The BurmaNet News: September 16, 19

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The BurmaNet News: September 16, 1998
Issue #1097

HEADLINES:
==========
BBC: INTERVIEW WITH AUNG SAN SUU KYI 
WASHINGTON POST: BURMA CRACKDOWN 
EMBASSY OF MYANMAR: RESPONSE TO WASHINGTON POST 
DVB: BURMESE MONKS STAGE SILENT PROTEST IN TAVOY 
BBC: MILITARY ARRESTS ANOTHER 81 IN BURMA 
THE NATION: SUU KYI A BAD MOTHER, SAYS BURMESE JUNTA  
SCMP: PIPE DREAMS BECOME NIGHTMARE FOR THAILAND 
JAPAN TIMES: RESPECT FOR DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT URGED 
ANNOUNCEMENT: "YELLOW FLOWERS FOR DEMOCRACY" CAMPAIGN 
****************************************************************

BBC: INTERVIEW WITH AUNG SAN SUU KYI
9 September, 1998 by Than Lwin Tun 

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: This interview was conducted over the telephone in
Burmese.  The text came to BurmaNet with the indicated passages already
omitted.]

[Than Lwin Tun]  Can you explain something about the arrest situation today?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  Concerning the arrests, the restrictions and arrests of
National League for Democracy [NLD] members began on 27 June. The latest
arrests began on Saturday [5 September]. Altogether 189 People's Assembly
delegate-elects were either arrested, detained, or restricted while more
than 300 NLD member are currently being detained.

[Than Lwin Tun]  Do you think that the NLD's plans to convene parliament,
as the military government thought, are shattered by these arrests?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  You cannot say that.  This is an attempt [by the
government] to stop us from convening the parliament.  We will try to do
what we have promised to the people in any way we can.  I want to say
something regarding this matter.  The authorities said in one article in
the papers that a parallel government will emerge with the convening of
parliament and no government will tolerate such a parallel government.  It
also said all these prohibitions and restrictions were imposed to prevent
further arrests and undesirable events.  What I would like to ask is what
do they mean by a parallel government?  Do they mean that we have the
authority like a parallel government?  As for us, we have the mandate of
the people who voted for us and whether we convene the parliament or not we
will still have the authority as a parallel government.  The formation of a
parallel government is another matter.  If they are afraid of a parallel
government they can ask us about it.  They do not need to make any arrests
or impose restrictions.

[Than Lwin Tun]  All right.  In this case can you explain to us the
objective for convening the parliament?

Aung San Suu Kyi]  Our objective for convening the parliament is to fulfill
the people's desires.  A democratic nation will not emerge if you cannot
fulfill the desires of the people.  The SLORC [State Law and Order
Restoration Council] and now the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council]
has repeatedly said that they are heading toward a democratic nation.  To
bring about a democratic country, the first step is to implement the
results of free and fair elections.  How can a democratic nation emerge if
you skip the first step.

[Than Lwin Tun]  The problem now is, the military government cannot accept
the convening of parliament while your side is going ahead with the
convening of parliament.  This is surely heading toward a confrontational
course.  Whose side do you think should concede?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  Well regarding a confrontational course, I will clearly
say that the authorities are on a confrontational course.  They say that
convening parliament will bring about a parallel government and fearing
this they are preventing it.  It is very clear, if they fear a parallel
government then why don't they conduct a dialogue instead of detaining them
[the MPs].

[Than Lwin Tun]  Then, don't you have any intention of forming a government?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  There may or may not be an intention.  We have not
discussed it yet.  These circumstantial arrests are illegal.  You cannot
arrest a person without any evidence or proof or out of resentment.  The
governmental authorities' arrest of NLD members with the assumption that
they might form a parallel government is totally illegal.

[Than Lwin Tun]  Do you see any prospect on their part to hold talks?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  So far, I do not see any prospects.  When they met our
chairman recently [NLD Chairman U Aung Shwe meeting with SPDC Secretary-1
Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt], they used the term confidence building.  They said
they want to build confidence but so far nothing has been done to build
confidence.  [passage omitted including indistinct portion]

[Than Lwin Tun]  What is the NLD's opinion on the reaction of the Burmese
people regarding the current situation?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  The Burmese people's reaction is clear. The majority
want the parliament to be convened.  Even the parties of the nationalities
endorsed the NLD's call for parliament. During recent protests we heard
that the students were shouting slogans about convening the parliament.
The majority know that the convening of parliament is an unavoidable path
to be crossed for the emergence of a democratic state.

[Than Lwin Tun]  I would like to take this opportunity to ask you about the
students.  The students protested because of their dissatisfaction over
examinations.  But reports show that some students took the examinations
while some did not.  What is your opinion on that?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  [passage omitted on students protests and university
examinations]

[Than Lwin Tun]  Students-led demonstrations occurred in 1988. Given this
situation, does the NLD have any plans to take a leading political role?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  We will carry out our political tasks as we should.  We
are not a party that exploits the students.  It is very encouraging to know
that the people and the students accept our aims and objectives.  We are
not a group that exploits the students.

[Than Lwin Tun]  We heard that there will be an NLD Central Executive
Committee meeting today.  What will be discussed?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  We see most of the NLD executive committee members here
daily.  We review the daily situation, hold talks and do what we have to do.

[Than Lwin Tun]  Do you think any NLD Central Executive Committee members
will be arrested?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  We do not know that yet.  We are reviewing the daily
situation.

[Than Lwin Tun]  Well, what about the arrest of MPs from the other allied
nationalities parties.

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  Yes.  They have arrested U Saw Mra Aung, the leader of
Arakan League for Democracy who is already 80 years old.  [passage omitted
including indistinct portion]

[Than Lwin Tun]  Is it true that U Khun Tun Oo [chairman of Shan
Nationalities League for Democracy, SNLD] has been arrested?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  As far as I know U Khun Tun Oo has not yet been
arrested but his secretary has.  We did not hear that U Khun Tun Oo has
been arrested.  If he has been arrested lately I wouldn't know.

[Than Lwin Tun]  What I would like to ask you now concerns personal attacks
against you.  For example, the news that since you have taken British
citizenship you should be deported back to Britain.  What do you wish to
say about that?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  I never answer such questions.  If they want to know
whether I am a British citizen or not, why don't they ask Britain directly.
 I hold no other citizenship except Burmese. Why don't they ask Britain
about it together with proof.  That is why I don't entertain such
questions.  Their personal attacks against me have gone too far.  I don't
care what they say or that they criticize me personally.  I ignore them.
It is important that they should try to solve political problems
politically.  Our side has never made any personal attacks against any SPDC
members and we don't have any intention to do so in future.  We never do
such degrading acts.

[Than Lwin Tun]  You must have heard about international reactions to the
situation and arrests in Burma?  What would you like the international
reactions to be?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  I would like the world community to firmly stand by the
United Nations resolutions on Burma.  The UN resolutions have clearly
indicated that the people's wishes as expressed by the results of the 1990
elections must be fulfilled and a dialogue must be held with the NLD.  I
would like to tell the international community that they should strictly
urge the Burmese authorities to adhere to the UN resolutions.

[Than Lwin Tun]  Well, is there anything that you wish to tell the Burmese
people?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  I would like to just say very briefly, what Thakin Ko
Daw Hmaing [renowned Burmese poet laureate] said -- the important time has
arrived and we need to be united.  I would like to say that we all need to
work unitedly to achieve democracy. Another thing is do not live under
fear.  We must be free from fear.

[Than Lwin Tun]  Thank you very much. 

****************************************************************

THE WASHINGTON POST: BURMA CRACKDOWN
14 September, 1998 

Editorial

WITH THE ECONOMY deteriorating and its political control slipping, Burma's
military regime has responded in the only way it seems to understand --
with more repression. Some 700 members of the National League for
Democracy, including 194 elected members of parliament, have been detained
in recent months, many in the past week. Some, including an octogenarian,
were rousted from their beds. The regime says the democrats were "invited"
into custody so the regime could "present the government's view." Even
before the latest roundup, three elected members had died in custody, and
scores more were being held in often deplorable conditions.

Burma -- or, as the current regime calls it, Myanmar -- is a Southeast
Asian nation of 46 million people with great natural wealth and beauty, a
strategic location and a tragic modern history. In 1990, its military
rulers permitted a parliamentary election, which they lost overwhelmingly
to the National League for Democracy. They never have permitted the
parliament -- which is Burma's only legitimate government -- to meet.

Just last month a commission of the International Labor Organization
concluded after a yearlong study that Burma's regime -- in particular its
military -- engages in forced labor on a massive scale. This "gross denial
of human rights" involves pressing women and children to walk ahead through
suspected minefields, build roads and perform other dangerous and unpaid
tasks. Resistance is met with torture, rape, beatings and murder.

At the same time, because of the regime's incompetence and increasing
isolation brought about by U.S. economic sanctions, Burma's economy is
declining rapidly. The World Bank recently declared the country ineligible
for new loans because it has not repaid past ones, a signal to other
lenders to steer clear, and is reconsidering a loan to neighboring Thailand
for a power plant that would depend on natural gas from Burma.

Students recently staged their largest demonstration in years, despite
obvious risks, and Buddhist monks have protested and been arrested. Instead
of the dialogue requested by the democrats, the regime responds with more
arrests. The United States has spoken out clearly against the regime. Japan
and Burma's neighbors in Southeast Asia should likewise make clear that
more repression can only increase Burma's isolation. 

****************************************************************

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR, WASHINGTON DC: RESPONSE TO WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL 
14 September, 1998 

EMBASSY OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR, WASHINGTON,  DC 

PRESS   RELEASE      13 /  98  		14  September 1998

Myanmar Embassy's Response to The Washington Post

It is a sad commentary of our times that The Washington Post (Editorial,
September 14), chooses to trash Myanmar, notwithstanding the political and
legal maelstrom that imperils the White House.  While Americans are busy
worrying about whether the President can avoid  impeachment or survive,
unimpeached  in an increasingly untenable situation, the Post flies off on
a tangent and devotes an entire editorial column to denigrate Myanmar. This
attempt to deflect attention from the growing crisis at home makes a
statement about how the US is failing to live up to the high standard
expected of it.

The Post does a great disservice to its readers by not checking facts
before rushing to decry the "crackdown" in Myanmar. Had the Post bothered
to follow up on the allegation that some 700 NLD members have been detained
in recent months, it could have easily ascertained that the charge is
baseless and that it is nothing but a ruse to ratchet up pressure on the
government. By now everyone familiar with the tactics of the opposition
groups must realise that they are not adverse to exaggerating figures to
suit their ends. In 1996, they claimed 300 were detained; last year 400;
this year 700. The figure keeps growing by geometric progression. When will
the deception end? The fact is no NLD member has been arbitrarily detained
or charged with a crime in recent days. Let alone being dragged from bed in
the middle of the night. What may have prompted the government's detractors
to raise a hue and a cry is that some NLD members were recently invited to
government guest-houses to discuss matters relating to the unlawful attempt
of that party to unilaterally convene a parliament. It's not hard to
imagine what would happen if each of the 10 registered political parties in
Myanmar decided to take such measures unilaterally.

The Post errs in stating that the military lost to the NLD in the election
held in 1990. The fact is that the military which was compelled to assume
the reins of state in September 1988 following the breakdown of civil order
in the country, responded  to the expressed wishes of the people by
bringing to an end nearly three decade of socialist rule. It did not
contest the 1990 elections. Rather, as the only organized entity in the
nation, it acted as an arbiter.  [BurmaNet Editor's Note: The military,
then known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), backed
the National Unity Party (NUP) in the elections.  The NUP won 10 (2%)
seats; the NLD won 392 (almost 81%).]

>From the outset the military has been striving to fulfill the aspirations
of the people for a democratic society. It abolished the single-party
system and allowed the formation of political parties.  It promptly
replaced the centrally-planned economic policy of the past, with
market-oriented policies and sought foreign direct investment.

The Post conveniently forgets that it was the military that proceeded in
1990 with its plan to allow the Myanmar people to elect representatives to
participate in the government's proposed National Convention to draft a new
constitution. That was what the elections were for and not to form a new
government as a NLD and its supporters in the West now claim. It should be
recognized that Myanmar had no constitution at all at that time.

Out of the 235 political parties that sprang up in 1988 only 93 were able
to field candidates in 1990. A fact often overlooked by the West is that
Aung San Suu Kyi was herself not eligible to stand for elections.

The allegation that the Myanmar Government engages in forced labour on a
massive scale is spurious. The fact that a commission of the ILO ritually
concludes that something is amiss in Myanmar based on stories fed to those
sitting in Geneva does not necessarily make it so. Reports of recent
visitors to Myanmar stand in stark contrast to tales disseminated by those
who have an axe to grind.

As regards the economy, Myanmar like others in the region has not been
immune to the financial crisis. However, it has been able to shield its
economy to a large extend because it is not yet linked to the global
economy as some of its ASEAN partners and because it has always favoured a
prudent policy of self reliance. True, the World Bank recently declared the
country ineligible for new loans because it has not repaid past ones. But
has the Post stopped to ponder why Myanmar, which has been faithful in
meeting its repayments to IDA up until very recently, decided to suspend
the further repayments? The answer lies in the attitude adopted by the
major shareholders vis-a-vis Myanmar. All loans to Myanmar have been
suspended since 1987. The Bank's reason for suspension of lending was a
determination that Myanmar was unwilling to modify the highly distortionary
economic policies that the Bank concluded created an environment in which
external aid resources could not be efficiently utilized. Even though
Myanmar has now opened its doors and the situation has changed, the Bank
has not revised its stand. This is due not to technical difficulties
between the Bank and the Myanmar Government but to the US policy blocking
loans to Myanmar from all international financial institutions, including
the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) and the Asian
Development Bank ( ADB ).

In the circumstance, the Myanmar Government took a decision to postpone
repayment on outstanding loans until the World Bank treats Myanmar like
other members and resumes lending. The amounts involved are not significant
and Myanmar hopes to resume the payments sooner rather than later.

Unilateral sanctions have never been successful and the case of US
sanctions against Myanmar is no different. The slack created by the
departure of US investors has been taken up by others from the ASEAN and
Europe. US ranks only fifth on the list of foreign investors. All that US
sanctions have accomplished is to deprive Myanmars working in textile mills
and tourist- related industries of their livelihood.

It is indeed odd that the Post should be seeking to take issue with the
Myanmar Government at a time when the entire world is focusing on the
President's moment of reckoning. Surely, it is time to stop demonizing the
Myanmar Government and come to grips with reality. 

****************************************************************

DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA: BURMESE MONKS STAGE SILENT PROTEST IN TAVOY 
10 September, 1998 by Htet Aung Kyaw 

It has been learned that following demonstrations by monks in Mandalay in
Upper Burma, sporadic demonstrations by monks have been reported in various
towns in the country.  About 300 Buddhist monks staged a silent march and
demonstration and made it appear like their daily alms collection round at
1500 in Tavoy, Tenasserim Division, in southern Burma. According to reports
from Tavoy, it appeared to be a joint undertaking by young monks from
various monasteries and authorities did not attempt to disperse the monks.
The monks dispersed at about 1630 and returned to their respective
monasteries.  It was reported that in the evening, members of Kyant Phut
[derogatory abbreviation for Union Solidarity and Development Association]
and Fire Service were dispatched to guard the monasteries.  It was learned
that the [military] intelligence is taking action against the monks for
assembling without proper authorization and there have been some arrests.
It was also learned that there was a problem between monks and authorities
in Palaw.  However, details of the incident are not available. It was
learned that the monks were protesting against the directive from the
divisional religious affairs department which prohibits monks from
activities other than clerical affairs. Divisional authorities have been
sending food and medicines to monasteries to prevent participation of monks
in political unrest. The demonstration took place despite these bribes.

****************************************************************

BBC: MILITARY ARRESTS ANOTHER 81 IN BURMA 
15 September, 1998 

The military authorities in Burma have detained a further eighty-one
members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) over the past
four days.

The party's vice-chairman, Tin Oo, told the BBC that almost eight-hundred
opposition activists, including nearly two-hundred MPs, have now been
detained since the army began its latest round of arrests in May.

The military authorities say the detained NLD members are invited guests
staying at government guest houses.

Tin Oo repeated the NLD's call for the convention of parliament in
September. (The NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 elections but the
military ignored those results and said the country needed a constitution
before a parliament could be called.)

****************************************************************

THE NATION: SUU KYI A BAD MOTHER, SAYS BURMESE JUNTA 
15 September, 1998 

Agence France-Presse

RANGOON -- Burma's junta unleashed a volley of criticism at opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday, saying she was a bad mother and not even
a Burmese citizen.

The Nobel peace laureate should be deported, said a commentary in the
official Mirror daily, a Burmese-language organ of the junta. It said the
junta should take action against the National League for Democracy (NLD)
leader "once and for all".

"This is not only my personal wish but the ardent desire of all parents, as
well as the people," said the commentary, by a writer identified only as "a
mother".

Burmese women traditionally devote their attention to looking after their
families and should continue to do so, it added.

"In keeping with this tradition, Myanmar women have little time to dabble
in politics," it said.

"We were totally discouraged when she started to make trouble, disrupting
school examinations, and we began to wonder why the authorities were being
so magnanimous such a trouble-maker.,"

"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, alias Mrs Michael Villiancourt Aris, who is a
foreigner with pretensions to being a citizen, is blatantly causing
trouble" it said, warning that if the government took no action "it will be
like looking on with arms folded at the suffering of the people".

The junta frequently cites Suu Kyi's marriage to Briton Michael Aris as
evidence she is not committed to Burma. Aris and their two children live in
Britain.

The British Embassy yesterday denied Suu Kyi was a British national.

"We wish to make it categorically clear she is not, and never has been, a
British citizen," it said in a statement.

However, the charge was repeated yesterday in another junta organ, the
English-language New Light of Myanmar daily. Dual nationality is illegal in
Burma.

"Mrs Michael Aris, a Myanmar citizen, became a British subject out of her
own wish," it said in another signed commentary. Signed commentaries
supposedly reflect personal opinions but the ones in Burma's tightly
controlled media are widely believed to reflect official opinions.

"It is no wonder that with her reliance on the West, she is now engaged in
subversive acts to undermine the sovereignty of Myanmar and hand the
country's independence over to the West bloc."

****************************************************************

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: PIPE DREAMS BECOME NIGHTMARE FOR THAILAND 
13 September, 1998 by Matthew Sherriff 

DURING its four-year construction, the 346-kilometre Thai-Burmese Yadana
gas pipeline has rode out many controversies. There have been accusations
of forced labour and forced displacement of villagers; military
intervention and killings in Burma; outcries from environmentalists and
human-rights advocates; alleged cover-ups; and law suits against prime
ministers and governments.

Now that the pipeline is completed and ready to take natural gas from Burma
it has entered a new phase of controversy, this time over an equally
emotive issue - money.

Thailand faces a US$87 million payout for gas it cannot receive because two
of its government agencies, locked in a "pay-or-take" contract with the
project's consortium, mis-timed the completion date of the pipeline.

A spate of environmental protests and court actions convinced many involved
in the project, including the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) and the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), that the 17 billion
baht (about HK$3.22 billion) pipeline would not be completed by its
mid-1998 deadline.

But it was. The last pipes, which connected the natural gas to the
Ratchaburi power station, south of Bangkok, from Yadana gas field, about
240 kilometres south of Rangoon in the Gulf of Martaban, were laid in July.

Caught on the hop, the PTT - courtesy of Thailand's taxpayers - is now
paying for its complacency to the tune of an estimated 23 million baht a day.

Although the pipeline is completed, a deliberate delay by Egat in
installing two 200 megawatt turbine generators at its Ratchaburi plant
means Thailand is not ready to receive the amount of gas originally agreed on.

Egat delayed the installation because it thought the pipeline would not be
completed in time. Now, it said, the generators would not be ready until
early next year.

The "take-or-pay" contract with the Yadana consortium - led by French oil
giant Total - committed the PTT to taking, and paying for, at least 65 mcfd
(million cubic feet a day) of gas on completion of the pipeline.

Because the Ratchaburi plant is not finished, it can take only 10 mcfd,
while paying for the unused 55 mcfd.

The 30-year gas sale contract commits PTT to start taking initial delivery
of an average of between 65 and 325 mcfd of natural gas. This amount would
increase to 525 mcfd about 15 months after pipeline installation.

According to its own previous estimates, the PTT must pay $81.57 million to
the Yadana consortium because it will fail to take the full contracted
natural gas supply within five months of the agreed starting date for gas
purchases.

The figures are based on the price it must pay the consortium regardless of
whether or not it takes delivery of the gas, plus interest on loans for the
gas-pipeline project.

The estimates were made last year by the PTT when the project was held up
by protests and court actions over its construction in the Kanchanaburi
Forest National Park.

Now the pipeline has been completed - and on time - the PTT has insisted
the only loss incurred would be payment for the gas received and interest
on undelivered gas.

It said it was seeking to "reinterpret" the contract to minimise possible
cost damage for taking a smaller delivery than agreed.

This comes despite earlier claims by PTT governor Pala Sookawesh that the
agency could not change the "established deal".

Reinterpreting the contract has come too late, according to law expert
Panas Tassaneyanont, former dean of Thammasat University's Faculty of Law.

He said the move should have been made while construction of the pipeline
was under way.

The enormous loss facing the government has reactivated protests over the
pipeline.

Prominent social activist Sulak Sivaraksa has initiated court action
against three prime ministers, including incumbent Chuan Leekpai, and he is
campaigning internationally against the project's builders for human-rights
violations and environmental damage.

Mr Sulak said the three politicians and the PTT had violated environmental
laws.

Foreign consortium members, French oil giant Total and Unocal, have been
targets of groups opposing the Burmese junta's human rights record and its
crackdown on democracy campaigners.

Last year, a self-proclaimed Burmese government in-exile filed a lawsuit
against Unocal for human rights abuses allegedly arising from its
participation in the project.

Mr Sulak said a large number of Burmese had been forced to work and were
killed while building the pipeline.

The pipeline has also suffered attacks by anti-Rangoon forces. In 1995,
five members of the Yadana pipeline route survey team were killed and 11
wounded in Kanbauk.

****************************************************************

JAPAN TIMES: RESPECT FOR DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT URGED 
11 September, 1998 by Tomoko Shibuya 

Myanmar Activists Lacking Japan's Support

Since Aug. 13, Thaung Myint Oo has spent most of his time standing outside
the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. Like a dozen others, he has
given up his job to join a demonstration against the country's military junta.

Some protesters have taken ill from standing in the rain, but he is
determined to continue.

"Our individual problems are nothing compared to the future of Burma,"
Thaung Myint Oo, 30, said, holding up a picture of prodemocracy leader and
1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. "We want to let the
people back home know that we support them and remain active even when we
are abroad."

Prodemocracy activists like Thaung Myint Oo insist on referring to their
nation as Burma, the name used until the State Law and Order Restoration
Council seized power and officially changed it to Myanmar in 1989.

After the junta stopped Suu Kyi's car on a bridge near Yangon for the
second time last month, Myanmar activists in various countries-including
Thailand, Australia and the United States-renewed demonstrations against
the military government. The ongoing demonstration in front of the Myanmar
Embassy-which they plan to continue until at least Sept. 18, the 10th
anniversary of the junta's rule-is one of the longest and largest-scaled
protests by these activists in Japan.

"The Burmese prodemocracy movement here is at a 10-year peak, " said Aung
Thu, the publisher of Voice of Burma, a Tokyo-based weekly newsletter. "It
may not bring a big change, but it is giving awareness to other Burmese
residents as well as the Japanese people." According to the Myanmar
Embassy, about 10,000 Myanmar people reside in Japan today, most of whom
have overstayed their visas.

About 150 have been openly vocal about seeking political freedom in their
country.

A Myanmar shopkeeper in Tokyo, who asked not to be identified, said that
many other Myanmar people also support the movement but cannot afford. to
be vocal because they are concerned for their families back home.

To coordinate movements by the activists, four organizations of Myanmar
expatriates - including the Japanese branches of the National League for
Democracy (Liberated Area ) and Burma Youth Volunteer Association - have
recently formed a joint action committee.

The Voice of Burma has also witnessed an expansion in its readership from
some 300 copies when it was founded in 1995 to almost 800 copies today,
according to Aung Thu.

Japanese have also begun to show more interest in the movement. The number
of members in the People's Forum on Burma, a Japanese nongovernmental
organization backing the Myanmar activists, doubled from about 100 in 1996
to 200 this year.

Despite the increasing momentum, however, Myanmar prodemocracy activists
here continue to face difficulties.

Last month, three activists who resided in Japan and once led pro-democracy
groups here changed their stance to support the junta and returned to their
native Myanmar.

Win Naing, who in 1992 became one of the first Myanmar refugees to be
granted political asylum in Japan, reportedly lauded the junta for making
efforts to pursue the country's interests and for obtaining membership in
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Aung Thu argues that their change in attitude is unlikely to affect other
Myanmar people in Japan. "Most Burmese here consider them traitors. Many of
us continue to support the prodemocracy activities. "

An even more serious problem for the activists here is their lack of rights
and freedom due to their legal status.

Japan has only granted refugee status to four Myanmar citizens between 1990
and 1997, compared with 390 in the United States, 110 in Germany and 30 in
France, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Eighty-seven such applications to Japan are still pending.

Japanese lawyer Shogo Watanabe, who has been supporting the Myanmar
activists, criticized Japan's rigid system of granting asylum, saying it
has added tremendous stress to the prodemocracy activists. "The current
system is not made to support refugees but to deport them back to where
their lives would be threatened."

An official of the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau said that the
ministry examines each application without prejudice.

But some critics including Watanabe suspect that Japan's political and
diplomatic relations with an asylumseeker's home country heavily influence
the government's decision. Japan, they argue, is reluctant to provide
asylum to those from countries that maintain friendly ties with Tokyo.

Despite protests from human rights groups, the Japanese government in March
partially lifted its ban on official yen loans to Myanmar and extended Y2.5
billion, citing "emergency" repairs to Yangon's international airport. Such
loans had been suspended since 1988 following the military crackdown on
prodemocracy movements.

Watanabe also insists that Japan improve its treatment of refugee-status
applicants. In some countries, such as Australia, asylum-seekers are
usually granted special rights when they apply for refugee status allowing
them to work legally and obtain various benefits, including health care,
while awaiting a government decision, he said.

But in Japan, they are treated as illegal residents and deprived of the
legal right to work or have health insurance.

Some activists have even been detained. A 26-year-old Myanmar prodemocracy
activist who arrived in Japan in March has been kept in the East Japan
Immigration Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, despite his application
for refugee status.

"I didn't commit any crime nor did I do anything wrong (against) the
Japanese government, but I have been detained for over five months," said
the activist, who confessed he is already exhausted, both physically and
mentally. "If I get deported, the Burmese government will kill me
immediately. I just need to stay here until my country restores peace and
democracy."

Thae Thae Eiswe, 19, feels the human rights of many Myanmar people are
abused in Japan.

"The Japanese (government) treats us like criminals. But they should
understand that we wouldn't be here if only Burma was democratic."

There are, nevertheless some signs of improvement. Last Tuesday, the
Justice Ministry for the first time provided a special stay permit to a
Myanmar man whose application for refugee status was denied.

The permit will make his life much easier, providing him the legal right to
stay and work in Japan as well as gain national health insurance for
several years.

But Aung Thu claims the permits are still different from refugee status.
"Our lives will be easier, but politically unsatisfactory," Aung Thu said,
adding that they will still face restrictions when they try to travel
abroad, for example.

Watanabe agrees: "If you consider Japan-Burma relations in the long run,
the Japanese government needs to drastically change its asylum-granting
system to treat Myanmar prodemocracy activists with respect."

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ANNOUNCEMENT: "YELLOW FLOWERS FOR DEMOCRACY" CAMPAIGN 
14 September, 1998 

BURMESE WOMEN'S UNION & ALTSEAN-BURMA PRODUCE 'YELLOW FLOWERS' FOR
DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGN

The Burmese Women's Union and Altsean-Burma have produced postcards and
badges to support the democracy movement's call for supporters to use the
colour yellow as an expression of solidarity.

The postcards which depict yellow flowers are produced for supporters to
post to

* government officials in Burma and overseas to show support for the
Peoples' Parliament
* to friends around the world to ask them to join the campaign

The badges are produced for people in Burma and around the world to wear to
show their (silent) support for the Peoples' Parliament.

Campaign packs (20 postcards, 5 badges in each) are available from Sept. 18
at the cost of US$ 7 each including postage for friends outside Thailand.
This price will subsidise  the cost of sending materials into Burma.

To order these packs pls contact <altsean@xxxxxxxxxx>

For other information, pls email <bwunion@xxxxxxxxxxxx> or
<altsean@xxxxxxxxxx>.

-------------------------
APPEAL TO THE WOMEN OF BURMA AND OF THE WORLD

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said:

"Democracy is a civil administration, in which people are holding many
responsibilities. Responsibility and rights cannot be divided. We should
understand the responsibility of democracy if we want the rights of
democracy."

Dear Women of Burma and Sisters around the World,

"People" includes the multi-ethnic women of Burma. It is time that women,
who form more than half the population, make a clear stand for peace and
democracy. It is time for all of us to act.

Women in rural areas are suffering from forced portering, forced labor,
forced relocation and rape perpetrated by the military regime. In the urban
areas, women suffer from the results of recurring economic and social
disasters. Everywhere in Burma, women face a life rapidly deteriorating
under the military dictatorship.

Dear Sisters,
The National League for Democracy's repeated calls for dialogue to solve
Burma's problems peacefully have been ignored by the regime. The NLD led by
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has also called for the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) to convene the Parliament by 21st August, 1998 and this too,
has been ignored. It is time for all of us to give whole-hearted support to
the movement which is working for a safe and secure future for Burma.

We have a special way to show this support without being confrontational or
exposed to great danger. The democracy movement has called on people to
wear yellow to show their desire for a Peoples' Parliament. We would like
to request all Women of Burma and their supporters to wear something yellow
- clothes, ribbon, hairpins, flowers or the campaign badge until democracy
is restored. Please do this - it is an opportunity for all women to support
our country.

Yours in solidarity,
Central Committee Burmese Women's Union September 1998
----------------------------------- 
A L T S E A N - B U R M A Alternative Asean Network on Burma Tel: 66 2 275
1811 * Fax: 66 2 693 4515 <altsean@xxxxxxxxxx>

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