BurmaNet News: January 24, 2000

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

--------------- The BurmaNet News ---------------
January 24, 2000
Issue # 1445
-------------------------------------------------

Noted in passing:  
1.  "Myanmar's Ministry of Information Friday presented seven motion 
picture golden statuette awards for 1998"  
2.  Today's date--January 24, 2000
See XINHUA: MYANMAR PRESENTS MOTION PICTURE AWARDS FOR 1998
 
==========
HEADLINES:
==========

Inside Burma?
 THE WASHINGTON TIMES: BURMA'S POLITICS REMAIN 
 CONFUSING 
 XINHUA: MYANMAR PRESENTS MOTION PICTURE AWARDS 
 FOR 1998
 SHAN: KILLINGS LEAD TO DISPUTE BETWEEN JUNTA AND  
 CEASEFIRE GROUP
 AFP: MYANMAR CRACKS DOWN ON INTERNET: MEDIA 
 GROUP
 KYEMON: ATTACK ON ASSK OVER EDUCATION

International?
 SHAN: SHAN REFUGEE CAMP BURNT DOWN BY THAI ARMY
 AP: MYANMAR REBELS REPORT SHELLING BY THAI ARMY
 INDEPENDENT REPORT: KAREN DIED ON THE BORDER
 BANGKOK POST: UN URGED TO HELP BLOCK KAREN 
 INFLOW
 FBC: CALENDAR OF BURMA EVENTS IN THE U.S.
 TIB: TENSION ON BORDER WITH MYANMAR AS
 SMUGGLERS' BOAT IS SEIZED
 LMD: COMPETITORS AND ACCOMPLICES

*******************
THE WASHINGTON TIMES: BURMA'S POLITICS REMAIN CONFUSING  
Regime lurches between opening up and iron fist

January 22, 2000, Saturday, Final Edition 

Joshua Kurlantzick and Sylvia Saw-McKaige; SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON 
TIMES 

 RANGOON, Burma 

 
   RANGOON, Burma - On a normal evening, the city vibrates with life. 
The streets teem with boys teasing each other, women complaining about 
their lazy husbands. 

This energetic metropolis is Rangoon, the capital of Burma (also known 
as Myanmar), a place foreigners generally believe to be dominated by 
soldiers and bashful civilians who fear the wrath of the military. 

Rangoon is confusing. It is the capital of a poor country rich in 
resources. It is the center of a relatively closed economy in which you 
can buy anything from the Financial Times to opium. 

It is a place that has seen bloody clashes between government troops and 
reformers all under the watchful eye of the gold-encrusted Shwedagon 
Pagoda - the biggest Buddhist temple of its kind in the world. 

Indeed, Burma is a more complex place than the Western media often 
portrays it. 

And in recent months, the Burmese government's relationship with 
opposition movements, with its neighbors, and with world powers has 
become more complicated. 

Sometimes, Burma's junta seems open to influence; other times, the 
government appears increasingly resistant to change. 

A ROUGH TIME OF IT 

Burma has a brutal history. After declaring independence from Britain in 
1948, Burma, the second-largest Southeast Asian country, experimented 
with democracy but was consumed by internal strife. 

In 1962 the military seized power and Burma went into self-imposed 
isolation. In 1988, anti-government demonstrations shattered the veneer 
of tranquility and brought Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of national hero 
Aung San, to the forefront of the pro-democracy opposition. 

Mrs. Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest in 1989, which lasted for 
about six years. 

While imprisoned, she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. 

Responding to demonstrations, the military cautiously opened the economy 
and organized a general election, won by Mrs. Suu Kyi's National League 
of Democracy (NLD) in 1990. 

But the military did not yield, and politics remained dominated by the 
men in green. 

After 1990, Burma seesawed between progress and setbacks. 

Mrs. Suu Kyi was released in 1995. On the economic side, Burma joined 
the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997. 

But in mid-1998 Mrs. Suu Kyi was barred from traveling outside Rangoon. 

NEW ATTITUDES 

These days it looks as if relations are warming between the NLD and the 
military, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). 

And Mrs. Suu Kyi seems more open to compromise. In our interview, the 
NLD leader said, "We don't rule out sharing power with the military." 
Mrs. Suu Kyi also seems ready to soften on her stance that she must 
approve foreign assistance to ensure it does not help the SPDC. 

During the 52nd anniversary celebration of Burma's independence from 
Britain held Jan. 4, Mrs. Suu Kyi, speaking to 500 of her party 
faithful, urged the generals not to cling to power as the situation in 
Burma deteriorated. 

"Do not cling to power just for your own interests," Mrs. Suu Kyi said 
at the NLD meeting. She added that the freedoms and human rights enjoyed 
by the people of Burma had deteriorated since colonial times. 

At a mass rally earlier that day the ruling junta branded her a 
"terrorist." 

Perhaps, Mrs. Suu Kyi senses her power weakening. Although she insists 
that she does not know what interviewers mean by divisions, some members 
of the NLD have quit. 

However, it is difficult to tell whether those who left did so of their 
own volition. Mrs. Suu Kyi argues that most resignations are false. " 
The military has forced some activists to leave the party." 

More importantly, Mrs. Suu Kyi may be in danger of losing her hold on 
the public. Historically, she has supported sanctions on all trade with 
and aid to Burma, except for programs she approved. She believes that 
sanctions have "effect without adverse effects economically on the 
common people." 

But many young Burmese - core NLD supporters - dismiss the idea that 
sanctions do not harm the populace. Recently, the leader of a group of 
militants who seized the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok last fall denounced 
Mrs. Suu Kyi as ineffective. 

Mrs. Suu Kyi insists that she meets a lot of ordinary people, but adds 
that the members of the NLD are paying the highest price, suffering the 
most - a statement unlikely to endear to ordinary folks. 

Nonetheless, her willingness to approve aid should help her retain 
support. 

The military has made slight concessions of its own. The NLD can meet on 
a regular basis. Foreign publications are easier to obtain. The SPDC has 
permitted the Red Cross to visit jails in Burma, including notoriously 
brutal Insein Prison. 

Still, the SPDC has not budged much. Petty cartoons in the state 
newspaper New Light of Myanmar portray Mrs. Suu Kyi as a mindless hag. 
The junta still holds at least 1,200 NLD members in jails. 

TROUBLE WITH NEIGHBORS 

While relations between the NLD and the military may be improving 
slightly, tension is mounting between Burma and other Asian states. 

The October 1999 seizure of the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok drove a wedge 
between the states. The crisis began when gunmen stormed the facility. 

It ended when Thailand flew the militants to the border and set them 
free, at which time the Thai interior minister said the gunmen were 
student activists who fight for democracy. In response, the SPDC closed 
the Burmese-Thai border. Thailand in turn deported Burmese aliens. 

Recently, the neighbors have made halfhearted amends. Thailand and Burma 
reopened the border, but tensions on the 1,300-mile border remain high. 

In Mae Sot, a Thai town near the border, authorities continue to crack 
down on illegal migrants, and Burmese hide in safe houses. 

Burma is not getting along much better with its other neighbors. India 
has protested Burma's installation of military hardware in the Bay of 
Bengal. China, Burma's largest patron, has criticized the SPDC for 
allowing massive drug smuggling into Yunnan province. 

And ASEAN, which hoped that its policy of constructive engagement would 
change the SPDC, is becoming frustrated with Burma's lack of economic 
and political opening. 

The Philippines routinely criticizes Burma's leaders. Even Singapore, 
not known as a paragon of freedom, has rebuked the junta for failing to 
create a climate for investment. 

On a state-to-state level, Japan and the Western powers continue to 
freeze out Burma. The European Union has canceled meetings with ASEAN to 
protest Burma's inclusion in the group. Japan, which was Burma's biggest 
donor before 1988, has fulfilled old loan obligations but has emphasized 
that this does not constitute a resumption of ties. 

RELATIONS WITH THE WEST 

The United States remains a staunch critic of the SPDC. Massachusetts is 
fighting to retain its selective purchasing law, which prohibits state 
agencies from buying from companies that do business in Burma. The case 
is before the Supreme Court. 

More than 20 U.S. state and local governments have laws like the 
Massachusetts statute. 

Western nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have not been as frigid as 
their respective governments. While rights watchdogs continue to 
lambaste Rangoon, several NGOs report that it has become easier to 
operate in Burma, as both the regime and the opposition have become more 
accommodating. The Red Cross has accepted the junta's invitation to 
inspect prisons. Australian aid groups have become involved with Burma's 
new human-rights commission. 

While relations among the SPDC, its opponents and foreign states 
fluctuate, the people suffer. 

Burma's economy, which prospered in the early 1990s as the junta 
introduced partial reforms, has deteriorated, and the limited aid Burma 
receives cannot cover financial shortfalls. 

Frustrated with the lack of progress on human rights, Western companies 
have pulled out citing worries about its image. Ericsson, the maker of 
cellular phones, canceled a project in Burma. 

Asians, their wallets lightened by the economic crisis, are less willing 
to invest in a country with a cumbersome bureaucracy. As Thailand has 
deported Burmese workers, remittances have decreased. 

Today, the SPDC presides over socioeconomic shambles. The country has 
almost no foreign exchange reserves. The kyat, Burma's currency, 
depreciates at frightening speed. 

Although Burma is rich in resources, the SPDC spends 40 percent of the 
budget on the armed forces and still siphons off foreign aid targeted 
for agriculture and health. Consequently, malnutrition is a problem, and 
the country faces an AIDS crisis. 

Walking around Rangoon, a visitor could not tell this is a country in 
dire straits. 

According to one NGO worker, things look normal only because people are 
too worn out to care. Most Burmese are resigned that things will not 
change. 

Meanwhile, the regime continues to bar the public from festivities 
marking its accomplishment, because it fears such a celebration could 
turn into anti-government demonstrations.
*******************
XINHUA: MYANMAR PRESENTS MOTION PICTURE AWARDS FOR 1998 

DATELINE: YANGON, January 22 

BODY: 
   Myanmar's Ministry of Information Friday presented seven motion 
picture golden statuette awards for 1998 to the country's artists, the 
New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday. 

The seven awards include best film, best film-director, best actor and 
actress, best supporting actress, best cameraman and best script. 

Myanmar Information Minister Major-General Kyi Aung told the 
presentation ceremony that 15 movies were released in 1998, up from 11 
in 1997. 

However, he said, the development of the film industry in 1998 was not 
significant compared with 1995 and 1996 when 30 and 25 movies were 
released respectively. 

He called for efforts to produce classical movies with a view to 
uplifting Myanmar films to meet the international standard. 

He warned people against being engaged in production business without 
license and distributing video features abroad on their own, saying 
punishment will be meted out to them in accordance with the country's 
related laws promulgated since 1996. 

There are now a total of 11,112 licensed video parlors in Myanmar, he 
said, adding that 39 of the 630 Myanmar video features produced in 1998 
were banned and a total of 81 foreign films were screened that year. 

Myanmar formed the Motion Picture Promotion and Scrutiny Board in 1952 
and set up the Motion Picture Association in 1989 and a motion picture 
museum in 1998.
*******************
SHAN: KILLINGS LEADING TO DISPUTES BETWEEN JUNTA AND CEASEFIRE GROUP
23 January 2000

NO: 1 - 23

Killings Leading To Disputes Between Junta and Ceasefire Group

Killing by junta troops of a Shan ceasefire group has ignited heated  
arguments between the two, reported DIN from the north.

Recent killings of 5 Shan State Army (North)'s men, including an 
officer, led to a fierce quarrel between Sao Kaifah, Vice President, 
SSA-North, and an unidentified commander of the Burmese column in 
Mongyai, Lashio District 
on 11 January, said DIN. "According to the source, the two were pointing 
fingers at each other and almost came to blows".

The immediate cause of the dispute was said to be the shooting of 2 SSA 
North's men who were bathing in the village of Loizay, Tangyan Township, 
earlier in the day by an unidentified SPDC unit. The two died on the 
spot.  "1 weapon and 1 walkie-talkie were also taken from them", said 
DIN.

There had been similar incidents that had infuriated the SSA-North's 
commanders.

Pvt. Htoon, son of Pulek and Naiman, Battalion 137, was killed at 
Wanhpai village, Look Khuekkhai Tract, Mongyai Township in August, 1999; 
and Sgt. Maj. Sai Parn a.k.a Piammong, son of Khing Htoon and Naiyoong, 
and Pvt. Sai 
Woon, son of Loong Ji and Pa Ing, both from Battalion 851, were killed 
at 
Wan-nawng Village, Wan-nawng Mongtung Tract, Hsipaw Township on 5 
November 
1999, according to DIN.

As all the 5 victims were from Brigade 1, many officers and men were 
enraged, including its commander, Col. Parngfah, who is also serving as 
the Chief of Staff of the SSA North. Its President, Sao Loimao, also 
went to submit a formal complaint to Military Intelligence-9.

DIN's sources believed that the SPDC forces, humiliated by coming off 
second-best in their clashes with the non-ceasefire group of Yawdserk, 
were just trying to even things up by shooting unsuspecting ceasefire 
troops.

"So far, we have been patient", a Shan commander was reported to have 
said. "But we are increasingly being pressured by the rank and file to 
retaliate, if the provocation continues".
    
*******************
AFP: MYANMAR CRACKS DOWN ON INTERNET: MEDIA GROUP
Saturday, January 22 1:14 PM SGT

BANGKOK, Jan 22 (AFP) -

Myanmar has banned the publication of political material on the Internet 
and arrested at least three people for consulting opposition websites, 
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) said Saturday.

Telecommunications authorities had issued new restrictions prohibiting 
the use of e-mail to disseminate information "detrimental to the 
government," said a statement issued by the media freedom group.

"The new regulation was adopted a few weeks after the arrest of at least 
three people, one of them an army officer, who were accused of 
consulting
opposition web sites based in foreign countries," RSF said.

The move follows the closure last month of the country's two privately 
owned Internet service providers (ISP), leaving the state-owned Myanmar 
Post and Telecommunications agency as the military-run country's sole 
ISP.

The junta does not allow public access to the Internet or the 
unauthorised possession of a computer or fax.

RSF has described Myanmar as one of the world's "20 worst enemies of the 
Internet."

The military regime in Myanmar is locked in a bitter political battle 
with the opposition of Aung San Suu Kyi which won elections in 1990 but 
has never been allowed to take power.

**************
KYEMON: ATTACK ON ASSK OVER EDUCATION
Rangoon, in Burmese 10 Jan 00 p6 
Translation by BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
 

Educational activities have expanded in Burma, and parents and pupils 
are happy with current educational practices, according to a Burmese 
newspaper. It said that these educational achievements were made in 
spite of the National League for Democracy's [NLD] attempts to disrupt 
the country, and it criticized the NLD for using students as 
demonstrators. 

Excerpts from report by Burmese newspaper 'Kyemon' on 10th January 

Supplementary education classes are being opened in many cities and 
regions today. Young students are being exposed to modern teaching aids 
like computers, and they have had the opportunity to show their skills. 
Parents are very pleased to see improvement in the learning skills of 
their young children and are taking part in the parent-teacher 
associations and trustees groups. 

Parents who are happy with the way their children are learning high 
education skills are also delighted with the peaceful environment. This 
peaceful education environment was achieved through harmonious and 
collective efforts of parents, teachers, students, and the state. In 
building such an environment, they had to struggle tenaciously against 
national traitors who are pursuing a path of total destruction for the 
people and are bent on creating disturbances to grab power by relying on 
external elements. 

The horrendous axe-handles and subversive elements who rely on external 
elements are carrying out destructive acts of extreme severity so as to 
disrupt the progress being made in Myanmar [Burma] and to destroy the 
nation, impoverish the people, and make the nation lose its sovereignty. 
They sow division to please the imperialists and break up the nation and 
create conflicts on racial and religious grounds, disrupt peace and rule 
of law by breaking the law, and encourage confrontational and defiant 
activities to create unrest. They invite sanctions to obstruct the 
economic development of the nation and collude with the imperialist 
clique to weaken the constructive power of the nation by making false 
accusations about the labour situation. 

They resort to all sorts of activities to disrupt the environment that 
allows peaceful study for students who are the future of the nation and 
are learning how to reason and think so as to take charge of the 
nation's future. People know that the destructive clique of axe-handles 
is responsible for having the universities, colleges, and institutes 
closed for many years. During the 1988 unrest the NLD [National League 
for Democracy] clique used and sacrificed students in its attempt to 
gain power and when the disturbances died down around mid-September 
1988, the NLD sent thousands of students and youths to insurgent camps. 
Today, these young people have been subjected to imperialist 
conditioning and they have come to wrongly believe that to oppose and 
interfere in the affairs of their own country and people is to engage in 
a democratic struggle. They are now leading the life of exiles, 
fugitives, terrorists, and national traitors... 

The destructive clique has been conspiring by all means not only to 
close down universities, colleges, and institutes but also primary, 
middle, and high schools. Parents do not accept these activities. The 
people are disgusted with the NLD and Ma Suu Kyi [Aung San Suu Kyi] for 
creating problems and exploiting even the young primary students in 
order to gain power. While teachers and parents are taking extra care to 
safeguard schools, middle and high school students are starting to see 
the true features of destructive elements. They want to study happily 
and peacefully and are interested in uplifting their personal lives. 
That is the reason why school bells are tolling again and sounds of 
students reciting lessons are being heard again at primary, middle, and 
high schools. Today, universities, colleges, and institutes that can be 
re-opened have been opened again...

*******************
SHAN: SHAN REFUGEE CAMP BURNT DOWN BY THAI ARMY
24 January 2000

No: 1 - 24

A refugee camp under the protection of Shan resistance was put to the 
torch  by the Thai army yesterday, reported Shan army sources.

A make shift camp made by refuge-seeking Shans, 2 kilometers deep inside 
Thailand near Pangbawng Village, Mailarn Tract, Pang Mapha District, 
Maehongson Province, was set fire by the raiding Thai army (Company 751, 
Battalion 5, Regiment 7) at noon yesterday, as the 300 exiles, who had 
arrived there last month with the assistance of Yawdserk's Shan State 
Army, helplessly watched.

The Shans, among whom were small children and newly-borns, were then 
driven back across the border, said the source from Maehongson.

"Shans are not considered refugees by Thailand", said Kham Harnfah. "And 
as such, they are not entitled to relief aid like Karens and Karennis".

More than 100,000 non-Burman refugees, designated as "persons of 
concern", are living in camps along the Thai border and looked after by 
foreign 
humanitarian organizations.

"Nobody understands why Thais, who are historic kindred of Shans, are 
exercising a policy of discrimination towards them", said an aid worker.


*******************
AP: MYANMAR REBELS REPORT SHELLING BY THAI ARMY, ASK HELP FOR REFUGEES
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BANGKOK: Two small rebel groups under attack from Myanmar government 
troops said Saturday that their joint camp had been shelled by the Thai 
army in apparent retaliation for a land mine explosion that killed four 
Thai soldiers.

A faxed statement signed by the two groups, the Vigorous Burmese Student 
Warriors and God?s Army, did not say if there had been any casualties 
from the shelling.
It expressed ?heartfelt sorrow? for Wednesday?s land mine deaths and 
said the groups did not regard the Thai army as their enemy.
It also said the land mine was inside Myanmar, contrary to claims of the 
Thai army.
The statement did not say when the shelling took place, but Thai 
newspapers had reported the shelling of rebel-held territory on 
Wednesday, immediately after the land mine blast.
The Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, on whose letterhead the statement 
was published, is a tiny group of Myanmar student exiles whose sole 
known activity to date was to take over the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok 
for 26 hours in October last year.
Allowed safe passage out in exchange for the release of several dozen 
hostages, the dissidents took refuge with a fringe Karen ethnic 
guerrilla group called God?s Army, which is led by two 12-year-old boys 
believed by followers to have mystical powers.
The statement said that the Kamaplaw region where the groups are based 
has recently been under attack from three Myanmar military columns, 
sending ethnic Karen refugees fleeing in to Thailand.
It said government troops are continuing their offensive, and requested 
Thai authorities ?to stop attacking our bases as well as to help out 
refugees fleeing from the war with humanitarian concerns.?
Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai told reporters Friday that if the five 
student radicals from the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors wanted for 
the embassy takeover escape to the Thai border they will be immediately 
arrested.
Thai troops and border police are closely monitoring the stretch of its 
frontier with Myanmar opposite the ongoing clashes between Myanmar 
government forces and ethnic Karen rebels, the Thai army spokesman Col.  
Somkuan Sangpattaranetr said Friday.
According to the Thai army, its troops have fired warning artillery 
shots to keep the fighting off Thai soil, but on Wednesday some 100 
Karen fighters intruded over the border.
The four Thai troops were killed by a land mine explosion as they chased 
them back toward Myanmar. The sensitive area of the Thai-Myanmar border 
at Suan Phung district, in Ratchaburi province, 150 kilometers (95 
miles) west of Bangkok, has been sealed off by Thai military since 
fighting began last week.
The five-decade Karen resistance to rule from Yangon has flagged in 
recent years, but isolated guerrilla units of the main Karen National 
Union army still fight in remote areas of eastern Myanmar close to 
Thailand. (AP)

*********************
THE NATION: MONGKUL DENIES AIDING BURMA IN OFFENSIVE

Jan 22, 2000
Headlines

THAI Armed Forces Supreme Commander Gen Mongkhol Ampornphisit insisted 
yesterday that the Thai Army was not helping Burmese troops in their
week-long offensive against ethnic Karen rebel army with the Thai 
bombardment of the rebels.
He said the mortar salvo on the rebels was to prevent the fighting from 
spilling over into Thai territory.

Mongkol also ruled out talks with the Burmese rebels aimed at containing 
the fighting on Burmese soil. He said it was up to the Foreign Ministry 
whether the military would hold
discussions with the Karen National Union's splinter group, the 
so-called God's Army.

It was not clear if the supreme commander wanted the Foreign Ministry to 
protest over the death of four Thai soldiers who, on Thursday, set off a
landmine while on patrol at the Khao Chong Khachome border pass area.

The Thai Army had denied laying the mine, even though the incident 
occurred well within Thai territory. It is believed that one of the 
Burmese warring factions had laid the mine, said Col Somkuan 
Saengprathanet, the army's spokesman.
Fighting between the Burmese government troops and rebel soldiers from 
the God's Army over the past week has resulted in about 1,000 refugees 
fleeing across the border into Ratchaburi's Suan Phung district. 

Lt-Gen Thaweeep Suwanasingha, commander of the First Army Region, during 
an interview on Independent Television (iTV) yesterday, said the 
situation was under control and that Thai troops were able to prevent 
the fighting from spilling over into the Kingdom. Thaweeep said local 
villagers living in Suan Phung were not in any danger. But villagers 
there have told The Nation a different story. Most expressed concern 
with the heavy bombardment by Thai troopers on the Burmese rebels. Some 
exclaimed that the shelling had also caused a number of their cattle and 
chicken to flee from their cowshed and chicken coups.

Army officials on the ground defended the shelling, saying the aim was 
to prevent fighting from spilling across the border (into Thailand).
Many villagers had also complained of sleepless nights during the 
bombings, except for 71-year-old Ount Malait who said she had grown 
accustomed to it. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, who is also the Defence 
Minister, has ordered the army to beef up security in the area.

*********************
INDEPENDENT REPORT: KAREN DIED ON THE BORDER
 
Tinsoe
19.1.2000
 
Burma army troops attacked Karen refugees sent back to Burma by Thai 
Army, on 15 January, at the Thai-Burma border opposite Suan Phung 
district, Rachburi province, south west of Bangkok.
 
On 15 January, the Burma army's troops (or Tamadaw) attacked thousands 
of Karen refugees who crossed to the Thai side on 12 January and were 
sent back by Thai Army on 13 January.  The refugees stayed at the border 
who have no where to run.
 
During the attack, some refugees could cross to Thai side and hundreds 
more fled into the jungle in Burma site. There is little information to 
confirm how many villagers died, and how many were captured and how many 
are still missing. 
 
Two villagers were wounded and were sent to Suan Phung hospital.
 
A source from the border said the Thai Border Patrol Police found one 
woman who lay died on the border barware between the two countries. 
 
Another refugee woman is now being treating in hospital in Thailand.  
She said her husband was shot dead, but that she escaped. She gave birth 
in the Suan Phung hospital but the newborn baby later died. 
 
According to an unconfirmed report, about ten people died while they 
were collecting water in a stream at the border when Burma army troops 
arrived and shot them. 
 
The refugees who crossed to the Thai side were not allowed to go deeper 
into Thai territory  until 18 January. First, they were allowed to stay 
near the Thai Border checkpoint. Now they have been allowed to settle in 
Ban Bo Wei, at Hwai Ka Mu. According to one sources, 166 families (829 
persons) arrived. Another source put the number at just 733 persons. The 
total population of refugees trying to cross the border is more than 
1300 persons. Hundreds are still missing in the Burma side.
 
According a refugee, on 13 January, the fighting broke out close to 
their hiding place at Mae Pya Po and all the people fled to cross the 
border. They slept one night inside Thailand, and the next morning Thai 
soldiers (from 29 Division or 9 Division) came and said they had to go 
back to Burma and that they had already arranged this  with the Burmese 
soldiers.

According to the source, on 15 January noon the Burmese troops arrived 
to the border and fighting broke out with a small group of Karen 
resistance soldiers, with some villagers trying to defend their 
families. Later, Thai troops went and met with the Burmese soldiers to 
negotiate the refugees' return. 

Information is now being tightly controlled by Thai Army and access to 
the area is difficult.  Burmese troops now occupy that border area and 
have deployed their troops. The Burma army troops are also gearing up to 
attack Ka Ma Plaw, the God's Army camps where the Burmese students who 
seized the Burma embassy in Bangkok, took refuge there.
 

*********************
BANGKOK POST: UN URGED TO HELP BLOCK KAREN INFLOW
- Jan 23, 2000
REFUGEES
 
UN urged to help block Karen inflow
Kachadpai: UNHCR must be aggressive
 

Yuwadee Tunyasiri 
 
Atop national security official has called on the UNHCR to take an 
aggressive approach in dealing with the problem of Karen refugees in 
Thailand.
 
Kachadpai Burusphat, the National Security Council's secretary-general, 
said he was very concerned about the situation as the number had risen 
from 18,000 to 100,000 as more Karen refugees continued to flee the 
fighting in Burma.
 
Nearly a thousand Karen villagers have crossed into Thailand after 
Rangoon resumed its dry season offensive against Karen rebels along the 
Thai-Burmese border, he said.
 
Up to 900 people have sought shelter in Ratchaburi following the 
fighting on the Burmese side opposite Ban Suan Phueng. They are under 
the supervision of the Surasi Task Force.
 
The NSC secretary-general said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
should hold talks with Rangoon to take back the refugees who wanted to 
return home.
 
Unless the UNHCR takes an aggressive approach the refugee problem will 
remain unsolved and add to Thailand's burden, he said.
 
Mr Kachadpai said the increase was posing problems for Thailand and 
people living along the border.
 
Meanwhile, 115 Burmese students at the Maneeloy holding centre have been 
resettled in the United States, the NSC's secretary-general said.
 
Mr Kachadpai, however, was not satisfied and said he would ask the US 
authorities to speed up the resettlement programme.
 
He also said it would take six months for the government's new 
anti-drugs policy to bear fruit.
 
He believed the new amphetamine suppression operations being carried out 
by the national anti-narcotics command centre and the Internal Security 
Operations Command would prove successful.
 
Drug problems in the upper North have become less serious as all 
concerned government agencies have united to take action, he added.
 
The NSC chief said more drug dealers have shifted from drug smuggling 
routes near Wa territory opposite Mae Ai district of Chiang Mai, to 
those in Mae Sot district of Tak and along the Mekong river in the 
Northeast.



*******************
FBC: CALENDAR OF BURMA EVENTS IN THE UNITED STATES
January 2000

In addition to the following events, there are many meetings, speaking
engagements, and other activities conducted weekly. Please contact the
Free Burma Coalition at Jeremy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for more
information on events in your area.

And wherever you are, in New York, Nebraska, California, London, or
Australia, come join "When Spiders Unite!!!" the Free Burma Coalition
conference at George Washington University in Washington, DC on April
1-3, 2000.

January

National Conference on Civil Disobedience presentation by Kyaw Thura 
23rd, American University, Washington, DC

Kyaw Thura, a leading dissident from Burma, just arrived in the United 
States after living for twelve years in the jungles of Burma and
Thailand. He will launch a speaking tour! of the Northeast United States 
at this conference.

Burma into the Millenium
29th, American University, Washington DC
Academic Conference at American University

This academic conference will allow students and professors from around
the United States to present plans for post-democratic Burma.

For More Information Contact:
Zaw Oo
202-667-3451
zawoo@xxxxxxxxxxxx

February

Throughout the month of February Kyaw Thura will be traveling through
the Northeast United States speaking at

March

Days of Prayer for Burma
MARCH 10-12, 2000

Please Join Communities of Faith throughout the World in Supporting
Human Rights in Burma by Participating in the International Days of
Prayer for Burma. Read more about religious persecution in Burma...

For More Information Contact: Heidi Quante at the Burma Forum Los
Angeles zquante@xxxxxxx
Burma Forum Los Angeles
2118 Wilshire Blvd. #383
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310)399-0703

Landmark Court Decision!!
United States Supreme Court hears Massachusetts Burma Law
March 22, 1999
The United States Supreme Court will hear the case the National Foreign
Trade Council filed against the State of Massachusetts after
Massachusetts passed a law refusing to do business with the military
regime in Burma. FBC spiders and nearly 50 other groups are planning a 
demonstration in front of the Supreme Court that morning from 8:30 until
11:00 am and major speakers have been invited. Please join us! Contact 
Daniel Beeton at danbeeton@xxxxxxxxxx for more information...


April

When Spiders Unite!!!
April 1-3rd, 2000
Free Burma Coalition Conference
George Washington University, Washington, DC
Join the world's largest human rights conference on Freedom in Burma!!!
Activist from around the world will join to plan and take action to
promote human rights, freedom, and democracy in Burma! Meet human
rights activists from other international campaigns as well!!! For more
information, contact Jeremy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or

Burma Freedom Dinner 2000
April 21st, 1999
American University, Washington, DC
The American University Student Group of the Free Burma Coalition will 
Host a Benefit Dinner to raise funds for the democracy movement.
Tickets will be sold for $25 nonstudent and $15 for students. Seating 
only accommodates 600 and tickets sell quickly so contact Sapna Chhatpar
at sc9517a@xxxxxxxxxxxx to reserve your seat soon!


May


First Trip of Burma Freedom Summer 2000!!!
May 29th-June 5th

The Free Burma Coalition brings students, professionals, and others to 
the Thai Burma border to learn firsthand the dire situation confronting 
the Burmese resistance movement. For participants it is an opportunity 
to go beyond papers, reports, and documentation in order to see 
firsthand the results of decades of human rights abuses and the 
potential for future change. Most participants develop long-term
relationships with organizations and individuals on the trips, in order 
to work together more effectively for freedom and democracy in Burma.

June

Second Trip of Burma Freedom Summer 2000!!!
June 8-20th

Third Trip of Burma Freedom Summer 2000!!!
June 23rdJuly 4th

July

Fourth Trip of Burma Freedom Summer 2000!!!
July 14th-25th

Fifth Trip of Burma Freedom Summer 2000!!!
28th-August 8th

August

Sixth Trip of Burma Freedom Summer 2000!!!
11-22nd

*******************
TIB: TENSION ON BORDER WITH MYANMAR AS SMUGGLERS' BOAT IS SEIZED
The Independent Bangladesh

from Our Correspondent

COX'S BAZAR, Jan 21: Seizure of a boat carrying smuggled goods this 
morning has triggered tension along the border with Myanmar at
Naikkongchhari-Tombro.

The border security forces of the two countries, BDR and Nasaka, have 
taken up position along the border.

Sources said that a group of smugglers took three boats loaded with 
smuggled goods from Myanmar and tried to enter Bangladesh through the 
Dhekibunia canal this morning. The BDR jawans obstructed the boats and 
seized one of them.

The other two boats fled under cover provided by Nasaka, sources added.

A three-hour exchange of gunshots took place on December 29, 1999 after 
the Nasaka forces started firing into the Bangladesh territory over a 
dacoity incidence.

The Nasaka troops abducted 20 Bangladeshi woodcutters from the 
Tombro-Amtali border area after firing for about an hour on Monday. Two 
woodcutters were injured. They were admitted to the local Ukhia Thana 
Health Complex.

*******************
LMD: COMPIETORS AND ACCOMPLICES

Le Monde diplomatique, 14.01.2000

[Unofficial translation from German by Burma Group Tübingen]

THREE months after the hostage taking in the Burmese embassy in Bangkok 
at the 2nd October 1999, which peaceful ending angered the rulers in
Rangoon, the borders to Thailand are opened again. The closure of the 
border posts, which paralysed parts of Burma's economy, highlights how 
much the relations between the two neighbour countries - which approach 
to each other is blocked by different economic interests - are disputed.

By the journalists ANDRÉ and LOUIS BOUCAUD

At the 8th March 1999, when General Than Shwe, the Burmese prime 
minister and head of the military junta, which meanwhile call itself
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), travelled  to his 
counterpart Chuan Leekpai to Bangkok, it was the first official visit of
a leading Burmese politician in Thailand since the military coup in 
Burma of September 1988. Thai military officials and politicians have
been visiting Rangoon more often since then.

At the 14th December 1988 the commander-in-chief of the Thai army, 
General Chaovalit Yongchaiyuth, already visited the Burmese capitol 
city. His statements he made there should soon become the base for the 
political line of the entire Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN). They announced to keep an attitude of "constructive engagement" 
which expressed finally in the joining of Burma in July 1997 into the
ASEAN. General Chaovalit negotiated very lucrative economic contracts 
with the Burmese military, especially concessions for using the forests 
and fishing rights. In opposite he offered the Junta to get rid of the 
Burmese opposition which fled to the Thai border. In the following time 
Thai generals and ministers meet regularly in Rangoon. This caused 
protests in Bangkok, so it needed up to March 1996, until a prime 
minister, this time it was Banharn Silapa-Archa, travelled to Rangoon.

He was followed by General Chaovalit Yongchaiyuth, who meanwhile became 
prime minister, in March 1997. It have always been the Thai which came 
as petitioners.

For reasons, which reach back long time into history of both countries, 
Thailand considered its neighbour, which army grew with massive help of 
China more and more mighty in the last ten years, always as a threat. 
For four decades Thailand maintained a buffer zone along its borders by 
supporting the ethnic minorities in their struggle against the Burmese
central government. The change of direction, which General Chaovalit 
introduced of pure greed in 1988, caused that the insurgents got chased
away from this area and that the armies of both countries faced directly 
each other in a way like never before since the independence of Burma.

To dam this threat Thailand continuously tries to achieve a political 
approach, which should get cemented by solid economic relations. Also
has Thailand a very greedy eye on the natural resources of its neighbour 
and would totally like to take part in improving the miserable street
network, so that Thai products could reach the Burmese market more 
easier.

The meeting of Chuan Leekpai and Than Shwe took not place in the capitol 
Bangkok but in Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand. The reasons have been
the security and the planned discussions about drug dealing substitution 
programmes for poppy farming, which affect this area. The Burmese
military junta, which was only interested in international 
acknowledgement which was up to this point refused by the international
community, accepted in this case the  unspectacular invitation. This 
bilateral summit was the succeeding meeting of the conference on the 
heroin problem, which was organized by Interpol in Rangoon in February 
1999. The topic was there how to support Burma's efforts in the struggle 
against drugs, because this country is one of the both biggest opium 
producer in the world.

The USA and a couple of European countries boycotted this meeting and 
opened so Burma's military the eyes that they are up to now not
recognized as acceptable partners. Than Shwe need to listen to the 
sorrowful report of his Thai counterpart that Thailand get flooded by
the drugs from Burma - a very clear reproach on the authorities. But 
with the invitation to Thailand one month later the nearly disaster of
this conference could get balanced again.
 
The leaders of the SPDC need Thailand as partner to get via ASEAN in 
touch again with the European Union and the USA. So, Than Shwe came with
an imposant delegation to Thailand, which included General Khin Nyunt, 
chief of the military intelligence and strong-man of the regime, and 
also the new foreign minister Win Aung. It got decided that the 
co-operation between both countries should get strengthened by a 
permanent bilateral military committee, especially concerning to the 
fight against drug trafficking. But at this sensible topic the aims of 
parties are carefully to valuate. Doubtless, this announcement is a 
reaction on the Interpol Conference. The SPDC wants to polish its image
for every price and want to gain the good-will of international 
organizations and of the American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) -
especially to achieve the lifting of the economic sanctions and the 
American support, which is connected to the struggle against drug
trafficking.

The drug trafficking issue have been standing in the centre of the 
meeting in Chiang Rai, but it may could served as a pretext. Doubtless,
the situation in Thailand is serious: according to a report of the 
Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) from March 1999 there are 94
per cent of all districts in the country are affected, 20 per cent of 
them very strong, especially by the flood of metamphetamines from Burma. 
But there is also another more serious problem for the Thais, the water 
supply.

Thailand suffers since several years under a water shortage, especially 
the northeast which never had any reserves in water. Additionally the
logging of the forests, which grew to  castrophical extends, and that 
despite the 10 year old prohibition, the illegal logging continues. The 
row of scandals, in which even leading individuals have been involved,
didn't changed anything. With the massive destruction of the rain forest 
the rain fall decreased, the rain water can get no more saved in the 
soil and the monsoon is no unable to fill the 30 year old huge dams. 
King Bhumibol himself declared the development of the irrigation system
to one of the main aims of the royal house; so the Royal Irrigation 
Department got founded.

But Thailand can no more expand its hydrographical system, which 
consists more than 28 big reservoirs and 800 small reservoirs and over 
1000 keep-back-reservoirs with small capacities. This even less, since 
the responsible politicians encounter more and more protest from side of 
ecological movements and farmers. So they got the idea to solve this 
resource problem and to decrease the confrontations with the 
environmentalists by taking the water from Burma.

In many places the natural border with Burma are rivers. The Salween, 
which conquers the complete Shan-State and flows into the Gulf of 
Martaban, defines over dozens of kilometres the border to Thailand. In 
the Salween valley, which lays in low dense population, hill and jungle
areas, and which was recently under the control of insurgents, the 
nature is nearly undestroyed. Thailand plans now to bypass the water 
which the monsoon in Burma brings in masses from the Salween and other 
border rivers into the own reservoirs.


Struggle for the water resources

THIS water should not only serve the cause of irrigation and nutrition 
of people, but also the cause of producing energy. The development of
this projects has been first delayed by the economic crisis and the 
following decreasing need for energy, but both Bangkok and Rangoon are
in the same level interested in the realization. Since 1988, regardless 
of the back-strokes in the bilateral relationship, there have already
been regular discussions. In 1992 the building of eight bigger hydro 
power plants, both on Burmese area and in the different shared sectors
of the border rivers, got decided.

New examinations have been conducted after the catastrophic drought of 
the last two years. The Thai government granted the ministry of science
186 million baht (ca. 5 million euro/USD) for studies of realization, 
which should clear up, how the water of the Salween and Moei can get
redirected to the Bhumibol reservoir.(1) The Thai NGOs Toward Ecological 
Recovery and Regional Alliance (Terra) condemn such a project, which
cuts off resources from certain groups of population, to give it 
another, even apart from the fact, that the redirection of large amounts
of water would change the natural hydraulic balance in a way, which 
consequences are not predictable.

Beside this officially known projects, there are more secretly and 
intensively checked projects since ten years. This is about the building
of a huge reservoir on the Salween in the southern Shan-State. This 
plans, to which no official statements exist, got revealed by local
government independent groups of the Shan. The Thai and the Burmese 
government are working very close and with absolute discretion together,
because it is in a area of insurgents, there the civil population of the 
Shan suffers immense repression by the Burmese army.(2) From October
1998 to the end of March 1999 different groups of experts inspected 
three places in the Salween Valley, which are located 120 kilometres
away from the Thai border and at both sides of the Ta-Sang-Bridge, near 
the village Wan Hsala. Thai specialists from the company MDX Power Co.,
Burmese from the Aye Chan Aye enterprise and some twenty experts of the 
Japanese company Electronic Power Development Corporation (EPDC)
conducted geological examinations, borings and studies of realization. 
According to the area, dimension of the planned object, type of
construction and power of the hydroelectric turbines, the cost of the 
dam should be between 3 and 3.4 billion dollars. A quarter of the
estimated 3400 megawatt produced energy should go inside Burma, the rest 
Thailand would obtain. The redirected water, which could go up to 10 per
cent of the total volume of the Salween, should get directed to the 
rivers Kok and Ping in Thailand via existing channels and rivers. A
financial evaluation of such a water transport is still missing, but the 
cost would get enormous high.

In this sector of the Shan-State the armed nationalist resistance of the 
Shan, which is fighting against the dictature in Rangoon, is operating. 
Democrat MP and former minister Subin Pinkayon, a consultant of the Thai 
company MDX Power, contacted meanwhile opposition, to reach from the 
leader of the Shan State Army South (SSA-S), Colonel Yawd Serk, the 
agreement, that the expert teams will not get hindered in their work.

The most difficult problem will may be the financial one. At the place, 
there are a lot of speculations on the Miyazawa plan, which the Japanese 
minister for finances Kiichi Miyazawa developed in October 1998 to 
transfer 30 billion dollars into the crisis shaken Asian countries.
Burma is on principle refused to get money from this plan because of its 
lamentable human rights record. But there is a strong need for
electricity in this country. The reservoir of Lawpita, located near 
Loikaw in the Karen-State, is only filled half. In dozen of settlements
there is no electricity at all, and in the cities Mandalay and Rangoon 
the electricity interrupts at day and night, which weaks the already
weakened economy even more. In Rangoon there are already many small 
shops with noisy and stinking diesel generators for self supplying.

Burma's interest in a close co-operation with Thailand is so more than 
apparent. Because, a dam project at the Salween, declared as a pure Thai
enterprise, would get funds from the "Miyazawa plan". 

This dam project doesn't upset just the environment protecting 
organization and the local people. NGOs and opposition groups of the
Shan see it as a real danger, because the terrible side effects of such
a development project. So the building of the Yadana gas pipeline, a 
project of the French company Total and and the American company Unocal, 
as pretext for ethnic cleansing in the Tenasserim-State. The given 
reason was, that the guerillas of the Mon and Karen, which strive for
autonomy,  need to be fought. The headquarters of both companies refuse 
every responsibility and claim that there have never been any incidents,
but the ten thousands of Mon and Karen refugees, who vegetate in camps 
along the Thai border, show something different.(3) The ethnic cleansing
started long before the start of the work, because the Burmese generals
wanted to prepare it long before.

So, in 1996, there have been the first forced relocations of people in 
the Shan-State. The Burmese army justified this with the reason, that
they want to cut away every support to the armed resistance of the Shan 
- the SSA - from the people. More than 300,000 are already chased away
from their villages and lost everything. This actions are done together 
with lootings, rape and murder, which hardly get registered. There is
scarcely critics, there are no TV teams, no  witnesses. The fear to get 
conscripted for forced labour may produce a wave of refugees to the
northern border of the Shan-State.

We need to expect, that Thailand, under the pretext of development and 
in the name of the struggle against the economic crisis, let the leaders 
of the SPDC free rein and watches how they continue their repression 
against the own population, especially against the ethnic minorities.
The UN resolutions seem not to impress the Burmese dictators. And to the 
hoped democratization of the regime by ways of economic development, 
which the ASEAN wants to achieve with its "constructive engagement",
there are no visible signs.

With this reason, by the way, the French president Jacques Chirac, 
supported Burma's entrance into the ASEAN, as he explained to the Far 
Eastern Economic Review in May 1997. Also in this case, the support of 
economic interests have been in first position, without seriously 
regarding the human rights situation. But it seems apparently, that in 
our world some dictatures are more pleasant than others, especially if 
their continuance supports the international investitions.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

(1) The costs of the different solutions ranged from 8 billion baht (466 
million DM) for damming the Moei-River and the redirection of one
billion cubic metres water per year up to 23 billion baht (1.33 billion 
DM) for a pumping station at the Salween, which should redirect water 
via a put-in-front reservoir and channels to the Bhumibol reservoir.

(2) see "Hoe drug barons profit of drug free zones", Le Monde 
diplomatique, November 1998.

(3) The Burma Border Consortium and its other co-ordinated NGOs 
organizes already help for the 115,000 Karen and Mon refugees, which are
penned in camps along the western Thai border.


***End*************


_____________________________________________________________
Check out the new and improved Topica site!
http://www.topica.com/t/13