internal affairs,
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said yesterday.
His statement came as a prominent academic joined a call by
the House Foreign Affairs Committee for the Government to
review the country's constructive engagement policy with Burma
because it has failed.
Mr Chuan said Thailand did not allow minority forces to use
its territory as a spring-board to attack Burmese troops. Nor
did it tolerate incursions by government forces of other
countries to arrest or kill their people taking refuge in
Thailand.
Everyone should clearly understand the facts as they were not
complicated, he said. They should not be swayed by Burma's
attempts to distort the problems.
Burma's deputy military intelligence chief Colonel Kyaw Win
early this week accused Thailand of cooperating with and
supporting anti-Rangoon groups, a move which contributed to
tension along the border.
He said problems involving drug warlord Khun Sa's Mong Tai
Army and Gen Bo Mya's Karen National Union were Burma's
internal affairs.
Thailand supports peaceful settlements between the Burmese
government and minority groups through negotiations.
Mr Chuan said his Government would not adjust its main policy
on Burma in the wake of border clashes between Burmese troops
and minority forces which have affected Thai border areas and
local villagers.
The Government has been accused by some quarters of not acting
strongly against Burma's violation of the Thai border.
Charnvit Kasetsiri, rector of Thammasat University, who
monitors Thai-Burmese relations, said the thinking behind the
constructive engagement policy was mainly economic and not
based on national security. It did not improve the security of
Thais along the border.
"Thailand has taken advantage of this policy to exploit
illegal workers from Burma and that country's natural
resources. It's policy of private enterprise, not a state," he
said.
He said the policy, initiated by Thailand and supported by the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) six years ago,
did not foster a peaceful Burma in the long run. The Thai
Government's claims of non-interference in the internal
affairs of Burma was just an "excuse" and had no weight since
Thailand exploited cheap labour from its neighbour.
Charnvit suggested the Government play a mediating role in
Burma, consider incidents along the border on a case-by-case
basis at local level, and not allow them to affect overall
relations between Thailand and Burma.
He said that while the policy did not bring any clear results
in the short term, isolating Burma, an option supported by
some Western countries, especially the United States, would be
in vain.
But Mr Chuan said: "We can't change the policy every day. Some
incidents were too small and could not be cited as reasons for
changes in the main policy."
He said border problems could recur in future as Thailand and
Burma share a border about 2,400 kilometres long. People must
be able to distinguish which problems were important and which
were not.
Mr Chuan said a recent meeting of the Joint Thai-Burmese
Border Committee in Phitsanulok had also tried to clear up
accusations that Thailand helped anti-Rangoon groups, but the
results might not be satisfactory because Burmese officials
had limited authority in discussing such an issue.
Mr Chuan said it would be good for Thailand if Burma wanted to
take back Karen refugees with Burmese nationality now exiled
in Thailand. But the safety of the refugees must be
guaranteed.
Local authorities of both countries should hold talks on
whether repatriation was possible, he said.
He will hold discussions with the Defence Minister, Foreign
Minister and National Security Council secretary general to
find out whether the joint border committee has the power to
negotiate on that issue.
The Foreign Ministry yesterday issued a press statement saying
two more protest notes were issued to Burmese Ambassador U Tin
Win by Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Saroj
Chavanaviraj.
The ambassador was summoned to the ministry for the seventh
time to discuss incidents along the border.
The statement referred to a previous aide memorie, dated April
28, saying that 100 armed men intruded on Karen refugee camps
and also burned seven houses of Thais at Ban Kaemalaeko in Tha
Song Yang district, Tak provinces. The incidents caused damage
totalling 1.23 million baht.
Another protest note referred to an incident on May 2 at 6
a.m. in which a group of 15 armed military men crossed the
Moei River from Burma and abducted three unidentified Karens
taking refuge at Ban Kaemalaeko.
On May 3, at 12.15 a.m. a group of 10 intruders armed with
machine guns raided a Thai security check point at Mae Nago
Village, Tambon Mae Suat, Sob Moei district, Mae Hong Son.
Three Thai policemen were shot dead.
Around 4 a.m. the same day, about 50 armed elements crossed
the Salween River into Thailand and set fire to 50 deserted
houses at Ban Mae Sam Laep, Sob Moei district, Mae Hong Son.
The statement said that in the absence of a positive response
from Burma, and failing means of protection against "these
inadmissible acts of violation of its sovereignty and
territorial integrity, the Royal Thai Government is left with
no choice but to fully exercise its right of self-defence and
to repel these intruders as it deems appropriate and
necessary".
The Burmese embassy was urged to transmit Thailand's views to
the State Law and Order Restoration Council and to swiftly
investigate the incidents.
Army spokesman Col Palangkul Klaharn yesterday denied an
allegation made by a senior Burmese military officer who
claimed earlier this week that several Burmese villagers were
killed and their houses destroyed while the army was
conducting a military assault on Karen forces of the
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army known to have a base in Burma.
The spokesman did not elaborate by the senior Burmese officer,
Col Kyaw Win, should be substantiated by evidence.
Col Palangkul said the 3rd Army had collected military
information before it launched the attack on a military
target, which the spokesman insisted was DKBA forces and not
Burmese civilians, asa claimed by Col Kyaw Win.
The spokesman yesterday also declined to give any details to
back up his earlier claim that Col Kyaw Win's allegation was
motivated by business interests along the border area. (BP)
===== item =====
SANAN TO BE QUESTIONED OVER BORDER OPENING
12 May 1995
Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart will be asked to
explain his order in March to open a checkpoint on the
Thai-Burmese border to allow a private firm import 400,000
cubic metres of processed wood from Burma into Mae Hong Son,
Opposition sources said.
New Aspiration Party (NAP) member and former deputy finance
minister Boonchu Trithong, while confirming the opening to
allow the import of a huge volume of wood could be the cause
of the conflict along the border.
One Opposition source claimed Maj-Gen Sanan, in his capacity
as the Interior Minister, had ordered the opening of the
checkpoint on March 20, to allow the Thai Veneer Industry Co
to import the wood through it.
He claimed the checkpoint had been closed by NAP leader
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, then the interior minister, after
conflicts had developed due to the log hauling activity.
It has been estimated that the 400,000 cubic metres of wood is
worth 1,000 million baht. The wood must be imported through
the checkpoint by September 19, when the border pass is to be
closed. (BP)
===== item =====
NORTHERN TROOPS SENT REINFORCE BURMESE BORDER
12 May 1995
Troops from Meng Rai Maharaj military camp in Chiang Rai were
yesterday sent to the Burmese border in Mae Sai and Mae Chan
destricts and Mae Fah Luang sub-district.
The reinforcement was meant to strengthen defence at the
border already manned by troops of the Naresuan Force, Mae Sai
district chief Pakdi Rattanapol said.
Mr Pakdi said more reinforcements are needed for an area
opposite Ban Kong Thoun on the Burmese side of the border
across the Sai River. This part of the river is narrow and
easy for foreign forces to cross, he said.
Mr Pakdi said the situation at Mae Sai was still normal but
trade had been quiet because the Burmese border checkpoint was
still closed.
Col Somboon Iam-opas, deputy director of the provincial
internal security command, said the Thai-Border has been
manned by soldiers of the Naresuan Force and Mae Rai Maharaj
camp, defence volunteers and border patrol police. (BP)
===== item =====
INDIA PAYS TRIBUTE TO SUU KYI BY HONOURING HER WITH AWARD
12 May 1995
India has made a discrette gesture in support of the
pro-democracy movement in Burma by conferring the prestigious
Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding on the
movement's imprisoned leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Over the past two years, India has taken several steps to
normalise economic relations with Burma, with which it shares
a long border. The two countries, during a visit to India by
Burma's trade minister last month, inaugurated border trade
provided under an agreement they signed last year. The move
came after Indian's Commerce Minister P. Chidambaram assured
Burma of Indian investors interests during his official visit
to Rangoon in February.
The choice of Mrs Suu Kyi - who has been under house arrest in
Rangoon since July 1989 - for the award instituted in the
memory of India's first prime minister is a signal to the
military junta in Burma that India supports Burma's
pro-democracy people notwithstanding the normalisation of
trade relations.
Observers here in New Delhi feel the choice is unlikely to go
down well with the ruling State Law and Order Restoration
Council (Slorc) in Rangoon.
The high-profile jury for thee award, headed by Indian
Vice-President K.R. Nayaranan, commended Mrs Suu Kyi for her
"brave, non-violent, and unyielding struggle for freedom,
democracy and human dignity - the ideals that promote
international understanding and goodwill".
The award, which carries a trophy and cash prize of 1.5
million Indian rupees (about $48,000), is given annually by
the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, an outfit under the
control of the Indian Ministry for External Affairs. Earlier
recipients were Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Helmut Kohl
of Germany.
In an editorial comment, the Times of India, a mainline
independent daily published in New Delhi, noted that the award
symbolises India's commitment to democratic rights, and
reflects its fervent hope that Mrs Suu Kyi would not spend a
seventh year in solitary confinement.
The jury's decision to confer the award on Burma's most famous
political prisoner, the paper said, will once again draw
attention to her crusade for the restoration of democracy.
The award should serve as a reminder to the ruling junta that
its repression of democracy in Burma has not been forgotten
even though India's trade with Burma has increased in recent
times. Slorc has also enjoined more trade with the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) with which India is
cultivating more ties.
The choice of Mrs Suu Kyi for the Jawaharlal Nehru Award,
other observers here noted, is a bid to check the Burmese
junta's attempts to gain political legitimacy through trade
relations.
The choice also indicates a step toward checking China's
growing military and political relations with Slorc,
developments which India has monitored with some concern.
At the same time analysts feel there has been a slackening in
recent months of international pressure on Slorc, which is
seen to have made only cosmetic gestures towards change.
Mrs Suu Kyi, 49, is not unfamiliar with India, and is a known
personage here. She studies in New Delhi, at the Convent of
Jesus and Mary and the Lady Shiram College, before going to
Oxford.
Her receipt of one of India's most south-after awards is also
a moralebooster for the 200-old Burmese students who took
refuge in India in 1988, after Burmese leadership's nationwide
crackdown on pro-democracy people in Burma.
The students have been pursuing their pro-democracy efforts
from India and are said to be planning to organise like-minded
young Burmese studying in some capitals in the West. (BP)
===== item =====
SLORC MISRULE SENDS FLOOD OF ILLEGALS OVER THAI BORDER
12 MAy 1995
Aung Zaw writes
The stroy of a Burmese woman thrown in jail and separated from
her sick baby following a raid by Thai police shocked
newspaper readers in Thailand.
A relief worker described the conditions at the Immigration
and Detention Center (IDC) as "almost intolerable" with
temperatures rising to 43degreeC during the day. Some inmates
said, "It is like staying in hell; crowded, fifthy, smelly
with daily fighting among inmates. Only the laws of the jungle
apply there."
Thai police regularly conduct raids around Suthisarn,
Ramkhamhaeng, Ladphrao, and Sukhumvit 71 areas where many
illegal aliens arebelieved to be staying. "Last week,
approximately 100 Burmese were rounded up in Bangkok," said a
source. "Some are Burmese asylumseekers, who are recognized as
'persons of concern' by the United Nations High Commissioner
For Human Rights (UNHCR)," he added.
Hundreds of Burmese detained at the IDC are waiting to be
deported to the border areas. Their crime? - illegally
entering Thailand.
Despite this, many Burmese continue coming to Thailand. Last
month, the Interior Ministry ordered the Police Department to
crack down on illegal immigrants in order to protect national
security. More than 500,000 illegal immigrants are now in the
country, a ministry source said. The same source added that
Burmese make up the highest number - about 300,000.
Thai authorities, NGOs concerned individuals have expressed
their concern on the matter. The immediate question is how to
control or halt the continued illegal immigration. Is there
any plan at all to address this problem? To date, the answer
is none.
A police officer recently said, "The country's border
stretches to about 800 kilometres, so it is difficult for us
to prevent illegal entries." He also admitted that corruption
is rampant among the Thai police and immigration officials.
More importantly, Thailand needs cheap labour. The situation
in Cambodia and Burma also contributes to illegal immigration.
Whatever the case, more Burmese are coming to Thailand. Ethnic
minorities in Burma, including the Shan, Karen, Mon, Akha,
Kachin, enter Thailand on foot after sneaking through forest
and mountains. Some come by boat.
"It is hard for us make the decision to leave our home, but
the situation is so bad that we have no choice but to come to
Thailand," said one Shan illegal worker.
But Sai Khun Pha said he is homesick and wants to go back
home. "Do you think I'm happy here? He shook his head.
Nevertheless, he said, "It's easier to earn money in Thailand.
I only left because of the Burmese soldiers." IN 1988, Sai
Khun Pha was forced to work for the Burmese army for a week.
He could not pay the fine of 5,000 kyat, the amount needed
avoid conscription.
"How can I possibly raise this amount? He managed to finish
Grade 4. When his mother died from heart disease, he tried to
find a job in order to survive. Sai Khun Pha said he was not
interest studying . "The Burmese government provided good and
skilful teachers and we will never taught our own language,"
he said. :if the students at our school spoke Shan, they were
beaten," he recalled.
Only those who were rich and from the army were able to enjoy
special privileges at his school, Sai Khun Pha added.
"All then men in our village left for Thailand and the border
area. Burmese soldiers forced us to work in army camps and
carry ammunition deep into the jungle," he said.
As an illegal immigrant, Sai Khun Pha and his friends were
harassed by police. But they usually paid their way out. "We
are shan [Tai Yai] so we have no language problem. We
explained our situation to the police in Thai and gave them
some money." But his friends were arrested by police and sold
to a farm near Mae Sot. "The policemen received Bt4,000 each,
although my friends escaped later."
At present, Sai Khun Pha has no immediate plans of going back
to Burma. "Of course, I love my hometown, I miss my family and
the food. I will go back only if there is no more fighting,"
he stressed.
There are many shan women coming to Thailand. Some work at
construction sites, farm, factories and department stores
However, a few have been lured into prostitution.
Ma Nahn Nwe's mother encouraged her to go to Thailand. "If I
continued to stay there, I would have been raped by Burmese
soldiers," Nahn Nwe recalled. she finished Grade 10, and like
other shan people she was not allowed to speak her own
language at her school. "We studied at a monastery instead,"
she said.
In the past, her uncle who studied the shan language was
severely punished.
But there have been some positive developments. The ruling
junta's mass organisation, the Union Solidarity development
Association (USDA), began to teach Shan language in Shan
State. But to Ma Nahn, that was nothing more than a show.
"They demolished our historic palaces and now they want to
teach shan language!" she said. A few years ago, Slorc
demolished historic Kengtung Palace to build a hotel.
"If they respect Shan people, and are sincere, why did they
destroy our palaces? Why did they rape shan women?" asked Ma
Nahn.(TN)
===== item =====
SLORC INTENT ON SWITCHING OFF THE FLICKERING LIGHTS OF MYANMAR
12 MAY 1995
Aung Zaw writes
Is journalism in Burma dead? If not, it must be in a Coma.
"There is a big gap over thirty years. Newspapers were
nationalized in 1962 and finally in 1964," said 74-year-old
Guardian Sein Win at a training session for journalism in
Rangoon recently. About 16 young and energetic Burmese
participated, which surprised some foreign visitors
considering lack of press freedom in the country.
Freedom of the press ended when Gen Ne Win staged his coup in
1962. All newspapers were taken over and only government-owned
newspapers, Lok-tha-pyi-thu-nei-zin and English language,
Working People's Daily were allowed to publish and report
"within the accepted limits of the Burmese Way to Socialism."
Further, all books , magazines, perodicals songs and films had
to be submitted to the Slorc's censors prior to printing or
distribution. At times pages of foreign news magazines are
ripped out or offending sections inked over.
Most Burmese who grew up under Ne Win's socialist regime do
not know what freedom of press and expression is.
Nevertheless, they did enjoy a brief taste of press freedom in
1988 when nearly 100 different private newspapers, journals,
newsletters and bulletins sprouted as the government lifted
controls.
Even government-owned newspapers were coming out with accurate
reports. But it lasted only up to September of that year when
the military staged another coup.
"I was surprised, but happy that journalism in my country had
flourished again said Aung Win, who was publishing a
successful weekly journal during that democracy summer. "We
never had a chance to try out our journalistic skills,
although we also learned how to practice self-censorship," he
added.
However, as far as Burma's military leaders were concerned,
and especially intelligence chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the
summer of 1988 was merely an opportunity for those whom the
junta considered dissidents and rebels.
"I have not forgotten that during the 1988 disturbances
certain journalists, who disregard their code of conduct and
dignity, and influenced by leftist and rightist ideologies,
instigated the rebellion. Some publications took advantage of
the situation and concocted reports to please the neo-
colonialists. This ever remain in the history as a black mark
which cannot be erased any way," Khin Nyunt said.
Burma's present newspapers, The Mirror (Burmese), the New
Light of Myanmar (both Burmese and English) are completely
controlled by Slorc. Their coverage of news is bland and
limited almost exclusively to Slorc activities. One example
was last year's meeting between two junta leaders and
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, which barely rated a
mention in the state organs.
The British-based anti-censorship group, Article 19, in a
report released on March 20, called Burma "one of the most
heavily censored states in the world." It noted the
contradction between greater economic freedom allowed since
Slorc took power and the suppression of free and open debate
and said the disparity must end if Burma's chronic political
problems are ever to be resolved.
"The quickening pace of economic development is requiring at
least some adptation of existing Slorc policies and attitudes.
To date, however, these have been little more than cosmetic,"
the group said.
But if anything, Slorc appears to be tightening its grip on
the dissemination of news.
Soon after the April water festival in Burma, Slorc stopped
the publication of at least two privately-owned and well-known
magazines, Kyi-pwa-yay and Mahethi. Sources in Rangoon said
that both would remain shut for at least six months.
Many still cannot find a reason for the closure. But some
Burmese writers in Rangoon speculated the two were closed down
because they published a classified advertisement from Burmese
youths and students in Tokyo.
The ad went like this: "Burmese in Tokyo will celebrate the
water festival at the Tokyo Dome or known as the Big Egg from
10:00am to 4:00pm for further information please contact Water
Festival Committee in Japan."
The closure of Kyi-pwa-yay surprised many writers in Burma as
the magazine had been running articles about free-market
economy and had also been supporting Slorc's Visit Myanmar
Year. The editor, Myat Khine, is close to some powerful Slorc
ministers.
About the same time, a writer reported, "there has been a new
censorship system had been introduced by the Press Scrutiny
Board (PSB), which regularly blackened out sensitives articles
and sentences.
But a PSB officer told to writers recently, "The practice of
Inking out words does not speak well for a free market
economy. Therefore, the style of censorship has to be changed.
Instead of inking over the sentences, the whole article will
be torn out." (TN)
===== item =====
BORDER PANEL'S ABILITY TO HOLD TALKS WEIGHED
12.5.95/The Nation
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said yesterday be will call a
meeting next week of all government agencies involved in the
border situation to determine whether the committee handing
the matter is an effective mechanism for negotiation .
"I will meet the Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry and the
National Security Council to see whether the Thai-Burmese
joint border committee can handle the matter , whether the
Burmese side of the committee has a mandate to handle the
current border tension ," Chuan said before attending the
House session yesterday .
Chuan made the announcement as the Rangoon government accused
Thailand of continuing to aid and arm ethnic minorities
fighting Burmese troops.
His statement implied he would review the border committee's
performance . The committee operates at a local level and
there is growing concern that the current situation might be
beyond its capability.
Thailand and Burma have established three levels of working
committees headed respectively by local authorities, the
defence ministers and foreign ministers of the two countries.
" There might be some discrepancies in the mandates given to
the negotiators in committees. Thai negotiators might be too
senior to talk details while the Burmese side might have been
given only a limited mandate to talk," the prime minister
said.
Brushing aside Rangoon's accusation , the prime minister said
the fighting between Burmese troops and drug warlord Khun Sa's
Mong Tai Army and Bo Mya's Karen National Union is an internal
matter. Rangoon should settle its own problem he said.
"The Thai press should not fall prey to distorted information.
We are living with reality," said Chuan. The prime minister
said the rise in the number of border incidents should be
attributed to the Burmese government's failure to bring these
two minority groups into the fold.
"We are the target of attacks simply because these two groups
live near the Thai border," said Chuan.
He has instructed the Foreign Ministry to respond to the
accusation. It is in Thailand's interest to stick to its
principle policy of engagement with Burma , given the long
porous border with Burma. and to support the cause of peace in
Burma by engaging in dialogue.
" Our policy is based on reality ," said Chuan .
Chuan defended a police raid on Karen refugees to confiscate
smuggled weapons as the right approach "to show that Thailand
does not tolerate any foreign forces using Thailand to fight
their enemies "
Former foreign minister Prasong Soonsiri yesterday blasted the
Foreign Minister's performance . It should have taken
diplomatic action much earlier to clarify the complex
situation on the border and avoid misunderstanding.
Praong, a Palang Dharma Party MP who lost his post to PDP
colleague Karase Chanawongse in the last Cabinet reshuffle,
said the ministry should have taken the leading role ,but was
instead subordinate to the Army.
He expressed support for the government's firm stance on
constructive engagement with Burma . The confrontational
approach should be the last resort , given the complexities of
the border problem involving infringement of sovereignty and
identified raiders, he said.
===== item =====
US COMPANY FACES BOYCOTT IN ROW OVER ` LINKS' TO JUNTA
12.5.95/The Nation
The Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee company could face a
boycott of its products for its refusal to suspend business
links with Pepsi which has been accused of supporting the
Rangoon military junta.
The Seattle Campaign for a Free Burma reported that Starbucks
pledged not to allow its latest product, a carbonated iced
coffee beverage called `Mazagran', to be manufactured or
distributed in Burma.
However, the company refused to cut ties with Pepsi, which is
its joint -venture partner in the production of Mazagran,
following protests by Burmese activists.
According to report released by the human rights group , the
joint venture product made its debut on the markets last month
at two of the company's locations in Santa Monica, California.
But the launch attracted immediate protests by Burmese
activists.
The report said the two companies have refused to provide
assurances that the names of the protesters will not be turned
over to Burmese authorities.
" My parents and my brothers were tortured by the Burmese
military regime Pepsi works closely with these military thugs,
closing its eyes to the suffering of my family and the Burmese
people .
" That is why I am here and that is why I will keep coming ,"
the report quoted " Kolatt" as saying. Kolatt is the
pseudonym of one of the protesters, who fear military
retribution against their families in Burma if they are
identified.
Pepsi claims to be non-political in Burma, although its
Burmese partner has close ties to the military and Pepsi has
cosponsored a trade fair with the regime.
The company ,along with Unocal and Texaco, remains the subject
of boycotts in the United States.
Its rival ,Coca-Cola, and other US companies, Macy's, Eddie
Bauer, Levi Strauss, Liz Claiborne, Reebok, Amoco and Petro-
Canada, have shunned business ties with Burma.
The Seattle City Council on April 24, unanimously passed
resolution critical of the Burmese regime and the companies
that support it.
The University of Washington Board of Regents voted on March
16 to support a shareholder resolution that called on Pepsi to
withdraw from Burma.
In March , Berkeley-based companies ceased business with Burma
in compliance with a law passed by the city of Berkeley,
California, banning purchases from , or contracts with
companies that do business in Burma.
===== item =====
SLORC ACCUSED OF JOINING DKBA TO ATTACK KAREN REFUGEES HERE
12.5.95/The Nation
A Burmese dissident group yesterday accused the Rangoon
military junta of collaborating with the Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army to attack Karen refugee camps in Thailand over
the last month.
In a statement released yesterday , the All Burma Students
Democratic Front [ABSDF] said the series of raids on the camps
over the past few weeks was part of a Burmese government plan
to forcibly repatriate the refugees to DKBA controlled village
of Myaing -gyi -ngu.
The Burmese Army's First Command of the South Eastern Command
has ordered the relocation of Karen living in the Papun
township in Karen state to the village under the control of
DKBA leader, U Thu Zar Na by May 21, the statement said.
That corder extended to the Karen from Papun who are currently
living in Thai refugee camps.
The Papun -based Light Infantry Regiment No [434] , which was
responsible for enforcing the border , has threatened to kill
refugees and burn their villages if order was not observed and
if they hadn't relocated before the deadline.
===== item =====
CHATICHAI STUDIES BORDER PROBLEMS, FUTURE ARMY ROLE
12.5.95/The Nation
Chat Pattana leader Gen Chatichai Choonhavan , recently
elected chairman of House committee on military affairs , said
yesterday Thai-Burmese border problems and the Army's future
role were both at the top of his agenda concerning the
committee.
Chatichai said he will call a meeting on May 16 involving the
heads of the three armed forces, the Police Department and the
National Security Council in order to be briefed about the
present border situation. " One of my responsibilities is to
supervise the performance of authorities handling the border
problems," Chatichai told reports after a meeting of the
committee.
The new chairman said he believed that Thailand's constructive
engagement was a good policy, but it should be reviewed to
reflect the true relations between the two countries. He did
not elaborate , but said he backed Asean's approach to invite
Burma to join the forthcoming annual meeting in Brunei.
"Burma should be encouraged to join the international
community, so they can be shown how democracy works," he said.
Chaitchai played down the accusations by the Burmese
government that Thailand continued to give aid to the armed
ethnic minorities which have led to the border incursions .
"Thailand has a clear policy with the Burmese government to
disassociate itself from minority groups. I don't understand
why there are reports that these minorities were armed [in
Thailand to fight in Burma ]. If we really did allow them to
be armed [as accused], then that was wrong ," Chatichai said.
Chatchai suggested that the Foreign Ministry should use
diplomatic channels to talk with Rangoon about the whole
situation in order to clear up all the misunderstanding. " I
believe that as long as there is dialogue , the situation
won't worsen," Chatichai said.
Chatichai said one of the focal points in the Army's policy
was to make the lower ranks fully well-versed with their
responsibility .
" To become professional soldier , they need to become more
self- sufficient . We have to make sure lower ranking officers
can take care of themselves in any situation ," said
Chatichai, who was a former calvary officer before entering
the political arena.
The Chat Pattana leader was elected as committee chairman to
replace Gen Arthit Kamlang-ek who became Deputy Prime Minister
under the party's quota after the Cabinet reshuffle last
December.
===== item =====
THAILAND SUBMITS THIRD OFFICIAL PROTEST TO BURMA ABOUT RAIDS
12.5.95/The Nation
The Foreign Ministry yesterday handed its third official
protest to Burma this year about incursions into Thai
territory and banditry by armed Burmese , officials said .
Burmese Ambassador U Tin Win was summoned to the Foreign
Ministry where the Director General for East Asian Affairs
,Somboon Sa- ngiambutr, handed him the diplomatic note.
The note referred to an incident which took place around
midnight on March 2 when five Burmese soldiers armed with
"heavy machine guns " raided a house in Tak's Tha Song Yang
district.
The group shot and wounded the householder , Prachuap Saenjai,
and stole property and cash worth more than Bt 20,000.
The second incursion cited in the protest note occurred in the
same district about 11 pm that day, when approximately 20
armed people " clandestinely " entered a temporary shelter of
people fleeing the fighting in Burma.
The armed group forced Kyaw Rei , 68 , a Christian Karen
leader, to return to Burma with them.
" The Ministry of Foreign Affairs views the incidents with
serious concern as they clearly violated Thailand's
sovereignty and territorial integrity and ran counter to the
principle of good neighborliness adhered to by our two
countries, " the protest note said.
The Foreign Ministry , therefore , advised the Burmese embassy
to inform the relevant authorities and called for a " thorough
investigation " of these " illegal and totally unacceptable
incidents ."
The note also urged Burmese authorities to take the necessary
measures to prevent the recurrence of similar events in the
future .
The ministry in February submitted two notes , protesting that
several artillery shells had been intentionally fired across
the border incursions by a Burmese Karen group who kidnapped
Karen leaders and took them back to Burma.
A large number of Karen fled to Thailand when the Burmese
captured their last stronghold at Kawmoora early this year.
The Army blasted The Nation yesterday for running a letter
criticizing its handling of refugees from neighbouring
countries.
"The accusations stated in the letter are groundless and
obviously intended to frame the Thai Army . The newspaper's
intention have been suspect from the beginning , despite the
fact that it is owned by a Thai with a Thai family name , It
has presented news which insulted the Army all the time , "
Army spokesman Plangkoon Klaharn told a press conference.
He was referring to a strongly - worded letter published in
The Nation's editorial page yesterday criticizing Army chief
Wimol Wongwanich's attitude toward refugees.
" The Army does not want to respond aggressively . But this
letter could cause resentment among junior officers who may
find these accusations intolerable," Plangkoon said.
===== item =====
STILL WATERS RUN DEEP
Bangkok Post
Once a princess, later an armed rebel, Sao Yawnghwe has always
been a progressive who sought to bring political enlightenment
to her people. Today, half a world away, she looks sadly at
her homeland, where all reminders of her contributions to
democracy have been officially erased. PATRICIA ELLIOTT
reports. Pictures by DON JEDLIC. (Bangkok Post, March 18,
1995)
If the Burmese junta's much-touted Visit Myanmar 96 campaign
is successful, next year thousands of foreign visitors will
descend on Inle Lake.
The lake's calm, narrow waters stretch like satin between two
smoke-blue spurs of the southern Shan plateau. At its head is
Yawnghwe, a languid little town where optimistic tourism
authorities have called for a doubling of hotel rooms, from
200 to 400, within the year.
The town features a crumbling old museum set in a large garden
of tamarind and flowering paduak trees. A few squatters have
taken over the museum's outbuildings. Graffiti adorn some of
the walls. The main entrance is dusty, dark, and junk-strewn.
Upstairs, attendants stand guard over a display of fading,
curled photographs.
There are few clues to this building's history and purpose.
Much of the area's true history rests in the memory of a
79-year-old woman who lives in a nondescript city on the vast
North American plains. It is a cold, windswept place far
removed from the coconut groves and hyacinth-choked canals of
Inle.
The woman introduces herself as Sao Yawnghwe and adds, "Just
call me Sao." On the surface, a simple, informal introduction,
but the true meaning is: "I am a princess of Yawnghwe. Just
call me princess." Thais would call her "chao" or "chao nang".
She lives alone, her five children scattered across the
continent. Her days are spent reading about history and
Buddhism. She cooks her own meals in a tiny kitchen. Sometimes
in the evening she joins her neighbours for a friendly card
game.
Although thin and often ill, she still moves and talks with
the inborn quickness of a natural leader. Sao Yawnghwe was no
coddled, spoiled princess: once she was a member of the
Burmese parliament and, later, the leader of a rebel army.
She was born on May 27, 1916 in North Hsenwi, a large Tai
princedom in northern Shan State. Her father was a famous
rebel chieftain who, through hard fighting and careful
negotiations with the British colonialists, managed to take
the throne as one of 33 independent rulers of mountainous Shan
State.
The young Hsenwi princess attended convent schools in the hill
stations of Maymyo and Kalaw. She loved her studies and vowed
to be a "modern girl" who would somehow escape the chains of
feudal marriage. But in 1937, at age 22, she was given in
marriage to Sao Shwe Thaike, the powerful ruler of Yawnghwe in
southern Shan State.
Forty-one-year old Sao Shwe Thaike had had two previous wives,
commoners who had both died of tuberculosis. Rumour held this
as a sign that only a true princess could live under the
seven-tiered roof of Yawnghwe Palace Whatever the case, the
Yawnghwe prince was impressed by his new wife's educated,
confident manner. One year later she was elevated to the
status of mahadevi, or Chief Queen.
For the first few years of marriage, the mahadevi settled into
the traditional life of a Tai ruling family. Some of this life
may be glimpsed by today's visitors to the Yawnghwe museum.
The museum is in fact the family's haw, or royal residence.
Construction of the haw was completed in the late 1920s. It is
a rambling structure built in the Mandalay tradition with
hardwood from the injin tree.
Sao recalls long days spent in her royal apartment, reading or
simply gazing from her second-storey window. At first she felt
isolated and defenceless amid the prince's extended family.
"But it wasn't so boring you would die," she laughs.
The royal family, which grew to include two minor wives and
twelve children, occupied three attached apartments, each
topped by a small altar room for private worship. The children
loved to sneak out the altar room windows and scramble across
the royal rooftops.
The family's living quarters opened onto the first of three
massive halls. The inner hall, today identified in English as
"the Inner Levee Hall", is where the palace's main Buddha
images were housed. It was accessible only to immediate family
members.
The middle hall is where the prince instructed his ministers
on the administration of the state. When delivering official
pronouncements he sat on a ceremonial gilt throne.
The outer hall, huge and sunlit, is where the prince's
subjects came to pay homage twice yearly, in April and
November. On these ceremonial occasions the Buddhist clergy
ascended to the hall via a decorative eastern staircase known
as the Dragon Stairs.
Ordinary people used a simpler stairway on the hall's north
side. Inside, they knelt before the prince and his mahadevi,
who sat side-by-side on gilt divans. The hall's impressive
throne was reserved for the palace nat, or guardian spirit.
The prince's subjects paid taxes to the state and were also
expected to bring offerings to the Homage Ceremonies. In
return they expected the ruler to provide education, health
care, justice, roads, and other basics. Princes who ruled
poorly faced endless popular rebellions and court intrigues.
Today the great outer hall stands eerily quiet. Once it rang
with the laughter of the royal children, who irreverently used
the place as their favourite playroom. They raced each other
from pillar to pillar and clapped their hands at the bottom of
the Dragon Stairs to hear the echo.
Beneath them, in the main floor offices, the prince and his
officials busied themselves with the daily tasks of
government. The administration of Yawnghwe principality was,
for the most part, fair and progressive, according to Sao. It
was also peaceful.
"If we had one murder a year, it was rare," the former
mahadevi says. Gradually, the lonely princess involved herself
in state affairs, becoming a respected voice for Tai unity.
During World War II, however, the main floor offices became
the domain of Japanese soldiers.
Prior to the war, the prince had served as a British Army
officer. "The British were paramount," explains Sao. Like the
Mandalay kings of old, their empire seemed indestructible.
But, just like the Mandalay kings" the British melted away
almost overnight in early 1942.
Sao Shwe Thaike gathered his family and fled to a maze of
canals and floating gardens that ring Inle Lake. They lived
for a time among the Intha fishermen, who are famous for their
ability to swiftly propel small boats by hooking one leg
around a single oar.
A ruler cannot remain in hiding forever, though. Eventually
Sao Shwe Thaike presented himself to the Japanese officers,
who were under orders to maintain a semblance of traditional
government in Shan State. The family returned to the haw,
where Sao remembers spending fearfilled days and nights on the
second floor listening to the comings and goings of the
Japanese soldiers below them.
During that time, Sao carefully hid a phonograph recording of
"God Save the Queen". The record was her eldest son Tiger's
favourite. When the stubborn five-year-old finally found his
record and put it on the gramophone, the entire family flew
into a panic. Despite their worries, the family survived three
years of Japanese occupation intact.
The war signalled the end of a way of life, though. The
British returned in 1945, but without a plan or commitment to
Shan State. In February 1947, Shan leaders gathered at
Panglong, where they decided to throw their lot in with the
emerging independent Union of Burma.
The date of signing, February 12, is still celebrated as Union
Day, and replicas of Panglong's commemorative Unity Monument
can be seen throughout Burma. Ironically, the real Unity
Monument is off-limits to tourists because it ties in a
so-called "black area" of continued civil war. In the old
days, too, unity was often just a surface concept. Anxious to
prove that their new country was multi-ethnic, in 1948 the
Burmese selected Sai Shwe Thaike as president, a largely
ceremonial position.
That year the family packed their bags for a new life in
Rangoon. There Sao Yawnghwe served as the First Lady and later
as a member of parliament for her birthplace, Hsenwi. Husband
and wife became outspoken proponents of the new democracy.
The princes of Shan State gave up their traditional powers,
although many went on to serve admirably in civilian
positions.
When the fledgling democracy crumbled on March 2, 1962, Sao
Shwe Thaike was a major target. The Burma Army surrounded the
family's Rangoon home and opened fire, killing Sao's
third-eldest son, Sao Myee. The president was hauled off to
jail, where he died on November 21. His remains were taken to
Yawnghwe to rest beside those of his son and his first wife.
One year later Sao gathered her children and fled to Thailand.
"I don't know why, but I was never afraid," she says.
Operating from Chiang Mai the exiled queen worked with her
second son, Tzang, to form a rebel army.
The Shan State Army (SSA), however, was soon swallowed into a
complex netherworld of opium smugglers and Cold War intrigues.
Alliances were made, deals were cut, and, in the end, Sao lost
control of her army. She left to join eldest son Tiger
overseas.
It is her role as rebel leader which has ensured Sao's era-
sure from official Burmese history. While her husband is still
recognised as a founder of modern Burma, Sao's own
considerable contribution is ignored. Photographs in the
palace-turned-museum feature the prince's first wife who died
of TB.
The only official reference to Sao is contained in a book
called "The Conspiracy of Treasonous Minions within Myanmar
Naing-Ngan and Traitorous Cohorts Abroad" (SLORC, 1989). The
book describes her as a traitor who "cajoled" students to
revolt and organised "civil servants and police and even
bandits and thieves" to fight against the government.
Today Sao Yawnghwe still hopes for a peaceful, free homeland.
Although she and her children live in scattered exile, they
are united in their attempts to restore democracy to Burma.
Sadly, with each passing year it seems increasingly unlikely
that she herself will see this dream fulfilled.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, night falls on Yawnghwe.
The haw's new guardians turn up their stereo to scare away the
ghosts of the past, echoing their government's fear that Sao's
dream still haunts the quiet waters of Inle Lake.
===== item =====
SLAVES CLEAR LAND FOR UNOCAL IN BURMA
May 11
Two weeks before Unocal executives will face shareholder
questioning at the company's annual meeting, the Bangkok Post
has reported of refugees entering Thailand to avoid forced
labor conscriptions clearing land for Unocal's pipeline.
Unocal is in a joint venture with Total of France and Burma's
State Law and Order Restoration Council regime. Unocal had
distanced itself from SLORC's widely reported slave labor
practices by separating the pipeline issue from construction
of the nearby Ye-Tavoy railway, which intersects the pipeline
route.
Now, the refugees charge, forced labor, illegal land seizures
and village destruction is being carried by SLORC directly
along the route of the Unocal/Total/SLORC natural gas
pipeline. "If the accounts given by the refugees prove
accurate, the number of villagers subject to forced labour on
the pipeline could be well into the thousands," writes the
Bangkok Post on May 7, 1995. In mid-1994, the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees in Thailand stated that it was
"likely that forced labour will be used on the pipeline."
The refugees' eyewitness accounts stand in stark contrast to
"Unocal in Myanmar (Burma)," a report sent to all
stockholders. Under the heading "Absolute Respect for Human
Rights," Unocal writes:
Allegation: Forced labor is being used to clear land
for the pipeline route.
Fact: This is definitely not true...We would never
allow such a thing...
Company assertions have come under fire. Unocal executives
admit that SLORC is in fact bringing seventeen battalions into
the region - 30,000 soldiers in all - via the railway.
Unocal's report to stockholders does not deny that this
railway is being built by forced labor. An estimated 160,000
Mon and Karen peoples have been forced to work on the railway.
Allegation: The pipeline construction project will be
supplied by a railroad that's being built by
forced labor.
Fact: There is absolutely no connection between our
pipeline construction and the railroad exten-
sion...What's more...we can strictly control
how roads and other infrastructure for our
project are built.
Evidently, Unocal has no control over the land clearing phase
of the pipeline project. A human rights worker told the
Bangkok Post that "SLORC has used forced labour in the
preparatory phases of several previous old developments before
foreign personnel were brought for the technology- intensive
phases of construction" according to the article. "That way,"
said Kevin Heppner of the Karen Human Rights Group, "the white
guys can say with a straight face that they didn't see
anything."
Unocal's report to stockholders continues:
Allegation: Villages along the pipeline route have been
depopulated and the residents forcibly relocated.
Fact: Our observers saw no such evidence.
Unocal's observers did not speak Mon, Karen, Tavoy, or Burmese
and were escorted by SLORC personnel. During helicopter
overflights, SLORC determined where Unocal was allowed to
land. Unocal's investigative methodology was sharply
criticized by a renowned Burma scholar at Rutgers University,
Professor Josef Silverstein, following a January 4 meeting
with Unocal.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the
sole customer of the natural gas, revealed another
contradiction in Unocal's rhetoric in an ad placed in the
Bangkok Post on April 18. The ad supplement stated that
"Myanmar has recently cleared the way by relocating a total of
11 Karen villages that would otherwise obstruct the passage of
the gas resource development project."
Refugees say that land clearing using slave labor began on
February 3, the day after Unocal, Total, the Thai Petroleum
Authority and SLORC signed a final contract.
The Unocal/Total gas pipeline is SLORC's largest foreign
venture to date. Numerous U.S. companies have withdrawn from
Burma amidst a growing awareness of Burma's struggle for
democracy -- Levi-Strauss, Amoco Oil, Liz Clairborne, Eddie
Bauer, Macy's. Numerous other companies refuse to initiate
business in SLORC-occupied Burma, and the Berkeley City
Council has passed a selective contracting resolution aimed at
eliminating contracts with firms involved in Burma. The
pressure is increasingly being focussed on PepsiCo, Texaco and
Unocal -- the most visible U.S. companies still doing business
in Burma.
SLORC massacred thousands of nonviolent demonstrators in 1988,
has held Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house
arrest since 1989, and was voted out of office in 1990.
Rather than cede power, SLORC imprisoned the parliament
members-elect and terrorized the student democracy movement.
Most of the students have left the country via the Thai-Burma
border or live in encampments there.
Unocal, meanwhile, still refuses to meet with leaders of the
Mon and Karen who own the land along the pipeline route, and
has yet to join The Burma Forum's call for an independent
investigation into the human rights situation in Tenasserim
Division. Unocal's president, John Imle, has dismissed this
effort by saying, "we conduct our own investigations."
At this point, Unocal is compelled to either ignore what the
refugees are saying or withdraw from the venture because of
the commitments made in the report to stockholders. The
report states, "we would never allow our activities anywhere
to be the cause of human suffering...If there were any
possibility that our project was connected with human rights
abuses, this would be absolutely unacceptable to us."
# # #
Note: The Bangkok Post article of May 7, 1995, is
entitled "Refugees Allege Slave Labour on
Gas Pipeline."
To contact EGAT concerning its role in the joint
venture, call 011-662-436-4824 (or 4884).
7-5-95/Bangkok Post
Thai, French and American oil companies, already under fire
for the Tavoy pipeline they are building in collaboration with
Burma's military regime, now face allegations from refugees
arriving at the Thai border of wide-scale slave labour
directly on the pipeline.
These are the first detailed accounts of slave labour on the
pipeline itself.
Previous allegations have focussed on the Ye-Tavoy railway
line, which is being built by tens of thousands of slaves, but
which the oil companies claim is not related to their project.
If the accounts given by the refugees prove accurate, the
number of villagers subject to forced labour on the pipeline
could be well into the thousands.
RELATED REPORTS
(See Sunday Perspective, 17,24)
"They took my field for our pipeline," says Kyaw Myint, one of
the refugees from along the Thai pipeline.
"They took my income. Before the pipeline, there was forced
labour, but it was possible to live. Now it (forced labour)
is all the time."
"Now, I cannot eat with my family openly and in peace. I
cannot sleep with my family openly and in peace. When they
see a man, they take him for labour. I had to leave."
Another refugee gives a similar account of the situation along
the pipeline route, saying: "When they (Slorc) ask for money,
I always gave. When they asked for forced labour, I went. But
in the night, the soldiers still come to take 'emergency
forced labour.'"
The natural gas pipeline is being built by French and American
oil-giants Total and Unocal, in partnership with Burma's
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc).
The sole consumer of the gas is the Electricity Generating
Authority of Thailand (EGAT) with pipeline construction on the
Thai side being done by the PTTEP (Petroleum Authority of
Thailand Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd), a
subsidiary of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.
Under the terms of a 30-year contract signed on February 2,
Thailand will initially pay the companies and the Slorc $400
million per year for gas pumped through Yadana field in the
Gulf of Martaban.
The pipeline will cut through 65 kilometres of land belonging
to members of the Tavoyan, Karen and Mon ethnic minorities in
Burma.
On February 2, in a ceremony held in Rangoon, representatives
from Unocal, Total and the PTTEP and the Burmese gathered to
sign a final contract. At the signing, J.M. Beuque, signatory
for Total, refused comment on allegations that the pipeline
would lead to human rights abuses, saying: "This is not the
time to talk politics, this is the time to celebrate."
At 6 a.m. the next day, land clearing using slave labour began
at a village called Hpaungdaw, claims refugees from the area.
According to the refugees, they were ordered to clear a
300-foot-wide right-of-way for the pipeline and accompanying
roadway, starting at the sea.
By the refugees' accounts, forced labour on the pipeline
consisted of cutting trees and vegetation, pulling stumps,
knocking down structures and breaking rocks.
The villagers claim that no one was paid and that workers and
their families had to provide their own food.
Laying of the pipeline is not scheduled to begin until later
this year or in early 1996, under the supervision of French
engineers.
By then, the forced labour phase of the construction is likely
to be over.
According to Kevin Heppner, a Canadian working with the Karen
Human Rights Group, the Slorc has used forced labour in the
preparatory phases of several previous oil developments before
foreign personnel were brought for technology-intensive phases
of construction.
"That way," claims Heppner, "the white guys can say with a
straight face that they didn't see anything."
The Burma Forum
Contact:Dr. U Kyaw Win
++(714) 432-5860
or ++(714) 831-2000
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SOME ARTICLES ON REFUGEES
ADELAIDE VOICES
Dec'94/Jan'95
EDITORIAL
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(by Dr U Ne Oo -- Dr U Ne Oo is a Burmese refugee campaigning
for human rights.)
The outflow of thousands of Hutu refugees from Rwanda pouring
into neighbouring Zaire has shed some light on thenature and
meaning of refugees: refugees are people who have fled from
persecution and violence.
Most of the refugee movements around the world and the
underlying rood causes for their flight, however, are not
necessarily as obvious. While the public media usually focus
on the most sensational aspects such as extremen violence, the
movements of 18.2 million refugees today are hardly as
newsworthy.
The public perception of refugees, in large measure, is that
they try to escape poverty and seek to enjoy asylum in richer
countries.
Such perceptions have little credibility when examining the
true statistics of poverty and refugees: there are more than
one billion people living in absolute poverty worldwide who
have not become refugees. Furthermore, most of today's
refugees reside in their neighbouring countries whose local
residents also live in poverty.
The root couses of the flights of refugees have been varied:
armed conflicts, generalised violence, gross and persistence
violation of human rights, repression of minorities and the
violence entailed in the breakdown of law and order.
There are anxieties in national governments that the granting
of temporary asylum and giving humane treatment to refugees
may encourage more refugees to enter their territory.
Furthermore, such alien populations are vilnerable to being
manipulated as scapegoats and targeted for persecution by
political groups which are seeking public support.
The national governments normally justified the inhuman
treatment to refugees as a necessary deterrent element. A
deprivation of food and basic necessities are often made as a
means to discourage the refugees' stay in their territory.
The international community therefore needs to give attention
to such incidents and advocate that the treatment to refugees
and asylum seekers be as humane as possible.
When refugees return to their home countries, the logistic
support of the international community is the most crucial
element in the success of such an operation. Since these
refugees usually return to an environment of continuing social
and political strife, ongoing moral support and attention to
their situation is necessary.
Successful reintegration programs require financial support.
The assistance to refugees in the repatriation programs is
normally inadequate an has often been described as "the
cooking pot and hand shake".
The financial support to rebuild the communities and life of
the refugees is useful not only for short term but also for
long term stability.
The community attitude to these refugee crises normally is
sympathetic, but lacks understanding of the underlying root
causes, such as human rights situations. It is therefore
necessary to support and join human rights organisations such
as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to help in
resolving the problems.
Only when human rights are respected in those refugee
producing countries, will there be an end to the refugee
problem.
/* -------------------------------------------- */
FLEEING IN FEAR
---------------
(by Dr Robyn Grove -- Dr Robyn Grove is external relations
officer with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees
in Sydney )
Mass migration and the movement of refugees are both a symptom
and a cause of the turmoil in the world today. It is estimated
that in 1994 up to 80 million people are on the move for a
multitude of reasons: as economic migrants, guest workers,
internally displaced persons who are the victims of conflict ,
famine or drought and refugees.
Refugees, currently thought to number 20 million, move for
very specific reasons which distinguish them from other
migrants. They flee from their homelands in fear of losing
their lives or liberty.
Today nearly 15,000 people a day become refugees; one in every
120 people in the face of the earth has been forced into
flight. Nearly four million people from the former Yugoslavia
have come to depend on international emergency assistance
since late 1991, when the horrific term "ethnic cleansing"
entered our vocabularies. One tenth of Somalia's entire
population is outside its borders, also kept alive by
international aid.
Half a million Liberians have received similar life-sustaining
assistance since 1990. New upheavals continue to drive out new
victims: last year 280,000 fled political repression in Togo;
500,000 were uprooted by the war between Armenia and
Azerbaijan; 60,000 from the clan-based struggle for power in
Tahikistan and 100,000 from ethnic strife in Bhutan.
In 1994, as the wourld watched in horror, two million Rwandese
fled genocide to become refugees. Those who do not cross the
borders of their country for whatever reason, are known as
internally displaced persons. They are currently numbered at
25 million.
The situation of the world's refugees is not entirely one of
unbroken gloom. Sometimes conflicts subside and it is possible
for refugees to return home and to pick pu the pieces of their
lives. In 1993, 3 million refugees did so, including inn our
own region, 360,000 Cambodians who had been living in exile on
the Thai border for more than a decade. Almost 2 million
Afghans returned home in 1993. Currently more than 1.3 million
Mozambicans are returning home from 6 African countries.
Meanwhile othefr solutions continue to be found for refugees
unable to repatriate. Significant - if much smaller - number
have been either to integrate permanently in the countries
where they first sought asylum or to resettle in third
countries where they have begun new lives.
The total number of refugees continues relentlessly to grow.
Teh international framework for meeting the needs of these
people, which includes the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is being stretch to meet
the new demands of larger and more complex refugee situations.
It has at its core a simple but powerful commitment: refugees
must be protected and helped towards a lasting solution to
their plight.
Today, the problems of refugees raise not only humanitarian
and human rights concerns but also fundamental issues of
international peace and security.
The four major root causes of refugee outflows are now well
known:
1. Politics
-----------
At base, this is persecution based on who a refugee is (race,
nationality, membership of particular social group) or what he
or she believes (religion or political opinion). Persecution
usually takes place in the context of fundamental political
disputes over who controls the state, how society organises
itself and who commands the power and privilege that go with
political control.
These disputes often erupt during periods of intense change,
when entire social classes or ethnic groups may be perceived
to hold political opinions in opposition to the state (the
professsional classes in Cambodia under Pol Pot or the Kurds
in Iraq under Saddam Hussein).
A recent and alarming trend is for the majority of the refugee
producing conflicts in the world to take places within states
rather than between them (Mozambique, Afghanistan, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Rwanda).
Weak states are especially prone to internal violence, lacking
as they often do, representative political institutions,
credible mechanisms for resolving conflicts peacefully,
impartial law enforcement or free elections.
The vast majority of refugees today, as in te past, are
fleeing not from targeted acts of individual persecution but
from generalised violence that endangers civilians and
radically disrupts everyday life.
2. Economics
-------------
Poverty inevitably compounds ethnic and communal tensions,
with minority groups often providing convenient targets. More
than one billion people worldwide live in absolute poverty.
Economic deprivation is a major factor in the instibility of
conflict situations which produce refugees.
When the conditions of dialy life, precarious to begin with,
are disrupted by war, the ensuing famine and disease often
become greater threats to the population then the fighting
itself (Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia).
3. Environment
--------------
Millions of people have been forced to leave their homes
because the land on which they live has become unihabitable or
is no longer able to support them. In some cases, the cause is
natural disaster; in others, the catastrophe is caused by
humans. The disruptin to habitat may be sudden (Chernobyl or
Mt Pinatubo) or as gradual as the spresding of a desert or the
retreat of a forest.
The terminology for describing enviranmentally induced
migration is controversial. People displaced by enviranmental
degradation or natural disaster need help, ideally from their
own government. They do not necessarily require the kind of
international protection implied in the word "refugee".
Occasionally, the destruction of habitat can equate with
persecution - if it occurs as the result of deliberate
governmental action or gross negiligence and no effort is made
to assist or compensate the victims.
In extreme cases, forexample in Iraqui Kurdistan, destruction
of a habitat may be used as a deliberate weapon of war.
Long-term strategies of prevention should address
environmental damege as a potential contributor to refugee
flows.
4. Ethnic tensions
------------------
Conflicts between ethnic groups have proliferated in recent
years. Armenia and Azerbihan, Bhutan, Burma, Ethiopia,
Georgia, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Sudan and former Yugoslavia are
examples. The 190 or so independent states currently in
existence contain at least 5000 ethnic groups. Predictably
they do not always live together harmoniously.
Ethnic tensions can be seen as a root cause of refugee flows
for two reasons. First, they are highly suspectible to
political exploitation. Second, in extremen nationalistic
regimes, a minority ethnic group can be seen as an obstacle to
nation-building, incapable of fitting into a hemegeneous
national identitu (e.g. ethnic Albanians and Bosnian Moslems
in conflict with "greater Serbia"). Members of the minority
group may be exposed to discrimination, forced assimilation,
persecution, expulsion or even genocide.
Coerced departure is a violation of the human right to remain
peacefully in one's home. In Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Myanmar, Gautemala and Rawanda, human rights violations -
enforced military conscription, arbitrary arrest, detention
without trial, torture, rape and murder - have been at the
core of major humanitarian emergencies.
The refugee's need for protection arises from the violation of
his or her rights combined with his or her home government's
failure to defend its citizens against such violations. This
failure by government is now frequently, and correctly, seen
as a threat to international peace and security.
The would's twenty million refugees are part of a complex
migratory phenomenon. Global migration proceeds across a
specturm of motivation ranging from those fleeing persecution
and serious danger, to those trying to escape misery and those
who wish to leave behind a lack of opportuinty.
The most privileged move for reasons of personal preference.
Others flee for their lives. The distinction between refugees
and economic migrants is most difficult to distinguish when
people flee from countries where poverty is perpetuated
through the political system.
The line between the voluntary migrant and the refugee is
often a fine one. Yet it is important for states to be able to
make the distinction in a fair and consistent manner so that
people who need asylum are granted it, and so that the
protection system for refugees is not overwhelmed with
economically motivated migrants.(ADELAIDE VOICES)
[Adelaide Voices is some kind of activist news journal which
most contributors found to be social justice/human rights
advocates. A copy of AV can be ordered from Adelaide Voices,
PO Box 6042, Halifax Street, South Australia 5000.]
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