The BurmaNet News: December 7, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: December 7, 1999
Issue #1417

Noted in Passing: "I have run away from Burmese soldiers five times in my
life, as a child, a teenager, a young bride, a mother of two, and last year
when I lost my husband and youngest daughter ... .  I don't have the energy
to run any more. It's best for me to stay here. I'll probably stay here
until the day I die." - Naw Pwe, (see THE BANGKOK POST: THE VICTIMS OF
BURMESE DICTATORSHIP) 

HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS: STUDENT EXILES WELCOME TO RETURN 
MIC: POLITICAL SITUATION AND ROLE IN THE REGION 
ABFSU: RE-OPENING OF TECHNICAL INSTITUTE IN BURMA 
US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RICE YEARBOOK: BURMA 
THE NATION: CALLING BURMA BY ITS PROPER NAME 
SHAN: REFINERIES ORDERED TO MOVE AWAY FROM BORDER 
BKK POST: THE VICTIMS OF BURMESE DICTATORSHIP 
BKK POST: KAREN FACE NEW FORMIDABLE FOE 
NEW ORLEANS TIMES PICAYUNE: ON THE HILL
*****************************************************

REUTERS: MYANMAR SAYS STUDENT EXILES WELCOME TO RETURN 
6 December, 1999 

YANGON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Myanmar's intelligence chief said the military
government is ``worried'' about students who fled the country to escape the
bloody suppression of a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 and would welcome
their return.

The official Myanma News Agency quoted the powerful Lieutenant-General Khin
Nyunt as saying the students fled because of the ``instigation of
destructive elements.''

``The government still welcomes them with open arms,'' he said at the
conclusion of a refresher course for teachers in Yangon on Sunday. ``The
government is worried that they will continue to fall prey to the
temptations of destructive elements.''

Several thousand university age students fled to neighbouring Thailand
after the military government killed thousands of people to crush a
student-led pro-democracy uprising in 1988.

Khin Nyunt said it ``is now necessary to get rid of the national traitors,
who, by relying on external elements, are trying to make the future of the
state fade away by spiritually spoiling the youths.''

The military government uses the terms ``national traitors'' and
``destructive elements'' to refer to opponents, including the National
League for Democracy (NLD), the main opposition party, and armed ethnic
minority groups battling for greater autonomy.

Since 1988, Myanmar student dissidents have been a persistent thorn in the
side of the military, joining forces with ethnic rebel groups fighting the
Yangon government and waging a propaganda war from Thailand against
authoritarian rule.

While Thailand has tolerated their presence for the past 11 years, it
called for the speeding up of their resettlement in third countries after a
group of armed dissidents took over the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok in early
October.

Thai-Myanmar ties were badly strained when Thai authorities allowed the
five attackers to go free to a safe border area when they released 89
hostages held for 25 hours unharmed.

More than 2,000 dissidents who fled Myanmar to Thailand after the 1988
crackdown have already been resettled in the United States, Canada,
Australia, England and Sweden. About another 2,000 still live in Thailand
or in border areas.

Myanmar has kept universities and colleges closed for much of the past 11
years to prevent a resurgence of student activism.

Last week the government said 75 percent of classes had already restarted
and arrangements were underway to reopen those remaining when the new
academic year restarted in April. 

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

MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE: POLITICAL SITUATION OF MYANMAR AND ITS ROLE
IN THE REGION
6 December, 1999 

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: Information Sheets from the Myanmar Information
Committee match those issued by the Directorate of Defence Services
Intelligence (DDSI) in Rangoon, and can be assumed to reflect official SPDC
opinion.]

Information  Sheet No.B-1173 (I)

Special Feature

This office is presenting one of the chapters from the 21st Edition of the
booklet "Political Situation of Myanmar and Its Role In The Region" for
your information.

Practising Universal Rules In The Protection Of National Security And Interest

More specifically and importantly what most people do not realize is that
in many instances Ms. Suu Kyi is erroneously being referred to as an
elected person or in some instances as an elected president. Ms. Suu Kyi
never stood for the election because she was not eligible to contest for a
seat. It was not this present military government or the previous socialist
government that refused Ms. Suu Kyi the right to stand for elections but
ironically it was her own father, Myanmar national hero General Aung San,
who wrote into the original constitution, subsequently promulgated in 1948,
a clause with the provision that "any person who is under any
acknowledgement of allegiance or adherence to a foreign power, or a subject
or citizen is entitled to the rights and privileges of a subject or citizen
of a foreign power." Thus she is not entitled to contest for a seat in the
country's elections. Ms. Suu Kyi resided abroad for twenty-eight years and
married an Englishman (giving her the rights to U.K. citizenship) and has 2
children both holding British citizenships. This present military
government has to, as all the previous successive Myanmar Governments did,
continue in honouring this clause and the present national convention has
also committed itself to continue to honour the said clause. This type of
constitutional condition is implemented by many governments including those
of developed nations. It is quite understandable that Governments do not
wish to have someone in office who could be unduly influenced by any other
nation or power. As a preventive measure certain rules and regulations are
universally drawn up and put into effect to serve as a mechanism in
protecting the national security as well as the national interest of
respective countries.

There is also another assumption which is as erroneous as referring to Ms.
Suu Kyi as an elected person, is that her being under house restriction
during the election period denied her the right to run for the 1990
election. While under house restriction the Government of Myanmar consented
to Ms. Suu Kyi's request to contest in elections representing Bahan
Township Constituency(1) and her name was enrolled on 2nd December 1989.
Objections were lodged by various individuals and political parties against
the permission granted to Ms. Suu Kyi to contest the forthcoming elections
with reference to the provisions of the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law of
1989. Legally, granting Ms. Suu Kyi the right to contest the election was
found to violate and contravene the following 3 articles.

(1) Section (8-b) "Law for people residing in the Union of Myanmar." Ms.
Suu Kyi has given her permanent address where she resides with her husband
Dr. Michael Aris and 2 sons at 15, Park Town Oxford, London in United
Kingdom. Ms. Suu Kyi's name has not been registered at her mother's
residence in Yangon which indicates that she is not a permanent resident of
Myanmar.

(2) Section (10-e). " Persons who are under any acknowledgement of
allegiance or adherence to a foreign power, or are subjects or citizens or
entitled to the rights and privileges of a subject or a citizen of a
foreign Power." Ms. Suu Kyi is enjoying the right to reside in U.K.
indefinitely but apart from the right to vote. She enjoys all other
privileges a British Citizen can enjoy.

(3) Section (10-h)." Members of organization in armed revolt against the
State, persons against whom there is sufficient grounds of having links
with the said organization or with its members to revolt." Ms. Suu Kyi was
found to be communicating, collaborating and harbouring a member of the
armed terrorist group and this terrorist was arrested in her residential
compound in Yangon together with substantial evidence.

Due to the above mentioned factors Ms. Suu Kyi was found ineligible to
contest the 1990 elections. Technically it was not because she was under
house restriction during the election time. More importantly, Section 10-e
of the May 1989 Election Law was not a provision drawn up by the present
military government but was originally drafted by her own father, General
Aung San, the National Leader of Modern Myanmar in his (1947) Independence
Constitution which was later to be honoured and again put in the (1974)
Constitution.

Again, in a similar scenario the NLD party is constantly and erroneously
referred to as an opposition party. In fact, the Government of Myanmar does
not regard the NLD or any other 9 legally existing political parties as
opposition parties since the Government regards itself not as a political
party but as a transitional government (A National Institution) taking the
responsibility of discarding the Socialist One-Party System practising a
Socialist Economy and paving the way for a Multi-Party Democracy by
introducing a Market-Oriented Economy. In the meantime, for the benefit and
interest of the nation, this present government is in the process of
establishing and founding national unity, peace, stability and all-round
development in the country so that Myanmar shall become in a reasonable
period of time, a peaceful, prosperous and modern developed nation.

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

ALL BURMA FEDERATION OF STUDENT UNIONS: RE-OPENING OF TECHNICAL INSTITUTES
IN BURMA 
6 December, 1999 from vision99@xxxxxxxxxx

1.      Yangon Institute of Technology (formerly Rangoon Institute of
Technology) and Mandalay Institute of Technology have been closed - without
reason - for 3 years since the 1996 December Student Demonstration.

2.      Currently, the authorities have announced the reopening of these
institutes, and notified the students of a 16th December 1999 target date.
But the students will not be allowed to return to their institutes'
original location. According to their academic year and classes, they will
attend such places as Kjou Gong, Hline Tharyar, Thanyin, Pyi, Mandalay,
Mawlamyine, Monywa, which are all situated in rural areas inside Burma. In
addition, the authorities have not devised any plans for the students'
accommodations, so the students must prepare their own basic survival
needs, including their living expenses.

3.      Also, students who have graduated high school since the 1998-99
academic year, successfully obtaining entrance into YTU(YIT) and MTU(MIT),
cannot directly join either of these institutes. Instead, the authorities
have opened the Government Technical College  (GTC) for the students
wanting to join YTU(YIT) and MTU(MIT). The regime does not want a large
number of students in attendance at YTU(YIT) or MTU(MIT), therefore setting
up this College for their entry. 

4.      So the students wishing to graduate from YTU(YIT) or MTU(MIT) must
first attend a two-year GTI course, followed by a two-year GTC course.
After that, they will be given a chance to attend a two-year YTU(YIT) or
MTU(MIT) course with the highest grade at GTC course.

5.      On 26th November 1999, the Minister of Science and Technology, U
Thaung, called a meeting with the persons responsible for organization,
including General Director under the Ministry of Science and Technology. At
this meeting, U Thaung forced the authorities to take back their
notification regarding the reopening plan of the institutes. But the
General Director of the Ministry of Science and Technology explained that
the notification has already been announced to the students, and
furthermore the students have grieved for the closure of their institute
for three years. Therefore, at the present time, it is still uncertain
whether the Technical Institute will re-open, or not.

Remark: Yangon Institute of Technology was renamed as Yangon Technical
University in 1997 at the entrance board of Yangon Institute of Technology.
But it isn't legally announced. Also it became operated under the Ministry
of Science and Technology from Ministry of Education.

Foreign Affairs Committee
All Burma Federation of Student Unions.

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

US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RICE YEARBOOK: BURMA
3 December, 1999 

[RICE YEARBOOK is published annually by the Economic Research Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20036-5831. This release contains
only the text of the report -tables and graphics are not included.]

Burma: While once the world's largest rice exporter, Burma currently
exports less than 100,000 tons a year. Burma's 1999/2000 rice crop is
projected at 9.55 million tons, up nearly 3 percent from a year earlier, a
result of greater area.

However, production remains below the 1995/96 record of 9.86 million tons.
Burma's exports are projected to increase 25,000 tons to 100,000 in 2000,
about the same as in 1998.

Burma's exports averaged almost 1.5 million tons a year in the early and
mid-1960s, but declined to an average of only 542,000 tons from 1967 to
1989. Exports declined to a then-historic low between 1990 and 1993,
averaging only 193,000 tons. Burma's exports rebounded in 1994 and 1995,
averaging more than 600,000 tons annually, but plummeted to 265,000 tons in
1996. Inability to increase output from its dry season crop, difficulty in
acquiring government rice quotas from farmers, and higher domestic
consumption are behind the recent poor export performance. Trade is
strictly controlled by the government in Burma.

Burma's marketing and milling infrastructure remains antiquated and is
unlikely to improve in the near future. As a result, Burma continues to
export low-quality, but competitively priced, long grain rice.
Historically, most of Burma's rice exports are 25-percent brokens with the
remainder being parboiled and small quantities of high-quality long grain
rice.

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

THE NATION: CALLING BURMA BY ITS PROPER NAME IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO 
6 December, 1999 

Letters to the Editor 

I was amazed by (Burmese Foreign Minister) Win Aung's claim that the
practice of The Nation (and The Bangkok Post) to continue calling Burma by
its proper name would cause "confusion among the younger generation" (The
Nation, page A7, Nov 26).

What a blatant distortion of the facts

Actually, it is him who causes confusion by falsely claiming that his
military junta's arbitrary change of name had been "accepted
internationally", while in fact almost all major regional and international
media and news services, including the highly respected BBC, continue to
use the name Burma.

If anyone had the right to change Burma's name, it would be a
democratically-elected parliament, such as the one elected in May 1990, but
never allowed to convene by the junta.

It is precisely for this reason that principled publications, such as The
Nation should continue to use Burma's proper name.

Paul W Fost, Bangkok

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

SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: REFINERIES ORDERED TO MOVE AWAY FROM THAI BORDER
6 December, 1999 

According to a reliable source in eastern Shan State, refinery operators
had recently been ordered by the junta to migrate to Arakan State.

Maihoong reports from BP1, the border pass between Mongton Township,
Monghsat District of Shan State and Chiangdao District, Chiangrai Province
of Thailand on 3 December that according to his source, whose reports were
highly reliable in the past, refineries in the district are being told to
relocate quietly in the Arakan (Rakhaing) State by the orders of Gen Khin
Nyunt.

Maj. Khin Maung, Deputy Commander, IB 49 (Monghsat) who returned by plane
from Rangoon on 12 November held a meeting with Chao Li-hsien, the
principal drug producer in the area, to move his "outfit" to the Arakan
State in the west, opposite Bangladesh and India.

Refineries, both heroin and amphetamines, should be operational by early
next year, said Maihoong.

No reason was given for the move, but knowledgeable observers said drug
activities along the Thai and Chinese border had become too well-known and
embarrassing to the junta that "moving away from the spotlight" had been
become necessary.

Maihoong added, "The recent transfer of Ltc. Chit Hla, former Commander, IB
225 from Mongton to Maungdaw, a town in the Arakan, might be connected to
this latest piece of news".

[For further information, please contact S.H.A.N. at shan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
S.H.A.N. is a non-profit making, independent Shan media group. It is not
affiliated to any political or armed organization.]

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

THE BANGKOK POST: THE VICTIMS OF BURMESE DICTATORSHIP
6 December, 1999 by Nusara Thaitawat and Subin Khuenkaew 

DISPLACED KAREN REFUGEES ARE AT A LOSS AS TO WHY THEY HAVE BEEN
BARBARICALLY TREATED BY BURMESE SOLDIERED

Naw Pwe spends her days looking at people walk by her tiny bamboo hut.

On a good day, she goes out - but never too far - to collect whatever
edibles Mother Nature is kind enough to give to her children and comes back
to cook. She also visits neighbours for a chat and when the topics in her
small world have all been covered, she stays with them anyway for the
company of fellow human beings, fellow victims of Burma's dictators, now
living in a refugee camp far from home.

This Karen lady who had lived a half century in the village of her
ancestors said she does not understand why Burmese soldiers had stormed Mae
Laar, a village of about 70 households, at the break of dawn a year ago.

She does not understand why in the confusion, as panicked villagers tried
desperately to flee the invading soldiers, her husband had to be caught and
had to be beaten to death as he begged for his life.

Night after night, she said, her head replays the same pictures of her
terrified eight-year-old daughter, whose cries had caught the attention of
the soldiers.

One walked over to her hiding place, from where she witnessed every move of
the senseless murder of her father, grabbed her and took her over to his
lifeless body.

"Shut up!" shouted the soldier.

She could not stop shaking and crying. The soldier used his rifle to hit
her arm, breaking it. Pain added to fear in her cries. He hit her again,
this time on the shoulder, dislocating it.

She fell to the ground, her cries louder. He hit her again, this time on
the back of her head, taking away her innocent life forever.

Naw Pwe told her story calmly, her face emotionless, sitting in her hut,
empty of worldly possessions. She said had it not been for her relatives
who held her back by her hair to stop her from going to help her loved
ones, she would have been killed too.

But what continues to hurt her deeply as a survivor and witness to the
atrocity, is her inability to retrieve the bodies of her husband and their
daughter for proper funeral rites according to Karen beliefs. She was too
scared to go back.

She said she had heard that Burmese soldiers I usually laid mines around
the perimeter of the villages they raided to prevent the people from going
back to rebuild their lives.

So Naw Pwe lives day by day, thankful for the relative safety of this camp
for so-called internally displaced persons inside the Karen State. Her
neighbours, who have also ran away from Burmese soldiers for one tragic
reason or another, now number about 4,800.  Most are Karen.

According to non-governmental organisations concerned with Burma, there are
an estimated two million internally displaced people inside Burma, half
being ethnic minorities, mostly in the Shan, Karen and Karenni States. The
main reason for their displacement is the brutality inflicted on them to
prevent them supporting ethnic armies still struggling against the Rangoon
government.

Han Saw, 47, Naw Pwe's camp administrator, said the camp's population has
more than doubled since it was set up in October last year.

The camp is located inside the Karen State but a manageable distance to the
Thai border, just in case. The latest arrivals, 107 Karen, reached the camp
only last month. Meanwhile Burmese soldiers continue their war of
aggression against civilians of ethnic minority groups still to enter the
"legal fold".

Of the total population of 4,764 as of two weeks ago, 478 are under five
years old and 1,206 are under 12.

NGOs are supporting the people with various programmes in agriculture and
animal husbandry, education and vocational training, including weaving for
women which is also aimed at preserving Karen traditional textile-making
skills.

The programmes try to make life as normal as possible, raise awareness of
the people's potential to be self-sufficient, and also to prepare them for
the day when they can go home.

However, the people's livelihood still depends very heavily on outside
humanitarian aid of medicine and rice.

The main reason these displaced people stay inside the Karen State is the
desire to be free. Han Saw said the people realise that they would be safer
on the Thai side of the border, but they prefer to remain in Karen State.
The Karen National Union's (KNU) 7th Brigade has formed a number of
defensive rings around this camp and a few others in their area of
responsibility, as protection against Burmese soldiers.

Naw Pwe said she cannot think of revenge and does not understand what the
KNU does apart from sending soldiers to stand guard some distance from the
camp. She said she cannot allow her surviving 17-old-old son to join the
KNU to fight against the Burmese soldiers because he is her only support.

Relatives have sent a niece to live with her and help take care of her
daily needs as best as possible. Her grown daughter now has her own family,
and is also living in the camp.

"I have run away from Burmese soldiers five times in my life, as a child, a
teenager, a young bride, a mother of two, and last year when I lost my
husband and youngest daughter."

After all these years, she still does not know why the Burmese soldiers
treat her and her fellow Karen with such brutality. "I don't understand
their reasons," she said. "I want so much to go home but I'm so scared. I
don't have the energy to run any more. It's best for me to stay here. I'll
probably stay here until the day I die."

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

THE BANGKOK POST: KAREN FACE NEW FORMIDABLE FOE 
6 December, 1999 by Nusara Thaitawat and Subin Khuenkaew

REBEL LEADERS CLAIM BURMESE JUNTA USING AMPHETAMINES TO DESTROY KAREN YOUTH

After more than 50 years fighting for freedom against the Japanese
imperialist army in World War II and then the Burmese military dictatorship
since 1962, the Karen National Union (KNU) under the leadership of Gen Bo
Mya is now struggling against another formidable foe: narcotics.

Padoe Mahn Sha, the KNU's first secretary, suspects that the Burmese
government, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), wants
to systematically destroy Karen youths with drugs.

"The SPDC also wants to destroy our image by spreading false allegations
that we are involved in drug trafficking," he said. "That is not true."

Methamphetamine tablets - readily available to Thai youths throughout the
country since 1997 - have been systematically marketed inside Karen refugee
camps since this year, according to a Karen youth leader.

Mae Lah, the biggest Karen refugee camp in Tak's Tha Song Yang district,
with a population of some 30,000 refugees, is one of the major markets
targeted by the traffickers, he said.

The affordable price of five baht per tablet is worrisome for Karen
leaders, who are already struggling to keep the spirit of freedom alive
among the youth as many fall prey to inertia from extended stay in camps.

"It's clear that these five-baht tablets are a bait," said the Karen youth
leader.

"After more and more become addicted, the price goes up, the addicts
struggle to find the money to satisfy their addiction, and then we'll have
trouble," he predicted.

The cost of manufacturing each methamphetamine tablet depends on the
ingredients, the location of production, and the risk involved. Just across
the northern border in areas controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA)
opposite Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, the cost is estimated to be four or
five baht per tablet.

Even if the tablets being marketed in Karen refugee camps in Tak province
are produced just across the border in Karen State, there is little or no
profit to be made at five baht per tablet.

Anti-narcotics officials responsible for Tak have yet to confirm the source
of the methamphetamine tablets being marketed in Karen refugee camps.

There are reports of the existence of small mobile factories just across
the border in Karen State, believed to have been established only a few
months ago by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and Wei Hsueh-kang,
a powerful brigade commander of the UWSA, the biggest drug trafficking
group in the region.

An "understanding" between Wei's men and the DKBA, which broke away from
the mostly Christian KNU a few years ago, was reached earlier this year,
Thai and Western sources confirmed.

Anti-narcotics officials continue to monitor and assess the shift southward
by drug traffickers, including the UWSA, as a result of the heavy crackdown
by the government along the northern border.

A senior official of the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) confirmed
that the KNU itself was being monitored.

"The KNU has been fighting for so long and they have run out of money now
that they no longer have income from logging and gem mining. Drug
trafficking could become attractive," he said.

The senior official added that the KNU has no prior experience in drug
production and trafficking, unlike other ethnic groups in Burma who have
used opium as medicine and traded the product to fund their struggle
against Burmese military dictatorship in the 60s and 70s.

"But it's not difficult to get started," said the same senior official.

"The KNU still controls areas in the Karen State and could start by
escorting drug convoys or providing protection to small mobile factories,"
he said.

Mr. Mahn Sha insists the concerns expressed by the ONCB are unfounded. "We
consider drugs very dangerous for the Karen people and for the Thai people
as well. We strongly oppose it," he said.

He admitted the KNU was concerned by the shift southward by drug
traffickers who he claimed are supported directly by the SPDC in order to
raise much needed revenue.

For now, the KNU can only hope to protect their youth through awareness
programmes and heavy punishment for those caught using or trafficking in
drugs.

"The punishment for using and selling drugs is very heavy," said Mr Mahn Sha.

"We oppose very strongly any involvement with illegal drugs, their use,
production or transport," he said.

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

NEW ORLEANS TIMES PICAYUNE: ON THE HILL - NEWS FROM LOUISIANA DELEGATION IN
THE NATION'S CAPITAL
5 December, 1999 by Bruce Alpert and Bill Walsh

FROM MONROE TO MYANMAR 

As soon as Congress recessed last month, Rep. John Cooksey, R-Monroe, and
several other lawmakers boarded a plane bound for Southeast Asia. The
delegation, all members of the House International Relations Committee,
visited Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, formerly Burma, for 12 days to
monitor drug enforcement activities and human rights conditions and to
promote international trade. In Vietnam, the group made a plea for
information on U.S. soldiers still missing in action since the war.

Cooksey, who sits on a House Asia subcommittee, said he was impressed with
the efforts the countries have made in convincing former opium farmers to
turn to other endeavors, such as raising pigs, poultry and vegetables.
"Everything I saw suggests that they are making real advances in crop
substitution," Cooksey said from Hanoi, Vietnam.

In Myanmar, the group also met with 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San
Suu Kyi, who is pushing the military regime to embrace democracy. "I told
one of the military guys, you people in government need to protect her,"
Cooksey said. "If anything happens to her, it will be the beginning of the
end of this administration."

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





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