[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

NEWS Focus - Myanmar Papers Seek Su



Focus-Myanmar Papers Seek Suu Kyi Deportation

            Reuters
            08-SEP-98

            YANGON, Sept 8 (Reuters)- Myanmar's state-controlled
newspapers
            on Tuesday called on the military government to deport
opposition
            leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying she was a foreigner trying
to
            destabilise the country. 

            The call came a day after Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy
            (NLD) said the authorities had detained 110 of its members
since
            Sunday in a move to prevent the party from calling a
"People's
            Parliament." 

            A commentary carried in the Myanmar-language Myanmar Alin
(Light
            of Myanmar) and Kyemon (Mirror) newspapers was attributed to
"an
            advocate." 

            It accused Suu Kyi of trying to destabilise the country and
said her
            marriage to an Englishman made her a foreigner. Her husband,
            Michael Aris, is an academic. 

            "Therefore I would like to request the government most
humbly on
            behalf of the entire people to issue a deportation order for
Daw Suu
            Kyi...," it said. 

            State newspapers usually closely reflect government
thinking. Last
            month an article suggested Suu Kyi's deportation, but
Monday's article
            was the strongest direct call for it. 

            On Monday a government spokesman confirmed that authorities
had
            detained an unspecified number of NLD members and said they
            would take "appropriate action" against Suu Kyi and other
NLD
            leaders if they stuck to their vow to convene a parliament. 

            The NLD made the vow as the military has refused to
recognise the
            results of the country's last general election eight years
ago, which the
            party won by a landslide. 

            The NLD said those detained included 50 members who won
            parliamentary seats. 

            The newspaper commentary accused Suu Kyi of creating unrest
since
            1988. 

            The charismatic Suu Kyi emerged as the main opposition
leader that
            year at the height of nationwide uprising for democracy
which the
            military crushed killing thousands of people, according to
most
            independent estimates. 

            The military held her under house arrest for six years from
1989. In
            1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her courage
in
            standing up to military rule. 

            The newspaper commentary accused Suu Kyi of "brazenly
violating
            the independent sovereign power of Myanmar" by discussing
its
            internal affairs with the U.S. and British embassies. 

            It said Suu Kyi was not a Myanmar citizen as she was married
to an
            Englishman and Myanmar law did not allow dual nationality. 

            In addition, she had failed to register the births of her
sons with the
            Myanmar Embassy or to pay Myanmar taxes on income earned
            abroad, although she had declared income while in India to
the British
            Embassy, it said. 

            "In view of this, it is evident that Daw Suu Kyi is a
British citizen," it
            said. 

            "The prevailing laws in Britain allow its citizens to have
dual nationality.
            Section 16 of the Myanmar Citizen Law (1982) does not allow
            Myanmar citizens to have dual nationality. 

            "It is clearly prescribed in Section 16 that the citizenship
of a citizen
            ceases when he leaves the country for good or when he is
naturalised
            or registered in another country or when he gets a passport
or similar
            document from another country," it said. 

            The article also blamed rises in prices of consumer goods on
Suu
            Kyi's confrontational policies. 

            "People are becoming frightened and panic that the situation
will
            become like in 1988 as the foreign broadcasting stations are
            broadcasting their instigations," it said. 

            Amid the standoff between the government and opposition in
recent
            weeks, university students, who led the 1988 uprising, have
staged
            their biggest protests in years at their campus grounds.