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

[theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: Ma



Reply-To: theburmanetnews-owner@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: May 15, 2000





______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

May 15, 2000

Issue # 1530


This edition of The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:

http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$394

NOTED IN PASSING:

"It is no secret to anyone, let alone the police chiefs in Rangoon 
last week, that Burma shelters drug dealers."

The Bangkok Post, (See BANGKOK POST: POLICE AND THE CHIEFS' PROBLEMS)

	
*Inside Burma

FEER:  BURMESE TROOPS "LIVE OFF THE LAND"

FEER:  JAPAN INC. BEARISH ON BURMA

NLM: MINISTER MEETS COMMUNICATION OFFICIALS 

AP: BURMA ORDERS HALT TO UNAUTHORISED E-MAIL SERVICE

THE JAPAN TIMES: MYANMAR'S KARENS FIGHT FOR FREEDOM 


*International

BANGKOK POST:  BURMA SLAMS THAIS OVER ROCKET ATTACK

NATION:  TOP JUNTA OFFICIAL TO BE INVITED FOR SEMINAR

BANGKOK POST: ARMY GIVES VILLAGERS IN REMOTE VOLATILE AREAS MILITARY 
TRAINING LACK OF CITIZENSHIP CAUSE FOR CONCERN

MALAYSIAKINI (MALAYASIA): WAN AZIZAH MEETS GUS DUR

AAP: ACTU CONDEMNS BUDGET FUNDING FOR BURMA

BURMA COURIER: BURMA DRUG TRADE ATTRACTS EXPERTS TO CANADA

			
*Opinion/Editorials

NCUB: FIRST PUBLIC DEBATE BETWEEN TOTAL AND A REPRESENTATIVE OF 
BURMESE DEMOCRATS

FTUB: ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE  ILO MISSION OVER FORCED LABOUR BY THE 
JUNTA

BURMA COURIER: WHEN UP IS DOWN AND DOWN IS UP


*Other

BERG: "CONFLICT AND DISPLACEMENT IN KARENNI: THE NEED FOR CONSIDERED 
RESPONSES" AVAILABLE ON THE WEB




__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	

FEER:     BURMESE TROOPS "LIVE OFF THE LAND"

Far Eastern Economic Review, May 18, 2000

      Burmese troops across the border from northern Thailand have 
been ordered by Rangoon to "live off the land," a command implying 
permission to become involved in the drugs trade, according to a 
senior Thai army source. Burmese soldiers are posted along the border 
ostensibly to handle rebellion by ethnic minorities and crack down on 
smuggling with Thailand. The Thai military source says the troops' 
sole source of income is facilitating the flow of methamphetamines 
and heroin across the border. Thai anti-narcotics officials estimate 
that a total of 600 million methamphetamines will be channelled from 
factories in Burma across the border this year. Police intercepted 45 
million tablets in 1999. Burmese authorities have told their Thai 
counterparts they cannot control  minority communities such as the 
Wa, who are known to be deeply involved in the drugs  
trade.                                                                
     

____________________________________________________


FEER:   JAPAN INC. BEARISH ON BURMA


Far Eastern Economic Review, May 18, 2000

      In a bid to strengthen Japan's economic ties with Burma, Trade 
Minister Takashi Fukuya unveiled a package of aid measures during an 
early-May visit, the first trip to Burma by a sitting cabinet 
minister in 17 years. The initiatives include economic assistance to 
support the development of small and medium-sized businesses, promote 
greater access to electricity in rural areas and set up information-
technology training programmes. Japanese officials also say Fukuya 
prodded Lt.-Gen. Khin Nyunt, first secretary of Burma's State Peace 
and Development Council, to improve the investment environment for 
foreign firms. But it may be too late for many Japanese companies. 
Ajinomoto and Toyota Motor, for example, appear to be losing patience 
with the Burmese government. Food-products maker Ajinomoto has halted 
production at a local factory after it was denied permission to 
import a key ingredient. Toyota Motor has "temporarily" withdrawn its 
Japanese representative while it awaits approval to ship cars to 
Burma. Meanwhile, All Nippon Airways cancelled its direct flight 
service to Rangoon in March, citing low demand.        


NLM: MINISTER MEETS COMMUNICATION OFFICIALS 

YANGON, 12 May-Minister for Communications, Posts and Telegraphs 
BrigGen Win Tin this morning met with officials who will attend the 
ministry s work coordination meeting at Mayangon Extemal 
Communication Centre.

The minister urged them to prevent illegal engagement of outsiders in 
communication services. The chief engineer of Overseas Communication 
Division explained international satellite communication system of 
Myanmar, illegal engagement of outsiders in international telephone 
and E-mail communication systems and equipment and means used by them 
and arrangements being made to fulfil internal commu nication 
requirements of banks and oil and mineral exploration companies. The 
chief engineer of Yangon Auto-Exchange explained installation of S-12 
digital auto-phone system in Insein and its capacity. The minister 
and party then inspected laying of foundation to build a tower for 
GSM cellular telephone system.




____________________________________________________


AP: BURMA ORDERS HALT TO UNAUTHORISED E-MAIL SERVICE
  
 May 14, 2000

  Associated Press
  
  RANGOON - The telecommunications minister of Burma, where the 
government bars   public access to the Internet, has ordered a halt 
to unauthorised e-mail and telephone   services, state-run newspapers 
reported yesterday.
  
  Brigfadier-General Win Tin, minister of communication, post and 
telegraphs, told a    coordinatiojn meeting of telecom officials in 
Rangoon on Friday that outsiders using   sophisticated equipment were 
illegally engaged in international telephone and e-mail   services.
  
  He told officials to prevent such services, warning they could 
reduce the revenues of the   ministry, the New Light of Myanmar 
newspaper reported.
  
  The government keeps a tight grip on all communications and media. 
Under existing   regulations, only Myanmar Post and 
Telecommunications, a state agency, is allowed to   provide post, 
telecommunications and e-mail services.
  
  The MPT has an Internet server, but the government still does not 
allow public access to   the Internet. It provides e-mail to a 
limited number of subscribers.   
  Last year five firms running e-mail services, including two managed 
by foreigners, were   ordered to stop operations. Executives and 
technicians were questioned and equipment   confiscated.
  
  According to the 1996 Computer Science Development Law, 
unauthorised ownership of   a fax modem or setting up a computer 
network without the telecom ministry's prior   approval incurs seven 
to 15 years' imprisonment and a fine.   

  

____________________________________________________


THE JAPAN TIMES: MYANMAR'S KARENS FIGHT FOR FREEDOM 

May 14, 2000

By RICK MERCIER 
Special to The Japan Times 

MAE SOT, Thailand -- Theirs is the longest-running insurgency in 
Asia, against a regime widely recognized as one of the world's most 
repressive. And yet the Karen National Union, which launched a 
guerrilla war in 1949 to secure a homeland for the Karen ethnic 
minority in eastern Myanmar, is anything but a household name.

The KNU, which seeks an autonomous Karen state within a new 
Myanmarese federation, needs the world's help to resolve its conflict 
with the military junta in Yangon, said Mahn Sha Lah Phan, general 
secretary of the KNU, in an interview in the Thai border town of Mae 
Sot.

Mahn Sha said intense international pressure could force Myanmar's 
ruling military junta to enter into meaningful dialogue with the 
KNU. "If there is concerted pressure from the international community 
as well as domestic pressure, there is the probability that they [the 
junta] would accept dialogue," he said.

The KNU general secretary emphasized the need for tough trade 
sanctions against Myanmar, as well as a strict arms embargo.

Mahn Sha called on international nongovernmental organizations to 
denounce countries such as Japan that provide economic assistance to 
Yangon, and said that Western oil companies that have invested in a 
natural-gas pipeline running through eastern Myanmar "have been 
hurting the Karen population to a very serious extent."

NGOs should "single out countries like Japan and denounce them," Mahn 
Sha said.

Japan has broken ranks with Western nations and formulated a policy 
of "constructive engagement" with Yangon. Tay Tay, secretary of the 
Karen Refugee Committee, said "constructive engagement will mean 
giving money, and that money will go to the military."

Mahn Sha said oil firms that have invested in a $200 million natural-
gas pipeline were partly responsible for human-rights abuses against 
Karens. The pipeline to supply natural gas to Thailand runs through 
Karen homelands.

During the construction of the pipeline in the early 1990s, Mahn Sha 
said, numerous Karen villages were forcibly relocated, and Karen 
villagers were conscripted as construction workers for the project. 
He said the three major foreign investors in the pipeline -- the 
United States' Unocal, France's TotalFinaElf and Britain's Premier -- 
were complicit in human-rights violations that included forced labor, 
executions, rape and arbitrary arrests.

The British government last month urged Premier to withdraw from 
Myanmar because of the military junta's human-rights record. Premier 
has said that it has no intentions of pulling out of the $200 million 
gas project.

In the U.S., 15 plaintiffs representing thousands of Karen refugees 
have filed lawsuits against Unocal, charging that the California-
based oil firm was complicit in human-rights abuses by the Myanmarese 
military. Unocal denies the plaintiffs' allegations.

A U.S. federal judge in Los Angeles will hear arguments on May 22 to 
decide whether the suits -- which are the first to ever name a U.S. 
corporation as a human rights violator -- can go to trial.

By some estimates, more than 30,000 Karen civilians have died as a 
result of Myanmarese military actions in the past decade. Meanwhile, 
hundreds of thousands of Myanmar's Karens -- who number about 7 
million -- remain displaced by fighting. According to the KRC, more 
than 90,000 Karens have taken refuge in Thailand. It is believed that 
another 300,000 Karens are internally displaced.

Mahn Sha said the Myanmarese were practicing "ethnic cleansing" 
against the Karens, and compared the situation in Myanmar to Bosnia. 
The KRC's Tay Tay drew similar analogies, saying: "When we told our 
people about Bosnia and Kosovo, they said, 'Oh, we have gone through 
that.' "

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook condemned Yangon's treatment of 
Karens last month during a visit to a refugee camp in Thailand. "I 
have heard enough and I have seen enough to know that the people that 
are here only came here because they were fleeing from brutality, 
from military action," he said.

The Myanmarese government has reached ceasefire agreements with all 
of the country's other ethnic insurgencies in recent years, but the 
KNU finds fault with the deals Yangon has made with the rebel groups.

"The Shan, the Mon, the Karenni -- a number have reached ceasefire 
agreements, but they are still no nearer to any negotiated settlement 
of problems" facing Myanmar's ethnic groups, Mahn Sha said.

The KNU started dialogue with the ruling State Peace and Development 
Council earlier this year, but fresh fighting between the insurgents 
and government troops last month sent thousands of Karen civilians 
fleeing into Thailand and led the KNU to break off talks.

The Karen insurgents envisage establishing a Karen state with its own 
legislature and governor, along with its own system of taxation. The 
rebels also demand control over natural resources in Karen territory.

The KNU's forces have decreased markedly since 1995, when its 
headquarters in Manerplaw was overrun by Myanmarese forces. Mahn Sha 
said that rebel troops now number about 10,000 and that they still 
control key stretches of Myanmar along the Thai-Myanmarese border.

A small splinter Karen rebel group calling itself God's Army gained 
notoriety in January for its alleged involvement in the takeover of a 
hospital in the Thai town of Ratchaburi. The group is led by twin 
boys whom the fighters believe possess supernatural powers.

Although the Karens have suffered greatly during the war, "resistance 
is better than submission to total domination by the Myanmar 
chauvinists, because they have a policy to destroy the Karen as a 
people," Mahn Sha said.

The rebels' general secretary said the KNU would not accept Yangon's 
demand that the insurgents renounce armed resistance as a 
precondition for any peace agreement.

Mahn Sha said the junta leaders "are the ones who have to renounce 
armed force. They have seized power relying on armed force and they 
have ruled the country with arms." 

Harshly repressive military governments dominated by members of the 
majority Myanmarese ethnic group have held power in Myanmar since 
1962, when a coup led by Gen. Ne Win ousted an elected civilian 
government.

Since 1988, when the military brutally crushed huge prodemocracy 
demonstrations, a military junta has ruled by decree. More than 1,300 
political prisoners languish in Myanmarese jails, according to the 
U.S. State Department.

(Rick Mercier is a freelance journalist who frequently writes on 
human-rights issues.)




__________________ INTERNATIONAL ___________________
		

BANGKOK POST:  BURMA SLAMS THAIS OVER ROCKET ATTACK

May 15, 2000

  Supamart Kasem 
  Mae Sot, Tak
  Burma has accused Thailand of allowing Karen rebels to launch a 
rocket attack on a   border village in Myawaddy which killed one 
Burmese civilian and seriously injured   another.

  Lt-Col Tin Ngwe, chairman of Burma's local Thai-Burmese Border 
Committee,   yesterday demanded that Thailand explain why they 
allowed Karen National Union   fighters to launch the four RPG 
rockets.

  One Wa villager was killed and another injured in the attack which 
took place at about   8.30pm on Saturday. Two agricultural warehouses 
and workers' living quarters were   destroyed during the 20-minute 
attack.

  Burma also demanded that Thai authorities take responsibility for 
the damage caused.   A source said two pick-up trucks carrying 20 
heavily-armed Karen rebels drove near the   border on Saturday night.

  The rebels later divided into two groups with the first group 
firing four RPG rockets at   the two warehouses. 

  The other group crossed the border and fired rockets at the living 
quarters.   Firearms belonging to pro-Rangoon forces were thought to 
have been stored at the warehouses.


____________________________________________________

  
NATION:  TOP JUNTA OFFICIAL TO BE INVITED FOR SEMINAR 

  THE chairman of Mae Hong Son's Chamber of Commerce is to ask high-
level   Burmese officials to attend a seminar on border trade to 
strengthen trade ties   between the countries. 

  The chamber will invite Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the first secretary-
general of Burma's   State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), to 
attend the May 31 to June 4   seminar inaugurating the Mobile Border 
Trade Clinic, as well as the governor of   Burma's Tong Kee province, 
Phoonsak Sunthornpanitchak said.    Phoonsak said his chamber had 
contacted Khin Nyunt's aides and was awaiting   a response. 

  Meanwhile the SPDC is upset that Thailand detained six Burmese 
soldiers on   February 3 and has not yet released them as it 
demanded, an intelligence source  said. 

  The SPDC has criticised the Thai government's reluctance to end the 
border   dispute between the two countries. Broadcasts on SPDC short-
wave radio say   the Burmese junta is ready to take action against 
Thai authorities, the source   said. 

  The junta has moved its 428th Battalion to the Huai Pong Lao base 
of   operations, just over the border from Mae Hong Son's Baan Nam 
Phiang Din   border checkpoint, the source said. 
  The battalion last year attacked Baan Nam Phiang Din Police Station 
in the   Muang district, he said, adding that if the six Burmese 
soldiers were not released   neither Khin Nyunt nor the Tong Kee 
governor would accept Phoonsak's   invitation. 

May 15, 2000


____________________________________________________


BANGKOK POST: ARMY GIVES VILLAGERS IN REMOTE VOLATILE AREAS MILITARY 
TRAINING LACK OF CITIZENSHIP CAUSE FOR CONCERN

May 14, 2000


Subin Khuenkaew and Khattirat Cherdsathirakul

A civilian army has begun to take shape along the Thai-Burmese 
border, with more than 5,000 members trained to protect themselves 
and act as the eyes and ears of the authorities. The so-called 
territorial defence training scheme, supervised by the Third Army, 
has so far been implemented in 120 border villages in Chiang Mai, 
Chiang Rai, Tak, Mae Hong Son, Phayao, Nan, Uttaradit and Phitsanulok 
provinces. 

It is part of the government's policy to stabilise the area along the 
Thai-Burmese border. 
Lt-Gen Chamlong Phothong, the Third Army's deputy commander in charge 
of the project, said the target was 592 villages in 35 districts in 
the eight provinces by the year 2001. 
These border villages are prone to attacks by foreign troops and 
exploitation by drug traffickers, putting national security at stake. 

Lt-Gen Chamlong said the Third Army is speeding up implementation of 
the scheme and this year's training will focus on about 200 villages 
in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Tak and Mae Hong Son. 

The massacre of nine villagers in Ban Mae Soon Noi of Chiang Mai last 
year and the spread of narcotics and other illegal activities have 
exposed the neglect of concerned authorities. 
The deputy commander conceded that because of such neglect certain 
villages had become involved in illegal activities such as drug 
smuggling and illegal logging. 
"All this affects national security," he said.

Col Banyong Sirisunthorn, the project's deputy chief, said military 
training has been provided to villagers in high-risk areas which 
authorities and troops have difficulty reaching. 
The villages are located near areas where there are movements of 
foreign troops or drug traffickers. 

Military training takes one full week in a classroom and in the field 
where participants are educated about anti-drug laws and trained to 
use various kinds of weapons and communications equipment. 

While the participants learn about different types of firearms and 
explosives, they are not trained to fight a war. 

The main aim of the military training is to help them keep village 
folk under control when an attack or intrusion takes place to 
facilitate evacuation to safer areas. 

While some of the trained villagers prepare for protection, the 
others will notify the authorities for back-up. 

A-yae Chaewaku, 30, assistant chief of Phaya Phrai village, leads a 
group of 270 men aged 16-40 from three smaller villages in tambon 
Therd Thai to receive training. 

Phaya Phrai village, located about 2km from the border, comprises 
mainly hilltribe people who migrated from Burma 30 years ago. 

It used to be controlled by former drug warlord Khun Sa of the Mong 
Tai army before the narcotics crackdown launched by the Prem 
administration. 

Without Khun Sa, the village is considered a high-risk area because 
it is located close to 614th battalion under supervision of Wei Hsueh-
kang, a new drug baron.
 
Even though the village has been registered and recognised by the 
local administration authority, 99% of the villagers are not Thai and 
do not have identification cards. 

A training soldier has voiced concern as to how the scheme can be 
successfully implemented when these villagers have not yet been 
granted Thai citizenship. 

"It is hard for us to tell them to love the country under such 
circumstances. 

"They feel they are Thai and they should be legally recognised," he 
said, adding that it is the army's duty to bring the matter before 
the government. 

His comments were echoed by one of the participants who said the 
villagers wanted Thai citizenship. 

"None of the people in my village have been granted Thai citizenship 
although we were born here. Authorities keep telling us we are Thai 
and we think we are Thai. But without an ID card life is difficult," 
he said. 

Col Banyong voiced support that these villagers should be granted 
Thai citizenship, and the process is under way. 

"If any of them is hurt because of their involvement in the 
territorial defence acts they should get the privilege," he said. 

Col Banyong said the training scheme has so far faced no hurdles 
except for some communications problems because the participants come 
from different ethnic groups. 

"But there is no serious problem because some villagers can speak 
good Thai," he said. 
Mr A-yae and other participants all welcome the military training 
scheme, saying their villages were quite vulnerable and members 
needed to be prepared. 
Unknown foreign troops entered the village several times, said Mr A-
yae, who also admitted there was a small problem of drugs in the 
village. 
"The village has a policy against drugs and the drug addicts will be 
banished or sent to authorities," he said. 

Other participants said they have learned a lot from the training 
scheme and many voiced confidence that the training would pay off. 


____________________________________________________


MALAYSIAKINI (MALAYASIA): WAN AZIZAH MEETS GUS DUR

Weekend edition,  may 13-14



4pm, SAT: KeADILan leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had a breakfast 
meeting with with Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly 
known as Gus Dur, this morning in Jakarta.

"It was a personal visit," Wan Azizah told malaysiakini.   She said 
it was the first time that she had met with Gus Dur and they had a 
frank exchange on a number issues including the conditions of former 
deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. 

"He asked about Anwar's solitary confinement," said Wan Azizah.  She 
added that Gus Dur has written to Anwar previously "to express his 
sympathy". 

At the meeting, Gus Dur advised Wan Azizah to "be strong" knowing 
well that she was
catapulted into the political arena after her husband, Anwar, was 
sacked and jailed two
years ago.

Also present at the one-hour breakfast meeting was Gus Dur's wife, 
Sinta Nuriyah. 

It is learnt that the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta had expressed its 
displeasure to Gus Dur for meeting with Wan Azizah.   A source told 
malaysiakini that Gus Dur had pointedly ignored the objections.

"While I respect the fact that I can't visit Wan Azizah when I visit 
Malaysia and Aung San Suu Kyi when I visit Burma, but I can meet 
anyone I please in Indonesia," he was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, a dozen of Indonesian journalists and two TV stations 
interviewed Wan
Azizah at a press conference this afternoon.  Wan Azizah, who is 
accompanied by KeADILan Wanita chief Fauziah Salleh, will also be 
meeting with other Indonesian leaders, including Vice President 
Megawati Sukarnoputri, during their four-day visit to Jakarta. 


***

Editor's note--Malaysiakini is an independent Malaysian newspaper 
published on the Internet.  

See www.malaysiakini.com




____________________________________________________


AAP: ACTU CONDEMNS BUDGET FUNDING FOR BURMA

10:39 11-May-00 

Australian Associated Press

 MELBOURNE, May 11 AAP - The ACTU today condemned the federal 
government for allocating budget funds to  the Burmese military 
government.  "The regime has an appalling human rights record," ACTU 
president Sharan (Sharan) Burrow said in a statement.

 "The international community should be sending a strong message 
about the need for change.

 "So far the Burmese government has shown total disregard for the 
human dignity, safety, health and basic needs of  their people."  
Treasurer Peter Costello allocated funds for training Burmese civil 
servants in international human rights law and  practices in his 
Tuesday budget.

 Ms Burrow said the Burmese regime had ignored the results of the 
1990 national elections, was promoting forced  labour, and continued 
to defy any reasonable interpretation of the rule of law.

 The ACTU's overseas aid agency, Union Aid Abroad, said Australian 
funding for training and assistance in setting  up a human rights 
commission would only be appropriate when there were genuine moves 
towards democracy in  Burma. 

____________________________________________________


BURMA COURIER: BURMA DRUG TRADE ATTRACTS EXPERTS TO CANADA


VANCOUVER, May 13, (BN -BC) -- A major consultation on the impact of 
the Burmese drug trade in Canada, to be held at Simon Fraser 
University on Monday, will attract a wide variety of experts from 
across the country and around the world.  The roundtable has been 
summoned by the Centre for Foreign Policy Development, a think tank 
of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Canadian government.  

Among those expected to be in attendance are narcotics experts from 
several North American and Asian cities, as well as Asian based 
journalists Patrick Brown of the CBC and Bertil Lintner of the Far 
East Economic Review.  Friends of Burma from across the country will 
also participate, as well as staff from Foreign Affairs in Ottawa and 
the Canadian embassy in Bangkok. 

The conference is an outcome of an initiative on drugs in the 
southeast Asia region announced by Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy 
when he was in Bangkok last July.  At the time Axworthy was widely 
quoted as saying that Canada was looking for ways to "engage with 
Burma on the drug issue".   

Besides addressing the drug situation in Canada, the participants are 
slated to look at the impact of heroin production on the political 
and economic situation in Burma, as well as its impact on regional 
stability and security throughout southeast Asia.  More next week.

____________________________________________________


CHANNEL NEWSASIA: ASEAN URGES LABOUR ORGANISATION TO RESOLVE ISSUES 
WITH MYANMAR QUICKLY

Saturday, May 13 10:00 PM SGT 


ASEAN Labour Ministers have urged the International Labour 
Organisation to send a technical cooperation mission to Myanmar as 
soon as possible. 

They hope that will help resolve outstanding issues on forced labour 
between Yangon and the ILO, before the organisation's annual Congress 
in Geneva next month. 

The Ministers made the call at the end of a two-day meeting in 
Manila. 

Myanmar has often been accused of using forced labour. 

And since Myanmar is an ASEAN member, that controversy has held up 
the implementation of two major ASEAN labour projects that were to 
have been supported by the ILO. 

These are the Human Resources Development Plannning and the Programme 
on Industrial Relations. 

ASEAN Ministers said the projects are important to help countries in 
the region promote employment following the regional financial 
crisis. 

At their Manila meeting, the Ministers also discussed the issue of 
child labour. 

They agreed on the need to eliminate the problem through education 
and technical assistance. 

They reiterated their commitment to ensure socio-economic development 
and stability to help promote sustainable growth in the region. 

 					
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________


BANGKOK POST: POLICE AND THE CHIEFS' PROBLEMS

May 15, 2000

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations seems bent on setting new 
records for irony. At least, two recent meetings in Burma made it 
appear that way. First came the meeting of Asean ministers to discuss 
free trade. Burma was a curious choice of venues, considering the 
country's arbitrary trade rules, lack of legal infrastructure and 
poverty. Then, last week, the 10 Asean chiefs of police held an anti-
crime conference in Rangoon.

They convened near the homes of some of the world's major criminals. 
If that was not enough, their meetings were held in the Traders 
Hotel. This hotel is known in Rangoon street slang as the "opium 
traders hotel." Most people in the Burmese capital believe it was 
financed in part by the proceeds of Golden Triangle drug profits. The 
truth is known by members of the Burmese junta. The question is 
whether Asean should be associated.

To be charitable, the police chiefs were not responsible for 
organising the meeting. Their political masters handled that job. 
Rangoon got the honour on the simple basis of rotation-last year's 
conference was in Hanoi. Still, it is difficult for many to reconcile 
holding a conference on international law enforcement in one of the 
most infamous centres of international crime.

It was the 20th time that Asean police chiefs had got together. The 
actual worth of such meetings is difficult to judge. The chiefs, 
commissioners, generals and their aides make valuable personal 
contact. In theory, and sometimes in practice, personal relations can 
speed or resolve tricky cross-border problems. Whether the police 
officers actually learn anything new in the working sessions is a 
matter they must decide themselves.

For the public, however, the only true value of such meetings must be 
the results they achieve in combatting crime. It is difficult to see 
where the Rangoon conference made any progress. Indeed, the sarcasm 
and scepticism thrown on the meeting from some quarters could mark a 
setback. If the public has no respect for such an anti-crime 
endeavour, they will be slower to help authorities in their difficult 
crackdowns on international criminals.

Col Tin Hlaing was the chief Burmese spokesman at the conference. He 
said major international police problems included drug trafficking, 
arms and human smuggling, computer crime, money laundering and 
corruption. While all nations in the region are aware of these 
problems, few are as intimately involved as Burma. Rangoon openly 
backs drug traffickers and has encouraged money laundering. Its 
solution to computer crime has been to imprison anyone with an 
unlicensed computer.

The Burmese minister promised full cooperation against trans-national 
crime, but called for patience. One can hope that the other police 
chiefs in the audience grimaced at this. Thailand and neighbours have 
shown the patience over the unacceptable behaviour of Burma. In fact, 
Rangoon's time is running out. It is past time for Burma to take 
action to back up the pretty words of Col Tin Hlaing and others.

It is no secret to anyone, let alone the police chiefs in Rangoon 
last week, that Burma shelters drug dealers. The regime has gladly 
accepted laundered money in the form of "foreign investment." It has 
failed its own people in cracking down on human trafficking. Patience 
is a virtue in shorter supply in Asean crime-fighting circles. What 
Asean needs is some results from Burma.

The Asean police chiefs are back in their countries. Police 
commissioner Pol Gen Pracha Promnok is contemplating once again how 
to advance the fight against international crime. He must wonder if 
he can depend on his Burmese counterpart-the head of all Asean police 
chiefs for the next year-for any help. It is within Burma's power to 
help Thailand combat drug smugglers from Burma, the worst threat to 
our national security. Pol Gen Pracha and all of Thailand will be 
waiting for the answer.


____________________________________________________


NCUB: FIRST PUBLIC DEBATE BETWEEN TOTAL AND A REPRESENTATIVE OF 
BURMESE DEMOCRATS

Report of a meeting between U Aung Ko (representing NCUB in France)
and M Delaborde, of TotalFinaElf, held in Paris on May 10: First 
public debate between Total and a Representative of Burmese democrats:

U Aung Ko, official representative of the NCUB in Paris, participated 
on May
10 to a debate with M. Michel Delaborde, PR director of TotalFinaElf, 
on the effects of the Yadana pipeline in Burma

The debate was organized by "ethique et investissement", a grouping 
of shareholders concerned by the ethics of the firms they support by 
their investment . Led by sister Nicole Reille, who initiated in 
France the "ethics funds", the debate opened with a talk by Marie-
Helene Aubert, mp, who led the recent French parliamentary mission 
investigating the  role of French petroleum companies and whose 
findings had been reported in  "Oil and Ethics, a possible 
conciliation?",  published last autumn by the French National 
Assembly.

Then a  30 minutes  film by the French television channel "Canal+" 
titled: "Total in Burma, the other scandal" was shown.

  The Total representative maintained the usual stand of his company 
against all evidences: "There has been no forced labour, no 
population eviction, no ethnic cleansing, and no collaboration with 
the Burmese army" in the pipe-line area from the beginning of Total 
works in Tenasserim in 1994.  U Aung Ko and journalists presented the 
facts, the various lies propagated by Total, and quoted Daw Aung San 
Suu Kyi :"they are many more victims from the Yadana pipe-line than 
people who benefit from it".

____________________________________________________


FTUB: ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE  ILO MISSION OVER FORCED LABOUR BY THE 
JUNTA.

[Abridged]

Federation of Trade Unions - Burma

								
	
13 May 2000

Burma is a country that has ratified the ILO Convention (29): on 
Forced Labour and yet the regime has violated the Convention. Despite 
the year-by-year consistent resolutions on Burma at the ILC to 
respect the workers' rights and the Convention on Forced Labor, the 
successive regimes have  disrespected and ignored them for nearly 40 
years.

We have to clarify that Burma as a country and the people have no 
outstanding issues with the ILO.  It is the continued forced labor, 
violations of trade union rights and basic human rights by the junta 
that are being addressed by the ILO, a forum where the workers have 
an equal chance with the governments and the employers.  And, the 
problem is the junta itself, which has refused to address it's 
workers rights violations and denied to comply with the ILO 
Convention (29) that is the problem.  

The Commission of Inquiry on Forced Labor in Burma had asked for a 
trip to Burma since 1988 and was denied permission. The junta also 
refused to come to the hearings in Geneva. After denying the 
Commission of Enquiry on Forced Labor to visit Burma for two years, 
now that the country is on the brink of having a major action taken 
against them at the ILC,  the junta has made a step to evade the 
possible actions and called out that the Commission of Inquiry can 
come into Burma.   

As mentioned above, the issue of workers rights violations and forced 
labor are something that has occurred over the years in the remote 
areas through the successive regimes. The Commission of Inquiry must 
have the ability and the time to travel to those places and build up 
moniter units in those areas to see whether the forced labor is used 
or not.  

If the records of the ILO are looked into, it can be seen that over 
the years, the junta has always replied to the ILO on the very last 
dates prior to the ILC.  

It is very unwise for the Asean Labor Ministers to have allowed 
themselves to be pulled into the deception of the Burma junta by 
asking the ILO Commission of Inquiry on Forced Labor in Burma to have 
a trip between now [the 12th of May] and before the ILC starts [the 
28th of May] a period of 10 working days and expect the " issue 
between ILO and Myanmar" to be solved.  
The ASEAN labour ministers also must insist to the junta that 
acceptance of the ILO mission is not the end to the solution but that 
the junta needs to comply with the ILO convention on forced labour. 


____________________________________________________


BURMA COURIER: WHEN UP IS DOWN AND DOWN IS UP

[Edited]

Wonderful world of fact and figures!

>From The Bangkok Post April 24, 1998:

   "Burma claims that 9,630.9 hectares is under poppies, 
   yielding 106 tonnes of opium" [in 1997] 

>From Reuters News report from Yangon, Mar 1, 1999:

   "Myanmar predicts this year's opium crop will fall by 
   half from an estimated 680 tonnes produced in 1998 
   because of crop eradications and bad weather." 

Excerpt from an address by Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt to the Central Committee 
for Drug Abuse Control on May 4, 2000: 

   "Opium production in that year [1999] was only 
   1,090 metric tons which is 38 per cent less than 
   in the previous year. It is the lowest output 
   within a ten year period since 1988."



_____________________ OTHER  ______________________

BERG: "CONFLICT AND DISPLACEMENT IN KARENNI: THE NEED FOR CONSIDERED 
RESPONSES" AVAILABLE ON THE WEB

A new report by the Burma Ethnic Research Group, "Conflict and 
Displacement in Karenni: The Need for Considered Responses" is 
available on the Internet at http://www.burmaresearch.org

This  report was written to follow the earlier report of the Burma 
Ethnic Research 
 Group, Forgotten Victims of a Hidden War: Internally  Displaced 
Karen in Burma, BERG/ Friedrich Naumann Foundation, April 1998. 

 It seeks to raise the level of awareness in the international 
community 
 concerning the context of internal displacement of populations in 
Burma 
 focussing in this instance on Karenni. Acknowledging the 
difficulties 
 of accessing much of the area, the report highlights the complexity 
 and humanitarian concerns as well as the need for further systematic 
data 
 collection and broader perspectives. Such information would 
stimulate 
 analysis of the causes of the massive socio-economic problems 
apparent 
 in the area, and stimulate debate and dialogue that may lead to a 
more 
 well founded response to the needs of internally displaced people 

_______________


Acronyms and abbreviations regularly used by BurmaNet.


AVA: Ava Newsgroup.  A small, independent newsgroup covering Kachin 
State and northern Burma.

KHRG: Karen Human Rights Group.  A non-governmental organization 
that  conducts interviews and collects information primarily in 
Burma's  Karen State but also covering other border areas.

KNU: Karen National Union.  Ethnic Karen organization that has been 
fighting Burma's central government since 1948.

NLM: New Light of Myanmar, Burma's state newspaper.  The New Light of 
Myanmar is also published in Burmese as Myanmar Alin.

SCMP: South China Morning Post.  A Hong Kong newspaper.

SHAN: Shan Herald Agency for News.  An independent news service  
covering Burma's Shan State.

SHRF: Shan Human Rights Foundation

SPDC: State Peace and Development Council.  The current name the  
military junta has given itself.  Previously, it called itself the  
State Law and Order Restoration Council.


________________


The BurmaNet News is an Internet newspaper providing comprehensive 
coverage of news and opinion on Burma  (Myanmar).  


For a subscription to Burma's only free daily newspaper, 
write to: strider@xxxxxxx

You can also contact BurmaNet by phone or fax:

Voice mail +1 (435) 304-9274 

Fax + (202) 318-1261

________________




------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best friends, most artistic, class clown Find 'em here:
http://click.egroups.com/1/4054/6/_/713843/_/958389273/
------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
theburmanetnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxx