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The BurmaNet News: October 27, 1998



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: October 27, 1998
Issue #1126

HEADLINES:
==========
AP: UN ENVOY TO HOLD TALKS IN MYANMAR 
MIZZIMA: TRAFFICKING WOMEN -- INDO-BURMA BORDER 
XINHUA: MYANMAR EMPHASIZES ON UNITED NATIONS' ROLE 
ASIAWEEK: HIGH ROLLERS IN YANGON 
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AP: UN ENVOY TO HOLD TALKS IN MYANMAR 
26 October, 1998 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- A special United Nations envoy is coming to Myanmar
for talks this week with the military government.

Alvaro de Soto, an assistant U.N. secretary-general, will make a four-day
visit beginning Tuesday. The office of the U.N. Development Program, which
coordinates the agency's activities in Myanmar, did not release details.

De Soto last visited Myanmar, also known as Burma, in January in a failed
effort to facilitate a dialogue between the ruling State Peace and
Development Council and Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National
League for Democracy.

Relations between the government and the opposition deteriorated afterward,
with the military increasing its repression of the pro-democracy movement
and Suu Kyi's party increasing its challenges to the government's legitimacy.

The junta seized power in 1988 after violently suppressing demonstrations.
Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in 1990 parliamentary elections but
the military refused to yield power.

The United States, other Western counties and groups such as Amnesty
International say the junta is responsible for human rights abuses. The
U.N. Human Rights Commission has sought to encourage reforms in Myanmar. 

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MIZZIMA: TRAFFICKING OF BURMA'S WOMEN ACROSS THE INDO-BURMA BORDER
25 October, 1998 

India's Northeastern States of Manipur and Mizoram are bordering with
Burma's western states such as Chin State and Sagaing Division. The two
Indian states are naturally affected by the consequences of the lack of
political and economic stability of its neighbour. Heroin use and HIV
epidemics are now two of the alarming problems in these two states due to
cross border spread of both heroin and HIV from Burma. An estimated 50,000
refugees from Burma, mostly Chins and Kukis, are taking shelter in the two
Indian states due to economic turmoil in their homeland.

Women and girls from Burma occupy not less than half of the total refugee
population in India. They leave their native places to find jobs for better
earning in the borders of the country. In the process of looking for jobs
and reorganizing their lives, many women and girls from Burma end up in sex
industry in neighbouring countries. There are well-documented reports of
international human rights organizations like AsiaWatch on trafficking of
Burmese women into Thailand as sex slaves.

However, unlike in Thailand, the trafficking of Burmese women and children
into India is not yet documented. There is no governmental or
non-governmental organization working on the border on this particular
problem. According to Ms. Lalparmawii, Superintendent of Protective Home,
which is under the Social Welfare Department of Mizoram Government, most
commercial sex workers working in the state are Mizos originating from
Burma. Most of them come to Aizawl, capital of Mizoram, in search of work
in homes, printing presses, tea shops, hotels, restaurants and various
other establishments. Others are divorcees and girls from poor families.
These women enter the profession due to poverty, family maladjustment,
mental problems and emotional problems.

Women and girls from Burma are occasionally found among the detainees in
the Protective Home. They usually hide their own identities and get
registered with the Home as Indian citizens. Otherwise they will be charged
with the additional offense of entering India illegally. Between 1993 and
1998, there were 10 women and girls from Burma out of total 138 detainees
in the protective Home. They were mostly from Tahen and Falam townships of
Burma. At the time of our interview with Ms. R. Lalnunmawii, social worker
from the Protective Home, there was one girl from Burma being detained at
the Home. The girl, 15 years old, was caught in Silcher in Assam State by
the local police, suspected to be working as sex worker. She along with two
others were sent to the Home while the case against her is pending in a
local court. (Working as sex worker is illegal under the Immoral Traffic
(Prevention) Act of 1986 in Mizoram State). The girl is from Chin Division
of Burma and her father died when she was nine. She stayed with her mother
at a border town and lived by selling vegetables. Later, she entered into
Mizoram and worked as maid in a home of a local Mizo. She was persuaded by
another woman to go and work in Silcher. Even though she denied being a sex
worker, the police and officials believed that she was a sex worker. She
will be detained at the Home up to one year in which period, she will be
reformed "as the skills-equipped training such as tailoring and weaving
courses are given". Then, she will be sent back to Burma through the
border. "Usually they come back to Mizoram and continue working as sex
workers. None of those women and girls who were sent back to Burma actually
did not reach their homes", said Ms. R. Lalnunmawii from protective Home.
In Silcher, GMC Hotel, Comfort Hotel and Aradhana Hotel are known for
keeping commercial sex workers. Mizoram Welfare Department along with local
police often raid the hotels and Burmese were occasionally found. The girls
get 200 to 600 Rs. per day depending on the clients.

Similar to Mizoram State, Burmese women and girls working in sex industry
of Manipur State is not yet documented. According to local NGOs working in
de-addiction and rehabilitation field, there is almost no record so far on
trafficking of Burmese women and girls across the border even though it
definitely exists in different ways. In Tamu township of Burma, which
borders with Moreh of Manipur State, there are 5 to 6 places where sex
workers are available. These places are functioned by bribing police and
military in the township. Due to poverty, women and girls from cities of
Burma such as Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing come to the border town. Some of
them occasionally cross the border up to Imphal, capital of Manipur State.

One of the alarming problems of Burmese sex workers in Mizoram and Manipur
State is the HIV/ AIDS menace. In our interview with a doctor from
Salvation Army in Mizoram State, people from Burma are among the first who
were found with HIV. IV drug users and sex workers occupy the category of
high possibility of being infected with HIV/AIDS. At least one or two
people from Burma are found among the twenty HIV-patients who come to the
clinic of Salvation Army in Aizawl, Mizoram State.

>From MIZZIMA News Group, Tel/Fax : 0091 11 711 5491. 

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XINHUA: MYANMAR EMPHASIZES ON UNITED NATIONS' ROLE 
24 October, 1998 

YANGON (Oct. 24) XINHUA - Myanmar has said that there is no organization in
the world better suited to promoting economic and social progress than the
United Nations (U.N.).

The remarks were made by Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and
Development Council Senior General Than Shwe in his message, which was read
by Myanmar Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw at a ceremony to commemorate the
53rd anniversary of the U.N. day here Saturday.

The message said it is crucially important for the nations of the world to
follow the path of sustainable development, adding that the prospect for
sustainable development in today's world has been affected not only by the
current economic crisis facing a number of countries, but also by the rapid
and continuous degradation and dwindling of the natural resource base
around the globe.

In regard of human rights, the message said: "we are of the view that
accepted norms of human rights should be promoted through cooperation and
consensus building."

"Our concept of human rights is based on our own values, traditions and
cultures. We believe that the right to development, the right to decent
food, clothing and shelter, the right to live peacefully and in security
are of paramount importance for the developing countries like Myanmar," it
said.

Myanmar has been a U.N. member since April 1948. 

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ASIAWEEK: HIGH ROLLERS IN YANGON 
9 October, 1998 

Myanmar is considering building more casinos. The Andaman Club resort on
Thahtay Kyun Island at the southernmost tip of the country, which caters
almost exclusively to Thai high-rollers coming from nearby Ranong, is
already in place. A second casino, being built by Thai business interests,
is planned for another border town, Tachilek, in the north. And another may
possibly appear in the capital, Yangon. Plans are apparently afoot to use a
building adjacent to the Nawarat Concorde Hotel, which is said to be owned
by Aye Zaw Win, the son-in-law of retired military strongman Gen. Ne Win.
The idea is to lure tour groups, initially from India, who would gamble in
dollars which would find their way back into the national coffers. If
successful, other casinos may be opened in places like Mandalay, where
direct flights from Chiang Mai were recently approved and where there is
already a large, gambling-mad Chinese population.

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