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BurmaNet News April 8, 1996 #378
- Subject: BurmaNet News April 8, 1996 #378
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- Date: Mon, 08 Apr 1996 06:13:00
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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: April 8, 1996
Issue #378
Noted in Passing:
The government believes that, by bringing peace and
stability to the country through agreements with ethnic
minorities and improving the lot of the people, it has
gained more support. - Rangoon based analyst commenting
on the SLORC. (see THE ASIAN AGE: 90 POLL RESULTS
NO LONGER VALID)
HEADLINES:
==========
MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: DAW SUU'S LETTER FROM BURMA #20
LETTER: VISIT AUNG SAN SUU KYI SQUARE IN AMSTERDAM
THE ASIAN AGE: 90 POLL RESULTS NO LONGER VALID
ABSDF: FORCED RECRUITMENT LEADS TO A HIGH PRICE
BKK POST: COURAGEOUS SPORTS DAY
BKK POST: BPP OFFICER ESCAPES KAREN ATTACK
FEER: LAKE FOLLY
BURMA ISSUES: WHEN YOU'RE NOT WANTED
BURMA ISSUES: WELL ... THE GUNS MAY HAVE STOPPED
BKK POST: 8 REFUGEES FOUND WITH BAMBOO CHARGED
BKK POST: JAPAN PLANS TO HELP BURMA PREPARE STOCK EXCHANGE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: DAW SUU'S LETTER FROM BURMA #20
April 8, 1996 by Aung San Suu Kyi
THE WORLD OF LETTERS WAS U WIN TIN'S DOMAIN
"A Special Introduction"
Four leading members of the Executive Committee of the National League for
Democracy have already been introduced to readers of "Letter from Burma."
This week I would like to make a special introduction, to make known to the
people of Japan the only member of the original Executive Committee of the
NLD who still remains in prison today: U Win Tin.
Unlike U Aung Shwe, U Kyi Maung, U Tin U and U Lwin, U Win Tin, born in
1930, was never a member of the armed forces. The world of letters was his
domain. Even before graduation from university he had begun to work for the
Burma Translation Society in the capacity of assistant editor. In 1954 he
became advisory editor to a Dutch newspaper company. This was the beginning
of a long career in journalism which culminated in his appointment of the
Hanthawaddy, one of the leading dailies of Burma.
The years during which U Win Tin was chief editor of the Hanthawaddy were
years which saw the consolidation of the Burmese Way to Socialism.
Progressive restrictions were placed on free speech and expression but a
handful of writers and journalists quietly persisted in preserving their
right to intellectual freedom. In 1978, a paper critical of the Burmese Way
to Socialism was read at the "Saturday Reading Circle"of which U Win Tin was
a leading member. As a consequence he was dismissed from his job and the
Hanthawaddy newspaper was shut down by the authorities. For the next decade
U Win Tin earned his living as a freelance writer and translator.
It was only natural that those who believed in intellectual freedom and
justice should have been at the vanguard of the democracy movement which
began in 1988. From the beginning U Win Tin played an active role in the
Writers' Union that emerged during the early days of the movement. In
September 1988, he became one of the secretaries of the executive committee
of the NLD.
His undoubted ability and his strength of purpose made U Win Tin a prime
target of those who opposed the democratic cause and in June 1989 he became
one of the very first leaders of the NLD to be arrested. The charge against
him involved an unproven telephone conversation with the father of an
individual who had been declared a fugitive from the law. Telephone
conversations are, in any case, inadmissable as evidence under the law but
the law offers scant protection for those who challenge military rule in
Burma. Immediately after his arrest, U Win Tin was kept without food and
interrogated about his activities in the democracy movement. It appeared
that the interrogators wished to force him to admit that he was my adviser
on political tactics, in other words, that he was my puppet master. A man
of courage and integrity, U Win Tin would not be intimidated into making
false confessions. In October 1989, he was sentenced to three years
imprisonment. In June 1992, a few months before his prison term was due to
expire, he was submitted to another farcical trial and sentenced to an
additional 11 years in jail.
U Win Tin is little given to talking about himself. As secretary and
general secretary he and I worked together on an almost daily basis from the
time the NLD was founded but it was several months before I discovered,
quite by chance, that he was a bachelor who lived alone and managed his own
household chores. Soon after he was sentenced in 1989, the lease on the
state-owned flat where he had been living for many years was cancelled and
friends had to move his possessions out of the apartment.
U Win Tin's whole demeanor conveys such an impression of firmness, few
people are aware that he suffers from a heart condition that requires
constant medication. The long period spent in prison where medical care is
inadequate and living conditions abysmal have aggravated his health problems.
When U.S. Congressman Bill Richardson saw him in February 1994 U
Win Tin was wearing a neck support: spondylosis has been added to his
afflictions. He was also in need of dental treatment. But his mind was as
clear as ever and his spirit upright and unwavering. In the full knowledge
that his every world would be reported to the authorities, he commented on
the National Convention that had been arranged by the SLORC with his
customary incisiveness and sent me a message of strong, unequivocal support.
Now U Win Tin is facing the serious possibility of a third sentence
superimposed on the two that have already been slapped on him. Since
November 1995, he and 27 other political prisoners have been charged with
breaking prison regulations and their trials are taking place within the
jail precincts. The families of the defendants have asked senior members of
the government, the Chief Justice and the Attorney General to be allowed to
provide the legal assistance entitled under the law. An answer is not yet
forthcoming.
*******************************************************
LETTER: VISIT AUNG SAN SUU KYI SQUARE IN AMSTERDAM
April 7, 1996 (excerpts)
My best Happy Easter Greetings to all friends of Burma as well as a successful
Burmese Thingyan and New Year to come.
Spring has just begun in Europe, when I was walking along the downtown of
Amsterdam with the aim in mind to protest solo in front of the Heineken
brewery, which is doing dirty business with one of the world's most repressive
military dictators known as "SLORC". Heineken beer becomes bloody, when
the brewery began to do dirty business with the blood-stained military
rulers of Burma. The Burmese inside and worldwide as well as the international
friends of Burma refrain from buying the bloody beer as a token of protest
against the Heineken-Slorc collaboration.
My imaginations on Heineken's collaborations with the Burmese military junta,
the military junta's collaboration with the drug-traffickers and vice versa were
suddently stopped, when an Amsterdam policeman offered his service to help me
somehow. I told him that I was looking for the Heineken Square and he accompanied
me. When we were at the destination, to our great surprise while we were looking
in all four directions, there was not a single street sign with 'Heineken Plein' to
be seen (Plein=Square in English). The poor policeman insisted that this place
is definitely the Heineken Plein. But on all four sides of the square, there
were only 'original' street signs with "Aung San Suu Kyi Plein".
Later it was learnt that on a sunny day of the Spring beginning in 1996, the
"Netherland Friends of Burma"( NFB ) came over to the Heineken Square
and renamed it Aung San Suu Kyi Square as a symbolic protest against
Heineken's greedy involvement in dirty business with the repressive military
junta of Burma. Media coverage was great on the following days. The NFB
even suggested the City Council of Amsterdam to accept the name officially
in honour of the Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The democratic
supporters are delighted to congratulate the NFB on the unique idea.
Do visit Aung San Suu Kyi Square when you are in Amsterdam!
In Solidarity,
Nwe Aung / Germany
******************************************************
THE ASIAN AGE: 90 POLL RESULTS NO LONGER VALID, SAYS
BURMESE JUNTA
April 8, 1996
Bangkok, April 7: Burmas military rulers are gambling on economic
gains of recent years helping to erase memories of political repression
and boost chances for their supporters in future elections, analysts say.
A two-part article on Friday and Saturday in Rangoons state-run news
papers suggested the 1990 elections, won overwhelmingly by pro-
democracy Opposition, could no longer be considered valid. Voters
view as well as the composition of the electorate had changed since in
the interviewing six years and "must be taken into consideration," the
article said.
"The government believes that, by bringing peace and stability to the
country through agreements with ethnic minorities and improving the
lot of the people, it has gained more support," a Rangoon-based
analysts said on Sunday.
Last month, the NLD asked the SLORC to convene a legislature based
on the 1990 ballot - a request rejected in the officially-inspired
article in Burmese press.
"No constitution is in force. No legislature has been continued either.
With which constitution is the legislature to be convened? The election
were held in 1990. It has been nearly six years since," the article said.
Some observers expect the Union Solidarity and Development
Association groups set up around the country in the past two years as a
broad-cased social organization to play an increasingly political role.
The party hold mass rallies supporting the governments military
policies and projects and could, in the view of some, turn into a
political power base for the SLORC.
USDA groups hold mass rallies supporting government/military
policies and projects and could, in the view of some, turn
into a political power base for the Slorc.
"But if elections were held now, the NLD would still win,"
an analysts said. "Public sentiment still lies with the pro-
democracy opposition."
**********************************************************
ABSDF: FORCED RECRUITMENT LEADS TO A HIGH PRICE FOR
SUBSTITUTION
April 8, 1996
>From <caroline@xxxxxxxxxx>
Slorc has been systematically recruiting youngsters into its army
and increasing the armed forces from 200,000 to an eventual 500,000
troops under arms. Forced recruitment is being commonly practiced
and has resulted in a doubling of the price for a substitute. It now takes
10,000 kyat, up from the earlier price of 5000 Kyats.
Slorc's army bases in the township ordered the wards or villages
in the township to supply youth for recruitment by quota. The village headman
or local ward leader has to send the quota either to the local township LORC
or directly to the bases. According to private Naing Win (BC. 862213) from
Loikaw-based LIB 250 who recently defected to the KNPP, Slorc demanded
eight youths from each ward in his native Myingyan township. His younger
brother, studying at school, was selected by lottery but he decided to enlist in
the army himself to replace his younger brother.
Another defector, Zin Min Thein (BC.963956) from Loikaw-based LIB.72 also
revealed that he was forced to join the army while he was living at Minyard
Ward, Pa Daung township, Pegu division.
Many students are selected through the lottery system. In order to avoid their
being drafted into the army, their parents have to find and pay a substitute
person, for between 5,000 and 10,000 kyats. Not only are no allowances made
for a youth's lack of physical strength or experience, young recruits, in many
cases, are deliberately placed in danger. The casualties among the youthful
new recruits are so high that finding a substitute for any money has
become difficult. "Those who neither find a substitute nor enlist in the
army face six months imprisonment," said Naing Win.
Recently, an order to supply three young recruits from each ward
in township for LIB. 517 based in Shan State's Mine Pun was issued.
Similarly, five hundred new recruits were demanded in Loikaw township for
the military bases in Loikaw.
*********************************************************
BKK POST: COURAGEOUS SPORTS DAY
April 7,1996
Andrew Bruce covers the sports day to honour the war-injured
Karen fighters, victims from an independence and democracy struggle.
The mornings are bitterly cold. The mist is thick. You can barely see
the other end of the football field. Sounds are more distinguishable
and they tell you there is a crowd with a difference gathering today.
The site is Mae La Refugee camp, 60 km north of Mae Sot on
the Thai-Burma border. The residents of the camp are mostly
Karen refugees _ forced to move from their villages because of the
policies of the Slorc (State Law and Order Restoration Council) government.
The crowd is a hundred or so men _ amputees and the blind,
victims from an independence and democracy struggle that has
continued for 47 years and taken many lives.
Most of the men have only one leg, some have lost both.
Today is a commemoration for these men. It will be
celebrated as a sports day. The players _ the war-injured.
The spectators _ the able bodied refugees the victims fought to protect.
First off is football. The spectators are amazed at how
quickly the men move with the ball. Suddenly a man sits down
near the ball. What is he doing? He quickly adjusts the
straps of his roughly made prosthesis _ some wood, metal
leather and scraps of old car tyres.
Another has lost his leg completely. He has to hop to fetch
it. The growing crowd applaud in the spirit of the game.
With long hair and a bandana, Saway Htoo, 32, is a favourite
in the volleyball. In 1992 he stepped on a Slorc landmine.
His serve is strong. "I am afraid to go back to Burma. I am
uncertain when there will be true peace."
Drawing the largest crowd is the high-jump. Everyone is in
awe as to how you can jump over a bar with only one good
leg. Even the faces of the competitors look puzzled at the
task in front of them. Most eventually choose a style
resembling a hurdler more than a high jumper.
But the men who won the crowds favour and the event was Doo
Loo, 26. Doo Loo took his prosthesis off to hop over the
bar. He managed to clear 134 cm. "I lost my leg stepping on
a landmine while fighting four years ago. I will not return
to Burma until we have peace and freedom."
I wonder how many of these men lost their legs due to the
insanity of landmines. By the end of the day most
competitors have received a prize. Everyone agreed it was a
successful day. The respect for these men for what they had
suffered was enormous.
For me the respect comes from the fact that the event was
held. The camps are meant to be zones of security for
displaced people. Yet the camps continue to be terrorised by
the Slorc-backed DKBA (Democratic Karen Buddhist Army) rebels.
In the past few months this small army has burnt down camps,
robbed, kidnapped and murdered many people. All on Thai
soil. There are spies in every camp.
It is no wonder that many of the refugees are cynical of the
current peace negotiations between Slorc and KNU (Karen
National Union). Even with a signed treaty there is little
hope of a guarantee of a safe return to their villages.
Despite this current black atmosphere today was a testimony
of hope. Like the cold mist of the morning disappearing with
the rising sun the spirit of the refugees is able to clear
the bleakness and offer a strong sense of community. (BP)
**************
BKK POST: BPP OFFICER ESCAPES KAREN ATTACK
April 8, 1996
A Border Patrol Police officer narrowly escaped injury after
coming under machine-gun fire while driving close to the
Thai-Burmese border in Tha Song Yang District yesterday.Pol
L/Cpl Thanapong Parnkaew later told his immediate superior
he suspected members of the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army were responsible for the attack.
Two bullets pierced the body of his truck but missed him. He
said he accelerated after realising he was being shot at.
Police reinforcements were later sent to the scene of the
attack in Ban Mae La, but the gunmen could not be
located.Mae La villagers told police rebels have changed
from robbing villagers to attacking and robbing passing
cars. They said four or five rebels slipped across the
border into Ban Mae La Yang last Thursday night but were
driven back by village defence volunteers.
******************************************************
FEER: LAKE FOLLY
April 11, 1996
AS hotels go in Burma, Rangoon's Strand is an easy sell.
Built in 1901, it's all ceiling fans and potted palms,
redolent of Conrad and Kipling, Maugham and Orwell - a gem
in a bejewelled necklace flung across colonial Asia at the
turn of the century by the legendary Sarkies brothers. After
a makeover that cost $13 million, it's rooms sport
burnished brass and exposed teak, four poster beds and
marble bathrooms equipped with porcelain pedestal sinks.
Then there is the Inya Lake Hotel, which was built by the
Russians in 1961 in exchange for a boatload of rice. Until
two years ago, it was run by the government. Then New World
Hotels International of Hong Kong took over the management.
Until Burma's recent opening to the West (such as it is), its patrons
were mainly holiday-makers from former Iron Curtain countries.
The hotel, sitting on 15 hectares fronting the Inya Lake, is
described uncharitably in one guidebook as "ratinfested." A
plump American matron sitting by the pool ventures that "it
might have been a hospital once."
It never was - thought it does have that look about it. Its
slab cement sides are unadorned. A single wing of the 239-
room hotel is 95 metres long, producing endless corridors
that resemble mine shafts. The cavernous lobby is backed by
an equally cavernous dining room that looks as if it emerged
from some Soviet planner's socialist dream. "Two years ago,
we were the only hotel in town," says Manfred Keiler, who
was picked by New World to manage the Inya Lake. "There was
no need to be the best."
But don't count it out. Like the Strand, the Inya Lake is on
the move. Most of a $9 million face-lift has been completed:
The dining room's vast walls are freshly painted, the teak
parquet floors exposed and burnished to a high shine, the
plastic trees glistening. The rats have been driven out
after what staff members say was a vicious but ultimately
victorious campaign. Bilious pastel carpeting has been
removed from the hallways to expose the teak beneath.
Twelve suites at the ends of the wings are being converted
from their previous vaguely Bulgarian decor to reflect more
native origins. More than 700 Burmese employees have been
trained to deal with demanding guests; they are supported by
13 expatriates.
Still, it remains the Inya Lake, not the Strand. The
differences also extend to price. Sue Reitz, the Strand's
general manager, happily contemplates a waiting list that
was two months long over the lunar new year. That despite
the fact that her rooms start at $275 a night and ascend to
a stratospheric $750.
The Inya Lake's Keiler has a view across the lake of the
well-guarded estate of Ne Win, Burma's former dictator,
suspected by many to be still running the country behind the
scenes. The hotel's rooms go for a more reasonable, but
still high, $105-280 a night. Occupancy is during Rangoon's
wet season, it is expected to fall as low as 20%.
(The energetic German-born Keiler at one point thought of
putting boats on the lake for his guests. The government
quickly stopped that idea, supposedly because of fears that
someone might try a waterborne invasion of the aged despot's
home. Legend also has it that a particularly boisterous
party at the hotel was once brought to an abrupt end when Ne
Win stomped into the ballroom and kicked over the band's drum set.
For all its refurbishment, the Inya Lake still has the air
of a locomotive adorned with tail fins. It does boast a kind
of outre charm that might appeal to travellers bored with
the sometimes sterile, too perfect service offered by Asia's
five-star wonders. And, in the dusk, strolling along the
newly installed jogging track beside Ne Win's lake, it's
easy to mistake the guests for Slavic holiday-makers from
somewhere behind the Iron Curtain, and imagine vacations the
way they once were when the East was still red. (FEER)
******************************************************
BURMA ISSUES: WHEN YOU'RE NOT WANTED, WHERE DO
YOU GO ... HOME?
March, 1996
from brelief@xxxxxxx
by Alice Davies
A report by Professor Abrar, of the University of Dhaka,
investigates the continuing repatriation of the Rohingya
refugees from Bangladesh. He deals with the root causes of the
refugee problem, the treatment of refugees by the Government
of Bangladesh (GOB) and the actual repatriation
Leaving aside the questions, also briefly addressed, posed by
MSF France and Holland of whether or not the repatriation is
voluntary and taking both a legal and a liberal approach,
Professor Abrar argues that 'a marginal improvement in the
human rights abuse situation', which caused the Rohingyas to
flee and be classified as refugees, 'does not mean a change in
circumstances', the necessary criteria by which the UNHCR
may divest them of their refugee status.
He then lists the three elements, under international law,
specific to defining 'change in circumstance', these being: 'a
relative calm', 'a substantial political change which is truly
effective' and 'a durable change in circumstances'. Taking a
legalistic view, he argues that defacto executive authority
remains in the hands of the oppressors, but, under a more liberal
interpretation, states that recent SLORC decisions to
discontinue forced labour, payment for communal labour and
the suspension of relocation of villages indicates major steps
forward in human rights practices.[see also The Guns May
Have Stopped..., this issue]
Yet, Arakan Forum, January 1996, reports that 'Inflation leaves
Burmese families with nothing to eat' and details an attack on
Meewa village, Kyauktaw township, on the 23rd of August
1995. There, a pregnant woman and one who had given birth
two days before were shot at point blank range. Five other
women, two old men and 7 children were also shot.
Professor Abrar voices the concerns of the UNHCR that neither
they nor UNDP are involved in the reintegration program (only
WFP is involved in the area) and that economically anchoring
the people in a region that is economically depressed is crucial.
He also cites this as a reason why the GOB was so anxious to
repatriate the refugees - their negative impact on the local economy.
In summary, he argues that, 'given the peculiar history of the
Rohingyas within the Myanmar Union, the unresolved question
of their citizenship [particularly as many lack identity, their citi-
zenship papers stripped from them by SLORC soldiers, when
they crossed the border] and associated discrimination as a
national minority over the last hundreds of years, the Myanmar
government's perception of them as 'illegal immigrants' and a
possible concomitant implicit national agenda of driving them
out to their 'home' country (ie Bangladesh) make it a
compelling case that any opportunity to send them back to
Myanmar by ensuring their personal safety is to be availed.
Delay in their repatriation would only weaken these people's
rights to live there and further complicate their claim to land
and homes ....The denial of Bangladesh authorities to open
schools and income generating activities in the camps only
reflects their firm determination to accept the refugees as a tem-
porary phenomenon...'
Which way to go? Where?...Home?
Finally, the Professor writes that the UNHCR, possibly mindful
of donor fatigue, states that 'the improvement in the human
rights situation in Arakan, its presence in the region and its
access to returnees to monitor protection matters...[believes this
is]... the right time to promote repatriation in an active way.'
Sources:
Arakan Forum, January 1995
C.R. Abrar, Repatriation of the Rohingya Refugees, University
of Dhaka 1995
******************************************************
BURMA ISSUES: WELL ... THE GUNS MAY HAVE STOPPED
March 1996
from brelief@xxxxxxx
by CAC
Despite the June 1995 cease-fire between SLORC and the New
Mon State Party (NMSP), conditions for villagers in the Ye -
Tavoy area continue to worsen and people continue to flee the
area. This is primarily due to increasing demands for forced
labour on the Ye - Tavoy railway construction. SLORC has
apparently sped up its schedule for completion of the railway
and slightly changed its strategy. In the 1994 - 95 dry season,
SLORC focussed almost all forced labour on one stretch of the
railway, instead of the whole line. As a result, the southernmost
twelve mile stretch from Tavoy to Yepyu was officially
'completed' in May 1995. SLORC is now employing this
strategy to other portions of the line. For example, on the 20th
of November 1995, villagers in Ye Township were suddenly
informed that they were to complete the entire 18 mile stretch
from Ye to the Tenasserim border in only 15 days. Much more
intensive calls for labour - whole families, rather than one
member per household - occurred right at harvest time, forcing
families to risk losing their entire rice harvest. Another result of
this strategy is that some villagers have to travel l00 - 200 kms
to work, rather than taking assignments on the nearest section of
the line. At least l/3 to l/2 of the labourers are women and
children, either because SLORC has demanded several people
from each family, because it takes a whole family to complete
the work quota in the allotted 15 days, or because the men stay
at home to harvest the family's rice crop.
SLORC claims that labourers on the railway are paid -- but
there is no evidence to support this. Villagers even have to
provide their own food and tools. Anyone who cannot work
must pay 3 - 4000 kyat to SLORC, or hire someone to replace
them for 700 - 2000 kyat. There are some itinerant day
labourers, both in the villages and at the worksites, who are
willing to be hired. As a result, it is true that some people are
being paid for their work but the payment comes from other
villagers, not the military. It appears that the Railway Ministry
officials on site have cash budgets, which may be intended to
pay labourers, but the Ministry officials simply hand this money
over to the local army battalions, as payment for guarding the workers.
SLORC has also increased the rice quotas being confiscated
from farmers by up to 55% this year, from 2 to 10 tins per acre.
SLORC pays only 70 kyat per tin, while the market price is
now 410 kyat per tin. This increase is caused in part by the need
to feed the expanding army and, in part, to support the 500 %
increase in rice exports from Burma this year, projected at 1.2
million tonnes for 1996. This export increase is intended for the
military's profit and international public relations advantage,
but it is causing an extremely serious rice shortage throughout Burma.
Rice prices have doubled in many areas and people are
subsisting on rice soup or are starving. Traders from coastal
towns in Southern Burma are even coming to hard - pressed
Mon revolutionary areas looking to buy rice
At the same time, as SLORC continues to send more military
force into the area, forced labour at army camps and extortion
of money from villagers continues to increase. Many new bat-
talions are being sent in to secure Total and Unocal's proposed
natural gas pipeline from the Gulf of Martaban to Thailand.
Troops protecting the area are now extorting 'gas pipeline fees'
from all the villages in the area, including villages 15 - 20 km
north of the proposed route. The cost is 150 kyat per month per
family and villagers are threatened that anyone who does not
pay, has to go for 3 days of forced labour on the pipeline survey work.
Under the terms of the cease-fire between SLORC and the
NMSP, SLORC is supposed to cease taking all forced porters
and porter fees from villages. Villagers confirm that all these
things continue, at least as much as before the cease-fire.
SLORC has answered all NMSP's complaints by stating that
porters are being collected by Township LORC's, not by the
army and that this is acceptable, because only the army is bound
by the cease-fire terms.
Refugees continue to flee their villages to the Thai border. Due
to the cease-fire agreement, the Thai government now plans to
force all Mon refugees back to Burma by May 1996. There
continue to be very serious concerns for their safety once back
in Burma. The UNHCR is negotiating with SLORC to try to
have a presence on both sides of the border to monitor the
repatriation. SLORC is unlikely to grant permission and even if
it does, UNHCR's behaviour in Arakan State and Bangladesh
has made it clear that UNHCR is more interested in helping the
governments involved to whitewash a forced repatriation, than
it is in protecting returnees.
Source:
Ye - Tavoy Area Update, KHRG #96-01, 960105
**************************************************
BKK POST: 8 REFUGEES FOUND WITH BAMBOO CHARGED
WITH ILLEGAL ENTRY
April 7, 1996
Eight refugees have been charged with illegal entry after they
were found returning with bamboo cut in a nearby forest.
They were arrested in mid-February on the main road alongside
their camp in Mae La, Tak.
The five men, including three aged 60, and three women, one with a
baby aged 19 months, were detained by Tak officials with nine
lengths of bamboo they intended to use to repair their homes.
The adults were handcuffed and taken by pick up truck to the Mae
Tan police station. They were transferred to Mae Sot jail two days later.
Seven of the refugees were charged on March 15 with illegal entry
and sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 13 months, said
a relief worker.
Hser Mu, 14, the youngest of the group, was released as she was
considered to be under -age.
"However," the NGO official said, " she was taken by a policewoman to her
house to work in the laundry shop because she had no money."
Local Interior Ministry officials, with Karen Refugee Committee
members, later traced Hser Mu to the work place and secured her release.
She returned to the camp with some pay late last month after
working 11 days in the laundry shop.
One of the women, identified as Ma Khin, 26, and her husband are
among the seven still in jail.
The couple's 19-month-old daughter is being taken care of by
friends at the camp.
Of those jailed, four men were reported to have been transferred
to Tak prison late last month.
"This is the first time in 12 years that refugees involved in
camp activities have been arrested," said the relief worker.
Some 92,000 Burmese who fled Rangoon's military offensives are
now in border camps and the Defence Ministry has said they can
stay until it is safe to return.
*****************************************************************
BKK POST: JAPAN PLANS TO HELP BURMA PREPARE STOCK EXCHANGE
April 7, 1996
Agence France -Press Rangoon
The Myanmar Economic Bank [MEB] and Japan's Daiwa Institute of
Research are to set up a joint venture to prepare for a stock
exchange in Rangoon, the New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday.
The two have signed a contract to establish the Myanmar
Securities Exchange Center Co, Ltd, a joint venture to "assist in
building the infrastructure and in implementing related
functions" pending the opening of a stock market, the paper said.
The stock exchange , to be formed with technical assistance from
Daiwa, will play a key role in developing Myanmar economy,"
Finance and Revenue Minister Brigadier Win Tin was quoted as saying.
He suggested it would help attract foreign investment to Burma,
which is officially known as Myanmar.
Each party is to provide half the basic investment in the joint
venture which is to issue, sell and buy security certificates as
well as serve as an agent and consultant in preparations for the
exchange, the paper said. It gave no details.
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